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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1962-05-31, Page 3touck, the mws that don't have the little suction cups on their advertie less audibly and some of them you can hardly heal at all. But their pattern seems to be all the same, and they seem to mingle more or less in our little pond, Later in the season the frogs and pollywogs take quite a browsing from "natural enema. es." Since ours is a made pond,, and we have watched It from a newly dug mudhole to a weedy And shaded pool, I've watched this, and my observation is that the frogs hold their own, and increase. We have our own little flock, of domestieeted mallards, and they like frogs. These, in turn, teller in wild birds off and On, and they like frogs. A stake- driver or bitter wings in now and then for lunch, and we have had the long-legged blue heron now and then, standing on one leg and waiting to stab a morsel, I've seen our common snakes, all the harmles kind, coursing . the weeds at the edge, hoping to meet a sunning old green frog whose destiny played him dirt. Then I've seen a heron catch a snake, and so the drama, goes on. and on, But every year more frogs come back, and the cycle starts again, and I guess I'm not supposed to do anything about it except watch. This, I find, is a recurring joy. I lie low and say puffin when the rest of neighborhood is convinced spring is back, I listen, and if no spring peeper's voice. is abroad in the land, I see people going with golf clubs, and farmers ace hauling fertilizer. and Mother starts housecleaning, and the bluebird yells by the lilac. There is a boom in the fishing license business, I seem to be one of the few who truly knows when .spring is sprung. I let the frogs tell me, and they have never muffled yet. - by John Gould in the Christian' Sci- ence Monitor. Frogs. Pont Tell Any Lies. In The Spring it's pretty hard every year to resist repeating some Perennial. `thoughts about the spring peep., ers, who are the little frogs that zrialce a noise a thousand times bigger than they are, and prove 10 be the only true harbingers of the warming season, The peepers, I em told, peep only when the water temperature gets up to a certain degree, and when this point is reached the general pattern of the vernal return is in hand. Thus, you can have a radiant bluebird, full of the ginger that makes him holier his head off, and he can be a liar of the first degree. He is going by the air, and the way the sun shines, and he had a tailwind up from Hart- ford. And the budding of a few crocuses by the shed makes him think spring is here, but he lacks the scholarly approach of the lowly amphibia, The spring peeper, being a cold-blooded creature, snoozes on in his niche under a rock, and wishes the garrulous birds would go away. The birds are like the wiseacre in the railroad depot, who jumps up from his seat, grabs his valise, and rushes out onto the platform as if the train, were coming, Everybody jumps up and grabs his valise and rushes out, too, and the train isn't due for another 20 minutes, The peeper is the seasoned old traveler who believes the time- tablb, and doesn't stir from his magazine until the board turns to green over the dispatcher's. desk. The board, with the peeper, is a more basic signal than the rest of us use. Having within him (or more properly, her, as we shall see) no .central heating system to augment the metabol- ism relationships, he responds to temperature from the outside only. A warm breeze, 'which makes the rest of us toss off our sweaters and go to raking twigs from the lawn, doesn't interest him. The water is his native element, and it doesn't respond solely to the wind. The ice in the pond melts when the "roll-over" of the water goes above 32°, but with frost still coming out of the ground, snow water still melting in from the woods, and perhaps even a snowstorm yet to come, the built-in know-how of the little frog-he's no bigger than your 'thumb nail-spares him the absurdities that plague birds and hunlani. But One day all the portents are congenial, This is the day the water that beckons has risen in temperature to a' point consistent with the age-old rites of procrea- tion. Like Easter, this is a movable date, but it is not com- puted by equation on an, arbi- trary calendar-it is computed in the tiny awarenesses of one of our smallest animals, and he never makes a mistake. As to' the "she," it is the fe- male who rouses to the occasion, wriggles from the winter quar- ters, hops to the pond, and sets up• the clamor: The male peeper is' mute. He' doesn't have to study the ministrations and attempt an estimate,' he knows that the alarm, clock, will go off when it is' time to get up. He is a• slug- a-bed, and his mate will rouse him when breakfast is ready, sort of. The spring chorus of lonely females, from the pond, will assault his slumber' and bring him' hopping in the next day or so to see what the noise Is all about: The other frogs we have. in this latitude operate about• the same, except that they' don't make quite so much noise. The , spring Peeper has 'a formal name, 'the hyla, crucifer, because he is a hyla, and he has, a defi- nite mark of a. cross on hie:back. Be has a cousin, another hyla e the tree frog, Which makes:a trill rather than a. peep, ancLis nearly as loud, But ,the other frogs and :Mises a reward, Ile loves church,. Where do we locate ourselves in this sevenfold picture? '0104-,. lug our eyes to the situation -WIII not help. Sitting back in hostile criticism will only aggravate the condition. Let us live right and In love reprove and .encourage others. wna scnoa LESSON to Rev, It, Barclay Warren, 8.1), Christ Speaks to the C.Itttreites Revelation 2:1-9 .31.1-3P4 Newoor Scriptures Behold, t stand at the door, and knack; if any man hear my voice, ;tail. open tbe door, if wit conic iu to him, and wilt sup with him, and he with. me. Rev.3:20, How Peter Pan Came To. Be Born Peter Pan holds a peculiar po- sition: his is the only story of recent Centuries to escape flout literature into folklore, For every one person who has seen the play or read the story there are hundreds who know perfect- ly well who and what Peter Pan is. Besides being a fairy- tale character, he is also a .sym- bol - of what, precisely, even Berrie could not find words to describe: "I'm youth, I'm joy! I'm a little bird that has broken out of the egg!" cries Peter - and Hook cannot understand, but says blankly, "Oh . Well, to it again," as he raises his cut- lass. Peter Pan was created in Ken- sington Gardens, in the course of stories told to a party of small boys day after day and week after week: but how ha began neither Barrie nor any of them could ever remember "I made Peter by rubbing the five of you violently together, as say,- ages with two sticks produce a flame." The boys were the children of Arthur Llewelyn Davies and Sylvia, the daughter of George du Maurier and sister of Ger- ald, who played Captain Hook and many other leads in Barrie's plays. Barrie, with his big dog Porthos, met them in the Gar- dens and told stories that began with the old fairy tales and wan- dered away, in and out of le- gend and literature, introducing himself, Porthos, the boys and occasionally other young friends. For anyone brought up on this book Kensington Gardens has become an extra province of Fairyland, - From "J, M. Bar- rie," by Roger Lancelyn Green. . The seven churches of the Revelation are fairly represen- tative of the church of any peri- od, Ephesus has lost its first love. It sometimes happens in marri- age. So the Christian who does not grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, leaves himself open to temptations which he cannot resist. Love wastes away, Smyrna, the suffering church, is one of two which receives no reproof, So often suffering is the experience in which man draws close to God. Peter writes (1 Pet. 4:1,2), "Remembering that Christ endured bodily suffering, you must arm yourselves with a temper of mind like his. When a man has thus endured bodily suffering he has finished with sin, and for the rest of his days, on earth he may live, not for the things that men desire, but for what God wills." (N,E.B.) For such there is encouragement rather than warning, Fornication and the lusts of the flesh have entered the church at Pergamos. Alas, there are still many professed Christians who walk after the flesh, and not after the Spirit. Repentance is the remedy. Thyatira is the church attempt- to please God by good works. Many would sooner attempt to work their way to heaven, than repent of their sins and trust fully in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Sardis has some worthy names, but for the most part, has a name to live but is dead. Philadelphia is a small church but is loyal and aggressive. To this church the Lord says, "I have loved thee," The most' pathetic picture of all is that of Laodicea. These people are well-to-do. They are smug and self-satisfied. This is the only church of which Jesus makes no commendation. Their luekwarmness is revolting. Their only hope lies in repentance. But, to this church, Jesus pre- sents himself in the most drama- tic entreaty, Jesus knocking at the door has been celebrated in art and in song. For every church Jesus pro- naii•AP'4444.04- rtZ^,064 READY FOR ACTION - With a bumper wheat Crop in'Prospect for Kanias, there will be plenty of combines available for the harvest, This used combine lot of one machinery dealer in. Hutchinson is an example, Many small farmers have been forced to sell the expensive machines while other hire "custom cutters" 'to bring in the grain harvest, • THE FARM MN (106.: "When farming stops being fun, that's when I'll sell my land and move to the city," a typical New England farmer will tell you. Farmers in this area retain the rugged individualism for which they have been noted for cen- turies. But-at the same time they are adapting to modern agricul- tural methods. Many of these farmers run successful farms that could be operated from a pine-paneled' downtown office, Yet, like their forefathers, who cultivated the land with a one-horse plow, the New England farmer can often be found on. the seat of a tree- 'tor' plowing a field. early in the morning or working side by side with 'his "hired hands" at her- vesting•time, They do it because they like ,it. "In spite of modern inventions farming is still. hard work," an observer who- has watched New England agriculture develop and change for over , 50 years, points out, "Farmers make less money an hour for the amount of time they put into their work than most Americans. You have to have a love of the soil to farm." 'In. an urbanizing area like. New. England, a farmer can al, ways sell his' land at a profit, if he'grows tired of tilling the soil. 'But many don't want to. "Real estate people just can't understand whyl turn down of to buy my' land," says. Aus- tin Smith, owner Of Brooksby Terms in. Peabody, Mass. "I en- .joy the farm. It pays for itself and I See no reason for giving 11/1p" 11r:Smith's farm , has one of the' largest apple, .pear, peach• and plum orchards in the North Shore area. Brooksby Farms, named after a very small com- munity 'near the farm in colon- ial days, was started in the, ':.1640's, Several' of the houses, on' the' property today 'date back to that time; The. Smith fernily- has owned' the land for 60 years and has developed the . flourishing orch, aids, Chickens are also raised .on the farm. a a Like. many' New England farM- ers, ,Mr. Smith doesn't truck his fruit. and eggs to. the city. He sells his product St a Modern roadside stand, Far from the small wooden structures of the past, stands of today are usual- ly large' and closely reseinble 'modern' grocery ,stores: From Brooksby rarMs' hilly slopes neat rows of houses can. be seen completely stirrounding the land, They seem to 'repre- sent the constant encroachment of urbanism on New England farms. „ , 4, FOr Harold Rogers of Ward Hill,. Mass., the urban march has meant the loss of 23 acres of land to state highways, Bulldozers roar daily as wide furrows of brown soil carve up, the once green pastureland, part of a pro- dUctiVe dairy farm. "Fortunately the farm is bor- dered by the new roads and only O few' acres have been cut off front the Main farm," says Mt% Rogers, "This whole area was once isolated from the city 'Haverhill) but now we are finding ourselves closet and closer to urban, living,"' Net .Rogers' father Started the &Mtn With only two acres soine 66. yeara ago. The farm now has settle 230 acres', Besides the' at.: tuat dairy' farniihg operation; Rogers also has a dairy which bottles milk. for the Ward dill area, He is one of the feVir .lri dependent dairying concerns left In' the. northeastern. section of the state;: writes Mike Born in the Chtlatiati ,Seleriet Moriitbre In spite of a reduction in num- ber the future still 'looks bright for many New England farms. In many families youngsters are growing up who are interested in farming. Mr. Rogers' son Richard a teen-ager, is now in charge of all the. machinery on their farm and is beginning to• take over most operations. "Farming nowadays is. a chal- lenge in every way," Richard says. "I feel a young person can find farm life rewarding in that you're your own boss. There is also a feeling of accomplishment when crops are good or milk production high." 4' 4, With three agricultural high schools in the state (Norfolk, Es- sex and Bristol counties), many Massachusetts farm youngsters can learn modern farm tech- niques at an early age. They also haye the opportunity to go on to the University of Massachu- setts School of Agriculture. These youngsters will be and ong those who will carry on. New' England farm traditions. There's no doubt land will become more valuable and temptations to sell off the old homestead more al- luring but love of the soil will keep farming an important part of New England life for the fore- seeable future, Ocean Depths Are By No Means Quiet The depths of the ocean are traditionally thought of as serene, calm, .and quiet, 'At any submariner or skin diver knows, however, the animals that popu- late the sea are anything but silent. It has already been deter- mined that more thae 50'per cent of the fisheof the sea are noise- Makers, producing an unending cacophony of grunts, knocks, clicks, and whistles. New. purrs and whirrs are constantly picked up as research progresses, As a result, an increasing 'num- ber 'of investigators are dangling hydrophones' in the oceans and taking to skincliving gear to record and identify the noises. Among them is Dr. Howard E. Winn, zoology professor at the University of Maryland. The 38- year-old researcher is currently visiting the University of Ore- gon in Eugene, working with biologist Melvin J. Cohen, an expert in the physiology of' hear- ing, After a morning spent catch- ing,- catfish recently, Winn re- ported on his .research: `,'We have found, three different types.' of fish communication. The first is a warning, when an enemy.' is in the neighborhood. The second is a defense call, as when one fish 'approaches another in his territory, The third; is a spawning signal to, attract a' mate." So far, Winn has concentrated' on three species:. The fresh-water minnow, which he found emits a knocking sound. for defense and 'a purring sound during*the mat-; ing season; the 'squirrelfish .of Pacific coral reefs that' grunts for dense .and 'produces' a 'long chattering ball as a warning;'•and the toadfish, 'which " alSo grunts in defense, but whistles at' a prospective mate. That whislte, Winn reported, Is, so loud, that It MIGHTY HOT -- The' biggest' flame on earth roars Skyward from the.,blazing Grassi-Touill natural gas well in Algeria, The flame was finally snuffed ' out by a' blast of dynamite. Upsidedown to Prevent Peeking N ad SN I M.1. "IV'S V 0-S a Aid V V 3 3 w 3 0 CI O 2 .,L 0 1 V n has set off acoustical mines. Winn says that this communi- cating does not• go unheeded. He points out that although not all fish 'talk, " they all have hearing organs. In the • lab, the catfish is a favorite because of its ex- cellent 115 t e n i n g apparatus. "There are usually no external parts as' on mammals," Dr. Winn explained, "just an inner ear„ and the sound is conducted . through the tissues of the head. The questions are, what fre- quencies and intensities can they: hear, and what information do the sounds 'convey to 'them? In' order, to get 'the answers, we e ar making:recordings with- .under, water microphones, and playing back the sound' to isolated spe- , cies in tanks in the lab. For one thing we have found evidehce that fish orient themselves in the .-direction of the sound,. in 'don- ,trast to past belief." In the future, Winn hopes to implant electrodes in the brains and auditory nerves of, some fish. After, wiring them for sound, he will set them loose in the ocean, and record the electrical ire pulses 'transmitted frqm the in- ner, ear to the. brain.' "I've got ten years of work ahead: of me," he said. `But some of Win.n is findings' are 'being put 'to practical use, how. Under the sponsorship of the Office of Naval. Research, a team of Scientists is trying to .construct a complete chart of the' sounds of the sea„ including', the times of year and the places where they, are heard. During. World War II, the Navy found that it couldn't tell an enemy sub from a school of snapping and clicking Shrimp. With anti- submarine warfare now an even More difficult and vital opera- tion, Navy sonar technicians most be able to tell the differ ence between the amorous purr- ing of a school of minnows arid the spinning propellers of a man- made intruder',- froth NEWS- WEEK NMI 09 an "I M 3 a N 0 a 9 S a N O 3 S a V A a 1 A 0 S V V S A CI a S N 3 .1 S a 5 3 S V V a a O V a 9 3 KO 'Was It Poison That Killed Napoleon? According to a pair of Swed- ish medical sleuths, Napoleon didn't die of stomach cancer on St. Helena - he was knocked off by a dose of arsenic. Doctors 'Sten. Forshufv,ud and. Anders Wasseneof. Goteborg, got a lock of Napoleon's hair (which was apparently taken' from his head the day after he died by. some• souvenir hunter) and sent it to Glasgow University for an arsenic test, This showed that the hair contained about 10 parts per piklliop of 4.rserA9, Compared with the normal con- tent of about 0.8 parts, per mil-. lion. Dr. Forshufvud takes this as confirming his diagnosis of the symptoms shown by Napol- eon during his long illness' in exile, The •corpse,. 19 years after death, was found to, be very well preserved. Who fed Bony the fatal po- tion? Napoleon thought his* cap- tors were' killing hint. Forshuf- vutl.lays the crime to' one of the exile's French companions, al- though, there isn't much point in laying charges now, NEW ROAD ALERTS DRIVERS - Paving surfaces which "talk back" to the drivers are helping to cut accidents along old U.S 40 in California.' The areas are called "rumble strips," and are squares of small stones glued to the road.• They alert drivers to changing road conditions with an in- creased sound and a different "feet" of the road beneath the wheels, Where used, accidents have decreased by half. 10. Meadow 34. Distant CROSSWORD bgarliaaie. SC Metal tip of a lade 11. OPen- 39. Openwork PUZZLE mouthed naite stare f ab ri c, 16. 42. Sturdy tree 18. Yarn measure 44. Grown ,girla • , DOWN 23. Coterie 45. Poisonous 1. Chills 85: Third king tree t, DIP lomacy, , Of Judith 48. ClOthei (Spa: 8: Headliner 28. Cavity in a 474,14betal or 4. Cotintotrio , , rock , radical ti.iio edinedy 27. mooting 49: TO entrap 6. GOdlinags 29. Destitute. of 50. Pr, river 6. Ctitteei•n ing woody 51, Dlylde into 7. Edible tuber..., groWth feet 8. Snug room 31 Legal' noti on 68. Shooting 9. EVerling 32 rifatiell of Marble (p4iet,) leatning 67. Palen Illy ACROSS: I. PosSessiire adjectiVe 4. Protective garment it. Work unit is reline 13. Dausnei. of One'S. slater 14. Missing thtOngh 16. Card ganla 17: Dormant 19..Critibal situations,' pi. Verb ft:CM 22. Pastoral fiderao It PronoiIition. '2 .- Iiionritch Jibe 28. Hitherto' 80. Name ineltii. ing' WatOhtiii I 3. Guaranty 5.. Merchant 7. Since 8. DternitY 40. P,erspife 41, bkit no' 43, ptaireage poSt., 13. Wild. iiiietti .., of. Tibet 48, Rind' , of „. ...,,, eWord eludes' In, Pouch ' 14, :Iti3 Olviltif , .,... measurem e nt18.-Thk,,rii.11itbik' 80, DeiitIntel: , 88. Iltiti; Martin' Sotitiitein'g fitiit iiitinit ii,Sitit er Cleiretni ItrWiete. ZA 3 '..v. // 5- a 7 9 /a SOltkl: HE SP6Itilil A gal from Tyler end a lad front Amarillo .never had liked each 'other at 'the state univer- sity,,and' their antagonism deep. ened whets, separately, they both. 'came td NOW York and made good /it a very big Way. At a laeideda gathering,, they met face • to. fade, and the man. .-tottlditl resist twitting his old acquaintance to show tiff for hiS netts friehdae 'Tern Other, her laughed coldly,. "when .yell hadejtiat bite'. pair of shoes td Yeti? nairiet" "I Siete do, Sonny," sh i;e0ited Without a tittalm, "You asked. th4 what they were." (it /5 /2 /6 17 /5. /8 20 2/ 24 22 23 ZEa 3/ 25' 78 29 30 32 *4. • ••:** .0. 35 33 31' 38 39 10 37 7efe.: tl 12. 43 11 18 1? 47 46 e'ret •• 53 52 57 56, SS s, • r. 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