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were more than $20,000. This was a sample of the experiences which fell to my lot as I circled the globe. My idea of selling goods outside the United States was an excellent one-and it was only twenty years late.”

Whereupon the president of The X Corporation arose and observed, with a smile: "Confession is good for the soul. My brother in trade is entitled to know that twenty years ago, when we first decided to make outlets for our product abroad, we found to our surprise that English manufacturers of our goods had started the business for us a century or so before!"

Such examples only go to show how few merchants realize what other foreign merchants have long ago realized: the value of foreign trade for increasing their production and for acting as a balance to their domestic trade.

There are businesses in the United States whose continued existence through such years of financial depression as 1907 and 1913 was due entirely to their customers in other countries. These exporters point to the margin of business safety which lies in sales in distant countries beyond the reach of any local depression. To many of these even such a tremendous upheaval as the European war is a business incident, for their markets are world-wide, and to compensate for losses sustained in warring countries there came increased demand from kingdoms and republics for which Europe was formerly the leading source of supply.

A far-seeing business pioneer, in turning his business over to his three sons, said: "Boys, I can retire now with the feeling that I have doubly insured the future of the property. By you I have insured its intelligent handling, and your training has included the training of others, so that the brains of the business are certain to continue. By dividing our sales so that our goods are in demand in every city in the world with a population. of 300,000 or more and naturally in many smaller cities, I have insured the business against domestic panic or sudden change in domestic tastes. Regardless of the profit derived, foreign trade is worth

while as a balance wheel and safety valve combined."

Nor is this an isolated example. There are many such cases. There is a firm in San Francisco which now runs its plant full time the entire year, instead of closing down in both winter and summer, because of its extra export business. A Newark manufacturer can testify to the reduced costs of production through expensive machinery paid for by his foreign profits. A Pennsylvania maker of men's wear claims that an additional 2 per cent. dividend on his domestic sales came through an idea given him by a demand for a certain novelty of French origin which he learned of by its advance production for the Chilean trade.

Twelve years ago a small town in New Hampshire found its apple crop without buyers and the fruit rotted on the ground. Five years later, when other towns were having the same experience, apples from this town were selling at six cents apiece in every leading city in England. To-day these apples are seldom seen in domestic markets, for higher prices and comparative freedom from competition in selected foreign cities have absorbed its crop.

In a Massachusetts town a manufacturer of knitted goods surprised the government buyers of the warring nations by refusing to consider their offers. They told him that they preferred his products, which were already known in every European country, and that they were willing to pay a high price because of the proved qualities of the goods under conditions which they would meet. His reply might well be taken to heart by many who falsely assume that in selling war munitions abroad they have become exporters.

"For twelve years," he told them, "my modest mills have been supported by my export customers. To these my annual profit is due and to them are dedicated my 1914, 1915, and future outputs, not alone as a tribute to their loyalty to my goods but because my business judgment tells me not to lose a certain future by alliance with a present profit which leads only to immediate dollars."

That man is not only a good exporter: he is also a good business man.

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By a system of bright lights the semaphore, with its arms by day and colored lights by night, has been eliminated

[graphic]

A NOVEL METHOD OF DETECTING FOREST FIRES

By the use of a hydro-aeroplane, from which a wide range of forest can be inspected daily

new signals is the substitution, for day and night use alike, of brilliant white electric lights, showing sharply against a black background, for the moving arms of the semaphore, now used by day, and the colored lights in use at night. All moving parts of the signal are eliminated, which not only reduces to a minimum the chance of it getting out of order, but also lessens the cost of installation and main

A NEW KIND OF MOTOR-CYCLE With the motive power mounted on the front wheel to distribute the weight more evenly

tenance. With these signals the engineers of locomotives are guided by the same code every hour of the twenty-four, with corresponding reduction of the chance of error, and the necessity of distinguishing different colors is obviated.

All positions of the semaphore armshorizontal, diagonal, and vertical-are duplicated in the new signals by the rows of electric lights. Every signal has a sufficient number of rows of lights to be the equivalent of two semaphore arms.

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A

AN AEROPLANE TO DETECT
FOREST FIRES

NEW method of detecting and locat

ing forest fires has recently been devised in Wisconsin by the state forester, Mr. F. B. Moody, the head ranger, Mr. E. M. Weaver, and an aviator, Mr. L. A. Vilas. Mr. Vilas flies over the forests almost every day in search of fires, usually accompanied by the state forester or the head ranger. A "flying boat" is used, which enables them to land on either the lakes and rivers or the open spaces of the forest. The usefulness of this method in fighting forest fires has been demonstrated in many instances. A wide range of forest can thus be inspected in a short time, and the work of extinguishing a fire can be begun immediately after detection,

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A construction company keeps track of its equipment by means of models kept in its main office

A MOTOR-CYCLE DRIVEN BY ITS of the equipment. Four mahogany dis

FRONT WHEEL

THE placing of the motive power on

the front wheel of a motor-cycle is a scheme that was recently conceived. The front wheel is made to bear the entire weight of the motor, while the rider's weight rests largely on the rear wheel, which makes possible a more equal distribution of weight than in the ordinary type of motor-cycle. The brake is applied to the rear wheel. As the frame of the motor-cycle is connected to the front wheel only by flexible springs and fork sides, there is but little motor vibration communicated to the rider. The fuel tank, which has a capacity sufficient for one hundred miles, is carried on the handle bars. Another advantage is that the only portion of the machine that is liable to become oily is the front wheel, with which the rider does not come in contact.

AN

LOCATING EQUIPMENT

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N INGENIOUS and comprehensive system of keeping track of equipment located at numerous and widely scattered places is being used by a marine construction company in Chicago. The system. consists of the use of models placed in glass-covered display cases, arranged to show the character, location, and condition

SUPPLANTING THE SLIDE-RULE

A new device for obtaining logarithms instantly, which multiplies, divides, and gives powers and roots

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Its quick application and release combined with its accessibility make it preferable to the out-ofreach wheel type of brake heretofore employed on freight cars

units as machine shops, concrete-pile plants, coal docks, quarries, etc., the location of which is permanent.

The models are grouped upon sheets of cardboard of three colors. Those placed on a white card indicate a plant that is working; a plant that is idle is placed on a green card, and a salmon-colored card indicates a plant under repair. On the green and salmon-colored cards are placed small easels, each bearing a card lettered "idle" or "equipment undergoing repair," and each piece of equipment undergoing repairs also carries an "Authority for Expenditure" card. A red card, called a "danger signal" is used to represent work awarded but not yet started. As soon as work is started the red card is replaced by a white one.

A RAPID COMPUTER

ENGINEERS and other men engaged in technical pursuits have had, heretofore, to use the slide-rule for multiplication and division. For accurate calculations they were compelled to use logarithms or long-hand work. A new device for multiplying and dividing has been introduced. to assist in this work.

It consists of a slide and a dial engraved with number scales. The slide gives three-place answers, and the dial gives five-place answers. Each may be used alone the slide coöperating with the

dial. The slide points to the precise answer, checks it, and locates its decimal point. To multiply and divide any series of numbers it is necessary only to set each number in succession under a reading line in the slot. When the last number has been set the answer is read. Powers, roots, and complex proportions may also be solved by this computer. Its use requires no knowledge of mathematics or logarithms, but it reads directly five-place logarithms and anti-logarithms.

The instrument is 8 inches in diameter, is framed in aluminum, and weighs less than a pound.

A NEW TYPE OF BRAKE FOR RAILROAD CARS

THE type of brake shown in the ac

companying photograph was designed primarily for use on the various kinds of freight cars. That it can quickly be applied and released makes it a desirable device in view of the increasing weight and loading of railroad equipment. The inventor believes that it will greatly lessen damage to cars in switch yards, for it can be seen at a considerable distance whether the brake is set or released, which is not the case with the ordinary type of wheel brake. Also, the amount of force that is required to set or release this brake is not as great as is required when a wheel brake is used.

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