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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1961-03-02, Page 2r f.. Suggestions For The Phone Company I am constantly being amazed at how hard the telephone com- pany works to make things easi- er for the rest of us, You might think they had their hands full already, what with putting in coloured telephones and, exten- cions wherever they can find a bare will, But no; now they're. talking about sending up their own satellite so they can bounce telephone calls back and forth between it and my house, Al- ready they have bounced a few tentative what - hath God - wroughts from Echo I to the moon and back. That is what. probably gave them the idea for putting up their own version of Echo to handle not just tele- phone messages but TV' pro- grams as well, It is rather a •dismaying thought that one of these days they may be bouncing Ed Sulli- van off the moon. It is a dis- maying thought, but it is a tempting one, too. Working with the telephone company, one of the big appli- ance manufacturers has come up with a gimmick that they call "dial -an -appliance." Stated in the simplest terms (so people like me can understand it) what this thing does is let your wife spend all afternoon at the beauty salon, thumbing through the cul- tural literature that abounds in that communications center, She can apply herself to the busi- ness at hand with never ;a thought about getting dinner. If it grows late all she has to do is stroll over to a telephone, drop in a dime and dial her own number, plus a couple of other digits. This combination sets a lot of transistors to transisting like fury, a light beams in the kitchen range and — presto — the oven turns itself on and the roast begins to cook merrily. (One household hardship re- mains — she has to put the roast in the oven before she goes galavanting off to the beauty shop.) Now this may be news to the telephone company and that ap- pliance manufacturer, but I've got news for them. In our house we already have a gadget that accomplishes the same thing without spending a dime for the phone call. It's a disarmingly simple device consisting of a piece of paper (the brown wrap- ping kind often does very nice- ly) and a pencil. My wife scrib- bles the code on it before she takes off for the beauty parlour and — presto — when I get home I put the roast in and turn on the oven, With the telephone GEISHA GIRL — Not new doll from Japan but actress Shirley MacLaine. Blue-eyed and red- haired Shirley is transformed by make-up and costume, and brown contact lenses, for her role in the film "My Geisha," company's arrangement no pre- vision is made for peeling pota- toes as there is with• ours. What I wish they would come tie with is a telephone that I'. could drop a coin in and settle the argument about who'll do the dishes. (Oh, we manageto settle it now, but there must be a better way.) Meanwhile, more good things are in store, from what they tell me, dust recently, the tele- phone company announced that "right inthemidst of America's. population explosion, telephones have been multiplying faster than people." I' don't know about that, but if you happen to be on a party. line with a family that has teen- agers you cannot deny that tele- phone calls have been multiply- ing faster ultiply,ing"faster than anything. Today's teen-agers barely speak when they meet on the street, believ- ing that anything worth saying can wait until they reach home and can get to a telephone, writes S. Norman McKenzie in the Christian. Science Monitor. One of the peachyelectronic surprises that AT&T has up its sleeve is a machine that can use the telephone. If I understand this promised blessing aright you will be able to hook up a machine to one telephone and a second machine to another tele- phone, then let them jabber away for hours on end, All you have to do is keep 'feeding those rolls of swiss -cheese . computer paper into the machines and they never get tired of talking to each other. In our neighbour- hood the same thing is accom- plished with a pair of teen-agers and some milk and cookies. It's messy, but in the long run it's cheaper. As if things weren't bad enough, the communications in- dustry now promises us a small receiver that can be carried in a pocket and when somebody is trying to reach you on your home telephone, the thing in your pocket starts to buzz. They don't say what you can do about it, except wonder if it's the boss calling or, possibly, some- body you'd like to hear from. As things stand now all you can do is worry about that call. Of course if you happen to be in your backyard and the receiver in your pocket starts to buzz you can do what you have al- ways done — rush like mad in- doors and scramble to pick up the telephone. Naturally, just as you do, the telephone will stop ringing. And, good servant that it is, the buzzer will stop buzz- ir-g. Some more development is needed on this project. But the thing I'm looking for- ward to with the greatest eager- ness is that project the boys at e 11 are working on behind closed doors. It's a machine that thinks. I want to get my order in early for this one because that's something we could really use around our house. Maybe it can think of a way to get my wile back from the beauty par- lour in time to put the roast in herself. Measles And Bumps Don't Respect Rank Minding the throne back in England while Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were getting. a royal welcome on their tour of Pakistan. 12 -year-old Prince Charles saw spots — which turned out to be measles, land- ing him in Cheam School's .in- firmary. As for 10 -year-old Prin- cess. Anne, she saw stars; taking ice-skating lessons in a public rink — but in a private section of it reserved for classes — the Princess had the beginner's 'us- ual ups and downs. Was she making progress? Rink director A. V. Hopkins said tactfully: "She's quite a good little skater, but even champions fall some- times." ► GLAD HATTER — Nancy LeGant plays human sunburst in the sunny. surf of Cypress Gardens. SENTIMENTAL •'- Lacy valentines were back again, as they ]Dined the contemporary "insult" cards on the racks this year. Elaborate, carrying sugary verses, they've -been popular, off and on, since the Gay 90s. fABLE.'T sr Jaye Andrews. Sir Winston Churchill once described fish and chips as "the good companions." Generations of Britons with a need for warming sustenance and little time for cooking have thrived on this hearty combination. However, one doesn't need to live in England to enjoy puffy, golden fish fritters served with crisp French -fried potatoes. For many years fish and ohips was principally regarded as a snack, but since World. War II it has graduated to main dish status,. A homemaker who has deep frying equipment can very easily serve this dish crisp and fresh from her own fryer. Here are simple directions for prepar- ing the fish. As a busy -day time- saver you may use heated, fro- zen French. Fries. FISH AND CHIPS 2 pounds fish fillets Salt 2 packages (9 ounces each) frozen French -fried potatoes. 1 egg, beaten i cup water 1gs cups of sifted all-purpose flour If fillets are frozen, allow to thaw. Dry fillets well and cut into portions of uniform size. Sprinkle with salt. Heat pota- toes as directed on the package and keep warm while fish is being cooked. Make a batter by combining egg and water then. lightly stirring in flour with three or four stirs. A secret of success with this batter, is not to overmix it. Dip fillet portions in batter. Place, single layer deep, in frying basket and fry in deep,. hot vegetable oil at 375 degrees F. until puffed and golden brown, . turning once. Drain on absorbent paper and keep cooked portions warm in a slow oven. Repeat until all of the ash is cooked. Serve imme- diately with French -fried pota- toes. Makes 6 servings. a GARNISHES To give a finishing touch to a seafood creation, consider these possibilities: • Sprigs of fresh parsley, wa- tercress, mint or dill. + Lemon or lime slices, wedges, or twists. ♦ Slices of tomato, cucumber, or hard -cooked egg. • Sauteed thin orange slices, sauteed canned pineapple rings. • Sticks or curls of carrot or celery, radish roses. • Rings of thinly sliced onion or green pepper. • Stuffed olives, dill pickle fans. • A sprinkling of paprika, chop- ped chives, or minced parsley, • Golden brown croutons. f Toasted nut meat s, whole, halved, slivered, or chopped. * * COD AND ONION SOUP 1 pound cod fillets 4 chicken bouillon cubes 4 cups boiling water 4 cups thinly sliced onion 'i cup butter, melted 2 tablespoons flour Biu teaspoon salt Few grains pepper Finely grated cheese 6 slices French bread (optional) Cut fresh fillets, 'or partially thawed block of frozen fillets in- to 1 -inch cubes. Dissolve bouil- lon cubes in boiling water. Cook onion slowly in melted butter Until: tender but not browned, tossing frequently, Blend in flour and seasonings.'Add bouil- lon gradually. Float to boiling point, stirring constantly. Add fish, bring to simmering tem- perature, and simmer feo 10 min- utes. Serve piping hot with a little grated. cheese sprinkled over the top. If desired, sprinkle bread slices with grated cheese and toast in the oven. Serve soup in deep .bowls placing cheese toast on to just before ser v in g. Additional grated cheese may be passed at the table. Makes 6 servings. * * That old 'favourite, salt cod, takes on new interest when served in a tangy, delicious, to- mato cream sauce. ' COD IN TOMATO SAUCE 1 pound boneless salt cod 1 tablespoon vinegar 1. cup chopped onion 2 tablespoons melted butter 1 can (10 ounces) mushrooms, drained 1 can (71/2 ounces) tomato sauce 14 cup butter 1et cup flour 1 cup milk 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce Salt to taste - 3 cups hot cooked rice Rinse cod well under cold, running water. Soak overnight in cold water to cover. Drain. Add fresh cold water to cover and slowly bring to simmering temperature. Simmer' for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the fish can readily be separated into flakes. Drain and flake. Sprinkle with. vinegar. Cook onion in ,melted butter uhtil tender but not brown. Add mushrooms and to- mato sauce. Heat and stir until bubbling hot. Meanwhile, in a separate saucepan' melt ya cup butter and blend in • flour. Add milk gradually and cook, over low heat, stirring constantly un- til smooth and thickened. Stir in Worcestershire sauce, flaked cod, and tomato sauce mixture; blend well. Add salt to taste. Serve piping hot over cooked rice. Makes 6 servings. Y t * KIPPERS TAKE THE CREAM For a quick delicious luncheon dish try this" Combine 1/4 cup each of chopped onion and green pepper, Cook 'in 2 tablespoons of butter until tender. Add the drained contents of a 1 -pound can of kippered herring and heat eor about 5 minutes to warm thoroughly. Add 1/2 cup of cream seasoned with e's teaspoon of pepper and continue to 'heat un- til the cream bubbles. Serve over hat buttered toast, Depend- ing on appetite, this dish will give 4 to 6 servings. You can tell when the youngs- ters are grown up—it's at the point where you stop winding up their cars and start buying gas for them. ISSUE 8 — 1961 Results Of Gant Research Effort For eighteen months, 30,000 persons from 67 nations took part in the gigantic research ef,- fort known as the International Geophysical Year, whieh came to an end on Dee, 31, 1959, What did they accomplish? Last month, Capt Elliott B, Hoberts pf the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey gave the ans- wer: They accomplished plenty. The army of scientists'left , a veritable mountain of material behind: Sixty tons of records, tapes, reports, graphs, and cor- ings from earth, ice, and sea- bottom — enough data to occupy researchers for years to come. The cost of the project to the U.S. Government, Roberts cal- culated (in the annual report of the Smithsonian Institution), was. $543.5 million. Big as this is, he noted that many participating nations spent even more money in• relation to their populations. Total contributions of all nations came to about $2 billion. Totting up the balance, Roberts concludes: "We have learned that the opeans may become a primary food source, 'farmed' by man, and that their dark reaches may deliver up vast new riches for his benefit , that solar processes may revolutionize our approach to energy problems.,. The list could be well nigh end- less. To keep us from straying into scientific fantasy, we have a legacy of planning bodies at national and international levels for the fullest exploitation of the possibilities. "We may now, for once and all,", Roberts says .vigorously, "have laid the ghost of that stupid old question whether re- search and pure science are worth their own support." Big Lift To Save Pharaoh's Temple For three millenniums, the ancient Egyptian temple of Abu Simbel with its four massive statues of Ramses II guarding the entrance has survived the ravages of desert winds and the shifting sands of the Nile — only to be threatened with death by water in the twentieth century. .When the Aswan High Darn, which the United Arab Republic is building with Soviet assistance, was planned, it seemed Abu Sim - bel would be drowned in a 300 - mile -long lake covering t h e Nubian Valley of Egypt and the Sudan. Last month in Cairo, UNESCO recommended to the U.A.R. a plan to save Abu Simbel that was breath -taking in its boldness. The idea is to raise the 300,000 - ton monument built by Ramses iI 186 feet into the air, from the Nile's present level to the edge of the lake which will be creat- ed by the new dam. The plan was drafted by a trio of Italian engineering firms led by the Milan engineer Prof. Piero Gazzola. It was recommended to the U"A"R., over a French scheme to protect the temple with its own dam, by an inter- national committee of experts appointed by UNESCO This group is working to preserve the priceless heritage of Nubia's monuments, states a writer in NEWSWEEK. Abu Simbel is carved into a sheer sandstone cliff 20p feet high at the mouth of a long rock corridor on the banks of the up- per Nile. Its brilliantly frescoed halls and chambers, depicting the glories of the 67 -year reign of Ramses (for whom the chil- dren of Israel toiled in bondage), pentrate some 180 feet into the cliff, Its facade stretches 124 feet across the face of the cliff. The first phase of the plan to raise the temple will mean shearing off a chunk of mountainside above it two-thirds the size of a football field. Then, from a work - pit 50 feet deep, mote than 1,000 workers will gradually dig out Abu Simbel's underpinnings, re- placing them section by section with a solid base of reinforced concrete and steel beams. The rock masses from the sides and back of the temple will be cut away and the entire structure will 'be wrapped in a cocoon of reinforced concrete and steel girders. To elevate Abu Simbel, the foundation's steel support girder. will be replaced by 300 electroni- cally coordinated hydraulic jades. Almost imperceptibly, at the rate of one-eighth of an inch a lift, ,Abu Simbel will rise into the air. When it has been raised a foot, the jacks will be tem- porarily removed one by one and a base of 1 foot of reinforc- ed concrete set down under them. Then the jacks will be re- placed and the entire cycle be- gun again; Finally the temple will rest on an enormous shaft of 250,000 tons of reinforced con- crete. The Italians estimates that it i. will take nearly six years and $60 million to do the job (which includes lifting the smaller tem pie 'Ramses built a "few yards downstreamfor his wife, Ne- fertari). UNESCO is, also now trying to raise the ,remaining $15 million it needs to salvage other treasures: So far it has re- ceived money from six countries. Congress has recommended U.S. participation, but no finds have yet been authorized, Those coun- tries which.do not participate, might well remember the words carved into one of the temple's pillars. "Hearken to what I tell you, I am Re, lord of heaven, on earth, who does things of benefit to you accordingly as you work for him." * o Editor's Note—It is hoped that the whole thing will not end in something like Kipling presaged in his verse "And the secret that was hid Under Cheops' pyramid, Was that some contractor did Cheops out of several millions". Next Time, Mr. Fox Please Sell Tickets For centuries the British have been hunting foxes to the thun- derous baying of their hound dogs, It has been a great sport, providing the gentry with a chance to wear pink coats, and shout "Tally ho!" Always outnumbered and usu- ally subjected to the final indig- nity of having their tails chop- ped off, the foxes have not, found this sport so exhilarating. Now they are getting even. Scurrying beneath one of the unguarded wires which run alongside Britain's electrified railroads, a fox near Dover led 37 hounds of the West Street pack into a trap. When the hounds hit the unshielded wire, nineteen of them died. And sly old Reynard just -loped away. The Masters of Foxhounds Association pr am p t 1 y warned against this peril but by then, apparently, the foxes had told the rabbits. When the Blean beagle pack picked up the scent of a rabbit near Faversham, Kent, the rabbit also headed for the nearest rail line. This time eight of the beagles (some valud at more than $1,000 apiece) were electrocuted, Br'er Rabbit hopped. away, LIGHTHOUSE - IE E'E PING — ia•panes.e miss introduces some- thing new in home banks. The. model lighthouse .'lights up when coin is inserted, A ROUNDED HOME LIFE — Mr. and Mrs: C. Wacker built this round house near Leaven- wor h, Kan. The home has a living room at the centre which is circular, All `other rooms have one curved wall, There's a round basement, round rug In the round living room, and. a round 'ink in the bathroom — but no round beds.