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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1954-06-03, Page 64,4:014 "Dear Anne Hirst: 1 am 23. I left my position to take care of my ill mother and the house but I grew so nervous that I became 111; and it was decided I'd have to live somewhere else, A mar- ried brother took me in, and I Improved immensely. I would have stayed there, but his wife made my life intolerable — t0 get rid of lee, she admitted later. "The more she hurt me, the kinder I was, for I wanted her to like me, I worked part-time in an office, and helped her with the housework and the children, did my own cooking a n d laundry, and my mother paid her for keep - ink, me there, But I was miser- able, MORE DISTURBANCE "Circumstances made it pos- sible for me to move into a down- stairs apartment. My sister-in-law resumed her persecutions, which frustrated me so I had to give up my job. I lived almost like a re- eise. Mother forced me to visit a psychiatrist, but that only made me more despondent. "The situation is intolerable, I am back where I started six years ago, suffering physically, emo- tionally and spiritually, I am los- ing faith in mankind. All around me I see others who are selfish and mean, yet they are healthy and happy; I have tried being kind and good, and all I've got is ill -health, unhappiness and an ab- normal life. I cannot tolerate my- self! "I know you have no solution, but I have to tell someone. Any reply you give will be appreci- ated. MISERABLE" EACH GARMENT ale 51" 4860 �o-le /)Ri'`. ONE YARD 54 -inch fabric for bolero! DITTO for skirt! No need to bankrupt your budget for a new outfit --lust choose a lus- cious wool remnant, sew this! Couldn't be easier — diagrams show you how few seams there are. Pattern 4860: Misses' Sizes 10, 12, 14, 18, 18. Bolero, skirt in all sizes take 1 yard 54 -inch fabric for each garment. This pattern easy to use, sim- ple to sew, is tested for fit. Has eomplete illustrated instructions. Send THIRTY • FIVE CENTTS (35c) in coins (stamps cannot be accepted) for this pattern. Print plainly SIZE, NAME, ADDRESS, STYLE NUMBER. Send order to Box 1, 123 Eighteenth St., New Toronto, Ont. " Will you, a young woman of °` 23, let yourself be defeated by " eiz'cumstances y o u can n o t * change? Trouble and confusion * have beseiged you, but where o is your backbone? Everything * depends upon your will to over * oOme these supersensitive ten- °' denotes that plague you, What ° you need first, in my opinion, ° is a guiding hand to point the * way. o I urge you to talk this over * frankly with your minister. He * can help you restore faith in * yourself and your future, show you how to regain self-eonfi- * dence, and to give you positive * assurance that we are not given * bur dens we are not able to • carry. Regular church attend- * once and a firm belief in the * power of prayer has brought * peace to many a troubled soul, * and renewed their faith in man- * kind. With' your minister's help, * it should do the same for you, * He can suggest activities * within the church that will lift * you out of yourself and open * your eyes to the importance Of * friendship. You will meet some * people who are worse Off than * you, and in helping them you * will forget your own difficulties * and learn the joy of service * and the satisfaction of feeling * needed. * As to your sister-in-law, she * is as she is. Certain tempera- * ments can never assimilate with * opposites, and it is up to the * victim to make allowances and * suffer without bitterness, You * have made encouraging pro- " grecs toward that goal, and if * you build an armor about your- * self her slurs cannot penetrate * it. * Perhaps your mother or your * minister knows some nearby * family who will welcome you * as a paying guest; there you * would share a normal affection- " ate family life an you should * make long strides toward a * happier outlook on the world * you live in. The idea may not * be welcome, but it is worth * considering. ' Naturally, you will keep in * touch with your physician and * have the required check-ups to * measure your improvement, * Meanwhile, seek help through * faith. Cultivate an interest in * other ,people, and if you will * to, you can dig yourself out of * this self-pitying slough into a * useful and fuller life. * e * 2eace of mind can be achieved by renewing one's faith In her- self and others, using one's will power and trusting in prayer. Anne Hirst's understanding can steer you on the right course. Write her at Box 1, 123 Eigh- teenth St., New Toronto, Ont, dd ikini" Swirl) Suits Are Old Stuff Proof that more than 2,000 years ago young and shapely women enjoyed displaying their figures when they went for their dail, swim has been found by a party of archaeologists excavat- ting the site of a prehistoric city in India, Their spades "surfaced" r won- derfulIy graceful life-size stone statue of a beautiful Indian danc- er aged about twenty-two. What do you think she was wearing, ladies? A super -quality bikini -style bathing costume far more attractive than the most exatic twentieth-century swim- ming wear. It was fashioned with thread of pure gold and, despite the dust of twenty centuries, it glistened in the sunshine as the statue was carefully excavated, Statue and costume were in a wonderful state of preservation. The gold- en "bikini" must be worth a for- tune. Said at. oifciai: "It would be hard to find a more fashionable bathing costume oven on the r'rench Riviera." LIFE' A SERIOUS BUSINESS, THESE DAYS --Phots bs Floe $r,,ith*,'s On Graduation Day — Five-year-old Larry Duncan is so happy about graduating from kindergarten, he kisses Janice Bryan, 5, a fellow graduate. From her facial expression it`appears that Janice isn't too happy about the idea. RONICLES .gra �' z�,,, FARM Qo,,a.tui.pStevt. C Clerttkef "It is an ill wnid that blows no one any good", No doubt wet Weather and delayed spring seed- ing was one reason for the large attendance of women at the W.I. Officers' Conference h e 1 d In Guelph last week. Another rea- son would be that no one en- titled to go would want to miss the Conference, especially as it is one of those things that every year, in every way, gets , better and better. One day — Friday -- was all the time I could man- age — but what a day it was, never a dull moment, except for the weather, and that didn't - count. No doubt you who are W.I. members will get a full report from your president at your next meeting, but I would like to give a few of my own impressions. The theme was "Start Where You Are With What You Have" — excellent advice at any level. The importance of studying the handbook was particularly em- phasized. And where better can you make a start than from the handbook? A properly conduct- ed meeting is always interesting. It is only when the business ses- sion is allowed to drag that it becomes boring. Mrs. Clarence Hayes gave the how and why in her report of the discu:.'an re- ports held the previous day. It is several years since I had heard Mrs. Hayes but I found her just as interesting as always, Mrs. Hayes never pulls any punches. She has a way of making you wonder whether you measure ui5 to what is expected of a,good of- ficer or W.I. member. Her ques- tions and remarks actually be- come a challenge, An Edinburgh W.I. visitor spoke briefly, She was of the opinion that we do not have as much fun at our meeting as they do in the Old Country. No doubt she is right — so what can we do about it? Pepped up busin- ess sessions would certainly pro- vide more time for social and recreational periods. And the "pepping up" process depends not only on the president but on all members of the branch. When it comes to fun what a time we would have if there were even one Member in each branch capable of creating en- joyment as does Padre W.A. Young of the O.A.C. His spon- taneous gaity as he leads the community singing bubbles up and spills over so that he car- ries everyone in his audience along with him, Actually there may be W.I. members who could do just that if they could forgot to be self-conscious and just let themselves go, Arf if there is furl and laughter in our hearts was there ever a time more nec- essary than now for sharing it with our friends? Miss Ethel Chapman was an- other speaker whom everyone enjoyed. There is never any lack of attention when Miss Chapman is speaking -- and last Friday was no exception. I have heard her speak many times but I think possibly this last address was the best yet. It was sympa- thetic. provocative, helpful and humourous --- a n d certainly abreast of the times. Miss Chap- man quoted this little verse from "The Farm Wife" in connection with the one-time isolation of countrywomen. "She never climbed a noun tail), she never heard the sea, But always watched a wind- ing road that ended aimlessly." Then added Miss Chapman -- "The farm wife doesn't stay at home any more watching the road . , . she is on it — usually in a good cause." The proof of that statement was in the attendance of hundreds of women at the Conference. Then came Mrs, Ellen Fair- clough, M.P. Hamilton, An ex- cellent speaker and extremely diplomatic, She trod on nobody's toes. From her remarks it would have been impossible to guess at h e r political affiliation. She stressed the importance of fam- ily life; of parents training their children to form opinions. She spoke of untrained thinking as "a dangerous process"; that chil- dren should be taught tolerance; to approach problems of the day with an open mind; to turn youngsters out into the world who had ' not been trained to think was like sending a person out with a car without previous lesons in driving. R, B. Currie, Chief of Nation- al Defence and Welfare, spoke on civil defence in Canada. Not spec- ifically of bomb attacks and air raid drills, but rather what wo- men could do towards civil de- fence in times of emergency, in peace and war. To train them- selves in mass production of meals: in caring for those in need of shelter and clothing. Mr. Currie, without being an alarm- ist, left us with the impression that, in this day and age, com- placency was as much a threat to our safety as communism. And now a word about Miss Anna P. Lewis. I sometimes think we are inclined to take Miss Lewis a little too much for granted. The success of the W.I. and the F.W.I.O. during the last few years has been, to a great extent, the result of the untiring leadership of Miss Lewis. Since she took office in 1945 she has had a great deal of heavy respell. sibility, In 1947 there was the 5 0 t h Anniversary celebration and in 1953 the Conference of the ACWW in Toronto, both maj- or undertakings. So I think we should all take our hats off to Miss Lewis, Director of the W.I. Branch and Home Economics Service of Ontario. "Wreck" Of Whale Makes Grief .P1 " rata When is a whale not a whale? When it's a wreck. That, at least, is the conclusion reached reluctantly by the Receiver of Wrecks at the Custom House in Ireland. Earlier this year, as the sun was setting over Galway Bay, a seven -ton whale was washed ashore near Aughrisberg, Clad- daghduff, in wild Connemara. Nicknamed "Winnie," t h e whale was an object of interest for sightseers for long enough, until the local authority decided it should be removed. But that was easier said than done. Winnie — ail 70 feet of her — defied all efforts to cart her away. Then the matter went before a higher authority, and the solution was left to the Gal- way County Manager, Mr. C. I. Flynn. But there was no para- graph in the book of rules tell- ing what should be done with washed-up whales. There was only one heading under. which Winnie could be classified. So now to the Cus- tom House here has come a let- ter stating that in due•course an order will be made directing that "FormA" be served on the Receiver of Wrecks requiring him to dispose of the carcass of this particular wreck within a time to be specified. Soon Winnie will be gone — together witih the wind that re- minded people of her presence when it hie e, in a certain direc- tion. - Unsolved Murder Was She Guilty So ninny questions remained unanswered. when Hannah Dobbs was found not guilty — so many might haveb een an- swered had judge and jury known what was subsequently to be revealed, Miss Hacker was herself a strange woman — sixty years old, deformed, friendless, mean to the point of madness, yet rich enough for meanness to be called eccentricity, In the year 1878 she arrived in London from her native Can- terbury to beeome a lodger in the house of Mr. Severin Bas- tindoff and his wife at Euston Square. Among the belongings she took with her was a large cash -box containing — so Bas- tindoff declared later — a sub- stantial sum of money in Ave- pound notes. On October 14th, a Sunday, she was alone in the house for some hours with Hannah Dobbs, the Bastindoffs' attractive, twen- ty -four-year-old servant. By this time she was, for some unknown reason, in arrears with her rent, and on Monday morning Bastindoff re- marked on the fact to his wife and said that it must be paid. Without hesitating, the servant Hannah offered to collect it, and rushed past her master up the stairs, In a few minutes she re- turned holding a . five -pound note. Bastindoff gave her the change to take back. Later that morning Hannah remarked to her mistress that the old lady was offended and seemed likely to move out. "In fact," she added, "it's my belief she's already gone. I haven't heard her moving about in her room." Miss Hacker had indeed left. . You may think that Mrs, Bas- tindoff was not a very efficient housekeeper, for she did not en- ter the empty room until two days later. She saw a stain on the carpet, which was wet be- yond the edges of the stain, as though someone had tried to wash it out. By May 9th of the following year, 1879, the Bastindoffs had a new lodger. He bought his own coal and asked for a space to be cleared so that he could store it. There was a large cellar under the house, filled with lumber that had accumulated over the years. Bastindoff em- ployed men to clear a space and behind some trunks they found a decomposed body. The police were called in, and it was soon established that the body was that of Matilda Hack- er. It was identified by the de- formed spine; a n d rotting clothes added silent corrobora- tion. Round the neck was a rope, but whether this had been the cause of death or whether it had been used to drag the body to the cellar could not be deter- mined. Mrs. Bastindoff recalled the stain on the carpet, and even in those early days of forensic sci- ence it was possible to tell- that the stain had been made by hu- man blood. It was considered that Miss Hacker had been kill- ed with a knife. Soon detectives were taking en interest in Hannah Dobbs. They found the address to which she had moved from Euston Square, only to learn that she had left long since, leaving her trunk, and her rent unpaid The trunk was opened and among her clothes were found jewel- lery and and oddments that had belonged to Miss Hacker. She was traced, arrested and charged with murder. Further investigations strength- ened the case against her Be- fore she left Ruston Square she had given a book of dreams be- longing to Miss Hacker to a child who lived nearby, To an- other child she had given a large broken cash -box. Shortly after October 14th she had been seen wearing a watch and rings which had belonged to bliss Hacker. The evidence against Hannah Dobbs at the Old Bailey in June of 1879 was purely circumstan- tial, and the chief witness were the Basindoffs, For the defence it was argued that a slight girl could never have committed the murder and then dragged a heavy body down to the cellar unaided. Mr. Mead, who defended, also made a great point of the Bas- tindoffs' lack of curiosity about the sudden departure of their wealthy lodger. The jury gave Hannah the benefit of the doubt — and she was found not guilty. When Hannah Dobbs was re- leased she became a popular heroine, with a certain section of the public. Among her ad- mirers was a Mr. Purkiss, who was the proprietor of the 'Police News.' Before long this journal published a pamphlet which purported to be the true life -story of Hannah, Among the allega- tions contained in it was a state- ment that Hannah had been the mistress of Severin Bastindoff, Bastindoff retaliated by in- structing his silicitors to apply for a High Court injunction to prevent any further publication of the pamphlet, in connection with which he filed an affidavit denying the allegation. Mr. Pur- kiss was equally swift in his action. He took out a summons against Bastindoff for perjury. Bastindoff appeared before a magistrate and was committed fox trial. The case was heard at the Old Bailey before the same judge who had tried Hannah Dobbs for murder. The situation was reversed: Hannah stood in the witness -box and her late em- ployer stood in dock. It was a very different Hannah from the drab figure who had pleaded not guilty to murder, for she was now fashionably dressed and sewsfull of confidence. ` -" This was shaken a little when in cross-examination, she was ''.'" -,,,..;e4 _e forced to confess that at one time in her life she had been- ". convicted of theft : ea She had first met Severin Bas- :; -- tindoff when she was a servant in Torrington Square, and fel- low -servants described how the pair had gone out together by night. Even more conclusive was the evidence of a Mrs. Carpen- ter who owned a small hotel at Redhill, Mrs. Carpenter identi- fled the pair as having spent the night at her hotel. Severin Bastindoff was event- ually found guilty of perjury and was sentenced to twelve months hard labour. There the case ends so tar as the courts are concerned. Some body murdered Matilda Hacker;!" somebody got away with mur- der. What is your verdict? Amniversaty - the German Post Office will soon issue this stamp commemorating the 100th an-' niversary of Ottmar Mergen- thaler's birth. He was the in- ventor of the Linotype machine which revolutionized newspaper typesetting. Who Won? — This "Racetrack Hat" fashioned of burnt foghorn straw keeps the sun out of the eyes, all right, and also the pain. Sul sight of your horse coming in last. "Emmet," millinery designer, used rope to trim the summery creation.