HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 1944-02-24, Page 6Sea. Water Undrinkable
+ " Mixture of Elements
How to "unscramble" sea water
chemically so that a drinkable, life-
sustaining liquid results, is one of
the latest discoveries stimulated by
war conditions -in this case by the
tragic plight of hundreds of mari—
ners. and fliers set adrift at sea,
many to die of thrist. A kit for
treating the sea water, developed by
scientists ofthe navy and other
agencies, will be placed in ships'
lifeboats and in the rubber rafts car-
ried by overseas airplanes.
From the point of view of drink-
ableness by man, sea water is just
water with an assortment of ill
tasting and poisonous chemicals. It
is a sort of "world soup" leached
and stewed from, the bony frame-
work of the earth through untold
geologic ages.
Almost every conceivable sub-
stance has been washed by gains
and rivers into the sea, but some
are there now in solution in tre-
mendously greater strength than
others. Of the 92 elements that
make up the earth anti everything
in. it, 49 have been found in sea
water. It is likely that traces of
many of the other 43 are there too.
The ease with which materials
dissolve is one important factor in
what is found .in the sea today.
Silicon (chief ingredient in sand),
aluminum, 'and •• iron are the three
most abundant solid elements in the
earth's crust; but because•they are
so hard to dissolve, sea water is'
practically free of them.
is
Fresh Fruits Will Yield
Good Juices for Canning
Those softer fruits which the
homemaker must discard for whole
fruit canning will give excellent
juice provided they are free from
bruises and decay and in no way
overripe.
You may use rhubarb, berries,
cherries, currants, plums, cranber-
ries, or grapes, preferably locally
grown. Fruits from your garden or
nearby farms are best for juices,
since freshness plays an important
role in all successful canning. Red
raspberries make an .especially fine
fruit juice that retains the fresh
fruit flavor over many months, even
though It may lose some color in
time. Wild berries,• if sufficiently
juicy, may be used and also the wild
Muscadine grape if itgrows id your
region.
To preserve the fruity taste, juice
for beverages should be extracted
from the raw or slightly heated fruit.''
Since apples and peaches do not give
up their juices readily when raw or
slightly heated, home economists do
not recommend them for' home -
canned beverage juice. '
Citrus juices are hard to put up
at home and take a good deal of
sugar. Chemists of the department
of. agriculture have found in . their
experiments that citrus juice packed
In glass and stored at room temper-
atures darkened and developed "off
flavors."
OId Man of Sea
The "Story of the Seven Voyages
of Sindbad of the. Sea , ' one of the
fabulous tales of the Arabian Nights,
recounts the strange adventures of
Sindbad. On his fifth voyage he met
on'ian+island an old man Who indi-
cated he wanted to be carried across
a stream. Sindbad lifted him to his
shouldera but While they crossed the
atrear& the gnarled old' fellow wound
bis; -legs around Sindbad's neck,
nearly choking him, and would not
get down. After carrying him for
many ' exhatistirfg days, Sindbad
made some grape wine and the old
man drank it until he became in-
toincated, whereupon Sindbad man-
aged t6 throw hint to 'the ground,
then struck him on the head with
a Mone until he died.
Later, passengers on a vessel told
Sindbad. "This old man who rode
Upon thy shotilders is called the Old
Man of the Sea,and no one was
ever beneath his limbs and escaped
from him• excepting thee."
Silk Worms Spin Cocoons
American -born silk worms reach
their maturity in a month, at which
time they get down to the serious
business of spinning their cocoons.
The worms will spin enough silk
within a few hours to conceal them-
selves from outside view,, and will
then continue to spin for several
days until the cocoon is completed.
Ten days or so later the silk worm
emerges as a moth and breaks
through the silken shell. Since the
moth possesses no chewing mecha-
nism it softens the cocoon by secret-
ing a solvent material and then
claws its way to the outside. Ordi-
narily these moths do not fly, be-
cause they have lost the use of their
wings through generations of domes-
tication.
Paraguay Rich, :Colorful
On June 11, 1811, Paraguay sep-
-arated and established• its independ-
ence. She waged a flue -year war
of horror against Argentina, Brazil
and Uruguay. Today Paraguay is
known for its beet products, hides,
cotton, tannin, oranges, tobacco and
vegetable oils. Yerba mate was first
grown here. Quebrachowood from
Paraguay's forests is important in
tanning hides. Itaugua lace, sheer
as cobwebs, is made by the Guarani
Indians. The lovely 'old city of
Asuncion, the remains of Jesuit'
temples, the beauty of the Parana
river, wild birds in the palm trees
of the Chaco region—these nare high-
lights in Paraguay. •
THE MINTON ' NEWS -RECORD
Ataturk Created Modern
Turkish State in 1923
Wave • after wave of invasion
washed over Turkey, left traces of
races and cultures, raised the politi-
cal framework known as the Otto-
man Empire, an internatioi;a1
patchwork that held together through
the first World war. The empire
included Balkan areas, Anatolia,
Arabia, Syria, Palestine, Mesopota-
mia, part of Armenia, Kurdistan,
and several islands in the Aegean
sea.
Bit by bit, the empire shrank.
Long wars, declarations of independ-
ence, and new political alignments
pared the sprawling domain of the
Sultan to its Turkish core. In 1923
a de facto government declared the
Sultan's regime out of step with the
will of the people, and proclaimed
a republic, content .with the heart
land inhabited by Turks.
Kemal Ataturk, nationalist.lead-
er,' was elected president of the new
republic. The capital was moved
from Istanbul on the seafront to
Ankara in the interior. The bud-
ding sovereignty of the 1leople was
delegated to the Grand National As-
sembly. Men and women could
vote, could hold office. The cali
phate—the country's religious front
-was abolished. Domains of church
and state "weresharply separated.
Religious teaching.' was barred from
the schools.
Change swept the couetry. The
Gregorian calendar was accepted.
European' numbers and a Latinized
alphabet were made official. Metric
weights and measures were legal-
ized. Compulsory education for. chil-
dren 7` to 16 years was another or-
der ofthe new day. Secondary
schools, teacher training; technical
instruction, university courses in the
arts, law and medicine defined the
educational trend.
Services Use Standard
Photo Exposure Meter
Unlike many instruments that
have been specially designed or re-
designed to meet the requirement's
of the army and navy, the exposure
meter now used for wartime pho-
tography is the same as was for-
merly produced for amateur and'
professional photographers.
Military uses for the exposure
meter are many and varied. For
example, drawings and valuable rec-
ords are photographed on microfilm
by an equipment into which an ex-
posure meter has been built as a
component part to assure maximum
accuracy in reproduction.
Aerial survey pictures of enemy
territory require exactly correct ex-
posure, not only in taking the -pho-
tographs, but also in printing them
as sections to be fitted together into
large area maps.
Aerial photography is also impor-
tant in carnouttage detection, and
every trick and skill known to pho-
tography is used by our flying cam-
eramen in this work. Camouflaged
positions not visible to the eye can
be made to stand out clearly by
using the proper flim and 'filter com-
binations. But ekriosure of the pic-
ture must be perfect.
Sideshow in Liberia
Along with her major attractions,
Nature puts •on ,a lively sideshow in
Liberia, Notable is the zebra ante-
lope, doomed to wear a prison garb
of broad black stripes over a bright
brown • coat. Other "sights" include
the pygmy hippopotamus; the Di-
ana monkey, with orange red thighs;
and a white -shouldered duiker, an-
other oddity in the antelope world.
Two species of Liberian shrew, a
molelike creature with velvety fur,
are peculiar to the country. A na-
tive edition of . the- dormouse can
play his part SS sleepily as his fa-
mous counterpart in Alice in Won-
derland. Exhibits of Mature in the
raw would also . include sevenspe-
cies of poisonous snakes, three va-
rieties of crocodile, the giant scor-
pion, and the big West African
python.
'Soapless Soaps'
"Soapless soaps" represent anoth-
er important contribution of the re-
search laboratory to ,our daily lives;
Starting with ordinary vegetable
and animal oils, the chemist makes
"fatty alcohols" which, in combina-
tion with sulfuric acid and other
chemicals, give us a class of com-
pounds known as "fatty alcohol=sul-
fates.
Although chemically quite differ-
ent from ordinary soap, certain
of the fatty alcohol sulfates are
the best "detergents" known. They
are similar to ordinary soap in
cleansing properties, but better in
that they work in hard water as
well as in soft water; Even with
briny ocean water they form billows
of foaming suds.
Tdrkey Dry Tableland
Turkey is a high, dry tableland
fringed with a fairly fertile coastal
belt. From the 'lofty mountains of
Armenia on the eastern frontier the
land levels off in .a series of prairie -
like` areas partitioned by treeless,
wind-swept ridges. Rivers live up
to their names only in spring. In
summer they go dry, trace their
courses • only as sun -baked streaks of
sticks and stones.
Uplands yield grain and grazing
for goats. Large-scale agriculture
prospers on the Aegean coast.; Fruit,
cotton and tobacco, take big slices
of acreage. East of the Straits and
the Sea of Marmara, Turkey is ai
rolling, grain - bearing plain„ ,a
"bread basket" for the nation.
Liberia, Hot and Humid,
• But Rich Garden Spot`,
Liberia, co-signer with the United
States of, a lend-lease agreement, is,
the only republic on the African con-
tinent. ;Situated on the continent
where it juts toward the "bulge" of
Brazil, Liberia is edged with coloni-
el domains of France and Great
Britain. Next door neighbors are
Sierra Leone, French Guinea and
the Ivory. Coast.
About the shape and size of Ten-
nessee, the "Land of Liberty" has
a population estimated at 1,000,000
to 1,500,006. Coastal areas ate low,
the hinterland rising to a plateau
and mountain heights. Climate is
hot, humid. Rainfall; heaviest from
May to September, averages 160 to
180 inches a , year. Malaria and
sleeping sickness are problems.
Because of its rich soil, Liberia
has been called the "Garden 'Spot
of West Africa." . Principal yields.
include coconuts, a good grade of
coffee, considerable quantities of
cocoa, cotton and rice. Tiede in
pepper — "Grains of Paradise" —
earned for Liberia the name of "The
Grain Coast." Goats, sheep and
cattle flnd ready pasturage. Gold
mining is important business. Irene,
ore is. a latent resource. Diamonds,
copper and zinc are other untapped
wealth.
Wright Brothers' Old Idea
- Finds New Favor Today
Wartime demand for high speed,
high altitude, ;highly' maneuverable
airplanes has turned the minds of
aviation designers back to an idea
the Wright brothers put into prac-
tice in their pioneeringdays—the
use of propellers rotating in oppo-
site directions.'
The modern dual rotation propel-
Ier, or contraprop, is mounted, on a
single engine hub, one prop behind
the other. The Wright brothers,
fearing that .the torque (twist) re-
action of the single propeller might
throw their primitive plane out of
control, used two props of opposite
pitch : mounted on each side of the
engine and driven in opposite direc-
tions by chain drives from the en-
gine crankshaft.
The more powerful engines of to-
day, developing, as much as 2,000
horsepower, have made torque elim-
ination imperative. Torque tends
to make an airplane roll in the oppo-
site direction from the rotation of
the propeller, and gyroscopic' reac-
tion additionally has a tendency to
force the plane in a direction at
right angles to its normal course.
Dual rotation propellers eliminate
both difficulties and much of the
strain on both the plane and the,
pilot, who now has to compensate
for the deviations by skillful guid-
ing of the plane.
Junglelike forests are hard to con-
vert to lumber. Forest products—
piassaba fiber, and palm kernels-
are . collected for export Annual
production of. rubber plantations,
worked under concession to Amer-
ican interests, has quadrupled the
yearly value of all other exports
combined..
Meal Made Appealing
, By Appearance of Food
Food prepared with thought for
appearance plays an important part
in 'giving a meal appetite appeal.
Colors, shapes, textures and flavors
deserve consideration. Contrast
lends interest and careful blending
of flavors can make interesting
dishes from commonplace foods.
Reds, greens, yellows and white
in various combinations are colors
which should guide the planning of
every menu when creamed meats
or meat salads, which are light in
color, are served. Vegetables should
provide color and contrast in tex-
ture.
For example, a crisp, mixed vege-
table salad or a green vegetable—
peas, broccoli, asparagus, a yellow'
—carrots or corn, or a red vegetable
—cabbage or beets, should be served
with a creamed meat dish. A touch
of green adds much to the appear-
ance of food—a sprig of parsley or
pieces of carrot tops can be used.
Spinach is a good basis for a
mixed vegetable salad, and can be
combined with other vegetables for,
budget salads. Thought should also
be given to the shape of fruits and
vegetables when planning a meal. .
Retrieve Sea's Treasures
Within the last decade science has
foundways to dip more deeply into
the sea's store of dissolved treas-
ures. First, in 1934, came the de-
velopment of a huge plant on a
North Carolina beach to extract bro-
mine from sea Water. Although
there are only 65 parts of bromine in
a million parts . of sea water, the
process has been successful and
thousands of tons of bromine are ex-
tracted each year. Most of it is used
in making anti -knock gasoline.
Most' spectacular operation in
"sea -mining" .is producing solid,
shiny magnesium metal from sea
water. To meet a greatly increased
War demand for magnesium for air-
plane construction (it is one of the
lightest of the metals) an extract-
ing plant' was set up on the shores
of the Gulf of Mexico at Freeport,
Texas. Approximately each 300 gal-
lons of sea water pumped through
gives up magnesium salts from
which a pound of the metal Is pro-
duced. 'Hundreds of Millions of
pounds of magnesium havebeen
taken from the sea by this one
plant.
• Anthropoid Apes '
Gibbons are anthropoid apes per-
haps somewhat less closely related.
to man than are gorillas, orang
utans, or chimpanzees. But they are
strikingly human in the appearance
of their faces, and in the upright
posture that characterizes their
walking. Their tree living habits
have developed in them extraordi-
nary length and power of the arms.
They are entirely ,athome in tree
tops, sleeping on limbs, and swing-
ing from branch to branch, often
along on well-defined aerial trails.
The family parties are held togeth-
er by the loud• voices, which are
used to emit what are apparently
well-defined signals understood by
the members of each individual
family group,
Dry Cleaning in Germany.
It has been estimated that civil-
ian drycleaningin the Reich is down
to less than 10 per cent of the pre-
war figure. Schindler's, which was
Berlin's biggest plant, closed more
than two years ago- Plants in Ham-
burg, which supplies chlorine -type
solvents to drycleaners throughout
1 Germany, now no longer: do so be-
cause these compounds are needed
for cleaning war ntachine parts or•
making artificial smoke compounds
or else they are earmarked for the
army. What little dryeleaning is
available in Germany is ;probably,
according to this informant, carried
on with bootleg kerosene.
Causes for Discomfort
In Air Travel Decline
Only one airline passenger in 1,000
suffers from air -sickness, which
thus virtually has disappeared from
the airways as a source of discom-
fort in flying, it is disclosed by Unit-
ed Air lines.
A five-year survey of discomfort
causes among passengers carried
by United, revealed that the air-
sickness rate steadily has been re-
duced from 3.3 per 1,000 passen-
gers in 1938 to one per 1,000 in 1942.
It was disclosed that other causes
of discomfort also have been de-
creasing to the point where less than
five in 1,000 passengers give evi-
dence of any discomfort whatever.
Only one person in 1,000 suffers
from the effects of altitude and has
to take oxygen, which is provided
on all planes; only one in 1,800 has
ear trouble; only one in 2,500 suf-
fers from nervous unrest; and only
one in 1,000 'indicates other miscel-
laneous discomforts.
United's survey of. 2,248,998 pas-
sengers tarried in the years 1938
through 1942 is declared the most
extensive of its kind made by any
airline on the subject of passenger
discomfort.
Grecian Sights
Peacetime visitors to Syracuse in
Sicily confined nearly all their sight-
seeing to objects dating from 500-
300 B. C.: the Doric Temple, the
Greek theater (third largest
known), the Castle of Euryalus
(most important and complete .Greek
fortification extant) and the several
quarries whose products built the
ancient city.
Aeschylus, Pinder, Theooritus and
possibly Plato lived in Syracuse for
varying periods, but Archimedes, in-
ventor and mathematician, was the
city's foremost citizen. He lent a
good deal of color to the city by
such acts as running unclothed
through the streets shouting "Eu-
reka" after discovering the princi-
ple of water displacement while tak-
ing a bath.
Archimedes told his king that he
could move the earth, if he had a
place to stand and a lever long
enough. Ile helped put of! Roman
conquest of Syracuse by setting fire
to invading ships by means of huge
magnifying glasses set up on shore.
When the city was finally taken,
Archimedes was stabbed to death
by a Roman soldier while deeply ab-
sorbed in a mathematical problem.
Jump With Two Chutes
U. S. paratroops jump with two
chutes, the main one on their backs
(28 feet in diameter) and a reserve
(22 feet) hooked on in front. The
reserve is released by ripcord, the
main by a 15 -foot long static line
hooked to a cable inside the plane.
At 15 feet the static line rips off
the pack cover, begins drawing out
the chute itself. At 43 feet the
chute is fully drawn out and the
fine silk "break -cord," connecting.
chute and static line, breaks. After
a further fall of around 60 feet the
chute opens. It should not take
longer than two or three seconds.
In all, a paratrooper usually drops
around 100 feet down and 400 feet
forward (momentum from the
plane's speed) . before his chute
opens.
Falling Leaves
Falling of sugar maple leaves dur-
ing .Tune should cause no great
concern among home'owners. This
condition is caused by the maple
petiole borer. Although the number
of leaves which fall may seem large
they represent but a very small per-
centage of the leaves on the tree,
and casually little if any effect results
to the tree.
The worm or larval stage of the
insect hollows, out a portion of the
petiole or leaf stem causing it to
break, letting the Ieaf and part of
the leaf stem fall to the ground. A
few days later the remainder of the
petiole with the larva enclosed falls
to the ground. The larva enters the
ground where it remains • until next
spring when it emerges again in the
dorm of a very minute sawfly,
Famous French Ironworks
Developed by One Family
Like Germany's Krupp works, the
French Schneider works developed
under the guidance of a single fam-
ily. The Le Creusot unit- became
the largest unit in the. Schneider in-
dustrial empire and the center of
French World War I munitions mak-
ing because of its location in a re-
gion rich in coal and iron.
Le Creusot lies 160 air miles
southeast of Paris, says a National
'Geographic society bulletin. The
Schneider plant flankedthe railroad
for two miles, With the city spread
out beyond on both sides. Popula-
tion, which slumped midway be-
tween the two world wars; was es-
timated prior to bombing at about
40,000, as in 1918. Over 15,000 were
Schneider -employed,
Although industries dependent on
the coal of the region were estab-
lished at Le Creusot as early as
1774, true industrial prosperity be-
gan with the opening of Eugene
Schneider's iron works in 1836. The
city was then a town of 3,500 peo-
ple. As early as the Franco-Prus-
sian war, Schneider's played the
part of an industrial bulwark sup-
porting the French cause in battle.
About 1876 steel replaced wrought
iron as the armor for battleships.
Its use is credited to Schneider,
whose foundries' and forges have Jed
in many marine developments as
well as in inland uses for iron and
steel.
Air Resistance Destroys
Meteor in Full Flight
Meteorites move many thousands
of feet per second, so collisions be-
tween the meteor and the molecules
of air are very violent, which means
that cobsiderable energy is freed.'
The speed of the falling meteorite
when it comes into our atmosphere
is several miles per second and is
so fast that even in this rarefied air
the meteor travels faster than the
air in front of it can slide off to
the sides. This cushion of air in
front is continuously being heated
because of more frequent collisions
with other air molecules; hence, its
temperature is increasing. There
are two factors working simultane-
ously toward the destruction of a
falling body. One of these is the
heat in the air cushion in front, and
the other is the counterpressure
which this , air exerts against the
meteor and which reduces its
velocity.
This heated ;cushion of air not
only washes away the softened sur-
face of the mass as the air rolls
over ttte forward face and sides of
the meteor, but its counterpressure
may become so great that the ma-
terial will structurally fall; that is,
the mass will be torn to pieces. If
this happens, then certain factors,
air friction and heat, again begin to
operate toward the destruction of
the fragments.
Therefore, large objects which en-
ter our atmosphere at rapid speeds
have little chance of ever reaching
the earth.
Cattle Production
"Cattle feeders producing war-
time
artime meat supplies should remem-
ber that after steers reach the grade
of 'good,' or equivalent to an 'A'
carcass, costs of gain rise rapid-
ly," warns F. C. Francis of the Uni-
versity of Illinois college of agri-
culture.
During the first four months of
the feeding period the largest gains
are made. Then comes a short pe-
riod of consistent gains followed by
a steady reduction in the daily rate.
Early during this period feeders
should market their cattle, particu-
larly at this time because of high
grain prices and protein supplement
scarcity, Francis advises.
It has been found that calves re-
quire Irfe times ab much feed to
produce 100 pounds of gain during
the second 100 days of the feeding
period as they did during the first.
The amount of grain it takes to 'fat-
ten the different ages varies little,
because young cattle receive a small
amount over a long period and old-
er cattle receive a large amount for
a short Period.
Nazis Rely on Wood
Goering's selection as Reichforst-
und Jaegermeister, "Germany's
chief forester and master hunter,"
was no idle appointment. Goering
has stated: "To be without wood in
war is nearly as bad as to be with-
out bread"—an appropriate remark
when it is considered that German
soldiers are eating wood sugar and
wood proteins and the meat of cattle
fattened upon wood -made fodder,
The basis of Germany's "ersatz" in-
dustries is wood. Their Bunn, tires
are made from wood alcohol; their
trucks are driven by wood -gas; lu-
bricants are obtained from tree
stumps; explosives are• manufac-
tured from wood pulp and the waste
liquors of paper mills.
Save Costs in Census
Millions of federal dollars were
saved in taking the 1940 census
throughapplication of a statistical
method whereby an extended ques-
tionnaire requesting additional infer-
mation•was sent to a random sample
of 5 per cent of the population. A.
slight probability of error was taken
into account and controlled through
an exact knowledge of its magni-
tude, and the added information thus
obtained was as of great a value
to the government as though a com-
plete census had 'been taken, at a
much greater cost.
Yangtze River Long Main
Transport Line in China
Normally the Yangtze is China's
"life line of transport," With its
many tributaries, it unrivaled as
a peacetime trade and 'travel ar-
tery, although other river systems,
such as the Mississippi -Missouri,
the Amazon, and the Nile outrank
it in sheer length and volume.
The Yangtze is navigable for big
steamships, and warships up to
10,000 tons to Hankow, nearly 600
miles upstream. Beyond that, river
steamers make Chungking, more
than 1,500 miles from the river's
mouth. Eleven treaty ports are sit-
uated along the Yangtze and ' its
tributaries: This river was, long
unique as a highway of international
traffic.. It was patrolled by gun-
boats of various nations, 'including
the United States.
The greatest difficulties along the
navigable sections of the Yangtze
are found between Ichang and
Chungking. The ,famous clifflike
gorges above Iehang extend for
about 125 miles and present some
of the world's most spectacular scen-
ery and shipping problems. Because
of treacherous rapids, cross cur-
rents, the deadly rooks and whirl-
pools, there was an old Chinese tra-
ditionthat no one but the hardy and
the favored of the gods could pass
through.
For centuries the trip was made
only in native junks and small ves-
sels pulled along by coolie "track-
ers," who scrambled over the sharp
rocks and clung precariously to
sheer precipices in a way to make
the toil of the famed "Volga Boat-
man" seem easy. In recent years
many of the bigger rocks in the
gorges were dynamited and a bet-
ter bourse cleared for passage of
modern steamers. •
Non -Toxic Fluid Used to
Air -Condition U. S. Subs
Air-conditioning of the navy's sub-
marines is made possible by a non-
toxic, non -explosive fluid. It is non-
poisonous, has no odor, and will not
support flame. It does not explode
should it come in contactwith a sub
galley's electric stoves, nor does it
interfere with the chemicals which
purify the air.
Air-conditioning equipment em-
ploying this refrigerant assures sub-
marines fresh, cool air after long
submersion. The men aboard the'
new underseas vessels can even
smoke. This was an impossibility
in other days when the precious
air supply was carefully guarded
against fouling.
When a submarine surfaces in the
South Pacific on a hot day, this :mod-
ern equipment keeps the interior
cool and comfortable. Furthermore,
the machinery is of the reverse -
cycle type, so that it can be "run
backwards" to warm the air when
the vessel is operating in 'cold.
weather.
The substance is one of a series
of refrigerants made from the basic
raw materials of carbon in the form
of charcoal, Chlorine from common
salt, water, and a mineral called
fluorspar. New methods of synthe-
sizing these refrigerants were de-
veloped several years ago by chem-
ists.
Mitchell Pioneered Paratroops
The first paratroqper probably
was a French captain who jumped
in the spring of 1918, with an as-
sistant and a load of explosives, to
blow up German communications
behind the lines. Soon afterwards
General Billy Mitchell, then Persh-
ing's air commander, dreamed up
the idea of dropping a whole divi-
sion behind the lines simultaneously
with a frontal offensive. Pershing
assigned Mitchell a division and he
withdrew it from the lines to train it
en masse as paratroopers, but the
war ended before he could begin.
General Mitchell always plugged,
and in 1926 dropped a volunteer ma-
chine-gun squad as a demonstration.
As always with U. S, military in-
novations, others took up the idea
first. The Russians tried out Mitch-
ell's idea, unveiling a mass para-
chute jump in 1936.
Women Work in Aircraft
War ' Manpower . Commissioner
Paul V. McNutt reports that from
70 to 80 per cent of the new workers
in the aircraft industry are women.
Declaring that the production of air-
craft is rapidly becoming a "worn-
en's
wonen's industry," he revealed that
women comprised approximately
one-third of the workers now em-
ployed, the proportion running about
45 per cent in western plants, 33 per
cent in the Middle West and 26 per
cent in the East. It is probable that
the proportion for the whole t:oun-
try will rise to 50 per cent by the
end of 1943. Before the United
States ehtered the war, only 2 per
cent of aircraft industry workers
were women.
Use Ladders Safely
Here are five points emphasized
m the safe use of ladders:, Do not
leave tools' or other heavy articles
on top of a stepladder from which
they may fall; in using ordinary
rung ladders, place them only
against solid and stationary back-
grounds; the foot of the ladder
should be one-fourth of the ladder's
length away from the wall against
which it is leaning; when ascend-
ing• or descending a ladder, always
face it and use both hands; use only
ladders in good repair. Never use
onewith missing or broken rungs or
steps.
THURS. FEB. 24, j944
DARWIN'S MISTAKE
Three monkeys sat in a ; Cocoatiuh. .
tree,
Discussing •thin �s
b g as they're said to
be.
Sa"
,.u1 one to the o <<
theta, NPw listen,,
you two,
There's a certain fain rumor that can't be
true;
That man deeended from our noble
race!
The very idea is a disgrace!
No monkey ever deserted his wife
Starved her babies and runied her
life.
And you've never known a mother,
monk
To leave her babies with others t
bunk.
Or pass them on from one .to another
Till they scarcely know who IS
their
mother;
And another thing you'll never see-..
A monk build a fence 'round a cpeaa-
nut tree
And let the cocoanuts go to waste
Forbidding all other monks a taste-.,..
Why if I'd put a fence 'round the
tree
Starvation would force you to steal.
from .me!
Here's' another thing a monk won't
do—
Go out at night and get on a stew,
Or use a gun .or club or knife
To take some other monkey's life.
Yes, man descended, the ornery cuss,,
But brother, he didn't descend from
us!!!
—Richard Rotor
—in Mattawa. Timiskaming Visitor.
V
THIS GAME CALLED LIFE
We read the sporting' page in every
paper,
Some playing games by artificial
light;
But there's the game of life we all
are playing,
I wonder just how many play it
right?
Now in the game of baseball they
quote Spalding,
He's their authority on every play;
They always go according to his_
teaching,
And never play it any other way,
The game would surely be an awful'
muddle,
And you can bet the players etas-
sed as fools;
If everyone should play the game his
own way,
And disregard each one of Spall.•.
ing's rules.
And so it is with life, we have to
play it
According to the One who made
the game;
Ile made the rules and told us to
observe them,
If we refuse, we've just ourselves
to blame.
At times we're bound to make
takes and errors,
But who can say that these have
been in vain;
If they have served to teach some'.
simple lesson
And helped• to bring us down to
earth again.
And then some day the Manager wilt
call us,
To get our pay, 'Twill be our right -
fill share;
The question won't ,be, "Who's the
season's hero,"
But, "Who has played his part and-
' played it square?"
COMPENSATION
My Grandmother's kitchen had no
instant ice;
She washed on a board which was not
very nice;
She used coal -oil lamps which were
messy to clean;
She bought nothing canned—no, not
even a bean,
She made all her bread, and, her but-
ter and cheese;
She scrubbed all her floors on Iter
very own knees;
She raised seven children, and raised -
them all right;
Her net daily milage, I'm sure was .
a fright
But somehow, in spite of ;her
fold labors,
She kept up a nice social life with...
her neighbors,
And never, like me, was despised and
rejected
Because her brillll a teehni ue'had not;g q
been perfected.
—.Ise Grindley Jackson,