The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-11-27

"The radio detector does not work.
Our technicians ascribe it to outside
interference. There is no doubt that
the enemy is to blame. His method
of attack is still unknown. What
shall be done?"
In the receivers over the gener-
ais ears there was noise and sput-
ter.
Two minutes later he pressed
three buttons at the side of his
desk, one after the other. Two of
ficers entered through door at
the left, and, from the back of the
room, from behind a screen, three
soldiers rolled in an apparatus in
the form of wide, low cylinder with
a mirror as an upper surface.
The general said: "The radio de-
tector is out of order. An hour
and a half ago the enemy airplanes
were six hundred miles to the east.
Counting an average of three hun
bred miles an hour, they must be
very close to the city. The noun
tain batteries have been informed
of the situation. I propose a smoke
blanket over the city. An air man.
euver to divert the enemy's atten-
ton. In the meantime we issue the
general alarm"
One minute later the general was
sitting over the mirror, watching in
it the reflection of what was going
on in the air above the city. A
silent play of lightning was devel-
oping in the dark air. Two hundred
airplanes had risen from skyscrap-
ers' roofs, from fields in the park,
from platforms at the river bank,
from boats on the river. The ma
chimes spread out over distance Of
two hundred miles on either side
Of the city. At the same time twenty
larger machines rose from the CEN
ter of the city, flying very slowly
and spreading smoke. In less than
seven minutes over the entire city
lay a thick black smoke which re-
manned almost immovable. The city
was masked. Looking from above
it would have not been possible to
discover the presence of city. The
area would look more like de-
serted field or a stretch of water.
Outside the city boundaries lights
were cleaning at intervals, lamps
purposely placed in woods and I'M
inhabitated fields to give the i'm
preston that these were the cities
and towns.
AS soon as the smoke blanket had
been spread, the lighter air ma
chimes made their searchlights play.
Long white streaks of light cut the
air above and below, near and far.
Streaks of light crossed each other,
receding, advancing. A weird dance
of beams of light was going on in
the night air. Every beam was a
finger stretched into the air to feel
an. enemy machine. All this had
been rendered unnecessary by the
radio detector. Now one had to fall
back on the primitive methods of
detection.
nm the fifth floor of the military
" tower the general was watching
this play in the mirror of the photo
reflector. Here he saw in a minia-
ture way what was happening
above. First there was that unclear
reddish glow which rises over a
large city even when its lights are
half dimmed. Then darkness swept
the glow away and the general knew
that the smoke blanket had been
spread. Then he saw tiny bright
needles crossing and recrossing each
other in the depths Of the mirror.
These were the airplanes. The sharp
eyes of the man with gray mus
tache were piercing the mirror. As
time passed his look became graver,
his face drawn. Not single needle
had snatched out of the darkness an
enemy machine which in the reflec-
tor would look like a tiny bug.
Ceaselessly and restlessly the ma
chimes roamed in the air and all the
work seemed useless. Something
was wrong. Something like the
foreshadowing of fear was creeping
into the generals emaciated chest.
First the radio detector, that pow
erful protection of which the father
land was justly proud. Within one
hour the apparatus which practically
made the city and it's environment
secure against an enemy attack had
been silenced. Then that futile
search on radius of four-five
hundred miles, when, according to
all information, the enemy flyers
must be very near. Was it possible
that the enemy had scored new
scientific successes? How was it
possible to destroy the radio detec-
tor from the distance? How was
it possible for the enemy flyers to
avoid the light Of two hundred
searchlights?
WITHOUT moving his eyes from
" the reflector the general spoke in
to the transmitter:
"Any news from the shore?"
! The shore was waiting with it,