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HomeMy WebLinkAboutExeter Times, 1912-7-25, Page 6HAUNT OF THE WiLaEBEESi fB ;P1NG MOUSE IN THE REA.IL ,l GIS AFRICA. Offers the Sobs of Civilization to Travellers Looking for Big G tulle. "Most people have heard of Juja, the modern dwelling is the heart of an African wilderness be- longing to W. N. McMillan," writes Stewart Edward White in World's Work. "If most people are as I was before I satw the place they Lave considerable curiosity about it. "Juja is situated or1 the top of a high .bluff overlooking a liver. In all directions are tremendous grass plains, Donya Sabauk, the Moun- tain of Buffaloes, is the only land- mark nearer than the dim moun- tains beyond y d the edge of the world; and that is a day's journey away. "A rectangle of possibly forty acres has been enclosed on three sides by animal -proof wire fence. The fourth side is the edge of the bluff. Within this enelosure have been planted many trees, now of good size; a pretty garden with abundance of flowers, ornamental shrubs, a sundial ,avid lawns. "In the river bottom land below the bluff is ,a very extensive vege- table and fruit garden, with corn- fields and experimental plantings of rubber and the like. For the use of the people of Juja there .are raised a great variety and abu - dance of vegetables, fruits and grains. "Before leaving Landon we had received from Mr. McMillan earnest assurances that he kept open house and that we trust take advantage of his hospitality should we happen his way. Therefore when one of his white robed Somalis approached us to inquire respectfully as to what we wanted for dinner we yielded weakly to the temptation and told him. Then we marched to the house and took possession. A BEAUTIFUL HOME. • "And inside—mind you,we were fresh from three months in the wil- derness—we found rugs, pictures, wall paper, a pianola, many books,. baths, beautiful. white bed -rooms with snowy mosquito curtains, elec- tric lights, running water, and above all an. atmosphere of home- like comfort. We fell into easy chairs and seized books and maga- zines. "The Somalis brought us trays with iced and fizzy drinks in thin glasses. When the time came we crossed the veranda in the rear to enter a spacious separate dining room. The table was white with napery, glittering with silver and glass, bright with flowers. We ate leisurely of a well -served course dinner, ending with black coffee, shelled nuts and candied fruit. "Next day we left all this and continued our march. About, a month later, however, we encoun- tered McMillan himself at Nairobi. He insisted on our going back with him, and very soon my companions' and I tucked ourselves into a buck- board behind four white Abyssinian mules. McMillan, some Somalis and Captain Duirs came along in a similar rig. "Our driver was a Hottentot half caste from South Africa. He had a flat face, a yellow skin, a quiet man- ner and a competent hand. His name was Michael. At his feet crouched a small Kikuyu savage, in blanket,. ear ornaments and all the fixings, armed with a long lashed whip and a raucous voice. At any moment he was likely to hop out over the . moving wheel, run for- ward, bat the off leading muff, and hop back again with EXTRAORDINARY AGILITY. "We rattled out of Nairobi and swung into the Fort Hall road. This famous thoroughfare, one of three or four made roads in all East Africa, is about sixty miles long. It was built for strategic purposes, but is used by thousands of the natives on their way to see the sights of the metropolis. As during some seasons there is no wa- ter for much of the distance a great many pay for their curiosity with their lives. "At about 2 o'clock we suddenly turned off from the road, apparent- ly at random, down the intermin- able grassy inclines that, form the Athi Plains. By 4 o'clock we had reached Juja, where tea and a great table of bottles, ice and siphons were waiting for us. "The next morning we inspected the stables, built a stone in a hol- ism space, like a fort, with box stalls opening directly into the eourtyard and screened easefully against the deadly :dies. The horses, beautiful creatures, were led forth each by his proud rand anxious syoe. We tried them all, ,and selected our mounts for the time of our stay. "The syces were small black men, learl and well formed, accustomed to running afoot wherever their Charges went, at .walk, lope or gal- lop, Thus in a day they covered credible distances over all sorts of country, but were always at hand to seize the bridle rein when. the master wished to dismount. They ate anti slept with their horses. "Jnst outside the courtyard of the stables` a Tittles barred window had been cut through. Near this wore eongregated a number of ikuyu .savagee wrapped in their b anke is, reeeiving atWkturn a portion of smacked Born from 'a dusty white man BEHIND THE BARS, "They were a solemn, unsmiling, strange, type of savage; and they performed all the manual work within the enclosure --squatting on their heels and pulling methodi- oally but slowly at the weeds; dig ging their pangas; oariyilag loads to and fro or solemnly push. ing a lawn mower, their blankets wrapped shamelessly about their necks, "We went to mail a letter and found the ,postmaster to he a gentle voiced, polite little Hindu, who greeted us smilingly, Three times a week such mail as Juja gets conies in via native runner; We saw the latter, a splendid fig- ure, almost naked, loping easily down past the comfortably, airy white man's clubhouse, his little bundle held. before r e him. "The next afternoon the various members of the party decided to do various things. I elected to go out with MVIcMillan while he killed a wildebeest; and I am very glad I did, You must imagine us driving out in .a buekhoard behind four small white Abyssinian mules. We jogged along examining the herds of game to right and left until finally in a herd of zebras we espied a, lone wildebeest, "The wildebeest is the Jekyl anrcl Hyde of the aminal kingdom. He usually stands with his head down, stolid, inert. the personification of respectability and gravity. All of a sudden up go his head and tail; he buckjumps, cavorts, gambols, bounds stiff legged, and acts gen- erally, like an irresponsible infant. It is astonishing and disconcerting to see a whole herd of these grave and reverend seigneurs suddenly blow up into such capers. "When we caught sight of the lone wildebeest I thought we would descend from. the buckboard ,and approach to within some sort of long range. Not at all. Michael, the Hottentot, turned the buck- board out of the road and HEADED FOR THE ANIMALS, Over stones that sent us into the air, down into and out of gullies, we went. I was occupied with the state of my spinal column and the retention of myteeth, but McMillan must have been keeping his eye on the game. One peculiarity of the wildebeest is that he cannot see be- hind him. Also he is curious. Sooner or later this one would be sure to stop to look back and see what was the.eause of the row we were making. Just before doing so he would slow down for a few steps. McMillan was watching for this symptom. " `Now !' he yelled, when he saw it "Instantly Michael threw his weight' ' into the right rein and against the brake. We swerved 'so violeutly to the right and stopped so suddenly that I nearly landed on the broad' prairies. At the same moment the wildebeest turned and stopped, ' but even before he had swung his head McMillan had fired. It was extraordinary good quick work, the way he picked up the long range from the ,spurts of dust where the bullets hit. "At the third or fourth shot he landed one. Immediately the beast was off again at a tearing run, pur- sued by a rapid fusilade from the remaining shots. Then, with a vio- lent jerk and a. yell, we were off again. "This time, since the animal was wounded, he made for rougher country. And everywhere that wildebeest went we too were sure to go. I do not know the name of the manufacturer of the blackboard. If I did, I shetild certainly recommend it here. "Twice more we swerved to our broadside and cut loose £ e port batteries.- Once more McMillan hit: Then, en the fourth run, we gained perceptibly. The beast was weak- ening. When he came to a -stum- bling halt we were not over a, hun- dred yards fromhim, and McMillan easily brought him down. We . had chased him four or five miles, and McMillan had fired nineteen shots, of which two had hit. The rifle practice throughout had been re- markably good, and a treat to watch. Personally, beside the fun attending the show, T got some mighty good exercise." NO DANGER. Miss Antique—I hope, driver, you will not run away with rime Cabby -••Bless yer, no alum ! I've got a wife and silt young •'uns at home already. A SUMMER QRINK WHICH STRENGTHENS A delioions, -summer drink is iced Bovril, Nix. a spoonful in a cold split soda writer, , This is both cooling and. strengthening, Cold bouillon served alone or with toast or crackers is an exquisite afternoon refreshment. Malto a Quantity of Bovril with boiling water in the usual manger and cool it in the toe box. Marcy hostesses are serving this. bouillon which is always excellent. The best way to buy Bovril is in the 1 lb, bottles. These are by far the most eeonomieal, being retailed usually at $1.75, and contain eigbt tfzues as much as the bottle usually sold at 35o. We will gladly send on application a very useful leaflet on invalid and metal dietetics, which explains why fovril aids digestion and enables von to absorb the full nourishment from, Your ordinary diet, Address: Bovril, Limited, 57 St. Peter 9t„ Montreal. MANIA FOR EVERYBODY. Scientists Collect List of Manner- isms and Give Thent Big Names. Are you a maniac f What a per- sonal question! What an absurd. suggestion ! Of course, you are not --at least, you don't think you are, Mental scientists think otherwise, and they have just invented• a frightful list of names for our little manias, nags says Pearson's WeeIl;Iy. After all, a maniac is only aper- son suffering from a mania and, al- though the word is associated in our minds with the inmates of asy- lums, there are others, as the, catch phrase says; "Mother, 3'o•hnny will have to see a. doctor at once," any fond father might well say,; after reading the British Medical Journal; "the poor little fellow has undoubtedly got stomatodactylomania." "Oh, James, whatever makes you say that? What an awful dis- ease!" mother would reply. As a matter of fact, the awful sounding disease is really not ,lan- gerous, and is only the baby habit or mania. for 'sucking the fingers under the selected scientific name. No fretful little mister will ever dare to bite his nails again after the latest edition to our knowledge. Tell him he is a. regular onycho phagomaniac, and if that doesn't frighten him, nothing will. There is hardly a single person— minor key, have all been classed under the heading of sharnsonios maniacs, and, as such, tfhoy should be phut up away from their fellow -- men until they are quite cured. RNIf.'ING A MAIM. Bravo Deed of a British Sailor at Santa Lncia. Whether sharks really eat human. beluga or not, no one likes to be chased or to see a friend chased by one of them, And so, whether Wil- liam Tozer actually saved his ship- mate's life or not, he did a very brave thing, in a very neat and workmanlike manner. When George Kirstell, teward of the British steamship Ramsay, fell overboa•id while the steamer was coaling at Santa Lucia, Captain Mallen and the officers and crew, most of whom were on deck, laugh- ed heartily at the plight of the steward. Kirstell was inno partic- ular clanger, for he is a strong swim- mer., but he was not in a, pleasant humor, with the 'soaking ,his clothes were getting and the merriment of the crew at his expense. A strong tide had swept him away from the steamer, but he was leisurely swimming back, whet those on deck saw the fin of a shari' corning through the water in his direction with alarming speed. They shouted a warning, and the steward 'swam as he never had be fore, while Captain Mallen set. about getting a life -boat over the side. But -the captain and creu- soon realized that before the boat could reach Kirstell the shark would overtake him. They lowered .away, but before the boat was, in the water Kirstell's efforts had brought him almost be. neath the overhang of the stern. and the shark was less than a dozen feet behind. The men who had not manned the life -boat turned aside in dread of seeing Kirstell dragged beneath the water, when William Tozer, the third officer, a. big Eng- lishman, sprang on to the rail and dived overboard. Iii one hand he clutcked his big sailor's knife, its blade ready opened. His body sscarcely, raised a ripple as it cut into the water, but an in- stant later there was a tremendous New modern plant of E. W. Gillett Company Limited, Toronto, Ont., consisting of six•buildings, with three Railway sidings and separate office building. man, woman or child—who is not the victim of some mania or pecu- liarity, :many of which have been allotted blood -curdling names. Everyone has at some time or other seen distressing examples of the equimaginomaniac. Probably they didn't recognize the disease under its scientific title. No doubt the afflicted person did strike :theta as being possessed of a, quaint habit, but when they saw he of the riding breeches and leggings switching his legs under the vain impression that he was bestride a horse, they had no idea his case was so 'serious: There is, after all, some good. reason for the modern craze among men ruthlessly to chop off their beards or moustaches. The practice is really akin to vaccination. It guards, or is said to guard, our sa- cred person from the terrors of smallpox, and in the razor lies our chance of safety against .becoming a raoustachio-strepsomaniac. Once we allow our moustaches to grow, we are in danger and if we find our- selves twirling a flowing military ornament or nervously fingering a stubby upper lip, we are infected with the deadly disease. Now that the holiday season is coming along, many of us will be going to the country for a fort- night, and in the fields and quiet lanes we may at any moment be confronted by a capillioirriomaniac, We need not stay at home or pur- chase a Browning automatic for fear of meeting one•of these mani- acs, for if. we, do this specialform of disease will only evince itself in the oft -observed habit of pushing his hat to the back of his head and scratching.the scalp, generally prior to answering any question on sub- jects which call for more, considera- tion than a remark- an the weather or the state of the farm Crops. • The bulk of thesemaniacs which science has tabulated might well be left at large, but they have located` and named --as the naturalists say —one epecies which, harmless though it is. is nevertheless a nui- sance to mankind, The man or wo- man Who .trurns on the window- pane or desk, -the people who insist on humming tunes with 'utter dis- rennrd to the 'author's original in- tellti )ns. incl the soulful-lcoleing ym th who persists in whistling doleful dirges in a mare or less commotion where the shark had been coming on. Its tail lashed the water, and the big fin thrashed up and down. Then it disappeared amidst the reddening water, and a moment later Tozer rose to the sur- face, to catch a long breath and strike out easily for the steamer. When he and Kirstell had been hauled aboard, the young third offi- cer explained that he had merely Vin.(nG. M co 'P�� "'.-. "`." -"* 2 ° P,� his P l sund led ackag ::• Ask your Oro sra o tV t CANADA SUGAR REFINING CO. UMITED. MONTREAL performed a trick .common to many of the natives of the south seas, where he has cruised for many years. He had tinned his dive to •come up beneath the shark, and had ripped him open with the big knife. There was some danger if you missed the shark the first time, he confessed. R' INTELLECTUAL PILLS. To Increase Ulan's Physical and Mental Vigor. It took a German scientist to in- vent the intellectual pill. The basis of this is a drug called a.ntikenootoxin, which has the quai- ityof neutralizing the poisons which are said to be the cause of mental fatigue. Dr. Weiehardt, professor at the University of Erlangen, Germany, recently demonstrated that the muscles of animals suffering from physical • or mental weariness secrete a certain poison, to which he gave the nanie kenotoxin. Then it was shown that antikenotoxin in- jected into a man increased his physical and mental vigor." This led Prof. Lorentz to think of utilizing antikenotoxin to stimulate brain work. He considered that errors of calculation, for example, should be set down to fatigue. He found that problems given to his . class in mathematics at the be- ginning of the lesson were solved in five minutes by three students; in eight minutes by thirty-three; in ten minutes by sixteen. Other similar problems, given at the close of the lesson were solved in five minutes by one student; in eight minutes by twenty-seven; in ten minutes by twenty-three. Evi- dently, said the professor, itis men- tal fatigue that causes 'the slower work. 40101001.1, On a subsequent day Prof. Lor- entz vaporized antikenotoxin in the class -room first before the close of the period and then set his pupil: problems as before.. The result was that they were solved in three min utes by three students; in four minutes by thirty-one, andin ten minutes by one. And the solutions contained fewer errors than usual. This was the origin of Dr. Lor- entz's intellectual pills. European physicians are still a bit sceptical, saying the pills must be subjected to more thorough tests. PANSIES GIVE A SURPRISE. Seed Must Have Lain Dormant More Than a Century. The Rev. Tertius Poole, Vicar of Culnastoek, in Devon, England, tells a curious story of the results of ploughing in. a grass lawn the year before last for the purpose of turning it into a rose garden. He says the lawn had not been disturb- ed for quite a hundred years. •A parishioner who is 95 years of age says that his father used to mow it when he was a child. Since it has been ploughed in it has been cover- ed with an amazing assortment of pansies of splendid quality. "No seed," says_ the vicar, "has been sown nor have there been any pansies nearby.' The only solution I can give is that the seed must have lain dormant in the soil for mare than a century." One of the pansies, it appears, is of an altogether unusual type, be- ing like a gold and bronze butter- fly. Occasionally we meet a grown man who can eat almost as much as a small boy. Camilla A root cellar like this won a prize last year. THE drawing was made from a photograph of the root -cellar with which D. A. Purdy, of Lumsden, Sask., won a cash prize itt last year's contest. In that last contest there were 36 prizes. There will be three times as many prizes (108) in the 1912 FARMERS' PRIZE CONTEST RtrS you will have three times as many chances of winning a cash prize. You do flet have 'to use any certain amount of Canada Cement to win a prize.. There are absolutely no "strings" to this offer. There are twelve prizes for each Province (three of $50 ; three of $25; three of $15 and three of $IO) and you Compete only with other farmers in your own Prov- ince and not with those all over Canada, It makes no difference whether you have ever used cement. Many of last year's winners had not used it until they entered the contest, When you writefor full particulars, we will send you, free, .a book, "What the Farmer Can ba Wilk Concrete," which tells everything you need to know about concrete. tt is absolutely free, and you are under no obligation to buy "Canada" Cement or to do anything else for tis. Want yoar name and whiten oh the coupon, and mail 11, or nee letter or poet card and • we will toedyou at once the boos•, and full partfautars o1 the 1912 5'r17e Contest, Addeo* Irohlteitr Menais earnest Company Limited 504.554 Herald Btuldieg, Mao real „„•an. eaesaesossieseessasesseaeseesebeseiossasia On the Farm CONSERVING SOIL .MOI$TURIL The damage directly attributable to drouth represent an enormous annual loss to farmers. If we would devote more attention to the work of conserving soil moisture during the spring and early summer, the summer drouths would be far lass destructive to our growing crops, There are few seasons when there is not sufficient moisture to mature good crops if proper methods' are employed in handling our soils so that the moisture will not be lost: through evaporation during the pri - many growth of the crop. The growth of crops should n bo retarded at a time when it ill's i� within our power to provide them withof r zn stn e. The average farmer begins every spring with an average supply of moisture in his soil to supply' the crops through a rainless season, but on mo stof our farina arm the lack of drainage and indifference to the conservation of moisture reduce the yield of crops. After the soil moisture has been allowed to evaporate we are pow- erless to provide a new supply for the crops that have been robbed. Summer drouths can he avoided in no other way than by improving the water -holding capacity of the soils and shaping the methods of tillage and cultivation so than we may prevent the .loss 'of the mois- ture with which they are saturated at the beginning of the• season. On many soils underdrainage is necessary and will produce won- derful changes in the character of the soil. It improves its action to- ward heat, light penetration of roots, and the implements used in the preparation and cultivation and stimulates bacterial action,. which we are just beginning to arp- precia'te as an important factor in. soil fertility. BENEFITS OF SPRAYING. For the purpose of showing the - farmer and fruit grower how . he might save that part of the apple crop which .is usually sacrificed to "7 insect and fungi, most excellent ex- periments were made duting one entire season by the Kansas Col- lege of Agriculture, the college -men going into the •field and personally. carrying on the work of spray The results of the spraying uniformly good, and the owners '.o the sprayed orchards were well pleased, The following splendid results of this work are valuable to farmers and fruit -growers in ' Canada as well as Kansas, for they demon- strate beyond a doubt the helpful- ness of spraying. Commercial results from seven widely separated orchards, includ- ing both commercial and home types and composed of the varieties of- apples fapples recognized as standard in Kansas, carefully sprayed showed an average gain of four bushels in actual yield of merchantable fruit per tree, or 37 per cent., compared with untreated . parts of the same orchards. Not only was the actual and rela- tive amount of merchantable fruit materially increased, but .the aver- age percentage of number ones and number twos, which are the high- priced h- prieed grades, was also increased by fifteen per cent. and 6.6 per cent. respectively. The average net profit from spraying was shown to be $1.62 per tree, or $97.20 per acre when the fruit was sold as orchard run, and to be almost doubled when proper- ly graded and marketed.' All seriously injurious insects and fungous diseases have been marked- ly reduced and most of them have been made almost negligible. Prepared lime, sulphur plus arse- nate of lead has produced the best results on apples subjected to Bor- deaux injury and nearly free from apple blotch, while Bordeaux mix- ture plus arsenate of lead gave best results on varieties attacked by ap- ple blotch. DAIRY SUGGESTIONS. The universal interests > he problem of increasing dairy profits through the cow -testing associations show that dairy farmers are willing;. to learn better ways when they have convincing prod to sustain a theory.. Some dairy farmers who are pro- ducing veal and cream from the same cows milk the cows partially and let the calves finish. pretty rich feed for the calves for the fat content of the first milking is about two per . cent. fat. A little dairy education would save $1.00 a year in many dairies in : this one point alone. It is imperative ,that we provide some means oftiding the dairy herd over the season of failing pas- tures, instead of vainly regretting that it has occurred, The dairyman who depends upon the pasture during t1%e'sutnnaer and hay during the vlinter. to feedhis cot' is treading on treacherous ground.. 1