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» [) a & Scotland's Coal Mines (Second part of article of last week.) +BY Willian Holt 1 had lunch with the miners ig their canteen. They are very proud of their newly won trophies. They are proud, too, that the first ship- 'ment of coal to Sweden since ex- ports were resumed went from Me- thil on the Firth of Forth; and Scotland was among the first to send coal this year to France and Portugal. Many of the 'miners in that colliery canteen were covered with pit dirt, and they ate without ceremony but obviously with great appetite. As 1 was coming away froln the colliery, in high spirits at what | had" seen of the work going on there, the wheels of the winding gear were spinning and freight cars were moving along the track which skirts the cnornious spoil-heaps. | could see similar heaps in the dis- "tance as | drove with an engineer through the FIife coal-ficld; some were old ones, grass-groawvn. Some of the heaps were being flattened at the top by bulldozers. Water in some of the pits has come from the water-holes of open- cast, or 'strip' mining. [t gets down through natural crevices and works up the seams. Where possible, the water is drained away; and when the ground has dried up, cement is poured into the crevices. There has been a lot of open-cast or strip mining in" Britain during the past year, and tliere is to be an exten- © sion of this type of mining, which brings immediate results. A larfe consignment of open-cast equipment" arrived recently from America, and a good portion of the machinery is for use in Scotland. This kind of mining, by the way, costs us more in Britain because we have to put the soil back; we cannot afford to leave any of our land uncultivated afterwards. : Another type of mine that las been developed in Scotland is large« rican principles: that is, 'drift' mining. These tines are for working the scams which are between open-cast 'and deep, down to, say, 150 feet. They put a tunnel down on, say, a 100-yard slant, and are drawing coal within a year. Thesc- mines usually have only a life of about twelve years, but returns have already justified the experiment. The surface plant used to work these drift mines can be casily dismantled and used again at another one. : 'In the Scottish coal-ficld, there has been. a pioneering drive in the development of these drift mines; between thirty and thirty-five have been started--half of - them sinc: the industry was nationalised. A deep mine takes about six years to engineer, but it may last 100 years. We passed many of these as we drove through'the Fife coal field, some with depths varying up to 1,200 feet. The long-tetm, de- | velopment plans of the - Scottish coalfield include the sinking of mine additional very large new col- liers, live. of them in Fife; three in the Lothians, and one in Ayrshire, on the west coast. a The medium-term production plans include the modernisation of selected collieries where the layout and haulage and winding power is out of date but where the expecta- tion of life is long enough to make this worth while. A number of such pits have already increased their outputper-man-shift by thirty to fifty per cent. ] An interesting part of the Fife coal-ficld is where the coal-seams run under the sea-bottom, and the underground workings go a long way out under the sea. At the town of Cowdenbeath, in the county pf Fife, 1 saw the cent- ral workshops that were built a quarler of a' century" ago to cope with. the greater amount of main- tenance work and to follow up the: intensive mechanisation that started so carly on in Scotland. About fifty per cent of the out- put is repairs and fifty per cent new * prodyction. Quite a lot of mining machinery is niahufactured in the works, including haulages, mine cars, drop-bottom cars, and con- veyer scrapers. Structure for sur: . fore ones 1s also made there. Tn is office in Cowdenbeath, I t2iled to the man in charge of coal - production in the Fife area; Round the wells of that office were draw- ings of new equipment, and surface la- oui. and piotos of scale models ---of what some of the new Scottish pit-teads will look like in five year's " ti 10 Ly a \ Hie main difficulty in gefting more coil up to the surface was shortace of Iahour, and this problem was made worse by The chortage of houses. Houses were going up, and 'men wore coming in from' other districts, but not fast enough. --° "Desyite these mony difficulties -- geological, and economic, and social --they are going ahead, those dour Scotsmentin the north-Byitish coals fields, ¢ ting the 'Black dizmond<', of Britin. ». i . Scotflaml polsesscs a vast, rich re- serve of high-grade coal. No mat: ter how Jranidly the industry is re- equirned wand developed, there should he cozl to last 250 years, The long-term and the medium-term de- velopment slans are uot so 'soce acul: tse shoti.=v ~lans, but they 'ave goiog on Culeihy. and the benefits will, witholt stauht, 1) reaped in time. - ¥ Just for a change, here's a little sucgess. story--or rather a story about a young man who appears to be well on his -way to success. He is Hazen M. Cail of Ford's Mills «down in New Brunswick, and he's wow 29 years of age. : ¢ A few years ago he bought three old farms which were pretty well run down--in fact, to most people, they looked as though they were just about done for. But Cail started in to build them up, using ground limestone, fertilizer and, | imagine, plenty of elbow grease. * LJ * How well he succeeded can be told from the fact that last year ie harvested 1100 bushels of oats and barley, 800 barrels of turnips, and enough good hay for 40 head of cattle; which sounds like pretty fair going : - * * in 1945 Cail bought out the Herefords owned by T, M. Giryon- of Rexton, N.B. The lot consisted --of one bull and two cows with two heifer calves. From that start he now has 20 head of purebred Here- fords, 10 of which are now old enough to be breeding cattle. + « x While attending a winter fair not long ago a Polled Hereford bull was shown by 'Tuttle Bros. of Wentworth, N.S. Although just out of pasture this bull was second in its class against strong horned competition.. Cain was so impressed that 'he decided he would like to do away with the horns, and breed Polled Herefords himself. The Tuttle bull was the first of that breed to go into Nova Scotia, so Cail wrote to Malcolm McGregor of 'Brandon, Man.--who had sold ythe animal to "the Tuttles -- and "asked what about getting one like it. * * * . The result was that, just a short time ago, Mighty Otto--whose pic- ture appears elsewhere on this page -- was Otto, by the way, is a half brother to Otto Leader, which was the bull bought at the 1947 Royal Winter Fair and flown to the Argentine where he became Reserve Grand Champion at the great Palermo show. * * * Until his purchase arrived in New Brunswick, Hazen Cail had never set eyes on Mighty Otto. He planked down $1500 for the bull, sight unseen; and in tinie hopes to build up a herd of around 50 head of Polled Herefords of the better type. Judging by what he has accomplished in the past few years, we imagine that Cail will be suc- cessful. If not, it won't be from lack of trying. 2 * * * } In the past I have received "several inquiries regarding the pos- sibilities of Ontario farmers getting workers from the Netherlands. Now I've received information from the Netherlands Immigration Commit- tee, which I'll pass along to any of you who are interested, without coniment. N * « * "About' seven thousand Hbdlland immigrants have come to Ontario during "the last two years, and now work on farms in this Province, on the whole to the satisfaction of the farmers," the report says. "The im- migrants, with very few exceptions, are happy in the land of their adop- tion. An adjustment to our way of life and learning the English language brings its difficulties; but . soon these people will be absorbed into our rural communities, living and acting like born Canadians. * * * ot is regrettable that they were not allowed to bring along their money when leaving Holland. In many cases these people possessed valuable property and had money in "the bank, but the Netherlands Government could not allow any to be taken out, on account of econo- mic conditions caused by the last war. : * * L* "Being excellent farmers they desire to possess farms of 'their own, but this will have to wait fore a while, until such time at least shipped to Cail. Mighty. Berlin Reds Use This 'Paper Bullet' in Cold War Chiang Kai-shek "End-of 1948: "We will fight still anothée eight years." 194%; Fled, A pro-Sovie "Howl End ey ' of 1948: "It is unthinkable that we will ' leave Berlin." . 1949: 2 ? ? ¢ political cartoonist, drawlng for the Soviet-licensed Berlin newspaper, Berlinet Zeitung, sees a parallel between China's retiring president, Chiang Kai-shek, and Colonel Frank L. Howley, the United States commandant in Berlin. Chiang and Howley are pictured in an identical pose, with an airplane in the ba American-spons ored newspaper, ckground ready to take them away. Howley is shown holding am - when a reasonable down payment can be made. Some have already managed to get farms by working on a share basis. Others saved enough to rent one. Probably in a few mord years many will sce their desire fulfilled. : + - * ' "Also this coming year, more plan to come if farmers in Ontario needing help are willing to act as "sponsors. To be a sponsor requires to give the immigrant suitable liv- ing quarters, either a separate house or suitable rooms, steady employ- ment and pay prevailing wages, 'minimunr being seventy-five dollars - a' month. * * . "There is a good variety of choice and qualifications. Dairy and mixed farmers, gardeners and fruit experts, florists and nurserymen. Boats are scheduled to arrive twice monthy, starting next month. Any one de- siring this -help-is advised to apply at once. Solve your labor problems before spring is here." « * * * That's the end of the quotation; also the end. of this week's column except to say that the place to apply is The Netherland Immigra- tion Committee, P.O. Box 234, Chatham, Ont. Phone, 639-W. Maritime Stuff - The skipper and the engineer were arguing. The latter said that steering a ship was far easier than looking after the engines, and the captain said that looking after the engines was child's play compared with steering. They decided to settle the argument by changing. places. . After ten minutes the captain had "to admit he was beaten. "Macpher- Son," he shouted, "I 'can't get the erffgines to start!" - "That's, all right," replied the engineer; "ye needna bother--we're aground." cases oe "They wear us on hats, coop us up in cages and steal our eggs. And yet they have the netve to call us their little feathered friends!" Orr d by Fong Feros bye ie Mighty ott Heads 'East.~This is a picture of the summer vearling Polled Hereford bull Mighty Otto referred to in our FARM FRONT column, Although Otto doesn't look too ~shivery, the. mercury at Brandon registered 48 below zero on the day this picture was taken. - Hit en we Fis Good ' Advice As you haven't asked me for 3 advice, I'll give it to you now; PLUG! No matter who or what you are, Or where you are, the how is PLUG! You may take your dictionary, Unabridged, and con it through, You may swallow the Britannica And all its retinue, But here T lay it f.o.b.-- The only word for you, 1S PLUG: There's many a word that's prettier That hasn't half the cheer +" OF PLUG. It may not save you in a day, But try it for a year. PLUG! And to show you I am competent « To tell you what is what, I assure you that I never yet Have made a centre shot, Which surely is an ample Demonstration that 1 ought TO PLUG. --From "Plug" By Edmund Vance Cook. A STRANGE CREATURE Trouble can come to almost any corner of the world. Right now it's in the "pofato patch." Bugs, potato 'bugs, were the problem in my boyhood days, now--it's prices, writes R. J. Deachman. Potatoes can be, at times, unusually prolific. When the season is.right they may wreck us, with abundance! It is more difficult to deal with abun- dance than with scarcity. - Man is a strange creature and wonderfully perverse., He howls to high heaven when prices are. high and wants the government to solve his problems. He resents paying high prices for things he buys but thinks, not for a moment, of the high prices of the things he sells. When prices drop the Consumers' League may be silent but the pro- Fastest Rail Trip In The World You won't believe it if you ride in the Vistadome, and watch the roadbed' curving around the Missi- ssippi River blufts ahead of your train, but the running time of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy's. Zephtyrs, from East™ Dubuque, Illinois, to Praivie du Chien, Wis- consin, is the fastest scheduled rail tp in the world. [t takes just thirty-nine minutes to travel the of eighty-four average miles an Liour. "This is nearly two miles an Lhour faster than any other sche- dule, anywhere, yet the the train seldom exceeds ninety-mile-an-hour "top speed. : CE . . It doesn't seem fast, sitting in the glassed-in roof-top ~ compartments that are features of these post-war trains,- because vou are so far above the ground. It's a different story in the front end of tiie: Diesel engine that powers the train, especially when you knife by a long string of freight cars on an adjoining track. Veteran enginemen aren't ashamed -of a brief prayer at such moments, particularly ,when the cars hlock oft a grade-crossing view. The men who guide the Zephyrs along the bank of the Mississippi hke the absence of grade crossings and populated towns on their route. "But -we have another hazard," I was told by Frank TT. Schini, Zephyr engineer, "in the rocks that often fall from the bluffs." Afiable, careful, sixty-six-ycar-old Schini played a major role in reducing the risk from rock falls some years ago. From the cab of his freight loco- motive he spotted rocks on the parallel track in time to flag down a fast train which would have been wrecked. Shortly affee, the Bur- wired fence along _the bluffs, A lington installed an electrically ™ break in the fence automatically sets back signals in stop position. * * * Once Schink- tas cased the 2,000- horsepower engine and its seven lightweight stainless steel cars past 54.6 miles from stop to stop, an Encore By : ROGER 8, VREELAND The house still stands at 215 Ia- wood hLane, Claremont. The In- wood Lane is important. Remember that. "he number doesn't make any difference, because then there wasn't another house within 500 yards Honeysuckle at the end of the piazza entwined a lattice screen and you could really suck the honey. Uncle Clem--who wasn't really my uncle--had shown me how. Can- nas grew funnel-shape way up past the piazza railing. Mother's round peony garden on the side lawn by the Swing that my father had made (I never: remembered him) luscious creamy pink and flowers. : Inside was the brick fireplace be- fore which the. three of us would sit in the winter, Uncle Clem taking care of the fire and telling us stories while Mother sewed, and 1 would watch the picture of Nero's Horses over the mantel unul 1 saw their eyes roll and breath steam out of , theie nostrils. ) This was the house | was born in It was big and it was old and it was full of strange nooks from cellar to attic. I knew Mother liked it for she often said she hoped some day to buy it. : Considering she was a widow, my mother did well in providing for the two of us until Mr. Hale came. That was Uncle Clem's real name. She didn't need the small amount he paid her. It was just from the kind- ness of her heart that she gave him a home. He was old, feeble, bent over; he carried a cane most of the time. [| know those things now. - Bat strangely I remembered him as ~ spry, full of pep and fun. He was good and kind and always thinking of things to do. Mother never knew where he came from, until after he was gone. The first I ever saw of him was grew whit when he appeared at the door into the living room and "entertained" him until Mother came in from the chicken coop. Mother was cool to him at first. She was - always suspicious of strangers. But I saw the kind of fellow he was right away. He told her his family was gone and asked if she had a room to spars. He sald he had a little money, enough to pay for his room and board. Uncle Clem spent nearly all his time with me. Sometimes he would forget what we were playing, and ait with a kind of dreamy, faraway look. Then he would snap back into what we were doing. He got to calling my mother Mom and | guess -- she didn't -mind.- - Osnee I heard him tell her that his working days were over amd he en- Jjoyed trying to be a boy again. "But there were some things I "had saved. "was -to get across the street before you ; OR 3 7 sr Fiction Fun | g couldn't .- understand about hin When 'we played hiding games he'd sect to have an uncanny sense of where to look. 'He kuew about the flat stone over the abandoned well - ,behind the chicken coop before | showed it to him, the loose board on the floor of my closet, the re- cesses over the eaves in the attic, and the door to the unused cold storage vault in the cellar, He even knocked on one of the inside walls where it sounded hollow, and he said: "There was a window there once." ) / When Uncle Clem diéd I cried all night. Mother had to go into his personal things. His will was mdde out to her, leaving 'her ¢nough to buy the house, I'll never forget her cry of surprise when she came ac- ross an old newspaper clipping he [t was about his retire- ment fram business. [| have it now. "Clement B. Hale," it began, testimonial dinner last night by the insurance company which he has served for, 40 years. This a record for the company, stat- ed Tohn HL Quinn, the president, who presented Mr. Hale with a gold watch. Hale, who now retires on pension, was born March 19, R32, - on Inwood Lane, Claremont served a Motor Manners _ John Kieran is widely known as a great sports writer and nature 3 lover, also as one of the experts on i" "Information Please." Writing about f fp) motorists recently Kieran stated ne ox that most of them drive like "sons OR of Belial, flown with insolence and X08 wine" As proof of the statement 2 he cited the fact that, in the United [318 States alone, more than. 10,000 Bhor pedestrians are killed each year, and be ¥ said that such fatalities are usually phy the result of bad motor manners. h He also offered the following polite suggestions for abating what he calls an "insufferable situation." Here they are: : } I. Drive as though pedestrian were friends, not enemies. | 2. Try using the brake occasion- ally instead of relying exclusively on the horn. This will prove that you really do give more than a hoot for a pedestrian. J. Don't wait until the last moment and then slam on- the brakes. You might as well kill_a_ -- man as scare him to death. 4. A driver blocking a crosswalk should not sit there with an arro- gant alr as though the milling pededtrians were beneath contempt, At least he could look apologetic. "Assume a .virtue If you have it not." (Shakespeare). 5. Don't cheat at traflic lights or corners. . Give the pedestrian time start up. 6." Don't drive so fast. It probably won't matter If you arrive a few minutes later. 7. Remember that an automobile is supposed to be a accessory to elvillzation and not a homicidal weapon. GN a - ~ a, iy 1 TR ny SIRI Te ducers will go after the government thirty miles an hour, not far out ht and ask for a floor under prices. of East Dubuque, he sets the go Strange, wold, isn't it? | throttle wide open and moves his FRY Did you ever think of this pecu- [Teft hand close to the cord of his. A Vie liar thing? We have a market for | bull-throated air horn. His right Ref 4d live stock, innumerable factors pla hand is never far from the break HE upon that market. The price > - lever, and one foot rests on « "dead J {80 "feeders," the cost of grain, infla- man" pedal that autoniatically- stops "1 tion and deflation, the volume of the train if not depressed. It takes money, the tempo of business, the five or six minufes for the roaring weather, the foreign demand for Diesels feeding smooth electric meat. All these things work on power to the axles, to inch the that market and, except in very speedometer to ninety. Before it ~ exceptional times, provide us with travels much iighter, Schinl cuts the the meat we need at réasonable throttle, then inches it up when the price. If there had been no, such speed falls off. - "market in existence we would have There are plenty of Diesel trains had to create it and I can't get into that," at times, exceed the Zephyr's my mind a picture of parliament steady ninety to ninety-five miles sitting down and starting from an' hour, They seldom, however, scratch to create a market which top 105, though Diesels have teach- would function in a manner quite ed 120. But the all-time speed > so satisfactorily as the present meat record still belongs to steam,-dat- ; fhajlet ie all He faoling we, | ing back to 1905, when a Pennsyl-: \ : \ 3 . may 'do with floors and ceilings we vania train streaking across Ohlo RAR tn : $ FT will in time accept the open mar- reached 127.1 miles A Nip Firemen Acting Really Nippy.--At the antual fire brigade ket and stay with it. Then eventu- NE a review held at the Imperial Plaza Palace, Japanese airmen ally seek and attain free movement Health: What people are always shinny up and down guy-ropes in a demonstration of their skill, * of natural products, not only with' | genuine before they fall down Almost 5,000 firemen took part in a spectacular review, which the United States, but the world, h ' . was witnessed by great multitudes, ) T rs Sm PENNY Aa : . : By Harry Hoenigsen DON'T SU TANK MAGAZINES ARE | [PLEASE FATHER (T'S fie tery Is JUST THE MOST INTERE STG TVHGS Hepa Armiphidp ce e AHEM YOUNG LADY, (T'S TIME wa | MEAN, TAKE THE DIGEST DIGEST....| [THE SUBJECT WHILE I'M HAD ATALK ABOUT THS LATE AHEMTD CHANGE THE | | HANGING THE SueJecT: 3 HOURS YOUVE BEEN IBEANG + A SUBJECT LET'S GET pang | . G3 J BACK TD, LIN (A 71 < : BO J LJ f h ~ HY : "wo a i ( )) ie i! Re | on ff, BN / het 2 ra) 2 id \ © . & | A ii Hi v y « » h 4 Pt