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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1931-08-28, Page 3: C IJ 111ff This Bank has always taken an active part in financing the farmer. The requirements of those en- gaged in farming will receive careful consideration by the Manager- at any of our offices. Call and consult him. THE DOMINION BANK ESTABLISHED 1871 SEAFORTIH BRANCH R. M.. Jones - - Manager Savings Department at Every Branch 12$ RENO IN THE MOUNTAINS A CITY OF THE PLAINS Not much more than a month ago Jack Dempsey was in Reno as the promoter of a prize fight which put the name of the town on every sport- ing page in the United States and Canada. Now he is there for another fight, which promises, however, to be no great sporting event. But it has the purpose of again calling attention to Reno and the new liberalism which the town is enjoying. Undoubtedly it is the most wide-open town in the United States, and much wider than most other towns have been at any time . in their history. Gambling houses run openly and legally. Ho- tels and speakeasies sell liquor of all ;kinds without fear. Divorces are granted after a residence of six weeks. Prostitution is open, unabashed and protected.Generally speaking, we admire liberalism, ,but not the Reno brand. It is liberalism for money. Nevada and Reno have cost off estab- lished .standards of decency because there is money in it. We do not suppose they care any more for the bill of rights or any other document esteemed as a creed of human free- dom than any other state or town in the United States. They are just -more shameless. For some years past the chief source of revenue of Reno has been the peo- ple seeking divorces who spent the necessary six months there waiting for their decrees. Most of them were people of wealth. All of them were people of leisure, and practichlly all of them were dependent upon other people for their amusements. They were precisely ,the kind of people who would epend a good deal of money as foolishly as was permitted. It has been estimated that they have thus spent some $4,000,000 a year in Reno which is one of the few habitable places in the state. But last year other states having cast envious eyes upon Nevada began to tinker with their marriage laws in order that they might catch some of the trade. Arkansas and • Idaho passed legisla- tion which would give a divorce in three months instead of six. Then Nevada shot out ahead of all rivals by passing the six weeks' law. Of course it has had the ob- vious disadvantage of reducing by three-quarters the length of time an outsider would probably remain in the state. But this was compensated. to some extent by the fact that mere people would be attracted... In addition, the laws prohibiting gamb- ling were repealed and now there are ,numerous gambling hells provided to dispel the ennui of the seekers after divorce, the thrifty natives as a rule not entering them. In the last mun- icipal elections the present mayor, E. E. Roberts, recommended that the municipality should maintain tubsof liquor •on every street corner, in the fashion of horse watering troughs, to solve the drinking problem. He felt that by this means the people would discover the danger • of drink- ing too much. There is no state en- forcement act, and liquor is sold openly, the vendors taking the chance that alt,; odd federal agent will knock them off now and then. This mis- adventure they regard merely as a fine and do not permit, it to discour- age them permanently. The gambling is defended on the gre-und:.that people will gamble any- way, and that they might as well 'do it legally. They argue that ,crooks and professional gamblers will not flock to Reno because they pre - fey to work .behind closed doors. 'There may be something in this,. too. Certainly Reno would desire to pro- tect her fair fame, such as it is, in the interests of the outsiders who go ;there for divorce. To expose them to continual gypping would be to defeat the purpose of the whole leberal pro- gram. It is not so easy to defend or explain the tolerated prostitution. There is a segregated district called The Crib which, from the putside, has the=appearanee of a stockade. Atten- tion is called to it by the lights and the presence of a policemen at the entrance. Here, according to Henry F. Pringle, one of the editors of The Outlook, three hundred girls work in eight-hour shifts, each of them pay- ing $2.50 a day as rental for the stall she occupies. The municipality receives nothing from this traffic except in taxes. The frequenters have no more protection than they may expect in any other brothel. There is no medical inspec- tion of the inmates. The city pro- vides merely. the policemen, who, no doubt, are expected, to maintain or- der and' prevent visitors from being robbed. The old arguments about the existence of such 'a place af- fording a protection for virtuous girls and of concentrating something ad- mittedly bad in a single place where it is under some sort of supervision, instead of permitting it to spread all over the city, are advanced by those who defend the Crib. But • there seems to be little dotabt that it has lured shop girls and stenographers from their more legitimate _occupa- tions by the much higher returns, and instances in which it has con- firmed somebody's virtue are not a- vailable. There are no doubt many people inReno who disapprove of the new regime and believe it is bring- ing disgrace upon the city. But the undeniable fact is that it hair` brought prosperity and, as Mayo Roberts says: , "You can't laugh that off." On the whole, the most prudent thing for the right-minded people to do seems to be to wait until it is overtaken by the fate that befell Sodom and Gom- orrah. PICTURESQUE NATIVES OF THE DESERT REGIONS That great section of Africa known as the Kalahari Desert is one of the interesting geographical problems of the world to -day. A 'great deal of thought has been given by the Bech- uanaland Government to the possibili- ties of this area, but a mamalogical, entomological, and botanical survey right through the centre of the Kal- ahari had never been attempted, al- though the adjoining countries had all been fairly well covered. The ac- complishment of such a survey would therefore be of greab scientific inter- est and value. Accordingly during l.9,29 plans were made in England, America, and South Africa, to organ- ize an expedition for this purpose. To many friends it seemed' a some- what optimistic enterprise to lead a large scientific expedition, consisting of fourteen white men and sixteen natives, through the, heart of the Kalahari Desert. The result of the expedition is that a collection which comprises 90 different species of mammals, 830 species of birds, 600 fishes, 2,000 lower invertebrates, 21,- 000 insects, and a large and import- ant collection of botanical specimens will be divided between the Field Museum, Chicago, the American Mus- eum of Natural History, .New York, and the British and Transvaal Mus- eums. Apart from the collecting of these various specimens, the inhabitants were of great interest. Actually in the Kalahari, these consist of two tribes, Kalaharis and Bushmen. The Kalaharis are the remains of the Bechuanas who emigrated many years ago. Some of, them are of really magnificent physique, and des - ees tieetly' dei 1�ushxnarif � ; over s't : feet+ Which efeSW et., f Q sanail eallvvtee Peee es It els? no 'live mock of fent'' ireed ently niece; 'Of wile humane j dQ o I P dale g 44;„ e lad{ ¢a ` therm by the.Ottsbeaele the ono with right el t o nth the u seem to, be partiee rjy energeti ,row, tk Pl• ateetl, e IMAM*, a'nd ,to: have' any other object 'ih, life. theeAt 'the same time 'ire eem a cer- to be left alone to lead what appearsteen erneleit oe •a'tion it is; to ;be, a . fairly pleasant a ciatence, however, no prof ee ireet the 'Some of the women we saw were Beellitnan, leeweb and wearing the ostrich -egg shell peekllae,-`brings out the ibul ” ,. es and head ornaments, which we as- Mice of various IMAs are exceed.'. .eertained had been bartered for faxen ingly plentiful, and ow* esteemed se the Bushmen. another delicacy. The ineemerable 'To us the mo •e interesting of the snakes, too, which are found in thee two inhabitant wars the Bushmen. Kalahari must enjoy the mice "and Although n i er pygmies nor dwarfs rats of which there axe thousands. 'they are very email, . the average. Bushmen never cultivate the sai4. height of several women being 4 feet nor.. do they rear domestic animals. 7 . inc,hes, and that of the men 5 feet. Being hunters and nomads, they live Great hunters, their weapons are bows on game, roote, beam and wild fruits. and poisoned arrows. No outsider has They have a distinct sense of humor ever been able to ascertain how the and if anything appeal's to them as poison is' made. It is said that it is amusing, they will jury, clap their made from the poison of the mamba hands, and burst into roars of laugh= and other snakes mixed with the pais- ter. The pipes they emoke are just on of tuberous roots. It is also said ordinary tubes, made of iron, wood, that certain 'beetles are crushed and or horn. The pipes• is lit with the fire used with the poison of the roots. The .stick, a few deep puffs are vigorously Bushmen are extraordinarily expert in inhaled, and the pipeis then passed the use of the bow and arrow, and on to the next man, who rubs it a lit - can shoot very accurately up to fifty tle between his hands in order to yards. They stalk the steinbok, duik- cool it. He too has his smoke and .it er 'or 'bigger game, and wound it with is again passed on. an arrow. After a hit, they do not In July and August, when the os - immediately follow up the game, but trich is breeding, the Bushmen col - leave it for several hours. The next lett as many ostrich eggs as possible. day it is spoored up and, provided; no The cock bird •site• during the night lion or hyena has already taken it, it while the hen is feeding, the hen tak lies there awaiting therm. ing her turn at sitting during the I have seen natives in various parts daytime. Across a stretch of fairly of . Africa and other parts of the open country it is not difficult to see world tracking or spooring animals, the long neck •of the bird apparently but the Bushman has an extraordin- sticking' out of the ground. ary quickness of perception in seeing The Bushmen are not very expert the spoor; he goes along at a jog -trot with tra,ps, 'but they havel certain on the spoor, and in this way can snares which seem to produce fairly actually Tun fifty miles a day. We good results. ascertained quite definitely that they Space is insufficient to describe the can run down such animals as stein- many customs and curious habits' of bok and duiker by keeping on the these people; 'but it is a marvel how spoor hour after 'hour, until eventual- they can exist in a country which con- ly the animal is tired cut and becomes tributes' so little to the comforts and their prey. This. sounds incredible, needs of the human being. but it is an actual fact. This method Our expedition was an interesting is more effectual with the steinbok, effort, but there is atili much to be as, after continual running, its hoofs done in this great area. !However, our split, and the animal is unable to pro- expectations have been more than re- ceed. The 'meat of animals killed in alized; the expedition has been suc- this way, however, in hot 'blood, can- ces.sfully completed, and the scientific not be eaten by white men, for it 'is results and the value of the collections most unpalatable. are gratifying from every standpoint. It is difficult to get in touch with the. Bushmen, for they dislike and are afraid of strangers. In one particular instance, while scanning' the country from the roof of one of our lorries, I espied two Bushmen about a mile a- way in the bush. I sent one of our natives to spoor them up, while I watched from the top of the lorry. It was not until our envoy was with- in a few hundreds yards of them that the Bushmen realized they were being followed. They immediately dodged in and out between the bushes at in- credible speed. Our native followed them for an hour without any result whatsoever. At another time' we saw several Bushmen at a distance -near a pan. Immediately they heard the noise of the motors, they ran like hares and disappeared. However, we eventually managed to get in touch with a few, and to attach them to our camp, for after they have once over- come their fear of the white man, they are excellent to have with one in the bush. Tobacco was one of the most effec- tive inducements we had to offer them and after that, a rug or an o']d shirt went a long way. Money was of no use. We har with us beads of var- ious brilliant colors, but these did not appeal to them in the slightest.. Their greeting is a curious one, ra- ther in the style of the FaFscist greeting—the palm of the right hand held out in front of the face and pass- ed several tines across it. They live in huts made of the branches of trees. These shelters can be made in •a very short time, and in them they live while camp is pitched in one spot; when the camp moves on to another part of the country, they meld another hut on a new Site. If you ask them to tell you where game is, they reply: "There is no game." If you ask them where water is, they say: "There is no water." You may' he dying of thirst but they will not surrender a single drop, although they probably have stored away a number of ostrich eggs filled with the mast precious liquid. They are able to endure great thirst and if they have no water, they pulp up the inside of the Tsamo melon, which forms a very pleasant liquid refreshment although somewhat thick. This is the melon which with other tuberous roots, keeps the game alive clueing the dry period: And 'when the Tsamo melon fails, as it does at cer- tain times, the suffering of both' man and beast is intense. When any member of the family dies, his ,body is buried a foot or so under the ground, his but is burnt down, and,the village moves on. Their method of making fire is with sticks—one long one, jointed at one end, is put into a thicker piece of dry wood, the long stick is twirled around in the hand, boxing into the soft wood making nn inflammable powder, which after a few minutes begins to smoul- der, and then, bursts into flame. They apparently never wash, water is too scarce, and the result is that through the dist one can see the light- er color, almost yellow, of the Bush - mkt' skin. Many of them have the appearance of a true Mongolian type The women have to attend to the supple of water. They go down to a pan with a quantity of 'ostrich eggs in skins on their backs,, very often a baby is in the same bag. With the shell of a tortoise+ they fill the ostrich egg through a hole about half an inch in diameter, and then stop up the hole with a tuft of grass. The eggs are taken 'back to the village and care- fully concealed. The sentiment of gratitude does not exist, among them; neither have they, we are told, much affection for chil- dren. It is known that during cer- tain ver bad times, children have been killed in order to economize in faod and water. When en an animal ie Mee% itot'hing is wasted, even the bones are crushed for the marrow; rind the large sinew that runs downs the back is saved for gut for their' bows and arrows, . axes, and similar Western Fair LONDON • - ONTARIO September math to 19th Color ee to Landon duringvWestern Fair week. Visit our exhibition where you will see the latest and, best in all branches of Agriculture. Shop around in ,the fine stores; enjoy the hospitality of London at -its. best. IN PRIZES AND Over $;,OQ.� ATTRACTIONS write tits Sior ata ry for fes` lakfutsmition Evitries cold* 3,40. 4 { J H SAUN19ERS, W. D. JACKSON, President.' ' : Secretary. 9 ;S! !S CONFESSIONS OF A MUMMY HUNTER About once a year, I begin to feel restless and uncomfortable; I wake up feeling terrible in the mornings; I walk about the house apparently look- ing for something. And then it dawns on me that I am going to have a book. Now, being a professional 'archae- ologist and historian, I take immense trouble with these 'books of mine. Yet generally, when the book is published the critics who wish to be kind say that it is "as entertaining as fictiori," or something of that sort; while those who prefer to seem clever hint that my scholarship must be at fault be- cause my style of writing is more or less readable. For some reason most people think that a serious student of the past must be a person who is blind to the actualities of life; and as for an Egyptologist (which is what 1 hap- pen primarily to be) they picture him as having no relation whatsoever to the ordinary amusements or amenities of daily existence. I remember Professor Maspero, the great savant, telling me of an absurd incident which he witnessed one day --mat the Louvre in Paris. He and Professor Neville, another celebrated Egyptologist, were standing at the top of a flight of steps to receive the ex -Empress Eugenie, who was com- ing up to see an exhibition of recently discovered antiquities. Neville, a very shy and nervous young man, happen- ed to be standing with his back to a wall whereon were hung a row of buckets full of water to be used in case of fire, and as he bowed and. stepped back before the ascending Empress, his shoulders touched one of these fire -pails, and tipped it slight- ly. Neville was wearing a stiff col- lar several sizes too large for him and when he bowed once more, about half a pint of water was tipped down the back of his neck; but he was too shy to reveal his predicament. He con- tinued his dutiful salutations, with the result that another half pirit quickly followed the first. "And, you know," said Maspero to me, "the Empress never knew why it was that a little torment oi'.water issued from the ends of Nanille's trousers. She raised her eyebrows and murmured 'Mon dieu!' under her •breeth; that was all." Neville told me of another mishap, for the details of which he vouched. He was lecturing in Sweden, and while waiting for a train to take him from a small university -town to the capi- tal, he sat down on a grassy mound behind the station; and when he at last boarded the train he found that his trousers were covered with ants. He was alone in the compartment, and he therefore hastily took off his trousers and ,shook them out of the 'window; but as he did so, another train went by, speeding in the oppos- ite direction, and away flew his trou- sers, hooked to the door -handle of a passing carriage. At the next station an elderly lady stepped into the compartment, caught sight of him, and fled back to the platform, screaming. Presently a rail- road .ofecial came along and locked him in. AE the next stop a doctor and two policemen entered, carrying a rug in whioh they wrapped 'him, obliging him to leave the train and accompany them to the police station. The Professor could not speak a word of Swedish, so when he had frenzied- ly acted out in pantomine all that had happened to him, the doctor became very grave and at once) had him tak- en to the local asylum. It was not until the next morning that he obtain- ed his release. 11 was travelling by train one day in Egypt with Somers -Clark, the learned expert on ancient Egyptian architecture, as my companion; and in the cpmpertinent 'Witch us was a Frenclithan wham neither of us knew. At the station of Beni-Suef the train Was supposed to stop some ten min- !DEAUS distinguished by FINER MATERIALS GREATER VALUES J. Our Corset Department heralds another season of pro gress and comfort, with a line of smart new corsetry far in advance of any previous offering in style, material and value: • Plenty of new designs, with such exclusive features as "The Wonderlift effect without the belt," patented button adjustable gaiters. An array of new materials to meet the most fanciful taste in 'tune or pattern ; with carefu'1 regard for the growing importance of correct fitting. And a prig range that places an altogether new mean- ing on the word "value" in good .corsetry. NEMO FLEX. CORSETS LA M.'ARVA CORSETS $2 to $.500 $1.50 to $3.50 N ATURE'S RIVAL CORSELETTES, $1.50 to $3.00 NEMO FLEX CORSELETTES BANDEAUS. $1.95 to $.500 39c to 1.00 WE ARE ALWAYS PLEASED TO SHOW THESE NEW IDEAS. Stewart Bros., Seaforth. utes, and this Frenchman, having a- lighted, strolled out through the main entrance into the street beyond. We watched him go; and when the bell rang for the train to proceed we were startled to find that he had not re- turned. Suddenly we saw a distract- ed figure trying to burst his way onto the platform through the now dos- ed gates. "Quick!" cried Somers -Clark, point- ing to the baggage -rack above us. "There's his bag and rug: we'd better threw them out to him." ii,e seized the Lag and held it out of the window, waving his other hand to attract the man's attention and to show him what we were doing; and then he dropped the bag onto the platform, while I flung the rug af- ter it. We sat back in our seats, and at that moment the door to the corridor at the other end of the compartment opened, and in walked the Frenchman. The man we had seen at the barrier must have been somebody else. Somers -Clark gave me a horrified look, and I felt any own face turning red with confusion.' Suddenly the Frenchman looked up at the empty rack. "My baggage!" he cried out in his native tongue. "Where is it?" "I'm afraid we threw it out of the window," Somers -Clark told him, with a characteristic shrug of his shoul- ders. "I' threw the bag, and this gen- tleman," pointing to me, "threw the rug after it." I was laughing over this story with Somers -Clark one day and the subject led him to tell me two or three little anecdotes relating to the time when he was connected with the building of a new railroad up in the Sudan. While he was staying with the en- gineers at their headquarters, a tele- gram was received one night from the Egyptian stationmaster of one of the new stations which read: "Station being attacked by lions, tigers, bears and 'wolves. Please wire instructions. The chief engineer, an Englishman, telegraphed back: "Your message ridiculous. Wire precisely what you mean." And to this came the humble reply: "Delete tigers and bears." On another occasion, he told me, a telegram was received from an Egyp- tian military officer in charge of an- other isolated rail -head. It said:— "Think stationmaster is being devour- ed by lion in lavatory. Please state correct procedure." When I was irr government serviee in Egypt, before the war, the native officials were all very proud of their knowledge of the English Tannage, and often displayed a desire to con- verse or correspond therein amongat themselves. The above stories have 'reminded me of an occasion 'when I was going to travel from Luxor down to Cairo with the late Dr. Mace, one of the curators of the Egyypptian • gal- leries ,in the Metropolitan Museum of New York, and I halve looked up a certain sheet of paper preserved amongst my treasured archives. It is my Egyptian secettary's note to the stationmaster at Luxor asking him to reserve accommodations for us on the night train. At the head of the paper in his message, reading: "Kindly reserve two sleeping -baths" (berths) "on the train two -night" The stationmaster sent the note on to the wagon-lit in- spector, with the words: "Please make the needful and obliged." The inspector forwarded the note to the .leet-int hdent, with the endorsement: 'Please command"; and that official returned it after adding: "Yours truly, are reserved." The stationmas- ter then received the note and for- warded it to my secretary, with the message: "Dear, You find your re- quire and oblige"; and my secretary sent it on to me with the final en- dorsement: "Sir, the baths is ready." Glancing tlerough this particular file, I find a petition sent by some Egyptians who wished to employ the handsomest terms he could find in the dictionary, and therefore began his letter "Honoured Enormity!—prithee goggle not at my beseech." Lord Cromer, however, could go one bet- ter than that; for he told me he once received a letter addressed simply "The Lord, Cairo." Archaeologists engaged in excaya; tions are often called upon to conduct travelling royalties and celebrities a- round their works. Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria came to Luxor one year, and I was presented to hrm in the hall of the main hotel, in the presence of a number of German officers all stand- ing like ramrods around him. When I made my bow I did not expect that he would bow too; but unfortunately he did so, with the result that our two heads came together with a shat- tering impact, and as I staggered a- way I saw him fall backward 'into a group of flower -pots. One of our native workmen, who was engaged upon the excavations, and, of course, could speak no Eng- lish, told me that he had been in the service of an Englishman once before up in the Sudan, and added with a proud smile that he had been given an English name. I asked him what it was, and he replied "Prize -idiot." This man, by the way, had the pe- culiarity 'of being honest, and he rose to a position of trust in our works; but unfortunately he had a habit of sending in complaints against his na- tive superiors, these being written for him by a certain scribe whose knowl- edge of English was somewhat scan- ty. .I have kept three of these docu- ments. The first told how the Head Watch- man had comae to him one day and had sent him on a message, but on his return he had found him "drink- ing kind of intoxi ,tions," whereup- on, said Prime -idiot, 'the beeamne too angry and insulted me with his feat, • so pray peep through this matter." The second complaint reads: "Your Inspector has become so proud of himself, thinking he is the only chief one who can do as he likes. Also he is a gallant and tries to lead' the good women a fast life." And the third, the gist of which is that he wants to go back to his home in Sudan, says: "Born in 'a tropical country, and hal- ing spent many years in Egypt, my body has become damp, and now I am anxious to return to my own place. As you have done me so many kindnesses I hope you will recommend me for employment there, as I am well convinced that the most belotved thing to you is my welfare." I could go on for hours telling the tales which come into my mind from the storehouse of my Telemetry; but these few, taken at random, will serve my purpose, which is to suggest that the life of an archaeologist is, as a mattes of fact, as closely in touch with the lighter side of things as any- body's is. A PAGE FROM "LIFE" A New York judge rules that a nov- el published recently is not obscene. The publishers are expected to appeal the case. An officer sent to investigate a re- port of unclad bathing near an east- ern summer resort has been missing two weeks. Evidently the report was true. A college president says that in Europe students are trained to think. while in America students are train- ed to remember. Well, suppose one can't remember what he was think- ing? hink-ing? The commission has made the final touches on the Wickersham report, ac- cording to a newaapapeT item. It,atow goes to the President to be measured for a pigeon -hole. Eight women in Oklahoma wee played bridge for money were sen- tenced tot bake biscuits for their has - bands. The question arises: Should a husband be punished for the law violations of his wife? Alienists have established that a Washington student who abet ail of- ficer was crazed by too muds study. The decision will cause little or . alarm among estate. ` NV'e are asked todeny the rumor that the two scientists who r acbt an alititudb of 52,0$0 feet *ere one of that ilew ` 'blf lnaile. The Cees Bataan ettelie : is k rel& •in ever* tlahal iiotk r: is about right -,one next door At tear where you go. aYsk3. �YFknt9r'ai m'ta': N.,a^a ` : i is x