The Brussels Post, 1948-6-30, Page 6Call
Of the Coad
By
L DE LA TORRE
His sneakers raising putts of dust,
Billy raced down the path to the
lake. Now he stopped, snatched at
an overhanging branch and clung to
it, gasping for breath. After a back-
ward glance satisfied him that the
little white schoolhouse no longer
showed through the trees, he jerked
up his black trousers and shuffled
on.
"School!" he mumbled to him-
self. "I'm sick of it! And if Ma puts
on any more crying acts when I
talk about quitting, it just ain't go-
ing do her any good. I could fake
my age and join ,the Navy to see
the— Nahl too much orders to
take. Maybe I'll just drift around,
free like a kite."
A thin column of smoke rising
from the clearing caught his eye.
"Funny time for anybody to have
a fire on the beach," he told him-
self and dashed across. Two men
crouching over the fire turned
around as Billy approached. Both
wore shabby clothes, and their faces
looked as if untouched by water or
razor for weeks.
"You — tramps?" Billy blurted.
The two men looked at each other
and the one sitting on an overturned
lard can answered.
"Yeah, we're bums. What you
doin' here? Ain't yuh supposed to be
in school?"
"Sure. Just taking a vacation to-
day," and Billy grinned. pleased
with his nit.
The big man who had just spok-
en picked up a twig, snapped it and
threw it on the fire•
"Hey, Joe," he grunted to his
companion, "What yuh say dub kid
joins up wid us?" He put his hand
on the boy's shoulder.
"You mean go around tramping
with you?" Billy broke in.
"Yuh know how tuh ride rails,
kid?" Joe inquired.
"Sure — sure I do.". Billy wasn't
as certain as he sounded, but from
what he had seen of "riding the
rods" in the movies it looked easy
enough.
The first tramp picked up a rusty
can and with the aid of a stick
propped it in the center of the
crackling twigs, He was still poking
it into position as he drawled out,
"Hey, Joe 'Member Horsey Sind -
ler? Just heard the other day he lost
his leg ricin' onnah Sante Fe.
Trackman followed up his blood fer
ten miles,"
"Mike, wouldja ask dah kid tub
gimme his shoes? Mine's ain't got
nuf sole on 'em tuh grind up fer
chewin' tobacco."
"Mine?" Billy cried. He held one
foot forward for them to see.
"These are my only school shoes and
I—"
"Yeah — yours," Mike snarled.
"You ain't goin' tub school no more,
is yah?" Ile started to stand up but
Joe motioned him down. 'Awl; let -
tem have 'stn. He'II be wearin'
noospapers'routd his feet soon 'nuf.
We got 'nother forty below winter
of las' year an' no doubt dab re-
mains of mull toes'll get frozen off."
Mike grinned broadly and picked
up his stick to poke the can,
"Chow's on!" he called to Joe,
Billy leaner) over and peered into
the can. "What—what is it?" he
stammered.
"Stewed pig tails," Mike drawled,
"Ain't often we got such good luck
as telt get such good earn as that,
do we Joe?"
"Yeah, member dat time we
couldn't get nuttin but fish heads
outta dah garbage pails? Musta been
time wasn't much meat 'round."
"Here, kid." Mike was proudly
holding up the ran. "New members
foist, Gobble it down when it's still
good's hot, boy."
"No --no thanks. I --I--" Ibily'S
lips clenched together and his hands
went instinctively over his mouth.
He shook his head and fled.
Mike dropped the can, threw
back his head and laughed until he
sank to the ground exhausted, Plis
companion wiped a 7augh_te,,dr &way.
"What did you do, Mike?" fie
panted, "Broil our worms?"
Mike nodded. "The fishing was
getting terrible, anyway." He rose
wearily off the ground. "Crone on,
jet's loq_k for the canoe and start
orae, And pltaie remember, clear
brother, that it's your turn to take
another to a fish dinner at the Sea-
food Grotto,"
'The cries which a bat emits while
in flight vibrate at 60,000 cycles a
Second, far above the range of the
human ear,
Admiring Glances—And No Wonder—This platinum fox fur coat which Bett. Riddell,
Montreal model, gazes on so admiringly was exhibited at the recent International Trade
Fair at Toronto by the Canadian Farm Fur Advertising Commission, The latter is a
Marketing Service conducted by the Dominion ti,o•ernment for the Farm Fur Association, and
Is designed to assist our fur producers in securing the most profitable markets for their furs.
The Chinchilla Business in C•..nada
$2,500,000 Invested in 5000 Animals
What are the prospects for the
Chinchilla business? Will there be
money made from raising the furry
creatures—or are those who sunk
their money into them due for a
terrific loss? This is one of the
questions that is of importance to
hundreds of Cauadians, who have
invested something over two and a
half millions in some five thousand
animals — and also to the many
others who are thinking of putting
money into the business,
In a recent issue The Financial
Post attempts to answer this ques-
tion and to forecast in what direc-
tion the Chinchilla business is likely
to travel in future,
One thing is certain—the article
states — those pencil calculations
that so many Canadians indulged in
a year or two ago, where they came
up with breath -taking profits of live
thousand per cent in 10 years, look
pretty cockeyed now.
Dollars—Or Sense?
The mathematical problem went
like this;
If a pair of chinchillas produced
another pair every year for four
years, what will a person realize
starting with one pair and selling
them all at the end of 10 years at
$50 a pelt. The answer — around
$65,000 — is a problem in combina-
tions and permutations. But now
most owners know that chinchillas
don't operate with such mathemati-
cal precision, There are the all-
important variables of birth-rate and
death rate to contend with. Be-
sides, the price of pelts is likely to
be closer to $25 than $50, many fur
manufacturers claim.
Yet hundreds of Canadians are
still toying with the idea of buying
a pair of chinchillas, Even if we
were only 20% right, they say that
wouldn't be bad on an original in-
vestment of $1,650 (current price
for top-quality animals), Many pee -
pie laughed at the possibilities of
developing a mink market in ('an-
ada a few years ago, they point out,
National Body Formed
Some 500 ranchers tubo are confi-
dent about the future of the industry
have recently organized tinder a
Dominion charter as the National
Chinchilla Breeders of Canada, Um
scrupulous selling tactics of certain
chinchilla salesmen and the growing
belief among the public that all was
not simon pure in the business have
been important factors in the for-
mation of this organization on a
national scale,
Recent investigations into the
operations of at least one of the
large ranching companies Pointed
to the urgent necessity of estab-
lishing a firm set of rules and regu-
lations for the industry and the
prime importance of placing the
whole business under the strict
supervision of the Livestock Pedi-
gree Act.
I3etter Business Bureau offices in
several Canadian cities have files of
letters on the chinchilla business.
't')t"a„w:w{°rasiiti>:iid"t"il�,' ,.n^I:at'irl; t!.,nt:a
These letters don't make pleasant
reading.
Promises Not Kept
Many of them have to do with
the verbal "buy back' promise
given by some ranchers with a pur-
chase of chinchillas. When this
promise has not been lived up to,
small owners who, for one rex-on or
another, have been forced to sell
back; have had to seek the open
market. Since in some cases the
animals for which they paid the
top price of $1,000 a pair', have
proven to be "culls" and no use for
breeding purposes the unlucky
owners have. had to accept next to
nothing. "They are in the sante
position as a man with a counter-
feit bill,.' E. \'t•', White, president of
the National Chinchilla Breeders of
Canada says. "They've either got
to pass it on to the next man dis-
honestly or take the loss them-
selves."
Willing to Gamble
Proof that Canadians arc willing
to take a gamble on the ultimate
pelting market--chin•hidlas are still
too valuable to hill for pelts—shows
in the sales figure, of the two
largest companies for the year
ended June 31, Ella,
One company belt' 1010,000 worth
of chinchillas that year, another
$202,000 worth. ilm,y of the pur-
chasers, of course, were planting to
cut down their risk somewhat by
sales to the high !aired breeding
market along the way.
A survey of several representative
ranchers in Ontario where 00 breed-
ers alone are o[iering chinchillas to
the public indieatrr, that an average
increase from a pair of mated chin-
chillas is 150% a year—for all ani-
mals t00% a year, .\, Live exchange
of animals alno:,1 r:nrhers for mat-
ing purpo-ea help. to take much of
the risk out of the business, main-
tains the birth rate anti improves
the quality, Indioideally fetnales
sell higher than =lea Some ranch-
ers will pay $050 for a pair of mated
chinchillas, 'I'Ihis is half of an ori-
ginal outlay of 81,610 for top quality
matured animals, and they can keep
on having litters for seven years,
ranchers claim.
Will Prices Keep Dropping?
The price trend for chinchillas
will be downward, of course—al-
ready has dropped from $3,200—as
the animals beet -ant more plentiful
and the ultimate fur market conies
closer to realization A drop of $200
a pair a year might he the story
from here on.
It is estimated that there are only
around 40,000 chinchillas in the
world today. .\l,an enough to
make 400 fall 1, n ;lm ,,,;,(s, On the
basis Of a l all'.; anima! increase,
small•sc le pt•ltin0 ' ieht start in
fiYe years (Inc.
Tile long -ratite ph.:.,. g of the
big ranchers is to ,i ,tire sect)
quantity of sten bears quality furs
that chinchilla rn a•, and wraps can
eventually be nen,rl down out of
tsxatsa.ro zee ,,*—,...,.-
the present fantastic price levels to
some intermediate level where thou-
sands of women—rather than tens
—can afford to bid for them. A
price range from 07,100 to $15,000
per coat is tentatively suggested by
some furriers. kt these prices an
annual North American market of
Over 50,000 coats might reasonably
be anticipated, they think. The price
could not be allowed to drift touch
(ower though, Or the exclusiveness
of the coat, one of the big selling
points, would di,appear, the same
furriers claim.
On the basis of 100 pelts to a
coat this would mean an annual
slaughter of some five million
chinchillas for their furs. At cur-
rent rates of reproduction it would
take another eight to 10 years be-
fore there were enough chinchillas
available to maintain this rate,
Active Market?
Furriers are pretty generally
agreed that there will be an active
market for the chinchilla coat when
it is available. It has been proven
that chinchilla is a good wearing fur
despite its soft and fluffy texture.
The extreme fineness of the fur—up
to 80 hairs forst one single hair
follicle—makes for an extremely
light coat. A square yard of chin-
chilla fur weighs approximately the
same as a square yard of silk. 'A
three-quarter length, size 40 coat
weighs two Ib. two oz.
One of the fur's most unusual at-
tractions is the rich varying color
effect given off by the three -color
characteristics of the individual hair
—gray 0n top, then white and fin-
ally blue, close to the skin.
In the final analysis, the sound-
ness of chinchilla raising, whether
as a business or as an investment
will depend upon the market for
chinchilla pelts in the fur industry,
Just For Fun
The other day a man fran-
tic to locate a place to live,
asked a naturalist if he knew
where he could find a house,
The naturalist replied: "I-Iouse?
Boy, you're getting soft. Why
don't you live out in the open
air, let old Mother Natufe cov-
er you with a blanket of stars,
and have the blue firmament'
above as a roof?"
"Frankly," said the man, "I
had in mind sonic -thing a bit
smaller,"
Some Notes From The Farm Front
Of Special Interest To Rural Readers
By John Russell
Maybe the mothers who used to
try and slip junior a dose of castor
oil disguised with It thin film of
honey had the right idea, only didn't
go far enough with it, Anyway,
over in Russia they're producing
not only vitantizetl honey, but .also
medicated honey containing quin-
ine, streptoeide, sulfidiu and other
medical preparations. Russia's ag-
ricultural Research Centre does it
by feeding the bees on fruit solu-
tions containing the necessary drugs.
Now there's an Australian veter-
inary surgeon who claims that a
new method of treating milk—
known as hoferisation—is super-
ior to pasteurization, Under this
treatment the milk is placed under
oxygen pressure, kept heated at 131
degrees for an hour, then cooled
under pressure. It is claimed that
the milk has then been kept from
three to six months, under pressure,
without losing any of its freshness.
* * 5
In 1947 Canadian per capita con-
sttntption of beef was 67.7 pounds;
of Pork, 52.7 pounds, But when it
cane to Mutton and Lamb the fig-
ure had dropped to a mere 4.8
pounds.
Our indifference to \futton and
Lamb, according to The Industrial
and Development Council of Can-
adian Meat Packers, may be as-
cribed to several causes. The avail-
able quantity is limited; it is not
on the market every day; and prices
are so mucic above beef levels, as a
rule, that most folks look on Iamb
as a luxury dish.
But undoubtedly one of the
greatest limiting factors in the de-
mand for lamb has been the gen-
erally low average quality of our
domestic product as compared to
the New Zealand or Australian
variety, Almost continuously the
market offers a premium for blocky,
well -finished ewe or wether lambs
weighing 80 to 90 pounds alive—
and almost continuously there is a
shortage of sante. •
Canadian hog nun have gone a
long way in eliminating unsuitable
brcetl.s and producing a near -ideal
market type. Perhaps something
similar might be clone as one of the
first steps in revitalizing the Can-
adian lamb trade.
With prospects of especially
heavy crops in the strawberry and
cherry areas, according to the On-
tario Farm Service Camps, pickers
are urgently needed. Unless at
least 500 more girls are willing to
undertake picking and other ecsen•
tial tasks there arc liable to be great
losses of both fruit and vegetables.
There will be steady work, at
good rates of pay, for the entire
seaFon for all girls sixteen or over
who wish to spend a happy and
pleasant summer working on fruit
and vegetable farms and living at
one of the comfortable and well-
appointed Farm Service Camps,
which are operated under the Y.W.
C.A. supervision, and which make
adequate proriion for recreational
and social activities during off-duty
]tours. Camps are already open at
Thetford. Cottam, 11uthven, Wat-
erford, IIttttonville, Oakville, Clark-
son and various points in the Niag-
ara Peninsula, and all are far short
of their required number of girls,
For the last two or Inc;teyears
there's been quite a lot of talk about
holding back on grain for fattening
cattle—that is, giving them only
half or two-thirds of a normal feed.
A test along this line was made
at an Experimental Station in Kan-
sas, Twenty head of steers were di-
vided into two lots. One lot was
given full feed of grain, the other
only two thirds as much, The
steers that went s!,ort on grain got
about twice as notch corn silage
as the others. Both lots received
the sante amount of protein and
limestone,
What was the difference in their
grades after the 180 -day testing
period? None at all. Eight steers
in each lot graded choice, and two
went good. The steers that were
full fed gained 56 pounds more, but
they ate 17.0 more bushels of grain.
The silage total was three tons for
the limited -grain steers—about half
that for the others,
* * *
It isn't only when they're out in
the fields that insect pests help you
to harvest your grain crops. They
do a lot of that after the grain is in
the barn; and here are some of the
things you can do to foil then.
1. Clean your empty bins thor-
oughly before refilling. Spray the
Silver fox is the most important `
fur grown in Canada. Minlc ranks
second.
floors turd inside walls with an oil
solution of water c tspeniot con-
taining 5% or less of DDT,
2, Clean up outside the bins too.
Don't keep nt!lletl feed or empty
feed hags near stored grains as of-
ten they contain insects brought
from the ,)till,
8. IIave your grain as dry and as
free as possible from broken kernels
when you store,
4. Inspeet stored grain at least
once a month, If bugs are working,
fumigate, Use a ready -mixed ethy-
lene dichloride -carbon tetrachloride
solution. It won't hurt the grain,
but watch out fpr fumes.
s
Power of Color
•
We keep learning something new
all the time, Increased conacious-
nes5 of the power of color has led
the experts to conduct experiments
which have exploded the popnler
idea that combinations of black and
white constitute the most highly
visible marking for signs, notices,
warning signals.
It has been found that black and
white rank sixth in legibility a* a
color combination, witlt black on
yellow by far the most highly vis-
ible. Ranking behind black on yel-
low, but ahead of the traditional
black on white, are green on while,
red on white, blue on white and
white on blue.
It loolcs as though a lot of road
signs will have to be changed be-
fore perfect visibility is obtained,
Girl Guide is Heroins in
Landslide Tragedy
WINS DOW AWARD
MARY YOUNG
OF PICTON, ONTARIO,
shows courage and presence
of mind as trench cave-in
buries two
The men working on the sewer
excavation were off for lunch , . .
leaving the 9 -foot -deep trench a
perfect playground for the two
small children. However, Girl
Guides Mary Young and Nancy
Wright, hearing the children
down in the trench, decided that
it was no place for games.
Scrambling down quickly, they
were escorting the youngsters
out in single file when, suddenly,
a large section of earth on one
side gave way.
USES BARE HANDS
One child escaped the land-
slide unharmed ... but a little
boy and Nancy Wright were
buried under the heavy earth.
Mary Young, somehow extri-
cated herself, pulling one foot
completely out of her shoe .. .
and then, seeing Nancy's fingers
showing, she frantically clawed
at the rock and earth until she
had cleared a small space around
the imprisoned girl's head. This
done, she dashed to the nearest
house, gave the alarm, and re-
turned to the task of freeing her
chum.
. Unfortunately, the little boy
died. But, due to Mary's quick
thinking and courage, a double
tragedy was averted. Nancy
Wright suffered only minor in-
juries and shock. We are proud
to pay tribute to Girl Guide Mary
Young of Picton, Ontario,
through the presentation of The
Dow Award.
THE DOW AWARD is a
citation for outstanding hero.
Ism and includes, as a tangible
expression of appreciation, a
$too Canada Savings Bond,
Wi ,tcrs arc selected by the
Dov Award Committee, a
group of editors of leading
Canadian newspapers,
The Guides were trying to get the
children out of the trench when the
disaster occurred. Earth and rock
tumbled down on top of them .. .
burying Nancy and the little boy.
Her training standing her in good
stead, Mary Young coolly extricated
herself ... and, risking a further cave-
in, she clawed desperately at the
earth to rescue her friend.
By Arthur Pointer
IS THAT
YOUR PET
MONKEY?
/ EVERY AFTERNOON
HE PADDLES OUT TO
A FISHING HOLE HE
LOCATED AND BRINGS
BACK A BI6 MESS
OF FISH.
'THAT'S AMAZING!
DO YOU BUY HIM
A FISHING
LICENSE?
A FISHING LICENSE FORA
MONHEV?...1-14AT'S RICHE
WHAT ARE YOU, A HUMORIST+