Wednesday. July li.- 1SS5
MEDFORD (OnEOOK) MAIL TJU8VS3 fflYB
War Prisoner Issue Continues To Snarl Russian-West Ties
T CHARLES M. MeCAMN
United Ptm Foreign Analyst
Tta years after the end of
World War II, the war prisoner
issue is still snarling Russia's
relations, with
countries in
both' Asia and
Europe.
The prisoner
issue could be
come a major
obstacle to the
conclusion of
the ' peace
treaty now be
ing n e g o t i
ated by Russia
and Japan in
London.
It could also prevent the estab
lishment of normal relations be
tween Russia and West Ger
many, for which the Kremlin
made a bid when it invited West
German Chancellor Konrad Ade-
(I
CharlM McCaaa
nauer to Moscow.
It is possible, to, if not prob
able, that the general question
of prisoners will come up during
the Big Four conference in Ge
neva. It may not come up during
the first or "summit" phase,
which President Eisenhower is
to attend. More likely, it would
crop up during the second phase,
in which the Big Four foreign
ministers are to negotiate on
specific questions. .
The Russians undoubtedly are
aware of this, and undoubtedly
they hope fervently that by
some chance the fate of the pris
oners will be ignored.
Can Show Sincerity
But if the men in the Krem
lin really are sincere in their ex
pressed desire to reduce world
tensions, they could make a fine
start' by releasing some of the
foreign victims they hold in slave
labor camps.
Is That So?
Ever wondered how those
down-to-earth expressions, which
have their origin in the outdoors,
got their start in our language:
' "Mad as a hatter." It means, of
course, someone who is utterly
Insane supposedly as' insane as
a hatter. But how come? Hatters
have no edge on being crazy in
fact, many a bat wearer must be
crazier than the maker of the
hat!
Actually, this term got its
. start from a reference to snakes
"mad as an atter" atter being
an old word for viper, and "mad"
used to mean venomous. Put the
two together and you hav
poisonous as a viper. From this,
the expression changed gradually
and mistakenly to "mad as a hat
ter." -
"Fine kettle of fish." This ex
pression had its origin in Scot
land' from where a lot of good
things come. When out on a boat
ing picnic it was the custom to
cook the catch of fish on the spot
in a great kettle. A few basic
seasonings -were added. What
with the exercise in the outdoors,
hearty appetites and the delay
attending most outdoor cooking,
guests were extraordinarily hun
gry and ate the dish with gusto.
However, when attempted at
home the recipe fell flat as so
often happens with good outdoor
dishes and the result was us
ually pretty sad. Hence the term
a fine kettle of fish was actu
ally one of derision.
Buy a "Pig. in a poke." When
you buy such a pig you are buy-J
tag something sight unseen. How
did this expression get that way?
From colonial days when baby
pigs .were auctioned already
wrapped for carrying. Occasion'
ally: an unscrupulous - farmer
would substitute a cat for a pig
in the poke, or bag.'
Now when an alert bystander
gave away the dishonest farmer's
deception, then he gave away
the secret in short, he "let
the cat ot of the bag," or poke.
That means we have gotten two
very old American expressions
by way of one poke.
'Cool one's heels.". The ex
pression hails from the day when
By EUGENE BURNS
Ranfir-Naturalirt
horses were the chief means of
transportation. When a horse be
came too hot from a warm day's
travel, the considerate rider
would stop at an inn and while
he regaled himself slightly saw
that cold water was poured over
the animals' hocks to cool him
off much as we let cool water
run over our wrists when we are
hot in summer. Hocks and heels
are sometimes called the same.
Now, the term means to be kept
waiting, cooling one's heels.
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Sorry, I simply can't answer your
many friendly letters.' Please
address your letter to IS THAT
SO! care Madford Mail Tribune,
Box 575, Sausalito, Calif.
Willamina Crash
Claims Two Lives
McMinnville (U.R) A one-car
crash Monday night fatally in
jured 29-year-old Donald David
Ellingson of Tillamook and his
10-year-old son Jimmy Donald
Ellingson.
Another son was taken to a
Portland hospital with critical
injuries and Mrs. Ellingson and
a third son were in serious but
improving condition at a Mc
Minnville hospital.
The crash occurred at 8:45
pjn. on Highway 18, five miles
west of Willamina. Police said
the Ellingson's 1950 model car
failed to negotiate a 45-degree
turn and plunged out of control.
The family, was heading toward
Tillamook. State police officers
said they believed Mrs. Elling
son was driving when the acci
dent happened.
' Taken to Providence hospital
in Portland ' was Terry Dean
Ellingson,. 7. He suffered head
injuries and a broken len leg.
Mrs. Vivian Marie Ellingson,
26, and her three-year-old son,
Van Lynn, were listed by Mc
Minnville hospital attendants as
"improving."
, Des Moines One horsepow
er of machinery is equivalent to
the work of 20 men, according
to recent scientific studies.
it
a a
Japanese government records
list 1,452 Japanese war prisoners
known to be alive in Soviet pris
on camps, about 1,000 held in
the: island of Sakhalin off the
Siberian coast, and 10,090 who
were known to be alive in prison
camps as late as 1950.
Austrians recently released by
Russia estimated that between
5,000 and 8,000 Japanese includ
ing diplomats as well as mili
tary men are still held in camps
and prisons situated in places all
the way from Moscow to the Pa
cific Ocean.
The details of West German
Chancellor Adenauer's -negotiations
with the Russians remain
to be fixed. It is still not certain,
by the way, whether he will ac
cept the Kremlin's invitation to
visit Moscow or will insist that
the meeting be held somewhere
else say in Berlin.
Asks for Clarification
A recent dispatch from Bonn,
the ' West German capital, said
that 4; Adenauer wants several
points in Russian-German rela
tions clarified. Point No. 1, the
dispatch said,, is whether Russia
will agree to release all German
prisoners.
German official sources estim
ate that more than 20,000 Ger
mans, soldiers and civilians, are
still held in prison camps in Rus
sia and its satellites.
Austrians whom the Russians
have released tell of many Ger
man generals and other senior
officers held in special camps in
the Moscow area. Thousands
more art held in other camps.
Adenauer is not the man to
leave this issue unsettled when
he talks to the Russians.
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