The Yard rumbled ominously last night as William Sweetman, Brockton inventor and bomb manufacturer set off one of the Army's new incendiaries the highlight of a demonstration of the various types of fire bombs.
Run by Aldrich Durant, the University's chief warden, and Clarence Walton, Director of the ARP school, the spectacular events attracted 1200 people, and the whole auxiliary police and fire departments of the College were present to keep back the crowd.
Stream Extinguishes Fire
The evening began with a talk by Sweetman describing the various began. He set off incendiaries to demonstrate the use of water, showing how to stead, stream will cause the bomb to burn very fast and scatter.
After he had extinguished more blazes he turned to explosives, risking life and limb to blow up a clothesline of Primacord, powerful enough to cut through a two by four. Then he lit an explosive incendiary, which blow up a clothesline of Primacord, powerful enough to cut through a two by four. Then he lit an explosive incendiary, which blow molten magnesium several hundred feet in spite of a wire screen to protect the audience.
Radcliffe to the Rescue
Adding a feminine touch, Sweetman called for girl wardens to try their luck with a non-explosive bomb. A score of hardy Radcliffe students volunteered, crowding around the fire and putting it out without difficulty.
Sweetman also showed the effects of one of the commercially sold extinguishers on the actual incendiary used in raids. When he added tar chips to the burning magnesium, a cloud of thick black smoke arose.
The last act of the big show was a performance by the fire department in which a fire was set by three incendiaries in a rubbish-filled shack. The engine was sent from the station and the hoses set up after the shack had been blazing steadily for five minutes, and the fire was put out immediately.
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