HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1945-04-19, Page 3THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 1945
114 c, seedless raisins 2la. tsp. Magic Baking'
c.shortening Powder
c. honey 3i tsp. salt
3 eggs, well beaten X tsp. vanilla extract
c. sifted all-purpose 9¢ tsp. lemon extract
flour
Rinse raisins; drain; dry on towel—cut fine with
scissors. work shortening with spoon until fluffy and
creamy; gradually add honey, while continuing to
work with a spoon. Add beaten eggs, and blend.
Gradually stir in sifted dry ingredients; beat with
spoon until smooth. Add extracts, raisins; stir to
blend. Bake in greased, lightly floured 9" x 5" it 3"
pan at 300°P. for 2 hours.
MADE IN CANADA
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What Is Your
Pet Superstition
The place is somewhere behind
one of our far-flung battle fronts.
The characters are any three sol-
diers of the• United Nations. The go-
ing has been hard. Weary men are
snatching a brief rest, taking.time
out for a smoke.
"Light, fellow," says the Ameri-
can, "or are you superstitious about
three -on -a -match?"
"0f course not," is 'the invariable
answer, "but just the same, I'll light
my own. No use in tempting fate,
you know."
Three -on -a -match. Death to one of
three. Here is superstition Number
One of our global war. For almost a
century, fighting men the world over
have avoided three -on -a -match. And
now, as superstition reborn of war
fears reaches a new flood tide, three
on a match rises to the top of a
wave sweeping through our armies.
in action, our training camps, our
evil. Superstitious beliefsare Mere-
ly the outward expression of fear.
"Superstitions have 'forged them-
selves into chains which impede our
progress. They color our language,.
jeopardize the development of med-
ical science.
All too frequently superstitions ac-
quire a practical or factual angle
and so bed themselves even more
deeply. Such as the case with three-
on-amatch."
It became firmly entrenched in the'.
British mind during the Boerr war,
when thousands of Tommie& tell vic-
tim to the deadly accuracy of Boer
marksmen. Three -on -a -match all too
frequently spelled' death for one of
the three, for the flashing light of a
match at night made a perfect target
for keen -eyed Boers shooting to
kill,
Three, according to Miss de Lys,
THE SEAFORTH NEWS
and thirteen to be good luck, and deserving peasant. To the mahar- fore, those wishing to travel by
this c
ontrar y attitude crops up tribe ajah's everlasting amazement and plane must, in cases, spend half
and again in relation to Many other distress, the charm worked, and in a an hour getting to the airport, and
superstitions. ! year the peasant returned, strong as -the same length of time at the end,
A somber chapter in the endless an elephant, at the head of an army of the flight 'to get to the required
book of superstitions is the chapter to oust his former ruler. destination. This, for alights which
on jinxes. In recent months our war l In the language of superstition, are not transoceanic 'or transeontin-
industries have reported an untold good can conquer evil, so for each ental, is a great deal of trouble and
number of accidents among "acrid- bad luck superstition, there can be waste of time.
ent-conditioned" workmen, workmen found an offsetting good luck super- i If one wishes to own a plane, then
who believe that they are jinxed, stition. Charms and mascots belong the questions of expense, of parking
who are sure that disaster awaits on the good side of the ledger. In space, and accommodation for the
then. Tribal lore once again yields this group we ' find many familiar privately -owned plane are serious
the basis for the jinx phobia, a sup- and homely little customs, such as considerations.*
erstition so strong, says Miss deLys, knocking on wood, crossing the fing- But perhaps, more important to
that it produces fatal results, a fear ers, and turning a hat or cap back- the average individual, Mr. Sikors-
so deep that the fear comes true,. side -to: Servicemen, so they have Icy feels, is the ability required to
In contrast to this grim note, told Miss de Lys, are staunch sup- fly an ordinary airplane. Landings,
many superstitious beliefs are rich in porters of this turning,the,cap, take -offs, steering, unexpected dif-
colorful and amusing. detail. Take, around belief, little iso most of'
ficulties in the air, make all but the
for instance, 'the charming fantasies them realize that they are carrying very youngest and boldest fearful of
lying behind lucky pieces.. Miss de on an idea which found favor among purchasing and piloting airplanes for
Lys has found that practically every
is not the only number playing a boy in uniform carries a lucky piece
part in many of the superstitions —a four-leaf clover, a rabbit's foot,
which run rampant during war years. a coin with a hole punched in it, or
h with In Friday the 13th, an unlucky day perhaps an elephant^hair charm.
Why ddo superstitions
always re -
avoided alike by workmen starting a The four-leaf clover is quite s9m-
vive and flourish in i'time of war? new job and .generals leading their ply an earthly manifestation of the
The answer can be found in the re- men into battle we find a blend of solar compass, which man discovered
two numerical superstitions.
cords of a student of superstition, I when he followed the sun from ris-
an amazing young Frenchwoman, The day we call Friday was the ing to setting, from East to West,
Claudia de Lys, who has travelled seventh day according to the ancient , and drew crude lines, a double cross
the earth to track down strange be- lunar calendar, the lucky seventh. I•t to indicate directions. The Druids
fiefs frequently hidden in primitive was a day of no work, of worship, in popularized the clover idea, and soon
tribal lore. Her rows of steel files short a Sabbath day to early man, this rare little plant was endowed
carry data on more than 80,000 For centuries Friday remained a with magical powers,
superstitions which she has catalog- good day, a holy day. But somewhere 1 The punched coin, a favorite of
ued to date, and each day of the war along in the Middle Ages when the servicemen, can be traced back to
seesthese files growing and expand- flame of man's intelligence flickered the days when early man ranging
in low, Friday got mixed up with the along the seashore found pebbles
Miss de Lys spent her 'teens and overwhelmingly evil number thir- j with holes punched in them. - In his
early twenties in the Far East, and teen, and a good day became a bad simplicity he believed these to have
she rates a Ph.D. in anthropology day.'
been worn by a sea -god whose prot-
from the University of Calcutta. Her Thirteen has had an unsavory re- i ection he, weak mortal, would ac -
search for knowledge has carried putation ever since that misty eon quire if he, in turn, wore the peb-
her far off the beaten track, fro- when man first learned to count. Us hies.
quently into danger. She is now
settled in New York and at work on
an encyclopedia of superstitions.
"'Fear," says Miss de Lys, "is the
basis of all superstition fear of the
unknown, fear of disaster, fear of
ing his ten fingers and two feet, l England reports a run on eleph-
which he thought of as units, he ar- ant -hair charms. Faith in these ent-
rived at twelve. Beyond lay the un- ertaining lucky pieces goes back at
known, the unpredictable thirteen. least 3,000 years to a certain wilY
Conversely, of course, there are maharajah, who bestowed an eleph-
those few who believe both Friday ant -hair charm upon a worthy and
AFTER VICTORY, WE'LL STILL RE '
ffi i,
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call
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nada s peacetime
ea6ea only of all Cuarr SAO
Canada's
xthe s, effortslus the }.0 bwt mashy A more workers,
an ''nf°sb sides. Y,vbo e or
employees
worker; at know$.
ovexeeas, ex 3.0*
there is mportant
for
work.--wait'ng,
work to do after
liip
the wax..
THERE'S lots of work to be done. We are eager to
get at it ...
The war interrupted the normal expansion of Boll
Telephone service. 4s telephone materials grew
scarce, more and more people had to wait their
turn. Today, the waiting list is nearly 70,000.
Just as soon as men and ;materials are again
available, these deferred applications will be
filled. Work will be resumed on conversion to
dial telephones, on rural expansion, on
extension and improvement of present services,
on rebuilding our normal back -log of reserve
equipment.
�n 4etif a Setvhe..•
okdoeflootis to. aka. 8/
H. H. P. JOHNSTON
Manager. F.
the centurions and elegant nobles of
ancient Rome,
No story of superstition revitaliz-
ed by war is complete without some
mention of mascots—human mascots
or talismans or chams, and animals,
the latter beloved by armies since
history has been written.
When the soldiers of Rome tramp-
ed the roads of Gaul, pet mascots
were popular. One of the legions of
Vespasian boasted a mascot eagle
caught in the Australian Alps, which
had been trained to ride on the
standard of the legion in place of
the traditional golden' eagle. In an-
cient Egyptian paintings we find
cats riding in war chariots. Statuary
dug out of the ruins of Babylon
shows trained lions and leopards,
mascots of the Assyrian kings, charg-
ing into battle. Marching men of this
generationcarry with them a strange
assortment of cats and clogs, goats
and pigs. And many a ranking naval
manrefuses to put to sea unless his
black cat is aboard.
A curiously accurate outline of
history could be written in the fan-
tastic phrases of superstition drawn
from each age and each nation. But
the real task that lies ahead for ser-
ious students and researchers, such
as Miss de ys, is the debunking of
these misbeliefs which cloud our'
thinking and confuse our emotions.
The Family Air -Car
personal use. With the helicopter, on
the other hand, any average, middle-
aged person, whose reflexes are none
too good, can fly with perfect ease
and safey. Anyone, that is, who can
drive a car, can fly a helicopter.
The direct -lift machine which Sik-
orsky
ikorsky envisions as our normal mode
of transportation in the near future,
has characteristics which can. of be
claimed by any other type of con-
veyance. It can hover, ascend, and
descend vertically and at any speed
which one may choose. It can back
up, go forward, sideways, or stop
with absolutely no forward motion,
merely by manipulation of a control
stick which is as simple to manage
as the clutch or brake of a car.
The hazards of the unknown al-
ways look more dangerous and com-
plicated than do those of something
with which we are familiar. When
we are out on the roadway speeding
along in our automobile we are too
accustomed to the man who slithers
by within an inch of our door, or
the one who comes tearing over the
crest of a hill in the middle of the
highway, to really fear the consequ-
ences. Such hazards as these will
never be met in our helicopter in the
vast skyway. And, according to the
inventor, there will be few, if any
dangers whatever to combat or look
for.
When landing, the driver of the
helicopter does not have to gauge
height and distance, or look out for
telephone poles or trees or hay-
stacks. For he descends vertically,
and needs the smallest of landing
places before shutting off his engine
and stepping out on to the ground.
If the engine should suddenly stop
short in mid-air, the pilot is,still Safe
for a clutch- automatically •disaii-
gages the engine fl'oin the rotor
blades which continue to swirl
round and round lay means of the
ail' pressure itself. and. with all the
other controls remaining as wnG. the
helicopter descend, safely and calm-
ly from any altitude.
So long as one has good eyesight,
no particular hear ailment. a desire
to see the world and live away from
the hurly-burly of crowded eities,
the helicopter will be the train. of
etreeteal' of the future.
And --fen. the price of a car. with
'•:.race to house it. and sono place
torso ---it is yours—for the slur;''.
Ten years from now your place of
work may be in the same city. But
your home may be a hundred or
more miles away. The helicopter will
be a universal node of transporta-
tion as the streetcar is now, and not
in the least more dangerous.
A helicopter school bus will de-
scend smoothly and rapidly in front
of the door and the children climb
aboard. In a minute the machine
ascends straight into the air and is
off to a school maybe 150 mules
away.
Likewise you will go to your place
of business in your helicopter. If
your wife accompanies you. she inesy
leave you in the city and go on to
visit another town some miles"away.
She will be as safe, or safer, than if
driving a car.
The helicopter "airway," in the
vast expanse of sky all round her
will be tilled with other women and
girls, and inen about their business.
Probably there will be two or three
heights at which they manipulate
their machines depending upon their
own particular preference. Them
will also be a few general rales to
follow,
The helicopter could actually be
enjoyed today—in 19.13, if the world
were not first intent upon the des-
truction of evil. The helicopter, to-
day, is being used in all manner of
ways which cannot be made public.
When one realizes how easy it is for
this machine to stand still, or hover,
with equal safety in mid-air, how it
can lower a rope to the sea, how it
can aid, exhausted seamen to climb
aboard, one begins to have some
idea of the ways in which in this war,
this invention of Igor Sikorsky is
aiding in our fight against the Nazis.
But it is to the helicopter's use in
civil life after this war that the
inventor himself is really looking.
Designer of several military and civ;
ilian airplanes, and now engineering
manager of Vonght.Sikorsky, a divi-
sion of United Aircraft Corporation,
Sikorsky declares with unbounded
enthusiasm and not a moment's resi-
tation that he believes the building
and maintenance of helicopters will
become a flourishing industry within
ten years after the war, He says that
he can offer a helicopter which can
be used by the" average person, with-
in a year after peace is declared.
There are, it seems, several rea-
sons why we shall all take to this
strange -looking machine for travell-
ing after the war. One is that while
most of us would like to travel by
plane, it has, so far..been too expen-
sive for most of its. Again, the speed
at which , the, modern plane flies
makes it Necessary to have a large
runway, and. airport for taking off:
This :necessitates locating such :air-
ports end runways ,soiree distance
from the cities of Anieritbt There'
Seeing By Ear
Why a blind man can walk along
n street and. without the aid of •:ish-
,•r his stick or a passerby. stop .1.: ,l
before a blank wall, has long been a
puzzle to doctors and laymen nli'ce.
Most popular theory: the blind are
aided by a mysterious "sixth sense"
which develops after the onset of
blindness as a compensatory faculty,
After making 1,500 experiments,
Dr. Karl M. Dallenbach, acoustical
expert, of America's Cornell Univer-
sity, was certain last week that lie
had found the real answer.
Two of Dr. Dallenbach's students,
Wilton Cotzin and blind Michael
Supa, took part with him in the ex-
periments. Covering their bads com-
pletely with cowls, all three marched
forward towards a screen, walked
around it without touching it. As the
seeing and the sightless all scored
full marks on this test, the doctor's
first belief was that the blind man's
skin acted as a sixth sense, helping
him to feel the air pressure as he
approached a solid object.
As a test, all three covered every
bare patch on their bodies, but Supa
still appeared to have some advan-
tages over the other two, was more.
confident and assured.
It was noted that he could step as
far away as 15 ft. from the screen,
walk slowly around it without com-
ing into contact.
When the experimenters covered
their ears they got their first real
clue and when they removed their
shoes the mystery was solved:
It was decided that leas of sight, is
compensated. by extra hearing. When
a' blind man walks he can hear the
faint echo of his steps. As he ap-
,p>rg;tichee rSend ollr4c1;041e echo is
Softened. The sixth sense- is merely
an acutely developed fifth sense.