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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1950-11-22, Page 3Bank Where Human Eyes Are Stored Among the most recent offers of eyes that the New York Eye Bank dor Sight Restoration has received is that of film actress Gene Tierney, who explained, in a letter bequeath - fug her ryes to the Bank, that after her death she would like to be in- strumental in bringing the joy of sight to someone who is bunch This was a characteristic gesture, for Gene Tierney is one of those rare people who has not allowed screen fame to go to her head. One wonders what effect it may have on some child, perhaps blind from birth, or some adult whose eyes are injured in an accident, sud- denly to wake and find himself (ot herself) gazing at the world through the famous and incredibly beautiful eyes of Gene Tierney' Will it mean a passport to fame for some otherwise ordinary individual? The story of how New York's Eyc Bank carne about is in itself an inspiring one. It begins one sum- mer afternoon back in 1922, when Aida Breckinridge, tired from a bard week of selling bonds, was sitting .on the beach at Long Is- land, when a stabbing pain shot through her eyes. Everything went 'blurred and dim, so she groped her way home and went is bed. Next morning, she went to a specialist. 'You've got tuberculosis •el the 'eyes," he told her. '"I can do .nothing,:" Soon Aicla's right eye became • 'completely 'blind and her left had less than twenty per tent vision. It was While she was depressed :at the thought of going completely blind that she .met Lord 'Grey, who had cross the Atlantic to consult the famous Dr.. Wilmer, 'In Europe we consider Dr. Wilmer one of the greatest eye specialists in the world;" 'he told her. Aida had never heard of him, 'but made :an appointment with all possible haste. When she entered Dr.. William Holland Wilmer's tiny clinic he made a thorough diagnosis.: then looked glum,"Glau- conra;" was his verdict "there is no hope for your right eye. But if you let 'rete operate at once I can save the 'left." Aida had the operation; and dur- ing convalescence did some had thinking. Why, in a country like America, With all its vast resources, was the study of Ophthalmology so neglected? Why no research clinics? When 'her left eye was safe again she went to Wilmer and put to hint the questions that had troubled her so. 'To train eye doctors," he explained, "would need hospitals and staffs. To establish clinics for research would need expensive equipment. How do you propose to raise such vast sums?" To Aida Breckinridge the matter seemed simple, "The people whose fight you've restored must be grateful," she reasoned, ''wiry not .ask them for subscriptions?" Wilmer was horrified at so un- ethical a suggestion. But Aida Breckinridge had other ideas. She sought out Wilmer's secretary, made a list of his patients and wrote to each, explaining her plan. The response was startling. Then she wrote to multi-million- .aire Andrew Mellon, renowned for his numerous benefactions. When he had investigated her project, he told her: "I'll give you 50,000 dollars and my brother will donate a similar sum." Next, she tackled the Rockefel- .1ers who offered her 1,500,000 dol- lars if she could raise an equal amount. By 1929 she had raised 5,000,000 dollars and the Wilmer Institute for training eye specialists was founded. But Aida wasn't Finished yet. In 1944 she had another dazzling idea. A common type of blindness is due to injury of the cornea. Nearly twenty years before a famous Brit- ish surgeon had grafted a living cornea on to a blind man—and so restored his sight. The operation had since been perforated in every great hospital in the world, and Aida Breckinridge got the idea of establishing an Eye Bank—where human eyes could be stored and used for grafting. The idea appealed to eye sur- geons, though they explained that eyes cannot be preserved almost in- definitely. The cornea must be re- moved and grafted within seventy- two hours. But a woman of Aida's tenacity was not easily beaten, Within a year, s,e had raised enough to establish and equip The Eye Bank for Sight Restoration as a branch of the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital. Today 300 hospitals in the States co-oper- ate in her plan. So long as the cornea of an eye is uninjured the Eye Bank can snake use of it. The eyes of the blind, eyes that have been removed because of injury, the eyes of dead people—all can be used, provided the corneas are intact. As soon as the Eye Bank became established, offers of eyes rained in front all over America. Captain Eddie Rick- enbacker, air ace of the First World War, organized a rapid service to bring eyes from the farthest cor Her of the country to New York. Tho Sightless Wait In spite of the numbers who be- queath eyes, there 10 always along queue of sightless people awaiting corneas. In one day as many as thirty-six appeals kr eyes carte front doctors, but Aida Breckin- ridge reckinridge and the Eye Bantu supplied thent all. Had To Eat Lipstick Also Face Cream In May, 1946, a young American, John Caldwell, was in Balboa, Panama, longing for the bride he had married on war service in Australia, 9,000 miles away, De tried to get a ship to Sydney, but ships were scarce. Very well, be would have to sail his own boat across the Pacific. Ile knew noth- ing of sailing or navigation, but with a little practice .. He bought a sailing cutter, Pagan, twenty - nine feet long and ten feet at her widest beam. Low in the water, she was like a canoe with a Forty -foot mast. A Boxing Fish! He stocked her with four months' provisions, took two playful kittens for company, and tootled about the Perlas islands in Panama Gulf until he "got confidence." Then he headed out on the first thousand utiles stretch to the Galapagos Islands. The antics of those kittens wilt a flapping fish which ice landed were certainly entertaining. They would jump viciously, growling for a tooth -hold. With a violent flip the fish sent them bowling across the deck. Back they carne creep- ing, cautious and crouching low, to pounce athwart the fish and cling for a few wild jumps before scurrying away again, spitting and tumbling over each other. But soon Caldwell had other things to think about — Itis pitch- ing bunk, for instance, the rattle and clank of gear gone adrift in a gale, the terrifying whine of the wind, the flash of lightning and crash of thunder. Scared, he put on his life -jacket and squeezed the Mittens inside it. But such confined quarters didn't please them; so he took them out cut open an old -type life -preserver, removed its cork floats, attached a string to two of them, and at the end of each string tied a kitten by the hind leg. Suddenly, close on daylight, came a sledge -hammer blow on the keel which hurled hint to the floor. The cats yowled. There was a rattle of displaced gear and rending timbers, "like Satan's pitchfork pounding the cabin." At first, he thought he had run on to rocks; then he t'euglit it was wha- les. lie finally •discovered that he had been hit by a gigantic tree which had been washed out to sea. Big, Fat Stcwaway So, baling fiercely, he ran for an uninhabited islet of the Perlas group, and grounded in the dark. The kittens swam out of the flooded hatchway into the cockpit, towing their cork blocks. He tossed them on to tate cabin, doused the headsails, made fast to the shore, then grabbed the kittens and towed then to the beach. There they squatted back on their haunches, wet and scared by the towering jungle — "poor little sea - weary blokes." On the island he repaired leaks, reset the damaged rudder post, pieced together and patched the battered mainsail, and sailed off again, undaunted. And what's this, pray, that has smuggled aboard without his noticing? A big fat black rat? A stowaway. He didn't pitch it overboard, however, but built a little house for it to protect it from the kittens! Later a huge sea -bird joined them. A school of dolphin accompanied them all the way across the Pacific, diving after the flying fish the Pagan started up. He, the kittens and the rat fed on those that hit the sails and plum- ped on to the deck, Each time he opened a tin it was a "lucky dip," for all the labels had been washed off in the flooding before he beached. At Caroline Atoll, beyond the Marquesas, he decided to part with the kittens. They'd had enough of sea -voyaging. With teats in his eyes, he left them in the care of natives, most of whom had never seen a cat before. It was as well, for the next day he was bit by a hurricane and so flung about in .CHRISTMAS SURPRISE for a little girl and her dolly! These identical ANNE ADAMS out- fits of blouse, skirt and reversible jumper -tops that button on are so adorable. Girl's set is Pattern 4711; Dolly's is Pattern 4751. We made the junipers in green wool with their tops lined in red and green plaid gingham. Dolly's pattens has ruffly slip, panties—plus a real squarc-dancing costurr.el Simple sewing— thrifty, too. When you choose fabrics for child's outfit, acid just half a yard of each fabric for dolly's matching juniper set. These patterns have step- by-step directions, but if you're a beginner and feel the need of some personal guidance on these or other ANNE ADAMS patterns, your local sewing center will help you. Child's Outfit, Pattern 4711, 'conies in Sizes 2, 4, 6, 8, 10. Size 6 juniper takes lila yards 54 -inch plain wool. f•g yard 35 -inch plaid gingham; blouse 1 yard 35 inch, Doll's Outfit, Pattern 4751, is cut for dolls 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 inches. To match child's outfit, add 1/2 yard to each of above yardages. For other requirements, see doll pattern. Send TWENT-FIVE CENTS (25c) in coins istansps cannot be accepted) for each pattern. Print plainly SIZE, NAME, ADDRESS, STYLE NUMBER.. Mail your order to Box 1, 123 Eight- eenth Street, New Toronto, Ont. his cabin that he had to strap himself to his bunk. The Hurricane "There is only one safe way to ride out a hurricane on a small boat: flat on your back, lashed in the bunk with ports and hatches dogged, and everything strapped down;" he writes in a dramatic, forthright account of his great ad- venture, "Desperate Voyage." "But lying there strait - jacketed to a mattress is depressing; you always wonder what's going on in the rest of the boat. You wonder if soinewhere a leak is breaking, or a repair needs attention ... " He knew something was seri- ously amiss when Pagan broach- ed to and refused to come up into the wind. Great seas, ramming against her beats, were coming athwart her decks. She scudded before each tumbler, creaking loudly, lunged as though hit by a mammoth hand. The boat could not take such punishment for long Dismasted e Then he found that she was dismasted. For something like five months he had sailed her through thick and thin. Now, for another thirty-six days, he had to sail her under jury rig fitted up in a rough - and - ready way, as best he could. Weak from starvation and lack of water, he even ate a lipstick and face cream which he had aboard. The cream left an oily taste in his mouth for hours, and made hies slightly squeamish, but Height Of Production—In the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, better known as White Russia, these peasants are almost completely hidden by the tall wheat that will soon be harvested, The chief wheat -producing section of the Soviet Union is the Ukraine. with its fatuous belt of black soil. 'this Soviet photo, however. "Ues;to to the fact that modern drainage «telhmds have greatly increased the arable area of White' Russia's inch•. by land, at least the inner twistings of hun- ger ceased, and he was at peace. He managed to spear a sea -bird which alighted on the sternpost, coated it with machine oil, put it on the fire, and gobbled it for breakfast. Cutting the upper out of an old army shoe, he made an effort to chew the tongue, But it was too tough even to be dented, so he soaked it in salt water, beat it to "tenderize" it, greased it with hair -oil, and fried it. It only turned black and was just as inedible; so he boiled the whole shoe in his precious water ration, drank the "soup," cut the leather into strips and swallowed them whole to have something tin- der Isis belt to allay the terrible hunger. Dreams and New Faith At night be dreamt he was in a monster grocery store, running berserk among corridors of food. Once he dreamt he was wrecked on a beach, and happy. A huge grey whale had been stranded there. He grabbed it by the tail and began eating it alive — then woke ftp, clawing and growling at his bunk boards. All the time he had to pump the bilges to ]seep Pagan afloat; and now he had no compass or navigating instruments to guide bion. "Strangely," he says, "I never once really believed I was going to die. However, I will adroit I used often to stare stolidly over the rest- less floor of blue ocean end ask, 'Am I going to perish alone out here on the sea?' If I thought of death seriously it is because I toyed with an idea new to ate. It never depressed me. My desire, my strength to go on living, was too strong . , .. My new faith in God and prayer — thus my new faith in myself — made life something I wanted badly enough, like want- ing to sec Mary." After 6,000 Miles And eventually he did see herl• After six thousand miles of it he made a coral reef off Tuvutha, in the Latt group 0f the Fiji Is- lands, lived native for a time. then reached Suva and Nandi, and flew from there to Sydney by Army bomber. "I remember her coming toward me — and I believe I moved to meet her, For a second I saw her unfathomable blue eyes , , . , then she was in my arms and a thousand dreams had come true, My trials on the sea were far away , .. I was back with the one person who counts in this world," A great, simple story. It is impossible to react it without catch- ing one's breath and rejoicing at the ultimate deliverance. SEVENTY - EIGHT - YEAR - OLD Jennie Culbertson Powers of Philadelphia has attended church every Sunday for seventy-five years. City Of Flowers Fruits And Perfumes A more old-fashioned city than Cannes or other more touristic centres along the sea, Grasse lives by its own industry rather than its hospitality. Beyond its old walls rises the smoke of modern industry, for Grasse is manufacturer of per- fume. It is soft unobtrusive smoke, with a reek of decaying roses, melt• ing away into a pure atmosphere The life of the town goes on at foot pace, in its old human pattern, unmarked with the geometrical speed of wheels. , . , Below in the market place lies the garden harvest of the country- side. "The fruits rise in pyramids— coloured like butterflies—full bas- kets - of oranges—and branches of cherries," said Aubanel. It was of another feast, but the market on a May morning is not different. Sunburned peasant women are weighing cherries, selling artichokes tied in bunches like radishes, and measuring out the mountain honey. Around them are buckets of roses, iris, wallflowers, bridal -wreath, pinks. At one end of the square is the merchant of pottery with cups and saucers, earthenware pots and cruehes spread out on the walk before Mins, , , , "Sweet cherries, Maclaine, three francs a kilo," says a tall spare woman, dressed in black, Nearby on a box sits her husband, eating the big pink cherries. "One kilo, please," says her cus- tomer. "No, taste then first," says the peasant woman. "If you shouldn't like them it would he a pity to spend the money." . , , A loud blast is blown on a horn: every one stops to listen. The town crier announces at length that a market basket has been lost, con- taining green -peas, leeks, radishes, and a pair of scales. Whoever finds the basket should return it to the town hall. , , , In the middle ages Grasse was an independent republic like the Italian cities of the epoch. She was wealthy and industrious, she had a bishop and a cathedral, The Sara- cens came, the Grassois fought heroically, but the city was cap- fttrecl and pillaged in 972. One of her alleys, the street without fear, or La Rue Sans Peur, is so called in memory of the courageous fash- ion in which the Grassois once de fended their icty. The foreigner finds himself of little importance in Grasse. The old town is pre -occupied with her flowers, and the distillation of the flower essence which she oils to the great perfumers of Paris,—From "T3eyoucl the Riviera," by Helena Maxwell, TABLE TALKS eJam Andrews. In last week's column I gave a recipe for a Christmas Cake which, while it undoubtedly belongs right up at the top of the list, might possibly be just a trifle too am- bitious for a lot of home cooks. So now here is a simple type of fruit cake which does not need the ageing which the "traditional" sort requires, and yet will prove to be a fine answer to the question of what to serve during the festive season. Quantities given retake two 9 x 4 x 3 inch loaves. RAISIN FRUIT CAKE 4 cups seeded raisins 2 tablespoons grated lemon rind 1 tablespoon cinnamon 1 tablespoon allspice k2% cups liquid 21,4 cups chopped nutmeats 4 cups sifted cake flour 5 teaspoons double acting baking powder 2 teaspoons salt 11/2 cups sugar r/a cup butter or shortening 2 eggs, well beaten 2 teaspoons vanilla METHOD: Combine raisins lemon rind, spices and water in a saucepan. Cover and simmer gently for eight minutes. Drain, pressing out: as much liquid as possible. Measure liquid and add water or coffee to retake one and one-half cups, and reserve. Grind raisins with nutmeats. Sift flour once, measure and add baking powder, salt and sugar; sift three times. Cream butter thorough- ly, and add flour mixture, eggs, vanilla and reserved liquid. Stir until all flour is dampened. Beat vigorously for two minutes. Add raisin -nut mixture and unix thor- oughly. Turn into two 9x4x3 inch loaf pans which have been greased, lined with brown paper and then greased again. Bake in a moderate (350 deg.) oven for one hour and 15 minutes, or until done. Let stand five minutes on cake rack, then remove from pan, leaving paper at- tached until ready to serve. Cool. Wrap in a clean cloth and store in tin container to keep moist. "The liquid may be water or Left- over coffee, t s These Santa Claus Cookies are a really tasty concoction of nuts and dates, and if stored id' a tightly covered container—and safey hid- den away frons youthful hands— will keep moist for quite a time. I'm sure you'll enjoy them. SANTA CLAUS COOKIES (Makes 30 balls) 1 cup butter cookie crumbs 1„14 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking powder %a cup sifted all-purpose flour' 1 cup finely chopped, pitted dates, 1 cup nut meats, chopped 5.4 cup sugar 2 eggs, beaten 1 teaspoonvanilla 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar METHOD: Combine cookie crumbs, salt, baking powder and flour. Add dates and nuts. Add sugar gradually to beaten eggs. Blend in cookie crumb mixture and vanilla. Bake in a greased and floured nine -inch square pan and bake in a slow (325 deg.) oven for 30 minutes. While still warm, cut into 30 squares. Roll each square into a ball, turning the top, crusty portion inwards as you roll. Place confectioners' sugar in a bag. Shake the balls in the sugar to coat even- ly. * 5 '5 After reacting the column in which I told how to make dough- nuts of the "Down East" variety, a relative asked why I hadn't also included a recipe for another great favorite with countless thousands —the glazed potato sort, So here goes. GLAZED POTATO DOUGHNUTS 1 cup lukewarm water 1 cake yeast 1 cup mashed potatoes Va cup sugar 1 cup fat 1 cup scalded milk 2 eggs, beaten • Flour, METHOD: Dissolve yeast cake in ltticewarm water. Mix all ingred- ients in the order listed, and add enough flour so dough will not stick to fingers, Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk. Roll out on floured board about Vs -inch thick. Cut with doughnut cutter and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour, Fry in deep hot fat. Dip in following sirup and al- low to drain on absorbent paper. Sirup: Boil 2 cups sugar, % tea- spoon cinnamon and 1 cup cold water for 5 minutes, or just before it spins a thread. 5 h Now, to conclude, here is what will be the answer to many a house- wife's prayer—a very' choice white icing 'Which is easy to make, yet will not turn to sugar. You can make a batch of it and, if you don't use it all on the cake or cup cakes you're making ,yru can put the balance in the refrigerator or other cool place, and use it at a later date. BOILED WHITE FROSTING 2 cups sugar %s cup light corn sirup cup water 2 egg whites 1 teaspoon vanilla METIiOD: Cook sugar, sirup and water together, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil , without stirring to 244 deg, F. (or until sirup forms a rather firm ball when tested in cold water). Pour this sirup slowly over the stiffly beaten egg whites, beating constantly. Continue beating until mixture holds its shape. Add vanilla. This frosting will keep in a covered jar in a cool place. If it becomes hard on standing, add a very small amount of trot water and beat well. Makes enough to frost 2 layers generously, Gloomy Talk Won't Build A Community Canada would be a happier, healthier and safer country for fu- ture generations if we had fewer great cities and far more prosper- ous towns. But we are not going to get very far, at least in building up the towns, unless many business leaders in these smaller places sharply change their tunes and get a little more faith in their own communities. In its "Canadian Sample" the Midland (Ontario) Free Press Herald makes this charge: "Very often he (the visitor) finds that the majority of merchants would rather grouse than do any- thing else. They suggest that busi- ness is as good as it might be, that the industrial outlook is gloomy, that it is not like the good old days. "There are exceptions, and when there are enough of them, you find an exceptional town or city. "But unfortunately too often the grousers, who watch Toronto or some other neighboring city or town growing at what they think is a faster pace than his municipal- ity, are in the majority." That attitude on the part of local businessmen can ruin the growth chances of even the best situated town. Sometimes visitors are look- ing Inc a likely place to set up a new business, or they know some- one who is or will be looking. Sometimes they may represent a financial institution interested in investing funds. One doesn't need to be told what their opinion will be of Blankville's future after Main Street's pessimists are through with then, From "The Financial Post" "saved By The "Buck-Board"—David Riggs of the YMCA at the University of Kansas stands before the Buck-]3oard" which Ise rntls for the benefit of students who are temporarily short of funds, Alt a student must do to borrow a' buck is sign his name to a piece of paper taut put it where the dollar was.