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The Seaforth News, 1957-12-26, Page 10Gambled On Hymn Numbers The San Remo Casino is Italy's answer to Monte Carlo. Opened in January, 1905,it makes and handles more money than all the other gaming houses in Italy put together, and draws gamblers • and. eccentrics from all over the world. Since English 'residents had a great part in founding and sup- porting the casino, it is perhaps, appropriate that one of its most unusual gamblers today is an Englishman, known to the. crou- piers as "Mr. Beetle." Whenever he plays the tables he brings with him a box with a Cellophane top, One half of the Cellophane is coloured red, the other black. Inside the box is a beetle, and before he places a bet the gambler looks inside the box to see which colour the beetle is under. He then places bis bet accordingly; and he has very seldom been known to lose consistently. There are two Eng 1 i s h churches in San Remo, and it's a frequent sight, during a ser- vice, to see a man or woman rush out of the church to bet on the number of the hymn! An - ogler English gambler, who in- variably bet on the number fif- teen, firmly believed himself to be blessed by fortune. One day, seeing a splendid. new motor car standing outside the casino, he asked its owner how much he would sell it for. The owner said that he would not accept less than $9,000, "Just a minute," said the gambler, "and I'1 go get it." He rushed upstairs to the ta- bles, bet as usual, on the num- ber fifteen, and within fiye min - Utes had returned with the money in his pocket. An equally successful "sys- tem" was worked out by the wife of a wealthy Roman indus- trialist. When her husband ad- mitted to her, in fear and trem- bling, that he had lost over $12,000 on the tables, she coolly replied: "Never mind. I've won exactly the same amount" "How?" he asked in aston- ishment. "By watching which colour you bet on and betting on the opposite one myself," she told him. A Genoese gambler takes it very hard whenever he loses. He goes straight to a mirror, vio- lently upbraids himself and slaps himself hard in the face. One gambler from Calabria was turned away from the ca- sino night after night because he had no money to gamble with. At length his pleas melted the heart of the commissionaire en duty and he was allowed in, es he put it, "just to watch the play." The commissionaire went with him to see that he kept his resolution and did not squander what little money he had left. All went well; the Calabrian did not attempt to place a bet. But when at last he made his way out he was in a towering fury. "I'm ruined!" he cried. "I've lost everything!" "That's impossible)' said the b e w i l d e red commissionaire. "You haven't been betting." "No," was the reply. "But I played just the same in my imagination—and I'm ruined!" The casino willingly helps clients against their weaker salves. If a gambler writes to the casino, explaining that he cannot afford to lose any more money and that he is not to be admitted, however vehemently DEPENDS P'L!9fM F VIEW-- TABLE IEW ;FABLE TALKS clam Andrews. Yams or sweet potatoes can -. be used to make a pretty dish with an element of surprise. in it. Season warm, mashed yarns or sweet potatoes with salt, pep- per, and butter. Shape small portions of potato into balls around indi' iduel chunks of pineapple, then roll hi crumbs made from crushed corn flakes and bake on a greased, shallow pan for about 20 minutes at 350 deg. F. You'll need about two cups of potato, to .seeve six, and are they good. These pe . bom.ake a most attractive zereeany aisle and can be prepeged !ze and keg: Le :he zafelgerater far last tahrate beaga...z,If hey are are chilled ... ay, - member to cook :he= a _ral longer ss that .they a war= through. • e White pa awes can be glom - a o -s, too. This manner of cook- ing them is said to have a Ger- he pleads, they will obligingly refuse to let him in if he turns up, Perhaps the most generous winner was an Arab prince who used to go from table to table dressed in his flowing robes, fol- lowed by two secretaries who carried large leather bags full of money. When the Arab won he would take a handful of thousand -lire notes and throw them into the air. He gambled for fun, but there are many who live in San Remo all the year round and devote themselves wholly to the casino, One woman for five years spent eight hours each day there. When friends, impressed by her regular and punctual hours, asked her what she did for a living she would reply: "I gam- ble" She made one exception to her programme, On the thir- teenth of every month she would leave home as usual, go to the casino and sit all day in a cor- ner as far away as possible from the tables, enviously watching the other gamblers. But on that day she never plac- ed a bet herself. OP ;HININO SYMBOL—The largest Christmas Seal emblem in the United States glows like a beacon of hope in Harrisburg, Pa. he building is the 16 -story State Labor and Industry Depart- ment structure, newly erected in the state's capital city. ,The eross effect is achieved by leaving the lights on in certain' affic.-s v•; -'"e others are blacked out. man origin. Use one potato per person, pare and cut into thick slices, and place in fry pan with one tablespoon butter for each potat is very simple. Just tc000. k overhe s low heat, turning frequently and adding butter if needed. When they're nearly done, salt to taste. They should be a warm, golden brown on the outside, but soft and smooth inside. There's no money saved in ttsine mixes - just in case ye've been wondering. But they de save time, and often that is the more valuable commodity. As for costs, if you use a commercial mix for cake, your fragrant loaf costs one-fifth more than it would had you made it yourself from individual ingredi- eats. Biscuit and cookie mixes cost one-half more, and a pie crust mix, three-quarters more than the small extra effort of blending flour and shortening. When you dash home, how- ever, and need a handsome des- sert, a tasty mix will save one- third of the time ordinarily re- quired to prepare a cake. Cookie mixes cut the preparation time in half, but biscuits and pie crust mixes can manage a saving of only one-fourth of your precious minutes. r • • Grapefruit will be pletniful from now on; Texas has started moving a crop of 43 million boxes to market. And the more plentiful the fruit, the better the quality, for growers whl want the best prices naturally ship their best fruit. You probably know about judging the amount of juice by the weight of a grapefruit, but do you know that juice will run more freely if the fruit is served at room tempearture7 If you forget to take grapefruit from the refrigerator until time to serve it, placing it in warm water for a few minutes will help prime the juices. • • • The next time you buy lamb chops — or any other cut of lamb — remember to remove the wrapping when you prepare to store it in the refrigerator. Lamb should be stored in the coldest part, uncovered or very loosely wrapped with waxed paper. Ground lamb, like any ground meat, should be held no longer than 24 hours unless you freeze it (and in this case, wrap it carefully to exclude all air). Fresh lamb should have firm, pinkish -to -light -red flesh, with the fat clear, white, and brittle. And don't be concerned' if the cut surface of bones looks por- ous and red: it should. * • * Here's another idea for some- thing to serve at teatime, as a party snack, or with soup or salad. The base is trips rye crackers. — about a dozen of them. For this quantity, use 2 tablespoons of butter or mar- garine, and add one of the fol- lowing: iii teaspoon of celery salt, ginger, or basil, or Ye tea - spec= of curry powder. Spread on the rye crackers and heat in a 350 deg. F. oven for about 5 minutes. Serve hot or cold. * t Trussing a turkey is more than a trick; it takes stamina and -te- nacity - and a stout thread or tv,iine. One of the newest wrin- kles, and a very effective one, is to use nylon dental floss, hum- orous as that may sound. Nylon floss is fine enough to thread into a barge needle, slides easily through the turkey skin, is strong enough to hold in place firmly, and won't break or crumble on removal when the bird is ready for the table. In fact, nylon floss seems practi- cally made to order for simpli- fied fowl sewing. Tough Turkey Speaking of Thanksgiving, the other day a pasteboard box which had once contained a pair of 10-D shoes came to me from California, bearing ten amaryllis bulbs which had cost me $1.25, and the express charges were $2.73. This is about the way things run now, and a great many people tell me it is all for the best. And at approximately the same time I received in the mail the annual premium list of the Maine State Poultry Association. which has been struggling again- st great odds for many years now, and continues to exhibit in an alien era. It is heir to what- ever is left of dozens of similar poultry associations once suc- cessful in Maine, and it will ex- hibit in Red Men's Hall at Cum- berland Center on December 2, 3, and 4, Entries (competition is open to the world) close Novem- ber 29. If you live at a distance and wish to ship your birds by express, officers of the associa- tion will do the cooping and re- turn them after the show — and this reference to "expressage" puts me in mind of Thanksgiv- ing. It was some time ago, when a -roaming one fall day through some of the back hills of Ver- mont we came upon a farm stand perched on an inclined plane, and a woman was brae- ig herself against gravity and throwing feed at a handsome flock of turkeys. We stopped to watch, and the woman, who was a widow, told us her griev- ous situation and remarked on the stringency of affairs, It seemed that the sale of a few turkeys would speedily mend her difficulties, and her lamen- tation was pitched at the esti- mated number we might take. I never thought" Vermonters were as adept at these mercen- ary approaches as some at my Maine neighbours, but this wom- man was very good. As we hadn't intended to buy turkeys we told her so, and we then had a pleasant visit, talking of this and that. And before we came away we did buy one of her turkeys. This was an old bird that had been around a long time, a magnificent specimen about ten hands high whose hide was probably like tanned walrus leather and whose eye was mean and vulgar. He could trot, can- ter, and pace, and when he un- folded his main-t'galiant-stu'n- s'ls it looked like a sunset over the Presidential Range. Being old and experienced, this mon- ster did not appeal to me gas- tronomically, but I thought it would be fun to send him to my father, who was sitting qui- etly at home back in Freeport, Maine, reading a western story and minding lilts own business. The woman ''tried to sell 'me one that was.""young and tender and full of °kindness, one she could get a price for, but I made her a small offer for the indes- tructible one, and she knew it was the best she'd ever get. She closed at once, and I went out behind her barn and salvaged some old, wet boards and made a crate. When I drove the tur- key into it, the combined weight • was more than I could lift, and we had to flag down the rural mailman to give me a hand. I'• lashed the crate on the rear of the coupe and away we drove —the tom making a great cry and telling everybody he was put upon. - We took the crate and turkey to the Montpelier & Wells River depot at Plainfield, where Wes„ Willard was the agent, and we turned the 'expressage" over to him, which did not appear to be the happiest thing 'that ever happened to Willard. Plainfield is normally a quiet village, se- date and Vermontish, and this turkey violated the traditions. He did not want to go to Maine, which shows you the degree of his mentality. Wes sighed, wag- gled his head, and began mak- ing out the waybill. This took quite a time. He would look at a schedule, and then get down a big book. Then he would find an asterisk, and get down another book. Every time he found the right place, he'd find a cross reference, and before long he had a sheet of paper covered with computa- tions. At last he tossed his pen- cil downand said, "That'll be 37 cents." Then he blinked, and gave me a funny look and said, "That can't be right!" It didn't seem to me it could t be either, but I. didn't feel it was my duty to protest in favour of a greater amount. Wes went back, to his books. He double checked this time, and after much figuring he said, "That's what it is - 37 cents!". So we checked it all out again, going from asterisk to asterisk, and I looked over his shoulder, and when we got through it was still 37 cents. i paid him 37 cents; he gave nee a receipt; the waybill was past- ed on the crate; and we boosted Tom on the evening train with a' great. gobbling and an unhappy face on the baggageman. It was much later that I tum- bled as to this rate. Freeport used to have one of these poul- try shows — with crated birds coming from all over once a year, even from foreign coun- tries. Back when the show be- gan and' things were cheap, the raafrroads set a special rate on live poultry to and from Free- port. The hen show has long since dwindled and ceased to be. Members,gave up fancy poul- try, and one year the directors had met and agreed not to meet. The years rolled away, but the railroads had never brought their rate schedule up to date. If you sent a bag of cement or a new bicycle to Freeport, it would cost plenty, but if you sent a great bronzeturkey tom in a wet crate nailed up with spikesit would cost. 37 cents. I Also, f you sent that bird to Yarmouth or Brunswick — adja- cent towns — the rate was sky- high. It was Freeport that once had a poultry show. I do not know if this still ap- plies, but it very well might. In the meantime, things have changed otherwise. It costs me $2.73 to bring ten amaryllis bulbs from California, and we have many other things to be thankful for. The turkey? Dad gave him to a poor family, crate and all, and when we came home that Thanksgiving for the family get-together •Mother had -°'"A°r•'c'' a roast of pork. Mother never cared too much for turkey any- way. With new turnips, it was. Very good. —' By John Gould in ' The Christian Science Moni- tor. -' THIS TAKES THE CAKE Recipe fora mammoth cake baked to celebrate the centennial celebration of British Columbia. included 600 dozen eggs, 800 lbs of butter, and 1,000 pounds of cherries. The cake weighed 5 tons, was 15 feet high, and 25 feet square. JUST DUCKY—This design has been chosen .for the 1958-59 "duck" stamp. Drawn by Leslie C. Kouba, it depicts Canadian geese feeding in a picked corn field. It is the 25th in the series of migratory bird -hunting stamps. STUDY RUSSIAN—The U.S. government. reports . that four out of 10 school children in the Soviet Union are studying English, raising th e obvious question, "Where does the US. stand?" At least 26 children in' Ohio are being introduced to the Russian language. Here, Johanna McGinnis and Chris Schroeder, fourth graders at Kent University School, go over the pronunciation of some Russian words with their instructor, Dr. Joseph Suhadolc. The two children are among a group of 26 fourth, fifth' and sixth graders studying Russian as an experiment begun in October at the University School. The course is theonly one of its kind involving Ohio grade school children.