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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1961-01-26, Page 2are "dead. on time"—would get • rolling again, .writes lienry Hayward in The Christian • elleience Monitor. The latter is what some of us would do, of eourse, and as an old train enthusiast myself, I really don't mind when there's a delay; it means prolonging a • method of transport which I en- joy that much longer. At any rate, 'when the Queen finally alighted at King's Lynn, she smiled at the crowds, And everyone. was sure they'd hold dinner for .her at Sandringham. She may even have had a snack on the train, during the Wait,' Oh yes, as seems usual on. such occasions, the rescuer of the Queen's train was a reliable steam engine that sprinted up from Cambridge and took over. from Stan's deflated diesel. So the good old Iron Horse, now nearly extinct, 'triumphed again. From Stan, no comment. tory nuinoserwt of the At, bans Apocolvipt. went. for $1 4,e 000, the highest, price ever paid '.for such a doer meat, A modern volume, illostratvki by Tooknoe-. Lautrec, which sold for Omit $6 half a century ago, was offer", e d a t n,000, Eighleenth-century French furniture, silver service, and the delicate SZzyres porcelain rose anywhere from 30 to .101) per cent in value. A Louis KV silver service sold for $508,000. The sensational postwar .00931, in paintings weakened a bit, but old masters still sold for 35 to. 40 per cent above their 1050 prices, and such members of the American abstract school .as Gas- ton, Kline, de Kooning; Mother, well, and the late Jackson Poi- lock went for 50 per cent more. One 'Pollock painting drew a $125,000 "To spin up," says Pick, "all .these objects of art were much better investments than dia- monds, gold, or platinum, kinds of jewelry, most stocks, and all bonds in the world." Parents speak of the modern generation as if they had noth- ing to do with it. British Phone. An. American View . British pay telephones have several, complications unfamiliar to Ii1OSt Americans, In addition 't9 putting the Taney in the slot and, dialing, you have to eon- 'tend with two buttons, marked "4" and Wiwi your party answers, you press the -"A" button and they can hear you. Until you .prese, it, you. can hear them but not vice versa, And once you • press that "A" button, your money= is gone for good, It can be confusing if you forget to push. Once in Birmingham, I yelled, fruitlessly over the phone to an apparently deaf press ofeie car who kept saying, "Hello, hello, is anyone there?" Then he hung up, for I never did re- member that "A" button. But it was my fault; there were in- structions galore in the booth. "B" button is for getting your money back if you get the wrong number or no answer. It does not suffix, merely to hang up the receiver or jiggle the hook. How- ever, the money that clinks back is four large copper pennies.— about five cents American — whieh means the call cost you, half what it would in the States. On the other hand, those pen- nies are big and heavy,, especial- • 'Pardon me, but can I inter- rupt your social conference?" Fine Art Is Your Best Investment Franz Pick is a money expert who firmly believes that capital grows best when planted shrewdly in fine art. And he of- fered some glittering 'figures to support his ,thesis recently in his annual review of what investor- collectors were paying for the works of masters old, new, and in-between. The best buys were fifteenth and sixteenth - century Spanish, Flemish, and French tapestries, which all doubled their market value during 1960. Other cert• turies did well, too. An eigh- teenth-century Royal Gobelin ta- pestry now goes for $8,000 vs. about $4,000 a year ago. Manu- scripts of the twelfth to four- teenth century rose at least '75 per cent, and a thirteenth-cen- When The .queens* 'Train Was Late Iles happened to most of its one time or another — being becalmed in a train sor what. seems like ages due to An en- ,gine failure of sonic sort. But When it happens to the 3 uling Monarch in her own ,country -- well, that's .different! And happen it did to Queen Elizabeth TI on a recent eve- ning. She was bound back to ..,Sandringham after a, short visit to London, and her royal coach was attached to the regular 4,36 train from Liverpool Street Sta- tion to King's Lynn, hauled by a British-built diesel locomotive, Just south of Apdley End, in the Essex countryside, 42, miles out of London, Diesel No, D-5067, coughed to an unscheduled halt a bait mile from the station. To paraphrase "Casey Jones," Hogger Stan Fenn looked at the old-pressure gauge, and the oil preesure was low, In fact, it was nil. "I felt awful," confessed Stan afterward. "I kept 'thinking of her Majesty sitting back there and probably wondering, what a clot I was." There Stan and the Queen and everyone else in the train sat for what seemed like a very long and embarrassing 56 min- utes. Except for the guard, who. sprinted , 300 yards along the track to .a signal box' to give warning up and down-the line that the Queen's train was stall- ed. - We are not told what Her Majesty did .during the delay. Perhaps she continued with her work on state papers, read a book, or just gazed dreamily out the window at the same strip of countryside and wondered when the train—royal trains normally and listen to first class music by record or radio. What more could a person ask? Partner is still able to take on baby-sitting jobs. This morning he was over to a neighbour's at 6.15 axle! The man of the house had to catch a plane at Mallon, en route to the far North where he has a special electronic as- signment. Naturally his wife wanted to see him off at the air- port ,and was prepared to take the two children with her — just under two and four years. When we knew what she had planned Partner insisted on going over so she wouldn't have to wake the children. As it happened Partner took on more than he knew. Yesterday these same neighbours adopted a seven- weeks old puppy of undeter- mined origin. The children slept but the puppy didn't. Partner was quite busy with newspapers and an old floorcloth. However, our young neighbour got her farewell trip over in comfort — despite the early hour and a howling wind. She doesn't ex- pect to see her husband again until mid-March, But she is good stuff — no complaints or self pity. She accepts the fact that in her husband's line of work he must go where he is sent — even to the Arctic. Two years ago he was in Regina f o r several months. That time he rented kis house and took his family with him, It turned out not to be such a good idea._ The tenants skipped out one night leaving hydro and telephone bills and two months rent still owing. The police never were able to catch up with them. "Mr. and Mrs. J.L.B," — my ever faithful fan-mail friends, where are you? This is the first time in ten or twelve years I haven't heard from you at Christ- mas time. I do hope you are both welt.. I missed your letter and card, And Into British Youngsters Get Off Streets By TOM A. CULLEN, Newspaper Enterprise Assoc. The Jungles 1Y it Yott have numerous calls to make. They can wear holes in pnekev., Four coins — and four chances to miss the slot — on each operation! —.Telephones are nationalized here, owned by the government and operated by the post office,. They make a tidy profit, nearly £17,000,000 ($47,600,0001 for the 1959-00 fiscal year. My family now understands why -- those trans-Atlantic telephone calls do mount up when you have some- one in school on the other side. Moreover, charges For trans- Atlantic calls now are reversible, a point every parent needs to know. You it in London, perhaps a little lonely yourself and the 'phone rings, "Will you accept a collect call from St. Louis?" the operator asks. "Er of course," you stam- mer. Who knows what the dire need may be at the other end of the line? It's £1 per minute, you remind yourself, and then the seconds start ticking away. The polite formalities are scarcely ever before you hear an omin- ous "beep, beep, beep." We all know what those beeps mean — three minutes have fled past. We have conversed nearly 10 dollars' worth, yet this con- vereation has not yet got down to brass tacks. Nevertheless, firm contact is established, and several sets of beeps later, the fond farewells can be completed. As I said, telephones chalk up a tidy profit. Perhaps it would be ., good idea if advance dialogue scripts were required from both parties before any call could be placed. After all, that would prevent wasted words and those awk- ward pauses when you can't think of anything sufficiently weighty to say, writes Henry S. Hayward in the Christian Science Monitor, But don't get me wrong. Do I enjoy talking to St. Louis? You bet I do — every wandering, un- planned moment of it! It's not what you say; it's hearing the voice of a loved one that counts. Moreover, we really are for- tunate. Officially 49,000 Britons will have to wait a long time before their phones can be in- stalled, and another 106,000 still are in the process of getting theirs. This is despite the fact that 400,000 new phones are in- stalled here each year. The problem is that the post office estimates every new phone Installed for a new subscriber costs about £120. Officials say an average of only one or two calls per day are made from each private phone as it is, Peo- ple will have to do better than that, and my family for one is cooperating to the utmost to bring up the national average. Oddly enough Britain is not one of the foremost telephone- owning nations. In the United States, there is a phone for 38 out of every 100 persons. Here, it's only 14 out of 100, ranking this country behind Sweden, Canada, Switzerland, New Zea- land, Denmark, Australia, and Norway, but ahead of West Ger- many, Italy has only 6 phones per 100 people, but Italy is in- stalling new phones faster than anyone else. Another British telephone practice that surprised us is that the bills come in only every six months.' However, within the next four years, a great effort will be made to ensure that everyone gets his bill every three months instead. I don't know whether to be 1-empy or sad about this. Two-Needle Set 936 See the diagram — even a be- ginner can stitch up this pretty jumper in a day! Curved neck reveals blouse beneath, back has inverted pleat and half-belt. Printed Pattern 4828: Chil- dren's Sizes 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, Size 6 jumper takes Pk yards 54-inch; blouse takes 1 yard 39-inch: Send FIFTY CENTS (stamps cannot be accepted, use postal note for safety) for this pattern. Please print plainly SIZE, NAME, ADDRES S, STYLE NUMBER, Send order to ANNE ADAMS, Box 1, 123 Eighteenth St., New Toronto, Ont. SEND NOW! Big, beautiful, COLOR-IFIC Fall and Winter Pattern Catalog has over 100 styles to sew — school, career, hilf-sizes. Only 35'. Woman may be physically weaker than man, but She can put a cap on a. fruit jar so ,,,,,tight he can't take it off. London — For British young- sters who want to fell trees in the Borneo jungle, the nation's `little peace corps" provides- a necessary outlet, Surprisingly, there are more than enough youths who want to do this or: Wire a village for electricity in Ethiopia. Introduce softball in the Nor- thern Rhodesia copper belt. Lead an expedition in the mountains of the Southern Cis- meroons. Build bridges, in Nigeria. Try a million and one other tasks in !faraway places with strange sounding names, Americans, contemplating a peace corps of their own, might take a lesson from the British program behind all this, the Volunteer Service Overseas. The V.S.O. started two years ago with the support of the-Bri- tish Council of Churches, the, Royal Commonwealth Society and the British government, At present, the organization has 85 British boys and girls in 25 countries and plans to send another 150 abroad later this year. There is a long waiting list of applicants for V.S.O. About hale are high school graduates seek- ing a period of adventure before embarking on university careers; the others are industrial appren- tices and trainees. The only material compensa- tions offered these youths while abroad are room, board "and pocket money. These are provid- ed by the government or agency in the territory where they work. Their fares are paid. by the V.S.O. or British concerns which employ them. They must be between 18 and 24, physically fit, with average academic ability and good char-' acter. Parents' consent is requir- ed for those under 21. All of these Volunteers serve a mini natal of a year Applicants are "invited" into the program by the participat- ing governments. They know from the start why they are wanted and what is expected of them. Participating governments are told that the boys and girls gen- erally have little experience but a strong sense of service, ideal- ism er eagerness to learn. Typi- cal of the volunteers is David. Howell, 18, an apprentice who went from the work bench of a Manchester engineering program to ate industrial training center in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. David teaches Afri!cd.n trainees how to use tools; he barters with Indian contractors for raw materials. 'He converted aneold fire engine into a truck because his center could not afford to buy one. In the evenings David teaches boxing and ,gymnaetics at a boys' club in the slums. Another youth, Colin Henry,. built himself a house 50 miles from the nearest white man in British Guiana before turning his attention to the Amerindians on his reservation,. Before leaving, he construct- ed a new wharf, laid the basil for a Small timber industry, set up a village council, opened a training center for women, start- ed a housing program, 'In his spare time, he taught. Volunteers sent to the furthest point in th&program, the Falk- land Islands 8,000 miles front Britain, have travelled on horse- back to teach children of shep- herds and sliear sheep in their spare time. .!!Young people must be given the opportunity to prove them- selves," says Alec . Dickson, 44, the V.S.O. founder and an ad- mitted "do-gooder," "At the same time they can bring the world's peoples closer together.' Baby cables create rich, tex- tured effect — big, big pompon adds fun '11` fashion, J'IFF'Y-KNIT cap and mittens —smart for skating, skiing, win- ter! Don on two needles only. Pattern 986: directions small. medium, large included. Send TlfIRTY=FIVV ENT (stamfas cannot be accepted, use postal note for safety) for this pattern to Laura Wheeler, Box. 1, 123 Eighteenth St., New Tor- . onto, Out. Print PAT TERN NUMBER, your NAME and ADDRESS.. 3138T bEr ThE PRESS I Send now for our exciting,,riew 1.061 Needlecraft Cetalog, Over 125 designs to crochet, knit, sew, ern- braider, Ouilt, weave — fashions, homefurhishings, toys, gifts, ha- aat hits. Plus FREE — irie true. tiebe for six smart veil caps. Huf- tyi send 250 navel, MM :4 1961 AMMO 44..viertinerto:Idt work konyeir Come and pay us a visit and you will see "how to live better e-lec-trically" ! Which doesn't mean we have suddenly acquir- ed a lot of unnecessary new- fangled gadgets. We don't pos- sess an electric wiener grill or an electric can-opener or any- thing fancy like that, We are still capable of turning the lever on a hand-powered can-opener and the oven or a pan of boiling water continues, to satisfy us for cooking a few hot dogs. How- ever, where a small outlay really makes for comfort and conveni- ence we are all for it, So, my bedroom-dere has. become quite a family joke. The room start- ed out as an ordinary den, then, because I am so restless at night I set up a single bed' in it. 'That way Partner and I don't disturb each other, Partner sleeps like a log anyway — and can you tell me, to a restless person, of any- thing less conducive to 'Sleep than to have a room-mate in• a state of deep-breathing oblivion. So the den has gradually be- come workroom, bedroom, study, or what have you, and is gener- ally spoken of as' "mother's room". And, the number of elec- trical conveniences it contains has, as said before, become a family joke. Here they are. An expanding desk lamp, a bedside reading lamp and a night-light — plus the usual permanent overhead fixture, I also have my electric sewing machine, record player, clock and bed-side radio. And to ease my old, and aching bones an electric blanket and a warming pad — sometimes both in use at the same time. Tomor- row, to my way of thinking, comes the last word in conveni- ence — a "princess" extension telephone. All things consider- ed, from now on, it shouldn't be too hard to do what the doctor ordered — that is, stay in bed until the old ticker has simmer- ed down and learnt to behave in an Orderly manner, So that's where I am, right now, Oh, I had it coming to me, be- lieve me, I had been given re- peated. warnings to slow down or else. But like so many other people, as long as I can stay on my feet I keep going, High blood pressure is an insidi- out complaint — generally a per- son acts and appears to be per- fectly well, one of the side ef- fects being any amount of rest- less energy, And there is a compulsion . . just as one na- turally drives a car faster when the gas is running low. I was well aware of the chance. I was taking so I was constantly on. the alert for danger signals. By that means I was able to pull up just short of the border-line, how- ever, only the fact that there wasn't a vacant bed saved me from being sent to hospital. That, and because I wasn't yet an "emergency". To stay home is far more convenient as it doesn't leave Partner entirely on his own, We are really getting along very well. Dee and family were here Friday night with a' good supply of groceries and rein- forcements for the "frig" — plus a savoury meat loaf. It made me feel hungry just to smell it. Our only worry was the telephone. Partner isn't in the house all the time and for Me, getting out of bed every so often isn't exactly convenient or advisable. But with a bedside phone be dy- ing the life of Riley, Daughter Said I should have a portable TV I That, I would consider, en ttrijutiriable extravagance. Anyway I manage to get out to the livingroom for all occasional half-hour programme. If not, can live without it. Can read, write, knit, do crossword puzzles MAN Ut 'CENTURY — Former President Harry S. Truman was named "Man of the Century" by the Notional Israel Bond Orgethitation of a dinner' honor. He was presented with priceless objects from ancient Israel by Abraham flortnda, left, lsr 1i Arribcisscider 'to United Stales. • eessoreetreeeselleel.e' • - ... SEALING A FRIENDSHIP — Goliath the walrus lends a helping back to Beotrix the seal, who climbs up to reach a handout at Rome, Italy, zoo. Easy-See Diagram PRINTED PATTERN 4828 SIZES 2-10 447.,-744.5 BRITISH YOUTH teaches play in Northern Rhodesia i4 Why seleseees•Aii:0, VOW - ee",eeleiWe4