Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 136

SSmSFSCIl AUGUST 16,1981 by Irving Wallace, David Wallechinsky, and Amy Wallace Nation Without Guns Hi fighting swords, they went into combat The gun, however, destroyed the noble rituals of battle; the machinery out-shined the man. As Noel Perrin writes in his book Giving Up the Gun: "It was a shock to everyone to find out that a In these days of controversy over handguns, it may be surprising to learn that one technologically advanced nation voluntarily gave up guns for more than 200 years. That nation was Japan. When primitive guns were first introduced to Japan in 1543, master craftsmen immediately improved upon the weapon. Soon Japan had better and more guns than any country in Europe.

Why then did Japan reject the gun and turn back to the sword? The reason was a cultural one. farmer with a gun could kill the toughest samurai so readily. Abandoning the gun was a slow pro cess. There was some confiscation, but Japanese rulers reduced the number of guns mainly by restricting manufacture of the weapon. The last major i 4 Before guns, battles were Filled I with pomp and ceremony.

As tpr fpiirinl InrHc untrhpH 7 utmic ui iiiai pciiuu using guns occurred in 1637. In 1853, the "civilized" West came to Japan in the form of Mat champion warriors (samu thew Perry of the U.S. Navy. rai) from opposing sides stepped forward, intro He opened trade with the isola tionist country and convinced duced themselves and boasted of their past its leaders to modernize heroic feats. Then.us- their defenses namely, The Highest numbered Street in the UJ5.

ing magnificent to bring back the gun. First Streets, Second Streets and even Ninth Streets are common in the United States, but in the entire country there is only one 704th Street. You might 'Jim Wt-MGEi Kjf' H0jS2ii illi i Iter KJi think that it would take a big city to have a 704th Street, a city with at least 703 other streets. But, no. The American jPEEHIE Sep 'I' city with the highest-numbered street is Orangetown, N.Y., which has a popula tion of 42,000.

EOS During World War II, 704th Street was part of Camp Shanks, which housed GIs on their way to Europe. After the war, Shanks saw service as a veterans' lu 3 mn hpusing community and as student housing for Columbia University. Bit by bit, the old barracks gave way to new development until all that remained of Camp Shanks was 704th Street. Samurai in battle dress, before firearms put end to pomp in Japanese warfare In 1981 some builders started a move ment to give the street a less urban and more commercially appealing name, but the residents of 704th Street (all four of them) successfully petitioned the town board of Orangetown to retain the original name. The Other Jonah struck, the whale twisted and lashed out with its fanning tail.

The tail slammed into one rowboat, lifted it into the air and capsized it. But the sailors soon subdued and killed the wounded mammal. When the rowboat was righted, Bartley and another crewman were missing and written off as drowned. The crew pulled the carcass of the whale alongside Star of the East and worked until midnight removing the blubber. The next morning, using a derrick, the sailors hoisted the whale's stomach on deck.

According to M. de Parville, science editor of the Journal des Debats, who investigated the incident, there was then a movement in the whale's belly. When it was opened, Bartley was found unconscious. He was carried on deck and The biblical story of Jonah being swallowed by a whale just an ancient fish story? Don't be too sure. As recently as 90 years ago, a human being was swallowed by a whale and lived.

In February 1891, a-young English sailor named James Hartley was a crew member on the whaling ship Star of the East, which ranged the waters off the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, searching for marine leviathans. Suddenly, three miles out, the sailors spotted a sperm whale that later proved to be 80 feet long and weigh 80 tons. Two boats with crew members and harpooners one of them Bartley were dispatched to kill the whale. As they closed in, one harpooner catapulted his eight-foot spear toward the sea beast. The instant it bathed in sea water.

This revived him, but his mind was not clear and he was confined to the captain's quarters for two weeks, behaving like a lunatic. Within four weeks, Bartley had fully recovered and related what it had been like to live in the belly of a whale. He remembered the whale's tail hitting his boat. Then, reported de Parville, Bartley was encompassed in darkness and felt himself slipping along a smooth passage. His hands felt something slimy all around him.

The heat was unbearable-it was thought to be 104 and he lost consciousness. When he awoke, he was in the captain's cabin. For the rest of his life, Bartley's face, neck and hands remained white, bleached by the whale's gastric juices. INVITATION TO OUR READERS Do you know an unusual fact that might fit into "Signihca'7 If you do, please send it to us with the exact source of your information. If we don't already have it and if we print it, we will send you $50.

We look forward to reading any other comments you might have. However, because of the volume of mail, we cannot reply to your letters. But thank you one and all. Write: Signihca, Parade. 750 Third Avenue.

New York. NY. 10017. mi. living Vtoftx.

David Mtzfoctouty Amy HWkjc IS PARADE AUGUST 16. 1981.