Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-06-25

safe in the village and should
have no trouble on the way to
Neghelli. We had walked through
the worst area.
When the sergeant got back,
he showed me his rifle and
handed my SO pistol over to
him. Did have another like it?
] was sorry. it was the only one
] had. But in a few years, all
Ethiopian army and police we're
to have American weapons. That
would be good, he said.
Everybody Kisses Picture
I didn't want to Insult our
hosts by giving them money. So
TO the sergeant I gave a German
knife. Big Mama got half q
dozen plastic spoons from our
TX" ration packs. To top it off.
we made a present to the house
of a picture of the Emperor with
Mayor Wagner in New York. Big
Mama kissed the picture. The
sergeant kissed the picture. All
our visitors that evening adj
mired the gifts and kissed the
picture.
1t was a thoroughly successful
evening and I am sure Kitty, Who
was the first white woman some
of them had seen, could have
run for mayor and won in a
walk.
Having enshrined Mayor Wag-
ner and Friend on the wall Of the
sergeant's hut, been presented
with a bunch Of Big Mama &
bananas, and taking on a police
mans wife who wanted to 60 to
Neghelli-which turned out to
be more than 70 miles further
down the road-we took pictures
of our hosts and chugged out OF
town. The drive shaft had been
badly damaged on the collapsine
bridge and we could only make
about 20 miles an hour without
provoking "a kidney-rattline
shimmy. It didn't matter be-
cause the road was so bad we
couldn't have gone any faster
anyway.
Lunch at Norwegian Mission
We reached Neghelli. a fine
large town set on low hill in 9
baking plain. without undue diff.
ficulty. With a sense of timing
brought to a fine art by years Of
free-loading. we arrived at the
Norwegian mission just as q
lunch of thick stew. potatoes
boiled cabbage, preserved beets
and timed butter was going or
the table. We we're coaxed intC
staying.
There was no mechanic ir
town. The police mechanic hac
gone to Adds Ababa for a few
days with the Major. His appren.
tice said he thought he coulc
fix the drive-shaft. The mis-.
sionary advised against 1t. HI
said he was afraid the appren.
tice would break the shaft while
trying to Ak it. Then we woulc
be stuck for weeks. Following
local advice, we decided to try
to make it without trying to re-
pair the shaft. Then we dug w
the Somali trader who sells gai
in Neghelli. II is the last place ir
Ethiopia where gas can bt
bought and this fact had moi
escaped the Somali. He charged
US almost soc a quart (thl
normal price in Ethiopia is l8t
q quartz.
We could reach Mega in II
hours, the missionary said. W.
thanked him for lunch and go'
on our way.
Stuck In a Sand Drift
Neghelli was intended by tn,
Italians to be their big tradint
and administrative center IL
southeastern Ethiopia and a tar
mac road had been built par
way to Mogadiscio. We Travelled
on this for five miles, then turned
south over desert track towart
Mega. This was really desert
burning red sand, stunted thorr
bushes, gazelle and ostrich. Aftel
making another 10 miles. W,
plowed through sand drift ant
the car stopped. Just plair
stopped. The starter and igni'
ton we're working but nothinl
was happening.
BY now we had things down u
q system. We put on our walk
I'M shoes. dug out our hats
grabbed a bottle Of water. a car
o. fruit. and the revolver anC
started walking. The mission
Rry had been about TO go out II
The bush for a couple Of veg