DONALD DUCK
GELIST. SURE IS
GETTIN'
FOBOY]
́UNCA DONALD
Tuesday,
HONGKONG, TELEGRA
December 31940.
By Walt Disney
PROPERTS POLO SHOE CREAM
MAGAZINE
PAGE
WHAT MAKES AN
X
MUCH-BOMBED citizens
may gain small consola- 'tion in learning that their 'troubles are caused by waves of high-pressure air, lasting about 1-10,000th of a second and created by the combustion - of trinitrotoluene and ammoni- um nitrate. But a knowledge of high-explosives is certainly topical nowadays and may be useful,
or
There are hundreds of ex- plosives, with varying powers and qualities, but "work"
A roughly, the same way. mixture, or compound, of chemicals which is stable en- ough in the ordinary way is either ignited by fire "shocked" by-a-blow-or.minor explosion. The result is violent reaction, producing great quantities of gas which burst the.container and com- press the surrounding air into. an expanding steel-hard wall moving at a speed of miles & second which pushes buildings and people before it.
a
Following this.wave of pres. sure comes one of low pressure -a virtual vacuum. Walls and windows damaged by the first blast are dragged out wards into the street. It has saved many in basements: killed some on the pavements.. *
The first explosive really dates back to the thirteenth century when Roger Bacon's experiments produced the first pure nitre which, mixed with' charcoal and sulphur, makes gunpowder (The earlier Chin- ese "explosives" were com- parative toys.) The first guns arrived early in the next cen- tury and for years could throw only. iron or. stone. cannon-balls. The first ex-
•plosive "shells-metal balls filled with gunpowder and ex- ploded by a fase consisting of a tubo filled with powder- were used in the fifteenth and
By A. P. Luscombe Whyte
perts. They wanted vastly more power. And they want- ed different types of explosives
for filling bombs and shells they wanted fast-burning ones which developed all their force in an instantaneous, shattering blast; for propelling shells out of their guns they needed slow-burning explosives, which would not shatter the barrels but would exert a steady growing pressure on the shells.
In 1846 nitro-glycerine was produced. By spraying gly- carine into a mixture of nitric and sulphuric acids, the scien- tists found that a thick, oily. dangerous substance with habits was produced. If drop- ped, hit, shaken violently, it force. exploded with vast
Some kinda went off if a fly was rash enough to alight on the surface.
war
No use as a commercial or explosive, this. Until Nobel in 1867 mixed the tem- peramental nitro- glycerine with wood flour and produced a fairly stable, easily handled plastic mass which he called
fow A dynamite,
years earlier other experimenters hind treated cotton and wood- pulp with nitric seld and pro- duced another fairly safe- (if. absolutely pure) explosivo ideal for filling torpedoes when they arrived later on-which was called gun-cotton. Other explosives followed. Modern warfare was about to quicken its tempo..."
Named trinitrotoluene, TN.T. for short, it had a tremendous blasting effect as a filler for shells and bombs. It is still being used as such to-day- despite the rumours of newer and more devastating, agents.
It was not hard to make. Toluene, a liquid derived from coal, was mixed with nitric and sulphuric acids, and after a process of agitation and tem- perature regulation, an oil which solidified when poured into water, was produced. One of the safest-except for the enemy of explosives.
Bombs and shells to-day are filled with T.N.T. or with an explosive called Amatol, which as a mixture of T.N.T. and am monium nitrate, and nearly' smokeless, Amatol does not
+
important.There have been rumours of a "new" liquid-air bomb, tried out with "unexam- pled devastation" on Bar celona. This explosive is not new and probably unsuitable. for warfare. For long miners have used a cartridge of car bon, which is soaked in cold new and probably, unsuitable liquid air or oxygen immedi
Killed By Disease
Fought
He
SIR HENRY HEAD, one of the world's greatest neuro- logists, devoted most of his life to finding out more about paralysis.
Ho risked getting the dis- case by experimenting on him-
Belf:
He even cut. the nerves of his legs, arm, near the elbow, to study "deep sensibility," and recorded his reactions day' by day.
Eventually he fell a' victim to Parkinson's disease, the form of paralysis which had occupied most of his studies.
Recently his death, at the ∙age of 79, was announced.-
Cutting through the nerves of his left arm 31 years ago led to the development of new forms of surgery being de- veloped in the treatment of nervous disenses.
Specialists learned from this experiment how messages are transmitted from the nerves to the brain.
Nobody knew more than Sir Henry about Parkinson's dis- case, which is also known as trembling palsy Trembling movements in certain parts. tend to become widely diffused throughout the body.
Sir Henry became afflicted pears apo. With the development of the disease he became a cripple.
of his hands, Lady HeadTM undertook all his correspond- ence and sho. handled his reference books for him until her death a year ago.
ately before it is needed, andAs he gradually lost the use explodes violently when deton- ated. No dangerous, fumes are caused, but the liquid air evaporates rapidly at ordinary temperatures, and the cartri- dge soon goes dead.
Bombs filled with this explo- sive would be difficult to handle and, exports say, no more devastating than T.N.T.
Or
Amatol. Most, possible explosive mixtures and com- pounds have already been tried out and a new "super- super" filing for bombs is not: likely.
explode on slight provocation FUNNY SIDE UP
so the modern bomb contains a "booster" charge of ordinary powder, which is set off by a small "percussion" charge of fulminate of mercury as the bomb hits the ground, and in turn starts off the main explo sive chargo,
'A bomb loaded into a plane : will not go off however much you belabour it. But, as it falls through the air, a tiny propoller-spinner twists off in the rush of wind, and renders the bomb "alive." The weight of steel casing, nose-cap, ins, fuses and "booster" charge is such that the actual explosive is not more than half the total armour-piercing bombs --- Is only about one-tenth.
sixteenth centuries. They, Form combinations of oily weight of the bomb and in
were not successful and did not supersede cannon-balls.
The perfection of percussion devices, which would explode on contact and set off the main charge, came only in the early nineteenth century. They made possible the modern rifle, shell and bomb, but it was mid- contury before the time fuss ass ready for barrage war-
nitro-glycerine and solid gun cotton came the first cordites alow-burning, safe explo gives, suitable for propelling bullets and sheils. Improved cordites are used to day (it takes an 80 lb. charge to fling a medium-sized shell) Uncompressed, and lit, they just burnt flercely. But com pressed and sent off by a per- cussion cap's small burst, they, why developed great explosive
gun- only? Müch later but time for
The time-bomb, intended to crash through buildings and pavements, is stronger, but molds less explosive than the contact, bomb, which goes off directly it hits and caus as little crater.
slowly through tainer of any desired provides, actuates tha
BLOOD TRANSFUSION GOES AHEAD
now. often
The large scale air raids on London calls on have necessitated big the blood transfusion services. Re- gular, deliveries, of, blood are
to the hospitals, being made during raids and hundreds of lives have been saved. On one day alone some 300 pints of blood were given by donors, while 3.0.S. cails have met with a magnificent response.
By Abner Dean
TAN, MAHOGANY, BLACK & WHITE
75c. per jar
LANE, CRAWFORD, LTD.
uide to
to Early CHRISTMAS SHOPPING
TRY WHITEAWAY'S FIRST
NEW SELECTION OF
DRESS
JEWELLERY
PENDANTS, BROOCHES, CLIPS, ETC.
from $2.95 up
Gift Boxes Of HANDKERCHIEFS from $1.95
LAVENDER SACHETS from $1.50
ANGORA SCARVES from $3.95
-GIFT——STATIONERY-
ETC., ETC.
Toy BAZAAR NOW OPEN Whiteaway, Laidlaw & Co., Ltd.
Mod
4
Ve for the best results in sun or shado
VER
always use.
CRICHROME
With its two emulsions, Kodak Veri- chrome Film will give you best results, day in and day out, Takej care of tear errors. PerforTTER sonable exposure brilhantly even when the weather isn't just right. Ask for "Venchrome" by name, look for KODAK on the bar.
Hongkong Benevolent Society Room - 11, Ice House Street
The Society's Room will be open on
MONDAYS & THURSDAYS
from 10 AM to