Moscow, April 28th—Official sources here have revealed that the firing of a huge intercontinental ballistic missile is scheduled for the annual Soviet May Day celebration.
New York, May 1st—Seismologists report violet tremors occurring shortly after 8:00 a.m. G.M.T. this morning.
Washington, May 1st—The Soviet May Day missile is suspected here to have been the first of the new "groundhog" type, capable of penetrating underground shelters. But no one here will comment on certain rumored "strange characteristics" of the blast.
New York, May 2nd—Seismologists report repeated tremors, apparently from the site of the blast of May 1st. One noted seismologist states that this is "most unusual if the result of a bomb explosion."
Moscow, May 2nd—There is still no word here on the May Day blast. All questions are answered, "No comment."
Mew York, May 3rd—Seismologists report tremors of extraordinary violence, occurring shortly after 1:00 a.m., 1:35 a.m., and 1:55 a.m., G.M.T. this morning.
Washington, May 3rd—The Atomic Energy Commission this morning assured reporters there is no danger of the world "taking fire" from recent Soviet blasts.
Chicago, May 3rd—The world may already be on fire. That is the opinion of an atomic scientist reached here late this evening—"if the initial blast took place in the presence of sufficient deposits of light or very heavy metals."
Los Angeles, May 3rd—The world will end by fire on May 7th, predicts the leader of a religious sect here. The end will come "by the spreading of fiery fingers, traveling at the speed of light from the wound in the flesh of the Earth."
Tokyo, May 4th—A radioactive drizzle came down on the west coast of Honshu, the main Japanese island, last night. Teams of scientists are being rushed to the area.
New York, May 4th—Stocks fell sharply here this morning.
Paris, May 4th—A correspondent recently arrived here from the Soviet Union reports that rumors are rife in Moscow of tremendous flames raging out of control in Soviet Siberia. According to these reports the hospitals are flooded with burned workers, and citizens east of the Urals are being recruited by the tens of thousands to form "flame legions" to fight the disaster.
London, May 5th—The British Government today offered "all possible assistance" to Moscow, in the event reports of a great atomic disaster are true.
New York, May 5th—Seismologists report repeated tremors, from the site of the shocks of May 1st and 3rd.
Tokyo, May 6th—A heavy deposit of slightly radioactive soot fell on Honshu and Hokkaido last night.
Moscow, May 6th—There is no comment yet on the May Bomb or on British, French and Italian offers of aid.
New York, May 7th—Seismologists here report tremors of extraordinary violence, occurring shortly after 8:00 p.m. G.M.T. last night
Washington, May 7th—A special Senate committee, formed to consider the atomic danger in the U.S.S.R. announced this morning that it favors "all reasonable aid to the Russians." The committee chairman stated to reporters, "It's all one world. If it blows up on them, it blows up on us, too."
Washington, May 7th—The Atomic Energy Commission repeated its claim that the earth could not have caught fire from the recent Russian explosions.
Tokyo, May 8th—Japanese fishermen to the northeast of Hokkaido report the waters in large areas black with a layer of radioactive soot.
New York, May 8th—Seismologists report repeated tremors from the region of the severe shocks of May 1st, 3rd, and 7th.
Washington, May 9th—The United States has offered special assistance to Soviet Russia, but the latest word here is that no reply has been received.
Washington, May 9th—Responsible officials here indicate that if no word is received from Moscow within eighteen hours, and if these shocks continue, a special mission will be sent to Russia by the fastest military transportation available. "We are not," said one official, "going to stand around with our hands in our mouths while the world disintegrates under our feet."
Seoul, May 9th—It is reported here that the radioactive soot that plastered Japan and adjacent areas has fallen even more heavily in North Korea. The Communist Government is reportedly trying to pass the soot off as the work of "Capitalist spies and saboteurs."
Washington, May 9th—The United States government has reiterated its offer to the Soviet Union of "prompt and sympathetic consideration" of any requests for aid.
New York, May 10th—Seismologists here report repeated tremors from the region of the earlier shocks.
Moscow, May 10th—It has been impossible to reach any responsible official here for comment on Western offers of assistance.
London, May 10th—The British Government today urgently recommended that the Soviet Union seriously consider Western offers of assistance.
Washington, May 10th—No word having been received here from Moscow, an experimental Hellblast bomber sprang from her launching rack bearing a nine-man mission to Moscow. Word of the mission's departure is being sent the Russians by all channels of communication. But it is said here that if no permission to land is given, the Hellblast will attempt to smash through to Moscow anyway.
Tokyo, May 10th—Another load of soot has been dumped on Japan today. This batch is only slightly radioactive, but scientists are not happy because they do not know what to make of it.
Seoul, May 10th—Riots are reported in Communist North Korea as the "black death" continues to rain down from the skies. It is not known whether the soot has caused actual death or merely panic.
St. Paul, Minn., May 10th—A light powdering of black flecks has been reported in snow that has fallen near here in the last twenty-four hours.
Moscow, May 11th—A United States Hellblast bomber roared out of the dawn here today bearing a nine-man mission. The mission was greeted at the airfield by a small group of worn and tired Russian officials.
Minneapolis, May 11th—Scientists report only a trace of radioactivity in the "tainted snow" that fell near here yesterday. The scientists reiterate that the radioactivity is not present in dangerous amounts.
Tokyo, May 11th—Considerable deposits of radioactive soot and ash landed on Japan yesterday and last night. Japanese scientists have issued warnings to all persons in the affected areas. The Japanese Government has delivered a severe protest to the Soviet Embassy.
Hong Kong, May 11th—Reports here indicate the Chinese Communist Government is making representation to Moscow about the soot-fall following the Russian May Day blast. According to these reports, the North Korean Government is being overwhelmed with the people's angry demands that the Russians cease "dumping their waste on their allies."
New York, May 12th—The American mission that arrived here yesterday has disappeared into the Kremlin and has not been seen or heard from since.
Washington, May 12th—The United States Government reports that it is now in close contact with the Soviet Government on the situation in Siberia.
Seoul, May 13th—It is reported here that the government of Communist North Korea has issued a twelve-hour ultimatum to the Soviet Union. If the dumping of fission products continues beyond that time, North Korea threatens to break off relations and take "whatever other measures prove to be necessary."
Paris, May 13th—Repeated efforts by the French Government have failed to produce any response from Moscow. French atom scientists have offered to travel to the Soviet Union in a body if their services can be of any use.
Washington, May 14th—A Soviet request for American aid was received here early this morning. Reportedly, the Russians asked for ten thousand of the largest available bulldozers or other earth-moving vehicles, equipped with special high-efficiency filters for the air-intake mechanisms.
London, May 14th—The British Government reports receiving a request for large numbers of specially-equipped earth-moving vehicles. Red tape is being cut as fast as possible, and the first consignment is expected to leave tomorrow. However, there is still no explanation of what is going on in the Soviet Union.
Washington, May 14th—A special meeting of the Senate committee investigating the May Bomb is scheduled for tomorrow, when the American mission is expected to return.
New York, May 15th—Repeated tremors are reported here from the region of the severe shocks of May1st, 3rd, and 7th.
Washington, May 15th—The Senate Committee on the May Bomb met today, and questioned members of the American mission that had just returned.
Senator Keeler: Gentlemen, what's going on over there?
Mr. Brainerd: They're in a mess, Senator. And so are we.
Senator Keeler: Could you be more specific? Is the . . . is the earth on fire?
Mr. Brainerd: No. It's not that, at least.
Senator Keeler: Then, there's no danger—
Mr. Brainerd: The earth won't burn up under us, no. This thing was set off atomically, but it goes on by itself.
Senator Keeler: What happened?
Mr. Brainerd: They tried out their groundhog missile on May Day. They had a giant underground shelter built, and they wanted to show what the groundhog would do to it. The idea was to show there was no use anyone building shelters, because the Russian groundhog could dig right down to them.
Senator Keeler: Did it?
Mr. Brainerd: It did. It blew up the shelter and heated it white hot.
Senator Keeler: I see. But why should that cause trouble?
Mr. Brainerd: Because, unknown to them or anyone else, Senator, there were deep deposits of oil underground, beneath the shelter. The explosion cracked the surrounding rock. The oil burst up through the cracks, shot out into the white-hot remains of the underground chambers, and vaporized. At least that's the explanation the Russians and Dr. Dentner here have for what happened. All anybody can see is a tremendous black column rising up.
Senator Keeler: Do you have anything to add to that, Dr. Dentner?
Dr. Dentner: No, that about covers it.
Senator Keeler: Well, then, do any of my colleagues have any questions? Senator Daley?
Senator Daley: Yes, I've got some questions. Dr. Dentner, what's that black stuff made of?
Dr. Dentner: Quite a number of compounds: carbon monoxide; carbon dioxide; water vapor; saturated and unsaturated gaseous hydrocarbons; the vapors of saturated and unsaturated non-gaseous hydrocarbons. But the chief constituent seems to be finely-divided carbon—in other words, soot.
Senator Daley The world isn't on fire?
Dr. Dentner: No.
Senator Daley: The oil fire can't spread to here?
Dr. Dentner: No. Not by any process I can imagine.
Senator Daley: All right, then, I've got a crude idea. Why not let them stew in their own juice? They started this. They were going to scare the world with it. O.K., let them worry about it. It'll give them something to do. Keep them out of everybody's hair for a while.
Senator Keeler: The idea has its attractions, at that. What about it, Doctor?
Dr. Dentner: The fire won't spread to here, but—Well, General Maxwell has already considered the idea and given it up.
Senator Daley: Why's that?
General Maxwell: Set up an oil furnace in the cloakroom and run the flue in here through that wall over there. Then light the furnace. That's why.
Senator Daley: The stuff's going to come down on us?
Dr. Dentner: It seems probable. There have already been several light falls in the midwest.
Senator Daley: I thought it was too good to work. O.K. then, we've got to put it out. How?
Dr. Dentner: They've already made attempts to blow it out with H-bombs. But the temperature in the underground chamber is apparently so high that the fire reignites. The present plan is to push a mass of earth in on top of it and choke out the flame.
Senator Daley: Don't they have enough bulldozers? I mean, if it's that simple, why don't they have it out?
Dr. Dentner: It's on a large scale, and that produces complications.
General Maxwell: For instance, the air is full of soot. The soot gets in the engines. Men choke on it.
Mr. Brainerd: The general effect is like trying to do a day's work inside a chimney.
General Maxwell: And the damned thing sits across their lines of communications, dumping heaps of soot on the roads and railroad tracks, and strangling anyone that tries to get past. The trains spin their wheels, and that's the end of that. It's a question of going way around to the north or way around to the south. There's a severe cold wave in the north, so that's out. They're laying track to the south at a terrific pace, but there's a long way to go. What it amounts to is, they're cut in half.
Senator Daley: It seems to me we ought to be able to make a buck out of this.
Mr. Brainerd: It's a temptation; but I hate to kick a man when he's down.
Senator Daley: ARE they down?
Mr. Brainerd: Yes, they're down. The thing is banging their head on the floor. They're still fighting it, but it's like fighting a boa constrictor. Where do you take hold to hurt it?
Senator Daley: Just back of the head.
Mr. Brainerd: That's the part they can't get at. Meanwhile, it crushes the life out of them.
General Maxwell: The idea is to fight the main enemy. If they don't beat it, we'll have to. And it will be a lot harder for us to get at it than it is for them. The idea is, to pour the supplies to them while they're still alive to use them. Otherwise, that volcano keeps pumping soot into the air and we get it in the neck, too.
Dr. Dentner: There's one more point here.
Senator Daley: What's that?
Dr. Dentner: Neither their scientists nor I could understand why a stray spark hasn't ignited the soot. It must be an explosive mixture.
General Maxwell: If that happens, it will Make World War II look like a garden party.
Mr. Brainerd: Like a grain-elevator explosion a thousand miles across.
Senator Daley: Well—All right, that does it. What do they need?
Mr. Brainerd: We've got a list here as long as your arm for a starter.
Senator Daley: Then let's get started.
Senator Keeler: Let's see the list. And I'm not sure the rest of this shouldn't be secret for the time being.
Senator Daley: Right. Let's see what they want first.
New York, June 8th—The first ten shiploads of gangtracks, bores, sappers, and hogger mauls raced out of New York harbor today on converted liners, bound for Murmansk. A similar tonnage is reported leaving San Francisco for Vladivostok tonight.
Tokyo, June 14th—The evacuation of another one hundred square miles of Honshu Island was completed early today.
Hong Kong, June 27th—Reports reaching here from Red China indicate that the Chinese Communist Government is moving its capital south from Peiking to Nanking. Relations between Red China and the Soviet Union are reported extremely bad.
New York, June 28th—According to the U.N. Disaster Committee meeting here this morning, over three billion dollars worth of supplies has thus far been poured into the U.S.S.R. in Operation Torch.
Tokyo, July 2nd—The Smog Belt is reported extending itself southward. Officials here fear that this, combined with the unseasonable cold, will swell the mounting casualty list still further.
Seoul, July 9th—Severe fighting is reported between the North Korean People's Army and Russian troops defending the border region south of Vladivostok.
New York, July 18th—Three specially-built high-speed dual-hull transports left here this morning bearing three Super-Hoggers of the Mountain-Mover class.
London, July 23th—The furnaces of Britain's yards and factories are blazing as they have not in three generations, to finish the last four sections of the huge Manchester Snake, which will be shipped in sections to France and assembled for its overland trip to the Soviet Union. Work has been aided somewhat here by the unusually cool summer weather.
Skagway, Alaska, August 2nd—The Pittsburgh Mammoth rolled north past here at 2:00 a.m. this morning.
Nome, August 5th—The Bering Bridge is almost complete.
Moscow, August 6th—The 20th, 21st, and 40th Divisions of the Soviet 2nd Red Banner Flame Army marched in review through Red Square today before entraining for the East.
Nome, August 8th—The Pittsburgh Mammoth crushed past here at dawn this morning. Crowds from up and down the coast, their faces hidden behind gas masks and soot shields, were on hand to see the mammoth roll north toward the Bering Bridge. Tank trucks in relays refueled the giant.
Headquarters, Supreme High Command of the Soviet Red Banner Flame Legions, September 21st—Final Communiqué: The campaign against the enemy has ended in victory. Nothing remains to mark the site save a towering monument to the bravery of the Soviet citizen, to the supreme organization of the war effort by the high officials of the Soviet Government, and to the magnificent output of Soviet industry. Help also was received from countries desiring to participate in the great Soviet effort, which has resulted in this great victory. Work now must be begun with unhesitating energy to return the many brave workers to their peacetime stations.
London, September 22nd—The consensus here seems to be that naturally we cannot expect credit, but it is at least a relief to know the thing is over.
Washington, September 22nd—After talking with a number of high officials here, the general feeling seems to be: After this, we are to go back to the Cold War?
Moscow, December 3rd—Winter here seems to be taking hold with a vengeance. Temperatures of a hundred degrees below zero are being reported from many regions that normally do not record even remotely comparable readings till the middle of January. It looks by far the severest winter on record. Coming after all the trouble this spring and summer, this is a heavy blow.
Ottawa, Canada, December 8th—The cold here in Canada is unusually severe for this time of year.
Washington, December 10th—The Senate Committee on the Russian May Bomb explosion reconvened briefly to hear expert testimony today. Bundled in heavy overcoats, the senators listened to testimony that may be summed up briefly in this comment by a meteorologist:
"No, Senator, we don't know when these fine particles will settle. The heavier particles of relatively large diameter settle out unless the air currents sweep them back up again, and then we have these 'soot showers.' But the smaller particles remain aloft and screen out part of the sun's radiation. Presumably they'll settle eventually; but in the meantime it's a good deal as if we'd moved the Arctic Circle down to about the fifty-fifth degree of latitude."
When asked what might be done about this immediately, the experts suggested government aid to supply fuel to people in the coldest locations, and it was urged that fuel stockpiles be built up now, as unexpected transportation difficulties may arise in the depths of winter.
Underground Moscow, December 17th—The Soviet Government is reported making tremendous efforts to house millions of its people underground. Much of the equipment used in fighting the Torch is fitted for this work, but deep snow and the severe cold have hamstrung the transportation system.
New York, January 15th—National Headquarters of the Adopt-A-Russian Drive has announced that their drive "went over the top at 7:00 tonight, just five hours before deadline."
Prince Rupert, Canada, January 22nd—Three polar bears were reported seen near here last Friday.
Washington, February 3rd—Scientists concluded today that things will get worse before they get better. Settling of the particles is slow, they say, and meanwhile the ocean—"the great regulator"—will become colder.
New York, March 10th—Heavily dressed delegates of the former "Communist" and "Capitalist" blocs met here today to solemnly commemorate the ending of the so-called "cold war"—the former ideological phrase—in the strength of unity. The delegates agreed unanimously on many measures, one of them the solemn pledge to "Remain united as one people under God, and to persevere in our efforts together till and even beyond the time when the Cold War shall end."