The Brussels Post, 1951-4-25, Page 2aby Crocodiles
By The Million
The crocodile industry h hast
Africa, particularly in Kenya and
Tanganyika, is tlourisll nt;. It has
been eepluited un a large scale onlp
since the war, and the Colonial
Development Corporation Inas sent
experts to Mwattaa, Lake Victoria,
eo examine the possibilities of ex-
tension.
A. crocodile catching industry has
also been started un the hank of
remote but beatolfttl Lake liaringu,
which is 18 miles lung. end situated
in the Rift Valley province cI Kenya,
Crass huts have been erected on
the water's edge and a European
manager tenches the heal Africans
the iatest seientific method.; of
sroe eatehing,
Seething Macs
At the moment 'Tanganyika pro-
duces about one-third of the total
East African output of two thou -
send skins mnnhly, a figure which
represents only a fraction of the
possible number. How many ern-
eodiles there are in the rivers and
lakes is a question.
An airman flying over Kenya re-
ported sighting a seething mass of
baby crow that must have ran into
;millions. The Germane. who pos-
sessed Tanganyika until after the
i ret World War, offered a reward
cf a rupee for every 100 eggs
brought in. The natives delivered
no many that this plan e' ridding
the colony of reptiles was dropped
as too dear.
At present, crocodiles are classed
as vermin and can be killed with-
out licence, and it might be thought
that the skin industry could carry
on unregulated, remembering the
mat numbers of reptiles. This is
not so.
With the lessons of the whale and
buffalo before him, Man cannot
afford to take risks even with the
crocodile, which can be industrially
valuable, and if the industry is ex-
panded it may be necesare to con-
trol the rarger breeding grounds and
even provide closed seasons. be-
cause it is the full-grown breeding
reptiles which are caught,
Lake' Victoria is the bizgest catch-
ing area and the crocodiles are not
shot or harpooned lent nslled with
hocks attached' to long pieces of
Tape ...d to :1.Ce,3 o r .. The
beeete .--.-_: on to .-.e r_ lies
CHILDREN
SHOULD BE SEEN
—NOT HURT
where the Tires are Usually placed,
swal:ow the bait and are then Itcok-
ed.
On Lake 1arino the European
manager arranged a kind of work-
men's compensation scheme for
tribe. -nun injured while trapping,
and when he .u,z'ested five shillings
for each dead reptile ---a considerable
figure in the eyes of an African—
the chiefs :!eclared ile would be
overnimlined-,pith ernes.
Tame Crocodile
But the sanrians proved much
more cunning than the catchers gave
them Credit for. and only two caste
in Tile first week, when the traps
were bated with goat dish.
`o the lure was altered, and the
traps. : t just beneath the surface
of the stater, have since been baited
'with rottirt; fish. This has proved
100,:h more tc the reptiles' taste, and
two doom a .:" ck have been meet-
ing t :ei: end. As fe cry.e darts to-
wards the . a t. a noose -nrrounding
it tighter:, rote,: i1., item. and it is
pulled asieDre drewnitt4 sen the way,
There e:cm= to have 'peen only
one "gentle cryo in receiern timed.,
and by coinridulce he trade hie
home ie Leke \'icteric. Com. won-
ders whether is still about or
whether he has ie:llcn pre: to the
skin hunters.
At any rate, he wee -int,.: setiv.;
a few years back, ani fetid an-
swer to hie name, Ltner.be, like a
dog. When tailed he •r, r,u!d come
ewinnninge towards the shore, and
enjoyed the stair fish offered him,
Sacrifices Made
No satisfactory exploration of
his behaviour has been put forward.
One henry i; that he is a sur-
vivor of the bail old days of the
1880's when Kabe Mntesi, para-
mount tyrant of the area, pitched
into the lake anybody who annoy-
ed him, He may have inherited the
memory, too, that when anybody
called from the banks there was
something waiting for his kind.
In ancient Egypt, however, cro-
codiles were made last as mucin fuss
Of as Lutembe, and they lined
the banks of the Nile unmolested,
were feted on honey cakes, and
even had sacrifices made to them.
To this day, too, the reptiles are
held sacred in parts of Africa and
India,
Carried Her 200 Children
On The Top Of Her Back
There are perhaps 100,1)011 species
of spiders in the world, and not all
are content to weave webs and
wait for. victims to fly into them.
The Magnificus, of Australia,
gaseous thein! Seated on a twig,
site hangs from :t front leg a silk
thread two inches lung with a pin's
head globule of gum at the end.
Along coati's a night -flying moth,
perhaps mistaking her for a flower.
As the moth flatters about her
the spider begins to .whirl the
line about her head, until the prey -
is caught by the sticky globule. She
"plays" her line like an angler un-
til the moth tires of struggling, then
draws it in and gets her meal,
Captured A Mouse •
Two members of the British
Theridiun family make ingenious
webs with a kind of central plat-
form, like bare joists of a first
storey in the frame of an uncom-
pleted house, From these "joists"
taut threads hang to the ground.
A beetle or some other insect
pedestrian ambles along, gets stuck
on one of the bottom strands,
struggles, breaks it; but, as it is
stretched like elastic, it snaps back,
holding the insect suspended. As it
struggles more violently and strings
about, it contacts other gummed
threads close by which break off
too, and soon the victim is hanging,
captive.
The spider, watching from above,
goes to the joist supporting one of
the threads and pulls it up with the
insect.
A small mouse in a house was
once caught in the web of a spider
no larger than a pea. Gradually,
over (zany hours, she drew it up
from the floor, then made many
bites at the base of its tail, running
away after each, and finally killing
the mouse, states Mr. John Cromp-
ton in a book of enthralling inter-
est. "Tire Spider."'
In Malaya, and elsewhere, there
is an insect -catching Pitcher Plant,
whose caiabash-shaped flowers,
with hinged top, are nearly half -
full of a sweet-smelling fluid which
lures the insect to its doom. In the
remote past a crab spider must have
been thus captured, but instead of
losing its head and dropping into
the fluid it wove a fete threads for
foothold in the upper part and in
due course realized that. far from
being in a nasty predicament. it
wee 00 a geed thing; for insects,
attracted_ b, the plant, came along
and the spier intercepted theta.
_
_ e ec-es loos now so adapted
• itself to life within the ;'•i:th-er that
de lives ew_iere se.
ala:!. complete int-
=miry
n.
nini
ty •'fr' natural enemies by
locking like sore :ing5tes
ma - - therefore t avoided.
many-_-=r_d'.�:uise thelnee:;-
e as
con'-.a.:n _ a:: like .inti:. often
Bee ^arrecng ti.ert.
Am ant has tw- a1. tenr.ae, six
leg' . ^..e seidere piece teir
freat pair - oefer their fere-
! �
ilea- t. - _m l:amen-
nae,
:en-
eae,�le_ving =rent.' t.- -
with bat si.x lee nen
SO imitate the ori _. _ .,. _ :'c-
mente that when innratethm ant
spider are `anis_ me . `in
Brazil, an explorer caveat a l.:rge-
headed ant to irien_;:. e - ,cies.
and found to his s'•rpr9:e ti:Litit
was a black spider bearing over its
head and shoulders an ant's hollow
skeleton!
Families Mixed Up
A fascinating mystery is the
birth and rearing of the Ly't' a
Wolf Spider. When the co:c'„n ref
the mother burst; 20+1 yourg=ters
come pouring out and swarm on to
her back: there they stay fee- -ix
or seven months.
Fabre, the famous naturalist.
brushed a complete brood off one
mother, so that they fell by the legs
i
LOW-COST SILK TRESSES NEED LITTLE
16Y EDNA MILES
vF you feat current fashion will outgrow the long-haired
look before you can coax your short, shorn locks to
grow out, then your best solution is probably a matching
hairpiece.
These are available this season in a variety of styles—
and, surprisingly --a new material. In addition to the
braids and switches of imported hair with which most
women are familiar, there are this year pin -on tresses of
silk.
These flair accessories are spun into long, fine strands
which are almost indistinguishable from real hair.
-Advantages include low cost and manageability. These
tresses are already dressed in permanent form when
purchased, so you need not fear your unskilled hands
will have difficulty coiling them into the arrangement
of your choice.
Another point in favor of these man-made rather than
woman -grown tresses is the uniform length of the silk.
Because there are no varying lengths, tile problem of
combing, untidy strays is eliminated, according to makers.
Disarranged strands can usually be worked back into
place beneath the protective net with your fingers, they
claim.
'1'0\'ill` 'armee
CA
RE
Despite the brevity of her own ioolts, this young woman achieves a
fashionable long-haired look with the aici of pit -on tresses of silk.
of another, who was already carry-
ing more than iter full load. The
first mother he whisked away.
Party No. 1 at once climbed on to
the top of Mother No, 2 without
protest either from the driver or
legitimate fares!
In dangerous situations --where,
say, two wolf mothers come face
to face and immediately fight --the
voengster,s lose no time in dis-
mounting and ,caking themselves
scarce, to watch the scrap from a
safe hiding place.
Immediately one is vanquished,
both broods swarm On to the vic-
tsr's hack. 'Thus, a matron who is
a good fighter may set out with her
own brats in the morning and re-
turn home carrying three Inco.
Is it true that if a tarantula bites
you you can Only save your life
by dancing frautically the dance
which has come to be railed the
tarantella? Ptire Legend, for the
creature neter was deadly.
Long ago. near Taranto, where
this species abounds, Bacchanalian
rites flourished; the priestesses
danced in strange robes, Then the
authorities decided to stamp. out
these orgies. The priests did not
want their show closed down, so
found an excuse Inc it in the "dead-
ly bite' of the local spider, which
only thus wild dance could cure!
Mr. Crompton tells the whole
life -history of .spiders in a popu-
lar .unpedantic tray which stakes
fascinating„re ading.
Inflatable Boat
'fo lighten a portage On that
summer camping trip in a new
iufi table lightweight boat with
"eater -filled pontoons. Boat and
yr to. are made of Vinvlite
plastic ref sting salt water, oils,
abretjams and temperature changes,
Fent side air chambers with lire -
:.pe y are 11ed to keen the
boat aflame- Pontoon: are tilled
with „ter and act as counter-
:ealle:st and semirigid keels. Weigh-
ing ebeur 7.Tve end one half ib.
when deeetel, boat can be folded
:o F reel l inches emiare by four
KEPT HIS WORD
,"y dashing e c:nn9 ro.nian.ic swore
by all beeerse meat, at :lis Clarice
., the est maid of all the
ntrld, end ire would have none
other,
"Be :Mee, Clarice," ::e pleaded.
•'1= ti's rc'eae me. I shall die."
Bat site ref:l-ed him, and :0 years
inter sure cr.e,ugh he did die.
"Where Do You Think You're Going?" --Floating traffic
cops now see to it that there is no "Sunday driving" by
gondoliers on the canals of Venice. TTere a water taxi-driver
is stopped by a cop. While his twr, tourist passengers look
on, he gets a ticket fr,r crashing a red light. Like many other
large cities, Venice has a growing traffic problem, complicated
by the fact that most of its "streets( are canals.
Of course we all know that
"sourdough" was used as a "start-
er" for bread and biscuits by our
early ancestors; but until recently
I thought that it had entirely fallen •
into disuse. In fact I imagine that
meter folks, when they hear the word
mentioned, think of Robert W.
Service's poems published under the
title "Songs of a Sourdough."
But—well, live and learn, In the
Christian Science Monitor recently
I ran across an article, written by
"C. J." which I found- so interest-
ing that, by permission, I am pass-
ing it along to you. Here it is,
* 5 .,
"Sourdough" is a term applied
both to northern prospectors and
their hot cakes or pancakes, as
some call them. But how many
know that sour dough hot cakes
can be made right in our modern
kitchens?
• s a
I used to be called a "sour dough
artist" because I had cooked for
men and learned the art. You may
think there is not much art required
to make hot cakes for breakfast.
But it really does take a little art
and it took a lot of experimenting
for me to get the recipe in a form
that could be given to others,
,y w x
I learned to make sour doughs
many years ago when I used to
hike up to a lookout in the forest.
There during the summer months
an interesting old man kept the
vigil for forest fires. He had what
he called his "starter,"
It was some very sour -smelling
dough in a bowl. I say sour smell-
ing but a good sourness. He kept
it covered and guarded it well; that
is, he never wanted it to get too
warm or to have it get chilled
either.
We used to laugh and say he had
to sleep with it at night and carry
it to some cool place in the daytime,
perhaps to a mountain stream in
very hot weather; at least, to a
shady place,
•5 x a
The nice thing about this starter
is that it improves with age and
the more often it is used the more
active it is. In the first place, the
starter is begun by dissolving a
yeast cake in a small amount of
flour and water and keeping it in
a warm place until it grows and
gets very light and spongy.
5 * ,k
The sour doughs are made by
stirring a cupful of this starter into
a larger bowl of flour and water to
make a drop batter; by this I
mean a rather heavy batter. This is
done before you retire at night.
y
* k
When you get up in the morning
this mass of dough is light and
active. Before you do anything
more, you take out a cup of it and
put it away in a covered bowl.
Your electric refrigerator, if you
have one, is just the place for it and
this is your starter for future use,
+k ek '
Then into your bowl of dough,
which for the average family
should be about three cups, you
drop one whole egg, one-fourth
cup of sugar, a rounding teaspoon
of salt, and beat all well, You beat
this to thin it down so that it runs.
i e6 4
Then dissolve a teaspoon of soda
with a teaspoon of water and cut
tS
ts?
,4
•a ,
it in, but do not beat any more.
In just a few minutes your hot
cakes are ready to fry.
+ s
These cakes are light and deli-
cious. If you prefer not to grease
your griddle, you can put about
two tablespoons of shortening into
your batter,
If you do not use all of your sour
dough batter for breakfast, you can
make rolls out of it, or a loaf of
bread for dinner in the evening, for
it takes a little longer for these
rolls to come up than it does regu-
lar yeast rolls. All you do for the
rolls is to stir in more flour and
a little shortening and work the
batter up thick, just as for any light
bread. This sour dough bread is
extra fine and has a flavour of its
own,
▪ "
I have now been using my starter
for over 12 years and have given
away many to friends. If you have
sour doughs as often as twice a
week, your starter will keep active.
Of course, the oftener it is used the
better it is.
:x x A
So much for sourdough. Now
for something dfferent—in this
case some hints about how to Use
, some of the cheaper varieties of
meat—what are called, in the trade
"variety cats." Most of these cuts
—brains, heart, kidneys and tripe
—are relatively inexpensive. Sweet-
breads and liver are high—that is,
beef and calves liver, But the pork
variety is a great deal lower in
price—and a great deal higher in
food value, Calves liver, which has
been selling in some of the larger
cities for as higlt as $1,50 a pound,
i5 only half as rich in iron as beef
—AND ONLY A FOURTH AS
P 0 R Ii. Worth thinking over,
isn't it?
Here, now, is a recipe for veal
hearts, conked just the way they do
them at the famous Chambord Res-
taurant, The original recipe calls
for a piifit of dry wine, but .that
can be omitted—just use water
or stock to make up the difference,
VEAL HEARTS
2 veal hearts
1 pound carrots, coarsely
diced
1 stalk celery with leaves,
chopped
1 slice Bermuda onion
6 or eight large sprigs
parsley
14 teaspoon salt
Pinch thyme
54 cup crushed salted almonds
Method: (1) Trial hearts and
wash thoroughly in waren water.
Bake in a shallow roasting pan in
a slow oven (325 degrees F.) ten
minutes.
(2) Add vegetables and bake five
minutes,
(3) Transfer hearts, vegetables
and juices in pan to a large deep
casserole. Add remaining ingredi-
ents. •
(4) Lower temperature to 300
degrees y„ cover and cook about
one hour or till hearts are tender.
Serve, on platter with plenty of
juice. Reserve any leftover juice
for soup stock. Yield: four, servings,
k ,k ,k
Like to try a Beef and Kidney
Pie, as served in a ICeen's New
York Chop ]'louse, which special-
izes in English dishes? I-Iere's the
way they du it, and after you've
tasted it you'll know why it is one
of the most frequently called -for
dishes keens serves,
ENGLISH BEEF AND
KIDNEY PIE
2 pounds chuck beef
1 pound beef kidney
Beef suet (piece the size
of a large egg)
1 large onion, coarsely
chopped
1 cup rich beef stock
(canned will do)
1 teaspoon salt
Pepper
Cayenne
1/ teaspoons Worcestershire
sauce
Flour
Pastry made from one and
a half cups flour or pastry
mix
Method: (I) Cut chuck and kid-
ney into one and one -half-inch
cubes,
(2) Try out suet, remove suet
cracklings. add onion and saute till
yellow.
(3) Add beef and kidney and
cook, stirring almost constantly till
thoroughly browned.
(4) Adel beef stock, salt, pepper
and cayenne to taste and Worces-
tershire sauce, Stir well, cover and
simmer till meat is tender, about
one hour and forty -fit•, minutes.
(5) If necessary, add enough
water almost to cover cleat, Thick-
en broth with flour which has been
blended with cold water, allowing
one and one-half tablespoons flour
for each cup of broth. Transfer to
a casserole and cool.
t6) Roll pastry to one-eighth
Melt and place on meat. Cut gashes
for escape of steam, If desired, pas-
try may be cut in strips and ar-
ranged lattice fashion over meat,
(7) Bake in a very hot oven
(450 degrees F,) about ten min-
utes, Lcwer heat to moderate (360
degrees F.) and bake about fifteen
minutes or till crust is delicately
browned. Yield: six or more serv-
ings,
Florida's Gov. Fuller Warren
stopped by a Lebanon, Tenn., bar-
ber shop and asked for Sam Cop -
lin, Told that he was no longer
there, Governor Warren handed
another barber $2,10 and asked 111111
to give it to Coplin when he saw
hint again. Warren explained that
when he was graduated from Cum-
berland University Law School in
1929 he owed barber Coplin a bill
of $2,10.
Strange Origins
Of Common Words
liven if you don't fill in Cross-
word puzzles in your spare time,
you may still he surprised at the
origin of some of the following
everyday words and phrases, ..
the mord "calcine owes its
ori!t111 to 1111. Eateml•, \ 1ats li;tlt•n-
da. i, 11e 11;(111 }Oen by the Romani,
to the first .dee of each mottle
July and \moist were named af-
ter guttas and .\mgvte, t'tr'.ttr, and
the rlul:tiuiug month, ;titer Jtnut:ut
g„d;,
'the use of the word "noon” for
mid-day i, dericci1 from the Latin
word "nuu.e," Muth.
in the time of the Early English
Chinch, the services held at Me
ninth hour ed the day, then 3 pen.,
:w the day according to the Ronne
reckoning began at fi ;ein„ were
r:,lh•cl the ' N,., s," ;lust as the first
servieee were veiled "Primes," and •
those in the evrliug "Weepers,"
\l hent the hour for the Nones
tens rltauged to slid -day, the word
"moi" 'e as nerd, to d,•notc that
]tont.
\1111,,11, - iu his Pure, 1t 1'el1-.,er-
oS,:,, speaks of "the 'wandering
ninon, riding near her highest
noon," and lien Jonson uses the
txpressi.m "the noon of right," to
signify midnight,
'file letters, "ami." and "p.m,",
indicating time, are abbreviations
of Latin words ante and post meri-
diem, before and after mid-day.
The abbreviations---"i.c," float. id
est, that !.$) and "e.g." (exempli
gratia, for the sake of example) are
commonly steed,
"One may see"
'The lettere 11 s, 0, are abbrevia-
tions of the Latin words, libra—a
pound, solidus—the smallest gold
coin, and denarius—the name of an
ancient Roman silver coin, used ,ill
early books of law for the, hnglislt
penny.
Hence, too, the use of 111, for a
pound by weight, dirt. for penny-
weight. and cwt. for I1rnu Int dweig"ht.
So, too, the use of "sir." for
"namely." which is the abbreviated
form of the Latin "videre licet,"
meaning "one lnae, See."
it
For Two Pins — Hollywood
actress Jeanne Loch ridge
paints her own fancy leg art to
resemble those eye-catching
designs embroidered on expen-
sive stockings. The daisy pat-
tern was done with eyebrow
pencil, cake make-up, spirit
gtlnt and sequins—right on
Jeanne's leg,. not on stocking.
One For The Road—Only man able to ride in his automobile
and watch TV at the same time is William R. Mcl),onald, ,Ir„
house -trailer manufacturer, who had it ct •'n-•• , •'t, :,,,, the
back of his 1951 Cadillac.. Frances Sadrowski watches a
program, Control panel is eh arm rest of