Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1953-12-9, Page 7FRONT /RamU. Getti,ig near the end of the year, and most of us are won- dering just what 1954 will dish out to us. Well, for what ' Ws worth, here is what the experts south of the border are expect- ing. * * "The outlook for agriculture in the United States in 1954 is summarized In the annual De- partment of Agricuture publica- tion "Agricultural Outlook for 1954." In general it says, "Large supplies, strong consumer de- mand and no peat changes in farmers prices and income are in 'prospedt for 1954." Dealing with specific crops and econom- ic conditions the Report con- tinues; "Supplies of farm products will continue heavy in 1954. This year's crops, part of which will be sold in 1954, total a near record. The wheat, corn and cotton crops exceed probable use and stocks continue to mount, Little can be said now about crop production next year. How- ever, acreage restrictions on wheat and cotton may result in a smaller total crop output un- less weather is unusually fav- ourable. Marketings of cattle, intik and eggs in 1954 are not likely to differ much from this year's high levels. Hog production will be lower than a year earlier in. the first half of 1954 but may increase in the second half." * * There was never much rom- ance to Canada's maple sugar industry for the man who had to tap the trees, hang the buck- ets, gather the sap, and convert it into appetizing syrup and su- gar. These operations entailed too much labour. * * * Research and the use of me- chanical power now make it possible to somewhat reduce- that labour. A light -weight pow- er driven ' auger is available to do the tapping operation, and a new plastic sap bag promises to greatly lessen the work of hang- ing a bucket or sap container on the tree and in gathering the sap. ° * • A manufacturing firm in Ver- mont has developed a vinylite plastic sap bag, to take the place of the metal sap bucket now in use, and is studying the possi- MERRY MENAGERIE r ' -De 'Oh, we've found a delightful new apartment—a mahogany bureau drawer full of nylon underthings!" • bility of manufacturing and dis- tributing them in maple sugar areas in Canada, When empty a score or more of these plastic sap bags can be carried over one arm. A re - enforced eyelet at the top, slip- ped over a small hook en the spile, hangs them ea the tree, where they remain until the end of the season, One side of the bag is made long enough to provide a flap that hangs Over the top as a cover. * * * A small tab, with a finger. hole grip, on each bottom cor- ner, permits, the bag to be swung up to either side and the sap emptied into a gathering pail, without removing the bag from the tree. * * * At the end of the season the bag is turned inside out, sponged clean, or washed in a washing machine. The empty bags are then hung up on pegs through the finger grips to be stored in a small compact space until the next' season. * * * The manufacturer states me- chanical tests have been given these, equivalent ,to 20 years of actual use and there has been no deterioration. It is also claimed that experiments over several years in Vermonthave shown that the sun's rays through the plastic not only pre- vent development of bacteria in the sap but destroy -them and stop souring of sap. * * * The Department of Agricul- ture, Ottawa, is making arrange- ments to try out a number of these bags in local sugar bushes next spring. * * * It is always wisdom to protect an investment and the outlay on farm machinery represents a considerable portion of the capi- tal expenditure on the highly mechanized farms of today. It takes considerable patience and time to put a moldboard, culti- vator shovel, seed drill or one- way disc into satisfactory condi- tion if the working surfaces have been allowed to rust for any length of time. Rusty bear- ings, shafting, steel chains or slip clutches may cause more wear in the first hour of opera- tion, after a season's storage, than will occur during the en- tire operating season. e 5 * Rust is found on iron or steel after exposure to moisture in the presence of air and to re- move it from any surface that is to be polished, some of the iron or steel has to be removed. Various oils and lubricating ma- terials may be used for rust pre- vention, but unfortunately most farm equipment receives no treatment of any kind. Time spent in .cleaning up farm machinery and applying an effective -rust preventative is far from wasted. Hours of irri- tating work and possibly expen- sive repairs may be saved when equipment is used again in the spring. :et8..7•x ec CONQUERING THE FAIL NORTH — Donald Gordon, chairman and president of the Canadian National Railways, drives the last spike at Lynn Lake, Manitoba, to o0•rcielly open ,the new 144 -mile line from Sherridon northward, Completion of the reihvay colnelded with the start of production in Sherritt Gordon's new nickel and copper mine, Partioi paling in the recent ceremony were federaland provincial government officials, mining and railway executives and 600 Sherritt-Gonion and CNR employees of the newly -created frontier town, more than 600 miles northwest of Winnipeg. "One of Canada's greatest storehouses of natural resources has been linked with the rest of the world by the completion of this railway line," said Mr. Gordon, "IV joins Lynn Lake to every point on the Canadian National System, to every point served by the 475,000 miles of railway m North America, and to the rest of tilt world through the seaways that bead from our porta on the Atlantic and Pacific." o e . . ash for Hints . . q Acetate blended into smoothPhaeton flannel makes a suit to delight the budget -minded business giri. The slim skirt has a back kick pleat for easy walking the flattering jacket has velvet touches of collar and poket flaps. Designed in a range of rich fall sheds. Women Attracted to Mountaineering Climb For All Kinds of Reasons Why do people climb moun- tains? According. to Eleanor Hamil- ton of Montreal, who is secre- tary of the Alpine Club of Cana- da, people' climb for almost as many reasons as there are climbers. Miss Hamilton says she is a mountaineer because she enjoys outdoor exercise and Nature's ever-changing panorama. Others climb for the feeling of exhila- ration that follows acheive- ment or because they like do- ing something difficult. Some become Alpinists because they believe people are born to climb as well as to walk. Many are attracted to the sport through a spirit Of adventure. Others take it up to improve their phy- sical and mental health, Whatever their reasons for wanting to conquer mountains, most climbers become so en- thusiastic about their favorite • form of outdoor activity they organize clubs wherever they go. Since its founding in the Rockies 47 years ago, sections of the Alpine Club of Canada have sprung up in Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Total membership how stands at 800, As women make up almost half the parent club, it is affi- liated with the Ladies' Alpine Club as well as the Alpine Club in England. On the distaff side are some of Canada's most seasoned and active climbers, Like Miss Ham- ilton, many of them have con- siderable experience s c a li n g Switzerland's formidable peaks and spend their holidays each year Rclimbing the Rockies where the Alpine Club of Canada conducts a summer camp. The various sections across the country attract women from all wallcs of life, The Montreal group includes several stenographers, a ntnnber of housewives, nurses and teachers, one dress designer and a woman who operates her own catering business, Ad there 15 ne standard elinib- Ing costume, most tvornen are individualists in Outfitting them- selves. Favorite garb usually consists of blue jeans, slacks, shorts or plus fours worn with a flannel short and a pair of running shoes. Miss Hamilton prefers plus fours, which she has tailored in Europe, because they don't hamper the move- ment of the knees. Since the knees and seat of the pants usually wear out first from scraping against rocks, European tailors catering to mountain climbers always include extra pieces for patching these areas with each garment. Bee Stings Mile Man Gets Killed fliancing, admiringly at a pretty girl, Peter Lacrrmore fail- ed to watch where he was walk- ing and slipped on a fruit skin. Struggling frantically to save himself, he smashed his elbow through the glass 01 a kerbside fire alarm, accidentally pressed the button and .palled out the fire bridgade. Striving to get out of the way, a baker's cart mounted the pavement and two people were slightly injured, Running from a shop to see what the excitement was about, an elderly woman slipped and fell, Then the innocent cause of all the trouble gave them first aid. She was a hospital nurse! Wasp's Fatal Sting Have you noticed what psY- etlologists and safety Inspectors call the disaster chain? Soon there's to be a lawsuit because a wasp stung a Staffordshire ambulance driver. While the harassed man was brushing the wasp away, the ambulance struck a telegraph pole. Two days later the patient died. Yet it was a genuine accident and not negligence. Not long ago a woman was making tea in a tent encamp- ment near Bristol. The stove ex- ploded and her clothes caught fire. Hurrying to the resue, her father tripped and broke his ankle. Running to help, another would-be rescuer fell across a barbed wire fence and cut her face. It took a third rescuer to smother the flames! Flood of Chocolate More disastrous still was the chain of events set up when a tank of liquid chocolate sprang a leak at Acton. Pouring from the leaking tank, dozens of gal- lons solidified on the road. Try- ing to ride her bicycle over the chocolate, a girl skidded and fell. Another girl fell head over heels. A third causualty toppled off a bicycle. In fact, causual- ties multiplied until startled firemen roped off the area and _covered the chocolate flood with sand. Triple Collision Then there was the instance of Woodrow Latimer, who stepped out into the road to argue with another driver about a trivial collision when a third car bore down and hit i•;atimer, break- ing his left leg. Then, just as an ambulance arrived, a heavy truck collided with the ambu- lance and broke the ambulance driver's right leg. In Manchester, on one occa- sion a best man was driving a bride and bridegroom to their reception when a flake of con- fetti eddied round the car into his eye: Blinking for an instant, he missed the changing lights at a dangerous crossroads and ran into another car. Six people were killed, but not the bride or bridegroom. And how's. this for dire disas- ter in a one-man .accident? A farmer was shearing a mule when a bee stung the mule. The mule kicked the shears. The shears pierced an artery in the farmer's arm. He died of hae- morrhage and shock. Startling, too, was the "flying taxi" that crashed into a tele- graph pple during take -off. The pilot was thrown clear and only broke his little finger. His two passengers died instantaneously because the tail of the 'plane swung up and touched a high- tension wire carrying a load of 4,000 volts. A mechanice dashing to the scene with a fire extinguisher was killed when the current leapt up the stream of liquid to electrocute him. And the pilot, without realizing the danger, grasped the extinguisher and met the same .fate. On the other hand, when a distracted man deliberately tried to -kill himself after murdering his wife and son, circumstances ran heavily against him. Driv- ing away from his burning house, he got out of the car and swallowed 200 drug. tablets. Then he heard the dog whin- ing in the car, went back to let him out, tripped — and this caused him to cough up the tab- lets. Stuck in a Aitch He broke the drug bottle and tried to cut his wrists . but ' failed because tike cutting edge was too blunt, He tried to drive his car off a bridge and at the last instant the wheels stuck in a ditch. Suffering from acute melancholia, as the experts said, he gave himself up t0 the po- lice and is now in Broadmoor. Far from being dare -devils or 'fearless, mountain climber s have a hortor of accidents and are acutely safety conscious. Through close team work each member guards the life and limb of a fellow climber as care- fully as she does her own. Often the lives of the entire team will hang onthe strength of a length of rope or will depend on the way the leader place her fingers on a barely visible knob in a precipice. , When nylon fust appeared in. rope form, Miss Hamiltonre- calls how fascinated the climb- ers were with its sleek appear- ance. "Wecalled it. theglamor- ous "rope," lamorous•rope," she says. "It was so smooth and easy on the hands. Furthermore, it was much light- er to carry and never became water -soaked or stiff with frost in high altitudes. Though narrow- er and less bulky, it proved to be stronger, more durable and above all — safer." Founder of the Montreal sec- tion is John Brett, who taught his wife and two sons to climb. "For trimming down your waistline and putting a sparkle in your eye, there is no sport like mountain climbing," says Mrs. Brett. Drive With Care ea • Ch vis tm as Cards A re Comparatively New.... «« Compared. to .many Christmas customs which date back through the centuries, the exchange of greeting eards is a modern prae- Dee . , . less than 100 years old. The first Christmas card is be- lieved to have been designed about 1840, but it was another 20 years before the idea caught the public's fgncy, A predecessor of the greeting card, however, was the English school child's "Christmas piece," This was inscribed in the child's finest handwriting and carried home to proud parents to prove that school fees were not being wasted. The paper Was Often de- corated with scrolls and holly. Another an t e s for of t h e Christmas card was the Valen- tine, .a romantic fad which be- gan in the 1850's. Later, enter- prising manufacturers of the lacy Valentine merely changed the wording to sell them as Christmas cards. The Christmas card practice as we know it today was actu- ally born in the Victorian age. A Londoner visiting St. An- drews for the first time deter- mined to try a round of golf. Furnishing himself with the usu- al implements and a caddie, he went out before breakfast. It seemed quite easy, and his first drive was a terrific swipe, When the turf had °eased to de- scend he turned, somewhat daz- ed to the caddie and said, "What did I hit just now, my lad?" "Scotland, eft'," MAY SCHOOL LESSON BY REV. R. BARCLAY WARREN, B.A., B.D. One Human Race. Acts 10:9-15, 25-28, 34-35, 44-45. Memory Selection: Of a truth I perceive that God is not respec- ter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth Him, and work- eth righteousness, is accepted with Him, Acts 10:34-35. That was a time when many fes- tivities once forbidden by Puri•, tan laws -Were being revived. The first commercial greetings were not original. Most showed genial old plumpuddigentlemen, gs te enormous thesimple greetings but people like then. The descendants of Jacob were a separate people down through the centuries. When they inter- married with other races they were breaking their own laws. To this day the percentage of Jews intermarrying with other races is remarkably low. They have been and, are a separate people. With the traditions of cen- turies of separation it is under- standable how Peter was ;slow to grasp that all the blessings of the Gospe1 which came through Jesus Christ who was of Jewish descent, were really for all people of all races. God had to speak to him through a vision before he was willing to take the message of Jesus Christ to the household of Cornelius. As he preached, the Holy Spirit was given to these Gentiles just as to the Jews at Pentecost. Peter saw then that the Gospel was universal. A great many immigrants are coming into Canada. Some na- tive Born Canadians has been thoughtless enough to harshly criticize them for speaking to each other in their own langu- age. What would we do if we were in a new land? One woman who has come from Germany is getting on well learning our language. One day while pray- ing for her husband who is seri- ously ill she began in English but soon was expressing her petitions to God in her mother tongue. And God understands German. ** If we would only remember that God made of one blood all nations, we would get.free of our stupid racial prejudices. Je- sus died for the black and yel- elow as w'ell as the white. It is only our pride that makes us think that we are God's favor- ites. When we 'receive the full revelation of Jesus Christ we will realize that we are mem- bers Of the one human race. Then we will love them all, Historians who have studied the cards of long agd say, how-.. ever, that the range of material& used by, the Victorians was aa- tounding, Cardboard was t h e most common base but ingehi- ous manufacturers also use el pleated silk, imitation tortoise. shell, mother-of-pearl, ivory, silk fringe, lace, chenille, velvet, sa- chets, dried Hewers, seaweed and moss. By the 70's t h e Christmas card. had left the Valentine far behind in popularity, Greetings changed from the simple "com- pliments of the seas o.u," te, wishes ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. After a promising start the Victorian card degenerated into" something far removed from the spirit of the season. Common were designs showing scantily - clad ladies gambolling against Backgrounds of anything from mistletoe to tropical flowers, Re- ligious subjects were rarely seen. Gradually the commercial pro- ducts designed to satisfy t h e public's demand for bright col- oured prints became more dig- nified, Illustrators and artists began contributing designs. Card manufacturing techniques have come a long way since then and styles are constantly changing. Many are fine ex- amples of printing craftsman. ship. Most are lithographed and some undergo a silk-screen" process to provide special effects. The snow scene might 'glitter with ground cellophane or San- ta might be wearing a suit with fuzzy wool "flocking." Synthetic ground glass known to the trade as "diamond • dust" imparts sparkle. A special finish gives gleaming "w e t varnish" appearance. A popular process -ie "gold stamping" in which gold leaf is used to produce some lovely effects. Two -Timer — A tiny pearl but- ton. top, for wear with tailored daytime clothing, becomes a glamorous drop for gala occa- sions with the addition of a pearl-and.rhinestone "attach- ment," below, in La Tausca's "Two -Timer" earring. Smog Blacks Out London - Pamela Dalton wears a "smog mask" - as she chats with London cabbie Charles Cody. The smoke an4 fog mixture is so dense that 11 blots out all traces of daylight. Last year a similar tnixture hit London and took an estimated 4000 lives.