C FOUR
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 1950
Casual Beginning Ends With $5000 Hobby For Loop
The recent arrival of two tiny chinchilla has raised to $5,000 the value of the chinchilla-raising hobby of James A. Loop, custodian of the University Museum of Art.
Beginning casually with the purchase of a pair of the animals for $1400 two years ago, Mr. Loop now has 10 chinchillas on his ranch, which is in the basement of his home at 1729 Louisiana street. (Chinchilla homes are called ranches and their owners are known as ranchers.)
THAT'S A GOOD GIRL! "Tiny," James A. Loop's year-old chinchilla, perches on her master's shoulder and peers shrewdly at the camera. "Tiny" is an offspring of the original pair which Mr. Loop bought to begin his hobby. He is custodian of the Museum of Art.
"Chinchillas like the semi-darkness of the basement and it is an ideal place for them." Mr. Loop believes, "Many of the large ranches keep their animals in air-conditioned rooms. We try to maintain a temperature of 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit at all times. Of course, it is a little higher in the summer, but the chinchillas don't seem to mind."
The chinchilla is a small rodent,
about the size of a squirrel. It has a long, bushy tail curled under almost as much as the squirrel's tail turns up. Its head looks like that of a rabbit. It is covered with a delicate gray fur, mottled on the upper surface, and dusky white beneath.
Their tur has long been recognized for its high quality. "Pelts bring about $275 each." Mr. Loop estimated, "depending upon the quality of the fur. To be sold to reputable pelting companies a pelt must be from a registered, pedigreed animal. It must be accurately identified by a ranch brand tattooed on the chinchilla's ear. This brand consists of the number of registration and the year of birth in code."
All chinchillas, however, are not destined to adorn milady's costume. Many are bought and sold for breeding purposes. Others are raised to exhibit in contests and shows. And still others are "just pets."
"Fortunately, they make very little noise," their owned smiled, "just a short, gentle bark. They are completely domesticated, clean, free of odor and free of parasites."
They seem quite contented as they scamper about their cages during their "graveyard shift" playtime. Their dispositions vary in as many ways as those of man—some are nervous and easily aroused, and others are calm and easy-going. Some like to play and others would rather "think."
Survival has been a major problem of the chinchilla family, a native of the South American Andes mountains near Chile and Bolivia. The fur was highly prized by the ancient Peruvians and the conquering Spaniards—so much that the family almost became extinct. Only its productivity, five or six young a year, kept it alive.
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Las Animas, Colo.—(U.P.)Two airplane pilots who ordinarily hunt bugs from aloft, shouldered their trusty fire extinguishers recently and went gunning for rainstorms.
Cropdusting Pilots Hunt Rainstorms
Pilots E. L. Wilkins, Jr., and Ernest Stubblebird said every likely-looking cloud that came their way was fair prey to be turned into a rainstorm for the benefit of farmers in this area. They are partners in a firm that ordinarily dusts croplands to kill insects. But today they were after bigger game, armed with the fire extinguishers which shoot a spray of carbon dioxide.
Observers on the ground said the cloud turned very dark after the flippers began shooting, then the rain stopped, the heaviest in a year. For an hour, the downpour lasted. Water poured from the skies and ran two inches deep in the gutters. Visibility was reduced to 100 yards. Witnesses said the clouds seemed to stop and hover over the city. But two miles north and east of town the sun was shining.
Farmers hailed the two men as heroes for their work this weekend. They credited the pilots with starting rainstorms that came just in time to save crops parched by one of the longest dry spells in the area's history. But Wilkins and Stubblefield weren't sure whether they oo nature had turned the trick.
Wilkins and Stubblefield had been on the prowl for rain for two weeks when they spotted a fine mass of clouds. They entered the cloud over Las Animas at 12,500 feet, then climbed to 14,000. There they fired their fire extinguishers in a series of short bursts. "The cloud was rather smooth when we went in." Wilkins said. "But before we got out it was quite rough. We started quite a disturbance."
"We're not sure we made it rain," Stubblefield said. "We were up there trying, though. All we know is that it wasn't raining when we went up. But it was raining when we came down."
The experiments carried on by the four Colorado pilots were similar to those being made in New York to replenish watershed reservoirs which supply the nation's largest city. Weather forecasters also couldn't say whether nature or carbon dioxide was responsible for the big rains. They said the clouds were "loaded and all they needed was something to touch it off."
Two other pilots, Ray Perkins and Joo Kocco, "seeded" clouds near Pueblo, Colo., Sunday and heavy rains fell west of that city. The rain was still falling as a steady drizzle early Monday. But Perkins and Roco also weren't sure whether the rain was their doing.
Detroit—(U.P.)—Frank Upton prevents his bagle puppy from howling and disturbing the neighbors by putting an alarm clock, wrapped in a blanket, in his dog house at night. The ticking makes the dog feel something alive is with him and the blanket keeps him warm.
Alarm Clock Provides Silence
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