Astounding Science Fiction, British Edition — page 64: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

dl pote Sethi) Lhe Clan part wee eo “Megas \! a | eee nt UG is =) OG Alba N 00 ee Ce fe OES Se ; AR 5 . Ae ares *, tak - . We ge w a 62 received invaluable aid from industry, various government agencies and public and private educational and research organizations. Since the work of the Forest Service has the more spectacular angles, let’s take a look at it first. To patrol the half billion acres of heavily wooded land under organized protection the Service has developed its own fire- weather observatories and FM com- munications network. It recruited and trained the famed Smoke Jumpers. They parachute to the scene of a fire as soon as it is spotted and usually succeed in smothering the blaze before it has a chance to spread. The Service supplies its fighters by planes or helicopters when necessary. It has conducted widespread experi- ments in co-operation with the Air Force to learn how to extinguish fires by means of special bombs. It is working closely with Drs. Langmuir and Schaefer of General Electric to find out how to seed clouds with dry ice and other materials. It is hoped that such seeding not only will cause rain where and when it is most needed but eventually will control the light- ning storms that so often are respon- sible for forest fires. Despite these exciting projects, the Service is proudest of the fact that it has reduced forest fire-fighting to such a highly mechanized science that it has been able to extend its service between twenty-five and thirty-five per cent since 1945. Next on the List-of-Things-To- Boast-Of is the Service’s very own Smokey Bear. Smokey, the one fire prevention symbol that has caught the public imagination, frowns in- gratiatingly from posters and adver- tisements, talks over radio and TV and has developed a pleasant screen personality. He exhorts campers to pour water on cooking embers, break ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION their matches and do all the little common sense things most people forget. Smokey is given a lion’s share of the credit for saving vast tracts of forest and endless head of game from careless nature lovers. Without his help, rangers say, losses might be double the present figure of fifty million dollars yearly. The work of the National Board and other civilian organizations may not be as exciting as that of the Forest Service but is just as essential to the health and growth of America’s indus- trial civilization. Such co-operating groups include Underwriters’ Labora- tories, Inc., Civil Defense, the Inter- national Association of Fire Chiefs and the National Fire Protection Association. Working in close harmony with the armed services and municipal, county, state and federal governments, they draw up model fire prevention ordinances, electrical and building codes and standards for everything from hose threads to hydrants. They also handle such chores as running twelve-hour endurance tests on fifteen hundred types of water pumpers. The standards and codes formulated to reduce fire hazards are crowning achievements of the NBFU and NFPA. There are one hundred eighty of these, all written by experts on such varied subjects as automatic sprinklers, airplane hangars, magnesium, flam- mable liquids and liquefied gases. About a million copies are distributed without cost by the NBFU each year. In addition, the Association devotes much attention to public education and is the international sponsor of Fire Prevention Week each October, as. well as publishing the NFPA Quarterly, the foremost technical journal in its field. The Board prints highly technical research reports on such subjects as “Precautionary Fire y Bhi ey en ‘i$ ve eeu CLie> Fel PR MTE Pea ee Com COMIGDOOKS