J J Burke

The Sixth Army Materials Technology Conference, IICeramics for High Performance Applications-II I-Reliabilityll , was co-sponsored by the Army Materials and Mechanics Research Center and the U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Transportation Programs . The program highlighted all issues relevant to the reliability of ceramics in advanced systems. The conference emphasized programmatic reviews of the major efforts on ceramic gas turbine technology, on an international basis. The conference showed how ceramic design, materials development, materials processing, NDE, and component systems testing are being integrated and iterated in specific engine development programs . Further , the conference promoted inter­ change among the various technical disciplines working in the advanced turbine and heat engine areas. This volume will join its earlier companions, Ceramics for High Performance A lications (1974), and Ceramics for High Performance Applications-II 1 7 ,in chronicling the rapid progress being made in the applicaton of ceramics to the very demanding service environ­ ment of gas turbine and piston engines. At the last meeting of this series at Newport, R t, in March 1977, successful high temperature tests of ceramic components in test rigs were described.

As the leader of a covert operations team, Jon's supervisor's called him one o the best. Over time, the screams of agony, the mangled bodies, and the stench of death took their toll-he had to get out. He retreated to commercial fishing, seeking mental cleansing in the vast ocean's solitude. Three quiet years and his past returned to haunt him. He barely survived a second deadly encounter with El Tigre. Who had sold him out? He hunted down the traitor, but El Tigre still wasn't through with him. Jon was compelled to return again, to the dark world of kill or be killed. A propane tanker explosion left Jon in a psychogenic coma. Comatose and cared for, in the guest room of his closest friends, Jon had survived every covert field operation when in the service, but would the echoes of his covert past finally destroy him?

El Tigre is dead. This is a confirmed fact, but the legacy of evil and violence that he has sown continues to sprout. When these erupt, they inevitably affect Jon Morton, and, by association, Carlos Montoto. Once again, Jon and Carlos are forced to abandon their peaceful refuge as commercial fishermen and return to the dark world of violence and death. As before, this return is attributed to El Tigre and his convoluted criminal mind. Jon's last involuntary return to the world of covert action came close to getting him killed. Now he is facing one known man, plus the addition of an unknown group of murderous criminals, all hunting El Tigre's money, and all headed toward rural Dodsonville, West Virginia. Can Jon and Carlos terminate these criminals in time to prevent a blood-bath?

Having barely survived a fight for his life with an international terrorist, former covert operative Jon Morton is now plunged into a nerve-wracking quest for a killer who knows everything about him, but whom he knows almost nothing about. Jon can rely on only three people to solve this puzzle--his ex-commander, Carlos Montoto, and himself. Jon's former commander has the resources. Jon and Carlos have only their instincts and the experience of their years as covert operatives. Their choice is singular--locate and eliminate this killer before the killer eliminates them.

The Great Problem for each one of us to solve is: How shall I travel along the journey of life that I may attain the happiness of Eternal Life? The solution of this problem is attempted in these short sermons. In a few words the solution is: Avoid evil and do good. Although only the first sermon is on The Great Problem and most of the others on subjects suggested by the Gospels of the different Sundays, still all have the same end in view and the same central idea pervades the various sermons. Most of them are "Five-Minute Sermons" for early Masses; some, however, are longer and would consume fifteen minutes or more in their delivery. If necessary, the short sermons could be developed into long ones, and most of the longer ones (e. g. by taking one point) could readily be shortened to "Five-Minute Sermons." In these sermons, no attempt has been made to be eloquent. The aim of the author was to tell the truth clearly and clothe the important old subjects in plain language that would be easily understood. It is hoped that they possess the essential qualities of brevity and clearness; that they are in perfect harmony with the teachings of the Catholic Church, and that they may aid many, who heard them or who read them, in solving The Great Problem.

St. Alphonsus writes: "a single bad book will be sufficient to cause the destruction of a monastery." Pope Pius XII wrote in 1947 at the beatification of Blessed Maria Goretti: "There rises to Our lips the cry of the Saviour: 'Woe to the world because of scandals ' (Matthew 18:7). Woe to those who consciously and deliberately spread corruption-in novels, newspapers, magazines, theaters, films, in a world of immodesty " We at St. Pius X Press are calling for a crusade of good books. We want to restore 1,000 old Catholic books to the market. We ask for your assistance and prayers. This book is a photographic reprint of the original The original has been inspected and many imperfections in the existing copy have been corrected. At Saint Pius X Press our goal is to remain faithful to the original in both photographic reproductions and in textual reproductions that are reprinted. Photographic reproductions are given a page by page inspection, whereas textual reproductions are proofread to correct any errors in reproduction.