STATES & CITIES: Brotherly Love

STATES & CITIES

Chilled by the frosty rebuffs of Westchester and squirming under the ham-handed salesmanship of would-be hosts, U.N.’s site-hunting delegates started out on a cross-country junket last week, ready for anything. First stop was Philadelphia. As they clambered down from the train at North Philadelphia station, the here-we-go-again air was unmistakable.

But this time, to their pleased amaze, things were different. Philadelphia made no bones about wanting U.N. What was more, it seemed determined to present its case with becoming restraint. As the motorcade moved decorously out, not a siren whined. At every red light, the limousines eased dutifully to a stop.

Visibly soothed, though somewhat baffled, the visitors were told of two tracts, either or both of which would be an outright gift of the city, with no legal or political strings attached. Tract 1 was ten square miles near picturesque Fairmount Park; tract 2, 1,345 rolling wooded acres on Belmont Plateau, within the park itself.

When the time for on-the-spot inspection came, the spirit of brotherly love was almost overpowering. There was a cocktail party for them in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Day, who would be evicted if tract 1 were chosen. Mr. and Mrs. Day thought that would be a fine idea.

Soft Music. Philadelphia’s hosts never missed a bet. There was a concert by the famed Philadelphia Orchestra, a luncheon at the Art Museum (under pictures by Matisse, Gauguin and Reynolds). In a helicopter provided for the delegates, Holland’s Jan de Ranitz and Dr. M. P. M. van Karnebeek plopped down near Philadelphia for a hearty greeting by a local farmer & family (see cut).

In one of the few overt bids for U.N., Philadelphia’s Planning Commission Chairman Edward Hopkinson made such a moving plea that Soviet Delegate Nicolai D. Bassov was completely unhinged. Said he of his hosts: “A sincere people, with a fine understanding of the objectives of the United Nations.”

On that note they headed west for San Francisco. California’s Attorney General Bob Kenny and Mayor Roger Lapham greeted the arriving delegates at the municipal airport between blows of the winter’s first storm — conspicuously without overcoats. Everyone valiantly avoided the word “unusual” in regard to the weather. But the delegates were plainly not in the mood.

China’s K. W. Yu, originally a prime booster for a West Coast location, pointedly inquired about California’s anti-Oriental laws. Britain’s Sir Angus Fletcher wondered if a diplomat’s son might not wind up with a bloody nose in free-swinging Western schools.

This week, as the delegates, took off again for Boston, they hinted broadly that they were not interested in San Francisco — unless the Army should offer its tradition-steeped Presidio base. It was pretty obvious that their hearts belonged to Philadelphia. But before the whirlwind romance could flower, there were some stern parents to consult: the main 51-nation site committee, the General Assembly itself.