Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 57, Number 42, Decatur, Adams County, 19 February 1959 — Page 12

PAGE FOUR-A

Screen For First Spacemen

/ ; By WILILAM D. HALL United Press International WASHINGTON (UPD — The orders i read simply: Report to Room 4-E-1085 of the Pentagon for temporary duty. But most of the hot jet jockeys who received them suspected what was in the works. ’ They knew for sure when Gen. Thomas D. White, Air Force chief of staff, strode into the room and announced he wanted to shake hands With the 1 first American who will reach outer space. The name of the program is “Project Mercury”; the purpose, to put a manned space vehicle into orbit. About 30 Air Force test pilots were gathered in the Pentagon office to shake hands with White. They were among 110 Air Force. Navy and Marine pilots brought to. Washington for initial screening. Twelve of them will be chosen to work on the project from the start. Will Know Fear One of the 12—to be selected at the last minute — eventually will ride- a space vehicle atop an Adas intercontinental ballistic missile and go into orbit around the earth. How is he going to feel? “The day they push the button,” one candidate said, “the man who’s sitting in this thing is going to be scared as hell. But he’s not going to back out. “He’ll have had a lot of training and if he has gone that far he’ll go all the way even though he knows there’s a lot of risk involved. It’s no snap decision. If it were, he’d probably have, backed out right away. “There's probably no test pilot alive who takes up a new airplane who's not apprehensive about his life. But he’s trained to do this sort of thing and he’s not going to back out just because he’s scared.” Free To Leave White emphasized the program was strictly voluntary; any candidate was free to leave at any time. The general said he could think of a hundred reasons why a pilot would not want to become involved. He emphasized th a t failure to volunteer would not reflect on an officer’s service carcor. Some of the pilots decided pretty quick. The group was ob-

Farm, Home and Personal Property AUCTION SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21 at 9:30 A.M. DST estate N o. 1 LOCATED 5 miles east and % mile southi of Berne, Ind., or 3 miles corn crib. » acres . 2SSSSSK. ShSu- euHivation. MM. shore o( 15 .» of wheat are reserved. Ptossesfeon—On or before March Ist, 1959. , , . , » TF-RMS—2O% on day of sale, balance upon delivery of abstract of title and J^>r t tospection e of farm or loan information call or see Mel Liechty, Auctioneer, Berne 2-8430 or Decatur 6-6354. REAL ESTATE NO. 2 “ SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21 Personal Property at 1:00 P. M. Real Estate at 1:30 P. M. * JTjW * Iff_• * Located in Monroe, Indiana, one square southjrf Adams Central school, then % square east. * , Attractive home with living room, dining room, bedroom. kitcnen, utility room on first floor. 3 bedrooms on second floor, enclosed back porch, spacious front porch, garage, soft water cistern, city water,, shade trees, extra building lot sold with home. Doni miss this sate if you are interested in a comfortable home located close to school and business district. . . For inspection of home and further information call Mel Liechty, Auctioneer, Berne 2-8430 or Decatur 6-6354. , Possession on or before April 1, 1959. , 20% day of sale, balance upon delivery of abstract of title and Executor’s Deed. PERSONAL PROPERTY Kimbal piano and bench: library table: 2 pc, mohair upholstered living room suite; 12x14 rug; 9x12 rug; end table; old clock: 2 magazine racks; large bevel plate mirror; small stand; 2 extension tables with chairs; buffet; platform rocker; Duo Therm oil burning circulating heater with blower; high chair; antique kitchen cabinet; bottled gas stove; walnut drop-leaf table; 2 glass door cupboards; round end drop-leaf table; metal bed with spring and innerspring mattress: metal bed with spring and Beautyrest mattress; chest of drawers; 2 walnut dressers; walnut chest of drawers; treadle sewing machine; Hoover sweeper; table and floor lamps; walnut fruit cupboard; porch swing; lard press; meat grinder; electric iron; ironing board: step ladder; dishes; pots and pans: clothes hamper; hand sweeper: picture frames; old school books; corn dryer; corn shelter; oats sprouter; bee supplies; lawn mower; shot gun; shoe cobbler's set; 2 model A Ford wheels; etc. TERMS—CASH ■ '• .. ' V BRICE BAUSERMAN, Executor of the ROY MCDANIEL ESTATE Sale conducted by Mel’s Realty Auction Co.. Berne, Ind. Md Ueehty, Auctioneer First Bank of Berne, Clerk Miz Ishmon, Auctioneer Howard E. Baumgartner, Atty.

viously smaller when it assembled the following day for a series of technical tests. The pilots had several things in common. They all were test pillots with degrees in engineering or one of the physical sciences, and they met certain physical requirements. After meeting with White, they joined Navy and Marine Corps pilots in a Pentagon auditorium for a detailed briefing by scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Equipped With Chute The candidates were assured this was not a “crash program” to put a man into space by a certain deadline. The 12 volunteers who are selected will have a strong voice in the final design of the capsule that will carry one tof them into space. They also will have a say as to when the first flight can be made with the minimum chance of accident. Hie scientists sought to allay the airmen’s fear. They pointed out the pilot could separate himself from the launching rocket and parachute to safety at any time simply by pushing a button. One young Air Force captain, worried about the possibility of a launching accident, said “this made me feel a lot better about the whole thing.” He said he decided then to volunteer for the program if he qualified. But immediately he began worrying “whether I could cut' the mustard with all these 'Stented people.” AU Are Screened He has 2,100 flying hours, 1,600 of them in 14 different jets ranging from the first operational jet, the F-80A, through the F-104. which holds all records for airbreathing planes. But he returned to the Pentagon in the afternoon for a brief medical review and picked up instructions for the second day of screening. He was told to report to NASA headquarters here in civilian clothing to avoid attracting any unnecessary attention. The technical screening took place in a classroom - like auditorium at NASA. It involved mathematics from arithmetic to calculus, tech-

■ B Vs * IW \\ 1 W' ■ W V w .-JU J 3 LEADS YACHT RKT TO NASSAU— Rhubarb, owned by Benjamin DuPont of Pine Orchid, Conn., reaches the end of the 184mile Miami-Nassau race. The 40-foot yawl led the fleet of 27 with a corrected time of 25 hours, 51 minutes and 58 seconds.

nical vocabulary on everything from electrical engineering to medicine, and an engineering test that would have done justice to a graduate school. When the testing was over, the dazed captain said, “I really felt sick. But I felt a little better when I saw that all the .rest of them were shaking their heads.’ Talk With Psychiatrists After that there was a geographical interview, a complete summary of your life history, plus the history of your family. The group was broken up on the third day and the scientists tried to find out what made "each man tick. —ft began with a psychiatric interview. One of the bug questions ■ was whether a man had a wife who was completely opposed to him taking part in a space program. If he did; Tiecouldn't do his best work. There was a talk with another psychiatrist later in the day during which many of the same questions were asked, probably so the two doctor s could compare notes. In between there was a 'medical interview. The physician went your complete medical i history and asked questions about everything from boils to back injuries. , Face Three Scientists Had you been subjected to extremes of heat and cold and had there been any adverse reactions? A man who enters the bitterly cold void of space and the intense heat of re-entering the earth’s atmosphere will get a taste of both. _ . . “The final part of th? screening was a technical interview, sitting in a hard chair and facing three NASA scientists. A big question was: How would you feel if you were selected as one of the 12 for the program, and then in the end didn’t get to fly in the space vehicle? The captain thought he gave the right answer: “Regardless of whether I got to fly it, the experience would be invaluable and I would be getting in on the ground floor of a new age of flight.” Three-Year Program The candidate then was told to return to his home base. He’d hear in about a week whether he was one of 36 to 400 pilots selected

Public Sale FARM IMPLEMENTS Will sell at Public Auction all Farm Machinery owned by the late Theodore Heuer, on the farm, located 6 miles north of Decatur on Fuelling Church road, or 4 miles east of Hoagland and 2 2 miles south, .on • Saturday, February 21 —1:00 P.M. 3 Case Tractors, one model D. C. fully equipped, one model C. C. with hydraulic manure loader and cultivators, one model wheel weights, mounted plow and cultivator, hydrulac rarm New Holland pick-up bailer with Wisconsin motor; Case 6 ft combine, power take-off model. Co-op 1-row corn picker; Co-op 32 ft. elevator with drag and grain chute with power take-off shaft; Co-op 16 disc fertilizer grain drill; Co-op 7 ft. power mower; I. H. C side rake; fertilizer corn planter; Wet More hammer mill, power take-off type mounted on wheels; New Idea manure spreader No~12A; Oliver 3-14” plow on rubber; Case 2 bottom plow; I. H. C. 7 ft. heavy duly double disc; 4-section spring tooth harrow; spike tooth drag; cultimulcher; rotary hoe; implement trailer: tractor transport trailer: 2 rubber tire wagons and grain beds with false end gates; wagon unloader with motor; 1 hand operated hoist; 180 amp. Forney welder and Forney battery charger; International pick-up truck; 2-wheel trailer with stock rack; mounted grass seeder; air compressor; gasoline storage tank; 10’ x 12’ brooder house; some lumber; 50 ft. endless drive belt; stock tank; Seel 6” power saw; other miscellaneous articles. TERMS—CASH. MRS. FLORENCE MATTHEWS, Ex. for THEODORE HEUER Estate Christ Bohnke— Auctioneer Edgar Krueckeberg—Clerk,

THE DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT, DECATUR, INDIANA *’

for phase two. If so, he’ll Toe sent to Albuquerque, N.M., for a six-day physical examination. Then there will be I a week-long series of tests to determine how each individual will stand up under the physical and emotional stress of space travel. The final 12 will be selected after that for assignment to the program for three years. They will help conduct unmanned test flights of the space capsule and those involving animals. They also will ride ballooncarried' capsules high into the air. Most of them will take a “ballistic ride” of 170 to 200 miles aboard a Redstone missile and parachute back to earth. Finally, one of them will ride an Atlas into outer space, orbit the earth for something under 24 hours and return to add immeasurably to man's knowledge of the universe around him. How You Can Build A Snowball Target i Boy plus snow equals t That bit of wintertime algebra . will soon be in evidence. The younsters will save wear and tear on windows—and each other—- - if they have a target away from 1 the house for snowball marksman- - ship practice. You or the younsters can build -a sawhorse - shaped wood frame - against, which you can lean a sheet 1 of Vj-indh-thick tempered hairdhnarri.. Paint a bullseye target on f this weather-resistant hardboard I and give each ring on the target a - value so that scores can be kept. Saw out the center-of the bulls--1 eye if you like, and let the “winter 5 league” pitchers try to throw their ’ snowballs throught the opening ’ without touching the sides. , Don’t throw it away when spring f comes. Save it as a target for . slingshots. 1 ? A recent survey by the U.S. Cenf sus Bureau found that Americans took a total of 107 million trips of 100 miles or more to visit friends > and relatives in 1957: 61 million 1 trips for vacation and pleasure and 5 44 million for business.

Think Some Form Os Life On Mars WASHINGTON (UPI) - Many scientists now believe that the first space traveler to reach Mars will find some form of life there. Such a possibility long has been a subject of scientific speculation. Interest has intensified in proportion to man’s stides toward eventual interplanetary travel. If life does exist on the earth’s nearest planetary neighbor, it very likely is a primitive form such as bacteria and fungi. But Mars could have developed some animal life adapted to its rapid temperature changes and almost oxygenless atmosphere. The National Geographic Society reports tht some scientists remain skeptical but that two recent studies bolster the life-on-Mars theory. " < ; - Conduet Tests Researchers at the Air Force School of Aviation Medicine at Randolph Field, Tex., conducted a series of tests to determine whether organisms such as bacteria and fungo could survive under Martian conditions. They were placed in jars filled with nitrogen at low pressure, corresponding to the Martian atmosphere, and exposed to sudden temperature changes from 77 degrees above zero to >l3 below. Organisms requiring the normal amount of oxygen died. But those needing little or no p oxygen survived and even grew. Still another finding was reported by Dr. William M. Swingon of Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Ariz. His spectroscopic studies indicate that there is matter on Mars that absorbs the same wave lengths of sunlight as some plant life cn earth. Exotic Animal Life But even before these findings, National Geographic says, a survey of scientists, mostly astronomers, showed overwhelming belief in life on Mars. Only one of 37 questioned said no. Scientists generally rule out the possibility that Mars could support the same kind of animal life as earth because of the near absence of oxygen in its atmosphere. But the National Geographic report points out that it is possible ‘‘some exotic form of animal life” adapted to it? atmospheric conditions.

r VAL -- la”] e ai DAYS WUE • ----- * 4013 188- 11 BL -199® A* t 4 REG. 99.95 A REG. 19.95 . BIG 36” TABLE ■ STEP-END or WSWS |)W||r 6 Matching Chairs ■COCKTAIL ■ ! 111 1 1 $ 69 ■ TABLES W ■IB I ImRWVwBiI A v ' ■ EXTRA SPECIAL! | ■■(Il W® ■ RE £; ■ $7.00 A Gal. Moth ■ HI-BACK ROCKER ■ Spray-5 yr. guarantee -^ l^ I Selection of ■ 239 N. 2nd St. Decatur Ph. 3-377 S

mHK B A 19l ACCEPTS BJD-Former Premier Antonio Segni, 88, leaves the Qulrinale Palace in Rome after he agreed to try to form a Government for Italy If Segni, a tniddle-of-the-road Christian Democrat fails. President Giovanni Gronchl may have to call a national election for a new Parliament. Stain With A Sponge You will find it easier to apply an oil stain or a water stain to raw wood with a cellulose sponge rather than with a brush. There’s less diping needed, and the square edges aid in doing comers and edges. 'Xi. ' When Are They Ripe? Some people moan when a tree is cut, but leading foresters say that trees ripen just like farm crops. If they become overripe, they start to decay and become subject to insects and disease. Tree farmers who practice modern forestry harvest the trees when they are ripe, making way for a new crop. The harvested trees make jobs and lumber, plywood and pulp for man’s needs.

Parity Prices To Farmers Decrease The percentage of the farmer’s expenditures that goes into production costs has increased in recent years, while the percentages spent for Irving and for interest, taxes, and wages have decreased. As a result, the parity price of most farm products has dropped slightly, effective as of January, according to a report received by James Garboden, chairman of the Adams county agricultural, stabilization and conservation committee. Parity prices are used in connection with the price support programs administered by the - ASC committee as a means of comparing farm prices with past periods in terms of purchasing powers. Chairman Garboden said the department of agriculture’s latest survey £ho w s that production items account for nearly 51 per cent of farm expenses compared

.. Artcantd diamond uce of permanent value Value Plan*, the I value ever offered! ome in today! to .UH. For Permanent Valve id«> for Over 100 Yeari NOTE • Mountings Like The wn Maj! Be PurchasMounting Your Own Jizs w rwmvr.™. Artcarved JewetBOWER JEWELRY STORE

THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 19, 1959

with 41 per cent during toe 1947-51 period. 11118 is the result of larger farms and commercialized agriculture, . with substitution of machinery and equipment for labor. On the other hand, the percentage of farm expenses going for living has dropped nearly 5 per cent, and so has the percentage for interest, taxes and wages. Since the production items have risen in actual cost less than other farm expenses, Garboden said, the result is to reduce farmers’ expenses, relative to the prices received in the past. The net effect has been to reduce parity prices as computed in January, 1959, about 3-% per cent from shat they would otherwise have been. Sandbox Is Popular The children can continue to play in a sandbox during the winter if a galvanized steel laundry tub is half fUled with sand. The portable -sandbox can be taken outside during the summer. DocaU can be attached to the sides of the tub to provide a decorative flair.