The Brussels Post, 1956-11-21, Page 7Scotland's. Dances.
Scotland is a :C011tetry rich in
folklore, song, music and dance,
and eentrary to the general be-
lief this native wealth does not
belong exclusively to the High-
lands. No solid historical evi-
dence informs us of early dances,
but in Court and. Castle we may
take it that French fashions made
'themselves felt, and that long
before the time of Mary, Queen.
,it Scots, Sources of vivid infor-
mation aro the many ordinances.
against guising and dancing
thualered, out by the Protestant
reformers who knew neither ito.
manitY nor a sense of proportion.
At Perth in 1577 eight men • 'con-
fest to be. of •Corpus Christi play-
ers' and Were made to, promise-
never 'to melt with sik thingis
again. Vet Edinburgh muniel-
petit), ',ventured to organise a
Word dance and a Highland
dance for Anne of Denmark in
1.590, and twenty-six yeme later
they paid for the 'Hobby horfs:
and fra Berwick,' and again for
qackette to the bobble horfs,' At
Elgin, in 1623, Where the people
seemed especially obstinate hi
their love of old wayt, guisers
were censured. for a Sword dance
'in the Kirk yard.'
Sword dances of the- hilt-and-
point type, now receded to south
of the Botder and to. Shetland,
seem to have been fairly corn-
ot In Scotland, A famous one •
belonged to the Perth Glovers'
CoepaatiOn. •
• No historical records tell us
et dances of the Highlands, but
memory still , holds them. -. •
These, the best-known (especial-
ly abroad), of all our dances, are
,often presumed to be our only
ones, They are seen wherever
there are Scots in the world. ....
These `step dances,' coming to
the cities, got into the hands of
long-ago dancing. masters who
polished and stylised 4111 the
country and mountain style had
completely vanished. Their rai-
son d'etreetoday seems to be ex-
hibition; and owing to the rigor-
ous training required for com-
petition they. have .become so
standardised that from Tweed to
Cape ,Wrath dancers will give
identiCal performances.. I say.
Tweed advisely, ,for they now be-
long to Highlands and Lowlands
ajike. Best known amongst them
is the solo Sword' dance, Gillie
Callum. • , .
Sibee 1822 Highland costume
has had'a period of devehipment.
Tartans are made for every clan;
the kilt is seen in Edinburgh as
the north, As an evening dress
for men it is most becorriing and
fashionable; for general country
wear it grows more ,and more
popular and many boys never
wear trousers until they. reach
manhood — From "Dances of
Scotland," edited' by Violet Al-,
ford,
NO WONDER
The new baby proved to have
very' powerful lungs. One day
his brother, aged five, said to his
mothee: "Mother, baby came
from Heaven, didn't he?"
"Yes, dem," answered ' the
mother.
"I don't blame the angels, for
slinging him out, do, you?"
JUNGLE RADIO
A lion and a lioness seeking
theie supper came across half a
dozen gnus. With six blows of
his powerfid paws the lion killed
the lot,
"Met," lie Said, turning to his
wife, "is the end of the gnus.
The time is exactly twenty-two
minutes pest nine,"
ITIETAIM-FRONT.
Johiais4i,
esees. •4••
sa, 1 6tts'd
t,...,, 1V . —or the. 40.Peli I ref) thx1
I"'" 'PUZZLE"— - ' IN; nepla eft.. — 18. Vlowev-
IYUrbei•q•Mea ' se14Ain
. ••' 91 hells 4:i, Lftvg•e ttetere
22. Perv8iVea 47:The Orldn't
ACTIOSS• " " te"eisti id,- ' ' 811an0 411." ITIntail5•14,
1.1":IVe Inn tenA„,,,,I .G11,7,0•1,00.),, 23, St)eepillioe '7 • 1,50 Ilitv e-deli(e
5. Sllet.e1 n.Tlint.511.I 24. 14inn II drums 02. W i to ess
e' ' i;•41.i.bilge „:, L.I.L'alt e.0.1t..e.argo. 20..,M,:it;ies I ..'..iti..ly .74, Parsfly's
9'. Water re A till 1.13,,v 27. 1.Iave.r.nOclivinv. Inother
12. OnitttrEI ..--S;-A14)118-goV41, —to , 54. bi f-i'er A'OtCh
coed I II 14 9. Xtea ger 39."I'ilt — FloIrold ,
411. Abhor
10. Lumberman's 58. Prolie.
boist 25 . More :1111111y CROSSWORD 1:r.riwei,,t -
a, De s erved
174464-het 4••
i9, Siring fish
.Devoured
0, Truthful 25, rural uered
Og, Twilight n,orly •
Sg.V6ntiltitek
04.10811e
Oil. JO this wa.:0-
ST. Registered
nurse.
1.Amer.
More
• 0,4cpengk+1
ACR'66,soil•
1LarLst,8"Ladllii ir• •a.Witidiniii4411".• r,ttttitbrvv'isoi• ,181111 ;lotto: " " •
410,1tirive. (arettiet ...4.•Ifliln.ihet dr' 1. woldits", •
i,1;',deehtfidrt•elt t,Statte ttr,'
/ 2
:.•„.
3 4
Is-
42
' :
a2•• 23
•ze
43
ip,
???;11' 39
W49 •-:
fek
• 33
9
"20 2/
24
•Mr.3...6". 30
etee
Seeteeeie.
3/
2i
43
so-
Anrwit thi3*'0J0iit;
grass crops. Despite the 50 per
cent or more organic matter con-
tent of the soil' nitrogen fertiliz-
ers are required because soil
temperatures seldom reach a
level to promote rapid nitrifica-
tion. Oddly, organic matter con-
tent increases evert when under
heavy cropping. Legumes are of
'Little Value. Soil temperatures
are .too low to stimulate nitrify-
ing organisms into feverish ac-
tivity. Phosphorus is required
on all soils while potash and
minior elements are valuable in
certain areas. Sulphbr and iron
are abundant. Applications of
up to 400 pounds of ammonium
nitrate 'per acre are economical.
Hay making is the big agricul-
tural chore. Modern machinery
is used on the level stretches,
but the primitive scythe and rake
are commonly employed wher-
ever tractors and mowers cannot
operate. Strings 'of ponies pack
'the hay toethe farm yard under
these conditions. These crops are
not uncommon during the short
growing season. The first may
be put up as hay, the second, en-
sited and the third pastured. Hay
drying equipment is not com-
mon, but its use is spreading.
Many farms have silos, and all
will have substantial hay sheds.
* *
The 800,000 or so sheep are
wintered indoors and turned out
on range after' lambing. Thete
they remain Until the fall round
up, when the lambs are cut out
and slaughtered 'and their car-
casses frozen. The practice of
'free ranging makes range man-
agement very difficult because
the range belongs to the district
not to individuals. Na charges
are collected for range emprove-
inent.
*
Erosion is commdte in Iceland.
Extensive tracts of sand have
been eroded down to under-ly-
ing lava, a matter of maybe 30
or more feet. It must be realiz-
ed that this was originally grasss,
land, not soil disturbed by culti-
i. a Mei.
* 1' *
There is an active conservation
progralil which is bringing dev-
astated tracts of land under ton-
trot. Nearly 200;000 acres have
'been under conservation manage-
Melee Likewise new grasses and
new strains of old grasses are
being introduced by the Univer-
eitY Research, InStitute, not only
to- reseed eroded areas but to in-
crease the yield from grassland
farms, The 'Mtn. experimental
farm% are studying grass produc-
tion and management: methods,
and an Extension service is dem-
onstrating the value of good hus-
bandry and proper
progressive farmers. are using all
available informatioe to ,Improve
their Wine and give leadership
to their districts, 'However, there
is a hard core of freedom-loving
Norsemen who follow the bus-
bandry practices imported from
Europe I,000' 'years ago
IBIS EXCUSE
At a party one night a Woman
"was admo,iiishing hex httsha rid.
"414e4y,, that's the 'fourth tittle
yOu've ghbe 'back for tripre food.
Doesn't it 'efribareass you?"
"No," replied' the htiSband,
tell Went I'm getting it for 'yen."
5
--==m
be shadow Of his tent or befog
the setoillykeeanhdearstalyithogf 1,14iasyeeidaeyo
drawipg lines in the sand -With
Iris
0
and "nay nay" with his fellow[
Thirty seconds, I suppose, I sari
that camp scene before it d,isake
peered behind a dune, 'yet I re-'
call it still es a scene of warrrit
color. and human charm. is a
desert otherwise so barren.
It falls to the lonely herds-
man, Out in the burning sun .a
day, to guard the tribal flockgi
from whatever danger's the
may be and then to lead th
back at night to the friend*
m els are couched about eaq
shelter of the camp..Here tit
ca
tent, to ruminate and grumbIlli
through the darkened how*
while the sheep are bedded'.
down inside the ring of camels,
with the youngest lambs tether-
ed to the ropes of the tent,
Over the ages the BeclOula
hthOsugahevheilgliopleyd speeecritaalted7a sikTirls:
He is able to read, the least sip
in the desert around him, that
may lead blurt to water in hi;
sakriedletloannt of ca
From
mels b113711.-ila°sbdpatsahl!
ed on. the long summer trek"'
and the blown sand mounds ot
human graves, have warne
him that he must learn his des
ert well, The• hoofprint of at
camel in the sand is the kind or
book he reads, and he knows at
a glance, because his safety
May depend upon it, the age,
sex, and type of -beast that
made the mark, the speed with
which its owner was riding and
the probable purpose of his
journey, whether peaceful or
otherwise. — From "Heritage at
the Desert: The Arabs and The
Middle East," by Harry B. Ellis,
Fought
Invasion
IlrvaSte by Oetoptieest Hordes
them were descending on the.
Japanese island of Tatoku, •their
0.0.1Y,. multi - armed purplish
bodies clouding the sea for• miles
amend,
With dismay in his heart, Ko-
kichikimoto rushed down to
the beech, Here was yet another
threat to his. oyster bc is and the
cultured pearl industry that he
had struggled so long to develop,
Ravenously hungry, the octopus-
es were deseending on his oy s
fers, prying open the Shells with
their tentacles to get at the meat
inside — and swallowing thou-
sands of dollars worth el needle!
tut Milsimote was. not to he
beaten, "Set out traps,' be told
his workers, But that was no
good -- there were far too Melly
oetopusee, "Send Out the diving
girls With spears." Fearlessly,
the girls battled with the octo-
puses for hours, Until too ex,
baueted to dive any more. • But
still the invasion continued, .
"Announce to all the villages
that I will. pay ten sen for each
large octopus brought in and five
see. for each small one;" Mike.
moto declared, "And also tell
the people they can keep the.0c-
topuses for food,"
Octopus is. A. table delicacy in
Japan and this ogler brought
hundreds more people 'into the
fight, with the result that the
invasion was beaten and the oys,
ter beds were saved.
At that time-1911—Mikimo-
to, the ex-noodle peddler, was
building up his cultured pearl
industry the hard way; for it
was a new industry and there
was no previous experienee to.
guide him,
"The average WOIDAII. who ac-
centuates her 'natural beauty
with a string of cultured pearls
will never know thee years of
Trial and failure that were ne-
cessary _to, create those beads,"
says Robert Eunson in his vivid
biography of the amazing Miki-
mote, 'The Pearl King.".
Genitis, industrialist, exPeet,
salesman, and quite -a philoso-
pher —• that was Mikimoto; who
died in 1954, at the age of ninety-
Six, As a genius who stubbornly
refused to accept defeat' he could
be eeompared to Thomas Edison.
For it took fifteen-years -tepro-
duce the perfect cultured pearl.
When he succeeded, he took it
to. his wife's grave and wept. For
it was -his7hard-working, ever-
faithful. 'Wife, Ume, who-inspired
him to carry on in face of con-
tinual setbacks.
Not all oysters produce pearls
— they only do so, usually, be-
cause some foreign body, such
as a grain of sand, has forced its
evay into their shells. 'Unable to
get rid of the irritation, they sur-
round it with layer after layer
of a soft substance which .even-
Jut Ily JorMs 'a ,pearl, • Ivrikirnoto's
idea Was te•teieure "that 'all oees-
tees did prodUtte epeaels:1 by
.meting a ,foreign .body Into the
shells,.
July 11th, 1893, was the great
day when, this bore fruit, Alter
five. years. ,of failure, Mikimoto
had almost given hope,, then
his 'Wife opened-an Oyster. .
"Suddenly a low. moan came
from Ume, as if she had been
• - struck in 'thereilf of;~'tie `stomach,
Then a sereene, 'Anata you!
Arleta!'
''He scrambled to his feet and
ran to his wife, . Squatting
inthe sand, a, knife in .one hand
and e freshly opened. oyster in
the 'other, his WiteWts 'staring
in .6Periereouliedsewohder at a
gtea nag white. pearl •
done it!! 'Mikimoto
shouted; falling to,„eheesand be-
sideehis.:Wife. 'We've• done it!'
'TheY ern bratied7eried,' tan
round in eirelee 'end' fell tO ' the
sand iii laughter Rui
3 '0 - 'eetatehed, half-,eMenerlee ih.,.
hand, hoping her parents had not•
bot gone quite mad:"
Mikiinota nevct tried, to pass
off his cultured pearls a .; natural
gems ---" wheres.er his products
are sold they are always labelled
"cultured pearls:" In 1033, when
he was being harassed by eom!
petitors soiling at obeyer prices,
he bought up 750.000 inferior
pearls worth more than $24,000
and wearing his bowler hat and
a formal black kimono, he shov-
elled them into a furnace him-
self, The furnace, for all to see,
was Set up in the heart of Kobe,
MikienOto's diving girls or
amabs were a very colourful
sight around Tatoku Island as his
pearl industry developed, These
girls have been diving for oysters
and other sea creatures since
ancient times and are as meth at
home in the water as they are
in their tiny, paper houses with
with grass-mat floors and sliding
doors, says. Etinson.
The trade is passed on from
mother to daughter and the wom-
en swim until they' are "far be-,
yond the bloom of life," Mrs,
()mice Kitamura is still an active
diver today and, she is glow past
sixty. Asked how she liked her
job, she replied: "We divers are
willing to work any time and
love doing it."
Apart from octopuses, another
great threat to the oyster beds
was the Red Tide, an invasion
of minute marine creatures that
killed off practically all shell
fish. In 1892, Mikimoto was
nearly ruined by the Red 'fide,
which destroyed 5,000 oysters. In
1900 it struck again, but this
time he was more prepared,.
Having received a telegram of
the danger, he hurried back to
his oyster beds and sent out an.
SOS for his diving girls who in
a short time were assembling
along the shore, "Now biiog out
the extra baskets," he command-
ed. A thousand bamboo baskets,
each capable of bolding fifty to
sixty oysters, were distributed to
the 300 excited diving girls.
'they ran out a short distance
into the water and then dived
into the shallow oyster' beds.
They filled their baskets and
then passed' them up to their
menfolk who had rowed their
boats into position, As soon as
one boat was loaded it was
rowed out into the bay where
the oysters were deposited sixty
reef deep, where Mikimoto
thought they would be safe.
"In two days," says .Eunsbn,
"the diving girls, working be-
neath the ocean until their bodies
ached from weariness and their
lungs felt as if they would col-
lapse from holding their breath
so long, had salvaged almost all
of the oysters:"
Employers of diving girls are
great believers in marriage. They
maintain that unmarried girls
are apt to be flighty and unable
to keep their mind's on "their"
work, SO 'to 'eneourage romance
on Tatoku, Mikimoto issued, these
orders to his right-hand man:
"Be sure there are plenty :of
boats for the workers to use '-at
night, Perhaps if they go row
ieg in the moonlight with some
of our pretty diving 'girls, there
won't be 'So many bachelors left
among the population of Tatoku."
Sometimes hubby handles the
boat item which his wife dives.
"But, often as not, Says Stmeon,
• 'while Mama and the girls go
oft 'ea work, 'Papa* Stays home
tending ehe younger children and,
trading gossip over the' back
,fence with the husbands and
fathers of other %malls. of Shima
who go down to the sea in slips."
Atter Pearl. Harbour, Mikimoto
declared himself. a Pacifist and,
reftiSed to hell; in the war ef-
fort, "I'ni a business mare not
'a soldier," .he said after an en!,
raged army officer sent him a •
sword with the suggestion that
he commit hareekiri. When the
wet, ended he was eighty-Seven"
but he' went to work .again and
completely re-established the in-
dustry• that bad been all but
smtehed.
. .
MILKMAID IN MANHATTAN—Manhattan, Kan., that is, Connie
Morgan, freshman at Kansas State College, has been chosen
queen of *the college's Agricultural Barnwarmer festivities.
Connie won the title by beating out*four other finalisIs with
her cow-milking, ability.
An engine which breathes dirt
will wear out much faster than
it normally should. Dirt- acts as
an 'abrasive causing moving parts
to wear rapidly. There are case
histories. of engines which have
worn out after a week of work
as a result of dirt getting into
the air used by the tractor.
* *
There are three ways for the
dirt to get into the engine —
with the fuel, the lubricating oil
and with the air. Ordinary care
will keep dust out of the fuel and
oil, but 'to keep the air that the
engine breathes dust free, re-
quires more attention.
* *
Engines may be equipped with
an oil wetter oven oil bath-type
:cleaner. Either of these cleaners
is designed to take 99 per cent
of the particles, 6f dirt out of the
air when operated at highest
efficiency. • •Efficiency' can drop
as low as 50 per cent with poor
maintenahee. An air cleaner is
thus of little, value unless it is
properly cared for.
Service the air cleaner fre-
quently. The service interval
can be determined by the dust
conditions under which the en-
!'gel- :Op-Oates. It conditions -are
extremely . dusty, the interval
should not be greater 'than 10
hours. Never, -Under any circum-
stances, allow' the cleaner to be
unserviced beyond an oil change,
Check* all 'cleaner and carburetor
connections. These must be tight
to keep' the' dirt out of the
cleaned air. Supplying the en-
gine with clean air pays off in
reduced maintenance costs. ▪ '• * *
Iceland' is the oldest continu-
ously settled land in the West-
ern Hemisphere, but the young-
est country. Irish monks were
there as early as 750 A.D. and
remained until the Norsemen
came about 870 A.D.
Trees do riot grow in Iceland
nor ate there any mineral depos-
lee The wealth of the country
depends on fishing and agricul-
ture. The formee industry pro.
videe the exports, the latter pro-
dudes enough meat and livestock
product§ to feed the population
of 170,000 people, Water power
is abundant, and light industry
is nmking progress,
*
According to J. B. Campbell,
`Canadian ,Department of Agri-,
culture: grass is the Most import,'
ant crop. in fact it can be con-
sidered the only field crop, be-
cause' cereels seldom mature. The
principal grasses are creeping
red fescue. deecharapsie, north-
err' blue grasses, and species of
bent grass. Sedges are common,
as are heaths and mosses.
If the entire country was ar-
able it wotild have tternendotte
egricultural resources, However,
less than 15 per cent of the 400 600
square miles area can be devel-
oped', While only another 16 per
cent produces vegetation of an
kind, The balance is a cold des-
ert, bOVered with •immense gla-
cie'rs, stark barren mouritaittS;
black shifting sand god' ektinct
and Fictive 'volcanoes, 0.1 the
apprdtiniatOly 01000 square mileS
of 'arable .land,• Yeas tliatt, 406
aguard MINIS' or' X50;000 acres 'are
currently iniOtoVect to prbdttert
,ttiItiVatect graSSeS.,
e •
VettilizMiOn is essentist
land 'hi Prodttee high' Yleidlid
anrjed Alive
Then Vanished.
Inhabitantsoff Sulmona,
ore giving one part of their town
a .wide berth because a man who
'was buried alive Were, three
months age, at his own request,
has vanished from the grave.
Raoul. Miley, a fifty-year-old
Hungarian who had learned Yogi
in India, visited Sultriona with a
concert party and agreed to de-.
monstrate his unusual powers by
being buried alive before wit-
nesses.
After Elnay's hands were firm-
ly tied, he was placed in the c0f-
dn.-sealed up and lowered into
an eighteen-foot grave whiCh
was then filled in with earth. He
was to, remain buried for eight
hours.
Among the witnesses 'were a
doctor, a magistrate and the
local police Chief to see that
there was no fraud,
Eight • hours later, .graveclig-
gers brought up the coffin, ex-
amined the seals and declared
them to be intact. The coffin. lid
Was removed. The ropes with
which Raoul had been tied were
in the coffin but he was gone,.
There was an immediate
search for the missing man; the.
• grave was examined by police
officers but there was pa tunnel
and AO Way out of it other than
by the top whiph had been
watched all the time by the
• witnesses, Yet the„,,Hurigarian
.1418$ gone. Up to no*i'v'he-has riot
been found, despite help from,.
the nternetional Pollee Commis-
sion, Nowadays, when $tilmona par-
ents want to scare their bam-
binos into.- obedience they say:
"The Yogi man will get you!" -
Fifty-six years ago a similar
mysterious occurrence took place
in Los Angeles when an Indian
fakir allowed himself to be bur-
ied -alive for ten hours, sealed up.
in a coffin, in a hole fifteen feet
deep. When' the coffn was raised
and opened the fakir was 'gone,
Ile has not been seen to this day,
Desert Life
Several times I came upon Be-
douin women with their veils
thrown back, but the only time
I saw these Women with no veils
on •at all __was when riding in an.
Axamco exploration car toward
the Rub al-Khale .in southern,
Arabia. Without warning • our
car breasted a chine -•and
down the slope into-the Very.
center .of a Bedoiele camp, The
lOng low outlines Of 'black tents
were spaced about the h011ow,
while in the center.was the dark
mound of a water well, dug
down through the' sand • to the
rock below, its rini darkened by
the hoofs and ropes. of many
years. All' unaware we had come
upon this camp and saw women
In dresses of btight orange and
red, devoid of their black robes,
staring at us from. their sections
of the tents,
„ Other women of the tribe, like
so many walking shadows in
their black outer robes, wound
their graceful barefoot way to
and from the water well, balan-
cing copper kettles and other
utensils on their heads.
Childreniri knee-length-white
shifts 'stared at us open-mouthed
but.for some reason we saw no
men. 'Perhaps they slept in the
family sections of their tents, or,
Mere likely, they, were -in the
majlis of their Sheikh. But the •
sheikh's tent, Wherever it might
be in this hollow, we did not
see. Some of the men, of course,
were otztvith the .flocks, but not
many, • for the true Bedouin
scorns the work of herding, and
spends his idle day instead in
"e", teIeee•Ieeee '
MARINE, tint MAiitiAr4' — A
hew sOkiaKy designed diving
suit, called the "Oaleaiii," is
demonstrated 1?y ace
Capt. Raimondo 8uCher.
Exploring the Gulf of 14cIpleiS„-
BuCher has reached depths of
about' 820 feet; 14i Contrast to
the limit iof 150 feet in Ordin-
ary Wits:
„. • • • .• • • .• • •• • ,,,,,,,,'
t are
By Anne Ashley
Q. How van I make an iniclor
writing on glass, ivory, or other
smooth surfaces?
A. Use 3 parts .nitrate of sit-
vet, 20 parts gum arable, n
parts distilled water. Dissolver
the gum arable in* two thirds -
of the water, the nitrate of sa-
ver in the other third. Then
neix and add the desired color.
Q. How can i make paint ad-
here to tinware?
A. Rub the surface thorough-
ly with a piece of rough,pumice
.• stone, or coarse sandpaper. Then
apply a thin coat 'of shelled
varnish before the surface is
painted.
Q. What can I do to cream
that will not whip properly?
A. If the cream will' not whips
add the white of an egg to IL
Have the egg and the cream
thoroughly chilled.
0. How can I avoid %Shelling
peas?
A. Wash the pods and plats
them in the boiling water t,
cook. The pods will open and
the peas settle to the bottoin
the vessel. Merely skim off the
pods.
Upsidedown to Prevent Peeking
How °Can I?
•
HE't A •ttltiNd-tAVER—In less Wan ytors, treihk
hci§ Collected' 'the huge. hall of.bi nd lig fvv.iiie teen obOve. It
Seven feet five Inehis iii diameter and ,keighs 4,035 •:~ountfrsy
fix tit6i his tractor io Wind the OW Friends and heighlainir
save iwipe for hits wind he thivrks tidtltrng of driving 25 thigh
to 4itf ct trunkful of brOken hyind. Pichited with him are 14
tWo,4randsonio ItIchard and Arnie 't