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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1938-06-16, Page 7THURSDAY, 'JUNE 16, 1938 0tl.®n'1m..0i1®.._............„.ro•,-.,..amm... n ....,_--,.m,, 1 It, up1ic lr [ Monthly I I Statements 1 1 1 1 a 1 v you savemoney on Bill' and We can Charge Forms, standard sizes to fit ledgers, white or colors. It will pay you to see our samples, Also 'best quality Metal Hinged Sea• tional Post Binders and 'Index. The Seaforth News Phone 84 0+..y11......1111111111ma13 1.,•••• n�na�a0 THESTEEPLE JACK Ten ,o'cloc'k 'an a cloudless Septem- ber morning found !Duncan ,Crashaw, the steeple ij•ack, one hundred and seventy-five feet above the ground, gilding the copper eagle that 'crowned the flagstaff on the ,Metropolitan Ho - tee. The !building, 'whioh was eight stories' high, faced the principal square of the city. The fifty -foot spruce flag- staff, ,tapering ,from 'twelve inches in diameter at the base to scarcely half that size at the top, rose through the fiat ,graveled roof two yards from the front •edge. At the height ,of a man's head it was encircled by an iron col- lar, from which ran three'brace rods, one to the right, ,one to the ,left and one straight (back. The rods were fast- ened 'to the roof with lag screws. The wings of the hundred -pound metal eagle spread 'fifty-four incites from tip to tip; the (bird itself stood on a copper 'ball on the ,end of an iron rod that 'rose four feet above the top of the flagstaff. A !little below the 'ball was •a revolving arrow twenty-eight inches long and directly under the ar- his special train for a .fifty -mile run to row were two iron rods that 'crossed each other at right angles and that, projecting two feet from the centre, carried at their extreinitie•s 'bhe letters denoting the cardinal points of the compass. Below the rods and not far above the top of the (flagstaff was an- other 'bal•1. The day ibefore, Duncan had 'scrap- ed the old gilding off the eagle and with an alcohol 'torch had removed the flaked paint. Then he had given the bird a coat of red !lead. That morn- ing '!he had applied a quick sizing, and now he was rapidly putting on the gold !leaf from little books four inches square. As 'Dunoan worked he could look down into the square and into the street in front of the union railway station. On that particular morning thousands of people jammed those ar- eas, for a Presidential candidate was to spend an !hour in the city. !From a wooden stand in the square he would review a campaign parade and deliver a brief address. Then he would 'board T THE SEAFORTH NEWS the next city. ,He was due in five min- utes. Duncan,following his invariabee oustom, had carefully examined t'he flagstaff. Ile wished to make sure that it was strong enough, for on its sound- ness might depend his life. There was a flashing of metal round the staff where it entered the roof, and near it he noticed a rather 'large season crook that had 'been 'filled with putty. By tapping the wood, he could tell that there 'was decay inside; but there did not seem to be enough to make as- cending the pole ,dan'gerotes. Before beginning ,wot'k, however, Duncan had run three rope guys from the top of the staff to the ground. In the narrow alley at the rear •of the hotel 'there were no telephone poles, and one of 'the guys he had made fast round a !barrel of metal junk.'He had 'tied the knots !himself, As the deftly laid ole the 'gold leaf he occasionally glanced davinnward. From the square, which seemed paved with fiats, heads and shoulders, rose an expectant murmur. In the passage- way at the rear of.tlte Isotel a load o•f coal was being discharged from a big two -horse wagon that had come from the coal ,pockets' across the railway tracks. Dnncau could hear .shovels grating hurriedly and coal sliding clown the iron chute into the 'cellar of the hotel, Tile men were in haste to finish, Duncan thought, 'before the speech making !began. There was a long shrill ,whistle! The train was •coming. The crowd !below stirred and buzzed expectantly. Peo- ple near the station surged 'forward to see the "special" roll into the train shed. There was a wild hurrahing, a wav- ing of hats and of 'canes, and two brass (bands on the platform ,burst into music. He stopped spreading gold leaf and fixed his eyes on the en- trance 'bo 'bhe station. 'Presently a little group emerged, following a man Who carried this hat in his hand; The sun struck the small bald spot on his head. (Bowing right and left, the visitor allowed himself to be escorted to an automobile. The crowd pressed ,round him; more shouting and hurrahing rose. Then the parade 'began to 'form. One band took its place fn front of the automobile. ,Other automobiles and the second 'band took positions behind it. ,Policemen opened a lane through the crowd, and the line start- ed for the reviewing stand in the square. While each 'band tried to out - blare the 'other the ,procession moved up the closely packed street at the right of the hotel. There was tre- mendous enthusiasm. Duncan was standing on the ball 'below the crass rods with Isis waist in the right angle ibetweeu :the e`E" and the "N." The !flagstaff oscillated lightly in the wind; .but a rope, pass- ed sound the steeple jack's body end ied to the iron staff, left him free to use (both his hands. The first 'band emerged from •the side street and came into Duncan's view in the square, The shouting and Elie cheering redoubled. 'Everyone was looking toward the music; even the steeple jack, with his ,book of gold leaf in his hand, stopped wank and gazed 'downward. Suddenly there seemed to he an unusually 'violent gust, The flagstaff jerked back. Duncan expected it next to sway forward, but it kept on bend- ing, Why? His eyes sttddenly turned from the throng below to the ropes knotted round the top of the staff. What he saw :filled hitn with alarm. The guy that ran down over the edge of the roof and that was tied to the barrel of junk in the alley ' at 'bhe near was taut, and it was growing banter every second. Moreover, it was moving along the oornice. Who in else 'waled bad hold of it down there out of sight? Duncan for- got the bands and the vociferous crowd; he forgot the candidate; he had eyes and brain only for the'guy. What made it so taut? Harder and +tighter .pulled the rope, drawing the top of hie staff farther and farther out of plumb, Were it not for the rope round his ,waist, when the staff ,sprang (back Duncan would be 'flipped 'off into space ,like a stone from a catapult. But what if bhe staff did not spring ,back! What if it !broke! A shiver of dread passed through him as he remembered the season crack close to the 'flashing. That was the weak spot, He could feel the spruce s'tnaininig under him; some- thing would have to give way 'before long. While he still had 'time he must cut 'himself free and slide to the roof. Out carne his knife. Once, twice, he slashed at the waist rope, then sagged back 'hard; the trends 'flew apart, and his feet touched the top of the staff. At the same moment he Nit the staff shake; his eye -on the rear guy rope saw the strands that were rubbing the sharp cornice 'break, lUp snapped the rope, !back sprang the staff. Des- perately he ,hugged the rod to keep frotn 'being flipped off into space, and then— •Crack—crack-ckl The iflagetaff itself was Ibrea'king. Downward and outward it swung, at first slowly, then faster and faster. !Duncan had no chance to slide; he was atreacly out over the street. In- stinctively he clung to the staff; his legs twined round it and his Bands gripped the tip. As his head 'dropped his feet rose. At first he had been almost upright; then he was inclined forward, then flat- on his stomach on the horizontal spruce, then sliding headfirst down a rapidly increasing slope. Was he to dive headforemost a hundred feet? Unexpectedly the pole c.ante to a stop. So soddenly was its fall arrest- ed that Duncan was almost pitched into the crossed rods that indicated the compass points. Like a flash he pulled himself together. His mind held but one idea—to reaoh the roof as soon as he could. After a few sec- onds. of desperate scrambling, he lay on top of the staff, facing the hotel. A .glance upward showed Minoan that the 'flagstaff had snapped short off at the season crack. The lag screws of two of the brace rods had been wrenched out of the roof, and the rods themselves stuck up from the collar a few :feet from the nearer side of the broken butt and just be- yond the cornice over which the staff slanted. ,On the third rod, .which was ,till fastened to the roof by its screw, depended Duncan's life, The two other guys had slipped off the corners of the roof and hung useless to the ground. He could feel the staff sagging slightly. At any second the remaining screw night rip 'through the wood in which it was embedded. It behooved hint to make all speed ,for the cornice. The music :below ceased suddenly. The hurrahing died 'away, and the sil- ence of death settled over the 'square. Duncan was aware of a precipitate scattering of the people 'beneath him, of 'hundreds of white faces looking up. The attention of the crowd had shift- ed frons the candidate to himself. They had .come to hear a man spea'k;. instead, they saw .one climbing for his life. Could he "shin" forty feet before the screw pulled out? Up the taper- ing spruce be wiggled, spurred on by his dread of that impending 'drop. In response to ih1s every motion the flag- staff teetered sickenly and strained at the (brace. Duncan knew that each inch of ,advance helped to unseat the screw threads. When they ripped out the staff would fall ;quickly. Hugging the staff and sliding his hands along under it, he wotiked rap- idly •upward, careless of occasional splinters. Ie all his years as a steeple jack he had never ,been in deadlier peril. He suddenly because aware that the front of the Isotel was full of star- ing eyes; in every window there we're from 'two to 'five white, startled faces, The stick sagged. He felt a thrill of ASSIMMeraidfles What -could be more complete than a combina- tion offer that gives you a choice of your favourite magazines—Sends you your local newspaper— and gives yourself and family enjoyment and entertainment throughout the whole year — Why not take advantage of this remarkable offer that means a real saving in money to you? This Offer Fully Guaranteed— All Renewals Will Be Extended MAIL THIS COUPON TODAY Please clip list of desired. �ll out coupon carefully.azines after Publications Gentlemen: I enclose $ Please send me the three magazines checked with a year's subscription to your newspaper. NAME STREET OR RR TOWN AND PROVINCE SELECT ANY THREE OF THESE MAGAZINES ❑ Maclean's (24 Issues) 1 yr. ❑ Chatelaine 1 yr. ❑ National Home Monthly 1 yr. ❑ Canadian Magazine - 1 yr. ❑ Rod and Gun - - 1 yr. ❑ Pictorial Review Combined With Delineator - - 1 yr. ❑ American Boy - - - 8 mo. ❑ Can. Horticulture and Home Magazine - • 1 yr. ❑ Parents' Magazine - 6 mo. ❑ Silver Screen - - - • 1 yr. ❑ Open Road for Boys • 16 mo. ❑ American Fruit Grower 1 yr. '.1'HE SEAFORTH NEWS Form 400 mf. PAGE SEVEN horror. No use! He could never Make it. He almost stopped. "Nonsense, boy! .You can do it' easily! 'Keep coming'!" Duncan's eyes sought the source of the wards. !From a seventh -story win- dow, right behind the downward slanting staff, gazed a man's face, round, fresh -colored and cheerful, top- ped with grayish hair, The Mad look- ed like a commercial traveler; he must have read the despair in Dun - can's eyes, for he smiled reassuringly and in a •confident voice said: "Bev!. Dead easy( Only don't stop! 'Keep climbing!" The steeple jack climbed; and meanwhile the stranger kept talking, easily, encouragingly, throwing in an occasional jest. ".Make it? Surest thing in the world! Just keep going; that's alli" Nearer and nearer drew the corn- ice, twenty feet, fifteen, ten—Suddenly the staff slipped a trifle. Something in the tense but quiet tone told: Du nean that the crisis was at 'hand. (Desperate at seeing safety so near and 'knowing that any second might snatch it away, he threw cau- tion to the wind and climbed like mad. Six ,feet, -five, four, three—, Instinctively he knew that the screw would not 'hold (three seconds longer. He remeasured the distance with his eye. Conk( .he do it? Sudden- ly the screw •p:ulled out and the flag- staff slumped. Jump!" It was 'aimost .a shriek. (Duncan snatched his hands from the falling staff and launched himself 'toward the hotel. Hooking his fingbrs over the cornice, lee clung For dear :life while the staff and the braces swept past his body. From the crowd 'below nose a gasp , of terror. A moment later, with muscles hardened from frequent use, he swung 'himself up over the edge and dropped panting on the gravel. As he rolled across the cornice to safety a cheer from thousands of throats filled the September air• Then bhe bands began playing again and the parade resumed its course toward the reviewing, stand. Lyiivg on the roof a trait minute to recover his .breath, Duncan rememb- ered the guy rope that had caused the disaster, and Ise realized what had probably happened—what in .fact he learned later had happened. The front ,hub of the hurrying coal wagon had upset the :barrel of junk. Pulled in be- tween the wheels by the tightly drawn rope, it had rolled back under the wagon, and the guy, catching on the axle, had dragged the staff until it snapped. Duncan rose unsteadily. He picked up iris book of .gold leaf, which lay near -the stump of the flagstaff. Then, having made a ,bundle of the rest of his belongings, he started somewhatk shakily down through the scuttle to thank bhe man whose oucouragentent at the right ntatmmt had helped to save his life. SEAFORT.H, ONTARIO.' ma Dp H, McInnes eihoropraetor Office Commercial Hotel Hours—Mon. and Thurs. after Electro Therapist — Massage noon and by appointment FOOT 'CORRECTION by manipulation—Sun-ray treat- merit Pholite2E9. to hasten c and 'keep eh Hydrated fr The drill hip and the • with a tiny are carefully a Y gether, The (leg remain only two ieation"—waiting for the .graft and host to become like one. It is truly remarkable how these dive 'bone pegs amalgamate with the broken frag- ments, binding them inseparably to- gether. The man who thought he was crippled for life •frequently walks without a limp, and X rays taken at intervals show the final disappear- ance of the line of demarcation be- tween graft and Bost bone. The pat- ient has a brand new hipbone, mended with his own shins Sone grafting depends on the nat- ural tendency of a healthy bone to fuse with adjacent (bones. As far back as 111300 the famous French sungeon, ,011ier, tried to supply new bones for old, experimenting with animal 'bon•es. It didn't work Shortly after 1.1900, .the problem of ,bone repair became !acute; the industrial age was cracking asp bones fearfully. The World War :fur- tier conspired to wreck man's ,frame- work. Among the war surgeons at the front was Dr. (Fred Albee who had .grown up among ,the Maine apple trees; he believed that ,bone surgery could follow a !principle of tree graft- ing by which layers of ,wood—partic- ularly 'the layer through which the sap +flows—are matched. Albee felt that damaged (bones would mend more 'quickly if circulating blood were allowed to flow freely through and around them. He didn't think in' terms of iron braces; he was already dream- ing of reconstructing human frame- wbrk in terms tef muscle levers and matched grafts. Recalling the circular saws of the Wiscasset lumber mill which had fascinated him as a hoy. Albee experimented with miniature replicas which would shape bones with the same speed and accuracy. The result was his electric motor with a variety of attachable sans, bits and drills. Although .Albee prefers his electric caw, other great orthopedic surgeons remove hone ,;rafts with a drill and chieel, the bone tissues not being seared by heat generated by the terrific :speed of the electric saw, and has other advantages. Attempts have 'beets made to manu- facture a new forefingerfrom a s.hiir fragment, but thus far only partial s=.recce; has resulted. Neu' toes, 'how - have been made. Ortltonedic .eer eons are often .asked, "Whet hap• o.nr, t„ hose good Samaritan,.—the bon:, that are harrowed from" They do tot suffer; being healthy. they fill in raeidly std become just a, 'stroma; as ?vox. NEW FOR OLD ' ,\ steel riveter lav et the operating table with his trip 'woken in that thzliest of places --tee eocket. A few years ago, such a •fraetu.ne would have condemned 11101 €o deformity an 1 crutches, But modern bane -surgery has a Netter fate for our riveter. Watch! 'An assistant surgeon exposes the patient's shinbone to get material for a ":bone peg," a live spike which will join one damaged hip -fragment to the other. Sometimes long steel nails are used, hut the metal may kit. the bone cells around it, enlarging t!t Lie into which the nail has !weir driven, making e loose union. Metal- lurgists thus far have been unable to find a non -corrosive material that will resist the action of body fluids, 'T'he orthopedic surgeon now lays 'bare the hip—joint, carefully 'freshening" the ends of the broken bone fragments by cutting' away small shavings of fib- rous tissue. By means of a traction apparatus he brings the displaced bones into alignment. Then, consult- ing X-ray pictures, he drills a hole about 31/2 inches deep at exactly the proper angle 'through the broken hip, to receive the :live ;bone peg which he !las yet to cut from the patient's shin, He now detaches the drill, leaving it in the hole, 'and steps to the glistening shinbone which isas ,been bared by Isis assistant, Touching the foot switch of a tiny .circular electric saw, the surg- eon makes two long 'parallel cuts on the inner side of the shin, so placed as to provide enough bone to make e peg a half inch in •diameter• It takes a fearless, steady !nand to cut so swiftly without going too deep, The saw cuts clean, instead of 4abariausly chipping like the chisel acrd mallet used for so ni'any years; reduces sur- gical shock no end. The graft is .lifted from the shin. One end is grasped with claims, the other is inserted into an instrument resembling a pencil sharpener, and conies ant with a ,conical end which can easily !be enseeted into the drill hale in the drip, !(Sometimes the graft is put through a tool which "threads" it like a screw,) During the entire process, salt solution falls on the tools ing, prevent undue 'heat, raft from becoming de - exposure to the air. '1 removed from. the e peg es driven home et. 'Mitescles •and skin aced and sewn to - put i.r,•.d, cast. There tkt5nths of 'ci mntobii- � • New Bulletin Issued on Poult--q Diseases During; the past few years there have been many changes in connec- tion with the control of poultry dis- eases. hollowing the expressed prom- ise of Hon. IP. ef. Dewar, 'Ontario 'Minister of .Agriculture, that all ad- vanced scientific farming information should he placed in the hands of the farmers of Ontario as ,quickly ,and easily .as ,possible, a new 'bulletin "Di- seases of Poultry" has been written and compiled by •three noted .Ontario poultry experts, J. S. Glover, B.V.Sc., Ontario Veterinary College, Guelph; F. N.:Marcellus, RSA., B.,V.St.. Piro fessor of Poultry Husbandry, O..A.C., anal recently ,appointed head of the new Animal Nutrition :Department, O.A.C. This bulletin 'nf 182 pages is profuse- ly illustrated and should be in the hands of every postbtryntan and every farmer who has even a medium large flock of chickens. Professor ,M•ancellus has writtetr.the section devoted to sanitation, includ- ing 'fumigation of incubators, Dr. Branion ;Gives tine latest authentic in- formation on nutritional diseases and their cure. This section if carefully studied should help to salve molly 01 the poultryman's problems. Space will not permit a lengthy re- sume of this 'booklet. Suffice it to say, it is undoubtedly the answer to a poultryman's prayer for the latest and. best information on poultry diseases and treatment. Pt will save you money. 'Write for your copy at once' to the Statistics and Publications Branch, Ont. Dept of Agriculture, Parliatisent lvrttikdings, Toronta.