854 



Popular Science Monthly 



How Merchant Ships Hide Themselves 

 from Submarines 



Plenty of Rice for Food and 

 Face Powder! 



W 



HEN the sinister little periscope of a \ MERICAN women may powder their 

 submarine is sighted aboard a mer- ±\ faces in comfort without fearing that 



chant ship an order 

 is given to throw out 

 the smoke boxes. 

 These boxes contain 

 material which, when 

 burning, gives off 

 dense clouds of black 

 smoke, completely 

 screening the vessel 

 from the attacking 

 submarine. 



The smoke boxes 

 are about two feet 

 square and are filled 

 with oakum, waste, 

 or other inflammable 

 stuff soaked with hy- 

 drocarbon material 

 that will give off 

 heavy black smoke 

 when ignited. The 

 exact nature of the 

 material used is a 

 secret. 



One box which has 

 been used very successfully has a top 

 slightly smaller than the opening it is to 

 cover. It is supported by means of lugs 

 fastened on the inside of the box. The in- 

 tervening space between the top and the 

 edge of the box is covered with a piece of 

 adhesive tape which contains a part of the 

 igniting mixture. The match or fuse which 

 sets fire to the contents of the box is placed 

 at one corner and projects slightly 

 through the slit. 



When the order comes to hurl the 

 smoke boxes overboard the sailor 

 grasps the tape and throws the box 

 into the sea. The friction of the ad- 

 hesive tape across the fuse ignites it 

 in much the same way as you light 

 a safety match by striking it on the 

 box. The fuse carries the flame to 

 the interior of the box and sets the 

 inflammable material afire. The slit 

 around the top causes the smoke to 

 spread out freely. 



Several of these boxes are lighted 

 and thrown overboard at the same 

 time. They create such a dense 

 cloud of smoke that the vessel can 

 make her escape before the submarine 

 can launch her torpedo. 



The smoke screen rising from the ignited 

 waste in the smoke-boxes hides the ship 



they are robbing the 

 Allies of food. For 

 some unknown reason 

 people generally pre- 

 fer to use the white, 

 polished rice, rather 

 than the more whole- 

 some brown rice. 



When rice is pol- 

 ished it is first hulled, 

 then scoured to re- 

 move the bran and 

 cuticle. Every barrel 

 of rice loses about six 

 pounds in this proc- 

 ess. The "polish" as 

 the hull and bran are 

 called, is sold for cat- 

 tle food at three- 

 fourths of a cent a 

 pound. Some of it is 

 pulverized and sold 

 as cosmetic powder. 



A Disappearing Crutch. It Telescope 

 to Scabbard Length 



ANEW crutch has made its appearance 

 in London which may be worn on a 

 belt. The legs are made of telescopic 

 tubular steel and may be adjusted to any 

 height or locked into the first section, when 

 the wearer is seated. 



Int. Film Serv. 



A new crutch for British soldiers. The legs are 

 made of tubular telescopic steel fitted to a belt 



