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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1958-10-23, Page 2Delivered Babies AH Over The World A dark shape lunged suddenly out of the darkness of the Cey- lon night as the young English midwife pedalled hurriedly to an urgent case. Nurse Phyllis Pettit felt 'a stunning blow on the head -but she had no idea who or what it was that had struck her, for she was hurled from her bicycle into a, ditch, adjoining the R,A.F. Compound at Nagumbo, and lay there unconscious. When she came to, her bicycle lead gone, and she realized that she was the victim of nothing More sinister than a bicycle thief.' That was only one of the many adventures encountered by this highly qualified nurse, now forty- three years old and a keen Red Cross worker, in twenty years of delivering babies all over the world. For eight of those years, she worked for SSAFA (Soldiers', Sailors' and Airmen's Families Association), attending Service wives in every part of the globe, Sometimes, living in guarded barracks or at isolated stations far from home, the mothers -to - be become extra nervous. There was one girl who, walk- ing outside her quarters, accom- panied by a native maid, met a snake slithering menacingly across her path. With a shriek, she threw up her arms and froze in her tracks, But the coloured girl, more used to jungle life, stepped forward and with a shrill cry sent the startled snake scuttling into the undergrowth. Even so, it took all Miss Pet- titt's skill to nurse the shaken mother -to -be back to normal. While caring for R.A.F. wives in Ceylon, Miss Pettit saw the Procession of a Hundred Ele- phants as it set out from Kandy. This traditional religious cere- mony pays homage to the Tem- ple of the Tooth. As the elephants, richly adorn- ed in fineries, lumber along the ceremonial route, Kandy dancers enliven the whole night of fes- lllvity with their colourful cos- iames. Spellbound by this magical display, Miss Pettit suddendy became acutely aware of the fact that the animals taking part in the procession were covered in teas --and some were already biting her savagely. She remembered, but was lit- tle consoled by, the ancient salaxim, attributed to Bellarmine, a Catholic saint; "We shall have Heaven," said he, "to reward us for our suf- ferings, but these poor creatures (fleas and all odious vermin) have nothing but the enjoyment of their present life." While on a roving commission through India and Pakistan, she also visited Kashmir and fell in love with the simple, warm- hearted people there, "Hospital patients," she says, "can't recover unless they have their own sacred domestic ani- mals in the wards with them, "Many like their relatives to attend also, so the wards need to he roomy. "Whenever it is cold, most of the people go about hugging charcoal -primed wicker baskets to keep them warm. The women carry these under their yash- maks (double veils) and long flowing robes. "But this custom has very ob- vious fire risks, and many Kash- miris get severely burned when the hot coals set light to their clothes." In spite of all warnings, how- ever, the people cling to their wicker -basket body -heaters. Now third-degree burn cases receive penicillin treatment and fewer lives are lost than formerly. But dreadful scars remain. For eighteen months, Nurse Pettit served SSAFA in Hong Kong, helping many a new Bri- ton into a bizarre Oriental world. The primitive resources of many Chinese mothers appalled her. "Many had to use old news- papers for their children's nap- pies," she says. "They were too poor to afford anything else." And, although holding life cheap, mothers were still troubled in some households when they gave birth to girls. Formerly, a system of female Infanticide was practised, To be rid of their unwanted girl babies, women had no compunction about parcelling them up and throwing them in the river. Once, while she lived near the teachers' mess, a Chinese boy rushed to her, reporting; "Missie, cook him vellee sick." She dashed out to find the man very ill with haemorrhage and T.B. Quickly diagnosing his trou- bles, she applied the proper remedies, and a few days later he was out of danger. But she was shocked to be told by one of the mess boys: "Cook, him no die now, him stay alive -vellee bad." In saving his life, she'd actu- ally disappointed all his Chinese friends. For, without relatives and with no one willing to care for him, the sick cook was con- sidered a liability and best got rid of by being allowed to die. However, thanks to Nurse Pet - tit's timely aid, he eventually regained his health and was able to look after himself. Leaving SSAFA's service in Hong Kong, she travelled by slow boat to a job in Australia, and found that the Chinese cargo boat on which she made the trip *as suspected of complicity in the opium -smuggling traffic. The authorities knew there was opium on board, and went through everyone's luggage with a tooth -comb, They found noth- ing. But the secret came out when officials jerked a man out of the ship's barber chair. And there, secreted in the carefully hollowed -out panels of its arms and legs were packages of deadly dope. Before the war, Miss Pettit worked as a family nurse in Kenya and Uganda and visited Leopoldville in the Belgian Con- go. There she saw some of the region's famed pigmy tribesmen, These little people live mainly In trees. They craved for salt, had never seen soap and water; and many suffered from beri- beri, a vitamin shortage which gave them distended stomachs. "I went on safari with an elephant hunting party," says Miss Pettit. "Whenever anyone stubbed out his cigarette with pigmies around, the little people dashed'for the butt and delight- edly ate it!" She was the Only woman in the party, and when they'd shot an especially big tusker, the Bel- gian game warden gave her the tail as a souvenir. "I treasured it, too. But on the three-day trip back to my nurs- ing station, the tail became 'alive.' I found it full of maggots and had to discard it" In Cyprus, before the present emergency, Nurse Pettit was in a car crash and landed in hos- pital with concussion and a fractured ankle, But she recov- ered quickly. During a six months' "break" in the United States, she visited Mexico, was fascinated by the Pyramid of the Sun and other pre -Aztec memorials, but had her wallet stolen twice. Once she caught a bronze -faced child In the very act of filching it, Worse befell her in California, where thieves "lifted" her entire baggage, including all her cloth- ing and souvenirs of travels ranging from North Cape to Hiroshima, But Miss Pettit makes light of such trials. Emergencies just can't shake her, whether they are those of other women or blows of fate. A resourceful, mettlesome character, her latest undertaking is not about babies, but a six - months' course in floristry. CROSSWORD PUZZLE eenoss 1. Slightly warm. e, Dilutes 11, Threaten 12. Fame 14 Abraham's native town 16. Makes 17. Hawaiian bird 13. Thing (law) 20. Electrified particle 21. Rubbish 21. consumer, 2s. countries 25 TTnited 34. Legume s. Emphasize 10. Insect 31, Difficulty 32. :stroked 35 ]raitly developed 22. cif 31 ;termite 41,'l't, container i.^. Oriental awrll lag 42 T.'ronl 44. voting goat 41. Morning. rub.) 42 Ointhrs el'a fiU, omhara point ,1. I iln 63 Enlarged an ' ,ntFlg I,r: 1•alea r I' o41.r 0. Egyptian lake 24. Contrive 10. Faints 36. Estates 11 wall painting 36, Bred 18 Memoranda 37. Over 16 Sp. gentleman 40. Companion 19 Legislator 40. Child 21 European deer 47. Southern 2, Half em ------rlo measure 3. Equality 24 wander 4, Freeze 27 Exploe ve 6. Contradiction 29 Routine 0. Inclines procedure 7. The lady's 82 Foot le 'er 8. Officeholders 33 Lizards 2 3 4 b 6 7 constellation 49, Corded fabrlo 49. Capuchin monkey 52, Exist 64. Myself la 14 16 17 Answer elsewhere on this page. MONSTER MACHINE - Candidate for the ultimate in farm . equipment is this 1'2 -ton device which plows, discs, rolls, fertilizes, seeds and even sprays weeds in one operation. However, interested back -yard gardeners take note; Price, about $40,000. Vegetable - seed growing is certainly not a case of letting nature take its own course. In- stead, it is a highly technical industry, much more so today, when the wants and desires of the housewife regarding the vegetables she cooks andserves are known more accurately than at any time in the past. * * * California is the heart of the U.S. vegetable -seed -growing in- dustry because of its rich soil and dry autumn, when the seed is harvested. But before the seed crops are grown for com- mercial plantings by farmers, the various strains of vegetables must be scientifically bred by cross -hybridization, single plant selection, and in other modern scientific ways, so that the end product can be harvested for ultimate consumption as fresh, canned, or frozen vegetables, * * Take peas, for instance. If the variety is for the fresh shipper or the housewife who wishes to shell the peas per- sonally, the crop must mature over an extended period so that the fresh shipper always has a supply to move to market. To accommodate the canner oz freezer, the entire crop must ripen all at one time so the processor can get it all har- vested and packed in one eco- nomical operation over a period of only a few days. * * * Hence the seedsmen must de- velop different strains to meet different requirements, so that the housewife gets what she wants in appearance, whether sheds opening a can, carton, or individual pea pod. String beans and lima beans must also be bred for the same qualifications as peas. e ,k Another important point the seed grower and breeder must keep in mind is that all these vegetables must be adaptable to machine harvesting, as "stoop labor" is not only sky-high hi price compared to earlier days but also increasingly scarce. * * * A very few years ago carrots were shipped in bunches with their tops on. Now, because of high freight rates, the shipping of the tops which the housewife cuts off anyway is dispensed with and the carrots shipped in cellophane bags. Hence a differ- ent shape of carrot must he bred. * * * The standard for canned to- matoes is much more stringent than a few years back. A much higher quality tomato is de- manded for this purpose, with smooth skins, small cores, and less seeds than previously. Re- quirements for green wrap to- matoes also have changed. * * 4 Spinach is losing ground to broccoli, the vegetable ideal for freezing because it does not re- quire the severe washing needed for spinach, is easily handled, and retains its color. Here again freezing types are different from those that are cut and shipped fresh. These are only a few of the many changes in the seed -grow- ing industry, which today is a combination of laboratory, greenhouses, seed beds, cleaning mills, grading machines, condi- tioning tunnels, and automatic packaging lines. In other words, the seed breeders on one hand must have seed that will provide the product the housewife wants, while their merchandisers must package the seed in convenient, attractive airtight oontainers for the convenience and protection of the ultimate seed buyer. * * * Not only are the seed Beide patrolled and the off types up- rooted before they spread their ;pollen and contaminate the haze- Vest, arvest, but great earn end atten- tion must be given to various varieties of the same species so they will not cross-pollinate from field to field, The Isola- tion problem isa matter of miles in many cases. * * * Harvesting is mechanized as far as possible. Windrowers cut radishes, cabbage, broccoli, and other items and windrow the plants so that after drying, a moving pickup threshing ma- chine can handle them, Garden peas and beans are mechanically harvested. Vine seeds such as cantaloupes, cucumber, squash, and watermelon are picked by hand but carried by a conveyor belt to a machine which auto- matically crushes, washes, and extracts the seeds, dries them and ejects the pulp and rind. Lettuce is threshed and bagged by machine in one operation. t • * In cleaning, the seeds pass over shakers that bounce off the dirt, rocks, and other foreign material. Other shakers separate the seeds by weight, shape, or size. FACING FACTS - A pretty Nas- sau vacationer reminds the beach crowd that Halloween is just around the corner as she sips refreshment from a pump- kin -faced Bahamas coconut. Sneezers' Battle Still Continues Unlike the 17 million Cana- dians and Americans who suffer violent reactions to ragweed, roses, raspberries, nail polish, antibiotics, or a host of other substances, Dr. Frederick G, Germuth Jr. hasn't a single al- lergy. Yet even as a medical stu- dent, this freckled red-haired pathologist was fascinated by the enigmatic way in which al- lergies hit one out of ten Ame- ricans and leave the other nine alone. A few months ago, the 36 - year -old doctor - now one of the nation's top allergy re- searchers left his teaching job at. Johns Hopkins Medical ;School to take charge of an al- lergy -research project at Memo- rial Hospital In Charlotte, N.C. Last month, as his new under- taking was set fully in motion, Dr. Germuth had specific ob- jectives squarely in his sights. "My particular interest," he said, "Is the relationship of allergies to other diseases - rheumatoid arthritis, for in- stance, Allergies and many dis- eases overlap, We are trying to nd out how they differ. But most of all, we will try to find the mechanism by which allergy works." To achieve this aim, Dr. Ger- math has been furnished with a fully equipped seven -room la- boratory at Memorial Hospital. He and his six - man staff (whose salaries will be paid by a grant from the National Insti- tutes of Health) will study the reactions of rabbits and guinea pigs to allergy -producing sub- stances (antigens). Like humans, these animals produce an anti- body to antigens. The reaction releases a powerful chemical, histamine. Most researchers be- lieve that allergic reactions re- sult when histamine damages blood vessels in the skin (pro- ducing hives), the mucous mem- branes. (hayfever) or causes spasms in the muscles of the bronchial tubes (asthma), Dr. Germuth has, however, already found some important flaws in this explanation. "Our recent experiments at Johns Hopkins," he explained, "show- ed, that marked damage to the clear cornea of the eye may be produced by allergy, even though this tissue has no blood vessels. "Our work also has strongly suggested that, contrary to cur- rent medical concepts, antigen and antibody need not meet in the body to produce an allergic reaction, Some other factor or factors must, therefore, play a role. We think that another pro- tein in the body, oalled' comple- ment, is also necessary." First goal of the project: "To deter- mine if complement is really necessary, and then find out what it is and where it is made. The need of this sort of basic research was stressed a few weeks ago by U.S. Surgeon Gen- eral Leroy E. Burney, "Allergic diseases," said Dr. Burney, "are only beginning to receive the research attention they deserve." SOUP SNUFFS BOMB During the rioting in Algeria a terrorist threw a bomb into a restaurant in which some French soldiers were eating. Happily for the troops the missile landed in one soldier's bowl of soup. The fuse sputtered then died out, and the bomb was removed to a safer destin- ation. qk JJNMY suloOl LESSON By Rev, R. B. Warren, B.A., B.!), The Baptism of Jesus Luke 3: 15-22 Memory Selection: Then said 1, Lo I conic . . to do thy will, o God. Hebrews 10;7. John was a humble man. He came to prepare the way for Jesus of whom he said, "One mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose." His baptism was of less significance than the baptism which Jesus would give; the baptism with the Holy Ghost and with fire. We can readily see why John felt un- worthy to baptize Jesus. The superiority of Jesus was con- firmed after His baptism by the - descent upon Him of the Holy Ghost as a dove and the voice from heaven, saying "Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I and well pleased," It was a most impressive induction service. In accepting baptism at the hands 01 John He approved of John and his work. For Him baptism did not symbolize the cleaning away of sin for He knew no sin. Rather it signified His being set apart for the great work that He was to do. Jesus baptized' His disciples with the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, ten days after His ascension in heaven. By this baptism He purified their hearts (Acts 15:9) and endued them with power to become witnesses, (Acts 1:8). No more do we see the carnal ambition as shown by James and John in their de- sire to have seats on the right and left hand of Jesus in His kingdom. Nor do we see the vindictive spirit as when these same brothers asked if they should call fire from heaven to consume the inhospitable Sa- maritans, Nor is there that ex- treme sectarian spirit as shown by John when he said to Jesus, "Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we for- bade him, because he foiloweth not with us." Luke 9:4.6-56. Water baptism is an ordinance and should be observed through. out the Christian Church. It does not change the heart but it symbolizes that God can take away the guilt and pollution of sin. The baptism with the Hoty Ghost is a gift for believers. All the outer signs present at Pente- cost may not accompany the receiving of the Gift but when He conies He will purify the heart and strengthen us to be witnesses. a ISSUE 42 - 1958 Upsidedown to Prevent Peeking, DAMAGE AREA - As tropical hurricane "Helene" hit the North Carolina coast, telephone and electrical service were knocked out throughout Wilmington and its nearby beach areas as. this photo shows. Winds were up to 100 miles an hour.