Newspaper Page Text
Gopyrigbt 1912 by the Star Company. Great Britain Rights Reserved.
NT TL- NT -TP J ■ A TL I I
,JM£W 1 QIQdSjNOtiOUQd. iQAiiyDooLr
Why This
Will Be
A SHORT,
MILD WINTER
By Prof. JOHN T. TIMMONS.
Birdlawn Conservatory, Ohio.
MANY definite conclusions may be arrived at. In
recounting the weather conditions in a genera)
way, if the right sort of attention is given a
number of little, but vastly important things in nature
Nature, like everything else goes to extremes, and
when we experience a very severe drouth, we are cer
tain to see it followed by an unusually wet time
Severe cold is always followed by very warm weather,
and intense heat produces a cool wave
Only 12 LETTERS in
NEW Chinese ALPHABET
CHINA *h to have a brand new alphabet.
As the present Chinese alphabet con
sists of 8,000 characters, the change
s going to be on< of the most remarkable
in the history of letters, for the now al
phabet will contain only 42 characters.
Hitherto the unfortunate Chinese children
have been forced to memorize at least
eight thousand ideograms or charac
ters. "Hleroghlyphics," we generally call
them, the queer little quirks and quirleques.
The students cannot begin to learn anything,
to understand anything or communicate even
in the simplest manner until they have mem
orized these eight thousand Ideograms. Then
they begin to study in earnest, and have
many more thousand to learn, for every one
of the queer Chinese marks means some
sound, some syllable or some object, and
there is a different, one for everything.
But now the awakened Chinese are pre
paring a brand new Chinese alphabet. And
joy should reign throughout China, for an
alphabet of forty-two characters will in the
future take the place of the thousands upon
thousands of queer characters.
The method in which the Chinese have
gone about to make for themselves a brand
Why Factory CHIMNEYS
Are Always Built HIGH
IN some parts ot the country the most con
spicuous evidences of man’s handiwork
are factory chimneys, their tall shafts
decorating the landscape in the same manner
that church steeples do in farming villages
and country towns. It has come to be con
sidered a matter of course that factory chim
neys should be high, but why such hundreds
of thousands of dollars are spent in their
construction and what are the important
principles involved in their presence are mat
ters little considered.
The taller the chimney, then, the better is
the draft, and the better the draft the more
thoroughly is the fuel consumed and the hot
ter the tiro burn. But why? Again, the
colder the day. the better does a fire burn.
Every housewife knows that. Hut again, why?
Once more, the stronger is the wind blowing
(unless it is blowing down the chimney) the
better does a lire burn. And once more, why?
And yet again, a file burns better by night
than by day, but why?
The answer to these tour problems is the
same The draft in a chimney is caused by
the difference in weight between the volume
of heated gases inside the chimney and the
cooler air outside. To give an illustration:
A piece oi wood that lias lain in the water a
long time rises up through the water slowly,
because the oifierence in weight is not great.
A cork pops up quite rapidly, because it is
so much lighter. A bubble ot air slips up
through the water more quickly still because
it is lighter than the cork. Again, a cork
will pop up to the surface more quickly in
salt water than in fresh, because the salt
water is heavier and the cork is proportion
ately more light.
Now the lightness ot heated air lies in its
heat, but most of the gases that rise from a
fire are really as much lighter than air as
cork is lighter than water, so that they must
rise in the same way. if the air is hot above
the chimney the contrast bet wen the smoke
and gases from the fire and the air is not so
great, and the vapors disperse sluggishly, but
if the air is crisp and cold, the’ gases rise
straight up, causing a greater draft. There
fore, a cold day is better for tiring, because
the contrast is greater; night air is better
for firing than dai air, because night air is
colder; a wind is better than a calm for fir
ing. because it blows away the smoke and
heated vapors instead of allowing them to
A- _■ ■■ .... —, -j .., ._ .....
Scores of SIGNS Given Us by Nature Enable Us to FORETELL WEATHER CONDITIONS
Three severe Winters never follow each other in
succession.
The Winter of 1909 and ’lO, and that of 1911 and
’l2 were both severe. The country experienced more
freezing weather, and more zero temperatures than
had been experienced in two consecutive Winters for
a period of about twenty years. The Winter of 1890
and ’9l was a very mild, open Winter, and tn many
sections tt did not freeze the ground enough during
the entire Winter to bear the weight of a horse. The
tw'o Winters previous to that one w’ere very severe.
Easter Sunday is regulated by the Zodiac. Days
and nights are equal on the 21st. of March, and the
first Sunday after the first full moon after the days
and nights are equal, is always Easter. The moon
is full the next day after the days and nights are
equal next March, and the next day after the full moon
is Sunday, and must be Easter, and it is on March
23rd. which is the earliest that day can possibly come
It will not occur that early again for years.
Selected Spring weather seldom comes until after
Easter Sunday, and this means we will have a very
early Spring.
When there is a very heavy crop of grain and hay,
iho Winter following is, in nine cases out of ten. a
mild, open Winter. The crops were very heavy the
past season taking the country over.
new alphabet are described In a French pub
lication as follows;
•The task was entrusted to a learned com
mittee, composed of Chow-Hi-Chu, the secre
tary of the Chinese Legation at Home, the ad
junct secretaries Wan and Chou, and Solon
ghello, professor of Chinese and Japanese at
the School of Oriental Languages in Naples,
and one of the greatest polyglots in the world.
These gentlemen have studied all known al
phabets and combined them to form one
which shall represent every sound in the
Chinese tongue. The alphabet adopted by
them consists of forty-two characters, of
which twenty-three are vowels and nineteen
consonants
"Os the vowels, four are taken from the
Greek, four from Russian, five from Latin and
one from Chinese. Os the nine remaining
vowels, two are modified or elongated signs,
and seven are reversed ideograms.
“Os the consonants, fourteen are from
Latin, three from Russian and two from the
Greek. With these it is possible to write all
the words used in the vulgar tongue in any
part of China.
"The innovation has been received with
enthusiasm, especially in the southern prov
inces, and it is believed it will be in general
official use by the end of the year.”
form a heated cloud envelope in the region ,
of the top of the chimney, and a tall chimney
is better thau a short one. because it rises
higher into the colder air. In figures, a chim
ney 175 feet high will cause coal to burn at
exactly three and one-quarter as rapid a rate,
giving more heat and power to the fire. Tall
chimneys also benefit a neighborhood by giv
ing more room for poisonous gases to escape,
but the true reason of their construction is
the added power they give to the furnaces
below.
Country people have a habit to-day of
stepping out of doors in the morning and
looking at their neighbor's chimneys. If
the smoke is sagging down about the
chimney, acting sluggish and hanging about
in clouds, they declare it is going to rain,
or snow, depending upon the season. But
if the smoke is seen issuing straight up
from the chimneys, in long, somewhat spiral
columns and disappearing into the higher
air. they declare it will be fair weather
How a Harvard Professor Discovered MICE That SING
DR CHARLES A. COBURN, of the Psych logical
Laboratory at Harvard University, performed a
series of interesting experiments on nice that
can sing.
At the beginning of the experiment the chirps were
low but they gradually became louder. The ‘song” of
the mouse Dr. Coburn likens to the sweet and varied
warbling of a canary. Every note was “clear and dis
tinct."
Observers state that the "song" is an irregular mix
ture of chirps and thrills with here and there a snarling,
smacking sound followed by a low murmur But the
majority of those who have heard "singing" in mice
have assumed that it is due to a diseased condition of
the lungs or of the vocal organs.
Last year, while working one evening in his study,
Dr. Coburn heard a series of sounds which seemed to
cone from above the ceiling. At the time they were
thought to resemble the soft chirp of a bird
Shortly afterward some wild mice were needed for
breeding experiments and, by means of a trap, two mice,
a male and a female, were captured in the room.
These animals, while being taken to the psycho
logical laboratory, produced sounds like those previous
ly heard in the room and they continued to do so at
intervals after being placed in a laboratory cage.
A few days after their capture the male escaped. The
YOE MIGHT TRY -
To Mend Gloves.
\T7 THEN a hole first appears in a glove turn the glove inside out,
' y and, drawing the edges of the hole together, stick a piece of
leather court plaster over it. The court plaster not only holds
the parts together, but being leather makes it very strong.
> For Shoelace Tips.
TIE tips of shoelaces sometimes come off quite good laces. In
this case they may be replaced with impromptu tags of sealing
wax. Cut the tag, smear it over with sealing-wax, then press
it to a point while the wax is still warm.
Savh.g Tablecloths.
T ABLECLOTHS will last much longer if. when they are washed,
they are folded one week in three and the next in four. If folded
exactly the same way each time the folds will wear into holes,
while the rest of the cloth is good.
A Celery Seasoning.
a N excellent celery seasoning may be made at home. Get five cents’
/ \ worth of celery seed, run it through the finest knife of the grinder
i * or break it in a mortar; mix with about ten times its bulk of
table salt and bottle.
For Canned Fruit.
TO prevent strawberries and other canned fruits from forming
mold put a layer of absorbent cotton in the mouth of each jar
or can. Any mold that may form will cling to the cotton, leaving
the fruit clean.
To REFORM Bad BOYS
he bad child is as much a problem of the State as of the home, '
and a German monograph, just issued in Berlin, shows clearly that
i -*• when the badness of the child is due to a weakness of moral fibre i
*it is more a case for the State than for the home. At the present time
(there is absolutelj nothing done for the feeble-willed child. There are in
stitutions for the feeble-minded children, there are schools for those who
are dull and backward and learn slowly, there are plenty of places for
idiots, imbeciles and insane, and there are reformatories for those whose
badness has reached a certain climax. But for the child who is feeble
willed, the boy who may turn out a thief or the girl who is likely to walk
the streets simply as a result of bad example and lack of moral resistance,
for these nothing is done until it is too late to do them real service.
I Goodness and badness, of course, are relative terms, but it is the duty
of the State to sense public opinion sufficiently to determine what kind of
badness is punishable and what kind is not. The State, one might men
tion, has not shown itself to be infallible in this regard.
; “It is a curious law,” he says, “which takes care of the criminal but
does nothing to prevent the criminal. It is a curious civilization which
' spends millions upon educating the savage, but nothing upon educating the
' children who live at its back doors.” He might well add that it is a curious
thing that in a civilization like that of the United States, which prides
I itself so much upon its “business efficiency,” the State should lavish public
money on jails in which to keep these feeble-willed persons when they
have become confirmed criminals, but should begrudge the small sums
acessary to support training schools or camps where the children might
w turned into valuable and useful citizens. Badness is a disease far more
easily prevented than cured.
2U&-- - ——'||
I
f -■ i jßhl
i IW'
I ,a
I
This is the “Song" a Mouse Sings, According
to a Harvard Professor.
IkfIESTHALF CFWIKTEE. COLD.
f
FlastHalf ofWirter. Cold.
II
F\ Vestt MildWilttee..
L .
How the Markings on the Back of a
Caterpillar Foretell the Weather.
All migratory birds were later In passing south this
season than usual, and yet many species of birds that
all go when the Winter is to be bad, remain if the
weather is apt to be mild. A search in our parks and
throughout the rural sections reveals many of the
Summer feathered friends of humanity still lingering
with us.
When the Winter is very severe thousands of robins
have been known to remain in Ohio and Pennsylvania
all Winter feeding on berries and various sorts of seeds
that grew in the wild places. When the Winter is
mild the robins all go south, or if any flocks remain
they stay far up in Canada.
The husks on corn, and the chaff on wheat and
oats were light the past season, and w-henever the
Winters are severe, these are always very heavy and
cling very close about the grains.
Thousands of people have faith in the caterpillar
sign of Winter.
When the hundreds of caterpillars that creep about
in Autumn are dark all along their back and creep
about until after freezing weather, the Winter is cer
tain to be long and severe, but when the dark is only
found on a part of the worm’s back, or it is not very
distinct, the Winter will not be so severe.
if the dark is in the front, the worst weather will
be in the fore part of Winter, and if the dark is in
OVER every large city hangs suspended
a menace, a threat of death, which
year by year drops nearer and binds
more closely its smothering embrace. It is a
pall of poisoned air. Scores of diseases and
weaknesses ascribed to direct causes find
their origin in the gradual poisoning influence
of an atmosphere year by year becoming less
flt for human consumption. Dust and sus
pended substances in the air are bad, but the
chemical changes which the atmosphere re
veals are a danger far more serious.
The knowledge is general that one sleeps
much better in the country, but few people
seem to realize that this is an utterly incor
rect way of putting it. Sleep is a normal
thing, and under the more normal conditions
of country life one sleeps; in the city, there
fore, the point is that man does not sleep
sufficiently. City dwellers have acclimatized
themselves to a certain extent, and they suc
ceed in doing with far less sleep than men
and women in rural districts. But this is
merely a natural device to overcome a griev
ous ill. We do not sleep in the city because
in sleep we breathe more slowly and the vital
properties in the air are too low to enable us
to keep going on the slow breathing. There-
Why Respectable Men Wore
BEARDS in BIBLE TIMES
female was mated with a tame mouse and produced,
during the period of observation, thirty-three indi
viduals. None of these offspring of the mating of a
singing” mouse with a non-isnging individual produced
unusual sounds, nor has “singing" appeared either in
the second or the third generation.
The ' singing" individual was. so far as could be as
certained, a common house mouse. She was somewhat
larger than the ordinary wild female, but no other
external peculiarities were noted. She was extremely
active and savage and her mate always bore the marks
of her teeth. An attempt to mate her with a second
tame male resulted in the death of the latter.
No definite time for "singing” was noted, except
three or four days before and for six or seven days
after the birth of a litter. It was observed, also, that
the individual "sang” sometimes when frightened.
The sound is best described as a rapid whole-toned
trill involving the tones c and d.
The quality of the tone resembled somewhat that of
a fife or flute, but each tone ended with a slight throaty
click. The tones were uttered at the rate of four or
five per second in groups of varying size. Sometimes
a group occupied one second, sometimes a. long as ten
seconds. As a rule, the tones of a group were not clear
and distinct, but, instead, were uttered so rapidly as to
seem connected. The throaty click was more noticeable
in the case of the last tone of a group. Often the “sing
ing” would be continued for a period of ten or fifteen
minutes with rests between groups.
Why CITY FOLKS SLEEP
Less Than Country People
THE beard has been considered a sign
of manhood among most ancient na
tions, and the Hebrews were no ex
ception to this rule. In fact there Is a rec
ord of a war that was brought about because
of the shaving of the beards of the emissaries
sent by David to bring messages of consola
tion to Hanun upon the death of his father,
King of Ammon. The tale is told in Il-
Samuel, x, 4-17, and there we learn that when
Hanun suspected the messengers of David
of being spies, he shaved off one-half of their
beards and sent them back, and that the
men were "greatly ashamed” and waited in
Jericho until their beards had grown again.
David considered this a valid cause for de
claring war, and under the generalship of
Joab the Ammonites and their allies were
defeated.
The Egyptians, as proved by the monu
ments, believed in shaving the face, and in
the story of Joseph it is related that before
he was brought into the presence of Pharaoh
the middle or toward the rear, the weather will
worse in the middle of Winter months, or toward
Spring.
When the wind stays in the south after a rain it is
not apt to turn cold, for the high barometeric pres
sure coming in from the far northwest is not of enough
power to push across the southern part of our conti
nent. and It passes over Canada and does not produce
a drop of the temperature of any marked degree.
All the Autumn rainy periods have been followed by
south winds, and no severe changes have been noted
Temperatures in the far north are not as low as
usual in the Autumn months when we are going to
have a mild Winter, and records show it was very
mild north the past Autumn.
Rats and mice are not seeking Winter quarters, and
squirrels have not been observed storing away a large
quantity of nuts for their Winter consumption. The
nut crop was large, but when this occurs the wild
game usually let their food remain out in the open,
but when nuts are scarce, the little animals are always
very busy storing away all they can find.
A judicious and thoughtful observer can see many
reasons why this will not be a severe Winter. No
study is more interesting, and it actually pays to care
fully study the causes and effect in all such matters.
If understood, nature is an open book
fore we wake up, and with the quicker breath
ing of wakefulness established enough air is
secured.
Digestion works badly in the city, not only
because the lack of oxygen means less appe
tite, but also because the oppressivnesess ot
crowded streets and homes leads to sluggisa
habits on the part of the body. With slower
digestion processes must be coupled the add
ed nervous strain accompanying a condition
in which nourishment is not secured quickly
enough. When to this is added the strain ot
city life, the conditions are seen to be bad,
even without considering the ever-increasing
evil influence of the envelope of noxious gases
hanging overhead.
The lower levels of the atmosphere under
modern conditions are not renewed as rap
idly as they are made foul, and so little by
little the belt of air immediately nearest to
the earth is robbed of its life-giving powers.
When it is remembered that the air lives in
layers j>r strata and that the winds also are
more or less confined to these strata, it will
be seen that there is not much opportunity
for the various layers to become mixed. Thus
the upper levels of air might be pure when
the lower levels are quite foul. Impure air,
growing worse and worse continually, is mak
ing it harder for man to live, especially in
the neighborhood of cities.
he “shaved himself” (Gen., xll, 14), this
being the first mention of shaving in the
Bible, and in any literature. ,
The beard was worn untrimmed, and, in
fact, the Hebrew was forbidden to “round
the corners of your heads....or mar the
corners of thy beard” (Lev., xix, 27), be
cause such was a custom among some of
the idolaters around them.
The beard was so highly esteemed as the
mark of respectability and standing in the
community that it was sworn by, and it was
considered a greater insult to cut off the
beard than to cut off the nose among many
ancient people.
Th prophet Isaiah can find nn mru-e fell
ing metaphor for expressing shame than
"The nrd shall shave with a rq-K— and
it shall also consume the beard" (vli, 20).
When in deep distress or mourning the
sufferers tore out hair and beard as a sign
of degradation. “On all their heads shall
be baldness, and every beard cut off'’ (Is.
xv, 2). The priest was forbidden to shave
or trim his hair or beard, as an especial mark
of holiness (Lev., xxi, 5), and many super
stitions gathered around the beard.
When combing hair and beard it was con
sidered essential to destroy all of the hairs
that fell out, so as to prevent their falling
into the hands of personal enemies who
might in this way be able to work evil
against them. This is one of the oldest
superstitions known to men, and one of the
most universal, having its believers even to
day, especially among the Ignorant.
It was the custom among the Hebrews in
the time of David to salute one another by
kissing the beard, as is to be read, “And
Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right
hand to kiss it” (2 Sam., xx, 9), and pos
sibly on this account, even though the beard
was not trimmed, it was carefully kept and
perfumed with odorous oils.
Under one condition only was the Hebrew
ordered to shave the hair, beard, and even
the eyebrows, and that was when he bad
been healed of leprosy and was to take the
final cleansing ritual bath (Lev., xvi, 8).
These provisions were applied most strict
ly by the ancient Hebrews, and even by the
Jews when they returned from Babylonian
exile, but in the second century B. C.,
when Greek culture had made great inroads
into Palestine, the Greek fashion of clean
shaven faces was adopted by all who strove
to he in favor with Antiochus, the Syrian
ruler, and even the high priest, Jason, imi
tated the new fashion. This was fought
against strenuously by the Maccabees, who
cited the old law and tried to restore ancient
customs.