Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1935-08-30, Page 5x • . ti • � eat rt .•1 ismwWe're .0* an a W><ry.—�!144q0*Rouwndl of. 'Miyys y,l�ti ti►, Melody', ifl ` A SA TIC RRR-GQ^ROUND" • JAG , BEE ?l 'Y, ' Rfamous riot AY11xQNstar; DNANCY GAlirllQL, •GENE -.. . ALSO -44(K QAKIE and SPENCER R TleACY, in "LOOTING FOR TROUBLE" 'With• CONSTANCE NDAY„ TUESDAY, WEDNI rS. BING CROSBY, W. C. FIELD'S: -JOAN. BENNEtrr, GAIL" PATRICK "MISSISSIP,PI" ALSO-0LAUDETTE COL BERT, CHARLES' BOYER, in "PRIVATE WORLDS" SPECIAL MATINEE MONDAY;SEPTEMBER 2, AT 3 I.M.' $idflneea 'Sat. And 'Itliday-!�8 p a i. Pwea shawlwg y, 7410 and 3416. Blind Man's Conquest (By . Harris Turner in . Maclean s Magazine.) . A short tithe ago, anyone Who sug-' Captain E. A. Baker, O.B.E., M.C., gested employing blind persons in the Croix de Guerre, came home, they ordinary processes of an ordinary in- + were inoculated. with the 'idea that •dwstrial plant would have been con- blindness, whether caused by •war, sidered guilty of misepphed humor; accident, disease, or when acquired, but to -day there is an official of the was a handicap which could .in a +Canadian National Institute for the great .measure be overcome. They Blind whose chief activity lies in the were .graduates of St. Dunstan's, Sir -direction of +placing blind men and Arthur Pearson's famous training -women in industrial and Commercial school for the war -blind. In Toron- life. J. F. Chink, himself sightless to they found that a small group of and holder of the impressive title of civilian blind people under the lead - 'National .Placemetlt Officer of the ership of ,S,'0. Swift, Dr. C. R. Dick - 'Canadian National 'Ins+titute for the son, C. W. ;Carruthers 'and a few Blind," not only attempts to find em- others had for years been making an ployment for the blind; he frequent- effort to establish something in the ly accomplishes the task. Peter way of a national organization de - Rymer, the -blind one -handed youth signed to extend the social, educe - who operates a drill -press in an auto- tiona1 and economic scope of the blind Mobile plant, is the most recent wit- beyond the limited sphere which pub- ness to 'his success. lic indifference .had set apart for it. ,Emancipation of. the Blind , What Canada Has Done By no means all the blind Cana- Under the presidency of L. .M. •dians who could be employed are Wood; the aniibitious blind civilians working; but in all,, parts of the Do-' and the enthusiastic blind Soldiers minion, blind men 'are employed as created the Canadian National In - armature winders, cushion stuffers, stitute for the Blind. ,"Tire( was 17 operators of punch and drill presses, years ago.. To -day the activities of makers' of brooms and mats, tenders• this organization, still -under the of • sausage machines, and at many leadership " of L. M. Wood, spread either jobs. Blind girls and women from Coast to Coast. Through the .are employed as switchboard opera- progressive vigor of the Institute, tors; typists, garment workers, knit- Canada in some respects has no eq- ters and candy wrappers. Both blind ual in method or results in dealing men and !blind women operate candy with the problems of the blind. In .and tobaceo stands, • canteens and no other country has such success cafeterias, in practically all the larg- attended efforts to "place" sightless er cities of 'Canada. ' workers in private industry. The It was not ever thus. In fact, dur- two garment factories in Toronto and ing the long .centuries_ required by Winnipeg in which blind girls and the human race to climb up from its women manufacture house dresses primitive state, it was not anything and aprons' with the .use of power like thus. In the midst of social, .po-• sewing machines, are models of ef- litical and industrial revolutions, the ficiency' which :are duplicated no - little world of the blind stood still. where else. In Ontario alone there Until about 150 years -ago, the blind are forty-one cafeterias operated by -were considered about as much use sightless men and women inIndus- to society as creeping paralysis to a trial establiSliments, and scores of hurdle -racer. There was never a lack sightless merchants conduct' paying of sympathy for • them, but no one commercial enterprises in many of knew what to do for them and so no: the cities of Canada under the super - one did anything for - them. They vision of the Canadian National In - w -ere not supposed to be capable of,stitute for the Blind. being educated; they were not .con- The Institute has a splendid lib- sidered employable; their choice of ; nary in Toronto and another in Win - occupations lay between beggary- anti' ripeg. • Its home teachers can be starvation. 'In -civilization's 4,000! found teaching Braille and half a sears of marching toward its uncer-.J dozen fferent handicrafts in the tain goal, the' number of blind men ,most re ote parts of the Dominion: and women who became anything Its propa ' da for the saving of more than "just another blind per- sight has resulted in the establish - .son" would not 'make a list as long ment of sight -saving classes in many as the roll of Canadians who won schools in the larger cities. It pro - the Victoria Cross in ;the Great War. , mates educational, commercial, in - The' emancipation .of the blind be- dustrial, hygienic and recreational ac- gan with the establishment of a tivities everywhere throughout the school in Paris by Valentin -Haug, . Dominion. It is the foundation upon who first stumbled -oh the idea that which scores of blind Canadians have the blind had capabilities which could rebuilt their shattered lives. be developed and latent brains that' If all this conveys to the public could be prodded into activity. Fifty the impression that the, 7,300 Cana - years after. .Hauy's school had been dians who -live in permanent dark- " in operation and others more or less- ness are all happy, prosperous and modelled upon it had been establish- contented, that impression is far ed in England, Germany, Austria, from accurate. There are many a - Russia and the United States, Louis mo•ng the blind population who, Braille in France and Dr. Moon in through age, infirmity or tempera - England invented embossed forms of mental unsuitability, cannot be ab - 'type which openedthe vast realm of 'sorbed into the commercial, indus- literature to the blind citizens, of the trial or professional life of the na- -world. tion. There are many now unemploy- For some years after the general ed who could be looked after under adoption of `Braille' there was an less severe 'economic conditions but era of inspiration for the blind. The 'for whom a place cannot be found in the present circumstances. There is a certain amount of prejudice and a larger percentage of ignorance and misunderstanding, in the sighted world to be overcome before the feas- ibility ofmploying sightless persons is generalli .admitted. There is need of generous public support. There is the desirability of 'bequests toward the formation of a foundation fund which would ensure tithe uninterrupt- ed continuance of the programme which has been fairly effective as far• as it has gone. There is an oppor- .tunity before the Canadian people to establish their°'nation as the one iri which the problems of the blind are more sensibly, scientifically and ade- quately dealt with'than in any other country.. ' (Condensed (roma 1 arper's Magazine tit Reader'. Digest.) + ',here is a story which everyone in Europe has heard at least once. , It recounts an oec sion when Mussolini entered a mtotin picture theatre in- cognito._ In the course of a news- reel his own image appeared on'the screen. Instantly •everybody rose and cheered. Only the dietater remained seated. His neighbor thereupon pok- ed him in the ribs. - 0You'd better stand up, n► Y friend," he said under his breath. "We all .feel ,the way you fie ab rut it, but it's not safe to show it;" That is how it is told in Italy. The identical story appears in `"Bolshevik garb, with 'Stalin's name, and it is turned' Aryan by putting Hitler, ipso the anecdote. Although it is' not a particularly funny story, there are people to -day in IS•iberian exile, in German concentration camps, and en Italian penal islands because .they could not resist telling it within ear- shot of a patriotic informer. Indeed, one of the curious by-pro- ducts of dictatorship in Europe is the bootlegged humor—a sad, slight- ly mad humor that flourishes in the shadows of secrecy and is watered by its own tears. Wherever free speech • has been entirely destroyed, these illicit, ,politically off-color jokes are passed from mouth to mouth, of- ten in fear, , atirays with misgivings. And all this stifled laughter is sig- nificant. Every story carries a hint of rebellion smoldering under the surface. .In both 'Germany and the Soviet Union 'there are analogous anecdotes ridiculing the intense propaganda of their ;press. • •One 'Soviet version runs as follows: President Kalinin was making an impassioned speech in Moscow about the great economic progress of the. ;Soviets., !W!ith particular 'emphasis he described the new 20 -story sky- scrapers on Karl Marx Street in Kharkov+.. . "Comrade Kalinin," a worker. in the audience rose naively ,to • cgrrect the speaker. "I live in Kharkov. Ev- ery day I walk on Karl Marx Street but I have never seen such *kyscrap- ers—" 1 . ' "That's the trouble with workers like you," Kalinin shouted angrily. "You waste your time in promenad- ing the streets instead of reading the newspapers and learning what is going on in your country." One of the first anecdotes I heard pn arriving in 'Moscow in 1928 sug- gested forcibly the discontent and 'bitterness bottled up in the popula- tion by fear. In the following years' I heard it innumerable times until it lost its satirical edge. But in 1934 it was ,proffered to me in a scared undertone in'"Berlin, with German ra- ther than Soviet characters, and the transplantation somehow restored it9 cutting edge. The German ver - Bien had five ordinary Germans sit- ting in a cafe, each thinking his private thoughts about his private serrows: One of them sighedy,• 1•ugu- briously; " •another• groaned- al d, .:a thirer shook his head in despair, a four$:h choked down tears. The" fifth in a frightened voice, whispered: "But my friends, be careful! How often have I told you not to discuss politics in public!" The .Russian form of another dote found in both countries thus; . Two men are engaged in conversa- tion on a street corner. One of them forgets himself and speaks his mind: "This government consists of rascals and fools. It is starving the popula- tion; everything is going to rack and ruin!" At that point a policeman,seizes the offender. The man's fried ar- gues: ",Officer, don't take this fel- low seriously. He is crazy and not responsible for what he says." "Huh," snorts the policeman. "If he's crazy how does he understand the political situation so perfectly?" The richest supply of contrabrand humor, however, arises inGerm y from the persecution of the Jeew �- In one anecdote Hitler is • raking a passionate speech abdut the war. He insists that the Jews were re- sponsible for Germany's defeat.• In the front row a man of unmistakably. Semitic origin nods his head in agreement. "There," Hitler exclaimstriumph- antly, "even a Jew must agred with what I am saying." Then he ad- dressed the man. "Tell us, in what way was your race responsible for our defeat?" ' . "Simple!" the Jew answers. "There were too many Jewish officers." "But you are mistaken," says Hit- ler. "There were no Jewish' officers in the German army." "Aber nein--II meant too , many Jewish officery in the French and American armies," the can- corrects him. Growing economic distress netted this one: Ah unemployed worker, hungry and anemic looking, pauses on a street corner and takes in an- other notch in his belt. A Nazi mil- itiaman barks at him: "What site you doing?" The worker looks at him• sadly and answers: 'Nothing: I'm just ,having my breakfast." number of educated blind •persons could be counted' in hundreds instead of in dozens. Attention called to the problems of the' (blind by the success of a few of them in the musical and academic fields,-., was, reflected in greater efforts made to find indus- trial employment for those still ex- isting on the uncertain dividends of beggary. The technique of "blind" employment had not been sufficiently , developed. In spite of all the efforts put forth, the great bulk of the blind population were still in little better case. than their prototypes in the Middle Ages. It is true that steady and substantial advances were- made, but progress was slow. The idea that sightless workers except in the case of blind supe y, en, could not be ab- • sorbed into g•, al industry, persist - .ed. It was persistent at the outbreak cf the Great War. Statistic's are not - available, 'butr there is ne doubt that the number of blind persons gain- fully employed in Great Britain or . anywhere else was only a very small percentage of the, total blind popula- tion, The Great War added to the num- bers of the blind. .A blind soldier was a rather spectacular by-product of the war. He (became a sort of synrlbolic figure upon which the pulmo lic concentrated when desiring to give expression to the sympathy aroused in them by the human wreckage which floated in from the storm of blood • raging in Europe. y. (Incidentally, the blind soldier, call- - ed direct attention to the condition • of* biiff'dness "and blind peoples In- tensive efforts were made to fit them into the normal economid life of the community and the nation. The at- traction of attention to the war -blind directed "enquiry into the plight of the civil blind. The ,destruction of the sight of a few soldiers was the best thing that had happened to the civilian blind since the invention of Braille, - • 'When 'Oorporal A. G. Veits, of the Prlinicess !Patricia's ;Canadian"' Light Infantry, the first Canadian soldier blinded in the War, carne back from England, and a lilttiif "''°tact, :; efigel • peri'enee.-a Onix is suspended free! the ceiling. When asked about the strange lecation,•'.of the chair, Com- missar Rabinoviclr, too, (slows up. 'It's my chair," he storms, "and I put it whexe I, .. please!" 'Finally the delegation reaches Stalin and a delegate alludes to the strange behavior in certain commmis- sariate--a spittoon on the desk, ' a chair in the air. - "Oh, just disregard them," Stalin sus. !'Those rmen are idiots" 'rBut if they are idiots," the dele- gate persists, "why are they at the head of commissariats?" This sends Stalin into a fierce rage. "They're my idiots," he shouts, "and I put them where I please!" The place occupied by the Jew in Germany, as special object of official persecution, is head in the Soviet Un- ion by the "Nepman"—a term used for private 'traders. Outwardly these Nepmen conformed to the new re- gime but under- the surface they de- spiset4 the Soviet order, which;, paid back in kind. One such Nepman passes . Red Square with his young 'son. The •boy sees Lenin's tomb and wishes to know who Lenin is. "Why, he's the man who freed us from ourchains," the father replies. "You remember, Mother's nice gold chain and may thick watch chain." And the ruthlessness of the G.P,U., an endless source of grim humor, is reflected in this sample: There was a great migratisbn of rabbits across the ° frontier into P land. The :sur- prised 'Polishfficial ,bit leader andasked tion. "Didn't you know," the rabbit said, "that the 'Soviets have passed a law that all camels must be caught and killed?" • "But you're not camels," the Pol- ish officials said. "Yes," the rabbit sneered,•"a fine chance we would have proving that to the G P.U." .A,•:.. , Only t*ose immersed in the reali- ties that nurture Ilhis .•contrabrand humor, those who' laugh at their own sorrows and deride their own task- masters, can appreciate it in .full measure. It is a safety valve for the doubts•,,, resentments andenvies of otherwise meek subjects. 'Every- where 'in Europe where political emigres congregate I have been ask- ed the same question: "What are the latest anecdotes from the home- land?" This strange eagernes s for the political humor of the hour be- trayed the fact that the stories con- veyed to them, more effectively than mere facts and figures, a little of the suppressed but authentic mood of their native lands. vat *r'iaJ:?r That ever -popular feature t h e Strolling Troubadors, home and for- eign groups singing and.playing their national music and attired in cos- tumes peculiar to their several coun- tries, again finds a prominent .place on the Music Day program at' the Canadian National Exhibition. Seven hundred thousand school children in the Province of Ontario have been issued with complimentary tickets to the Canadian National Exhibition on ;Children's Day. The attendance on that occasion reflects the happiness of .young Canada.on a holiday, anec- runs stopped a rab- for . an explana- • r: Made -to -Your -Meas re Yeti do not have to be a l usiness exeeutxve or employed in a business office to get a genuine thrill at the NationalBusiness Show at the Can- adian National Exhibition. Watch the office machines in action and you'll intvoljintarilly exclaim, "Almost hu- man." Baby jungle animals of various kinds have been presented to the Children's Zoo at the Canadian Na- tional Exhibition by the United Prov- inces of India.. After' the . Exhibition the babies will be sent to the Toron- to' Zoo as a,,.gift to the children of Railway, steamship and coach lines are offering reduced fares • for the period of the Canadian National hibitlion. .Motorists• are given every consideration in t•hi''matter c(3f park- ing facilities.. Historic Fires That Have Swept Canada's Forests More deadly even than the wood- man's axe and saw is his carelessness with fires. In fact Canadian Forest Service records show that 60 per cent of the original timber has been burn- ed while only 13 bier cent. has been cut for use. This relentless .destruc- tion of Canada's greatest natural re- source has been going on- for more than a hundred years. Here are a few of the oustanding historical dis- aster's. The Miramichi fire, in 1825, burn- ed along the valley of the Mirachichi river in New Brunswick, and on a belt 80 miles long and 25 miles wide almost every living thing was .killed. One hundred and sixty people per- ished, 1,000 head of -stock were kill- ed and a number of towns, including Newcastle, . Chatham and Douglas- tcwn, were destroyed. The damage to the forest was not even estimated. Damage to other property Was plac- ed- at $300,000. . About 1845 vast areas were burned over west of Lake Superior, many of them still" remain bare of tree growth. Some years later a very extensive fire burned along the height -o -land from Lake Timiskam- ing• to Mioh'ipicoten, and in 1871 an- other large fire swept over an area of more than 2,000 square miles a- long the north shore. of Lake Super- ior from Lake Nipissing to Port Ar- thur, "co.mpleting a chain of desola- tion aac�''oss the northern part of the province. About the same time the• greater part of the Saguenay and Lake St. John district, in Quebec, was swept by one of the most de- structive. -fires on me? rd.. Two other fires in 1891 and 1896 devastated -ov- er 2,000 square miles of country in thse 'southern; Algjama dlittrict. In Quebec again, -the country along the line of the Quebec ..and Lake St. John railway also suffered by a num- ber of disastrous forest fires while millions of &liars worth of timber in the Ottawa country also fell a prey to the devouring element. During more recent times, a ser- ies of disastrous fires swept over Northern 'Ontario. A number of iso- lated fires around the mining camp ^of Porcupine culminated on July 11, 1911, in a conflagration which re-• suited in the loss of 72 lives and pro - pert damage estimated at $3,000; 00Th 1916, 'fires in the same gen- eral region were responsible for the_ deaths of at least 224 people, the exact number never having been de= terrnined. During 1922, a third fire, covering in part the areas burned over by the previous fire, destroyed thatt city, caused 25 deaths, rendered 6,000 people homeless and damaged property to the estimated extent of 85,000,000. ' The most disastrous • year in mod- ern days was • 1923 when the total loss, including the value of the tim' ber destroyed and the fire -fighting costs, areounted to the staggering sum, of $46,000,0001 Truly, fire is a great servant • but a terrible masteit• In Russia the crop :of jokes is the only th'op that never fails, and the G. U. (now the . commissariat for Internal Affairs) has a special de- partment to gather and record all sub-rosa jokes. One elaborate story not only steig- matize`5 Stalin's immense authority but impugns the intelligence of some of his lieutenants:,- • foreign delegation is calling up- on re Soviet leaders. They find 'Co m)ri•issar 'Semionov altogether, charming; only one strange fact bo- thers thein --a huge spittoon stands right on the official desk. I'Comlrade fSfemionov," a delegate inquires, "pardon my asking, but why do you keep that object on --your desk?" The question sends the commissar into a towering rage. , "It's My spittoon," he yells, "and I. put it where I please!" In the offices o8 Commissar Rabin- o'vieh the visitors have a similar ex- $22 • to X35.°° Fit, Qualityan d Workmanship Fully Guaranteed VERY leading special order maker of high grade tailored clothes for men is represented in our big 11 showing of Imported Scotch Tweeds, English, and `.Iris Worsteds and Serges. Every suit made to your exact measurements and guaranteed to fit. Expert tailoring and " reliable ,linings and trimmings are: used \ throughout. Tip Top Suits $24 , Clothes of Quality $22.5 0 to $15.00 House of Stone $21.50 to '$35.00 Cambridge Clothes $25 to $40 Cook Clothes .25 to $0 tewart Bros. Seaforth I Statistics collected by the differ- ent government bureaus show that over 85 per cent. of the fires of known origin are due to human carelessness and therefore preventable. Campers, settlers and railways are responsible for most of the fires whose origin' is determined. Other causes, including lumbering operations and incendiar- ism, account for small proportions, and only a few are attributed to lightning. The ertperienced woodsman clears the: ground carefully, builds a little fire that he can control' easily, and sees that the last Lingering spark is out before he ves on. Such care on the part o ll those who enter the forests would prevent most of the fires. ' Western Fair in Readiness TO Opening Those .who have not visited the Western Fair in recent years will be amazed at the advancement that has been made in the exhibition which js held so successfully at London each year, The Fair 'vv'hich opens there on September 9 and continues until the 14t1h, is actually the 68th consecutive annual e'khi+bition, and word comes from the executive offices at London that this year records will be made in every department. Long ago the Western Fair out- grew its county fair proportions. It is now one of the most important ex- hibitions of its kind in Canada. There are many features of the Lendon ev- ent that makes it most interesting to the 'average man, and certainly the arrangement of the exhibits and the fact that one can see the main points ofr„inteaest in a one -day visit has popularized the Western Fair. No organization, no national, institution, as the Western Fair has become, could possibly go on expanding for 68 years without reaching remark- able proportions, yet cherit is, due to the foresight of the management and the directorate that the Western Fair has grown without becoming un- wieldy. Primarily the Western Fair agricultural exhibition, with` every department of agriculture catered to and 'held foremost in the plans tor the exhibitign, but it is also a great Industrial fair, and no manufactur- er will hopes to keep his product be- fore the public misses .the opportun- ity of displaying it at London. Year by year, advancement in industry is indicated in the' hundreds of exhibits which crowd the buildings at London. Inventions created by the w'orld's foremost inventive brains are intro- duced, very often, . to Canada at this exhibition. There is never any thought in anyone's mind that the World is standing still after they have visited the Western Fair. The response that Western Ontario makes to the Western Fair must be heartening to th e management. Through years that other fairs have found slipping gate receipts and low attendance marks. the (attendance at 'London has kept' up. Surely there is no surer indication of the worth of London's fair than that. From the London office comes word of the things that have been' done to make the 1935 Fair bigger and better than ever . . : the largest purses ever offered for speed trials at ,the Western Fair . . . tt bigger and better hoose .show in the Ontario arena where all the live stock judg- ing' is done, a dog Show that attracts Dog Breeders from all over Canada and the United States, a Hower show second •to none in the Dominion, a new grand stand performancb, -that will exceed this department's fine shows of other years, with a special fireworks wind-up for the Saturday Night Finale. Five . district bands will supply music on. the grounds, and the world-renowned Rubin and Chem shows win pro kile the mid- way. is an DR. F. J. R. FORSTER Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Graduate in Medicine, University of Toronto. . Late assistant New York Opthal- mei and Aural Institute, Moorefield's Eye and Golden Square Throat Hos- pitals, London, Eng. At Commercial Hotel, Seaforth, third Wednesday in each month, from 1.30 p.m. to 5 p.m 5ft Waterloo Street, South, Stratford Next visit, Septernbei. 18th. • • • Fall Fair Dates )U'sa Craig, September 19, 20. Atwood,'Septeanber 20, 21. * Bay+field, Septemiber 25, 26., Blyth, September 26, 26. Brussels, September 25, 26. Clifford, September .20, 21. Dungannon, October 3, "4. Embro, October 3. • •Exeter, September 16, 17. Godericli., September. 17, 18. Gorrie, October 4, 5. Har•niston, September 26, 27. Kincardine, September 19, 20. Kirkton, October 1, 2. Listowel, Sep+temlber 18, 19. Lu•cknow, Septemiber 26, 27. Milverton, September 12, 13. Mitchell, September 24, 25. New Bamberg, September 13, 14.. Owen Sound, September 10-12. Parkhill, September 26, •27. Palmerston, October 1, 2. St. Marys, Getoiber 9, 10. Seaforth, September 19, 20. ;Stratf+ard, September 16-18. Tiverton, October 7, 8. ' e Tavistock, Septembef 6„ 7. Tara, October 1, 2. Teeswater, October 1, 2.. Wellesley, September 10, 11." Wingham, October 9, 10. "-) Zurich, September 23, 24. THE McKILLOP MUTUAL - FIRE INSURANCE CO'Y. HEAD OFFICE-eSEAFORTH, ONT. OFFICERS: Alex. trroadfoot, Seaforth - 'Pres. James !Connolly, Goderich - Vice -Pres. Merton A. Reid, Seaforth - Sec. -Tress. AGENTS: Finlay McKercher, R. R. 1, Dublin; John Murray, R. R. 3, Seaforth; F., R. G. Jarmouth, Brodhagen; Jafnes Watt* Blyth; C. E. Hewitt, Kincardine; W. J. Yeo, Goderieh: - DicRECTORS: William Knox, Lendesboro•; George Leonhart, Brodhagen; Fames Com Holly, Goderich;, Alex. Bi+oatifoot, .i<1'+tle.., 3, Seaforth; Aleita.'nder McEaldi R. 1, Blyth; John 'Pepper, Bine James Sholdice, Walton; Thine Ian, lslo. 5, Seafprth; Wm. lir. bald, No. 4, Seaforth.