TEN MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE
Is That So?
Ueno Park Zoo, Tokyo, with
Japan Air Lines The Eng
lish language, even when forti
fied with the broadest of ges
tures, can sometimes prove in
adequate in a foreign land.
Take today. This morning I
asked the Imperial Hotel door
man to direct my taxi driver to
take me to the Ueno Park zoo.
As though it were his last drive
here below, this "Kamikaze"
driver drove through huge
crowds, with the heel of his palm
beating a tattoo on the horn,
furiously scattering them like
flocks of chickens. Miraculous
ly, without picking up a single
dangling kimono sleeve, he de
posited me at the main entrance
of the zoo.
I tried to explain to the non-
English speaking ticket collector
that I hail an appointment with
the zoo director, Mr. Koga. To
describe him. I added: "Zoo di-
rector. Big man. Chief. And be
cause Koga is a large man of
considerable height, I added:
"He big kind man, No. 1 big."
The puzzled ticket collector call
ed an assistant. I repeated my
silly explanation, pouring my
heart into the gestures, "Chief
of Zoo. Director. Big kind man."
"Ah-so," said the assistant,
bowing. "Please to come." We
wound through the zoo and fin
ally halted in front of a huge
cage. "Big kind, tall," the assist
ant said, pointing to the giraffe.
Happily from there I could
see the administration building.
Mr. Koga was waiting to pour a
conversational cup of tea and
then show me his zoo, with just
ifiable pride. En route to see the
animals which were native to
Japan, he told me that last
year's zoo attendance passed 4,
500,000 When I pointed out that
. this was the largest zoo attend
ance of any zoo in the world, he
said simply: "Japanese people
love animals."
Tailed Amphibian
Mr. Koga took me first to the
giant salamander house. This sal
amander is a tailed amphibian,
somewhat resembling a huge
soft-skinned . water lizard. The
specimens we looked at were
around four feet long: "Some
times they reach five, perhaps
even 5Vz feet," said Mr. Koga.
"Without doubt, the largest in
the world. It is negative to the
sun," he added, "hiding under
stones in the daytime but fcj'iite
active at night when it travels
out of its nest perhaps 300 yards
for food. It is very fond of crab
meat, frogs and small fish. A
large salamander will lay up to
600 eggs at a sitting. And de
fends them. If you touch the
eggs with a stick, the mother
will angrily bite. Unfortunately,
the giant salamander is edible
and during the war became
quite scarce."
Leauing me next to a large
black bear with a white V-shap
ed neckline, he said: "Former
ly this Japanese bear was quite
plentiful but today it is found
mostly in the northernmost is
land, Hokkaido." I wondered
aloud, why does nature put a
white spot on a black bear
and on the chest. It makes him
so much more visible. Mr. Koga
explained: "I think perhaps this
is a "fear" spot. When he rears
up and shows this white spot,
other animals are greatly afraid
of his size."
Graceful Antlers
The Japanese deer, like most
of the world's deer, are beautiful
beautifully dappled with white
spots and they have gracefully
curving antlers. "In ancient
times, we seem to have had
many. Now, not so many. In fact,
quite few."
We next looked in on the Jap
anese monkeys. "In all Japan,
only one primate. Macaque." It
was a small, pink-faced monkey
"This monkey is found in many
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areas in Japan, I understand
more than "300 wild on Mt. Ta
kasaki. Six boss monkeys keep
order within the groups. When
baby monkeys, one year old,
they form own group. When
four, they are responsible for
guarding the border of their land
to protect others from, 'outside
attack. Quite smart, monkeys."
He showed me many other
native ..animals in the well-kept
zoo: the serow, a goat-like an
telope, native Japanese badgers,
the raccoon-dog, an animal mark
ed like our raccoons; Japanese
soft shelled turtle, a newt, some
of the common Japanese snakes
there are only a few poisonous
snakes in Japan. Many birds
blue fly catchers hawk-eagle
white eyes, bush warblers, green
and copper pheasants, and of
course some of the famous long-
tailed cocks a rare ornamental
bird, developed from the com
mon barnyard fowl after 150
years or more of careful selec
tion and cross and in-breeding
with copper and green pheasants.
Usually it is black and white,
sometimes pure white.
Feathers Never Moult
"Its tail feathers, numbering
15-25 never moult," explained
Mr. Koga. "Ordinarily they grow
from 8-11 feet, and occasionally
they have been known to grow
over 20 feet:
"These feathers are very del
icate in structure. They can be
coiled around the hand without
breaking. To preserve them, the
tail feathers must hang free and
the bird must spend most of his
life sitting on a high perch. Then,
every second day it is taken out
and allowed to walk about for an
hour or so with an attendant
holding its tail up to prevent it
from getting torn or soiled . . ."
"She's a beautiful bird," I said
absentmindedly.
"She?" he asked. "All long
tailed ones are males the fe
male's extreme length being
only about eight inches. I think
maybe better so."
(Released by
McClure Newspaper Syndicate)
(Copyright 1956. by
Eugene Burns)
Free: By special arrangement
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judges willr award each week to
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
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Sorry, I can't simply answer your
many friendly letters. Please ad
dress your letter to: IS THAT
SO! care Medford Mail Tribune,
Box 575, Sausalito, Calif.
Local WU Office
Being Renovated
The latest types of carrier and
repeater equipment have been
installed in the Medford Western
Union office as part of a 510,000
renovation program underway
here, company officials have an
nounced. During the past month crews
have been enlarging Medford's
Western Union operating quar
ters, renovating, painting and
installing new equipment. Reno
vation is expected to be com
pleted this month.
Installation of the carrier and
repeater equipment makes the
Medford office the most import
ant wire testing and regulating
station between Eugene and Sac
ramento, the company said.
Twenty-seven new channels
have been provided. Installation
of "the new intrafax, which will
be leased to business firms to
enable them to flash typed, writ
ten or printed matter between
scattered departments, is sched
uled for later this year.
Western Union made its local
renovation progress report this
week in conjunction with the
company's 100th anniversary on
April 4. Special ceremonies were
held at Rochester, N.Y., where
the nation's telegraph system
was founded April 4, 1856.
Actress Jeff Donnell
May Sue for Divorce
Hollywood (U.R) Actress
Jeff Donnell, who portrays
comedian George Gobel's televi
sion wife, today said she had
again separated from actor Aldo
Ray and "I guess I'll have to file
for a divorce." i
The couple first separated last
summer but decided to reconcile
on Dec. 21. She said they had
separated again last March 27.
The actress married Ray Sept.
30, 1954 "She has two children
by a previous marriage.
For a GUARANTEED GOOD USED
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Friday, April 6, 1958
MARY DANIELS
Encampment Selection
Miss Daniels Chosen
For CAP Encampment
" Mary Daniels, 17, of route 1,
box 354A, Medford, has been
chosen to represent the Oregon
Wing, Civil Air Patrol, at the all
girl encampment June 16
through June 19 at Lackland
Air. Force base, Tex. She is the
daughter of Mrs. Adella Paul
and Ray Daniels, Medford.
Miss Daniels has been a mem
ber of the Medford squadron
two years and is a sergeant. She
was the only cadet in the local
squadron to qualify for the en
campment, which will include
outstanding girl cadets from the
United States. Hawaii and
Alaska.
Cadets are trained under regu
lations governing personnel m
the women's division of the Air
Force.
A Nichol's Worth of . . .
Comment On
By HARMAN
United Press
Washington (U.R) There
isn't a monkey, a lion, a gazelle
which won't shed
salt from the
eye if Dr. Wil
iaml M. Mann
retires as head
of the Wash
ington Zoo.
Law says he
to in midsum
m e r on ac
count of he
will be too
uarman isicnois Ola.
Age doesn't mean much to the
ape, Leo the gazelle, or Lilly the
crane from Siberia. All they
know is that old Doc Mann has
fed 'em well.
It' is hoped that the Congress
may relax a bit ana grease
through a resolution, allowing
the good doctor to stick around
a little longer. Since 1925, when
he "took over, he has made the
Washington Zoo one of the
world's best.
It's the Law
The animals know the good
doc for the peanuts and the cab
bage leaves and the tidbits ani
mals love. But most of all they
know him by his beat up old
felt hat, which is a cross be
tween brown and gray. It has
been his trademark for 30 years.
Creased and bent and wrinkled
by the weather.
Anyhow, on July 1, Bill Mann
will be 70. And the law says he
has to set aside his bananas and
grapes for the apes and stay
away from the lion cage.
It's a mighty sad thought.
I have known the doctor for
a long time. When you walk
into his home across from the
zoo, you had best tread lightly,
lest you step on a cub lion's tail,
or a baby snake.
Lucille, the good doctor's wife,
loves animals as much as Mann
Man Arrested in
State Gets 20 Years
Kansas City, Mo. (U.R) Max
Franklin Allen, 22, yesterday
was sentenced to 20 years im
prisonment on charges growing
out of the kidnaping and rob
bery of a Kansas City ballroom
owner March 5.
His 17-year-old wife, Mrs.
Mary Alice Allen, was placed in
the custody of the attorney gen
eral until she reached the age
of 21. She. was charged as a ju
venile delinquent.
Federal District Judge Rich
ard M. Duncan sentenced Allen
to 20 years on a kidnaping
charge and five years for viola
tion of the Dyer act, the sen
tences to run concurrently. The
automobile in which George
Tidona was forced to accompany
his kidnapers from his home in
Johnson county, Kansas, to the
ballroom he operates in Kansas
City, Mo., was stolen, officers
explained.
Tidona was fprced to open a j
safe from which S516 was taken.
Allen and his bride, whom he
married the day after the kid
naping were apprehended at Gil
christ, Ore., March 14.
or a crane
Acid Victim's Aide
Given Protection as
Cops Hunt Assailant
New York (U.R) Police held
Victor Riesel's blonde assistant
in custody today to protect her
from enemies of the labor
columnist responsible for spray
ing acid into his face and eyes
early Thursday.
Betty Nevins, 23, Riesel's as
sistant, gave police their best
clues to the unidentified thug
who approached her and Riesel
and threw sulphuric acid into
his face.
Riesel, confined to the hospital
and in grave danger of losing his
sight, could give investigators
only a fragmentary account of
what happened.
Assistant Gives Details
Most of the details were sup
plied by Miss Nevins during day
long questioning Thursday.
Two members of Loqal 138 of
the Operating Engineers Union,
William Wilkens and Peter Ba
talias, were also questioned and
give police protection Thursday
night. They appeared with Riesel
on a radio program a short time
before he was attacked.
William Keating, former coun
sel of the New York Anti-Crime
Committee, disclosed Thursday
night that Riesel planned to ex
pose a move to re-establish Jo
seph S. Fay, convicted labor ex
tortionsit who is now on parole,
as a power in the operating en
This and That
W. NICHOLS
Feature Writer
does. She has been known to sit
up until sunrise to nurse a sick
cobra or a bald eagle with a
bellyache.
Dr. Mann himself loves an
imals almost as much as he does
people. Sometimes more.
Good Horse Trader
I was taught long ago by a
professor that I should be care
ful about remembering the
names of people," he once told
me. "First thing you know you'll
be forgetting the square name
of a snail or an elk. In our busi
ness that is bad."
For many years, the wonder
ful lover of animals called me
"Mr. Pickels."
It was close enough. At least
he recognized me on sight. Same
kind of beat of hat.
' Dr. Mann perhaps is the best
Trader Horn in the animal field
Once he had as his guest a zoo
man from a jungle country
They haggled. Dr. Mann wanted
a pair of rare animals and said
he would be glad to part with
a pair of "cynomys" in trade.
His guest said sure.
The visitor later got a couple
of prairie dogs. Dr. Mann got a
couple of rare things never be
fore seen in captivity in this
country.
' We ought to hold onto Dr.
Mann. Rare animals are pretty
hard to get these days.
the new
OLD STAGE
gineers union.
Miss Nevins gave police a de
tailed description of Riesel's at
tacker and spent most of Thurs
day studying rogues gallery pic
tures of possible suspects.
Under Police Protection
She was whisked to an un
known destination by three de
tectives Thursday night. . They
said they would keep her under
police protection as their best
witness in the case. They ap
parently feared those responsible
for the attack on Riesel mieht
try to silence or intimidate her.
Miss Nevins' accqunt of the in
cident stirred widespread in
dignation. The FBI ordered all
available agents in New York
into the investigation. City and
state police worked around the
clock in an effort to trace the
shabbily dressed man who at
tacked Riesel with the acid with
out warning.
Rewards totaling $14,000 were
offered for information leading
to the arrest and conviction of
the assailant.
MAY BE SURE BET
Memphis, Tenn. (U.R)
An exclusive clothing store in
Memphis has offered $100,000
to the first baseball player
who knocks a home run
through a hole four inches in
diameter, 335 feet from home
plate. ,
ALPINE MEET OPENS
San Francisco (U.R) Nearly
100 of the nation's finest skiers
gathered in Squaw valley today
for the three-day National Al
pine championships, the first
meet of national or internation
al caliber ever held in the far
west.
DEININGER SIGNS
- Chicago U.P.) John Defhin
ger Jr., a former Bradley play
er, has signed his first profes
sional contract with the Chicago
Bears for 1956. Deininger.
tackle and defensinve end at
Bradley, played service football
and was recommended to the
Bears by three service coaches
Brooklyn flJ.R) Two fans
will participate in the raisirig of
Brooklyn s first world cham
rjionship banner on opening day,
April 17. One Jan will be picked
at the Dodger Knot-Hole club
dinner on April 16 and the other
will be selected on a' lucky-num
ber arrangement on the day of
the game.
FORD IN FIELD
Montreal U.R) Doug Ford
the 1955 U.S. PGA champion
will be in the field for the 1956
S26.800 LaBatt Open at the
Royal Quebec Golf club at Bois-
1 chatel, Que., July 12-15.
SPORTS
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ROAD - CALL GEORGE GREEN
Applegate, CP,
Crater Capture
Volleyball Tilts
Applegate, Crater high and
Central Point won opening
matches last night in Rogue Val
ley Women's Volleyball tourna
ment at Medford YMCA.
Applegate trimmed Howard
school 15 to 7 and 15 to 13.
Crater won over Ashland YMCA
15 to 10 and 15 to 8 and Central
Point downed Ruch 15 to 5 and
15 to 10.
Eagle Point and Medford Y
will mix at 7 o'clock tonight and
at 8 p.m. Shady Cove and Oak
Grove will tangle Nine p.m.
scrap will match Applegate and
Crater. "
Finals will be on Saturday.
Beavers Nudge
Los Angeles 7-6
Glendale, Calif. - (U.R) Artie
Wilson proved the hero yester
day as he singled in the run that
gave Portland a 7-6 edge over
the Los Angeles Angels in an
exhibition game.
The Beavers got the winning
run after Steve Bilko of Los
Angeles tied the score at 6-6
with a seventh inning two-run
homer. Veteran hurler Red
Adams got credit for the win.
Portland was scheduled to
meet Hollywood here today.
Beaver pitchers Dick Fiedler
and Leroy Han were expected
to draw the lund assignments
Bill O'Neal Offered
Redmond Coaching Job
Redmond (U.R) William
O'Neal, assistant coach at
Springfield the past two years,
has been offered the head bas
ketball job at Redmond, replac
ing Marvin Scott who resigned
the post earlier this year.
O'Neal was a member of the
1947 Marshfield state high
school basketball championship
team and later played four
years at Southern Oregon.
Loes Enters Hospital
For Complete Check-Up
Brooklyn (U.R) Billy Loes,
Brooklyn Dodger pitcher who is
suffering arm trouble again, has
entered Long Island college hos
pital for a complete checkup to
determine whether he will be
able to pitch at all this summer.
Loes has ' had recurring arm
trouble ' in the past and this
spring - the soreness lingered,
prompting the checkup.
HOCKEY SERIES STARTS.
Providence, R.I. (U.R) The
regular-season champion Provi
dence Reds, who were extended
the full, five games by Buffalo
in the semi-finals, entertain the
rCleveland Barons tonight in the
orjening game of their best-of-
seven final series of the Ameri
can Hockey League's Calder
Cup playoffs.
ORIOLES BUY BIRRER
Baltimore, Md. (U.R) The
Baltimore Orioles have, pur
chased Werner (Babe) Birrer, a
26-vear-old right-hander, from
the Detroit Tigers for the $10,
000 waiver price. '
F4
AC
AAU Might Consider Amateurism4
Rule, Revisions at June Session
San Francisco (U.R) A re
vision of the "amateurism" rules
of the Amateur Athletic Union,
to meet present standards, may
be considered at the annual
meeting in June, AAU President
Carl Hansen said today. :
Hansen said he was going east
next week for the AAU boxing
finals at Boston, then to New
York to confer with AAU Secre
tary Dan Ferris and other of
ficials.
"I'm going to bring up a pro
posal that we consider revising
some of the out-moded rules at
our meeting during the national
AAU track and field meet at
Bakersfield in June," Hansen
said.
High Living Cost .
"Among these, of course, will
be a suggestion that we consider
the amount of expense money
allotted to athletes in view of
Seattle Rainier Rally
Beats San Diego Padres
- Palm Springs (U.R The San
Diego Padres met Vancouver to
day in the final game of their
exhibition series here at their
spring training camp.
The Padres leave tomorrow
for San Diego where they will
wind up spring training. Seattle
yesterday rallied with a homer
and single which resulted in a
4-2 victory over San Diego. '
Meanwhile, San Diego an
nounced it had dropped from
the squad pitcher Don Herman,
son of .Philadelphia Phillies
scout Babe Herman.
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the present high cost of living.
Another proposal would be that
we look into the rule that makes
a man a professional just because
he says he plans to be on even
though he hasn't received any
money."
Hansen admitted that the pro
posals have come about because
of the criticism leveled at his or
ganization over the banning of
the country top miler, Wes San
tee, for receiving too much ex
pense money.
On the problem of expenses,
the AAU asked the West Coast
relays at Fresno, Calif., for a de
tailed financial report, including
expenditures of competing ath
letes. The relays committee rejected
the request, with one member,
Art Safstrom, suggesting that the
AAU "go jump in the lake."
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