The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

i 4. I * -1 â- r 'A V ^ ^ 7 ^ ^ A A .«\ A <^ A f •1 Seeing Triple? â€" Sister Cloeta, first-grade teacher at St. Leo's School, thought she was >ceing triple when these youngsters took their seats in "her classroom. They are Donald, Jimmy and David Hartley, triplet sons of Mr. and Mrs. D^vid Hartley. Now Sister Cloeta can tell them apart because they usually wear jackets with their names printed on them. CHARMING CHRISTMAS • . . GIF Tb . • • Handmade candles, well-shaped and delicately scented, make charm- ing gifts for friends as well as con- versation pieces for your own table ornamentel. It's easy to make them, with a simple outlay of materials, many of which you can find around the house. Probably the first thing you think of is that paraffin you had left over from canning. Well, it can be used, but is too often disappointing. It takes a good shape, but it difficult to color, and the candles made from it are brittle and easily broken. Odds and ends of used candles, on the other hand, art excellent. They can be m.;lted together, or each color can be kept separate. Whittle them into small pieces and remove the wicks, or if you prefer just drop them into the melting can »nd remove the wicks later. If you do this, though, cut off the burned part of the wick first, so that it won't make your wax dirty. Mutton Tallow and Beetwax Mutton tallow makes excellent •andles. Mix it with a little bees- wax to give the candles strength 4nd to prsvent too-fast burning. â- To make hard tallow candles, try a batch made with 10 ounces of mut- ton tallow, four ounces of beeswax, "two ounces of alum, and one-half ounce of camphor. Or if you live where you can get bayberries, by all means cook up a batch of candles, Bayberry candles, with their pungent old-fashioned fragrance, so familiar to the early settlers, are especially appropriate at Christmas. Gather beries, clean them of twigs and stems and put them into boiling water. .\s the wax from the berries floats to the surface, skim it off and place in a can. Melt again (over hot water) and allow impurities to settle). Pour the clear wax into yel another can and use it as you would tallow, or. if you like, mix it with tallow. Add a Bit of Scent Other candles can be scented witli liquid incense: or a fe'^ finely crush- ed sage leaves tossed into the melt- ed wax or tallow will give your fin- ished candles a delightful fragrance when burned. Candles may be colored by add- ing dry paint to the melted wax. Or you can use a drop of vegetable coloring, or even a tiny bit from a water-color tube. Wicks are important in achieving; a sloaily bright light. You can get brilliance and strength if you'll dip your wicks in turpentine and let them dry thoroughly before using. Small wicks are best. You can make wicks of ordinary twine, or you can buy candle wicking in the dime store. Use this single, or for a nice spiral candle double the wick and twist it, and have the wax very hot when dipping the candle. Always melt your wax or tallow over hot water. Use any saucepan for the water, and use tin food cans for melting wa.\. Set the melting can into the pan of water. Or if you prefer, set a pie tin over the saucepan of water and put the melt ing can on that. Once the wax is thoroughly melt- ed, it is ready to work with. To let it get any hotter is unnecessary and, if left too long, it may flare up. It should never, never smoke. Now Ready to Mold Once the wax is melted, color and scent added, you are ready to make the candles. If you are mak- ing molded candles, prepare the molds before melting the wax, and set them in a clear space that leaves you room to pour without spilling. The heavy-set candles so popu- lar for Thanksgiving and Christmas can be made of cardboard milk car- tons. Cut the top otf square. With a large needle punch a hole in the exact center of the bottom. Tie a knot in your wick and thread it up through this hole. .\t the top, fasten it securely around a pencil or small stick which will fit across the top of the carton and hold the wick reasonably taut. Pour the wax in all at once and when thf candle is thoroughly cool, put into the refrig- erator for a" couple of hours. Then cut off the bottom knot, undo the wick at the top. and peel off the cardboard. Colored red or green for Christ- mas, these are lovely. .\nd you can make them any size you like by cut- ting the cartons down. Candles for low table center- pieces can be molded in muffin tins. Or lovely petaled candles to float on a dish of water can be made by using individual jelly molds. Both these candles need a core. Just pour your wax, then take one of those ends of used candle from which you've cut the burned part of the wick, and set this into the center ol the mold. It should be even with the surface of the molted wax. This W'ill provide a sturdv core ami make Cluunpion Potato Grower â€" Col. The HDnoinablc ^'. I., Ken iictl\ . .Miiii^ler ol .\k(rio nil lire, prescius haiulsoiiie liophy i>. I'lank Rick, Trout Creek, Ontario's chainpioii potato groww besides trophy Rksk «ko wo»i $l>0 oash award. the candles burn evenly. Let cool, th»n set into the refrigerator until the candles loosen ai. 1 can be re- moved easily from the molds. For Dipped Candles For dipped candles, tie one end of your wick to a pencil or stick. Fasten a .small weight to the other end. You can tie more than one wick to a pencil if your can ot melted wax is wide enough to ac- comodate them as they grow into candles. The can, of course, must be deep enough to make the candies the height you desire. For dipping one at a time, you can use narrow cans, such as soup cans. Dip the wick into melted wax briefly. If you are working in a cool rooni, it may not be necessary to dip the candles in cold water to harden, but otherwise, have a can of cold water ready, and dip the candles alter each wax dipping. Repeat until candles are the thick- ness you desire. You can make these candles the same color all through, or drop your color into the wax for your final dipping, which will give the candles a colored coat. For dripless candles, add a very small amount of stearic acid to the wax for the last dipping. When they are the right size, dipped can- dles can be hung from the edge of a table until thoroughly cold. Then store in the refrigerator for awhile. Use Small Cans There will be wax left over from the dipped candles. Put it into tom- ato soup or shrimp or even baby food cans. Loiver into it a length of used candle, or a short hand- dipped caiiiile. Let harden, cool in the refrigerator, and remove from the can. L'siiig a paring knife, carve into any appropriate shape, such as snowballs. Christmas trees, snow men, little houses or churches; or for Thanksgiving, turkeys, or yel- low pumpkins. With care, you can get some very good results.- When the candles are carved, you can dip again for smoothness or if the color is imperfect. If you like unusual things and enjoy having a hand in them your- self, you'll like making candles in vour kitchen! "Wrist Watch" â€" Time hangs h«avily on the haiul ot Laura Barone. who tmd* this giant, jawcl-stuilded timepiece about all she can carry. A local watchmaker designed the big watch, fitting it with precision inciveinciii and outsize band. Fishing Parson Forgot Funeral Older people who remembar the country doctor of half a century ago can tell strange stories of un- usual characters. When Dr. Harry Roberts, fam- ous in London's East End, bought his first practice at Hayle, Corn- wall, his nearest colleague was an oldish man who, when called it night to remote confinement, would have his horse taken out and stabled if he found things were not moving quickly, remove his boot.s and coat, and get into bed beside the patient to finish his night's sleep in peace, telling the nurse to wake him when anything was doing! Doctor's Horseback Visit A former doctor in Roberts' practice had been a very iat man who rode a heavy roadster horse The narrow, steep staircases of many of the little stone cottages of his patients presented a problem which he would solve by riding to the front door and shouting up the stairway: " "Morning, Charles, how are you this morning? Hold our your hand." Then, with his arm full-stretch up the stairs, he'd put the end of his riding whip on tiie patient's wrisr and pretend to feei his pulse with it. ".\11 right. Doin;; nicely." he'd say. "I'll look in again in a week or so." Then off he'd go. the visit ended! Witchcraft Wonder There were "white witches" stili in those parts, including an old man who charmed warts and cured sick cattle. Dr. Roberts' housemaid had a crop of warts on her hands that made her miserable, and he tried every remedy he could think of. unsuccessfully. .At last, in despera- tion, she said she was going to the white witch to have them charmed away. She was quite welcome to, he fold her; much good might it do her! N'ext morning, she hadn't one wart, nor did they ever reappear. .\mong other local stories in Miss Winifred Stamp's excellent biography of Roberts, is one of a St. Ives curate who was helping to harvest a phenomenal haul of pil- chards at Porthminster Bay. Sud- denly at lunch, he exclaimed: "Good Lord! I've forgotten old Mrs. Baragwaneth's funeral. Two hours ago!" He tore up the streets to the cemetery, to find the mourners sit- ting in a row like crows on the wall with the coffin behind them on the grass. "Bless 'ee. my .dear." said die chief mourner, "you've no cause to be put out. We hadn't anything else to do; and as for the poor soul beneath, she don't know nawthen 'bout it " >ociaiism Vu .omes Mighty High It may he too much to hojie that the Socialist doctrinaires will ever be willing or able to comprehend the facts. But there are a few about the results of their nationalization schemes in Britain that should make thi'ni think. • The nationalized coal iiuhistrv both in 1047 and 1948 failed to reach the modest targets set for it. .After two years in which the workers worked in "their own" pits, output per man was 30 tons less than in 19J*J despite imiiortant ad- vances in mcchinization. In 1048 absenteeism was 11.0%. In lOJQ it was 6.9%. Despite tl^e frantic recruiting pro- gram the 1048 target was missed by 24.000 men and during the past half of 1040 the total number employed in the industry fell by 4.000. In the first years of nationaliza- tion the railways lost £25 millions. In three years, civil aviation lost %J0 niillionij. In the fir.st year oi naiioiializa- tioii, cable and wireless profits were £17 million. But in the imjnediate- ly preceding period under private operation, profits had been £3.5 millions. Since elcctricin was nationalized in 1048 the price iias risen in many area.^ 15-20% and for some there is an additional sub.stantial sur- charge. There's pan ol the British re- cord. Yet the determination to push the iron and steel bill seems as firm as ever, and the Socialists cliiig to their gospel that governiiicnt nuisl run everything. Surely somewhere ui the Socialist party of Britain and Canada i» a mind which can comprehend the fol- ly of their course. Have they no men of sense and courage? GOOD ADVICE "! I ant quit* diagiio.->e you' case' said the doctor. "1 think ii must be drink" "That's OK, doctcM-. 1 know ju»i how you feel," said tlhe patient. "I'll 'â- ome back when vou're sober" THiFAiM nm For a long time, I have been wondering why so few newspapers, when the name of a Uttle-knowu town or village appears in the news, fail to mention what county or dis- trict it is in, or near what big town it is located. Doing this, I believe, adds a whole lot to the in- terest of the readers. This thought came to mind when I read an item recently to the effect that Frank Rick, of Trout Creek. Ont., for the second time in three years, had copped the championship potato award, given each year to the farmer who not only grows the best 'Murphies." hut also has the largest yield. -. « « "Where in heck is Trout Creek? " I said to myself â€" a confession ot shocking ignorance, I suppose, but anyway. I didn't know, so looked it up. Well, it's in Parry Sound County and when the 1941 census was taken, it had a population of 370. So that's tliat. and now back to Frank Rick, whose success as a pomnie de terrier (ouch!) started all this. Besides a handsome trophy Rick won himself the nice packet of $250 in casli. The contest is judged on yield per acre, the qual- ity, grade and marketability of the spuds, selected exhibit plus a score for cooking quahty. « *' • Rick, or at least his potatoes, passed all these hurdles with flying colors, garnering a total of 510 points. His nearest competitor was 14 points below this. Second prize of $125 went to Dave C. Hackett. of Cochrane. Out., while third mcuiey was taken by W. A, Vail & Son, of Denneld. in Middlesex County. * „ «. Rick was particularly happy about winning again, aftei- losing out last year. This year was an unusually dry one and therefore potato growing required more at- tention than usual. During July, he had no rain. "If we had only a little rain during this hot month, 1 am sure that I could have gotten another 100 bushels off my acre," he said. .As it was, he got 836 .bushels per acre, a very high aver- age considering conditions of the past year. Since Rick has entered into the contest, he linds that building up soil for potatoes results in better crops of grain, hay and pastures in succeeding years. .As his soil -is a sandy loam te.xture, he has therefore obtained good cash crops as well as saving his soil. * » -ff Now here's something which, while it may not exactly belong 'ii a farm column, still might interest a whole lot of folk living on farms â€" and some of riie "city slickers" as well. B • • Many home owners consider that sheet asbestos paper applied as in- sulation to the bright metal pipes of their furnace improves their heat carrying capacity. However, re- search work lias proven that the heat loss is 62% greater with one thick::ess of 12-pound asbestos paper covering a bright tin pipe than wiien the same pipe is left uncovered. This test applies to bright tin warm air leader pipes through which air ' is flowing at relatively low velocity under a grav- ity system â€" tiie gravity system be- ing by far the most common sys- tem 01 central lieating in use in Canada today 111 order to de;iioiistrate tiie in- efficiency of a layer oi asbestos paper as a heat insulator, test* were run in which tiie number i)i thicknesses of paper was increased until the heat loss became less than the loss through a bare, bright tin specimen. Eight thicknesses of 12- pound asbestos paper were applied before the desired result was ob- tained. The impractical features of such a method of insulating are, of course, evident. The conclusion drawn was that the use of a thin layer of asbestos paper glued around warm air furnace leader pipes should be abandoned. K « « For the average, up-to-date grav- ity warm air furnace installation, a practical method is merely to seal the joints of all pipes with two-inch asbestos strips in order to make the system "closed" and therefore dust-tight. The return air side, in- cluding joist panning if used, should be stripped in a like man- ner. It is pointed out, howevei', that leader pipes which might be exposed to the chilling effect oi basement windows, or which ar« extremely long, or run througti cold spaces, should be adequately insulated â€" a minimum of t^iret layers of corrugated abesstos being recommended in such cases. HALF OUR READERS WILL AGREE - "I've watched new cars roll off the assembly line," says our nearest neighbor. "It's amazing. First, they start out with little pieces, then it rolls down the line and thousands of men and a million dollars' worth of machinery put everything to- gether. Finally, a shiny new car emerges. Then a woman drivoi- buys it. Five minutes later â€" back t« little pieces." Off Tackle Slant â€" This nu key does some nifty broken-lield rnii- ning as he elnde.^ three comely pursuers. He ha.s just sn;ike- hippc<) out of a flyinjf tackle by Beverly L)a> and has left trna Rosstnan, teti, ,iiul l.ee Austin far behind. JITTEk By Ar.iiur Po'cR;.;r 1 • i I