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For four days in hilly fields near this country town, thousands of men will wear brocaded wool uniforms in the summer heat, smoke smelly cheroots by camp fires, pitch canvas tents, eat dried beef — and wage war. Some 5,000 weekend warriors plan to reenact the first major battle of the American Civil War not far from where it took place, 48 kilometers west of Washington 125 years ago. The American Civil War Commemorative Committee of Culpeper, Virginia, the event’s sponsor, bills this as the biggest battle reenactment ever held in the United States. While the real north-south clash was fought out in one day, on July 21,1861, the replay will stretch out over four, including preliminary encampment, from July 17—20. Those arranging the rerun of the first Battle of Manassas, as Southerners call it the Battle of Bull Run to Northerners, expect over 50,000 Civil War buffs to watch the fighting roll across a 200-hectare tract. Some 1,500 artillery shells and a half million rounds of small-arms ammunition will be fired in the mock battle. A special effects company is arranging to set off explosions across the landscape, Hollywood war-film fashion, in counterpoint to thunderous fire cannons, some of which were used in the original battle. Jack Thompson, a director of the sponsoring committee, says dozens of mock Civil War military units have been created since interest was fanned in the 1960s when reenactments took place on a smaller scale to commemorate the war’s centenary. He said these groups, mostly in the south but with delegations from areas as far off as Scotland, Ireland and West Germany, strive to duplicate the uniforms, weapons and lifestyles of 1860s. Organiser Nancy Niero says everything has to be original, or reproduced as precisely as possible. Most authentic Civil War uniforms are too worn, too delicate or too small to fit the modern man, but some of the distinctive originals have been lovingly preserved and now serve as models for exact replicas. Cheating will be barred. That means a ban on using any sort of clothing, equipment, food or drink which did not exist during the real Civil War. Smokers, for instance, must shun cigarettes. Canned beer, soda and pre packed food are all out, but a spokeswoman said, "I guess if anyone gets hurt, we’ll use antibiotics. We won’t use leeches.\ The purpose of this passage is to describe
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The art of tattooing is an old custom practiced around the world. "Tattoo", a word coming from polynesian "tatu", was a symbol of high social status in the Marquesas islands. Among New Zealand Maori warriors it distinguished one man from another. Tattoos also identified the marital status of Eskimo women. Tattoos were supposed to give magical properties to Burmese males and to some South American tribes. English aristocrats were tattooed with their family coats of arms, and the names and emblems of their private clubs. Rich men in America also had tattoos of their emblems: reproductions of paper money! Today tattoos are popular among criminals, merchant seamen, and members of armies, navies and air forces. But more tattoo clients are women who get a tattoo to make themselves look more beautiful. Getting a tattoo is quick and easy. Lyle Tuttle is a well-known tattoo artist who owns three tattoo studios in California. Tuttle has tattooed many rock musicians and Hollywood stars including Peter Fonda and the late Janis Joplin. The average tattoo costs between twenty five and fifty dollars, depending on how big it is, how many colors it has, and where you want it tattooed. After a customer chooses his or her tattoo design, the tattoo artist washes the area to be tattooed with surgical soap. Then he draws the design with a ball point pen, inserts a needle in the desired colored ink, turns on the electricity, and starts to work. The machine makes a buzzing sound as it punctures the skin to a depth of between one-thirty-second and one-sixteenth of an inch 21,600 times a minute. After the tattoo artist outlines the design, he shades it using different color inks. Within a day, a crust will form over the tattoo; this crust falls off five to seven days later. Once applied, the tattoo becomes permanent, and mistakes cannot be corrected. The design can only be covered up with an equally dark or darker tattoo. "The only way to get rid of a tattoo," says Lyle Tuttle, "is to cut it off.\ Something that is meant to last forever is said to be
In the last week of August, 70 two-ton bulls climbed to the top of a cliff above Maggie Beach, a remote and forbidding area in southwestern Alaska. One by one, the huge and ungainly mammals waddled over the edge and fell 100 feet onto the rocks below. It was the third consecutive year that walruses plunged to their death on this beach — and scientists still can’t explain why. For as long as humans can remember, every summer walrus bulls "haulout" along the beaches of Bristol Bay to sun and feed themselves in anticipation of the long winter ahead. Until the fall of 1994 the walruses were content to lounge along the sandy shore. Then one day, says Togiak Reserve manager Aaron Archibeque, a fierce storm struck the cape, and some of the animals retreated up a bluff in search of shelter, or so scientists thought. Perhaps disoriented or unsteady on rain-slickened grass, 42 of the bulls fell over the edge of the cliff. During another storm in October 1995, 17 more died. But this year, the walruses began climbing the bluff late on a clear, moonlit night. The next morning, two biologists with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service camping at a field station near the beach noticed the migration. They managed to turn back 150 bulls, Archibeque says, but 70 reached the top where almost all plunged to their death. Such behavior among walruses has never been documented before, Archibeque says. "It’s a real herd response," says Seagars, a scientist with the Fish and Wildlife Service. "Once the first one falls, it is too late for the second or third or fourth to turn around." Could the walruses be committing mass suicide Marine biologists emphatically reject that idea as misguided human projection. "That is anthropomorphising," says Seagars. Should humans intervene to prevent the annual immolations A barrier could be built to prevent the walruses from making their deadly climb, Seagars says. "There have been intense debates about whether interfering with nature is the right thing to do," he says, "But it’s very difficult to watch natural selection at work.\ Which of the following is true about the walrus plunge this year
Sleek fighter jets roared and wheeled over the English countryside last week as the world’s major aerospace contractors showed off their wares at the biennial Farnborough Air Show. But the real dogfight was on the ground, between two huge planes that so far exist only on paper. Europe’s Airbus Industrie and America’s Boeing Co. fired off repeated rounds of press releases, boasts and accusations trying to boost support for their rival versions of a new 550-passenger superjumbo jet to succeed Boeing’s venerable 747 as the king of the skies. Though neither machine would fly before the next century, marketing and hype for Airbus’ A3XX and Boeing’s 747-600X are already at full throttle. Nonetheless, both investments are risky, and even the fruits of victory are unsure: for all the glamour and prestige of a superjumbo, the market may not be large enough for either planemaker to recoup the development costs. "Somebody could lose a lot of money on this plane," warns Allan Winn, editor of Flight International, a trade publication. Which doesn’t mean there isn’t profit to be made as well. While only 7% of new passenger planes sold over the next 20 years will be as big as or bigger than the current 416-seat 747-400, according to Boeing estimates, such aircraft will account for nearly a fifth of the $1.1 trillion spent on new equipment. For Airbus, the four-nation European consortium, the lure is especially strong. It desperately needs a big plane to match the 747, which for 26 years has been a lucrative Boeing monopoly. That do-or-die attitude helps explain Airbus’ more daring entry in the superjumbo contest. The 555-passenger A3XX will be a two-deck, twin-aisle behemoth whose smaller upper section alone will be nearly as big as the entire passenger cabin of the A340, currently the largest plane in the Airbus fleet. A later version could be stretched to hold 650 passengers, and Airbus officials claim the plane will be roomy enough for airlines to add a conference room, a mini-gym or even a few sleeping compartments on the lower level if they wish. "We’re starting from a clean sheet of paper," says John Leahy, Airbus’ senior vice president for sales and marketing. Boeing’s entry looks like a 747, only more so. The 548-passenger 747- 600X would keep the same fuselage width but extend it 14 meters, to 85 meters, nearly as long as a minimum-size soccer field. Boeing will team it with a longer-range 460-passenger version, the 747-500X, which will have a range of 16,100 km, 2,600 farther than the 747-400. The plane will feature a new, more efficient wing, and engineers will replace the 747’s traditional mechanical controls with a computerized fly-by-wire system, pioneered in commercial aircraft by Airbus and used for the first time by Boeing in the hugely popular wide-bodied 777. Though it is entering the 21st century with an updated 1960s design, Boeing gains a key advantage: it can start delivering the 747-600X by the year 2000, at least three years before the A3XX will be ready. In recent months company salesmen have been pounding the tarmac in Europe, Asia and America, trying to nail down enough firm commitments from major airlines to justify a formal launch of the project. Boeing hopes that by beating its archrival into the air, it will garner enough orders to keep the A3XX, also as yet without a formal go-ahead, stranded on the runway. The 747-600X has
The GOOD HEALTH SYMPOSIUM A Recipe for Balanced Living 09:30 — 17:15, SATURDAY 19th APRIL COMMONWEALTH INSTITUTE THEATRE. Kensington High Street TICKETS — ￡2.50 (￡1.50 students/non-wage earners) 09:30 Arrivals and refreshments 10:00 REDUCE CORONARY RISK BY BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION Dr Chundra Patel 10:50 WHAT WERE PEOPLE PROGRAMMED TO EAT Dr David Ryde 11:40 LEARNING TO COPE WITH STRESS Donald Norfolk 12:30 Lunch (Buffet vegetarian lunches will be available at ￡2.00. per head.) 14:00 OUR HEALTH IN OUR HANDS Dr Denis Burkitt 14:50 EAT, DRINK AND BE WORRIED Dr Erik Millstone 15:40 Tea 16:20 HOMEOPATHY AND NUTRITION DrAndrew Lockie 17:10 Dr Alan Long will conclude the symposium. There will be time after each lecture for discussion and questions. For details of speakers please see opposite. Organised by The Vegetarian Society DETAILS OF SPEAKERS DR CHANDRA PATEL is a senior clinical lecturer in the Department of Community Medicine, University of also a founder member of the British Holistic Medical Association (BHMA). DR DAVID RYDE has had over 30 years in general practice. He is an expert on obesity and weight loss. DONALD NORFOLK is an osteopath and the author of "Fit for Life" and "The Stress Factor". He has appeared on TV and radio. DR DENIS BURKITT is a foremost medical epidemiologist and a world expert on the importance of fibre in the diet. DR ERIK MIL LSTONE is a lecturer in Science Studies at the University of Sussex. He is a nationally-known expert on food additives and labelling. DR ANDREW LOCKIE is medical homeopath and labelling. DR ALAN LONG who will conclude the symposium, is an Hon. Research Advisor to the Vegetarian Society. There will be a large display of books on health and vegetarian cookery at the event. ADVANCE TICKETS — available from: "Good Health" Symposium, Vegetarian Centre & Bookshop. 53 Marloes Road, Kensington, London W86 LA Please enclose SAE and cheque / P.O. for correct amount Including ￡2 for advance lunch ticket (if required). How much would it cost to go to the symposium with a friend and both have lunch, if you are both students
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