Zurich Herald, 1927-11-03, Page 3OVER THE HEAIITAISTONE
Bitting back In a cozy arm chair and Ireland as well as in Scotland, a
With, Imes feet on the lender, it is in-
teresting to muse during a quiet even-
ing upon the history of the fireside.
Coal was first burned in England in
1245, .but Edwaad. I !believed vegy
strongly in the.good olcl-fashioned low
brick .or stone dais .at the hearth, raia-
ed a few tuella above the floor, anaY
still be seen. Chairs or stools were
placed thereon, and there the gentry
sat endeavoring to warm themselves
during the cold winter evenings. A
fires, &ad by Royal Proclamation for- large and oluitaily constructed flue
bade the ,use ,of coal on theagrouna took off the melte. The drafts were
that its smoke soiled the air.. This appalling, and it was in order to try
king of prejudices had a short way 1 and ,ennlbat then; that high-backed
with subjects who disobeyed bis royal chairs and settees ,were devised. It
commands, and, according to a record le related that so exquisite was Henry
found among the archives in the Tow-
er, for more than a hundred years
thereafter coal was in general use
only in the North of England.
The Crofter's Hearrt
The first fires were made on the
floor, within a small square of bricks,
the smoke escaping — eventually --
through a hole in the roof. To, this
VIII's sense of values that he gave the
revenue of a building which he had
confiscated, to an attentive subject
who placed a high-backed chair be-
fore the fire for him, at a house at
which he was a guest, so skillfully
that His Majesty was out of all drafts.
Ehimneys
Prom the days of the Henrys, strict
laws were enforced to prevent ordi-
day in certain pats of the highlands nary people from attempting to "pre -
and north cf Scotland, where only surae above their class"—by building a
chimney! Only in a castle or a manor
house was one allowed --and not more
than one. Imagine chimneys being
built of wood! Yet they were. Ac-
cording to the Liber Albus (White
Book) of the city of London, it was
found necessary in 1419 to enact "'that
no chimney be henceforth made, ex-
cept of stone; tiles or plaster, and not
of timber, under pain of being pulled
down." Owing to the restrictions on
the Statute Book, it was not till the
time of Queen Elizabeth that chimneys
had become commonplace.
"Hearth -Money"
'Hearth Money," levied between
1653 and 1690, was a tax on domestic
fires, and had to be paid to the king.
The clergy had their innings also, by
levying a tax known as that of
"Smoke Farthings."
The First Fire -Irons
It is less than one hundred and
fifty yeads ago since stoves were 'first
used on a large scale. The only fire -
iron in the time of Henry VIII was
the fire fork, a two-pronged imple-
ment for stirring and shifting the
logs. The devolopment .9f the tongs,
poker and shovel came along with the
eventual general use of coal. Crude
strips of bent sheet -iron were, in the
beginning, used as fenders.
The Curfew Bell
The line in Gray's "Elegy"—"The
curfew tolls the knell of parting day"
—applies ,even yet in certain remote
villages in Britain. As far back as
the time of Alfred the Great, the cur-
few bell, in many western and south-
ern countries of Europe, gave the
signal for all fires to be put out and
for people to go to bed. This pre-
cautionary measure was very sensible
in these early times when so many
people lived in wooden houses, and it
had an appreciable effect in greatly
diminishing the number of houses
burned down, The couvre-feu was in
regular use at that time. It was
something like a Dutch oven with a
handle. Glowing embers were push-
ed to the babk of the hearth and then
covered with it. In this manner the
fire was effectually stifled,
peats are burnt, this primitive method
is followed. The writer has been in
the "but" and "ben" of an old thatch-
ed croft On the moorsof Scotland,'and
spoken to the great-grandmother win"
has lived therein for more than seven-
ty years( she is ninety-six years of
age now, and alert and active), and
this delightful old resiclentea has de-
clared that only once during the whole
of that period has -the kitchen fire (in
the middle of the floor) required to be
lit afresh—and that was about forty-
seven years ago after a snow storm.
The fir % had been lit for the "house-
warming" when she entered with. her
bridegroom bad been extinguished ow-
ing to the heavy snowfall through the
hole in. the roof! It is the custom in
certain parts of the highlands to put
-on a couple of Deets every night before
retiring. These smolder till the ;morn-
ing, when the peat ash is stirred up;
more peas are then added, and soon
there is a cheerful blaze topoil the bi,g
iron kettle which is ever on the hob.
Very few cottages are now left
which still have the fire in the middle
of the room. Generally in the crofter's
kitchen in small thatched cottages, and
also on many of the more substantial
farm steads of the old type, ample
hearth accommodation has beeu pro-
vided. lt is not uncommon to see
comfortably -sized recesses built inside
the hearth and on either side of the
.fire where the "guid-wife" and her
"tan." sit after the dare work is done,
surrounded by their "bairns," very
mach after the manner depicted lay
Robbie Burns in his epic of Scottish
country life—"The Cotter's Saturday
Night." Blocks of hardened clay or
stone, raised from twelve to eighteen
inches above the ground, make cozy
seats for hardy folk! At all hours of
the day and night it is the invincible
rule that the large stOckpot remains
suspended over the fire. 'And no won-
der this rule is so well observed, for
it would be difficult to find a place else-
where in the quaint abode to conveni-
ently stow so cumbersome an object.
Henry VIII and a Highbacked Chair
In castles and in some of the very
old houses of quality, both in England
Consult Women op
on All Questions
Dr. Fairfield Points Out Great
Changes in England
"It would be impossible to pass
any legislation in England without
the approval of the women of Eng-
land," Dr. Letitia Fairfield, 0.13.E.,
told the Montreal Women's Club
when she reviewed the changes
which have taken place in the lives of
professional women in England and
women interested in public work., in
Montreal recently.
' "In every political party," she con-
tinued, "women are taking an in-
creasingly active and important part.
They .have to he consulted on any
question that affects- the country at
large or women and children in par-
ticular,"
Dr. Fairfield is a physician and a
barrister. She was appointed woman
No Need to Stretch It
11.;1,414,0`11,V,
ir1/1/11/M4
..aarad; akaiit.,
THE ANTIPODES ATTRACT THE ANGLER
The northern coast of New Zealand is now. the Mecca of the World's
sea monster fishermen. Swordfish, sharks and threshers abound. These
three giants, were •caught by Zane Grey, the well-known author.
tem of 'barristers and solicitors. "Se-
licitors have to be the most cautious
of individuals. Women are finding
practising at the Bar, very slow going.
But it must not be thought that they
are not doing well. We have some
exremely able women pleading at the
Bar."
Alaw Unto Herself
Buenos Aires Standard (English).:
The things which all sensible Ameri-
cans recognize with regret and indig-
nation is that, though the riches of
their country augment rapidlyi the
accumulation of wealth is not so rapid
as the rise of the world's wrath
against America. More than once
Americans have admonished England
that her resentment was -resented.
But how can a country, a people, half
a world, be kept from feeling and
voicing their thoughts?. . Ameri-
cans insist upon their divine right to
say. what they please when and how
they please, but in ter Joblike misery
Europe must 'not cry out as the
"Miracle" Wheat
,114441•144.4.14.41*
L. H. Newman, Dominion
Cerealist, Shows that this
Wheat is More a Promo-
ters Variety Than Farm-
ers Friend
There has appeared recently in a
number of leading agricultural. papers
an article entitled "King Tut's Wheat
Grown in the West." The article re-
fer g to certain results obtained by a
medical director of the Royal Air patriarch, did, or "curse God and die."
Pores Medical Service in 1911, a_nd is The only hope for the future is•
now divisional medical offcer of the that the vast number of Americans
London County Countell. She has actively striving to cultivate and
held several notable hospital and as- bring to perfection a better under -
vitae appointments, and is now in standing will in time succeed in get -
'Montreal en route to the United.
Stata, itt order to make a study of
mental hvgiene methods there.
The big change in the lives of pro-
fessional women and women interest-
ed in public arta-las-vas the coming of
tbe 'Vete. Dr. Fairfield maintained,
Xoliticians did everything they could
to remove women's grievances, thus
trying to kill the measure by kind-
ness. They gave them increased con-
sideration in polities in order to keep
them quiet, she said.
"There has been no ceniirmation
of the alarming prophecy that women
would band together to put men in
their places," Dr. Fairfield asserted.
"There is no distinct 'women's politi-
cal party of lees' imporiancWin Fitt -
and. We have, of course, /groups
like Lady Rhondda's Six -Point group
that make a point of quations pont!.
cal and social that particularly affect
women and children.
"Wettien are now admitted to pro-
fessiobe from: which hitherto they
were eXeluded, for instance, that of
chartered accountancy. The big step
was the. admission of 'Werner' to the
Pat"
Dr. Fairfield, who f e Barrister af
the Middle Temple, explained sot ° of
the difficulties, 'Weh beset the Eng-
atelt womaki tea:tauter under the gyip
Soldier Settler living near Edmonton,
Alta., and gives the impression that
the wheat in question was discovered
in 41922 in the tomb of King Tut -ankh -
amen. As a matter of fact the records
show that this wheat was known as
far back as 1840 when one enterpris-
ing gentleman offered heads at $5
each.
The above variety belongs to the
Foulard subspecies of wheat, being
somewhat intermediate between the
common. and durum wheats. It has
numerous aliases, the most common
of which are Egyptian, Eldorado,
Many Headed, Miracle, Mummy,
Seven Headed and Alaska. It has
always -been easy to interest people
in this wheat owing to its branched
head. If an uubranched head will
yield so much surely a branched head
will yield much more. While head
for head this may be true, yet experi-
ments have not shown that it holds
good acre for acre. This wheat was
probably introduced*into North Ameri-
ca from Europe or Egypt in Colonial
days. It was received by the Phila-
delphia Society for promoting Agri-
culture in 1807, since which time it
has appeared periodically under one
name or another.
In 1908 the -United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture began an exten-
sive investigation of this wheat,
which investigation continued for
several years. In the meantime it has
been tried by farmers al over the
'United States, but it is not now grown
anywhere as a commercial crop, The
fact tha tt ihas never become estab-
lished in spite ot the remarkable ad-
vertising it has received is a good in-
dication of its inferiority. Promoters,
however, resurrect it periodically, and
owing to its striking and unusual ap-
pearance, manage to sell it to the un -
ting the Middle uWest to recognize
that it is not a good thing for it tb be
like Peter Bell: "Full twenty times
was Peter feared -for once that Peter
was respected."
Communism and the Soviets
,,Echo de Paris: The seizures made
in Pekin, and afterwards in London
in the Soviet headquarters, showed
clearly that they were contra of
espionage and social disintegraation.
Why should they he anything else in
other countries? We know that they
are not. The Communist idea, faith-
fully and ardently represented by
every Soviet agent, cannot bo
reeoll-
eiled'with the spirit of patrfotista and
national feelitig. It is therefore use -
OSB for,us to struggle against Com-
ninnism, Unless we eollanience by
breaking relations with the Soviets.
0012OmUniSal is part of the Soviet
Socialist machine.
, "Don't get up from the feast ot life
without paying for your share Of it,"
*Dein Inge.
Agriculture to Grisdale .Answers
Observe Jubilee British Pressmen.
Hon, W R. Motherwell Tells' Amusing Passages When(
Canadian Gives Interview
n London
of Comprehensive EX-
hibition Plans
Ottawa.—"Every branch of the
Federal Department of Agriculture
will be represented in the celebration
of 'Canada's Agricultural Jubilee',"
declared Hon. W. R. Motherwell, Min-
ister of Agriculture, recently, "and
they are altogether aside from the
provincial education and livestock dis-
plays which will be a part and parcel
of this presentation of the greatest
(t1 all of of the Dominion's basic haus.
The Minister explained the ramifi-
cations of the Federal Department of
Agriculture, which has under its
wing a great number of branches
affiliated or immediately connected
with agriculture. They include the
experimental farms, live stock branch,
health of animals branch, biological
laboratories, seed branch, horticul-
ture, dairy and cold storage, entomol-
ogioal, fruit, national live stock rec-
ords and the various extension and
other incidentals arising out of the
sub-deportments.
Alberta, which has had its banner
crop year, bas notified the Minister
that its exhibit will comprise grains
from this year's yield, and that its
display will be most comprehensive,
Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia
and Ontario are putting forward
special efforts while Quebec, Manitoba
and Saskatchewan will be well to the
front.
In addition to the Agriculture Jub-
ilee which will be staged at the Royal
Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto
from Nev. 16 to Nov. 24, Canada's
national apple week is also to be re-
cognized in the Eastern Provinces reached the consumer. It was haat 1
with the "Royal" as its Eastern scene led more experitiously and, in the
while in the Western Provinces, Oct. cities, more hygienically.
24 to Oct. 31 has been set aside as Milk Handcarts.
that the little milk handcarts seen
The Canadian minister declared
"aples for health" week.
here would be considered a joke is
Pictured
Canada. Some of his audien.ce as'
Business and trade in Great Britain
are not in the serious condition that sured him that delivery on a large
scale was not unknown here. The
has frequently been reported in this small delivery was gradually being
eliminated in London. .
countr3r. "Mighty gradually I should say," re-
sponded Mr.. Grisdale, who asserted m
that delivery here was verymuch be-
hind the method employed in Canada
in the matter of speed.
One newspaperman. reared in Devon)
shire, (very few London pressm4n
acknowledge the Metropolis as theft,
birthplace) was instantly on his feet
to explain the speed with whlch Ply-
mouth received its morning milk. An-
other man from Norfolk rendered like
testimony to the early bird character.
of his native county.
Mr. Grisdale then proceeded to eat
press his opinion that English and
Scottish farmers employed an tun
necessarily large number of men—
anything from a third to a half toe
many.. "I have also noticed here two
men working. one horse whereas we
should have 'one man working twe
horses." He admitted that British
cattle were well fed but had seen a
lot of stables of which he .did not
think very much.
"Our farmers are very hard up,"
suggested a representative of a news -
paler which is despondent about the
British agriculturist.
"Your beef fed and you do
not market it precipitately as we.
admitted the Deputy Minister.
e
suspecting exorbitant
prlces.
Tb.e essential facts concerning Alas-
ka wheat have been summed up very
nicely in a bulletin published by the
United States Department of Agricul-
ture—Bulletin No. 357, 1916, P. 27—at
the conclusion of extensive tests con-
ducted at many points in the U.S., as
follows: (1) That it has been used in
this country very often as a means
of deceiving people and very seldom
as a farm crop; (2) that it has failed
to produce even fair yields when The Tory party makes its mis-
tried in many parts of the country, takes, but Britain is steadily pulling
out of its difficulties. It has lost some
of its foreign trade, but the figures
are showing improvement. One im-
portant fact is that witb all the "lost"
trade the "poor rates" are coming
down, only holding stationary in lo-
calities where the guardians of the
poor are mostly' representatives of
the always extravagant Lavor-Social-
ist party. There could be no better
test, because the reduction in pauper-
ism clearly demonstrates that the un-
employment figures are not so seri-
ous as they seem. British business
moves slowly, but is backed by char-
acter and intelligence, with the result
that when gains are made they are
kept. The tax burden is still very
heavy, but it is clearly resting more
easily.
1,64/11.4,044111
farmer at
1..444 ••••4'.....
MILK DELIVERY
London.—Some amusing passage
occurred between Dr. J. Grisdaleol
Canadian Deputy Minister of AgriculJ,
ture, and a considerable body of BA"
tish newspapermen Who were invite
to meet hind at Canada House wen ,
ly.
To the first question asked Minn
"Does farming pay?" Mr, Grisdale de -1
livered an optimistic account of this
Year's Canadian crops and cattle rata
to hear that tobacco grovaing was sue...!
easefully followed in Canada, all
though as far as the British market:
for the weed was concerned, Mr. Gririo;
dale declared that the Briton's tastelli
A
were hard to change.
"All this is very cheerful about Cana
ada but can you suggest any rome
dies for British agriculture," declaredl
a pressman connected with a paper,
which has long been deploring tile'
present state of the British farmer
with a hardly concealed desire thered,
by to "throw a monkey wrench" into:
Premier Stanley Baldwin's machinery,:
"I could but I had better not for
your publication," replied Mr. Ges.
dale, whereon the pressman goo&.
temperedly intimated it was scarcely
worth while asking any more clues.
tions.
Mr. Grisdale then permitted his
hearers to record his opinion on mill;
ifroducta handled in Canada by farm
ers' organizations who maintained
their interest in the product until it
Ing. His audience seemed surprised
and has never been kuown to produce
extraordinary yields; (3) that it is
not a good. milling wheat; (4) that
the branched head is not a sign of
superior yielding power.
0;4
- Anyhow He Was Fired.
"Just heard Jerry got fired out of
the pantomime."
"Zatso? Wonder what the trouble
was."
"Don't know, 'less he couldn't learn
his lines."
War Memorials
Berlin Borsen Courier: It seems as
though a curse lay upon all speeches
made since the War at the inaugura-
tion of memorials to the dead. The
nations of the world were willing to
forget the past, but their statesmen
do everything they can to revive the
ancient hatreds. . It is not therefore
surprising that material disarmament
makes little progress, since the
spirits of men do not wish lo be dis-
armed.
"Rembrandt painted about 700 pic-
tures. Of these 7000 are in exist-
ence."—Dr. William Bode.
The only legal theft—a.stolen base,
Why Not Prohibit the Corn
Crop?
Louisville Herald -Post: Andrew Vol -
stead's determination to deprive the
great American home of its brew by
invoking a section of the probibition
law forbidding "possession or sale of
materials designed for use in manu-
facturing intoxicating liquor" reads
like an act of desperation. . . . Mr.
Volstead's move is simply a confessiOn
of the futility of trying to enforce an
unenforceable law. It proves that the
country cannot be dried up by pro-
ceeding against alcoholic liquors alone,
so the baffled dry agents proposes- to
stamp out all the sources of aloohol.
The farther back they go the bigger
they make the problem and the soon-
er they will crystallize the general
sentiment in favor of reasonable modi-
.
Planning Battle
Liberals in Britain Preparing
to Stage Dramatic Come-
back
London.—The Liberals are prepar-
ing to stage a dramatic comeback at
the next election, according to Liberal
headquarters, and recent events they
fication of an unreasonable laW
assert have given them the greatest
hopes for a spectacular revival in
solini is doing his best to put, the kick
into it. next election will see the extinction
of Joynson Hicks' prediction that the
Italy is shaped like a boot and Mus-
spite of the sneers of the Tories, and
of the Liberal party, they believe they,
Brown—"I'm trying to find some one
who knows Me to go Security on my
note," Sykes --"Don't you think, my
boy, You'd better look for some olio .
who doesn't *Ante you?"
Ontario Comes Third
CANADA' 1-tAiviP1061 ANC) 4-11S COMOtill'ORS
Mexico's boy orator, Arthut0 Claaela Ferinenti, won the International championship at
In Washington C, He is at the right, above, with Miss Dorothy ,Carlstoxi, 'United States
him and Frederick P. Iletson, Canadian chaMpioe, who'Wok third place, at the left. Georges
French champion at the left in the back revr, took Second Place. The other contests
was
eon, champion of England. .
tide recent contest
champion, next 'tO
Guiot Guillitin, the
jambe Reitid Wab
will capture many seats both from
Labor and the Tories.
Filled with. such optimism, Liberal
apeakers throughout the country are
explaining their agricultural and in-
dustrial policy and are holding up
Lloyd George as the model statesman.
lair Herbert Samuel now intends con-
testing a seat in the next election,
probably in Lancashire, and every-
where throughout the country there.
is the greatest Liberal activity.
The Liberal program includes a re',
turn to free trade, and re -organization
of inclastry, and particularly mining.
also the encouragement of sniall Ira&
ings in agriculture and efficiency is
marketing products. The liberals be -
noire there is a definite turn towards
the policy founded on Liberal prin.eipeS.:
, .
. _no*
• a,
4.11•141*
-r, °•).4
• •
tanOli'A La Carte.
•"tie hag Itnicit a la carte sverY
daYt" — 4
"tog; eatzFr at ode t.tt.W4 Woo
varagoxis at tila strati cantor,"
•