CANADA'S WAR DEAD

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 146, 18 December 1933, Page 8

CANADA'S WAR DEAD

BOOK OF EEMEMBKAJfCE

IMPERISHABLE VOLUME

(From "The Post's" Representative.) VANCOUVER, November 22. Tlie Book of Remembrance, Canada's token of gratitude to those who gavo their lives in the Empire's cause, is ncaring completion, after nine years' work by an English artist, James Purvcs. Within its covers will bo inscribed tlie names of (58,000 members of tho Canadian Expeditionary Forco who mot death between 1014 and 1922, when it was finally demobilised. Tho names aro being written by hand in Roman letters, one -hundred to a page. To write one page is a hard day's work. In the selection of material for tho leaves, vellum was chosen in preference to parchment. Perfect 'calfskin was. needed. Samples were obtained from all over the world, and tho contract for 460 sheets went to a British firm—the largest single order in modern times. The contractors spent six months collecting the skins, each of which was dried aud cured, denatured by removing most of the natural oil, and carefully rubbed by hand with a-fine pumice powder to produce a finish like ivory. To secure an ink that would never fade, samples were assembled, and tested for cracking by a h machine which turned a page, written upon in the various inks, tens of thousands of times. They were tested for fading, by the use of various rays, including the powerful ultra-violet .ray. Tiiey were also tested for" abrasion. Not. one of the samples survived the tests. At last, tho head of a leading British company was appealed to. Ho put his chemists to work, and a special ink was invented. Once this ink has dried upon the vellum, the whole could be immersed in -water, or flung into the sea, yet the writing would remain as clear as on the day it was dono. The next problem was illumination in natural colours that must 'never fade. The work of ancient alchemists and monks was analysed to discover the ingredients. The secret of permanent water colours, inherited.from generations of makers, was probed. Levant Morocco was chosen for covers and binding, because of its beauty, strength, and durability. In the centre of the , cover will be the Canadian coat of arms in hand-chased gold. Solid, gold clasps will bind the covers. Tho ultimate resting place of this j noble volume will be the Altar. Stone in the Memorial Chamber of the | Peace Tower at Ottawa. High up in the Parliament Buildings, its floor is of rough stone from the battlefields of Flanders. It is Canada's most sacred shrine,