Quick Excerpts, from a Library of 492 Titles

Generated 2022-07-28 13:26:48

Excerpt #1, from Survival at Altitude for Heavy and Very Heavy Bomber Crews

…The turrets on the earlier models (B-17F) are supplied with F-l type cylinders having a capacity of approximately 14 cubic feet when fully charged to 450 pounds. Under these conditions a fully charged bottle lasts one man approximately 2 hours. (Note: these bottles are recharged from the ship’s supply during flight, so it will not be possible to fully charge them after several hours of flight on oxygen. They will be no fuller than the pressure in the system from which they are charged–front left system for top turret; rear left system for ball turret). [Illustration: Fig. 10 OXYGEN SYSTEMS B-17G] B-17G models are modified so that the turrets are supplied oxygen directly through a flexible hose – the top turret from the front left system – the ball turret from the rear right system. The same changes may be found in the ball turret of the B-24. COMPUTING OXYGEN DURATION Several members of the crew must be able to calculate the duration of the oxygen supply. The following simple procedure will permit a fairly accurate estimate of each systems duration. The figures are based on altitudes between 20,000 and 30,000 feet where the majority of your combat flying will take place. G-1 CYLINDERS – full charge 450 pounds – each cylinder equals 5 man…

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Excerpt #2, from Behind the Beyond, and Other Contributions to Human Knowledge, by Stephen Leacock

…Then they began pumping in gas. The sensation of this part of it I cannot, unfortunately, recall. It happened that just as they began to administer the gas, I fell asleep. I don’t quite know why. Perhaps I was overtired. Perhaps it was the simple home charm of the surroundings, the soft drowsy hum of the gas pump, the twittering of the dentists in the trees–did I say the trees? No; of course they weren’t in the trees–imagine dentists in the trees–ha! ha! Here, take off this gaspipe from my face till I laugh–really I just want to laugh–only to laugh—- Well,–that’s what it felt like. Meanwhile they were operating. [Illustration: I did go . . . I kept the appointment.] Of course I didn’t feel it. All I felt was that someone dealt me a powerful blow in the face with a sledgehammer. After that somebody took a pickax and cracked in my jaw with it. That was all. It was a mere nothing. I felt at the time that a man who objects to a few taps on the face with a pickax is overcritical. I didn’t happen to wake up till they had practically finished. So I really missed the whole thing. The assistants had gone, and the dentist was mixing up cement and humming airs from light opera just like old times. It made the world…

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Excerpt #3, from Psychology and Social Practice, by John Dewey

…pedagogical rendering of psychological facts and principles. Of necessity, the stress of interest will be elsewhere. But we have already found reason for questioning the possibility of making the somewhat different direction of interest into a rigid dualism of a legislative class on one side and an obedient subject class on the other. Can the teacher ever receive “obligatory prescriptions”? Can he receive from another a statement of the means by which he is to reach his ends, and not become hopelessly servile in his attitude? Would not such a result be even worse than the existing mixture of empiricism and inspiration?–just because it would forever fossilize the empirical element and dispel the inspiration which now quickens routine. Can a passive, receptive attitude on the part of the instructor (suggesting the soldier awaiting orders from a commanding general) be avoided, unless the teacher, as a student of psychology, himself sees the reasons and import of the suggestions and rules that are proffered him? I quote a passage that seems of significance: “Do we not lay a special linking science everywhere else between the theory and practical work? We have engineering between physics and the practical workingmen in the mills; we have a scientific medicine between the natural science and the physician” (p. 138). The sentences suggest, in an almost startling way, that the real essence of the problem is found in an organic connection…

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Excerpt #4, from Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, by Thomas Preston

…Estate–trade 1647 Evasions–crafty 347 Evening–red 501 Evenings–clear 275 Everything–place 1254 Evil–bear 82 Evil–good 698 Evil name 510 Evil–old age 1171 Evil–root 839 Exception–rule 1374 Experience–caution 220 Extravagance 1492 Eye–picture, mind 1081 Eyes–fields 576 Eyes–hedges 775 F Face–painting 1061 Face–wind 1504 Faces–fair 533 Faces–two 1683…

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Excerpt #5, from The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Baroness Emmuska Orczy Orczy

…for his sake; but I might be powerless, for I might arrive too late, and nothing would be left for you but lifelong remorse, and . . . and . . . for me, a broken heart.” “But, Lady Blakeney,” said the young man, touched by the gentle earnestness of this exquisitely beautiful woman, “do you know that what you propose doing is man’s work?—you cannot possibly journey to Calais alone. You would be running the greatest possible risks to yourself, and your chances of finding your husband now—were I to direct you ever so carefully—are infinitely remote.” “Oh, I hope there are risks!” she murmured softly. “I hope there are dangers, too!—I have so much to atone for. But I fear you are mistaken. Chauvelin’s eyes are fixed upon you all, he will scarce notice me. Quick, Sir Andrew!—the coach is ready, and there is not a moment to be lost. . . . I must get to him! I must!” she repeated with almost savage energy, “to warn him that that man is on his track. . . . Can’t you see—can’t you see, that I must get to him . . . even . . . even if it be too late to save him . . . at least . . . to be by his side . . . at the last.” “Faith, Madame, you must command me. Gladly would I or any of my comrades lay down our lives for your husband. If you will go yourself . . .”…

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Excerpt #6, from The Fifth Ace, by Isabel Ostrander

…in your good faith or with any desire to deal with you except in retribution?" “Nevertheless, she is the principal I intend to interview. You give me no credentials as her authorized agent, and whether she cares to deal with me or not is a matter I mean to put to the test. It lies between her and me, and I fancy I shall have no difficulty in opening her eyes to much that will be to her advantage, to which she has been kept heretofore in the dark.” “Would you, if you could? I doubt it. However, by all means make your proposition to her when you have found her, Mr. Wiley. That’s the first thing, isn’t it? You can’t hazard your bet until you have picked your number, can you?” Whimsically, she imitated the croupier’s sing-song whine “Make your play, gentlemen! The wheel is about to spin!” “You vixen!” he muttered wrathfully. Then he controlled himself with an almost visible effort and half turned in his saddle. "Will you permit me to give you a bit of purely disinterested advice? Don’t go in for the financial game on your own; you are bound to lose. In your proper sphere you are invincible, but it is a social one. When you pit yourself against men in a contest for financial supremacy your chief weapon, that of sex, is turned against you. Make no mistake! I shall…

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Excerpt #7, from English Fairy Tales, by Joseph Jacobs

…it was a leg of the sofa that he had put out. So Tommy Grimes ran home, and he never went round the corner again till he was old enough to go alone. WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT In the reign of the famous King Edward III. there was a little boy called Dick Whittington, whose father and mother died when he was very young. As poor Dick was not old enough to work, he was very badly off; he got but little for his dinner, and sometimes nothing at all for his breakfast; for the people who lived in the village were very poor indeed, and could not spare him much more than the parings of potatoes, and now and then a hard crust of bread. Now Dick had heard a great many very strange things about the great city called London; for the country people at that time thought that folks in London were all fine gentlemen and ladies; and that there was singing and music there all day long; and that the streets were all paved with gold. One day a large waggon and eight horses, all with bells at their heads, drove through the village while Dick was standing by the sign-post. He thought that this waggon must be going to the fine town of London; so he took courage, and asked the waggoner to let him walk with him by the side of the waggon. As soon as the waggoner heard that poor Dick had…

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Excerpt #8, from English Literature, by William J. Long

…pleasure consists in two things, catching birds and throwing snowballs, and begs for the weather to be such that he can always do both. Jupiter decides that he will do just as he pleases about the weather, and everybody goes home satisfied. All these early plays were written, for the most part, in a mingling of prose and wretched doggerel, and add nothing to our literature. Their great work was to train actors, to keep alive the dramatic spirit, and to prepare the way for the true drama. 3. THE ARTISTIC PERIOD OF THE DRAMA. The artistic is the final stage in the development of the English drama. It differs radically from the other two in that its chief purpose is not to point a moral but to represent human life as it is. The artistic drama may have purpose, no less than the Miracle play, but the motive is always subordinate to the chief end of representing life itself. The first true play in English, with a regular plot, divided into acts and scenes, is probably the comedy, “Ralph Royster Doyster.” It was written by Nicholas Udall, master of Eton, and later of Westminster school, and was first acted by his schoolboys some time before 1556. The story is that of a conceited fop in love with a widow, who is already engaged to another man. The play is an adaptation of the Miles Gloriosus, a classic comedy by Plautus, and the English characters are more or less artificial; but as…

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Excerpt #9, from Lakeland Words, by Bryham Kirkby

…EEN—Eyes. Een as black as sleeas; t’ bonny bird een; eeny taties, eeny breed, an’ seea on. EFTER—After, ov coorse. What’s thoo efter? Nowt at dow, Ah’ll apode. Sometimes t’ lads er efter t’ lasses; t’ jobbers ’ll be efter kye; an’ some er efter owt they can lig hauld on. EFTER-NOON—About a finish. It’s a lang way inta t’ efterniun wi’ him Ah’s flayed. EFTER-TEMSINGS—Coarse flour after sifting; it makes good breed. EFTER-CROP—A crop that is grown after a first one has been secured. EGG—To incite to quarrel. Thoo’s neea casion to egg them on at yan anudder. EGG—To roughen. Sleeas fair egg yan’s tongue. EH?—A handy word fer them ’at’s hard o’ hearin’. A lot better ner “Beg your pardon,” an’ seck like ropement. Eh? EKE—A portion of a bee-hive, added for the purpose of more easily obtaining the honey. EKE—To make out for. Ah mun eke it oot as weel as Ah can. ELBOW-TURN—An angle. T’ blacksmith knows hoo it’s diun. ELBOW-GREASE—Noo than what? We o’ know what elbow grease is when it’s runnin’ off yan’s broo, and happen droppin’ inta yan’s e’e afooar yan’s time ta wipe ’t off. Elbow grease an’ stickin’ playster er tweea varry…

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Excerpt #10, from Nick Carter Stories No. 143, June 5, 1915: The sultan’s pearls; or, Nick

…There is a time for everything, and the secret of success in life lies in doing things at just the right minute. A veterinary surgeon had occasion to instruct a colored stableman how to administer medicine to an ailing horse. He was to get a common tin tube–a bean blower–put a dose of the medicine in it, insert one end of the tube into the horse’s mouth, and blow vigorously into the other end, and so force the medicine down the horse’s throat. Half an hour afterward, the colored man appeared at the surgeon’s office, looking very much out of sorts. “What is the matter?” inquired the doctor, with some concern. “Why, boss, dat hoss, he–he blew fust!” THE NEWS OF ALL NATIONS. Story of “Scotty” Hero of Zinc Fields. Picture a man who has been badly bent at times–aye, even broke unto the last jitney–one who has tasted the bitter things of life along with the sweet, one who has seen a fortune swept away in a twinkling, only to be regained after a long, persistent struggle. Picture a good loser, who has lost more than most men will ever earn, and who pins his faith in the mining industry to such an extent that he laughs at failure and hangs on like a bulldog until he succeeds, and you have a mind’s-eye view of J. M. Short, the best known operator in the mining…

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Excerpt #11, from The Submarine Hunters: A Story of the Naval Patrol Work in the Great War

…the day?" The victim of von Hauptwald’s attack had to be assisted into the boat, which, on making the ship, was quickly hoisted and secured. Meanwhile the Tehuantepec Girl was on the point of sinking. From stem to stern she was a roaring furnace. Mingled with the roar of the flames could be heard the hiss of water coming in contact with the red-hot plates, while ever and anon came the crash of metal as the deck beams gave way and fell into the hold. Suddenly she parted amidships. The flames died out, overpowered by the inrush of water. A thick column of smoke and steam arose as the bow and stem [Transcriber’s note: stern?] portions floated apart. Then with the roar of escaping air the remains of the Yankee cargo-boat disappeared, to find a resting-place 7000 fathoms deep on the bed of the Atlantic. CHAPTER XXIII Mined “So that accounts for the fellow’s behaviour,” remarked the Captain of the Oxford, after Ross and Vernon had communicated their discovery to the Commander, who in turn reported the news to the skipper. "The doctor says he is out of danger, eh? From a medical point of view, no doubt. Put him in the cells, Master-at-arms. We’ll take good care not…

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Excerpt #12, from The Aztec Treasure

…had commanded the guard that had brought us as prisoners before the Priest Captain; the man of whom I have spoken, for what his real title was I do not know, as the barge-master. He was calling to his men savagely to row faster; for our boats were so scattered that he only could see the one in which we happened to be, and he doubtless imagined that the others had gone forward, and that this one waited to carry off some of our men who yet remained on the wall. He evidently hoped to be able to cut us off from the rest of our party, and his eagerness had so communicated itself to his oarsmen that his boat led the others by nearly a hundred yards. So far as this one boat was concerned, we felt no alarm, for the moment that it came out through the wall our whole force was ready to dash upon it; yet we wondered why Tizoc permitted even a single boat to come out to the attack, when, by dropping the grating, they all could be penned in so effectually as to give us the advantage of a long start. As the boat neared the water-gate the barge-master went back from his place in the bow to the middle part of it, and there crouched down; and some soldiers who were standing crouched down also; and almost as the bow entered the low, narrow passage the oars were unshipped and taken aboard. So cleverly was the unshipping of the oars managed, and so good was the steering, that the boat shot into the passage under full speed,…

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