THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Nome. Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 618
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W. A. and EMILY BOUCHER.Editors
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943. at the postoffice at
Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3. 1879.
Wednesday, September 18, 1946
“ZIPPERS PUT ON HEART
HOW SURGEONS PUT “ZIPPERS” on a pulsating
human heart so they can cut into its chambers
with a minimum loss of blood was shown to the Ameri
can Medical Association recently by an Army motion
picture, according to .the Associated Press.
The technique was used to restore a man who un
accountably lived after bullets or other foreign ob
jects not only pierced the heart but remained in a
chamber to impair its functioning.
Operations of this kind are extremely difficult
because, for one thing, the heart is always moving,
even under anesthesia. As it beats it trembles, mak
ing an elusive target for the razor-sharp knife that
must be both quick and unerring.
Also, when the chamber is opened, particularly
the one which forces blood into the great artery, the
surgeon has to work against a spurting crimson stream
and at high speed to reach in with forceps, grasp the
foreign object and withdraw it, all in a matter of sec
onds.
The chamber is cut open and sewed up by a sur-j
gical technique. Long, fine strands of suture mater
ial, the surgeon’s sewing threads, are tacked to the
outside of the heart muscle on each side of the spot
where the incision is to be made. Four or more of
these, a foot long, are left hanging or their ends are
held by nurses.
The instant the particle is withdrawn, the threads
are crossed and pulled together like a shoestring in
a shoe, closing the incision. The prestiching has nar
rowed to a minimum those few vital seconds in which
the patient’s life really hangs by a thread.
SUPER DUPER BOMBER
rSIZE THE NEW ARMY GIANT land based
bomber, the XB-36, is roughly 40 per cent larger
than the famous B-29 Superfortress that did so much
in bringing Japan to her knees. Its engines deliver
more than twice as much power. In performance,
much is evpected, but little is known because this
super-super-plane is still on the ground.
Construction of the new giant is completed and
the plane is under ground and taxi tests. It was
built at the Fort Worth, Texas, plant of the Consolid
ated-Vultee Aircraft Corporation, designed and con
structed under Army supervision?
For comparison, the XB-36 has a wing-span of
230 feet, and the B-29 a span of 141 feet. The fuse
lage of the new giant is 163 feet long; that of the Super
fortress, 98 feet.
The new plane is powered with six Pratt and
Whitney 3,000 horsepower engines; the older plane,
with four engines delivering together 8,800 maximum
horsepower thrust. The XB-36 is equipped with
pusher-type propellors, set in the after part of the
wings. It needs 15 men in its crew.
In comparison with the mighty Navy Mars, for
long the largest flying boat, the XB-36 has a wing
span 30 feet greater, and is 46 feet more in length.
It is predicted that the new Army bomber will be
considerably faster than the B-29, or the Mars, have
a much greater range, and be able to carry heavier
loads of men or bombs. (Science Digest)
VITA SNAK HAS EVERYTHING
FATHER JOSEPH B. MUENZNEN and Dr. Douglas
J.Hennessy of Fordham University’s Department
of Chemistry have produced a food which, because it
THE GOLDFISH BOWL RUNS DRY
lv ^
contains all the essential amounts of proteins, carbohy
drates, minerals and vitamins in compact form, should
go far to solve the problem of keeping starving Europe
alive. This new food is called “vita-snak.”
Like others before them Father Muenzen and Dr.
Douglas were confronted with the difficulty of main
taining the stability of the vitamins. Eventually they
succeeded in developing vita-snak, which contains no
fewer than twelve essential vitamins, probably the
largest number ever combined in a ration. Their
product remains stable for nine months for vitamins
and a year for other ingredients. It can therefore be
shipped to any part of the world to fulfill its purpose.
Alter me problem of stability was solved it was
necessary to consider other factors. Because Euro
pean women and children are in dire need of calcium
it was decided that vita-snak should offer almost the
full daily adult requirement. The product does.
In addition about 250 calories per ration are sup
plied as well as significant amounts of proteins and
carbohydrates. Vita-snak comes out of the laboratory
in the form of a bar, chocolate-coated, which can be
made in any candy factory.
For the past year and a half, thousands of bars
have been sent to Europe and Asia.
Science Digest)
By GEORGE S BENSON
President of Harding College
Searcy. Arkansas
PROVED BY USE
Inventors and builders of
machines speak a forceful
language. Once I heard
an engineer discussing a
new invention his firm was
about to manufacture and
sell. “It’s fit to use,” he
said, “but not perfect. We
’ll sell a few hundred of
them and work the bugs
out.” In other words—with
a greatmany people using
the thing, he could learn
from their complaints how
to make it better.
Sometimes the first mod
el of a device is too com
plicated. In other instan
ces, it might need attach
ments to make it serve its
purpose better. As Don
Quixote remarked, “The
test of the pudding is in the
eating.” Practical service
to public is final proof of
an invention’s worth. In
service, defects come to
light; in service, improve
ments are suggested.
Usage Will Tell
Now I want to point out
that this principle is just
as rightly applied to gov
ernmental devices as to
mechanical ones. In ser
vice is precisely where
finH /\nf Knin
good their theories ar
a law or a system pi
to be a nuisance, the
lie will be quick to dh
er it, and if they are
mitted to express tJ
selves, will say so rea
This is why advocat
this and that brand ol
cialism avoid telling
history of socialistic e>
iments. Most of t
have come to such di
ends. In theory the>
very pretty but is sei
they don’t work. Acc
ingly that’s why I go
fore meetings week ;
week and talk about
high standard of livin
America. The Amt*
system actually works.
Revised Early
Fathers of this repu
back in the 1770’s u
they wrote and ratifiec
Constitution of the Ur
States, certainly did
imagine that they \
drawing up the sped
tions of a perfect s
They understood from
beginning that they w
have to try it out in ser
and “work the bugs c
It was a grand piec
work but it has l
changed—and improve
Framers of the Coi
tution expected chai
soon, and they came,
first addition to their r
terpiece was added in
than a year after its i
fication by the 13th st
Even these statesmen’s s
porters did not 'consi
their work flawless,
is not flawless yet,
there are two things ab
it: It is the best form
government ever devis
and subject to change n
as it was then.
A Flexible Plan
America’s economic s
tem, free private enterpr
the only one compati
with our Constitution a:
now stands, can lay no j
claim to any dreamer’s ic
of perfection. To preve
the strong, the shrewd a
the rich from taking £
vantage of the weak, t
trusting and the p°°r» ma
restraints on business ha
been made into laws. H<
is the system’s virtue:
can be changed.
Private enterprise is i
new. It is far advanced
that process of impro
ment based on usage. W1
adopted in America, it \
fit to use, and it grew t
ter for 150 years. It
nurtured a society wh
fhe poorest citizen is i
nfi l.nl 1.