Milford chronicle., 1956-07-13
extended eastward. I"


three architects is -busily at work
on recommendation for this verJ
project, and which it hopes 20
present to the Congress before
those already restless gentlemen
cut for home.
1t will be recalled that former
President Truman contended that
the dome is too big for its base,
that it is out of plumb and will
probably come crashing down,
which will be pity"
We will hastily agree that this
would, indeed, be "a pity, but COM
petent engineers who inspect the
Capitol semi-annually, do not share
his concern. What would be not
merely a pity. but a national dis
grace and downright insult to
the original planners and today's
Americans who like their Capitol
the way it is. would be to yield to
the pressure foT moving the east
facade outward some fifty feet, thus
destroying the majestic portico.
Besides the phony argument about
the dome, there is the claim that
this is a means of gaining badly
needed space Considering that
Congress has already earmarked
five million dollars for start on
the project, this should easily be
the worlds most expensive square
footage.
Even though Congress authorized
the extension last year, that body
still could and would-settle for
a new marble face for the old sand
stone midsection, so it would
match the House and Senate wings
which were built later. That is,
Congress would listen to reason if
enough of us got up on our hind
legs and demanded that they send
Tom Walters report back to the
Archives Building-for another cen
tury or so.
Inside Information
The day may soon be in sight
when the physician can throw
away his stethoscope" in diagnosing
various heart ailments, and depend,
instead, on x-rays that will show
the blood as it speeds through the
hearts valves.
This is the anticipation of DR..
Charles T. Dotter, head of the De-
partment of Radiology, University
of Oregon Medical School, who has
helped develop a new electronic
switch that makes possible x-ray
exposures at speeds as short as
1/1000 of a second. This is fast
enough, Or. Dotter explains, to
freeze" the motion of blood with
in a patients heart during the x
ray exposure, and compares with
a previous x-ray speed of 1850 to
1920 of a second provided by most
present equipment.
Radiographs, or x-ray pictures,
taken in sequence with this new
high-speed device permit more
accurate study of the blood's flow,
and hence give the radiologist new
insight into certain heart ailments.
Thus DR.. Dotter dreams of making
x-ray movies at 500 to 1000
frames" per second. which, pro-
jected in slow motion, would re-
veal hitherto unsuspected facts
about the human body. Such equip
ment, he thinks might even be
used in the, diagnosis of brain tu-
mors.
DR.. Dotter compares the high
voltage tube, that turns the x-ray
current on and off with such in
credible speed, to the stop-motion
stroboscopic camera used in engi-
neering research to examine the
action of engine or machine parts
operating at high ve1ocities. And
he reminds us amateur photo
graphers of the streaky, meaning
less films most of us turned out in
trying to shoot an automobile race
or a plane in flight with box
camera.
Until now, the radiologist at
tempting to x-ray the movement
of substances in the blood, or the
contraction of the heart, says DR..
Dotter, has been just as disappoint-
ed as the small boy trying to
photograph the carnival high-diver.
=
SkOala
The ultimate expression of the
viking spirit that braved un-
charted oceans in the centuries be-
fore Columbus. that discovered Ice
land, and Greenland and pushed
deep into the primaeval wilderness
of northern North America, set the
whistles blowing, the bells ring
ing and the bunting flying in New
York harbor just the other day.
This festive occasion was the
arrival on her maiden voyage of
the NJ. S. Bergensfjord, Norway's
newest and largest, most modern
and most elegant passenger liner.
Unlike the viking ships of old, this
new flagship of the Norwegian A
merica Line has a superstructure
made completely of aluminium, au-
tomato stabilizers to keep ship roll
to a minimum, and an air condi-
tioning system which allows each
to regulate room temper
ature to suit his own needs. But
the Bergensfjord shares with these
viking vessels the common Nor
wegian nautical heritage which led
to the first voyages of exploration
to the New World and which has