HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1952-02-28, Page 7'When Fate Plays
Strange Tricks
Among the thousands of acci-
dents recorded every year are
some strange examples of the ca-
pricious tricks that rate can •play,
At Dartford a main fell in front
of a two -toll streamroller, which
passed over liim from head to foot,
His companions were astounded to
see the man get up and walk away.
The machine had pressed him into
soft, newly dug earth, and he suf-
fered no after effects.
Just asstrange a case occurred
in a United States hotel, where an
employee stepped into an open lift
shaft ancl was killed. No such acci-
dent had ever happened before, but •
a few minutes later another work-
man stepped into the same shaft
and landed on the body of his com-
'panion, thus escaping any serious
injury.'
Sometimes the tricks that Fate
plays are terrible ones. Take the
case of the United States Richard's
family—father, mother, and six
chi 1 d r e n. Mathematically, the
chances are a million to .one
against any two people being killed
in motor accidents in a four-year
period.
But one day three children were
killed in a level -crossing accident.
Within the year their father was
hit and killed by a passing car.
Two years after that the four re-
maining members of the family lost
their lives in another level -crossing
accident.
A man who narrowly escaped
death was the motorist who decid-
ed, one cold morning, to warm his
-engine in a closed garage. Over-
come by fumes of carbon mon-
oxide, he slumped against the steer-
ing wheel.
A #eve moments longer and he
would have been dead, but his body.
was leaning against the horn but-
ton, sounding a steady alarm. His
family heard it and arrived in time
to rescue him.
Many accidents have their lighter
side. One hospital had so many
patients brought in to have billiard
balls removed from their mouths
(after betting they could get them
in) that they invented a special
apparatus for dealing with the
problem.
This contrapion was in constant
demand.
In one record week, no less than
four ball- swallowing . ' gentlemen
eame to have them removed.
How Horace Greeley
Took To Printing
Mary (Greeley) sent Horace over
to her father's broad farm in Lond-
onderry to board there during term -
time, since the Woodburn place lay
rearer to a schoolhouse than Zac's.
.There he saw a more ample life
than at home. The Woodburn
patriarch showed off the grandson
to his valley neighbors. A retired
sea captain across the way lent
Horace books and tested him be-
fore company on his reading: "How
do you spell Nebuchadnezzar? Who
fought the .b at t 1 e of Eutaw
Springs?" The boy was now ac-
cumulating an audience. One clay,
when a girl arrived in the village
bearing the name "Asenath," the
elders asked themselves wherever
she could have gotten it, and the
seven-year-old Horace piped up
"Small for its age, isn't it?"
Operation Excavation—Road crews, working in deep crevice cut in the snow, prepare to dynamite
more packed snow near Donner Summit. The scene is near where a crack streamliner recently was
snowbound for several days.
with the answer that the name was
to be found "in the forty-first
chapter of Genesis, verse forty-
five." So, at least, the elders re-
counted it; checking their Bibles
and discovering that the astounding
Youngster was right... .
' One day when he was eleven,
having heard that a newspaper
printer in Whitehall just across the
New York State line was looking
for an apprentice, he had trudged
eight hilly miles to confront him
and be told that he was too young
for the job. Four years later another
opening occurred on the weekly
Northern Spectator over in East
Poultney, a handsome Vermont
valley town that boasted of two
thousand people, six sawmills, and
a stately green. Zac Greeley was
just then on the point of pulling out
for Pennsylvania. Hurriedly, be-
fore it might be too late, Horace
tramped the dozen miles down the
Rutland road to the white gate of
Amos Bliss, East Poultney's town
clerk, drygoods merchant and news-
paper manager. Bliss was out back
of his house planting potatoes in the
spring sunshine.
"Are you the man that carries on
the printing office?" said . a high-
pitched voice close behind him.
Amos Bliss looked up from his
hoe.
Restraining himself from laugh-
ing at the sight, Bliss admitted he
was the man.
"Don't you want a boy to learn .
the trade?" asked the stranger.
'Well," said Bliss, "we have been
thinking 'of it. Do you want to
learn to print?"
• "I've had some notion of it," said
the backwoods boy.
Bliss gazed at him with astonish-
ment, "Well, my boy—but, you
know, it takes considerable learning
to be a printer. Have you been to
school much?"
"No, I haven't had much chance
at school. I've read some."
"What have you read?"
"Well, I've read some history,
and some travels, and a little of
most everything." ti
"Where do you live?"
"At Westhaven."
"How did you come over?"
"On foot."
Bliss who, among his other ac-
complishments, was also on the
side an inspector of common
schools—gave him a quick exam-
ination on his general knowledge
on the spot, and then sent him'over
to the foreman at the 'Northern
Spectator shop across the green.
After a quarter hour Horace
sauntered back to Bliss' garden,
waving a slip of proof paper bear-
ing the foreman's notation: "Guess
we'd better try him," — From
"Horace Greeley: Voice .of the
People," by William. Harlan Hale.
BY •
HAROLD
ARNETT
TllFAiM FRS! 1T
Jo
I don't. suppose many farmers
are regular readers of The Finan-
cial Post—a journal designed to
appeal more to the Bay Street
crowd than' to those of us on the
back concessions. Still, in a recent
issue, under the heading "THEY
DON'T PLAY FAIR" there, is
an editorial that should strike a
responsive note in the , mind of
every Canadian who tries to make
a living by growing things and
trying to sell them at a reasonable
price. Here it is:
* *
A United States Senator from
Indiana has introduced a bill ask-
ing Congress to protect the Ameri-
can farmer from imports of Cana-
dian feed grain.
* * *
With a big crop of coarse grains
and large quantities of winter -
damaged wheat, Canadian farmers
were counting on a substantial
market for feed in the United
States this year. And with more
than normal numbers of livestock,
American feeders would have been
glad to get additional feed sup-
plies from Canada at moderate
prices. But a U.S. Senator from a
grain -growing state objects a n d
undoubtedly he will be able to ral-
ly a pressure lobby in Congress
to back him up.
* * *
This sort of thing has become
very frequent in recent months.
Almost every attempt of the U.S.
authorities to revive international
to ade through easing tariffs and
either restrictions has men with
'opposition from special interests.
At Havana, Torquay and other
trade conferences, official negoti-
ators of tite United States Gov-
ernment have signed solemn agree.
ments to lower barriers. Then, as
soon as new trade starts, some
group in Congress, with a special
bill or some other trick, starts to
block it.
*
This happened with potatoes,
with cheese, with aluminum and
several other commodities in which
Canada has a direct and important
interest. Now grain is threatened.
* * *
Under the General Agreement
on Trades and Tariffs, Canada or
a n y other signatory nation can
take retaliatory action when any
agreement h a s been violated.
Wisely, Ottawa has hesitated to
make this drastic move in the hope
that saner counsel would finally
prevail at Washington. But we
cannot go on hoping forever. In
some way, Canada must make it
clear that when we open our mar-
ket, we expect the other fellow to
do the same.
*
So mucht for The Financial Jost;
and I will only add the comment
that, in a whole.lot of his dealings
with other nations, Uncle Samuel
is something like the wealthy old
farmer who complained, "In spite
of what folks say I'm not a land -
hog. All I've ever wanted all my
life is just what adjoins mine."
Now, here's news about a "some-
thing -for -nothing" offer; and un-
like most deals of that nature the
"something" seems to be really
worth While. From the Ontario
Agricultural College at Guelph
comes word about two of their
publications,. one new and the other
revised. The first is entitled EX-
HAUST FAN VENTILATION,
and the O.A.C. Department of
Publications .has the following to
say about It,
* * *
"The dairy cow produces from
one to two gallons of water per
day in the form of water }vapor,
and unless 'sufficient air is circu-
lated through the stable to remove
this moisture it condenses on the
walls, ceiling, and windows. The
removal of excess moisture keeps
the stable dry, and helps prevent
the bard, the peeling of paint on
the. building, and the corrosion of
metal and electrical fixtures.
"In a new circular entitled "Ex-
haust Fan Ventilation for Dairy
Stables", Professor C. G. E. Down-
ing, Head >of the Department of
Agricultural: Engineering at the
College reveals how such moisture
can be removed by fan ventilation.
He discusses the amount of ven-
tilation required,' the various types
and sizes of ventilation, the lo-
cation of 'fans and fresh air inlets,
and also sutj�p�lies directions on mo-
tors 'and `•vi4ing. Photographs" and
simple diagtiams are used to assist
in the understanding of the direc-
tionS."
* *
The second of these publications
is a revised circular on TRENCH
SILOS, and replaces the one is-
sued by the. College last Summer.
It deals specifically with the lo-
cation, construction, ining, filling
and covering of trench silos, be-
sides supplying measurements for
trench silo construction depending
on the size of your herd.
* * *
I have received copies of both
these circulars and they are very
well gotten up, highly readable,
and really worth while having.
You can get copies of either—or
both—from; your local agricultural
representative, or by writing direct
to the Ontario Agricultural Col-
lege, Guelph.
* * *
Some Canadians think we are
producing as much as we can and
that most of. the arable land in the
country is in use. But increased
production does not necessarily re-
quire more soil. It may be achiev-
ed
chieveed by getting more out of the ex-
isting farm acreage. An announce-
ment by. the National Association
verifies this. The Association said
that if grasslands in the United
States were fertilized as recom-
mended bythe nation's agricultur-
al colleges, the additional fertilizer
would have made possible the pro-
duction of ahnost 3,000,000 extra
tons of beef. Moreover, if adequate
amounts of fertilizer had been ap-
plied to , land devoted to field
crops, U.S. farmers could have in-
creased 'their corn output by 22
per cent, wheat by 13 per cent and
cotton my 28 per cent.
* * *:
If this could be done across the
border, the same should be possible
in Canada where facilities to pro-
duce fertilizer and other agricul-
tural chemicals have kept pace'
with increased demands in recent
years.
Paved Streets With
Platinum Ore
Ever since platinum has been
found essential to the manufacture
of guided missiles and atom bombs
its value has•steadily increased, To*
day it is 'ahnost four times the
price. of gold on the free market,
Yet this rather dull -looking metal
was 'Once considered worthless.
When the Spaniards went to South
America they found, in the region
of the River Pinto, Colombia, that
the Indians made a metal they call-
ed , "white gold" by mixing gold
wit} grains of grey, untarnishable
material, , They christened this
Platino del Pinto, or Little Silver
o£; the Pinto, and eventually the
phrase was corrupted into platinum.
Tlie , Spaniards considered plati-
num a nuisance. And where they
found ore Of gold and platinum
mixed they relined it and t irew
away the platinum, until the town
of Quibdo, capital of the Choco
district, was disfigured by huge
dumps of the stuff.
When passing mule trains churn-
ed the streets of Quibdo into a
quagmire during the rainy season,
the Spaniards salvaged this plati-
num ore and paved the streets with
it!
In time, platinum became the
plaything of chemists and scientists.
In the eighteenth century the
French scientist, Chabaneau, enter-
tained the Spanish nobleman, Count
Aranda, in his laboratory.
"My dear Count," he chuckled,
"just hand me that tiny block." He
indicated a four -inch cube.
"Delighted," volunteered the
Count, eager for some scientific
adventure. But when he found that
the cube would not budge, he ex-
claimed testily: "Come, come,
Chabaneau, it's a poor sort of joke
to screw it down."
World's Mad Scramble
When Chabaneau assured lira the
metal was not fastened. the Count
grasped at it with both hands and
placed it on tite bench. .... ,"
explained the scientist, re
platinum and weizits.a'cut tix-.7
pounds." He cc .:'_ _.. dreamed, 1cwever .__.
day be wcr`_. __..__
he considered it esleee
that he - -. _
scraped his h•_r ' _ _ .
About a .^:.ntu~r an a __: after
the Span arda had used. it as build-
ing material., he new metal be-
c•.me rare. Scientists reaiied that,
like gold, it did not lose lustre, rust
or corrode, was proof against most
chemicals, - and had a very high
melting point. They found it very
useful as a catalyst; a- substatece.
that assists a chemical process
without altering its own nature.
Up zoomed the price. All over
the world began a mad scramble
for platinum, Then someone re-
membered the dumps at Quibdo.
Owners knocked down their houses,
ground the walls and refined the
material to extract the platinum that
was in them. The authorities dug
up the streets and salvaged the
ore. Those who once lived in plati-
num -walled hovels became rich
overnight.
One country bitten badly by the
platinum craze was Russia. The
astute Peter the Great sent his
pet metallurgist, Ivan Diminentf, to
the Ural Mountains to search for
mineral deposits. The cunning Mus-
covite discovered immense deposits .
of platinum, but reported that the
mineral was worthless.
Peter, who knew more about
wood than metal --he was an ex-
pert boat builder --had a miserly
streak in his nature. "For all your
trouble," he told Diminoff, "1
award you a life concession of the
platinum deposits," and he tossed,
in a couple of high Russian orders.
For the next twenty-five years
Diminoff and hisassociates dug
like beavers, only to find that
the Tsar had learned that platinum
was a valuable mineral and re-
voked the concessions he had made
them. Diminoff was not unduly up-
set, however, or he had already net-
ted a cool twenty million dollars.
A later Tsar minted coins of
platinum, at that time worth about
a sixth the value of gold. But
his subjects hoarded these hardly -
come -by pieces. And when in 1920
the price of platinum soared, the
families unloaded their platinum
roubles, and for every dime's worth
harvested something like four dol-
lars!
Because of its indestructibility,
our standards of weights and mea-
sures are made of platinum.
Make -and -break contacts in alt
electrical machinery are tipped with
platinum; radio, television, artificial
silks, synthetic fertilizers, and a
thousand other materials could not
be produced without it.
Happy — Helen Keller, world-
famous blind and deaf author,
beams her happiness at recover-
ing her cherished watch. It has
raised gold bars on the face and
other special construction to en-
able her to tell time by touch.
Miss Keller says it has been
"part of her" ever since she re-
ceived It as a gift when she was
14 years old. Her recent "appeal
to the public' brought it back
from a pawnbroker, at whose
shop it was pawned.
Horne Owners Far From Their Native Canada—A trifle displeased
over the prospects of spending the rest of their Korean tours of
duty in a fox -hole, these two enterprising Canadian soldiers built
themselves this cozy cottage near the front lines. They are putting
the finishing touches on the landscaping around their home built
of ration boxes.
Ey Arthur Pointer
Sir pciww soME P! AGE ANO ea caner
oft I wont rei4k $ YOl1 ALONG NEXT Ttt M
`T eyO OWUis.
•
RANG WITHOUD YOUR GLASSeS 1N AN
AA!~RGENCY CAN SE ACC.OMPLISI.1E 1'Y CROOKING
VG PINCER AS SHOWN, AND READING THROUGH
T NOI;E, WHICH MAGNIFIES 11 -IE PRINT,