The Brussels Post, 1955-04-20, Page 6.
HRONICLES
A baby was born, a green,
eyed, black-haired baby. KYru
began dancing almost in her
cradle. Nijinsky's worchip of his
little daughter had scarcely be-
gun lybon World War I broke
The, Nijinskys and KYra had
moved to Budapest to fulfil an
engagement, and found no way
of leaving Hungary, In the
midst of discussing plena they
were arrested.
Russia was at war with Hun-
gary — and the. Nijinskys were
Russian. He had friends at
court, however. Soon kings,
queens and governments were
working on his, behalf.
At last, Vaslas and Romola
were allowed to leave for Ame-
rica on parole to fulfil ballet
contracts. On beaches and in lit-
tle villages of the New World,
the Nijihskys once again found
a short spell of happiness. But,
if they had escaped the war,
they had not escaped the en-
Mity of Diaghilev.
,Be pursued them incessantly
with trdublesome lawsuits and
maliciotta° rumour. He surround-
ed Vaslav with artful acquain-
tances who attempted to instil
, strange !theories of the simple
'life'''into' his head and tried to
induce him to forsake dancing
and the world.
Strange' things 'began to hap-
pen in the theatre. Vaslo -r step-
ped on;a rusty nail,
"How did it happen to be on
the stage?" Romola asked.
"By -aceident."
„One, evening a heavy iron
Vieight fell from the bridge.
Only Nijinsky's quickness saved*
his life. Only his speed saved
tee when another mysteri-
ous accident occurred, and a tur-
ret on which he was standing
high on-the stage began to sway
and fall from beneath him.
Romola noticed a curio*
change that seemed to be creep-
' ing over her husband.
Immersed in ideas for ballet
as he was; he 'seemed to draw
`faraway;'' as Rembla,, phrased
it. Once, while she 'was quick-
ly preparing to, take Kyra for a
walk, he. came onts,,,of his room
with his' fack thunderous,
mending"' why Mahe should be
making: such, a "nOlei. , When she
apologized, he-pushed her; down
the 'stairs,
Romola became afraid and
consulted a speCialist. Not long
before, her husband had fright-
ened her by ' pretending to be
mad. His behaviour, too, had
been queer of late. The' great
Professor Bleuler talked gently
to Nijinsky under pretence of
discussing his wife's health.
In the ante-room Ramola
cahnly waited. It would be all
right. The hard times they had
had, the fight with Diaghilev,
the - it would all
.end soon.
The doctor ushered Vaslav out
and said: "All right, Splendid!
Mme Nijixisky, won't you step
in for a second?"
• Romola followed him, with a
smile to her Vaslay. As the pro-
fessor closed the door behind
him, he said very firmly: "Now,
my dear, be brave. Your hus-
band is incurably insane."
Rornola looked above h i s
head and Saw dust heavily float-
. ing in the sunlight. Then the
room was going round and
round her in a wild circle.
Somewhere, back through the
years came the voice of a minis-
ter: "In sickness and health, for
ever." .
For ever! For over twenty
years Romola Nijinsky watched
over her husband. Sometimes
hey danced. Sometimes he could
watch others dance and correct
their faults. But in the mental
'twilight of the insane he died
-- in 1950 one of the greatest
figures ever known in ballet.
WISE GUY, EH?
Wife"— Joe, get out of bed this
minute. I heard a mouse squeak,
Joe — Well what am I sup-
posed to do, oil it?
• Three days meet` people wont Wider
tite4APP, 'Mak, sleep lets.. Tide itijne on body and brain Make* physical
fines ;easier to lose .harder ,tegaiei
, living, lenered
weit►ork, worry—any of,thiselnig reface
none l kidney tail*. When kishiefit get
ink of Oidefi ekeeiiii acids arid` *late.
tenlehl in. the system. 'Then ti:ekiehe,
dinar bed teat, that "tired-tne:lheiii
fealini' often Thill's the
itisie•titlike.Diidd'i Kidney Pilli4.Dedd'i
1161661AI aaimet. OW.
Then Yen feel bettiiitarlt
y ,Pilli IS
' dritEininter, Ss
You cant qo
L ,ii: :,, -.4.,
;„_ '1:Ait 4; r .:-.3
IF you:Feel
DEADLY JOKE
oer Proposed Marriage-
1);y. Aninterpreter „
TEA
ANNE FIRST
,..„1/0444, faf ri4, at*4.6e44.—
Italian police in. Milan, in re-
cOnstructing an incident as the
result of which a yeung univer-
sity student faces a charge of
Manslaughter, appears to have
brought to light facts which
might justify the incident being
called "the accident of the pen-
tnrY.”
What the Milanese Inquiring
magistrate, (the Italian equiva-
lent of a Coroner) referred to as
a million-to-one chance, is al-
leged to have occurred in this
way,
Nobody knows how many
times a certain Pair of duelling
pistols changed hands after they
left the workshops of a St, Eti-
enne Arm of gunsmiths in the
18th• century,.
The twin pistols hung with
six other antique pistols in the
apartment of Alberto Silbert,
the son of one of, Milan's big-
gest antique dealers, The dealer
had bought, the pair of St. Eti-
enne duelling pistols from a de-
scendant of the original owner.
A certain amount of rust had
gathered on them,, especially on
the triger and barrel,
The eight 'pl,stols were the
f a v
.
o a rite •playthings of his
friends, who would, often point
them at each other in fun. They
did net know that a live bullet
still remained, in one of the
weapons.
Al a party in his rooms on an
evening last December, Subert
and his friends were once again
amusing themselves by point-
ing the pistols at. each other.
One of the guests; Duccio Pass-
aglia, took one of the St. Eti-
- enneqiistols, cocked it, snapped
off the sulphur head of a match,
placed it under the hammer,
and, pulled the trigger.
- The hard sulphur acted as a
percuSsion cap. ' There was a
loud bang and a miff of pungent
smoke.
According to the- Court report
DucciO; delighted' at the joke,
repeated it. He did it a third
time on the arrival of another
guest, Signora de Rossi. "Your
money or your life!" he langhl
ed, pointing the pistol at her. ,
She laughed at the joke, too:
But after the loud bang ,sha'
was lying dead on the floor;
blood trickling from a wound :•'_
in her forehead.
Duccio has been formally
charged, but provisionally re-
leased. His trial is expected to
take place, in March or April of
this year.
His defence is that no one
could have known the pistol
was loaded, least of all him-
self.
Police spy "the two earlier
bangs must have 'shaken off the
rust, on the pistol. The third
spark caused by the sulphur
touched the • powder and fired
the bullet that had been In the
pistol for a 'century'
' e.
dreamlike years before 'World
Spring in 7314aPeat. in the
War II A brilliant audience had
been drawn to the Opera house
by the first performance, there '
• of the Imperial Russsian Ballet.
In her Mother's box, Romola
de Pulszky 'leant forward eager-
As figures drawn from the
fantasy of carnival fitted) and
leapt; acrossl thelstage,i the Young
daughter ',171j.nigally'4 leading
actress watched' With•parted lips.
Harlequin, she remembered,
had been announced in her pro,
gramme as being played by Vas-
lay Nijinsky. Nijinsky, son,
grandson and great-grandson of
a 'dancer, the greatest living
genius of the ballet.
When the audience rose to
their feet and showered the
stage with flowers, Romola clap-
ped like one in a dream. In that
moment her studies for the
theatre, yielded to her leaping
desire to-'be trained as a dan-
Cer,
"After the ballet company had
left '• Budapest, she worked ac-
tively at this new ideal. When
the, company returned, she was
nerniitted to =attend their te-
hearsals. * ' —
,'At first she did not meet the.
pale - and youthful- Nijinsky.
When she.-Was at last introduced
to him, he gave her a sweeping
how beCauSe he had miSheard
the• introduction' and,Arnagined
her to be' Bildape4st'a .
But from that first ,trieeting,,,
Romola adored NijinskY.. Once
she dared to ask for his auto-
graph and he gaye it, mechani-
!',cally,.I not;. appearing 'to realize
'-he had' Seen her before. Diag-
hilev, the maestro of the corn-
, ,pany read: her heart. and 'whis•-
pered, "Beware, Nijinsky is like
a'stin that pours forth light but
never warmth.”
They were words of menace.
Romola,: ignOred his warning.
In the' certainty that Nijinsky
was the „one man who ;Offered
to her, 'shaledneci the-406;1;1'
companycompanyas' ^a , special, private
Then one day, as the company
;,,..104. -travelling . ',from Paris' to
London, she found herself next
to 'hi& in the, traireorriddr..
• She lowered, her eyes at the
Arrn"*rutirly -from his ;own soft
-brotiM onea, and stared foollahly
,at his feet...."Have you ever been
. •to, London?" lie. asked '-politely.
And Romola'burst "into' an em-
barrassed .torrent of words —
.her, school years, the charm of
England. Too late — she real-
ized that he could not under-
stand , a word of the language
she spoke.
A few weeks later the entire
ballet 'company left for South
Ainerlea.- • • ;
How Dare They!
The ,,day before their arrival
in Rio de Janero, a fellow mem-.
ber of .the company came to
Romola: With a ridiculously for-
mal face, he said, "Romola, as
Nijinsky cannot speak to yeti
himself, he.has requested me to
ask your hand in marriage."
1- "No, really,". cried Romola,'
-"it's awful. HoW 'can yen you?"
And with flushed face, half-
crying, she locked herself in her
cabin. They were making inn
of her! How dare they! But
presently'a note was pushed un-
der the door. "Please let me
know your ansWer," it .said. "I
'must say something to Nijinsky.
I. can't keep hirn waiting like,
wsdt esne
dried.
p'
So
up to the deck., From the
it
as
Itw
true! Ro
seemed like a miracle.
Romola'! tears
put on an evening dress and
shadoWs Nijinsky emerged and
said, in his. broken French,
"Mademoiselle, will you You
anri I?" He pantorniried, indi-
cating a ring on her third linger.
Romola nodded and, Waving
both hands, .cried "Oui, .our,
They were strange lovers, un-
able to speak One another's lan-
guage. Friends had to be e
played'
iri-•
as translators when anjr-
thing passed beyond the "lan-
guage of love.
When they were Married in
.Rio, the mayor asked questions
in Spanish; Nijinalcy snwered in
Russian, and' Romola in HIM-
garian and French.
• They had 1-iardlY finished
their honeymoon„ before the first
' of the dar fixture :Sound-
ed. .Nijinsky war disiniseed the
Rtiaaiah
Thia was Diaghilev'! revenge:
,
No. one ever understood Wag,
Dedicated to the, 'ballet b
hiniself,' he ...awned to eXert an
almost hypnotic* o'wet .twet
As scion as, he heard
wedding. Ma'anger
iltheW bounds:"AS' high as
Nijinsky -stands now, low • ani
I going to thrust he VoW,
Niji nsky ;founded` - ' '" his
COmpanY, §italikaway
leV brought, a IaWatiiti,i attempt-, to restrain iNflinakY "Irom
performing his own dances. The:,
&angel-1611'1U tinder the strain;
'find Ipid to forsake' his flan lsonie'
contracts. •
"Dear Anne Hirst:- I am on the
:horns of a dilemma, and come to,
you because I am impressed with
your. sincerity and your common
sense, I am a widower of 65, in
good health and financially re-
sponsible, Some months ago. I
meta widow, the mother of a
12-year-old girl. We have a mu-
tually strong admiration, and
have talked of marriage. She, is
2i years younger than L
^.,.,"I have told her that a man
my age should not marry a much-
younger woman; she contends,
the,difference is not important. I
fear that it may eventually lead
to an unhappy union. Though I
no not 'feel my years', one can-
not deny them, Will you be so
good as to give me your,opihion?
GRAVE --ISION
* I usually feel that
*Ahe temperaments of the two
• concerned, and their congeni-
* alityi are more important than
. • .. ,t,
- ROOF OVER" HIS HEAD=-An ) 11-inch,, snowcap covers'. the roof
that covers':this *little felloW during ea recent snowstorM.. The
' bird feedineV.statlen not "only proV!ded the winged creature -
with shelter, but also with food.
un-W rap I
'0 any intervening years, one
* cannot ,dismiss a 24-year pan
* lightly. In a decade this wo-
* man will still be in her prime,
* while you will be, nearly 80,
* enjoying, life, I hope, but pre-
* ferably by your fireside.
* If there were no children
* involved .the situation would
* still be grave. The presence of
* a youngster entering her teens
* can be highly disturbing to a
* man unaccustomed to children.
* Her mother will soon be en-
* couraging the :customary so-
* cial activitiesr'and expect her
-* new kerne to be their center.
• * Picture the ensuing confusion!
Your own reluctance to en-
* tertain the prospect of mar-
* riage is the most vital argu-
* merit against it. You could not
* properly adjust yourself, I'm
* afraid,-. and would, be likely to
* anticipate emotional differ-
* erices- which; 20 *years, ago
* would. not occur to you. How
could you relax completely in
* atieli a"'situation, haunted by
,* unknown fear a each,coming
* year?
*All iii all, J agree, with you. * °)1:,
INr LOVE WITH BOTH?
"Dear Anne Hirst: I am over
17, and think I am in love with
• two boys. The one in service
writes regularly, but shows no
sign that he still loves me; when
I read his letters I miss the
spark that I felt when we were
together. The other boy is his
good friend, and' he's so 'nice to
me that I can't bear to hurt him.
,"I have worried so over this
that my health is affected. Shall
I try to forget the soldier, or
wait till he comes home before
I choose?
MIXED UP"
* Why worry yourself sick try-
* ing to decide now? The soldier
* may still love you but be awk-
l‘ !Ward putting it into words.
* Months-of service can also con-
*
.
fuse a._ lad's mind se he isn't
'* sure he feels the same toward
* the girl' waiting back home. ▪ Wait means until you
* two meet again; then you will
* know your own heart, and his.
* -Enjoy the attentions of his
l!'friencl, but be- careful not to
*.,encourage him-to think you
,* are -in love;„yon may be, yeu
* may not. Since you need not
* hasten making your choice, .it
* is kinder to. .keep the friend-
* ship. on a castial basis so neith-
* er of you will get hurt.
* •`'AliSence , prays tricks with
le the human heart. A girl is apt
*- to idealize a man -in uniform,
lc remembering only . his finest
* qualities. It is best' for both of
* thein that " she withhold any
*debiiion Until She -'Sees him
again. -' •
As years descend upon us, the
prospect`. of ,living alone can
'drlde one into a regrettable mar-
'Nage. Then Is when corn-
, mion sense is needed keenly.
'Anne - Hirst's practical counsel
has been of inestimable value to
many a troubled reader. Write
her at Box I, 123 Eighteenth St,
New Toronto, Ont.
Week's Sew-thrifty
' There is a place where love
begins and a place where love
ends—and love asks nothing.
—Carl Sandburg.
Easiest einViolifery simplest
sewing-Lprettiest; dress!' Mom,
it opens flat—iron it in a jiffy!
Use gay ,,remnants, make. One
with`-em'broid'ery-another with:
out!
.Patterg 583: Children's Sizes,
2, 4, 6, 8, 10. Tissue pattern; ern-
broldery,transfer. State size:
Send.TWENTY-FIVE CEINTS''
in COirfs':(Stain-ps° cannot be red',
cepted) for *this' pattern' to Box -
1,. 123 Eighteenth .St., New Tor;
onto Ont. Print, plainly PAT:'
TERN'MBER an SIZE,
NAME and ADDRESS.
INSPIRED IDEAS—pages and
pages of novel designs in our
NEW Laura Wheeler Needle-
craft Catalog for 19551 Comple-
tely different and so thrilling,
you'll want to order your fa-
vorite patterns. Send 25 cents
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catalog NOW!
the cats find • it warmer down
in the cellar .7.— ,and ;,-we
like '`the' look of" our coal-bin.
But we are banking on the
theory that eventually ,all things
come to an 'end even storms.
Unfortunately that also applies
to the coal. The question is
which will 'last the longer-L-the
Foal or the storinv
raCtfially,t'We tare
cerned c)i,what,' f--;t eking
,vplacezat Negate. Tht i fercevf
nature can be kii0eVast,ilig ppon
occasion 9-14 e'Veri "thOrii 'gni than
atomic power—and the occasions
.seem to, be getting trio e requent
l alYthetime" Sonietirn IS I Vionde
if floitids,, storms, cyclones and
earthquakes7:are signs -of Divine
disnleaatre.. for atomic experi-
ments, especially when phenom-
enal disturbances are world-
° wide in:° ' cheracter:" °
.So many changes, — every-
where and in every walk of
, life. Even in the farmers' barns.
• remeinber, years ago, When
Paltrier Was - Milking ten or
twelve- cows by -hand I used to
worry • because- afterthe field
work •wa
'
s , dime he had,,so, much
'to do, the barn.,ut he used
to say — "Well, _hat are* you
'Worrying about - — that's ray
recreation!", The children and I
would ,he down ,at. :the barn, ,
feeding the salves and helping
here and there. Irwas generally
qUite quiet and peabeftil and We
'we could 'talk back and -forth
amongh ourselves.. Now on the
, rare `'occasions,; I go to the
barn I notice quite a difference.
There iethe rib* of 'the motor
on • the 'milking- machine; the
swish, swish of' air. as Partner
putsthe „milkers on, the cows,
And a much louder swish as sac=
tion is 'released *hen Partner
takes 'the milkers- off.• -Thisi . of
- course, -is. repeated With each
cow tint. ismilked,. . . , Then•
as the milker „is being, rinsed
With 'Cola water there is a loud
sucking noise as the cups drain
the last bit of water - from 'the
pail. And to. cap. it all there is •
the radio going: Fine when Part-
ner is alone but not so good
When we have to shout to• make
each other hear. , The^ barn isn't
a •peaceful ,place any more and
I never hear Partner, say new
that to `cows is insi recrea-
tion. '
Really Windy
:INGER ARM
1..7ore.r4otirs.e. P. Clarke
alusirrfil OfririL
4W4"Ore. of where, .are the geese
and robins 'now? Why .didn't -
theirrnattleallinatifiet Vain them
to stay in the sunny!South !until
winter had had its' find/ fling in
Ontario. Or cculd,.it be that mi-
gratory birds ,have, an Undnly op-
' `timistic•-%Pitit like' certain 'road ,
supervisofs:of•the'Department of
Highways? -What else could
cause them — the,supervisors —
to have snowfences removed be- •
fore the end of March?:So often ,
we have , storm from the east,
in late March Or. early April. Not
OnCeell Winter have ,snowfences°
been heeded'arotind "here bnt,
•, oh boy, are they needed now!.
But the -Friday before the storm
was such a lovely day it was
'enough, to deceive anyone. Just
'in "Case it' 'mighthe a weather-:
breaker' I had :two weeks' wash-
ing done before breakfast' 'that
day. Ng regular 1VIenday„wash-
Mg for, me— I work according
lo the weather. Sp on that day
was ' trying' to .get 'abciiit three
days- work ••dorie in 'one. - But in
the,, afternoon along . came visi-
%tors. Their' visit, put a crimp in
my activities so I didn't- get my
shopping done: Not that I was
worrying = I thought I would,
slip down town Saturday morn-
ing and get what I•needed. Came
Saturday morning . . . anow,
Wind -andlaloWing min* L"-- and ,
a windshield wiper that was out
of commission: 'I stayed put .' . . ,
einergency, rations would, have
'to keep us fed until the „storm
was ?Wei'. 'Arid then" bout three
o'clOck.'Boli, and Joy 'literally
blew in. ^I soon had• Bob blowing
,ntit,again—down town-,te,get me
afeW snppliea,. „
Partner is having a, grand
time' doWn at the barn dining
this,-storm carrying water to
the .cows. He- can- go out in the
storm'' hut the cows have to be
taken care of! At the same time
*We.'are bdtli very busy counting
our' blessings. We find we have
quite a- lot of therii.
During, the, „first, part of last
Week we had, everything around
here — wind, rain, snow and e
thunderstorm. There was quite
a bit Of lightning and wind darn-
age in the district but the only
causally here was the kitchen
clock, The little motor in it Was
burnt out. Then, on the first
comperatively calm day a heifer,
running loose in the barnyard,
prOduced her first Calf, without
any -untoward incident. Partner
said ,the heifer and , Calf, were
tine but e didn't knoW h ow he
Wasgoltik tC get their' Mid the
Stable. (My. help IS tie lOnger
aliPrecieted.) Then on that *on-
derfnl Spring-like Friday aletik''
Came, Johnny. He got ,the heifer
lied tip Ind also brought in a
two-weelei supply of chop. Aitd
yesterday morning ,the milk -
truck got throUgh -the lane. with=
Out any„trouble-:--eur snow fends"
is still un-a why ShOuldn't
count our blessings? The' heifer
Might have attired on One of .
those, terrible, :4'00 ;deY.S.;- we
could have been left high and
dfk without chop fee the cows,' •
and the lane' Might haVe be-
come- impassable: Not thet, we •
are enjoying'the storm *it
' n, trifle drafty tircitlild here, even"
4768
12-20
it's a "hea:rda," milt luSi.Otidiji6? hairdo..
treated -byliciir-Styllit-ViCtor Vito; lei' deSidiied With an' ear
to the problem" of ,the hard-6466 ring WOrncih. At modeled by
Carolyn Phillips, Chignon Ca-Peed/a batteries for the hecirintl
aid; Cud iust above, earring masks ode unit Of the device;
Weather "Then - all over the
world •'are'intereatert in" new
experiments ''now taking place'
in the ,United 'States 0-find out
just_ how ,high • -fast -winds
can blow,
weather balloon 20,006 feet
over • Philadelphia ''reeenily re-
corded a, 302' inp.ii; 'Wind. 7- In
Great„ Britain
than 200 M:01, have been, fOtind
leur miles` 0.40. StiCli high winds
are common four or five Mlles
up in the airatoaphere.'
They have been been likened • tO "a
j stream, •• an atitieSplierie•-
triOnntaiii terrentr of
dOWn a .iteepidecliVW, front,
A high .,baroniettie ,ipresSUre ;to.-
a ,low _
Why don't these- amazing
winds iiialtitaiiilhesanie -speeds:
*hen . theYteabli-ground
Because the friction,of 'the
earth'S surface Slows tem utj
Oreitest ground 'speed Of Wind. ,
'recorded was that 'at.. Wall,. •
ingford,
Chine on, March 22rid;. -1892; It
„Was.,just . Under 250-, Milea an
Our, , At Washington 'few
eirs.affh 236 1n p.li, was record-
Look, smart, look neat in this
workdress - sundress - pkaydreag
that goes everywhere!_ §ee by
the diagram how EASY this is.
No fitting problems; wrapi and.
,ties. Re-ironing worries, , opens,
tat Make it now. ,,Sew easy "
and sew-thrifty; make one; tWe ,
three styleS! '
(_,,Pettern '1,68: Misses' 'Sizes 12,
14,, $ize 18 taket
yards 5 inch fabric.
This patteili -easy to use, sim-
pilato'SeW, IS tested for fit. Has
COMpleteillustrated instructions.
Send THIRTY, ,FIVE CENTS
(350) in Coins (starripa cannot be
accepted)' for this Patterh: Print.
'"plainly SIZE, NAME,, Aii= •
DRESS, STYLE NU/0ER, .
Send , Order X,: to Bo,10 123
Eighteenth St.,• New'Toronto,
Ont. W .