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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1962-06-14, Page 6p • 0 "BERRR!" MAN—Looking .more like a merman than a frogman, British Able Seaman David Williams takes a breather on a hunk of ice during operations in Antarctica. f(4..1 0111 ten ► 0 KS Fashion Witch Doctor Frlm Jungles Performs Miracles? Voodo o, superstition, black Magic, witchcraft or just plain Jungle Mumbo-jumbe call it what you will but whatever it is, it is bringing f arse e it) a twentieth - century witch doctor who is practising his secret art in (the depths of the steaming Ecuadorian jungles, It is claimed that he is per- ferming medical miracles; that he is curing diseases which have so f a r defied modern medical science. The name of this jungle medi- cine man is Abrahn Oalasacon. He is a forty-five-year-old In For the past twenty years he has combined the mysteries of ritual with an almost scientific knowledge of jungle vegetation in the treatment of a multitude of human illnesses, And, appar- ently, with success. His patients are not only pri- mitive natives, They include an ever-increasing f IQ w of white people who are beating a path through this wilderness of trees and tangled undergrowth to reach his crude jungle hospital, There they hope' to find cures for the many afflictions which have baffled all the medical sci- ence of modern civilization. For centuries, long before the Conquistadores invaded the In- ca empire, the male members of Abrahn's family have been the witch doctors of t h e Colorado Indian tribe. Through passing generations they h a v e experi- mented with, and, learned the value of, jungle plants, herbs and poisons. Before leaving for Santo. Do- mingo de los Colorados to meet Abrahn, I talked about him to a doctor in Quito, capital of Ecua- dor, to find out how the medical profession feels about his me- thods and results. This young doctor, a graduate of one of Germany's finest schools, astounded me by his an- swer:. "We doctors in Ecuador know all about Abrahn. As a matter of fact, many physicians from Europe and South America are watching him carefully. "It is not improbable that the medical profession can learn a great deal from, him, especially about the application of primi- tive jungle medicines as cura- tive agents." Today, a well-known Ameri- can scientist, Dr. Wilburn Fergu- s en, is experimenting in t h e jungles of Ecuador with certain leaves and herbs which the Ji- varo headhunters use. From these he hopes he may be able to develop an effective treat- ment for one of our worst malig- slant diseases. With this information. I drove the sixty-five miles over wind- ing mountain roads to the little town of Santo Domingo. From there I continued my journey on foot, marching for three hours down a deep jungle trail. Finally, I arrived at a broad river which could only be cross- ed by boarding a crudely built gable car, writes Jane Dolinger in "Tit-Bits." I arrived .at Abrahn's hospital lust in time to see him attending to his many patients. His treat- ments all followed the same gen- eral procedure. `Under a palm-thatched shed, a ISSUE 10 — 1962 short distance from his hospital, several circular holes had been dug in the ground. Each one was about eight feet deep. At the bottoms of the holes were pools of water. Each of his patients sat on a small piece of wood directly over one of the holes. Their clothing was then, removed and they don- ned heavy woollen capes, Under the direction of the witch doc- tor, and according to the type of ailment from which the patient suffered, certain specific jungle plants and herbs were dropped into the hole. Meanwhile, Abrahn's two as- sistants heated small rocks, which, when white-hot, were dropped, into the holes over which the patients sat, The patients were enveloped in heavy white sheets whic trapped the great clouds of steam that rose from the holes. This vapour was not only ab- sorbed by the body of the pa- tient but flowed into his lungs as well. The treatment lasted for not more than half-an-hour, after which the sheets were removed and the patient carried to the hospital. Here he was allowed to rest for the next few hours on a simple palm frond bed. At exactly three o'clock each morning, t h e patiimts, one by one, walk, or are carried, to a room on the second floor of the hospital where they receive doses of medicines made from leaves and herbs — some poi- sonous — which have been cook- ed in kettles over open fires. It is during this nocturnal per- formance, a highly-secret proce- dure, that the witch doctor, in addition to administering his medicines, exercises the power of .centuries-old superstition and witchcraft, all the time calling upon, the gods to restore health to the sick. According to Abrahn, there is no disease known to mankind that cannot be cured through his three-fold system of "Turk- ish bath" jungle medicine, and the secret ritu al of witchery. In addition to the steam bath in which Abrahn uses a jungle leaf called chinguishuk, he brews a special tea from wild red berries. This is said to be a potent aphrodisiac of lasting power., In other instances, people with bowed legs have had them straightened after having h a d the limbs submerged in tubs of hot mud mixed with jungle herb s. These, according to Abrahn, soften the bones suffi- ciently to enable them to be made perfectly atraight after just a few treatments. Abrahn's patients sleep on primitive cots in one small room, regardless of sex or illness.. To make things even more difficult, the witch doctor serves no meals. All patients must bring their own food. Naturally, there is no running water or any other modern con- venience in this witch doctor's hospital,' but in spite of the fact that white patients must live as primitively as the native suffer- ers, there are no complaints, It is a far cry from modern medical science to Abrahn, jun- gle "miracle maker" of the Col- orados. It is possible, just the same, that if orthodox doctors can, by some means or other, jar Abrahn loose from the secrets of his prig mitive prescriptions, they might well be able to solve some of the major medical problems of this scientific age. 1212 es in 19 6 4 • ^, •" CHEMICAL REACTION Cryptic sign seen in the vi- cinity of Capitol Hill in Wash- ington plumps a possible presidential candidate, Those who know their chemistry get the message right away. The symbols for gold and water could mean only the Republi- can solon from Arizona, Sen. Barry Goldwater. Very Queer Money Yet It Passed. The first of the phony $10 bills began turning up in New York last Sept 21. Grayish in color, printed on poor paper, the bogus bills reflected shoddy craftsmanship. They had excel lence in only one way: They could be passed, And they were. Within a few weeks the coun- terfeits became considerably more than a routine nuisance to bald, pugnacious-looking Albert Whitaker, chief Secret Service agent in New York, Department stores, groceries, even banks were stung. By Nov, 14, some of the funny money was passed in Boston, Philadel- phia, and other points as far away as Los Angeles, and more than 1,500 tens had turned up in New York. They were appearing at the rate of $4,000 to $5,000 a week, Publicly, Whitaker's office is- sued warnings about the bogus tens. And, behind the scenes, he geared up for a major investiga- tion; Undercover men managed to buy some $25,000 worth of the' money at "wholesale" ($20-$30 per $100 face value). Then the trail pointed to Brooklyn. Last month three solid Months of night-and-day surveillance came to a climax. Whitaker led four Secret Service agents and five NeW York City detectives to the small, expensively furnish- ed, first-floor Brooklyn apart. meat of a swarthy, stocky utility- company mechanic named Jo- teph Maggio. Inside, at 6 p.m., they found Maggio relaxing, his, Wife away at work, his infant daughter in the care of a teen- aged baby sitter, In the apartment the raiders also found a key, It turned' out to fit the lock cm a bin in the basement. Inside the bin, in three suitcases and two cardboard cartons, the investigators found a Major source of their longtime headache---roughly $2 million in crackling new tens, each one as queer as a $3 bill, and, in all, one of the biggest such hauls ever in the II,S. Maggie was charged with do- ing wittingly 'What many a sad New Yorker has come to do un- wittingly Since last 8eptem'ber— possessing counterfeit money. the Atriettrl Oro Parrot Li fahionS as a talking bikd, eatitiVity, this bird has heels e iiowri to StiirViVe as long iris lghty rears, — The life vitt Nate nio be' Our own, iTAILE k!Jcvne AnciDewz Do you eat pie with a spoon or a fork? This subject has been 'brought into the open by a reader of the Christian Science Monitor — and a man reader, at that — Chester V. McCloud of Oklaho- ma. City. He elassifies himself as a "spoon pie eater." He does not entirely approve of the fork school of pie eaters, because they have to have thickening in their fruit pies. But, let us hear about this subject in Mr, McCloud's own words: "No one — but no .one — gets this job done, so I must do it," he says, in launching his cru- sade, "The subject is directly berry pies, No berry pie is worth eating when it is half full of thiCkening. The practice of add- ing thickening is based upon the long-held viewpoint — entirely erroneous — that berry pies • must hold together in pretty wedges when sliced and served. The fact is that berry pies, and most other fruit pies, should have no thickening to dim in any degree the delicious flavor." "Such pies, obviously,. must be eaten with a spoon! So any other pie would be, and should be, designated a 'fork pie'," he continued. 'Therefore, I recommend . , that the practice be adopted of classifying all pies . . as 'spoon pies' or 'fork pies.' I 'further recommend that no pie maker shall be approved who puts thickening in any pie filling." * Whether you are pro or con on this subject, you will want your epastry just right, and two other readers have offered- ways of making it so. 'May W. Thomp- son writes: "My pastry recipe is so revolutionary that I feel as if I should 'sell' it to readers with a money-back guarantee, Be- cause it is a raised crust, it re- mains crisp under refrigeration after balding', and because of the large amount of lard it does not taste like biscuit pastry. I feel sure that if a reader is not satis- fied with her present recipe, she will like this .one, My recipe makes a two-crust pie and one extra pie shell," NEVER-FAIL PASTRY 2 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking potvder :!6 teaspoon salt Lard. milk Combine flour, 'baking powder, and salt. Measure milk in a cup: spoon in enough lard to fill the cup. Lift lard out of milk and blend into flour mixture. Pour in milk and mix well. The dough Will be very stiff but easy to measure. a A, very different method is used in the recipe sent by Mrs. Olive V. Armstrong. "I never CLIPPER Marty Frerith clipped that big hydrangea blotsarn from hit grand- Mother's garden in SoqUel, Calif. let 42 inches around.. Pancake Houses Spread Across U.S. African banana. pancakes, date- nut pancakes, ohocolate-Ohip ;pang Viennese potato pancakes, Pales- tine pancakes, New Orleans Ica- bob hot Cakes . . Enough to make strong men veasy„ this list nevertheless looks good to a brigade of restauranteurs who are opening pancake houses as fast as batter, griddle, and exotic 11),K1118 can e swirled 'together. The smile on their faces . is as wide as Aunt Jemima's anti understandably so.,: In the hot cakes are selling like you know what,' Southern California now has 7$ pancake houses and more a-build- ing, In Phoenix, Aria., Uncle John's Pancake Howes, Inc., last week dedicated its 47th branch eatery, while the citizens of Palm Beach, Fla„ were gobbling cakes at the Pancake Palace—opened, last month—as if Mctreeal had never been heard of, The Palace is aptly named, It has beige and gold carpets, rococo iron chanties Tiers, and four original Bernard Buffet paintings, loaned by an art dealer, "You might say that the pancake business is an up- and-coming business,” modestly comments' the Palace manager, who grosses $1,300 daily. The flap over flapjacks is more than that. In 1958, Al Lapin Jr. and his brother Jerry built their first International House of Pan- cakes in Toluca Lake, a suburb of Los Angeles, Today, including franchises, they control 27 more, scattered across the country, Vic Walker, a Midwestern franchise holder in The Original Pancake Houees (115 outlets), claims the success of such booming chains is "quality control. You just can't open a box of mix," he explains, "blend it with water :and call yourself a pancake house." Ray- mond Edlund, owner of Tit Pan- cake House in Atlanta, reckons this is true, too. "My own special secret is aging the batter. We let. it sit 24 to 48 hours." A dash of ballyhoo is also mix- ed in, Last year Edlund gave away 300 Easter baskets, .while Uncle John's regularly bribes kids with balloons and lapel but-, tons ("He's my Uncle John"). Another Uncle John gimmick: All • children under 12 register their birthdays, are later invited, back for a free birthday pancake crowned with whipped dream and a lighted candle. It pays off. In Hollywood, trade at the interna- tional House of Pancakes, which uses the birthday genii..., as an occasional bit of c%sioe.edko promotion, is .$0 ilIMUit1101($ that short.-. order cooks use batter "guns." that sheet 150 pancakes • per minute onto the griddle. Once cooked, they are too•sed onto plates at the pickup, counter where infrared overhead lights keep them Wenn. Like all hot-as-a-pistol fads, of course, pancakes haven't been di- gested with total relish. "Every'- body .says -they're good:* wearily commented an attractive wait- ress at 'Uncle John's in Detroit, "I've worked here a month and, had pancakes in the morning, at lunch, anti at night. I'm sick of them," Why The Sky Is Blue Dust in the atmosphere, and vapor, scatter light waves from the sun. The shorter rays, blue, are Scattered more than others, and take over, giving the Impres- sion the sky is blue, The smaller .the dust particles the fewer rays are scattered, and thus the bluer the-sky. The blue fades when we have an excess of dust and other rays are also scattered, When we get above the earth's elenoaphere the sky appears blac Q. Whitt can I do about fire bacon drippings in my oven? A, Turn off t h e pilot light,. place a bowl of ammonia inside the oven, and close the door. The ammonia' fumes will loosen the charred drippings and make your oven much easier to clean. If nobody knows the trouble you've seen — you don't live in a small town, How Well Do You Know SOUTH AMERICA? considered myself a really good pastry maker until my daughter gave me her recipe," she writes•. PASTRY 14-e?ning7)(I huosine of7ized sholl.- % cup boiling water 1 tablespoon milk 2 cups flour (sift once before measuring) 1 teaspoon salt Put shortening in mixing bowl; add boiling water and . milk. Break up shortening with a fork and beat until Mixture is smooth and thick like' whipped cream and holds peaks when fork is lifted (this takes time and pa- dance, but it works). Sift flour and salt together into first mix- ture. Stir quickly with round- the-bowl strokes into a dough that clings together and cleans the bowl. Pick up and work inton a smooth dough. Shape dough into a flat round; roll between waxed paper or pastry cloth (I get two 9-inch rounds and one 8-inch crust from this recipe. If yoit like a thick pie crust, it yields two 9-inch crusts. I find freezing this dough improves it.) "Now, if you want to make an apple pie that is just a picture of beauty, try this," continues Mrs. Armstrong. "Instead of putting the spices on the apples, put them on the top and bottom crusts like this: Combine 2 table- spoons sugar, Va teaspoon cin- namon, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Line 9-inch pie pan with pastry, brush with milk or water, and sprinkle with 1/s the sugar-spice mixture. Add the apples and su- gar and Cover with top crust. Cut slits in top crust. Brush this with. milk or water and sprinkle evenly with remaining sugar- spice mixture. Bake 50-60 mina utes at 425°F. (Watch this pie carefully so it doesn't brown too m I.1 ch) ," * When I Was in Dallas a few months ago getting her recipe for black pepper cake from Mrs. Ernest Williams, she also gave me a recipe for molasses pie which she considers one of her best. If's been in her family more than 1,00 years. You'll need a baked pie shell for this is a meringue pie. AUNT MOLLIE'S MOLASSES PIE ii eggs, separated 1:2 Om sugar' i cup sorghum molasses 1 cup milk 3'4 teaspoon soda 1 tablespoon butter 3: tablespbons flour 1 teaspoon vanilla 6 tablespoons 'stigair for ineringin' Beat :egg yolks until fluffy, add % cup sugar, rnolassa, Milk, butter, flout,' soda, :and Vanilla. Pour into cooked shell. Beat egg whites for .theringties add ,the su, gar gradually, beating, Spread over filling in shell (Sprinkle top With nutmeg, if desired). Bake until Meringue is a delicate brown. * * * Spring is almost here and soon you'll be thinking of shortcake to go with, several kinds of fruit, "I am enclosing a recipe that a friend gave me while I was Ilya ing in Switzerland," Writes Mrs. Carol :13, Willett, "It is for short shortcake, but I'm not certain whether it is' a, Swiss recipe or not as my friend is an Arneri-, can,,, „ SliOit't StilOitleAkt T. cup littler — : ' 14sietigid.47c aciarattieeara' sugar, I katiieeri vanilla 2 opt Nitta Flour i4 teaspooft Salt ;14, teaspoon baking 'powder' Cream butter and gradually add the sugar; blend thdreughly and add the Vanilla, t oinbitie the flour, baking powder, and; salt. Wei* this rilikttire into the 'first mixture with hands, , Ilea out to 7-irich thickness, Cut into squares or 'Militias Bake at S75.7. for i/U minutes, ROM DOWN UNDER 13, G. Boone has a job that one Could earl Y' lose his head over if the proper pretautionl Were fiat taken. Boone, on' employee of Western Union, it lust emerging from b manhole in downtown, Dallas, after Completing a day't work ail a Cable litie 'Wow 'the Street,