HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1961-02-16, Page 3Elephant Roundup
Risky Business
AS soon as the setting son
snatched away the last light
from the bamboo forest of Ifak-
kankote in Mysore stet e, the
hunters built .up huge fires and
began darting around with flares
and torches. Primitive Huhuber
tribesmen, 1,500 strong, they had
tracked their quarry for ten
days and now had three separ-
ate herds, corralled and restless
behind encircling fires, At dawn,
40 mahuts swung up on the back
of trained elephants, shouting
"A l i a it 'Flo Akbhar" ("God is
great"). Then came the cry,
"Chale bhai, chalo" ("Go bro-
ther, go'), and India's last great
lthedda - a three-day roundup
of wild elephants --- was off to
a thunderous start.
Newsweek's B. Ramanujam,
Who rode one of the more docile
elephants, reported from My-
sore;
Prodding their tame beasts to
assigned positions deep its the
forest, the Moslem mahuts -join-
ed forces with the 3 urubar
tribesmen, who can trumpet like
elephants and, in India, are be-
lieved to be related to them.
Caught between the two groups
- with the, mahuts using dotl-
b:e-barreled shotguns and tribes-
men setting
ribesmensetting a p a frightening din
with clacking bamboo bells call-
ed Kodukus - the' wild. herds
started to move. Bellowingbulls
charged, unseating some of the
mahuts from 'their' tame ele-
phants and trampling' o ne to'
death. Cows and calves squealed
in panic, while overhead, chat-
tering monkeys followed as' the
herds were driven to the Kabini
River.
On the riverbank near a sprk-
ed wooden stocliade, the crowds
had gathered. Many had walked
from Mysore, 50 mi 1 e s. away,
over a forest road newly tarred
'and repaired for the benefit of
COWBOY'S COWBOY - West-
ern artist Charles Russel I,
above, died almost 35 years
ago, but he :will be important
to television cowboys. His
bronze sculpture, "Horse Wran-
gler," shown here;. "is the sym-
bol of the Western Heritage
Awards to be given by the
National Cowboy Hall of Fame
and Western Heritage Center;'
Oklamhoma City. Copies will.
be given for outstanding TV
shows,, music and • literature
based on the -West. Russellwas
one of the first five' members
named to the Hall of Fame.
tee
distinguished visitors, Prominent
among the visitors seated on a
grandstand, were India's Pres: -
dent, Rajendra Preset Ceylon's
Premier, Mrs. S, W. R. Bandara-
naike;` Mrs, Ellsworth Bunker,
wife of the ILS, Ambassador,
and the Sheik of Qatar whose
party of 35 arrived in taxieabg:
The onlookers, including some
U.S. tourists who paid more than
$500 each for grandstand seats,
were prepared for excitement
but not bedlam,
Resplendently uniformed atop
a tame tusked, 50 -year -Old' Mo
haloed Ahmed,' Conservator of
Forests and director of the hunt,
opened the main show with a
loud shout of "Bang! Bang!"
This set bugles blaringand in-
creased the din as elephants,
trackers, beaters, and mahuts all
broke, from the forest's edge.
One mahut fell off his mount'
and was nearly trampled before
the eyes of the crowd, A bull
elephant broke loose and headed
straight for the grandstand until
turned aside by shotgun fire.
But at.last, the gun blasts and
the heaving and tugging of the
trained elephants forced the
herd across the river and into
the stockade. The Kabini ran red
with their blood,
A secondherd repeated, much
the same performance but a
third, numbering 33 elephants,
held together tightly and refused
to panic despite the fact that 75
rounds of ammunition were fired •
all told. The reason was, a . calf
was born just' after the herd was
encircled. T mother first
taught''it to ,stand 'by wrapping
her trunk around• it and pulling
it up onto -its feet. Then, with
bulls standing guard and 'the
rest of the herd as an escort,
the motherwalked slowly and
carefully . to 'the river, the calf
stumbling along under her
lumbering body.
In all, 62 elephants were cap-
tured. -
aptured- a. total that the mahuts
credited to, the intervention of
Parvathi, goddess • wife of Lord
Shiva, whose statue sits' under
a banyan tree in the forest, And'
the ;distinguished visitors '-wertt
delighted by the. spectacle. "Mag-
nificent" said President Prasad.
"Those elephants may have lost
their freedom, but it . is really
-for their own.!good,"
Others were not ,so sure. The
elephants will be denied food
and 'water 'until thele' spirit, Is
partially broken, then trained
for three months to obey com-
mands. Some will die of shock,
a few will become so mean they
must, be turned loose;' most will
become beasts of burden or cir-
cus performers. As for the :new-
born calf the herd; protected so
valiantly, no, one up to•.now
knows -• or so far ' seems to
care - what will become of
him,
British Ivy Is.
A, Public Enemy !
Silently and, relentlessly a
public enemy is gaining a firmer.
grip all over Britain. It is ivy,.
which costs Britain at least 1810"
million. a year through' damage
to buildings, both ancient and
modern. Some ,people like ivy
growths for decorative effect -
but mainly on houses, and cot-
tages 'they do not themselves
occupy.
Ivy can do immense harm, 'un-
dermining the structure, causing
walls to crumble, and letting in
damp. Ivy suckers are tough and
treacherous.'
As 'a Ministry of Works 'offi-
cial says "The trouble 'starts
from the roots which after many
years' growth infiltrate into the
joints of either stone or brick
walls and by their great strength
burst or:.fracture them."
The winter heroes 'are again
with us -'those who can success-
fully maneuver a pair of expen-
sive bent boards up and down a
snow-covered hill,
CROSSWORD
PUZZLE
9 IiinYly
10. Biblical
character
'11. Cistern
16. Bobbin
17. Clemency
1s Mere of
ACROSS a 2.Capitalcotton
1. Viper 3. S,e mint; -21 Quoted
4.Dlftuse _ contrarhetion 62 Bnthusls n,
4 Anecdote 28. Buddhist
8, Feeding place 6. Loomis bird, shrine
15. Turmeric being
Abstract 24. Diseases
18. Conduce being 26, Shower
7 Porto, or 26 Cir
14.Wife ofZeus D:vinit, lab enelnu.ttesti
18,-Cnmefish 8. Opportunity 29 witticisms
17. Wizardry
18. Steps
19. Rasehtn river
20,. Thirsty
21,:A rind
24, Comn'tee Metal
28. Subdivide
minutely'
27. nehold
28 Not strict
2n. wharf
3D. 1"eeeed
31. Chinese
measure
82. Systems of
signals
28, Native of
Denmark
04. Went
furtively-
as.
urtivelya8. Siamese
temple
57, Tract
88. Relinqui h.
45, Shlb'e Offficer_
As, Go before
tgweetIn wsop
Tde aq,ttli
, Father tge.s,
&
, T, eranttnnts
atq
. ttueeit. (ah.)
DOWN
0. Bra .nob est of
Aea+•n9vtr:
2U. Yurveyor
of food
32. Fondle
23. Defy
35. Consumed
36, Toile
88. Shallow
crossing
3s. hinds
reiigtous
teacher
40. Num bcre
41. Insane
42. Goddess of
mischief
43, Muer,-run
Ori. football
position ab.)
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Answer elsewhree on this ,page
s
TOP OP THE WORLD - The first koala bear born outside of its
native habitat, Australia, looks at the world from atop its
mother's head, in the San Diego' zoo.
ifi VAIZM FRONt
A fresh look at petroleum oils
for dormant sprays against in-
sects in 'orchards is 'being taken
by entomologists, states Dr. J.
Marshall at the Research Station
of the. Canada Department of
Agriculture, Summerland, B.C.
* + O
When organic phosphate -insec-
ticides, such as parathion and
malathion, came into general use
in the orchards of western North
America, the use of dormant 'oil
sprays declined. It was, perhaps,
as much a matter of weather and
of soil conditions as of effective-
ness of ' the insecticides The
weather is bad and the ground
soggy only too often during the
period of dormant spraying.
The renewed interest in 'dor-
mant oils is partly due' to the
development of strains of insects
and mites resistant to the organic
pesticides. No insect or mite has
become resistant to dormant oils
in the 35 odd years that the oils
'have been in general use. Also
oils leave no, poisonous residues
on thetfruit and as a rule are less
likely to kill beneficial insects
than 'the organic phosphates, the
chlorinated hydrocarbons, or the.
other synthetic pesticides.
'Perhaps. the, most , important
quality' in dormant 'oils is vis-
cosity. In the western 'United
State's the • oil that has been rec-
ommended. ever since oils came
into use as insecticides is what
might be called a light, dormant
• oil with a viscosity of 100 sec-
••onds Saybolt at 100°F. Until the
mid -forties the same type of oil
was used in British Columbia.
Then, after five seasons of tests,
a heavier •oil, of 200 seconds vis-
cosity, was introduced ft has
been used exclusively since that
• time;..and. there has been better
pest control, and less injury- to
'fruit buds, and to foliage buds,
than when the lighter oil was
used.
Now on the horizon is a still
heavier oil with a viscosity' of
400 Seconds -This oil gave better
control than lighter oil in 1960.
If further tests confirm these
results, the British Columbia
fruit grower. will soon be using
the heaviest, dormant splay oil
that has yet beets developed.
In the first 15 men!•ha of its
operation, Farm Credit Corpor-
ation has macre 6,711 loans veal -
ling $66,971,350 - an average oI
about $9,780 for each boriower,
e • ,
All provinces except New-
foundland, 'where there is a very
small agricultural industry, took
advantage of the liberalized
credit policy introduced by the
federal government in the fall
of 1959. While terms were kept
at five per cent, the size of the
loans, the type of operation, and
the time' for repayment were ex-
tended,,'Emphasis was laid on
large loans for young farmers
subject to approval of the farm
program they proposed to fol-
low, Loans 'may be used for ac-
quiring land, fertilizers. seed,
teen 6" LISa1
livestock, equipment; for erecting
buildings; for clearing, draining,
fencing or other improvements.
e t 4
The Farm. Credit Act was pass-
ed to answer complaints that
Canadian farmers were hamper-
ed in their drive to modernize
and to set up economic units by
lack of capital 'on suitable terms.
• •e *
Six years after their. farms'
were expropriated to 'make way
for the •275,000 -acre Camp Gage-
town in New Brunswick, 100
farm families appeared to be get-
ting along quite well.
A Canada Department of Ag-
riculture sociologist who recent-'
ly made another check with the
families, said that the majority
of them are still farming. But,
he added, an increasing number
have found non-farm employ-
ment within commuting distance
of their farm homes.
# e e
This trend towards a combin-
ation of farm and non-farm
work was first noticed when the
families were interviewed four
years ago. It apparently has con-
tinued.
Farmers who stuck to farming,
especially those on larger farms,
appear to be doing very well, he
said.
Mighty Bat And
Mightier Appetite
"Babe Ruth would eat a frank-
furter and a bun each time he
would waddle in from right field
'and then gulp a .bottle of
Coca-Cola as a chaser. Were the
game to go into extra innings
the Bambino's belly would
rumble like Mount Stromboli.
After he had left the ball park,
.he' would enjoy an extra -thick
steak, five or six potatoes, and
a whole apple pie, then comp in
about the belly -ache and take
bicarbonate of soda." - From
"Skyline" by Gene Fowler.
Spend The Money
Right Here On Earth
it would be small potatoes to
feel smug over the flame -out of
Russia's latest space vehicle. We
have had our troubles with non -
calculated trajectories - to use
the Soviet euphemism - ot.u•••
selves, It is odd, perhaps, that
Soviet officials came out and
admitted that the dog -toting
rocket craft has burned up in
the earth's atmosphere after
filling to respond to control sig-
nals. The Russians must have
had failures before, but they
never admitted them. This time,
o4 course, they were over a bar-
rel, Premier Khrushchev had
hailed this latest space ventere
personally and a number of lead-
ing Soviet publications had gone
obediently into page 1 ecsta..tes
over the launching, lampooning
the United States space tries end
even writing poems in praise of
Russian science, Unless they
were going to lie about it, the •c
was nothing to do but admit ii,
when the velt'irle went li yo' re.
1•towaber, this is neither here
nor there. What it does prove
is" that, for anybody, space
travel is going to be hit-or-miss.
and• perilous for a long time to
come. And already, scientists are
beginning to raise the question
whether, in view Uf the stupen-
dous costs, all this experimenting
isn't a little meaningless, True,
there is an amount of military
necessity involved. Sure, suc-
cess boosts national prestige in
the international propaganda
duel. But whether for purely
civilian purposes there is any
sense in going to the moon right
now, it would indeed be diffi-
cult to say, Down here on earth
there are a lot of other improve-
ments that might be undertaken
to make men and the world
better. When we have done
something more about poverty,
disease, ignorance, injustice, ill -
will and general inhumanity, it
will be time enough to go shut-
tling about the cosmos. If we
can't take clean hands and pure
hearts with us, we'd better quar-
antine ourselves right where we
are now. - Hartford Courant.
Don't Blame Farmers
For Cost Of Living
The U.S. cost of living reached
•a new peak in November. Sta-
tistically food prices get a major
part of the blame, Food comes
from the farm - so it is easy
to conclude that the high cost
of living results from' high farm
prices. The conclusion is in er-
ror, Also it illustrates the far-
mer's public relations problem.
It is tough to be accused of
causing living costs to rise when
the.opposite is true. The fact is,
if prices at the farm had not
held at a relatively low level
over the last 10 years, the cost
of living would be much higher.
The index figures used by the
government are the evidence.
For November, the Bureau of
Labour' Statistics reported a rise
in the consumer price index
from 127.3 to 127.4. In the index,
100 represents average prices for
the 1947-49 period.
Many items in addition to food
are covered by the index, but it
was food that received promin-
ent mention in the latest report,
In the 1947-49 period (100 on
the cost ' of living index) farm
prices were at 100 per cent of
parity or better. Currently they
stand at about ,81 per cent of
parity,
The index, which represents.
all prices, has risen more than
27 points since the 1947-49 peri-
od. But the index on farm prices
- at the /arm - has dropped
almost the same 'amount. It is
plain that the increase in 'the
cost of living cannot be blamed
on the prices farmers receive, -
Kansas City (Mo.) Star.
Golden Invasion
Of Butterflies
Walk through the streets of
Pacific Grove, California, on
any day between late October
and early March and you will
see the golden wings of some of
the more than a million Monarch
butterflies which migrate there
from isolated parts of Alaska
every year.
The residents describe this
strange phenormenon of nature
as 'their ' "annual miracle." The
fragile -winged butterflies fly in
a great mass more than three
thousand miles to "winter" in
"Butterfly Town," as Pacific
Grove has been nicknamed.
Residents say their arrival, al-
ways in daylight, is like the
descent of a 'cloud of gold." As
they fly in, to settle in the same
grove of pine trees used by their
ancestors, they make a strange.
low humming sound,
,So proud are the members of
the local council' of this annual
"invasion" that they have passed
a law to protect the butterflies.
A resident or visitor could be
fined 500 dollars or sentenced to
six months in jail if he were
caught catching or molesting
them.
LESSON
By ]rev. 11, B. Warren, B.A., MS.D,
Christ Opens Blind Eyes
John 9;24--38
Memory Selection;" I am the
light of the world; be that fol-
loweth Me shall not walk in
darkness, but shall have the
light of life. John 5:12.
Our. lesson is another illus-
tration of how a miracle per-
formed by Jesus became the
basis for important teaching.
Here is the first instance of one
who had been blind from birth
receiving his sight. The anoint-
ing of the eyes with clay formed
from spittle, could have no
therapeutic value in itself, The
man's faith expressed in his obe-
dience in going to Siloam to
wash was vital. His healing can
be explained only by the word,
'miracle,'
The discussion concerning this
man started before his healing.
The disciples asked, "Master,
who did sin, this man, or his
parents, that he was born
blind?" The man could not have
sinned before his birth unless
he had been on earth before.
However, the teaching of the
transmigration of souls was held
by some in that day, Jesus an-
swered, "Neither hath this man
sinned, nor his parents; but brat
the works of God should be
made manifest in him," This an-
swer should, be borne in mind,
for there istill a' strong ten-
clency to suggest that affliction is
always the direct result of Ire
individual's sin.
The unbelievers found fault
because this work of love and
mercy was done on the Sab-
bath. The man who was healed
felt that his benefactor must
be a prophet, His insistence that
this One who healed him must
be of God, cost him his place in
the synagogue. They cast him
out.
The man who was healed still
didn't know very much about
Jesus. When the critics said He
was a sinner, the man replied,
"Whether He be a sinner or no,
I know not: one thing I know,
that, whereas I was blind, now I
see."
One day Jesus met him and
asked, "Dost thou believe on the
Son of God?" He asked, "Who
is He, Lord, that I might be-
lieve on Hini,?" Jesus said, "Thou
hast both seen Him and it is He
that talketh with three." The
man said, "Lord, I believe." And
he worshipped Him.
Reader, do you know Jesus
is the Son of God? Has He, the
Light of the world, come into
your life in redeeming power?
Do you worship Him as your
Lord and Saviour? Jesus Christ
is the Light of life. Without Him
we are in the dark. The open-
ing of the spiritual eyes is no
less reap than the opening of
the physical to the man of this
lesson.
It required much imagination
on the part of those who staged
the fabulous and colourful floats
in the Tournament of Roses
Parade - it required even more
imagination, on the part of
owners of' black -and -white TV
sets, when they heard the an-
ncuncers describe the types and
colour of flowers decorating the
floats.
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WATCH THYSELF! -- St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Amarillo.
To words its request appropriately,