Very interesting article about pollution in the nations bodies of water. It would be another 34 years before the clean water act was passed. No doubt if you dig deep enough you’ll find that it was Prescott Bush and his faithful advisor Pappy Rove who caused this problem with their “Healthy Rivers” act.

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Death Lurks in the River

by Huntington Stone

Cellulose and sawdust pollution in the North Atlantic, acid pollution in the Middle Atlantic, malaria in the Coastal plain, soil erosion in the Piedmont plateau, unpalatable water in the South East—this is the dangerous condition of our coastal and inland waterways. This story tells what the government’s special floating laboratory is doing about it

WE HEAR much about pollution. Conservationists inform us that the defiling of our inland and coastal water is causing a serious health menace to human as well as to aquatic life at an alarming rate. The life or death of every type of American fresh water fish is involved: bass, trout, pickerel, pike, perch, crappie, catfish, carp, sturgeon, salmon, whitefish and many others. Our own health, particularly that of our children, is involved.
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If my father had really loved me, he would have made me one of these.

Youngster Gets “Wings” at Age of Four

Valid until December 31, 2000, a novel airplane license recently issued by Australian air authorities entitles four-year-old Eric Morris to operate his homemade “flying flea,” shown in the photograph below. The diminutive craft, modeled after a French plane, is fitted with a gasoline engine of one and a half horsepower that allows the young pilot to taxi it along the ground as fast as twelve miles an hour.

Does it also include scientificially designed windproof cigarettes?
What does scientificially mean anyway? Is that a combination of scientifically and officially? It’s officially scientific!

WINDPROOF SUIT TO AID MT. EVEREST CLIMBERS

Windproof suits will be used by mountain climbers next summer, in a new attempt to reach the 29,141-foot summit of Mount Everest in Asia. The costume is scientificially designed to give protection from icy blasts. Members of the expedition will carry oxygen tanks.

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One Man Bicycle Dirigible

A dirigible balloon, run by foot power with bicycle drive, is being built by a Vermont inventor.

INTEREST in aviation is by no means exclusively confined to light airplanes, as is demonstrated by the number of letters contributed to Modern Mechanics’ Shop

Mail Box in which the writers inquire as to the possibility of constructing a small dirigible balloon which can be operated by man power. A dirigible powered with a bicycle, as depicted in the drawing above and as shown on the cover of the magazine this month, is under process of construction by Ray Fraser, of Brattleboro, Vermont. As planned by Mr. Fraser, the bag of his balloon will be 30 feet long by 15 feet in diameter. Read the rest of this entry »

Arabs Try Out Skis On Sands Of Desert
ANEW idea for ski enthusiasts comes, not from the frozen north, but from the hot sands of the Sahara Desert. A couple of Arabs are shown here, trying their hand—or should we say their foot?—at this new form of desert travel. The bottom surfaces of their skis are treated with a special preparation to make them slide easier over the sand. Perhaps skis will supplant the camel as the ship of the desert. Or perhaps we will soon hear of summer ski trains being run to our own Mojave Desert.

This would be even cooler if there was a string to make his nose grow.

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Pinocchio the Puppet

HOW TO DUPLICATE THE AMUSING LITTLE MODEL WALT DISNEY’S ANIMATORS USED

By HI SIBLEY

PINOCCHIO, the wistful puppet created by Geppetto, the wood carver, in Walt Disney’s second full-length production, is an inviting subject for either a homemade puppet or an amusing and companionable little doll. The accompanying illustrations show how to go about making one patterned after the original, which was created by the Disney model department as an inspiration to the animators drawing Pinocchio.

If you are an expert wood carver yourself, the head might be fashioned from a solid block of soft white pine and the nose inserted (Fig. 1), but a surer way to achieve a fair likeness is first to make a clay model. From this a plaster-of-Paris mold is taken, and the head is cast in plastic composition wood (Figs. 2, 3, and 4). The hat is made in the same way as the head and glued on.
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Plane Passengers Bailed Out Automatically

ONE of the most pressing needs of aviation has been a mechanical method whereby all passengers could be simultaneously and automatically bailed out at the psychological moment, that is, when the pilot learns that all hope for saving the plane is lost.

Such a method has now put in its appearance in the aviation world. With the equipment shown in the above photo, it is possible for the pilot to send his passengers on a flight groundward by parachute whether they want to bail out or not.
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The census department had some serious technical chops in 1950. Census workers were given maps and aerial photos of their districts so they could find all of the residences. The punch card counting machines seem pretty advanced as well with data validation circuits that would reject, for example, a two year old with six kids. I wonder how many kids they considered it alright for a two year old to have?

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COUNT OFF, AMERICANS…

By Richard F. Dempewolff

For A house-to-house canvass that will make all the brush salesmen in the world look like an army of pikers, wait until you see the one that gets under way April first. Yup, it’s time for the 1950 decennial census, Uncle Sam’s national inventory of noses—the biggest quiz show, most mammoth tabulating phenomenon and most accurate poll in history.

It’s a job that has taxed the ingenuity of a harried Census Bureau every zero year since 1790. At that time 17 U. S. marshals and 600 assistants knocked on colonial doors, asked five questions of whoever answered, then tacked their lists on the walls of local taverns, so that people who’d been skipped could add their names or Xs when they dropped by for a flagon of ale. Results were mailed to the President.
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If it’s cold enough that you need to pull your nostrils open with a hook, I suggest simply wearing a scarf or face mask. Also, what do you do if you don’t wear glasses?

Nosepiece Aids Breathing in Cold

HERE’S a new slant on curing colds in the head. It’s a little adjustable hook which fastens to the nosepiece of your eyeglasses to lift up the nostrils and facilitate the passage of air through the nasal openings. How this extremely novel gadget is worn is illustrated in the photo at the left.

Movie Sounds from Queer Machines

When horses clatter down the street on the talkie screen, you can wager that the sound of their hoof-beats has been registered by a machine like that shown above. Arms on the two crank-turned wheels strike against metal brackets. The device is used mainly in comedy work.

Earthquakes must frequently be recorded in the talkies, and of course, nature can’t be depended on to supply these sound effects for the director. On such occasions the huge drum shown above is brought into action. Bowling balls are placed inside the metal drum, which is then revolved by a hand crank. Read the rest of this entry »

Doctors Listen to Noises in Patient’s Head
With his head “wired for sound,” George Yocum, Pennsylvania miner, faced a group of doctors and medical students at Temple University recently as amplifiers reproduced the roaring and whistling sounds that have bothered him since he suffered a skull fracture two years ago. A microphone placed against his forehead allowed doctors to diagnose his ailment as a cranial aneurysm, or swelling of a brain blood vessel.

Something New in Midget Autos
MIDGET car builders will take keen interest in the Lilliputian motor car shown below. Powered by a storage battery, the vehicle dashes about the streets of Berlin to the amazement of spectators. The car was designed by a German engineer for his son, who is seen taking his girl friend for a ride. No plans on the machine are available.