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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1959-03-26, Page 2Said He Owned Drake's Drum Ever since the time of the Spanish Armada, and even be- fore that, Drake's much -vaunted 'Arum has been shrouded in mys- tery which has puzzled many people, Did it really exist and what was the truth about it? At Buck land Monachorum (Buckland -of -the -Monks), n e a r Yelverton, the fifteenth -century church of St, Andrew is of great fnterest concerning this subject for here you will find the brake Chapel (b u 11 t by Sir Francis himself during the time when he lived at Buckland. Abbey, and rebuilt later in the reign of James I). This chapel is full of Drake history. About a mile south of the church is Buckland Abbey itself; and this building is probably without a rival in all Devon, so far as tradition goes, since it was the great Sir Francis Drake's own home. Nobody for many years has known the exact location of this strange drum. It appears to have been moving about a good deal, although it was certainly hous- ed in Buckland Abbey when a disastrous fire broke out there some years ago. The drum has been in the Citadel at Plymouth, among other places, and was supposed to have resided for some time somewhere in Somer- set. The drum's chief claim to fame lies in the fact that it was supposed to be heard beating a warning when Britain was in danger. It was heard by many during the time when Napoleon. had his huge army assembled across the Channel with the in- tention of invading our shores. And many believed they had heard it also in the early days of the second world war, when Hitler started a similar panic. Much of the mystery seems to be dissolving nowadays. Drake's Drum has been seen more fre- quently, and here is one of the most extraordinary incidents, fully vouched for by responsible people, in connection with the weird relic. In 1949, when the frigate H.M.S. Amethyst reached Ply- mouth after her amazing ex- ploits when running the gaunt- let of the Yangtze River, a re- ceptfion and celebration awaited her in the Duke of Cornwall Hotel. Here Drake's Drum bobbed up again after a long absence, and a well-known Fleet Street pho- tographer set out to get a really good picture of it. He had al- ready taken twenty-four photo- graphs of the general proceed- ings and was about to expose his twenty-fifth when he heard a voice behind him. The photo- grapher turned around and saw a man standing there. "You must not take that," the latter said, and when asked why, replied, "I am the owner " "Why do you object?" asked the photographer. The other gave no direct an- swer at first, then mentioned solemnly that the drum was haunted. He turned away and the photo- grapher, grinning to himself, took the picture — with eerie re- sults. Twenty-four of the snaps he took that day came out per- fectly. Only one plate was a complete blank—Drake's Drum! 03 HANDY TV — A new miniatur- ized television system for use in missiles can be held in a girl's hands. Jeanne Townley, holds the camera and main control package of the nine -pound, bat- tery -powered unit, With a 1',000 - "mile range, the tiny TV could be used to monitor behavior of missile components or living passengers in spate flight. It won't transmit pictures of space. 15:y. i; 12 — 1959 In Storage! Enough furniture a n d other belongings are stored away in Britain's depositories. to "furnish every home in at least three of Britain's largest cities," it was said recently. Before the first world war, a woman deposited a set of Victor•• fan knick-knacks which she had inherited from her mother. The woman lived in a small flat, which. could net accommodate them so she stored them away at the depository, declaring that for `sentimental reasons she would never part with them, Only when she died a few years ago were the knick-knacks dis posed of by her executors. Jig- saw puzzles are tame compared with the problems of depository., staffs who must store e v e r y article, large and small, so that it is readily accessible by the. owner. One well-to-do woman took all her furniture out of store, and put it back again four times in eighteen months. Before going. to live on the Riviera, a bachelor sent all the furniture from his four -room flat to a depository. He paid the rent for ten months, but af- ter that nothing more was heard of him. One British depository which has a large room full of unclaim- ed furniture, introduced a rule that it wouldretain goods for. three years and t h e n, if the owners could not be traced, the goods would be staid. Depositories have stored every- thing from trunks full of love - letters to a couple of human heads of dark-skinned chieftains which belonged to an authority on South Sea native life and cus- toms. The High Push Into Space Many millenniums ago, the discovery of fire enabled primi- tive man to cook his food, warm his cave, confound primeval beasts that.. would prey on him, and ultimately to have machines and, the stored energy of Sun and Earth do his work for him. In the dim recesses,of recorded history, the wheel evolved, and the lever was discovered. A long time back, the felled tree became a planked sailing ship. The horse was tamed, and on land, lake, river, and sea man was on the move — explor- ing, exploiting, conquering, plun- dering, colonizing, studying, building, whetting his thirst for knowledge, power, and wealth. Gradually, through the eons he has covered, carved up, and parceled out this 196,940,000 - square -mile spherical bit of celes- tial real estate we call Earth. Simon Lake's submarine per- mits us to putter around a few hundred feet below the ocean's surface, and the Wright brothers' wings allow us a crude kind of flight in the lower depths of the sea of air that envelops the Earth. Generally speaking, how- ever, throughout all ' of human history, man has lived .. right here on the surface of the Earth. And, in a restless sort of way, he has been content. With a few rare exceptions, he has never even contemplated the possibility of an alternative. Now, quietly and in the logical course of events, yet suddenly in the pro- foundness of its implications, he has another startling second choice. The successful launching of the first Moon rocket divides the course of human history into two parts. In the one just beginning, the infinite reaches of endless galaxies await man's arrival,and the Moon will be his first stop. In the next decades there is no aspect of human thought or ac- tivity that will not be affected by this incipient second phase of man's chronicle ... Initially, man is pursuing this escape from Earth for three reasons: The first is his innate inclina- tion to keep puhing back known frontiers, whether geographical, scientific, or philosophical, and all three are involved in the push into space. Like George Mallory who was asked why he wanted to assault Mount Everest and re- plied, "Because it's there," man is now moving into space because it's there and because his, sciences have provided him with the means of doing it. The second reason for seeking escape from Earth comes of a military :compulision, a survival instinct. The third reason, though per- haps not so currently compelling as number two, is nevertheless of vital long-term importance. This is the quest for knowledge. The basic structure of matter, the ori- gin of the planets, the solar sys- tem, and the universe, the secret of the chemistry of life itself, the., nature of gravity . , . these are the questions the scientists hope to answer through the study and exploration of space and other celestial bodies. The questions run to volumes, The new ques- tions that these answers raise will fill even greater volumes,—From "Rocket to the Moon," by Erik Bregaust and Seabrook Hull, OLD-TIMERS WILL KNOW WHAT THEY'RE FOR — Wooden ton- tainers,.above, were used as standards for dry measure in late 19th and early part ofthe:20th century: Metal measures are for 'liquid measure from one pint to one gallon. Yardstick is the "official" yard of the state' of Varmonth. TABLE TALKS °:..:..:. cans. Anckcws. Of course you know that di- rections for cooking a pot roast are entirely different from the regular sort, for it is browned and then cooked a long time in. moist heat. ' A . pot roast usually requires the addition of' liquid. Follow- ing is an old-fashioned cooking method, but it's hard to beat the fine flavor of meat cooked this way. It makes a superior meal from an economical cut,of beef. SWEET-SOUR POT ROAST 5 pounds boned pot roast 2 tablespoons shortening Va cup sliced onion 1 cup vinegar 3 cup brown sugar V4 teaspoon nutmeg Melt shorteninginheavy,ket-. tle. Brown meat in melted fat. Remove meat. Add onions and cook until transparent. Return meat to kettle. Add remaining ingredients. Cover tightly and simmer 3 hours or until meat is tender. If gravy is made, thicken brothby using 11 teablespoons flour for every cup of broth. Serves 8-10. a * • Here is a me,Qhod of scallop- ing potatoes on top of the stove —very handy when you're in a hurry. SKILLET -SCALLOPED POTATOES 6. medium-sized potatoes 4 tablespoons shortening 1 medium-sized onion,' peeled sliced 1 teaspoon salt ?4 teaspoon pepper 4 cup thin cream %/s cup cubed processed cheese Pare potatoes; slice thin. Heat shortening in large skillet Add potatoes, onion, and seasonings. Fry over low heat until. golden brown, turning frequently. Pour cream over potatoes, add cheese, and stir enough to mix. Cover and cook slowly over low heat for. 10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Serve piping hot. Serves 5-6. .r "5 * Would you like to serve some potato posies for dinner next time you have fish? POTATO POSIES' Pare 3 medium-sized potatoes and shred on medium shredder. Heat a small amount Of oil or shortening in a heavy skillet. Drop in potatoes, a spoonful at a time, like pancakes, Flatten a little, keeping the cakes rather thin. Turn when golden brown and brown on other side. Drain on paper towels, sprinkle with salt and onion or garlic salt, Serves 4-5, The, shaggy shreds make the petals of the posies. e * a This is a typical old - time pumpkin• pie enriched with tangy molasses and currants. We like 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon added to the crust mixture. For a richer pie, sprinkle top with a little sugar and cinnamon and dot with butter before baking. PUMPKIN -CURRANT PIE 1'%a cups pumpkin 1 cup milk 2 eggs 1 egg, separated rig or '/ cup of currants 3 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon 14 teaspoon cloves tA, teaspoon ginger /a' teaspoon salt hi cup molasses Grated' rind of half a lemon Dough for 1 9 -inch pie shell Mix pumpkin, milk, spices, salt, molasses, sugar and lemon rind• Add 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk, Mix well. Add currants. Beat 1 egg white stiff and fold into mix- ture. Pour into unbaked 9 -inch pie' shell. Bake at 460° F. for 15 minutes, Reduce heat to 325° F. and bake 30 minutes longer. This white almond cake is delicious served warm 'as "is'. The recipe makes 1 .9 -inch square single layer cake. WHITE ALMOND CAKE 6 tablespoons (3 ounces) butter 1 cup sugar 1cup cake flour 2 teaspoons baking powder V4 teaspoon salt 4 tablespoons milk 4 egg whites, beaten stiff but not dry s/4 teaspoon almond flavoring '/z cup blanched almonds 'h cup powdered sugar Cream butter; gradually add sugar, stirring well after each, addition. Sift flour, baking pow- der, and salt into thebutter mixture, alternating with milk. Add almond flavoring with the last of the milk. Beat with. spoon after each addition of •flour and milk. Beat egg whites stiff but not dry. Fold into bat- ter until' they entirely disappear. Pour batter into greased 9 -inch square pan. For. topping, mix together sliced almonds and powdered sugar and sprinkle evenly over batter. Bake in cen- ter of oven at 375° F. for 30 minutes. Got Lit Up On Electric Eels So great is the demand for eels in Britain to -day that extra quantities have to be imported from abroad. To help meet the demand, one Dutch ship now specializes in collecting eels from various countries and. delivering • them here. Part of her hull has been per- forated to let sea -water into the tanks that carry her live, wrig- gling cargo. The firm, white flesh of eels is the most highly nutritious of all our fishes. Some of the tast- iest eels come from Scotch salm- on waters, although in Scotland eels have never been popular as food for some unexplained rea- son. Many an athlete has trained on eels, firmly believing that "there's more strength in a.dish of eels than in a pound of steak." In Britain they have been catching and eating freshwater eels for centuries. In Anglo- Saxon times grants and charters were often regulated by pay- ments made in eels. Electric eels which have been found in the Amazon grow to a length of six feet and can give powerful electric shocks. Two were shown at a meeting of the New York Zoological So- ciety. Flexible metal bands were fixed round the fishes and wires attached to these bands were connected to neon lamps and an electric motor. When the eels were stimulated by tickling them, the lamps lit up and the wheel of the motor turned. "So you weren't in the least surprised that John had become a doctor?" "Not a bit. Why, even when he was at school his handwriting was pretty terrible" SALLY'S. SALVES "H. can't add and he ea d, 'Where dM you get that hay Do 'too Daydream The Future? Are you one of those rare people who can remember their daydreams from one day to the next? If so, have you noticed that some of these ,moments of reverie seem to come true? After nearly eighty years of investigating telepathic dreams, pre -vision and other psychic phenomena, members of the So- ciety for Psychical Research are turning their attention to day- dreams — and discovering that this harmless but apparently' time -wasting habit may supply the key to one of the great un- known factors of human life. In the year 1897 an author named Morgan Robertson day- dreamed of a, disaster at sea. He wrote it all down in a novel he called "Futility," published in 1898, the story of a huge Atlantic liner called the Titania which, loaded with wealthy passengers, srtuck an iceberg and sank On a freezing April night But it was not until April, 1912, that the liner Titanic sail- ed on her maiden voyage and met her terrible end. In the distant year 1526 the painter Albrecht Durer sat idly visualizing the. details of an imaginary picture and then rea- lized he had daydreamed some- thing unusual . , . "an enormous waterspout in the sky," as he said, "which came down and met the trees." He jotted it down in a water- colour but was still so impressed that he added the words, "May God help usl" It is all there in detail, the explosion of the first atom -bomb et Hiroshima, seen from a hilltop outside the town. But the atom-bonib did not fall, as we all know, until 1945. . . 420 years after Durer's strange vision. Can wt put it down to coinci- dence? Could he have foreseen 'the atom -bomb by pure chance One summer day in 1883 ,a Bost on newspaper reporter named, Soames chanced tohear that earth tremors had been de- tected from the Indian Ocean. Unashamedly, he dreamed up a fantastic tale of a great volcanic eruption on the island of Kra- katoa and sold it to the news- papers, claiming secret sources of information. Half the island had been blown ,away, he reported, with a terri- ble toll of thousands of lives. Coastal villages had been de- stroyed by tidal waves. Villagers inland had been killed by rocks falling from high in the air. When the report was published and no confirmation came, -edi- tors suspected a hoax. It was a month before the news leaked through of the, terrible eruption on Krakatoa, occurring much as Soames had told it. How had he so accurately daydreamed a dis- aster occurring many thousands. of miles away? There is evidence that day- dreams materialize for ordinary people as well asfor authors, artists and others known to be gifted withvivid imagination, Air Marshal Sir Victor Goddard has told how he was at a cock- tail party when he heard two other guests saying, "Air Mar- shal Sir Victor Goddard `ought to have been here. But he's dead. Died Jest night in an air crash." Amused, Sir Victor told them he was very much alive. Apolo- gizing, the startled guest ex- plained, ""I must have daydream- ed it. I thought it was true. It was in the evening, in a snow- storm, off the coast, a rocky shore. , " The Air Marshal was deeply disturbed, for he was making such an air journey He had no logical reason for cancelling the trip. He went on his way — and it all happened as foretold; the evening flight, the snowstorm, the crash on a rocky shore, For- tunately, the passengers escaped unscathed. The scientists believe that the reverie, the random wandering of the mind when it is off Its guard, may be closer linked than we imagine with the trance state of the medium, or the profound freedom of thought, in sleep, of the dreamer, A classic Instance was staged some years ago when, in a light trance, the medium Mrs. Os- borne Leonard tried re foresee the first page of .to -morrow's newspaper. Neither the editor nor the compositor could tell what text would appear in the various columns of that edition. Mrs. Leonard found 'the head- lines blurred. She could not, it seems, clearly foresee to -mor- row's news. But she was able to give the approximate positions on the page of twelve names. and place names. All but two proved correct. On the isle of Mauritius there Was once a lighthouse keeper who could foretell the arrival of a ship up to three days before she appeared over the horizon. It is recorded that • he presaW the arrival of 575 vessels, often from as far as 800 miles away, The keeper, named Bottineau, declared that he could register their coming if he cleared his mind of all other thoughts. Then there is the amazing .ex ample of how, on the night be- fore the great Tokyo earthquake of 1923, the howling of dogs in the city was so widespread and persistentthat many people were convinced it Was a portent. Minutes before the Quetta earthquake dogs pulled their owners from their beds, acting with suchpersistence. that house- holders got up to see what was wrong and thus, saved •their lives. Have dogs a natural knowledge of the future, a sixth sense of coming events, that man has for- gotten to develop? Can we all foresee the future in those mus- ing moments when we let our •imaginations run riot? Watch those :daydreams — and then watch events. Printed Pattern LUNCHEON DATE features spring's newest fashion — the Empire sheath. The graceful curve of the midriff is accented by the high- rise seaming. Shapely fit of the midriff is due to a 12 -inch Talon's Magic Zip dress zipper that shows you (via sewing -guide line) exactly whereto stitch. Printed Pattern 4880 is available in Misses' Sizes 10, 12, 14, 18, 18, To order, send 50 cents (stamps cannot be accepted; rise postal note for safety) .for this pattern. Please print plainly YOUR NAME, ADDRESS, SIZE and STYLE NUMItER, Send your order to ANNE ADAMS, Box 1, 123 Eigh- teenth SL, New Toronto, Ont.