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The Seaforth News, 1950-02-02, Page 3Have Yon Ever Lived Before? Millions believe that they have had a previous existence on ,Garth-, and will live again, There is evl- denee for this belief, There was the ease of the little girl who told Fielding Hall, author of that great work, The Soul of a People, of her previous life as a man who ran g marionette show. Not only did she show a remark - Able knowledge of the manipulation of the puppets when first given some, but she actually recited por- tions of dialogue frons puppet plays which she had neither seen nor read, Far more convincing was the fact that she described the place where she had previously lived and also some of her former relations and friends. Some of the latter are still living: they confirmed every word the child had said. Vishwa Nath, as a boy of three, described in minute detail his for- mer life in Pilibhit, India. At last his parents were persuaded to take him there. He identified relatives and places exactly and immediately and told of his life at a certain school. Infant Prodigies H • pointed out his former home, now in ruins, and when shown a group photo of the late owner and some friends picked out by name firstly the man he said had formerly been his uncle—and then himself in his former lifel The mother of the young man he 'blaimed to have been questioned hint thoroughly: he ansewered every one of her questions accu- ately and without a moment's hesi- tation. In like manner he answered the questions of two men who had been his schoolfellows in his for- mer life. But we do not need to go to the Hast for such instances. Shaw Des- mond wrote his novel Echo "From earth memories which I have had since a child of my life as gladiator in the Roman arenas." Authorities of that period speak of it as amazingly accurate, though the author had not at that time studied old Rome in any book. The same astonishing knowledge of s vanished age was shown by Joan 43rant in her novel Winged Pharaoh. Shaw Desmond himself has ex- amined several such cases, and writes of a child of five who was taken to a city hundreds of miles way, to which it had never been in its present life. "I have lived in that city," the ehilrt had said. On arrival he led his parents through a maze of streets to the house he had so mitt• utely described. Still more astound- ing, people who had known the child in his previous incarnation testi- fied to the accurady of his mem- ories. Then there are the prodigies such as Mozart, who composed and play- ed at the age of five, Yehudi Menu hin, who went only eleven astound. ed Toscanini by the depth and ma- turity of his playing, so that the maestro said that he knew no vio- linist of any age to surpass him. Most amazing of all was two- year-old Andre Lenoir, who multi- plied in a moment any' five -figure number by any other five -figure number before the astounded pro- --" fessors of Brussels. All these children demonstrated abilities which they would simply not have had time to acquire in their short lives. From where did they bring them? Perhaps More convincing than these few instances of remembered past lives—there a number of multi- tude of others—is the number of eminent thinkers through the ages who have believed in the theory of reincarnation, Plato and Pytha goras, Hegel and Hume, Sir Hum- phrey Davey and Alfred Russel Wallace, and the great psychologist Cesare Lantbroso, to name but a few It is the very basis of Buddhism and Hinduism, and was taught by many Fathers of the Christian Church. A number of Roman Cath- olic ecclesiastics, including Arch- bishop Passavalli, have accepted it as true, Lining Up—For Dry Bread—In Athens—Small boys from the Athens, Greece, "Children's City" line up for a slice of bread, part of some 2200 loaves made from the millionth ton of Western Nation aid to arrive in Greece. The dour was made into bread by Greek army and distributed and distributed to relief agencies sponsored by Queen Fredericka. There is evidence, too, that Christ Himself both accepted it and taught it, He did not rebuke His disciples for suggesting that a certain man might have been born blind as a re- sult of his own sins, and said of John the Baptist: "If ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come." (Matt. xi, 14), But for many present-day believ- ers in reincarnation it is neither the evidence of people such as Vishwa Nath nor the great weight of authority which is decisive, They believe because it is so reasonable a theory. If the universe is based on order and justice it seems to be, indeed, the only theory that fits the facts. • It seetns unjust that a child should be born suffering from some physi- cal, mental, or social handicap. There is no injustice if he is so handicapped because his previous conduct has made such a lesson necessary for him. Or it may be that previous experience has so strength- ened his 'character that he is ready and able to face such a test—and triumph over itl May life not be, in fact, a school? We continue to return until we have been through every class and learnt all the lessons thoroughly—till we are strong enough to endure both advertise and prosperity, Promo- tion is only on merit: none can learn our lessons for us, A Grim Theory? There are many who find it diffi- cult to accept the teaching that for perhaps fifty years of evil living— however bad —a just God will con- demn erring human beings to an eternity of torment, There is liter- ally no proportion—between offence and punishment. For the reincarnationist, however, there is neither reward nor punish- ment. A man reaps that alone which he sows. If he puts his hand into the fire he gets burned, until he learns not to play with fire. Yet there are few who can learn this lesson in one life. Moreover, if this is the only life, there are evidently many, who can and do play with fire without getting burned, At first sight this may seem a somewhat grim theory, yet it is not so. There is not one of us who can- not eventually learn by experience the laws of God and nature by which man may live a happy and useful life—whether on this earth or elsewhere. It is only by learning through experience that we really make this knowledge our own. So for each one of us there is in- finite hope: there is always a chance to do better, Have you ever said: "I wish 1 could have my life over again?" Well, maybe you canl A man is known by the company he doc.ges. Silence isn't always golden. Some- times it is just guilt. For Mine Safety—At the 'New Crosshands Colliery, British coal mine, the inventors of a power -operated support to guard coal miners from cave-ins resulting from boring or blasting ex• "a mine a scale -model Named the Tspomit, the steel -arched safety device is operated by remote eottttot. Granted New Canadian Patent Acetylsalicylic acid has proven to be one of the most reliable and effective agents in the treatment of rheumatism and arthritis over the years, The best known acetylsalicy- lic acid preparation is sold under the trade name of "Aspirin" in Canada, A recent development for the treatment of rheumatism and ar- thritis has been the combining of a hitherto little -used compound, calcium succinate, with acetylsalicy- lic acid. This compound, calcium succinate, renders the acetylsalicy- lic acid non toxic, allowing Large, prolonged dosage to be taken with no harmful side effects. This combination of acetylsalicy- lic acid and calcium succinate has become one of the widest used me- thods of therapy in the world for the treatment of rheumatism and arthritis, Dolein Limited of Toronto recently were granted a patent in Canada for the use of this com- bination in the treatment of arthri- tis and rheumatism, Scientific Facts About "Hangovers" It isn't necessary to suffer that "morning after" feeling—at least it isn't according to the Danish bi- ologist, Dr. Erik Jacobson, who has been conducting a scientific in- vestigation into alcohol and hang- overs, He has written an exhaustive trea- tise in which he describes how a person (if he feels that way and his bank balance can stand it) can drunk and never have a hangover. become drunk and never have a hangover. He also explains that it is quite possible for a person to get delirium tremens ("D.T.") even though he may be a strict teetotaller. * * w It seems that if you are content with a single whiskey or a glass of beer every hour and a quarter, the alcohol percentage in your blood will neither rise no fall. Though it would be a futile thing to do, you could go on drinking all day long at that rate and remain sober. Your liver would be getting rid of the alcohol as fast as you swallowed it. But what can be done to avoid the hangover headache? The secret, according to the doctor, is to eat while you are drinking, preferably something rich in protein such as meat. Drinking on a full stomach will also reduce the chances of a hang- over and retard the intoxicating effect, Drinking on an empty stomach can snake you dizzy within a few miuutes, because the alcohol then passes almost directly into the blood stream, And the more concentrated the drink the more quickly it is absorbei. Soda -water, so innocent and harm- less when taken by itself, acts like a super -charger when missed with al- cohol; it speeds up absorption. A hangover headache is caused through the increase in pressure of the fluid surrounding the brain. With fnost people a good prevent- ative is to take one or two aspirin tablets after the party and before going to bed. Hard drinking is not always the cause of delirium tremens, It is what doctors call a "deficiency di- sease" resulting form the lack of Vitamin B The confirmed toper finds that most of the energy he ,seeds to carry on drinking and keep alive comes from the calories contained in the drink. He is inclined to eat much less than normally. What he does eat is seldom rich in vitamins, but because he gets 110 vitamin B he develops "D. T.s, Alcohol has a paralysing effect on the t ervous system, The centres governing self-restraint are first at- tacked, • People drink because they find alcohol relieves them of tension. In fact, some "advanced" thinkers have suggested that alcohol in mo- deration is the only effective medi- cine for people whose lives are bound by frustration and mono- tony. How To Wax Camera Prints Most amateur photographers, particularly camera club photogra- phers, wax their prints, Generally after the prints are mounted, The print is placed on a level, solid surface. A piece of cardboard or an old print is placed against the sides and edges of the print and wax, such as simonize automobile wax, is applied with cotton. A light coat should be first applied in one direc- tion. It should be left to dry for about 30 minutes and then lightly polished with cotton. Then a second coat should be applied fn the -direc- tion opposite. This gives the print greater depth, luster and quality. • Canadians Chart Worms' Behavior Until Drs. A. P, Arneson, R, A. Fuller and J. W. T. Spinks, three Canadian research scientists, came along last month with a communica- tion in Science, not much was known about the movement of worms in the soil. There was noth- ing for it but to dig up the grubs or larvae and note their positions at the time. Drs, Arnason, Fuller and Spinks hit on the idea of making the worms radioactive, so that their movements above ground could be followed with a Geiger -Muller counter. How were the larvae ,,f the worms to be made radioactive, Feeding them with radioactive food was not practicable. It was decided to insert a radioactive cobalt wire into the body of a worm. Surviving cutworms and wireworms behaved normally after the wire had been inserted. There was no loss of movement. The wire was shed with the skin at the right time. Nor were bad effects from the gamma rays noted. For lack of enough radioactive cobalt wire the Canadians fixed a speck of radioactive cobalt metal in the tail notch of grubs with some plastic. There was no difficulty in following underground movements. This method made it possible to tell where the larvae were in a hori- zontal plane. But how deep were they? And how could their move - up and down be noted? The Cana- dians calibrated their instrmnehts for varying soil depths. Theirs is the first recorded method of following both horizontal and vertical move- ment at the same time. The Cana- dians promise to find out how under ground grubs respond to tempera ture, light, soil moisture, soil type, soil firmness and various foods and chemicals. . New House -Building Method Promises Better, Cheaper Homes Nearing completion in Norfolk, Va., is one of the world's most unusual housing projects. Sports sorest by Nelson ltockefeller's In• ternationai Basic Economy Corp- oration, the houses are built of con- crete and are themselves not dra- matically different from the run of Antall, concrete, modern houses; but their method of construction is startlingly different, indeed, they may, as the sponsors hope, open a new era in low-cost house con- struction. For the central point of departure in these houses is that they are erected with the sweep, cost, and machinery with which great highways are built. The Norfolk houses, which are expected to be she prototype of much larger projects in other parts of the world, stent from the draw ing board of Wallace Harrison, When I visited him the othet day in his Radio City office, he said his first thought had been about a more or less conventional house. something built of wood and full of gadgets like automatic dishwash- ers, writes Robert A. Mullen. in The Christian Science Monitor Then, during the war, had followed his phase of thinking of houses as a "machine for living." During this period, he had explored with a ma- jor airplane firm the idea of apply- ing aeronautical experience to mass house building, But after the war, it became cleat to him, and to the Rockefellers, that the world's most urgent need was not for gadgets, for aesthetics, or fancier ways of living, The need was just simply for plain houses to protect from weather and provide a minimum standard of comfort, Then, one day in Venezuela, the bright idea came. The Rockefellers have extensive projects in Vene- zuela, and at one point needed a couple of houses for executive per- sonnel. Mr. Harrison discovered that to erect two rather modest prefab houses of United States de- sign would cost about $20,000 per house. By coincidence, at the same time he wanted 22 acres of swampland filled in as a site for a warehouse, He asked a local contractor who was building some roads for an oil company what it would cost to do the filling job. The contractor looked at a near -by hill and opined that with his big earth -moving ma- chinery, he could cut the hill down and fill the swamp for not more than $20,000, In other words, you could move a mountain in Vene- zuela for the price of a five -room house! In this vivid fashion, Mr. Harri- son was'reminded of the widely ac- ceped fact that the cheapest sort of construction known to modern man is road building. His thoughts inevitably roamed in hat direction, coming up with the question: Why not use road -building machinery to construct houses? Back at his Long Island estate, he began a series of experiments all aimed at using giant road -con- struction equipment to build the world's best cheap house. He was very glad to settle on concrete. It has many advantages, especially in tropical climates where destructive insects quickly spoil soft woods and In regions where vermin and rod- ents are a hazard. Moreover, by use of certain kinds of aggregate, it can be made a superior iusulatiob. Also, it is proof against fire and requires little paint and otherwise minimum upkeep, More to the point, sand and gravel are among the most universal of the globe's materials. Road -building equipment, likewise. can he made available. „Fie laid out a highway, coni posed of a series of concrete Walls. Skipping the first square, or slab he would place a portable form or mold on the second.- This form would comprise the inside and out- side walls of a four -room house. tie would fill this form ‘.vitt, con• trete, let , it set. rernove the form. - Then he would go bark to the first slab, lift 11 by patented vacuum lifting det ice furans and glare it on top of the just-rnniplete,r raum see tion to furl, the roof! Air, 1-larron built t'',, !,,,,,-os at Lis Long Islami place, ivorlrii„ out technical problems For instance, he found that the corners tended to crack and round a was of makin thein thicker and strum''es In using nylon -rubber tube,, iuli:ued with air W act as corner inrnts. Wiles ready to reprove forms, all he had to do was deflate the corner tubes. Getting the steel all forms to slip off easily was a problem until a workman remembered an olcl-coun try trick of washing the surface with a tannic acid solution, At Long Island, he used a gantry crane, but at Norfolk he found that a bomber crane used during the war to clear air fields of crippled bomb- ers was ideal for lifting the room form and roof section, Of course, this still left a need for actual field experience, and especially cost experience. At Nor- folk, an especially acute housing shortage existed. So, at the request of a Norfolk businessman, the Rockefellers built 200 houses, meet- ing all federal housing administra- tion requirements. This job has shown that they can build a good, five -room, con- crete house, having automatic heat, good plumbing, but no gadgets, that will rent for $45 a month. If the house were to be sold, it would sell for approximately $5,000 to $5,500, land included. The house is roughly comparable, except for the attic, to the new houses one sees in suburbs selling for $8,000 to $11,000. Of course, "roughly com- parable" is a relative term and might not meet with universal agreement. It is true the houses are not especially pretty. They suffer from the same fate as most modern con- crete houses in that they are square and squat, .Yet they have a full- length window and a certain amount of shrubbery, which goes with the house, may offset some of the angular uniformity, of the group. However, these Norfolk houses were a pioneering effort, to lead the way for thousands of even more austere units in places of the world where any sort of roof is better than a leaky tent, or rat -ridden mud hut, where sanitation and protection must necessarily come before charm; and where a good, cheap house is just about the most hu- manitarian item that can be offered. Tot Takes A Traffic Ticket—.In a jolcink mood, the Berlin traffic cop gives a ticket to Karin Wendler, i, for driving without a license. The car is not a toy, but can do most anything a normal- sized auto can. Karin atnazes Berliners ridiing through city stretts isi German 's smallest auto. H1, HOHRM. Irmo( WITH. TWO A.M. BUT HOVE HE IS! By Arthur Pointer