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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1956-04-04, Page 6When the Duke of Edinburgh was a la-year-old .schoolboy at COrdonstoun, in Scotland, he 'as summoned one day to the headmaster's study and gently told of the death Of his 26-year- eta sister Princess Cecilia. She had been acknowledged the most beautiful of all his sour sisters, And her tragic death in a 'plane crash was almost the last chapter in per- leaps the strangest haunting of ill luck ever inscribed in the dark books fo fate. Can anyone truly be born un- lucky? Let's turn back the pages to 1843 when, Only a few hours before Queen Victoria's second daughter was born, re- latives called on, the Queen to commiserate with her about a death in the family. Amid this atmosphere of mourning little Princess Alice, the Duke of Edinburgh's great - grandmoth- or, entered the world. From the first Queen Victoria seems to have had a foreboding of what was in store for her daughter. The Prince Consort noticed. that "poor, dear, little Alice" was always in trouble. "I shall not let her marry," the Queen noted in her journal, "as long as. I can reasonably, delay doing so." But Princess Alice was only 17 when, at the customary Windsor house party held for the Ascot races, she met hand- some Prince louis of HesSe, - nephew and s heir of the reign- ing Grand Duke. Within a few months he pro- posed. Yet scarcely was the en- gagement announced than the Queen's mother, died and the court was plunged into mourn- ing. The wedding had to be de- ferred. And arrangements were :no sooner resumed than the Prince Consort himself was suddenly seized with his fatal illness — and the Queen, on realizing she was a widow, gave eat single fearful scream that has passed into history. Alice was married at last in. EARLY PICKIN' -- Smart apples in Wenatchee, Wash., believe that an apple a day — until May — is good advance pub- ;icily for the 37th annual Washington State Apple Blos- Isom Festival. They've picked their fairest blossom well ahead of time as Apple Blossom Queen. She's Jolly Ann Sachs, 18-year-old high school senior, an atmosphere Of tears mapped up by black - edged handker- chiefs, It was scarcely a happy clay, And with these threaten- ing omens the train of malig- nant events was set in Maim', Within three years her cowl- try was plunged into the Aus- tro.Prussian war, her husband was tern f r o m her side for military duties and Alice watched her newly adopted peo- ple in flight. The resulting peace left her so poor that she had to patch and mend her chil- dren's clothes herself, But worse was in store. Alice was devoted to her children, especially her two boys, Ernst and 2-year-old Fritty. One dread May morning, as h e y were playing near a window, little Fr it ty overbalanced — and plunged to his d eat h in the courtyard below, Her grief knew no bounds. Affected by the shock, young Ernst would often 'awake from sleep, screaming. "Why can't we all die together?" the heart- broken little boy would moan. During one of these spells of dittress, when he was ill with diphtheria, the Princess took him in' her arms to comfort him and so fatally contracted the fever herself. It is small wonder, in fact, if all Europe whispered of the hoodoo on the great ,House of Hesse. As the years passed, the trend of misfortune seemed to develop ever deeper under- tones. Then One of Alice's daught- ers, Alix, married the Tsar of Russia. It was at her corona- tion, that hundreds of people were killed and thousands in- juied in a ghastly crowd stam- pede. As the last Tsarina she was murdered by the Bolshevik revolutionaries in:hat grim cellar at. Ekaterinburg. Another daughter, Elizabeth, married the. Grand Duke Serge. When he was assassinated in 1905 she entered a convent as if to escape the curse — only to share her sister's fate when the revolutionaries hurled her to her doom down the shaft of a disused mine • thirteen years later. Only Alice's eldest- daughter escaped this appaling sequence. Marrying a cousin, she founded the present Mountbatten line and we knew her as the Dow- ager Marchioness of Milford Haven, In happier vein, it was frorni her home in Kensington Palace that the Duke of Edin- burgh left for his marriage in Westminster Abbey. But the curse saga of ill luck traces through the orphaned Ernst who, so innumerable were family tragedies, became Grand Duke when only 23. His marri- age was bitterly unhappy. "I will never try to arrange a mar- riage again," said Queen Vic- toria, and ultimately the affair ended in the scandal Of divorce. A daughter had been born but she died so suddenly, during a visit to Hesse of the Tsar, that rumour-mongers feared she had been a victim by mistake in a poison plot. Grand Duke Ernst married again, and this time fotind a measure of happiness with his new wife, Princess Eleanore, and their two fine sons, George and Louis. Yet as if to defy him there came the first world war and the collapse al Germany, reducing the familiar world he had known to ruins. It can be argued that others are involved in wars, that soon- er or later deaths occur' in ev- ery family. But the Hesse hor- ror was still to reach its ter- rible denouement. The Duke of Edinburgh'i sis- ter, lovely Princess Cecilia, mar- ried young Prince George and came to live with the. family in the quiet little palace at Wolfs- garten. Soon the young couple were raising their own family, two boys and a girl. The young Prince Louis, who had been working in England, wrote home that he, too, was to marry. His choice was the pretty daughter of Lord Ged- des. And once again the evil destiny of the Hesse family took a dreadful course. Amid the wedding prepara- tions, the Grand Duke Ernst died. To be sure, he was now nearly 70 and had endured a long illness. But defiantly Prin- cess Eleanore decided that this time a funeral should not im- pede a wedding. She had chartered a 'plane in order to fly to London for the ceremony. With a farewell wave Princess Cecilia, Prince George and their children all. climbed aboard. The plane crashed in flames. There were no survivors. For Ernst who as a small boy had whimpered, "Why can't we all die together?" _the ghastly wish was at last fulfiilled. With this culminating tragedy the hoo- doo seemed at last to lose its strength . . . save for one final flare-up. The Duke of Edinburgh's youngest sister, Princess So- phie, had married a kinsman, Prince Christopher of Hesse. To the dismay of her family he joined the S.S., rose ' high on Himmier's staff — and he, too, was killed in an air crash in 1943. Fortunately, Princess Sophie has since remarried and found happiness. For Prince Louis, too, there has been no grim se- quel. From. Princess Alice's birth in 1843. to- 1943, the Hesse cloo had ghoulishly blanketed four generations. Coincidence or curse? How can this century of sinister miss fortithe be explained? ItUN ON PIE BANK .• • Dizzy` Dean always fancied hirnself, as, a hitter. Pitching for Houston One day, lie cloUted a heater in the third inning,. As inning after inning went by, the - 'Ain 'loomed bigger and bigger. Itt the SeVentli inning. Dizzy suddenly. lost . con tr ol and Walked three inen hi a row. The Houston,manager promptly yanked im. Instead of 'going to the show- ers, iliz-zy ran out, to the storebodA and' removed the Marker' indicating the one tttn, Ile tucked it into hit hip pocket and started heading for the clubhouse. The manager came dashing after hirri with blood in his eye.: "What's the idea, Natio lie bellowed. "Darn it, iltitr"*. replied Mani "if you ain't gonna let me Bitch, f ain't gonna let you have my tint" TOPKNOT — So brimful of style • is this hat that there's no room allowance for a crown. Hair is worn in a chignon to hold the cocktail number in place. It's a 'Paris creation, fashioned of vel- vet and styled by Laud Sinko. STUDY IN BROWN Inasmuch as Yogi Berra's favorite literature is ethnics, he was always in awe of his ex. roommate, Bobby Brown. Bobby now a full-fledged, doctor, al- ways carried .sOmething "heavy" with him. One evening. Yogi saw Bobby poring over a fat text on ana- tomy. Yogi didn't Say anything until he saw Bobby _close the thick volume, then he brightly asked, "Hey, Bobby, how did it come out?" Costly Fealliers Off on his 53th trip to the Far East recently was Mr. Wil- fred. FrOst, London Zoo's 78- year-old collector, Who .sailed for Western NeW Guinea in search of the world's loyalist • birds — the magnificently plu- med bird's of paradise. There are 50 different species of these rare birds which de- rive their name from the an- cient. belief that they original- ly came from "paradise." Why? Because they always fly high above the -forest trees with their legs hidden. They are never seen to land. Before laws Were passed Pro-, hibiting the, sale of birds of paradise leathers for 'millin- ery purposes, rich molten wore them in their hatS. In Paris $1,250 Was o ri c-e paid for a single bird of paradise feather. Queer native legends still linger ahout bitds of paradise— . that they havk tie wings, but 110k bil the air supported by their trailing pldnies, that they live oh dew and that the fe- Male bird., lays her eggs in, a hollow on the back of the Male., Male birds of..para,dise have beauty unsurnassed by artY- thing in tra.ttire, Their, plumage iS tinted With all the hues of the rairiboW, Ta See a bird Of paradise flit through a forest glade,- like a flash Of Mired light, makes the 'anklet. Or all-neat believe he has Stray,' Ca into' some Celestial teal* Strange Tricks That Cupid Plays An. ardent , young man, living in Rome was,,,so attracted, by the face of a girl' on, a poster that he vowed: WOttld=. marry her when .lie .discovered ;that , the picture was drawn from a living model a French girl,' Off 'went° the 27-year-old Ital- ian to France,. only, to find that the ,girl had, sailed for the. United. States. So. he. promptly made for New York, 'gel a job as a clerk and set about finding his enchantress. PorlWo, years he searched and hoped; and ,at last Was ..civerjoy- ed to see, in a. photographer's shbfi" Window,- 'a portrait of his 'dream' girl," - The photographer gave him her 'phone number, and he rang her several ,times pleading for an interview. But each time the indignant OA rang off, • The 'wood-be wooer was so persistent .'that" "the" now thor- oughly., scared-girl told her hus- band. yes, she had married Soon after' her arrival in Am- erica. The- husband told the police who. suggested that when he,. next rang up she should make an, appointment to meet him at the corner of" a certain street. This she 'did. When he arrived, carrying a bouquet, he was seiz- ed by the girl's husband and a detective. In court, he told his story frankly to the magistrate and apologized, to husband and wife for causing them annoyance. Said.' the magistrate:"YOu are discharged if you promise not to annoy this lady again." "Rest . assured, madam," said the Italian with a low bow, "that shall trouble you no further. But I shall never forget the face on the poster." Cupid plays strange tricks with the human heart — and never more impishly than when he makes anyone fall for a photo- graph. Sitting eating a hurried meal in a steaming Malayan jungle, a nineteen - year - old Kent national serviceman chanced to pick up a newspaper containing the picture of a pretty girl dress- ed in. her robes after being elec- ted, carnival queen' of a Midland town. She looked adorable. sighed. For him it was love at first sight. He felt he must write to her. He did. — that same_ evening as . night ,closed down over the jungle. He dongr'atulated her 'on being made "a carnival queen .4 ... and on being so lovely to look at. Te told, her that her picture in the paper had made him feel strangely happy. When the girl read his letter she was se, impressed by 'its sin- cereity that .she replied. Many letters passed between them. They became firm pen, friends. And .when the, young service- man returned to England he 'lost no time 'going- to see the girl with whose .photograph he had fallen in love. They became en- gaged and the wedding date was fixed. Then came a snag, The girl was only nineteen and her father would not give his con- sent to the marriage, although her mother approved. So the young couple, deeply in love, went to court and the magistrates did not hesitate. They said a smiling "Yes." The pair, arm in arm, walked hap- pily out of court, discussing plans, for their early wedding. Few beauty queens have re- ceived so novel a tribute as a pretty thirteen-year-old school- girl did some years ago. After being crowned rose queen of a village in the north' of England because of her prettiness and charm, her photograph appeared in many newSpapers. Three days later she received by post an offer of marriage, ae- companied by a cheque for £400, as a token of security and, as the sender said, "to clinch the bargain," Her admirer, it was• revealed, had thought -that the girl was about ,twenty-two years. of age. He confessed he had fallen "in love with her immediately he saw her published photograph. Back went the cheque -to him, accompanied by a polite refusal which told him that the girl was far too young to consider mar- riage — especially to a complete Stranger. —Norman ingig STAB fN THE PACK Where most managers cuss but the tl m p ire s, Charlie Grimm, the Milwaukee pilot, baits 'ern sometimes With devastating effect. When Chat, lie was managing the Cubs, the late "Charley Moran, then' a: graying ump, once tailed a Cub out et the plate. Several ca oars Made a wild dash for the tirlaiter',' Grimm quickly leaped out of the dugout, Laying a :ZYPIPa' thetfo .hando n the strip's head, he glared at his players and roared, "The hitt guy who lays a :Over.' this, blind. old Man iti fined- fifty. btieks14 '"Cover the red Paint on your bridge and people will step jumping off it," an architect suggested to Bristol Trades Council recently when the number of people who had jumped off the famous 185- foot-high Clifton Suspension Bridge was being discussed. His theory was based cm the fact that red is the most excit- ing colour and might affect some one who was highly strung. The red is red oxide to pro- tect the bridge, and the sugges- tlen was that if white oxide were used the average of four people a year who have jump- ed from the bridge in the last half-century would drop. His suggestion has been ap- proved, But Clifton Suspension will not be the first bridge to have its colour changed to dis- courage people from jumping off it. Blackfriars Bridge, London, Once had the worst reputation amongst Thames bridges for people throwing themselves in- to the river. Someone suggest- ed it was due to ironwork be- ing painted brown. The brown was eliminated in favour of green and the number of sui- cides fell by one-third. Colour rules our thoughts, moods and health More than we realize. Airline operators know that if ' they introduced browns and yellows into the interior decoration of their air- craft they would get a rise in the number of cases of air-sick- ness. When before the war deep esealators were being intro- duced into London Tubes, some passengers complained that looking' down made them ner- vous. By accident, the plain white, roof ,of one ,ef.the great sloping tunnels became damp. The colouring immediately removed the "looking over a cliff" ef- fect. Learning from this, the underground designers tinted the tunnels, and there were n more complaints. Colour can even alter the weight of a box — or seem to. In One factory men complained that' boxes they had to lift were too heavy. The boxes were black. The colour was change,d, to pale green. The weight was unchanged, but there were no more complaints about strained backs. All factories now are "colour- conscious," knowing. that col- ours can affect the mood, effi- cency, and warmth of the workers. A shoe factOry was producing a lot of fautly work. ▪ Instead Of blaming, the care., lessness Of the workers, the manager looked at the ma- chines and realised that work- ers were sewing black shoes with black thread on black ma- chines. The machines were painted green and buff. The number Of mistakes immediately dropped and Output increased, In another factory there were always complaints' that it was ,cold. The engineers knew it wasn't cold, because the tem- perature was automatically con- trolled. But the walls were blue. When they were repaint- ed a deep. pink, everyone said: "Thank goodness they've heat- ed the place up a bit." The Temperature Was Exactly The Same! Blues in pastel colours are especially restful and relaxing. A restaurant owner was wor- ried about the time customers lingered over their meals, be- cause he needed a quick turn- over to make a profit. "Redeco- rate in reds and, yellows," said a, colour,,ekpert. People started • to eat-up and go or reorder, and the turnover increased fif- ty per cent. Another cafe ended custom- ers' complaints that it was al- ways chilly, not by ordering more heat, but by changing the light blue decorations for some with orange Predominating in the colour scheme, The right colour makes you buy, A chain store found bacon sales increased by half when the slices were under Red light. It made them look more appe- tising. Pale Blue light makes fish look fresh, and a Golden Yellow light gives fruit an ap- petising `bloom," • In food, red is the colour of appetite. It is not only the to- mato, taste, but also the tomato colour that makes tomato sauces and dishes so popular, Lobster flesh is white, but the. red shell makes it taste twice as good. Colours of iced cakes affect their popularity, even though they all taste the same. A large scale experiment with 21 dif- ferent colour combinations showed that yellow and mauve decorations sold cakes fastest,, with white icing and red deer).- rations second. Lime green with scarlet 'vas third. Picking the right colours increased cake sales by one-eighth. Ask ten people to name a colour—not their favourite col- our, but just • "a colour," and seven will say, red, It is the colour that , atracts most wo- men, the colour that stimulates. An American football couch claimed that his team won more 'matches after he changed the colour Of the rooms where they changed and rested at. half-time. He had one done in red for "pep talks," and one in blue for rest. • Yotv.ean make use of colour in your, own life. A girl ,was very fond of a- man who she 'felt` was very fend of her; but he wouldn't come to the point. She was told by a colour ex- pert: "Wear a white dress next time he takes you out." She Did, And He Proposed. White makes, a woman look more "helpless' and desirable. But. a blonde who wears red will never get married, accord- ing to this expert. She will at- traet, the "playboys" like flies,: buki.seare the serious man. Another colour expert says he ' a has saved marriages by changing, the 'decorations in the home,. "moody" wife became a different woman when 'her grey-green walls with brown woodwork' were changed to peach .3Adth- ivory wodwork. A girl -whose-,'emotional outbursts threatened-...her marriage was clianged;,When the ,glaring de- cdratioN her husband had Cho- sen for' the home were, changed to quiet' tones of blue and If you are apt to "See. Red" make suite your decorations. don't- encourage it. If you get "The". -Blues," avoiding blues and greens may ,help. Careful thinking before, decorating may change ..your life. Vr 3:15 "For the last time--I don't even knoW HOW to chuck wood!" Hoodoo Haunted' House HOW COLOUR CAN AFFECT YOUR LIFE. LIKE OLD TIMES—Chit-chat of -the general store.,. pad office Makes', a halfWay comeback with installation of this Stiarri vetilimg machine' at the Federal Building Post Office- Detroit, Midi. When money depotitecf, user dials nvrither and denOmi• tiatiOn, Of starii0 reqUireci". Ouf come' the starript and Polite, tape-reCorded "thank you'', tectsortal messages, tuth at "mail early far thritttnail' May also be recorded. heft time fa tittie at a terilirider fa euttiorrierS, FUND HONORS SUZAN BALL — Natiarial te-chairtnai ,Of the. newly Organiied, permanent Suzan will iVeriiorial Fund are screen starS Dick Powell acid : Rine All soli, shown above in Let Angeles, examining' the. c'ert'ificate , nothing then;;' to the posts The., F`tmei't obidelve§ aye tri 'raise Money far tandat' research r and alleviate the ,suffering Of' Canter 'ViCtirtiS. Suzan' B a ll, of lar Meilen picture actress, died' of Canter laSt :year. A •betil one Million dollars' in 1V-S6' kat, been Set for the drive, Wfiltit Will' Start Sean. OUT OF THIS WORLD—Flashbulbs popped almost as fast as the rocket sled traVeled when screen actress Cathy Marlowe pop- ped up recently 'at Holloman Air Development. Center, N.M. The blonde bombshell was at the outer space experimental center for the premier of "On the Threshold of Space", in which she has, a part. She stole the show, even from Lt. Col. John Paul Stapp, holder of the world's ground-speed record, Strapped in a rocket sled, she's shown above with Stapp, who traveled 632 m.p.h. in a similar sled. •