Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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I • ^ - 4 McCORMICK MESSENGER, McCORMICK, S. C., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1940 mtfw "S&tesjw ■'Y'!' H pil m |M HI mmmmmmm \s<< ^ ^ . , • ' v • ;■ ■ ' S '> WIKKKmM&mm & /W.£<.y*s.:v •x : ::-' y rTrr:. .•.•.•.•.i^CjKgwSx V. Sx _... /'?;?•■■■ < c v ' Up By ELMO SCOTT WATSON (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) I N A world aflame with war, the thoughts of Americans on Armistice Day, 1940, inevitably turn to that November day 22 years ago when World War I ended. In Arlington national cemetery near Washington stands the symbol of our ! participation in that conflict—the Tomb of the Unknown Sol- 'dier. One of our greatest patriotic shrines, it is not only a memorial to those whose graves in foreign soil are marked I “Unknown,” but in a larger sense it is also a monument to the 50,000 who gave their lives in that earlier fight against the threat of dicta torial power. Among them were a few who, unknowingly, erected memorials to themselves which seem destined to be as enduring as the white marble of the tomb in Arlington. For they were the soldier poets who, before a bullet or shell fragment wrote “Finis” to their careers, composed some bit of deathless verse which is now and always will be associated with their names. In 1936, when Frederic W. Ziv compiled an anthology of poems by poets who were killed in 1914 to 1918, his book, “The Valiant Muse,” contained the work of 59 young Englishmen and Ameri cans. All of these 59 are known to a few poetry-lovers; perhaps half of them are familiar names to students of literature; but to the English-speaking world gen erally four of their names have become as familiar as the names ©f famous bards who sang in ear lier and more peaceful times. They are two Americans, Alan Seeger and Joyce Kilmer, an Englishman, Rupert Brooke, and a Canadian, John McCrae. Although each of the four wrote considerable verse, in each case there is one poem which is in evitably and invariably^ asso ciated with the name of'its au thor. To think of Alan Seeger is to think of “I Have a Rendezvous .With Death,” which was prophet ic of the fate of the poet if not of the fate of the poem. Seeger was a young Harvard graduate who was studying in Paris at the out break of the war in 1914 and who enlisted in the French Foreign Legion. Wounded in action, he was recuperating in a French hospital when he wrote the poem which made him famous. It was 1 have a rendezvous with death At some disputed barricade. When spring comes round with rustling shade 'And apple blossoms fill the air. 1 have a rendezvous with death When spring brings back blue days and fair. ,Xt may be he shall take my hand 'And lead me into his dark land And close my eyes and quench my breath; It may be I shall pass him still. I have a rendezvous with death On some scarred slope of battered hill. When spring comes round again this year And the first meadow flowers appear. God knows ’twere better to be deep Pillowed in silk and scented down, Y/here love throbs out in blissful sleep. Pulse nigh to pulse, and breath to breath. Where hushed awakenings are dear. But I've a rendezvous with death At midnight in some flaming town. When spring trips north again this year. And I to my pledged word and true, X shall not fail that rendezvous. Back in service again, in 1916, Seeger wap invited to write a poem and read it at the Memorial day ceremony in Paris which had been arranged for the American volunteers who had died for France. Seeger worked feverish ly to finish the poem in time. Memorial day came but it brought no word to Seeger that his application for leave of ab sence to go to Paris for the cere mony had been granted. Later it was learned that a careless clerk had confused Memorial day with the other American patriotic holiday of Independence day and had obtained the leave of absence for that date. But Seeger was not destined to enjoy his leave on Independence day, for he had a “rendezvous with death” which he could not fail to keep. On July 4, 1916, there was a burst of German machine gun fire at Belloy-en-Santerre and <S>- one of the men who went down in the hail of death was the young soldier-poet. # There is a touch of pathos in the fact that Alan Seeger will keep his rendezvous with death for all eternity in an unmarked grave. Several months later his regiment returned to Belloy-en- Santerre to find that the entire landscape had been so changed by bombardment that not even the “scarred slope of battered hill” where he died could be rec ognized and all efforts since then to identify the site of his burial place have been unsuccessful. Like Seeger, Rupert Brooke v/rote a poem that was prophetic of his death and that contributed most to his fame. Those who BALLAD OF BABDS AND ACES. X wonder in what star-flowered nook Young Alan Seeger sings bis song— In what Elysium Rupert Brooke Breathes forth his music all day long. For from a world that fights with Wrong Does Byron dream of Freedom’s sway, *nd Keats and Shelley Join the throng; Where sings each bard of yester day? Say, where does brave Resnati soar Above the haunts of earthly men; Or where, beyond the cannon’s roar. Great Guynemer rides forth again? Does Lufbery sweep some heavenly glen Like Phaeton of ancient day. And Vernon Castle meet them then; Where flies each ace of yesterday? —John M. McGough in the New York Times. knew this young Englishman re member that, so striking was his physical appearance and so buoyant were his spirits, it was “like a wind from heaven” when he entered a room. Harriet Mon roe called him “the lyric Apollo” and his brother-poet, William But ler Yeats, said he was “the most beautiful young man in England.” But the world remembers him as the writer of this exquisite son net: THE SOLDIER If I should die, think only this of me. That there's some corner of a foreign field That is forever England. There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust con- ccslcd* A dust which England bore, shaped, made aware; Gave once her flowers to love, her ways to roam, A body of England's, breathing English air Washed by the rivers, ble«.t by suns of home. And think, this heart, all evil shed away, A pulse in the eternal mind no less. Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given; Her sights and sounds, dreamu happy as her day; And laughter learnt of fi lends, and gentleness. In hearts at peace, under an English haven. Out of the horror of the Battle of Ypres came another poem which has made the name of its author famous. He was Lieut. Col. John McCrae, commander of the medical department of Cana dian Hospital No. 3, a McGill uni versity unit. Innumerable times during the 16 days of that battle McCrae watched the burial of the dead and saw the white crosses erected over their graves. Then in the spring he saw the poppies trying to cover the tortured earth with their scarlet glory and he wrote IN FLANDERS FIELDS In Flanders fields the poppies grow Between the crosses, row on row. That mark our place. While in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly. Unheard amid the guns below. We are the dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunsets glow. Loved and were loved—but, now, we lie In Flanders fields! Take up our quarrel with the foe! To you, from falling hands, we throw The torch—Be yours to bear it high I If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies blow In Flanders fields. illil! ••.w.v.v mm m y i W0-- m mWM? fim - p 'mm McCrae’s poem was translat ed into every language spoken by the Allied forces. It became a symbol of the determination to “carry on” and before its au thor’s death in January, 1918, this Canadian soldier’s neighbors, the Americans, as well as thousands of his fellow-Canadians and other citizens of the British empire had heeded his injunction to “take up our fight.” McCrae was stricken with pneumonia at his post of duty and died in a hospital in Boulogne. He was buried in the cemetery at Wimereux, on a sunny slope, facing the sunset and the sea, where red poppies grow among the white crosses, one of which marks the last resting place of John McCrae. The second American soldier- poet who died in France and whose name is best remembered because of one poem was Joyce Kilmer. It is a curious fact, how ever, that it was written before he became a soldier and it was not a war poem. A graduate from Columbia university in 1908, Kilmer held various journalistic jobs before joining the staff of the New York Times in 1913. In that year Harriet Monroe’s Poet ry: A Magazine of Verse printed the poem which was to make KiL mer famous. It was TREES I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree; A tree whose hungry mouth Is pressed Against the earth's sweet flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in summer wear A nest of robins in her hair; Upon whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with rain. Poems are made by fools like me. But only God can make a tree. Kilmer was paid $7 for this poem—a few years ago the manu script of it was sold for $600. At the outbreak of the World war Kilmer was more sympathetic to the German side than that of the Allies because the former was more unpopular in this country. But he quickly changed after the sinking of the Lusitania and he wrote a poem about this event which was widely reprinted in both America and Europe. Called “The White Ships and the Red,” it portrayed the arrival of a new ship among the ghostly hulks of the thousands of vessels that lie on the floor of the sea—only this ship, the Lusitania, was not white but red with blood. Joining the legion of the lost, the Lusitania declares: My wrong cries out for vengeance. The blow that sent me here Was aimed in hell. My dying scream Has reached Jehovah’s ear. Not all the seven oceans Shall wash away that stain: Upon a brow that wears a crown I am the brand of Cain. Soon after America entered the war, Kilmer, although married gpid the father of three children, enlisted in a famous New York regiment—the “Fighting Sixty- ninth.” He became a sergeant and although he had opportunities for promotion, he turned them down because they would have in volved leaving his regiment for training elsewhere. “I’d rather be a sergeant in the Sixty-ninth than a lieutenant in any other regiment in the world,” he wrote a friend. And it was as a sergeant in the Sixty-ninth that he died—on July 30, 1918, during the five-days’ fighting for the heights near the Ourcq river. He had volunteered his services to the major of the battalion leading the advance be cause his own battalion was not in the lead. Having discovered a German machine gun nest in the woods ahead, he was sent with a patrol to determine its ex act location. Two hours later, when the rest of the battalion ad vanced into the woods, they found Kilmer lying, bent over a ridge, as if still scouting. When they turned him over they found that he was dead. He was buried near the spot where he fell beside hia lieutenant who was also killed. FIRS® AID ry-r -fa the ; AILING HOUSE by Roger B- Whitman Worn and Soiled Floor. Q UESTION: About 10 years ago we put down a hardwood floor and stained it dark. It has been waxed a number of times each year. It has worn in spots. Can I use any thing on these spots, or must I scrape the whole floor? The floor looks soiled and I can’t seem to get it clean. Answer: As a first step in doing over your floor, you should wipe well with turpentine to remove all of the wax. It is very probable that much of the dirt is in the wax, and this treatment will go far to restor ing the appearance. With the wax removed, you can touch up the light spots with oil stain. Apply a coat and wipe off immediately, and con tinue until with successive applica tions, the color matches the sur rounding floor. You should then fin ish with two coats of good floor varnish before rewaxing. Without varnish, dirt going into the wax will work through to the wood. With varnish this cannot happen ( Warped Bedroom Door. Question: I built my house last fall, and now find that the door to one of the bedrooms is badly warped. The top corner does not come within an inch of closing when the door is shut. Can I do anything about this? Answer: A door with any claim to quality should be built so that it is proof against warping, and warping is something that would justify a complaint to the dealer. In the long run it will be better to replace your warped door with one that is warp- proof, because even after it has been straightened, it may not stay so. A cabinet maker could do the job for you, by putting the door in a press, after which he would run heavy dowels into it to hold it straight. But a new door of well- seasoned wood is the best answer. Soapstone Tub Troubles. Question: My soapstone tub leaks at one of the joints, and in one place it is rough. What can be done about this? Answer: Widen the crack with a cold chisel, so that it is wider at the lower, or inside, part of the crack than on the surface. Fill the space with litharge, to be had at a paint store, mixed to a stiff paste with glycerine. Mix this up only a little at a time, for it hardens quick ly. Pack this into the crack. Another method is to pack the crack with soft cotton string or lamp wicking, smeared with white lead. Allow several days for drying beiore using the tub. To smooth the rough place, rub with a block of carborundum, which you can get at a hardware or paint store. Stained Floor. Question: In the case of a much stained flooring, we have been ad vised that the stain, due to general neglect, can be removed by washing with water containing soda. Is this correct? Answer: A strong solution of washing soda or trisodium phos phate will remove the finish, but if the stains are in the wood, only a saturated solution of ox'alic acid will bleach it out, after the finish has been removed. A floor finish that is in poor condition and badly stained should be scraped with a floor sand ing machine, then refinished. Sidewall Shingles. Question: A certain company is suggesting asphalt shingles for the upper half of my house and asbestos cement shingles for the lower half. Also, something is said about as phalt sheeting under the shingles. Would an all asbestos job be pref erable to the above arrangement? Answer: My preference would be for an all asbestos shingle finish, from the standpoint of appearance and durability. Asphalt saturated felt is always used under asbestos shingle siding. Food Moths. Question: I find moths in my pack ages of cereals and crackers, which I keep in my kitchen closet. What should I do to get rid of them? Answer: Those moths thrive in dried food of all kinds. Boxes of food that have been opened or bro ken should be thrown out. Clear off the shelves and scrub thoroughly with hot soapsuds. All cereals, nuts, crackers, spaghetti, etc., should be kept in tight containers; tin boxes or tightly capped glass jars. Gold Leaf Frame. Question: The gold leaf on an old- fashioned mirror frame has been rubbed off in spots. I mioald like to know if there is some liquid prepa ration that I could use to cover the whole frame. Answer: At your local art store you can get what is generally called a bronzing liquid. It comes in a variety of gold finishes and can be easily brushed on. WAR ON WEEDS EASIER IN FALL Chlorates Less Effective in Summertime. By J. C. HACKLEMAN (Crops Extension. Specialist, University ol Illinois.) You can kill three times as much quackgrass with the same amount of chlorates by applying them in the fall instead of in the middle of the growing season. Then while the quackgrass is still groggy next spring, give it the final knockout blow. More recent work indicates that somewhat the same thing may ap ply to the control of sow thistle, leafy spurge and hoary cress. The general rule for killing weeds with chlorates is to apply the chemi cal during early November at the rate of three or four pounds for each square rod for the worst weeds, such as bindweed, hoary cress or perennial peppergrass and leafy spurge. Then next April or May this treat ment can be followed by a second application to prevent the weeds from regaining their vigor lost by the first poisoning. Experiments Conducted by the university show that two or three pounds of chlorate applied for each square rod in early November are just as effective in killing quack grass and some other weeds as 8 or 10 pounds a square rod in the mid dle of the summer growing season. The experiments also indicate that calcium chlorate is about twq-thirds to three-fourths as effective as so dium chlorate. The cost of two applications is about $80 an acre when the chlorate is used at the rate of 3% pounds to the square rod for each application. Chlorates are dangerous as fire hazards, but if the directions are read carefully and common sense precautions are taken in hahdling them this danger will be avoided. Swine Fatten Faster If they Aren’t ‘Piggish* Believe it or not, pigs will make hogs of themselves much faster if they do not have to be “piggish.” El bow room while eating and the right kind of service help swine to make rapid gains on a smaller amount of feed than when they have to eat like “greedy pigs” to get their share of whatever grub is available. Hog-lot mannerisms of this kind are worthy of the attention of farm ers as well as of students of swine psychology, Drs. R. C. Miller and T. B. Keith, of the Pennsylvania State, college agricultural experi ment station, believe, because of the feed cost involved. When pigs are fed in groups and allowed to act “natural,” they usu ally require 400 or more pounds of feed in order to gain 100 pounds in body weight, the Penn State experimenters found. In a recent test in which they were fed sep arately, however, certain pigs gained 100 pounds on as little as 229 pounds of a ration analyzing 17 per cent protein. Factors other than uninterrupted meals doubtless had a bearing on the economy of gains, Miller and Keith freely admit, but they also are of the opinion that plenty of room at the trough is important. Their tests indicate that a ration of corn, tankage, soybean oilmeal, al falfa meal and salt is about right for fattening pigs after they weigh 100 pounds if the mixture analyzes around 17 per cent protein. From weaning to 100 pounds, somewhat more protein may be necessary. Orchard Grass Ally Of Pasture Legume The very fact that it does not form sod, which formerly was re garded as a disadvantage, is causing renewed interest in or chard grass as a pasture plant. The bunchy growth of orchard grass, says E. Marion Brown of the bureau of plant industry, U. S. department of agriculture, al lows for free development of the lespedeza between the clumps of orchard grass. This favors the always desirable partnership of a grass and a legume, with the grass benefiting from the nitro gen which the legume draws from the air. Thus the orchard grass- lespedeza combination has one of the qualities that has made blue- grass and white clover a favored partnership wherever they will grow. Orchard grass—particularly if well nourished with nitrogen stored by the lespedeza—makes a strong early growth in spring. In summer when the orchard grass is resting, lespedeza is produc tive. Grain Storage Once every two weeks isn’t too often to inspect stored grain, warns M. D. Farrar, entomologist work ing with the University of Illinois. Infested grain may be quickly rec ognized by its firm surface, musty odor, and warmth at a depth of 12- 18 inches. A careful examination will show damaged kernels and oth er conditions which may be asso ciated with infested grain. Killing of grain insects can be done at a cost of less than a half cent a bushel. CLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT SERVICES OFFERED Vital war minerals In demand. Minerals and ores identified, $2.00 each. Send small sample. Assays and analyses also fur nished. Write for prices and information. Lonis Strange, Box 613, Guthrie, Ky. BABY CHICKS to BABY CHICKS n«K (for lim ited time only) with orders for miii u 100 assorted heavy chicks only* CHICKS * *4-90 per 180. No Cripples! No j m Cullsf LivePeBvety Buareateed. Postpaid ■ Send M. O. for Prompt Shipment ATLAS CHICK CO- St. Loula, Mo. FREE! il HOUSEHOLD QUESTIONS Rusty nails put in the soil around a hydrangea bush will keep the soil healthy. • e • Never throw away bones left from a roast or shoulder. Put them on in cold water and if cooked several hours, a very good soup may be obtained with the addition of diced vegetables. * * • If your carpet sweeper squeaks, apply pil on a feather or from a small oil can. Use the oil on the bearings and around the wheels. Then run the sweeper over a paper to catch any surplus oil so it won’t drip on your rugs. • * • It’s time to clean the fur collar, on your coat. Heat commeal, in a shallow pan and, with the fin gers, rub the meal well into the fur. After two days, shake out or brush lightly with a soft brush. If the. fur is very soiled, repeat. This is very effective on the white fur so often used on evening wraps. FIRST THOUGHT AT T THE FIRST WARNING St OF COLDS'ACHES OR ^ INORGANIC PAIN fyyjiJivVY ^ St. Joseph .Nfti ASPIRIN Be a Pattern Be a pattern to others, and then all will go well; for as a whole city is infected by the licentious passions and vices of great men, so it is likewise reformed by their moderation. DONT BE BOSSED BY YOUR LAXATtVE-REUEVE CONSTIPATION THIS MODERN WAY • When you feel gassy, headachy, logy due to dogged-up bowels, do es millions do—take Feen-A-Mmt at bedtime. Next morning — thorough, comfortable relief, helping you start the day full of your normal energy and pep, feeling like a million! Feen-A-Mint doesn’t disturb your night’s rest or interfere with work the next day. TVy Feen-A-Mint, the chewing gum laxative, yourself. It testes good, it’s handy and economical... a family supply FEEN-A-MINT He Knew It “I liked living in the country. Never paid a doctor’s bill all the time I was there.” “So the doctor told me.” SOOTHES CHAFED SKIN WHITE PETROLEUM JELLY l!P< Power to Do When there’s a log to lift, an old man will grunt and a young man pick it up. COLDS quickty 44’Xt LIQUID TABLETS SALVE NOSE DROPS . COUCH DROPS WNU—7 45—40 As Yon Walk Religion lies more in walk than in talk. •Today’s popularity of Doan's Pills, after many years of world- wide use, surely must I be accepted as evidence I of satisfactory use. [And favorable public opinion supports that of the able physicians who test the value of Doan’s under exacting laboratory conditions. These physicians, too, approve every word of advertising you read, the objective of which is only to recommend Doan’s Pills ns a good diuretic treatment for disorder af the kidney function and for relief of the pain and worry it causes. If more people were aware of how the kidneys must constantly remove waste that cannot stay in the blood without in jury to health, there would be better un derstanding of why the whole body suffers when kidneys lag, and diuretic medica tion would be more often employed. Burning, scanty or too frequent urina tion sometimes warn of disturbed kidney function. You may suffer nagging back ache, persistent headache, attacks of diz ziness, getting up nights, swelling, puffi ness under the eyes—feel weak, nervous, all played out. Use Doan’s Pills. It is better to rely on a medicine that has won world-wide ac claim than on something less favorably known. Ask your neighbor! Doan spills