Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE SUN. NEWBERRY. S. C. FRIDAY, MAY 10, 1940 Are Birds 'People'? All You Have io Do Is Watch Them at Work or at Play; Then You'll Be Convinced Some of Them Are! Farm Topics NEW DRUG AIDS WAR ON PESTS By ATHELENE WATSON (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) ARE birds “people”? Why not? For they work like *■ real people and they fill almost as many profes sions. "The butcher, the baker, the candlestick-maker” of the world of men become “the butcher, the weaver, the busy street-cleaner” in the bird realm. Birdland is a verita ble Greenwich Village, for BLUE JAY butchers nest next to actors, carpenters, acrobats, divers and singers. But who are these butchers and street cleaners? Do they exist? Yes, there really are birds which are aptly called by these names. The northern shrike and the log gerhead shrike are called “butch er birds” because they impale their prey on thorns and barbed wire fences or hang them away in the cleft of a tree limb to be eaten later. The northern shrike looks like a masked bandit as it swoops down upon its victims, for it has a strip of black feathers extending from the eyes to the back of the head like a black mask. It flies low over the ground spotting its victims—grasshop pers, beetles, mice, snakes or even small birds. Then it turns, climbs upward before it hurtles down to the ground again in one last cruel pounce. You may be sure that little Jenny Wren does NOT sing, “O, ma-ma, it’s the butcher boy for me,” for all of the small birds are filled with fear and run for cover when they hear the heavy rapid flapping of the shrike’s wings. It is a curious fact that during the mating season the shrike is a very sweet singer, seemingly trying to whitewash the crueler side of its nature dur ing the period of wooing. And the street cleaner? Why, he’s the noisy urchin of the bird family who chatters and quarrels on your roof every day—the Eng lish sparrow. He’s a bold, selfish fellow with uncouth manners for he will crowd uninvited into a well-behaved robin’s or bluebird’s nest and drive away the real own er. He’ll take possession of the house you built for Sir Christo pher and Mistress Jenny Wren but in return he’ll do one good deed, at least. English sparrows are city scavengers and they’ll do a thorough job of street cleaning in front of your house or in an alley nearby. Baltimore Oriole, the Weaver. The weaver? That’s the Balti more oriole, a weaver by trade. Madame Oriole is a skillful arti san. She fashions a warp of strings fastened firmly around the forked branches of a tree. DOWNY WOODPECKER Through this she weaves plant fibers, horsehair, string and strips of bark to make a nest shaped like a pocket-like bag. Baby ori oles are lulled to sleep by each gentle breeze in their hammock in the tree-tops. Orioles are very fond of bright colors and they are not always too scrupulous about property rights in their eagerness to gather material for a nest. A neighbor of mine was seated on the porch sorting scraps of yarn left over from a crocheted afghan. Noon came and she left the yarn in a box while she prepared lunch. When she returned the yarn had disappeared as if by magic. A month later her small sou discov ered the thief. High in the branches of an elm tree a mother oriole sat proudly on a colorful * nest decorated with the stolen yarn! , The humming bird is an artist as well as a weaver for its nest is a thing of delicacy and beauty. The entire nest is about the size of a walnut. It is made of plant down and dried flower petals and held together by silvery spider’s web covered with bits of moss. This dainty creation resembles a baby’s silver-lined thimble. There’s an industrious fellow among birds who is an excellent carpenter. Nature has given the woodpecker family the tools of the carpenter’s trade. Their strong beaks are shaped like chisels so they can easily bore into a tree trunk. Their long cylinder- shaped tongues end in a hard tip, barbed on both sides which can be pushed out underneath the bark of trees. Their legs are short and stout, their claws strong and sharp. Their stiff tail feath ers end in sharp spines which can be pushed against the bark of trees to hold them upright as they hammer away at the trunk. Equipped with these tools it is no trick at all to drill a neat, round hole in a tree and make a ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK snug warm nest. In digging out these retreats, the woodpeckers go in horizontally to the center and then turn downward in an en larged tunnel until the finished nest is the shape of a long, deep pear. The sawdust which falls while the drilling is going on makes a soft lining for the nest. The Missus Dissents. The woodpecker is a meticulous worker. It selects the site of its home with care. If the first at tempt at excavation proves un satisfactory, the bird abandons it and tries again. I watched a red-headed woodp#cker hammer ing away one day at the dry limb of an apple tree. His mate, who was perched on a limb nearby, surveyed the work of her bril- MEADOWLARK liant-headed spouse with a criti cal eye. Suddenly she darted near with a loud whining “char-r-r-” and for a few seconds the air was filled with their angry cries. He evidently had the better of the argument for she flicked away with her brown feathers ruffled indignantly. I cannot vouch for the fact that she had pointed out a flaw in his work, but I do know that an hour later the red-head was chiseling away a few inches down the limb. After drilling in for two inches he seemed to change his mind and flew away in the same direc tion his mate had taken. When I examined the holes, I discovered that the limb was too badly de cayed and a chip had come out, making a hole in the outer wall. In the second cavity the work man had again come too near the surface and scarcely more than the bark remained as protection from the weather. No doubt, the woodpecker’s flaming head drooped with shame when his tri umphant wife had her chance to chirp “I told you so!” He’s a 'Swing’ Addict. Singing is, of course, the most popular profession among birds. The song sparrow is a “swing” addict. Their usual song opens with three high-pitched notes fol lowed by complicated warbling trills but no two song sparrows sing exactly the same song. AMERICAN CROW The meadowlark thrills you with a clear, sweet “spring-o-the- year, spring-o-the-year” until he notices that he has a human Ifif- tener. Then he will impolitely turn his back upon you to hide his conspicuous yellow breast from your prying eyes. The rose-breasted grosbeak is the Beau Brummell of the song birds but he is the soul of chiv alry to his mate for he uses his rich whistling carol to entertain her during the nesting season. He is an example of what the well-dressed young bird is wear ing for he has a handsome sum mer coat of black and rose. In winter he favors a duller suit of brown and rose. Just as human singers special ize in certain fields of entertairy ment, such as radio, opera or vaudeville, so do the bird musi cians develop their talents along one line. The mocking bird is the king of mimics. He not only imi tates the voice of other songsters but improves upon the sound which he imitates. Charlie McCarthy of Birdland. The scarlet tanager and the wood thrush are both ventrilo quists for they can “throw” their voices. I discovered this trick once when a sleepy-looking little owl in a mulberry tree apparently greeted me with a sharp “chip- churr, chip-churr.” Then there was a flash of scarlet in a tree nearby and I found that a saucy tanager had used the owl as his Charlie McCarthy. The blue jay has a cruder sense of humor and uses his pow er of mimicking to frighten small birds by imitating the scream of the red-shouldered hawk. This is in keeping with his role as the bad boy of birdland, a rogue and a bully who steals from other nests and “picks on” smaUer birds. Not all bird musicians choose a vocal career. The downy wood pecker prefers instrumental mu sic. He’s the drummer boy, the Gene Krupa of the bird world. For a drum he may use the stub of a dry limb about the size of one’s wrist. The ideal “drum” has an outer shell that is hard and resonant with a heart de cayed and gone. The clumsy crow turns buffoon to entertain his fellow birds. He tumbles, hops, skips and turns somersaults as skillfully as any circus clown. High-Diving Champion. The belted kingfisher chooses water instead of land to exercise his athletic skill. He lives along ponds, lakes, rivers and small creeks fcr he depends entirely upon fish for food. He hovers over the water until he spies a flash of fins beneath the surface, then plunges after his prey with the accuracy of the butcher bird. It is one of the fundamental in stincts, mother love, which makes the bob white turn actress. If an intruder comes too close to her LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE nest this clever biid pretends to be lame until she has lured her sympathetic follower far from her young. Are birds people? I was never quite convinced until I found a catbird’s nest in our orchard one spring. Held fast to the outside wall by interwoven twigs was a scrap of newspaper containing part of a poem. The title of the poem was a mute appeal “Don’t Kill the Birds!” Kills Insects Without Injury To Animals. Government chemists have devel oped and proved a new drug, known as phenothiazine, which will kill in sects without injury to warm-blood ed animals, including man. Scientists who conducted the re search said phenothiazine is “one of the most versatile chemical sub stances brought to light in recent years.” It has not as yet been l placed on the market. As soon as manufacturers make 1 application to the secretary of agri culture, phenothiazine will be re leased as a medicine for treating certain infestations of sheep, swine and horses which heretofore have resisted medication. As an insecticide, phenot.’.iazine j has been specifically effective in controlling such pests as the cod dling moth, Mexican bean beetle and grape berry moth. It has not been effective against the boll weevil, tobacco hornworms and the Japanese beetle. The drug has proved effective in the control of mosquitoes, but its use is somewhat limited because of the cost. But for rock garden ponds for example, enough phenothiazine ; to prevent mosquito breeding will not harm goldfish, nor is it harmful to wildlife that might drink at treat ed ponds. Flexible Farm Lease Cuts Moving Losses More than four-fifths of the Farm Security administration tenant bor rowers now have written leases, one-fourth of which are either auto matically renewable or run for pe riods of more than one year, said Dr. Will W. Alexander, FSA admin istrator, in a recent report to the secretary of agriculture. B’avoring written leases is one of Farm Security’s steps toward slow ing down the movement of tenant farmers. In 1935 one-third of the ( tenant farmers — approximately 5,000,000 people—moved. Minimum cost of moving was $50 per family, for the families involved. Land lords also suffered damage and de preciation. The nation lost by waste of soil encouraged by such tenure practices. “Oral agreements lead to disagreements- and unnecessary | moving,” Dr. Alexander comments, i A flexible farm lease form has been prepared by the Farm Security administration which can be fitted easily to needs of farmer and land lords in any part of the country. It provides that the lease shall con tinue in effect for several years, or that it shall not be terminated by either party without written notice to the other, several months in ad vance. Best Churning Cream Determined by Tests The best test for cream to be churned into butter is about 29 per cent—at least from the standpoint of avoiding loss of butterfat with the buttermilk, according to trials of the Wisconsin agricultural experi ment station. Cream testing 29 per cent had a satisfactorily short churning time of less than 36 minutes. Cream with a test of 21 per cent churned in 28 minutes, and 25 per cent cream in , 32 minutes, but the time and power saved with these lower testing creams did not offset the disadvan tage of losing more fat in the but termilk. This work showed it is doubly desirable to avoid churning cream with a higher test than 33 per cent, because under such conditions there is not only a high loss of fat but also a tendency toward salvy or oily body in the butter. All these trials were carried out with cream standardized to a de sired butterfat content, pasteurized at 150 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes, cooled to 45 degrees, and held for 16 hours at that tempera ture, and then churned at 50 degrees in motor-driven chums operating at a fixed speed. Fish Meal as Feed Two per cent of codliver oil in the chicken fattening ration or 2 per cent of best quality codliver oil plus a 15 per cent level of high-grade fish meal, fed for a six-month period up to the time of killing, was with out detrimental effect on the flavor of the meat, either fresh or stored. This was the finding with Light Sus sex chickens in a test reported from the school of agriculture at Cam- oridge, England. Bang’s Disease Failure to eradicate Bang’s dis ease in dairy herds usually is due to three factors. First, farmers may fail to remove promptly all aborting cows from other cattle and to destroy the aborted material be- fore it has infected other cows. ! Second, owners may introduce into ' their herds cattle carrying the Bang’s disease organism. Third, I iwners may neglect to have the ' Bang’s tests made at sufficiently I dse intervals. Colorful Rainy Day Outfits Are Stylized to Perfection By CHERIE NICHOLAS ’V/I EMBER “way back when” a ■*Y-* rainy day was the signal to don your most melancholy looking wearing apparel—dingiest hat that the rain couldn’t spoil, a coat with but the single thought of protection regardless of looks, and “don’t for get your rubbers,” the good old- fashioned clumsy kind that gave you an inferiority complex every time you wore them? Thanks to the resourcefulness of present-day fashionists no longer do figures of gloom clad in somber garb canopied with ponderous um brellas that obscured the view and had an exasperating way of collid ing with every kindred umbrella it met, stolidly wend their way through wind, rain and weather. To day rain-in-the-air is the bugle call to us moderns to dress up in the most cheerful, colorful, pleasing-tc- the-eye outfits creators of rainy day fashions have dared to devise. Gay-with-color and smartly styl ized rainy day ensembles are abso lutely essential in a properly ap pointed wardrobe, according to the progressive Twentieth century way of thinking. Utilitarian, of course, is the basic theme, but it is utility served with a smile in terms of cheer and eye-catching attractiveness. The dainty colorful transparent coats with protective headpieces to match that you can fold up in an envelope have a charm about them that adds witchery to any rainy day scene. Umbrellas are so lovely they nearly outrival parasols. Then there are the practical types of rainy day ensembles made of ma terials that are reversible — gab ardine on one side and tweed on the other—grand for intensive wear. Speaking of looking your prettiest on a rainy day, the young woman pictured to the left in the illustra tion goes stepping in a hooded coat of white oilskin which has raglan sleeves and fitted waistline. She wears white galoshes to match. She does not really need an umbrella but if she should carry one just foi effect we are quite sure she would be choosing one of those delectable types made of transparent white oil silk patterned in a design that looks exactly as if actual chalk-white lace had been applied. In reality the lace magic is achieved in an allover motif printed in opaque white. Gayety on a gloomy, rainy day and all because her raincoat is as cheery as a streak of sunshine ap plies to the attractively outfitted girl centered in the picture. The coat has raglan sleeves to fit over any garment and a zippered front clos ing. A cotton numerical print fab ric in striking colors fashions it. The big news about the rainproof fabric of which it is made is that it has been treated with a new syn thetic which scientists call koroseal, which not only makes it impervious to water, but also renders it spot- proof and fire resistant. The ma terial is also processed so that it does not become stiff or crack with age. Thus does modern genius con tinue its wonders to perform. Note her boots, they are the latest. They are amazingly light weight, and easy to slip on. Solve the hateful mud spot on hosiery annoyance perfectly. No clothes worries during spring and summer’s inevitable showers awaits the young miss standing to the right in the group, for her new raincoat is also made of a material treated scientifically as above de scribed so that it will victoriously defy the onslaughts of the elements, no matter how fierce the wind or rain. This coat is fashion-right in every sense of the word. It boasts a very new blouse-top silhouette with full skirt giving the wearer a trim figure by the use of shirring at the waistline. If she so chooses she can pull the parka hood up over her hat for protection. The comfortable bishop sleeves will fit over a woolen coat or a summer frock. (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) Dressmaker Suit This charming dressmaker suit with its flattering lapels and cuffs of ruffled white pique is made of san- drella, a lightweight closely woven material of virgin wool. The style represents one of the newest fashion developments of the season. The crisp texture of the fabric resists wrinkles and the stress of hard wear. She wears her straw breton in latest approved far-back-on-head fashion. Animals Pattern New French Prints Balenciaga chooses flying ducks to pattern new spring prints. Bruyere shows elephants and Schiaparelli, more eclectic, takes the doves, the penguins, the deer and the fish. Another series of prints uses mod ern objects such as garden tables and chairs, drawn in such a fash ion that they look almost like lace patterns over a plain ground, wood en shoes, castles (chosen by Balen ciaga), children’s faces (on Du- chame fabrics), dancing figures . . . many of these in almost miniature sizes. Fingertip Gloves New Fashion Fad A quarter of an inch at the end of your nails starts a new style in gloves. They’re designed with extra extensions to take care of those long glamorous nails. The gloves are three-dimensional, the four- chette in contrasting colors to match the shade of your fingertips. The glove is flattering to any hands— long finger nails or no—because it gives them such a long tapering line. Curved Metal Heels Hollow metal curved in graceful scrolls is used for heels on some of the spring shoes from Paris. The metal, of course, is flexible and al lows you to walk with a springy movement. LJ ERE are pictured two more A - 1 new practical and decorative cutouts which we offer to you. These designs are to be traced on wallboard, plywood or thin lum ber. Jig, coping or keyhole saw may be used to cut them out, and when painted they become attrac tive ornaments for your lawn. The 14-inch scottie comes on pattern Z90P7, 15 cents. “Please Use Walk” and “Keep Off Grass” signs are both given. The overall boy is about 29 inches tall, and may be had by ordering Z9089, 15 cents. Select one or both of these clev er cutout figures. General cutout directions, as well as specific painting suggestions come with each pattern. Send order to: AUNT MARTHA Box 166-W Kama* City, Mo. Enclose IS cents lor each pattern desired. Pattern No Name Address Spaed housecleaning I Save hours of tlmo. Potlsh as you clean! Lady, yon needn’t tire yourself, waste btam of tune: cleaning and then polishing wood work, fur nittuc and floors. Instead,O-Cedar them; polish as you clean; do both at once so easily... for O-Cedar cleans the ugly dirty film of dirt and leaves instead a lovely glow, a soft and silken lustre. Ask for genuine MOPS, WAX, DUSTERS, CUANERS AND O-CEDAR FLY AND MOTH SPRAY Cramped Spaces Happy child! the cradle is still to thee a vast space; but when thou art a man the boundless world will be too small for thee. Related Evils Ignorance and superstition ever bear a close, and even a mathe matical, relation to each other.— J. Fenimore Cooper. KILL ALL FLIES Guaranteed, effective, convenient — Cannot WUlnot soil or Injure Lasts all season. 20c at rli dealer*. Haroki Somers, Ink, 150 DeKalb Ave^B’klynJSLY! DAISY FLY KILLER anything I SJU-SJ Unknown Strength Although men are accused for not knowing their own weakness, yet perhaps as few know their own strength.—Swift. KNOWN FROM COAST TO COAST-NEXT TMR BUY KENir^BLADESIOc CUPP US COMPANY, ST. LOUIS, MISSOUM * 1340 WORLD'S FAIR Stop at The HOTEL HOLLAND W. 42nd ST., NEW YORK CITY 400 BATHS Special ratas for family grouM Pree Swimming Pool and Gym WriteforfreeVTorWi Fair Booklet W.H.