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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1926-08-12, Page 7THE DUEL OF TWO GIANTS 13Y DAVID' KER. "Is this a jungle, Ned?" warily for a moment, as if measuring "That's what I call it; isn't it thick each other's strength; and then came enough for you?" a simultaneous rush that made the The veteran's sarcastic toile was earth tremble, and a shock that not without cause, for the jungle. sounded like the collision of two .load-. through which they had been plowing ed i'reight-ears, their way ixrboriousiy for an,hour: and`! "Round number one," whispered'the more was one 'of the thickest and elder 'brother to the youngee, with an wildest of those which cover the foot -',appreciative chuckle, "and well fought hills of the great mountain wail of • • on both sides," Mysore, the 'Switzerland of Southern "And first blood to both, seemingly," India, answered the other, in the same tone, • it...."Isn't this the place which you said In fact, the left oar of the second. was so, full of elephants?" asked theelephant was terribly mangled by tire younger brother, who, having just tusk of his adversary, while the :gat come oat' to India' for the first time; ter's broad forehead,;' covered with was anxious to "win his first ivory" as blood from a gash which seemed as if aeon as possible. ,"It won't be easy made by a plow -share, showedthat to get hold of them, though, if they're the counter -stroke had not been dealt half as c:evor as they're said•to be." in vain. "Which they're not, you may take. They closed again, and the fight was my word for it," laughed the elder. desperate for some minutes. The air My dear boy, you musn't judge the rang with the hoarse screams of the elephant -by the stories you read about contending giants,as their vast, black him in books, which having gone on bodies swayed to and fro, trampling for years without being contradicted, into mire the softg earth, which was have Game at last to be received as. already moistened with their blood. solid fact, The huge trunks writhed in the air "There's that yarn, Stow, of a tailor bike serpents, and two or three small who pricked an elephant's trunk with trees that grew in the centre of the his needle, and the elephant paid him bade snapped off g ppshort, like sticks . of out by splashing water over his work, sealing -wax, bore terrible witness to and spoiling it. • Now, .how: on earth,i the irresistible strength of the, brute should beast whose greatest delight combatants: is to splash water over himself; 'guess All of a sudden,one of the twowas that the very•same thing, should be a seen to reel bacas if struck bya _ punishment to anyone else? cannon -ball, and then trot heavily' off "I've had five years' experience of into the jungle, with•the blood pouring the elephant, in every possible way, from a terrific wound in his side.' and ray opinion is that, aitfough he •"He's too .hard hit to go far," said can do many things very well when he Edward Ashton to his brother. "We has been taught, he's naturally rather shaill be sure' • of him, anyhow." a stupid beast than otherwise." But 'Frank was too eager to listen Frank Ashton's countenance fell; to him. Fearing to lose both elephants, for, like most untraveled readers, he and determining to seders at least the had always been a firm believer in the one that remained, he fired hastily, preternatural sagacity" of the ele- and, instead of hitting the vulnerable phant, and to find'his sagaeious giant part of the' centre of the forehead, suddenly dwarfed into "rather a stu- only grazed the extended trunk. pid beasb'than otherwise" was a heavy The sudden sting of the bullet rous- brow, ed the monster to fury. He uttered a But at that moment a sound was savage - roar, and, ,flinging up his heard which put everything else out trunk,' cane charging down upon them of his head in an instant -the strange, like a whirlwind. dieeordant noise, something like the The next moment, Frank Ashton blast of a cracked trumpet, which an- heard the 'thick banyan -root behind pounces the presence of the jungle which he lay snap Mike a pipe -stem, king • ' land saw a huge, black foot, as broad IIati! hati I" (elephant! elephant!) , as a writing -table, hanging right over age -whispered their native attendant him. But -man g it missed him by a few old Mysorean hunter—with a flash of fetches , and on went the beast, leaving stern enjoyment in his small, black Frank wishing most heartily that he eyes. I had never' seen or heard of an ole Quick as thoughb, the three dropped phant in his life. into a hollow at the foot of a giant Suddenly, a shot echoed from the banyan, and peered watchfully tree above (into which the native through•the lattice work of intertwist-; ter : had swung himself on the first ed roots, holding their breath, as the alarm), and the elephant, struck in shrill trumpeting and the crashing of the hind -leg by the heavy ball,, turned the broken bushes came nearer and flercp':y oto 'look for his new assailant. nearer. J -But at that moment Edward's un - At :ast, a huge black head thrust erring bullet smote him full in the itself through the tangled leaves, and forehead, and the mighty beast fell Ara out into the tiny grade, on the edge of over on his side, With a crash like a which they were crouching,' broke a fabling tower. full-grown "bull" of the largest..size,' Before sunset the other elephant with a pair ofshining tusks, the very had likewise been tracked downand eight of, which made Frank's mouth kinng:I; and the two pairs of tusks, Water; !which had fought so fiercely that The young' fellow thrust forward morning, were on their way to the his rifle with hand that quivered with nearest railway station. excitement, and was just about to are at haphazard, when his more exper- ienced brother stopped him short.'' Meanwhile; the elephant had dd- . • vanced into the centre of the open space, snuffing the air and moving his enormous- ears rest:essay to and fro. Suddenly he struck the ground angrily with his mighty foot, and, throwing his trunk forward, sent forth a hoarse blast of defiance. The challenge did not remain long unanswered. A counterblast replied to it as promptly as an echo, and then a crashing andtramplingsound was heard in the thicket on the opposite. side of the glade. - "Now, Prank, my boy," whispered Edward Ashton, "you'll see a sight worth looking at. There's going to be a fight; and a fight between two full- grown elephants. is a thing that you ,eler don't see every day, I can tell.youl" As he spoke, a second elephant, quite as large as the first, appeared on the edge of the clearing, and advanc- ed slowly into if. The two monsters eyed each other Tearing Down the Street. "Just saw'Smith, the contractor, tearing down the street "He must be clearing a space for that new park," Cheerfulness and content' are great beautifiers. FIRST FOLDING MONOPLANE On this continent was -recently Laken through its first test in the United States, piloted by Capt. R. H, Depew, Jun. In a few minutes the wings oan be folded back against the body so that the plane can be housed in an ordinary garage. The Deserted House.. The house Is dead. The low sun paints its cobwebbed win- dows red, • But glees is cracked, and here and there a pane Knocked. out, Its hearth will never flame again. The red brick ehlmnef leans and soon will fall; - The wlud't -rude hands are tearing at the wall. • Mind Moire Alert at Night 'Than Morning. The mind..le more alert before a night's sleep than it is just after ris- ing in the 'morning. This is the con- elusion onelusion reached after an extensive study of sleep made by scientists at the Mellon" Institute of Isldustrial lie- esgich at Pittsburgh. The tests were made on students in a local yntverslty who volunteered for the purpose. It was found that the students per- formed mental tests better at night Yet roof and wall are mantled by a than in the morning. However, it vine, was noted that the results in the morn - Where golden butterflies, like candles, ing were inuch better after a series of shine; exercises. There is a popular impres- A vine that lifts red, coup -like flowers sion that a restful sleeperolranges his 1 maybe foolish, but when she on high position vary little during incl nighk Decided that she's like to make FINLANDrtIF9D' ®F •."P , :Finland Is one of the most versatile i Kell affords a wide view over the of countries in its scenery, Rivers end 1•andecape, front the 'heights of one of the mountains. Varying indeed is the panoraana'.gpread out bellow. In the autumn; it resent:Wee a vast carpeted floor, of e, pattee% that is splam,didly eolored in varying tones oe yellow, brown and green, •bordered by the deep blue waters of the bay. Then there ds Alio Castle, erected in the early dawn of the Uhria'tian are It is coaled the key to Finland. ' Num- erous. potentates bays sighed for and desired to ,possese this key, •yet Fin- land has it In her hand. Tore castbes of Olofsburg and Wiborg are likewise monuments of ancient times. While Wase, Barge and Helsing5ors repre- sent in the main modera architecture, Tasnmerfore is renowned for its mod- ern and efficient industries, and Hango as au up-to-date bathing resort.. • When the Sun Dances. It must not be forgotten that north ern-i'Wyand -1s situated in the land of the midnight sun. During the greater part of the summer the ntghte remain Might, so that travelers visiting there, unureed• to sleeping while it is still day- light, find it (Macula to adjust them- eelves to this novel situation. No one Who is in that region on Midsummer Night fettle to avail himself of the op- vartunity to "see the suns dance" as it is popularly called. A famous • restaur- ant, with an eye to busihes5, has lo- cated itself charmingly at the point where the Oulu River empties into the Botntan Sea, and on that evening its special verandas are crowded. The sun oontinue55 shining during the en- tire evening, even past the midnight hour, drooping ever lower toward the horizon, where sky and water meet. Near the water's edge, it apparently stops and, stands absolutely star Then, suddenly, -with a few leaps, it retraces its way, and gradually mounts up again into the sky- During this• strange manoeuvring the sun looks like a round disk of reddish -orange color, with rays seemingly rising up behind it. It is a rare and never to -be -forgotten spectacle. £ails are encountered eveitywhere. The mast beautiful promenade imaginable' is Punkirharja; a very reme liable na- tare! ridge,located' between:. Peruvosi and lbs Selma Caual, about four miles bang. In some ,plaoesthe ridge is scarcely wider than the promenade itself, which leads through shady pine woods, the water gleaming silvery through the thick branches here and' tbrere, Artistry has assisted nature a little. Windowlike apertures have been crit in the pine Sorest, and through these may be seen, .in order,, succession, very beautiful landsecapes 'distant villages, fields. and windmills, ethereswly blue waters and leafy is- lands. Truly idyllic. Is this . experi- ence of waking under a canopy of fir branebes,with here and there the sun - Hobe flittering through; the delicious 80501. of fragrant pines saluting the nostrils, and, as the poet says, "a pic- ture in every sbaelow„' So closely tenlaeed Indeed are the branches that form thls natural roofs over the, pr- menade, that in many places no rain can penetrate. The musical rustle of. the wind in the tree -tops is all that the wanderer notices of a quick summer storm, such as occasionally ro11e over the ridge. Espeotally peaoetel is the sentiment that hovers over the entire (mane at sunset, or daring moonlit, nights. While 'thee night wind may alightly ruffle the surface of the canal, and the moon beams play thereon,. Therusevl slumbers peacefully in the shadows of the lofty ridge, and the stars sparkle in its deep waters, A Varying -Panorama. In the middu'e of the Finnish Gulf, outside of the town of ICotka, there rise -out of the sea Hogland's mlghty rocks, faintly visible even as far south se Fnederisksbawn, The soil an lhle solitary island is exceptionally barren, stony, and full of 'crags and ravines. Spruce and gnarled coast firs cover the ground, stunted by the tempestuous winds, and no higher than heather: While Changes Are. Being JAPANESE SMILE IS Made. Like crimson fires that blaze toward But the tests showed that the sleeper's A. sun room just f b t ` k ma build another room to be chamber. "Yes, said A slumberCONSTANT ACCOMPANI- Around the broken panes, green ten - dells cling, And blossoms brush the nesting. blue bird's whog; Brown bees go singing to their daily toil To fill the empty chambers wlh their spoil; Till evening dims the golden air to' blue, And bats go' out to hunt amid the lea, So full of varied business, mirth and strife— Is the house dead? or newly come to life? - —Glaribel Weeks AVery. Music. I have kuown music, A windy swept pine Upon a singing hill, A million elan voices In the night, The chant of frogs In pools A moonlit music. I have known music The thrumming of the rain Upon the leaves, - th When all e birds Were still, And liquid drops fell softly To the grass And sliding gayly Down each bending. blade, Slipped silently Into the earth's dark breast, To muted music. And now within the city's Surging.roar I still hear music, Like some great organ Tilling all the sky, A mighty diapason, 'Pierced by the strident call Of lesser sounds, • Urgent, challenging, Tremendous music. -Madeiene M. Davis, in Christian Science Monitor. Where Credit is Due. "My dear..fell'ow, you owe your.won- derful recovery entirely to your wife." "Glad to hear it, doctor, I'll nuke the cheque payable to' her." remained in ono position without mov- ing only about 'eleven minutes on an average. "Our results in their present form," declared Dr. H. M. Joh rson, head of the exporlments, "contradict n number of proverbs regarding sleep One of these is that the earlier hours passed in bed are the most restful. This is true only for a. small minority of the subjects. For a number the periods of longest rest are pretty, evenly distri- buted among the four quarters of the night. For some the Iast quarter is most free from activity, "Recalling advice frequently given students to do'their studying before breakfast while their minds are still fresh, the results of the night and morning taste are at variance with that belief, but a decision is yet to be made on what interpretation these re- sults will bear. Recuperative effects of sleep undoubtedly exist, but they are obscured by other factors for some hours." Fish Age Facts. Flow long do fish live? Mayer' P. S. Fowler, in a lecture before the London Zoological Society, gave some interest- ing data on a special study he has. conducted 011 this subject. Aneleetrlc eel in the London Zoo, It was reported, Jived twelve years. A European catfish in the private aquar- ium of the Duke of Bedford is flay years old and shows little indication of weakness, Other' Rah ago flguree given by the Major were; Carp, thirteen years; goldfish, twelve years.; herring, four years; salmon, three years; bull frog, fifteen years, tree frog, fourteen years; female Spanish newt, eighteen years, and giant salamander, fifty-two years, Didn't Refuse. Marjorie, aged four, stayed to tea with her playmate. When she return- ed home her .mother asked her, °Have you been a'good girl and did you say 'Yes, please,' and 'No, thank you'?" "Well, Mother," replied Marjorie, "I said, 'Yes, please.'" Hate is the microscope of faults and weaknesses; Love is the micro - seeps or our good qualities. REG'LAR FEJ .1 .ERS -By Gene Byrnes. WE JUG' HADA elOCUS WITH PES WEE M°NEIL Ote ACCOUNT OF HIS FUNNY EYES: FUNNY EYES? 1 ZItlN1' HE HAS BEAUTIFUL, LIGHT BLUE EYES: UGI -IT BLUE EYES MOMS YOU SURE ARE. MOIKijJ us or eaus sake e, ' I "W&lI make those changes rn July." MENT INTHE LAND OF I like the house the way it stands, Hero I could dwell till death shall (.IIEI:RI.BLOSSOMS.• ou coma Without #hat tired solarium, But since it's something she demands, This latest whim I won't deny, We'll make thoseohangee in July. WONDER OF DDRIST S Rip,. carpenters, and bang about! Go to It, masons, all you wish! I'm on Lake Huron catching fish, I cannot hear the plumbers shout. Go to it, fellows! Bang and pound! I shan't be there to hear a sound. I've been through changes once before, I've swallowed dust and tried to be At"iionre with earnest carpentry And once Will last forevermore. When masons and plumbers enter here I pack my grip and disappear. Now here beside the lake I nit The while those workmen put up shelves. And build that room to suit them- selves. And if they're honest they'll admit It sults them better through the day i To have the owner miles away. —Edgar A. Guest.' Cold Cream? She Never Thought of it. She (touching her lips)—"What do you do for the chaps?" Iier Friend (blushing) —• "Why-er. why should I tell yotr?" Maid (announcing the arrival of Mr. Foote and his two daughters) "Mr, Foote, and the Mesas Feet" ilINM1E1DONT cal CONTRADICT ME; c_E , QUIT ARGUllaa ` % g �iy • JU5T FOR ithE a Strp SArIO OF�ryRPR1N!--off_ WM'SRteHT: 3. Travellers Soon Learn it is Only Impersonal Form of Politeness. One of the riddles of Japan is the Japanese smile. Nowhere in the world do people smile more than in Japan, writes A. von iVinterfeld. A soft smile a000mpanies us constantly as long as We are in Japan; this smile. Is as pleasant as the light, enchanting at- mosphere oe the islands. All Japanese about us smile—even when we should expect utterances of bad humor, of anger or grief. You leave a shop where you had the salesman show you things for an hour or more and where you bought noth- ing after all; the salesman aocom Denies you to the door, inhales the air with a slight noise to show you his glad devotion and smiles just as kindly as if you had bought up his entire store. You get angry some day and frit a servant; he smiles. 'Your ser- vant tells you that his mother died; he smiles as though 1t were the most egreeuble news in the world. Requires Self -Control, Of course, this smile is an Imper- sonal form of politeness which does net express any feeling, any sympathy or any love. At first, as newcomer% we are delighted to find ourselves al- ways surrounded by this soft amble. But after a while, when we begin to realize that it is merely a form of politeness and, that 1t does not mean anything, the smile groW4s monotonous had even irritating., We begin to long for the contrasts: of bitter and sweet humors in our occidental daily life. But one thing we ought not to fon get, namely, that this politeness of the Japanese requires a self-edneation and a rare energy and, Ilixulily., a power to he kind and gentle which other na- tions haveseldont attained, There ate more than 2,000,000 bilnd people, in the -world Those Changeable Eyes! MOAN:. 11,ldi , EYES 305' LIKE 3. TOLE YOU BUMP HUDSON GAVE IM -11;051~ 11 )30 SHINERS `THIS NOON. •oe lS excel% I j Brick -Houses Burn' Oftener Than Frame o The current losses from fire in the aggregate constiiute a -heavy burden upon the ole, particularly on the North Amerpeicpan 0ontinent, Iu seek- ing -for the reason, It is quite natural that it should bo looleed for in the ma- terials of construction, and because Wood will burn it be charged with re- sponsibility for the heavy fire lose. For a long time it ,was quite the gas. Ilion to speak - of wood as "inflam- . enable" and ref some other materials and forms of construction as "fire- proof"; but on more mature thought, sharpened by experience, opponents of wood have eeased . to call their ma- terials rnterials fireproof, and they do not so often term wood "inflammable." "Carelessness." 0 Evidence that fires are caused chief- ly by carelessness end incendiarism is so overwhelming that it would be idle to preeent it if the truth were not fro often ignored by advocates of bullddpg materials competing with wood. It may be- that lumbermen themselves have been so far misled by such. pro- paganda that they need a few "facts to stiffen their backbone and renew their confidence in their product as the pre- mier building material. Most con- vincing and enlightening evidence of thio sort has been gathered by the Longacre Engineering & Construction Oompany: Figures given show that a smaller percentage of fires occur in buildings of frame: oonstruction than in those of brick and other forms; and this was true in forty-five cities hav- ing populations. in excess of 20,000 where 76 per cent. of the buildings are of frame construction. 0f the total of 1,128,002 structures included in the surrey, 851,984 were frame and only 276,018 were of other forms.: Yet there were only 12,508 fires in the frame buildinge, while there were 16,909 1n those built of brick. "Fireproof;' When it was decided some years ago to do away with the term "fireproof" as applied to forms of construction the reason given was that it implied a margin of safety or of protection that did not in fact exist, The reason was a -good one and it is certainly good psychology,ge warn of dangerwhere it 1s present gird sfEress the need of care where care Is In fact the beat protec- tion. roteation. The truth le that In the matter of protection from fire as well as in most other matters the tendency isto at- tempt to make the world "foolproof." Some of the restrictions on the use of wood for building smack of that policy. When a frame dwelling is built ac• oordtug to well-known specifications with regard to "fire safety' 'the fire hazard that remains is individual and personal in the occupant of the struc- ture. If he would burn up a wood dwelling he would do the same with al- most any other that he might occupy; for most fires, as the figures cited show, are due to carelessness and not to the use of inflammable materials of conetruotion, -.r When Our Garden Was Glad. This fair birthday morning, Our wee gardener man, At breakfast, found waiting A uew sprinkling can; And soon, o'er' the blossoms It swung to and fro, Where bright, fluffy Asters Stood all in a row, And nodded their heads, just As if they would say, "My, that feels re7reshing On each a warm day!" Hs showered the Pansies With glittering dew, Till, Friend Toatl, a -hopping, Came right into view, From out of his earthy And dark, corner bed, To feel trickling drops on Hie queer, warty head. I'm sure that more golden The Sunflowers grew, For they, like the others, Were quite thirsty, too; Anil Sweet Peas, 9n bonnets So frilly and pink, Why, they leaned 'way over To eoax for a drink! Not one single flower A "Thank You" could say, But gratefully scented The breezes at play. Then, greedy bees hurried On nectar to dine, In striped velvet coats, each • Looked :handeome and fine,— How glad was our garden With one: little man A -swinging his shiny, Green watering can! —Eleanor Steart, A Puzzle. 'A little boy,seeing a glass eye in a -shop window, asked what it' was, and, being told, inquired if people could see with false eyes. He was told that they couldn't. A day or two 'later he wished to. know whether people could eat with take teeth, and was told that they could. "Then, 1f people can eat with false teeth„” he said, "why can't they see with .glees eyes?" Canada's Indians '1styear reaped Avera million bushels of grain and tired 50,000 bead of livestock on their farms.