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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1951-1-24, Page 3Lillie Bey Next [doer TIIHARN f ONT By Papinta J. Knowles N 1 people were moving in the old house -across the fence, and Molly c. enc about her sewing near the window complacent with the certainty that the couple with the ten -year-old boy with whom she'd talked just the other day were not the folks moving in today. Molly Turner had never liked children,- and through all these twenty --live years she had been for- tunate that none had moved next door. Site felt in a way that telling prospective tenants with children the bad features about the old house had spared her an association she couldn't have endured, 'There had- n't been anything wrong in speak- ing the truth. Molly put her sewing on a table, got up feon her chair with diffi- culty and hobbled over to the coal stove to shake it down and put in a scuttle of coal. She had told the woman the truth about. the house being drafty and needing repair, and about Frank Overton being so tight he'd never do anything about it. She straightened and turned to- ward the window, and that Was wlteu she saw him: Ronnie, the ten -year-old boy belonging to the woman she'd talked to the other day. He was standing against the fence looking toward her house. Planning up his conquests of devil- try, she thought, and she groaned in sick disappointment. She hobbled back to her chair. So they had taken the house after alll Well -someway she had to keep the brat out of her yard. There were her flowers in the spring and stnner, He'd ,funtnlage in her sheds and break up' things. She glanced out of the window and saw Ronnie climbing the fence. She pulled herself out of the chair and waddled hastily to the door, "Here, here," she called to the child. "Get back in your own yard." Ronnie looked at her a second then climbed back over the fence. Molly thought she had Ronnie settled, but the next afternoon when she went out to the shed for a bucket of coal he c:ante to the door, "I'll get your coal in," he said, Molly wouldn't look at him. "I don't need you to get my coal in," she said. "Get back inou y r own yard. Go on, now!" It was the way Molly looked that caused the kid to scamper down the wa1kli ni a c climb over the fence as if she had actually shot at his feet. - The unpleasant incident didn't keep Ronnie away. Every day Molly had to chase him out of her yard. Every day she vowed she'd skin hint alive. What kind of mother dict Ronnie have that she allowed him to pester a crippled old woman like herl But one night a blizzard came, • and the town of, Hanover was covered with ice. Molly just had one bucket of coal by her stove, and she dared not venture out on the ice to get more. She used the coal sparingly, and when she got down to the last shovelful, a lost, des- perate kind of feeling went over her, What would she do? Late that afternoon a knock sounded on her door, and when she epened it, Ronnie smiled up at her uncertainly. • - "I'Il get your coal in, Miss Tur- ner," he said. "It's slick, 'n • you might fall,.." . Molly couldn't speak for a moment. She felt almost Bumble with shame and gratitute than he he had come, ,''Well, I -well, that would be sweet of yon," she said finally, and for the first time in all these twenty-five years of not want- ing'children next door, she saw the injustice of her. prejudice toward them. What queer quirk in her mind had blinded her to the Itappi- ncss a child could bring her? Maybe it was because she had never looked at out -not as site was looking now at Ronnie and seeing the clear innocence of his eyes, A stuile broke across her old Mee, "Thank you, Ronnie," she said. Strange, how good silo felt say- ing it. The feeling was beautiful. one that site had waited much too long to exirerietice, "We are proud of our dairy cattle here in Canada," the speaker said, and those attending the meet- ing of the Eastern Branch of the Agricultural Institute of Canada probably thought they were in for one of those back-slapping, "civet, - thing -is -rosy" sort of speeches. They were soon disillusioned. * * * "But," the gentleman went on, "the average production in Ontario is disgracefully low. Holland carries more dairy cattle with an average production of 8,000 pounds of milk and 340 pounds of butter -fat per cow per year. New Zealand milks more cows with an average annual production of 6,000 pounds of milk and 330 pounds of butter -fat, On- tario has an average production of 4,500 pounds of milk and only 150 pounds of butter -fat per cow per annum," k .k , .k That speaker is a ratan who should know what he is talking about, i --1e is Dr. E. S. Archibald; and he made those statements on the oc- casion of itis 'retirement as director of the Experimental Farnt Services at Ottawa, * * * While Dr. Archibald's remarks were pointed at one province they could well refer to the rest of the Canadian provinces Which, in fact, have lower milk and butter -fat pro- duction averages than Ontario. The agricultural scientist's state- ment surely indicates that Canadian dairymen should put more effort into increasing the production of their herds. How it could be done is told by Dr. Archibald himself: "With increased dairying, the trend is and should be an intensive grass- land agriculture. This nteaus greater soil conservation, more . intensive use of our soils, better crop selec- tion, contour culture where neces- sary and greater use- of fertilizers. A properly planned agriculture in- volving these factors calls for great- er co-operative activities amongst those engaged in farming, educa- tion, production, storage and mar- keting . . • * ,k * VVltile aur herds may never reach the average level of production of those in Holland, it would indeed be a triumph on the part of Cana- dian dairymen if they came any- where near it. * * * If they can only devise sonic sort of machine that will lay the eggs, practically the entire operation of tafsing chickens will be done me chanically, and a really modern poultry plant will have as many gadgets, push buttons as•the instru- - ment panel of a big super -bomber. k * Latest development along this line is using infra -red lamps -the same kind they have to bake the .enamel on newly -painted keep the chicks warm and cosy. In tests conducted down in Delaware baby chicks were placed in a re- frigerated room 12 degrees below .zero Fahrenheit. With infra -red lamps as the only. aouce of heat, it ' was found that the chicks thrived under the- heat lamps even at this low temperature. * 'k * As a result of these tests, a Iarge poultry faun installed an infra -red heating system in its new 20,000 chicken broiler house 'using 228 lamps placed 19 inches above the floor. As the chicks grew and re- quired less heat the lamps were raised. The heat output is regulated by a thermostat. The now method eliminates tiring and stoking of stoves, excludes the danger of fire and provides a con- stant heat. The chicks also do not crowd and injure -each other since they do not have to huddle for warmth. • e * :k And if you are one of those who think we should have more Govern- ment controls than already exist, it might be north your while to read what an English egg producer -Peter Lyne by pante-has to say about it. 11 ere it is, as reported in The Christian Science Monitor. i * * The sad ti.ings that are happen- ing to the Englishman's breakfast egg are only a part of the perplex- ing situation facing the British farming industry at the beginning of this new year 1951. ..To take the egg problem first - the fact is, that roughly speaking', there are only enough eggs in shops these days for about one egg per week per person. And those 50,000,- 000 eggs a week are none too fresh: Some housewives refuse to serve a boiled egg unless they can obtain them off the ration from a country friend. But the trouble is that coun- try friends are increasingly tight- fisted with their eggs. * It has happened this way. Under the "fair shares for all system," the government has worked out an - ingenious and complicated plan to siphon eggs from the producers to the official government buying agencies with as little leakake as possible, An elaborate and inevitably costly piece of bureaucratic machinery has been built up which provides smoot•"., going for the producer, but has almost eliminated really fresh eggs. * * To show how it works I will give my own experience as a small- scale egg producer. Last year we sold 12,700 eggs to' the government packing station and had no .parti- cular wish from a business point of view to sell them to,anyone else. The government sends round its own collection truck every Tuesday. It provides the boxes to pack the eggs in. All we have to do is to fill up the boxes and receive the ' check for the collection of the week before. * .k What is more, the government buyer has been paying us five s''il- lings a dozen and selling them in shops at four shillings a dozen. The difference is paid for out of food. subsidies. But the government's hand goes deeper still into our egg produc- tion. Our chicken -feed rations, which are strictly controlled, are calculated from the egg production figures which the government keeps as a result of the eggs we sell to it. It is all so easy, The govern- ment is, in fact, doing a good deal of our account' keeping for us. We are anxious to send as many eggs as possible to the state packing station. :k :k * If someone asks can we let them have some eggs, we are apt to stand on one leg and say hesitat- ingly, "Well, yes, but we 7 •ave to charge you a shilling more than you would pay inthe shops. We can't do it very often, because if we do it will upset our business with the packing station and we shan't get so much reed." . Then just to show how hard it all is we remind our visitors that CROSSWORD PUZZLE f. Behalf • 0. Pertaining to the back 7. Female sheep 8, .Direction 9, Pertaining to bees 10. Knot again ACROSS 69. Stair 11. lenglish river 1. Sacred Images 67. I•Iontired 17. Beseeches 4, Morning DOWN 1S. AApreacbed moisture Y. Demon 21. Condensgd 9. Knack Z. Alevetor atmospheric 12. Feminine cardsg • G ol22, Gonee b by re .2, Be indebted 8. ddined ursc i•ttt• 24, Tattered Y4 By lsoo27. Grown boys 16, hfisohieyoue 4. Baaeball teams 28, Period of light lt 18. Btrlcrief period or rear 18, Youthful years 20, String of carp 21, Platform 211, Organ of hearing 26. Self S ce. Stir 27. Disease 80, Marvel 81,'rreata with 80, I'o ao 57. Beverage 28, Informal lde 41. Peraish 42. City in Indiana 43. Natural food of bees 46. More peculiar 47, Takodo too much ro 49, Visitor for cedars Balt 0, Largo body et water 83. Annerlean hnmortst Ii. Agree mese take 80. Beep beak 32, Lighted b» stars as. A.Iways (poet) 24. Speak 10. Disturbed the peace 38. Selected 410. Flutter over 0. Close (poet,) 42, Web -rooted birds 44. Period o time 49. Hare of of 4 nig s . City in Rolland 6 . Color A MIN, 1111111111113 111111111 11111111111111 inti1111111111 ‘1111111111111. 111111111111111 ;•sf� iii''i:•�; n 1111116111111111111 1111 w..I11111111 ill111111 111111101 111111111.01 411111111111111 ®k • ..:111111. Answer Elsewhere On This Page • Snow Lift -Little Linda Jane Keene, age 3%; has her hands full trying to help shovel of some of the six-inch snow. The show's not • so tough, it's the shovel that's too heavy. Comes Prepared - Four-year- old Dennis Lenagen of Aus- tralia apaprently wasn't ,sold on the efficiency of American transportation, for when he arrived he insisted on keeping his bike at his side. He made the long trip here himself- not by bike but by plane -and will join his father in Trinidad. we ourselves mostly eat only crack- ed eggs or ones that might be re- jected tic the packing station. We let very special friends have eggs and make exceptions where we are appealed to in cases of emergency. But every now and then we feel very indignant over If is egg busi- ness. Without this super planning for fair shares it is true that some- body might be having two fresh eggs and somebody else eggs y no at all. .k 4 * But would there not always be that glorious opportunity for the no -egg man to get into the two - egg class? Is it really a satisfac- tory answer for everyone to have one stale egg? We, as producers, sell to the packing sstations. Bu' we are not g really happy about our perishable commodity losing its freshness in a three-week or month-long trek • through tf:e long channels of the bureaucratic machine. We . would like more people in 1951 to have not merely more eggs but more fresh eggs. WHAT TO DO WITH -OLD RAZOR BLADES What to do with old razor blades should be no.problent to gardeners. They ought to try 'burying them among the roots of their hydrangea plants. 'rite flowers of the hydrangea are naturally white and pink, but by treatment with oxide of iron (rust) blue flowers are produced, The razor blades provide the ox- ide of iron by rusting in the ground, and it is said that hydrangeas ab- sorb it and turn blue. Swedish architects consider the razor bladei pros em so important that int their latest blocks of flats bath -rooms have a"'disposal slot" in the wall. Used razor blades are pushed through and drop into the wall cavity where they eventually rust away. How Cats Get Their Vitamin D Cats don't lick their fur merely to keep clean, according to latest research., They do it to get their daily supply of Vitamin D, without which no animal can have perfect health, There are glands in the cat's skin which exude oil into the fur. 1eVhen exposed to the ultra -violet rays of the sun -present even on a dull day -the oil produces a sub- stance containing the vital Vitamin D which the eat absorbs with its tongue. Au unfounded belief is that a stolen cat snakes a first-class mouser, but animal psychologists say that any cat is capable of killing rats and mice. The hunting instinct is natural, but soft living and the comforts of civilization is ruining it. Instead of scouting round in darkened corners in search of ro- dents they prefer curling up in front of the fire and letting the manufac- turers of rat poison take over their chores. Naturalists who have examined the stomach and contents of dead cats have repeatedly found feathers and parts of birds. Hardly ever is there a sign of a cat having eaten a mouse. Most of the cat's bird -hunting is done at night and in the early morn- ing, when he can catch both the motherbird and the young ones at tate same time. Snapshot Saved Him From The Gallows Answering a knocking of the door of his flat in Rio, Ralph Brew- ster was confronted by a police inspector. T am afraid, Senor," said the inspector, "that 1 must arrest you for the murder of Senor Francisco • Delgardo." Brewster appeared stunned. "But I was a friend and business partner of Delgado. Why should I have wanted to murder him?" he protested. True. you were partners," ack- nowledged the other. "But isn't it also true that you quarrelled with Delgado the day before he died - and threatened him with violence?" "We did quarrel," Brewster ad- mitted, "but we became friends again. Otherwise would I have gone sailing with hint?' "But I put it to you," persisted the detective, "that you went sail- ing for the very purpose of striking hint with an oar when his back was turned -which would account for the fact that he was found with his head crushes! in." Brewster paled. "Let me explain," Ise said. "Although it sounds fan- tastic, Delgado asked me to hold the tiller while he climbed to the masthead to loosen a rope that itad jammed, While he was up there he lost his hold and fell to the deck head first•" - . "A likely tale," sneered the de- tective, "And perhaps you can also account for the missing oar . , . ?" Delgado was a Brazilian and popular in Rio. So the case made newspaper headlines and the whole thing seemed crystal clear. The Englishman had quarrelled with Delgado and had taken his revenge. I•Iot-blooded Latins understand how feelings boil up, and then -in a flash -murder is done. Brew•ster's ease looked hopeless. But, as a last resort, his defending counsel got into touch with the British Consulate General and ad- vised hint to advertise in all the local papers for anyone who could produce evidence of ilrewster's innoccnre. It also happened that on the af- ternoun when Delgado stet his death a young tourist on board an American liner entering Rio had stood at the rail taking snap- shots. He was a keen student of photography and tools great trouble to get some interesting life studies of the entrance to the har- bour, with its curving beach hacked by picturesque mountains. When, three days later, he called for his pictures at the chemist who was printing them, he found that one of a yacht had a slight blemish . on it, a black smudge spoiling the white spread of sail. It annoyed him. And he pointed it out to the chemist, who produced a power- ful magnifying glass to examine the imperfection. "You say you took these pic- tures three afternoons ago, from the American liner as it was entering Rio harbour?" The young ratan nodded in agree- ment. "I think the police might be in- terested in this print. Take a look through the glass and you'll see what I mean," the chemist contin- ued. Even the chemist's powerful glass could make out little more than a blurred shape against the sail. But that teas enough to send the tourist hurrying along to police headquarters with his precious print. With the aid of special magni- fiers an enlargement many times the size of the picture was made: and this revealed, without any shadow of doubt, a man's failing body. The enlargement enabled them to identify Delgado's ship, and as there was no sign of Brew- ster, it was obvious that he was, in fact, manning the tiller. This piece of evidence is regard- ed as the most remarkable coinci- dence in the history of crime. For had the tourist clicked his shutter either half a second earlier -or later -Brewster would have certain - 13, been executed for the murder of his friend! Will Inflat=ion Wreck Us? Further serious inflation will un- dermine Canada's morale and its entire defence program, Bruce Hut- chison writes in a recent issue of Meeleari s in an article, "Are We Heading fora 20 -Cent Dollar?" The sharp drop in buying power of the Canadian dollar in the past three years is revealed in an ac- companying ankle by Sidney Mar- golius: when controls were lifted in 1947 the dollar was worth 79 cents compared with its 1939 value; at the end of .1950 it had slumped to 58 cents. By inflation, Canada and other free countries can wreck them- selves, destroy their present econ- omic systems and lose the fight against Communism, says Httchi- g y Hutchi- son. "It can become our Achilles' heel and Stalin's secret weapon. He knows that but so far we don't." "We have denounced the Social- ists of Britain whenever they pro- posed osed a capital levy -but (with P Y inflation) we have enforced a fer- ocious levy of our own. We have selected as our victim the man who has saved his money, bought Vic- tory r-tory Bonds, prepared to keep him- self in old age instead of living on the public. "We have exempted from the capital levy the speculator who was smart enough to buy goods like real estate or the claim of goods ht the forin of common stocks The value of these things in money has risen as the value of money has fallen. "We have robbed the saver, the pensioner and the widow while the investor, the speculator and the or- ganized wage earner (who in the main kali kept wages abreast of living costs) have gone scot free." The Canadian government thus Inas committed an act for which an individual could be put in jail, says Hutchison, "and has committed it at our command." The Canadian government is de- termined to avoid total or partial price controls to curb inflation "hut the U.S. is slitheripg into them day by day -and 11.S. controls are Po- litically irresistible here. "unless this slide is soon arrested the American economy will be un- der wartime government controls within a year, Thus the greatest danger of all is that we shall repeal the free society of America for a temporary emergency when we face in fact perhaps decades of cold war; that, having established a totali- tarian economy in the name of dem- ocracy, we shall be unable to liquidate it in 10 or 2C years when everyone is geared to it." To escape this prospect and to check inflation now, Hutchison sug- gests the Canadian public support measures to: hold purchasing pow- er to the level of production; cut government spending on non -de- fence hems; drastically increase taxes; raise interest rates on loans to curb private spending; reduce consumer credit. As for whets happened to the . dollar itself„ Margolus points out that the average Canadian fancily is living better than it lived in 1939 but not as well as it lived in 1945 at the peak of the wartime boons. "If you parcelled the total income in 19.39 among every Canadian, each had $386. In 1945 the per capita income had zoomed to 8804 and in 1949 to 8948. But the 1945 average income would buy $671 worth of goods at 1939 prices and in 1949 it could .still buy $589 worth, That means the average Canadian has about ,50% more buying power than before the war and 12% less than in 1945." The average Canadian indus- trial worker earned $20.11 a week in 1939, 831.23 in 1945 and by mid - 1950 he was getting $43.50. -Ac- cording to the Dominion Bureau of Statistics, he's about 25% better off in real earnings than in 1939. But his present wages will buy him no more than $31.07 did in 1945. Canadians can expect to pay higher prices in 1951 for goods containing steel, wool, tin, rubber and most metals, says Margolius. And by spring stats, coats, shoes and some cotton items will cost mOre, .A cold i; like democracy -some- times the eyes have it and some- times the nose, Upsidedown to Prevent Peeking rmo o ❑❑• rm rano LIMGIO© .!UPI CIElliifa OGII3 a19C110.: 00©Fi ©isin ©ie n 0' :.1 ' ©n©n ri0 . ri0 ^r EW rntaalgil MCINC104 IDP/IgitiPtita 151P116101 INNGI 10/361 .1-1120Ei r it . Una at i®©LSD Lorelei In Lace On a seaside rock with ocean breezes ruffling her long tresses, Janet 'Winters poses as a Wintertime Lorelei in a brief, lacy SWitnsuit. She also gives a preview of the sort of thing that more northerly residents will see on their beaches next 5 tl ill tiler. By Arthur Pointer Ger OFF THAT OWING., I YVANT TO 1,55 ST/