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lands are nearing saturation point rowell probe told 80 per cent under cultivation out west approximately so per cent of the socalled good agricultural laud of western canada is now under culti vation with saskatchewan already ap proaching the saturation point dr e s archibald director of experimen tal farms dominion agriculture de partment stated last week at ottawa before the rowell commission there was no very accurate sta tistical data available on the point ex cept from the municipalities them selves hut it was estimated that 55- 000000 acres were under cultivation in the three prairie provinces said dr archibald a delusion chairman n v rowell raised the question by asking officials of the ag ricultural department their opinion of a statement by hon j g taggart saskatchewan agriculture minister that practically all the good arable laud in that province had been put under cultivation tho idea that the western plains pould some day have 20000000 to 30000000 people on them is based on ft delusion asked mr rowell yes with present crops and pre cipitation dr archibald said if now droughtresisting crops were develop ed the scope of cash crops raisable there would ba broadened and the population aceorilkyly increased normsl situation for practical purposes then this commission is to view the situation in western canada today as normal as far as population and taxpaying capacity of the people are concerned and the population will not materially increase in the near future the chairman asked it is a very im portant point dr archibald said that would ap ply only in small degree to manitoba as far as drought was concerned but to a considerable area in alberta south of the main line of the canadian pa cific railway and up to the main line of the canadian national railways at the saskatchewan boundary other wise the population possibilities were much more elastic in alberta soil survey necessary mr rowell wondered whether the trend in saskatchewan farming would be towards more subsistence farming entailer farms or to larger farms dr archibald felt that would de pend on rainfall and type of soil he explained at that point that consider able land there was not under culti vation hut was in a fair agricultural district and held for speculation hut was swollen of as being under cultiva tion he explained also that only a scien tific soil sitrvey could determine how much soil was suitable a the news interpreted a commentary on tbe more important events f the week by elizabeth eedy what are causes of school fires dominion fire commissioner lists reasons for their origin in canadian halls of learning the dominion fire commissioner has issued a record of fires and losses in canadian schools colleges and convents for two comparative eight- year periods that is pertinent to this submission from 1022 to 1920 inclu sive 2271 fires occurred entailing an aggressive property loss amounting to j10577s06 from 1930 to 1937 inclu sive 19c1 fires caused a total prop erty loss of 1902710 while some gratification may be felt at the im proved loss experience in the second of these periods the significant fact remains that there was little curtail ment in the number of fires reported and practically no diminution of the hazards involved of the 4235 out breaks in both periods the responsible causes were determined in 3012 cases as listed there were as follows most happen in winter fires defective heating appliances overheated stoves and furn aces improperly installed equipment careless storage and handling of fuel 1362 defective chimneys and flues 317 electric wiring 310 spark on shingle roofs 181 matches and smoking 62 miscellaneous known causes hi undiscovered causes 1223 from this record it is apparent that 73 per cent of the fires of determined prlglu arose from defective or care lessly installed and maintained heal ing equipment supporting this con clusion is the fact that so per cent of school and college fires occur dur ing the winter months many years of experience have convinced that the majority of these fires might be pre vented by thorough and regular in spection and by rigid enforcement of reasonable maintenance regulations sweden will shortly isue its stamp series commemorating the tencen- tenary of the founding of the swe dish colony in delaware russias greatest parachutist ts a yevdokiniov who recently died in moscow is credited with 321 jumps iicludng several records horse drawn traffic in london has dropped 66 per cent in 10 years aviation history 1938 should be a banner year for aviation in can ada if we read the signs aright tbe transcanada air line3 network will be completed west of montreal to the pacific coast experimental mail flights over the- prairies and rockies are being made this month schedules call for the llcsmile flight from winnipeg to vancouver with stops at regina and lethbridge to be made in 7 hours and 15 minutes transatlantic mail flights by the end of the year are also contemplated according to transport minister c d howe while such developments are tak ing place in canada imperial airways promises in london england this week that new planes put into service within the next few months by mid summer in fact will make the 205- mile air trip from loudon to paris in exactly one hour sabotage a word of compara tively recent origiu which is being used more and more frequently in the newspapers these days is sabotage russian engineers are arrested on charges of sabotage the blowing up of the breda factories in milan is laid to sabotage by italian workers mysterious fires in french ships are traced to sabotage and uow sabotag ing in britains royal air force comes to light when it is discovered that two of the newest type bombing planes have been tampered with at the factory sabotage comes from the french noun sabot wooden shoe and was first used when a re bellious french factoryworker threw a hoot in the machinery to wreck it we mean the same thing as sabo tage when we say throw a monkey wrench in the works in countries such as italy and ger many where workers have no voice in the government sabotage is fre quently chosen as a method of pro test of getting back at the powers- that be it is an attempt to slow up a system which they believe to have the worst interests of the working people at heart austria czechoslovakia under the protective wings of germany aud italy the nearest big powers last week the four balkan entente coun tries greece jugoslavia rumania aud turkey bowed to italy agreeing to recognize the conquest of ethiopia and grant belligerent rights to the spanish rebels when its a case of every man for himself and devil take the hindmost we could hardly expect the small bal kan powers to have acted otherwise divorces up an increase of twenty per cent over 1936 is shown in the number of divorces granted to canadian couples during 1937 the total reached 1s70 altogether 59g of which were taken out in ontario british columbia ran a close second while in proportion of population quebec scored the lowest 43 interesting sidelight on the statis tics men must still be chivalrous since twice as many wives sued for divorce as husbands or is it that the man in the case is more often the guilty party food for thought there mayors threaten a repres entation of ontarios mayors met last week in torontos city hall to fight the announced opposition of hon nor man rogers minister of labor to in creased relief payments from the do minion government declared mayor h r cory of trenton it has come to the yoint where either you are going to have a rebellion of the unemployed or you are going to have a rebellion of the ratepayers because they cant pay more the small taxpayer indeed is not to he envied in these days of heavy relief expenditures it comes to the point in some cases that a mau with a tiny piece of property has to help keep his nextdoor neighbor who is al most as well off a serious situation and the ontario mayors are right in becoming exercised about it high altitudes proven warmer american hour it is an amus ing game these evenings to tune in on the shortwave set to the broadcasts in english that are coming out of rome italy and zeesen germany under the guise of news summaries from 2ro you hear an american girls voice on the american hour giving the news as mussolini would like you to hear it and interpret it the game isnt so amusing though when you stop to figure how many people there are in the world today who are being forced by a rigid press censorship to see events in just that distorted and untrue light the same spirit which is attempting to smother all free thought in other countries is now moving to influence people on this continent to accept the same biased outlook narrow view of life and world affairs it will be disastrous if that spirit continues to gain hold air high over alaska registers 74 above zero its summertime in the arctic it you go high enough the temperature was 23 below zero on the ground at fairbanks alaska feb 16 traditional wintering weath er but 46260 feet up in the air it was 74 degrees above the delightful weather where no body can enjoy it was discovered by a radio robot and revealed by special weathermen w b drawhaugh and l a coffin they were sent there from washington bc to conduct a high altitude survey reversed in summertime heres the way temperatures look ed to the robot as it came back to earth 46260 feet 74 above 5400 ft is above 1310 feet 13 above 702 feet 9 above ground level 23 below temperatures are reversed in sum mertime commented pilot oscar win- chell when its warm on the ground the mercury is usually around zero at 9000 to 12000 feet his informal wintertime observa tions coincided with the robots on a flight from anchorage he said he hopped off in zero weather and flew through temperatures of 40 above at 9000 feet why they looked the opposite way ncbcdy stopped a canadian im migrant entering the united states at buffalo a canadian immigrant entered the united states one day last week with out the formality of checking through the immigration offices the new resi dent of the united states wa3 accord ed more attention from a distance than any border tripper ever has received since the peace bridge was opened in 1927 the nervy canadian resident scur ried through a fence at the canadian eutrauce to the bridge and then strolled leisurely past the cordon of customs and immigration officers straight down the centre of the bridge highway he nonchalantly made his way automobiles on the bridge moved out of its path right of entry undisputed at the united states bridgehead the closely guarded portal was desert ed for the first time on record the immigrant made his way into the country without challenge no one was at au anxious to dispute the right of entry with a skunk j news in revi billions on arms london great britain indicated this week that the pace of the world arms race had forced her to revise upward the vast fiveyear program she set for herself last ear to make the empire strong on both sides of the globe a government while paper an nounced that the 1500000000 7- 500000000 earmarked a year ago would not be enough to build un avoidable defenses in view of the in ternational situation and higher costs resulting from continuous develop ment of modern armament d7ence expenditure by air sea and land for the financial year 193s39 is estimated to total 343250000 with 8500000 in addition for air raid pre cautions this exceeds the corres ponding defence estimates for 193738 by 6s250000 ik ftpm cu ed1topjal comment from here everywhere there and canada the disappearing salmon people ou the pacific coast are at last getting an answer to that old question where do the salmon go it seems that they go into a floating japanese salmon caunery toronto star worlds worst threat this is the really most dangerous condition in the world today namely that the people ruled by dictators do not get either truth or common sense from their newspapers ottawa jour nal rural fire protection an english inventor has produced a fireplace which carries extinguish ers a motor pump sectional ladder and gas bombs capable of suffocat ing flames this may ultimately pro vide a solution to the problem of rural fire protection woodstock sen tinelreview the empire claim 50000 chinese casualties shanghai japanese declared this week that fleeing chinese troops suffered at least 50000 casualties in demoralized retreat through shansi province slaughter continued unabat ed japanese communiques said as they drove chinese forces toward the yellow river financially able to drive it seems to be a reasonable princi ple that no one should be allowed to take a car on the streets or highways unless he is in a financial position through insurance or otherwise to meet reasonable claims on account of any damage his machine may do either through his own carelessness or indifference or through mechanical deficiency of his car windsor star will not surrender revenue ottawa the federal govern ment will not surrender revenue from income taxation to the provinces hon norman mcleod rogers minister of labor plainly indicated to the house of commons his statement on the income tax came at the conclusion of a long fight on the question of relief there has never been any question of the legal competence of the dominion parlia ment to impose an income tax the flnbor minister declared freezing out dirt balkans bow the small na tions of central europe feeling them selves left in the lurch by great brit ain and the league of nations are scrambling with the exception of manufacturers find that raw wool is one of the most difficult materials to clean thoroughly burs dirt and impurities cling to it and will not wash off with either soap and water or chemicals but now dry ice used in the manufacture of icecream has come to their rescue the raw wool is passed through a room that by means of dry ice is kept at a temperature from 30 to 50 degrees fah below zero and all burs dirt and grease are solidified into separate parts then all one had to do is to shake the wool or tap it sharply and the impurities drop out like icicles in this way it is possible to clean four times the amount of wool as be fore and do it with thoroughness that was formerly impossible restrains austrian nazis graz austria stern orders to maintain discipline were imposed on styrias turbulent- nazis this week by the austrian minister of the interior arthur seyssinquart after conferring throughout the day with one group of austrian nazis af ter another the minister who is a friend of chancellor hitler of ger many told interviewers he did not be lieve there would be a nazi putsch or a march on vienna if they stood together secretary ickes of washington has been telling the world that the democ racies must stand together they all know it but the trouble is that large and possibly controlling influences in each of them are not yet convinced that the time has come for them to stand anywhere they could have stopped japan without firing a shot by making a stand in front of man churia now manchoukuo they could have stopped germany by making a stand on the rhine and negotiating a just and orderly revision of the ver sailles treaty once they had prestige enough to win without war whether they have today is doubtful whether they will have on some black tomorrow is not montreal star want angloirish agreement london eamon de valera prime minister of eire returned to london this week to resume his talks with british ministers in search of an an gloirish agreement informed sources believe a settlement of trade differ ences is possible although de val- eras hopes of uniting northern ire land with eire appear doomed to dis appointment canadas lost visions the national vision of plenty has been so far lost the national policy of abundance in canadian homes has been so completely forgotten the gov ernment is no longer concerned with the ability of the canadian fishing villages to buy canadian apples al most the entire concern of party poli tics is with the exporting business to the british or some other distant mar ket the conservative vision of na tional policy has been lost as com pletely as the liberal vision of freer trade there is no longer any real dif ference between the parties as the minister of labours admission about the key place of the protective tariff would show under straight party politics the liberals would lead along the path of freer trade the conserva tives would take new steps in the na tional policy to see that the canadian people have purchasing power in the home market to maintain economic security straight party politics has come to mean nothing more than the sham fight between tweedledum and tweedledee ottawa citizen only me remains in view of the niemoeller trial and the recent nazi purge one remarks that when kaiser bill resigned it was me und gott but with hitler now it is only me hamilton spectator universal vigilance so ions as two people are killed on scottish roads almost every day of tho year the challenge of the road casualties remains unanswered at the 3ame time despair of further ef forts to reduce the casualty list is not justified these must continue to be among the first duties of every section of the community motorists for ex ample must realize that they control or are supposed to control a poten tially lethal weapon pedestrians must realize that they can go safely only if they go warily and cyclists even if they are travelling on the special tracks they profess to dislike must remember the dangers of unsteady and careless riding the process of reducing the fearsome total of dead and injured cannot in tho nature of tiings be other than slow but it could be accelerated if courtesy con sideration and watchfulness were so strictly observed a3 to possess the quality of instinct glasgow herald japans weaknesses the british empire and the united states combined take half of japans exports and supply 63 per cent of her needs then in so far as japans raw silk export is concerned the united states takes s5 per cent of it this being the only japanese export not dependent on imported supplies of raw materials japans whole social struc ture it will be seen is dependent on the american silk market japan is vitally dependent on imports of oil from the united states and the dutch east indies and of iron and scrap from india malaya and australia amongst other things japans coal consumption is only a fifth of great britains and her heavy industry is not developed proportionately to her light industry a vital weakness for japan in war is her primitive system of land cultivation the productivity per acre is high but the productivity per man is exceedingly low the transfer of large numbers of men to the fighting forces and of women to the munition factories is bound to cause a steep fall in production at the very time when tens of thousands of soldiers have to be provided with a more substantial diet than they exist ed on as peasants hong kong news 11000 volumes shipped west lady tweedsmuir tells of how her prairie library scheme is working out in the 15 months that her prairie scheme has been operating 11000 books have been sent to the drought area and isolated parts of western canada lady tweedsmuir told a meeting- of the library association at ottawa it was during their excellencies first tour of the west that lady tweedsmuir felt a desire to assist tho prairie people living in drought areas or remote districts and on her return to ottawa she sent them some of her own books and some of lord tweeds- muirs answers many appeals soon educational chai ita orga nizations become interested in this sehno and contributed many books recently tho charitable trust xsso- ciation it glasgow and the carnegie trustees in the united states donated monetary grants lady tweedsmuir selects and checks over every boot sent to the prairies trying to answer the many appeals books are bought wisely not for the fancy wrapping and cov ers but for what they contain she said study art of reading particularly appealing are the re quests from youngsters such as a re cent letter addressed plainly to lady tweedsmuir canada dear sir please send me some books would it not be possible to pub lish and distribute pamphlets on how to read best books to read and vari ous other words of advice to read ers asked lady tweedsmuir this was a suggestion that she felt should be given wide consideration people today are losing the art of reading they are either at sea as to what to read or are content with reading re views rather than the books them selves foreign tourist trade increases last year brought 295000000 to dominion report shows whence came beefeaters usual view holds the name is a corruption of buffetier b d more than 60000000 worth of pineapples were grown in hawaii last year rising retail prices are causing in creasing demands for higher wages in france in england one of londons great est draws is the tower of london where a beefeater or yeoman of the guard is always to be found on guard in his picturesque scarlet and gold uniform but beefeater is only his nickname he is not really a yeo man of the guard and although his uniform is the oldest in the british army he is not really a soldier the name beefeater is a corruption of buffetier the name given to yeo men of the guard who served at royal dinners in days gone by the present beefeater does not descend from these yeomen but from the warders who acted as assistants and were allowed to wear yeomens uniform distinguished records another version of the origin of the name beefeater was that a grand duke of tuscany visiting britain in 1669 was so struck by the size and girth of the tower warders that he asked ifthey fed entirely on beef ah the present beefeaters are old soldiers with distinguished records and they play an important part in the ceremonies that have been handed down from norman times ottawa foreign tourists spent 295000000 in canada during the 1937 season while canadian tour ists in other countries spent approxi mately 123000000 it is estimated by the dominion bureau of statis tics corresponding estimates for 1936 were 249000000 and 107- 000000 respectively they spent more there were 3127352 automobiles entering canada for a period not ex ceeding 48 hours against 2880265 in 1936 and 1383130 automobiles for a period not exceeding 60 days compared with 1192935 expendi tures of motor tourists were estim ated at 182112000 against 153- 508000 tourists entering by rail number ed 894956 and those by steamer 267566 expenditure vof those who entered by rail was 53429000 in 1937 against 49877000 in 1936 and by steamer 20164000 compar ed to 14967000 i may be a member of the three score and ten club but i wont at tend any meetings until they wheel me in george ade the wonderland of oz billina laughed when she saw the peculiar whistle which evring held in his hand no wonder i could not find the tin woodman she said and no wonder the magic belt would not make him appear or that the king couldnt find him either what do you mean questioned dorothy ex cltedly why the prince had him in his pocket all the time cried billina cackling again i did not protested kvrlng i only took a whistle that no one would over want well then watch me replied billna laughing and reaching out a claw she touched the whistle and said ev swish 1 good afternoon said tho tin woodman taking off his funnel cap and bowing to dorothy i think i must have been asleep for the first time for i dont remember leaving the gnome king you have been en chanted answered the girl throwlhg her arms around her old friend and hugging him tightly in her joy its all right now i want my whistle said the little prince beginning to cry hush cau tioned billina the whistle is lost but you may have another when we get home by this- time the whole party was aware of the tin woodmans ro- turn ozma welcomed the tin man and as tho army caught sight of him they set up cheers training airmen on windjammer pan american airways expect to teach pilots by instruction in oldtime sailing technique by sending aeroplane pilots to sea in a sailing ship pan american air ways are proving that there is noth ing new under the sun these modern sky pilots hope by a study of the old- time sailing ship technique to be able to handle their aircraft more efficient ly captains of modern highpowered steamers are only concerned with weather conditions on the surface of the sea but the old sailing ship men concentrated on the upper atmosphere as their guide to the weather ahead this is also the most important factor for aeroplane pilots and by going to sea under a windjammer captain they will learn the technique of the air learn wind stresses but they will not only study weath er conditions they will have lessons in the art of handling a vessel under sail and the experience gained is ex pected to prove of great benefit when applied to tho management of aero planes which are subject to wind stresses in almost the same way as a sailing ship the sailing ship used for training air pilots is the fourmaster trade wind and she has been completely reconditioned in addition to her mission as a training ship she will act as a tender for carrying supplies to the various bases of pan american airways petrol will be her chief cargo but she is also carrying among other things complete sets of surgical in struments and boxes of young trees and shrubs which will be replanted in some of the islands in the pacific