Milford chronicle., 1949-12-09
THE MOST DANGEROUS TREE

THE MOST DANGEROUS TREE
What is the most dangerous tree in the
wOrld2 According to the National Board of
Fire Underwriters, it's that symbol of Yule-
tide cheer and good will-the Christmas tree.
And the long and tragic record of deaths, in
1urleS and maimings-many to children
caused by holiday fires fully bears out that
statement This certainly doesn't mean that
you should not have a Christmas tree You
should. But 1t does mean that certain ele-
mentary precautions should be followed to
the letter, and kept constantly in mind. It
Is recommended, for instance, that you buy
small tree-it is less hazardous. It should
be placed well away from radiators, heaters,
and the fireplace. Candles should never be
used on the tree under any circumstances.
Use only electric light sets which carry the
seal of approval of the Underwriters Lab
oratories-it guarantees that the sets meet
the proper safety standards. Don't use pa
per, cotton or other fammable materials for
decoration. If extension cords are necessary,
be sure they're in good cOnditiOn-frayed
wiring is potent cause of electrical fires.
Never leaves the lights burning when the
house is unOccupied. Dispose of gift wrap
pings promptly-they're a real menace in
side the house. Be especially careful with
matches and smoking materials. And, finally,
get rid of your tree as soon as the needles
begin to fall. That means it's dry and ready
to burst into flame. Christmas isn't far off.
It's time now to make plans for holiday
season which will be safe as well as Joyous
And once they're made, stick with them.
5000
COME AND GET TT
The United States Treasury is in a fix.
It's holding around S11O,OOO,OOO for distri-
button to holders of matured bonds, but there
are no takers. In fact, the Treasury wishes
that lot of folks would clean out their old
trunks and any other secret hiding places
that have cObwebs just to see if there isn't
some of the old matured Government secur-
tiles, long since forgotten. Apparently there's
good chunk of Americans who are under
the impression that the Government will
simply mail them a check when their bonds
fall due. That's not so. Holders must come
and get it. Even if the bonds were lost or
destroyed, they may be replaced on proof of
ownership. The bulk of the unclaimed funds
represents ten-year savings bonds which
were due between 1S45 and 1948 Most of
these were purchased in the pre-war years
and now eleven to fourteen years later are
still lying around just collecting dust
What mystifes the Treasury is that some
of the bonds have been outstanding since
1917, and there are about 100000 of old
Liberty bonds and Victory notes which have
not been cashed since World War l. Then
there's $51,00O,0OO of Treasury certificates
long since called for redemption. Most of
these, the Treasury thinks, are salted away
in individual safe deposit boxes
Dig down, or up. There may be some
gold gathering cObwebS in your attic.
&Se&@
BEDELL SMITHS REPORT ON RUSSIA
The Saturday Evening Post recently pub
llshed series of revealing articles by Lieu
tenant General Walter Bedell Smith dealing
with his experiences when he was u. S.
Ambassador to Russia One of them con-
Germs Housekeeping Headaches in a Police
State, and 1t provides an authoritative and
amusing commentary on living conditions in
that nation. When General Smith first ar
rived, the Soviet government was running a
food store for diplomats only, which offered
fairly adequate supply of rationed goods at
. reasonable prices. Subsequently, ratiOning
was abandoned and this store was closed
so the embassy had to buy either from the
gOvernment-Operated commercial stores OF
IN the open market where peasants were al
lowed to sell for whatever they could get any
excess products they had after meeting their
state quota. The state stores were the cheap
est. Even so, the prices charged were shock.
ing by American standards. Here are a few
from long list cited by General Smith, OF
the basis of the price per kilO, which equals
% pounds: Butter, $3.50 and up; poultry
as much as $6.25; ham, over $500 apples
$2.25; prunes S4.12, macarOni, $1.87. Or
top Of such prices, many items which arr
commonplace in the American diet were il
very short supply. General Smith found thai
the embassy could save money by operating Z
commissary which bought goods from Amer
lea, even though transportation and insur
ance charges were very high and there wa,
much loss through pilferage. However, the
Russians soon cracked down on this scheme
and forced the Americans to buy food locally
In the matter Of other commodities, Genera
Smith quotes from guide made up for fu