THE PLESHERTON ADVANCE. I The Quiet Observer Famine With Abundance It has been a real tragedy that in a land of milk and honey, of orchards and vineyards, of the finest apples and peaches, like Ontario, these things have become luxuries for those who depend on commercial organizations to supply them, while those who pro- duce them, the farmers, the frultmen, the cattlemen, are unable to receive anything like the amount that con- sumers in the city are willing to pay. Fortunate people who have means of access to the country have been able to bring home great stores of fruit and vegetables gladly given by farmers who have no wish to see tiiese thiiigs going to waste. Yet the appalling fact remains that the waste of our farms due to the failure of our commercial system to distribute our produce would supply our cities with abun- dance. What is needed is adjustment, surely a matter not beyond the ability of a community so intelligent as the Province of Ontario. Means of distri- bution already exist to a certain ex- tent, but we need a wider and com- pleter system of parcel post, and we reQUlrer as wide an extension of pub- licly owned radials as the country can â- <upport. The farm and the city should be nearer together in communication. People in the cities are suffering for the food that is going to waste on the farm, and the people on the farms are giving up their labors because they cannot dispose of their products to the people who are hungering for them. The cooperative systems that have been establi.shed in various countries are badly needed here. Seven years ago the apple-growers of the O'Kana- gan Valley in British Columbia adopted this system and they have prospered ever since. Sensible people do not choose failure rather than pros- perity when they see there is a choice. Building and Health Problems At the recent meeting of the Ameri- can Institute of Architects at Ottawa Charles Harris Whitaker declared that "credit has ceased to function as far as the building industry is concerned in this country and the United States, and the industry has to a great ex- tent passed from the hands of con- tractors and architects into the hands of bankers and credit men." Bankers, he held, were dictating the kind of buildings to be erected, with the re- sult of paralyzing the business. It may be noted that very rarely when financial men interfere in the conduct and management of a technical indus- try beyond their legitimate function of financing, do they succeed. The architect or builder would do no better If he insisted on interfering in the affairs of his banker. The banker has a right to inquire as to the skill and integrity of his builder. He is fool- ish it he fails to do this. He is equal- ly foolish, having satisfied himself in these respects, if he falls to trust him. Mr. Whitaker went on to speak of the special laws affecting building and rents in New York. It was utterly im- possible he thought to pack more peo- ple -into that city. No fewer than 33,000 farms had been abandoned in a single year in New York State. The housing problem and the land problem are linked together. Identified with them is also the health problem, the sanitation problem, the problem of the feeble-minded and others. These prob- lems are being recognized by town- planners of the type ol Mrs. E. A. Har- nett, C. B. E.. who has also been visit- ing Ontario, and who is known as an energetic fighter against slum condi- tions. Her model village in Hamp- stead Heath shows as a result of greater air space, sunlight and gar- den facilities the death rate is 89 per cent less than the general death rate of London, which is itself low among great cities. The Hampstead Garden suburb could be desirably duplicated near any Canadian city which con- trolled its own transportation, and something of the kind is imperative if the congestion of the larger cities is continued. Health is a gift only to be had under such conditions as these model dwelling places provide. Such enterprises, besides, are profitable for Investors. Camidian Horse in Battle Major-General Seely gave prob- ably the most vivid, graphic and en- thralling account of the services ren- dered by any branch of the Canadian Army that has yet been heard in Can- ada in an address to the Empire Club of Toronto, dealing with the exploits of the Canadian cavalry, of which he was commander. Nothing could have been in finer taste than General Seely's impersonal self-suppressed narrative. An outsider could not so completely have eliminated, as he did, his own share in the operations. Some of the incidents described were of the most thrilling character. The regi- ments included the R. C. »•. t^e Strathcona Horse, the King Edward Horse, the Fort Garry Horse, and many regiments of Mounted Rifles. They served as dismounted units tor long periods before the Battle of the Somme. At Cambrai a device was adopted which was afterwards «sed at the critical stage in the attack on the ridge at Moreuil in 1918, in each case Riving complete success. This was a surprise attack against great numbers carried out by encircling behind the enemies' position and charging from the rear. At Moreuil the Germans had a force of over a million bayonets and General Gough advised a J^'^*; drawal. He acquiesced in Seely s dare-devil pten and the R. C P's were sent through the German wire during the night, and after they had Pen^ trated a great distance behind the line they spread out and swept everything before them in a charge home to their own lines. The Germane thought that such tactics implied the existence of a great force and gave ''«?• e'^"^ J?"® of the enemy in the sector being either killed or taken prisoner. Gen- eral Foch wrote General Seely a letter which he read in which this exploit was mentioned. "Your brigade sue ceeded," said General Foch. "by its magnificent performance and its un- conquerable dash in first checking and finally breaking the enemy's spirit of attack. In the highest degree, thanlts to your brigade, the situation, agoniz- ing as It had been at the opening of the battle, was restored." Canada may well be proud of the men who won this unique compliment for the greatest soldier of the Great War. Coal Means Food Conditions in the Old Country are thought by many to depend on regula- tions and policies of one kind and an- other, but the foundation part of the situation, as has frequently enough been pointed out, is that Great Britain is an island with more people in its territory than it can feed, and that these people are dependent for their food to a very large extent on what they buy from outsiders. Before the war It was estimated that there never was more than six weeks' provisions in the island. This fall, it was stated, at times as low as a three weeks' sup- ply. During the war by heroic meas- ures both in production and in ration- ing it was estimated that nine months' supplies were produced domestically. Which means, under the most rigorous conditions, the people of Great Brit- ain would be entirely dependent for three months on outside supplies, ir those were cut off, in three months there would be few or no survivors. It is imperative therefore that Great Britain shall have easy access to ample supplies. This is where tlie trade situation enters. Great Britain must pay for what she gets and as money is not value in itself, but only represents value, she can only pay by her exports. She has been importing: so much more than she exports that her money has ceased to represent value, and is taken as credit in tlie United States at a discount of about twenty per cent, in Canada at a dis- count of about ten per cent. The only way this difference can be balanced is by greater production and export. Coal is one of the things that Britain can supply, and which is in demand, and this is why the coal miners' threatened strike has sucn serious as- pects, and their policy of short pro- duction is nationally so serious. It is not merely coal for which the miners are working. On their coal production depends largely the supply of food It- self to the people of Great Britain, for coal largely pays for the food brought into the country. The same, of course. Is true In degree of all the other ex- porting industries of the country. Coal Miners' Explanation' Ben C. Spoor, who Is on this con- tinent as a delegate to the grreat con- gress of the Brotherhood Movement in Washington, has not neglected Canada, and as one of the outstanding labor M. P.'s in the British House of Commons his address at the Canadian Club in Toronto, has attracted wide at- tention. If he had been announced as representing one of the universities the elegance, the eloquence and the culture of his speech could not have been bettered. He spoke of the unrest in Britain which he did not seek to palliate, but suggested that the situa- tion existed equally in other parts of the world. There was a great deal of misunderstanding as to what the miners really wanted. Representing a large mining area himself he knew the hopes and ambitions of the men and he never wanted better or more coura- geous friends. Mr. Spoor dilated on the pre-war conditions under which these men labored, and the struggle that had been maintained before women and children of seven to twelve years of age had ceased to work in the pits 12 and 14 hours a day, some of them for years never seeing daylight. Previous conditions must be remembered if the present were to be understood. The miners had succeeded in build- ing up an exceedingly powerful organi- zation, the biggest in Britain, and to- day they were making greater de- mands than ever. He thought the present difHculty arose out of the fact that two years ago the government had set up a Coal Commission pre sided over by one of the ablest lawyers in the country. It would have been impossible to find a more judi daily minded man. The recommenda- tions of this commission were to be accepted, it was agreed, by all parties, but the government refused to accept the recommendations made, and the miners felt that they had been fooled. In consequence a temper was created, and largely aggravated by the govern- ment policy. The miners are now ask- ing that a portion of the huge profits of the coal mines be paid to them. This demand, Mr. Spoor considered was a perfectly reasonable one in view of the facts and the recommenda- tions of the Sankey Commission. They were no better off than before the war, and he would be surprised if the gov- ernment allowed the situation to de- velop along such dangerous lines. As one brought up among them he re- pudiated the accusation that the miners had adopted the policy of "ca' canny." There were reasons for the drop in production. Machinery recom- mendations had not been fulfilled and there were transportation diflBcul- ties. The owners, believing nationali- zation fas in sight, toow good care not to spend any money. Having paid tribute to Robert Smillie as a man of character, in- tegrity and capacity, he declared there was something behind the demand for Increased wages which could not be expressed in material terms. They were working as they never worked before tor improved status. The utilitarian philosophers had held that men worked in order to escape want. Hunger drove them to work. This all- compelling force had been taken away by the war. The war that swept away empires had brought greater changes still. The men spared to come back from the fields of battle came home with fixed ideas and resolved to have a man's standing in a man's world. Thpy were not going back to the old order. They wanted equality In status and opportunity. They knew, after five years of cessation, of the need to produce. But they needed to know also what to produce. And they needed a new incentive. The old motive power of hunger would work no longer. "I put it to you, gentle- men," Mr. Spoor appealed, "the best work in the world was never done for money. The appeal must be to a man'.s self-respect, his honor, his public spirit." Mr. Spoor went on to dwell on the spiritual values involved in the struggle, and the necessity of em- bodying in our civilization the one principle that will enable it to stand the strain â€" the principle of brother- hood. Ireland, India, Egypt, wanted Independence, he observed. "I don't want to see an independent Britaii>: an independent Canada. I want us to understand how utterly intercJepen- dent we are. We want to get a world in 'which a repetition of the last six years is impossible, to find a path on which our children may pass on to a world of which to-day we can only dream.' ' RESTORING A SHABBY UMBRELLA. Sponge the umbrella well with strong tea well sweetened, and you will be delighted with the transforma- tion. The tea restores the color of the fabric, and the sugar stiffens it. THE CARE AND FEEDING OF CHILDREN By ELINOR MURRAY Registered According to Copyright Act. Baby is a hungry creature. If he is not, there is something wrong. When he wakes, his first thought is to eat. And If his desire were gratified he would be sick. Many mothers who feed their children with regularity while they are little, seem to neglect this important thing as soon as the young ones are on a diet of solid food. How many babies of a year old you see eating a biscuit when it is not near a regular meal hour. The habit of eating between meals is one of the easiest to form and one of the worst in its effects. We know that when a baby refuses his food something is wrong. Either he has been getting too much or some eleinent of the food is not right. His food must be weakened or given less often until he is really hungry for it. Older children should be hungry when meal-time comes. If they are not, something is wrong, and generally the something is that they have been eat- in.e: between meals. Generally it is candy. Children with naturally poor appetites should be denied candy alto- gether except as an occasional dessert. Eating between meals should be ab- solutely forbidden, too, for these chil- dren. Like the baby, tne older child may have a poor appetite because bis diet is wrong. A healthy child eats what is put before him. I am taking it for granted, of course. that the provided food is of the right kind. Children dislike a montony of food, and rightly so. If a child re- fuses his food, let him do without until he is hungry. Do not weakly substi- tute cake or pie or candy for the re- fused porridge or bread and butter. A certain firmness on the part of the mother is all that is necessary. I have been asked if a child could eat too much plain food. I have seen children who had to have the amount of food given them limited, but, generally a child who craves too much in bulk Is getting some element of food in In- sufficient quantity. A knowledge of food value is abso- lutely necessary to the mother of growing children. SOOTH AFRICA SHORT OF RAIL- WAY MATERIAL Situation of Union Raises Question of Country's Abil- ity to Establish Own Steel Industry. A growing demand for railway trackage is reported from every part of South Africa. The railways find this demand difficult to meet, though new freight cars are constantly being placed in service. The South African Journal of Indus- tries estimates that in the union's an- nual requirements of iron are included 77,000 tons of rails for the railways and mines; 5,000 tons of angles and channels; 21,000 tons of bar, bolt and rod irons; 8,000 tons of girders, beams and columns, as well as large quanti- ties of plate and sheet iron, bolts, fencing, stndards, drill steel, steel castings and pig iron. All of this con- stitutes a total of 175,000 tons. South Africa possesses immense resources of Iron and coal; and the question of establishing a large iron and steel in- dustry in the union is being seriously considered. FAME CAfflEiFROM CAULIFLOWER EAR "Bull" Montana, Formerly Ice- man, Now Well- Known to Millions. j.^ j:^ j^ To those who have marvelled at the l)ulging muscular development of "Bull" Montana, the ice man who has risen to the ranks of featured fliiii actors, It will be difficult to visualize him as an artist's model. The "Bull's" cauliflower ears, for one thing, are a trifle too conspicuous. But that is the role "The Bull" now is filling to the satisfaction of Rex Ingram in the new Metro pro- duction of "Hearts Are Trumps," the spectacular melodrama by Cecil Ral- eigh. Clad in the classic but ab- breviated attire of a Roman gladiator, attracted so many visitors to the set on which Director Ingram was work- ing at Metro's west coast studios in Hollywood that it was necessary to erect temporary walls about the stage and bar all but members of the com- pany. The "Bull's" plunge into filmdom was one to encourage any ambitious amateur. He was attempting to beat the H. C. of L. as it exists in New York City by organizing himself into a day and night shift. By night he struggled on the mats of outlying athletic club houses as a wrestler. By day he made use of the unusual muscular apparatus with which he had been endowed by nature in the more plebian role of ice man. Even with this strenuous program the "Bull" found it difficult to keep the wolf at a sate distance from the door. In the midst of his struggles Douglas Fairbanks chanced upon him as he was shouldering an extra large order of ice into a saloon in upper Manhattan. "There's a type that would go hi; on the screen," said the athletic screei star. He talked to the "Bull" while th- cake of ice dwindled in the sun. Th' decision was that Fairbanks was t' give the ice man a camera tryout an' time he made his appearance in Lo' Angeles. The date of his westwarf journey was not settled. The "Bull' settled the question, however, b- beating his way on a freight trai) with such speed and efficiency that h' was awaiting his discoverer whe' Fairbanks alighted from his train a Los Angeles. As a result of this experience anr" association with the biggest stars o filmdom, the "Bull" has ceased merel- to be a type and has become an actoi Rex Ingram has announced that h would entrust him with any part tha would fit his peculiar style of facia development. And Montana himsei admits that he has learned a lot fror the once scorned members of tbi theatrical profession. "I'll do anything onct," he sail' "But I hope I'll be saved from stanr" ing for a paint slinging, brush-pusl- ing artist again. When you've pinnet' the best of 'em on their shoulders al over Harlem and the Bronx, this pop ing business ain't all that it's cracke< up to be." »^1V^FA^ w •- POE MS aOHNNY JONES couiimM>icn)Ks News of the Movies KING GEORGE'S PUDDING. Christina Rossetti was born in London in 1828. She came from that versatile family in which the father and sons as well as the daughter were writers, artists, critics and poets. While still In her teens, Christina published a little volume called "Maud, Prose and Verse," and crude and morbid as the verse work was it gave promise of better tblngsi She died in 1894. UPHILL. Does the road wind uphill all the way? Yes, to the very end. Will the day's journey take the whole long day? From mom to night, my friend. But is there for tne night a resting place? A roof for when the slow, dark hours begin. May not the darkness hide it from my face? Ton cannot miss that inn. Shall I meet other wayfarers at night? Those who have gone before. Then I must knock, or call when Just in sight? They will not keep you standing at that door. Shall I find comfort, travei-sore and weak? Of labour you shall find the sum. Will there be beds for me and all who seek? Tea, beds for all who come. Christina Georglra Rossetti. As most of his subjects are aware. King George's tastes in food are ex- tremely simple, and very British. Nor does he eat much. .\t public lun- cheons or dinners the tall Royal waiter who stands behind his chair offers him only the plainest things, and he takes very little of them. He is fond of fish and game, but cares very little for made dishes, while as for sweets, he has been known to say that a well-made rice-pudding was the best of them all. His father's tastes were more elaborate. He liked rich dishes. He was particular about the cooking, and preferred a French chef. Lobster he was very fond of. and also wild- duck. Savories were always a feature of his dinners. Clear soups were bis preference, while as a fish course sole au gratin â€" that is, cooked with a sus- picion of cheese â€" never failed to please him. Queen Victoria was fond of Scotch dishes. Scotch kale was a favorite vegetable of hers. On the other hand, she had a truly English love of roast beef and Yorkshire pud- ding, and â€" strange as it may seem â€" frequently ate plum-pudding with the beef. A band saw operating horizontally and being fed into its work by its own weight has been invented for cutting metals and it is said to be more raplo than a reciprocating saw By William Willing. "The Old Swimming Hole," im- mortalized by James Whitcomb Riley, is to be Charles Ray's next picture. Considerable acreage, with a river, has been leased, and the carpenters are busy bringing to life the water mill, and other structures depicted in this poetic gem by the Hoosier poet. No. expense will be spared by Ray's producers in duplicating the exact locale made famous by the author. « * « Until a suitable vehicle can be se- cured for Pauline Fredrick, she is en- joying a brief vacation. Henry King. engaged as her next director, is busy perusing many books, looking for material suitable to this star's requi- sites, z • * * Another playwright has been added to the list of captives made by the conquering movies. He is Williiiiii Hurlbut. author of numerous success- ful plays. The first to be produced will be bis comedy, "Made in Heaven." The Goldwyn Company have selected as director for this import- ant series, Alfred E. Green, formerly director of the Jack Pickford features. • • • Mildred Davis, like other stars, re- ceives from fans many tokens of ap- preciation of her screen endeavors. The oddest yet to be added to her col- lection are two East Indies parakeets received from one of her Australian admirers. Mildred has named them "Screech" and "Scream." • • * Frederick Vogeding. a Dutch actor, who has done thirty pictures with the best known film companies of Europe and was seen in vaudeville in this country, will be leading man with Dorothy Dalton in "In Men's Eves." • • • With steady consistency the works of famous authors are being given to the public via the cinema. "The Mar- riage of William Ashe," by Mrs Humphrey Ward is one of the latest to find its way to the screen. It is now being directed by Ted Sloman. with May Allison in the stellar role. « • * The public report is denied by Geraldine Farrar that she is to aban- don the movies. • • • Nell Shipman, whose "God's Coun try and the Woman," was one of thf most popular of films, has begun p new outdoor feature, "The Girl trow God's Country.' ' • • • When the announcement was mad' that Charles Ray's next picture pro duction would be James Whitcom' Riley's immortal poetic gem. "The 0I< Swimming Hole," numerous boys an' girls besieged his studio in the hop' that there would be a chance in th' scene for them to show their prowes' as swimmers. There will be in fact • • • Rosemary Theby has signed a long term contract to star in special pro ductions, the first of which is a storj by George Bernard Shaw. • * « With seventeen years stage experi ence as actor and director witi Richard Mansfield. Mary Mannerinr and other stage stars of former days and as the cinematic director for nt' merous present-day stars. Arthu Berthelet, selected to direct Bessi' Love, is well qualified to handle th' reins of this charming young star. • • • It is understood Lew Cody anr Robertson-Cole have agreed to dis agree. Cody is said to have receive' a big offer from an eastern company * • • It is a coincidence that the com- pany filming Mrs. Humphrey Ward's "The Marriage of William Ashe" is composed almost entirely of English players. The director. Edward Slo- man. is a Briton by birth, as is Wyud- ham Standing, the leading man, and Frank Elliot, who has the heavy role. The star is May Allison. * * • Jerome Storm, who directed many of Charles Ray's most successful pic- tures, has been signed to direct Lil- lian Gish under her new contract with the Frohman company. Production work has begun on "Lavender and Old Lace," Myrtle Reed's novel, by the Renco company. * • • Most of the successful motion pic- ture directors of to-day started as actors on the speaking stage. Alfred Green, director of Jack Pickford, is no exception. He began his career in a small musical comedy company. * * • Recently Mildred Davies has been swamped with scenarios written by ardent admirers who are impatient to see her starring all by herself, and in one of their own stories. Mildred has hopes of stardom, too, but she is not quite so Impatient about it. TRICKS OFTHE WIRES Messages That Astonished Recip- ients, Others Quite Plain Yet Mysterious. The wonder of the telephone-user who heard an unknown voice ask: "Did the poison work?" is matched by the lady, awaiting news of her daughter's safe arrival somewhere, who received by mistake a sports- man's wire: "Put two ponies on Bon- ny Boy, but hold the monkey for the present till we see how the cat jumps." Supposing you were crossing the At- lantic says The London Answers, and wanted to send a message by wireless to tell your wife, or husband, that the weather was perfect, the food super- excellent, your fellow-voyagers con- genial, your health perfect, your bank comfy â€" how would you do " it in two words? The time-honored "All's well:" is much two mild. "Good time," or "All serene," are better, but still on the uusatisfactoiy side. Last week, a lady, whose husband thought he knew ail about poker, had been left behind in "little old New York," succeeded in saying all these things in two words. She asked a fellow-voyager what was the biggest and best, poker hand possible. He told her, and the lady sent her hubby the marconigram: "Royal flush:" During the last election a certain M. P. had as opponent a man named Coalos. His wife gave her husband the strictest orders to wire the e.xact re.sult the moment it was announced. as it was certain to be very close either way. The wire she got gave her great joy, for she understood it if the telegraph clerk did not: "I am in by 38 overcoats." F. R. Benson, the Shakespearean actor, was in the North playing "The Merry Wives of Windsor," when the iirini- ,\ iio took (b.c par* of the sprvant Rugby fell ill. He wired to a young actor in London: "Can you play Rugby? II so. come at once:". He prepaid a reply, which arrived an hour later. "Arrive at 4 p.m. Played scrum half for Leicester." Some years ago a member of the Kovci-vinent was .iKvying for a rest in a little country village, and, being a lawyer, he was much interested in a certain bill which was then before Parliament. Wishing to consult it and prepare his speech, he wrote off a wire to a friend, who he knew had a copy: "Send Homicide Bill," and sent it by the gardener to the local postoffice. The man returned, saying that the postmaster at the village had refused to send such a wire, as they had enough bad characters around without sending for anv more. A London wire to an Australian pa- per read: "Lincoln Ob Dean Swift Roseate Dawn." The sub in charge expanded the London wire as follows, and as it appeared the next day: "We deeply regret to r.nnounce th'-, death of the celebrated Dean Swift, author of the well-known hymn, 'The Roseate Hues of Early Dawn'," Reference to the newspapers recalls the one which received a wire, and immediately put upon its poster the startling bit of war news: "Capture of Point d'Appui," which again recall.s the wire reporting the destruction of the Hotel de "Ville at Schaerbeck by fire just Ijefore the war. and which a local paper announced as "Famous Hotel Destroyed," adding in its news column: "The proprietors suspect that the outbreak was not accidental." Which reminds one of the parson who, being in Paternoster Row just be- fore Christmas, and having been strict- ly enjoined by his wife to bring home a certain motto for the Sunday School wall, and having forgotten length, breadth and text, wired his wife, pre- paid, for particulars, and ,?ot the reply, which is said to have prostrated a whole telegraphic department: "Unto us a child is born, two feet wide and twelve feet long," Tattoed Monarchs At the present moment it appears likely that the mystery which sur- rounds the fate of the Czar of Russia may never be adequately solved. A number of stories, all of them ap- parently well substantiated, have been advanced to account for his disappear- ance â€" but these accounts range all the way from his supposed murder by the Bolshevists to the report that he is ' located in Siberia and is arranging a coup whereby he hopes to regain pos- session of the throne. What is not gen- erally known, however, is that there will be no difficulty in exposing any iraposter who claims to be Nicholas. Czar of Russia. On file in Petrograd and also in London are photographs showing the magnificent red-and-greeii dragon which the monarch had tattoo- ed on his left forearm a number of' years ago, merely as a whim and not with any idea that it might ever be useful in establishing his identity. This dragon is peculiarly colored and its appearance differs so radically from the conventional design that It would be impossible to duplicate it without a practically continuous reference to the closely ,guarded copies. -. - Edward VII., George V. and the present Prince of Wales are other re- latives of the Czar who have been also tattooed, but probably the most remarkable case in history was that of Charles Xrv. of Sweden, who never permitted himself to be seen with bare arms. After his death the secret leaked out. During his youn,ger days in Paris, when he was only a private citizen with no thought of succession to the Swedish throne, he had had hims)?lf tattooedâ€" not with a dragon, or an eagle or a crown â€" but with the red cap of liberty and the motto "Death to Kings!" Among the Mahommedans Is a title of respect. Bagpipes are shown on a coin dating to 68 A. D. "Baba" Roman