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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1939-03-30, Page 8PAGE. SIX THE SEAFORTH NEWS THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 1939 "I am called,,' answered the young- er stranger, "the Earl of Menteith, and, I trust, yon will receive my hon- or as a sufficient security." "A worthy nobleman," answered the soldier, "whose parole is not to be doubted." With one motion he re- placed his musketoon at his back, and with another made his military salute to the voting nobleman, and 'continuing to talk as he rode forward to join hint --"And I trust," said he, -My own asssrance. that I will be bon cantarado to your lordship, in peace or in peril, during the time we shall abide together, will not be alto- gether wilipenried in these doubtful times,when, as they say. a man's head is safer in a steel cap than in a marble palace,' "1 assure you, sir," said Lord Men- teith, "that, to jutltc from yceir ap- pearance, I 2110;t highly value the ad- vantage of your esrr:-tt but I trust we shall hat', no occasion for any ex- trefsc of valor, as 1 expect to'conduct you to good ani friendly quarters.- quarters, uarte s."quarters, niy lord." replied the soldier, "are a'.wat s "xelrable, anal ,.rc only to be postponed to good pay or good booty -not to mention the lionur .,f a cavalier, or the needful points of commanded dnty..1nd truly, my lord, your noble proffer is not the less welcome in that I knew not pre- ceesely this night where I and my p,,or companion" Bannon" ipattiti his horse) "were to find lodgment,," ".May 1 be permitted to ask, then," said Lord Mentieth, "to whom 1 have the and fortune to stand q:tarter- masterr "Truly, my lord," said the trooper, "my name is Dalgetty—Dugald Dal- getty—Rift-master Dugald Dalgetty of Drunt ti vttcket, at your honorable service to command. It is a name you may have s,•en in Galin F,elgicus, the Swedish Intel&5encer, or if you read High Dutch, in the Fiegenden Mer - coeur of Lelpsic. 'My ;other, my lord, having by unthrifty courses reduced a fair patrimony to a nonetity, I had no better shift, when I was eighteen years old, than to Barry the learning whilk I had acquired at the Mareseh- al College of Aberdeen, my gentle bluid and designation of Drum thwacket together with a pair of stal- warth arms, and legs .conform, to the German wars, there to push my way as a cavalier of fortune. My lord, my legs and arms stood me in more stead than either my •gentle kin or my bok fear, and I found myself trail- ing a pike as a private gentleman un- der old Sir Ludoviek Leslie, where I learned the rides of service so tightly that I will not forget them in a hur- ry. Sir, I have been made to stand guard eight hours, being from twelve at noon to eight o'clock of the night, at the palace, armed with back and breast, head -piece and 'bracelets, be- ing iron to the teeth, in a bitter frost, and the ice was a. hard as ever was flint; and all for stopping an instant to speak to my landlady when I should have gone to roll -call." "And doubtless, sir," replied 'Lord Menteith, "you have gone •through some hot service, as well •as this same cold duty you talk of?" "Surely, my lord, it doth not be- come me to speak; but he that hath seen the fields of Leipsic and of I-ut= zen, may he said to have seen pitched battles. And one who 'hath witnessed the intaking of Frankfort, and Span- heim, and Nurenmerg and so forth, should know somewhat about leagu- ers, storms, onslaughts, and outfalls." "But your merit, sir, and experi- ence, were doubtless followed by pro- motion?" "It came slaw, my lord, dooms slow," replied Dalgetty; '"but as my Scottish countrymen, the fathers of the war, :and the raisers of those val- orous Scottish regiments that were the dread of Germany, began to fall pretty thick, what with pestilence and the sword, why we, their .children, succeeded to their inheritance, Sir, I was six years first private gentleman of the company, and three years lance speisade; disdaining to receive a hal- berd, as unbecoming to my birth. Wherefore I was ultimately :promot- ed to be a fahn-dragger, as the Ring's Leif Regiment of Black Horse, and thereafter I arose to be lieutenant and ritt-piaster, under that invincible monarch, the Lion of the North, the terror of Austria, Gusta- vus the Victorious," 'And yet, if 1 understand you, Cap- tain Dalgetty—I think that rank cor-. responds with your foreign title of rift -master"- "The same .,rade prcceesely," an- swered Dalgetty; "ritt-master signi- fying literally file -leader." "I was observing," continued Lord Menteith, "that, if I understood you right, you had left the service of this great Prince." "It nag after his death—it was af- ter itis death, sir," said Dalgetty, "viten I was in no shape bound to • tttinue mine adherence. There are things, my lord, in that service, that e, mit ',nt go against the stomach of any cavalier of honor, In especial, al- heit their pay be none of the most superabundant. being only about six- ty dollar- a month to a ritt-master, yet the invincible (.Gustavus never paid abawc one-third of that sum, whilk was distributed monthly lay way of loan; altltongh, when justly considered, it was, in fact, a borrow- ing by that great monarch of the ad- ditional two-thirds which nere due to the so.ldicr, And I have seen while regiments of Dutch and Holsteiners mutiny on the field of battle, like base scullions, crying out 'Gelt, ge1t,' sig nifying their desire of pay, instead of falling to blows like our noble Scot- tish blades, who ever disdained, my lnrcl, postponing of honor to filthy lucre," 'But were not these arrears," said Lord \Ienteith, "paid to. the soldiery at some stated period?" *My Mord," said Dalgetty, "I take it on Lily conscience, that at no Per- iod, and by no possible process, could one kreutzer of them ever be recov- ered. I myself never saw twenty dol- lars of my own all the time I served the invincible Gustavus, unless it was from the chance of a storm or vict- ory, or the fetching in sore town or dourp, when a cavalier of fortune, who knows the usage of wars, seldom faileth to make some small profit." "I begin rather to wonder, sir," said Lord Menteith, "that you should have continued so long in the Swed- ish service, than that you should have ultimately withdrawn from it." "Neither I should," answered the Ritt-master; "but that great leader, captain, and king , the Lion of the North, and the bulwark of the faith, had a way of winning battles, taking towns, overrunning countries, and le- vying contributions, whilk made his service irresistibly delectable to all trite -bred cavaliers who follow the noble profession of arms. Simple as I ride here, eny lord, I have myself commanded the whole stift of Dun- klespiel on the Lower Rhine, occupy- ing the Palsgrat-e's palace, consuming his choice wines with my comrades, calling in contributions, requisitions, and caduacs; and not failing to lick my fingers, as because a goad cook. But truly all this hastened to decay, after otir great master had been shot with three bullets on the field of Lut- zen; wherefore, finding that Fortune had changed sides, that the ; borrow- ings and lendings went on as before out of our pay, while the caduacs and casualties were all cut off, I e'en gave up my commision, and took service with Wallensteiit, in Walter Butler's Iris'h Regiment" • "And may I 'beg to know of you," said Lord Menteith, apparently inter- ested in the adventures of this soldier ,of fortune, "how you liked this change of masters?" "Indifferent well," said the Captain —"very indifferent well. I cannot say that the Emperor paid much better than the .great Gustavus, For hard knocks we had plenty of them. I was often obliged to run my head against my ,old acquaintances, the Swedish feathers, .whilk your honor must con- ceive to be double -pointed stakes, shod with iron at each end, and, plant- ed 'before the squad of spikes' to pre-' vent:an onfall of cavalry. The whilk Swedish feathers, although they look gay to the eye, resembling the Shrubs or lesser trees of ane forest as ,the puisant ikes, arranged in battalia • Ibe- hind them correspond to the tall pines therof, yet, neverthelessfi are not alto- gether so soft to encounter as the ,plumage of a .goose. Howbeit, in' des- pite of heavy blows and light 'pay, a cavalier of fortune may thrive indiff- erently well in the Imperial service, in respect his private casualties are'no•th- ing so closely looked to as by the Swede; and so that an officer did his duty on the field•fi neither Wallenstein nor Pappenheim, nor old Tilley before them, would likely listen to the. objur- ga'tions of boors or burghers against any commander or soldado, 'by` whom they chanced t0 be somewhat closely shorn, So that an experienced caval- ier, 'knowing haw to lay, as our Scot- tish •ghrase runs, 'the head of the sow to the tail of the Brice,' night get out of the country the pay whilk he could not obtain from the Emperor," "With a •full hand, sir, doubtless, and with i ttrest," said Lord Menteith. "Indutiably, my lord," answered Dalgetty, composedly; "for it would be doubly disgraceful for any soldado of rank to have his name called in question for any petty delinquency." "And pray, sir," continued Lord Alentcith, "what made you leave so gainful a service?" ".Why, truly, sir," answered the sol- dier, "ant Irish cat'alier, called 'O'Quil- ligan, being major of our regiment, and I having had words with him the night .before, respecting the worth and precedence of our several nations,. it pleased hini the next day to deliver his orders to ire with the point of his batoon advanced and held aloof, in - .stead of declining and trailing the same, as 3s the fashion from a court- eous commanding officer toward his equal itt rank, though, it may he, his inferior in military grade. Upon this quarrel, sir, we fought in private rec- outre; and as, in the pergttisitions which followed, it pleased \\'alter L tiler, our Oberst, or colonel, to give the lighter punishment to his country- man, and the heavier to me, where- upon, ill stomaching such partiality, I exchanged toy commission for one tinder the Spaniard." "1 hope you found yourself 'better off by the change?" said Lard Mens Leith. "In good south." answered .the hitt-master, "1 had but little to com- plain of. The pay was somewhat reg- ular, being furnished by the rich Flemings and Walloons of the Low Country. The quarters , were excel'1- eut; the good wheaten 'loaves of the Flemings were better than the prov- ant rye -bread of the Swede, and Rhenish wine was more plenty with as than ever I saw the black -beer of Rostock in Gustavus's camp. Service there was none, duty there was little; and that little we Wright do, or leave undone, at our pleasure; an excellent retirement for a cavalier somewhat weary of field and leaguer, who had purchased with, his 'blood as much as honor :night serve his ttirn, and was desirous of a little ease and good living." "And may 1 ask," said Lord Men- teith, 'why you, Captain, being, as I suppose, in the situation you des- cribe, retired from the Spanish serv- ice also " "You are to consider, my lord, that your Spaniard," replied Captain Dal- getty, Is a person altogether unparal- leled in Itis own conceit, where - through be maketh not fit account of such foreign cavaliers of valor as are pleased to take service with hint..\nd a galling thing it is to every honor- able soldado, 'to be put aside, and postponed, and obliged to yield Pref- erence to every puffing signior, who, were it the question which should first mount a breach at push of pike, might be apt to yield willing place to a 'Scotch cavalier, Moreover, sir, I was pricked in conscience," "So you again changed your ser- vice?" said .ltenteith. "Iii troth did I, my lord; and after trying for a short while two or three other powers, I even took on for a time with with their 'High Mighti- nesses the States cif holland." "And how did their service jump with your humor?" again demanded his companion. 'Ohl my lord," said the soldier in a sort of enthusiasm, "their 'behavior on pay-day might be a pattern to all Europe—no borrowings, no 'lendings, no offsets, no arrears—all 'balanced and paid like a banker's book. The quarters. too, are excellent, and the allowances .unchallengeable; but then, sir, they are a ,preceese, scrupulous people, .and will allow nothing for peccadilloes. So that if a •boor com- plains of a broken head, .or a beer - seller of a broken can, or a daft wench does but squeak bond enough to be heard above her 'breathy a sol- dier of honor shall be dragged, not before his own court-maritiad, •who can best judge of and punish his de- merits,. but 'before is 'base mechanical burgomaster, who shall menace him with the rasp -house, the cord and what not, as if he were one of their own men, amphibious, twenty - breeched boors, So not being able to .dwell 'longer among these ungrateful plebeians, who, although 'unable to de- fend 'themselves by their proper strength, will nevertheless allow the noble foreign cavalier who engages with them nothing beyond his dry wages, which no honorable spirit will Put in 'competition with a liberal ense and honorable countenance, I re- solved to leave the service 'af the Myn'heers. And hearing at This time, to my exceeding 'satisfaction, that there is something to .be doing this summer in my way in this my dear native country, I am cone hither, as they say, like a 'beggar to a. bridal, in order to give my loving countrymen The aclva stage of that experience' which I have acquired in foreign parts. So your lordship has an 'outline of my brief story,' excepting my de- portment in those passages of action in the field, in 'leaguers, storms, and onslaughts, whilk would be tedious .to narrate, and Wright, peradventure, 'better befit any other tongue than mine own." CHAPTER III. For pleas of right let statesmen vex their head, Battle's my business, and my guerdon bread; And, with the sworded Switzer, I can say, The hest of causes is the best of pay. The difficulty and narrowness of the road had by this time become such as to interrupt the conversation of the travellers and Lord Menteith, reining hack his horse, held a moment's priv- ate cover.tation with his domestics. The Captain, who now 'led the Van of the party, after about quarter of a stile's slow and toilsome advance up a broken and rugged ascent, enterged into an upland valley, to which a mountain stream acted as a drain, and afforded sufficient room upon its green -sward banks for the travelers to .pursue their journey in a more soc- ia] manner, Lord \fenteith accordingly resumed the conversation, tt'tcich had been in- terrpted by the difficulties of the way, "1 should have thought," said he to Captain l.)elgetty, "that a cavalier of yonr honorable mark, tvho hath so long followed the valiant Ring of Sweden, and entertains such a suitable contempt for tate hale mechanical States of Iiolland, would not have hesitated to embrace the cause of King Charles, in preference to that of the low -horn, row:dhceded. canting knaves who are in re.beilion against his authority?" • "'Ye speak reasonably, my lord," said Dalgetty, "and I might be in- duced to see the matter in the same light. But, my lord, there is a south - (To be continued) HE MADE A MILLION For ten years, up anti] .1935, Letter Pfister's neighbors in El Paso, I111- ois, were convinced that he wasn't quite right in the head. They couldn't understand why any sane individual should spend hours in a field under the boiling sun tying paper bags on corn tassels, When his farm went to ruin because he couldn't give it the time it required, fatherly old men us- ed to stop him on' the road and 'beg him to gait his foolishness. And then, after years of ridicule and going about ragged and half starved, Pfister drove his "crazy" ex- periment through to a successful con- clusion. In 19135, while his neighbors were averaging $2000 for it season's work, Pfister took in $35.000—pay- ment for corn seed that he had devel- oped, The following year he sold for $id) a bushel every kernel he could raise, and took in $160,000. Here was a corn that would outyield anything ever grown in Woodford county by anywhere from six to 36 bushels!' Or- ders rolled in from every state in the Corn Belt, and in 19317 he grossed •$400,000. This year advance orders backed 'by deposits point to a take of half a million.. 'P'6ster's quest for hybrid corn be- gan in 19215 after a chance meeting in Des Moines with Henry Wallace, then an Iowa farm editor, now Sec- retary of Agriculture, The two men talked corn far into the night, and Pfister learned the new gospel of the corn "breeder, Ear selection, he heard, was like 'breeding cattle and ignoring, bulls. No breeddr, outside of a few professors, had ever tried to control tassel pollen to produce better corn, Wallace sowed in his companion. a great enthusiasm. When .they parted, at two in the morning, Pfister said, "I'll get going to -morrow." And he dirt. To avoid ridicule, Pfister began planting back of a 'hedge. But farm- ers, standing high in their wagons, were able to look down and see the field all. deckedout in paper bags. • "Maybe he figures to 'keep the. shticks from freezing," they said.. Into the black earth .Pfister had, tuciced the seed from 389 ears, of top notch Krug corn. On each tassel that sprang from the stalks 'he tied a paper bag. On the ear -shoots he tied anoth- er. When 'he' figured the tassel bag was full of pollen, he slipped it off. This •he inverted quickly over the si9lc of the ear on the same stalk. Then he snapped off the tassel. This wasin- breeding. During his experiments he used 1001,0010 paper bags, made 69,000 hand pollinations. At harvest time he 'discovered the many strains that had 'been blended to make Krug corn, Here were stalks thick as .a 'baseball bat that wouldn't stand erect; 'here, tassels without pol- len, oohs without (kernels. A few bore runty ears, 'but were rooted deep and 'stood straight and strong. Ruthlessly he discarded the weaklings, saving only 1115 ears that showed promise. The following •s'pring be planted them. 'For five black-straining'years he .plant- ed, 'bagged and eliminated, in addition to operating the farm for his living. In 1029 he was dawn to four ears. These were the twisted, misbegotten children of five inbred generations, but they were tough, had root systems that bored deep and made the most of the minerals in the earth; they stood erect in high winds and went through the stunner unmarred by disease, He shelled those four ears, and was ready to make his first crosses. The corn was planted in three rows. He designated the middle row the sire or pollinator, and' this time he snapped off the tassels on the female stalks as fast as they appeared. The stale tas- sels were free to shed their pollen in the silks of the rows on either side. No rain fell and the sur was des- perately hot. Stalk after stalk wilted, But Pfister, advised to irrigate, said simply, "If they can't take it, let thein die." His farm ran down and he made little effort to do anything about it. His arrival in town became a signal for snorts and laughter. But nothing could turn this thin, pale man from his purpose. That winter he looked at the ears of his first crosses. No longer the under- sized, gnarled offspring of cousin and sister and brother matings, these ears were wonderfully filled down to the tips with evenly kerneled, heavy corn. From experiment stations he obtained federal inbrects to cress with his own. He was still dissatisfied. During 1031 and 11932 Lester let his corn ride out grasshoppers and chinch 'bugs as he had let it ride attt drought. 'Let the weaklings die," he said. His life became steadily more diffi- cult. Having no crop, he obtained Ioans from his sisters, his brother and the bank, He was now 8313,000 in debt. His hair turned white that year, and Inc weight dropped to 1115 pounds. Day in, day out, all his children had to eat was corn meal mush, In the winter the family huddled over a smo- lder of corncobs, and Pfister, his sheep skin in shreds, put cardboard aver the holes in his hoots to keep out the snow and cold. All that sustained him was his pile of corn. That, and one inspiring sen- tence he had once read. He recited it to rte, a little awkwardly: "On the plains of hesitation bleach the bones of countless million's who, at the dawn of victory" sat down to rest, aitd rest- ing, died." Receiving notice of foreclosure from his hank the following spring, he wheedled a six -months` postponement by showing the bank officials some of his precious ears. The 'bank officials knew corn and were impressed. 'Urged. by his wife, be sold his remaining hogs and made out a money order to a paper bag manufacturer. At harvest he shucked 225 bushels of the finest corn ever seen in \94"ood- ford county, Passing farmers jumped off their wagons to take a look. To some, Pfister gave a bushel or two. These were all double-crosses, that is, a mating of the single crosses of the preceding year --and they were bigger, heavier and fuller. Pfister had corn that would outdo anything he knew, and when his wife came to find out what was keeping him from din- ner, she burst into tears. Their troub- les were over. That winter a man with a, half sec- tion of land proposed that Pfister per- mit hint to raise seed for 'hint, on a ten percent royalty basis. Now 215 other large farmers produce each year a ttuarter of a million bushels, all of it marketed under Pfister's name. * Pfister now has a 6580 acre farm, free of debt. He rent another 800: acres. His seed business will probably soon gross $1,0004000 a year, This Illinois farmer is enjoying his success, for it means that his six chil- dren will not be obliged, as Ile was, to break off their schooling in the eighth grade. More than that, it means that every 'bushel of the hybridcorn that he sells will enrich the buyer. Nowa planted on mare than 2,000,000 acres in Iowa, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio, his corn will,' he figures, put $19,000,- 000 in farmers'. pockets the current: year that would 'not otherwise have been there. PROFESSIONAL CARDS Medical SEAFORTH CLINIC Dr. E. A. McMaster, M.B., Gradu- ate of University of Toronto, J. D. Colquhoun M.D., C.M., 'Grad- uate of Dalhousie University, Halifax,. The. Clinic is fully equippedwith complete and modern x-ray and other tip -bo -date diagnostic and thereuptic equipment. Dr, Margaret K. Campbell, M.D.,.' L.A.B.P., Specialist in Diseases in Infants and Children, will be at the Clinic last Thursday in every month. from 3 to '6 p.m. Dr. F. J. R. Forster, Specialist in Diseases of the. Ear, Eye, None and'. Throat, will be at the Clinic the first Tuesday in every month from 4 to 6 p.m. Free well -baby clinic will 'be theid. on the second and last Thursday in: every month from 1 to 2 .p.m. W. C. SPROA'T, M.D., F.A.C.S. Surgery Phone 90-W. Office John St., Seaforth DR. H. HUGH ROSS, Physician and Surgeon Late •of Landon Hos- pital, London, England. Special at- tention to diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. Office and .residence behind Dominion Bank, Office Phone No. 5; Residence Phone 1014, DR. F. J. BURROWS, Office` Main St., Seaforth, over Dominion Bank. Hairs 2-5 and 7 to 8 p,m. and by ap- pointment. Residence, Goderich Sts two doors 'west of United Church, Phone 416. DR. F. J. R. FORSTER— Eye Ear, Nose and Throat, Graduate in. Medicine, University of Toronto 1997. Late Assistant New York Ophthal- mic and Aural Institute, Moorefield's Eye, and Golden Square throat hospi- • tats, London. At Commercial Hotel, Seaferth, third Wednesday in each month from 1.30 p.m. to 5 p.m, Auctioneer. GEORGE ELLIOTT, Licensed Auctioneer for the County of Huron. Arrangements can be made for Sale Date at The Seaforth News. Charges moderate and satisfaction guaranteed F. W. AHRENS, Licensed Auotio( eer ' for Perth and Huron Counties. Sales Solicited. Terms on Application, Farm Stook, chattels and real estate property. R. R. No. 4, Mitchell. Phone 634 r 6. Apply at this office. WATSON & REID REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE AGENCY (Successors to James Watson) MAIN ST., SEAFORTH, ONT. All kinds of Insurance risks effect- ed at lowest rates in First -Class, 'Companies. THE McKJLLOP Mutual Fire Insurance Co , HEAD OFFICE—SEAFORTH, Ont. OFFICERS President, Thomas Moylan, Sea - forth; Vice President, William Knox,. Londesboro; Secretary Treasurer, M A. Reid, Seaforth. AGENTS F. Mclterchcr, R.R.tl, Dublin; John E. Pepper, R.R,1, Brucefield; E. R. G. J'armouth, Brodhagen; James Watt. Blyth; C. F. Hewitt, Kincardine„ Wm, Yeo, Holmesville. DIRECTORS Alex. Broadfoot, Seaforth No. .3; James Sholdice, Walton; Wm, Knox,, Londesboro; George Leonhardt,. Bornholm No. 1; Frank MoGregor„ C'linttsn No, 5; James Connolly, God erich; Alex McEwing, Blyth No. 1;. Thomas Moylan, Seaforth No, 5;, Wm. R. Archibald, Seaforth. No. 4. Parties desirous to effect insurance- or transact other business, will be- promptly attended to by applications. to any of the above named officers addressed to their respective post - offices, Canadian Turkeys Popular Canadian turkeys continue to be popular in Great Britain, the Canad- ian exports to the 'British market from, January 1 :to February 23; 1939, totalling 5,139 boxes, compared with 300 boxes during the 'corresponding period of 19318, and with the hitherto highest record for the period of '1,764 boxes in 1937. Further, the position in which Canadian turkeys have be- come established in the British mar- ket is shown by the fact that' Canad- ian turkeys have been selling at five cents more per pound than other birds..