 Constellation, world's largest land-based transport plane prepares to make its first public flight, a non-stop hop 2600 miles across the United States. With four 18-cylinder motors, the 80,000-pound Superliner wings its way eastward from California to Washington, D.C. Lengthened wingspan a third greater than present-day transport planes, the giant constellation races across the continent at 355 miles an hour. Landing at Washington Airport six hours and 58 minutes after the takeoff, the ship sets a new speed record. Hughes and Jack Fry, the plane's co-pilots, are welcomed to the capital. Sisterships of the constellation now in army service can carry 100 troops with full equipment. Planes like these will speed the day of victory, will link the continents in the peace to come. An Alaskan missionary and his wife adopt one of the largest families on record, 20 boys and girls ranging from two years to 18. They're orphans of Alaskan Indians. Marketing for a family of this size presents its problems, but the new papa and mama have provided the youngsters with a good home. Mealtime is a big event. The foster father has cared for as many as 50 children at a time in carrying on his missionary work in Alaska. Now he has a family all his own. By the millions raised in Canada, they're being prepared for shipment overseas. At great dehydrating plants, they are turned into powder. In a porcelain and stainless steel breaking room, the shells are broken and their contents removed. A suction cup drains every drop. An expert egg breaker handles 48,000 eggs a day. Cans of whole eggs are poured into vats where whites and yolks are mixed thoroughly. More than 100,000 Canadian farmers are producing eggs for powdering under this ingenious process. Into a huge cone-shaped dryer heated to 250 degrees, the liquid is sprayed and becomes powder upon touching the side. The result? Unbreakable eggs, complete with all the vitamins. Two million Canadian eggs a month are dehydrated and used by United Nations troops overseas. Up from the crater of 4,000-foot-high Mount Vesuvius rise towering clouds of smoke and volcanic ash, as the great Neapolitan volcano bursts into eruption, the worst in 38 years. Beneath the billowing smoke pushed forth from Vesuvius' summit by the incredible heat within the crater, streams of molten rock at 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit surged down the mountain sides. For many years, the ancient volcano has been relatively peaceful. In recent weeks, hardly a breath of smoke had risen from its crater. But now, as if in violent compensation for its days of good behavior, Vesuvius once again strikes terror into the surrounding Italian countryside. In some places, 30 feet high surges irresistibly forward through field and farm. Sometimes faster, sometimes slower. The searing destructive mass moves at a speed of 12 feet a minute overall. The steaming molten tide draws near the villages of San Sebastiano and Massa di Soma. Tharmy soldiers and villagers in the area see the spectacular wave of destruction draw nearer and nearer. Church singed bare by the approaching lava wall are engulfed in its course. The flow has now reached San Sebastiano. Italian civilians already hit hard by years of fascist misrule and war, gathering religious processions to pray for salvation from this natural catastrophe. For centuries, the moods of towering Vesuvius have periodically terrified inhabitants of the Naples area. In 79 AD, it buried proud Pompeii. Seven major eruptions have been recorded since. In 1631, it killed 18,000 in Naples, destroying homes and lives. Now, Vesuvius strikes again. In the path of the approaching lava, villagers prepare to escape. Aided by the allied military government, they salvage their household possessions. North in huge clouds, volcanic ash and cinders blanket the countryside for miles around. At the port of Salerno, 17 miles away, where the allies first landed in their campaign against the Germans in Italy, streets and buildings are covered with the black ash. Umbrellas protect pedestrians, while thick piles of the volcanic deposit are cleaned up by allied troops. Vesuvius, unpredictable and unconquerable, has had its way.