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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 1956)
TEN MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE Friday, January 27, 1956 Is Thai" So? A nature puzzler. Identify me by No. 2 and you are an Out door Expert; by No. 4, a Woods man, by No. 6, a Dude Wrangler; by No. 8, a Drugstore Cowpoke. The answer is stowed away in the last paragragph. 1. FoiPsize, I am the world's most solitary animal. Some of us may live a lifetime without seeing a blade of grass. My soles are covered with hair. My dense fur coat appears a size or two overlarge. Swift of foot, I can outrun a man: fast of stroke, I can outswim him. My tongue is black. When five, the female may dig a burrow. 2. Although I live in the cold est regions in the northern hem isphere, where man seldom trods, I am fairly abundant. I may spend my entire life on the acean although ' occasionally some of us may come ashore, but rarely, and roam inland a hundred miles. I have been sighted 200 miles asea. Somtimes I lie in wait for my prey. 3. Nine months after pairing, two or three young are born a scant ten inches long, weighing around two pounds. Immature, they are blind and naked. For fflfwr mm warmth, they snuggle into the soft fur of the mother's abdomen ' and front legs. When eyes open at six weeks, the young ' are covered with a soft down fur. As days lengthen, the offspring come out in March and when 17 months old, and weighing about 200 pounds, they are put out on their own. Fathers take no interest whatever in their family. Sharp Hearing 4. What I may lack in vision, I make up by sharp hearing and my nose is particularly keen. Comparatively speaking, my head is so small for my massive 700-pound body. Should I rear, I tower 10 to 13 feet. My fur is course, long and shaggy. My five long claws on both front feet and back are nontractable. My ancestry is closely inter woven with the dog. 5. My long tapering body, with long head and neck, is built for the water I am a slx-mile-an hour swimmer and an excel lent diver, rolling over and over in the water for pleasure. Unlike any other quadruped, I can swim rapidly by using only my two forward legs and trailing my rear pair. My walk is shambling, because I lift both my right feet together and then both my left. I have no tail. 6. Although among the world's largest carnvores, I devour much less meat than my much smaller relative, the wolf. Nontheless, most of my time is spent stalk ing seals and walruses, hunting caribou and fish, and stealing birds' eggs. During summer, I may augment any diet with sea weed and terrestrial vegetation, grazing like a cow. Two-Year Cycle v-- 7. My family life is geared tr a two-yr cycle:- when five, the smaller female will pair with a look-alike mate during June or July after a brief courtship and then they part. The female does not mate again for two years. When with young, the female may tunnerinto- a snow- bank for protection from the wintry gales while the male keeps on stalking, through the Arctic wastes' like a wraith. We are old at 30. 8. Advisedly, man considers me dangerous and I have been know to stalk him with remark able persistence and attack his small boats at sea. Unlike my near cousin, the grizzley, I tend to kill by biting, not swiping. My skull is heavy and my jaws are powerfully hinged. On pad ded feet, I stalk my prey. With lack of cover, it takes doing. 9. Miehtv is the Eskimo hunt- er who can bring me down! And for them. I am indeed a valu able trophy. My pelt is used for mukluks, clothing, robes and rugs; my blubber for oil; my sinews for sewing thongs;, my claws and teeth for or'naments; my flesh, except for the liver, for food; and from my bones utensils are made. 10. Once seen, no one could possibly mistake my kind for any other kind of animal and because I am a creamy white toGmatch my background even in summer it is often ice and snow. Everyone knows I'm a polar bear although in some places I am called an ice bear. Need I add, I am a favorite in zoos! (Copyright, 1956, by Eugene Burns) (Released by McClura Newspapers) By EUGENE BURNS Ranger-Naturalist the reader who sends me the best true-life nature adventure, the best nature observation, or 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 submissions will be considered. Sorry, I simply can't answer your many friendly letters. Please address your letter to: IS THAT SO! co Medford Mail Tribune, Box 575, Sausalito, Calif. Free: By special arrangement with the editors of the Encyc lopedia Americana, my panel of judges will award each week to Queen Starts Royal Tour of Nigeria London (U.R) Queen Eliz abeth II left today for her first royal tour of Nigeria, which may be her last as outright ruler of the equatorial territory. Pickin' Pears News and Notes From Camp White By BILL HURN Grants Pass BPOE 1584, head ed by Lester Pearson presented a show at Camp White Friday night. Attending was Emil Kroe ger, VAVS state hospital chair man: A full house saw the two-hour show by three groups of Grants Pass youngsters. Daryle's studio opened with eight dance acts, Gold Hill Glenn Miller, chairman of the March of Dimes for the Gold Hill area wishes to remind everyone who has receiv ed March of Dime envelopes through the mail and has not as yet returned them with their contribution please do so soon as possible. followed by the Valentine Music studio with five numbers by the five members. The Redwood Public schools of Grants Pass fifth and sixth graders, under the direction of Mrs. Ola Mae Simpson, present ed 10 vocal numbers. A group calling themselves The Nonettes participated. The Lady Elks served 48 layer cakes and coffee. Medford American Legion auxiliary and post 15 sponsored a game party Monday night at the Camp White theatre build ing. Prizes of cigarettes and merchandise were awarded. Mrs. Thelma Williams of the Legion's Camp White office, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Ginn and Ed Rus sell were in charge. Wind Delivering Uncensored Paper Info East Germany Munich, Germany U.R) The Communists in Eastern Europe are shaking their fists at the wind. The wind is delivery boy for some merchandise the Commu nists didn't order a truthful, uncensored newspaper from the free world. Red officials In Czechoslova kia recently have stepped up their . criticism of the regular balloon barrage that carries 2, 000,000 copies of a bi-weekly paper into their country and Hungary and Poland. Aircraft Said Menaced' Although the Free Europe press has taken elaborate steps to insure the safety of its "winds of freedom" operation, the Com- munists claim the balloons are menacing aircraft and causing injury to people on the grpund. Last week the Prague govern ment charged a 14-year-old boy was injured and his home de stroyed when a balloon explod ed. On Jan. 20, the Czech Com munists announced they had sus pended all night flights of air craft because drifting balloons made it too hazardous to fly. Free Europe press takes ad vantage of prevailing west-to-east winds to deliver its paper, which is coordinated with the broadcasts of Radio Free Eu rope, as a . one-two punch to bring truth to citizens of satel lite countries. An envelope of dry ice sus- German Provinces Plan Atomic Vessel Hamburg, Germany U.R) Germany's four maritime prov inces have decided to pool then assets for the development of an atomic - powered ship, it was made known today. The prototype vessel is to be developed at a research site. not yet designated. The project will be financed by contribu tions from Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, and Lower Saxofly, all of which depend primarily on sea transport for their, economic well-being. pended from the boxes deter mines the range of each balloon. When the ice evaporates, the boxes are upended and dump their contents.' The discharge of the cargo f shoots the balloon skyward and at the same time flips it over. The sudden rise usually rips the balloon and its inverted position virtually guarantees that all the gas will be discharged before it hits the ground. Free Europe Press officials say the balloons float at altitudes over 18,000 feet and are "well within the specifications which U.S. civil-air regulations define as not hazardous to aircraft." Get Marvelous KING OF-ALL To Clean Your Septic Tanks and Cesspools And to Keep Them Clean We guarantee satisfaction or your money back. Get King-Of-AII today at your local Feed & Seed, Hardware, Plumber er Bldg. Supply Store. Nothing without wings climbs like a '56 Chevrolet ! The new '56 Chevrolet handles hills like they aren't even there! Aim it up a steep grade .. . . and you'll see why it's the Pikes Peak record breaker! Ever level off a mountain with your foot? Nothing to it. Just point this new '56 Chevy uphill and ease down. - on the gas. In the merest fraction of a second you sense that big bore V8 lengthen ing out its stride. And up you go with a quiet rush of power (hydraulic- hushed valve lifters now in all engines V8 or 6) that makes a mountain seem as flat as a roadmap ! For nothing without wings climbs like a '56 Chevrolet! This is the car, you know, that broke the Pikes Peak record. The car that proved its per formance on towering grades in the thin air of altitudes up to 14,110 feet. The car that proved its cat-footed cornering ability and nailed-down stability on Pikes Peak's vicious switchback turns, -These are built-in qualities that mean more driving pleasure and safety for you. You can also have seat belts, with or without shoulder har ness, and instrument panel padding at extra cost. You've a choice. of 19 frisky new. Chevrolets all with Fisher Body and with horsepower ranging up to a new high of 205. Drop in, when you have a chance, and drive the new record breaker! THE HOT ONES EVEN HOTTER Ninth and Bartlett Streets CCCDXD TTDn HI lifXlYv WW Phone 2-6115 - Medford
