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Zurich Herald, 1923-08-23, Page 7Increased Nickel Pr eduction in Canada One of the brightest features • of the situation in the Canadian mining in- dustry this summer is the resumption on a substantial scale of nickel min- ing and the production for the year promisee to show a liandseme lucre - meet over last year's. The production of nickel is Canada was stimulated to an acute degree by 'insistent war -time demands and suffered • inevitably at the conclusion of hosttlitiee A further. blow to the industry was. administered by the' dioarraament agreement, as the greater part of the output was utilized in battleship construction. Consider. able research has of late been under- taken with a view to discovering peace time industrial values, .of .this mineral. The growth of nickel production in Canada forms an interesting and some. what remarkable branch of ind'ds:trial history. In 1889, when Government records' were first kept, the annual • production was 830,477 pounds, with a ,. value of $498,286. In 1895 the produc- tion had risen to 3,888;525 pounds and by, 1904] .to 7,080,22T pounds. There was an astonishing increase in the next decade, the output rising to 37,- 271,033 pounds by 1910. Production nearly doubled again in the next five year period, amounting to 68,308,657 pounds in 1915:: Under war -time demand a .stimu bated production was maintained up to the cessation of hostilities. Preduc.. tion In 1916 was 82,958,564 pounds; in 1917, 84,330;280 pounds.; and 1918, the reoerd year'for the industry, 92,- 507,293 pounds; In the first post-war• year the output dropped by half, being 44,542,953 pounds. By. 1920 it had slightly increased again, being 60,859,- 100 pounds, The year 1921 nes a de- preseing oris with an output of 12,- 859,100 pounds, Under a partial open- ing of plants, in 1922 'a substantial in- crease was• recorded, and the year Welshed a production; of 31,217,300 pounds worth $6,824,238. The record production value was achieved' in 1918 when the output was worth $37,002,- 917. ' This summer the British American Nickel Corporation is resuming opera - time et its mine and smelter at Mur.. ray, wiaich plant has, been ,closed down for over two years. the company has two fnrnaoes with an ore capacity.. of 1,200 tone daily and a matte produc. tion of 35 tons per day, the ore being rained at Murray and the matte ship- ped to the refinery at Deschene, Que- bec. Seven hundred men will be em. ployed. There is likewise to be an in- crease in production at the Mond Nickel,Co.'•s mines. The company ha,s already doubled 4ts output this year and is smelting between 35,000 and 40,000 tons of ore per month at the present time. Additions to the plant are also being made. The Interna- tional Nickel Company is •-' likewise showing greater activity, andwill re- cord an enhanced production at the end of the year. These three companies' practically control Canada's nickel deposits. All are in the Sudbury district of Ontario, constituting together the world's riot- est known nnicke•1 area, which has made Canada the foremost nickel pro.' ducing country. Proven contents of niokel ` in •the . Sudbury district are placed at 70,000,000 tons with possible and probable reserves of another 80,- 000,000 tons. Mirage. Aa -one who wanders in a• desert place Sees—after weariness in time of dearth— • As if reflected in a watered •space The city's glow, the wonders of the earth, 1, who have wandered in the pathless wild Of hopeless love and longing unful- filled, May chance upon you. And your eyes that smiled — Your touch that healed—your, voice whose utterance thrilled Shall be to me refreshment, and a balm— .. A mirage -an. enchantment: Oh, my love, Dare I disprove you? Ali my storms grew palm, And all my desert es a singing grove. Tho' now of all things am I disppos.. sess't, Yet in illusion I am ever blest. -Enid Clay. Static Electricity. • Tr7very radio fan is familiar with the Promise of "static," that bothersome. oonditi'en of the 'atmosphere that makes one want to threw away his expensive set every so often. But it takes the insurance •companines to know the real menace o3 "static" and to devise means.forpreventing`expen_ sive fires and ,explosions due to its presence. ' The 'recent explosion of an automobile tank -while being filled and resulting in the death of a woman sitting in the ear, was traced to static electricity generated by the flow of gasoline through the filling pipe. An- other case on record shows the des- truction,of a tir..piece burned while It was being cleaned with gasoline, th friction of rubbing out a stain creat- ing a small spark and the gasoline do.. New Protestant Church Dedi- cated at Rheims. A new Protestant church to replace the one destroyed September 19, 1914, by the Germans, was dedicated in Rheims on June 24, in the presence •of the civil authorities and delegations from Protestant churches of Belgium, Great Britain., Holland, Denmark, Nor- way, Sweden, Switzerland, which had contributed to the funds necessary for reconstruction. •A number of pastors front Protestant churohes of France took part in the service.; The new thirst, one of the most beautiful buildings of modern Rheims, is on the Boulevard Lundy. It has a bell tower with three bells, an ornate, choir room, beautiful windows and mural paintings, and a cloister dedi- cated: to the memory of those who gave their lives in the World Wail, 'Made it Clear, • Jim, an aged Barky, had never learn- ed to read by the ordinary methods the fats of the old :eight-day clock. It. pleased his lifetime employer, how=• ever, to ask Jim the hour. and hear his answers "What time does .the clock say?" he asked one evening, when he had call- ers. "Step out into 4he hall and see." Jim was gone s,evaai minutes,' and returned with a beaming, face. "Ah—ah—waited jeal a minute to see which'd get ahead' de shot one or de long one," he said, "When I went out dey was both on de lef-hand' wind- ing -piste, suh. But de long one, she clip it up good an" libelly when. she see me watchin' out, an' now she's .'bout an inch ahead, suh." Your township and county and pro- , are just exactly as clean politi- cally0' and every other way as the citi- h A zens who compose them. —AND THE WORST IS YE.T TO COME a lit 1 lel Ilii! to uee t 101P111111 Can Plants See? We know that plants are ,enitive .to light. and dark. Many od them:move during the •day in order ,to turn the faces, of their flowers always to the sun. Others. open. onry when the day- light is dying, and when the moths on whom they rely to carry their pollee are abroad. Oliimbdng plants, such as `sweet -peas, seem to fling their tendrils in an al- most uncanny way'in the direction et anything that will serve as a support_ A scientist engaged recently in tak- ing photographs of leaves through the microscope was 'surprised to discover that some of them showed hundreds of little round patches, each of which reflected the image of some object, just as• do the facets of the compouai+"d,. eye of an insect. Closer examination proved that each of these patches con- sisted of a cell whose rounded outer wall •formed a perfect lens•. Each cell was, in fact, a perfect eye. It was tempting to jump to the conclu cion -that plants,,could see, Aotua.11-y they do not.. The "eyes?' serve quite a different purpose. A plant lives by the process of bottling up sunsli whose action l ro•duces clasmical changes within; the leaves • 'and -the- stem. The leaves focus the sun's rays and enable the work to be done. ef_ 1ectively. Planets are sensitive,' to light simply because when the sun -shines the chemioal changes within then go on, with increased' speed. Climbing plants, find suppor�6s by groping. The ten- drils follow the sun, and as they move round, they touch and hold on to any thing suitable that lies in thenar path, Blown Grass. Lelig,;grass blown gray, blown gold lir. ' the sun,. Likv; a child's tossed- hair,:like an ocean spray Over its surface cloud shadows run n' 't'lrrough the long bright day. n I' watch the grass, with its burnished sprays, I smell the earth and the meadow- -- flowers. am glad to be rid of,all human ways, Miss M. writes that while she was visiting her sister in the country, she overslept one morning, and was awak- ened by her little niece, three and a elf years old, who exdlaimed, "Aunt nnie, get up; the world has begun!"1 Mg the rest. . Chains touching the ground and leading from the nozzles of filling pipes saved one oil company thousands of dollars after several of its, tank wagons had blown up when friction of tine' pipe nozzles, produced 'sparks, that ignited the spilled ;gasoline. Even the simple covering of anelec. trill light bulb with cloth to dint it has been found dangerous. In one case the confined heat melted. the, bulb, .starting a• fire. In another, the cloth ignited and tell on a sofa, eventually spreading to the window eurtaine and house itself. In still another case, a tarpestry containing metallic threads, carie into •contact with au ungrounded eleotric wire and when the metallic threads melted they set the tapestry it- self ablaze, Motel Clerk—"With or without bath, madam?" The Boy ---"Get Lt without, .Mother. This is a pleasure trip." Pleasure Trip. 1 ;) I'`! II" j • T iil 1 013t4r,LE:5 vz COSGOwJ� sweet Flecrenge. Gireffe; tilt, my! Look at that hone run, and by the way aren't .you the fellow who matt fun of my long eck? s Paris ices a population cZ 2,00000 ---niore than a million increase elect t 1801.. The suburban population has t own from 2577,000 to 1,505,000 in 1 the ss•nre period. The 11 The swan Is not only our larges Canadian waterfowl but also is th For hours; on hours. Then a bird flies home, and the night creeps down, , -And a lighted window glows for me, My far thoughts ebb, and the grass' blare•, brown Like a soriilare sea. Two Apiece. The Mayor of a small town in Ohio had six stotrt sons, with whom he loved to parade ths,market place. They fur- nisled him with the basis of a matte natical jo 'A fine Billhave," Ry y yon .strangers would often say. "Is this the whole of it?" "Na" tkre Ma 4 evedel rs l `:I. held . p 3i. have two, sisters at home, for each and every _one ..of then." "What!" the visitor would. exclaim, rapidly counting the sons. "Twelve daughters!" "No, indeed! Just two!" -;rTalked Down. `Why can't, that politician hear what the people have to say?" "Because there's so much money italkiug at the same time." Britain's Loveliest Landscapes Which is .the finest h11140p view In Britain.? The Scot will vote for the prospect• trout. Stirling Casale, which in•cludee almost eh'e whole breadth. of Scotland from Sea to Sed., • If the Soot had a second ch<4oe he would plump probably for the view from Arthur's, Seat, Edinburgh, for the spectator not only 'gets, an unex- ampied view of the Modern Athens, as. the Soot calls, his beautiful Edinburgh, but also of the Firth of Forth and the Kingdom of Fife beyond. The Pride of Wales.: The .Welshmrau, however, would have something to say about his land- s&capes, He would tell you that when the: visibility is good you ,Dan "nearly" Spee New:York from the top of Snow- don. Then the Scot would retort that Snowdon i.s a .mountain and not a hill, and that "when there is no fog, and no rain, and no s•nawfall," the view from B,en Nevis •is wonderful. Then the Welshman will take you to tlie summit of quite a little: hill, clone to Conway Castle, and show you all North Wales at your feet; or to. Tin- tern 'Abbey, to see the Wye winding. the woods for miles, and miles. England has so many spienddd views from its, hill -tops that it is difficult to decide which is the finest. Many peo- ple vote for the wonderful prospect, including six counties, one sees from the Tower on• the top of Leith Hill„ whilst others• say the view from Box Hill, though not so extensive, iso much more varied and lovely. Then there are many people who would declare ,that the finest view in the whole island is from the Malvern Hilils�. As, this includes much Welsh territory, it is a view of "internation- al" interest. -There is a famous view from the Wreklny. which stands like a lone .seat tine:,` in the midst o2 a fairly level country. The"view from Bury - Hill in the South Dowrs, seen by many mo- torists running from'Iiondion to the South Coast, " is justly famous. The fine highway over the Cotswelee Dom.. ,feeds eplendid views, le, beth direct tions. Similarly, the magniiieent mo. ton,, noad over the Hog's Back, sear Guildford, affords, the« traveller erre coutineous panorama of; beauty, whilst a run from ,Frome to Wells, over the Mendip Hill,sy gives wide prospes8s to the far-off Co,trwoids, and again equal- ly wide prospects across, the vale of Avalon to the Qiiantacks. The English Lake District is, of course, famous for its hili -top views. The one from Honie,ter Crag, of But- termere, Crummoek Water, and Laweswater, ie, magnificent, and the, one from Loueleigg of Grasmere, with Helvellyn in the background, is won- derful. There le quite a Iittie pimple o2 a hill called. F.inethwaite, on the south- ernborder of the .Lake D.ils,trlct, with a tower on its summit ,erected "to honor the office i , seamen, and mar - Ines of the Royal Navy, whose match- less 'conduct and inresietibie valor ode- cleively. defeated the fleets of France, Spain, and Holland, and promoted and protected liberty and conimerce, 1799," From the foot of this, memor, tai the whole length of Windermere can be seen with the mouetaina be yond. Famed Through Centuries. But there are many wonderful views from points but little frequented. Tits writer once saw, after climbing a hill four or five hun.deed feet high, in north-east Lanosehire, th,e estuaries of the Lune, Wyre, Ribble, and Mess sey, the emelt from Liverpool to Mare- Tcambe Bay, the coast of North Wales from Rhyl to. the Menai Straits', the mountains of the Lake District and Galloway, and, on the western hoed zon, the camelrhump of the Isle of Man, Yet it .is not a famous, view- point like the top of Richmond Hill, near London. This is perhaps the most famous hill -top view in Britain.. It has been the theme of the poet and the: subject of the landscape painter for hundreds of years,. British Gardeners Look for Diamonds. Does it ever rain diamonds? That question is now troubling a. resident of Hampstead, a suburb of London, who, following a recent severe thunder storm, found embedded in his garden a . heavy lump of -some metallic' sub- stance which was studded with glisten- ing points, resembling precious stones. The apparent meteirrites, are only six by five inches, but weigh six pounds each, and are so hard that free. silent s of them will out glass. C. P. Fitzgerald, in whose garden the meteorites: were found, is an. ex-. li! t' k tullurgiet;"'b;nd-states• the eft from the sky exactly resembles the diamond -bearing quartz found in South Africa.. He has sent his find to a laboratory for investigation to aster. tain whether the glistening points are diamonds. Meanwhile, there is an extraordinary activity reported in the digging up of gardens by other residents of Hamp- stead. — Britain's only diamond -cutting fac- tory was established at Brighton in 1917, and in 1921 was employing 2,000 disabled ex -Service men. The sailor is often like an Irishman. When he is happy he is very happy; when he is sad lie is very sad indeed. —Earl Beatty. Dandelions. The golden dandelion stars. Are surely loved of God the most Of; all the blossoms, since He made Them- an irnumerab.e host. The sward is tinted with the light, Its silken star -web newly spun; The dewdrop on the leaf distilled Is an elixir of the sun. Front many an oriel of the sky Angels .must look with raptured face Upon those lovely, lowly flewefe That we have scorrlec?; 11.43 04140#0,,,,, 1mo�. « ..place,.., ... ..eseseee,-;Zelesedeeesseese They fade before their youth is pasty Their silver heads rise like a prayer,' Not for a truer angel love, • But for a tenderer human care. In simple things a beauty lies That Metres all our onward way, And Love speaks clear and eonstantlss; In language of the common day. • —Albert Durrant Watson.j Those Questions. Willie—"Pa, you build a house on erou•nd, don't you?" Dad , (immersed in the evening paper)—"Of •course, you don't build Itt on air." "Weil, when wheat is. ground, could you build a house on it?" Sw 1 B f DAN .McCOVVAN, BANFF, ALBERTA to permu,nently in their third year. They secure their food from the bottom of e do not, however, attain full growth for the lake or stream by tipping and reaching; down with their long neck. Their food consiists of larvae, young frogs, and ether forme of subaqueous Me. This. Is varied by vegetable food, such as the -soft roots• of water plants, and forms of wild grain found by the margins of inland waters. only large all -white bird in . North America. On this continent it is only exceeded in size by .the whooping crane and the wild turkey. Like mos of o'er water .birds, weans� are nigra: tory. They winter.in Texas, in Indiana '_. and southalmost to the Gulf of Mexico. If the whiter is an open one, an oecaei�onal flock may spend this season on the inland lakes in Southern British Columbia. Early in March, the age-old call of the Northland cones to them and soon they are speeding their fight to the nesting grounds. Of • the two species, the Whistler breeds . furthest north and nests on the Barren Ground lakes west of Hud- son Bay. In migration they usually. travel by'night. On the open prairie, in the long twilight in spring, one may hear a flageolet -like "Who -who -who" coming' froth the cloudiand, and recog- nize the call of the Whistler swan._ They are wary birds and $y kit a great height. several years, and it is difficult to distinguish junior from adult birds. Moulting Period. t When nesting is over the period of moulting commences: During this, time swans are altogether flightless. Like water birds, they moult all their Suing feathers at once, and consequent- ly are very helpless when pursued. At one time the Eskimo; were in the habit of taking large numbers of swans during their annual moult by phasing the minto nets, which were planed across tlie lakes and sloughs. When moulting, the swans stay closely hidden amongst the reeds in secluded places,. and from which they seldom Bordering Lakes. Swans nest on the ground. They. build •arno'ngst. the reeds bordering lakes and marshes. Nests are com- posed .tat weeds, sods and grass and are lined, with soft down from the breast of the female bird. From three to six greenlet' or brownish buff eggs constitute a clutch. They are laid early in April. On emerging from the eggs', cygnets, as the young are called, are able to swim at once, and, nature ally, are soon paddling about In the sun - warmed waters of sheltered lough or lake, They are clothed in a otiftleh down which later gives place to an ashy grey plumage with reddish luted feathers, on head and neck. At his stage they are far irony being randsonie birds. In the second year they turn white zttd are said to mate. Hard to Shoot. In pre -rifle days the swan was hard to shoot. Its long neck enabled it to feed well out in the iniddle of the lakes.' . He was a wary Indian who. could approach unobserved within bow shot of a .Whistler cr a Trumpeter, Plying with the wind, they could laugh et the old iixeszle-loading firearms. emerge until the piuion feathers are' 'A.gain,t: a strong headwind, however, fully developed. they rtde arable target, being, when Swans are not diving birds. They full grown, five feet in length; Their sevese six-foot wing spread carries a 20 -pound body with great ease and rapidity. The Trumpeter is a larger bird than the Whistler, but to all appearances they are alniost identical. Nesting further south, they have been rudely disturbed by settlement and ere be- coming very rare. Thirty or forty years ago they were common„many of our prairie dukes. Now they are almost extinct. It is hard to imagine a swan being otherwise than white. On the con- tinent of Australia, however, there is a member of the swan family which is entirely blaek, A Very pretty swan, having a white body and a black head and neck, is a native of South Arne. erica. Swan's Down, When the Hudson's Bay Company operated trading posts on our. prairies, .'�.' `�.`rY �:''�' i•?G •:Ili •�"� 3H Rl HAM MYSTERY TOWER- DISAPPEARING One of the mystery towers built by tite British Goverunent during the war, at huge expbns•o, Is now be' - g 'demolished. For what Y'urpose this seeld masa of concrete was built nobody but a few of the admiralty oiliciais will likely ever know, 'Tis ;picture .Shows 11 in its last stage of existence. swan skins were common articles of trade. They were not rated very highss ly, but, nevertheless, the Indian hue_ ters slew many a noble swan. They did not eat the fish of the bird, as it is far front being :edible, even to a hungry red man. Swan's down was, used in a solemn, pre battle ceremony performed by Sioux Indian braves. When the dark, skinned warriors assembled at they "Place of the Last Sacrifice” each man stuck a short peeled willow stick into; the ground. Upon this he hung ltis� head=dress. At the foot, four small round stones colored with earth -paint were placed. These were Carefu'T covered over with a quantity of swan's down which had been dyed red. When this had been done, each fighting roan made sacrifice to the Master of Life and adjusted himself for the impend- ing battle; Wild Life Tragedies. At certain 'seasons, large numbers of swans are to be found on the Nia- gara River. There, on several occa- sions, tragedies in wild life have oc. curred, On foggy nights hundreds of swans have been carried down the, river and over the falls to their death. Once they get into the swift water above the falls they seenr'to become bewildered and make • no attempt to escape by fight. Por untold eve, these great snowy voyagers have winged their migratory way between semi -tropic lsgoons and Arctic lakes • and fens. They come to Canada to nest and to rear their young, and so are deserving; of senattrary and prat.eetion. Long years ago they Bane In mighty honks. Now they come in; little scattered groups. The migratory birds treaty came not a day too soon and some time, perhaps, three inag» niflcent birds will have 1rtoxeased i all our lakes.