Scouting, Volume 30, Number 1, January 1942 Page: 23
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Scouting Magazine and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.
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"ASBESTOS
"SNUFFER,"
Defense
Made of
wire mesh
and covered
on both sides
with asbestos
The use of fire missiles as
weapons of war goes back at
least 2300 years. The Assyrians
are believed to have used them
about 400 B.C. Greek-fire, a mix-
ture of pitch, sulphur, quicklime
and naphtha, was used in the de-
fense of Constantinople through
several centuries. Our pioneer
forefathers who were not prepared
at all times to fight fires ignited
by flaming arrows shot from the
bows of warring Indians did not
live long.
With the introduction of high
explosive powders and long range
artillery, the use of fire missiles
gradually decreased and had been
nearly forgotten when World War
No. 1 broke out. With it came the
use of motor driven balloons and
war planes, and the subsequent
introduction of new and more de-
structive fire bombs.
Today we are particularly con-
cerned with defense against two
incendiary devices dropped from
planes — the so-called "electron"
bomb used in attacks on communi-
Against
Fire
Missiles
By the Director of the
Health and Safety Service
ties, and inoffensive looking pieces
of paper known as "calling cards"
used to ignite grain fields and
forests.
The Electron Bomb
Incendiary bombs of various
kinds, ranging in weight from two
to fifty-five pounds, have been
tried, but the most effective seems
to be the one-kilogram (2.2 lbs.)
electron type. This bomb has a
magnesium alloy shell containing
a priming composition of alumi-
num and iron-oxide known as
thermite.
"Unlike other types of bombs,"*
says J. A. West, Jr., of the N.F.P.A.
Staff, "the electron bomb does not
explode upon impact, but rather
,P/u3.'6O %
Magrf^iunr
•3 *5tee/ Pin a
3o<Jy,
Mqgne&iu/n
; Alloy
Pf-imihg
Co/rr/>*Ai -
Ttort - G <3
A/urnm urrr-
trorr <Dx/ d&
■Safely Pin
niaanta/v/tr
*From "The Incendiary Bomb" in the Na-
tional Fire Protection Association book, FIRE
DEFENSE. Price $1.50. Address 60 Battery-
march Street, Boston, Massachusetts.
A// y
THE ELECTRON BOMfe
the thermite reacts violently for
nearly a minute at a temperature
of about 2500°C. (4532°F.) Jets of
flame emit from vent holes in the
shell and bits of molten magnes-
ium which are forced through
these holes scatter in every direc-
tion, for a distance of about fifty
feet. This scattering of incendiary
material ends when the thermite
reaction has been completed and
the pressure within the bomb has
been decreased. However, the mag-
nesium shell has been ignited by
that time and will burn for 10 or
15 minutes at a temperature of
approximately 1300°C. (2372°F.),
setting fire to any combustible ma-
terial within a radius of a few
feet.
"Electron bombs are usually
dropped from a height of a mile
or more and reach their maximum
(Continued on page 30)
Enter a burning room on Those who man the pump In attacking the fire bomb If furniture or hangings Showing how to change
hands and knees. Open should stay OUTSIDE the Crawl towards it, head are on ^re c'ea' w'^ ^em over quickly from jet to
door slowly to avoid burning room. One , . l* ij j t l ^rs*' w'^ ie** Then spray. {Never use solid
bursts of flame. Keep pumps, while another own' ace s ,e alce Jurn the SPRAY on the fire water on fire bomb,
head back. brings water. whatever cover you can. bomb. Spray only.—F. C. M.)
Operate on the Budget Plan in 1942
JANUARY, 1942 23
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 30, Number 1, January 1942, periodical, January 1942; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth313078/m1/25/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.