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ARMY AVIATION BORN JUST 25 YEARS AGO THIS MONTH - « .. .....-P- I IMP—I— II - I f .. "I ♦ -* College Park Was Scene Of First Training Flight Service Has Grown Mightily Since Its Weak Wings Were Spread Near Capital; First Airmen Still Are Active. By Joseph S. Edgerton. Twenty-five years ago this month, In November, 1911, 7 miles from the United States Capitol, at College Park, Md„ United States Army aviation Com pleted its fledgling stage and left the eyrie. Its first Sumer of training behind it, the young air service a quarter century ago made its first appearance before the public as a part Of the Nation’s defensivs system. During the subsequent 25 years Army aviation has made itself known to virtually every citizen of the Re public. Every State, almost every county, has heard the deep-throated roar of the fighting squadrons as they •weep the skies in combat training. Twenty-five years ago. during the Closing days of November, when the "United States Army aviation squad” broke up its first aviation camp for • the Winter and prepared to move South, days and weeks of anxious preparation preceded the transfer of the four airplanes and personnel and equipment—by train—to Augusta, Ga. Today an hour’s notice is sufficient to •end a full squadron or group of giant, powerful Army fighting planes hun ffieds — even thousands, of miles from home, equipped and manned for action. In this silver anniversary year of Army flying, several such "surprise” missions have been ordered to test the fitness of the fighting squadrons of the General Headquar ters Air Force and have proved them ready and able. Of the five officers who composed that first aviation camp at College Park, two still are in the Air Corps, in positions of high command, after 25 years of continuous flying service. Another, retired, lives in Washington. College Park Airport, world's first military airdrome, still is an active, bustling flying field. It has lost all of its military atmosphere, however, and the accent is on the private and sports phases of flying, scarcely hinted 25 years ago, when it was the home of the entire Army air service. A LTHOUGH the first military air plane was delivered to the Army In 1909. it was not until 1911 that the training of Army pilots really began, following the establishment of the College Park base. The National Capital, from the beginning, was the center of most of the early Army avia tion activity. In September. 1908. Orville Wright arrived at Fort Myer. Va., and began demonstrating the Wright airplane to Army officials. On September 9 he circled the parade ground 57 times in less than an hour, and later that same day accomplished the first flight exceeding an hour's duration. The crash in which Lieut. Thomas E. Self ridge was killed ended the 1908 dem onstrations. In July, 1909. the Wrights returned to Fort Myer with a new airplane. With Lieut. Frank P. Lahm as pas senger, Orville exceeded the duration record required by the Army, remain ing in the air 1 hour, 12 minutes and 40 seconds. On July 30, with Lieut. Benjamin D. Foulois as passenger, Orville, on a cross-country flight be tween Fort Myer and Shuters Hill, Alexandria, Va., on top of which the George Washington Masonic Memorial stands today, exceeded the speed re quired by averaging 42 miles per hour. At the end of 1909, Army aviation boasted one airplane, an airship, a free balloon, a small captive balloon and a 200-foot balloon and airship ahed at Fort Omaha, Nebr. T*i 1A1A fVin tTriffhl1 hmthnrc a ted for a time at College Park. There they gave initial flying instruction to Lieut. Foulois, who retired a year ago as chief of the Army Air Corps. Later in 1910, Foulois went to Fort Sam Houston, Tex., with the Army's lone airplane. The following year Congress appro priated $125,000 for Army aeronautics and made $25,000 immediately avail- | able. A young Army officer, Lieut. ! Roy C. Kirtland, wfas sent to College Park to supervise the laying out of the first military airdrome in the , world. Today Col. Kirtland is on duty in the War Department, with addi tional flying duty at Bolling Field, after a quarter of a century of con tinuous flying experience. College Park already was an active j airport when Lieut. Kirtland went j there to arrange for its use by the j Army for flight training. Rex Smith and others had been operating there. Dn April 9, 1911. about the time Lieut. Kirtland began working on the Army installation, Smith's first airplane was Used in an experimental Army radio flight. Anthony Jannus flew the ship, while Rufus Berman, Signal Corps civilian employe, operated a small wireless set. his signals being picked up at the War Department. TT WAS announced on June 2 that me war Department was prepar ing orders detailing four officers and 15 men of the Signal Corps for avia tion duty at College Park. The of ficers were Lieut. Kirtland, already busy on the scene; Capt. Charles de Forest Chandler, .now a Washington resident following his retirement from the service with the rank of colonel; Lieut. Henry W. Arnold, now a brig adier general in the Air Corps, and Lieut. Thomas de Witt Milling, re cently retired from the Air Corps. Work already had been started on the first four Army hangars, each 45 by 45 feet in sire. At this time Dr. W. W. Christmas, pioneer aviation designer, was build ing his second airplane at College Park, Smith was completing construc tion of his second airplane and was building an airplane factory, which still stands, and Emil Berliner was completing a new rotary engine. Ac tivities were further increased on June 11, when Capt. Thomas S. Bald win arrived from New York accom panied by J. C. “Bud” Mars and Tod Ehriver, noted pilots of the Curtiss team. Baldwin rented part of a large double hangar at the field as his Bummer operating base. A few days later the first Army airplane, a Wright biplane, arrived and on June 24 College Park formally was opened as an Army aviation field. Lieuts. Milling and Arnold made the first flight in a 25-mile wind and later Kirtland was flown as a passen ger. The first Army hangar had been completed and three others were nearing completion. On the same day Rex Smith’s first airplane, over hauled, was flown and his second was ready for trials. The new Army plane was the first I "headless” Wright ship, the front ele vators having been moved to the rear with the rudder. The first Army Wright airplane, the famous ship of the 1909 flights at Port Myer, at this time was turned over to the Smith sonian Institution as a relic. By the end of June, 1911, the four Army hangars had been completed. They were at the north end of College Park Airport, along the railroad em bankment. Next to, them, at the south, was the large double hangar shared by Baldwin and Christmas. Next door was a tent housing the old Rex Smith machine and then came the largest building on the field, the new' Smith factory. At the south end of the line was another tent housing a Curtiss airplane which was being assembled by C. A. Dorian. By this time Capt. Chandler had arrived and taken over command of the Army detachment. Kirtland be gan his aviation training on June 28, with Lieut. Arnold as his instructor. They made several circuits of the field and on the last two laps Kirtland was at the controls. Chandler also began training about this time. The Army officers at this time wore leather foot ball helmets while flying. QN JULY 6 Lieut. Milling, trying for a pilot's license, landed five feet from a designated mark. The next day Lieut. Arnold climbed to an altitude of 3.260 feet and on the same day, with Kirtland as a passenger, Milling made a notable flight from' College Park to Washington Bar racks. landing on the parade ground. Arnold's altitude flight was the high est made up to that time at College Park and also resulted in a new field duration record of 32 minutes. Because of his apitude it was de cided that Kirtland was to have charge of a new Wright-Burgess air plane which had been delivered. Harry N. Atwood, famous civilian pilot, was called to “check out” the young offi cer on the new ship. Three days later, Arnold, with ; Kirtland as passenger, flew to Wash- 1 ington and returned without an inter mediate landing, being in the air 40 minutes. On July 18. Lieut. Arnold established a new altitude record of 4.167 feet. No less than 127 flights were made by the Army pilots up to July 20 and 56 passengers were car- I ried. , Such a recital of flying accomplish ments is prosaic enough in these days when duration flights are measured in weeks, distance in thousands of miles and speed in hundreds of miles, but in those days, just a quarter century ago, they were thrilling events and thousands of Washingtonians visited College Park during the Summer to witness the birth and early develop ment of military flying. During August the Army Aviation Squad at College Park settled down more or less to a matter of routine— routine which paved the way for much j that was to prove of vital importance I to the Army and aviation generally. ! Capt. Chandler and Lieut. Kirtland were checked out as pilots and Lieut. Frank M. Kennedy of the 10th Infan try, was added to the squad. An outstanding event of the month was the visit of President Taft to Col lege Park on August 18. He was fol lowed two days later by Maj. Gen. Leonard W. Wood and his staff. These two important visits came on the eve of a momentous event. On August 21 Lieut. Arnold, with Capt. Chandler beside him, took off from College Park before dawn on the longest cross-country flight of the year and one of the earliest real military missions for the infant flying service. They flew 41 miles across the rolling Maryland countryside to Camp Ord way. at the foot of the mountains near Frederick, where National Guard ma neuvers were In progress and they brought to the startled citizen soldiers a realization that perhaps a new ele ment was being injected into warfare. The return flight was made late in ■ the afternoon. i The squad was equipped with both i Wright and Curtiss airplanes and i there was a good deal of rivalry be- i tween the crews of the rival ships. The first motion pictures taken from : an airplane in flight were made by one of the Army pilots on September 15 during a flight from College Park to i the Benning Race Track. It was re- i ported that photographs might come , in time to supplement pencil sketches by the pilots as an adjunct to aerial observation. At this time the Army squad enter tained a visitor, Lieut. John Rogers, U. S. N., one of the three pioneer Naval aviators, who then were train ing at Annapolis. Md. Lieut. Rogers > flew to Washington from Annapolis 1 and spent the night at College Park. 1 He took ofT on September 16 in the 1 face of "dangerous headwinds,” which ' attained a velocity of 10 miles per ' hour and flew to Havre de Grace, 70 1 mues, in 4 hours and 35 minutes. ,1 ^TTH Fall coming on, the Army j i was ready to demonstrate its Air i t Service to the public, and the closing ) lays or September founa Beck, Ar nold, Milling and Kirtland at the \ero Club o( New York meet at Nas sau. N. Y„ where Milling established i duration record of nearly two hours vith two passengers and where Beck ;ook Postmaster General Hitchcock 'or a flight during which the postal thief carried one of the first airmail etters. Milling's duration record won lim a $1,000 prize. College Park was the scene not >nly of the first military training ind aerial photography but also of he first military bombing, aerial ma ■hine gunnery, aerial signaling and lirplane radio. The first bomb-dropping experi nent took place there on October 9, .911, with Milling as pilot and an irdnance officer as bomber. They lsed an empty artillery shell with fins o guide it and an improvised tele icopic sight. The target was a 25 oot circle laid out on the ground. Dropped from 600 feet, the bomb anded 20 feet from the circlf. Pur ser bombing tests followed. On October 13 the first "long-dis ance" communication was effected >etween an airplane and the ground tation at College Park. Lieut. Kirt and, pilot, with Charles Bowman, a ignal expert, as passenger, flew past he camp at a distance of a nfile chile Bowman worked an apparatus chich emitted puffs of black smoke orming a message, which was easily ead. November found College Park un isually active. Early in the month he Army was given competition. Joe leichter, civilian pilot, was test-flying piiiabc au^iauo auu v. as. i uim i was test-flying the Christmas ship. Rex Smith was busy, and others also were flying there from time to time. At this time the Army had six gov ernmental hangars completed, and they all have new coats of dark olive paint. There also was a new hangar tent devised by Lieut. Kirtland for field service. Washington saw all three Army air planes in flight on November 10, when the squad flew to Fort Myer for cere monies in their honor. Lieut. Arnold flew the Wright, with Lieut. Kennedy at passenger. The Burgess-Wright was flown by Lieut. Milling, with Capt. Kirtland as his passenger. The Curtiss had been undergoing some modifications to increase its speed, at a sacrifice of load capacity, and so it had to be flown without a passenger by Capt. Beck. The Army squad was nearing the close of its first Summer of training, but there remained one most im portant event before the camp was broken up for the Winter. On No vember 17 the first night flying was undertaken. Acetylene searchlights of I a type then in general use on auto ; mobiles were modified somewhat and mounted on the airplanes and for the first time in the United States reg ular night flying was undertaken. The pilots reported that the acetylene lights were bright enough to illumi nate objects on the ground at a distance of 300 feet. 'T'HIS was the last important flying of the season at College Park. On November 27 camp was broken and all personnel and equipment loaded aboard a special train. The officers, airplanes and 19 enlisted men filled six cars and there were box cars for the camp equipment and a stock car for horses and mules, necessary ad juncts to early aviation. Capt. Chan dler and Lieuts. Kirtland, Milling and j trip by rail. The aviation detachment arrived at Augusta, Ga., at midnight on the 29th. The new site for the Aviation School had been selected on a farm just east of Augusta, where several hundred acres of level land, which ; had been used for raising hay, were , available. The detachment Win tered at Augusta, where Lieut. Kelley qualified as a pilot and a number of notable flights were made. On Jan uary 25 Lieut. Arnold attained an altitude of 4,764 feet. The Army pi- j lots, however, had agreed not to try altitudes above a mile, “as that is sufficiently high for practical pur poses.” Today pursuit is operating up to 6 miles and striving for more alti tude. The entire Army organization was returned to College Park on April 1, 1912. for its second Summer. The 1911 season, however, was the only one in which the whole Air Serv ice was concentrated for so long a period at one place, and it is regarded as one of the most successful of the early periods of military flying, in view' of the strictly pioneering character of the work. Pour airplanes were used and five officers were trained to fly. the operations including the first aerial photography, radio, signal work, bomb ing and night flying. There was pio neer cross-country flying over dis tances of up to 40 miles. There were no accidents other than minor mis haps which laid up airplanes for short periods for repairs. During 1912 the military air service began a period of real growth, based largely upon its 1911 experiences at College Park. Flying was begun in the Philippines and San Antonio, Tex., where Lieut. Kelly was killed. Dur ing the 1912 season, however. College Park continued to grow in importance and during that Summer there were j 12 officers and 39 enlisted men sta tioned there. The air field, at College Park, Md.. as it looked in 1911. Lieut. H. H. Arnold seated in a Wright-B airplane at College Park, Md., 25 years ago. r I I -11-1__ TT_a 1_J ..141. Im Capt. Charles de F. Chandler and Lieut. Roy Kirtland in a Wright type B airplane, with the first Lewis machine gun to be fired from a plane, July 7, 1912. i Lieut. Frank B. Kennedy in a Curtiss Trainer airplane at College Park, Md., in 1911. f I _ . a.- - ! i J tr _— ' T T.T,* !!#*•» tfA^inol Pnrnc thp Government Shopping Is Aid to All Buyers (Continued From Fourth Page.) 1 -- ] national product*, get# what he pay# i for. Saving* of million* of dollar* have accrued to the consumer* of the ' United 8tates because of the con- i ! tinuous research and testing of thi# -, ribai a^viivj. iiiuiu *»* »iuuu dustry, the Bureau has likewise la bored to set up standards for judging the values of articles of trade or com merce. By means of simplified prac tice, Federal specifications, commer cial standards, the small consumer has been guided to purchase wisely and well. Officials of the bureau emphasize the fact that they occupy no arbi- j trary position with respect to our j national industries. They are the first to recognize the dangers that lie in the type of "standardization” that symbolizes a loss of individuality, a narrowing of the scope of preference, or detraction from those qualities of distinctiveness which hold such char acteristic appeal. Standardization, they admit, may conceivably be car ried to such extremes as to destroy the objectives and lose the proper purposes for which it was intended. Therefore they dedicate their efforts to constructive standardization, con- j sidering its value and potentialities as an aid to better living. Standards for efficiency have always been the aim, the bureau points out, of leaders in all phases of our eco nomic and social life, and transporta tion is advanced as an example. Until j about 60 years ago a traveler had to change cars several times between i New York City and New Orleans j because there was no uniformity in the width of railroad trackage. These tracks were eventually brought into uniformity of width by the establish ment of the standard gauge of 56 »i incnes. Since that time standard railroad equipment has been trans ferable from any and all railroad trackage in the United States, assur ing comfort and expedition in travel that was impossible without standard ization. gIMILARLY, in the manufacturing industry, mass production and the economies and benefits directly re sulting were made possible by fixing i upon a standard pattern. The entire automobile industry was the result of Henry Ford's standardization of a cheap motor car, and the acceptance and adoption of standards has advanced civilization consistently in the commercial world. The confusing and extravagant ‘ claims of individual manufacturers made necessary some medium for establishing standards to guide the Federal Government in the expendi ture of its taxpayers’ money. Out of 1 that necessity have grown labora- ‘ lories covering several acres of : ground, and a busy, ever-growing ' institution whose personnel is dedi cated to research and experimenta- ' tion. Scientists of extraordinary ability, inventors and "mute inglorious Mil- ' ons” of the Industrial arts labor iatlently, unobtrusively and devotedly n these laboratories. Some of the nost extraordinary of the testing ievices are the products of their nrentive genius. Some of the most luperlor commercial products are the esults of their tireless research, rheir methods for conducting experi ments are as varied as they are fascinating. There are. for example, three pos sible ways of testing, as employed by the bureau. First, in the laboratory, nhere ingredients are ascertained, neighed or measured. Second, in ictual service, and, third, in simu lated service. By simulated service is meant a duplication of natural con ditions or such conditions as the article to be tested would encounter n actual sendee. For example, it is required to test the wearing qualities, the endurance and durability of a certain paint, let us say. That paint is applied to some surface, such as a nail or roof. It is then subjected, srtiflcially, to the heat of the sun, to freezing temperatures, to thaws and artificial rains until, in a brief but intensive period, it has lived a .ifetime. pyf OST ingenious of the methods for A testing is that known as "auto matic testing." By this means a aboratory worker may start hia ■xperiment under the proper condi ions and go away and forget about t while he works on something else. For the product or merchandise will 'o right on testing itself, registering, n a most accommodating fashion, its >wn progress the while. An interesting example of how this lutomatic procedure is conducted is he method of testing duralumin— in alloy containing aluminum and ;opper, that is used very extensively n the manufacture of enormous lirigibles or aircraft, such as the Los Angeles. Strips of the metal are sub ected to the elements—artificially ireated elements—over a certain >eriod of time and under much treater intensity than they would irdinarily be subjected to m service. In order to duplicate natural condi ions, so far as possible, the strip to be ested is not permitted to rest upon mything, and is kept in the air by neans of air jets that play upward ipon it with such force as to hold t suspended. The metal, thus sus >ended, is subjected to much m^re dolent vibration than it would ex (erience as part of some aircraft in ictual operation. It receives during he course of the experiment between !00 and 400 million vibrations—or an quivalent to 40 years' actual service! Adding machines and elevators are iroducts which are also subjected to lutomatic tests, registering with ninute accuracy the number of times hey fail to operate correctly or fficiently. One of the most curious of the ests made at the bureau Is that hav ng to do with the durability of the iaper that is to be used for United states currency. While this may not eceive long wear in the hands of one naividual. over the course of a dollar lilt's lifetime, or the lifetime of any till, it is subject to much wear and car. Hence it is necessary to use iaper of a pre-determined strength nd durability. This is based upon the ability of he paper to withstand the strain of >eing folded three of fcur thousand imes. This is considered a good iverage for potential folding qualities, l machine was devised at the bureau mtomatically to fold and refold cur* ency paper until it showed signs of rear. The currency stock experi* nented upon showed a resistance to rear up to five thousand foldings. Vhich is probably all any one bill rould be called upon to endure, as it s inevitably in more or less con* inuous service. In a search for non-cracking stucco t unique method was devised by the lureau for determining the qualities if all advertised brands claiming this luality. A stucco-test building was onstructed out of doors, its walls iivided into panels. Manufacturers rere invited to submit certified ampies of their products, accom lanied by a statement of composition, fhis sample was applied to the panel ssigned by a representative of the oncern. As a result of these tests he best qualities of each separate iroduct were listed and a new product nade. embodying these best qualities nd eliminating the inferior ones, so hat a very superior product was the esult of the tests. INTEREST to women is the machine designed to test women's ull-fashioned silk hosiery under con itions similar to those encountered n actual service. The top of the tocking is repeatedly distended while inder tension at the upper and lower nds. The ability of the stocking 0 recover its shape after loading and he number of times it can be tretched without giving way or other wise failing, are tabulated for pur oses of comparison with other makes. 1 defective stocking, we are told, will withstand only a few cycles on the lorizontal arms of this machine. Another curious and clever con raption invented at the bureau is he “walking machine.” This was levised to reproduce the strain on hoes produced by ordinary walking, a order to test the endurance of the hoe upper, the leather, linings, stitch* ags and heels. The machine is perated by a conveyor belt driven ver a bed of rollers and this pro ides a walking surface across which he shoes, attached to the spokes of revolving wheel, can travel. It is by these and numerous similar ests and experiments that the Na* ional Bureau of Standards ascertains < ne value of certain advertised mer handise or products. In addition to lese means, research is continuously nder way in the laboratories, the braries, the workrooms of the ureau to the end that Uncle Sam lay make the most of the taxpayers’ loney. And it is the knowledge thus ainstakingly gained at great finan lal cost that the Government offers > the individual buyer, to every con imer in America, no matter how ■ivial or small his purchases may be. It is no longer necessary for any ne of us to go blindfold ho market fth this great scientific Government gency constantly at our service for 0 more than the asking. -♦ .. - Short Circuit Beetle. PHE determination of Insect life is nowhere better demonstrated than 1 the case of what linemen have ubbed the short circuit beetle, hese beetles attack telephone and igh tension lines, boring through the uter coating of the wire, the lead of •ring no barrier to their chisel-like * w». t i Sanitary Standards of Finest Restaurants Held Higher Than in Average Home . By Vesta Cummings. ON’T bother to eye your knives, forks and glasses with suspicion in restaurants and at drug store counters, for the chances are that they are as well washed as those on your own dining-room table. That most despised of all chores— dish washing—is likely to be as sketchily done in the glossiest kitch enette as in the busiest eating house in town, according to Lieut. Col. James Gordon Cumming of the District of Columbia Department of Health, who has a national reputation as a health expert in both civil and military life. Many will die in Washington this Winter from saliva-borne diseases because housewives have “hurried through the dishes” to attend the movies, Dr. Cumming says. Many will expire of influenza in Washington this Winter because ladies wear lipstick. That beauty aid is a notable collector of bacteria, and smears of it, deposited on glassware, mobilize germs never entirely removed by ordinary cleansing methods. Others will be ill for weeks because repeal has increased the glass popula tion of the Nation’s Capital, Dr. Cumming says. Proprietors of beer and cocktail parlors dislike scalding beverage containers—a District regula tion—because it takes glasses a long time to cool. Customers not only protest beer in warmish flagon, but dislike drinking out of receptacles that have been immersed in chlorine disin fectant—analternative of the law— because the taste is noticeable. The lethal consequences of the Washington tea and cocktail hour are deplored by local health officers, who know, like every hostess, that the usual method at the party peak Is to rinse and dry glasses hastily in the kitchen and rush them at once to tea table or bar. The time has come, it seems, to frown upon one’s host when he removes glasses from the living room and returns with them filled, but hazy about what glass belongs to what guest. Yl^HILE dish washing in the home is no legal concern 9! the Dis trict, even though the ordinary proc ess removes only about 60 per cent of the contamination, inspectors are free to call unannounced at any pub lic place at any time to take a census of germs on supposedly clean eating utensils. As a result, new regulations to enforce hygienic dish washing have been prepared for submission to the Comissioners of the District by the Department of Health, in an effort to cut the toll of deaths from saliva borne ailments. Recommendation of the new code grows out of experiments by officials in Washington, where the facilities of 37 restaurants of various classes f v-♦; were utilized to develop a new stand ard procedure for bacteriological examination of cleansed utensils. The bacterial contamination of so-called washed glasses or cups is determined by passing a sterile, moist swab three times around the inside and outside of the rim of each of 10 glasses, selected at random. Mild pressure is exerted through the swab on the rim, and the contamination of each is successively transferred by agitating the swab in sterile salt solu tion contained in a labeled test tube. The pooled washings are cultured by, the plate agar method, and the num ber of bacteria per glass determined. The same general procedure is fol lowed in determining the bacterial load of a 4-square-inch surface of any dish. Even when glasses are properly washed, they may arrive back at the table loaded with germs. Dr. Cum ming says. Inverting them on an unwashed tray picks up, on a rim, 40.000 to 50,000 bacteria. Unwashed dishes carry 150,000 organisms per utensil surface area, but if they are cleansed by a machine using 170 degree hot water, or by hand in warm, soapy water, and immersed in hypo chlorite solution, the number of bac teria in surface area should not be more than several hundred. The “multiple spoon" test, contrived to test the purity of silver, consists of placing 10 spoons in a pint jar containing 200 c. c. of sterile salt solution and shaking the contents for I two minutes. The suspension of or ganisms thus obtained is plated by the usual laboratory procedure and tho niimh*r rtf D^r SDOOn | tallied. Equipment is not cumbersome for examination of utensils, Dr. dim ming points out. If glasses only are to be examined, the inspector can carry in his pocket a sufficient num ber of test tubes and swabs for an entire day's work. Results of tests made by these methods were received with enthusiasm when Dr. dimming spoke before a convention of the American Public Health Association last month in New Orleans, urging establishment of a standard technique. TN AN effort to cut down deaths from influenza and pneumonia, just as attention to casualties from polluted milk and water supplies has slashed intestinal-borne infection deaths, the following eating utensil washing methods for cafes are rec ommended in the code: When dishes are washed by a ma chine, the water shall be maintained at or above 170 degrees Fahrenheit and contain sufficient soap or in organic detergent thoroughly to cleanse the utensils. The dishes Shall be exposed to the eleasing and dis infecting wash for at least three minutes. When the machine is of h District Health Officials Propose Rules to Guard Food Through Better Methods of Dishwashing to Reduce Casualties From Disease Germs. two compartments, the washing wa ter in the first compartment shall be maintained at or above 120 degrees— hot water—and shall contain soap or inorganic detergent, and shall be changed at such frequent intervals as to keep it free from visible dirt, and the second compartment shall contain either clean rinse water of a temperature not less than 155 de grees or a clean solution of chlorine disinfectant in the proportion of 200 p. p. m. (parts per million>, and at no time less than 50 p. p. m., and to either of these solutions the utensils shall be exposed for at least three minutes. When hand washing is the system, similar regulations are suggested, pro viding for frequent changes of the washing water and immersion at the end of the process in water 175 de grees hot. Chlorine disinfection 1s the third alternative, the proportion 200 p. p. m., and at ho time less than 50 p. p. m. If beverage glasses are so treated they may be finally rinsed in run ning water. 'Glasses may be cleansed by drain ing them of their beverage content, washing, preferably by the brush method with a disinfectant, and rinsing in running water. The standard bacteriological re quirements for washed and disin fected eating utensils shallnot be more than 500 organisms per 4 square inches of area, or 500 organisms on the in side and outside rim surfaces of cups or glasses, or 500 organisms per tea spoon. Single-service paper utensils will probably be the only alternative to these dish washing methods in the future, and punishment for violations will be stiffened if the new code is approved. A fine of not less than $10 nor more than $50, or revocation of licenses, or refusal of renewal of license upon ex piration are provided. At the moment the Department of Health has no re vocation authority. All previous regu lations pertaining to eating utensils sanitation will be revoked if these pass. TI/HILE milady or her maid at the VV kitchen sink may deal death no matter how immaculate her bungalow apron, licenses to keep house cannot be revoked by the Board of Health, officials regret. Most women, accord ing to Dr. Cummlng, never boil separately dishes used by ill mem bers of the family, except when death 4 ' u is near. The common cold and light cases of Influenza are ordinarily ignored. And yet, he points out, there is adequate proof that disinfection of eating utensils affords about 80 per cent protection against influenza dis tribution. Purer water and milk have reduced the healthy typhoid carrier rate by 80 per cent and mortality by 95 per cent, a saving of 100,000 lives annually, and a change in the peak of infant mortality from Summer to Winter. Today, the saliva-borne in fections account largely for the Winter baby mortality. While annual deaths from typhoid in the District in 1910 were running 400 to 500, with about 10 times as many cases reported, in recent years only about 100 persons in Washing ton contract the disease and only from 10 to 15 deaths occur. There are still, however, about 600 casualties annually from tuberculosis and 700 to 800 from pneumonia. Strepticoccus sore throat is practically non-existent in 'Washington since 99 per cent of milk consumed here is pasteurized, Dr. Cumming says. How, then, shall the housewife, free of dish washing regulations, do her dishes, or have them done? Firstly, if you must use dish towels see that they 8re clean. Dr. Cumming states. He Is, however, distinctly anti kitchen towel. BULLETIN on disinfection for family eating utensils has been prepared by Dr. Cumming. to be used not only as an emergency measure when there is sickness in the family or an epidemic in town, but for the day-to-day prevention of pneumonia, typhoid. Influenza, infantile paralysis, scarlet fever and whooping cough. Don't, he warns again, wash your dishes carefully and then wipe them with a damp and humid cloth, upon which bacteria have collected. This is the way to wash dishes at home: Remove adhering food particles, especially grease. Wash glasses first, next silverware, then dishes, and finally pots and pans. Place on draining rack and air dry. The following disinfecting solution is for the average family of four, allowing about 10 utensils per person. Use either of the following suggested methods: 1. For the combined cleanser and chlorine solution method, to lVi gal* ‘ i U Ions of hot water add washing soda or i other inorganic washing powder or : cleanser mot common soap, as that destroys the germicidal properties of ' the chlorine disinfectant). Then add the chlorine powder as directed on the container. j i 2. For the separate cleanser and | chlorine solutions method, use an 1 oblong dish pan divided in the center, j ■ In one wash with a hot inorganic ,1 cleanser solution and in the other : disinfect by immersion of the utensils i for three to five minutes in a hot l chlorine solution, made so as to have < 100 p.p.m. < Chlorine disinfectant powder is i sold at drug stores and by hotels and J dairy supply houses under various , trade names. i ' ( 'J'HE praises of soap are voiced loudly by Dr. Cumming, who 1 points out that its use has been uni- ’ versal only 50 or 100 years. When 1 he went to the Philippine Islands in : 1899, as a part of the sanitary corps - sent by the occupying army, he noticed that there was no word for : “soap” in the language, no soap in 1 the islands, and that contagious dis eases had made terrific inroads on : the population. No short cut to communicable dis- ] ease control exists, he says. It is a long process, because of healthy car riers, who are the chief distributors of infection. Barriers against distri bution of their bacteria must be set; up and maintained until, fewer in j each generation, they are finally eliminated. A slim staff at the Health Depart- ; ment attempts to erect those barriers in the 1.840 eating places operating * in Washington, according to Dr. R. R. 1 Ashworth, D. V. S., director. Bureau of Food Inspection. Allowing thre* 1 visits annually to each food emporium, ' three Inspectors are needed to cover the work. One Inspector is able to average five visits daily, with the attendant taking of bacteriological specimens and giving advice to opera tors for improvements in method. By this means progress is managed, Dr. Ashworth says, discussing the new code, most managers being eager to co-operate when they understand the dangers involved. If inspection shows satisfactory eating utensil disinfection in a cafe under the new code, a dated certi ficate of approval can be issued which the establishment may publicly dis play, Dr. Ashworth explains. * Restau rants showing such a label would enjoy prestige over those falling to meet the requirements, and the housewife would have impressed upon her the health value of sanitary dish washing. 'E'ORCE by police power is the out standing recommendation of the proposed new code, that also advises i policy of public instruction through tews items, the radio and legend Placards in eating places. Some of he better restaurants have already ■omplied with the suggestion of De i&rtment of Health officials that ipplicants for employment should be ;iven tests for social diseases before j ieing hired, although there is no District law on the subject at the noment. Soapy wash water examined by in pectors in cafes should not contain nore than 50,000 organisms per c. c., ■xperts agree, and if the count dis overed is in excess of this number , t provides supportive evidence for " ecuring a court conviction. Though higher types of restaurants lave mechanical dish washers, this ioes not necessarily mean that dishes cashed in them meet the requirements if cleanliness, it is said. There is videspread carelessness in the use of hese machines, because, while the nanagement may buy them, mcom jetent help may not use them properly, iigh bacteria count are sometimes ound on apparently spotless dishes it the finest hotels. Persons hired as dish washers be ong mostly to the drifting class, Dt. Vshworth explains, and are not in lined to be conscientious about germs, therefore bacteria-laden saliva is ;ransferred from the sick to well daily da shining silver and pleasantly inkling glasses. 11 ( DEHIND the scenes during a Wash- < ington lunch hour is a dramatic ' ihow, In a cafeteria that Dr. Ash- 4 forth calls an outstanding example 1 if the best kind of eating place. Its iersistent spotlessness in the face of 4 chat might be chaos would inspire i 4 my householder to change her own 4 lish-washing methods or make a mid- 4 light examination of her kitchen 4 fhen the cook is out. Thousands of meals fly up the j. lumb wraiters hourly while revolving r cashing gadgets—automatic steam n prays and brush machines—polish a lozen glasses at a time to a smooth £ kating surface for the few hardy t terms that survive. These glasses are lea used, untouched by human hand. t Here dish washing becomes an art s well as a science. The tempo is c errific, and the noise a symphony v >f bubbling soap, flowing steam, and a lattering cutlery, from which forks E r,d spoons emerge too hot to hold nd without an egg stain in the lot. lows of immaculate boys in starched chite coats and hats receive dishes r rom the dining room on a revolving elt—dumping refuse into containers, jj Nothing survives, not even that un- c ouched hard roll. j >] A modem restaurant has no “go- li ack” table—where formerly dishes o rom dining rooms were examined for j1 ossible salvage. ji a L