Is That So?
By EUGENE BURNS
Ranger-Naturalist
PORCUPINES OF MIDEAST
Baghdad Via MEA
One wouldn't expect to see
porcupines in this country,
but there are some, especially
up near the Iranian border.
One that I saw was being
held for sale to animal buyer
who would resell him to a zoo.
It was one of the crested va
riety that gets its name from
the crest of heavy quills which
run down its back from the
nape of the neck to the base
of the stubby tail. Some of
the quills on the captive were
a good 15 or 16 inches long,
but on those that are full
grown they may attain a
length of 20 inches or even
more.
Though our porcupines are
known al peace-loving ani
mals, content not to attack
others, there is evidence that
their Asiatic cousins have a
somewhat different outlook.
Attack Other Animals
The crested porcupine, on
occasion, will attack other ani
mals. How they do it is to
erect their quills and then
charge backwards on the ene
my. The reason is almost cer
tainly not for food. The crest
ed porcupine is evidently as
much of a vegetarian as our
own. In addition to bark, !
bulbs and fruit, he is very
fond of maize, potatoes and
other crops.
An Iranian assures me he
has witnessed such an attack.
It was on a bright moonlit
night, on the edge of some
wooded country. The porcu
pine saw a civet cat, which
the Iranian could easily recog
nize by the scent, assumed
its stance and charged in re
verse. The civet fled and the
porcupine then went on about
its business.
Lit in Burrows
The crested porcupines live
in burrows. There are records
of as many as eight of them
sharing the same one, each
with a different entrance
some of which may be 100
feet from the living srea.
While this would indicate a
Heart Attack Fatal
To Circuit Judge
San Francisco (UP1) Mich
igan County Circuit Judge
George Hartrick, 67, died
from a heart attack here Tues
day as his name was being
brought up in a rackets in
vestigation of the Teamsters
Union in Washington.
Hartrick collapsed in a
tailor's shop. Police ordered
an autopsy, but the coroner's
office said a laceration on the
judge's forehead "undoubted
ly occurred when he col
lapsed." The Oakland County Mich,
circuit judge, whose home is
in Royal Oak, was mentioned
in a Senate Rackets Commit
tee hearing by former Team
ster official Robert Scott.
Scott testified that Team
ster boss James Hoffa asked
him to see Hartrick about a
new trial for Harry Fliescher,
known as the leader of De
troit's "Purple Gang."
Scott said he told Hoffa "it
was no use" because Hartrick
had been promised a state su
' preme court seat for laying a
heavy sentence on Fliescher.
certain sociability in these
spine-covered rodents, it
seems to me that these under
ground apartments are con
nected more by accident than
design.
Very possible they live in
such close proximity to each
other for a most practical
reason. Big and strong as the
crested fellow is some of
them weigh up to 60 pounds
he undoubtedly wants to
make his home where the dig
ging is easier. Hence several
of them would choose the
same area to a point just short
of overcrowding.
(Released by McClure News
paper Syndicate)
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cisco, Calif.
Anli-Aircrafl Talos
Gets Target Missile
Alamoeordo. N. M. (UPD
deadly Talos anti-aircraft in
terceptor missiles speared and
"killed" one of the Army's
supersonic target missiles
over the white Sands range
here Tuesday in a startling
demonstration of U. S. air de
fensive might.
The victim was the King
fisher missile, which a White
Sands spokesman said is as
fast as any known tactical jet.
A fire control officer,
watching a radar "blip" which
picked up the flight of the
Kingfisher, pushed a button
to rip the Talos into flight.
It swooped down for the kill
on a course calculated by the
Talos' automatic ground
tracking equipment.
At the point where the in
terceptor missile would have
hit the Kingfisher a "kill" was
recorded electronically and
the Talos swerved away. This
is done so the expensive mis
siles may be recovered.
The Kingfisher firing-error
indicator transmitted a signal
which showed Talos had
struck home.
The lowest temperature
ever recorded in the U.S. was
69.7 degrees below zero at
Rogers Pass, Mont., on Jan.
20, 1954.
Small Colleges Boosted By Interim Group
State Rep. Robert Duncan
of Jackson county has return
ed to Medford after attend
ing the meeting of the legis
lative interim committee on
education at Seaside recently.
Day and night sessions were
held as the committee prepar
ed its report to the next ses
sion of the legislature.
The committee is charged
with studying the problems
of school districts in Oregon,
including minimum standards,
school reorganization, and
school finance; the problems
of post high school education
in Oregon, including vocation
al education, community col
leges, and the Oregon Techni
cal Institute; and problems of
curriculum development and
teacher training."
Hearings have been held in
many parts of the state and
the committee has prepared
tentative drafts of reports, to
gether with legislation to ac
changes in many fields.
Boost Community Colleges
Duncan reports that the use
of community colleges will be
Young Ensign Faces Six Years at Labor
San Diego (UPI) Navv en
sign James L. Johnson, 23,
Long Beach, Calif., today
faced six years confinement at
hard labor and dismissal from
the Navy for damaging a
Navy vessel so he wouldn't
have to go to sea.
Conviction of the young of
ficer in a court martial last
week was disclosed Tuesday
by the Navy.
Johnson was found guilty
of cutting oil lines and of
dumping tools in a reduction
gear box on the landing ship
tank St. Clair County in Long
Beach last January while
waiting to put to sea.
Damage to the ship was es
timated at $3,100.
During the court martial, it
was indicated the ensign did
not want to leave port because
his wife was so upset he was
afraid she might commit sui
cide. His wife said she had not
been feeling well and did not
want Johnson to leave her
side but she had not planned
to kill herself.
US OFFICIAL HONORED
Berlin (UPD Martin J. Hil
lenbrand, political adviser to
the U.S. Mission in Berlin
who is returning to Washing
ton, was honored with a fare
well party in the West Berlin
city hall Tuesday night. He
was presented a white porce
lain bear, Berlin's heraldic
figure.
encouraged and made easier
to form as the need increases;
The school district reorgani
zation bill will be tailored to
eliminate problems and ob
jections that have arisen since
its passage; provision will be
made for distribution of assets
an liabilities of the non-high
districts as they are termin
ated in 1960; and recommen
dations to improve the school
standards and administration,
together with recommenda
tions strengthening the de
partmene of education and
the state board of education
will be made.
Report on school finance
and Oregon Technical Insti
tute are not yet completed.
Duncan reported a continuing
and growing movement, par
ticularly in the eastern Ore
gon areas, to reduce equali
zation payments under the
basic school support formula
to the O and C counties by
requiring O and C revenues
to be taken into consideration
in determining the elegibility
for equalization. This is a seri
ous problem which directly
affects Jackson county.
The next and final meeting
of the committee is scheduled
for September. Any suggest
ions on the committee's final
report should be made to Rep
resentative Duncan as prompt
ly as possible, he said.
i Air Traffic Resumes
Over Pacific Area
Honolulu (UPD Airline
service resumed over the Pa
cific today as radio communi
cations returned to normal fol
lowing a nuclear blast over
Johnson Island.
The blast, which took place
early Tuesday, grounded all
flights and disrupted radio
communications. The Civil
Aero nautics Administration
warned beforehand that radio
reception might be poor or
nonexistent at the time of the
blast.
About a dozen planes were
grounded in Honolulu for pe
riods up to 12 hours. Radio
teletype circuits on several
frequencies were snarled by
static.
The blast lighted the skies
over Honolulu 700 miles away
for a fraction of a second. A
grey-white mushroom cloud
appeared on the horizon and
was visible for less than
three minutes.
After the explosion, several
freight planes took off from
Honolulu but returned later
when their pilots reported ra
dio communications were
spotty.
More than 12 per cent of
all single-family homes sold
in the U. S. now contain at
least some prefabricated parts.
MAIt TRIBUNE, Medford, Ore., Wednesday, August 13, IMS 7
New Type Hay Fever Shot Developed
New York (UPD A New
York scientist has come up
with a new type of hay fever
shot described as 98 per cent
effective.
It differs from the conven
tional anti-hay fever injections
in two ways. Only one shot
a year is needed, in contrast
to the from 15 to 70 annual
injections of the old type
shots. And it is made of min
eral oil and ragweed extract.
The shots now being used are
made of a water base and
extract.
Dr. Mary Loveless said the
medication is not now gen
erally available and is still
in the experimental .stage.
She added, however, it has
been used with good effect on
hundreds of patients in five
university medical centers.
I llpilk JF BEDS
Gadgets on Autos
Said Nothing New
San Francisco (UPD Peo
ple who install television and
other new-fangled gadgets in
their cars have nothing on the
inventors of earlier years ac
cording to the National Auto
mobile Club.
During the 1890's a Chicago
man devised a mechanical
horse that would run along on
wheels in front of a car.
Horses often bolted when
they saw a "horseless car
riage." The inventor was out
to fool them.
Another inventor designed
an automobile washing ma
chine, simply a tank with a
lid. The tank was filled with
warm water, soap and dirty
laundry. A ride over bumpy
roads shook up and did the
family wash.
The parking problems was
a source of brainstorms even'
in 1926. An Iowa inventor
came up with a car with a
small wooden platform on the
read end, furnished with cast
ers. To park, the driver just
up-ended his car until it stood
on the platform, which he
then rolled into the space.
Then there was the Texan
who eliminated the need for
eyeglasses by having his
whole windshield ground to
his prescription.
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