Popular Science Monthly
��327
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��Inflating Huge "Pillows" as Targets for Airplane Practice
TN the days when balloons
��Taking Photographs with a Concealed Buttonhole Camera
lNE of the quaintest and #
most ingenious detective A^^gg&m^' mn l - fh< \T ^ were more °f a novelty- cameras ever devised has been / jfjUBBm*! ICf>ae tnan the Y are now, gas-bags invented by A. A. Ciani, of East (dm y\ were often made in the form
Orange, New Jersey. It resem- J^ SpVffV Wk* °f animals and human beings. bles other cameras in only one J- -U B^ The "pillows" which are shown
feature, the lens, but even .that Wff in the photograph below may be
feature is distinctive, so that it \ %W regarded as a relic of that time;
might be said Mr. Ciani 's camera <S ^JL ^ J \^ S but they are used for a far
is without a counterpart. It is , f~ ~**\ , more practical purpose than
designed to be worn concealed / •. were the old man and animal-
under the coat, in the manner AW Bl shaped balloons,
shown in the illustration. The fl j Nowadays, the heaviest naval
protruding lens can be H * ^B guns are the only weapons
placed in the top button- ^^^,^K - : /*-^fc aD ^ e to decide battles.
hole of the coat and photo- 4(RHP ^^B m^r ^P^P ^ there were no airplanes, graphs taken without any- ^-xm^***^ these guns, too, would be
one knowing it, by pulling Ja J^^ <*mm\XL powerless; they could not
a string hidden in the Mw M V mmX. ^ * 4l\ direct their fire tellingly
pocket. ^^S^A Mm \ J | without aid from a watch-
Look carefully at the mm\jmv' feb~ a& ^ man m an airplane,
illustration showing the Ml W— Hence, the fortunes of
interior of the camera and ■ I H H modern battles rest not
you will see the shutter, H Sr m5 B only with sixteen-inch
partly operated, in a ^Hy|M V" B guns but in the last
sector shape. The shut- ^B ^ jB B^ analysis with airplanes.
ter appears on either side \nm\ H H H* That explains the stern
of the lens, in the opening Th e detective camera is worn struggle which is being
just below the stem. Over concealed under the coat It is wa ^ f supremacy of
•;, , , . operated by pulling a cord which jt ° . ^ J
the brass centerpiece, but is led fron; *£ into the pocket the air.
not visible in the photo- The "pillows" shown
graph, are two rubber bands which come herewith are really balloons roughly shaped
into contact with the sensitized plate, like rectangular wings. Fighting in the air
By operating a knob on the front side of requires so much skill in an entirely new
the camera, the centerpiece is turned and sort of marksmanship that the practical
with it the plate. Four photographs can be British have hit upon the scheme of
taken on a plate, as there are only four systematically training their air fighters
teeth on the centerpiece. Every time a in shooting from speedy airplanes at these
picture is taken the plate is revolved one- odd-shaped balloons. The balloons are
quarter turn. The shutter is operated by not inflated with gas, as they rest on the
pulling the floor, but
string con- + - with air from
cealed in the a big electric
pocket. blower in the
The coat 9 A 71 center of the
can be but- room. Such
toned over "im^-i -•#• • # ' - # & a blower 1S
without in- ft*2feA2l »* J -mvCmnVl' \ every balloon
convenien- fvT^ll mm mm^m\ factory for
c i n g the 1 ( nk/^ -A^T jft| ** l ^*dfli Ik*- use * n var "
wearer and Blta^SL*-— -v^.W- ^' nishing; for
without ox- 9v^^^^^3K only dis-
citing the tended bag
suspicion of ) ™ e "" - ■ - ' _J can be var-
the one to The balloons are inflated and floated at the end of ropes. nished or in-
be snapped. British aviators fire down upon them with machine guns Spected.
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