One of the most powerful as well as one of the most interesting automobile lawn mowers which have been placed in service in the United States is that which has lately been constructed for the national govern ment for use on the grounds of the United States Capitol at Washington, one of the largest lawns in the world. The new motor not only exerts a time·saving and labor-saving influence, but is proving an important factor in the work of beautifying the grounds, in asmuch as it has afforded a

more »

... ution for sev eral heretofore perplexing problems in the proper maintenance of so great an expanse. The new power lawn mower is a 15 horse power gasoline machine weighing approxi mately 2,000 pounds. It cuts a swath of 30 inches, but such is the speed at which it may be operated and the facility with which it may be handled that the new mower i� capable of doing the work of the two horse machines which it displaced, and this de spite the fact that tM latter cut a swath of 36 inches. As will readily be appreciated, the cutting blades of the motor mower may be brought, in action, much closer to walls and trees than was possible in the case of the horse machines, and some idea of the saving of work thus effected may be gained from the fact that whereas more than a dozen men with hand machines were form erly required to "clean up" after the large machines, less than half that force is now necessary. Scientific American merce and boards of trade of the principal maritime cities of the world, asking for advice as to the best methods to be pursued in order to obtain more satis factory results in a possible future competition. Many replies were received and many suggestions made. A report containing the various recommendations and suggested changes was submitted by the Intermaritime ploye is concerned, is that of brass pouring and cast ing. The noxious fumes-zinc oxide-exuded from the molten brass exercise a most prejudicial effect upon the constitution of the operators. Consumption, asthma, and ague are the most common maladies attributable to this poisoning, while the mortality among the work men is also very high. In Birmingham, the center of the brass casting and founding industry of Great Britain, brass casters sel. dom sur vive 55 years of age. Among the 2,000 men employed in this trade, there are not 'more than five alive to-day whose age exceeds 60 years. As a general rule, a brass caster is totally unfit for work by the time he is 50, since when he has attained that age, owing to the prolonged inhalation of the poisonous fumes, his system is so undermined that he has the appearance of a man ten years older. Legislation has considerably improved the unhealthy conditions under which the oper ator works, by insisting upon more extens ive ventilation and appliances for washing; but little good effect has thereby resulted in the minimizing of the injurious effects exercised upon the constitutions of the me· chanics. Brass casting consists in the main of four operations, viz., melting, molding, coring, and pouring. It is the last-mentioned pro· cess which is attended with the greatest danger. When the metal has been melted to the requisite point, the molds into which it is to be poured are . ranged against a settle in a slightly leaning pOSition. The caster lifts the pot with its liquid contents from the furnace by means of a pair of tongs, and rests it for a moment upon the ground to remove the dross from its surface by skimming, previous to pouring it into the mold. This accomplished, the pot is then placed on the settle, tilted forward, and the contents are thus poured slowly into the