Fire Beaten?

Thus far no fireproof airplane has been built, no mail pouch which will prevent letters from being charred. Last week at Heston Airport near London, officials of the British Air Ministry saw what may lead to both objectives.

A Belgian Army major named R. van Rolleghem produced a miniature airplane fuselage composed of a secret material which looked like mica-coated asbestos. In the cockpit, in place of pilot & observer, he lodged two white mice. Then he ignited the fuel in the machine's nose. The terrified mice were not even singed.

Next Major van Rolleghem lighted a fierce fire beneath a full fuel tank made of his secret substance. Tank & contents remained intact. He put a box, containing a letter, into a fuel fire. The letter remained uncharred. Then came Major van Rolleghem's finale. He stepped into a boxlike affair supposed to be a cockpit. Gasoline was sloshed against the front wall and ignited. The whirling propeller of a nearby airplane fanned the flames to terrific heat, but they failed to scorch the major.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.