McHenry Public Library District Digital Archives

McHenry Plaindealer (McHenry, IL), 2 May 1918, p. 3

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lW' -JVK mrnrnm TTj&tw . . . . ,< , . . 4 <*" * u Chance of Hitting Intended Target from Airplane Is Small mm*y u |EBMAN air raids have caused Lon­ doners to build concrete bombproof shelters. When warning of an alt- raid is received, MM. Londoner calls the children together, -whistles for the dog, afid, taking the phonograph under her arm, marshals the family into the bombproof shelter, write* A. M. JungEznmn, associate editor of Popular SSfegce Monthly, writing of raids in the magasine section of the New York San. Air raids have about a condition which mankind has not known since those prehistric days' when animals rushed madly Into caves to prdtefit themselves from terrible flying monsters. The ptefw*. dactyl, for instance, must have looked to its victims • •Wry much aa a bombing Boche looks to an English? man of today. Notwithstanding its repulsive appear­ ance, however, the pterodactyl was a mild Creature In comparison to a modern airplane carrying upward Of a tea death-dealing bombs. Among the many horrible implements of destruction which this war has developed the bomb is **SBsplcuous. Whether used on land or In the water, its capacity for destruc- ?n is enormous in comparison with its size. The chief handicap in Its use aviators is the difficulty of making it hit the. target. . The increased accuracy which has been developed by bomb droppers has £een offset by the fact that antiaircraft guns constantly force the raiders to SScend to greater heights. The .higher an aviator flies the greater are the pos­ sibilities of error in his calculations for hitting his target. | The principal reason why it is far more difficult to score a hit with a bomb ffcrown from an airplane than with a gun on the earth is that a bonlb thrown from a moving airplane will no£ fall straight down, but will continue to move for a time in the direction of the flying machine. This means that the bomb thrower must calculate Just the second he must drop the bomb before he leaches his target. Although practice helps greatly In determining the exact moment at which to let go, aviators do not have to depend solely upon them- fjelfes in the matter. Special sighting arrangements have been devised which ipre of great assistance in making a hit. ¥ The moment a bomb is dropped from a moving airplane It cotnes under the influence of both the forward movement of the airplane and gravitation. The result is that it follows a curved path from the machine to the earth. The litgher the machine Is flying and the faster It is going the greater is the dis­ tance in front of the target at which the bomb must be released. If a bomb is dropped only one-half a second before it should have been released it will not .ftrlke within many yards hi the target. It is far more difficult to select a target and drop bombs on it from an airplane than it Is from a dirigible. In dropping bombs an aviator must take into account not only gravitation |Uid his own velocity, but also the winds. The wind conditions between the Airplane and the earth maf vary greatly. This would greatly influence the ^trajectory or curve of the path of the falling bomb. A decided difference Is », •- "<m . «* ^ . . a*-4- M. • . I*, •hip which Is in their vicinity. It is not necessary for a depth bomb to touch a submarine or a ship in order to destroy It. j Joseph A. Stelnmetz, president of the Aero Club of Penn- •ylvanla, has invented a depth bomb which is particularly designed to be used against the U-boats. He has planned to " use a number of high-speed flying boats which can serve either as aircraft or as boats on the surface of the water. One of these boats would be used as a sort of scout to discover lurk­ ing submarines. *i»; At the moment of discovery the seaplane would notify sister craft. Some of these would endeavor to pass over e Submarine while floating on the water In their capacity boats. The seaplane on the water line would trail a depth "bomb. Its sister ship in the air would signal to It the move* raents of the submarine, thereby enabling It to follow the 1h ^Hfcndersea craft In order to keep the bomb from coming to & Jjhg surface the water while it was being towed, an inclined * ftfate wout<l be secured to the cable to which the bomb was attached. The bomb Itself is provided with contacts .which would cause it to explode the moment it touched any object. W-t 'i" - '•#' 18 *alds that the average depth bomb contains 250 to Jij50 pounds of TNT. When a destroyer sights a submarine It makes a dash for It at full speed. When It has come within i certain distance of the submarine it drops a depth bomb ^yverboanl. The bomb Is so constructed that it will be deto­ nated at any desire depth. As it is not necessary for the bomb to hit the submarine In order to destroy ft, the time d^oes not have to be aa accurate aa in the case of a bomb dropped by an aircraft 1 Some depth bombs are so constructed that they may be detonated by the pressure of the water. As everybody knows, the pressure of the water Increases with every foot one goes beneath the surface. In order to set a bomb of this type it is only necessary to determine at what depth it shall be exploded. Then a spring is adjusted and the bomb sinks until the water pres­ sure releases the spring mechanism and causes the detonation. It is some* thing like setting an alarm clock, only instead of setting the mechanism to go off at a certain time it is set to go off at a given number of feet beneath the surface of the water. Another depth bomb Is exploded by complicated clockwork, which is put In operation the moment the bomb strikes the water. As the clockwork Is designed to run for several seconds before the bomb is exploded, the bomb la supposed to reach the desired depth before the detonation takes place. Because water is incompressible, a depth bomb will do far more damage if it Is exploded 100 feet beneath the surface than It would If It were exploded only ten or fifteen feet below the surface. Another type of underwater depth bomb is intended to be used from air­ planes. It is dropped from the airplane on a cable. A parachute aids it to fall straight and keeps the, cable from becoming entangled. The length of the cable determines the depth at which the bomb shall explode. The explosive In this bomb is carried in a long cylinder which has a detonator and an elee» trie battery at one end. Bombs which explode in the water are capable of doing far greater harm than those which explode on the land. It has been noted that the bombs dropped by the Germans in England frequently dig a hole in the ground five or six feet In depth, but fall to do any great amount of damage when they explode. While their radius of destruction is so limited, the force of the explo­ sion will shatter window panes for a half mile around. Yet if a bomb of thla made in this curve if the bomb is thrown with or against the wind aad if the bomb encounters a side wind, which would throw it out of its course. In order to determine just when to release a bomb an aviator must know at what height he is flying. For this purpose he consults a barometer. But in order that the knowledge which the barometer gives him may be of material benefit in bomb throwing, the aviator must also know at exactly what elevation above sea level his target is. Therefore aviators have to study maps of the i country which they intend bombing before starting out on a raid. Next the aviator must know at what speed he is traveling. This he can determine by ascertaining the time required to cover a certain definite distance. He can calculate this distance by consulting his map. Naturally he must make this calculation while In the Immediate vicinity of his target. For example, if he notes that the distance between two given points is 1,000 meters and he covers that distance in 25 seconds, be will know that he 1* traveling at the rate of 40 meters per second. 1 The observation Instruments with which bombing airplanes are equipped «nable the aviators to fix their targets by studying a series of angles. The . instrument Is set for a definite angle and the time Is noted at which the target comes into view under that angles The aviator then sets the instrument for another angle, which is less than the first, and again notes the time at which the target appeals. He observes the number of seconds required for the machine to travel through these two angles and thereby arrives at the velocity of the machine over that distance. The observation Instrument Is a simple frame, the sides of which form a quadrant. A pivot Is attached to the underside of the frame which enables It to be set up on a vertical tube or other opening on the airplane. A cfock Is attached to the rear wall of the frame, while the front has another pivot which turns the telescope. The center of the pivot is the center of the angular arch froifc which the line of sight of the telescope Is read. • ' The bombs dropped from airplanes resemble torpedoes In their shape and construction. I\uunuly tlilc W Jic icaSOw wlijr iiiej uru frequently miscaiied aerial torpedoes. Most of them are equipped with a sort of windmill which is rotated by the rush of the bomb through the air and which sensitizes the per­ cussion fuse while the bomb is falling. They are built after the manner of a torpedo, with a streamline form to 'Offer a very small head resistance to the wind. This streamline form, with thfe reduced head resistance, causes the bomb to sail through the air In the same direction as the airplane. This continues for a few seconds after It Is released, and when It begins its descent. In order to be certain to hit their targets, the aviators of today do not content themselves with releasing one boinb, but Instead, release a whole flock. If a cumber of bombs are dropped at once, the chances of hitting the target are far greater. The Gotha airplane's bomb-carrying capacity is said to be 12 50-pound bombs and two 100-pound bombs. But forinidable as that machine Is, It Is eclipsed by the English Handley-Pag^, which carries eight 250-pound bombs, totaling in weight 2,000 pounds, which is really 2% times the capacity of the Gotha. The powerful explosive used In these bombs is generally TNT. Any man M ordinary strength can easily carry enough of this powder to blow up one of our largest ships. It is said that 80 pounds of TNT coul<^ easily destroy any ship afloat. At the moment of explosion four cubic feet of TNT will generate 40,000 cobic feet of gas. This Is the reason why depth bombs employ- lhg TNT are. so dangerous to submarines. For example, If a depth bomb is detonated near a ship or a submarine, !i will deMr#(tKe *ess<il because water Is Incompressible. The gases must escape somewhere |f the bomb la exploded at sufficient depth the shock la transmitted In all directions. Naturally, If a ship is near the gases will blow In Jke sides ̂ .t^jfclp. If, bomb Is exploded near the surface of the water, the gum will the line of least resistance, which will be toward the surface. They will fling up great masses of water in the air. Bombs which are designed to explode at a given depth may be relied upon to destroy any same type should fall in the middle of a road which ran between stonewalls, it would not tear down the wall on either side of the road. : ' Perhaps If the bombs could be so made that they would explode above the surface of the ground the effect of the explosion would not be lost on the walls of the crater as it is now. With all their rightfulness, the Gerinans have not been very successful in making bombs which do a great deal of harm. Casualties resulting from a bomb raid are frequently caused by shrapnel used against the enemy aircraft. That is one of the reasons why civilians are always ordered indoors and off the streets during a bomb raid. The anti­ aircraft guns puffing away at the enemy are very dangerous to any persons who are in the open during the bombardment. With Queue Custom Passe, Shanghai Doctor Predicts thinese May Raise Beards Most of us have wondered why the Chinaman, In distinction from other urrii, doeS HCt u bvaTu, Of COiirSc, some members of the race who belongs to the male persuasion are exceptions to the rule. But the great majority of' Chinamen have no hair upon the face. Dr. A. M. Dunlap of Shanghai, who has given considerable time to the subject, holds that the old Chinese custom of wearing queues consumed all of the energy provided by nature fr.r fhr hslr. Ass sew thai the queue is out of fashion, Doctor Dunlap thinks that beards may begin to grow. Writing In an American med­ ical journal of recent date, he tells some very interesting things about the Chinese barber, the styles In hair, etc. ••The nationwide cutting off of that Manchu Invention--the queue has cre­ ated a new class of modem barbers. I do not mean to say that the barber of old China has passed, with his prac­ tices, which remind us of these Oc­ cidental barbers In ancient time. Even in as enlightened a city as Shanghai they are constantly to be seen on the street corners. "Today these old .men can be seen with their washstanda, basins and a single towel, which does for everybody, on the shady side of the street In sum- ^ P& 0lUhe suany side ln , *; ,« ;:•. _ ffl ight Try It *f liked your speech, mister,* de- Plan Appropriate Marking of Spot Where Washington i Crossed Delaware River dared the rural visiting the city. lawyer are you?" ^ "I'm a patent lawyer.**^ attorney who was "What kind ,<Kf ft "4" •WE BEUGWWS m FtylES Oarmans No Longer Qiv« Victima of "fTha!r Rapacity the Option of ' - Going to tlaML' v Knthlnf can give a better Idea of the obstinate resistance opposed by the Belgians to German edicts and regula­ tions than the statement of a German newspaper--the Deutsche Juristenzei- tung--which estimates than 100,000 the number of sentences Inflicted on the people in one year only (1915-16), the London Times remarks. Most of them, of eourse, are fines or short terms of imprisonment, for­ merly we used to have the choice and many rich people preferred to go to the St. Giles prison rather than help the enemy by paying their fine. But the prisons have become so crowded and the financial situation of the em­ pire has become so bad that only the destitutes preserve the privilege of sacrificing their liberty. The others, if they refuse to pay, have their watch taken from them or are obliged to give "Well, you advanced some good Ideas. . Have you got a patent on that Hne of talkr up a piece of valuable furniture. lb Brussels these things are sold by auc­ tion In a shop In the Rue de la Li mite. The project for marking the spot where Washington crossed the Dela­ ware as reached by stage in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It first gained real shape seven or eight years ago, when the Washington's Crossing Park commission of New Jer­ sey prepared a plan for a grandiose memorial. Land was to be acquired on each side of the river, laid off into flue parks, and a splendid memorial bridge built. The commission actu­ ally spent some $20,000 in buying 100 acres on the New Jersey shore. To its powers the state department of conservation have now succeeded, and they propose a more modest memorial. The 300 acres should be sold, the bouse of the Ferryman McConkey, who supplied the patriot army with boats, should be bought and restored, and the entrance from the river to the old Pennington road should be marked with nn arch. This will cost nothing like the $250,000 original outlay, and $10,000 annual maintenance required for the original plan. Meanwhile a commission has been appointed to canvass the possibility of acquiring land at Taylorvllle, Pa., to be develop­ ed as a park to mark the starting point of Washington's raid.--New York Kv» PML 8erf-Appreclation. **I tell you, young man, wo need brains In this business." "I know you do, sir; that is why I am offering you my services."; GATUN LAKE fTTHS AFFAIR MMM Heservoir, -Buiit by Amisricantj Par Outdoes Anything Else That the * World Mast Known. ; 4-b, government fisiieriei bureau is planting Gatun lake with fishes. The first shipment for the purpose, made by steamer the other day, consisted of' catfish, sunfish, carp and black bass,, all of "flngerling" slse. The bass were, planted in the Chagres river, the print*; i cipal tributary of the lake. A Pharaoh of the twelfth dynasty constructed a reservoir (known today; as Lake Moerls) which covered 63 square miles. It was an artificial lake, regarded In Its day as one of the; wonders of the world, and was de­ signed to regulate the flow of the Nile. In Its way it was the most remark-; able engineering achievement of an/ tiquity. But Gatun lake, on tha line ' of the Panama canal, beats it, being about three times as big. Its object, is similar--namely, to take care of ; the flood waters of the Chagres river; and prevent theta from doing mis­ chief. Gatun lake is the largest artificial body of, water ever known In the world. It Is, In fact, the most impor­ tant feature of the transisthmian canal/ extending two-thirds of the dis­ tance from the Caribbean sea to the Pacific ocean. It occupies a basin that was dry land before the canal was built; and because the area covered by it is very hilly and topographically irregular, it stretches in a multiple of arms far up Into Its marshy shores* ) One reason why its shores are marshy is that in its shallows there develops with astonishing luxuriance a kind of grass which sends out run­ ners in all directions^ On this account its banks are not easily accessible even to small craft. s As for fishes, It Is hoped that they.' will multiply and funUsh a 'worth­ while food supply. . I- | "Hush Hush!" Cruiser. > The idea that Great Britain Is se-. cretly constructing tremendous cruis­ ers, carrying batteries of 15-lnch guns] and traveling faster than any na-j val ships now float, has become] almost an obsession with the Ger- m/fti press, whose naval experts* recognize that these ships present" a problem that cannot be met with? submarines. The new British cruisers are termed "hush hush" cruisers be­ cause of the supposed secrecy with; which they are being constructed. Cap­ tain von Kuhlwatter, a famous Ger­ man naval authority, believes them to .be 886 feet In length and probably more effective naval units than any yet constructed. No doubt the prime cause of Interest In their building is the realisation that a complete fleet of fast cruisers could annihilate a whole squadron of slow and ponderous Ger­ man dreadnaughts if the German fleet ever again aspires to the open sea In the Jutland and other fights such a unit of fast and heavily armed ships might have cut off their retreat. Thai England Is constructing a number of large battle cruisers of a pew type fai not denied by the admiralty. end: Six reasons •vVtA1' 1~ Steadies nerves * 2--Allays thirst .. UttiJ«. ttef.m? 3--Aids appettti 'f •--Helps digestion 5--Keeps teetti dean 6--If# economical " 1 * • the soldiers •Od sailors supplied! tm ' w V s S t \ SPEARMINT . ••/•*- i 'Chew It after every •»*««>. »*V < > < BH- r ?. -. •W. «.r> % . » ; The Flavor Lasts! a Appearances Were Against Her. An amusing story was told to mt> the other day concerning Lady Sybil Grant, daughter of the earl of Rose- bery. It appears that her ladyship, who is an enthusiastic war worker, recently assisted in waiting upon some wound ed soldiers at a concert and tea got up for their entertainment. At the close of the meal one of the guests, not In the least realizing who she was, shyly offered her a tip, which was politely declined. "I really don't need it, you know, said Lady Sybil smilingly, "I've got plenty of money. - "Is that so?" exclaimed the soldier, in tones of evident surprise, allowing his gaze to rest on the plain linen overalls she had donned for the oc­ casion. • y '• x "You've got plenty of money, have you 7" Lady Sybil nodded assent. "Well, miss," was the somewhat- dis­ concerting reply, "you'll excuse me saying so, won't you? But--you dont look it."--Pearson's Weekly. I'!"? •; Trick Almost Deserved Succeaa. A palefaced woman proved to be only a pig in disguise at Zappot, Swit­ zerland, the other day. It appears that a aentry on duty on the highway to Zappot heard a cart approaching. The vehicle was driven by a farmer named Streioh, besides whom gat a fvuiuuu, Streich answered the sentry's ques­ tions, and the latter then addressed Quite Naturally. *Do you think the financiers in the case will float this loan all right?" "Sure. It's coming along swim­ mingly." the woman, but ss he received no an­ swer, despite further questioning, the soldier turned his pocket lantern on her and discovered a pig's head. Streich, It appears, after illicitly kill­ ing a pig, had cleverly dressed It uj as a peasant woman, with cap, shawl, and skirt complete, afterwards fixing It Into position on the box at his side. Streich was arrested, and an examin­ ation of the cart brought to light a number of packing case§ nearly full of meat which had bean covered with a layer of peat. /̂̂ Jfhree 8eaaons In Year TKe ^Egyptian year was dlvldea' ifito three seasons. These were Shalt, the season of waters, being the time occu­ pied by the rising spread and reces­ sion «f the Nile; Pirut, the season of vegetation; the Shonmu, the season of harvest. These seasons are supposed to have been arranged by the god Thot Each season was. divided Into four months and they were known in official documents by numbers only. Thus we have the first, second, third and fourth months of Shalt, the months of each of the other seasons being designated In the same manner. Each month, how­ ever, had a patron god and tlie people ordinarily gave to it, In their dally in­ tercourse, the name of Its god. These deity names of the months were tran­ scribed Into Greek, then Into Arabic and are now largely used by the Chris­ tian Inhabitants of Egypt In prefer­ ence to the Mussulman appellations. Economics. "Your speeches are getting shorter and shorter." "Of course they arev" assented Sen­ ator Sorghum. "There are more ways of saving daylight than turning the clock back." Natural Propensities. * ' I , Itfoney is the root of all evU." "Yes, and It seems to grow best by tiie grafting process." Rubbing It In. * Cadger--"Sir, do you mean Ic^ îsult me?" Badger--"Certainly not. MWb't think you could be Insulted." It's the limited express for%e tt^an kA shiffma who stutters. Some men are born with black eye* and others acquire them. 1 j FRECKLES Maw Is tfct Tim te There'* as loncw tb« a!!gtkt«rt ^ashamed of your freckles, as Wength-rla •aarmntaed to ranatm th mm' fcpOtB, Simply get aa wxt « Btrrogth--from your drag**. of it night and morning that even the w ; fracklw Appear, while x li ghter tlrely. It Is scUom that Is needed to completely elMtr a beautiful elesr rnmpluctoM. Be rare to uk for th» liilh strength < M this la sold QBder gMHiat** of MM| IT it tfcllB to remove rrtkl---Adv. This world would be a gloomy * place for cats If women could purr. I ifj-l Faith. We had a new experience the other day when we picked up two boatloads of survivors from the --, torpedoed without warning. I will" say they were pretty glad to see us when we bore down on them. As we neared, they be­ gan to paddle frantically, as though fearful we should be snatched away from them at the last moment. The crew were mostly Arabs and Lascars, and the first mate, a typical comic-mag­ azine Irishman, delivered himself of the following: "Sure, toward the lai some o' thim haythens gits down their knees and starts calling on Al­ lah; but I sez, sez I: 'Git up afore I swat ye wid the ax-handle, ye benight­ ed haythen; sure If this boat gits saved 't will be tlje Holy Virgin does l^or none at all, at ain Git up,' sea I."--An American Officer, In U* Atlan­ tic. I- ; A-v «%. -Vr v:.\, * iMen and Needlaa. Some men are like rusty needles; fte best wjpiy to clean aad brighten them Is work.--*outh'i Compa» ion. 1 v lf coxuumert tra to p*y let* lor beef, live-stock raisers naturally will receive less for cattle. If farmers are paid mere for five Hock, consumers will necessarily pay more for meat. 1 Swift & Company pays for cattle approximately 90 per cent of the prioe#•••••.&$ received for heef and by-products.r A The remaining 10 pef cent pays ' dressing, freight to market/ operation, of distributing houses* and in most :> cases, delivery to the retailer. profits also have to come out of this 10 per cent - This margin cannot be squeezed dibitrarily without danger of crippling the only effective means of performing the complex service of ponvertmg cattle into meat and distributing this meat to the fighting for&s aad .t» consumers. . Swift ft Company's net profit mi beef during 1917 was only % of a cent per pound. On all products, it was a 'little less than four cents on each dollar of sales. Complete elimi­ nation of these profits would not irifeet appreciably retail prices of meat, or form prices of live stock. ; Swift & Company wffl W "gliif lift, co-operate in devising methods that will improve conditions in the and live stock industry. •4 ' M. •. iV fli '3; 1918 Ymr Book of interesting aad instructive facts sent oa reqoaat. Address Swift 4b Company, Union Stock Yards, Chicago, Dlinois Swift & Company mstMm

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