The Polk County post., August 26, 1921, Image 3

PRNTHG
One of the mo«t curious incident*
in the history of the invention of
agricultural implements occurred,
not in America, but in south Aus­
tralis, according to the Manchester
Guardian.
In 1842 there was such a scarcity
o f labor in that colony for the har­
vesting of the crops that many farm­
ers were iu two minds whether they
would continue wheat-growing at all.
The situation was saved by a miller
named John Ridley, who invented a
“ stripper,” which would both reap
and thresh the corn at the sane
time. The idea came to him from
an article in an encyclopedia, which
was illustrated by a woodcut of a
crude contrivance used by the sol­
diers of Julius Caesar to strip the
heads of the wheat grown during
their campaign in Gaul. M». Rid-
!ey’s “ stripper” at once reduced the
cost of harvesting from 48 to 7 cents
a bushel, and started Australian
wheat-growing on its prosperous ca­
reer.
DIPLOMACY
The sheriff nowadays calls to mind
a hard-drinking, hard-riding, hard­
hitting tigure of the old western
frontier, or perhaps a genial politi­
cian in a big city.
The office was created about the
time of the Norman conquest in
England when the “ Scirgerefa” was
Constantinople.— How the prompt
a nobleman, the principal officer of action of Charles V. Vickrey, General
the king, the agent of the central Secretary of the Near East Relief,
and Harold C. Jaquith, representa­
authority.
tive of that American relief organi­
“ Scirgerefa” is almost pure Sax­ sation In Constantinople, saved the
on, made up of Scirge and refa, Uvea of 18,000 orphan children and
which later became Shire and Reeve, seven American relief workera la
Alexandropol, Armenia, la what all
meaning county and head official.
the representatives of the Allied na-
i Thus the sheriff was the reeve of 1 tions In Constantinople are appland-
the shire, the boss of the county, | ing today.
For five years the Near Bast Relied
; responsible only to the head of the
organization had built up a work o t
government.
mercy throughout the former Turk­
Is it only a coincidence that the ish Empire and Tranacaucaala, to g
oriental word sheriff has a similar point where 54,800 Uttle children
meaning? The sheriff is the head were being housed, clothed, f«fi.
given medical attendance and tamghf,
of a princely Mohammedan family and over 58,000 others being sup­
claiming descent from the prophet plied with food. Then suddenly, on
through his daughter Fatima. The February 6, last, tWbre cane hurried
cable reports of renewed fighting th
chief magistrate of Mecca is a sher­ Armenia and Transcaucasia, where
iff. Members of this noble line are 76,818 of these little ones were loca­
distinguished by a green fez worn ted under the protection of the Near
by the men and a green veil by the
women.
ANCHORED TOO NEAR SHORE
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N e w Y o r k Y ac h tsm e n H a d Fo rg o tte n I
W h a t W o u ld H ap p e n W h e n the
!
T id e W e n t Out.
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n.
4 .
Two ardent New York yachtsmen
who spend their vacation each sum­
W-’- , v
mer b_v taking a fortnight's cruise i
in Long Island sound, one evening •
<6( Y > .
last week dropped anchor off Savin i
Rock, near New Haven.
Not familiar with the sound at
» ,*• . . iV*
this point, they anchored within a
tt
4 4
hundred yards of the beach. The
next morning about four o’clock the ;
skipper heard a knock at the cabin
doop.
“ W ant any milk this morning?” j
a voice shouted.
Puzzled, the skipper came out of
his cabin and saw a milk wagon
standing beside his boat.
ON hi OF THIS 10,000
The water at Savin Rock is very
Consular representa­
shallow, and unless a boat is an­ Bast Relief.
chored fsr off shore, when the tide tives left the country. All foreigners
piled onto ships and fled.
War
goes out it will be left high and dry threatened to scatter the work aad
on the beach. The boat was resting render vain the long, patient effort*
on a roadway used by a milkman of the Near Bast Relief to salvage
a whole nation’s children.
when the tide is down.
j
1 1
17 m
»fey— Mother was so pleased
with all the nice things you said
about her in yonr letter to me. You
see, she opened it by mistake.
Hubby— I thought she would.
Prompt attention
Given all orders
B L O W IN G
A
L IN E
ASH O RE.
Wrecks ou rock shores, reasoned
W. S. Crouch of New York, occur
when the wind is on shore. He
sought to take advantage of this fact
in devising some means for getting
a li-ne from ship to land— the opera­
tion which usually takes so much
time and is so fraught with peril.
A line-carrying buoy was the result
of his work.
The buoy was recently tested at
Rockaway Beach, says the Scientific
American, and did all that its in­
ventor asked of it. Released from
the ship, it blew steadily toward
shore, the line unwinding behind it
as it went, until finally it was
dragged out of the surf with the
line intact. In addition to its use
in this manner, it is available for all
the regular purposee of the ordinary
buoy.
HE
18 Y O U N G Y E T .
The teacher of the primary class
in the First Presbyterian Sunday
school in Franklin, after opening all
the windows and trying to see that
the tots were comfortable, said:
“ Now I want all of you to tell me
of something we have to be thank­
ful for this morning.”
Up went all the chubby hands,
but one youngBter was more anxious
than the rest.
“ All right, Bobbie," she said,
“ what do you think w# should be
most thankful fo r?”
“ For the nice hot weather," he
replied.
With the thermometers register­
ing around 90 the teacher just
smiled.— Indianapolis News.
TW O
W EEKS
W AS
AM PLE.
He wished only two weeks— then
he assured his prospective employer
that their association would be ex­
tended, did this English cook, speak­
ing the British brogue and looking
the part. He was employed by a
prominent Indianapolis banker and
a few days later he vanished with
the family silverware, worth about
$
2 , 000 .
The erstwhile cook objected— al­
most strenuously— to companion
help, saying that he was accustomed
to bear alone such responsibilities as
were outlined when he was being
considered for the place. Apparent­
ly he did the ‘Ion» w o l f stunt, sad
didn’t wish interference
Fortunately, tne silverware vss
fully insured.
B A D C IS T E R N
W ATER.
Generally the disagreeable odor
and taste sometimes noticed in cis­
tern water is due to the growth of
an algae, a microscopic plant. Oc­
casionally there may be a growth of
moss or other material that will add
to the trouble. Adding chloride of
lime having about 36 per cent avail­
able chlorine in the proportion of
one to three pounds per 100,000 gal­
lons of water will kill the growth
of bacteria and algae. It may be
necessary to thoroughly clean out
the cistern and wash the walls. How­
ever, do not do this until after try­
ing the chlorinated lime. A pump
that will stir up the water in the
cistern, such as an ordinary chain
pump, will be good to use.
NEW M AGIC LA N TE R N .
A lantern rivaling in its proper­
ties thst of Aladdin has been in­
vented by Francois Dussard, a
French scientist.
The lantern, which conceals ul­
tra-violet rays behind powerful
lenses, has the property to enormous­
ly msgnify anything placed within
its rays. Germs which can not be
seen under a microscope are, it is
declared, plainly visible, while the
French mint is adopting the lantern
for the purpose o f detecting forged
bank notes.
Surgeons are intensely interested,
as even the remotest organs in the
body can be photographed enor­
mously magnified, thus facilitating
the discovery and cure of disease.
FO R H ER
BEST
BEAU.
After taking s few pisno lessons
I received my first piece. I prac­
ticed it and thought I played it well.
One Saturday evening a man friend
called to take me to the theater.
Just before we left the house I
played my new piece through for
him. At the theater a man came
out and announced that he was go­
ing to give several imitations, the
first being of s girl plsying her first
piece for her best beau. To my Sur­
prise he plsyed on the pisno the
«sine piece that I had been studying,
and he got off tune several times.
My friend was the first one to burst
eut laughing — Chicago Tribune.
But the American men and women
who had cared for these little oass
were undismayed. They refused to
leave under bombardment,
with
hostile armies sweeping through the
streets where the Near Bast Relief’s
great orphanages had been estab­
lished, with all supplies cut off and
no communication with the outside
world, or with that far American
homeland
whoae
representatives
these heroic men and women are,
they stuck to their posts. The lest
food from America had come la on
November 8, 1920.
It wae not until four months later
that the new governments of the
Tranecauoeelan states were estab­
lished on a solid basis. But famine
threatened. An eppeal waa made to
American
philanthropy:
“ Critical
need for food products in Caucasus,’’
the cable read. “ No limit to need in
Armenia. New government pqpmisea
better facilities for relief activity
than former government.”
A few
days later, a further piteous plea fol­
lowed: “ Total orphans In Alexandro­
pol 18,000. Supplies In Alexandro­
pol allow half-rations, April 3rd to
30th. After May 1st, nothing.”
Bnt this splendid American relief
organisation had not waited. Food
was already on the way. On April
22, Charles V. Vickrey, general sec­
retary of the Near Bast Relief,
cabled: "Expect ship first week In
May: 1,000 tons lice; 1,000 tone
wheat flour; 600 tons oornmeal, corn
flour, hominy; 30 tons sugar; 500
tona beans; 5,000 esses corn syrup,
from New York and New Orleans
direct to Batum.
Additional 1,000
tons wheat flour from Pacific Coast
June 1st.”
The seven American relief workera
In charge o f the 18,000 little ones in
Alexandropol cabled u last appeal:
“ No food at any price.
Fou r days
more and wo are finished.’ ’
But
when the first relief ship “ Que-
quen” entered the deserted harbor of
Batum on May 1, there were Just ten
bags o f flour left. The food ship had
c om e in time.
Am erica had saved
the d a y —and the 18,000 little o r ­
phan children, who had suffered so
much and lost so much In their short,
war-clouded lives, never knew that
gaunt hunger In the robes o f death
had knocked at the door of the or
phanage at Alexandropol
and lhat
Am erica had thrust the bony hand
away.
“ It is the great heart of Amerlc*
that made this work o f salvatiou pos­
sible,’’ Mr. Vickrey declared
"T h e
money thst sends the bread to these
children comes from ten million
homes throughout the United States
It com es from the hearts o f the most
generous people in the world, who
cannot bear to know that half a
world away, little children are facing
hunger and death, without helping
them to life and happiness.”
Mr. Vickrey 1* making a nation­
wide appeal to the people o f the
United State« to keep this great work
going. Contributions may be sent to
Cleveland H Dodge. Treasurer, t
Madison Avenue Sen’ VorV r*tty.
T«0 The
Itl
y
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