HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1924-5-14, Page 3Here's a study In black and white of two budding youngcitizens taken
In a lumber. camp in the Mississauga forest reserve north of Blind River,
Ontario. The little Indian and his white companion prepare for a day in
the woods.
How to Have a Community Pageant
J
By Mary M
A community pageant fa nothing
but' a big series of living pictures or
xnantomines in witioh the local people
not out their ideas of local history or
traditions lust as the kindergarten
child acts out fairy tales—and in both
cases the attempt at expression is a
great deal of fun. We are all•children
in our delight in dressing up and play
ing a part and the community pageant
gives just the right opportunity for
'this sort of enjoyment which ie also
educative.
Any community—your community—
is the place for pageantry, But if
there were a choice, then the small
town, just beginning to feel that it
will some be a city, is the ideal
situation. Nothing can equal the ein
thusiasm with which the people in
such a town ferret out the details of
their history and represent the most
striking incidents. They suddenly
realize that they aro a part of the
great world, and that down their main
Street all the currents of national his-
tory have flowed, and will continue to
flow for all time to come. They are
lifted out of the humdrum of their
daily lives in seeing themselves in
their relation to great bLstorical
events, and thie exaltation of spirit
Stas made many a small-town pageant
significant and beautiful quite out of
proportion to its size and its cost.
A Home -Grown Production,
Perhaps the best thing about a peg-
cant is that it can be infinitely adapt-
ed to local conditions. It can use al-
most any kind ot material effectively
and it eau be performed in the Par-
ticular beauty spot which fe the pride
of the town. If the local dealers
are timid about undertaking the pag-
eant 'without assistance they nut em-
ploy a trained pageant -manager to as-
sume general direction. Of course
this greatly simplifies the project. But
anyone with ability for managing peo-
ple and some actiatio.knowledge, who
enn give time and energy can produce
a fairly successful ,performance. And
the town will have an additional ren-
eon for pride in that the =tire produc-
tion has been made at home;
Sometimes a girl just out of college
and eager to do'something for her.
home town, is the local pageaut-man-
ager, She hoe seen pageonts present-
ed
resented at college and she studies the gen-
eral principles of pageantry from
books and magazine articles,
.Another excellent way to obtain a
knowledge of pageantry, and at the
pante time to arouse the interest of
Everybody is to arrange for some ex-
pert
apert in pageantry to give a lecture,
perhaps under the auspices of the see-
m/it's clubs of the town.
As soon as it has beep decided to
Rive a pageant, a. meeting is called of
all individuals who will probably be
interested and helpful, and the general
phut of organization worked out,
The selection of the pageant man-
ager is of first importance, since he as -
mimes control of tate entire organize -
eek Atkeson
Cion and has the final voice on all
plans.
Four Committees.
Chairmen then are elected for the
four general committees—the Histori-
cal Committee, the Finance Commit-
tee, the Cast Committee and the Pro-
duction Committee. The pageant -
manager acid these committee chair-
men constitute an executive body to
work out and bring to success all the
larger problems of the undertakigg..
The Historical Committee has the
task of ferreting out the local history,
deciding upon the number and char-
acter of incidente to be presented,
writing or adapting the pageant book,
borrowing and caring for historical
properties, preparing the program and
sometimes attending to the publicity
fpr the pageant.
The Finance Committee, has charge
of all business arrangements, includ-
ing the guaranty fund, budgeting of
expenses, ,sale of tickets and programs
renting of grounds or hall, seating,
transportation, building of back-
grounds and so forth. Under this oom-
mittee may serve any number of sub-
committees, each assigned one or
more particular tasks.
The Cast Committee tries to inter-
est al the people of the town in the
project and sees that every person is
asked to help In some way. It also
appoints the leaders of the episodes,
as the separate incidents of history
are called, assists the episode leaders
in choosing members of the Cast and
calls the general rehearsals.
The production Committee, assisted
by important subcommittees on cos-
tumes, music and dancing, and by the
leaders of the episodes, has charge of
all the details of the actual presenta-
tion.
Choosing the Subject.
The pegeantmanager 1s, of course,
an ex -officio member of all committees
as; he has the task oa making the pro-
duction a harmonious whole, This is
a very simple form of organization
but it covers all the necessary activi-
ties for the smaller pageant and can
be elaborated indefinitely to take care
of the great numbers of people in the
larger community, 'The pageant-utau-
ager's aim should be to divide the re-
sponsibility among as. many persons
as possible so that practically every-
one in the community feels himself a
necessary and important part of the
production,
The choice of material for the pag-
eant is very important. Most popular
in the smaller communities is the his-
torical pageant, made up of significant
items of local history presented in a
series of pictures or pantomimes,
these being reviewed and interpreted
by the Spirit of the Community, Cana-
da, or some ether symbolic figure.
Even though the wording of tiro story
be crude, if the real spirit of the lo-
cality is expressed and the historical
incidents arc well presented, the gen-
eral effect is excellent, The pageant.
A party of over 100 bays told girls, ranging from tern to sevoriteen years
of age, from Or. Bernardo's JJomes, bave left England fur Canada.Some of
theist are slsi i h waving gond bye to London.
Writer On get many valuable aitggie!,
tie= iretn pageants written for ether
eomraunittes,
its 8000 tie the pageant has been
written or edspted thq working out
begins, Tho Madera et the episodes
are chosen by the Cast Committee
from many groups 00 that there is a
demoeratle rapreeentation:al the sons-
mainly,
Any number or persons can be used
in a pageant, extras. being used as n
background for these taking pert • in
the action, Too large groups are 1111 -
wieldy, yet it is desirable to have it
few persona in each epieodo, so that
the places of players who may drop
out from illness or other causes at the
Leet moment may be Ailed by these
who are familiar with the action,
Costumes Are important,
In costuming the pageant almost the
whole community can take part. Or-
iginal costumes of historical periods
can be found in some of the attics of
the neighborhood. The older people
will enjoy giving deseriPtionea of the
costumes worn in their youth.
The style of colonial dress is well
known, An effective ball -room scone
Cap be copied from pictures of the
peeled, in old rose, blue and creamy-
yellow sateen and gaily flowered ere -
Mime. In a pioneer episode the men
wear ill -lifting trousers, of gray or
homespun, held by galluses of the ma-
terial over shirts of bright chlor. The
pioneer women wear tight -waisted,
full -skirted dresses of dark colors with
bright aprons—or bright calico Greas-
es for beet wear, Indians wear suits
of brown canton- flannel, fringed to
simulate buckskin, decorations of
bright colors and headdresses of
feathers. Their faces and hands are
copper color with blue and yellow war
•paint,
Costumes for heralds and pages
vary greatly, . The, medieval costume,
consisting of a loose jacket or tabard,
long stockings, low shoes, and a soft
cap, can be used with any kind of pag-
eant.
Advertising for the pageant. can
best be done with bright, artistic post-
,ers, large enough to attract attention.
It will arouse interest to announce
prizes for the best posters made by
school children. Newspaper advertis-
ing should take the form of little
stories about tate pageant. Each epi-
sode can be' written up separately,
giving the cast and something about
the incident to be portrayed.
Sha --"I could scratch my eyes out
for saying my mother is a cat"
Hubby -"Well, that proves you in-
herit her disposition."
Luxor to Wembley.
A remarkable .reproduction of Tut-
ankhainen's tomb at Luxor has been
constructed by experts for display at
the British Empire Exhibition" et
Wembley.
Wonderful chairs of ivory and
ebony, fearsome elongated lions and
cows, golden chariots, chests armed
black slaves—all ,have been faithfully
copied.
Tho "tomb" will have three cham-
bers, each the exact size of,the orlgln-
aI. In an ante -room will be the golden
couches, the chests, and tee chariot
wheels just 'le they were found In the.
Luxor tomb; and at the entrance will
be the two black guerilla= 01 the inn-
er shrine.
One of the most remarkable objects
in the "tomb" is the ISing's ''tailor's
dummy." To save himself the trouble
of being measured and fitted for his
clothes, Tutankhamen had a repro-
duction .of himself made from his
exact measurements, ori which his
clothiers fitted all his now clothes,
This dummy has been reproduced
even to the pin-holes made by the fit-
ters.
What We Owe to China.
China prodeces discoveriea and im-
ventions of the greatest value to the
human race long before aha rise of.
Western civilization.
The Chinese invented the compass
In 1122 B.C.; paper in the early part
of .the first century; Diluting about
the year A,D, 93S; glass in the early
Part of the =court eentnry; the eeis-
utogtalthin i]te. tirat century, and an-
ticipated modern medicine. Metal
colas were in circulation in Mina in
2562 710.
The mantifacituro by the ancient
Chinese of gongs and tom-toms, with
their portae; tones, still remains a
mystery to its, although their chemical
rotnpnsilion has boon determined.
O
s mevation is to merit what sirens is
to i1 handsome person,
"Education that .stresses inherent'
good qualities iii every child is motel
interesting to me than the culture ci'
plants, Entirely without, biological
comparison, the child as wc11 as the
plant has: desirable tendencies and
qualities• --those of the rbild to be nur-
tured into • an active Appreciation or
good.".- T,uthcr Burbank.
Secrets of Camp Cooking
Learn Thera, Young Fells, and Hilae for the Woods!
By Richard Bond,
Thirty years ago 1 was the •kind. sf
it "bare -foot boy" the poets lice to
idolize—a real farmer'a boy; tanned,
beaky, active, may for anylbing ex-
cept work, and dreaming of the time
when I could see big clues and all that
There is the Indian lire, the itbnter's with the riee. Let them boil for an
lire, the trench Are, the boy -built even, hour and then add the other More -
the council ire --all kinds Of Ares— dients• evcrythieg being out in linin
each of which has its uses, convent• cubes or disks. Boil the whole for an-
epees, dlsadveetagos end jays, other hour and a half and then dish it
The trench fire 13 ons of the mast Mut to your crowd. You'll Have It stew
suitable of cooking lire', Take along that will hit every hungry spot Jo
went with them, To -day, no mutter; a short handled spade,. 'Or, if the every stomaeb.
What the WPM instal my feelings mond to soft, yon can soon dig your When the days begin to get cold,
should be, the prinetpal reason I seek trench with a stick of wood. The the bunter's stew is just the bests It
every posatbie chance to leave the city trench le a little one. Leine inches warms you up even better thou 00000,
and get back to the flail is that I may
indulge In some of the tbjngs I never
indulged in when a boy,
Now, after thirty years 01 01ty fi10,
with'e boy of MY own who demands a
hike or a camping trip every Saturday
from March to November, I am begin-
ning to realize the things I might bave
done when a boy—bad' I known what
i now know.
With woods and atream and fields
and vegetables and game and trait all
around me for year after year, I sel-
dom if ever' ate a meal, worthy of be-
ing called a meal, on Nature's table—
the beautiful, wonderful, natural
ground.
Of course we had pienicel Sunday
School picnics and family reunions
and publlo =Mice picnics and com-
munity picnics and • harvest picnics
and all the other picnics that !aria
folk enjoy, but the food we ate on
those plantes was the very food that
the city folks usually eat when they
too decide to go out into the wilder-
ness for a meal: Potato salad, beets,
pickles, cheese, sandwiches, fruit—
and all the- rest of the usual picnic
fodder that we claim "tastes so good"
all because we have hada delightful
time in the great outdoors and are so
hungry, that plain bread and butter is
a genuine treat.
Several Kinds of Fires.
My bay, a city boy, has taught his
father, a farm boy, just what kind of
meals may be had in the woods or on
the banks of a stream—the best meals
in the world.
We scorn prepared foods as we start
for the country now. We much prefer
the "makings;' a few utensils and the
anticipation of the huge delight be-
fore us.
In the depths of some grove or on
the bank of a friendly stream, son and
I pitch our camp and prepare our
meal. Usually we are not alone, for
every scout in our troop who is able
to get off on that particular day sees
to it that he is with us.
Now there are several kinds of fires.
deep is ample. Forty mels ]rug and Good ofd -fashioned flannel cakes
about fifteen inches wide, Over the, come in handy here too, You may 1
trench, lengthwise, I lay my cooking ' line a dozen reelpes for Hanel oaken
iron, but were I a boy again, I should and fall to make good with every one
of them, but try this some Bute when
yon are camping in the open and sea
11 your cartes are not just as good as
those ltiotlter makes:
Take along a cup and a hall of sift-
ing but an eight -or -nine -foot piece of ad dour; two eggs; a small bottle of
half-inch iron rod, bent until the ends milk; a little baking powder; a table -
are about six inches apart, and welded spoonful of brown sugar, maple sugar,
in that position 'to make it stable. or molasses; a little salt—half a tea -
near the narrow end my coffee spoonful will do; and some lard for
pot simmers. Further down my fry- greasing purposes. You will also need
ing-pan holds sway. Where the rods a griddle, frying pan or some thick
are far apart,. my big pot of hunter's
stew or my pail of potatoes, boils,
The rod is' light to carry end plenty
large enough to Cook an excellent
meal for eight or ten campers. r
Take a couple ot good roasting ap- will do foa mixer. A little practice
pies back to the woods with you the is necessary before your mixing will
next time you go, Wrap them care, be satiatactory. You will have to learn
fully in some large aromatic leaves how flour and milk may be combined
and then encase the whole Jn about with coarse grained sugar and eggs so
half or three-quarters inch of ' plain that there will not be a lump or a
everyday clay or mud. Bury them in string or anything else to inilr the
the ashes of your Sire and cover them creamy mass. You will have to learn
with glowing coals. Let them stay also just how much baking powder to
there, half an hour while you are mak- use so that the mass of griddle batter
ing a hunter's stew or baking twist. will bubble and raise delightfully and
You'll And the best dessert you ever yet not become so thick that the Cakes
tasted, bubbling and sizzling within
those leaves --clean, delicious, baked
to a turn.
Making Hunter's Stew, -
The hunter's stew I have mentioned
is known by every boy scout in the
country. It is the first "big dish" he
learns to cook. As he grows more ex-
perienced
s
perienced he is able to improve on the
stew mentioned In his handbook or
book of rules.
To my mind, the ideal hunter's stew
4s made as follows:
Take along a handful or two of rice,
some good beef, a few potatoes, a car-
rot, two onions, a little salt, if you
wish, an ear or two of corn. The ker-
nels you can cut off when making the
etew
.
Cut, the beef in tiny cubes and put
in the kettle of boiling water, together to your kabob and hunter's stew.
A MESSAGE ON THE
FORESTS SITUATION
Tbo preseet situation in Canada
generaily, with respect to the wastage
of our forest resources through forest
Ares is a matter of great couoern, Tile
losers in the past few years liavo b.00si
appalling. Statistics compiled for 1110
British Empire Forestry Contereneo
last summer show that on the average
8,7715 fires occur .each year, These
tires burn over 720,000 acres of mer
ohantabie timber and 1,520,000 acres
of young growth, The annual tinlber
ons is estimated at nearly 4,000 million
board ft. The monetary loss, :figuring
stumpage value of timber only and
property damage, ate., amounts to
over $14,600,000.
This sum, while large enough of It-
self, does not represent the full econo-
mic loss. In our forest 1i dustriee,
more than in any other, the cost of the
manufactured product is made up of
labor charges. The'destructton of pre-
sent and future stumpage' results,
therefore, in direct loss of the means
of livelihood of an important part of
our population, It is further a menace
to the permanency of the forest Indus-
tries themselves which to -day produce
five hundred million dollars aunuaily
in wealth and are second only to agrl
oulture in importance,
A world shortage of softwood tim-
bers looms on the horizon. Our pros-
perity and our national safety alike
demand careful use and preservation
of the forest resources, The lavishness
of nature has been more than matched
by the prodigality of man. Our forest
flus have destroyed more timber each
year than is converted, into lumber,
and this despite the Mot that over
ninety per cent. of all forest fires are
directly attributable to human neg-
eat.
These facts speak for themselves.
We have been "doing these things
which we ought not to have done, and
we have been leaving undone those
things which we ought to have done.
The remedy is within our reach. If
ninety per cent. of Canada's forest
fires are caused by human neglect,
hen ninety per cent. can be prevent-
ed by human care and precaution.
Every settler, every Jogger, every
anter, every pamper, every railway
mployee, every true citizen of Cana -
a .must do his part. The individual
are required is soslight, and the gen-
ial carelessness so appalling in its
esuits. Canada has lost in direct
values alone $73,000,000 in the last
Ave years through forest fires. Let us
11 resolve to reduce this loss during
the -next five years.by ninety per cent.
—Charles Stewart, Minister of the In-
terior.
probably use two long green eatUage.
Chief Cooking Utensil
My cooking iron, which takes the
Place of stove, oven and all, is noth-
bottomed pan, unleaa you have ad-
vanced far enough to use that ideal
griddle—the fiat, thin, cooking stone,
The kettle la which you have
brought your flour and other supplies
will burn on the top and bottom {what '1
was the top once is of course the bot-
tom later with a griddle cake) while
the middle is yet uncooked. But these
things come with experience.
Do try this, folks! A country boy
who didn ot have an.opportunity to
try it until he was a city man, passes
this word back to •all those who are
interested. You'll find those meals in t
the open well worth having. You'll find
them so much better than the food
you get at the annual picnic, that you h
will appreciate why I fail to enthuse e
AIM over sandwiches and potato salad. d
The more advanced you become in
the lore of the great outdoors, the more ; e
enthusiastic you will be over camp I
cooking and, if you ever becoine a city
man, like me, the more anxious you!
will be to get back as often as possible !,a
The Flight.
We are two eagles
Flying together
Under the heavens,
Over the mountains,
Stretched on the wind.
Sunlight heartens us,
Blind snow baffles us,
Ravelled and thinned.
We are like eagles;
But when Death harries us,
Hunan and i1uinaled
When one of us goes,
Let the other follow—
I{et the flight be ended,
Let the fire blacken,
Let the book close.
The Ship's Band.
An old naval officer was describing
his experiences and comparing the
present condition of music on the
ships with that of •his active days.
"Now -a -days," he said; "you have a
band provided, and it's a band of Eng-
lishmen and everyone of them a naval
man, When first I waaapromoted Cap-
tain, however, things were different.
My commander fancied himself as a
musical man, and he would write to
London and ask for one trombone, of
whatever it was ho wanted, and he
might get it or be might not, and the
men who played were es often ns not
foreigners who did not know how to
play together. I had to insist on their
playing 'God Save the Queen' each
nothing and night, a thing a lot of
them didn't like and some of 'em'
couldn't do. But now -a -days there are
no bands in the world to touch ours."
Which is quite true,
Historic Ring.
Every electric light in the world,
from the small pocket lamp to huge
advertising signs, owes its existence
to a little ring about six inches in
diameter, This ring, which is In the
Royal Institution Museum in London,
is that front which Faraday, the groat
inventor, obtained the first induction
apark, thus making a ciiscovery'lvhioh
is aha basis of our tnodera eiectrie
lighting system.
Human Hair Rope.
I0 seine, Japanese temples may be
seed suspended great retie of rope
woven from human hair. Such ropes,
glade of hair secs-ifIcod by thousands
of women and girls, were used to
heist stone'and timber` for the torple,
and are preserved as raft,.
a. -
True to Form.
"Titer= been quite it ,ttttnptts in the
satinet yard, ,'hilt's it alt about?"
asked the principal.
"Why," explained Baroid, "the doe,
tar iter just been around examining
its, and oneof the denote=boys is
knocking the stuffing out of a perfect
kid'
q
Void of purity in tncrnie, faith is
lrut a ltypnc rite of words,
Documents in ']Cut's Tomb
Verify History.
Dr. James H. Breasted, head of the
Oriental Languages Department of the
University of Chicago, has returned jfifrons a four months' stay in Egypt, ig
where he has been deciphering manu-
scripts found in the tomb of Tutank-
hamen, which, by the way, is now
spelled by those who know, Dr. Breast-
ed included, "Tuttankhanton." In the
tomb are manuscripts that will and
out and amplify all the history of II
Egypt known, he says, and will also
throw a light on ancient Grecian his-
tory.
For example, there have been found
documents in the tomb to show the
seriousness of Tntankhamon's revolu-
tionary belief in freedom of thought
and individuality had on the politics
of his time. They supplement the
vague nformation'regarding the fran-
tic efforts :of his girl -widow to save
her throne. by en alliance with a
Prince of The Hittites in Asia Minor.
It is in this ancient correspondence
that Dr. Breasted bas discovered
documents .supplementing recent dis-
coveries in Asia Minor, showing that
there was a Trojan war, and that Beg •
en, the lady for whose sake ships were
sunk and battles raged, was a real
woman, and not the figment of the
imagination of it roving Greek mins-
trel,
"The tomb of Tut," he declared, "is
a treasure house of ancient art. It
survived from a revolution which woe
the first period of spiritual emancipa-
tion in human history,
III HKri-r
„
r
C.1-4°7
Explosions Caused by Flour.
It fs not generally known that flour,
sugar, starch, or grain dusts are cap-
able of working greater havoc than a
high explosive such as dynamite,
In a barrel or sack flour is harm-
less. But if you were to take hand-
fuls
andfuls of it and throw It about until the
air in the room was Pull of it, and then
light a match, the house might be
blown to pieces.
Flour is a combustible substance.
When a cloud of it Boats in the air of
a room every particle is in immediate
Got Smoked Thera. contact with oxygen, and a flame or
"Just back from a trip, eh? Why en
ova spark will cause it to burn, In-
de you wear smoked glasses?"the whole of it is eon -
"I don't—lust in from Pittsburgh,
you know."
�' Persistency.
Ross --"Aren't you the boy who was
here a week ago looking for e. posi-
tion?"
Boy—"Yes, sir."
Boss --"I thought so. And didn't T
tell you then that I wanted an older
boy?"
"Yes, sir; that's why I'm here again.
I'm older now."
Says Farmer Fumbiegate.
The radio spreads wide the news,
And it is mighty flue;;
But still for gossip I prefer
The good old party line.
Air raids on Great Britain during
tho War resulted in 1,418 deaths and
3,407 Injured.
It ME 5
i) Ot+
TELL
i
13`iRrtt.s
verted into gas, which, expanding in a
closed area, blows out the walls.
Powdered sugar is also extremely
,dangerous, while powdered apices, oat•
meal, and even soap will explode(
Some months ago a workman lifted
tate lid of a bin containing flour, and
held a lighted match inside to see how
full it was. An explosion took place
immediately, and the unfortunate man
was badly injured. Yet it was not the
mass of the flour that went off, but
only what was afloat in the air of the
bin.
A cake of soap does not burn unleaa
put into a furnace or coal range, but
if dry, and distributed, in in powdered
form through the air of a room, it will
explode with violence. The requisite
conditions in aauch cases are that the
substance shall be combustible and
that it shall be plentifully mixed with
air in a confined apace,
The feet that coal dust will explode
has only been reaiized within the last
few years. A tremencimts explosion in
France, in which one thousand lives
were lost, was proved to be due to illi'
cause.
Means of safeguard against ell sorts
of dust explosions are now being
evolved, and many factories ass suo-
tion fins to remove particles of crust
front the air.
Avenging a Telegram,
On arriving In Manchester, .s man
who was fond of playing practical
jokes ,sent n telegram to a friend. in
London that read: "1 ant perfectly
well." The charges were "collect"
Tho iitfornratlon must have been
grata:y^iug, for about a week later the
joker received an express peeling° on
which he was obliged to pay heavy
charges. Opening it, he found a large
street paving lilock upon which was
pasted the following message:
"This is, the weight your telegram
lifted from 01y heart,"
Giese Models of Sea Life.
Merman Miller,ttiniros lifelike glass
models . of strange undersea animals
for the A,nnrk :an Museum of Natural
1ilst: ry iu Mitt) York.
The boy who is on tho. bit every
pollute 15 111e 10y who will enema
whether to 36o01 05 at ,,•ork.