Tárogató, 1949-1950 (12. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1949-11-01 / 5. szám
TÁROGATÓ 15 THE TROUT’S SECRET Humpty Dumpty (Alice’s friend) had trouble with fish, and so have experts of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. Humpty sent a message to the fish and their answer was entirely unsatisfactory ... “I told them once, I told them twice, they would not listen to advice.” In the end he got into a frightful passion with them; but the Ministry scientists are more patient people—and they have an idea better than Humpty’s: they have sent a message with the fish. They have fastened to hundreds of sea-trout little plastic tubes in order to find out where these mysterious fish go after leaving the east coast of Britain, which they visit every summer. Now the experts are waiting for someone to catch one of these and tell them where it was found. DARBY AND JOAN While spending the summer at our family cottage on the shore of beautiful Lake Aylmer, we were fortunate to have insight into the lives of the Little People—as the Indians call them—and to learn that they are ready and willing to be friends, sometimes at a short distance if they deem it wise. A pair of wild ducks were quite content close to the wharf; they didn’t mind the dogs, nor the boats, and showed their liking for tidbits scattered for them on the beach. One day the houskeeper went to the city market and came back with a pair of ducklings—just a handful of yellow down they were. She said: “They looked so cute I just had to buy them.” Their first cuddling place was a strong carton placed outside in daytime and in the kitchen at night. They grew rapidly and soon were handsome white ducks content in the home chosen for them. When it was decided that they should have names, I was given the honour of choosing them, and forthwith I said they should be called Darby and Joan. In a short time they knew their names and when waddling about, Joan kept modestly in the rear of the proud Darby. Then one day Joan died and her mate was disconsolate. He wandered about head down and made a soft guttural sound in his throat, and after his unsuccessful search would go under a shrub, settle down with head under wing, and remain so for hours. His term of mourning over, “Richard was himself again,” and resumed his duties as master of ceremonies in his domain. He enjoyed going in the boat across to a pebbly beach, and just before the boat touched bottom he would hop off and swim to shore. The summer was passing and the housekeeper worried about Darby’s future. He couldn’t go to the city and there was no thought of a dinner of roast duck, but a farmer who kept poultry agreed to take the duck, so Darby’s fate was decided. He would become an ordinary domestic fowl. To finish this story of a pair of friendly ducks, we must add that Darby laid and egg, and of course the laugh was on me. Under the existing conditions a sexless name would have been wise, but to me he was the embodiment of—well, of a real Darby. Recent research undertaken by the Department of Labour indicates that there is a definite relationship between the number of years spent in school and earnings. A study of figures taken from the 1941 census revealed that during their most productive years, workers with five to eight years schooling earned an average of 42 per cent more than those with only one to four years in school. Similarly, those who had completed nine to twelve years schooling had average earnings 43 per cent higher than those in the “five to eight years” group. But the most striking revelation was contained in the figures for those who had completed 13 or more years of schooling who recorded average earnings almost 50 per cent higher than those in the “nine to twelve years” group. Although, during the war and since, there has been a strong demand for trained workers in Canada, resulting in a relatively open employment market EDUCATION PAYS DIVIDENDS
