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THE GUARDIAN

“Coven Prince Edward Inland like the Dew‘

Published every weekday morning at 136 Prince Street. Charlottetown, P. E. L. by The Thomson Company Limited.

Ililltor and Manager. Inn A. Burnett.

Associate Editor, Frank Walker. l-'i:uu-li offices at Surnmerside. Montague anti Alberton. Authorized as Second Class Mall by‘

the Post Office Depailment. Ottawa. By Carrier: Charlottetown. Summerside 815.00 per annum. Elsewhere in P. E. I. 39.00. Other Prov- inces and U. S. A. $12.00 per annum.

-31-iI§.ir}»..I;t7§{ie}§.3r‘y I:VOIkGl the yveskont ink."

Another 600 Million Years

l'ntii reccnil_v it was supposed that the oldest form of life on the earth was a fun- gus which lies beneath the iron ore beds of Lake Superior; geologists have estimated its age as approximately two billion years. Now comes word from a professor of geo- logy at the University of Edinburgh that analysis of radioactive content of minerals deeply buried in Northern Rhodesia shows an age of not less than 2 billion, 600 mil- lion years. This report. which a British science journal calls “indubitably accurate", indicates that certain forms of vegetable and plant life existed for long and un- countable ages before the most primitive forms of animal life appeared.

Fish life goes back about. 350 million _\r‘al‘s, while the huge dinosaurs, reputed to be among the first land animals, came on the scene about 200 million years later. l\lan himself made his appearance only‘ about one million _\'ears ago.

To most of us, computations like these are incomprehensible. but they do tell a wondrous story of the movements of life and growth. In these days. liowever, pop- ular concern is centered not so much in the past history of life on the earth as in the possibility of its survival if man, the newcomer. persists in experimenting with newly discovered powers of destruction.

l ll Temporal

A little behind the times to get legisla-T live action. lslaiid municipalities are again showing an interest in Daylight Time which will come into effect in many places this week-end. The intention, apparently, is tol try to convince the Government that a very substantial proportion of our popula- tion \vant the Government to proclaim Day- light Time in force, as it may under the Time Act passed in 1947. 5

This is, of course. a decidedly better npproaclt than that toyed with some years ago when the City Council very briefly

brought to the City in wartime defense sandbags, others by the wind. Like para- troopers who have leapt to take possession of key points, the wind-borne seeds with

tiny parachutes of silky pappus descended

on the sites in great numbers.

Clematis is growing there along with the buttercup, the poppy and the humble horse radish. Ragwort and charlock jostle with wild mignonette and blue flowered flax for a place in the sun. Vetches, clovers and trefoils give honey to the bees which visit them in summer, and the willow herbs scatter their silky seeds far and wide. Pars-

ley and parsnips struggle to grow beside -

the evening primrose; Sycamores, silver birches and willows are sturdy seedlings pushing through the brambles, and elder- berries which try to rob them of light. There are Michaelmas daisies and sunflow- ers among stinking mayweed, ox-eyed daisies and fever-few; thistles and groundsel among chicory and dandelions. The Oxford Rag\vort and Viscid Groundsel have even crossed and produced a hybrid progeny within the City. which is proudly called the “London Ragwort."

How valuable will be this booklet in years to come, when these open spaces have all been built up again. and the transient flora has been destroyed! At present they afford a happy hunting ground for the en- tomologist, and one that is constantlv changing in its evolutionary process. ‘

But, concludes the review, “How can our authorities allow the very heart of our trade and finance to become first a waste where every weed and pest has found a footing, and secondly a beautiful tangle of things which may distract our minds from the urgency with which the war damage should be made good. Presently there may be a jungle forest in London if rebuilding is hampered by too much planning. too few licenses and delays in provision of ma- terials." This may be an extreme state- ment, hut at least the present situation helps one to understand how abandoned cities of older civilizations have been bur- led.

EDITORIAL NOTES

Premier A. W. Matheson has shown fine appreciation of the importance of edu- cation to the Province by assuming the chairmanship of the new Board of Trustees of Prince of Wales College. P. W. C. is the cornerstone of our entire educational system.

C O I

Canada's tuberculosis death rate in 1942

was 51.4 for every 100.000 of our popula-

‘l“"l‘l"d '0 “MP1 Dayllﬁllt Tim‘ “legally-ytion, according to Health Minister Martin. Then the folly of the scheme became ap-in dropped in ten years to 17_1 and last

The moral side was emphasized by churchmen and others but practical difficulties were also in the way. The courts, summoning defendants to appear, had to specify a legal time; the statutory times for the ser\'icc.0f writs had to be

pa rcn t.

year was down to 13. Satisfactory as this trend undoubtedly is, it means that even greater efforts are necessary because more families naturally susceptible will be in our midst.

observed; Provincial offices and institutions could only go by Provincial time; and pay-‘ rncnt of hills of exchange had to be ac-l copied when offered at a legal time. '

in addition there are the less common but still important matters of birth certif-

Canaﬁians ate an average of 140.1 pounds of meat in 1953. as compared with 132.9 pounds in 1952. Consumption of beef. veal. mutton and lamb increased, but pork decreased. Beef consumption increased from 44.7 pounds to 59.1 pounds per capita; veal

icaics. An hour's difference around mid- night means a day's difference on the re-1 cord. Any deadline for taking advantage‘ ii a contract or for giving notice would be! according to the legal time.

All these and other difficulties are amidcrl by taking the lawful measures how proposcrl. The Provincial Government will! have to determine the popular will and, practical advantages and govern itself andl all of us accordingly.

_ l London's Bomlied Sites 1 A l)l‘O('lllil'P published by the Corpora-T tion of London and reviewed in the current monthly magaziiic of the Port of London Autliority, tells how natural life has takenl possession of bombed sites in the Bl‘lI,lSlli capital. and softcncd the destruction which‘ took place during the war. The brochure, entitled "The .\'atural History of the City,“ carries a frontispicce picture of St. Paul's: snrroiinrlcd by wild plants in flower. as: though it stood in some enchanted garden. And it records. for the sake of history, how one plant after another cncroached on the rubble-strewn areas of what was once a closely built-iip region. and ho\v they have made such uncharitable surroundings their own.

Before the \var there were few flower- ing plants in London. because. asthe bro- chure explains, there were few places where they could grow. The London pigeons. the house sparrows, the starlings at night. to- gether with a few rodents, and occasional butterflies and moths constituted most of the animal life. Since 1939, however, at least 269 species of wild plants. 3 mam- mals, 31 birds, 56 insects. and 27 other kinds of invertebrates have all been observ- ed within the city. The plants and ani- mals are listed. each given its Latin name. with the dates when observed. and interim- tlon regarding its penistence and frequency. It is amazing that many of them are not

from 6.7 to 9.1 pounds; mutton and lamb from 1.9 to 2.0; while pork decreased from 65.9 to 57 pounds. 0 Q 0

Mass suggestion seems the most accept- able explanation of the epidemic of pock- marked windshields that has swept the continent. There is something attractive. however, about. the idea of space mice. Per- haps the most logical approach would be to look at the cars which are not marked, and at the same time consider the aver- age age of those showing signs of pitting.

A pioneer British automobile designer is not satisfied with the progress made in his own field. “What. I want," Lord Brabazon is reported to have said. "is a very simple car-with a turbine engine, automatic gear change, power sicaring and disc brakes." Another sport wants a car weighing about as much as a couple of bicycles and driven by an electric motor, powered by a storage battery.

0 O O

Immanuel Kant, Prussian philosopherlof Scottish extraction. was born this date 1724. His "Critique of Pure Reason” ap- peared in 1781 and is his best known work. Within a few years Konigsberg had become the centre of philosophical activity and Kant's method had been adopted by nearly all German universities. not only for phil- osophy but also in some instances for com- binatlon with Cllristian ethics.

0 I 0

Corporations are legal persons, having the capacities with which the law endows them. but it is surprising to say the least

cided that they should have the capacity to vote. to rule on the proposal. perty holders in the city are entitled to vote and it is interesting to speculate on what.

native to Britain, or have arisen from

4 cultivated parents. some of the seeds were

era but the only votert.

that the city of Winnipeg should have de- ‘

it is up to the Manitoba Legislature ’ At present pro-- ;

would be the situation if all property were . held by companion. Under the proposed ; amendment they would not merely be vot- -

A

Possible I

_ \ - - a

Unforeseen Developments

Old Charlottetown

and P. l. 1.

From The Examiner, Dec. '1, 1888:

A meeting of subscriber; and all other: interested in the proposed Coins-Whelan Monument will be held in the office of Warbui-ton and Smallwood on Monday even- ing next.

Mi‘. Earle has been engaged by the Y. M. C. A. to give two grand concert: during the serles—t.he first a secular conrert early in January, the other a grand ora- t.ni'lO concert to be lll\’t‘1'l in March. The choruses uili consist. of thirty picked voices, and the instrumental mulls Promises to be of unusual excellence.

Mr. James Keenan. of Augusta. Me., shipped twenty-four line is- land horses for the American mar- ket this afternoon.

At a meeting in MacEachern'5 building last. evening. Councillor Morris in the chair. Mr. James Eden was selected to contest Ward One, in oposition to Councillor Small, iii the approaching civic election.

A larger and more suitable steam- er is needed to ply between Char- lottetown and Southport. The Emu is A good little boat: but the 3g. comniodatioii she affords is alto- gether inadequatc-. At. times, the crush and rush on the wharf is such that a lady considers it. almost u much as her life is worth to get. on board; and when she is on board she is either forced into 3 corner on the opcn neck, or has, to go into a little coop or a six-‘ by-twelve cabin, in company with A lot. of strange, not over-polite.

NOTES BY

With ndlolctlve ﬂlh Ivrlmmlng about. the Pacific, it is for once' a case of the fisherman dodging the rich. —’I‘. W. Jones in Toronto Star.

A luniboi-Jack we nod, consumu 6.000 ralorlu a day. ll’! compari- son with the 2.500 needed by most. desk workers. We wonder lf_ these human boa-constrictors ever ex- perience n alight olaepineu while at the end of a alw? —-Pet.er- borough Examiner.

The present threat to nature. has in origins in the increase of human population and the spread of cllivlzatlon. Even the Ai-tic in now invaded by both government and private enterprises .The ef- fect upon the fauna cannot yet be assessed, though it. is being‘ said that A man cannot. come back‘ from the Arctic without. havlngl shot. a polar bear. In order to pro-I tect nature from ill-considered i:t:—.

a—n errle outline AbDVTlh:WBtef5.rl\l't(‘ElTK—5TlT)A .

What. no enemy shell could everl achieve, divers——ualnz underwater cutting oxy-acetylene flames and exploaivea—havc at_last. done: he!‘ hull has been split. in two. ‘ ,

In the alchemy of ships and seat and men's hurrying industry the metal that was for so long full of the sound of battle, will find its way through flame into machines and patterns foreign to the great ship's ways. Perhaps in a plane,

iwhinlng through the clouds. or in

a locomotive or in a gadget that was born when Wax-spite was old. there will be part. of her. But the

and (very often) drunken or half- drunken men. 1

The Age Old Story ll

' And we know that all lhinls work‘ together for good to them that love‘ God. to them who are the called lfmfdlﬂl to hill purpose.

The Old Warspite

(Hamilton Spectator) The old Warspite did not. yield. easily at. the last. She lay, in 5! gallantly awkward defiance of. doom in I scrap yard. near greatl rocks by Land's End, with mel thunder of sea and wind sounding over her hull. Seven years ago, when she was being towed {mm Portsmouth to the Clyde for break- in; up, A low-rope parted in at pale, and the proudest of all veterans of Britain's Navy cast off man‘li lhacklea and gave herself to I grave in the sea. You could never have called her, "'9" "ICU. I hulk. She was part, of ii align, and when morning edged over the. grey Atlantic rollers. or when evening gave the benediction 0‘ I linking sun. the Warsplte could feel secure in her glory, Those who know that n llhip can never ‘really die would hear Again the but guns oft Jutland. or up

rir remember the fire at Crete, or the convoys. edging with pitiful slowness across oceans undnr her shepherding eye. For even in her advanced age, with rust. smearing her patched-up armour and her decks scarred with battle. she had lVFd with danger and Trluynphu-]_ and she had the immorality of courage.

Now the clatter of ulvage beau around the bones of Win-spite as they strusiile to get metal from Illl’ to turn to the art: of peace. On the next spring tide they hope to Win! closer into more the for- wnrd oectlon of the hull, thrusting

the flashes of her epic at. Narvik.‘

alchemy is not important. Off Land's End, where the crying gull! wheel. and the tide edges to on

THE WAY

tacks and so ensure that some put at least of the human heritage shall remain unspoiled, many na- tions have established naturo con- iorvancy or wild life dopax-tmonu. Perhaps the moat. encouraging lign of the awakening to the need for nature protection is the develop- ment of national parks, where not only in wild life protected but vis- itors Ire encouraged. Nature pro- tection should thus gain the pub- lic auppoprt without. which it can- not prosper. —London Times.

What‘: on the other old: of thu

hill. . . .It may re the same as what's in your own little valley. but ulwuyo there to another hlll beyond. and. in the end. behind the second or the third or fourth ridge ,t.here‘a something new —‘ I different way of life, different. methods of falling a different. kind of tree, new crops, new impla- menta—imd perhaps new ‘ideu. — Hamilton spectator. d the dream: of ships are more real than metal itself, Warspite will still be seen with her gun:—defiant. in the element she knew at her own- racing the eternal aeu. (Hamil- ton Spect.at.or).

CONSPIRACY CHARGED .. .

TORONTO (CF)--A two-week in- vestigation by Toronto and Wind- sor police ended Tuesday night with the arrest here. of two men on charges of conspiracy to steal $5,600 from a Toronto branch of the Royal Bank of Canada. Charged are John Claire Mlsner. 28-year- old assistant accountant employed at. the Toronto bank, and Clifford L. Hanna, 28, also of Toronto.

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Page! _

Wu there over I time when the public school: were not aub- Jected to much fault.-finding? Pro- bably not. And. although critic- lsin is bothersome to those who have to take it. it may be the atmngest single force in brinslnz about improvements. complacency is I had thlr.¢ wherever it is found.

In tho May 1903 issue of the magazine to which I referred pre- viously there are three lengthy articles dealing with the “imprac- tlcnl" school curriculum then in use. The chief complaint was that the country schools especially were not preparing youngsters for the business of living. Too much theory, not enough practice. The writer of one of the article: (on American) tells about I visit ho had made to a one-room school of twenty-three boys and girls ‘of all ages in a little village called Cloverdale, forty miles from Mon- trenl.

ft wu eight below zero outside but the school was well heated by a “box stove‘ crammed with maple." The teacher passes from the ABC to I problem in the rule of three" with versatility worthy of admiration." Beside: the three R‘: there in a little instruction in grammar. Ieozrwhl’, history. and hygiene. Here the writer states his complaint: “The fathers of these children an llumen. some raise barley, cm, and my: some him

well with an apple 0l'ChIl'd. Yet. the fuel that than children come from home: where the livelihood LI ear d out. of the around in totally noi-ed in the lessons. of lowing and tannins. vinntins and tending of trace. the production of milk, butter and cheese. there is not. a. word. Nor to there any- thing about. building. drainage, the composition of foods, or the chem- istry of tuel_"

Having exhausted thn list of all the thlngl that should be taught in tho aohooin but no not. the writer uka thu question: "should not the children of the farm be led to see somewhat of the in- axhauntlblo scope for brain; which offers itself to the farmer?" Then come: the cumming up: "Tho fact. II that rural instruct» ion has been devised in cities with A view to city conditions. And the course: in city schools are faulty enough, ridden no they no 176' clorkly tradition: which permit the word in uaunp the place of the act, lnatoad of being merely its symbol and aid. The chief evil in rural education is the stress laid upon verbal ltucliea. the blinking the actual world of duty and joy for which country children should be informed and trained." Fifty- one year: have passed ulnce this criticism was ex-pressed and it still is a common subject. for discussion.

0 0 I

The second great evil in the schools of 19%. u this critic saw it, was the multiplicity of schools in the country areas. There were far too many of them. In all A- merica. North and South 01 the Canadian border. the average en- rolment. in rural schools was twenty-seven. (Without an! fllufei to go by I should imagine that our Islcn schools now would have about the same number on an ll-T verage).

Of thin enrolment the overeat! uotluol attcndcnoc. tnkinl "19 month with another. Vlﬂed from 57% in Wisconsin to a. little less than 50% in Nova Bcotlo. In ii great number of schools on both sides of the border the actual attendance was lean than ten 10! the when! Ylll‘. ‘

"Tho plain remedy uid the only one". the writergoea on to la)’. "la the consolidation of small into large schools. with the transporta- tion of pupil: in van: (horse

.1"'9§_‘!£€"_t." mm-

EEPFIF 3?.-. 1,954

Tho Passing Scene By Oburvar A LOOK BACK

drawn oiiu then) It the ex

of t.iio_communlt.y." This ia§.°"§°t the conooldntcd school was in loco It comparatively new one.’ In nu, it had been introduced for the ﬂﬂt film 0111! ten year: before in Klngxvllle Township (district). Ohio. As one instance when can. solldatlon had been tried lllocug. fully the writer mentions a Town. ship where nine little schools had been absorbed in one “hnndaome" control building. “Instead of mm teacher: giving haphazard lnatruc. tlon to nine petty groups of child. run. each one of a ntaff of five teachers devotes her whole time to courses as wall‘ graded :3 those of I city school."

. . .

‘rho critic then you on to state hi: general conclusions: "When 1 score or more in a. clue of gum. mar and geography (both of which aublecta; incidentally. are comid. ered more or less unimportant by modern curriculum plumm) are queatlonlm. answering, mm. inc, in one another’: hearing. they are bound to learn much that they would otherwise min." This, of course. is the familiar "ntety in numbers" or "misery likes com. puny" premise. according to the way one looks at it. (Molt young... tern. I fmcy. would prefer the hitter view)

It. should be said, howaver_ thin, while the group has much socia' value, apart. altogether from am possible academic advantage. thn trend nowadays seem: to be in the direction of small clluu and, where possible. individual instruc- tion. At all events, many of the private and semi-military school: in the United States are expert- mantinc with that kind of teach- ing and making much of it in their advertising booklets. Never- theless, it in l fact that the null district; school has just. about dis- appeared from the American aceru.

my _.-.6‘/' 4 9 . ?oe&$ 61’/ta‘ ON GIOWDIG OLD Beauty. have pity, for the strong have power. The rich their wealth. the bewil-

ful their grace, summer of man its lunllcht and tan

flower,

Spring-tune of man all April ii a face.

Only, as in the joatlhig in the Strand.

when the mob throat: or lottnrs

\ ' or is loud. The beggar with the lunar h lilo h

uid

Asks only a penny from ttiia pau- lng crowd.

So, from this glittering world with all its fashion,

Ila fire and play of men, it nth. its much,

Beauty, wisdom and pulled.

‘Bread to the soul, rain when the summers pal-oh.

Give me but. these, and though the darkness close

Even the night. will blossom u the rose.

—Johi1 Much:-id.

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