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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1941-01-30, Page 2Saving Ontario's Natural Resources by G. C. TONER Oettario Federation of Angier* (No. 27) VANISHED SPECIES J. museum, to most people, is an institution where exhibits are displayed to interest and enlight- en the visitors. This is an in - portant function of any _Museum but back of this is the funda- mental task of bringing together objects and facts and devising methods of preserving these for generations to come. As an ex- ample. Take the case of the passenger pigeon which has been a special activity of the Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology for quite a number of years. The passenger pigeon was once looked upon as a bird whose numbers would never be serious- ly disturbed. Millions upon mil- lions of these trim, swift wood pigeons passed from one section to another of wooded eastern North America in the days of the early pioneers. At that time it seemed impossible that they could vanish from the earth en- tirely—heat they became extinct as a wild bird at the close of ithe nineteenth century. Passenger Pigeons Established museums immedi- ately set about to gather speci- mens that had been preserved by private individuals. It might have been thought that the salvaging of stuffed birds by an active campaign would soon have ex- hausted this source of supply so that the museums to come later would find it difficult, if not im- possible, to obtain specimens. The Royal Ontario Museum of Zoo- logy opened its doors in 1915, many years after the wild pigeon was doomed. To -day, however, it possesses a valuable collection of these birds. The collection of passenger pigeons is the result of an en- thusiastic private collector and naturalist, Mr. Paul Hahn of To- ronto. Mr. Hahn has persistent- ly sought out specimens of this extinct species. Old cases of stuffed birds in attics and cellars, ctiy and farm, have been explor- ed and from them many, many species have been rescued from dust and vermin for the Museum where they are safely stored for s., posterity. 1. rn tateerriiar speca- �. mens of a vanished species it fe a case of "now or never." Regret- table instances have cone to light where good sueeimens have been destroyed by fire, rats and insects. This is the ultimate fate of all specimens that do not reach the perpetual safekeeping of some museum. The museum's function in our society is to pre- serve material which constitutes the irreplaceable groundwork of human knowledge, and passenger pigeons definitely belong to this class of material. VOICE OF THE PRESS THOSE 17,000 VOTES Since the outbreak of war there have been 17,000 new po- sitions created across the coun- try in the service of the Domin- ion government. And that looks almost good enough for the hold- ing of another election. —Peterborough Examiner. —o— MASTERLY INACTION About 74 per cent of Toronto- niane failed to vote in the muni- cipal elections, including i3 per cent who three weeks before were vehemently denouncing the City ' Ball for the state of the streets after a snowstorm. —Toronto Saturday Night, —o— CHILDREN PROTECTED When, for three years out of ten, a city the size of Toronto ran show a record of nota single death from diphtheria, no argu- ment against the method of im- munization in use can be very effective. Nothing could more clearly demonstrate the benefits +f the toxoid inoculations which *eve been given to school child- Veal. —Windsor Star. LIVING THROUGH IT In years past it has been our tate to read in the history books eaf those tremendous periods When the world was in flux .. . when the Asiatic invasions of JEurope were finally hurled back when the Roman Empire at ast fell prey to the northern bar- barians , when the Moors were driven from Spain when Napoleon's name became a charm to frighten the children of a continent. And always we Wondered: What •must it have been like to live in such drift- ing, dangerous days? Well, now we know. ---Guelph lt1ercury. IN LIGHTER VEIN; "A Time and Pla for Ev'erytlll ng" "This is H.M.C.S. Minesweeper alright — and we appreciate your offer --- but ..." ft.! E WAR -WEE K—Coinrnentary on Current Events Hitler, Mussolini Confer; Speed Mediterranean War "Against a coalition of en- emy forces the Axis is oppos- ing a coalition of its forces." —Virginio Gayda, in II Gi- ornale d'Italia. The fifth historic meeting be- tween Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini took place under much less auspicious circumstances, for the Axis, than any of the four previous conferences. The two dictators faced last week the pos- sible loss of both the Battle of the Mediterranean and the Battle of Britain — the one through the threatening collapse of Italy; the other through the approach-. ing peak in Anglo -UIS. war co- operation. The Questions Discussed Tho seasoned Associated Press correspondent, Dewitt Mackenzie, said that four questions were likely discussed at length at this meeting: (1) What Hitler could do to save Mussolini from being knocked clean out of the war; (2) What the Axis could do to repair economic and supply fenc- es, badly damaged by the Brit- ish blockade; (3) What policy they would pursue toward Ameri- ca, in view of the all-out program of aid for Britain; (4) How to make a killing of Britain within the next four months, before American aid could put the Al- lies beyond the danger mark. With regard to (1), it seemed likely that Italy would have to let the African Empire,- victim of a masterly three -fronted "squeeze play" by Britain, pass out of its hands for the time being, and that the Axis would concentrate upon gaining control of Greece and the eastern Mediterranean — with the two armies and air forces undoubtedly under Nazi command. Balkan Turmoil To settle question (2) the tu- mult in the Balkans would have to be quieted, Rumania taken over and temporary peace restore ed, without antagonizing the So- viet Union, — or Turkey, who stood ready with 100 divisions to oppose any German move across the Bulgarian border into Thrace. With regard to (3), Hitler and Mussolini were thought to have laid plans on the assump- tion that the United States would enter the war, before next sum- mer. Sea vs. Air Power Before the paramount question, (4), could be solved, and a final decision in the war thereby reach- ed, a great test of British sea and Axis air power would cone in the Mediterranean where, last week for the first time; Hitler was turning loose his ei'vebombers (Stukas) in direct akack in sue.; eessive waves.. Whr or not; the Nazis would go ahead with the invasion of Britain depended to a -large extent on the results being achieved by the new tech- nique in the Mediterranean, speci- fically in -the strategic Sicilian channel gateway. Hitler had not been using his Stukas in di- rect bombing of Britain, was evi- dently saving them for use at the moment when he would chal- lenge British sea supremacy in the English Channel. Aid by March Expressing the fear that a grave crisis would develop in the war within the next sixty or ninety days, Frank Knox, United States Secretary of the Navy, urged the House of Representa- tives Foreign Affairs Committee to approve the Administration's bill authorizing President Roose- velt to lease, lend or transfer American -macre fighting materials to the nations battling the Axis. (7he defeat of Britain, "he said, 'culd come about through the German submarine campaign or the effect of the continued Ger- man bombardment). Passage of the bill had already been delayed r.:r a few days in the House, but its final enactment was believed possible by the middle of March, the thirtieth at .the latest. During the sante week, U. S. Secretary of War, Henry Stim- son, hinted at the early transfer of a portion of the .American navy to Britain on terms "very advantageous to us" . . and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in- augurated as President of the United States for the third time, declared: "Democracy is not dyT- ing . -" * * Japan Issues Warnings Frenzied consultations between the Japanese Premier and high military officials in Tokyo last week reflected "the increasing delicacy of 'United States•Japan- ese relations" . Jap newspap- ers exhorted the government to be ready for resolute action to offset British and American in- fluence in East Asia, accused Great Britain and the U.S. of in- stigating the current border war between • French Indo-China and Thailand (Indo-China is 'viewed as the keystone of Japan's new "southward program") . . But Japan's biggest warning' to the western world came from the lips of Foreign Minister Mat- suoka who called upon the 'United States to revise her attitude to- ward Japan's ambitions in Great- er East Asia. -A modified Ameri- can attitude was essential, he cautioned, "both for the sake of peace in the Pacific and the sake of peace in the world in general. Should the United States become involved in the European war, he continued, and '`should Japan, too, be compelled to participate," the resulting conflict might spell "the downfall of civilization." U.S.-Soviet Rapprochement? The United States moved to- ward friendlier relations with the Soviet Union last week following the remove, of the "moral em- bargo" on shipments of strategic war supplies to Russia. This ac- tion came the day after the Jap- anese Foreign Minister recons- mended closer friendship be- tween Japan and Russia, and was • interpreted by many informed Americans as an effort by the United States to draw the Soviet away from the Axis. Farmers Organize The amazing phenenemon of the Canadian .farmer emerging from his cocoon of rugged indi- vidualism was seen last week at Toronto where hundreds of ag- ricultural leaders of the Domin- ion met, under the auspices of the Canadian Federation of Agricul- ture, and decided to organize themselves into one mighty body from the Atlantic to the Pacific. War -time stress had accomplish- ed what a hundred years of peace -time drift had failed to bring about. At last the Can- adian farmer had realized the truth: "Your strength is in union. • Organize." Hepburn Holds Spotlight Premier Mitchell. F. Hepburn of Ontario, the figure who best represents the forces in Canada who want to build up the power of the Provinces, weakening the power of the Dominion Govern- ment, held the spotlight of public attention here for most of last week. First, he was instrument- al in breaking up the Sirois Do- minion -Provincial Conference at Ottawa; next, he upheld the cause of Ontario farmers in the face of the Dominion Department of Ag- riculture's refusal to do anyth:ng, by announcing that a bonus of two cents a pound would be paid on Ontario -manufactured ched- dar cheese; then he came forward with a new program of war fi- nancing, recommending that the Bank of, Canada issue new cur- rency (approximately X480,000,- 000) to take care of the increas- ing needs of wartime and that the 3 per cent scale of war borrowing be abolished. On top of this he spiked every rumor current about the country that there would be an election in Ontario this year. Other Problems to Discuss 'One of the other two provin- cial premiers who opposed adop- tion of the Rowell-Sirois Report, William Aberhart of Alberta, ex- pressed the disappointment, felt by many people throughout the Dominion, that there had been no further discussion at Ottawa on Canadian problems between the Dominion and the provinces. Mr. Aberhart said: "I thought when we decided there was no possi- bility of adopting the principle of the report that we would have Hurdling For Keeps D. 0. Finlay, well known to the sports world as Britain's Olympic hurdler, is shown -getting into the cockpit of his Spitfire plane. Fin- lay is now a squadron leader in the Royal Air Force. His squad- ron has shot down more than 100 enemy planes,• according to the records, been invited to talk over present problems of Dominion -Provincial affairs together . . . I looked on the solution of these problems as more important than the final adoption of the report itself." Farm Notes . . Top -Grade Wool Mast Be Clean Since wool is an essential war time commodity, its production should be receiving every con- sideration, particularly at the pre- sent time. It is estimated that thirty per cent.,of wool marketed annually is unfit to enter the top grades, due to the presence of chaff, seeds, burls, and branding materials such as tar and ordin- ary paint, and is thus sold at a considerable reduction in price. • All of these contaminating ma- terials can be avoided if proper management practices are follow- ed. At the Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, •states S. B. Wil- liams, Animal Husbandry Divi- sion, Dominion Experimental Farms Service, the sheep are fed LEFT'S LIKE THAT from slat -fronted, V-shaped feed racks. The slats aro closely; enough spaced so as to prevent the animals putting their heads• into the hay when. feeding, while the top part of the front is board- 4p,tip to prevent seeds and pilaff from falling on their nooks: and backs. When the racks ere being filled the sheep are shut oirt of the pen so that it is net necessary to carry the hay across their backs. While in the ordinary course of events sheep will usual- ly keep burdock grazed so that it is unable to set seed, . there are certain btu -producing plants that are not relished' and should be kept cut. In the late summer and fall whenever sheep are turned into a pasture not recently geuzed it is inspected for bur- docks, whieh are then cut and burned. Since tar and common paint will not scour out of the fleece, a commercial sheep branding, paint is used when sheep are to be marked. This fluid gives a permanent mark and yet is easi- ly removed by the manufacturer in the scouring process. The sheep are kept free of dung locks and urine stained wool by trim- ming at regular intervals. Radio receiving licenses issued in Canada to the end of Novem- ber, during the current fiscal. yc..r totalled 1,355,711 as against'' 1,845,157 on March 81, the end of the fiscal year 1939-40. ;"ENE foci PLAY! Serve Their Favourite Energy" Food RegularTylJ By Fred Neher "i told you, Henry, every one in the house would catch your cold if you weren't nitre careful! I" ' The Life of Winston Churchill -,II Adventure and Politics Winston t'hurchill began. his journ- alistic career as a war correspondent in 1898, attached to the Thirty-first Pun. jab Infantry in their caritpalgn In India against the Patinas. During this periods he was also a voracious reader of elassic llteratere, Tran-f"reed to So WI Africa as a correspond- ent durilig the Boer war, .tlhurchlll chanced to be on a train captured by the ll3oers. Taken to Pretoria. late because unnopu1er" with the British Inilitary because of his eriticisme. Plunging into polities in ducted a unique campaign for a seat in par- liament for Oldham by making speeches from the top of omnibuses. The fiery 26 -year-old captttred popular Caney and he was elected. 1900, Churchill con - The year 1908 was Memorable for Churchill. Ile not only was elected presa dent of the board of trade, but was niar- rfed to Miss Clementine Ilorier. Four children were born to the (;hnrehills, one son and three daughters,