Death Valley Now an Eden.
Death Valley, recently placed on the social map by a dance to which girls were invited and provided with transportation by the bachelors of the mining camps, is about to be transformed from an Eveless Eden into an Eden densely populated with femininity.
Following Death Valley’s great ball and the importation of music from Los Angeles, a deluge of letters from Adamless Eves has descended on the mining camps.
The dance was arranged by young college men, mining engineers, and employees in Death Valley. They invited girls from Goldfield, Ludlow, and Los Angeles, providing each with railroad fare. An orchestra went from Los Angeles. It was a gala affair. Robert M. Pease, who arranged it, is being deluged with letters from women who want to move to Death Valley. Pease writes:
“Behold, I am being deluged with a hopeless mass of communications from all ‘Adamless Eves’ in Christendom. I am receiving pounds of pressed roses and violets; I am receiving offers to mend my socks, to sew my buttons, to cook for me; requests for programs, requests for photographs, and, yea, even requests for transportation.”
Facts You May Not Know.
The earliest record in journeying around the world was held by Magellan at something less than three years—the latest stands at thirty-five days and twenty-one hours. It has taken us nearly four centuries to lower it to this extent. To reduce it in the next four hundred years in the same proportion, we should have to make the circuit, in A. D. 2314, in about a day.
The California-Mexican border covers 152 miles. Arizona has 300 miles of border on Mexico. New Mexico neighbors with the Mexicans for 410 miles, and Texas lies along the Mexican boundary for more than 900 miles.
A pipe organ has been installed in a Massachusetts church which produces a tone so low that it can be felt rather than heard.
The life of the domestic horse is about twenty-eight years, while that of the wild one is thirty-eight years.
A National Forest is Lost.
Lost: A national forest. Last seen somewhere in Michigan. Three thousand dollars reward. Finder please hold until called for.
During the debate on the agricultural appropriation bill in the House, at Washington, D. C., the reading clerk was interrupted by Representative Fordney, of Michigan, when he read the item appropriating $3,000 for the care of the Michigan national forest.
“Mr. Chairman,” said Mr. Fordney, “I’d just like to inquire of the chairman of the committee where that forest is located.”
Chairman Lever confessed his ignorance, and no one else could enlighten the Michigan man.
The item was left in the bill, however, for fear the forest might be discovered and left without provision.
Figure Seven His Lucky Number.
Calvin Ross, real-estate dealer, of Shelbyville, Ind., has just celebrated his seventy-seventh birthday. Referring to his anniversary, Ross said: “I was born at seven p. m. on the seventh day of the week and the twenty-seventh day of the month in 1837. I was the seventh son and the seventh and last child of my family.”
He is convinced that he will live to be eighty-seven years old. He says he has never been sick a day in his life.
Poor Man Proves Right to Patent.
After having been scoffed at for years while he struggled to achieve his ambition and never once lost hope, Albert S. Janin has been declared inventor of the hydroaëroplane, or flying boat.
The decision was given against Glenn H. Curtiss, the famous aëroplane builder, who had heretofore been credited with the creation of the hydroaëroplane, by the examiners in chief of the patent office in Washington, the appeal board in all questions of patents.
Janin, a poor carpenter, living in a suburb of New York City, has for years skimped his wife and seven children in the necessities of their daily life, for the sake of carrying out his idea. He lost friends on account of it; they pointed to their heads as he passed and said “wheels.” The neighbors and the capitalists whom he tried to persuade to finance his dream repeatedly told him he was going crazy.
“It all came from the flying fishes and the sea gulls,” said Janin. “I was what is called a cadet representing the government on a mail ship in 1899. I was detailed to a steamer running down South and used to stand on the bridge and watch the flying fish rise in an arc from the surface of the sea. I used to say: ‘If a fish can do that, I can make a machine do the same stunt.’ That’s why I got the idea of the water machine first, while the others worked on the land-machine idea.
“The notion about warping the wings I got from the sea gulls that were always sailing around us. So I began to make drawings of flying boats. Right away my friends said: ‘Crazy.’”
The difficulties through which Janin has made his way are hinted at in the decision of the examiners in chief. Here, for example, is an excerpt from their report:
“Following the date of his conception—of the invention—Janin made drawings, and in 1909 attempted to build a full-sized device himself. He, however, was a poor man, evidently struggling to meet his current living expenses.
“From what his witnesses testify it is apparent that he was continually striving to raise funds to develop his ideas, which were regarded by many as illusionary.”
Without the help of any one, and with no encouragement except the sympathy of his wife, Janin persisted in completing his invention. The value of the aid given him by Mrs. Janin can only be guessed from the few words he said of her.
“Everybody laughed at me except the family. They were game. My wife was a sticker, even when there was sickness in the family, and a lot of troubles that I won’t tell about. She believed in me all the way.”
Finally, in January, 1911, Janin made application for a patent on his design for the flying boat. August 22d of the same year Glenn H. Curtiss applied for a patent on the same “counts.” The examiner in the patent office gave the patent to Curtiss. Now that Janin has won on his appeal to the examiners in chief, he will get a royalty on the flying boats which will make him rich.
Warns of Boiler Danger.
There are over 500 boiler explosions in North America every year. The records show that many of them are accompanied by fatalities. A little invention which promises to do much toward preventing such accidents has just been completed and patented by two Canadian engineers, John J. Oglivie and Fred F. Dier, of Ottawa. It is called an “electric-signal water column.”
As the name implies, the invention is a column to be attached to the boiler, answering the purpose of a water glass. By an ingenious electric apparatus, the height of the water is recorded by means of small glow lamps. As the water rises or falls, so the lamps at a corresponding position are lighted or extinguished. Should the water fall below the safety level, the next lamp below is a red one, and as soon as the water reaches the level of this, the red globe shines forth and an electrical alarm rings. The tube in which the water rises and falls is cast iron, three inches in diameter, which eliminates any possibility of it becoming clogged and thus registering a false level of water, which has happened in ordinary gauges.
A useful attachment to the water gauge on the boiler is an indication board, a duplicate of the one on the boiler, which may be installed in any part of the building where a steam boiler is run. Thus a superintendent is constantly aware of the state of a boiler, as the same lamps, globes, and alarm are used. The water column is made for use on locomotives, ships, water tanks, or any mechanism where water levels have to be registered.
“The device is a fuel and labor saver as well as a life saver. It has met with the approval of many of our boiler inspectors,” writes Oglivie, who is chief engineer of the department of mines at Ottawa.
Catches Chickens With Net.
Lewis Johnson, a young man who lives on his uncle’s farm near Troutdale, Ore., has invented a novel contrivance wherewith to catch timid chickens without the customary breakneck chase. Lewis was commissioned to catch the fowls for several large dinners, and it required a deal of chasing. He now has a neatly woven net, a fishnet in resemblance, round in shape, borders lined with auto drive chain, and a long rope attached to the middle of the net.
The net is compact and looks small enough, but when released by throwing, much as a lasso is thrown, it spreads out uniformly to a nine-foot circle. The spreading is automatic and the fall swift, so there is little chance for the fowl to escape.
Spoon in Two Parts.
The germless spoon is to be added to the individual drinking cups, pie plates, napkins, and other “use-once” devices. In a lunch place where people are fed by hundreds, a spoon is thrust into a large number of mouths during the course of its career, and should it be indifferently cleaned, it would afford a playground for millions of germs, according to the experts who study such things. The “germless spoon” has a new bowl for every use. Only the handle is used more than once. The bowl is of paper or compressed fiber. Means is provided for locking the two parts together for use, after which the bowl is destroyed and the handle goes to the kitchen for a bath.
HOW HE QUIT TOBACCO
This veteran, S. B. Lamphere, was addicted to the excessive use of tobacco for many years. He wanted to quit but needed something to help him.
He learned of a free book that tells about tobacco habit and how to conquer it quickly, easily and safely. In a recent letter he writes: “I have no desire for tobacco any more. I feel like a new man.”
Anyone desiring a copy of this book on tobacco habit, smoking and chewing, can get it free, postpaid, by writing to Edward J. Woods, 230 H, Station E, New York City. You will be surprised and pleased. Look for quieter nerves, stronger heart, better digestion, improved eyesight, increased vigor, longer life and other advantages if you quit poisoning yourself.
“THE MAGAZINE WITH A PUNCH”
TIPTOP SEMI-MONTHLY
IT STANDS ALONE
IF you like rattling good stories about sport, adventure, and about almost everything in this interesting world, read TIPTOP SEMI-MONTHLY. It is a magazine with a definite purpose. That purpose is to publish a semi-monthly magazine that will be read by every youth, and will be welcomed by fathers and mothers, and by sisters, too.
CLEAN—BRACING—GRIPPING
Buy TIPTOP SEMI-MONTHLY, and you will vow that you never got so much for ten cents. Why? Because it is written, edited, and published for you, exacting reader. And each issue will be better than the one that went before.
Price Ten Cents
Issued on the tenth and twenty-fifth of each month
The Nick Carter Stories
ISSUED EVERY SATURDAY BEAUTIFUL COLORED COVERS
When it comes to detective stories worth while, the Nick Carter Stories contain the only ones that should be considered. They are not overdrawn tales of bloodshed. They rather show the working of one of the finest minds ever conceived by a writer. The name of Nick Carter is familiar all over the world, for the stories of his adventures may be read in twenty languages. No other stories have withstood the severe test of time so well as those contained in the Nick Carter Stories. It proves conclusively that they are the best. We give herewith a list of some of the back numbers in print. You can have your news dealer order them, or they will be sent direct by the publishers to any address upon receipt of the price in money or postage stamps.
704—Written in Red.
707—Rogues of the Air.
709—The Bolt from the Blue.
710—The Stockbridge Affair.
711—A Secret from the Past.
712—Playing the Last Hand.
713—A Slick Article.
714—The Taxicab Riddle.
715—The Knife Thrower.
717—The Master Rogue’s Alibi.
719—The Dead Letter.
720—The Allerton Millions.
728—The Mummy’s Head.
729—The Statue Clue.
730—The Torn Card.
731—Under Desperation’s Spur.
732—The Connecting Link.
733—The Abduction Syndicate.
736—The Toils of a Siren.
737—The Mark of a Circle.
738—A Plot Within a Plot.
739—The Dead Accomplice.
741—The Green Scarab.
743—A Shot in the Dark.
746—The Secret Entrance.
747—The Cavern Mystery.
748—The Disappearing Fortune.
749—A Voice from the Past.
752—The Spider’s Web.
753—The Man With a Crutch.
754—The Rajah’s Regalia.
755—Saved from Death.
756—The Man Inside.
757—Out for Vengeance.
758—The Poisons of Exili.
759—The Antique Vial.
760—The House of Slumber.
761—A Double Identity.
762—“The Mocker’s” Stratagem.
763—The Man that Came Back.
764—The Tracks in the Snow.
765—The Babbington Case.
766—The Masters of Millions.
767—The Blue Stain.
768—The Lost Clew.
770—The Turn of a Card.
771—A Message in the Dust.
772—A Royal Flush.
774—The Great Buddha Beryl.
775—The Vanishing Heiress.
776—The Unfinished Letter.
777—A Difficult Trail.
778—A Six-word Puzzle.
782—A Woman’s Stratagem.
783—The Cliff Castle Affair.
784—A Prisoner of the Tomb.
785—A Resourceful Foe.
786—The Heir of Dr. Quartz.
787—Dr. Quartz, the Second.
789—The Great Hotel Tragedies.
790—Zanoni, the Witch.
791—A Vengeful Sorceress.
794—Doctor Quartz’s Last Play.
795—Zanoni, the Transfigured.
796—The Lure of Gold.
797—The Man With a Chest.
798—A Shadowed Life.
799—The Secret Agent.
800—A Plot for a Crown.
801—The Red Button.
802—Up Against It.
803—The Gold Certificate.
804—Jack Wise’s Hurry Call.
805—Nick Carter’s Ocean Chase.
806—Nick Carter and the Broken Dagger.
807—Nick Carter’s Advertisement.
808—The Kregoff Necklace.
809—The Footprints on the Rug.
810—The Copper Cylinder.
811—Nick Carter and the Nihilists.
812—Nick Carter and the Convict Gang.
813—Nick Carter and the Guilty Governor.
814—The Triangled Coin.
815—Ninety-nine—and One.
816—Coin Number 77.
817—In the Canadian Wilds.
818—The Niagara Smugglers.
819—The Man Hunt.
NEW SERIES
NICK CARTER STORIES
1—The Man from Nowhere.
2—The Face at the Window.
3—A Fight for a Million.
4—Nick Carter’s Land Office.
5—Nick Carter and the Professor.
6—Nick Carter as a Mill Hand.
7—A Single Clew.
8—The Emerald Snake.
9—The Currie Outfit.
10—Nick Carter and the Kidnapped Heiress.
11—Nick Carter Strikes Oil.
12—Nick Carter’s Hunt for a Treasure.
13—A Mystery of the Highway.
14—The Silent Passenger.
15—Jack Dreen’s Secret.
16—Nick Carter’s Pipe Line Case.
17—Nick Carter and the Gold Thieves.
18—Nick Carter’s Auto Chase.
19—The Corrigan Inheritance.
20—The Keen Eye of Denton.
21—The Spider’s Parlor.
22—Nick Carter’s Quick Guess.
23—Nick Carter and the Murderess.
24—Nick Carter and the Pay Car.
25—The Stolen Antique.
26—The Crook League.
27—An English Cracksman.
28—Nick Carter’s Still Hunt.
29—Nick Carter’s Electric Shock.
30—Nick Carter and the Stolen Duchess.
31—The Purple Spot.
32—The Stolen Groom.
33—The Inverted Cross.
34—Nick Carter and Keno McCall.
35—Nick Carter’s Death Trap.
36—Nick Carter’s Siamese Puzzle.
37—The Man Outside.
38—The Death Chamber.
39—The Wind and the Wire.
40—Nick Carter’s Three Cornered Chase
41—Dazaar, the Arch-Fiend.
42—The Queen of the Seven.
43—Crossed Wires.
44—A Crimson Clew.
45—The Third Man.
46—The Sign of the Dagger.
47—The Devil Worshipers.
48—The Cross of Daggers.
49—At Risk of Life.
50—The Deeper Game.
51—The Code Message.
52—The Last of the Seven.
53—Ten-Ichi, the Wonderful.
54—The Secret Order of Associated Crooks.
55—The Golden Hair Clew.
56—Back From the Dead.
57—Through Dark Ways.
58—When Aces Were Trumps.
59—The Gambler’s Last Hand.
60—The Murder at Linden Fells.
61—A Game for Millions.
62—Under Cover.
63—The Last Call.
64—Mercedes Danton’s Double.
65—The Millionaire’s Nemesis.
66—A Princess of the Underworld.
67—The Crook’s Blind.
68—The Fatal Hour.
69—Blood Money.
70—A Queen of Her Kind.
71—Isabel Benton’s Trump Card.
72—A Princess of Hades.
73—A Prince of Plotters.
74—The Crook’s Double.
75—For Life and Honor.
76—A Compact With Dazaar.
77—In the Shadow of Dazaar.
78—The Crime of a Money King.
79—Birds of Prey.
80—The Unknown Dead.
81—The Severed Hand.
82—The Terrible Game of Millions.
83—A Dead Man’s Power.
84—The Secrets of an Old House.
85—The Wolf Within.
86—The Yellow Coupon.
87—In the Toils.
88—The Stolen Radium.
89—A Crime in Paradise.
90—Behind Prison Bars.
91—The Blind Man’s Daughter.
92—On the Brink of Ruin.
93—Letter of Fire.
94—The $100,000 Kiss.
95—Outlaws of the Militia.
96—The Opium-Runners.
97—In Record Time.
98—The Wag-Nuk Clew.
99—The Middle Link.
100—The Crystal Maze.
101—A New Serpent in Eden.
102—The Auburn Sensation.
103—A Dying Chance.
104—The Gargoni Girdle.
105—Twice in Jeopardy.
106—The Ghost Launch.
107—Up in the Air.
108—The Girl Prisoner.
109—The Red Plague.
110—The Arson Trust.
111—The King of the Firebugs.
112—“Lifter’s” of the Lofts.
113—French Jimmie and His Forty Thieves.
114—The Death Plot.
115—The Evil Formula.
116—The Blue Button.
117—The Deadly Parallel.
118—The Vivisectionists.
119—The Stolen Brain.
120—An Uncanny Revenge.
121—The Call of Death.
122—The Suicide.
123—Half a Million Ransom.
124—The Girl Kidnapper.
125—The Pirate Yacht.
126—The Crime of the White Hand.
127—Found in the Jungle.
128—Six Men in a Loop. Dated February 27th, 1915.
129—The Jewels of Wat Chang. Dated March 6th, 1913.
130—The Crime in the Tower. Dated March 13th, 1915.
131—The Fatal Message. Dated March 20th, 1915.
132—Broken Bars.
PRICE, FIVE CENTS PER COPY. If you want any back numbers of our weeklies and cannot procure them from your news dealer, they can be obtained direct from this office. Postage stamps taken the same as money.
STREET & SMITH, Publishers, 79-89 Seventh Ave., NEW YORK CITY