Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1960-01-21, Page 2Art Treasures To Ile Moved If you were asked what world- fameus London building was once known as the "National Cruet -Stand," could you give the correct answer? It is Britain's National Gallery, In Trafalgar Square, - whose en- tire collection; of pictures are to b e rearranged and rehung cur-. ing 1960 when the :0400,000 ex. tension and rebuilding scheme, now in progress, nears comple- tion. People were disappointed with the National Gallery when it was finished in 1838, Many said it was not sufficiently imposing to be a fitting house for the na- tion's art masterpieces. They jeeringly christened it the "National Cruet -Stand" be- cause of its little cupolas that look 'like pepper pots. But it was hardly the fault of the archi- tect. Rigid conditions were im- posed on him, For instance, he was told not to impede the view of the portico of St. Martin's Church and to leave a large open space at the rear. Only £50,000 was to be spent. The building eventually cost £75,000, To -day the National Gallery's old masters are priceless, This year's task of rearrangement, the biggest ever undertaken in the history of art, means that the thousands of pictures will be better displayed and will have more space in well -lit and air- conditioned rooms. Highly skilled men will move the pictures. To drop even one vahtable landscape or portrait in this world-famous collection might cause irreparable damage. One of the heaviest pictures is an Italian masterpiece which, with its great reinforced frame and protective plate -glass, weighs more then fifteen hundred- weight, Half the galleries of Eufape bid against each other for some of the gems of art now at the National Gallery. Strange and romantic adventures had befall- en some of these famous : oan- vases before they finally canie to rest on the. Gallery's crowded walls, The story is told of a shabby old man who one morning last century arrived therewith a par- cel under his arm. He asked to see the curator. The curator could not see him because he was too busy, an at- tendant told him. But the old man pleaded with .him and re- fused to take "No" for an answer. Eventually, he was shown into the curator's room. Unwrapping his parcel, the man said: "I would like the Gallery to accept this picture," One glance was enough. , It was a world-famous original worth thousands of pounds, The shabby old man then revealed himself as its millionaire owner. . A dramatic story is told of how Holbein's famous painting, "Tl,e Duchess of Milan," was secured for the National Gallery. Forty thousand pounds were still need- ed when a telegram was received by the Gallery: "Will give £40,- 000" it tersely stated, Fearing that it was a practical joke, an official asked for a bank- er's reference and was told that the £40,000 would be paid by the Bank of England. "The only condition was that the gift should be anonymous," he said later. "It was made by a woman and represented one- third of her total fortune!" "Jack comes to see me every night now. Do you think that means something?" asked a chor- us girl of her friend. "Either 'he's in love with you or he hasn't got a television set." Frctnce Loses Many Millionaires As Franc Loses Decimal Points by Rosette Hargrove NEA Staff Correspon""dent Paris — (N E A) — Brigitte Bardot, who has been getting around 40 million francs a film, will probably get around 400 thousand francs for her first movie of 1960. But relax, men, the sex kitten hasn't lost her box office draw. It's just that the French franc has lost two decimal points. As of Jan. 1, 1060, France's monetary system is based on the "new franc," worth 100 of the old. Thus, the dollar is worth 4.93 "new francs" as opposed to 493 of the old. Since it's just a matter of decimal points, the shift is no great problem for economists and mathematicians. But in a country where all but the poor are, more or less millionaires, the psychological problems are amusing. Brigitte, for example, will still receive the same amount of purchasing power, but 400 thousand sounds like so much less than 40 million. Other en- tertainers have the same prob- lem of getting back to earth. But even the average French man and woman loved the sound of the world "million- aire," even though a million francs represented something less than two thousand dollars. It was sort of like taking candy from a baby. There has been a somewhat more serious problem involved, too, particularly in rural areas where a lot of Frenchmen ap- parently are afraid they might be losing something in the changeover. This, despite the fact , that "operation franc" was announced by the de Gaulle government in December. 1958,' as part of de. Gaulle's effort to give France and her economy a more solid and secure look, But during the last weeks of 1959 banks and credit establish- ments reported an unusual and abnormal activity in deposits. Many people feared the pres- ent currency would no longer be valid after Jan. 1. They re- membered the "exchange" of notes after the liberation and also the time back in 1949 when 5,000 -franc notes were removed from circulation, The authorities repeated time and again that the "Operation New Franc" has been organized in such a way that there will be no exchange or recalling of old notes, whatever their de- nomination. These will remain valid without any limitiation of time. In fact, for the past six months all notes paid out by the banks have borne the mention in red of their value in "new francs." They will be replaced by new notes during ordinary, if slight- ly accelerated, rotation. Manufacturers, stores, trades- people have- been compelled in the last six months to show double prices — in the old as well as in the new francs. This to get people used to thinking in terms of the new currency. The French have been told that the government will keep a strict control over prices, es- pecially on all foodstuffs. Just as it will check any tendency on the part of shopkeepers to "round out" prices by treating centimes as negligible, The new French currency should present no difficulties for American visitors. There is one coin, however, they will still not find around. That is the quarter, or 25 centimes piece. This has been decided by Monsieur Albert Perad, Presi- dent of the National Weights and Measures Bureau. His par- ticular job is to see that the metric system is rigorously ob- served and applied. And, according to the book, all decimal measures of weights and capacities must be capable of being doubled as well as halved. Voilal no quarter. t'oRrEURs DE BILLETS, ,,, INuri(E DE VOUS ENS/88'0E AVANT 6A FIN DR (.'+gNN i 1LS Ng CESSt RoNT PAt jt AvOiaZ coug4. "Holders of Notes . , . it is useless to torn these in before the ell of the year. They will always be negotiable." S YS FRENCH cartoon, as France undergoes its newest rove- - the franc. THREE ON A MATCH — Identical triplets Kennan, Kevin and Kenneth Dodson, left to right, gaze wonderingly at their first birthday cake. The boys were commissioned "colonels" by Gov. A. B. Chandler of .the state where they were born, Kentucky. The Dodson family moved to Ten- nessee a few months ago. T" BLE TALKS )aim Andrews. The biggest peanut salesman in America may be a woman. Slender, blonde Margaret Deeds Murphy, better known as "Maggie," is certainly helping to increase the market for pea- nuts, Mrs. Murphy, a professional home economist, is one of the outstanding food consultants in this country. She helped create .the "get - America - to - eat - more -peanut -butter campaign. A flood of different delicious peanut butter recipes for sand- wiches to go into school lunch boxes kicked off the campaign. Hundreds of new recipes using peanut butter in cooking come out of Margaret Murphy's 25 different peanut butter cookie recipes alone, and baked sev- eral hundred dozen test sam- ples in her own test kitohen. These recipes are exciting .Mag- gie says because peanut butter is a food so flexible, economical and nutritional and can be used in great variety. "* * * PEANUT BUTTER DATE COOKIES 4 cups sifted all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 34 teaspoon baking sdda 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/ teaspoon nutmeg % cup peanut butter 1 cup butter 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed 18 cup granulated sugar 2 eggs 1 cup chopped dates Sift flour; measure. Add bak- ing powder, soda, salt and •spices, and sift again. Crean peanut butter a n d butter to- gether. Gradually stir in sugars, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing to blend. Mix .in dates, which have been sprinkled with 1 tablespoon, additional flour. Shape into 4 rolls about 8 inches long. Wrap in plastic wrap, wax- ed paper or foil. Chill well in refrigerator. When ready to bake, cut into thin . slices and bake on un - greased baking sheet in a mo- derately hot oven (400 degrees F.) 5 to 10 minutes. Makes 61 dozen cookies. Unbaked cookie dough may be stored in re- frigerator for several weeks. 1' * * FRENCH TOASTED PEANUT SANDWICH 34 cup plain or crunchy peanut butter 8 slices bacon, cooked and chopped 12 slices white bread '2 bananas 2 eggs 1 cup milk ?:i teaspoon salt Peanut oil Strawberry jam, - Combine peanut butter and bacon, Spread each slice of bread with approximately one tablespoon of this mixture, Slice bananas and place on half the prepared bread, using one-third banana per sandwich. Top with second slice of bread, putting filling sides together. Beat eggs, add milk and salt. Dip sand- wiches in milk mixture and brown in hot oil. Serve with strawberry jam, Makes 6 sand- wiches. * * * PEANUT BUTTER. MEAT BALLS cup peanut butter 14 pound ground beet 14 cup finely chopped onion 2 tablespoons chili sauce 1 teaspoon salt 14 teaspoon pepper 1 egg beaten 2. tablespoons peanut oll 2 cups seasoned tomato sauce Mix peanut 'butter Lightly with_, beef, onion, chili sauce, salt, pepper and egg. Form into 12 meat balls, Brown in hot pea- nut oil. Add tomato sauce, cover and simmer about 30 minutes. Serve with cooked rice or spa- ghetti. Four servings. * * * Top this tuna casserole with oven-ready biscuits and serve with a tossed salad for a satisfy- ing meal. SUNBURST CASSEROLE 1 101 -oz, can cream of celery soup, undiluted 14 cup milk 1 7 -oz. can tuna, drained, broken into large pieces 1 l0 -oz. package frozen peas, , cooked and drained 1 3 -oz. can sliced or chapped mushrooms, drained Dash of salt 1 8 -.oz. package cheese shredded (cracker barrel) 1 package oven-ready • biscuits Combine the soup and milk. .Add the tuna, peas, mushrooms, salt, and half of the cheese and mix lightly. Pour into a 2 -quart casserole. Arrange 9 unbaked biscuits around the • edge and 1 in the center. Bake at 400 de- grees F. for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with the remaining cheese, and bake just until the cheese is melted. * * * Canned condensed cream of mushroom soup provides the sauce base for this speedy sal- mon and noodle baked dish. A main course for 6, it only re- , quires 15 minutes' baking time. SALMON -NOODLE BAKE 3 tablespoons butter 11 cup chopped onion 14 cup chopped green pepper 4 ounces medium noodles, cooked 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup 1 8 -ounce can salmon 14 cup grated processed Canadian cheese Melt butter. Add onion and pepper; cook until onion is, ten- der, but not brown. Combine with noodles, soup and undrain- ed salmoit. Turn into a 10x6x2- inch baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees F. 15 minutes, Serves 6. More Apples For Teacher An apple tree -that bears fruit all the year round has been de- veloped in South Africa, The apples are of good size and quality, with excellent flavour and aroma. And there are a least two . crops a- year, The original plant was found in a ravine in the Transvaal and the strain improved by a Mr. F. Cillie. He says that it is very hardy owing to an exceptional root system, so it is able to ad - lust itself easily to different soi.ia and climates. Scientists at the Western Pro- vinee Fruit Research Station say they cannot find any link be- tween this tree and any known variety of apple tree. Pepper in a Stew For most people, a little pep- per goes a long way. And last month there were unmistakable signs that the' Kittle might soon have to go a lot farther, The wholesale price of pepper has more than doubled in the past year, to about 50 cents a pound. Housewives have been paying 5 to 6 cents more (or 39' cents) each time they, pick up the usual. 4 -ounce .eau, Some reports blame the pep- per•price rise on an alleged cor- ner in the commodity engineered by a syndicate headed up by Singapore's Wan Tong Trading Co, Wan Tong, however, vehe- mently denies the charge, Pep- per traders offer another ex- planation; A worldwide pinch on pepper. "The supply and demand pic- ture is precariously balanced, to say the least," says one pepper trader, While India, the world's largest pepper producer, expects a bumper crop (some 60 million pounds)' this year, other areas are in short supply. Growers in Indonesia, for example, will. probably produce only about 22 million pounds, 40 per cent less than last year's crop, because of the country's unstable political climate, Farmers let the crop rot on the vines rather than sell it at depressed prices during that period. Since pepper takes five to seven years to mature, the shortage is just now beginning to show up. Meanwhile, more countries ap- parently have acquired a bigger taste for pepper. Eastern Eur- ope, which never bought much pepper, has been demanding more and more in recent years. Traders and impdrters say that prices are likely to go even high- er in the months to come. With Americans already spending about $50 million a year on the . black spice, that prospect 'is • nothing to sneeze at. —From NEWSWEEK. ISSUE 3 — 1960 ROLL YOUR OWN — This off -beat creation keeps its passengers going in circles in Paris. Painter Salvador Dall designed the transparent sphere which is called the Ovooipede. The person inside propels it like a treadmill. CANDY OR CANING? — Saint Nicholas checks behavior of Maurice Lapointe and Sandra Her children of RCAF personnel at Metz, France, Th candy or oohing for their behavior in the past dates back to the third century, is administers 'appears in background here. Needless to say, h with Wing Commander Paul Blackburn on the der during his annual visit to the school for e question is whether the youngsters deserve year. The latter, according to a tradition that d by Le Pere Foue Lord (Father Switch) what is services are seldom called for,