VIRGINIA BATTLEFIELD HISTORIANS BEGIN MEETINGS

The historical staff of the Virginia Civil War Battlefield areas has begun a series of monthly meetings which will be continued throughout the winter. The program, planned and supervised by Assistant Research Technician Edward Steere, will combine indoor conferences and field trips.

Late in October the staff assembled at Richmond National Battlefield Park and heard a lecture by Colonel Bryan Conrad on the Seven Days Battles. Assistant Research Technician Joseph M. Hanson later conducted the group over the Gaines' Mill and Malvern Hill battlefields. Plans provided for a session in November at Manassas where Colonel Oliver L. Spaulding, Chief of the Historical Section of the Army War College, was to speak.

The meetings are designed to offer practical opportunities for members of the historical staff to visit areas other than those to which they are assigned. Coordinating Superintendent Branch Spalding supervises the Civil War reservations.

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STATES TO DRAFT MISSISSIPPI PARKWAY PROPOSAL

Four states of Region One are members of the Mississippi River Inter-State Parkway Committee which will draft a bill, for presentation at the next session of Congress, authorising creation of a scenic parkway following the great river from source to mouth. Secretary Ickes met last month with representatives of states bordering the west side of the river and gave approval to the principle of the proposal. He indicated that representatives of the National Park Service and the National Resources Committee would cooperate with the states and that in due course broad surveys would be undertaken for determining the best parkway route.

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ALBERT PAUL BROWN, who had been for more than eight years a landscape architect of the Service until illness forced him to withdraw recently for treatment, died this month in Roanoke, Virginia. A native of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, he came to the United States in his youth and was naturalized. He entered the Service in San Francisco and was transferred to Richmond during the reregionalization of 1936. Miss Mary Young, a cousin, of Hythe, England, is the nearest surviving relative.

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DONALD C. HAZLETT, Assistant Inspector assigned to Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Project), has been elected to membership in the American Association for the Advancement of Science. A geologist, he will be affiliated with the Association's branches of geology, geography, engineering, bottany and zoology.

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GREAT NEW PASSAGE FOUND IN MAMMOTH CAVE

Existence of a new section of Mammoth Cave, which bore no evidences of prior human exploration, was revealed last month as a result of an investigation trip made by three guides of the national park. Two small "crawl-ways" and a larger passage led the group to "a large avenue that will compare with Broadway." Early exploration of about three miles of the great avenue disclosed numerous cross passages.

"I consider it the most beautiful portion of the cave that has been discovered," reported Acting Superintendent R. Taylor Hoskins. "There are large quantities of gypsum formations, stalagmites and stalactites. . . . The cave is in its natural state and prior to its discovery there were no signs of its having been entered before. The walls are highly colored and show no signs of smoke from torches as in the historic portion of the cave."

Mammoth Cave National Park contains the longest known caverns of the United States, discovered about 1798. The Review plans to offer in its next issue a special article on the caverns written by a geologist who has explored their depths.

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SERVICE CONTINUES STORM REHABILITATION AID

An extra allotment of funds has been made to provide for Civilian Conservation Corps camps assigned to the Service which are carrying forward greatly needed rehabilitation operations in the states of the northeast where the storm of September inflicted widespread damage. Camps in New Jersey and New York, as well as in New England, are sharing in the funds.

A carefully detailed report, copiously illustrated, has been prepared by Inspector Gerald Hyde who presents a clear picture of the extent of the damage inflicted by the flood and hurricane in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Landslides, demolished or undermined homes, washed out roads and bridges, destroyed woodlands and human fatalities are pictured by Mr. Hyde at widely separated localities of the three states. Describing the scene at Goddard Park, Rhode Island, he wrote:

"I had previously been told of the destruction here, but it was unbelievable even when seen. This once beautiful area was a shambles. The entrance road was once lined with l8-to-24-inch pine trees. Of these, there are only one or two left standing and they are completely brown. In the area around the office and administration building the beautiful specimen trees are broken, twisted or uprooted. There is a mass of tangled timber on the ground. Acres of pine plantations are flat. It is estimated that 25,000 trees were blown down in this park. . . Great fire hazard exists throughout the state, probably more than in any other place due to the fact that every leaf is dead. There is no green to be seen."