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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1951-9-12, Page 3p �9�Gq;thf LOSNa By Helen Unworthy. They call it Lucky Leslie not because I'm nu lucky but because of my wife Celia and her phobia. Sure, lots of people believe in lack, omen, and that stuff. 11ut you could cover half the country before you'd hill anyone the equal of uty Celia for ideas tut luck. It's not ordinary garden variety luck that Ce.lirt talks about either—not four leaf cloven';, new moons and rab- bit's feet. Oh, no! Celia goes in strong for lucky !Mothers. In her bnnlc, 7 is the luckiest,,$ is a fair timber and 6 you skid by with eyes shut and hands clenched. Celia believes if you have good fortune doing a thing a certain queer way once, then if you repeat it—bingo!—you're fortunate. 11 Celia were to kind a diamond on the corner of Hain Street on the 7th of the month and while wearing a red rain coat; she would believe that next utuntlt, conte the 7th, she could don the sane rain coat (no matter if the sun was blazing), go back and lied a ruby, The queer part of it i Celia would. When we were married in those unpleasant clays of '43. 1 had leave from the 15th of one uhnntlt to the next. \\'e had known each other for a couple of years, Celiac and 1'. if 1'd had my way we'd have been married the Bah. But Celia sairli "Tilt. 7th—that's the day for luck." Evert reminding. her that than date was a century away and that we would be married but a few day's before 1 went back into action wouldn't swerve her. The 7111 if was; 'l'o this clay Celia believes the reason 1 wasn't amongst the 166 killed its oto' regiment was because we were ,tarried on the 7th. And maybe she's right!" 'fake our son—tile doctor said David would be born on ;June 'lith. Celia said she chose July 3rd. The doctor snorted, "Choose!" But Da- yid was born on the 3rd of July at 7 o'clock --just like Celia had predicted. Tler strongest belief is that things happen in 3'1, If there's two big train wrecks, Celia expccls the third. When David had measles and "Oh, outside, Please." an- swered Amy warmly,. "it's much too Mee a day to stay 13)13131)." chicken pox inside of too months, 1 thought it enough. Celia said there would be more. Ile came down with the ntentps on the (illi. If We have unexpected company two nights in a row, Celia makes a batch of cookies and waits for s010(30ne to drop in without warn ing. They always do! But even Celia couldn't fine enough lucky omens or charms to counteract the 6th of the. month that was rushing at us. Old Craw- ford head of Crawford Corporation said business was so bad that half the office crew would be through on the 6th. t was one of the last taken on, The 6th was coming. and 1 had a good idea of who was going to • get a pink dismissal slip in their pay envelope, Celia said she would try to think of something, Hal We both knew we were whistling in the dank. Ealy the Horning of that fate- ful day David woke with a terrific stomach ache, Two hours later he went t0 the hospital for all appendi- citis operation. 1 know, operations aren't unu<ual, .Batt it was blow number one—of three, At break- fast our toaster popped sparks and smoke instead of toast. Celia chat- tered about the low cost of repairs. But 1 knew she was thinking to herself 'the second trouble,' Like they had goneinto deep mourning that's the wa,y the office force looked, l hied to write up orders like -it was just' any day, instead of the 6th, Celia telephoned to say she had dropped her wrist watch and broken it. Now why was a. trivial thing like that worth a telephone call( Woolen! Then the pay checks cause. Mine didn't have a punk slip I could have danced on my desk top 1 tushed home. to tell Celia the good news, and tial her theory was wrong, She took it casually, Rcntentber my watch," she asked blandly, "That was the third blow, See?" 13th do yon know something funny? She said she dropped it. I found her shoe on the dresser amidst sonic bits of broken glass, anti soritc. glass was static in the heel. `Sfou don't suppose the heel of her shoes ,let that Watch rnl purpose --•or, do yell? i1LE rAH ciao Andtly ws. NOW for 1 i,'1t' 11I tt. 1l•l'i1,3ti ,»,•; the Melding line all lb+n'onylt. It te,tt• l enol :rc t„ Please. PRIZE PICKLED ONIONS 1 basket silverskins or small yellow onions Vinegar Whole mixed pickling spices .Brine Remove skin; of onions; Place overnight in a very strong brine. lu the morning drain; pack loosely in sterilized one -pint sealers, • :Allow 1 tablespoon whole pickl- ing spice to each pilo jar of onions. Scald ?r gallon cider vinegar with the spice for 10 minutes, Conl and pour over onions, distributing tile spices evenly among the jars. If onions are not entirely covered, add a little more ]tot spiced vinegar. Seal and store for 3 months before using. If brine is too weak, the onions become mottled or spotted. * PICKLED RED CABBAGE Remove all dark, outer leaves from 4 firm heads of red cabbage, slice ?a inch thick, or tett through the food chopper. Place in a crock, sprinkle over 2 cups of salt; cover with cold water and let stand over- night. In the Morning drain thoroughly; pack the cabbage loo.ely in 1 -quart sterilized sealers; pour over vinegar which has been scalded with 2 tablespoons of mixed whole pickling spice (tied ill a bag) for each quart of vinegar. Seal im- mediately. lf the vinegar is very strong, •dilute with a little water. >u ,a a< PRIZE MUSTARD PPICTCLES l sweet green pepper "1 sweet red pepper 3 pints silverskin onions, 2 quarts small, firm gherkins 2 small heads cauliflower 5T cup mustard 4,3 cup Five Roses Flour 1 cup cold vinegar 7 cups cider vinegar 24 cups brown sugar 2/ teaspoons turmeric �. 1 tablespoon mustard seed Reutove the seeds from peppers and cut in ships; peel onions; wash gherkins; break cauliflower into mail flowerets. Sprinkle with l% cups of salt, cover with cold water and Ict stand overnight. In the morning, drain thoroughly and place in a scalded crock or other large earthenware receptacle. Blend floor, mntstard and 1 cup of cold vinegar to ,take a paste, Heat the remaining 6 cups of vine- gar, add the brown sugar and tur• merit, Add the blended mustard and flow' and stir and cook in a double boiler until thick and smooth—about 20 minutes. Add the mustard seed, and pour the sauce over the pickles. Mit: thoroughly; pack in sterilized jars and seal, Al- low the , pickles to stand for 3 months before using. 4 4 INDIA RELISH 1 peck green tomatoes 1 small cabbage 6 onions, chopped 3 red peppers, chopped 2 green peppers, chopped 8 cups granulated sugar 2 tablespoons celery seed 2 tablespoons mustard seed 2 tablespoons coriander seeds 1 tablespoon stick cinnamon 1 tablespoon whole cloves 1 % cups salt 3 quarts cider vinegar Chop tomatoes, acid salt and let stand overnight. Next morning, drain, add cabbage, chopped fine, and boil in 3 quarts of vinegar, Add onions, peppers, sugar, celery, mustard and coriander seeds, Tie T111.1 'e' PAN 9 ALLE \) By RICHARD KLEINER Pull up a guitar and listen to the •plaintive lament entitled "The City Slicker \Vhat Was Done Wrong Ily the Hill -Billy, or Those Tin - Pan Alley Blues," This ballad tells the story of the sophisticated songwriters who t.ised to turn out bit tunes about Love and Irfoou and Love and Kisses. Nowadays they are either (a) starving to death or (b) writing about little gals in calico and little boys in Levis and the wind whistl- ing across the plants and such -like. The last five years of so have found the hillbilly songs (now dig- nified with the name "country songs") growing increasingly pop- ular, iit'en along the dusty trails of New York, you'll find the buck- aroos singing "On Top of Old Smoky" and "Tennessee Waltz" as they herd their taxicabs through the macadam meadows. Actually, there are three types of country nutsic. There is authen- tic folk music, like "Old Smoky," which arc ballads that have been sung in the mountains for genera- tions. Then there are the songs turned out by country composers, like "Tennessee Waltz," written by Pec Vt'ee King and Redd Stewart. Most of these arc popularized over the grand -poppy of country - music shows, Nashville's • "Grand OP Opry'." Last and newest entrant in the country music field are the tunes written by Tin -Pan Alley compo- sers who have gone back to the soil for warm inspiration and cold cash. Typical is "My Truly, Truly Fair," written by Bob Merrill. . But, Tin -Pan Alley is having its troubles. The folksy, music requires a knack, like anything else. And aunty of the successful city song- writer's just don't have it. '.Their big flaw, apparently, is that they're ton smart for themselves. Their creations are all slick, the phrases neatly turned, the music fits the' stood and everything sticks together' like flies to a mule. But, to 1 real country music fan, it lacks the simiplirity and ;tory-telling qualities that crake a homespun it. And a country music hit is a big thing these days. Just the thought of what such songs is "Good Night Irene" and "Tennessee Waltz" have done fi- nancially sets any New York pub- lisher to drooling into his hominy grits and yogurt. "Tennesseee Waltz," for example, is rolling along faster than "White Christ - pion. \Vliat accounts for the sudden nation-wide love of country nut - sic? Nobody knows for sure, but there are plenty of theories. Most authgrities feel that the war had a lot to do with it. During the war years, small towners carte to big towns for work in defense industries. They craved some of their favorite mu- sic on the radio, and big town disc jockeys obliged. This spread the craze into the cities, by a pro- cess of nasal osmosis. Others say the city music lov- ers were getting fed up with the endless variations on the Love theme dished out by Tin -Pan Alley. They welcomed country music as a long -needed relief. Another group, more practical, feels that it came about because of the decline of dance bands in popularity, Since the war, the big recording naves have all been vocalists, They heeded many songs to sing, and searched around for ballads and novelty tattles with catchy lyrics. Their search led them into the country songs. Whatever 'the reason, country music's popularity gives evidence of being permanent—at least for a while. Front Grand 01' Opry's stars like Red Foley and Ernest Tubb to Ncw York night-club fa- vorites like the Weavers and Josh White, it's country music, 2 to 0. And oven Ezio Pinza has just re- corded a ditty entitled "L'il 01 State of Texas." Next year, the Met may present "Tristan (Ind Daisy June." Ring of the Country is the country -style musician, like this guitarist ,•^coiist. The songs he sings are the songs that everybody is singing these days. Prince Charlie Stars At Royal Outing—Young Prince Charles, who'll be three in November, was the center of attraction, sitting astride a sculpture of a deer in the grounds of Balmoral Castle, Scot- land, summer residence of the British Royal family. Left to right are: King George, wearing kilts; Princess Elizabeth; her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh; Prince Charles; Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth. Just out of the picture (in a baby carriage held by the king) was Princess Anne, youngest member of the royal household. the cinnamon and cloves in a 11100- litt bag. Boil together until onions are tender. Remove +Bice bag and bottle while hat. 4 4 NINE DAY SWEET PICKLES 4 quarts gherkins 2/ pounds white sugar 7/ cups vinegar 2 ounces mixed pickling spices Place cucumbers i n a crock; cover with brine strong enough to float an egg; let stand 3 days. Drain, cover with clear cold water; let soak for 3 days, changing the water each day. Drain, cover with a cold weak solution of vinegar and water to which has been added a piece of alum the size of a small walnut. Gradually bring to boiling point and simmer for 114 hours. Drain and discard the vinegar. Place the pickles in a crock; cover with the following syrup; Mix the sugar and vinegar together and add the spices; tied in a bag, Boil for 15 minutes. Pour over the pickles. Pour the mixture off the pickles and heat to scalding point, day for 3 days. These pickles will then pour over them again, each keep well in a crock or in jars. 1 * * QUICK DILL PICKLES Pack fresh, crisp ' cucumbers about 4 inches long, in quart jars. Prick each cucumber once or twice, using a silver fork. Place 1 mediums sized bunch of dill in the top of each jar and cover with a solution made by heating 1 pint of vinegar, 1 cup of salt and 234 quarts of water, without allowing the mixture to boil. Use while hot, and seal the jars immediately when cool. Store in a cool dark place for 4 to 6 weeks before using. PEPPER HASH Remove the seeds and white in- side part from 12 red sweet peppers and 12 green sweet peppers, Peel 12 medium-sized onions. Put onions and peppers through the food chop- per; cover'with boiling water, let stand for 15 minutes; drain well. Put in saucepan with cold water to cover add t/z cttp salt, bring quick- ly to boiling point for 5 minutes. Drain off the water; add to the mix- ture -1 pint of cider vinegar and 1 pound of granulated sugar. Put again over the fire and let boil for 12 minutes, counting from the time the mixture begins to boil. Can in sterilized jars, t. a * PRIZE FRUIT SAUCE . 30 large ripe tomatoes 6 onions 6 pears 6 peaches 3 green peppers 3 red sweet peppers 4 cups granulated sugar I' large bunch of celery 2 tablespoons salt 1 quart cider vinegar 11/5 cup mixed pickling spices Chop the vegetables, mix toget- her remaining ingredients and sim- mer . slowly until thick, about 2 hours, Store in sterilized air -tight jars. Tie the pickling spices in a muslin bag and discard before bottling the sauce. RUN ON 1033 DOLLARS Boston, Mass, --Banks across the 11,5. are reporting depositor de- mands for 1933 silver dollars, ac- cording to figures tabulated by the central agency here, This demand Is believed In he a result of a leaf- let issued by a mutual fund, which pointed out that the 1933 dollar would buy twice as much as those currently being issued, Every once in a while 1 have a sort of guilty feeling that 1 don't write enough about the problem of conserving our natural resources. One has only to go to the spot where any of our rivers empty into Lake Erie or Lake Ontario in order to realize the vast amount of val- uable soil that is steadily being swept away and lost fore%een t: 4. Of course something is being done about it—but nut nearly enough. In this connection 1 would like to pass along to you a portion of an article written by F. H. Kortright, President of the Toronto Anglers' and Hunters' Association, The part where he quotes a prediction made almost 125 years ago is especially interesting in view of what has hap- pened since. So here you are. Onehundred year, ago till. On• tario of ours was a land of forests, unlimited genu; clear rivers and streams teaming with fish. There were countless numbers of moose, deer, beaver, otter, stink, ducks, geese and grouse, and evert the mag- nificent wild turkey was found in southern areas. 1: * 4 'Yes, there were also wolves, fox- es, bears, hawks, owls and other so-called predators in abundance. But the worst predator of all—man —had not yet got to work. 4 r The 'tightly Atlantic Salmon liv- ed in Lake Onta.io and tributary streams, being so numerous that often a thousand or more were kill_ cel in the course of a single night. M any reached over 40 lbs.. in weight. in 1829 one john halc'Taggart.. a rit•il engineer in the service of the British Government, wrote, con- cerning Ontario: - 41 .. -rives of various kinds arc to he found thickly growing together for thousands of miles. That they serve to allay the severity of the climate, is surely one of the uses for which they are intended; it neither being so hot amongst the trees in sum - user, nor yet so cold in winter, as it is in the cleared country. In the former season, ,the rays of the sun are chiefly withheld from the soil by the leaves and branches; and in the latter, the cold which is generated in the atmosphere, is also prevented by them from dart- ing down and freezing up the pores of the earth; they may, therefore, be said to act both as a shade and a covering, When the rain falls they imbibe and retain more cooling moisture than the land would do without their, hence the maty springs we find in the r:e rl' Per- haps the rivers and lakes will be- come affected diffarently if once these immenre territories are shorn of their trees; some of thelia may dry up all together in summer . . The laws of nature when turbed by the hand of man are apt to retaliate to his injury." These words, spoken 122 years ago, were prophetic words! A large part of our natural resources of for- est, field and stream are now gone forever. Nature has, indeed. retal- Intel to man's injury. 4. 4 V. Civilization has now changed this Brovince into a land of cities and towns, vast farms, huge industrial plants, ,tines, and paper and lumber stills. It is now a land mainly de- nuded of its forests; vast areas are eroded and unfit for cultivation; many of its streams arc dried up, of polluted to the extent that they raft no longer support fish life. Test For Drivers A driver -testing device that tells motorists how well they can see nut of the corners of their eyes when they are looking straight ahead has been presented by the Aetna Life affiliated Companies to the Franklin Institute. The "perio- meter," as the device is named, tests a motorist for "tunnel vision" by scoring his peripheral vision in eighteen separate vision areas. As the "driver", peers through a simu- lated windshield, miniature figures alternately spin on either side of his line of vision. When movement is detected the "driver" must stove the steering wheel away from the moving object. Place of Many :Nstlrunlea When a family has lived in Otto plan tor , everd year , it becrttuett a ,sloe ,.11 111tt1y naves. Title of - lee<, -.env, as the family goesabout: it,. daily ;Mails; the naives grow for vtlt dsp 81111 mt,st Part •atit is enotrrlea5tlott31 tQ assign them. J'he children think up many names and discard most of turn! in time. 'I lite laud we live uta is a rough square of twenty acres, based on eight .r nine hundred feet of river 1,an1;. The river is the Elk, four hundred fent wide at this point,. swift and broken, flowing' from west to et t, A dusty gravel road divides the twenty acres, nitre acres on the river side of the road, eleven acre, on the other side: The house stands ju=t ai,out in the centre of the nine acres on the river side, rather over a hundred feet from the edge of the river. The barn is on the far side of the road and three or four acres of ruugh clearing around it make up the Barn Field. Behind that are the Alders, , swampy thicket of alder and maple and salnhonberry with a pleasant creek flowing titruuth one corner—Kingfisher Brook, as a ,tatter of fact, though I have never heard the name used and know it only from an old plan I once saw in a real-estate office. On that side of the road a missing person or thing can only be itt otte of three places—"over at the Karn" which would include a check on the thicken House forty or fifty feet away; "in the Barn Field" or "back in the Alders." This side of the road is touch more complicated, chiefly because it has been fenced into small en• closures which pasture ten or fif teen black sheep. East of the houae there is a one -acre pasture along the road: Richardson's Field to the children. Between that and the ri- ver is the Old Orchard, a collec- tion of plum and cherry attd peat trees.... Then there is the hedge a hundred -and -fifty -foot line of Douglas firs, moved in from the woods ten or twelve years ago and clipped each summer.... The children's names go beyond the narrow limits of the line fences now, but once beyond these they have lesser urgency and even brief er life , ,'. There is the Salt -water, through Discovery Passage, am- ong the islands, across the breadth of the Gulf of Georgia and be- yond that, the Mainland Mountains, Towards home again the Tidal Ri- ver, then the Cleared Land—out: own and a few other farms on the flat immediately above the tidewa- ter. Beyond that again the Alder thickets and the Stream Bottoms, the Open Logging Works and the First Lakes, then the Deep Woods and more lakes and the High Mountains of ;he heart of Vancou- ver Island beyond them alk—Front Measure of tate Year," I.y Roder- ick T.. Haig -Brown. GREAT TALKER Among the pupils in a cheluistt;y class was a boy who had a tendency to monopolise discussions, His teacher decided that this trouble- some habit should be brought to the attention of his parents. On the boy's report card he wrote: "Char- les is a good lad but he tanks too much." Afew days later the report was returned, together with a footnote from his father: "You should meet his mother!" 11Y HAROLD. ARNET 4 FISHHOOKSDULL.EO AGAINST ROCKS MAY BE SHARPENED BY RUBBING POINTED ENDS ACROSS SCRATCHING SURFACE OF A'BOOK OF MA"CCIIES. By Arthur Pointer w'— a I'LL FiT YOU As SSo^o`N As 1 WAIT ON THIS ,110 .—j 5 ,:._„ !8 t \ e\,�. , ,114 • It - -' (41(3 " ,i'{e`t r t '�t :l d 'F" °I t i'I,.l<¢ ty�� f k rM1 r sty ` ,r_ i•i� tt^ s,. , ... it i \\ t� �+ Ni. ::\:\ -N IAF WLADY, xHD0 Apo t r. „get, ab - t ,.s yy ss. i4�