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scientificamerican.com/magazine/saSCIENTIFIC AMERICAN,VOL. CXXIII 1, NO. 15; OCTOBER 9, 1920 (1 ); SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT,VOL. XXIII, NO. 574; JANUARY 1, 1887 (2 )1970
Sweet Suburbia
“Massive movement
from central cities to their sub-
urbs, a population boom in the
West and Southwest, and a lower
rate of population growth in the
1960’s than in the 1950’s are the
findings that stand out in the pre-
liminary results of the 1970 Cen-
sus as issued by the U.S. Bureau
of the Census. The movement to
the suburbs was pervasive. Its
extent is indicated by the fact that
13 of the 25 largest cities lost pop-
ulation, whereas 24 of the 25 larg-
est metropolitan areas gained.
Washington, D.C., was characteris-
tic: the population of the city
changed little between 1960 and
1970, but the metropolitan area
grew by 800,000, or more than
38 percent.”1920
Air Cargo
“The proposed
machine, known as the ‘Pelican
Four-Ton Lorry,’ is a colossal canti-
lever monoplane designed for two
460-horse-power Napier engines.
Its cruising speed is 72 miles per
hour. Its total weight is to be
24,100 pounds. The useful load is
four tons, with sufficient fuel for
the London-Paris journey. Most
interesting of all, however, is the
novel system of quick loading and
unloading which has been planned.
This permits handling of ship-
ments with the utmost speed, and
is based on a similar practice in
the motor truck field. Idle air-
planes mean a large idle capital,1870
The Rise of
Telegraphy
“The rapid progress of the tele-
graph during the last twenty-five
years has changed the whole social
and commercial systems of the
world. Its advantages and capabili-
ties were so evident that immedi-
ately on its introduction, and dem-
onstration of its true character, the
most active efforts were made to
secure them for every community
which desired to keep pace with
the advances of modern times. The
Morse or signal system seemed
for a time to be the perfection of
achievement, until Professor Royal
E. House astonished the world
with his letter printing telegraph.
Now, almost every considerable
expanse of water is traversed, or
soon will be, by the slender cords
which bind continents and islands
together and practically bring the
human race into one great family.”hence the designers plan to
keep the airplane in the air for
the greater part of the time.”Don’t Try This Anywhere
“Dr. Charles Baskerville points
out that while the data thus far
obtained on chlorine and influenza
do not warrant drawing conclu-
sions, such facts as have been
established would indicate to the
medical man the advisability of try-
ing experimentally dilute chlori-
nated air as a prophylactic in such
epidemics as so-called influenza.
Dr. Baskerville determined to what
extent workers in plants where
small amounts of chlorine were to
be found in the atmosphere were
affected seriously by influenza.
Many of those from whom infor-
mation was requested expressed
the opinion that chlorine workers
are noticeably free from colds and
other pneumatic diseases.”EPIC TALE S1970192018701920: An idea for air transport: it’s not just the airplane that is advanced;
it’s the cargo container that could be quickly loaded and unloaded.1Oxcarts, railroad cars and freight ships can be loaded and un
loaded one item at a time, but it is more efficient to handle cargo
packed into “intermodal ship ping containers” that are a standard
ized size and shape. Our October 1968 issue noted that a “break-bulk”
freighter took three days to unload, a container ship less than one (including
loading new cargo). Air transpor t became a link in this complex system, but
the concept in the 1920 illustration shown is a little ahead of its time. These
days air cargo (and luggage) makes abundant use of “unit load devices,”
cargo bins shaped to fit the fuselage of specific aircraf t models. —D.S.Use with or in material that the Scientific American logoHAS
The background color can be Scientific American colors associated with the brandUse with or in material that DOES NOT HAVE Scientific American logothe
The background color can be colors associated with the
Scientific American brandCELEBRATINGYEARS1887: Cargo ship launched as Golconda had room for 6,000 tons of cargo,
loaded and unloaded by crane and cargo nets, and 108 passengers.(^2) The Transport of Goods
OCTOBER
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