HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1955-09-14, Page 6Crazy World And.
Screwball People
fitirry in the White Hetise..
CAW .N.Vashtington. drinkin
water does not make good teat
• the expOrts had samples of f, nn-.
don, water sent. over, These were
analysed and then gallons of
cal water wore filtered and "re,,
built" to be like the sample from
T.,ontion.
According to Mrs, Nesbitt,
President Rooseveit'stiouselteep,
or„. a ..confidential memo from the
British. Government atipulateci
that tea should always. be readY1
even at midnight. The King's bed
was, to be placed with. the. head
against the wall, never with the
side against the wall, and even
hbt-water bottles for the ladies-
in-waiting were specified be-
forehand.,
Despite these careful prepare,
tions, a secretary checked the
King's room at the last me-
ment—and noticed that the pic-
ture above his bed showed Bri-
tish forces surrendering to
George Washington after the
battle of Yorktown.
The offending picture • was
hastily replaced with a harmless
flower study!
Similarly„ when the King and
visited Paris, the Queen's
bed was that of Marie Antois
nette, and every item of becl,.
clothing, including the blankets,
was specially woven ror the ocs
casion.
Cudly Bears Saved NASHUA ALL THE WAY — Eddie Arcaro drives Nashua under the
finish line to win the $100,000 winner-take-all dossic at
Washington Fork, Chicago. Swaps, with. Willie Shoemaker up,
trails by six-and-one-half lengths.
Proving Theory
Almost Killed Her
There are dozens Of different
recipes for the popular "bread
and butter" pickles; but in case
you have lest, yours, or would
lake to try a different one, I *
don't believe Yoo can do bet:-
ter than this,
Bread and Butter Pickles
2 cupa brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon, each, salt and
white mustard seed
toaapOon each, dry must-
ard and turmeric
1 tablespoon celery seed
3 cups cider vinegar
1 cup water
9 medium cucumbers, sliced
without paring
9 medium white onions, peel-
ed and, thinly sliced
Mix together the dry ingredi-
ental blend to paste with part
or the vinegar, then add re-
maining vinegar; add water,
'Boil for about 5 minutes. Add
sliced cucumbers and onions;
boil 3 minutes, Seal hot in small
jars.
Jam made of green tomatoes
may sound rather incongruous,
but those who have tried it say
it's simply delicious. Easy to
prepare, too!
Green Tomato Jam
5 pounds green tomatoes, slic-
ed thin
3 pounds sugar
3 tablespoons lime juice
Combine sliced tomatoes and
sugar and allow to stand over-
night. Boil gently until mixture
begins to thicken. Remove from
heat• and add lime juice. Place
in sterilized jars and seal.
* *
In my part of the Province
we don't seem to see, many
quinces nowadays; which is
rather a pity because I can re-
member how good they used to
taste when I was a lot younger.
In case they are available where
you live, the following recipe
comes highly recommended.
Quince Honey
4 large quinces, grated
2. pounds sugar
2 quarts water
Combine sugar and water and
bring to, boiling point;, add
Australia's cuddly, lovable
little koala bears have been
saved from extinction. It is re-
ported from Victoria that since
animal-lovers and the Govern-
nient stepped in twenty-five
years ago in a determined effort
to save the koala bear, there has
been an increase of more than
100 per cent in their numbers,
and that the threat of extinction
has now completely disappear-
ed.
The koala bear is, a fastidious
little animal, eating only the
tips of a special kind of eucalyp-
tus, the manna gum. If he can't
get these tips, he doesn't eat,
and starves to death. When this
was discovered, the Government
hurriedly sought tips to keep the
koalas going while a special re-
serve was set aside for them and
plenty of manna gums planted.
The food problem has been
solved and the koalas are thriv-
ing.
quality is correct, and this is
now generally preferred to black-
bordered stationery.
Q. When one receives a for-
mal engraved invitation to some,
social affair, and is very busy,
wouldn't it be all right to• tele-
phone the hostess one's accep-
tance or regrets?
A. Never. A formal invita-
tion always requires a formal
reply, handwritten on note paper
—* and expressed in the third
person.
Q. Please suggest a toast a
man can propose to his wife on
her birthday?
A. "To my wife. May we
love as long as we live, and live
as long as we love."
Q. Who provides the bouton-
nieres for the best man and the
ushers at a wedding?
A. The • bridegroom.
When introducing two per-
sons, it is proper to say, "Mrs.
Smith, this is Mr. Jones; Mrs.
Jones, Mrs. Smith?"
A. No; it is altogether "nec-
essary to mention the
twice.
When the police were investi-
gating the murders by "Brides
in the Bath" Smith in 1915
there arose some doubt about
whether a young and healthy
woman could be forcibly drown-
ed in her bath. It was alleged
that immediately after' "mar-
riage" Smith persuaded the
bride to settle her property on
him. Then induced her to take
a bath, and while she was doing
so seized her legs and raised
them, forcing her head under.
To test ,whether, this could be
done effectively a nurse volun-
teered to act as victim. She
donned a' bathing costume and
climbed into a bath of water.
An ,offical seized her legs and
her head went.under. She proved
the 'truth of the theory almost
too well—they had to give her
artificial respiration!.
In another case a senior Scot-
land Yard officer was called to
.view the body of an unknown
man who was found head down-
wards in a waterbutt outside a
country cottage, At first sight it
looked like murder because the
man had an ugly wound on his
forehead.
The detective carefully ex-
amined all the surroundings, in-
cluding the garden fence, and
then gave his opinion. He
thought that it was accidental
death. The man had hurt his
head climbing through the fence
.and went to bathe it in the
water-butt. As he lowered his
head he over-balanced and fell
in.
Another man refused to be-
lieve the detective's explanation.
He strode to the water-butt to
demonstrate how impossible it
would be for such an accident
to 'occur. As he bent over the
butt there was a muffled yell,
a mighty splash . . . and two
legs waved wildly in the air!
An American recently dranic,
three bottles of hrandY in thirty
Minutes for a bet, but within
another thirty minutes he was
dead, Back in the 1920s Hill Wil-
liams, of Hind°, Texas, pushed
a peanut up a mountain) 14,110
feet high, with his nose, A took
him a month to do, and he Wan
$000.
A tightrope walker balanced
for ten minutes on a piece of
rope stretched between two sky-
scrapers. A Canadian,, stood on
his head at the top of a hundred-
foot flagpole. 'Then there was
the man who climbed to the top
of a church steeple arid remained
perched there for three days. A
month later he fell downstairs at
home and broke his neck.
A few years ago a man rowed
across the Thames on a butcher's
tray. About the same time a
strange competition was held in
Kent. Fifteen women and twenty
men started rolling down a hill
to see who could roll farthest.
The winner was a girl, who
rolled just over half a mile.
In 1938 six Australians en-
tered a billiards ball contest for
a $50 prize. The test was a ,
three and a half mile stretch of
road just outside Sydney, and
the billiards balls had to be cued
along this' distance. Two dropped
out with cramp.
The winner covered the course
in forty minutes, but he fre-
quently had to crawl on hands
and knees to drive his ball from
beneath parked cars. And all for
$50!
There is also the story of
Henry' Lewis, who made a rec-
ord break of 46 at billiards using
his nose as a cue!
One of the craziest contests of
all time took place a couple of
years ago. It was surely one of
the queerest hare and tortoise
races ever invented. Larry
Hughes, of the U.S.A., was at-
tempting to fly round the world
in five days, using only the com-
mercial air lines. He hoped to
reach Los Angeles City Hall be-
fore his opponent, Carol' Field-
house, who was hopping along
the road• from Santa Monica on
a pogo-stick. The prize was a
thousand dollars.
And still it goes on. It has
been reported recently that an
Egyptian is trying to walk up
the whole length of the Nile on
his hands, and a Frenchman • is
to make a second attempt to
reach the North Pole on a bi-
cycle equipped with special
tires. What folks will do for
money! Ali, well, it5s a crazy
world!
Still Seeking
That Spanish Gold
grated quince and boil, until
thick, Place in sterilized jars
and seal with Paraffin, *
Some time ago a reader
wrote to The Christiaan Science
Monitor asking for a recipe for
making an old s country deli-
cacy known as '"parkin." Many
replies were received and in a
recent issue two of the recipes
were published. I'm passing
them along to you, with the
comments, just in case any of
You are of Cornish, Yorkshire
or Lancashire birth or descent,
* *
With her recipe for parkin,
Mrs. Elsie G, Howe, Ottawa,
Canada, writes: "Recently an
English friend from London did
a repair job in our home for
me and when I asked what I
could do in return, replied,
'Make me some parkin' I tried
several recipes, but none came
up to my memories Of parkin,
so I wrote to Lancashire cous-
ins and asked them to send me
a family recipe. I have used it
several times — and my English
friend seems to approve!
"I have always been under
the impression that parkin is
traditionally Lancashire," con-
tinues Mrs. Howe. "A quiz ar-
ticle in a recent English maga-
zine seems to confirm this, for
in answers giving the tradition-
al food for various counties,
parkin was the answer for Lan-
cashire. It was described as a
gingerbread made wtih oatmeal.
I suggest that for baking park-
in, you line -a tin or glass bak-
ing dish with heavy brown
paper — and don't overbake.
Use an 111/2 x 9 x 2-inch baking
dish."
Mrs. Howe's Parkin
1/2 pound flour (11/2 cups)
1/2 pound medium oatmeal
(11/2 cups)
IA pound brown sugar (%
cup)
3 ounces butter (6 table-
spoons)
10 .ounces treacle (1% cups
molasses)
1 teaspoon ginger
14 pint' milk (% cup)
1 teaspoon baking soda.
Melt together butter, sugar,
and treacle with a little of the
milk. Combine flour, oatmeal,
and ginger and add to melted
butter mixture. Stir well, Dis-
solve soda in remaining milk
and add. Pour quickly into well-
greased tin. Bake at 310°F. for
an hour and 20 minutes.
* * *
Mrs. Phyllis D. Hamilton
sends a recipe using cornmeal
instead of oatmeal. "This park-
in is heavy and chewy when
done,` so don't cook until dry
looking. Store it in a closed con-
tainer when cool," she writes.
Mrs. Hamilton's Parkin
2 cups cornmeal
1 cup flour
1 cup light sirup
1 cup sugar
2 cups shortening
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking poWder
1 teaspoon ginger
Pinch salt
Milk — a little
Sift together the flour, corn-
meal, sugar, baking powder,
salt, and ginger. Heat shorten-
ing and sirup; add dry ingredi-
ents. Beat eggs slightly, add
milk, and mix with first mix-
ture. Beat well. Pout into
greased pan and bake at 375°F.
for about 1 hour. Modern Etiquette DIP TRIP — Diane Williams loses
no time on her trip from Miami
Ito the Babarrias for swimming.
She's "Miss Florida Sunshine"
and travels in a bathing suit
when she flies to the island re-
tort.
By Roberta Lee Pleasure is necessarily recipro-
cal; no one feels, who does not
at the same time give it, To be
pleased one must please.
—LORD CHESTERFIELD
Heartbroken Swan
Killed By Grief
ILOSt Forty Tor),
Hats to Souvenir
Hunters
The Royal Family's oldest
M e b e r, eighty-two-year-old.
Princess. Marie Louise, returned
from an amazing tour of Central
Africa, .a journey that took her
through jungle areas, that were
untrodden and unexplored ter-
ritory only a few years ago,
The Duke of Edinburgh, too,
recently returned from a visit
to the French Riviera where he
was held up by speed cops and
yet still outpaced reporters at
the wheel of his supercharged
car.
Soon he is to go with the
Queen on, their State visit to
Norway and already lie is plan-
ning his Olympic Games trip to
Melbourne next year.
The Royal Family to-day is
travelling the world with a
speed and facility never before
known. The Queen Mother's trip
to New York, Princess Marga-
ret's tour of the Caribbean, the
visit to Canada ,o,f the Duchess
of Kent and Princess Alexandra
are all to be capped shortly by
zestful new globetrotting ex-
periences.
Yet not so long ago, when
Queen Victoria went to Nice, she
insisted on taking all her serv-
ants—and a household of over
100 people had to be transported
overseas.
Water specially boiled for the
Queen had to be ready at every
station along the line. Courtiers
telegraphed ahead whenever the
Queen wanted something to
drink but eqnerries complained
that they could scarcely get a
jug of hot shaving water.
It was evenssworse when the
old" Queen went to. Balmoral—
a venturesome journey for those,
days. Men were posted every
200 yards along the rail route,
while the Queen sat with her
hand on a semaphore signal
marked Slower, Faster and Stop.
On one occasion the Queen
went up by sea, the royal yacht
had•to be towed and the Queen
was sick all the way!
It's a good many years since
Edward VII, as Prince of Wales,
inaugurated modern-style royal
travel by visiting. Canada and
the United States: In order not
to offend republican America, he
travelled incognito• as Baron
Renfrew. Even' then, so many
ardent republicans wanted to
grab the royal topper as a .sou-
venir that the Prince actually
lost and had to replace forty
top-hats.
A generation later George V
as a youngster cruised the world
in the Bacchante. The ship was
a 4,000-ton corvette but states-
men were so anxious for royal
safety that the captain first had
to cruise the ocean in search
of a storm to discover whether
the vessel would capsize.
All was well, but when the,
Bacchante was 400 miles from
Australia she ran into rough
weather that tore the rudder
sideways. The steering gear re-
fused to function and the ship
' began drifting in a hurricane
towards the Antarctic.
For three anxious days and
nights the skipper had no sleep
. . . until he was at last able
to efect repairs and turn the
vessel northwards.
By comparison, perhaps' the
worst nautical experience of
our own Queen was when she
last left Canada in the teeth of
a Newfoundland gale. The light-
er conveying her to the waiting
destroyer almost stood on end.
Almost everybody aboard was
sick—except the Queen.
Though she used to dislike the
sea, she swung aboard the de-
stroyer saying, "I'm famished.
I'd like to eat right away!"
As comparatively recently as
1939, the visit 'of King George
VI and his Queen to Washing-
ton caused an extraordinary
NICE CATCH — The way Spike
Jones, shown here, tells it, the
big one didn't get away. He
was "deep sea" ,fishing in a Las
Vegas swimming pool and came
up with a' mermaid (named
Ida Mercier), So he posed in
the typical fisherman's stance
With his five-foot, nine-inch, 135
pound catch.
.34*Aus
10.ME:60 • WELCHED ON. US" Playfully' tossingbeach=
401 in happier days` • are Joan Rawlings, right, and -Ca'r'ol
• •,Singleton, winner and tUriner-up, in the "I"111ss bikini IJ;S,Aa of
beauty But the. shapely Were not to
Miara *lien they fired $ibiotict and' 060 damage
ngtdrist M. Andre, Who they. Oaim;
welshed the. proiriited leven,week crate and tore UP theli
$1D'-d-week co ntracts:
Periwig: Factory shipments of
woven wire laWn fencing rose
153 font to 1,233 tent the first
three quarters. Of 1953:
001011t1, that's 16-yiiei.-old' Mend Wood; tauciht fifie
Seek lingua cOw, 'tango' tii" carry' her in a i,addlei
Country folk living deep in the
heart of 'Essex will long remem-
ber the story of the swan with
the broken heart.
Some time ago he was found,
amid the weeds of a disused
sandpit, standing guard beside
his snowy-white mate.
She had died and he was ob-
viously grief-stricken.
Kindly animal welfare experts
called to the spot feared that he
would pine to death. Said one:
"A swan has only one mate and
is faithful to her always."
In the end the broken-hearted
swan was persuaded to leave
the spot for a 'spell in hospital
to help him-to forget. It was then
planned to set him free on a
big lake in another part of the
country far from the disused pit
and its memories.
Naturalists say that many
• creatures do experience grief
and that some even shed tears.
Some years ago there was a
giraffe at Sydney Zoo which
wept for several days following
the sudden death of its mate.
The founder of an animal Wel-
fare organization declared, "I
can Unhesitatingly say that ani-
mals do soinetimes die from
grief." She quoted the case of
a monkey which, having lost its
mate, was. in a state of collapse.
It would eat nothing and just
• sat brooding over its loss. Then,
after a few hours, it died.
But if animals feel grief, some
also have a 'sense of Infinour, A
fermata observer of animal con-
duct Maintained that many can
actually laugh.
"Some dogs raise the Upper
lip and show their teeth clearly
with a curious grinning exptea-
siora" he Said. "When this is
atconinallied by Wagging of the
tail, it may be regarded as what,
in a human being, Would be
called a. broad smile."
An orange-mitarig at London
Zoo used to show every eigh of
pleasure when its practieal jokes
excited laughter:, Gilbert White,
the great naturalist, told of a
pet magpie which, had a laugh
so hearty; joyous' and natural
that no one Who heard it could'
help joining iti.
STOR
"My garden was such a inc.,
eels this rear,!" boasted ngentie-
*an fernier; "that ink heighber'sf
Shkkeria took first price at the
poultry shawl"
Q. Is it considered necessary
to repeat a person's name when
being introduced?
A. Just "How do you do" is
sufficient, but it is always nicer
if you do repeat the other pet-
sen's name after this greeting. It
seems to indicate that you have
really paid attention to the in.
troduction
Q. When eating a baked po-
tato, is it cared to take the po-
tato from the skin and mash it
on the plate?
A. No; the proper way is to
split the potato and then eat
it directly from the skin,
Q. Is it necessary to write
anything on the card that aceotn,
parties a wedding gift?
A. No. The: card with your
narrie on it it sufficient, as good
Wishes and congrattilations are
Offered at the reception.
Whose piade isit to set
the date of the wedding, the
bride or the, bridegroom?
A, After the prospective bride°
and bridegroOni Haile decided be.
baleen themselves that eireinii-
sterieeS are faVerable for their
'Wedding, it is Lip to the bride and
her "nether to decide the exact
date.
Q.• Should asparagus be eaten
With the fingers?
A. No. It is ill-bred to 'take
tip this dripping Vetable With the
fingers. It IS Properly eaten with
the fork.
0, •Mill 000 et stationery
ihOtild be used by people fn
• WhIti irintienerk et wit
Work has begun in Tobermery
Bay, Argyllshire, on the sunken
Spanish galleon. Florentia, one
of the many ships of the' Armada
which went down in the great
storm which scattered Philip of
Spain's proud fleet. She took to
her grave bullion and other trea-
sure valued at two million
pounds, including some almost
priceless church ornaments of
gold and silver.
Salvage operations are not to
be hurried as a rule. Those on
the wreck of the Royal George
extended over six summers. The
divers recovered many interest-
ing relics.
Some of these found their way
to national museums, others are
still preserved by the salvage
firm which,conducted the work.
The same firm will also show
the interested visitor a Mexican
gold dollar. It is one of 250,000
Mexican dolars recovered from
the sunken Harnilla Mitchell.
Which went down in 156 feet of
water off Shanghai.
One of the firm's divers, Alex-
ander Lambert, is the hero of
many great feats carried out on
the bed of the ocean. Among
other remarkable achievements,
he located the wreck of the
Spanish mail steamer, Alfonso
XII, and hauled from it seven
chests of gold coin at the great
depth of 162 feet.
The Salvage Section of the
-Admiralty was called into being
early in 1917 by Commodore F.
„W. Young. In all about 450 tor-
pert:lied merchantineri were sal-
vaged, Which meant nearly two
' million tons Of shipping, repre-
Senting about fifty rri illio ii
pounds.
The Section salvaged the Ara=
by from Boulogne Harbour and
conveyed her to the Thames in
two sections'. It patched up the
battlecruiser Lion after a des
perate fight and enabled her to
reach the Tyne. It salvaged the
first class battleship, the Cori-
* titterer, the hospital ship Astu-
rias, and the subrnatine
thus rescuing the thirty-five'
Men who Went doWn With her
from a dreadful death, -And it
hauled upright a sunken trans.,
Port vessel at Folkestone by
Means Of four railway IticOrne-,
titres.