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Show Thursday, October r V ' . y' - f ) ; (Editor's note: The Soviet Union's decision to purchase up to $1 billion worth of grain from the United States was prompted by the worst drought to in a century, according Russia's minister of agriculture. In the following exclusive dispatch from UPI's veteran Moscow bureau manager, Henry Shapiro, Tadimir Matske- .. , vich explains how the Soviets hope to rebound from their disaster. ; I By HENRY SHAPIRO Soviet MOSCOW (UPI)-T- he Union has suffered its worst drought in a century but by using modern farm techniques and buying foreign grain the Russians are confident they will avoid a famine, according tc Vladimir V. Matskevich, Russia's minister of agriculture. "This year has been the most ' - .. . THE HERALD, Provo, Utah Page Drought in Russia Prompted Grain Purchase - A 5, 1S72 ... of starvation," Matskevich told UPI. "We thought the worst drought occurred in 1921 and 1946. At first it appeared that such weather conditions had not prevailed for 10 years, then we tnought perhaps 50 years, but now we know that such conditions had not occurred for the century since the establishment of Russia's weather service. exclusive interview. "Had we not taken the necessary measures we would be faring extreme difficulties," a career said Matskevich, "The trouble began last year," the Soviet agricultural official said, "when after a summer of little rain came a harsh and virtually snowless winter which severely damaged equipment and fertilizer, substantial land reclamation and introducing new types of seeds. These improvements enabled the resowing of winter crops in the spring. the winter cro- p- loss of 11 million hectares (27.5 million acres)." Hottest Summer Ever The summer "was the longest and hottest ever in our meteorological history in the difficult in 100 years of southeast, the Volga and areas recorded meteorological histo- of central Russia," the cabinet minister said in an ry, but there can be no question in the Ukraine, the Russian Federation and central Asia. Among other things he was referring to th March, 19b5, decisions of the Central Committee to improve agriculture agricultural officer by increasing technological But the Soviet Union will not rely on this year's mediocre harvest alone. According to reports from the United States, Moscow has contracted to purchase more than $1 billion worth of wheat and feed grains. Worst to Come for additional Negotiations have been reported purchases from France and Canada, Australia. "When I visited some of our southern farmlands in the spring with D Earl Butz. American secretary of agriculture, I showed him how fast we had resown our lost winter crop and thought we had already overcome our troubles, but the worst was yet to come." Matskevich said. He then described the parched lands and the lost summer crop of such great traditional bread baskets as southeastern Ukraine, the middle and lower Volga, some areas of the north Caucasus and central Russia. The ruin was not universal throughout the land and. accor- ding to Matskevich, there appeared to beabundance in the once controversial virgin lands of Kazakhstan and Siberia, some parts of the Ukraine, Moldavia, Byelorussia and the Baltic republics. One of the biggest blows to the country has been the loss of wheat and potatoes, described in Russian tradition respectively as "bread number one" and "bread number two," without which the Russians cannot live. There also have been major losses of "bread number three, such as millet, buckwheat oats and barley. "In another age and another country this could have led to much suffering, but the present state of our agriculture allows us to secure the uninterrupted supply of bread to the country," the minister said. Summer long and now in early Blasts Blocked autumn, this country has had one the cammajor preoccupation HONOLULU paign to gather in the last year of sponsored explosions as grain. It was dramatized by part of cratering experiments Communist party General on Eniwetok Atoll were blocked Secretary Leonid I. Brezhnev's recent whirlwind tour of Siberia by a federal judge Tuesday. and the virgin lands. Martin Pence issued a Judge Matskevich said he thought temporary restraining order that failures of despite the against the blasts until a court 1971 and 1972 the crop five-yehearing Oct. 5. The order was which calls for 197 million plan, tons sought by the atoll's residents. of grains by 1975, will be fulfilled The judge said government "if we have at least one very officials conducting the exper- good harvest." iments had not filed the proper "We shall not fulfill the plan if environmental impact state- the next few harvests are ments as required by law. mediocre or bad," he said. (UPI)-Govern-- ment ar V TO GENERAL MOTORS has elected the first woman to its board of directors Catherine B. Geary, president of the First Wisconsin Trust Bank of Milwaukee. She is shown here with Richard C. Gerstenberg, chairman of General Motors. 'Desdemona' Role Proves Challenge to Opera Star a standing ovation. By BARRY JAMES Racial Hassle AmeriROME (UPI)-W- hen Miss Oliver's ambition when Oliver Irene can soprano received an offer to sing she came to Europe was to Desdemona in Giuseppe Verdi's return to the United States "to "Otello" she says she "turned sing and make my mother white right there and then." proud." But now the urge to return to Miss Oliver is usually, by her own description, "a very black America has faded, not only because of the "racial hassle" black." She has just completed a but al30 because, "I realize I out of color movie excerpt of the can get satisfaction opera's first act, which will be singing before an audience storm on East German televi- anywhere in the world." sion this winter. Miss Oliver is the eighth of The performance turned the nine children, three of whom tables on a story which tells of have become professional musia black man's jealous love for cians. She studied at the Cincinnati his white wife. and Conservatory Miss Oliver, who comes from later sang spirituals with two of Warren, Ohio, has sung fre- her sisters. After she came to Europe, quently in East Germany and other East European countries. she fell into the almost inevitable role for a black shown as part of a series in soprano Bess in Gershwin's which operas are performed "Porgy and Bess." She sang with a deliberate mistake. A the role for 150 performances in prize is given to the first Norway, Austria and Czechoslovakia. viewer to catch the error. Three years ago, she attendMiss Oliver said she would like to continue singing Desde- ed an international music mona, even if it means putting festival in East Berlin. On a free evening, she paid a visit to on white makeup. the Komischer from Oper, Challenge to Feminity "Desdemona is a challenge to which followed an offer to sing my skin," she Bess again. my feminity-n- ot Fear of Stereotype said. "The problem is not what "I nearly turned it down," color you are, but whether you are woman enough to make the she said. "I was afraid of hero fall in love with you and becoming stereotyped." But director Walter Felse-nstei- n the public as well." made her start the role Miss Oliver came to Rome in from scratch and put her 1962 on a Fulbright scholarship and studied for one year at the through a whole year of Rome Opera. Since then, she gruelling rehearsals. "For the Komischer Oper, has been slogging upwards in the highly competitive world of opera is more than a singer belting out a song," she said. European opera. She has sung at many of "It involves personality and Italy's small opera houses and acting as well as voice. some of the big ones. get rid of the "They Being a black singer on an complexes which get in the way Italian stage has peculiar of producing another character. Finally, they really do succeed problems. She was Italy's first black in turning you into the person Mimi in Puccini's "La you are meant to be portray"Impallidisci" (you look pale), the hero, Rodolfo, sang at Venice's La Fenice opera house. The audience snickered. "I was prepared for it," Miss Oliver said. "By the last act, I had forgotten I was black, and so had the audience." Even the orchestra joined in o P P C(o O 3" I -f 5 Tearful Baby Tender Love. Turn her head, she looks sadder and sadder, cries real tears. Another turn and she changes to a happy smile. Cuddly, soft Talking Baby Bearis is 12" tall, all ready for lots of floppy, ploppy fun just like a bean bag. She stays put any old way she's set down. 15" tall. m 1 O 14" Baby Softina with complete layette and big trunk for carrying her anywhere. A Penney exclusive. Softina has a cuddly vinyl foam body, arms, and legs. She drinks, wets, loves to be bathed. 49 I99 Little Dressy Bessy makes learning how to dress fun. 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Includes family, all equipment for a day at sea. Floatable, washable plastic. t" mm ot Man's Oldest Calculator Used in Russian Stores in the ry of metal, the beads were (UPI)-E- ven Union's most modern hung on slightly arched wires stores on Moscow's glass and inside the frame, the abacus steel Kalinin Prospect, the has remained unchanged since clacking of the abacus at every then. cashier's right hand punctuates The number of beads on each the buyer's buzzing. can be varied to suit any string race While no organized between abacus and the mecha- purpose, so that, for instance, nical adding machine has been the operator can figure fractions in up the share of a recently reported in the Soviet harvest toting tenant a farmer owes retail the Union, average cashier obviously finds she can the landlord. do sums quickest by using However, in Russia the abacus was fixed centuries ago man's oldest celculator. 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