Popular Science Monthly 



327 



0> 



Inflating Huge "Pillows" as Targets 

 for Airplane Practice 



TN the days when balloons 



Taking Photographs with a Concealed 

 Buttonhole Camera 



lNE of the quaintest and # 



most ingenious detective A^^gg&m^' mn l - fh< \T ^ were more °f a novelty- 

 cameras ever devised has been / jfjUBBm*! ICf>ae tnan tne Y are now, gas-bags 

 invented by A. A. Ciani, of East (dm y\ were often made in the form 



Orange, New Jersey. It resem- J^ SpVffV Wk* °f animals and human beings. 

 bles other cameras in only one J- -U B^ The "pillows" which are shown 



feature, the lens, but even .that Wff in the photograph below may be 



feature is distinctive, so that it \ %W regarded as a relic of that time; 



might be said Mr. Ciani 's camera <S ^JL ^ J \^ S but they are used for a far 



is without a counterpart. It is , f~ ~**\ , more practical purpose than 



designed to be worn concealed / •. were the old man and animal- 



under the coat, in the manner AW Bl shaped balloons, 



shown in the illustration. The fl j Nowadays, the heaviest naval 



protruding lens can be H * ^B guns are the only weapons 



placed in the top button- ^^^,^K - : /*-^fc aD ^ e to decide battles. 



hole of the coat and photo- 4(RHP ^^B m^r ^P^P ^ there were no airplanes, 

 graphs taken without any- ^-xm^***^ these guns, too, would be 



one knowing it, by pulling Ja J^^ <*mm\XL powerless; they could not 



a string hidden in the Mw M V mmX. ^ * 4l\ direct their fire tellingly 



pocket. ^^S^A Mm \ J | without aid from a watch- 



Look carefully at the mm\jmv' feb~ a& ^ man m an airplane, 



illustration showing the Ml W— Hence, the fortunes of 



interior of the camera and ■ I H H modern battles rest not 



you will see the shutter, H Sr m5 B only with sixteen-inch 



partly operated, in a ^Hy|M V" B guns but in the last 



sector shape. The shut- ^B ^ jB B^ analysis with airplanes. 



ter appears on either side \nm\ H H H* That explains the stern 



of the lens, in the opening Th e detective camera is worn struggle which is being 



just below the stem. Over concealed under the coat It is wa ^ f supremacy of 



•;, , , . operated by pulling a cord which jt ° . ^ J 



the brass centerpiece, but is led fron ; *£ into the pocket the air. 



not visible in the photo- The "pillows" shown 



graph, are two rubber bands which come herewith are really balloons roughly shaped 



into contact with the sensitized plate, like rectangular wings. Fighting in the air 



By operating a knob on the front side of requires so much skill in an entirely new 



the camera, the centerpiece is turned and sort of marksmanship that the practical 



with it the plate. Four photographs can be British have hit upon the scheme of 



taken on a plate, as there are only four systematically training their air fighters 



teeth on the centerpiece. Every time a in shooting from speedy airplanes at these 



picture is taken the plate is revolved one- odd-shaped balloons. The balloons are 



quarter turn. The shutter is operated by not inflated with gas, as they rest on the 



pulling the floor, but 



string con- + - with air from 



cealed in the a big electric 



pocket. blower in the 



The coat 9 A 71 center of the 



can be but- room. Such 



toned over "im^-i -•#• • # ' - # & a blower 1S 



without in- ft*2feA2l »* J -mvCmnVl' \ every balloon 



convenien- fvT^ll mm mm^m\ factory for 



c i n g the 1 ( nk/^ -A^T jft| ** l ^*dfli Ik*- use * n var " 



wearer and Blta^SL*-— -v^.W- ^' nishing; for 



without ox- 9v^^^^^3K only dis- 



citing the tended bag 



suspicion of ) ™ e "" - ■ - ' _J can be var- 



the one to The balloons are inflated and floated at the end of ropes. nished or in- 



be snapped. British aviators fire down upon them with machine guns Spected. 



