HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1952-01-03, Page 7r -
Taking Care of
Your Plano
There are many natural enetr,ies •
of the piano in your home, But if
a few simple -rules are. observed
even these enemies can be con-
quered, and your Piano can be kept
up to pitch and give you the years
of pleasure for: Which you bought
1. A piano is peculiarly sensitive'
to temperature a n d humidity
ehaegcs. It. should never be placed
near a fireplace, radiator, or regis-
ter. It should be kept away from
windows and outside walls. To give
it a sheltered position close to an
inside wall will probably necessitate
rearranging your furniture; but, as
the piano will probably be one of
the most important decorative focal
points i11 the room, this should not
be too difficult.
If the piano must be placed by
an outside wall, then it is best to
leave a foot of space between the
wall and the piano.
If the room is dry, it is wise to
use a humidifier in the room, but
do not place the humidifier too
close to the .piano.
2. The white keys of the piano
are either of natural ivgzy or plas-
tic. Natural ivory keys' should be
cleaned with a cloth dampened in
lukewarm water to which has been
• added a sinall amount of household
ammonia. When the dirt is off,
',Ash the keys with a soft, lintless
cloth. Be especially careful that
no moisture is allowed to go down
between the keys. There are many
glued parts to the key, and action'44
assembly which could easily be.
damaged. Plastic keys 'play be
washed with a dampened .cloth,
followedby a brisk drying with a"
soft, dry cloth.
Ivory keys should not be washed
more than four or five times a
year. It, is well, therefore, to get
into the habit of dusting the keys
once a week. The dusting attach-
ment on your vacuum cleaner can
do a good job of this because it
will also suck up dust that may be
between the keys, Do not, however,
ever use the vacuum for cleaning
any of the piano's innards. It is
well to treat them as you would
your own and have none but a
professional doctor—in this case, a
piano technician—decide what ad-
justments ire necessary. The black
keys are now made almost univer-
sally of plastic, and a dampcloth
will do the trick. •
` 3. As to cleaning the piano case
itself, the best method is simply
to wash it with a soft cloth, slightly
dampened in clear, lukewarm wa-
ter. Then dry with a soft cotton
cloth and rub the case to restore
its polish, taking care to rub in
the same direction as the grain of
the wood. Leading piano manufac-
turers" advise against using any of
the prepared furniture polishes on
piano cases. Just keep the case
clean and buffed, and dust will not
be so, likely to accumulate and
show.
4. Ever-present enemies of the
piano are moths which are very
destructive to the felt parts. If
they are not controlled, you may
some day be faced with an expen-
sive refelting job. Place a camphor
bag or a sinall .dish of dichloride
crystals inside the case for a few
hours. But don't forget about the
dish before using the piano again,
or the sound effects might prove
surprising.
5. The first year your piano is
. in your home it should be tuned
every . three months, Always em-
ploy the most reliable tuner you
can find and stick with him. After
the first year, tuning when the heat
is turned on in the fall, and off in
the spring, may suffice. The num-
• ber of tunings depends a lot on'
local weather conditions and on
how much the piano is used.
By the way, as you probably
know, a tuner merely sets the ten,
Sion of the strings so that the pits]..'•;
is correct. The technician, on ,the
other band, is trained to regulate
and repair the whole instrument:
6. Placement in a room will have
much to do with the way your
piano sounds. As a rule, a piano will
have more volume if it is not rest-
ing on a rug, and is placed close
Home From The War•—A German architect, turned homebuiider, is shown, left, putting the finish-
ing touches to one wall of the cottage he is constructing in Frankfurt, Germany. Needing a place
to live and lacking funds for conventional materials, the builder used wooden ammunition boxes
that had been stacked in a former German army depot. To give the boxes the necessary strength
to support the roof the compartments designed t hold shells were filled with cement. At right is
a view of the outside of the building cis the architect caulks basement bricks.
to a wide opening between rooms.
However, the size of your room
and the height of the ceilings will
also affect the qual'ty of tone of
your piano. Ifyours is a large
living room, you can experiment
with the placement. of the piano to
get the, best acoustic results. The
weight of your draperies', the place-
ment of rugs and furniture, also
will affect your p'ano's volume al-
though the average individual is
not too concerned with these slight
variations. But do keep framed
pictures, vases, and other things
off your piano. Knickknacks and
hanging crystals may cause jangl-
ing, buzzing noises that will inter-
fere with your playing enjoyment.
You will find .that if you observe
these few rules you can be as
friendly with your piano as you
want because, like a child, it can
never get too much of your playing.
A dairyman was having consider-
able trouble with mastitis in his
herd, says a well-known veterin-
arian. He grumbled about it con-
siderably, for there was no appar-
ent reason for such disturbances.
* * *
The dairyman kept his cows clean
and followed a recommended "fast
milking" program with all the trim-
mings. He fed intelligently and
milked at regular intervals, The
cows didn't have to wade through
inud in the summer or manure in
the winter.
* * *
There were no high door -sills or
slippery floors or deep gutters or
other booby -traps around his barn.
The cows were well bedded to pre-
vent chilling of udders on the con-
crete floor. The stalls were plenty
wide, and partitioned besides to,
keep adjoining cows from trampling
each other. They were long enough
so that udders didn't hang over
sharp gutter edges when cows lay
down.
* * *
The milking machine was kept
adjusted to the proper vacuum and
recommended pulsator speed. In-
flations were changed often and
so made capable of doing a good
milking job. Everything seemed to
be in order, all right, but the cows
continued to give a lot of bad milk,
just the same. The cause? Believe
it or not it was Bang's disease.
* * *
This disease is usually thought of
in connection with abortions • and
breeding troubles, but it can be as-
sociated with mastitis too. This
is no recent discovery, as years ago
Grandpa suspected that "slinker"
calves and "garget" milk were
caused by the same thing.
.* * *
We're a little wiser nowadays, for
we kno.0 that all "Banger" cows
don't have mastitis any more than .
all cows giving bad milk have
Bang's disease. However, any time
that mastitis is appearing without
BY
HAROLD
ARNETT
GtUED TOGETHER
FOIL PROTRUDING AT
LEFT DOES NOT TOUCH
FOIL AT RIGHT, PAPER
CLIPS HOLD WIRES.
SHEETS OF FOIL ARE
ABOUT 3" BY .°
TO ANTENNA
ANTENNA
WIRE
A FIL ER FOR YOUR RADiO WILL SEPARATE
STATIONS THAT COME 1N ON TOP OF EACH OTHER .
MAKE IT AS SHOWN, AND CONNECT IT IN YOUR
ANTENNA WIRE.
apparent cause, it's a good idea to
consider Bang's disease as a pos-
sible factor.
* * *
This is logical enough, for Bang's
germs are often found in the ud-
ders of reactor cows. In addition,
they're frequently found in the
milks produced by such cows. Well,
in the udder they may cause enough
infection to result in symptoms of
mastitis. If they don't cause actual
udder damage, they may serve to
lower natural resistance against
other types of germs. Some of
these are ordinarily harmless, but
become increasingly "hot' as re-
sistance decreases. Regardless'. of
whether they're directly or indi-
rectly concerned, Bang's germs can
still be to blame for mastitis, What
is worse, the disease may be spread
through the bad milk from cow to
cow.
* *
Some authorities still deny that
this can happen, and refuse to class-
ify mastitis as a contagious disease.
However, an English experiment
proved that at least some kinds of
mastitis can be spread through
milk, and that a single cow may be
able to infect an entire herd. More
recently it has been reported that
Bang's germs applied to the ends
of cows' teats may cause severe
cases of mastitis. At best it does-
n't seem that mastitis spread merits
much gambling with possible
causes.
* * *
With this being true, tinexpletined
mastitis trouble may be reason
enough for having a blood test run
on the whole herd. If no Bang's
reactors are found, the testing at
least will do no harm. If infection
is discovered, the owner may be
surprised at the number of reactors
that have also been giving bad milk
at irregular intervals. Anyway, such
a test is often the logical way of
starting a battle against mastitis.
* * *
It's certain that all the high-
priced remedies on the market are-
n't going to cure Bang's disease
or the mastitis it causes. Maybe
you'll have to sell your "Banger"
cows before you can get rid of
your mastitis troubles. We say
"maybe," because we don't know
that Bang's disease is causing mas-
titis in your herd. However, you
probably won't know either, unless
you test, so you might be doing a
little thinking about the matter.
In Milwaukee, a pet mouse
clambered into the coin -return slot
of a pay telephone and had to be
rescued from a maze of wires by a
repairman.
HAD ENOUGH
Granny had volunteered to look
after her four-year-old grandson
while his parents went to the pic-
tures. Tucking hint in bed, she
whispered: ' "Are you ready for
your bei-tiine story?"
"Not +tonight, please, Granny,"
he murrhured.
"Then; shall 1 sing you a lulla-
by?" asked the indulgent grand-
parent..
"No thanks," said the four-year-
old. "No lullaby."
Granny was perplexed.
"Then what can I do for you my
child?" the asked.
"Well," proposed the child, "sup-
pose you take a walk and let me
get some sleep."
Did the Job: To remove bees
from the eaves of his house, Clem
Cable, of Illinois, lit some rags to
smoke- them out—and burned the
whole building to the ground.
v+
Six Small Dots Give "Sight" o Bund
In recent years a great deal has
been done to help blind people be.
come self-supporting and useful
Members of the community,
Yet, incredible as it may seem,
the blind were not always accorded.
such treatment. In ancient Rome
blind boys were considered a total
loss to the community and were
Sold ' into slavery as galley rowers;
blind girls were sold into prostitu-
tion, Even 200 years ago many
Europeans either shunned the blind
or ill-treated them.
The first to alleviate their condi-
tion was Valentin Hauy, an eigh-
tee.nth century Frenchman. When
he was twenty -sic he was horrified
to find that the blind were exploit-
ed to provide crude amusement for
their fellow citizens: groups of
sightless beggars were made to
wear pointed hats and huge card-
board spectacles, were given sheets
of music and ordered to sing for
the amusement of passers-by,
Hauy was repelled by this piti-
ful burlesque, and in 1784 establish-
ed the first school for the blind,
where the alphabet was taught by
means of embossed wooden letters.
Later, in 1817, a blind English-
man named Moon developed a sys-
tem of embossed shorthand which
is still used, but to a rapidly de-
creasing extent,
It was left to Louis Braille, an-
other Frenchman, to give the blind
s'ght in their finger tips. When
aged three, he was imitating his
father, a saddler, by cutting leather.
The sharp knife slipped and sliced
one of his eyes. The otlier eye
was affected, and he soon became
totally blind. His father had him
educated and he grew into an ac-
complished musician. He learned
to read by means of embossed let-
tering but felt that the system
was much too unwieldy.
For years Braille struggled to
develop a better system and ulti-
mately hit upon the six little raised
dots which are transposed to make
letters, syllables, and contracted
words similar to those used in
shorthand. Today the blind can
read easily in Braille and write
rapidly with pointed instruments.
on special boards.
There is a contracted form known
as Braille No, 2. Using this, a
blind reader can finish a book or
printed article in nornxal time.
Braille has brought happiness to
thousands, and though blindness is
a dreadful handicap, there are nu-
merous jobs in which the blind can
more than hold their 'own,
Even before Braille, a few blind
people attainedpositions of emin-
ence :through their own efforts;
Nicholas Saunderson was Professor
of Mathematics at Cambridge and
John Metcalf became a famous en.'
ginger, But most blind people lived
in an abyss of black despair. Braille
is one invention of which it can
be truly said it has no evil reper-
cuss:ons.
Forgetful Brutes
You wouldn't think an octopus
was very clever, would you? But
Professor J. Z. Young, who re-
cently returned to Britain from
Naples, where he has been studying
octopuses, found they are quite
brainy, although their memories
are not as good as they might be.
He discovered that the octopus,
whose brain is about the size of
a man's little finger -nail, is able
to differentiate between the letters
T and L. It can also distinguish
between, squares of varying sizes.
When Professor Young lowered
these signs into the tank of an
octopus 'selected at random, the
creature quickly learned to associ-
ate one letter with food and an-
other with an electric shock, But
there was a snag. Two days after-
wards the octopus had forgotten
all it had learned and the scientist
had to start training it all over
again.
Professor Young confesses that
so far scientists do .not understand
how the octopus, learned to dis-
tinguish between the signs. Ile
estimates it will take them years
to find out.
•
A Scotchman who had a bottle of
whiskey on his hip slipped -on some
ice. On rising, he 'felt something
wet running down his leg. "Hope
it's blood," he said.
Disaster Bri qs Unity to Italy
By Julius Humi
Rovigo, Italy—(NEA)—N ational
disaster brought unity to politically
turbulent Italy—but the unity didn't
last as long as the disaster.
For a short and busy week, all
the country's political parties for-
got their differences. For the• first
time in, the postwar _period,,.,Coti-..
monists, Fascists, Christian Demo-
crats and Liberals got together for
a common cause: the relief of 200,-
000 Italians caught in the Po River
flood, which caused havoc on a
scale unknown since World War
II.
The disaster, which struck with
sudden ferocity, left even the most
ardent of politicians speechless at
first.
From Italy's bigger cities, 10 mil-
lion dollars in cash and tons of
clothing were contributed in a
week. The U.S. promised another
million, and Britain, France, Nor-
way and Austria sent technical aid
and medical supplies.
More than 3000 firemen from all
parts of the country—the equiva-
lent of an entire Italian army divi-
sion—collaborated with .British and
American troops from Trieste, row-
ing, pulling and carrying 100.000
flood refugees to safety. Italian,
British and American planes drop-
ped food and medical supplies; U.S.
helicopters spotted farmers and
livestock trapped by the raging
waters.
In the first burst of enthusiasm,
even the Communist press praised
the work done by Allied troops.
But, as one Italian newspaper
said, "it was too good to he true."
As the situation improved, politi-
• cal fetor got the upper hand again.
At first, the Christian Democrats,
who run most of the relief work,
prohibited some of the motor boats
run by local Communist sectors
from continuing salvage work.
The Communists retaliated with
a vicious propaganda campaign,
charging foul play by sone gov-
ernment agencies in distributing
aid. Shortly after that, police ar-
rested some 30 local officials who,
they charged, had diverted relief
supplies and then redistributed
them as coiling from Communist
sources.
American and British officers
lost patience when politics began
to interfere. A British captain, for
instance, who was. running one of
® MO
the'two large assault boats bringing
in refugees from Adria, had his
official guides withdrawn 'for "poli-
tical reasons." He had to lay up
his boat for a whole day while
authorities quarreled as to which
party should•furnish the guides.
Final blow to the short-lived
national . unity came when Com-
-munists del}landed'- in parliament ..
that the 620 billion lire appropria-
tion for rearmament be diverted to
flood relief. With typical Commun-
ist forethought, they had picked a
way to fight rearmament which
would appeal to the man in the
street.
Despite these squabbles, the dis-
aster relief has been a success, even
if the unity it brought about was
not. More than half the estimated
40,000 cattle in the area were
brought to safety on improvised
rafts.
In the immense movement of
people, with whole towns and vil-
lages evacuated sometimes within
a few.hours, less than 100 lost their
lives—half of them when a truck
carrying evacuees slipped off the
road.
But the damage to the Po Valley,
Italy's . agricultural heartland, will
be a grave problem to the govern -
.
for years to come. Now the
valley's rich farmlands are a muddy
delta of ruin and destruction, and
it will be at least a year before
they can be worked again.
Meantime, it will be an added
burden, not only for Italy's strug-
gling economy, but for the whole
European community working to-
ward reconstruction.
it Ran On A Political Reef — British assault boat, skippered b;
English captain (standing, rear) ferries a.Ioad of homeless Italian:
from flood -ravaged Adria. But the boat had to halt its mere'
missions for a day while local Italian politicians argued as tc
which party should furnish guides for the skipper.
JITTER
By Arthur Phi otter
At.LWN4 NAVE ARE PET
MONKS - TRY AND FIND
TAN TOR THEM!
WbW
WHOS
TAO'a