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THE COLBORNE EXPRESS, COLBORNE, ONT. JAN. 10, 1957 Jokes That Ended In Tragedy 'At a merry party in a Shropshire manor house an attractive young guest was dared to sleep in the "haunted room." "I don't believe in ghosts." shs declared defiantly. But the young sons of the house decided to give her a proper scare. From their father's .oliection of foreign curios they obtained a mummified hand, covered it with phosphorescent paint and placed it on the girl's pillow. Then when she went to bed they listened outside her door for the expected cry of fright. It came but it was no ordinary cry. It was a high-pitched scream of wild and unreasoning •error, which chilled their blood, and it was followed by fearsome animals noises, deep growls and savage snarls. White-faced, panic-stricken, •he boys rushed to their father and blurted out their story. He and some of the guests rushed •o the bedroom and battered down the door. The girl was sitting on the bed. Her eyes were wild' and staring, her features contorted into a mask which seemed Ths stupid joke had dri ler mad. Horrible? Undoubtedly, iiis is by means the only asion on which jokes have ulted in tragedy. A Lancasl nill-hand, of poor mental vas unable to find a girl trie his arm, on to his shoulder and scuttled off. The boy shrieked, turned deathly white and fainted. This experience brought on such a serious nervous condition that he had to be sent to a special school. A joke had jeopar-ized .. that youngster's whole future. To some of the London boys who Were evacuated during the war the country was a frightening place after dark. And a number of Suffolk locals played on a city-bred youngster's fears. "That lane you go along every evening is haunted," they told him solemnly. "The devil walks there!" ' The boy was scared, but he put a bold face on the matter. One night he heard the clanking of chains in the lane and a queer noise. In the light of the stars he saw a ghostly, devilish-looking head with horns coming towards him. The boy was terrified. He turned and ran. not realizing in his terror that the "devil's head" was only a goat, tethered there by the jokers. They found him the next morning. In his un- moped. and in her extrer pression put her head gas oven. Fortunately, si Delighted, he appro jirl. "Give me a kiss. ched the he beg- ged. She stared at him contemptuous! v. Then embcldentd by the nods and winks of his i lates, he attempted to seize *nce the girl pushed him violently aside and gave him a stinging slap on the face. 'Keep your dirty hands off me. you v alf-wit," she blazed. The same evening his body was found in the canal. Ridicule had played on his weak mind and driven him to suicide. Schoolboys are fond of play-)ng jokes; sometimes their ideas of humour lead to unintentional -and At ichool, a boy was terrified of lice. His classmates regarded • im as a sissy. -They captured i mouse and hid it in his desk. When the boy lifted the lid he mouse jumped out. ran up guided humour decidedly plain d in a London addre she was the victim of a cruel joke. She guessed that her office colleagues were responsible and knew that they would pull her leg unmercifully. Terrified at facing their ridicule, her eyes blurred with tears, she staggered into the street. She walked straight into a bus and was crippled for life. Watch Quiz Do ; Is Delia- Casa, 20, as, nervously biting her nails, she waits for o plane with 100 other California-bound Hungarian refugees. do yo of Scots possessed a death's head watch which was made out of a human skull. That the world's largest watch made for the St. Louis Fair of , 1903. was so enormous that people could walk among its moving wheels and its balance wheel weighed a ton. That London watchmaker John Arnold made the word's tiniest watch for which he was paid 500 guineas by George III. That One of our Queen's wedding presents was a tiny 15-jewel Swiss watch st into a gold latchkey. That when Guy Fawkes was arrested after trying to blow up the Houses of Parliament an oval-shaped watch found on him was inscribed with pictures of running figures. Mabel arrived home with an engagement ring on her finger. "What kind of a fellow are you engaged to?" her father asked. "Well, he says, he always wanted a home." "That sounds good." "And he likes ours very Answer elsewhere on,thi« pag<e. SOLID, MAN, SOLID - Adorning a street in the British sector of Berlin is this Sphinx-like statue of a ram, made of red tile bricks, possibly a new medium for sculptors. ThEPAEM FE0NT |orvtv12U&yeiL highlights of the farm outlook for 1957 as foreshadowed from the Agricultural Conference held in Ottawa Dec. 3-5, 1956. Livestock Total meat production in inspected or approved establishments in Canada in 1956 appears to be approaching the record 1.9 billion pounds set in 1944. In 1957 production will probably differ only slightly from 1956 levels, an anticipated reduction in pork production being probably offset by increased beef production. A continued strong domestic demand for meat, plus an anticipated firm improved United States market should pi event any significant decline in cattle prices, while all the indicators -- consumer demand, export possibilities, and the supply position -- point to strong hog and pork prices, both in absolute terms and relative to beef prices. The relative price position will likely ,-itchiii frc pork to beef, thus causing an additional increase in the already high level of domestic disappearance of beef. A slight increase is looked for in calf slaughter, while sheep and lamb slaughter will probably remain about the same. No' marked change in prices of calves, or of sheep and lambs, is expected. Dairy Products Milk production in 1957 is estimated at 17.5 billion pounds, about the same as in the previous two years. The fluid milk market expanded by increased population, Will probably absorb any small increase in total milk production and perhaps divert some milk from other products to fluid use. During 1957 consumption of creamery butter is expected to exceed production with the difference made up out of existing stocks. Cheddar cheese production and consumption are likely to be about the same as in 1956 with slightly less cheese available for export in 1957. Output of evaporated milk and dry skimmed milk will probably be approximately in balance with consumption, with any increases reflecting the growth in population and fairly stable per capita consumption. Ice cream production may reach 34 million gallons, about one million gallons more than the previous record set in 1S55. Eggs and Poultiy Eggs - During the remainder of 1956 and the first five months of 1957 swings in the supply and price patterns will be more pronounced and egg prices will, on the average, not be as favorable to producers as during the corresponding period a year earlier. During the summer months of the coming year it is expected that production and prices will be similar to those in the corresponding period of 1956. Poultry -- The poultry meat situation in 1957 will be dominated even more by developments in the chicken broiler and turkey industries than in 1956.'Both of these segments of the poulry industry are rapidly developing new and more efficient methods of production and marketing with the result that they are "now the two major sources of poultry meat in situation it is expected that price levels for poultry meat in 1957 will be about the same as in 1956. Fruits and Vegetables The 1'956 apple crop of 12.0 million bushels was 37 per cent less than the bumper crop of 1955 and 16 per cent below the 1949-53 average. As a result of the small crop, prices have been, and are expected to continue at higher levels than in 1955. Barring unforeseen developments, the 1957 crop will probably exceed that of 1956. Larger crops of peaches, pears and cherries are anticipated in 1957 than in 1956. The 1957 crop of strawberries and raspberries is expected to exceed that of 1956 but it will be a few years before the 1949-53 level of production is reached. The 1956 potato crop of 66.8 miiion bushels was one per ceft larger than that of 1955. Bi?th imports and exports during 1956-57 are not expected to reach the levels of 1955-56. The average price received during the season as a whole is expected to be above that of the 1955-56 crop year. Consumer demand for fiesh vegetables in 1957 is expected to remain strong. Because of the smaller packs of canned vegetables in 1956, the acreage contracted for processing in 1957 is expected to be increased. During 1957 the growth of the frozen fruit and vegetable industry is expected to be maintained. Seeds of pedigreed cere- eals frost 1955. ,age and poc Bees there be s ! lOr cal scarcity of good / quality-pedigreed seed but the total supplies of most of the popular varieties should be adequate for domestic, needs, leaving a sur-plu: for ex Selkir The rodu. ed produc tion of all '^h 'laV* crop seeds exception of less than n 1955. The ed crop w as much the on record rfnd produc- sike clover ed clover, s and crest- ed wheatgrass was considerably With the exception of alfalfa and red clover seed, supplies of the principal hay and pasture seeds, in spile of smaller production, should be sufficient to meet domestic requirements. As supplies of alfalfa seed will not be sufficient for domestic needs it is expected that substantial quantities of seed of adaped varieties wilt be imported from Upsidedown to Prevent Peeking the United States to supplement Canadian production. Canadian grown double-cut type red clover seed will also be in short supply, but seed to meet domestic needs is available from the United Kingdom and the United States. Smaller crops of many forage seeds in Canada, the United States and Western Europe have stimulated prices on world markets and prices to growers in 1956 are considerably higher than a year ago. There was some increase in estimated production of peas, beans and corn in 1956 compared to 1955, although production of beans and corn was considerably below average. Most of the sugar-beet steeklings in British Columbia were lost through winter killing and practically no crop was harvested. Production of swede and mangel seed was confined entirely to the Maritimes and is the smallest in years. Substantial imports of most vegetables and root seeds will be required to supplement Canadian production; this is, however, a normal situation and it is expected that the necessary supplies will be available as usual from the United Stales and Europe. Ducking Stoois For Nagging Wives It was seriously suggested by a henpecked British husband re-sently that the old-time ducking stools should be reintroduced in this country as a method of curing the nagging tongues of His idea is unlikely to be adopted but it is similar to a proposal made a few years ago London magistrate who declared that he would gladly give his Parliamentary vote to the candidate who would promise to do his best to revive the ducking stool as a punishment for too-talkative women. This queer instrument usually consisted of a chair fixed to a crossbeam which was erected over a pond into which the offender was dipped three times. The method was said to be very effective. Its use was not confined to shrews. Quarrelsome couples were tied back to back by their neighbours and ducked together. Dishonest traders were also punished in the ducking stool. Brewers of bad beer, bakers of inferior bread and butchers convicted of" short weight were all liable to be ducked. The last recorded use of the ducKing stool iit BnSr.„a mm, .» Leominster in 1809, though there was a later sentence which was commuted. . Few ducking stools survive in Britain today, but in 1931 one which was formerly used to punish "unruly women" at Kenil-worth, Warwickshire, was discovered in a bain where it had lain hidden. fiPDAY SCHOOL LESSON How To. Resist Temptation Matthew 3:16-4:11 Memory Selection: Thou sha* worship the Lord thy God, a»« him only shalt thou serve. Matthew 4:10. The great temptation at Uta end of the forty days in the wilderness was no farce. Hera Jesus in his perfect manhooi was subjected to ths same temptations that we experience today. He did not yield. If wa open our hearts to Him wa can triumph too. The first temptation concerned the basic desire for food. After all. one must eat. But "Man shall not live by bread alone^ but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God." At the recent Christian Business Men's Convention in Chicago a garage owner told of how Jesus had entered his heari and transformed his life. Ha discontinued the practice ol turning back the speedometer when preparing the trade-in* for the used car market. Soma dealers will tell you that yow have to turn them back. "Yon can't sell a car with 70.000 mile* on the speedometer," they say. Well, anyway, this man is prospering in his business better than ever before. People coma to him because they know they can believe him. We wish every dealer would follow his example. Many desire fame. Some have gained it by posing in the nude. Surely that is casting oneself doWn. But the crowd who applaud today will be cold ant heartless later on. Jesus would take no cheap way to fame by leaping from the temple's pin-There is also the desire foe possessions. Men lust for far more than the necessities of life. The people who are arrested for swindling their employer are not stealing for the sake Of bread. It's because they want a new car, beautiful furniture, fine clothes, liquor and the like. In this good country people don't need to steal to eat. It's the lusi for luxuries that gets people into trouble. Jesus would no! kingdoms of this world. ' Men are still tempted to give way to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life. Let us not yield but saturate ourselves in the truth ef God's Word. Then we can repel the Devil with the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. it y, h - •** ft A?lf§J RIDING OUT THE «AS PINCH - Piggybacking, used by American railroads for several years, makes its appearance in Franc0 just in time to help out in the current gasoline shortage. Pictured in Paris is a special flat car (top) equipped to handl» trailers or (bottom) big transport trucks. Shippers can send loaded vehicles to distant points at great saving in rarior)9flJ