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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1925-04-30, Page 7For oys a Girls THE CROW'S NEST. e "I think perhaps it ' would be .a BY LUCY RANDAL COMFORT. "Some one must go for the doctor," said Mrs. Bray, "PH go," said Johnny. "What?" said Mrs: Bray, half smil- ing, "three miles across the mountain- side, in ell this deep snow?" "I've often carried my father's din- ner to him when he was in the maple - sugar camp," said Johnny, "end that's half a mile further than Doctor Den - tons. It's something of a walk, to be sure." " I slimed think so," said Mrs, Bray. "Bat,I think I could go gtiicker than any one e:so," said Johnny, as he look-' ed pitifully at the little .babe in the cradle, whose dimpled face was all flushed with fever. "I love Wild, yon know, end—" And hero a great lump seemed to rise up'in his throat and check his ryes ds. Johnny and Will were' motherless children. Their father earned:his live- Hheod by nutting pines in the forests, taming umber, and doing odd jobs generally, whenever he could get a chance. Their mother had,died a few months before, and a kind' neighbor had offered a home to the children, for tap sake of the littleerrands and - chores that Johnny could _do. Mrs. Bray was very kind to them, arid took the best possible care of the baby; but there was many a night I when Johnny lay awake, softly crying to himselt, with its arms ms ehorter cut," he thought, "if I could get clown to the raihoaid track, and walk on that as far as thetGreat Gray Rock, and then cross the ice -pond to the old road." He scrambled dowry the steep and e onan side of the bleak mduntein, and soon calve to the single railroad track, upon which a passenger train ran at eight in the morning going south, and five in the afternoon - going north. There was e freight at noon also, but this had passed by long since. "It must he near five now," thought he, "I shall hear:the. noise of the train. as it comes; and,. besides, they always blow a whistle at the Great Gray Rock " Ho walked along swiftly and stead- ily, his hands deep down in his pock- ets, and his nose purple with cold. Suddenly he stopped. "It's very strange that I don't see the Crow's Nest," he said, aloud, as if he were talking to the yellow sunset in the West. The. Crow's' Nest was a long -desert- ed nest of sticks and straw and reeds in the d'ecayed`.boughs of a pine tree, lightning - blasted p•which, from its pe - culla', position, could be seen for some distance away by any one approaching from the northern side of the moun- tain. And just 'then Johnny came around the ,curve of the woods and saw, to his amazement, that the old pine, decayed at the heart, and tossed about by the tempestuous Marcli Fiore ie a rare and excluseve photograph o1'�'Kiri Geaneae. cho"l in,,'in hie arms the Infant Prince of Wales; `Tlre•;.pa•init comes ,.from.'theraIi slate album of Queen Mary mid has never before been pull laked. Famous Hymns Based on Apostles' Creed. How many lovers of music know that the "Apostle's Creed," with which so many churchgoers are famil•ier, forms around had split half way down, and fa ern the nock, and thinking of the dear,'g, 1 a huge, splintered mass: across +t,� the worlds most famous hymns? dear another he had lost. And it wa :ton taus ox the track. hes greatest ambition to obtain a goodAnd this was the .reason John - situation in' the neighborhood where :iihat land- elp. ny had failed see the familiar land, he could tarn a little money and help l mark of the :Grove's Nest, support 'Will.' "What shall I do" Icor I into v , is I cried Johnny � that my father very aloud. "The poor," said Johnny, "and if I could' arou • 1 e drain comes rushing the only assist him, I know thaten the bel b ataye, and all hadd Would , be pleased!" mother passengers will be 1tilled 1:Oh if I d! I but a iced lantern to signal,'"Dan ger "Well," said Mrs: Bray, after a little i," g ahead, He stopped a ,minute trembling mlY mg like a leaf, to think what he had better do; and then, starting to run at full speed; he rushed headlong clown the track, waving his scarlet: comforter over his head. At the top of the snowyyhill by the Great' Rock, he knew that he could be seen for a long distance, and, by dint of great exertion, he conceived to reach this vantage ground before the. shrill whistle of the advancing train such a gale as might make mariners w 11 hoard, tremble on the deckswas of a down -of the here, whin; of great ships, .increased the peril. of situation- standing far out to sea—a gale that and Johnnystood shook the tops of the trees, and made d there, the scarlet -•�- comforter fluttering above his head them groan and creek as if giants in pain wore hidden within their huge, mossy trunks. hesitation,' "I think you had better g�So Johnny ' put on his cap and tied his faded worsted comforter about his neck. An overcoat was an unknown -'ea luxury to him, but his coat was warn and snag and he Set off at a brisk walk, that •was almost• a run, he the frozen -sunshine, over the mountain- side, that was white and glittering with snow. For all the daszling sunshine, a tre- mendous gale of wind was blowing— as if he were a little statue, cut in ebony, sharply outlined against the And }rove ,Johnny found his µ ae bright western sky, where the stn was through those trackless woods hanging, clouds. great globe of gold, above where there the blackBonds. there t e5 no path, except here and "Now if the engineer onlysees mei" he -paw -marks of a stealing fox, thought•Johnny, his little heart beat - or wild -cat, or the velvety' tracks of ing like a trip-hammer, as he could rabbits, nobody could. guess. I do not hear, above the rush of the wind and think that Johnny knew himself, the creaking of the tree boughs, the He kept his eyes steadily on the sun, hoarse whistle of the train as . it and now and then paused, to look for 'rushed onward through the steep rude signs cut in the bark of the gorge beyond. birch -trees, which served as a sort of And the engineer did see hien, guide -post to him. Small as was Johnny, and insignifi- After a long walk, crossing two or cant as was his ensign of danger, the three frozen streams, and getting over snow -crested hill and the orange sun - a huge, rocky chasm by means of a set made so strong a background for fallen tree -trunk -which groaned die- him that they instantly perceived that racily as Jointly picked his way across something was wrong, and whistled it, as if it had half a mind to snap the signal for "down brrkes," itself in two and let him down among And the lives of the pasengers were the snowy rocks below—he reached saved, and al through the courage and the (lector's house, on the other side, presence of mind of a boy twelve years and left his message. old.• "Tho doctor isn't in," said 'Miss Children, this is a true story. It is Phoebe., the -debtor's sister; abut I'll a thing that reallyhapened. And you tell:hint the very minute he gets back. will bo glad to hear that one of the He can drive around by the road, and! officers of the railroad company had perhaps he'll be there before you are." Johnny appointed to a Medd place at "I hops so," said Johnny, wistfully, the nearest station, where it was his "because our baby is very sick,'_ duty to signal every approaching You'd better stop sand have -a bit of train, with a flag. dinner," said Miss Phoebe. "It's most "For," said the gentleman, "I ready." u g feel sure T can trust a lad as that." "Oh, Lhenlc you!" said Johnny; "but Little Willgot well n 1 couldn't sta —I must goodand that walk y get back b 1 dates all his : luck from walk Will. I can quiet him better than any down the mountain -side, when the. one else, when he retailing and fret- 1 March winds were raging in the for - fat" este, ail d the Crow's Nest crashed fur - So Miss Phoebe gave him a drink of . iously across the iron 'lines of the milk and a piece of hot gingerbread,I railroad track, and he started back home again. --d g Curiosity is like electrY, helpful icit p 1 or harm£ui according to the way we utilize it. tt was getting on toward sunset now, and Johnny was anxious to get home. If readers answer this question In the negative, then the following infer illation will be notonly interesting, but instructive as: well. There lived in Ireland, some 30 years ago, a very celebrated woman, Mrs. Cecil Frances Alexander, wife of the' Primate of the Church of England. This Mrs. Alexander, although long since gone to her reward,;ivas deeply interested in the Sunday School of their church, and wished to teach girls and boys the great truths of the Bible. She drought that one of the beet ways in which this nttght be done was through song; for, if the girls and boys learned hymns which contained these truths, and sang them after- wards, they would never forget. At one tine she took one clause and an 1 other of the "Apostles Creed," and wrote one hymn and another, that, through these, the,yeueg might learn the Faith of the- Church. She began with the clause, ' I belive in God the Father Almighty, 'Maker of heaven and earth," and wrote the beautiful nature song— • "A.11 things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all," Then .she passed the words , 'Anti in Jesus Cheest, His only Son, our Lord born of the Virgin Mary, For this she wrote— "Once In Rdyal. David, City, Stood a lowly cattle shed, Where a Mother laia her baby In a manger for Hie Bed: Mary was that Mother mild, Jesus Christ her little Child," This is not only a Christmas hymn, but even more, a song which tells of the childhood and youth of Jesus as the ideal 'of all young people. Then when she came to the great clause,' "Suffered under Pontius Pil- ate," she found it very difficult to put the mystery of the Cross into simple words. At last her difficulty disappear- ed and she taught of Jesus; Who died for es, -in the hymn— "There 15 a green hill far' away, Without a -city wall; Where the dear Lord was crucfiled, Who died to save us all.". Thus we have these throe :world-fa- mous hymns written with the "Apos- tle's Creed" as the background. Dickens' Originals, Dickens' originals continuo to be in great demand . and' make as much money as they 'ever did. At an auc- tion recently a_gopy of "Pickwick Papers""in the original parts realized $3000. Good nature is good business. The Calan Mind:" • To cone tnto•the presence of a tran- gull 'spleit is like finding the deep silence at the heart of a forest or be- side the still waters of a pond that mirrors mountain -walls, Existence, for too many of us, re- sembles the erratic, fruitless agitation of gnats in the summer sunshine. They dart hither and thither while their brief ray holds., but the power of wings has taken theme nowhere. They keep with the same crowd, repeating the' slily gyrations,. "A fly," says Emerson, "Is as untamable as a hyena," Every human being is on earth with a prospect 'of usefulness before him, though adverse circumstance may "SIE GUILTY 0 ES By E. Voorias. The writer having camped for n season. in the lake country of Ont and having visited the forests' of C arla from New Brunsvfek to 'Vane ttourists and inexper'Ienced canlpers. alio ( It is not ill•will on their part, by any aut' .n- means, for hi almost every instance on- it is found that they had no idea of the en 'danger, never thought trust such a 111- ses iOle spark :could start a conflagration, and often thought that their lire had: ten been extinguished; They resemble the gen•' matt who thought the gun 'woe not ob., loaded, at, . Perhaps they, aro elevate camp and es, the sen Is staining brightly.: No fire is, ch of course, visible among the cambers ver island, Is qualified to expresson opiniregarding the Principal eau of .our• forest time. Lightning anti railways have or boon considered to bo Iwo priaite.a' cies for starting finest fires. MY sarvaticns lead me to believe th compared with the alder agenci these two are inferior, because su Orem. as are occasioned by lightning are nearly always exthtguished by the acconlpattying downpour 01 rain, and, as concerns the railways, Ole com- panies are most diligentin watching, and In taking precautionnaey measures: I have often found trees which hath been ignited by lightning and 1 were 1 CANADA'S FOREST LANDS 'We very fragile/lay iooit cu the Pos- session of land as an index to prlvato and public worth, and we in Canada 1iceto think of size as a measure of ourworth and importance within the 1 Dmpire and the world. If the possession of land is any in - titration of worth 01.ilixliortanee it must be that it has some value other than merely so much sand and clay, Land, as such, is like money, we can in- the bright light and so they infer- not eat it, we.canoot wear it, it Is that the camp -lire has` burned Itself 'valuable only as a heave! to an end, out. They embark, gaily siugleg, lit. only in s'ofar se 11 will fill or supply tie dreaming of the trouble brewing. 11 human want. Except for a compare Soon the morning haeeze anises and lively small area regoii'ed for building Sans the dying ember ini.oflame, sites., roads, recreation andlike par- Hoursmay pass before 'the volume of !loses, land'Itas no value only in so faras wo make use of its power to support plant life ofYa kiairl, valuable to man - }:lad. • smoke has become sufficiently large only partially committed owing to the to attract the attention of .the rengere rain. anal the fire is well under way before Three classes, of,people aro chiefly say attempt to exiuguish it can be responsible far our forest fires' and the 'made. psychology of their actions stews only The only sate way to enjoy a camp - two motives: one is the clearle defined fire is to build it rock surfaces, or intention of turning the forest and clear soil, such as sand and gravel, at the other is pure careessuessbased a considerable distance away from most frequently on Ignorance of for- any moss or forest earth and near the est conditions and exaggerated self- water edge, Ina sheltered spot where oonHde'rce,t I'I the wind cannot scatter sparks, and The Prospector.. v .1 then itisalways eIsaasaprecaution First, consider those who have been: ary .meausre to have a full pail of known to set fire to the forests on pule water standing by, pose. People are alaxious to discover Cigarettes and cigars are enenaes rich vein,, of minerals and a certain :of the fo'est; they have ;,already des - section of he country is known to by troyed ,timber to the•value of millions. metalliferous, but over that sectioke..It is not sate to throw away any there may happen' to be a large and cigarette butte. What then? A man ancient forest. The ground is carpee can't swallow them! Why, elvish them ed several inches deep with moss and on a rock, or better still, never have decaying Pores't leaves and debris, ab - nay to dispose of. A pipe is the only solutoly preventing the seerolt for proper meane of sleekingIn the wo ode„ w odr-. mineral veins,. IY the forestwere not andthen only when the bowl has a per - there, the melts would be visible, and foratett•'cover. As for matches; a real to expose the rocks the prospector has' woodsman always crumbles the after. been known to set the forest alight. glow between his fingers. Then lie What then? It awakes little difference knows the fire is dead. to him, he is interested only in min -'rhe Careless Settler. make(1 i . The settler who is burning tree Lops, Thereare others who have been seen starting fires, incredible as it inrush, and cidshtmhr another seri- seems to any right-minded person, ons offender who through pver•eonfl Men are out of work, perhaps they are deuce has destroyed many hundreds of square miles of beautiful forest. The hungry and under such etrcurustanoes their stook of good -will toward,,. others great nliramtchi fire of 1855, which Thie being so, we, 08 Canadians, must ask ourselves how far we are ,Justifying our frequent boast: and pride in the fact that Canada le the largest single possession in the British Ernpre, As Canadians, we can boast of a ,coun- try of approximately two billion, three hundred million acres le extent, but unless we eau go farther• . and show that we intend to make this productive of some form of wear], 0115 boast must be largely an elle care. The pos- session of mere<aeres Means nothing and signiileanee is attached to the fact only when those acres have been dedicated to `the production of farm crops, timber crops or to s.onte other useful purpose. There are numerous land -crops aria all vary la their soil requirements'% Those that we. ordinarily "understand as farm crops vary one with the other, but as a class require for their best development a soil of high fertility and a favoreblephyslcal niake-np.,For- este are a crop that are muck less ex- acting iu their minimum eon require- ments. tis in agricaituraI crops the s'egur•ementa vary with the species; our hardwoods as a class demanding a better soil time our conifers for their best development. But to this dif- fereuce in the soil requirements of is running pretty low. The world owes burned over 6,000 square miles of pre their respective crops, agriculture and seam to constrain and fetter his. volt -1 them a living hut somehow the living ; white pine forest and took toll forestry are not laimical.but are in - tion, He has a work to do, lay his lass gone to other's. Good of 200 ]ryes, and the fire at FIailey'buty terdependent and the development. wages areof coeval ,note example, of meatt or valorous peid to the fire fighters, as long as thein 1923, were startedfromemail brusdl one 1s going to be aided and hastene a performance, he changes the aspect flea:lasts. It is not :suck a ram's ince flees in clearing laud. As long as the by the development of the other. ' that life wears for those around hint. dent for men so situated to s read 50 10r 010 00nfine his small flriugs to Re Conscious of a charge to keep, the'mires already started and even , open clearinge there is net much don• mote Posslblitfea to be ger' but when the w' l t d } stn a leaders of mankind are those who with serenity and self-control tale whatever• the day brings. None of, ns enjoys im- munity from pain or a monopoly of pleasure. Look behind the scene in the life of one apparently care -free and you may easily find burdens that the world knows not, carried with un- faltering hope and faith, and in, tran- quility that never cries rebellion or despair. There are no riches in a:bank vault or a jewel casket that compare with •i g beautiful thnb i otherwise rnai the treasure of a mind at peace though besot with vexing problems and lauda ford better protection our national for - to 'development ell! probably fall The Summer Tourist, to another alarms. The man who titles himself est resources will be irretrievably generation. Three hundred can rule his Pate. To suck ls; it safe to But by far the greatest offenders are lost and our playgrounds converted mlleu acres or 12%of our land area, instruct the..administratton of affairs the careless, oner•conficlent. a conflagration, Wholesome In- struction risesand the in the value of the nation's sparks are scattered, then the danger forests might be given to such moil begins. Old stumps- and roots will were they required to saw wood for a burn for any days and while ignited few years within prison walls. area source or constant danger, We have already noted that the total area of the Dominion Is approximately two billion, three hundred million 001.05. Of this tremendous area, It is estimated that 084% .composed of our and lauds north of the Relry-Ittekers constitute another The protection of our foreists from barren lands class of people who constitute utiy set lire fire tequhes rensfaut watchfulness, n cltntallcal limit of agricultural mope to the woods in anficlpatlon of a spec! higher degree of public intelligence and ntercilantable timber, has only crop of berries in a year or two, wktile and appreciation of the -forest value, problematical possibilities, It is no such tires are generally confined W le and the utmost consctentionsiiess and doubt rich in fur and Isle it peobably small second or third growth bush, yet good -will on the part of those who fee. carries tries valuable mineral, its caribou' tiro., pfteu spread when a high wind quem the forests, The national lose ill ay be oomnterclalized or it may be rises from semi•cloarings 10 the deep be Limber s now incalculable made -productive, but these forest d unless the eitizene of Canada at. possibilities seem at least remote and in private business or the statecraft of a country. Those who consume their energy in fret and worry need to ob- eerye and fellow the way of those who abstain from turmoil, conserving their strength for any crisis through an equanimity that nothing' can destroy, For Whose Good? Lady Visitor—"Wonderful roads you have here; but who'S 'benefited by them besides the'mbtorists?„ Hoot --"I =might 'mentipn the under - Gray of the Elegy."Probably on the whole the poem most read and quoted and remembered in the English language," Mr. Gamaliel Bradford In a recentluteresting study of Gray terms the Elegy in a Country Churchyard. But it is certain that knowledge nowledge of the poet dons not by any means correspond with the continued popularity of his mostet piece, "In appearance Ire wits a' little, trim tidy penton, very dignified, rattier con- ventional, rater unapproachable," says Mr. Bradford, and he quotes Horace Wslpole's` description- -they had been friends and comrades'in youth and af- ter a break were frieniis once more H in later years: "e is the worst com- pany in the world;from a melancholy turn, from living reclusely and front a little too much dignity he never con- yer$es easily. His writings 'are ad- mirable; ire himself' Is not agreeable." Gray, proud, self-consclons and shy', was quite aware of his. own lack of the social gift "People in. high spirits three women that laughed from morn- ing to night and would allow nothing to the sulkiness of my dtspositIou. Geometry and cards at home, parties by land and water abroad anti (tyliat they tail) doing• 'something -Unit is, racketing about from morning to night —are occupations, I lied, that wear alit ]lty apirife," Ire did Manson injustice in etuplo ing the word "selkleses," for sulky h assuredly ' was not, even though Is withdrew into his shell turtle -yes when his quiet was assaulted by ra keting company. A scholar, en ant quarlan, a recluse, given to low sgirits and indolence and able better to enjoy humanity I- letters and at long range than at close quarters, he was: and fortunately lie, was able for most of his life to indulge iris tastes to the full in the'acholastic shades of Cambridge. Tranquillity, twilight and silence ap- pealed to Iiim; and he humorously re- cognised a natural attinity with the, bird of wisdom.t when he wrote to a rieard : "I keep an owl in the garden as like i1e as it can stare; only 1 do not' eat w meat nor bite people by the lin- ers," s estimated, are capable of growing agricultural crops. Tito remainin 83,0 or seven hundred and sixty-five million acres are unfitted 'or agrion]-, tore but are capable of producing tlm- ber of a merchantable size and quality. If our boast and pride in the: extent of the Dominion is not to bean idle one, we utast keep or make these. lands productive. Our forests products ars to -day, in point of value, second only to these of Y- agriculture. They are valved at three e bemired Int/lion:dollars annually, their e production gives a livelihood to half a e lumens people, they provide an export 0- balance'of two hundred million dot. 1- ta• ts. I " L thus industry Is to be main- tained and Increased wo must keep our forest lands productive—we must practice forestry-. Forest fire protection is not forestry, it is a. means only to that end, but tor - est -fires are to -day the greatest single deterrent to the practice of forestry zy In Canada. Preceding any proper man- r agement we must provide for the re- duction of fries on our forest lands to the hredndhle miaiinnm. Preventable by Human :Care. Ninety per cent. of Our forest fires are due to common agencies and are Ito that extent preventable by human care. Nine -tenths of our forest Ares. are started through carelessness, neg- ligence, _ignorance and a lack of ap- preciation of th Overheard. f An old lady being shown around and gayety overpower rite and entirely 1 Rochester cathedral by one of the ver- take away mine," he admitted.' "I ran 1, gers, arrived at a tablet, in'the nave yet be diverted with their sallies, but gR in memory of Charles Dickens. If they. ,appear to take entice of my Oh, she said, "I never, knew that dullness it sinks me 10 nothing," Light If hooses and mules were to maim Dickens was killed here, chatter: without, mit he found uuendur- or !rill only about one per cent, o{the "He wasn't, madam," replied the able• number of lnimans manned or kine verger, "but why do you ask?" "Per me'I am conte to my resting '•y it says, 'This Tablet was place and find it very necesary after erected by the executors,' "" living for a month in a house with 41 ,S'MA'TTER 'POP erettadaalaleault allele darer, r• v114 -t i5 T3T wli.lG'? - LIN CL. Sl 5idt-'15 101-J `5-l} o U t,'b- ` * C+1- me.. byautonobiles, in some cities at least these animals would very likely be denied the use of the streets. Uncle Si Was Mimalaadea•stood =--By C. M. Payne. si-IALL NOT E N-i-k-fi' "A N ANY 5uc44: U'zzEc`r$• tN afOU'R.-yucA'Tt0- 1111 1111111' 1111111111111111.I:Oap, '1d 001110101ine IIW wi (Copyright, 1824, by The 8811 •Syndicate, Inc, Aer- e vase-oi: mature and growing timber. Private and public organizations are .doing their best to prevent br' suppress forest tires, but the beat organization and the best equipment conceivable would meet with only partial success in the face of a public apathy but allows the des - traction each year of as muck timber as we use In industry, that allows the burning over each year of one million, three hundred thousandacres that should be ,eaowingsunpites for the fatttre, The Foveae Service of Canada ap- peals to every red-blooded Canadian for bis support, his sympathy, -his in. fluence in the 'campaign toe an en- livener} public interest In the conser- vation onservation .of our forest resources, par titularly the campaign against the ii needless destruottoby :fire that goes. on year after year, ' It. Is only in this way that seven hundred and sixty-five million acres, of our lana eau be made productive, can be made to reduce, our taxes, .can be made an asset and tot just so many acres cf waste,Oli " iHDLP TO PREVL''NT FEST , IRIOS—IT PAYS,"•--O,a/eoF+ayden,