ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, May 21, 1996 TAG: 9605210082
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: what's on your mind?
SOURCE: RAY REED
Q: I thought the desk John Kennedy signed the nuclear pact on belonged to the federal government. How did it become the property of the Kennedys?
J.O., Blacksburg
A: The Louis XVI mahogany table that fetched $1.4 million in the Kennedy estate auction never was government property.
Built in France in the 18th century, the piece returns to the continent bearing history its early owners couldn't have imagined. An unnamed European foundation acquired it with a bid of $1,432,000 by phone.
Matthew Weigman at Sotheby's in New York provided this background:
The Kennedy family had purchased the table from a gallery in Paris in 1951, two years before John Kennedy married Jacqueline Bouvier.
When the nuclear test-ban treaty was ready to sign in October 1963, proceedings went quickly and the papers were meant for signature on a large, heavy desk in a White House office.
The October 1963 nuclear test-ban treaty originally was to be signed on a large, heavy desk in a White House office. The crowd who wanted to witness the signing was too large for the office, however, so the Kennedys' mahogany table was quickly carried from the residence area of the White House to a large room where the ceremony was held.
Witnesses included Lyndon Johnson, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, U.N. Ambassador Averell Harriman, Sens. J. William Fulbright and Hubert Humphrey, and others.
Clear-cut on I-81
Q: What's the story about the clear-cutting of the forest beside Interstate 81 in the Hollins area?
J.B., Roanoke
A: A private landowner harvested an 80-year growth of pine and hardwood, according to the Virginia Department of Forestry.
The area stands out as a 40-acre brown rectangle on the forested ridge overlooking I-81 near exit 146.
It's an unusual sight in Roanoke County, which has only half a dozen logging operations each year and where clear-cutting is even more rare.
Small-plant growth should make the area green again in two or three years, said Bob Boeren, the Roanoke County forester with the state Forestry Department.
Grass, berries and seeds make recovering sites like this attractive to wildlife.
In a few years, Boeren said, young pines and yellow poplar should be prolific on the site because of seeds left by the mature trees and the ample sunlight.
Reclamation practices recommended by the forestry department are being followed, Boeren said.
Cell phone safety
In an item last week, I reported that cellular telephones haven't been shown to cause health problems.
A reader in Ferrum pointed out, though, that people with pacemakers are advised to be careful with cellular phones because they transmit on the microwave frequency 837 megahertz.
That's less power than a microwave oven, which pacemaker users are warned to avoid.
Nevertheless, the cellular industry has research under way to determine why some phones have affected pacemakers when held near the chest.
Have a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Or, e-mail RoatimesInfi.Net. Maybe we can find the answer.|
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