The Daily Times-News from Burlington, North Carolina • Page 4

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New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Seattle And he said to them, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from --Luke 13:32, 33. Progress is the activity of today and the assurance of tomorrow. Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist. 4A THURSDAY AFTERNOON, JULY 13, 1972 The Ambulance Issue One of the well remembered responses of the late Dean Acheson can be considered as county commissioners now make their official decision on how they will handle the ambulance issue.

President Lyndon Johnson contacted the former secretary of state for some advice when India and Pakistan were about to enter into one of their numerous border conflicts. "What should we, the United States, do about it?" the President asked Mr. Acheson, then a private citizen. "Let me think about it a while," Mr. Acheson replied.

When he had thought about it, he telephoned the President. "Mr. President," he asked, "have you thought about doing nothing about it?" The end to this particular story is that the United States Government dad not get involved and the threatened outbreak did not occur. Doing nothing proved to be the right thing. have tried several in solving the ambulance problem, and the com- mission they appointed has given much effort in its studies and recommendations.

Subsidies also have drawn considerable concern from many taxpayers, as they should. Therefore, the proper approach might be for commissioners not to do anything now that would tie them closer to operating two separate ambulance services and, in turn, having the conflict of the past continue into the future. The only responsibility which commissioners must meet is to make certain that the county, through some method, has an emergency ambulance service. The public must be protected. Beyond that point, the two services now functioning are at liberty to operate as independent enterprises, and they will be able to show to themselves and the public what they can do.

There is every likelihood that they, in turn, will be able to do the job better on their own than by a collection of regulations from commissioners. Turning them loose on their own is worthy of a try. Now, About Those It is possible that our hangup comes because we don't fully appreciate the game of chess and those who play it. Like Bobby Fischer. It never dawned on us, for example, that in sitting down to play there could be a decided disadvantage unless "minor details" were previously handled.

We didn't know that the thickness of drapes in a playing area made a difference, or that a rood's temperature and things like that really mattered. Concentration is supposed to be a part of the game, and such "minor details" as drapes, it would seem, were secondary to the main event itself. Yet, Bobby Fischer has set the stage for some change in chess thinking patterns. He represents the championship level of a sport which is not a national pastime, but he is playing center stage for all it will stand. In the weeks which have passed, there have been delays, debates on money, and all those "minor From New York Times Through it all he certainly doesn't seem to be the kind of guy who would be a joy to have around.

There have been some -other people, however, who have shown the patience of good chess players and are to be admired. They have shown remarkable restraint as they also have kept the world championship match in Iceland from being cancelled. These are some unsung heroes whom we applaud. In the meantime, we now suffer as the games proceed for fear that we won't fully appreciate the depth of the sport which Fischer has imparted to us through his careful analysis of the setting. A possibility exists, of course, that there will come a better understanding on what a champion in chess is supposed to be like.

Yet, it's going to be hard to rise up and give Fischer a salute and resounding applause if he wins the championship. After all, that will be noise, and that may upset him. The Harmless Dragons We call them dragonflies and horse-stingers and snake-feeder. 1 and devil's darning needles, and thus do an injustice to some of the most skillful and harmless of all flying insects. The dragonfly neither stings nor consorts with serpents, and it has no mission from the devil to sew up the lips of children who tell lies.

The dragonfly, of course, is nof even remotely akin to any dragon that ever lived. It is an insect of ancient origins, adept in flight, remarkable for its vision, snd sustained by a fare of gnats and other small insects. II does have a fierce look, and its persistent curiosity invites suspicion. It hovers in front of the fisherman or sits on his rod and watches i and il is not difficult, to imagine that such a creature could sling hordes to death, could feed serpents, could punish wrongdoers. looks like a holdover from an age of malevolent dragons.

It is a holdover, true from a distant past. Fossil dragonflies 35 million years old have been found. They prove that the dragonfly long ago achieved its present form, though it has shrunken over the intervening eons. There once were dragonflies with a two-foot wingspan. Today's largest are seldom more than seven or eight inches from wmgtip to tip.

But otherwise the ages seem to have changed them little- They probably flew over ancient streams and mucky lowlands as they fly today, bu.sy as bees and twice as curious Here they arc now. in midsummer, glittering over the lowlands, inviting at- i reviving old superstitions. But thc a are harmless dragon.s, no more menacing than butterflies, for all their glinting, metallic sheen and evil look. Washington Merry-Go-Round A Refund From McGovern? By Jack Anderson MIAMI BEACH Sen. George McGovern would like to finance the presidential campaign without getting obligated to the big contributors.

He. therefore, is considering the possibility of refunding all political contributions over $1,000 at the end of the campaign. The idea was suggasted by his zealous campaign treasurer, Henry Kimelman, who promised to seek out enough $1,000 contributions to make the wholesale refund possible. McGovern is enthusiastic about the idea, but he is also eager to avoid running up a huge debt. He has managed to get through the presidential primaries, which have cost him a cool $6 million, without going into the red.

He is withholding his approval of the refund idea, tneiefoie, until he is convinced it's feasible. Footnote: In an effort to hold down convention costs to 8155,000, McGovern's financial managers cut off room service for all campaign workers. An order for tea and soup, therefore, was routinely rejected. An exception was made, however, when the hungry man identified himself. He was George McGovern.

Plain Talk Connecticut's politically astute Sen. Abe Ribicoff has advised Sen. McGovern bluntly to stop listening to the hifalutin' theories of his economic advisers. As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, Ribicoif has economic credentials of his own. He also sits on McGovern's tight little board of top advisers.

He urged McGovern to translate his economic ideas into plain talk that the voters can understand. In private memos and conversations, Ribicoff contended that most Americans would welcome the simplified, restructured tax system that McGovern advocates--if they could only understand what he's talking about. Ribicoff invited McGovern to read Fletcher Knebel's novel, "The Dark The dark horse candidate in the novel, suggested Ribicoff, was saying the same things as McGovern but saying them better. Slip of Hand Through a comedy of errors, Parting Shots MIAMI BEACH, (NANA) -Gov. Reubin Askew of Florida was the keynote speaker at the Democratic convention.

That's a dangerous assignment. A punk speech leads to political oblivion, a good one can get a man sentenced to the vice presidency. All conventions should be held beside a large body of water. It is reassuring to look out at the great expanse of the Atlanlic Ocean and realize that it could not. care less what happens in the hotel lobbies.

There was a time when nobody knew a a parliamentarian was. This convention is the first whore you hear more complaints about parliamentary rules than about room service. the Democratic Party went on record at first with a flagrantly anti-consumer plank borrowed from the conservative wing of the Republican Party. The plank opposed setting up an agency to intervene in behalf of citizens against federal agen- cies, which is regarded as one of the most important consumer mea-sures in Congress. Here's what happened: During the final marathon session of the Democratic Platform Committee before the convention opened at Miami Beach, North Carolina's persuasive Dave McCormell sought to amend the consumer plank.

He contended that the plank would lead to interagency squabbling. He recommended, therefore, that the new consumer agency be restricted by two little words, "armcus cunae." This would limit the agency's authority merely to an advisory role as a "friend of the court." It was midnight, and the committee members were exhausted. But Rep. Bel a Abzug, and young Jim Rosa- pepe, a Virginia delegate, recognized that McConnell's seemingly innocent little words would completely gut the measure. They raised furious objections, and McConnell withdrew his amendment.

But weary Phil Zeidman, the executive secretary, underlined instead of hn- ing out the words "armcus on his work sheet Tne goof was missed by the typists, copyreaders, policy checkers, proof readers and printers. Thus, the formally printed Democratic platform, amazingly, endorsed the conservative Republican view. Zeidman had no idea of the blunder until we asked him why the Democrats had suddenly re- versed their position in Congress and come out against the consumers. Ziedman painstakingly went over the transcripts of the proceedings and discovered that his wavering hand had almost sabotaged the Democratic consumer position. The platform error then was immediately corrected.

Convention Capers Yippie Plans Yippie leaders Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin are planning to give the Republicans a hot reception at their convention in August. For the benefit of electronic snooping devices, the chief Yippies met with their unpredictable lieutenants at their gaudily-post- ered headquarters in Miami Beach and discussed elaborate plans for the GOP convention. Then the plotters slipped outside and drew up a secret new schedule of events. Their aim: to turn Miami Beach into a yipping, cavorting carnival when the sober-sided Republicans come to town in August. Humphrey's Friend With a five-year jail term hanging over his head, mine workers' boss Tony Boyle must be longing for some support from his old friend Hubert Humphrey.

Just four years ago, Humphrey stood hand-in-hand with Boyle on the platform of the mine workers' convention and told the delegates that Boyle had given him Hie idea to run for President. enthused Humphrey, ''the one and only Tony Boyle, it's good to be with you. .1 am mighty glad to rub shoulders with this fellow Tony Boyle. He has been giving me advice and counsel for a long time." Beside advice and counsel, Boyle ailso gave Humphrey's campaign $30,000, which a federal jury decided had been taken illegally from the union treasury. Democrats Building Stronger Foundation By JAMES J.

KILPATR1CK MIAMI BEACH One uncomfortable thought uncomfortable from a conservative point of view rises hazily from the steambaths of liberalism here in Miami Beach: The Republicans, bless i itself, and this is not a fight that lends itself to deep public concern. What I am suggesting is that this notion of "fatal disarray" is spurious. The Democrats, possessed of a ravenous appetite to recapture the White House, 1 -') 1, 1 1 Whiggish hearts, had better get ay squall for a time like petul- ent children; but in the end, on the ball. That hortatory observation is offered free of charge, and without regard to the Democratic ticket for 1972. As this is written, the universal assumption is that the nominee will be George McGovern, and that the convention will provide him an ideologically compatabile running mate.

Several other assumptions have been universally bandied about all week. Some of them have much validity; others have little or none. Let me sort a few of them out. There is, first off, the prediction that the Democratic party will drag itself from Florida in a state of "fatal disarray." Republicans will buy this happy thought at their peril. The Madisonian era of good feeling ended nearly 150 years ago; the Democrats have been in fatal disarray ever since.

Factions within the party fought over tariff; they fought over nullification; they fought over slavery; they fought over silver and gold; they fought over Prohibition; 20 years ago they almost disemboweled themselves on issues of civil rights. The party history, in brief, is not a history of unity, but a history of disunity. Democrats have fallen upon one another with shillelaghs, knives and bung starters. They have fought like so many alley cats in quest of a mackerel prize, and ordinarily they have fought on gut issues where wounds ate deep and slow in healing. My thought, this time, is that the quarrel is more over form than substance.

No gut issue appears. There is. busing, of course, on which the embattled factions are indeed passionately at odds, but other disputes are mostly matters of degree -how much for welfare, how much for defense, where to shift taxes. The big fight is over control of the party structure come November, they will ea: their nasty okra before they go to bed hungry. A second assumption is that the Democratic party, through its various reforms, is undergoing a significant overhaul and reassembly.

The assumptioa is quite valid. A great deal has been written about the differences that mark this convention the sharply increased representation given to women to the young, to minority groups. It is strikingly true. You nave to see some of these delegates to believe them. Within the party, the shift of power is dramatic, and this broadened base provides a new foundation for the support of new political machinery.

It is not yet possible to predict how well this new machinery will work in terms of winning elections. One production goal, obviously, is to mobilize a black vote. As various studies make it clear, Negro America offers a tremendous political potential- Thirteen states have more than half a million blacks of voting age. In 19 states that Humphrey lost in 1968, a fully activated black vote could have reversed the returns. Another production goal envisions the enrollment as card carrying Democrats of 15 million young key states their impact also could be decisive.

Republicans need to think upon these things. The putative black vote is not monolithic- A large black middle class, is repelled by black radicajs Neither is the youth vote automatically to be assigned to. a Democratic future. But if Republicans fail to respond with energy and appeal and ideas to the ferment of this born again Democratic party, they could be badly surprised in November and not merely this November. In other Novenibers to come.

erf the Democratic Convention "Louisiana votes--23 ham and cheese--3 egg peanut butter and jelly!" Convention Attendance Is Maintained Local Lions If a percentage of membership from every Lions club participated in international conventions as has been represented through the Burlington club over past years, there would be a problem finding a convention site. From the time the club was formed in the early 1940s, local Lions always have been highly conscious of their regional, national and international tics. Six members of the club here, (their wives and a few other guests, all are back now from this year's international convention in Mexico City. Members representing the local club were the new president, Harry Rogers, R. Byrd, John Xanfhos, J.B.

Lee, Haj-es Brooks, and Dewey Parrish. All were not together all the time as a group, with some of them going earlier on sight seeing and others taking time after the convention to vacation on their nay back home. The convention opened June 28 and ran for four days. Several within the same group have known other international conventions in the past as they were held in Paris, Tokyo, and at other locations in this country. The Lions Club here represents a strong feeling within its membership for each other, something which has shown itself on numerous occasions for a long time.

Not only do members serve the club in a civic responsibility, but they have a good time together with it and also build strong friendships that stretch over the years. A. C. Snow And His Writing News Editor A.C. Snow of the Raleigh Times, one of the writers in North Carolina ncwspapering, still maintains ties i this area, though he has been gone for several years.

Here reccnlly for a visit with Mrs. Donald E. Robinson, in whose home ho lived while he worked on Hie Daily Times-News, he sas a he'll continue writing his column and handling other special assignments for the Times. His experience and newspapering know-how certainly would place him in an level, but this would reduce the Thie Editor's Desk time he could write. Therefore, he carries on his executive' responsibilities as he also gathers those many human items which go into his column, something which is widely read and appreciated in the newspaper's circulation area.

A.C. also conducts one journalism class at North Carolina State University during the academic year. He has a deep feeling for friends, and that, of course, is a part of his success as he relates it as an individual and in his work. Errors Can Make A Difference From Editor and Publisher, these items can show how wrong letter or word can cause its trouble in print: In desperation, he turned to was produced to fit the meat Philadelphia Inquirer. a baker for help.

A bum and the hot dog was born. HEADLINE: Indians get $1 for each hunter and fisherman Minneapolis Star. Senators Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota and Edmund S. Muskie of Maine, who have declined to throw their support to Mr.

McGovern despite their swindling prospects for the Presidential York Times. "About as long as if takes a pitcher to get wormed up," he said. Minneapolis Tribune. Kay, fall with hair down past his shoulders and wearing- dark prescription glasses to correct his near-sighted violin, has always been one of the most outspoken people in the rock community. Pawtucket (R.I.) Times.

NEWSPAPEliflRCHIVi.