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- -HAIRLINEPRECISION TEST GIVEN PLANES Complete Overhaul Every|| 500 Hours Uses Most Delicate Instrument. Out on the broad prairies of the Far West, science is developing new precision instruments, designed to increase the efiiciency of airplanes in flight. A close-up view of this complicated work is given here by a well-known writer on aviation and allied subjects. BY ALICE ROGERS HAGER. CHEYENNE, Wpyo., December 26 (N.AN.A).—This little city, once fa- ~ mous_for its violently colorful life in the days when cattle and cowboys came up the long trail from Texas, has now at its broad prairie airport an in- dustry as modern as tomorrow. In the United Airlines shops here, one of the most remarkable set-ups of the sort in the world, aviation science is developing new instruments of precision with which to increase the efficiency of ships in flight. So delicate are some of these instruments that the men working on them must use surgically sterile methods and a patience so great that only a few be- come really qualified. Seeing a streamlined plane on the runways, ready to take off, the average passenger nowadays assumes that it will function as a successful unit and that its pilots are trained to handle | it in the same way that an engineer | handles a train. But the extent of the | knowledge necessary to the pilot and | the complicated and important work thatgoes on day and night to make him able to use it are little known. Overhaul Every 500 Hours. : United’s policy has been a com- plete overhaul on all its ships every 500 hours—not a mere cleaning up of | equipment and checking over of an | engine that probably has been run- ning perfectly, but a tearing down of every tiniest part and an almost microscopic search for flaws. Usually, about four ships are in for overhaul at one time. During peak travel in the Summer, a complete job is turned out every 24 hours, although it re- quires five days to make the total overhaul of a single plane. Alto- gether, some 250 ships are torn down and put together again each year. Beginning with the nose, the pro- pellers come off and are taken to the propeller shop. Here, working be- fore newly constructed exhausts which suck up the metal filings for the protection of the workmen, each blade is resurfaced by an electrical emery wheel, with the edges given a special filing down by hand. These modern propellers are of steel and they suf- fer particularly from pebbles blown against them when a ship takes off. After the buffing and filing, the blades go into a caustic soda solution | which makes visible, under a mag- | nifying glass, any cracks. A further cleaning in nitric acid follows, then @ polish is given them and they are repainted with their proper stencils. | Each blade is checked for width by | hand and eye against a chart and on | a balance for trueness. When all the parts are reassembled the entire pro- peller goes on a master balance and the three blades are checked against each other, Other parts, in the mean- time, have come in for equally expert supervision. Seek Simplified Equipment. Although United’s experimental work with radio is being done largely | at Oakland and Chicago—some of it | of such importance that the govern- | ment will not allow it to be discussed ~—the radio section of these shops has many features especially developed for the testing processes. The princi- pal object of the research being done here is to simplify equipment for the benefit of the pilot. One process alone | has been so perfected that a change- over which formerly took him half an hour to make can now be done by turning a single knob on his ship. Radio antennae that had to be re- placed frequently now have a life of | Irom 1,500 to 2,000 hours. ‘When failure is apparent in any in- | strument the shops are not content | merely with making repairs, but go behind the failure to determine the | cause and eliminate it. Here was| invented a mechanical head set tester, which gives an absolute reading on | both headphones and microphones. | Instead of the old method of testing by ear, which was subject to human deficiencies, this tester checks the in- dividual sets against a standard set and gives a numerical reading. * This must be done every two months, no | matter how well the pilots’ sets are functioning. It is in the Sperry room of the in- strument shop that the finest preci= | sion work is done. Here the tests are made on the gyro-pilot, the directional gyro and the gyro-horizon. The men at work are like surgeons in an op- erating room. Nothing is touched with the naked hand. Bench models of the huge instruments in use at the original factory give a reproduction of the plane’s motion in flight. On the gyro-horizon the wheel is driven 14,- 000 revolutions per minute, which is seven times faster than the engine. Ball Bearings Super-Tested. The finest manufacturer’s selection of balls for the ball bearings are here brought under a breakdown into five more selections, made under spe- p- cial optical flats. Paris affected by engine heat are tested in an oven which raises their temperature to that of actual flight. Finally, the entire - Inspired by THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, DECEMBER 27, 1936—PART ONE. South Seas Inspired by the costumes worn by beauties of the South Sea Isles, this latest creation in beach wear features rompers and a flowing sarong,.easily discarded when the wearer is ready for the water. A saucy wide-brimmed hat and sandals complete the outfit. —A. P. Photo. \City Conveniences for Farm Sought by Former Teacher Albert Graham Credited With F orming Boy and Club Ag From Which Farm life with city conveniences. Plumbing, electricity, and work and travel and recreation. That is the idea to which Albert B. Graham, a large, genial former school teacher, has devoted half a century of pro- moting. He still believes it can be done. Graham, now approaching 70, is credited with founding the original boys and girls’ agricultural club in this country. From this single Ohio township group of 85 rural youngsters has evolved the national 4-H clubs, the future farmers of America, and other rural groups with more than a million members. Now nearing retirement age at the Agriculture Department, the white- haired veteran refused “to take all the credit for this club,” although a bronze tablet at Springfield Town- ship, Clark County, Ohio, lists him as the founder of the “first boys and girls’ agricultural club in the United States,” on January 15, 1502. Was School Teacher. “I was a rural school teacher then 17 years old,” said Graham. “Most |of the things we taught farm boys | and girle then was pretty foreign to their daily lives. We worked in some of the things they knew about, such as crops, animals, weeds, trees, insects, flowers and the soil. “Eventually I got to be a county superintendent, and we formed a club that was not connected with school work. It met once a month to talk over problems on the farm, food values, the kind of clothing to wear, wallpaper colors for the home and all the things these young people were interested in. “I wanted not to train young farm- ers. That was the furthest from my mind; I wanted them to be right- minded about the open country. I wanted them to know farming was & dignified and scientific profession and that a church or school in the country had certain advantages.” Graham said the first club kept records of tests and tried all kinds of demonstrations and studies with materials at hand, until “the idea spread out like ants after sugar” and the clubs were scattered over Ohio. Taugh Handieraft. “The club members were taught handicraft that was useful in their daily lives, how to test milk, judge live stock, spray trees and the Lord knows what not,” he added. “Much complaint was heard about too much school stress on ‘the three R's—reading, writing and arithme- tic” Graham said, “So we began to teach about the three H's—head, heart and hand training.” The fourth “H” for health was added ip 1909 and the 4-H club name was copyrighted later by the Agricul- ture Department. Graham followed the lives of the 85 boys and girls in his first club and found “that 70 per Gent of them be- came farmers, wives of farmers, or in some work connected with farming.” riculture Groups Evolved 4-H. in the town and city—some life. There’s no reason why conveniences, travel and recreation should not be a big part of farm life.” One thing about rural youth clubs that Graham said had been overstress- ed was “contests with the honor and glory centering on the individual.” He believes these should be conducted on a group basis with benefits and prizes to large groups. And Graham is proud of another | idea, he helped sponsor, the junior high school system. He was a member of a committee of -five, of the National Education Association which suggested this development in 1907, FESS’ BODY BURIED BESIDE HIS WIFE’S | Services Conducted in Church Where Former Senator Wor- shiped for 30 Years. BY the Associated Press. YELLOW SPRINGS, Ohio, Decem- | ber 26.—The body of former United States Senator Simeon D. Fess, edu- cator and suthor, was laid beside his wife’s in Glen Forest Cemetery today. Funeral services were conducted in the Yellow Springs Methodist Church, | where Fess worshiped for 30 years prior to his death of heart attack at the day. Rev. Vernon Van Buren, pastor, officiated at simple rites similar to the services conducted 11 years ago for Mrs. Fess. Ohio’s attorney general, John W. Bricker, and Attorney Homer C. Corry of Springfield, Ohio, secretary of the Antioch College Board of Trustees, spoke briefly. A quarfet sang “Chris- tians Goodnight,” Fess’ fazorite hymn, which was sung at his wife’s funeral. More than 500 messages of con- dolence were received by members of the Fess family. Those sending them included John Hamilton, chairman of the Republican National Committee; Postmaster General James A. Farley, chairman of the Democratic Natignal Committee, with whose policies Fess often disagreed, and former President Herbert Hoover. 3 ASSAULT CASES ARE REPORTED HERE $615 in"Cash and $315 in Prop- erty Loot in Series of Robberies. Three cases of assault and & long string of robberies and petly thievings reported to police. age of 75 in Washington Wednes- street southeast, told police he was struck in the face with s blackjack CUBAN PRESIDENT PLEDGES HONESTY Laredo Bru Also Promises Appointments on Basis of Ability. BY the Associated Press. : Batista in government” in the first meeting of the new cabinet since President Miguel Mariano Gomez was ousted from of- fice. A Other pledges in the cabinet session ‘were: 1. Prosecution of any functionary defrauding the administration. 3. Appointment of government offi- clals on the basis of ability, regardiess of political pressure. 3. No discharge of government em- " Amu:efin‘:rfl‘;mwlm the new mmdm" c“ ghoun atiNs o president, Col. Fulgencio Batista, oG 0 Laredo Bru. army leader who sponsored the legis- | which cost President Gomez his of- lation to impose a nine-cents-a-bag | fice, gave his unqualified indorsement tax on sugar ¢o finance rural schools 'to the new government. Col. Fulgencio Batista, ht, chief of the Cuban army and stron the presidential palace to have a chat (Person in center unidentified). Visits New President i man behind the govern- th the new chief executive, —Copyright, A. P. Wirephoto. “The president is accustomed to (logical moderation,” the army leader fight, is serene, intelligent, hard-work- | said. ing, democratic and energetic with | He added: ¢ B-8 PLANS GIVEN TO AID SEA FOOD INDUSTRY | BS the Associated Press. BALTIMORE, December 26.—The Tri-State Sea Food Association submite ted today to Abel Wolman, c of the State Planning Comm! recommendations for butlding up the crab and oyster industry of the Chesa« peake Bay. ‘The association suggested extensive planting of seed oysters and shells to al:.on the productivity of the natural It also recommended a 5-cents-per- bushel tax on oysters taken from planted areas and a State appropria- tion of $100,000. & year to finance planting operations and the establish= .- ing of crab sanctuaries in Marylande Virginia waters. e —— “The cabinet members are afire with the desire to show the country they are serving it with acts that are bene- ficial Hopes Can Be Quickly Realised. . “With the president and Congress in agreement on all important matters and with the armed forces ready to obey the laws and make others obey the laws and dispositions of the gov: ernment, the people of Cuba can ex- pect rapid realization of their hopes.” THE NATIONAL FURNITURE CO. 7th AND H STS. <Yinal earance BEFORE INVENTO RY SAVE 107 TO 50 No Money Down! 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