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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1950-6-21, Page 7,:'hlIl f r e°r6lr1lrk Where They Alter Historic Canadian Beauty Spot Valualda V!aai By Richard I3111 Wilkinson The door marked "Private" open• el and a girl appeared. "Coote in please, 1v1r. Jeffrey,' she said. Tully dropped the magazine he bad been reading ou to the recep- tion room table, rose, buttoned the coat of his double-breasted suit, straightened his tie and stepped past the girl. "Mr. Gunner," said the girl, "has an appointment this morning. He asked our Mr. Jacobs to talk to you," A rage seized Tully, and a de- termination. tfe thought: "To hell -with Gunner and his job! Pram going back to Boston. But first I'tn going in there and tell that yes-man what 1 figured I'm worth. Maybe what. 1 figure I'm worth." The yes -roan was a typical, effi- cient yes-man, small, bespectacled and used to handling unpleasant duties for Mr, Gunner. "Sit down, sit down, Jeffrey," he said. "We understand yon have a letter. You're seeking employment, Mr. Gunner is very sorry to have to advise that at the moment there's nothing. Not a thing." "Good," said Tully. "I, decided not to take the job anyway. I de- cided you can't pay what I'm worth." "Really " said Mr. Jacobs, arch- ing his brow. "And that is?" "Two hundred and seventy-five dollars a wcekl" said Tully. IIe rose. "Good day, Mr. Jacobs. Give my uncle's regards to ;lir. Gunner." Mr. Jacobs sat at his desk with pursed lips and stared thoughtfully at the door that Tully had not slanmmed but closed with a deter- mined firmness.- Presently he rose and invaded the privacy of portly Mr, Gunner. Briefly Mr. Jacobs outlined what was in his mind. "Asking $275 ,eh? Said he didn't want our job? Probably offered a better job by Erwin and Company. Called here to pay the respects of his uncle, Hamm. Treated hint rather shoddy, didn't we, Jacobs? Must be a good man. We need good men. Get hold of him Jacobs." Mr. Jacobs tried Tully's hotel, There was a wait, then the clerk "Good," said Tully, "I de- cided not to take the job any - pay." told hint Mr. Jeffrey didn't widen to talk to any representative of Gun- ner, Inc, Mr. Jacobs went back to the office. Three tines that afternoon he called Tully's hotel, but without success. He reported to Mr. Gun- ner. Mr. Gunner grew thoughtful. "Jacobs, this youngster is prob- ably the very man we've been look- ing for. Young, fresh viewpoint, new ideas. If he's worth $275 to Irwin or any one else, he's worth $300 to us. I'll handle it thyself." When Mr. Gunner decided to handle anything he went to town. This tenaciousness was responsible for the success of his present firm. Never give up when you think you have something good, was his mot- to. Thus it was that Tully, return- ing home late from the theatre, found a middle-aged, portly, im- portant looking man parked before his door, "I'm August Gunner," the portly man said, "My ratan Jacobs—" "Told you I said you couldn't pay what I'm worth," Tully finished, "IIe was right. You can't. Good night, Mr. Gunner," Uninvited, Mr, Gunner followed Tully inside the room. "I think," he said, "that your uncle rather expected you to go to work for us when yott carte to New York." "Correct," said Tully. "So what?" "Yotir uncle is one of my dearest friends. We'll pay you $300 a week," Tully stared. A sneer tm'ved his lips. Ah', Gunner, he thought, was kidding, Suddenly 'fully realized that Mr, Gunner wasn't kidding. He swal- lowed, but• managed to keep his voice tinder control, "All right," he said. "I'll take it. For the sake of my uncle," Outside in the corridor, Ide. Gun- ner mopped his forehead, What a hreakl Time kid was probably worth twice that much. And this uncle of his, TIc'dllave to remind Jacobs to find out the old boy's, name, first thing in time morning. Unsightly Faces 'This face udder new manage. meal" is a sign that may well be carried by a child who has been accepted for the correction of crooked teeth, "lantern jaws" and other physioguuutical defects by the Philadelphia Center for Research in Child Growth, It is 1110 primary purpose of the center to detect and correct, whenever possible, dental and facial irregularities that other- wise would disfigure and result even in poor health. The chief reliance of the physic- ian and other dentists who will take ugly ducklings and the facially handicapped in band is a remark- able instrument, known as the "cephalometer," a new type of X-ray apparatus devised for the production of scientifically actuated "pictures" of the exterior and in- terior head and face. The cephalo- meter will enable those in charge of the project to determine whether or not facial and dental disharmony is the consequences of a generalized growth failure in other parts of the body, "The new device will make pos- sible a marc accurate diagnosis of the cause and cure of crooked teeth and jaws," says Dr. John W. Ross. Slow Stupid, Cowardly There are a few animals which are extinct, in a sense, and don't know it. The elephant is one, and the opossum is another, Of the two the opossum is time more difficult to study—perhaps one reason why Dm: Harold C. Reynolds is concen- trating on it . The opossum has changed very little since it roamed the continent with the dinosaurs seventy million years ago. Most animals have be- come more and more specialized as they evolved, But not the opossum. Dr. Reynolds is the only man who has raised opossums in cap- tivity. He now has a third genera- tion to study. The only ratan who ]las witnessed tfie unusual pheno- menon of the birth of an entire litter of opossums, he reports that, after a gestation period of only thirteen days, the embryolike young, each about one-half inch long and weigh- ing no more than a single paper match book, emerge to make their way into the mother's pouch, If they fail, they die; if they succeed, they attach themselves to a teat in tate pouch, where they remain for about sixty days. Period of Pouch Life Another month passes before the young are weaned. There may be as many as twenty-one in a single litter. Since the pouch contains only thirteen nipples, some in such a large litter must die. The pouch literally overflows with opossums by the end of the period of pouch life because the young are then about 800 tines bigger than they were at birth. Because it is a primitive creature and because it is a marsupial, Rey- nolds believes the opossum may prove to be a valuable laboratory animal, now that he has shown how it can be raised in captivity. For example, if a scientist wishes to observe the effects of an injected hormone on embryonic development he now has to cut a pregnant ani- mal open to reach the embryo. The process trust be repeated when he wants to observe the effects. The embryonic young in the opossum's pouch would be readily accessible for such studies at any time. Why On This Continent? Reynolds .is primarily interested in finding out why of all marsupials only the opossum has developed on this continent and why it has been spreading northward, even into Ca- nada, within the last few hundred years, He suggests that the answer may be a superior ability to adjust body temperature. Opossums are stupid, slow and cowardly. How, then, did they sur- vive in competition with hundreds of stronger predatory animals? The well-known talent for "playing 'pos- sum" would be no help, since the goes . Cape Trinity, rising majestically above the Saguenay Canyon creature could be eaten easily while feigning death. It looks as if the opossum has few natural enemies, so that it has a good chance of survival. Reynolds has been able to dis- prove some of the tales about the opossum—its cunning, cleverness at deception, ability to swing by the tail, and the young riding on time back of their smother and holding onto her arched tail with theirs, There's no truth in these, says Reynolds. 2nd Shakespearean Outdoor Festival Canada's second annual Shake- speare Festival opens on June 91 in the quadrangle of Trinity Col- lege, Toronto, which is recognised as one of the most authentic and beautiful Tudor settings in Am- erica. In time open air, surrounded by just such bildings as people might have stepped from in Shake- speare's day, plays will be given for four weeks by the Earle Grey Players: A Midsummer Night's Dream, June 19-24; The Taming of the Shrew, June 26 -July 1; The Tempest, July 3-8; and Twelfth Night, July 10-15. The extension of the festival makes it possible to have three Sunday night concerts of old Eng- lish music. These programs, which are free to ticket holders for the week -night plays, will again be given in the Great Hall of the col- lege, where candlelight flickering on the tapestry background of time dais, and the fine heraldic decora- tions by Scott Carter recall the golden age of British culture. The chance to enjoy Shakespeare under the stars drew crowds from many parts of this country and the United States last year, and the fact that thousands of leaflets of information have been requested in the United States this year in- dicates an even larger festival for 1950. In case of rain the plays are given in the Great Hall. The festival Inas made theatre history because it is the first out- door Shakespeare project of its kind in America, and because Trinity Col- lege, with its stately charm, has no peer in Tudor architecture on this side of the water. CHARGED WITH DRIVING 70 nm,p,h, a Little Rock, Ark., man claimed that he was merely trying to frighten his wife out of her hiccups, "Gwan Back To Sleep!" -- Just like any human youngster Who's tap and ready to play at the crack of dawn, Brttmas, the London Zoo's polar bar ettb, plagues Itis mother, Ivy, for an early morning tussle, ivy, whose clreamn was interrupted in the Middle of a fish dinner, is understandably reluctant. After Surviving Many Disasters "Madame Tussaud's" Still Flourishes Accompanied by her elder son, Joseph, Madame Tussaud landed at Dover in May of 1802, and set up her first waxworks exhibition in England, at the old Lyceum The- atre in the. Strand. Her husband remained in Paris to supervise the exhibition there. Her story—which survives today in the shape of the world-famous exhibition in London's Marylebone Road—is obviously a story of suc- cess. Yet that success was not won without long years of endeavor, in terspersed by triumph and despair. Twice, the sea all but engulfed her efforts. When. sailing to Scot- land, 36 of her figures were badly smashed and the remainder dam- aged by heavy seas, And again, when within sight of the Irish coast, a sudden storm sank the ship carrying most of her collec- tion. Each time she set to and re- built her waxworks, to tour trium- phantly once more. In 1831, when her collection was housed at Bristol during the Reform Bill riots, some of the mob, in- flammed by liquor, tried to fire the building. But one of her servants, a huge Negro, kept them at bay with a blunderbuss until the wel- come arrival of the military, Madame Tussaud was then in her 71st year and she found the experi- ence too reminiscent of the French Revolution for her lilting. She de- cided the time had come to settle permanently in London, and after exhibiting at Camberwell, Hackney, Grays Inn Road, and the Strand, took over the Portman Rooms, Baker Street—one-tine mess hall for. the Brigade of Guards—in 1835. Six years later, tier husband— then a destitute old ,than—wrote, asking her for financial help. But his mismanagement of her Paris exhibition had been too great a blow to Marie's pride for reconcili- ation, although she instructed her sons to send what money he needed. She spent the remaining nine years of her life quietly at 58 Baker Street, where she died on Tuesday, April 16, 1850. Her last words to her sons, Francis and Joseph, were: "I implore you, among all things, never quarrel." She is buried at St. Mary's Church, Cadogan Place, Chelsea. Since then, Tussaud's has grown and flourished. In 1882 the collec- tion was moved to its present home where it continued to draw huge crowds. But in 1925 carne fresh disaster. Fire broke out, and within two hours the work of 150 years was reduced to a sodden ruin. Many of the original moulds were saved, but damage was estimated at $800,000. Three years passed before the ex- hibition was able to re -open its doors, and then, in 1931, a minor earthquake caused further havoc. Dr. Crippen and Carrera both lost their heads. Helen Wills Moody was discovered next Morning minas her strong right arum, Soon a pair of dumpy figures ap- peared in the galleries to glare de - handy atthe milling sightseers. But in those halcyon days, nobody paid much attention to dictators— although in 1933 three demonstrat- ors were fined for throwing red paint on Ifitler's effigy. They should have been given medals. Particularly since, on the first night of time blitz, Tussaud's itself was damaged by the Luftwaffe! Despite the draw of the exhibi- tion's 500 celebrtities, it is the in- famous who are the biggest lure. People can never resist a visit 'to time Chamber of Horrors. Tlmey like to rub shoulders with killers and see if their eyes are set close together—or whether they look sin- ister and leer. They've an old axion at Tus- saud's: "A good murder is worth an extra 30,000 through time gate." It usually works out that way. But the unexciting truth is that usually a killer looks quite ordinary. He could well be your next-door neigh- bor genteel and respectable, even slightly hang -dog. Tussaud's only trouble to show the notorious ones, As each pays the penalty, Ime takes his place in the unholy ranks—his one chance of immortality. Heath's effigy, which took six weeks to make, was on show an hour after he was hanged. A, last-minute reprieve, and it would have been smelted clown into some more respectable shape. Haigh, exhibitionist to the last, bequeathed the green hopsack suit, green socks and red tie he wore throughout his trial expressly to adorn Ilia trim likeness. IJq also left a note requesting that the bulk should always be well pressed" Many still believe that a reward will be given to anyone brave enough to spend a night among the criminals, The rumor was started by Dickens in his publication, 'Household Words," and Tussaud's is still besieged by applicants froth all over the world anxious to test their nerves, Originally, the sup- posed sum was five pounds, but be- tween the wars, it shot up to a hundred. The only recorded case of anyone spending any length of time alone in the chamber is that of a rat- catcher who went down one night, professionally. He was very soon beating on the doors, frantically complaining that "everyone was looking at him." That's not sur- prising for the figures are so ar- ranged. Big attractions in the Grand Hall are the Royal Group, V.C.'s, Tableau and—an old favorite—time beautiful and restful "Sleeping Beauty," She has slumbered peace- fully since 1884. In 1928 her clock- work lungs were electrified, and she stopped breathing for the first time during Shinwell's "cuts" of 1947. The original—beautiful Mine. St. Amaranthe, of Louis ;;.VI's Court—ceased to breathe 160 years ago on the guiliotinel Today, Mr. Bernard Tussaud, great -great-grandson of the found- er, is chief artist. He supervises the making of each new remodel which entails interviewing, photo- graphing and measuring, before the head can be sculptured out of clay. The figures are made to time exact height and build of time subject in question, who is usually only too pleased to supply a suit of clothes, Where new suits have to he bought, they're trade by the subject's 01751 tailor, and usually broken in by a member of the staff, Eyes; which originally came from Germany, are in short supply today. Particularly scarce are gray -green and gray -blue shades—that of most notabilities. Hair is another head- ache. It used to come from time Balkans, where girls grew it spe- cially long and sold it to the wax- works for as much as $125 a time to pay for their dowries" Occasion- ally, where fashion dictates, women in Great Britain donate their tresses to the exhibition to be interted into the models strand by strand, 300 to the square inch, Souvenir hunters have always been a problem at Tussaud's. Every year, dozens of fingers, snuff boxes, medals, jewels and rings are filched by the public; while Crippen and other murderers lose buttons so fast that—in the words of one official —"After a bank holiday, it's as much as they can do to keep their trousers up!" But next time you visit the exhi- bition, don't fait to look for a de- mure little figure in black, standing alone in the Grand Hall like a pocket edition of Mother Hubbard. 'It is a beautifully remodelled self- portrait of the founder, completed by herself at the age of 82 She has a far -away look in her eyes, almost as if she is looking both backwards and forwards in time—to the roistering, colorful past, so faithfully portrayed by her and her descendants, and to the unknown future yet to be recorded in her name.—From Tit Bits. Not As Tough As Most Men Think Ask any man what he Weise about shaving and he'll tell you tike same thing: "I've got a tough beard." In actual fact, the beard of a young man is rarely tough; whiskers become harder with age, and white or grey hair is some- times about as strong as piano wire. Once a young ratan starts to shave regularly the hair on his face grows at the rate of six inches a year, This means that after half a cen- tury of shaving a man has grown rhe equivalent of nearly twenty- five feet of beard. The razor blade cuts through 25,000 hairs every time a man shaves, and it is estimated that the razor covers an area of about forty» eight square inches each time. Our ancestors had to use sharp• ly-ground flints or shells, or even bones, for shaving, or else they had to pluck the hairs out by the r.tots, Either way, shaving was such a painful business, as we all know when a blunt blade "pulls" a little, that many people grew beards. Causes of Bluntness In 330 B.C., Alexander the Great made all his nen shave because beards provided a convenient hand- hold for an enemy to seize his op- ponent's beard and cut off his head. It is over half a century ago now since King C. Gillette, then a forty - year -old American salesman, first thought of a cheap razor blade that could be thrown away as soon as it got blunt. Int 1903 the first Gillette razors and blades were put on the market. In ten years half a million safety razors and three and a half million blades were sold; but the decline of the old "cut-throat" was very gradual, partly because of time ex- cellent wearing properties of the high-grade steel blade. Bluntness is chiefly caused by minute particles of grit embedded in the skin of the face, and also by specks of rust, too fine to be seen with the naked eye. The edge of a razor blade is about 1-80,000th of an inch thicic, and this fine degree of finish is obtained by sharpening with vary - pressures against a 300 -foot Iong strop in the factory. Such an edge is very delicate and sensitive, and if, for instance, a blade is dropped on the floor, although it may not land on the edge, the sudden blow sets up strains which result in microscopic cracks. These spread in a matter of !tours, so that the next time you use the blade you are painfully re- minded of the ancients and thelr flints. Making Blades Last The edge of a razor blade lasts longer if, after shaving and rins- ing the razor, instead of removing and drying the blade, you pop the whole razor into a jar of methyl- ated or surgical spirit, or one of the proprietary liquids now on the market that are trade specially for this purpose. An authority on shaving maintains that haste is the greatest enemy of a good shave. It takes hot water about three minutes to soften up the hairs, but the majority of ince only allow half this time, so that they do not get a good shave. The principle function of soap is to remove the protecting film of oil and grease front the skin. Toast With .A Twist—Curled up like a couple of pretzels, acrobats Mai, left, and Mati Jon- nenen of Finland drink a toast at the annual banquet of the National Society of Acrobats and Aerialists, George A. Haeuid, tight, who presided over the convention, admires their contortions. Mai and Mati wilt make their American debut soon. JITTER CO -r sg PIANO TeNeR. , rrata eosin HIM 1 -tper jay a. 4�1 d