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Show I WASHINGTON !By Walter Shead WNU Corretpondwil. I I WNU Washington Bureau. 1616 Eye St.. N. W. A Little Bit of America Transplanted in S. Pacific BIKINI ISLAND. There is an unforgettable un-forgettable picture spread before be-fore me here in this south Pacific atoll ... a picture of great beauty and a lesson which portrays the American way. For tonight as far as the eye can see in a huge arc which marks the curving length of this three-mile-long island, thousands of electric tights wink in the soft trade winds and mirror their reflections in the gently swelling waters of the lagoon. la-goon. Thousands of other lights from the fleet of some 200 ships anchored an-chored in array form other patterns pat-terns of reflected lights, numerous searchlights stab the star-studded sky and the winking lights of ship communications play a soundless tattoo upon the southern night. Red and green riding lights atop the masts sway in the rolling waves and add color to the magical picture in this far-off place. Yet only a few short months ago (his island and the entire atoll of coral reefs and islets was as primitive primi-tive and wild as when the first Polynesians steered their frail outrigger out-rigger canoes into Bikini lagoon some 800 years ago. Today the small band of natives has been moved bag and baggage to another larger island, and taking their place are thousands of American boys swarming the beaches and playing beneath the cocoanut palms from which the natives derived their chief food supply. Paving, Steel Buildings Concrete walks have taken the place of the rough native trails; coral roads have replaced the sandy paths trod for centuries; rough thatched huts have been replaced by sturdy American structures; handball, basketball, tennis and horseshoe courts edge into the palm groves. Steel towers form installations installa-tions for radio, television and other communications, standing high above the trees. The chug of a gasoline engine, the roar of bulldozer bull-dozer motors and the shouts of men in recreation break the stillness of the night . . . such sounds as have never before been heard since this ancient volcano thrust its crater rim above the waters of , the Pacific and the countless millions of coral polyps deposited their skeletons for eons of time to form the rock and sand base of the atoll reefs ... the crashing, splitting thunder of two atomic bombs have broken the peace and stillness of this fairyland. fairy-land. American ships he upon the coral heads of the lagoon floor . . . 30 fathoms down. Soon divers will explore their wrecked hulls to note the work of atomic energy and blast upon the workmanship of , shipbuilders. Oceanographers will again chart the lagoon bed to see what this man-made man-made force has done to nature's work. Biologists will study the fish life to learn what radio-activity has done to the living tissues. In the years to come an entirely new species spe-cies of fish may be one result. A radio station, ice plant and electric elec-tric plant lend their functions to this newest outpost of the American way ... for where American sailors and American soldiers and airmen go, so must go the American way in ships and planes. Expensive, but Worth It ' To date this mass movement of ships and men, their supply and maintenance has cost the American taxpayers some $70,000,000 so that our military planners might learn the effect of atomic energy -on ships and men and materiel. And it is costing an approximate half million dollars a day to keep it going . . . going well beyond the summer months, for the third test is now scheduled for November and the total to-tal cost will run well over $100,000,-000. $100,000,-000. Our congress and our military mili-tary leaders believe it is well worth it. And they've left nothing undone. A jazz orchestra plays sweet swing music and the sound is wafted waft-ed across the water from the officers' of-ficers' club where the legend over the door reads "Up and Atom." And there's plenty of refreshment in liquid form, so plentiful it may be the reason for the shortage in the Slates, and cheap too. Some 30,000 men are here ... a little piece of the United States transported to the South Pacific. If we could only see a ferris wheel, the scene before us would resemble nothing more than Coney Island. About one-fourth of the animals exposed to the atom bomb test of July 1 are now dead. This does not include those killed for autopsy. Capt. Shields Warren, radiological I expert, says that about one-third of j the survivors are in a critical con dition from burns. Four goats, all quite sick, have been flown to the U. of Chicago for blood studies ! Their ailment is due to rndioactive i rays. One hundred and eight white mice have been flown to the Ka' I tional Health Institute at Bithci.da Md., where they will be studir j |
