HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1952-7-9, Page 7The. Blue
Serge Suit
13y MICHAEL 'TIFF
It 1 t ig on the wall opposite the
door as You tame into the front
room—the picture of my father in
his blue serge suit, the only suit I
had known hint to own. That pic-
ture had always fascinated ute, It
presented my father as' quite a
handsome young man; the pltoto-
graph had been taken, of course,
some dozen years ago, just before
he 'bad married my Mother. . More
than once she had told me about
how THY father bad courted her in
that suit and when she had first
seen hint in it she had sworn hint
to be the best looking man in the
world. It had become the symbol
of their merrier days and both of
thein cherished it, Only on two.
occasions since' their marriage had
my father worn that suit; any chris-
tening and a neighbour's daugh-
ter's wedding.
But things between any father
and mother were not altogether
peaceful. They spent their time to-
• • gether arguing about little matters.
As for Instance, my father would
clump into the kitchen on a wet
day and leave mud tracks on the
floor.
"There you go," she'd. say,
"treading mud tracks all over my
clean kitchen. I suppose you like
,to see me on my knees scrubbing
My mother seemed different.
somehow here In Scottsville. She
even smiled: -
away like a slave." And my father
would say, "1 can't walk into my
own !louse without being blas-
phemed,"
On a bright summer morning my
mother was serving breakfast and
I could see her eyes sparkle as if
she had an idea. "I'm going to
visit mother in Scottsville," she
said. "I'll take Henry with mc."
"Always thinkin' u
nsomething.
Where's the money coming from
for tickets?" said my father,
"I saved it up; penny by penny."
"Waste of money," said my fa-
ttier. "With so much work on the
farm, in the middle of summer,
she wants to take a trip to her
mother. Buhl"
"1 can see my own mother
sometimes in a blue moon. I'd be
glad to get away from you for a
spell, believe me.'The way you snap
and bite at me."
"All right, then. Go and see if
1 care," said my father.
Stolidly my another packed a sat-
chel. She dressed me in my Sun-
day -,white blouse and black cot,
(Ivory trousers. -1 wore my shoes.
My father took us to Oak Leaf
Junction a mile away. We rode
in the top -wagon, drawn by our
white horse, Prince.
At the station my mother bought
the tickets and we waited in si-
lence. The train clanged in, and
wi "got on, and I heard my father
say "Good-bye" to my mother and
she said. that to him. As the train
moved away .7looked out of the -
window and sae my father stand-
ing near the wagon.
My mother -and t went to the
movies in Scottsville and we ate
ice cream and store cake. Life was
hill for me, just to walk along
Main Street and watch everything.
My mother seemed different some-
how here in Scottsville; she never
argued with anyone. She even
smiled, 'l'owan'si the end of the first
week, however, 1 nottired. a shadow
flit across' her ace;
One night, as we were return-
ing from"a, movie, my mother said:
"Your father Is a hardworking
man, Henry." ,
As. the enol of the second week
approached the favorite subject of
ccuversation for my mother was
my father. Soon she talked of
hardly anything else:'
We were going home. The train
flitted by forest and meadow and
stream,
1 could close my eyes and pie-
ture my father in his overalls,
waiting for us with Prince and the
toll -wagon,.. just the way we had
left him.
The train slowed down: Soott.we
were being helped off the coach by
the . conductor, My mother looked
nice in her new dress, so carefully
selected by her and my grandino-,
ther, bought with the remainder of
my mother's savings,
As she stood 00 the platform of
Oak Leaf junction at last, she
seemed to be of the city, indeed. I
saw my father coming toward us
and his face was quite Olean shaven.
He didn't wear his sun hat and
his iron- gray hair was combed
back. As I looked at him my eyes
opened in wonder,' So did my mo-
ther's, My father was wearing his
blue serge suit,
He nodded at. Inc. He took the
satchel toward the horse and wa-
gon. He stumbled over the single.
platform step to the ground and
brushed against my mother. "Ex -
excuse me," he stammered,
1NDAY SCHOOL
LESSON
By Rev. R. B Warren, B.A.. B.D
Deborah, a Woman of Courage
Judges 4;4-8; 5:1-7.
Memory Selection: Be strong and
of a good courage; be not afraid,
neither be thou dismayed: for the
Lord they God is with thee wither-,
soever thou goest, Joshua 1:9.
Women are often called the
weaker sex. But to be true, the
word "weaker" needs to be quali-
fied. Man is stronger,. -physically,
but not always so in that which
pertains to the spirit. Many a man
would have gone down for the
count in the struggle of life had
it not been for his wife's unfalter-
ing courage. The man receives the
honour and praise and the woman
'
is content to have rto. Go -bless
s d
the women.
Deborah was a prophetess who
judged Israel. (Women have not
been asconspicuous in public life
but their occasional presence pre-
serves their right.) Through her
inspiration' Barak raised up an army
and the oppressors were over-
thrown. A woman slew Sisera the
enemy leader,
The song of praise that followed
merits doss study. Some of the
tribes had not responded to Bar-
ak's call. Zebulon and Naphtali
jeopardized their lives unto the
death. Meroz was cursed because
they came not to the help of the
Lord against the mighty.
joan of Arc has been called the
French Deborah. While still in her
teens she led in the liberation of
her country front the •English and
their 'Burgundian allies. Later
through the misguided judgment
of the church she was condemned
as a sorceress and heretic and
burned at the stake by the English
in 1431 at the age of nineteen, Itt
1.920 she was canonized as a saint.
Frances E. Willard and Florence
Nightingale are among the many
women who have given splendid
leadership. 'Today when the prob-
lem of our times is a moral one,
women who have .always had a
more sensitive touch than men in
things which are moral and religi-
ous, should be placed more gener-
ally in positions of municipal and
national leadership. At least, as we
find among us women like Deborah,
sagacious, industrious, God-fearing
and Ciod'trusting, let us insist that
they sit at our council tables, as -
Barak did of old.
Tired "Student" Flunks Exams—TI is elk is through with higher
education. He made a visit to Stockholm, Sweden, to escape dogs
and hunters, but found That a classroom in Swedish Tecnical
High School during exam time was worse than no haven at all.
Largest In World — Secretory Delight Downham
holds a section of the largest stranded electrical
cable ever fabricated for an overhead transmis-
sion F line. The cable, over 2W' in diameter, con-
sists of 108 aluminum wires over a core of steel
wires. Required for the big new aluminum
development in British Columbia this largest of
all electrical cables will carry power over a
particularly mountainous 10 -mile pass section
of the 50 -mile longpower transmission line be-
tween the powerhouse at Kemano and the alu-
minum smelter at Kitimat. The cable will have
an ultimate strength of 135,700 pounds. At the
left is a cross section of the cable.
IIE FA 1'RON-T
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From one of the best dairying
sections of New Brunswick conies
sound advice, .says an editorial in
The Financial Post. In a recent
editorial the editor of Kings County
Record of Sussex discusses the new
official floorprice for cheese. After
reviewing the experience with gov-
ernment purchasing of and assis-
tance to dairy products both id
this country and. in' Great Britain;
he'bluntly'states that the salvation
of the Canadian •industry does no
lie with governments but with the
dairymen themselves. hie suets it
up this way;`'
, r
* * *
Government intervention into
business, whether it be farming of
anything •ase, seldom works satis-,
factorily.-There may be temporary
benefits, but in the lortgrun goy.;
ernment assurances may cause com-t
placency which destroys initiative
and the will to sell. If a person.
must sell his product or go out of
business, he is much ..more apt to'
try to give the customer what he
wants.
* * *
"Dairy farmers • in Canada today
have a hard struggle in front of
them. They have lost many of
their markets. Mille and butter
consumption by Canadians has de-
creased, The challenge to the far-
mers is to build up that consump-
tion, and their best chance of
doing so is by direct dealing with
the trade; through telling the people
what they have -to offer; and by
seting their products at the lowest
possible prices which will give
them a reasonable return on their
investment and labor."
* * *
That is good advice not only for
Canadian dairying but for a great
many other industries, too. During
the war and since, too many pro-
ducers got into the habit of ex-
pecting the government to look
after their marketing and their
comfort. They forget that this is
a job the producer, manufacturer or
processor ran best do himself and
drat it is his inb to clo it,
* * *
Government marketing of wheal,
cheese, meats and' other products
has been a costly business for pro-
ducers, consumers and taxpayers.
It, has not produced stability either
in production or in returns to the
farmer. It has not protected us
against scarcities or gluts, It has
not opened up new markets.
* * *
In dealing with an emergency
such as we faced during the war or
when the outbreak of foot and
mouth disease brought an immedi-
ate embargo on the export of live-
stock products to the United States,
there is justification for the gov-
ernment stepping into the picture
—but ply temporarily.. The great.
danger wiEli this sort of thing,
however, is that we tend to regard
every little disturbance as a crisis
calling for, emergency treatment.
The sooner Canadian agriculture
and other industries get back to
normal marketing the better for
everybody. , -•
Some Federal veterinarians have
proclaimed' their' ;confidence; - that
the outbreak of foot and mouth
disease in ' Western Canada Inas
been conquered, that the eradication
campaign is now in its final stages.
1f that optimists proves well found- -
ed, then we are fortunate indeed.
* * *
The recent Canadian outbreak,
the first of its kind in almost a
century, has cost us millions in
animals destroyed and in the in-
terruption to trade, especially in ex-
ports of live animals and animal
products to the United States, But
the price is trifling compared to
what it night have heen had the
disease continued, and spread,
* * 4
Then we would have had to aban-
don all hdpe of any early reopening
of tete U.S. market, an outlet worth
not le..s than $150 millions in a
normal year. Repercussions of that
blow would have spread sp sad alt through
our basic agricultural industry and
from that to a score of secondary
industries that are dependept on
agriculture for raw materials and
purchasing power.
*
Perhaps it is too soon to assume
that we are out of danger. But
every day clear from now on bol-
sters the hope that the virus has
been stamped out and that within
perhaps a few months we can ex-
pect to see restrictions lifted and
normal markets to reopen.
Building Mystery
Freight transport these days pre-
sents few, if any, difficulties. No
matter how bulky, unwieldy, or
awkward the load, it can be trans-
ported throughout the civilized
world. From huge generators tra-
velling by articulated lorry or loco-
motive to floating docks towed
across seas, we take it all as a
matter of course.
Yet by no means the !cast re-
markable of achievements, so far
As :transportation concerned, was
the conveyance front the quarries
of huge blocksof limestone by the
Pyramid builders. Some of the
heaviest pieces weighed as much
'.as 200 tons..
It is highly improbable, records
Mr. 1. E, S. Edwards in his in-
teresting book, "The Pyramids of
Egypt," that wheeled vehicles were
used. Sledges were the mode of
conveyance. The blocks were care-
fully levered on to the sledge and,
quite likely, the whole vehicle was
then raised again by means of
skilful leverage, and wooden rol-
lers slipped undcrenath to help ease
the journey of the runners. The
laden sledge was then laboriously
dragged to its destination by teams
of men hauling on ropes. To lessen
friction, liquid was poured on to
the ground over which the sled
world travel.
Mr. Edwards's book provides
satisfying- answers to the oft -re-
peated question- t.ow were the
Pyramids built?
.Seeking For Tracers
Qf Noah's Ark
Six French explorers were slated to leave Paris Jutte 13 to tools for
traces' of Noah's Ark on ;the Turk-
ish flank of Mt. Ararat, legendary
resting place of. the Ark after the
great flood subsided.
The expedition, led by Jean de
iliquer; noted Arctic explorer, has
special American apparatus capable
of determining the age of wood,
Two. cameramen are ready to, re»'
cord traces of the elusive Ark if
they find it.
This is the first expedition to
beat. the Soviet blockade on Ara-
rat explorers since Dr, Aaron j,
Smith, dean of the People's Bible
School, Greenboro, N.C., failed to
find remains of the Ark in a 15 -day
search in September, 1949.
Several other explorers have
tried to succeed where his five -pian
expedition' failed, but the Russian
Government has foiled them by
making strenuous protests to the
Turkish Government,, holding that
the explorers were western spies.
The 17,000-foot'pexk, highest in
the Caucasus, is situated close to
the junction of the Russian, Turk-
ish, and Iranian - frontiers, but the
remainsarethought to be on the
southwestern flank, in Turkey.
-The French •expedition, 'which
will join with a Turkish priest in
Turkey, also Intends to collect
mineral, zoological, and botanic
specimens from the mountain.
The authority for looking on
Ararat is in the Bible, which says,
inthe eighth chapter of Genesis:.
"And the alk rested in the sev-
enth month . on the mountains
of Ararat. And the waters decreas-
ed continually... "
The firstrecorded attempt to
find the remains was made by a
German explorer, financed by the
Czar of Russia, in 1829. I• Ie failed,
but the legend persisted. 'World
Interest was revived in 1916 when •
a Russion aviator flying lover the
Caucasus claimed to have seen a
vessel perched on the 17.000 -foot
pueak.
The Communist revolution in-
tervened and '01 news' of the Ark
was suppressed in Russia—the new
rulers felt that discovery would
strengthen belief In tate Bible.
Nothing more was heard of the
pilot.
Unable to talk to the aviator,
archaelogists had little to work on.
Some said the remains would be
half the size of the liner Queen El-
izabeth, others predicted a few
spars strewn over the mountain-
side.
TALE OF A DOG
man
passed
Walking down a street, a
passed a doorstep on which sat a
Peke and an A_lsa ran ori either
side. As he strolled by he was
the Alsatian re- -
startled to hear
mark: "Lovely day, isn't it?"
He rushed over to a woman who
was standing at the door and said:
"Th -that Alsatian just spoke to
me."
Were you fooled. too?" laughed
the woman; "it's the Peke—he's a
ventriloquist"
(7. GREEN
f, J y " (ioldo1 I
Sure YOU Can Plant
Aside front things , like graso,.
sweet peas and nurser, -stock',
witielt should get established before
the really hot weather, one Batt
go on planting regularly right up
to early July in most parts of the
country. Expert gardeners who
want to get the moat . out of thele
land, indeed, make 'a'renter pm -
tics of sowing a few rows of becte,
carrots, beansh
, corn, and auo
things every fortnight up to the
end of June or even into July. if
we give these late gardens a little
extra cultivation, a little watering
and possibly some quick -acting
commercial fertilizer they will, cont*
along fast and mature ih plenty of
time before frost.
* * *
When It Gets Hot
The wise gardener will change
his methods a bit when the days
turn hot. With the lawn he - wit{
cut less frequently, certainly no
oftener than once a week, and he
will usually let the -clippings Ile
where they fall to forth a bit of
protecting mulch. He will also set
his mower a little higher so that
the grass is not cut so short.
In the flower andvegetable gar-
den, even if no eeeeds have been
allowed to grow, he will continue
a light cultivation once a week or
every ten days, to -create what is
known as a dust mulch which will
prevent evaporation of moisture
from the soil.
Before going on holidays it is
a excellent plan to go over flower
and vegetable gardens lightly with
a cultivator then, if possible, mulch;
lightly with grass 'chppings or tftAdl.-
lar material to conserve % the. male-
titre. If necessary and possible one
should water thoroughly the night
before this finalpre-holiday eultl-
vation.
A Good Time to Plait
From now right through to fall
is an excellent time to look around
and make notes for the bigger and
better garden we are going to have
next year; It's an excellent idea to
keep a note -book and list certain
things we are going to have for
sure next year. We should jot down
such items as color and season of
bloom, height, resistance to disease
an7 da Int s d, of coue, he
name of aars
itythin tike see g%owlt g
in a neighbor's garden that we hope
to have in our own.
With certain lines of nursery
stock, most shrubs, trees, vines,
gni., one can busy and al,a tin he
fall just as well as next spring,
By doing this we get these esta-
blished earlier and save time for
other jobs next year. .
Who Has Potato Worries?—Nos Cori B. Mitchell, of Rock Island
Village. The 11 -pound sweet potato he's preparing to demolish
should last him for some time. A smaller, seven -pound spud was
delicious, says Carl.
JITTER
Bp Arthur Pointer