Evening star., 1949-11-26
Letters to The Star
Antarctica Fantasy,
A Hundred Years Hence


Hundred Years Hence
ANTARCTICA. Nov rs, 2o4s.
To the Editor OF The Star:
Well, here we are, the whole family, down
here chiefly I guess for the trip and the
ozone.s But the Thanksgiving turkey tasted
just about twice as good as back in the
States Probably because got so cold ski
ing this morning. felt like million dol
lars out on that glacier, and thought about
how much had to be happy about
What I'd like to do right now is shake the
hand Of my great grandfather and the others
who started the ball rolling toward Antarc-
tica back in 1949-50. OF course it really had
been started over a hundred years before
then, but somehow everybody except the
magnificent explorers went to sleep. and In
the middle of the Twentieth Century the
u S. A. did not even claim a square inch OF
this continent I'm standing on. This lux
urious resort hotel here had not even been
dreamed of-at least not by the average folks
of the old days like those sitting here In this
huge dining room now, eating leftover
Thanksgiving turkey all dressed up with
greenhouse vegetables mean the turkey.
But the folks are mighty much dressed up
too. Not dowdy one among them. Why
should there be? Everybody can have
pretty nearly anything he wants to wear
Sure, with all these new natural resources
the whole worlds standard of living has been
raised.
The Great Awakening In lS4s.
And that brings me back to Grandpa's
tales Of his dad. A sort Of poetic type, you
know; but it takes all kinds, He and the en-
gineers and physicists and industrialists and
politicians and editors woke up about l949-
woke up to the fact that there was whole
continent Just begging to be developed. And
they got to work. I guess 1t was partly be-
cause Of few bad jolts. We know from his
tory that In 194s folks were milling around
scared to pieces about that atomic bomb
they had thought up. Acted so childish.
Our country had 1t first and another country
got 1t also. and you would have thought the
end Of the world had come.
Then all Of sudden the idea got around
that even the very most important leaders
in the United Nations Assembly and every
where were absolutely at standstili for any
ideas of what to do to avoid Z lot Of catas-
trephe and such. s*'s
So people got interested In Antarctica and
flock of scientists and industrialists thought
of 1t as challenge. When the women got to
talking 1t over. they took the point Of view
that it would be a kindly sort Of thing for
the world to see continent developed with
before that, most new areas had been devel
oped always by cruel exploiters who beat the
natives and the imported laborers into sub
mission and then feasted on the fat of the
land. Not so with Antarctica. Mostly volun-
teer work here at first, which paid wonderful
dividends later.
When you stop to think about the dim
culties, both political and natural, in ths
early days Of opening up these South Polar
regions, you really get very thankful feel
Ing. and you look back gratefully to our great
grandparents who in 1949 really got down to
brass tacks and put first things first. When
they did that war stopped all by itself. 1t
was overlooked. It vanished, because there
was 80 much good work and hard work to do.
So, In 2o%s. I say thanks to you. my great
grandparents. e. A. K.
Questions Concerning Dates
OF Thanksgiving Days
10 the Editor si The STAR ~ - .s
Permit me to thank you for your timely
and extremely interesting editorial Thanks
giving Over the Years" >--
= ! am surprised to learn that our celebra-
ton Of this national holiday has SO often
been ignored. And am also surprised at
your statement that Lincoln established the
autumnal THANKSGIVING Day ever since OBJ
served in most Of the States"
May ask whether this was the result of
his setting aside August l6. 1863-for the
victory at Gettysburg" or did he later set
aside some later date such as our present
Thanksgiving Day in November? And may
also ask "just when was the original
Thanksgiving ut Plymouth In 1891" celebrat-
ed? mean can you state on just what
day Of the month and in what month was
"the spontaneous development" observed7
M, w, LAIRD,
Editors Note: President Lincoln pro-
claimed Thanksgiving Days for the last
Thursday in November. 1863. and the last
Thursday In November. 1854. q we'll ~
the special Thanksgiving Day for the vic
tory ut Gettysburg. The exact date Of the
first Thanksgiving at Plymouth In 1921 was
December Is. old styleD
Inquiries About Lack Of Heat
In Munitions Building
70 the Editor Of The Star:
Now that the winter months are approach
ing. it is not understood why the Navy
Building Is always so comfortably heated
(even the corridors) while the VA employees
who work next door in the unattractive Mu-
nitions Building (Which it ID understood 10
under the jurisdiction Of the superintendent
Of the Navy Building for heating .purposes)
are 50 grossly Disseminated against in the
heating Of their building.
The system seems to be to give the NUM-
tons Building some heat for several hours
each morning. but by the noon hour and for
the rest Of the day until pm. the employees
are forced to work in huge, unheated offices.
VA EMPLOYE.
Differs With Mr.. Brown
On Trade With Spain
To the Editor Of The star:
The series Of articles from Madrid by
Constantine Brown contains little new. for
readers Of The Star. Whether in Madrid or
In this country. Mr.. Brown remains tho out