Times-Advocate, 1982-08-18, Page 121
Page 12 Times -Advocate, August 18,1982
Orsnton•. bride honoured, WI member sttend convention
Miss Ruth Mardlin, Lon-
don, who will marry Steven
Wilson, also of London, on
August 28 in the Granton
United Church with the Rev.
Elwood Morden performing
the ceremony was honored at
a recent shower.
Mrs. Sharon Clymans
welcomed everyone and
spoke about how Ruth had
touched many lives with her
friendship, also gave a
reading entitled
"Friendship."
The bride elect then in-
troduced the girls sitting with
her at a table laden with gifts.
They were her sister Mrs.
Gail Elson and Tara Lynn
Elson her niece. Mrs. Lynda
Hayes who will be her matron
of honour and Mrs. Sharon
• Clymans and daughter Alex.
When Ruth had finally un-
wrapped her many gifts, she
thanked everyone for giving
her such a lovely shower and
invited all present to come .
and see her wedding present
which would be displayed at
her parents home in St.
Marys the last week before
the wedding.
Women's Institute news
Members of Granton W.I.
attending the 85th anniver-
sary of the Women's Institute
held at the Constellation Hotel
in Toronto on Thursday were
Mrs. Don Roloson, district
president Mrs. Elmer Sum-
mers, Mrs. Clarence Lewis,
and Mrs. Nelson Tate and
Mrs. John Dunnel both of Pro-
spect Hill, W.I.
The theme for the celebra-
tion was "From Flicker to
Flame". The guest speaker
was Mrs. Ziny Westebring
Muller of the Netherlands
A.C.W.W. president
Associated "Country Women
of the World.
In her talk Mrs. Westebring
Muller related how from a
very small meeting in Stoney
Creek, Ontario at the home of
Mr. Erland Lee, the founding
meeting was formed 85 years
ago, with Mrs. Adelaide
Hoodless the speaker. Today
the W.I. has 19 million
members throughout the
world.
A candlelighting ceremony
with a three layer birthday
cake took place with each
representing a level of the
W.I. The first candle was lit
by Senator Marsha Beilish,
president of F.W.I.O.
Federated Women's In-
stitutes of Ontario; the second
candle by Mrs. Bernice
Noblet, president of F.W.I.C.
Federated Women's Institute
of Canada; and candle
number 3 was lit by the
distinguished guest Mrs. Ziny
Westebring Muller.
Greetings were brought
from the Federal and Provin-
cial Governments by the
Honourable Dennis Timbre),
Minister of agriculture and
food and many other
willwishers.
Perth Plow
match set
A queen competition, anti-
que plows, a horse class and
various politicians plowing
will be part of the activities at
the 1982 Perth County plowing
match.
August 27 and 28 have been
set as the dates for the match
to be held at the farm of Perth
County Plowmen's Assoica-
tion president Doug Ait-
cheson. The farm is located
on lot 20, con. 3 of Elma
Township. It is 21.,2 miles
south of highway 86 and 1r;a
miles east of highway 23.
Events get underway on
Friday at 10 a.m. with
coaching for the plowing
classes by the Ontario
Plowmen's Assoication judge.
In the afternoon, plowing will
be done by boys and girls in
the 4-1-1 or Junior Farmer age
group, although they don't
have to be a member of those
groups. The John Stephen
trophy will be presented at a
banquet in the fall to the win-
ner. Each 4-11 club member
who competes on the Friday
will receive $7.50 and a ticket
to the banquet.
On Saturday morning,
there are plowing classes for
everyone. There is one for
women, a class for any resi-
dent of Perth County, a Perth
County Junior Farmer class
and an open class for those
who have never plowed at a
plowing match. Also in the
morning there is the junior
match with three classes for
those under the age of 21.
Various trophies will be
presented to the winners at
the banquet.
The utility classes start at
2 p.m. At 1 p.m., the speciali-
ty classes start. There is an
antique tractor class for trac-
tors at least 40 years old.
Other speciality classes us-
ing jointer plows are for
reeves and deputy reeves and
past reeves and deputy
reeves, mayors, the warden
and members of parliament
and past officials in these
Personals
We are happy to report that
Harold Talbot is now home
from hospital and
recuperating from surgery at
home.
Miss Winnie Harlton was
home for a few days last week
and brought a friend with her,
Miss Chieko Takafaka, from
Kyoto Japan. Brett and Ben
Harlton, Ken Harding and
Stephen Bannerman returned
home with their Aunt Winnle
to Toronto and took in
Canada's Wonderland. Hunter's Beach near
The Jim Harding family Goderich with the Marshal
are spending a few days at family.
John Herbert has returned
to the Huron Church Camp for
another two weeks.
PEE GIRLS A CHAMPIONS — Huron Park won the A championship in the Usborne Minor Ball Association tour-
nament at Cromarty. Front row from left: Melanie Jones, Shawna Backer. Centre: Virginia Cable, Patty Bower-
man, Corina Price, Tommie Winger, Tammy Hoist, Kelly Gackstetter, Lorraine Lewis. Back: scorekeeper Mary
Lou Becker, Chris Smith, Julie Russell, Paulette Rothbauer, Deb Horton, Michelle Rock, Wendy Bierling and coach
Ian Russell.
Birds unique
for this area
By Bill McNutt
Hungarian partridge and
bobwhite quail are two unique
game birds which at one time
were huntable in our area.
Changing farming methods
and several severe winters
apparently brought an end to
them.
An attempt to .restock
Hungarian partridge was
made in the 1960's when 40
birds were released between
Zurich and Grand Bend.
Records indicate they surviv-
ed for two years until another
pair of severe winters hit.
When speaking to Wildlife
Biologist Mike Malhiot of the
Wingham MNR office I found
out that there is still hope.
Last January, 10 were
released at Hullet by the
Ministry of Natural
Resources. One was found
dead but the others seem to
have dissappeared. These
birds came from the Simcoe
district.
Huns are a hardy bird that
can withstand even our
severe winters as long as they
can find food.
Mr. Malhiot seemed to
think they could survive in
our area in numbers suitable
for hunting and that future
Ministry planting may be
possible if funding is
available.
He also said that if any con-
servation or sportsmans
group would be interested in
releasing some of these
speedy gamebirds that ap-
proval would most likely be
granted and they could go
ahead with the project.
Bobwhites are being releas-
ed at Hullet as well in larger
numbers. They now seem to
be wintering and with areas
of suitable habitat should do
quite well.
More releases are planned
by dog trial groups for Hullet
so things are really looking up
on that scene. A few have
even been sighted in the Ex-
eter area but where these
came from is not known for
certain.
Malihiot also mentioned
that although it was a little
early to tell, things should
continue to be good for grouse
hunters and maybe a little
better for rabbit hunters.
categories, fair board
representatives, service club
representatives, and ap-
pointed officials from Perth
County municipalities.
There will also be horse
shoe pitching, a log sawing
and nail driving contests.
The highlight of the match
is the queen of the furrow
competition. This is open to
Perth County women aged 16
to 23. At 1 p.m. contestants
are interviewed by members
of the plowmen's association
and following that they plow.
Contestants are marked on
their plowing, interview, ap-
pearance and deportment and
a speech given at the plowing
banquet.
The Perth County Queen of
the Furrow is crowned at the
banquet and will compete in
the 1983 International Plow-
ing Match queen of the furrow
competition.
PEEWEE GIRLS Id CHAMPIONS — The Exeter team won the B championship in the Usborne Minor Ball Associa-
tion tournament at Cromarty. Front row from left: Karen Hoffman, Vicki Scott, Michelle Ellison, Michelle Birm-
ingham, Terra Ahrens, Christi Brintnell, Marci Ellison,Dione McCarter. Middle row: Brenda Balsdon, Patti Blerl-
ing, Teresa McCarter Elizabeth Hogan, Kathleen Little, Kim Crawford, Shelley Skinner and Julia Tiernan. Back:
acting coaches Keith Ahrens and Laverne McCarter.Coach Bev Bierling and assistant coach John Barrett were
absent when the picture was taken.
On being I.cked up in New York
By Joann Young
In June of 1982, the Second United Nation Session on
Disarmament was very much in the news. Member nation
appeared to be tmanimous in the opinion that something had
to be done to halt the arms race. The Final Document
adopted by consensus after the first U.N. session on disar-
mament in 1978 had been ignored by the major powers, and
everyone hoped for better results from the second session,
u the world appeared to hover on the brink of disaster.
Since 1978, global military expenditures had increased
rapidly and had passed 1800 billion annually; negotiation
on limitation of strategic nuclear weapons had stalled; there
was an alarming increase in potential for military use of
outer space; nuclear test ban treaty negotiation a
less hopeful than in 1978 and U.S. political leaders hid begun
to suggest that some level of nuclear war was acceptable.
All this was justified on the ground that the first respon-
sibWty of any national government was to assure the securi-
ty of its citizen. But who felt secure? We spent $1,000,000
per minute on the arms race in a world where 40,000
children died every day of causes which could easily have
been removed if only a fraction of this money were spent
on food, shelter, and medical facilities in underdeveloped
countries. .
In New York in June 1982, many speakers at the United
Nations General Assembly pointed out the link between
disarmament, and the economic and social well-being of
a nation. Military spending is inflationary because it drains
resources and money from the economy but produces
nothing the average citizen can use: no one can live long
in a Trident missile; no one can eat a Pershing II missile;
if you're sick, or very elderly, an M -X missile cannot care
for you.
Even in Canada most of us were feeling insecure as more
and more people lost their jobs. Should it have been
necessary to accept welfare, unemployment insurance, or
to retire, we knew our incomes would be very limited while
the cost of living continued to rise. Our insecurity increas-
ed as more and more businesses declared bankruptcy, and
more and more people lost their homes because they were
unable to pay the high interest rates. Many Canadians had
discovered that industry had polluted their environment to
the point where bad air or bad water had become a threat
to the health of themselves and their families. The elderly
and infirm were uncertain whether or not the hospitals
could continue to give the medical attention they needed,
and if they could, how much it would cost.
Yet Canada had committed more than 130 billion for new
military equipment and maintenance in the 1980s. We ex-
ported 1100 million in military goods to third world coun-
tries each year, and 1500 million in military goods to NATO
countries each year. The government of Canada continued
to pour millions into producing and trying to sell the CAN -
DU nuclear reactor, although it was well known that this
reactor was an efficient producer of plutonium which more
than one country had apparently used to make a nuclear
bomb. If you lived in Chile, for example, or Pakistan, and
knew that your unfriendly neighbour had the CANDU reac-
tor and may be using it to make nuclear bombs, you may
feel it was necessary for your government to do the same,
and so more and more money that could be used to help the
poor in the underdeveloped countries went to the arms race.
We can only disarm if there is mutual trust, but how can
you trust someone who spends millions on nuclear weapons?
The end of the nuclear arms race is necessary to liberate
resources to alleviate misery and feed the hungry, and so
the role of the United Nations would hopefully be to establish
a gradual lowering of the level of armament, beginning with
a test ban treaty which would ban the design and testing
of new weapons. Then if production of nuclear weapons
could be frozen and their deployment forbidden, we might
buy time in order to begin disarmament. This suggestion
was made at the United Nations in early June. About one
week later the U.S. government set off another test, and
accused Russia of doing the same.
The governments of the world's most powerful nations
apparently believed their people would feel secure only
when they had reached "parity" in the arms build-up, par-
ticularly in the feld of nuclear weapons. But history shows
that even a rough parity is impossible to achieve for long:
each new breakthrough is soon matched or surpassed by
the other side, and each new breakthrough then establishes
new goals of destructive capacity to be achieved at greater
expense, that are more threatening to the other side, and
more difficult to control.
The United States' MO( and Trident missiles are design-
ed to hit targets 6000 miles away, within a few hundred
yards. Such accuracy is unnecessary to destroy a city, but
is useful to destroy enemy missiles still in their silos, -
therefore this new generation of long-range missiles
threatens the Soviet Union with an American first strike.
Currently, missile travel times of half an hour give time
for the other side to check to be certain of an attack before
ordering retaliation; however the Pershing'lI and Cruise
missiles are designed to strike targets in U.S.S.R. less then
five minutes after the Russians could detect their launch.
Once the missiles hit, retaliation would be limited, if not
impassible, so this forces the Russians into a "launch on
warning" system, in which an automatic retaliatory attack
would be based on data from satellites and computers, with
no time for human intervention - and yet it is only through
such human intervention that we have several times
averted catastrophe when false alarms and computer
malfunctions have resulted in warnings of nonexistent
attacks.
For these reasons, many felt the U.N. Second Session on
Disarmament was the last chance for the human race tohalt
the event which would certainly lead to the destruction of
life on earth, and 1 welcomed the opportunity to attend one
week of the U.N. sessions in June, to find out as much as
I could about the disarmament question.
Arriving at the United Nations building on Monday, June
7, the exhibit in the lobby of pictures of the Japanese cities
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the atomic bombs fell in
early August, 1945, perhaps set the tone for the grim
statistics I was to hear in the General Assembly. The pic-
tures of the death and destruction, of the pathetically maim-
ed survivors, and the stories of the days after the attacks,
while they have become almost familiar now, always con-
tain new horrors to be assimilated by the lucky ones who
can only imagine the weeks of hell to which these unfor-
tunate people were subjected.
Did you know the bombe used on the two cities were dif-
ferent? Apparently the second bomb was dropped so the
destructive capacities of the two models could be
compared I
Did you know the American provided a well•equippped
hospital for diagnosis of the condition of the survivors, but
refused any treatment? Apparently they wanted the effects
to run their full course so they could be studied in detail!
I saw the "Tree of Life" exhibit of children's art from
are and the world, depicting the children's reactions to life,
war, and death. Their art was expressive of many human
feelings, especially of a naive hope that life on earth would
be.allowed to continue. Art from war -ravaged countries
often showed a sad disillusionment, hurt, and anger of
children forced to live as refugees, or children who had lost
their entire families amid scenes of brutality and disaster.
My reaction to these exhibits was one of helplessness in
the face of a system that has created such horror, and, un-
satisfied, is now preparing to recreate the same horror a
mIllIon-foldTo.day the world possesses adestructivecapaci-
ty equivalent to more than one million Hiroshima bombs.
Then, as I left the building, I met several groups of
Japanese standing vigil in front of the United Nations. Just
arrived from Japan, many were in Nagasaki or Hiroshima
at the time of the attack.. Although the U.S. government
had held up the visas of their tnterpretors, and so prevented
them from telling their etorles freely, they were anxious
to tell of their experiences and the harsh realities of nuclear
war.
That afternoon I joined the "Children's Walk For Life".
The school children of New York City walked about three
miles to demonstrate their concern that their health, educa-
tion, and their very lives were being jeopardized by the
nuclear arms race. Enthusiasm among the marchers was
contagious on that chilly day in New York, We walked, sing-
ing the anti -nuke songs, and felt we may succeed in
demonstrating our feelings in a way which might command
some attention from the politicians. The event received little
notice however. Many passers-by acknowledged our pro-
test with nods and smiles; others appeared to be wonder-
ing what was happening; still others ignored us, or seem-
ed angry and impatient with our efforts to make our opi-
nions known, in a democracy.
Many religious groups as well as ordinary citizens were
campaigning actively against the arms race, and during
the next few days, in a small park across from the U.N.,
the drums of the Buddhist priests marked the passing of
each second as the General Assembly continued to hear the
speeches of the delegates. Several speakers acknowledg-
ed the actions of the demonstrators as being supportive of
their struggle to achieve disarmament.
Then Friday brought the "International Religious Con-
vocation". People of every religious persuasion gathered
at the Cathedral of St. John The Divine, one of New York's
oldest and most beautiful churches4or an ecumenical ser-
vice and a walk to Central Park where a "tree of peace"
was planted. The service was deeply moving, and more than
5000 people joined the march. Many bystanders this time
were obviously sympathetic, and encouraged us with ap-
proving comments and the peace sign. The tree planting
in Central Park was followed by an all-night vigil in front
of the U.N., led at different times by different religious
groups. Perhaps the most valuable result of this convoca-
tion, for me, was the reminder that the Bible many times
calls us each to our responsibility in the face of evil.
Saturday, June 12, was the big day, cloudy and cool but
with no rain, it was the ideal weather for a day -long march.
Before 8:00 a.m. we began to form in front of the U.N.
building, and lines of people stretched in both directions as
far as we could see. Although most marchers were
Americans, there were people from all over the world, all
walks of life, and all life styles. There were no elaborate
floats, but costumed marchers depicted "the grim reaper"
and "the world after the bomb", very effectively.
The New York police estimated that 800,000 people took
part in the Parade, the largest demonstration ever held in
New York City. imagine our concern then, to hear leading
American politicians state on the news that night, that
security demanded that the arms race continue. What could
they mean by security? The arms race was endangering
the lives of every living thing on the planet. This is security?
Further efforts would have to be made, then, to draw at-
tention to the dangers of the current arms race. One is
reminded of a quotation from Edmund Burke, "All that is
necessary for evil to triumph is for enough good people to
do nothing." The perfectly legal demonstration for which
a permit has been obtained from the government has pro-
ven ineffective. The sit-in is a calculated stratagem to force
the government to acknowledge the fact that many people
do not wish to follow where they are being led.
By forcing the system that promotes and protects the
nuclear industry to arrest nearly 2000 normally law-abiding
citizens, for a minor infraction similar to a traffic offense,
and then by refusing to co-operate with their efforts to
punish us for forcibly drawing attention to our beliefs, we
can force some recognition of our power and rights as
citizens.
The civil disobedience was to take place at the U.N. mis-
sions of the five states most active in nuclear weapons
testing and development: U.S., U.S.S.R., U.K., France, and
China. These are also the five permanent members of the
U.N. Security Council. We wished to call attention to the
duplicity of these governments in talking peace and security
while continuing to justify the need for nuclear weapons.
We also hoped to encourage those countries which were
working for legitimate national security at much lower,
mutually balanced, and verifiable levels of armament, by
drawing attention to the world-wide swell of public opinion
against the arms race.
Sympatheticpassers-hyiare notencouraged to join the sit-
in. In order to ensure that the action will be non-violent on
the part of demonstrators, interested people are asked to
• take civil disobedience training, - a four-hour course in
which we were told exactly where we would stand legally,
what to expect from the police, and were given an oppor-
tunity to rehearse our own actions and reactions to a variety
of possible incidents, through role-playing. Itis important
that we do nothing that may be considered hostile, except
that we will not voluntarily leave to allow staff members
to enter the five U.N. missions.
When the training is over, in each class of approximate-
ly twenty people, we are beginning to know each other
slightly, and we then form an "affinity group" of people who
will act together in the campaign.
We decided to blockade the French Mission for several
reasons: France is still actively testing nuclear weapons
in the atmosphere,and is developing new weapons; France
has refused to sigthe Non -Proliferation Treaty, and is one
of the world's largest suppliers of arms; France has a
vigorous domestic nuclear power programme, and exports
reactors. Although U.S. and U.S.S.R. are far greater of-
fenders in these areas, there are already many affinity
groups going there, and there are not as many going to the
missions of the three lesser offenders, China, Great Britain,
and France.
Two or three people in each group volunteer to work as
"support people." They plan to avoid arrest by leaving the
group before arrests begin, and they will follow those ar-
rested to wherever they are taken for booking. They will
be present at arraignment and look after the interests of
those arrested until they are released, and be present at
their release. This job requires a good knowledge of the ci-
ty, and usually your own transportation. Tose who plan
non-violent direct action to the point of arrest will try to stick
together at least as far as the arraignment stage, to give
each other moral support.
We arrange to meet again next day, Monday, June 14, at
7:00 A.M. in a small park near the French Mission. When
everyone has arrived, we move to a nearby "staging area"
where all the affinity groups will meet, 1 Hammerskjold
Plaza, from where we can see the mission, and observe
preparations made by police so far. They have surround-
ed the mission with barricades, and a solid line of police
stands behind the blue wooden sawhorses. Only a few
breaks in the barricades, manned by dozens of police, are
open to admit workers carrying identification.
We make our final plans as to which group will go where,
and just before 8:00 A.M. we move across to the mission.
We group around "our" entrance and sit down, arms in-
terlocked. Many of us are a little frightened now. We saw
police arriving on horseback earlier, and we know there are
3000 extra police on duty at the five missions to -day, most
of whom have been working overtime for several days now.
They seem to have picked the largest police officers to
man the entrances. One very large man is checking passes
in front of me. We plead with the workers, "Please don't
go in to -day". "Give peace a chance." We enumeratethe
reasons for the blockage. Some of us are singing anti -nuke
songs or chanting slogans.,
A few workers turn back, but most appear to be going
in. As the policeman tries to move the blockade further
back, I am in his way. 1 don't move. He smacks me three
times with his night stick. We call our support person, who
takes down his number.
Then from the bull horn in the police line behind, we hear
the request that prospective workers go and have a cup of
coffee and come back later! We call out, "Have two or three
on us!" and briefly taste the heady wine of success, but only
very briefly. Another announcement reaches our embar-
rassed ears, "If you have not left the area in three minutes,
we will begin making arrests. This is the only warning you
will receive. You have three minutes to leave the area."
Then, just to show they mean business, they pick up two
front line demonstrators, and heave them bodily into the
group. Luckily no one is hurt, but then, "Okay, start with
this one", and you feel the strong arm of the law, "You are
now under arrest."! !
According to plans made earlier, you "go limp". This
makes it difficult for the police to move you, but does not
usually justify a charge of resisting arrest, a more serious
charge, known as a misdemeanor, for which they would
have to give you a jury trial. When you go limp, making
it clear to your arresting officer that you do not intend to
co-operate in your own arrest by walking to the police van,
he says, "0, one o' those!" and calls for a stretcher.
They lift you onto the stretcher and carry you to the bus.
(We are too many for the ordinary paddy wagon, but sure-
ly the fact that they are using school buses is worthy of com-
ment.) At the door, they hold you up to have your picture
taken. You stick out your tongue. "That's nice, says the
policeman, "your children will be proud of you." You polite-
ly ask for copies of the picture for your grandchildren, but
he doesn't answer..
You are carried onto the bus, and watch as each
demonstrator in turn is arrested, goes limp, is loaded onto
a stretcher, photographed, and loaded onto a bus.
It takes more than an hour, and you have a chance to talk
to your police guards. They are nice guys "just doing my
job," and you are reminded it is the system, parlicularly
at the top, that is at fault, not the police. So far there has
been little violence on the part of the police, as television
and radio reporters mill about, and ten or twelve legal aid
people who have volunteered their help are present, just
in case.
It must be nearly 10 A.M. when the bus leaves the French
mission. We follow a circuitous route through Manhattan,
and around 10:30 we pass the French Mission again. There
is no one left there now, only a sea of blue uniforms on the
bus with us, and they are busy identifying "theirs" since
each has to appear with the people he arrested, for
arraignment.
We already know that the New York prisons are over-
crowded. We expect that the police will be anxious to get
our names and addresses. If we co-operate we will be releas-
ed without arraignment to appear on a summons a few
weeks later. We understand that if we do not appear on the
summons, but do not get into difficulties in Manhattan in
the next six months, the charge will be dropped. The legal
system does not want the trouble of dealing with these minor
violations. They only want to stop you from forcing the
government to recognize that you disagree with their
policies.
We drive for some time. Is it passible that all the police
facilities are so over -loaded that they have nowhere to
unload us? 1t is after 11:00 A.M. when we arrive at a
precinct station. Moat of the people on my bus, including
everyone else in my affinity group, decide to co-operate,
and after their identification is checked they are released
with summonses. This takes about one hour.
About five of us feel we have not committed any crime,
and refuse to co-operate by identifying ourselves when ar-
rested. A few on each bus feel the same way, and the police
decide to load all the non -co-operators onto our bus for
another ride. This time, however, there are no T.V. or radio
reporters, and no legal aid. Several of the men who refuse
to walk are kicked and punched. We are handcuffed
together in pairs, except for one man who had seen too many
movies. When he saw the handcuffs coming, he automatical-
ly put his hands behind him. Now he has to sit on the edge
of his seat and has a rough ride over the bumps and pot-
holes of Manhattan. The attitude of the police has chang-
ed. They are very angry.
It is a beautiful day in New York. We drive over several
bridges,.and the spectacular views of the city relieve the
monotony. It must be around 1:00 P.M. when we arrive at
1 Police Plaza for booking.
Since we are handcuffed together now, we all walk into
the station. The men are taken in and processed first, then •
the women. We are searched. The handcuffs are removed.
Those of us who will not walk, (no stretchers now ladies)
are dragged, one cop on each foot, to the cells.
There is a row of about five cells, each about 3 by 4
metres. There is a steel bench along two sides,•a toilet and
a sink, and the fourth wall, facing the corridor, is made up
cif 'solid steel bars, painted eanarj, yellow to cheer uS up.
As more and more buses arrive froth the five missions there
are thirty to thirty-five prisoners in each cell. By mid-
afternoon, half of us are seated on the floor, half on the
benches.
We are called up for arraignment in groups. We have been
told that if we refuse to give our names and addresses we
will be fingerprinted. On the training course we were told
that if we refuse to give fingerprints they may be taken by
force - a very painful procedure • it was not recommended.
Some of us feel though, that having refused co-operation
so far, we will continue.
In court I refuse my name and address, "No name. No
address. No nukes.", and am sent to be fingerprinted. At
this point I keep my mouth clamped shut in order to keep
my teeth from chattering. One policeman is ready to "help"
me with a procedure usually used only for serious offenders.
Somehow each print comes out smudged. After discarding
two or three attempts, he says, "Don't you want to be
fingerprinted?"
I manage, "No, I don't think I do."
"Sit down over there."
After a brief wait while a few more people are printed,
I feel vast relief when we are all taken back to our cells.
Apparently policies have changed: There will be no forced
fingerprinting this time.
Back in the cells, time drags. Some who gave their names
and addresses in court have already left, but more are com-
ing in. Apparently it took hours to arrest all the people at
the U.S. and U.S.S.R. missions! Those who were finger-
printed are told they must wait at least six hours for their
fingerprints to be checked. Then, if they are not wanted for
anything else, they will be released with summonses.
The holdouts cannot be kept in these cells overnight. Since
there are no beds here, everyone to be kept overnight must
be sent to Riker's Island, described as a "real hole". Our
legal aid explains that sometimes prisoners get "lost in the
system" there, especially those who have given no iden-
tification, and are listed as Jane, or John Doe, since there
are so many of them. Once you are lost, you may not get
a chance to reappear in court for several days.
The outlook is not good, but we discuss it: some of the
group who have been arrested and detained in cells before
point out that treatment in most countries is far worse. If
demonstrators elsewhere can take torture and death, we
should be willing to go to jail if necessary, for our convic-
tions. Some of the group who are strongly religious point
out that many of our Christian leaders have been put to
death for doing no more than we have done, bearing witness
to our convictions. We decide to continue to refuse to
co-operate.
At dinner time a wagon of sandwiches and tea is brought
down the corridor. I'm glad I decided to fast to -day.
After dinner, night court is sitting, with a different judge.
Our legal aid tells us that he appears to be a little more le-
nient, but when we still refuse to co-operate, at about 8:30
he calls us into court and gives us summonses made out
in the names of Jane or John Doe. That means there will
be no way they can possibly check if we do not return to
answer the summonses. We are simply being told to get out!
The system has apparently broken down because it could
not accommodate what are now seventy to eighty non-
violent demonstrators.
We are all overjoyed to think we have won our point, and
mast leave at once. In our group, two of us remain, wonder-
ing why we should co-operate even now, by leaving. Our
legal aid reminds us however that two of us might be ac-
commodated for some time on Riker's Island. At last we
agree to leave if we are allowed to give a statement in court.
I spoke for us both, "I took the action I look today for a
very personal reason. My husband was a worker in a
uranium refinery. He died at thirty-four of cancer, leaving
me and four children ranging in age from six months to six
years. The government regards a cancer death of a thirty-
four year old uranium worker as a natural death, and has
absolved itself of any responsibility in the matter. I find it
very difficult to accept the fact that after this, a demonstra-
tion of disagreement with government nuclear policies
results in my being locked up for twelve hours and then told
to go home and forget it."
The judge responded only with "Thank you for your state-
ment." 1 turned and left the court room to the applause of
the spectators, mostly our own support people.
Since June 14, UNSSOD has proven a failure, and the
American government continues its progress toward global
disaster. Tests of space vehicles for war -time use in outer
space continue. The anniversary of Hiroshima was
celebrated by the testing of a nuclear bomb seven times as
powerful as the Hiroshima bomb.
Many inhabitants of the planet earth are prepared to go
to the wall to register their disapproval and refusal to he
part of this madness.