to THE GUARDIAN

hbiiud Ivory week-day month; It in Prlnee LI:-II. Ii-lottetuwn. P.E.l. by the human Canpany l..td.. M King at. W.. Toronto. lnntrul Ofllce. I25 Univentlv TUIII Bldg.

"Gov"! Prhno Idvnl lnlnnl Lilo H0 III" Idllnl. hill Willa! Gounl Ilunur. III A. lune! Iember (TInIdlIn Dlllv Newmlpd . Publishers Auoclntinn l Member of tho Cannuian Prue ' M-mber Audi! Buruu of (Tm-ulIIiu-nu lunch nlfiru It Summenidt. Mnnujue Ind Alberto: Althonled In Second CIIII Mnll by the Poet Dlflco Ilepnnmenl. Ottuu. by urner ('hIrlniteu-wn. Summerlidl 015.00 per II- num. IZIM-when in P. E. i. am. other Provuieu Ind ll. 5. ll1.00 per Innum

"The strongest memory thIn the weakest hll."

Big Fair Under Way

While the popular racing events It the big Provincial Fair draw the largest niimher of spectators. it is the livestock and agricultural fea- tures that are of chief value educa- tionally and it is pleasing indeed to note the splendid facilities now pro- yiiled for showring purposes. lion. Mr. Winters u as warm in his eulo- gies last night. both of the facilities and of the large Ind repretu-ntItive list of entries.

As a fitting tribute to the late Scnator J. Walter Jones, the spac- ious new show building known as the Coliseum has been officially re- named the Jones l.ivestock Arena. The name serves to highlight the main purpose. of the building but it is cumbersome Ind might con- veniently be reduced to the ”Jones Arena." At present. however. live- stock is very much in evidence under the big roof and we like to imagine that in spirit our former Farmer Premier is never far away from the activities in which he took such a keen interest during his lifetime. and in which he carried off so many blue ribbons for his magnificent Hol- steins. ("ertalnly his efforts in pro- moting th e livestock exhibition. along with those of others who have devoted themselves to this great en- terprise. are bearing fruit today.

It is pleasing also to note the in- creased attention given to handi- crafts under the sponsorship of the Wornon's Institutes. This feature of the Fair cannot be too strongly com- mended. and it is hoped that every visitor to the grounds will make I point of inspecting it thoroughly.

The entertainment features add the holid'ay touch without which no

' .3 Fair would he a success. The mid- way is enchanted ground to the younger people, and who is too old

1 not to thrill to the sight of their cheery faces. to the milling crowds and general atmosphere of fun and excitement? tine miisl run the gamut of all the various attractions at the Fair to appreciate their charm. That is what most people do. and that is why. year after year. it Plravvs such enthusiastic crowris from far and near.

141' s HAY. AUG. 16. ion

Apology For Skunks

Take it from Melvin R. Ellis. who learned about skunks the hard way. I truly ornr-ry "polecat" probably lived. Moreover, labeling contcniptible people as ”skunks" is libeling one of Nature's least of- fensivp creatures. That's the way Mr. Ellis, writing in the current is sue of the National Geographic Mag- azine. sizes up Mephitis mcphitis (the animal's scientific name taken from the l.atin for ”a peslilential exhala- tion from the ground"l. In an art- icle entitled ”Skunks Want Peace- nr Elsel" the author shows he holds no sympathy foi' the attitude expres- Ied in the old French-Canadian epi- thet for the animal as ”child of the hvil."

MT. Ellis had his "own hard les- Ion" with Mephitis as I small boy. "Evening shadows were on the pas- turn when another youngster and l vaulted I stone fence into the mid- die of I family of skunks,” he re.- lntes. "Time stood still. A meadow lark on a near fence post stopped pinging. The cows we had come to gbrlng in lifted their heads as if in

novel"

xntlcipntion. It was a moment of rent decision. and we made the Irong. one. instead of remaining

Iloflonlcss and permitting the skunks

. to amble. off. we turned to flee. We 1' might have come off only faintly lncented had we turned In opposite directions. As it was. we turned in upon each other. smacked our heads together. and went down dazed. The .slx skunks. I mother and five half- in-own youngsters, switched their Jtinll Ibout. and then all 12 guns E Ndiqtl Iolvo "utter salvo of mIlodor- fluld over our inert forms." H Ilck, almost suffocated, Hy: found that time was to be

they were scrubbed with lye soap. Today. Mr. Ellis says. they would probably get a tomato-juice rubdown or an ammonia rinse, both consider- ably more effective.

It was years before the author learned the facts of skunk life: that each animal can fire. almost from birth, both guns at once or one at I time. and that a mature skunk is capable of from four to six succes- sive discharges accurate from 8 to 15 feet. However, the skiuik takes lit- tle joy in inflicting such indignities upon its arlversaries. real or imag- ined. for mostly it wants to be alone. By nature. writvs Mr. Ellis, it is aloof. uiicoiiccriicd. iiidift'ci'ciit to all -except other skunks.

All animals. save man and some- times foolish dogs. respect the skuiik's tlcsirc to avoid trouble. Only in rare cmcrgciicics. when starvation stalks the land. will coyote. cougar. anti mink risk the skiink's noxious barrage. llcspitc its you to go its own way in pcacc. it iiiakcs a i'casoii- ably good pct if liiiiidled wliilc young ciiougli. l)(-lUllUl'l.7.(l(l. it bccoines as docile and amiablc as a kitten. But

facing daIiL'ci' iii ilic wild. the striped -

skunk its fcct. its cousin, the spotted skiiiik. tliroivs its body anti hind fect into the air. stands on

staiiips

its front paws iind bristles its tail. Thcn watch out. Attack is immin- em.

Teachers' Problems

l)clegalcs fruiii forty nations and representing .'i.t)(it).tIllt) teachers have just concluded I conference in is- ianbul. As might have been expect- ed. the chief cmpliasis It the confer- eiicc vvas on ways and means of rais- his the Social and economic stailis of the teaching profession. To this end. there was general agreement or the need for higher salaries. No one will be surprised at that; but it in worth noting that more than one speaker warned the delegates not to stress that need above all other con- siderations. Other problems discuss- ed were the teacher shortage. whicl: appears to be universal; inadequate- classroom facilities, brought about by higher compulsory school ages. a higher birtbrzitc. and RA widespread apathy in political circles towards educational work generally; need for improved teacher training; and the teiiilciicy in some countries

the y

to lower academic standards as an .

inducement for young people to enter the profession. This last prob- lem was considered. to be the most serious of all. Wlicrc lowering of standards has been tried it has fail- ed to recruit any appreciable num- ber of potential teachers. and at the same time it has discouraged many

teachers who had prepared them- selves well before .taking up tbc work.

Not all the speeches and dis-

missions at the conference. however, dealt with problems and frustra- tions. There was a good deal of op- timism with respect to public aware- ness of the importance of education. This awareness. it was brought out. is not as well developed as it might be; but it is growing all the time and maybe counted on tp bring about gradiial change for the bet- ter in tho altitudes of governments which. in the past. have often tended to regard educational needs and op- portiinitics as less important than any other branch of the public ser- vice. 0 tie very valuable point brought out was that schools exist primarily for pupils. whose needs and capabilities are every bit as im- portant as are the economic better- ment of the teachers and improved teaching tcclinirpics and facilities. This point. while obvious enough. I sometimes overlooked in the overall discussions of educational affairs.

EDITORIAL NOTES

Congratulations to the O'I.eary I)-H (Tall Club on winning the proi incial debating trophy. This achiew ment indicates. among other thing the wide extent of 4-H Club activ ties. and the high edugational leve 'wbich is hcing maintained.

0 O 0

While a number of youngsters who had been inoculated with the Salk vaccine have contracted polio in the current New England out- break, it is noteworthy that no Salk involvement has been reported among the fatalities. This, after all, was the main claim for the vaccine in lhl' first place. When properly manu- factured. checked. and administered. there is every indication that the vncclne in all that was claimed for it. No one connected with its develop- mentyever believed it to be perfect.

l lmvnll of Northern Aiberudinve the

llDracula (if The Great Lakes"

lFI'ouI I report on the lamprey by

AMD mmauc. --O;--

OF (Ts

Paul E. Thompson. assislunl chit-I

of fishery research for the United States Fish Ind Wild Life Scrvicci

A hundred and twenty-five years ago Canadian engineers completed Welland canal -- I monument to luinian skill and endurance. Now ships from the growing Great Lakes mining. industrial and fish- ing ports could skirt Niagara Falls, fnrmidahlr navigation barrier on the route to the Atlantic.

nut that marvelous engineering test had other far reaching but disastrous effects its builders could not. foresee. For Niagara Falls be- tween Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. had barred admission of an ugly, slithering parasite called the sea lamprey. By unleashing this Dra- cula the canal was ultimately to upset the delicate balance of na- iiirc and wreak havoc on ll militi- niillinn-dollar fishing industry of the Great Lakes states.

The lamprey is designed to des- troy The mouth of this true sea monster is a nearlv circular suck- ing disk. efficiently equipped with concentric rows of pointed teeth and an arniored rasping tongue to grip the side of its victim and suck blood at leisure. A specialized gland secretes an anticoagulant to keep the blood flowing fret.-ly Un- less dislodged, the. lainprev kills.

The sea lanipreys have never ' really prospered in Lake Erie. I l warm, shallow basin Ihout 250 miles long, and it took almost 100 veers for them to traverse the lake and enter Lnke lliirou. This was the place for them. with cold 1 wafers. fat lake trout and delicious . u-hltnfish, and clear. grave! bot- tomed tribufnry st r e I m I for spawning.

Friini first penetration into Lake luron in I932. when the lake trout ishery yicldcd nearly two million pounds. until 1953, when less than 30 pounds were caught. the lamp reys had their own way,

A Milwaukee fisherman brought in the first lamprey from Lake Mlf'lll' next after Huron in the G cal Lakes system -- in 1935 it was in inches long and attached to I four and I half pound lnkc trout. From annual catches of five to six million pounds of these fine fish i the l9.'l0's Lake Michigan production sank in lr-s ihar 50 pounds in l9.'i.'l.

Lake Superior was invaded next. but not until 1947, and the full ef- fect of the lamprey Itlack has not yet been felt in that huge. cold lake

After World War ll. the state of Michigan decided to find out more about its new public flslrenemy No. 1. But by then there were more than 80 Michigan streams

l with established lamprey spawn- . in runs and the ' Ike Huron lake

trout catch had fallen to l7.'l,000 pounds. one-tenth of the catch a

1 decnrle before.

Research has proved that cheap.

iinmm

lloylorvhhiite

tlcasterners who wool to Leth- Iiridge. recently to Iltend the IvlI- Ilon industry's tribute to the Rt Hon. C. D. Howe Iaw I greIt dul more than I remarkably Ilr-mlnd- ed city.

We hnd Irrlved from vnrloun pnrls of CInIdI' nnd the United states. on Thurtuhy Ifternoon Ind

- evening. On Frldny morning, we

-that I ftern.oon. the Iuembled . clllefn were in lnltlue Mr. Home

l l l I

let out from Letlibrldge for Fort Mat-Lead. where we were invited to lunch before we went on farther Inuth tn the great Blond Indian re- Iervatlon. The clans of the Bloods were holding their InnuIl lodge;

Ind Mr. George Goodcrhnm, I for- mer Indlnn Iffnb-I supervisor. II honorary chiefs.

As we drove out of Ialllhrldge. it was difficult to believe the! this was the Far West. The clfleu and

took of having bad I hlrd vdnlar tuuunlly truei. There. the Inc E flat. treeleeu. unhnkod. Southern Al-

Soutliwentern Onm-lo. lush Ind green. The nest mftues were df- . vldod from the road: in Him I

easily installed 5-I. iical barrirr

,are effective in killing the mini

spawncrs without too much daii

age to food fishes in the sam

stream. The lamprcys. less sens

live to electricity than other fish run carelessly through a fringe at weak voltage into I slrnn :1) charged electrical field. uhere they "are killed: desirable fish. on the other hand. are deflected by the weak impulses into an uiicliarizcd trap. from which they are easily transferred up-stream.

An electrical fence costs about I fourth as much as I physical barrier does. and its operation costs only I few cents an hour for electricity.

After several years of obscrxa tion Ind experimentation, we nnw know Ill the important elements of the lIn1prey's life history. The baby lampreys are blind. toothless and harmless. In I month or less the orphans tllic parent l1Inlpl'('.lS die Ifter spawning oncel drift downstream and passively sticking in whatever suitable food is brought to them by the currents.

So they live for almost four years. Then when they are six or

- eight inches long they gi'adii.'illy

traiisformz.-Eyes develop and lhc mouth evolves. growim! rows of teeth and I raaping tongue. in Fall Ind Winter they move downstream to begin I parasitic life in thc

- lake for lil months or so before thc

cycle is repeated.

This condensed account of flu- sen lnmprey'.s hirth. transforma- tion. mode of living. spawning. and death suggests two i m p n r t a n t points to consider in reducing their numbers. At any one time there are four generations of tlic crea- tures snugly bedded in the streams awIltin.'.' transformation. plus juve- niles. and adults prcyiflil on fish in lll” lakes. Remove. then. all thc adults as they move upstreaui to spawn in one season. replenish- ment will keep coming for tour or live more years.

The second point. also trnuhlo .nme. is that the transformed. newly parasitic laniprcys go forag- ing i r the first time from their stream beds under cover of Winter snow and ice in "105? norllicrii wnlers. when it is difficult or im-

possible to capture or kill them. .

Po" ops the brightest sign on the horizon in the prospect for early ratification of I fishery conserva- tion treaty between the United

l states Ind Canada.,whicli will make in .ihle In sill-out effort on In international scale to control this deilperadn.

Already the Canadians Ire lay- ing plans for electrical devices in lheirntreams, and are testing lar- vicldes. too. The slalts involved Ind the CInadlIn province of On- lthrlo Ire setting up machinery for -mIsxlve lake from plantings.

Sky is High-

Glleth. Montreal)

.llWM Ind surrounded by trees. Everything looked shining clean. The cleanneu had been expliirlned on mir IrrlvIl from The airport. the My before: natural gas is avail- able very rhnply. Though Leth- brldq II I coal-processing centre. the III is the usual fuel in homes Ind the soot problem just doesn't. exliit.

Once beyond the. outskirts of the city (of 5ll,0fltli however, the im- presnlon of belng buck East din- Iappenred.

Here 1: I country of vast din- Iuncu. of ranches Itrelclilmi fnr rnlleo. where I man may hIve to drive for In hour or two to vlxlt MI neoreet neighbor. Yet these dleuneu have been conquered. Once they were the pry of wind Ind drought. Now. Irrigation and strip farming have beaten the Dust. Bowl threat.

lgthbrldge rightly cnlle ltiu.-If the "irrigation capital of Canada." Nowhere else hu such 3 vnt Iran been full much-needed Inter by I

-dune. tllhu Ind .

II the second scientific Icnlevement which but beaten the canon: what of the Great rum.

1 The Age Old Story l

l l

x”r i

,pgl.ool(ing Lfhingsmgyerp

in (ind I will praise his word.

in Ulltl l luivr put my lNl5l; I will not tcar what. flesh can do unto inc Thy vows Ire upon

me. 0 God: I will render praises unlo llicc. For thou hast delivered my soul from death: will. not thou y deliver my feet from falling. that . I mziy walk hefore God in the light of the living?

- wlni-h mice blew away the precious

topsoil of land lying fallow.

Now. each field is divided into 3 strips a few yards wide. Instead of a whole ficld going unsnwn for a year. it is only every second strip; t'nc intervening strips. heing sown. act as binder for the whole field.

Above all this. the soft folds in tlic eartli inc culinalcd iiclds stret- cliuig oil to lllP ll(ll'l7.lIIl, is the high blue sky of the West. The eleva- ; tion here (2500 lo .'l.00ll feelt, makes l for dry clear air and the deep blue sccins so mucli taller than any- WllPl'l' clsc.

Al the luuclicuii in M.'tcl.eo(l. we were rcimndcd again that we were far front the East. The restaurant was naincd the Palomino. for this is liurse country and cattle coun- try. as ucli as grain cniiiilry May- or Slim-klctnii of Lctlihridge wore a briclil Kentucky string tie.

Allcr spccrlics of welcome. Edit- or ll.T. llnlliwell of the Macbeod -4a7clte. proceeded to read a brief history of the coniniiinily. This proved to be a striking reminder-- In more uiiys than he inlcnded-- of how rlitlcrvni is this country lrnin the l-Inst.

With l-Iuropc in our minds. in the last think of our country .'lS very young. The West is amaz- ingly youngcr. The community was founded as a N.W.M.P. fort in I874. Ltnti'. the railroad came. in 1897. all supplies were brought in by bull wagons from Fort Ben- ton. on the llissouri River in Mon- tzina

In lliosc days and lnng after. all this arcii was ranching coiintry. it was not until the railroad began in bring in the thousands nf soft- lcrs. mostly of British stock be- tween 1900 and 1925. that 'fnrm- ing came into its own. i

Macl.cnd was incorporated as I town in film and there are still - iouuiling citizens living there. One of them was at our luncheon. He . interrupted Editor Halliwell sever- l

lohnu.Manvlllc, Dept. N46. 565

N

munch

f SILICONE-SEALED

Medically Speaking

Iy llcrmn N. llntluon. I. I.

DON"l' JUDGE RESTAURANT BY ITS FANCY EXTERIOR

Whether you're at home or on vIcIllon. Ills no fun for Mom to cook the family dinner on these hot summer afternoons. Give her I treat once in I while Ind lnke the family out to eat.

Eating in unfamiliar restaur- Ints. however. frequently presents I health problem. While you may be fooled once by I fancy exterior, I quick check of sanitary condi- tions inside will tell you whether to come back again.

For your own protection. you should patronize only sanitary restaurants. Here is I simple check list prepared by the Illinois Department at Public Health, which should tell you whether any specific place warrants your pc- tronage:

Is the restaurant well lighted and ventilated?

Are the dishes Ind Illverwn-re nlean? ,

Are the walls dirty. smudged or cracked? ,

Are the tables and chairs clean and well painted?

Are the windows and doorrclcan and completely free of grease Ind

i fly specks?

Is the washroom clean? Are

- paper towels and soap Ivailable?

Are there flies fill!" is the garbage properly stored? Do the waitresses have clean uniforms? . Are their hands and fingernails clean” Is their lIIir covered?

PUBLIC INSPECTION The kitchen. of course. should

in the restau-

he exceptionally clean. Many own- ers invite public inspection of their kitchens and some restau- rants have signs to that effect.

Biil do not abuse the privilege.

Page 4 The Guardian

NOTES BY THE WAY

U. I. when fu-inert. once re- nrded II ruued indlvldunllels. hnve voted in favor of letting Wulilngton tell them how much wheat they may grow in 1956. Fnced with the task of deciding whether to run their farms II they will: and Iccept I Govern- ment usurnnce of wheat support prices fixed It 50 per cent of parity. or whether to be told by Washing- ton how much when they might plant Ind Iccept I Government assurance of wheat support. prices fixed It 76 per cent of parity. U.S. wheat farmers have chosen acre- ige control in preference to free- 1oln. -'l'imes-Gazelle