The White Falcon - 25.01.1964, Síða 6

6
WHITE FALCON
Saturday, January 25, 1964
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Wo orMMfiA m e rtcu
^ fo\ raw ■ n r>i/ 1/ ■ »l AIDH
0 BY CLARK KINNAIRO
(AFPS American Heritage Foundation Feature)
VENTURESOME persons alone or iiS pairs have crossed the
Atlantic Ocean in modern times by raft, or “Duck” or am-
phibious jeep, cutters, ketches, Chinese junks, yawls, life-boats,
inflatable rubber dingy, Polynesian piragua, and other craft.
Name any kind of floating vehicle, and it is probable that it has
been used to transit the Atlantic if not the Pacific.
Sixty-six years ago, two men set out to row across the
ocean from New York in an open boat, named the Richard K.
Fox (for the publisher of Police Gazette). Only slight changes
had been made to improve the 17-foot craft for the 3,000-mile
voyage. Water-tight compartments were fixed fore and aft to
provide greater buoyancy and afford protection for food supplies.
There were fittings upon the gunwales to permit a canvas cover
(through which the men’s upper bodies protruded) to be lashed
across the boat in a storm.
In the daytime, both mariners, Norwegians named George
Harbo and Frank Samuelson, manned oars in unison. They took
short breaks each two hours for rest and meals. Nights, each
rowed 3% hours while the other slept.
The first ten days after the start, June 6, 1897, were un-
eventful. Then the pair had to endure two weeks of storms.
Their small spirit stove cquld not be lit and their only food was
cold snacks. Twice they could have been “rescued” by passing
vessels but they refused aid, except for additions of fresh water
and food to their stores. They kept on to England, arriving there
Aug 1.
[t] Samuelson
and Ha(fbo in
rowboat—-a pho-
to made in Eu-
rope. Left: Raft
on which trio of
men floated from
New York to Eng-
land in 1868.
From the book,
Lonely Voyages,
by Jean Merrien.
Text and presentation © 1962, King Features Syndicate, Inc.
For Use In Authorized Service Newspapers Only.
Nearly Extinct
It's Much Later Than You Think -
There Are But Two Hippofinks
There are just two hippofinks left in the U.S. Armed
Forces.
One of these strange creatures belongs to a Ft. Lewis
Army unit. The other is the property of a U.S. Army Re-
serve unit based in Seattle, Wash.
A hippofink is the mythical sea<
creature that was the amphibious
engineers’ good luck charm dur-
ing WWII and the Korean Con-
flict.
Will the hippofink soon become
extinct? Some say yes but others
swear by the varmint’s hardy
constitution and feel we will ne-
ver, ever fade away.
Hippofink senior, from Ft.
Lewis has been with this Army
unit since June 6. 1942, and shows
little sign of deterioration. If al-
lowed to wear battle ribbons, this
little fellow who tagged along
with the troops during some of
the bloodiest fighting of WWII
would be a myriad of color.
The hippofinks first were spot-
ted by international pressmen
during the island hopping in the
Southwest Pacific. One ‘fink’ was
made an honorary member of the
“Rats of Tobruk,” the Ninth Aus-
tralian Division. The hippofink’s
last 'action in WWII took place in
the Philippines where he paddled
ashore with General Douglas Mac-
Arthur’s forces.
After the war the hippofink
rested in America until he re-
appeared in Korea during land-
dings at Inchon. He was also
around during the evacuation at
Hungnam.
Deadline Nears
For Korean G1 Bill
Qualified veterans of the
Korean Conflict have one year
left to take advantage of the
educational program under the
Korean GI Bill.
Eligible war orphans have no
deadline except their own age.
They may begin school at any
time as long as they are between
18 and 23-years-of-age. In certain
circumstances it is possible to be-
gin before 18 and continue after
23.
0 WiM
Club Vleu>A
At our recent New Comers
Coffee we welcomed June Samp-
son as our only new member this
month. We extend best whises to
her for a happy and interesting
stay here in Keflavik.
Lee Sparks has announced that
she will teach a millinery course
beginning Thursday, January 23.
The course will run for six weeks
and classes will be each Thurs-
day from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at the
Youth Center. Each class will be
limited to eight students to al-
low time for individual instruc-
tion. The cost will be ,$5 for
the six lessons and Lee will have
the essential materals for sale at
a minimal cost.
Bridge will he on January 28.
Call Celia Dinwiddie, Ext. 3169,
for reservations.
Thank-you letters for the
Christmas baking and decorations
for the sites were received from
Captain Ellison and from the
Commanding Officers at H-2 and
H-3.
Elaine Boe was in charge of
the decorations and Mary Pflim-
lin was in charge of the baking
effoi-ts. They both also extended
their thanks to the OWC mem-
bers who participated in this pro-
ject.
Movie Schedule
Saturday Feature
Hercules And The Captive
Hercules attempts to find out
what sadistic secrets the half
woman, half stone, woman held.
Showtime — 6:30 and 8:35.
Sunday Matinee
Golden Age Of Comedy — Laural
& Hardy, Will Rogers. A caval-
cade of screen humor from the
middle and late Twenties. Show-
time — 1:30.
Sunday Feature
Wheeler Dealer — James Gar-
ner, Lee Remick. A rich Texan
(temporarily broke) comes north
to Wall Street to borrow money,
and in the process wheels and
deals, and schemes and conives
and makes himself a couple of
million in his spare time. Show-
times — 6:30 and 8:20.
Monday
Branded — Alan Ladd, Mona
Freeman. Story of a gunslinger
posing as a lost son to a wealthy
rancher. Showtimes —- 6:30 and
8:10.
Tuesday
Hell’s Island — John Payne,
Marion Murphy. One time Dis-
trict Attorney is approached to
help find a missing Ruby; takes
the job upon learning that his
ex-girlfriend is involved. Show-
times — 6:30 and 8:00.
Wednesday
Off Limits — Bob Hope, Mari-
lyn Maxwell. Involves a prize
fighter in the Army and his
manager as they both try to con-
vince his aunt that fighting is
not dangerous. Showtimes — 6:30
and 8:05.
Thursday
My Son, The Hero — Pedro
Armendariz, Jacqueline Sassard.
The King of an ancient King-
don of Thebed proclaims himself
a God and ancient Gods set out
to take revenge on the King.
Showtimes — 6:30 and 8:15.
Friday
The Running Man — Laurence
Harvey, Lee Remick. From Eng-
land to France, from Gibraltar
to Malaga, he carried with his
escape, unprecedented crimes, the
unfaithful wife and the unbear-
able suspense. Showtimes — 6:30
and 8:45.
A MEETING OF POWER—Vladi-
mar Lenin (left), and Joseph Sta-
lin confer at Gorki during the
early Twenties. Stalin, better
known at the time as Vissarionvich
Djugashvili, was to eventually be-
come the leader of the Communist
movement.
History of Communism
The Bolsheviks Confuse
A Disenchanted People
While the revolutionary government was dominated by
left-wing elements, it was not their revolution. Alan
Moorehead notes, “ . . . . The truth was this March rising,
like so many other lesser risings in the past, was not directly
provoked by the revolutionary leaders, least of all by Lenin
and the Bolsheviks” (who, in fact, were in exile at the time).
A provisional government was es-*$~
tablished and immediately gained
recognation by America, Great
Britain and France.
The somewhat disorganized Bol-
sheviks in Petrograd were com-
manded by two novice Leninists:
Vyacheslave Molotov and Vissar-
ionvich Djugashvili, the latter
better known later as Joseph Sta-
lin.
The time seemed right for the
Bolshevik first string to move in.
By secret arrangements with the
German government, based on a
pledge to sue for peace as soon
as they could gain control, Lenin
and others were shuttled through
Germany in a sealed train and re-
leased at the Finnish border in
mid-April.
Lenin was given a hero’s ar-
rival — until he spoke. His de-
mand that the Provisional Gov-
ernment be destroyed, that
workers, soldiers and peasants
be armed for seizure of the fac-
tories, lands and government was
not warmly received. He was
severely rebuffed.
Fate, however, played into Len-
in’s hands. The majority groups
(Social Democrats and Social Rev-
olutionaries) were hopelessly di-
vided and neither would yield
ground to the other.
The workers (the “industrial
Proletariat”) found things no bet-
ter in this new government, so
again they revolted. When 30,000
workers appeared on the streets
July 16, Lenin and his crew
jumped on the bandwagon.
It was an ill-fated effort. A
heavy summer shower disbanded
the rioters and they never re-
assambled. Lenin was driven once
more into exile, his Bolsheviks
blamed for the entire affair.
By September, the Bolsheviks
had regained much of their
strength. In fact, they were able
to ram through the Petrograd So-
viet (council) almost their entire
program: a government of social-
ists, exclusively; the control of
industry by workers; land re-
forms; and agreements to sue for
peace.
On the morning of Nov. 7,
Trotsky, as chairman of the Mili-
tary Revolutionary Committee,
issued a proclamation announ-
cing the fall of the Provisional
Government — and then, with
friendly troops, procceeded to de-
liver the coup d’grace.
By the 13th, Petrograd was
firmly in the hands of the Lenin-
ists and on the 15th Moscow op-
position collapsed.
Prime Minister Kerensky cir-
cumvented the Leninists and gain-
ed a national election for repre-
sentatives to a new government:
a Constituent Assembly.
The Bolsheviks took a beating
i the free elections. So Lenin
waited until the assembly met and
then, with his followers and a
number of Bolshevik militia, rout-
ed the meeting and dispersed the
membership. The date was Jan. 18,
1918.
Trotsky later wrote, “The sim-
ple, open, brutal breaking-up of
the Constituent Assembly dealt
formal democracy (in Russia) a
finishing stroke from which it
never recovered.”
National Flags;
Military Banners
Most Respected
“It is in and through symbols
that man consciously or subcon-
sciously lives, moves, and has his
being: those ages, moreover, are
accounted the noblest which can
the best recognize symbolical
worth, and prize it to the highest,”
said the great Scottish historian,
Thomas Carlyle.
To Carlyle, the most properly
respected symbols were military
banners or national flags. He saw
in them “the divine idea of duty,
of heroic daring; in some instances
(such as the United States, we
can say), of freedom and right.”
National standards or emblems
date back thousands of years.
There are pictures of them in the
oldest bas-reliefs of Egypt. The
invention of distinguishing stand-
ards for the various peoples or
groups in its forces is credited
to the ancient Egyptians. Their
wooden standards were figures of
animals, birds, and inanimate
objects on spears or poles. Colored
banners were introduced at a
somewhat later date — by, it is
said, Saracens who fought Cru-
saders.
When Roman legions marched
across Egypt and much of the
remainder of the then known
world, they had standards sur-
mounted with silver eagles, and
set a fashion in military symbol-
ism for centuries. The bald eagle,
which was chosen for the pre-
dominant figure on the United
States Seal, was deemed particu-
larly appropriate for U. S. Army
banners, and was put upon them
for a half century before the
Civil War. When John C. Fremont
led an army expedition west in
the 1840s to survey unmapped
areas, he had some difficulty con-
vincing Indians his mission was
peaceful because the eagle on his
flag had arrows in its talons.
When this basis of Indian hostile
feelings became apparent to Fre-
mont, he had a calumet, or pipe
of peace, sewn in to his flag.
Benjamin Franklin protested
Continental Congress’ adoption of
the eagle as the national emblem,
because of the bird’s long associa-
tion with imperialism and its own
vulture-like habits.