A machine capable of assembling gas masks at the rate of one a minute has been invented by a fireman of the Northampton brigade, A man working by hand assembles about 100 daily.
The machine has been brought to the notice of the Home Office, the inventor having paid a visit there with the Chief Constable of Northampton.
No less than 35,000,000 gas masks are stored in depots in London ard provincial centres.
The centres which have begun distribution to civilians include Hemp-stead, Chelsea, Liverpool Newcastle, Leeds and Blackpool. Thousands are flocking to centres throughout the country to be fitted.
The Leeds Corporation has decided to dig trenches in parks and open spaces immediately to provide protection for one-tenth of the population against air raids, In an appeal to Londoners to volunteer in air-raid precautions work, Mr. Herbert Morrison, of the London County Council, emphasizes that the preparations are a matter of the greatest urgency, and that many thousands more of voluntary workers are needed.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.