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Winter Feeding Of Feathered Friends SECTION 1 - Front the Editors of Funk & Wagnails New Encyclopedia Bicentennial memorabilia for collectors PAGE 7 - PLAINDEALER-WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17.1975 Historical facts and figures ^ Providing food for birds in winter is a hobby that is educational and fun for people and beneficial for wildlife. If you decide to begin feeding wild birds you must be sure to continue feeding them until late spring when their natural food sources again become abun­ dant. Winter feeding will make the birds dependent upon you and if you neglect your new friends they may die. Your feeder may attract three different populations of birds: those who normally would spend the winter in your neighborhood, those who are summertime residents but leave in the winter, and those who are in the midst of migrating from further north. If you provide adequate food you may be able to entice some of the birds in the latter two populations to spend the winter with you. Just remember that you are making them depen­ dent upon you for food, so don't start feeding birds unless you are willing to see them through the whole winter. On the basis of eating habits, birds may be divided into those who eat seeds and those who eat insects, although many birds fall into both categories. For the insect eaters, you may provide ordinary beef suet. Suet is ideal for main­ taining the high body tem­ peratures of birds, which ranges from 100 to 112 degrees F. Suet is obtained inex­ pensively from a butcher; ask for suet that is not "stringy", but rather "short". Suet may be served to the birds just as you get it from the butcher with no further preparation. You can put the suet in a mesh bag and tie the bag to a tree. For the seed eaters you can , supply a mixture of sunflower seeds (30 percent), hempseed (30 percent), millet (30 per­ cent), buckwheat (10 percent). Cracked corn, wheat, nut- meats, dried berries, bread crumbs, and rabbit food are also good. Making suet and seed cakes is simple and fun. Grind the suet in an ordinary kitchen grinder and melt the small pieces in a double boiler. As soon as it has melted, allow it to cool until it hardens. Do not mix the suet with seeds the first time it is melted. If the suet is allowed to cool and harden, and then remelted and cooled a second time, it becomes much harder. "When remelted, pour the suet over seeds you've put in small cake forms made of aluminum foil or other handy dishes. Add the melted suet to any one or a mixture of the following: millet, sunflower seed, raisins, corn meal, oat­ meal, rice, cracked corn, chopped peanuts cooked noodles, cooked spaghetti. Birds need a certain amount of grit, usually a very fine sand or gravel, with their food for digestion. In natural feeding, the pecking a bird does on the ground provides this grit. In winter feeding, when birds do not get enough grit this way, it must be added to their food. Usually a very fine washed sand or gravel is needed. Crushed charcoal can also be used. A teaspoon of grit to a quart of feed is sufficient. Place your bird feeders in locations sheltered from the north winds. Make sure that cats cannot jump onto the feeder from a nearby fence or other structure. If the feeder is mounted on an upright, provide an inyerted cone shield to prevent cats from climbing up. If the feeder is a hanging type, keep it clear of branches and use a long wire -that cats and squirrels cannot negotiate. Since birds like to flit back and forth from placevto place, locate your feeder where there are trees which will provide protective cover. Also have aj* object nearby that birds can use as a landing strip to survey the situation before they come to the feeder. Birds are cautious and want to see everything about them before they move. Declining Enrollment Advice Due Schools The state board of education will soon offer advice to local school systems on how to cope with declining enrollment. One strong suggestion is to "involve the local citizens very early in developing a plan for con­ solidating school buildings." "More than 100 schools will actually close their doors." according to State Supt. Joseph M. Cronin. "Many of these will be in the older, more mature suburbs of Chicago which at­ tract fewer young families." A study report filed by Dr. Howard Brown of Decatur, Macon county regional superintendent and chairman of a task force on declining enrollment, contained this advice: 1. In contrast to the prevailing trend, five counties actually will increase in population size and school enrollment during the late 1970's and early 1980's, especially 30 miles from Chicago in each direction. 2. Full savings usually cannot be achieved in the first three years of declining enrollment, or until a school building can actually be "retired" or recycled for another purpose. 3. Parochial school enrollments have also declined, except at the kindergarten level. Cronin also cautioned against "false hopes for big savings in a state which mandates ex­ pansion of programs such as special education or suffers from 10 percent inflation a year." A team of teachers, demographers, and local MOW superintendents verified earlier reports of a one or two percent decline in enrollment state-wide for the next 10 years. The State Board will distribute a summary of the report as well as a longer manual on how to complete enrollments and develop an orderly plan. Surplus classrooms and facilities can be shared with or leased to other public agencies. "Quality, not quantity will be the major goal of the next decade," according to Cronin. "We have already begun to cut down on the number of new teachers trained -- 6,500 less certificates were issued in 1974- 75 than in 1971-72. Also, the state this last summer reduced numbers of county school of­ fices ~ by 24 -- needed to certify teachers and supervise local school districts." To celebrate the nation's Bicentennial, the editors of the Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia have compiled these funky -- sometimes humorous but always informative--facts based on historical data detailing life in the United States during those fledg­ ling years. » • • • The flrst cocktail is said to have been made by Betsy Flanagan, barmaid at Halls Corners, Elmsford, N.Y. in 1776. It seems the back of the bar was deco­ rated with tail feathers and when a drunk called for a glass of "those cock­ tails," she poured him a mixed drink and put a feather in it. • • * By the late colonial pe­ riod, Philadelphia had become the second city in the English speaking world. Outranked only by London as a center of education, scientific inves­ tigation and intellectual activity, it proved the logi­ cal place for delegates to meet to forge a new nation. On Oct. 13, 1776, the Second Continental Con­ gress ordered the purchase of two ships to found the United States Navy. One of the two ships was the first American submarine, the Turtle. It was con­ structed by David Bush- nell and carried a crew of one, himself. John Adams on the weaker sex: "Their deli­ cacy renders them unfit for practice and experi­ ence in the great busi­ nesses of life." ) / • • » The Postal System was established by the Second Continental Congress on July 26, 1775. The first postmaster general was Benjamin Franklin. 1776's remarkable best seller, COMMON SENSE by Thomas Paine, sold 100,000 copies in less than 3 months. No other book in the U.S. had such a quick or large.sale relative to the population. It urged dissolution of the union with Great Britain. • • * * Alexander Hamilton was a college dropout who went on to make it big. A soph­ omore at King's College in the spring of 1775, he stopped a group of stu­ dents who wanted to oust the school's militant Tory president. Known for both his sup­ port of the patriots and for his stance on individ­ ual rights, he harangued the mob and the presi­ dent escaped. Hamilton then left to join the cause becoming an aide de camp to George Washington and never went back to college. Nevertheless in 1784, the student rebel was named a trustee of that same college--newly christened Columbia. » * • Phi Beta Kappa was founded at William & Mary College on Dec. 5, 1776 as a social fraternity of five students. It was the flrst social fraternity at an American college. In 1831 Phi Beta Kappa became an honorary fraternity for students who had achieved academic distinction. * * * On June 15,1775, George Washington was selected supreme commander of the Continental Army. He declined to accept pay for services, but after 8 years of war, submitted records totalling £24,700. * '• * In August 1775 the first article expounding wom­ en's rights in America was written by Thomas Paine in PENNSYLVANIA MAG­ AZINE, which he edited. * • * In 1776 the Mission of San Juan Capistrano was established in California. The first chapel of the mission was completed the following year. It still stands and is California's oldest building. • * * In 1776 a great fire rav­ aged most of the old city of New York, including much of the best Dutch colonial building in the U.S. All the west side of Broadway from Whitehall to Barclay Street was de­ stroyed. Colonial men generally disdained the cumbersome, bottom-heavy wigs popular in Europe, for the more practical bag wig and shorter bob styles. But the wig less look, once associated with fash­ ion iconoclasts like Ben­ jamin Franklin, was worn by no less a pace setter than George Washington and earned favoj; / with American men. Editor's Note: Guess the expense account ran out. • * • The 1777 best seller in America was John Milton's PARADISE LOST. • • * The origin of ice cream dates back to the pharaohs and can be traced through history but the first com­ mercial ice cream maker was produced by a New Yorker named Hall in June, 1786. -- . George Washington re­ portedly bought one of them -- a "cream machine for ice" -- and put it on his expense account. Ed­ itor's Not*: There he goes again! Although they had been born in Virginia, Massa­ chusetts and South Caro­ lina, the first seven Presi­ dents of the United States hjid been born citizens of Great Britain. Martin Van Buren, born at Kinderhook, N.Y., De­ cember 5, 1782, claims the distinction of being the first President born in the United States. Our eighth President, he served one term from 1837 to 1841. « » * The two smallest states of the Union played im­ portant roles in its history. Delaware, with 2,057 square miles, was the first of the Original 13 States to ratify the Constitution. Rhode Island, 1,214 square miles, was last of the Original 13 V Calcium Calcium builds bones and teeth. It assists blood in clotting and helps muscles and nerves react normally! One of three main minerals that help build the body structure and regulate many processes in the body (phosphorous and iron are the others). Calcium is most readily found in milk, ice cream, cheese, mustard and turnip greens, collards, kale, canned salmon and mackerel. 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