By W. P. Davies MOST PERSONS WHO READ ARE familiar with the term "pidgin," or "pigeon" English, the pecular kind of language used as a means of communication between English speaking persons and some of the Orientals. This language, or dialect, originated in Chinese coastal cities into which foreign traders ventured many years ago. It seems to be a sort of compromise between English and Chinese, using English words and to some extent following Chinese forms. The result is a conglomeration almost as unintelligible to English speaking persons as Chinese itself, but by means of which intelligible intercourse is possible to those Who are familiar with It.

THIS HYBRID SYSTEM OF SPEECH was developed as a means of facilitating trade and became known as "business" English, which the Chinese transformed into "pidgin" and which became "pigeon" to some English and Americans. Gradually pidgin English became more or less standardized, and it has spread through much of the Orient, including the Dutch Indies. What appears to be an adaptation of it has reached Australia, where whites and blacks use it as a means of intercommunication.

WHILE PIDGIN ENGLISH SERVES its purpose within a limited sphere, it falls far short of meeting requirements for a universal language. To meet the need for such a language many systems have been invented, each of which has attracted a certain following. Attempts have been made to popularize Volapuk, Ro and several others. In recent years Esperanto has taken the lead and has seemed to have considerable promise. Just now considerable attention is given to Basic English, which is much older than is generally supposed, for it was de- veloped some 20 years ago by C. K. Ogden, a language psychologist, of Cambridge, England. It was recently warmly commended by Winston Churchill, and President Roosevelt has spoken in favor of it. A language form approved by two such distinguished masters of expression merits, and doubtless will receive considerable attention.

BASIC ENGLISH IS THE SUBJECT of a recent article in the New York Times Sunday magazine by L. H. Robbins, who supplies a list of the 850 English words which constitute its entire vocabulary, and who deals with some of the objections which may be raised to the plan of making any modern language universal. He points out that because of the spread of Anglo-Saxon influence throughout the world "English leads in world circulation. It is the common language of trade in every port, and a working knowledge of it is easy to pick up. Some 800 millions of the world's people already spea:k English of a sort."

PROCEEDING FROM THAT BASE Professor Ogden undertook to reduce English to its simplest form by boiling down its immense vocabulary into the smallest number of words in which most thought could be expressed. The result is a list of 850 Words which are to be used just as ordinary English is used. To illustrate its use Professor Robbins gives in parallel columns, first a paragraph of the Atlantic Charter, and second the same paragraph transcribed into Basic English.

THE ORIGINALPARAGRAPH reads: "After the final destruction of the Nazi tyranny, they hope to see established a peace which will afford to all nations the means of dwelling in safety within their own boundaries and whicft will afford assurance that all men in all the lands may live out their lives in freedom from fear and want."

THE BASIC ENGLISH TRANSLAtion is as follows: "After the full destruction of the Nazi cruel government, they have hope to see a peace made that will let all nations be safe in their right place and that will make certain that every man in every land may have his chance to go through his natural years on earth free from fear and great need." By W. P. DAVIES. TWENTY-FIVE OR 30 YEARS AGO political affairs in Mexico were in a sad fctate of confusion and relations between that country and the United States were much less cordial than they have since become. Pancho Villa had gained a considerable following and had the temerity to make raids into the territory of the [United States. His sympathizers assumed & boastful air and some of them talked of conquering the United States and regaining Mexico California, Arizona and New Mexico as well as Texas, all of which territory had once been part of Mexico.

IT WAS CLEAR TO ME THAT THOSE who felt and talked that way were ignorant of the size and strength of the United States, and there came to my mind a plan which I thought if properly worked out would not only convince pugnacious Mexicans of the impossibility of a con-quest of the United States by them, but which would also make for better feeling between the two countries. The plan was for the United States government to organize and finance a tour of this country by a representative group of Mexicans who would see the whole country, meet its people, observe its industries and then carry back to their own country information of what they had learned. SUCH A TOURIST GROUP, AS I ENvisioned it, would not be confined to business executives and professional men, though those would be represented. I thought it would include village merchants, artisans, laborers, with every class

Yesteryears THIRTY YEARS AGO: T. C. Griffith sustained badly lacerated fingers when a shotgun he was carrying exploded . . . Miss Clara Hale began work in the register of deeds office taking the place of Charlotte Black, resigned . . . T. L. Linn, employee of the Kingman drug store in East Grand Forks, returned from Fargo where he visited at his former home.

TWENTY YEARS AGO: Plans were being made for the Grand Forks Municipal band to play for all events of the Harvest Festival according to Leo Haesle, director . . . Marie Sattler went to Chicago to continue her piano studies at the Chicago Musical college . . . Ethel McGowan was in charge of Kappa Phi's rushing parties at the University. TEN YEARS AGO: Sidney Iverson and Robert Ryan were preparing bulletins on the "Interfraternity Sing" . . . Stewart Walsh of near Grand Forks, Goodwin Stastad of Mekinock and Hugh Marshall of Emerado were callers at the office of County Agent Wm. R. Page . . . Tillie Loiland left for Mayville to enter the State Teachers college. represented as far as possible. The tour would not be one of viewing grand spectacles and attending banquets. The tourists would be given opportunity to meet and mingle with Americans at their daily work and to talk with them through competent interpreters. They would see great cities and impressive monuments, inspect great engineering projects and watch the operation of industrial plants. But they would also visit and chat with workmen in their homes, observe, and perhaps participate in farm operations. And they would be given sufficient time really to learn something of the daily life of the American people.

IT SEEMED TO ME THAT WHEN those people were returned to their homes they would have real information to give their neighbors. They could tell them of a country so vast in size and material achievement that all thought of conquest of it must be dismissed as absurd. They could tell of a people who had no thought of aggression, but were were busily engaged in building homes for themselves, in developing the resources of their country in a manner to provide abundance for everyone. They could tell of a society in which peace and order was maintained, where the people were free to think their own thoughts and speak their own minds without being menaced or annoyed by spies and eavesdroppers. I thought that such information, spread through towns and villages and among groups of work men everywhere would help to create the feeling that the United States was really a good country and its people good neighbors whose friendship was to be desired.

I AM STILL OF THAT OPINION. I am aware that such an experiment would cost money, but lack of understanding has cost a lot more. And I wonder if some such enterprise, conducted on a worldwide scale and on a reciprocal basis, would not pay good dividends in better understanding and mutual goodwill.

IT IS QUITE TRUE THAT THERE have been numerous international tours of one sort and another. In some the personnel has been professional, in some cases commercial, as with the tour of Japanese commercial commissioners who visited Grand Forks many years ago. There have been sight-seeing tours innumerable. All such expeditions have their value, but the sort that I have in mind would be not of special and select classes, but one from grass-roots to grassroots, from the common people of one country to the common people of another. I still think it would be a good thing, and well worth its cost. SO MANY EVENTS THAT AT THE time seemed of supreme importance have been packed into these four years of war, the recollection of each being at least partially effaced by something immediately following which has commanded our attention, that the result is somewhat like that of a lurid motion picture in which climax after climax is flashed on the screen with such rapidity that one obliterates another and the sequence is lost in the confusion of superlatives.

THE WORLD HAS ENTERED THE fifth year of the great war, and each of those years has been marked by events which seemed of greater significance than anything that had gone before, and almost every day in each of those years has seemed at the time to be a red-letter day in our experience. Yet so sensational have been the developments of today that yesterday's spectacular occurrences become little more than blurred shadows. An effort is required to recall even a name which but a short time ago was on every lip and to associate it with an event which once seemed of supreme importance.

TODAY A MAN NAMED MUSSOLINI is in hiding, presumably somewhere in Jtaly, the pitiful captive and puppet of another adventurer whom he once defied and whom he later joined in an evil conspiracy. Yet but a few spaces back on the great world calendar this Mussolini appeared a commanding figure, whose tread, he thought, was destined to shake the world. Hitler had marched into Austria, seized the government and annexed the territory to Germany and was thought to have designs on part of Italy. Mussolini met him with an army at the Brenner pass with implied challenge, "Thus far and no farther." That was only a little while ago, but already the recollection of it becomes dim and misty. HAVING ABSORBED AUSTRIA Hitler reached out for Czechoslovakia. That became the world's great sensation. Britain protested; America appealed; Russia remained aloof. Chamberlain took his excellent intentions, his yearning for peace, and his umbrella, to Munich. Mussolini was begged to intercede, did so and was lauded for his contribution to the cause of peace. Hitler declared he would be satisfied with only a part of Czechoslovakia and would ask for nothing more. The world breathed a sigh of relief at the prospect of "peace in our time." We still mention Munich, but it is a little difficult to place it in the scheme of things.

CAME SPRING, AND HITLER swallowed the rest of Czechoslovakia and seemed bent on picking a quarrel with Poland. He made an issue of Danzig. (Remember Danzig? There were hurrying and scurrying in all the world's chancelleries. Henderson undertook the mission of peace that failed. He warned Hitler that an attack on Poland meant war. Hitler refused to listen. He made a compact with Russia that left his eastern front secured and sent his tanks and planes into Poland. Britain and France declared war, and the lid was off. BRITAIN SENT AN ARMY INTO Belgium. French and German armies faced each other across the "impregnable" Maginot line. Neither army moved. Some of our people called it a "phony" war and became impatient that the fighting did not begin. Suddenly Hitler swept his armies into Norway and the Low Countries; the Maginot line was by-passed; French resistance collapsed; the British, cut off, extricated part of their army at Dunkerque, leaving all its equipment on the ground. Stripped almost to their bare hands, plus a few planes, the British were at war with the most powerful adversary in the world. Hitler expected that Britain, realizing the hopelessness of her position, would yield. Instead, she set about the formidable task of rebuilding and re-equipping her shattered forces. Her capital, her seaports, her industries, her villages, her hospitals and cathedrals were subject to merciless bombing, but under Churchill's leadership she fought back in "blood, sweat and tears." AMERICA LOOKED ON WITH INcreasing interest and with increasing understanding that this was also her war* Pratings about neutrality in a war for basic human rights were overridden. We changed our neutrality laws so as to make our resources available to those who fought for civilization. We supplied war material without counting the cost. And when the attack on Pearl Harbor came we became full partners with those who resisted tyrrany. RECOLLECTION OF THOSE MAjor elements in the war becomes dim with the passage of only a few months. So crowded has the stage become and so swift the change of scene that Bataan, Tobruk, the Timor sea, Midway and Tunisia quickly become memories obscured by Guadalcanal and Sicily. But each of the names which we may have difficulty in recalling is associated with the heroic deeds of brave men and there is woven an enduring pattern of which the world may well be proud. I HAVE AN INTERESTING LETTER from Ernest Haycox, author of the story "Bugles In the Afternoon," the last in- stallment of which appears in this week's Saturday Evening Post. Because of its background of North Dakota in the early days, the story attracted more than usual attention here and prompted a checking up on some of the passages with respect to the accuracy of their descriptions. On the basis of his long residence in and extended travel through the state, Dean Chandler of the University commented on some features of the story. Mr. Haycox discussed as follows some of the points raised by Dean Chandler:

"1. HE QUESTIONS THE EXISTENCE of a railroad south of Fargo. I have had this point raised by other readers, and perhaps I had better quote my authority. Mrs. Fougera, daughter of Lieutenant Gibson of Benteen's troop, wrote the story of her mother's trip west to Lincoln in 1875 (WITH CUSTER'S CAVALRY. Caxton. 1940). On page 28 of the book her mother mentions it had been her intention to go to Fort Pierre and take the steamboat up to Lincoln, but that heavy rainfalls had made the trip risky. "So we abandoned the idea and selected Columbia for our rendezvous. While this entailed a long ride by coach before we could reach a shoot of the Northern Pacific, at Grand Rapids, it was less dangerous." On page 36 she mentions that the train, into Columbia, was late. That seems to establish the existence of a train south of the Northern Pacific line, and also the existence of a Northern Pacific stub line. The gap between was covered by stagecoach. Therefore, she took a train to Columbia, rode by stage-coach to the region of Grand Rapids, and took the N.P. stub into Fargo, a roundabout way. For fictional purposes, I had the girl in the story get off short of Columbia and make the trip straight to Fargo by coach.

"2. MY RESEARCH INDICATES there was a variety of sage, commonly called rabbit brush, growing even in the Red River valley at the time. Mrs. Gibson describes the stage coach ride as being over very lonely, desolate country. She mentions cowpunchers and ranches. Even so, I am inclined to agree with the dean that my use of the term desert was not sufficiently accurate. That comes, I suppose, from the fact that out my way, Oregon, we use the word desert quite loosely to describe all sorts of upland grass country.

"3. HE SUGGESTS THE BUILDING used for over-night stop would have been too new to have been shabby. That's a possibility. Yet practically all lumber in the early west was green, roufeh and poorly dimensioned stuff. One hot summer pulled it completely out of shape. Mrs. Custer's description of officers' quarters at Lincoln confirms this. As to the quality of the women who inhabited that particular stage stop, I shall refer again to Mrs. Fougera's book. It was precisely such a place that she slept in. (page 48).

"4. IN THE MATTER OF TRAIN TIME between Fargo and Bismarck, I am in error, and cheerfully admit it. I have quite recently seen better evidence on it than I formerly had. Six hours probably would have been the minimum. Eight hours might have been average. I can only conclude that the road bed must have been terrible, even for a new road. The Union Pacific schedules in 1871, ,also on a new roadbed, were better than that. We have frequent references to 40 miles an hour along the Platte valley. It is true that all early engines were very light in power; but it is also true that the coaches were likewise light. In 1893, the New York Central's Empire Express got up to 112 miles an hour between Albany and Buffalo. That same year it made the complete run from New York to Buffalo at the average rate of 64 miles an hour. What I am pointing at is the fact that these early trains, with light engines and light coaches, frequently made runs which favorably compare with the records of the modern heavy engine with its long string of ponderous steel Pullmans. It took the streamliners to match the record of Engine 999, vintage 1893."

MR. HAYCOX DOES NOT REFER TO woodburning locomotives, concerning which questions were raised. That point seems to have been definitely settled by records in the Great Northern general offices in St. Paul, which establish the fact that wood was the fuel used by Great Northern locomotives serving this territory until several years after Custer's battle with the Indians on the Little Big Horn. That fact was mentioned in this column, and I suppose a similar practice was followed on the Northern Pacific.

THERE IS A CURIOUS TWIST IN our attitude toward works of the imagination in that while we accept the fact that most of the characters and most of the incidents cited are fictional, we demand strict accuracy and authenticity in all the details of background. We accept Falstaff's wholly imaginary adventures as just good fun, but let Falstaff appear in a garb just a little out of date and there is likely to be trouble. In writing "Bugles In the Afternoon," Mr. Haycox was not attempting a history of North Dakota. He was writing of the motives, some of them passionate, which influence men and women, and he has given enough background to provide an acceptable setting. And he has taken commendable pains to insure the accuracy of his descriptions. By W. P. Davies I AM ENJOYING A GIFT OF CHOICE apples brought by Edward Erickson, 729 Chestnut St., from the old family farm near Edinburg, N. D., which is operated by Mr. Erickson's brother, Gustave. The apples are unusually large, and of two varieties, the name of neither of which is known. One is of green, well marked by red, and the other is solid green. Both are of symmetrical form and delicious flavor.

THE HISTORY OF THE TREES IN which those apples grew strikes me as something remarkable. The trees were planted about 35 years ago, and they have received practically no care since. They are never pruned, and as there has never been evidence of insects troubling them, they are never sprayed. The fruit is without blemish of any kind. Year after year those trees yielded their fruit, usually being loaded. One of the trees was forked almost from the base, and in a wind storm several years ago the tree was split and one of the branches was laid flat on the ground. Yet in its recumbent position that branch continues to yield its quota of fruit every year.

THE ERICKSON FARM IS JUST AT the western edge of the Red river valley, partly in the valley itself and partly on the higher ground just beyond. The apple trees were planted on the eastern slope of the hill where they had some protection from the northwest winds and some additional protection is provided by natural growth near by. Apples are grown successfully in many localities in North Dakota, but I have never seen any others of native growth equal to these. Why are there not apple trees on every farm in the state?

SOME DAYS AGO I WROTE ABOUT chestnuts, and referred to the native product as ''wild" chestnuts. That has resulted in some confusion of chestnuts proper with horse chestnuts, which are something quite different. The chestnut which I called wild is the ordinary chestnut found growing in its natural state, bearing sweetish, edible nuts. It is widely distributed, having been known in the Mediterranean countries for centuries, and it has often been called the "sweet" chestnut. Before the blight came it was abundant from southern New York to several hundred miles farther south. From the original wild stock, varieties were developed bearing nuts of unusually large size.

THE HORSE CHESTNUT IS ALSO widely distributed. Its name is attributed to the fact that a preparation made from the nuts of the tree was used in Constantinople to relieve cough in horses. There is, I understand, a variety of horse chestnut whose nuts are fairly edible, but those usually found are acrid and bitter. They are eaten, however, by deer and, some other wild animals and in some parts of Europe they are used for stock feed. The tree is beautiful in form and blossom and has been much used for decorative purposes. It is abundant in Ohio as the "buckeye," and as such it has given its name to the state. According to an old superstition a buckeye carried in the pocket will ward off rheumatism.

WHAT IS SAID TO BE THE LARGest "sweet" chestnut tree in the world is the famous "chestnut of a hundred horses," growing on a slope of Mount Etna. When measured more than a century ago it had a circumference of 190 feet. I wonder if any of our soldiers had a chance to examine it while they were in Sicily. By W. P. Davies BASIC ENGLISH HAS AN ADVANTage to the English-speaking person in that such a person is already familiar with all of the 850 words included in its vocabulary and its construction is practically identical with that of ordinary English. To those whose native tongue is other than English it has the advantage that by means of its small and selected vocabulary intelligible conversation within certain limits can easily be carried on.

I SHOULD SAY, HOWEVER, THAT the English-speaking person will find some difficulty with basic English in the fact that while all the words used in it are already familiar to him, in using it he must omit words that are equally familiar and that he uses habitually every day. He must be continually on his guard against the use of words familiar to him, but strange to the person with whom he is conversing.

THIS DIFFICULTY DOES NOT APpear in the use of Esperanto. That is a separate language and all who use it will be free from the tendency to inject into it words familiar to them but which do not belong in it. I should imagine that if Basic English comes into fairly general international use it will be broadened gradually, and perhaps rapidly into something closely approximating regular English and will lose its identity as a distinctive form. Using it in conversation with a Spaniard, for example, the Anglo-Saxon will often inadvertently inject words outside of the prescribed list, and correction will be in order. The Spaniard will be curious about the strange word which he has heard. When he learns its meaning he may like it and begin to use it. Such incidents, occurring in millions of conversations, would enlarge the vocabulary and deprive the language of its "basic" character.

AN INTERESTING USE MAY BE made of Basic English here at home, perhaps in our schools, and certainly by persons out of the schools who wish to experiment with different forms of expression. That is in translating into Basic passages in regular English, original or quoted. Let the experimenter try expressing in Basic the thoughts set forth in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence, for example. Running through the first few phrases he will find in Basic neither the words "courses," "human," "becomes," "people" nor "dissolve." He will have to find forms of expression for these and many other words in the paragraph and he must use only words from the prescribed 850.

OF COURSE, THE EXACT THOUGHT cannot be expressed in the limited vocabulary. That brings up the whole subject of expressing thought, and it is a big subject We who understand only English read translations from the Greek, Hebrew, Latin and modern languages and others read translations from the English into their own tongues. But no matter how learned the translators are, and no matter how faithfully they work, the idea set forth in the translation is never quite the same as the thought in the original. And, as a matter of fact, the thought of the writer or speaker .never quite gets over to him who reads or hears, even though both speak the same language. At its best no language is quite perfect.

THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR HAS A picture taken at Constitution day exercises in the auditorium of the American United Life Insurance company, of which George A. Bangs, formerly of Grand Forks, is president. In the picture are shown Mr. Bangs, Claris Adams, speaker of the day, and Herbert A. Woollen, chairman of the company's executive committee. In the center is a framed copy of the constitution which was presented to Mr. Bangs by employes on his birthday last November 8. The presentation was made by United States Senator Watson. The company has observed Constitution day regularly for the past 10 years. By W. P. Davies CONSIDERABLE CONFUSION EXists over references now often made in the news dispatches to White Russia, and some readers are not quite sure whether or not the term refers to some political or military group distinct from the rest of the Russian population. Whatever confusion exists is due, probably, to the fact that during the few years following the revolution of 1917, a considerable element of the population opposed the ascendency of the Bolshevik group and became popularly known as White Russians to distinguish them from the followers of Lenin, who had adopted red as their distinctive color.

THE RED RUSSIANS ESTABLISHED themselves in control, and the attempted counter-revolution failed. Partisans of the "White" movement laid down their arms. Some of them escaped to foreign lands, some were taken to concentration camps, while others were permitted to resume their former peaceful occupations and became merged in the general mass. Use of the term "White" to distinguish them was discontinued, and the name in that connection was forgotten.

THE NAME HAS AGAIN BEEN brought forward, but with a different meaning. West of the upper Dnieper is a territory which has long been known as White Russia, and it is to that area and its inhabitants that the term "White" is now applied. As now used the term has no military or political significance. Several theories have been advanced to explain the origin of the term, and students are not agreed as to which is correct. One is that the name was first applied to inhabitants of that region because of their habit of wearing garments of white sheepskin. Another is that it applies to the light complexion and flaxen hair of most of the inhabitants. Still another is that it has reference to the light color of the soil of the district as contrasted with the black loam of the country farther down the river. Whatever its origin the name applies to a large area and the people who live in it. I WAS SHOCKED THE OTHER DAY to hear someone pronounce the word "giblets" with a hard "g," as in "gun," and to hear the speaker insist that this pronunciation was right. Off and on through most of a long life I had been eating giblets with a soft "g," as in "gin," and I wondered if I had been inviting indigestion through all those years. Promptly and anxiously I went to the dictionary and found that I was right, and that when my grandmother made chicken pie and put into it giblets with a soft "g" she knew exactly what she was doing. I WASN'T SO FORTUNATE, HOWever, about the word "margarine." I hadn't had occasion to pronounce that word often, but when I did so I gave the "g" a soft sound,' as in "Margery." I think that's what most people do. But I was astounded when I was told that this is wrong, and that the "g" should have the hard sound, as in "Margaret." Again I went to the dictionary, and that time I found that I was wrong. However, I haven't eaten a great deal of that spread under the wrong name. I prefer butter. But now that the point value of butter has been boosted I may have to watch my pronunciation pretty closely. SOME OF THE PEOPLE DOWN EAST are in a cold sweat over the fuel problem. Because of oil shortage they were urged to convert to coal wherever possible. A lot of them did so, and now they are. having a time trying to find enough coal to fill their bins. Owners of many large apartment buildings are in this predicament. By W. P. Dovies WHY ARE MEN TALL OR SHORT?

WHEN THE SONS OF PARENTS both of whom are short and stout grows to be a six-footer or better the neighbors are likely to assume that he "takes after" his grandfather or perhaps his great-grandfather. It is assumed that his height is inherited rather than acquired. In this the neighbors are in accord with Dr. Albert Morris, professor of sociology in Boston university, who says:

"YOUR HEIGHT— AND THIS GOES for men and women alike— depends upon your inheritance and nothing else. What you eat, how you exercise, how you behave, has nothing to do with it. A normal child grows up to the height pattern established by his parents and his race. Your height is fixed before you are born."

THAT MAY ALL BE TRUE, AND ITS validity is not affected by the fact that tall children often are born to short parents, or vice versa. The factors which govern height as well as some other physical characteristics may run through several generations without expressing themselves and then crop out unexpectedly. But they are inherited, just the same.

NEVERTHELESS, ONE WONDERS If environment also has not something to do with it. Unless innumerable deschip-tions of the Tennessee mountaineers are all wrong those people are almost uniformly tall. It may be that this trait has been over-stressed and that there are actually short mountaineers in Tennessee as well as tall ones. But even if this is true it is scarcely likely that a legend of general tallness would have grown up without some foundation of fact. If there were no noticeable departure from the general average how would the myth of tallness have originated?

ASSUMING THAT THE POPULAR belief is substantially correct and that an unusual number of those mountaineers are tall, how did they get that way? Either that tallness was inherited from immediate or distant ancestors or it was at least in part the result of environment. If the former is the correct explanation, why was there such a large proportion of tall men and women among the English and Scots who moved from the coast Into the distant mountains while the lountry was still new? Were there reasons why only tall people made that trek |r did the short ones die out in the course If years, leaving only the tall ones?

SOMEWHERE I HAVE SEEN THE tallness of those mountaineers attributed to the prevalence of limestone in the mountains. The water of the area being impregnated with lime its use by generation after generation contributed to unusual bone growth, hence, to tallness. It is an interesting theory which, for all I know, may be based on nothing at all. I don't even know that the Tennessee mountainers and their Kentucky neighbors are taller than other people, but if I ever visit that locality I shall look and see.

A FARMER IN A REMOTE CORNER of Massachusetts cultivates the little farm which his ancestors began to cultivate away back in 1642. The land has been in the possession of the same family all these years, and through the years the family's cows have pastured undisturbed on a bit of common near by. Since the war began the army took over an area which included the common, but as the army didn't use the common and didn't need it the farmer was assured that his cows might pasture there as before. Accordingly the cows were turned loose and went to graze. The guards were indifferent. But when milking time came and the farmer went to bring the cows home he found that the liberty extended to the cows didn't include him. The guard challenged him. He explained that he was merely going after his cows. But the guard had received no orders about people going after cows. He remained firm. The guard reported to a sergeant, who reported to a lieutenant, who reported to a captain who had been raised on a farm and who knew how disappointed the cows would be if they missed being milked. The necessary pass was issued, good until further notice, and now, after 300 years that farmer continued to pasture his cows on the common and milk them at regular hours, just as his ancestors have done.

ONE OF THE PARADOXES OF THE war economy is that meat production in the United States is likely to be increased next year in the face of prospective relative scarcity of feed for meat animals. Yet these two facts apparently contradictory, are in complete accord. The supply of meat on the hoof has been increased more rapidly than the supply of available feed, therefore government agencies urge the trimming down of herds to the point where the probable supply of feed will be sufficient to fit the remaining animals properly for market.

IN THIS MATTER OF BALANCE between number of animals and supply of feed, the United States in the aggre- gate is in a position similar to that of the individual farmer who does not specialize in a particular product but di- versifies to the limit. Such a farmer raised steers, dairy cattle, hogs, etc., and grows grain and fodder to feed them. If he raises more animals than he can feed on the products of his fields he must either buy feed or dispose of enough of his livestock to restore the balance. If he adopts neither plan he will be forced to market his animals in poorly finished condition, which, as a rule, is unsatisfactory to him and also to the purchaser.

IN RESPECT TO ITS TOTAL MEAT supply, the United States may be compared to a gigantic diversified farm and the same rule governs the big farm that applies to the little one. Just so much feed is produced in a year, and it will fit for market just so many animals of different types. If the number of animals becomes too great there will be scarcity of feed. Ordinarily the individual farmer can buy feed, though it may not be profitable for him to do so. But under these war conditions, the United States can buy feed from outside sources only in limited quantities. The alternative is to reduce the number of animals and thus restore the balance. FOR SOME TIME PACKING HOUSE people have been co-operating with government agencies in an effort to induce the most economical production of meat possible. A young hog accumulates more weight per pound of feed than an old one does. If feeding is continued beyond a certain point there is little gain in weight, and there may be none at all. Experiments have shown that the hog fed to the weight of approximately 220 pounds yields the largest quantity of usable meat per pound of feed and therefore gives the grower the greatest return for his labor and cash investment. Hence the marketing of hogs at about that weight is recommended, proper allowance being made, of course, for different types of hogs. This principle applies through the entire range of meat production, from poultry to prime beef.

WHILE THE PROSPECT IS FOR some increase next year in the number of animals slaughtered, and consequently in the immediate supply of meat, there is expected to be no considerable reflection of that condition on the average American dinner table. The excess, whatever there is of it, will be absorbed by demands abroad, first for the increased number of our men under arms who will be serving in distant fields, and second, under lend-lease or other devices for the use of our Allies who, like ourselves, will be engaged more strenuously in combat and who must be kept in fighting trim,

THAT EXCESS PRODUCTION OF meat will be of short duration, for when the balance has been struck between the size of flocks and herds and the feed available for them there will be actually fewer meat animals to market than there were before. This points clearly to the need for continued effort to increase the production of ftfod in all its departments, maintaining proper balance all the time. We shall need to produce more food for direct human consumption, and in this the Victory garden must again play an important part, as it has done this year. Improved methods of farming can increase crop yields materially, and on the yields of feed crops will depend the number of animals that can be economically produced. In every department of food production there is need for energy, thrift and intelligence, By W. P. Davies FRED GOODMAN HAS DUG UP FOR me a copy of an advertisement which brings recollections of the horse-and-buggy days and also of the days when bicycle riding was still a sport. The advertisement was issued as a supplement to the Wheelman's Gazette, a paper devoted to cycling and published at Springfield, Mass. Its date is May, 1885. The advertisers are Stoddard Lovering & Co., of Boston, American agents of D. Rudge & Co., of Coventry, England, who are described as the "oldest and largest cycle manufacturers in the world." That statement surprised me, for I had supposed that at least in the period of the advertisement and for many years thereafter the United States led the world in the manufacture of bicycles,

THE ADVERTISEMENT PRESENTS an artist's drawing of a scene at the bicycle races at Hampden park, Spring- field, in September, 1884, where bicycles manufactured by the Rudge company were reported to have won 24 out of the 29 races ridden, establishing what was then the world record of one mile in 2 minutes and 39 seconds. There are displayed other records made by the Rudge wheels, including 5 miles in 15 minutes and 2 2-5 seconds and 10 miles in 30 minutes and 7 1-5 seconds.

THOSE RACES WERE ALL RIDDEN en the old-style high wheels, for the modern "safety" was still for the future. Illustrations show the standard bicycle of that day, with the big front wheel and the little rear wheel, the single-seated tricycle with two big wheels and one little one in the forward position, and a tandem tricycle, geared. All of those were once familiar to me, but another is shown which I do not remember. It is called a safety, but it is not at all like the modern machine. The front wheel is considerably reduced in size, but it is still much larger than the rear one, and the drive is by a chain gear applied to the front wheel. It may have been from that type that the modern wheel was evolved.

THERE ARE STILL LEFT A FEW newspaper men in North Dakota who remember F. A. Wardwell, veteran edi- tor of the Pembina Pioneer-Express. They, and others who knew Mr. Wardwell, will be pleased with the recognition that has been given him in arrangements to have one of the new Liberty ships named for him. That recognition is appropriate both because of Mr. Ward-well's association with the early history of North Dakota and because in his still earlier days he served in the United States navy.

HE WAS IN EVERY SENSE A PIOneer. He filed on a homestead in Minnesota when most of the Northwest was terra incognita. He moved to Pembina when the whole country surrounding it was virgin territory and he became the first teacher in the first public school in what afterward became the state of North Dakota. He represented the best that there was in the small-town news-paperdom of his day, and to read his paper was like having a good visit with a genial friend. Now, after three-quarters of a century, the flag under which he served in his youth is to float over a ship bearing his name. May good fortune attend her, and may she prove worthy of the name she bears. A WEEK AGO NEW YORKERS WERE clamoring for heat in temperature uncomfortably near the freezing point and in air that was clammy to the touch. Many inhabitants of apartments couldn't have heat because the buildings had no coal. On that same day Grand Forks people were basking in temperature in the eighties, a condition which lasted here for two weeks or more. After a cold and disagreeable three weeks in September we have had an uninterrupted succession of warm sunny days which made up for September and saved a lot of fuel besides helping out immensely with all sorts of farm work. Probably by this time New York has been receiving fine weather passed on to them from the West, for in general the weather moves that way. By W. P. Davies MY THANKS TO F. M. LOUDENback, the East Side nurseryman, lor some line home-grown apples. They are of medium size, firm, a beautiful red and of excellent flavor. The tree from which they were picked has been in bearing, but the owner does not know the name of the variety. Which brings me again la the idea that more apples should be grown in the Northwest. Probably there is not a farm in this territory where in almost any year just a few trees would not supply more than all the apples any family could use in a year, and this with no cash investment beyond the original price of the trees and with very little labor. And if, on the odd years no apples are grown, what of it? On most of our farms there are no apples now.

I HAVE A LETTER FROM CAPT. W. B. Alien, for many years a member of the Herald staff, who is stationed at army district headquarters at Albany, N. Y., where he has been for a year or more. His duties have required him to visit many parts of the army district, among others the area just across the border from that part of Ontario which once was my stamping ground. And he is immensely pleased with the appearance of the landscape these October days. Of the scenery he writes:

"WE SKIRTED THE ADIRONDACKSi and the hills were more brilliant with fall colors than any I have ever seen. The reds, yellows and greens were most gorgeous. There are any number of glorious valleys that stretch out in beautiful panoramas. Colonel Shields, who made the trip with us said: 'Decorators try to match colors and are afraid that this color will clash with that one, yet nature mixes all of them together and gets these beautiful effects.' His wife, by the way, was formerly an interior decorator,

"PART OF THE WAY WE RAN along the Black river canal. Most of the old docks are still standing but the canal is dry and growing up with weeds and brush, but often you can see the old tow-path. It is narrower than I had thought they built canals, and I do not know how the boats passed each other.

"THE NEW YORK STATE BARGE canal now uses the Mohawk river to the Hudson, and I understand it is much changed from the old Erie canal that DeWitt Clinton built in the early 1800's. There is a lot of traffic on it now. The New York Central tracks parallel it for quite a distance and it is a sight to see the Empire State express flash past the barges.

"WE MAY BE SENT TO THE OLD Saratoga battle field on October 17 and 18, the anniversary of the surrender of the surrender of Burgoyne, to take part in a problem of the New York state guards. I went up there last Sunday and looked over the place. While I have read quite a bit of military history and studied tactically quite a few battles, I had to admit that I knew almost nothing about the battle of Saratoga, although, although the field is now a national park. About all that I am certain of is that General Gates commanded the colonial forces and Benedict Arnold, who commanded the American right, was wounded in the leg.

"I OFTEN WONDER ABOUT ARnold. I was up at Plattsburg barracks on Lake Champlain recently and had a little chat with an officer who was detailed to look up the history of Plattsburg and name the streets of the military reservation after them. He told me that Arnold was an "admiral" also, as he built a fleet and defeated the British fleet on Lake Champlain. However, there was no street named after him because of that affair at West Point." By W. P. Davies IN THE FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT of Los Angeles Judge J. F. T. O'Connor, formerly of Grand Forks, recently rendered a decision which may be of considerable interest throughout the Northwest because facts surrounding cases arising in this territory may be similar to those surrounding the California case. The owner of a citrus farm owed $10,000, the debt being secured by a mortgage on the property. Having become delinquent the debtor was adjudged a bankrupt in 1940 and an oral order was made by the commissioner granting an extension of three years for payment and providing for the operation and administration of the property during that period under the jurisdiction of the court, this in accord with provisions of the bankruptcy law.

THIS YEAR THE CREDITOR ATtempted to realize on his security on the ground that the three-years' stay originally granted had expired and the commissioner approved the action. The debtor appealed to the court on the ground that the extension order had merely been made orally and had not been written, signed by the commissioner or recorded. This contention was sustained by Judge O'Connor, who held that "the three-year stay period under Section 75 (s) (1) (2) of the bankruptcy act will not commence to run until a formal stay order is entered by the referee, as provided by said section." The court holds that both creditor and debtor were "grossly negligent" in that they did not see that the extension order was properly made and entered. Concerning the purpose of the Frazier-Lemke act, which governs in such cases, the court says:

THE FRAZIER-LEMPKE ACT CAME from the throes and .agony of depressed farmers, who were being dispossessed of their farms through no fault of their own,but because of economic conditions, unfavorable weather, or insects which destroyed their crops. One or two years of crop failures and the farmer without adequate reserves because seldom did any year yield more than sufficient to pay his expenses and living costs, found himself in the bankruptcy courts with the labor of the years lost. This remedial, beneficial and just Act did not forgive nor cancel the debt of the farmer, but merely postponed the date of payment, giving to the debtor an opportunity to pay his creditor and save his home for himself and his family. Most corporations can set aside reserves for profitless years, or stop paying dividends, but the farmer has no such advantages."

A PIECE OF METAL DISCHARGED from a German anti-aircraft gun was found imbedded in the side of an American plane, having remained all in one piece, contrary to plan. One story said that it had failed to "fragmentate." Is that another freak word that is to be inflicted on us? Most persons would have said that the thing didn't burst, or didn't break up, but that wouldn't do for. the technically-minded writer. He had to have the thing refuse to fragmentate.

THEN THERE IS THAT WORD "Directive," which has been freely used in official circles of late. We fought several wars without any such word and seemed to get along fairly well. When a military commander, or the head of a department, or the president of the United States issued an order it was called an order. If he told somebody what he thought might properly be done, but left it to the other person's judgment, he might advise or recommend, and in either case it was understood what he meant. But now he issued a directive, which seems to be neither fish, flesh nor fowl, and nobody knows what he means.

A FEW SENTENCES BACK I USED the word "failed" and used it incorrectly. I often do. So do most other people. It is so used quite generally because there is I no word in English that seems quite to fill the bill. Strictly speaking, in order to fail one must try. If there is no attempt there can be no failure. When we say that the cat failed to catch the mouse it I is assumed that the cat tried and didn't succeed. She failed. But when we say that the witness failed to appear we may or may not be correct. Perhaps he didn't try to appear, in which case he didn't fail. He simply didn't appear. But that doesn't quite meet all the requirements. The witness may have been expected and deliberately disappointed a lot of people who were looking for him. To say merely that he didn't appear seems rather flat. So the chances are that we shall continue to use the word "fail" incorrectly until custom makes that use correct. Ain't language wonderful? By W. P. DAVIES. DR. G. A. HENRY, OF WESLEY COLlege, was interested in the mention of F. A. Wardwell, of Pembina, which appeared in this column a few days ago and in the reference to Mr. Wardwell as the first teacher in the first public school in what is now North Dakota. Dr. Henry was one of Mr. Wardwell's pupils, and he remembers him quite well, although at that time he was barely of school age. That was during the winter of 1880-81. Dr. Henry was born at Bowmanville, Ontario, on the north shore of Lake Ontario, where his father was engaged in lumbering and building. The family moved to Pembina and presently acquired land. During his residence at Pembina as a child, Dr. Henry became familiar with names that have since become familiar in state history, among them those of the late Judge Kneeshaw and Jud. LaMoure. Charles Cavileer was gone, but his name was often heard.

AN ARMY OFFICER WHOSE NAME It is preferred to withhold had occasion in the course of his duties to spend some time at a Southern prison camp where many German prisoners are held. He had opportunity to mingle freely with the prisoners, who were nearly all quite young men. Writing to a Grand Forks friend he described the prisoners as "well trained, well disciplined, courteous, and proud." He continued, "I gained the impression that they have no more use for Hitler than I have."

MANY KINDS OF DESSERT ARE liked in the army, but apple pie is away the most popular. In some of the camps, however, there is criticism of the shape of the pies. Everyone knows, or ought to know, that a pie, especially apple, should be round, and cut in the form of triangles, preferably fourths. But in some of the camps they bake pies in square tins and then cut them into square chunks, a practice which is denounced as contrary to nature and art alike.

CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION about international languages, Professor Tamborra, of the University, sends me a copy of an article" on the subject which appeared in the New York Times, and from which I quote the following paragraphs : "The need for a world language has always been so pressing that it has been met by various professions. Latin was long the language of scholars. French is still the language of diplomacy. Mathematicians use but one set of symbols. The Morse code is understood by every navigator. Chemical terms are the same everywhere. So it is with musical notation. Yet business men, who are most dependent upon communication, have done little to promote an international language.

'IN THE LAST SIX HUNDRED years we have had a score of proposals. All have perished, except Esperanto, which is spoken and written on occasion by an estimated million and a half persons; indorsed by half a dozen scientific and philosophical congresses and societies, as well as the League of Nations, the International Red Cross and the International Labor Office; included in the correspondence courses of Great Britain's army education service, and taught in a few score British schools. Not one of these bodies and institutions has suggested that any national language be scrapped. "THE EDITOR OF NATURE PROPerly regards the problem as fundamentally one for education and suggests that a new League of Nations could do much to solve it. If public and private schools could be induced to teach a world-language progress would be rapid; for new languages are most readily acquired by children. Yet teaching is not enough. The language must actually be used in reading, correspondence and conversation with foreigners. Here international Rotary clubs and similar business organizations with international connections could lead the way. The opportunity will present itself after the war." By W. P. Davies THE TREASURY PROPOSES TO ADVance the tax on whisky from $6 to $10 per gallon and the proposal has started a debate. On one side is the argument that whisky used as a beverage is a luxury and that it is fair that those who insist on having it should be required to make a substantial contribution to the government's war chest. It is pointed out that if they can't afford to buy so much of it at the higher price they can get along with less.

THAT SOUNDS FAIR ENOUGH, BUT then comes the argument on the other side to the effect that if the tax is made too high it will provide an incentive to the bootlegger and moonshiner with the result that the people will be drinking a lot of liquor on which the government has collected no tax at all. In attempting to collect 10 dollars instead of six the government will lose the six that it is now collecting. And that, also, seems quite possible.

BUT, IT MAY BE ASKED, IF HIGH taxation of liquor promotes bootlegging why doesn't the same argument apply to cigarets and chewing gum? Why are not cigarets and gum moonshined and bootlegged? We may pretty well rule out gum, because if the price were doubled or trebled a few cents' worth would keep one chewing all day. I wouldn't know if cigarets are manufactured illegally or not, but occasionally someone is caught trying to get by the revenue collector without paying the cigaret tax. But the conditions surrounding the handling of cigarets are not such as to promote illegal traffic on a large scale.

IN THE MATTER OF LIQUOR WE have had the benefit of actual experience, which should have taught us something. Manufacture and sale of liquor were made illegal, and except in special and restricted cases intoxicating liquor could not be obtained at any price. There were many who still wished to obtain it, who did not feel themselves morally bound by the law as it stood, and who were willing to pay a stiff price for something with an alcoholic kick. That created the opportunity for the moonshiner to make and the bootlegger to peddle whisky of a sort/and there was a big profit in supplying the demand—provided one were not caught at it. And a lot of men, and some women, took that chance.

MEN WITH SLIGHT REGARD FOR the law will take a chance on something illegal if it offcrs prospect of big profits, and it has been pretty well established that if liquor taxes are made high enough to tempt the bootlegger, bootleggers in impressive numbers will be ready to yield to the temptation, and enough liquor will be sold illegally to lessen the government's revenues. Whether or not the difference between $6 and $10 would provide adequate temptation I don't know. But the subject merits study. There is another factor now,that didn't exist during prohibition. In prohibition days many persons who in all other respects were law-abiding had no conscientious scruples against buying bootleg liquor. I suspect that many of those same persons now would think it a cheap and dirty trick to patronize a bootlegger the essence of whose business is to deprive the government of revenue which it needs for prosecution of the war.

THE GOVERNMENT IS TAKING AN interest in blueberries. We are told that immense quantities of those berries go to waste because of lack of canning facilities for them and a survey is being made to determine the possibility of having factories established to take care of this crop. My impression has been that blue-berries were scarce on the market last season because of scarcity of pickers. Blueberry country as a rule is sparsely inhabited. The fruit is gathered mostly by families, white and Indian, living in the vicinity, and by the relatively few who drive to the grounds from moderate distances. If labor was scarce last summer it is not likely to be more plentiful next summer. I should think that the major problem would be not that of building such small factories as would be needed, but to find pickers at the right time. IT HAS OFTEN BEEN SAID THAT while democracy may be desirable in giving greater scope to individual initiative than is possible under any other system, it has the weakness of lacking efficiency. In a democracy authority springs from the group, and the members of the group are divided in opinion, often work at cross purposes and are unable to reach the definite decisions which are essential to success in any great undertaking. For such reasons, it has been said, while democracy may be fairly satisfactory under conditions of peace, when such an emergency as that of war confronts a nation some form of dictatorship is necessary if a nation is to present a united front to its enemies and concentrate its energies so that all its resources may be brought to bear on the task before it.

FOR AT LEAST A CENTURY, GERmany has stood among the nations as the outstanding example of efficiency in most of the activities relating to material progress. Operating for most of that time under constitutional forms which gave at least some recognition to democratic principles, in actual practice her people have been governed instead of governing themselves. Her political rulers were of a caste in which the military spirit predominated, a caste which assumed for itself the right to rule and to impose its will on the masses. And, as a rule, the masses have been obedient and subservient.

UNDER THE RULERSHIP OF THIS caste, German political methods, German industry, and, with some notable and honorable exceptions, German science has been thoroughly organized and has been directed toward a single objective, that of developing a military machine which would be more powerful than any other and which would be able to make conquest after conquest until Germany ruled the world. Meanwhile, in the direction in which Germany excelled, the great American and British democracies lagged far behind. When Hitler started on the plan of conquest that has become so badly bogged down, these democracies had to choose between yielding and starting almost from scratch to prepare basic implements with which, first to defend themselves, and then to destroy the monster that threatened their existence.

THEY CHOSE THE LATTER course, and it was freely predicted that they would fail. Neither of them had a dictator to tell them what to do and make them do it. But in some way they were able to create agencies of their own which excelled those of Germany in efficiency because they were motivated by a spirit born of the free will of self-governing peoples.

IN THE FOUR YEARS SINCE THE war began American industry has voluntarily placed itself on a war basis and in this short time has far surpassed anything that Germany has been able to do. American agriculture has so organized and directed its energies that its food production is the marvel of the world. American men of science have brought to bear the fruits of their research with results that Germany cannot match. British democracy has followed the same path. It has remained steadfast through experiences that would have shattered the spirit of a slavish people. It has suffered devastating defeats and recovered from them. In four years it has achieved the miracle of doubling its domestic production of food.

THESE ARE BUT SOME OF THE examples of what has been achieved where the democratic spirit lives. And while "efficient" Germany now stands with its back to the wall, disgraced in the eyes of the world, with the weapons of her earliest ally turned against her, and with millions ready to throw off the yoke that she has imposed, the democracies grow in strength and move forward to the victory which is to demonstrate again that only that government can long endure that is based on the free will of intelligent peoples. By W. P. DAVIES. I HAVE HAD OCCASION TWICE REcently to refer to the late F. A. Wardwell, for many years editor and publisher of the Pembina Pioneer Express." By chance I have just noticed the following dispatch in an Eastern paper from Rock-land, Maine, under date October 8:

"JOHN J. WARD WELL, RETIRED master shipbuilder who superintended construction of more than 80 wooden ships, among them the first six-masted schooner ever built, died last night at the age of 91. "Son of a shipmaster and shipbuilder, Mr. Wardwell learned at the age of 14 to wield the broadaxe and adze of the shipbuilder and when he was 21 built his first ship. "The George W. Wells, which Mr. Wardwell designed as well as built, was not only the first sixmaster but at the time of her launching in 1900 the largest wooden ship afloat. She was lost on Hatteras Shoal."

I WONDERED IF THE JOHN J. Wardwell named there might have been related to Frank A. Wardwell, of North Dakota, both having been born in Maine and both having been associated with the shipbuilding industry. Frank Wardwell was born in 1843, and John, having just died at the age of 91, would have been nine years his junior. I wondered if he might have been a younger brother.

CHECKING THE DATA AVAILABLE I found that F. A. Wardwell was born at Bucksport, Maine and was left an orphan in infancy. That precluded the possibility of a younger brother. He was adopted by a relative, Rev. Lorenzo Wardwell, and his wife, both of whom many years later followed him to Pembina and died there. I find no reference to other members of the family at that time, so I must leave the question of relationship unanswered.

FRED GOODMAN OFTEN DIGS UP something interesting for me, and the other day in recognition of my persistent habit of pipe-smoking, he produced from an old scrap book this from Edgar Guest:

A BOOK AND A PIPE. Give me a book and my cozy chair and a pipe of old perique And the wind may howl and I shall not care that the night is cold and bleak, For I'll follow my friend of the printed page wherever he leads me on. I'll follow him back to a vanished age and the joys of a life that's gone. I'll stand with him on a brigantine with the salt wind in my face, I'll hear him shout when the whale is seen and share in the stirring chase, And I'll hear him say as the gulls fly by and round us overhead: "Every bird up there with its ghastly cry is the soul of a sailor dead." I'll go with him where the pole star gleams and the arctic nights are long, I'll go with him to his land of dreams away from the surging throng. I'll stand with him on the battle line where the sky with flame turns red. I'll follow this faithful friend of mine wherever he wants to tread. Oh, whether it be adventure grim or the calm of a noble mind. Or a sea to sail and a ship to trim or a pearl of truth to find. Grant me an hour in my easy chair and a pipefull of old perique And there's ever a friendly book up there that can furnish the joy I seek. EDGAR GUEST IS ONE OF AMERIca's most popular writers of verse, and quite often he writes poetry. I can go all the way with him in his expressed enjoyment of the book and the pipe and the easy chair, the brigantine, the whale and the land of dreams, but I'm afraid a pipeful of old perique would be to strong a dose for me. Perique is a remarkably strong black tobacco used in small quantities for flavoring other tobaccos. There may be tough customers who smoke it straight, but I never met any. I wonder if Guest smokes at all. MY GRANDFATHER GILL SMOKED, in a clay pipe, a sort of shag tobacco which was sold in bulk, like hay, and which probably cost about 25 cents a pound. The main stock was kept in a small wooden box on the earth floor of the cellar where it remained just properly humid. The portion intended for current use was kept in a tin can on a table in the far corner of the kitchen. A young fellow named Frank was employed occasionally for work about the place. After dinner he would fill his pipe from grandfather's can, which was quite all right. But Frank wore a black tail coat, very shabby, which I suppose someone had given him, and one day after he had filled his pipe he stood casually which his back to the table and his hands behind him. From across the room I watched and saw him stuffing loose tobacco into the tail pocket of his coat. I didn't say a word. If I had grandfather would have hit the roof. But thereafter when Frank filled his pipe I hung around that corner until he left. By W. P. Davies PERHAPS IF YOU HAVE BEEN A guest in a hotel which featured the antique you have found on the ancient dresser of your room (made the year before in Grand Rapids) a long goose-quill, with feather plume still attached, and upon examination you may have found that the quill end was fashioned into a pen-point. I have seen several of them so displayed, and you may have tried to write with one. I tried it once, without great success, for the point was roughly whittled. I have made many a better pen myself. Those quill pens were brought to my jnind by an article on the development of penmanship, which was one of the triumvirate of three R's which once ruled popular education.

I DON'T KNOW WHETHER OUR penmanship today is better or worse than that of 70 years ago. It could scarcely be worse than mine was. It is quite certain, however, that we pay less attention to it. In school there are so many other subjects, and out of school there is the typewriter, which has supplanted the pen in offices and many other places. Years ago I gave mortal offense to an excellent lady who taught penmanship by remarking that good penmanship was given less consideration than formerly in employment off office help, but I still think I was right.

QUILL PENS WERE USED IN THE very early centuries because of their firmness and flexibility and the ease with which they could be fashioned. If you remember your Ivanhoe you will recall that when King Richard in Sherwood forest wanted something put in writing and there was neither pen nor ink, Robin Hood saw a wild goose conveniently flying overhead, drew his trusty bow, notched an arrow and shot the goose, just like that, and from a quill plucked from the bird's wing a pen was formed and the necessary document was written in the goose's blood. I think it was Friar Tuck who did the writing, but on what surface he wrote I don't remember. I must look that up.

STEEL PENS WERE COMMONLY used in school in my day, but not long before quills were invariably used, and one of the duties of the teacher was to keep the pens in order, whittling new points on them as the old ones wore out. The knife which he used for that purpose was a "penknife", and that is why the little knife carried in the pocket is still often known by that name, although its original function ceased years ago.

OUR SCHOOL PENS HAD NO RUBber or plastic holders. A thin metallic band constituted the holder and into one end was slipped the "point" and the handle was slipped in'o the other. One season some of us brought a few cat-tail stalks to school, cut them to about the same length as that of the pen handle and substituted them for the regular handles. The next day several stalks were brought, considerably longer than the others, and we made longer handles of them. Immediately the thing became epidemic, and there was competition among us for the longest handles we could find. During the writing period the school looked like a forest of tall cat-tail stalks agitated by a violent wind. Then the teacher called it off. We had had all the fun there was in it, anyway.

IN THIS COUNTRY, BENJAMIN Franklin published a work on penmanship, featuring his own easy and flowing style. Platt Rogers Spencer systematized the art and gave his name to one of its most familiar forms. Innumerable styles have been developed since. Ornamental penmanship was a fad for many years and the good penman was expected to decorate his writing with flourishes and curlicues. A familiar stunt was that of drawing the picture of a bird with smooth, easy strokes without lifting pen from paper. A fellow at the country fair would do one of those for you and write your name in a space in the middle for a dime. There were traveling writing teachers who spent a week or two in a place and taught classes in penmanship for a small fee. And there were numerous aids to good penmanship advertised and sold by mail, similar in some respects to those that teach you any language in six easy lessons. One of those helps was Gaskel's Compendium, which I believe had real merit. I bought one and tried it, but my case was beyond Mr. Gaskell. I continued to scribble. By W. P. DAVIES. WINNIPEG MAY BE DESCRIBED AS the Chicago of Canada. It is not Canada's greatest industrial or commercial center, although in industry, commerce and finance it is the clearing point for all of western Canada. But as a transportation center it is to Canada more nearly what Chicago is to the United States. There the traffic from two oceans meet and long trains that travel unbroken across the continent pass through the city. In these war times its position makes it the meeting point for men in the armed services from many distant parts of the world. On its streets are to be seen uniformed men from the antipodes, from European fields, men from almost every part of the world, and in uniforms of as many different types, among them representatives of nations whose territory is now under German occupation, but who are doing their part to free the home lands from the aggressor.

THE NUMBER OF MEN IN TRAINing at the Winnipeg air fields, at the schools, and on leave has created the need for a service men's center similar to those established in many other of our larger cities, where entertainment can be provided for the service men during their hours of relaxation. Such a center has been provided, and a visit to it proved an interesting experience during a brief stay in Winnipeg.

THE CENTER OCCUPIES ALL OF A one-story building adjoining the Eaton store which was formerly an annex of the big store. Its use, heated and lighted, is donated by Eaton's. There are game rooms, reading rooms, information and consultation rooms and several others and in the evenings, there is dancing on the main floor. In a large dining room regular meals are served, and the practice followed there differs from that in some other centers, though not in all. Food is not served free. The charge made is as nearly as possible sufficient to cover the actual cost of the material, service in its preparation and serving, as in all the work performed at the center, is rotated by the women of Winnipeg, of whom some 8,000 have volunteered for that purpose, taking turns according to an arranged schedule.

THE PRICE CHARGED FOR DINner is 35 cent, and it is some dinner! When a soldier gets one of those dinners under his belt he must feel like at least two soldiers. Mrs. John E. Currie, whose husband spent his school year in Grand Forks and is now engaged in the school supply business in Winnipeg, although she has charge of the distribution of hospital supplies in the district, a real job in itself, manages to take her turn one day a week at the Center.

WEEK-ENDS, OF COURSE, ARE busy periods for the Center. Saturday after Saturday the attendance has run around 6,000, and on October 9 it was more than 7,000. In anticipation of those big days the volunteer women of the culinary department spend the hours until morning in the Center kitchen baking pies and fixing other provender for the hungry men who are to appear on the following day. With building, light, heat and all the labor donated, receipts for meals just about balance cash outlay I and the financial problem is thus solved.

CANADA'S RATIONING PRACTICES differ in detail from ours, but the net result appears to be about the same. In the hotel you will be served one small piat of butter, and if you ask for another you will be told regretfully that it can't be done, but you will be served liberally with cream rich enough to stand alone, beside which our 19-per cent cream looks like skimmed milk. Butter is rationed separately from meats. Your coupon entitles you not to so many points of something, but to so many ounces of butter and it cannot be exchanged for anything else. There are also different groupings of other foods. Food prices generally appear to be somewhat lower than on this side of the line, but in reply to a comment on this, a local man said that on the other hand Canadian wages are lower than wages in the United States, so jthat the purchasing power of a day's work is just about the same. By W. P. Davies IT IS QUITE POSSIBLE TO HAVE A Story packed so lull of sensational incidents as to deprive it of all appearance of probability and so destroy its intended effect I have just been reading a narrative in which the hero is put through such an amazing list of experiences. Born, according to the story, of an orthodox Jewish family in Paris, he ran away at the age of 18 to Berlin where he took refuge in a Protestant mission house. He was there baptized into the Christian faith and sent as a student to a Presbyterian college in Montreal. He entered the ministry, went to northwestern Canada as a missionary, joined the Episcopal ministry because he preferred its ritual, was sent to England and made vicar of a parish.

BUT HIS LIFE OF ADVENTURE had scarcely begun. He left the church, became secretary to a business man who later financed his candidacy for a seat in parliament, which he won, and later he was employed by the government as a censor of foreign-language correspondence. He wrote books representing himself to have been a spy for Germany and to have fooled the British government. He served a term of three years in prison for forgery, was expelled from Britain and then entered industriously upon the career of a spy on the continent. In that capacity he served half-a-dozen European governments, selling out each in turn to a rival, and then selling out the rival.

THE HERO'S CAREER WAS NOT yet sufficiently colorful. He went to China, became adviser to one after another of that country's war lords, became a Buddhist monk and returned to Europe Jn search of converts. Identified there he was unwelcome, and wherever he appeared he was told to move on, so he returned to China.

SUCH A STORY OR CHICANERY, followed through a long life and with such a succession of temporary successes, if it had appeared in a work of fiction, would have been condemned everywhere as gross exaggeration and there would have been renewed the demand that novelists keep their work reasonably within the possibilities of real life. But the story of this remarkable man is not fiction. It is sober fact, which is often stranger than fiction dares to be.

THE MAN WAS KNOWN AS IGNAtius Trebitsch-Lincoln and an account of his death in a Shanghai hospital was given in a press dispatch a few days ago. His family name was Trebitsch and at one stage of his career he added the name Lincoln because of his professed admiration for the American Civil war president. In the paragraphs above are men- tioned merely a few of his performances as an adventurer and charlatan. He must have had qualities which, legitimately employed, would have insured his success in almost any honorable calling, but there was a streak in his character that twisted everything he did. Nevertheless, if we come across a piece of fiction in which the story of his remarkable career is approximately duplicated, most of us will throw the yarn aside and say the thing is impossible.

SOME OF THE PUBLIC RELATIONS men attached to the Eighth United States Air Force have been reading the German communiques and have been impressed by the fact that German propagandists seem at a loss for words to describe just what had been happening in Germany. In order to help the Nazis out they have prepared the following form which they think might appropriately be used by the Berlin radio: "Large formations of huge American bombers attempted to penetrate western Germany today, but were driven off by hordes of our brave fighter pilots. Forty-seven enemy bombers were shot down. One of our planes was lost. "One of our cities is missing." By W. P. DAVIES. SOMEONE SENDS ME A COPY OF the Manitou, a weekly paper published at Watrous, Saskatchewan, which contains material likely to be of interest to many readers of the Herald who once were residents of Canada. One paragraph will revive memories of the Riel rebellion. It tells of a meeting at Regina of the Saskatchewan division of the Canadian Weekly Newspaper association at which there was presented to J. A. McGowan, incoming president, a gavel made of wood from the old Hudson's Bay steamer "Marquis" which once plied on the north Saskatchewan and was used as a troop ship in the Riel disturbance of 1885. The hulk of the old steamer still lies in the river at Prince Albert. J. A. McGowan, the recipient, is editor and manager of the Watrous Manitou. CONSPICUOUS IN THE PAPER IS the story told by Mr. McGowan of his combined business and pleasure trip to southern Ontario, the home of his early life and the early home of many of the present residents of North Dakota. In Toronto, Mr. McGowan visited Casa Lo-ma, the imposing mansion built by the late Major General Sir Henry Pellatt in 1913, and which has often been described as Toronto's white elephant. Mr. McGowan has summarized its history as follows:

"THIS PALACE, LOST AS FAMILY fortunes dwindled, is now open to tourists and visitors under auspices of the Kiwanis club. Built as a private residence, it cost $3,000,000. It has 50 rooms, 25 open fire places, 15 bath rooms, etc. Other features on the 12-acre grounds are stables which cost $200,000, rifle range and a large conservatory. Taxes on this property, $1,000 per year before the palace was erected, immediately mounted to $12,000 per year, and this alone was only a minor expense when compared with the upkeep of the premises. In the course of time the Casa Loma property was taken over and operated as a hotel, but this too failed, so it fell into the hands of the city. Now a tourist centre, it is operated by the Kiwanis club, who have paid the city of Toronto some $60,000 in a period of seven years, while the club has taken out $6,000 for work among under-privileged children."

I RECALL THAT BEFORE THE present arrangement was made, and while the Toronto authorities were at a loss what to do with the property, the suggestion was made that it be converted into a home for the Dionne quintuplets where the children could be seen by visitors at so much per head. In this way, it was said, the property could not only be made to pay for itself, back taxes and all, but would be a source of revenue for the city. Fortunately those in charge had the good sense not to consider such a proposal. AFTER A PRESS MEETING IN TOronto, Mr. McGowan's itinerary took him through a lot of territory once familiar to me, and I know that the names of some of the places visited will bring recollections to many readers. Among them were Guelph, Elora, Fergus, Mitchell, Stratford, Seaforth and Orangeville. I looked in vain for the name of my home town, Brantford. Mr. McGowan seems to have belonged farther north.

THERE IS CASUAL MENTION OF what is going on in some of those towns. Fergus, with 3,000 population, has an ar- tificial lake half a mile wide and six miles long. It has no beverage rooms, no liquor store, and the only hotel closed a few months ago. Mitchell, with 1,750 people, has four cemeteries. Its new creamery opened in July and Mr; McGowan's cousin has been principal of the high school for 20 years. The Lions club bought the local rink and now operates it for skating in winter and installs a portable floor for dancing in summer. At Seaforth, the Lions club operates an open air swimming pool made possible by damming a creek in the vicinity. So things were found moving all along the line, with the people intensely interested in war work, but able, nevertheless to maintain active, wholesome life on the home front. By W. P. Davies IF ROOSEVELT AND CHURCHILL had listened to the clamor that arose over which particular group of Frenchmen in Africa should be recognized as representing the people of France, and if the suggested program of determining now the political future of other peoples had been followed through, we might still have completed the occupation of northern Africa, but there and elsewhere we should have been embroiled in factional disputes which are none of our business, and which would have obstructed our progress at every turn. Conditions more or less similar to those which were met in Africa exist in several of the other countries with which we must have dealings, and if we should undertake to settle all the disputes and compose all the rivalries we should have little time left for the major business of winning the war.

SINCE THE COLLAPSE OF THE French government in 1940, French Africa had been governed under Vichy authority except for one area that had repudiated Vichy and accepted the leadership of DeGaulle. In the province with which we had immediate contact the authority of Vichy was recognized and all public offices were staffed with Vichy appointees. We had our choice of riding rough-shod on local sentiment or trying to obtain its co-operation. We chose the latter course, and succeeded, and we did so with the distinct understanding that we were making no commitments with respect to the future of France, which, we properly insisted, must be determined by the French people themselves when they are free from the compulsion which has been.imposed on them.

THERE HAVE BEEN GRUMBLINGS over our course with respect to Italy. When that country's surrender was ac- cepted we did not imprison the king, unseat all the nation's public officials and take over the job of administering the domestic affairs of the country. We allowed matters to stand as much as they were, with the understanding that the old Fascist organization was demolished. Presently we accepted Italy as a co-belligerent, again with the distinct understanding that there were no commitments with respect to Italy's future, which must be determined by the Italian people. THERE IS NO UNANIMITY IN Italy over the form of government to exist after the war. There is small likelihood of an important movement for a return to Fascism. That system seems to have run its course in Italy and its very name has become obnoxious to the people. In any case, the United Nations would demand a democratic form of government, which Fascism is not. But opinion is divided between retention of the monarchy, with constitutional safeguards, and the creation of a republic. Other opinion is represented by smaller groups. The Italian people will have opportunity to choose whatever democratic form they please, but the choice must be deferred until it can be made free from the shadow of war.

PROBLEMS SIMILAR IN THEIR general nature to those met in Africa and in Italy exist or are in the making in other territory under Nazi occupation. Rival local leaders have been striving for supremacy in Albania. In Yugoslavia two leaders, each with an important following, have been in sharp conflict. In Greece each of several guerrilla factions is striving against other local factions.

IN ALL THESE LOCAL SITUATIONS there is but one thing for leaders, military and political, to do, namely, to ac- cept whatever help local groups are able and willing to give against the common enemy to the end that each country may be rid of that enemy's presence as quickly as possible, and to make it known to the people of each country that they will be afforded every opportunity to choose their own form of democratic government without compulsion either from a distant enemy or from an armed band that has arisen from among themselves. Neither the mutual relations of nations nor the reorganization of local governments can be determined offhand, while the world is in the welter of war. By W. P. DAVIES. HERE IN THE CENTER OF THE continent we have our problems of rationing, and so forth, just as they have elsewhere, and we are subjected to experiences and expedients which often may be annoying, and which we might consider almost unbearable if we paid too much attention to them. Some experiences we escape by reason of our inland position. We have had occasional test blackouts in which we went dutifully through the motions, but without any real fear of attack from the skies, and except for those tests we have displayed all the lights we chose to display and have moved about each night as freely as of old.

IT HASN'T BEEN SO IN THE COAST cities, for in them there has been recognized continually the possibility, if not the probability of a hit-and-run raid by enemy planes which in an instant would reduce everything in one's immediate neighborhood to scattered fragments. For precautionary reasons, therefore, dim-outs have been the rule in cities near either coast, and month after month the inhabitants have been groping their way through darkened streets and accustom- ing themselves to something of which we have had no experience. While the possibility of raids has not disappeared, their probability has become more remote, and dim-out regulations have accordingly been relaxed in many cities. That is true in San Diego, California, and the relief that the change has brought is indicated in this bit in a letter recently received £rom a friend in that city:

"GLORY BE!" SHE EXCLAIMS, "OUR dim-out regulations are to be lifted at midnight tonight. For a year we have driven at inght with a mere flicker of light on the pavement in front of our cars—not from our parking lights, which throw light sideways as well as down. We had extra lights installed and could use nothing else within miles of the coast. Also almost all our street lights were almost blacked out with paint and chields. Houses must have their shades drawn when lights are on. Not all regulations are suspended, but at least we may use our car lights. Whether the danger of raids is over no one can even guess, but we were maiming or killing too many people on the streets, pedes- trians often, but there were many car collisions also at street intersections. It seems something had to be done about it. Personally I think the accidents were chiefly due to lack of care both by the pedestrians and by the drivers, and to failure to observe the 20-mile limit in the dim-out. People are always taking chances, crossing streets between intersections and driving too fast."

THE SAME CORRESPONDENT HAS written before of the change that the war has made in living conditions in San Diego. While the city has for years been an important naval station, it has been preeminently a city of homes, quiet, or- derly and beautiful. The war has made it a great industrial center. The demand for industrial labor has brought in many thousands of new people. The population has more than doubled, and the newcomers arr all strangers, most of them with- out local ties of any kind. Wages are high, money flows freely, new housing has not begun to keep up with the demand for quarters and the streets are thronged with people in search of entertainment between shifts. The orderly quiet of the city is gone, and those who have enjoyed it in the past are wondering if it ever will return. That question is being asked in many another city which is now experiencing the lush times of war prosperity.

WASHINGTON, D. C., IS HAVING AN experience with what appears to be an authentic case of rabies, but there is little prospect that there will be such a panic as has often been caused by the mere mention of rabies. Sometimes the existence of such a disease has been denied. Such denial is as foolish as has been the fear that every dog that snaps is mad. The snappy dog may be an ugly tempered brute, but the chances are many to one against his having rabies. And, while the bite of a mad dog is a serious thing, it is not necessarily fatal. Science has discovered ways to counteract its effects if it is taken in time. Just the same, no dog should be allowed at large, whether "mad" or not, if it has developed a propensity for biting people. By W. P. Davies ONE OF THE LARGEST AMERICAN life insurance companies paid 16,673 death claims in 1942. Of the deaths listed 6,171, or more than 37 per cent are attributed to heart disease. This is more than twice the number attributed tot the next classification on the list, cancer and tumor, which accounted for 2,447 of the deaths. Others listed are, in order, apoplexy, 1,590; accidents, 1,398; nephritis, 832; pneumonia and influenza, 775; tuberculosis, 430; digestive tract, ulcers and hernia, 344; diabetes, 292; liver disease, 250; appendicitis, 121; all other pauses, 1,993.

IN VIEW OF THE LARGE GROUP Insured by such a company the figures above may be taken to represent fairly well the relative fatality of most of the diseases to which flesh is heir. One is struck at once by the high rate of death from heart disease. The figures quoted may be accepted with some reservation as indicating the ratio of deaths from "heart disease," which is a general term capable of wide application.

THE HEART IS AN EXCEEDINGLY sensitive organ which may be affected by many kinds of disease. But it is also exceedingly tough, and it may, and often does, perform its work reasonably well through a long life although it may never be in perfect condition. Defects in that organ are not to be lightly regarded, but there are multitudes who carry with them through many years some form of "heart disease," to die really of old age. When habits of life are adjusted to known defects, a tricky heart may carry one a long way.

BRIEF STATISTICAL TABLES ARE also likely to be based on generalities. When the heart stops beating one dies, and the immediate cause of death may be some heart defect of long standing which has become acute because of something of entirely different nature. Such a death may be ascribed to heart disease, although the real cause may be exposure, over-exertion, or any one of several ailments which have left no perceptible symptoms, but whose influence is still there.

TUBERCULOSIS HAS NOT BEEN banished, but its ratio of fatality has been wonderfully reduced, thanks to the patient investigation of science. So it is with pneumonia and influenza. The death rate from these two diseases, so closely associated, was once alarmingly high. It has been greatly reduced by the discovery of new methods of treatment in utilization of the properties of drugs unknown until a short time ago. The works of investigation is still going on, and new discoveries are constantly being made which, as their value becomes understood, will not only lengthen the span of the average life, but which will make life happier and more useful.

I HAVE SOME SAMPLES OF AMERican-grown cork supplied by Science Service, which tells of the work which is being done to insure an adequate supply of domestic cork so that the country will not be dependent on foreign sources for this important product. There was a time when one thought of cork chiefly as material with which to plug a bottle. It is still useful for that purpose, but it has many other uses. We walk on it in the I shape of linoleum, use it for insulation— sometimes, fill life-preservers with it and find a multitude of other uses for it. Most of our cork has come from Spain, Portugal and French North Africa. The species of oak whose outer bark gives us the cork we use thrives in a mild climate and there seems to be no difficulty in growing it in states just below Mason and Dixon's line.

ACORNS FROM FOREIGN TREES have been planted in several of those states and there are many cork oaks there which have been grown for ornamental purposes. Now search is being made for all such trees and acorns from them are being widely distributed. During the past three seasons 100,000 seedling cork trees have been set out in the United States, and the rate of planting is being greatly increased. The trees yield their first crop of bark in 15 to 20 years, after which they yield regularly for many years. By W. P. DAVIES. IT WILL BE SOME TIME BEFORE most of us think much about Christmas trees. Thanksgiving is still to come and there are various preparations for winter to be made even before that. But with many persons in some areas the cutting and marketing of Christmas trees is a major industry for which preparation must be made some time in advance. With them preparations for the Christmas season must begin even before the maples and oaks have shed their leaves.

IN THIS LOCALITY MOST OF OUR Christmas trees come from northern Minnesota, Washington and Oregon. Maine supplies a great number of trees for the Eastern market, but 60 to 70 percent of the trees sold in the New York market have been from Canada. Quebec and New Brunswick have furnished many trees, but for some time the chief Canadian source of supply has been the forests of Nova Scotia. New York wholesalers make contracts for many thousands of trees with Nova Scotia woodsmen and for many weeks before Christmas time thousands of farmers in that maritime province are busy with their axes and later trainloads of trees roll across the border to the New York market.

ALL THE INFORMATION AVAILable is that the supply of trees this year will be far less than in 1942, when the supply was less than 50 per cent of normal. The two principal elements contributing to the shortage are diminished man- power and government restrictions on the use of railway cars. Many men who have formerly cut Christmas trees are engaged In war work and cannot be spared, and many others, especially of the younger men, are now in the armed services. There are left for work in the woods only the older resident farmers and they can devote only a part of their time to this work. The Canadian government says that flat cars and grain cars cannot be used for shipment of trees as they are Heeded for more vital purposes.

THIS SITUATION IS PARALLELED to some extent in our own Northwestern territory. The timbered sections have been depleted of men and railway cars are badly needed for other shipments. Shipment of trees into this area from the Pacific states has been conducted in volume only within the past few years and before the war it began to assume large proportions. Last year there was a drop In shipments from the West and shipments from that territory are thought likely to be smaller this year.

THERE WAS A TIME WHEN THE Christmas tree was an important feature in Russian Christmas celebrations. In the effort to suppress religious observances which characterized Soviet rule under Lenin, the Christmas tree was officially banned. Its use was not altogether suppressed, however, for many Russian families, clinging to their old and reverenced traditions, risked punishment by surreptitious observance of Christmas and even smuggled tiny Christmas trees into their homes and gathered around them as they had done in their childhood. As a part of the more liberal policy that was inaugurated the prohibition was removed in 1936, and it is expected that this year, as last, many a Russian army camp will have its gaily decorated Christmas tree around which the soldiers will gather, exchange gifts, sing songs and revive memories of home.

USUALLY WE THINK OF THE Christmas tree as of volunteer growth in a native forest. Doubtless that is true of most of our Christmas trees, but the growing of trees in nurseries for Christmas use has become an established industry of considerable proportions. Many thousand acres are now devoted to the production of trees for this specific purpose. By W. P. Davies FORTUNE MAGAZINE CONTAINED an article recently describing a method of recording sound impulses for repro- duction by means of a magnetized wire instead of on discs or cylinders, which had been the usual practice. The descrip- tion given by Fortune reads:

'IN MAGNETIC RECORDING A wire as thin as a human hair is moved between the poles of an electromagnet at about one-quarter feet per second. The electromagnet is connected to the microphone. As the sound waves vary, the alternating current induced in the wire magnetizes it accordingly. To play back the record, the magnetized wire is passed through another magnet connected to an amplifier and loudspeaker. Because mechanical contact between wire and magnet is limited to a tiny area, surface noise is negligible and the wire is subjected to little wear. (Selections of any length can be played without such annoying interruptions as disk-changing causes.) If a recording has outlived its usefulness, it can be blotted out magnetically, and the wire can be used over again. "Postwar home sets will make possible the recording of radio programs. The method can also be used to record tele- phone conversations. Among army uses today is the recording of pilots' comments on operational or test flights."

AFTER THE WAR, SAYS THE ARTicle, this method will provide keen competition for the manufacturers who in 1941 turned out 110,000,000 discs. The principle, it is said, was discovered a generation ago by Vlademar Poulsen, a Danish physicist, has been perfected by American research, and is now being used by the armed services.

IF ONE SHOULD TAKE THE TROUble to examine carefully some of the files of the Herald for about 40 ygars ago he would find there described a sound-recording device the exact duplicate in principle general method and effect of that which is now described. The descriptions came to the Herald in handouts from an eastern publicity bureau, and the subject was thought so interesting that several articles on it were published in the Herald.

THE DEVICE OF THAT EARLIER period was intended to be attached to a telephone, for the phonograph had scarcely passed its experimental stage. There was the same fine steel wire which in action was unrolled through a magnetic field and which was magnified with varying intensity by the varying sound impulses which it received. Passed through a transcribing device the sounds were repeated. The instrument, it was said, could be used to give out messages left by the telephone owner for use during his absence and to receive messages which he could reproduce on his return. I have often wondered what became of that device so meticulously described so long ago, and of which I have seen no mention until just recently.

LIEUTENANT COMMANDER AUGust Dvorak has designed a new typewriter keyboard which he says will greatly increase speed in typing by making more scientific apportionment of the work required by the two hands. With most per- sons the fingers of the right hand are more skillful than those of the left hand, but according to Inventor Dvorak the standard keyboard is so designed that the left hand is called on for 56 per cent of the work. He has so rearranged the letters that 57 per cent of the strokes will be made by the right hand.

ABOUT 2,000 MACHINES WITH THE Dvorak keyboard were manufactured before the war, and it is the inventor's be- lief that the new system will be generally adopted when manufacture is.resumed after the war. Skepticts say that the scheme is impossible, although many of them concede that the new arrangement is better than the present one. But the standard keyboard iss in use practically everywhere, and it is pointed out that the proposed change would be as revolution- ary as to change the gauges off all the railways in the country.

WHEN THE TYPEWRITER WAS new, toward the end of the last century, there were many different keyboard ar- rangements, which was confusing. The experts got together and devised what was known as the universal keyboard, which is the one now in use. If the new system were Adopted it would be necessary to change all the machines, which it is estimated would cost about $25 per machine. Then there are the millions of typists who would have to learn a new touch system, provided they are now using one.

PERSONALLY I NEVER FIND ANY difficulty in balancing the labor of the two hands. Ordinarily I use one finger on each hand, and if my left finger slows up a bit the right one moves over and helps it out. If I wish to put on a real burst of speed I start another finger of my right hand going, and you should see the sparks fly. You'd be surprised! By W. P. DA VIES. DUANE SQUIRES, WHOM MANY OF you will remember as a U. N. D. student, has saved me the trouble of writing this column, for which I am truly grateful. In addition to his duties as professor of history in Colby Junior college at New London, Connecticut, Dr. Squires is chairman of a committee on morale of the Connecticut council of defense. Also, he has a friend named Bill Cunningham who writes a lively column in the Boston Herald. In a recent column Cunningham told how his wife put one over on Vilhjalmur Stefansson, the famous explorer and also a U. N. D. man, which those who knew Stefansson in his youth will agree was a real achievement.

AS HE TELLS THE STORY CUNningham, then a green reporter on a Dallas, Texas, paper, having been married three weeks, was about to take a Sunday jaunt with his bride to see a new picture when he was ordered to interview Stefansson, who was registered at a Dallas hotel. Now I shall let Cunningham tell the rest of the story himself. He writes:

"SECRETLY, I WAS NOT TOO DISpleased. It meant missing the picture, but here was an outstanding opportunity to demonstrate to the bride the brilliance, the savoir faire, the professional nonchalance, and consummate workmanship of the Richard Harding Davis she had married. She'd never seen a big newspaper man really work on a story. I'd pin her country girl's ears back all the way from Dallas county to Attleboro. "I knew it had been cold where the guy had been, but it couldn't have been much colder than our general reception. Yes, he said, I could come up, and he was a little slower on the Yes when I asked if I might bring up my wife. The words were new and I bore down on them in those days. I learned later to say Mrs. Cunningham. "Well, she composed herself prettily over in a corner, and a little behind him, as it chanced, and I whipped out my paper and pencil. "'NOW,' SAID I, TAKING FULL charge, 'I realize that you've been interviewed a great many times, Mr. er-Stefansson, but I don't want the usual cut-and-dried tripe. I want something new, different and original.' "His blue eyes looked like the muzzles of twin six-shooters, and his voice was as cold as a well digger's chillblains, as he said: '"VERY WELL. YOU OBVIOUSLY know nothing about the Arctic, and apparently you know very little more about the newspaper business. I know a little something about the latter, having once been a city editor, and I know enough about it to know that no really good reporter has to take notes. So I'll thank you to put that paper and pencil back in your pocket. I'll give you the story you want, and I'll speak it distinctly. If it makes sufficient impression on your (he didn't say, but meant, 'dumb') brain for you to write it intelligently, you are free to use it. Otherwise, I'd prefer that you didn't even try.'

"THEN HE BEGAN. HE SPOKE clearly, all right, but his words hit a clip. He told of his early life, his struggle for an education, and of how it was terminated when he left the window of the laboratory at the University of North Dakota open and some frogs, kept for experimental purposes, froze to death. I wanted to know what bent him toward the North. He told me. He gave book, chapter and verse, including Latin quotations, names of authors, scientific works and technical experiments of his own.

"I WAS CLEARLY LICKED. IT flowed past me like a rampaging river. No living human being could reproduce such stuff without notes. It was a deliberate job, of course, and I knew it, and I ran the full gamut from early rage to growing terror, for, after all, I had to turn in a story, didn't I? The deepest hurt of all, however, was being reduced to a sorry cipher in front of the bride. I sneaked a look at her once and rang up an extra pang because she seemed to be bored with the entire proceeding. She wasn't even looking at either of us, and seemed to be fiddling around with something in her lap. "WHEN WE GOT OUT OF THERE and back to the jaloppy she said, 'Now, I'll tell you what to do. Go back to the paper, get the mad all out of you, and write the sweetest story you can. Say what a gracious thing it was for the great scientist such as Mr. Stefansson to give so much of his time and so much of himself to a young reporter, how thrilled you were, and what a privilege it is to be made the medium through which these facts pass into history . . .' "What facts?' I moaned. 'I haven't got any facts.' " 'Yes, you have, honey,' she said. 'Here they are.' And she produced a fist full of papers! "She'd taken down every word the man had spoken in shorthand on everything from letters in her handbag to hotel stationery. "I COMPOSED A FLOWERY LEAD and a flourishing finish. Her flying fingers whipped out the two columns, most of which the AP picked up that night and flung from coast to coast. Mr. Stefansson, himself, was in the office bright and early next day. He was closeted with the publisher when I reported, as ordered, and he looked at me as if I were some new form of animal life.

" 'Young man,' he said, 'what on earth have you got for a brain? That is the most amazing piece of reporting I ever have encountered in my life, and I've encountered a lot of reporting. How in the world did you do it? It's positively astounding.' "'Why, that's just the way they train us around here," I said, with one eye on the boss. "THEN THE GREAT EXPLORER EXplained that he'd been ordered by his lecture manager (in the interests of publicity) to break a sleeper jump from Kansas City to Houston. That had made him very angry. His stomach was upset, and the terrible heat after his months in the Arctic had added to his woe. In other words, he had been madder than hell on general principles and the first guy who walked through the door was due to catch the explosion. A self-important country reporter trying to dictate an interview was simply too much. "MR. STEFANSSON SPOKE IN BOSton Monday night, and again Mama and I sat around with him in a big hotel room. He said he remembered the incident in a general sort of way. After all, it was 22 years ago. But I remember it in a very acute sort of way, because that's when I decided to keep 'er. Give 'er a chance, boys, she might pull you through and maybe she won't need a Stefansson." By W. P. Davies FROM THE STANDPOINT OF RUSsian interests and ambitions no better time than the present could have been chosen for the tripartite conference which is now in progress in Moscow, with Russia, Great Britain and the United States all represented by the heads of their respective departments which have to deal particularly with foreign relations. While there is general agreement among these nations that the immediate task of supreme importance before them is the defeat of Nazi Germany, and while each nation looks forward hopefully to the treation of conditions of peace and security, there are differences of opinion on the details whereby the first of these objectives is to be attained and on the manner in which the desired peace and security may best be insured.

IN THE SHAPING OF THEIR ATTIudes on these subjects each government, and in large measure each people, is influenced by considerations of national security, national prestige, ideology, tradition and economic interest. In some cases these influences are in conflict, and it is presumed to be the purpose of this conference at least to prepare the way for the reconciliation of all major differences so that the three great powers may be completely knit together in a permanently constructive effort.

RUSSIA ENTERS THE CONFERENCE in an atmosphere of triumph. All along the line from the Baltic to the Black sea, her armies have for weeks been winning an uninterrupted series of victories. They have recaptured many of the important cities once occupied by the enemy, Ifave driven his armies into pockets from which they could not escape, and have forced him to retreat mile after mile in a manner which begins to be strongly reminiscent of Napoleon's tragic retreat from Moscow more than a century ago. As the conferees approach their sessions they hear the thunder of hundreds of guns discharged in celebration of Russian victory after victory.

WHILE THE RUSSIANS CAN POINT to achievement which establishes them in a position of major importance and entitles their aims and interests to major consideration, the other two nations do not sit at the conference table with empty hands. They have to their credit on the field of battle a series of victories beginning at El Alamein, extending through all of north Africa, into Sicily, the Italian mainland, Sardinia and Corsica, victories which have freed the Mediterranean from enemy control and made possible the free movement of troops and supplies by the shortest route to the eastern theater and to the Russian front itself. They have forced the withdrawal of Italy from her partnership with Germany, which withdrawal has been followed by an outright declaration of war by Italy against Germany. By these successes they have aroused the inhabitants of occupied Balkan territories to such activity as to require the Germans to redouble their energies to maintain their hold on those territories. They have made it necessary for the Germans to move division after division into Italy to retard the Allied advance from the south. They have dealt effec- tively with the submarine menace in the Atlantic and have kept up an uninterrupted stream of planes, tanks and other war material to the Russian front. ACCOMPANYING THESE ACHIEVEments has been the devastating bombing of German cities, destruction of German air fields, factories and rail centers until from every available source comes information of the shattering of German morale until it appears that the German population has lost all hope of winning the war and can no longer be aroused by appeals from the propaganda bureau. These are some of the things to which the representatives of America and Britain can lay side by side with the splendid victories won by the Russian armies. Added to them are the victories which have been won by Allied forces in the Pacific, victories which are preparatory to the complete crushing of Japan and removal of the Japanese menace from Russia's eastern border.