davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1959-12-28
Mission 66 in 1860?

The Republican National Commit
tee is doing what comes naturally in
announcing an intensive campaign" to
win control of the House of Represent
ativeS in the 1860 elections. Further
more, as a mark of its determination,
it has indicated that the party's finance
committee will be asked to allocate So
million in direct aid to House candidates
"a sum four times the amount made
available last year.
1t is unlikely, however, that there
are any illusions about the job being
an easy one. Currently, the House has
281 Democrats and 152 Republicans,
with four vacancies. Not since the first
Eisenhower-Nixon victory in 1852 has
the G. o. P. registered majority in the
House and the 1858 Democratic tide
was the strongest since the early New
Deal years of President Franklin D.
Roosevelt.
Although a strong national ticket
and the projected Republican slogan Of
peace and prosperity" promise to help
the party'S congressional contenders,
localized issues normally have greater
bearing on the House contests. Allow
ing for the fact that three of the pres
ent four vacancies were held by Demo-
Gratis, net switch of 66 seats would
be needed to transfer control. One of
these already has taken place in Iowa.
1t seems likely, however, that the Re-
publican campaign committee for the
HnuSa will need Cond 1uck aS we'll ifs
great effort and generous supply Of
funds, to manage real turnover Of
control.
Evening star., 1959-12-28
'Essoyist' McGM

l nave been reading with
increasing admiration the
beautiful lyrical essays of
Ralph McGill. Almost alone
among the syndicated colum-
nistS, he has the insight and
the courage to write frankly
Of our crucial shortcomings
in the face Of a general SNUG
ness and self Righteousness;
almost alone, he turns a SYM
pathetic ear and pen to the
anguished cries Of the i'm
poverished millions in Asia
and to the bold voices Of the
Asian George Washingtons
and Thomas Jeffersons.
For his perception and hon.
esty, McGill has been called
an extreme Leftist by a few
Of your readers; yet the irony
here is that it is the Ralph
McGills Of this Nation who
are seeking to sound the
alarm that would prevent the
world from going Communist.
They would prevent it by
having us awaken from our
lethargy and offer the back
ward countries and the sup
pressed peoples something
more than a vision Of our
present kind of capitalism
with its rigged shows and
rugged advertising, its class
consciousness, its tax loop
holes for the oil barons, its
rigged pill prices, it's high
medical costs and a host of
other evils. Rather than leave
a vacuum for the Communists
to exploit so successfully,
they would once again raise
the emblem of a truly work.
ing democracy as envisioned
by our founding fathers, with
equality and freedom and
security for all.
For in the spirit of our
Thomas Paines, we should
support and encourage the
fighters for national inde-
pendence, not cling to the
stained hand of a dictatorial
Franco or a repudiated and
defeated Chang Kai-shek;
yes, and disavow rather than
ignore the tyrannical anti
democratic practices of Syng-
man Rhee and the wilful
Rhees across the globe, rather
than look the other way for
the sake of a useless and
sterile political expediency.
If we do not return to our
heritage of a dynamic ideal
ism for the frustrated peoples
OF other lands, all of our
money and all of our good
will tours and all Of our anti
Communist propaganda will
be to no avail. So, once again,
my hat is off to McGill and
Chester Bowles and Adlai
Stevenson and the few other
clear voices with the vision
and the courage to speak out,
now, before it is too late.
Edward A. Harris.
Huntly, Va.
4 = 4
Ralph McGill suggested
that if the President can
shatter the Image 4 mite
Evening star., 1959-12-28
THIS AND THAT
By CHARLES E. TRACEWELL

to find their calls and songs
really musical.
-
We believe our correspond
ent is right about the famous
cav" it is supposed to make.
We listened to some of
them in the tops Of locusts
trees north Of Chevy Chase
Circle.
The birds we're large and
glossy, and were headed for
the acres of the Chevy Chase
Club.
On their way from Rock
Creek Park. they stopped in
these trees, one very high,
another lower, and a third
about 200 yards down the
street in a tree top.
The highest crows cawed.
as we say, but actually there
was no &c" sound at all.
1t was really "aw," Just
as Mr.. L. says.
y y
Our crow is a big bird, and
he needs q great deal of food
This is the best reason for
helping him If it is possible.
In most cases, it is not pos
Sible. because this wary bird
has been so much abused
over the years that it is
always on the alert.
One Of its best tricks, in
alertness, is to stay at one
place only a little while. Then
it moves on. The waves of
the crows would make a
pretty picture, if they could
be charted. 1t would be
shown that their progress is
something like that of waves
on the seashore.
This wariness has been
forced on them. They fly in
small formations, and such
food as one finds, they all
enjoy. 1t is said that they
hold courts" and sentence
offenders and carry out ex-
ecutions, but nothing definite
has ever been proved in this
matter.
The likelihood is that, like
most living groups, they re-
sent the sick and dying, and
what seems to be a sentence
in a court is just the harass-
ing of the weak and the all
ing. If we think to censure
the crow for this, we should
think back over the history
Of the human race, and real
ize that here, too, he who is
without sin must throw the
first stone.
Evening star., 1959-12-28
Let the People Decide

The decision of the Governors Com
mission on More Equitable Representa-
ton in the Maryland General Assembly
to carry direct to the Legislature its
recommendations for reapportionment
of voting strength in that body is good
news for nearby Maryland communities.
Montgomery and Prince Georges Coun-
ties are inadequately represented at
Annapolis, considering the growth OF
population and the complexity OF prob
lens requiring legislative action. The
General Assembly owes these impor-
tant counties the more equitable rep
resentation" proposed by the Governors
commission.
The commissions report was sub
mitted first to the Maryland Legislative
Council, which refused to support the
recommendations. We agree with Com
mission Chairman William c. Walsh
that the council should not be per-
mitted to kill the reapportionment plan.
This is a matter of equal justice for all
counties that ought to be considered
by the Assembly at its next session.
anu G1lS ASSSA4AO4y OuS4lG W SuOLIllC GIlc
question to the voters-in the form of a
constitutional amendment.
Under the commissions proposal,
Montgomery and Prince Georges Coun-
ties each would elect two more members
of the House of Delegates after the 1860
census figures are announced. Balti-
more County would get three additional
delegates and Anne Arundel County
one more. There is, not Unexpectedly,
strong opposition from rural districts to
any increase in the legislative voting
strength of the urban and suburban
ara as. The country boys" do not refDh
Evening star., 1959-12-28
LETTERS TO THE STAR
A Doctors Views of the Druq Industry

The doctors Of the country
are bombarded each day with
samples which come by mail.
Considering the cost Of drugs
today. this procedure is also
wasteful because most Of
these samples are discarded
unopened. The cost Of this
waste must be passed on to
the consumer Of the drugs.
The pharmacists claim that
these procedures are neceS-
sary because doctors do not
read m dical magazines.
They are sadly mistaken, be-
cause the doctor who does not
do so soon becomes pasSe.
His competition makes this
necessary.
The employment Of detail
men is money well spent.
They are educated, trained
representatives of the drug
market, who call regularly
on doctors and inform them
in detail Of the latest ad-
vances in drug preparations.
Their calls on me throughout
many years have added to
my information and my value
to my patients.
Drugs are expensive to pre-
pare and expensive to buy,
and many times the cost Of
the prescription exceeds my
fee, but this is also true for
X-ray studies. pathological
examinations and other lab
oratory procedures. And, oh!
Let us not forget to include
hospitalizationl
James A. Cannon, Sr., MD.
Evening star., 1959-12-28

the prospect Of surrendering any Of
their powers to the "city boys" or those
representing counties near the cities.
But the issue at stake is fair rep
resentation for all areas and citizens. 1t
is an issue that deserves to be passed
on by all the people, in referendum on
the required constitutional amendment.
To deny the people the right of making
their own decision would be arbitrary
and undemocratic.
Evening star., 1959-12-28
Who Else But NeIse?'

The answer is Richard M. Nixon,
And the reason, almost certainly, lies in
the failure Of the Nelson Rockefeller
campaign" to light any fires among the
Republican rank-and-f1le.
From the beginning, 1t has been
clear that the New York Governor, to
have any chance at convention time,
would have to go over the heads Of the
g. o. P. king-makers. Far too many of
them were committed to the Vice Pres
ident. His only hope lay in the primaries
in demonstrating that he, and not Mr..
Nixon, was the party's best vote-getter.
Evidently, although his withdrawal
statement cites other reasons, the Gov
ernor's probings around the country
persuaded him that not even in the pri-
marieS could he hope to demonstrate
enough strength to take the G. o. P.
convention by storm. There was sub
Stantial evidence to support this view
in the seven-State swing which Mr..
Rockefeller completed Just a week ago.
Here and there the reception was good.
For the most part, however, his audi
enceS were polite, perhaps even friendly,
but there was no sign Of the kind of
enthusiasm which sets the prairieS aflre.
The not-too-felicitous campaign slogan
Who Else But NelSe?"-never met
with the hoped-for response. Plainly, or
at least enough so to convince Mr.. Rookie
feller, the rank-andflle as well as the
party chiefs preferred Mr.. Nixon. And
so the Governor has bowed out-perhaps
in the hope that the political climate
will be more favorable four years from
now.
The immediate and most obvious
result is to make the Vice President a
shoo-in for the nomination. This is not
without its political disadvantages, for
it definitely identifies the target and
enables the opposition to train their big
guns on Mr.. Nixon.
On balance, however, it seems to us
that the Vice President gains rather
than loses. He is not the kind of man to
mark time. Spared the prospect OF what
Mr.. Rockefeller called massive" pre-
convention struggle, Mr.. Nixon can be
expected to get on with the important
business of organizing and training the
party troops for the general election
campaign. This is important, since the
existence of an implacable, If unmeas-
urable, anti-Nixon sentiment can hard
ly be questioned. The Vice President
will have to strive nightly to overcome
this feeling among liberal" Republican
and independent voters. And. in this
effort he will need Mr.. Rockefeller'S un-
Stinted support if he can get it. The
Governors announcement that II expect
to support" the party'S nominees raises
some small doubt on this score. But the
doubt, it seems to us, would be greater
If the ranks had to be closed after
series of all-out primary fights between
the two men.
Evening star., 1959-12-28
EyoIuotinq Teachers
San Francisco.

In your editorial comment
on the proposed evaluation
of D. c. public schoolteachers
you did not give all sides of
this question the attention
you should have. You assume
that there is something
wrong with the present sys-
tenn because so few teachers
have been dismissed for in
efficiency. The most obvious
explanation for this is that
the Washington public
schools have had very few
inefficient teachers. Instead
Of noting that, however, some
people assume that this can
not be true and, consequently,
look for some more far
fetched and obscure reason
for the situation that pre-
walls. The simple fact is that
the qualifications for secur-
ing q permanent appoint
ment in the District schools
are high and a rigorous proc
ess Of selection weeds out
those who are likely to be
unfit. Therefore, not many
teachers have to be removed
for incompetence. It is as
simple at that. There is no
need to look for a complicated
explanation, when such a
clear and simple reason is
apparent.
The argument that profess
sional people like teachers
should be periodically evalu-
ated does not rest on a very
solid foundation. Doctors and
lawyers do not have to go
through periodic evaluations
to remain in their profession.
1t is certainly strange for
people to think that teach
ers should be made to sub
NIT to this, when other pro-
fesSional persons do not
undergo it. Likewise, no one
assumes that because COM
paratively few lawyers are
disbarred. the legal profession
is negligent in policing it's
membership. The fact that
relatively few physicians have
their licenses revoked for
malpractice does not lead
people to think that the med
ical profession is guilty of
negligence. In both cases, the
plain fact is that qualifica-
tions and standards for en-
tering the professions are
very high and unfit members
are, accordingly, compara-
lively few. The same is the
simple truth about Washing
ton public schoolteachers.
Don B. GOOdlOe,
Legislative Representa-
tive Of Teachers Union
No. 6, American Fed
Aration Of Teachers.
Evening star., 1959-12-28

Senator Kefauver's COM
mittee has developed facts
concerning the high cost Of
medicinal preparations, and
the general impression Of the
newspaper reader Is that
the pharmaceutical manu-
facturer bears a resemblance
to the robber barons Of old.
In most human affairs there
are unethical corner-cutters,
and this may be true among
the pharmaceutical compa-
nies, but I am sure they are
mostly honest. God-fearing
business ssmen who have
hearts which are Influenced
to compassion for the less
fortunate. They maintain
expensive buildings, STATS of
scientific investigators. large
payrolls and other incidental
expense which every busi-
ness must meet.
Many ingredients Of phar-
maceutical preparatio o MS
must be imported in their
crude form and dissected in
order to obtain the element
which is therapeutically ac-
tive. The finished product
must be tried on many ami
mails and tested by leading
United States physicians
over a long period Of time
before 1t is allowed to oc-
cupy space on the shelves Of
your local pharmacist.
I recall the time Of the
discovery Of penicillin. which
is a fungus. In order to grow
it, large buildings were con-
Structed for its cultivation.
Evening star., 1959-12-28

Only the peripheral fringe Of
the large mass Of the growth
is therapeutically potent.
The production of the drug
was very expensive. The cost
to the patient was necessar-
lily high. To treat a typical
case Of pneumonia the cost
Of the drug was about 5000.
Today such q case requiring
the same number of units
is approximately IS. The law
Of supply and demand and
the absorption Of the cost
of new buildings and new
machinery made this reduc-
ton in price possible.
The costs Of advertising
by the pharmaceutical houses
have been criticized. I criti-
cize these myself. The utili-
zation Of medical magazines
is proper, and the employ
ment Of detail men is neces-
sary to acquaint the doctor
with new developments which
will benefit his patients. I
do not go along with the
voluminous mail. whi ch
usually finds its way promptly
to the wastebasket. I do
not exaggerate when I say
that every mail brings to my
desk at least six expensive
brochures on six different
preparations. These over
crowd the mails and serve no
particular purpose. When you
consider that my experience
is shared by the thousands
Of doctors in the country,
you must conclude that there
is waste Of money and labor.
Evening star., 1959-12-28

boxes and naked natives" as
an image Of Africa and Asia
in the American mind, he
will have done much to help
us understand the "hurri-
cane winds Of revolution"
sweeping through much of
the world. Too much time has
been spent in the missionary
zeal to save the souls of brown
and black folk. Much more
could be done for the spread
of democracy and Christian
ity among the Fascist condi-
toned elements in our own
country which give susie
nance to the bombers Of
synagogues and churches and
the mob violence against COL
ored citizens who seek only
to exercise their duties and
rights as American citizens.
Some editors have inter-
preted the reception given
our President as indication
that these colored races are
not swayed by reports of
Americas indifference to the
rights Of its own colored cit
izens. On the other hand the
huge ovationS given our
President may be due to the
Supreme Court antisegrega-
tion decisions, the vigor of
the Presidents action in
Little Rock, the integrated
armed forces and athletic
groups, and the idealism Of
Patrick Henry, Thomas JEFF
ferson and Abraham Lincoln
typif1ed in an American
President.
President Eisenhower, hav-
ing witnessed the tremendous
surge of the colored peoples
of the world toward reali-
zation Of the dreams of free
dom and liberty that mott
waited our own Revolution,
can do much in the next few
m o n this, as Representative
Diggs has suggested, by visit
ing the South on a mission
of personal diplomacy" in
behalf of bettering race re-
lations. This mission might
be as helpful towards world
peace as was his mission
abroad.
E. B. Henderson,
Chairman, Press & Publicity,
Virginia State NAACP.
Evening star., 1959-12-28
WSTAS IN SCIENCE
By THOMAS R. HENRY
Non-Humon Brain Tests to Aid Men

the insect brain. There, in
some way, all are co-ordi-
mated to form a picture of
the environment. There is
nothing of the sort in the
vision pattern Of birds or
mammals. Perhaps they have
grown beyond it. They never
would have needed anything
Of the sort. Insect vision has
evolved along quite different
lines, presumably in response
to need.
Now each of the omma-
tidae, the German biologists
have found, has an extreme
sensitivity to light. They re-
Spond, one after the other, to
any object passing before
their fields, or past which
they fly. And, they have
demonstrated, this gives the
beetle an extraordinary sense
OF the time lag in such an
event. The sensitivity can
easily be appreciated with
several hundreds, or perhaps
even thousands, Of distinc-
tive points in so small an
area as an insect eye re-
spending one after the other.
How Eye Functions
But this, the Tubingen
professors have reported, is
only the beginning. The eye,
per Sc, doesn't see or doesn't
coordinate anything. That
all must be done back in the
brain of bug or man. In the
visual area Of the beetle brain
there must be an "analyzer"
OF some sort which co-ordi-
mates the succession Of mi
mute electrical impulses COM
ing from the ommatidae into
a sense of time as well as
into a visual picture. Pre-
sumably the analyzer is some
sub-microscopically minute
clump of brain cells.
1t so happens that an in
strument which would do this
is just what the Air Force
needs. 1t could be of inesti-
mable value especially in in
dicated landing speeds and
might prevent crack-ups. AL
ready some progress, based
on the beetle-eye studies, has
been made in this direction
by putting photo-sensitive
cells in the front and back of
the craft, connected with an
analyzer of some sort.
Admittedly, however, this
is very crude compared to
the mechanism the beetle has
been given by nature. I'm
provement will wait upon a
far clearer understanding of
the insect speed-judging ap-
paratus. The Tubingen work.
erS are concerned especially
with the nature of the brain
analyzer.
But. point out the Air Force
Office Of Research and De-
velopment scientists, all this
may be only an opening door
into Investigations through
all the vast field Of lower
animal abilities and possi-
bilities Of duplicating them.
Evening star., 1959-12-28

The United States Air
Force is sponsoring intensive
Investigations of the brains
Of lower animals.
Some Of these have inborn
abilities for fine discrimina-
ton which science, with its
finest instruments has not
been able to approach. With
full understanding of the re-
sponsible brain and sensory
mechanisms it may be pos
sible to make mechanical du-
plications. It's not such a
long call, after all, from the
snake in the grass to roads
among the stars.
At present most Of the
work is concentrated on the
eye and brain Of the beetle,
among the more primitive of
bugs whose cerebral mechan-
isms probably have not
reached the complexity Of
those Of more sophisticated
insects. From this research,
now under way at the ancient
German university of Tubin-
gen, it is hoped to evolve
much more sensitive devices
for measuring speeds under
certain circumstances than
now exist.
RattIesnake Perceptive
The animal abilities have
been evolved, the Air Force
scientists explain, through
milleniums Of evolution to
1it creatures for their own
inches in creation. An ex-
cellent example, they point
out, is the extreme sensi-
tivity Of the rattlesnake to
temperature differences of
much less than a hundredth
Of a degree. This has been
demonstrated by exposing
two black balls, one warmer
than the other to a degree
which can be measured only
with extremely delicate in
struments, before a hungry
snake. Invariably it strikes
at the warmer ball. Develop
ment of this ability for fine
heat discrimination preSum-
ably has been a consider
able factor in survival of the
rattlesnake species. Be-
cause of it no venom is
wasted on non-living objects
in nature. There are many
other examples. Fish, for in
stance, have an extreme SEN
sitivity to unbelievably min
ute changes in the intensity
Of electric currents.
The present beetle eye
brain study results from ear
lier studies Of Drs. Hasen-
stein and Reichert, Tubingen
professors. Beetles, like all
other insects, have COM
pound eyes - that is, eyes
made Of literally thousands
of sub-microscopically min
ute lenses known as omma-
tidae. Each acts, in a sense,
as an independent unit,
sending its own impulses
back to the visual center in
Evening star., 1959-12-28

many Soviet spies here,
Americans will be displaced
persons.
But will Soviet Russia "cul-
turally exchange" her slaves
chains for their freedom?
Elizabeth Llppitt.
Cav Et,.n - alnmA
Evening star., 1959-12-28

@. What kind of plant is
Borage? HID.
A. Borage (Borago off,
cinalis) is a rank-growing
herb about two feet high,
which is often classed as a
weed. It's grey-green foliage is
rough and the stalks have long
singing hairs. The flowers,
which are especially attrac-
tive to bees, are beautiful
sky-blue q flve-pointed stags
nearly avH!nch across.
Evening star., 1959-12-28
Cultural EXCHANGE

The United States and
Russia are busy exchanging
culture" Broadway actors
will now do the "Minsk to
Pinsk" circuit. Instead of
"uncultured" vacations with
ma and pa down on the farm,
Americans will be guests in
their Uncle Niki's Kremlin
cultured" murder head
quarters.
They'll also exchange SCI
entif1c data. For United
States nuclear information,
the Soviets promise the Sc
cret recipe for borscht.
There's to be direct air
service between New York
and Moscow. There'll be so