Is That So?
Now that autumn's here, it
is the tirfe to walk in the wood
lands and see the touch-me-nots,
wild geraniums, witch hazels
and poppies working their mar
velous seed-dispersal machines,
really . precision-built machines,
hurling heavy seeds from a few
feet up to 20 feet and thus
creeping forward to claim the
earth inch by inch, foot by foot,
mile by mile.
The appearance of these seed
machines give no hint of their
remarkable potentials like so
much in plant life, they are
disarmingly simple looking.
Yet, these machines, can be seen,
heard and even smartly felt.
For example, have you ever
touched the ripe seed pod of a
touch-me-not? It explodes at
your touch, its seeds popping
off so suddenly that your eye
cannot possibly follow them.
What happens? The pod has
five perfectly-fitting segments
sealed along the edges with light
waterproofing shellac. Each of
these segments contains within
itself a spring which gets wound
up tightly as the pod grows
a mysterious act when you stop
to think of it. By the day the
pressure grows stronger and
stronger. Then, when the pre
cise moment arrives, when the
seeds are fully ripe, the five'
sided pod lets go, all over and
at once the coiling segments
. fire their rocket-like salvo and
the five seeds bearing five mic
roscopic perfect little plants are
. hurtled out 10 feet or more . . .
; ready to carry on and on the
i history of the touch-me-not!
Somewhat differently there
is infinite variety among all
; seed hurlers the wild geran
; ium's seed case is constructed of
: five straps with a seed cup at
each base. On a day when it is
not raining, the touch of the
I warm dry sunlight shrinks some
1 of the cells, setting up pressures
j tremendous pressures compar
; atively speaking.
; Released at Forceful Point
: Again the trigger is pulled,
the steel spring-like straps fly
I up, violently coiling, and the
; seeds are released just at the
; most forceful point tossed out
i with exactly the same sort of
force as a baseball player might
; use in throwing a high ball to
the outfield. To work best, the
By Fugen Burnt
Ranger-Naturalist
Democrats Hope To
air should be comparatively
stui delicately poised springs
would be upset by too violent
a wind so where does the
geranium grow? Where'd you
expect: In protected places, and
for the mechanism to work
properly, where there is moist
shade alternating with direct
sunlight.
In the poppy, the small round
and relatively heavy seeds when
ripe, lie loosely in open-topped
capsules, on long elastic stalks.
When the spring stalks are
shaken by gusts of wind or the
impact of passing animals, the
recoil hurls the seeds out along
smooth grooved lines placed to
give the seeds the most effec
tive angle to gain, distance.
Ine witch hazel lobs its seeds
Up Republican
Seats in Four States
Monday, November 1, 1954
MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE THREE
Washington (U.R) Demo
cratic campaign strategists based
their Senate victory claims today
on the belief they can hold what
they have and pick up Republi
can seats in Kentucky, New Jer
sey, Wyoming and Nevada in
Tuesday's balloting.
That outcome would give them
50 of the 96 Senate seats when
the 84th Congress convenes
Jan. 5.
Republican chances of main
taining and increasing their
slender margin of control rest on
keeping the seats they hold and
unseating Democrats in such
For your convenience
we feature
your favorite
Eaton's Open lmtSr Pr
Stock latter papar. The paper and en
velopes are packaged separately -you
buy what you need, you naad
watte .nothing!
CftllTO li (Mil Q'fiTDJ
somewhat like a mortar, bu
double-barreled. Unlike most
plants, it takes a full year for
its slow-working seed propul
sion mechanism to toughen up
and to build in the adequate
stresses. Finally when the sec
ona years warm autumn sun
touches the pod, the muzzle
bearing two black seeds opens
slowly.
Case Shrinks
Dry air circulates inside the
open mouth and the case
shrinks. The shrinking in turn
squeezes the inner half of the
seed which is both smooth and
tapering. (Every plant's seeds
of course must be properly
shaped, weighted and precisely
tuted to be propelled by the
mechanism.) Suddenly when
the stresses become too great,
out shoots the seed, up to 20
feet and more, just as though
you had squeezed it between
thumb and forefinger with all
your might and main
Come spring, the witch haz
els seeds as well as those
of the poppy, wild geranium,
and touch-me-not will grow
in new ground. Ana . in grow
ing they will obey the impulse
locked within them on impulse
10,000,000 years old, to repro
duce to perfection, once again,
the wonderfully and faultlessly-
engineered seed projectors,
(Copyright, 1954, by
Eugene Barns)
(Distributed by the McClure
Newspaper Syndicate)
Free: By special arrangement
with the editors of the Encyclo
pedia Americana, my panel of
judges will award each week to
the reader- who sends me the
best question on nature and
wildlife a complete 30-volume
set of this world-famous refer
ence work in a handsome Seal
craft binding. Each week, new
questions will be considered.
Sorry, I 'simply can't answer
your many . friendly letters.
Please address your questions to:
IS THAT SOI Care of Medford
Mail Tribune, Box 575, Sausa
lito, Calif.
More than 50,000 prisoners of
war in Korea attended classes
of religious instruction during
their captivity. The classes were
conducted by former missionar
ies who could speak the prison
ers' language.
Dead line Sunday Classified la at
noon Saturday : 10 ajn. Monday for
Monday: other daya 5:30 previous day.
Sen. Cordon's Use
Of Addressograph
Plates Said Legal
Portland (U.R) Howard
Morgan, state Democratic chair
man, today charged that Sen.
Guy Cordon illegally used ad
dressograph plates owned by the
State of Oregon in his campaign
for reelection, but a state official
said the .use was entirely within
the law.
Morgan said he had been
"flooded with complaints from
all over the state" regarding the
use of plates to address the cam
paign postcards. The postcards
were delivered Saturday.
Suit To Be Filed
Morgan said a taxpayer's suit
"to recover the cost of Cordon's
illegal action would be filed
Monday." He estimated that the
addressograph files are worth
8100,000 and that more than
$3700 worth of state-employed
labor was utilized to address the
postcards.
William Healy, assistant sec
retary of state, confirmed that
Cordon's campaign committee
used the addressograph, but he
said the state was paid for the
use and that the transaction was
entirely legal.
Democrat. Bill Unpaid
Healy charged that in 1952
the Democratic party bought
carbon copies of hand-type labels
then used to address the Voter's
Pamphlet, but have not yet paid
the bill.
The plates, authorized by the
1953 legislature, were used to
address this year's Voter's
Pamphlet. .
arking Lot Plans
Reported Progressing
Trees on the strip along the
Southern Pacific tracks on
South Front st., off Main St.,
were removed last week and
the docks formerly along the
tracks also have been removed.
The work is in preparation for
grading and graveling of the
area for "a parking lot, it is re
ported.
Further plans call for the re
moval of the building at the
back of the Associated Oil com
. . .
pany station, though the gas
pumps will remain, according to
the report. A driveway also is
planned from Main st. onto the
lot with another driveway to
Front st.
The property is being pur
chased by Medford business
men, the lot will be operated on
lease arrangement.
states as Ohio, Delaware, Mon
tana, Illinois, Iowa and Colo
rado.
The present Senate lineup is
49 Republicans. 46 Democrats
and one Independent.
37 Senate Seats Open
Thirty-seven Senate seats are
at stake in 34 states. Fifteen of
these are now held by Republi
cans and 22 by Democrats. There
are 58 Senators 33 Republi
cans, 24 Democrats and one inde
pendent whose terms do not ex
pire this year.
The GOP won the 38th seat
at stake this year when Maine
re-elected Sen. Margaret Chase
Smith Sept. 3.
Many of the seats to be filled
Tuesday are in fairly safe south
ern Democratic or northern Re
publican states. The real battle
for control of the Senate has
been wage in 17 states for seats
now held by nine Republicans
and eight Democrats.
The nine Republican Senators
represent California, Idaho, Ken
tucky, Massachusetts, Michigan,
Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon and
Wyoming. The Democratic seats
in Colorado, Delaware, Illinois,
Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, New
Mexico and Ohio.
Democrats Eye Four Seats
In the 17 crucial races, the
Democrats have eyed Kentucky,
New Jersey, Wyoming and Ne
vada as the states where they
have the best chance of winning
seats now held by Republicans.
In Kentucky, former Vice-
President and ex-Sen. Alben W.
Barkley is trying to unseat GOP
Sen. John Sherman Cooper. In
Wyoming, former Democratic
Sen. Joseph C. O'Mahoney is
making a comeback try after his
defeat m 1952.
Nixon Would Cast Vote
A net loss of one seat Tuesday
would enable the GOP to keep
the Senate under Republican
leadership. If the Senate were
divided 48 Republicans, 47 Dem
ocrats and one Independent,
Vice-President Richard M. Nix
on would cast the deciding vote
to enable the GOP to organize
the Senate.
The Democrats need to gain
two seats to gain control of the
Senate committees and other
legislative machinery. If they
hold 48 seats after the election,
the additional vote needed for a
Democratic majority has been
promised by the Independent,
Sen. Wayne L. Morse (Ore.).
1
For
PAUL
SffllLDBiy
i
EXPERIENCED, PROGRESSIVE
LEADERSHIP!
8 YEARS CITY COUNCILMAN
3 YEARS PRESIDENT OF COUNCIL
CHAIRMAN OF FINANCE, POLICE and
FIRE COMMITTEES
Past Executive Junior Chamber and Kiwanis Club
Member Chamber of Commerce Medford Businessman for 15 Years.
VOTE for a MAN DEDICATED to the
DEVELOPMENT of MEDFORD
M. Adv. Selby for Mayer Comm., Jim Ambler, See. -
Snow and Freezing
Temperatures Hit
Midwest and South
By UNITED PRESS
A wintry blast of Arclja air
brought freezing temperatures as
far south as Birmingham, Ala.,
today and snow fell in many
areas around the Great Lakes.
Forecasters predicted that the
weather for election day to
morrow will be:
Great Lakes and Northern
Plains: Cloudy and cool with
some snow flurries around the
lakes.
South and Southwest: General
ly fair.
Fair Along Coast
Northeast and New England:
Stormy and rainy.
Rockies and Pacific Coast:
Generally fair and rather mild.
A new surge of cold air swept
the plains today, reinforcing a
fold mass that hit before the
weeK ena.
The new front was preceded
by a band of light snow which
was expected to reach a depth I
of an inch or more throughout
Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
18 Degrees at Minot
Before dawn today, the mer
cury sank to 18 degrees at Minot,
N. D., 32 at Birmingham, SO at
Richmond, Va., 31 at Chicago,
30 at Milwaukee and 28 at Pitts
burgh.
Snow piled up half a foot
deep Sunday at Erie, Pa., and
Duluth, Minn., had an accumula
tion of three inches. There was
two inches on the ground at
Sount Bend, Ind.
Bust of McLoughlin
Slated To Be Moved
Portland U.R) The bust
of Dr. John McLaughlin, Oregon
pioneer, may be moved but
only a few yards. - . . ,
The State Highway Commis
sion agreed at its meeting here
Friday to study feasibility of
moving the bust from its present
location south of Oregon City to
a location a few yards further
where a viewpoint parking area
has been established overlooking
the Willamette river falls.
Several delegations appeared
before the commission with re
quests.
mm
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