Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1958-06-25, Page 6TABLE TALKS dam Andmws. Ns 4,frai...,o. "riatady Cch't you come op for Back To Ice Age For Britain ? British and American scien- tiate have Made a remarkable • discovery about the powerful and myeterlove Gulf Stream-- that warm blue river which flows across. the cold green At, 'antic frem the Gulf of Mexico and is believed to be largely responsible for the British. climate, For the first time they have been able to map its underlying flow of w.ater. They found that the Gulf Stream has an "under, tow" current moving in the op, pOsite direction at depths of about '9,000 feet, The Gulf Stream starts with moving at the fantastic rate of mighty i25er ex- erts. The tremendous volume of water tant variations and these are be- ng constantly-studied by ex- illion tons a second. Its flow is subject to impor- The water travels at about seventy-two miles a day. If the Gulf Stream were cooled by as little as fifteen degreeS, Scan- dinavia, German y, Northern France and Britain would prob.- -0.1Y eXperienee a return to ege cendationa. The heal). Veen.. landscapes would beeeMe like that of Labrador.. Some scientists belieVe that by systemetleally recording the' temperature of the Gulf Stream, we could confidently forecast, the weather for 'Ong periods. , When a U,S. flying-beat greet', ea into the Atlantic on a bitter- ly veld January day some years ego, members of the crew who, were rescued after deifting in the ocean for ten hourss asserted' that it was the warm water of the Gulf Stream that had eaved their lives, Scienetimes ship's officers haVe tried to test the force of the Stream's • flow for themselves. As long ago as 1513, a French man sailing to Florida' was amazed to discover that in spite of the strong favouring winds his vessel was actually driven back by the motion of the water. When Britain or America has had a particularly cold winter, it is sometimes suggested that the Gulf Stream has somehow "changed its course," At a point where it is about 300 miles wide,. the Stream meets the icy Labra- dor current, a strange union which results in thick fogs, '• it,the ducks that swim. p.aet morning and evening, a kingfisher elashing turquoise QS it dives; even the '.ernall, shikaras that rest on the water lightly as a flower petal, The water around the boat is - so clear that we can see the • waterweeds gentlyswaying, .a ferestfor tiny spun-,glass fiele Around the boat are bowl, shaped lotus leaves with a Mel of water in the centre of each, and water-lilies, and frogs, and betterfliee and dragon-flies. that swoop over the lake like winged. • • needles, and always we can head • cicadas, but seldom see them ,., Callers begin to come, whole fleets of them. The • flower boat, like a floating bowl, full of def.. fodils, bluebells, iris, and some- times lilies-of-the-valley with the roots wrapped in moss, For a few annas a• day the Peony can- be ter/led into a garden. Pir the Candy Man has a red tin trunk. amidships, loaded with pepper- mints and fudge. which, he says, 'a missionary lady' taught him to make. And there are sellers of shawls, embroideries, carved desk, papiermache boxes, furs, • jewellery, carpets, toy house- boats, and all the hand-made things the Valley is famous for, wives, not to greet, them. but to, find !ant Whether the women had been drinking the wine stored in their cellars, They must have enjoyed these early kisses; for kissing soon became an important feature of a number of festivals.. There's no doubt that in many countries kissing was merely a. matter of etiquette fee many yeaee. For centuries kissing was equally unknown, in China and Japan and even today it is not popeler in either country, Neither the Bskinto nor the Maori is. keen on kissing, At the Art Exhibition in. Tokyo in 1924 the work of the sculptor, Rodin, "The Klee,. was hidden behiritl a screen. `When a Frenoh. visitor complained. about it he received this answer from the chief of police; "Rodin's group had to be hid- den behind the screen because kissing is a disgusting European habit which we wish, at any price, to keep out of Japan, It is only because of the interna- tional reputation of the sculptor that the group has been allowed to enter the country at all." An old proverb says that "A lisping lass is good to kiss," And an American who was asked to. define a kiss said; "It is a course of procedure, cunningly devised,. for the mutual "stoppage of speech at a moment when words are superfluous." At one time almost every dance routine in the ballroom ended with a kiss. No wonder dancing was so popular in the reign of Henry VIII! Even the musicians conspired to make it so.. "When the fiddler," says a writer of that time, "thinks the young couples have had music enough, he makes his instrument squeak out the notes which all understand to mean. 'Kiss me.' " Hollywood once invented a machine that can kiss 1,200 times an hour and used it for testing the qualities of lipstick. There's another ingenious ma- chine , that measures the amount of "oomph" in a young girl's kiss. One girl put so much pas- sion into her kiss that the ma-• chine broke down! When dealing with kisses the moustache question is a ticklish one. But there are plenty of modern girls who say they like the man who kisses them to have a good bristling moustache, although it's significant that the best film actor kissers are clean- shaven. A cynic has said: "Never kiss a girl till she has told you not to:" Asked to explain, he 'said that "the kiss of a woman who was at first reluctant to kiss is alviays more exciting." Princess Grace After Two Years TECHNIQUE—The thumb goes in like so, but no music comes out. ,D.ebra Lynn Taylor Thacker, 2 1/2 , has the right idea but the wrong instrument. A bugle, perhaps, or a trumpet might produce better results than.a thumb but it wouldn't be half so satisfying. such a step. On the other hand, it is point- ed out that Rainier is sublimely lacking in political sense. His tendency to play the part of Louis XIV (the power of life, death and banishment) is con- sidered rather ridiculous. All the same, the right of ban- ishment is no empty threat, as the turbulent Lady Docker found recently when she and her millionaire husband, Sir Bernard Docker, were expelled not only from Monaco' but from the three French departments' which constitute the Cote d'Azur on the French Riviera, under a treaty between France and Monaco. But regardless of national and international politics, Monaco is still a little surprised at how its, tlepiece are two Christmas cards bearing the House of Grimaldi arms. These cards are inscribed: "With all my wishes for your happiness' (signed) Grace." Palace staff members have re- ceived personal gifts from their monarchs each Christmas. No- body expects meaningless ap- pearances at state functions from the rulers. No one tries to make an appointment at the Palace on Thursdays — the 'maid's `day off -- when Grace has the children to herself. But when emergencies arise, Monaco is sure their Prince and Princess will be there. Politics in this little country have relaxed, too, in the past two years. Political parties feel Risk Their Lives For Buttons 1 tabletboon finely chopped onion Dash tabasco sauce 3 eggs Wash spinach and cook about 5 minutes in water that clings to leaves. Drain and chop fine. Make white' sauce of the butter, flour and milk; add spinach, salt, pepper, onion and few drops' of tabascb sauce; mix well, Sep- arate eggs. Beat yolks until light and lemon colored; beat whites until very dry. Add yolks to the spinach mixture, then fold in well-beaten whites. Pour in a greased baking dish. Place in pan of •water and bake at 300°- 325° F. about 1 hour 'or until set, Serve immediately. 4. Some Sunday evening soon treat your family to a supper of fresh-corn pancakes with fried ham and applesauce. This recipe makes 12 to 14 3-inch pancakes. FRESH-CORN PANCAKES 1/4 cup sifted flour 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon sugar 1 cup grated raw coin 1 egg, well beaten 2 tablespoons melted butter 3 tablespoons milk (approxi- mately 1/4 teaspoon monosodium gluta- mate Mix and sift dry ingredients; mix corn and egg; stir in melted butter; gradually add dry ingre- dients, stirring until smooth, Add enough milk to make pancake consistency. Bake as any pan- cake, Kissing Is In The News It was festival time in the old Danish city, Wine flowed and kisses, were freely exchanged, Young men embraced girls they had never seen before and kissed them heartily, The, girls—many of Whem had come in front ad- joining towns and villagee—re- sporided zestfully, One young fellOW who had al, ready kissed at least 20 girls stood outside his father's shop with roving eyes, seeking more pretty victims amid the surging erewds. Suddenly he saw a bewitching stranger, a flaxen-haired teen- Eiger in a rainbow-colored dress who. was sauntering past with her older sister, In an instant he was beside her, His arm encircled her slim waist and he gave her a long, lingering kiss. It thrilled him more than all the other kisses he had enjoyed during the last hour, It thrilled the girl, too. He was about to kiss her again when she gave him a resounding smack on the face and cried in- dignantly; "Don't you dare kiss me again! I don't know you!" It was true. She was an American lass spending a brief holiday in Denmark with her parents, her father being an oil magnate. At the age of 17 she had never kissed any young man, least of all one as ardent as the young Dane. The girl and her sister had been brought up in a small town where men were scarce and this . was their first trip abroad. The Dane apologized profusely and bowed low before leaving the girls, holding his still- smarting cheek as he went. Next day, however, he met the girl again. She repented at hav- ing slapped him. A romance de- veloped and they were married within a few months. When the girl's father died the young couple inherited about $1,000,000. Many girls, even today, grow eee ,-to womanhood without being kissed by anybody but their parents and other near relatives. The joys of kissing for the sheer fun of it have never been theirs. "Kissing has been pressing into the news lately. A leading doctor has expressed the view that in Britain they are kissing too seldom. He does not advocate indiscriminate kissing, but he does say that when young people are fond of each other kissing is a wonderful way to ease stress and discord. Yet another doctor has recent- ly recommended kissing as a palliative when mother-in-law trouble besets young married couples. He thinks kissing is a cure for many marriage troubles and says that most other doctors agree with him . He also thinks that middle-aged couples should kiss more often and adds: "Too often a peck is all they ex- change." Let's take a closer look at this kissing business for it fascinates most people. And it's surprising to discover what an all-embrac- ing subject it realy is! The research experts, however, are still rather vague about the origin of kissing. Some say it began in Roman times. When the men returned from the wars they put their lips to those of On A Houseboat In Kashmir Are you wearing any pearl buttons slightly streaked on the underside with red, brown or green? If so, men may have risked their .lives for them. For the buttons are punched from trochus shell, prized to-day as a mother-of-pearl substitute at $600 a ton. Diving for trochus—each shell as large as your fist—now ranks second only to pearling along the 1,200-mile Great Barrier Reef. Ace skin-divers, working with nothing more than water-goggles, a knife and a gathering bag, earn over $6,000 a season on percentage and many buy their own luggers. Yet gathering the conical tro- chus shells is deadly dangerous. Seven fathoms deep for two minutes at a time, the diver risks damage to heart and lungs. Sharks are the least of the hazards. Shouting at a shark of- ten proves effective in frighten- ing him away. Sesien men were killed or injured last year by being trapped by giant clams, the largest shellfish A the deep. Groping for trochus' on a reef, the diver puts his arm inside the wide-open jaw of the clam—and wham!—the shell closes instant- ly with a vice-like grip. So pow- erful are the digestive juices. that a diver's foot is sometimes partially dissolved by the acids before it can be freed, k NEWLYWEDS, TWO YEARS AGO, Rainier was a shy, taciturn man, his bride was aloof. They turned their backs on the public as they did here on a New York shopping expedition. reactions have changed in two years. "Today," said a 77-year-old fifth generation Monegasque, "every one of us would let our selves be cut tip in little pieces for our princess. She is more of a princess than any of royal blood and she has become one' of us — a Monegasque," And with the birth of a son, Albert, 14 Months after the birth of a daughter, Caroline, Prin- cess Grace has given her new• land another very real reason to love her: an heir to the throne that keeps Monaco 'from becom- ing just another French depart- inent with taxes and military service. free enough to enter the public arena and fight for what they want. In Monaco today, •sentiment is for a revision of the Principali- ty's constitution, and the estab- lishment of a Financial Court which would control state funds — until now finder the sole power of Prince Rainier. "But," commented a French observer, "to jump to the , con- clusion that Rainier faces more difficulties with his governinent is somewhat premature." Everyone agreee that a palace revolution and the proclimation of 'a, republic in Monaco is not going to haPpen tomorrow. The country would lose tee) much by By Rosette Hargrove Monte Carlo (NEA) — And now, the true-life story of what happens when an American city girl (Grace Kelly) marries a big executive (Prince Rainier) and goes to live in the suburbs (Monaco). After two years of marriage, one should not be surprised to find some changes. But in this tiny principality, the changes have been enough to stagger the minds of the 2,600 Monegasques. Consider for a moment the royal husband. Two years ago, young Rainier was, a shy, taci- turn, complicated young man with an intense interest in rac- ing cars, his private zoo, and his yacht. And now? This happy hus- band has sold his yacht, given up his fast cars. more. Instead, seldom vis- its his zoo any ore. Instead, he devotes his time to affairs of state, especially a national project of a vast under- ground' railway system which will be used by the coastal trains that now 'run right through ..the realm. This plan will give Monaco new land on which to build an Eden of ultra modern apartment houses facing the blue Mediterranean. The prince's shyness has al- most- completely disappeared. He' is demonstrative with his wife and children, and is what one would expect of a happy hus- band and father — much more than Monaco ever expected its ruler to be. - • . And if Rainier has changed, Princess Grace has been trans- formed. Two years ago she was a movie actress in the public eye' every moment. As new roy- alty she was aloof. And today... Well, the royal couple has sold their luxurious villa on the Riviera because it attracted too many sight-seers. They are now building a small cottage retreat high on Mont Agel, away from curious eyes. Her aptitude for French has made it easy to talk with her new subjects. She has taken a personal interest in social agen- cies, orphan asylums, the lives of her people, the ,Red Cross. At least one day each week she is "at home" to the women of the nation who come to tea -and talk of the state, the wea- ther, the problems of modern living, and the national game of , football. From time to time rumors rise about Grace's return to movies. "Sheer nonsense," says a pal- ace habitue. "She is perfectly happy and much too busy as wife of Prince Rainier and mo- ther of two children to consider any outside activity" Grace herself says emphati- cally that the two "cannot be mixed," Te The Monegasques 'have seen themselves change, too, after two years since their Prince's marriage, In every home above the man- Whether you barbecue, roast, broil, stew, or fry your meat, the vegetables that go with it are important, and old stand-bys fixed' in new ways are welcorhe at your dinner table. Here is the year-round -cabbage which the man in your life may be sur- prised to learn is .very gopd 'other ways than with corned ' beef! Here it is cooked" With almonds and curry powder — and isn't it delicious! SAVORY CABBAGE WITH ALMONDS 1/4 cup chopped unblanched al- monds 3 tablespoons butter 11/4 cups,,inilk 5 cups coarsely shredded cab- bage 2 teaspoons salt 2 tablespoons flour ° 1 teaspoon curry powder Sauté almonds in 1 tablespoon butter, Heat milk; add cabbage and salt and simmer for 2 min- utes. Add remaining butter, flour and curry powder and simmer 3 minutes longer, stirring fre- quently. Stir in almonds and serve at once. Serves 6. Green beans may be cooked in many ways and the old- fashioned method of boiling them slowly a long time in ba- con drippings or bits of ham is still popular. One family that I know likes to boil new green beans until tender, then to brown them slightly in oliye oil to which a garlic clove has been added. Another method is to cook them in salted water until ten- der, then (to,4 cups) add 3 table- spoons butter, salt and pepper and teaspoon nutmeg. A quick and simple way to make a "company" dish of green' beans is to combine them with sauteed fresh Mushrooms. French the beans and cook, then toss lightly in the skillet with the sauteed, sliced mushrooms, Sea- son .with salt and pepper and a brief squeeze of lemon juice. If you like green beans com- bined with tomatoes, try this: SPANISH SNAP BEANS 1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon chopped onion 1/4 cup chopped green pepper 1 cup cooked tomatoes 11/4 cups Cooked snap beans Salt and pepper Toasted bread crumbs Heat butter and brown onion and green pepper in it, Add to- matoes and cook slowly about 15 minutes. Add beans and sea- son. 'Heat thoroughly, Turn into • serving dish and top with bread crumbs. Serves 4. * * Cook's reputations have been built on souffles, and this is the way to make ,one of spinach. It serves 6. SPINACH SOUFFLE 1 cup cooked chopped spinach 3 tablespoons butter 3 tablespoons flour 11/4 Cups milk 1.3% teaspoons salt Vs teaspoon pepper Life-Saving Fly Flies are not normally associ- ated with life-saving, but at least one fly can take the credit for savirik the lives of sixteen peo- ple at See Paulo in Brazil. A clerk in the finance depart- ment was making coffee for her fellow workers when a fly set- tled on the open tin of coffee and promptly dropped dead. The puzzled girl Called anoth- er employee and they 'caught a fly and brought it to the tin; it too dropped dead, An analysis revealed that the coffee was mixed with a large quantity of cyanide. ARTIFICIAL.— Estron acetate is the synthetic material from which this elieneiteetellie• user dress re W6Vali.., It is said to tidy& the look and feel of an eastern iMparie Banded and hawed In toiled of that smokes oa• body • the •deete it features, a below-theektide perniarieritry pleated DIFFERENCE TWO' YEARS MAKE it 'door:trent here as the now demonstrative ItiAtif6e aiict aloof Princess Grace thaw Off their thitchbei, L.drenne—and Prince Albert., The Valley of Kashmir was below us. Fields and meadows lightly brushed with green, yel- low patches of mustard in flower, trees pricked with young buds, cherry trees like sea foam, flooded rice fields that mirrored snows and sky, like the lead lines in a stained glass window. Along the road at intervals were thatched roofs of houses, mark- ing a village. The sun caught the road so that it seemed to flow into the valley with the great silver curves of a river Our house in the Valley is made of natural polished wood, carved and fitted together. The gabled windows drip wooden icicles: Pots of scarlet geraniums line the flat part of the roof.. which has a little railing, Ruffled curtains hang on the outside of the windows. The house floats. It can be poled through the waterways of. the Valley, canals, lakes, and the Jhelum River, and tied up under" any willow we wish, A floating Hansel-and- Gretel cottage, with a catwalk round it and a little gangplank— that is a Kashmir' houseboat from the outside . • Our house- boat is called the Peony . The Peony is moored at Nae geen, a lake that is small and oval-shaped,• five miles by road from Srinagar, . . Willows and cholla'', the Peesian sycamore, grow along the banks, The many Persian things in the Val- ley, chenar, lilacs' that are bluer than Ours, the pleasure' gardens of Shalimar and Nishat, the poetry, 'and banquet food were left behirid by the Mogul Em- perors, who hived to summer here. Not ten steps iro' the Peony is a cherry orchard its full blossom arid a little beyond that a field of daisies, and a Nth that leads to the main road. In the heart of the lake is an underwater World of MI/bete 'snow theuritairiS, green hills, and reetle, so fragile that anything 4. How can I remove scratches from eihree? A, Purchase d small quantity of putty powder, put it into a saucer and add just enough olive oil to Make a paste, Rub this paste en the Silver with a soft flannel cloth, then polish with a chat eis and the scratchc s will disappear.