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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1962-06-28, Page 5"7- Time To Collect.0 Looking "look On Recent History bear looking into, A great many stories were written about anti Americantem—latent and overt- more, it seems to me, than have, been necessary in the past few years. As Britain looked toward Europe tile great problem was not,, as today, joining the Coin. mon Market, Then it was how to Integrate pouperons, emerging West Germany into the 'Western military alliance, whether to allow the foriner enemy to re- arm, and, if so, to what extent, writes Henry S. Hayward in the Christen Science Monitor. Frew.° then was tm ally re. ducted to almost farcical circum- stances by a dreary succession of toppling governments. It wee net, s as today, ruled by a stir e man, capable, seine mainettn, of virtually dictating terms for Brit- airas entry into the mighty new West European economic bloc, Africa already was astir, with attention tecusing on the Mau Mau atrocities in Kenya, but with the roster of British passeesione reaching full self-government— Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone— still to cOme, The new Feder- ation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was only just getting under 'way, British interest at that time centered more on Southeast Asia where the problems of Malaya and Singapore were being ironed Out, and where the first big post- war colonial changes — the In- dependence of India; Pakistan, and Burma — st.ill were 'being digested, With the Suez Canal regard* ed as 'firmly ander British - French control, this country's Mideast interests were wide- renging but considered reason- ably secure. President Nasser had just come openly to power but the nationalization of the' canal lay two years ahead. Still to o c c u r, of course, was the sharp Anglo - American split over the Suez invasion arid the remarkable restoration of good relations under Mr. Macmillan. The British meanwhile have endured with reasonably good grace the unpalatable process of watching their impact on world affairs decline, They have' sought to keep up with the parade by developing their own expensive H-bomb, only to- find. super-rockets to transport it were beyond their means. AS physical resources dwindled they have called more and mote on their generations of experienee to compensate. But despite all setbacks and- alterations, the Britain of the end of 1961 seems far more of a going concern than it was in mid-1953. John Bull is still very much in the game. What great changes one 'notes, In Britain .singe 1004! You have only to reMOMber seven and .onee half years ago Sir Winston Chuahiil oeeapied Ten Downing Streets still lending his historic stature and wartime prestige to th*, Yet to Mae to power was Sir Anthony Eden,. then .scintillating as Foreign Smetana He took ever..trom Sir Winston in April of ,),PM Ill ,and .cleteatea, en the Sues issue, he in tetra was sap* planted early in 1957 by Harold Macmillan, the present Prime Minister, 111 "1 The Brit! n of 104 as I, re- Member it was still a netiOn -emerging front the shadows, the losses, the uncertainties of World War 2, In July of that year, the last a :food rationing was an, pounced, tong after most of. John Bull's former Net were again eating without restriction, Bven then, coal rationing continued, there. At that tune, the postwar socialist regime under Clement R. Attlee was but three years out of office, The country still was absorbing the impact of its silt years of social reform legislation and nationalization of industry. Some expected moreover that the strong "Aber Party-under Attlee, or hie successor, Hugh Gaitskeln, or even under that colorful Welshman, Aneurin Bevan — migth be returned to power by one of the recurring crises. No one would have dared pro- phesy that that the Tories still would be in power in 1962 with. their mandate not due to expire 'tit 1964, and. with at least a 'fair chance of winning a fourth con— secutive time at the polls then. They may not have done bril- liantly in the last 10 years, but they have done well enough to remain in office -under .three such different leaders as Churchill, Eden, and Macmillan, In those days Britons already were wistfully looking forward to an East - West summit con- frontation—the first of which was to occur at Geneva in the sum- mer of 1955, Opinion here was strong that the concept of "peace- ful coexistence" probably would WRECK KILLS 68 —'A railroad• coach Iles overturned at the bottom of ,c ravine fol.- lowing accident at Fiumarella River near Catanzaro, Italy, The coach, last car of a three-car inter-city diesel 'train, 'broke loose and plunged down, a I00-foot embankment Into, the river. At least 68 persons were reported killed, This Is Not A Pleasant Article But It May Help To SOY. Lives aren't all these and other safety devices incorporated at once? The automotive industry says the public must be ready for them first. It has introduced many safety features over the years: safety glass:, four-wheel and hy- draulic brakes, dual windshield washers and defrosters, direction signals, dual taillights and stop- lights, dimmer switches, seated beam headlights, power brakes, power steering, and automatic gear shift. Perhaps motorists would clam- or for still more safety equip rent if they clearly understood the tremendous, damaging forces exerted against our puny bodies in an accident, But they don't Every day you still see children standing up in the front seats of cars while the ear is in motion, or mother in the death seat with baby in her lap. Children in cars should be belted. If they can't be belted, they should be seated at all times. They should never be al- lowed to suck lollipops or eat ice cream, on a stick in a moving car. There should be no heavy objects on the back shelf. Dr, Hendricks believes babies should be strapped into "carry-cots," or similar box-like structures, wedged well onto the floor in the beck seat An accident can happen toa anyone It can happen ad fast yen have no time to save yourself.• Only the proper "packaging" of humans within cars- can prepare them, for the ,fatal seven-tenths. —By Ron Kenyon, in Imperial Olt Review. HIP CATS CheirleS Boeing dear!, -4, of Twyford, BerkShire, England converts, his frityclie into a taxi for two friends. dents were equipped with seat belts„ but only one-third of the belts were being used. Yet there is little doubt that seat belts reduce crash deaths and injury. They prevent ejec- tion and lessen injure inside the car, Dr. J. W, McGillivray, a gene eral practitioner of Orillia, Ont., studied serious accidents in his area which resulted' in four deaths and injury 'to others. His subsequent report stated that seat belts could have saved four lives and minimized other serious in- juries, Investigators in the U.S. calculate that 30 to 60 per cent of the people killed annually in cars could be saved by belts. Saskatchewan Highway Safety Council says 78 of the 164 high- way Victims of .1960 could have been saved by belts. To help encourage motorists to wear belts at all times, some safety officials-point out that they also make driving more comfort- able. You end your journey less tired because you have been rid- ing "with the car." Virtually all belts on the mar- ket are waist models, although one foreign automobile is fitted for shoulder harness. Other built-in safety features are being devised. At the Uni- versity of Minnesota,-much study has been devoted to car bump- ers. The problem here is not simply to provide "bounce," which wouldn't help, but to cush- ion the tremendous impact. Hy- draulic shock-absorbing bump- ers are being evaluated, The bumper consists of two sets of telescoping tubes attached to each side of the frame sup- porting the ends of 'the bumper and shield. University of Min- nesota authorities say these re- duce the "g" force in an impact by about one-half, They believe these bumpers could be added without affecting style or price, Seats, too, are being. studied. It they could be built to move for- ward slowly and only when ex- treme force is applied they might help cushion the shock, Liberty Mutual Insurance Corn- pany has devised a special ve- hicle called "Survival Car II' (a successor to a previous Sur- vival Car).equipped with 24 safe- ty features,. They include: tall bucket - type seats to cradle drivers; 'head supports to pre- vent whiplash injury; a rectangu- lar collapsible steering wheel; and complete shoulder harnesses (instead of the conventional' seat belt), The company says this ear ,;would protect an occupant against ' deceleration forces of approxi- -mately 30 "g's" (39 times the -force .of gravity)'. AII these studies have an oh- jective: packaging the passenger so that the car and occuparits' are decelerated together. Why costal arteries are piasetured. Six-tenths of a second Driver's feet are ripped out of laced shoea. The brake pedal shears off at the floor. Chassis bends' in the middle. The driver's head smashes into, the wind- - shields. Rear of the car begins fa lslienvge.,n- tenths of a second—The entire riding body of the ear is forced out of ,shape. Hinges tear, doors spring open, seat rams for- ward, pinning driver against steering shaft, He is dead, This doesn't make pleasant reading, but it bring home the tremendous force and speed of accidents. "People often don't have time to brace themselves against an accident and if they did it would not help them," says Dr. E. B. Hendricks, neurosurgeon at Tor- onto's Hospital for Sick Children, "Even an adult simply couldn't hold, on," The danger is greatest for chil- dren. 'Many mothers insist on holding babies while they sit in the front seat. Yet this isethe most dangeious seat in a car and mere- ly holding a baby will not save it, even in a relatively low-speed collision, Hendricks studied head in- juries to children who were brought to the hospital over a five-year period, Some 600 of the 2,000 child head-injury cases were the result of car accidents. 'Many had been standing in the front seat and flew through the air, battering their heads against the windshield or dashboard. Children s h o tit d normally travel in the back sea, A study by John 0, Moore and Boris Tourin of. Cornell, covering 14,- 520 auto accidents of all kends, found that half of the children involved were in the back seat at the time and sustained fewer injuries than adults, most of whom were in the front. The same study showed that in front- end accidents, more than 60 per-, cent of injuries were suffered by people in front seats, Another danger is ethat doors may fly open, ejecting Occupants onto the roadway. People who Manage to stay inside a car ate about five Aimee-less likely to be killed than thOse ejected, Most ejections occur from the front seat, another reason why the.back seat is safer. Heavy objects lying loosely in the ear; especially thoee'on the back shelf under the windevei are another frequent source' .of jury. When a car stops suddenly, they fly forevarcf like shrapnel. Finally, in, rear-end collisions, whiplash Injury to- the neck :15 cone-non arid serious: Here-the' car, which is usually' stepped or traveling slowly, is hit in the rear and -propelled forward suddenly; The passenger's head entina back. Warda causing: injury theetser- tebree. All these probleins have, been carefully studied in' recent Yeats and some modifications to autos mobilea have already been nude. Por'inetneee, in some later Model cars; interlocking door 16610' have been introduced 'pfeeeiit doors springing. open. Instrument pane els heve been padded, Rear=view mirrors previderi with lard4; • they awing' aeicle Ott impact. In 1962: all Catiadialt ears built by reed, Chrealer, General Woes, StudebakersPackard and Anita-lean Motors. will have iti seat belt franaes to encourage the use of safety belts which willa however, remain optiotiel equipment; Pideuentlye einterrxee bile companies are cattle/zed far net providing. belt* as built-in featfiree. The triarlithettitera to ,ply that the PeePlia adrif t Want theta enough to pap the: attire Stint ,eabOut $10-$1t. per Omen) #14 use thent-wheii they rid het tient A study ttaire, With the herf* et the' efiliforftitt. High- wajr rietra4. showed. that, about three pat dent Of rel fit. Steele On-September 2, 1955, a Ham- ilton, Ont,, woman, her husband and 10-year-old son were driving home from their cottage. The man was at the wheel. "I don't remember what haP- pened then," his wife said later. "AU I remember is the ambu- lance coming and then being in the hospital." No one realty knows what hap- pened, They were In an acci- dent a split-second effete, as most accidents are: The husband was killed outright. The wife badly hurt. Their son suffered severe brain injury. For years his mother hoped he would, recover, Now she 'closes he won't. He may live to be 60 or 70, say doctors, but he will never even become conscious. Sometimes he laughs, sometimes he cries, but never knowingly, He recognizes no one. Once, he said "yes"—the only ward he has ever spoken. Most people would say he was injured because two cars col- lided—which is partly true, But when the car collided end stop- ped, its occupants kept going. They smashed 'themselves on pro- jecting points, on the roof, the steering wheel and the wihd- shield. To be absolutely accurate, the boy was hurt when he col- lided with the beside of his par- ents' eat Obvious though this fact is, it' is, rarely recognized. We devote much of our thought and effort, rightly, to preventing- accidents. But they continue to happen, in- stantaneously, and often to people, whose driving habits are fault- less: Therefore, an all-important point is to reduce injuries and death by preventing what.hap- pens inside the colliding car,, ,Few of us realize that speed alone is not a prime cause of death and injury in carse In Britain and in the, 'ELSA., it has been proved that most serious accidents occur in cars traveling at 30 miles an hour or less: At 30 rosph. the human body' can be propelled . forward forcefully enough to cause death. Tests carried out by General Motors showed that in a 30-mile- pet-hour crash' the impact will roll up the hood of the car, peals the engine back and' damage the front whee/s. The. Ford Motor Company has ale* held eras* tests, with similar results. Slow motion studies using dumtnies showed what hanpertect to an oc- cupant when a earlits a tree at 85 maah: • (While most people regard as a "safe" highway speed). Here is the grisly se- quence of events during the first severi-tenths, of a second after: One-tenth ef' a attend —Front" bumper and chrome frosting of grill 'Collapse. ' steel slivers' pen", .rate tree 1.1/2 itiehes, Twastenthe of laseconcle-Heod- crimples,. rises, smashing' infer' windshield. Spinning fear wheels' leave the ground. Grill disinter Oates., Fenders` edine into eerie tact tvith the tree, 'forcing rear' Oita fo splay out ever the front clothe Driver's WO continues to rnave ft:4.'1,1MM' With a fotee tit-ilea that of gratify. His body now weighs, IMO Oneidas his legs, held straight Out Mess the kiseee. • Three tenths' of et attend' Daitsetaa body now' off the adalts tdi5d upright Plea* arid steel frarrie of thesteering Wheel'betl under his death griP. His. heatt- it nee? stet ViSOr i. his chest abet* steering collate. Four-tenths' of a second-60:i itotit 24 inches' is completely des itielleheda but the: resit end: it Still, travelling 35 m.p.h. The latilfatera neetde block crunches into the tree, Rear of the Cara like a bucking horse, rises' highs enough to' *rapt bark Oft lOWeer branches: Five-tentha el second.:i. toriVer's hand* bend_ Steering Whed shat Lungs and inte0 n 'The Razor's Edge it did have good steering an' transmission, So he started look- ing for the man who'd .seld it him," "And couldn't find hint?" "He :Meld him all right. The man was looking for Fred — he produced We agreement an' said he wanted the first month's ie,,, stahnent of five quid, "Fred wouldn't pay but he had another look at the agreement, an' he isn't covered by any gears entee or anythinv,, "The man is still trying to get hold of Fred—comes in here ask- ing for lain—and he says he'll take him to court," "1 doubt it he'll get away with that," I said, "But I'm afraid Fred may have lost his sixty quid," "Well," said Frank, "Fred can't afford to lose sixty quid, So we decided we'd take.matters into our own hands." To had been vigorously lath- ing the face of the other custom- er, Now he picked up a large, cut-throat razor; and to my sur- prise Frank picked up another. "A chap's kind of helpless in a barber's chair," said Frank. "Doesn't take much to hold him down." In the mirror, I saw him lock the street door, I also saw Joe— and Joe is a. large Man—staading over the other customer. "Ile comes In here," says Frank, "an' asks for Fred. An' then he says "Well, may as well have a shave while Fm, here — on the house,' he says. "So we says 'Right!' On, the , house it is — an' then you come in," There was a pause. The other customer made some kind of movement; but Joe's ham-like 'hand was pressed down on his arm, and he subsided. "A chap can get badly cut," said Joe elowly, "if he moves or struggles while he's being shaved .. or even if he doesn't. Awful mess,, his face can get into." "Leaves permanent scar s," agreed Frank. "Which is a pity especially for a chap who lives by persuading people to accept bad bargains in good faith , -you take that side, Joe, an' take this." The other customer lay back, perfectly still; but a kind of hoarse whisper emerged from,his• lips. "I'll fix. you for this," he mut- tered, "An' perhaps Joe and I will fix you a little bit, first" Frank's razor hovered, half an inch from the lower angle of the man's jaw. "What do you. v:;ant?" Now it was a kind of feeble croak. • "I want sixty nicker — which. I don't doubt'you've got in your pocket," said Frank. 'An' I want that ageeement. You'll get your car back. Just lie still, now.", Joe's- hand explored inside the man't jacket; came out with a notecase, and a document, in a long, envelope. "Fivers,"`- said Joe, He counted them. "Eleven — that's five short." "All right," said Frank., ". do you still require a ehave, sir'?" The other customer did not He scrambled from the chair, grabbed a towel, wiped his face hastily, and made for the door. Frank obligingly, unlocked it. "Have you fixed up In, a min- ute now, sir," said Frank cheer- fully; "Sorry about that little in- terruption. I know we can trust you not to say anything . . ." Well, I thought, as I walked- back to the office, I suppose, he can. But it was as well, perhaps, that he did not know the-precise nature of my job — fe in the Home Office, in a department that deals with legal and, pence Matters: • And r was revolving, in my mind the penalties, respectively, for obtainiagsmoney by false and demanding Money by threats, From: 'lit-Bite A Complete Wee by (JOULES IRV,IING Neernelle' I get to the office ateaut, 9.3Q and stay at tny desk until 1.15. But that mewling I knew the Under Secretary was away, and I badly needed a hair- set I thought r might just catch bid Frank before he air ,: cad for lunch. Frank would never give way to any modern ideas about steel ing Open right through the lunch- hour; 12,30 to 2.30 was the lunch- break, and if that didn't suit you geese, you could take your custom else- where. Old ."rank ran the piece with his two sons, Joe and loved. But when 1 got there Joe was at tend- ing to a customer, Frank was tidying up—everything was al- ways spotlessly clean, but that didn't stop Frank from tidying up—and Fred, who normally cuts my hair, was nowhere to be seen. So naturally I. said: "Good morning, Frank where's Fred?" Frank indicated the second of the three chairs, and I obedient- ly sat in it and was draped with white linen, "Fred's away," said Freak. "I'll do you myself," "Holidays?" I asked, "No," said Frank, "Not holi- days. Short back and sides, isn't It?" "Yes," I said, "I've been away myself—it badly needs a trim, But I hope Fred isn't ill—or any- thing?" "Not ill," said Frank, setting to work, He seemed disinclined to say more, and I remained silent, But after a moment he spoke again, "I'll tell you," he said. "We've Always looked on you as one of the family. 'Course, I dunno what you doe'cept that I know you're a civil servant of some kind — but you've been coming to us for ten years now." He picked up another pair ,of scissors, "Fred's had a bit of trouble," he said, "I'm sorry to hear that." I glanced, by way of the mirror, at the other customer; but Joe had the man's head enveloped in hot, -damp towels. "You know Frecits married," ttaid old Frank, "an' lives out in Surrey, Well, some months ago his'wife wasn't at all well. Bron- chial pneumonia or some suelt—" "With complications," put in Joe gleomily, "With complications," agreed Frank, "An' when she got a bit better Fred decided he'd toy to get e cheap car—summer Was coming, see, an' he reckoned he could take her out a bit, evenings and weekends. - "So he scouts round an' he comes across a chap in a pub who says he can get a car, about six years old but in good order, for a hundred an' eighty quid. "Well, Fred knows a bit about oars—not a lot, but enough to tell a good 'un from a dud—and he has a look at this car an' takes it out for a run, an' it seems O.K. "The man says he can pay sixty quid down an' five quid a month, an' he turns up a couple of days later with an H.P. agree- ment an' the car, an'. Fred signs the agreement, hands over sixty ;nicker an' takes the car." Old Frank seized a pair of "clip- pers, inspected it narrowly, put It down and picked up another pair.. "Well, after about a fortnight," he said, "that car had absolutely in up. There was a big crack in. the cylinder, block, the differs entfal had gone, an! the steering was hopeless. "Wells Fred's not a fool an' he saw what had happened. The car was one o'•these popular -makes, • en' Fred' is convinced that the ene he bought Wasn't the otie he Vied out originally. "This' man had switched itlot another ones an' he'd, witched the number plates, a* well;. be- cause Fred had noticed the, rege isttation, number." • "He's: sure the Car:, he tried didn't have a cracked' blocka Truth is the hardest missile one cans be pelted: with. —George Sliot. .....ffax="iremov=ion k4ri(j$NCHENO SPEAKS —Pteniiet Nikita Kfarustitheiv • tbeWie, at. a KremlinConventicle* Of the \ rederatiOrt`IA Trade Unions ire Moscow: tttit tENEMtNt collier'' arid .dhild, Wet, iii lied . , „„. NclrfhbridO, when On eXPlotiO6 and fire Shattered d [Tient house where gas conttiarly dteWA, Were .seardhing, 'far a leclk: Poke, told at least 1.0 perabrit: were injurei when three, ite:k.st of tlid twattiddliott story blinding, blew ox l- tietee 'fireieitea r. -4!