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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1954-7-28, Page 6SOME WILD WOMEN One August morning in 183d,. the aged Duke et Bourbon and Prance of Conde was found banging from a window -shutter latch in his Saint Leu chateau. Was it suicide—or murder at the bands of the tyrannical adven- turess, Mme. de Feucheres? She had been Sophie Dawes, buxom, blue-eyed, dark-haired daughter of Dicky Dawes, a drunken smuggler, She was a servant. In a PiccadilIy house when - she met Henri -Joseph, Duke of Bourbon, one of the many French exiles then. in England—and heir to a great fortune, Pier freshness and vigour under mob -cap and frilled apren attracted him, He engaged tutors to teach her music, dancing, "de- portment. French, Latin and Greek. When he returned to Paris uhe went, too, and was soon in- stalled by him in the vast Pal - Isis Bourbon. Not content with that she wanted social recogni- tion eco ni-tion and presentation at court. ]:Posing as the Duke's illegitimate daughter, she looked about for a respectable husband and duly married the Baron de Feucheres, officer of the royal guard. tShe could show only con- tempt for the man who had serv- er her purpose. Suspecting her relations with the Duke, he tax- ed her with them. At first she stoutly defended them, then ,shifeked in temper: "Very well, •;hen, if you want to know, I em the Duke's mistress! Fool that you are,'not to have known ill" Outraged, her husband thrash- ed ;der with his riding •whip, Then repaid her dowry and div- orced her. She was now 34, the Duke 68, ailing and crippled by a fall from a horse. To get her beck, he offered to leave her :I:40,f00 in his will and give her :;faint Leu, a fine estate bringing In £800 a year. Sophie, at 38, was "a robust strapping wench with the mus - ties of a coal -heaver, the sen- aibilitV of an alligator, the per- sistence of a gadfly," says Mar- jorie Coryn in fascinating book Of biographies, "Enchanters of Men." Ruthlessly she set about replacing the Duke's servants With creatures of her own. For Iter nephew, James Dawes, a Such in Fashion—This is not a picture reserrected from the "flapper" era of the '20's—it's one of the latest creations among the fall fashions. Of black Jerre•-•, fashioned by hportswhiri, it features no waistline, a loose blade belt and a wide sailor collar. Even the beads are reminiscent of the flspper era. heacOaxed :yogi the Duke aobar, anal estate and the post 01 first equerry, She bullied the old Duke un- mercifully, shouted and swore at him, slammed doors in hie face, even struck him, "She beats me," he pathetically cem- plaintid, "I can't go on living like thlst To get money, she sold one of his beloved packs of hounds and rnost of his famous stables, which enabled her to turn away more old servants, adding to his dist- ress,• He was now completely in her power, could not venture Out unless attended by one of her evil crew, could Bot receive Or send a letter thgt she did not first read. When he locked him- self in his apartment she ham- mered furiously On the doors, hurled threats at him. One night in July, 1830, he came staggering out half-dressed, calling for his trusted servant Manour . A friend fo y and -him in distraught, in Semi-isollapse, cry- ing, "'Madame de Feucheres is an evil womant I wish I were dead!" His eyes were bruised, bloodshot, swollen, There were bruises On his body and legs. Desperate, his only hope was to escape. To this end he• arrang- ed with his friend, the, Baron de Choulot, that a ce riage be bought and hidden in a.nearby wood. A million francs were to be transferred to a London banlf, Manoury to obtain pass- ports, They would matte their way separately to the carriage, and so to the coast and England, But Sophie got wind of thelplan. At eight o'clock on August 27 the Duke's valet knocked on his bedroom door. Getting no re- ply, and finding it locked, he sent for Sophie. Smashing in a door panel, he crawled through. The room was in darkness, save for a night -light on the hearth. The Duke was hanging from the shutter, a handkerchief tied about his neck, a second passed through it and looped over the latch, his knees bent, the tips of - his toes dragging the flout. The great bed was pushed out of place; the door to the dress- ing room into which opened a private staircase from the lower floor where Sophie and her at- tendants lodged, was not bolted on the inside as normally, "How fortunate that the Prince should have died like this!" she exclaimed loudly, "If he had died in his bed, someone would have accused me of pois- oning him!" He had left her the value of £320,000, including Saint Leu, a fine Paris house, his silver, gold plate and horses. "The scound- rel!" shouted Sophie when the will was read. "It was twice as much as he promised me!" Public opinion was shocked, the suicide theory widely dis- believed. His physician pointed out that there were no signs of strangulation, but both ankles were badly bruised, and there were abrasions on his legs. In his infirm state could he have tied the handkerchief knots so tightly or moved the heavy bed? "I swear that he 'is innocent be- fore God of his own death!" de- clared the priest at the funeral service. The Prince of Rohan, the Duke's next of kin, cried indig- nantly: "This devilish woman bas cheated me! But I will have the law on her!" He alleged murder, and the case was tried, but Sophie, though her cruelties were exposed, went free. Miss Coryn also writes bril- liantly of Cleopatra, Anne Bo- leyn, Mme, de Montespan, Nell Gwynne, Mme. de Steel, Marie Waleska and Lola Montez. "Make out my will?" said the gay old rounder. "I've spent every dollar I've ever had,. All I can leave is the earth." CROSSWORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1. ftnook 4. Bugle can 0. Step 18. Eater 1weevers erst 14.Off 1. 2,000 pounds 188. Spoken 17. Bramante sound ta, Kind of neoktle 20. aiberis,n Mongewid 22, Observed 20. Annealing oven far _glassware 24.v(1p 081x) 27. 11aisbow 29, worth of affirm a tion 81 2'+rt of the neck 54. Aftorsonge 228. Correct 88.7blerablo 8 38. Preesanntly�ing 40. Ffawaer 44. moat sharpener . gem Poplar Perfume ¢ tin llsh sanmpr (P0d ) j , llte viol gtyeflil wr nn ,qts ;rite Ars SD yj�uri eti tn. ere DOWN 1. Now Zealand timber trees 2. went up 8. English D°antes 7. Old nibltoai 31. Beverage word 32. Her Majesty's 8. Kind of rubber 83. ship tab.) Think2. Bestowed logically 10. Wolfratuite 34, Age 11. Watch 30. Soaped nperowly 38. Slipknot 19. Vegetable 41. Begins 21. Snares 42. Part Of a 28. Illumtnated flower 28. Anglo-Saxon 42, Foo king 40. Long tourney 20, Donko 40. Mamma ea . Haat, gall 28. Detecting 47, . SW192 river device 48, . Talks idly 20, Anchors. 080. Strange Scotch river Friend (Fr,) , :2'44 ' a • 7 'lr 0 9 to , 4 rte, U. to %V o 2 Prof 2r;. 23 ,/ : i 24 27 .i ,. 4) ! yr. ' Y: i y%} 30 32 ,%. 33 rrrst� erfe 4);! 21 / 4. M2,2' / 4 r.'• * . , 4 IAI� T. IT."f 4f ✓ °' '8T- r sr Answer Eldewhere on This Pape • He's A Real "Car"toonist—This louring -Mahantwilit has turned his auto into an advertising sign for his wares, He pauses in the Piazza Covour, Milan, Italy, to sell a few paintings before resuming his gypsy -like trek across' the countyside, • T11HAIIN FRONT ,101, The question of "how much water is required for maximum crop production" is one of the big problems facing the irrigator to- day, Too often the irrigator works on the theory that if a little ,eater is good, more water must be better, Unfortunately this is not entirely true. Too much water can often do more damage to the crop than not enough water, Over -irrigation can also have very serious long- term effects on, soil properties. This is particlarly true on heavy clay soils where poor soil drainage exists. Most of the irrigation areas in Southwestern Saskatchewan are located on such soils, states a report from the Experimental Station at Swift Current, Sask. sF KK i On heavy clay soils, difficulty is often encountered in getting water into the soil But these soils often crack open very deeply when they become dry and enormous quantities of water can be taken into the soil through these cracks, This will result in a water-logged soil. While the soil is in this condition, oxygen cannot get into the root area and carbon dioxide cannot get out. _ When this happens, the plants cannot take up sufficient quan- tities of the required minerals to maintain proper growth, and low yields are the final result, These low yields are frequently blamed on an infertile soil, but the real cause can more often be traced to over -irrigation. „ Over -irrigation can also bang about the formation of an alkali soil, in areas where alkali is com- mon, by increasing the concen- trations of salts in the surface soil. When this happens, the land is usually abandoned, be- cause the cost of reclaiming al- kali lands is too great.. Irrigation can be a very useful method of Increasing crop pro- duction but misuse of irrigation waters can easily result fn very poor crops, and eventually the complete loss of the land. There- fore, every irrigator should care- fully consider his irrigation methods to make sure he is not over -irrigating. Much more care is required when using the gravity hood irrigation method than with the newersprinkler irrigation systems. Wherever possible, two or three light irri- gations should be used in pre- ference to one heavy irrigation. This will enable the irrigator to avoid the clanger of over -irriga- tion, and at the same time, reap the benefits of larger yields. * * i In 1953 world consumption of wool amounted to 2,000 million pounds, clean. This was, with one exception, the highest figure ever recorded, being exceeded only in 1950, when the effects of the Korean war were particular- ly felt. The Coljimonwealth's share of the world total was some 600 million pounds, or 23, per 'cent, which' represented a substantial improvement (22 per cent) compared with 1952,., World consumption was at its highest level during the first half of the year, when the wool tex- tile industry was completing its recovery from the recession of the previous year and rebuilding working stocks of tops, yarns and tissues; in the second half of 1953 -the rate of usage fell off to. some extent, particularly in the United States, where the level of activity was the lowest for two years. Raw wool prices, though, remained generally firm. * e i The 'recovery in consumption in 1953 was reflected in the in- dustry's production of wool manufactures. World output of wool tops is estimated to have risen sharply by about 30 per cent compared with 1952, while worsted yarn production in- creased by neatly 20 per cent, The results for thewoollen sec- tor of the industry, wh'eh had been less affected by the pre- vious year's recession, were not SD striking; woollen yarn pro- duction in 1953 was only about 5 per cent higher than in 1952. World output of woven wool cloths during the year is esti- mated to have shown practically no change compared with 1952. * 0 KK A notable feature of the re- vival in activity in 1953 was the sharp improvement in inter- national trade in wool and wool goods. While raw wool imports into eleven major consuming countries were some 13 per cent heavier than in 1952, exports of tops, yarns and cloth from those countries increased by no. less ,than 21 per cent, 43 per cent and 22 per cent respectively. These `figures reflect a widespread re- laxation of import quota restric- tions during the year as well as the recovery in demand for wool goods generally. Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and West- ern Germany were among the important markets which , pro- gressively relaxed restrictions during 1953, though some others, notably Argentina, Brafil, Egypt and France, remained closed. It was his dying wish and his wife leaned closer to catch the last words, , "If you have a de- sire to re -marry, pick John Ferndotan.” "Why?" she asked, He gashed it out, "Fve never forgiven him for trading me that broken down Chevrolet twelve years ago." it's Mess Carl --'Mama dog seems to wear a happy expression es shetries rie s to feed her 16 now pups. There was so much crowd - Ina, that owner Douglas Edwards asked his neighbours to help feed the pups with milk administered through eyedroppers. Coffee in Britain Runs Second Before the last war, for every coffee drinker in Britain,there e e were around five thoudand habi- tual drinkers of tea. Then tea was rationed, and for the first time in large'numbess; we be-' came coffee ,drinkers. - - Why was there plenty of coffee then? Because we captured ene- my ships laden with the aroma- tic brown berry, But now world supplies are , down and so the price of coffee is 'soaring 'states a writer in "Tit. Bits." ' The beginnings of the coffee story are shrouded in legend. One of these is that the. Arab Sheik Oman once fled from. his' enemies into the mountains of isouthern Arabia. There he suf- 'fered hunger, but finding a wild 'berry chewed it and found it, sustaining. • Back in his own territory, he made a brew — the first coffee ever drunk. Pilgrims to Mecca took the new drink to sustain them dur ing the long Moslem ceremonies and by the sixteenth century the 'Turks acquired the coffee house habit Then a Venetian, Petro di la Valle, travelled to Constantin- ople, drank coffee for the first time, and returned home with a supply. But coffee is not so easy to brew as tea and it took a French- man, de la Roque, to master the art and show just how delicious the roasted wild berry could be made, The first coffee shop in Europe was opened in Marseilles in 1615. The first English coffee shop opened in Oxford at about the same time. Then a merchant was seen near the Royal Ex- change, London, accompanied by a foreign -looking man, "This is my new Greek ser- vant," he explained. He t h en produced a handful of beans. "These make an incomparable beverage," he said, '"1 am going to open a tavern for its sale." The first London coffee house opened soon afterwards in the City. The new drink caught on. Soon there were two thousand coffee houses in the Metropolis. By the time of George 1, cof- fee drinking was an established habit among the professional classes. A little earlier, Charles II had tried to close the popu- lar meeting places.: He believed the y were a rendezvous for political agitators. Coffee houses were the meet- ing places of merchants, politi- cians and all trades and profes- sions, each coffee house attract- ing one ,type of customer or an- other. For example, Garraways, in the City, was mostly patronized by City .merchants; the Grecian in Devereux Court, Strand, 'by authors and lawyers. In the eighteenth century the humblest citizen could turn into a gin shop and for one penny get all the gin he required to make himself dead drunk, and, for an- other penny, straw and a place to sleep it off. So terrible had become the gin habit that it was affecting the health of • the nation: The government of the day took ac- tion to o)ibtlt gin drinking, but it was the coffee houses that flrst brought about a change in the pernicious gin habit As' the cof- fee houses multiplied, t h e gin shops began to lose ground. Coffee has -had its rivals, 'the chief being chicory. The French relied on chicory after our de- feat of Napoleon cut that coun- try off from coffee_ supplies. In England a company launch- ed a Universal Coffee made of roasted spinach seeds. An- other concern Marketed Cotii- tina, made from the stone of the tropical tamarind tree. Pe- Iota coffee was another rival; it was made of roasted acorns. .It was drunk during the last war by the Germans. a Despite both detractors and rivals, the roasted coffee berry held Ito place. It never became as nation-wide a drink as tea A Night At Tire Top Of Famous . Statue Many years ago (forty -,pine to be exact, in 1904) 1 hada merrier - able experience watching birds •on migration, high le the air, within the 11031ts 0f greater New Tack. In company with Madison Grant, Secretary of the Zoologi- • cal Society, I obtained permission from the city authorities to spend a night in the top of the Statue of Liberty. As if I were planning an as- seul't' on Mount Everest, I made my base camp in the crown and my advance perch, or roost, in the torah, . , The day had been clear, but as the sun sank -lower, clouds col- Ieeted, and sre:n there began that • most wonderful of earthly sights an ever familiar, ever new sun- set. The sun became obscured, but I knew when it sank,below the hidden horizon by the sunset guns eehging from fort to fort. ,Half an hour later, the whole outlook had changed. After the beacon of- the . t u at had been s a b n turned on, 1 feeling � complete "• , g f isolation became very real, and the distant glimmering lights of 1 the city •fnade tint; serAation'7nore' intense. Oise felt, suspended in mid-air with no apparent con- • tact with sea or land...: . As the fog increased and con de>llged in the wiuimth to, almost ram, birds began to pass through the . perlisheiy. of illumination, then to ,strike,, intermittently against railing and glass. I crouched low, behind what pro- tection' I could find, to avoid be- ing hit,- One warbler flew against MY eo'at and sank` down panting. -They, came in waves a few scat- tered birds, then a mob, swift and : ! dense as a swarm '0D goltien bees. All appeared bright ,and shining .. 'as they peaked.' Occasionally a dozen or more would seem to come in obliquely to the general line of flight, and at slower speed,. 'Wilds' ease they` tvoeld allkeep on to the light, but put •their feather brakes on in time, so that I would have five or six spar- rows clinging to.me atone time, unharmed, wings, spread, heads back, panting. For the period of a few hours I was permitted to share the feel- ings and activities Of birds on migration, sensing altitude, iso- lation, darkness, wind, speed, and the awful confusion and dangers of light -in -fog. At three o'clock in the morning the fog had lifted, and there was neither sight nor sound of the birds. They had fiown down somewhere to a precarious land- ing in the thinning fog, or had reascended to migration levels, I climbed again into the torch and watched for the first hint Of dawn and life. The :fist came almost perceptibly as a pale line of gradually brightening light, Prosaic tugs appeared and smoke arose from a hundred chimneys: a new day had begun over New York City. — From "'Unseen Life of New York," by William Beebe. -- probably for two reasons; it cost more and was more diffi- cult to brew. Now ,the economic factor checks its war -time widespread popularity, Coffee at -ten shill- ings a pound le in view Few can afford to pays that much, and tea is once again lengthen- ing`its Iong lead over its "rival." NDAY SCOO .LESSON by Rev, LAft, garoB,D, Warren, ,, ta3' Serf-i)isciptine for Growth (Temperance Lessors);. Matthew 18x24.25; 1 Corinth/Ps 9:2447; Hebrews 12:1-4, :ibllemery Selec- tion: If any man will .come after me, let him deny himself and take tip his cress, and follow Ole Matthew 16:24, A veteran of two world wars is in hospital witha serious heart condition, Ile told, me some months . ago his doctor asked, "Flow much do you smoke?" The reply was, "A pack a day." Whereupon the doctor said, "If you want to live you must cut it t0 two cigarettes a day." My friend thoughtit over. "Why," thought he, "that wouldn't be even one after each meal." He de+iide ,thire,,and then to stop P the habit entlreiy.,, He is getting along nicely without it, • If one is to grow as a Christian he'must' exercise,self-discipline. Indeed ;it is • a , condition of dis- cipleship that one deny self, take Op his cross and follow Jesus, It is pitiable to hear people say, "1 know, I; ens eating too much but I just can't help it." Solomon •said, "Put a knife to your throat if you are a man, even to appe- titer 'Prov. 23:2: One doesn't have to •be,a Christian to practise temperance. But if one is a Christian then temperance or self-control which is a fruit of the • spirit (Gal, 5:23) will be chgracteltistic of his life Temperance is usually thought of in relation to the drinking of alcoholic beverages, Actually the term stands for -self-control in every area of life. There are different opinions as to what con- stitutes temperance in the drink- ing of alcoholic beverages. Many men from all walks of life prefer to abstain. Recent surveys in Gre'ht Bbtain indicate that among those of' adult age there are 10 million abstainers. Thomas A. Edison Said: "I am a total ab- stainer from alcoholic liquor, I always felt I had a better use for my head." Liquor doesn't make for happy homes. She was indignant when she found her husband, burning the love letters he wrote her years ago. "Oh, Harry, how could you? Have you lost all'senti- ment?" "No, darling. Hold every- thing. I'm doing this for your Own protection, When I die I don't want anyone attacking my will on the grounds that I was always nuts." Upsidedown to Prevent Peeking ®til© :©ULA© UWE MOM' .U©©© UMW ©©'c ham] ] 1'llr m DEEM .EFREN411- KUM- MUT OM -DECO °MIME @mem-Mn©n 4, ,., pun mac miflUM' EMME ;'MDR MM5394 ©0M rr 100 MOCJ-4MM tdp d Cathedral of Salt—Under construction inoncient salt mine at Ziipagoira, COlombiois a huge '1athodral of Salt,' with four naves, that will' be as large as the Cathedral of NOtrre, Dame m p iwas i ars. t I cane ' creed Jose se Go o chs a Gonzalez Can , 'Colombian architect, in the sombreYsilonce of the mine cham- bers. Work was Invert, but he flied Inst yeor,before it was completed. Above is tho c•Itrr rf "O.ir lady of the Rosary," largest of the 10 altars cet%ed out cf the walls of theold mine, •