How Shingles are Made.
In making shingles on a large scale the logs are first cut into blocks by what is termed the "band" saw. They are then taken to the "knee-bolter," where the bark and sap are cut off, making the blocks smooth on all sides. From the knee-bolter they are carried to the "power-feed machine," where a piece is cut out at each movement that is the exact thickness of the shingle. They then drop into a "carrier," where they are transported to the "knot-sawyers," who cut out all knots and even up the edges. They are then packed into bunches, whence they are taken to the "dry kiln" to dry. Only the "red-cedar shingle" is manufactured in this (the southwestern) part of the State. Every bunch has to be weighed when taken from the dry kiln, after which it is loaded on cars and shipped to different parts of the United States. The average mill employs from twelve to twenty men.
Ruel M. Nims.
Cosmopolis, Wash.
Questions and Answers.
C. Arnold Kruckman, 1235 North Thirteenth Street, St. Louis, is a bright "Shut-in," and wants to join a literary club as a corresponding member, and to contribute to amateur papers. The N.A.P.A., dear Sir Arnold, is a national association of young persons who publish or contribute to amateur papers. It has a full set of officers, elected annually. Besides, there are, in close affiliation with the National Association, local or district associations, as the Pacific, the Maryland, the New England, etc., each having its own officers. Indeed, so many officers are there that one has to get pretty well into the "dom" in order to tell off-hand who is who, and where all belong. If you fail to hear from President Hancock of the National Association, write to Edgar R. Bauer, 3328 South Ninth Street, your city, to Fred W. Arnold, 3221 State Street, Chicago, or to Charles R. Burger, Colorado Springs, Col.
H. Barker asks how to make a strong but cheap battery to operate an electric bell. It is better to buy than to make a battery, because cheaper. You can get from Bonnell & Co., New York, a good cell for seventy-five cents that will last a long time, and it is what is called a "dry" battery, hence it does not overflow. If you must make one, you will find the "dry" kind expensive, so make a gravity one. Take a glass candy jar and put into the bottom some old copper, any shape. To it attach covered wire, leading out of the jar. Suspend about the middle a piece of zinc, and fasten to it a second wire. Pour lukewarm water in until the zinc is well covered, and drop into it a dozen bits of blue vitriol (sulphate of copper). Let stand for two or three days, cleaning the zinc with a brush daily. Lester L. Riley, 929 East Fifth Street, Dayton, O., wants to send to publishers of amateur papers some stories, poems, etc. Who wants them? W. Randall Sperlock, 3108 Imogene Avenue, Mt. Auburn, Cincinnati, O., is desirous of procuring a copy of Harper's Young People, No. 640, dated February 2, 1892. Who can sell it to him?