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for Colorado of benefits under the soil conservation and domestic al-D enver. .--:-.(Sp~d_al) -~-~ h.eckb:;.g up -; ·f?~--~_?li..fe:·R:0-51.0:l::~!...-·co_~PI'?~15_es.o9- Jobnent act, formation of soil con-on · the ··iI;1di"vidttal ·.recci'fds--•of'·mem-1~cte11n<1.uent~~t:~es,_. •;h'am-llm1t ~r<rb~rs of -the 31st;· Coior.ado general , posal and abohshment o! board -of servancy dis~ricts, ·~egulation of s~le a:re·nbly ·is a pastime , which has '. state industrial- _school.for , boys~ ?f comn1ercial f:rtilizers;· _re·gu1~tion-e~1~~vcd tha energies· .of ne\vspaper 1
1
All His Bills· Passed ; : 1
, ofdsale of -_--agn~ultural chJ et1:1icalsf
' . 0 t . ·. h •t
1 d ._ · , ·_ ,_ an economic po1sons2 _regu _!! ion _o
i ~orre;>pon~~n s at t e capi O . _ur . Senator . M11ler .. ·holds_ the r ec~rd ' egg ·al}d poultry' buyers, rodent co.n- ,
; rng tne d.~ mg days of the session. : A - ·1 t· n of the . record ~ of I 1 of 10O-percent passage .of . . . . . the bills - f · r o ' an measures 1 d d ea ing w1 r · ··u 1 i
e:rlension funds and vocational, edu-cation funds.
Rated as Conserva!-ive .Although voting for p,'-lgre.ssi ve n1ea..l'lures, including new df:::al legis-lation, Sena.tor Miller is rated in the more conservative ·group wbich largely shape'd policies of the st/3 te senate · during the 31st asst:mblv. j H e was one of five senators on th-e · committee on committees which, at
the heginning of the session, se-lected the personnel of all senat.~ standing committees.
. co~p1 a __ 1_0 _- • . • l which he · sponsored _m the _senate, water resources of Colorado.
Sen . .James , R. _ M r~ - .(D., . Fort .·. I all h1's rneast•res be1.ncr passed · 0 - ··. by . ·H · · · · .- e ·sponsore d · b 'll a · 1 w 1c h' · h .. ·-. d \ n10
-Collins,) made from senate records that body . His activities during ··· ; · th 1 · . t . :. -t . · th arld from_ i commltation' ,with mem- · the s ossio~ ident ified him chiefly ernikzesf tl-.e atv.rst :pert 2.Jn1lng,_ ot a€·
. ·.Toward the close.
of
the session, he sponsored-· the · resolution for a calender committee which precipi-tated one of the bitterest fights ofthe session, but which culminated in adoption. oI . his t.esoluUon by ,
unanimous vote of the senate. f ·--h' . t t t ·· - ~· • ·. · · . .wor o !1e s a e en omo O"'lS a n
.oers 0 . t e sena_ e a . . reques or with the so-called agricultural h :oc _ . . . . _6 - . ·
lh Evpress Courier discloses the . . ·th ·s t H t h p lG.cmg the '\'\Ork of the .,fate en . I f<-~owi;1g vo-te_s by· 'senator Mill_ei· .. 1k~ comEph_anhy ·'tvr H . ed~a orsH·
0 -~tc - t-omolo~ist _under the dep_artment,
He was one of only two senators holding more tha n one committee cliairmanship, holding, . in a.tldiUon
to the education . chairmanship, that of chairma:n of revJsiqn a.nJl · engrossment, · a. post which- he had held also during the preceding
reg-ular session and three special ses- , sions.
• j - iss. r ar • . ea ie.e, u::i on, f .,. . It - t d f th t t .
-.v.ith ~re. spect. to matters . of maJ.01.· H. udson., . Hunter, Litel, Mur phy; -O . a "'.~Jc~. turet ·tl~S ea o e s a e· \<> n-lslation. ~·" . • . . . . . - . .. . . . . .~ . res o-n, I' . t R agan, S . anaers an d expeumcn . · -S t ,. M'll s a 10n. r~
11 • " · ·rl 'Elills .voted.{or-::-Gi-and Lake con- ·wheeler. · ~na_ o .. 1 er v, ns ~q~a :i . _in _u-servancy. district, graduated income .As member s . of the · senate · \ com- enti_al t m H matters perta_~ mmg· io edu-·-, tax, g cvernor';,:; 'Nater-conse!·vat!.on ca 1_on. . e was cha1_rman ___ of _ the
I
prog. rax_n r. soil '. erm,icm. compliance prngram, tion, this group of sc_natoi·s through wa. ter d. e_fen. s'e c. ,om. mission_, mittee on agriculture a!ltl irriga- ,-senate o n education frn~nce educatI01.1 .. c.op, _rn __ anc'!, e9uca.tion aJ _.mst1-1lte:I
:;oil · . cbnset·vancy districts plan, interlocking committee m ember- tutions, and in tha t caI?acity , Led Fight against Ra.ee BHJ vocational education suppor t, ·co- ships, also controlled the s enate's han dled ail legislation, ot h er than Senator · Miller ·led the fight.s operation with :federal government two .mo5t powerful c9mmittees- ~ppropriations. dealing with educa-.. against the two measures which in various new de.al a ctivities, old- finan ce and state affairs. Thi s dup- bon . He sponsored in the senate Governor Ammons subsequently ve-age ·-pensions, . fish and g ame com- lication upon committ_ees placed the variou$ bills fo1· agricultural toed-the pari-mutuel racing bill
I
mission, fair trades practices and the agricultural group in position an'd the · bill for. abolishing the; unfair trades practices, state gov- to obtain the most · favorabl e atti- board of the State Industrial Sc.hool
l
ernmental reform, service ta.x, ttide toward agricultural and irriga- / for Boys. He presented the onlyi co1!nty . libraries, . bas~c science·• r_e- tion matters that has prevailed -in /_..,.,..- prepared speP,ch a.gainst the
pari-1
, tax· qu1rements, automobile ownership manv years. law conforming to the new con-- O~e outstanding piec~- of. legisla:. · mutuel bill. · \Vith other conservatives in ac-. . st-.itutional amendmen t, high school t.ion of this type was the so-called 1ti_oi;i a?ainst . several appropriation · ! course of study, building-levy pro- Grand Lake-Big Thompson con:.. 1b1lls, he endeavored unsuccessfully' !
gram for state institutions, gift fax servancy district bill, sponsored . in to reduce relief obligations of the, i to · check evasions of intedtance. ·the upper house by Senator Miller state by comp~lling· counties to
ac-tax · law; outdoor adver tising cort- : and . passed without an opposing cept a share of the relief costs trot. - junior · colleges, public pi-int- vote; It is an. enabling act providing upon _ the t_heory. that the . present in g reform, control of mutual bene- method by which northern Colo-- -system places a premium upon
it. a ssociations, state to.urist bu- rado may put the proposed water .keeping large numbers of persons au. state-owned automobile in- diver:sion plan , into o.p er a t _i on. upon relief rolls of the counties
ct ion stations and regulation of Another_ example is the graduated • ns.t.ead. l)f encoura..gin"g reduction
uce buyers. income tax- bill, in which farm of rolls and the placing .of relief
"' · voted against-Pari-rnutuel groups were much · inte~ested. 1 clients in self-supporting jobR.
uc,l-dog racing, increases in Sponsored Fann Bills i .. Indepen'dence of thought . and -
a-c-for district. judges and for :.tion upon the part ot -~ the .
Lat.-i-• c-.our Jus t · t · ices, m ill levy He also sponsored and obtained mer . count,r senator: we·re 'ind_icated .
passage, in some cases . with - the J
cooperation of either or both Sena• in his refusal to follow his party tors Hotchkiss and .Murphy, of bills upon a number of measures. I!e · T · .. urn . o . age , o _u_mn · t p 6 ·
9
l ·3 · was one of three. Democra ticsena-tors voting against a resolution en-. 4orsing the president's supreme court plan.
Op posed Salary Boost He was the only member of the s.e:nate voting : a gainst increasing . salaries of ·the judiciary. He voted against a resolution p r oposing the ·calling of a constitution?,l co11ven- ;
tion, contentjing t,hat since ils re-i
cent ame11dmept to . permit passage : of a graduat~d income tax law the l
existing . constitution is -
as
a c= !ceptable .as any ,likely to be ob- , tained under a convention selected . _i.1ncfei· existing cor1ditions. ... . . ! Senator Miller's vote . u·pon -fabor•i issues has been acceptable to the i labor . bloc . of the senate, . exGept·: upon the train limit bill, which he ! opp,osed. Although voting for• old-j
ag~-pensions. he voted also to re- :
-fer · again the pension amendment i
' to the .v.oters-a pi·9..pqsal . whi ~h · sub·se,quently was defeat e'd by the hom;e o.f representatives. · · · ; •Wi.th Sen. Rud-0lph Johnson of
I,
Boulder county, \ Sena.t or Miller ob-.tained passage by the. legislature ofI a rei;oluti:on -protesting·. to.
Wash-1 ington ·against a proposa l to charge 1 admission fees to t he Rocky
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Miller
-Retires
.As Ag Secretary
Placing his signature on 9743 -diplomas has been part of the job,of James 'R. ·J\fiIJer,,. retiring ·sec-retary
of
·.the state board · of ,Agri--culture. Mr. ·Miller "has ·served as.secretary of this board for 18
-years. ""·
,First coming to ·this campus :in 1935, he became the first
ex1-•r11-ment station editor. Mr. Miller
:assumed •his position as Secret~irY -of the State Board of
Agricul-~vi
_1<)~
'- . wre in 1939.
J
At that time, this positionindi-r.,..,. "-~ -cated he ,was Secretary
to
1.h.e- J Faculty, · business manager,
pur-,chasing agent and advisor to the"' -college president. As the college -enlarged, the position was cut
V) -down to include _ only Secretary
'- to the State Board of Agriculture .and ..Secretary of :the Faculty.
v, · Born in •Lincoln county,
Nebr-ts
.aska, Mr. :l\Jiller attended high'6
~chool in Edger 2nd a. normalschool at Kearney, Nebraska.
\\I WorH:i '\Var'I -c-alled.hin~ -froin his
~(j
_ ~- et
1ducAaEt'iF01:
1to
1~s.erAve _in 5-~ranc1e with - 1e · m c 1e rrny 1gna co_rps.
V) ')I
Rei-urning from war, he carrie to Fort Collins in 1924. For 12 years he · ·worked on the Coiora<loan,
o{
~!J
tl1en know!1 as the Ex?rei;~ Cu:::--•~l rier. As an employee of the
news-'I-=/
paper, ?\fr. Miller l~cld .the posi-tion of reporter, ci~y editor and-~U
man~ging editor.Mr. l\1il1er's f.arriily includes his wife, whom he met at the
Kear-"Iley Normal-scbool, --and their -two - sons, :-Mason Miller of Pullman, . lVashington :·and James R. Miller,
Jr. of Denver.
Concerning plans for the -future
·J\fr. 1\filler says, "I '"ill probably
d_o free-lance w~iting .for maga-2fnes and newspapers 2nd some special writing assignmen ts for organizations." Mr. and l\f rs. :;\Jil-•ler plan to keep tbeir home in
Fort Collins, but are looking for--W.ard -to ,travelin g .and .spendi!1g
t.be win ter~ __ in_ a _ milder_ climate:
j
!
! ,
WRITER AT GOAL- James
R. Miller, retired secretary of the State· Board of Agriculture, crouches beside the grave of Dr. Elijah E. Edwards, who served from 1879 t-0 1882 as the first president of Colorado State University. Mr. Miller, a
for-..
•
•
•
•
•
I
(
I
mer newspaperman who has been working for · several years on a biography of Dr. Edwards, followed a 2,600-mile trail to find his subject's last" resting place, now marked only by the · hibiscus bush, shown in the
pho-tograph .
•
.
'.
• •
•
Ji-m Miller Finds
Floriaa
Grave of
First CSU Head
From northern Colorado to Edwards died at the home of a Florida is a long, long trail, even son, · Elmer E. Edwards, at La-for a newspaper reporter· on the Belle, Fla., on Nov. 10, 1915, and trail of a story. But James R. was buried at Ft. Myers. Miller, former reporter and man- Located from Record
aging editor of the Express-Cour- Following the • trail to Ft. My-ier, predecessor of the Colorado- ers, Mr. Miller consulted a mor-an, has reached trail's end and ticimor-an, who was able to locate is ready to write his story. the grave from old records of his
In a cemetery at Ft. Myers, mortuary. At LaBelle Mr. Miller Fla., Mr. Miller has fom1d the obtained an interview with Dr. unmarked grave ·of Dr. Elijah E. Edwards' daughter-in-law, Mrs. Edwards, the first president of Theresa R. Edwards, now aged Colorado Agricultural College, 92. She nursed the former presi-now Colorado State University. dent during the last two years of Dr. Edwards held the presidencyi his life at a hotel in LaBelle from 1879, · the year the college which ;he and her husband then
opened, until 1882. operated. ·
Writes Biography Mr. Miller hopes his biography
Mr. Miller who retired in 1957 of Dr. Edwards may be ready as secretary of the State Board ~or publication by the universit! of Agriculture, the university's m ~other year, ~d that publI-governing board, has for several cation ~ay arouse . mterest m an years been writing a biography appropriate markmg of t h of Dr. Edwards for the univer- grave, now marked only by -a h1-sity. Among his problems was biscus bush.
obtaining information about 1Dr.
-Edwards' career after he left here, his death and place of bur-ial.
The story of the Fort Collins man's successful quest was -re-ported in the Feb. 4 issue of the
Ft. Myers News-Press.
He visited a granddaughter of the educator, Mrs. Alice Edwards Stainton, at Kalamazoo, Mich. From her he learned that Dr
e
OVE THERE - Jim Mill.lr hns a scrapbook filled with memo-rabilia of hi,; role in World War One.
Ord
to Note Ve erans D
y
OY.
11
istice
M'Her e alls 19 Ar
I
I
Members of t:1e Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, and their auxiliaries will observe Veteran Day Nov. 11
with an evening program a,1d
supper in the lower level of the Veterans Club. The services will honnr all those who have served in the nation's armed forces.
Veterans Day, originally Ar-' mistice Day, was first established
in 1926 to commemorate the
gning in 1918 the armistice enqing the First World War. Tradition has it that the treaty was signed on the 11th hour of the 11th clay and on the 11th month of 1918.
One person who can remember that historic day is Jim Miller, Quiz taff writer. At the time t!ie .irmistice was signed the then Private First class Miller was with the American• .Ex-peditionary Forces Signal Corps. 'tation d at Ca:np ont,,lr, he
was in charce of receiving and disbur mg signal corps supplies. These Included cable, switch• board , phone poles, and other item thnt were unloaded at the port of Nazaire from ships and
routed to their proper destination . • iller and hi:; crew were work• ing In Saint Nazaire Nov. 11, 1918
when ships in the harbor started blowing their whistles. Mrime Jt,q
later the hooters and whistles of dockside machinery joined in the chorus. "We kne v there were ne{{oti tions between the
G~r-mnns and the Allies over a peace treaty, s we· had a hnnch W'l t these whistles meant", Miller rec lied.
T h e i r comm nding officer confirmed their s picion tt,at
10{ ,1. lt w , official, h~ said. 1'he.
armistice had b en signed and
the war w, !I O\'er. Miller nnd his
men were given the rest of the day off.
On nrriving in Saint Nazaire,
a tnwn of 40,000 hev witnc sed n
cen iller described as a near rmt. Band. were playing, liquor "'as flowin1:: freely, people were d m~ing in the str et. Along with t'1e laughter and fun there were t ~rs. According to Mill r, most homes had lo t 'a son or other rel t1ve m the fighting.
A few days fter the armistice
w signed the mood uf the French people in Nazaire, and other places changed. While
•
grateful to the allies for all they had done, they wanted them out of the country. They contended the soldiers forced up the price of most commodities. They wanted the Yanks (as the
Americans were called) to go
home
American troops had the sam objective. The only trouble was paper work and a lack of space on troop ships kept some soldiers in Europe for long periods. Some troops had to remain on duty to make sure armistice terms were observed by the defeated Ger•
W ii.., aw iTinlJ shipment back to America Miller was give. a tour of the m ny battle zones. The Army wanted the P' blic and the soldi rs tn know the scope
and operations of the A!Hed effort in the \ iller.'s t:!fC •hus job,
as a reparter for the Kearney fornin" Times may have in-fluencetl the Army's decision to include him m tt·,e tour.
Eventually Jim' papers went throug'1 the proper channels and he arrived home to resume hil career in journalism.
Jim and others like him who have served our country will be remembered Nov. 11 on Veter ns Day.
No High Sch ol
Classes Friday
According to Ord Hig. School Pdncipal Dave Var. Nordheim there will be no classes in either junior or sen-ior high schools because of the schools participation in the
state volleyball tournament in
Scott bluff.
Estab. April 1882.
Ord, Nebraska, Thursday, November
11, 1976
Volume
9 ,
o.
37
2 Section!\
Pubfishtd Weekly at 305 S. 16th St., Ord, Nebr. 68862. Sub&crlptlon Rates - $8.50 In Nebr., $9.00 Elsewhere. 2nd Class Postage Paid at Ord, Nebr. 25c Per Sngl, Cop•
f
t
ISaturday, November 20, 1976 Grand l_sland (Neb.) Daily Independent 15
It was a livi~g, an exercise and now it's
a
hobby for James Miller to put words on
paper
·
'
·
Writing
Keeps
Him
GOin·g
By BOB BERGGREN
-''Abruptly, only a few feet ahead of us, the "thing" appeared. Without warning, there-loomed a ghastly form, clad in a strange, misty shroud, beckoning me on, daring me, as it pointed the way along the ragged road which appeared to turn sharply behind the dilapidated wreckage of what had once been a granary."
That is an excerpt ·from a '~fanciful tale," as it is called by its author, James
R. Miller of Ord. It tells of a drive he and his wife took to an abandoned farm near Ord. It is entitled "The Wraith of the Valley," and was published in the Sep-tember 1976 issue of NEBRASKAland
i:nagazine. ..
It is one of many articles written by Miller, who received an honorary doctor of literature degree from · Colorado State University a year after he retired in 1957.
He also has written two books.
- His former occupation is a hobby now. He learned it working on newspapers, first as a reporter and later as managing editor of the Fort Collins Express-Courier in Fort Collins, Colo. · ·
"My thinking is more philosophical, and I have all the time in the world to work at it," he said, explaining the difference between then and now. ·
''You work harder, work longer hours, take more abuse and make less money on · a newspaper job than any job you can do,
and you'll still like it," he ·recalled. . Writing also is an exercise for Miller, like the walking he tries to do each day.
Staying Sharp
"When I exercise my mind, I think it keeps me alert," he said. "The advancing years can be very cruel to old people.-You begin to deteriorate physically and when that happens you deteriorate mentally." His wife, Bess, mentions that he is 85." "You don't have to keep reminding me," he laughs. "Nobody's supposed to live that long. I won't say how old she is, though. I'm gonna treat her with kind-ness."
"Well, I'm 84," she replies. His "fanciful tale" continues:
"It was then that I realized that we were about to be trapped against a barbed-wire fence which surrounded a crumbling pit silo. Quickly I turned the car away from the misty figure which continued to motton me on, shifted the gears into reverse and started backing out on the narrow trail by- which I had entered. At several points, the rear wheels of the car ran off the narrow road, and in my haste I was obliged to maneuver dangerously back into the track."
Miller said he gQt started writing when he won a national contest at 13. A · magazine offered a prize lo the child who
could write story to go with a picture it had published. Miller recalls wryly the prize was a $1 watch.
Two years later, he became a home town news correspondent for a daily newspaper in Bellingham, Wash., near where his family was living. He later
)
· GHOST WRITER - James R. Miller of Ord, who has been known to write a
ghos~ story or two, although be says he sticks to the facts, is shown at his typewriter. Writing is his hobby now, but he spent his life doing it, and was awarded an honorary doctor of literature degree from Colorado · State University• a year after be retired. (Photo by Bob Berggren)
wrote high school news for the Edgar Sun, when the family Il)oved back to Nebras1ca. He was born on his father's homestead near Moorefield in Frontier County, he said.
After graduation, he taught school for three years at Angus before attending what is now Kearney State College .. He was a reporter. and later editor of the school newspaper, The Antelope, from
1916-17. His wife, Bess, was editor the year after he left for the Army Signal Corps in World War I.
"All the kids were going," he said of the war to make the world safe for democracy. ''The enrollment at the school decreased very noticeably by the men dropping out of school."
Six weeks after he was ''voluntarily inducted," he was in France, he said.
''There was no fooling around in those days. They were shooting them awfully
fast."
-The war helped Miller decide to go back to journalism. He said he would have liked to study law if he had been able to afford it. Bul the grenade detonator cap which blew off part of his hand was one of · those things that happen to change people's plans. There was another. He got sick and spent three years in the hospital. The V-eterans Administration helped him get a trainee job on the Fort Collins EKpress-Courier, and after a year and a, half he became a full-time reporter, he said.
Challenge
"One of the things I liked was the challenge of the job," he said of newspaper work. "It's challenging work in this respect: You work. so hard for each issue of the paper and every afternoon when the deadline comes around you can check up on what you've done. _ ''You can see the results of your work. You can't do . that in every occupation. You'll ~e your accomplishments, , and you'll see your mistakes. · , ,
''On a daily newspaper, the mistakes are common in the rush of work. I've had
that experience many a time. There were times when I just dreaded to go back to work the next:-d.ay.'' ·
He worked for the paper from 1924-35.
He said newspapers were somewhat different in those days.
"1n my day as a reporter, the newspapers in towns and small cities were largely a matter of personal items."
He said he would go down to the station and meet trains and report who was going on
a
business trip to Denver."I'd write a sentence or two. It was news then," he said. Now, people don't know each other as well, and so are not as interested in personal items, he said.
After a ti.me as managing editor of the paper, Miller said he coald no longer advance unless he bought into the com-pany. He said he didn't hav~ the money for that, so when a job opened as editor of publications in the Colorado. State University (CSU) experiment station, he took it. Later, he became secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, the governing board of ihe university.
It was during this period that he wrote
his two books. "A House and a Gate" was the history of the First Christian Church.in Fort Collins. "Pioneer College President" was the story of the first president of CSU. He has a column in the Ord Quiz, which he writes now and then in his - leisure. He calls it "The Old Mill," and
some l>f its grindings include:
"At an art association meetmg in Lincoln, creators of son;ie of America's best-known comic book heroes are being featured. It hardly seems fair to keep picking at office seekers at this late date." He adds, "I've also tampered with verse." An example:
"The voice of the village is Quiz; Pursuing the news is its biz.
If weather is breezy, Or merely is sneezy,
The news makes the printer'~ ink fizz."
Miller says as far as writing fiction . goes, he hasn't done much, and "prefers to stick to the facts." His? ghost story ends like this:
"Once we were ' safely back upon the gravel road, I looked and saw again my pallid guide, this time standing . statuesquely in the front yard, leering at us and suddenly accompanied by what appeared in hazy outline to be several families of human beings - stern-faced men, work-worn women and unsmiling children, all in dismal, gray garb, and with the typical family dog lying nearby. "Silently, motionless, patiently they watched us, without apparent hostility but as though sadly without hope - those wierd images intuitively recognizable as ghosts of days long gone. Over the entire ' group hung a cloud of bluish vapor, a symbol of their faded dreams and shat-. tered hopes, of great ambitions not
achieved - all hedged by poverty, misfortun~ and misery . . . Mutely our hosts stood brooding, despairing. Worst of all; there was silence everywhere - a depressing, deathlike silence.
''Suddenly, from the rear of.-the group, emerged a leering, shadowy figure, the one who had tried to trap us at the deca}l,ing silo pit. As it neared, one hand was raised commandingly, as though indicating that we must not move."
Miller tells how he hit the accelerator then and sped for the highway. He says that when he looked back the nust had vanished and the sun was shining through
the clouds. ·
"In the distance, against a background of freshly plowed fields and greening hills, the first rays of a rainbow appeared.''
...
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'(his low price inclu~s 1000 free miles if you
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free mUes only $17.
We Feature
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v·our
BANKAMERICARD orMASTER CHARGE IS WELCOME"When It Comes to Service .•.• We Mean Bu~iness I"
.
'DON_·WI.LSON
MOTORS
411 West 2nd Street or Municipal AirportDial 382-4620
/
•~ :r . I
16 Grand Island (Neb.) Doily Independent Saturday, November 20, 1976
( ~)
Cross-country . skiing sweeping across the
U.S.
with _i.ts rapid
the Olympic: success of. Vermont's Bill Koch
/.
'
rise in popularity largely due to.
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Cr~ss-C~untry -Skiing POpular,
By Ward W. Smith
Christian Science Monitor _
(Copyright 1976)
Cross-country s'kiing is sweeping the U.S. It owes its rapid rise in popularity partly to the Olympic success of Ver-mont's Bill Koch, partly to its relatively ageless ap'peal, and surely to the intimate communion with the elements that it provides.
It is also a great bargain in winter
sports. A cross-country skier can ski
wherever there is snow, and lie can purchase his equipment for under $100, including skis, boots, bindings, and poles.
There is a lot to look for when selec-ting a cross-countr-¥ outfit. Here are some helpful hints jn choosing the correct equipment for your particular needs.
Most recreational skiers in the U.S. today use the light touring ski, . with a center width of around 50 millimeters. It is made of wood or fiberglass, with wax qptions available on both materials.
Wax-base skis require a good deal of care and work. The proper wax must be selected to suit the exact s' ow conditions and then applied, and perhaps even reapplied mid trail if it scratches off.
The aavantiige of the wax base 1s that it allows the skier to adjust to changing conditions and is aesthetically pleasing to the purist.
The waxless skis come in a choice of bases. The most common today is the fish scale base, which is a patterned plastic
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base allowing glide down hill and grip uphill. (In very wet snow conditions this base may in fact need light.waxing to keep · snow from sticking.)
The other option is a glued-on mohair or synthetic hair strip which also offers glide downhill and grip uphill.
. Do not make the mistake of thinking that only wood skis are waxable.
The advantage of fiberglass over wood is strength and durability. On rugged trails or in less than ·complete snow cover, fiberglass will get fewer scars from rocks and twigs than wood. Fiberglass skis are sold by some manufacturers with breakage guarantees.
The editors of Ski magazine in their 1977 "Guide to Cross Country Skiing" advise, "If you want traditional skis that are inexpensive and reliable then select wood. If
strength ·and minimum· care or top, high-speed performance are paramount then select fiberglass."
A purist, I pref er wood skis, despite
their need for a lot of attention - from base waxing ( a process of preparing the ski base before the season) to daily con-dition waxing and treatment of cuts and scars.
Do. ot .buY. a wq_Qd_§ki that doe~s not have lignostone edges (un1ess of course it's wood with a plastic fish scale base). Lignostone is a compressed beach wood material which offers greater resistance to the splintering and scratching that can destroy ordinary wooden edges.
Be sure your ski is the correct length.
It should be gauge_d to your height, for proper strength and support.
Boston's Wilderness House still subscribes to the wrist-high test ior ski length. Select a ski that reaches from. the floor to the top of your wrist when your arm is fully extended over yQur head. (If
you are lighter than average, drop five centimeters, if heaver, add 5.)
Also check the camber - the amount of flex to the ski at the center point. When standing in the center of the ski, you should be able to just slide a piece of paper under the center.
Dealers at Eastern Mountain Sports, one of the largest ski sellers in the East, ask their customers to squeeze the two skis together at the center with one hand.
If they can just C'O:rp.press the two bases, the camber is correct.
Now that you have your skis; you will still need boots. The single most important thing to look for in a boot is comfort. Be sure to wear the boot around the ski shop before taking it
home, and then around the house before taking to the trail. Get the feel and be sure it is comfortable.
Leather boots are, of course, recommended. Leat · warmer -and more durable than man-made substitutes.
It requires regular care and frequent waterproofing but will pay off in comfort and wear.
In- choosing a boot,-insist on a pliable upper (with or without insulation) and a welt sole that is flexible when you bend
CB
.Skip Sign·~ls Sav~ng Liv~s
By INK DIPPER
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Ink Dipper (KYZ-3916) is the handle of the editor of The CB Times-Journal.)
CBers are saving the lives of people hundreds of miles away, thanks to "skip," a phenomenon caused when radio signals bounce off the earth's atmosphere.
The Federal Communications Commission has a regulation prohibiting CBers from talking to anyone more than 150 miles awaf. But it has taken no action against people involved in these long-distance rescues.
Skip fluctuates during the year, usually pe-aking in the summer months whm the atmosphere picks up extra energy and becomes reflective.
But skip can also be caused by sun-spots, eruptions on the sun's surface which grow more intense every 11 years. The sunspots shoot out extra ultraviolet rays, charging the atmosphere with more energy and making _it reflective.
Sunspot activity is just around the corner. The high activity, which will last three to five years, starts in 1978 .and will probably peak in the early 1980s.
More people in trouble will be relyihg on skip to contact emergency aid.
One of the most dramatic skip-related rescues came recently when a group of . North Carolina CBers monitored a distress call from,a sinking pleasure boat in the Bahamas.
The boat, with four persons aboard, was going down fast when Jocelyn "White Widow" Goodwin picked up the call. She
and other CBers, sometimes straining to understand the weak signal, were able to relay the information, via telephone, to the U.S. Coast Guard. The C')at Guard was able to save all aboard the boat.
Skip signals of ten crowd out local communications, and some CBers will find themselves unable in
emergen-cies to contact nearby CBers. They will be forc,ed to "shoot skip," as it is called by CBers, and make contact
with a distant person who can relay
the message to the proper authorities. A CBer, before he sw.mts skip in an emergency, should ask himself if the end justifies the means. Is the situation dire enough to justify breaking the law and&· bothering people hundreds of miles away?
A flat tire on the interstate wouldn't qualify, but an ·automobile wreck - with injuries - would if there was no other way to send for . help.
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CBers shooting skip in emergencies should forget everything they know about IO-codes and slang expressions. Both vary from state-to-state and even county-to-county, so a person six states away might use different codes and slang.
Skip signals are fickle, so messages should be short and clear, giving the nature of the emergency, location, extent of any injuries and who to telephone for help.
The polict in the near~st town are usually the best people to suggest for sending help. Even though the emergency may be out of their jurisdiction, the police would know to whom the message should be routed.
Like any-other call for help, a skip call should be made on channel nine, -the emergency channel. If no one can be raised on channel nine, other frequencies might be tried, but with frequent rotation back to nine. People trained in handling emergency calls monitor channel nine from Maine to California, so no matter· where a skip signal falls, there's a better chance on channel nine of finding someone who knows what he· or she is doing.
Skip should always be a last resort. Try to contact someone locally so the message can be relayed by a person familiar with the geography and who to call in emergencies.
Constantly punching away on skip might break through to a local CBer, and no matter how weak his signal is, he's still a better bet than skip.
forward, but stiff enough to resist lateral twist, a problem which could prove dangerous on the trail. .
Two other things to consider in buying boots: a sewn-in tongue ( sewn to both sides of the boot shell) provides extra insulation against water seepage; a fur or fleece lining may be warmer, but it takes longer to dry out and tends to retain foot odor.
The most common cros's-country binding for light touring is the three-pin binding. It has three vertically raised pins which insert into holes in the toe welt of the ski boot and then clamps down over the welt, holding the boot firmly to the ski.
An important option with your binding is heel plates whiclJ don't restrict free lift of the heel but will prevent it from sliding laterally off the ski surface.
'(he final component to look for is the pole, available usually in aluminum or bamboo. Aluminum will outlast bamboo, although the latter is still popular witn. purists.
You cannot use downhill poles for cross-country skiing. They are far too short. Your cq;,ss-country poles should reach {rom the floor to the armpit. This length allows for the easiest use of the
poles for propulsion.
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