HURRICANE GERDA September 8, 1969 Dallas Townsend Good evening everybody. Hurricane Gerda is posing a threat to New England and perhaps New York. The season's newest hurricane - with top winds of more than eighty miles an hour -now off Cape Hatteras North Carolina - heading for Cape Cod. The Na ti on al Hur r i c an e C en t er in Mi a m i s a y s Gerda could reach Cape Cod by tomorrow evening. Dr. Robert Simf>son, director of the hurricane center, warns that it could become a very serious hazard to the northeastern coast, from Narragansett Bay eastward. A hurricane watch has been ordered from Cape Hatteras to Cape Cod - and that includes the New York metropolitan area. The storm is expected to intensify in the next twelve to twenty -four hours - as it move north-north-east with rapidly increasing speed. VIETNAM An unofficial truce has taken effect in Viet Nam. U.S. and South Vietnamese commanders - scaling down their ot,erations. This in response to the Communist ceasefire - making the death of North Vietnam's President Ho Chi Minlt; a c ea s e fire s c h e du l e d to las t - as th t n gs no iu s ta,. d - ju s t t Irr e• days. Here at home though - hope springs eternal. Secretary of Stale William Rogers asserting: "We do not see progre, s for peace in Vietnam." This following Vice President Spiro Agnew's statement - over the weekend - that something more may be brewing; meaning - apparently - something in the way of a permane11t ceasefire. HANOI FOLLOW VIETNAM The body of Ho Chi Minh - lying in a glass coffin today in Hanoi. With tens of thousands - filing past the funeral bier. The mourners including - at different times- a Russian delegation led by Soviet Premier Kosygin - and a newly-arrived Red Chinese delegation headed by a second- stringer. Red Chi ia 's Premier Chou En-Lai - having already paid his respects and returned home, - so he woultba't have to meet Kosygin. CAPITOL HILL For Senator Everett Dirksen - a rare and signal tribute. Officials announcing that the late Minority Leader - - will become only the third Senator i n U.S. history - to lie - in state in the Capitol Rotunda. President Nixon and other government leaders - there to take part in a memorial service tomorrow. The President and Vice President - also plannh1g to attend burial ser'Vices Thursday • in Illinois. One of the most moving tributes to the memory of Senat11r Dirksen - that of Senator Margaret Chase Smith; w la o t,t,l aced on h is des k today - a s in g le , ye l l ow marigold. For years, Senator Dirksen urged adoption of the marigold - as our national flower; during the same period - Mrs. Smith was lobbying for the red rose. Today - the lady Senator from Maine merely observing: "He loved his marigolds." SUGGESTE D LEAD-IN TO THOMAS TAPE SLUGGED "SE Q U O I A ") Lowell Thomas 1s en route t the Paci f ic tonight - ~ there to keep a rendez ous with the head-hunters of New Guinea. In the meantime - a special report he left us - on another of nature's seeming miracles. Lowell ..... L . T . Tap e Ins er t - unedit d SEQUOIA Hello E · er bod , .- I ha e found the secret of eternal life out here o,z the We t Coast . Yell, almost! After ear of stud - scientists report that while the giant sequoia has sometimes fallen to the woodsman's ax; and son etimes has fallen to soil erosion - no one has ever known of a sequoia succumbing to pests - or to old age - or even to fire. For example, a recent forest fire out here in California blazed through a part of the Sequoia National Park - and it caused little damage to those great trees. Main reason - the sequoia's tough bark - it's about two feet thick - and it's as tough as asbestos. In laboratory tests it has e en withstood an hour's flame from a P · opane torch and can you think of anything hotter than a propane torch? Otz tree ompletely holloi ed out by flames - is still gro• i11g. o er SEQUOIA - 2 Th e c h e m i c a l "an n , in ' ' is found in the ba . rk and in the heart of . the tree, and it resi;ts insects, and blight - and e en rot. Sequoia logs ha e lain in the forest for centuries and are still sound and sturdy. The poet Johtt Masefield wrote . : ''Th '! y are not like trees" - "they are like spirits· rising up with dignity, power und maj · st - rising as though they had been there forever. '' Solong . . . . (SUGGESTED FOLLOW TO THOMAS TAPE) Th . a,\< you, Lowell. Now - back to the news. . .. BEIRUT Contin . uing strife in the Middle · East ... reflected in bom xp l os ions toda y at Brussels, Bonn, the Ha g , ue . A t"a . b tet"rot"ists btusting lsra . eli installations - in each of those cities. The Popular Fro . nt for the Liberation of Palestine - later claiming Jr . om B , eirut that tt was res/)onsible foY all three attacks. The same group - held responsible for t1aa t U.S. airliner hijacking las f week. 11 TAD N ar D I Rio, T · a - President ixon joined P r i d 11 I D i a z of M ex ; o t o d a - i 11 d d i c a t i n l h e 11 e t A m i ta ci Dam a ro th Rio Grande. President Nixon noting that the t ord "ami tad" - m ans friendship. Addin that the dam4 symbolize what ti o countries can achie e - when they work together. Pre ident Diaz, in turn, calling the dam - "one more part of the roa . d we travel together." Later - President Nixon fl · ying on across the South; obser ing the devastation cai,sed by Hurricane Camille - en · route back to the White House. B N French Pr sidenl G or g Pompidou - a i . ilor toda al 801111. Me lin g u itl1 W e I German Chan el/or Ki in er - on hi fir I isil abroad as French chief of State En u ing talk - expected to deal u ith a broad range of • economic and political is · ues · including - number one - Britai,z's s li ll - f> e 11 ding b id for a d m is s ion lo the C o m m o ,t Mark e t . TE IS Rod La eY thi afternoon I on lhe men's finals i11 the U . . Tennis Championship - La er defeati,zg felloi Australian To11 Roche - and completing his second grand slam of the world's four top tennis titles. More ne-ws after this message. CA SER TA N o o n ' • rn-1 a /11 Tl a l i a n d o 11 ' I I a k Ill a m ' o o ·c r 1 • io11 I al I a I lien som bod I The o r l am that > •e pr nl Ca erta , " acc1t d of corruption. a11d ua demoted lo a /01 r di isio11 be att e of it. The re Ltll - thou.sand of rioting so cer Jans went on r, rampage late today through the heart of Ca erta mashing windows, uprooting trees, blocking roads with o erturtied trucks and bus e . Then they broke through police lines and set fire to the railroad station, hurling firebombs into offices and throwing rail traffic into chaos. Riot f>oltce rushed in from neighboring towns were unable to halt the uproar. From the steps of the rock-battered town hall, the Mayor of Caserta appealed in vain for an end to the rioting Man people injured - all because of that insult to the local team. Soccer an one? Good Night. LTP.1969.09.08i.pdf LTP.1969.09.08ii.pdf