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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1924-05-15, Page 6a 0hr; eeople' Roasted and pack c1 same clay in airtight cans For the B.yS Girls THE LOST HALF HOUR,. "Mother says I may stay a whole 1 our l" announced Patty as she rao into Rachael's yard. "0 goody!" Rachel dropped a pail- ful of sand and ran to hug her little friend. "We'd better go in and look at the clock now," said Patty, who was Just learning, to tell time., "because mother told me to be sure to find out when it was tithe to go home." The two little girls raced into the front hall, where the tall old grand- father clock stood, ticking its slow "tick --tock." • "Why," said Patty, "it looks as if half my hour were gone already!" Sure enough, although it had_ been two o'clock when Patty came over, the big hands of the clock pointed to half past two. "That's all right," answered Rachel. "Daddy says that clock is half an hour fast; so your hour won't really be up till It says an hour and a half from now." Patty tried to figure that out, but it was a little too hard for her. Still it sounded all right, and so she nod- ded her head and ran outdoors to play in the sand pile. Rachel had a big pile of fine clean sand and many shining white clam- shells that she had brought home from the beach the summer before. To -day she was dyeing the sand al sorts of beautiful colors. She bad some. Easter -egg dyes that she had found on a cupboard shelf—yellow, green and violet, blue and red. "Let's play candy store!" said Pat- ty, her eyes sparkling with pleasure. "Let's make sand candy and put the different colored lumps of sand in the ehell''dishes and play we're selling candy to all the children." Rachel was delighted at the idea. "But first we must make the candy," she said. "Let's play that the pink sand is peppermint and the green is wintergreen. We can make mud pies for chocolate." .The little girls went busily to work. They put a drop of color on. a clam- shell full of sand and then mixed and patted it carefully. By accident a little red got into the yellow sand and made it so pretty that the girls decided to call it orange candy. They had such a good time and were so busy that neither one noticed how fast the time was going until suddenly Patty jumped to her feet and brushed the blue sand from her little hands. "My hour must be up!" she said. "Let's go and look at the clock." They ran back into the hall. "Your hour is just up," said Rachel. "This clock says an hour and a half, but you know it's half an hour fast. 0 dear, I wish you didn't have to go; we were just ready to sell our candy." Now about that time Patty's Uncle George had come in his big automo- bile to surprise Patty and her mother and to take them for a long ride, "Where's Patty?" he asked. Mother looked at the clock. "Why," she said, "Patty ought to have been home :from Rachel's half an hour ago. I wonder what's the matter? She is always so good about coming home when her time's up." Just then the front door opened and in came Patty. "Where have you been?" her moth- er asked. "Just over to Rachel's," answered Patty. "But, Patty," said her mother, "I said you could play with Rachel an hour, and you stayed an hour and a half. I don't know whether a little girl that doesn't mind her mother should go riding with Uncle George or not "Patty's eyes began to fill with tears of disappointment. "But, moth- er," she explained, "Rachel's daddy says their clock is half an hour fast. So don't you see, when it says an hour and a half it really means an hour." Mother looked into Patty's sober lit- tle face and saw that she meant what she said. "It's all right, dear," she answered with a smile. "Mother sees that you thought you were minding. But lis- ten to me, Patty; even. if a clock is fast, an hour is an hour all the same. W}ll you remember that?" "I will, mother, I will." Patty's face brightened, but she still looked puzzled. "I wonder what became of, that extra half hour?" "It got lost, I guess!" laughed' Uncle George as he swung Patty up on his broad shoulder. "Now suppose I we go riding.'—Marjorie S. Rose, in Youth's Companion. I. A Soldier's Summons to Death. By Victor Cyrill ' killed a week later while taking his i daily bath under the enemy's fire; and' also Miss Plunkett, who had succeed -I ed the lamented Willy Frush, killed at Ladysmith, as correspondent of one of the London don newspapers. "It was during the Boer War, in which I served as a major in the Col- ville division," said John Boxley, with a little frown, as if it gave him small satisfaction to tell us the story. "We were marching in Bloemfontein, pur- suing the army of General Cronje, who had succeeded in reaching the cover of some mountains. "A commando, about four hundred and fifty strong, barred our way. The flag of the two republics floated in bravado on the summit of the plateau opposite our position. Climbing a kopje I thought 1 could see through my field glass a thin smoke rising from the dry bed of a stream which ran down the slope toward us. I knew that. Boers were in the habit of sheltering themselves in these river beds, called dougas, which they used as natural trenches and from which they ! developed their fire with terrible ef- ficiency. I wondered if this donga was not equipped with excellent Mousers and with equally excellent machine guns, and if we were not going to fall ' into another of those traps with which we had already had various unfortun- ate experiences. "Hardly an hour after I had made myreconnaissance a young Beer offi- cer, who was also scouting, was cap Lured by our advanced posts. My first care was to question him. But our tent, pole was as communicative as he, I did not insist.I was in the presence of one of those children of the veldt who had answered their country's call with a rifleanda pocket Bible,from which they were never separated, and who knew no other. duly than to fight and pray. "It must be admitted that, in :spite' of their damnable ambushes, the 'Boers were chivalrous.` So. in order to prove that we were no less so, I al- lowed the prisoner to retain his re - Volvos and invited him to take tea with us later, in our' tent. "Some other clhcere were there, anionsanionsons them 13ob. Parker, wbo was ISOUE No. 20—'24, "The evening was close and the sky was irradiated with lightning flashes.1 The guns on both sides began to fire.; We recognized by the sound alI the' Boer pieces, which we had nicknamed.! Bob Parker had furnished the nick- names. This one, with a lash and a'. whish, was Susan Silence, The deep-: voiced one with the long reverbera-' tion was Billy Bou11i, The Boer off] -1 cer smiled tranquilly at these pleas- antries. Our own naval guns answer- ed. Then the duel ended. We could hear in the silence only the buzzing of the mosquitoes. " 'Do you play bridge?' Miss Pion- kett asked our guest, " 'Your countrymen taught me bridge in Pretoria,' he answered, 'for I have nut always lived in the veldt. But I play- very poorly.' "'Don't worry,' 1 said to him. 'We will not ruin you. We play for only a shilling a hundred points: "We played for an hour and be lost steadily. I almost regretted that I had urged ]rim to join the party. Sud- denly we saw him stiffen up, his eyes fixed and his body tragically rigid. " 'What is the natter?' Miss -Plum kelt asked. 'It is your turn. to play.' 'Hush; he said in a low voice, "The blood had left his face. And that pallor 1n a man of his stamp, who would not have batted an ye before a rifle barrel, was something fearsome. " 'Are you ill?' Mies Plunkett went on. " 'Listen to what I say,' he murmur ed. 'I ant your enemy, am I not? An implacable enemy. But, for the love of God, if in spite of that fact you have any .concern for my life, don't stake a inovement, or I am a dead man. A mamba has just coiled around my, leg.' `Our first Thought was to just break our chain. But we had self-control enough not to do so. The mamba is the inosi. .danger+ons serpent. in all South Africa ancl'Ilis bite is fatal. I could not help picturing him drawing back his head to strike with enorepre- cision his Poisoned tangs into the flesh of his. victim. Some of the old originals of the Great War held their annual church - parade in Toronto recently. Photograph shows the large banner which was carried in front of the column in memory of their fallen comrades. Boer was. He glared at each of us in turn as 1f to impress us with the need of absolute immobility. Then his eye fell on a bottle of intik standing on the table. 'You may perhaps save me,' he said. 'Let one of you pour the milk very carefully into a glass and put the glass on the floor. Then, if God wills, everything will go well.' "These words came from his throat without his lips moving, so much afraid was he that the least muscular movement would hasten the end by frightening the serpent,. We acquiesed with our eye, Miss Rlunkett, who could reach the milk bottle, had already filled the glass, when, yielding to a diabolical idea, I cried: " 'Stop!' "Then, addressing the Boer, I said: " 'You want to o save your life, But I also want to save the lives of my men. It will be oue service for an- other, This morning I ,saw thin smoke rising from the donga which runs down the plateau at a right angle to the Madder River. Is the donga occu- pied? Swear on the Bible to tell ane truly whether it is or not, and I will save you.' "His only answer was a quiet smile. The smile of a man who awaits an end worthy of him and which he wel- comes. It was splendid. Ise got up, calmly took the glass of milk and drank it, and then stamped on the floor, as if he were sending out a sum- mons to death, "In the same second we saw him crumple up, his face on the table." A Mercenary Thought. " 'The king is dead'—what's the rest of it?" "Collect his life insurance," Curious. "My new hired man Is a queer fel- low," asserted Farmer Mumblegate, "He is always bragging about what he can do and then not doing it," "He seems about like the ordinary hired man," returned Farmer Flint. "If he bragged about what he could do and then went and done it he would he quaint and curious enough to go in. a side show:' Port Said, in Egypt, gets on an av- erage only g inches of rami, yearly. London gete 54 inches; New York, 3 inches. "Slow and sure" is all right if you're quite sure you're not too slow. Primitive Broadcasting. Interest has always attached to methods used throughout the ages for the brcadeasting of news of import - To -day, when wireless makes light of distance, a sort of miniature system is adopted by thePutotnayo Indians of South America. They place twobam- boo poles side by side op the ground, and two others on top transversely Messages are tapped out in a Puto- mayan codo, and are transmitted by the earth to the next receiving station. In South Africa messages are sig- nalled by means of drums made of bark, the tappings on which can be heard many miles away. It was by this method that the defeat of Sir Redvers Buller at Colenso was made known to natives sixty miles distant. in the space of two hours. In the old days a fire was generally used to give warning of a threatened invasion. From the coast to a certain distance inland bonfires were erected on every hilltop. These were lit by watchers when they observed the warning beacons on thecoast burst into flame. So "from hill to hill the signal flew," and by this method the countryside was in arms, and prepara- tions made to resist the invader, Why They Wouldn't Marry In the course of a breach of promise case a ntau confessedthat he had avoided the marriage he had contem- plated because he had a fondness for a certain dish to which, ho discovered, his prospective bride strongly object- ed, and it was on this score that he broke off the engagement. A well-known man of letters once confessed that he had consistently shirked the ordeal of marriage be- cause it involved what was to him a still greater ordeal, that of proposing. And there were at least a score 00 w -omen known to this man and his friends who would have been only too glad to have been led to the altar by him! That none was destined to be so escorted was due, simply and solely to his rooted aversion to proposing. An actor, famous in his day, once declared that his reason for remain - Mg a bachelor was that he preferred breakfasting in absolute peace and Quietness! It was his custom, on rising at nine o'clock, to have his breakfast by the fire, instead of at the table in the us- ual fashion. The meal was laids'eady, and he simply helped himself, allow- ing no one to disturb him until ten- thirty, while he read his letters and papers in silence. To marry, he said, would mean the breaking of a long-establisbed habit, and because of this he declined to take the step. Crocodiles grow . quickly ,for the first few years of their lives; then their rate of growth slows down to about one inch a year. Mother9 s prescriptgon OHNNY is taking a prescription. His careful mother —the family. health doctor—ordered it. Her daily ounce of prevention—Lifebuoy Soap—works wonders in combating disease. Every day your children touch dirty objects and cover themselves with germ -laden dirt. Give there Lifebuoy —the health soap. •Lifdduoy protects The rich creamy lather of Lifebuoy carries a wonderful health element deep down into every pore. The skin is completely purified, and cleansed—delightfully stimulated. HEALTH OAP More than Soap - a Health Habit The odour vanishes after use, but the protection remains. LEVER BROTHERS LIMITED, TORONTO Lb -4-92 The Old Pensioner's Gift 1 The ministerofan English village at in his vestry receiving gifts of from the members of his church and congregation. His minis- try had been .searching and sound, fit to awaken in his people the right spirit of consecration, The fund was mounting steadily when one of the most prosperous' men of the community a wealthy mer- chant -entered the vestry. After shak- ing hands the merchant drew his cheque book somewhat ostentatiously front his pocket and proceeded to 'write a cheque for fifty pounds. The minister just glimpsed the figure as he was turning to speak to a' newcomer, an old -age pensioner, wrinkled and bent with four -score years of hard toil. Theminister greeted "him cordially. Laboriously the old man fumbled in his waistcoat pocket and coin by coin put ten shillings down on the table, "I really ought not to take this from you, my dear friend," said the minis-. ter, "You cannot afford it" "But you must!" replied the old man hi excited, quavering_ tones, "You must, sir; I've been saving this up all the year, and, I don't want to give to God what costs me nothing So the minister accepted the old man's gift and wrote a receipt for him. When he had finished he glanced round for his wealthy friend. But the man had vanished. The minister won- dered whether the attention- that he had given to the old pensioner had of- fended the merchant prince. He took, an affectionate farewell of his aged friend and to his heart thanked God tor such noble self-sacrifice, • Late that afternoon his wealthy Visitor of the morning burst into the vestry. He shook hands with the minister and placed- a cheque face downwards upon the table. "Did you see the amount of the cheque that I wrote this morning?" he asked, "Why, yes," replied the minister; "I could not help seeing that it was for fifty pounds." "And you remember that old pen- sioner's gift?" the man continued. "I do, indeed," said the minister. "Well, look at this," and the man turned' the cheque face upwards; it was for two hundred and fifty pounds. "I 'felt ashamed of myself beside that brave old boy,", said the merchant, "All the_ afternoon I've been fightingmy love of money, and at last I too have decided that I must not give God what costs me nothing," Later that day the minister sought out his old pensioner friend and said to. him: "John, do you know how much You gave to our fund to -day?" "Yes, sir," replied the old fellow, "ten shillings." "Not a bit of it," replied the minis- ter; "your gift amounted exactly to two hundred pounds plus ten shil-. tinge," and he told him the story. • The teacher asked George to `give the definition of a mountain. "A mountain," recited George, "is a hill only it is hillier than a hill." CHE OLET rings your friends close to you HE isolation and loneliness of the farm have gone. Friends miles apart are now neighbors. Cities once the mecca for holidays and market days only, are now only a few minutes away. On the other hand, the country places, the beauty spots of nature and the friends in the country are now within easy reach of the city folks. And an bringingthis service to Canadians, Chevroleel'-has gone beyond any other car built. Chev`ru?pt•; offers quality, depend- bility comfort and fuli'sq,uipment at .a price unapproached by any other -car in the world. 'Moreover by its low prices and easy payment plan, Chevrolet has further enlarged the group of those who can afford to own this fine quality car, and bring to them the enjoy- ments of motoring to a still greater degree. Before you buy a car at any price, see Chev- rolet. "Examine its fine quality thoroughly. Ask, for a demonstration. 0-116 Ask About The G.M.A.C. Deferred Payment Plan Or Economical Transportation.,, Chevrolet Motor Company of -Canada, Limiter] Oshawa, Ontarlo Dealers and Service Stations Everywhere, Cecil Talbot, of Jealandia, Sask., claims the distinction of being the youngest trap -drummer in North America. He started "when he was three 'years old, now he is four. He is a rnember of the fatuous Talbot Family , I "We ;sere all as terrified as tiro Orchestra, IT A1V'"l' E" DONE Mei',negation'. gets us nowhere., Goethe says `that the devil's work is ,constant denial, ltivery day,, in alt .wallcs of life, we nreet'those who'are afraid' of the main'htisiness of living and would run from it if they could. They are looking for a valley of no decisions through which some Prim- rose'path of dalliance is pleasant all the why. 'IThey would go 'where there are lotus flowers blooming, untouched by frost, and music sounds without a dissonance.. - These essygeers are the first to raise the cry, "It can't be done." from sheer unwillingness to rune. risk,. even though it b0 to save a •soul." It 1s simpler to postpone than to. decide,,' and to -morrow is as convenient a re pesitory as yesterday for all the things ''• we are eager to dismiss and to forget. Who has not belonged to drowsy boards whose only function seethed to' be to meet and highly resolve to do nothing at all? In sheer impatience with endless procrastination andheel talion, some strong, firm soul, of push- ing and uncomfortable initiative, rises in place.and insists' on action. That inconvenient restlessness 'is disturb- ing to the others, who must adjust their minds to the irritant idea and the rash proposer. But things are dons • because one who might be comfortably acquiescent dares to leave the smug, cozy nook where it is warm :and sheltered and go forth into space because his soul • is houseless however thick the walls about him, however close -pleated is the thatch above his head. He does not want to be comfortable; Ire wauts to be used by the power that stirs at the core of his being to leave this world,. though by ever so little, a more satisfactory, place -for the child•: ren- of God than he found 'it. He likes to: think of our little earth as not merely a footstool for the manifest power at the divine --a footstool to be kicked and spurned—but a throne, where troth and wisdom are to reign eternally. The universe wherein we became members when we were born is an in- finite suggestion of something to be done and of the power to de -it. We were not put here to dentui• forever and be dubious, but to mark out a course and adhere to it, decide at the risk of being mistaken,- to leave the twilight zone preferred by neutral, pal lid spirits .and take our stand, for bet- ter or for worse; with what we deem to be right and believe to be true. Crude Motor Roads Prove to be Great Help in Africa. Recent newspaper paragraphs des- cribing the new equiatorfal motor road from Nairobi, Kenya, to Mongolia, In the Sudan, furnish another instance of the steady and almost unnoticed open- ing up of the Dark Continent, writes C. Lestook'-Reid, F.R,G.S., in "The London Daily Mail.". Hitherto this ,journey has been a complicated and roundabout affair steamer up the Nile from Mongolia to Rojafe, where the river ceases to be navigable owing to the Foie Rapids; then 100 miles on foot, with baggage carried on the heads of porter, to Nimule, at .tris .Uganda -Sudan fron- tier; then steamer again, through a magnificent- game country, where great herds of elephants' still gaze as- tounded at this strange river mon- ster till driven off by the scream of the siren. Disembarking, the traveler boards an ancient, excessively uncomfortable lorry, which wheezes up the escarp- ment, taking him -to 14laslndi, and next day, if he is lucky, to Masindi Ports. Here he finds other steamers which take him, with a brief .railway inter- lude, to Kisumu, on Lake Victoria, whence the Uganda Railway will car- ry him without further changes to Nai- robi, But this journey takes a.t least three weeks, against forty-eight hours' run- ning time by the new road. All over Africa a similar process of accelera- tion is going on, Besides the road mentioned, various motor roads run from Nairobi, fostered by that enthusi- astic body, the Royal EastAfrica Auto- mobile Association, Uganda, Tanganyika. Nyassaland and the Belgians . in. the Cngo also haverealized the vast possiliilitfes of can• and lorry as a means of transport through the heart of Africa. But these Atriean motor roads are not the black ribbons of shining smoothness which the term conjure op.'s They would break the heart of au Eng;lsh motorist in five miles. One man an the Longido road from Nairobi to Arusha was chased for miles by a rhindfetos; another, in the Congo, charged a sleesstog lion, to the ' great discbmflture of botitspgrties, and the writer ,.once fell over a dlT1,---cp.n_,,,,...r, and all, because the road had forgot ten to go mi. Doors serious obstacle is that those rcarls'eau' only lie ascii in the dry; sea- son, and it will take man years to evolve a macadam which wilt with- stand the African mine- When he does cars will clash about nJl over Africa and the ekl happy-go-lucky sa- faris will vanish with other pleasant leisured things. Commerciallyit will be a great gain. But otherwise---? Our doubts •ai'e traitors, And make us lose the 'good we oft might win, By fearing to attempt. • —Shakespeare. Newsparpers - numbering 2,190' ars published in Great Britain and Ire- land; of these 421 appear in London. Ih