Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1959-11-12, Page 2Posed As Playboy • To Catch Criminal small crowd had gathered to watch his arrival. Gibbet Street, on that day of blazing sunshine., was still ugly and de- pressing. But the cloth -capped workers and the mill lasses, in overalls, paid no attention to the gaunt houses with their faded curtains and paint -peeled window frames. Their eyes were on the dust - spattered black police ear which had swung into the street. "'E's 'ere," they whispered. "An' don't he look the part?" He certainly did. Ilis Musso- lini-like chin jutted. His eyes had a cold, angry glitter. As he left the police car he clamped a cigar in his Mouth. A shiver went through the crowd , , of pleasurable expec- tation ... of being close to ane of the most brilliant and ruthless detectives in the world, They watched Superintendent Herbert Hannam eagerly. On that day, hot enough to melt blobs of tar in Gibbet Street, Halifax, Hannam wore an int - maculate tropical jacket of cream linen and a delicately striped shirt that blended with a dark grey tie held down by a gold chain tie -pin. His sleek, silvery hair was brushed sharply back from his broad face, His manner was a cross 'between amusement and arrogance. But everybody was impressed. Everybody agreed he lived up to his reputation. Hannam had gone to Halifax to hunt a killer. It was Whit Monday, 1957. when he arrived. But not even the holiday flavour and sun could blot out the me- mory of the violence which had come to tiny, 80 -year-old Miss Emily Pye in her poky store on the corner of Gibbet Street, Only twelve hours had passed since the body of Miss Pye had been found before the Chief Con- stable of Halifax called in Scot- land Yard. Hannam. on the eve of a well-earned holiday at Lyme Regis. had postponed his plans to relax on the sands, To -day. at forty-nine, Hannam is at the top of his calling, He got there by a mixture of brash- ness and brilliance, stealth and cunning, ingenuity and sheer plodding. He brought to Scot- land Yard an outsize personality, and the minor attribute of be- g the best -dressed policeman in the country. He used all those gimmicks in Halifax. He came out of Miss Pye's store to tell a reporter: "It's a most horrible murder , , most horrible." His voice had the same clipped, metallic edge it has when his statements are challenged in court. Hannam worked sixteen hours a day in Halifax. For many of those hours he brought a thril- ler -book air to the hunt. He put a flamboyant notice in the shop window appealing for anybody who knew anything to contact the police. He had copies of the notice flashed on cinema screens. read in churches. and distributed in several languages among the town's foreign population, Finally, he asked for every- body who had even been inside the shop up to six months before the murder to let the. police fin- gerprint him. A week after the killing, Han- nam'spent four hours alone in the shop. From behind its faded curtains he peered at passers-by. Then he came out to say; ,'I've been getting the atmo- sphere. Trying to imagine what that poor woman must have left like when the killer struck," It had an air of "Dragnet" and Sherlock Holmes about it. But Hannam is convinced such tactics work. It has all been built up over twenty-seven years as a detective, earning him eighteen commendations for outstanding work. 'A host of legends have grown from newspaper headlines or have been nourished in the multi - tentacled underworld grapevine. Now he has left the police force for civilian work. But the le ds grow.. . . ly Hill, who likes you to mher that he once confessed a tidy sum of money) to a IBrspaper that he was "King of e the- Underworld," said a few months ago: "This bloke Han- nam is really smart. A real ter- ror he is. , No doubt underworld charac- ters will bear this in mind if they ever get eaught up in a. Hannam investigation, I can tell thein this, Herbert Hannam ,— the man who calls him 'Erb, Herb, or Herbie will live to re, gret it—looks on eritne as a per- sonal insult. He will not rest until he wipes that insult out. He tackles any case with a con- trolled, but only just dedicated fury. There is also, often, a touch of the bizarre about Han- nam when investigating. Shortly after the war he went to Holyhead in North Wales, to investigate the murder of a wo- man found buried in the sands there. The husband was arrest- ed. It was also Holyhead's Thanksgiving Week when' he Was taken to the police station to be charged. . A huge crowd lined the ap- proaches to the police station, There was also a band near -by -for Thanksgiving celebrations. As Hannam approached with the - accused man, the musicians broke into "You Can't Marry Ten Pretty Girls," But Hannam is not only a "Murder Man:" He is an expert on currency investigation, In 1947 the Yard sent him to the United States to investigate one- of the biggest -ever, transatlantic currency rackets. Later he posed as a holiday. maker on the Continent to un- mask a man who was running another currency racket which was world-wide. For weeks Hannam visited casinos and gambled at the tables. All the time he weaved his net—and caught the man. The Count of Scotland Yard had played his role so perfectly that many people thought he was a wealthy playboy of the peerage! Inevitably, through his public lectures. through newspaper publicity. Hannam has a vast public, following. People ask for his autograph. When he was grilled by defence counsel, newspapers got a num- ber of letters protesting about "this monstrous attack on a good policeman," or "he does a very difficult job well." After one case a national newspaper re- ceived over a hundred letters supporting the policeman. But wherever crime 'is discus- sed, Hannam will always be re- membered for his report into al- leged bribery and corruption among London policemen. He worked in complete secrecy. And his 5,000 word report resulted in three men being brought to trial for conspiracy. The Lord Chief Justice said: "Thanks are due to Hannam for his patient and ex- cellent inquiry." Many will always remember Hannam dispelling the fantastic rumours that swept Eastbourne before the arrest of Dr. John Bodkin Adams, who was acquit- ted at the Old Bailey on a charge of murdering a patient. For weeks the resort had been full of wild stories, Hannam, in charge of the in- vestigations, called a Press con- ference. In five minutes he said there had been no mass killings. there was no hypnotic 'killer at large, there were going to be no mass exhumations. But he said there would be a series of ex- pensive libel actions if such stories were not stopped, Then he left Eastbourne to go home to his ground -floor flat in Willesden, North London Wait- ing for him was his wife, Anne. On the sideboard was a large cake waiting to be iced by the cook—Herbert Hannam, Few people know that the Count is a first-rate pastrycook. and that he is as at home in the kitchen—apron and aB—as he is in the forensic laboratory. And he is prouder of his two diplomas for culinary prowess than for all the praise he gets for his detec- tion, A Hollywood film star had had five wives, each of whom had promptly divorced him. He was now declaring his love to the prospective sixth. "But I've heard some queer stories about you," said the girl. "Don't worry about that," re- plied the star, "They're only old wives' tales." "George, dear, Mrs. Smith wants to know if she can borrow your car to go hone in; she's ' just smashed hers against a tree," called a wife to her hus- band, FROGLIKE Resembling a frog straddling a bus, this is a model of the proposed British Westland helicopter, Designed to pro- vide a three-way lift, the odd whirlybird can be used as an aerial crane, short -howl transport or carrier far utility pods, HISTORIC 'FIGURE — Everything's Greek to French actress Mylene Demongeot. She wears a faraway look and a lsrief costume as her hair is fixed for a scene in the film "Battle of Marathon," being made in Rome. )14,11 11 T&BLE TALKS �ry� s� ' '�aw Atci.ie ws- This is an attractive idea call- ed Chicken Biscuit Surprise. Roll biscuit dough very thin and cut in circles, , Place seasoned, ground, cooked chicken. on half the biscuits, and top each tilled biscuit with an unfilled one. Press edges together to seal .in'the filling. Bake. Serve them piping hot as an entree with chicken -filled gravy poured over all, A 'sprinkling of chopped parsley on top will add pleasing accent in color and taste, • * * Here are one or two salty hints which may come in handy: To cool bottled drinks quick- ly when unexpected guests ar- rive, put the bottles in a pail and pack them withice and salt, very much as you pack your ice cream freezer. If you want to cool a pudding quickly, place the container in a pan of cold, well salted water. The proper -strength salt solu- tion for processing vegetables for freezer storage need not be guesswork: a two per cent salt solution is approximately 1 heap- ing tablespoon of salt to 1 quart of water; a three per cent solu- tion is approximately 11/2 table- spoons of salt per 1 quart of water. * * * Pumpkin pie season is here and Mrs. Olive V. Armstrong, has sent a recipe to the Christian Science Monitor with the com- ment, "After years of searching, I've found what I consider. the `perfect' pumpkin chiffon pie." PUMPKIN CHIFFON PIE 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed 3 eggs, separated 11: cups canned pumpkin ? e cup milk 1 tablespoon gelatin 14 cup cold water 2 teaspoons cinnamon ': teaspoon ginger 3.4 teaspoon allspice la teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons sugar Combine slightly beaten egg yolks, brown sugar, pumpkin. milk, salt and spices and cook over low heat until thickened. Soften gelatin in cold water and add to above mixture. Cool. When mixture begins to congeal. fold in stiffly beaten egg whites to which the 2 tablespoons sugar have been added, Pour into a baked crust or a crumb crust. Chill. Garnish with whipped cream just before serving, if de- sired. Apple dumpling season is here, too, and a :teamed dumpling recipe was sent by Mrs. Mary Wall. "This recipe comes from. my grandmother's recipe book and was used in her family for the past 75 veers. Ti is a real delicacy." `,e writes - Steamc 1 e plc Dumplings and }lard Sauce Pare and core half as many apples as the dumplings you want, Make a biscuit dough, add 1 tablespoon additional shorten- ing to a 2 -cups -of -flour recipe. Roll dough to ai-Inch thickness and cut into 4 inch squares. Put half an apple In center of square; add 1 tablespoon sugar; pull the 4 enrners of dough tn- gather; dampen slightly and press to Beat. Tie eerh r'umpling- in a clean White ra' ;:1d 03,00 htto a kettle of hailing water. Cook 20.25 minutes, depending upon size of apples. HARD SAUCE Cream 1 cube butter and grad- ually add 11 cups powdered sugar and cream until consist- ency of whipped cream, Flavor with nutmeg or vanilla; serve on 'the,hot steamed dumplings. * * e "I have enjoyed so many fa- vorite recipes sent in by your readers that Y would like to share thisone for bread pudding. It is easy and delicious," writes Mrs. Eva Kraus. BUTTERSCOTCH BREAD PUDDING 4 slices raisin bread • cup milk %s cup brown sugar •4 cup milk 2 tablespoons butter 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla Cube bread and place in but- tered baking dish; pour a/4 cup of milk over it. Combine brown sugar, butter and the second i/4 cup milk. Heat over low heat until sugar is dissolved and but- ter melted. (If it curdles a little, it doesn't matter.) Beat egg until light and add milk -butter -sugar mixture. Blend well. Add va- nilla. Pour .over soaked bread cubes. Bake at 325° F. for 50 minutes. If' desired, you may serve this pudding with cream, either plain or whipped. Serves four. No Homework At This School It was the first day of school and, like any bunch of kids, the occupants of this particular school bus were yattering away in the back, poking their heads out the window, scratching and pawing each other, and generally raising all kinds of hell. But this was no ordinary bus, nor was it bound for the usual kind of school. The passengers were eleven of the ritziest dogs in New York. Mr. Gerney's School for Dogs is the latest wrinkle in chic dog- dom in New York, The dogs have their own bus. a red Volks- wagen ' which calls for them every day, and they carry their own lunch boxes in their teeth. The school run by Mr. Barney (Barney Morovitz) opened in New York': fashionable East Sixties, and classes began Tues- day morning (they had Colum - but( Day off). A week's tuition averages $50. In addition to learning obedi- ence. the dog's personality prob. !ems (like shyness and neuroti- clsm) are dealt with. Recess is, of course, part of the school day, and at the cookie break. Mr. Barney eyes the group severely. asking: "Who is the best child? When his name is called, each dug goes forward to claim his rookie. At the end of the day, having been assured that they "are all good chil- dren," the dogs tear down the stairs out the red' schoolhouse dbor, and plop themselves into their bus — all set to go hone and show how much they learn, cd at school that day. 'there's no homework, 18Nii1145 • 1959 They Say Ingrid Is "The Greatest" It was long past midnight, They were working on the last scene of the taping and having trouble with it. The tensions of the day were beginning to cord the handsome face of the star, Ingrid Bergman. The strain finally told and she blew up dur- ing the fourth take, "It's no goat!" she cried despairingly, The screen in a nearby room went black and Miss Bergman's husband, Lars Schmidt, gazed at it impassively. In another room, an ad -agency man sat, waiting for .his TV screen to peacock with color.. Near him, composer David Amram worked on music for the score. In the control . room, squashed betweenaides, director -producer John Frank- enheimer hunched f or war d. Since 8,20 that evening, when the taping of the show began, Frankenheimer had been driving everyone hard. His collar was unbuttoned and his voice had worked itself into a spiky rasp. He chanted: "Let's make it, Let's make it, Let's make it." It had all begun in New York in May, when Hubbell Robinson, executive producer of NBC -TV's "startime," tossed a paperbound book to James Costigan, author of last year's TV smash, "Little Moon of Alban." The book was Henry James' "The Turn of the Screw," a novella about a gov- erness who fights to save thu souls of two children — played by Heywood Morse and Alexan- dra Wager .— seemingly bound in compact with evil ghosts, Cos- tigan wove his three acts in Galway, London, and Paris, Miss Bergman agreed to make her dramatic TV debut as the gov- erness. Arriving in New York for re- hearsals, Miss Bergman made no bonesabout her lack of en- thusiasm for live T.V. The 42 - year -old, thrice -married, two- time Academy Award winner was frank, too, about her re- ception by Americans: 'They think 01 me as a naughty girl who ran away from home, was very bad, and has now return- ed,.." The cast held preliminary re- hearsals at a hotel in New York before shifting onto the 11,400 square feet of NBC's color Stu- dio, 2 in Brooklyn. There were problems, but by 2:40 one af- ternoon last week, when the dress rehearsal was started, "The Turn of the Screw" seem- ed to be shaping up. There was only one mild display of tem- per when, late in the afternoon, Frankenheimer barked directions at Ingrid, "I£ you're going le yell, I'm going to yell," she said, "I'm not yelling," laid he. "It sounds like it ottt here," shut back Bergman. The taping that started at - 8;20 t8;20 p,m, ended at 1:56 in the morning after more- than a dozen takes were made of that final emotional scene when young Morse dies in Ingrid's arms. During that time, she' went through the wringer; Fog, manufactured by pouring oil over hot plates, was .blown into her face; 60 gallons of water washed over her during a rain scene; the. overhead lights pour- ed down enormous heat, When . it was over, all of it, Miss Bergman thanked the crew and they broke into applause. "She's the greatest actress in the world," said one camera- man. "No, she's not the greatest actress• in the world," answered another, "but she is the greatest woman in the world," — From NEWSWEEK, Everybody's Got The "Gimmes" Actually wiser spending of public funds is what all of us taxpayers want, But we'dlike to see it done on the federal level where billions of dollars are thrown about on some of our gravy -train plans. It makes us boil to read a report like this: In the past 60 days the govern- ment has spent $7 million buy- ing up eggs to support prices, in the face of ruinous overproduc- tion, During the same 60 days the government has loaned $1' million to people who want to ' get into the egg producing busi- ness. And all those eggs we bought and paid for probably will be dumped. Government subsidies, checks for crops not grown, money for products that are dumped or burned this is not free enterprise. Recently a Chi- cago doctor came out here as a convention speaker and he pro- posed a government subsidy for young married couples' so they could have .their children and rear them during what he called their ideal years. Just another "gimmie plan." We hope no politician falls for it. We don't think the young people of Ame- rica are such weaklings that they want to. be taken care of in such a way. — Golden (Colo.) Trans- cript. 'PUSH-PULL' TRAINS UTILIZE DOUBLE -DECK COACHES — This is a head on view, above; of a train that's not going backwards. In use on the Chicago and Northwestern Railway, the loco- motive pushes from the other end. Crews operate the train by remote control from the last coach, Returning, the train operates conventionally. Electrically heated double -deck coaches, below; are featured on the suburban run, One coach costs $155,000.