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The Seaforth News, 1938-06-30, Page 3THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 1938 THE SRAFORTH NEWS PAGE THREE CREATES 'BEAU'TY SPOT IN' 'EIDMONTON' Mr. and Mrs. +Herbert ' Lawrence Live in Buena Vista Gardens in. West errs City. The following item from the Ed- monton Bulletin, refers to Mr. Herb- ert Lawrence, a former Seaforth boy: 'On'e ,of ,Edm entan's Ibes!t-known beauty spots stands today as a living monument to a '66! -year -'old! ex- , educator who grew weary ,of 'teaching shorthand and resolved•, to woo the "earth for ',friths and 'trees and Bowers. Now at the height of its 'charm and fragrance, and visited 1by Mare than 200 persons .over the past Week- end, 'the show -place similarly is a monument to that .man' s merry - eyed wife, who -encouraged" thim in his decision 118 years ago and has been this tireless partner in 'the 'task they have a'ccom'plished. The man is .Herb'er't 'L'awrence, creator and owner 'of •B'uena (iVd to ,nursery and fruit !gardens .at 719012-1136 st. The place is reached by fallowing the 'gravelled road south on 1I42 st., two blocks west sof the city ,gravel 'pit. In 81920, when MT. Lawrence . was on the staff of the Alberta •college, the seven -acre Eden which he •owns today was nothing but r•ollin'g 'bush country, 'wild land tangled 'like .his present neigihborhood.. But the 'friendly, soft-spoken' tea- cher, iOntario-boun 'and a pioneer schoolmaster in 'Vegrev'ill•e .district, took a bugigymide one 'day to Span- ish -named Buena 'Vista sector, got down On his knees and 'dug into the earth with his hands. When he stood alp a moment later his eyes were shining. "In that instant I felt instinctively that I had found a miracle ,patch— and my wife and I know now that my 'hunch was Tight," Mr. 'Lawrence told a newspaperman. The results of that hunch, and of the almost two decades of ceaseless moiling that .followed it, tell their own story. Rooted in rich sand -and -leaf loam • which bolds moisture as if 'by magic and nourishes generously everything the Lawrences ever have planted in • it, the Buena Vista ,gardens are deem- ed by experts an outstanding example A,.,, of the possibilities of intelligent hor- IIIP" ticulbure in !Edmonton .and •district. In addition to 120 crabapple trees now in full bloom and beetling 'the air with an ,enchanting rose -like aroma, the gardens contain 426 plum trees, whose lblossnms are almost gone now; 'hundreds of ash .and elm trees, pines, spruce, oaks, •caragana hedge 'plants, lilacs, ,honeysuckles, crahilberries, golden willows, 'dogwood, buokblhorn, cottaneaster, 'Ginnalian maples, hawthorns, elderberry 'bushes, and enough other varieties of shrubs and :trees and fruits •to fill a ,good- sized •ca'talog'ue. "I ;had tonly a 'baby' nursery be- hind my 'home !here in '1191110 when I bought part of this land in 'the midst AIL of the Old 'boom' days, and bit 'by obit I acquired more and more u'ntil we had obtained ownership of these seven acres," said Mr. Lawrence, an- swering questions while his nimble fingers plucked sap -wasting extra leaves from tiny shoots which inside of two» years will be full-sized crab- apple trees, laden with frtuit. ".Tit took us .five long, (hard years. to clear away the 'wild hush from our land, but it was grand' dun 'just the same," the veteran gardener's •wife. assured. the newsman. "My husband kept right en, work- ing •at the 'college in those early days, but no matter how . tired • he : was when he .arrived home each evening; even if he had only 11'•0 minutes- of daylight to 'work with, he'd get into his overalls and carry on with the job. W e started' with a :few, currant bushes, elm and ash tree's, handy s'hrub's and ,perennials. Month by month and year by year, our garden grew, How many thrills it has 'giv'en us!... "See that magnificent elm over there? 'It was no bigger than a 'knit- ting needle when we planted it. And every year we're learning more about grafting and transplanting and all the other phases of our work here."' Mr. Lawrence said be has many thousands of Siberian crab'apple and plum. seedlings ";already 'coming on nicely for the text ,five or 10 years' work," In another week, he said, his crab- apple !blossom's will have fluttered from the trees and filled the air with billowing, 'fragrant clo'ud's of pink and white, The fruit itself, which he de- clared is equal in quality to anything grown in ;Ontario or British Colum- bia, won't be ripe until August—"and it makes the 'grandest jelly and pre- serves a man ever tasted," . Here's the most astonishing' fact about the Lawrences and their gar- dens: they use no water there at all. They are not even connected with the city water system. So rich is the soil on their land, so teeming with hidden energy, that all the moisture they ever use is rain -and that's what they drink in their own home. "Rainwater. Certainly, Here, have a glassful," the ex -teacher smiled, handing the reporter a 'brimming tumbler. Pt tasted delicious—and is healthful too, if ?fr. and Mrs. Law- rence's own 'sparkling eyes and en - flagging vitality 'can 'be taken as evidence. Mr. Lawrence admitted he had turned a well -loved bobby into a full- time, •comfortalbly paying profession. And what's more, 'both he and his wife feel they "have just started." The first 118 years, after all, are the hardest, as every gardener knows. Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence 'were re- cently hosts for 'tiie marriage cere- mony of two Edmonton ,young peo- ple, following which a wedding break- fast was served tinder the trees in Buena Vista gardens. College IGracluate (standing on street corner)—"iMacIanh, could you give a poor cripple enough for a cup of coffee?" 'Kind 'Old Lady—"My poor lac]. How are ,crippled?" 'College •Graduate—"Financially." "Have you noticed how a 'woman lowers her voice whenever she asks for anything?" - '10'h, yes. But have you noticed how, she raises it if she doesn't get it?" TI -IE LAST TRIP IOW trip on the Hindenburg in May was the most 'uneventful journey 8 ever undertook in an airship. Every- one Was 'excited. The 'passengers packed and collected their .papers for their passport examination. • The ste- ward's removed the bedclothes and piled .them "at the end of the corridor's. 'For an hour the Hindenburg cruised over New York. A short time later we passed low over the field 'at Lake - burst. The landing crew Ahad been ordered far 4 'p:nm., (batt thdnderstorms, which crowded .around. the airport like a pack of hungry 'wolves, caused ' the s'hip's c-onnnand.er to hove on. We were riding south along the storm wall, from, which slanting ;bolds of lightning leaped. We 'did not hear the thunder, Above the Sea -like mouth of the Delaware, the Hindenburg turn'ecl about, The storm head sub- sided, and at the airport landing con- ditions were n, w favorable. A last bolt of lightning followed the ship threateningly, while with lowered nose and high speed. we pushed through a last rain 'curtain. Phe hangar came into ;view, the sliding doors wide open. The Hindenburg turned in a sharp . ethrve in order . to head into the wind. Water ' )ballast 'vent splashing earthward to prevent us 'from landing Cap fast. 'Froin a height of 1310 feet, two ropes fell from the how. Two columns of landing seized the ropes and pulled the ship toward one of the movable mooring masts. With my wife I was leaning out of 'a window on the , promenade deck. Suddenly there occurred a re- markable stillness. The motors were silent, and it seemed as though- the Whole world was holding its (breath. One heard no command, no ca81, no ory. The people we saw seemed sud- denly stiffened I oould not account for this. Then 1 heard a light, dull detonation from above, no louder than the sound of 'a beer bottle being opened. I turned my gaze toward the bow and noticed a delicate rose glow, as though the sun were about to rise. I understood immediately that the airship was aflame. There was 'but one chance for safety—to 'jump out. The distance from the ground at that moment may have been 11120 feet. 'For a moment I thought of 'getting bed linen from the corridor in order - to soften our leap, but in the same in- stant, the airship crashed to the ground with terrific force. Its impact threw us from the window to the stair corridor. The ttable•s and chairs of the reading room crashed about and 'paintheil"iib in like a barricade. "Through •the window!" I shouted to my fellow passengers, and dragged my wife with hoe to our observation window. I do not know, and my wife does not know, how we leaped from the airship. The distance from the ground may have been' 10 or' 1l feet. I distinctly felt any feet 'touch the soft sand and grass. We had to'let go of each other's hands in order to make our way through the 'confusion of hot metal pieces and wires. We bent the hot metal apart with our bare 'hands without feeling pained. We freed our- selves and ran through a sea of fire. It was like a dream. l0'cr bodies had no weight. They 'floated through space. I saw' my wife stretched out ,full length and motionless on the ground, I 'floated to her and . pulled 'her upright. 1' gave her a push and saw her running .again like a mech- anical toy that has been wound up. The',violence of 'the push .threw me on my side. I lay on the soil -drenched. 'burning ground, and I had the feeling that I was "at the 'goal." d knew that death that the thought 'did not fright- en ire. Then I lifted my ,head to see if my wife ;was safe, and saw, leer, this 'was .dying, but was such a feeling of well-being to stretch out and' await phantom of life. Ail at 'once niy scorched ,throat gain breathed air. I stood still and ''trrned around to the ship. Behind nlhe thick smoke the .skyship that 'had car- r(iedus across the ocean 'blazed like an immense torch, Something drew rhe toward it; I cannot say whether it was the feeling I must try to save others. My wife •called to me, •called more urgently and ran .hack 'to me. She spoke persuasively; took me by the ,hand;; led me away. We walked along thefirewall and stumbled over the body of one of the landing crew. An ambulance that came tearing to the scene took ors to, the small airport hospital. Its rooms swarmed with ex- cited people like a disturbed ant heap. In .the corrido'rs on tables. stretchers and 'chairs lay the seriously wounded. An ambulance orderly with a morph- ine syringe the size of a 'bicycle pump :ran about. WHEN MR. PEASLEE TAKES HIS WIFE TO TOWN "It's a kind of tirin' jab," remarked Caleb Peaslee, letting himself wearily down into» the cedar chair beside Dea- con Hyne's back :porch, "to take my wife to the city with me when I go in to sell some truck and :haul back a load of fodder. I done it today, acid I'nt twice as tired 'sif I'd gone alone.' "I should think she'd be kind of comp'ny for you on the way in and back," the.deacon observed. "She is so; and I like her comp'ny for well 'nough," Caleb agreed. "'Tain't that part of it that's tirin'— its after she 'gits there and gits to tradin' on her own (hook that takes my time and my strength and -1 might's well own up to it—my temper too. "I't always starts the same way," he went on. '"I'l,! be thoughtless 'nough to remark the night 'b'fore that I'll have to drive into town the •next day with some stuff, and in the mornin' she'll have .her goin'-abroad clothes on when •I come in from the barn to breakfast. got two -three things I'm need - in',' sheik say, `and, bein' you're goin' to town, iI guess I'll go along too and git em and save you goin' a special trip.' And I'.Ii begin to sense some - thin' ,gloomy conhin' to'rds rhe right then, .but d don't seem to 'learn 'tough so 'hut what it'll take rhe ',bout as much by s'prise 'sif it was the first time it ever happened," he admitted dejectedly, "I ain't found out yit what you're c'mplainin' about,' Objected •the dea- con, "I'm 'gain' to tell you now," Caleb hastened to say. "Take today; it's a pretty fair copy of many a time b'fore. Counter Check Books We Are Selling Quality Books Books are Well Made, Carbon is Clean and Copies Readily. All styles, Carbon Leaf and Black Back. Prices as Low as You Can Get Anywhere. Get our Quotation on Your 'Next Order. • The Seaforth News SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, I got started 'bout the sane time as common, and when we ,got to the city I left her down in the square handy by the places where she'd be 'goin' to do her bovine; and -alter she'd 'charg- ed me 'over .and over where to come to find her I went off to. sell my truck and sit it unloaded b'fore noon. "Come noon I went to where she said she'd be, and she wa'n't there and didn't come till near three quart- ers of an hour afterwards neither; and she acted sort of put out to find that I'd been 'waitin' a minute for her—but not half as much so as she ,would have been if she'd gat there and •I'd +been a minute late. Nb, sir] I meb'be ain't got an awful pile of sense, bait I've got 'nough to know thatl" The ,deacon nodded his complete agreement. "Well, we went same's we always do to an ea'tin' house, and after she'd found her glasses and -read over everything 'on the bill of fare front and 'back and fi'ggered what they'd come to in money, s'posin' she was to order some of 'em, she done same's she always does—told the girl to bring b"lecl dinner for both of us, that bein' the cheapest thing she could find that, would be fillin' 'nough to be called a :real. "I ain't findin' any 'fault with b'Ied dinner; I like it first-rate," Caleb ex- plained. "Bait I'.ve never been able to order it in the 'first place, seein' she knows all along she ain't got any idea of Navin' anything else. But nol She's got to acid up 'the ,different things and spec''Iate about 'em for twenty min- utes or so; and then when she looks up and rinds the .girl standin' at her elbow she pipes up, 'B'iled dinner,' as natural as one of these talkie' dolls. "Well, after we got our dinners et this noon I sot back and waited for orders, knowin' well 'nough they was corrin'; but, seein' she'd said she only wanted to ,buy two -three things, 1 had a notion mebbe she'd only need me ten minutes or so to sort of gether 'en, together for her; and then I'd get started hbout buyin' the things I come after. But"—, he sighed—"'I don't seen able to learn somehow. "Corrin' to gettin' her stuff togeth- er, I should say she most 'have gone up one side of that street and down the other and got more or less stuff in every p'l'ace she went iii; anyway. 1 hadn't got much more'n half of it 1)' - fore I head to lighter .one load over to the place where I'd left my hors and git rid of it and then come back after the rest. I ma -de three trips 'b'fore I collected the 'whole of it, and even then it took careful steveeiorin' to git it packed into the wagon to 'suit her. More'n half of it was in cardboard boxes, and she wanted I should stow it so it wouldn't git jammed, and you do that in the back of a .wagon, givin' each box a sep'rate place, and when you've got done you ain't .got much room to put sacks of fodder, and fod- der fon the •critters was what I'd really conte to the city for that day "It was gittin' along in the after- noon when I'd got her tended out on, —as I thought,—and I was plannin' to hurry a mite and git one or two things I felt I must 'have, when same - thin' moved her to 'pry open one of the boxes and peek in—and then a good part of it was all to do over again. Seems she'd bought—or cal'lated she hada--some blue stuff for a dress, and conte to look into the ,box she'd got a kind of dark green. Fur's I could see one color looked about as good as the other, 'but there was no convincin' her; back she went, takin' me with her in 'case the .girl was sassy to her, to shift the -cloth and sit the calor she'd ordered. I'd admire to see," Mr. Peaslee observed raptly, "any girl that'd give her any 'back talk in the 'frame of mind she was in then. Hav- in' me along .wouldn't have helped any; I wouldnt have dared to yip once at a girl with as much .sand as that! "It wa'n't any short job changin' the stuff and te:llin' the•girl w'h'at she thought of a store that'd dry to paten off stuff a person didn't want, ,but we fin'ly gat it changed and started, and then I'looked at my watch and found if I wanted to git home in time to git the critters milked and my ;barn work done in any kind of season I •didn't have a minute to 'waste. So I have in the handful of things I'd had a chance to git for myself, and we shoved for home. She had plenty to say, but I was kind of ,grumpy., "And when I told 'her tonight," Ca- leb saki wearily, 'that I hadn't got quite call the things I'd ought to !ye got whilst I was in the 'city and that I'd halve to make another trip she sat back in her chair and looked at me 'sif she 'thought S must be kind of feeble-minded, " `'Good land!' :she says. 'You had the same time 1 did, and look what I brought home! 'Trouble with you,' she says, 'you dilly-dally too much and ain't got any idea of the .value of time. Well, one thing,' she says, 'if you go in again t'morrer you'll have to go alone; I can't 'bother to go along to help _you- this time!'" "Whyn't you tell her jest what hen.dered you?" the 'deacon hazarded a little hardily; but the look that Ca- leb turned upon him abashed the dea- con, and 'his talk faded away into a mumble of which the only 'words to be distinguished were "taking a joke!" BOTANICAL NOTES FOR JULY (Experimental Farms Note) lP'lant !life is an its prime early this month, but before 'July has sped away there will be many signs That Nature is on the wane. Those 'thous- ands of plants which, with the advent of spring :had 'breathlessly rushed into bloom, have now set seed with the re- sultant death of »their .flowers. Iet is true there are many more to •come, but not so many as 'before, and as the season advances, they necessarily be- come less a'nd less; so .those !collect- ors who, for many reasons, have de- ferred their collecting should now think really seriously of making a start. There are many college and school students who are required to provide pressed and mounted collections of plants -at the beginning of the -ensu- in; 'tern, anti• who can, if they start now, find with little trouble, really excellent material. At this time every year the same questions arise regarding the collec- tian, preservation and mounting of plant specimens: .How can I collect plants in the best possible way? Haw can I preserve them? How can I mount then.? How ,can -I do all this so as to get good marks for my practi- cal work? The Dominion Botanist, Central Experimental ,Farm, Ottawa, will gladly 'help you by sending, upon re, quest full directions. Moreover if there .is doubt—and there invariably is—about the nam'in'g of specimens, he will identify them 'for you, providing collections are sent in the manner de- scribed in the circular of direction. It is not possible, in this short ar- ticle, to give a list -of plants which flower in July; collectors may, how- ever, look for their specimens in a somewhat methodical manner accord- ing to habitat, which is the habita- tion or natural 'home of the various species. For instance, those who are fortun- ate enough to reside near' the .seashore and adjacent cliffs will find plants pe- culiar to these ihabitats. Plants which grow at high altitudes, such as botan- ists describe as "alpine", may be col- lected on uplands and mountains by those who have chosen a mountain- eering vacation; 'hut they must not forget that ,there- are also swamp -lav ing plants, many and •varied, that add much to the value of collections. Per- sons who are attracted by the -seduc- tive shade and peace of the wood -land, will find species there not -to• be found elsewhere. •Fishing holidays which have become monotonous when .the fish refuse to obey the dictates of Isaac Walton, or if lounging in beach pyjamas or too much bathing does be- come a bore, there remains always the delightful quest of water -loving plants in creek, river -or lake. Mead- ows and roadsides .will provide a choice selection in 'July, and so will back yards .and the vicinity of build- ings. IThere is indeed a wide selection of situations Where plants of varying habits may be sought now. Those students who, last year, -delayed mak- ing collections until they returned to college, will remember ]how very dif- ficult it was to make up 'the required number of mounts, and how few narks the :quality of their 'specimens gained for them. These plant •collections, if made in a 'methodical and careful manner will constitute a labour of lave. To make friends with kindly Mother :Nature and 'Earth is the realization of an ideal. It is to understand the meaning of peace and comfort;' a state sought in treacherous places 'by many, and therefore found by few. Robert Service had evidently realiz- ed this ideal when he composed his short poem "Comfort" in which .he suggests that in spite of the fact that a man has lost nearly everything --this wife, business, health an•d hope—in- deed all that makes life worth .living; there is still something left to bring comfort, and that is Nature in the form of sunshine, the big 'bine sky, the smiling earth, singing birds, "flowers alflinging all their fragrance on ,the 'breeze", 'dancing shadows and green still meadows. There is undoubtedly supreme com- fort and peace to be realized Iby the collector of plants, especially the city man, whose sophisticated 'ife is often a sedentary and monotonous one. He will find welcome relief if only for a short time, in leaving 'behind his ev- eryday business anxieties and social obligations—even his automobile—for a scene of ineffable stimulation and encouragement in a retreat of quiet communion with Mother Nature; and thus return better equipped for the' fight in the great battle of life. "`Calm saul of all things! make it mine To feel, amid the city's jeer, That there abid-es a ,peace of thine, Man did ,not make, and 'cannot mar."