HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1952-1-9, Page 3Felix felt somewhat like the ratan
who said there was rho.use anteing
after a'str`eet car once you'd caught
Marir Snell; after two' years of
courtship on Fel'x's part; hadifiaally
given hi and said she would marry
him.' When 'Mary Snell suit)—'"hies"
or, "No"she meant "Yes" or "No",
Felix knew it, too. He knew tije
battle was won. Mary had said
"Yes;" and that settled it, Nothing
could Change her mind,
Mary wanted to set a date for the
wedding, but Felix suggested wait-
ing a while to catch bis breath. He
wanted, as, 'the story books put it,
to have one last fling before'becom-
Mg a benedict.
So. Felix,' without saying, g word
to any one, packed a bag and'set off
for Cedar Springs. The first Mary
knew about it was a letter which
she received from the Springs sign -
•ed by. Felix.
In part, the letter said; "I ant'
combining a short business trip with
some. deep-sea fishing. Please do, not
worry about me, darling, as I will
be hones shortly, and we will ntalce
plans for the wedding.'
Felix did not mention that on the
deep-sea fishing trip he bad met a .,
party of young folks, including a
Very attractive rdd=headed 'girl'
named Nan.
In fact, Felix had such a nice bine
during the nekt few days that he.
decided to prolong' his visit. Which
he did;. writing Mary Sttell to this
Felix did not mention that
he had met an attractive red-
head named Nan.
effect, Mary replied that she' was
glad he was haring shitl a good
011ie and getting rested. She; or
course, was busy making plans for _
the wedding. She went ou to give
the town gossip, including the fact
that. Paul Strachery was spending a
few days in town.
Who, wrote Felix in his next let-
ter, was Paul•Strachey?
Hecouldtell by, lfmp's reply that
she was surprised that ,he didn't
know Paul Strachey,
Felix wrote he still didn't know
who Paul Strachey was, but wasn't
Pahl surprised to know that Mary
was engaged? Ile, Felix inciden-
tally, was spending another week
at the Springs, on account, of
course, of business.
Mary. wrote that she hoped his
business wouldn't keep him away
too long. The Taxp.cyers had voted
to build a new school house, and
Paul Strachey was still in tott'n.
Felix replied that he had thought
Paul Strachey teas only staying a
few days, and the weather was not
very gond at the Springs and lie
thought he would come hone pretty
80011.
Mary wrote that 'she hoped he
would come home soon, and Paul
Strachey was still in town because
he had decided to extend his visit.
The next day Felix returned to
Dalevale.
13y the time his train pulled in
he had stopped thinking -about Nan
and was pondering on Strachey. •
"Oh, Felix!" Mary Snell exclaim-
ed When he phoned. "l'nl so glad
you've come, -T bad alt appointment
with Paul. hut 1'11 cancel it, of
course.,.
Felix immediately rushed over to
Mary Snll's house and asked her
haw plans for the wedding were
routing along. Mary hedged.
"Well," she said, "who did you
want to not married. Felix?"
Black suspicion leaped into Felix's
mind. He controlled himself with
an <'flort "1 was thinking," he re-
marked casually, "that we night
surprise everybody, by doing what
they don't expect. I mean, lei's pop
off tonight and get married,"
"Tonight!" gasped Mary Stull.
"You mean. on (mutt want, tor,'
said Felix.
hfary rnui,irlered. Ilex fnce bright-
ened "All right1" she said, "Lets i'
"Non," sail Felix, after the+core.
mollysmutthey were u'dt• on their
wa ylo the seashore for a honey-
moon, "will yo0 -kindly explain
about ttrs guy Pani Strachey. Tial
If i hadn't -orae home ['11 )tet you.
would have eloped with hint."
Mary giyulcd. "1)b, Felix, dart.
that was a little inks of lniue.
There really item- was a Paul
Strai'hey, 1 merely. VI, rutted to make
sure that folks in town weren't dis-
illusioned tlhoui rale I. ttlean, when
Shay Snell says " Pe.' she means
'Yes.' See"?'
Gilbert & Sullivan
Go On Forever
It was Sullivan's restiveness, his
longing to ,express himself (as he
saw it) mare fully in his music,
Abet caused, the partners to scour-
' ate 'In the end; and here, too, the
analogy with a, married couple
holds good..To read tlte'"correspond-
enee between them, to hear Sulli-
vauconstantly setting for more
scope .)snot Gilbert firmly insisting
that 'they must go on doing what.
they do so ,very well, is to think
of what an ambitious wife- pitting
to go into high society and cut a•
• dash while iter Wise husband points
out that they,are.iptpprtant people
inAbele.,home town, but in high, •
society they • will run the risk of
being nobodies.
It is well' that Gilbert's impor-
tance to the partnership' should be
heavily - stressed,. for two reasons.
011e is that nobody realized it at
the time: When a command per-
formance Was given before Queen
` Victoria at Windsor' .Castle, Gil-
bert's name Was. omitted front the
program. Whether this was a mis-
take (as was said officially after-
ward) or was' done by 'order of the
Queen, who knew. something about
music but nothing about literature
-anti had no sense of humor, is not
precisely known; but, in either case,
it shows how much greater .impor-
tance was attached to the ntusie
than to the words. This was shown
again when the Queeti' made Sul-
livan a knight and••left Gilbert a
plain "mister."
The other reason is that it was
highly unusual' in operatic worlds, -
as Sullivati was constantly pointing
out, for the librettist to be as im-
portant as theft composer; and',
anybody is looking for a reason
• why these operas have lived longer
than others of their kind, it is along
this line that be may find it. Words
written to music can never have
much literary merit or wit, but
music :written to 'words may—at:
Sullivan so often showed -riot onjy
bridging out the wit of the words,
'but be wittyitself as well. That is
exactly, Where Gilbert and Sullivan
differs from other compositions•
supposed to be of the sante kind—
that • you remember not only the
melodies, but the, words, and arc
not satisfied unless you can ' re-
capfure both,
Most of Gilbert's humor is still
funny, because it is based on funda-
mentals. His power of mock solem-
nity, as exemplified fn the scene
where Major General Stanley, hav-
ing got his puns out of his system,
throws himself on the mercy of
the pirates on the plea that he is
an' orphan boy, or in that other
scene in the same operawherethe
policemen put up .a terrific maritial
chorus about going "forward ons,
the foe," but don't in fact move a
step till they have to—this is ua-
corroded by time. So is his' own
particular brand of humor, which
has added the word "Gilbertian"
to our language, and consists of
sticking t to logic in the face of
plain fact.—From . "The World of
Gilbert and Sullivan," by W. A.
Darling,
Nuts In Brazil
Brazil, to most of us, means two
'things, Carmen Miranda—and nuts.
One of the most plentiful of all
Brazil's outs is called the babacu
nut. There are 13 billion palms that
grow them, and the annual crop is
something like 300 million tons.
Normally only a tenth of . the
babacu nuts • are used owing to.
difficulties of collecting and hand-
ling. But Brazil is now making an'
effort to turn these into a useful
raw material,, and an experimental
plant has heel set up to make petrol
from them,
Apart from this, oil from the
babacu nuts ran be used for making
soap. And the shell provides, tars,
acetic acid, dyes, and carbolic acid
and resins.
So Brazil's billions of nut trees
tries, soon be giving the world yet
another source of raw material
Battle Of The Snow-Removers—Men seeking lobsas snow shovelers in Detroit storm the ,snow re -
Maya! :office,•causing -a riot. They pushed, shoved'and threw snowballs, but no one was hurt. More
than 2500 men sought the 1000 jobs, as Detroit battled to dig out of 16 inches of snow.
•
Every 'poultry raiser knows—or
should know—that plenty of water
is essential to the well-being and
production of laying hens. About
half the weight of a mature bird
is water, and hyo -thirds of the
weight' of an egg, shell included,
le also composed of it. In fact
chickens should ordinarly consume
.practically twice as many pounds
of water as of feed.
• * *
Naturally in winter it is difficult
to keep the water from freezing.
The 'question arises, is snow a
good substitute for water? J. L.
Tessier, of the Dolninion Exper-
imental Station, ICapuskasing, re-
ports on tests made at that Station
to find the answer.
* * *
In two different years, two
groups of 150 begs each year, hav-
ing about the same body weight,
age, and apparent laying ability,
were used. One group had water
to drink, while only snow was pro-
vided for the other group during
the severe winter weather when
water would ordinarily be frozen.
Neither group 'received wet mash.
* * *
Results as judged by egg pro-
duction showed that water was far
superior to snow. The production
in the group receiving water was
16.2 per cent higher per bird than
the birds in the group receiving
snow while the feed consumption
per bird was 10,6 per cent less' for
those in the group receiving water.
* * *
Since the egg production was
considerably lower and feed con-
. suntption' higher in the group re-
ceiving snow, it would be advisable,
says Mr. Tessier to keep water
always before tl.e birds even though
this might involve extra attention
to keep it from freezing.
* * *
The keeping qualities of all kinds
of fruit, particularly apples, can ,,fi�e
greatly affected by environmenfal
factors. For example, under nat-
ural conditions the McIntosh apple
matures during the last week of
September; is' picked, becomes eat-
ing ripe in ten days' time, at 60
degrees •F. and by the first week
Krona-L':ne Bishop ... Far 'Eastern Commander Gen. Matthew B.
Ridgeway (left) welcomes Francis Cardinal Spellman as the Arch-
bishop of New York arrives eit Tokyo's Haneda Airport. Cardinal
Spellman then proceeded to Korea, where he spent Christmat with
United Nations Troops,
in November becomes shrivelled
and loses, flavour. Experiments
conducted at the Sumnierland Ex-
perimental Station.' in British Col-
umbia indicate that this, same
variety of apple, if ,placed. in 30
to 32 degrees cold storage immedi-
ately after picking, may be held in
satisfactory condition' until apptox-
imately'the middle of January. Its
keeping qualities are thus more
than doubled by storing it at a
temperature of 30 degrees as com-
pared with room temperature of
60 to 65 degrees.
While temperature is the most
important factor in determining
the keeping qualities of apples,
S. W. Porritt of the Summerland
Station points out that other factors
also must be taken into account.
One of -these is the humidity or
dampness of the atmosphere. An
apple stored in a dry atmosphere
soon shrivels and its storage life
is consequently reduced because of
deterioration in appearance and
quality. For this reason, apart from
temperature, apples should be held
at humidities of 80 per cent or
better in order to insure firm, crisp
eating quality. A smooth skinned,
unwrinkled apple, even if slightly
over -ripe, is often reasonably ac-
ceptable to the consumer.
* * *
Considerable work has been
done in recent years on prolonging
the keeping life of apples by man-
ipulation of the chemical constit-
uents of the atmosphere. Thus,
certain varieties of apples may he
kept under so-called "gas storage"
or controlled atmosphere storage -
in which keeping life is extended
by reducing the oxygen and in -
creating the carbon dioxide content
of the atmosphere. This method
has been used patriculnrly in En-
gland with certain varieties which
develop physiological disorders
when stored fn ordinary low tent
perature storage. Controlled atnto•
sphere storage, however, has [net
with only limited acceptance in
Canada, because in general our va-
rieties respond satisfactorily to or-
dinary cold sto?age in air,
* * *
An apple in the course of respi-
ration normally gives off certain
gases which affect the keeping life
of that apple and other apples stor-
el in the sante roans. For instance,
gases are Produced which cause
skin scald, and other gases such as
ethylene are known to accelerate
ripening, In recent years, interest
has centred around means of re-
moving some of these harmful gas-
es from the storage atmosphere
and thus preventing apples from
causing their own destruction, 11
has been found that a large pro
portion of tltr gases produced by
apples ,earl lie "'absorbed - on at•tiv:it
cd carbon air filters. This rs ac-
complished by continuous rirrnla
tion of part of the atmosphere in
the storage over activated carbon,
in order to absorb and thus remove
these gases. Ethylene, however,
which is probably the most harm-
ful of the gases produced by res-
piring fruit, is not capable of being
absorbed oh activated carbon at or-
dinary temperatures and therefore
other means must be found for re-
moving this substance. The whole
field of air purification. of apple
storages by means of activated
carbon is under intensive investi-
gation at the present time, but as
yet no final conclusions have been
reached as to the practicability of
this method for prolonging the
keeping life of apples. -
x ♦ *
' For the average home owner, the
best way to insure that apples re-
tain their firmness and crispness
over as long a period as possible
is to store them in a cool basement
room as near to 32 degrees as pos-
sible and with as high humidity as
can be obtained. The relative hu-
midity of the atmosphere can be
increased by spriukling water on
the floor of the fruit room, or by
placing a false floor over a bed of
peat moss which can be periodical-
ly watered in order to provide moi-
sture through continuous evapora-
tion. For the owner of an apart-
ment or small home where storage
is scarce, apples should be kept in
the refrigerator until used in order
to prevent the high tetnperatures
normally found in a home front
causing undue ripening and shriv-
elling.
Super -Salesmanship
In a little Western town, there
is a drugstore which is becoming
famous all over the country. It was
opened on a shoestring by a young
man and . his wife just before the
depression of the '30s. The town
was a small one with a population
of only 700, and their customers
were few. They young couple did
wltat they could to ,make ends meet;
to cut expenses they moved into
in room behind the store.
Their town was on a itnajor high-
way, and even during tie worst of
the depression tourist traffic was
heavy. The problem was to get
these people to stop at the store.
Suddenly, like toast popping out of
a toaster, the wife had an idea. The
very next day they, put tip signs on
tlte highway which read simply:
Free ice water at the drugstore in
the next town.
Now druggists everywhere in the
United States had been giving away
ice water for years, but none of
them ever thought of advertising
the fact. To tourists, this sigh pro.'
vided first a hearty laugh .and then
a welcome invitation.
The idea worked like a, charm,
and today this couple is dispensing
ice water at the rate of more than
5,000 glasses each day. During the
tourist season they have, 28 em.
ployees to help them. Their signs
are all over the map. People tvho
have seen them often drive miles
out of their way to visit the drug-
store
rugstore that advertises its "free ire
water," Of course, most of the
people wlto come in for a drink
also make a purchase while in the
store. As a result, the couple do
what they consider a "whopping"
Insin css,
By Sea To Beirut
We waved. Our ship gave a tre-
mor; 1t was moving slowly up the
COnet,
Of Haifa .and Mt, Carmel I was
denied evert a fleeting glance. It
was late .evening when we arrived
there to discharge a few passen-
gers, andby, ten we were leaving.
tltetn behind, llut it stirred my
soul to know that for a few hours
I had stopped under the shadow of
Mt. Carmel, which the prophet
Elijah had ascended to pray for
rain,
Across the curving bay the dim
lights of Akka shone. Akka, just
above the mouth of ICishon, beside
which the same prophet took the
prophets of Baal and slew them.
It was all very wonderful to me:
Here were the lands in which had
been enacted the stories of the Bi-
ble read to me in my childhood
every night when I went to bed,
every Sunday, when all toys were
under the lock, names that I had
learned with difficulty, never dream-
ing that I should ever live within
reach of the places that bore them,..
There was a haze, but I could
distinguish, as we sailed by, the
modern city that bears the illustri-
ous name of Tyre. It has inherited
the royal purple mantle, but it
should not wear it, for it has not
the dignity. I could see also the
peninsula on which the ancient city
stood and which gave the town its
name. Sur, or Tsur, (rock) the
Arabs call it.
Sidon, front the sea, gave a much
better impression; a city nestling in
the foothills of the Lebanons and
following the curving rock-bound
bay. An arched bridge connected a
ruined fortress on a gigantic, rock
with the mainland.
"Tyre and Sidon," I kept repeat-
ing,'as I scanned: the coast. With
my own eyes I had looked upon
the ancient site of Tyre, which
Joshua called "the strong city of
Tyre"; upon Tyre, "the daughter of
Sidon," 'marvellous for its wealth
and its commerce; upon Tyre, which
knew the secrets of the famous
purple dye, which supplied cedar
trees and fir trees for the temple.
I had looked upon Sidon, or "Sai-
da," as the Arabs call it, linked by
tradition with the name of Sidon,
a son of Canaan; one of the world's
oldest cities, mother' of Phoenicia,
already famous by Joshua's time,
her architects the best in Syria.
But for me, all that had been writ-
ten about the greatness and the
splendor of those two cities paled
before the memory of one simple
sentence;' that our Lord "departed
into the :coasts of Tyre and Sid-
on." ...\
A bold promontory carne into full
view. We rounded this headland
and entered a curving bay, blue
green against a rocky coast. In a
curving sweep the Lebanons rose
behind its terraced, dotted with viI-
lages and villas. What a perfect
setting for a city.
Well, there it .ras! After seven
thousand miles of ocean, , after
twenty-one days of tossing, there
stretched Beirut, the capi.al of Leb-
anon, which henceforth I was to
call hom
—Frome) "I Married an Arab,"
by Mary Winifred Bushalrra.
Now comes a plastic skate wheel
which will wear 50 per cent longer
than wood and 25 per cent longer
than fiber and which generates only
a quiet hunt instead of a noisy
clatter. The new wheel gives a surer,
tighter grip to the rink floor and re-
duces the danger of slipping during
intricate jumps spins and turns.
I. ndianaIn F iad9 r';.
Life moves on continuousif(
around the Indian home. The little
house .ie tite,'hub Pf everyone's
activities) front it all travel in their
labors, and to It the produce of all
their ,energy returns. ''fere the"
store their grant and beano and the
wool for weavilig. The thick wall,
hold their life secure and guard
their hard-won prosperity.
The houses of art Indian corns
munity are not gathered around a
plasm as in Spanish villages, They
are scattered over the cultivated
fields, each house overloolcing 11*
small plot of land, In the com-
munities close to town, most of
the houses are, made of rammed
earth and are roofed with Spanish
tile purchased in town, In the
more isolated communities, most
of the houses are made of thud and
wattle with high' thatched roofs of,
paramo grass. The tile - roof*
houses are generally larger than
the thatched huts, but the plan fe
the same.
The porch of the Indian home
is the workshop where moat of the
shade from the glaring sunlight, and
is good for working, the roof gives
the wall of the house wards of
the sharp or dusty winds. On the
porch of almost every house stands
a Spanish loom, an Indian back -
strap loom, or both. The millstone
is also on the porch, where cora
is ground into flour for the daily
porridge, or whereby barley or
chuchuca—green corn parboiled and
dried—is prepared for soup.
The Indians are, never idle, They
work at a steady unhurried pace,
changing occupation from time to
time when they tire. While the mo-
ther prepares the noon meal, the
father may hook up the oxen and
plow in the fields near by or hoe
the small corn plants. In the heat
of the noonday sun he may sit on
the porch to weave on a poncho,
or t belt, or a length of light
wool flannel for a woman's skirt
Perhaps he will twist a little rope
of fiber he has dried from the
cabuya cactus that grows by this
wayside. The younger, children,
boys and girls, take the sheep and
swine out to pasture on the hills
or along the ravines. The older
children work with their parents.
The boys learn to farm and to
weave. The girls are taught to sew
and embroider, to spin wool or cot-
ton with the reed spindle or the
spinning -wheel, to wash, and to
cook,
Spinning and weaving go on all
day long in :a . btisy Indian home,
for not onlyare textiles the main
source of barter and cash, but
nearly all the clothing .is conven-
tionally homespun and woven. Not
every .family weaves all the types
of Indian cloth, but most families
weave some of the many varieties
that make up the Indian costume.
Throughout the region of Ota-
valo the Indians wear essentially
the same costume. However, there
are many little details of dress that
make it possible to distinguish In-
dians of one community from those
of another. For example, in com-
munities far from the towns the
Indian women sew all the family
clothes, while in communities close
to the towns they have many of
their clothes made by professional
seamstresses on sewing machines.
—From "The Awakening Valley,"
by John Collier, Jr., and Anibal
Buitron. -
Family Business. In St. Louis, a
loading zone permit for the Cen-
tral Casket Co. was taken out by
H. S. Coffin,
OW BY -
HAROLD
AB
ETT
PREVENT CLOSET HOOKS FROM
DENTING HATS AND DRAWING THEM OUT OE SHAPE BY
FORCING SPONGE RUBBER BALLS OVER THE HOOKS THE
SPONGE WILL HOLD THE HATS MORE FIRMLY,
JITTER
WE'VE: BEEN OUT ALL DAY
AND HAVEN'T SNOT SINGLE
&RD
54,
By Arthur Pointer
LLL