The Wonder Book Of Knowledge Part 24

Of the same manufacture is the radiant grill shown in Fig. 14. This grill, you will note, is round, which particularly adapts it to the use of utensils ordinarily found in the kitchen of the average home. You will note that there are two dishes to this grill, a top dish with a broiling grid, to be used underneath the coils for broiling chops, and a shallower dish to be used above the coils for frying operations. There is furnished also a reflector which is so designed that it serves equally well as a cover for either dish and makes a very choice griddle for baking hot cakes.

While this particular grill is furnished with a wattage providing for operation from a lamp-socket, it is of the three-heat style already spoken of as so desirable in appliances of this character. A companion grill to this is of the same design, excepting that it is furnished in single heat only and lists at a somewhat lower price.

You will remember that in explaining the many advantages of the open-coil type of burner, it was stated as one of these that the housewife could use cooking utensils ordinarily found in the home, and because of this peculiar adaptability the round grills here spoken of and ill.u.s.trated are having an exceedingly large sale. These open-coil grills are also very efficient as toasters, the bread being placed on top of the grating, which protects the coils from injury. Where only chops, toast, and coffee are to be had for breakfast, chops can be prepared below the coils, the toast above, while the coffee gurgle-gurgles in the percolator.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 16.--ELECTRIC CHAFING DISHES]

Some people who have not felt any need of a grill have desired an open-coil stove, and of this same general type of manufacture there is the open-coil radiant stove herewith ill.u.s.trated (Fig. 15). It is equipped with the same kind of a burner or element with a reflector underneath, and can be used very efficiently with ordinary cooking utensils and is also very serviceable as a toaster. Using this stove in combination with the ovenette, which will be ill.u.s.trated further on, the owner is provided with a table range which meets most of the requirements in a small family.

A line of cooking utensils would not be complete without suitable designs of chafing dishes, and these are made in several styles, both with and without heating elements, the latter being used on the disc and open-coil stoves already ill.u.s.trated, while the former contains a heating element very much along the lines of the percolator. These are furnished, as you will note from the ill.u.s.tration (Fig. 16), with suitable cooking pans for the preparation of chafing-dish dainties.

Baking and Roasting.

It is only natural to suppose that manufacturers of electric stoves of both light and heavy duty should next turn their attention to ovens, since oven cooking is even primary to cooking that is done on open burners and is now coming to be even of more importance. The first oven herewith shown (Fig. 17) is of the lamp-socket type, equipped with three heats, providing a very efficient oven for small operations. The second one ill.u.s.trated (Fig. 18) is of standard size and accommodates a quant.i.ty of food equal to that of any large range oven. It is provided with a heavy wattage and therefore requires special wiring.

To meet the requirements of the many families in which such a small amount of baking is done, and to cater particularly to apartment-house dwellers, the manufacturers of the line of radiant stoves described and ill.u.s.trated have brought forth a small cylindrical oven called the ovenette. This little oven fits either the radiant stove or the round radiant grill. It is made of pressed steel and finished in highly polished nickel. This ovenette, in combination with either the radiant stove or the round radiant grill, provides complete cooking equipment upon which an entire meal can be prepared, whether it be heating rolls and preparing crisp bacon or chops for breakfast, or baking a roast, a loaf cake or even bread for the dinner. It will bake pies, cake, biscuit, potatoes, roast meats, etc., up to its capacity, at a less current cost than is possible with the larger oven and in less time.

This ovenette has what is called a middle ring, which makes it adjustable to two sizes when large or small quant.i.ties of food are to be prepared.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 17.--ELECTRIC LAMP-SOCKET OVEN]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 18.--ELECTRIC STANDARD OVEN]

So you see, the woman of today who utilizes current furnished through the light socket, can bring to her command genii as wonderful as those at the command of Aladdin when he stroked the wonderful lamp. Her household duties are made easier. There is far less preparatory work and she is able to place her home on a much more efficient basis than with ordinary methods.

The home electrical is not complete without containing at least some of the electrical appliances which have been designed for the purpose of alleviating pain. One of these is an electric heating pad made of steel units, so hinged as to make the appliance sufficiently flexible to be wrapped around an arm or limb and to conform to the curves of the body.

The other is a pad made of aluminum which is concave on one side and convex on the other and may be used in a wet pack. Each of these heating pads is covered with a high-grade cover of eiderdown which provides a soft contact for the skin.

Perhaps next in importance along this line of electrical appliances is the small immersion heater shown in Fig. 19, and which requires so little s.p.a.ce that it can be easily carried even in a woman's handbag.

This style of heater will quickly heat a gla.s.s of water by simply immersing the heater in the water. This device is very extensively used by mothers in heating milk for the baby, by men in heating water for shaving, and by doctors and dentists who require small quant.i.ties of hot water for sterilizing and other uses.

One thing most desirable in connection with practically all of the lamp-socket appliances described and ill.u.s.trated in this section is the very small cost of operation. Lighting companies have so reduced the cost of current within the last two or three years that a breakfast may now be prepared electrically for not more than a couple of cents, while one of the pads may be used an entire night at a cost of less than one cent in soothing rheumatic pains or in driving away the chill for outdoor sleepers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ELECTRIC ALUMINUM COMFO]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 19.--ELECTRIC IMMERSION HEATER]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ELECTRIC FLEXIBLE COMFO (Metal)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 20.--ELECTRIC VACUUM CLEANER]

But one of the hardest domestic tasks is that of keeping the house clean. To obviate the difficulties encountered in this connection and to make the home sanitary, electric vacuum cleaners are provided by several manufacturers, a very recent acceptable type being ill.u.s.trated in Fig.

20. This type of vacuum cleaner, which is reasonable in price, is made of steel and finished in very highly polished nickel. It operates from any light socket and consumes but a very small amount of current, much less than is consumed by a toaster. It can also be purchased with different attachments with which curtains, radiators, clothes and walls may be cleaned. The possession in the home of one of these vacuum cleaners makes it unnecessary to take up rugs, carpets, tear down curtains and go through the semi-annual worry, wear and tear of house cleaning. The vacuum cleaner will do it better and many times quicker without removing a single article of furniture or disturbing a rug or curtain; and instead of scattering the dust-laden germs in the air, to be drawn into the nostrils and lungs of the family, the cleaner sucks them up into a dust-tight bag from which they can be deposited on a paper and burned.

The evolution in cooking and heating appliances for the home in the last ten years has indeed been rapid, but it is very recently indeed that the housewife has been able to satisfy the longing and the desire that has kept getting stronger from day to day, since first she began to use electric cooking appliances. She has been dreaming of that which would make her kitchen a domestic-science laboratory, and her dream can come true because now she can purchase an electric range patterned in general style after the more acceptable gas or other fuel ranges, but infinitely more efficient.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 21.--ELECTRIC RANGE]

The particular type of range herewith ill.u.s.trated (Fig. 21) uses a burner of the open-coil type, both for the surface burners and for the oven. The ovens are highly insulated with a thick packing of best grade mineral wool, which reduces air leakage to a minimum and retains the heat generated for a long period. Many cooking operations which are performed in ordinary ovens with the burners on, can be prepared in this particular style of oven by using stored heat for the last half of the operation. The range is simplicity itself in operation. Each burner is operated by an indicating snap switch which has three separate heats, full, medium and low; medium being one-half of full and low one-half of medium. There are no matches; there is no danger from fire. There is no vitiated, foul air because of noxious gases from ordinary cooking stoves. There is no soot or grime, no ashes, no wood or coal to carry; there are fewer steps; there is less watching of the range; practically none at all, because when a burner is turned to medium, for instance, you know that you have a certain degree of heat for just as long as the switch is in that position. Results are eminently satisfactory and there is a sufficient saving in the weights and the nutritive value of foods cooked, especially in the oven, to make the electric range indeed a most desirable and economical addition to any home.

Today, the housewife, whether the provider of the home be a laborer or a merchant prince, can, with a simple touch of the b.u.t.ton or a snap of the switch, bring to her immediate command, and subservient to her wishes, that subtle something which came in the snowflake, and which, while invisible, yet provides the greatest boon to mankind--electricity.

Why is there Always a Soft Spot in a Cocoanut Sh.e.l.l?

A cocoanut sh.e.l.l always has a soft spot at one end because this is the provision nature has made to allow the embryo of the future tree to push its way out of the hard sh.e.l.l.

Cocoanuts, as most of us know, have a thick, hard sh.e.l.l, with three black scars at one end. The soft scar may easily be pierced with a pin; the others are as hard as the rest of the sh.e.l.l. Outside of this hard sh.e.l.l we are accustomed to seeing another covering of considerable thickness, of an extremely fibrous substance. When cocoanuts are picked, however, they have still another covering-an outer rind which has a smooth surface.

The tree which produces the cocoanut is a palm, from sixty to a hundred feet high. The trunk is straight and naked, and surmounted by a crown of feather-like leaves. The nuts hang from the summit of the tree in cl.u.s.ters of a dozen or more together.

Food, clothing and the means of shelter and protection are all afforded by the cocoanut tree. The kernels are used as food in a number of different forms, and when pressed, they yield an oil which is largely used in candle making and in the manufacture of soaps. When they are dried before the oil is pressed out they are known as "copra."

We have given the name "milk" to the sweet and watery liquid, of a whitish color, which is inclosed in considerable quant.i.ty in the kernel.

By boring the tree itself, a white, sweetish liquid called "toddy"

exudes from the wound. This yields one of the varieties of the spirit called "arack" when distilled. A kind of a sugar called "jaggery" is also obtained from the cocoanut juice.

The fibrous coat of the nut is made into a preparation called "cellulose," which is described in another story in this book, and also into the well-known cocoanut matting. The coa.r.s.e yarn obtained from it is called "coir," and it is also used for cordage. The hard sh.e.l.l of the nut is polished and made into cups and other domestic utensils. The fronds are wrought into baskets, brooms, mats, sacks and many other useful articles; and the trunks are made into boats, and furnish timber for the construction of houses. Altogether the cocoanut palm will be seen to be a very useful member of the plant kingdom.

How does a Gasoline Motor Run an Electric Street Car?

A gasoline-electric railroad train was introduced in Germany in 1913. It comprises a power car and ten other cars, each of a five-ton capacity, which trail along behind. The power car carries two gasoline engines of a hundred and twenty-five horse-power each which drive a dynamo installed in the center. The current is transmitted to the electric motors, actuating each of the wheels of the power car and the trailers.

The General Electric Company has perfected a similar car for use on the suburban branches of street railroads in this country. Most of them are equipped with a two hundred horse-power gasoline engine directly connected to a dynamo from which power is generated and transmitted to the motors, which are located on the car axles. Cars of this type can be made of a larger seating capacity than is customary and can easily attain a speed of a mile a minute.

Gasoline engines offer great advantages over steam because of the absence of boilers, coal and ashes, and a much higher efficiency is obtainable, a consumption of one pint of gasoline per horse-power hour being good practice for well-designed motor engines and a total efficiency of from ten to thirty-five per cent of the energy in the fuel being available, as against one to twenty per cent for steam averages.

The utilization of the gasoline engine to generate electric power for surface cars, in instances where it is not practical to transmit energy from power stations, presents wonderful possibilities.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A SUBURBAN RAILWAY CAR OF THE GASOLINE-ELECTRIC TYPE]

How do "Carrier Pigeons" Carry Messages?

The real carrier pigeon is a large bird with long wings, a large tuberculated ma.s.s of naked skin at the base of the beak, and a circle of naked skin round the eyes, but the variety generally employed to carry messages more resembles an ordinary pigeon.

The practice of sending letters by pigeons belongs originally to Eastern countries, though in other countries it has often been adopted, more especially before the invention of the electric telegraph. An actual post-system in which pigeons were the messengers was established at Bagdad by the Sultan Nureddin Mahmud, who died in 1174, and lasted till 1258, when Bagdad fell into the hands of the Mongols and was destroyed by them.

These birds can be utilized in this way only in virtue of what is called their "homing" faculty or instinct, which enables them to find their way back home from surprising distances. But if they are taken to the place from which the message is to be sent and kept there too long, say over a fortnight, they will forget their home and not return to it. They are tried first with short distances, which are then gradually increased.

The missive may be fastened to the wing or the tail, and must be quite small and attached so as not to interfere with the bird's flight.

By the use of microphotography a long message may be conveyed in this way, and such were received by the besieged residents in Paris during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 the birds being conveyed out of the city in balloons.

Seventy-two miles in two and one-half hours, a hundred and eighty in four and one-half, have been accomplished by carrier pigeons. Large numbers of these birds are now kept in England, Belgium, France, etc., there being numerous pigeon clubs which hold pigeon races to test the speed of the birds. These pigeons are also kept in several European countries for military purposes.