The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-11-21
LABORATORY
and SHOP By David R.m..,
BEHIND THE AIR RACES

I oLhA4ND HE AK hAGEA
! The spectacular air hops that
have been capturing the front pages
are more than mere exhibitions Of
speed and daring. Behind the spec
tacle lies the aim Of the ruling class
TO test the potential military use Of
the planes in the next war. They
constitute an important part of the
war preparations Of the imperialist
powers.
Military experts believe that the
recent flights from London to Mel
bourne will bring on significant
changes in aircraft tactics. The
new ships possess speeds. carrying
capacity and a flying range that is
double that Of the planes in the last
war. There is no longer a great gap
in speed between the big bombers
and the small pursuit planes.
This makes it all the more diff
ficult to repel attacks. The big
bombers if given a slight lead are
very difficult to overtake. And
new methods Of arming have re-
moved the blind spots that used to
exist behind and underneath the
fuselage Of the bombers, so that now
they are almost as effective from
the angle Of offense as the attack
planes.
AS the planes grow bigger they
develop new methods for destruction.
A big plane carrying a squad Of
soldiers could land them behind the
lines unhurt through the simple
expedient of a mass parachute
jump Such groups could cause an
enormous amount Of damage as they
attacked and crippled the enemy's
lines of communications
Today the great airliners can
easily be converted into bombing
planes and troop carriers. In the
United States and in Germany, the
potential war strength in the air is
concentrated in the commercial lines
which are the auxiliary arm of the
military forces.
GASOLINE FROM PEAT
Soviet scientists at the Leningrad
Industrial Institute have found a
way of extracting gasoline from
peat on large scale. The peat tar
that is left as residue, after peat
is used to generate gas, will now be
turned into gasoline and various
fuel oils.
The new fuel gives more than or
binary gasoline, makes no smoke, let's
engines run more smoothly and
costs only half as much as the usual
petroleum product. There are ire
mendous possibilities in this devel-
opment, since there are two billion
tons Of peat in the Leningrad dis
trict alone. Soviet experts estimate
that this will furnish as much fuel
as the famous Gronzi oil fields.
Now that gasoline can be OBJ
tanned from peat, there will no
longer be the necessity Of shipping
petroleum products all the way from
Transcaucasia. The chemical and
gas generating plants that operate
on peat will soon be able to supply
fuel to those regions that found it
difficult before and in this way the
railroads will also be relieved of
transportation burden.
A PERMANENT CREASE
Ralph E. McCabe has invented a
crease for your trousers that will
enable you to jump into the river
after your favorite girl, get your re-
ward, and still not lose the crease in
your pants. Mr.. McCabe applies a
fluid that he has patented to the
inside of the crease, which is then
preserved almost permanently. Mr..
McCabe showed how much con-
fidence he had in his idea by sit
ting in a fountain in Detroit park.
He came out of this ordeal with his
crease wet, but unspoiled.