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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1948-07-29, Page 6Sky Lighthouses Help Guide Planes Like a bright necklace, twenty airways beacons glitter nightly along the Boston -Albany airplane route, helping to guide pilots over some of the most treacherous ter- rain in the East. And nowhere are they More valuable, according to a writer m the Christian `Science Monitor, than through the, jagged reaches of the Berkshire Hills. These sky lighthouses, almost hand -over -hand, have led many lost fliers to a safe landing. When an ..aviator is lost above such a region as the Berkshires, a familiar -land- ing field sliding up over: the hori- zon toward his propeller hubs is a comforting sight. • Maintaining these beacons despite weather problems is one of the big- gest jobs of the Civil Aeronautics Administration. Spaced 10. miles apartalong the route, they are in- fallible guides to aircraft Keeping them reliable is the job of the airways mechanicians who are at once woodsmen, electricians, • mechanics and hardy pioneers, The Boston -Albany lights are kept burning by ,Elmer S. Dishing. Routine Check He lives in Westfield, .class, half- way along the airway, and gives each of his 20 lights a routine check at least one a month. They rise from the highest peaks of the Berkshires, marking them as light- houses do reefs at sea. Their positions, therefore, can bear little relation to existing roads and trails. Mr. Bisbing must be prepared at any moment to climb a mountain or slog through a down- pour or a blizzard to repair a bea- con. Late last March he drove 50 miles at night, west into the hills neat Pittsfield, in a four-wheel- drive Arniy truck, strapped on snowshoes at the entrance to an abandoned CCC camp and hiked two miles through a blinding bliz- zard up a mountain to the Leban- on Springs, N. Y, beacon. When he made the summit, he climbed another 51 feet up the frail metal tower. "It was singing like an organ in the wind." he says, "and it swayed a lot. Before I finished work I had to turn on the light so I could warm my hands in front of it. The bulbs are 1.000 watts, and if you touched one, it would fry you" Departure Noted As a form of insurance, these men usually tip off someone in the neighborhood before they strike out into the wilderness, so a rescue party can start after them if they arc gone too long. Most inaccessible tower beacon is on the top of Gobble Mountain near Chester. It is nearly three miles front the nearest road. The way leads up two 40 -foot cliffs. When Mr. Bisbing reaches the top, he has a 91 -foot tower waiting to be climbed. The entire trek is through a dense forest. Summer isn't much better. Mr, Bisbing carries a small scythe, or hatchet, since the woods around Chester are full of rattlers and hundreds of black snakes. Actually the scythe does yeo- man duty in keeping the under- brush down along the trails from highway to beacon, which follow the power line poles through the wilderness. Only the light at Gar- field, N. Y., 10 miles east of Al- bany airport, is not powered by a utility electric line. That one uses current generated by two gasoline engines, and its 1,200 -gallon fuel tanks are sufficient for six to eight months' operation. The airways' man here is also an auto mechanic, cleaning carbon and grinding valves regularly. Well Above Trees Steel -lattice towers hold the bea- con lights well above the surround- ing trees, and a quarter -horse -pow- er electric motor revolves the 36 - inch globe so alternate red and white beams flash for miles across the sky. They are controlled by electric clocks in the tower base, lighting up a half-hour before dusk, switch- ing off a half-hour after sunrise. The mechanism adjusts itself to the seasonal difference in daylight hours. Although a second bulb cuts in. automatically if the first burns out, failure of these units is the most - common trouble, since the sudden switch - over may knock out the spare. State police, nearby airport personnel and fliera report f ilures to Mr. Bisbing's Westfield office is soon as they are spotted, Airway beacons mark the path on the ground that the radio range waves take' through the air. Com- bining the lights with the reassuring range signal humming through his earphones, a pilot can tell exactly where he is at any time. Should his radio fail, the beacons can lead him in. No wonder that a recent CAA poll showed that more than 85 per ccitt of the pilots rely heavily on the beacons, des- pite the increase and improvements in radio directional devices. Ay - Jack -Pot Question Old Woman -In -The -Shoe, Whatever did you do? My trailer's bad enough! Where did you putyopr stuff? Essex Ships 25,000 Bags of Potatoes a Day— Seldom have Essex potatoes approached the quality they are this year and never have they been available to consumers in large volume so early. Ten men and women are requited to operate a digging rig efficiently. Power -operated and drawn, machine will harvest as many as 500 bags a clay. Early potatoes cost 'about •$30 an acre to plant. TIILFAQM FRIT. ok it\ Possibly you have never thought of climbing as an important part of farm work—but it is, nevertheless. In feeding livestock a farmer climbs into haymows, granaries, silos, hay- stacks and feed racks. He limbs on and off tractors and other farm equipment several tines a day. Painting and repair of buildings and servicing high equipment such as a windmill all '-equ' limbing. * • • 1 And all this climbing ,rakes falls the chief cause of accidental death and injuries to farm people. Just one little stumble or slip may re- sult in a costly injury, and climbing increases the chances. Some of the climbing practises common on farms shock those familiar with safety precautions—. and if you will check up on yourself, the unnecessary chances you take might come as a real surprise. * * * Safety engineers have studied thousands of falls associated with all types of climbing; and the basic prevention rules they have develop- ed can apply to farms just as well as factories. The first step is to make it difficult "mechanically" for a climber to fall. The second is to form safe climbing habits * * * Ladders, steps or .stairways should be rigid and strong enough to support twice the load that will be placed on them. A good ladder or stairway is cheap compared with a bad fall. A haymow ladder that doesn'.t extend above the loft floor invites falls, by making it easy for the climber to lose balance when he attempts to transfer from ladder to loft floor. Stationary or portable ladders to any overhead floor should be long enough to extend at least four feet above the level to which the climber must ascend. * * Outside ladders and platforms on many silos make it easy to fall. The ladder may be high enough, but an independent railing around the ele- vated platform makes it dangerous to transfer from ladder to platform. In many cases the climber has to step over the railing to get on or off the platform. It is true that a railing is desirable— BUT IT SHOULD ALSO EXTEND AROUND THE LADDER, thus. Crabs Six Feet From Tip to Tip King crabs of astonishing pro- portions have been taken from the crab beds along the Gulf of Alaska. Specimens caught have weighed as myrrhas twentty six pounds and nave measureil over six jest from tip of one gangling walking leg to the tip of its mate on the opposite side of the carapace. The average from the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska beds, however, weighs between 14 and 15 pounds and is three or four feet in leg span. Far from prepossessing in appear- ance, the king crab is orange -gray 10 WIRE and is liberally betked witfi barnacles and inoss. What- ever it may lack in eye appeal, how- ever, the more the giant crab makes up for in economic value, for approximately a fourth of the mat- ure crab's live weight consists o4 meat of excellent quality. Conse- quently, various Pacific Coast fish- eries are busily catching these gro- tesque undersea denizens with swift otter trawls or scoop nets and can- ning or quick-freezing the meat. • enabling the climber to go ftp and down INSIDE the railing. * * * You never see a passenger train without grab bars at the steps of the coaches, and employees in prop- erly -run factories are not permitted to use stairways without handrails. Likewise, all stairways on farms need handrails where two or more steps are necessary. Grab bars will also help prevent many falls as you climb onto wagons, tractors, trucks and other farm equipment. If the manufacturers have not provided such devices, hone -made ones can generally.be easily added. * * When you're in a hurry there's always the temptation to use some makeshift support and trust to luck instead of taking time to get safe equipment. Many people gamble with faulty ladders or steps, always putting off repairs till some othdr time. Going up and down in too much of a hurry is another risky habit which usually results in a fall instead of saving time. * * * Any time you're using a steplad- der, make certain it is fully spread, with all four legs on a level, firm base. Be sure it's tall enough to. permit you to stand at least two steps frons the top, as it's easy to lose your balance when worlcing from the top, When you erect a straight ladder it should forms a triangle with the biulding so that the base equals one-fourth the dis- tance from the top support. For ex- ample, on a 12 foot wall the bottom of the ladder should be 3 feet from the wall. * * When you climb a ladder hold on with both hands. Tools or other materials that cannot be safely car- ried in the pockets should be hoist- ed with a hand -line. Be sure and al- ways work facing the ladder, and holding on with one hand. Especially dangerous is the com- mon practice of straddling the space between the ladder and the building. Never leave a ladder standing where it will tempt children to climb. As a protection for children the lower section of stationary ladders on silos or windmills should be removed when not in use. * * * Those who make use of a barn stairway as a hay chute are taking real chances because' loose hay or straw makes such an uncertain foot- ing. Separate feed chutes that are guarded above the loft floor are far better. Ladders and stairways should be well lighted as climbing in the dark is another careless practice that leads' to almost certain trouble. tend when climbing don't carry bundles or objects that will obstruct your view or prevent your grabbing a support in case of emergency. New Fog Horn Blasts Away Fog There's •a new kind of fog horn, it seems, which instead of guiding mariners through the murk, simply blasts the fog out of existence agitating it with such powerful sound that it dissipates. St is said that the new fog -dis- persing Machine produces sound louder than some 30,000 police sirens all going at once. It is also described as something like a combination of a passing ele- vated train, a ntnnber of pneumatic drills, and several fire and police sirens—all multiplied a thousand times. Elephants Smart And Even Trickier Some hunters say that elephants have telepathic ability. Anyway, whether it"s telepathy or not, it works. David Blunt, returning from a hunt in the Belgian Congo, passed down -wind of a herd of the big beasts. Turning, he saw two young elephant calves move across the path he'd just taken. They stopped at his footprints, ran their trunks over the ground like vacuum cleaners, then ran to their mothers. The smothers return- ed to the trail with the calves— sniffed—then rounded up the whole herd and took off for parts un- known. Obviously all this required some means of communication. * * * There's no question about the elephant being smart enough to fool people. His brain is a marvel- ous thinking machine. He is the only animal known that can be taken in the adult wild state and be completely broken to domesticity in a year's time. Domestic elephants are constantly outsmarting their trainers. For instance, the best cure for a slight elephant cold is a bucket of gin and ginger. Once he's had this, the elephant, who would be a confirmed drunkard if he had the chance, has been known to spend days groaning and faking more cramps just to get another bucket of gin. Even trickier is his subterfuge when taking sugar coated pills, which mahouts prepare for him against heat stroke. At first bite, ,the elephant tastes the bitter inter- ior. But he won't spit it out, be- cause he knows the mahout will go for help and cram the stuff clown his throat. He tucks the pill in his cheekandmakes a great to-do over chewing, jaws going like mad. Then, When he thinks the mahout has lost interest, he swings his head aside, flips his trunk oler his back and blows—as though chasing bothering flies. The pill, meanwhile, is spit as far to the rear as possible. Of course, elephants have been known to do some dumb things, too. One scientist tells how he dis- rupted a herd with a single shot. All but two elephants lumbered off. 'Those two stood stock-still, behind a tree, not moving a hair. "Obvious- ly,' noted the scientist, 'like os- triches, they had the quaint idea that if they kept still behind that skinny tree I wouldn't see tlhen. LITTLE REGGIE J r rt Moving Day By EDWARD' EARL LEE,.:,- The witting bell sounded through the o ice and immediately or- dered routine' gave way to confusion as wort ers prepared to leave. That is, all but one. Jerome Clayton re- mained seated, elbows leaning on the polished top and cupped palms supporting his chin. Jerry's abstracted gaze watched employees' hurried exits, His emo- tionless voice enswcred hastily ut- tered farewells, Last Friday he had been part of that scene. This Fri- day ... well, no use hurrying home to be greeted by four bare walls. Of course, I-Ielen would take the furniture. She had bought it by in- stallments from her salary. Jerry recalled how her grey eyes lighted with pleasure when first she had seen the suite "Modernistic De- sign," she had announced, identify- ing it. • A slamming door interrupted his reverie causing hive to glance up. He recognized he elevator operator "and realized the man was taking his last look around - to ascertain if allthe emplpoyees had gone. Jerry hurriedly locked the desk, slapped on his hat and rode down. It was then he remembered. Jack's poker session, pre -arranged for six o'clock. He shrugged. All week he had been groping for a suitable ex- cuse to tell Helen. Now that none was required, he had no desire to sit in at the game. Well, no use mooning around down here. He walked away slowly with no destina- tion in mind, his thoughts tumbling over one another. So, after a year, this was the end. Helen should have known that Great News for Bush Travellers Finest news in a score of holiday seasons is that announced by the entomological branch of the De- partment of Agriculture that not only have DDT and allied insecti- cides put houseflies on the run, but that new fly poisons have been de- veloped that will keep at bay the fiendish pests of the Canadian bush, Leading the van of new repel- lents, is dimethyl phthalate. Pro- duct of war and post-war research, this compound, according to actual experiment, works against almost all known types of bush -flies when sprayed on clothing, and protects such vulnerable areas as across the shoulders, around the waist -and the seat of the pants. Those fa- miliar with the bush in the bad old days when the best protection against the hordes of flies was a sticky compound witls citronella oil as a base, realize how great a boon is brought by these new repellents. Grace meant nothing to him. Had he not donie everything except tell tier? But Helen thought otherwise and had Istarte& acting up to that Charlie with ' the patent -leather hair, ,Jerry's thoughts were rinlely. jerked back to the present by the sound of screeching brakes and the vitriolic tirade of a truck driver.He was, crossing a street with the red , light against hien.: Grinning, sheep- ishly he glanced at the street sign to determine his location; then:. started, surprised..Ile was only one block from home His subconscious mind had directed him to the route habitually followed when returning from work. Jerry turned the corner slowly. Suddenly his mouth felt dry. There was a sickening void where his Helen had started acting up to that Charlie with the patent -leather hair. stomach should have been. Weights seemed attached to his feet as he shambled on unwillingly,: yet unable to stop. In front of the house was the furniture. No chance of his mis- taking that "Modernistic Design." One of the draymen went in as Jerry cane abreast the duelling. The second one said: "Gotta match, pal?" "No. But will a lighter do?" He accepted the instrument and began the somewhat difficult task of endeavoring to light his pipe with a cigarette lighter. - "Beats all," he grumbled between puffs, "how much extra work people can cause. Take this customer, for instance. We get her stuff all pack- ed, drives to her new place, and what happens? Says she's changed. her mind and wants it hauled back." "Whatl exclaimed Jerry. "Yeah," the mover continued. "I was surprised myself. But I think shes nuts. When we get back here she bursts out crying and runs up the steps like . . c Hey, here's your—" The drayman removed his pipe from between slack lips. He scratched the lobe of his car with the stem and a puzzled frown wrinkled his face. He started to pick up a chair to carry in. Then he began to grin. Dropping the chair, he hoisted the loveseat on his back. The End Christmas Is Coming!—You youngsters will love this new toy. one of 500 on display at a toy show. In a tube full of water, the diver cavorts, and the young operator can pump air to the sub- merged hero all day long. By Margarita DONKEY HOUSE ,WHEW ! ITS A 140T Y MINE ONKEYS ! oN MONKEYS DONT MIND THE HEAT, SONNY