HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1948-10-20, Page 3Tale
Of A Mouse
By
M. J. COLLINS
Stun Jack -,m uxned the service
,lotion beside the pine grove a
few miles outside the town. It was
a good location and Stan made a
fair living. Ile was a happy-go-
lucky sort and everyone liked hint,
but he had one great fault. He
loved to talk. Once he got started
iF was hard to head hint off. Mice
were his pet subject at that moment,
and he claimed if everyone started
to catch then systematically, the
country would he saved a million
every year.
This
was Saturday and he'd been
busy all day, and sr had the cash
register.
"What's going of now?" High-
ttay Patrolman Clancy asked as
he stepped in. Stan looked up froth
the corner where he was bent over
fixing something. "I'm trying to
catch a mouse," he answered, "and
having a time of it, too."
"Trying to save a million dollars,
1'11 bet." Clancy laughed.
"Listen, Stan;' Clancy turned
serious. "There've been a lot of
service stations robbed lately. Don't
leave too much cash around,"
"Oh, they'd never bother with a
plate like this." Stan's mind wasn't
on Clanry's warning. "Now if
i could only catch that mouse."
Clancy fled.
The next ft hours were busy
ones for Stan. The fanners, in
town for the evening, were his main
customers, but now they were gone
and he could close.
Hardly had he settled down when
there was a "snap."
"Ah," he cried. "I've got you
this time!" Jumping to his feet, he
rushed back to the corner. He
pushed the box aside, but the mouse
was gone, and so was the cheese,
Perplexed. Stan scratched his head.
This mouse had put it over him
for almost a week.
"1'11 get you yet!" he muttered
shaking a fist,
The car grinding to a stop woke
him up. I-Iardly before he was
out of the chair, the door opened
and a man stepped in,
"Good evening," Stan said.
The man looked hard and grint.
"Stand where you are!" The voice
•
The man looked hard and grim.
sent chills up and down Stan's spine.
"Put up your hands."
An automatic's snout was pointed
where Stan had alwrys considered
his heart was. Right now it was
pounding in his mouth. His (rands
shot up with all possible speed. A
flashy girl came in and stoodlbgside
the man.
"Wise guy," the man sneered.
"Yeah, wise 1,.ty," the girl said,
Stan's eyes stole toward the cash
rc;'ister. There was almost $200
it it.
I1 Clancy were only here. Stan's
ears were straining for the sound of
the motorcycle.
"!Here," the r. an said curtly, "hold
the gun on him." She took it while
ht emptied the register.
The sight of his vanishing money
r ade Stair see red.
"Don't try it, sap!" the woman
said coldly, motioning him back.
A pair of small, beady eyes stared
out of a hole in the hall, The mouse
started to run across the floor.
The girl screnmet and, dropping tate
gun scrambled up on a chair.
Cursing, the man turned. All the
fury in Stan's fist crashed into his
face, He went crashing into the
wall and slumped.
In the excitement the sound of
the motorcycle had gone unnoticed.
Clancy stepped inside, surveyed the
scene and quietly asked. "What
goes on?"
Stan sighed with relief. "You're
ju:t in tinter"
"I think so," Clancy said, dryly,
taking the gun .rt of the shaking
hand. "'Phis Wright go off and dam-
age someone . , , even you."
After the two had been taken
away, Stan served Clancy coffee in
the rear. Clancy asked "How dill
you get the drop on then?"
"Well," Stan replied, "he handed
the gun to the girl, Mi -gosh, wait!"
he cried, rushing out front, In a
few seconds he was back. "Look
err thin," he er ', holding up the
trap The mouse was pinned by
the tail,
"Ahl Se*,,,,s1" t:ltiny chuckled.
"The • mon e Incwad my argu-
ment," Stan ben u.d. "Tt saved the
vnuttry 4"Lnn,
The End
Seeds Wrapped Up
For Easy Planting
Parrots that require no thinning,
t'or'n that can be sawn two week.;
early without heir g harmed by cold
weather, tomatoes that don't need
transplanting: These are a few of
'the intimations In farming and back-
yard gardening that have hem made
possible by a new way of preparing
seeds.
'!:oder the new method, seeds
are coated or "pelleted." Their coat-
ing makes even microscopically
small seeds big enough so they can
be planted one at a time and spaced
so there are no excess plants to thin
out, Inert ingredients such as pow-
dered feldspar or volcanic ash add
bulk to the tiny seeds. Chemicals
included in the coating make plants
grow faster, keep seeds alive dur-
ing very dry or wet weather, act
as a counter -agent against weed-
killers and even shoo crows away-,
Pelleted seeds aitn to give ama-
teur farmers a greater output with
less backbreaking hoeing and dig-
ging. They promise to trine costs
for commercial growers. By paving
the way for increased mechaniza-
tion, they should boost farm ma-
chinery sales. Chemical companies
should reap returns from the de-
mand for coating ingredients.
Small Seeds Made Big
If you've ever grown carrots in
your garden, you can appreciate the
advantages of a process that makes
small seeds big. The seeds are so
tiny that you scatter them along
the row, far too generously for best
results. If, like many gardeners,
you can't bear to thin out and des-
troy many of the luxuriant young
plants, you end up by getting car-
rots about as big around as a tooth-
pick.
,L? sing pea-sized pelleted seeds, you
plant your carrots an inch or so
apart. There's no thinning to do
and you get big sturdy carrots.
Commercial carrot growers not
only save of seed but also don't
have to pay for labor to do the thin-
ning.
Pelleting also helps when there
isn't enough rain. Extreme dry-
ness, for example, is a tough prob-
lem hi the semi -arid sections of the
west. Range grasses, when planted
from seed, often don't germinate
if there's a run of dry weather after
they're sown.
Processed Seeds, Inc., is now
running tests on different mixtures
for coatings to be used on "blue
stem" and crested wheat grass. If
these are successful, the Govern-
ment will buy enough pelleted seed
to sow 65,000 acres of burned -over
range in Wyoming and Idaho this
Pall.
Transplanting Unnecessary
Do you grow tomatoes in your
garden? With pelleted seeds, you
won't have to set out plants. The
digging and water lugging that go
with transplanting can happily be
dispensed with, The coating makes
it possible to sots tomatoes two or
three weeks earlier than bare seed.
As a result, pelleted seed will pro-
duce fruit at about the sante time as
transpants do,
Pelleting offers an opportunity
to do a better job with chemical
weed killers, Many of these are
just as deadly to flowers and vege-
tables as to the weeds, if sprinkled
on the ground, they'll kill both
good and bad seeds. But a coating
of activated carbon on the outside
of a seed protects it from such
chemical weed killers as 2.4-D. The
chemical kills the weed seeds but
hass lost its potency by the time
the coated seeds emerge through
the grounds.
Special chemical mixtures make
'the seeds distasteful to crows and
rodents.
Woman's Last Word
A husband and wife could not
speak to each other except in the
deaf and dumb language. One
night when the husband came home
rather late the wife let him have her
raging anger, her fingers flying a
utile a minute.
Just as he raised his hands to
answer her. she turned otit the light.
"Under The Spreading Chesnut Tree"—No less than five generations of the saute family have
had work done by Arthur Clendenen, veteran blacksmith at Cedar Grove, Ontario, When
he started business back in 1896 Mr. Clendenen shod horses for Samuel Reesor. Here Colin
and Colleen Reesor, twins and great -great grandchildren of Samuel. are watching the 78 year
old smith as he works at repairs for their wagon.
With The Movie and Radio Folks
Being a radio comedian is a ser-
ious business. Most air comics,
either of the real or the alleged
variety, appear to look on life
rather grimly when not doing their
stuff before a microphone. But
there's one big- exception to this
rule—the original and matchless
Jimmy Durante, who pulls even
more jokes "off" than he does
when getting paid for doing so.
• * a
Aslaed recently what 'was his
favourite of all the gags he has
ever used, Mr. Big Nose thought
for a while, then decided that he
likes the Automat joke best. That's
the one which goes, "I walks into
this Automat and puts a lead nickel
in the slot of the machine. And
what do you think comes out? The
Manager of the jointl"
* 4' *
Not long ago Durante was a
guest at a big penthouse party.
The little son of the host took
Jimmy by the hand and led him
to a miniature fountain. "Look
Jimmy Dlurante—that's a fountain!"
he cried. jimmy's classic count-
enance beamed with a mixture of
pride and benevolence. "See dere,"
he said. "You can fool some of de
growed-ups, but not the little gaff-
ers. De kid tells me it's a fountain.
He KNOWS I'm iggorant".
* is 1,
Out in Hollywood they are in
the middle of an economy drive.
Building new theatres wherever
there was a vacant lot—which
seems to have been the custom
for the past few years both here
and in the United States—hasn't
proved to be the cure for falling
attendances. The flash and glitter
of a bran -new show shop will
bring folks along—once—just to
see what the place is like. But
it's only good pictures that fetches
them back regularly in profitable
quantities—and there just aren't
enough good pictures to go around.
$ * *
The rising cost of living undoubt-
edly has something to do with the
CROSSTOWN
By Roland Coe
"it ridght have we 1m:tin's of a circus clown myself—tiny mother •
says I'm always stumbliti' over my big feet"
large areas of vacant seats as well.
As one observer put it, somewhat
wistfully, "There used to be mill-
ions of folks who said they'd sooner
go to the movies than eat, But
when it comes to the point where
they have to make the choice—they
find they'd really rather eat."
* ,k
At all events, in•practically every
circle in Hollywood they're begin-
ning to feel the -economy pinch. No
longer .iv -Money something that
gushes forth at the turn of a
tap. Take, for example, what is
reported as happening not long ago
at one of the big studios, Various
producers were talking about new •
books they would like to purchase
for possible filming. They were
told, by the man higher up, to go
and look at their own library.
*
So they went to look. There in
their own library they found some-
thing like four hundred stories that
had been bought, and then set
aside. Also that there were some
twelve hundred filets available
for bringing up to date and re-
making. Looks like dull days ahead
for some of the authors who have
been getting small fortunes for
film rights to stories whooped into
false prominence and seeming pop-
ularity by the Book Clubs and
similar devices
* B a:
When it was announced that Bob
Hope had realized that a comedian
cannot hope to keep on doing the
same radio act forever and ever, and
that he was going to pull his show
to pieces and remake it, he received
plenty of praise for his courage.
(Possibly the fact that Mr. Hope's
popularity rating took a terrific drop
last season had something to do
with the decision,) Anyway they
said that Hope was getting rid of
his old gag writers, and also dis-
pensing with the services of Vera
Vague and Jerry Colonna—the im-
plication that Miss V. and Mr. C.
were chiefly responsible for the
slowing -up of the show's ear -appeal.
* M i
As far as Hope's work on the
first two or three of the new shows
was concerned, there was a realint-
provement I thought—although he
was never among the first three—
or even the first ten—in my personal
preference list. But this season that
terrific cockiness of his—that air of
"Gee how lucky you folks are to be
able to listen to me"—was missing,
and Hope honestly seemed to be
trying to please.
a *
But even with that the new show
doesn't scent to be going over in
any too big a manner, and there are
even rumors travelling around to
the effect that Vague and Colonna
will before long be back. Maybe
comedians such as Jack Benny and
Fred Allen—who stick to the same
format year after year but who real-
ly work like mad to polish their
shows—have the right idea after alL
When the papers or educational
authorities talk about children who
are under -nourished it's almost al-
ways those living in cities and
towns they mean. "Children on
farms get plenty to eat" is the gen-
eral opinion .But do they?
Well, investigators over in Wis-
consin recently checked up on some
400 country school children who at-
tended 39 schools scattered over 2
counties. (Incidentally, none of
these schools had a school lunch
program.) They found that these
kids weren't getting sufficient milk,
vegetables, citrus fruit or tomatoes;
and the investigations weren't con-
fined just to what they ate at school
at noon either. They included home
meals as well. So maybe we've been
taking too much for granted in con-
cluding that farm children's nutri-
tion is all that it should be.
Now here are a'couple of useful
tips for tractor owners, and if you
knew all about them before, just
forget that I mentioned them. First,
if your tractor battery isn't going to
be used during the winter months,
be sure it's taken out and brought
up to full charge. After that, check
the battery each month while in
storage and recharge if necessary.
Then there's the matter of tractor
fuel. If a tractor is to be idle for
any length of time, the fuel should
be drained from it. A full fuel tank
on a stored tractor is always a real
fire hazard. Besides that, evapora-
tion of tractor fuel In an idle mach-
ine may leave a gummy deposit on
the inside of the tank.
* * *
just before freezing weather sets
in it's a grand idea to give that
vegetable garden of yours a good
deep plowing. Such plowing is bad
news for a great many soil -infest-
ing insects, as well as for soliborne
diseases that may have cut down
,your yield tate ptist summer.
A fall -plowed garden also dries
much more easily in the spring, and
planting can be started a week or
two earlier than if the ground isn't
turned till next year.
Deep litter in your hen house can
take a lot of the hard work out of
poultry keeping, yet some flock
owners who have tried it failed to
get the expected results. The
chances are that they didn't use it•
properly—and here are some hints
from a poultry specialist which may
possibly be helpful.
* * R
Litter under eight inches of depth
isn't deep at alL A bale or two
of litter is not enough. The daily
water consumption, most of which
Is thrown off, will amount to be-
tween six and ten gallons. To get
quick exaporation of that much wat-
er you need plenty of litter, so don't
start with less than eight inches.
•
* «
Experiments proved that old litter,
formerly tossed out, still had cap-
acity for more moisture. So instead
of throwing it away, add to it. As
new litter is added and mixed with
the old, this extra capacity increases.
Just why old litter is better than
new isn't exactly known but it may
be because of what is called bacter-
ial action. This action is what caus-
es litter to heat. Then the manure
content starts slow fermentation
which, in turn, causes more heat,
driving off the moisture.
WW1
THE VICTORIAN ORDER NURSE
This year marks the Golden Jubilee of
the Victorian Order of Nurses for Canada
—50 years of achievement, a half century
of unselfish dedication to the needs of
others.
People like this, some of Canada's
finest, are in the public's service—at
your service.
DAWES BLACK HORSE BREWERY
*
One of a series of advertisements in tribute to those Canadians in the service of the public
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