SIX MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE
Tirnday. Mtrch 21, 1950
f tw , , , - r
(Acme Teiepholo
'PEACE BUT NOT AT ANY PRICE' Speaking to a hushed audience of 8000 persons, Jammed Into
the Men's Gymnasium at the University of California In Berkeley, Secretary ot 8tate Dean Acheson
warns the U. S. S. R. that the United States cannot b:gln any negotiations until convinced of Russia's good
Intensions, He said the U. 8 "wants peace but not at any price" and challenged the Soviet to enter
Into a seven-point program to end the cold war.
Scientists of America Worried
Over Hydrogen Bomb Destruction
(Editor's note: The Amfrlran so
ciety of Newspaper Editors' Commit
tee on Atomic Information. In rol
Uboratlon with the bulletin of the
atomic scientists, hn prepared six
artlclea on tho A-bomb and H-bomb.
The followlnl ll the flrit Uie hy
drogen bomb distributed by the
United Press.)
A great number of America's
top scientists are worried.
They are worried by the new
means of destruction that may
soon be given to man in the hy
drogen bomb.
They fear that Americans
have not been told what this and
other new weapons can do to
them . . . and that Americans are
not deciding and not even being
given the means to decide how
to behave in a world that con
tains these new weapons.
The scientists fear that wheth
er or not a hydrogen bomb can
be built, the total of all modern
weapons is ffecting our nation's
security so rapidly that congress
men and generals and the people
are being left far behind.
Could Be Eva Of War -
Many fear that 1950 could be
the eve of war, and that America
is not properly using science to
prevent or win it.
Three weeks ago a represent
ative of a publication called the
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
visited a mldwestern editor,
chairman of the committee on
atomic information of the
American Society of Newspaper
Editors.
The representative carried a
sheaf of magazine proofs the
pages of the still-unpublished
March issue of the Bulletin of
the Atomic Scientists.
A scientist who worked on
the war's Manhattan project ed
its the Bulletin. Scientists and
scientist-educators like J. Rob
ert Oppenheimer. Albert Ein
stein, Harold C. Urcy and Lee A.
Dubrldge, president of the Cali
fornia Institute of Technology,
are its sponsors.
"For four years," the visitor
said, "scientists maintained a
self-imposed censorship on talk
of the H-bomb. They were re
luctant to foster any belief that
America was actively develop
ing such weapons, for fear of
stimulating the arms race and
further straining world relations.
"But now the lid has come off.
Now they feel they must talk.
"They do not all agree on the
issues, but they all agree that
Americans ought to be thinking
and talking. How can we give
the people this message?
The editor conferred with col
leagues all over the country. The
result is this scries.
Its purpose is only to report
what the scientists are saying
and to raise, as the scientists are
now raising, a number of ques
tions. The Bulletin of the Atomic Sci
entists started raising these
questions in late 1945. In June,
1947, the Bulletin put a clock
on its cover, the hands stopped
at eight minutes to midnight to
mark the little - time that re
mained to solve nuclear fission's
immense human problems.
Last October, when President
Truman announced Russia's
atomic explosion, the hands
moved four more minutes ahead.
H-Bomb Issue)
Today, finally, there appears
the Bulletin's March issue; an
H-bomb Issue with discussion by
top men of science, including
men being called on to build this
new weapon.
It is only by chance, the Bul
letin reminds us, that we know
of the H-bomb at all. "It was
left to the naive and monument
al Indiscretion of Senntor John
son, and obvious leaks of offi
cial information to journalists
such as the Alsup brothers to
precipitate public discussion,"
says the Bulletin.
Sen. Edwin C. Johnson (D.,
Colo.), member of the Joint con
gressional committee on atomic
energy, had appeared on a tele
vision program and been asked
if there was not too much atomic
secrecy.
No, he replied, not enough,
saying:
"Now our scientists already
have created a bomb that has
six times the effectiveness of the
bomb dropped at Nagasaki, and
they're not satisfied at all. They
want one that has a thousand
times the effect of that terrible
bomb that snuffed out the lives
of 50.000 people Just like that.
"And that's the secret that's
the big secret that the scientists
in America are so anxious to di
vulge." Scientists Gulp
The scientists, who had said
nothing, gulped. For better or
worse, the secret was out.
For worse, say some scientists
a group of 12 for whom Cor
nell's Dr. Hans Bethe, important
H-bomb consultant, is a principal
A Nichols' Worth of
Comment On This and That
By HARMAN
Unite! Pru
Washington, Mar. 21 U.PJ
The first day of spring is Just up
the road. And like as not that'll
mean house
1A
Wm
Barman Nichols
cleaning time
In the light
houses of our
shores.
The job will
be done by the
keepers' wom
en folks un
sung and un
paid heroines.
Wives of the
keepers have
been acting as
assistants 'for
years without
drawing
spokesman
Bethe believes that the reasons i
which induced scientists to im
pose their self-censorship are
still valid. He believes Senator
Johnson and others who quickly
took up the discussion have dam
aged 0. S. security and peace
hopes.
In the case of the fission !
bomb, the Russians required four
years to parallel our develop-1
ment." wrote Bethe and 11 co-'
leagues.
in uie case oi uie jiyurugun
bomb they will probably need a
shorter time. We must remem
ber we do not possess the bomb
but are only developing it. and
Russia has received through in
discretion the most valuable hint
that our experts believe its de
velopment possible."
Yet the University of Chica
go's Dr. Urey the discoverer of
a kind of heavy hydrogen, with
out which an H-bomb might not !
even be possible asserts in the
Bulletin that "a very great serv
ice has been done" by Senator
Johnson. The Federation of
American Scientists, with some
1,500 members, has fully agreed.
"Quite unwittingly, asserts
Urcy. "he has brought to the
attention of the people of the
United States a problem which
should have been considered by
them a very long time ago."
Grave Danger
J. Robert Oppenheimer, chair
man of the Bulletin's sponsors,
chairman of the U. S. atomic en
ergy commission's general ad
visers, wartime chief of the Los
Alamos A-bomb laboratory, adds:
"The decision to seek or not
seek international control, the
decision to try to make or not
make the H-bomb arc issues . . .
that touch the very basis of our
morality. There is grave danger
in that these decisions have been
taken on the basis of facts held
secret . . .
"The relevant facts could be
of little help to an enemy. Yet
they arc indispensable for an
understanding of questions of
policy."
The Bulletin's adltor is a Unl
versity of Illinois physical chem
ist named Dr. Eugene Rnbino
witch. This week he titles an
editorial "Secrets Will Out."
"It was bad enough that the
decisions first to build' and then
use the original A-bomb had
been made by a few persons in
high positions and shrouded in
dime from Uncle Sam. But a bill
now before congress would rec
tify, at least in part, an old
wrong. It wouldn't put the wives
on the federal payroll, but it
would provide benefits to wid
ows of lighthouse keepers.
The house marine and fish
eries committee is looking into
a bill introduced by Rep. Ed
ward A. Garmatz (D.. Md.). It's
a sort of deferred salary payment
measure to benefit widows of
lighthouse keepers.
Right now there are 389 such
widows and their average age
is 76. Thomas A. Lee, secretary
of the active retired lighthouse
service employees, points out
that a civilian lighthouse keep
er's wife has been part and par
cel of the lighthouse service In
all respects but one she isn't on
the federal payroll.
Ledy Keeps Job
During fog time, who keeps
the lighthouse while the tired
keeper is asleep? ine man s iaay.
Who has to know about wind,
rain, snow and fog? Who gets on
the semonhore, the wig-wag or
flag hoists when the old man is
tied up? In the old days, who
had to know a rum-running ves
sel off shore when she saw one?
Who got out the broom and dust
mop to have the place spick and
span for a surprise inspection by
the federals? Who was just as
lonesome as the keeper?
The lady, of course, according
to Tom Lee.
The proposed legislation seems
of little consequence to people
who never visited a lighthouse,
but congressmen have been
shelled, via the mails, with let
ters from lighthouse widows.
W. NICHOLS
feature Wrltei
One letter came to a repre
sentative from Mrs. Nellie Aron-
son of Riverside, R. 1.
Joined In 1898
Her hubby, she, said, was In
the lighthouse service for 38
years. He joined the service in
1899 as seaman on Hog Island
Shoal Lightship No. 12. Later he
was assigned as keeper to Pom
ham Rocks light station in 1908.
"At Pom'nam Rocks, which
was a one-man station a quar
ter of a mile off shore," Mrs.
Aronson said, "I had to know
how to handle a boat in good as
well as nasty weather. Shortly
after wc were married in 1900
I learned that I, too, actively was
in the lighthouse service, al
though I didn't get any money
for it. One thing I had to learn
was how to take care of the fog
signal, which is a large bell
struck by machinery a double
blow every 20 seconds. It has
to be wound by hand or did in
those days.
Entirely Different
"I can assure you, sir, that
winding a fog signal and wind
ing a clock are entirely different.
It was hard work manual labor.
When something went wrong
with the machinery, and it often
did, I'd have to pick up a heavy
sledge hammer and ring the bell
that way every zo seconds.
Mrs. Aronson is one among
many. She's not complaining, she
said, but she thinks she has a
right to tell her story. During
the 38 years her man was with
the lichthouse service he had
only 10 days' leave. His sick
leave amounted to two months
when he was hurt in an accident
while on an errand of mercy be
tween lighthouse and shore.
As soon as he was able to
hobble after his foot was ampu
tated, he was back on the job.
Use Mall Tribune Want Ada
secrecy. The nation as a whole Is
carrying the burden of respons
ibility for these steps, and gen
erations to come may have to
suffer their consequences."
There is "little doubt," he con
tends, that the administration in
Washington would like to see all
discussion end,.
Issue Not Touched
But the Issues around the
H-bomb, he says, have not even
been touched, and "Americans
must be given the opportunity
to ticcide whether and under
what conditions they want to
embark on this course."
These may be some of the Is
sues: Have American' quared with
their consciences moral im
plications of making a weapon
that can wipe out a huge eity?
Have Americans weighed the
relative costs and merits of su
perbombs, A-bombs, guided mis
siles, radar nets air groups and
anti-sub fleets? We cannot af
ford all, all at once.
Have Americans decided
whether or not to disperse at
least some of their cities a stag
gering project to Improve their
chances of survival in war?
The scientists, the Bulletin re
ports, do not agree on these ques
tions, yet all believe we cannot
"rely on nuclear or other weap
ons alone to preserve peace and
national security." All "call for
new an imaginative political ac
tion for world unity and peace,
and see In superior weapon de
velopment at best a means to
?n in time and put additional
orce behind this action."
I P
' j
How long could you live
without water ?
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t actplianet Irewet !
OlYMPIA MIWINO COMPANY
Olrmple, Weihlnf lea, U S A.
Man is known to have remained alive without food for as long
aj 60 or 70 days, yet we would die in just a few days without
u attr. In a normal day, our bodies consume three-fourths of a
gallon of water.
THI BIST DRINKING WATIR
Many acceptable drinking waters are
not desirable for brewing and must
bt treated to rid them of chlorina
lion, iron content, or other undesir
able minerals. The Olympia Drew ing
Company uses only water from its
subterranean wells. It is this rare
water that helps give Olympia in
uonstant purity and distinctive fla or.
"It's the Water
Drink Will Make
Fingers Tingle
Sans Drunkenness
Washington, Mar. 21 (U.R),
Th. Cmilhcnnian institution
nioimc it kite fnnnrl a drink that !
will make your fingers tingle but J
won t make you aruns.
"Some of its effects seem little
short of miraculous," the Smith- j
sonian said today. 1
Mad From Bark i
The drink is yocco. It is made I
Ika harb nf a vine Which
flourishes in the Amazon jungles.
So far only a tew smau inuiau
tribes of southeastern Colombia ,
have tumbled to its powers.
Dr.- Richard E. Schultes. an
agriculture department plant ex
plorer, has gathered specimens
nf the vine and sent them to the
Smithsonian's national herba
rium.
Schultes, who has drunk yocco
;M tha lonffla "nn mnnv occa
sions," said it has the effect of
delaying fatigue and hunger for
hours.
"A ilnntintf nf thn finPPre and
a general feeling of well-being
are noticeable IU minutes aiier
drinking," Schults reported. "I
k.iro n-tOrlO IrtllCf tFInt TnrnilPIl Illf!
forests and, taking nothing but
yocco, have leit neuner laugue
nor hunger."
Hunger Quelled
Nor did he ever feel intoxicat-j
ed. Schultes attributes the vine's
power to a high concentration of
caffeine in its bark.
The few Indians who know
about yocco's ability "to allay all
sensations of hunger for at least
th.aa hnnri unrl cimnlv milCPIllnr
stimulation" save a lot on food.
They down several snorts oi
yocco early in the morning and
then, Schultes said, "eat nothing
until noontime."
Dead line Sunday Classified ts at
Noon Saturdays.
MOUSE BROADCASTS
Memphis, Tenn. (U.R) Mrs.
Billy M'Collum wondered why
the cat kept watch at the small
kitchen radio until she heard a
faint sound inside, and It wasn't
music. The cat had chased a
mouse into the cabinet.
DESERTED TOO OFTEN
Uniontown, Pa. (U.R) When
Judge W. Russell Carr asked
Donald Calhoun why he refused
to support his wife, Calhoun re
plied she had deserted him "5o
times." A non-support charge
against Calhoun was dismissed.
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' iff S .
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