The Mexican government has appropriated $25,000,000 for irrigation work.
** How to Hang Your Hat on a Lead Pencil [133]
Take a smooth hexagon lead pencil, one without either rubber or metal end, and place it against a door or window casing; then with a firm, heavy pressure slide the pencil some 3 or 4 in. and it will stay as if glued to the casing. You may now hang your hat on the end of the pencil.
When you slide the pencil along the casing, do it without any apparent effort, and it will appear to your audience as though you had hypnotized it. This is a very neat trick if performed right. Figure 1 shows the pencil on the casing and Fig. 2 the hat hanging on it.
One of the most prominent English football clubs kept the tying of this knot on the rubber hose of their football a secret and never allowed all of its members to know how it was tied. This tie can be used on grain sacks, and in numerous other like instances. Make one loop in the cord and then another exactly the same way, as
shown in Fig. 1, placing the end of the cord under the first loop, then pulling at each end of the cord as in Fig. 2.--A.E.J.
Stove polish consists of 2 parts graphite, 4 parts copperas and 2 parts bone black, mixed with water to form a paste.
** How to Give an Electric Shock While Shaking Hands [133]
There is nothing quite so startling as to receive an electric shock unexpectedly and such a shock may be given to a friend while shaking hands upon meeting. The shock produced is not harmful and the apparatus can be carried in the pocket. It consists of a small induction coil that can be constructed at home.
The core of the coil, A, Fig. 1, is constructed in the usual manner, of small soft-iron wire to make a bundle about 3/16 in. in diameter and 2 in. long. The coil ends are made from cardboard, about 1 in. in diameter, with a 3/16-in. hole in the center. The hole
[Illustration: Details of Induction Coil]
should be cut as shown in Fig. 2, so as to have four small pieces that can be bent out, leaving the projections as shown. After wrapping three or four turns of paper around the bundle of wires the cardboard ends are put on with the projections inside, so the coils of wire will hold them in place. About 70 turns of No. 24 gauge double covered magnet wire is first placed on the core, for the primary, and then 1,500 turns of No. 32 or 34 gauge double-covered wire is wrapped on top of the primary, for the secondary. Sufficient length of wire must be left outside at each end of both windings to make connections. The vibrator B, Fig. 1, and the support C are made from thin spring steel, about 1/8 in. wide, bent as shown and securely fastened to the cardboard end of the coil. The armature is made from a soft piece of iron, about 3/16 in. in diameter and 1/16 in. thick, which is soldered to the end of the vibrator directly opposite the end of the core. A small screw is fitted in the end of the support, C, for adjustment, which should be tipped with platinum and also a small piece of platinum placed where the screw will touch the vibrator, B.