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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1947-08-14, Page 2Humble Beggar By Matthew Christopher The knock sounded like the soft click of a night latch. Naomi open- ed the door, and he stood there—a tall, humble looking figure whose sunken grey eyes peered unobtru- sively from a sun -leathered face If Philip had been here she -would have closed the door. She wotild say, "I'm sorry, but we have nothing left." Or, just, "1'm sora." But Philip wasn't here. And she was ready to place the food on the table. "Goodmorning, Ma'am?" he said. He smiled, a tender `smile that broke through his grey whiskers, "Would you be kind enough to give an old man a—a bite to eat?" Then it was as if Philip was be- hind her, staring over her shoulders glaring with those level brown eyes of his, saying, "Tell him to go on his way." The sun flashed a welcoming sig- nal on her bright smile, and touched the high tones of her smoothly planed face. "Come in," she said. "You're just in time." He had a cautious quality about his step as he crossed the threshold into the kitchen. She could almost hear Philip say, "See how careful he is? You got to watch that kind. That characteristic quirk isn't exactly human natured" Connie ran in from the (Buil g room, her brown curls bobbing on her head like soft coils of spring. "Go hack and get in your chair, Connie," Naomi said, "m'e're going to have company." She gave the beg- gar a radiant smile, and pointed to a chair in the dining room. "Yon may sit there. The hat can go on the bureau behind you." Suddenly she .saw her purse there. She had Area- it there after having brought home the things from the grocer's. But it would took silly now to remove it. she thought. Even if he aver,' en,• of Philip's characters, there 'WO., euly Gal rents, to. the pen- ny, in the purse. It wouild have made nu difference in the world to Philip that he was old, The older, the more experi- enced; the more experienced, the craftier. it -as Philip's philosophical slant tm - it s * Naomi heard the man chuckle as she stood at the stove, nixing the gravy with the potatoes. She brought the food to the table, put some in Connie's plate, and urged the man to help himself. He did, unembar rassingly, but he didn't take much Just a little of cath. He pushed the plate away from him when he was finished, patted his skinny stomach with satisfac- tion. "You're not through?" Naomi said. "There's lots more." He shook his head. "No, Ma'am, f . thanks. I'm through. It was delici- ous, believe me, Ma'am. I'm cer- tainly thankful to yc." Philip would rave when he'd hear. She'd tell him, of course, Why not? She thought, if Philip could be here, now; if he could just sit in a corner and watch, he would cast out of his ,v mind all those ridiculous beliefs he had about these unfortunate human beings. But she'd tell him, and she would laugh when he'd rare.. Back in the dining room, she sat down again and began finishing her meal. * * * "Mamma ?" "Yes, dear?" she glanced up. C-onnie's black eyes were staring peculiarly at her. "Wlaat is it, darling?" "That man opened your purse," Connie said. Naomi stared incredulously at her daughter. "Connie," her voice was sharp. "Arc you sure:" "Yes, .Ilam - ma." Immediately, she thought of Phil- ip. Quickly, she rose from the chair, swooped the purse off the top of the bureau. She flicked it open with her thumb, and sprawed into it with trembling fingers. And, sud- denly— "C'oenie!" icer voice shrilled high, bell -like "Connie, look!" She was smiling radiantly. Tho child stared blandly ac the e11, wri,dded, one -dollar hill Naomi • ' hnl,liusa in her hanrl Now Oakville Horne of Ontario's Lieut. -Gov. Ray Lawson is Ballymena, here, which he is reported to have purchased; Buildings on the eight -and -a -half acre estate were erected in 1922 by the late Col, William Eaton who died three Years ago. The Property- then Was ac- gnired; by A. S. Auld. Lieut: C,overnor and Hits. Lawson Nolte Lu take up residence at Ballymena before the end of August. Here Hon. Ray Lawson is seen With one of his Angits steers, - Seabirds of Gaspe Find Breeding Grounds Close to Pounding Surf By James Montagnes in the Christian Science Monitor. While ocean liners pass close to the little French-Canadian village of Perce, no man-made booming of boat horns sound above the pound- ing of the surf, the thunderous beat- ing of countless wings, and the rau- cous calling of tens of thousands of birds. Though Perce is epee of the first sights of land an ocean captain sees after his crossing, his whis- ties keep still, his salutes after a successful crossing wait until he is further up the Gaspe coast of Canada. for the regulations call for no man-made noise blasts off the little village of Perce. For off this little fishermen's village, wide its French-speaking Scots and Irish, are the two last breeding places on this continent of many types of seabirds, which flocked the coasts in countless millions when tide first explorers discovered what is now the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Today Perce Rock, off the little village, and Bonaventure Island, three miles nut to sea from Perce, are the remaining breeding places of gannets, cormorants, puffins, gulls, aulks, tenures and other sea - fowl. Loud blasts from boats would startle the birds; they would upset their eggs in their ]taste to take flight. * * * Bonaventure Island is about three miles long and a anile and a half wide. On its seaward side are great cliffs of red sandstone, whose broad ledges form secure nesting places for throngs of seabirds. It is like a huge apartment house for birds, with a sea view on all sides. Perce Rock is ate isolated limestone mass about 3,500 feet long, 300 feet wide. and about as high above the sea. * Brightly colored, ragged with steep cliffs which cannot be easily climbed, these two nesting rocks are secluded, according to the instincts of breeding birds, which pick hidden places to lay their eggs and hatch their young. Perce Rock has no inhabitants except birds; its sides are too steep for the best climbers. Bona - venture Island has a few Montes. an old church, ruins on its top, and can be climbed from one side, the other sides slipping almost straight down into the pounding sea. Some 10 families live on Bon- aventure Islapd, but back in 1000 it was widely known to fishermen. The birds were so numerous they were like a "fog" to quote the early explorers. Later Bonaventure became the home of bauccanecrs and pdva- teers who waged war on the ships of France, Settlers came from the British Channel Islands, and while their names are still of Scots and Irish descent, French is spoken on the island, and the customs of the Chantel Islands prevail. * * * When the birds on the two rocks appeared to be losing the battle of slaughter and pillaging of eggs about 25 years ago, the Canadian and Quebec governments declared the nesting places sanctuaries, and forbade the blowing of boat whistles and horns. Since then bird life has made a major comeback, and annually a growing number of visitors come by highway and boat tosec the birds in their increasing number swarm the cliff sides. Because front the top of Bona - venture Island the wheeling, cir- cling birds can be studied at close range, naturalists flock to the is- land in Summer- time. Aerodyna- mic erodynamic eneincere been also bee's re- ported on the island to study every action of the birds with fast cameras to aid the study of aviation. The bird roosts are .reached by clibttbing the tvcsterp beach along a hardly visible trail through the spruce woods. Blueberries and strawberries grow wild for the picker on the narrow trail. * * * Glimpses of the ocean Inc be- low are seen between the thickly grown bush, and stere and there in the clearing near the lower part of the island the ruins of old homes are passed, while from a few ancient houses smoke curls from the chim- neys. After a long climb an open spot is reached from where can be sten the rows of birds as they sit in tiers on their rock ledges watching the continuous play of the waves in the sea below. Most studied of the birds is the gannet, known to ancient mariners as solan geese, a bird as large as a goose, pure white with black wing tips and a slight creamy wash on the crown and its hind necic. Lines about its eyes re- sembling spectacles give it a slight- ly comic appearance, * * ' It is a large and powerful bird, measuring nearly three feet in length, and has pointed wings which spread to over six feet when in flight. It can fly swiftly, climb rapidly, or instantly check its flight and nose dive from 200 feet with un- erring accuracy on a mackerel, its chief. food. When its landing area is not too small, the gannet lands on the edge of its nesting ledge, runs for several feet, sometimes falling cm its breast if the speed is great. In limited space though the gannet is awkward on its feet, it can make a perfect spot landing. Boatmen circle Bonaventure Is- land each Sumpter with the grow- ing number of visitors. From the- sea hesea can be seen every ledge and shelf covered with white as though snow had been piled in drifts on the cliffs, allowing only the dull red color of the rock to show in a few spots. * * * Perce Rock is mainly inhabited by double -crested cormorants. They raise their young on its rocky roof, the only place on the promontory which allows any sort of foothold. It is called Perce (French for Pierce) Rock because of the unique arch at one end of its base, through which a boat can sail, and which is passable at ebb tide on foot. Perce Rock is considered one of the beauty spots of the Atlantic coast, and' has drawn geologists from all parts of the world to see its natural arch and its riot of color when a sunset plays on the limestone formation, The birds of Bonaventure Is- land and Perce Rock are no friends of the fishermen, and yet the peo of the Perce coast would miss the birds should they vanish Verdict Satisfactory A man bought a house on the boundary separating Russia front Rumania, but was uncertain which country it was in, especially as he received demand notes for rates from the officials of both. A surveyor employed to determine the question had much difficulty in doing so. However, si.r months later he gave his verdict, "The house," he said, "is definitely in Rumania." "Thank Heaven!" ejaculated the owner; "I couldn't possibly staid another Russian winter." Willing Helper Jack: Let's give the bride a show- er:' John: Count ate in—I'll bring the soap. The First Glass Investigators seem to agree .that the first glass probably was made in Egypt, but the point never has been satisfactorily settled. According to Pliny's. account, Phoenician merchants carrying a cargo of soda from Egypt, landed in Syria on the River Belus, near Motutt Carmel, and made fires to cook their meals. Resting the iron pots on blocks of the (solidified) soda, the heat caused fusion of the alkali and sand, thus forming glass. The legend of Josephns states that glass was discovered when the Israelites set fire to a wood and that nitre became fused with sand. It takes 3,250 ties to carry a mile of C.N.R. track. There are 09,290,750 ties used in the 30,551 miles'of C.N.R. track in Canada. Natural State, the languid youth seated himself in the dentist's chair to have a tootle e.t•tracted. Fie wore a wonderful' striped silk shirt, and an even more aronderfid check snit. He also wore the vacant stare that so often goes with both. "Pm afraid to give hint gas," said the dentist to his assistant, "ll'1tyP" asked the assistant. "Do you think his heart is groggy!" "No," replied the dentist; "bast j,tst look at hint. How will I know when he is 'unconscious?" At the "Ex." Theme of Canada's national wo- met>'s organization at the Canadian National Exhibition this year is "We Build Canada". Frank Brown, of 'Vashon Island and 18 -month-old Felix, the lion, are good pals now, as Photo at right indicates. But neighbors—and perhaps Frank —are beginning to worry about what's going to happen when Felix grows up. Born in the Tacoma zoo, the lion was farm- ed out to the Browns to raise. They and their seven children consider Felix, who lives in a backyard stockade, quite a pet. Another domestic note in the animal world is • the arrival of triplets for one of Hollywood's most popular movie personali- ties—Feline, the doe pictured below showing off her new family. She modeled for Walt Disney's "Bambi" and the triplets' father is the young buck featured in "The Year- ling. POP—Stagger System DID IT TAKE VOu L.ON6 TO GET I•1O* E FROM THE PARTY. COLONEL ? yy , a M01 r WENT HOME LIKE LIGHTNIINIG•- By J. MILLAR WATT