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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1931-09-24, Page 6Greerdancrice Cap Land of Adventure Greenland, which .has always at Ipraeted. men's curiosity, has become. b tie last few years a hunting ground r the scientist and the aviator ETrites Russell Owen in the N.Y totes. In the last two or three years en have gone thereto study meteor- Iblogical phenomena, and have even .lived inland ander conditions of the utmost hardship that they might Ilearn'something of the effect of Green - lead's winds upon the world's weather, or to ascertain if the island is a ouit- able link in an airplane route from Europe to Canada. The great ice island has always been a mystery, a bit of the,Iee Age remaining close to civilization. 'THEORY OF CONTINENTAL DRIFT. The Wegener expedition went to Greenland to make the most elaborate examination that has yet been made ;of •the interior of the island. Alfred ;Wegener, its .eader, believed that Greenland was moving westward and that if he could prove this it would - go far to uphold his theory of con- tinental ice drift—that is, the theory ;that the continents were once a single land mass and drifed into their pres- ent positions. He also planned to investigate the weather in the inter-' ior, as Hobbs of the University of Michigan had first done on the west -1 ern edge of the ice cap, and determine the availability of Greenland as a sta- tion along an aviation route between Europe and America. Three stations were established, one at the middleof the ice cap, the most desolate meteor- ological station ever built, and one on each side of the ice cap near the coast. ! table or at work the tuen had to sit inrtheir sleeping bags. EXPERIENCE OF COURTAULD, In contrast with this unfortunate end of Wegener is the experience of. Augustine Courtauld of the British Arctic Air Route Expedition, who spent five months alone in a tent on ', the inland ice cap and carne out none ' the worse for his experiences. The worst temperature he recorded was 64 degrees below zero, which is milder than had been expected in the interior of Greenland. But what Greenland lacks in cold it makes up in wind and snow. Courtauld was buried so deep- , ly when found that his rescuers had to dig him out. Courtauld's experience was due to the fact that the party sent to the inland station of the British expedi ion was delayed so much by the wea- ther that when they arrived there it was evident that only one pian could possibly remain and live on the food on the food which could be cached. So Courtauld stayed—to keep perhaps the loneliest vigil the Arctic has known, at least in connection with an expedition. He did not mind it much. "Many people tniglit imagine that I was bored living with no company, no scenery and little occupation," he said after he was rescued, "but this was far from being the case. One cannot be bored living an entirely novel life under such interesting con- ditions. My physical and mental con, dition, the weather, speculation about the work of the expedition and the do- ings of friends at home were subjects which fully occupied my mind. I never had the slightest doubt with regard to my relief, though I fully realized it might be delayed." Such things men in Greenland are undergoing that they may learn something of Greenland's weather and its effect upon the world, and Green- land's availability as an aviation sta- tion. The new explorers have not dared more than the men who first crossed the inland ice, but they have kept persistently to an objective in the face of appalling difficulties. They have been worthy successors of Nansen and Nordenskjold and Peary. Even now a Danish expedition is be- ing prepared which will spend two or three years in Greenland, carrying on and extending the work; it seems probable that within a short time there will be little of Greenland un- known except what lies beneath its magnificent shield of ice. The central station was to be man- ned during the Winter by Dr. Johan- nes Georgi and Dr: Ernst Sorge. How- ever, early last September, according to the report that reached this coun- try they sent outword that they would leave on Oct. 20 for the west coast unless they got . more provisions. Wegener, with Dr. Fritz Loewe, and thirteen Eskimos, started inland with two tons of provisions. The trail to the central station had been carefully marked, on previous trips with black flags. It was late in the season for such a journey, and the going became harder and harder, in blizzards and snow, until all the Eskimos but Ras- mus had turned back. Mile after mile Wegener struggled on, determined that he would carry sufficient food through to relieve his men, and also that the year's observations, for which preparations had already been so painful, should not be lost: Oct. 20 came, and still Wegener kept 'going, not knowing that the in *old of . at_ . aneene kaa.-- ...V P had proved more of a deterrent to his inland companion than the shortage of food. He had to drop part of his sup- plies along the route, caching them in snow cairns. Iri such intense cold the snow becomes like sand and it is al- most impossible to haul a sled. Dogs' lungs become frost-bitten and the dogs die. Vitality is sapped until every movement becomes one of infinite la- bor. Hands and feet and faces are • .continually frostbitten, and a sleeping bag becomes a frozen mass of fur ' into which a man wedge's himself with difficulty to obtain very little sleep. Sometimes Wegener made only two or three miles a day. He cached the last of his provisions six miles from the central station and he and Loewe and Rasmus staggered in exhausted. Loewe's feet were frozen so badly that he could not return, but when, it was determined that there. was food enough to last three men allwinter, a reckoning that has not been recon- ciled with the reported reason for the journey Wegener and Rasmus start- ed back to the west coast .in weather almost equal to that in which three of Scott's men, Wilson, Bowers and Cherry -Garrard, made their historic -trek in search, pf penguins' eggs, Wegener had to go a mulch longer dis- tance, however, arid both he and Ras- mus were tired out before they start ed. He never reached the coast. The next spring when the men at the cen- tral station were relieved they learned for the first time that Wegener was missing. They had hoped he was safe. Later they found his ski sticks 102 miles from . the central station, more than half his distance to safety. He had made this incredible march with littlefood, in the midst of winter wea- ther on the ice cap, but his strength had not been equal to going the whole route. Rasmus, his faithful compan- ion, had sewed his body in blankets, covered it with fur coats and buried. it reverently in the snow. The rescue party fsi'itid it there and after placing it on the sled,'which was found forty- two miles further inland, buried it again in its last resting place onthe ice which Wegener had traversed so many times. Rasmus was never found. Sorne deep crevasse probably holds his body. Concerning the situation as to food Dr. Georgi, sending out word from the central station last May, said: "Provisions we had in 'amplequan- tity. Even the addition of Dr. Loewe 1 caused no shortage,, since each twenty- eight rations provision could be stretched to a third more." So there 7 remains confusion as to the reason for Wegener's trip. The station ran short of fuel, however, ,and the tette-',n perature in the know but varied frail e freeeing' just under the cening to .4''1 degrees below WO at the floor. At The King's Example Quebec Soleil (Lib.) : The King has just given a splendid example of econ- omy to the British people by reducing his civil list $250,000. This sum will remain in the Treasury and will con- tribute towards the ballancing of the Budget.. Most of all it will be a lesson them that, in these depressing days, they, too, should devote a part of their wealth to the succour of the unlucky. We live in a time when all those who possess great fortunes should do their utmost, by the multiplication of their good works, to soften the lot of the people. The excessive prolongation of the present crisis may bring disaster upon society. It is when times are bad that those who sow perverse doc- trines get in their work. It is for the rich to do all they can to hold these evil influences in check. It is only by their .generosity that they will succeed in doing so. ... is .c..:. The Mark of the Law All was quiet and peaceful in the' little country village. Suddenly a high-powered car burst into view. From one side of the road to the other it sped. scattering the morning. shop -pers in all directions. , At the risk of ,his life the village constable dashed forward with up- raised arms. The car, however, continued its wild career, and finally came to a standstill within a few yards of the village pump. "What ever's the matter?" the sweat young thing at the wheel asked the constable. "Matter!" echoed the red-faced offi- cer angrily. "You've been driving : to the common danger, and I'm going to pinch you." "Oh, constable, are you really?" she smilingly replied. "Well, please do it where it won't show." Living Cost Drops 27 P.C. in Denmark Copenhagen — Danish housewives have profited by a 2 per cent. ,faril in the price of food, clothes, shoes and coke here within the fast few months. Compared with July, 1930, prices for those commodities are down 7 per cent. A decrease of about 20 per cent. In retail prices between 1929 and 1930 brings the total de - ellen in the cost of living since 1929. to approximately 27 per cent. Western Canada's Wheat Winnipeg, Man.—The wheat crop of the prairie provinces Is estimated at 254,230,000 bushels in the annual esti mate of the Manitoba Free Press pub- ished recently. The figures show 27,622,000 bushels for Manitoba, 117,- 588,500 for Saskatchewan and 108,- 20,000 for Alberta. Atny Johnson Hompe Again Lympne, Eng: Amy Johnson ratch- ethero last Wednesday from .13er- in, completing a round trip flight in ller oven plane to Tolcyo. • Off floe Ceest Dev'ant Brixham Torbay Royal Regatta at 13,eixliarn,; Devon, is well mune 1 "fisherman's sailing festival," for chief' "feature is race 'for Knig George V. challenge cup. Trawlers, .as they got under way. Milk Perfect Food. Dangerous Slayer How contradictory the above state- ment seems and yet how perfectly true. Milk has been known for years as the train article of diet for babies, young children and even up to adult life. It contains substances which produce strong bone and good muscle and provides nourishment in the best form for the growing child. This statement is true of pure safe mills., and all authorities are agreed that milk in this form should be a large part of the diet of the average healthy child. Why then is it called a danger- ous slayer? The answer is very simple. -••It is well-known that many diseases are -introduced into the hu- man body through germs. Many of the most malignant and dangerous of these live and breed very,cemfortably in milk. Some of these diseases are diphtheria, scarlet fe='er, tuberculosis,. typhoid fever. dysentry septic sore throat and many ethers. • erni f s'Ei sirs batetitaseedefrowee.a. even the most intelligent people tell the difference between pure and in - pure milk—between milk which is a perfect food and milk which brings disease and death in its train?. No one but a skilled chemist can be abso- lutely sure of this for our senses of sight, smell and taste are incapable of detectingkthe difference. Impure milk may clime from the most scrupulously clean: dairy and we are therefore fac- ed with the fact that the only defence against the disease germs lurking in milk is pasteurization. Briefly, pasteurization means 'to heat the milk to 145 degrees Fahren- heit, keep it at this temperature for - thirty minutes, rapidly cool it to forty to fifty degrees Fahrenheit and keep it cool until consumed. This process effectively disposes of the disease germs without materially altering the quality or flavor of the milk.; Any vitamin deficiency so caused is. easily replaced by the. use of orange or to- mato juice. A few facts as to what has hap - Ipened in one province in Canada—On- , tario-through the use of unpasteur- ized milk are. herewith appended. In 1928 the town of Dundas with a popu- elation of 6,137 had an epidemic of typhoid with thirteen cases due to people drinking raw milk from a r dairy which employed a typhoid car. - i tier and which did not pasteurize its milk. ' In' 1927 Chatham with a population f ' 16,441 had 109 cases of typhoid I fever. This was' due to milk which . had been pasteurized and which was delivered to consumers containing the t$r vitl germ. In 1930 the town of Beeville also suffered from an epi- ii� d°etiiid of typhoid, due to raw milk 'be - I ing consumed instead of pasteurized ' milk, In. 1930 the. town of Kirkland Ldke had 457 cases and four deaths .front Septic Sore Throat all of which ' was directly attributed to the use of ' raw milk containing these germs. Had the -'milk been pasteurized the town I would 'have been saved from this epi- idemie, of disease amt death. • In contrast to .this we have cities like Toronto in which not one case 1 tt£ kiz ignid,, , attributed 1» milk nor are tjtere ai%^"vineT irlYrrC=TJVtata ons eases because all milk sold in Toronto' is efficiently pasteurized; Many come niunities are enforcing the pasteur- ization by-laws through their City Councils and they are to be commend- ed for this work along the lines of preventive medicine. They are not I only saving their communities from the ravages of disease but are actually improving the business conditions of $e milk dealers themselves. Pasteur- i'a'tien is the only method available f malcing,your milk safe.. In addi- `eet enables milk to be.transported gr ter distances and kept longer and g til adds in dollars and cents to the v.� '.., of the milk produced. ,The wife„ of an' American archeo= I , renowned for his researches id Mongolia, has obtained .a divorce on the ground that his prolonged absences, amounted to desertion. It is a moving thought that among the martins of science must be re- cognized the pathetic figure of the fossil-widow.—Punch. Fish Catch Larger Wall Gardening But Value Is Less Canada's landings of sea Ash for (By Jeanette Leader.) the f ti•st half of the current year were larger by about 767,000 pounds than in the first half. of 1930, The catch for the first six months of the present year, say:;' a recent bulletin, was 303,- 351,800 pounds as compared with 302,584,300 pounds in the first six Months of 1930. Owing, however, to the general de- cline in prices, the landed value of5 the catch for the six months war lower this year than last, totaling a little less than $6,413,000, as cempar ed. with $9,501,000. While the landed values decreased, so far as catch was concerned there was an increase_of more than 3,000,- 000, pounds in the cast el British Col- uinbia and of more than 6,000,000 pounds in the ease of Quebec, while Prince Edward Island landings were also noticeably above the 1930 land- ing's for that province. The New Brunswick catch showed a drop of about 1,800,000 pounds while theland- ings in, Nova Scotia were 7,000,000 pounds lower than a year ago. Asamong the different varieties of fellthe increased landings were in pollock, herring, smelts and lobsters. The lobster catch totaled 34,936,000 pounds as against 34,296,700 pounds in the .first half of last year. The salmon catch in :uritish Colum- bia this year is somewhat below the corresponding figures for 1930, which was a record year in the history of Pacific Coast fisheries, Up to July 11 the pack of British Columbia sal- mon was slightly above 100,000 cases. In 1930 the output yup to July 12 was 137,953. The salmon caught in Brit- ish Columbia in 1930 numbered near- ly 37,000,000. The highest previous number reported was 945,000 in 1926. A Sheer Escape It was the firm's annual dance. The young bookkeeper had chosen a very attractive lady partner. _ "By the way," he volunteered as they danced, "do you know that dolt, the manager?" His partner made no reply. "He's about the dumbest half-witted egg I've ever seen," the youth con- tinued, She stopped daneing and stared hard at her partner, "Young man," she snapped angrily, "do you know who I am?" "`Not the faintest dee," he said, lightly enough. "Well, I'm the manager's wife," she informed him. He paled. . •"Gee whiz!" he exclaimed. "Er—do you know who I am?" "No," .said his partner. He backed' hurriedly away. "Then .thank goodness. for that!" Suitably Named The young poet presented his latest ode to the busy editor. The latter read it hurriedly. "You haven't put a title on it," he said. "What do you propose to call it?" ' " `My Birthday'," said the poet, proudly enough: The editor handea him the MS. "Then," he said, "I wish you many ,happy returns." Heard in . the Suburbs They were making out their weekly budget. When it had been settled to their satisfaction he leaned back in his'ehair and breathed a sigh of relief. "Anyway, dear," he said, "there's' one thing we oughtto be thankful for." "What do you mean, Henry?" she asked wonderingly. "That our friends Haven't got the things we can't afford;" he explained. pilot Escapes Uninjured A graphic picture of ante -gyro r l :ch ca:;glitef! .e et Cleveland airpor races. James Faulkner, the pir,, es'capednnns cathed. 144, „r, during the tl.S nat:oxi 1 Wald is ,the time to plant bulbs in your garden and in pots for decorate ing your rooms during the winter months. Every available space should i be used inthe garden for Hyacinths, daffodils, narcissi, tulips, crocus, lilies, peonies and other spring flowering bulbs. They are inexpensive and f many of them once planted come a ji Iyear after year. The soil needs not be very rich; any soil that is well wonked and loose is suitable. No fertilizer should touch any bulb or plant and too much is far worse than not enough. Good drainage is very important. Bulbs will rot if planted where water lien during the winter. A layer of and directly under the bulbs is ad- vised, if possible, Hyacinths should be planted five inches deep, tulips and daffodils about four inches below the surface of the ground, and the smaller bulbs about two inches deep. Lily bulbs need to be six inches or more deep. It is. not nec- essary to mulch the beds. If this is done the tender shoots will be harmed in trying teepush through unless the lch .is removed very early in the springmu Pleasing effects may be produced in planting bulbs by arranging colors that harmonize. Beds of all one color are striking; especially is this true in the case of a bed of bright red tulips. It is much better to plant only one oe two colors in a bed, but in the border clumps of different kinds are effective, Do not buy mixed varieties of bulbs for planting in a bed. On a sloping lawn, early in the spring these words were traced in letters of white, purple and gold, "Spring Is Here." Crocus bulbs had been planted in the lawn. They bloomed and gave their message every year and then disappeared be- fore it was time to cut the grass. For indoor culture see that the soil is fine and free from lumps. Place the bulb so that when the pot is filled to within an inch of the top the bulb will be just below the surface of the soil. Water well and put the potted bulbs in a dark cool place for about eight weeks. Then bring gradually to the light. Better leave the plants in a warm room away from the light until the shoots are several inches high. If brought to the light too soon the flow- ers unfold before they are fully ma tared.' Never allow the earth to dry out, but it is just as harmful to keep them too wet. Hyacinths and narcissi and Chinese lilies may be grown quite successfully in water. Fill a print sealer (if you haven't a hyacinth glass) with water and set a hyacinth bulb on top. Leave in the dark for eight weeks. The jar will be filled with long White roots. ptace `four or five narcissi' bulbs in a dish, supporting with pebbles. Put just enough water in the dish to touch the bottom of the bulbs. Put in the dark for about three weeks. These bulbs are exceptionally popular. They may be had to bloom earlier than any of the others. They make very accept- able Christmas gifts and are an in- expensive decoration for the Christmas tableeat a time when cut flowers and plants are beyond the ordinary purse. Have you planted any peonies this fall? Many think that spring is the time to plant these beautiful flowers. Do not plant them in the spring. Nine times out of ten they will not bloom for ,many years, if at all. The fall. from September until the ground is frozen, is the time for planting, while they are dormant. •Do not move a peony if it is doing well where it is. The shock to the plant makes it sulk for years. And while they are sulking there will be no blossoms. Clumps should not be divided ,unless absolutely necessary. If Moved intact they suffer a shock and frequently deteriorate in a few years. It doesn't pay to cut them up to replant either, for much the same reason, Commercial growers have a method of propagating them for the market, but they do not use old clumps. Peonies must not be planted deeply. This also prevents their blooming. Placing the buds two inches below the surface of the soil is sufficient. They need a sunny, well -drained location and thrive better away from buildings. Put them in rich, mellow soil and give them a yearly dressing of well rotted manure and they will thrive and blos- som for hundred years and more. A Pointer for Papa "Dad," said nine-year-old Tommy, -rrwhy can't we see the other side of the moon?" It was about the twentieth question he had asked in the last half-hour. Papa put clewa.his paper and jumped to his feet. "What a boy you hare for asking questions!" he snapped. "I would like to know what would have happened to the if I had asked as many questions 'as you when I was a boy." Tommy shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps," he said, "you would have been able to answer a few of mine now." "Our population Is overbalanced— too many people. in the very large cities, too few in the smaller cotn- niunities."—Franklin 17. Itoosevelt.. "There is such a thing•'iis the cant of patriotism, but what is much more dangerous Is the cant of anti -patriot ism."—Stanley .nal clwin.