ES Sine EE st ————— Bellefonte, Pa., February 5, 1926. KNOW LITTLE ABOUT OLD NEPTUNE'S BED Scientists Have Arranged to Make Discoveries. The discovery of a plateau only 150 feet below the surface of the water of the Atlantic ocean was recently ap- nounced. This is only one of many discoveries, made in the last few years, which show that our knowledge of the ocean bed is remarkably poor, In many books pub- lished a quarter of a century ago it was emphatically stated that the ocean floor is flat, sloping gently here and there, but never broken into ranges like the dry land. Then, in 1901, the cable ship Britan- pla discovered a mountain range in the South Pacific which was in every way like a range on the dry land. More recently a range of mountains, known as the Edward VII range, was discov- ered in the North Atlantie, its highest peaks only a hundred fathoms below the surface. In the Atlantic, too, is Mount Laura Ethel, whose summj® towers near the surface, Several small islands are only the peaks of a mountain range which have broken the surface. The Bermudas rise straight up from a depth of two and a half miles, while St. Helena and As- cension island are also mountain peaks. Off the Kuril islands the bottom drops sheer to a depth of five miles, while only a mile or two from the coast of Porto Rico the depth ig 27,366 feet. It is curious that although the bot- tom of the sea has not changed for a million years, man still knows little about it. Many expeditions are now setting out with the object of salvag- ing some of the $1,500,000,000 worth of gold which Is hidden in the depths, and these expeditions will, no doubt, make many discoveries concerning underse® scenery. Diving apparatus Invented during the last few months enables man to des- cend to depths undreamt of ten years ago; but the terrific pressure at great depths is still a great obstacle. Quite as important is the invention of a mer- cury vapor lamp, which enables films to be taken at great depths. Experi- ments on & lamp that will illuminate a large area at a great depth are also being made. By means of this the diver will be able to see the hillsides cov- ered with olive-green seaweed, which a passing eddy turns into a wind-swept pine forest, mountains towering to the surface, volcanoes, plains, and many other features which are associated with the grandest land scenery. Make Money From Pest The extent to which rabbits and hares are a pest to the farmers and stock raisers of New South Wales, Australia, is shown to some extent by the numbers slaughtered each year, notwithstanding which these little ‘animals do immeasurable damage. The flesh of these animals forms a common article of diet both in the cities and towns and in the country, especially in the winter, when large numbers of men are engaged in their capture and treatment. The year 1019-20 was the record year for the export trade, the total value of ex- ports being $15,650,000. During that vear 6,980,636 pairs of rabbits and hares valued at $2,600,000 and 9,927,- 240 pounds of skins valued at $13, 140,000 were exported. It is estimated that the skins and carcasses exported during that year, added to the num- bers killed for local consumption, totaled at least 100,000,000. A Woman’s Way An unusual weapon with which to fight a burglar was used by Mrs. Clara Remick, of Lodi, when she was awak- ened by a noise early one morning. Mrs. Remick, fully satisfied that there was someone in the house, jumped from her bed and, grabbing a feather pillow, dashed into her kitchen and chased a burglar from the room. She made a swing with the pillow and struck the fleeing burglar over the head as he darted out of the door and down the back stairs. Then, woman like, she removed the pillow case and put it in the weekly wash before re- turning to her bed. She was So nervous over her encounter that she forgot to telephone for an officer.— Sacramento Bee. Pigs That Speak French Some time ago a French girl visited gome farmers in Illinois. She heard two boys quarreling. When asked the cause of the misun: derstanding the older boy said: “Well, you see, mademoiselle, that’s about old man Tyson’s pigs. I was telling Bud those pigs are French, and he said they are not.” The foreigner, rather puzzled, in- quired, “What makes you think Mr. Tyson's pigs are French?’ “Well,” answered the boy, “because from morning till evening those pigs grunt oui-oul.” Brazil Advertising Business interests in Brazil, one ot the large coffee producing countries, have turned to advertising as a means of coping with the so-called coffee boycott started by some South Ameri- can coffee drinkers. In the course of a few months they spent a million dol- lars in counteracting the effect of the boycott. ——Get your job work done here. Mankind’s Advance in Comfort and Health Just a hundred years ago Thomas C. Wales, a Yankee boot and shoe merchant of Boston, bought from a wandering sailor a number of crudely made shoes fashioned from “India rubber” by South American natives. The sailor had picked them up in Para, Brazil, as curlosities. All he wanted of them was to obtain a few dollars to purchase the creature com- forts that sailors loved, rum being perhaps the chief of these. Mr. Wales, however, saw in them what Doctor Johnson once called “the potentiality of wealth beyond the dreams of avarice.” He conceived the idea of shaping rubber shoes over the standard lasts so that they might be worn over shoes to protect them from the weather. His plan was so suc- cessful and the rubber shoes had such a ready sale that a country-wide mar- ket, which shortly became world-wide, was developed. It was not until 1858 that Mr. Wales patented the waterproof and cold- proof overshoe made of cloth and rub- ber together. He called that inven- tion “Wales’ Patent Arctic Gaiter,” and from this name arose the familiar appelation of “arcties” for overshoes that is heard even to this day from the lips of the elder generation. We little appreciate how modern “many of the comfortable things of life are. [or example, the fathers of men now living knew nothing of window screening, and the plague of flies in the house was something of which we today have little conception. About the same time the new invention of “rubber shoes” appeared, and for the first time in the history of the race it was possible to walk the streets and fields dry shod and to return to the house in which the age-long battle with house flies had at last been won, A new era of comfort and health had opened. And this was less than a hun- dred years ago.—Minneapolis Journal. insect Evolution The earliest insects on earth haa six wings—one pair of wings to match each pair of legs, according to the re- sults of the researches of Dr. Her- bert Bolton, director of the Bristol (England) museum. Doctor Bolton discovered the remains of these strange creatures, the first living things that ever conquered the air, in fossil material from Coal age beds. Each body-segment that bore a pair of legs, he says, bore also a pair of wings, but the foremost wings were short and apparently of less use in flight than the after two pairs, sug- gesting the subsequent development of the modern type of insects, which all have four wings, though in some groups one or both pairs have become much modified or reduced. Many other insects, which were already reduced to two pairs of wings, also lived in the Coal age. Most notable were giant | dragon-flies, some of them with a wing- spread of more than a foot, and in- numerable cockroaches. In fact, the Coal age may well be called the age of cockroaches, as far as insect life is concerned, Another Breed of Pups Charles Ponzi, who made a fortune in Boston some years ago through the manipulation of foreign exchange, and then smashed horribly, said in Jack- sonville the other day: “I’m down here in Florida to try and make another fortune. TIlorida real estate, you know. I want to pay back all my creditors, too. “I'm like the chap who complained at his club about the heavy losses he had sustained in Wall street. But a broker slapped him on the shoulder and said: “ ‘Cheer up, brother. You mustn't go on like this because you've dropped a plunk or two. Come down to my office some morning and I'll give you a few pointers.’ “‘It isn’t pointers I'm after,’ said the loser; ‘it’s retrievers!’” Use Newspapers When you find the woodbox empty, go for the pile of newspapers. Take half a dozen sheets and roll them up cornerwise. Fold the roll to the size required, perhaps doubling into thirds, and tie together. Place some crushed paper in bottom of grate and lay four or five of the rolls over this. Scatter coal over it and light from the bottom with a piece of newspaper, just as you would a wood fire. There are house- keepers who always follow this meth- od of kindling the fire. The children enjoy preparing the paper rolls for mother, Colon Gone Wrong A teacher of Engiish was sorely af dicted with conditions that seemed to mean a surgical operation. One ex- amination after another, with the X-ray liberally applied, finally disclosed the source of the pain. “You have no disease in your ap- pendix,” said her medical advisor, ‘nor elsewhere that I can discover, except in your colon.” ~ i “Dear me!” she exclaimed. “Here I have been wrestling all my life with commas and periods and semicolons, only to be told, at my age, that my colon has gone wrong.” Turning to Water Power All of the countries of Europe, save fngland, have, because of the high price of coal, been making rapid prog- ress in harnessing their water powers to produce electricity. [For the three years ending in 1923, 3,400,000 horse- power of water-power produced elec- tricity was added to the total capacity of the Yuropean hydro-electric gen erating stations, : ! SHARK GOD’S WRATH OF LITTLE MOMENT Oveicome by Peace Offer- ing, or by Cement? Hawalian natives prophesied caiami- ty when ground was broken in Octo- ber, 1909, for the construction of Pearl harbor, America’s strongest naval sta- tion, on the shore of the island of Oahu, near the city of Honolulu. For their legends said that on the site selected for the immense dry dock were the caves in which the shark god once lived. Their belief was based on the presence of numerous sharks In the vi- cinity. When, on February 17, 1913, the im- mense coffer dam collapsed, the natives fancied that the shark god had avenged himself for the desecration of his tem- ple. The construction company in charge of the naval works believed that faulty engineering rather than one of the ancient island gods was responsi- ble for the collapse, and requested au- thority to proceed with the project. The opposition of the natives was So strong that many conferences were held before the Navy department agreed upon the plan which has since been developed, When work began anew in December, 1914, the natives, believing that an- other disaster was inevitable, did what they could to avert it, and retained a female “kahuna” or priestess. They believed she possessed the ability to appease the wrath of the shark god by making offerings, and engaged her to conduct her rites on the shores of Pearl harbor during all the time that the dry dock was being reconstructed. In the spring of 1919 all was in readi- ness for the release of the water from the new dock. This was regarded as the supreme test. A Hawaiian fore man sacrificed a white pig and white chicken to the shark god, with prayers and supplications that the dry docV be spared. The pumping began. It was noticed that a muddy streak arose in the wa- ter within tbe docks. The Hawaiians then insisted that the shark god was again attempting to break down the structure by boring through the basin. As the last foot of water was pumped out the remains of an immense shark were revealed on the bottom of the dock, and naturally the Hawaiians be- lieved that it was the god which had destroyed the first dock. The hones were distributed among the members of the construction crew as souvenirs. Engineers who have studied both the first and second dry docks have been inclined to scout the efforts of the priestess in appeasing the shark god, and to credit the success of the gecond work to the fact that the pres- ent basin has a concrete thickness of 16 feet, while the collapsed dock had a base of only 8 feet. Cancer on Increase A careful analysis of cancer =tatis- tes gathered by the United States census bureau over a period of about twenty years in ten Eastern states re- veals definitely that cancer mortality is from 25 to 30 per cent higher than it was about twenty years ago, accord- ing to Dr. J. W. Schereschewsky of the United States public health serv- ice, who made the statistical analysis and reported it to the American Medi- cal association, “There has been a pronounced increase in the observed death rate from cancer in persons forty years old and over in the ten states comprising the original death registration area,” Doctor Schere- schewsky said. “Part of this increase is due to greater precision and ac- curacy in the filling out of death re- turns, but the remainder is an actual increase in the mortality of the dis- ease.” Plan Prehistoric Park Twenty-seven acres of land just south of Hollywood will be converted into a prehistoric park by the Los Angeles Museum of History, Science and Art. A large number of bones of prehistoric animals have been found in the asphalt beds in this small area. If the plans work out, the park will be planted with trees and shrubbery as nearly as possible like those which grew there when the saber-toothed tiger, imperial-tusked elephant and their contemporaries roamed in the jungles of southern California. Pre- historic animals, reproduced in stone, will be placed in this reconstructed jungle.—Pathfinder Magazine. Counting the Pennies “Getting to work from an all-night poker party is sometimes something of a problem,” says a downtown busi- ness man. “The other morning after an awfully bad session, I found I had just a few minutes in which to reach my office several miles distant. I had only $1.24 but I called a taxi- cab. I kept one eye on the meter and when the bill amounted to $1.10, I or- dered the driver to stop. I wanted the ten cents for coffee and sinkers and the four cents for luck.—Detroit News. Little Choice First Casualty—What happened to you? “Been teaching my wife to drive the