bells - allianceschlumberger.org · tioners also back are gerald mc-kenzie, john matrkolf, harry ,...

bells

S é r i a , Oc tobe r 9th I96E

Dear Intercom,

I em «sending Yon ander the same endo sure a picture of ay

wife { Miss Ellen 1 E Thomson froa Glasgo*, Scotland) and

Myself.

Mo actual pictures of the wedding are aTailablej as it was a

rather mixed np- affair, the sole marriage registrar in the State

of Brtmei having decided two days before D—Day, that after all

he did not have the legal capacity to perfoiw the deed,

Nevertheless , on the first of September we went to Brunei Town

where we had the luck to meet the commissioner of labour, who

was coming back to bronei after a year spent in Malaya, By

chance among his other hats he had that of senior marriage

registrar for the state. He married us on the spot, in the

office of labour. Needless to say that we were not suitably

dressed for the occasion, and that there was no photographer

at hand.

Engineers who wil1 be assigned in the future to Seria may be

interested in the fact that four marriage registrars have been

since appointed in the country. Thus we are happy to have

contributed to the isproveanent o£ the administration in this

very p l e a s a n t country.

Yours cordially

B. SIllMASf

november i962 number loo

I f J T E R C O M is publ ished for b e t t e r liaison b e t w e e n

field e n g i n e e r s and m a n a g e m e n t of S c h l u m b e r g e r

O v e r s e a s , S c h l u m b e r g e r S u r e n c o , S o c i é t é de

P r o s p e c t i o n E l e c t r i q u e S c h l u m b e r g e r , and the i r

subsid iar ies .

Mr. and Mrs. Bronislaw Seeman, B

PERSONNEL. N E W S

INSIDE FRONT

runei COVER

RECRUITING 1962 C HARLIE DOH STYLE 1 2

HOW TO ORDER BOOKS

THE RECORD POINTER

by Nancy Lenkeith

THE SCHLUMBERGER BOOKSHELF

by Nancy Lenkeith

AN INTERCHANGE

1.000.000B PASSAGER ATLANTIQUE AIR FRANCE

un PASEO en PATAGONIA

photographs by Bob Ford and Pierre l\/lajani

14

16

31

32

37

38 H E N R I A C T I S

IQ

E 0)

E 0 0

We are happy to welcome three new trainees this month;

Philip Antisdel, a graduate of Iowa State University. Phüip's pre-school assignment is Trinidad.

Henri Actis, Italian trainee, who will receive his pre-school training in Las Morochas.

T H I S I S S U E W A S P R I N T E D BY G U L F P R I N T I N G C O M P A N Y , H O U S T O N , T E X A S

2

Manfred Voss, who comes from Germany, will be training in Belem (Brazil).

MANFRED VOSS iNTKHOom/mmrnèer 1962

-, :v .

movements

Jean Raux arrived in Comodoro to take the job of Patagonia Division Manager and Jean Ducanois, after his local leave in France, is now back in Canadon Seco.

Argentina sent an impressive num-ber of people on home leave: from Comodoro, Miguel Feldman, Ray-mond Drue and Jacques Siviol; Karl Wichtl from Canadon Seco; Fred Bielinski from Buenos Aires: Edward Kauffman who was in Cerro Dragon is now in Princeton (Missouri), awaiting transfer to swsc.

Brazil reports that Karl Jakob left Manaus to take his home leave in Germany and Angel Alejandro moved from Belem to Sao Luis.

Maurice de Verteuil and Floyd Brown of Trinidad, are reported to be on vacation.

Artur Schmidt, after a long wait for his visa, finally arrived in Trini-dad.

Leo Constantino left Velazquez (Colombia) in Francois Leschi's hands and went on home leave.

After a short stay in Caracas and El Tigre, Neal Moseley is now in Casabe ( C o l o m b i a ) , r e p l a c i n g Hubert Jenne who left for Ger-many on vacation, while Hermes Ronzoni arrived in Tibu to replace Silvio Casagrande.

Formerly in Barranquilla, Robert Park is now with Schlumberger of Canada in Calgary, while Ferdinando Juon went to Costa Rica. New-comer to Barranqui l la , Duane Deines, came from Las Morochas.

Fred Grämlich, with the family, returned to Las Morochas from home leave.

Paul Clavieres returned to San Fer-nando (Trinidad) after spending a month's local leave in Barbados.

Wayne Bayless left Comodoro to spend his home leave in the U.S.A.

Henri Dumas took his home leave while the Mendoza School was closed and Vincent Hepp was as-signed to the area for that time.

4 tMT^ncont/November 1962

/ November 1962

On his way to France and home leave, Daniel Bastide stopped in Caracas to pass his Engineer test.

Maurice Macret was also in Carac-as to take his Engineer test during his leave, part of which he spent in Salvador (Brazil), and also flew to France for a short visit.

Coming from El Tigre where he gave a helping hand for a few weeks, Ray Wilkins spent two weeks in Caracas before going to in Caracas Santa Cruz (Bolivia). There, Ray took over for Clem Lepak to go on home leave.

On returning from home leave in France, Christian Clavier spent two weeks in Caracas on special train-ing before proceeding to his next assignment, Barranquilla (Colom-bia).

Caracas. He had returned from a State-side vacation.

Another visitor was Angus Mar-shall who came to take his Engi-neer test before going to Scotland and South Africa to spend his home leave.

Frank Dennis is now back from a brief vacation in Acapulco (Mex-ico) . . . other Caracas staff vaca-tioners also back are Gerald Mc-Kenzie, John Matrkolf, Harry , Brown, Pierre Dureux, and Chuck ' 1 T r î p O l î Riley.

by Helen Segal

A few transfers recently took place in Argentina: Fernando Ramos and Jim Jones from Cerro Dragon, the former to Canadon Seco and the latter to Comodoro . . . Adam Geisel and Demetrio Mufarrege from Comodoro to Canadon Seco.

6

We have had a fairly continuous flow of Paris visitors from July to date. There was Claude Poher—his visit to the Tripoli District Office was so brief that I did not even take a photograph.

Andre Poupon spent approximate-ly two weeks in Libya and gave In-terpretation courses to both engi-neers and clients, both in Tripoli and Benghazi.

Andre Misk also spent approxi-mately two weeks in Tripoli to con-duct an engineer's course.

Another two-week visitor, Donald May, divided his time between Tripoli and Benghazi. The day after Donald left, Robert Pignon of Paris Engineering arrived for a couple of days and went on to Benghazi.

On October 7, Louis Magne and Roland Genin also arrived from Paris.

During August, Joseph Ferraton stopped off (on Paris' instructions) to give Tripoli the 'once-over.' He was en route to Paris and home leave, at the end of his Nigeria con-tract (see October Intercom). We did our best to make him welcome.

Hartmut Tornieporth and family (wife, Renate, 2Vi-year-old Hans Christian and 11-month-old Nadia Gabriela) flew to Rome on October 7, on the first leg of their home leave. From Rome they will drive to Hamburg (Germany). Other ho l i day p l a n s i nc lude D e t r o i t (Michigan) later this year. All things being equal, the Tornieporths will be back in Tripoli next January.

During Hartmut's absence on home leave, Andre Salaber is in the chair as District Manager.

itiTs.ncotn / November 1962

The Tripoli Office received a type-written letter from John Johan-nesen. He has been transferred from the Oslo hospital, for further treatment, to:

Kronprinsesse Marthas Institutt, Jorgen Lovlands gt: 2, OSLO, Norway.

John seems to be making steady progress and says he would have considered his treatment as pretty strenuous ten years ago! For occu-pational therapy, he is learning to type on an electric typewriter, which seems to be excellent training for a Schlumberger engineer! His thoughts are already turning to Schlumberger Italiana, as a possible next assign-ment.

in Tripoli sick bay

Û

On August 24, while at Pan-Amer-ican Cone. 94, a GRN tool rolled off the catwalk on to Keith Gibbs' foot. After treatment on the spot by the Pan-Am doctor, Keith was flown to Tripoli in one of Mobil Oil's planes, which had been diverted for him. The British Military Hospital, Tripoli, verified that he had broken three bones in his foot. After sev-eral days' enforced rest at home, Keith was back in the office, where his services as typist and, some-times, draftsman, and all the other paper work he did, were much ap-preciated.

Now, Keith is back on the job, hav-ing limped ofi" last week to run his first log in over a month. He was soon back from that job, but he could not dally long in town, as he had to fly out to another job.

§

@1

On September 22 Dick Fox flew to town on doctor's orders. He was soon incarcerated in the Casa di Cura (Italian clinic) with hepatitis. On October 8 he went to Paris to take up residence—only very tem-porarily, he hopes—in the Amer-ican Hospital there.

s

K E I T H G I B B S A N D G E R A R D B L i N

P I E R R E BARTHELEMY

Claude de Bailliencourt, assistant November 1962

to Division Manager in Mexico, c e l e b r a t e d f i f t e e n y e a r s w i t h Schlumberger in September.

Christian Dadrian (Bolivia) and Pierre Barthélémy (Caracas) have just hit the 5-year mark.

Congratulations to all of them.

To Engineer:

Maurice Macret (Home Leave)

Daniel Bastide (Home Leave)

Angus Marshall (Home Leave)

To Junior Engineer:

Rolf Aeschbach (Las Morochas)

Effective October 1, Jean Gartner was appointed Department Head -Data Processing, with Operations. Jean reports to Louis Allaud, Man-ager, Technical Services - Opera-tions.

Also effective October 1, Claude B ä k s reports directly to the Execu-, tive Vice President, Louis Magne.

Alicia Anne, born in Caracas on August 10, evened up the score for Bill and Sheila Niles who now have two boys and two girls.

James David was born in Maracaibo on August 14; his proud parents are Zanna and Richard Bickham.

John and Monika Aitken welcomed the arrival of a son, David Bern-hard, in Maracaibo on August 24.

In San Fernando (Trinidad), Han-nelore and Artur Schmidt's son, Boris, was born on September 20.

While vacationing in Panama, Leo Constant ino c ab l ed announc ing that the "Constantino family now includes a daughter, Elizabeth Ann, b o m October 3."

SAVINGS AGENCY

At Sept. 30 the value of

the unit was reported to be $4.21

END 11

S C H L U M B E R G E R " S U R E N C O , S. A. I N T E R O F F I C E C O R R E S P O N D E N C E

StP 24 ^

TO: INTERCOM DATE: September 21, 1952

FROM; Solalog Recruiting

Hiring of Trainees - Tough

Just in case our field people are not convinced that

hiring new engineers is not getting tougher, let me

relate a recent incident.

At 4:30 PM a prospective trainee called me from Dallas

and explained that he ran out of time and could not come

to Houston the following morning as scheduled....he then

suggested that I come immediately to Dallas to interview

him before midnight as he was returning to Canada early

next morning I

The solution was simple. No, I did not tell him to go

to hell, as you might expect. But within thirty minutes

the Dallas Division Manager of SWSC was in the prospective

trainees hotel room and a very favorable interview may soon

result in a future Surenco engineer.

C. A. Doh

CD/jm

12

t y 1 e

iMT^ncoM/November 1962

H. C . B R A N D , S W S C S D A L L A S D I V I S I O N M A N A G E R .

Dear Intercom:

Attached is the picture which you requested;

and here is a short account of the interview,

as I remember it.

On or about September 14, Mr. Charlie Doh

called me requesting that I do him the favor

of recruiting a young Canadian engineer

who was visiting Dallas, attending a conven-

tion for engineers. Mr. Doh explained that

Surenco had advertised in Canada for en-

gineers and, that this young man was inter-

ested in Schlumberger. Mr. Doh was unable

to come to Dallas to see this prospective em-

ployee. He gave me the name of the pros-

pect and his room number at the Statler

Hotel. His name escapes me at this time.

I called this young man, gave him a descrip-

tion of what I look like, and made an ap-

pointment for us to meet in the lobby of the

hotel. I proposed that we walk down the

street to the Erl^ineers' Club for a drink, and

a talk about Schlumberger.

This young man was most interesting and we

had a most enjoyable chat. He told me of

his work in Canada with a Consulting firm.

I asked our usual questions concerning what

he wanted to do in the future — family,

ambitions, etc.

He was a bit apprehensive as to why we

would advertise for engineers in Canada. I

fold him all the facts and figures as out-

lined to me previously by Mr. Doh. I believe

he was genuinely interested in coming to

work for us; and being single, the foreign

work appealed to him. He was also worried

about what might happen to him in connec-

tion with the military, and one or two other

minor details.

I explained all the Schlumberger benefits

and fold him that I would recommend him

for employment if he wanted this type work.

He said that he would have to make up his

mind if this was the life for him.

He appeared to be an intelligent, alert, and

very nice young man. We parted with the

understanding that I would report back to

Mr. Doh and that someone would contact

him.

Sincerely, ,

H. C. Brand 13

S C H L U M B E R G E R I N T E R O F F I C E C O R R E S P O N D E N C E

T O ;

F R O M :

h ! \

I n t e r c o m C a r a c a s - Vendzue l fe .

A r g e n t i n e A r e

ro MM

3E SET 19 1902

JC PRI es

D A T E :

F I L E :

I . E O

1 »•YRL

A u g u s t Z2 , 1962

I n t e r c o m

Y O U R R E F E R E N C E :

S U B J E C T ; O U R R E F E R E N C E :

I h a v e o f t e n b e e n a s k e d h o w t o o r d e r b o o k s . F o r t h e b e n e f i t of y o u r r e a d e r s I a m s e n d i n g y o u t h e a d d r e s s e s of

t h r e e b o o k m a i l e r s w h i c h I h a v e f o u n d o u t s t a n d i n g :

1 . T H E B O O K - M A I L E R P . O . B o x 101 M u r r a y H i l l N e w Y o r k 1 6 , N . Y .

T h e B O O K - M A I L E R w i l l s u p p l y a n y US p u b l i s h e d b o o k s . Y o u p a y o n l y t h e b o o k s t o r e p r i c e s e t b y t h e p u b l i s h e r . T h e

B O O K - M A I L E R p a y s t h e p o s t a g e a n y w h e r e i n t h e w o r l d a b s o r b i n g a l l c o s t s of p a c k e d g i n g a n d s e r v i c e m a i l p o s t a g e .

A l l t h a t i s n e c e s s a r y t o o p e n a n a c c o u n t i s t o s e n d a

c h e c k i n U S d o l l a r s a d d r e s s e d t o t h e B O O K - M A I L E R . W i t h e a c h s h i p m e n t y o u w i l l r e c e i v e a b a l a n c e s t a t e m e n t .

2 . F R A N C I S E D W A R D S L t d . 8 3 , M a r y l b o n e H i g h S t r e e t L o n d o n W . I o - E n g l a n d

F r a n c i s E d w a r d s h a s t h e m o s t c o m p l e t e c a t a l o g u e s a n d

b o o k s e r v i c e i n t h e w o r l d .

R e m i t t a n c e s f r o m t h e U S A : b y c h e c k , p r e f e r a b l y d i r e c t

t o t h e B a n k of N e w Y o r k , 4 8 W a l l S t r e e t , a / c F R A N C I S E D W A R D S L t d . N a t i o n a l P r o v i n c i a l B a n k L o n d o n , o r b y

c h e c k i n U S d o l l a r s t o F R A N C I S E D W A R D S L t d .

T h e y s p e c i a l i z e i n o l d b o o k s t h a t a r e d i f f i c u l t t o f i n d ,

o r t h a t a r e o u t of p r i n t .

/ . . .

14- iNTERCOM/iVovmèer

- 2 -

L A P O R T E E T R O I T E L o u i s P r o v o s t

, R u e B o n a p a r t e P a r i s 1 6 e m e . - F r a n c e

i t , t w o m o n t h l y p u b l i c a ^ t i o l ^ . ' ' o L ° ^ r e q u e s t

- H . r e . e F r a n c e . ^ evuTutt iTre

of a r r a n g e m e n t s c a n b e m l d ^ I o l p l ; a i l s o r t s ° P e n a n a c c o u n t w i t h h i m

^ l / \ l l e p

P - M a j a n i

P M / g e

15

THE RECORD P O I I P L For the jazz collector, the best buy of the year, or of any year, is wi out any doubt the two f;ve-disc a -bums, available separately at $6^9 ^

each, which make up ^ e Greatest Music Series; Pop

(Artia-Parliamerit W G M a" 2B Five LP $6.95) . Album 2A has

o n ; big-band disc g u s o n ) ; two vocal discs (Sarah Vaughan and Jo Wilhams), and

most interesting of all, a m i q u collection of recordmgs from A e Forties (where else can y in one session E r ro l l G « n e r s Pastell md Trio, Art Ta tumsDar fc Eyes, Bud Powell's Bud's Bubb e

Charlie Parker's C r « « » ' « ^ Bird Femlters, and TooKie V the early Stan Getz trio with Horace

g r ^ p s ^ V a c h i t o , Randy Weston Basie and Sonny Stitt). Album 2B r t a i n s two big-band discs ^ a s i e

and Ferguson); two with Sarah Vaughan ^nd BiUy E ctine the other including Dmah Washington, Chris Connor, Louis Arms t rong , Jo WUUams, S Vaughan, and Lambert, Hendricks and Ross); a miscellany of sn^ group performances by John C L n e , Woody Herman, and Phmeas Newborn, and two jam groups to

complete the set.

Many of the records above are, o course, duplications of recent re-

leases. Most stirring ^ " est discs is Odetta: And the Blues (Riverside 417, $4 ,98) . The grea American folk singer sings the blues here for the first time on record. The result, however, is very diffe ent from the classic blues of the Twenties as Bessie Smith and Ma

Rainey sang them. Odetta to the contemporary ear which d

trusts any emotional warns even its blues crisply pomted in clear, well-defined sound to stir

but not to melt.

16 I N T E R C O M / November 1962

It's always a good idea to hear again from the appealing Mr. Bela-fonte, especially since his latest pro-gram includes more varied and sig-nificant songs than any other pre-vious release. In The Many Moods of Belafonte (RCA Victor LPM 2574, $3.98), Mr. Belafonte is found to be growing in many differ-ent directions; Israel , Broadway, Calypso, South Africa. Almost all the pieces here are new and inter-esting, but I liked particularly the poignant protest of Dark as a Dun-

geon, the catchy high-spirits of I'm

on my way to Saturday, and the odd Bamotsweri which comes from Mir-iam Makebä s South Africa and is sung with her in a fascinating duet.

Sinatra and Swingin' Brass, arranged and conducted by Neal Hefti (Re-prise R-1005, $4.98) is a program that turns out to have a surprising musical homogeneity. This disc pro-vides Sinatra's classic interpreta-tions of the following songs; Goody

Goody, They Can't Take That Away

From Me, At Long Last Love, Tm

beginning to see the Light, Don

'Cha Go 'Way Mad, I get a Kick

out of You, Tangerine, Love is Just

Around the Corner, Ain't She

Sweet, Serenade in Blue, I Love

You, Pick Yourself Up. And Neal Hefti's ensemble helps capture the high dramatic conflict of tone and meaning which has made Sinatra America's leading chansonnier.

For the best dance music of the year, listen to Joey Dee and his Starliters who got their start at New York's Peppermint Lounge. Their latest recording, All the World is Twistin', is just what its title says: irresistible—anywhere, anytime, for anyone, twister or twisted, (Rou-

lette R-25171, $3.98).

1

vä--

H

-fSfl

1b»,

The most engaging folk music comes from Maria Luisa Buchino and her Llameros. Her sharp ear for tonal colors and her superb musical im-agination keep her two latest Moni-tor recordings from ever becoming repetitive or monotonous. Both discs are a joy: ChUe (MF 342, $4.98); Argentina (MF 343, $4.98). Both are distinct examples of separate musical traditions: the more sauve Chilean music with its lingering Spanish elegance, the more vivid Argentinian music with its Creole accent and Indian vigor.

For children, this year, there is a new label: MOTIVATION records which "proudly" introduces its series of SINGING SCIENCE REC-ORDS. The most popular so far is SPACE SONGS (MR 0312, $3.98), sung by the great Tom Glazer who has made a career of delighting children with his own repertoire of traditional ballads and who now sings this;

"There is no disputin', there is

no refutin'

We're all indebted to Sir Isaac

Newton

Because . . • Because . . •

Because

Sir Isaac discovered — his

genius uncovered

The nature of natural laws ..

The perfect present for any parent who wants his children to be first

on the moon.

Tom Glazer & Dottie Evans

Space Songs ^ Ballads For The Age Of Science by Hy Zaret and Lou Singer

Motivati^piecords

Highlights

On October 9th, Robert Pritchard gave a recital at Philharmonic Hall

New York's splendid new con-cert-hall now in its second week and the first building to be completed in the Lincoln Center of the Per-forming Arts which will eventually include a new opera house as well. This recent performance confirmed the impression made by his Euro-pean tour (Paris critics acclaimed him as "a very great artist") and by his New York debut in April 1961. His passionate and intense playing can now be heard on record (Spok-en Arts 202, $5.95). His program includes: Bach; Toccata in C minor and Fugue; Mendelssohn; Varia-tions Sérieuses, Op. 54; Gottschalk; Le Banjo; Pritchard; Ti Jacques Suite sur Melodie Folklorique d'-Haiti (Cortege, Danse Elegante, Mardi Gras); Pritchard-Hurd; Pas-sacaglia Monroviana; Chopin; Etude in F Minor, Op. 10, No. 9, Etude in A flat Major, Op. 25, No. 1, Etude in C Minor, Op. 25, No. 12.

Don't be surprised by Mr. Pritch-ard's driving rhythm, by his ag-gressive, percussive approach. He is neither brittle, nor jazzy; his good solid beat is his own Afro-American way of probing the music. First taught by his father, Robert Pritch-ard started playing the piano as a small child. By the time he reached high school, he was so obviously promising that a member of the faculty of Syracuse University took him on for private study. Then he went on to win a large number of scholarships and competitions, and thus studied at the Julliard School of Music in New York with the late Carl Friedberg, at the Manhattan School of Music also in New York with the Viennese-American Robert Goldsand, at the Mannes School in New York with Dr. Hans Neumann, in Italy with Arthuro Benedetti Michelangeli, and with the late Ed-win Fisher as well as with Eleanor

Amzel.

INTERCOM /November 1962

When the Liberian government made him its first concert pianist in residence at the University, a leading African journalist, Joseph W. Taffe, wrote in the Daily Listen-er, Monrovia, Liberia: "In the com-

paratively short time, in less than

three months, American-born con-

cert-pianist Robert Pritchard has

accomplished more for cultural ad-

vancement and development of Li-

beria and of West Africa than many

trade and economic missions that

have visited this country . . In Philharmonic Hall, last night, it was clear that he would accomphsh more for the cultural advancement and development of New York City than any legislative committee or council on the arts. His first record is also sheer pleasure, representing a new type of classical pianism which is certainly as valid as Euro-pean jazz.

Even the most celebrated virtuoso does not appeal to all tastes. Such is the conclusion to be drawn from the reappearance on records of two Titans, fresh from their semi-retire-ment, Vladimir Horowitz and Jas-cha Heifetz, in recitals which repeat some of their legendary interpreta-tions: Vladimir Horowitz: Recital (Columbia KL 5771, $5.98): Cho-pin: Sonata for Piano, No. 2, in B flat minor. Op. 35; List-Horowitz: Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 19; Rachmaninoff: Etudes Tableaux (2); Schumann: Arabesque in C, Op. 18; Jascha Heifetz, violin, New Sym-phony of London, Sir Malcolm Sar-g e n t , cond . ( V i c t o r LM 2 6 0 3 , $4.98): Bruch: Scottish Fantasia, Op. 46; Vieuxtemps: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, No. 5, in A minor. Op. 37.

The Chopin Sonata which was re-corded by Horowitz for Victor ten years or so ago reappears here in a new version : free of the mannerisms and eccentric accents which con-stricted the earlier interpretation, it seems now to flow in a manner almost relaxed and lyrical, bringing out the basic simplicity of the over-all design. But this new Horowitz is still severely angular and anti-romantic, completely subjective in his emphatic accents, and — no matter how luminously transparent his texture can be said to be — not a colorist.

For listeners who dislike any sort of exhibitionism and for whom a re-served sense of proportion is the essence of musicianship, Ar tur Rubinstein can also be heard in a new record taped during the mara-thon recital series he gave in Car-negie Hall, last year: Rubinstein at Carnegie Hall: Highlights from the Historic Ten Recitals of 1961 (RCA Victor LM 2605, $4.98): The pro-gram includes Debussy: La Cathe-drale Engloutie, Poissons d'Or, Homage a Rameau, Ondine; Proko-fiev: Visions Fugitives, Op. 22 (12); Szymanowski: Mazurkas, Op . 50 (4); Villa-Lobos: Prole do Bebe. Rubinstein's art is here at its peak: the Debussy is firm and well-defin-ed, yet spacious and mellow; the Prokofiev brightly colored but sub-tle; the Villa-Lobos quite lavish even though two of the liveliest Doll Pieces have been left out. Here, for all his admirers, is a truly represent-ative Rubinstein record.

In Bruch's Scottish Fantasia and part icularly in the Vieuxtemps, Heifetz is also in top form. Among violinsts, he is still unique for his brilliant, light-textured tone. His severely disciplined violinism aims at utmost precision, but the resuh is an effortless plasticity and a melod-ious grace and warmth which is often lacking in the knowing rigid-ities of contemporary playing such as that of Arthur Grumiaux, for in-stance, in Bach's Sonatas and Par-titas for Unaccompanied Violin (Philips PHM 2500, 2LP, $9.96).

2 7

itnejtcot» / November 1962

Joseph Szigeti, however, plays this same work with a life-time of dy-namic individuality, re-creating it in performance by carefully inflecting each phrase and freely shaping the r h y t h m i c d e v e l o p m e n t of e a c h movement, varying both tone and tempi to bring forth a more vivid flow of sound. Is that how Bach would have played it? Let's hope. In any case, Szigeti's interpretation of the great C Major Sonata is, without any doubt, one of the great violin performances of the century ( V a n g u a r d B G 6 2 7 / 2 9 , 3 L P ,

$9.96).

Another "must" record is Gerard Souzay's new recital of Schubert Songs ( P h i l i p s P H M 9 0 0 0 0 7 , $4.98 ). His collection of little mast-erpieces, each one sung to perfec-tion, the "big" songs like Auf der-

Bruck, Doppelganger, Erlkönig, Der

Zwerg as well as the graceful, lyric songs like A n Sylvia and Die For-

elle, comes to a hautingly beautiful conclusion with his moving inter-pretat ion of Wandrers Nachtlied

which makes one wish for more — more Souzay as he sings here.

THE RECORD POINTER

Andres Segovia also appears at his recorded best, this pre-Christmas season, in a recital which includes Platero and I, a set of twenty-eight pieces for the guitar inspired by Juan Ramon Jimenez' poems which won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1956, and on the overside of the record Segovia's own transcrip-tions for guitar of the piano piece Dolor by Jose Antonio Zulaica y Arregui (1886-1957), a Franciscan commonly called Donostia , De-bussy's La Fille aux Cheveux de

lin, and Frescobaldi's Passacagli and

Corrent, Fantasie by Weiss, and two Studies by Sor who was a famous virtuoso guitarist of the late XVIIIth century. Of all Segovia's recorded programs, this may be the most successful because it is exception-ally appropriate to the classical guitar with its gently rippling rhythm and subtle tone color. Pla-tero is a little silver-gray donkey who accompanies the poet on his travels and in whom the poet con-fides; and following Castelnuovo-Tedesco's pleasant music, Segovia is here the light-hearted performer of the early days, confiding in his guitar.

SEGOVIA Five Pieces f rom "Platero and I

M. C a s t e l n u o v o - T e d e s c o

and select ions by

Frescobald i

D o n o s t i a

Debussy

Weiss

Sor

y

I/,I

m

yûU

D L 1 0 0 5 4 2 9

''Darling, they We twisting our tune!''

© P U N C H , L O N D O N .

3 0

mnncont/November 1962

by Nancy Lenkeith

P aperbacks-of-the-month : N I N E S T O R I E S by J. D. Sal inger

THE E L E M E N T S OF S T Y L E by

William S t runk and E. B. Whi te .

What we have in these N i n e S t o r i e s

is a writer who can write and who

has something to write about . All

n ine of them a re paradoxes : very

f u n n y on the surface , very somber

inside, about hea r tb reak and at t imes

hear tbreaking. As with many o ther

stories originally published in T h e

N e w Y o r k e r magazine, the na r r a t i ve

s tructure is deliberately weak and

the author 's very real sense of h u m o r

is left to br ing off the ending.

Mr . Sal inger ' s greatest g i f t is unques-

t ionably his ability to let his char-

acters sit around and stew, not only

accurate ly but funct ional ly , so they

sound na tura l and still make his

point . "Just before the war with the

Eskimos" does seem too chichi, but

here is precisely the h u m o r — that

hea r tb reak could be so chichi. "Pretty

Mouth and Green my Eyes" does

seem too cute, but th is is the paradox

that makes t ragedy laughable and,

there fore , human.

The capaci ty to reproduce conver-

sation is a fea ture of the "New York-

er style" of which Mr. Sa l inger is

at present the most successful prac-

titioner. F o r many years now, follow-

ing the lead of E. B. Whi te , i ts salty

stylist, t he New Yorker h a s suc-

ceeded in keeping our l anguage pre-

cise, pungen t , lucid, and f r e e f rom

overwrit ing. T h e E l e m e n t s of S ty le ,

our second paperback, con ta ins the

rules of Engl ish usage and the prin-

ciples of composit ion as E. B. White

learned t h e m f rom his Cornel l Uni-

versity professor of Engl ish . The

little book can now be seen on many

desks in Amer ican publ ishing houses

and adver t i s ing firms. But it is a

tool as well as a status symbol , and

it is a book as well as a t oo l : dog-

matic and delightful , pu rga t ive and

seductive.

END

S0XARTRSN

THE SOLARTROTSr ELECTRONIC GROUP LTD D I R E C T O R S :

J . RreOUD (FRENCH) J . E. BOLTON, D-S.C. H . D . BJNYON, M.B.E. R. CATHERALL L. 8 . C O P E S T I C K J . E . C R O S S E t . M A L E C , M.B.E, E. R. P O N S F O R D

A. D e SAINT-ANDRIEU (FRENCH) B. S C H N E E R S O H N (FRENCH)

B. S C O T T . M.B.E. S E C R E T A R Y ;

L. E. BELCHAMBERS, B-A.. A.C.I.S.

FAKNTBOROHGH • H A M P S H I R E

T E L E P H O N E ; F A R N B O R O U G H , H A N T S 3 0 0 0

C A B L E S ; SOLARTFON, FARNBOROUGH, HANTS

T E L E X ; 05-45 S O L A R T R O N F N B R O-

10th October, 1962

The Editor, INTERCOM, 428 Bank of Southwest Houston, Texas, U. S. A.

Building,

Dear Sir,

Herewith Press Release put out generally covering the appointments of Mr. Gerard de Verteuil and Mr. Alexander G. Scott. This has gone out to the general P r e s s and technical P r e s s in the United Kingdom.

I am enclosing, in addition, a Press Release concerning Mr. Alex Scott which has been sent to a Provincial paper in the area where he was educated and lived for many years. I felt that you might like to have this background information concerning Mr. Scott for use as you may think fit.

The pictures are captioned and self-explanatory. Indeed, the s l i (^t delay in sending this information to you was occasioned by the fact we wished to get up-to-date pictures of the part ies concerned.

If I can be of any service to you in the future please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours very truly.

Terence O'Neill P r e s s and Public Relations

AIR MAIL

A M E M B E R O F T H E S C H L U M 8 E R G E P G R O U P

3 2

tHTsncoM/November 1962

an interchange A L E X S C O T T , L E F T , A N D G E R A R D D E V E R T E U I L T A L K I N G T H I N G S O V E R .

• F-4?

fW § CT

MSi rm?€§

Information From The Solartron Electronic Group Ltd.

Victoria Road, Farnborough, Hants.

Telephone Farnborough {Hants) 3000

for enquiries, photographs or additional information please contact

Terence O'Neill, Press and Public Relations

SOLARTRON - SCHLUMBERGER ADMINISTRATION CHANGES

Between Solartron and Schlumberger there has been an

interchange at executive level.

As of October 1st 1962 Mr. Gerard de Verteuil, who has

been Controller of Schlumberger Overseas S. A., has been appointed

Controller and Secretary of The Solartron Electronic Group Ltd;

simultaneously Mr. Alexander G. Scott who was Chief Accountant and,

latterly, Controller of The Solartron Electronic Group Ltd. , has been

appointed Controller and Secretary of Schlumberger Overseas S. A. ,

London, who are responsible for the administration of Schliimberger

overseas, whose territory ranges from Egypt to New Zealand.

Mr. de Verteuil has been with the Schlumberger organisation

for 26 years and during that time has se rved in many p a r t s of the world

in a financial administrative capacity. It was in May 1959 that

Mr. de Verteml opened the London office of Schlumberger Overseas S. A.

having moved this administrative body f r o m Port of Spain, Trinidad.

His wife and family, namely a son and th ree daughters, soon settled

in and find life agreeable in England.

Mr. Scott joined the Solartron organisation in 1956 as Chief

Accountant, having been in the Accounts Department at the Post Office

for 16 years . He has been one of the important contributory factors

in the growth of the company and in May 1962 was made Controller of

an inter

GERARD DE VERTEUIL W H O W A S APPOINTED CONTROLLER AND SECRETARY OF THE SOLARTRON ELECTRONfC GROUP LTD.. EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 1. 1962.

change Press Information

From The Solartron Electronic Group Ltd.

Victoria Road, Farnborough, Hants.

Telephone Farnborough {Hants) 3000

for enquiries, photographs or additional information please contact

Terence O'Neill, Press and Public Relations

- 2 -

The Solar tron Electronic Group Ltd.

Mr . Scott, m a r r i e d with two dau(^ te r s , qualified in 1937

as a Char te red Accoiintant and in 1945 was Chief Accountant Post

Office Contracts Department .

THE SOLARTRON ELECTRONIC GROUP LTD. , Farnborough, Hants.

A L E X A N D E R S C O T T W H O W A S A P P O I N T E D C O N T R O L L E R

A N D S E C R E T A R Y O F S C H L U M B E R G E R O V E R S E A S , S . A . . L O N D O N ,

E F F E C T I V E O C T O B E R 1. 1 9 6 2 .

10th October, 1962

mTmmcom /November ims END

iHTs.ncoM/November 1962

New York, September 19. The 1,000,000th

passenger to fly Air France services across

the North Atlantic stepped aboard flight

AF 012 at New York International Airport

today, September 19, 1962, and wrote his-

tory in North America for the French air-

line. He is Billie Lamb, 40, an oil service

engineer for the Dowell Schlumberger

Company enroute to a new assignment via

Paris. The Air France 707 Intercontinen-

tal jet-liner departed at 11:30 p.m. and

arrived in the French capital at 11:25 a.m.

September 20, Paris time.

Mr. Henri Lesieur of Air France, presented

the 1,000,000th passenger a plaque mark-

ing the achievement. He also announced

that Mr. Lamb was to be received by Air

France officials at Orly Airport. Present at

the New York ceremony were Port of New

York Authority officials and members of

the press.

Billie Max Lamb worked for Dowell in

Venezuela from September 1,1958 to Jan-

uary 1, 1961, then for Dowell Schlumber-

ger as a maintenance supervisor on the

Maracaibo Lake, then after a short inter-

ruption, he resumed his position with us:

his next assignment will be Tripoli —

Libya, but before going there he will spend

a few weeks in Germany.

A I R F R A N C E ' S L . O O O . O O O T H P A S S E N G E R T O F L Y A C R O S S T H E N O R T H A T L A N T I C . M R . B I L L I E M A X L A M B ( L E F T ) , I S G R E E T E D U P O N H I S A R R I V A L I N P A R I S B Y M I S S A D R I E N N E J A L B E R T ( M I S S F R A N C E A M E R I Q U E 1 9 6 2 . ) A L S O P I C T U R E D IS T H E " N E B U C H A D N E Z Z A R " ( 2 0 B O T T L E S ) O F C H A M P A G N E . P R E S E N T E D T O M R . L A M B B Y T H E F R E N C H A I R L I N E T O C O M M E M O R A T E T H E O C C A S I O N .

un PASEO en PATA . . Ail the attending marvels of a thousand

Patagonian sights and sounds helped to sway me to my wish."—Moby Dick.

Among the many trips which Bob Ford and

Pierre Majani make, two recent visits were

to Plaza Huincul, Cerro Dragon and Canadon

Seco. The photographs in the story are by

Bob and Pierre, and the text is from George

Gaylord Simpson's book entitled, A T T E N D -

ING MARVELS A Patagonian Journal,

published by Macmillan in 1934.

T A K E N F R O M T H E C O M P A N Y A I R P L A N E O V E R C O M O D O R O R I V A D A V I A W I T H S O M E I D E A O F T H E S I T U A T I O N O F T H E C I T Y . T H E " H O T E L I N D I A I N D I A -S H O W S O N T H E W I N G O F T H E A I R C R A F T . P H O T O G R A P H — R . D. F O R D

GONIA

l*h<itogra|»li l>y A s s o c i a t t d V r t s -

W I D E W O R L D P H O T O S ! ' . \ T A < ; { ) X l A X î l ( M < S i : . \ î f - . X 39

' s *'•*.» *

:

t ' •• *

'

X3

X

PHQTQ-OP HEi à, HÜtNCUL 'Pi Y PART Of iJMBE;RGER>WW n n n ^

R E P R I N T E D W I T H P E R M I S S I O N O F T H E M A C M I L L A N C O M P A N Y F R O M " A T T E N D I N G M A R . V E L S A P A T A G O N I A N J O U R N A L " B Y G E O R G E G A Y L O R D S I M P S O N

C O P Y R I G H T 1 9 3 4 B Y T H E M A C M I L L A N C O M P A N Y

C O P Y R I G H T 1 9 6 2 B Y G E O R G E G A Y L O R D S I M P S O N

ittmtcow» / November 1962

CHAPTER VI

HOW TO BEHAVE IN PATAGONIA

I t is a popular belief among those who dwell in cities, those who consider themselves as sophisticates and exponents of the complex life, that the inhabitants of the Great Open Spaces are simple people whose lives are not patterned or hedged.about by conventions. When harassed by modem life, we sometimes sigh for the supposed directness and sim-plicity of the pioneer or the savage state of society.

To anyone who has really lived among natives of un-civilized communities or who has spent much time under frontier conditions this legend is laughable. Nowhere are beliefs more stereotyped and behavior more circumscribed than among such people and in such places. And nowhere are the penalties for transgression of the set rules heavier. What would merely be interesting eccentricity in civilized life may be literally punished by death on the frontier. The standards are usually very different from those familiar to us, but they exist and are rigidly enforced.

Even in the minor matter of the formulas of politeness this is very striking. With us, for instance, strangers must ordi-narily be introduced. The usual absence of this custom in wilder regions is not a simplification. On the contrary, this convention is there commonly replaced by the still more stringent rule that one must not inquire into the name or ® business of a stranger. S

Patagonia has its own etiquette. Some allowance is made g for the ignorance of foreigners, but the traveler who does -not wish to be treated with a mixture of suspicion and scora i must early acquire the rudiments of Patagonian politeness.

In Buenos Aires and even in the fringes of its culture, as g among the more cultivated residents of Comodoro, the con- ^ ventions are mainly European, but out beyond the Pampa ÏÏ de Castillo things are rather different. °

A stranger arrives. His name or business must not be asked, nor must he ask yours, unless there is some very good reason for doing so. He must be invited into the house and must at once be offered maté. If he chooses to stay, he must be fed and given such shelter as is available until he decides to go. Unless he means to stop for some time he will not ordinarily take off his hat, except to eat, and not always then. If a passerby does not actually call attention to himself, no notice whatever should be taken of him. You may stop at a house, draw water from its well or spring, and rest in its shade, and the occupants will go on about their business as if you did not exist, unless you speak to them, whereupon they will be obliged to adopt you into the family temporarily.

In short, the golden rule of contacts with strangers in Patagonia is to mind your own business and to let them mind theirs, to proffer hospitality freely and without question, but only after some sign that it is wanted.

M A R G O T D E N K L A N D F R A N C E S M A J A N I A F T E R A N O V E R N I G H T S T O P I N P L A Z A A N D H E R H U S B A N D H E I N Z O R G A N I Z E D A P A R T Y F O R Y A C I M I E N T O S P E T R O L I F E R O S G R A P H P. M A J A N I

S A Y ' G O O D - B Y E S ' H U I N C U L . M A R G O T V E R Y S U C C E S S F U L F I S C A L E S . P H O T O -

41

Thanks are never given in anticipation of a favor. To reply "Gracias" to an offer is to refuse it. When being served, "Gracias" is equivalent to "Enough."

When entering a room where anyone is eating or drinking, one must say "Buen provecho!"—"May it do you good!" All must reply "Gracias!" The same formula must be used by anyone who leaves a table before the others are through. To leave a table or a room one may also say "Con permiso"—"With permission." The answer is more often as-sumed than given, but if given is "Es suyo"—"It is yours."

In Buenos Aires "Si'rvase" is a usual phrase for "Please," but in Patagonia it has only its literal meaning, "Help or serve yourself." "Por favor" is the formula for "Please" but is seldom used. "Gracias" means "Thanks" of course, as it does the Spanish-speaking world over, and "De nada"—"For nothing"—is "You're welcome."

"Buen dia," "Good day," is the greeting until after lunch, and then "Buenas tardes," "Good afternoon, or Good eve-ning." Saying goodbye has many more subtleties than in English. Aside from the usual good wishes, such as "Que le vaya muy bien," "May it go well with you," the phrase de-pends on the expectation and desire to meet again. If there is to be another meeting during the same day, say "Hasta luego"—"Until soon." If on another but fixed day, "Hasta manana," "Hasta domingo," etc.—"Until tomorrow," "Un-til Sunday." If the expectation of meeting is indefinite, "Hasta otro dfa" or "Hasta otro momento"—"Until another day, or moment." This is the usual farewell to travelers, with its polite implication that one does not wish definitely to say goodbye but wishes to see them again, even though this may be obviously impossible. "Adios," contrary to our expectation, is used only very rarely. It is too strong a word. It means that the parting is really very serious and that one expects or fears that it is final. It might be used to confide the care of loved ones to God when they are going on a long and dangerous journey. To use it for a more casual parting may even be insulting, with some hint that one does not wish

T H I S I S I N C A N A D O N S E C O I N F R O N T O F A T Y P I C A L S U R E N C O T R A I L E R . W E H A V E Q U I T E A N U M B E R O F T R A I L E R S A N D P R E F A B R I C A T E D H O U S E S T H E R E . L E F T T O R I G H T , F R A N C I S C O G A R N H A M , A N G E L W A T S O N , J E A N A N D S U Z A N N E D U C A N O I S . B I L L Y W R I G H T A N D J O S E L U I S M A L D O N A D O . P H O T O G R A P H R. D. F O R D

to meet agam. On meeting a friend, "Que tal"?" "How goes it?", is col-

loquial, and the answer is "Bien, gracias, y Usted"?", "Well, thanks, and you"?" This reply is so automatic that it often precedes the question. Several times when I forgetfully neg-lected to inquire "Qué tal?" my friends said "Bien, gracias" anyway, as if I had. Good wishes are returned by saying "Igualmente"—"Equally," or "The same to you!"

In English we illogically ask pardon for doing a thing before we have done it. Not so my Patagonian friends. They may ask for permission to do it, but never ask pardon before it is done, and very seldom after.

4 2

iNTERCOM/iVot?mSer 1962

c c .2 ^ c « o W) rt i-H

Ph

C V

13 3

rû 13

a S s ^

rt ï t/3 !.> flj t-H

•ë ÙD

« G Ji « *-l c ^ u .2

"Sd

^ « V

CO On a ä ^ E W5 > C . r3 ^

JZ

a V

.2 'm u

W ^ V) P V

(h

ö - i .S C

S c s s ^

0

8

c V

rt 0

a; c

0

j : u

*-5

'- X! O <2 <-!-( - fe

. 5 c/î ^ ^ <fi ^ 1'

N fc ^ O lU

e

CA t-H P CJ CJ o tiX) s ^ S o

" -S s Ö o 1 " ^ ,5 o j o 'S Il ^ ' ü w . Ë o; ^

-C .9

o; (u -5 c . o .g ^ o

G ^ . +J h

§ 1

^ 53

V

V-I

VH V l->

o; 0 4-)

4-» • C Jii -Ë

'Îj o o ^

(/3 o;

s ^

rt qj V

CJ V3 - U o O w _û

C rt V • (-4 C C3 S)

ÔJ Ö

c S h OT u CJ rt

- ' 13 V .2

rt 13

S

O

C rt

a , in u e g

« g

^ ^ V O ^ ^ <ü V ^ 4J C C Cî

G TO rtj TO c/3 t/5 tJD :: u

o jD c 0,0 0

W) %'5 g - s Ë

-O S

C4

2 3 o

o c o

TS

u s o

MH 2 g ;i5 3 c3 0 VM 0 'a,

X w h-( V a . Ü w cd WD

*c Cd OJ CJ 1-

1 qj t-.

4-> Cd

i 0 Ë

C Cd CJ

HH

' s "c 0 <Û *0

0 l/!) 4J Ui

W) cd

*0 0 l/!) V u C CJ

> 2

*5 1—( CJ

X3 0 M) H-1

13 C rt

C

^ -O " s Ö • -

li; " ^

O - I

.i£ ^

-13

•w rt

eu o;

rC

^ e 5 Ui TO

-C 'O c

^ fl? •. ^ •i J3 V çq •»-' _g Q-) C

S cî)^ rt .S

c< u "S 5 S ) "

îi ^ ir 2 CL, S

cQ 3 ^

C v Ü S m O fî .y C

ti ^

C

OJ et

. . Ë Ö W5

2 S & S

. .in ? ^ ^ o t . 'S Jn ^ 'S ^ S «s (« « O

^ 'rt .Si Cl,

j- £ w

o C c/T ^

Ö -3 o ^ o

• M O O •K tOD C 13

i l u

bX) tm 4-) C u rt

•

HD cd

n3 X! C '*-' rt . »-H ^ O rt <+-! a flj 5jd^ ^ bX)

- .oT 13 C rt

n Ë rt

rt Ph

fe '-' S -G OhL_| o a .

rt ^ t_ o; a 4 o; W) T3 ^ o

•S 4j rt (j ^ fc Ö e -

-S ^ o 4-> Pm V3

CJ •M .Xi ^ • — (jj ^ s

^ 1 3 j: TO Im

S «

« t/3 P

13 Ci, u f

. ë ^ tn

TO Qj

O 4J W V3 V V > JZ C3 ^

O tUD rt C

'S rt "o Dh^ o; »-• t-> eu P

o •= Q

cd P-. ä > «H

3

u

c

"•

_C ^ •S O o C u

13

13 es u

-5 U ) ^ C ^ es

13 C

• SP >

'ts cd

O Oh 6

q 13 O cd w M.Ë

t3 J5 c o

w tn XI

•"O •'-' C 4-1 es C ^ D

rt 4-1 5C C tn

'S (U b te g ^ £

C cd Qj Ë Ëf ^ cd •— Cd C/3

V <u- -n

XI cd Um

V Ë 3 C C

b t« Cd u

ÖJD Cd cd E

QJ M

6 o o 4J X

p cr

<j

HOJ x: 4->

xJi ä ^ .a îs -0

ts

6W

^ S4 x :

'S t!

^ 2 <1 Ë I «

4-> <y x: &

.-H 4

•o 

r3 oj

V5 Cd

<u Ë es

-C te 3 O

w C o

13

u XI

x : es x : N •

V (U JD

4-1 ej es es 4-J C C

C in

bJD-T ^ O

S ^ Ö G cd w

c/} O J

hfl 2 OX) o •Ë -5

13 c u c Q p o c

' c c ^ Ë 3 ^ OJ ^

3 S V

•4-» TO Oc

2ëS S ^ s s g ^ - s l g ^ - s s -S-sas^J!^ J S-i.S'S s i-S a Ë-t-g tfl" i - S " • ï ' 5 - 1 S - S ' S » g " 3 - S i l T , 2 a i a ' S r ä i a g - ^ 2 Ï Ï

^ 1 s i fr-i l l

III l - s s . - 2 1 6 s - a l ^ i s Ë . s i ^ 3 J " §• s g i ; g - r s - ; - = • - l -s ^ I t i l - Ï - T à ^ - S s - S ' " l i i a | - S | | - i s »

^ . r î f OJ^ . S r ® i : 2 > J3rT-1

a T r ^ . s e ^ p s - s - ë h - « . « c o ^ « : 2 î « : S i "

"P

-T ^ rt V

73

s - ^ ? ' - a rtö^^^i<Sü-5

7;--gJl=-ï2lë3 l'ê-^ I -I 2 .2 ! a p t E ° s §• ç-l ä>r"S I s " ^ "S - ° = s £ • " . " : = 2 ^ - ^ f S x " ; i . S s § i t •a « &^2 h i y f c x l ' ö ^ — S «(U"f^T3Hßt!!='T3i;>ij=l-S

s . 2 4 ; . bß ö -ä g "" rS b ü . s c - û ^ . S g - g ^ - i g ^ 1 8 'S ö . s s id C s Ë g

• -H rt a,> ^ •—' ^ X ^ c l ^ O ü 3 ^ r\ S D S j a ^ < S c u > S D H Ë ' S i S e c v 2 B - 5 . 2 3 ' r t « § a , ß S S S - S S S S r t S " " '

c 4-> rt o o

JS V J3

' o w V c

c V c J3 •w o O

T3 V3 C c« UM c«

2 *0 O

k« 4; 4-» V| p Cj O 4~>

4>J

•" -C s ; ^ C4 > . . s

c 3 W)

— o Ü l-H ^

o P 4; •«-» CO O 'XX3X IVNIOmO NI 3Hnj.VAdn3 aovd ONlHdVUSOXOHd Aa Q3SnVD Sl S3N1~I JO NOIXUOXSia

J E A N D U C A N O I S , D I S T R I C T M A N A G E R O F C A N A -D O N S E C O . T H I S U S E D T O B E T H E M O S T A C -T I V E C E N T E R I N S U R E N C O . T H E R E A R E S T I L L M A N Y . M A N Y W E L L S T O B E L O G G E D A N D W E H O P E T H A T S C H L U M B E R G E R W I L L L O G T H E M . P H O T O G R A P H P. M A J A N I

The real reason for drinking maté is liking it, its flavor and its beneficent effect, but it also seems to be good physio-logically. Many people in the Argentine have almost literally nothing from one year to the next but meat and maté, and yet they thrive on this apparently unlivable diet.

Besides maté amargo there is maté cocido, brewed in a pot, strained, and drunk from a cup with cream and sugar. With this effete and citified innovation I will have nothing to do.

It is curious that one of the few native Indian drinks of North America, the Black Drink of the southeastern tribes, was similar to maté and was also made from ilex leaves, but of a different species. Its use has now wholly died out, and deservedly so, I think, for I recently got some of the leaves and prepared some Black Drink, which I found not only vastly inferior to maté but even positively distasteful.

Happy are the Patagonians to have their maté ! They have so little else. Here is life stripped almost to its barest essen-tials. Many tribes of savages l i v i n g i n the depths of j u n g l e s

have more in the way of material comforts than has the age poor puestero, or small sheep rancher, of central

P a t a g o n i a . His m a t e r i a l w e a l t h consists of a hut, a few leagues of barren ground, and a flock of sheep. Even these things are his only by sufferance. Usually he has only grazing rights to the land, and not true ownership, and the house, even though built with his own hands, belongs to the land and not to him. The wool crop from his flock is always mort-gaged far in advance, and usually the animals themselves are mortgaged and remain in his hands only as long as he can make their products pay interest, a desperate, almost hopeless struggle under present conditions. None of these nominal possessions can be sold. He sees no money from one year to the next. At best he manages to keep up a small credit at one of the stores.

From this credit, usually near or at the vanishing point, he must purchase all the necessities which he cannot produce himself, and also what few luxuries he may have. He has mutton in abundance, and this is his chief and not infrequently

4 6

his only food. Yerba is a necessity and must be purchased. If credit permits, he will also obtain flour, potatoes, and to-bacco. Wine is definitely a luxury, and while almost all would like to have it, in recent years few have been able to afford it. Clothing, selected entirely for cheapness and durability, must also be purchased. For his horse, unless abjectly poor, he will buy a carpincho skin and make everything else himself.

These are the sole purchases of the average puestero. Be-yond them are the few possible frills of life, sweets and extra oo , town clothes," cartridges, phonograph records. Most

o the œuntry people have firearms, but they are very seldom •c . artridges are too expensive. Covetous glances were requent, but the only thing I remember any of these poor

Th definitely asking for was ammunition. ^ puestos that we visited had phonographs, an-

. fhlf' contraptions that had finally drifted to S „r ^ ^ earth. A phonograph is wealth here, the badge < success. Outside of the towns and one country J 1 we saw no radios. There are a good many old motor

° cars in the country, but they belong to the carriers and the Ü townspeople. No puestero has one. H Many of these people can read, an ability more often Ï passed on from father to son than learned in any school, but

reading matter is excessively scarce. Most people have < managed to acquire a few old newspapers and magazines, g but books are almost unknown. There is no intellectual life, I no diversion, almost no contact with the outer world. News, 0 even that of vital local import, travels slowly, from mouth 0 to mouth. X

^ In summer, there are the sheep to attend to, lambing, dip-g ping, shearing. Apart from these set occasions, the flocks S receive very little attention. Except for the neighborly

asado, the one social function of the country, and for occa-„ sional wayfarers, life proceeds on an even tenor, a stream s in which one day imperceptibly follows another and all flow

on ceaselessly toward a lonely death. When winter closes 1 down, the doors are battened shut, and only brief sallies to g see to the sheep break into silent weeks spent in the gloom, I drinking maté and sleeping.

Life is encompassed by the darkness of the hut, the solace of maté, and by a barren outer world where the ruthless, the nerve-racking, the terrible wind blows incessantly. Some go insane. I cannot erase a horrible picture from my mind— two men in strait jackets lying neglected on the beach, writh-ing and shrieking. Later they were loaded like two logs onto Ae boat for Buenos Aires. They escaped from Patagonia. Their dream of leaving this desolation and of going at last to the fair and bright city came true. The sane do not escape. Others become morose, then bitter, then brutish. They go t toug human motions, but their lives are those of animals,

atagonia seems sometimes to be a personified force, an malignant spirit, delighting in the torture of souls,

^e mg with unfair weapons a crushing victory over m a n k i n d .

et t ere is more than this. As in listening to a symphony, as e ore a great painting, or as in the words of a poem,

is o ten in the midst of this misery a glimpse of the

4 7

ittTuncot* / November 1962

B I L L Y W R I G H T T O O K O V E R I N J U L Y W H I L E H E W A S O N L O C A L L E A V E I N G R A P H P. M A J A N I

F R O M J E A N D U C A N O I S S W I T Z E R L A N D . P H O T O -

grandeur of human life. Man is the animal that is above all animals. Something in him is greater than the sum of his days or the result of his actions. After its worst effort, Pata-gonia falls back abashed before this, and I think it reserves a savage love and an intimate delight for those strong enough to defy it.

There is laughter in Patagonia. There are those, there are indeed .an amazing number, who achieve the great victory of being commonplace there. The normal men of that fierce country are geniuses in living. Their strength is the rare strength of insensitiveness, of not being bored with blank-ness, of being unable to perceive horror. It is stupid, if you insist, but stupid only by a standard which would fail utterly in Patagonia. It is the brilliant men, by such a standard, who are weak and who escape into insanity. The strength of the others, the victors, is wholly admirable, and only the more so because it is so completely unconscious and so entirely devoid of introspection.

These puesteros are the true Patagonians. It is through and for them that the country lives. They inhabit the pampas. They are not a race, but they are moulded into something of a common semblance by the land. Their forefathers came from every corner of Europe, and often by devious routes. In not a few of them, too, there flow some drops of aboriginal blood, something from the tall Tehuelches and from the fierce,

gunconquered Araucanians. Now they are simply Patagonians, J a word no more definite in ethnic meaning than is "American," 5 but one with a real connotation nevertheless. g Even here in central Patagonia, these people are in a - minority. They occupy the land, and without them it would I die, but the others outnumber them. Î There are the townspeople. Of their life I have said some-3 thing and will say more. They do not differ very greatly from u tradesmen, innkeepers, officials, and hangers-on the world „over. Then, bridging to some extent the gap between the \ people of town and of country, there are the carters. Some-i times with motor trucks, sometimes with carts, sometimes, but

0 more rarely, simply with pack animals, they tie the country 1 together. They are its circulatory system, haulmg out the 0 produce of the country and bringing in the imports of the S coast towns. 5 Beyond this, as in all societies, there is another and a sparser m tribe" the wanderers, the individualists, the hunters, and the 1 outlaws. The nearest thorn bush is their home. Their pos-0 sessions are a horse, a knife, boleadoras, and the clothes they 1 wear. They live and they die by their wits. They accept hos-Î pitality as their right, but never beg it as a favor. They Î sleep wherever they are and they eat whatever they can get. ° If, as frequently happens, they have the misfortune to kill

someone or to steal too much, they wander on, traveling at night, north or south or westward across the cordillera as fancy strikes them. They are not, as a rule, evil at heart, but they take what they want and they kill when they think it necessary. They do not recognize rules or laws. If they did, they would not be in Patagonia. No one knows them, and they know no one.

48

O U R " B A R B U D O " P I E R R E J O U B F N , T H E E X I S T E N T I A L . I S T O F C A N A D O N S E C O . R I V E G A U C H E . P H O T O . G R A P H P . M A J A N J

L E F T . M I N N I E L O U W R I G H T A N D F R A N C E S M A J A N I D I S C U S S A R T I N T H E H O U S E O F S U Z A N N E D U C A -N O I S P H O T O G R A P H P. M A J A N I

/

How many of these solitaries there are, it is impossible to guess. They may pass through a wide region without ever being seen. Central Patagonia remains a stronghold for ^ such nameless, homeless, friendless men. What dark secret ^ drove them here, or whether that secret lies only in some | inner urge of their forlorn souls, cannot be told. They do s not talk of themselves. At work out in the wilderness we more z than once saw a strange rider silently passing near us who g would merely turn his head away and increase his horses 5 gait when hailed. 3

Some of these men are hunters, not merely for themselves g but with some thought of profit, and these may have a more i circumscribed range, although they seldom have fixed habi- 5 tations. It is here that a classification of Patagonian society ; impinges again on the puesteros, for some men alternate or » combine hunting and sheepherding. They hunt chulengos, 0 skunks, foxes, and ostriches. The hides are made into quillan- ^ gos, fur blankets, locally, or they drift into world trade an g show up again in New York and Paris under strange names. = The ostriches are hunted for their feathers. They have no » plumes, but the feathers have a small value for feather S dusters! In Comodoro we saw dusters made of feathers that ^ had been shipped from Comodoro to Germany, there simply ° fastened to sticks, and then shipped back again. 2

There are other classes of people, but I do not feel that g they belong on this canvas. There are, for instance, the oil 0 field workers and officials, but they are a thing apart from the true Patagonian scene. The oil is an accident here, and it is not permanent. And there are farmers in Patagonia, but they, too, can hardly claim a significant part in this picture.

Their foothold is so meage r - i n the great bulk of Patagonia, from the Rio Colorado to the Straits of Magellan, they have only a few narrow strips of land, at best a mile or two across and to be numbered on the fingers of two hands. With more right to a place among the Patagonians are the es tancieros , the o w n e r s of the great sheep ranches and their personnel. Here in central Pata-gonia, the most desolate and bar-ren par t of the country, there are almost no big estancias. These typify rather the country both to the north and to the south, and I shall have some occasion to speak of them when our travels have taken us farther afield.

Even in Patagonia life changes and social values shift. If the sheep ranchers hold firm ( which, however, is not a certainty), then the nomads must disappear in time. Hunting as a profession is already rapidly passing. The ani-mals are becoming less and less abundant . While we were there the hunting of chulengos, for-merly a mainstay of the country, was prohibited. Conditions of life at the puestos will, I hope, improve, although any improve-ment will be slow. Communica-tion is becoming easier and more rapid. Roads are being laid out and will probably b e built and improved . Someth ing more of world standardization will creep in as isolation decreases. But the real characters of this country are immutable: wind, cold, drought, pebbles where soil should be and t h o r n bushes for grass. These cannot change within a millen-nium, and as long as they remain, Patagonia will be its savage self and its people will be set apart from all others.

END

P A S E O en P A T A G O N I A

ttrnnGont / November 1962 J A C K I E F E L D M A N C A M E T O S E E U S O F F A T T H E A I R P O R T W I N D : 5 5

K N O T S I C O M O D O R O Î S T H E W I N D Y C I T Y O F T H E S O U T H . T H E R E C O R D W I N D I S 2 4 0 K I L O M E T E R S P E R H O U R T H A T I S . H U R R I C A N E F O R C E I N O T H E R

C O U N T R I E S . H E R E I T J U S T B L O W S A L L T H E T I M E , S O M E T H I N G B E T W E E N H O R R I B L E A N D U N B E A R A B L E . P H O T O G R A P H P. M A J A N L

:

i

INTERCOM INDEX

A

AITKEN, 13

ALEXANDER, 34, 36

ALLAUD, 13

B

BARTHELEMY, 12

BIELINSKI, 6

BOTH, 9, 25, 30, 52

BROWN, 6, 8

C

CARNEGIE, 29

CASTILLO, 43

CHOPIN, 28-29

CLAVIER, 8

CONSTANTINO, 6, 13

D

DADRIAN, 13

DANIEL, 8, 13

DARLING, 32

DAVID, 13

DAY, 3, 9, 44, 49

DE BAILLIENCOURT, 13

DE VERTEUIL, 6, 34, 36

DENNIS, 8

DOH, 4, 14-15

DUANE, 6

DUCANOIS, 6

DUMAS, 6

DUREUX, 8

ii

INTERCOM INDEX

F

FELDMAN, 6

FERGUSON, 18

FERRATON, 9

FORD, 4, 40

G

GARTNER, 13

GENIN, 9

GEORGE, 40

GIBBS, 10

GOOD, 21, 28, 43-44, 48-49

GRAS, 28

GREEN, 33

H

HEAD, 13, 52

HEPP, 6

HOUSTON, 14, 34

HUNT, 52

J

JAKOB, 6

JAMES, 13

JIMENEZ, 30

JOB, 6, 10

JONES, 8

JOSEPH, 9, 29-30

JUON, 6

K

KAUFFMAN, 6

L

LAMBERT, 18

LAWS, 26, 50

LONG, 6, 10, 22, 44, 48, 52

M

MAGNE, 9, 13

MAJANI, 40

MARSHALL, 8, 13

MISK, 9

MOSELEY, 6

N

NEWTON, 26

NILES, 13

iii

INTERCOM INDEX

NORTH, 39, 48, 50, 52

P

PARK, 6

PARKER, 18

PAUL, 6

POUPON, 9

POWELL, 18

PRITCHARD, 28-29

R

RAMOS, 8

RAUX, 6

ROLAND, 9

RONZONI, 6

ROSS, 18

RUBINSTEIN, 29

S

SALABER, 9

SCHMIDT, 6, 13

SCOTT, 34, 36-37

SEEMAN, 4

SHARP, 25

SIMPSON, 40

SMITH, 18

T

THOMSON, 3

TRUE, 48-50, 52

W

WAY, 8, 21-22, 28, 48

WEISS, 30-31

WHITE, 33

WICHTL, 6

WILKINS, 8

bells - allianceschlumberger.org · tioners also back are gerald mc-kenzie, john matrkolf, harry ,...

Documents