Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 91.djvu/556

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��Popular Science Monthly

��The Bomb-Droppers Are Coming! Hug the. Ground

THIS is the advice which is being given to the school children of Sussex, England. They are being drilled daily in dropping suddenly face downward and re- maining perfectly motionless on the ground, just as our school chil- dren are put through the fire drill. The reason for the ground- hugging is not quite clear to us, unless it is to make the street appear deserted to the bomb- throwers in the air.

Heretofore the people of Eng- land have been so careless in re- gard to their be- havior during an air raid that they have played into the hands of the raiders, so to speak, by flock- ing to the roofs of their houses and swarming the streets in order to get a good view of them. This led to an official edict requiring all persons to get into and keep inside their houses or any available house when a bomb-dropper was reported in sight.

���School children of Sussex, England, in a ground- hugging drill to be practised during an air raid

��If Your Eyes Are Weak Use a Less Brilliant Desk Light

IF you have a sense of faulty vision it is a natural inclination to seek a very strong light by which to read or study. This simply adds to the eye strain. The best light is an indirect, diffused light of sufficient strength to make the letters on the page stand out in uniform distinctness. Avoid the brilliant reflection from metallic objects that may be on the desk.

��Torpedoed! But the Cargo Floats Off Safely

THE question of saving the cargo of food-stuffs on a torpedoed ship has received what seems to be a practical answer by W. G. Durant, of Jacksonville, Florida, who pro- poses to seal up the cargo in gal- vanized iron con- tainers which will float on the sur- face of the sea after the ship has sunk. H i s idea is not unlike that of Menotte Nanni, which was described in the March issue of the Popular Sci- ence Monthly. Mr. Durant plans to make his air-tight con- tainers large enough to hold cargo weighing from two to fifteen tons. Each tank is to contain a com- pressed air cham- ber to afford the necessary buoy- ancy, and each is to be equipped with a hook and chain, so that a large number of containers upon floating to the surface can be fastened to- gether and towed to land. The crew of the torpedoed vessel could use the floating containers as life rafts.

So far as the destruction of the containers goes, it would not be practicable for a submarine to waste torpedoes on them. Of course a submarine could shell as many containers as it wished, but this would not continue for long with so many vessels patroling the barred zone.

A feature of Mr. Durant's plan which is more important than the containers themselves, is the ship which will carry them. The inventor does not favor the ordinary design of ship, but he suggests a ship without decks to enable the con-

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