Evening star. [volume], June 28, 1948, Page A-8, Image 8

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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With Sunday Morning (diflan.
WASHINGTON, 0. C
Published by
The Evening Star Newspaper Company.
FRANK I. NOYES, Chairman of the Beard.
FLEMING NEWBOLD, President.
B. M. McKELWAY, Editor.
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Telephone STerling 5000.
Entered at the Post Office, Washington, D. C„
as second-class moil matter.
Member of the Associated Press
The Associated Press is entitled exclusively te the vse
for republication of all the local news printed In this
newspaper, as well as all A. P news dispatches.
A_MONDAY, June 21, 1941
Highways—the Next Phase
The Highway Department’s Interesting
report on twenty-four years of progress in
•treet and bridge development in Wash
ington shows that three major phases of
the highway program have about been
completed. The fourth phase lies ahead.
It involves the design and construction of
a system of limited-access highways to
channel heavy traffic loads quickly and
smoothly through or around congested
sections. The importance of the fourth
phase is obvious to any one who must
contend with today's traffic troubles in
downtown Washington.
The report covers roughly the period
■ince creation of the gasoline-tax method
of financing highway improvements here.
What a transformation has come over the
city in those two dozen years! Phase one
of the program, the report points out, was
the basic job of getting Washington’s
motorists out of the mud and dust of the
old road system. It was the task of laying
concrete and macadam or other durable
coatings over streets of gravel or cobble
stone which still existed in many parts of
the city. It called, also, for rebuilding of
bridges and other structures so that they
could withstand the weight and vibration
of rapidly increasing traffic loads. The
second step in the program Involved ex
tensive street-widening operations and
Institution of traffic-control measures.
The third phase, which is continuing into
the present, has been to modernize streets
and bridges to enhance safety and capac
ity. This has been done and is being done
through grade-separation projects like
those at Thomas, Scott and Dupont Circles,
through new bridges like those at South
Capitol street and at Fourteenth street
extended and through various channeliza
tion and realignment projects.
Actually, the fourth phase already
has tfegurf to ’merge with the pres
ent phase. The development of limited
access boulevards has been started. The
Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway was
among"Uie' first of'these "freeways” to
serve the city. The K street elevated ap
proach to Key Bridge’ and to points in the
District northwest of that bridge is well
under way. The proposed Arizona avenue
project, connecting the Northwest resi
dential areas with K street and the Rock
Creek and Potomac Parkway, is a future
part of the K street viaduct layout.
Beyond these, study is being given to
proposals for a system of expressways,
preferably of the depressed type, to carry
traffic around the traffic-congested busi
ness district. These expressways would
enable through traffic to avoid congestion,
thus relieving it in the business district.
At the same time they w'ould afford con
venient outlets, through limited feeders,
for traffic to and from the heart of the
city.
The improvement program for the future
probably will be modified by changing
conditions. It provides a pattern for plan
ning and for budgeting of highway funds
as they become available. Just as in the
past, the program of necessity will proceed
more slowly than harassed motorists would
like to have it proceed. But twenty-four
years of past progress give hope for steady,
though piecemeal, improvement of Wash
ington’s traffic system. Progress depends
not alone on funds (including the ability
of the public to pay for what is needed),
but on intangibles of labor and materials.
It is encouraging to learn that the High
way Department looks to the future with
confidence and optimism. The record
•hows that the program is in good hands.
The Number Is Sterling 5000
A story in last Friday’s Star recalled
some interesting Washington telephone
history in connection with our new tele
phone number—STerling 5000. Frank B.
Noyes, chairman of the board of The
Btar. remembers another fact that may
be unrecorded—that the first telephone
In Washington connected to a “central”
office was in The Star. The story was
told to him by the man who installed it—
the late George C. Maynard. Mr. Maynard
ran an electrical supply store in the ’70s
and when the telephone was invented he
secured the agency for Washington in
1877 as an adjunct to his business. He
told Mr. Noyes that the first line he ran
from his office was connected to The Star.
Two instruments had been previously
installed by Mr. Maynard, connecting two
offices of the Signal Corps of the Army.
But the next line went from his office to
The Star and another to the Senate.
Writing an article many years later for
the Electrical Review, Mr. Maynard re
called that of the eight or ten lines
running from his office in the fall of
1877, one went to The Star and another
to the Capitol, and it was in connection
with demonstrating the advantages of his
embryonic telephone exchange, operated
by the late Bernard L. Nevius, that he
persuaded The Star's Capitol reporter to
use the telephone for late news, resulting
In a succession of scoops over other after
noon papers.
The idea caught on, for a telephone
directory two years later 11879) shows
that of the total of 126 listed telephones,
twelve were In newspaper offices—the
Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, Chi
cago Times, Cincinnati Gazette, Wash
ington Dally Critic, The Star, the Herald,
Times, Tribune and Sun of New York,
Philadelphia Inquirer and Washington
Post.
One Is tempted to go on from here
and talk about radio, television, etc.,
but this editorial is designed merely as
a footnote to Washington telephone his
tory and incidentally to. remind friends
again that The Star’s new number Is
STeriing 5000.
Ominous Days in Berlin
The ruthless nature of the Kremlin dic
tatorship is strikingly—and ominously
illustrated by what is going on in Berlin.
The Russians want to force France, Britain
and the United States to abandon the city
and let it become an integral part of the
Red zone of occupation. To that end,
acting on instructions from Moscow, the
Soviet authorities in the former German
capital have been resorting to a policy
of insults and pinpricks for many weeks
past, and now they have carried that
policy to a point where an explosion of
the gravest kind seems possible.
As the situation stands today, approxi
mately 2,200,000 Germans in the Anglo
French-American sectors of the city are
threatened with financial chaos and
starvation. The reason for this is that
the Soviet Union, in flagrant violation of
the agreement on four-power control, has
cold-bloodedly created a currency muddle
and at the same time taken steps to cut
ofT the food supply of all the inhabitants
living under the authority of the three
Western Powers. In addition, Insofar as
it has been able to do so, it has been cutting
down o« the supply of light,, power and
To the extent that It makes normal
business almost Impossible* and thus hit*
hard at the Individual's means of liveli
hood, the Soviet move on currency Is bad
enough in Itself. Far worse, however, Is
the action on food. What the Russians
have done is to ban all traffic on the single
railroad supplying the Anglo-French
Amerlcan sectors. The ban, they say; Is
necessary because the railroad, which they
control, is suffering from “technical diffi
culties" likely to take a long time to repair.
But the phoniness of their excuse is un
disguised. Having cut the rail line, they
have further decreed that no food will be
shipped from their zone to the western
areas of the city.
The objective behind all this Is plain.
By holding the threat of starvation over
the heads of the 2,200,000 Berliners under
Anglo-French-American authority, the
Russians hope to place the Western Powers
in an untenable position. Speaking as the
United States commander, General Clay
has said that nothing short of war can
force us out. But suppose the Soviets do
no more than what they are doing now.
Suppose they just keep the supply line
severed. Planes cannot transport nearly
enough to feed the Germans in the western
sectors of the city. So what will we do
then to prevent starvation and attendant
disorders? Will we use armed power to
push traffic over the Red-controlled rail
road? Will we be willing to risk a military
showdown? Or will we simply withdraw In
order to save innocent people from the
cruel suffering the Russians seem ready
to inflict on them if we refuse to get out?
And if we do get out, what will be the
fate of the anti-Communist Germans we
leave behind to the tender mercies of
Soviet totalitarianism? And what will
happen to our international prestige if we
stage a humiliating retreat from a city
of such symbolical and psychological im
portance? The questions speak for them
selves. If the Kremlin is determined to go
through with what it has started, if it can
not be dissuaded by solemn diplomatic
pressures from Paris, London and Wash
ington, events in Berlin may soon oblige
us to make a choice of evils. Our election
year distractions notwithstanding, we had
better keep our eyes wide open to the
dangers before us. As Winston Churchill
says, the situation may well involve issues
as grave as those at stake at Munich ten
years ago.
The Huk Rebellion Ends
President Quirino’s proclamation grant
ing full amnesty to the rebels of Central
Luzon gives promise of ending an evil
legacy of the Japanese occupation of the
Philippines. It also may be the basis for
settling a vexatious economic and social
problem that has been a source of trouble
since Spanish days.
Central Luzon is the most fertile and
most densely populated portion of the
main island in the archipelago. Under
Spanish rule, the best land was in Spanish
hands, chiefly in the form of large estates,
many of these belonging to the church.
This spelled a landless and impoverished
peasantry, a fertile breeding ground of
chronic discontent. Although the situa
tion was much improved under American
rule, grievances still existed and conditions
grew worse under the Japanese occupa-^
tion. The discontented peasantry formed
an important section of the Filipino re
sistance movement, and acquired a political
status as well as arms from their part in ,
the struggle against the Japanese invader. I
This heightened political consciousness
engendered an organization known as
Hukbalahap, which means the Peasants
Union, under the guidance of a dynamic
leader named Luis Taruc. The Huks, as
they were colloquially known, demanded
drastic land reforms as the price of their
adhesion to the restored Philippine gov
ernment. When their demands were
refused, they started a rebellion which
: proved difficult to suppress.
The Filipinos have always been apt at
guerrilla warfare, waged by small bands
operating chiefly at night and supported
by their noncombatant adherents, who
were ostensibly peaceful peasants. The
Huk discipline was severe, and even non
members were kept terrorized by reprisals
and often forced to contribute to the
cause. Despite the growing efficiency of
the government forces and constabulary,
the struggle dragged on. The government
considered the Huk demands excessive and
charged that they were Communist
Inspired and communistic in character.
The late President Roxas refused to
parley with the Huks and did his best to
crush the movement by force. His succes
sor, President Quirino, adopted a more
conciliatory policy, enterini Into negotla
i tions with the Huks which culminated in
a visit to Manila by the Huk leader, Taruc,
and the Issuance of an amnesty on condi
tion that the rebels present themselves to
the authorities and turn in their arms.
Taruc apparently signed nothing, but
agreed verbally to the settlement, and he
has now been formally seated as a member
! of the Philippine Congress. The amnesty
I proclamation makes no mention of the land
reforms which the Huks have demanded.
The eventual outcome may depend both on
Taruc’s ability to control his followers and
upon the amelioration of conditions that
have formed the basis for peasant unrest.
The extent to which Communist influence
has permeated the peasantry will likewise
be revealed by the manner in which the
settlement .is respected in the rebellious
area.
Unworthy Special Stamps
Something has been added to the head
aches of the Postmaster General and his
Third Assistant. Congress just prior to
adjournment handed them a list of special
“commemorative” stamps to be issued be
fore December 31. In previous years it
was customary for the National Legislature
to “request” or “authorize” such labels, but
decision regarding their actual production
remained with the postal authorities. Re
cently, however, Senate and House resolu
tions for extraordinary adhesives have
"directed” their printing. This change
'y makes evejy such demand a “must” on the
Postmaster General’s work-sheet, leaving
him no discretion, no choice in the cir
cumstances.
To illustrate the difficulty, Congress has
required the Issuance of a stamp to public
clze the poultry industry. The inspiration
for it allegedly developed in the fertile
brain of a press agent for an exhibition of
hens and roosters in New England. It is
matched by similar appeals for special
labels to advertise the cheese industry in
Wisconsin, the coal Industry in West Vir
ginia, the steel Industry in Pennsylvania.
Even the show window decorating Industry
wants a stamp. It is fair to ask how these
petitions can be denied now that the
poultry business has been accommodated.
Coincidentally, Congress “directed” the
Postmaster General to bring out stamps
for the centenary of Port Kearney, Nebras
ka; the tercentenary of the volunteer
firemen's movement; the centenary of the
Turners Society; the fiftieth anniversary
of the .organization of the Rough Riders;
the eighty-fifth anniversary of Lincoln’s
Gettysburg Address, and the fiftieth an
niversary of the consolidation of the
boroughs of New York City.
Some of these projects, obviously, are
worthy of recognition. Taken together as
a group they raise the question: Do they
not have the efTect of cheapening the
whole conception of “commemorative”
stamps? The tradition in the Post Office
Department and among philatelists is that
every such adhesive should be of national,
not simply local, Importance and should
be Issued for an occasion worthy of the
Federal Government’s active participation.
The Federal Trade Commission rules a
product may not be represented as con
taining garlic unless it contains enough to
be identified. That is to say, any.
“To buy candles to produce the light
used by the average American family each
month would cost $350.” The whole quaint
enterprise therefore is abandoned.
This and That
By Charles l. Tracewell
. "BELLEVUI, Wash.
“Dear Sir:
“I must tell you that we talked about birds
at our garden club this week and the members
were inspired by the quotations I lave them
from your column, quotations that I have saved
from time to time.
"So you can see your influence is far reaching.
Thank you much.
"We have not been able to hear the birds
on account of the noise of the airplanes but
we can see them. "Yours truly, J. M. C.”
• * * *
Birds might have been expected to be fright
ened by planes, but what is the case? '
Actually, the songsters pay very little atten
tion.
Sensitive humans may shrink from the low
flyers, and be sad at the noise, but the two
legged aviators in feathers scarcely register any
displeasure at all.
Occasionally when a four-motor ship comes
far too low. the birds at the feeding station
will look up, and a few fly a short distance
away.
Mostly there is never a ripple of recognition.
The songs of the birds go on Just the same.
During the intervals of low-flying planes, the
songs ripple out with added power and sweet
ness.
Low-flying planes make no sense in peace
time.
Tragedy often follows such flying. With all
eternity above, at least to the Heaviside layer,
there would seem no reason except a "show
off” spirit for planes coming low.
There is one Naval aviator whose duties take
him out of town often, and he signals his re
turn to his wife by "buzzing” the house as he
flies over on the way to the airfield.
There is some sense to that, but very little
to needless low flying which frightens sensi
tive people before there is any need for them
to be frightened. That, if one may believe
world history, will come in time.
* * * •
In neighborhoods “on the beam," it is a good
thing to work up a new philosophy of listen
ing.
There is nothing that can be done, evidently,
about the low flying, or the fact that one’s
personal neighborhood is “on the beam.”
There are sky trails, as well as earthly trails,
and the planes must go over them.
If one kicks, all the satisfaction received is
a statement that one should be glad they are
not enemy planes.
This has happened, so the wise person will
suffer in silence.
But he may, at the same time, build up a
philosophy all his own in listening.
He must look for the intervals.
* * * *
Looking for the intervals in noise makes the
comparative quiet far more pleasing than the
ordinary quiet spells average people know.
There are some places, indeed, where no
sounds are heard except those made by birds.
Between that and our correspondent’s neigh
borhood, there are all degrees.
Where planes fly over low, the need is to
seise the moments as they come, and make the
.most of them, if one is interested in bird life.
There will be many such moments, and the
birds will be found singing as usual in them.
Fortunately, the songsters are not worried in
the least.
They go right ahead singing their prettiest.
In their community life on this planet they
have put up with much.
They survived the ice age, and have come
down still singing.
Heat and cold, desert and sea—they know
them all.
Ice storms have killed many millions of
them, but mankind has killed many more
millions.
. The birds laugh at airplanes, and all men
can do against them. Unless men art cartful,
the birds, la truth, will laugh last.
Sri Chakravarty Rajagopalachari
India’s First Indian Governor-General Takes Office
In Succession to Lord Mountbatten «
By O. M. Green
When Lord Mountbatten ceased to be Gov
ernor-General of the Dominion of India on
June 21 his successor, Sri Chakravarty Raja
gopalacharl, the first Indian to hold the office
o r Governor -
General, took
over. Commonly
known as “C.
j R.” or "Rajaji,”
I Mr. Rajagopa
I lachari has
; never been in
England,
though he
speaks perfect
English. Al
though he has
been a leading
member of the
Congress Party
for many years,
this elderly
man with the
close - cropped
hair and large ‘ , « , , ~L"
spectacles is as Chakravarty Rajagopalachan.
much a philosopher as % politician, and in both
politics and philosophy he is in the Gandhi
tradition. -
Born a Brahmin—a member of the highest
Hindu caste—in a village of the Salem district
of Madras in 1879, he early showed an interest
in the social and national problems which were
to become h<-< life-work. After studying at
Central College, Bangalore, and graduating
from the Presidency College and Law Col
lege of Madras, he became a lawyer and built
up a lucrative practice in his home district,
but It was not long before Gandhi’s Influence
deflected his energies into other channels, and
during one of the Mahatma’s Imprisonments
C. R. edited Oandhi’s paper, "Young India.”
The future Governor-General participated in
the Satyagraha campaign in 1919, and in
Gandhi’s Non-Co-operation Movement in 1920,
and later, following the Mahatma’s footsteps,
he conducted a village settlement where hand
spinning was revived and Untouchability abol
ished. In 1921 he became general secretary of
the National Indian Congress and a member
of its Working Committee, in 1935 a member
of the Madras Legislature, and two years later
Premier of Madras In a Congress administra
tion.
Supported War Effort.
In 1940 C. R. persuaded the All-India Con
gress Committee to offer co-operation in
Britain’s war effort if a provisional national
government were set up, but later in the same
year he was sentenced to 12 months’ imprison
ment under the Defense of India Act. This,
however, did not force him into the extremists’
camp, and in 1942 he resigned from the Work
ing Committee in protest against Congress’ re
jection of the Cripps proposals for a solution
of the Indian problem.
This scrupulous adherence to a principle,
despite its unpopularity, is typical of Rajago
palachari. He indeed is far from being a typi
cal Oriental politician. His quick grasp of
essentials in an atmosphere pervaded by the
mist of oratorical theorizing, and his ability
to see the other mag's point of view, make him
an easy person for Westerner! to understand.
Characteristic of his clear-cut and fair-minded
attitude is his pamphlet, "The Way Out,”
which he wrote in 1944 in criticism of Con
gress’ attitude towards the Cripps proposals.
This and other deviations from the itrict Con
gress line have not made C. R. popular with
Indian Nationalists, but they have earned him
respect.
This respect, and his long service in the
Nationalist cause, led to his being given a seat
in the cabinet in the Interim Government in
September, 1946, as Minister of Industries and
Supplies Since the partition in August, 1947,
C. R. has been Governor of West Bengal, and
the tranquility which has reigned between that
part of the Province and Pakistan’s East Ben
gal is a tribute to his wise and temperate ad
ministration. He also acted as governor-gen
eral, during the absence of Lord Mountbatten
in Britain on the occasion of Princess Eliza
beth’s wedding.
Now, holding this high office in his own
right, he will bring to it the mind not only
of a statesman, but of a scholar. He has
written books as varied as popular Tamil
short stories, studies of Socrates, Marcus
Aurelius, the Hindu Upanishads and Bha
gavad-Gita as well as a "Prohibition Manual”
on drink and drugs in India. His tastes
are simple and austere, and when his ap
pointment was announced it was generally
prophesied that Government House would be
shorn of much of its ceremonious trappings.
The leading Madras newspaper, “Hindu.” de
scribed the new Governor General as "a
leader of unbending Integrity, selfless devotion
to duty and iron discipline.”
Independent and Moderate.
Rajagopalachari does hot come to his new
position with any ideas of wielding great
power. He has in fact expressed the belief
that he well may be the last Indian Gover
nor General as well as the first—the end
of a line of great administrators stretching
back to Warren Hastings. This belief would
Imply the separation of India from the British
Commonwealth, but Rajagopalachari made it
plain that this would come about only through
India’s own wish, not at “the behest of for
eigners who for their own reason* are putting
pressure on India to declare her complete
independence."
Such statements tend to show not only that
the new Governor General has preserved his
independence of judgment, but also that he
is less of a figurehead than he himself likes
to make out. Though his actual power may
be circumscribed by constitutional limitations
and personal inclination, his moderating in
fluence and the wisdom born of long experience
may have a profound effect on the future of
the new Indian nation.
(Observer Foreign Ne**s Service.)
Letters to The Star
Fable of Hoptoad and Cracker
To th» Editor of The Star:
It lg depressing to see women adopt a mili
tary career. In a recent Issue of The Star the
woman's military service chiefs are posid
around a globe in the Pentagon Building. The
women are laughing in gay abandon, with
apparently no realization of the sinister back
ground of their calling.
War Is the vivisection of man, under the
peculiar notion that it is necessary for testing
whether this form of government, or that,
shall prevail. It now has reached the stage
where all governments are threatened.
The smiling nonchalance of the service
chiefs, and of any one else who would engage
with the atom bomb and its progeny, reminds
one of the fire cracker and the toad:
“O fire cracker, round and red,
Come play with me,” the hoptoad said.
The cracker no reply made he,
But simply sputtered frightfully.
“Why won't you come and play, my dear?”
Inquired the hoptoad, drawing near.
“I can’t because I’m going off.” “You’re going
where?
And shall you like it when you’re there?
And do you go a pleasant road?”
The cracker’s eyes with anger glowed,
And into a frightful rage he flew
And into a thousand pieces, too,
And that was the end of the cracker red
And the poor hoptoad was dead, dead, dead.”
P. W.
Leaving by Back Door
To th« Editor of The Star;
Public commendation is due to the driver
who on Sunday, June 20, between 5:15 and
5:40 p.m. operated vehicle No. 4888 on the bus
line H-2 from Catholic University to West
moreland Circle N.W. At each major stop
some 12 or 15 persons alighted from the bus
to make room for an equal number of per
sons waiting to board. As usual, the ma
jority of the passengers turned to the front
door for exit; it did not occur to them, or
they did not care, that in not using the rear
door they were wasting the time of the per
sons waiting to board, and indeed of all the
passengers.
The driver did a fine thing. He courteously
invited everybody to leave by the rear door.
The appeal falling on many deaf ears, he
simply kept the front door shut until every
body turned back. There was no grumbling
on the part of the people who were thus being
educated. They saw the point, and complied.
• Hundreds of hours of .bus time are wasted
in this city by people thoughtlessly or selfishly
using the front door rather than the rear door
in alighting. It is suggested that Capital
Transit start a campaign to end this bad
habit. Posters inviting the public to leave by
the rear door should be placed in each bus,
preferably on the inside of the front exit win
dow, and all drivers should be instructed to act
up to the public spirit and commonsense
shown by their colleague. Here is an oppor
tunity for Capital Transit to Improve its
service without any additional expenditure.
LUDWIG HAMBURGER.
Greek Campaign’s Progress
To th« Editor of The Star:
Your editorial of last Wednesday entitled
"The Oreek Offensive” was timely and to the
point.
The Greek Army's drive against bandit and
guerilla forces in the north is ip full swing.
Some 70,000 Greek troops are battling their
way over rugged mountainous terrain in a de
termined effort to subdue the bandits or drive
them out of Greece. This large-scale effort,
greatest in the long civil war, bears out the
favorable report on the Greek military Situa
tion- made recently by Dwight P. Griswold,
chief of the American mission to aid Greece.
On March 12, 1947, President Truman told
Congress that Greece must have aid if she is
to become a “self-supporting and self-sustain
ing democracy.” His proposal for financial
aid and the sending of military and civil per4
sonnel to Greece was approved. This mission
headed by Mr. Griswold arrived in Athens in
July, 1947. In November, it was announced
that a Joint United States-Oreek general staff
would direct military operations against the
Letters for publication must bear
the signature and address of the
writer, although it is permissible for
a writer known to The Star to use
a nom de plume. Please be brief.
rebel forces. United States officers were to be
attached to Greek operational units in advisory
capacity.
Guerilla activities, large-scale attacks by
armed bands supported by Soviet satellites to
the North, and the lack of proper military
equipment were handicaps too great for war
ravaged Greece to overcome without aid. With
out it, Greece would have fallen victim to
communism. American aid meant better
equipment, reorganization ^of the Greek Army,
technical advisors and consultants, and better
morale. American aid has given rise to a vast
improvement in military effectiveness which
is now being demonstrated.
As the Greek Army moves northward, its goal
is to subdue the bandits or drive them across
the border. Once driven out, they will be kept
out by forces stationed at the border.
In the face of this determined onslaught, it
is reported that guerilla leaders are asking Bel
grade, Sofia and Moscow for more help. It
also has been reported that allies of the guer
illas are sending out peace feelers to the
Greeks, but this may be a ruse.
However, it is a fact that large numbers of
rebel troops have been captured and a fight
ing Greek Army is determined to end the Com
munist rebellion. With this turn of events.
Russia may have to decide whether to let the
Communists lose the war or whether to give
assistance openly. In view of the American
stand on this issue, it hardly seems that open
assistance will be forthcoming.
SOTERIOS NICHOLSON.
Actuaries and John L. Lewis
To th« Editor of The Star:
I have been alerted by several persons In
reference to the report In your paper-dated June
22, ascribed to Federal Judge Goldsborough,
in which he discusses actuaries and theii cost
attitudes, and conveys the implication that
“they were to be bought.” I did not read the
report in The Star myself.
The actuarial profession is a rather small
one, with only about 1,000 members. There are
three societies, one the Casualty Actuarial
Society, the other two life societies—the
Actuarial Society of America and the Ameri
can ' Institute of Actuaries. The expressed
object of the second of these is the “promotion
of actuarial science by personal intercourse,
presentation and publication of appropriate
papers, discussion and such other means as
may be found desirable.” The Transactions,
the official publication of the society, sets forth
as its objective “the substitution of facta for
impressions." The members have developed a
very definite esprit de corps and a high sense
of professional ethics.
■ Financial relationships require training and
a strong sense of responsibility. Pension pro
grams do not Involve specific financial com
mitments, but a rather wide range of tolerance
is present. Mortality rates generally have been
improving and interest rates falling for some
time, both making for higher costs. In retire
ment plans with a minimum age of retirement
and with effective age at retirement open to
the whims of the employes and the financial
or business requirements of the employer, it is
very wise, as one of the two actuaries engaged
on the project has done, to show two illustra
tions of potential expenditure. The third man,
although designated an actuary, has not had
the formal training for the profession, and
probably should not have been called an
actuary.
In the interests of the objective substitution
of facts for impressions, I should like to say
that actuaries will be deeply hurt by the im
plication of their mental or intellectual dis
honesty. They also will be greatly'disappointed
at the general ignoring of our personal thrift
facilities which are available tb the American
public, both* in clearly individual resources and
In mass provisions.
I have been an actuary for nearly thirty
years, and am Jealous of the good name of
our profession. W. RULON WILLIAMSON.
Stars, Men and Atoms
Smithsonian Seeks Trace
Of Prehistoric Migration
U. S.-Canadian Group to Follow
Eskimo Trail in Far North
By Thomas Jt. Htnry
Search tor ancient human trails across
Canada’s tar northern Islands will be con
ducted this summer by Dr. Henry B. Collins.
Smithsonian Institution archeologist.
Within historic times these lands—the Parry
and Sverdrup Islands lying mostly above the
75th parallel—have been uninhabited. They
are trosen, desolate wastes, almost completely
inaccessible before the days of Arctic air trans
port.
Yet there Is strong indication that they were
traversed by the Eskimo race, most mysterious
of human beings so far as their origins ars
concerned, on Its long migration from Hudson
Bay to Greenland. For more than a century
explorers, especially the various search parties
sent out to look for Sir John Franklin before
the middle of the last century, have reported
numerous old village sites with ruins of crude
stone houses which had rafters of whalebones.
Some Development* Extsnsiv*.
Several of these sites apparently are quite
extensive. Some have been reported on Corn
wall ia Island where a large Canadian-United
States meterologlcal station has just been
established. Here Dr. Collins, with his assist
ant, Colin Thacker of the National Museum of
Canada, will make his headquarters. The proj
ect is a co-operative one between the Smith
sonian and the Canadian institution.
Stone houses very similar in type to those
reported from the northern islands were char
acteristic of the way of life of prehistoric
Greenland and the Northern Canadian Eskimo.
This was the so-called Thule culture. The
present Eskimos in the Greenland—Baffin Land
area live in snow houses and differ in many
other ways from the prehistoric people whom
they displaced or absorbed.
The Parry and Sverdrup Islands, Dr. Col
lins believes, would have been a natural route
from the Hudson Bay region to Greenland.
Along it the migrants would have found an
abundant food supply—caribou, musk ox, whale
and walrus. There now are no large whales
in the area but the enormous whalebone raft
ers are evidence that they once were abundant
there.
Norse May Have Visited.
There also is the possibility, Dr. Collins says,
that medieval Norsemen, who are known to
have made long hunting Journeys west from
Greenland, may have made casual visits to
the Parry and Svedrup Islands.
Eskimo migrations through the northern
islands probably were made in slow stages by
scattered groups over hundreds of years. Dr.
Collins hopes to be able to determine the ap
proximate rate of such movements, and
whether the stone villages were set up as
permanent settlements or only as halting
places for a few years by people consciously
moving eastward and northward. He also
hopes to uncover the reasons for abandon
ment of the villages.
Older and cruder than the stone house
culture is the so-called Dorset culture, remains
of which have been found around Hudson Bay,
Labrador and in North Greenland. Relatively
little is known of the way of life of the Dorset
people. It is quite possible. Dr. Collins be
lieves, that the ruined villages may show a
mixture of Dorset artifacts.
Answers to Questions
A resdar can set the answer to an? question af
feet b? writing The Ermine Star Information
Bureau, 31« Ere itreet N.E., Waehlnfton 2. D. C.
Please Inclose three (3) cents for rstura poitsse.
By THE HASKINS SERVICE.
Q. Why was the testing of the atomic bomb
at Bikini in 1946 called Operation Crossroads?
—M. J. A.
A. The name Operation Crossroads was sug
gested by Vice Admiral W. H. P. Blmndy, com
mander of Joint Task Force I, because “it was
apparent that warfare, perhepe civilisation it
self, had been brought to a turning point by
this revolutionary weapon."
Q. How many persons ride on the New York
City subways each day?—N. 8. P.
A. Approximately 6*4 million passenger*
ride on the New York subways dally.
q. What, are the silicone* that are used on
the thin sheets of paper especially made to
clean eyeglasses?—F. D. F.
A. Silicones are a class of organic chemi
cals that were developed largely in World War
II. The treated sheets of tissue are supposed
to leave a thin film of silicones on the sur
face of the lens to protect It from light
scratches.
Q. Is melted seasoned cheese on toast Welsh
“rarebit” or Welsh "rabbit"?—S. O.
A. The choice of word* ha* caused a lively
debate over many years. It seems, however,
that “rabbit" is the older term, appearing in
the English language as far back as 1725. The
term is purely of slang origin and was probably
the result of some one’s sense of humor.
Q Where la the world’* largeat aponge mar
ket?— N. T. T. _ ,
A. Tarpon Springs, Fla., has the largest
aponge market in the United States and in the
world. Sponge* from the Oulf of Mexico nor
mally furnish about one-half the total quan
tity consumed in this country.
Q. How many blocks of marble were used to
make the huge figure of Abraham Lincoln In
the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C.?
—N. W.
A. The heroic 19-foot figure of Lincoln was
made from 28 blocks of marble. The sections
are joined so expertly that the figure appear*
to be made of one piece. It took stonecutter*
four years to finish the work.
q. How long has the figure of a woman in
period costume been used aa a trad* mark
for chocolate and coco prdoucts? Who poaed
for the picture?—P. L. A.
A. The figure of the chocolate girl, "La
Belle Chocolatlere" date* baek to 11*0 and 1*
one of the earliest uses of a trade character.
The painting of thi* title wa* the work of
Jean-Etienne Liotard, a Swiss artist <1702
1790). The model was Anna, the daughter of
Melchior Baltauf, a knight who lived in Vienna
in 1760.
Q. What is Cointreau?—R. A. K.
A. It is the trade-mark for a white, sweet
orange-flavored liqueur made at Anger*. France.
Cointreau was a family name which wa*
adopted a* a trade-mark.
Young Palomino
There is no limit to his buoyant strength.
He lifts his quivering nostrils to the
wind,
His arching nock—a sinewed copper
length,
His flowing mane, a bright fringe sharply
thinned.
His tail a banner held aloft—he turns
And leaps to meet the sun upon the hill.
Its light within his eyes, its fire bums
Upon hi* flanks, his welcoming neigh
is shrill.
Comrades they are: the colt, the blazing
sun.
He is as golden and as swept with light
As the ball of fire that starts its morning
run
To climb the sky, and reach the west
at night.
His hooves strike sparks—they thunder on
their way
To meet the glorious promise of the day.
GRACE NOLL CROWELL