Page:Astounding Science Fiction (1950-01).djvu/113

 It can be seen that the multiplication of columns a and b results in the same addition as with the regular binary multiplication (c). Some way to multiply!— Frank Raasch Jr., Kearney, Nebraska.

Dear John:

Several readers have expressed a desire for some problems or puzzles. Here is one that may afford some entertainment, and the answer is startling indeed!

A rocket takes off with an initial horizontal velocity of 500 miles per hour and an initial rate of climb of 1,000 feet per minute. With each 1,000 feet of altitude its velocity increases 10 mph, and each 100 mph faster it goes the rate of climb increases 100 feet per minute. Where is the rocket in 200 minutes?—Douglas B. Netherwood, Capt., USAF, Electronics, Hq. SAC, Offutt Air Force Base, Omaha, Nebraska.

Dear Mr. Campbell:

John D. MacDonald’s story, "Trojan Horse Laugh", reminded me of an experience I had while in an army ordnance unit just outside Rosario, Luzon.

We had an outdoor arena for the projection of movies, the center portion of which was screened off with chicken wire to keep the civilians from occupying seats reserved for the troops. Around this barrier, the Filipinos would gather in hordes and stand quietly and patiently throughout the hour-long show.

One evening, something—we never knew what—startled a small knot of civilians at the extreme left of the inclosure and they started to run, encountering in their flight the larger body of Filipinos gathered about the projection booth. The air was soon filled with dust and the sound of hundreds of bare feet thudding into the earth.

Inside the inclosure, someone in the front row leaped up to join the exodus and, in a moment's time, the whole area became the scene of a wild retreat, soldiers and civilians mingling in their frenzied effort to get away from the spot. No words were spoken, no voices raised, but everywhere could be heard grunts and groans and the crash of falling bodies. Even the projectionists fled, leaving the projector running.

We were a bruised and sheepish lot when we finally straggled back to see the rest of the show. None of us had been frightened—it was just that everyone else had been running and we thought we had to run too—like sympathetic yawning.

Thus, when Alice and Joe were caught up in the hysteria of the city, even though they had had no injections, I was inclined to think the situation farfetched until I remembered that stampede in which I myself had taken part.

MacDonald's story was unusually good, as was the rest of the issue. Let's have more like it.— Joe E. Dean, BRASS TACKS