Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1925-09-03, Page 2For th B V s Girls HOW DOROTHY MADE A PROVERB..: It wad; an English spring morning, nearly five hundred years ago. Dor- othy Carter was walking along the road to the Manor'. House, with her cousin Bess, each With a basket of eggs• on her arm, and one behind the other, because the road was very muddy and there 'was only one good footpath, They were quaint little figures. Fashions for children had not been invented .thein, and they looked like little old women. Their rather shape- less 'frocks were of rough woolen stuff, of a nondescript color; and they wore. little shawls over their heads and shoulders, instead of hats, and heavy, clumsy shoes. To be sure, they each had a better dreea for holidays, and each a string of beads—only Dorothy had broken her string and lost half of them; but to -day was a working day, and they were going on an errand. The parents of both of them lived an the land belonging to the manor, and were retainers of the baron and Lady Alicia. A century earlier all the mon in the family would have been required to follow the baron to war and the women to render other services, in return for their homes and his pro- tection, Naw they had to pay rent instead, and the rent was generally Paid in supplies of milk and butter, eggs and poultry, To -day Dorothy and Bess were tak- ing the eggs for the weekly baking at the great house. It was an errand they liked very much, when they were allowed to take their time to it. It was a lovely walk, on a spring day—much pleas - 'anter than watching the chickens at home or, learning that tiresome spin- ning; and it was always fun to go to the great house. ' They would be sure to get some news to carry home, and would have some cake given them,and they might see the baron! if he were home, and Lady. Alicia and other great folks; perhaps they would see Mistress Edith, the baron's orphan niece, who ha( jus* come from London to live with her uncle, and who, ,they had heard, was very beautiful, "Doll," said Bess, looking backward over her shoulder, "mind the puddles, and don't get thyself splashed. Here's a big one we're coming to." "I have eyes as well as thee," said Dorothy. "Yon's the gate." «-="Phe fence -which the children had been passing ended abruptly, and there was a wide opening into the space beyond. This was not the great house. That was fifteen minutes' further walk; but Doi and Bess turn- ed in. "Just a bit. We won't bide," said Dorothy. "Only to see if they be doing any- thing,' said Bess, The place might have reminded one of a circus. Just inside the fence were rows of rough board -seats, and beyond these, where the ground sloped to- ward the centre, permanent stands of better seats. Looking past these to the centre of the large oval enclosure, which was half a mile long, they could see the "lists." This was where a tournament had been held the preceding summer. The seats and fences still remained end were being put in order again, and the place was a great attraction to the children and idlers in the neighbor- hood, as a circus' tent going up might he to -day. The tournaments of that time were not exactly Iike that which you read about in "ivanhos." They had fallen into disuse, with otter practices of chivalry, and had been revived partly as one of the spectacular amusements! of which the English people were al - says fond. There had been some practicing of feats of horsemanship yesterday, which had attracted many of the vii •lage folk and peasantry and a few of the gentry; and the children had been taken to look on. To -day there was nothing, except 1 that some horses were being led about! for exercise, but Don and Bess clam- bered over some boards and sat down,. just a minute "to choose which they would have," Doll chose . the white horse and Bess the gray. : "Wouldn't it be fine. to be a great lady and sit up in those high'seats?" said Dorothy. - "Sooth it'would;" replied Bess. Anel have a spangled train." -"'•And have the knights bow to you." "And maybe choose' you for the queen," "Lawks 1" . exclaimed Bess. "I should .think they would choose Mistress Edith some day," said Dbr- othy. " "She's pretty enough," "That wasn't Mistress Edith," said Bess. "She would be -too grand to sit on these seats." "It was," "No, it wasn't." This was the continuation of a quarrel of the day before, when they had both noticed a beautiful girl, who was a stranger, sitting on one of the seats near them. Dorothy hed been sure that it was Mistress Edith, the baron's niece and Bess had held a contrary opiniou. Dorothy jumped up in a huff. "I'l'l never speak to thee again!" she exclaimed, "I don't care!" retorted Bess. They were best friends as well as cousins, but they were rather apt to quarrel. You quarrel with your best friend sorr'4stimes. Well, these little girls were older than Columbus, and they didn't know how to read, and ate with their fingers, and believed in fairies; but people are very much the eame no matter when they live As Dorothy jumped up, her eye caught something• shining under the seat. >- "What's that?" she asked. "A pin, I trawl" answered Bess; peering under in her turn. They tried to reach it, but the seats were broken and a heavy board lay in their way. Both grew red in the face trying, but without success. "Who wants it?" said Bess, at last. "I'm going along" "Who wants it?" echoed Dorothy. "I do," "Do.thou keep on trying then," said Bess, "but as for me, we have pins 1aplenty at home." . This was a favorite boast with Bess, and, it nett'' -ed Dorothy as it al - I ways did. I Indeed, it was not only Bess but her mother' who was fond of talking about her pins, and not only Dorothy but her mother who was tired of hearing I of them. ! Dorothy's own mother had a few, 'but•Doll was too careless to be allow- ; ed to use them, and her clothing was jfastened on with strings and such contrivances. This made her the more anxious to -get this pin for herself, "Do thou go, Bess," she said. "But thou'it be sorry. Pll keep this myself when I get it." Bess tossed her head and walked off, remarking: "As many as two score pins, my mother has." "Bess crows as she were a duke's daughter," said Dorothy, crossly, to herself, pushing back the hair from her flushed face. Then she looked about and found a twig a few inches long. With this she reached further under the seat, and finally succeeded in drawing the pin toward her. You will wonder that she took all this trouble, but pins were very.differ- ent then and now. There were no pa- pers with a thousand for a few cents. Pins were few and costly, Not only gold and silver ones, which ranked among jewelry then as now, but even those made of copper or iron wire could not be had by very poor, people. This was about two inches long, made of copper wire, with one end, sharpened to a point and the other l' curled up for a head. It was a little! tarnished from the dampness of last night, but not very. i As Dorothy stood looking at the pin, an old woman whom she recogniz- ed as one'of the servants from the manor house, carie in -among the Seek 1%ijner (centre), Canada's famous naturalist at Iifngsville,'Ont.', with George Buchanan, millionaire coal king and philanthropist of Detroit. The latter, accompaufed by his brother, yearly takes a party of boys on an educa- tional trip through Canada. scolding'• way ay anti looking. at the ground as she walked. "Is that you, Dol:?" she asked, with a frown, when she caught sight of the child. "What are you loitering here for? Doubtless those eggs for the house. Your mother should punish you to break you of loitering on the road; but no, I'll warrant she don't. Children are not punished nowadays as they were when I' was young, and so they are all spoiled, Marry, if Mistress Edith had hada mother to box her ears for a careless maid, she wouldn't have lost it. Not but what her aunt will box then]," she added, her tone changing to one of pity. "So help me look, Doll." "What is it?" questioned Dorothy, feeling more like running away, for she was "a£eared" of old Martha, whom none of the children liked: "She's as careless as she can be, Mistress Edith is, and as headstrong, and she came here yesterday when her aunt didn't know it and no ono but that little chit of a Tib with her, and she lest a pin, She has lost so many that my lady said that for the next she should be beaten and go to bed supperless; and the poor child cried and begged me to find it for her." "Is this it?" asked Dorothy, nearly crying as she held out the pin. "Aye, that's it," said -Martha. "You've good eyes, I'll say that much. Come up to the house with ine and bring it." "You can take it, Martha, and take the eggs," suggested Dorothy. "No, come with me. There's a mes- sage to send to your mother," Dorothy was tired and rather cross when they arrived at the manor house, Martha had first walked fast and puled her by the arm, and then stop- ped, panting, and bade her remember that she was no longer a young wo- man. The manor house was a large build- ing with a stone foundation, an upper storey of frame and a low wing. The great hall which occupied the whole centre of the building presented a lively scene. At one end the floor was raised a foot or so, and this was the dining - room. The family had just finished a meal there, and the baron and his sons and his niece Edith lingered at the table on rough wooden benches, and were amusing themselves with throwing the bones left on their plates down upon the floor, where they were snapped at by several dogs that were whining and squabbling for them. Servants wore running back and forth removing the remains of the meal to another table in the lower part of the hall, and sometimes stop- ping to talk to each other or to stir the broth in the kettle that hung over the fire in the great chimney. The Lady Alicia, in a queer head- dress, and with a huge bunch of keys l at her girdle, had come down to sup- erintend the counting of Bess' eggs. f Bess had taken back her empty basket, and was eating a piece of spe- cial cake. jumping around hint, and even Dor- othy put in a timid word, for Mistress Edith, sure enough, was the lady they had seen yesterday, and Dorothy was right—and then she was so pretty! So the lady of the manor conrprom- ised with another box on the ear, and bade Edith give the, clilid something. Edith undid a blue silk handkerchief —a little faded, but pretty still—from her neck and -gave, it to Dorothy, in spite of Aeartha's grumbling com- plaint that it was above tho child's station to have sueh things. Dorothy's eyes glistened a moment, and then her face fell. "Dost thou not like it, child?" "Yes,. -sty lady, but I-I—oh, I wanted the pin so!" and poor Dorothy burst out crying. "I never had a pin," she sobbed. "Let lite give her the. pin, too, aunt," begged Edith. "It's an old one, thou seest." And Lady Alicia agreeing, the pin was given to Dorothy, whose eyes eparlcled like diamonds, and who bob- bed a dozen funny little courtesies. During all the somewhat noisy talk, Bess had been trying to get in a word and now she managed to say; "I saw it too. I saw it as soon as Doll." "Saw it, and did not pick it up? Then thou art a careless, wasteful child!" said Lady Alicia, severely. And poor Bess had nothing to say, for, of course, there was no use in boasting of her mother's pins before these grand folks. "Isn't this luck?" exclaimed Dor- othcy, when they were out on the goad again. "A pin and a kerchief, all in one dayl I'll :end them tothee once in a while, Bess. Art thou not sorry now that thou didet not pick it up?" Bess admitted, rather ruefully, that she was. "And Pin tired," she said.' "So am 1," said Dorothy. "I wish we hadn't so far to go. What's that?" It was a rumble of wheels, and in a minute a rough cart appeared around the bend of the road. "It's Uncle Wet" cried Dorothy, delighted; "and he'll give us a ride." The man who was driving the old horse stopped. "Good -clay, little maids!" he said. "Don't ye want to ride home?" Uncle Wat was very good-natured about giving rides when the cart was empty, and so he was a prime favor-' ite with all the children, The children c.ambe.red into the cart and held by the sides It jolted there about dreadfully, but they had never known anything better. Uncle Walt walked by the horse and told them stories. He knew every -1 thing on the road, and he could tell, wonderful stories, for he heti actually leen no Lo'ldon once and ISO seen the king. 1 In a very short time they reached the lane that led to their own homes, t and Uncle Walt set 'them down and' climbed in himself, and the old "horse plodded away.' "What a lucky day!" repeated Dor-, othy; and all from the pin. Dost thou see, Bess?" "Nor" said Bess, opening her eyes. Why, hearken now! If I hadn't' ked up the pin I shouldn't have it <, While Dorothy's eggs were being Tic counted, Martha produced the pin, and now.. told how Dorothy had found it. 1 "I 'sooth not," agreed Bess. I Lady Alicia had already discovered "That's one piece o' luck." Dor- I the matter and boxed the ears of her' othy held' up her hand and checked niece, who was grown up and an heir- ' then oil on her fingers. ",Then I ' ess, and now she further decreed that shouldn't have the kerchief. That's Edith should go to bed in broad day- two! Then we'd have coma away soon - light. - • , er, and vvouldn't have met Uncle Wat, But Edith was begged off, first by sand .tad the ride and Beard'the slot seats. I old Martha and then by the baron ay bout London. Three! four!" She She was talking to herself in a himself who passed, with the dogs kept her thumb suspended for a nio- MOVING liONEY- Elaborate Precauticns Are Taken Whei'neVea' Gold is Moved' From One Place to Another; l$aat a'Fortune in Securities May Change its Quarters With Very Little Fuss. A New -gorii bank recently meted to, new.promiSes, ,The.. gold se:3s'taken. through the .streets -in' armoured cars, escorted by a' small ariny 'of armed police and detectives.: The .ears them- selves were fitted with anarrangement for ,ejecting boiling steam in case of, an attack. ' Ccui:pare this with the flitting of a well-known bank in the Strand, Lor,- clon, when hundred of thousands of pounds worth of securities were moved in an ordinary brougham, with a couple of clerks and a porter in charge. Most of the geld, which bofore..tho War was current coinage, came from South Africa. Cold ,still comes from South Africa and, although: no longer minted into sovereigns and half- sove- reigns, is helillas reserve against paper money by the Bank of England and in other places. This African gold 'conies out of the mines on the Rand, and each mine casts its iuetal into rough bars. There is no -standard size, for the dif- ferent mines make bars •of varying sizes, but few, 1r any, exceed a•thous and ounces !a weight. No Hope for the Crackaman. At Johannesburg the gold is loaded into a vehicle calld the specie van, which is a long truck some. thirty feet in length, with two heavily barred windows on each ,side, It is a quite. ordinary -looking truck, being painted teak color to correspond with the rest of the •coachss of the train But its walls are of steel—very good steel, too, The most interesting part of this van is the safe which actually holds the gold, Even if a thief could get et the van and bore through its steel walls,, he would still be tillable to early the safe'aR'ay, for it is n''ot merely fitted to the frame, but actually a part of The train may be 'In a collision and the. van hurled down an embankment; yet the safe, with'_its precious contents, would remain intact. This safe stands in the centre Of the van, which is fitted up with berths, tables, seats, anda stove on which food can be. cooked. erhese arrange( meats .are'for the convenience of the three guards, who are picked men from the Transvaal Police, The specie van travels once a week, and the journey to Cape Town tabes about thirty hours, Unole Sam's "Interest," Dnning the whole of this journey the specie van remains, Locked from out- side, and the doors aro not opened un- til the ear is safe in the Cape Town clocks,na.t to the steamer which Is to take the geld to England, There 1,0 a. key kept inside the van, but this is in- side a glass case, which ]rust be smashed like a fire signal before the' key ea -n be removed. • When loaded into the steamer, the gold is placed iu a strong.e'oont, which is next to the captain's cabin, and when the steamer arrives in Britain the Bullion is transferred to a steel van attached to the Mall train, and so tra- vels to"tondon. As a rule, it goes straight to the Bank of England, When Britain sends gold abroad — for instacn'e, to the United States in order to play interest on the War debt —it is usually placed in wooden, iron- bound boxes each eighteen filches long, nine inches wide, and eight Inches deep, One box Bolds 8,000 eoves•eigns. Those boxes are each carefully sealed with four seals before starting their, journey. went, then brought it down. "Five is the difference,"4 she said hastily. Sho meant eras excitement of hav- ing a day dtflorent from ordinary days, but she didn't know how to say it, "Whenever thoudost see a pin, up," after this, pick it advised Dor- othy. "I shall tell hfs to a'.: 1 the folks he rule, I know. This is t Hearken! `See a pin.and pi Ail the day you'1 ood luck! See It pin and let itlfe Come to sorrow y!' " ck it up 1 have g by-and-by!' Oh, Professor! When a funny storyof absentmind- ednosa is published the victim is al- most invariably described as a"pro- fessor," We were beginning to think that the joke against .professors had. gone far enough; WO contemplated, changingthe profession of the victims of our future stories of absentminded - noes. After reading about the Austra- lian professor the other day,•'howsver, we have changed our minds! This is the story:— An Auseralian university professor has arrived in England a year earlier than intended: He is one of the Australian dele- gates to the Empire Universities Con- gress,.which is to open in London in July, 1020, and as he will have to re- turn homo before the Congress :3 held ho will have travelled 24,000 miles un - dor the nlioapprehenslon'that .his pre- sence was needed here now. A typist's error is said to be the. cause of his confusion. Last January the Universities Bureau of the Britt) Empire sent to Australia preliminary notices in connection with the Con- gress, but inadvertently the year was not rnentioaed. "We received a letter from Sydney University in March last informing us that all delegates in Sydney hand been warned of the error " said an official of the Bureau. "How it was •brat one delegate should be under a misappre- hension it is not possible to say. There is no reason why he should not have known that ,the Congress was next Year, for the typist's error had been corrected in tinge." Three of a Kind, Customer—"Ah, your steak Is like the weather this evening, butcher, rath- cr tough:" The Butcher—"Indeed? By the way, your account is like the weather, too --unsettled." .. Southern 'Alberta's wool clip this season will reach one million pounds. The N clue of this clip is estimated at '350,000. • Freak Lighting. In parts of the United States curious examples of "freak" lighting aro to be found. -onle cf these'ars illustrated by Mr. A.. L. Spring in a recent 'sane of the "Electrical World," Sierra Madre, a little' city in California, has a beautiful setting et oak trees, and it was felt that amongst these ordin- ary lamp pests would be unsightly, The designers solved the problem by lighting standards shaped like rustic oak, each carryinga lighting unit in the form -of an acorn! At Altadena, California, "Christmas Trees Avenue, lined with beautiful cedar trees, receives special illumina- tion at the restive season, from De- cember 20th. to New Year's Eve each year every other tree is decorated fro ui top to batten with colored lamps, Perhaps, however, ,the most singular form of public lighting mentioned was that adopted by an enterprising tract' owner whoinstalled lights, immediate- ly over the kerb, with protecting con - trete arches over them. This form of lighting would doubt- less llarnroniee with the views of those people who argue that public lamps are too high. No Danger. Baby Chicle—"Er—er— don't bo afraid, I only eat, worms!" Foiled This Time. While plying his "trade" one, even- ing, a buegiar carie to a house from. which issued screams, a womans voice and many strange noises. After summoning up his courage he. finally decided to enter with the use of his trusty jemmy and rescue the woman in distress. But he was chargrined to find that it was only a dtirelss enthusiast trying to tune a hone -made set! It -is believed that ::nby:onia exist- ed 6,000 years ago. The bonds and muscles of the hu- man body are capable of over 499001 different motions. REG'LAR FELLERS—By Gene Byrnes. A B -C -D -E -F ge B -C -D -E -F.... WAIT A M1Nr r %NPTAMAT! T THINK T SNOW WHAT COMES AFTER ate" S-,8 OH Vat -JAI -TA / DUMBELL' t ats1 \ EVEN KNOW THS \ ALPHABET AN' IA% DINKY optAN TVJIC•ET As LU. Ae YOU ARE: 2 1 KNOWS EVERY \ LETTER IN 1T1 \\line% T1•loUOl51 -7/7,., ,,t,\‘‘ Din-ky's Knowledge is Inherited. r SHOULOW HE KNOW IT' ills FATHERS. A LETTER CARMER HQ (Copy,,gh 1955, by 11,, Hell S n11,,,e. Inc.) :1ts- FLOWERS OF THE RO'Cl!ES; Swiss mountain roses .will be Iran planted this year to the gardens of the Banff and Lake., Louise hotels blithe Canadian Rookies in order not only to beautify the sur oturdings• of those In- teenetionally famous sunnier resorts, but also to demonstrate that, if given a proper start, "exotic flowers will flourish there just., P.S.well n,sln,the lower altitudes. Some time ago the Iceland .poppy was introduced at Lako Louise. In the intervening years this flower has rapidly spread, and now in ,the sun- mer the waving mass of golden colored poppI es causes the tourist to first ex- press admiration and then surprise ttrat such'boautlful flora exists atso high an 'altitude. These flowers, like tlao Swiss roses, while not incligenous. to the country, ,have been rowed' to flourish without ;eare and provide blooms that !1 t from the early Spring until the hard frost comes in the Fall,. A Multitude.of Alpine Blooms. While the introduction of these flow- ers has snot with gratifying success, yet it is cine to tho effort's of Nature— the Master Gardener—that tho Rockies have come to be -so bouutifn}Iy sup- plied with fowers. In a seemingly slipshod Manner,: yet with. the care of the most exacting .horLicnitiuist, Mother Nature has ce•rpoted the moun- tains that have been tested in the crucible of time and, found to be par- ticularly suitable for the Car}adian Rockies, Nor are .these Alpine flow- ers planted in specially fertilized soil and set out in a rigld, geometrical pat- tern. Instead, the 'seed has scattered. itself .tither and thither, falling and taking root in the valleys, in the swamps, in the tablelands, the ridges, along the banks of mivers aid around the shores of lakes. Even far up the fountain- side, one will find these Al - Pine flowers growing lustily in crevices where but a handful of soil is to be found, sufficient only to germinate and keep the seed alive. Already the Dominion botanists have identified, more than live hundred varieties of Alpine flowers in the Na. tional Parks of Canada ranging from the lower valleys to the grassy table- lands, situated over 6,000 to 8,000 feet above sea level Such flowers as the gafllardia, the orange lily, the flaming Indian paint brush, the purple placelia, the white flower service berry, s'hodo- dendrons, the exquisite pink twin - flowers, rose, red and white, heather, soxifrages, frail everlastings and num- erons va'rleties of little dwarfed plants are -only a few of the many that have been found and classified, It seems particularly fortunate that these mountain flowers do not all bloom at the some time, but follow one upon the other in such profusion that the Realties at all times seem to be blanketed in myriads of freshly colored blooms. Ht' the valleys the frau ane- mone, nemone, the first of the. Alpine flowers to bloom, thrust its slender blade up through the hard ground about the end of April. In the higher meadows, these and other flowers will commence blooming- some six weeks later. By the end of June the parks are a slot of color, and displaly to the eye of the beholder such an amplitude of beauty and fragrance that one would be more likely to associate with some carefully act -out flower garden than with the hard, jagged and seemingly cold ap- pearance of the Canadian Rockies. Why the Sea is Blue. Holiday-makers are sometimes dis- appointed to find that the sea is not colored that beautiful azure blue which we love. A glass of sea -water is per- fectly transparent and colorless, yet the ocean is often colored any shade from yellow to purple. It is the salt in the sea -water which cause,s the blue color, for ati .the in- numerable small particles of salt in the water falter the sun's rays and re- flect the blue, light. Seas which con- tain a large proportion of salt are col- ored. the deepest blue.. The Mediter- ranean, for editer-ranean,'for example, which is rich in salt, is .perhaps the deepest blue known. And the Pacific Ocean is dark enough to be called indigo. Near the shore the sea often changes its color to green, A stretch of white aaiul below shallow water will cause it to appear water -grey, or light green, whilst a deep yellow -colored sand, joined with the blue of the water, pro- duces a darker green. In the Baty of Loango.idre water appears to be deep red, whicis is on account of the red' bottom. ' Another cause of water colors is the large numbers of minute organisms' al- ways;present. In coma of the salt lakes .of Tibet, and in the South of Fiance,„a certain reel organism gives to the water a vivid crimson hue When a rope is thrown oVer the sifte of a boat, it is sometimes found that. tho water 13 phosphorescent, The drops -- of water hang to tho roPo liko a blaz- ing necklace of pearls! • At one "arm of the sea in Great Britain, practically any color el •the rainbow can be seen, from a glowing crimson to a glittering geld. This is duo chiefly to sunlight effects If any one doubts this, they should go to the Bristol, Channel, where Turner, the' great painter, produoed some of the most wonderful seascapes the world. has seen. Paying for Wind Insurance. Annual premiums on wind and tor- natio insurance.' in the 'united States, now amount to more than $30,000,000' annually.