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1 :* Saving Ontario's Natural Resources I IN UGHTER VEIN: "A Time »nd Place for Everything' by G. C. TONER OaUrio FniaratioB of Anglart (No. 27) VANISHED SPECIES I A museum, to most people, is •B inctitution wber« exhibits ar* displayed to interest and •nlight- •n the viiitora. This ii au im- rortant function of any Museum at beck of this ia the funda- mental task of bringing together •bjccts and facta and devising methods of preaerx-ing these for g«nerat!ona to conic. As an ex- ample. Take the case of the passenger pigeon which has been a special activity of the Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology for fuite a number of years. The passenger pigeon was once looked ujion as a bird whose Bombers would never be serious- ly disturbed. Millions upon mi!- Hons of these trim, swijft wood figeons passed from one section to another of wooded eastern North America in the days of the •arly pioneers. At that time it seemed impossible that they could vai^sh from the earth en- tirely â€" bat they became oxtinct aa a wild bird at the close of the nineteenth century. Pauengar Pigeon* Established museums immedi- ately set about to gather speci- mens that had been preserved by private individuals. It might have been thought that the salvaging •f stuffed birds by an active campaign would soon have ex- hausted this source of supply so tluit the museums to come later would find it difficult, if not ira- j>ossible, to obtain specimens. The Royal Ontario Museum of Zoo- logy opened its doors in 1915, many years after the wild pigeon was doomed. To-day, however, it possesses a valuable collection of these birds. The collection of passenger pigeons is the result of an en- thusiastic private collector and naturalist, Mr. Paul Hahn of To- ronto. Mr. Hahn has persistent- ly sought out specimens of this extinct species. Old cases of stuffed birds in attics and cellars, ctiy and farm, have been explor- ed and from them many, many species have been rescued from dust and vermin for the Museum where they are safely stored for posterity. In the matter of saving speci- mens of a vanished species it is a case of "now or never." Regret- table instances have come to light where good suecimcns havo been destroyed by fire, rats and jiu'-cts. This is the ultimate fate of all specimens that do not reach the perpetual safekeeping of some museum. The museum's function in our society is to prc- â- erve material which constitutes the irreplaceable groundwork of human knowledge, and passenger pigeons definitely belong to this class of material. VOICE OF THE PRESS THOSE 17,000 VOTES Since the outbreak of war there have been 17,000 new pj- fitioiis created aci'oss the coun- try in the service of the Doiniii- ien goveniincnt. And that looks almost good enoujjh for the hol<l- inf of another election. "Peterborough Kxaniiiier. MASTERLY INACTION About 74 per cent of Toronto- aians failed lo vote in the inuni- •ipa) elections, including ?;l per cent who three weeks before were Tohemenlly denouncing the City Hall for the state of the streets after a snowstonm. Toronto .Saturday Night. â€" o â€" CHILDREN PROTECTED When, for three years out of ten, a city the size of Toronto •an i-bow a record of not a single death from diphtheria, no argu- vent against the method of ini- â- iDnixation in use can be very •ffectivr. Nothing could more clearly demonstrate the benefits •f the toxoid inoculations which tave been given to school child- »»n. - Windsor Star. LIVING THROUGH IT In years past it has been our fate to read in the history buokj •f those tremendous pcriod.i Vhen the world was in flux . . . ^•n the Asiatic invasions of JTorope were finally hurled baik . . . when the Roman Empire at last fell prey to the northern bar- •arians . . . when the Mooi.^ wore driven from .Spain . . . when Napoleon's name became a charm to frighten the children •f a continent. And always we wondered: What must it have keen like to live in .5uch drift- ing, dangerous days? Well, now we know. â€" Guelph Mercury. "This is H.M.C.S. Minesweeper alright â€" and we appreciate your offer â€" but ..." THE WAR-WEE Kâ€" Commentary on Current bvcnts Hitler, Mussolini Confer; Speed Mediterranean War "Against a coalition of cn- •my forcos the Axis it oppo*- •Bg a coalition of its forces." â€" Virginio Gajrda, in II Ci- -oraale d' Italia. The fifth historic meeting be- tween Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini took place under much lesa auspicious circumstances, for the Axis, than any of the four previous conferences. The two dictators faced last week the po.s- sible loss of both the Battle of the Mediterranean and the Battle of Britain â€" the one through the threatening collapse of Italy; the other through the approach- ing peak in Anglo-U.S. war co- operation. The Questions Oiscuiied The seasoned Associated Press correspondent, Dewitt Mackenzie, said that four questions were likely discussed at length at this meeting: (1) What Hitler could do to save Mussolini from being knocked clean out of the war; (2) What the Axis could do to repair economic and supply fenc- es, badly damaged by the Brit- ish blockade; (3) What policy tbey would pursue toward Ameri- ca, in view of the all-out program of aid for Britain; (4) How to make a killing of Britain within the next four months, before American aid could put the Al- lies beyond the danger mark. With regard to (1), it seemed likely that Italy would have to let the African Empire, victim of a masterly threc-front(-d "squeeze play" by Britain, pass out of its hands for the time being, and that the Axis would concentrate upon gaining control of Greece and the eastern Mediterranean â€" with the two armies and air foreefl undoubtedly under Nazi command. Balkan Turmoil To settle question (2) the tu- mult in the Balkans would have to be iiuietcd, Rumania taken over and temporary peace restor- ed, without antagonizing the So- viet Union, â€" or Turkey, who stood ready with 100 divisions to oppose any German move across the Bulgarian border into Thrace. With regard to (3), Hitler and Mussolini were thought to have laid plans on the assump- tion that the United States would enter the war before next sum- mer. Sea vs. Air Power Before the paramount question, (4), could be solved, and a final decision in the war thereby reach- ed, a great test of British sea and Axis air power would come in the Mediterranean where, last week for the first time. Hitler was turning loose his dive-bombers (Stukas) in direct attack in suc- ce.=sive waves. Whether or not the Nazis would go ahead with the invasion of Britain depended to a large extent on the results being achieved by the new tech- nique In the Mediterranean, spc'ci- fically in the strategic Sicilian channel gateway. Hitler had not been using his Stukas in di- rect bombing of Britain, was evi- dently saving thorn for u.so at the moment when he would chal- lenge Briti.sh sea supremacy in the English Chunnc!. Aid by March Expressintr the fear that a grave crisis would develop in the war within the ne::t sixty or ninety days, Frank Knox, United States Secrotaiy of the Navy, urged the House of Representa- tives Foreign Affairs Committee to approve the Administration's bill authorizing Pi-osidcnt Roose- velt to lease, lend or transfer American-made fighting materials to the nations battling the Axis. ('J he defeat of Britain, ho said, ' culd come about through the German submarine can:p>tigD or the effect of the continued Ger- man bombardment). Passage ol the bill had already been dehyed ' I- a few days in the House, but :(* final enactment was believed possible by the middle of March, the thirtieth at the latest. Durin.'i the same week, U. S. Secretary of War, Heni-y St'in- son, hinccd at the early transfer of a poi-tion of the Anioriean navy to Britain on terms "very advantageous to us" . . . and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in- augurated as President of the United States for the third time. The Life of Winston ChurchilMI declared: "Democracy is not dy- ing . . ." • • • Jopaa Imuoi Warnings Frenzied consultations between tho Japanese Premier and high military officials in Tokyo last week reflected "the increasing delicacy of United States-Japan- ese relations" . . , Jap newspap- ers exhorted the government to be ready for resolute action to off.-et British and American in- fluence in East Asia, accused Great Britain and the U.S. of in- â- tigating the current border war between French Indo-China and Thailand (Indo-China is viewed aa the keystone of Japan's new "southward program") . . . But Japan's biggest warning to the western world came from the lips of Foreign Minister Mat- suoka who called upon the United States to revise her attitude to- ward Japan's ambitions in Great- er East Asia. A modified Ameri- can attitude waa essential, he cautioned, "both for the sake of peace in the Pacific and the sake of peace in the world in general. Should the United States become involved in' the European war, he continued, and "should Japan, too, be compelled to participate," the resulting conflict might spell "the downfall of civilization." U.S.-Soviet Rapprochement? The United States moved to- ward friendlier relations with the Soviet Union last week following the removal of the "moral em- bargo" on shipments of strategic war supplieb to Russia. This ac- tion came the day after the Jap- anese Foreign Mini.stea- recom- mended clo.ser friendship be- tween Japan and Russia, and waa interprt'tcd by many informed Americans as an effort by the United States to draw the Soviet away from the Axis. * * * Farmers Organize The amazing phenonemon of the Canadian farmer emerging from his cocoon of rugged indi- vidualism was seen last week at Toronto where hundreds of ag- ricultural leaders of the Doinin- ion met, under the auspices of the Canadian Federation of Agricul- ture, and decided to organize themselves into one mighty body from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Wai'-timc stress had Accomplish- ed what a hundred years of peace-time drift had failed to bring about. At last the Can- adTan farmer had realized the truth; "Your strength is in tlnion. Organize." Hepburn Holds Spotlight Premier Mitchell F. Hepburn of Ontario, the figure who best represents the forces in Canada who want to build up the power of the Provinces, weakening the power of the Dominion Govern- ment, held the spotlight of public attention here for r.iost of last week. First, he was instrument- al in breaking up the Sirois Do- minion-Provincial Conference at Ottawa; next, he upheld the cause of Ontario farmers in the face of Uh! Dominion Department of Ag- riculture's refusal to do anything, by announcing that a bonus of t-vo cents a pound would be paid on Ontario-manufactured Ched- dar cheese; then he came forwi-.rd with a new program of war fi- n.incing, recommending that the Bank of Canada issue new cur- rency (approximately $480,000,- 000) to take care of the increas- ing needs of wartime and that the 3 per cent scale of war borrowing be abolished. On top of this he spiked every rumor current about the country that there would bfi an election in Ontario this year. Other Problems to Discuss One of the other two provin- cial premiers who opposed adop- tion of the Rowell-Sirois Report, William Aberhart of Alberta, ex- pressed the disappointment, felt by many people throughout the Dominion, that there had been no further discussion at Ottawa on Canadian problems between the Dominion and the provinces. Mr. Aberhart said: "I thought when we decided there was no possi- bility of adopting the principle of the report that we would have Hurdling For Keeps D. 0. Finlay, well known to the sports world as Britain's Olympic hurdler, is shown getting into the cockpit of his Spitfire plane. Fin- lay is now a squadron leader in the Royal Air Force. His squad- ron has shot down more than 100 enemy planes, according to the records. been invited to talk over present problems of Dominion-Provincial affairs together ... I looked on the solution of these problems as more important than the final adoption of the report itself." Farm Notes . . Top-Grade Wool Must Be Cleam Since wool is an essential war time commodity, its production should be receiving every con- sideration, particularly at the pre- sent time. It is estimated that thirty per cent, of wool marketed annually is unfit to enter the top grades, due to the presence of chaff, seeds, burrs, and branding materials such as tar and ordin- ary paint, and is thus sold at a considerable reduction in price. All of these contaminating ma- terials can be avoided if propei- management practices arc follow- ed. At the Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, states S. B. Wil- liams, Animal Husbandly Divi- sion, Dominion Experimental Farms Service, the sheep are fed from slat-fronted, V-shaped feed rncks. The slats are closely enough spaced so as to prevent the animals putting their heads into the hay when feeding, ,whUe the top part of the front is board- ep up to prevent seeds and chaff from falling on their necks and back.i. When the racks are being filled the .sheep are shut oat of the pen so that it is not necessaty to carry the hay across their backs. While in the ordinary course of events sheep will usual- ly keep burdock grazed so ^hat it Is unable to set seed, there aro certain burr-producing plants that are not relished and should bo kept cut. In the late summer and fall whenever sheep are turned into a pasture not recently grazed it is inspected for bur- docks, which are then cot and ijurned. Since tar and common ;paint will not scour out of the fleece, a commercial sheep brairaing paint Ls used when she^p arte to be marked. This fluid giyes a permanent mark and yet is easi- ly removed by the raanufacturor in the scouring process. -The sheep are kept free of dung locks and urine stained wool by trim- ming at regular intervals. Uadio receiving licenses issued in Canada to the end of Npveni- ber, during the current fiscal ycr totalled 1,3C5,711 as against 1,345,157 on March 31, the end of the fiscal year 1039-40. ENERGY forPLAY! <i Bee Hive Syrup BEE HiVtl =fthSYK^f Serve Their Favourite Eneriy, Food Regulac^tj LIFE'S LIKE THAT By Fred Neher "I told you, Henry, every one In the house would catch your cold If you weren't mere careful I I" Adventure and Politics Wliijilon I'huri'iilll tiegan his Joiini- nllatic o.nrepr as a war forrp^pondcnt In 1898, attached to iho Thlrfy-fir.st Pun- Jab Infantry in their (ampalfm In India â-  Ralnst Iho f'athaiis. Uurlng this period he was at.«o a \oiari(iii<i rcriilcr of flns^U- llteratni-p. Trnnsf- rreil to Snutli Africa as a correspond- ent during the Boer war, Ohurchill chanced to be on a ti.tln captured by tbo Boers. Taken to I'l-e-torla. He became unpc^ular with the Britlph nr'iUiiy because of fall orltlclfima. Plunging Into politics In 1900, ("hurchill con- ducted a untqua campaign for a seat In par- liament for Oldham by making speeches from the top of omnibuses. The fiery 26yearold captured popi;1nr fancy and he was elected. The ye^r 190S was niemornDlo for Churcliill. li(( not only was elected presi- dent of the board of tr.ide, but was mar- ried to Miss Clementine Uozier. Four children word born to the Chuichllls, one son and three rtauehtrr?.