HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1955-12-22, Page 3TNECabiert SPORTS COLUMN
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• The nicest season of the year is not
just for the sina11. ones who believe •that.,
there's a real Santa Claus. There is a
real Santa Claus for all of us 4n the.
spirit of a season, born in the manager,.
the stranger for whom there was no
room at the inn.
Shadow-box with the calendar as long as you can, there
comes a day yesterday, today, tomorrow — when that
old Christmas feeling has you and you're in there .scramb-
ling around the stores and the flower shops and the like,
trying to do some of the things you should have done
earlier.
For that strange thing, the Christmas spirit, which
materializes out of empty air, has suddenly caught at your
heart -strings, just as it caught at .the almost dead -and -buried
sentimental impulses of Scrooge, and suddenly wrenched
him out of his miserable, miserly and unfriendly life to
brine joy.and happiness to the Cratchits. That's the power
of the Christmas spirit, that unexplainable power that has
outlasted the centuries, wars, hatreds and privations:
It is a power that has you wishing you could in some
way say, "Merry Christmas" once more to all everywhere.
Because that is the way it is at Christmas.
Before this week, you were perhaps determined to ad-
here to a belief that Christmas is for the youngsters only,
that you -weren't going to plunge into the happy, jostling
maelstrom of Christmas shopping, that you were going to
spend the weekend just as though it was any other weekend.
Don't fool yourself. The spirit of Christmas is "gwine
to get you" in the end. By Saturday night. you'll probably'
be wearing white whiskers, and sleigh -bells for a necktie.
You may find yourself sending barrels of apples, great bags
of nuts and candies to the children's hospitals, the boys'
clubs and all the other places that can use Christmas cheer.
We know you're going to do this, or something like
this, because the spirit of Christmas is far too strong to
be resisted. And too strange to be explained, this once -a-.
year surge of charity that represents the human heart
functioning at its beautiful best.
Your comments and suggestions for this column will be welcomed
by Elmer Ferguson, c/o Calvert House, 431 Yong* S,., Toronto.
CaLVttt DISTILLERS
AMHERSTBURG, ONTARIO
LIMITED
Swallows Diamond
Chased by Crooks
A convict in a Cairo prison
has tried to commit suicide by
swallowing sixty five -inch nails,
two files and three razor blades.
The attempt failed. An opera-
tion saved him and to -day he
la still serving his sentence.
Some people are human ode
a -t ,.•,.-- . ........�..:.rvrrac to
can . swallow They have startled
the medical worldby making
hearty: meals off such strange
dishes as knives, toothbrushes,
watches and chains, spoons . and
nails.
After children, convicts are
the most enthusiastic swallow-.
err of odd articles. A Dartmoor
lea -honer swallowed a 7 -inch
ong door handle. Two months
previously he'd swallowed parts
et two forks and a dessert-
€poon:
An assortment of nails, screws,
'bolts, pins, washers, tin -tacks
',lad , paper clips weighing three
end a half' pounds were removed'
in 1947 • from the stomach of a
(convict in Kansas State prison.
file recovered.
A , , schoolboy swallowed the
key -to his tuckbox which he
bad placed in his mouth while
unpacking it. A friend had given
him a slap on the back and
down had gone the key, ring,
label and all. The subseqent op-
eration for the removal of these
serticles was described as a me-
dical triumph.
A jeweller's employee acci-
dentally swallowed a valuable
diamond. The man refusedeto be
(operated on. He was brought by
bis employer before a magi-
€stsate, but the magistrate could
do nothing.
The case was reported in the
newspapers. Within a few days,
two attempts were made upon
the man's life by thieves who
wanted to get the diamond. For
months afterwards, he had an
exciting time dodging amateur
surgeonswho wanted to operate
on him. The diamond. was never
retrieved. .
Doctors point out, that once -I
lodged in the windpipe or ,�,j,7
,,.-t�..d,a•.,c:._...fp-.t... ,,.vio5'wwCd31 i""�.dlL.1
fatal complications, - so swalle,w
ing ..experiments on these, lines
are not recommended.
Still Alive
Forest fires recently got with- ,
in three-quarters of a mile of
the world's oldest 'living thing
—the 4,500 -year-old, 267 -ft. -high
General Grant sequoia tree in
California's Sequoia National
Park.
Fifteen hundred fire fighters .,
fought the fires for many hours,.
but two villages had to be evac-
uated before the flames were
quelled. The great tree, whose
base is 107 feet round, was saved
but even had the flames reached
it, it would probably have sures
vived.
The resistance which these
giant sequoias—or redwood trees
—offer to fire is astonishing. As
an experiment, a slab of sequoia
bark, six feet long, two feet
broad and 18 inches thick was
placed in a sawmill furnace
some time ago. It was surround-
ed by dry pine and the whole
set on fire.
When the fire died down it
was found that, although all the
pine had •burned toashes, the
sequoia bark remained practi-
cally unharmed. •
ee
CURB -SIDE VACUUM CLEANER—Streets in Washington are being
cleaned these days by an ingenious, device with a tremendous
appetite for rubbish. It's ° a Jeep with a six-inch suttion hose
that snuffs up the day's accumulation of litter, chews it to bits
rind then 'blows the pulp into the burlap bag et the sear. lt.
cleans the gutters about six times as fast as the trilditional
white -wing with a broom and pushcart.
;e
COMIN'' THROUGH - A midget' clown directs 'traffic" between
the legs of stilt artist Henry Lewandowski in Ascot, England.
Photo was taken during rehearsals of the Bertram. Mills Circus
Lewandowski's stilts, are 34 •feet high.
She Has a Trumpet
In Her. Throat
Ethel Merman,' U.S. star of
"Annie Get Your Gun," ' '`Call;
Me :Madain" and other . big hits;
has no illusidns. aboutthe voice;
that made her, an ace ...:blues -
singer. She was born with it
big, she says, and ever since the
age of five she's' been selling it
for all she's' worth. When she.
was : a baby and people in,;the
next room or down the street.
heard her they'd say, "That's
Ethel."
The description" of it she likes
best is "a doll from Astoria with
a trumpet in her throat." When-
ever she felt • throat; trouble
coming on she'd go to Dr. Stu
art Craig, who'd say: "I can't
even see your "vocal chords. -
They :must • be somewhere `'down
in ; your calves."
When George.. Gershwin heard:
"Girl Crazy",he, told her "Dont,
let anybody give.' you a ' singing
lesson. It'll ruin you." And she's.
never ,had -a lesson in her life.
She's a . regular gum -chewer,
she confesses in her breezy
autobiography, "Don't Call Me
Madam", and many• a time she's,
found herself • playing a whole
scene with it still parked- inher
cheek.
The same with "peanut, brit-
tle" 'taffy. Comedian Willie
Howard would hand her • large
chunks .:of it • and bet her that
shecouldn't eat it while singing,
but she'd go on singing "I Got
Rhythm," ' holding a note for
sixteen bars with a big .chunk
in the ,side of her mouth.
She likes modern art -some of
it but every time she went to
Billy Rose's place and. saw his
Picassos they nearly drove her
out of her„ mind. When she.
heard what 'he'd paid for one,
a' still life of fruit, she' told his
wife, Eleanor Holm, "Fifteen
thousand bucks! I could buy all
of ' that fruit for thirty-fiv
cents, and eat it besides!”
She tells some merry stories
of fellow celebrities. Whenever
composer Cole • Porter and - a
buddy of his see' Irving- Berlin
coming they look at their wrist-
watches, make a five -dollar bet,
then start, on some topic — any-
thing from Mount ' Everest to
;the Dalai Lama. The bet is based,
on the number of minutes it
will take Irving to bring the .
talk round to one of his own
songs. The average is less than
five.
Onenight during the run of
"Anything " • Goes," when she
spotted the famous conductor
Toscahini out front, she went to..
her dressingroon?, sent a tele-
gram to the show's musical di-
rector saying, Sorry to have to
say it, but your direction was
terrible, signed it "Toscanini,"
and so timed it that it was de-
livered during the interval,
For the last half of the show
the jazz maestro sweated heavi-
ly, glared at his musicians, and
kept looking back at Toscani-
ni's seat to see bow he was tak-
ing the music!
During rehearsals of "Du Bar-
ry Was a Lady," • the director,
Buddy De Sylva, engaged a
dancer to dance with Betty
Grable, who made her Broad-
way debut in it, and told him:
"When you sing the song, `Every
Day Is A Holiday,' with Miss
Grable, hold her hand and look
into her eyes as if you're' really
in love with her."
"I ain't, suh," said the boy.
"I'in in love with a lil' brunette
gal in my home town down in
Florida, sell. I just cein't do it'r
"What kind of a show is this
tither functions in motion. The
robot moved like a lean through
the rhythm of signnals. It could
even speak tbreugh as loud
speaker, answering ' questions
"heard" through microphone
ears, Its eyes consisted of photo-
cells lit by electricity.
It wasn't the only robot mur-
derer. In 1946 another, construc-
ted by a young Milwaukee en-
gineer, had in its head and body
200 email electronic valves which
enabled it to perform various
acts. When the inventor, in the
course of his experiments, wan-
ted to adjust a screw on -its arm,
the complicated apparatus failed
and the robot crushed its maker,
who was rushed tohospital with
serious internal injuries and died
on the way.
Ih 1951 Bristol Polytechnic
students built out of metal
scraps a robot which they chris-
tened _ "Dynamo. Joe." They
taught it to ride a bicycle
through the streets, turn cor-
ners, ,move its head right and
left and wave to passers-by.
A" ight-club proprietor receiv-
ed - a million Belgian francs —
about $150,000 — for "relays"
of his • jazz band comprising
three jazz -playing robots. They
rose ghost-like from their seats,
puffed their' cheeks, rolled their
eyes in ecstasy, moved each fin.„ -
ger to play their instruments:,—
guitar,
nstruments.guitar, drum and trumpet • area
bowed at the end, a•
The, shape of things to "eon $,
the probable effects of automa-
tion on employment and leisui,
are outlined in this informative
book about devices that almost
"think" for themselves and have
actually piloted a Skymaster
across the Atlantic and landed
it on sound -wave remote con-
trol. '
Babies Play With
Live Pythons
anyhow?" Grable stormed. "I'm
not that repulsive."
When. -Ethel and Jimmy Du-
rante were signed up for a show
called "Red' Hot and Blue" her
agent, Lou •Irwin; ' and Jimmy's
Lou Clayton, forgot '-to " specify
who was to get top bilking. Vin-
ton Freedley, the director,
couldn't have cared less, but • the
agents "cared -like crazy" in
case it got around that they'd
for once forgotten.
Durente was away roaming
Italy . at thetime, so, thinking
he could straighten things out if
he could reach Jimmy by trans-
atlantic 'phone Freedley asked
Clayton where he was " staying;
• "I think hes in a place called
:Rome Capri," said Clayton•
Vaguely.
Freedley sat up till five a.m.
getting the- U.S. Embassy • in
Rome, who `told him •;Jimmy had
been there but was now in. Ca-
pri, Getting him at last in Capri,
Freedley said: "We're • having
,.•-Y�ivrabsc""wVY'L7r--CAB piTtY'l+�,r""+ar....s«,..�
right on'the Deutschland and''
come home.. It leaves from Ham-
burg." .
"Not me!" Jimmy said, think
ing '•it was a dirigible. "I won't
fly." It.. cost Freedley forty dol-
lars to explain 'that it was a pas-
senger ship.
Mechanical Man
Murdered Maker
A . young engineer, Roland
Schaffer,was sitting ee his desk,
400king through ;d'rawings and
calculations, when he heard a
suspicious noise turned round.
The ;robot he had created was
marching straight towards him,
swinging an iron club normally
used .'for forging. Rigid with
fear, he ,could have had no time
to realize the' danger. whichcon-
fronted him.
He must have stood hypno-
tized, unable' to make any .coun-
ter-move. The' next moment, the
robot smashed the 'head of his
master with the club, then. com-
pletely shattered the laboratory
installations. Only after part of
the: 'wall had collapsed under
ferocious blows did the attack
weaken and the robot, worn out,
collapse ',beside its victim . .
A fantasy of science -fiction?
No, fact, according' to Rolf Etrehl
in a serious: survey of electronic
and 'other modern marvels, "The
Robots Are Among • Us:" This
marvellous 'robot, which looked
like. a med'iaev'al knight, had
been exhibited at the Chicago
World'Fair in 1932. It could walk
by stamping rather violently on
the ground, move heavy objects,
hammer. nails, clean windows
azidexecute other odd_ jobs, forge
pieces. of iron, saw tree trunks
and pile up the boards,
Theabove account of the grim
murder was in a police report,
which concluded that the robot
was set in motion by mistake
and only stopped . its destructive
activity when its accumulators
ran down. Inside its body was a
special "organ" which controlled
the whole mechanism by gyro-
scopes driven by electricity, to
obtain its balance. Electricity.
and compressed air were its
motive power.
In the head was hidden an,
aerial which received wireless
signals from a special transmit-
ter. Through the aerial went
the current shutting off the com-
pressed air apparatus, A certain
electric signal allowed eompreS-
sed air to flow into the right
arni, which then lifted . itself;
another current moved the left,
a third the legs, a fourth set
ISSUE 195e
While the mothers of Mith-
abhar, India, are slaving over
their fires, preparing meals for
the menfolk, they give their
babies cobras to fondle. And
through the doorway comes the
happy laughter . of toddlers play-
ing tug o' war with pythons.
For this village is the home of
snake -charming, and the young-
sters expect no other playmate.
All the menfolk are snake -
charmers", and all the boys - ap-
prentices.
Snake -charming has become
more of a religion than a pros
fession with the people of
thabhar. They style themselves
"protectors of snakes," not pub-
lic entertainers.
At the time of its capture, a
snake is "promised" its release
en a certain date—and the pro-
mise is always kept. Until then,
while it is in the charmer's serv-
ice, it is treated as one of the
family. Its venom is not re-
moved.
Many snake -charmers become
very fond of their snakes, and
will take them everywhere with
them.
Once a year, they go in pro-
cession to pay their respects to
their Swami, the Grand Master
India, who claims to be over a
hundred years old.
He is also their Chief Examin-
er. He closely studies their per-
formances, and, if their work
is of high standard, he will pre-
sent ,them with certificates
stating them to be fully trained
charmers, and qualified to dis-
pense medicines and suggest
charms against snake -bite.
Although the snakes are deaf,
in the ordinary sense, they react
to the vibrations of any tune—
so long as it is played on the
traditional pipe.
COMIC AILING — Buster Kea-
ton, 60 -year-old frozen faced
comedian of silent movies,
hospitalizedby a serious gastro-
intestinal disorder.
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING
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• QUANTITY of used school desks in ex-
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Secretary Medora and Wood School
Area Glen Orchard. 143 u s k o k a.
Ontario.
FOR Sale No. 1 cob corn and No.
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I will --deliver by truck anywhere in
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Quality ..and quantity guaranteed. I
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Ridgetown, Ont.
PRICED TO SELL
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MEDICAL
POST'S ECZEMA SALVE
BANISH the torment of dry eczema
rashes and weeping skin troubles,
Post's Eczema Salve will not disap-
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Ing eczema. acneringworm, pimple6
acid foot eczema will respond readily
to the stainless odorless " ointment
regardless of how stubborn or hope-
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Sent Post Free on Receipt of Price
PRICE $2.50 PER JAR
POST'S REMEDIES
889 Qyeen St. E.,
.5.. Corner of Logan
TOR
MEDICAL"
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WANTED..; EVERY SUFFERER, OF
RHEUMATIC PAINS OR NEURITIS
TO TRY DIXON'S. REMEDY.
MUNRO'S DRUG STORE •
335, Elgin Ottawa
$1.25 Express Prepaid
PEP- UP"
TRY C' •One
'One dollar at. druggiC sts TABLETS.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR
MEN AND WOMEN
MAKE 51000 in your spare time. Be
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SNOWSHOES: All sizes and styles.
Bates Humane" Snowshoes Harness.
$Pat.) No more blistered toes! :Folder
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Snowshoes. Dept. W. Metagama, Ont.
SAWDUST. Turn it into cash. 49
methods. Full instructions 51.00. R.
Marshall, 1639 St. Luke Rd., Windsor,
Ont.
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PATENTS
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all countries.
AN OFFER to every inventor List of
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ente Attorneys 273 Ramsay3C Banks St eTOtt Ottawa.
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