HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Blyth Standard, 1930-02-27, Page 6THE NATIONAL MUSEUM
OF CANADA
By DR. CHARLES CAMSELL, l..L.IL, F,R,C.S„
Deputy Minister, Department of Mines, Ottawa, Addressing
the Professional Civil Servants of Canada and
Their Friends Recently
would like you, for is fete minutes,
to share with me a vislon that has
gripped the minds of some of us dar-
ing the last few years, Lookiug ahead
forty or fifty years we see Canada the
home of a strong and prospsreos peo-
ple with twice or thrice the population
it possesses to -day, Montreal, 'Toron-
to, Winnipeg and Vancouver are great
centres of world commerce, known to
every school child in Europe to well
ae tm Amerlcn. Ottawa remains the
politicui heart of Canada, a city itu•
equalled on this continent for the.
beauty of Ito surroundings and the'
dignity of its public buntline. It is
the pride of Canada and the admira-
tion of alt America, a capital city
worthy of the prosperous and mopes.
sive nation that holds a leading place
nmoilg the flattens of the world.
Here within this oily of Ottawa, the
capital of Galindo, 100 00e, amid other
structures, a large and apleudld b( 1d -
lug containing inside its walls n pic-
ture In nlinlaturo of the coualry's
wealth and natural resources. We see
a National Mu0enm of Canada, a Mus-
eum that houses samples of every
rock and mineral, every animal, bird
and Isb, every seed and plant, and
every variety of timber that call he
found on Canadian soil or 10 Canadian
waters from Neva Scotia to British
Columbia and from the International
Boundary to the Arctic islands; a
sample of every object that has Its
home within our territory and contri-
butes to its prosperity and beauty.
This National Museum is a treasure -
house of the national wealth, a monu-
ment of our national achievements,
andan'educntionnl and research insti-
tution that proclaims our natural re-
sources and investigates 00205 of our
national problems, Everything that
early explorers set their eyes upon is
represented there --Indians clad in fur
robes and armed with war -clubs or
with bows and arrows; the buffalo, the
beaver and the various bears; aare
flowers form the Rocky Mountains,
tine timbers from the British Columbia
coast, and nuggets of gold and silver
from the different provinces and
alines, :Here, too, is every natural oh -
:lea that eoncerne the, farmer; types
of soil and their ;medial qualities, tiff-
formut varieties of wheat and methods
of combating their diseases, all the
fruits and vegetables and the ways of
controlling their Insect pests. The
prospector, the miner and the geolog-
ist find fu this museum 0verY rock and
care that exists in the Dominion, with
Illustrations of their uses and 01(rilple5
of all line products we derive from
them, The fisherman sees specimens
of every fish, the methods of captur-
ing them and of preparing 111001 for
the market, The lumberman 0000 his
timber in every Cage of growth, end
learns how to fight the beetles that
ravage his standing trees. It is a great
museum illustralin, the natural his.
tory of the whole of Canada, a nuts -
cum that Tanis beside the similar
museums in Nov York and Washing -
ten, in London, Paris, Venin and the
capital cities of al the greatest 001111 -
tries in Europe 101d Arnerlea,
Yet 1(1 Is not a tread 3011001111, full of
dry bores, stuffed animals 1111(1 rocks
covered with the crust flung up by
massing motor -cars. Everything with-
in it0 100110 is both attractive and hr
structivo. The children who crowd,
its doors from mere curiosity learn
something ,unconsciously, the tired
business man goes away refreshed and
informed, the critical foreigner re-
business
ceives new impressions of the great,
nese of Canada and its natural wealth,
There is a special staff to answer en-
quiries, to deliver addresses ern Can-
ada's resources, and to seed out in.
formation to every port of the coun-
try. Manufacturers visit or write to
the 001000m for ideas that they can
use in their business; industrialists to
Mid out our resources in 0001, Cities
and towns obtain help in building up
local museums in all the !merinos;
and schools from Halifax and Quebec
iq Vancouver borrow motion pictures
that teach our children the geography
of Canada, its plants and animals, its
1011100% 011d 11s water -1)010000, Then
there is a research staff that sindies
the 111010y and the problems of the
country, that co-operates with other
government departments and with tali
001011100 aud museums throughout the
world, and that increases the fame of
Canada as a home of science and o
learning.
Tido is oar vision, and already the
Dominion Government has taken the
first. step towards its realization. It
has established in Ottawa the foun-
dations of a 110110nal Museum, given
it. a 1u111ding large enough for the next
few years, equipped it with a small
het active stall, and allotted a small
0(201 of money each year for its maim
tenanc0, The advancement of this in,
slfhltion, the expansion of it 11110 a
great meeentn portraying the re-
sources of the entire country, and the
achievements of its people, this it
lays squarely' on the shoulders of the
people of C0t0da themselves. It
looks for the support and assiet10(1'
of every citizen, from 1118 leaders la
the financial rind commercial world to
the laborer on the farm and the work-
man in the mill. For a National lvlas•
eaul belongs to the entire Country,
and, like the Feat 1o1000111110 in Lolls
don and in Purls, registers the pro•
gross and civilization of that country
in the eves of other nations. So I
1001(1(1 ask ;x011 to share 0fir
01slon, and to join with 110 in stewing
to melee it 0 reality, in building 11p In
Ottawa, the Capita of the Dominion, The evetinog wrap worn here 1)0 S'nron Lynn, film star, Is of eggshell
a NaltoonI Museum worthy of Cam Iranspareit velvet. The formal gown is or silver lace and set ale do sole,
alas rank among the 110li0ns, -
The First Adhesive
Postage Stamp
An historic postage stamp, appal,
entry without a rival, was recently
sold in the London auction rooms for
0:60, or about 0250. Its special claim
to distinction Iles in the fact that it
was the first one -penny black of Creat
Britain, IST, and therefore the Orst
adhesive stamp in the world to pass
through the 100t.
It appears that a ilrilish Treasury
01)110(10 of April 22, 1510, appointed
May 0 of that )ear as the date for the
introduction of hostage stamps; that
on April 25 all postmasters and sub.
Postmaet01e were advised or the forth-
coming issue; that almost immediate-
ly afterward the dispatch of supplies
to provincial poet .> 1'('00 was begun.
A supply of the epochenalcing
stamps was received at the post office
at hath about April 10, Apparently a
local official cut the very first stamp
from the corner of a sheet with tine
aid of a pair of scissors 01111 affixed it
to a letter 0(1dress0(1 to an unknown
person residing in Peckham, a London
suburb.
A fragment only of the letter re-
mains with the stamp stili sticking to
it, but it is safllciei't to shod- the Bath
postmark of May 2, 1510, and a" red
"Paid" cancellation mark of Bias 4
partly over the stamp iteelt, fudicnting
that the stamp was not easc0110(1 until
it reached Loudon.
-.•-tet.._-.._
A vaiop used to have a wicked g int
in her eye—now she has it In her
hair'
As was to have been expected, the
Latin mune for 111e new-fangled par-
rot disease is pollysyllabic,
Shall We Let
Our Children Fly?
The present ago 10 the age of flying.
The boys and girls or alis generation
are growing np with the airplane lust
as 'then of my generation grew up
wilt the automobile. Dt my young
days we used to scorn the boy who
could and glibly con off the make of
any car that passed. Today the mod-
ern counterpart of •the boy who knew
automobiles is axing his eyes on the.
heavens and attuning his oars to the
sound of an ahplene engine. And
with Sine superiority and ah 011' of
authority before his astounded elders
he cneually,identities 00on3' passing
plane:
"There goes a Ford tri-nholor; that
one off 10 the light is a llollaucu-1110
of lane have flown aeroee the Allan,
tic; no, that -one's a Crescent; 0000
there's a Lockheed: And so on glibly
through a list of ships that is as long
or longer than tlhe lexicon of the onto -
mobile,
Boys of my generation learned to
1.011 the antemobile without fuss or
feathers and, with certain 1imitntlens,
tile" hogs mid girls of this Age are go-
ing to do the same thing with the a(r-
plene. When I was a youngster my
father• bought the fest automobile in
the town where we lived, Ile had a
terrible time learning in ruin 11:" Iie
had to take 1 don't know 1101v mu11y
lessons from an export, and 1 don't
think he ever did entirely conquer 0
soft of terror inspired by this strange
device; the sante sort of dread with
, which Dome people still regard the air-
plane, Nobody ever gave me automo-
bile driving 10ssmis—I 0)000)y "flicked
It up" as did thousands of other boys
—hut 1 was soon a better driver than
my father, simply because I took the
automobile for granted anti had no In-
hibitions to overcome.
The same thing is happening to the
airplaae-
'Che boy's of 1910, who hang around
aviation fields and build model air-
planes of their own, learn more quick -
1y than 111005 of us who learned to fly
In wartime. I have had youngsters
of 10 or less in the air with ale who
swindled a plane 110 well after a foo
1 minutes of inetcuction as I did at the
end of two or three hours' despairing
effort n.1 the part of my instructors.
Actually the 0tut1Ont learning to fly
to -day 10 given about ten hours of dual
instruction before he IS allowed to
solo, but this is purely for p001)0000 of
safety and•fon nowise contradicts 1110
0tato(uea that the average dying stu-
dent to -day is more 1051/0/501 after a
given amount of instruction than was
hie counterpart of 1918.
01 course planes are better now
time they were In the hectic days of
war training. Motors are more felt.
aide, and 1(1ane0 have pr0111000d fat'
in performance, safety and "fool -proof.
Dangerous 014100 are still be,
Mc built, but they are already headed
for the scrap heap. Fools will always
be able to kill themselves flying, but
the time has come when any0ue with
ordinary „horse sense" can fly without
111uger.
Flying 10 the coming thing, and the
mothers and fathers of Young Ameri-
ca had just as well face the fact that
111011' offspring are not going to be con•
tented on the ground. Unless the
parents slake an attempt to' 'become
air -minded themselves they are likely
to be left hopelessly behind the inter-
ests of their (11110ren 111 a few years.
I do not mean that they Should 1-11011
blindly i(io aviation or allow their
children to do so. But fortunately, the
h00ernln0ntLias done much to provide
safeguards. Only licensed pilots, us-
ing licensed planes, are permitted to
give flying instruction, and very soon
it will be necessary to 12000 a special
instnretor's certificate ht order to do
teething, In addition, flying schools
are to be rated by 1110 g0)'nl'lllilEillt 02111
givens "approved" certificates on the
basis of equipment, and the rating and
experience of the faculty." This sys-
tem will (10 11111011 to eliminate schools
concerned only with collecting fees
from gullibleatadents,
It seems to lne that there las been
too nnm11 Mystery about who can and
wlto cannot fly. The fact:, are that
guy health)', normal boy on girl who
can learn. to skate or ride a bicycle
doesn't need to worry about his or her
ability to become a flyer. In the 111111-
ttn'w services 00 many 1(1e11 want l0
fly that 1120 government can be abso-
lutely ruthless in choosing only the
211051 deei20ble nUlitary:aviators. 11111
the lnlali who wants to 1100 an airplane
like all automobile, merely to go some
where gnlckl) and comfortably, needs
1(0 More special physical qualifications
than are needed to drive a car. Ile
shoed be able to see and hear and
judge distances, but so should 1110 luau
who drfve0 0 car.
Tho Department of Commerce wise-
ly requires a pbysleal examination for
aviation students, But any person
with anywhere fear normal eyesight,
hearing and 11001111 can get by without
difficulty, 111 more than 1000 cases re-
cently considered 85,4 per cent. quali-
fied and only 1.1.0 Per cent. failed.
Probably two-thirds of the latter act-
ually could have learned to fly if the
government had been willing to 'take
a chance." Once a elan actually has
learned to fly, minor 11010(10 that may
develop are considered of no great
consequence and the authorities "give
waivers" 011 1110211, That means that
maty flue pilots have physical defects
that would bar theta as heglnnera
Iililellelifl'e, the femme British oh'•
man, lost on an attempted trans-At-
lantic flight, had bol one 5y 4. Yet he
was one of 'ho hest pilots in England.
Other well•lntoml airmen have man-
aged to get along quite welt rnhule a
few fingers, au arm, or even. a log, It
isn't necessarily how welt equipped
You are, but how well 'you two That
equipment,
As to the age et which children
0140121(1 be allowed to take uD flying,
there will be a. difference of opinion,
The Department of Commerce regula-
tions aro quite (11(inito as to the age
of licensee, pilots. This is set at 18
for transmit. pilots (the Highest type
incense available) 011 (1 1 for 1)190010
MO 11nil10d commercial 1111010. Strict-
ly Hartle this Federal legislation
applies only to inter St. '0 flying. Some
States ere following soft by adopting
the 0111110 regulations, Me. unfortunate•
ly other .103 are contemplating
separate air laws of their own, and if
this goes on air traffic—by its very
nature a 1115010 of long distance travel
11111 find itself hopelessly confused.
So far as I know, they, are no laws
auyw•1ner0 re•;arding the age at which
children may be taken up in Allis
planes. The age at which a boy or
girl should 21.81 be allowed to try a
hand at the 101110013 of an airplane
(111 the event the family owns a ma-
chine
mchine of Its ern) might, 111 general, bo
determined on 110 sante basis as the
01101(1000 of learning to drive the fa-
tuity automobile. As n matter of fact,
a modern airplane Is easier to fly and
nurch safer, under normal conditions,
once It Is in the air, than is h car 011
a orowded road,
Telce-offs and landings Oro a differ'•
out matter and require careful instruc-
tion 0s well as a good deal of prec-
tiee. But the confidence which conies
from having handled a plane 01101 in
the air helps greatly in learning to
1021(1 and take off.
In general, then, more seems to be
110 valid reason for believing that a
boy or girl who 10 old enough to drive
a car un(ler supervision is 1101 ready
to tante over the controls of an air-
plane under similar eircumstauces:--
Front The Parents' Magazine, by Clar-
enceD, ChanberlaIn, famous trans-
Alloolte 11)00,
THE PASSSING OF THE PIONEER
Down the last of the trails they are
bearing,
In a solemn and glorioue lice,
Through the valley of 1180111 they are
faring,
With a soul unafraid -mull (Grine--
The
Moine—The 0111 pioneer fathers are passing,
And this think ye shall tike for a
sig11.
Per with every white bead that is
sinking,
For with every aged heart that is
dead,
Yo are losing gold threads in tate link,
ing
Of traditional days that are spread,
The dumb epic eternally sped—
With the gift of then' stern retribution
1Vh1011 Glow carpets tho path that Ye
i.read.
There is never zephyr soft -sighing,
Where the primaeval forest once
lay, -
Tlnoer is never a patriarch dying,
But a story is passing away—
And a glory in passing away—
Of the humble who founded a nation
122 the travail and stress of the day.
—Cameron lioster•.
The Artist --"One
devoted to music must not love
money:"
Miss SweeL--"I infer that from the
scale of prices for every big perform-
ance."
Tests made by efficiency experts
show that the best temperature "for
real hard work in10000' 'le between
65 and 70 degrees. Er—and Is there
any known standard for;' say, just
medium hard work?
who is 0111000110
Muskrats a la Carte
Among the royal 'tunny ot,Caaadien
fur bearers—not one 102(1 111 the
Crown, not 0110 epodes or variety of
animal inhabiting our Canadian for-
ests stands out with sncdh per;ls,ent
brilliance and 815tingehlled record of
achievement, not 011 of 1110 1011100-
00s fur bearers of the earth ate capa.
ble of such 011001111ms mental MoiIly
increases, The. amazing/11110111)' of
this little rodent to re -populate de -
pleated territory line asloeished ob-
server's for many years. Ills 11001
of living resembles that of Ias cousin,
the Beaver, and ell varlotiee of low
marshy territory are Ills natural 110111-
tat, Without the muskrat pelt fur.
rises would find OM city in provldhng
a staple commodityin flue quality,
durable and moderately prlend fin.'
merchnndise. No other peltior pro
vides a skin of 011011 Iloxabie character
which stauis 1110 ,,tress 021d strain
of 00lcstant wear, nor is there one
which lends its self so admiracly to
the ;hales and shadows of the dye's
art.
Tho demand for muskrats pelt's
has increased steadily for many years
due to 1. wide' distribution of wealth
among the middle classes of our 1100•
hie, fur buyers search the country
from 01.21 to end for every muskrat
pelt that eel be obtained. Profes-
sional trappers hove penetr.dod rho
fur hearers last retreat in thele
search for more and more skins, and
as 1 result—the fun' bearing fratert-
Ity which once lehabitsd the hinter-
land 11, such enormous q'1a1N,itie3 are
slowly hitt surely becoming extinct,
their surplus supply has been ex,
haunted. Ouly a fraction,, of their
numbers remain, and these are scarce-
ly able to maintain a reasonable re-
presentation of their tribe, and unless
some drastic action le immediately
taken to protect and propagate our
fur bearers C1100(10'0 premier posttio11
00 the choice fur producing portion of
the British Empire will be a thing 01
the past, and (11101010 will find it
necessary to look to other countries
for inferior quellt), fur to apply our
needs,
Fur Production
With these facto before us—it 10
little (yowler that there should be an
effort made to propagate the Muskrat
112 confined territory where favorable
muskrat conditions prevail, Tile 111•
crease in muskrat fur farms in Can
ata during the past decade is illust-
rated in Federal Government reports
a 111 clearly Indicates the evident in.
torest taken in all parts of Canada
to increase the supply of urs by doe
eotIcotioll.
Number of Muskrat Farms
A vigorous attempt lo being made
at the present time to promote Musk-
rat fur farming in the Province of
Ontario, and there is every indication
that ranch raised muskrat furs will.
become an Important facts.s in the fur
trade when these Instltotors have
finally got under way. Lege and
small tracts of fertile, muskrat marsh
territory have been - secured in all
parts of the province. W00e11 wire
muskrat fabric fences which cost up
wards to, three thousand dollars per
21111e have been erected. Nater con-
trol, systems of various types like,
in most Instances been established to
secure a permanent water supply
which as an Important factor. De-
pleted areas have been re -stocked with
breeders, and there is every indica-
tion that ranch raised' muskrat furs
will shortly become an Iulportaat.wn11
in the her trade of Canada—providing
the nulsll'1t proves true to 101211 and
sustains his ancestral traits which 112
the past has borne such a magnificent
record if achievement,
Intelligent management and consis-
tent application of nadern fur farm-
ing principles are deciding factors and
neceeeary requirements fol' the suc-
cessful and economic development and
operation of the fun' farm. If ani-
mal proof fences have been properly
constructed, water levels consistent-
ly and systematically Maintained, and
food supplies are avatohlo there is lit -
doubt but that the muskrat, if
given a fair chance, will meet expect•
aliens and handsomely reward those
who have placed their confidence in
his ability to reproduce his hied, true
to type, on a commercial basis.
Conceit
But a elan may. have a good conceit
of himself without being what the
world calls conceited. Modesty con'
stets not its taking n low estimate of
One's own worth, but in refraining
from the expectation that the world
wit take a high one. --Int IIaY.
S'MATTER PDQ'-- They All Come Down to Earth.
oi1E -E.Gs
7412E LONG -AICD
5O M E_ y1[ E__.
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By C. M. PAYNE
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