The Seaforth News, 1962-06-14, Page 7frees Don't Tell Any
Lies In The Spring
It's pretty hard every year to
resist repeating some perennial
thoughts about the spring Peep-
ers, who are the little frogs that
Make a noise a thousand times
bigger than they are, and prove
to be the only true harbingers,
Of the warming season, The
peepers, 1 am teed, peep only
When the water temperature gets
up to a certain degree, and when
this paint is reached the general
pattern of the vernal return is
in hand.
Thus, you can have a radlent
bluebird, full of the ginger that
makes him holler hi:< head off,
and he can be a liar of the first
degree, I3e is going by the air,
and the way the sun shines, and
he had a tailwind up from Hart-
ford. And the budding of a few
crocuses by the shed makes him
think spring is here, but he
lacks the scholarly approach of
the lowly amphibia,
The spring peeper, being a
cold-blooded creature, snoozes on
in his niche udder a rock, and
wishes the garrulous birds would
go away. The birds are like the
wiseacre in the railroad depot,
whd jumps up from his seat,
grabs his valise, and rushes out
onto the platform as if the train
were coining. Everybody jumps
up and grabs his valise and
rushes out, too, and the train
isn't due for another 20- minutes.
The peeper is the seasoned old
traveler who believes the time-
table, and doesn't stir from his
magazine until the board, turns
to green over the dispatcher's
desk.
The board, with the peeper, is
a more basic signal than the rest
of us use. having within. him
(or more properly, her, as we
shall see) no central heating
system to augment the metabol-
ise} relationships, he responds to
temperature from the outside
only. 'A warm breeze, which
makes the rest of us toss off our
sweaters and' go to raking twigs
from' the lawn,' doesn't interest
him. The water .is his native
element, and it doesn't respond
solely to the wind, The ice in the
pond melts when the "roll-over"
of the water goes above 32°, but
with.frost still coming out of the
ground, snow water still melting
in from the woods, and perhaps
even a snowstorm yet to come,
the built-in know-how of the
little frog -he's no bigger than
your thumb nail -spares him the
absurdities that plague birds and
humane,
But one day all the portents
are congenial. This is the day the
water that beckons has risen in
temperature to a point consistent
with the age-old rites of procrea-
tion. Like Easter, ' this is a
movable date, but it is not com-
puted •byequation on an arbi-
trary calendar -it is computed in
the tiny awarenesses of one' of
our smallest animals, and he
never makes a mistake. .
As to the "she," it is the fe-
male who rouses to the occasion,
wriggles from the winter quar-
ters, hops to the' pond, and sets
up the clamor. The finale peeper
is mute. He doesn't have to study
the ministrations andattempt an
estimate, he knows that the
alarm clock will go off when it
is time to get up. He is a slug
a-bed,and his • mate will rouse
him when breakfast is ready,
sort. of. The spring chorus of
lonely ,females,. from the pond,
will assault his slumber and
bring him hopping in the. next .
day or so to see what the noise
is all about
The other .frogs we have in
thisilatitude operate about the
same, except ,that 'they don't
make quite so much noise. The'
spring peeper has a formal.
name, the hyla crucifer, because
he is a hyla, and; he has a defi-
nite nark of a cross on his back.
He has a cousin, another hyla,
ISSUE 22 - 1962
the tree frog, which makes a trill
rather than a peep, and is nearly
as loud, But the other frogs and
toads, the ones that don't have
the little suction cups on their
toes, advertise less audibly and
some of them you earl hardly
hear at all, But their pattern.
seems to be all the: same, and
they seem to mingle more or
less in our little pond.
Later in the season the frogs
and pollywogs take quite a
browsing from "natural enemi-
es." Since ours is a Lade' pond,
and we have watched it from a
newly dug mudhole to a weedy
and shaded pool, I've watched
this, and my observation is that
the frogs hold their own, and
increase, We have our own little
flock of domesticated mallards,
and they like frogs. These, in
turn, toiler in wild birds off and
on, and they. like frogs. A stake-
driver or bitter wings in now
and then for lunch, and we have
had the long-legged blue heron
now and then, standing on one
leg and waiting to stab a morsel.
I've seen our common snakes,
all the harmles kind, coursing
the weeds at the edge, hoping to
meet a sunning old green frog
whose destiny played him dirt,
Then I've seen a heron catch a
snake, and so the drama goes on
and on. But every year more
frogs come back, and the cycle
starts again, and I. guess I'm not
supposed to do anything about it
except watch,
This, I find, is a recurring joy.
I lie low and say puffin when
the rest of neighborhood is
convinced spring is hack. I listen,
and if nuspring peeper's voice
is abroair in the land, I see
people going with golf clubs, and
farmers are hauling fertilizer,
and' Mother starts housecleaning,
and the 'bluebird yells by the
lilac. There is a boom in the
fishing license business. I seem
to be one of the few who truly
knows when spring is sprung, I
let the frogs tell me, and they
have never muffled yet. - by
John Gould in the Christian Sci-
ence Monitor.
How Peter Pan
Came To Be Born
Peter Pan holds a peculiar po-
sition: his is the only story of
recent centuries to escape from
literature into folklore. For
every one :person who , has seen
the play or•read the story there
are hundreds who know perfect-
ly web who •, and what Peter
Pan is, Besides' being a fairy-
talecharacter,he is also a sym-
bol - of what, precisely, even
Barrie could not find words to
describe: "I'm youth, I'm joy!
I'm a little bird that has broken
out of the egg!" cries Peter -
and Hook cannot understand,
but says blankly, "Oh . . , Well,
to it again," as he raises his cut-
lass,
Peter Pan was created in Ken-
sington Gardens, in the course
of stories told, to a party of
small boys day after day' and
week after' week: but how he
began neither Barrie nor any of
there could ever remember "I'
made Peter by rubbing the five
' of you violently together, as sav-
ages with two sticks produce a
flame."
The boys were the children
of Arthur Liewelyn Davies and
Sylvia, the daughter of George
du Maurier and sister of Ger-
ald, who played Captain Hook
and many other leads in Barrie's
plays. Barrie, with his big dog
Porthos, met them in the Gar-
dens and told stories that began
with the old fairy tales and wan-
dered away, in and out of le-
gend and literature, introducing
himself, Porthos, the boys and
occasionally other young friends.
For anyone brought up on this
book Kensington Gardens has
become an extra province of
Fairyland. From "J. NI, Bar-
rie," by Roger Lancelyn Green.
CROSSWORD
PUZZLE
ACROSS
1. Possessive
adjective
4. Protective
9,
garment
o kB unit
12. Feline
13. Daughter of
one's sister
24. Passing
15. Card gam,,
7. Dormant
B. Critical
Situations
81, Verb form
2. Pastoral
acme
4. rsposltion
G. Dtspe tel,
boat
28. Hitherto
80, Name mean -
Ing Watchful
88. Guaranty
86. Merchant
$7. Since
18. Eternity
40. Perspire
41. Not so
48. Staircase
Post
46, Wild sheep
of 'Abet
49. Kind of
sword blades
02. Pouch
54, Tr) rolving
ars 'ri os�Wallah t
60. Destinies
68 Mrs Ain Ma
Johnson's
first name
50 Ralf
00. hsminl
i1. writ,
DOWN
X. Chills
2, Diplomacy
8. Headliner
4. Counterao-
tive remedy
6. Godliness
6. Concerning
7, Edible tuber
8. Snug room
9. Evening
(poet.)
10. Meadow 84. Distant
barley 86, Metal tip of
grasser a lace
11, Open- 39. Openwork
mouthed stare fabrla
18, Incite 92. Sturdy tree
18. Yarn measure 44. Grown girls
22. Coterle 45. Poisonous
26, 01 Third
46. Clothes (Sp,)
26, Cavity In a 47. Liberal or
rook radical
27, blocking 40. To slump
29. Destitute of 60. O'r, river
woody 61. Divide. Into
growth feet
51, Legal action 68 Shoo Ing
32. f3raneh of marb e
learning 67. Palm Illy
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Answer eisewhere on this page
NEW ROAD ALERTS DRIVERS -'- Paving surfaces which
"talk back" to the drivers'' are helping to cut accidents along
old U.S 40 in California. The areas are called "rumble
strips," and are squares of small • stones glued to the road.
They alert drivers to changing road, conditions with an in-
creased sound and a different "feel of the road beneath
the wheels Where used, accidents have decreased by half.
TIIEFA2N FRONT
JokilQuAseLL.
"When farming stops being
fun, that's when I'll sell my land
and move to the city," a typical
New England farmer will tell
you,
Farmers in this area retain the
rugged individualism for which
they have been noted for cen-
turies. But at the same time they
are adapting to modern agricul-
tural methods.
Many of these farmers run
successful farms that could be
operated from a pine -paneled
downtown office, Yet, like their
forefathers, who cultivated the
land with a one-horse plow, the
New England farmer can often
be found on the seat ,of a trac-
tor plowing a field early in the
morning or working side by side
with his "hired hands" at har-
vesting time. They do it because
they like it.
e e *
"In spite of modern inventions
farming is still hard work," an
observer who has watched New
,England agriculture develop and
change for over 50 years, points
out. "Farmers make less money
an hour for the amount of time
they put into their work than
most Americans,' You have to
have a love of the soil to farm."
In an urbanizing area like
New England, a farmer can al-
ways sell his land at a profit, if
he grows tired of tilling the soil.
But many don't want to.
n * *
"Real estate people just can't
understand why I turn down of-
fers to buy my land," says Aus-
tin Smith, owner of Brooksby
Farms in Peabody, Mass. "I en-
joy the farm. It pays for itself
and I see no reason for giving
it up."
Mr. Smith's farm has one of
the largest apple, pear, peach
and plum, orchards in the North
Shore area, Brooksby Farms,
named after a very small com-
munity near the farm in colon-
ial days, was started in the
1640's. Several of the houses cn
the property today date back to
that time.
* * *
Like many New England farm-
ers, Mr, Smith doesn't truck his
fruit and eggs to the city. He
sells his product at a modern
roadside stand, Far from the
small wooden structures of the
past, stands of today are usual-
Iy large and closely resemble
modern grocery stores.
From Brooksby Farms' hilly
slopes neat rows of houses can
be seen completely surrounding
the land. They seem to repre-
sent the constant, erfcroachment
of urbanism on New England
farms, ,, *
For Harold Rogers of Ward
Hill, Mass., the urban march has
meant the loss of 23 acres of land
to state highways. Bulldozers
roar daily as wide furrows of
brown soil carve up the once
green pastureland, part of a pro-
ductive dairy farm,
"Fortunately the farm is bor-
dered by the new roads and only
a few acres have been cut off
from the mainfarm," says Mr,
Rogers, "This whole area was
once isolated from the city
(Haverhill) but now we are
finding ourselves closer and
closer to -urban living."
Mr, Rogers' lather started the
farm With only two acres some
60 years ago, The farm now has.,
some 230 acres, Besides the ac-
tual dairy farming operation,.
Mr. Rogers also has a dairy
which bottles milk for the Ward
.Hill area, He is one ;of the few in-
dependent dairying concerns ,left
in the northeastern' section' of
the state, writes Mike Born in
theChristianScience Monitor,
4. * *
In spiteof a reduction in num-
ber the future still looks bright
for many New England farms,
,In many families youngsters are
growing up who are interested in
farming. Mr. Rogers' son Richard
a teen-ager, is now in charge of
all the 'machinery on their farm
and is beginning to take over
most operations.
"Farming nowadays is a chal-
lenge in every way," Richard
says. "I feel a young person can
find farm 'life rewarding in that
you're your own boss. There is
also a feeling of accomplishment
when crops are good or milk
production high."
a * e
With three ag.icultural high
schools in the state (Norfolk, Es-
sex and Bristol counties), many
Massachusetts farm youngsters
can learn modern :arm tech-
niques at an early age. They also
have the opportunity to go on
to the University of Massachu-
setts. School of Agriculture.
These youngsters will be am -
MIGHTY HOT - The biggest
flame on earth roars skyward
from the blazing. Grassi-Touill
natural gas well in Algeria.
The flame was finally snuffed
out by a blast of dynamite.
Ong those who will carry on New
England farm traditions. There's
no doubt land will become more
valuable and temptations to sell
off the old homestead more al,
luring but love of the soil will
keep farming an important part
of New England life for the fore-
seeable future,
OCecin Depths Are
By No Means Quiet
The depths of the ocean are
traditionally t h o n g it t of as
serene, calm, and quiet, As any
submariner or skin diver knows,
however, the animals that popu-
late the sea are anything but
silent, It has already been deter-
mined that more than 50 per cent
of the fish of the sea are noise-
makers, producing an unending
cacophony of grunts, knocks,
clicks, and whistles, New purrs
and whirrs are constantly picked
up as research progresses,
As a result, an increasing num-
ber of Investigators are dangling
hydrophones in the oceans and
taking to skin-diving gear to
record and identify the noises,
.Among them is Dr. Howard E,
Winn, zoology professor at the
University of Maryland, The 36-
e r-ol
y a d researcher is currently
visiting the University of Ore-
gon in Eugene, working with
biologist Melvin J. Cohen, an
expert in the physiology of hear-
ing,
After a morning spent catch-
ing catfish recently, Winn re-
ported on his research: "We have
found three different types of
fish communication. The first
is a warning, when an enemy
is in the neighborhood, The
second is a defense call, as when
one fish approaches another in
his territory. The third is a
spawning signal to attract a
mate."
So far, Winn has concentrated
on three species: The fresh -water
minnow, which he found emits a
knocking sound for defense and
a purring sound during the mat-
ing season; the squirrelfish of
Pacific coral reefs that grunts
for dense and produces a long
chattering call as a warning; and
the toadfish, which also grunts
in defense, but whistles at a
prospective mate. That whislte,
Winn reported, is so loud that it
has set off acoustical mines.
Winn says that this communi-
cating does not go unheeded. He
points out that although not all
fish "talk," they all have hearing
organs. In the lab, the catfish
is a favorite because of its ex-
cellent l i s t e n i n g apparatus.
"There are usually no external
parts as on mammals,!' Dr. Winn
explained, "just an inner ear,
and the sound is conducted
through the tissues of the head.
The questions are, what fre-
quencies and intensities can they
hear, and what information do
the sounds convey to them? In
order to get the answers, we are
making recordings with under-
water microphones, and playing
back the sound to isolated spe-
cies in tanks in the lab. For one
thing we have found evidence
that fish orient themselves in the
direction of the sound, in con-
trast to past belief,"
In the future, Winn hopes to
implant electrodes in the brains
and auditory nerves of some fish.
After wiring them for sound, he
will set them loose in the ocean,
and record the electrical im-
pulses transmitted from the in-
ner ear to the brain, "I've got
• ten years of work ahead of me,"
he said•
But some of Winn's findings
are being put to practical use
now, Under the sponsorship of.
the Office of Naval Research, a
team of scientists is trying to
construct a complete chart of the
sounds of the sea, including the
timesof year and the places
where they are heard. During
World War II, the Navy found
that it couldn't tell an enemy
sub from a school of snapping
and clicking shrimp. With anti-
submarine warfare now an even
more difficult and vital opera-
tion, Navy sonar technicians
must be able to tell the differ-
ence between the amorous purr-
ing of a school of -minnows and
the spinning propellers of a man.
macre intruder, - from NEWS -
WEER
NDAY SC1Oq
JJjSSON
By Rev. R. Barclay Warren,
B,A., MD,
Christ Speaks to the Churches
Revelation 3;j-29; 3114-22
Memory Scripture: Behold, I
stand at the door, and knock; if
any man hear my voice, and
open the door, I will come Ise
to him, and will sup with him,
and lie with me. Rev,3:20,
The seven ehurohes of the
Revelation are fairly represen-
tative of the church of any peri-
od, Ephesus has lost its first love.
It sometimes happens in marri-
age, So the Christian who does
not grow in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ, leaves
himself open to temptations
which he cannot resist, Love
wastes away.
Smyrna, the suffering church,
is one of two which receives no
reproof, So often suffering is the
experience in which man draws
close to God, Peter writes (1
Pet, 4:1,2), "Remembering g that
Christ endured bodily suffering,
you must arm yourselves with a
temper of mind like his. When a
man has thus endured bodily
suffering he has finished with
sin, and for the rest of his days
on earth he may live, not for the
things that men desire, but for
what God wills" (N.E.B.) For
such there is encouragement
rather than warning.
Fornication and the lusts of
the flesh have entered the church
at Pergamos. Alas, there are
still many professed Christians
who walk after the flesh, and not
after the Spirit. Repentance is
the remedy.
Thyatira is the church attempt -
to please God by good works.
Many would sooner attempt to
work their way to heaven, than
repent of their sins and trust
fully in Jesus Christ as Lord and
Saviour.
Sardis has some worthy names,
but for the most part, has a name
to live but is dead.
Philadelphia is a small church
but is loyal and aggressive. To
this church the Lord says, "I
have loved thee."
The most pathetic picture of
all is that of Laodicea. These
people are well-to-do, They are
smug and self-satisfied. This is
the only church of which Jesus
makes no commendation. Their
luekwarmness is revolting, Their
' only hope lies in repentance.
But, to this church, Jesus pre-
sents himself in the most drama-
tic entreaty. Jesus knocking at
the door has been celebrated in
art and in song.
For every church Jesus pro-
mises a reward. He loves the
church.
Where do we locate ourselves
in this seven -fold picture? Clos-
ing our eyes to the situation will
not help, Sitting back in hostile
criticism will only aggravate the
condition. Let us live right and
in love reprove and encourage
others.
SAVING IN REVERSE
Deep in the Canadian Rockies,
a motorist was having his gas
tank filled at an isolated service
station. "You're the last one
through here to get a tankful
at the old price," the attendant
told him cheerfully. The motor-
ist felt pretty good about it till
the attendant added, "Yup, five
minutes from now the price of
gas goes down three cents a gal-
lon."
Upsidedown to Prevent Peeking
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READY FOR ACTION - With a bumper wheat crop in prospect for Kansas, there will be
plenty of combines available for the harvest. `i'hfs used combine lot of one machinery
dealer In Hutchinson Is an example. Many small farmers have been forced to sell the
•xpensive machines, while other hire "custom cutters" to bring In the grain. harvest.