I N^EMBER 5, 1931
I Today and
Tomorrow
K "v ??
By FRANK P. STOCKBRIDGE
Fleas
Something happened to the fleas
of Germany that killed them all off.
German scientific laboratories are
paying as high as ten marks, or J2.50
apiece for healthy fleas for experimental
purposes.
Russia's infested with fleas and the
Soviet government will not countenance
any effort to get rid of them.
They say that fleas are good for
people, because they make folks turn
over in their sleep, and sleeping on
one side is bad for the heart!
California is still waging war on
chipmunks or ground squirrels because
they harbor the fleas which
carry the bubonic plague. Every port
in the world takes precaution to keep
rats from coming ashore from ships
arriving from .ports where the plague
has been, because rats carry the
plague?fleas, too.
A book could be written about
fleas. One of the world's most famous
short poems, by the great Dean
Swift, was written when those who
spoke good English pronounced "tea"
and "flea" as if they were spelled
3 and "flay," as Dublin Univer??
P|ity men pronounce them today. It
IS &8?'S?; naturalists observe, the flea
y '"*Has lesser fleas that on his prey,
And they, in turn, have lesser fleas
Upon ther backs to bite 'em,
a ? *1? ?
?, nnij ivsa'ci "ireos nave swaner neas,
;r And so ad infinitum."
|j| Some years ago the New' York Sun
printed what it termed "the shortest
poem in the English language." Its
title was "Fleas," and the entire poem
read thus:
yr. "Adam
Had 'em."
Eyes
Quite the most marvelous application
of scientific research is the dep:
velopment of photo-electric eye, the
sensitive little tube which not. only
detects the slightest change in the
amount of light that shines on it,
but can convert these variations into
electric currents.
One electric company has an elecitric
eye mounted upon a tower which
automatically switches on the street
lights of a big city when the darkness
reaches a certain degree, and
turns them off again when morning
arrives. Working on the same principle,
an electric eye is used in many
homes, factories and offices to turn
on the lights automatically on winter
afternoons when it gets too dark
to work without artificial light. In
another application the electric eye
acts as a sentinel in the stores and
Warehouses. The slightest flash of
extra light, such as might be made by
a burglar's flashlight or a fire, is
caught by the electric, eye which
turns on all the lights in the place
and at the same time rings an alarm
for the police.
In one big mail order house the
electric eye is being used to sort mail
sacks going to different destinations.
The sacks bear labels of different
sizes and colors which reflect varying
means of light as they pass under
the electric eyj on an automatic
carrier. Depending upon the exact
amount of light reflected from the
label, the photo-electric cell opens
one or another compartment into
which the mail sacks drop.
Engineers are trying to combine
the electric eye with an apparatus
which will convert the letters on a
printed page into sound. They say
it is not impossible that a machine
may eventually be built which will
read a book aloud. I have long gotten
over being surprised at anything.
Calendar
The Committee on Calendar Reform
of the League of.-Nntionr. has
postponed its effort to put the calendar
on a sensible basis, partly because
of hard times and portly hecause
certain religious bodies object
to any change which would make
their sabbath fall on a different day.
That is a foolish objection, but perhaps
more powerful than any reasonable
argument. Eventually it is
certain that the present calendar will
be changed.
Telephone
uennan telephone exchanges have
inaugurated a new system whereby,
when a number called fails to answer,
the person calling may be
switched to an operator who will
take a message for future delivery
over the 'phone. This is an intelligent
and practical thing to do, and ought
to be adopted in Amerioa, as it doubtless
will be.
f 11 ~
Bud r
'n' Bub
By V ?
ED
KRESSY \
Accidents
Recent statistics show some curiouj
facts about railroad crossing acci
dents, which are difficult to explain
The number of automobiles strucl
by trains at grade crossings has beer
declining steadily since 1926, but the
number of automobiles crashing intc
the siue of moving trains is increasing.
Evidently motorists are more
careful in crossing railroad track;
than they used to he, but it is hare
to imagine any person sane enough tc
drive a car, driving that car into s
railroad train. Perhaps bootleg liqunt
supplies tile answer.
Railroads have found it so mucl
cheaper to elevate their tracks than
to pay damages for crossing accidents
that the- time is coming soon wher
no important highway in Americj
will cross a railroad at grade.
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THE WATAUGA DEMOCRAT?E
Bulwinkle Speaks at
Lees-McRae College
Banner Elk.?In spite of cold
c weather and sudden snow squalls,
1 Lees-McRae's first home coming day
' went off very successfully. The first
* event of the day was a buckwheat
breakfast for the visiting trustees,
\ the ckaes being made from buck?
wheat grown and ground on the
school farm, eaten with maple syrup
* from the maple grove at Grandfather
\ Orphanage.
The trustees present for the meeting
at 10 o'clock were Mr. Sam R.
I Snllv P.Kair?MO? on/J T A O.'??-?
wuv.i?.u.uu, a:iu u. XX. uuunncio,
1 of Johnson City; Dr. H. H. Tliomjp
son, Bristol; Dr. E. D. Brown, of
1 Statesville; Dr. Frazor Hood, David1
son; J. Harper Beall, Lenoir; H. A.
Rouzer, Salisbury; C. A. Cannon, of
Ires
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tatural moisture.
uvernoai or process lobacc
it all natural moisture you (
flavor too.
never parches or toasts the fi
nestic tobaccos it uses?the
:ool, mellow, with natural mo
molds Tobacco Company's Cocst-to-Coas
Fit HOUR, Mori en DaM-y, PRINCE ALBERT
I Camel Orchestra, direction "Old Hunch," an
every nlfla except Sunday, direction Paul Ya
casting System Sunday. N. B. <C. I
See local paper for time
Made FB?SH ? J
n't remove the moisture-proof u ri
kageof Camels after you open it. 'ft
'k is protection against sioeat, Ju
ces and homes, even in the dry atn
[ heat, the Camel Humidor Pack deli
I keeps them right until the last one
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VERY THURSDAY?BOONE, N. C.
City; Dr. Roswell C. Long; Green-j
wood, S. C.; F. H. Stinson, secretary-,!
Banner Elk.
The student program was at 10:30,
with the ddress of welcome by Ellis
Oates, president of the Alpha Literary
Society. Galen Willis, president
of the Omega Literary Society, gave
n Vu*5fn>*iT "f 41 1:1
? j. vi cue ntcrary societies at
Lees-McRae. The principal address
of the hour was driven by John Forbes
on "Lees-McRae Lives at Home."
Music by glee club.
At 11 o'clock Major A. L. Bulwinkle
of Gastonia, representative from
the Ninth Congressional District, delivered
the address of the day. Major
Buhvinkle spoke of the increase
of crime among the youth of the
State and Nation as he has seen it
in the courts ever since the days of
his first law practice, and stressed
the importance of an institution like
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1 Radio Programs
QUARTER HOUR, Alice Joy.
d Prince Albert Orchotra,
in loan, every night except
Red Nchratk
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st end eerms. In
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fresh Camels
has been smoked
HINK Vol /**~\ 0 B
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J-TH?/,
I Lees-McRae in directing: and mouldj
ing the lives of the young people of j
' the mountains. Major Buhvinkle paid j
I a glowing tribute to the memory of ;
| the Rev. Edgar Tufts, founder of j
i Lees-McRae College, and the three-;
Ifold work at Banner ElEk. He spoke
of the last visit Mr. Tufts had paid
him in Washington just the year he
died and the great admiration and
aitection that Mr. Tufts inspired in
all who knew him.
At the barbecue over two hundred
and fifty people were served cafeteria
fashion by Mrs. Belle West
Jones and her assistants, large bonfires
making it possible to eat in com- j
fort out of doors despite falling temperatures.
(
The ball game with Weaver resulted
in a victory for the visitors of 6-0. ,
Here again huge bonfires along the j
side lines mitigated the severity of ,
the weather for the onlookers.
's VVSI
*hed or t
% the Camel Humidor Pac
to Camel smokers ? it l>rir
! fresh to start with, and /
don't realize what natural 111
freshness antl flavor, switch tc
this niild, slow-burning,
for just one day ? then leav
ISOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY, W
;gT YOV Pont EV?N\
KWOW WHO ANY OF )
)R DIPLOMATS AMt> J
STATESMEN ARE. \
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SEVEN
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TEACHER MEETING CALLED OFF
The teachers* meeting called for
Monday, the 9th inst.. has been
called off. Miss Deavers of the State
Department of Education, at whose
request the meeting was called,
writes me that it will not be possible
for her to attend at this time.
Notice of meeting will be called
later.
SMITH HAGAMAN,
county superintendent.
Mispress?Now, Matilda, I want you
to show us what you can do tonight.
VVe have a few very special friends
roming for a musical this evening.
Maid?Well, ma'am, i ain't done
io singin' to speak of for years, but
f you-all insists upon it you can put
ne down for "The Holy City."
R i
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ousted !
k proves such a
igs them a fine
Irtish to smoke,
oisture means in
? Camels and see.
e it, if you can!
? 1931, R. I. SijiwUi Tobacco Company
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