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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 1958)
Ex-Resident Tells Of (Editor's note: The follow ing letter, by John Conlon, formerly of Medford, givet his views on the role Ameri cans should play in visiting foreign lands. It was moti vated by one of a series of articles carried in the Mail Tribune, written by Jeff Williams of Medford during a hitch-hiking trip around the world last summer.) In one of the back issues of the Mail Tribune I have just received, I became quite in terested in an article written by Jeff Williams. I grew up in Medford, although I never knew Mr. William's, but in this letter of his relating inci dents which he had encoun tered on his hitch-hiking trip around the world I was shock ed as to the way he continual ly compared everything he had witnessed to the every day life of our United States. I am also a 'true blue" American, as he put it, but in my travels throughout the world I have never .found reason to criticize a people's way of life. Since graduation from Med ford High school in 1954 I have spent only two months in the United States. I have lived with my wife and family in two foreign countries al though I have traveled through many countries, and at this time I am residing in the Republic of the Philip pines. , There is one thing which aggravates me and that is the American who, when travel ing in a foreign country, con tinually compares his sur roundings to those he is ac customed to in the U.S.A. By this not only the prestige of the nation is lowered, but the man is losing a valuable friend, for himself as well as the free world. I consider it one of the greatest pleasures of life to be able to eat the food of another country as prepared in that country, because there is no other place that the natural taste and flavor in the cooking can be experi enced. ' . A few weeks ago I visited the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong, and on this visit I noted many things which I have not seen in the United States and I encountered many customs which were somewhat strange to me. ; Even with all this it never entered my mind to criticize the people, not even to my self. While there I rented a car and traveled up to ' the Chinese Communist border. On this tour I stopped in the New Territories at a small village caleld Lok Ma Chow, this walled town dated back through the Ming dynasty and the antiquity bringing fdrth a beauty which overpowered the stench and disease which I noted within the stone walls. Those people knew ' nothing else , except poverty; that is poverty as we look at it, al though in their own eyes they are happy. I noticed nothing strange on the Communist side of the border, one large city named Shum Chen and the rice fields extending into the mountains. Coast Guard Crew Demolishes Mine Astoria -(UPD-A World War II marine mine was destroyed n the beach at nearby Ft. Stevens yesterday morning by a Coast Guard, demolition crew. The weapon, weighing 400 to 600 pounds, was trucked to the deserted Ft. Stevens rifle range during a heavy Pacific gale after it had spent the night in Astoria's west end mooring basin on the deck of the dredge Silver Moon. The dredge had "caught" the mine off North Head, Wash., and brought it here for the Coast Guard to handle. Hilton Hotel Drive Nearing $3 Million Portland -(UPD-Businessmen striving to raise three million dollars to assure construction of a downtown Hilton hotel here announced yesterday they had achieved 94 per cent of their goal with $2,818,400 collected. Roy Vernstrom, general chairman of the campaign, said , the drive headquarters would remain open for a week 'to collect the remaining funds. An option on the square block or downtown property where " the hotel would be built ex pires Oct. 31. ass HOW CHRISTIAN SCIENCE HEALS Separating the two countries and the ideals of Communism from Democracy was a tall iron fence paralleling the Hong Kong side of the Canton river. The Cantonese railroad continued to operate between the city of Kowloon in the Colony and Canton in Red China, and strangely enough the trains were crowded each day from both directions. The one thing really out standingly different in the people of the Colony and those of other nations I have recently visited was the tragic problem of refugees.- At the edge of the city of Kowloon along the barren mountains leading into Communist Chi na are miles of seven story buildings, with each building housing over 1,000 families, all preferring near-starvation to the Communistic : way of life. The mountains on the island of Hong Kong were also swarming with refugees who have set up their homes 4 mew 5 Complete correlation in your living room at a budget price. The upholstered pieces' gleaming brass stars, the plastic covered buttons - for extra long wear, the brass self-leveling glides on the table legs are all matching, bringing you the look of a $500.00 correlated living room group for under $200.00. Note the generous extra width in the chair back and custom welted arms found only in higher priced sets'. Now the big extras! Foam padding, a full 2-inch thickness in the arms soft enough for Junior to sit on. Cushions enough to insure years of wear on the arms. Foam padding everywhere you sit, too J to add to your comfort and the wear of the upholstery. Over 60 western stores bought 7 carloads of this group to bring you these spectacular savings. What else but mass purchasing could . command these prices? and a floor pieces in all And Here's Other Groups Priced to $21950 Foreign Living; Ideals on Attitudes in cardboard shacks along the terraced hillsides. These are the people who an American must know to realize it takes more than words to win friends. Thousands of small children marked for life with scurvy rashes on their heads and bodies, and those with bloated stomachs begging for a bite to eat. Pictures of old men and women on the bill boards of police stations who were found dead and un known. This is the dirt and filth of war that we don't want in America, this is the thing Americans should think about when traveling so they can know the truth of just exactly why we live more prosperously than our neigh bors. It is not the customs, the transportation, the clothes, the food nor the night clubs, but it is the political and mili tary situation. People are basically the same every where, their needs and wants are always the same. Surely SENSATIONAL! mm! cvn iicivc 1 i at Ms & Orr! t Added to these upholstered pieces and tables are 2 matching table lamps Anofher lamp. That's right 7 in this group. ' mm EXTRA Savings No Interest or Carrying Charges! At Weeks their skin may be different but they are all of one blood. I would like to say this: That a "true blue" American is not one who vainly portrays his Americanism and his so called capitalistic egotisms throughout the world, but one who rather wishes to give a little bit of himself for the cause of a free world which at this time is threatened by those who give nothing, but take all. This letter is of course my opinion and therefore I am not actually condemning Mr. Williams, but I cannot stand to see anything in print for the . public to read that so completely shows . the domi nating American opinion of an undeveloped people who are not Americans.- The people of the world wherever they may be are naturally different in certain ways and respects from us, but to them we are of a far greater difference. The more "V ALL - V am money-sover . . . WIEIEIES we brag about ourselves and condemn Others the fewer friends we will have. . We Americans criticize the Filipino for being lazy and for his government being cor rupt, but actually we do not look beyond our own pocket books. The Filipino is not lazy nor is he behind in the times, he is simply doing things the way he knows best. Not only the Americans but also the Japanese, the British and most other great indus trial nations criticize the more common people, but they do not realize the people are happy in their own way of life. In America we would not be as prosperous as we are to day if we had not the oppor tunity to continue in our lives as we wished and if we had not been free. I have also found language is no real , barrier. I have many very good friends among foreign peoples, Portuguese, ' - "I,, j -f "J9Ii ' 5 I flll Ill I ! Ill 111 ------- Indonesian, Japanese, Fili pino, Chinese, to name a few, and I have taught English con versation to Japanese students as Mr. Williams said was the American practice in Turkey. Through these friends I have learned that a smile will make friends and there is the inter national language of expres sion, and signs. There is an old saying that rings true in all languages: "The only way to make a DAVID RESTAURANT SUPPLIES 8 EQUIPMENT 315 North Riverside Avenue. 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