HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1952-01-10, Page 3Gilbert & Sullivan
Go On Forever
It was Sttllisans restivenesx, Ills
gouging to express himself (aa he
saw it) more Fully in his music,
that caused the partners to separ-
ate iu the end; and here, too, the
•utatogy with a married couple
holds good. 'I'o read the correspond-
ence bet trvett then[, to bear Sulli-
van constantly asking for more
scope and Gilbert firmly insisting
that they most go ou doing what
they do So very well, is to think
of what tut ambitious wife pining
to go into high society and cut a
dash while her wise husband points
out tlttit they are important people
in their home town, hut in higlz
society they will run the risk of
beiug nobodies.
1t is well that Gilbert's iritpor,
tance to the partuersltip should be
heavily stressed, for two reasons:
One is that nobody realized it at
the time. When a command per-
formance was given before Queen
Victoria at Windsor Castle, Gil-
bert's name was omitted from the
program. Whether this was a mis-
take (as was said officially after-
ward) or was done by order of the
Queen, who knew something shout
music but nothing about literature
and had no sense of humor, is not
precisely known; but, in either case,
it shows how much greater impor-
tance was attached to the music
than to the. words. This was shown
again when the Queen made Sul-
livan a knight and left Gilbert a
plain "mister."
The other reason is that it was
highly' unusual in operatic worlds,
as Sullivan was constantly pointing
out, for the librettist to be as im-
portant as the composer; and, if
anybody is looking for a reason
why these operas have lived longer
than others of their kind, it is along
this line that he may find it. Words
written to music can never have
much literary merit or wit, but
musk written to words tray—as
Sullivan so often showed -not only
bringing out the wit of the words,
but be witty itself as well. That is
exactly where Gilbert and Sullivan
differs from other compositions
supposed to be of the same kind—
that you remember not only the
melodies, but the words, and are
not satisfied unless you cau re-
capture both.
Most of Gilbert's s huncor is still
funny, because it is based on funda-
mentals. His power of [nock solem-
nity, as exemplified in the scene
where Major General Stanley, hav-
ing got his puns out of his system,
throws himself on the mercy of
the pirates on the plea that he is
an orphan boy, or in that other
scene in the stone opera where the
policemen put up a terrific maritial
chorus about going "forward on
the foe," but don't in fact move a
step till they have to—this is un -
corroded by time. So is his own
particular brand of humor, which
has added the word "Gilbertian"
to our language, and consists of
sticking to logic in the face of
plain fact,—From "`the World of
Gilbert and Sullivan," by W. A,
Darling.
Nuts En Brazil
Brazil, to most of us. means two
things, Carsten Miranda—mrd nuts,
One of the most plentiful of all
Brazil's nuts is called the babacu
nut. There are 13 billion palms that
grow them, and the annual crop is
something like 300 million tons.
Normally only a tenth of the
babacu nuts are used owing to
difficulties of collecting and hand-
ling, But Brazil is now staking an
effort to turn these into a useful
raw material, and an experimental
plant has been set up to make petrol
from them.
Apart from this, oil from the
babacu nuts can be used for making
soap. And the shell provides, tars,
acetic acid, dyes, and carbolic acid
and resins,
So Brazil's billions of nut trees
may soon he giving the world yet
another source of raw material
Battle Of The Snow-Removers—Men seeking jobs as snow shovelers in Detroit storm the snow re-
moval office, causing a riot. They pushed, shoved and threw snowballs, but no one was hurt. More
than 2500 men sought the 1000 jobs, as Detroit battled to dig out of 16 inches of snow.
TINFARI4 ONT
Jok
Every poultry raiser knows -or
should know—that plenty of water
is essential to the well-beiug and
production of laying hens. About
half the weight of a mature bird
is water, mid two-thirds of the
weight of au egg, shell included,
is also composed of it. In fact
chickens should ordinarly consume
practically twice as that., pound,
of water as- of feed.
Naturally in' winter it i$. difficult
to keep the water from freezing.
The question arises, is snow a
good substitute for water? J. 1„
Tessier. of the- Dominion Exper-
imental Station, Kapuslaasing, re-
ports on tests made at that Station
to find the answer,
1 '1
Its two different years, two
groups of 150 hens each year, hav-
ing about tl e same body weight,
age. and apparent laying ability,
were used. One group had water
to drink, while only stiow was pro-
vided for the other group during
the severe winter weather when,
water would ordinarily be frozen.
Neither group received wet mush.
* e
Results as judged by egg pro-
duction showed that water was far
superior to snow, The production
in the group receiving water was
162 per cent higher per bird than
the birds in the group receiving
snow while the feed consumption
per bird was 10:6 •per cent less for
those in the group reccis'iug water.
Since the egg production was
considerably lower •and feed con-
sumption higher in the group re-
ceivingsnow, it would be advisable,
says Mr. Tessier to keep water
always before tl.c birds even though
this might involve extra attention
to keep it from freezing,
The keeping qualities of all kinds
of fruit, particularly ai:ples, can be.
greatly affected by environmental
factors. For example, uudcr nat-
ural conditions the McIntosh apple
matures during the last week of
September. is picked, becomes eat-
ing ripe in ten days' time, at 60
degrees F. and by the first week
Vrant-Line Bishop ._ Far Eastern Commander Gert. Matthew B,
Ridgeway (left) welcomes Francis Cardinal Spellman as the Arch.
bishop of New York arrives at Tokyo's Haneda Airport. Cardinal
Spellman Then proceeded to Korea, where he spent Christmas with
United Nations Troocw..
its November becomes sertvelled
and loses flavour. Experiments
conducted at the Sumuterland Ex-
perimental Station in British Col-
umbia indicate that this same
variety of apple, if placed in 30
to 32 degrees cold storage immedi-
ately after picking, may be held in
satisfactory condition until approx-
imately the• middle of January. Its
keeping qualities are thus more
than doubled by, storing it at a
temperature of 30 degrees as rout -
pared with room temperature of
60 • to 65 degrees. -
* * ,r
\\While temperature is the most
important factor in determining
the keeping qualities of apples,
S. \V. Porritt of the Sumnierland
Station points out that other factors
also must be taken into account.
One of these is the humidity or
dampness of the atmosphere. An
apple stored in a dry atmosphere
soon shrivels and its storage life
is consequently reduced because of
deterioration . in appearance and
quality. For this reason, apart front
temperature, apples should be held
at humidities of SO per rent or
better in order to insure lirnt, crisp
eating quality. A smooth skinned,
unwrinkled apple. even if .slightly
over -ripe, is often reasonably av-
ceptahle to the con:unser.
tit ttt
Considerable work lets beim
done in recent years on prolonging
the keeping life of apples by mau-
ipulation of the chemical constit-
uents of the atmosphere. Thus,
certain varieties of apples may be
kept under so-called "gas storage."
or controlled attuosplere storage
in which keeping life is extended
by reducing the oxygen and in-
creasing tate carbon dioxide content
of the atmosphere. This ntetltnd
has been used patricutarly i'i En-
gland
gland with certain varieties whiclt
develop physiological disorders
when stored in ordinary low teat
perature storage. Controlled at oto•
spl. ere storage, bow ever. has net
with only limited acceptance is
Canada, because in general our se
rieties respond satisfactorily to or
slitters. cold storage in ail.
:#n apple in the cu11ree 01 rest,i
ration normally gives off certain
gases which affect the keeping- life
of that apple attd other.apples stor-
ed in the same xoom. For in.st:utrr,
gases are produced whirl, cense
skim scald, and other gasses such as
et by tette are known to accelerate
ripening. In recent rears, interest
has centred arrnnul means rti re-
moving some of these hartnitil gas
es from the storage altnacphere.
and thus preventing tipples from
causing their own destruction. it
has bites found that a large too
portion of the gases produced by
apples can lie absorbed ell as Heat.
ed carbon air litters. this is ac-
complished be continuous aneuln
tion of part of the atmosphere in
the storage over activated carbon,
in order to absorb and thus remove
these gases. Ethylene, however,
which is probably the most harm-
ful of the gases produced by res-
piring fruit,- is not capable of being
absorbed on activated carbon at or-
dinary temperatures and therefore
other means must be found for re-
moving this substance. The whole
field of air purification of apple
storages by means of activated
carbon is under intensive investi-
gation at the present time but as
yet no f tial conclusions have been
reached as to the practicability of
this method for prolonging the
keeping life of apples.
5 > *
For the average home owner, the
best way to insure that apples re-
tain their firmness and crispness
over as long a period as possible
is to store then[ in a cool basement
room as near to 32 degrees as pos-
sible -and with as high humidity as
can be obtained. The relative Int-
misfits- of the atmosphere can be
increased hq sprinkling water on
the floor of the fruit room, or by
placing; a false floor over a• bed of
peat moss which can be periodical-
ly watered in order to provide moi-
store through continuous evapora-
tion. For the owner of an apart-
ment or small l once where storage
is scarce, apples should he kept in
the refrigerator nstil used in order
to prevent the high temperatures
normally found in a home froth
causing undue ripening and stole -
ening.
Super -Sal esin anslnip
it, a little \\'esteru town, there
is a drugstore which is becoming
famous all over the. country. It was
opeoed on a shoestring by a young
man and his wife just before the
depression of the '30s. The town
was a small one with a population
of only 700, and their custontets
were few. They young couple did
what they could to make ends meet;
to cult expenses they shoved into
a room behinu the store.
Their town was on a maim high-
way, and even during the worst of
the depression tourist traffic was
lu ay. The problem was to get
these people to stop at the store.
Suddenly, like toast popping out of
14.t1acr, the wife had an idea, The
-very next say tltee put up signs on
that Irgloves which read simply:
Free ice water at the drugstore in
the next town,
\'otc druggists soet'ywhet e ill sue
tAIitcd States had been giving away
ice shite[ for tears, but none of
then ever thought of advertising
the fart. To tourists, this sign pro.
titled first .+ hearty laugh and they
a nclromr invilat•on.
The idea worked lila a charm,
anti tachy this couple is dispensing
ice w:uei at the rate of more than
5.)00 glasses each day. During the
tourist sea=nu they have 28 eat
uloyees to help them I heir signs
are all over the neap. People who
lure su:w 1he11t nfleu drdve utiles
out of their was to v'.sit the- drug-
store that advertise, its ' free ire
stater,' t)f course, roost of the
People who come in for 0 minis
al o
make a purchase while in the.
tote As a result, the couple do
what Chet oonsider swhopping"
ti ine'st,
y Sea To Beirut
We waved. Our ship gave a ere•
'nor, it was roving slowly up the
"oast.
Of 'Haifa and !111. Carmel 1 was
denied ewer, a fleeting glance. it
was late [evening when we arrived
there to discharge a few passen-
gers, and by ten we were leaving
then[ behind. But it stirred my
soul to l;u+tw that for a few (tours
I had stopped under the shadow of
111t. Carmel, which the prophet
Elijah had ascended to pray for
rain.
Across the curving bay the dim
lights of Akka shone. Akita, just
alcove the mouth of l'ishun, beside
which the same prophet took the
prophets of Baal and slew then[,
It was all very wonderful to tae.
Here were the lands in which had
been enacted the stories of the Bi-
ble read to me in my childhood•
every night when I went to bed,
every Sunday, when alt toys were
under the lock, names that 1 had
learned with difficulty, never dream-
ing that I should ever live within
reach of the places that bore then[.,.
There was a haze; but I could
distinguish, as we sailed by, .the
modern city that bears the illustri-
ous name of Tyre, It has inheri,ed
the royal purple mantle, but it
should not wear it, for it has not
the dignity. 1 could sec also the
peninsula on which the ancient city
stood and which gave the town its
name. Sur, or Tsur, (rack 1 tete
Arabs call it.
Sidon, from the sea, gave a much
better impression; a city nestling in
the foothills of the Lebauotts and
following the curving rock-bound
bay. An arched bridge connected a
ruined fortress on a gigent:: rock
•with the mainland,
"Tyre and Sidon," I kept repeat-
ing, as 1 scanned the coast, With
my own eyes i had looked upon
the ancien, site of Tyre, which
Joshua called "the strong city of
Tyre"; upon Tyre, "the daughter of
Sidon," marvellous for its wealth
and its commeree; upon Tyre, which
knew the secrets of the famous
purple dye, which supplied cedar
trees and fir trees for the temple,
1 had looked upon Sidon, or "Sai-
da," as the Arabs call it, linked by
tradition with the name of Sidon,
a son of Canaan; one of the world's
oldest cities, mother of Phoenicia,
already famous by Joshua's time,
her architects the best in Syria.
But for me, all that bad been writ-
ten about the greatness and the
splendor of those two ci,ics paled
before the memory of one simple
sentence, that our Lord "departed
into the coasts of Tyre and Sid-
on,",,.
.\ bold promontory came into full
view, \Ve rounded this headland
and entered a curving bay, blue
green against a rocky coast. In a
cur,ino sweep the Lebauons rose
behind it, terraced, do,ted with vil-
lages and villas. What a perfect
setting for a city.
Well, there it .:asl After seven
thousand Hailes of ocean, after
twenty-one days of tossing, there
stretched Beirut, the capi-al of Leb-
anon, which henceforth I was to
call hams!
—From "1 Married an Arab,"
by Mary Winifred Bushakra.
Now comes a plastic skate wheel
which will wear S0 per cent longer
than wood and 25 per cent longer
than fiber and which generates only
a quiet lams instead of a noisy
clatter. The new wheel gives a surer,
tighter grip to the rink floor and re-
duces the danger of slipping during
intricate jumps spins and tttrns,
Indians In Fewest
E.ifc metas oft coHtittuottsPy
around the Indian bonze, The little
louse i$ Ill,+ hub of everyone's
activities; from it all travel in then
labors, and to it the produce of all
their energy returns, dere they
Storer their grain and beans mid that
wool 'for weaving, The thick walls
hold their life secure and guard
their hard-won prosperity.
',Hie houses of an itufau Cotn-
utunity etre not gathered around a
plaza ets in Spanish villages. 'They
are scattered over the cultivated
fields, each house overlooking its
small plot of land. In the roto
ntunitie'S Close to town, Most of
the houses are made of rammed
earth and are roofed with Spanish
tile purchased in town. In the
more isolated communities, most
of the houses are made of stud and
wattle tcitli ltiglt thatched roofs of
paramo grass. The tile - roofed
houses are generally larger than
the thatched huts, but the plan is
the sante.
The porch of the Indian home
is the workshop where most of tite
shade from the glaring sunlight, and
is good for working, the roof gives
the wall of the house wards off
the sharp or dusty winds. On the
porch of almost every house stands
a Spanish loony, an Indian back -
strap loons, or both. The millstone
is also on the porch, where corn
is ground into floor for the daily
porridge, or whereby barley or
chuehuca—green corn parboiled and
clried—is prepared for soup,
The Indians are never idle. They
work at a steady unhurried pace,
changing occupation from time to
time when they tire. While the mo-
ther prepares the noon steal, the
father may 110011 up the oxen and
plow in the fields near by or hoe
the small corn plants. In the heat
of the noonday sun he may sit on
the porch to weave on a poncho,
or a belt, or a length of light
wool flannel for a woman's skirt.
Perhaps he will twist a little rope
of fiber he has dried from the
cabuya cactus that grows by the
wayside. The younger children,
boys and girls, take the sheep and
swine out to pasture on the hills
or along the ravines. The older
children work with their parents.
The boys learn to faun and to
weave. The girls are taught to sew
and embroider, to spin wool or cot-
ton with the reed spindle or the
spinning -wheel, to wash. and to
cook,
Spinning and weaving go on all
day long in a busy Indian home,
for not only are textiles the main
source of barter and cash, but
nearly all the clothing is conven-
tionally homespun and woven, Not
every family weaves all the types
of Indian cloth, but most families
weave some of the many varieties
that stake up the Indian costume.
Throughout the region of Ota -
veto the Indians wear essentially
the same costume, However, there
are many little details of dress that
make it possible to distinguish In-
dians of one community from those'
of another, For example, in com-
munities far from the towns the
Indian women sew an the family
clothes, while in communities close
to the towns they have many of
their clothes made by professional
seamstresses on sewing machines.
—Front "The Awakening Valley,"
by John Collier, Jr., and Anibal
11 uitron.
Family Business, In St. Louis, a
loading zone permit for the Cett-
•tral Casket Co, was taken out by
ll. S. Coffin.
6Y
HAROLD
ARNETT
PREVENT CLOSET HOOKS FROM
DENTING HATS AND DRAWIIJG THEM OUT OF SHAPE BY
FORCING SPONGE RUBBER BALLS OVER THE HOOKS THE
SPONGE WILL HOLD THE HATS MORE FIRMLY.
JITTER
WE'VE SEEN OuT ALL DAY 't '
AND HAVEN'T SHOT A suetsSOW
y Arthur Pointer