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Zurich Herald, 1938-04-14, Page 6Commentary on the Highlights of the Week's News 9eoto° By Elizabeth Eedy PRECOCIOUS YOUNGSTERS—dust twenty-three hours after her birth, a baby girl in New Bedford, Mass., had two fully developed teeth ex- tracted from her lower jaw, this week. A couple of days before, we had heard of a six -months -old child coming successfully through an ap- pendicitis operation, another medi- cal record. Must be the accelerated pace of Modern life that is responsible. Eh, doctor? —0— STILL OUT OF REACH—Winning mothers in the Millar Will Derby have not yet caught sight of the wealth which has purportedly been coning to them ever since eccentric Charles Vance Millar of Toronto died, 12 years ago, nor are they likely to see it till on in 1939. Appeals lodged against court rulings have been made by two mothers (Mrs. Pauline Clark, Mrs, Lillian Kenny) ; appeal is also being made against the judgment of the Supreme Court of Canada that Millar's next of kin are not entitled to share in the money. The latter case would have to be heard before the Privy Council. Until these appeals are disposed of, the four mothers will have to wait and wait ... . —o— EMEr-ENCY DICTATOR — At an historic session of China's National- ist Party (Kuomintang) meeting in Hankow last week to place the poli tical organization of China on a war- time basis, Generalissimo Chiang Kai- shek was formally invested with sweeping political authority amount- ing to dictatorial powers. Already Commander -in -Chief of the Chinese armies resisting the Japanese invasion, General Chiang now holds in addition a post of great power that has been empty since the death of •Dr. Sun fourteen years ago he is supreme leader of the nation. The lCuomintang's position in Chi- na is similar to that of the Conmu- nist Party in Soviet Russia, and the Fascist Party in Italy. Although in- dividual leaders have challenged its claims to supreme authority, there are no rival parties. This granting to General Chiang of viitual dictatorship is a departure from the party's former line of ac- tion which heretofore has shied away from the concentration of power in -.tie hands of an individual. The nienediate aim of the move is to create a stint a'nn were i?Bited front than ever against Japanese ag- gression. EASTER FINERY—Sales of women's hats, coats, dresses, shoes, and the other feminine doodads that aeeom- pany the new spring costume are up, this year of Grace 1938. Toronto retailers say that buying is definite- ly heavier than last year and busi- ness is better. The swine apparently goes for ready-to-wear merchants throughout Ontario. As an index of general business ac- tivity, however, such findings are not too reliable. After all, Easter is three weeks later this year ... . —0— "TOTALITARIANISM" DOMINANT —Eight months ago when she began her war in China, Japan was not gen- erally considered to be a Fascist state. Since then, it has rapidly become so although the last stages of fascisa- tion within the country may not yet have taken place. Last week after a fearful struggle in the Japanese Parliament (Diet), militarism gained formal control of the government with the passing of four measures designed to extend state control to the limit. The Na- tional Mobilization Bill is the most important of these, placing the life and property of tha lowliest citizen, as well as the greatest corporation, in Government hands during "time of war or national emergency." The important point is this — tlu•ough declaration of a condition of emergency, the Government may at any time expropriate personal. goods of the average citizen, impress hint into "national mobilization work", deny him the right of free speech, suppress his newspaper or close his bank. —o • — NIGGER IN THE WOODPILE—Af- ter the first outburst of indignation at Prime Minister Chambe'rlain's policy of appeasement of the dicta- tors, public anger against him ap- peared to die down in the Old Land. True, the Opposition continued to move votes of censure against the Government, stormy scenes took place in the House on an average of once a week and the National Labor Council issued a mnifesto calling for a general election. But nothing hap- pened. Where the National Government is going to strike a real snag, how- ever, is when it attempts to step up re -armament to the new unprece- dented levels. Prime Minister Cham- berlain will first have to obtain the consent of the trade union heads be- fore he can initiate the program. Their refusal to co-operate would prove a serious embarrassment to the Government at this time. He Grew Tomatoes Under The Snow Farrier Furnishes Home With Produce Growing corn in a novel hot house, with walls of snow was the recent feat of R. G. Chase of Milestone, 50 miles south of Regina. He told of his feat in a letter to a Regina news- paper. Heavy snowfall gave him the idea, he wrote. He woke one December morning to find his farm buildings ahnost buried in snow. Thawed Out In Tunnel "So I dug a good wide tunnel from the house door to the barn and put in some skylights with some old storm -sashes. I found the barn so warm I was obliged to leave the door open and the inner snow of the tun- nel started to melt, "It wa'sn't long until the ground thawed out and small weeds started to grow. "I then worked up the ground on both sides of the path and planted corn and vegetables. I found the soil $o be fairly blushing with fecundity. It was kept continually moist by the slowly melting snow and the climate was most salubrious. "The growth in this tunnel has been extremely phenomenal and I kept furnishing the house with about everything that grows in a garden and had corn fodder enough to feed by stock until spring. "It seems hard to believe that it was the month of February as we had green corn on the cob every day and now expect tomatoes. Colossal Shell SYDNEY, N,S.W. — A giant clam shell --large enough to be used as a baby's bath—was on display in the American museum this week. The shell was found on a reef off the Gilbert Islands some months ago by C. A. Swinburne who presented it tp the museum. Museum Conchae - gist, T, Iredale, described it as a it may be f h i u ec men which cant f l s Y �b P anything up to 500 years old." The museum specimen weighs about 450 pounds, and is three feet irwo inches long by two feet one and pie halt Incites wide. The concholo- gist said it was the largest speditney in any museum, Rheumatism Has Twenty Varieties Expert Discloses the Progress In Treatment -300,000 In Can- ada Suffer From Them Medical research has changed old- fashioned rheumatism into a modern complicated disease in which more than twenty separate types, requiring different treatments, have already been discovered. This was revealed to the Victorian Order of Nurses by Dr. Douglas Tay- lor last week at Montreal when the Royal Victoria Hospital expert esti- mated that there were approximately 300,000 in Canada suffering from chronic arthritis and rheumatic dis- eases. As a cause of disability rheu- matic diseases, he said, outranked tuberculosis, heart disease and cancer combined, being only exceeded by all types of accidents. Much Can Be Accomplished Until recent years, Dr. Taylor stat- ed, chronic arthritis, or rheumatism as it is more popularly known, had not been studied seriously. "uacess- ful treatment depends entirely spou a correct diagnosis and study of the individual case. "There is no justification for the pessimism associated with this group of diseases. Much can be accomplish- ed with proper treatment, Most of the crippling deformities can he pre- vented," Dr. Taylor said. "The great problem of rheumatic diseases can only be solved through the education of the public along the same lines as was followed in the combatting of tuberculosis. At pres- ent there is both a lack of facilities for the treatment of these diseases and a lack of funds to promote atm - tinned research." May Withdraw After War R('ME,—The proposed British -Ital- ian friendship treaty will bind Italy to withdraw tr-ops from Spain after —but not before—the civil war is over, informed quarters said last week. Italy agreedto retire troops _. also from the strategically important Bal - eerie Islands the Western Medi- terranean at the same time, these sources said, after another eetin g between negotiators, the Earl c . Perth, British Ambassador, and Foreign ister r"--" t Clano t - Italy, A -a Japan's Thirteen Commandments Code For Proper Conduct of the People In Wartime Has ,Been Laid Down Thirteen "commandments" have been laid down for the Japanese e people by the Central Federation of General Spiritual Mobilization as a code of proper conduct during war- time, "Spiritual mobilization" was insti- tuted in the early months of the China fighting. It is designed to condition the people, mentally and spiritually, for the duties and sacri- fices the Government believes neces- sary. The "thirteen commandments" are: Spiritual Mobilization 1. "Every morning, give prayers to the Imperial Grand Shrine and pray for the safety of the Imperial Family. 2. "Hoist the National Flag prop- erly on holidays. 3. "Worship the deities and en- deavor for the harmony of the fam- ily. 4. "Live on a budget, pay cash, save regularly and buy National bonds. 5. "Wear simple clothes and avoid. foreign -style hair -dressing. 6. "Observe wedding, funeral and other home affairs simply but sol- emnly. 7, "Reform the mad custom of late to bed and late to rise. ' 8. "Economize on metal, wool, cotton, paper and fuel and utilize waste and other buried things. 9. "Endeavour to prevent fire and Thought Waves Are Just Sugar&ruing Human thought lies been declared by a Harvard University scientist to be due Probably to sugar burning in the brain and setting up r chain of chemical and electrical vibrations in it It bas long been known that the brain generates currents of electricity, some of which are associated with thinking and others with other func- tions of the body, Dr, Frederic A. Gibbs told the American Physiological Society last week. Research at Harvard has recently shown that these waves are the r‘suit of chemical vibrations in the brain, and that the "energy supply in the case of brain oscillations appears to be derived from the oxidation (or la ruing) of sugar." Like Tuning Forks Further studies on the electrical ac- tivity of the brain covering "indicate that it, and probably the whole brain, i, an aggregation of small chemical oscillators which can join together o form large oscillators" acting like tuning forks vibrating in harmony, Dr. C"abs added. These chemical vibrations of the brain in turn is'oduce the electrical brain waves. In many mental diseases these waves become unbalanced. prepare for air raids. 10. "Rear the children to be strong in mind and body. 12. "Economize in drinking sake (rice wine). 13. "Be friendly to neighbors and help one another." .w W 7, BOOK �y 4) Elizabeth SHELF Eedy 40 "THE SEALERS" By Peter Tutein Books like "The Sealers" stand or fall, not on their literal accuracy, but on their power to make us, who havee• never been in the Arctic ice, feel and see the whole thing. Peter Tutein has a naive manner all his own and it is remarkably effective. Mr. Tutein joined the Norwegian sealing steamer "Quest" in Bodo. Two winters in northern Greenland had only whetted the young Dane's, appetite for the Arctic. No matter• how bad the weather nor how poor the catch, the sealers always rejoin: They come back swearing they have; enough, but next spring they sign again. Heaving Slush Ice When you are off on a voyage that lasts for months without a - chance to get ashore, the last night before sailing means something. And the sealers can only get off the ship onto the ice, which is moving in all directions. Peter Tutein's account of seal hunting on the heaving slush ice is hair-raising, There is a thumbnail sketch of two of them crawling on all fours on the loose ice, their legs get- ting nipped now and then, when they. heard a pup -seal crying. He says: "There the little creature lay, its binder parts half buried in the ice, its foreflippers frantically beating the. air. Great tears were welling from its eyes. We killed it and managed somehow to remove the skin. On all sides young seals were screaming, either from fear of going under or from sheer terror of the storm." Natural Simple Folk You learn about ice in this book. There is, for instance, pulp ice, which is like sinking into a bog. Horrible. Yet the sealers love it. They go back every year. Peter Tutein has made the life they lead into a most rear'. -',le book. There is nothing hard-boiled about him, :.or do we have to skip pages of hurricane swearing. It is all very natural. They are simple folk and they have the vast ,elemental out- lines of the original Vikings. The icy seas are their natural element. This book, if the reader is not utterly sick of the world, is their modern saga. "The Sealers," by Peter Tutein, 247 pp. . New York; G. P. Putman's Sons.. . $2,50. Take An Imaginary Journey To Moon Stunt Is Staged By Astronomy at Hayden Planetarium — Done By Means of Projector. A new stunt in astronomy,a trip to the moon, was put on last week by the Hayden Planetarium of the Am- erican Museum of Natural History. Spectators at first saw the night sky and moon as it normally appears. Then with the aid of the projector and 2,000 square feet of painted scenes, they had the illusion of tra- velling through space toward the moon, It grew larger by the second, 'until the spectators seemed to land in a moon crater. There they looked back at a sight which astronomers have verified, but which the human eye never has seen. Blood -Red Halo ' This was the earth, a big black ball far larger than the moon, hang- ing in space, surrounded by a blood-' red halo. The halo is the color of sunset, and is made by sunlight, shining through. the earth's atmos'= phere. It is visible to the mythical "man -in -the -moon" during eclipses. On the moon itself the spectators saw the jagged crags and mountains which telescopes disclose. They also looked back, on their return trip, to volcanic eruptions and huge meteors crashing against the moon. Astron- omers are in doubt whether erup- tions or meteors caused the moon's craters. THE WORLD AT LARGE E CANADA Ti-iE EMPIRE of the CANADA Good Drivers Rewarded The safe driver is being recognized in the United States, Soon he will be able to buy, on a much broader scale than ever before, liability insur- ance on his automobile on terms which offer rewards for avoiding ac- ciclents.--•Calgary Herald.. —0— Starting Early A writer in Belleville Intelligencer makes timely comment upon the pre- valence of profanity among young people. At that, however, they may not be starting so young as in by- gone days, for we read in Scripture that Job cursed the day he was born. —Woodstock Sentinel -Review. —0— Contented Canadians Cigarettes released for consump- tion in Canada in February totalled 476,291,960, against 418,344,845 in February last year. The cigar totals were 9,602,502 and 7,275,795, re- spectively. If smoking is a solace; Canadians seem to be growing more contented.—Montreal Gazette. —0— 'Vaster of Bohemia" Bismarck once said that "whoever is master of Bohemia is master of Europe." Today no one is master of Iiohemia and the mastery of Europe is an uncertainty that brings the dan- ger of war close to everyone. Bo- hemia is now a part of Czechoslova- kia, that part of Czechoslovakia peo- pled by the Sudeten Germans. The affairs of the Sudeten Germans may yet plunge the world into war. Bo- hemia is the current centre of the rapidly -shifting trouble neap and the actions of its people are likely to have results of the greatest import- ance on.people in far lands who hard- ly realize the Sudeten Germans ex- ist. --Halifax Chronicle. Planting With Optimism If favorable weather prevails, an- other month will see Alberta farmers on the land and Spring work for the 1938 season fairly well launched. There is a degree of hopefulness manifest in the province this year which was not in evidence to the same extent in immediate past years. This is due to the improved moisture conditions and the expectation that a series of wet years is in sight. The farmer is a natural optimist, particu- larly in the Spring of the year. He would need to be in view of the ad- versity experienced in many parts of the province since 1930.—Calgary Herald. —o— Ideal Of Free Speech A great deal of human betterment is due to rebels, agitators and mar- tyrs, people who wanted to improve existing conditions, and said so, and often died for it. If the idea of free speech had always prevailed—if free speech had always been permitted in the world's doings—there would have been less rebellion, less bloodshed, less martyrdom, and we think prob- ably far greater advance for human- ity. With this thought, we have hope for advance in the future, notwith- standing the temporary crushers of free speech in Europe—notwithstand- ing the Fascists and Nazis who would crucify Communists rather than let them talk, and the Bolsheviks who would crucify- Fascists and Nazis. Free speech is a principle of the Eng- lish-speaking world. . That principle will prevail,—Ottawa Journal. "The blind do not need to be cod- •died;they do not need to be treated differently from ordinary people." Will Erect This $3,000,000 Memorial on Site in Washington y 15 aesa :\ \�v 0 • • 1 15 0 p.. U 1 15 0 i 5 e; '0 \ ti 15 \ • \ 15 \a Akk Paa Officially approved by the Thomas .lef'fcrsnn Memorial Coteissio5, this pantheon type structure will be erected on the Vidal Basin in Washington, .D.C., as a memorial to the farner.President. The building will cost $3,00.0,000 to con struat. PR THE EMPIRE Mischief In the Mediterranean How the full implication of Italian and German intervention in the af- fairs of Spain could escape the minds of ordinary right-minded citizens is a sheer amazement, the aim and ob- ject being almost without pretence of purer purpose, the aggrandisement of Italy in the Western Mediterran- ean, with a special eye to the en- trance gate itself. If the "Nation- alist" cause triumphs, Italy will be in the enviable position of a first mortgagee of Spain, with a control- ling voice in her home and foreign affairs. The treasure which lias been outlaid, demands the best security, and the interests of the principal cre- ditor will assuredly come first. Spain, and the Western Mediterranean, for long enough, if not for always, will be under Fascist domination. With a puppet State situated strategically thus, as Manchoukuo is the puppet of Japan, it can become directly the tool of an aggressive policy. The Bale- aric Isles, for instance, either by lease or cession, or according to the secret clauses of a treaty, would be- come utilizable as submarine and air- craft bases for Italy, and are so situ- ated athwart the sailing path be- tween Algiers and the French south- ern coast that a serious threat to the safety of the communication line is at once supplied.—The Fortnightly, (London). News In Review Quintuplets' New Brother CALLANDER, Ont. -- The quintup- lets have a new baby brother. A boy arrived last week at the lonely Dionne farmhouse, the 12th living child of Oliva and Elzire Dionne. -Government Ownership of Mines LONDON.—The House of Commons has approved and sent to the IIouse of Lords the Government's bill call- ing for public control of Great Brit- ain's coal industry. The measure provides that eventual- ly the Government would assume own- ership of all coal resources in Great Britain through purchase of privately owned coal rayalties and voluntary and compulsory amalgamation of col - Giant National Development Plan OTTAWA. — A four-year program for the National development of the Dominion with a possible expenditure of $25,000,000 per year is now under •sideration by the Federal Adminis- tration, it was learned from usually reliable sources this week. A Cabinet Committee of four, it was reported, has been assigned to work out details of the plan, a part of which was outlined in general terms to the House of Commons last week by Hon. Norman McLeod Rogers. Refugees ...and Here NEW YORK.—A group of German and Austrian refugees arrived here this week to accept the United States' offer of political asylum. For the most part the arrivals were a stolidly quiet and bewildered lot. Most spoke no English and the exact number who could be classified ac- tual fugitives from their hor- - as was impossible of determination. Must Leave Country HOLLYWOOD.—Capt. Leopold Me- Laglen, former British army officer and brother of Victor McLaglen of the movies, was sentenced this week to one to five years i..tprisonment for au attempt to extort $20,000. He was granted probation on condi- tion that he return to England and not come back to America for five years, Fighting Near Shanghai SHANGHAI. — Chinese guerrilla bands are striking close to Shanghai at Japanese invaders already fully oc- cupied on the Central China front. Japanese officers told of one of the Chinese assaults by more than' 1,000 raidors who gathered fifteen miles s-nthwest 0f Shanghai and rifle eked Japanese near Sungklang. Japanese said the band suffered 300 casualties b.frre it melted away to near -by vill- ages. In another attack near Sungklang, Chinese were said to have ambushed a truck and killed ten Japanese offi- cers alid rr'tiers. Bread should be stored in a cool dry place in a well ventilated recep- tacle kept scrupulouslyil ouslY clean with frequent washings. Rinse with clear, scalding water and' �f possible gs dry p in the sunshine. Any molded bread that is -allowed to remain hi the box may contaminate: the fresh loaf, too, 17o not store cake and bread in the same container.