The Key West Citizen Newspaper, March 11, 1954, Page 5

Valiant Lady Editor Rebecca Gross Refuses To Brood Over Injury Editor's Note — This is a story; “I’m ordering my artificials)for Rehabilitation in the pleasant of a woman’s great courage. It is written by Eddy Gilmore, who got to know Rebecca Gross, editor of the Lock Haven (Pa.) Express, when she visited Moscow last spring with a group of newspaper editors. Gilmore, for 11 years chief of the AP bureau in Moscow and | heads of the crowds at parades. | reassigned to the foreign|But then I decided that would | service in London, said his visit| offer a real problem. I’d have to| now with Becky was one of the -unfor- gettable experiences of his adven- turesome life. By EDDY GILMORE WEST ORANGE, N.J. —Re- becea Gross, the valiant lady ed- itor who lost both legs in an auto- mobile accident, said she’s send- ing for her passport. “But Becky,” I gasped, “surely you can’t be thinking of traveling yet.” “Oh, no,” she laughed, “not quite yet. I just wanted to find out how tall I was. Your passport is about the only document I know of that shows it.” That remark, that attitude, is so/ characteristic of the Lock Haven, | Pa., newspaperwoman, who sim- Ply refuses to be sorry for her- self, or to treat herself any way but normaily. “You see,” she explained in her bright, quick way, “I’ve got to begin thinking about how tall I want to be.” I still didn’t quite understand. soon,” she said, “and I’ve simply {got to decide how tall I want to | be.”” | She laughed. | “At first,” she said, “I thought I might like to up myself five |inches so I could see over the get an entirely new wardrobe, one to fit a 5-foot-10 gal. I used to be out for sure.” What do you say to a person | like that? If you don’t have a hole |in your head you don’t say any- thing. You just listen in un- ashamed admiration to a very wonderful human being, maxing her way back to normalcy with |dignityeand a sense of humor. Rebecca Gross lost her legs | about 5 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. She was driving Ker car through Williamsport, Pa., on the way to \the airport to meet her sister, when, wham! There it was. Two cars collided at an intersection and pinned Becky against a tele- phone pole. The left leg was amputated be- low the knee, the right leg just above the knee. someone who needs it. Becky has no use for it. She has finished her first week at the Kessler Institute Thursday, March 11, 1954 THE KEY WEST CITIZEN Page 5 804 White St. Grade A. Medium Campbell's Tomato Fancy Indian River U.S. NO. 1 Armour's Evaporated MILK 3 «©: 37c¢ |Tissue 2%:15¢ SHORTENING 3+ 6% NBC Ritz ut: 29¢|TIDE ur: 27e VICTORY + WE DELIVER WHERE A LITTLE BUYS A TENDER DELICIOUS — Cut from U. S. Good Cattle iin STEAKS + 59e FIRST CUT MEATY Pork CHOPS) FRANKS 45e¢ Lb. EGGS ..... . = 53¢ CD.M. COFFEE Waldorf Toilet Morton OUP 2 21c/SALT 2» 21¢ GRAPEFRUIT 3--19c POTATOES 5 = 15¢ about 5 feet 5 I suppose, but Tul! have to read my passport to find But save your sympathy for | SWIFT'S PREMIUM vistas of the nearby Orange Mountains. “Right now, “Tm doing this.” She sat on a table. A 10-pound weight hung from her left leg which was suspended across an opening in the table. | “I'm getting a little more \strength in that leg,” she said, smiling. ” she explained, at some rolling meadows that showed a faint suggestion of spring. The last time I had sat and talked and laughed with her had been in my apartment in Moscow. Not a year ago. | “You know,” she said, “you must have had a real tough time over there. Over in Russia with your Russian wife and children | when they couldn’t get out. You really—” “Stop it, Becky,” I interrupted. here to receive your sympathy and commiseratien!” She didn’t say it but she gave me a look that said she hoped I hadn’t come over there to give her my sympathy and commiser- | ation, I hadn’t. People were all around us. Peo- ple with one leg. Peopie with no legs. People with one arm. And people with no arms. People who with the help of Dr. Henry Kess- ler. I looked at these people. A young girl, An elderly man. A man Phone 2-2013 PALM RIVER SLICED 47 » 3% She looked out of a huge window | “I’m damned if I’ve come over| | tarpaulin in the back yard. The r fn the 40s. About 12 of them. No | one appeared self-conscious. “I imagine I know what you're thinking,” said Becky. “Ne, none of us is self-conscious. That’s part of the battle, you see.” We told a joke. Becky laughed again. “What are you going to do when you get through here?’’ “Go back home,” she said, “and try to lead just as normal a life as possible.” NEW YORK “—Ten billion dol-| versely affected by excess profits lars im sales, more than 1% bil-|taxes and in 1953 earnings also | lions ‘in taxes, 598 millions in prof- |were affected by higher material its—Wnat’s the record of General | costs, particularly higher premium Motors Corp. for 1953. | Steel costs, higher labor costs in- Tie sales of $10,027,985,482 were | cluding large amounts for overtime | the highest in history for any pri-| premiums, and increased costs for veje corporation and eclipsed by | special tools,” said the annual re- | a wide margin the $7,549,154,419 | port. es 3 za in. 1953, previous record for GM) The report to GM’s 495,00 stock- “How long is it going to take?” | gr any other firm. holders, by Harlow H. Curtice, “I thought about three months,| Net income of $598,119,478 was president, and Alfred P. Sloan Jr., but I heard it’ll probably take 4 only the third highest for the giant| chairman of the board, reported! longer,” she explained. “I’ll learn, auto manufacturer but GM kept the company sold 3,760,000 pas- |to walk on one artificial leg first, | its position as biggest money -|senger cars and trucks in 1953| | With crutches, And then I'll learg.| maker in American industry, top-| against 2,629,000 in 1952. Of the | ta walk on both legs.” ping 1953 earnings of 553 million | 1953 total, 3,276,000 were produced | | “Becky,” id. “ leya-| by Standard Oil Co. (N.J.) andjin the company’s United States | did. adie ay (ena aL 491 million for the Bell Telephone | plants and 484,000 in Canadian and | | Moscow parties how I was adle | System. overseas plants. Of 1953 U.S. and} {to smile and laugh all. the time| Direct taxes of $1,237,000,000 plus | factory sales for passenger cars, | when it looked as if I was sigack | $61,000,000 collected by GM in|GM had 45.7 per cent. there for life. I never told thiem,|Sales and excise taxes came to| The net income of $6.71 a share, | but I used to have my préwate|share of common stock, compared | after the annual requirement ot| j hell about 6 o’clock in the morn-| with net income of $6.71 a share. | $12.928,312 in preferred dividends, | ing when I couldn’t sleep amd all| “Earnings continued to be ad-| amounted to 6 per cent on net | I could do was think.” | income exceeded that for 19: GM Announces Sales, Profits, Taxes For 1953 |Airway Operation . ° ye sales. This compared with 7.4 per Specialists Are cent on sales in 1952 when net in- come was $558,721,179 $6.25 a N 7 Rureec The dae apes fo Needed By CAA were 1949 when it was $656,434,232 and! The U. Civil Service Commis 1950 when it was $834,044,039, ions for which still stands as an all-time Grad- record for any private enterprise. ‘y rates Assets at the end of the year 3 ‘95 per annum. were $4,405,475,042 compared with ployment is at various locas $4,001,294,708 at the end of 1952 t roughout ronauties Sixty per cent of the company’s the states billion-dollar expansion program a s, Florida, will be completed in 1954 ana, _ Mississippi, remainder by the fall of 19: th Carolina, Oklahoma, South the report. ; Tennessee and Texas, the following overseas loca- Canal Puerto Rico, nd (West Indies) and Vir- information and application ay be obtained from the e or from the Executive Civil Aeronautics n Board of Examiners, 689, Fort Worth, Texas, Zoologists say the Kiwi, Zealand flightless bird never take a drink of water unl New Printed electrical circuits which were used extensively in proxis- ity fuses in World War II have been adapted to he g aids says the American Hea “Mine comes at 3 a.m.,’”” said Becky, very quietly and without a trace of emotion. “Look,” she said, changing the subject, “did you know people with no legs can have toe pains?” She explained. With a kangh. As usual. “Eddy,” she said, “I’m getting real strong. I did 10 pushups with my hands today. Why, before. my accident, all I ever gat up for was to go get a drink of water. And sometimes that was ,an effort. Now look at me. It’s easy.” She was conducting a safety campaign for her paper when she had her accident. Commenting on it, she said: “The place where your accident is going to happen looks like any other spot you have passed in safety a thousand times. “IT suppose I shall never dtive up to an intersection again, or approach a sharp curve in the road, without thinking, ‘This is the place where I may have an accident.’”” Despite her trouble, she doesn’t Preach. But she thinks that is something every American should remember—that the place where your accident is going to happen looks like any other spot you have passed in safety a thousand times. I thought she had had enough bad breaks, but I discovered something else, something that perhaps isn’t known at all, as we sat there talking, looking out over the hills and meadows. “Your insurance, Becky,” I said, ‘it must cover all of this.” She laughed. « “Do you know,” she said, “I let my accident insurance run out. I said, oh, nothing of that sort is ever going to happen to me.” I rose to go. “Come to see us in London.” “Yes, I will. And I'll climb your stairs too.” She will, I never felt surer of anything in ‘life. Whale Hunters Set Out Today On Six Months’ Hunt COAL HARBOR, B. C. (#—The 20th-century version of “Thar she blows” sounded across the Pacific Ocean’s stormy waters today as six sturdy boats started a hunt for 600 whale, The ships left here yesterday and will range from 100 to 200 miles out of this shore station deep in Quatsino Sound on the northwest coast of Vancouver Is- land, They seek humpback, finback, sei, blue and sperm whales in the only whaling expedition known to orecate this far north in the Pa- cific. They will conclude their search six months from now. It is hoped the catch will be big enough and expenses small enough to show a profit—a result obtained only once before in the six years of opera- tion by the B. C. Packers, Ltd. Five vessels, with 25-man crews, harpooned 539 whales last year in a season cut short two weeks by a Pacific storm, Consistent Fever SEATTLE # — Fifteen students returning to a local grade school after short absences underwent a routine check of their tempera. tures, For ail fifteen, the thermom- eter registered 102—3.4 degrees above normal, They were sent back home. ‘Then one mother, who could find no fever in her youngster at home, decided to investigate. Inquiry dis- closed that.an inexperienced aid had not shaken the thermometer between each temperature check, believing that the cool antiseptic solution in which it was dipped ans enough to send the mercury wR, JUVENILES FAIL TO HIDE FROM POLICE SALT LAKE CITY @—Two ju- veniles, spotted by police yester- day, jumped from the stolen car they were riding in and ducked behind a house. But ‘officers D. B. Pearson and A. E. 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