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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1924-10-02, Page 2VA1�UE QF PRECISE WIEWNG Aida in Op ening Up Countr and Means of The carrying of mean sea level datum to the interior of a country, that to the determination of the exact height above mean sea level by means of a precise levelling instrument, is a work of the utmost importance. In Canada the precise control of the' Geodetic Survey is used as a beefs for nearly all the other surveys that are carried' on in the Dominion, and by this means a great saving to the peo- ple of Canada is effected. By the pro- jection of these accurate lines of levels into new territory, important develop - silents such as the construction of railways, dams, water power plants, drainage and irrigation systems, and the opening up of mines, may be carried forward to completion without the same necessity of running complete individual surveys for each new work and at the same time without the pos- sibilities of errors which these inde- pendent surveys would involve. Thus if the state did not undertake this work development would be greatly re- tarded and the added expense when works were completed would neces- sarily mean a heavier burden to all the people. The necessity for exact surveys is everywhere recognized and it is the aim of the different -organizations en- trusted with Canadian surveys to 'at- tain as nearly as economically feasible to absolute accuracy. Mean sea level is determined by means of gauges maintained by the Tidal and Current Survey, Department of Marine andj y and Establishing industries Communication. Fisheries, at such points as Vancouver and . Prince 'Rupert en the Pacific coast, and Halifax, Yarmouth, " and Father Point on the Atlantic. Starting in from the seacoast the levelling en- gineer, with his spirit level .incorpor- ated in a modern instrument called a Precise level, proceeds inland by means of a myriad of consecutive sightingstations, determining as he goes along just how far above sea level each new station is. To retain for all future use the re- sult esult of his levelling, at points sufficient in number for public service, he sets in selld rock or masonry, or in con- crete piers erected for this purpose, a series of copper bolts or tablets to bear a chisel mark, the elevation of which he has determined, and which is included in .published tables of ele- vation. The records thus established are technically known as bench -marks, Thus the precise levelling goes for- ward and the result is an- ocean to ocean net of accurate data, placed at the convenient command of the pub- lic. Since the inauguration of precise levelling by the Geodetic Survey some eighteen years ago good progress has been made and approximately 17,000 miles of levelling has been run. In the permanent recording of this work some 5,600 bench -marks have been es- tablished, thereby bringing many iso- lated levelling projects to an accurate sea level datum and paving the way for the inauguration of future pro- ects. Guideposts and Milestones. Travelers along the roads of Eng- land, even as late as the reign of George I., had few guideposts and mile- stones to direct them to their joule ney's end. In fact, they were far less familiar objects than road -side crosses or memorials. Guideposts were scattered about the roads before the milestones trade their appearance. The earliest type was a wayside cross bearing a ,direct - fug arm. Probably one of these old guideposts gave its name to Rand Cross, on the Brighton road, England. In Stuart times there were very few guideposts and no milestones. One traveler, about this period, states that In some parts of the country, where there are crossroads, there is some- times found a post with a hand to di- rect people the right•way, but no dis- tances are shown. An Act of Parliament was passed in 1698, ordering justices to erect guide eats at all crossroads, but in 1713 complaints were made that its prove u,were disregarded. Travelers complained of the lack of guidance, one man stating that on one occasion he arrived at a crossroad which "fronted nine ways at once with- out a single directing post." Many of the early guide posts were met Up by private individuals. One of these is at Teddington, and known as • Teddington Hands. It is a flee -armed , post and was first set up by Edmund I Attwood, of the Vine Farm, and repair -1 ed by successive generations of his family, when it came to Alice Att wood, of the tenth generation. This lady repaired the post in 1876, being the last of the family. Another pri- vate guidepost is near Bicton, in Dev- onshire; on its sides are directions,. followed by Scriptural texts. Milestones are still of more recent origin than guideposts, although the Romans., during their occupations, set up many distance stones on their roads. One of these Roman milestones can be seen in Leicester Museum. On the Great North road, in Eng- land, in the seventeenth century, many milestones were set up. These were not only milestones, but mounting blocks as well, designed for the con- venience of horse riders: Early in the eighteenth century a' number of milestones were set up on'• the high road at Cambridge. This was done at the instance of Trinity Hall, one of the oldest colleges comprising Cambridge University, The college held £1600, which had been left in 1586 by two former mem- bers, the interest to be used to repair the road- between Cambridge and , Barkway. In 1725 part of this money was expended in providing milestones on this stretch of road. The eighteenth century was well ad- 1 vanced before official milestones were placed on the highway. A standard 1 pattern was: soon introduced, At fires; they were square, but after a fgw ! years the now double-faced variety was found to be more convenient and was soon adopted all over the country. Round the World in Seven- teen Days. People were vastly •entertained when. Jules Verne caused his fictional hero, Phineas Fogg, to make a circuit of the earth in eighty days. Now a commercial concern an- nounces Round the World -Trips by airship and aeroplane in seventeen days, and causes no astonishment. A company has been formed in Lon- don to conduct these tours according to the following itinerary: -London to Paris and Constantinople by were -plane, to Australia by airship, to San Fran- cisco by airship, to New York byaero- plane, to Loudon by airship. In the crypt chapel under the Brit- ish Ttouse of. Commons ie preserved en altar Cloth reputed to have beer! Made ty Queen Illizaheth. w. -AND THE WORST IS ;,' T TO COME veseeseer � Ilin 11 IRRIGATION' IN W ESTER CANADA The Eighteenth Annual Convention results obtained under natural rain- of .the Western Canada Irrigation As- fall, with results secured under irriga, sociation was held in Calgary; Alberta, tion, the Dominion Government Ex- , perimental Farm at Lethbridge issues on the last three days' of duly: 'It is a the following figures, the percentages remarkable thing that whenever an, or increase being set opposite •each; irrigation meeting is held in one of Ae Potatoes, 260%; turnips, 200%; sugar berta's cities, rain invariably comes. beets, 184%;' carrots, 141%; corn, Fallowing a period of drought, two 128%; marigolds; 102%;: field peas, inches of rain fell the day preceding 74%, barley (two -rowed), 69%; (six tine convention, while a heavy shower rowed), 45%; Bring wheat, 23%,' on the last day prevented the dale- The Lieut; Ooveruor, Senator Sir gator Pram partletpatiori in an automo•' James Lougheed, the Mayor and the bile tour of the irrigated land west of iiin sten of Alberta all showed they the city. I were appreciative of the immense pa- in the periad of thirteen years, since teritialities of the irrigated areas, the last convention took place in Cal -and figures to show what the ,proper while other speakers brought out facts gary, great strides have been made in irrigation development in Western farming of the irrigated lands would Canada. One large area, the Western ; mean in theestablishment of com- Section of the Canadian Paeiflc Rail-' mantles of satisfied, and prosperous way's Irrigation Block, adjacent to the " settlers, in the making of attractive city, has been peopled by industrious homes, in making possible the 'estab- settlers who have prospered and have, lishment of sugar factories and can - attractive homes, surrounded by trees, ning factories as well asin the finish• on what was, at the time of the last ing of all kinds of livestock, etc. They convention, bare prairie. In no part demonstrated that the areas are sap- of the West has there been any de- velopment comparable to it in a simi- lar period. Further east of Calgary, around Brooks, thousands of acres are producing crops of high value where formerly nothing at all was produced at the time the 1911 convention was held in Calgary. 1 In other parts of the province and in South-western Saskatchewan, irri- W �►�® gation is bringing about wonderful ����Yi jr�or transformations leading to prosperity --- and better living conditions, and while only the fringe of possibilities have been realized, the development of irri- gation has now reached a stage worthy of the attention of business men and others not directly .engaged in farm- ing under irrigation. Comparing the Melancholy, But the King Approves. Though little is said or done when. the British sovereign opens Partite ment in person, the custom is well worth retaining if only for the., mag niflceut spectacle that it offers. , But when it comes to the simulacre,—that is, the opening of Parliament by royal commission,—the grand pageant is re- placed by a pitiable mockery; and as for the proroguing by royal commis- sten, that is—so we learn from Sir Henry Lucy in Lards and Commoners j —an even more melancholy spectacle. The five commissioners, he writes, arereceived with elaborate ceremony, that takes up a deal of time that.might" well be spared at the end of es :busy : What Do You Think of Him, Girls? session, but it is seething to what fol Wifie—"Oh, how sweet it was of you slows. There is a mighty pile of bills.: to remember my birthday with those! that, having passed bbth houses of beautiful roses. But there were only ( Parliament, .now await the royal as - twenty -five of them when there shouldsent. The clerk on the right-hand side have been thirty." 1 of the table, taking up the bills one Hubby—"My, my, did I make a mis- by one, first bows low to the cloaked. take? There's a mirror, just opposite figures of the commissioners, ducking' you—can you blame me* • dear?" as .if a sustaining bolt had been sad -1 denly withdrawn from the region of ; the small of the back. -He s, • The Earliest Peng • • Among the reeent discoveries 1Mt Kish is a great treasure in the shape of the oldest known pen. Professor Langdon, director of the Weld -Blun- dell and Field Museum Archaeological Expedition, who was delighted at find- ing this bone stylus for writing cunei- form, says that many scholars had vainly tried to reconstruct the instru- i went. This stylus is a triumph of simplici- ty.. It is a bone, six inches 'long, with! a triangular cross-section and pared ends, After a little practice Professor Langdon was able to make cuneiform inscriptions on clay with fair rapidity. Professor Langdon considers that the mound twenty miles south-east of Nippur may be identified as the site of the city of Isin. Isin was the capi- tal of a dynasty which ruled over a great part of Babylonia after that of Ur from about 2280 B.C. to about 2050 B.C. Solving the Problem. Ten -year-old Jimmy finally reached what threatened to be hiss limit of ex- pansion, xpansion, when dessert was served: Jimmy stared but found the solution. He reached for his belt buckle and on the tide of a long -drawn sigh exclaim- ed; "Guess. I'll have to move the deci- mal point two places." Needn't Wait. The tenor, with wide-open mouth, had just emitted his first note, when the sweet young thing who had volun- teered to act es accompanist suddenly discovered that her back hair needed patting. . ,'Just go right on," • she directed. "I'll play fast and catch up with you." the 'title of.Sthe bill, menses the task of the 'clerk' on .the left. If it be a . money bill, the •clerk, ! first bowing low ,to the commission- ers, turns •his head slightly to the left' and over his shoulder throws at the' Speaker and the .assembled Cm:inions the phrase: "Le ro6i remercie ses' bons sujets, accepts, leur benevolence,' et ainsi le veult." (The king thanks' his good subjects, accepts their bounty and proves it.) 1f it be an ordinary. measure, he says with the same melan- choly gesture: "Le rot le veult." (The king approves). 1 Whether there are ten bills or two hundred, the process is the same. First, the clerk on the right-hand side bows to the commissioners; second, he recites the name of tate bill; third, he bows again; fourth, the clerk on the left-hand side bows to the eonemis- sioners; fifth, with ecornful gesture of disregard he throws over his shoulder to the awed Commons the assurance of the royal assent; sixth, he heaves a little sigh of sympathy, with the com- missioners for having to meet the Commons; seventh, hebows again, and his coliea.gue takes up ` the next bill, and the whole procees 18 gene over again, the phrase "Le rot le veult" rising and falling over the deserted House like the cry of the curfew on a distant desolate rock. Nobody knows the age of the world, but we all agree that it's old enough to know better. A specialist in nervous diseases says that women should sleep nine hours at night and one hour in the daytime. Telling Teacup Fortunes. The custom of telling fortunes from tea -leaves . left in the cup is by no means on the wane. It la a simple matter to memorize most of the signs, and a good imagination is also of great assistance! Leaves in the form of a train are said to mean either a journey or the arrival or departure of some one in whom you are interested. A snake in- dicates enemies. Dovesare supposed to be lucky, and so are stars, the cres- cent moon and horseshoes. News front abroad is often fore- shadowed by a tent. Shoes mean a journey. If the cup is clear all round it is said to be a good sign. Gloves indicate a meeting with strangers, while stockingg usually foreshadow presents. Chairs mean visitors; keys new un- dertakings. Initials are usually deem- ed to be lucky. Black clusters of trees mean gatherings, but may also be taken to mean a cluster of worries. Words That Work Hard. . There are words it is almost impos- Bible to ,avoid using, .however careful- ly we meg try to do so. It is said that a quarter of the task of expressing oneself in the English language is borne by nine words and, be, have, it, of, the, to will, and you. Itis also asserted that these nine with thirty-four other words, form half the woras the average talker uses in or- dinary conversation. j The additional thirty-four are as follows: about, all, as, at, but, can, come, day, dear, for, get, go, hear, "if, in, me, much, not, on, say, she, so, that, these, they, this, though, time, we, with, write, your, her, and one. It would be an interesting and in- structive occupation for readers to underline on any one page of this paper the words included in this list of forty-three, and see how near the total number comes to being half of the whole: ' Awful Stuff. Bug—"Goodness, Mr, Skeet, you're intoxicated!" Skeet—Yesh, Never bite a fellow (hie) again that's been drinking home brew!" able of supporting hundreds of thous- ands of people in prosperity and coni, fort, which, in turn, would add mhterl• ally to the welfare of the people in the cities. Considerable interest was taken by the public 1n the proceedings., the Rotary, Kiwani and Gyro Clubs ex- tending invitations• to several of the speakers to address their menIbers. Undoubtedly, the public will; from now on, take a greater interest in irriga- tion iga- tion development; the better they be- come acquainted with its possibilities and with the obstacles that have been and yet are, impending it, the sooner will irrigation come to be realized as one of the greatest assets the West possesses. "Kittle is already showing lines in her face." "Yea, but her other lines offset 'em." Unsolved Problems of the Sky- Scientists have weighed, the planets, the sun, the moon; we know the dis- tance of stars whose light takes cen- turies to reach us, and we even mea- sure accurately the minute amount of heat given by distant ,stars. For all that, the sky is still full of puzzles which astronomers are attempting to solve. ! Take, for instance, the problem of dark stars. Possibly it has never oc- carred to you that there are such bodies, yet for every bright star you can see on a clear night there must be thousands which have gone cold and are therefore invisible. Yet, dead as they are, they are still plunging through space at appalling speed On February 2nd, 1901, there blazed out in the constellation of Perseus a star of amazing brilliance. It was not, of courses a new star. What had really happened was that one of these dark stare had either hit another, or, per- haps, struck 'one of the big gas clouds which hang in space. The result was an explosion on a scale we cannot even Imagine. These dark stars and gas clouds' are among the greatest of sky puzzles. It is only three years ago that- a Dutch scientist discovered a mystery cloud 140,000,000,000,000 miles in length and twice that .distance from the solar sys- tem. It inay be gas ,it may be dust. We 'do not know and probably never shall. During excavations at Christ's atospital, Folkestone, England; rni the background is one of the famous li!artello towern. of the Roman occupation and settlement of the island were uncovered, n A Poem You Ought to Know. "What the Chimney Sang." Bret Harte wrote of the pathos and humor of the gold -diggings of Cali- fornia in "The Luck of Roaring Camp." He made his name known the world over by a humorous poem entitled "The Heathen Chinee," but that he was, a poet of pathos as well as humor, is shown by the following verses:— Over the chimney the night -wind sang And chanted a melody no one knew; And the woman stopped, as her babe she tossed, And thought of the one she had long since lost, And said, as her .tear -drops back she forced, "I hate the wind in the chimney. Over the chimney the night -wind sang And chanted a melody no one, knew; And the children said, as .theycloser drew, "'Tls"some witch that is cleaving the black night through - 'Tis a fairy trumpet that just then blew, And we fear the wind in the chimney." Over the chimney the night -wind sang, And chanted a melody no one knew; And the man, as he sat on his hearth below, Said to himself, "Itwill surely snow, And fuel is dear and wages low, And I'll stop the leak in the ,chimney." Over the chimney the night -wind sang And chanted a melody no one knew; But the poet listened andsmiled, for he Was man, and woman, and child, all three, And said, "It is God's, own harmony, This wind we hear in the chimney." Winds of Romance. What romantic names • are given to some winds, which are anything but romantic in character. • There is the Mistral, for example, . the dry, cold wind'that blows with con- siderable strength on the Mediterran- San coast of France. Another violent, cold wind is. the Bora, which `those who have been much on the northern shores of the Adriatic have expert• enced, greatly to their discomfort. Then there is the Simeon, which is as scorchingly hot as the Mistral and I Bora are cold. The Cirhon, in fact, is like a violent succession of gusts from `a hot oven. It has proved a terrific. enemy to travellers in the Sahara. The Sirocco is Much the salad kind of scorching wind. A naval officer, describing an experience with this wind in the Mediterranean, says: "We soon felt a sultry breeze, which conveyed innumerablel insects into every crevice, and became so trouble- some on deck that we were glad to re- treat below, but in vain, for weerever the air reached, there they teemed in counfsess numbers 'and our dinner wa,9'. presently covered with them." Romantic -sounding enough is the name Khamsin, but those who have encountered this hot, dry wind in the Egyptian plain do not have very pleas- ant memories of it. The Hermatten is similarly •nnpopte lar among the inhabitants of Western Africa and those travellers who have been unfortunate enough to encounter this desert, dust -laden wind, Fohn is the name of another dry, liot wind, which has5 an enervating effect upon the valley dwellers on the Werth ern side of the Alps, The name of tho Pampero has a glamour about it which belies it in reality. This fearful com- bination of 'vcleht wind, rain, thun- der and lightning is ,only tho fartliliier to the 'residents of the Argentine and Uruguay.