AND EVERYTHING FREE New kind of sanatorium for Hungarian coal miners BUDAPEST TO bluish-gray buses wind their way along the southern slopes of the Mecsek mountains imy southwestern Hungary. The road is lined with tall trees and great shady oaks. A bubbling, silvery brook emerges from the rocks and the sun shoots streaks of gold into the shade of the forest. The buses are carrying cheer- ful people. They are miners. Some of them are quite young, hardly out of their teens; others, however, alréady have gray hair and are showing photos of their grand-children to their fellow- travellers. Their smiles, their eyes, are youthful and merry. Who knows—maybe it is the work they have in common, per- haps their satisfying type of life. which has made the difference in their ages disappear. They have come from the mines of Komlo, after working the morning shift. A palatial structure appears on the hillside overlooking the val- ley. Bright colored flowers dot the terraces and the lawns. There is a swimming pool. Im the large windows of the buildings there are lace curtains. , The floors of the communicating library, Par- lor and dining room are covered with thick carpets. The rooms are furnished with every com- fort. On the ground floor there is a doctor’s office. This beautiful building was once a luxury hotel; now it has been transformed into a sana- torium for miners. It is a some- what strange sanatorium as it has no patients during the morn- ing. This quiet period, however, lasts only yntil afternoon. Then at three o’clock the -buses, bring- ing the miners, stop in front of the building and in a jiffy the house is full of people. This sanatorium in Sikonda is the first “night sanatorium” in Hungary. It is a new kind of medical institution, established after the pattern of the Soviet sanatoria, for the miners of the nearby Komlo coal basin. The purpose of the sanatorium is to prevent silicosis, known as min- ers’ disease. The steadily improving work- ing conditions in the mines, and especially the up-to-date ventila- tion which clears the air of dust and gas, have already consider-— ably decreased the number of those suffering from silicosis: The night sanatorium treatment now makes it possible to elimin- ate completely this miners’ dis- ease which :was so general in the past. e In the mines of Komlo, as is the case at other places of em- ployment, the workers regularly undergo medical examinations which sometimes reveal the pre- monitory symptoms of silicosis and other illnesses of which the minerg are often not even aware. Miners who are able to work but show such symptoms are sent to the sanatorium. They work per- manently on the morning shift to be able to take advantage of the treatment. : The sanatorium is headed by a specialist of diseases of yintern- al organs but the local doctors of the mines also participate in the treatment of the patients. In the sanatorium equipped with X-ray apparatus and an up- to-date laboratory, the miners receive all possible treatments such as ultra-violet and infra-red ray therapy, mudpacks, hydro- carbonic medical baths, ete. A 350° thermal spring is located right in Sikonda. — The treatment at the sanator- ium is both beneficial and pleas- ant. It takes 30 minutes to get from the Komlo mine to Sikonda by automobile. The miners ar- riving at the sanatorium first take a bath, then change and sit down to bountifully - spread tables. Between lunch and din- ner they receive their necessary treatments, and they read, amuse themselves, and rest. When the weather turns warmer they “spend part of their time in the swim- ming pool. A miner may receive four weeks of treatment to stave off a disease, but, if necessary, this period may be extended to two months. They stay from early afternoon, until the following morning in the sanatorium, and from Saturday until Monday morning. “ All this is free. The night sanatorium is maintained by the Social Insurance Centre of the trade unions. Two additional night sanatoria are to be estab- lished in the other mining dis- tricts of the country in the near future. BY JAMES SEAGER Lysenko’s theories in garbage can? No, but New York Times should be LONDON THE famous Soviet biologist Lysenko is in the news again. Five years ago his revolutionary theories of heredity had gained the support of the great majori- ty of his Soviet colleagues, and he was granted wholehearted government backing for his agri- cultural projects. But recently readers of the New Statesman were startled to learn: that Lysenko “has been thrown in the dustbin, phoney eee Order of Lenin and a Sg The Soviet Academy of Science, says the New Statesman, “has now condemned Lysenko’s Institute for ‘failing to make theoretical contributions of prac- tical value’.” As a professional geneticist I was naturally eager to learn what it was all about. Here is the New Statesman’s reply to my inquiry: “The statement which was quoted was from Vestnik, the of- ficial organ of the Soviet Acad- emy of Sciences. The New York Times of July 4, which reported it, refers to a ‘recent issue,’ but gives no date.” The Economist, which, togeth- er with the Manchester Guard- ian, the London News-Chronicle and the Birmingham Post, has. printed a simjlar story, gave me the same reply. * LEFT, a field of hybrid tomatoes on a Soviet experimental farm. RIGHT, Soviet biologists Bukasov and Kameraz examine new high-yielding, disease-resisting potato plants. The next step was to have a look at Vestnik. I approached two different Russian’ experts, each of whom went through all four of this year’s issues of Vest- nik looking for references to Ly- ’ senko or to his Institute of Gene- tics. Lysenko (‘phoney _ genetics, Order of Lenin and all”) in the “dustbin”? Not a hint of it. In the third number of this year, TROFIM LYSENKO Academician Topchiyev, review- ing the past year’s work of vari- ous biological section of the Academy, has this to say of Ly- senko’s Institute: . “The work of the Institute of Genetics in 1952 has been mainly devoted to the further elucidation of theoretical prob- lems of Michurinist biology. An important stage in solving the problem of directed varia- tion in plants has been the work carried out under the di- rection of Academician 'T. D. Lysenko on the transformation of spring varieties into winter ones...” On the other hand, Topchiyev had some criticisms to make, not of Lysenko’s Institute but, among others, of the Institute of Botany, aa whose senior members includ’ some of Lysenko’s most a spoken opponents. ; In fact, Topchiyev here use phrase strangely similar 10 i one quoted by the New stat f° man. One wonders whether Pi haps the whole thing was St@ sist by a New York Times jourmé, who was under the impress that the Institute of Botany Lysenko’s Institute. ; about The “dustbin” theory front Lysenko gets no support the the ,most recent issue f Vestnik either. There af€ references to Lysenko in 4 ticle by Professor Mishust 4, the fole of bacteria in P velopment. it In both he supports WS © oa ment by quoting with ‘ some of Lysenko’s state™ and experimental results. Five years ago it to extend Lysenko’s the whole of Soviet ft? eats stockbreeding.- For five Foo therefore, has been facing the hat of practice. jct?. What has been the verd! nat Hard economic facts shen 5a during this period Sov", as culture has been flowet® 6 ag never before. The Pric®S “jet ricultural products havé o hall brought down to aroun@ ™, of the 1948 level. Crop and stock ¥ yearly increases rangin’ to 40 percent, and_ the prod of superior new varieties gf0 ed by Michurinist meth? continually. vg 10 ~ Small wonder that accord all the evidence Lys in,” pe from being in the “dus itio® ¥ never enjoyed . . a ove higher prestige ! , Union than he does #007 — if yields 9p ron " ube Egyptian personalities. Page the BCElectric _ FOUND guilty of graft by a Cairo court, Madame nae pee" of the veteran Wafdist leader, Mustapha Nahas, d jeadin ordered to pay $2900 towards the cost of a motor Fr? to her country home near Cairo. er The court found her guilty of exerting her i a former Wafdist cabinet minister, Osman Moharra™ construction of the road. Moharram was acquitte?: Madame Nahas has been accused in the third J case to be brought before special courts and inv? Building of the road resulted in a loss of $397,000 Egyptian treasury, it was stated. The Anti-CorrUP under which the cases are being tried, was passed Neguib’s government last December. a ' pade w ov nfivenct cut? antiatt jving . the to aw ene PACIFIC TRIBUNE — AUGUST 14, 1953 — Michurinist af test |