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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1957-01-17, Page 2Made Fortune" By Takin; pay Off A, dignified man placed his hands on little Bernard Baruc'h's head. His sensitive fingers felt the ridges and undulations. He turned to Barney's mother, "Ma- dam," he said, "your son may be s. fine classical scholar, but his head indicates that he is a finan- cial genius. Train him either for finance or politics." That interview with the phre- nologist sealed the fate of young Baruch. Today, ,at the age of eighty-five, he is one of the rich- est men in the world, his for 'tune being estimated at up to $75,000,000. At eleven he was stubby, fat end nicknamed "Bunch" by the lads in his street who ran their fingers up the back of his head as he passed. This riled him, but he took boxing lessons and lost both his fat and his quick tem- per, for it's easier to be calm when you can meet personal in- sults with a handy left hook. So good was he with his hands that Bob Fitzsimmons, the fight- er, advised him to take up box- ing as a profession. But as he could speak French and German fluently, and read Latin, Greek and Hebrew, he put his name down for West Point. One deaf ear, however, prevented him from becoming a soldier. Then his mother remembered the phrenologist's advice and got her son into a Wall Street firm where his job was to convert dollars into foreign currency. Soon he could beat the calculator machines! As routine work irked him he trekked to Colorado and, during the summer of 1890, dug ore in a mine shaft. Then with his sav- ings he bought shares in an ad- jacent mine and thought he was on the road to riches.. But the ore was so bad that the mine dosed down and he learned his first lesson—never buy first and investigate later. That autumn, almost broke, he returned to Wall Street as a $5 a week broker's clerk, filling inkwells, running errands and studying the markets. He had such a brain for figures that other clerks found it saved time to ask him rather than look up the answers. Unlike them, he pored over law books, studied bookkeeping and became so use- ful to his firm that soon he was earning five times his starting salary. Meanwhile, he had met a pret- ty girl, and asked his boss to double his salary. "No," was the answer, "but will you accept a junior partnership instead, which on last year's figures means at least $30 a week?" Baruch ac- cepted—it was a good wage in those days. Later, with an inborn shrewd- ness and intuition, he calculated that the U.S. Congress would not cut the sugar tariff; he gambled on it and 'made $100,000, With $95,000 he bought a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, Next year, while holidaying in New Jersey, his partner 'phoned to say that Commodore Schley had destroyed the Spanish fleet at Santiago Bay. The market was closed, for it was the long week- end of July 4th, and he knew that when business began it would go mad. So he hired a locomotive and a single coach and dashed to New York. As the Office was locked, he lifted his son through a small window to let him in from the inside. Then he telephoned the tip to the firm's customers and cabled London to buy American stocks the moment the London Stock Exchange opened. On Monday stocks surged up and he made a bundle. Once, Baruch made a lot .0f money by accident. -It was when big financiers were fighting for control of Northern Pacific Rail- road. Baruch bought as stocks were rising, but knew that the stock he was buying was 'un- sound and .intended selling the next day. In the morning his mother 'phoned arld said sternly, "Bernard, have. you forgotten what day it is?" It was Yom Kippur, on which no orthodox Jew may transact. business. Yet if Baruch did not sell, he would be ruined when prices, fell. "I expect you to stay at home," said his mother. "Ali right, Mother," he prom- ised. IIad he been able to use the 'phone on Yom Kippur he would have made a few thousands; as it was, shares kept rising and through no skill of his own he netted $750,000. By the time he was thirty-two he was worth a million dollars for every year of his life. When he became a multi-mil- 'lionaire he bought a 10,000 -acre estate, well stocked with deer, ' wild turkey, duck, quail and other game. Here the famous visited him, and once an admiral who was possibly the worst marksman since the invention of the shotgun, spent a week firing hundreds of rounds with- out hitting anything. Then a guide led him to a' tree" and pointed to an enormous tur- key perched on a branch. The admiral let fly. Down thumped the bird, but when he ran to it in triumph he saw a card tied to its neck. On it was written: "With the compliments of Ber- nard M. Baruch." Baruch knows how to turn everything to profit; even deaf- ness. His deaf aid has a secret cut-off switch. Asked what he thought of one politician, re- nowned as a bore, he chuckled: "I've heard nothing he's said to . me since 1935." Money, as such, means nothing to him. "You can't eat it," he says, "and when you have enough, the remainder is merely a liability." He gives away im- mense sums, and for years has done government work without pay. Once he gave a million dol- lars to the Red Cross and no one knew of the gift for more than twenty-five years. But he has such a genius for making money that he has little fear of poverty. "Right up to the day they put the coffin lid on me," he says with a grin, "I'll al- ways have a dollar more than I need." PERFECT ANSWER Although there are many centenarians living to -day in the United States, it's said that a clerk in an employment bureau in New York was as- tounded when she noticed re- ently the figures 110 and 107 in the spaces reserved for "Age of Father, if living" and "Age of Mother, if living" on the docu- ment which had been handed in by an applicant for work. "Haven't you made a mis- take?" asked the surprised clerk. "Surely your parents aren't that old?" "No," replied the applicant, "but they would be—if living." GUESS WHO? That clown in the center is none other than tough guy Jimmy Cagney, made up for his,, role of Lon Chaney, in "The Mari of a Thousand Faces". Visiting, him on the set In Hollywood are actors Jimmy Stewart, left, in costume for "Night Passage" and Orson Welles, complete with plastic nose for ,his ranch -baron role in "Pay the Devil".. 12 INJURED IN TRAIN DERAILMENT - This was the scene after a' New Haven Railroad pas- senger train as-sengertrain jumped the tracks, injuring at least 12 persons. The train was en route, to Mon- treal from New York. Jail—Bards Francois Vino'', King of the Beggars of Paris, was also a thief and a poet. A good ex- ample of hIs modern : imitators comes from the U.S.A. where a gang of chicken thieves, after raiding the local chicken houses, left behind a hen and a rooster in each, with the note: We steal from the rich We steal from the poor, We leave this pair So you can raise some more! Many sweet lines have been written in prison. It was while he was jailed that Oscar Wilde wrote his famous "Ballad of Reading Gaol." Charles Peace, who had a taste for versifying, devoted some of his spare time in prison to writing hymns and even composed his epitaph. Let's hope that his hymns were of better quality than another pri- son epic: O who can tell the pains I feel A poor and harmless sailor. I miss my grog and every meal — Here comes the blooming jailor! A case which attracted -much medical interest concerned the finding of two bodies in a lake. By some property in the water the bodies were extremely well preserved. The advice of an ex- pert from the medical faculty of a certain university was sought by the police, The pro- fessor's students gleefully re- corded their chief's interest in the case with: Two bodies found In lonely mere Converted into adipocere. Harvey, when called in to see 'em Said, "Just what I need for my museum." Carpets of Moss The country around offered a scene very uncommon and to us quite new. The moss on which the reindeer feeds" covers the whole ground, which is flat and only skirted by hills at some distance; but these hills also are clothed with this moss. The colour of the moss is a pale yellow, which, when dry, changes to white: the regularity of its shape, and the uniform manner in which the surface of the ground i5 'decked with it, appears very singular and strik- ing: it has the semblance of a beautiful carpet. These plants grow in a shape nearly octa- gonal, and approaching to a cir- cle; and as they closely join each other, they form a kind of mosaic work or embroidery. The white appearance of ° the country, which thence arises, may for a moment make you imagine that the ground is cov- ered with snow; but the idea of a winter scene is done away by the view of little thickets in full green, which you per- ceive scattered here and there, and still more by the presence of the sun and the warmth of his rays. As this moss is very , dry, nothing c a n possibly be more pleasant to walk upon nor can there be anything softer to serve as a bed. Its cleanness and whiteness is tempting to the sight, and when we had put up our tent, we found ourselves in every respect very comfortably lodged. I had many times be- fore met with this moss, but in no place had I found it so rich. It was the only produce here, which nature seemed to favour and support: no other herb was growing near it, nor any other vegetable on the spot, except a few birch trees, with their un- derwood, andsome firs, dispers- ed on a hill by the river side. All these seemed to vegetate with difficulty, as if deprived of nourishment by the moss, and appeared withering and stunted. Sometrees, indeed, which grow very near the water, had the appearance of being In a flour- ishing state, perhaps owing to the moisture they derived from the river: but, in short, this moss appeared to be the royal plant,. which ruled - absolute over the vegetable kingdom of the coup- r�t] ,YelIS1/t' PCdt� STAB E TALKS d.Andttews. According to Kipling there are "nine -and -forty way of constructing tribal days," and I'm sure there are at least that many recipes for making pan- cakes, flapjacks or whatever you like to call them. But here's a kind that were new to me, until recently — a Danish va- riety that I'm sure you'll find well worth the little extra trouble of making them. * * 's At least once during the Christmas season we have aebleskiver, They are the little round Danish pancake balls that are delicious with jelly and butter. The whole family en- dorses them as a breakfast treat; and they are equally good for afternoon or evening re- freshments, served with jam or fruit and a beverage. Perhaps the custom came to us through a San Fransiseo boarding house where my land- lady used to prepare these de- lectable morsels during the holidays. But my appreciation for them goes back even farther than that. My Danish school friends introduced them to me, writes Evelyn Jensen in The Christian Science Monitor. Once I remember visiting a friend while she was baking the pancake balls. Fascinated, I watched her carefully grease each depression in the aeble- skiver pan, then 1111 each three- fourths full of batter. She wait: ed until bubbles appeared on the surface, then with two forks flipped each ball so it could . cook on the other side. "Are they hard to turn?"ti I asked, "You can try the next batch," she asked. With some trepidation I took th'e forks, My movements were clumsy, but I got them over. Not only that, mine came out almost as fine and round as hers. Her young brother stared at me in amazement. "Why, you can do it, too!" We all laughed, but I must confess that up until that mo- ment I'd shared his conviction that turning aebleskiver was an. exclusive Danish accomplish- ment. Right then I made a de- cision. An aebleskiver pan try, and distributed its bounty and influence amongst a parti- cular race of men and animals. - From "Travels Through Swe- den, Finland, and Lapland, to the Nor t h Cape," by Joseph Acerbi. would be included in my fu- ture household equipment! An indeed it is. We pur- chased our from our local hard- ware dealer during the early years of our marriage. Mine is east iron, which keeps a steady heat, and has seven depressions. As in baking regular pancakes, the pan is ready when drops of water bounce on its surface, or when it just barely begins to smoke. It mustn't be too hot. A mixture of half butter and half lard is used to grease the depressions. I keep it warm in a fiat - bottomed aluminum measuring cup and dip it out with a teaspoon as needed. Knitting needles will turn the balls as well as sharp forks. If you want to be sure there is no uncooked dough in the centre, test with a knitting needle or cake tester. Experience will soon teach you when they are done, 11 you are wondering about pronunciation, it's abe-la-skeev- er, with the accent on the first syllable. (Or at least that's about as close as most of us can get.) Even if you resortto call- ing them "dingle berries," as some of our friends - do, you'll enjoy them! Here are three of our favorite batters. AEBLESKIVER Separate 6 eggs. Beat the whiten until stiff Put the yolks into another bowl and beat slightly; Sift together. 3 cups sifted bread flour 4 teaspoons baking powder 2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon salt. Add the dry ingredients to the yolks alternately with 2 cups milk and 2 tablespoons melted butter Fold in the beaten white. (I usually halve this recipe for my family of four.) * AEBLESKIVER WITS SOUR MILK 3 cups' sifted flour 3 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda % teaspoon salt. Sift into a bowl. Add y2 cup sour milk or buttermilk 2 tablespoons cream or melted butter. Start stirring. Add 112 cups of sweet milk or enough to make a batter th1 conisistency of waffle battel Flevor with 1 teaspoon lemon extract A little nutmeg - Add 3 egs, beaten light, the last thing. * * '5 AEBLESKIVER WITH YEAST Heat 2 cups rich milk to lute- warm Crumble into this one yeast cake Add 1 tablespoon sugar Y2 teaspoon salt 1 cup sifted flour. Beat. Then add, one at a time, beating between additions 4 eggs Add 1 cup more of flour. Beat. Let rise about 2 hours be- fore baking . Any of these recipes may be varied by adding lemon, nut- meg, or cardamon. Currants, seedless raisins, small cubes of -raw apple, or bits of cooked prune may be dropped into each individual section just before turning the pancake balls. BOY AND HIS HERO—Three-year-old Alex Carroll, Jr., is prob- ably too young to appreciate his Tuck, but he knows grownups are making a fuss over "Bubbie/' his pet mongrel. Alex, too lightly clad for winter temperatures, wandered down to Bull - skin Run, a creek near his home. He fell in, but Bubbie's bark- ing had moved a neighbor, Mrs. Howard Bush,to keep an eye on him. She ran to the creek, pulled out the blue -cold young- ' ster, took him home and dried him out. He was none the worse for the accident. NEHRU WELCOMED TO WHITE HOUSE,— India's Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru is greeted by President. Eisenhower.outside the White House. At left is Nehru's daughter, Mrs. Indira Gandi, esnd Mrs. Eisenhower.