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/ THE SUN, NEWBERRY, S. C, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1940 Inventors Turning to War Devices National Council Mustered To Develop New Ways To Aid Defense. WASHINGTON.—Patterned after an agency which turned up dozens of devices for use in the World war, among them a mystery weapon which is still being kept secret, the National Council of Inventors is mustering some of the keenest in ventive brains in the country into a search for new tools for the army and navy. From their research laboratories in every part of the country dozens of scientists, long schooled in the pa tient and painstaking work of track ing down peacetime inventions, have sent offers to the government to help devise more efficient equipment for war. In addition to the skilled inventors, the aid of amateurs is being enlisted —and the general call for ideas has brought on a brain-matching contest which already is bringing several hundred defense suggestions a day into the offices of the council. The council is modeled in many ways after the naval consulting board of the United States, which functioned under the(direction of the late Thomas Alva Edison during the World war. He was responsible per sonally for the development of more than a dozen devices which were used then and have been used more widely since Studies of 1929 Recalled. Lloyd N. Scott, late captain of the army, who acted as liaison officer to the board and the war committee of technical societies, said after a study of its work in 1929: “Everyone expected that the board would evolve some invention that would conquer the Central Pow ers with one fell swoop, and, had the war lasted another year, an impor tant and confidential device proba bly would have justified this expec tation in a degree at least; and other devices evolved by the board, such as wireless controlled bombs, de vices for the automatic introduction Two-Piece Suit This two-piece suit in gray tweed features an all-around pleated skirt. It is topped by a fitted jacket boast ing square buttons marching up the front. The suit is highlighted by a large hat in red flannel that sits far back on the head. War Prisoner Loses 66 Pounds in Three Months VICHY, FRANCE.—Louis Wehrle of Fort Wayne, Ind., former Amer ican volunteer ambulance driver who said he lost R6 pounds during his three-month confinenent in a German prison camp, arrived here with another captured volunteer, Murray Shipley of Cincinnati. The two were captured after Ger man parachute troops dropped around them in northern France in mid-May. They were held at Hoyers- werda, near Dresden, along v/ith two others, Alfred Raymond of Chicago and Marcus Clark of Hollywood. All were released August 23. In the same prison, Wehrle said, were 6,000 French officers, including nearly all officers belonging to the seventh and ninth French armies. Approximately 20,000 other French prisoners and 4,000 Belgians passed through the camp en route to work in labor gangs in Germany. “The food wasn't so good, but there were no complaints about our treatment," Wehrle said. “We got ersatz (substitute) coffee five times weekly, a porridge made of corn flour twice weekly. Other meals in cluded potato and cabbage soup, black bread, sometimes codfish, but very rarely meat. On that diet I lost 66 pounds in three months.” of all the factors in the aiming of machine guns on airplanes, as well as others, gave promise of such re sults.” Captain Scott gave no clue to what the mystery weapon may have been. Nor is it discussed with any more expansiveness nowadays. One offi cial said he knew of the weapon and that it was being further developed and perfected. At that point he quit talking. Wireless-controlled bombs are no longer a secret. Nor is it a secret that the defense forces have a fly ing bomb which will track down an enemy airman without so much as his name a.^d address. All it has to do is hear him and it follows the sound of his plane. Edison’s Aides Solved Problems. Most of the inventions came from the experts on the naval consulting board, and many of these after they had been asked to find the answer to some particular problem. Edison and the engineers in his employ made 34 different studies. He worked out a method of detect ing a submarine from a moving ves sel, of turning a ship quickly to dodge a torpedo, of camouflaging ships, of rigging sailing lights which would be visible to convoying craft but could not be seen by subma rines, of high speed signaling with searchlights and of putting out fires in coal bunkers, and designed a gas mask and an undersea searchlight. Two other Edison developments which helped to blaze a path toward present-day efficiency were a direc tion finder which would spot an ap proaching plane and the direction from which it was coming by the sound of its engine and an appara tus which would spot the location of hidden guns by their sound. Young China Prepares The war in China may not last until these boys are ready to bear arms, but if it does they will not need much training. These little fel lows built the tanks in which they are playing in Chungking, China, the beleaguered capital of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek’s forces that daily bombing by Japanese planes has been unable to subdue. Dog Is Exonerated on Charge of Biting Mailmen SWAMPSCOTT, MASS. — Mars, of the few dogs ever to face federal charges, is now a free canine. Taken before the board of select men to answer charges preferred by Postmaster Wilkinson of the Lynn postal district, Mars charmed the whole board with the friendli ness of his ceaselessly wagging tail and won complete exoneration. Wilkinson complained that Mars chased and bit mailmen. '&V' Thornton VCf Burgess i FARMER BROWN’S BOY DIS COVERS THE THIEF O LD GRANNY FOX trotted back to the Green Forest where Red dy Fox was waiting for her, and all the way there she chuckled to herself. She had led Bowser the Hound straight to the home of Old Man Coyote in the far comer of the Green Meadows, and Bowser had called his master. Farmer Brown’s Boy, over there. “Now I guess he’ll know who has been stealing his chickens and will stop hunting Reddy and me,” mut tered Granny. “I’m even with Old Man Coyote at last, and I guess he won’t bother us again very soon.” Perhaps Granny wouldn’t have had such a comfortable feeling if she could have heard Farmer Brown’s Boy exclaim as he came up to where Bowser Vue Hound was frantically trying to dig open the house of Old Man Coyote. “Hello! Here’s a fox den! It must be that those foxes have moved from up near the edge of the Green Forest, and I hadn’t once suspected it. Pret ty clever of them, I call it. No one would ever think of looking over it “Hello! Here’s a Fox Den!” without seeing it. Ha! there are some chicken bones! We’ve got to put a stop to this, Mr. Fox or Mrs. Fox, whichever you are!” But presently as he looked about more closely Farmer Brown’s Boy began to be in doubt, and there was a puzzled look on his face. “If a fox made that it is the biggest fox I ever heard of,” he muttered as he stared down at a footprint. “He must be the king of all the foxes.” Now Farmer Brown’s Boy has learned one thing that a great many people never do learn, and which is most important. It is this; Never make up your mind that a thing is or isn’t so until you have thoroughly looked into it. So while at first he had taken that track for the foot print of a very large fox he was not absolutely sure. The more he looked at it the less sure he was. “Looks almost like the footprint of a small dog,” said he, “and it isn’t exactly like that either. Now I wonder—” He paused and looked very hard at the footprint Then he hunted until he found another and near it a brownish gray hair. “My gracious!” he exclaimed, “I do believe that I have found the home of that prairie wolf I have heard howling! I’ve nev er seen him, but I know his voice, and for a long time I’ve been sure that there is one somewhere on the Green Meadows or in the Green Forest. This certainly is his track, and he is the one who has been taking my ducks and chickens! Good Old Bowser, to bring me straight to his home!” H" stooped and patted Bowser the Hound, who had given up trying to dig his way into Old Man Coyote’s house, but was doing his best to tell his mas ter that Old Man Coyote was at home that very minute. “It’s all right, Bowser, old fel low,” continued Farmer Brown’s Boy. “It’s all right. He’s safe enough in there just now. We can’t get him out, but we know just where he lives and he is as good as caught this very minute. We’ll set some traps around here, and then I guess Old Man Coyote will wish that he had left our ducks and chickens alone. I’m glad that it wasn’t Red dy Fox, after all. He is such a handsome chap that I would much rather see him running around than to shoot or trap him. But this fel low isn’t so handsome, and we’ll soon make short work of him. You keep watch. Bowser, while I go back to the house and get some traps. He’s eaten his last chicken.” All of which goes to show how lit tle Farmer Brown’s Boy knew about Old Man Coyote. © T. W. Burgess.—WNU Service. No Navy Switzerland is the only country in Europe without a navy. Woman Can Collect If She Only Whispers OMAHA.—If Mrs. Ruth Norsiki- an doesn’t talk above a whisper for the next 9 Vi years, she can collect compensation estimated at $9,535, Judge Lawrence Welch, of compensation ccurt, ruled. He found her suffering from hysterical aphonia and ruled that she is permanently disabled. >»»»»»»»»»«»♦»»» Ups || By V.V. % r\ O YOU have long fingers and want them not to look quite so long? If you use bright polish it will have the effect of shortening the fingers. You may also keep a wide white margin at the tip of the nail. Fingers should not look so long that they give “stringy” proportions to the hand. (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) Bluebeard Castle Hotel Put Up by Ickes for Rent WASHINGTON, D. C. — Blue beard’s castle is for rent again, the department of the interior an nounced. Secretary Ickes is offer ing it on a three-year lease, begin ning December 1. The castle is really a hotel at Charlotte Amalie, Virgin Islands, built around the reputed stronghold of the pirate who killed wives dis pleasing to him. According to the prospectus, the hotel has a spectacular view of the Caribbean, palm-shaded terraces, copper screens, parquet floors, hot and cold running water. It paid a tax of $1,625 last year on a valua tion of $130,000. The lessee must put up a $5,000 bond and assume other financial obligations. Ride Toboggan Down Sand Dunes Waving the French and English flags, two pretty Canadians toboggan down the giant sand mountain near Tadoussac, Quebec. The imm«.n««. sand dune is 500 feet high. Toboggans slide down its 45-degree slope at speeds exceeding 50 miles an hour. FRENCH WAR PRISONERS HELD NEAR PARIS SEEM DAZED PARIS.—Some 11,000 war prison ers are quartered near Paris in Meaux camp, which is operated by the French under efficient German supervision. This camp—there are two others and a hospital in the vicinity—is termed a “model camp” because of its French management and because it is comparatively clean. Soap is scarce, and for the men in their present circumstances it is consid ered more precious than gold. Most of the men wander around, their faces impassive, blank, as if they were of another World. They do not seem sad or happy. The Frenchmen in charge of the camp, however, are alert, probably be cause they were not idle. Uniforms of the prisoners are in a bad state of repair. Some wear the leather lining from helmets on their heads. Occasionally one may be seen still wearing a “tin hat” he had used in the recent conflict. On the day the writer visited the camp the smartest and cleanest ap pearing prisoner was a young Eng lish aviator with a freshly washed blue shirt under his gray tunic. He said there was another English pris oner in the hospital. The writer’s party stopped in front of the office and delivered private parcels which the soldiers helped carry into the building. A bar of soap and a towel were presented to a French colonial, who almost wept with joy. He had requested the articles and thought at first they had been forgotten. The men crowded around us. Their expressions changed a little to sort of an animal-like curiosity. Some of them asked to have letters taken out for them, but this is for bidden. Jeanette Nolan By VIRGINIA VALE (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) S AYING that the first fea ture-length film made by the March of Time is im portant is like saying that the history of our country is im portant. “The Ramparts We Watch” is living history; the nonprofessionals who appear in the story that is played out against the background of the stir ring events of 1914-18 are just people like all of us, thinking and talking as we do now. 1 Since the film was released in a limited number of cities a new end ing has been given it, one so dra matic that the picture is made dou bly effective. Despite protests of 1 the German embassy, sections of the Nazi propaganda film, “Feuere- taufe,” (“Baptism of Fire”) have been incorporated at the end of the picture. The Nazi film, designed to “soften” countries such as Norway, Holland, Belgium and France which Germa ny was about to conquer, was seen by the March of Time as a warning of what free countries were up against today. But UFA, German state film trust, imposed impossible demands for censorship. Then it was learned that the British govern ment had confiscated English lan guage copies of the film at Bermuda. Full title to the film was transferred by the British government to the March of Time. In this German film, a Stuka bomber dives on a railroad station —and you seem to be in it. War saw is razed, the German war ma chine moves relentlessly. Your daily newspaper’s headlines come alive for you. *— Jeanette Nolan was the victim of one of the worst things that can hap pen to a radio ac tress, the other day. Of course, the worst thing is missing a broad cast. The next worst is an attack of hiccoughs. It happened to Jeanette just be fore she was to broadcast on the Court of Missing Heirs. She drank water. She held her breath. People beat her on the back. And still she hiccoughed. Finally Director John Loveton had an inspiration. “Just heard that John didn’t show up for rehearsals at ‘Meet Mr. Meek,’ ” he remarked casually. By John he meant John McIntyre, Jeanette’s husband. She was so frightened that she forgot her hiccoughs. The American Federation of La bor had decided tentatively to pro duce a motion picture based on the lire of the great labor lead er, Samuel Gom- pers, who for many years head ed the A. F. of L. Paul Muni is slat ed for the leading role. It is said that Mr. Muni will be paid $25,- 000 for his work. The picture will in all probability be made in New York city. * Most of the big stars of Holly wood are married or past 35, but among those who will qualify for the draft are John Howard, Orson Welles, Broderick Crawford, James Stewart, Lew Ayres, John Carroll, William Holden, Bob Preston, Eddie Albert, Jeffrey Lynn and Dennis O’Keefe. Wayne Morris still doesn’t know whether he’s married or di vorced. * Thursday night will soon become more important than ever so far as radio is concerned. You can hear Fred Waring, “Good News,” the Al drich Family, Bing Crosby, Rudy Vailee, and after October 19 West- inghouse’s Musical Americana will join the ranks. How would you like to stand by and see somebody fireproofing the clothes that you were going to wear a little later? That’s what happened to Ray Milland, William Holden and Phil Brown, of Paramount’s “I Wanted Wings,” recently. The pic ture is being filmed at the govern ment flying field at San Antonio. Brown, a flying cadet, crashes in a basic training plane, and the other two rush in and pull him from the flaming wreckage. —-* ODDS AND ENDS H The Record Play err. a company o{ acton headed by Wendell Holmes (of radio’s “Big Sister” and “Myrt and Marge”) it being formed to record the great plays of the ages o/><! distribute them to schools and cultural groups throughout the nation. At first a limited number of recorded plays in album form will be distributed free. Holmes’ idea is to make the mprld's famous plays avail able to every’nome or group having a phonograph, and to open a new field for actors and actresses. «. Paulette Goddard is testing up after "Second Chorus.” Paul Muni HCWiq sew 4- Ruth Wyeth Spears AX^HENEVER I make a trip to ' ’ New England I like to bring back something to remind me that there have been about 15 genera tions of homemakers in America since John Alden and Priscilla set up housekeeping in Plymouth col ony. This time my treasure was the pair of ancient flat irons you see here in use as book ends for my work-room library of loose leaf binders. Setting them up remind ed me that I have been wanting to show you my method of fastening booklets in ring binders. I use %-inch wide gummed tape. Pieces 2%-inches long are folded in half. The fold end is stuck to gether and punched. These tabs are placed on the rings of the bind er and booklet stuck between the open ends. We are inveterate booklet collectors on all sort of subjects. Frequently we cover binders with fabrics or interesting papers so they look attractive on the shelves in any room. NOTE: Here Is a'good suggestion (or keeping the series of sewing booklets which Mrs. Spears has prepared (or our readers. There are five booklets avail able and a new one Is published every other month. No. 5 contains direcUons for 30 different homemaking ideas, in- Perseverance The old saying is that all things come to those who wait. Change this so as to make it declare that nearly all the good things are pos sible to those who will persevere long enough in seeking them, and you will have an important state ment which does not at all exceed the limits of truth. If, too, you should turn it around, the converse of it would be equally true; for without perseverance we need have no expectation of either ac quiring much or being of much service to our fellow-creatures. eluding new fall curtains; useful holiday gifts, and description of the other book* lets in the series. When you write for your copy of Book 5 be sure to enclose 10c to cover cost and mailing. Send order to: MRS. RUTH WYETH SPEARS Drawer 10 Bedford Hills New York Enclose 10 cents for Book 5. Name Address fj/i k\: k\\\\^iAVv\'\vvy »\xvv What Time Brings Time is the nurse and breeder of all good.—Shakespeare. HOST TO HIOST WHO UISU BHlTimORH Baltimore's newest, largest and finest hotel—700 rooms, equipped with every luxury and modem conveni ence. 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