HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1960-03-10, Page 3With Bread Crumbs
And Patience
Ws difficult, often, to explain
to unversed realists . what a
whimsical spirit can do, and Per-
haps I'd be better off if 1 didn't
bring this up. I filet mean there
are some people who don't com
prehend foolishness, so my wife
always logics at me funny when
I water the ducks. Be it known,
as I have testified before, that
my ducks have no utilitarian
standing and are not computed.
in any way in any agronomy
tabulations, They are not chat-
tels, but friends, cultviated out
of an odd notion I have that
some things can be important
even if nobody knows it,
My ducks don't winter in the
barn, but have their own little
house by the pond, a little dis-
tance from the other buildings,
and 1, entice them therein each
fall about the time the ice be-
gins to feather at the edges.
Feeding them is easy - I dump
100 pounds of pellets into a big
hopper I've made and, as there
are but four ducks this winter,
that will last a long time.
Watering them must be done
each day, and I love to do it
and wouldn't miss it for any-
thing. I draw a pail of water at
the sink, a little better than
lukewarm, and wade out
through the snow. Sometimes,
after a fresh storm, 'I put on
snow -shoes, Perhaps you don't
knowjust what this means -
there is a trick to walking on
snowshoes and carrying a pail
of water. It isn't something you
just go and do. It tRes practice
and balance, and you aren't sure
every time if you'll make it
Sometimes I do.
I keep the duck house pur-
posely buried its snow. The first
storm or two I beg out a shovel
and bank ,it, and after winter
really gets nasty the eaves are
-flush. This keeps it warm and
cozy inside, and my ducks win-
ter most well.
• The real reason 1 have the
ducks by themselves is because
they are ducks. Heng scratch in
litter, and if given a chance will
keep dry. Ducks, with their big
flat feet, just pack litter down,
and they make such free use of
water that their house would
soon be a skating rink if you
didn't plan. I keep the water
pan at a low point by the door,
and then pack the straw in so
it slopes up and away. No mat-
ter how wet and icy it gets
around the pan, the ducks can
retreat uphill and keep ' their
tootsies warm. Of course. there's
no heat in the house except
what the ducks make, which
isn't much, but with snow pack-
ed all around they make out
fine.
All this is incidental to my
pleasure. My mallards, all sum -
TRAPPED - The pet cat of
Luella Kane, seems to be get -
ling that bottled -up feeling.
Protruding ears give away the
photographer's trick.
mer, range free and easy, and
naturallike they get a little wild.
They are wild birds anyway, a
few generations back. They get
very wild as soon as the little
ones comes, and the hens teach
them to be alert and distant. All
summer, if anybody cornea
around, the ducks stay on the
far side of the pond and look
skeptical, It is really quite a
job in the the fall to round them
up and get them under cover,
But, as soon as I have them in
the house they can be tamed,
and it's more fun than you think,
It takes some doing, but they
make wonderful pets. At first,
when I come to fill their pan,
they huddle in a corner and in-
sult me and they won't come
out until I've closed the door.
But after a few days they get
coming to the pan while I'm
there, and after a few more
times they are there before me,
At this point I fish a crust of
bread frpm my pocket and
crumble it, and start my tam-
ing program. At first they stand
off and look;. heads cocked, but
soon I have them picking up the
crumbs as fast' as I crumble
them, and the next step is to
have them actually eating from
my hand.
Then comes a part they don't
like, One day, while a bill is
wiggling about on my palm, I
close my ,hand and haveone
caught. This one flops wings and
kicks, and the others retreat,
scolding. The mallard is won-
derfully made,' and his foliage
is interesting. I Use to spread a
wing and look at it, rumple their
breasts, and make like patting a
palsy. dog or rubbing a purring
cat's ears. Just friendly, like.
But once I've done this, the
whole flock. goes into a period
of distrust, and I can't get them
back to my hand right away.
However, bread crumbs and
patience are overpowering, and
after a time I can closeup on
any bird, fondle it, and have
them right back crawling all
over 'me again. They run their
bills under my boot tops, inside
my jacket, and the rapport is
permanent.
Actually, the way this works,
it takes almost all winter. Soon
after I get them coming to my
hand, and not averse to being.
manhandled, there'll be an egg
one morning; the snow will be
going; and it will shortly be
time to turn them loose for sum-
mer. Little ones will be hatched,
and thenatural wildness will re-
turn. They won't have anything
to do with zne until fall comes
and I herd them into the house
again.
So, what happens is, I take
my pail of water and disappear
Sometimes I'm gone an hour. I
bring the pail in and set it by
the sink, and she says, "Where've
you been?" I tell her I've been
watering my ducks.
A likely tale. I could have
watered the Gobi Desert in that
time.. I try to explain that my
entente is at a crucial point, that
I am just about to close my hand
on the old drake himself - that
there's more to it than just tip-
ping water out of a bucket. But
it doesn't seem to come out just
the way it is.
This is a simple, basic, uncom-
plicated kind of thing that, very
likely, is nobody else's business.
It's sort of between me and my
ducks, apart from anything else.
I just like to do it. There may
be those, including my wife,
who think it takes me a long
time to water four - smallish
ducks. But. I have no intention,
however humanity at large as-
sesses my pastime, of giving it
up. I don't see any point in keep-
ing ducks if you can't pick them
up by the bill. - By. John Gould
in the Christian Science Monitor.
"How did MacPherson cure his
stammer?"
"Oh, he put through a long
distance call to New York."
ISSUE 10 - 1960
- ( SSWORD
PUZZLE
ACROSS
1. Short thickset
horse
4. No. Carolina
river
9. Bud used as 8
condiment
DOWN
Head
coverings
2. Egg-shaped
2. Poised
4 'twitch
Dwelt 'e1e geniis,
8. ll
12, Nave
18.. Dessert
14. Fatty fruit,
15. Regal
residences
17. Com00sttida
for Nine
12. Cabbage salads
80. Maturity
21, Burmese eplft.
03. Quantity or
medicine • ��.
24. imputes
27. Or. letter
20, Goad (101106.1
31. Click beetle 30
34. Parent
35. Purified wool
rat
57. Fuse
80. Siouan Indian .•
40. 'Vallee
44. Profusely
o
47. Alert
49. Work
20, Marra whletle
61. Weary
62. Draty after.
53, COntmenoe
54, Ropeor chalet 53
66, TTnd e5naree
12
15
18
I. Tapering
solids
3. Slt.gly
9. Languish
1 D. Preceding
nights
11, Moistens
16. Bestow
20, City In Pole art 40. Go by
22. Sesame 41. Dismounted
24. Conjunction 42, Italian corn
25. Ocean 42. Nimble
26. Reigning 45. Jot
beauty .46 Tidings
27. Wh- fen 40, Piece nut
22. Spp are root of
129. Exist
32. Card Game
33. Change
86, Dexterous
87. Vacillate
38. Important
occurrence
2
3
4
5
6
7
9
10
it
13 •
14
16
17
19
20
2
21
34, '
22
26
23
31
32
Ste
37
38
35
36'
39
33
h
37
22
29
40 41
47
60
42
43
44
45
46
48
49
51,
52
49 16
Answer elsewhere
on this page
WHEN THE CROCUS AWOKE US - Caroline Bell, 5, scents the
Imminence of. spring. She is getting close to crocuses which
bloomed In the garden of her London home in a mild spell.
THEFARNI. I'ROM
JokLseU.
AA
More than 100 acres in south-
ern Ontario were treated with
an insecticide last fall, as two
levels of government combined
efforts to 'control the Japanese
beetle. Another 30 acres will be
covered next spring.
Upwards of 700 acres ,have
been treated since 1941.
* * 4
This beetle has a rapacious
appetite and its meal ticket can
be any one of more than 200
plants ranging from flowers to
fruit to corn, with the grubs
causing extensive damage to
lawns when populations are
high.
L. L. Reed, who directs sur-
vey work for the Plant Pro-
tection Division, says that be-
cause of the Japanese beetle's
fondness for grapes and soft
fruits, it could take a costly toll
in the Niagara Peninsula unless
kept under control, Indications
are that it would not thrive in
other parts of eastern Canada.
A * *
This pest is presumed to have
entered the United States in
soil around the roots of Japan-
ese plants prior to the restric-
tions established by the United
States Plant Pest Act of 1912.
It was first discovered near
Philadelphia in _ 1916 and has
been spreading out in an ever
widening circlethrough natural
flight. A strict Federal quaran-
tine in the U.S., in effect for
many years has retarded more
extensive spread.
* * *
First soil treatments were
made at Niagara Falls, Ont, in
1941. Lead a -senate . gave way
to DDT, which was replaced by
dieldrin. Ten per cent granular
dieldrin is spread -by ordinary
hand grain seeders at the ...ate
of 30 pounds to the acre. This
insecticide is considered cheap-
er, easier to apply, . and equally
as effective as other insecticides,
Latest application involved
land at St. Catharines, Fort Erie,
Hamilton, Port Burwell and
Windsor. * * *
Eevery year, trapping opera•
tions and soil treatments are
carried out with the co-opera-
tion of the Ontario Department
of Agriculture, Mr. Reed ex-
plains. Last year about 2,700-
traps
,700traps Were used to capture over
1,000 beetles. This was a sub-
stantial reduction over the 4,000
trapped in 1958.
Most significant reduction took
place at Fort Erie, where only
176 were caught compared with
3,300 the previous year. This,
Mr, Reed believes, was due to
the treatment of 30 acres of turf
in that town in 1958.
* * *
A total of 2,033 Canadian
sheep have been ordered
slaughtered during the past Four
months under a national pro•
gram aimed at stamping out
scrapie, a disease of the central
nervous system of sheep
In Alberta, two infected flocks,
comprising 417 sheep, had to be
destroyed, reports Dr K, F.
Wells, Veterinary Director Gen-
eral, while in Ontario, ahother
flock of '77 sheep was slaughter-
ed.
Canada's scrapie eradication
program, revised last August,
provides for the slaughter Of
infected flocks and any animals
moved from infected flocks, to-
gether with their immediate
progeny.
In addition to the three in-
fected flocks dealt with, 1,539
sheep have been destroyed
either as animals which were
moved from the infected flocks
or as progeny of an animal that
had been moved.
It * *
These sheep involve 178 flocks.
All of the flocks, which take in
about 40,000 sheep, are being
kept under surveillance for 42
months from the date on which
exposed sheep were removed
from the flocks.
* * *
First outbreak of scrapie in
Canada was confirmed in 1945
It is considered to have been
brought here with sheep impor-
tations from the United King-
dom. Such imports have been
embargoed since 1954.
The program now being ap-
plied for the control of scrapie
in Canada is equivalent to that
followed in the United States.
Petticoat Lane
Still Flourishes
Wags once said a ,man could
go in one end of London's Petti-
coat Lane and buy his own
watch back at the other.
That may, or may not, still be
true, but the market's traders
certainly have the reputation of
knowing a good bargain when
they see one. When a white mar-
ble Roman torso was dug up
there not so long ago, many a
Cockney voice called out: "Let
me 'ave it. I can find a buyer!"
Petticoat Lane, it seems, is as
old as London itself. The great,
sprawling market is made up of
Middlesex, Wentworth, a n d
Goulston Streets in the heart of
the East End. Each is filled with
countless stalls, displaying every
conceivable commodity from
clothes and curios .to cockles
and whelks.
Most of the traders in Petti-
coat Lane are long established
and known for giving good
value. Some come to the market
to great, gleaming cars, which
they path on one of the many
World War If blitzed sites.
Others push handcarts or carr
their wares on trays, writes
Steve Libby in the Christian
Science Monitor,
To a few who have had good
businesses - and bad breaks -
a pitch in the Lane is the last
stand, all that is left. One old
man is trying to sell second-
hand sheet music,
While many Petticoat Lane
traders shout their wares like
circus barkers, others rely on a
more modern - and intimate
- approach.
"Where do you come from,
luv?" one asks a plump, smil-
ing wonian in the crowd around
his stall,
"Edinburgh," she replies.
"Luverly place, Edinburgh,"
he says, going on to talk about
the woman's hometown as
though business was a secondary
consideration. Then, picking up
a blue leather handbag from
the pile on his stall: "Couldn't
get this at the price in Edin-
burgh, could you?"
The deal is soon clinched.
Visitors to London who are "in
the know" go to Petticoat Lane
on a Sunday morning just as
they would to the market square
in some old French town or the
native bazaars of Cairo,
Doctors Figure it
Was A Nice Try?
For months, as Billy Smith,
a 25 -year-old laborer, lay in a
hospital bed, it seemed that sur-
geons had achieved a miracle.
In a foundry accident last July,
a swinging crane had all but
severed Smith's right leg.
Ordinarily, the doctors at
Eden Hospital in Castro Valley,
Calif., would have amputated the
leg at once. But because of the
25 -year-old Smith's good physi-
cal condition, Drs. Stephen V.
Landreth, Alan J. Gathright, and
Keith W. West tried to sew the
mangled leg to the stump.
At first, the chance to save the
leg seemed promising. But six
weeks ago a deep infection de-
veloped in the injured bone and
in the knee joint, "which pre-
vented repair of the main nerve
to the leg." This month, the sur -
feons amputated Billy Smith's
teg. Smith said philosophically:
'I figure you have t0 go along
with what the doctors say."
Upsidedown to Prevent Peeking
W "-'5 1 1Ff 1S
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NDAY SCI1001
JSSON
By Rev, R. t;arclay Warren
13,A,, R.A.
God's Protecting Providence
Acts 23:6-11, 16-24
Memory Selection: God 19 our
refuge and strength, a very
present help in trouble. Psalim
46:L --
God who has protected Paul
through many dangers, is still
with him while a prisoner of the
State, His appearance before the
sanhedrin was brief. While pro-
testing that he had lived in all
good conscience before God un-
til that day, the high priest com-
manded that he be smitten 013
the mouth.. Paul's sharp rebuke,
and his later explanation for it,
have been viewed in different
ways. It has been suggested that
Ananias had taken the office
since Paul had last been asso-
ciated with the Sanhedrin; that
Paul did not know who had giv-
en the order to smite him; and
that Paul made an honest mis-
take. Personally, I think that
Paul had not sufficiently re-
flected that the words came from
the high priest and that he
should have been more deliber-
ate and less vigorous i11 his re-
ply. At any rate, Paul's words
that, "God shall smite thee,
thou whited wall"; were both
penetratingly true and prophe-
tically suggestive, His apology
should serve as an apt model
for the ChrIstian's spirit and de-
partment in similar circumstan-
ces. It has been suggested that
Paul apologized to the office, if
he did not to the man.
Paul has been criticized for
his strategy in dividing the
council. I see nothing unethical
about it. He had attempted to
give a straightforward, courte-
ous defense, But they were in
no humour to be fair. When
hatred develops over religion, it
is a hellish thing. Hatred in the
realm of politics or sport is
mild, compared with that which
parades in the cloak of religion.
However, Paul succeeded in do-
ing only half of the famous say-
ing, "Divide 3nr3 Cennr'12g," .g
the two g10Up6 tiriz O11`.d Patee,
was rescued from their midst by
the soldiers. But Paul's enemies
didn't give up. Their plan to kill
him and its failure through the
loyalty of Paul's nephew is an
interesting story. This is the
only place where we meet any
of Paul's relatives in the Bible.
God had His hand on Paul. He
used many different people and
means to protect him. He had a
work for him to do at Rome
and no plotting could hinder
God carrying out His purpose.
The bitter truth is that a
glance in the mirror will show
you exactly what the younger
generation is coming to.
REAL WHOPPER - Thomas Novak, holds a giant egg, pro-
duced at his father-in-law's farms. It measures 10 inches the
long way around, seven inches around the middle. Egg afi
right Is a normal "extra -large" for comparison.
TALK ABOUT TEEN-AGERS - Not even in San Francisco do the Beats go on wilder kicks than
Fritz. The boxer's favorite frolic is inhaling auto exhaust until he gets lightheaded. Left, he
Inhales the fumes and, right, freshens up at a water fountain, More than once Frits: has passer!
Out from the effects of this gambit but this hasn't abated his desire.