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University Daily Kansan Wednesday. December 15. 1954
Christmas Story: Will It Be Yours?
Death came to the campus on four wheels and shiny new sides. It lingered on streetcorners, waiting to be throttled. It waited for a foot to put it in motion.
Death prepared itself well. It mixed its poison in a large gas tank. It oiled its valves for one more try. It sucked in air to make things easy. It squealed with delight at 60 miles per hour and roared into the night.
Death spun to the highways, hurrying home for Christmas. It watched, it waited, it saw careless moments. Headlights gleaming across highways guided its way. Now closer, now closer, but still it waited.
Then out of the darkness, death found a moment, the precision of time that only death can find. Grinding noises cut open the night. The screech of death moved faster, then slower, then not at all.
And left metal and smashed windows scattered beneath a December sky, left lifeless forms in leather seats. Sent Christmas presents home to parents who didn't want them.
Made others wonder why death must come, why all of loving,
and longing, and living should end in a careless moment on a
crowded highway. —Gene Shank
We're Not Asking You But Begging-Be Careful
As usual, the Daily Kansan is campaigning for safety on the highways. But don't take the advice we give you lightly. Something like death can never be taken lightly.
The writer of this article was asked the other day why the Kansan prints pictures of horrible automobile accidents before vacation. The question was answered like this. When a student leaves for home he's always in a big rush. When the foot presses on the accelerator and the gauge says 90—then we hope he remembers the picture he saw in the Kansan and isn't in such an all-fire rush.
And we hope this year when you leave by car to go home that you will remember the unnecessary death of the KU student over the last Thanksgiving holidays. We hope you will heed the safety warnings on the highways such as "DON'T PASS ON CURVES."
Oh yes, we know—sure you know how to drive, but listen, brother. Even if you don't have any respect for your own life—try to have some for the other driver.
We're not asking you—we're begging you. Please be careful and let's not have another death at KU. None of us are exempt from it, you know.
—Karen Hilmer
Fireproof Your Decorations
The University Daily Kansan wishes all of its readers a "Merry Fire-Safe Christmas."
In the next few weeks, fire prevention divisions in many cities will be checking mercantile establishments, schools, and local institutions to see if the proper precautions are being taken as to lighting and fire-proofing Christmas decorations. Many of these divisions will check home decorations on request.
In order that you might have a "Merry Fire-Safe Christmas," the following precautions should be taken:
Use only flame-proof decorations; check all electrical connections; avoid accumulation of combustible decorations on or beneath the tree.
It is also suggested that home-made spray be used to make trees inflammable. The spray is made by using seven ounces of borax, three ounces of boric acid, and two quarts of water. However, if all the outlined precautions above are taken, the spray need not be used
Other precautions are to move the tree away from combustible furnishings; inspect the tree from time to time to see if needles near lights are turning brown (if they are, move the lights); and don't leave Christmas trees up longer than a week.
Statistics show that the most dangerous period occurs when persons leave home or go to bed without first turning off the lights on the Christmas tree.
Remember, be sure and pull the plug. Tom Lyons
Don't Pose for a Picture of Death
—Kansan photo
A Check-list for Highway Manners
Can you imagine being involved in a head-on collision of two cars doing 50 miles per hour—and walking away from the scene? It's a dream, you say. But engineers predict it will come true. Right now they're working on safety features for cars—designs and gadgets that will create the "crash-proof" car of tomorrow.
But this is today. And we don't wear plastic helmets when we're driving. We don't strap safety belts around our middles. Our cars are still equipped with dangerous steering rods. So how do we prevent accidents? Our best safety measure today is a safe driver.
Remember the time the car you were trying to pass suddenly speeded up? You finally made it around him, but you and the approaching driver were pretty shook up. And were you mad! You would like to have had words with the driver who thought a race down the highway was great fun.
Here then, is a check-list for highway manners. Add your own pet peeves. And it might be a good idea to check yourself as well as the other guy.
You've seen the slogan "Slow down and live." A heavy foot on the accelerator leads to many a driver's downfall. We all know how easy it is to pick up speed. After you're out on the road awhile 70 miles per hour begins to feel like 55.
But speed—unless it's excessive either way—isn't actually the big factor. It's how you handle that speed. That means control over your car and reliable brakes. It means frequent check-ups to keep your car in good condition. It means judging your speed according to the type of car you drive. A heavy car holds the road much better than a light car. It means your condition too, your eyesight and your reflexes. Speed can be a killer when the wrong foot is shoving that
accelerator down—and neither the car nor the driver can take it.
Equally important as speed is the simple guide we learned in grade school—obey the rules. We can still picture an accident we saw on the Jersey turnipke a couple of summers ago. A truck turned left from the right-hand lane without sealing, crashing into a car that was passing it and sending them both flying off the highway. But you don't have to go to New Jersey to see a driver turn without signaling—or to almost hit a guy who spells "stop" as "hesitate."
And then there's the matter of speed limits. We used to add five or ten miles to them until a policeman in Emporia taught us the sign means what it says. We're always in such a hurry that it hurts to slow down going through a town. Too often we forget that the speed on the sign is the safe speed—the speed that protects us as well as the little boy playing ball in his front yard.
But over and above every other factor is one that embraces them all—alertness. We enjoy relaxing behind the wheel and humming along the blacktop, with mambos and Christmas carols coming over the radio, and our mind in Timbuctu. Well, not exactly in Tumbuetu, but we're certainly not thinking about cars and curves.
Instead we're planning our wardrobe for the coming weekend and worrying about an exam Monday morning. Then when the oncoming car swerves over or the curve's there too soon, it's panic. And a fight to pull that mind back to the road in time to avert disaster.
Tragedy is the product of careless driving. So let's watch that speed, and take the driving rules seriously, and always concentrate on driving. Let's live to enjoy that "crash-proof" car of tomorrow.
—Judith Ferrell
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