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The Seaforth News, 1932-07-07, Page 3THURSDIAY, JULY 7th, 1932. THE SEAFORTH NEWS. :PAGE THREE Farewell to,Ayr—The Town of Irvine —!The Poet James 'Montgomery-- The Montgolmery—The 'B.uc'hanite's-'The Death of Burn's Father — Defence Of the Poet—Criticism of .his 'Works, etc. !Farewelll a word that must be and hath been, A sound that makes us linger, ' yet .farewell.—Byrom. Having seen ail the points of inter - we around "auld 'Ayr," we prepared to ,leave it, and we must say we did so with regret, and with the feeling t'h'at in all prdbability we 'wound never see it ',again. Our short sojourn in '!thee Place had. been the most delightful ' .and interesting we yet had in Scotland', 'nva'iniy, we'suppase, no account of its timate connection; with the 'life and arly ,days, of our favorite poet. We feet that when 'we were bidding fare- well to .Ayr we were bidding 'farewell to Burns. However, as we had to visit Irvine, where the ,poet onkel., resided, we could not say that we had deme with the land of Burns yet. We re- called to mind Burns' own farewell when he had. made up his mind to leave his native land forever, his trunk 'being at that time on its _ way to Greenock. He was sailing for the W,est see, st,,.something extraordinary will every -enjoyment that readers- l'i'fe'de- li;gh'tf ul:" 0' Thou unknown, 'Almighlty, cause Of all my hope and, fear! ' In whose dread presence ere an hour that town. My visit to' it was not as IPeahaps , L must appear, unfortunate as the poet's, for Burns . was robbed by his partner in 'trade, his 'Id I $a've'wandered i,n there paths aths life flax dressing shop' was .burned 03 Iurned down As something, loudly, in my. and he returned' home impaired in breast, purse, spirits and character, to find his tRe'anonstrates I have 'done. father on his death bed at Lochdea. This 'town' did Burns iso good. The Thou know'st that Thou hast place swarmed at that •time with •fopma. meiWi;tlx piasters wild and strong; smugglers and rough -living adventur- ,And listening to their witching ers "from which," says his brother voice; Gilbert, "he :contracted sp'in'e acquaint- ance o'f a freer manner of thinking and Where ,human weakness has come living than he had been used to, short, whose society . prepared him for over- Or frailty stept aside, leaping the 'bounds, of rigid' virtue Do' Thou; Alll-good, for such Thou' had hitherto restrained him," Mourn -art, Iu shades of darkness hide, fel must have been the scene ,when the last hour ,of the old man, his father, (Where with intention 1 have drew nigh and' he raised ,himself in bed Ino other 'ther plea 1 have, and said that there was one of his Stet (Thou art good and goodness children of whose future he could. not still think without fear. Robert, who was De1ighteih to forgive. in the roona, came up to the bedside The something of which he speaks and said, "Oh,' father, it is me you is. his conscience — the voice of the Bolan?" The old man said it was. Ro- soul—whech . always speaks the -truth ,bert turned fo the. window with; Means and : never . yet' led man astray. Thestreaming down his cheks, and has pant whichy bq'sam swelling from the restraint he is often Need up to con- demnatfon is where he says:. put upon himself, almost to bursting, The ,old man had early perceived the "Thou know'st that Thou hast genius of the boy and had frequently!farm'd me said to the mother, "1Wh'oever loves to With passions wild and strong," Sec. In:dies, a country wthich he seems" bo come from that b'oy." He had also no - have looked upon as a charnel -house: "Farewell, old .Scotia's bleak do - ,Far 'dearer than the torrid plains, Where rich ananas 'blowi ' !Farewell, a rnoth'er's"blessing dear! IA 'brother's sigh! a sister's tear! .lily Jean's heartrending ;throe!. Leaving A.yr on a bright sunshiny morning, a ride on the cars of about eleven miles brought us =to Irvine, a town of about 7,000 inhabitants, with a considerable coal and shipping trade. Irvine is situated at. 'the mouth Of the Invine water, and containssome good public buildings, and a ruined castle of. the Earl of Eglington. It was of inter- est to me mainly on account of its t r"Ctonnection with literary men, Dt is. the birthplace of the poet, James Montgomery, who'se poems I had read with interest while yet' a boy — and whose lines on "Prayer" I had often quoted. This town has also the honor of being the birthplace of Galt, the n'ov'elist, whose works have been ex- tensively read and are still much ad- mired. It is likewise the cradle of the B'uchanites. 'Jack, one of the leaders of the Buc'hanite's, lived in Irvine. Mrs: 'Buchan, the founder, who con- sidered herself to be the woman spoken of in the 12th chapter of Rev- elations, . he the following words: ."And there appeared a great wonder in heaven: a'wonman: clothedwith the sun, and the moon under her feet, and .on her head a crown of ` twelve ,upwa`rs, &c." However, I did not 'take much stock in Mrs. Buchan, notwith- standing her gorgeous raiment, and it was not on her account that II visited Irvine, If Burns had not 'lived in Ir- vine and dressed flax in Glasgo'w-Ven= nel street,' I would not have visited ticed, the strong passion with rather weak will, which he feared along with loose habits contracted ' in Irvine, might drive hien like a vessel in a storm on the shoals and quicksands of life. Burns saw all these things ten years before his, death when he wrote his own epitaph: "Is there a man whose judgment clear, Can others teach the course to, steer, Yet runs himself life's mad career, (Wild as the wave? Here pause — and, through the -, starting tear, Survey this grave. The poor inhabitant below Was quick to learn and wise to. know, And keenly feel !the friendly glow, And softer flame, !But thoughtless follies laid him ' low, And stained his name. Reader, •attend -Whether thy soul Soars fancy's flight beloind the pole, Or 'darkling grubs this earthly hole, In low pursuit; 'Know, prudent' cautious self- control! Is wisdom's root." Bourns was no hypocrite. He never professed fo be 'what he was not. He was always foremost in confessing his faults and in exposing his own -short- comings. We find this' prominently brought forth in his "Prayer on the Prospect of 'Death," a short p'oem that has been severely and we think un- justly criticised, In a short introduc- tion to it in his commonplace book, he-saysr—"The grand end of human 'ifeis to 'cultivate an intercourse with. (Let ds examine these lines. Man- kindare all. formed with animal pas- sions. ' They are natural tq men, and there are no' two cre'atures exactly alike in 'this. respec't, These,passions are intended•to be kept in subjection to our reasoning powers and our moral` nature.It is ,only when our passions are all'owed to ram "wild as the wave" that they become' sinful and unnatural. "But," says the critic, "Burns allowed them to do this." "Aye! there's the rub." He confessed it himself and de- plored the fact. But did net - King David do the same. Burns'` sinned — how deep I do not know; but 'how- ever'heinous his sins were, King Dav- id committed sins of a still deeper dye. David was an oriental autocrat and belonged to, a ,waren-blooded and somewhat voluptuous race, and these things no doubt_ go far to palliate or even excuse hisofeence in the eyes of some. With fair judges Burns also does not want his palliators. He was a fervent poet like the son of Jesse, and like 'him he had hot blood and quick' nerves, He lead dynamite in his com- position and we know that dynamite is powerful explosive. 'We cannot esti- mate the actions of a:man of this kind as we would a cold blooded precision- ist who had been trained front his in- fancy in the strict proprieties .of life without 'feelin.g_-impulse or soul. As well judge cold fishes and hot '.sala- manders by the sa'm'e law. They are not fed on the same food. They have nothing in common, "But D+avid re- pented," says the critic. So did Burns, we reply, and we have no reason to doubt lois repentance was less sincere than that of the crowned Hebrew sin- ner. The prayer we have just quoted bears us out in this statement. Both tht Beingto whom, we owe life with men sinned—both men repented,' We 1F.1`,04,:" We Are Selling Quality' Books, Books are Well' Made, Carbon is Clean and Copies Readily. All styles, Carbon Leaf and Black Back, Prices as Low as You Can Get Anywhere. Get our Quotation on Your Next Order. . • he Seaforth News SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, claim thesame eyes; handed justice for the Scot as for the 'Jew. "But David was inspired," intercedes the critic. So much the worse for David then, we reply. If the inspired Ring of Is- rael, who had been surrounded by good influences from his earliest years —+who had been hedged around as it were 'by a wall of inspiration, who had been anointed and led in the path of rectitude by the good old Saanuel—f he the .highly favoredleader of a chosen race—if he with such sur- roundings fell and committed sins be- fore which the combined sins of the S'cottis'h poet dwindle into hesfgnifi- cance—surely we aught not to deal too: harshly with Burns when we con- sider the age in which he lived and the malign- influences • by which he was surrounded, bu't\rather use the language of that Divine Being, Who knew what was in the heart of man. "Judge not that ye may not be`judg- ed." "Except for grace," said John Bunyan, "I should have been yonder' sinner," Bunisyan had strong pas'sion's, and had been a great sinner, but ha'd reipemted, "Granted," says Carlyle, . in lois essay on Burns, "'Granted the ship comes intoh'anbor with shrouds and tackle dasinaged, and the pilot is there- fore.:blame worthy, tell us first whe- ther leis' voyage 'he-ther''h'is'voyage has been around the globe or only, to Ramsgate and the Isle of Dogs." 'Phis puts Burns' case in its true light. In sitting in judg- ment upon him, if we are justified in doing so, let us in all reasons consider his fiery, poetic temperament and the strong passions of the man. We .find this idea strongly put in the "Vision," wehre the ` guardian genius of old "Coila" addresses her poetic son in the following words: "^I saw •thy pulse's maddening play, Wild send thee pleasure's devious way, Mislead by !Fancy's meteor ray, eBy.passion driven: IBut yet the light that led astray Was light from heaven." This may not appear at first sight to be strictlyjorthodox, but when we consider that the Creator was the author of his wonderful genius, his strong passions, his fertile imagina- tion, his matchless fancy and of all those other qualities which constitute a true poet, he was in a sense at any rate inspired, had ansessage for man- kind from the great author of his ex- istence who was therefore to a certain extent responsible for the results of those incomparable . qualities . with which' he had so richly endowed hini, in this sense at any rate, allowing for poetic license: "=the light that led astray (Was light from heaven... We .do not wish to be heterodox' in our views, but at the same time ave desire to exercise our reasoning powers and be guided by the dictates of common sense—and from these we think we have not swerved. lSin'ce the French took over control of Tinfbuctoo, once upon a time re- garded as more remote even than the wilds of Tibet, the town has fliourish- ed and expanded until today it is no longer a jungle fastness, 'but the P'ar'is of West Africa. There are only a few white inhabit- ants but, as with Frenchmen when they go abroad, they have their cafe with its terrace on the main boule- vard, there is a modern hotel and even the -.native women follow the Paris styles, In the old days, when the natives lived in the shadow of tribal super- stitions,each bore a "totelii", name, but now the dusky folk are more modern and call themselves' Briand, Poincaree Shell Gillette and other names which they have picked up from the .newspapers"that come from Paris an' the weekly air -mail. The. mail. brought to the coast by air, then ` conveyed - up the Niger. to . Tim video, 'Cosstrary to popular belief Tinrbuc- to'o''is`not on the hanks of the Niger. It is, seven miles away, surrounded by desert sands, and is,, in fact, the last Outpost of-th'e Sahara Desert. In ad- d'jbioas to coal -black Sudanese, its pop- ulation consists of the veiled Tquaregs Bedouins and other Moors. The town has not the .rich commercial develop- ment of nearby Djenme :whose famous sMos'que was copied at the Paris C'al- on al _Exposition in May. Although it has made progress in many, ways, Ti'ntbuctoo is still w'ith'out gas or el- ectricity, +Alt lighting is by pi1` ''amps; which creates a charm'ing atmosphere when the lights shine out on the des- ert from tlid, m'ud-walled ,'native houses. tAt night all Europeans are in- doors, leaving fihe s'in'uous streets to the veiled, savage,l'ooking tribesmen and the 'tall Sudanese ' Frcnole colonization in the neigh- borhood of Tim'bucldto'o is impeded by the rigorts of the climate. Rn the hot seasons of April, May, June it is almost impossible torwhites to stir -from the shade. 'Then come the trop- ical rain toerents that bring up un- healthy mists fnom the Niger. Want and For Sale Ads, 1 time 225c THE CREDIT MANAGER. 'Guests at hotels ,sometimes desire to cash ahequcs. The cashier customar- ily has instructions to refer all 're- quests of that type to the credit man- ager. A bellboy is called and the guest is escorted to a sanctum sanctorum in one of the quiet recesses of the ro- tunda, The .guest, enters' t'o face a forceful type of !roman, who finds it easier to say No than Yes. Thas is 'his training. Credit managers appear to have a similitude of physiognomy. They are • customarily well -supplied with jaiw bone, and flash one a pair of ste''nish, stely eyes, eyes that are train- ed to assimilate details of appearance, spot shiftiness do the eyes of the other, generally a'ppraise one's worth, Within the credit mattager's reach are ex- pressionless ,green -grey cabinets, the files within wh'ic'h shelter the secrets of thousands in nine provinces, and 49 states, On miniature pulpits in ac- cessible places Ne heavy directories, credit rating books af several' vint- ages, every line of small print harking by' hieroglyipdiics "Thou Mayest" or 'Thou Mayest .Not extend credit," From out metallic 'fasteners on walls j:ut dozens of steel tentacles, each sup- porting a sort of "handy holdall," such as those in . w'h'ich the soldiers used to carry their tooth -thrushes, etc. To those of honesty of purpose, there is 00 ordeal in facing a credit, ma'n- a'ger. All tehy demand is ' courtesy, When references are fequested, when he loalcis them up. And, if they are reg- ular clients, +t'hey expect his memory. to 'be reasonably welt ,oiled, that they may not be subjected on 'an. each oc- casion they wish to cash a cheque,to the complete gamut of 'investigation. I't is estimated that in the course of one year, the .credit .manager of a hotel of say over 1,000 rooms will handle 0 $2,000,00tworth of. cheques. These will include „payment for accommoda- tion in rooms, for food, for C.P.D. goods paid by the hotel for a guest, and the host of cheques, small asad lenge, inciden:tai to practically every sheat. i0i1 the total, s'l'ightly over one in one hundred cheques will bounce back ,to the hotel, NJS LF, Of the "dud" docu- ments, but one in 100 will be of the type tla'at may forever repose under the glass top of a desk, 'It is with the cheques marked "No account" that the difficulty lies. When a cheque is returned N.S.F. the credit manager has no difficulty in tracing the owner Of the signature. Machinery is started in motion. The writer of the cheque will. first of all be .treated to the odd innuendo or two by the credit manager over the 'phon'e. Failing ac- tion as the result of this, a collector. a man af great physical parts. Viewed from the angle of an out- sider, it is strange perhaps that such a "touch" as the one that follows seems rather relsnarkable, savouring perhaps of gullibility on the part of the person who, cashed the cheque. But whatever the view, this one was put o.ver,•quite recently. A sub'stanfiai citizen, hailing,' he said, from the Un- ited States, calls on the credit man- ager. 'lI'd like to cash a cheque for $200," he said, "Here are my refer- ences." They appeared satisfactory: "You would prefer to inquire at nay bank yourself? 21 course you would. I d'onk want to ,put you to any ex- pense. The number of any'bank in New York is ...,(he gives the credit man- ager a 'phone number), Will you please call .that number, at my ex- pense, and ask for the manager,_ Mr, Brown. He'll give you any information yoas want." The credit manager put in the 'long distance call. A woman ans- wers at the other end. "Mr, Brown, the manager, please," he says. Mr. Brown its tiane, is switched on, Manager Brown assures Mr. Credit Manager the account will carry the cheque. He does not even have . ,to keep the credit manager waiting in order to have a clerk look it up, "Oh yes, Mr. 'Mink' has a substantial ac- count wi'ht, us...," I't took three people to work the above racket, and it fared well.:for some time. One of the principals travelled, the other two stayed sin New York. The first would wire the o.th'ers, stating when they; night expect a call from the , credit neanag'er of such and such a hotel, The woman asns'wered, of course, im- persosating. a 'phone operator, and then switched 'the C.M. tothe bogus "manager." It, is easy for one to asy, "why 'I wouldn't have cashed the, cheque," but when a suave; reputable apearing citizen is vouched for in su',cls a manner, it is easy to see how one might fall, 'When the credit manager is not on, duty—and, .believe it or not, he Inas to rest sometimes—app.l catiom;s for cash- ing cheques are deflected by the cash- iers to assistant Managers on duty at the !sour. In most hotels, the assistant managers' are made personally reopen si'ble for any cheques they cash, . If they bounce back, the assistant man- ager catches them. This procedure makes ithom very careful. Lt. is en- forced presumably because the cashing of. cheques .gives assistant managers an opportunity to make "good fellows" o,f themselves. The credit 'teenager, on Services We Can Hecdec In the time of need PROTECTION is your best ;friend. Life Insurance --To protect your LOVED ONES._ Auto Insurance— To protect you against LIABILITY. to P'UI3LIC and their PROPERTY. Fire Insurance— To protect your HOME. and its CONTENTS. - Sickness and Accident Insurance— To protect your INCOME Any of the above lines we can give you in strong and reliable companies.`. If interested, call or write, E. C. •CHAf1BERLAIN INSURANCE AGENCY Phone 334 Seaforth, Ont. the other hand, ,beers no financial re- sponsibility for his departures from good judgment, hips mistakes or leis misfortunes, call them what you will. Ail he. stands to hose is his jab. Let him exceed a reasonable percentage, and they advertise for a new credit mass, toute suite. A man sent a couple of empty .pet- rol tins with a sarcastic note to a firm of motor m:anuffacturer's1 "Make me one of your famous tare :with these," said the note. iNexlt day the car was delivered. An accompanying note said: "What ,stall 'we do with the second tin?" (Bud was hopeful, but doubtfnsl, as he handed his exercise to his teacher. Seven times he had worked the same long sum, ancf seven times, he had been told to repeat Teacher was .synalpatheitic, but the figures were still wrong. "I'tn very sorry," she said, "but it is stili Ewa - pence out." Wearily Biud searched his packets and then proffered two - coplpers. "Here you are Miss," he said. pay the difference." Here and There Certain L. Lt. Douglas, R.N.R., recently named commander of the Pacific seeed Queen, the Empress of Japan, largeetof Canadian Paci- fic liners on the Pacific, recently brought his 26,000 -ton charge alongside Pier B, Vancouver within. 44 minutes of the Pacific record, His Excellency Rana Phagat Chandra Bahadur, Rajah of Ani- bal, ulybal, was a traveller on the Empress of Japan from the Far East, re- cently. He might have been taken for any business man but for the presence of his wife, daughter of the Maharajah of Kathlaad, India, who was attired in Indian garb. Crop conditions in western' Canada are most encouraging and, given normal weather conditions, the quantity and quality of the harvest will go a long way towards restoring confidence and pros- perity, Grant Hall, vice-president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, stated recently on his return from a tour of inspection of the com- pany's property. e Final figures of butter produ'e- tion is Alberta for 1981 amount to 22,957,922 pounds, which is mare than 600,000 pounds above the previous highest year's record for the province. Closely associated. with butter production is a move- ment inaugurated by the Federal and Provincial Departments of Agriculture to encourage farmer& • to enlarge their forage crop areas. Major "Bill" McGeehan, one of America's best known columnists, and Lionel Hitchman, veteran. defence man of Boston Bruins, landed a 19 and a 30 pounder salmon from New ' Brunswick watera respectively in May. The Major got his fish with a four - ounce trout rod on the Cain's River; Hitchman was fishing at Hartt's Pool near Fredericton on the Saint John River. John Cudahy, of Milwaukee, hunting across the Great Divide near Banff, and faced by a furious- ly chard ng:wounded grizzly almost within striking distance and with but one cartridgeleft in his rifle, coolly stood his ground and dropped the monster at his feet. Mr. Cudahy has hunted in India, Africa and Alaska, but said he had never had the thrills he experienced on this recent grizzly hunt. Success of the bargain trips over week -ends and holidays which the Canadian Pacific has put into effect this year was further attested by the great popularity enjoyed, during the recent Victoria Day holiday and in week -ends follow- ing. To take one large centre-- Montreal—the city was literally invaded' by the great influx 'of visitors' from eastern Canada and the United States and other big Canadian cities report similar con- ditions. a„r.✓ Brother officers of the Canadian Pacific Railway, representatives of transportation systems in Can- ada and the United States, mem- bers of the Masonic Order and 'of Rotary and sorrowing friends from virtually all walks of life united in an impressive tribute to the late George A. Walton,general seng r agent of the rilway at h s funeral in Montreal recently. The remains were taken to Winnipeg where burial took place in the Elmwood Cemetery with His Honor James D. McGregor, Lieu- tenant -Governor of Manitoba, Mayor Ralph H. Webb, of Winni- peg, and many officers of the cone - pally in 'attendance. , His Grace Archbishop Matheson, assisted by the. Rev. H. S. Reed, of St. Luke's Anglican Church, conducted the funeral service. (84.7)