JANUARY 1. 1950

" THE GUARDIAN.

CHARLOTTETOWN

PAGE NINE

"gwg" k}. l\l\l\ .|\'7~'\'h’\ M. ‘seer-kg; ,,, . THIELY NOTES DI TUPICS f’)

i. I ,

i. ,, lam“, % counters» vniu .,;. , y.

woe o@ci@es@>oo@>oo@oo@so-al Sllver For and l WHITE -WI'NGE - . T’

n“ BILL D “was u; $:a1bt;es:pg1re:€b?nk:y ligd t: l’ Fanning t; band oi white acrcss the wing t t’

This bird was classed as very margined with black; and the f °""<-‘¢‘<;*>s\‘~*¢ cwv um. '\\L'~.\:\ cvn - -

on by the author of the 19' ti crown was streaked with yellow. l’

julletin, but if so it had become Many persons passing along the Th"? “e llldlcatlllhs that 5h" Cfll-ilofliw 0f Cfllllidlln 800GB 1n-

gnarca or even rare. by the year WW. m any case it is a winter vis- lwr and in New Brunswick “on known to breed in that dement season.

Francis Bain (i891) tells us that rghe White-winged Crossbill is a rich red-plurmed bird with blackish wings and tail. the funrer with two conspieinus white cross-bars. They have the remarkable habit oi breeding in winter, or very early in

in-

'mrlng, while the weather is still

severe. The mandibles are hooked und their points are crossed. This structure enables them to part the wales of cones and readily extract the seeds on which they feed," All writers agree that the Crossbills sre extremely erratic in their wan- derings, sometimes appearing in gnall flocks in certain localities, then absenting themselves for

ars. This is one of the birds

at "never come my way." so that I am glad its description ll short. and did not need muih re-

search. n bite-winged (Trosshili, AQIL ~-'_ Winter visitor. rare now (1037:

piumaus rosy. with these except- ions: wings and tail blackish, the gioiimch- with white crossbars; tail short, notched. Female: lllillllfffi brownish-olive, wings with white crossbnrs. Length of adults abo t 6.0 inches. The song of this bird is said to be “ecstaticP REMINISCENT

Before runiniscing I wish express my gratitude to all those readers tfrom Winnipeg on the one hand to Minncaltoli-i on the other) who have cheered me with letters, Christmas Cards and gi ts. That they may have n happy", pros- perous. and hcaliliftil year, is my rvciv Year's Wish.

How time tliqs! Do you realixi . dear reader", that it. is just twenty- years since the first "Newsy Notes" appeared? I had ihotight. out the main features of the eol"mn but was "stuck" when it came to nam- ing it. "Call it "Ncusy Notes." said Tom Corrigan, a genial recfler of those days, and "Ncwsy Notes" it became. The twenty _vc_|rs line seen some radical changes. We have made inwrcnsc progress culturnllv. The Music and Drama Fcstiials have taken firm hold in the count- ry districts. There is n wide-spread interest in the ancient history of our Island. The natural history oi the Province has students young and old, There is talk of a local museum. On the other hlillfl there is a greater tllsltosiiinn amoag n.1- farmers to work cooperatively, es- pocialiy in disposing of their pro- duce. All these things are to the good

l0

on paper. These form the basis of most of the articles on our hirds, printed in this column. Where- ever possible, ‘I have included iot- ices of the birds. written by Franc- is Bain. sixty years ago. 11 have his "Birds of P. E. I.." the only copy I have seen or heard oi dur- ing my long sojourn here.)

An interesting letter from Dr. N. R. Bovyer. of Crapaud reads:- ‘Dear Agricola, I was pleased to see your Note on that beautiful bird, the Grosbeak. I had twelve of them here for almost six weeks in April and Nifty-staying till near- ly the first of June. (i243). They visited me every morning from about 6 to 9. but treated with con- tempt; any food offered them. In- sead. they fed on the lawn but I could not see what they were gct- uing. The sparrows had gleaned all that could be got thcrc.

ioi-iNS-Ollls duoovqNi - l_ l N ll M E. NmT

_ lgl 0 for veiiovillfl '. more misfit‘: “Mic rams Illil

s w“ _ w MN

0° a "l

has l

street halted to ask me what bird "91’ l“ l5 '3" ltS “BY hflfili W P0P- they were. 1 always told them m "Wily" nothing startlinz or take a second look, as the Gros- slllllcleht t° have lli i-hrOW beaks were only visitors and rare m“ hats l" the all‘ Bllfl Ehmli. ones m, that n; ls gen yea" m. but the trend can grow and we trust longer since I have seen then here, lt wlll- F01‘ lllstahfl? dull"! the tlll gllls seasofL recent ‘cold spell in New York a _ we have learned much fro“ your surprising amount of fox was worn Guardian letters and notes and “mlmll t°“'"~ t" the llhflllt"! Hid are gl-dtefuL slnccrelyfm smart restaurants and hotels in In reply to lhls klnd lemu- I the uptown area. At the National may say that the description giv- llmse shim’ "h" sat-ll" Wells Bill- el,‘ ll, llml, o; the E-venlng Gros- let many in attendance were wear- beak, as Dr, Bovyer surmises. Their "l8 Dlhtlllli. Silver lOX and bite appearance a; glapaud l5 new em fox fashioned into capes and stoies mred a5 “other recoup A mm_ to wear over decoilette cocktail iliarison of records would seem to ‘llltfies- The m°5t °°ll$Pl°ll°ll5 Flt‘ indicate that this species out- tel" W“ the mile 5t°le Wltih Shall- nunibers the Pine Grosbeaks by at. ed back “ml mllhded 5t°l° ends» A leasl mo lo mm popular variation is the pocket From My, gal-old A Me55¢l~vy_'cape stole that has cape back and (my Sul-veyol; comes a “ole o“ square patch shoulders set on the the Northern Raven. "On Decem- Stllllght 5t°l° Pllhels- her first I took a drive out to; Beech Grove, and on the road III ,1 m“ or Ravend Bcullgup glossy‘ recent sale of mink-prices eased blue-black birds they were. In the 5mm 5 t° 7 Percent ml" standard all- llley dm-lil, lock Bl; all lllm a ranch mink. Starlight mink was crow. which soars and glides very sought flllel‘ by the buyers "ml llllle and has a flogglng gllgh; prices were iirm or a little higher These ravens scared, wheeled and l" 5°m° "Sci Lampsll" Y°P°Yt°d glided lllle a 5ga_gun m- aven more that about 50 percent of the mink lllre a lafple llawld They ll; o“ a in section one and two was sold. A

At Lampson. Fraser and I-liutih’!

fence and allowed me lo gal, qulle number of explanations were of- near in the cur before they took lewd for ""6 180k 0i Qehellll l"' wlng llgdln," terest from a large part of the

Mr. Messcrvys all-too-short rote. "llrlk tlhde- o"? l5 that many hlE makes an apt Supplement to the manufacturers and dealers have flyflglg on the Northern Rm en already taken on large quantities of which lately appeared in this col- “"6" "llhk and are ll°t "m" l" the‘ umn, If readers are saving the mood to take additional skins. On bird-notes, savc this as well. On we of this there “as the current Dec.29thIsaw two Ravens search- Sale l" PYCQIVSS l" Mfllltfefll Bt mg the gfourd ma; our my. which mink wns being offered stacks. but before I could get the and lt was felt that: the ltlttelldehllce field glasses. something scared the W55 Cllt lhtfl by l5 M 01‘. ~°lll9 hll-ds and llley dl5appedl<ed_ blame is also attached to the gen-

Turning to vegetable life, it is erul talk thiittllitlstikil-vneflredrin til: wonderful to see what “sclec-tion" llfiwfiflllpfils l8 '8 20V? "The" will do. In a resert note l wrcte will cut out the excise tax. Many of ncclimntizing the Mandarin Soy- nwnlc thlliluns that this mflvl bean. 1 was not in good fetile in come about will Walt expecting bet- thc spring of 10413. so 1 plunged ter prices. A number nf male mink my Soybeans in the garden so blllldlf-‘S Welt” "glad flllggtl" tile;

' m. dl exieeted them $16.. on. o - ra e w timrrifél”. llowcvlcnythelseason was others twin: 0W1" the $20. mak- extremely warm, so they ripened, Funnies viva-re sticking mostly to but were not as tall as they usual- , l-‘Tlt’ $11. l" flltl- range.

1".’ grow. All the seeds planted. were l "m" PM“ wlllfll Wllthllled ‘mull. ln Montreal Pastel mink was ibenns. In the original stock tlree- islrcng and in good den-land isecdcd pods ilvcre exceptional. iui. lhroughoul reach-mg a mp price of for the past fcu‘ years I have sown 34L The Company found dlfllwl- °lllY the tllr°°'l“‘“'l‘°d5' and ty in making a comparison as o ly this treatment is beginning to shew a llmltgd quanmy u; pastels was lTSllltS- l Pulled a stalk at tall‘ previously offered. One authorit- Fl°lll Ollt 9t the Slltali and lolmd ntive comment was that prices were eighteen pods on it. Twelve con- ]\l¢('b:\-FJ‘3! as hlgh as at filly Vie?‘ t-‘lllctl 3 Se?“ mm» [we had 7 ions sale nll_VV\"llCl‘€ and that it was seeds, ‘and ‘ogre £13K: 1 scceld. (‘Janis a “we collwllolh

ona me eweveposwu _.,_.

have contained 1 seed each and women-s we“ Dally‘ New York‘ 5° 0"» had a reporter attending the Can-

NATURE NOTES. George F. Handelti). “man Fm. Auction sales 0mm Handel, as has been snld was or- any-S sale m Montreal 587cm-

During the last twenty years I ganist at the Duke. of Chandoss her 29m Hls mp0“ follows,“ A have examincd about. twp-thirds, private chapel frcm i718 - 1721. number o; New ycrk dealers pal-l- of the “Birds of P. E, I." Many It was during this period that he iclpamd in the blddlng. secul-lng readers have sent in cadavers for was inspired to compose the bril- many o! the has; lots fm- export fll-flllll-Ei "1""? "l0"! lllrds W9" llflllt l/"llhtlmls of the "Hallrml" to Europe. Canadian dealers were rescued from the cat; hunters ious Blacksmith," 05c day. l" Hall‘ also gngaged in buying for expo" t. brought others: and sometimes del was on his way to the chaitel, very few m5 were bought (m- Am. bodies of birds that. had died from he was overtaken by a showrr erlcan Consumpllmh All categorles starvation and winter weather. while in the village of Edceware. advanced from m to l5 percent; were brought in by school children. and as the story 309$. 000k Sllcl- compared wlll, October sales, Goods All of these were carefully cx- ter in the forge of a blacksmith sold ranged "m, co lo g0 percent miined and the descriptions put who was also the parish church at “he Catalogue m the esllmallon

clerk. After the usual saiutations of sales mom observe“ rlallnl, the smith fell to work again at his being about 60 percent Sold and fvrse- SW81"; h" °ld “mg the whlle- inferior platina '70 percent. Selected "5 he sang‘ the hllmme‘ 5mm“ full silver, a comparatively small in time. drew from the anvil two onetime appeared to be ln mosl, harmonic sounds snaking a sort vigorous demand wldl about 3o 0f mhtlnlwus lmss- Hand“ w“ percent changing hands. Llghtest struck by the melody Bhtl l“ demand was for white marked strange accompaniment, ard on skins whlch were “and 5o per. his return home wove them into a cent 501i Regular gull sllvel- was piece for the harpsichord. More Consldered u, be selllng on an than 23° 3'9"" luv” elapsed “n” average oi '75 percent with an then, during which that piece—the advance o: m to 15 percent», Pflcgg "llfllmllhllllls Blaflfsnlltllw” has unofficially recorded ranged - - been reprinted over an over again; Plath“ 53L to 523; lngel-lol- plaglm, and will be as long as the human $350 u) $1,350. Dem-l platlnum 55,50 race knows 800d lllllslQ Tllls ‘ms to m; white marked $5.50 t0 a "shill" lllehe" when l ‘"5 a lad. 5111.50; one-half to three-quarter and the student who could play 811v" ‘a ms“; Selected full gflvgfg me variations "andflllle Cal-lamb" hi. m $17.50 and regular mn sil- nnd .wit.hout a mistake, was looked W" $850 to m,“ up to. The only variations that _,__ came anywhere near this melod-, Manage, George A (jdllbeqk of lbllfi l'°mi7°-‘ltl°°l'l- We": wmten by the Canadian National Silver Fox Carl M- llhlst- alld the theme w“ Breeders’ Association reporting on also hn Old English lvlk-Sflllll-f "l" the sale. has the following... rut- mv cntta-ize near a wood." lnums, good and ordinary, so per- A BYltlC ""5 "l" lmelltll’ m“ cent sold. average $1u.39; ordinary Handel retarded the growth of and ‘Marlon 7° pcrcem, sold’ aver- music in England, for more than Me $1091; wlllte marked glvgfs, 11M years. In the present writer's 5o perm“; sold average $8.66; half {opinion this was no misfortune, for m mreequal-lel-S sllvel-g, 90 por- .of late music has decidedly rui to N,“ sold average 513m; selected vsecd." However, in P. E. l. Hzrdel ,stiil remains a favorite and his 1mm so pol-cent sold, nversge music was much in evidence dur- $1,231; regular flllls, 55 percent lng the Christmas rcloicinss- 501d, average $111.53; inferior types. ' (T0 bl! (‘Ollvlllflelll- lao percent sold, average $1.96. The

fffiw ‘i

/ .

Aromoiv and UNCLE army by Clifford McBride

Picruias . wHos HIS AGENT."

pearl platinums offer-

"_ ‘quantity of halt to three-quarters

I ed was 430:

""="~-""' r30; selected fulls s02. We tinned

- *" ,,,,N,,,,,OU u hly the average of the YES: I'M ATAl-EN-rscouflfon :3 A ltgovreo stile and it appeared to be falgglfggifilabcso-SWEDEA Aggflf; in the vicinity of between $9 and

$10. fromnvhidh would have to be (leducted the commission for sell-

ing.

l The Hudson’; Bay Company will hold its first general fur auction in Canada January 16th. Goods will be on show daily ircm Jan- nary 12th. They include 8,000 beav- er. 56.600 ennlne, 125 riskier. 800 cross fox. 10.060 silver for. 4-000 red fox. 4,250 white fox, 300 blue

ttiftili»

. //l . ’~§-"iiitl' Q» ‘i

eluding the standard platinum and white marked types. Red fox in- clude some fine heavy skins from the best Canadian sections. White fox and blue fox are mainly Arctic. Wild mink, in which tthis old ecm- pany specializes, is described as a most desirable collection of fresh merchandise. Standard and half- blood ranch mink is a fine rep- resentative eollection of fresh west- ern and eastern Canadian types.

This opening auction in the new building will be an historic one. It is the first attempt oi the oldest company in the world to test the market in Canada by holding a representative sale of furs here. Many years ago it was hoped that H. B. C. would establish an auction but it took a long time and con- siderable thought befcre they deci- ded to do so. Once in the field it can be a sure thing that they will definitely continue. It will certain- ly be of benefit to all ranchers and trappers as well as others to have the Hudson's Bay Company con- ducting auctions here and we wish them the very best of success.

We have just received tfhe Dec- ember issue of The Beaver, a mag- azine of the north published by the Hudson's Bay Company. It is a truly beautiful number, splendidly illustrated and with such fascinat- ing stories as Winter on James Bay; Fort William; Christmas on the slave River; Victoria in the 1850's; Flying Santa Claus; Bearskin Clothing; Resources of the Arctic and Rocky Mountain House. Win- ter on James Bay gives a splendid

there. James Bay was named after Captain Thom-is James who win- tered there in 1631-2. Half 0f (‘he Bay lies in Ontario and half in Quebec. The history of it and of Fort William which was fer a long time the headquarters North West company. are most ln- teresting. portraying the advent- ures and hardships of the 910m?“ fur traders whose activities were largely responsible for tihe dis- covery and opening uvp to civiliz- ation what was once considered a no man's land.

Many’ Changes 0n Parliament iiiii

By Mel Sufrin

OfITA-WA Jan. 3 — f0?) — It has been a year of changes on Ppr- liament Hill. Four ot Canada? leading public servants resigned and 1'7 Senators were flpllflllltcil- The year was marked too by ll shift among the men who run the Government departments.

Gordon Bradley became New- foundland's first cabinet PCDFQSPW mglve on his appointment as secre- tary of state.

Colin Gibson left his D175! "5 state secretary to take Over the portfolio of mines and resources. replacing James MacKinnon, who remained in the cabinet without portfolio as Alberta's representa- tive.

Edouard Rlnfret became llust" master-general and Hugues La- pointe was appointed solicitor-gen- eral, succeeding Joseph Jean and Ernest Bertrand, who became Que- bec judges.

Appointment of Mr. MacKinnen to the Senate gave him a dual job. British Columbia's Tom Reid and Quebec's former premier, Ade- lard Godbout, were other Senate appointees, leaving 11 vacancies at the year's end. Iiopsided stand- ing was 77 Liberals and 14 Pro- gressive Conservatives.

Four of the vacancies were in Newfoundland, two each in Novn Scotia and Ontario and one each in B. C., New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

The lengthy fall session of Par- liament added a portfolio to the cabinet by scrapping reconstruc- tion and supply, and mines and rc- sources -— substituting citizenship and immigration, mines and tech- nical surveys, and resources and development.

Dr. Arthur Besuchesne, Can- ada's leading authority on parlia- mentary procedure, retired at 73 in August after s quarter-century of service as clerk of the l-louse of Commons. Leon J. Raymond of Maniwaki, Que, 48-year-old Iiibcrai member for Gstineau, succeeded him.

Oastnnguay Retires

Jules Castonguay, 67, chief elec- toral officer, resigned Sept. 30 after 22 years as the man re- sponsible for the smooth running of Canada's election machinery. He was succeeded in the $10000 a-year job by his son, Nelson, 35, who had worked as sccond-in-com- mand of the electoral office for a number of years. Donald Gordon, ancial wizard who boss-ed Canada's price control machinery during the

47-year-old fin-

1,500 pastel mink. 3.500 mis- war, on Oct. 12 was appointed prc- sident of the Railways.

Canadian National

He succeeds R. C.

Mr. Gordon moved irom his post

deseiption of the company's posts‘

of ifhe.

of deputy governor of the Bank of Canada at 810,000 a year to a job reputed to pay between $25,000 and 845.000 as bead of the Govern- ment-owned railway system.

F. A. McGrcgor, 61, resigned Nov, 3 after M years as chief com- missioner of the Combines Investi- gation Act. His action brought on the biggest battle of the full ses- sion of Parliament.

He resigned "before my time" because of whst he described as tendencies which seriously threaten

J i ~ . / .. , f . 1.000 marten. 18.060 wild mink. .- ’~j./‘/"||lif H" ranch mink, 8.000 siiverblu Yfkijlifil gellllfrieous mutation mink. 70.000 '-' *"l' ' l‘ ' ' ‘ | muskrat, 1,000 otter and various REM“! I ‘ other furs. silver fox is s special Vaughan on Jan. 1. ' can. woven-mu AGENT PICTU ~ . . M________ —....-'=".'~'.;=<=~T.‘I°=..Z..*=*=......ll he: , s u . a ‘ MUITHMIIAPIJBUCHVMANYDGFT voumrmnfllimrlfl w! P|¢1uii!|M-ru:o\?ERAND—- '

the usefulness of Canada's anti- prlce-fixing legislation, H:- took particular exceptinn in tho i0-

month delay, contrary to law. in

Except For Mink Prices Are Right For New Fur Goat

NEW YORK. Jan. 4 -—(Al=') -If the lady isn't. mink-mad and she probably is--this is a. \\0n- derfui time to buy her that fur coat.

Prices generally are way down. Retailers are marking down prices and advertising bargains in an ef- fort to move merchandise. Except for the mink, broadtail ard chin- chilla specialists, the fur business quite frankly is in a bad slump. The pinch is being felt where it hurts the most in tihe popular and moderate price brackets, $103 to $1.000, Except for a fraction of business-—l<) per cent at the out- side, the fur business eats or starvcs on its traffic in muskrat, Persian la-mlb (the two best sellers), beaver, squirrel, raccoon. leopard and all the wide variety of cheap- er furs like mouton. rabbit and others.

While retailers are ioatfhe to call further attention to the situation by discussing it, manufacturing Furriers, dealers and plocfllll here in the nation's fur processing centre feel that the explanation for bad business is quite simple. The cost of living is high, loose money isn't loose any more, and people just don't have enough money left. over from food and rent to spend on fur coat," said Morris Gordon, a manufacturer" whose opinion was echoed by a number of others.

The manufacturers think that potential customers are keeping their purses locked to see if prices don't drop further, hoping that if they wait long enough maybe they can pick up a mink coat for the price they intended to pay for a sheared beaver,

“Mink, mink," exclaimed» manufacturer, “ai1 the want is mink."

0119 women

Mink Price High

As a matter of fact. prices of mink skins broke along with oiiher pelts several months ago. They slipped off some 5 per cent. But with increasing demand for the skins, the price has bounced back and even passed the old thigh. The first fall auction prices were 25 per cent higher than in i048.