The Huron Expositor, 1938-10-14, Page 6fN
y�F
4ai
est
inn of }p %ndiers Started
pronto Is Doing 7 Years
(By 0. A. Lyon in Star Weekly)
li„ ey Tanfield, London broker
ty *lalite, was recently arrested
Swindling charges and sentenced
Gr ice seven years. He started his ear,
et in, finance in Toronto. He aecum-
la,t'ed en estimated $500,000 here 17
years ago in stock transactions be-
ioro leaving for richer fields in Eng-
land. He gainedhis trst experience
with ,& finaneaial house ih Toronto and
later branched out for himself here.
In his luxurious suite in the Kixlig Ed-
ward Hotel he was known as "Tan-
field the magnificent."
The case of Stanley Tanfield is get-
tin'g bigger and bigger.
'Unlike most swindling cases, the
putting of the swindler in jail has
not closed the case, but has started
it on a new and more important
phase.
It makes the ordinary man angry
to know that while, by the sweat of
his own brew, with long hours, with
worrying, with the enduring of petty
• reproofs, he himself can make but a
modest competence, less scrupulous
men like Tanfield can pile up for-
tunes without n rking.
But when be has good reason to
believe that even after they have
been exposed they can find cunning
. ways• to • keep their spoil and make
their heavy camels of wealth wriggle
through the needle eye of the Iaw,
then the anger of the ordinary man
will reach fever heat.
It is this that is going to make the.
Tanfleld••case historic, and that makes
it worth everyone's while to under-
stand each detail of Tanfield's rise,
roguery and fall.
Tanaeld's personality must . be the
warring ground of many conflicting
influences,
We was the son of .a Methodist
minister, born 45 years ago in the
village of gawkes, Yorks,
a a *
Tanfield says be had a strict up-
bringing, and we can believe it.
Tanfield left Hawes early. He came r
to Toronto when he was 19, and be-
came a .draper's assistant.
At some period, we do not know
Dentists recommend Wrigley's
Gunn as an aid to strong, healthy
teeth, cleanses them of food. ,par-
ticles, massages the gums-Aidsdi-
gestion, relieves stuffy feeling after
meals. Helps keep you healthy!
Take some home for the..children
too —they will love it! cs s
AAAAAAAAAAA
the exact date, temptation came to
bin. The temptation came in a re-
alization of_ his powers. ,
H•e had a tripping and facile tongue,
a tongue that could carry people ,with
hien and make the worse side appear
the better.
Tanfield used to sell them leases
and shares.
His powers were astonishing. Go -
leg through his records, 1 found an
interesting statement made in court
much later—it was in 1931,—by a can-
on whom he swindled of $100,000.
"I cannot see." said the canon, "why
I was such a fool. Tanfielcl was an
extraordinary man, he had such a
v onderful fascination.
"He always seemed to back up the
prior man, and do everything that was
eeilanthropic.
"Ile showed me a letter from the
matron of an orphanage and said
how delighted he was to help them."
• • s « s
His swindling machine was not hap-
hazard nor spasmodic; it was beauti-
fully organized and shockingly effici-
ent.
I`:rst his clerks went through 'the
re,eerds of company shareholders at
Somerset House.
They came , back to his fine office
with its three commissionaires and its
.luny of stenographers with lists and
;fists of shareholders.
Here Tanfield's deep -laid plot to
swindle thousands entered its next
ea age.
He . would doubtless show visitors,
v ith a cerator's pride, the 25 girls
card -indexing the suckers.
After that rows of .typists typed
50.000 to 60,000 envelopes per fort-
night. All . individually addressed—
none of your duplicating "Dear Sir
or Madam" machines.
The story the letters told Was the
old, old story that will go on deceiv-
ing the simple till Doomsday.
"Keen and astute financiers"—that
bit's true, anyway --"were watching
the markets and applying their well-
trained minds to the vicissitudes of
the markets."
The money poured in. Twenty thou-
sand dollars would clatter through
the letter box in a day. A single in-
vestor sent :;150.000.. About five mil-
lion dollars came in altogether — and
$1,500.000 vanished.
As the prosecution said. it was sim-
ply "put higgedly-piggedly in any ui
the s'ven banking accouhts" of the
firm Stanley Tanfield and his associ-
ates set up.
What did Tanfield do with his
money. He practically burned it.
what does it matter?" be must
have said, "when there are thousands
and thousands more in the bank, and
thousands more coming in every day?
"We have a house at Taplow worth
$40,000. Let's renovate it at a cost
of $200,000--tihat isn't really very
much.
"Let's panel the lounge in natural
pine. If it costs $45,000 for one
room—well, other men in my posi-
tion have similar things.
"Let's build an annex for the. guests
who come to see me—plenty of
CheSNAPSOT GUJL
"OFF -GUARD" PICTURES
For more natural pictures, catch subjects `off -guard" --unaware of the
camera.
MOST people like to have their
pictures taken. In fact, they like
it so well that when they see the
camera they put on a special "pic -
tnre expression." And as a rule this
special "picture face" isn't what we
want at all.
There's a way to keep your sub-
jects from seeming, camera -con-
scious. Briefly, it is -,-"Catch them
when they aren't looking." Don't let
them know their picture is being
taken.
Pictures 80 taken are known as
tr>rci" . snapshots. Such snaps
at€r a attention becanee they pie-
• t e the'rgubject In a natural,. char-
rititier pose and get away from
fig 'Vane' look -at the-camera-nd-
:etri'ilo type of picture with which we
are ill, too Pati hilar. An "off -guard"."
picture can tell a real storywlige
tho- ;Other type MOS a to Ole jest
rederd,pictpr'e
fait ;to �talce fheini? It's easy*. Sad„ dib yeti camera 'an-
`untili tb> $l r
chalantiy' and efficiently. The better
you can do that, the more easily you
can capture snapshots that are truly
"off -guard.
If you use a focusing camera, with
fast Iens, try to anticipate picture
opportunities, and set the camera in
advance for distance and proper ex-
posure.
xposure. Then when the snapshot
chance develops, all yon need do is
shoot.
Por example, to take the picture.
above, the camera was get in ad-
vance for six feet. Lens and shutter
were set for anexposure of 1/50 see,
and at L11 less than normal,'be-
canse the'dyright, sunny beach 'vas
reflecting plenty of light. On a
grassy Iawn, which reflects little
light,, exposures would have been 1/50
at L3. With his camera pre-set, all
the picture taker had to do was wait
for the ,fnelon to be cut, and e,ateh
his companion's delighted expres-
sien. It was hist a matter of lifting
the camera and snapping the shut-
ter.
huttet:
If ,you ii.a,'ireu.'t tried; taking. "oft.
rd,” plots, try. it. tilt tun, aid the
. dre al; delight,
04 , Jeli't an Cittilder'
friends nowadaye=-and spend $90,000
on it.
' 'Why not a rock garden? It will
cost $40,000,' but I shan't notice that.
' "I think I will wall the estate in.
Fifty thousand dollars should I
spend it or save it? Well, I shall
make plenty more, -1've mastered this
dodge and I can't go wrong.
"Why not buy some 'more houses
to live in At Paris . , . Antibes
. St. Marne."
He was well fed, well shaved, a
little pudgy. He wore, good '''suits, a
bowler hat, and horn -rimmed" spec-
tacles. He was clearly what Ameri-
cans call "in the money."
And he was ,head of what the judge
called a cruel and, merciless gang,
and wbat the police call one of the
cleverest and most dangerous gangs
of. criminals they ever had to deal
with. ,,
s s s
Then the sword of justice fell up-
cn him and five of his lieutenants.
He has gone to jail for seven years.
In jail Tanfield, wtho was always so
confident, so much the master of ev-
ery key of the vast instrument he
played, changes.
He now says that his mind is a
blank.
It is to the trustee in bankruptcy,
Mr. Phillips, that he tells this — Mr.
Phillips, an accountant appointed by
the creditors to save what he could
for them out of the crash,
Another thing Stanley Taneld tells
him in jail makes him even more
perplexed.
Tanfield says he has no assets et
all.
Mr. Phillips remeniters that a few
weeks earlier Tanfield bas said that
he could raise $100,000, in, assets.
Where is Tanfield's money?
Mr. Phillips, perplexed at its ap-
parent evaporation, clings as his sheet
anchor to the costly Taplow mansion
and its contents.
But here, he strikesanother snag.
A Mr. Abra+haan Kacher, a fur deal-
er. of the 'city of London, comes on
the scene. Mr. Kacher says that the
mansion does not belong to Tanfield
but to him, and the creditors cannot
touch it.
"4.1e says that Mrs. Tanfield sold
the house to him. Mr. Kaoher's neigh-
bors in the Golders Green ,districi
must have been as surprised as Mr,
Phillips himself to hear of Mr. Kase-
er's sumptuous purchase.
3'r., Kocher lives in a typical sub -
ban house, and no one ever sus-
pected hien of the money to buy une
c•' the meet luxurious meusions in
the home counties.
'M-. i'1ellips sends a private detec-
t.sa ere: an assistant down post-haste
to Tap'ow. Tbev tale the house anu
settle down to possess it in the name
of the creditors.
Mr. Kacher is left outside the gates
with bis pickets, protesting ownership
io the world, but locked out of hit
property..
When Mr. Kacher tries to 'get air
ir:janction in the vacation court it is
: efi ed.
* * «
Now , the case resolves itself into a
full-dress hunt for Tanfield's hidden
teeny.
Other methods are adopted. Court
jewellers were circularized, and one
brings,forwa;d the report of Tanfield
buying thousands of pounds' worth of
sovereigns, of dollars and of jewels.
,Mr. P flies, bis watchword "There
must be a lot of property somewhere,"
threatens to have a couple of safes
'turned open.
The affairs of Stanley Tanfield are
lake a well -torn -up• letter.
Recently a hoard , of sovereigrs,
jewels, furs, old ivory and antiques
were discovered by the trustee in
bankruptcy of the .Tanfield estate, as
e result of an anonymous telephone
call.'
Ever since Tanfield was sentenced
to prison, rumors of treasure hoards
Lave circulated in England and on
the continent. It, was said that Tan-
field, had bought gold, some from the
proceeds of the sale of his wife's jew-
elry, and that he had caohed it both
in and out of England. Paris and
the Riviera were named as contineu-
tal biding places.
Meanwhile, creditors are hoping
for a higher percentage of return.
Charges against Tanfield's estate are
listed at $200,000, while his wife's
creditors seek $100,000 from her. She
is still in Paris.
Facts Regarding The
Restricted Area Plan
King Zog Marks
10th Year of . his
Reign in Albania
Haran County cattle owners are to
be given the opportunity this fall of
voting in favor or against the "Re-
stricted Area Plan" for the eradica-
tion of bovine tuberculosis. Before
the petitions are circulated in each
sohool section, a large number of ed-
ucational meetings are being field
throughout the county, by the Agri-
cultural Representative, James C.
Shearer, to outline the rules ,and reg-
ulations of the Area Plan. Every cat-
tle ownerr is invited to attend the
meeting nearest his ,home.
The following questions and an -
ewers cover two moat important
points:
Question: How many cattle are
Huron County farmers likely to •lose
through the T. B. Test?
Answer: Itis impossible to an-
swer this question but the results ob-
tained in a -r •, s tested may give some
idea of what to expect.
Cattle
County
Northumberland
Halton
Peel
• ttunbam
Ontario
York
Tested Reactors
45,033 1,959 4.3
23,259 3,179 13.6
16,106 2,964 1,9.2
18,960 991 5.2
19,492 2,637 1.3.5
54,883 3,634 15.1
Results show that losses have been
heavier in dairy than in beef sections.
Abnormally high losses were eticoun-
tered in sections of York, Peel and
-Halton Counties. In most instances
these .tosses Occurred cin arms where
cattle of unknown origin had been In-
troduced to the herd front time to
time.
Question: H film T. B. Serum Test
accurate and ,square?
Answer: it is the only edentate
teat ,far tiiberculrinis in eattle so far
discovered. An occasional cow may'
he no- tad that she won't react but
she then mnar, show ' the disease, by
Zog I, King of Albantain has recent
ly celebrated tbe tenth' ..:averse* of
his occupancy of the Albanian'thraae
amid general and sin0 1e =jtrbiliatfon.
The most which little Albania can
hope for 'is' to make the beat of a
very hard situation, and that King
Zog has done.
I%ds was made the brightest and
most cheerful of all anniversaries by
the presence of a Queen, the blithe
and charming bride of Albania's King.
'rhe choosing of a wife was one of
the problems which Zog had to solve.
During long years Albanians asked,
"Shall our queen be an Oriental or
Western woman, a Christian or Mos -
ice, from a royal dynasty or a com-
moner, a native daughter or a for-
eigner? What kind of a new alliance
will her coming mean?"
Built Modern Albania
King Zog settled the problem in a
way which seems to have pleased ev-
eryone. He wedded a girl of Ameri-
can -Hungarian origin, whose vivacity
and ability brings happiness to the
Court and inspiration' to Albanian wo-
men. In this wild, foreign, isolated
country the life of Queen Geraldine
will not be easy and she deserves the
warmest admiration for the way in
which she has undertaken her task.
But the rdsks to which she is now
expozed are far less formidable than
they would have been 15 years ago,
and the capital in which she will live
ie a Bauch more pleasant place than
it was then. It is her husband who
has wrought this change. King Zog
is the builder of modern Albania, of
tee only Albania, indeed, that has ev-
er been a united and independent
State. He himself set up the throne
which he occupies and has made it
fairly stable.
The most striking feature of the
celebration cf Zog°s first decade of
lover is the international good will
which his kingdom enjoys. Ml Al-
bania's neighbors were represented
at the festivity-. Smiles were general
and sir•ce'-e. Albania is one of those
rare States with no acute foreign
problem.
This is in striking contrast to the
ration a few years ago, when Al-
har,ia was in conflict with every
neighbor and constituted a world
prcblem. Notes were frequently sent
to the League of Nations and Al-
bania's troubles were among the
]league's constant cares. This land
wa.• then ono of more drama than-
i-oetry; now it seems to be chiefly
lyric. Many factors contributed to-
ward this, but not least of them
was King Zog.
Intrigues Banished
Observers remember that Albania
bas freqeuntly been in sharp conflict
with its protector and benefactor, It-
aly, that Greece has repeatedly
brought, compalints against Albania,
and that Yugoslavia has been an op-
en enemy of this country. Few plac-
es
lates in Europe have been the scene of
more international intrigue than this
little capital. But that` bas vanished.
Albania has become a "tie" that binds.
Yugoslavia and Italy clasp hands
here. A substantial evidence of Yug-
dslavia's friendly interest is the. new.
air line between Belgrade and Tir-
ana.
Visitors, if they wished, could trav-
el from end to end of this primitive
land, through lonely mountain passes
or in pathless woods, without incur-
ring danger. For a decade, this has
been a secure land witb little crim-
inality and rare political upheaval.
But this security is not a national Al-
banian characteristic; it is largely
King Zog's achievement. -
King Zog has achieved this largely
by bis firmness, and organizing abil-
ity, which he has shown in the police
and' army he has built. In this he
has been a dictator. He is absolute
master of Albania and there is no
doubt about that. He expects to re-
main master, too. He will brook no
serious rival.
Much Still to Be Done
Yet • he shows leniency, too. At
the recent celebration he granted
amnesty to most of the political
prisoners and exiles. On many occa-
sions he has shown moderation and
clemency,
But a vast amount still waits to
be done. First Albania is greatly :n
need of more liberty. Many of the
well-trained idealistic young oven
find no way to contribute to the
State. The land is administered by
a email group of men, often called
a clique or "the old guard." The
rising generation do not feel that
they "belong." The middle road be-
tween authority and order on one side
and popular co-operation on the other
has not been reached.
Economic progress is slow. That
is not strange in such a poor land,
but It might be faster. At any rate,
mere might be done in that direction.
Perhaps less could be spent on dis-
play and more on agricultural im-
provements. Education ale° could he
made more practical.
her condition. Many that react have
only a slight amount of disease. One
never knows when such a cow may
break down following illness ,or heavy
work and, become a spreader ,01 the
disease. All animals that react have
tuberculosis in some foam. The staff
of veterinerlanh on this wont are at
it all the year round and they hold
their jobs because they are .skillful,
accurate and honest. They are ante
ions to have as few react as possible
but they must be accurate. No gov-
ernment inapeetor Is fool enough to
pass tuberculosis animal. Someone
would soon. .report .him acid his job
wouldn't .last the month out. ,He must
tag all the animals be tests acid ear
punch all reactors,
Angus: "Neo, Maggy, bere's a tick-
et for the eonjurin' spew, and when,
bhe conjurer eoxnes t' tete part ,where
he snakes a t&aapoonfitl cl' !Our Into
a dozen .loaves, match Vette,' venae'•
'Close.%
Mail Courier Murder of'59 JMan Who Saved ling George
Indicated Danger of Trails From Assassination . Is Dead
Western Ontario mail, carriers
through the various decades, whether
journeying in the old mail stage coach,
in the buggy, in the cutter, in the
automobile or in the snowmobile,
have at times encountered strange ex-
periences op. the highways, conces-
sions, and sideroads. Possibly so
public servant could compile a more
interesting' booklet than .. coulda the
postmannwase, day after day, year ;af-
ter year 'througl} storm and sunshine,
over, bad roads \and good roads, has
carried the news of the world, and
messages of love and gladness, df
sorrow and disappointment, of ,suc-
cess and ,of failure, to the farm
homes of the province.
Turning back to the fifties, one dis-
covers that the path of the mail car-
rier was a hazardous one. An item,
appearing in an old Brantford paper,
tells of the murder of Adams, mail
carrier on the Brantford -Paris route,
in the summer of 1859, two negroee,
Over and Moore,, having been banged
for the crime. The account states
"that it was a dastardly crime" com-
mitted by three. riegroes, Over, Moore
and Armstrong, who shot the carrier
from covert on the roadside some
•three miles from town, during his
midnight drive. Leaving him they
ran the horse, into a ditch and car-
ried off the mail bags into the woods,
where they cut them open and rifled
them of their money contents. The
three were first arrested on suspicion,
but the gun with which the crime
was committed and part of a hundred
dollar bill was found ,on their prem-
ises. Sealing wax was also found un-
der their finer nails by miscroscopic
examination.
An early mail stage coach driver,
who spent his latter days in the
Township of West Nissouri, Middle-
sex County, was John Orchard, Sr.,.
father of John Orchard, concession 3,
Nissouri, and Mrs. Edward Stinson,
Tiorndale. A native of Devon, John
Orchard, with two brothers, simon, a
stone mason, who settled in Nissouri,
and Nathan, who secured lands ;n
Muskoka, came to Canada some time
around the forties. For several years
he drove the old mail stage coach on
_the Hamilton -Galt -Preston corduroy
road, changing horses along the way.
Frequently he told his children of
these ,pioneer days when hungry pan-
thers followed the four -horse stage
mile after mile through the dark for-
est and of the "terrible roads."
Eliminating the Ring
Around the 'Bathtub
Several -years ago, I sent in a small
item to the Monitor, which was duly
printed, dealing with that ubiquitous
ring around the bathtub. Since this
ring still figures in the papers and
magazines as a major ,problem to
the housewife, 1 venture to repeat
the suggestion:
Make a small bag, perhaps sax by
eight inches, of Turkish towelling,
with a generous draw -tape in the
hem Put into it all the worn bits
of bath soap and'tang it'on the fau-
cet or the soap rack. Instruct the
family to rub this bag around the
sides of the tub at the water line be-
fore beginning the bath, and then
ring will not appear, unless in ex-
treme cases, such as very hard water
or a boy in. she tub who has been fix-
ing over an old fiivver.
This self-cleaning little bag is also
useful to small ' children who are
learning to scrub their own grimy
knees.
Put bits of white laundry or dish-
washing soap into a jar of water. The
resulting paste can be used in place
of soap flakes. Such small economies
take no time or effort, yet save other-
wise useless bits of soap.—M. F. J.
Organize Committee
To Aid Blind
From 360 to 375 new cases of blind-
ness are registered each year in Can-
ada by the Canadian National Insti-
tute for the Blind, An average of.
o'ne each day. So stated H.W. Henry,'
Field Secretary of the Institute for
the Blind, when addressing a meeting
held recently in the council chambers
at which ladies representing a num-
ber of church organizations and Wo-
men's Institute were present. Approx-
imately eight out of every 10 of the,
blind loose their sight in adult life,
continued Mr. Henry, who is himself
blind, and it means that they must
begin all over again to plan their fu-
ture careers. They must be taught a
new system of reading and writing, a
new method of doing things.,
The services of the Canadian Na-
tional Institute for the Blind are de-
signed to meet the needs of the blind
as indicated by careful analysis of
eacjr individual problem, stated Mr.
Henry. These services include the
care, training, employment, cash re-
lief, Braille books, Braille accessor-
ies, after-care, salesroom, and many
other services of importahce to the
blind, as well as a practical program
for the prevention of blindness.
,According to Mr, Henry, the Insti-
tute's service program for the thirty
odd blind and prevention castes in
];Iuron County Balis for an annual bud-
get of about one thousand dollars.
Two-thirds irds of this amount must be be
raised by private philanthropy, in the
form of private donations- and tag
days. Tag day's are held in Exeter,
Clinton, Win'gham and Godericn, and
the purpose of the meeting was to
Organize for a similar tag day in Sea -
forth.
Those present decided to constitute
:themselves`? as an executive tag day
committee and to co-operate with the
Institute for the Blind, in its great
work, Mrs. Dale Nixon was appoint-
ed ti°easurer; Mrs. ]!!erten A. Reid,
convener of workers, with Mra, Frank
Devereaua as general convener, to be
assisted by Mr"s, Margaret Hay as co -
convener. The date of the tag day
was set for Saturday, Oct, pith, Citi-
zens of Seaforth are asked to gine
generously in Aid of the work for the
blind. Only one appeal is made each'
year. Ail workers are .Voluntary, and
the 'entire proceeds go fete direet Oar -
vice's for the benefit of 1$irtrfl nee -Ideate
01 ep .,etiliil'ty '\
As coiforfu3 a carom' as ashy that ev-
er emerged from 'the patges of a dime
thriller was ended October ,r'd with
the .death of• Nildkolas (Nick) Power,
retired Halifax police chief, As a de-
tective with a photographic memory,
Power won international fame.
He died at hie home in (Halifax, ag-
ed 96. He Chad retired as •chief of
Halifax pollee is 1907 after 43 years
son the- force.
Most faeous of a dozen exploits
that brought , „ world-wide acclaim.
was lliIa breakf ( g of a conspiracy that
was aimed at the .life of the prince
later to become George V of Great
Britain..
Beek in 1883, in theslays when a
British fleet based at Halifax and roy-
alty in the city was almost a monthly
occurrence, Prince George was on one
of the naval veassels going. through
the mild as a midshipman. Ashore
was Detective Nick Power with 19
yelars of service as a cop.
On a routine cbeck-up of hotels,
Power i notieed two men his instinct
told him wouldbear watching. When
they left their rooms .be slipped in,
searched their luggage and found a
bag 'of dynamite. With the baggage
etubs for other luggage, he went to
the ramiway station and found two
diving suits and apparatus for Betting
off the exploseve under water.
Were Planning Assassination
Power arrested the two. They were
members of a ring who, dissatisfied
with settlement of the Irish land ques-
tion, had planned to strike a blow at
England through assassination of the
young Prince George:
To his death ,Power cherished the
bronze medal presented him by Prince
George for his feat.
Power was able to glance at a po-
lice circular, sometimes unaccompan-
ied by a pbhotggraph, and recall vivid-
ly its information months later.
Once he indirectly was the cause
of the suspension of the extradition
treaty between Great Britain and the
United States.
New York police • sent down, a cir-
cular, bearing the description of John
Gordon, wanted for forgery. Power
remembered seeing a man of similar
appearance boarding, a steamship for
England two days previously. He in-
formed New York officers who im-
mediately got in touch with Scotland
Yard.
Treaty Broken off
Gordon was arrested when be 'step-
ped off the beat but because he was
tried for crimes other than that for
which he was extradited, the treaty
was broken off and not resumed until
1887, seven years later.
His fame as a detective once influ-
enced the then Canadian minister of
justice, letter Premier Sir John S. D.
Thompson, to commute the death sen-
tence of a young man who had been
convicted of murder. Power believ-
ed, it was suicide, .,not murder.
A new trial acquitted the man.
Bring Millions of Acres
Back to Production
(By Miriam Green Ellis in Family
Herald).
For the first tinge, Canada, has set
its hand to a planned agriculture.
True the planning applies only to a
part of the prairie provinces, but ev-
en so it means one-quarter of all the
occupied land in the Dominon. Us-
ually it takes a crisis to effect an idea
of this kind, and so it was itt this
case. Nine straight years of poor
crops took the starch out of a natur-
ally optimistic people, reduced their
spending power to little or nothing,
When the drought started in 1929,
no one thought particularly about it,
but when it continued year after year
everyone thbught plenty. One year
there might have been a crop, but a
few days before harvest the rust took
it; the market also gave a few kicks
when the gallant fighter was on his
back.
In 1937, culaxfination of all the bad
years, the average yield of wheat in
Saskatchewan, heart of this great
grain, growing area, was 2.7 bushels
to the acre as compared. with 17.7 for
the preceding twentyseven years, in-
cluding the other eight drought and
rust years. The Alberta average was
cut in two. During the six years,
19130 to 1935, the average fares prices
of wheat wan 48c compared to $1.03
for the preceding six years and the
memories of $2.50 wneat during the
war. •
And the drought area seemed to be
spreading year after year. "Give the,
country back to the Indians," said
some of the wise -crackers. Older
heads recalled that seven billion dol-
lars worth of wheat wealth alone bad
been produced on those , prairies in
the last twenty years, not to mention
beef and sheep and cattle and poul-
try. Tbat means a lot of railway and
ocean tonnage, elevator storage, meat
processing, new clothes, school books,
toys, hardware and a terrific lot of
new pna.chanrery• All Canada was
geared to the spending of these bil-
lions. With good hindsight, many pro-
claimed that this and that land should
never have been broken up, but when
settlemdent was'.,puebing in, when there
was plenty of rainfall, when crops
were easy to produce, the presenter
on, governments .for free bomesteads
was severe.
The Urge to Grow Wheat
John Smith dame from Ontario and
started to farm as he had done back
there; Ian 'MacKenzi„o oame from
Scotland and he turned up little sharp
furrows as they: did there; folks came
in their sheep -skins from Garcia and
built their mud houses and ,barns un-
der one roof as they had 'dome all
their lives; the lads who 'had riot
Me
ade t good a success down on Elie
prairies bf the and western estates
moved in alongside and with there
others who had money and the tfrge
for organizing seattiement 'on a grand
scale. Nearly all of theta and espec-
ially those train; Ontario came with
the finis determination that they
would newer Milk another caw' sac fang
as they , ived. That wan why they
bad tett Cltttario. Apart front that,
.rise settlere ,llratiklht' beth *dr god
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ateso (;1� 4p nAcx,acrd� 4r
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and bad habits with them. In other ,
words, they tried to make climate flit
agriculture instead of adjusting Meer
agriculture to fit the climate.
For a time nothing seemed to mat-
ter and shoe -string financing was.
plenty. Rains came, the 'crap detest-
ed and that was ailthere was to it -
They sent the money back East to
buy binders and horses and then trac-
tors.
But times changed. The rains dist
not come, but rust and' gragahoppers,
and hail and frost did. It was a case
of "awing 'high, swing low," and there
was oensiderable of a thud as, she
swung low. Then it was found that
all these ready-made, hund-me-down
methods of farming free here and'
there were not good enough.; ,that the
little, straight turned furrow that was
good in a wet country was all wrong
for a country that had a habit of go-
ing dry on occasion; in fact that
plowing at all in some places was
detrimental, and as for the industr-
ious habit of fall plowing—it ,just
gave that much more scope for the ds-
structive insects that lay their eggs
in the loose soil in the fall or late
summer.
Some of this was discovered by
the. old reliable trial and error meth-
od; in many cases, a definite lead
was given by the agricultural scien-
tists who lied been working along-
quietly
longquietly onrust resistant wheats, soil
moisture investigations, plant and an-
imal diseases, and this and that.
The staggering impact of this blow
was due to the tremendous area 'if-
f'ectede Of the 74,000,000 acres of
Cultivated land in Canada 55,600,000
are in the prairie provinces; of the
40,000,000 areas of range or unimprov-
ed pasture in Canada, 33,000,000 are
in the prairies. Sixty per cent of
this occupied farm and and was in
the "drought" area, 31/2 per cent. of
Manitoba's occupied land; leas than
a third of Alberta and more than a
third of Saskatchewan.
It was just too' big a stake for Can-
ada to ignore. It. hit every pocket.
One does not wonder that the mail
order houses stopped.sending out cat-
alogues. The local storekeeper who
supplied credit till . he himself was
bankrupt, is ,the unsung hero of this"
dark ,hour.
By 1935, the effects of this .con,
tinned jack of earning power in the
West had so reacted on all Canada,
that it was considered a national mat-
ter, and when . an Act was brought
into Parliament by the Bennett Gov-
ernment that sought to study and re-
habilitate Western agriculture, no one
—East 'or West --Liberal or Conserv-
ative, voted against it. It was Pres -
tinted as a five-year plan. There was
an appropriation of $750,000 for the
first year and a million dollars a year
set but in the Act to be spent in each
of the next four years. The Bennett
Government went out and the King
Government came in but so well had
this schemebeen received, so practi-
cal was its purpose, that the Liberals
went one better. They wiped out
the five-year time limit and boosted
the appropriation to two millions for
1937, and three and a half millions
for 1938. It has 'become a settled
policy and today this Act is just as
permanent on the statutes of Canada
as the Criminal Code. The only Iixn
iting factor is the use that is made
of it.
The area wabich went under the P.
F.R.A. in 1935 for study and reorgan-
ization included some 88x/+ million
acres ofjehich, more than 66- million
was c esified as occupied. It in-
cluded half -a -million people, nearly
half the total`population•, and half tbe
farm homes. But in these two years
emergent conditions have been over-
ocme, and a basis laid for a stabilized
system of0 agriculture.
"Now, Tommy, how do you know
the world is round anti hangson noth-
ing in the air?" asked the geography
teacher. "flow do you prove it?"
"I (don't have to prove it," replied
Tomlmy. "I never said 'twas,"
•
For two hours are had been a pest
of the party. His imitations were
terrible, ranging from George Arliss
to a humming bird. In the far corner
had been sitting the man with the
screwed -up face.
"What would you like to see me
imitate now?" asked the bore.
The man moved and spoke: "How
about a ground hog that's seen ite
shadow?"
•
The 'small boy was taking part bar
Children's Day exercises. He' was
only seven years old and recited se
well that he was encored',
"Well, Harry, and how did yon get
on?" asked'this proud father wbeet he
returned borne.
"Why, I tbougbt I bad, done it alt
right," replied Harry, "but they made
me do it again."
•
A French mistress was instructing
•a class of small ,people In the ele-
eents of her language. One little
boy, on' being asked to repeat a cer-
tain sentepee, hesitated, and the
teacher began 'helpfully : "Cess
yeux. ,
The pupil's eye brightened. "Setts
me," he answered tariumphantly.
•
'X e Morning after the club dinner,
the secretary was called up` on ,tbe
telephone,
"Ia in true that old Jfinmy' + m1Ah
was at the dinner last might abne-
lute'ly blotto?"
"Yes," replied the secretary~.,
"Terrible. .,Amit v --was 1 there,
toot"