European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 27, 1959, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Verne at Cape canaveral by Bill Chevalier a staff writer  of address All letters to b bag editor the stars and stripes Apo 175, . Forces. In $ elude name and address name will be deleted and kept confidential on request letters May be condensed for publication provided such editing does not alter the meaning of the orig Ltd. If Crafty old Jules Verne were alive today he d Likely be the modern rocket engineers toughest kibitzer. A recent air Force announcement said that tests which no doubt Cost Uncle Sam barrels of Money indicate that space pilots of the future May be Able to withstand the Shock of rapid acceleration by being immersed in water. Phooey the 19th Century French adventure writer probably would say i thought of that nearly 100 years  and he did. Verne who died shortly after the turn of the Century and before much of anything Ever got off the ground made a startling number of space age predictions in his Sci ence fiction Many of them being proved practical in essence today. In the novel he called from the Earth to the Moon and its sequel round the Moon the imaginative Verne sent a space ship to the Moon and Back to Earth by a simple mildly scientific method. Verne s characters the leaders of a gun club were distraught at the thought of no More wars and hence no further use for their Pride and Joy artillery pieces. That was when they decided on going to the Moon. The method simple. Just build a big enough Cannon and shoot a projectile tothe Moon. Jules did not hit on liquid propellants exotic fuels and such but he came up with a Cannon capable according to his own intricate calculations of sending a projectile weighing nearly 20,000 pounds int space. The gun club proceeded to build a can non All of its 900-foot length sunk into the ground. Where did they build it on the Southern tip of Florida of course. Check your map for Cape canaveral s location this monstrous Cannon dubbed the co Lumblad was stuffed with a couple Hundred tons of gun Cotton. This was to be set off by electric Sparks. They Don t touch off Moon rockets nowadays with matches or firebrands either Verne figured the resulting blast would give the projectile an initial velocity of 12,000 Yards per second or roughly 24,500 Mph. They re powering Moon rockets now for a velocity of 25,000 Mph like modern space engineers Verne thought of the safety of his travellers. How would they withstand the Shock of the initial blast off float pm in water the air Force has discovered recently. Verne did too in the last Century. His three aeronaut were enclosed in an airtight Cabin inside the main projectile. Their Cabin ii turn was mounted on a raft floating on three feet of water with a system of breakable plugs to give under the Strain. Verne also figured out How to keep his space travellers breathing during their flight. His imagination provided chemicals to replenish oxygen and absorb Carbon monoxide. Air regeneration systems the space scientists of today Call them the fabulous science fiction artist of the 1800s also touched briefly on supersonics. His heroes once they were sent into space by an explosion that Shook Florida Dis covered that they failed to hear the slight est sound from the tremendous blast. After giving some thought to this they discovered they were travelling much faster than the sound from the Cannon. Verne was careful not to let his three some land on the Moon but was equally careful not to admit his calculations had been in error his fearless travellers at one Point in their journey were nearly hit by a Speed ing asteroid. The magnetic pull of the asteroid they determined threw them off course enough to barely miss the Moon. They did orbit however coming with in 25 Miles of the lunar surface. Much closer than Russia s Lunik or America s explorer by the Way Verne with astute foresight had his projectile equipped with Small rockets for the return trip. At just the right moment in the. Projectile s orbit around the Moon the rockets modern spacemen Call them Retro rockets were fired pushing the Craft away from the Moon. They gave just enough shove to get the projectile past the Moon s Gravity. From there it was simple. It merely fell to the Earth. The Speed of the free fall was not enough to cause the projectile to Burn up when it entered the Earth s atmosphere. What heat was generated was quickly consumed when the space machine fell in True Jules Verne style into the Ocean. Verne s projectile naturally was of proper size and weight to float to the surface it s three passengers were playing dominoes when they were spotted by a passing ship. Dependents trave the information that i am re questing is very important to me at the present time. I have been trying to get this information for the past few months. In december 1957 i was assigned to this command with the rank of a/1c, although i did not have four years time in service. In june 1958 i paid my wife s expenses from the states to this command. In August 1958 i passed the four year Mark. At Ali at time i was under the impression that i was authorized All of the privileges of an a/1c with Over four years of service. In the same year i was extended to the full required tour which is three years in this area because my wife was joining me Here. I have kids in the states and they need to be with us Here since we have to stay the three years tour expires in december 1960. Are there any provisions in the air Force travel regulations that would authorize her space available Back to the states to accompany my kids Over Here since they Are too Young to travel alone. Name withheld by request editor s note usafe., replies As follows a review of pertinent regulations indicates there Are no provisions whereby the dependent wife of subject air Man can return to the . In an unaccompanied status to bring their children overseas. Paragraph 5b Mats air transportation policy interim states . Military personnel and their dependents when travelling in a leave status and accompanied by the sponsor who is also in a leave status to or from conus Are authorized space available transportation on Mats aircraft. Category 11, afr 75-48 also provides space available transportation for dependents travel when accompanied by the Spon Sor on Mats vessels. Reminder readers arc reminded that All letters to the b bag Muni he signed in order to receive recon Rii Tion. All correspondence to this department is confidential. Names will be deleted in publication if requested Goren on Bridge answers to Bridge quiz q. 1 As South you hold the bidding has proceeded North East South West 1 4. Pass 1 1 3 pass ? what do you bid now v a. Three Spades. The Cue bid will serve a double purpose. It will enable partner to Stop at three no Trump if Turat is the limit of. His ambitions or it May induce him to try for slam if his hand is so suited. You will be pleased to cooperate inasmuch As you have the equivalent of an opening bid now that the King of clubs has been promoted v q. 2 As South you hold e j64 q10964 4.ak953 the bidding has proceeded South West North East pass pass 1 pass what is your response a. Three clubs.  hand of fers distinct slam possibilities de pendent on partner s holding in Spades. The jump shift therefore is clearly indicated. This is the strongest possible passed hand partner could expect and surely you will Settle for no less than game in diamonds. Q. 3 As South you hold 4 a vq4 qj863 4.q975 the bidding has proceeded North East South West 1 to p is a 2 y2 4 pass ? what do you bid now a. Four clubs a Mere return to three clubs would be grossly inadequate. Farther a s shown hand of reasonably Good proportions and your hand has the strength of an opening bid. Q. 4 As South vulnerable you hold q. 5 As South you hold 4k65 vkqj63 $a98 the bidding has proceeded South West North East in 14 pass pass Dale pass 2 it pass what do you bid now a. Three diamonds. Your hand is slightly unbalanced and you should make some Effort to play at a suit contract. If partner takes you Back to three hearts bid four. If his Call is three no Trump pass. Q. 6 As South you hold $9 104 kq10862 k643 the bidding has proceeded North East South West 1 4 pass 1 it pass 2 pass ? what do you bid now a. Pass. No thought should be Given to bidding three diamonds. Partner has indicated a probable six card suit since he did t like no Trump and failed to show another suit on his rebid. Furthermore he might easily have a Singleton Diamond. Q. 7 As South you hold 4q973 k105 4.akj1082 the bidding has proceeded South West North East 1 i pass 2 4 pass 3 4k pass 4 9 pass 5 Eye pass 5 Dale.  do you bid now a. Seven Spades. This should be a pretty Safe investment. East s double of five diamonds indicates that Little of partner s values Are in that suit. The Spades Are solid and either your heart holding solidifies partner s or your clubs can be set up for discard. I q. 8 As. South you hold the bidding has proceeded South West North East pass pass 1 1 it pass pass pole pass what do you bid now a pass. This is a rather Light holding with which it leave the double in., but we Oan 4 be sure which suit to bid and even if East should make his contract it cd own tribe game. 4,3 the bidding has proceeded West North East South 1 of pass 1 pass 2 Dale pass what do you bid now a pass. If partner had wanted to hear from you he would have doubled one club. This is strictly a business double and you have no reason to run. Copyright 10dd, Trio Chicago Tribune monday july 37, in 959