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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1911-11-30, Page 3sw v GREAT PRIVATE MEGAGEG E OWNED BY A WEALTHY ENG - Lasix SQUIRE. Astoui.hing Results Achieved by Mr. 'Wingfield in the Train- ing of Animals. How to endow pig with sense - that is one of the many animal problems, A. W. Wingfield, of Ampthill, ' Bedfordshire, England, has made his special study. Private Meanageries have been the hobby of monarchs, lords, and potentates ever since Nero fed his liens. with Ohristain victims, but the great expense involved in col- lecting and keeping wild animals makes the pastime one only a rich man can follow. - At a time when Mr... Wingfield only possessed a yak, there was already a large pri- vate menagerie in Bedfordshire, owned b. the Duke of Bedford, who draws most of his wealth from market does on garden produce sold in Covent Garden market.. There is, however, a great out- standing difference between the Ampthill Park stud and that to be found in any other part of the •country, for all the beasts and birds it materna have been dominated by the human will and their intellig- ence thereby raised to a high level, Psychologists. are aston idled by what has been accomplished by Mr. Wingfield, who as a Fellow of the Royal Zoological Society, en- joys the added advantage of access at all times to the Zoo in Regent's Park, where two of his llamas are vow on loan. TRAINED LLAMAS. The first item on the program was an exhibition of the queerest rivals horses can have ever had, six fast trotting llamas ridden by, attendants. They were properly harnessed, with bridle, saddle, and stirrups, and seemed to know what was expected of them. After show- ing off their form, they posed for the camera on the lawn, ensiling their. heads 'and betraying all the Rolf -conscious symptomsof a bevy of pretty girls about to be kodaked. For a diversion, Bruno, a young bear from India, was brought out to' demonstrate what civilizing in- fluences eau effect for hiskind of shaggy monster In obedience to a jerk on his chain, he stood upon a chair,making a curious singing noise in hie throat, and sucking his left fore pale with babylike perisit- encs. At another sign he jump- ed to the greensward, and after grunting out a solo Tetrazzini ought to hear, gamboled off with his keeper to enjoy a large bowl of bread and milk.' 'It was the queer- est vocal effort ever heard, on the stage or off. ZEBRAS VERY SHY. Zebras aro the most difficult' ...,,:beasts to train. Much tact,, in- finite patience, and watchful firm- .xess are required, 'but even now' t they have to be blindfolded before d they will submit to be harnessed. 1 Moro than any other animals in Els s - wonderful menagerie ae Ampthill, s they are shy of a stranger, and jib' a After the zebras came the ostriches, three;Stately fellows, who stalked round the house carrying„ their koopors, who "guided them with a touch on the neck with a light cane, It was truly aston- ishing to see how the gigantic birds obeyed the orders thus conveyed to them, swerving to tho right hand or to the left, according to instruc- tions. Heralded by pompous gruntings came ,two hogs, one. drawing . two children in a small cart, and the other carrying &trainer, who ap- peared to have no apprehension that his steed would bolt. The swine literally waddled with de- light at their own skill, and left the beholder almost speephless at the ability that could make such stupid beasts amenable to "discipline. Mr. Wingfield said in reply to a ques- tion: "It is an injustice to t --o pig to condemn him as a creature :with- out sense. For he has quite his fair share of intelligence.' All he wants to grasp is what he is expected to do, and at the same time to be thoroughly convinced that no harm will befall him if he does it, and that he will not . be maltreated while learning what is asked of him." The fine Palestine camel that passed with the burden of two mon either side of its hump illustrated another phase of the trainer's•art, Brahmins would have been aghast. at the next s.ght that was present- ed -some Indian horned cattle, the sacred beasts of the Orient,,. which for the nonce were used as steeds by the same equestrian exports who had previously shown off their prowess on other animals. TINY SHETLAND YONIES,. Ie. a pauc,ok-near by, there was a fine bunch of Shetland ponies, one or two almost of the. much -prized height, twenty-four inches. When Mr. Wingfield succeeds as a breed- er in producing animals of this coveted small stature, he will be able to get one thousand dollars apiece for every animal. In another .part of the grounds areto be 'seen emus from Aus tralia, happy as on their native soil, near by, a Barbary ram,. tamed sufficiently to allow a well - grown boy to sit on his back.. Mr. Wingfield's reason for train- ing his animals for the saddle is just an intense interest in animal life, and the knowledge of the plea- surable results to be obtained from animal' study as a hobby He sometimes effects an exchange of. animals with public and private collectors, but seldom deals in such stock on a monetary basis. On the general principles of train- ing, Mr. Wingfield has very de- finite views. "No animal," he said, "can be thoroughly mastered with- out the exercise of the greatest firmness. • Once permit an ostrich, llama, zebra, or any animal to think that he is getting the upper hand, and your weeks of week go vo as naught. Some people are under the impression that animals b cannot be trained without -a car- ai.n amount of cruelty' being intro - need into the process. This is a allaoy, for many animals have such tubborn natures that cruelty only erves:to set their backs up, whilo t the same time it would ;seem to° !1?i1sS1DU�IN6 THE TERROR TRUES AND TRIUMPHS Obi A. NEWSPAPER MAN, F41110118 Correspolulont Gives Gra. pixie Account of Times IN Warsaw, It was my duty to go to Warsaw when the whole of the Russian Em- pire was in the throes of revolu- tion, writes Mr. John Foster Fraser in London Answers. Not only was thorn an upheaval against the Gov- ernment, but there was a national moveneept on the part of the Polos to throw off the shackles of Russia, Also, there was an active Anarchist. propaganda against society in general. Law had broken down, and all the blackguards of War- saw were having a prosperous time under the guise of being revolu- tionaries. They were killing gendarmes in the streets of Warsaw at the rate of twenty-five a day. Tragic though it was, there was a certain amuse- ment to be,obtained inseeingthat all policemen in the main streets' of Warsaw had to be protected, by three soldiers, one walking on eith- er side and one walking behind. A DANGER SPOT. On the very day I arrived a bomb was thrown at the Governor, and he and those with him were smashed to pulp. • There was wa grand official funeral. ' • Orders npi and at a diitanoe of about ewei,ty-fiivo parses they proceeded under orders to fire upon those young Tows, They were not skilful with rifle, and most of the shots missed, Wilde some of the Jaws were writhing in agony on. the ground, the soldiers` loaded again and fired once more. At last all the Jews were wounded, some were killed, and then twice did the aoldiors load their guns and fere into the mass, until they were all dead. AN INTERESTING HEADLINE, 1 well recall the evening I was leaving Warsaw for •Moscow. I was driving with my eervant to the railway -station, when wo ran into one of the round -ups I have men- tioeed: The brutality of the soldiers was devolting. Of course, they thetneelves• were being badly .treated by the Poles -many of their friends had been massacred; they showed a grim satisfaction in erne retalition, "There was a terrible hubbub, and the street "was blaoked, I sent my servant to an officer, ask- ing; that. we be allowed to drive train. The only answer he got was to he violently beaten by soldiers. I ran forward :myself, and I am afraid used some vigor ous language, in very bad Russian to the officer in ohargo. 'Then I began to be hustled my eel. . Things were certainly be ginning to look lively, when whipped out my British passport and, I faster put on airs as a British subject, and threatened the, the Majesty of Britain would have something to. say about the affair. were given that all civilians must The Russian has a great respect keep indoors, all doors had to be and also a great terror for, official closed, and all blinds drawn. - From my. hotel window I did take a look, and there, instead of. the soldiers 'axing toward the street to do tenor to the dead, they, were, all turned towards the houses, with carbines ready to shoot any- body who dared maks an appear- ance at window or door. Warsaw was in a state of seige. Troops were everywhere. It was necessary when in the streets •to walk with hands away from due's pockets, for a movement to get a handkerchief or a cigar was often interpreted as a movement to draw a revolver, and a violent arrest was usually the consequence. Shootings were frequent, I re- member ono night being in the Jew- ish quarter. I heard the ring of a account of my experjences. --d DISCOVERY OF d.1liERICA. Fridtjof Narsen Says It Was 500 Years Before Cabot. Fridtjof Nansen, the Arctic ex - documents. Instantly the proce dere was changed; The officer made a sort of half apology, and told me I ought to have kept out of the way if I did not want to get into trouble. He allowed me to drive through. The little scene was witnessed by a Polish journalist, who told the story in his paper in a somewhat exaggerated manner; the story travelled to St. Petersburg, then it was telegraphed to London, . with the consequence that some of the evening ,papers dame out with a fine alliterative headline, "Foster Fraser Flogged!" I had not thought the incident worth men- tioning, but for several days a telegram was chasing me in Russia that I should send home a full. revolver. I ran forward to see,, and there I found an old man lying on the pavement outside his shop - door,•. with the blood streaming from his forehead. NOBODY'S', BUSINESS. What had happened was that a thief had entered the stop, • and, plorer, in a lecture' before the under threat of murder, pilfered Royal Geographical Society, Lon - the till, don, recently raised the question Just as he was escaping, however,. of the discovery of America and the old mien followed to raise ane placed the date some 500 years be - alarm, and then the thief swung fore Oabot. The Norsemen, said round, shot'him dead, and escaped Nansen, were the great pioneers =i -as everybody did escape in War- saw during those terrible days. Nobody tried to stop the murderer; nobody ran to the old man's as- sistance. ' .It was nobody's affair, and if anyone had shown concern they ram very grave rtisks of being general idea of the world was that arrested under suspicion, it was an island surrounded on all crossing the ocean. Before -their days all navigation had been more or less coast navigation, the sailors sailing chiefly along the coasts from place toplaceand never venturing very far' from the known land. The One night I was in aeafo. Sud- denly, at the further end, a small bomb came through the plate- glass window, and there was an ex- plosion. Instantly everybody hast- ened into the street. The cafe was deserted. In a few minutes up came about fifty soldiers at the double, and, making a half -circle round the cafe, proceeded, to fire ered Greenland and founded two Ileys into the place. Of course, settlements on its south-western he bomb-throwerhad escaped 'long toast in ` the end of the tenth afore, and the only use of the .vol- 00ntufy - .It seemed probe - sides by the sea, beyond which was the darkness of the unknown. The Norsemen destroyed byy their dis- coveries these learned ideas; in their small open vessels they sail- ed across the . outer ocean and found lands beyond. The Norse Icelanders, led by the Norse chief Eric the Red, discov- at the very smell of one. With the exception of the zebras in Lionel de Rothschild's collection, the members of this species; owned by Mr. Wingfield are the only speci- mens to be found in a private. menagerie in liritain.. essen their intelligence." - FACT AND FANCY. A hair on the head is worth two the brush, • There are no prisons in honest °eland. Tho c or • '" s in taking life in I ley -firing was to do a considerable .amount of damage to property. • ARRESTS WHOLESALE. The soldiery were constantly, rounding up the populace. Some afternoons a cordon would be form- ed in a part of the main streets, and everybody who was in it was °might as in a not. Then ono by one they had to pass the solidery and be searehed. If any of thorn had a revolver or any seditious literature in their possession, or if the were ' to pro. e that not, very long after this weatherbeaten seafarers from Greenland had discovered -lands still further toward the west or rather southwest. Tho Icelandic literature contained remarkable statements about such countries. They were called; "Helluland" (slate or stone land), "Markland" (woodland), "Furderstandir" (mak- vel strands) and "Wineland the Good." Yet another which lay west of Ireland and not,;far from Wine - land was called "Hoetramanna-. ' d' (the. white man's land), or .at Ireland," Although some of countri-ere le- ...ar t� ��:...':: r MAKING s�SOAP, _. SOFTENING EN NG V�ATERy REMOVING PAINT, DISINFECTING SIN64$, CLOSETS, D RA! NS, ETC $OLD EYERYW1ERE REFUSE SUBSTITUTES KONG SAFE INVESTMENTS THE YIELD ON MUNICIPAL BONDS Ht. FENDS ON SAFETY AND POPU- LARITY OF BOND. Small Issues Usually Have to Yield High. or Than Large -Safety of Interest De. pends Entirely 'on Safety of Principal - Canadian Municipal. Issues Yield Lower Return Than •Amorloan-Western School Issues. The article's contributed by "Investor" are for the sole 'purpose. of guiding pros. 'motive investors,- and,. if possible of lay. leg. them from losing money ihroaeh placing it in "wiid.oat" enterprises. The impartial and reliable character of the Information. may be relied upon. The writer of these articles and the publisher of thio paper .have no interests to serve in connection with this matter otherthan those of the reader. Turning from the question of safety of principal of municipal bonds to the other (natures, which • must be considered when investing in accordancewith actual re- gal:en: mite wo dome to the item of nor. tainty of. interest. This, of oourse, depends in the case of this class of bonds on the same consideration which'tends to insuro safety of principal, and where tiiend reason toconsider the safety of sum in. vested ample we have no occasion to en. quire further as to the possibility of non- payment of interest. In the case of Oampbellton, N. B. for instance, where the total destruction of the town by Are rendered precarious the safety ;,f the bonds, the gotten of the governmentof the Proviaoe alone saved the interest from defaulting, just as it was the same government's guarantee that enabled the town to make another issue of bonds since the Are ata very favorable rate. These investor& eagerly, purchased. The rate of income from munieipals•is realtivoly small, .except when one eon• eiders their relatively high degree of. safety. This question of relative .safety is ono very good reason why Canadian, municipalities sell their bond's at much more advantageous prices than do anuni- oipaiities of corresponding size and pros- pects to the south of the International Boundary, For example, City of New York bonds sell slightly under par to yield about 4.05 per cent., whereas, To. route bonds sell above par -for the 4 per cent.'s-'to yield 3.90 per neat, And other cities are In proportion. The very fact cited last week that repudiation of muni• oipal obligations was 3o infrequent in Canada as to bo negligible -while in the States it is a very present danger at all times in investing and is ample reason for the lliiferenoe. To some degree, however, the rate of he b tercet end the yield -the difference has been pointed out several times to this column -varies -in the words of maths- t mattes -inversely as the safety. That le a to say, the lower the safety the greater the yield. This is only true in part. A p small issue of bonde must usually' yield a Higher rate -of income than a largo one g for iu the first pine, they are nearly as much trouble for n bond dealcr to handle, and then the town, not being well 'known -er of course it would be large enough to make a -largo issno--is not popular with investors if they can get the bonds of a more.important place at the Ramo price. This ,is particularly noticeable in the ease of small Western rural: muaioi. palities and school district issues. The• safety of those school district securities is of quite a high oleos and yet for the chief reason that they are unmown, Otte Yield as high at 6 por cleat and Boras. times over. These bonds aro secured by a first lion, based on farm. land at a rate of -about 30 coats an acre, so that on land which ie worth an average of over 010 an acre and -readily sells at that pries, there is no occasion to worry over the security. But the.fact that they are of. ten issues otfonly one, two or three thou- sand dollars makes it hard to get a good price on'them unless the issue bears a high rate of interest. So the yield does not, depend alone on the safety. FREE TO GIRLS RL,� Beautiful French. Dressed Doll, x8 inch- es tali, with eyes that open and shut' Roll' ed Gold Locket and Chuin• Guaranteed "Starr" Hockey or Spring Skates; or Sol id Gold Signet Ring free to any girl: Send us your name and we will send you 3o sets of beautiful Christmas Greeting and other post cards to sell at ten cents a set (6 cards in a each set). When soli' send us the money and we will send you whichever prize you choose. if you will sell 40 sets we will give you a leatherette, folding. go-cart for dolly, a rolled gold ex. tension bracelet, or a toy sewing machine that does real sewing, IVB prepay all charges, Address, HOMER. WARREN CO., Dept. aS., Toronto. A CLOSELY GUARDED ED SECRET Only One Man Knpws Brow Swed- Lall Gauges are Alade. In a closely guarded room of a small shop in an obscure Swedish village a man toils in secret, says .&writer in Cassier's Magazine, Just how he a complishes what he does no one knows, not even his sous who work with him. Johansson has made the world beat a path to his door, for he has discovered the secret of making a more accurate limit gauge than any previously in use, A single set of his gauges gives a practically un- limited series of sizes rising by steps of a ten -thousandth of an inch -much loss than the tradition- al hair's breath -to twenty-six inches. It is said that 80,000 com- binations of these gauges aro pos- sible. No dimension within their Limits has been cited that they failed to coproduce. Extreme aceuracy in eliding machinery, particularly that of motor cars, is of the great- est importance and the first step oward that end is the perfection of standard. Making such stand- ards is a tedious and expensive roe0SS. When, two of these Swedish auger aro "wiped" together so as to exclude the air from between diem they adhere with a pressure which experiment has shown to ex- ceed thirty pounds to tho square inch. Twenty or more pieces may ° be thus wiped together and sup- ported horizontally by merely hold-' nig the last one, which moans that the aeeuraoy of their various sur- faces is almost absolute. Finishing one surface or two surfaces to a very close limit by lapping -rubbing together with a fine abrasive between --is n coni- parativeiy simple matter, But achieving such perfect parallelism as is shown by these remarkabl3 gauges is quite anoth `, • cord quite A "Teaser" For Jaded Appetites OPAL SUPERSTITIONS. Origin of Mee They are Untnoky- 11otiuf Of the Ancioets. The jewel of October is the opal. The Gxi eks believed it possessed the power of bestowing • second sight to those under its infiueneo, provided they d.d not use the pow- er for selfish ends. By its misuse they became lucky us love, dieop- pointmon't and misfortune dogging their foot -steps, says the Pall Mall' Gazette. The theory was started that for oeouit reasons the opal wee un. lucky or that it brought ill luck to its possessor, and succeeding gen- erations hove inherited the trust that was thus aroused, The idea that opals were unlucky is thought• by many to be on ac- count of the unfortunate parb Sir Walter Scott assigned to it in Lis "Anne of Geirsteln." But the gem must have appealed to so great a lover of beauty in animate and in- animate nature as Sir Walter and it must have bean far indeed from his thoughts to engender supersti- tion by giving a bad . name to a marvellous example of creative energy, The opal is also• associated with misfortune by Russians of both sex;h es, who e uld they chance to see an 'iflal among the goods dis- played fol' go: chase will buy noth- ing more that clay, and it is a cur - sous fact that the Japanese, being' under the sign that this stone be- longs to, should bo the nation to a bring such ill luck to the Russians during the disastrous war between these two countries. The Romans of old loved the opal so well that they bestowed upon it the name of "lovely youth." It never occurred to them that it was a gem which carried ill luck to its possessor. Lucky indeed did that Roman esteem himself who was the owner of an opal that filled his neighbor with envy. In the Middle Ages there were' not wanting men who did not lose their popularity as time went on. Each century brought its own days and sorrows, luck and i11 luok to the human race, and each age brought its fashions in jewelry as in clothing, but the opal remained high in favor and entered largely into the adornment of both sexes. Its frangibility was well known, but this was regarded not as a failing so much as a special claim on the care on all who handled it. Alone among jewels the opal do- fies the ingenuity of the imitator. It owes the charm mot so much. to its own intrinsic merits as to the splendor of the rays of light that it refleots. It is the chameleon of stones. Piny, writing 1,819 years ago remarked that it "displays at once the piercing fire of carbun- cles, the purple brilliancy of ame- thysts and the sea green of emer- alds, the whole blended together and refulgent with a brightness that is quite incredible," Unlike other gems, the opal lea stone with a temper. Tho diamond rises superior to climate, a.s also does the ruby, the emerald and the 'ha sapphire, but the opal s an or- ganization so delicate that it loses color when exposed to severe cold and becomes dull under the influ- ence of moisture. But when warmed by the rays of the sun or even by the temperature of the hand it recovers its good humor, resumes its exquisite brilliancy. Prejudice dies hard, but with re- gard to the opal it is on the wane and the day is probably not distant when the 'e'en will no longer be re- garded with superstition. A SCOTCH MUSIC LESSON. A highland piper. who had a pupil to teach originated a method by which, says a writer in Black - wood's Magazines, he succeeded in reducing the difficulbies of the task a minimum, and at the same ime fixed his lesson in the pupil's mind. "Here, Donald," said he, "tak yer pipes, lad, an' gin us a blast. "So! Verres wool blawn indeed; but what's a sound, Donald,. wi out sense? You may blew for- ever wi'out making a tune o't, if 1 dinna tell ye how the queer hinds en the paper mann help ye, "Ye see that big fellow wi' a 0" ;, len face" -pointing to a "between tw 1;.,... -usi`. e'a The easy-sh Hing stove polish in the big can Not a powder, which must be mixed with water --nor a hard cake, which must be scraped but a Soft paste, ready to use, that gives a brilliant polish with a few rubs. lyqutally good for stoves, pipes, grates attd Ironwork. 11 your dealer does hot carry "Black Knight" Stove )Polish, send us his name and foo, and we will send u full size tin by return mall, se The P,P.bailey Co. i,lsittedrlismillou,Aht, 1,01kerto( the famese"Sin i" Shoe veli W. hush to A ger' 'then TI a grc Tho g coin, wa Venetian . e gave its ;nasi Women will but she won't let she forgives. TXCELLRN "I'll work no m "Dolan," "An' why 1" "Sleeve, 'tis on &coo mark ho made," "An' rliet was that'," "Says be. 'Casey,' Aye yo'ra ilischesrgod."