Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1950-5-17, Page 311 ti r Sane And &d¢ade fry flieltard tut} !Wilkinson Gail watched Tommy lierkley. ar,d Rita Young disappe.:1 damn leach, His arm was about her want and Rita's red head was very close to 'Tommy's blont! ' locks, 'Pears blinded t.iidl's vision. "That's what you gel," site thought bitterly "for being sane and sen- sible all your life. For being vir- tuous and loyal." Loyal! The word provoked a laugh, Loyal 10 what? '1:o Tommy Berkley? That was ridictrlous. You couldn't he loyal to a man who didn't kti,,a what you were up to. Or at least it lost its effect, (fail turned and started Lack tar ward the lodge. Two months ago she had come up here with her folks for the summer. The day after theur arrival she had met Tommy Berkly, They had danc- ed and Tommy had looked down at•her and said: "You're not pretty or beautiful, you're glorious, whfdl is really a weak word to express what I mean," Gail had leuown then why all leer life she had been sane and sensible, 1t had been for Tommy. At the point where the path skirted the tennis courts before coming to the lodge steps, Gail saw a figure and stopped, catch- ing her breath, "Hi there, Gail. I saw you walk- ing down this way and followed,' Even without the help of moon- light to etch out the features of the ratan Gail recognized the voice, It was Clark Davis. Davis was tall and goodlooking and dark, He was considered wild , I -1e had a reputation. Mothers warned their daughters not to go out with him, though they didn't say why, "Clark!" She forced a laugh, "You frightened me at first," "Sorry," He came close "I guess I've been frightening you ever since you came up here. I wish 1 didn't:" • A path of molten gold streamed across the lake. Tentatively, Clark Davis slipped an arm around her waist. And when she offered no Clark's feet went out from under trim, He fell groaning. objection he stopped and swung her to face I1h11, "Gail!" he cried hoarsely. "Gail r' And he took her into his arcus, She yielded, gave him her lips in a long kiss. When it was aver she broke away sud- denly, unaccountably, regretful, guilt', ashamed. ".Don't! Please! I—f thin!: we'd better go back." But Clark Davis didn't under- stand. He couldn't understand He seized her wrist and jerked her up close to him, "Listen," he said, tensely "I love youl.,Do you .hear!. I. want, you—have wanted you since the first day you arrived here. And you want me!" "No, No, Clark! You don't un- derstand I was a fool to cone here with you. Please let me go:" Quick footsteps sounded along the pebbles, A figure loomed out of the gloom. .Davis felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. He swung around, saw T molly Berkley. Angrily he swore and struck out, But '1'onuny sidestepped the blow and drove home a hard fist, catch- ing Davis behind the ear, follow- ing it with a serond blow to the jaw; Clark's feet went 0111 from under him, He fell groaning. "Yon dirty dog!" Tommy said, coldly brutal, "You ought to be hung." 'Then he turned to Gail, tt hero she hat! sunk to her kites. Ile helped her ftp. 1113, walked along the beach. Tommy's arm supported her, They slopped at the foot of the hath. "Thr dirty dog," ',county said "Why can't to man like Davis ac- cept the fart that there are some good girls left' lYlay does he have to think they're all alike?" "Oh, Tommy!" she smiled, dab- bing at her eyes, "It—it's all right now. 1-- was foolish to conte here with hint. If yon hadn't cone along--" 11e grinned. "Lucky thing for both of us. hila and I were sitting urn the big rode tieynnd the point. When we hoard you cry ort u°c drought there was -trouble anti she went baric to the lodge by the road, 1 ratite over to lliyectiga le, I'111 glad 1Cornedyon, because now y0u'11 he the first to know of Rica's mud my. engagement," Nature Was The First Inventor When yon lake a look into a box of carpenter', or gardener's tools and obsert e the incredible variety of the instruments it contains, do you ever pause to wonder hots they all carte to be thought of and de- signed? One thing is certain. None of those precision instruments "just happened." 11'110 were tine inventors and how did they get their ideas? When we look at the world of Nature around us, we cannot help wondering if men really orginated those tools. An observant eye will sono see that • Nature was "first in the field"; that Nature, in short, sup- plied the "blue -prints" for mankind to build on. Evidence is everywhere. Let tis dip into tate gardener's tool chest and pick the commonest tool of the lot—the spade. Did me0 invent that instrument? asks Craven I1!ll, F.Z,S„ writing in "TitB'its." Picture to yourself a caveman of long ago looking at the ground outside his cave and wondering !tow he can best make a hole big enough to hide the carcase of a wild animal he had just killed. Their Feet are Shovels What he wants ,of course, is the instrument we call a spade. But since no one (at the time of which I am -speaking) had yet been clever enough to invent such a thing, he has to do some hard thinking over his problem, His attention is drawn to stole burrowing its way into the soil, and there, in the mole's shovel -like forefeet, is the solution. There is his idea for a spade! Nature has shown him the way. All he steeds now is a little constructive ability to fashion for himself a ser- viceable tool for the job, Whether or not that is a true picture of how the first spade came into being I do not pretend to know. But if it is not literal!:- accurate, it cannot be very far from the fact, Iron Age Models Let us look into the carpenter's chest for that almost equally com- mon tool, the sate, It cannot have taken an Iron Age man long to de- velop this useful instrument, for his "models" lav all around him—saw- fishes in tie sea; crocodiles, alliga- tors, and a host of other creatures on land. Again, lake the carpenter's chisel, No doubt someone, at some period of history, laid claim to the "in- vention" of if, Maybe lie did, in a way. But he had Mother Nature to guide him, for there were some ex- cellent chisels in existence long be- fore Man carne on the scene. Take a glance inside tine mouth of any rodent, and you will see them. And they don't wear oto. In fact, the more use they get, the sharper they become. One fruitful scourcc of inspira- tion to our forefathers undoubtedly lay in the beaks of birds. Not un- naturally, perhaps, for the bills of all the birds are little less than tools, specially designed by Nature for the work they have to perform. The long, slender, delicate bills of the snipe and woodcock are per- fect natural forceps, enabling their possessors to extract all manner of tiny objects from the soft soil in which these species feed. Similarly, the broad bills of the ducks and spoonbills make very serviceable scooping instruments, while the beak of the crow provides an ex- cellent "blueprint." surely, for a pickaxe. Heron's Beak—a Spear Specially useful to the primitive fisherman must have been the var- ious waterfowl and fish -eating birds. What better model could he have had for a spear than the long, straight freak of the heron? For a hoot: he had only to studj' the crook- ed beak of the merganser, that now rasher rare duck- sometimes seen 011 our coasts, whose long hill has at its tip a perieetly nmr,lcrcnt, honk used by the bird for lwokiug 111011 - uses and erustacea from their un- derwater hiding -places, or for pick - jag up even 111, must wriggly eel, Again, supliosc 31111 wanted. t0 Wake a paddle for a canoe you had built, The idea world have enure to you instantly, on watcihing hots gulls and ducks use their webbed feet. I think the roan who originally "designed" that useful article of footwear for luunans, sno hoes, had probably, been watching 1110 wading birds as they ran !tither and thither over the mud -Gats. Plenty of inspiration there! hxamitiatioh'of fishes must also hahe,played its part in the develop- ment of the modern tool -chest, no less than In the growth of weapons. Who first thought of the bow and arrow is anyone's guess, but it seems quite feasible that whoever it was borrowed some useful ideas from the archer -fish of Malaya, the East Indies and elsewhere. This little underwater marksman feeds mainly on insects, for which it hunts diligently along the banks of streams, Having seen an insect, the fish captures it .by shooting out a drop of water from its mouth, and aims with such unerring accuracy that it can hit its quarry even at distances of twelve -to fifteen feet. I often wonder whether one of those gallant.gentleuten of the Mid- dle Ages—some resourceful "knight , in armour"— claimed' to have in- vented and Perfected that shining suit of mail. Quite likely he did; but the credit for the idea really ought go to Mother Nature, who originated the suit of mail long be- fore the Middle Ages, 1f you doubt that, observe the lobster or the crab! Or—if you do not feel like dipping into the briny—take a look at the admadillo, that strange -look- ing South American mammal whose fat, squat body is entirely encased in a hard, hornlike covering—a ver- itable "suit of mail." If we chose to examine the matter more closely, .we could find scores of other examples showing how ittankind has found in Nature "ideas" for implements of all kinds. The claws of the lobster; the prin- cers at the business -end of the ear- wig; the long, whiplike tentacles of the octopus (first-rate "lassos," thosel); even the sting of the wasp— have all, probably, formed the orig- inal models from which Modern Man has evolved his tools and wea- pons. Think it over—it's worth a thought or twol "Good, Old Days" Weren't So Hot The National Industrial Confer- ence Board, Inc., does an outstand- ing job of presenting statistics on a wide variety of subjects. Their studies on personnel policy and studies on la'bour statistics have re- ceivecl and merited widespread com- mendation. Recently, the Board published a booklet entitled, "What An Hour's Worlc Would Buy, 1914- 1918", the third in their studies in labour statistics, While the infor- mation contained therein is based on American figures, the pattern which has been uncovered is equally ap- plicable to Canada, This study dem- outrates that the average manufac- turing worker in 1914 worked 51.5 hours a week, receiving 25 cents an hour or $12,72 a week, required $16.00 a week to support his family and, therefore, showed a deficit of $3.28 a week, requiring some 14 hours of work by other members of his family to make ends meet, In 1948, the average manufacturing worker worked 39.7 hours a week, received $1.47 an hour or $58.52 a week, required $49.52 a tveek to support his family and, as a result, showed a surplus of $9,00 a week Couple Attacked—In Los Angeles, Robert Mueller, 22, consoles his girl frie!id, Carol Aim Cope, also 22, after they were rescued by police, They had been attacked by a thug; who pistol- whipped Mueller into entconsciousness and robbad Jilin, then criminally tt55atllted .bliss Cope. Moeller crawled to an ill -night radio station and told his story to a disc jockey, who tailed police, odern a Oillebtailders and What They're !3,i Ming Today, Canada and the United State, arc in the midst of the greatest hot e -building boom in all history. Herewith, in chart and pictures form, we publisih a revealing look at the different ages and types of these homebuilders, also the various types of mimics they most favor. All these data are taken from a recent coast-tu-coast survey of 2000 new homebuilders conducted by the magazine Better Montes and Gardens; and although the survey was mostly made sout'it of the border, it gives a very fair idea of Canadian trends and preferences as well. Cape Cod is still the preferred architectural style, but moving up fast in popularity are the `ranch -type" houses and contem- porary designs. Cape Cod is strongest in the bast and West North Central regions. Ranch and contemporary styles are very strong in the Vilest and Southwest; but even in the East, one-fifth of new homes are ranch or contemporary. W' y�z 13i Most Popular Price Ranges for New Homes 810,000 to 715,000 is most popular price range. Who Builds .New Homes . Age 45 and oyer r� 37% Most houses are built by families in the "ov.er 30" group. Where New Homes Are Built . . Smaller city, under 100,000 34% Trend is away from big cities, to the suburbs and smaller cities. Combination Living -Dining Room These features arc gaining in popularity. Preferred Size of Homes Two Bedrooms 49% . IR 00 Three Bedrooms 36% Four or More Bedrooms 12% Ralf are two-bedroom, 11 How New Homes Are Built By Owner and Contractors 40% `rde,<. • —" By Owner Himself 22% Contractors lead. to be saved or used for improving the living standard of his family. We are all familiar with the stories of the "good old days" when eggs were sold for 15 cents a dozen and a ratan felt that he could sup- port a wife when his pay reached the amount of $12.00 a week. The reason for the nostalgic regard for the past is that comparisons arc always based on the buying power of the dollar. The dollar, however, is of no value whatever as a 1101111 or standard because it varies con- tinuously. The Conference Board recognizes this fact by using, in- stead of the dollar, the buying power of one hour's work to compare the factory workers' situation over 111e past, four decades. The results arc startling and informative, Tile study was based on the average pay for 25 manufacturing industries. A consideration to be borne in mind is that the wage-earner today Inas a much wider range of goods to choose from than did his predecessor of 1914 and his standard of living and the convenience he now enjoys are superior to anything available 34 years ago. Sonne of the details 1101.111e study are of more than pass- ing interest, For example, 12 hours of work would purchase the week's food for the typical wage-earner's fancily in 1948, In 1914, it took 30 hours of work. The big item for a Sunday dinner, a roasting chicken, required more than four hours' work in 1914. The 1948 wage-earner required only a little more than two Motors' work to buy the same fowl, Clothing himself and his family cost the factory worker one half the number of hours of work in 1948 than it did in 1914. Despite the fact that housing conditions have considerably improved over the standards prevailing in 1914, the manufacturing worker in 1948 had to spend only a little more than 18 hours a 'month to house his family as compered with the 1914 average of more than 35 hours. The 1948 model low -price ear sold for only 954 hours of work despite the fact that the price had more than doubled over tine 34 years, This meant that the 1948 wage-earner could buy a new car for a little more than one- third tine number of hours Mat ane cost in 1914. The intangible gains, such as the technical improvements, 'the time and physical energy saved in rite horse through the use of tahratr, saving latices, the convenience of modern refrigeration and the com- fort of inner -spring mattresses and insulated homes cannot be evaluated in terns of hours of work. All these things rate consideration, however, when we loots at the benefits which we can hope to obtain if we recog- nize and appreciate the basic reas- ons for our material progress and do not waste our tints yearning for the largely fictitious advantages of "tire good old days". Keeping Tab On The .Buterfiies Otte day in the spring, fifty. seven-year-old Carl A. Anderson, of Texas, will release more than 700 orange and brown Monarch butter- flies which he is now breeding 111 his backyard. 13111 first he will brand each butterfly on the ming with a serial number, Later in the year ,Anderson will begin to receive every tteeic scores of p0strarc 11 from nature -lovers who have traced tine Monarch in various parts of North. America, In this wit3 he hopes to learn more al*Dirt the migratory habits of the Monarchs, whose movements in America are still largely a mystery. Anderson has already discovered that Monarchs fly up to 25 miles an hour and move in a direct line as though on a radar bears. Many minter in the southern parts of America. When the weather gets warmer they fly north—sometimes as far as Canada. Anderson is so keen on his self- appointed task that last year he went by rail to his native Minne- sota and there traced and brought home some of the tiny refugees lie had released months before, MOST PEOPLE would rather look backward than forward, for a very simple treason—i't's easier to remember where you've been than where. you're going. FIND A FELLOW who never ac- cepted any responsibility, never did anything constructive, never originated or built something worth while, and we aright be able to point out the perfect axample. Of a carping critic ,who thinks he knows precisely what's wrcmg with all tine other folks.