Blood Bank Shortage ^ :

Blood Bank Shortage ^ :

It Becoming Acute • '

With no definite plan formulated, there is still discussion as to what part Rappahannock will take in Joining the Red Cross Blood Donor Program. , As is always the question, opinions sre divided. Some think the county should join forces with a neighboring county .and carry blood donors to a central location for the two counties. Others think that Rappahannock should have its own blood-donation drive and . get the required number of donors to justify bringing the mobile unit into the county. J {There cannot be 'placed too much emphasis on how great is the need for stored blood plasma. „ An article appeared in a recent edition of a Washington paper stating how serious the problem is becoming.

“A blood-plasma crisis is launching the nation on its’ biggest blood-donor drive since. World War II, stated the city paper. “The armed forces have used up their plasma reserve. Medical need for blood is growing. Yet donations have been dropping. . . World War II plasma stockpiles are gone. Americans gave more than 13-million pints of blood during the war, and much dried plasma was left. But most .waft, released to civilian hospitals. The rest has been used up in Korea."

The drive throughout the nation has been launched and there will be continued pleas for blood donations until enough reserve is built up to take care of the armed forces in Korea and the growing need in hospitals at home.

-ygfFireman

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Donkey Ball Game

Bearding a lion in his den/ is usually considered- risky business, but tweaking the whiskers of the king of beasts is nothing lees than child’s play compared with the task confronting the ten men who will ride out on the field astride the Orange J. Ranch trained donkeys. They will take part in the donkey baseball game to ba staged at Sperryville on October 5 for the benefit of the Volunteer zf^”"CeMipBn]icrN»r 'fihatrbBdny: harm will come to these-tried and true sons of the saddle but, when the frisky little animals start kicking off their heels and doing everything but play baseball, their fnuqMiate neighborhood will throw the hitherto peaceful field into a bedlam of fury and excitement.

Even though the animals have strong minds of their own and even though they place their riders in such positions, there is always 9- strong demand to be one of the riders. This situation is doubtly interesting when it is observed that whenever the donkey play a repeat engagement the previous players usually ask for a chance to ride again.'Frequently* it is necessary to draw lots in order to accomodate both the new and old players who ask for a chance to participate in the game.

Prominent among the celebrities who have enjoyed donkey1 baseball as players are such as Dowell Thomas; -■ Lew Lehr, Ed Thorgensen, and Ceil- Smith, the polo player. When the donkeys Visit Sperryville, October 6, they will have a star-studded array of riders whose names will read like “Who’s Who” of the" town, 'and when the game is over, they will be able to look forward to the day -when, they can hold their grandchild on their knee and tell him of the time way back when they rode their dashing mount to victory over unsurmountable odds.