Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1916-07-20
DODCINC THE BOMB
Easy to Sidestep a Missile Flung
From a Zeppelin.
SIMPLE RULES FOR SAFETY,
Provided a Person Can Sight the Air
ship Before 1t Gets In Its Work,
Dashing Out Of Its Range Is Merely
a Matter of Seconds and Agility.

There are well defined rules for the
avoidance of Zeppelin bombs. These
rules, it seems, depend upon the laws
Of spherical perspective, and however
esoteric and complicated the calcula-
tons upon which they are based the
actual practice Of bomb lodging is
relatively simple and easy to master.
When 'Zep" is sighted in the ofing
the first thing to do is to determine it's
course. This is done as follows: If it
| appears to be standing on end and is
practically vertical you are, leaving out
of account any cross wind there may
be, pretty nearly in it's path and should
| get ready to run to right or left-that
| is, at right angles to the course it is
pursuing. Even if you are directly in
| it's path there is no danger from the
| bombs except when it is nearly over
your head.
And because the bomb takes a very
| considerable time to reach the earth
| probably twenty-five seconds when the
| Yep is at an altitude Of a mile) you
| will have q reasonable time to side
| step" it even after seeing it start.
But any one who can't run a hundred
| yards, which is about the limit of the
| destructiveness of one Of these mis-
siles, in twenty-five seconds, especially
| with the stimulus of a bomb chasing
| him, hasn't very much excuse for not
being blown up in this athletic age.
| If, On the other hand, the Yep when
| sighted appears to be tipped one way
| or the other-that is, it's front on upper
| end points to the left or right-you are
| tive fireworks without any of the un-
pleasant thrills associated with the
peril of imminent death. If the bow
| appears inclined to the left the vessel
will pass to the left, and if tipped the
other way, OF course, to the right.
Some allowance, however, must be
| made for cross winds, as these great,
unWieldy bags have very consider
| able side drift
It is said to be usually easy to make
| these observations by means of the un-
aided eye with sufficient accuracy to
| protect oneself. But in case the Yep
should appear very close to an upright
position it may help the observer to
get into a place where the vessel is
| partially covered by the edge of a
! house, a fagpole or other vertical line.
| If the Yep appears to be climbing the
edge of the house or the fagpole to-
ward the zenith the observer is likely
to have an immediate personal interest
| in it's visit. In case there is no house
or f1agpole available plumb line made
by a stone tied to a string will serve
the same purpose.
By following these few simple rules,
says Professor e. G. Pickering, there is
little excuse for any one on the lookout
and able to get about with reasonable
! speed being caught by either Zeppe-
| lin or an aeroplane bomb.
It may be of interest while on the
| subject to make a few abstracts from
the description by a British scientific
observer Of the fall Of these bombs:
1.-THE bombs could be heard approach
ing as they rushed through the air.
| The Whistling noise-a little like the
| tearing of calico or the noise made by
a gigantic rocket-became a crescendo
shrek Of terrific intensity just before
| the bomb struck the ground and the
explosion occurred. l estimated the
| height of the Zeppelin as about 1000
feet, and, neglecting air resistance, this
would give the bombs final velocity
Of about 500 feet per second. The ac-
tual speed was probably less than this
and is considerably less than the veloc
ity of sound Q,10O feet per second,
which accounts for the fact that the
bombs can be heard before their ar
rival.
standing, as l was, at about 200
| yards from where one Of the bombs
fell the noise Of the actual explosion
did not appear to be very loud. The
reason is probably to be sought in the
almost complete numbing of ones
senses. The feeling was much the
same as if one had been given a hard
blow between the eyes with bolster
Or some relatively soft object. heard
q piece Of bomb zip past me and after
ward found it imbedded in a balk Of
timber about two yards from where /
was standing"
Upon the explosion of the bombs a
huge cloud Of black smoke rose into
the air. The destruction caused in
their immediate neighborhood showed
curious freakishness. The worst
harm was done in what appeared to be
pockets of high pressure extending out
in various directions, but apart from
the possibility Of being struck by flying
missiles the danger zone did not much
exceed twenty-five yards.-New York
Post.
| Over.
| "I o1ess their honeymoon is about