HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1931-09-24, Page 3THURSDAY, SEPT. 24, 1931
THE SEAFORTH NEWS.
PAGE THREE:
HAWKS AND OWLS
Their Value to the Farmer
A farmer 'friend of mine, Who had
been a bitter enemy at hawks and
Owls hecause he ,considered tivem a
menace to his poultry, changed his
views recently, as the result of an in-
cident that aceurred on>' .his far••in.
One morning, when he was about
to leave •the 'hoiuse, be saw ,a '1ar.ge'
,,hawk swing up ,over the meadows, and
then•wieh a quick movement, change
its cl4rection and :come down in the
poultry -yard, seedling the frightened
chickens scurrying in every -direction.
1My .friend stepped, back into the kit-
chen. for the loaded gun that a'lwiays,
stood ready for such emergencies, and
.feo.rit the doorway 'shot the bird 'be-
Bore it - could 'ri'se from the ground.
But a moment ]rater, when he picked
nip the limp body of the "hen -hawk",
his feeling of triumph 'clanged to one
of regret; tightly clasped in the dead
bird's claws was—tout a chicken, but
a huge brown rat. Now drat farmer
is So feaeful l'es't he may commit an-
other injustice, that nobody could in-
duce him to shoot a hawk of any. °kind.
•My friend was like thousands of.
'other •farmers throughout the coun-
%try; he 'had an excellent knowledge of
.general farming, but he had not given
ten minutes to the sturdy orf b'ir'ds—Ile
knew that hawks killed and. carried
offchickens—he had seen them do it,
-and .like' most farmers, rhe shot them
whenever they carne within range of
his gun. I -Ie had never stopped to
consider that possibly not all hawks
,were poultry thieves,• and that it was
unfair 'to 'kill inn'o'cent 'hawks for the
misdeeds: of th.e guilty ones.
However, it -is not upon the ground
of justice' alone that the farmer sh'ou'ld
know the nature of what he is shoot-
ing at; it pays in dollars and cents to
:know this, I confess.t:hat I have l'ittle
patience with the man who tells the
.farmer that all hawks an'd owls are
his friends. The farmer himtself 'knows
better. Such siueeping statements not
'only fail to oonvince a man who lives
in the country and keeps 'his eyes
open, bet they 'tend to make hint dis-
credit the truth concerning the ben-
eficial birds of prey, There are
hawks, and a very few Owes, that the
'farm'er is 'justified in shooting, but I
<wouid• urge him to stu'd'y the birds
until he can distinguish the harmful
ones from the useful ones. Then he
can protect'hinesebf from his enemies,
without the danger o.f destroying his
friends.
When he does 'begin to look into
the matter, one cif the first things that
will impress him is the fact that the
harmful hawks and owls are very few
in number compared ,w'it'h those that
wage'perpetual and relentless .war up-
on his .animal enemies—the mice, rats,
go'phees, ground -squirrels, prairie
dogs a'n:d, ,other rodents, which with
the .har,mfti'f i,nsecbs cause a loss every
year •of a "Millon dollars to t'he agri-
.cultural interests of the continent.
That the birds of prey co.nstitu'te
t'he principal check •on these pests has
!been proved -beyond any .d:oubt. Lead-
ing authorities' on the subject and
many •o•blier carefdl men of scien'ce
have •given years to the study of this
question; they have exaouined' the
sbo•meeh's of thou'san'ds of hawks and
,owls, shot in all pants of the country
end at all seasons of the year, And
thus they have found out exactly
what these birds hived an.
,Certainly, the food that is found in
a bird's eto:nt'acb .furnishes the hest
evidence of wdia't the bind eats. Yet so
painstaking were these neen .that, be-
sides testing the •food- found in the
stomachs, they made another teat.
They knew' that 'hawks an'd owls
swallow not only. the 'flesh of their
•victdns, hut ...often the indi:gest'ib'•1'e
parts as 'well, and that .th'e'se parts—ektel1s, .bones, fur, feath-
ers, stales, and so forth—ane later ej-
ected from the mouth in the foram of
tightly compressed 'pellets. The in-
vestigators examined •th'ousands ' of
such pellets, made lists of what they
contained, and Meed these Bets to sup-
plement the evidence that they had
obtained through the 'examination of
the stoinac'hsr
Then, ,after the most careful •con-
sideratiion, they came to the • concl'u
io:n chat of the fftyefive species of
hawks and owls of North 'America, all
but about fifteen are the friends of the
farmer, the gardener, the fruit -:grower
.and the forester, :Moreover, orf those
!fifteen, notall are positively harmful,
!Seven of them—the,golden eagle, bald
eagle, pigeon -hawk, Piehardson hawk,
alpliomvade fal'eon•, prairie falcon ` and
great horned owl—do about as trach
good as harm; and four tone .gerfal-
cone—live so far north that farmers
have nothing to fear from their de-
pred'ations. This leaves four birds
of prey -the cluck -hawk, the sharp -
shinned hawk, Cooper's :h:awk and the
goshawk—that the farmer may nightly
look upon as his enemies.
.Before considering the benelficiae
birds of prey, let us see 'what the
farmer has to fear from •each .of •these
harm'fu':l ones. First, the deck -hawk.
This is the peregrine, which was con-
sidered the noblelst of all the hawks
used in the old time sport of falconry.
It has .a worl'd-'wide reputation as a
bold and dashing hunter. It 'has such
speed that •it'can overtake and strike
down even the fast-'flyiug teal, , tine
swiftest .of all wild :dunks; it is so hold
that it will follow a h'un'ter and carry
off game birds 'fhat he has shot before
he himself can pick them up. Occas-
ionally a duck -hawk is seen flying ra-
pidly over trhe houses in New York
City. The bird is attracted by pigeons
which d:ouhtiess prove choice food for
the h'u'ngry little peregrines waiting in
their rude nest on some ledge of the
iP all s'acl es.
Ci more than twenty duck -hawk
stomachs examined by one investiga-
tor, seven contained poultry; nine
contained other birds; one, mice; two,
insect's; and four were empty. But
bold and destructive as this hawk is,
the farmer has 'little to fear from its
depredations, far the reason that it is
not commop in any part of the con-
tinent,
The goshawk is larger than tfie
duck -hawk, •and quite as bold. On one
occasion, when 'a hen in Connecticut
tried to escape by running into th.e
,farm'h,ouse, the •hawk followed ,with-
out hesitating, and seized its victim
in the parljor in the presence of an
old gentleman anti nils daughter.
,Allehough the goshawk does destroy
a few mice, squirrels and rabbits, its
principal food consists of poultry and.
game -birds, .anal it would be a great
menace to. poultry yards bat for the
fact - that itbreeds chiefly in the north
and is net likely to be common, ex
rept for brief periods` during migra-
tions.
The birds that give the p.oultrynean
most trouble are the. scarp -shinned'
hawk and !Cooperts hawk, These are
the real "hen -hawks"; they have done
more thee alt the others together 'to
call down on the birds of prey the
vengeance of the farrier. The eharp-
shin is very small, only twelve to four
teen inldhes long, over all, and of this
length its 'tail takes up about half.
(But it makes up for its lack of size by
impudent daring, ,Although• this little
hawk lives chiefly on small birds, it
is equally'fond of young chickens.
IAl'mo'st with'th•e speed of a,bu1'let
it swoops down into the farmyard,
snatches a chicken from the midst of
the 'hens, and dies away into the next
,field before the farmer .has a .chance
to shoot at it. A sharp -shin has been
known to take between twenty and
thirty chickens from the same yard
in one season. Of one hundred and
fifty-nine stomac'his that were exam-
ined, six c'on'tained poultry or•''aene-
birds; ninety-nine, other birds; six,
mice; and live, insects; and f'fty-two
were empty. The adail't sharp -shin is
blemish gray above, and somewhat
darker on the head; the tail is crossed
by several black bands; the under
parts are almost white, with breast
and sides 'crossed by buff, rufous or
dusky bars. The immature birds are
dusky above, and tee 'under parts are
white, streaked with brown or dusty
feathers.
If there is a haWk that bothers the.
farmer more than fhe sharp -shin does,
it is Cooper's hawk, but only because
it is larger and able to carry off .larger
chickens, and even ducks and young
turkeys. It also des'tr'oys wild 'birds
of many kinds, ,varyi.ng in • size from
sparrows to ruffed grouse or part-
ridge. Indeed, in some panels of the
country it is suet a persistent 'hunter
of game bird's that it has received the
name of partridge hawk, Alt'hnugh
mitre and other rodents form a part
Of its diet, there is little to say in fa-
vor of this bird. Nearly all the evi-
dence is against it. Of one "hundred
and thirty-three stomachs .examined,
thirty-four contained poultry or game
bts's; fifty-two, other birds; eleven,
mammals; one, a frog; three, lizards;
two, insects; and thirty-nine were
empty.
!Cooper's .hawk measures from fif-
teen to twenty inches long; as in the
case of nearly all birds of prey, the
.female is considerably larger than the
male. Except for the difference in
size, and the fact that the tail of the
'Cooper's 'hatwk is round at the end,
and not .square like that of the sharp
shin, these two harmful hawlrs are as
much alike in appearance as they are
in character, and a description of one
will answer fairly well for !bath, ;When
they are flying high, they can be dis-
tinguished from other hawks 'by their
excessively Yong tam's and nby their
manner of flight—short peniods of al-
.•ternate 'lapping and sailing. Every
farmer should learn to know these
two kinds of hawks.
Now let us look into the hab'it's of
a few hawks and' owl's that are true.
friends of the farmer. One of the
most important of thein is the marsh
hawk, teat only because it is a very
useful 'bird but because it has a wide
ercial Transportation the New Way
Trailers powered by
dight trucks are solving
many heavy hauling
problems throughout
the Dominion. Here are
two instances of how
trailers are being utilized
in lumber camps, with
resulting economy of
operation and maximum
manoeuverability,
keel' ,iieteieeie
BAILERS powered by light
1 trucks are rapidly coming into
use throughout the Dominion for
heavy transportation.
That this tendency is a sound
oneis illustrated by the above pie -
tuxes. The combined loads of the
truck -trailer combines shown total
almost thirty tons! The Model AA
Ford truck ort the right, operated
by Mr. Frank Sehunter, of Vernon,
B.C., is shown hauling a trailer
loaded'. with. fifty-two poles, each
neighing approximately 800 pounds
—an aggregate pay load of nearly
21 tons, The Model AA Ford truck
and trailer above is shown hauling
more than nine tons of logs at a
lumber camp near Forest, Ontario.
The tendency to use trailers and
semi -trailers in conjunction with
lighttrucks 'has been especially
noticeable among operators' of
large fleets. The usefulness ofthe
truck -trailer combine is not limit-
ed, of course, to the .handling of
heavy loads, but is, almost equally
valuable to light transportation,'
since it greatly increases the ver-
satility of a fleet.
Economy of operation,, ability to
manoeuver in tight places and time
eeee
saved by disconnecting the trailer
unit while it is being loaded or un-
loaded are factors influencing the
new trend in commercial transpor-
tation.
Semi -trailer Balances, Load
By using a semi -trailer on a light
truck chassis, the major•portion of
the load can be balanced over the
trailer, axle with only . enough
weight over' therear axle of the
truck to give,, good traction. Con-
sequently, by: taking advantage of
the draw -bar pull of the truck, a
very heavy load can be hauled eas-
t
ily by a one -and -a -half *ATI chassis.
Trailers and semi -trailers can be
arranged to meet a wide range of
transportation requirements. For
heavy loads dual wheels can be
used on a semi -trailer unit and the
rear of the truck. When time 'con-
sumed in loading and unloading is
an,importo.nt factor two or more
trailers or semitrailers can be.used
in the'pperation of each truck, alt
while one emit is,beieg lora T. tee
truck' ' -can proceed with atom•,,,•.
Thus one chassis, with the rete.,
equipment, can perform Lee w eek •
of two or three trucks,
me
range; it is found in almost ,all parts
ref the United S'ta'tes and Canada, It
is a bird of the opencountry, even
making its nest ort the ground in the
marshels. ' Flying low, and with slow
'beating wings, this 'large hawk tacks
tirele.- :y bac', and fort'h over the
country, and with its keen eyes
sweeps the ground for the mice and
•other rodents that form the principal
part of its food. •
1Seedo' t has this bird been known
to take a chicken, 1-I'aw far its good
deeds outweigh its bad ones may be
seen from the fact that out of one
hundred 'and. twenty-four :stontaehs
that were examined, only .seven con-
tained poultry, and ?'only thirty-four,
otluen birds; fifty-seven contained
]nice; ewentytwo, other rodents; se-
ven, reptiles; :two, frogs; fourteen, in-
sects; one, indeterminate natter; and
eight were empty: +In some stomachs
were found four, five ,and even ,eight
mead c1v mice, Since birds digest
their food very rapidly, it is evident
that these contents do not represent
a full day's work on the part of the
birds from which they were taken.
VJ.o'reaver, .when we consider that
marsh -hawks rear from four to six
young ion'as annually, that young
'hawks ane proverbially ravenous, and
that during the last part of .their long
stay in the nest they eat even more
than adult birds, weget a faint idea
of the vast number orf mice and in-
sects the parents must destroy in ad-
dition to those needecl to sustain their.
own lives. For the nzoaiient, however,
let us leave the young out of. our
count and try to •estinoate the value
of the work the adults do to satisfy
their'o:wn appetites.
As eight meadow -mice have been
.found in the stomach of a single
marsh -'hawk, and as these •proba'bly
represent only .a part of the day's food.
supply, it is reasonable to supp'o'se
that, to supply its own needs, each
marsh -hawk destroys at least eight
meadow -price, or their ,equivalent in
xeoxious insects, every day. Brit in
order to be well within the truth, let
us cut this number in two, and sup-
pose that each hawk kills only four
meadow -mice a day—a number quite
insufficient to keep .a Targe, active
bird in good condition. This means
that a pair of marsh -hawks destroys
eight nnice a day, or tw,o thousand
of:ne hundred and twenty mice a year.
It has been estimated that each
meadow arouse on a. farm causes a
loss of at least two cents a year, by
destroying grass roots and tubers and
by gnawing the bark of young trees;
'p'roha'bly the damage .is •even greater.
The destruction of two thousand nine
hundred and twenty m'i'ce, therefore,.
saves the farmer or farmers on whose
land these hawks were .working, fifty-
eight dollars and forty cents. Ie oth-
er words, it puts into the farmers'
pockets fifty-eight dollars and forty
oents, which, but for the hawks,
•would have been eaten up by niece.
INiuw it is an exceptionally good Cow
that gives an an:n'ual return ars large
as that, and a fernier .who owned such
a cow w'ou'ld be very careful not to
shoot tt by mistake for some harmful
animal`I Yet the same farmer will,
without hesitation, shoot these valu-
able hawks, because hawks orf an en-
tirely different kind have at some.
time carried off his chickens,
'FIRST BOATLOAD OF GRAIN.
,First boat load •of prairie grain to
traverse the Knudson Bay bound for
overseas started its history making
journey last week end. Loaded with
exactly 2717,000 bushels of No, 2
northern w'hearfe; the stout steamer
Farnworth was to leave Churchill at,
high tide before' mid -dray on Thurs-
day.
'The steamer, chartered by the Can-
adian Government to handle half of
a 340,1000 bushel trial dhipment by the
bay route, lay at the dock as grain
trimmers filled thounand•s of bags
with grain in how and sterni holds to
prevent cargo shifting. Her sister
ship, the \\rarkworth, tri he loaded
with the remainder of the test ship-
ment, rode 'high ahead of the sante
dock:
.,The Farnworth's 3,000 mile journey
by :Hudson straits conies more titan
three centuries after ]'ens Mlunc'k, dis-
coverer of .Churchill, completed a suc-
cessful journey to Norwegian shores
from the same port. After three
ecores of his companions died of star-
vation and scurvy on the bay shore
early in the 17th century, Myrick and
twosu.r:vivillg sailors put out in one
of their, two boats and sailer] to Eur-
ope.
LONDON THIEVES USE GAS
How science has come to the aid
of, the chicken thief, increasing ,bit
'security and giving hint the advan-
tage of quantity operation, was re-
vealed by county. police 1 at London.
,During recent weeks ,chicken stealiug
has gone ahead on a boon scale. Orle
of the fundamental, things on which
their again is in'creased is the' use of a
sort of anaesthetic to quiet birds
when wholesale raids on a roost are
in progress. It appears that the
thieves are using • carbon monoxide
gas from the exhaust of their auto-
mobiles. A handy pi'pe,.arrangement
is introduced into the henhouse and
after a few, minutes the 'birds lose
consciousness and fall to the ground.
They are picked up and carried off
with. never a tell tale squawk.
The police believe the thieves are
well organized and that' the majority
of stolen birds are marketed in 'West-
ern Ontario cities within a few hours.
ASK • NO ELUECTION NOW.
The board .pf.governors of the Bank
of England have taken the "unprec-
edented step" of visiting the House
of °Commons to inform ,the Prime
liinis'ter that the National .Govern-
nnent must remain in .power at least
two years if a heavy fall in exchange
is to be avoided.
The Mail for several days has been
conducting an energetic campaign
against the . Conservative proposals
for an early 'general election. I'ts
story, published ander heavy head-
lines read:
"The affairs of the nation reached
a position of extreme gravity Thurs-
day,' it said. "Information was con-
veyed to the Government from the
city (London's financial centres) that
a precarious exchange situation exists
..And it would appear on reports.
thus conveyed to the Government
that the recent unrest in the fleet had
a profound effect an 13iitish credit
and that the time 'has conte when all
other considerations save those of na-
tional existence must be put aside,"
The board of governors of the .bank,
the paper said, asked the Government
to make a definite announcement that
there would be no genera} election
and that the Government would re-
main in power for its full possible
term of two years. It is said that the
board gave Premier Ramsay Mac-
Donald "an alarming estimate" of the
amount of fail in exchange which
would follow any ann••eun'centent that
an election had been decided upon.
Eecellent for Croupy Children.
When A child is ,nfdering with cramp.
it is a .good plan to use Dr. Th;ontas'
Eciectrir Oil, let rcduccs the inflam-
mation fled loosens the phlegm giving
speedy relief to the tittle sufferer, it
is equally °reliable 'for sore throat •arid
chest, earache, rheumatic pains, cuts,
braises and sprains. filar. Thomas'
Ecleclric Oil is regaa•ded by marry
thousandsas an indispensable of the
family medicine chest.
Let us have the navies of your v;sitors
Hon. L'IN'COLN GOLDI'•E PASSES.
Hon. Lincoln Goldie, fornier pro-
vincial secretary in the Ferguson go-
verp'nten't, died in the Guelph Hospital
early% Saturday morndn'g, Although
confined to his home for a few days,
it was not until Friday that his con-
dition became at ale alarming, anal af-
ter he had spent a very restless night,
two specialists from Toronto were
colied into consultation. He suffered
from a very serious kidney ailment.
Mr. .Goldie had not been in the hest
of health for the past year, and spent
some time in the hospital following
his resignation• from the Ferguson
'C'abinet last spring. He had been
around as usual earlier in the week,
however, and word of his passing
was a surprise He had :represented
the riding of South 'Wellington in
the On'tario 'Legislature for nine
years.
ZURICH
!Prof. Alvin Sererus of Toronto, is
visiting with his mother, Mgrs. Ger-
trude Surerus of the Bronson line..
\]r. Surerus is a ua'ofeesor in Eng
lish at Toronto University.
Miss Ruby Church of the \\'eeter-
vslt School at Loudon, spent the
Week , end at her Koine.
The '•death occurred' at the Peitclien-
ereWaterloo hospital on ,Sunday more
rime last of .l'lrs, Floyd Miller of De-
troit and formerly Miss Olga Hr'wald
of Zurich, daughter of Mr, and Mrs_
Jacob Ronald, The deceased was
boric at Zurich and twelve years ago'
was married to Mr. Miller and went.
to reside at Detroit, Some sevenT.
weeks ago she cranio to Kitchener to
visit her sister, Mn, Oscar Miller and
was taken ill at her borne. Two weeks
before Iter death she was removed to
the hospital. She is survived by. herr
husband, her parents, Mir. and Mfrs.
Jacob ,How^ald, Zurich; three firothers,.
Mr. Henry Howeld of Zurich; Mr.
Herbert Hewald of Owen Sound, and'
Mr. Theodore' Howald of Kitchener,
and four sisters, Mrs. Sam Lennox, of
Saskatchewan; Mr. O. Miller, Kitch-
ener, Mrs. K,.Barry, New York' City,
and :Mrs. E. Yearion of Detroit. The
body was brought to 'Zurich where in-
terment was made in the Lutheran
cemetery, Rev. Mr. Turkheint offic-
toting.
!Prof. and Mrs, Herbert Kalbfleisah
who have been in New York City for•
the past few years, are visiting with,
the fu•ncer's parents here, before go-
ing to London, where Mr. Kalhileiech
is teaching languages.
Mr. Ebner Willert of the 14th come
cession of Hay has purchased a 9.0
acre tract of land in the pinery frame
the Hearnan estate, on the east side
of the road, a mile south 01 Grand
Bend.
WINGHAM
With the passing on Wednesday,
September 9th of Mrs, William Mic-
Quillan, of the 13th concession, .West
Wawanosfi mourns one of its best
beloved and most highly respected
citizens. The late M,rs, . Ml.0Q111l1in
(formerly Annie Haines) was horn
sixty-two years ago at Caledonia, be-
ing a daughter of the late Mn, and
Bits. Robert 1-Taines. When five years
of age elle came with leer parents to
\Vest \V'awanosh, where she had
since resided. Thirty-ifivt years ago
she was married to her now bereft
husband and \rent to rive on the faint
which continued to be their home
throughout their married life.. To
them were born a faniily of eight
children, six of wlu'om survive. They
are: \lrilliam, Fort Qu Appelle, Seek,,
Robert, of Belleville; George and
Charles at home and 'Mildred. and
Beatrice, the latter being teacher in
St. Helens public school; two daugh-
ters, Mande and Mary, predeceased
her. 'She was a devoted member of
the Anglican Chinch at St. Helens,
and was also associated with the St,
Helena branch of the Women's Insti-
tute. The funeral was held from the
fancily hone, the service being con-
ducted by Rev. E. D. Gallaher, rector
of 'the parish. 'of Luokno'w and St.
Helens. The remains were interred
in Greenhill cemetery, Lucknow and
the pellbearers were jaaeph Ander-
son, el eenzie \Veib'b, \\"aline Mil-
ler, Ed. Thom, John Miller and Peter
Watson.
Father: "Can you give my daugh-
ter the ]marries to which she has been
acctts tomed' "
Suitor: 'Not much 'longer. That's
why I want to get married,"
TO ELECT PRIMATE.
.A lengthy debalte was expected foil
lowing the introduction of a motion
directing a committee of the general'
synod of the Church of England in '
'Canada to confer on the subject of the
establishment of a fixed printatial see
which will automatically become the
headquarters of the primates upon
their election. There is a• possibility
that the debate will directrepresent-
ation on the committee from the ec-•
clesiastical province of Rupert's Land,
covering the prairie provinces, with a
view possibly to selecting a primatial`
see in that territory. After three days
of uncertainty regarding the problent
the general synod put through its lo—
wer house, in slightly amended form;
the draft of a canon or 'by-law, which,.
When given final effect, will provide.'.
•for the election of the church's pri-
mate by the synod as a whole instead
of by the house of bishops as hereto-
fore.
!AR the coit'eittsion of the session
some dissatisfaction was expreesed'.
over leaving so much power still in,
the hands of the bishops, and estab
lishment of an electoral college wee
proposed, drawn from` ment'bers, of
th.e .church as a whole and conilposed'
of equal numbers of bis'hops, clergy-
and
lergyand laity. This was rejected, however,
after it was pointed out that the
bishops had already gone far toward
meeting the wishes of the lower house
for a synodical election. and that after
all the bishops were in a position to
know the capacities of nominees and.
the needs ef'bbs church to be stet.
Further consideration of the •repont'
of the Anglican coricinissian was giv-
en by the two houses of the synod in
joint session. Pleas for a consecnated-
laity ,were made by several speakers,.
Steps to revive the activities of an
old committee an church union were •
taken in implementing another realm::
mend'ation of the nation,at commission..
A recommendation "that the whole
missionary work 'throughout Canada'
he recognized and presented as 'a anti.
and that division of diocese irate mis-
sionary and self supporting. cense,"
was passed. This did not mean, it
was exlplained. that diocesan mission •
funds would be abolished but that the
central office would bre given a scan'
•prehensive review of missionary of --
font throiighotst the cenntry.
The brakes had failed. \\romee
screamed; strong men turned pale.
With rapidly increasing spec,1 the' bti.s
ran backward downhill, iiut never
once ,did the driver lose his presence
of mind.
"Quick, hill," he yelled to the con-
ductor, "change the destination,
boards!"
Sandy, a kirk elder in a small nor-
thern town in ,Scotland, consulted a
doctor about the state of his health,
When told by thee physician that he
had a floating leidnei-, he was so dor-
tied that he asked the minister b,
pray for hint in church on the follow-
ing Sunday.
"I'm not sure that at the mention at
a floating kidney the Congregation
mightn't laugh," the minister 'told
"Ali see naethin' to 'Laugh ate! re-
plied'Sanldy, 'last week we 'prayed'
for loose livers."