Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1955-11-10, Page 3Bove Odd Whims Of in the field where Arthur Bill- son played as a boy stood an old • windmill_ IL fascinated him. And he grew to love it. As he carved out a successful career he never forgot all that the windmill had meant to hint. Now the people of the Leicest- er -shire village of Woodhouse Eaves, on the edge of Charn- wood Forest, have learned that .Arthur Billson was still think- ing of the old windmill there when he died aged seventy- seven. In his will he left it a legacy of $3,000 which must be used to rebuild and restore the wind- mill "so that this landmark might become a county land- mark for all time." The whims of will -makers are endless. At Somerset House, London, home of Britain's wills, a diligent searcher could, if he had sufficient time and paid the fee, spend countless hours read- ing wills containing fantastically curious clauses. For instance, there was a Pim- lico, London, upholsterer who hated moustaches. Nobody knows why, but when he died he left $25 to each of the men in his employ providedthey did not wear a moustache for the rest of their lives. Those who refused to ehave off their existing moustaches were to receive only $10. In his will provided three years ago an ex -naval officer left generous sums to a number of people but laid it down that anyone who drank, smoked, gambled or used lipstick or face powder should receive nothing. He also added a clause which barred those who "fail to ob- serve the proprieties of good breeding, courtesy and friend- liness—particularly relating to this will." Fancy a man losing a fortune of $150,000 because he does not want to be a father! That hap- pened in 1948. A rich old lady who was always fond of child- ren left this sum to her only son "on condition that he be- comes a father in wedlock." But it chanced that the son, at the time the will was proved, was living apart from his wife, so be rejected the $150,000, say- ing: "There is little possibility of my having a child in wedlock." A Leeds man, who died in 1931 leaving a $40,000 estate, was devoted to telephones and throughout his life never lost an opportunity of using them. He therefore left a big sum on trust to the widow of a friend of his on condition that she pro- mised to have a telephone in- stalled in her home for the rest of her life. An ex -soldier fell secretly in love with a blue-eyed pretty blonde who was in love with another man. He knew his love was hopeless but he decided to ensure that she would receive tokens of his love even after his death, In his £3,500 will he request- ed that "one perfect rose" should be sent to the girl each Saturday before Len a.m. for the rest of her life. ''She is never to be told who sent the roses. She is only to have the pleasure of receiving them," ran the clause in the will. When the ex -soldier's family .heard of the unusual legacy, they successfully contested the will in the courts. so his secret loos never received any roses. But by that time she was happily married.. .Tust imagine the feelings of a rather lazy young American some years ago, who was left *100,000 by his uncle, on one condition. "He must receive the whole of this legacy in the fo"m of firewood which he must -chop up and `sell himself, the will said. As he was nearly nenn]]e s, the young man fulfilled the con - It cured his laziness and ill -Makers he later told a friend that it was "the finest thing that ever happened." A testator can legally make all kinds of queer conditions in his will. FIe can lay down that his heir or heiress must live in his own country, He can pre- vent his heirs from flying, or from changing their religion. Yes, powers under a will are very wide, yet they have thrix limits. For instance, a hunch -backed French waiter nicknamed Napo- leon left $10,000 to his nearest relative, a nephew, on condition that within three months he married a woman who was also a' hunchback. It haiiPened that the nephew was already engaged to a lovely little French shop girl. He ap- pealed to the courts and was at once relieved of the condition. Judges often frown on posthu- mous spite when it is revealed in wills. An elderly and very rich American married a young and pretty girl and tortured himself with jealousy whenever she was out of his sight. He died suddenly. His will be- queathed $180,000 to his wife on condition that she never ap- peared in public unveiled. The young wife appealed to the law and in five minutes the judges declared that the cruel condition must be void. A strange postumous prank was played by a Brooklyn man, who, in his will, left seventy-one pairs of trousers which he said must be sold "for the benefit of the poor of the parish." There was a condition that no buyer of one pair should be permitted to bid for another. This odd condition excited no comment at the sale, but some days later one of the buyers was examining the trousers when he found a small canvas bag sewn. in the waistband. Opening it, he found ten $100 notes. He spread the news of his find. The other men who had bought trousers eagerly exam- ined them. Sure enough, each found $1,000 which had been carefully concealed by the will - maker. Attempts by will -makers to prevent their heirs from marry- ing have often been set aside by the courts in this country, when such conditions are obviously motivated by spite or against the public good. But abroad this is not always the case. Two German brothers were left an annuity of $2500 each so long as they remained single. Whoever married first would forfeit his annuity to the other brother. They decided that money was preferable to love and tried to look the other way every time a pretty girl came along. But while on holiday at the seaside together, they fell for two charming twin sisters and re- turned home engaged. Each brother wanted the other to marry first. The girls became tired of the delay and demand- ed that the brothers should "take the plunge." As a result the bro- thers quarrelled in public and were brought before a magi- strate for disturbing the peace. Each was fined. But love did not triumph in their case. They shook hands and jointly vowed never to marry the girls, or anyone else. The twins are to -day happily mar- ried to twin brothers they met soon after being jilted. And the brothers they might have mar- ried, now in their sixties, are still bachelors. A publisher's wife told Irving Holtman, "It's not true that I married a millionaire. I made hits one." "What was he before you married him?" asked Iry- ine. The wife answered, "A mut ti -millionaire.° RIDING THE ROUNDS — Water meter readers will have it easier in Atlanta euburbs if the city's waterworks department gives the nod to this three -wheeled motor vehicle. Instead of walking long distances between homes they'll lust scoot right up to each meter and record the consumption without leaving the scooter. Guy Garner is demonstrating how it will be done — if tests prove successful: "WATCH OUT FOR THE BOSS"—Three "secretaries" hustle through a mid-morning "coffee break" from the feline catering service before hurrying back to business — mischief -making Curiosity may not always kill the cat, but itmakes kittens prime subjects for an alert phot ographer, TIIL FMM FRON American pork producers are puzzled, not to say worried, about the falling -off in pork sales; and as what happens south of the border is frequently reflected over here, thefollow- ing should be of interest, writ- ing from Washington to The Christian Science Monitor, Jo sephine Ripley tells about it. • * * A mysterious and unexplain- ed change is taking place in the meat -eating habits of Ameri- cans. - Pork, the "poor man's turkey," is found far less frequently on American dinner tables these days. * * * No one as yet has been able to state definitely just why this change in menu has taken place. TIPTOE TIME — Rosemary Gilli- gan, 1955's Tulip Queen, has her toe tips snuggled against some of the tulips bulbs in the season's first shipment from Holland. One Tail, Two Ears Not many North Americans have taken to bullfighting. Cer- tainly not many girls have at- tempted this dangerous sport. But shapely Texas -born Patri- cia McCormick is an exception. She did it the hard way and has got herself tossed all over the Mexican bullrings. Recently she got her fust bull, and was pre- sented with its ears, the token of the bullring president's es- teem. Now she has bought 20 larger animals and is going in for the sport in a big way. She may get some competition from her namesake, 23 -year- old Patricia Hayes, also from Texas, who gave up studying the bassoon at Texas State Col- lege for Women three years :ago in order to fight 'fulls. Bullfighting is a strenuous art, as Pat discovered at a fight at Acapulco some time ago. The blonde matadora was badly gored and suffered brain concussion, several broken ribs and severely cut legs. But she recovered, and re- cently put in an , appearance at Ciudad Acune. After taking six tosses and literally fighting off attendants who wanted her to leave the ring, she killed her second bull with such skill that she was presented not only with the bull's ears but with its tall — a rare award. Officials at the Department of Agriculture are greatly puzzled. * r * The industry itself is more than puzzled; it is deeply con- cerned over the recent slump in pork consumption and pork prices. Members of the industry are here now in conference with Agriculture Department author- ities trying to solve the puzzle and reverse the trend. * * There is, to be sure, a larger supply of pork and pork pro- ducts in the market this year than last — a factor which often forces price declines. But in this case, the supply is only slightly larger — four pounds per per- son per year — and the pork suply is not considered out of line with consumer purchasing power. As authorities here see it, the problem is not so much one Of "overproduction" as "under -con- sumption." Obviously consumers are pur- chasing other meats, and that meat is beef. Americans with plenty of money in their pockets are undoubtedly eating steak more frequentlythan ever be- fore in history. * * * But many factors enter into 1INDAY SCHOOL LESSON R. Barclay Warren, R.A., S.D. Jesus Teaches flow to Live Luke G: 27-38 Memory Selection: As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise Luke 6:31. In our lesson Luke gives us part of the sermon of the mount which Matthew gave in greater detail, Chapters 5-7. Luke gives other portions of this teaching in 11:9-13 and 12:22-33. Luke, writing especially for Greeks unacquainted with the. Jewish law, does not give the portions where Jesus gave an Old Testa- ment quotation and then pro- ceeded to interpret it in the light of., the Gospel. The command to "Love your enemies," seems impossible Of fulfillment. It cannot be kept by the natural man but it can be by the spiritual man. Jesus him- self set the example. He prayed for his enemies as he hung upon the cross. Indeed he died for us all while we were yet sinners, So great was his love. . The disciples of Jesus shared his love. As the enemies of Ste- phen gnashed on him with their teeth and then with loud shout- ing hurled stones upon him, he cried, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." Acts 7:60. Yes, the love o:f God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost shines forth in love to our en- emies. With this love it is easy to keep the golden rule wbich is our memory selection today, This is a handy rule to carry and will help us in any specific situation. It makes for honesty and purity. It can be practised in the law courts, too, On little thought one might think every criminal ,shoulld be let off. But, no, this would not be good for the criminal who would only go from bad to wotse were there no deterrent by way of punish- ment. It would not be good for other potential criminals nor society at large, The golden rule does not make, for softness. It males "for righteousness. The way that Jesus taught is practical. We canonly live it es we confess our sins and be- lieve on Him for our salvation, the change, according to the speculation of authorities. More people are living in cities where residents traditionally eat less pork than do country families. More people are living in the West today where beef, rather than pork, is the popular fare. Fewer people are living in the South where pork is tradition- ally an enormously popular meat. * * * The growing popularity of the family food freezer where fresh beef may be kept for long pe- riods under refrigeration is also considered to have had an in- fluence on the changing meat - eating habits of the nation. * * * Another possible factor is the beef industry's own beef -eating promotion campaign when the cattle industry hit a slump dur- ing the early days of the present administration. * * * It is considered probable that the hog and pork industry may launch a similar promotion drive as one way of putting pork products back into normal din- ner table campetition. * • * For the Eisenhower admini- stration, the situation presents another troublesome "farm prob- lem." The American Farm Bu- reau Federation has proposed a seven -point program for con- sideration including industry promotion, a stepped-up export program, the inclusion of pork in school lunch programs, and adoption of a system of quality rating for hogs and pork pro- ducts. Lass Horsepower More Morse Sense T h e American Automobile Assn. has come up with a reso- lution asking car manufacturers to stop emphasizing higher horsepower a n d concentrate more on safety devices for mo- torists. With some of the newer models sporting in the vicinity of 300 horsepower already, the resolution would seem to be past due. Nothing that we have seen in print has argued successfully that there should be more horse- power under the hoods of auto- mobiles than there is "horse sense" under the hats of their drivers. In fact, traffic tolls show a deplorable slippage in the ratio of horse sense to horse- power as more and more high speed vehicles take to rural road and expressway. Whether you define horsepower as the steam generated by a single equine or a unit Of power numerically equal to a rate of 33,000 foot pounds per mina* it adds up to a 101 when you foot around with two or three hwt- dred of them. The automobile association'e sugggestion that more time and ingenuity be put forth to devise vehicular safety gadgets should be hailed from here to Port- land, Me. Three hundred horse- power will put a man through a windshield faster and farther than two, hundred horsepower and these are the sort of re- cords that we are splashing alit over the front pages of our newspapers from coast to coast, The trend may be stylish, but it is also pure murder. A safety belt here and a revised dash- board there, coupled with some- what less "soup" at the acceler- ator, could add many happy years of living to many people, In the meantime—at the risk of appearing stupid --we might ask: why more horsepower? That is, unless we want our glistening Betsys to leap over walls from a standing start. And another thing—why not, special driving tests for the people who demand the higher horsepower? Diamonds From Outer Space Diamonds once fell from outer space. They were embedded hs a huge meteorite which plunged to earth at Arizona, in 1891.. It is only 160 years ago that scientists became convinced that meteorites did actually fall frons the sky. The largest meteorite eves, seen to fall came down in Ilam-• gary ninety years ago. It weigh- ed just over a quarter of a ton. Three rundred years ago a man was killed by a small meteorite which crashed on him as he walked through a Milan street The largest meteorite on ex- hibition, which weighs 36iix tons, is now in the American Museum of Natural History. TASTES LIKE MORE — Rita Holus- bert, packing house employs,, has no beef about this bacon.. Sliced from a smoke -cured rile cut of beef, it fries up like pork bacon, is said to resemble Cana- dian bacon in taste. Publication of President Eisenhower's break- fast menus at Fitzsimons Army Hospital, brought the !lido - known delicacy to nationwide attention. NEW SMELL -- The smell of oil now mingles with the odors from the barnyard on the form of Frank Hoge. The well is worth $74,50 a day to the once struggling farmer,, his share of they $596 the well's 200 barrels a day produce, Klondike Petroleum Compatry, of Muskegon, plans to drill two more wells' on Hoge'a land and another 40 or 50 in the area, reported one of the richestoil fields found in Michigan in years.