Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 21

Highlights of Next Week on TV-See Section This Is Section medcay Magazine On the Inside 'Reporter at Largs' See Page 5 SUNDAY, JANUARY 4, 1959 I TO VISIT U.S. Mikoyan Wily Outb 9 ar gains The Experts Red Envoy Sure-Footed olDokiog I raps Watch BY THOMAS P. WHITNEY Associated PrtM Toreijn Nw Anlyt Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan who visits the United States this week is' a tough, cynical horse-trader of a man. The last of Stalin' drinking buddies itill in power in Russia, he has to be. Wily and clever as he is, the deputy Soviet premier remains affable.

Back in 1946, he told a group of U. S. congressmen touring Moscow: "One of the Items, however, which we do not intend to export to America is revolution." The chuckles that greeted the wipe-crack were not so much a tribute to its humor as a polite sign of appreciation that at least one Russian official was trying to be pleasant. This was a bold step in the days of Joseph Stalin in a country where there was nothing to smile about -mi I I I I If 4: II tui in mil in in wi iiirinira inntmnr unin City With Will New Surround You Traffic Signals He Is Tough And Cynical BY BRIAN WILLIAMS Ttrr Prr Staff Writer DETROIT'S traffic experts have been busy setting up a new kind of traffic signal some of their victims call them "pedestrian traps" and they intend to call public attention to them when the job is done. But meanwhile tickets are being written for violators.

By the time the New Year is middle aged these "Don't Walk" signals are going to be snapping at you from all directions, particularly in the downtown Loop. Last year more than 20,000 of you the police guess walked into the first few and discovered that there's a new deal for walkers: That legal walking against a red traffic signal can become illegal against an orange one. By June practically every corner in the loop section devoted to "walk-wait" signals which spelled out the penalties for walking when you should be waitirg. I7p to that time, walk-wait signal had bfn ud in place of red and green jenes which were removed so motorists would't jret con-fuvd and go up wrong-way streets. The "walk-wait" Idea up to then was just to give the walker an idea of what the auto traffic was being told to do by red and green lights not visible to him.

amber because that's only a warning clor." they said. a Portland's Orange SO A MAN out in Portland, said "We use orange because it's neither red nor amber but has an authoritative 'stop1 look to it," And experts across rh country agreed to use Portland Orange for the Ton't-Walk" part of the signals. Then a man from the State up in Lansing- said: "I thir.k Michigan cities all should use a light blue color fnr the "Walk' part of the sign. "We'll it Heavenly Blue." DETROIT experts were dubious. Well, it almost looks like traffic light green but we'll give it a try on Michigan and on Fort.

However, for the most of our signst we're going to lis Snow White." So they did. The experts decided to let pedestrians have their owa crossing time periods, too. "We'll set each Walk' signal flashing soon enough so that a tired shopper with sore feet can cross the street before cars are due to start. "Since we're starting to install these new signals in the neighborhood shopping areas first, we'll tell those folks about them first," the experts reasoned. The law Detroit's 1946 Pedestrian Ordinance laid out the basis for yw getting pinched if you're not careful.

Walker Confucd THEN IT was quietly expanded in 1952 and the sigr.a of jeopardy started sprouting like Topsy. Thee signs confuse De-troiters accustomed to walking against red lights If they don't endanger their lives or tie op traffic They're even confusing the traffic experts. They believe the idea of pedestrian signals is a good one. Although they don't agree on what the signals should look like or even what color they should be. THE PEDESTRIAN ordinance in 1952 already had a will studded with pedev trian signals.

Their installation hasn't been publicized. But according to the law they're legal. And it could cost 3-ou at least $2 and a lot of inconvenience if you're caught THEY'RE sort of sneaky. The law says that when pedestrian signals start flashing orange you may not leave the curb. If you.

don't endanger yourself or others, youH get no ticket for walking against a red light, but the new signs mean "Don't You Dare Walk" when they say "Don't Walk." Tollcemen can a do-pounce at you If you're not attentive to the flashing orange. Mikoyan 1915 and like Stalin entered the revolutionary movement instead of the church. THE SECOND part of the autobiography would cover the years as a revolutionary from 1915 until 1926. This was the period during which his nose was broken in street fighting. This was when he got his start In the party apparatus a chief of party organizations ucceslvely in Baku, in Nizhny Novgorod, southeast Russia and the North Caucasus.

ThU was when he became a leading figure in Stalin's political machine. In 1926 he was called to Moscow. From then until 1953 is the third part of the biography. All those years be was supervising or running foreign trade, Internal trade and the consumer sector of the economy in general, but not including agriculture. THE TOWN CRIER He Lives Fourth Role Our Boosters Work In L.A.

Little Warning IN 1952 THE state decided that all auto traffic signals should be put overhead the center of intersections. At the same time the experts decided to put in "Walk-Don't Walk" signs on the corner posts. The decision was made with little public announcement. Detroit's Pedestrian Protection Law had a few words inserted in it, very significant words, however. They spelled out the fact that "Don't Walk" was to mean exactly that.

A QUIET revolution in walking habits was in the making. As quickly as the corner signals were hoisted overhead the new neon "Walk- Don't Walk" signals were stuck up on corners-Some ef the experts said the neon lights weren't different enougrh because they looked like advertising signs to pedestrians and like stop-and-go signals to nearsighted drivers. "Hummmmm," said the experts, "let's change the colors for the pedestrian lights." They also decided to use light bulbs behind colored lenses instead of neon signs. They made the rectangle more square. "We can't use traffic light I WAS THERE as a translator.

Mikoyan, a dapper little Armenian, sat behind hia broad desk in hia ornate office in the old Ministry of Foreign Trade Building across Dzerzbinsky Square from the dread police headquarters the infamous Lubyanka. His mannerisms told much about him. He was quick and deft in his movements. There was an air of great nervous energy about him. He seemed to have a great deal of self-confidence.

He answered questions quickly and sometimes retorted sharply. He seemed to understand quite bit of English. There much tn said about Anastas Mikoyan, but some charav-teristies stand out with particular vividness. He is tough. At the age of 20 he joined the Bolshevik underground in his native Trans-Caucasus.

This was in 1915. He was sent to rough-and-tumble Baku, oil capital on the Caspian Sea where he helped organize strikes, fought on the barricades during revolution and civil war. He Left U.S. With Ideas HE IS A cynic. He grew up and was educated in Georgia where there is contempt and hostility for Armenians.

An intimate for years fo Joseph Stalin, he watched while Stalin killed off friends and enemies, and at the last, just before Stalin's death, felt the cold breath of fate on his own neck. He is a hard bargainer. On occasion he has skinned the shirts off Western businessmen who fancied themselves the best horsetraders in the world. He is adroit. The fact that today he is alive and in a position of influence and power bears witness to his skill st political and physical survival.

Alone among: Stalin's cronies and drinking companions, he plays a vital role In Soviet policy formation today. Mikoyan is the only important Soviet leader to have visited the United States. He. came in August, 1936, and when he returned to the Soviet Union he declared: "We can learn much from America and for a long time to come." AMONG SPECIFIC things Mikoyan took back with him was the technique of freezing foods. Russia started its frozen foods industry with American help.

Meat packing techniques were imported by the Mikoyan meat packing factory in Moscow. If he would, Mikoyan could write one of the 20th century's most fascinating autobiographies. The first part of it would cover his life from his birth in 1895 in the family of an Armenian carpenter in the village of Sanain, not far from Tiflis, the eapital of Georgia and not far from Armenia itself. His family was large. It is said there were IS children.

Young Anastas was designated for the priesthood which at that time was viewed as a career through which a young man could advance himself and his family. He entered the seminary of the Armenian church in Tiflis. Another divinity student of Tiflis, from a different seminary, Joseph Stalin, was already hard at work in the revolutionary movement of the troubled Trans-Caucasus. Anastas graduated from his seminary in BY MARK BELTAIRE INSURANCE Man Fred Kross annually sends out 600 calendars to friends, customers and prospects. In each wall calendar he inserts a plastic pocket calendar with his name and address on it.

Shortly after he dispatched them Publicity Withheld "WE'LL WAIT until we get all the signals changed downtown before we really let loose with a major pub; licity blast," they said. "Nevertheless," the thinking continued, "we'll tell the Police to enforce the law strictly. After all it's been on the books since 1952." AND AS a spokesman for Detroit's streets and traffie departments put it: "Maybe therell be some surprised folks but well able to do a better job of 'education by waiting; 'til we get all the lights And that's exactly what's been happening the last few months. JUDGE Y. Mr KAY Skillman reports an editorial page scrap going on in the letters to the editor columns of a Los Angeles paper.

Apparently a lot of readers are taking off on the state of Michigan but we are not without defenders. One anonymous reader wrote: "I would like to take this opportunity to answer a few of your readers who apparently are very prejudiced in their opinions. "I am referring to the readers who violently, verbally attacked the state of Michigan and the people from that state. "I have been in California long enough to enjoy such rareties The beautiful smog, which ruins our health; the suicide traps known as last year, 'he received a frantic call from the printing company asking him to hold up the calendars. THERE WERE the daily sessions with Stalin over a drink, with both these non-Russians the Georgian and the Armenian no doubt making- sarcastic jokes about the Russians they were ruling.

Later there were purges which Mikoyan escaped while his most intimate friends perished. At the end in 195.T there was the time when Mikoyan saw the end approaching for himself. And then came Stalin's death. The years nine Stalin's death In 1953 are the fourth and not-yet-concluded part of the life of Anastas Mikoyan. The first big crisis came In June, 1957, when a large majority of the party's presidium was aligned against Nikita Khrushchev.

But Mikoyan, who had picked Stalin as the winner in the early '20s, bet on Khrushchev and helped him win the day. Now he is a first deputy premier. It is a queer combination, the pudgy Russian peasant Nikita Khrushchev and the Armenian carpenter's son, Mikoyan, but though these two have no superficial resemblance at all they have things in common: Both are clever men, both are adroit at intrigue, both are determined and absolutely ruthless. NIKITA Khrushchev more than ever before needs help. And it's natural that he calls on the skillful little Armenian who is proud of being an Armenian and of the trading reputation of his people.

Khrushchev has used Mikoyan lately more and more frequently as his trouble-shooter in foreign affairs. It has been Mikoyan whom Khrushchev has assigned repeatedly to try to smooth things out with President Tito. Mikoyan was sent to West Germany in 1958 to eplore that situation. He has been In Pakistan, Belgium, Austria and other foreign countries. And now he Is coming to the United States.

This is perhaps the most important mission he has ever had. The career of Anastas Mikoyan, one of the most sure-footed politicians of the Communist world, marches on. A grave error had been discovered in the pocket editions June, 1959, was given 31 days instead of EDITOR KNIGHT LOOKS AT 1959 freeways; the gentle rains in January which force people to leave their homes or drown. Need I go further "I am going to gladly accept the advice of Lola Wiedoeft and hop on the first 1 the customary 30. Now most of Kross' friends are saving the calendars as collectors' items.

Where Fog Is Fog MAXDAS WILLIAM Myers, a transplanted Westerner now living in Michigan, pooh poohs our recent fog. He claims much bigger and heavier fogs in Seattle and Tacoma which are known as Oregon mists. They missed Oregon. AD MAKES some forecasts on economics and the Cold War. BUT SHOWS how the economy has changed so old yardsticks no longer measure three feet.

See Page 4 jet plane to Michigan where I can enjoy the beautiful change of seasons, the beautiful fresh water of the Great Lakes, a genuine attitude of friendliness toward all, and most of all, some fresh, clean air to remove the lovely smog out of my lungs. "Michigan, her I come!" i.