davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-11

1t is most unfortunate that
the acutely needed PSYCHE
airy Building at D. c, Gen
eral Hospital cannot be
opened as scheduled. The
administrative errors and
confusion regarding equip
ment for the new unit are
inexcusable. The fact that a
specific sum was designated
by Congress to equip the new
building. and that the medi-
cal staff concerned had pre-
pared acquisitions for suita BILE
equipment. places the re-
sponsibility for the delay
upon the superintendent. He
is ultimately responsible for
administrative functions at
the hospital.
DR.. Finucane has demon
strated again his ability to
come to grips with the varied
problems confronting him.
His concern with getting the
equipment as quickly as pos
sible is commendable. Dele
cation of authority regarding
the purchase Of the equip
ment. and the establishment
of a watchdog hospital adj
ministration committee are
necessary measures at pres
ent.
However. once this latest
in a long series Of admin
strative cataclysms has been
palliated, definitive measures
should be taken. AS this pres
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-11
The Intent Remains

The opinion by Virginia Attorney
General Patty that Arlington's so-called
freeholderS' law Is unconstitutional
throws up roadblock at least tenn
porarily, in the path of the county's
school construction program. The OBJ
Stacle must be removed before It will
be possible for Arlington to issue any
more school bonds without fear of
litigation. And the sale of bonds issued
under an act which is under legal fire
would be virtually impossible, anyway.
The freeholders' law, adopted in
referendum last year, gives to the
property owners of Arlington sort of
veto power over bond elections for
schools or other capital Improvements.
Under the legislation. future bond issues
must have the approval not only of
majority of the qualified voters but
OF majority of the owners of real
property. After former State Attorney
General Lindsay Almond, Virginia's
Governor-elect, had questioned the
validity of the act, members of the
county board asked the new Attorney
General, Kenneth C. Patty, for ruling.
He has replied that, in his opinion, the
law contraveneS a section of the State
constitution governing bond issues by
counties. That section authorizes coun-
ties to incur debts only upon approval,
in referendum, "by majority of the
qualified voters voting in the election"
Since an opinion by the State
Attorney General is not the final word
in such a matter, the courts will have
to decide the issue. How the question
will be brought before the courts is yet
to be determined. One suggested course
would be for the county to ask the
Circuit Court for a declaratory judg-
ment on the law. Falls Church, which
has similar freeholders' law, appar-
emily is not affected by the Patty
ruling, since the State constitution
refers only to counties and school
districts.
Even If the freeholderS "veto" plan
should be killed in Arlington, 1t should
be kept in mind that the property
owners checkrein plan was adopted by
a majority of all the qualified voters
in Arlington, presumably including some
who were not freeholders. The move
was a reaction by this majority against
what critics Of the county's school con-
struction program characterized as
extravaganza" and "frills" in some of
the new schools. Neither Arlingtons
dominantly liberal" School Board nor
the new liberal majority on the County
Board can afford to disregard the atti-
tude Of the taxpayers as expressed in
the 1855 approval of the freeholders'
check on spending The intent Of that
action remains clear.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-11

@. Was West Virginia a
Confederate State?-V. T.
A. No. When Virginia
voted to secede from the I'm
ion, the Unionist counties in
the western part of the State
refused to acknowledge the
ordinance, and themselves
seeded from Virginia. On
June 20, 1863. this area was
admitted to the Federal I'm
ion as the 35th State. 1t was
called West Virginia. al
though the name Kanawha
had been considered. This
separation had been long IL
the making, as the Alleghen-
les had divided Virginia into
two groups whose people. So
cial conditions and politics
had little in common, and on
Statewide issues, voting sem
timent. in the west could be
overruled by the eastern ma
ority. AS early as l776 these
western people had petitioned
Congress to create their own
State Of Westsylvania.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-11

President Eisenhower has
been urged to raise the pay
of Federal scientists and en-
gineers $1,000 per year.
I wish to put in a plug for
lawyers. historians and, yes,
even English majors. Pre-
sumably the service these
specialists can render their
country is at least as val
liable. The scientist and engi-
neer is a technologiSt. He is
not concerned with morals.
The hideous weapons de-
developed by all nations in
dicates the patent immoral
ity of science. OF course, for
defense purposes we must
employ scientists. Yet to
pamper scientists. to pay
them higher wages than
other Government servants
at the same educational
level is to fall into the vi
cious circle Of chronological
sterility into which the
Soviet Union has fallen.
A recent issue of the
American Bar Association
Journal shows that the av-
erage income of Government
lawyers is 1920 per year.
The national average per
capita for the legal profession
is Sl0,220. Thus. Government
lawyers. in relation to their
private counterparts. are at
least as badly paid as Gov
eminent scientists and engi-
neers in comparison with
those in private industry.
Now. perhaps more than
ever before in history. a gov
eminent of laws is needed
for the whole world. Escape
from mankind's present di-
lemma will not be found in
science. An excess of science
will merely render the d.
lemma worse. The only
escape is through morality,
law and religion. 1t is i'm
Derative that our best legal
brains be in the Federal
Government, rather than in
Wall Street advancing the
interests of private clients.
Government service should
be the highest goal to which
a young law-school graduate
could aspire.
Oliver Mason.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-11

@. Does Gambia export any
thing?-A. E.
A. Yes. This small British
colony and protectorate on
Africa's west coast exports
mostly peanuts. but also
palm kernels. beeswax, and
hides and skins. In l947, for
the first time. its exports
passed the million pound
mark. Most of this material
went to the United Kingdom.
@. Please finish the rhyme
which begins, Mondays
child is fair of face. M. r.
A. One form of this old
rhyme goes: Mondays child
is fair of face, Tuesdays
child is full of GRACE, We'd
nesday's child is full Of
woe. Thursdays child has a
journey to go, Fridays child
is loving and giving .)Satur-
days child must work for Its
living. While the child that's
born on the Sabbath day/Is
fair and wise, and good and
gay.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-11
THIS AND THAT
By CHARLES E. TRACEWELL

to turn to love, as the song
says?
Let us see what this char.
acter really does.
In the first place, he sell
dom allows the other to say
a word, and if he does, he
plainly does not put much
stock in what he says.
y y
He is, in other words,
bored, himself.
Thus, at the very start, he
suffers the fate he deserves,
but that does not help the
other party much.
He is bored, but he does
not understand that he is
boring another.
In the second place, he
has no respect for another's
knowledge.
He listens, 1t is true, but
he cannot find much meat
in what is told him, because
he is so busy grinding his
own corn.
At one time, in the history
Of music, Bach came into his
own.
A better way to put it
would be that the great mu-
sician came again into his
own true place.
Everybody talked about
him, and played his music.
In Russia, at this time,
there was a school Of young
musicians.
Whenever the members Of
this group heard the music
of Bach, they all looked at
each other. grinned, and
said: 1.-THE old man is grind
ing corn"
This was a legitimate
criticism of some of Bach's
music. of course. To these
listeners, at least. his music
was deadly. 1t bored them.
The incessant talker is
first. last and all the time
a human bore. His music"
is corn grinding at its worst.
Around and around his
conversational handle goes,
and if he bores you at first,
he will bore you always.
There is no escape in this
war.
Therefore, Jane, we sug-
gest that you quietly ditch
the fellow, and try again.
Otherwise, you run the
risk of being talked to death
in your youth.
There are, of course. worse
deaths.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-11
Cubc Has 'BuIfet-Proof Lizards

When the nightly exodus
takes place. a boa will strike
time and again. nearly al
ways getting a bat whose
progress is impeded by the
narrow aperture through
which it must go. Then, after
the fashion of boas, the
animal is crushed in the
coils and eaten. The snakes
apparently have prodigious
appetites. In one cave Mr..
Hardy found 10 of them and
he obtained nine dead bats
from a single one.
Another curiosity of Cuba's
reptile life is the pigny boa,
less than 2 feet long but
which apparently has the
same ways of life as its
gigantic relatives of the
Amazon basin. 1t lives most
ly on small lizards which 1t
brushes in its coils.
1t progresses rapidly
through the hot sand of its
habitat by a "side-winding"
type of locomotion. familiar
in some rattlesnakes but
otherwise unknown. Other
boas have the sinuous mo-
ton common to snakes in
general. In the side winding
movement, Mr.. Hardy be-
lieves, the snakes body is
momentarily almost COM
pletely off the ground with
each twist. 1t may have been
evolved, he speculates, as a
means of relief from the scar
ing heat of the sand.
Hatch as Frogs
The tadpole-less frogs are
creatures Of the rain forest
canopy, found only in the
tops of the tallest trees and
chiefly in high mountains.
Mr.. Hardy found the summit
of Pico Turquino in the
Sierra Maestro Mountains
one of the best collecting
sites. This is the highest peak
in Cuba and now the head
quarters of rebel forces.
The eggs, laid in pools
formed in hollows of large
leaves, hatch as frogs. not
tadpoleS. and no metamor-
phoSis is necessary. This
probably is unique among
frogs and may indicate a
transition stage between two
major divisions of the animal
kingdom - amphibians and
reptiles.
Very rare are the pigmy
frogs which are distributed
all over the island, but with
gaps of 100 miles or more
between colonies.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-11

The New York State De-
partment of Education has
reduced the requirements for
permanent certiflcation to
teach chemistry and physics
to IL college credits but has
increased the requirements in
professional education" to
"a.
How in the world will we
ever be able to launch a
Sputnik when a ruling such
as this makes it even more
difficult to launch high school
graduates with well-rounded
science backgrounds?
Samuel Shapiro.
Senior Chemist.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-11
Cure for CITY BIiuht

The urban renewal program tenta-
lively approved for Washington's central
area is designed to cure an old and creep
ing ailment-urban blight. AS is the
case in other large cities, the Nations
Capital long has been afflicted with an
old-age type of physical deterioration.
1t is disease which saps the life blood
OF progress from any community,
spawning train of other ills, including
business paralysis, declining property
values and even crime.
Washington is attacking this blight
through two approaches, redevelopment
and urban renewal. Redevelopment is
the term applied to wholesale slum
clearance and reconstruction of COM
munity. such as is under way in South
west Washington. Urban renewal i'm
plies less drastic treatment of
blighted section-including the reha-
Utilization of rundown buildings where
feasible. 1t is this latter treatment that
the Redevelopment Land Agency has
proposed for 915-acre segment of the
central city, extending from U street
and Florida avenue on the north to K
street and Massachusetts, avenue on the
south and from Fourteenth street on
the west to Union Station and the
railroad yards on the east.
The area selected for this sweeping
face-lifting operation includes parts of
older Washington that have been suffer-
ing from a variety of urban ills in recent
decades. Significantly, parts of this
area are regarded by police as breeding
places for crime and delinquency and
by health authorities as threats to the
welfare Of the entire city. The neigh
borhood. therefore, is an appropriate
subject for sweeping renovation and
rebuilding program of the sort recon-
mended by the Redevelopment Land
Agency and approved by the National
Planning Commission.
The plan prepared for the area
concededly is not in final form. 1t is to
be general guide for public and private
groups that are expected to be partners
in the rehabilitation undertaking. The
Federal Government will participate by
granting financial aid for the rehousing
of displaced families and for other pur-
poses. The District has pledged its CO.
operation in many ways, including
widening and rebuilding of streets and
provision of number of public build
ings. The District also will promote
renovation and repair of private struc-
lures through rigid enforcement of
building and health regulations. And
property owners, spurred by the public
improvements, are expected to do their
share through the improvement Of
present buildings and the construction
of new ones-including modern shop
ping centers.
All of this will be a long-range
enterprise requiring an unusual display
of teamwork among the various interests
involved. And all will share in the bene-
fits sure to come from the elimination
of blight-stricken areas and the build
ing of modernized, attractive and
prosperous community IN the heart Of
our city.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-11

ent situation indicates. ad-
ditional money is not the
primary need. A qualified,
experienced hospital admin
istrator, to work with the ad-
ministrative forces and medi-
cal staff of the hospital. is
essential. Congress expects
improvement in the hospitals
operation, and the people of
the community deserve a city
hospital whose administra-
ton is commensurate with
its high quality of medical
care.
Physician,
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-11

There is a genuine need for
an improvement in the fly
ing patterns of all the air.
lines operating in and out of
Washington National Airport.
Far too many airliners are
flying too low and too loud
over, the city. I, myself, hear
and even feel this low flying
while 1 am in my Office. am
a physician. One of the hos
pitfalls in which I practice is
the Georgetown University
Hospital. The disturbances
from these low-altitude COM
mercial planes affect adj
versely medical and scientific
equipment at the hospital so
necessary for the diagnosis
and treatment of many a
patient. 1t also limits my own
hearing ability which I, too,
must use for proper diagno-
sis, IN some cases. To have
an ever-present, air-made
bedlam practically inside the
hospital also ruins the oppor-
tunity for patients to get
their needed rest. Finally. the
lives of all the patients are
endangered. Should a pilots
flying blunder send an air.
plane crashing into a hos
pital. most patients would be
in a poor condition to scurry
to safety. There would never
need be reason for them to
scurry if flying regulations
were enforced. The time for
enforcement is now.
Georgetown Physician.
I read the letters, Low
Flying Planes" on November
l on the editorial page of The
Star and agree that the air
lines have brought about,
throughout the years, a seri-
GUS problem for the residents
Of the District of Columbia.
In my case. after one particu-
larry low flight over my house
by an airliner, the plaster
from the ceiling in my living
room fell. Also glass panes
in my windows have been
cracked. In the same block
OF Burleith. in which I live,
my neighbors have COM
planned Of mirrors and pic
lures falling. The vibration
from these low-fiying air
planes is shattering in its
intensity.
The solution will not be
found by the pilots flying over
another neighborhood rather
than mine. It can be solved
only by the governmental
authorities enforcing the
flying laws which prohibit low
flying over densely populated
areas. On the front page of
The Star November 3 was an
article headlined. "29 Escape
at Idlewild as Plane Catches
Fire" Luckily all 20 pas
Sengers scrambled to safety.
If a few more minutes had
elapsed. and the plane had
been airborne when the fire
broke out, there would have
been an excellent chance that
this airliner would have
crashed into houses and
buildings.
AS traffic at the National
Airport becomes heavier, the
dangers to our city will be-
come greater. Good luck can
not continue forever. In our
own particular community,
we expect to see immediate
improvement over the pres
ent disregard of safety by the,
airlines and their pilots.
Eleanor p. Hunt.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-11

Lizards apparently Immune
to bullets. bate ruening
snakes. pigmy boa consttc-
tors, frogs that never are
polywogs and frogs less than
a third of an inch long are
among the curiosities of rep
tile and amphibian life COL
lected in Cuba for the Smith
sonian Institution by David
Hardy. Maryland University
graduate student.
Most curious Of the lot are
the "bulletproof" lizards.
They are large iguanas, be-
tween three and four feet
long, with a curious resem-
balance to antidiluvian mon
sters. Mr.. Hardy found them
in limestone outcroppings
and on sandy islands along
the Cuban coast.
you just can't kill them
with bullets" he says. Over
and over again he has hit
them with a 20 rifle. When
shot, he says. they turn over
on their backs and lay still,
but when approached the
apparently dead reptile sud-
denly comes to life again."
gets on its feet with marvel
GUS speed, and disappears
down a hole. About the only
way to collect specimens is
with nets.
Survived 20 Shots
The supposed immunity to
bullets, of course, is not
quite true. Any creature can
be killed if hit in the right
place. Still, Mr.. Hardy says,
he captured one specimen
with % shots in its body.
apparently none the worse
for the experience. The
seeming immunity. he be-
lieves. is due to two things
the toughness Of the hide and
the quite primitive organiza-
ton of the nervous system.
The bat-eating boas COL
lected by Mr.. Hardy are true
members of the constructor
family that show a curious
adaptation. In the Trinidad
Mountains Of Cuba's south
coast are many bat caves. In
their dark, damp depths
literally thousands of fruit
eating bats spend the day
asleep. They fly out at dusk.
Each cave consists of several
chambers. These chambers
have very narrow entrances.
often barely big enough for a
bat to squeeze through. The
big snakes hide, coiled in
rock crevices, beside these
entrances.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-11
ct STREET.

Dear Sir:
II have a fellow who
comes calling on me who is
an awful bore.
HE talks and talks and
talks and never stops for
anything.
He is such a nice person,
l feel ashamed of myself for
not liking him more, but to
date I cannot.
Just the sight of him,
with his sickening grin.
makes me shrink into my
boots.
IT try to sidetrack him.
Just to get to talk myself. !
guess, but he won't let me.
HE just goes ahead talk
ing.
us there anything I can
do?
Respectfully, JANE E."
4
No, Miss Jane, there is
nothing you can do.
This type of person is
born, not made, and he
never changes.
He was born talking. al
most, at least, making a loud
noise, and he likes the sound
of his own voice.
Many people have to en-
dure him.
Over the ages. his feminine
counterpart has got the most
publicity. Charles Dickens
had women characters who
talked all the time, and
almost every famous novelist
has tried his or her hand
at it.
Jane Austen excelled at
this characterization.
It was easy. because prac-
tically every reader had heard
her.
The male counterpart is
rarer. but still very much
with us.
1t is impossible to go to any
cocktail party without meet
ing the man who likes to hear
the sound of his own voice.
Often he is witty. intelli-
gent, clever. He knows every
thing, and is not hesitant
about telling everything.
No topic escapes him, and
he would never suspect that
anyone could be bored by
him.
Is he not sharing his wis
dom with others?
Does not his frankness
spell fascination, which ought
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-11
Rides the Railroads

The New York Central and
the Pennsylvania Railroads
consider merger. In an
nouncing this proposal for
monopoly they attack their
competitors and denounce
subsidy. Like CULVER they
are beset with the little
people of their own magma
ton and think to grow bigger
so that they may crush their
more agile adversaries.
The railroad argument
seems to have convinced no
body but the railroads and
the regulatory commissions
which they now dominate.
Soon the systems will be as
big as the Post Office and as
prevalent as the highways.
The end of that road is public
ownership.
The spectacle of bankrupt
railroads MIXED by exploit
ing bankers is no longer i'm
pressive. The roads are less in
need Of rates or size than of
ideas and customers; less in
need of tax relief and
protection against COMPETE
ton than freedom from the
banking house and new
services. And if they cannot
meet these needs they will
not survive. To a utility. or
to any enterpriser. there is
no substitute for willing Gus
toners and no way to get
them but service. The world
will continue to beat a path
to the door of the man with
the better mousetrap. and
it will travel there and haul
the mousetrap on the rail-
roads if that is the best way
to go and to haul. We may
sing of the Suwanee River
and of Casey Jones, but we
will no longer go there or
shake hands with Casey in
the flesh. Railroad manage
ment of today would bottle
up transportation as it was
in the post-Civil War era
and would charge for it more
than the traffic will bear. To
survive. the railroads must
get more customers for better
service at lower rates.
Alan .JOhnStOne.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-11
Lords and Ladies

Britain's dignif1ed House Of Lords
is about to take on a new look, feminine
style. The Conservative government
has announced plans to create life
peerages-for women, as well as for
men, The new peers would be permitted
70 sit in the House of Lords, allowing
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-11
ire Hope They've Solved the Recently Problem!
LETTERS TO THE STAR

Pen names may be used If
letters carry UriterS' correct
names and addresses. All
letters are subject to conden-
SdtiOn.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-11
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Nv THE HASKIN SERVICE

mail 70 any sgs qSestiSn Dy yrps
b c ose postage
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-11

spending internship, all con-
spire to make the procure
ment of doctors the direct
concern of Government
rather than private, philan-
thropy. No longer can ambi-
tiouS sons of the poor find
self-help job opportunities to
enable them to work night
and day and get their coveted
MD. as I did after long over
seas service in World War /.
And no longer are CT edu-
cational benefits available to
World War II veterans such
as those which enabled my son
to cash in five years Of mill
tary service for his MD.
Medicine has become such a
demanding and costly, full
time grind. that only subsi-
died students can survive the
economic ordeal.
Thomas E. Mattingly, MD
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-11
Delay at D. c. General

Alan tombstone.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-11
Formula?

Oliver Mason.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-11
'Pompering' Science

George L. NaramOr