Evening star., 1945-02-09

Associated Press Science Writer.
An obscure Columbia University
professor cracked open safe As
years ago-all in the interest of sci
ence, of course-and wrote an i'm
portant chapter in the story OF
American war rockets.
Prof Charles E. Munroe was ex-
perimenting with explosives. He
found that If he arranged several
sticks of dynamite around the out
side Of tin can he'd attain 10 times
the destructive power of solid
charge of explosive. It worked swell
in breaking open safe in his lab
oratory!
Prof. Munroe didn't know it, but
he had developed the principle that
makes the modern 2.36-inch "ba-
zooka" rocket projectile so effective
against armor.
| Another Enters Field.
Next in the rocket story comes
Prof. r. H. Goddard Of Clark Uni
versity, Worcester, Mass. In 1909
he began rocket experiments which
led him, nine years later, to publish
data supporting the practicability Of
q rocket flight to the moon!
Prof. Goddard didn't try the moon
stunt, but by 1896 he had developed
a 2l-foot rocket. propelled by liquid
oxygen and gasoline. that could be
shot more than a mile high. 1t re-
portedly attained a speed of more
than TOO miles an hour.
The projectile had jet-driven CEN
trifugal pumps and an automatic
stabilizer-features which so closely
parallel those of Germany's va
that many physicists think the Ger
mans may have Snitched Prof. God
dard's patented ideas.
Mr.. Goddard discontinued his
long-range rocket experiments in
1941, when military authorities
asked him to concentrate on jet
propelled airplanes.
Used Few In Last War.
The Germans did quite a bit of
research on rockets-"luft torpedos"
prior to 1910. There is some evi-
dence that their Zeppelins launched
a few rockets against fighter planes
in the World War. It is known for
sure that French planes made few
passes at the Zeps with rockets
attached to their wing struts.
In 1928, a daredevil German
chemist named Tilling designed
rocket-powered racing car which
could hit so miles an hour within
eight seconds. It is believed the
Nazis applied many of Things find
ings to war rockets.
Our rocket researches in this war
were spurred by successes the Rus
slams and British had achieved.
Since 1941, our studies and de-
velopments have been a joint under
taking OF the War and Navy De-
partments, working with the Office
of Scientific Research and Devel-
opment, but years before Pearl
Harbor, an American Army officer,
Col. L. A. Skinner, had been dream
ing of a rocket that could be
launched with shoulder weapon
a one-man rocket gun.
Made Shoulder Launcher.
The coloneps wife wouldn't let him
fool around with explosives in the
house, so Col. Skinner kept his ma
terials buried in fruit jars out in the
back yard.
Col. Skinner developed a shoulder
launcher-without the rocket charge
in 1941, but since we were not at
war then, he couldn't stir up much
interest.
Later, when we were at war, a
young Swiss engineer named Henry
H. Mohaupt offered our ordnance
men design for q lightweight ar
NOR piercing projectile. Ordnance
men found the projectile would be
hot stuff against tanks-if the right
kind Of launcher were only avail
able.
Up stepped Col. Skinner again with
his shoulder launcher-and thus was
born the "bazooka."
Not long afterward, we had a
flying bazooka" for airplanes.
The first one was fired by Col.
Harry G. Donicht at the Aberdeen
(Md) Proving Ground. The first