HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1951-1-17, Page 3The Good
Old Gays
ily Ono Freeman Lathrop
The old teltows sat on the C011-.
trete wall that bordered the court-
house lawn. The sun broiled`down
warns and golden, but the autumn
Sir was cool. The one in the clean
striped shirt and blue serge hitched
his suspenders higher.
"'Times ain't what they used to
be when 1 was young," he asserted
to the mean next hits. "Prices 'way
out o' sight, alt sorts of machinery
to do the farm work, young folks
kitin' around in cars—why, when
I was a young buck you took your
best girl for a buggy ride behind
a pair of fast bays, or you went to
Funlee Grove or the Mackinaw
for a day's picnic and it didn't cost
you a. cent. Nowadays my grand-
son wouldn't start out on a date
without five or ten dollars in Itis
pocket:" IIe looked ftp the street.
"Yep," the other one agreed, tilt-
ing isis straw sailor back and tuck-
ing his blue shirt into his shiny
grey striped trousers. "Things move
too fast for me. We don't get
through one war till were starting
another one, and them politicians
down in Washington are running
the country to the dogs. Now when
McKinley was in—"
A girl switched by in white shorts
and a striped jersey. His sentence
hung in mid-air, forgotten. The
endless procession of cars whizzed
around the square, their tires size
zling on the hot asphalt. The city
busses lined up in front of the drug
store.
They shook their heads sadly.
The first one kept peering out
Washington Street toward the
depot. "Yeah, this is a crazy agel
You see new houses springing up
over night out in the new additions.
Look like Freight cars sprawled
all over the tots ---no upstairs, no
cellars•'! Fancy gadgets in the
kitchens. -Give iue The old days and
not such a fast pace!"
The other one queried, "What's
your name and where do you hail
frosts?"
"Well now, that's a long story."
He shifted to the other hip as if to
tell it, then grinned. "But nobody's
interested its it nowadays, so I
never tell it. I'm Clem Mason.
Lived here all my life, and hope
to die here, I've watched this
town grow from a cross-roads, and
hardly been across the state line,
And you?"
The other fellow's eyes narrowed
as if he were seeing faraway
places, "Name's Jed Whitcomb.
Travelled a bit in my day. Went
to Chicago once. Lived out in the
country till my wife died last year.
I like the town, but nothin' 'seems
as good as it used to be. Tao nmch
bustle and rush,"
'There was a long silence while
they watched a cab maneuver in
and ,out of traffic. A woman driver
and the usual delivery trucks were
double-parking and gumming up the
works, Horns blasted and women
scurried across the crossing.
"Yep," Cleni, answered, his eyes
still squinting up the street watch-
ing for something, "give me the
good old days, A fellow could
saunter down to the harness shop
or the livery stable to chin a bit
and not be in danger of his life,
Nowadays I just sit here and don't
try to navigate very far. Hate to
even ride around with my grand-
son in the car. Too Bang danger-
ous!" He eyed the corner anxiously.
"You're right," Jed answered,
"Nothiu' much to do, either. No
more cltatauquas or medicine shows,
No camp meetin's.
A swank blue convertible drew
up to the curb, A sporty young
fellow leaned out and called to
Clens. "Fli, Granites, I've been out
to the airport and the station. I
got your plane reservations and
your pullman tickets. Everything
is all set,"
'Cleat got uphastily. Ile looked
at Jed apologetically, "My son int
Washington, D.C. has sent for me
to come down and sec the sights,
Iic's paying alt my expenses at
I'd never go. Can we drop you off
any place?"
Jed rose too. "Nope. I've got my
scooter -bike parked around the
corner and I'll just put -putt hack
to my daughter's. There s a good
television program comes'ott pretty
.eon that I never miss."
They Believe The Earth Hat
flow round is the world? Four
young scientists have gone to the
wilds of the ()whacks of Aastralia
to check up on it, using highly sen-
sitive equipment loaned by Cam-
bridge University.
Check stations are being set tip
at intervals of 300 to 500 utiles, and
among the equipment used are pen-
dulums accurate to one ten -mil-
lionth of a second. They are tuned
regularly to the 11,S, Standards
bureau time signals broadcast froth
Washington.
So sensitive is the apparatus that
a single spot of rust on a pendulum
would nullify the calculations,
The, information gained will call
for study that will take two years
to complete.
But one thing is certain now;
whatever the scientists' conclusions
may be, the "flat-earthites" will be
just as unimpressed as ever.
Persistent Race
It seems incredible that in the
twentieth century there are still
people who believe the earth is fiat.
The fact is there are plenty of them
writes E. R. Yarham in "Answers."
Tile Personal Column in "Che
Times" of August 14th, 1945, car-
ried this announcement: "Earth is
Flat, believers please write (names
not divulged).—Write--"
These people called themselves
"Zetetics," a word which means
"proceeding by inquiry,". which is
just the very thing their opponents,
the "round-earthers," say they are
not doing. But that doesn't alter
the fact that they are convinced
they are right.
William Carpenter, of Baltimore,
U.S.A., wrote a book entitled "One
Hundred Proofs that the World is
Not a Globe." It has gone into at
least a dozen editions, and has a
map of the world which professes
to prove that the earth is a plane,
with the land stretched out above
the waters.
Many of its proofs are ingenious
and interesting, and the whole com-
pilation is a wonderful example of
how the human mind can adapt it-
self to the demands of a precon-
ceived idea in spite of the findings
of science.
These flat-earthites are a curi-
ously persistent race. In the 'eighties
of last century a certain William
Hampden was their protagonist,
and Ise spent a fortune in the hope-
less cause.
By.1905, Lady Blount had taken
over the leadership. "If the people
of the Antipodes. do hang head
downwards, why don't they do it
when they come to London?" she
asked at a meeting in Exeter Hall.
"Newtons was an ignoramus, the
solar sytetn a romance, and gravi-
tation a delusion," was one of Iter
epigrams.
The Zetetics had a "Glory Song"
called "Gravitation," which began:
The gravity theory,
When started, was 'clearly
A fancy which Newton had,
"ruts."
imagine the notion --
The world, mostly ocean,
Once a cinder shot out front
the sun!
Mast of us, no doubt, believe the
world is round—but it's not so
easy to prove! Shaw once attended
a meeting at which the chief
speaker was a man who had de-
voted his life to proving that the
earth was flat.
Sputtering Fury
"Opposition," said G,B.S., "such
as no atheist could have provoked"
assailed hint; and he, having heard
their arguments hundreds of times,
played skittles with them, lashing
the meeting into a sputtering fury
as he answered easily what is con-
sidered unanswerable.
One questioner, full of wrath,
rose up and asked: "Can you deny
that if you start from Liverpool
and keep travelling due West or
East you will find yourself in
Liverpool again?"
"Of course you do," said the lec-
turer; and, according to Shaw, he
demonstrated what happens, Iv
tracing a circle on the flat top of
the table with his finger.
Out of the round-earthcrs then
produced his trump card. "Its an
eclipse," he said, "the shadow of
the eclipsing body is round: Ilow
do you account for that?'
"So is the shadow of a griddle,"
was the bland reply, "which is the
flattest thing on earth"
Shaw tells us that Ise himself
finally joined in the debate, to de-
clare that the lecturer had answer-
ed and silenced all his oppouesats,
"who had only picked up and par -
rated a string of statements they
bad never thought out or verified."
Ile added, however,. that, "having
followed the lecturer's arvmnent
cls. sly," he "thought it led to the
eoacht:ion that the earth ie shaped
like a cylinder,"
"Oblate Spheroid"
Typically Shavian, of course, and
many angry letters reached hint as
a result of this blasphemy against
scientific orthodoxy. This widely
held scientific theory is, to use the
technical term, that the earth is an
"oblate spheroid," This means that
it is not a perfect sphere, but flat-
tened at the poles. The view of
primitive Mau was that the earth
was a Nat plane, or a circular disc.
The profound minds of. the
Greeks began to penetrate the
mystery and with Newton and the
highly accurate apparatus now
available to observers, the theory
. has been proved to most people's
satisfaction.
Strange Cargoes
Animal Stowaways
There are plenty of stowaways
in the animal world. This is evident
from the large number that conte
to light at various docks; most
of them taken from consignments
of fruit 01grain newly arrived from
some tropical country.
One of the most frequent stow-
aways is the bird -eating spider of
South America, which usually
chooses to travel among fruit sent
front that country; but there are
also records of lizards, beetles,
mice, tree -frogs, and even quite
large snakes coming in similar
fashion.
One of the toughest was a lizard
which went over from Africa, hid-
den away among some bales of
esparto grass (used in the making
of paper).
On arrival in England the grass
went to a big paper mill up in the
north, where it retrained untouched
for about three months. When at
length the bales were opened, out
scuttled the lizard, in as good a
condition, apparently, as he had
been when he quitted his African
shores several months previously!
There was, also, the little Moor-
ish gecko or lizard which went,
over recently from the same part
of the world.
In this case a cargo -boat had
arrived at the London Docks with
a freight of bosses. As there were
Many rats on board, professiossal
rat-catchers were called in, and
while working downs in a hold they
saw the gecko. They caught it and
later sent it to the London Zoo.
The Zoo authorities were surpris-
ed at the excellent condition of this
stowaway. He was so fat and well-
fed that it was some time before
he could be persuaded to take a
meal.
But the secret of his condition
was not so very hard to guess. The
bone cargo had attracted thousands
of flies, and the gecko had doubt-
less done himself very well on
these.
Snakes can go for long periods
on very little food, and, as "stow-
aways" among bananas, occasion-
ally undergo lengthy fasts.
Most of these reptiles only come
to light when the fruit is being
crit up in warehouses before being
sent out to the retailers, as was
the case not long ago when a boa -
13Y •
HAROLD
ARNETT
BOBBY PIN TRICK TO MAKE SURE
A LOOSE -FITTING. SERVICE OR LODGE LAPEL BUTTON
DOES NOT DROP OFF, SECURE IT IN THE BUTTON HOLE
WITH A BOBBY PIN,
New Hospital Opens Doors To Children --Thanks to the generosity of thousands of Canadians
the new FIospital for Sick Children in Toronto wsts opened officially January 15. Leading
officials of Federal, Provincial and \Iunicipal governments, which gave substantial grants
towards constructing and equipping the 632 -bed, ultra modern, child treatment•and research
centre, participated in the official opening along with several children, symbolic of thousands
who have been returned to health thr(tir;h the services of the 75 -year-old hospital.
constrictor turned up unexpectedly
in a Glasgow warehouse.
One "stowaway" from the West
Indies, however, a green tree r'per
(emphatically not the type oae
would wish to keep as a pet) had a
much longer run for its money. It
was not discovered until the fruit
in which it lay was placed le a
cellar beneath a fruit dealers shop.
When found, and identified by a
local naturalist, its fate was seal(rl;
it was killed on the spot, despite
the appeals of the storekeeper's
little daughter that she midst "play
with it."
Few stowaways have much mone-
tary value, but once a small insect
called an opal tortoise beetle arrived
among fruit from the \Vest Indies.
Shaped somewhat like a tortoise, it
was no bigger than a halfpenny, but
'it looked like a living gem, so dazz-
ling were its colours.
It was soon sold to the Goo,
where for a time it was displayed
in an illuminated glass cylinder
which showed off its beauty to
perfection.
Another stowaway uhirh had
some intrinsic value turned up not
long ago at Soethliansptnn Docks.
This was a tiny piebald mouse,
called a Sumichrast's night mouse,
because the species rarely moves
abort by day.
This one did, However. .\s ',eon
as he knew he was spotted lie fled.
But the unpackers were qts cker
than he was, and soon hail him
safely "in custody."
Hunt Organi.ed
A tropical spider found not long
ago at London Dock; was sent
to the Zoo together with a bundle
of tiny eggs which it was carrying
between its forelegs.
Because she was plainly about to
become a mother, this new arrival
was kept under observation at the
insect house laboratory. She batch-
ed her brood soon afterwards.
And what a job that gave the
curator! As soon as the baby spiders
were on their legs they began run-
ning all over the place. Several got
• out of the house, and a hunt had
to be organised to round them up.
One of the largest animal stow-
aways was a Diana monkey, and
the odd thing about this animal
was that it had gone to England
as the Itct of a human stowaway.
Its owner, a Spanish sailor, was
found, with his monkey, wilco the
vessel berthed, and both were taken
in. chtarge. Unfortunately that was
where the sailor and his pet had to
part company, temporarily. Police
took the man off to jail and de-
posited his monkey at the Zoo.
Back to Front: Russell Wright
(46) has walked backwards from
Macclesfield to Buxton, 12 miles in
3 hrs. 14 mins„ breaking a 1902
record by 60 secs,
Dao kness Descended
1. rd Earth Trembled
About 3,500 years ago the whole
world reeled under a catastrophe
that appalled mankind. rite surface
of the earth trembled, tempests
raged. darkness descended when
there should have been daylight, and
a mysterious redash covered the
ground. The air became hot and
stifling. Disease decimated the
population.
The facts have been handed
down by ancient historians who
were living in different harts of
the world at the time of this strange
happening.
The 1)IQ Testament particularly
goes into graphic detail, stating in
the bunk of liaadns that "the
river ,tank," that "anuli dust" fell
lila' "ashes of the furnace."
Trees were destroyed, rr,•ps
reined, and "the dust of the land
lit -came lice throughout all the land
of E•ypt."
in the Manic and ronfttsion one
of the greatest mysteries of re-
eori ed history occurred.
The l :raid ites, persecuteel beyond
etschirmice by the Pharaohs, fled
from Egypt aml rachcsl the shores
of the Red Sen.
Rain of Dust
The lBible relates how its w�aters
utirac'nhasly opened before 'them
so that they could cross on the
sea bed to the other :side.
When they had done so the
w,sttr. closed again, engulfing a
host of purstsing Egyptians.
Modern science has just putt for-
stard an amazing theory to explain
these strange events which have
punched mankind for centuttes.
The catastrophe described in the
Bible and elsewhere is thought to
have been caused by a giant comet,
thrown off by the planet Jupiter,
coming close to the earth and en-
veloping our planet with its gase-
Gus tail.
Scientists say that this would
cause a rain of fine red dust to
fall. on the earth, explaining the
Biblical statement (Ixothus 7:20)
that "All the waters that were in
tlse river were turned to blood,"
and that there fell "a very grievous
hail, such as lath not been in
Egypt since the foundations,"
(Exodus 9:13),
The Egyptian historian, 1puwer,
confirms this with the wards, Ise
wrote on papyrus; "The river is
bloo. Plague is throughout the
land, )flood is everywhere."
The plague was caused by a
phenomenal increase in the num-
bers of disease -carrying insects clue
to the sudden rise in temperature
resulting, front the hot gases of
the comet enveloping the earth.
The Bible says: "And there carte
a grievous swarm of Hies." Dark-
ness descended over all Ilse earth
and "locusts caste, and caterpillars,
and .. , did eat up all the herbs."
Ancient Persian manuscripts des-
cribe the trembling of the earth
caused by the warring in the hea-
vens of celestial bodies, and add
that "noxious creatures were dif-
fused over the earth, biting and
venomous, not leaving so ranch as
the pin or a needle free of then."
But how does (ciente explain the
divii,ing of the waters of the Red
Sea?
Oceans Lifted
Ily referring to the terrific gravi-
tational pull a comet the size of
the earth would have when it came
into close proximity with our world.,
It must have -lifted the oceans
mountains high, for even a small
satellite like the moon is capable
of lifting the oceans and causing
what we laixtw as tides.
'rise sudden closing of the waters
on the pursuing Egyptians could
have been caused by tremendous
electrical discharges taking place
from the comet to the earth at
their nearest point of approach.
Siien(isss -ay this would result
in a sadden weakening of gravita-
tional attraction, and the suspended
waters would rush back to their
original positions.
More Trouble: Mrs. l.otte Briggs,
of Los Angeles, has been granted
a divorce because her husband'
spent his nights with an addinsg-
utachiee working out his income
tax.
lig Conference Of
Canadian Jewry
Samuel Broufntan, national pre-
sident of the Canadian Jewish Con-
gress,, has called a national con-
ference of Canadians Jewry for
January 21 and 22, at the Mount,
Royal hotel in Montreal to deal
with the emergency situation con-
fronting Israel arising out of its
vast immigration • and resettlement
programme, Associated with the
Canadian Jewish Congress its spon-
soring this conference are the Zion-
ist organisations in Canada, the
Canadian Committee of Welfare
Funds and the Canadian Lodges
of the Bnai Brith, The distinguish.
ed Israeli diplomat, Aubrey Ebau,
and Robert Nathan, Jewish Agency
econentist, will be the guests of the
National Conference for Israel.
The conference is being convened
for the purpose of calling upon
every Jewish community in Canada
to collect quickly outstanding
pledges, to intensify support for
campaigns and to set early dates
for the 1951 campaign. The spon-
sors r,f the national conference point
to Israel's need for private capital
investment. government aid to
Israel and the proceeds of voluntary
campaigns on a larger scale than
heretofore. The conference will
decide on the goal for 1931 United
Israel Appeal and the setting up
of machinery to implement the re-
solutions adopted.
The urgency of this conference
was emphasized at a meeting of
the Canadian delegates to the re-
cent Washington Conference on
Israel Reconstruction. The Zionist
organizations of Canada requested
the Canadian Jewish Congress to
convene such a conference. After
the Congress executive voted to
take the leadership on this ques-
tion the Canadian Committee of
Welfare Funds was invited to act
as co-sponsors. Plans for the Janu-
ary conference were formulated
after the national sneeting of the t
vrelfare funds in Washington at the
beginning of December.
When Real Lions
Roamed Britain
Zoologists have discovered that
the British lion, symbol of the
might of the British Common-
weath and Empire, is no myth, as
is commonly supposed, but has a
foundation in fact. Lions' teeth and
bones have been found in the Men-
dip Hills, and remains of lions of
every age are now reposing in some
museums.
It is thought that the lion once
existed there in great numbers.
Fourteen caves and sixteen river
deposits in England have yielded
lions' bones.
The lion began to multiply in
Britain after the last Ice Age and
remained plentiful down to the time
when the first hunters with their
flint weapons began to pit their
superior skill against hien.
The climate was probably much
the same as it is now, and the coun-
try was covered with dense woods
in which an abundance of small
game dwelt.
The lion vanished by retreating
southwards, harried by the spears
of the hunters of ancient Britain,
and only finally disappeared from
the south-east corner of Europe
since the beginning of the present
historical era dating from the birth
of Christ.
There'll Always Be An Ad -Man Charles Schuling is doing
Isis bit to persuade I)es Moines citizens to build their own
private bomb shelters, Schuling points to an advertising slogan
painted on the bumper of Isis track. 1'. S. He's head of a firm
that rents out excavating equipment.
JITTER
3'M GOING OVER TO HARRIaTE WatLS
YOU ENTERTAIN YOUR STAMP CLUE
By Arthur Pointer
WNO OPENED
THAT WINDOW?
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