CRANBROOK 



1623 



CRANE 



is often obtained. Growers command from 

 $4.50 to $6.00 a barrel for their crop. 



On low, wet ground, drained so the water 

 will be at least a foot below the surface in 

 summer, and so level it can be flooded in dry 

 weather, in winter, or when insects are too 

 numerous, cranberries will produce a full crop 

 the third or fourth year, with little cultivation. 

 The low bush cranberry, a mountain berry 

 sometimes called wolf berry or cowberry, is 

 also called cranberry. It is edible and often 

 marketed, but rarely cultivated. The high- 

 bush cranberry is tart and seldom eaten. 



CRANBROOK, a town in the southeastern 

 part of British Columbia, the geographical and 

 distributing center of the Kootenay Valley. 

 Within a radius of ten miles are about a dozen 

 large saw and planing mills, and the entire 

 district is known for its output of gold, silver, 

 lead and copper. Fruit raising is a favorite 

 occupation, but there is also much mixed farm- 

 ing. The town supplies these varied industries 

 and takes their products for shipment over the 

 Crow's Nest branch of the Canadian Pacific 

 Railway. Cranbrook is a divisional point on 

 the railway. It is 165 miles by rail west of 

 Macleod, Alta., and thirty-five miles directly 

 west of Fernie. The town is the center of a 

 provincial judicial district and has a splendid 

 courthouse. Population in 1911, 3,090; in 1916, 

 estimated, 4,000. 



CRANE, a long-legged, long-necked bird, 

 largest of wading birds, closely related to the 

 rails and resembling the herons. There are 

 three species in the United States, but they are 

 now rare ; those shown in the zoological gardens 



THE FAMILIAR SANDHILL, CRANE 



are of the most common species. The whoop- 

 ing crane of the Mississippi Valley is the largest 

 of American cranes, standing about four or 

 five feet high; it reaches the Arctic Circle in 

 its northern migration. It is white, with black 

 wings. Its peculiar cry, which gives it its name, 



is produced by a curious windpipe, sometimes 

 eight feet long, coiled into the crevices of the 

 breast bone. The smaller gray-brown sandhill 

 crane is known for its dance at mating time, 

 which is often likened to an Indian war dance; 

 it nests in the Mississippi Valley, but reaches 

 as far north as Manitoba. The little brown 

 crane is also sometimes seen on the interior 

 plains of North America, reaching the Arctic 

 Circle in midsummer. 



The European crane, perhaps the best known, 

 is about four feet high, ashy gray, with a 

 blackish face and throat. The head is usually 

 naked, sometimes tufted. The long, stiltlike 

 legs are bare. The bill, longer than the head, 

 is straight and compressed. The tail is short, 

 and the wings are short and powerful. The 

 feet are unwebbed and the hind toe is raised. 



The cranes live chiefly in marshy lands, 

 spending their summers in north temperate 

 regions, but making long migrations to the 

 south in winter. They feed chiefly in the 

 early part of the day on vegetable matter, in- 

 sects, frogs, worms, reptiles, small fish and eggs 

 of water animals. The rest of the time they 

 stand on one leg, dozing^ with head drawn back 

 on the shoulders. One of them, however, 

 always stands on guard to warn its mates of 

 approaching danger. They nest among bushes 

 or in the marshes and lay but two eggs. 



The demoiselle crane of Central Asia is noted 

 for its graceful performances, and many other 

 species, some with beautiful crests of long 

 slender feathers, are noted for their peculiar 

 dances and antics during time of courtship. 

 Many species are easily domesticated and are 

 regarded as sacred in parts of Japan and India. 

 Cranes are intelligent birds and quick to note 

 coming changes in atmosphere. The early 

 Romans watched their flights carefully, taking 

 them as signs of coming events. Many myths 

 and much classical folklore have been woven 

 about the crane. M.S. 



CRANE, a mechanical device for moving and 

 lifting weights. The name is derived from 

 the supposed resemblance of the arm, or boom, 

 of the machine to the neck of the bird of the 

 same name. The lifting power may be supplied 

 by hand, electricity, steam, compressed air or 

 water power. The object to be lifted is con- 

 nected by hooks to a chain, rope or cable, 

 that is wound round a cylinder or a drum, 

 which is made to revolve. The cable may pass 

 directly from the weight to the drum, or it may 

 be carried over a pulley at the end of a long 

 arm, as on board ship, where it is used to lift 



