Popular Science Monlhly 



8.57 



Two British airplanes in Mesopotamia. They are covered with matting woven by the 

 natives to protect them from the rays of the sun. The matting also acts as camouflage 



The Sun Is an Enemy of Airplanes 

 in Mesopotamia 



AIRPLANES are being used in Meso- 

 t potamia just as they are in other 

 theaters of war. The British find that the 

 eyes of the army are as much needed to see 

 over the sun-baked desert where they are 

 fighting the Turks as they are in France. 

 The natural conditions in Mesopotamia are 

 very hard on the military airplane. 



There is no moisture in that country. 

 The air is very dry. This would be an ideal 

 condition for airplanes if it were not for the in- 

 tense heat of the sun. Long 

 rainy spells make gieat 

 trouble for aviators in 

 Europe because the mois- 

 ture causes the wood used 

 in the machines to warp. 

 In Mesopotamia this dif- 

 ficulty does not exist ; but 

 the large expanse of hori- 

 zontal surface offered by 

 the planes absorbs the 

 sun's heat as a sponge 

 absorbs water. The 

 planes become so hot that 

 you could literally cook 

 an egg on them. This 

 naturally has a bad effect 

 on both the wood and the 

 canvas used in the planes. 



While the planes are in 

 flight the coolness of the 

 upper air and the gale 

 uiat sweeps across the 

 desert keep them com- 

 paratively cool. It is 

 when they are at rest on 

 the ground where the 

 temperature is so very 



high that the damage is done by the sun. 

 The natives of Mesopotamia weave a 

 pliable, fine matting. The British use this 

 matting as a covering for their military air- 

 planes. It not only acts as an ideal protec- 

 tion from the rays of the sun but makes the 

 planes invisible to the enemy. 



Turn the key and just the right amount 

 of polish drops out of the tube. Then 

 slide the tube back in its groove and 

 polish with bristles and lamb's wool 



A Perfect Shoe-Blacking Kit— It's 

 All in the Brush 



THE Army and Navy boys are not the 

 only ones who will appreciate this 

 novel shoe-blacking kit. 



It contains a tube of paste 

 which is securely capped and 

 held on top of the brush in a 

 slidinggroove. You slide the 

 brush forward, take off the 

 cap, twist a key to deposit a 

 small amount of the paste 

 directly on the shoe, then put 

 the cap back on the tube and 

 slide the tube back in place. 

 Then you turn the brush over 

 and polish the shoe with the 

 bristles until the paste is well 

 spread. At the end op- 

 posite the bristles there is 

 a piece of lamb's wool for 

 polishing. A light rub 

 with this produces a mir- 

 ror-like polish. After the 

 operation you slip the 

 whole thing into a little 

 bag, pull the drawstring 

 and put it away any- 

 where you choose to keep 

 it until the next time. It 

 will not soil anything 

 with which it comes in 

 contact. 



