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Show A 13 DESERETNEWS, Amtrak System May Be Derailed Amtraks congressional mandate expires in the coming year. What has it done and where is it going? It has apparently learned much about how to run a railroad, but it will have to persuade the public and Congress to give it the chance. By JOHN T. WHEELER AP Newsfeatures Writer and the taxpayers Congress soon will .face a multibillion dollar ques- tion: Will American travelers, even in their own turn back to their now dowdy and arthritic first love, the railroad? traffic jams and longer airport delays, travelers in the highly lucrative short haul market will be able to get to their destinations as fast as by air, far faster than by car and with far greater ease than either. Many of those who say no dont argue so much against the proponents logic as for what they see as the facts of transportation life in the last half of the 20th century. They say proposals for huge public outlays to improve passenger rail traffic wont succeed because the Americans love affair with his car is too steep, the highway lobby is too powerful and the reputation of the onetime queen of travel is too deeply tarnished after decades of neglect and de- and United state road or city street that can make that claim. Although it no doubt would take more land condemnation and evictions than Amtrak would like to admit, the United States could have 250 m.p.h. or faster trains with a minimum of social and personal dislocation if the White House and Congress choose. YOUR HEALTH decades. If the public and the Congress Coming back to New York via Amtrak started with a similar hitch. The computer, which earlier had agreed to reserve a seat, was out of order. Tickets were issued within minutes. But once aboard the packed train, it was clear that Amtrak had supporters at least on the Metroliner. Its cheaper and lots less hassle The seats are bigger, the aisles are wider and I just dont feel trapped the Therell never way I do on the jets. be a lost bag. I put it in the rack at the end of the car and I dont have to wait for any baggage crew to finally get Ive' around to me when I arrive. never ridden any airline that gave better service and food than we get on this train now. Time elapsed was three Anotlar trip was from New York to Chicago via the Broadway Limited, the long distance train Amtrak has spent the most time and money to bring up to competitive standards. The expensive face lifting helped :ut only in the sense that would help a 1945 auto if it were In an attempt to check Amtraks claims of improved service against reality, a reporter set out to ride some 2,000 'miles aboard the new American railroad, He found a baffling mix of good intentions, hard sell, bed rock problems, and promises for the improvements The difficulties began immediately. A courteous male voice at reservations briskly took down such information as name, desired train and date. Then a he was asked. long pause. Trouble? Well, the computer wont talk back to Does that mean I cant get reserme. vations? Oh, you have a reservation. You mean the computer is working No. Then what reservation? now? Oh, you have one. The reporter called the reservation desk in the morning on his way to the airport. Was there really a reservation? Well, no. But we can ar gussied up. The overnight trip featured excellent food and sendee, but a ride so bumpy that few passengers said they spent a particularly restful night. The train was a half hour late. similarly the biggest problems for Amtrak is becoming credible. Many passengers interviewed aboard the Broadway Limited said they had heard that Amtrak was modernizing and streamlining and this was the reason they were on the train. Most said they felt let One of down. How far Amtrak can logically expect to go without billions in capital investment and improvements is a moot question. President Lewis says Amtrak will have to double its share of the transportation market, from 4 to 8 percent, before operating deficits will cease. A massive effort is being made to convince passengers that Amtrqk wants them. But executives concede in the end what will have to sell rail travel is its excellence or lack of it in moving people from point A to point B. a $200,000 Amtrak commissioned Lewis Harris poll to find out where the public really stood on railroads. Harris said he found a lot of support for by a 60 to 25 percent margin, Americans said they would back federal to make American train investment travel as good as any in the world." But some 63 percent said they would increase their travel on airlines. Amtrak There is a nagging suspicion that what the Harris poll really means is that Americans will contribute to a rail system so it will get other Americans off the highways. It Is Music To Search Byways Of Tender Melody Surgery Is Answer To Bladder Drop By HAROLD LUNDSTROM Deseret News Music Critic MUSICAL WHIRL ens. It is music of rumination of gentle dreaming, permitting every theme to search byways of tender melody. It has been many times remarked that Beeas was noted here last week thoven alternated in his symphonies be- tween grandeur Andre Watts who can storm the keyboard like a madmad with the best of todays pianists when the score so indicates, proved his genius as a musician with the Utah Symphony Orchestra and Maurice Abravanel in the Tabernacle Saturday night. and a simpler lyricism. Concerto The and for Piano Orchestra No. 4, stadning between By GEORGE C. THOSTESON, M.D. Dear Dr. Thosteson: I have never read in your column about a dropped bladder. I am past 65 and lifting, etc., caused my bladder to drop down into the vagina and is very uncomfortable. This happened five months ago and I was wondering if it goes on unattended what the results will be. Does it ever Mrs. repair itself without surgery? the brilliant He the guest soloist in a of Beethovens Fourth performance Piano Concerto, and played it with all the delicate poetry that Beethoven evidently intended. I think I have never heard it played more beautifully, more correctly, or with more style and con- and the Third broad and imperious Fifth (Emperor), suggests the same kindof alternation. Mr. Watts The Fourth flows along easily for the most part, not resorting to the brilliance of great speed (the first movement is a comfortable allegro modera-to- , and the Finale lively rather than T.M. This condition is called cystocele, too, and Im rather .surprised that you havent read prior comments about it. It is a rather common problem in women. was trol. The slow movement all 70 bars of it was approached with a hushed reverence and beautiful degrees of pianissimo shading. This lack of hurry was taken headlong). Beethoven does not storm the heav It is involved with a loss of strength in the tissues which normally support the bladder, so gravity lets it descend where it doesnt belong. Exercises may help a little but the condition is not one that can ever repair itself. The answer is surgery which, I gather, your doctor has recommended. Surgical repair is not a serious undertaking, but it is something that it. With most pianists it would fall apart at this tempo. Mr. Watts built his phrases deliberately, utilizing for them a velvet tone. From beginning to end the concerto was excitingly beautiful, helped no end by the equally sensitive conducting of Mr. Abravanel who has been successful in sprucing up the orchestra this season so that he can draw from it a g set of colors, dynamics, and accents. wide-rangin- Mr. Watts was rewarded with long rounds of enthusiastic applause, calls of Bravo, and a standing ovation. Perhaps the few who remained seated had anticipated a more fiery and heroic interpretation of the Beethoven Fourth. Tchaikovskys No. 1 Symphony given its premiere Tabernacle performance. This department has known it only through (Winter Dreams) was as leisurely as anybody has ever heard What alwyas surprises me are not the immaturities but the clear links with later Tchaikovsky. The Finale, for example, has a slow, march-lik- e introduction, a Russian-danc- e Allegro, and even a hectic Fugato to show that the composer was far from being unacademic. How very like the later symphonies. Perhaps if it didnt carry the name of composer, it wouldnt get near a performance. Musically, the score does not lack power, and it is deadly serious, but it just isnt too interesting. Mr. Abravanel was successful in a great Tchaikov-skia- n underlining the sharp-edgequalities, the rhychmic vitality, the confident orchestration. But the themes are far from being as distinguished as those in his later symphonies. d The concert opened to the capacity audience with a warm and rich and rewarding performance of the Overture to Mozarts great and tragic opera, Don Giovanni. Watergate Defendants May Still Talk By JACK ANDERSON WASHINGTON MERRY GO - ROUND WASHINGTON We can now shed more light on the backstage efforts to persuade the Watergate defendants to needs to be done. ) plead save If you dont have it attended to, the discomfort will go on, and there is the possibility of developing bladder and other urinary tract infections. Dear Dr. Thosteson; I would like to know the difference between high and low Wood pressure. Are the symptoms the same? If not, what is the difference. guilty the charge reduced to illegal entry. This would have made their offense a simple misdeameanor. break-i- n and White Any cutting back of the House the On Dec. 26, we reported that the Justice Department had discreetout ly sounded some of the de- Blood pressure is simply the amount of force or pressure which pushes blood through our arteries. When we are young and our arteries are supple, the blood flows easily, and pressure is mod- entering guilty pieas; The prosecutors were cautious in their conversations with defense lawyers. But more direct messages were relayed through E. Howard Hunt, the former White House aide and takes more CIA Hunt agreed to plead guilty, apparently with a tacit understanding that he wouldnt have to spend too long in jail. He urged the other defendants privately to follow his example. veteran. ops. r At first, the defendants held out for a softening of the charges. The five who were caught inside Democratic headquarters, for example, wanted the how- In return, the defendants hinted they might make some embarrassing revelations if they were abandoned. Some indicated they might write books about their experiences, telling all. fendants about pressure, and high blood pressure devel- charges, ever, would have looked like a fix. So instead, the mystery men behind the scenes used pressure and persuasion. They also alternately stopped and resumed the cash payments that had been promised to the defendants. embarrassment of a public trial. E.A. The symptoms of high or low biood pressure are distinctly different, but I hesitate to attempt an explanation in the available space here! go airline guaran- for Amtrak is that heady dreams for the future must compete with the problems travelers face daily. These complaints now go to Amtrak but surely will spill into the halls of Congress once figures and legislation totaling billions hit the headlines. Amtrak reports that there are two to three hard knock letters of criticism for each one of praise. A sampling showed the old complaints have not vanished. They again range from overcrowded dining cars and inoperative toilets and air conditioning to late trains and hostile attitudes by train personnel. future. Railroads are among the most heavily taxed industries in the nation. In fact, Amtraks takeover of the passenger service wiped out a $360 million loss for the railroads which now must come up with more than $60 million taxes for the federal treasury compared to the $96 million revenue deficit Amtrak expects during the current fiscal year. Amtrak, citing these figures, says it deserves the seed money the airlines have benefited from directly in the past An hours, home to Washington hotel. When things go right, which is far from always, door to hotel via air also is about three hours. But Amtrak is trying, especially to overcome the old. If trains stop, Amtrak has put passengers on airplanes. If air conditioning stops, it has put passengers in air conditioned hotel rooms until fully operative trains are available. Passenger representatives, who really are airline stewardesses without coffee, tea or milk, routinely write reports that include tough and unwanted criticism. unless, Amtrak They bring action says, it costs too much money that is not available now. Amtrak is attempting to update entire train system. range space for you. teed cne. Special tracks for the futuristic trains now undergoing testing would cost some $1 million a mile, about the same as a freeway in many parts cf the country. here-and-no- criss-cros- transportation has stirred little debate except when Amtrak started operations by axing dozens of trains considered uneconomical. So far the national railroad has managed to make a modest start at improving service while losing only about $278 million in its first two years. between A problem Air passengers flying two hours or less often spend more time getting to and from airports than flying. And during airlines rush hours early in the morning and late afternoon, passengers can spend an hour or more on the ground waiting to take off and a similar period in holding patterns over the airport waiting for a chance to land. Amtrak claims that the ribbons of s the nation parallel steel that are used at less than 20 percent of capacity. It is the rare freeway, asphalt The proposed great leap backward in turboengin- New York and Boston can do 160 m.p.h. But the Metroliner is held to a maximum of 106 because of track and sometimes must slow to 40 m.p.h. and less. Even with a major expansion of the federal freeway networks and the construction of huge new airports, door to door travel times are expected to steadily lengthen. Before freeways, it took about seven and a half hours to drive from New York to Washington. New highways brought the time down to just over four hours but congestion has driven it back up to six. Amtraks original congressional mandate expires in 1973 when the corporation will recommend a vast improvement program that officials say ultimately will run into the tens of billions of dollars. The expectation is to get the system off the road to atrophy and headed toward parity with the best lines in W'estem Europe and Japan where almost everything from technology to decor are decades ahead of that rolling in the United States. Aircrafts Streamliner e-powered what this might cost, executives have a way of staring at ceilings and scuffing toes along the floors of Amtraks Washington headquarters. One official said privately that it would mean financing that would completely overshadow the moon program. But at least it will give those of us on the ground something a whole lot more useful and concrete, he added. Created by the government, the corporation took over passenger service from 13 railroads in 1971 and now operates some 200 trains over 22,000 miles of track across the nation. The system has some of the shoddiest rolling stock running in any major Western industrialized nation and faces the prospects of years, if not decades, of deficits. it Northwest. W'hen asked Focus for the upcoming debate is Amtrak, the American National Railroad Passenger Corp. arteries harden, But it is the rare straightaway that could handle such speeds. The Metroliner between Washington and New York first-clas- terioration. As portation at Pueblo, Colo. They will be noiseless and pollutionless and far from' whistle, the romantic lyrics involving rumble and roar" that made the Wabash Cannon Ball famous even outside the United States. Foreign trains, namely French and British, are said to be capable of 250 m.p.h. right now. There are a few short haul trains, notably the 100 mile per hour Metroliner between New York and Washington, D.C., that in terms of ticket cost, convenience and speed compare well with the airlines and make the private auto appear almost antiquated. Few more crack trains are likely to appear unless, as an Amtrak spokesman said, a national commitment is made to make s U.S. railroads a passenger service embodying the best technology can provide. But the answer they hope is best is that in an era of worsening freeway erate. along with them, Amtrak can spin heady dreams of the future. Air cushion trains that will do 300 miles per hour are being developed by the Department of Trans- More than 1,200 employes who deal with the public have been put through what they have called a charm school to erase years of considering passengers as nuisances or antagonists. Those in government who say yes have marshaled powerful arguments ranging from economy to ecology, from safety of life and limb to scientific breakthroughs in rail transport. - In the first two years of operations, was spent in purchasing new cars and $27.1 million in modernizing the old not only to make them sleeker but more comfortable and safer. Another $40.3 million went into new diesels and overhauls for old engines whose past limping caused many a travelers delay. Upwards of $7 million is spent on a nationwide computer system that will tie in the lines 340 stations from New Yorks Grand Central Station through the prairies of Kansas and the deserts of Utah to California and the Pacific $38.5 million Monday, January 15, 1973 , Some of Die defendants, who had been involved with Hunt in the Bay of Pigs operation, also received private visits from some of their former. CIA com rades. The visitors brought expense money and also offered to make regular payments to the defendants families. A figure was mentioned. Our sources could not. or would not, identify the men behind the scenes. report only that most of the money for the defendants was funneled through Hunt. He delivered part of the cash to Bernard Barker, who distributed it to the men He had recruited for the Watergate misadventure. Hunt's wife was carrying $10,000 in C3sh when she was killed in a Chicago airliner crash. Footnote: At the outset of the trial, the prosecutors made a remarkable agreement not to introduce the most damning evidence the FBI had dug up. This was a detailed diary that one of the defendants. Eugenio Martinez, had kept. As a minor functionary for the CIA, he v.as required by the CIA to keep a record of his activities. Those who have had access to the diary, however, tell us Marjjpez, in true CIA fashion, used code $l,000-a-mont- We-ca- names to identify all his contracts and associates. Nevertheless, the diary provides an excellent record of the espionage operation at the Watergate. The Pentagon has acknowledged that orders went out on Dec. 30 to all personnel, civilian and military alike, to keep their mouths shut about military activities and peace prospects in Southeast Asia. Not reported, however, was the sweeping nature of the order. American pilots flying combat missions over North Vietnam, for example, were specifically prohibited from talking to newsmen. A The no special directive stipulates: comment guidance specifically precludes interviews at all levels and with air crews in particular. Even the Coast Guard, though it doesnt come under Pentagon jurisdiction, submitted to the censorship order. Admiral Chester Bender, the Coast Guard Commandant, or- -' dered all his people to report press queries not to their superiors in the Transportation Department but to the Defuse Department. BMHT Ml, You may write to Do If Man, Box 1 25 7 Salt Lake City, Utah 84.110 Check Fails To Uncover Box Defect We bought a refrigerator last January in Orem. We have had food spoilage four times. They sent men up twice but cant find the trouble. 1 think I should have a new refrigerator as our guarantee will run out this month. We havz a lemon and they should back their product. Isnt there a law to protect the buyer from merchandise that does not perform as it is advertised to do? Mrs. J.W.G., Orem. Yes, you have the right to assume that your refrigerator will do or is fit for the use to which it is normally put. The manufacturer or seller is responsible for almost any defect it may have. But the defect must exist within the product and not from improper use. The service men who have been out four times now can find no odor and all that is needed is some new defrost heaters. Based on this the maker says your desire for a new refrigerator is not warranted as they can find nothing wrong with the present one. If you are concerned about your warranty being up and you continue to have trouble, dont worry. The manufacturers respresenta-tiv- e told us there would be no charge to fix it. If these efforts do not eventually satisfy you, you may have a basis for legal recourse. Small claims court is made for such problems. Seven Month Wait Last July we sent our tape recorder to S.L. to be fixed. We checked on it two times, at the end of July and in August and both times we were told it would be returned in a week. They said they were waiting for parts. Then they said they were sending it in the middle of December. Still no recorder. Can you help? G.S., Blackfoot. We called the repair shop on a Fri- day and they said theyd check on it and to call them back Tuesday. We gave them a grace period and called back the next Friday. They said it had been mailed to you on Wednesday. They said your model was obsolete and the parts they had sent for kept being back Interesting, we think, that the parts finally arrived within three days of our call to them, when you had waited seven months. Refund Finally Sent , On June 25 I sent the National Opportunity Research Service in Princeton, N.J. $10 for a two-yemembership. Their guarantee said: If at any time you dont feel that you can turn your $10 into more than 1000 times that amount, just write and youll receive every d penny back plus 6 percent interest on your money. I am disappointed and asked for my money back. I have heard nothing from them. J.S., pro-rate- Tremonton. We got a prompt reply indicating they had no record of receiving your request for a refund. As of now the refund will be processed and mailed right away. Nothing was said about in- terest. Seek Lawyers Advice Last October I applied for a variance on my property to build a garage. A hearing was held by the S.L. County Planning Commission. They rejected my request saying they did not want to set a precedent and that I had enough room in my backyard to build a garage. There are other people in the area who have had the same problem and have built. I dont want to get these people in trouble but my guess is that they did not ask for a variance. They also told me that the decision cannot be appealed. Is there something that can be done? B.M., Salt Lake City. We offer a general rule. Whenever you are in doubt about a legal problem (thats what you have), see a lawyer. There is always an appeal possible in this case the courts. That's where you need the lawyer at least his advice. ACTION REACTION I thought youd like to know we received five books a letter saying and the final thanks for our patience book would be mailed soon. Its amazing how quickly they answer when YOU write them. Thanks. Mrs. G.H., Pay-so- n (Editors Note: We're sorry the number ot coils and the volume of mail make it Impassible to answer every Question. Please, no medical or legal questions. Don t send stamps or selfaa-dresse- d envelopes, as answers can only be given in this column. Only Questions ot general interest will be answered. Give voar nam , address and not for publication but to telephone number . , hell Oo-l- t Man help you.) |