| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Crisis in Russia by Arthur Ransome: by making an additional food allowance conditional on the
actual fulfilment of working days. In the Donetz coal basin,
the monthly output per man was in 1914 750 poods, in 1916
615 poods, in 1919 240 poods (figures taken from
Ekaterinoslav Government), and in 1920 theoutput per man
is estimated at being something near 220 poods.
In the shale mines on the Volga, where food conditions are
comparatively good, productivity is comparatively high.
Thus in a small mine near Simbirsk there are 230 workmen,
of' whom 50 to 60 are skilled. The output for the unskilled
is 28.9 poods in a shift, for the skilled 68.3. But even there
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: of my immediate antagonists from me the great Thark leaped
to my side, and again we fought, back to back, as we
had done a hundred times before.
Time and again the ferocious apes sprang in to close with
us, and time and again we beat them back with our swords.
The great tails of the plant men lashed with tremendous
power about us as they charged from various directions or
sprang with the agility of greyhounds above our heads; but
every attack met a gleaming blade in sword hands that had
been reputed for twenty years the best that Mars ever had
known; for Tars Tarkas and John Carter were names that the
The Gods of Mars |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Essays of Travel by Robert Louis Stevenson: three songs apiece at the old shepherd's festival; and one could not
help picturing to oneself what havoc among good peoples purses, and
tribulation for benignant constables, might be worked here by the
arrival, over stile and footpath, of a new Autolycus.
Bidding good-morning to my fellow-traveller, I left the road and
struck across country. It was rather a revelation to pass from
between the hedgerows and find quite a bustle on the other side, a
great coming and going of school-children upon by-paths, and, in
every second field, lusty horses and stout country-folk a-ploughing.
The way I followed took me through many fields thus occupied, and
through many strips of plantation, and then over a little space of
|
The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates by Howard Pyle: humor as ever I see, Tom," she said; "he sits sulking all day
long, and 'tis my belief he'd kill ye if he caught ye."
Of course Tom said nothing, even to her, about the treasure, and
he and the reverend gentleman kept the knowledge thereof to
themselves. About three weeks later Parson Jones managed to get
him shipped aboard of a vessel bound for New York town, and a few
days later Tom Chist landed at that place. He had never been in
such a town before, and he could not sufficiently wonder and
marvel at the number of brick houses, at the multitude of people
coming and going along the fine, hard, earthen sidewalk, at the
shops and the stores where goods hung in the windows, and, most
Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates |
