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The Brussels Post, 1915-11-4, Page 6AIR SCOUTING IN 1 26;htoloitast awe, guiding ua upward. In another A GREAT STORM Moment We were in the region of the .. "top fringe." The cloud, now was 1 is great semicircular ribs bending outward. It was with a tight of re- lief HUNDRED FEE'P .A.BOVE that we met the old sun again. • He fairly denied us with his warm greeting. Behind, on the "fluffy stuff the shadow Of :the aeroplane was mad up of rainbow colors. TITh EARTH. From the Journal of An AerePitule We are now 9000 feet up. There was a brisk breeze from the west. Our speed was about 110 miles an hells. It took us only a few minutes I was at my favorite grocery in to cover our distance "out." As we the little French town, buying for tore along, the clouds below began our meas. It was raining in sheets, to thin out, and as they receded and I reflected with relief that it lower, gave us the impression that was "perfect airmen's weather"— we were climbing rapidly to a colossal there could be no flying that day, height. In another moment I caught surely. We had had a busy time of sight, through a generous hole, of a it, and a day off was welcome. , tiny, triangular patch of green, which, The question a issue -was the price on the ground, is regarded as one of of honey. I was annoyed that my the grsat forests of the Continent. French had not made any impression , It told us where we were, It also and was repeating "Trop cher" for revealed us to "Archie" (the anti - the fifth time when I heard the chug aircraft gun), That persistent old of a motorcycle as it pulled up out- fellow sent up some "frightfulness," side. I had a nasty feeling the rider but he had not allowed sufficiently for was after me. I wondered what on the wind, earth was "up," because the weather 1 It is easy to imagine our feeling of was impossible for flying and I was- relief at the dispersion of the storm. n't dawn for duty. Otherwise we should have had to The orderly's message was short dive through the clouds and do our and to the point: "A car is coming, reconnaissance on their bottom sir, to take you immediately to head- 'fringe. Now however, we went about quarters." As I strolled up the steps of head- quarters who should join me but my flight commander. I knew what was up as soon as I saw him. In flying speech we were "in for it." An ur- gent reconnaissance had to be done, despite the weather. We were to proceed as soon as the flowers native to this country. There worst of the rain was over. The re- are only three plants that are really connaissance was so important that poisonous to the . touch. They all it was to be done on the "edge of the belong to the Rhus family, and re - clouds." semble one another in their uninter- By the time we got back to the eating clusters of dull greenish -gray aerodrome the ram had stopped and berries. there was even bits of blue here and Two of them, poison ivy and poison there. But it was only a lull. The sumac, are found in the eastern part "black ones" were getting ready for of the country, and poison oak grows another downpour. We decided to on the Pacific coast. "race them to it"—i.e., get above Poison ivy is a common vine that them before the downpour started. climbs over rocks, and that in some As we got off, the sight of two shady places covers the ground with other machines being prepared in luxuriant leaves. Occasionally in case we did not get back or "crashed" was not too reassuring. We were hardly in the air when the sun found us out and gave us a burst of dazzling rays. He was gone in a nioment, and we knew we should not see him again for some time. "RaM Mountains" Observer at the Front. our work in the ordinary way and were soon ready to return. POISONOUS PLANTS. Many Flowers Have Sap That Is Poisonous If Swallowed. There are no beautiful poisonous The air was very "bumpy." From 300 feet upward there were great :urrent junctions which tossed us about and toyed with our endeavors to maintain a consistent course. At 800 feet the machine was in the bottom fringe of a cloud. The scene from here WAS like a great inverted landscape, with huge black mountain peaks turned clown. We kept in the valleys and skirted the mountains. Here and there a "ram mountain" swished us -with a shower, as if in- dignant at our familiarity. But the valleys were closing up. Another deluge was coming. We had not too much time to get out of it. There was lightning around, and it would be suicide to stay below any longer. As we turned a sharp corner round an unusually black and forbidding projection, we found ourselves in a splendid valley. At the top of this there was only what we call "fluffy stuff"—a mass of thinnish fog, some- times 3000 feet through, but com- paratively safe for flying. It took two circuits to get to the top of the valley. Hardly had we been enveloped by the "fluffy stuff" when there was a, huge grunt of thunder that seemed to come from all about us. Thunder in the clouds is not a sharp clap; it is a guttural roar, which sounds above the noise of the aeroplane just like a great grunt. "Cheer -oh!" shouted the pilot through the telephone, "we've beaten the old dog to it." It is a prevalent idea among flying men that a thun- der cloud has an evil genius which "lays" for one. As I leaned forward to Bower the pilot, I placed my hand on a crossing wire. There was just the faintest ripple of electric current passing through. We were not yet quite out of danger. Climbing througl, a thick cloud is a tedious and anxious job. There are no "identifying objects" above, below or on either side. There is ne top or bottom to anything. One is at the mercy of the instrument board. Peering for Light My pilot poised the machine beau- tifully, carefully "following his com- pass" as it swung to the left or right. We were not yet above the region of bumps. The cloud gave us some nasty shifts as we passed its centre. Suddenly the pilot shouted to me; "Peer for light!" "Peering for light", is the process of getting some hint' as to whether or not the machine is level. 1 I strained my eyes in vain for a few minutea. Then right below me on the left, I saw a flash of sunlight. I was looking skywards. We were almost upside down. A bump then would I have "dote for" us. The controls, creaked and the machine shivered as, she tipped back into position. We Made for the light and followed the ray, It ran at an easy angle, and we kept well on its lino. The cloud begax to There were little fertile spots, it will raise branches like shrubs up over the rocky sup- ports; elsewhere it clings to the bark of trees and climbs high. Its flowers and berries are always in dull clusters, but its leaves may become brilliant red and brown in the autumn sun. Do not pick leaves that grow in threes on a vine, but do not be afraid to gather leaves of the woodbine, which grow in clusters of five. It is difficult to distinguish poison sumac from other sumacs. Do not call it dogwood; it does not look like dogwood; true dogwoods have beauti- ful flowers, and are not poisonous. Poison sumac grows like a, small, branching tree; it is the cleanest and smoothest in leaf and branch of all the sumacs. The leaflets are long and pointed, five to eleven on one petiole. If you see little drooping clusters of greenish -white, or later the greenish little berries, do not touch anything on that shrub or tree. Poison oak does not look like any oak. It has clusters of three almost round leaves, which grow on a vine like poison ivy, or more often on a lows shrub. If you see the clusters of white flowers, or berries, do not touch the plant. There are many plants with sap that is more or less poisonous if it reaches a cut or abrasion. Do not let a plant drip on a wound. There are many plants with thorns and stings that produce painful irritation if they scratch through the skin. Pick their flowers carefully. Do not ever hold flowers in your mouth. Do not give flowers to ba- bies, for they are sure to put them into their mouths, and some of our familiar flowers have poison enough to affect a baby's health. There are other flowers and plants that are harmless to man, but poison- ous to animals, if eaten. Many who read these lines know the bad effects of the loco weed of the West or the lambkin of the East. In pastures where buttercups abound cattle care- fully graze round them, but will not eat the flowers or leaves, because of the bitter taste of the poison in them. The botanist and lover of flowers BEHIND THE BR TISH.LINES ON GALLIPOLI• The picture shows Admiral Nicholson, acompanied by some of bis officers, malting his way toward Cape Hales at the tip of the peninsula. STAR AND GARTER BECOMES HOSPITAL PROBABLY THE MOST FAMOUS HOTEL IN ENGLAND. Famous Old Richmond House Pre- sented to Queen for Red Cross Use. The Star and Garter Hotel, at Rich- mond on the Thames, which has just been purchased by the real estate men of Great Britain and presented to the Queen as a Red Cross Hospital for disabled officers, is probably the most famous hotel in England. For something more than 150 years there has been a hostelry of this name on the brow of Richmond Hill, pre- senting the finest view of the winding river that is obtainable anywhere within a day's journey of London. The view from the windows of the Star and Garter has inspired poetry from Wordsworth to Maurice as a pic- ture which "Bursts in a flood of glory on the view, Still bright, still varied and forever new." An auctioneer's advertisement, printed 130 years ago, described the property as follows: "These truly de- sirable and valuable premises, the Star and Garter, on Richmond Hill, the favorite spot for centuries past of princes, and the admiration and re- sort of the first nobility and taste in Europe; replete with every requisite convenience for the reception of all ranks in the public line, possessing the most extensive and delightful views of the Thames, the whole form- ing one of the most enchanting pic- tures in Great Britain." Entertained Royalty. One of the notable occasions of the big hotel was a breakfast served on June 10, 1814, at which were present the Prince Regent of England, the Emperor of Russia, the Duchess of Oldenburg and the King of Prussia, with his sons and nephews. The com- pany, which also included Generals Blucher and Platoff, had journeyed out from London by coach. Queen Victoria.was a frequent vis- itor to the hotel, particularly during the earlier years of her reign, and there were few of her royal contem- poraries who did not at one time or another partake of its hospitality during the decade preceding the fire of 1870, which destroyed the greater part of the luxurious building. two years i Within years was rebuiltn should remember two things: first, it even more magnificent fashion, and is safe to pick any beautiful flower; for the next few years was at the second, it is never safe to let its Zenith of popular favor. King Ed - juices touch the lips or any --e8--a b ward, while Prince of Wales, was often seen there. The: cook was ex- cellent, the wines unimpeachable and the cost heavy enough to keep away wound. , French Invent Odd Gun. This strange gun is supplied with a the "mob." Given a fine pair of hors - parapet mounting which adapts itself es, it was a delightful drive of just particularly for fortress defense. The i the right distance from Hyde Park gun itself is similar to many used in ' Corner, the entre of fashionable Lon - aeroplane service, but its mounting • don, on A fine summer evening. Not in this instance fits it for use behind only were the smartest of private ramparts and intrenchments in de- dinners given there, but the great City fensive action, and even in scaling Companies held their banquets in the walls and breastworks of the enemy spacious pavilion, and statesmen and during offensive operations. The in- celebrities of every degree met be- strument has an angular mounting on neath its roof' a geared shaft, the lower end of A Site of Rare Beauty. which has a wheel -and -brace mount- ing, while tha upper end is supplied ' But with the dawning of the present with arms that hold it in place at the century the attractions of the Star top of an embanlcment, When the and Garter waned. It is the conven- pole is 'raised for me the gun and the tional thing to say that the coming of platform which carries the thlami- , the automobile killed its popularity tion box M drawn up to the firing Other causes contributed. The road instead of running through pleasant position by a hand crank. ...-.-..--.- -.1 ,..........—. open country, wail rapidly becoming an artery of heavy omnibus and trarn- Do we deserve the good opinion of car traffic. The era of the fashionable th se Who do think well of us7 1 restaurant. in town had begun and it . . , was no longer nec-ssiay to go so far afield fot a good luncheon or dinner: Ten years ago the hotel closed its doors. There have since been rumors from time to time as to reopening it as a palatial boarding house or re- building it into a block of luxurious flats, but none of the schemes came to maturity. In its new use as a permanent hos- people. And what is worse still, says . pital for officers, it will preserve for 2 000 men from Canada to go to Rus - Tit -Bits, the khaki kilt, according to • ! a work of national usefulness a site th 1 t • •d f., of d f Rus- sia and build 400 miles of railwaYr500 FROM SUNSET COAST Th 1.404q,ougu =MK= 111 Anting-Anting WHAT THE WESTERN TOPLE ARE DOING. • One morning at Naujan, on the MAI little island of Mindoro,—one of the Progress of the Great West Told Ph-nil/Kline group,—Professor- Win - In a Few pointed cbeater, who was carrying en an es;. ploration, saw a crowd of people num-. PeragraPhe• boring not less that three hundred. 0110 h last stepped tourist trade in B,C, this sum- optao.toto es ignagt.hpeiraeodo, a b Toro tmheolocl ocoolit• yni aoutside,iyrouza.rimo Qekditifor from nhlevaictlif tao foot, a aretotothobuesasnhdippteocinstoofAuEft; met was the greatest ever known, Eastern motor car manufacturers ed nose, a blinded eye, and an enor- are trying to buy sea grass in B.C. mously enlarged mouth informed the Many 13.0, railwaymen have enlist- professorthatthim,athe wanted him to take ed for the 72nd Seaforth Highlanders, as The explorer, concealing his sur - At Dennison, B.C., Mr. Davis sold out his general store, home and land prise as well as be could, found word and enlisted. to assure the bandit that if it should Vancouver owns 13 motor cars, the prove necessary, he could aceommo. upkeep and operation of which cost date him; only he would like to know $8,842 last year, first why the man wished to be shot. The man explained that ho did not want to be shot; he merely wished to show his friends that even ouch a "crack" shot as the .professor could The cut of cedar for this year will be one of the heaviest in the history of British Columbia. Fraser River and Puget Sound can- ners say there has been a poor fishing not bit him. Of that the man felt season this year. confident, because he possessed an The stampede to Swamp River in anting-anting that gave him power to the Cariboo is over. The prospectors catch bullets in his bare hands, and found more clay than gold. to blow oncomYrig slot straight down Seventy-five new homes have been to the ground. built at Trail, B.C., this year, and The professor naturally hesitated, many others are being built. and as naturally the bandit, and the , During the month of August, Prince crowd as well, began to suspect hail Rupert, B.C., handled over 15,000,000 oofcowaerdeliceer. roWfohoesnorthweimoohaneoltnqsrts4thede pounds of fish. Much of it went tofind offered Chicago. &Mae of distance, the situation be - Lady Elizabeth Bruce, wife of Ran- came still more embarrassing; but a dolph Bruce, clied at Inver- haPpy, thought flashed upon the schol- mere B.O. She the second ars mind. He proposed to aim at the TARTAN KILTS IN DANGER. daughter of Lord Icidwas esleigh. anting-anting itaelf. Should he miss Present Kilt Has Offended Lovers of was found dead in bed. Ile was a hit it, the charm wonlcl be his. :To D. C. McGregor, Mayor of Kaslo, it, he would pay $5 cash; shoUld he Scottish National Dress. Kootenay old-timer, having lived in this proposal all contented. The statement that in the future the district aboiit 30 years. • From between the folds of his gar - the Highland regiments in the British army are to wear a khaki, instead of Nearly 100 men are working at the ment the man pi:educed-- a leather- • 1825. Bluebell Mine on Kootenay Lake. Ore bound booklet, two inches long and a the familiar tartan, has aroused the intense indignation of the Scottish as first dug out of this mine by half-inch less in width. It was placed Hudson's Bay men in upright and open on the bank of a a • V ver wants about explorer. and ttNtiv een t ye r wn near -by a rstreedamo f Seeing that one side was blank and the other covered with writing, he sent his bullet through the blank half of the little book, and the thing flew up into the air. At once the crowd approached from the respectful distance to which they had retreated, and the bandit quickly sprang from behind the tree that had sheltered him. He leaped into the air with a shout, for he felt certain that the booklet had jumped to escape the oncoming bullet. His face fell somewhat on discov- ering the bullet hole; but he was a resourceful man. The written half of his anting-anting had been left un- scathed, thus absolutely proving its power. It meant nothing to him -that the booklet had stood open with its two sides flattened away from each other. The only way to convince him was by sending a bullet through the written half also. But fancies do not easily die. The man possessed another tharm, strong- er than this old and weakened one; the second charm would prove invinci- ble. When -the marksman pierced the second charm, too, things began to look a bit dubious; but the bandit had not yet reached the end of his rope. He produced a third charm that had proved so powerful that no human agency had ever availed against it. One man who had aimed his rifle at it had been killed by the rifle itself, which exploded. Another had aimed at it, and had missed it; nevertheless, the next day he fell ill with smallpox. Of this wonderful charm the than himself was more or less afraid. Un- wrapping it from the cloth in which he had carried it, he kept it covered even after setting it up on the sand. He drew a circle round it, scrawled some mystic characters inside the cir- cle, and fell on his knees for prayers, which he repeated again and again. • At last, removing the covering, he disclosed an oval bronze medal about three inches by two. When all was ready, the crowd took promptly to their heels, and the bandit sought hi3 wonted shelter behind the tree. It was a tense moment, but with the shot the anting-anting went flying in- to the stream, never again to appear. The crowd, straggling back from their hiding places, began to make fun of the charmer; but his argument now was that the stranger had an anting- anting still mightier than his own. To prove his contention, he dared any- one to Produce a charm that would not succumb to this superior wonder - worker. , The idea appealed to the bystand- ers, and one man after another came forward -with an anting-anting that had been viewed with respect and fear for many years. One consisted of a betel nut tied to a leaden bullet. Ap- other was a piece of hollow bamboo containing a stone that had been found in the stomach of a crocodile. Generally, however, the anting-anting was a booklet with some poor Latin written oil some of its pages, together with an odd mixture of native words. Altogether, the explorer collected Una day a number of Valuable curies, for which he paid not a cent; for he hit every last one of them, of rare beauty. The hotel is almost two yards less' of material than is used at present. The army kilt, as it is used to -day, completely surrounded by park lands, which have been gradually acquired by the London County Council to give tha public easy access to the banks of the Thames. BRAVE OLD RUDOLPH. An Interesting Incident of the Great War. The letter of a French soldier, a translation of which appeared in an English paper, gives us a glimpse of the brighter side of war. The writer tells how the Germans assaulted the French in their trench and were re- pulsed. They left many dead, and one man alive and unarmed, who, al-. though alone and deserted, was still fighting bravely. A. French soldier was about to transfix him with his bayonet when one of his comrades thrust the weapon aside, and in ad- miration of the German's fighting grit tackled him and took him prisoner. He was fat and bald-headed, and in answer to the question put to him said his name was Rudolph. The sound of his surname brought laugh- ter, and his captor said: "Ah, well, my old Rudolph, you're a brave fellow. Return to your com- rades, and tell them that we know a brave soldier when we see one." Fearing that he was to become the object of a grim joke—and perhaps to be shot in the back—he hesitated, when one of the French soldiers, pushing him forward, said: "Go on, you'll not be harmed." Rudolph lifted his hands above his head and returned to his trench. Fresh French troops arrived to re- lieve their comrades, and they were told about Rudolph. The following day, when firing had ceased for a time, the newcomers shouted across to the German trenches to inquire whether Rudolph were still living. "Ja! Ja!" was the response. "Show yourself, then Rudolph!" they cried out. "We are newcomers. We have heard of your bravery, and want to see you." Rudolph's head bobbed up above the trench wall, and, grinning, he remov- ed his helmet, patted his bald head, bowed, and disappeared. The French soldiers gave him three cheers, and one of them remarked ad- miringly, "I hope we may not kill him, for he is a brave chap, that old Rudolph!" SQUEERS REALLY LIVED. Charles Dickens Was in Ernest In Nicholas Nickleby. An interesting new Dickens letter throwing light upon the characters in "Nicholas Nickleby" of Squeers and Smike was printed in The Times, Lon- don. The letter is written by Charles Dickens to Mrs. S. 0. Hall, It is dated December 29, 1838. When Dickens was in Yorkshire he actually met with the "rascalities of those Yorkshire schoolmasters" paint- ed in his book. Standing in an old churchyard (Bowes Church) he came across the grave of a boy who had "died suddenly" at the school opposite the church. "I suppose his heart broke," adds Dickens. "I think his ghost put Smilce into my head upon the spot," A man named William Shaw was the schoolmaster who -raised Dickens' ire. The inky -penknife incident des- cribed in "Nicholas Nickleby" is at- tributed to this man. miles from the .fighting zone. The Port Alberni, B.C., high school has been awarded second place among has offended all true lovers of the the high schools of the province for the encouragement of physical train- ing in schools. Geo. Foster, a member of the Sixth Regiment, was drowned in the Spuz- zum River, and the rank and file of the regiment gave a day's pay each to the widow and three children. About 400 men are working in the Scottish national dress, for it con- sists of only 'five yards of cloth, bad- ly pleated, whereas, according to one authority, it is impossible to make a proper kilt with less than seven or eight yards. The pleating is a process that can only be carried out by a skilled work- . mines around Bandon. Some times er. It consists in gathering in the the- hotels are so crowded in this old pleats at the top, removing the sur- plus cloth, and so shaping the kilt to the body. Otherwise the shape is merely that of a woman's dress. The kilt as we know it to -day is not the original dress of the High- lander, but is really a modification of the original Highland plaid, which consisted of a plain piece of tartan from four to six yards in length and is yards broad, which was folded or pleated round 'the waist and firmly bound with a leather so that the lower side fell down below the knee joint, the upper part being fastened to the shoulder with a large brooch or pin. This upper part was often used as a covering for the shoulders and body in wet weather. To attire himself in the pleated plaid in the old days re- quired, on the part of the Highlander, no small amount of dexterity. The usual way was to lay it on the floor and after carefully arranging the folds, to lie down upon it and then blanket, in which the Highlander could at night envelop himself. Ultimately the Scottish plaid—or "breacanfeile," to give it the true Scottish name—was succeeded by the kilt as we know it to -day. The plaid and the kilt were supplemented by an elaborate sporran—the original spor- rans were made from the skins of wild animals—and stockings, which were usually cat out of the web of the tartan, and gartered with cloth of rich colors. The skean dhu, or small dirk, is generally fixed in the garter of the right leg. Quite a feature of the Highlander's dress was the silver buttons, tassels, embroidery, and lace. There was a peculiar reason why a Highlander de- corated his costume with silver but- tons in earlier times, for it was thought that, should their wearer fall in battle, the value of, the buttons would provide him with a decent fun- eral. This idea was carried to such an extent that in the seventeenth ceu- tury it is said that the officers of Mackay and Munroe's regiment, which went to Sweden to serve under Gusta- vus Adolphus, had rich buttons on their clothes, and that they also wore each a solid chain round the neck, so as to assure the owner, if wounded or taken prisoner, of good treatment. The origin of the white gaiters worn by the Highland regiments is also an interesting story. They are worn in memory of some of the trials that the regiments underwent in the Peninsular War. During the retreat of the forces under Sir John Moore at Corunna the soldiers suffered great hardships, and their boots became sadly worn, owing to the rocky nature of the ground on the Portuguese coast. The Highlanders thereupon took the shirts from their backs, tore them into strips, and bound them round their feet for protection. The •white spats or gaiters were intro- duced as part of the regulitr uniform in memory of those trying times. To many a wife the chief end of man is stip-end. camp that cots for sleepers have to be put up in the halls and parlors. One day recently the Kelowna can- nery put through 36,000 cans of toma- toes, representing two carloads of finished product. This huge pack consumed over '10 tons of tomatoes. Says the Greenwood Ledge: 'The ranks of the Home Guards are be- coming attenuated for lack of enthu- siasm. Many men around town would rather look on than go through their facings. Prices of many drugs have in- creased enormously in 33.0. since the beginning of the war. VARIETIES IN EXPLOSIVES. Hundreds of Different Kinds Known to Science. Explosives are solids which, under certain conditions, suddenly change into heated gas occupying many times the original space of the solids. Ordi- nary gunpowder, when fired, turns in- to gas, of which the volume is 4,000 times as great as that of the powder. No wonder the bullet in front of it leaves the muzzle of the rifle in a hurry. To -day there are scores, even hun- dreds, of different sorts of explosives known to science. Some, such as lyd- dite, require a very considerable shock to explode them. Others, such as nitro-glycerine, are fearfully dan- gerous to handle, for a few extra de- grees of warmth or a very slight jar is sufficient to turn them instantly into gas. Of the latter type there is nothing quite so .unstable as iodide of nitro- gen. It has to be made in alcohol. When allowed to dry it appears as a brown powder, and so unstable is this powder that a touch with a. feather will set it off. The experiment has been tried of leaving a few grains upon a table mixed with a few grains of sugar. The first bluebottle that flew on the table and began to crawl among the grains caused an explosion. The mere jarring of the air by a loud shout or a heavy footstep is suf- ficient to detonate iodide of nitrogen, and it need hardly be added that no one in his senses would attempt to make this terrible stuff, To do so it any quantity would he equivalent to committing suicide. Nitro-glycerine is not so dangerous as this iodide, but at a temperature of only 100 degrees—that is, very little more than the warmth of the human body—it begins to decompose. Tons of nitro-glycerine are turned out every day, for it is the explosive from which guncotton is made. But all the mixing vats are artificially cooled by coils of cold water pipes. "You are charged with permitting your horse to stand 'unattended for over an hour," chanted the magis- Takeii at His Word. trate. "Well, I defy anybody to teach IIe (passionately)—I would go the brute to sit clown," protested the the ends of the earth for you! pisoraer, before being dragged away, She (calmly)—Goodsbyel No Escape: Bridges—Baths was born a fool, 3 suppose. Rover—Oh, Banks would have been one anyway. to , •