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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1960-11-03, Page 3Really Fhie Way To Acquire A Library An odd and interesting sit- uation has just eonw to my at- tention. It seem„ we have some kind of stater department "ae- meditation" system for stand- ardizing our high schools, and one high schools failed to meet the requirements. The physical plant was all new; the gymnasi- um was commodious and exten- sive; the sign "janitor" on the furnace -room door had been properly changed to "custodian"; and the percentage increases for teachers had been duly institu- ted. Everybody thought the pro- gram was in high gear and things were fine, But in order to be "accredited" as an A -number -one institution of learning, there had to be a certain number of volumes in the library. This item Karl been neglected, True, they had built a room for the library, and had set up many shelves along the Walls. They had some big tables with chairs, and the lighting was fine. But somehow the committee and the officials had not hap- pened to be the booky sort, and during the expensive prepara- tions nobody had thought ,ouch about a library, It wasn't until the otrivial state tabulation came down from the higher echelons of cul- ture that this subject carte up, Then word went about that .just as soon as the school had the bookshelves filled the catet.ory would change, and the high school would be ae good as any in the state. Under the accepted methods of modern education, this pres- ented no real problem. A house- to-house appeal was made, and everybody scrimmaged around the sheds and attics, and in one heads -up, closely organized, ef- fective campaign, books were gathered and the shelves were filled. Immediately the school was rerated and is now in tiptop shape, ready to send forth schol- ars with the best of then(. This is really a fine way to acquire a library. It has the ad- vantage of being quick, and you don't waste time browsing. Some years ago my wife and I were driving over a back road and came upon an auction. We had evidently missed the better part of it, but the auctioneer was laboring valiantly to draw in the last few pennies he could, and he was at the moment striv- ing to get 30 cents for a paste- board carton of used jelly tum- blers, but he had to let them ga for a quarter. We watched him dispose of a number of sim- ilar hot items, and then he said, "And now, if you will sten ever to the front doer, We Will sell Mr. Libby's fine library!" The word library struck a note, for the ancient, tumbler down, well -used little farmhouse Jiffy -Knit Set 509 4y Spark your bedroom rhymte with this Wheel -of -color set.---nr use rug alone for hall, den. JIFFY -SNIT set, done on 2 needles, wears like iron. Use rug cotton or old nylon hose, Pattern 509: directions 31 -inch rug, tool and seat -cover. - Scud TIURTY -FIVE CENTS (stamps cannot be accepted, use postal note for safety) for this pattern to Laura Wheeler, Box 1, 123 Eighteenth St„ Ncw Toronto. Ont. Print plainly PATTERN -NUM ER, your NAME atirl AD— DRESS, JUST OFI" 7'111•; l'ItESS! tir•nd • now For nor o1,1Ciun;;, new 13(11 Needle( raft Catalog. Oee.I 125 designs • in , teca i, knit. sew. e1t1- braici,r, quilt, w, a:v: .-_ laisltion,, !tomefu nishin,' z- arat hlts. Phis ins, lie - ter + It t,il p lid : , u,,,tt ee uulrtu"t sugge,t to auy passer• by drat It held a ltl:etary, or, e�tst Iite2lee's 041lnt (len. 1E looped like a mail order cata- logue residence at best, with any doubts at all on the side of the New England Homestead in the odd years when they offered five years and a bridal wreath bush for a dollar. But a "n- iers," had been promised, and we moved to the front door. A lean individual who was helping held nut three hooks to the auctioneer, and he raised then so all could seer "There are over 500 volumes in this library," he said. "They are all in topnotch shape, clean and nice. Some of them have scarce- ly been read. They cover all sub- jects. Hera is a complete educa- tion for anybody, and I would like to sell the complete library to one bidder. How mach am I offered?" There was oo response. Clear- ly, the gathering was not the kind to acquire erudition in this way. You could see that people respected hectics, and felt they were to be held in awe. Some of them might have liked to buy a book _. but to face the chance to acquire 500 of them in one fell swoop was too much. I ball expected to hear some voice pipe up and ask for the total weight, which might be a helpful statistic. But nobody opened his head. The auctioneer teased and cajoled, My wife said, "There must be a book there somewhere you'd like to have!" I remember 1 gave a wise an - Ea wit: "One to 500 is a better ratio than you get in a bookstore!" But her remark be- guiled me, and I though of poor Mr. Libby, who seemed to be the sad man sitting off to one side of a chopping block. We had no way to know why he was thus disposing of his lifetime effects. But his library, natural- ly telling the kind of man Ire was, the precious labors of so many master intellects treasur- ed up and perused over so many years of kerosene lamps, was not attracting any notable at- tention with the vulgar crowd, At least some token bid should be made. I heard myself calling, "Five dollars!" and I held my hand up with fingers apart so there would be no mis- take about the amount. A rent apiece! Mr. Libby looked pleased, and I was glad. The auctioneer hesi- tated one small moment while he assessed the prospects, and he quickly decided he was ahead. "Sold!" he barked, and every- body looked at me with what I took to be respect and envy, In a trice, Y had ceased being transient stranger, and had be- come a well-known owner of 500 books. We found a great many novels by Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth, and things like that. There was a leather-bound Goldsmith which I imagine is a collector's item. Joseph C, Lincoln prevailed, as did Zane Grey. We got the Cap- py Ricks series in into But to tell the truth, at $5 Mr, Libby cheated me when he conveyed his library. Orr the other hand, it is nice to know that in mod- ern times, so have we wagged, this motley collection helped to "accredit" a high school. One corner of my attic is clean again. —By John Gould in the Chris - Ilan Science Monitor Tough To Be Rich In Singapore Bring a big businessman has become an occupational hazard in Singapore. Of the hundred Chinese dollar millionaires who live on the island, six have, been kidnapped and held to r•antsum hn the last ten months. Latest victim to stumble nut of the jungle and back to civilize - tion was Eng Hong Soon, a rub- ber magnate, who escape with bit life because he paid up 20,000 dollars and kept his mouth shut about his raptors. None of the kidnap victims dares divulge to police names of the gang who are staking their and their fellow millionaires" lives so miserable , not since. last - spring when the • body. of 1.' Gee Chong was found clumped in a cemetery. Too clay earlier wealthy Chong had been snatched from his luxurious Donnishly as he was about to drive into his home..His fancily made the fatal mistake of calling in the police. Things are so black -1hr the big -money boy. Ihat•they daren't go out at night. They stay put in their hones, guarded by barb- ed wire and watchdogs And it's reporter( that some of them are protecting themselves by paying tribute to their underworld tor- n -,:mors, The millionaires showed sortie 1i,c1r1 lastmonth, however, by getting touothur and Misting a r anlp sign 1u make kidnapping of Sine:merre , r'apital offence. it ar tnnun1 is 11n 1 trade on (he i I utd is hying seriously. aIle rl, ,1 because they're unable In ,-'n; •'.311.1110 nn their business ;,galeal BUTTERFLY STROKE - Mermaid with wings, Sandy Lawhun gives her own version of the butterfly stroke. She entertains visitors at Weekle Wachee Springs. With her air hose handy she stays under like a fish. My column this week hits paint at the beginning, paint in the middle and paint at the end. Sandwiched in between is a strange bird, fan mail letters, and a lovely drive. About the paint . For months I have been itching to get a paint brush in my hand. Every room in this house has been literally screaming for a paint job and I had been won- dering how much longer I could stand it. Why didn't we have it done? Well, quite frankly, we couldn't afford it. Neither could Partner tackle the job, Spirit was willing but not the joints. One day's painting and he would have been too stiff to move for a week. Arthritis is an unpredict- able master. Partner is working on a job outside making wells for the basement windows. It in- volves a terrific amount of heavy work with two-inch planks,. fit- ting and tarring the wood, dig- ging and mounding the heavy- olay soil, cutting and re -setting the sod; heavy work that Part - Iter seems quite able to do. But to wield a two-inch paint brush, that would be another story, 1 wasn't sure I could do it either but I was determined to try Af- ter all I used to do all the in- terior decorating at Ginger Farm -- and some of the outside too, But I was ten years younger then and at a certain stage in one's life tee yet0s, ms,trc: a int of con erPnee. Well, to cru ,, tong story shunt, 1 tackled the kitchen first, It is ten by twelve and has eighteen cupboard doors! Wonderfully convenient Until it comes to painting then(. I char a lovely shade of light turquoise for the walls and white for the wood- work. And it really looks won- derful .- barring a few smears of print here and there. Anyway,. it's clean, it's bright, and it's ably. But oh clear, what a mcss at tinea. -In a kitchen you can't reuun•e everything and get on with the jobs. You have to paint and live with it too. One day everything ntovabte was on the kitchen table and the overflow in the dinning -room. We had a sandwich lunch on TV t alis in the living -room. Next room I attacked was the stain bathroom — same colour as the kitchen, turquoise and white That way I economized in paint, The colour scheme is re- lieved by pink towels, soap and toilet paper, interchangeable with yellow. Mirror, lights and so on were removed and the bathroom closed for the dura- tion, This was possible as we hare- a two-piece washroom off the main bedroom. While tcnrk- ing I wore at dark IA smock, Anyone looking at it knew ex- actly what colour paint I oat. using! Of course I ran into a few difficulties as 1 have to Liss chair to stand on — caen't keep my balance on a step -ladder. Ali that rcanains to be (lone nnw is a clean-up job. At least for those Iwo moot,. But my painting, I'm - afraid, will be like a serial story - in be enntinued. Novi, for the strange bird, Partner saw it first and culled me to look. It was the size: of a :robin, rusty -red breast, brown- ish hack and wing's, hopped and rant like a robin and was with miter robins, In fact it was a rob- in, of. that I am sure-. 'Then what was strange? Well, the head and throat of this robin were pore 1SST11? 44 — 19ti0 white, Maybe it was trying to he an albino bird and hadn't quite grade it. Fan mail . , , several letters arrived last week, .all of them welcome. One each from Sea - forth, Kincardine, Kenora and the Department of Agriculture. Reader -friends are very kind --- I clo'appreciate your encouraging words and good wishes, "T,L,B!' has been writing about twice a year for at least fifteen years. We. enjoy hearing from him and his wife, Next a lovely drive .. neigh- bours invited us to go along for a drive to Freelton. That took us across country through famil- iar territory, driving towards the "Mountain" north of 1Vlilton, At Highway 6, we went towards East Flamhoro to a lovely park we had never even heard of be- fore — 'Lambert Park". It is the result of one man's -dream and ingenuity. There is a grand ce- ment -lined swimming pool which utilities a natural creek and is controlled by floodgates. There 'are also swings, teeter-ttrtors, picnic tables galore, brick bar- becues and plenty at shade trees. Coming home we drove through the Cedar Sprints holi- day resort. Private property, owned and operated a.< a cumin - unity project near Kilbride by people who have bought lots and built sunnier homes, It has just about everything — gm' course, ski runs, swimming, tennis, base- ball, pavihen and community hall and nature trails, all among the beautiful cedars from which It gets its name_ This was once the site of a powder mill which blew up in a terrific explosion 1n 1884. The scene of the tragedy remained idle until 1924 where its Potential as a holiday i•vsitrt was first realized, fulfilling :, lite- rh•dam of Mr, W. D. Flats. There 5tc now over eighty slimmer cottages, some of them . intxor- ineci. A lovely spot. Mystery Of The "Laughing Death" A mysterious disease linen n rs the "Laughing Death" has re- sulted in 30,000 tribesmen in Australian New Guinea being cforoubidntry,den to move :1 111 the The disease has at fe e t e d ',ntnen more than sten,. causing a serious shortage of prospective Wives. Consequently, the tribes- men have been roaming to other areas in search of wins:. spre:ad- itig the disease. The govern- ment's answer Inas beet: to inrce the tribesmen to curb their ro- mantic ambitions until a dire is found. The disease rs a inysieo tat - scientists. A1.1 they known about it ir• that "the victims succumb to uncontrollable hysteria." ,4ttt1 SnI,tES..- "Ori the ecnhary, Mad on, 11 i.r't uorlt; re's neceseaty exorcists,," Well.Loyed Author Keeps On Deity, 'In the wee small hours," tee ntrrtlter wrote, "she began to Im- prove and I was amazed at the question site asked mt. "Mosn- mie, its Thornton Burgess still alive?' 1 replied that I did not know anything about you, but you must be a man well on In years for one of your hunks was copyrighted in 1910 ..." Addressed to the author some twenty years ago, this fan letter repeats a question which chil- dren, as well as many a grown- up, are still asking. Three gen- erations of Americans have been raised on the fictionalized nature lore of Thornton 13urgess, and his astounding output of 15,000 stories enjoys a sentimental es.. teem which—for most adults— makes the question of their li- tel'ary worth a matter nF urns Irrelevant, Happily, the ansa ,-r :u ted: sit- ing child's question was—and still is—yes. At 86, Thornton W. Burgess is not only alive, but last month was out with a golden an- niversary edition of "Old Mother West Wind," plus an autobiogra- phy called "Now I Remember". Seen in self -profile, Burgess is Just what the reader would want —a benign sentimentalist who truly believes the rhymed homi- lies which decorate the top of his stories and truly loves the animal world. The most absorb- ing episode of the autobiography show him in the role of dedi- eated amateur naturalist, hiding nut in the dawn on Martha's Vineyarc 1 r observe a male heath hen m e,, 1 the last of its rare Eerily, .b bird goes through its ritual mating dance, unable to realize that nowhere on earth is there a she -hen to be eharmect by the show.. Reinforced by illustrator Har- rison Cady—a fellow octogen- arian who is still his collabora- tor—Burgess won a fan follow- ing which has included, at some stage In life, virtually every liv- ing American (his bedtime stor- les ran In 400 American news- papers), Many were hooked for good. During the harrowing trial of the eleven top Communists in 1049, - Judge Harold R. Medina- declares his biographer—spent each morning recess with The New York Herald Tribune, care- fully catching up on the doings of Jimmy Skunk and Sammy Jay. Attending a conference in Can- ada on the life cycles of fish, Burgess was once forced by pop- ular request—despite his cring- ing embarrassment—to tell a bedtime story to the assemblage of scientists from five countries. Cranking out a story a day for nearly 50 years—he retired from his syndicated column only this year, and now divides his time between Hampton, Mass„ and the island of Tobago off Trinidad —Burgess tried to keep fiction close to the facts of natural his- tory. More and more he won the notice and respect of profession- al naturalists until—in the su- prcnte hour of his life -North- eastern University in Boston flabbergasted him with an hon- orary doctorate of letters. In his autobiography, Burgess devotes a r st number of his pages to the admiring message,. that fill his scrapbooks bud the ince», petted fame that the world hat given him, but his delighted pugta 'element as to why it all happen. ed nieces his book- rraieveir pleasant. reading, Modern Etiquette By Anne 4shley Q. Is it correct to wear ear. rings at any time, or should thein be reserved only for certain oe- t'aslons? A. Small earrings eon be were at any time, But the long, dang. ling types are best worn only with evening or party frocks. Whitt a pity that future gene rrrations can't see the wonder. ful things we are doing with their stoney, For Half -Sizes TED PATTERNF 4595 2v A-1 aa" 4-Art4. 44,4 SHORTER, fuller? These new, Fall skirts are perfect for you! They're shaped to slim you smartly, to fit without alteratioie at waist, hips, in length, Printed Pattern 4595: For halt sizes -- 29, 31, 33, 35, 371/2, 40 - inch waists. Size 31 slim skirt 17 yards 54 -inch; flared 17,e yards. 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