Zurich Herald, 1947-08-28, Page 6The Weed
Was Dying
iiiy
John Christopher
jos Cohn looked at the blonde
girl behind the counter as if he
hadn't seen her for the last 21
years. And he hadn't. AImost to
the day, come October 5, Even
after 21 years a guy can't forget
the birth date of his daughter.
She looked the spitting reflec•
tion of her mother, years back
when Martha and Joe had decided
they had made a mistake in marry-
ing each other. It was too late
then, because the kid was on its
way, and even Joe knew it ,took
a father and a mother to give it
the correct backing. But if the
old man hadn't had the same cor-
rect backing, Joe bad decided, he
was like a weed. He had to be
pulled out, to let the good seed
.grow.
Joe had figured he was a weed,
and had pulled himself out,
"Evening, mister! Can 1 help
your Joe looked up. A lump settled
in las throat. alis daughter was smil-
ing at him with Stars in her eyes.
Twenty-two years old! When
he had last seen her, she was a
mere trick of one, a curly' -haired
kid, learning her first steps. Car-
rie, they had named her. After
nobody in particular. Martha had
just liked the name, that was all.
One thing, though. Wonder of
Martha had done something with
"Colin"?
"I used to live here years ago,"
Joe said, to start conversation,
"You did?" Her blue eyes met
his for a moment of sparkling in-
terest. "Thought you'd come back
and see how things have changed?"
"Well, sort of." He stroked the
beard, "I used to know a lot of
people around here. What's your
name? I might know your old
man,"
"Name's Lester," she told him.
"Carrie Lester."
Lester, So Martha had ditched
"Colin." "Lester," Joe mused.
"Heck, 1 knew your old man!
What's he doing now?"
"1 don't know," she said,
"Mother thinks he's out in Cali-
fornia."
finally. "Got a husband --or maybe
a boy friend?"
"How about you?" he asked
- Her face gave off warmth like
sunshine. "A boy friend," she said
brightly. "But it won't be long
before the 'Mr. and Mrs.' If you,re
here in :another- 15 minutes, you'll
see him, He's coming after me."
Joe grinned, " be here," he
said. '
She brought in his meal. He
just finished it when the door
opened and a tall, young man in
a brown tweed suit swept into the
room like a stray, autumn leaf.
Her eyes brightened but politely
she asked Joe his name, and in-
troduced him. The boy, she said
was Harry Bradshaw.
"Years ago," she explained, "Mr.
Colin used to live here. We got
sort of acquainted while be waited
for his food."
"So you kids are slated for the
long walk up the altar, ch?" Joe
remarked,
The Bradford kid's face split in
a long smile.
"Look," Joeasaid matter of fact-
ly, "I got a few green -backs saved
tip: I'd like to give it to you two
for a wedding present, Two hun-
dred dollars. Maybe you'd like to
buy something for the baby—
when it comes. Huh?"
"No thanks," Harry said. "We
certainly appreciate it, but we both
work, It wouldn't be right."
Joe drew out a checkbook. He
grinned good-naturedly. "I'll draw
tap a check, anyway."
The two youngsters looked be-
wildered.
"Co on," urged Joe. "Take it.
It's good. Don't worry about me,"
She took it,' "You you're wond-
erful," she whispered. "And ,1 can't
understand why. Thanks—a lot"
Joe smiled and walked out,
breathing in the cool, night air.
}unny thing, but now he realiz-
ed that something had changed in
the weed. And suddenly Jae knew
that after years of battling harsh
winds, snow, cold, and rain, the
weed was dying,
And Joe was the weed.
"Two -Faced"
Dewing the absence of the editor
and publisher of a small daily paper,
his son look over, Remembering
Mat each morning his father,always
dropped in on the local judge and
44r/tared honer many had been
brought into court, he followed the
.same routine.
"Well, how many faced the judge
todayf" he jovially asked.
"Two," tame the answer.
That night the judge was indig-
rtau(t to read 'is flue paper, "Two
Tared Judge."
A w ilrlcat, common in eastern
et; lit subsists entirely upon fish
it it ca'»l,es in rivers,
9
ss
Good Way to keep cool is demonstrated here by Barbara Dennison and Martha Mitchell who
give a polite sneer to old man gravity as they list heavily to starboard to make a spectacular
turn on their fast-moving aquaplane. Looks simple? Try it some time.
As Mother Swims—Lest some
well-wisher might take the
child to the "lost and found"
department, Barbara Salsmon's
mother put the sign on the big
wastepaper basket, where she
parked her daughter while tak-
ing a clip in Lake Ontario to
escape the heat.
Switzerland Marks
Over 650 Years of
Political Freedom
Switzerland, which has main-
tained a policy of strict neutrality
for over a century and a half, ob-
served its 656th year of demo-
cratic freedom on the first of this
month. Once again traditional
festivities, curtailed during the war
when the nation was encircled by
the Axis, were- held.
It was back in 1291 that • the
mountaineers and peasants of the
first three cantons, Uri, Schwyz
and Unterwalden, entered into a
perpetual pact to safeguard their
system of '.,cal self-government in
opposition to the officials set up
by the Habsburgs. Since then
Switzerland, whose union of twen-
ty-two cantons was completed in
1'15, has proved that it is possible
for nations to live together in har-
mony, The Swiss policy of abso-
lute but active neutrality enabled
the nation to perform many im-
portant international services.
During the two World Wars the
International Red Cross in Geneva
accomplished enormous tasks in
acting as liaison agent between pri-
soners and internees of war and
their families. More than 100,000
refugees have been sheltered with-
in Swiss frontiers in recent years,
further proof of the humane role
which the little land of the Alps
played in the second World War.
The "Save the Children" pro-
* * *
gram of the Swiss National Red
Cross is still in effect. It helps
thousands of youngsters of all na-
tionalities to regain their health
through recuperative vacations in
Swiss resorts and private homes.
Other charities include roving
medical teams and numerous relief
centres. The foreign interests of
forty-four nations, including the
United States, were handled by
Switzerland during the last war.
Four different languages are spok-
en in this little country of 4,300,000
people, Alt groups continue to
work together in harmony and co-
operation developed over six and
a half centuries of democratic
freedom,
Final Proof
A bumptious fellow was giving
evidence in a police court.
"You say you stood upf" asked
the magistrate.
"7 said," retorted the conceited
one, "that I stood. If one stands
one must stand Up. There's no other
way of standing."
"Oh, isn't there f" replied the
magistrate, "Pay two pounds for
rim! en(pt of ear(I't- Mid stand down1"
Ibu Saud Travels
With 4 Room Tent
Complete with Bath
King lbn Saud of Saudi Arabia
lives with one toot in the seventh
century and the other in the twen-
tieth. A battle -scarred desert war-
rior, 67, he never saw a modern
city until he went to Egypt and
visited Cairo in 1943. He has a
stone palace with telephone and
pushbuttons in the crude, walled
capital of Ryadh, but when he
travels his servants pitch a four -
room, silk -lined tent, complete
with bathroom, This ruler of
"Arabia of the Salads" holds title
to the 610,000 square miles' of his
land and absolute power over his
5,250,000 illiterate and impoverish-
ed subjects,
Ibn Saud has a fabulous income.
For the privilege of 'exploiting
Arabia's vast oil reserves, the Ara-
bian -American Oil Company pays
him a royalty of 23 cents a barrel.
The total came to $10,000,000 in
1946, is expected to reach $50,000,-
000 in 1950.
Last week the King announced'
plans for spending some of his
money. He will enlarge two
ports, build a railway, two air-
fields, 1,200 miles of road. He
plans to bring electricity and
water to the holy -cities of Mecca
and Medina as well as toaRyadh,
He plans el so ;to construct' irriga-
tion projects, build agricultural
experiment stations, schools and
hospitals. The construction will
• take four years and cost $270,000,-
000—most of which the King ex-
pects to borrow from U.S. oil
companies • and the U.S. Import -
Export Bank.
De- i l abler Wanted.
1-Iailstones are particularly se-
vere in Italy and cause millions of
lire of damage to crops. Hence
the president of the Milan Fair
Association has offered 100,000,000
lire at next year's exposition to
any one who can devise a method
for preventing hall'storms. Two
suggestions have been made pub-
lic and pronounced unacceptable,
One is an anti-aircraft barrage aim-
ed to explode in the middle of the
offending cloud. The other is the
use of the now too -familiar atom
bomb, The atom bomb seems to
be running first as a universal
panacea for all men's ills.
—New 'York Sun
Clean out your furnace and
chimney during the summer to
avoid waste of heat and danger ,of
fire next winter.
STUFF AND THINGS
"Del it ions, area 't they
Still Grow 'Em ;ng
In British Columbia
A news story from Halifax, re-
cords the arrival there of a 128 -
foot British Columbia Douglas fir.
It arrived loaded on three rail-
way flat cars, to make the new
flagpole for the City Hall.
It is getting on towards evening
of the day of the tall timbers. But
there are still active loggers who
can remember when it ;was not
very unusual to cut fir timbers
36 inches by 36 inches by 150 feet.
They used to load them on the
Fraser, on the old' windjammers,
through a hole cut in the bows
of the ship, They went to Europe.
to make the keelsons of the last
of the wooden ships.
Still, that 128 -foot flagpole for
Halifax City Hall would hardly
have been cut out of less than a
200 -foot tree, a tall, straight tree,
a very wonderful thing.
Always listen to the opinions of
others; it probably won't do you
any good, but it will them.
Canadian, Sir John McLennan
,.: ced Helium on Co err d;,.1.
7 he late Sir John C. /tI,'Lennan
spent Ms early youth in Stratford,
Ontario. 7 he following article is re -
Produced front a booklet, "Forward
with Canada."
May 6th, 1937! The scene: The
airport at Lakehurst, New Jersey.
Floating gently towards the huge
hangar is a proud German airship. A
veteran of ten round-trip flights
across the Atlantic, it is the pas-
senger -carrying Hindenburg. Land-
ing crews stand ready as the mam-
moth dirigible settles earthward.
Suddenly, and with incredible swift-
ness, the airship bursts into flames.
Horrified spectators, powerless to
help, hear the screams of trapped
victims, In a matter of moments,
nothing is left but a tortured twist-
ed mass of white hot metal! One
more ghastly monument to the haz-
ards of hydrogen'
September '3rd, 1925! ' Another
lighter -than -air craft fights for her
life! High above Ohio the Ameri-
can dirigible Shenandoah is in mor-
tal distress! Shaken and tossed by a
giant storm she batters on with a
gallant heart. Finally she is beaten
and breaks into three parts. There
are casualties in this tragedy and
sonic men (lie . . , But there is no
fire ! Many of the crew ride out the
storm, navigating part of the hull
as a free balloon. At last they land
safely, thankful for their good for-
tune that the Shenandoah had been
filled, not with treacherous, explos-
ive hydrogen, but with life-saving,
non-inflamehle HELIUM ! '
* * *
In the year 1914, there was avail-
able only 75 cubic feet of helium, it
was worth $7,000 per cubic foot.
Then World War 1 swept over Eu- ,
rope. The 13ritisit Government call-
ed for helium. They wanted large
quantities — quickly ! Helium, the
safety gas, was ideal for filling ob-
servation balloons and blimps. But
where would they get helium?
Where? Time was short! Then
somebody in England remembered
that a Canadian scientist, Professor
John Cunningham McLennan, had
been lecturing in London. Included
in his lectures were reports on Can-
ada's natural gases. The British Ad-
miralty was interested in one particu-
lar statement: Professor McLennan
ass
had said that certain natural ga.
wells in Canada appeared to be rid.
in helium, That was the clue! Seo
ret, coded cables crackled across the
Atlantic as British officials impress
ed on John McLennan the urgencl
of their needs. But the Professor.
needed no urging. The search for
helium was on 1
* * *
Professor McLennan decided that
the best sources of supply were
near Calgary, Alberta, and Ham-
ilton, Ont. On arrival at the gas
wells, McLennan and his colleague*
were faced with a tremendous.
obstacle. Existing methods of heli-
um extraction required the burning
off of the unwanted gas, but at
Hamilton and Calgary this method .
was impossible. The output of the.
gas wells was being piped into near-
by homes and factories. To extract
the helium, Professor McLennan,
must devise a new method, one
which would not interfere with the
normal flow of gas to homes and:
factories. This challenge to Can-
adian ingenuity was swiftly ans-
wered. With concentrated vigor the
scientists under John -McLennan dug,
into the job, spurred by the kriow-
ledge that human- lives depended up-
on their success, Finally plans were.
drawn, A plant was built—and the
new apparatus tested. It was a suc-
cess!
* * *
Large quantities of helium were
no,,' available for the first time,
Professor McLennan had put helium -
on a commercial basis. The price per
cubic foot dropped from seven'
thousand dollars to eleven cents!
Today many varied and valuable
ew uses are being found for he-
lium. In the modern light metal in-
dustry, in deep sea diving, and in
the new field of electronics, helium
has its important place. Again the
research of a Canadian scientist
contributed to the welfare of the
world—Sir John McLennan!
Rice Ration
The Sydney Morning Herald co-
lumnist says he hasn't dared to
check this one for fear it's not true:
The Chinese in Sydney get a
special rice ration.
A half -Chinese woman thought-
she'd
houghtshe'd like some, and applied.
Slit' got half a ration.
THE P.ROSPECTOE.
Eardy men, searching out the hidden
wealth of a nation; accepting privation, lone-
liness and the stern challenge of nature in
the hope of finding the elusive `strike!'
The discovery of a nation's mineral wealth,
so essential to progress, lies in the strong
hands and willing heart of The Prospector.
Men like this, some of Canada's finest, are
in the service of the public—at your service.
. 1AWES HACK HORSE BREWERY
One of a series of advert'-isernents in tribute to those Canadians in the service of the public
_e Opposition
��rtvFr5 Sct.T
1VitON t WAS 1N COLLEGE
I LIC -LIPOID Pa.tcPT YALE
11,-I tz.E G '1I E AR'S
S-ri~ D.tr lar
'I,
I DIDN'T KNOW YOU
We NT' TO
YALE I
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•11,1
By j. MILLA.R WATT
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