Tárogató, 1945-1946 (8. évfolyam, 1-7. szám)
1946-01-01 / 7. szám
TÁROGATÓ 15 of his essays he writes of the huge spiders that are found in Cochin China, and he relates that their webs are composed of horizontal and parallel lines which stretch from one tree to another. But, proving their intelligence, when the French colonists began setting up telegraph wires, the insects discovered that these wires provided them with a warp already made and promptly established themselves on these wires. By so doing, they needed only to spin the woof, on which they watched for their prey. Certainly such tactics proved beyond doubt that the spiders had not only observed the ready-made net that the wires offered, but had deliberately taken advantage of this convenient fact. In a letter to a friend the composer tells of watching a dozen ants feasting upon a tidbit they had found. “I placed my finger near the group,” he writes, “and they all moved away at different speeds, indicating different degrees of fear. But one of the ants paid no attention at all. After several attempts I placed my finger quite close. This time they all fled and did not return, with the single exception of the one who had previously paid no attention. This time it apparently lost its temper, for it suddenly turned around, threatened me with its mandibles, and then, lowering its head, it rushed at my finger with full speed! I withdrew, overcome by the prodigious moral courage of the insect! Where, may I ask, would one find a human being with the courage to charge a giant taller than the Eiffel Tower?” Like tnany other dog owners, Saint-Saens firmly believed that dogs possessed a kind of telepathy, and cites the following as one of many experiences which seem to prove it: “During a visit to Teneriffe I made friends with a dog who belonged to a gardener. I visited the beautiful garden almost daily, and always played with the dog. Finally came the day of my last vist. I had told no one of my plan to return at once to France, yet the dog knew! On that last day he accompanied me a great distance along the road, a thing which he had never done before, and seemed determined not to leave me. I drove him away by tricks and pretended threats of violence, but he continued to follow. I did not know what to do. Finally, tired of scolding him, I knelt down in the road beside him, kissed him, and explained to him, as carefully as I would to a beloved child, that I could not possibly take him with me. When I finished he gently licked my hand and sorrowfully, without one backward glance, returned home.” —United Churchman. THE GIDEONS All people to whom hotels are familiar know of Gideon Bibles, but how did this practice of having copies of the scriptures there originate? The “Christian Science Monitor” told this story in a recent issue. Back in 1898 two commercial travellers, John H. Nicholson and Samuel E. Hill, happened to share a room at a hotel in Boscobel, Wis., and that casual meeting, along the added interest of Will J. Knights, led to the organization of the Christian Commercial Men’s Association of America. The first regular meeting took place in Jahesville, Wis., July 1st 1899. This organization later changed its name to “The Gideons,” hence the Gideon Bibles, the slogan adopted being “A Bible in Every Hotel Room.” The Superior Hotel, Iron Mountain, Montana was the first hotel “Bibled by the Gideons” and since that time the organization has gone a long way toward the achievement of that goal. They have added another slogan: “A Bible on the Desk of Every School Teacher,” and to date over 75,000 Gideon Bibles have been so placed. —Canadian Citizenship Branch. CONSERVATION A member of the Department of Lands and Forests at Ottawa is responsible for the assertion that more than ten million acres of timber forest have been destroyed by fire in Canada in the past twenty-four years. Commenting on this the Saskatoon “Star-Phoenix” emphasizes the importance of keeping public opinion focused on the essential needs of a large-scale programme of conservation in the widest sense and notes the reorganization of the Saskatchewan branch of the Canadian Forestry Association as an important step in that direction. —Canadian Citizenship Branch. THE PROJECTED CHIGNECTO CANAL Estimates for the construction of the Chignecto Canal to connect the Bay of Fundy with Northumberland Strait have varied according to depth considered necessary. For a 18-foot canal estimates ran as high $23,045,000, but according to a Short Report in “Liberty”, a é
