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Wy rn » wr RA -- ho a -- rt a dn Ye eS mt ara 2 4d Curiosities About Birds Strange Legends Have Long Existed Regarding Robine, Wrens, Swallows and Others There are many curious super -elitions associated to birde. Many people think it is extremely un- Jucky to kill a swallow, martin or wren; some dreadful misfortune will surely follow. A swallow nesting on a house is eald to bring good luck, A raven flying and croaking over a sick house portends. an early death, as does also a bird flapping its wings wpon the sickroom window. Are robins lucky or unlucky? This appears to be a moot question. Anyway, it is supposed to be un- Jucky to kill or hurt & robin, as many a country cottager still warns her bird-nesting offspring, it a ro- bin taps on your window, he is try. Ing to warn you of evil to come, There is a strange legend con- nected with the blackbird which has its origin in Italy. Once, says the story, the blackbird was while but during one terribly cold win ter 'he took refuge in a chimney and so acquired his coat of svot. Near Brescia, the days from Jan- uary 30th to. February 1st, are now known as "I giorni della mera," or the blackbird's days, meaning the days during which he was incarcer- ated fn the chimnay aa EN J TLis > PR And row, if you see a white blackbird -- and there are, of course, occasional albinos to be found herd and there -- the sight presages evil of the direst. Crows are birds of {ll-omen and harbingers of death, according to a great many. Ravens have a repula- tlon almost as odious. Peacocks are unlucky birds. Owls make most country people and many town. wellers shiver when they hoot hrilly through the night, IT'S SWIM TIME Maureen O'Sullivan, young actress, considers swimming a definite and necessary hobby. This is an enjoy- able way to keep in trim and relax in the sun during leisure hours. Movie Flowers Are Artificial Blooms Used on Screen Sets Must Be Lasting The flowers used jin motion pic- tures for the most part are artitic- ial, although they cost more to make than real blooms, even more than fragile orchids. One of Hollywoou's leaditig flor. ists estimates that the material and -time used to manufacture an orchid costs the studio about $5.00, which would buy a corsage of real orchids, ; "But we can't use real flowers during the winter months," he ex- plained, "because they are eo per . iehable and often the ones we want are not blooming at the time," Another - reason why artificial flowers are used fis that sometimes scenes have to be retaken, and then it is almost impossible to try and match the flowers previously used if real blooms were employed. * But the artificial blooms are stored in the property department and if they have been handled too much be used again, Murdock can du Pplicate them, x The studios have found, he says, "that real flowers wiit when they are brought dut from rdfrigeration {0 the sound stages which ate sup- erheated by hundreds of- ficandes- eent lamps, A Conscience Fund A 60-cent payment to the city "conscience fund" eased the mind of a middle-aged former Pitts burgh woman. She appeared at the health buy- eau and paid for two bottles of "hand lotion taken more than two ears ago when employed at the "municipal hospital. © "I've goften ro I can't sleep night because I took those es," declared the woman, d I might as well pay for a nell I tok, {oo0." . NTARIO UTDOORS BY VIC BAKER Try Crow Pie We're not trying to play a joke on you but recently we learned that young crows are a delicacy in the Old Country and are be coming popular as a dish here in Canada. We are told that they are go popular In Great Britain that the fish and game stores sell them regularly, Our Ontario acquaintance re- ports having enjoyed a crow pie recently after a successful crow shoot. Only the breasts are eat- en to which onions and season- ing are added to make the pie filling. And why shouldn't crow be as good cating as chicken? They eat exactly the same food. Crow eat- ing may he a solution to some of our food problems, with people all over the, country starving and crows all argund us just waiting to be shot "off. Certainly a new angle on the usefulness of the crow! Spring Bad Time Shells from a French 75 put this armored m the running, The French censor withheld locati early stage, 3 3 achine-gun car of Germany's panzer corps out of on, but it possibly was in the battle of France at an i Ss the Japanese --- & juicy prize which they might seize whenever the United States and Britain were in a position of being un- able to stop them, , UNITED STATES: The objec tion in the United States to send- ing American "troops to fight in Europe - was still - overwhelming last week, although the desire to do "everything short of war' to help the Allies had been car- ried to fever pitch by the tragic plight of France, the frantic ap- peals by Paul Reynaud. to Presi- dent Roosevelt for aid. . "Hands Off!" The threat to this continent be- coming much mere substantial,' th U, S. Navy asked for another $4,000,000,000 for a 70 per cent boost in seapower , , . revision of the fleet expansion program was expected, The Senate unani- mously adopted a resolution de- daring that the United States would not recognize transfer of possessions in the Wegtern Hemi- sphere from one European power to another, As an answer to German ec- onomic activity in South Ameri- can, President Roosevelt launch ed plans for a gigantic economic union of the two American con- tinents under a $2,000,000,000 Inter-American Export Corpora- tion. It would result, it was ex- (4 4 Vi 1anlecte Slow Burning CIGARETTE PAPERS NONE ¥ DOUBLE AQIuAlc 5 z ry raised iu one district: in which the sheep are regarded as the best pay. ing class of livestock, A similar statement "might be nade by a number of groups of farmers In many sections or districts, WANT SHEEP LEGISLATION Unless something is done to les sen the danger from dogs it is cer tain less sheep will be raled. Sheep raisers throughout Canada are urging that legislation to deal with the menace be considered as a war-time necessity"by the pro- vincial legislature:, so that more theep and wool may be produced. Read Newspapers; Retain Vita ity Famous Former Yale Profese sor Advises It As An Ald to Longevity Regular reading of newspapers 1s recommended by Dr, Willlam Lyon Philne ae an ald tawayd lanoas fa . Short, Stocky People on the Contrary Must Guard Their Sanity In Summer, Fall The slender person should be- wart of mental effects of the weather in the spring, and the short, stocky person in summer and autumn, This was suggested to the Am- erican Medical Association in = report of the influence of tha weather on personality. The re- port was by Doctors William Petersen of the University of II- linois, Chicago, and Hans MH. Reese, University of Wisconsin. WEATHER INFLUENCES PER- SONALITY The weather, they said, In- fluences the mental balance of the mentally disturbed and the moods of normal persons. The spring, summer and fall effects on slender and stocky persons were found in studying records of mental hospitals along with weather reports, Weather, the doctors declared, will bring out latent hereditary tendencies, A vague mental dif- ficulty may be changed, with a weather change, into full-fledged mental illness. : ) BLOOD CHEMISTRY AFFECTED They said that the weather pro- foundly affects human blood chemistry. With these blood changes go the feelings of ex- hilaration and buoyance or of depression. In the stocky pérson an inctease in blood alkalinity accompanies exhilaration. The thin man feels blue and ir- ritable when his alkalinity drops. Gardening .... For Very Sunny Spots For a-place where the sun . shines practically all day, there are three outstanding flowering plants; geraniums, French mari- golds and petunias. Of the form- er little need be said excepting that the colors range from white through pink, salmon and red. Attractive color combinations are possible--for instance, a planting of salmon geraniums in front of which are cascades of balcony pe- tunias 'of the same shade inter- mingled with others in corn- flower . blue and silvery lilac. Those who prefer high color might choose red geraniunts to go with petunias of velvety texture in ..purple and violet. This scheme would be effective only if the background were quiet and har- nionious, ! A IN WINDOW BOXES Dwarf French marigolds do ex: tremely well in the window box. They are to be had in single and semi-double forms in red, canary, orange, garnet, brown and com- binations of these colors, 'but the clear shades are most effective from a distance, The leaves, lacy - and graceful, are a rich green, and the plants go right on bloom- ing from summer to frost. . Moming-glories grow happily in a sunny window. There they will. make pleasant Tower pat- terns wherever they are given a bit of string on which to twine themselves, The variety Heavenly Blue is still unsurpassed, and it comes 1s an early flowering form, Clark's" Heavenly Blue. In all the tree planting projects that are being carried out jt is well to remember that there are weed trees that are to be avoid- ed. Manitoba maple and Carolina poplar make quicker growth than most other trees and will spread to fence corners and fields where they become pests. EWA: W EE K--Commentary on Current Events Canada Becomes Armed Camp 'Under New Conscription Plan Nine months and ten days aft- er Canada entered the European conflict, the Dominion Govern- ment announced plans to mobilize "all human and material resourc- es . +, for the defence of Can- ada . , . conscripting all able- bodied -men up to 45 years of age, except those needed for vit- al industries ,-.--.-placing- all the lives and property of the people of Canada at the disposal of the Government. A complete picture of the Can- ada-to-be in the next couple of months was given by H. R. Arm- strong, writing in the Toronto Daily Star: "Every town and hamlet in Canada will resound to the tread of marching feet when the Dominion's home defence forces go into training under the compulory service plan , . Uniis will be trained in their own local- ities, in armories, rinks, auditor iums or such other buildings. - Huts will be built to house them. The mien will be uniformed and will train with rifles and other service weapons. The whole coun- try will be an armed encamp- ment." } 100,000 Full-Time Soldiers Continuing: "There are now 66,000 men of the C. A. S. F. in Canada' and 70,000 more are being recruited as rapidly, as pos- sible. The government plans to send the second division of 25.- 000 to 30,000 men to England- te aid the mother country. That will leave more than 100,000 full time soldiers--infantry, machin-- gun battalions, artillery~and tank corps--in Canada for home de- fence, in addition to such units of the navy and air force as re- main~in and near the Dominion," "Besides that, 40 infantry bat- talions of the non-permanent mil- itia will be recruited to nearly full strepgth, to be on call tn an emergency, This will 'give Canada a reserve of 25,000 to 35,000 more for home defence -- around 130,000 men, aside from the new home defence army authorized by the, legislation for 'conscription of manpower and wealth. ' Manpower And Wealth "It is planned to complete the C. A, 8. F. and militia recruiting campaign before the end of th's sumnier. After that, likely in the fall, the additional home defence forces will be raised by compul- sory service. So it is likely the "new army" will begin its train- ing in winter quarters .., , Men will be called from. their jobs for the {raining period, and return to them when it is over, taking their uniforms home with them, , . . Because training will require only a few weeke, exemptions for oc- hot cupational reasons will not be as broad as in the last war, when calling to the colors meant full- time service for the duration of the war. Clergymen and ¢.n scientious objectors will be ox- empt, as will those in vite] key occupations . . . Employes. will be compelled 'to give trainecs leave of ~absence,; with part or full pay, it is expected for the instruction period , , . Men will: be called up by selective -draft. All males 18 to 45 will be _ liable, but categories will. be es- tablished so that married men are conscripted until unmarried men and widowers without chil- dren in the same age groups have been called up:. . . The armories and other {raining buildings, once in use, will be- utilized con- tinuously as one group succeeds another. The government has be gun a dominion-wide canvass -for instruc.ors . . National -regis- tration has to be compléted first, before the various classes can be called up , . ." 'At the same time that he an- nounced the ipstitution of con. scription, Prime Minister Mac kenzie King told the House of Commons of the imminent re- organization of the Government; the establishment of a"department of national "war servize to direct the mobilization of the activities of. Canadians in the war effort; increased recruiting for overseas service, with Canada sending ex- peditionary forces to Newfound- land, Iceland, the West Indies. Billion This Year While the country awaited the bringing down of the Budget by Finance Minister Ralsion, newly- appointed Minister of Defence, it was reported at Ottawa that move than. one billion dollars would he required to finance Canada's evee- expanding war effort for the cur- rent fiscal year, This compared - with $166,000,000 the Dominion spent in 1915-16, the comparable period of the Great War, In a radio speech' to thé country, the Finance Minister warned of the impending taxation imposts--{fin- ancial experts sald present taxes would have to be' increased at least by one-third, Lkering For Position In Europe, "hg, situation deter- iorated day by day and hour by hour, Hitler's victory over France was assured; a great game was beginning for strategic positions on the continent, which might put the Rome-Berin' Axis In direct opposition to Russia, and find the Soviet. Union attacking Germany along the entire eastern front. Out of the welter of confusion and disorganization, little but tr COUTU BTISE,~ RIOWN for certain, however, were these facts: that Britain was determin- ed to fight on alone "until the curse of Hitler is lifted from the brows of men" (Churchill); that a ak BTTOTT domination of the eastern Baltic; that Turkey, considering her pact with the Allies no longer bind- ing, was staying out of the war unless Italy interfered actively in the eastern Mediterranean. Betrayed? FRANCE: The country over- run, its "greatest fortifications in the world" reduced to just so much steel and concrete, -die- satisfaction grew _ among the French troops-and-people with the pro-Fascist composition of the - Petain government and its refus- al to transfer the fight to the colonies (cabled Helen Kirk: patrick from London). Opinion ex- pressed in many quarters had jt thta the French pepole had been betrayed, cither by military or political leaders, or both, MEDITERRANEAN: Spain, while reiterating its- policy of cupied Tangier, a neutralized in- ternational zone, "to keep order"; prepared to push with renewed vigor her claims on Gibraltar and French Morocco . . . Egypt had ("broken off diplomatic relations. with Italy. . . Mussclini was lick- ing his chops over the spoils of his six-day war with France. Balkan Balance tries of southeastern Europe were looking last week in the direction "of Moscow and Ankara for some lead regarding their future joint attitude toward the war, wrote Harold G. Laycock, staff corres pondent of the Christian Science Monitor, : from Belgrade. Russia was seen altempting to widen her sphere of influence in the Bal- kans following appointment of a new Soviet minister to Rumania. The Balkan balance, observers be- lieved, could only be maintained if Turkey and Russia could find a formula calculated to maintain - peace throughout the peninsula by discouraging Italo-Hungarian attempts to fulfill their territor- ial aspirations by forceful meth. ods (an' Italian up in Yugo- slavia seemed in the offing), FAR EAST: Indications that Japan might shortly take an ace tive part in general "world-wide hostilities were becoming more plentiful, At Canton, the Japanese military spokesman warned French Indo-China bluntly that if its ¢hip- ments of arms and supplies to the Chinese Government did not cease, and if Indo-China refused to "reconsider herself," the Jap- anese Army "must undertake to wean Indo-China away from hos- tility toward Japan." Again, a flowery" cable from 'Japan's mit- itary héads, sent to Premier Muss- olin, wished him overwhelming success in: his European ventures, The . Netherlands Indies mean- time had not been forgotten by pm Russia 'had gained unchallenged non-belligerency in the war, oc- . BALKANS: The smaller coun- » 1h an almost totalitarian control over exportable surpluses of the two continents, Dog Menace Said Serious Canadian Sheep-Breeders Are Upset Over Situation -- Ont. Farmer Lost 16° Head of Sheep to Dogs In One Night Many sheep breeders in Canada aro of the opinion that it is practl- cally impossible to raise sheep pro- fitably on account of the large num- ber of dogs which are allowed to run at large. This they consider is serious in a country that uses more wool per capita than any other country and" which In war-time fiids! itselt under the necessity of Importing large quantities of wool for war contracts and for general use, FLOCKS MUCH REDUCED One - farmer in Ontarié reports losing 16 head of sheep killed by dogs in one night, another 11 head and others smaller numbers, As a result of the menace from dogs there has been a reduction of 75 per cent, in the number of shecp a Soratching £7 F ick relief from | tehing of eczema, pimples, alh- Iete's fook, scabies, rashes and olber exten skin troubles, use world- _itehing. 334 trial bottle it, or mone . Ak pa Rr re Lp A TT "The three cents invested in a newspaper is one of the greatest aids to vitality we have," Yale's famous emerltus professor of Eng- lish declares. "The paper provides us with in. terests that will take us out of ourselves, The more we are jnter- ested in things beyond ourselves, the better we can combat despon- dency and trouble and the longer we live." Auk for BEE HIVE . LIFE'S LIKE THAT 'By Fred Neher NT i] \[/ | ae of "It's 'good--but it isn't as funny as your' old one!" % ; By ry REG'LAR FELLERS--Oitside Information ¢ H -- GENE BYRNES