Newspaper Page Text
Just Ramblin'
with The Bear
By HERB BEAR’ HALL
Jacksonville, Fla.—The wipers swept back
and forth, flicking sprays of water from the
windshield. The tires squealed loudly on the
wet street as Ed swung the big Cadillac
around the corner, then settled to a con
tinuous swishing hum as we straightened out
and picked up speed. I rolled down the window
and adjusted the side light, shuddering as the
icy wind slashed into me. We hit a large pud
dle and I caught part of the spray before I
could get the window back up. Ed glanced
over and grinned. “That woke you up, didn’t
it?”
My answering chuckle faded as a car
swung out in front of us. Ed muttered and
stamped down hard on the switch, and the
wail of the siren above our heads increased to
an ear-piercing scream which finally
penetrated the tightly-closed windows of the
car as we closed on it rapidly. The driver jerk
ed the wheel so hard his right front tire bounc
ed up on the curb, and I caught a glimpse of
his pale-startled face as the big ambulance
flashed by him.
We were entering the downtown area now,
and just before the buildings cut off the view,
I saw the lights of a ship sliding silently
through the mist-shroudea river. Then the
siren was echoing eerily through the long emp
ty canyon of the city street. At 3 a.m., most of
the lights of the city were extinguished, and
only occasionally, brightly-colored decora
tions glittered back as the flashing lights of
the ambulance were reflected in the dark store
windows.
We made several turns, driving in silence,
then I pointed ahead. A police cruiser sat at
the curb, its blue light revolving, and Ed pull
ed up and stopped close behind it. We
scrambled out, jerked out the wheeled cot, and
hurried inside the shabby old building. It was
one of a score of old "flop houses” nee hotels
that catered to the unknown, the uncared-for
and the unwanted that drifted through the ci
ty. Its only requirement was a dollar a night
for a dingy, often verminous room and
anonymity.
Inside, a stubble-faced, rheumy-eyed old
man in a faded blue bathrobe stared groggily
at us for a moment before pointing silently
toward the narrow dark stairs. There was no
sign of an elevator. Ed and I, carrying the
stretcher between us, turned and trotted up
the steps, stumbling in the darkness that clos
ed around us only a few feet away from the
firefly-sized bulb in the lobby. The ancient
building stank of wine and urine and vomit
and a thousand unnamable things, and our
footsteps on the moldering stairway carpet
sounded like the echoes of a sigh of dispair.
We paused at the second landing, looked
down the dark empty hall, shrugged at each
other and climbed another flight. On the third
floor, there was a light shining through the
open door of one of the rooms. We went down
the hall and looked in. The young policeman,
bending over the dark swollen form on the
rumpled bed, swung around and motioned us
in, a look of relief breaking over his face.
“I'm glad you fellows got here,” he said.
“She looks like she's in pretty bad shape, and
I didn’t know what to do. She’s lost a lot of
blood.”
Ed and I examined the writhing girl while
the patrolman filled us in. “Nobody knows
anything about her,” he said. “She checked in
three days ago and paid the rent for a week.
Nobody’s seen her come out of the room since
she got here. Two dresses in the closet, no
identification, three dollars and twenty cents
in her pocketbook, and the usual Jane Smith’
on the registration. I don’t know how long
she’s been in labor, but it must have been a
long time. Somebody finally got tired of listen
ing to the noise and called the station.”
The officer stood back as Ed and I lifted
the girl off the stained bed and onto the stret
cher, then smiled wryly as I thanked him for
what he’d done. “I iust wish I could have done
something more,” ne said, half angrily. “Poor
kid, it’s a hellova time not to have anybody
around that cares, an' if she had anybody, she
wouldn’t be here like this. I hope she’s gonna
be all right, but the way she looks . .His
voice trailed off. Our eyes met for a moment,
then Ed and I were out the door and hurrying
down the dark stairs toward the waiting am
bulance.
Up front, Ed drove fast but carefully,
avoiding bumps and taking corners more slow
ly than on the trip out. The siren was only an
echo somewhere in the back of my con-
j&feM Me
Comment
On Column
Dear Editor:
In response to Mr. Kirwan’s article dealing
with the day we celebrate Christmas: Could
any day be a wrong day for celebrating the
birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ?
Phillip Wofford
Summerville
Answering your question literally, it would
seem “wrong ' or strange to celebrate Christ’s
birth on, say, Good Friday or Easter. Answer
ing your question figuratively, many Chris
tians celebrate the birth of Christ every day
through their own lives. Answering your ques-
TIME
By BASIL W. LEWIS
Lyerly
Time flows . . .forever,
At first slowly,
Then quickly ...
Until the universe and
soul are one
Again, immortal^
STOLEN SHADOWS
By BASIL W. LEWIS
Lyerly
Though I stand on a lonely
shore a thousand miles
from
home, memory shadows of
her still dance upon my
soul.
Shadows of wintery nights
and
summer dreams and she
and I alone
Feeling totally alive.
Shadows that old man
time has
stolen and threatens never
to return.
♦ ♦ *
PRISM OF LIFE
By BASIL W. LEWIS
’ Lyerly
I rose early one morning
And took a walk alone.
The sun was just appear-
sciousness, for my mind . . .and my
hands . . .were busy at other things far more
demanding.
In a few minutes, a small, wet, black, slip
pery thing that was a brand-new woman
emerged into the world. A few seconds more,
and she was separated from the slender bond
that had connected two lives, and she was on
her own. I held my breath as I lifted her. A
slap . . .another .. .and the breath whooshed
out of me in a gust as the tiny thing screwed
up her face and screamed in outrage.
I stared at her a moment in wonder, then
came back down to Earth. I cleaned the baby’s
mouth, wrapped her warmly, and laid her on
the stretcher, braced securely between her
mother’s legs.
The sudden hissing of the oxygen regulator
alerted me, and I leaped to the head of the
stretcher. “Ed, she’s gone sour!” My voice
carried tersely through the open window that
separated us from the driver’s compartment.
“How much longer?”
“Not too long,” I heard Ed say, as I work
ed frantically. “It’s sleeting ana there’s ice.
I’m scared to go much faster.”
The stretcher creaked rhythmically as I
thrust my weight down upon the inert form,
the thin ribs threatening to crack under the
punishing heels of my hands, and the emotion
that filled me was rage as I struggled to bring
life back into a corpse.
I was still at it as we skidded to a stop on
the pad at the medical center and the white
clad intern climbed inside. He glanced at the
crying infant, then at me. I shook my head. I
straightened wearily and moved my hands as
he applied the stethescope. Our eyes met over
the still form and he signed, nodding.
I climbed out and gently picked up the
small bundle. At the touch of my hands she
became still, and the tiny “La! La! La!” was
quiet. The intern backed out of the ambulance
and lifted the blanket away from the tiny face
to look at her.
“That one seems to be doing well enough,”
he said.
I grinned. “She’s raring to go.” Her eyes
were closed. The tiny mouth moved making
little sucking sounds. The intern reached to
take her. Then he saw the way I was holding
her, and a look of understanding came to his
eyes. His hands dropped to his sides, and he
followed me inside into the brightly-lit
emergency wing. As the door hissed shut
behind us, the wreath with its faded ribbons
swung against the glass.
Inside, the intern looked at me. “The
records ..he said. “She won’t have a name,
will she?”
“Yes she does,” I replied, staring past him
at the shabby festiveness of the wreath on the
door. His eyes followed mine, and he turned to
look. “Her name is Noel,” I whispered.
His face lighted and he nodded. “I'll call
pediatrics.”
He picked up the phone to dial and I said
quietly, “Doc?" He looked at me. “If Clara’s
on duty in the nursery, tell ’em to send her
down.
He stared at me a moment, then a broad
smile creased his face as he understood. He
was grinning as he spoke briefly into the
phone, and it was done.
A few minutes later, the broad figure of a
woman bustled into the E. R. She glanced
around, spotted me holding the tiny bundle,
and came toward me. This was Clara, the
black woman who cared for all the newborn in
fants on the third shift at the big hospital, the
woman who loved babies more than anything
in the world, the woman whose 12 years of
childless marriage had just recently brought
forth a stillborn infant in the same obstetrics
ward in which she was such a central figure,
and all the big hospital mourned with her.
She came to me with her arms outstretch
ed. Big capable, tender arms that had held a
thousand babies but never her own. I placed
the tiny life into her hands, and she cradled it
to her sturdy bosom.
As I handed her the child, I said softly,
“Clara, this is Noel. 1 think she needs you. If
things work out, maybe she’s gonna need you
a whole lot.”
Clara stared at me, then her eyes widened
as the meaning of my words went home. She
looked at the tiny sleeping face, and on her
own face was an expression of wonder . . .and
hope. When she looked up, the tears in her
eyes reflected the moisture in my own.
I smiled. “Merry Christmas, Clara,” I
whispered. “And happy New Year.”
tion historically, we don’t know the birthdate
of Christ so we celebrate it on an arbitrary
day—and that’s what the point of the article
was. —Editor
Editor:
We would like to take this opportunity to
express our thanks to each one who par
ticipated in the Motorcade for gifts to Nor
thwest Georgia Regional Hospital in Rome.
We express our appreciation to the other
Municipalities for helping with this project.
We had a total of 61 gifts from our county.
Menlo had 28 and Trion had 33.
J.C. Woods
Mayor of Trion
Poems
ing
How beautiful it shone.
To forget man and all his
strife
I followed a path into the
forest
Where trees stood tall and
1 strong
And for a very brief mo
ment became
One with the universe.
Maybe I was wrong.
• ♦ ♦
AFTER THE WAR
By BASIL W. LEWIS
Lyerly
Autumn came quietly,
Golden colors scorching
State Labor Commissioner
Reviews Economy And
Ga. Jobless Situation
ATLANTA—Labor Com
missioner Sam Caldwell said
Tuesday that Georgia’s
“diversified economy’’ is
keeping the unemployment
rate relatively low.
The State Labor Depart
ment reported a 5.1 percent
jobless rate, only a slight in
crease from the previous
month's 4.9. The 4.9 percent
was the second lowest state
rate reported in five years.
The 15-county metro
Atlanta area, meanwhile,
reported a 4.6 percent
unemployment rate, bumping
up barely from the 4.5 of a
month earlier. The Atlanta
Standard Metropolitan
Statistical Area (SMSA) com
prises 39 percent of the state’s
jobs.
“Our diversified economy
in Georgia is helping to hold
the jobless rate down,’’
declared Caldwell. “We can
suffer the unfortunate layoffs
in the auto industry—a situa
tion we hope is only tem
porary—and still have a
jobless rate staying about the
same.”
Caldwell said that from Oc
tober, 1978, when unemploy
ment stood at 5.4 percent,
Georgia had gained 37,688 in
employment. The number of
Georgians on jobs is now a
record 2,248,477. The number
of unemployed is now 121,648,
compared to 124,999 for Oc
tober a year past. However,
the jobless figure rose 5,811 in
a month’s time, from
September to October this
year (October is the latest
month for which official
figures are available).
“Looking at the economy
right now,” Caldwell said, “we
are being bolstered by retail
sales. Holiday sales are
healthy. Sales are either up a
bit or level with last year’s.
That is the good news. The
bad news, of course, is the fact
that purchasing power is
eroding fast. Folks have ac
tually less to spend now than
they did a year ago, after ad
justing for inflation.”
Caldwell pointed to these
positives in the economy:
* The state’s 5.1 percent
jobless rate is below the na
tion’s 5.8 (dropping from 6
percent a month earlier);
another factor is this: The
U. S. rate is seasonally ad
justed, Georgia’s is not (the
state rate would be con
siderably below the U. S. rate,
if adjusted).
* Going against the grain
of other economic indicators,
the jobs report shows that the
service-producing sector
(Atlanta is a large service
area), primarily wholesalers
and retailers, hired vigorously
in November. Also employ
ment was up slightly in the
goods-producing sector.
* Sales are better. Total
October inventories were up
13.2 percent from a year
earlier. November sales show
ed improvement. Spurred by
modest gains in auto sales, the
nation's retail outlets’ sales
rose by 1.8 percent to $77
billion, after having declined
in October by 1.7 percent.
Overall, November retail sales
were 9.7 percent ahead of the
$70.2 billion of November
1978.
* November auto sales,
spurred by cash programs for
dealers and rebates to buyers,
was up 3.6 percent in
November to $14.4 billion, at
dealerships. Sales fell 9.4 per
cent in October to $14.9
billion (but November sales
still were below August’s
$14.6 billion, which followed
sales-incentives programs).
♦ The average hourly pay
of a Georgia production
worker rose by $.02, from
$5.39 in September to $5.41 in
October. Average weekly ear
nings rose from $219.37 to
$220.19, up $.82. Average
hourly workweek, at 40.7, re
mained unchanged from
September to October (one of
the better indices to the fact
that the recession has not ful
ly set in in Georgia and the
South).
Caldwell, however, pointed
to these negatives in the
economy:
* The producer price index
rose to 1.3 percent in
November, fed largely by food
prices, (up 2.6 percent) which
the trees,
Desolate sentinentals
listening silently
to the gently breathing of
the wind.
Autumn came lonely, for
no
Human eyes gazed upon
the changing
hues.
Mournfully, the wind
began
to weep, uncaring ghost
dancing upon its tears.
soared the highest in five
years. Producer prices are up
12.8 percent from a year ago.
* Farm prices were up only
.05 percent, so the big jump in
food prices had to be due to
other costs (food prices are
predicted to level off). Energy
prices climbed an adjusted 2.5
percent last month, trailing
October's 4.7 percent rise. But
the drift in energy prices, with
several Arab countries
already announcing on the eve
of OPEC’s Monday meeting, a
$6 per barrel increase in crude,
will definitely drift upward
through the winter.
* Announced auto in
dustry layoffs will total
116,000 by mid-January
(200,000 auto workers were
jobless during the height of
the last recession). In Georgia,
some 3,500 are already on in
definite layoff (several more
thousands will be temporarily
laid off here this week in
Atlanta, a one-week
closedown at three plants).
* Construction in Georgia
fell 300 in one month because
of layoffs in residential and
non-residential building and
special trade contracting. Na
tionally, housing construction
was off 8 percent in October,
and 14 percent year-to-year,
and Georgia reflects this
downward trend.
Caldwell said that single
family home building permits
in the metro Atlanta area in
creased from 1,146 in
September to 1,305 in October
(figures from the Home
Builders Association of
Metropolitan Atlanta). At the
same time, permits for multi
family units were up from 171
in September to 710 in Oc
tober. However, in November,
following the Federal Reserve
Board’s new credit tightening
policy, home building permits
dropped to 852—the first time
in 1979 that permits were
below the 1,000-or-more-per
month mark.
Caldwell said that the U. S.
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Commerce Department’s
leading business indicators,
moving along sideways for
about nine months, have final
ly shown a downward trend.
“Yet there remain signifi
cant strengths in the
economy,” Caldwell said.
“One is commercial construc
tion. Office buildings, shopp
ing centers and others are 18
percent ahead of last year.
Continuing work in Atlanta,
for example, on the midfield
terminal, MARTA and other
commercial sites is helping
our employment.”
Caldwell said that in
Atlanta, non-manufacturing
employment, at a level of
732,600, rose 4,200 from
September. Trade rose 1,600,
with all the increases in the
retail sector, centered mainly
in department stores and
miscellaneous retail
establishments. State and
local government rose 2,800.
Transportation rose 1,300,
while there was a gain of 3,400
in finance, insurance and real
estate, while services was up
3,000.
ASPARAGUS TIP
Asparagus continues to
age and toughen after it has
been cut. So the sooner it is
cooked, the better, according
to Extension Service home
economists.
* * ♦
OLDER GEORGIANS
Eight of every 100 persons
in Georgia are 65 years of age
or over. That’s a total of about
368,000 men and women—or
approximately the combined
total populations of Augusta,
Columbus, Savannah and
Athens. In the past decade,
according to Cooperative Ex
tension Service specialists,
the population of Georgians
over age 65 increased 26.4 per
cent while the total population
increased only 16.4 percent.
The Summerville News, Thurs., Dec. 20,1979
Washington^ Report
By Larry McDonald
U S Representative 7th District
INTERNAL SECURITY
A privately organized Na
tional Committee to Restore
Internal Security (NCRIS)
has been formed in our
nation’s capital to en
courage the Executive and
Legislative branches of our
government to revive their
concern for national secur
ity.
&
The recent terrorist bom
bings in Chicago, 111. and the
ambush murders in Puerto
Rico of U.S. servicemen by
Marxist radicals illustrate a
clear need to restore our
internal security functions.
Most Americans are
astonished to learn that the
House Internal Security
Committee was abolished in
1975 and the Senate Internal
Security Subcommittee was
abolished in January 1979.
Also, the Internal Security
Division of the Justice De
partment and the Subversive
Activities Control Board
have been abolished. The
counter-intelligence units of
our armed forces and of
state and local police de
partments have been vir
tually decimated. The Fed
eral Bureau of Investigation
has been almost handcuffed
in its internal security in
vestigations.
DELIGHTED TO
SEE PANEL FORMED
Therefore, I am delighted
to see this private commit-
Printed as a public sen
I
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’ COMMITTEE FORMED
tee formed to encourage res
toration of our internal se
curity programs. Robert
Morris, formerly chief coun
sel for the Senate Internal
Security Subcommittee, is
chairman of the new panel.
In its initial statement
recently, NCRIS pointed out
on the affirmative side that
my proposal (H Res. 48) to
restore the House Internal
Security Committee now has
142 co-sponsors. “The
purpose of NCRIS is to per
form an educational role
that would cause all agen
cies of the government, the
media, the declared presi
dential candidates to gener
ate concern for internal se
curity,” the panel reported.
“The hour is growing late
before more Irans hasten
our decline as a nation.”
Many fine people are
serving on the Committee,
including Reed Irvine, presi
dent, Accuracy in Media;
William A Rusher, colum
nist. author and former as
sociate counsel, Senate In
ternal Security Committee;
columnist Paul Scott; Otto
Otepka, former chief secur
ity evaluator, U.S. State De
partment; author Robin
Moore; former Sens. Wil
liam E. Jenner and George
Murphy; and many other
distinguished individuals.
Naturally, I wish the
Committee much success
and hope that it will con
tribute to passage of my res
olution to restore the House
Internal Security Commit
tee.
♦ ♦ ♦
Write or call: Rep. Larry
McDonald, 504 Cannon
Bldg., Washington. D.C.
20515. (202) 255-2931.
vice by this newspaper.
5-A