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The Brussels Post, 1949-8-31, Page 3Really Primitive Are These Folks As civilization pr gresses an machinery of living becomes and more complicated it is re rag to hear of people who simpler liven, 1.'ont llarrisson, ernment Ethnologist in Sa and pioneer of the science of Observation, writes of the Kel a mountain tribe living in the c of -Borneo, Harrisson first got to know Kelabits when he was deo amongst them by parachute d the war. The most noticeable urs of their civilization is that ev •one in the village lives its one L House, A verandah, where vis and bachelors sleep, runs along front and along the back are family cooking fires. There are separate rooms and everyone ro freely up and down, from lentil family. The Long House sits stilts fifteen feet above the gro Its fine plank floors are Smoot with an axe and front the p thatch roof, black with sm hangs a wonderful assortment objects, from dried human he from the old days, to fish traps feather cloaks. Chickens, child and packs of hunting dogs ro up and down inside the house wl underneath pigs, water buffet • and goats lead a rich communal I There is no privacy anywhere a no peace either for, no matter w the time of day or night, somebo is always doing something. But Harrisson remarked, nobody c be an outsider in such a communi everybody belongs. The Kelabits are fine farmers a everyone helps with the rice starve even the children, who begin su work at seven or eight, In their fr time, before the cycle of harvesti begins, they are busy with domes crafts and cerinonial feasts. Th are good `craftsmen and make they need, weaving skirts, makin clothes from bark and products pottery, cosmetics, traps, 'fish net blow pipes, spears, love -philtre musical instruments, axes at medicines. Although the Kclabits have highly developed culture, a hig standard of arts and crafts and fully developed system of co-oper ation and leadership, they sti practice megalithic rites. They ar the only people in South Asia wh erect these ceremonial arrangemen of rocks, mostly in memory of thei ancestors, ori a large scale. Th have feasts when: the stones are pu up, tremendous junketings that las for anything up to a week. Enor- mous quantities of meat are eaten and vast amounts of drink are brewed in tall jars decorated with dragons. The old brewing jars and some of the old beads they wear are objects that interest the Kela- bits more than anything else. Somejars, probably made in China and Siam, are almost certainly more than . a thousand years old, while some of the beads appear to be iden- tical with those known from the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East and are possibly muck older tie n the oldest jars. _-iving as the Kclabits do in one Long House, there are many op- portunities for promiscuity and these are fully taken. "But while the young Kclabits are promiscuous be- fore marriage, particularly at big feasts, when they starry they nearly always remain faithful to their part- ners for life," writes Harrisson. He'remarked that the. more a man gets to know a culture the more he be- gins to doubt his own categories of civilized tthinking. "The Kelabits still work in stone and have Other archaic customs. With theirremote- ness, their pre-ieearituiJl promiscuity and much else of that 44rt, they ' aright well be classed as primitive, 'backward.' But by their skill in crafts, their fascinating songs, their open generosity, their very effective system of agriculture and animal husbandry, and the refined passions which burn under the surface, they nti•dit well be classed as 'highly civiiized.' These labels mean very little, really" d the more fresh - lead Gov- rawak Masa abits, entre the pped string feat- ery- ong hors the the no anis y to on and. bed alar oke, of ads and ren ant rile oes if e. nd hat dy as alt ty, nd s t, cit ee ng tic ey all g ug a, St id a a It 9 0 to r ey World Shaker The baby had cried and fretted all day, and the young mother was nee,:y frantic,- When her husband came in after a day,. in the fields, "Well, remember," he told her she described her experience to Hint, cheerfully, "the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world." About 8:30 that evening, the baby be„ an to cry again. The mother reached for her hat and, on the way out the door, called to her husband; "I'm going to a movie, darling, so for the next couple of hours you assume world domination." Merry Menagerie-Bywatt Disney "Guess whet" A Enmeshed—This ship looks as if it's caught in a gigantic spider web — and that's not far from the truth. The ship is a brass scale model miniature "long hull" destroyer, *hose topside structures are precisely scaled counterparts of those on full- sized naval vessels. The "web" in which it is apparently caught is a mesh of hardware cloth, mounted on a turntable, The set-up is used in investigating radiation characteristics of shipboard radio antennas. The hardware cloth simulates the conductivity of the ocean at regular communication frequencies k�e-Main's Code By Richard Hill Wilkinson Andy had sensitive eyes and deli- cate hands, but Leonie, born and bred a westerner of pioneer stock, was human. She loved hint. It wasn't until after they were mar- ried that she discovered he was a physical coward. She found out the night of Serena Boone's engagement party. Tony Swift was there. As usual, he was drunk. IIe was a handsome devil, this Tony, tall and bronzed and reckless. He had been Leonie/s childhood sweetheart. Folks said she would have married him if it were not for his drinking, - "If I ever see your gly face • around here again, I'll kill youl" The first thing Tony saw %lien he came through the door was Le- onie and Andy dancing together. A scowl crossed his face, Then he laughed. When they whirled past him, he stepped up and whacked Andy on the back. - "Tony's cut," he grinned, "make way for a man." Leonie flushed, Andy hesitated, looked at Tony, then gave way smiling. "Sure Thing," he said, "your dance, Tony," As soon as she could, without ap- pearing too• obvious, she asked Andy to take lir home, There she accused; "Why did you let him insult youl' Oh, the shame of it l" Andy was startled and bew'ildor- ed, "Let who insult sec, honey?" "Who?" She stared at him. "Tony Swif t, of course! I was never so humiliated in my life," "Tony? Ola, you mean because of what he said? Shucks, honey, Tony didn't mean anything. He wan drunk. The appalling truth flashed across Leonic's brain in that mothent, Andy was a cowardl He'd bead afraid of Tony, which was why he evaded the 'issue! With a little whimpering cry, she turned and ran sobbing from the room, A. weep later, on Saturday' night, Andy stopped by at Seth Lancey's store to see Sethi on a matter abusiness, A couple of boys from his mine were there, drinking at the bar. Minutes later, talking with Seth, he heard a rumpus out front. Investigating, he discovered that two boys were engaged itt a brawl with three oxen front the Bar V cattle ranch. Anily stood by and watched a while. Others joined 'n. It began to look as though the place would be wrecked. Andy got out of there. Leonie heard about it the next day. That settled things for her. Andy was bewildered and unhap- py. The next day he found himself brooding over the situation. 13y mid-afternoon, he could stand it no longer. Leaving Noah Tait in charge of operations, he drove home. As he strode up the walk he heard a cry. He burst open the door and found Tony Swift trying to kiss his wife, Tony wasn't drunk. He was babbling something about Leonie really loving him. Tony whirled at the sound Andy made His lip curled, "Ohol The sissy front Bos—" Andy strode across the floor. His face was black. "I guess," he said bitterly, "you're dumb, after all. You need teaching." He struck out. Tony tried to dodge, but Andy's fist clipped him on the chin so hard that he went down. "Damn yowl" 1 -Ie lunged, but Andy wasn't where he expected. Andy's fist flashed out again, and again Tony went down. Andy jerked him to his feet and hit hint again. Ile hit him a third time and a fourth. Blood covered Tony's face, Tony whimpered for mercy. Andy dragged him to the door and threw hint out. "Andy!" Leonie fled into his arms. "Oh, my darling, you were wonderful! Olt, precious, forgive me for what I said. Andy, why didn't you do that before — that night at the dance?" Andy frowned. "Why, shucks, honey, I don't like to fight, Don't you see? He was drunk then. There was no need." Leonie laid iter head on his shoul- der. "I see, darling. Of course 1' see." Ant she didn't. TIILFAQN FRONT J9ku . A. friend of mine who lives south of the border leas sent me an article, written by an Iowa poultry expert, which deals with the important question of which is the better plan —to buy your chicken feed all ready mixed, or to do your own mixing. * * * . As I believe a lot of readers of this column will be interested, I'm passing it along to you "without prejudice," as the lawyers put It. That is to say, the views expressed are not, necessarily, those that I happen to hold, So here goes. * * * Suall 1 buy my mixed poultry feed in the bag, or would it be bet- ter to mix my own? Tire answer to this question de- pends upon the circumstances. But if you're an average flock owner, there's little reason why you should mix your own trash or concentrate today, * * * There's a difference between now and several years ,.go, when mix- tures were less complex, Then, some of the ingredients were not used in mat small quantities as they are now. They make mixing difficult * * * In general, jiock owners should buy chick starters in the bag unless they have large quantities of skim - milk. The amount of each nutrient required is exact, and there's a risk of not getting thein mixed properly, * X, * . Not being able to get the right in- gredients is another thing that points to the wisdom of buying baby chick feed in the bag. * * * Flock owners who have devel- oped large poultry projects are the exception in feed mixing. Large- scale broiler plant owners may be justified in putting in a mixer, buy- ing iu quantity and mixing their own feeds, * * * But even big operators have found that there are more and bigger problems than they had expected, , i Most of there now depend upon re- liable feed -mixing companies for all of their supplies for growing birds, I * * * It should be further pointed out that a good chick ration, up to the salable -age of the cockerels (about 12 weeks) is rich in minerals , vita- 1,mins and protein feeds the farmer does not have in dependable supply. Too, the chicks can be fed most conveniently by grinding and mix- ing all their feeds together. • Wanted Company He got out of bed at 2 a,m,, threw a dressing -gown over his py- jamas, and galloped down two flights of stairs to the landlord's flat. Ile rapped sharply. No answer. He knocked again, and again, Fin- ally the door opened. A sleepy-eyed landlord stuck his head out. "Well," he demanded, "what do you ,want?" The other took a deep breath, "I just want to inform you," he said, `that r won't be able to pay the rent this month." "Is that wily you woke me in Hitt middle of the night? Couldn't you tell ire that in the morning?" The other nodded. "Certainly," he admitted. "But why should I worry alone?" a snail Cog In Big Machine—Stephen Sivy is dwarfed amid the uge gears of this vertical layer machine in a cable plant, but ' ie's the guy who snakes it go. The 10 -ton machine is braiding 20 miles of wire rope for elevators in the tJN St ret":'rut Build- ing, The elevators will transport an estimated 40,000 persona daily hi the 39 -story structure. The small amount of farm -grown feeds contained in"""the chick ration doesn't Justify all the detail work of mixing, balancing and studying the cheapest or best combinations for producing the chick masts. * * * The laying ration presents an- other problem, although the princI- ple is the same, Instead of the liens requiring a high -protein ration, as do chicks or turkey poults, they need a protien level of about 15' to 15h4 per cent protein. Also in con- trast with the chicks, the hens can eat larg-• quantities of whole grain. * * r• Since farmers usually have their own grains, it is most practical to feed a high -protein concentrate (about 26 per cent), Together, they will give you about the 15 per cent protein ration your liens need, * * * So the farm flock owner needs only to buy a properly balanced e ready -mix of protein, rnineral and vitamins to use his grains economic- ally. * * * Experience with flock owners who mix their own chick mach or concentrate feeds from reliable formulae leads to the opinion that, too often, they try to change them. * * * They make substitutions, leave out certain feeds that are not avail- able, or continue to use formulas long after better ones have been dis- covered through controlled experi- ments. * * * All this doesn't mean that flock owners should not know the secrets of nutrition in poultry feeding. On the contrary, they ought to be able to interpret the faults of malnutri tion in abnormal birds. * * * They should take keener interest in knowing when to start grain feeding, or when to change to a concentrated growing feed from the baby chick mash. * * * But the poultryman is like the farmer who wisely has turned over the building of ,r: machinery to skilled manufacturers. He can be compared to his wife, wlio has wisely given the task o: making her husband's overalls to the quantity expert in clothing. Not So Easy As it Looks Believe ate, most beginning auth- ors have had to write their books in the time left over frons an eight- hour job, Robert Froat, the poet, worked as a mill hand, as a farmer, and a school teacher; Walter de la Mare held a job as a bookkeeper for nearly eighteen years; Ring Lard- ner reported over fourteen hundred baseball games before he ever had time to write the short stories that made hbn famous; 'Phomas Mann sold fire insurance before his boolcs won the Nobel Prize; Sinclair Lewis typed out his first two novels by night after spending his day as a publicity man for a New York publisher, An editor sees this fight going on at close quarters and, naturally, he wants to see his writers make enough from their books so that they will not have to rent themselves out to Hollywood or spend their entire year writing short stories for the pulp magazines, —From "The Care and Feeding of Authors," by Edward Weeks. Comeback Mrs. Browne rebuked her maid: "I wrote your name with my finger in the dust this morning." "1 know you did, mum," replied the girl, "and you spelt It wrong." 4' The BLACK HORSE "Do You Know" Advisory Paned TED REEVE well-known sports writer LOUIS BOURDON prominent radio ringer and master of ceremonies RICHARD PENNINGTON University Librarian, McGill University GREGORY CLARK dbtingulrhd polemist* if htith�n. striko tI,. r ti 1 F; e fs t talt Despite popular belief it has been proved that lightning can and does strike in the same place more than once. Any substance or building which attracts a discharge of lightning once will prob- ably attract it again and again. The Empire State Building, for example, has been 'struck' by lightning scores of times — sometimes more than once in the same storm. Do You Know ... that each flash of lightning is not necessarily followed by a crash of thunder? Silent lightning is not unusual. DO Y ll Kll!IW ... that lightning often comes up from the earth? This happens when charges of electricity shoot up from the ground, meet discharges from the clouds and cause lightning flashes. DO YOU Kn®w . e . that lightning does not zigzag, as it is popularly believed? Scientific investigation has shown that lightning travels in a long irregu- lar, ribbon-like line — It Is never acutely angled. Do Yaw Know any Interesting and unusual facts? Our "Advisory Panel" will pay $25 for any authenticated readers' submissions if they are usable. All letters become our property, Write Black Horse Brewery, Station L, Montreal, P.Q. DAWES BLACK HO lilt SE BREWERY