Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 15, 1995 TAG: 9510130096
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: G-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: COX NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A: The Weather Almanac lists these as the deadliest this century, all occurring before 1953, when names were assigned: 1900, Galveston, Texas, 6,000 deaths, category 4; 1928, Lake Okeechobee, Fla., 1,836 deaths, category 4; 1919, in Florida and Texas, 600 to 900 deaths (many at sea), category 4; 1938, New England, 600 deaths, category 3; and 1935, Florida Keys, 408 deaths, category 5. In terms of property damage, Hugo, in 1989, was the most destructive in U.S. history, causing more than $7 billion in damage.
Q: What was the national debt when President Jimmy Carter took office and left office? And comparable figures for Ronald Reagan?
A: Time periods don't match precisely because presidents take (and leave) office in January and the fiscal year for calculations of the public debt ended June 30 through 1976, and Sept. 30 from 1977 on. But you can get an idea from statistics provided by the Bureau of Public Debt and the Treasury Department. Carter took office in January 1977; the national debt was $620.4 billion as of June 30, 1976, and $698.8 billion as of Sept. 30, 1977. He left office in 1981; the debt was $907.7 billion as of Sept. 30, 1980, and $997.9 billion as of Sept. 30, 1981. Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, so the debt was the same as when Carter left office. Reagan left office in 1989; the debt was $2.6 trillion as of Sept. 30, 1988, and $2.85 trillion as of Sept. 30, 1989.
Q: Whatever happened to Martha Mitchell, talkative wife of John Mitchell, the attorney general involved in the Watergate scandal?
A: She died May 31, 1976, in New York. In October 1975, it was discovered that she had a rare, terminal form of bone cancer. During her final months, she sued John Mitchell - their marriage had hit the skids in 1973 - for failure to keep up alimony payments of $1,000 a week. Martha Mitchell made frequent headlines for her public bashing of President Richard Nixon, who appointed her husband attorney general in 1968. John Mitchell was convicted of conspiracy and perjury in the Watergate coverup and served 18 months, working as a Washington consultant after his release. He died in 1988.
Q: I saw Pope John Paul II's address to the U.N. General Assembly on C-SPAN. Is there any way to get a transcript?
A: A spokesman at the Mission of the Holy See in New York said requests for transcripts can be made by calling 212-370-7885 or faxing 212-370-9622.
Q: How can I contact Elton John's AIDS foundation?
A: Write: Elton John Foundation, P.O. Box 52066, Atlanta, Ga. 30355.
Q: I'm interested in knowing about welfare payments to people in Puerto Rico by the federal Department of Health and Human Services. How many people in Puerto Rico receive welfare, and what is the dollar amount?
A: In fiscal 1994, the most recent period for which statistics are available, Aid to Families With Dependent Children went to 182,552 people in Puerto Rico. Total AFDC payments amounted to $73.9 million. Of that, $55.4 million came from the U.S. government; the remainder came from the government of Puerto Rico.
Q: I recently noticed signs on an interstate highway that said ``Eisenhower Interstate System.'' Is this something new?
A: Congress passed a law in 1990 giving the road network its official name: the Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways. The name recognizes the former president for guiding the system to fruition. The design of the signs, with five stars in a circle and Eisenhower's name, was unveiled July 29, 1993. It's the states' decision whether to install the signs.
Q: What does the ``CC'' in parentheses mean in listings of TV programs in the newspaper?
A: It tells readers that the program is broadcast with closed captioning, a feature originally designed for the hearing-impaired. Closed captioning allows viewers to see, in writing, text closely following the onscreen dialogue. All TV sets with 13-inch or larger screens sold in the United States after July 1993 must be equipped with built-in decoder circuitry capable of displaying closed captioning. When a button is activated, the words fill the lower 25 percent of the screen.
Q: Isn't it unusual for hurricanes to reach inland? What forces are at play?
A: Hurricanes are fueled by water, so as they leave water and move across land, they lose their punch. The length of their march away from water depends on the strength of the winds. As the hurricane dissipates, high winds and torrential rains still occur and tornadoes can be spawned, so damage can be widespread hundreds of miles from large bodies of water. The Weather Almanac explains that colder air penetrates the ``cyclonic vortex,'' and as the warm core cools, it acts as a thermal brake on further intensificaton. Over land, hurricanes break up because they're cut off from their oceanic source of energy, and with the added effects of frictional drag, their circulation becomes weak and disorganized.
by CNB