Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 43, Number 327, 30 November 1918 — Page 12
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RICHMOND. INDIANA. SATURDAY. NOV. 3). 1913
Feeding end Caring for Winter Birds Not all the birds fly away to the sunny South at the first approach of winter. There are some birds which make the North their permanent borne and then there are othrrs that visit us during the winter. 1 he former; we call permanent residents and the latter, winter residents.
Among those that stay with us mrougnoui me year are me uodwhite, the rufftd grouse, the sparrow hawk, sharp-shinned hawk, Cooper's hawk, the screech owl, long-pared and short-eared owls, the barred owl and great horned owl, the downy and hairy woodpecker, the flicker, crow, starling blnejav, meadowlark, bluebird, rhicadee, song and house sparrow, American and European goldfinch, the cardinal and purple finch,' the Carolina wren, the tufted titmouse and the white-breasted nuthatch. Quite a list, you see. There are some other birds which sometimes stay with us during the winter, though but rarely. Among theee, you will find the robin and the- cedar waxwing. There are three of the hawks which only rarely stay north, and these are the marsh hawk, broad-winged hawk and duck hawk. Sometimes one sees a bald eagle, though pot so often as in former years. Occasionally a red-winged woodpecker weathers the winter blasts, and makes a very brilliant bit of color on the snowy landscape. Some of the birds come to lis regularly in the fall and stay until spring. The junco comes as regularly a3 the season, but there are others whose coming cannot be depended on. The pine grosbeak, for instance, may be very abundant some winters and other winters not put in an appearance at all. The same-may be said of the red crossand the pine siskin. They are only ) seen once in a while, but when we do see them, it gives us such a happy feeling, for birds are a muchf more welcome sight in the winter than in the summer, any one will admit that. There is one bird that is sometimes seen in the winter, which deserves all the Loving care and protection that.you can give it. It is not common, so don't expect to go right, out in your back yard, most any old time, and hobnob with it. The chances are that you will never see it, but if you do, leave a bit of food around where it can help itself. It acts like a hawk, but isn't one. It is the northern shrik, and it Is particularly valuable in that .its food consists largely of mice, noxious insects and the English sparrow. Watch the fuss these sparrows make, every time the shrik puts in an appearance. They know what his intentions are before he gives them a demonstration. You may see another little wanderer, in search of food, and if you : do, treat him kindly. Some years you will see the little sawwhet owl. He loves to stay in the evergreens, and he is one of the raobt useful'' little owls we have. Those of you who live oraong the pines may see a pretty ittle bird among the green branchel; a little bird with a black streak on its face and a red breast, and ypu may wonder what it is. It is the red-breasted nuthatch, but don't be disappointed if you don't see it for it is very rare a? this time of the year. There are some birds which we feel sure will come to us as certainly as the winter storms will come, and we number among these our little friends the junco, winter wren, brown creeper, golden-crowned kinglet, the horned and the prairie lark, and the snowflake. In some localities are found every year the black-backed gull and the herring gull, and the gull with such a funny , name, the kittiwake, and also the Bonaparte's gull. The duck called the "old squaw" chooses to spend the winter with Us, and also the surf scoter and the w hitewinged coter r The Lapland longspur visits the Middle States occasionally during the winter and is so interesting that we really ought to give it more thought than we do. It belongs to the finch family and is sometimes called the Lapland snowbird or the Lapland lark bunting. It is just a wee bit larger that the English sparrow. The male bird's plumage varies with the season, but the one which he is wearing now will be t'omewhali after this description; The feathers on the top of his head are black marked with rusty, and
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Freed people of Sandermont and Canadian soldiers
They're just like one big joyful family, these Canadian soldiers and residents of the little village of Sandermont, some twenty kilometers southeast of Arras. Why the happiness? Well the villagers have been liberated from the iron rule of the Huns after your years of oppression. And the Canadian soldiers well, you'd feel pretty good, too, if you had made life worth living dnce more for a whole town. The soldiers are part of the Canadian force which drove the Germans from the village.
all the feathers are tipped with ( never criticise your efforts in their white. Those below and behind behalf. Tie pieces of suet in the the eye are a rusty black. The trees. The fat will help keep the breast and the feathers underneath ; birds warm. Sprinkle corn "and are grayish white, faintly streaked ' grain about your doorstep. You will with black. The top part of the t never oiis5 it. There are always bird is reddish brown with black 'the crumbs from the table. If you marking.3. The feet are black and J throw these out rtgularly, the birds there is something about theri J will soon learn the fact and will be which is peculiar. They have very j there before you are, waiting panoticeable long spurs or claws. i tiently till you are through eating. .The female is just a' rusty, gray' that they may have their share. A little bird, with paler markings and few crumbs placed regularly on
whitish underneath. No doubt you have guessed, from thi. bird's name, that it is a resident of the Arctic regions and the ! northern parts of the United States. I In the winter time, it is abundant I P- T" nA Un 1lr)An I tt iai d jrvttuao an- iur .i iuuic States. This bird is often mistaken at first sight for the English sparrow in whose company it is often found. In the East it mingles with the snowtfakes and shorelarks, and if there are any at all during a season, there will be quite a large flock of them. They become very friendly as they hover about the door in search of .food, and they aren't easily frightened as they run over the snow, picking up the grain and leaving their funny little footprints behind them, Just as soon as spring brings its first blossoms and tiny green leafbuds, these little birds start on their long spring migration to the far north. The Lapland longspur is strictly a ground bird, so we are not surprised to hear that it chooses for its nest a depression in some mossy bank, and it is said that it nest is lined vwith the soft fur shed by the Arctic fox. What nicer oed could the little babies want? So you see, thereare still many birds about,' and it is largely up to you, just how many of them will be your neighbors this winter. While the othsr birds are feeding on the riches of the tropics, are we going to let these little friends who choose to stay with us starve to death or even go hungry? It does not mean much on your part, only the slight task of erecting a feeding tray or two, high up, out of the reach of the cats. No matter how rudely constructed, the bird, will
WERE IN THEIR SHOES
vVi your window sill will attract daily visitors, and during the long, lone some days of winter, when yoa have little to amuse you, you will never want for company, for the oiras win remember you. MARY'S KITTY Now, dear little kitty, so gentle and pretty, Come sip of this milk I nave brought you. A boy would have drowned you, if I had not found you! Dear kit, for a penny I bought you. My gay little kitty, I left in pity. Your frolics and freaks should be ended: So grow good and pretty, my dear little kitty, . And I'll not regret what I then did. A JOKE. One day the teacher asked a little boy in the first grade what his name was. He said, "George." "What is your father's name?" "Papa," said George. "No his first name, I mean," said the teacher. "Papa is his first name," said George, "and his last name is Paul." "Why do you know his last name and not the first name?" "Well I hear Mama call him Paul," raid George. Esther K. I won't give up my gardening now Though snow will soon descend in piles. I'll scatter little thoughts like . seeds They'll maybe blossom into smiles. The Cheerful Cherub.
LiTTLE FRENCH GIRL LEARNS THAT GERMANS WOULD LEAVE SOON
Marie Rose was nine years old in 1914. At that time her family consisted of her father, mother, brother and herself, and it was a happy family until the war clouds rolled up and the German storm broke across Belgium and into France. For days the battle was heard la the distance; then, one night, the Germans swept forward past the farm, the St. Mihiel saliant was formed and the once happy familj was shut in. It was then, after the Germans came, that Marie Rose bid goodbye to her brother one morning as the Germans took him away with some other boys, who, so the Germans said, were going to do some work not far away. Just how far away j they took her brother Marie Rose i does not know, for she ha3 never seen him since. , Marie Rose's story, as told to the Yanks who liberated her and her mother, is the same story as told by many others who were caught j in the German advance four years i ago. Some German transportation i officers occupied the spare rooms I of the farm house, and from time to time new officers came to take their place. The officer?1 were not j harsh, but they were st ?t. None I of the family was all ed away from the fan. Once iwien Marie Rose became very sick a German I doctor was brought in to care for her. , ' ' Learning a Pretty Language. Marie Rose's father worked on the farm, while her mother did the housework and cooked for the officers. There was no school, of course so Marie studied German, and.often a German officer devoted his evenings to giving her instruction. She was told that the German language was very pretty, and that in a few years the entire world would speak German. So the months rolled by, and Marie Rose learned to speak German. She did errands for the German officers, and sometimes they brought her candy and cookies. Occasionally she visited another little girl who lived only a few kilometers i away, but this chance did not r"ie j often, as she had to be escorted by i a German officer or soldier. The day they buried her little girl friend in a nearby graveyard was a sad day for Marie Rose. There were no more playmates in miles and miles. She cried for two days and nights: then, so her mother says, she asked if there were any more little girts in the world. Her mother told her there were, that some day when the Germans were beaten back, they would go away from there to where there were lots of little girl3 and boys and a school. Sadder Days Come. This encouraged Marie Rose, but i her courage was shattered when in 1916 her father died out in the field where he had gone to work. Her mother lapsed into a long sick spell soon after. Those were sad; der and lonesomer days for little Marie Rose. As the months rolled by and Marie Rose grew older, her mother often called her aside and told her of the great day coming when the Germans would be swept back. Marie Rose listened with much interest. One day she approached a German officer about it He told her that there would soon be no French army and everything would be German. Marie Rose returned to her mother with the news. "Don't you believe them," her mother told her. "There will come a day." During the early morning of September 12, 1918, Marie Rose and her mother heard the booming of distant cannon. As daylight broke the booming became louder and louder, and at noon the Germans hurridly packed their belongings and left without even a word to Marie Rose and her mother. Heavy shells were soon bursting in the neighborhood, and German soldiers began to pass in wagons, automobiles, on horses. So-" a great many were passing on foot Marie Rose's moUier aimot cried with joy as she dragged Marie Rose after her down into the cellar where they would be safe from the bursting shells. One shell hit the house and tore its way through the chimney, j Toward evening the bombardment passed on;, only now and then did a shell explode near the j farm. The mother and daughter had decided, to come out of their shelter when some one scratched
on the cellar door and a voice not French, not German spoke to them. The voice spoke some more very gruff this time and both Marie Rose and her mother crept nearer each other. Finally, there came a heavy pounding at the door and it opened with a bang, An American private slipped down the stairs, his bayonet pointed straight at the two huddled figures in the corner. 'Oh!" said the voice, "Pardon moi." When Marie Rose and her mother learned the truth, they insisted on kissing the American's hands. And, if the truth be known, th"-big American private, who hails from Kentucky, admits with a grin that he was really kissed smack on the cheek in spite of the protection hi3 whiskers afforded him Stars and Stripe3.
DEVELOPMENT OF AVIATION The first efforts to master navigation of the air were conducted with lighter-than-air dirigibles, in the eighteenth century. These first tests, which were highly successful, were first made in Europe; first in Spain, and spreading into France and Germany. But I shall confine my , brief account to the heavier-than-air types the ones used almost exclusively in the present age. The first martyr to aviation with the heavier-than-air crafts was the famous Langley. Langley constructed his machine of galvanized iron,' and yet the people marveled at the lightness of weight! . Thi3 machine's motor, of course, was far fro being powerful, due to the slight development of engines; but Langley had great confidence in its possibilities. He made . bis first flight in tha eighties, on the famous Potomac river. " The machine was launched from the top of a boat houseon the river's edge, by the means of a powerful catapult which was to throw the craft into the air and give it its start. Langley, so it is said, on that memorable day, calmly took his seat in his craft, and ordered Jt to be launched. The catapult was freed, and a swishing rush followed. The machine plunged headlong into the river a failure. This started others to experiment but the successful development of the aeroplane is owed to the famous Wright brothers, of Dayton, Ohio, who perfected their machine in the early years of the twentieth century. These brothers did their experimenting with biplanes-a machine with double front wings, one above the other. An amusing story is told of one of their early flights. A newspaper reporter, concealed in a clump of brush on the field's edge, so the tale goes, happened to witness one of these early experimental flights. He was thrilled and immediately sent an amazing "scoop" to his paper. The editors refused to believe the story, and wired back for the reporter to quit drinking so extensively, or he would be discharged. The Wright biplane was a success, and many notable flights have been made by them. One, which deserves special mention, was the coast-to-coast flight of Aviator W. P. Rogers, in 1910, which won a prize of $100,000. I saw Rogers myself when he flew oevr and landed in Fort Wrorth, and how his plane differed from the modern machines developed during this great war! Others followed and built machines of different designs, but on the same principle of science. For instance, the Curtiss and Farnum biplane, and the Bleriot monoplane. And now the modern plane! Bristol scouts making 135 miles per hour, Curtiss training machines skimming along at 70, and othersall speedier, safer, more durable, and more graceful. The Wright machine i3 now out of date, but it was the first successful heavier-than-air flying machine to solve the great problem of aerial transportation and master the perils of the air. LONE SCOUT.
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