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The Brussels Post, 1919-6-19, Page 2ems. Rural Life No Longer Dull Some months ago we told )row Cam ndidn worsen who had been in Eng- land shire war began had been instru- mental in introducing our Woman's Inetit:,ltcs there. Hence the following interview of a London newspaper with Lady 0 iman is most interesting: "\Vo aro' forming women's insti- tutes et the rate of over twenty a week" said Lady Denman, "Village life is ne longer incl; vi1• lage women are organizi• ., and co- operating through the m •,i,tun of these institutes which give thine the chance, to meet and exchange id, s and to listen to lectures on varic ., subjects) of inierest to women from . or•y point of view, eubjects the pe Bier under- standing of which is for tee good of the country, the locality, and the home, "The idea came from Canada and, in a way, the word institute is a mis- nomer. It gives the idea of a big build- ing. whereas these bodies of village women have no regular place of meet- ing. They meet in the schoolhouses or other village buildings, and after the lecture or entertainment have tea and tack together. Are Buying Co-operatively. "The institutes are still wider in their aims, however, and they are go- ing to be a great factor in village life after the war. The women are buying co-operatively now. The institute in a village purchases coal and seedlings, allotments are worked, and pigs are kept jointly by several members. "Leiter one can vision the institutes going into the question of housing and other matters of vital importance to the country as to the city housewife and mother. "We have appeals from all over the country to form institutes, but tmless we rind when we go to a village that the women who want the institute re- present all classes of women we ask them to wait a while until there is more unanimous support, for the whole idea of the institute is that well-to-do women and poor women should co- operate, "T go to many of the initial meet- ings. Sometimes they are in quite good-sized placte. sometimes in tiny villages, I attended one recently in a tillage of oily 40 houses, and I am Iglad to say there were 35 people pre - I sent. "A very important part of the work is to start village industries. alive the I women some occupation as well as some diversion outside their homes. Basket making, toy malting, fruit and I vegetable preserving are all being started. "The institutes are entirely self - governed. We have nothing to do with that. The ntentbers elect their own of- ficials and arrange their own meetings. Membership ousts 2s., and the meet- ings ere educational in purpose, but the result of tltent is closer and friendlier relations among the women. Become a Power in the Land. "The prize offered for the best pro- gramme of lectures and discussions was won by the Checkendon Women's Institute, which has a meeting one Friday a month, on which there will be interesting lectures, discussions on various subjects by the members, songs. entertainments by school child- ren, country dancing, exhibition of the best work of any kind by a member, etc, "The institutes are already becom- ing something of a power with local government officials, For examplle, when the women's institute in a cer- tain village wanted an instructor in lace -making in order to start the in- dustry there they applied to the local educational board and got one without any difilculty. "The discussions on household and other subjects teach the women to ex- press themselves. Sometimes a wo- man will come to many meetings be- fore she feels she can jotu in the dis- cussion, then some interesting point which she understands particularly will overcome her shyness, and, hav- ing once spoken, she is to be counted upon at other discussions," AMAZING FEATS OF TRAVEL. Engine- Drivers, Ship • Captains and Postmen Who Have Millions of Miles to Their Credit. The City man who journeys thirty miles a day to and from his office, would probably be astonished to learn that a single year's travelling would take him as far as Calcutta, and that every three years he covers a dis- tance greater than that round the earth at the Equator, says a London writer, And yet he is a "stay-at-home" con. Pared with hundreds of men who sel- dom give a thought to their perform- ances. Many an engine -driver and guard has a mileage running into seven figures. When Mr. Benjamin Jeans stepped down for the last time from his footplate on the London and Birkenhead express, he could boast; that he had travelled 4,000,000 miles, having reeled off his "world -circuits" at the rate of approximately three a year for fifty-four yeas. Another ex- press driver on the L. and Ne W, Rail• way, DIr. Thomas Ilecic, )tad cemple(ed' a record of 3,000,000 utiles when he retired. When that fine old skipper, Captain Greenstreet, turned his back on the sea a few years ago, he had crossed the Equator 102 times. He had made 90 voyages to and from Austradasia,: and hail left behind 2,600,000 miles of sea -roaming. .And even that wonderful achieve- ment was eclipsed by Mr. H. Stevens, a steward on board Cunard liners, whose record of Atlantic 'crossings reached a total of 3,400,000 miles. Compared with such astounding feats of globe-trotting, pedestrian re- cords seem insignificant. But there are several men living to -day whose tramping has covered hundreds of thousands of miles. Among them, Dir. W. Moore, a letter -carrier, walked 210,000 miles in thirty-two years over Yorkshire roads; and Mr. Richard Williams, in six years more, placed the enormous journey of 415,000 miles to his record as a shropshire postman. He Knew How, Lee Fong was brought before a local magistrate and fined for breaking the law. The magistrate had great diffi- culty in snaking the Oriental under- stand, as he feigned entire ignorance of English. Finally, in desperation, the magistrate said: "Hare, man, do you see? That is one dollar. Pay it—or go to jail." Tho Chink still appeared to be unen- lightened, and the magistrate repeated the question. "Allow me to talk to him, your Honor," burst forth the husky cop who lied arrested )lint, "I'11 make hint un- derstand." "'You're a liar:" shouted back the Chink. "It's only one dollar." - -- Every :.hill should have one quart of milk a day until it is 8 years old. A Bloodless Revolution Whilst other nations have been go- ing through revolutionary periods dur- ing the past eighty years, Britain has worked out a wonderful peaceful re- volution which the limelight of war seems to reveal to us, says a London newspaper, Let us go back a few years farther to 1830. and we find slave -holding on Ilritish territory legal. in a ParlIa- ntent of rotten boroughs Birmingham and Manchester were not represented, but Grampound and Old Sarum were, Until 1834 there was no grant for etdu- cntiun, and then only £20,000; No Factory Acts existed. The savage penal laws had just been repealed, and even still fifty, or sixty human beings were hanged every year and hundreds packed off in convict ships to the Colonies. • Then look at the world at large, In Vele the only Republic was America, and she.' had a t•;tal population of twelve million, ore -tenth of whom were elaves. Our own ('ulualAS we're small, primi- tive communities, having constant troubles with the natives, Italy seas parcelled nut, Anetr'ia holding its richest provinces; China and Japan were closed to foreigners; India was ruled by a trading company, and con- stantly invaded by northern races; Russia, it was feared, aright over- whelm Etti'clpe1 end Germany was a collection of dukeries, In 1830 there were no railroads, no 0ceatt steamships, no telegraph, tto cheap post, no free press, no public education, no pure water, no stain drainage, 'Trade 'Unions were criminal associations, and Dissenters were re- garded ethnost Cls rebels. y mug. Tpas NEVER ASSERT FROM $C.tLOOL: A CHILDREN'S FEAST. When Youthful China Celebrates the Lotus Festival. The Lotus Festival Is a pretty bit of merry -snaking that belongs exclusive- ly to the fortunate children of China. Mrs. Alice Tisdale in her book, Pion- eering Where the World Is 01(1, thus describes the picturesque scene: It was a hot summer night, and all the shop windows were bright with lanterns shaped like the lotus buds in the big moat. The moon rose high over the curving Peking roofs and flooded the streets. As if the moon had brought him, a child came timidly forth front one of the big, dark gate- ways. In his hands he held a brilliant lotus bud and a lotus -bud lantern. Then from every gateway, all up and down the streets, the children came forth. The air was filled with the music of their happy voices, and there was the sound of their little feet going pitapat in the dust. Soon the streets were childhood's land, full of color, sound and happi- ness. Still the children caste, rich and poor --children in silk garments of bright colors, children in rags. and little, naked, brown children, all carry- ing the lotus bud and the lotus -bud lanterns, which threw soft lights up into their happy, childish faces. Ever the crowd of breathless, joyous child- ren and lovely flowers increased. For a brief, joyous hour, like fairy elves, the children frolicked. Then the candles burned low in the lanterns, and one by one went out As quickly as they came, the children vanished. The streets were again silent and gloomy. MARRIAGE MANNERS. Strange Customs Described by an English Writer. It is an old belief that a marriage should take place when the noon is waxing and not waning, if it is to be a lucky match, and in many North - Country dietricts a strict inquiry is made as to the state of the moon be- fore the wedding day is fixed, In the North, too, no wise bride will ask an odd number of guests to her wedding - feast, for an old superstition has it that if this is done, one of the guests will die before the year is out. In the Highlands it is taken as a ter- ribly unlucky sign if a dog should run between tate bridal pair on their wed- ding -day; while in Derbyshire pros- pective brides still tell tate bees of their wedding, and decorate the hives Inc the occasion. In parts of England and Scotland there exists an ancient custom for which reason is hard to find, by which part of the wedding - cake is broken over the head of the bride and the guests scramble for pieces. None of these marriage manners, however, compare with the Chinese custom which causes bacon and sugar to be hung on the sedan -chair of a Chinese bride, in order to keep the demons from molesting her on Iter wedding journey. The Chinese bride- to-be, too, bus to stand in a round, shallow basket while she dresses for the wedding, in order to make her of a good temper and amiable disposition, Change of diet for animals should be made gradually, especially where thee/ involve the introduction of new foods. Animals are generally sus- picious of new foods, and often re- ject for a while material which they subsequently eat readily, BOW EASTERN RACES USE THE 'OOT REPORT OF FRENCH INVESTIGA- TOR, LANNELONGUE, Among the Oriental Peoplee the Foot Possesses to a Certain Extent the Power of Grasping Objects, With the yellow races, lite the Chinese, Japanese and Malays, the foot is not only aur organ of support and progression, but also of prehen- sion or grasping, tike the hand. Man's foot, as au essential part of his locomotive apparatus, sustains the weight of his body while he walks, its sole being well shaped for adaptation to the inequalkties of the ground. In the attitudes of sitting and lying down the foot has an altogether acceesury function, at least in the white race, the instances where it serves for grasping objects being quite exception- al According to the French investiga- tor, Lannelongue, a point of departure for functional transformation of a foot is found in its century old adaptation to special usages. That it may better respond to its duties the Occidental foot is enclosed in a rigid and narrow shoe holding it mechanically in a form that prevents its functional develop- ment. hi the Far East, on the con- trary, the foot is sometimes naked, sometimes covered only by a forked stocking, enabling the introduction of a thong between the first and second toe (as in Japan), sometimes covered with a stocking in a shoe or a largo cloth slipper (as in China), Development of Pedal Powers. Mr. Lannelongue examines the func- tional modifications that the foot takes on according to the preceding cir- cumstances in the two principal atti- tudes assumed by the human body in the waking state—the crouching and the vertical attitudes. The crouching attitude is very fre- quent in India, japan, Malaysia and even in China. It offers three different Positions. In one, the most ordinary, the body sits on the heels, in the second it sits on tate ground and in the third it sits on nothing and remains in the air. In each of these attitudes the foot is employed differently. Take the case where the body sits on the ground. The lower limbs, generally much bent, are placed in front of the body. the knees forth au angular pro- tuberance and furnish a resting point for the arms. This a favorite position with the Hindoos, who sometimes sleep in this attitude, and with the Malays and many negroes. This posi- tion approaches very closely that habi- tually taken by apes. The authority quoted has seen at Tokyo in a theatre box a young man of sixteen or seventeen years sitting' with Itis feet grasping the railing as if they were hands, the youth using his right foot to scratch his left thigh and knee. This he did by giving a sidewise motion and a slight rotation to his great toe. In a second form of squatting the trunk rests directly on the heels. This is the familiar attitude of the Japan- ' ese at meals and in general when at home. The foot acquires great supple- ness and agility which enables it to endure these attitudes a long time. Furthermore, the great mobility of the toes, particularly that of the great toe, fits these organs to various functions, from those that merely balance the body to those that enable them to grasp objects within their reach, Can Rotate the Toes. Finally, there is the squatting atti- tude, wherein the body rests on noth- ing at all but is held in tha air several inches above the heels. This is rarer than the other two types. It would ap- pear to be a tiresome posture, al- though those who use it do not find it so, 10 relation to the independence and the mobility of the toes among Orientals. Lannelongue points out that the big toe is separated from the others, being besides able to execute a slight rotatory movement, so that its upper side turns a little downward. The great toe thus becomes, like the thumb. an organ serving to grasp ob- jects, Even the little toe may also move and rotate slightly. This has been noticed in women who manipu- late the paddle on sampans. Whine walking the natives Ilse their feet to scrape together on the ground with dexterity and procission different objects, leaves or fruits. They also Correct Automobile Imbrication. I Some maintain that any kind of grease or cil, just so it goes by these' names, will fill the hill for automobile lubrication; those who use good) judgment see the situation in an en tirely different light. With the lat- ts tri class of people (hero is t uall y less trouble with the ailing systems.) The more capable the oil or grease, is of reducing friction the morn pro-! bable it is that tho lubricant is the! right one to use. It is not good economy to use poor grades o` badly Prepared lubricants when the geed I grades cost but little more and are able to stand up unler severe condi-: tions of heat end wear. In the crankcase of a high-speed: motor many strange things take place. The temperature there is sure; to increase on account of the explo-1 sions in the cylinder above. The oil constantly splashes against the heti sides of the cylinder walls and be -j comes heated. The probable escape; of hot gases past a weak spot in a. cylinder piston ring to the case of oil below also helps to heat the oil. Add to this the churning process set up by the tips of the connecting -rods, and you can form a pretty good idea of what the lubricating oil has to, contend with. It constantly loses its lubricating qualities and at the same time accumulates fine particle; of metal that are given off from the bearings, etc. After a certain num- ber of miles the contents sheer) be drained off and fresh oil added. The oil in the crankcase should be of the grade recommended by the maker of your car. Some auto own- ers use the same grade of oil winter and summer, and too often this is ton thin or light in quality, We have found after a very careful test with our overheated valve Motor, Chet rather heavy oil gives the very lies results. Before this lee had 'fired th lighter, cheaper nil, and carbo( bothered a great deal nn nec0lltlt o the light oil wonting past tete pistol rings. The heavier nil cut down (11 rate of carbon formation and actual ly helped compression in the cylind ors, This is an important matter The lighter oil cost only a little more than half as much as the heavier but the heavier more than paid fn the difference ,in price. Some meter NUMEROUS EROUS TYPES 11N PARADES BRITISH SCIENTISTS COMMENT ON OVERSEAS TROOPS. a Difference in Stature and Coloring Denote Australians, New Zen - hinders and Cenadic ns, 1 Some who have watched the parades 1, of overseas troops have h'•.tneled 1110Yy • deleclee the enkorgenee of national types, says a Loudon (l'r.pateh. See- - ilg large bodies of then it',tnl Atatralln •1 Canada and Now ''Zealand in the max:. is a tii0'erent thing from coning of , equal numbers scattered ;u vale"(1) r' places. It was the long sur, wren of S faces which seemed 10 imprint nn the are of, higher speed than others; the. must be studied anti Forme judgmen must be used in oiling them. Neve overdo the heavy oiling by usin heavier oil titan necessary. The same general rule will bol with all the other working parts o a car. Some drivers and owners evil use practically the same hard grease they use on hinders, mowers and bug gies. Never use axle grease in th transmission box 0f your car. Neve use it anywhere on the car; wago .observer's brain 0 recognienbl0 mut- t ensile photograph, as it were of the r' Australian, Canadianturd New Sete g' ]tender respectively, Comparing impresslons, two 111'n d. who cherished this fancy ttgrce:l f the Australian and Canadian types. 1 Australian, they told each other, was s a fine fellow physically, and had a - countenance which would look (veil on o an old Roman coin, there being idiom 1' him a suggestion of bleakest nose and n and buggy axle grease is usually for the lubrication of parts that do not move Very rapidly, Reliable makers of the soft an heavy cup greases have had to figur it all out carefully that a particula kind of grease and oil is needed fo the lubrication of automobiles. Ver few if any reliable makers of auto mobiles will ever recommend an ancient imperialism, The Canadian, on the other hand, was more English in his traits, and but Inc a certain breadth of feature Wright make an ex- cellent Cockney. As for the New Zen- o lander, one of the two observers had ✓ carried away an impression of slight - ✓ er and more agile stake, with a richer y coloring, both in Taco and eyes, than - either the Australian or the Catadie.n. y other kind of grease or oil than tha which has been manufactured pur posely for the lubrication of automo biles, Pleat and speed have to b considered; correct lubrication nits take care of the car under the wors conditions. The second 1111111 denied that New Zen - land had evolved t1 type; but, as he - happened to be a Now Zealander hint- - self, it might be argued that his por- e ception was obscured by familiarity. t Missed Chance to Gather Data, pursue and catch mice alive. It is, however, in certain special occupa- tions that the use of the foot is impor- tant and renders the workman more skilful. On the rivers, streams or canals transportation and postal facilities de- pend on the sampans. Women, as well as men, operate then( all day and the preltonsive foot renders their task much easier. Every Chinese postman, lying on his boat, steers with his hands and rows with his toes. He holds the oar strongly between tho great toe and the others and gives a vigorous motion to the boat by the powerful action of the leg muscles. With such people the foot is no longer an exclusive organ serving to support the body. It may, according to the kind of life led by the owner, accommodate itself to other functions and become an organ of prehension like a man's hand or mouth, the ele- phant's trunk and the monkey's tail, although it is infinitely less prehensile than these latter organs. Serving as an organ of locomotion, the foot renders walking surer, easier and, in difficult circumstances, less ex- posed. As a grasping organ it gives to its possessor—for example, to the considerable population of fishermen and boatmen—serious advantages in the daily struggle of existence, YOUTH AND AGE. Opinions Differ as to the Best Period of Human Life. Which is the best age? Are we to believe the professor who tells us tha a man's hest work is done before he is forty, or Robert Browning, who exalts old age and cries, "Grow old along with me—the best is yet to bel" Childhood has a magic and a toys tery which can never be regained. Out of its imagination a child shapes its own world and creates its own delights in life. Youth is the time when we find our greatest physical expression. On ideals take form, and we are neither fettered by failures nor spoilt by suc- cess. Normal youth believes it can conquer all obstacles and achieve all ends. Maturity knows better. The man of forty is balanced by experience, and while his mental faculties should have rtaclied their highest point of de- velopntent physically he is not a back number. And what of Browning's old age? Is the best yet to be? Perhaps. The man it ho utas been a failure is near the end of his earthly troubles, and the man who has succeeded awaits, with a sense of fulfilment, the next great adventure, Professor Keith, the eminent anthro- pologist, who has recently Neon giving us such interesting lessons from the human skull, was asked whether this empirical theory of types wa8 soundly based. Though sympathetic, he was not reassuring, being inclined to think that if Englishmen and their overseas t brethren were mingled in equal pro- portions, it would be difficult, ie not impossible, to distinguish between them. Climatic conditions produced superficial differences. The New Zea- - leader's color, for example, might be ascribed to the atmospherical sur- roundings of his life at home; to the same causes, indeed, whirh impart the tinge to the Englishman's cheek, and to which the English girl owes Om her complexion, But science islso far from being dog- matic on the question that it regrets the opportunity afforded by the mass- ed presence of so many members ,/f the British fancily in England has been lost owing to the immediate necessities of war. Instructive data might have been obtained If authority had not been compelled to Pis its at- tention cm more urgent natters. Even ROW there rennins a chancey of secur- ing details, of the hind of whiell science can pay attention, before tate great battalions are broken up for- ever. Meanwhile, from the seientiiic point of view, we must be cautieue of talking of types, lest we be ntisl",l by the multitude of details which are apt to lead observation astray. Can We Control the Weather Experts declare that the Great War has definitely proved the fact that gun- fire has absolutely no effect in caus- ing rain; yet, for all that. there are mane who believe that elan -made ex- plosions can affect the weather, and that, consequently, we shall in the end learn to make rain when and where we want it. Tiley instance the fact that violent rain always follows big volcanic ex- plosions, When Krakatoa blow up there were deluges of rain over thou- sands of square miles. The same thing happened during the outburst of Mont Pelee, in the West Indies, and during the last big eruption of Vesu- vius. Even when quite a small volcano like Mont Lassen erupted there were heavy thunderstorms and rain. Volcanic outbursts flung fine dust high into the air, It is so fine that you may find four thousand million particles in a cuble inch. Each of these little particles furnishes a nue, leus of centre for a raindrop. And so, say some folk, comes the rain. But this does not quite fit in. If dust causes rail, it ought to be al- ways raining over London and every big city which constantly pours smoke into the air. Yet, as a matter of fact, London's rainfall is very small, so the dust theory fails badly. No; the fact seems to be that there are electric influences at work in the staking of every shower of rain. Also, it seems to bo necessary to have an inrush of cold air. Some year's ago an American wrote a book called "War and Weather," which induced the Hulled States Gov- ernment to vote :$10,000 for expert- menta in producing rant by the use of high explosives. Although these experiments failed, there are many scientifc sten who fully believe that lean will eventually learn the great secret of controlling the weather. Then wo can have weather to order, the great drawbacks being that, as now, it will be impossible to please everybody. SIR SIMRI4HT IS CALLING ON US TONIGHT SO itON'T THINK YOU ARE. 401 Nei I TO'GET OUT Foik A MINUTE,- 1 KNOW HE'S COMtN' THAT'S ALL HELLO Slt� SIMRIGHT'fo C —' '- se' ^t t� *les- - ► OW tee THIS VALET •WIlAC9 HE'S ILL • fM SO SOPeRee- �5 Y ill!/(g"-P9 ea ! o'tl H'S NOT COMIi4 I'M SO D so,PpOiNTED- WELL • t SCE iT worKCD GcE gh1E'LL f�E MAO WHEN HE DOSS 'SHOW UP _-- 'G i . o `y ff� ,s ' 71 y q`' tfy `�.° o r ` ' ^ �1; '^r s o u• ;, r� SHE rHOUGitlt IT WU2 THE VIiLET'S VOICE AL. LRI4HT• CLANCY- . �, aqq ( o` ee,a'�o _ a,� 3` I;tt. t�& WELL AS LONG AS i'M ALL DRESSED elP•I'LLGO TO THC `(OU'�%E TOLD l ME f OR A il!!t(f weCK; od ' ire �G�! s, • (�,, 1 It Qd. { �. j�tr.0 F,'!d _-it's w.ar � `o•t IYM1 et; 4 a ., !'- ly err •--,, L� iris ter ai----------z--, ....c0, D, V .... • .4, i.. ,t'��, It 'd I. nl 19, b ,g r - ?;, .t' {.. i .0.14.11./ JI!1i�ppf �tY 0 THE FUTURE OF BRAZIL. A Country of Vaat Resources and Cap- able of Wonderful Development, Brazil today 11103- he regarded as one of the Most interesting cnuntriee I in the world. • It is nearly ns 1: ego as Canada, its area being five-slxtlis as large as the whole of Eurcq:e, It is a country of the future—e.. t rr- titnry almost virgin, (1 ieecril:tallly rich and susceptible of e. wonderful de- velopment, Nowhere else. does Cul coffee tree. beer so bountifully, pro - clueing four titles the Weight of fruit yielded by the plant in Mexico, Cot- ton and sugar -cane grow like weed,. Rubber and the chocnitic' bean are al- ready • exported in vast gnnnlitics. Fruits aro or almost infinite variety. A catalogue has been cnutpiteil at' 22,- 000 species of wood (sumo of theta the most benetifu1 in the world) found i:1 the valley of the Ameeem alone. Brazil Is the home of many ne.tive tribes that are tate 11::lteeest l:eople in the world. Such dress ns they near - is for ornament—the bright feathers of parrots and macaws, iridescent bee- tles' wiegs for necklaces, end the like. Many of them are minifi:dls, hunting sten for moat. They distend their ear- lobes and Bps- with huge plugs of wood or bone. Some of theta are fairly am- phibious, living most of their lives in dugout Ca13aCs, In point of volume the Amazon is by far the largest -river in the world. its mouth, 130 miles wide, le a giglutic estuary with many arms, and (oltLtin- ing one island, Ma'ujo, that is 200 utiles in length and 825 stilet bleat). At one point, the Strait of Pauxis, the stream is more than a quarter of ac mile deep. Many of its affluents aro themselves great rivers. Solve of then) have clear waters; others (like the Rio Negro) have "black" waters, lis' •colored by resinous substant.cs frons coniferous foreste, and yet others (like the Xingu) have blue waters. We do not travel as those who have no hope, for we know, -though we cannot see it, that at, the top of the mountain the sun is shining on a o'leangr•, fairer, 'better i4'Ul'l'1 ,, t•'•--• Nellie leleCluitg. Noe i