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The Seaforth News, 1959-04-09, Page 2Seo Captain Ft Healing Fingers The Dutch ship Priri Willem U was steaming at 10 knots south of Iceland' when she was struck amidships by a torpedo. Three seconds later a second tors pedo struck her, The ship split in two and sank in four minutes, .Feike Vlas, first mate of the stricken freighter, found him self struggling to keep afloat. in the freezing, stormy water. Not a powerful swimmer, he saw some wreckage and strug- gled towards it and clung with half -frozen fingers to an up- turned lifeboat. Near him he saw another seaman struggling feebly in the water and, des- p>,te his own danger, Vlas grab- bed at the man and dragged bun to the boat. The two men, who were later joined by another, clung to the lifeboat for twenty minutes uu• 111 they saw a battered but up- right lifeboat drifting past Henk Diemeer and Frans Diepeveen struck out for this boat and reached it safely and, with scraps of planks taken from the sea, managed to manoeuvre it close enough for the near -dead Vias to clutch at the low gun- wale and haul himself aboard.. Daylight of April 9th, 1941, found the three men almost fro- zen stiff in the boat with Diepe- veen violently seasick and trying to throw himself overboard to die quickly, As Diemeer fought to prevent Diepeveen doing so, Vlas crawl- ed through the water - logged boat and reached out to help hold the sick man down, "Take it easy," Vlas urged, "we are all right now. We will be picked up!" To help pacify the violently sick deckhand, First Mate Vlas passed his right hand over the man's brow, speaking soothing- ly to him all the time, "I cannot describe what happened," Vlas said in Canada recently. "It was like a miracle, The seaman calmed at once and almost instantly stopped detch- ing. He sat up with the water in the boat up to his waist and looked around in bewilderment." Vlas—now a captain—did not at that time realize the curious and quite inexplicable power he held in his fingertips. All that he knew was that somehow his act of touching the sailor's head had immediately soothed the man and stopped his retching, Next day, Diemeer, too, be- came violently sick and towards evening he was almost dement ed. Fearing that he might jump overboard in the night to end his misery, Vias sat with him and tried to comfort him. He reached over and wiped the sea water from the man't forehead. Agars that inexplicable change came over the man the moment Vlas's hand brushed his brow. Diem- eer stopped retching and recov- ered considerably. Next morning the lookout man aboard the Swedish ship Klip- varen sighted the lifeboat and the three men were soon rescued. Captain Vlas, who is now fif- ty-six years old, never gave the incidents aboard the lifeboat an- other thought. He returned to sea as soon as he was well enough. It was not until 1947, when he was chief officer of a Dutch migrant ship en -route to Can- ada, that another strange inci- dent occurred. He was on the bridge when the ship's doctor casually mentioned a rather un- usual case to him, "1 hope we run out of this Pout weather soon," the doctor said, "There's a poor woman down below who has been vio- lently seasick ever since we left Rotterdam . , • hasen't kept even a teaspoonful of water down. She also has a temperature and her head feels like a bail of fire." At that moment Captain Vlas suddenly remembered the toss- ing lifeboat in 1941. He decided, to go to see the woman, and as he stood next to her bunk and saw how ill she was, he leaned over and placed his right .palm. cis her forehead, Suddenly, the woman opened her eyes and tried to sit up. A nurse hurried over: with a glass of water which the: woman swallowed, "I'm starving," the passenger said. "Can I have something to eat, please?". The woman was fed and the next day on deck she walked up to the -first officer and began to thank him for curing her, "The doctor cured you, Mad- am," Vlas said. "I am not the doctor." "Oh, no," she said, "you cur- ed me of my sickness. The doc- tor told me," One the very next voyage homewards several seasick pas- sengers were instructed by the ship's doctor to report to Feike Vlas and to ask him if he would touch their foreheads with his fingertips. Even the sceptical had to be- lieve when sone after another the passengers were cured al- most instantly of their seasick- ness. It was uncanny, unbeliev- able — yet each person who was violently seasick recovered with- in moments of being touched, Captain Vlas has never dis- cussed his strange .ability fully. "There is nothing to tell," he says. "I cannot explain it. No one can." But this extraordinary ability does not end with seasickness. Captain Vlas, who was only re- cently appointed master of the flagship of the Fjell-Oranje Lines, discovered quite by ac- cident that his magic fingers can alsocure such things as tooth- ache and headache, His passengers 'fully appreci- ate his ability for recently, when the Prins Willem van Oranje ran into a North Atlantic gale and many were seasick, Captain Vias was so quick with his mir- aculous cures that at the end of the volage the passengers, got together and conferred On him an honour, which is probably unique in shipping annals. As briefly reported in the press recently, they drew up an illuminated parchment confer- ring On him a "Certificate of Passengerhood." What can account for the strange curative powers in Cap- tain Vlas's fingertips? From sci- entists there is only one reply: "We cannot explain it. It can- not be faith -healing because his passengers do not -participate in the sense that they believe. He touches them, often without them even knowing about it, and cures them, There simply is no logical explanation for. Cap- tain Vlas's healing fingers." A woman slipped on a sub- way escalator and started to - tumble down to the bottom. Half -way down she collided with a man, knocking him down, and the two continued downwards together. After they had reached the bottom, the woman, still dazed, continued to sit on the man's chest. Looking up at her he said politely: "I'm sorry, madam, but this is as far as I go," Man's conscience does not prevent him from sinning, it merely prevents him from en- joying his sin. GLIDEOMETER — Speed -skating competitors at Squaw Valley, get together on one thing, They both want to know: "How slick is the ice?" Gadget, pictured, is a miniature, spring- propelled sled. Distance, it glides is compared against per- formance figures on ice of other rinks, Gadget belongs to Russian assistant team manager Ivan Anikarov, left. Watching the t=st is S vedish speed skater Hans Wilhelmsson. JetAge Flu Bugs Strike Hitch -Hike on Planes From Europe By JERRY BENNETT NEA Staff Correspondent Washington— Flu bugs have started, to travel by jet. Public Health officials believe that many of the viruses respons- able for influenza outbreaks in the 'U.S. and Canada this year are tiny tourist from Europe who hitched a ride in the nostrils and lungs of jet passengers, ' •Influenza has been sweeping England and Wales since early February and has killed almost 1,000 persons. Russia' also is re- ported hard-hit by flu, but the disease rate there is not known, Other countries suffering are Sweden, France, . Switzerland, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands and Bulgaria. Travelers from Europe are be- lieved to have carried bugs that caused the recent flu outbreaks in Washington, D,C., Maryland, Virginia, Mb e h i g a n, Indiana, Massachussetts, New Jersey and Georgia. Those who traveled by jet probably set a transatlantic speed record'far spreading a flu epidemic. For years health experts have viewed faster commercial trans- portation as a boon to viruses. Transatlantic travel by ship used to, be slow enough so that passen- gers who had been exposed. to the flu could develop the dis- ease and get well before reaching their destination. It takes from two to seven days for flu bugs to make a per- son sick after entering his body. Average duration of the ailment is four days. • Now, however, a person can travel across the Atlantic by ship in four days and by plane in a few hours. Travelers can pick up a virus before leaving a foreign country and not get sick until several days after they get home. The result is that chances are in- creased for people to contract a disease that originated thousands of miles away, • Luckily, theflu bug that's do- ing the damage this year is milder than the Asian variety that swept mai of the globe in 1957-58. It's the Great Lakes strain of the. Type -I3 virus. Influenza viruses are divided. into five major classifications A, B, C. D and B. Each class has several subdivisions called strains. Asian flu was .caused by a partciular strain of the Type - A virus. Asian flu is • believed respon- sible for mostof the influenza bed rest is the best' cure for Type -B flu, They advise patients to keep warm and call a doctor if their temperature rises much above normal, Most flu victims this year have been children under 13, The rear son that the bug is picking on. youngsters, doctors say, is that the U.S, has not had a major outbreak of Type -B flu since • 1945. Kids born after that 'year have never been exposed to the bug, therefore have never had a chance to build up immunity to it. Public Health officials don't ex- pect flu to sweep the country be - PASSENGERS DEBARKING FROM A JET: In their lungs an un- invited hitch -hiker. in Russia and Bulgaria this year. Some cases also have been found in England along with the pre- dominate B variety. Public Health officials • know of only one case of Asian flu in the U.S. A teen -aged 'girl con- tracted the disease on board a ship returning from Europe and was hospitalized in New York as soon as the ship docked. Usual symptoms of Type -B virus are chills, sniffles, aches and pains and a fever that sel- dom goes above 101 degrees. The Asian flu often shot temperatures as high as 104. Doctors say that cause the winter season, in which fiu thrives, is almost over. The nearness of spring is also the reason' doctors don't recom- mend a mass vaccination pro- gram at this time. It takes two shots spaced four to six weeks apartto provide immunity against flu. And two weeks are required after the second dose for the vaccine to take 'effect. Vaccinations, however, are still recommended for special risk cases such as elderly persons, the chronically ill and pregnant wo- men to give them at least par- tial protection. TABLE TALKS dam Recipes for cooking Chicken are by nomeans scarce, but the following method of baking chicken on top of the stove may be new to some of you. • It• is especially useful for small fami- lies or if, for some 'reason, you do not wish to use your oven. 5 5 a For the top - of - range stuffed. chicken, selecta, stewing chick- en that weighs from 33/2 to 4 pounds, ready -to -cook weight. Rinse in cold water. Drain well. Spoon stuffing into neck and body cavities. Truss this way — tuck drumsticks under the band of skin and tie the wings flat against breast, bringing cord over drumsticks. Using just enough moderately hot cooking fat to cover the bottom of your Dutch oven, brown slowly, tann- ing to brawn all sides — about 45 minutes. (Additional fat comes from chicken as it browns: Re- duce heat, Add 3/a cup water; cover tightly and simmer until fork tender, add small whole onions and carrots the last 45 minutes. Prepare gravy with drippings. * a N If you want to roast your chicken in your oven buy a roast- ing chicken, rub cavity with salt, stuff, and truss it. Brush skin thoroughly with fat and place the chicken; breast up or down whichever you prefer, on a rack at least 1/4 -inch high in a shallow, open pan. Cover top of chicken with thin fat -moisten- ed cloth. Do not wrap, bird in cloth (the cloth helps in uni- form browning and makes bast- ing unnecessary). Roast at a con- stant temperature of 325° F. Do not sear, add water or cover. If cloth dries during cooking, moisten cloth with fat drippings in pan. If you have started it breast down, turn breast up when about three-quarters done. This is the approximate roast- ing time for ready -to -cook weights: 23/2-3312 pounds, 2-3 hours; 33/2-4s/a pounds, 3-3312 hours; 4%-6 pounds, 3312 to 4 hours, 7 5 e To Prepare Chicken Gravy "Drippings", means the fat and meat juices which collect in the roasting pan, Pour drippings into measuring cup, leaving brown residue in pan, For each cup of gravy desired, use 1/ table- spoons each of fat and flour and 1 cup liquid, Measure the quantity of fat needed back into tre roasting pan. PIace over low heat and cook slowly until frothy, stir- ring constantly with pancake turner, blender, spoon or whisk. Add measured flour to fat. Blend thoroughly and brown, if de- Sired. Add the cool or lukewarm (not hot) liquid all at once. Cook and stir constantly until uni- formly thickened. While stirring, blend brown residue into the gravy. Simmer 5 minutes. Sea- son to taste. Serve hot. * * d This morning being cold and rainy, I cast about in thought for something "'nice" for break- fast. A friend, who frequently favors me with delectable But- termilk Hot Cakes when here 'for a weekend, was high and dry in her own apartment some miles away but I ' wanted 'something right now, write Janet L. Lang in The Christian Science Monitor. Memory stirred with recollec- tions of wintry mornings in Iowa when I would awaken to the beat . of a spoon .in a certain aluminum "Johnny Cake" .pan. This unmistakable sound •coming up the stairway accompanied by aroma of frying bacon drew me out of my snugly warmth. The frosty coldness of an unheated upstairs gave plenty of encour- agement to dress quickly (as if this were necessary). Downstairs, I would find Dad just 'adding the last milk to, make sure the batter was thin enough. The kitchen range would be glowing with a 450 degree F. oven ready to do its part, and pans of bubbling fat on the back of the stOve awaited the' "Johnny Cake" batter, * 5 5 , I have never seen a recipe for our kind of Johnny Cake in Cookbooks. I believe most folks understand it to be a hot bread: eaten with butter and honey or jelly✓Our Johnny Cake is of an entirely different consistency, re- maining' quite soft in the cen- ter and having crisp and crusty outsides, and being only about an inch thick when fully baked. It has no baking powder ,or soda in it. The secret of success is having the grease in the bak- ing pans hot enough so it will bubble completely over the bat- ter when poured in. Would you like to try some? Break 1 egg in a bowl and add: 2 teaspoons salt 1 cup sweet milk y cup (heaping) cornmeal 14 cup flour, and mfx well. Add about another cup -of milk to make very thin batter. Put about 3, inch lard or other shortening in 10" iron skillet (enough to cover batter). Get this piping hot• on stove — pour batter into it and immediately ,put into hot oven (450 degrees F.) Bake about 12 minutes by which time it will be golden brown on. top and 'have a lacy crust around the sides of the skillet. Serve with butter and syrup. Perhaps you had better double the recipe! In Plain English Three cheers for Joh« She., talc of Norwallc, Conn, Shot :, a druggist and state represent tive, objects to the gobbledygook. on Connecticut's highway signs. He has sumbittecl a bill to have them translated into, plain Eng lash, He is particularly irked by the Connecticut Turnpike sign which says "Crossing Median Divider Prohibited" rather than. "Don't Cross he Centre Strip." We are with him on that. If the exponents of bureau- cratic English get a firm grip on the traffic sign business, the old STO sign is likely to turn into Decelerate Your Vehicle at a Rate in 'Perms of Original Speed That Will Cause All Forward Motion to Discontinue at a Point on a Line Drawn' at a 90- Degree Angle to This Standard. The sign -painters • may not love Representative Shostak, But 'the ordinary motorist who left his Webster's Unabridged at home is with him all the way.— WORCESTER (Mass.) GAZETTE Keeping Silence Can Be Dangerous For eight years a Balham, London, man refused to speak to his wife. The reason, said a di- vorce court judge recently, was that the husband found a letter to her from another man. The husband, a bus driver, wouldn't say a word, even though his wife begged him to speak. Instead he, wrote notes such as: "Don't get dinner on Saturday or Sunday. Dinner money on mantel -piece." Yet all this time the wife -s, cooked his meals and washed his • clothes, and they shared ti,e same bedroom, even the same bed, Finding the silence unbeas-. able, ' the 'wife left • home, but even then she went to the house at week -ends to clean and cook. Eventually, the husband's soli- citors wrote asking her to stop these visits. The wife who had suffered so much was granted a decree nisi because of her husband's deser- tion. His petition • alleging she had deserted him was rejected. Another husband, from Bag- shot, Surrey, would send his wife '"to Coventry" for months at a time. During those periods all he said was "Thank you" 'for his breakfast, "Good-bye" when he left for work, and "Hullo!" when he returned. Granting a decree nisi to the woman on the grounds of cruel•• ty and desertion, -the divorce court judge .remarked: "That sort of conduct can be more de- vastating than .violence.' Another wife complained that the effect of her husband's long silences made her feel "closed in as if the walls were coming in on me." When she protested, her hus- band asked what he should talk about. She replied, "The weather or anything rather than remain silent" But the judge refused a de- cree to this wife, saying , the! such conduct did not amount to cruelty in law. The . wife had been looking for an excuse to get rid of her husband, added the judge. Despite what you may have heard, Alcatraz s stili the only pen wth a lifetime •guarantee. ISSUE 14 — 1959 NEW STATE CAPITOL BUILDING - Historic tolar/i Palace in Honolulu will be the capitol building of the newest State of the Onion, Hs wcii. It was the seat of the Territorial govern- ment, The last ruler of tate isia sa monarchy, Gucen liliuokalarii, left the palace on July 4, 1894, when Hawaii became a republic.