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The Brussels Post, 1950-5-24, Page 3ss •I 01,a.mo,.n By Richard Dill Wilkinson When Felic Breudlieget retired to private life he craned to be - "knee" in \f aylteld. If you tool: time to analyze the reason, the an- swer was simple. • For 30 year. Felix had left Ilk home on Pleasant street at exactly 7:35 in the morning, walked a quar- ter mile to the railroad station, boarded the 7:48 train for Long- view, and spent the day in that distant city at a desk in the insur- ance offices of Booth, Gill and Dyer. Every evening he disem- barked from the 5:52 train and re - travelled the quarter -utile to Inc Pleasant street home, Mayfield citizens were used to the sight of Felix walking briskly to and from the railroad station. Sometimes some one world ask hint to do an errand in Longview, and he'd always oblige. Frequently he would deliver choice bits of news to friends and acquaintances. Booth, Gill and Dyer had for their clients two large steamship* lines, and Felix could tell when the boats arrived in port, or when they were delayed by storms and when im- portant personages were arriving from abroad. There were a hundred and one things that Felix could and did do that achieved for him a certain recognition, After he retired, Felix ceased to be a figure. He wasn't an especially imaginative person, nor were his neighbors. The neighbors knew unconscious- ly that Felix was no longer differ- ent front any of theta Felix knew it too. It troubled him. It hurt, It made hint lonesome. It made lout wonder. It threatened to de- velop in hint an inferiority complex, Felix tried hard to find pleasure itt his retirement. He planted a garden and bought some chickens and occupied his time as much as he could. But it was a physical occupation, and this gave hint plenty of opportunity to think. Eventually !tis thinking turned to brooding and the brooding nom•i- isited the growing inferiority com- plex. Felix's wife noticed the change, She tried to talk to him, to learn .the source 'of his moodiness, But Felix couldn't explain it. He felt a little ashamed, and didn't want to talk. • Another month passed and Felix's wife began to think he was a case for the family doc- tor. Then one day a letter ar- rived from Booth, Gill and Dyer, They wanted to know if Felix would consider coming in for a few days to assist in straightening out some mat- ters about which they considered hien an expert. "The idea," Felix's wife exclaim- ed. "Don't they know --but of course they don't—I'll write hn- tnediately and tell them how poorly you are!" ' "You'll do no such thingl" Felix exclaimed, eyes gleaming. "I'm catching the 7:48 in the morning!" The job lasted three Fveeks, During that time Felix became a figure once more, People became used to hint going back and forth to the train, Unconsciously they fell into tate old routine of asking him to do errands and detnending choice bits of news. Felix was happy again, He beamed. He put on weight. Ile felt important. ile was important. On the day that Felix finished up the special walk, AMlr, Gill ap- proached him, "Felix, bow about staying on With us awhile: t ou're not old enough to • retire, We need you stere," "Need me?" "As long as you'll stay. Oh, I realize :that sooner Or later we'll have to get 'along without your help—but none of US real- ized how important you were:" Felix's face glowed. "Thanks, IeIr, Gill. roti couldn't have said anything that Itordd make nit hap- pier. But as Inc as slaying pith you is concerned ---1'm afraid 1'11 have to turn down the oiler.' You see, I've grit some chickens and a gerdc•n out hour that need buy al- tttltiott, e\nd---troll now i'll be able to retire loth a cleat cnn- stielire." Birds That Open Milk Bottles 111 1e& 1, birds described as tits bran 11. open milk bottles left on 1Lc men,. of !norm in Swaytihing, near Stoneham, ti„uthautpton, Eng- land• and drinking; the milk. Now at !cast 11 species of hahglish birds ate preying upon the westward tops td milk bottles in Many parts of England and some parts of Wales, Scotland .ntd Ireland, In Uritis!! lairds, ,Runes Fisher and H. A. Hindu find no satisfactory answers to these questions: Did in- dividual birds learn the trick from one another or did they discover it themselves?- If most of them ]earned it, then by what process? How did they disrot'er that milk bottles contain fond? T. H. Ilawkius relates its Nature what his .own investigations have led hint to conclude. Ile says that about 400 records have already been obtained of bottle -opening by tits and a lesser number by house sparrows, blackbirds, starlings, rob- ins, chaffinches and hedge spar- rows. He thinks that most birds must have discovered the trick for themselves, because tits, the orig- inal experimenters, do not move, even in winter, more than a few miles from their breeding places. The bottles are usually attacked -within a few minutes after they have been left at the door. There are a few incredible tales of tits that have followed a milk cart dawn the street and removed the tops of bottles while the driver was busy with a delivery. The method of opening the bottle varies. Some English milk bottles are closed by a'cap of metal foil, The bird punc- tures the cap with its beak, thea tears off the metal in strips. Some- times the whole cap is removed, and sometimes only a small hole is chilled in it, Cardboard caps are attacked in various ways, according to Hawk- ins' study of the records. The whole top may be removed or only the press -in centre, or the card- board may be torn off layer by layer until it is thin enough to be pierced with the beak, The milk may be drunk either through the stole thus trade or the bird may insert its beak into the ]tole and flick off what remains or the top. As in this country, mills of dif- ferent grades is delivered in some English areas in bottles with caps of different colors. Hawkins says that 14 observers sate attacks by tits only on bottles of one type, and four others reported a decided pref- erence for one type. Some observ- ers report that bottles filled with water or even empty bottles are oc- casionally attacked, "but this con- veys nothing,” says the cautious I3owkins, "unless the previous his- tory of the birds is known," Picked Up From Here And There A STATESMAN is a politician who agrees with you. * * * IT HAS TO BE borne ie. mind that in war there is no second prize, • * * UP TO NOW, the closest approach to perpetual motion is a small boy's appetite. ne * * IF WOMEN'S CLOTHES did not have to change so often, there'd probably be more change in men's, * .5 n, IT NEVER COSTS anything to • pat a guy' on the back and tell Iain about it when we think he -has,, done a' good job, but we don't 'dr, it very often. * * * . IN THE ARMY they used to say: "If then are grumbling, they're happy." What a happy bunch of folks we have in .Canada, * * * BEST WAY to get yourself ac- cepted as a man of profound judgment is to agree with the per- son who's passing judgment on you. - ss-ssaL'....,a:e':ern Kangaroo Kidnapping Is 'Inside Job'---" \That are vote doing with my :Joey?" the mama kangaroo, at left, might be asking of her sister, right, Joey vacated his mother's vest pocket and was promptly kidnapped by his aunt, who already had a kangarc:,o baby in her 0111 pouch. Invented The Steam Engine Yet Didn't Believe in Railways Most of us have a somenhat hazy notion of James 4t'att sitting by the fireside watching a boiling kettle, idly speculating on the pro- perties of steam emerging from the spout, and later dreaming, up the steam engine. Like many popular notions, this has but a flimsy basis of truth, writes a Special Corres- pondent to "Answers," '.there was, in fact, very little of the dreamer about James Watt. He was an immensely practical roan, a skilful engineer and a great mecha- nical genius. His contribution to the development of the steam e', gine lay in effective impros-entents to machines that already existed and worked—after a fashion. The earliest known description of a machine—or perhaps it might better be called a contraption— worked by steam occurs in the Pneunhatica of Hero of Alexandria, approximately 1,866 years before the birth of Watt. Help for the Miners. This is the Aenlipile, a ]follow globe, which was made to resolve by means of steam escaping through two bent pipes attached to it. Here we have a working model of an c:ctremely primitive reaction tur- bine. The Pneumatica also con- tains a description of an equally primitive type of engine worked by steam pressure. Wlfy such inventions, subse- quently to prove so vital to our civilization, should have remained dormant and unregarded until the seventeenth century is a mystery. Maybe it was because Man got along well enough (and indeed there are some who feel be might still get along web enough) with the sailing ship, the windmill and 7vater-mill, the horse, the ox and the slave—using always those primary machines tate lever and the wheel. It was not until the miners, literally using bucket and spade, had dug their afetal nines to a depth where water flowed in and could not be checked, that an urgent and insistent demand arose for a power machine that would pump out this water with reasonable speed and efficiency and enable the mines to ]seep open, For the urines it was a natter of life and death. They were faced with closure, and many of there had to close, for the develop- ment of pumping machines barely kept pace with the need. For industrial Britain, indeed for all industrial civilization, it was a crisis and a turning point, There was at last plenty of incentive for men to turn their minds to the development of power. — By Harold Arnett WHEEL DRESSER A GRINDING WHEEL CAN BE TRUED WITH DISCARDED HACKSAW BLADE. SET THE TOOL ABOUT % IN. FROMWHEEL. LAY SAW BLADE FLAT ON REST AT'I5 DEGREE ANGLE TO WHEEL EDGE, FEED BLADE BACK AND FORTH. HACKSAW BLADE STUNT HACKSAW CAN BE USED IN PLACE WHERE THERE ISN'T ROOM FOR SAW FRAME BY HOLDING BLADE AS SWAN. The first practical steam pumping engine was patented by Thomas Savory in 1698, but it was unsatis- factory and little progress was made until,James \\'att brought his in- ventive genius to bear oil the problem. Watt was born in 1736. He was the son of a small and unsuccessful merchant in Greenock. At the age of nineteen he was sent to Loudon, apprenticed to atm instrument maker, and became skilled in the use of tools. But living was so hard that at the end- of a year he was obliged to return home for his health's sake. He tried to establish himself as an instrument maker its Glasgow, but he had not served the full terns of apprenticeship and the City Guilds forbade hint to open shop. He was, in other words, a victim of the "closed shop" policy. The University, however, cause to his rescue and in 1757 Pc was established as its mathematical instrument maker. A model of a pumping engine formed part of the University's collection of scientific apparatus, and it came into Watt's hands for repair. While putting the model in order ire was impressed with its enorm- ous consumption of steam its rela- tion to the small amount of work achieved, and he set himself to dis- cover why this was and how to improve upon it. It was twelve months before be hit upon the idea that was to revolutionize steam engine design. I will give one of Watt's prin- ciples in his own words: "I intend in many cases to em- ploy the expansive force of steam to press on the pistons, or whatever may be used instead of thein, it the same manner in which the pressure of the atmosphere is now employed fn common fire -engines, Itt cases where cold water cannot be had in plenty, the engines may be wrought by this force of steam Sailin obi1e—Motorists near ..Amarillo were startled recently to see this landlocked "sail- boat" skimming down a high- way in the heart of the flat Panhandle district. Piloting the Strange, three -wheeled craft is its builder, Ray Landrum. The dry land yachtsman has no gasoline problem, but he may ruts out of wind. nine, by- dscharging the steam into the air after it Inas done its office." The daring notion that engines might be "wrought by this force of steam only." witlemt the aid of a condenser at all, are a measure of Watt's genius, boldly, yet calmly, taking what was then an unprece- dented lead into the future. Public Danger. Yet how remarkable it is that the man whose mind was capable of majestic strides into mechanical in- vention should at the same time have altogether refused to coun- tenance the idea of increasing the steam pressure in the boiler—in other words, of using high pressure steam, on which the successful use of the "expansive force" so largely depends. In this mans- engines 'steam pres- sure was little more than the pres- sure of the atmosphere. And he even went as far as to try- to sponsor an Act of Parliament forbidding the use of high-pressure steam on the grounds that it would be a public danger. How far this was genuinely prompted by humane fears, and !tow• far by the fact that a rival engineer, Trevithick, had successfully used pressures of 120 lb, per square inch is a natter for speculation. The Last Invention. It is also recorded of Watt that when the idea of a steam locomotive to von on rails was put to him, he refused to have anything to do with it. But this and the ques- tion of high steam pressure are the only discernible blind spots in a mind that, on the level of mech- anics, was of almost incredible fer- tility. The last of his innumerable inventions was a cutting machine for making accurate copies, either in reduced scale or facsimile, of pieces of sculpture. Not long before his death he presented copies of busts to his friends, describing them as the work "of a young artist just entering on his eighty-third year." Tit For Tat Mr. Goldberg, returning from Europe, was assigned to a table for two. Here he was presently joined by a polite Frenchman who, before sitting down, bowed, smiled, and said, "Bon appetit." Not to be outdone, Mr. Goldberg rose, bowed, and said, "Goldberg." This little ceremony was re- peated at each ureal. On the fourth day, Mr. Goldberg conffided his complexity to a ratan in the smok- ing lounge: "It was like this, you see. The Frenchman tells me his name—Bon Appetit—and I tell hint my name --Goldberg, So we are introduced. But why keep it up day after day?" "Olt—but you don't understand, Mr. Goldberg," replied the other. "Bou appctit means, 'I Pope you have a pleasant Meal.'" "Thanks," said Goldberg. That night Mr. Goldberg arrived late for dinner, bowed formally, and said, "Bon appetit." And the Frenchman rose, ntu'- mured, "Goldberg." Useful Animal "'.Tire pig, children, is a most use- ful animal," said the teacher. "We use its head, for brawn, its legs for !tam, its bristles for brushes. Now, what else do we use front the pig?" "Please,. miss,", said one small child, "we. use its name wIten we want to be rade." Palmistry Was His Religion Some years ago, a good -locking wan with deep-set eyes and wavy hair lucked out of the window of Itis apartment in Nest' York and smiled wryly. Standing two deep along the pavement in a queue that stretched out of sight were hun- dreds of people, all waiting to see him. Why? Because a Sunday news- paper had printed his accurate Kas- tirika of someone he had neither met nor seen. Kastirika is the Iiraltatin science of palmistry and the titan was County Louis Hamon, (mown to the world as Cheiro. To Cliciro, palmistry was his life's work and his religion. He firmly believed that God had given than power to foretell the future for his own good. I -Ie based this belief on the words in the 37th Chapter of Job: "He sealctit up the hands of every man, that all men may know his work," At the age of 11, Cheiro knew more about the science of palmistry than adult practitioners, and was farted locally for correct prophecy. L'ut before he was 21 he had started a world search for more knowledge. Years Of Study He was given free access to the great Vatican library, and having exhausted this, pored Over the lore of Ancient Egypt, Finally, he went to India and studied with a little- known and exclusive Brahmin sect. BROCK-8 ON 9-12 EMS— The incident in New York hap- pened when he was world famous. The editor of a Sunday newspaper had sent him the prints of several hands and asked hint to read them. Cheiro refused to publish one of them until he had an assurance that the owner had given consent. Then he said that it was the hand of a successful murderer who had, however, become careless. He would be condemned to death, but would not be executed. It was, 111 fact, the hand of a doctor who had made a business of murdering people for their insur- ance money. At the same time he was awaiting execution, but later this was changed to penal servitude for life. One of Isis first hand -reading suc- cesses was accidental. Cheiro was sitting in a railway compartment reading a book on palmistry when the man opposite him began to dis- cuss the subject and eventually held out his hand to be read. Cheiro told hint he was a success- ful man, but that one day his suc- cess would turn to complete failure. The man laughed and asked the cause of his final failure. "A wom- an," replied Chairo, and the than laughed louder still, Doctor Or Lawyer? "You arc right in everything you have said, except the woman," he replied, "There has been none in my life, nor will there be." He passed over his Visiting card. I9e was Parnell, the Irish Nation- alist leader, but at that time he had not met Kitty O'Shea; for love of whom he became a political out- cast. More than one attempt was made to discredit Cheiro. A certain lady once invited him to her house to entertain her guests with hand - reading. Cheiro went, and read everyone's hand. One guest was is 11110i t1110tt1 everyone had called "Doctor." The reading was so accurate that the man admitted that he came with the intention :of catching hint out, but that Ciheiro's remarks had been amazingly accurate. Cheiro smiled and added: "One last thing, sir. You are wasted as a doctor. '!'here is only out: pro- fession for you, and that is a crim- inal lawyer," Only thea did tate tont admit that everyone had. been printed to call hien "doctor" as part of the trick. He was, in fact. a famous criminal lawyer. The King's Illness From then on, Cheiro was list- ened to with respect and awe; and even Royalty patronized him.. One day, Queen \letrandra, who knew that he lead once read the King's hand, asked hitt if the King, who had appendicitis, would die of his illness. Cheiro replied .. that the King would not die until he was 69. After that, King Edward referred to hien as the man "who condemns me to death at 69." Net Cheiro ryas right, for King Edward did die at that age. SMART ANIMAL "Titne after tithe," said the big - game hunter, "the lion sprang at me, and time after tixne as he leapt I threw thyself forward and he went harmlessly over my head. Eventually the animal gave up the attempt to fell me and trotted off into the jungle. The following day I came to a cliff overlooking the sea, and there on the beach I saw that same lion. I stood transfixed at its antics." "Good Heavens!" put in one of his listeners. "Wat was he doing?" "What was be doing?" said the hunter dramatically. "That lion was practising shorter jumps!" The Little Foxes — Georgia Sarris, 10, has her hands full with three baby foxes for pets, Georgia's mother captured the month-old animals when she shot a vixen suspected of kill- ing chickens in the neighbor- hood. Mrs. Sarris tracked the wounded fox to her den, where she found the three furry pups at play. "Canine Cop' Goes Through Paces—A real police dog, "Rajah" demonstrates his precision training by jumping over the back of Police Constable William Robert during a show at the Intber Court Police Training Centre in Thames J.)itton, Surrey, Eng- land The dogs at this Centre are trained to assist in appre- hending crintinais. JITTER .CBA HAVMMG A BRIDGE PARTY, Alio CAN'!- HUN'T UP ANY OLD Ct.OTN6s FOR YOU TODAY. .,.COME BACK TOMORROW. So...sHP CHANGED HER MINDENI JUST' AMINUTe, PLL tVe. YOUTHS' MONEY." By Arthur Pointer BUT THOSE AR6N'D 01 o CLOTH6s. THEY'RE MY elfssra' COAT'S ANDTHIs !SINESANIE AMOUNT YOU GAVE. JIrrER. SORRY,LADY- THE macs WENT UP SINCO THEN.,. BUSINESS 15 BUSINESS.!