davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1961-05-08
SHEPARD'S STORY
Reporters Question
Astronout on Trip

so many technical things on
my mind at that point that I
didn't assess any Of the feel
ings. l was surprised at the
lift-off, that the ignition Of the
Redstone and the lift-off we're
as smooth as they were. /
really had expected more noise
and more vibration. Fortunate
ly. we had provided enough
padding around the earphones
in the helmet. 50 the noise was
not q problem, and the old
Redstone itself was smooth
enough so that 1t was q very
pleasant lift-off.
Explains Turbulence
@. Comdr. Shepard, the skip
per Of the small plane recovery
ship on which some Of us rode
told us that in conversation
with you you said that you ex-
perienced some unexpected
senhations duriny the booster
phase Of the flight. and he i'm
piled that you said at two
points there was a turbulence
that was unexpected. I gather
what you meant was that be-
fore the flight instruments like
the centrifuge and so forth had
given you a preview Of what
you might expect these other
things were unexpected. Is
that so?
| A. I am sorry. that is not
quite correct. I am sorry that
it was taken in that context.
What I wah referring to at that
time were two specific points
in the flight plan which we had
judged ahead Of time to be
rather difficult from the stand
point Of stress on the bird. one
being the transonic region
around Mach-1. and the other
being the region Of maximum
dynamic pressure. that is, a
combination Of air molescules
and speed.
We knew Of these areas
ahead Of time from the pre-
vious flight. We just didn't
know how we'll we would react.
Fortunately we found out that
we reacted very well.
Beautiful View
@. Commander, when you
were up in the sky. you said
What a beautiful sight"
Where were you when you
made that remark; where were
you and what did see?
A. Well. the remark was
made Just after I had been do
ing some experimental ma
neuvers. using the manual han
die to control the movements
of the capsule. At this point
our flight plan called for q
look through the periscope to
assess our ability to then fly
targets-identity targets. con-
troll the attitude of the capsule
and so forth, using the peri
scope alone.
= I had been pretty we'll briefeo
on the land masses as they
should appear and the clouc
cover as 1t should have ap.
peared, and l. had seen pic.
lures which we had tried tc
use to portray this view.
But when first looked from
the instrument panel. using q
gyroscopic indication, down
to the periscope itself, / must
admit It sort Of took my breath
away. It was q beautiful view
Describes Decellerati0n
/ @. Commander, do you have
anay idea Of the rate Of onset
Of your decelleration, the ac-
tual rate?
A. Do you mean in feet pei
second?
@. Yes.
A. We went to a maximum oi
a little over II G. assI recall
The total time period from o c
to II and back to / was,
think, 80 seconds. They haven
let me see records of the flight
yet. They are down in tht
-
Evening star., 1961-05-08

emphasized the I'VE" of Prof.
ect Mercury. Twice he brought
/ up the team character of the
effort, once in response to an
accolate by House Speaker
Rayburn to this great hero OF
our time and his lovely
lady" and once to an encomium
by Vice President Johnson.
IT wish I could say it all In
just one word" Comdr. Shep-
ard responded to Mr.. Rayburn's
introduction. I'VE feel we have
quite a story to tell. Mr.. Gil
ruth and my colleagues are
here in town to try to tell II
to you today. just a little later"
| Introduced by johnson
Mr.. johnson introduced the
astronaut by saying:
"All Americans and all free-
dom loving people everywhere
are proud of Comdr Sheppard
We're glad he went, and we're
glad he came back. We are
proud Of him and we are proud
of the system of government
we have that could produce a
young man like this and an
event like this"
Comdr. Shepard replied:
II can see Immediately that
the Vice President IS a hard
man to follow, even in view Of
the achievement we all had last
Friday.
I'VE feel that it is most signi-
ficant that the event, and those
to follow in Project Mercury
will be made available to all
who wish access to them. Thank
you very much"
Late Luncheon
After the news conference
which was expected to las
about an hour, NASA admins
traitor and Mrs. Webb were tt
give a belated luncheon II
Comdr. Shepard's honor.
Six of the Astronauts wert
scheduled to leave Washington
late today. The seventh, Col
Glenn, is expected to go to hi
home at 1888 North Harrison
street, Arlington, for q reunion
with his family.
Comdr. and Mrs. SheparC
: and their relatives will fly u
, Langley Air Force Base, Va.
} so they can return to his Vir
/ ginia Beach home. The othe
: Astronauts will fly to Patricl
= Air Force Base, Fla, near Cap
D Canaveral, and will rejoin thet
families at the resort town o
Cocoa Beach.
!. The Astronaut's day in tn
e spotlight began at 9:33 am. a
Andrews Az Force Base. Abou
Evening star., 1961-05-08

memory, so I wouldn't have
any other outside influences
We hope in q few days to be
able to look at the record and
compare them.
@. What was the worst part
of your flight?
A. / don't think we had any
bad moments at all.
Bet on Stars
@. I understand that you had
a bet with Col. Glenn about your
ability to recognize any con.
stellations. wonder If you did
and did you spot any constella'
tions, and what was the bet
also?
A. John, do you want to tel
them about that?
1t. Col. John H. Glenn
Actually this got misconstruet
along the line into a DISPUTE
between Alan and me. Actually
it was Gus and I who were dis
cussing the stars at this time
| I should kick it over to Gus.
We had wondered wnethe
we could see the stars. I lei
that we probably could even Of
a. short flight like this,
AL did try and see tn star
out through the window, an
| I am still claiming foul becaus
! 1 claimed there was not enoug
time left for his eyes to adar
at that time and Gus claim
this is final proof at the mo
ment.
I am going to have to pa
off with a steak dinner that "
did bet on this, I guess, but
am looking forward to late
flights when we can prove ths
we can see stars. and l will 81
q double dinner back.
Question on Selection
@. Comdr. Shepard, I want
ask you-maybe this has bee
used before, I don't know-wi
you tell us, If you know, VIII
YOU were picked, and is ,thei
any reason for the fact tht
most OF you are about the sam
height and that you are NJ
very tall?
A. I am afraid that I mu'
disqualify myself hen it come
to answering that particuli
question. I don't know wheth'
Mr.. Gilbruth would care
comment or not. (Mr. Gilrut
did not comment)
@. Can you tell us why yc
were picked or can he tell u.s.
A. I say we disqualified ou
selves.
Gilruth-I would like to al
you to relax on that queStio
I think it is very obvious th'
we did a good lob.
@. Alan, how difficult WI
the overall ride than what W
had previously experienced fro
training?
A. The overall ride was act,
: ally very close to what we HI
predicted. Fortunately, as "
know. we had two similar col
figurations, that is the Mercu
capsule and RedStone. to she
! us the way.
, This, combined with the pr
cedures, trainers, as we CT
, 1t. which is a glorified III
8 trainer. navigational traint
3 from the standpoint of lear
! ing times and sequence
/, events, actually proved to
v a very good training device.
that I really didn't feel u
comfortable or embarrassed
any time during the flight.
@. Could you explain to
y how you felt during that II
e minutes of weightlessnes
, Could you lift your hand
Did it have any effect on 20
: A. All of a sudden durt
d the period of weightleSSness
r realized that somebody was g
= ing to ask me that question.
o So I said to myself, you h
e better figure out an answer
r Seriously, as we have SO
= before, during the short pt
e iods OF weightlessness that
Evening star., 1961-05-08

AStrondut Alan B. Shepdrd's
press conference here this
afternoon:
Comdr. Shepard-Before I
make a short statement / would
like to introduce some further
members Of the audience. II
they will please stand and turn
around as I introduce them. My
wife. Louise Shepard. My
mother and father, Mr.. and
Mrs. Shepard. My sister, Polly.
My mother and father-in-law,
Mr.. and Mrs, Brewer.
I really hadn't planned on
saying anything today. /
thought 1t was to be more OF a
question -and-anSwer period d
which I understood we are to
get to in just a few minutes.
I am told that possibly to set
the stage I should say a few
words, make a statement Of
some kind. and I think most
Of the details Of my flight have
been pretty we'll covered from
the standpoint Of how far we
went and how fast we went.
and no wmuch weightless time,
how the recovery went. and how
the strenuous debriefing went.
I think If you have any detail
questions on specific parts of
hte flight that we can entertain
those throughout the course
Of this hour.
Significant Facts
I would like to say. however
that we feel there several sig
nificant things about this
flight. Several Of these state
ments have already been made
otday at the White House and
on Capitol Hill. At the risk Of
repetition, however, I will say
that we will feel very strongly
that this particular flight was
one which was certainly ac-
complished in the open.
We had very few secrets
about our plans. Mostly launch
dates were classified. but very
little else vas.
This has been q little annoy
ing to us at times, but I think
we all rationalized with the
thought that the free demo-
cratic society which produced
us, and which produced Project
Mercury flights, certainly had
a right to be presented In such
a fashion.
The second thought I would
like to make at this point Is
that we are very proud Of the
manner in which the program
was planned from the start ant
In which certain tendencies tc
speed up at times. because oi
other events. were carefully
considered and evaluated, some.
times were taken and some.
times were discarded.
I think the proof Of that /,
In the fact that Fridays flight
showed. short though 1t was
we found we were able to do
as we understood 1t. a great
number Of things during thai
short period Of time.
Capsule Was Controlled
For example. we actually.
I actually controlled, In this
case, the vehicle. its position
during the retro-firing. We con.
trolled 1t during the re-entry
and of course provided the
back-up for the mechanica.
systems aboard the capsule.
All In all. we are very much
pleased with the flight. We are
very much encouraged by 1t
and we plan to press ahead witt
the best possible speed Il
the successful completion o.
Project Mercury as we nov
know 1t.
! I think possibly at this poin,
we might entertain your ques-
tions. -
Q. Commander, would 70,
mind giving us briefly how vol
felt at the time of ignition
aside from the technical thing
that were on your mind?
A. Quite frankly, there werI
, 1961-01-21
PRIVILEGES FROM THE FLOOR
Are there any Priv

MR.. REESE: Mr.. Chairman.
H PRESIDENT: Senator Reese.
Mr.. REESE: Sometime ago, Mr. Chairman, / re-
IqueSted, through the Chair, a report on Widlife activities
in the Virgin Islands q think one George Seaman is in
charge of these activities) this was about a month ago and
as OF now, / haven't received any copies OF the report. /
don't know if the Chair did. AS understand it, the person
in charge is required, every month, to submit a report on
these activities ... Here the Chair inquired from the
Executive Secretary if such reports were submitted QThe
Wp7I7Msu9 6I7A!4eWI!JJe seM ou!ls7nb
H PRESIDENT: The report was received. Sena-
tor. A letter of transmittal, with a copy Of the Report, was
received and read into the Journal. Maybe you were not
here at the time.
Mr.. REESE: | was not absent, Mr.. Chairman, dur
ing this Regular Session. / would appreciate seeing that
report.
Turning to another subject, Mr.. Chairman, in the cor
respondence which were read here, there was one from
the immigration and Naturalization Service proposing an
exchange of space downstairs of this building between the
Department of Social Welfare and the immigration and
Naturalization Service Sub-Ofhce.
Nj. Chairman, the District Court Building, as far as
I understand, belongs to the Federal Government. The I'm
migration and Naturalization Service is a Federal agency
and that Agency was once occupying the building upstairs
of Bolero, Inc. / think at that time they were paying rent
and they used that as justification for requesting and OBJ
tanning space in the District Court Building where the
Virgin Islands Cooperative has been housed for many
years. The Virgin Islands Cooperative, at that time, was
forced to relinquished half of the area which it was using.
The place was p%artitioned and it is now shared between
the immigration and Naturalization Service and the Vir-
gin Islands Cooperative.
Since that is a Federal Building, and the Immigration
and Naturalization Service is a Federal Agency, think no
rent is charged to that Agency. Now, | think they have re-
quested additional space.
When the Cooperative was about to go out Of business
| think somebody wanted to buy it out but he was
skeptical about purchasing the outfit lock, stock and barrel
because he thought he would eventually have to give up
that space.
use some space of the Senate Building-the bottom floor.
In order to do that it will be necessary to remove some
division of the Department Of Social Welfare. MI. Chair
man, the local governments of today-is still paving
rent to house certain Offices. You have the Tax Assessors
Ofice-the Department Of Property and Procurement
hey are paying rent to people here because they need
, 1961-01-21
LEGISLATIVE RECORD.

Mr.. Walter /. M. Hodge
Legislature Of the Virgin Islands
Senate Chambers 0.s
St. Thomas V. /. of U.SA.
Dear Sir:
The Officers Of the St. Thomas v. /. Sportsman Association
sic is advising you that the Meeting to be held in the
Senate Chambers on May "a at $50 Pm. Legislature of
the Virgin Islands St. Thomas VI. or. the Bill No. lll83.
Act to Revise Amend and Re-enact on Conservation Wild
life in the Virgin Islands. That A Committee (sc) OF
Sportsman and Hunters will be present at this Meeting as
to give their opinion in regards to this Bill.
We Sincerely Thank you
Sincerely yourse (sic)
Louis A. Olive.
(Sgd) Louis A. Olive
President Of the ST. Thomas vi
Sportsman Association
BOTS SCOUTS OF AMERICA
Virgin Islands District Committee
Charlotte Amalie
ST. Thomas, Virgin Islands
May %, 1860
Hon Volter /. M. Hodge
President --4 =
re Of the Virgin Islands !
st. Thomas, Virgin Islands -
Dear So:
1t is a pleasure for me to report to you, and to the
membe.s of the Virgin Islands Legislature, that MIR. Ray
monI Snider of Buffalo, New York, entered upon duty on
AnriI /, 1860. as District Scout Executive for the Virgin
Islands.
Mr.. Snider has been recommended for this assign
ment by the Regional Office, Boy Scouts OF America, after
that Office had interviewed him and other prospective can
didates. Mr.. Snider comes to US with experience IN the
field by previous assignment in Monclalr, New jersey. he
IS a veteran Of the Korean Conflict and a graduate OF
Niagara University.
The Boy Scout Program in the Virgin Islands has
been fortunate in securing the services of a fulltime work
er through the kindness of the Legislature. During the
1859 Regular Session, funds we're appropriated for this
purpose and is being reviewed by the Department OF
Education.
We again request the sympathetic consideration Of
the legislature to again provide a similar grant in the
amount Of 5000 in order that the work now begun may
be continued.
Sincerely,
Sod Ullmont I. James
, 1961-01-21
Ullmont L. James,, Chairman
v. I. District Committee ~

". IoIINC-OOHIIIVV
PRIVILEGES FROM THE FLOOR
THE PRESIDENT: Hodge,: Are there any Priv
leges of the Floor at this time?
Mr.. REESE: Nj. Chairman.
THE PRESIDENT: Senator Reese.
Evening star., 1961-12-06
OTHER TV
HIGHLIGHTS

l1:OO, WTTG (5)-PM East
Producer Hal Prince and
George Abbot. Thelma Rit-
ter, Tom Bosley, Larry Kent
Eileen Rogers, Lee Becker
Phyllis Thaxter, Elizabeth
Ashley.
11:2O, WTOP (9)-The Late
Show. The Bride Goes
Wild" A writer who hates
kids has to borrow an or
phan in order to win a New
England school teacher. Van
Johnson, June Allysor
Q948).
1880, WMAL (0-First-run
Movie. Phantom Lady" A
man is convicted of murder
ing his wife. Franchot Tone
Ella Raines d954.
1900. WTTG (5-PM West
Suicide. Part H."
Evening star., 1961-12-06
EDUCATIONAL N
(CHANNEL 26)

6:45-The Friendly Giant.
7:O0-What's New. Children
Mr.. Fixit and other features
7:30-SpaniSh.
8:0O-Heritage. Music. Com
poser Walter Piston.
8:3O-Language and Linguis-
tics. DR.. Henry Lee Smith
jr.
9:OO-Eastern Wisdom. Phi.
losophy. Pain" Alan Watts
9:3O-College News Confer
ence. V. K. KriShna, Indiar
Defense Minister and chair.
man of the Indian delega.
ton to the United Nations
is guest.
Tomorrow
lin SchOOD
9:45-Parlons Francois.
10:1O-Language Arts Fourth
fifth. sixth grades.
1:25-Science S.
2:00-Art and Music (first
second. third grades.
2:40-Parlons Francois.
Evening star., 1961-12-06

Sullivan to Disney, to cite one
case) and the best sign of all,
the growing number of fine
shows whose impact is con-
siderably enhanced by color.
(For why else should you put
out for color?)
y -
Lou Hazam's Japan: East or
West?, with Ed Newman re-
porting. is the latest case in
point. This absorbing docu-
mentary study Of modern
Japan monday, NBC-4 was
fabulous in color-from the
opening shot of the monks
swinging that teakwood boom
against a huge bell II kept
thinking, in turn, of J. Arthur
Rank and La Plume de ma
Tantej to the Neon-Jungle of
downtown Tokyo to the in
credibly lovely gardens in
Kyoto. Camera trickery: the
breath-taking appearance of
the child's face besides what
we had thought. until that
moment. was a life-size tree
1t was a miniature, of course,
only a few inches high.
This is the same Lou Hazam
who produced the Van Gogh-
Self Portrait special few weeks
ago, a show for which the color
was well-nigh indispensable.
That's two in row for Ha-
zam this season; both shows
should be up there battling for
awards.
Some of the other documen-
tary makers might we'll study
the overall balance of his shows;
the skillful wedding of words
and pictures and ideas. TV
documentary makers, on the
whole. have taken such tre-
mendous technical strides in
the past few seasons that they
overpower their subject. "The
World of Billy Graham" (also
NBC) was technically a near
effort; but the script
ing, on the other hand, lacked
perspective and depth.
\ = \
UNSOLICITED TESTIMON-
IAL DEPT: Our Gal Friday told
a cabbie she wanted to go to
the National Theater (for the
"Fiorello" opening Monday &.
Why are you going to the thea
ter tonight?" the cabbie asked,
with Ben Casey on!"
(Wasn't a bad show, either
particularly for that brisk BAN
ter between Ben and the psy-
chiatrist. But wasn't the wife
really sicker than her hus-
bandO
Evening star., 1961-12-06

In color, the color picking up
when the Kansas cyclone de-
posits Judy and her house
in OZ.
Why no color? The answer
is probably as simple as the
fact that extra cost is involved.
1t is a cost which CHS. which
is no longer in the color or
set manufacturing business, is
not about to absorb.
So how about color? When
will CHS and ABC join NBC?
At the risk of sounding like
a shill, I don't see how they can
keep out much longer. The
prediction may put us on the
same limb with RCA's own
Wizard of Or. General Sarnoff,
who has been up there for
about six years, annually and
fearlessly predicting break
throughs, but the signs are in
creasingly meaningful.
For example, there have been
some funny things happening
in the surveys this season.
MICS Bonanza a flop on Sat-
urdays against the powerful
Perry Mason series, shifted to
Sunday mig hts, inheriting
Dinah shores color spot, and
Immediately proceeded to daz-
zle the network with its Top
Ten showing. It's no better a
show than it was before and
the CHS opposition (GE The
ater and Jack Benny was
supposed to take it easily. Is
it possible that Bonanza not
only took its own following on
Saturdays. but added a hard
core of color fans conditioned
by Dinah Shores long-running
series?
MICS overall position this
season has improved consider
ably. How much of this is due
to color?
Other signs: the entry of
other set manufacturers in the
field; sponsor interest in color
Eastman Kodak's switch from
Evening star., 1961-12-06

opinions are offered as a guide to area DieWerS
Steve AenEeven quick backouts without dialogue start
things off, The most amusing sketch of the evening has
Allen quizzng Carl Reiner, "a who hates to make
living" and bird barber at the unemployment office
Report to the Nation kids mems fashions Rener plays
one of the worlds best dressed men, and Allen
brief film clip of himself Benny Goodman in the old
movie, "The Benny Goodman Story" Also, the Hios,
Marlyn Maye and the Smothers Bros. take of the
singing 1880 pm. WNdAL--7
Golden ShOwcaseThe Picture of Dorian Gray" Stay with
this one gets better 1t goes along. There is tre
mendouSy effective between Dorian John Fraser)
and Basil Halward ous Hayward, the painter, in which
the artist is exposed to what's been happening to his
masterpiece George c. Scott the glib Lord Henry Is
"epgrammaticaly" mscast Despite the rather sketchy
adaptation the overall effect is pleasantly hypnotic $3.50
pm. WTOP-9.
Perry COmOeorge Sanders Is In good form Perrys pre-
Christmas show uncomfortable of course but game He
has to sing chldrens songs with Perry do dance with
Bunny" and Groom I'm An Old Cowhand" when
the Texas Salute around Also Sandy Stewart solos
to "Sngn' In the RAIN" and Perry closes with "The
Rosary" COLOR pm, WRC-.
Bob Newhart-Bob pokes little fun at the Russians playing
member of the Moscow body removal detail with body
Red Square its hands Later Newhart visuaizes
future TV domestic comedy series entitled Make Room
Prexy which takes place in the White House where
the head man lovabe bumbling. The Modernaires
the musical guests. (Color) 10 pm. WRC-4.
David Brinkeys Journal-Brnkleys at his most ronic to-
night with subject show His scene Is Omaha Beach
in Normandy today; his people German and an
American veteran both of whom fought there D-Day
in 1914 and return to 1t after veritable lifetime Of
cimactc changes postwar. COLOR 1890 pm, WRC-4
Jack Paar ShowThe always fascinating and informative
political essays Dr. Albert Burke visits with Jack again
tonight Pat Carroll is also hand for the ad bbng and
Judy Lynn for the songs COLOR ll:3O pm, WRC-4.
Evening star., 1961-12-06
ON THE AIR
Some Thoughts
About Color TV
BY BERNIE HARRISON
Star TV Critic

This is Color Day TV and usual the hue and cry
remains NBC exclusive. In fact WTOP called this week
to regrefuy note that CHS would no-repea NOTteevse
Judy Gaands The Wizard of o. movie Sunday
it did before.
Most of that fine old McM movie its fans will recall is
Evening star., 1961-12-06
TV KEY PREVIEWS

Tontghts top shoDs as preuie,ped BY TV Keys staff,
who attend rehedrsdIs match screenings anGlyse
scripts in NeW York, Hollywood and elsewhere Their
opinions are offered as guide to piewers