42 



Popular Science Monthly 



On the top of the hill is a lone bell, serving as a tombstone to mark the grave of the church 

 at Les Boeufs, on the Somme River, in France. For hundreds of miles the country is like this 



The Unforgettable Fact — the Murder 

 of France's Churches 



THE mountainous mass of debris 

 shown in the picture is all that is 

 left of a once famous church, at Les 

 Boeufs, on the Somme River, in France. 

 Crowning the top of the unrecognizable 

 heap may be seen a bell which, by some 

 miracle of good fortune has been left 

 untouched by the retreating Germans. 

 It is the only thing which remains to tell 

 the story of a splendid structure, erected 

 to appeal to man's better self, only to 

 be sacrificed to the insatiable greed of 

 the war god. One of the most pathetif 

 chapters of this war is the deliberate 

 murder of France's churches. 

 Some of them were 

 erected in the 

 thirteenth cen- ^j^ 

 tury and were '^f/j^ 

 not completely ^■^- 



finished until 

 nearly four 

 hundred years The mattress of this 



later. the soldier is a rubber 



The Soldier Can Now Lie Down On 

 His Bed of Air 



ANEW service bed has been designed 

 by an English manufacturer, which 

 will fit into a small valise when folded. 

 It is made of a fabric strong enough 

 to withstand hard wear. When it is 

 to be made up, an inner casing of rubber 

 is inflated by means of two valves. 

 Should it be torn or punctured, the 

 rubber can be repaired in the same 

 manner as a tire. The bed is twenty- 

 three inches in width, but to accom- 

 modate those who find comfort in sleep- 

 in" with knees slightly raised, the knee- 

 rests have been made seven inches 

 wider on each side. It requires 

 about two minutes to in- 

 flate the rubber 

 ■section. When 

 the bed is not 

 being used, the 

 air is d i s - 

 charged fronl 

 new campaign bed for the rubber see- 



section inflated with air tion. 



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