Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1917-08-22

1t has taken a great war to show
US that we ought to produce and can
produce in this country many of the
things which we have hitherto got
| from other countries. We Americans
! flatter ourselves that we are the
smartest people in the world--but, to
speak candidly, we have been very
foolish to allow the other nations to
fatten on our patronage, and at the
same timesneer at us and seek TO
undermine us.
1t is not necessary or wise for any
nation to try to be entirely indepen-
dent. There are many ways in which
| the people of other lands can be of
help to us, and we have many prod
ucts which they need. Trade really
has to be reciprocal in order to be a
permanent success. We want the
rest of the world to prosper, not only
on their own account but on ours.
A large measure of free trade and
intercourse is desirable; and the
more things we buy from others, the
more they can buy from US and the
better prices they can give us.
Consequently, it boils down to the
question, which particular products
we can produce to best advantage,
and which ones we can best secure
abroad. But we ought to be suffi-
GENTLY independent so that if our
supply of articles from other parts
of the world is for any reason cut off !;
we can make good the deficiency; we
ought not to confess that we are I'M
able to do what others do.
We have been altogether too de-
pendent on other countries, and haye
lot fhnx<
croach farther and farthe,. az en-,
US at their mercy. Whilq M aua
laws forbidding trusts anG n we s
in our own country, W. .fin.1, n,,s
markets to be flooded Nth ~" mo-
othas " str and combines Of
S Saua b eoun'I hetta, other words we
t .iave oeen pe..eE to the foreigners
'i'T Th;S ~ u Uur ;H people.
Ills war causing many disillu-
b s,o. ne I'd among its results will
awakening in this coun-
my 70 ~ r. fact that hereafter we must
Inc MAR ~ point to produce the things
we Heed, unless there are special rea-
as forbidding this. For example,
srs are now left without fertilizer
| just because we allowed our markets
to be delivered over to the German
kali trust, and hadn't the foresight to
provide for this vital necessity.
All the way down the line the
! logic is the same. To make an OBJ
| ject-lesson, let us take the little sub
ject of fiddle-strings. You might not
think that fiddle-trings were of any
account, but now that our supply of
them is practically cut off, people are
setting up a great howl. The string
| industry is one of those minor in
| dustries which our citizens have new
er thought it worth while to study
or develop.
1t is true that strings have been
made here, but always on small
scale, and usually out of raw mater
| ials imported from Europe. 1t is
also true that the whole string busi-
ness doesn't amount to any vast sum
in comparison, say, to the steel BUSH
ness. But many a nickle makes a
muckle," and it is important to
work up all these little industries as
we'll as the colossal ones. There is
no excuse for anyone to remain sun
employed"
Violin and similar strings are mis-
named "catgut." One great writer
has spoken of a violinist as a man
who stretches the bowels of cat
over q wooden box and rubs them
both with the tail of a horse;" but
this picturesque definition is not
quite true to life. The "catgut" of
commerce is really made from the in
testines Of sheep, and not from the
feline interior department or any
part of grimalkin.
Not all the intestines are used; the
main ones are the ones known as the
duodenum, jepunum and lion. Even
then, not all the membrance is suit
able. The intestine Is composed OF
three layers, and the two outside ones
are stripped off and only the middle
one made use Of.
The use of animal membranes for
! instrumental strings is as old as his
tory itself, and the ancien. Egyptians
are described as making strings in
practically the same manner that they
are made today. There are some
curious superstitions in regard to the
subject. One ancient writer sagely
tells us that a string made of the
combined intestines of sheep and a
wolf will produce no sound at all, as
the two hostile elements will quarrel.
Another old fiction is that music pro-
duced by strings made of serpents'
lintestines will produce a baneful eff
feet on women. Pythagoras tells a
story of this sort.
Not all CUTS will produce equally
good strings-and therein largely
lies the secret of success in string
making. If the sheep feed on pas
lures where either the climate is too
cold, or the pasturage is too good,
the gut will not be up to the require
ments for the best quality strings.
The choicest CUTS come from sheep
| that are fed on certain mountain
pastures in Italy, where the slopes