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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1962-08-23, Page 7Speed King With A Jinx On His Beck When Stirling Koss hurtled Cron the track at Goodwood last Easter Monday, the shock rippled around the world. The jinx had etreack again. During his long, slow recovery he has been inun- dated with good wishes from 'Other drivers, close friends, dis- tant acquaintances, and from thousands of people who never seen a race meeting. For he is a legend, He has made motor -racing famous as xnuch as it has made him famous. Yet he is only thirty-two, He owes much to his lather, Alfred Moss, himself a racing driver in his younger days, Stirl- ing had his first lesson about cars at an early age, When he was five, his father strapped him in with great care and took him for a turn around the outer circuit. But some time before that great day Moss fell into the Thames from his father's cruiser. He went under - but reap- peared moments later treading water vigorously! Father grabbed him by the flair, and ewung him back on deck. The effect of this accident on Moss's life is described by Ed- mund Burke in his book, "Stirl- ing Moss", From that moment Stirling's father decided that his son must Always be in perfect physical ondition, Stirling spent part of every day on some form of supervised physical training. The regime included boxing, wrestling, rope -climbing, swim - Ming, rowing and riding, The father's near - obsession bore a rich harvest. His mental Approach to driving, his razor- eharp keenness could not pos- sibly be maintained unless he was in top -class physical condi- tion. Moss bought his first car - a Morgan -- in 1945, and applied for his driving licence four months before h i s sixteenth birthday, From the moment he was six- teen he was a very noisy feature 'af the Thames -side lanes, Writes Mr, Burke: Now the speed bug had really bitten him, and the boy slept, ate and thought nothing but cars. When his fellows were lost in Adventure stories, Stirling was absorbing performance figures. He haunted garages, work- shops and factories, poking about, prying into corners and under hoods, asking questions, snaking notes. Except for occasional dates with one of the girls from around Maidenhead, he became an auto- maton, built and geared to ab- sorb everything about racing cars. At the same time he was, at least in theory, studying under a rough apprenticeship system, the management of hotels. As a 'trainee manager' he did a stint at every phase of the hotel business, from working behind the reception desk to waiting at table. Some of his then customers would be vastly surprised to . learn that the deft and courteous young man who had served them that day was to become, one clay, the king of the racing drivers. Moss began racing in 1948 - when there was not a single race track in Britain, The only form of competition open to Moss was hill -climbing, and at his first event he came fourth, getting his first-ever mention in the motoring Press, July 4, 1948, was a great day for British motor -racing. The first circuit race since the war was held by the Blackburn Aircraft Motor Club, In pouring rain 5,000 spectators turned up to watch the 500e,c. event, which was to be run in three heats, Stirling ghewed, that after- noon, his complete mastery of a wet traek, gauging his slides with consummate ease. From the start of the final Stirling was in the lead, and nei- ther of his two rivals stood a chance. It was Moss's first proper race - and he had won it, Next, he took his 500e.c. Coop- er to Bouley Ray, Jersey, for a hill -climbing event. He won it, and slashed six seconds oft the 500e,e, record. But in doing so he nearly wrecked the engine. He had ne spare engine, and his next race -- another hill climb - was in two days' time at Prescott, near Cheltenham. Of the dilemma Mr. Burke writes: Stirling and Alfred (his father) put their heads together to devise some emergency plan which would stall off what they both felt would be total disaster. In the end the two Mosses flew to London, leaving the semi- ! :reliet Cooper to follow on by boat, shepherded by the mech- anic. In London, frantic tele- phone calls and an immense taxi bill resulted in enough spares for a rebuild and the two were soon on the train for Southamp- ton. At the docks they got the Cooper into the horsebox, Al- fred took the wheel of the Rolls - their normal way of transport- ing the Moss entourage now - and at a moderate speed set off for Prescott, Meanwhile, in the semi -dark - nem of the moving horsebox, Stirling and the mechanic began to completely rebuild the engine, while the miles passed in all too swift succession. It was July, and the sun was blazing down, turning the inside of the improvised garage into an oven. Sweating and grunting, the two men struggled at their task. They were actually rolling through Cheltenham when the last bolt slid into place, the last nut was tightened. Moss was red -eyed from lack of sleep but he won the com- petition ,easily. Once again, he broke the 500c.e, record. When Stirling's first season ended his record was: Races en- tered - 15; Races won -11, He was nineteen, Next year, 1949, the Moss jinx first showed up - in the Manx Cup event. He was leading the field by half a minute when, says Mr. Burke: Stirling screamed into the pits and leaped out, The magneto drive had gone, and when they threw up the bonnet and checked they found that the whole assem- bly had sheared off its fastenings. After second -wasting emer- gency repairs, Stirling pushed off again, his engine misfiring and blaring, only to grind to a halt 100 yards beyond the pits. • That jinx seems to have sha- dowed Moss ever since, snatch- ing the World Championship from him year after year. In 1951 he found himself racing with one hand in one race - the Formula I Grand Prix in Switzerland. Writes Mr, Burke: It was in the sixth lap that something bounced off the track in the heavy rain, and complete- ly took out the windscreen, With flying glass and heavy rain Stirl- ing lost sight of the road, and then • his visor blew off. For the rest df the 42 -lap race, he drove one -handed; with the other he struggled to hold the loose helmet in place. After Moss's crash last Easter they said he would never race again, Now he is well on his way to recovery, This is not the first time the world has thought he would be off the circuits for good. Contralto -A low sort of music that only ladies sing. PUZZLE 7. 1/finally 28. Corrode balanced 80. Ampitheatro 8. Crucible 84. That can be 9. Detention heard CROSSWORD 10, Challae volt 20, Calorlalty cE• Church) 87. G Seasoning. ea I 11. Elastic fluid 82, Soasonina• ACROSS DOWN 18, :Vater resorts plant 1Ilpronr 18, human 40, waistcoats , d, Translucent 1, Circular metal beings 42. X 7xpnnge plate 20. Canals 44. Genealogy fared 'resin 2, Girl's name 24. 'Village 48. Deposit 9. Resents 3 (100 01 28, Proof- mineral 12. Resentment r 4. Embers reader's mark 47, Scrutinised 14. Strainer 5, Thin tone of 28. MacRae 48, Reimburse 1d, and yarn measure the scale roughly 49. Trifle 18. 6. Balst of a 27. Superficial 50. ( creelRuin spike completely' railroad pmrtenla f i., nmhtrd oras 17. Roundabout ways 18. Floor covering 21. Not any 22. Lessen the speed 23. Musical 28. symbols bid 28. Locations 81, Part of the Aihlo (nb,) 82.me, Link - letter 32, Oriental lute 94, Windmill gall 85. Oursolves 88. Dispatch 88. Search for 88. Avoids expense 41,Plxigenoy 48. Direction 48, Attain rattle 48, arisxing ground 81, Clolstor 53. Ord [ha nab lit Sfarveote 45, Tnrradlddie 58, Favorable vote 'j8, Weird Answer elsewhere on this page WHOLE HOG -- Bertha, a sow on a pig farm near Farnham, England, tries to "ham" it up ,las she clambers into a water tank i' at is much too small for her enormous hulk, TI1IilA1N F Jokm A controversy of major pro- portions appears to be brewing on the conservation horizon, It will be on a subject which will be new to much of the public but which is an old one to many naturalists, biologists and con- servationists. The subject 1s the widespread use of poisonous in- secticides. Down in Florida they are right now very much in the middle of this controversy, It was brought on last month by a new outbreak in several southern counties of the Mediterranean fruit fly. Such an outbreak is immediately followed by intensive aerial spraying of those areas suspected of harboring thie little fly so dangerous to citrus trees. b 4 0 And the aerial spraying is im- mediately followed by cries of outrage from those who feel the spraying does much more than just get rid of the unwanted Medfly. The first week of spray- ing brought charges from a fish hatchery that thousands of its fingerlings had been poisoned by the insecticide falling into its waters. Such charges of disastrous side effects multiply as the spraying progresses but they are almost always denied by those in charge of the spraying programs. And here is the crux of the problem. Since World War II scientific technology has brought to the fore a score of deadly and toxic chemicals capable of wiping out such insect scourges as the Med- fly. But at the same time, re- search into the immediate and long range effects of these sub- stances on the animal life, bird life, fish and soil of the areas in which the chemical is used has been sadly lacking. Lacking such research, those advocating the large spraying programs have been able to go ahead unencumbered by any positive proof that the spraying was causing any widespread harm except to the target insect. o * * Now, those who have become more and more alarmed by the accumulating evidence of actual harm being done by the spraying programs are hoping that an event coming this fall will give substance to their apprehensions and bring to public attention the dangers inherent in the ever wider use of these poisonous chemicals. The event will be the publica- tion in October by Houghton Miffin Company of Rachel Car- son's new book, "Silent Spring." Miss Carson, a highly respected marine biologist formerly with the United States Fish and Wild- life Department, and author of "The Sea Around Us," and "The Edge of The Sea," will present carefully verified evidence show- ing the damage insecticides are doing to animal and plant life, And not only to animal and plant life, humans as well have suc- cumbed"from the effects of these chemicals. * 0 4' Many expect, indeed hope, that Miss Carson's book will spark a• controversy that will result in a thorough investigation of the spraying programs, ,But even with an accumulated mass of evidence against them, it will be no easy matter to get limitations put on the programs. Several government agencies, most notable the United States Department of Agriculture, are heavily committed to intensive spraying. Perhaps the most con- troversial of the U.S.D.A, pro- grams so far has been the spray- ing for fire ants in the South- eastern states, The fire ant is an import from Argentina, where, ironically, it is considered a beneficial insect, feeding on the larvae of more ISSUE 32 - 1£62 harmful insects. After its intro- duction into the United States and lacking its natural enemies, the fire ant multiplied at an alarming rate, The U,S.D.A, rec- ommended intensive spraying with dieldrin or heptachlor, two highly toxic chemical insectici- des, As the spraying progressed, more and more alarming reports of destructive side effects began to come in. Some areas reported an almost complete destruction of small mammals, birds and fish. At the same time, the fire ant itself was far from being brought under control, • e e Then independent research by the Alabama Department of Conservation, the Alabama Poly- technic Institute and Mississippi State University showed no evi- dence that the fire ant was ac- tually destructive to crops, live- stock, wildlife and people as the U.S.D.A, was claiming. But there was accumulating evidence that the "cure" for the ant was ac- complishing everything destruc- tive that the ant itself was being accused of. Still the spraying program is continuing. As the use of insecticides be- comes more prevalent even man himself becomes menaced. Last year in Tampa several small children succumbed after playing with a bag which had contained a lethal pesticide, writes Marian Sorensen in the Christian Science Monitor. * e * As humans slowly poison more and more of their environment, the long-range effects of such a policy are completely unknown. It is another case of the use of technology outstripping the un- derstanding of the effects of such technology. In 1957, the Thompson Chemi- cal Corporation of St. Louis an- nounced that it was withdrawing entirely from the production, dis- tribution and research of the presently known agricultural in- secticides, It had concluded after a 12 -year study that such insecti- cides, while offering temporary control, were building up a grow- ing number of insect pests resis- tant to such insecticides and Upsidedown to Prevent Peeling n' . 0W 1515© rii©[ Js.r4y,'��00 ull ©D©Q�.i'� pain 1210015:,=...3 111 © `a 0 ®QV UlOFID l Ig013:, '44451111:1 i1©150 draPH®o =i©4000 10©h] 15121©ID15®t7I0 i71D *T]©Ui3O4t1I1IiL] were also causing a serious im- balance of the fauna population by the destruction of natural predators and parasites allowing uninhibited development of the insect pests. * * 0' Other countries are also be- coming alarmed at the situation, In Britain a witness from the Nature Conservancy before a parliamentary investigation com- mittee testified that "the threat of toxic chemicals is quite prob- ably the biggest risk to wildlife and game that has occurred in this country." The committee called for immediate prohibition of the three most toxic chemicals used by British farmers, aldrin, dieldrin and heptachlor. In the United States the Pres- ident has recently set up a com- mittee of representatives from interested government agencies which will meet with state and federal wildlife officials before any new spraying programs will be undertaken, Conservationists are wondering if this will be ef- fective or enough, e 0 * No one questions the need for control of destructive insects. For years Hawaii has used biological control -good insects vs, bad in- sects. Enemies of sugar cane on the islands have been brought under control through the intro- duction and establishment of the pests' natural enemies. Hawaii has shipped its beneficial insects all over the world, More research into this type of control is obvi- ously needed. Mankind now not only has the capacity to blow up the planet but also the means to sterilize it. There are many who think they have already started on the lat- ter. Conservationists are hoping the coming controversy will point up the problem and bring some solutions. Middle Age -That time in life when you have the choice of two temptations and choose the one which will get you home earlier. swot JLESSON By Rev ft. Ba1'cla7 ilorren B,A„ Ezekiel Proclaims God's Love Ezekiel 34:1-11; 34:24-31 Memory Scripture: Ye any flock, the flock of my pastures, are men, and I am your God, saitb the Lord God, Ezekiel 34:31, Some would call it mental tele- pathy, But a comparison of Ezekiel 24:1 and 2' Kings 25:1 shows that the Lord revealed to Ezekiel in Babylon and on the same day, that Nebuchadnezzar was attacking Jerusalem. God also told him that he was to enter a period of silence until a personal messenger came to him reporting that Jerusalem had fallen, He was commanded not to cry or make mourning for the dead (Ezekiel 24:17). He an- nounced this decision on the morning of that fateful day, and in the evening, as if a part of God's message, Ezekiel's wife suddenly died. Ezekiel must have known in this experience some- thing of God's heart concern in the punishment and death of His chosen people. Ezekiel 33:21 tells of one who has escaped from Jerusalem and comes, saying, "The city is smit- ten," Ezekiel again began to pro- phesy, With the burning of the temple and the leveling of Jeru- salem's walls, every captive must have felt a shudder of despair. The prophet spoke to the deep- est needs of the bewildered peo- ple. Words of comfort were in order. He brings from God a message reproving the shepherds of Israel who fed themselves in- stead of the flock. He promises to be a shepherd to them, bring- ing them to their own land. He will set up one shepherd over them, even his servant, David. King David had been dead 500 years, He was doubtless referring to the seed of David, Messiah. He makes the promises which forms the theme of a familiar song, "And I will cause time shower to come down in his sea- son; there shall be showers of blessing," Sixty-two times Ezekiel, un- der inspiration, declares, "They shall know that I am the Lord." This could almost be considered a theme for the prophet, What- ever the circumstances, God is trying to help us. Sometimes He chastens, but always it is in love. GET A !HORSE! The Chicago Transit Authority proudly reported last month that its buses plowed through traffic last year at an average speed of 11.7774 mph, an improvement over 1960's 11.66. Average speed of horse cars in Chicago in 1906: 12 mph. SAFETY FIRST -The Dutch skippei of this diver boat moored on the Rhine River at Mainz, West Germany, can now go about his duties without fearing that his children will tumble into the water He erected a fence around their play area atop the stern deck of the floating home ROCKET "ROUNDHOUSE" - Here's how an artist sees the proposed vertical assembly building for the Ad ,,,Iocad Smor,rr C-5, at Cape Canaveral, Fla, Six 350 -foot C -5s could be housed in the 48 ..1, ,n:y„ tiro -block long structure Assembled rockets would move on tracks to main line, right, 'which connects with launching pads.