HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1927-01-27, Page 7..-4444,-
6E�akng Warship
into. Aivvers
•
Samuel Crowther in "World's
Work," Tells an Amazing
Story of. Conservation
FORD CUTS EMERGENCY
'WAR, VESSELS INTO
MOTOR CARS.
You, can imagine ei,eworcl being
deaLelt alike, a p1'ctwsllaia,,Qx1d;.Ftup'r ,
og leaping into a happen and next
greeting the •warid ae< a: bausage; but
the travail of a ship beooming a thous•
and, .fiivvers . . ." In this way
Samuel -Crowther picture's the opera-
-tions being parried on by the Ford
Motor Company at their Fordson
works,.
Ford Buys Ships.
Henry Ford -bought one hundred and
ninety-nine snipe from the Shipping
Board. He bought thein as metal and
not as ships. Now at the rate of three
a week—which means' five working
days•—they•are ceasing to be ships and
turning in as metal. Relentlessly and
surely these ahips move into the dis-
uiembering line . and are reduced to
jagged, unrelated forms.
- As every ' one knows, the United china, were boug'h't, itis if 1 •kind en -
States Shipping Board has on its tirelyy suitable for the Ford operations.
hands a great number of ships left With the ten open-hearth furnaces
over from the war. A survey in 1924 working at full Capacity, eight hula
by a committee representing the War died tors .of metal a day are needed,
Department, the Navy Department, the so if the ship's •could be broken up
Department of Commerce, the Ship- rapidly enough they would yield a full
ping Board, and the Emergency Fleet supply for about a year.
•
Corpo'rati'on, found that, out of a total But thus far it has not been considered
"' of eleven hundred and eighty ships, ad'vtsable to use more than 40 per cent.
five hundred and twenty-one "repre- of scrap in malting the charges for the
seats a clear surplus whish ars not furnaces. This ..steel goes directly
required for either the national . ar from the furnaces to the new rolling
commercial needs of the country, mills of the company, where it is cut
.which -are expensive to maintain, anid rolled according to the schceduled
which are continually deteriorating, sizes.,
and which therefore should be dis-
posed of as early as practicable under
whatever general policy may be adapt-
ed."
History Ransacked
To Naine New Colors
In the good 'aid, clays, all an
automobile editor needeed to
know about color's was the good,
old reliable black. But in the
peenent day the nian who pace
named' the Pulman parlor .liars
evidently has been called to the
resell the sato'nvobile,eindus;
try, and he has geneto the en-.
cyelepa,edia, ;with• a feeultesat
iffring xathat;"run$ 'the gaihuti o
selection A11 oeriods• and
have',been aid 4Poll,iivhile is -
tory has been ransacked for
names of new colors.
The result is Pyramid and
Oriole red, Coot brown, Thrush
brown, Blue. jay blu,e, Mallard
green, Sea Fog gray, Channel
green, Shoal Water blue, Ocean
blue, Marine blue, Robinhood
green, Peter Pan blue, Faerie
red, Buckingham gray, Egyptian
red, Haig green, Italian Cream, •
Bronvillo blue, - Iliidnight black,
Maize,Fawn, Pistachio green,
Down mist, Dagestan blue, Ba-
kam blue, Burning Bush orange
and Ambito green.
Not to be Resold. •
Tiles,e ships had cost money—many
millions •-- and it seemed as though
they ought to be worth something.
But what they might be worth became
a purely academic question because the
valuable power plants, hoisting en-
gi,nes•, and other Darts could not be
sold apart from the ships, This pro-
hibition was brought about. by pres-
eure from certain high-minded manu-
facturers who, with a fine sense of
public spirit, suggested that, although
these engines had been very well .paid
for ou•t of the pubI•ic moneys and be-
longed to Lhe public, their resale to in-
dustry might Burt theedemand for.new
engines, Of suoh dense bone is politi-
'cal anonemy formed.
Scrap Only.
This provision against resale cut
out the junk dealers and all those who
made a business, of salvage. The ships
might have been towed out to sea and
sunk juvt as. many of the wooden ships
were set fire to and burned, but the
condition of many of the ships was
such that they might sink •of them-
selves before they got sufficiently out
to sea, and then there was also the
fear that on the way a storm might
sept some of them adrfit, and the Ship-
ping Board was not promoting derelict
ure nc-ee to navigation.
The vessels could only be saki for
scrap. But who could undertake to
scrap them?
Ford Buys.
The whole thing seemed impossible
and so negotiations were opened be-
tween the Shipping Board and Henry
Ford—to whom all things are possible.
As a result, the Ford Motor Company
on August 18, 1925 bought one hun-
dred and ninety -Mine e,teel vessels of
the surplus fleet far $1,697;470 cash.
This was a return to the :government
on the amount originally expended at
about the rate of one cent. on the dol-
lar, or at the rate of about $4,57 a ton
for the metal as scrap. Scrap that
could be loaded into freight cars at.
convenient points was then selling at
about $11 atom. 'Tis, bid was, farmu-
iater an a basis of Faith ancl Hope,
and regulated by s'onie mathematics,
and the ;final figures were eheclted not
on an adding machine but by a keen
desire to do a hart job. The officers
making the calculations had aro ; pre-
cedents whatsoever to work en, be-
catvse no one over before had attempt-
ed to .scrap ship's on, SO teen -tendons a
code. Batt In addition to what. might
he called the mechanical risks, thele
wore also the risks' of getting the
ships to seine point where they •could.
be . scra.peicl; for they were soattered
along the whole Atlantic Seaboard and
the oohtraot \\MS that they should,: be
taken where they wore and as they
were. The final figure was actually
axed by Mr, ]lord, who, 'following his
eastosli, settled Oil a price and said the
company. would have •to get out on that
peke at a nroflt,
Profit et, Loss.
•
Ford's View.
"These ships," he said, "represent
more than just material. Material of
itself is not important. It is important
only because it represents human'
labor. It le wrong to waste human
labor, because it is the waste of human
labor that causes low wages and low
standards of living. It• ie our duty
to prevent such waste anal that is why
we bought these ships."
New Values.
nests, :.
World Wheat Prices and 1
Their Lesson.
By Charles W, Peterson.
Wheat has appropriately been Called
the "Staff of Life," It is the great
oontmodiLY upon which the world bas
Ill,alnhy depended for sustenance einee
the daye of ancient Egypt, and as Dan-
turies :roll by and the population of the
world increases., and with it the preys -
sure upon food resources, and BoonR-
'npi s' in-eonsumpt on..beceMe, more Ur-
gent, the reliance upolp,.:this, cereal will
beoorne,,gredter and .greater, No sub-
etitutea 1.p : wheat has -ev-er .been die-
covered or developed, On the oon•
trary, the great rice -eating nations,
with their teeming miflilons of human-
ity, -are •beginning to turn to wheat
consumption at, an ever-increasing.
rate. The future for wheat le'stea red,
No other crop can, without a compara-
tively enormous labor cost, produoe as
much food value per acre as wheat.
And food value is what the •population
of the world will pay for in the future.
There is no subjectwhich interests
the Canadian farmer more than the
price of wheat and there is no com-
modity produced, in the world that has
a more ancient and more b'ewilderin'g
historical record. From the beginning
IMMIIMMilowasam
-s of the thirteenth cemtuxy up to about
ONTARIO'S UNEXCELLED PLAYGROUNDS . 1575, wheat sold in the` British nrarket1
This sketch map shows• the location roughly of some of Ontario's ,summer all the way from seven oents up to!
resort localities' n the mai railway line's and waterways, the points• of entry; forty-five cents per bushel, the average
being about twenty cents. Prices .then.
their relative positions and approximate distances. rose rapidly, and, in 1595, we apparent
1•y enter a new era ate we encounter,
CanadianFolkSong. •
in ws fast
Outside the gust is drlvitig past, •
clings,
While on the hob the kettle.sings.
Margery, Margery make the tea,
Singeth the kettle• merrily.
The Lion in the Snow. C d' ;for the first time in human history,
"dollar wheat." - During the
The compiler of an ancient book on The doors are shut, the
dq teenth century the average price of
seven -
the .history of Israel's heroes gathered wheat wan ur.17 per vi steel. During
together the traditions that were cur- Outside the shivering Ivy 1..0. and ing
rent la Palestine concerning the heicoes the ei�gh•teenth •century, $
who l ve,d in David's time. It cannot ing the nin'eteeuth 'century, $1,73._ As
surprise us to know that a personality we enter the twentieth century, be -
like that of David drew to him a tw•een the years' 1900 and 1922, the
average 'was $1.28 per bushel. In the
group of adventurous young men who 1752 - to 1799,• wheat only fell
vied with one another In feats of -dor- periodethe dollar mark during four
ing for his sake. According to this years. Between 1799 and .urin ancient reco'rd,, there -were thirty men age wheatBprices 77.9 not go below86the
aver -
who were especially close to him; and gaa for any single year,
who, inspired by love of prim, perform- Then came the great agrieultural
ed valiant deeds. It was a kind of Ar -tragedy of the .oemtulles. With cheap
Arthur's
round table, with David in transportation on land and sea, Can -
An
insect. ado, the western United States, Aus-
theAn interesting story i told a one of. tralia, New Zeeland and the Argentine
Hmen, Benaiuis the sou of Jen -like, were gpened up for settlement and a
He had vanquished two `Slion-like•" human flood reached the shores of
champions. He, had overcome an Egyp-
tion giant, and the Egyptian carried • these countries, resulting in the easy
a spear like a weaver's beam. Benaiah exploitation of virgin lands, and an
enormous volume of wheat was poured
went into the fight bare-handed, ol�ever• the wands markets with t e
prsnatchedthe spear from the .cbwmsy
giant, and used the weapon effectively
against its Omer.
Yet the picturesque fights of 'Ben-
aiah on the battlefield were not his
only claim to immortality. The, story
,that was best liked about him was
that he killed a lion, in'a pit, on a
snowy day.
Snow and lions do not often occur
together. Lions live, for the most
part, where there is no snow. But
Palestine lay between the Syrian, des-
ert on the north and the Arabian wild-
erness on the south. Lions could get
in and did get in from three sides. And
Palestine had a variety of climates.
Snow was. infrequent, but•it did some-
times fall.
Palestine people do not like snow.
They are not prepared for it. Their
shoes, especially in ancient times,
were net of a sort that, gave them ere
tection, When it snowed, people stayedindoors. And if there was a lion
about, that was no inducement to go • Gave Her a Stone.
out in the uncomfortable weather.
But Benaiah faced the unpleasant
weather, called out we know not by
what errand, and when he found the
lion's track he did not flee in the other
direction but followed it. He followed
the track to the pit where the lion had
taken refuge, and killed it..
Even for a giant -killer that was a
distinction. Benaiah had .succeeded
against the discomfort, of the snow and
the danger of the lion. It was a doable.
victory.
. Iii Pilgrim's Progress, the hero was
terrified by lions dis,eovered ahead on
either side of the road, but when he
took courage and boldly approached
them, he saw that they were chained.
That is true of a large proportion of
life's threatened perils'. But solve
But there is something more to all
this than merely the interesting ex-
ploit of being able to salvage a lot of
ships. A deal of •experience is being
gained in this operation, as Well as in
a , number of other Ford operations,
and this experience is going to a very
vital point.. We have always believed
that a manufactured article or a ma-
chine was done when it was made and
that when it was worn out it was, only
so much used material which might or
might not have a salvage value. We
have thought of a finished article as
final and of salvage only as'a worthy
effort. But may there not be another
point of view?
A New Slant.
Perhaps if materials can cheaply be
reconverted and manufacturing skill
improved, we can get to a point where
we span not need much raw material
and will quickly reconvert any article
as soon as it begins to reach the point
of less than its highest usefulness. All
of which opens up a wholly new slant
on conservation— the slant of con-
sidering it as active instead of as. pas,
sive.
iKTiti tba .whale operation play"t At
the time of writing, sixty-two Ships(have been scraped at Fordcoli. and
htveenty-six at the coast' shipyards,
}utile nineteen are: in process. The fob
is thebetore not half ,clone, When tips
Works 4's omlple,ted, about two hundred
and seventy -flee thousand tons ef. steel
xviila have been recovered. This steel
drs„ crested from time . to time,. bat,, as
;w08 of r;o;urse ascertained before the,
6
\'.
Guilty Consclencc.e
"I notice you're a pillar to your
church."
(A bit deaf)••="Huhl Why*; of
corse, I don't take a pillow to church
with me."
♦r n
Canadians Spend $67 Per
Head in U.S.
Ottawa. ---Canadians are spending
about $67 per heats of population (10,,
000,000) in the United States accord-
ing to the trade statement :'for the 12.
mouths ending November, 1926, the
latest issued. A -similar tratl•o` state-
ment for the year•diced November 80,
1925, showed Canadian imports froth
Uncle Stun wore $57'0,380,8.41 or about
$57 per capita•. The total imports -in-
to Canada 'front the 'United States are
Valued for the twelve months under
review .at 866+;,128,368.. During the
sante perid Canada's exports to the
rutted States were valued at 8470,-
149,8.66.
In the same 12 xnontha' Caliada im-
ported from all tb.o countries in the
British Empire goods to the value of
$211,503,970, or slightly ,•raver $21 per
e'apita, but soldi to those countries
$582,359,463 or rnoin than $68 per head,
of pomiUlat.en.
The streams are hushed up where they
flowed;
The ponds are frozen along the road;
The cattle are 'housed in shed and byre
While Singeth the kettle on the fire.
• Margery, Margery, make the tea,
Singe•bh the kettle merrily.
The fisherman on the bay in his boat
Shivers and buttons up 'his coat;
The traveller stops at the 'tavern door,
And the kettle answers the chimney's.
roar,
Margery, Margery, make he tea,
Singeth the kettle merrily.
The firelight dances upon the wall;
oh in
s are heard in the outer hall vitable result that between 1886 and
Footstep 1913 wheat touched a dollar average
A kiss and a welcome that fills the only three, times. In other words,
MOM, world agriculture was, by the law of
And the ltettye sings in the glimmer supply •and demand, forcibly placed in
and gloom. the economic position of the Middle
Margery, Margery, make the tea, Ager, as wheat is more lir less the
•Singeth the kettle merrily, barometer of the general agricultural
—Wilfred Campbell.
prise level. Owing to an over -supply
foodstuffs went on the bargain count-
er.
Since that•dieastrous period, and in
sympathy with the rapid increase of
world population, due to cheap food,
there has been a steady upward swing
towards normal. From 191.4, wheat
prices in Liverpool ranged as follows,
by years: •
$1.06, $1.61, $1.77, $2.28, $2.19, $2.43,
$1.73, $1.81, $1.47 and $1.24 in 1923. In
1924, the price cf December wheat was
$1.88, and since that time the price
has steadily increased as population
has overtaken food supply.
Quite as'i'de from the economics of
the wheat situation, there is nothing in
Poor Malden (telling of the success history to warrant the belief that minl-
ful capture of a hubby)—"I practically mum prices will not remain Dorman
askd for bread and be gave mea eptly on the fairly satisfactory basis
stone." Friend—"You seem very happy over of the last twohie years, which will en•
•
sure reasonable agricultural prosperity
it" to ail wheat producing countries.
P. 1\i.—"Why not? It was a dia- There are brighter days ahead of
mond." Canadian •agrlc:ultura. History proves
the case unmistakably. What Canada
now wants is a largely increased agri-
culture to balance our •overgrown
Wembley Watchman
Wins Title of towns and cities.
"Loneliest Man in London"
,,The title of "loneliest Iran iu Lou Don't Stint the Child.
Lou -
dem" has been unanimously bestowed A London weekly tells about a
by the London newspapers on George Scotch chemist, to whom a poorly
Beckwith. HE is the night watchman dressed woman had brought a pre -
at the derelict British Empire Expost- ' s'cri:ption to be made up. As it was for
tion at Wem-bley, where he lives in a a baby only twelve months old, the
chemist was paying extra attention
to weighing out the various drugs
But G'ecr,ge lasted only as a one -day most exactly.
story because he neglected his un -1 Noticing this,, the woman was an -
usual opportuni'ti'es to provide weird I iioyed with what she thought was his
remaneee. "No," he said, when re- meanness.
porters questioned him, "I can't say ' Aw, men," she exclaimed, In dis-
I've had any adventures in the grounds gust, you
beyond nearly falling into some big It'
halos.'',
-'- --_
Goldenrod was once prescribed to
stop the bleeding of'wounds.
;ions have to be fought, and the weal], hut in the ruined waste of what was
er is not always in ideal condition for once the world's greatest exhibition. I
the fight. The hero 16 he who faces
both the snow and the lion and wins
his victory by courage.
What Sized Shoes?
Male Customer -"I want a couple of
pillow -cases."
Shop Assistant—""Whet size?"
"I don't know, but I wear a size
seven bat."
"Perfekt Eyesight
Necessary Adjunct"
The Governor of New 'rot
State, after earetal study, has
SUM:arrived at the following oone1i
SUM: "Attar loonslderable study
and . prolonged ,canferenoes�, I
have issued an order that be'gi'rt-.
gang Januar 16th every app1ir
Dant for a Menge ;to operate a
:..motor ye8aiele past dm'
eonstrate
to the satisfaeti•oii of the bureau
tat he is not a victim, of defec-
tive' eyesight witixou't any per-
sonalknowledge of it. In many
oases bad, eyesight undoubtedly
contributes to accidents. If this
,be true, th'es'e is every reason
for the inclusion of an eye tett
in our examination.In case the test reveals de-
fective ,eyesight which tan be
oorrected by the use of glasses,
the applicant will receive an op-
portunity to obtain proper
glasses and return for a later
examination. He then may re-
ceive a license to drive an auto-
mobile upon the •condition that
the glasses be worn at all times."
Our legislators • w'oul'd do well
to discuss this subject for On-
tario,
DRIVING "DON'TS"
FOR MOTOR NOVICE
Use Care for First 500 Miles.
""The new oar purchaser often 1s a
baby in auto -swaddling clothes," says.
H, M. Weigand, director of service for
Dodge Brothers.
"If the novice will follow what I
call my'set of beginners' command-
ments, I am sure he will reeeive worth-
while 'enjoyment from his automobile.
"Don't try to see what it will do un-
til you have covered at least 500 miles
with your newcar. Better stili, a
thousand. A nicely running engine
is better than nicely run -out bearings.
"Don't try to drive fast until you
have mastered the various controls
and btained .a proper 'feel' of the steer-,
lug. It may he easy to start a car, but
less easy to stop one in a tight place:
"Don't try to run your car without
understanding some of the elementary
principles of car construction.
"Don't trust all so-called expecte.
Take yur car to an approved service
station.
"Don't neglect your transmission.
It is not there for ornamentation. 7Js'e
your gears, To pull a hill in high may
be smart, but It also is„ costly in motor
life.
':Don't buy oil a mime, here and a
quart there. Find out the best_oll to
suit your engine and stick to it. 'Take
a spare quart when going touring.
"Moderation Is beet for anything,.
Don't overhibricate engine, transmis-,
sion and differential.
"Don't neglect yew tires; test the
pressure with a proper gauge and ex-
amine the tread from time 'M !line for
loose sharp gravel, nails andglass the
may be projecting and remove them.`
Must Be a Knockout.
"But why does. Madam call bear
champagne dross ze 'G c •,lead gown?""
"Why, Fiti, benne.) when I wear it
---It contains less than ane -half of one
per;, cent."
Skating in the Mist.
I like pond skating best by moon-
light. The hollow among the hills will
needna be sae scrimped!always have a bit of mist about it, let
5' fur a putt, nxItiaerIess bairn!" - the Sky be clear us it may, The mien -
light, which seems so lucid and brill -
'Cavo Archbishops and twenty-four Haut when you look up, is all pearl
Bishops have seats in the House of and sneolte round the pond and the
Lords. 11111 s, The shore that was like iron
under your heel as you came down to
the ice, is engem when you look back
at it from rile centre of the pond, as
the memory of,a dream. The motion
is like flying in a dream; you float free
and the world floats under yore your
velocity is without effort and without
a.ccompl;sbment, for, speed as you
may; you leave nothing behind and ap-
laroach nothing. You look upward.
The mist is overhead now; you see the
molt in a 'lic]low halo" at the bottom
of an "ley erystal cup," and you your-
self are in just Such another. The
mist, palely opalescent. drives peel her
out, of nothing into nowhere. Like
yourself, ahe is the tenter of a circle
of vague limit and vaguer content,
where passes a• swift'., ceas•ttlose steearn
el impression tliretagll a faiutly•luntin•
ous halo of oonso+.ousnetee.----Robeal
Palfrey litter, in "Winter 113$1."
Yee
THIS IS A NOVELTY IN ON i -AI IO
'in, sleigh tiding or art
It eel abw:a, s delight;
A ca+,v harnessed Lo..4 sled with the usual juvenile advon'turers stxc Y_ � v � you
ri Dour could tot mlove rapidly, or young Jr'ei�fer Such as this? Then yo
hind of rapid motion. Did you su1111�ose 'a h lnasititnes oxen
aw'cows in full career, liven on Show and Ice they make excellent time, and down in the nevers
are regular draft aidnuils.. 'finis photo:gt'siali'is from'twolvo miles oast of -Calla, Ontario.
"Every child ought to he encour-
aged to get Cut of breath regularly
once a day," said Qt well-known doctor,
Who ad'v'ocates blowing hard as one of"
the best exorcise for childre',1, as
broadens the eheet, i