The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-02-10

Force had requested six m
 Although Army officials at first denied the need of the quick-re- lease parachute, they later re- versed themselves and have been supplying 1t to troops in the combat area. However, the pro- cess of fulfilling General Long, fellows request and also of manu- featuring the new harness has been so slow that most troops in non-combat areas are still using the triple-release parachute har- ness.
 This is fastened with three buckles which an aviator must unlooSe immediately he hits the ground and in some cases while still in the air, especially if he is about to land in the water or on rough terrain. Otherwise he may be dragged to death.
 A tragic illustration of this oc- cured in the African desert near Cairo not long ago when six men died because of the triple-release harness.
 Jumping from 2,5OO feet, the
 men were caught in 5O-mile-
 an-hOur Sahara sandstOrm
 seized their parachutes before
 they could unfasten the three buckles. They were dragged as
 much as five miles acrOSst he desert. One of the crew who
 lived reported: 'T was floating and didn't know how far I was
 front he ground. I tried to
 undo my chute but couldn't Fortunately, I landed in g tree." HOUSE OF LORDS DEBATE
 While in London last month scholarly Congresmen George Out land of California stopped in at the House of Lords, spent a brief buSman's holiday studying par liamentary procedure there. He entered just as Lord Swinton, Bri- tains commercial airline expert, was concluding an address on postwar air routes in which he warned: Britain must take ex- treme care lest she be unpre- pared to muscle i'm on postwar trade or air rOutes."
 Outland decided Congress and Parliament don't differ too much when another Lord, whom he was unable to identify, arose to re- mark with great solemnity:
 We are all extremely grate- full for these words from the
 distinguished Lord SwintOn, who has but recently returned from the International Aviation Conference in Chicago. Of- fer my congratulations. If he learned nothing else while in the United States, I am pleased to notice that Lord SwintOn was able to increase his vo- cabulary by two words"
 POOR WOODEN LEGS
 Representatives of the Army Surgeon Generals Office have been meeting in Chicago with manufacturers of artificial limbs in order to reach agreement on standard limbs to be furnished servicemen. Standardization of artificial limbs will be extremely helpful to veterans, but this achievement alone will be only small part of the reform neces- Sary.
 At the Walter Reed hospital and at Forest Glen Gonzales cent Home, both in Washing ton, several hundred amputa- tion cases have bene confined for months, many of them dis guseted with the treatment they have received.
 One gripe is that after their amputations have bene sufficient ly healed the men are issued tem- porary fiber legs to learn to walk on. Not only are these heavy but they are so poorly made that they sometimes break. One vet eran who lost both legs went home on furlough to Rochester, N. Y. and had to be sent back in an ambulance because both his arti- ficial legs had broken. He was issued another pair of temporary legs. But one night these also went out of commission and he had to drag himself by his hands for half a city block to get home.
 Another even more serious dif- ficulty is that the boys have to learn to walk all over again when they are issued their permanent legs. This is because the tenn porary legs first given them are wooden or fiber legs which do not