Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 90, No. 37, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 2, 1943 Page: 3 of 8
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BASTROP ADVERTISER, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1943
k
Orchards Picked By Electronic
Robots Among Wonders Foreseen
By Associate Director Of G. E.
NEY YORK—"An orchard operated hour in a vacuum tube.
I
entirely without workers, in which
the fruit bearing trees can be cared
for and cultivated and the fruit pick-
ed by machines operated and con-
trolled by electronic devices," and a
network of vacuum tubes through
whicn it would be possible to travel
from New York to San Francisco in
an hour or less, are among the wond-
ers seen as possible in the post-war
world by Dr. Irving Langmuir, asso-
ciate director of the General Electric
Research Laboratory. He spoke of
Such a tube
extending from New York to Chicago,
or to San Francisco, couid be con-
structed in which air-tight vehicles,
magnetically suspended, would float
in space while moving forward at high
speed. This would bo similar to the
metal plate electrically suspended in
air which was especially designed to
show at the New York World's Fair.
The intricate operations would be con-
trolled throughout by electronic de-
vices.
'With such a high speed trans-
8
these in an address before the twelft. portation system Chicago might be
New York Herald Tribune Forum. moved to a travel distance of about
Dr. Langmuir, who received the I (mo-half hour from New York and
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Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1932,
foresees another great upsurge in
progress in the field of electronics as
hundreds of thousands of men trained
in electronic techniques for war ap-
ply their energies to peacetime needs.
"The war electronics of today, about
which as yet little can be said, if
given proper encouragement and sup-
port will develop spontaneously into
the electronics of tomorrow/' he said.
Jtft may take 10 to 20 years to utilize
fully the discoveries that have been
made since Pearl Harbor." >
As an illustration of the possibili-
ties, he spoke of converting farming
into "an entirely new typeof activity
in which the physical burdens are
lifted from the shoulders of the farm
worker."
"An adaptation of the electric eye,"
he continued, "and the techniques of
♦el ion should make possible the
ruction of a machine which will i
.■.oan the green tree, locate the red
or orange colored fruit and direct
electrically operated mechanical arms
to pick it from the branches, sort ic
according to size and quality and con-
vey it to a container. The machine
could bo set to collect only fruit of
any desired degree of ripeness.
"As long as there is any difference
of height or color between useful
plants in a field and invading weeds,
an lectronic device could be design-
ed to make weeding an entirely elec-
trical and mechanical operation."
He also foresees startling advances
in the field of transportation.
"Wheeled vehicles travelling on the
surface seem to have some definite
speed limits," he declared. "Higher
speeds are attainable in the air, but
here, too, there are limits set by the
speed of sound which limits propeller-
dri ven planes to about 500 miles per
hour.
^ "There is no fundamental reason,
however, why we could not travel at
a speed of 2,000 to 5,000 miles per
ures, conceived in ignorance of the
the Pacific coast might be only about
an hour from the Atlantic."
Such projects, he said, are but illus-
trations of the possibilities. "It is
what people really want that will de-
termine what is best," he stated. "We
must think in terms of converting
our vast war production machine to
an equally vast peacetime production
which will use all present workers
and the returned soldiers as well.
"We had an unemployment prob-
lem of the first magnitude before
the war," continued Dr. Langmuir.
"Electronics will free even more work-
ers from menial tasks and will afford
an opportunity to undertake large
new programs of construction. To
do so, we must learn to think in terms
of what we now consider stupendous
projects.
"The first problem we will have to
meet in connection with these projects
i is psychological—we must want to
j solve our problems and solve them on
an adequate scale. When this is done
the physical and engineering diffi-
culties will be overcome."
He closed, however, with this note
of warning:
"The future of electronics, fruitful
as it is in the promise of a finer,
more glorious civilization within our
lifetimes, could be utterly nulified,
or completely destroyed, by the stu-
pidly conceived regimentation of
science such as is provided by the
Kilgore Hill now before the United
States Senate, and by other similar
destructive measures that have been
discussed in Washington. These meas-
methods by which science has achieved
its wonders for the advancement of
human health, wealth and comfort;
and in ignorance, or worse, of the
processes by which their practical ap-
plications are made available for cul-
tural and industrial progress, would
lead in this country to utter stagna-
tion in the field of science."
aHh lieo' o
To Study Juvenile
Delinquency At
F.B.I. Meeting
San Antonio, Texas, November 30.
—Steps to prevent increase in Juvenile
Delinquency through education out-
lined by Mr. Fred Erisman, President
of the District and County Attorney's
Association of Texas, will be one of
the problems studied at the F.B.I.
Law Enforcement Conference by over
250 Law enforcement officers from
Travis, Bastrop, Burnet, Caldwell,
Blanco, Hays, Williamson, Llano, and
Lampasas counties at Lampasas, Tex-
as, on Wednesday, December 1, 1943.
The officers attitude on the witness
stand will be discussed by Judge Roy
C. Archer, 126th District Court, Aus-
tin, Texas.
The ail-day conference will open at
10:30 a. m. at the Leroy Theater in
Lampasas, according to R. C. Suran,
Special Agent in Charge of the San
Antonio F.B.I. Office. The conference
will be open to all interested persons,
beginning at 10:30 a. m. and there
will be a showing of an interesting
and instructive sound motion picture.
In the afternoon session at the Dis-
trict Court Room the honorable R. J.
Payne, Major of Lampasas, will wel-
come the visiting officers.
Brandings and Markings of Live-
stock together with new regulations
affecting them will be discussed by
Fred Olson, Commanding Headquar-
ters Company, Texas Rangers, De-
partment of Public Safety, Austin,
Texas.
Special Agen George Carlson of the
San Antonio Office of the F.B.I. will
discuss Portrait Parle, the identifying
of criminals by personal descriptions.
Mr. Suran will discuss confidential
communications, and there will be a
business session relating to general
problems of the officers.
All groups of officers are invited,
including sheriffs and deputy sheriffs,
police chiefs and their officers, mem-
Country Grain
Elevators Exempt
Country grain elevator establish
ments which employ not more than
eight individuals now are exempt
from applying for War Labor Board
approval of wage and salary increase*
even if the establishments are part of
a chain which employs a total of mor*
than eight, according to WLB.
hers of the Texas Department of Pub-
lic Safety, Texas Liquor Control
Board City Marshals and assistants,
constables and deputies, game war-
dens, and railway special agents, in-
cluding auxiliary police.
AUSTin LflUHDRY
EANING COMP
DIAL 3566 * Icnitf Vailiuf • DIAL 3566
1514 LAVACA STREET
WE CALL FOR AND DELIVER
IN BASTROP
WEDNESDAYS
The Dallas Morning News
regrets its inability to supply its readers with as
many copies as the public demands. However
the publishers, in compliance with Government
wartime regulations calling for the use of less
newsprint, have been forced to "freeze" the
volume of circulation within this community.
• • •
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AVAILABLE WE WILL BE NAPPY
TO LIST YOUR SUBSCRIPTION.
• t t
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time living; music and en-
tertainment for relaxation. In-
deed, Radio's contribution has
been enormous, and very helpful
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A
IAGERBI
E. F. HASLER. Distributor
PHONE 43 BASTROP, TEXAS
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Standifer, Amy S. Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 90, No. 37, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 2, 1943, newspaper, December 2, 1943; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth236935/m1/3/: accessed March 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bastrop Public Library.