This is a really odd article. The basic proposition seems to be, “Wow those stupid, plodding Chinese sure are smart. How is that possible?”

It is rather fascinating to conjecture on some of these things, to realize that plodding John Chinaman, who seems thick and slow and dense to modern Western culture, should have sought out these truths of nature, these mechanics that we today are using in the iron men of our machine age. And to realize that we haven’t yet extracted all of the value from their applications as in some instances John Chinaman has done with his science.

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John Chinaman - His Science

WHERE there ain’t no ten commandments and a man can raise a thirst, there’s an ancient science extant that looks like the very first. We think we’re the only ones who know smelting and hydraulics and ceramics and printing and electricity. But old John Chinaman had a civilized working knowledge of them all so long ago that our ancestors appear to have been dumbells at the time. They were living in total ignorance of a civilization so advanced and so fundamental that even to this day John Chinaman is ahead of us in the application of many things mechanical he has known since Noah built the ark.

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Should you ever need one, here are detailed instructions on how to make your own
iron wooden lung.

Amazingly, in a later issue they have a little notice saying that due to the huge response the magazine got about this article they were offering a large set of blue prints and templates. I guess a lot of people actually built these.

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Emergency Wooden Respirator

Could a life have been saved in your community if a mechanical respirator had been at hand for immediate use? Often just a matter of minutes means the difference between life or death for a little child stricken with polio, or a victim of drowning or a paralyzing accident. Here’s a chance for every community to be ready at little expense for such emergencies. Members of clubs and civic organizations can do a great service by making one of these respirators and placing it in competent hands. Save a life — maybe your own.

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Needless to say, many of the predictions in this article didn’t pan out.

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Is Aerial Warfare Doomed?

Original Editor’s Note - Statements by aviation enthusiasts that airplanes will wipe out cities, destroy fleets and armies, and win the next war prompted this article by Lieut. Hogg, noted writer on military topics. In it he makes startling revelations about the effectiveness of the airplane as a military weapon. The observations and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and should not be construed as reflecting the official views or opinions of the United States Navy Department.

Startling Statements About Aerial Warfare

During the World War airplanes sank no battleships, destroyed no city, and failed in every attempt to bomb or gas an enemy out of a military position.

The first 30 days of any major war will see the complete elimination of air forces of belligerent powers.

No aviator entertains the thought that he is going to fly over the enemy anti-aircraft battery in time of war - and live to tell the tale.

Air raids over London and Paris during the four years of the World War destroyed less than $5,000,000 worth of property and killed fewer than 700 enemy civilians.

It would take 75,000 bombers to carry the load of bombs equivalent to the weight of shells carried by the 15 battleships of the U. S. Navy. The cruising radius of those bombers would be only 500 miles. A battleship can travel 15,000 miles, regardless of weather.

A shell will drill through heavy armor plate, or through concrete walls. It explodes inside to produce a shattering, internal explosion. A aerial bomb, having no such power of penetration pops off like a paper firecracker against whatever it hits.

It would take 28,000,000 pounds of phosgene to “wipe out” an area the size of New York City. To accomplish this the enemy would have to have 14,000 large bombing planes and 280 naval airplane carriers to bring the planes within striking distance of New York.

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This is a surprisingly honest, un-biased and well researched article about marijuana from 1968. It’s kind of sad that essentially nothing has changed in this debate since this article was written.

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THE TRUTH ABOUT POT

• Is marijuana addictive?
• Does it have bad physical and mental effects on the user?
• Does its use tend to increase crime?

Here are the conflicting opinions of leading experts on this highly controversial subject.

By Robert Gannon

After reviewing Mr. Cannon’s article on marijuana, “The Truth about Pot,” a consultant for the American Medical Association had this to say: “This is an excellent article. The author has done a wonderful job of making some legislative zealots look ridiculous simply by quoting their exaggerated statements and reciting the disconcerting facts.”

The great debate about marijuana ranks closely behind Vietnam and civil rights as one of the top issues of our time. And as the number of pot users grows, so does the controversy in which marijuana is called everything from a menace to a harmless delight.

    What is the truth about this strange drug? Here is an in-depth report on the nation’s pot problem and what science has learned so far about its effect on those who use it.

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