Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 92.djvu/660

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��Popular Science Monthly

��shaped bulk of the i:ad, A narrow motor- cycle may be lasned to an airplane, as it is, but any ordinary automobile would kill the plane's supporting power by the in- ordinate head-resistance it offers to the air. Racing automobiles have recently been designed with great care, so as to reduce the resistance they ofifer to the air, a policy which, in racing, is a^ vital as in flying. A racing car may be lashed to an airplane as readily as a motorcycle.

But a Ford car is not built on racer lines. The Ford would first have to be thoroughly streamlined and its wheels would have to be changed to disks by spoke-coverings. The problem still re- mains of providing an extra set of wheels for the airplane on which to restart and to reland after it has dropped its load. But that does not seem impossible of solu- tion, judging from the example of the large German seaplanes, which are transform- able into land-planes. These carry a set of wheels that may be lowered at will.

The plan may be carried out with a Ford even more easily than with the sea- plane, because the twin-engined planes have their landing wheels under each motor, and the Ford could be suspended between them. The wheels of the Ford could form a landing gear of its own, taking its weight in landing and

��starting off the structure of the plane. The Ford would require no redesigning. Light framings with canvas or aluminum covering could transform its outline into a perfect streamline, which would be ma- terially aided by a long empty tail.

Doing the Washing for Forty Thousand Soldiers

ONE of the thousand and one problems which confront the military author- ities of a belligerent country is the neces- sity of providing ways and means for maintaining the cleanliness of the troops in camps or cantonments. The soldiers wear shirts, socks and underwear and use handkerchiefs and towels. All these articles become soiled by use and must be cleansed by washing from time to time to keep the men in good sanitary condi- tion. At Camp Upton, Yaphank, L. I., there are, at various times, from 25,000 to 40,000 men and to take care of their laundry work is a tremendous task.

The accompanying picture shows an interior view of the army laundry at Camp Upton and gives a good idea of the enormous size of the establishme'it. The machinery shown in the foreground is used for the ironing and pressing of the laundried garments.

���These pressing and ironing machines and many others are required to do work for the soldiers at Camp Upton, Yaphank, L. I. The laundry work for 40,000 men is a colossal undertaking

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