The Brussels Post, 1960-10-27, Page 7HRONICLES
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BUTTERFLY STROKE — Mermaid with wings, Sandy towhun
gives her own version of the butterfly stroke, She entertains
visitors of Weekie Wochee Springs. With her air hose handy
she stays under like a fish.
Really Fine Way To
Acquire A Library
An odd and ititeresting sit-
cation, has just come to my at-
tention. It seems we have Some
kind of state department "ae
creditation" system for stand-
ardizing our high schools,, and
one high Scheele failed to meet
the requirements. The physical,
plant was all new; the gymnasi.
elen was commodious and exten-
sive; the sign "janitor" on the
furnace-room door had been
properly changed to "custodian";
and the percentage increases for
teachers had been duly institu-
ted, Everybody thought the .pro-
grant was in high gear and things
were fine.
But in order to be "accredited"
as an A-number-one institution
of learning, there had to be 'e
certain 'number of volumes in
the library. This item had been
Slegleeted. True, they had built
room for the library, and had
zet up many shelves along the
Walls. They had some big tables
with chairs, and the lighting was
fine, But somehow the committee
and the officials had not hap-
pened to be the hooky sort, and
during the expensive prepara-
tions nobody had thought much
about a library.
It wasn't until the official
state tabulation • came down
from the higher echelons of cul-
ture that this subject came up,
Then word went about that just
as soon as the school had the
bookshelves filled the category
would change, and the high
school would be as good as any
In the state.
Under the accepted methods
of modern education, this pres-
ented no real problem. A house-
to-house appeal was made, and
everybody scrimmaged around
the sheds and attics, and in one
beads-up, closely organized, ef-
fective campaign, books were
gathered and the shelves were
filled.
Immediately the 'school was
rerated and is now in tiptop
shape, ready to send forth schol-
ars with the best of them.
This is really a fine way to
acquire a library. It has the ad-
vantage of being quick, and you
don't waste time browsing, Some
years ago my wife and I were
driving over a back road and
came upon an auction. We had
evidently missed the better part
of it, but the auctioneer was
laboring valiantly to draw in
the last few pennies he could,
and he was at the moment striv-
ing to get 30 cents for a paste-
board carton of used jelly tum-
blers, but he had to let then)
go for e quarter". We watched
him dispose of a number of sim-
ilar hot items, and then he said,
"And now, if you will step over
to the front door, we will sell
Mr. Libby's fine library!"
The word library struck a
note, for the ancient, tumble-
down, well-used little farmhouse
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Wouldn't suggest to any passer-
by that it held a literary, or
even literate, connection. It
looked like a Mail-order cetae
Logue residence at best, with any
doubts at ail on the side of the
New England Homestead in the
odd years when they offered
five years and a bridal wreath
bush for a dollar, But, a "Ills-
eery" had been promised, and
we moved to the front door,
A lean individual who was
helping held out three books to
the auctioneer, and -he raised
them so all could see. "There
are over 500 volumes in this
library," he said, "They are all
in topnotch shape, clean and
nice, Some of them have scarce-
ly been read. They cover all sub-
jects. Here is a complete educa-
tion for anybody, and I would
like to sell the complete library
to one bidder. liow much am I
offered ?"
There was 110 response. Clear-
ly, the gathering was not the
kind to acquire erudition in this
way. You could see that people
respected books, and felt they
were to be held in awe. Some of
them might have liked to buy a
book — but to face the chance
to acquire 500 of them in one
fell swoop was too much.
I half expected to hear some
voice pipe up and ask for the
total weight, which might be a
helpful statistic, But nobody
opened his head. The auctioneer
teased and cajoled,
My wife said, "There must be
a book there somewhere you'd
like to have!"
I remember I gave a wise an-
swer, to wit: "One to 500 is a
better ratio than you get in a
bookstore!" But her remark be-
guiled me, and I though of poor
Mr. Libby, who seemed to be
the sad man sitting off to one
side of a chopping block. We
had' no way to know why he was
thus disposing of his lifetime
effects, But his library, natural-
ly telling the kind of man he
was, the precious labors of so
many master intellects treasur-
ed up and perused over so many
years of kerosene lamps, was
not attracting any notable at-
tention with the vulgar crowd.
At least some token bid
should be made. I heard myself
calling, "Five dollars!" and I
held my hand up with fingers
apart so there would be no mis-
take about 'the amount. A cent
apiece!
Mr. Libby looked pleased, and
I was glad, The auctioneer hesi-
tated one small moment while
he assessed the prospects, and he
quickly decided he was ahead.
"Sold!" he barked, and every-
body looked at me with what I
took to be respect and envy. In
a trice, I had ceased being a
transient stranger, and had be-
come a well-known owner of 500
books.
We found a great many novels
by Mrs. E. D. E, N. Southworth,
and things like that. There was a
leather-bound Goldsmith which
I imagine is a collector's item.
Joseph C. Lincoln prevailed, as
did Zane Grey. We got the Cap-
py Ricks series in toto, But to
tell the truth, at $5 Mr. Libby
cheated me when he conveyed
his library. On the other hand,
it is nice to know that in mod-
ern times, so have we wagged,
this motley collection helped to
"accredit" a high school. One
corner of my attic is clean again.
—By John Gould in the Chriss
tian Science Monitor
Tough To Be Rich
In Singapore
Being e big businessman has
become an occupational hazard
in Singapore, Of the hundred
Chinese dollar millionaires who
live on the island, Six have been
kidnapped and held to ransom in
the last ten monthe.
Latest victim to stumble out of
the jungle and back to civiliza-
tion was Eng Hong Soon, a rub-
ber magnate, who escape with
his life because he paid up 20,000
dollars -- and kept his mouth
shut about his captors.
None of the kidnap victims
dares divulge to police names of
the gang who are making their
and their fellow millionaires'
lives so miserable — not since
last spring when the body of
Lee Gee Chong was found
clumped in a cemetery. Two days
earlier wealthy Chong had been
snatched from his luxurious
lintousihe as he was about to
drive into his home. His family
made the fatal mistake of calling
the police.
Things are so black for the
big-money boys that they daren't
go out at night. They stay put
in their homes, guarded by barb-
ed wire and watchdoge, And it's
reported that some of them are
protecting themselves by paying
tribute to their underworld tor-
mentors.
The millionaires sheerest some
tight last month, however, by
getting together arid joining a
campaign to Make kidnaeeitig on
Singapore a caeital offehce.
Their argument is that trade on
the island it being seriously
effected• because they'te tillable
to concentrate on their busiricss
attairSt
Well-Loved' Author
Keeps, On Going
''In the wee small hours,'" the
mother wrote, "she began to Ms,
prove and I was ,ernsizeci at the
question she asked mr. 'Mom-
mie, le Thornton Burgess still
alive?' I replied that I did not
know anything about you, but
you. must be a man well on in
years for one of your books was
copyrighted in 1910 . ." ^
Addressed to the author some
twenty years ago, this fan letter
repeats a question which chit-
dren, es well as many a grown-
up, are still asking. Three gen-
erations of Americans have been
raised on the fictionalized nature
lore of Thornton. Burgess, and
his astounding output of 15,000
stories enjoys a sentimental es-
teem which—for most adults—
makes the question of their li-
terary worth a matter of gross
irrelevance.
Happily, the answer to the ail-
ing child's question was—end
still is—yes. At 86, Thornton W.
Burgess is not only alive, but last
month was out with a golden an-
niversary edition of "Old Mother
West Wind," plus an autobiogra-
phy called "Now I Remember".
Seen in self-profile, Burgess is
just what the reader would want
—a benign sentimentalist who
truly believes the rhymed homi-
lies which decorate the top of
his stories and truly loves the
animal world. The reest absorb-
iieg 'episode of the autobiography
show him in the role of dedi-
cated amateur naturalist, hiding
out in the dawn on Martha's
Vineyard to observe a male
heath hen who is the last of its
race. Eerily, the bird goes
through its ritual mating dance,
NOBLE MODEL — Model Bev-
erly Noble arrives in New
York City from El Paso, Tex.
unable to realize that nowhere
on earth is there a she-hen to be
charmed by the show.
Ileinforeed , by illustrator Har-
rison Cady—a fellow octogen-
arian who is still his coliabora-
, tor—Burgess won a fan follow-
ing which has included, at some
stage in life, virtually 'every liv-
ing American (his bedtime stor-
ies ran In 400 American news-
papers). Many were hooked for
good, During the harrowing trial
of the eleven top Communists in
1949, Judge Harold 'H. Medina—
declares his biographer—spent
each morning recess with The
New York Herald Tribune, care-
fully catching up on the doings of
Jimmy Skunk and Sammy Jay.
Attending a conference in Can-
ada on the life cycles of fish,
Burgess was Mice forced by pop.
ular request—despite his cringe
ing embarrassment—to tell a
bedtime story to the assemblage
of scientists from five countries.
Cranking out a story a day for
nearly 50 yeets—he retired from
his syndicated calumn only this
year, and now divides his time
between Hampton, Mass., and
the island of Tobago off Trinidad'
—Burgess tried to keep ' fiction'
close to the facts of natural his-
tory. More and Mere he woe the
notice and respect of profession-
al naturalists until—in the S1,1-,
promo hour of his life.lsiortle-
eaateeri University ih Boston
flabbergasted him with an lion-
oraty doctorate of letters, In his
autobiography, Burgess devotes
a, Vest number of his pages to
the admiring Messages that fill
his scrapbooks arid the unek-
eected fettle that the world has
giVen him, but his delighted puz
zlement as to why it all happen-
ed makes his book, naievely
pleasant reading.
What a pity thet future ,geti- e
eretiohe 'Can't see the Wetisidee
fut.' things we are doing With
their Monet:
My column this week has paint
at the beginning, paint in the
middle and paint at the end,
Sandwiched in between is a
strange bird, fan mail letters,
and a lovely drive.
About the paint , For
months I have been itching to
get a paint brush in my hand.
Every room in this house has
been literally screaming for a
paint job and I had been won-
dering how much longer I could
stand it. Why didn't we have it
done? Well, quite frankly, we
couldn't afford it. Neither could
Partner tackle the job, Spirit
was willing but not the joints.
One day's painting and he would
have. been too stiff to move for a
week. Arthritis is an unpredict-
able master. Partner is working
on a job outside making wells
for the basement windows. It in-
volves a terrific amount of heavy
work with two-inch planks, fit-
ting and tarring the wood, dig-
ging and mounding the heavy
clay soil, cutting and re-setting
the sod; heavy work that Part-
ner seems quite able to do, But
to wield a two-inch paint brush,
that would be another story. I
wasn't sure I could do it either
but I was determined to try. Af-
ter all I used to do all the in-
terior decorating at Ginger Farm
and some of the outside too,
But I was ten years younger then
and at a certain stage in one's
life ten years yeeeee " lot of
difference,
Well, to cut a lone story short,
I tackled the kitchen first. It is
ten by twelve and has eighteen
cupboard doors! Wonderfully
convenient until it comes to
painting them. I chose a lovely
shade of light turquoise for -the
walls and white for the wood-
work, And it really looks won-
derful — barring a few' smears
of paint here and there. Anyway,
it's clean, it's bright, and it's liv-
able. But oh dear, what a mess
at times. In a kitchen you can't
remove everything and get on
with the jobs. You have to' paint
and live with it too. One day
everything movable was on the
kitchen table and the overflow
in the dinning-room. We had a
sandwich lunch on TV tables in
the living-room.
Next room I attacked was the
main bathroom — same colour
as the kitchen, turquoise and
white. That way I economized in
paint. The colour scheme is re-
lieved by pink towels, soap and
toilet paper, Interchangeable
with yellow: Mirror, lights and
so on were, removed and the
bathroom closed for the dura-
tion. This 'was possible as we
have a two-piece washroom off
the main bedroom. While Work-
ing I wore a dark red smock.
Anyone looking at it keew ex.
actly what colour paint I was
using! Of course I reel into a few
cliffictilties' as I have to use a
chair to stand on — can't keep
My balance on a step-ladder. Ali
that remains to be done now is a
aleen-uP job:. At least for those`
two rooms. But my painting, I'm
afraid, will be like a serial story
-- to be continued.
Now for the strange bird.
Partner saw it first and oiled
me to look, It Was the size of a.
robin, rusty-red breast, brown!
tsh back and wings, hopped and
ran like a robing and was With
ether ebbing, in feet it Was a rob-
in, of that I anti Stitt, Then what
was strange? Well, the head arid
throat of this robin` were Infre
•
IgStIt 44. 004'
white. Maybe it was trying to be
an albino bird and hadn't quite
made it.
Fan mail . . . several letters
arrived last week, all of them
welcome. One each from Sea-
forth, Kincardine, Kenora and
the Department of Agriculture,
Reader-friends are very kind —
I do appreciate your encouraging
words and good wishes. "J.L.13."
has been writing about twice a
year for at least fifteen years, We
enjoy hearing from him and his
wife.
Next a lovely drive . neigh-
bours invited us to go along for
a drive to .Freelton. That took
us across country through famil-
iar territory, driving towards the
"Mountain" north of Milton. At
Highway 6, we went towards
East Flamboro to a lovely park
we had never even heard of be-
fore — 'Lambert Park". It is the
result of one man's dream and
ingenuity. There is a grand ce-
ment-lined swimming pool which
utilities .a natural creek and is
controlled by floodgates. There
are also swings, teetor-tortors,
picnic tables galore, brick bar-
becues and plenty of shade trees.
Coming home we drove
through the Cedar Springs holi-
day resort. Private property,
owned and operated as a comm-
unity project near Kilbride by
people who have bought lots and
built summer homes. It has just
about everything — golf course,
ski runs, swimming, tennis, base-
ball, pavilion and community
hall and nature trails, all among
the beautiful cedars from which
it gets its name, This was once
the site of a powder mill which
blew up in a terrific explosion
in 1884. The scene of the tragedy
remained idle until 1.924 when its
potential as a holiday resort was
first realized, fulfilling a life-
dream of Mr. W. 0, Flatt, There
are now over eighty seminar
cottages, some of them winter-
ized, A lovely spot.
Mystery Of The
"Laughing Death"
A mysterious disease known
as the "Laughing Death" has re-
sulted in 30,000 tribesmen in
Australian New Guinea being
forbidden to move about the
country,
The disease has affected
women more than men, causing
a serious shortage of prospective
wives. Consequently, the tribes-
men have been roaming to other
areas in search of wives, spread-
itig the disease. The govern-
ment's answer has been to force
the tribesmen to curb their ro-
mantic ambitions until a cure
is found,
The disease is a mystery to
scientists. All they known about
ft is that "the Victims succumb
to uncontrollable hysteria,"
Yawning Is
Good For -You I
Because he wasn't sleeping
well, a Swedish professor had a
special record made of people.
Yawning. When he went to bed
he played it — and slept like a
log!
A psychologist who has made
a study of insomnia telie of
some other interesting facts.
Yawns are infectious -- the
sight of someone yawning Makes
others yawn, Watching a baby
yawn often makes mother yawn
ale'
oesor :totes that yawns
are healthy. "A good wide, open-
mouthed yawn Is a splendid
thing for the body," he says. "It
greatly imprnwu the blood cir-
culation "
Physiologists say that yawning
is a reflex, the same kind of in-
voluntary mechanism as a sneeze
or gasp. Sometimes It denotes
boredom but usually it is one
of nature's most evident de-
mands for a rest.
Some years ago a doctor study-
ing yawns had a film made of
a girl pretending to yawn, The
film was made at slow, at aver-
age and at fast speeds, The girl
was seen stretching herself com-
fortably in accompaniment to
her faked yawning and achieved
such realistic 'results that she
actuPPt iserself yawn.
T-"
'; shown to a
cies. udents in a
darkene '•-'f of whom
were graduate nurses, twelve of
them yawned as they watched,
thirteen reported that although
they refrained from yawning
they felt that they wanted to,
while the rest said the film made
them feel relaxed and tired.
And after gleaning these facts,
I'm not feeling so alert myself
now, Ah, dear!
Good News For
British Witches
Here's some good news for
witches — if there are any
witches in Britain to-day.
They'll be glad to know, any-
way, wherever they are, that it's
a good year for heather. For, in
case you don't know, some kinds
of heather, whose mature stalks
are nearly five feet long, are
used to make besoms, the things
witches are reputed to ride on
through the sky.
Yes, it's a blooming good year
for the bonny heather which,
by the way, takes longer to grow
than any other harvest there Is,
between twelve and fifteen years.
Heather grows over an amaz-
ingly wide range of altitudes —
from near sea level right up to
3,500 feet. In the fall in moor-
land villages parties of men and
women can be seen cutting the
springy heather (its other name
is ling) for broom making,
Heather is still valued in many
parts as bedding for horses and
cattle. Gathered and dried before
the purple flower appears, heath-
er bedding has some peculiar
property which prevents the ani-
nulls using troubled by.
insects,
Heather has an L00410111
number of uses, The Picts use.
to make a heather ale, which
was. very good for the health, Ale
though the secret recipe has 1014
been lost.
Modern Etiquette
By Anne Ashley
Q, le it correct to wear eat+
zings at any time, or should they
be reserved only for certain oom,
casions?
A. Small earrings can be wor*
at any time. But the long, dange
ling types are best worn only
with evening or party frocks.
For Half-Sizes
PRINTED PATTE
AIST 4595
29"-40"
4-4P•tc. -74444,4
SHORTER, fuller? These new,
Fall skirts are perfect for youl
They're shaped to slim you
smartly, to fit without alteratiori
at waist, hips, in length.
Printed. Pattern 4595: For hall
sizes — 29, 31, 33, 35, 37% 40-
inch waists, Size 81 slim skirt
yards 54-inch; flared lees yards.
Send FORTY CENTS (stamp*
cannot be accepted, use postal
note for safety) for this pattern.
Please print plainly SIZE,
NAME, ADDRESS, STYLE
NUMBER.
Send order to ANNE ADAMS,
Box 1, 123 Eighteenth Si,, New
Toronto, Ont.
SEND NOW! Big, beautiful,
COLOR-IFIC Fall and Winter
Pattern Catalog has over 100
styles to sew — school, career,
half-sizes. Only 35S1
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