Zurich Citizens News, 1975-07-17, Page 4Page 4 - Zurich Citizens News, July 17, 1975
Out of quiet places!
"...A generation that cannot endure boredom
will be a generation of little men, of men unduly
divorced from the slow processes of nature, of men in
whom every vital impulse withers, as thought they
were cut flowers in a vase."
Bertrand Russell's words of 45 years ago bear
rethinking today in this age of contradictions
when people know more of world affairs than ever
before but no more of the world's wisdom.
Russell was concerned that people might overdo
their efforts to avoid boredom and in the end be so
overly -stimulated that nothing of value can be prod-
uced.He was especially concerned for the children
that they learn to endure a more or less monoton-
ous life.
"Modern parents are greatly to blame in this res-
pect. he said. "They provide their children with far
too many passive amusements such as shows and
good things to eat, and they do not realize the
importance to a child of having one day like another,
except, of course for somewhat rare occasions."
Russell held that the pleasures of childhood
should in the main be such as the child extracts
himself from his environment by means of some eff-
ort and inventiveness. Pleasures which are exciting
and at the same time involv no physical exertion,
such as the theatre, should occur only rarely. Twenty
years before the invention of television, this great
philosopher was fretting that excitements are like
drugs' of which more and more will be required,
and that the physical passivity during the excitement
is contrary to instinct.
"Whatever we may wish to think, and we are
creatures of Earth; our life is part of the life of the
Earth, and we draw our nourishment from it just
as the plants and animals do."
It was the slow peaceful life in rhythm with the
slow peaceful Earth from which great thoughts,
great poetry,great ideas sprung forth in the past as a
legacy for future generations. Maybe the pace of our
lives is too fast to produce those leaders and thinkers
of which we seem to be in such short supply.
(Durham Chronicle)
Comedy of errors!
A man hired by a construction company was
asked to fill out the details of an accident that put
him in the hospital after less than an hour on the job.
His job was simply to carry on excess of bricks
from the top of a two-storey house down to the
ground. This is his meticulous report:
"Thinking I could save time, I rigged up a beam
with a pulley at the top of the house, and a rope
leading to the ground. I tied an empty barrel on one
end of the rope, pulled it to the top of the house,
and then fastened the other end of the rope to a tree.
Going up to the top of the house, I filled the barrel
with bricks. Then I went back down and unfastened
the rope to let the barrel down. Unfortunately, the
barrel of bricks was now heavier than I, and before
I knew what was happening, the barrel jerked me
up i .n the air. I hung onto the rope, and halfway
up, I met the barrel coming down; receiving a severe
blow on the left shoulder. I then continued on up
to the top, banging my head on the beam and
jamming my fingers in the pulley.
"When the barrel hit the ground, the bottom
burst, spilling the bricks. As I was now heavier
than the barrel, I started down at high speed.
Halfway down, I met the empty barrel coming up,
receiving severe lacerations to my shins. When I
hit the ground, I landed on the bricks, receiving
several cuts and contusions from the sharp edges
of the bricks. At this point, I, must have become conf-
used, as I let go of the rope. The barrel came down,
striking me on the head, and I woke up in the hosp-
ital. I respectfully request sick leave."
(safety Canada)
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The International Scene
(by Raymond Canon)
THE RETURN OF DON
RAIMUNDO
For me, at least, 23 years
is a long way to stay away form
a country but that is precisely
the length of time it has been
since I was last in Spain. So it
was that I looked forward with
considerable anticipation to my
arrival in Madrid to do business
and to visit friends of long
standing.
I almost didn't make it when I
thought I would. I was sitting
in Rome airport, blissfully unaw-
are that, for some reason un-
known to me, the Italians were
one hour ahead of the Swiss.
I watched the plane I was sup-
posed to be on taxi by my wind-
ow and only when about 20 min-
utes later when I arrived at the
gate indicated that I was told I
was too late. We had a great
discussion about time zones with
the Italian officials pointing to
their clocks and i to my watch.
At any rate I lost and so hurried
down to Iberia the Spanish air-
line, to see if they had a later
plane going to Madrid. Luckily
for me they did and so my lug-
gage arrived on one plane and
I on another. I found it at the
airport tucked in with all the others
unclimed luggage and soon I
was on my way to the centre of
the city.
Apain is not a country known
for rapid change but still 23
years is a long time and so I
was not surprised to see a con-
siderable number of differences,
as well as many things that
hadn't changed a bit. The infirm
are still selling lottery tickets
on the streets as they did when
I lived in Santander; the meal
times are still the late, late hour
(10 p.m. for supper on the aver-
age) and thankfully they still
sleep the siesta.
There is good reason for this
latter activity (or lack of it).
An old Spanish saying is to the
effect that in Castile there are
three months of winter and nine
months of hell and I can assure
you it does get hot on the Cast-
illian plateau. I got my business
done as early in the day as poss-
ible, wrote up my reports etc.
and then retired to wait out the
hot weather.
For some reason which now
escapes me, the Spanish kids I
went to school with used to call
me Don Raimundo and they still
recalled it after all these years
when I went to see them, now
grown up and a few pounds
heavier such as I am. We talked
for long hours of the current
state of affairs in Spain and it is
the gist of our conversations that
I would like to pass on to you.
When I first went to live in
Spain I had a tendency to make
disparaging remarks about
Franco. I soon learned never to
do this in Spanish as Franco was
very much a dictator and they
were throwing people in jail
for uncomplimentary remarks.
As you probably realize Franco
is still around, well advanced in
age and the big question now
is what to do with hirn. He still
holds the reins of power, is,
however, somewhat senile and
many Spaniards would like to
ease him out and let Prince Juan
Carolos take over. While there is,
of course, no agreement on the
subject, it is generally felt that
a return of the monarchy in
Spain might provide the stability
required so that some semblance
of democratic government can
be developed and another revol-
ution or uprising avoided.
This concern for an orderly
transition of the powers of gov-
ernment has become extremely
vital to the Spaniards in view of
what has happened in neighbour-
ing Portugal. The present left-
wing military regime is unac-
ceptable to Madrid which wants
as little to do with communism
as possible and there is even
the possibility that the Spaniards
might march into Lisbon to install
a more favourable type of govern-
ment. Not a definite possibility
but one nevertheless,
Because of the Franco dictator-
ship over so many years, Spain is
still something of an odd man out
in western Europe. It does not
belong to NATO nor to the
European Economic Community
and it will probably be some
time before it can expect mem-
bership in either of these two org-
anixations. The Americans would
like to see greater participat-
ion on the part of the Span-
iards but they cannot get the
West Europeans to go along with
this. It is very much a quest-
ion of wait and see what happens
after Franco is gone.
Before I left I did find time to
get over to the Prado, the famous
art gallery as well as a quick
visit to Escorial where the Span-
ish monarchs are buried, at least
most of them. However, as is gen-
erally the case when you have
plenty to do, times goes fast and
before I knew it, my time of
departure had arrived. Much to
myu annoyance, Thad a problem
the airport again but this time
it wasn't my fault. However, it
was Iberia which came to my
rescue again and 15 hours later
I staggered exhausted into my
front door,
Fire
prevention
Spontaneous combustion
within a haymow can destroy
the hay and the building in which
it is stored.
To take the temperature, a
half-inch pipe or tube approx-
imately 10 feet in length can be
used. The end of the tube should
have a point of hardwood riveted
to it, and a few holes, one-
quarter inch in diameter, made
just above the hardwood.
The tube should be inserted
into the hay. Drop a candy or
oven thermometer attached to
a string into the tube and leave
it for five minutes.
After five minutes, the temp-
erature should be noted and com-
pared to the following scale;
if the temperature is 150 deg.
the danger zone is near and ob-
servations should be made every
day; at 160 deg. inspections
should be made every four hours;
at 175 deg, fire pockets may be
anticipated and the fire pump-
er called to wet down the hay.
If the temperature reaches
185 deg. the hay should be rem-
oved and the fire pumper avail-
able, since. flames will develop
when the fire pockets contact the
air.
A temperature of 210 deg.
means the hay is almost sure to
ignite.
Workmen should never work
alone and should always have
ropes tied around their waists
as a safety measure when work-
ing on the haymow. Long planks
should be placed over the hay
for men to stand on and observe
or remove the hay.
TODAY'S CHILD
BY HELEN ALLEN
Derek is an appealing eight-year-old, Indian and white in
descent. A healthy youngster, he has dark eyes and brown curly
hair along with a friendly outgoing disposition.
Because of a troubled past, Derek is in a treatment centre for
children with emotional difficulties. While there, he has changed
greatly and the staff feels he is now ready to be part of a family.
He still craves and needs a great deal of adult attention and
he'd rather be with grown ups than children. Therefore it is
hoped Derek will be adopted in a home where he will be the only,
child — or the youngest by several years.
Derek is considered low average in ability. However he has
become interested in school and he tries hard. It is felt he will do
better when he feels settled with a family to encourage and be
proud of him.
To inquire about adopting Derek, please write to Today's
Child, Ministry of Community and Social Services, Box 888,
Station K, Toronto M4P 2H2. In your letter please tell something
of your present family and your way of life. For general adop-
tion information consult your local Children's Aid Society.
HE LIKES SCHOOL