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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1931-11-19, Page 3THURSDAY, N'OVE'MBER 19, 1931, mew THE SEAFORTH NEWS. RUSSIA. , The letters .received by the'Moscow ;correspondent of an lAnhericae news- paper are not the least interesting feature of'o'Ine of themost !interesting, jobs in -the world. In a small 'waay :these letters reflect the, changed eoa- ditionsin the 'trolled States, and, per- haps, also the changing, attitude tow' ards Soviet !Russia and its. experi- ment. IThes, until a year ago the let- ters dell Mainly into !three ,categories - - bricks and bouquets in a.bbu.t ' aquail iprslportions, 'from "your swi'.eked :sup- lport of B'olshevi'k atheism,' immorality and attempts to undermine the :Amer- ' loan constitution, church and !Home," to "'your 'courageous 'presen't'ation of the facts, which -should make Anieri- can capitalist's 'bury their heads in ts'liame" !Both these quotation's are authentic 'and, '.your correspondent Jbas received! 'other letters 'more viol- ent than "fit to ]print". along the ;same lines. The 'third category is concern- ed 'witlu requests Far information, varying from a simple query, "What Ts This ,Five -Year. Plan?" to "'Ganyou get a full set olf stamps of the Buri'at !Mongol ,Rep'ubli'c ?" or "Please try to! 11oc'ate ;Ivan 'Petrovich 1Lichialoff. who was arrested in` 1912'3 and has not since been heard from." !Even 'before 11929 the letters of approval (began to outnumber the condemnatory ones,. but' 1930 and 19311 brought a new cate- gory in steadily -increasing volume — demands for jobs iii the 'Soviet Union and how to get them.. Not all the writers of these 'letters are unem- ployed or interested in :the' Soviet ex- periment from political angles. Quite a large proportionseems to represent the spirit of adventure, -which is !bringing .a steady trickle of young 'Americans to Russia, mostly college graduates and most o -f them with, lit- tle money, tut all serenely confident that they can get along here, all eager to taste, a• new and different life. Strangely enough, their confidence 'generally is justified. They get jobs of sorts—teaching 'Englis'h, if they have no regular trade—but that is only a small part of the 'battle. The struggle begins When they try to get a room in crowded Moscow, and, hav- ing got a room, to keep it against native competition. For a skilled for- eign ,worker who e -ill accept payment in rubles and is willing 'to live away from the urban centres there is no difficulty about jobs or living quar- ters—except that on his arrival in the :backwoods, mine or factory, he !finds his •promised apartment "not yet ready," but that it will •be built under the next !five-year plan, and mean- while he eanlwhi'le'he has to bunk in a .wooden bar- rack, with whatever 'food, commodi- ties and comforts, if any, that satisfy. the living standardof ihs•• Russian. !comrades, 'which standard is low. Re- quests for information, too, have greatly increased in the past two years and 'have broadened in scope. There seems to be quite a large num- ber of cranks in America, who 't'h'ink the Soviet Union will welcome any idea, however fantastic, provided it is new. These ,persons range from in- ventors of perpetual motion machines, helicopters and devices for the trans- mutation of metals to discoverers of new cures for the worst diseases and designers of new and better "uni- versal" languages. 'One of the .latter' sent the writer an elaborate c'alclua- tion of a saving Which ran into bil- ,lions of dollars that the Soviet Union might effect by the nation-wide com- pulsory adoption of his linguistic pan- acea. He wrote: "I am not familiar with Russian, but hear it is a most difficult language. 'Furthermore, you •write that Soviet education now is carried on in 70d'ifferen't languages. This, sir, is sheer 'Babel, and thougrh, 3 don't agree with the view 'that the (Soviet is anti -!Christ, or the beast Of 'the ,Apocalypse, d am sure your Gov- ernment ('this was a cowardly blow to an American reporter) will appreciate the gain to its .c'hildreid and their human happiness—to say nothing Of the 'financial saving --,if it adopts my method, -which' reactionary America refuses, but 'I will be 'happy to put it at the disposal of the Sovief in return for my paid passage, and a » onhina1 fee." Recently also there has corvine a new, type of letters from ,depressed Americans, who have heard of Rus- sian divorce ,facilities. "Is' it true," they generally • begin, "that no ali- mony is paid to wives in Russia?" And, they continue, "Is residence ne- cessary? If so, Ih'ow, long? Is it true a divorce costs nothing? !Is a'Soviet di- vorce recognized! ' in America, ' al- though the Soviet is not recognized?" MACHINE GUN INVENTOR 1C'ol• Isaac N, Lewis, Montclair, N.J., inventor and scientist, whose Lewis machine gun was an outstand- ing weapon in the Great War. died of heart failure in a drug store. He was 70 years old, The British Govern nent was quick to utilize Col, Lewis' nt'achi ne-;gan but to exp ience'd years of dlifficnity in o'btaini'ng, recog- nition for it by the United States Wier Department. A test by the United. States air forces finallyconvinced :the WarDepartntent al its acceptability. (During the Great W'ar more than 100,000 Lewis tn'aohine gurrs were us- ed by the Allied armies, and at one period during the fighting the B'ritish Government detached. 500,000 men from active duty to train thein in t'he. use of the weapon. 'Colonel Lewis was so distressed by the attitude of his own countrymen. that he contemplated for a• while re- maining, away from the land of his birth. The adoption Of the gun by the Bri- tish brought him millions of dollars in royalties. HDSTIORI'CAL FALLACIES (Speaking to a Toronto audience the other night, Rafael Sa!hatini, the Eng- lish historical novelist sometimes call- ed the modern Dumas, warned his hearers against too ready acceptance of the generally accepted facts of his- tory, saying that behind the • records are fallible men who may be lacking in industry, judgment or vision, "Back of all record's is the tou'ch'stone of truth—the logic Of events." ,He then took incidents and fi•gure'sto demion- strate both how myths grow of them- selves and why con'temporar'ies 'delib- erately falsify fact for such rea's'ons as jealousy and propaganda. 'William Tell, greatest of Swiss na- tional heroes, was the primite ex'ample offered of the love of invention and elaboration. With a full biography, a coat of arms and churches anti monu- ments dedicated to his .memory 400 years ago, Tell never lived. He ori'g- in'ated in a Scan'din'avian legend and patriotic ;devotion supplied the details of his ,romantic career. Basing another inquiry into the decisive victory of re- volutionary France at Valmy Ridge upon Nlapoleon's statement that it was "incomprehensible," the lecturer undid the tangled skein, foot by foot, until he logically deduced the brilbery of the Duke of lBDunswick by the French Go'varnment as true reason for the re- sult. Lord D'arnley's murder mys- tery did not take long to solve. The jealousy of enemies, as cause for falsifying records, was illustrated ny the unsavory character fastened mon the traditional monster we have en'owit as Richard IIIA lost his deform - 'tie's, by force 'Of argument, and was absolved of the murder, of the p'rince's n the tower. Mr. Sabatini believed th'a't Henry' ViI'I had these boys killed, and the blame laid on Richard, though nothing was heard of the matter until Henry was on the throne and Richard had been slain at Bosworth Field. PROTEST "EXPLO,ITATION OFARMIDSTDCE DAY." with booths and jeers, which often re- solved themselves into the !Republic- an chant 'down with the king; up re- publican army." At Phoenix Park where a deputation of ,British war ve- terans 'was 'parading, the, crowd at- tacked the. former soldiers, seized three Uniosi Jacks and burned two of them, Windows at headquarters of the Cosgrave party and the hall. of the boys' brigade were stoned, and several persons were injured by flying mis- Groups of demonstrators split into small gatherings by the police, re'form- ed, with curses, as soon as 'patrols passed by. IIn the tumult many' chil drten were knocked down, only to rise an'd add their rebellious cries to those o•f, their•'elders, A number; of cases in which the Union Jack was torn dawn and pub- licly horned. were reported, and the occasional' strains of the "Interna- tional" were heard over the din. OIL COMPANY IS 'G'OLD MINE' Unable to sell their crops; burdened •with' mortgages and with little money to get through' the, winter mon't'hs, says The London Free Press, dozens of farmers in Mid'dles'ex, county who invested their 'entire fortunesin the Drury Petroleum Company are re- joicing today because they are to share in the '$M'3,000 awarded to 300 residents of the district in a civil ac- tio nagainst Cyrus H. Drury of Chi- cago. To many the money will come as a Godsend but to one or two it will be too late to save their ,ho'nnes. Most ofthe men who will beie!fit in the award, however, are in need of the money. Pew of them are rich. Angus B. Galbraith, A'p:pin farmer, acting for himself and other investors, sued'Drury for money they had' !given 'him to invest 'in Texas oil fields. The case was heard in United 'States Fed- eral Court ,and the judge gave Gal- braith and the other investors $3123,- 000, their costs of action and a Imine in Arizona. An interesting feature of the case is that the Middlesex men may actual- ly get $3,000 :more .than was really awarded them. The judgment will be paid in United States ,tn:oaney and with the premium at about 10 per cent. they will likely get: a'b'out $312;000 more when it is transferred into Canadian funds. i (One Middlesex County farmer who mortgaged his farm and 'home to in- vest in the Drury Petroleum Comp- any 'expected to be able to retire in ease. "However, months ' and years passed by and he got no returns. He could not meet the mortgage pay- ments and 'ju'st a few months ago hSs 'property was seized under foreclosure. He was forced to leave his home and moved to Detroit. Now, however, he may come .back to Canada and buy back the old homestead with.inoney he 'wi'll receive under the court judg- ment. !Wellcome 'notice Of the speeding up of the payment Of the judgment against Drury made by the United States Federal Court was announced this week by S. G. lRic'hie, of Detroit, counsel for Angus R. Galbraith, of 'A'ppin, wlh'o brought the civil action against Drury on behalf of himself and other investors in the Drury .Pe- troleum Company. At the same time Mr. Richie stated that i'fr. Galbraith and himself are leaving immediately for Arizona to loos: after the interests of the inves- tors in the Arizona mine which was also awarded to thein in the judg- ment. Upon their 'return, or at the expiration of 90 days, criminal action will immediately be 'pro'ceeded with. Further than that it is stated that the warrant for Drury's arrest, signed by Albert M. Judd, crown at- torney of Middlesex county, will be served four year's .from next May when Drury completes serving his sentence in Southern 'Illi ois peniten- tiary. There was much rejoicing over the news of the judgment, The fight has been a long one. Last May the in- vestors were disappointed when Mr. 'Galbraith got judgment for the amount on the seventh day of the month, but Drury filed a petition to vacate judgment. There was a long delay .until .this was heard an Novem- ber 9th. Then it wasd'ism'issed by Fe- deral Judge Fred L. Wham in the United States district court of East- ern Ill:lois. The judge then issued the writ of execution giving Galbraith the $323,000,.' the costs and the inter- est in the Arizona mise. Incidentally the third, and 'last request for Drury's parole, made by his wide, was 'heard on October 111 and refused. , .The light has been going on in the United States courts for nearly a year, Action w'as started in Middle- sex some years ago, but the farmers were unable to collect so they took the suit to United States, •where it was. 1i who orig- inally handled. by S. G. Richie w a 1l S inally carte from Belfast, Ireland, and formerly lived et Appin. It was about eight years ago that Drury invaded North 1Middlesex and after Paying the expenses of a number of (writers on a Itrteued b i') theDruryPetroleum Com- defiance of government orders, and reckless disregard of heavily arm - police ' squads, thousand's Of turbulent s'p'irits swept through' Dublin, Ire- land on \riovemlber lllrt'h, shouting protests against "exploitation •olf Ar- mistice Day as an imperia'lis'tic de- i itontstration." Civil guards kept 'the demon's'trators !aider control, break- ing up threatened, gatherings with pe - lice clubs, an'd' hauling would -he speakers. from .their stand to choke off inflammatory ' alpeeches. Throu'ghou't the day immense crowds had rioted the ni'gh't before; poured through O'- Connell Street and other main 'thor- oughfares, bearing posters attaching the government, and jeering `at the display of .force with which the Free State attempted to 'maintains order. The police squads were stationed 50 feet apart throughout the genre of the city, while patrols in armored mo- tor lorries wove their way through the streets, breaking up - gathering 'mobs... ,Everywhere the soldiery were '.net ICIOIM'IINIG ! •OOX'S SIIOW BIGFUN No, 2—All New. Featuring "THE KANSAS !FARMER' JOE LESLIE, 'Famous Radio Artist Also lCol. Cox and 'Madam LaClare WALKER'S. CO'MMU'NITY HALL CrmartyT u saovia 19th �� Show starts at 8:30 sharp. 'Don't miss it! 2I-1 ours of High-class !A7audos Ile 'The Show with ,a 1L!llion Laughs Laclies Free All Seats 25a ]Dance alter 25c lr's. lt7ri;�r{. +k:bk;+y'cd�•3:..'d,y=1.Mf, r�,. ac5 �t�.iRlt:;'11,A �`•`ti15%,,d�$ Irl • HIS EXCELLENCY RT. REV. JOHN T. K'ID,D, D.D., L.L.D. Bishop of London pany, started selling stock with the result that. 300 invested nearly $323,- 000. Thee Drury left Canada and for several years the investors heard no- thing about their stock and their mon- ey. They immediately launched a protest, Mr. Galbraith taking the lead. The other investors signedover their stock to him and' civil .proceedings were launched with the successful re- sult after long months of anxious waiting. HIGHWAY WORK STARTED Four thousand single men - taken from the ranks of the unemployed are now at work on the Trans -Canada highway, between 'Pembroke an d North Bay. In another month there are likely to, be ten thousand on the job. ,It is emergency enterprise designed to take ,care ,of the :men 'front the cities and towns who would otherwise be looking for relief. At the seine time it is building for the future a highway that will attract tourists and bring scattered settlements into touch with, one another and with the larger towns, One of the features of this section of the trans -Canada highway is that all grades and curves are laid out so that there may be visibility of 500 yard's,. with no hidden curves and no hidden summits. Many of the lessons learn- ed in !bttild'ing provincial roads in the past twenty years will find practical application. Work has been going on for a month an'd will be .kept up all winter, as there is much clearing and rough work which tan be accomplished even after snowfall, It took about two weeks to construct the camps in which the men live, dotted at inter- vals of four 'miles along the road line so that the workmen will have a max- imum of only t'wo miles to tramp home for lunch and after the d'ay's work. At themoment, most of the work is 'being concentrated in the lowlands. Later on, when the snow falls, heavier' work like blasting rock and cutting brush will be undertaken. Practically no machinery is being employed, the work 'being done by hand labor, though teams of •horses with scrapers are at work. The farmers with land adjacent to the highway route .bene- fit not only g from hiring out their teams, but also front renting their land to the Government for camps, and selling produce to the camp cat- erers. 'T'he men who are to work on the Trans -Canada highway have been sel- ected Iran the various Ontario cities according to a quota 'system based upon the number of unemployed reg- istered in each. Already at work are contingents. for example, from Lon- don, Niagara, Sudbury, Toronto, etc. !Single men 'have been assigned to the jobs as the Federal Government has assumed' •espec•ia1 responsibility for transient, single unemployed leav- ing the .tarried jobless largely to the . The provinces and municipalities. tees P p Federal 'Government is sharing the expense of constructing the trans- Canada highway with Ontario upon the same terms offered to other pro0 Pincer. The majority 0f those at work are Canadian -born, though the selection has not been based upon na- tionality, and there is no intention of discriminating gatlSt foreigners, Men at ,work on the Pembroke - North Bay section are typical of all those that may hereafter work upon any part of the highway in Ontario. They work eight hours a clay, six days a week, at thirty cents an hour. Board and lodging, provided by a 'Montreal aTn firm of camp contractors, costs the laborers eighty cents a day, including Sunday, when they do not work. This means that each man receives $'14.40 a week, 'pays out $5.60 for eating and sleeping expenses, and has $6130, or $1.45 'per working day, in hand. The balance, in many cases, is being em- ployed to buy warm. clothing and boats from the commissary run in connection with the camps. These conditions appear to 'he eminently sat- isfactory to the .men, 'and so far only two out of 4,000 are reported to have quit the job—an amazingly small turn over. The camps are of standard pattern devised by the Ontario government. 'Each consists of three rows of six huts, a wash room, dining room, kit- chen, and smaller buildings. I'n some camps stables are 'being added, and in others are ,recreation roams 'with a' radio and -books. The huts themselves are of the simplest construction and design. Upon a base ,of logs levelled' with stones are laid two by four joists and a single storey frame with a high roof. This is then boarded with one thickness of le -inch "shiplapped" lumber, and the whole is covered with. tar paper. Each living hut is 16 by 14 feet in dinhenssonn, with two windows and a door. In it are four double decker cots with springs, mat- tresses, blankets and sheets, accotno- dating eight men. The hut is warm- ed • by a wood burning cannp stove, placed right in the •centre with 'a chimney leading out of the rear. Each camp thus has room, for 144 men, made up of 100 laborers, 10 teamsters,' one boss foreman and two assistants, a clerk, a timekeeper, cook and assis- tants, assistant engineer and other technical assistants. PAGE THREE wrusersassarsirom day before .leaving for their homes in Toronto is reported as follows in the Goderich Signal; .1icII'ay Hall was filled on Friday !night last by an interested audience- as boys from the Junior Vocational .School of Toronto. 'put on an enter- tainment that reflected not only credit' but honor on their instructors, and on those who .lade possible such train- ing for these lads. The school, sit- uated on Jarvis street, Toronto. is for adolescent boys who have not been able to succeed in the ordinary school system, most of them unable to get beyond the second bons: in school, but ilia can accomplish a great deal tinder' specialized training, For some days there were on exhibition in the town samples' of the handwork done by students at the school, The con- cert. on Friday nightshowed their ab- ility in other lines. •The selections by the harmonica hand were very pleasing. showing careful attention to expression in ea'c'h of the airs given. There was consid- erable variety, too, in the selections, but in every case the boys seemed to enter into the spirit of the Music, whether it was the lively "Selfish Grenadiers," the, dainty "'Mocking Bird," or the tender feeling of "Inw the :Garden. The harmonica soloist, Clif- ford Bush, elicited very hearty ap- plause, as did also Austin Parkin wits!' his playing on the xylophone. 'Charlie' Bourne was deservedly encored as he gave a solo performance on the piano accordion. The, vocal solos of Cecil Smelling displayed a wonderfully sweet and well trained voice. lit is n'o't surprising that he has been a guest artist over the radio. His solos delighted the audience. The singing of the school choir of thirty voices' showed what can be accomplished with boys who like to sing. Mr, Tam-- blyn. principal of the school, had ex- plained that of the thirty, only six or Leight had been chosen because of: `musical ability; the others were there because they wanted to sing. 'How- ever, their wish to sing led them to pay close attention to their leader, Obeying every sign, and using their voices in a manner that showed what careful training they h'ad received - The high clear note they struck and held at the ,close of "Anchored," by Watson, brought forth enthusiastic applause (ram the audience. Although one of their star perform- ers 'in physical exercises was prevent- ed by illness from making the trip, the exhibition of rhythmic exercises, pyr- amiding and tum'bl'ing was excelletnt, the boys and their instructors per- forming some wonderful feats of bal- ancing, fumbling, and leaping through. a ring. all with apparent ease. The' instructor, Albert Mundy, is himself a graduate of the school, and has twice been gold medallist at the exhi- bition in tum'biinng. An interesting change in the pro- gram was the exhibition of sleight -oil hand by Hans Neilson, who producedt eggs from an empty bag, picked mon- ey from the air, poured wine and wa- ter from the same pitcher, and did'. several other amazing and amusing tricks. W'hi'le the performers were dress- ing for the skit, 'Sl'oven'ly Sloop," one: o'f the harmonica band gave a. solo performance as an "extra." Although: it was his first appearance as a soloist he acquitted' himself admirably. The: little skit put on by the boys showed: their ability in a new direction, The - "slovenly sloop" with its unwashed. captain and sailors had been captured:' by a ship that was spotlessly clean. The prisoners: were sentenced to bathe, and when they protested that they didn't know how they were shown how to use soap, water. to'w'el,. too'thibrush, etc. The captain, proving. Obs't'inate, 'was told that he must either: wash or walk the plank. He chose the latter, but as he was about to take the fatal step he realized that if One did he would have to get wet and he de- cided that he might as well wash anti live. 'The sensation of - cleanliness proved so pleasant that he decided to continue bathing every day, and as az consequence his "slovenly sloop" was; returned to him. He promised that should be kept spick and span like the ship of his captors and that it should thenceforth be called "The Ship if. :Good Health."' The bays were accompanied on the • trip by the principal of the school, Mr, W. J. Tenthly., B.A., the director of music, Mrs. C. Blackloc'k, Mir, George Johnston, accompanist, Mr, (White, in- structor in dramatics, Mr. C. Prince. assistant, and 11 r, A. Mundy, physical instructor, to . The boys have been giving enter- tainments in the Toronto district, but. this was the first time they had per- forated at a distance from the city. The abject of the concert tour was partly to give the boys an outing an'd at the sante time to help in outfitting • some of the boys, .1.s already hated, the t this o pupils t P school are those who have been found to be mentally back- ward, at least so. far as b :c,lt learning is concerned. The practice followed in: the school, as stated by Principal Tamhiyn, is not to keep them back because, of failures. ,but' to promote' them because of succeeees; SEES IPMPROV'ED CONDITIONS. ,Basing his belief on the delfinite im- proveinent in agricultural .market con- ditions during the past few months, Han, Gideon Robertson, federal min- ister of labor, last week expressed the confident prediction that the horst .of the depression is now past. To .sup- port that conviction, he cited the marked change in outlook in Western Canada in the past 30 'days, being in his opinion indicative of 0 beginning of the upward swing in Canada's bas- ic industry. 'There were signs of im- provement in industry, in transporta- tion em'ploy'ment and 'in Wring. LONDESBORO. The visit of the Junior Vocational School boys of Toronto, who gave a concert hi Goderich on Friday and in L ondes'baro on Saturday evening and also assisted in the service of the United Cihurch at,Landes'boro on Sun - Children' Left Alone In a little house In a back street two children are awaiting Mother's and Dad's return. They are being helped bya friendly oreaniaation but thercan be no home for them until their parents come back. where are the patents? For many months they have been struggling for lost health and strength in the Toronto I-Tospital Par Consumptives,. They have benefited greatly: as so. many hundreds do, from the quiet- ness, fresh a.tr, kindly nursing and medical attention, Able to walk to the dining -room for two meals a clay now'' is the proud boast of the husband and father. But a short time: ago he could not be moved from his bed. A few months from no*, who knows, he may be :'back again tak Mg up the burden. of the home. Sttela.work as this has great econ- omic value to the eommuntty as well as opening the only.way from misery and despair to hundreds of the consumptive poor. The hospital greatly needs your help. Wtll you please send a gift to Mr. A. I7. Ames, :823 College St., Toronto.