1940-03-19 — Page 23

Tuesday,

HONGKONG TELEGRAPH

March 19, 1940.

MAGAZINE PAGE

SHORT STORY

by NORAH

WHITESTONE

(Hongkong's Own Author)

HE DID not want to be a soldier.

One of the many millions of China's sons intent upon the task of providing the nation's food on the tiny. Kwangtung farm, Wong's life was penurious, It is true, but his family had always contrived through the alternations of good harvests and had to retain enough to fill their own rice-bowls, to clothe themselves decently and, above all, to command the respect and goodwill of their neighbours.

But it had to be, and Wong- Kuk reluctantly murched off to the war, if by a stretch of the fancy the bent knees and lei- surely, country- man's gait can

be su termed.

Nor

truthfully

it

be

said that at the end of his milit- nry training hia aspect was strik- ingly

martial.

He loathed his

drill, was

lis-

trustful of hia

rifle and resent-

THE

EVOLUTION WONG

OF

ed the necessitics of its tollet.

band which found sanctuary neross the border.

Indeed he had wilfully logged in the rear hoping and accking for an- other solution of the impasse. But, if adlated and friendless in occupied

whint territory he well knew

fule nwalted him.

Despondent and sullen, he ac- cepted internment.

Long days, longer weeks, and

GRIN AND BEAR IT

By Lichty

"Mr. Wattle thinks I'm very intelligent—1 TOLD you I'd look a fright in this blue drass, Mother!"

interminable months of Intolerable INTELLIGENGE TEST

now

boredom, of enforced idleness, of wanton despoiling of life and pro- futile speculation, of sulky glaring This unresponsive unit was by no porty, set Wong's brain afire. at the world beyond wan means "persona grata' with his

From that time onward no soldier Wong's portion. sergeant who himself a Norther-

Then, news filtered in of the oc ner-gave vent te lurid expressions enemy was more violent or virulent as to the shortcomings of the in his methods than he; all calm, cupation of his own village, which "Kwangtang Camel". Bul and this all pente, all distaste of belligerance, had in truth suffered little damage, habits but this Wong did not know. Now the non-pugnacious allme sergeant been destined to all follow the fortunes of Wong's engendered by his quiet, home ex- his brain seethed, his eyes glittered. martial future he might have istence, flew with the winds, and his speech was incoherent, but he

hideous was the end of an enemy strove to utter futile threats. mitigated his scathing verbiage.

Before his flaming eyes the vision of that other desecrated hamlet.

to

revenge

the

whose unlucky fate brought him *

within striking distance of Wong's WONG went on active service furious enmity; his strength grow with the set-though unexpress- with the vehemence of his insensafe ed-intention to do more than indignation, with his unremitting

determination he was obliged,

No patriotic fervour sustained hideous vision of the ravaged vili- him; no thought of the honour, Despite the rigours of the cam justice, glory, sacrifice or other quality popularly ascribed to war, paign Wong waxed in stature, in

girth and in manhood, spurred him on.

In his formerly peaceful coun tryside the villagers did not con- cern themselves with affairs be

age.

* * *

HE did not die a soldier's yond a few miles radius and death. The straggling Company Wong-Kuk knew nothing of the in the chaos of sudden. retire- ment before the overwhelming martyrdom of his nation. He continued as an unsatisfactory numbers of a ruthless foe, cut and troublesome unit of the military off from all hope of aid, stag- machine until his Company occupied gered ahend.

a village lately rolinquished by the

opposing forces.

Distinctly against his ferocious

The traces-only too evident-of will It was that Wong constituted a the excesses, the brutalities, the unit of the ragged,-footsore, hungry..

C

Crossword Puzzle

ACROSA

1-Bouth AfTİCKE

bendlanda

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Africa

16–Dons at føresen it-Chantable

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71–Not Anished

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4-Beed paying

Sxpressing thank- fulness

#1--Century-plans 11---C140 BA SULbrity $4. Took food

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30- Versal of war -BY WAY OF

of "The

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41-Abandon the of

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expectation

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OF

By LARS MORRIS:

ANSWER TO PREVIOUR TUZZLE

68-Taks held at Ba-Mare ad

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Water

28-hade of green

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expla

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62-MLB publication

of

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10

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151

NEAR the "witching hour of night" a figure crouching in the gloom suddenly comes to vivid though stealthy life and races for the doubly encircling wires.

A shout! A stentorian "Hal or i fre!" affects the fugitive not at #].

The agile form safely reaches, and squirms beneath the cruel, jared barbs tearing the palpitating flesh.

But freedom is not yet. Another and outer ring is to be surmounted if liberty is to be attained, and in feverish haste he essays the climb.

Now the threat to fire is proved no idle menace. A shat he never heard brought an end to Wong's "attempt” to ̈become" once more"a

soldier.

The unconscious figure -- to earth, and life WOR ended by a neutral bullet.

And another tiny form is short of a needed and lusty hand. The old father said little when he realized that his best-loved son must rest for ever long miles away. And when the few hours of hard- carned leisure arrive, the ngeing couple ait silent, side by side, upon

ARE YOU

WEATHER WISE?

Since we all talk about the weather, we might at least talk intelligently. Here are some common beliefs about the weather-many of them wrong. To test your weather wis. dom, check each, whether true or false, before turning to the answers. If you get as many as 19 right, your achievement is cyclonic.

1. The coldest winter weather usually comes when the days are aliortest.

4

2. A ring around the moon is s sign of coming rain or snow.

=

3. A high barometer is always a sign of fair weather ahead.

•

4. Snow is merely frozen rain.

5. Gardens in valleys and hol- IDWA generally recelve autumn frosts before gardens on hilltops.

6. Open windows attract light- ink.

7. "It isn't the heat, it's the humidity" that makes certain-days- uncomfortable,

8. Hall rarely falls during the winter.

0. A change in the phase of the moon brings a change in the wea- ther.

·

10. No twe snowflakes are iden- tical in pattern.

•

11. It is correct to say the "dew

the doorstep and gaze upon the dis-falls at night." tant, fading hills beyond which the

•

12. Typhoons are restricted to firat-born had for ever disappeared. the Far East.

average 13. The

number of thunderstorms in progress through- out the world at any instant is nearer 2,000 than 200.

•

•

14. It is sometimes too cold to know?

•

15 15. Summer

Werner than Winter because the earth is then nearer the sun

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A POPULAR orchestrAL PROGRAMME

оп

PARLOPHONE

.......Berlin State Opera Orch.. (Beethoven) Dajos. Bela Orch. (Haydn)

E10009-70-Tannlaustr.-Overture

(Schubert)

Roses of the South. (Strauss)

+

16. Thunderstorma cause milk to sour.

sometimes

17. Radio static is more pro- nounced in summer than at any other time.

E11330 E10018

Blue Danube Waltz

Minuet.

Minuet,

E10511

Serenade,

-

18........ Rainbows may...be seen...at night.

E10045

Overture Pi, 3. Rhapsody in blue,

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(Gershwin)

E10774

10. Thunder is absolutely harm- less.

Finlandia Vaise Triste.

(Sibelius) (Sibellus)

E10761

*

Morgenblatter.

(Strauss)

•

•

20. Frost la frozen dew.

E11193

Meditation. "Thals",

E11150

21. It is especially dangerous to thunderstorm seek shelter from a under a solitary rec.

E10824

211304

22 A red sunset usually means stormy weather next day.

•

23. A heavy dew is a portent of clear weather.

-AND HERE ARE THE ANSWERS

1. False. The shortest days are December 21, 22, and 23. Until late in January, the earth continues to give out more heat than it re- celves from the sun, thus warming the atmosphere. The coldest won- ther is usually experienced after the balance has been struck.

2. True. The halo around the moon results from the presence of high cirrus clouds, composed of minute snow crystals, in the path of the moonlight. These clouds generally presage unsettled wea- ther.

3. False. The significant thing is not whether the barometer is high or low, but whether it is rising or falling. A steadily falling baro- meter-even though it shows high pressure-almost invariably means bad weather approaching.

4. False. It's alcet that is frozen rain. Snow falls directly as snow from snow-clouds, the flakes being formed by the condensation of moisture at temperature below freezing.

5. Truc. The heavier cold air creeps into the lowlands, frequent- ly bringing temperatures 5 to.10 degrees below those on the hill- tops.

G. False. There is no banla in fact for this belief,

7. Truc. When the humidity, s high, the air, already saturated with water, cannot absorb body perspiration.

8. True, Hall never forms un- less a thunderstorm is going on; and the conditions producing such a storm are rare in winter.

9. False. This is one of the com- monest of mistaken weather be-

recorda show Hofs.

that All. changes in barometric pressure-- which bring changes in the weather go on regardless of the state of the moon.

10. True. Scientists have never. found two snowflakes exactly alike.

11. False. Dew never falls, but forms where it is found. When moisture from warm air is de- posited on something cold enough to condense it, dow is formed.

12. False. Typhoon, are cyclones.

13. Truc. Statistics indicate that during every instant an average of 1,800 thunderstorms are bellowing over the earth,

14. False. The extreme dryness of very cold air renders the likell- hood of a heavy fall rather remote

moisture because of the lack of

to form thick snow clouds. But that's all there is to support this com

2-inch fall has been beliefs A recorded while the thermometer registered 24 below zero,

mon

15. False. We are nearest the sun on January 2nd. We fall to fet full beneat of its heat, how- ever, because the winter days are shorter, the sun's rays planting, and as much as 80 per cent. of the heal may be reflected into space by now lying on the ground.

16. False. Hoi, humid water-a condition favouring thunderstorms likewise favours bacterial growth, which causes milk to sour. The thunderstorm is entirely innocent.

17. Trite. Static is caused by Because weather disturbances. thunderstorms are so frequent in summer, the annoying type of statie caused by lightning is heard more often then.

1.9

18. True. The lunar rainbow WID observed far back Aristotle. Generally speaking, rain- bows are formed by the passage of light roys through water-drops. Moonlight, which is only reflected sunlight, will serve the purpose.

10. True. No. records anything to the contrary.

indicate

20. True, When objects upon which dew is deposited are so cold that they can freeze the liquid de- posit, frost is formed.

21

Truc

struck by

Bre more

trees Solitary by lightning much often than trees in a group.

22. False. red sunset presagen clear, dry weather. The dry, dusty atmosphere which to almost always associated with good weather tran- the red ray`of" the sun in greater measure than the blue,

23. Truc. On eloudless nights.

the

sults.

more

earth loses its heat rapidly, and heavier dew re- Such clear skies, which make for a heavy dew, likewise mean no immediate rain. Similar- ty, heavy frosta are generally fol lowed by fine, clear weather.

Funeral march of a Marionette. Parade of the tin soldiers

Hobgoblins review,

Arilites life.

(Birauss)

Moonlight. on the Alster.

Dajos Bela Orch

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Dajos Bela Orch.

.Paris Philharmonic Orch.

.Orchestre Mascotte,

Dajos Bela Orch. Der Rosenkavaller Waltz, (Birauss) Grand Symphony Orch. TSANG FOOK PIANO COMPANY MARINA HOUSE

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