Zine, , Londo n bus riders have similar complaints. By DAVE MICHAELSON B.C. Electric would | like this ‘perfect bus’ Tas satirical comment on - the London Transport, which has raised fares four times in the past four years, appeared in the London Daily Worker. Apart from’ the fact that London buses are two-deckers (which ne- cessttates the retention of conductors) and that Lon- don Transport uses the zonal fare system (some- thing the B.C. Electric is trying to get around to), any resemblances to the B.C. Electric is more than .co- incidental. Renee that London Trans- port has worked out the details of a new, larger bus, I seemed to see the Ideal Bus being demonstrated at the 1955 motor show: And here, gentlemen, we have what I think can be ac- ‘curately described as the Per- fect Bus, 96 feet long and 54 feet wide, it has three decks with a continuous moving plat- form. The queues of passengers file into a steel cylinder, at each stopping place, and a powerful hydraulic ram en- sures that none is left behind. Having been packed neatly into the bus, the passengers find themselves carried along the moving platform and up and escalator to the top two decks, thus making room for the next lot. ~ A small ram clears the pas- sengers at the front of the top deck down an inclined plat- form to the street level at each stop. Passengers wishing to alight between fixed stops press a button and°‘an ejector mech- anism deposits them on the sidewalk while the bus is mov- - ing. ae The complete abolition of - the old-fashioned seats makes more room and ensures ihat each passenger-mile is run at a profit. The conductor of course has a somewhat trying job, and we recommend that they do not work longer than 15 hours without a break. The conventional satchel was found to be too small, and we have fitted up a good size steel safe which he carries on his back. On his chest is a small elec- tronic calculating machine which automatically counts up the day’s takings and works out the net profit on each con- ductor-mile per 1,000 passen- gers carried, multiplied by the speed of light per gallon of diesel fuel divided by the wear on tires into the amount need- ed for shareholders’ compen: sation. : This of course, saves cleri- cal staff at the head office and we have been able to treble the number of inspectors and personnel officers. . Owing to the somewhat overcrowded conditions of many buses at rush hours, the inspectors are fitted out with steel vests and crash helmets. They carry a small lie detector on their backs which scientific- ally registers if a passenger is telling an untruth. Drivers undergo a, special battery of tests to ensure fit- ness and emotional stability. We estimate that after 21 years of age they are too old for this job, as in addition to driving, they have to manipu-: late the moving staircase in the bus, adjusting it to the passenger-ton load at peak hours. They do this by watch- ing a small television screen which gives a complete picture of conditions inside the bus. It is true that owing to its size we are doubtful when the road-widening program wili make it possible for us actual- ly to use the bus. _ However, we are working on these new developments, gentlemen, without pause, but of course, experiments cost money. We shall regretfully have to increase fares all round by 20 percent, reduce wages | by 10 percent, and owing to lack of staff, cut existing buses by 15 percent. A glorious technical future undoubtedly lies before us. By SHEILA LYND . Every seventh child born in Nagasaki since 1945 deformed VERY seventh child born in Nagasaki since the atom bomb was dropped there in © 1945 has some kind of physi- cal deformity or other, accord- ing to a report at a conference of Japanese midwives in Hiro- _shima last month. Just over 30,000 babies have been born in the atomized -town in these past nine years. Nearly 500 of them were still- born, but what of the rest? The midwives say 1,046 of them were “born with degen- erated bone structure or ner- vous system, or with muscular or skin defects”; Another 429 were born with ' deformed organs of smell or hearing; Another 254 with deformed lips or tongues, and 59 with cleft palates; 243 had deformities of the internal organs; Sakis 47 had undeveloped brains, and 25 were born without brains; And eight were born “with- out eyes or eye sockets.” Just try to add up this sum of human misery; try to imag- ine what expecting a baby must be like for every woman in Nagasaki; then try to pic- ture the future of a world that allowed full-blooded atomic war. xt % it One can’t imagine it; that is one of the difficulties, per- haps, of getting the kind of sweeping protest throughout the world that will get these horrors abolished. I have heard too many wo- men say: “I only hope I’ll be near where it falls,” as if they had the right to sit about with a brave smile waiting to be obliterated. Well, perhaps we have the right to allow ourselves to be pushed. around or even right off the earth if we are too in- _ different to defend ourselves, Flashbacks | 40 years ago (From the files of. the B.C. Federationist, October 20, 1914) Acting under popular pressure, the Constitutional government of President Venustiano Carranza seized the holding of the Cana- dian-owned Mexican Tramways in Mexico City. Control of the company was held by Mackenzie and Mann and seizure followed exposure of the company’s cor- rupt deals with the Huerta re- gime. I5 years ago (From the files of The Advocate, October 20, 1939) Conviction “that Russia is go- ing to show us the way” was voiced by Mayor J. Lyle Telford _of Vancouver speaking at a meet- ing in Maple Hall. 10 years ago (From the files of The People, October 21, 1944) Elgin Ruddell, writing in The People, warned that Vancouver’s failure to modernize its antiquat- ed school system in face of a growing population would bring about a crisis in the next few years. -dinner in Chicago. this city has averaged one mur- oma but nobody has the right to allow future generations of children to be turned into - monsters. The Soviet Union has just made a great new effort at the United Nations to get all atomic weapons banned and all kinds of armaments cut. Every one of us, however bothered or. By WALTER HOLMES Wilson's sneer will. busy, has the power to add strength to that effort. Bringing up our children love peace and to be friends with children of all countries is something we all believe 12 but do extraordinarily lithe about. : : -Today is the best time to." start. : soon cost GOP dear ie will be a long time before U.S. Defense Secretary Charles Wilson is able to live down his gibe at the unemployed as.“dogs.” He attempted, but with little success, to retrieve the situation by his apology at a subsequent He said he was sorry he had made “inept remarks” but that these had been “exaggerated” and “distorted by our left wing opponents.” There seems, however, to be no doubt about the exact words in which Wilson jeered at unem- ployed workers in the auto in- GUSTY. ae : What made it worse was that it was in Michigan, an auto in- dustry centre hard hit by unem- ployment, that Wilson made his allusion to the workers in these terms: “I have always liked bird- dogs rather than kennel-fed dogs. Bird-dogs like to get out and hunt around for their food, While the kennel dogs just sit on their haunches and yelp.” bo it it The insult was made the more = government ‘office, Wilson WS chairman of General Motors. gross by the fact that Wilson Wa in Michigan for a “100 dollar® plate” dinner in aid of the He publican party election funds. — A fellow-Republican has said that it would have been better to pay him $200 to stay away: Moreover, before he attaine See! He made himself a certai? niche in history by the asserey “What is good for General M ors is good for the nation.” Among things that were good for General Motors and therefor — presumably the American natio? at that time was the assembl of as many workers as possible make the maximum profit out ° the auto boom. : They were brought from the South. And now Wilson advises — them to go back and “hunt aroun for their food.” i Trying to dodge the volley % protest, he pleads that his d0é- metaphor was “inept.” At 2 hundred-dollar-a-plate feed it w5 more than that. 3 OPEN FORUM On free enterprise PAUL PETS, New Westminster, B.C.: The Archbishop of Canter- bury recently told an audience in — New Westminster Arena that “the nationalization of industry rob- bed men of personal pride in the organization for which he work- ed.” Clement Attlee took the arch- bishop to task: “That man was born 100 years too late. What about corporations?” It is high time such spiritual leaders were checked in their irresponsible statements. Does the Archbishop/of Canterbury think there is free enterprise in heaven, or for that matter in hell? “Free enterprise’ is only an excuse for corruption. When Attlee reported on his trip to People’s China he said he found the government there hon- est; there was no corruption, no bribery, no petty thieving, etc. I cannot help but compare this with the FBI report on crime in New York City ‘alone; on the ~ basis of the past nine months der a day, three cases of rape daily, one daily death from crim- inal negligence, 27 felonous as- saults, 140 burglaries, 40, cars < ei One thing would really make th ‘ stolen, 21 holdups with robbery, 69 grand larcenies All this un- der the system of “free enter- prise.” PACIFIC TRIBUNE — lets achieved by opening more store on a five-day work week basis: — ‘Oh for the wings . . - 5-day shopping week EDWARD W. GREEN, va i couver, B.C.: Why not a five Ge? “store” week with option of clo ing any. two days in the week? Let storekeepers remain ope? Wednesday if they wish and clos some other day, or vice versa | If business demands more out it can be democratically A.R., Vancouver, B.C.:; Here 8+ a short poem I have written call Increase the Production: Work away, work away, work away faster, Z All in the hope that profits will rise. : Life is glorious! One big, big adventure — ‘ a Singing in praise of free ¢™ terprise. _ Work away, work away, work away faster, Even though bosses don’t gi¥® you mugh thanks; - All they can think of is making quick profits, — Giving our country away to the — Yanks. é ; ; Work away, work away, work away faster, . No time for safety or othel — such things. tae boss happy— ~ sang If God in his goodness woul@ give us some wings. OCTOBER 22, 1954 — PAG Sak i tl