HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1930-01-30, Page 7lig
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November Fog
'Tog . ..' Jim Mannering was
saying, "Ye s, a fog like this, black,
choking, annihilating" -- he loved So have you; Now, in the name
words with a gesture in hem -"a fog ery.
of common sense, let'a beat it!"
His response was mocking, banter-
ing. "Jlyde—the subconscious—isn't
satisfied yet. We're going to know
what it feel's like to be in this house
—in this room. Now .'
He continued pushing at the lower
sash—creak, creak, creak. 2 was
powerlese. He put one leg cautiously
over the sill and hoisted himself over.
'Come-on," he growled. "Then we'll
clear."
Terrified, angry, but feeling also
rather like Harry Welchman in
"When Knights Were Bold," I re-
luctantly followed. All was Week dark
inside, and dank with the fog which
billowed in through the open window.
Despite the rawness of the night I
was all hot and bothered from the
escapade, and tautly cocking both
ears for the least sound. I imagined
what •a sorry spectacle we`would pre-
sent at the West London police court
in the morning it. . . .
"Dont it!" whispered Mannering,
hoarsely. "Now you know what you
are capable of if ever the Hyde in
you gets loose. Next time you read
of a burglary you :can say: 'There,
but.for the grace of God, goes yours
humbly!' You . . .'
He got no farther. There was the
unmistakablesound of a taxi gearing.
up, of a key turning a lock, of, a door
opening and slamming to, of a quick
step in the hall, of e. switch clicking.
My only impulse was to get to the
window, but I' couldn't move.
','Good God! I gulped "We're for
it. . .'
Mannering gripped my arm. fierce-
ly, A voice called from the hall:
"Are you in, Jim?"
A woman's voice. Margaret's!
At that instant Mannering,, the
idiot, darted to the wall and switched
on the light. I looked round, blinking,
dazed, unbelieving. Mannering's own
study! . The room we had left! And
he was roaringwith laughter.
"I3aw, haw, haw!" he roared. "Here
we are, Margaret. We've been do-
ing a little prospecting in the fog.
Breaking into bouses, and that sort
of thing. The 1ryde in us all, you
know. And he'd never noticed that
door at the bottom of the garden.
Now what about a drink "=
Trevor Allen.
While I listened I could feel my'heart
beating like a clock when you take
the pendulum off. The footsteps re
ceded into silence again, •
"Look here, Mannering," I whisper-
ed, "I've had enoug7i of this'tomfool-
like this always affects me in a curi-
ous way. I want to go out in it and
do strange things. Jekyll and Hyde,
you know. It awakens the Hyde in
one, that -that enigmatic fellow who
lives deep down in most of us, in the
subconscious .
"Ah!" I laughed.' "I thought the
subconscious would come into It be-
fore long. - Believe me, my dear chap,
Freud has become a sort of mental
hiccup.' . . .'
Mannering merely •smiled -a grudg-
ing smile, "Call it what you like," he
said. "There's something down theins
which never sees the light of normal
day and shuns'even the dark.. But
on a night like this --look at it, smell
'RI—isn't it as if all life had become
submerged in the very element in
which the subconscious mind moves
andhas its ,being? It's as though—
no, don't grin like that; as though
hidden, grotesque instincts and Im-
pulses crept up from their lair and
stalked abroad, and your every -day
self followed them, .fascinated. The
Hyde in lie all.. . ."
"Or simply. the ass?" I suggested.
"Really, Mannering, this le' too—too
morbid and fantastic. What about a
drink?" •
We were in Mannering's cosy study
in. Oheleea, huging the gas fire, smok-
ing, talking about nothing in particu-
lar until the conversation veered sud-
denlq towarde fog and the psychology
of fog. Mannering 7s of the lean, dark,
restless, ':speculative sort that loves
gesture in everything and contrives
to get a deal of itinto a matter-of-
fact world. Anything, you feel, Is
Possible at any Ume—especially the
least likely time—with Mannering.
"You see," he said,( 'jumping from
his chair and`crossing'to the window,
"the fog's got into the room, it pene-
trates everything. Let's go out in it.
It's like tbe harvest, moon -too rare
and wonderful to miss."
"But—Margaret?" I reminded him.
(Margaret was his sister, who kept
house for him).
"Oh, she won't be back till pretty
late. ' Come on. Ijere's your coat.
Collars up! Great stuff, this fog.
And he turned off the stove and snap-
ped ° off the light.
So out into the thick of tha abomin
able "souper"' we had to go; and 3f
anyone knows a worse place than
Chelsea in a thick fog . . .1 It
was in the hall. It came in at the
door when -we opened it, like smoke
—raw, frosty, ochreous. You couldn't
see the railings two yards away.
"We'll get hopelessly lost," I grum-
blued.
"Not on your life," said Mannering.
"I could find my way about this part
of the world stone dead."
We groped along, turning corner
after corner, in a complete maze s0
far as I was concerned, A silence
as of death muffled the streets, if.
streets indeed they were and not
catacombs of an underworld The
houses which we sensed more than
saw might have been tombs. Once
some other spirit walker shufaed past
through the pal. Street lamps glow-
ered, far -away planets M. a universe
plunged into chaos and eternal night.
The gears of a belated bus at the end
Try Your Camera on -One of These Snaps.
nee ',es:- leeltene• nene
A TYPICAL BUSH SCENE
Pulpwood • camp, north of Porcupine gold camp, as.eeen by moonligh
last month. Forty-five minute exposure was necessary.
Favorite Tales
Of Famous People
• The Prince of Wales, presiding at
a banquet of the Highland Society of.
London, spoke in praise of Highland
hospitality and ill'istrated his re-
marks with this -story of some Scot-
tish parishioners who were entertain-
ing a new minister.
They did not know what to give
him as a nightcap. So they gave him
a glass of milk and put in some of
their best. 'whiskey. Next morning
they could not end the minister, and
after a little search they found that
he had gone to the byre. But he was
not there when the searchers arrived.
The man in charge was asked had he.
seen the minister, and said "Yes."
They asked what the minister said to
him, and he replied: "He said: 'I want
the first calf . from the cow from
which 1 had that milk."
Grave Bank Scandal
Shocks Leichtenstein
to Hamlet's Depths
Tho little Principality of Liechten-
stein is having the -most exciting
weekinits two-hundred=Year-old his-
tory, as the proceedings against the
director of the "Liechtenstein Lan-
desbank" and his three associates
are taking place. "For many weeks it
has already formed the chief topic of
the two newspapers of the little State
the organs of the two parties, who
are lighting each other tooth and nail,
writes the Loudon Observes corres-
pondent from Zurich to that news-
paper.
The bank itself is a public institu-
tion whose liabilities the State has to
guarantee. Its director, Franz Thony
of Vaduz, an energetic man of thirty-
four, and his three accomplices en -
of the world groaned and grated un- gaged in wild speculations, especially
cannily. A church clock struck In connection with the arrangement
twelve. Mannering's voice wandered of lotteries, using the public money
on like a nightmare announcer's on for •private undertakings, In June,
a bad wireless receiver. I knew 11928, tbe bank had to face a loss of
• was completely lost and' at his mercy. 1,500,000 Swiss francs, and Could only
"Adventure!" he boomed. "Adven- be saved from bankruptcy by the
tore!. This sort of night, is made 'forPrince aid the communities who paid
adventure. Escape from our hum-
drum selves, from the, obvious, the
matter-of-fact. We can do anything
we like. Prowl, rob. nmrder if we
will. There's no one to see. Society
doesn't exist. Only the Hyde in us
' whonever gets a dhance at an y,, other
time because we're so proper, so
afraid."
"Don't be a blithering ass," I began.
But he suddenly stopped and jerked
out: .
"You remember that mysterious
door in Stevenson's ''New Arabian
Nights?' A door in a wall. A sinister
door. Like this one.."
Before I could stop ,him be had
turned the °handle of a low door in
and carousing too much, , If you had
listened to my teachings you would
not be In this dreadful condition.t'
"401, sure, 'taint me what's got it,"
returned Pat. "I was only wondering
what caused it, I -saw. in the paper
where the Bishop was suffering from
lumbago." a.
Ring Lardner, the humorist, find
noticed about the London suburbs a
remarkable number of , Manx oats.
One day, while waiting at a station
for the five -fifteen train, a cat having
no tail scampered across the plat-
form.
Turning to the porter, he asked:
"Manx?"
"No," replied the porter, "five-
fifteen,"
A mountaineer was seated in front
of his dilapidated cabin. in .the heart
of the Tennessee hills when a Rolls-
Royce drove up. •A Japer young man
jumped out and, running 'up to the
cabin, shouted:
"Father, dear, father, don't you
know me? ,I'm Edgar. Fifteen years
ago to -day you sent me to town for
some, tobacco.I ran away to the big
,
city. I went to Wall Street. 1 work-
ed hard. I prospered. Now I have
returned, very, very wealthy."
A Dig From Lord Darling
Prince Arthur of Connaught recent-
ly told this story of his visit to a
native tribe on the Zambesi:
The chief of the tribe spoke for
four and a half minutes under the
hour. I did not understand a word
he said, and did not know how we
were going to stop him. Eventually,
when he did cease speaking, a native
interpreter came up to me with a
broad grin and, pointing to the chief,
said: 'Him say, I am bally pleased to
see you.' If anyone here can make
a better speech than that, I invite
him to make it"
Lord Darling's wit possesses a
keen' edge. A good example of this
was provided at a dinner of the
Gray's Inn Debating Society, when
Lord Darling administered chastise-
ment to certain undergraduates of
Cambridge. Said his lordship:
"I saw the other day that at a
Cambridge Debating Society • they de-
bated a long -discussed question as to
wbether women should be abolished.
They resolved that they should be. In
my opinion it was a pity the resolu-
tion was not passed before they were
.horn."
John Barrymore's Best
The old man fixed his son with a
baleful eye, and demanded "Boy:
Wheh is that terbacker?"
This is •the favorite joke of John
Berryman, the film actor, as told by
Mr. F. E. Nicholson in "Fovorite
Jokes of Famous Peol,•a," in which he
has collected .some hundred of the
funniest stories told by famous peo-
ple.
Mme. Galli-Curci's favorite joke
concerns a young woman who was
trying out before a producer for a
part 12n grand opera, The producer
Worthy of Delay
Suitable Site for Foch Statue
is Puzzle to Paris
Authorities
Paris.—Ever since Marshal Foch
died and was buried under the In-
valides dome, the Paris Municipal
Council has tried to find a suitable
place to erect a statue in his honor.
A special committee was formed by
M. Poincare when he was Premier to
discuss the matter, but eight months
have •passed and nothing has been
settled yet as regardsthe street or
square that will be honored with the
statue of the victorious marshal.
At first, the committee''had thought
that the monument could be placed
in the most conspicuous spot of
Paris, in the middle of the .Champs
Elysees Avenue, where Foch passed
at the head of his legions after the
Armistice. The statue was to be an
equestrian one and the marshal was
to $ace the Arc de Triomphe and the
grave of the Unknown Soldier and
turn his back to the Concorde. But
the Paris press unanimously protest-
ed against this plan. The fine per-
spective of the Champs Elysees
Avenue, the papers said; would be en-
tirely spoiled by the statue that
would cover the view of the Arch of
Triumph and the • Obelisk. Besides,
handed her a sheet of music, asking a writer declared somewhat humor -
her to sing it, and she began. I ously that Foch would look on that
The producer's frown darkened as spot like a mounted policeman over -
her song continued. Presently he in looking the traffic.
terrupted her. 'How much of ithavel The entrance of the Bois de Bou -
you sung?' he asked. logne, at the Porte Dauphine, was
"Down to where it says 'Refrain;
the aspirant told him.
"Then please do what the song
says," replied the producer.
CCE C IVIAT Old Sea Dog's
By KENNETH STEVENSON
"Antheny'Martin's First Love," by
Dr. M. Zehnder ($2,50), 342 Bloor W.,
Toronto. Here ie an astounding novel
that will, if itt'receives its due at the
hands of the reading public, create a "Ahoy there!" The roar made mo
lasting stir in the world of literature,
The book strikes a note that is jump. A sturdylittle man with a
unique' in this day of cynicism and white beard grasped my hand, writes
materialism in novels. an interviewer in this article in the
The pure gentle story is told in the London Daily Express.
manner of the idealist. Perhaps the Captain John Dowdy, the owner of
author, because of his idealism,blinds the magnificent bellow, who now lives.
himself 'to certain inevitable harsh -1 in retirement in Norfolk, Eng., has.
nesses of life. Nevertheless the work crammed inore adventure into his life
is refreshing and' a welcome relief than can be found in a boy's maga-
from the modern diet. eine.
Its technical faults are many, but "Sailors, these days, ain't sailormen
their importance is slight considering at all," said Captain Dowdy, lighting
the magnitude and beauty of the up strong shag and settling down to
work as a whole. Dr. Zehnder has yarn, his chief officer listening, too,
Perhaps s been too- objective in the with the admiring attention of a
writing, His book has about it a Young girl: bearing her lover's tales.
OOId Tea Races
Captain Dowdy has every right to
smoke strong shag and speak like 'a
storm at sea. At 13'he ran away in
a coasting vessel, and fought his way
to command a ,tea clipper and a
Union -Castle Iiner.
He has been shipwreckedon desert
islands anis in danger of being eaten
by cannibals, and has been both win-
ner
inner and loser in the old tea races
with the tea crop from Foochow to
London.
He once sailed • 400 tropical miles in
an open boat, and thus voluntarily
risked death by thirst to rescue his
comrades.
This piece of heroism makes one of
Captain. Dowdy's best tales. Be' was
first mate in the Seagull, and a fierce
young man of 20 015 years or so,
when that vessel was wrecked on an
island in the Maldive group.
The island was inhabited by sav-
ages : (more terrified of us than we
of them), friendly people who peeped
at them shyly at night when sleep-
ing.
Birt after a week the crew looked
like starving. So Captain Dowdy de-
cided
ecided to try and reach the nearest
port in an open boat—the Point de
Guile (Ceylon).
He asked for volunteers; but none
would risk life in such a mad esca-
pade in the face of the south-west•
monsoon that was then blowing.
"Right'." roared young Dowdy.
'I'm starting at three to -morrow,
alone."
When thee came the next day there
were five volunteers. They left at
once, and, to use his own words, "ar-
rived intact in spite of terrific weath-
er and the fact that we had long ago
eaten our last biscuit."
Adventure Yarn
Captain Dowdy Once Sailed
460 Miles in Open
Boat
The late Mr. F. E. Weatherly, I1,C.
(the famous song -writer'), appeared
before the licensing magistrates to.
support an application for an extra
half -horn' for licensed houses during
the summer monists. 'Ile said he
would like to ask those who oposed
the request to consult the Great Book
where they would end there were two
liquors • mentioned. One was wine
750,000 francs each. At the request which maketh glad the beart of man;
of the then Opposition, the Burger- the other was water with which the
parte!, Government and Parliament
were at once dissolved, as the cul-
prits belonged to the ruling Volk-
spartei, who in the following elec-
tions were defeated by a majority of
two dozen votes.
The culprits are accused of about
seveuty fraudulent transactions in all,,
involving 1,746,945 Swiss francs. In
all the important points they are
Pleading guilt. The most difficult
task of the President is to keep the
local politics out of the court, and.
the general atmosphere -is electric.
Wolf vs: Man
the wail alongside us, ,opened it, .and Toronto Globe (Lib.): It is a re
slipped through. • 'inevitable thing that at this late day
"l4Ianneringl" I protested. "What wolves appear' to have set up a reign
the . . ?"
lee grabbed my arm.
"C9me on," he urged mockingly.
"You're not one of the deadand-
goons, are you? You haven't forgot-
ten your youth, 0 Polonius, ane the
stuntswe did then?"
"All right," I mumbled. "But what
on earth and in 'heaven's name ..?"
We were obviously in °rrne one's
garden, Mannering started groping
of terror so near at hand • as. Mani-
toulin'Island. Farm stock and deer
are being slaughtered almost to the
point of extermination. After these
killings the wolves return to their
haunts in the hills, just as predatory
tribes of humans used to do.- And,
worst of all,' these yelping packs are
highly sophisticated, and.ltngw how to
dodge the traps set for them: For
each wolf there is a Government born -
along the wall, 1 following and curs-ty of $15. But what use is it when
ing under my tpiigue. Soon we came the animals cannot be caught? 'Man
to 'the wall of a house bet never a l is credited with a good deal of eun-
glimering of light or life showed anY-I Hing, but he seems to have met his
where: Mannering went on groping: match, in the wily wolf of Manitoulin.
Wild asses did quench their thirst. It
Must not be taken that in quoting this
he was in any way applying it in a
Account Settled
A true story is favored by E, Phil-
lips Oppenheim. It concerns two wo-
men, .Lady X. and Lady Y., and it
must be understood that Lady Y.'s
husband has left her for Lady X, and
divorce' proceedings are pending.
Lady X. has never seen Lady Y.
Lady X. has a craze for all manner
of cures against increasing fatness
and has employed countless mas-
seuses. In the story a new one sends
in a recommendation and Lacly X.
makes an appointment.
When the masseuse comes she
adopts the most violent methods in
her treatment, and Lady X., bearing
her suffering heroically, is neverthe-
less at the end of the session a mass
of bruises and pain.
'Tell me how much 1 owe you?"
Mrs. X. asks the masseuse.
"Nothing at all," was the reply. "I
am Lady Y."
Peggy Joyce, the actress, tells a
good Irish story. An Irishman was
being continually lectured by a priest
on the evils of drink and bad habits.
One day Pat met the priest in the
street.
"Father," said Pat, "what is the
cause of lumbago?" /
The priest, thinking this an excel-
lent opportunity to bring his charge
to serious thinking, replied:
"Why, Pat, that is caused by keep-
ing too late hours, drinking too often,
personal sense.
untie he reached a window. He push -1
• el at the sash and lifted' it an inch, A LAW 'DIvdINE
It er'ea?ted. ' The fountains mingles with the river
"H'm," he mused, under his breafh. And the rivers with the ocean,
Ilygie-ri0 people, Can't bear the The Winds ofheaven mix forever
window shut tight even en a nigbtl With a sweet emotion;
like this. Good old English love 'of . Nothing in the world Is single,
freah air. . Halfa mo. 'What's : All things by a law divine
that?" I In one spirit meet and mingle—
"That" proved to be an approach- why notI with thine?
lug footstep -mulled, measured, re- l Shelley
solute: It stopped fora moment, then i
then suggested, but it was soon dis-
carded since it appeared to be too re-
mote from the heart of Paris. The
front of the Dome of the Invalides
seemed too discreet, the square of
the Military School too much screen-
ed by the trees of the Champ de
Mars, the place near the Grand Palace
too much of a thoroughfare. In a
word, nothing has been considered
good enough for the late marshal.
Dr. M. Zehnder
faint flavor of the scholastic which
may tend to overawe the average
reader of books. One gets the im-
pression that it loses something of its
rhythm in translation from the Ger-
mum.
Born 1887, at Einsiedeln, Dr. M.
Zehnder, whose new book is reviewed
in this column, spent a happy youth
in the mountains of Switzerland Ile
attended in his home town the pre-
paratory schools, and studied medi-
cine in the Universities of Geneva,
Lausanne, Munich, Berlin and Zurich,
where he acquired his license as
physician and the diploma as medi-
caI doctor. After two years of mili-
tary service, he practised for eight
years as general practitioner in
Klingnan, in the Canton of Argovy,
studied for 2 years in Vienna and
London, and emigrated in 1926 to
Canada. Then his literary work
started.
"Trust Wesley," by B. L. Jaeot, Lit-
tle, Brown JL Co. ($2.00). "Trust
Wesley" is filled with sagacious small
boy humor. It is a book for wakeful
nights, a good remedy for indigo
days. No black mead could help dis-
appear confronted with the antics of
Wesley, an American 14-year•old,
when due te -.c.ne bickering between
his parr as to whether or not he
is to anend an English school, finds.
himself in London on his own re-
sources and makes the most of his
opportunity. A book full of lively
wit and excitement. Mr. Jacot's own
good humour and laughing pen can-
not help but be contagious. "Trust
Wesley" will brighten any gloomy
half hour.
Lawrence of Arabia
"The males are fuller than usual
during the holiday season.
passed along the othor side of the "Complete freedom is incompatible
wall at a speed of a heavy pendulum. with civilization."—Albert Einstein.
No Scot Needs Be Told the Piebroch is Art!
ENGLISH ARTIST RpcOROSTHE FAMOUS WESTERN HIGHLAND FESTIVAL
Giving Turks Trouble
Jerusalem.— The correspondent of
the Jewish Telegraphic AgeneY re-
ports that Colonel T. E. Lawrence,
author, of "Revolt in the Desert," is
said to be reconnoitering in Syria,
Irak and Turkey under the name of
Edward Thompson.
The local papers give an itinerary
of his travels from Bagdad on Nov.
11 to Damascus and Aleppo, where he
disappeared for ten days. He turned
up again on November 23 at the
Turko•Syrian frontier.
His passport was visaed by the
Turkish consul at Aleppo, which per-
mitted him to proceed to Mardin,
near Diarbekr, on Dec. 12.
He spent 12 days there until the
Turks began to suspect his identity.
Lawrence, becoming aware of the
watchfulness of the Turks, hired an
automobile and vanished. The driver
returned on December 28 and report-
ed that he had left his passenger near
Mosul
The Minister of the Interior of Irak
has ordered the frontier guards to be
on the lookout for the mysterious
traveller.
"Top Hats" in Sea
This punctual departure from a
desert island at three o'clock sharp is
typical 01 Captain Dowdy, many of
whose most amusing adventures cen-
tred in his strict adherence to time.
One of these necessitating real
pluck, occurred when Captain Dowdy
was carrying malls from South Africa
to London, and had previously been
congratulated for his punctuality.
He was about to sail at the appoint-
ed
hour when five of his most distill,
.guished passengers (who were Ger-r
mans and the late guests of the High
Commissioner) remained arguing to-
gether on the quay.
Neither Captain Dowdy's repeated
warnings, nor the physical persuasion •
of his sailors, could coax those pas-
sengers on board, so Captain Dowdy,
started without them
The distinguished personages made
a rush for the ship, but the engines
were pulling SO strongly that tbe
gangway collapsed just as the five—
clad in immaculate silk hats and top
coats—were half across They were
all thrown headlong into the sea.
Promoted I
When Captain Dowdy reached his
London office he was reprimanded.
"An international ant extremely
grave affair; the gentlemen night
easily have been drowned," said his
immediate chief.
"And serve 'em darned well right,
if they bad drowned," replied the
dauntless skipper, "my ship dont
wait for debates to end."
A little later Captain 'Dowdy was
again promoted
But sometimes .even he lost. he
tells a Ana story how a somewhat
similar incident in New York ttu'ned
against him.
"Six of my passengers decided just
as we were sailing that they'd enjoy,
a Anal think ashore. Although I
warned them that my ship did not
wait for anybody, they wanted their,
extra whiskey too much to ruin&.
"Starting at the exact minute, I
sailed from New York with them ges-
ticulating fiercely on the dock. When
I arrived a row weeks later at the
East India Dock, imagine my amaze-
meat at seeing the identical men,
calmly awaiting me on dry. English
land! They had caught a faster ship
from New York!"
Captain Dowdy's adventure with
cannibals was at Ada, near Borneo.
His vessel became, hard and fast
and the natives put out "in their
canoes. The crew were lined up with
their rifles, prepared to die 'fighting,
but when the first native climbed •
aboard, the 'ship gave a lurch and
swung off.
In 1871 he transferred to steam,.
and in eleven years secured a com-
mand, Subsequently he became house
governor of the Royal Alfred Aged
ltlerohant Sailors Home, Belvedere,
Kent, a position he held for 26 yeaes.
Compulsory Motor Insurance
London Daily Mail . (Ind. Cons.):
The Introduction of compulsory in-
surance against third -party frisks is a
sound principle, but it should not be
Ieft in the power of an insurance com-
pany or a combination of insurance
oonipanies to decide whether a man
shall drive a car or not. As the Bill
stands, it is poesibie for the insur-
ance companies to refuse a man in-
surance
nsurance and thus prevent him from
motoring. There must clearly be
some form of appeal to an inpartial
authority,
INo, young people aren't as qu#et as
"The Highland.fiamieS at:B,artl" is the subject of tills beautifail canvas by Richard Sacks, B:A„ which 15 now 1711 ey ueed to'be. BuZ nether the
e
ola people.
on menbition•