HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1932-07-14, Page 3np
TI3'U121SDAY,,, JULY 14th, 193'2,
THE SEAFORTH NEWS.
se-
Y>
"Yes—they're fine'
young chickens!"
LOU) evening rates
on .Station -to -Sta-
tion Calls begin
7.00 pan: Still.
lower nigh rates
at 8.30 p•n:. -
It was Joe Kingsmill's wife who
spotted the,, advertisement - a
firm in town offering to buy 60 •
young chickens. She showed it
to Joe.
"Ever poultry farmer in the
province will be writing," Joe
tas: "I'll telephone right now
be:: the crowd."
L',o Lc Gd, And got the business
too for his alertness. The Long -
E Stene telephone call cost him
35 cents.
The Land of Burns
'The Spiritual Guides of the Poet
IB'urne 'Conducting Family Wor-
ship—,His Epistle to a Young
1Friend—His Opinion of the Cov-
enaniters- ,He Reads the Bible in
!His 'Last (Days—)Interview with
his !Friend Mrs. Riddell - His
Anxiety 'for His Family, etc.
el ought never to lose sight of
thd times in which Burns lived, and
the religious teachers by which ,he
was surrounded. The New Light
clergymen of Ayrshire were not Sam-
uels by any means. They appeared
to have been as liberal in their mode
'o'f living as they were in 'their 'tenets
—and both were ?loose and broad
enough in all consoience.
1W'hen we remember that there was
no temperance movement in Burns'
day, and that his spiritual guide often
drank longer and deeper than the
poet himself—the justice of judging
hint in this respect by the light that
obtains in our day—becomes appar-
ent. btor'eover, his' convivial habits
have been very much magnified in-
deed, for we have it on the authority
of Professor Wilson, whose essay on
Burns we :Nave consulted, that at the
time of Burns' death not a mail,
woman of child in Dumfries could
trut'hfully say that they had ever seen
him it oxidated,, the universal testi-
mony b'ein'g that it was .literary soci-
ety and 'intellectual company that at-
tracted 'him to the public house where
days
all kinds meetings in those y
were held --and not the intoxicating
liquors which were sold there. Thos'e
)who drank ,With Hints likewise aver-
red :that the poet never seemed to
care how littlewas in the glass; it
being' the toast, the sentiment and
the song that he honored; according
to •the custom of the times, and 'that
the 'flow of Interesting : conversation
was what he valued, Again it was
shown'by'Prof.!Wilton that up to the
time ,af Burns'-re'nt!oval to Dumfries,
he had, family worship regularly, The
Professor !does nut know whether the
halbit was discontinued-, then or not --
but
ot—but: at any. rate it has !been proved
that even then when 'heart' and flesh'
were 'failing and he was scarcely able
to wa1ik—disease Having made fear-
ful inroads on this constitution -even
then, he was wont to gather his 'chil-
dren around him on the Sabbath day
and question them ors their know-
ledge of the scriptures. We ,'have
never''be'lie'ved that the outlier of the
"Cotter's Saturday Night" or the
"I.ines to a young Friend," was the
grossly irreligious man he is some-
times represented to he. 'Witness the
promindn,ce he gives to religion °in
the !following line's, which are worth
a dozenordinary sermons and should
be. seriously pondered by young men
olf the prevent day:
''The great 'Creator to revere '
Must sure 'become the creature; ,
But still the preaching cant forbear,
And even the rigid feature:
Yet ne'er with wits pro'fa'ne to range,
Be complaisance extended,
An atheist's laughs a poor exchange
IFo.r'Diety offended.
When ranting round in 'Pleasure's
!Religion may be blinded,
Or if She gie a random sting,
itt may be little minded.
But when on life we're tempest -
driven;
_A conscience but a canker—
A corres,p'onden•ce fix'd wi' 'Htiav'n
•Is 'sure a :noble anchor?
Was the man who wrote these lines
irreligious at the time or was he hab-
itua'lly a godless character 'or a scof-
fer We think not. Hear also what
he says in reference to the Covenent-
ers, who are fre'quen,tly ridiculed'and
abused by literary characters in these
wise days in which we live:
"The 'Solemn ,League and Covenant
'Cosi 'Scotland blood, cost Scotland
tears,
But 'faith sealed) freedom's sacred
cause,
I'f thou'rt a slave, indulge thy
sneers,"
It seems to us that the poet piits
the case in a nutshell in his Address
to the UUnco'Guid, where the ideas are
'brought prominently before us, that
most men owe their good name to the
fact that the world knows not their
characters and many of the sons and
daughters of Adam are virtuous be-
cause they were nat exposed to the
temptation or had not the op'portuity
to sin. The real questions after all
are, 't\Vhat strong 'passions have we
subdued or kept under control?" "By
what temptations have we been. sur-
rounded?" After considering these
r u 11A.�u
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SEAFORTFI, ONTARIO.
News
a
PAGE THREE
th•iltgs the poet draws' the: following
mora) for ,our .guidance, w'hieh we
think is a just ;one: ,
"Theit genttly scan your brother 'man,
Still gentler .,sister 'woman;
)Though they ' May gang a lcgmin
'w'ran g,
To. step aside is hant'an;
One ,:point must still he greatly dark!
'The moving why they do it;
and just as lamely cat ye mark,
'How far perhaps they rue it.
Who evade ,the heart, "tis he 'alone;
Decidedly: can try us,;
He kne s each ,edlt,ord!'- its various
ne,'
Each tospringq—its various bias;:
Then at 'the 'balance lets the mute,
we never !can adjust at,
What's done we partly may compute,
B+u+b know, not what's ' resisted.
,We believe that Burns, like most
thinking men in ati ages, was ';often
harassed !with 'doubts in matters of
religion -hut we also know that dur-
ing his lingering illness,; When he 'had
come to look 'upon this world as a
fleeting show, and all its allure-
ments as vanity of vanities, he set-
tled down an right earnest to that
grand old ,book, which he made his
constant comipauion, and read earn-
estly during the letter days of his
life. Indeed, the last time he was seen
out of doors, he was poring over his
B'ib'le on the hanks of the river 1Ni.th.
In those days of fever and weakness
he read no other book, This was
surely a good, •sign—a sign that he
Was preparing at any rate, if not al-
ready prepared for the great and im-
portant change' that was awaiting
him. For 'aesany weeks if not months
before he died Burns knew that his,!
end' was approaching. 'He removed 'to
a place called Brow, on •th'e Solway
shore, to get the benefit of the sea
bathing, but the relief from this
source was only temporary, and be
resolved to return to Dumfnies. The
following anecdote of him at this
time has been preserved. A night or
two before Burns left Brow he drank
tea • with MTs. Craig, widow of the
minister at Ruthwell. His altered ap-
pearance excited much! silent sym-
pathy, and the evening being beauti-
ful and the sun shining brightly
through 'the casement, Mrs. Craig
was afraid the, light might be too
much for him and rose to let down
the window iblit'ds. (Burns immediate-
ly guessed what she meant, ankl re-
garding the good lady with a look of
great benignity, said, "Thank you,
my dear, for your kind attention; but
ohl let him shine, he will not shine
long for pie." His old friend, Mrs.
Riddell, who was spending a few
days on the iSnlway Firth, senther
carriage to bring Burns to dune with
her. She has left a record of that
important 'interview: I was . struck,
said she, with his appearance on
entering the room, The stamp of
death. !was imprinted on his features.
He seemed' already touching the
brink of eternity. His first saluta-
tion was "Well, madam, have you
any commands for the other world?"
We then had a long and serious con-
versation about his present situation,
and the approaching termination of
his earthly prospects. He spoke of
his death without any of the ostenta-
tion of philosophy, but with firmness
as well as feeling, as an event likely
to 'happen very soon, and which gave
hint concern -chiefly from leaving ,his
children so young and unprotected,
and his wife in a critical condition,
expecting shortly to become a moth-
er for the sixth time. He mentioned
with seeming pride and satisfaction
the promising genius of his eldest
son. His anxiety for leis family seem-
ed to 'hang heavily on him. 'Passing
from this subject he :showed great
concern about the care, of his literary
fame and particularly the publication
of 'his posthumous works. Ile said he
was well aware that his death would
create Sonne noise, and that every
scrap of his writing would be r , ved
against him to the injury ofl j' � u-
• r n to ' that ,his l t hand
ter,, e u tion; t t e v Ar
verses written with unguar fi and
improper freedom, end w'hic'h' he ear-
nestly wished to have 'buried in oh,,
livion, would be handed about
idle" vanity and malevolence, wheixh
dread of his resentment would'=re
strain them or;prevent the censures
of shrill -tongued malice or the insid-
ious sarcasms of envy, from pour-
i7ig forth all their venom to blast his
fame. He lamented• that he had
written many epigrams against whose
he entertained no enmity and whose
characters : he would be sorry to
Wound, and many 'indifferent poe'tica'l
pieces,'w'hich he feared none, with all
their im'perfec'tion on their head, be
thrust upon the world, .On this 'ac-
oqunt',he deeply regretted having, de-
ferrel puttinghis papers en a state
of arrangement, as he was n'o'w in=
capable of the exertion, !The',con'ver-
sation, she adds, was !kept up : with
great 'evenness and auun'atton on his
side, I had never seen his mind
greater or more ooldected We ,quote
the above to show that .Burns knew
he was dying and expressed no 'ter-
ror at 'the prosip'ect. Like 'many .seen
under the circumstances, the seems
to have kept his profouudtest ,thoughts
to himse'llf. Who can blame him for
that ? The future of, his immortal
soul was a subject that he had to
settle with the Great Author of hi9
existence, and 'we have no 'right to
melt in between, !Clod and 'the con -
`science, at'such an awful moment as
that—as little right have:we we to spec
Mate •ort the future and consign him
to darkness—because he did not in all
things conform to ,the standard which
we may have, adopted and in our
vanity,and !arrogance sot up for the,
guidance of the 'human race. Away
with such narrow minded bigotry. No
man has suffered more in this res-
pect than Burns. Critics have,persist,_
eptly harped upon what was mli done
by the poet — !conveniently shutting
their eyes to what was well done in
his short and Stormy ,life—they' have
harped upon the imperfections vs of the
man aitd of his writings --forgetting
his impulsive, p'assionate' nature and.
the temtp'tations which ,he must
'have
resisted on the one hone :and the
glorious Edeas and inn;martal 'truths
which he has given to his country
and the world on the other. Iii all the
workings 'of our 'hearts and our in-
most nature were exposed to view as
they were with 'Burns, like the oper-
ations of bees' in a glass 'hive, who
on earth ,would come forth scathle'ss
from the fiery ordeal ? Who then
could be saved? Do we find nothing
to admire in • the so'li'ci•tude for his
wife, who was confined to a sick bed
and unable to attend him in his last
trying noneenits, and, the children
that were so soon to become orphans?
Or in the lament that his 'brother
Gilbert might be put to straits to pay
back the s'to'ny he lent 'h.int years be-
fore, but which 'his soon -oto -+be -widow-
ed !wife and his orphan children
would in soon require? FI'ere was a
struggle between poverty on one side
and brotherly love on the other
which discloses the finer feelings 'of
his nature,' which the critics general-
ly pass over in silence. About this
time a cool, calculating scoundrel
who was aware of his poverty, of-
fered Burns fifty pounds for a col-
lection of those unguarded and
rougher pieces which the poet in-
tended to consign to oblivion. This
offer 'he repelled with indignation
and remorse. Money could not induce
the dying man even when in indig-
ent circumstances, •with want ;taring
his family in the !face — neoney could
not induce 'hien 'to betray his better
n t re an give to the workwhat
his conscience condemned, and what
he regretted 'from 'his 'inmost soul he
had ever written, .He even wished
that he had power to !consign to the
flames much that had already be-
come the property of the world. The
temptation was indeed strong to a
man in such circumstances. What
nercenta'ge of ntan'kind would have
resisted it?
THE MANAGE'M•ENT. OF
SEVERAL' HURON.
COUNTY WOODLOTS
I. C. Merritt, Forester, Ontario For-
estry Branch.
Ten acres were left in woodland on
the farm of J. C. ,Smil'lie Hensel). The
cutting of 40 cords of 14" wood an-
nually !and
n-nually•and pasturing was gradually
opening tip the bush. It is a typical
hardw'ood bush with sugar maple
beech and basswood, white and rock
elm. Five years ago the cattle were
shut out and planting in the openings
commenced: •An acre at the back of
the bush, that had been cleared years
ago was plowed and put into beans.
In 1930 it was planted with white ash
and red oak. It has been cultivated
and the trees have made a fine growth
The white ash averages 5 feet and the
red oak 4 feet 10 height: Pines and
spruce planted in furrows or spot -
',minted make a Fine nlnntation but
hardwoods (maple, elm, basswood,
ash, walnut)' require cults ttion to
gale them a Start. They do very well
;pot -planted in a bush that is not too
open
!Natural reproduction of white :ash.
sugar staple, beech and basswood has
conte in well. The large maple and
'leech will gradually be cut opt Inc
tucltad itv'llgive the youngtrees
a better chance as the big trees hold
then-; hack by their shade and coin -
n pr the moisture and nourdsh-
m ,ll.
Vh',• Notble' Holland- of Htillett Tp.
rd,eckled that his 7 acre woodd'ot was
'an asset that should be protected. 1t
was a second growth maple stand
with trees 8" to 14" in diameter. He
was cutting out the defective and
dead trees for fuelwood. He also tan-
ned '100 maple trees, which produced
30 gallons 'of syrup annually, 'The
hush was 'pastured and the stock
were browsing off the seedlings teach
year soon after they germinated. In
1926 the stock was shut out and
planting in the openings commenced.
Pines, spruce, walnut, white as'liand
b.lacly locust have been planted. Nat-
ural reproduction has also come in
and along with the planted trees make
up a fine young stand, 'A 'berry patch
illustrates the difficulty in securing
natural reproduction or successful
orienting in a thick ,berry patch. Mr.
Holland i'n'tends to gradually take out
the large tree's as they interfere with
the young
trees beneath them,He
in-
tends to amrove the 'growing condi-
tionstions
in the natural stand by cutting
out the weed species (ironwood).
crooked trees,' defective trees and
trees too closely spaced.
Mr. J. S. IKKerughau of Qolborne
Township awns an 1S acre' woodlot
that has been managed similarly to
Mr. 'Oarncsdhlan's. fit is a sugar, maple.
beech, white elm 'bassi with beech and
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Phone 334 Seaforth, Ont.
maple predo'mina'ting. Twenty cords
of 15" wood are cut annually and
logs for lumber are tatken out. Tim-
ber is different from other crops as
it does not have to, he harvested in a
particulfilr season or year. It nt'ay be
left until prices are more favorable
or can be used for an emergency.
M'an'y bushes have supplied the Moil=
ey for the big payment on the farm,
More consideration s'hou'ld have been
given to the cutting and after care of
the woodlot, 's'e that it would be in a
condition to furnish another fine cut-
ting in 10-30 years.
!Both woodlots present a fine ap-
pearance as _all the defective tree.s
have been cut. Trees are a crop and
there should be cuttings to remove
the decayed and broken trees. Many
owners are allowing trees to rot, while
they pride themselves no the harvest-
ing of their other crops proiftahiy,
Mr. C. 13. Middleton of Goderich
Township is leaving 40 acres in
woodland and planting 30 acres of
rough hills and flats along the Bay-
field r'i'iver. Forty acres have never
been cleared and pastured for years.
The pasture land ran out and weeds
on it were becoming a menace, He
decided that trees would be the most
satisfactory crop on this rough land,
as he did' not wish to break it up
again and the trees would be an ef-
fective weed control. -
;Twenty-five acres have been re-
forested• to pines, spruce walnut and
poplar. They are making satisfactory
growth and in a few years will kill
the weeds by their shade. Natural
reproduction has come in thickly
through the 'bush and in the grass
land adjoining the woods. A pleas-
ing feature of .the reproduction is the
large percentage of white ash. White
ashwsood" is very valuable and is in
great demand !by handle makers, int.
pleneent manufacturers and is also
used in the manufacture of skis.
1Vleite ash will not seed up in a thick
bush as sugar staple and beech do,
but if there is a seed tree near an
opening there is generally a great
number of white ash seedlings and
saplings growing.
Mr. Middleton practices selection.
cutting. hi 1929 he sold 200 trees on
the stump. The trees selected for
cutting tvere large mature trees scat-
tered through the bush. 'Their re-
moval is not noticed particularly and
saplings and small, trees: already
started will make a faster grave'th as
the competition of the larger trees
'las been removed:
Mr. W. J. IA ash'icegton of West
\Vnwanosh Township has 18 acres of
hardwood bush that was pastured un-
tl 1925. !It is a second 'growth sugar
maple, 'beech bush with trees 6" and
15" in diameter, showing that all
natural repraduc'tron for 30 years has
been browsed off by the stock. Nat-
ural reproduction has been slow cam-
ing in tender the trees and in the open
places that were grassed over since
cattle were fenced out. It is coming
iu slov'fybut is not general.. He has
planted red pine, white pine, weinnt,
butternut and red oak in the ,'pen
places.
More farms 6n Huron County have
woodlots than many of the Counties
of
Wester!
t O:ntiarin. 'There are Still
sufficient seed trees of the more de-
sirable in most of them to seed these
tip naturally. Lf there are revenue
producing wondlo'ts 50 years hence,
founilati'ons need to be laid now by
protecting the small seedlings that',
come in naturally, or by starting
plantations.
1Forestry may be practised inten-
sively in farnn woodlo'ts as the mater-
ial removed in thinnings and iti'nprove-
anent cuttings makes ,fine fueiwood
that can be used or sold by the far-
mer. 'There will always be a market
for logs, and proximity to neackets::
Good roads and trucks will tend to
mike timber grown on farm woodio!ts.
very valuab'le. 'There are many fine
young strands (248" in diameter, 20-60''
high) that, would be benefited by 'wise
thinning, The owner could improve
his property' andat the same time se-
cureal
v cable
fuelsic� !
od,
There are
many seoodlots that have trees whose
removal would improve the growing,
conditions: 'Residents of villages and
towns can kelp •the farmer by plan-
ning to 'burn a few cords of wood in
the fall and spring: The motley would
come back to the merchants, as the
farmer would frequently spent it be.
fore leaving for home;