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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1959-12-10, Page 2Where They ,lt'eup, Harvests Of Cork Portugal is the richest corks producing country in the :world,, and many lives and fortunes are irrevacably .bound?up with these weirdand batdy trees. , One summer I' was invited for a day or twoto a country house right, in the middle of vast ogrl: forests, to watch the bark -strip- ping process, an• interesting busi- ness which' — like all country craftsmanship -- looks as easy as chopping up firewood, Yet it is one of the most skilled jobs in all tree cultivation, and the nen who ' praottse the art are paid far more than the ordinary labourer. The particular ones I saw came from the province of the Algarve in the south, travel- ling to the Alentejowith their, headman or overseer; who has been coming, to this forest every year for as long as anyone re- members. He was a typical old country character; with deep-set shrewd eyes, and a rather reserved but very great affection for the em- ployers with whom he has work- ed for so many years. These strippers from the Al- garve lived- in the open, under the trees of the cork forest:' As this job always takes place af- ter the hot weather has set in (from June onwards) this is generally fairly pleasant. Their beds consist of rugs and blan- kets placed onthe ground, the bed often bounded by long strips of cork bark. I must say they looked very comfortable, and even if a thunderstorm arrived in the night, they could always , hoist the inevitable umbrella, so general among all peasant 'work- ers in the country. All the paraphernalia,of camp- ing hung in the trees — extril clothes, food containers, sheep- skin trousers, umbrellas; odd- ments of all sorts. Earthenware water -jars were placed here in the shade of thetrees, and at the edge of the camp was the fire for cooking, When' I arriv- ed, a woman was busy watch- ing the atch-ing-the fire, while the men were away at work. The evening meal was being cooked in a large number of earthenware pots, placed along an extended fire. One's usual Idea of a camp fire is circular, but owing to each individual having his own pot, it was obvi- ous that a long narrow fire was the answer, and it looked unique and unusual, At night we sat on the ver- anda of the pleasant country house situated on a hill above SALLYSS SANIES 'About this morning's argu- ment, where did we leave off ?" tae forests, listening to the Meta- ili,ales and other birds; listeeing also to the intense peace of the cork forests, with their tops sil- houetted against a clear moon- lit sky. '!'hose, unmistakable green arms, So carefully prem. ed and' tended all their lives- the great si)ent population of the Alentejo, — Front ,"The lulls of Alentejo," by I•Iuldine V, Beam ish. No Wife -Beating After Nine O'Clock Some of the ancient street cries of London are being revived by enterprising street traderswho<• have, found that their. $entimen- tal appeal is very good -for busi- ness. One young woman with a large basket on her hip regularly walks with grace and dignity through` some of the Mayfair streets, 'as other pretty girls did when the first Queen Elizabeth was on the - throne, singing tunefully; "Won't you buy my sweet blooming lavender? You buy it once, you buy it twice — it makes your clothe$' smella very nice." . Heald once again, too, in 1959. are the cries of the watercress man the winkle man and;. the muffin sellers — especially' at week -ends. In West- London an elderly man often sits on the kerb •re= caning seats and stools and chant- ing from time to time "Chairs• to mend" and there's a barrow- boy who cries, as his great -great- grandparents probably did before'. him: "Pots and pans to mend, scissors to grind." The "come and buy" street cries of old ,London' were • suc- cessfully revived during the Fes- tival of Britain in 1951 'when pretty .girls in Restoration cos- tumes chanted sales -talk used', in Nell Gwynn's day. Rags and bones, fresh mackerel, peanut's, ' hot clogs and baked chestnuts are the themes of men and women who cry their wares in the suburbs of London and: other big cities' nowadays and they manage to make themselves heard despite the roaring traffic. Some cries .in Elizabethean 'times seem to have got on people's nerves, for laws were in-' troduced to limitthem and no man was allowed "to whistle or blow a . horn or sing his wares after nine o'clock' or to beat his wife or cause a sudden °uteri." It's Enough To Make 'You Blink When the average motorist drives attwenty miles an hour for a period of five hours, he drives for at least ten and a halt miles of his journey with his eyes shut! ' Staggering, isn't it? But it's true. Scientists who have been con- ducting research into the un- conscious blink that our -eyes perform daily reached that con- clusion after extensive' -surveys on the subject. It has been esti- mated that .at that rate, in the course of fifty years a •inan would blink a total of 7,000 miles. The average blink means that, for one-fifth of a second, '50,000 times a day and 19,000,000 times a year, we are momentarily, blind. In our waking hours, when we are gathering our wits, we blink once ' a second. assa: VES, WE HAVE BANANAS — It's easy to grow a banana tree, according to Ralph Harmon,Harmon, manager of a grocery store in Cincinnati, got the tree from his father's place in Florida. In Ohio, the tree was planted and grew from six inches to 12 feet in seven months. But fall air began nipping ea the plant ,and Harmon decided to winter it in the store, He's thinkinn of culling a section from the store cslling to see how well it'll c'o indccrs. TE,ACHER'S PET? —:This car belongs 'to ci'-driving •school in Rome, Italy.. The couple !n the back seat seem to be dearsl,bg some- thing about the clutch, Dancing Girl's )Plot ,'.. Doomed . Thousands Four wives and: seven slave girls perished as sacrifices on the funeral pyre of the ;,fabulous Maharajah Ran'jit Singh, But not his favourite' wife Jindan; • .had won her way to-, power as an alluring daneingsgirl at the court of Lahore, ' She was {ar loo; shrewd for that. Go` to:'the 7 ;flames, for the sake'. of an .%old . •profligate?' Not she! Hadn't 'she a small son; Dulip Singh, Who would one day rule as' Maharajah? Couldn'tethe- as Regent,, wield ;power through' her lover ;Lal • Snigh,'s and' her brother, Jamahar Singh; both leaders in the State? She was a past -mistress at in- trigue "h have only to bide -my time, set one man against an- other,"' she told herself, "and . everything will fall into my hands and my son's. After.Ranjit's death the Punjab suffered under." a 'succession of rulers. and ' pretenders; each ` in turn ,-' dying 'a violent death at' the hands of his :usuipers,..Jin- dan,...pulltetg` ;a string here,- a strangulating cord there, watch- ed it all ;with' a cynical smile on ,herrouged .lips.t. The privileged "Khalsa" Sikh army built ;iii by Ranjit really ruled the, State, making and nn - :making maharajas' atavill In .the 1849a many' chiefs, jealous` of the ' axany's -power, - anxious to• overthrow :it,: intrigued •secretly with 'the, British beyond the bar-; der. .Jinclan encouraged her brother, the; Wazer'.Jamahar, to de se. "The Khalsa stands in our way" she said. • "It must, be curbed."''But the -army got 'Wind, of the intrigue, secretly• sent,' enced:, ±m to :death, and.ordered 'him '.tp' •app:ear"before. them., He': came` with his nephew, the boy, Maharajah. "Stand • aside from the they'.ordereci. A file' of soldiers then, took •tip position amid 'shots' hint dead. ' • Incensed by rage and grief 'if the.•the grief was genuine — .the Maharani' oed,eted: his wretch- ed` women, two' wives and three slave -girls, to fling,themselves:on: his ' pyre. Accordinga to custom, • they had to -go tnourningfully in procession, distributing ' -from trays the jewels' and gifts deem- ed sacred.because they camp 'from a sati about to' die for her •lord; and •master. Forming ranks' either 'side, the Sikhs compelled them to pass between, snatching at their gifts, ripping, off their ear -rings and other adornments, mocking their entreaties with coarse ribaldry. When the flames began licking •their agonized bodies, the sol- diers even tried to snatch the geld 'fringing from their trousers, With the accusing eyes of a prophetess, one of the women rose from the pyre, pointed to them, and shrieked; "Woe nettle.., Khalsa! Before a year be out they will be overthrown and. their wives will • be widows!" Then she fell • back • into the flames and was consumed. Bat only 'too well; was her prophecy to be fulfilled, Jindan saw to that. 1'he grina spectacle shocked even her -- and she hadseep many in vio- lent, untamed .Lahore, She would be avenged. If the Khalsa, in view 'of the popular feeling against the. British, could he in- cited to cross the Sutlej' border and attack then, , . if, under the leadership of her loi'er, Lai Singh, and a fellow -conspirator, Tej Singh, they were betrayed, would they not be destroyed and no longer dominate the State? Her crafty lover needed no urging, any more than Tej Singh, Both saw in the treacherous move a path .to power, They would make all the military blunders possible while ensuring their own safety and winning British goodwill, and under Brit- ish influence rule the Punjab, unhampered by Khalsa interfer=. epee. Ripe for plunder, the army crossed the Sutlej in December, 1845, and might have swept all before it, but for the betrayal At Mukdl, Lal Singh ordered it intobattle, then oaflously left it 'to blunder into defeat, 1Jerozshah was one of the . ':bloodiest engagements in Brit- ish -Indian history, but • when, with. large Sikh•• reinforcements, ,Tej Singh had the British at his Mercy, he fled 'from the field, turning sure"victory into disaster.' The, eight weeks" wagended at'Sobraon, where again he' fled, though'.his forces •showed them- ,selves superior. He even dam- aged a bridge over the Sutlej, to. hamper • his own troops follow- ing, ;When:they fell back .on it, fighting desperately, it gave way,, plunging them into the swollen. river. Many thousands of Sikhs per- ished in=this last stand, includ- ing Sirdar •Sham Singh, it Spee-' , tral 'figure in white, with :white beard, who -rode about on a white mare leading a remnant in a final oharge in which he was killed. After the battle his servants• found his 'body, placed it rever- ently on a raft,swam across•the river with it and bore• it with them on a three-day trek back tohis. home. But his widow, hearing dread tidings of the battle, had•already committed herself to the pyre, clasping ' of the clothes he had worn at their. wedding. She was the last sati to kill herself by traditional Punjab custGm, and a pillar. marks the spot'outside the. walls, ' Back in -Lahore, surrounded by ,court magnificence,- dressed in precious silks decked with jew ' els,':the ,Maharani- Jindan hugged her triumph. The 'dying . sari's prophecy had; indeed been fel- filled. When the victorious . British garrisoned the city they found the Council . of • State virtually ruled by her as ,Regent for her eight-year-old son, •• with the treacherous' Lal Singh- as her chief minister and the other wily, shifty members: under her sway. No woman. wielded such power as:this 'former dancing, girl, none .so•abused it, One of her favourite sports was • pushing her slave -girls into a'pooi, ducking them and laugh.' ing at their cries :as they struggle to escape. But intrigue proved "-first • her lover's undoing, then her own. Lal,Singh might, use thss British for his ends, but only temporar- ily. 'When he began plotting against them in ;turn, with Jin- dan's encouragement, : they, • ex- pelled him. • Still the intrigues went on be: hind palace walls. She even plot- ted to murder the Residentand free her• capital of British . con. trol. That .was too much•for the au- thorities. They : expelled her out of harm's way, too. She had to , leave her beloved Lahore, fol- lowing .her lover, into exile '— though not'to'be with him, which, might have:been 'some consola- tion, Frenziedly, she threatened to scratch the eyes.,out of any one of her enemies who came within "reach of these:aogsrititive taloned hands,' as 'delicate 1ss ;they were merciless. When her 'protests, were of no avail and 'sll.e' had to go, she clamoured to "take al•1 her sena ants and' slave -girls with lier insisted .on being escorted as be- fitted a queen, and complained loudly about- the quarters allot feel Bier, The British found that they and taken onmore than they had' bargained for. In 1048 the Sikh rebelled and. the IZlralsa became active again. A powerful chieftain threatened to march on Lahore and restore • Jindan to power. But the ex - dancing -girl was finished, She had climbed from obscur- ity, using all her seductive wiles. Into obscurity she now .faded with her spoilt son, "The man I want," said the employer, "must be .capable of earning ten thousand a year and silly enough to do it willingly for five." ISSUE 49 — 1959 ` Ratner!raamtWiggikais'►'?a.i atalacki roust a amts ,w tr viezatastwittea a Ml TABLE TALKS ane And.mws. CHRISTMAS CAKE 1' db. raisins 1 lb, currants 1 lb. dates cut fine 1 !b. brown sugar 1 lb. mixed peel Half cup almonds 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. nutmeg 3 tsp. baking soda in little water 1 ib. butter 1 dos. eggs lbottle cherries, red 1 c. milk 1 0. molasses 8 c. flour 1 tsp. cloves 2 tsps. baking pd oder Mix all together well and bake in slow oven, 250 • degrees for three -hours. Makes three differ- ent size cakes. Do riotopen oven until. after the first hour. tfateeserstaseiciagslataaalakatalleataffiltara FRUIT CAKE 1 1b. butter 1 tb.'sugar ' 1 lb. flour • 1 ;tap, •soda 2 boxes ralslns seeded and -'seedless. S oz.. each citron, lemon' peel, • candied . cherries, pineapple, orange peel :;12 eggs 1 tsp, salt 1• qt. nuts, walnuts -pecans, / glass lemonjuice, orange juioe,: grape jelly Cream butter and sugar. Sift flour with 'soda. e Mix fruit in with flour. Add eggs one at a• time to mixture of butter.: and ;sugar, stirring after each addi- tion. Mix fraI•ts with first mix- ture. Bake in slow oven 250 :'degrees for four or five hours. traariBaketteamaserilateealeriaPateeteitele UNBAKED FRUIT CAKE Line with waxen paper, bot- tom and sides of five -cup loaf or tube pan. , Put into, a bowl and let stand until -needed;' %-'c. evaporated milk l8, marshmallows (large) ' finely eat 8 tbsps. orange juice Put into•another,iarge bowl 4;•doz. regular graham crackees (crumbs) 1/2 tsp: ` cinnamon 3/4 tsp. -nutmeg r/s tsp. cloves' -1 c.. seedless raisins (light and dark) >y c.,wainuts broken r/, c, candied pineapple.. finely cut 2 tbsp. candied orange peel finely cut (Candied fruits may be omit- ted with s/q c, bulk or canned reedy; -mixed cut-up • candied fruits be substituted). Add milk mixture to second bowl. Mik with spoon, then with hands till crumbs are moistened. Press firmly into pan. Top with fruit and nuts. Cover lightly.. Chill for two days before slicing. Keep in cool place afterwai'ds, Makes one PA lb. fruit epke, (Some use whole maraschino cherries, blanched almonds and colored candied pineapple cut in pieces and pressed into top of cake for -decoration), atatileJiteraear:i ',s anteaeate essrea tele CHRISTMAS SHORTBREAD 1 c, butter 'y e. icing sugar 2c. sifted all purpose flour / tsp. salt Cream butter well. Gradu- ally add sugar: and continue to 'cream until granules are no longer visible, Sift together flour and- salt, gradually add to sugar mixture,. mixing thoroughly with hands after •each addition. Turn out on bread 'board lightly sprinkled, with 'icing sugar, Knead until mixture cracks slightly. Form into rolls, wrap in wax .paper and chill. Slice and bake on greased sheet at 400 de- grees, for 20-30 minutes. Baking time depends on .thickness of cookies. When kneading cherries or walnuts may be worked into mixture. CHRISTMAS PIE 3 tablespoons quick -cooking • tapioca 1 cup :sugar 1/2 'teaspoon salt 2 cups fresh cranberries 1/2 cup water 11/2 cups'moist mincemeat Pastry. for 2serust 9 -inch pie 15 to 20 pastry Holly, Leaves. Combine •tapioca, sugar, salt, 2 cups cranberries, water .and mincemeat in saucepan: Cook and stir over medium heat un- til mixture comes to a boil, Cool, stirring occasionally. Roll half . the pastry f/s inch thick. Line a.9 -inch` pie pan and. trim pastry at edge"of rim. Roll ,remaining pastry 3/9 inch thick and cut several 2 -inch 'slits or a fancy design near centre. Fill pie shell with fruit mixture.. Moisten edge ofbottom crust, To adjust top crust, fold pastry in half or roll loosely on rolling pin; 'cen- tre on Oiling: Open slits .with a knife. (Well-opened.slits are im- portant to permit escape of steam during baking.) 'frim top crust letting it a extend / inch over rim. Then fold edge of top crust under bottom crust, illg iP, ll ..'-Ak-" 'k-,' °-'. A ',9h`S -221Sl1}i'.bi+ :+'aTl`-7,w�'7 ,;.T,n'V.�.`�FIM :9n:^A >t i LrAS:i Up-to-date Fashion SMART SUIT -DRESS — backbone of every well-dressed woman's wardrobe. Kind -to -the -hipline jaoket in new, longer length. Shapekeeping flannel of "Orlon" and wool stays free of Wrinkles, can be washed, Printed Pattern 4838 in Half Sizes 143/4 to 24%. Send Fifty. Cents for each pattern (stamps cannot be accepted, use postal note for safety). Please print plainly SIZE, STYLE, NUM- BER, NAME, ADDRESS. Send your order to Anne Adams, Bost 1, 123 Eighteenth St, New Toronto, Ont.