• > . % •' A" r; THE ALAMANCE CLEANER. VOL LII Hsld Mandrake Gifted . With Peculiar Power Mandrake, known to present day" botanists as an anesthetic and nar cotic, since Biblical times has been opposed to have powers of love and fertility, but during the Seventeenth century Its activity as a love agent was "exploded by the spirit of in vestigation," accordlpg to a Journal of 103(5_ However, we * And tliat the mystery and supenstitlon of the drug still exist. 'According to Frederick Starr, an American writer, a wealthy jew of Chicago who was interested in the return of the Jews to Palestine and who contributed generously to the cause, mourned the fact that he had no child to perpetuate his line. The Jews of Palestine, knowing of his family sorrow and appreciative of sympathy, sent him a mandrake with their best wishes. Tale 3 concerning -the plant are numerous. The root, that looks much like a parsnip, resembles the human form in shape. The fruit varies in size from that of a nutmeg to a small apple.' These "apples" were gathered in the gardens of Aphrodite, the god dess of love, according to mythology. The mandrake, according to an old legend, never was found growing ex cept under the site of a gallows, from which it was nourished by the blood of the victim, particularly an Inno cent victim. The Syrians would not touch the herb until certain concoctions had been poured upon it, after which the ground was loosened and a dog*tled to the root. The dog was then left alone, and in its struggle to escape the plant was torn from the ground, killing the dog by the* frightful screams coming from its root. In re turn for its capture the plant was .thought to have' power to cure dis eases, frighten away demons and act as a love potion.—Missouri Botanical" Garden Bulletin. Fire Preserve* Fruit A new process for preserving fruit, vegetables and kindred things makes use of a system similar to that adapt ed for exhausting wireless valves. Ac cording to recent research the main cause of decay in perishable goods packed in tins Is the presence of oxygen, and the object of the new process is to remove the oxygen. The following Is a brief, resume of the process: . - • The fruit Is placed in the metal con tainer, over which is placed a metal cover. A piece of wood impregnated with a special solution is next placed over the shield and ignited, and when conflagration is weU developed the container is hermetically sealed. This process results in carbon diox ide (CO2) being left in place of the oxygen. The food la preserved for nmch greater periods, without admix ture .of chemical preservatives. IST AMERICAN YOUTH ENTRY * aßgßlift * f} ' tr ' HI Edith May eighteen-year-old entr1 n fi to s' N J "' glrl > Presenting her n(K k t0 Mayor Kendrlck in his mce at City HaU, Philadelphia. The encan Youth and Teacher Award em, esta *"' s hed aa a tribute to Amerl of r«° Utll an * teachers" by the Board Into lrectors ot the Sesqui-Centennial S a "° nal Exposition, thretfgh t SM?». people of the United States the iKn , world a 't large will celebrate tu n , h anniversary' of the Declara , American Independence. The eemhi , n wIU run from June Ito De cited h 11188 -Adams' entry blank ly r for llero ' 8m displayed recent' to_ . e " ® he remained inside a bure au, , 8 helping doctors render eandM . » in,ure d firemen. She Is a hl*w , for tbe OoWen Eaglette, the Girl s 1 w,u »to the hands of the Cirl if 5 ' Each - state will elect a •ent tu an * teacher to repro bates Jm v uj 016 successful candl etcu,. I ° e th « guest of the Sesqul «« from June 28 to July B at the This will also Include a fc "eceivTd aS h ln i!?? whero & er •tssenilji President Coolldge and with medakL Undersea Craft Idea Date s Back Centime* Few and evil have been the days of the submarine, which it is hoped to banish from the fleets of the world. But experimentally the idea goes back into a very remote past. Aristotle speaks of some kind of submarine ves sel ffsed In the siege of Tyre than 2,000 years ago, and there are occasional mentions of the idea through history. In the Sixteenth century we come to the bishop 0 f Upsala's claim to ave invented a boat for scuttling ships from below, and in 1620 Charles I gave a Dutch inventor an order for boates to go under water," though they do not seem to have been used against the French. There were the rudimentary and unsuccessful of Bushnell In the Eighteenth century. But an ill fate pursued the early in ventors. t ulton's submarine was rejected by France, England and America in turn, 1 and he set himself to the more usual work of designing boat engines. John son's submersible, which was to have rescued Napoleon from St Helena came to nothing. Bftuer, who was taken up by the prince consort, drowned the crew of his submarine, though the admiralty seems to have been largely to blame.—Manchester Guardian. Dog Trainers Differ in Methods of Work Most dog trainers deny the truth of the saying that you can't teach old dogs new tricks. The facts appear to be that a dog more than two years old is more easily taught than the av erage puppy because he is more capa ble of understanding what you wish him to Jo. Many an intelligent dog is spoiled by too Insistent efforts to correct minor faults In the early stages of his training. His spirit is broken be fore he has an opportunity to learn things worth while. Many dog train ers, in handling hunting-dogs, or even watch-dogs, insist that they should not be taught little tricks, such as sitting up and begging for food, or Jumping through one's hands. The objection is that the trick dog comes to look for signals from his master and Is less likely to act on his own initiative. On the other hand, many trainers take an opposite view and think that learn ing tricks is good discipline and help* In a dog's general mental development —Fred C. Kelly, In Hearst's Interna tional-Cosmopolitan. Weight of the Ah The poet writes of "trifles light as air" and we often talk of the "airy nothings," but the atmosphere which surrounds our planet and accompanies it on its journeyings through space la not so light- as we often imagine. Its average pressure is fifteen pounds to the 'square inch. The barometer, as its name Implies, is an attnosphere weigher, and on the varying weight, noted over large areas, depend our dally weather forecasts. A change of an Inch in the height of the mercury column means a change of atmospheric weight of half a pound per square Inch on tne earth's surface, so that even a change of one-tenth of (fo-4nch in the barometer represents 88,000 tons per square mile. A change of an Inch over an area the size of the British isles signifies tMfe colossal total of considerably more than 100,- 000,000,000 tons of air!— Brief Stories. What Cau*ea Clumnne**? Dr. E. O. Clements, who to a British physician and aviator, says that many people are clumsy because they lack the proper balance between the mas cular systems of their eyes. The phy slclan made a thorough study of the eye disorders which make some men Incapable of becoming good aviators. The clumsy man cannot land the planes successfully, even If he can op erate them successfully when In the a j r According to Doctor Clements, two factors are essential to proper binocular vision. The brain must In terpret ''correctly the p impulses which are received from the ey**- Th ® muscles must respond to these stimuli efficiently. There are many cases where defects of this kind can he rem edied by a course of visual training exercises.—Pathfinder Magazine. Tube Betray Bmrglart A tube so sensitive that It rings a bell when a ring of cigarette smoke floats by, that shrieks a warning when the shadow of a burglar crosses Its surface, that measures the light of gtars millions of miles away, was ex hibited recently. It Is a combination of a thermionic tube, one that responds to heat, and a photoelectric cell which tarns light Into e)octrlclty. The tube looks like an ordinary vac uum tube, says a writer to Popular Science Magazine, but reacts to vari ations of light falling on It, these va riations being conTerted lnto surges of electricity that can be Into sound. The sounds aw amplified a thousand tipes. GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY. APKIL 1, 1926. rook Man Centuries to See Value of Fork I* "good old times," when human beings were always within 24 hours of starvation, man ate only-with his fin gers. He hunted for his food in the woods or by the seashore, and he picked the bones clean. Two table articles are found among uncivilized peoples—the knife and the spoon. The knife was originally a weapon of attack or defence; It was used for cutting and carving flesh, but its con venience in eating soon became ap parent. The origin of the spoon Is uncertain. It must have been Invented at a very ' ancient date, for it is found among people that have never come into con tact with civilization. The necessity of having some Imple ment for dipping water seems to have led first to the invention of the cala bash, or the use of the coconut shell, and later on to the spoon. It was many thousand years later before there were forks. As a writer on table etiquette has said, "from the creation of the world to the beginning of the Seventeenth century man ate only with his fingers." This is, however, a mistake of 400 years, for we find forks aS early as the Thir teenth century, when they are men tioned as being kept for special pur poses. British Guiana Jungle Still Awaits the Explorer British Guiana bush is a dangerous maze. Savages find their way by means of secret marks, but a tender foot enters at great risk. The coun try is five times the size of England, and there are not more than ten white men who have gone into the wilds of the interior, according to D. Bannen man Clarke, M. A., general manager of the Aranka Gold, Limited, of Georgetown, British Guiana, says the London Mali. The natives, he says, have the most marvelous sense of direction, and find their way through the jungle with un erring precision. They have a sort of sign language. They make marks on trees which only they understand, and if some one has followed the na tives he can always tell how large the party was, whither they went and Just when they passed the given spot by these curious marks on the trees made with cutlasses. They also leave marks for their own guidance when they turn about and start homeward Had Wrong Willie It's something startling to be called to the telephone by an unknown pet* son. A youth In a downtown office was called to the 'phone recently "Are you William G. Smith ?" a voice asked. "Yes, sir," replied meek Willie, who is just sixteen and Is not at all sure of himself. "Well, this is Mr. Buzzwuzz, lawyer. Don't you know that you owe your wife ten months' alimony? When are you going to pay It?" "But I ain't married," pleaded Willie. "What's that —lying out of It? We'll send some one to arrest you right away." "Mister," Willie almost cried, "honest I ain't married. I'm only sixteen and my mother wouldn't let me." "Only sixteen?—l guess I must have the wrong number," the lawyer declared. •There are too many Smiths in the world."—Philadelphia Record. About the East The phrase Far East designates China and Japan and that region of A that is most eastern, whereas the Near East refers to the Levant, Tur key, and the countries adjacent there to. Originally In the political world, Turkish affairs were referred to as the Eastern Question. In those days, the mid-Victorian period, the regions of the Far East were designated by the names of the countries referred to. It was only when the dismemberment Of fiMn» was determined upon by Rus sia and Japan that the phrase Far East came into prominent use. The word Orient is derived from the Latin orior, rise, and designates that part of the earth in the East because the sun Is said to rise in that region. Built House in Treetop In a treetop near Masquan, N. J., an enterprising mai> built hliliself a house five years ago. There he has dwelt rent free —now he must aban don his primitive abode. The tree stands in a lonely spot near the beach. The city Is planning to extend an avenue and the tree, in the way, must come down. The tenant must look for another tree or hie himself to a boarding house or apartment The tree man Is employed by the street department Five years ago he became enthusiastic over outdoor life. He built a frame structure in the tree, 5 feet wide, 7 feet long and 5 feet high. It Is 12 feet above the ground and supported by sturdy branches. On both sides are openings Just large enough for a man to crawl through. He reaches his nest by means of a ladder. j HOW MONTHS OF THE CALENDAR GOT UNEQUAL DIVISION.— Perhaps not every one Is famil iar with the reason why all months of the year have not the same number of days. Month really means "Moon," and orig inally stood for the time from one full moon to the next As maq progressed a little, he be gan to take account of the year and to divide this second stand ard of reckoning into so many months. Since, however, the moon goes round the earth in 2» days, so many hours, minutes and seconds, while the true year consists of about 365 days and a bit, the sum wouldn't exactly divide properly, and the calen dar got into hopeless confusion. To put this right, Julius Caesar consulted with the most learned men of his day, and devised a new calendar giving the 12 months alternatively 31 days and 30 days apiece with a spe cial arrangement for February in Leap year. This plan, how ever, was upset by the vanity of Augustus, the next emperor, who thought that the month called after him should have 31 instead of 30 day?, and to get at this result rearranged the program in our present system of uneven months. Even so, the division of sun years by moon months wasn't exact and so about a century and a half ago we had again to recast our cal endar to meet the problem of what Is really an attempt to divide a sum which won't divide exactly. How Scientists Learned Secrets of the Plants To discover how flowers feed— starve them; If you would learn why most plants grow upwards—pin them along the ground. These are among the experiments conducted by students In the opened Sargant Laboratory for Plant Physiology. They study plants as liv ing organisms, and become acquainted with the problems and dangers that beset the life of the commonest dan delion. How plants breathe, how their food is obtained, and how they respond to imposed conditions are questions that can be answered only by experiments. The effect of supplying and withhold ing various "foods" is Investigated; the ratas at which the various plant organisms grow are measured under different conditions; so, too, Is the rate of breathing. Certain plants that require for normal growth are placed In complete darkness, while others sre bathed in light from colored arcs. Water sup piles are varied and temperatures reg ulated. A geranium that has a curved stem is subjected to electrical treat ment and made to Incline a different way. In Jts struggles to resume its normal growth it reveals Its various organs aad their functions. The Sargant laboratory Is set In a small but well-stocked garden where plants reared for experiments un der almost perfect conditions.-! Lo ndon Mall. How Long Fishes Live .How long does a fish live? Not ont out of water. Any boy can tell that from observation. But with proper food—everything It needs? According to Popular Science Month ly, Major F. 8. Fowler of England, who has been conducting a special study to find out reports that a cat fish, with which he Is acquainted, Is now fifty years old and Is still lively. An electric eel In tbe London zoo, he found, lived 12 years. Other fish age figures, as given by Major Fowler, are as follows: Carp, thirteen years; goldfish, twelve years; herring, four years; salmon, three years; brown trout, six years. A bullfrog's recorded age was fifteen years; toad, eleven years, and the giant salamander, fifty two years. Woman Veterinarian It Is strange to hear of a profession that is not overcrowded; it Is stranger still to be told that there Is only ooe woman veterinary surges In t$M United Kingdom. This Is Miss Alleen Cust, daughter of the late Sir Leopold Cust, who began practicing in Ireland and soon had such a big practice that she required four horses to cover her country. She has now settled en the borders.of tbe New foreet How Dew In Formed Dew is moisture condensed from the atmosphere. Including the air con tained in soil, and gathered In small drops on the surface of plants and other bodies, which radiate heat well but conduct It badly. Frost Is formed on night-; when the dew point is below freezing point HOME, DAD AND THE BOY J By FRANK H. CHELEY 0 \ * L 11 l — 'il The Preoccupied Dad THE world often calls him the successful man, and prints his history In Who's Who. t He gives his family everything * •, M1 — they need but himself. In the wild MMcnu«n#MT rush of modern living he has a^- * *I VABTFIY HAVE UMIVWSS ducted his responsibility as a Dad. 1 mrnrnUKT ANOf irwf&l He Is areally large callberedman * I VWftLDVWUO—" who has become wrapped up in his * I / I work until he almost forgets he Is v .. — A. JL « a father at all. * "Perhaps when profit Is dead and 2 brotherhood Is an established fact, ' ■ lass commercial generation will W" Jrr 'SV-£J* seise the greatest of all oppot /JSV Kt™ " trinities and fathers will concern t / N .y jSfpyw I, themselves with their sons." i Mil lit There Is many a preoccupied fa -1 fik jl/l ther who wakes up too late to the * M\\ Imxim. //Jfy/|\ fact that the "worst thing about a> VI BbT M 4 Ii MM) money Is that It often costs too i 11- I I j_jJ» Not all the homeless boys in * 111 Ull roM I HliftraMi America live In the slums. * ll' ffl 111 PI I l—l It is s great service to such men J ff| liflffu 1J liwri to fael P them discover that It is their privilege to be more than a * JlHfflllilifflllm Santa Clans to their own boys. * m does your boy go for "Yes, my Dsd was a fine man, J L but I never knew him," said a i ■ —— certain boy in trouble. i . r. H. Chalar. D*a«*r. Colo.) - Inaects and Scientists Scientists are making a special study of animal and Insect life as a means of determining changes which have taken place in the earth. The re lations insects of one region bear to those of another Indicate that certain Islands were once connected. In Jamaica, recently, they explored a very ancient section of that country that has been above the for a long er time than Its neighboring land snd which shelters Insect tribes of great age. This discovery leads authorities to believe that animal life of that Isle Is more closely associated with those of Haiti or Cuba, and that it original ly found its way tram the mainland over a land bridge leng since engulfed by the ocean.—Family Herald Gas From Flower Gardens The great development of natural gas In the Industries around Pitt*, burgh/ Pa., Is in a considerable meas ure due to George Westtnghouse of airbrake fame. He finally Induced his wife to let him sink a shaft In her flower garden, his labor being reward ed by a geyser when he hsd gone about 1,600 feet. From this came the development of the Pittsburgh supply. Westtnghouse himself worked out the system of piping that enabled It to be distributed without leakage, at the same time reducing tbe pressure by the use of gradually larger pipes, until It could be ssfely hsndled by the time It reached a customer. Earliest Known Letters It was formerly believed that 4he earliest extsnt collection of formal letters was the series of about 190 Greek epistles professing to have been written by the tyrant Pbalarls of the Blxth century B. C. A controversy arose, however, snd Rlchsrd Bentley, in his famous "Disserts tlon on the Letters of Phalarls," In 1609, demon strated, as Is now universally admit ted, that they are of comparatively late origin, about the Second century A. D. Among the early genuine let ters of the Greek period sre those St Isocrates (dlsd 888 B. C.), ntel la number. How to Pack China Line your packing case with a good layer of straw, sprinkle it well with water before putting in each article filled and wrapped In soft paper and wound round with straw, and put a good layer of /well-sprinkled straw between each layer of glass or'china. The water makes tbe straw expand so that each srticle Is firmly wedged In place. For special treasures small carboard or wooden boxes may be provided. Into which they are tightly pscked before bring embedded In water-sprinkled straw. How to Soften Fur Rag If a fur rug has stiffened after be ing washed, It ca# be softened by ap plying the following mixture to the wrong side of the rug: Three table spoonfuls of castor oil, one of glycerin and one of turpentine. This must re main on for a week, when the rag; still on the wrong side, shonld be weU rubbed with a smooth stone or Mock of wood- How Clothes Got Name In studying the history of wearing apparel It has been ascertained thai the word cap came from a hooded cape; coat from the Latin "cottis," meaning tunic; jacket from "Jacquet" or coat of mall and skirt from "skyrta," meaning short The. word costume Itself comes from the wort custom, aad pajamas from the Hindo* Vetd "pas Jams" meaning leg riett. Modern Heroine Barbara was selfish, thirsty for pleasures of the most vulgar sort, amused hersaU by collecting adorers and treating them badly, was stupid and a liar—ln other words, was one of the normal types of healthy young womanhood. I should have been leas disturbed by these discoveries If only her face had bees different Bat with that dazsllng and mysteriously lovely face she was a perpetual source of aur prise and pain. In Barbara's company I was learning that It la possible to be profoundly and slavishly in love with some one for whom one has no esteem, Whom one regards as a bad character, and who, finally, not only makes on* unhappy, but bores one.—From "Those Barren Leaves," by Aldaas Huxley. Made Name Glorioae A world-famous battle was fought •t Thermopylae In northern Greece on August T, 8 and 0, 480 B. C, be tween three hundred Spartans and seven hundred Thespians, commanded by Leontdas and the entire Persian host For four days Leonldas and his band held the pass of Thermopylae against the lnvadera, at the end of which time Kphlaltes, a Trachlnlan, lad the Persians over the mountains by a sec let path to the roar -of the Greeks, who were thus placed between two hostile armies and were finally cat to pieces. One Greek only es caped, snd ho Is said to have been loaded with reproaches for havfhg fled. —Kansas City Star. Balance Year Diet Tbs balanced diet Is the healthy an* and contains all three of the Impor tant vita mines. The principal food value of bread and meat Ilea In their protein content but they are low tn vita mines B aifc C, and If you would bo sore of more balanced rations Insur ing plenty of each essential, use the citrus fruits often. The Juice of the grapefruit has a high cootent of vita- Bines B and C that provide the proper amount of carbohydrataa and salts. Grapefruit supplies the blood with an alkaline reserve which effectively bats acidosis. Hie Be/addlement -Hello, Uncle Rile It saluted Con stable gam T. Slackputter of Petunln, upon meeting the veteran. "What's pestering you?" "It don't matter the least to me or snybody else In the world," replied old Riley Rexzldew, "snd so I'm trying to remember and can't get It out of my mind, whether the great bllszard of 1886 occurred In 1884 or 1887T" If you date hack to where yon can remember when tboy called derMee "helmet hats" yon are In the sera nnd yellow, all right.—Kansas City Btar. Ancient Birch Bark Canoe Thomas f. Allen, of Bangor, Maine, ha» n birch bark canoe which is more than 100 years old. It la In perfect condition and Is further remarkable from the fact tljat It la made from g single piece of birch bark. He bought the canoe from en Indian woman some 16 ysars ago and It was then more than a century old. It had been ssade by the woman's grandfather and whan aba sold R aba was an old woman. How Stearin* Whncl Works The jnost recant Improvement over the time-honored steering wheel fgr ships, says Popular Science Monthly, la an electric controller that closely resembles those used on street wrs. A SHght turn of the control handle by the helmaman causes the rudder to respond Instantly. NO. 8. "LIGHTNING" THEf lightning may strike where it will bat there to always a definite reason for | its willing to strike where ft does. Every year, daring the summer ; season, persons are strnek and killed Iby lightning. It would be more eor i reel to say that persons are strnek I and stunned by, lightning and Inter ! die from neglect. Most persona stun~ ned by lightning could be resusci tated if speedy and proper treatment could be given. The Intense straight flashes are the most dangerous. The dg-ng flashes are seldom dangerous and the sheet lightning never dangerous. Just as the person instantly killed by a ballet never hears the report of the gun so the person strnek by lightning does not hear the thunder. By the time we bear the thunder the danger from that stroke has passed. When a thunder storm approaches do not seek shelter nnder a tree with thick foliage. This is especially dan- I gerous if you have -already gotten wet. Tour body is a better conduc tor than the trunk of the tree and i by standing nnder such a tree your j body 'forms a line of discharge to | the ground. Probably more people 1 are killed by lightntag in this way ' than all other waya. When in a 1 group of persons onAla struck and the others not it is because the body of that person is a better conductor than {he others. The person lying . flat on the grpund is always safe. I Do not stand in the doorway of either barn or house nor at the win* dow near a chimney. Llgfct»l»g. to ! some extent, follow* the currents of , air through doors ;nd up the chim ney, especi»!»v "rami air Hmr Maanory Rcwmrmd Lady Arabella waa the daughter at Thomas, earl of Wnrtnia She married i Isaac Johnson, who left hie satiia ! land for Mew England from rellgioutf ' motives. Lady Arabella theeifUlly accompanied him, and duy arrived at Salem. Mass, in April, 1M Her ex alted character and gained her universal esteem. but she died Is the September following her antvaL Mr. Johnson survived her little sasre than a month. He Is regarded as the founder of Boston, and though Mil time waa brief, yet the good week he accomplished win never be flo« gotten by the people of New England. But dearest still Is the memory of Lady ; Arabella.—Denver Newa. i ~~———— I SoaOU WMM I' Sea-going vessels frequently report having passed through parts of the ocean where the surface of the water wss covered with oil for a distance of perhaps many miles. - The Source of this oil is frequently s mystery. In some cases It lv known to have besn due to 011-carrylng v—«ls which bavu sunk, but In others it is believed to he due to oil wells on the bottom from which the oil rises. In some cases It has been obeerved bubbling out ef the water, as If a staady stream of It wots ' rising. Theee apparent submarine eO wells are most common In the Gulf sf I Mexico and oC the western cam* s| ! South America. ! i Thm Actor i Consider the life of s photoplay actor—now he Is hero and now male factor. There are millions le gasp at the twitch of his eyebrow—there's Na than to call him a pit-throwing high brow. He sails for France amid kisses tar geysers—he rides the shoulders at princes and vlxlers. Prom Benaults on Fifth he disdain fully senna us—his autograph phor . togrnpbs clutter up Kansas. Newspaper writers deny that Its means well—they certainly have to 1 admit that he screens welL The rned to success bus Its twist togs and strictures —but Ifs certainly grand to be famed for your pictures. —The New; Yorker. Not a Tutor Billy, age five. Uvea at Muncle wtth his Aunt Dean. Billy has. a habit of playing in wa ter, and recently dm waa admon ishing him for the misdemeanor. Billy kept on permitting the ky freshets from the spout to trickle over his hands. "Gee. this is cold as devil,** Billy said nonchalantly aa his sunt at tempted to pull Dim away. "What's that you sayr Inquired auntie. "Learn It for yourself," BUly ex plained as he backed away from his foggy haunts.—lndianapolis Newa.

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