HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1961-03-16, Page 2Sox Of Candies
lExposed Killer
Woman -chasing was Herbert
Armstrong's hobby. He Was a
male insignificant man who had
countless love affairs, He was a
small-town solicitor in Wales,
and would almost certainly be
elive/to-day but for his stupidity
- and the marvels of science.
'Science was used first in
criminal detection for finger
print identification. Then came
the forensic specialists: Spils-
bury, Roche Lynckle, Smith and.
Glaister, Crooks walked in mor-
tal fear of these men, and all
of them are responsible for the
tine art .which scientific detec-
tion is to -day.
Not until after the first world
war did criminals realize the
strength of the test-tube police-
men. And one of the first men
to be beaten by the scientists
was Herbert Armstrong.
There was only one other
solicitor in the town, and when
Armstrong married a childhood
sweetheart from Devon there
was every prospect that they
would settle down to a comfort-
able middle-class existence.
The area was a prosperous,
agricultural one, and Herbert
Armstrong's practice continued
to increase. He and his wife lived
very comfortably, they had
maids and a nice house, but he
was a philanderer, and army
service in the first world war
had done little to help his
character.
After his demob he used his
military rank and became more
aggressive and vainer than ever.
During the war Armstrong had
had a string of casual affairs
with various women.
Early in 1920 Armstrong was
dining in London with several
women he had met during the
war and in July he drew up a
new will for his wife in which
everything was left to him
without any reference to his
children.
About this time, as a keen
gardener, he was showing in-
tense interest in the removal of
weeds with an arsenical weed
killer.
By the middle of the follow-
ing month Mrs. Armstrong's
condition, physical and mental,
had deteriorated alarmingly. so
much so that she was removed
to a mental home as insane. By
January she had improved and
returned home. But later that
month Armstrong purchased
further arsenic. By the, middle
of February Mrs. Armstrong
was dead. The cause of death
was certified as heart disease,
rheumatism and acute gastritis.
No doubt everybody, including
Herbert Armstrong, thought that
was the end. So it was for
ten months.
On the last day of 1921 excite-
ment was tense in the village of
Hay. One of its two lawyers had
been arrested and charged with
the attempted murder of the
other. Armstrong like so many
murderers before him, was quite
unable to let well alone, al-
though his behaviour to the
solicitor indicates the actions of
a lunatic rather than a cold, cal-
culating murderer,
On the death of his wife,
Herbert Armstrong had succeed-
ed to her money. For years.
however, he'd been extravagant
• and it's clear that both he and
his practice were getting into
financial trouble. Mr. Martin,
the second solicitor, was in con-
stant communication with Arm-
strong.
He was pressing him for
money and although from that
point of view Martin's death
could have made no difference
to Armstrong, no doubt the
egotistical little man thought
otherwise.
The two solicitors had been
en business speaking terms for
years. They did not meet socially
and probably Mr. Martin was
somewhat surprised when the
flashy Major Armstrong sudden-
ly started asking him to tea, He
was, perhaps, even more sur-
prised when, on going to tea
with Armstrong, his host kept
banding him buttered scones
with his fingers,
When poison first entered the
mind of Martin we do not know,
but on his return home from his
;first tea party. with Armstrong.
he was extremely, ill, and it
didn't take his doctor long to
suspect arsenical poisoning.
Chocolates were : also sent 'to
Mr, Martin. They contained ar-
senic and the doctor remembered
the death of Mrs. Armstrong,
communicated with the Home
Office, and her body was exhum-
ed.
Arsenic is one of theeasiest
poisons to detect in the body. It
wasn't long before the patholo-
gist was able to state with con-
fidence that Mrs, Armstrong had
died as the result of arsenic. The
linings of her stomach and the
intestines showed all the usual
signs of an acute gastritis and
the contents of the organs were
shown under analysis to contain
large quantities of arsenic.
On his arrest a number of
packets of pure arsenic were
found in Armstrong's possession,.
and at his trial he made "some
futile excuse about using in-
dividual packets of arsenic, for
getting rid of individual dande-
lions.
If he had left out the word
dandelion he would have been
speaking the truth! He was
hanged a few weeks later and it
was science that had brought
him to justice.
Old British Cars -
Go To Junk Yard
For many who - tasted their
first joys of motoring in British
small cars—the babies -of the
twenties or thirties, this is a
nostalgic month,
Of these early cars, the Mor-
ris eights and the baby Austin
have' outlasted most other mod-
els — probably because there
were more of them. Now scores
of these small cars which got
their first registration stickers
30 or 40 years ago are croaking
into scrap yards to be broken up.
They just cannot make the
grade under new compulsory
testing for vehicles more than
10 years old, which came into
force here Feb. 14. St. Valen-
tine's Day, 1961, will be remem-
bered as the day many parted
with their old love, From this
date it was illegal to use any
vehicle first registered before
Jan. 1, 1837, without a certificate
issued by an approved testing
stations showing that , brakes,
steering, and lights complied
with the law.
One remembers those, old . ca-
ble brakes of the first baby cars
which often hung in loops under
the car. One learned to bring the
car to a reasonable halt without
much help from them,
The steering was finger -light,
and one bounced along cheer-
fully getting all the fresh air
there was through cracks in the
cellophane flaps. Car heaters
were unknown on small models
in those days, as unknown as
registration plates and driving
tests.
To learn to drive in the coun-
ee , at any rate, one took out the
car, with any passenger who had
the courage to come, and rum-
bled along in second gear till
one could brace oneself to make
the chanes into high. It is diffi-
cult to realize now how few cars
one passed on the roads in those
days, writes Melita Knowles in
the Christian Science Monitor.
It is estimated there are in
Britain about 200,000 vehicles in
use which are 24 or more years
old. Since only about one-sixth
of the 1,500,000 which must have
certificates before May, 1962,
have been submitted voluntarily,
it seems probable many of the
owners of the 24 -year-olds are
resigned to taking them off the
roads.
Many of the cars due for the
scrap yards are covered with
marks of affection—the pennants
of seaside towns which obscured
the view from the windows; and
instructions such as: "Push
here," painted on the back.
One big advantage which the
old-fashioned baby cars had was
that one always could put them
in gear and push or rock theffri.
when the self-starter stuck. -In
comparison, one feels helpless
with the big modern car if it
does happen to go wrong.
Joking aside, though, no one
really can feel sorry that senti-
ment is making way for more
safety on the roads,
BEAUTY WINNER — This stomp won out over 5,900 others in
use around the world to be picked the most beautiful by a
jury of artists and stamp collectors, assembled in Monte Carlo,
First placed on sale in 1955, it carries a portrait of Queen Eliza-
beth and a view of Windsor Castle. It is printed in black and
white.
SALTED AWAY — Margaret Johnson, 12, happily examines a
globe she retrieved from the ocean at Key Colony Beach, Fla.
It is the type used by Japanese fishermen more than 30 years
ago to hold up their nets. Originndlly clear glass, years in the
salt wetter have turned it milky purple.
TABLE TALKS
Crisp fried chicken is one of
the most popular of all dishes
and perhaps it might not be out
of the way to outline different
methods of achieving perfection
in its preparation.
"Young chicken of any weight
may be fried. It may be halved,
quartered, or cut up to give 11
or 12 pieces -2 drumsticks, 2
thighs, 2-3 pieces of breast, 2
wings, 2 pieces of back and the
neck. Each piece should have its
own section of skin," saysno less
an authority than the U.S. Poul-
try and Egg National Board,
4 * *
PAN FRIED CHICKEN
For each 2 -21/2 -pound chicken,
blend together 1/2 cup flour, 1h
teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon
salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper or
poultry seasoning. Place this
mixture in a paper bag. Place
chicken in bowl and pour 1/4 cup
milk over chicken, 'turning
chicken to moisten it completely.
Drain off excess milk. Shake
chicken, 2-3 pieces at a time, in
flour mixture in bag to coat
evenly. Save any leftover mix-
ture for gravy.
Heat 1/4 -inch of fat in a skil-
let until a drop of water just.
sizzles. Place larger pieces of
chicken in skillet first to brown,
slipping smaller pieces in be-
tween as chicken browns. Turn
as necessary with kitchen tongs;
brown and ccok evenly. When
chicken is lightly browned, in
15-20 minutes, reduce heat; cover
tightly and cook slowly until
fork tender. Turn once or twice
to assure even browning and
cooking. If pan cannot be cover-
ed tightly, add 1 -tablespoon
water. Uncover during the last
five minutes to recrisp. Serve
on warm platter.
4 * *
If you would rather fry your
chicken in the oven, this is the
method you'll find most success-
ful.
OVEN -FRIED CHICKEN
Coat chicken with seasoned
flour as in above recipe. Brown
chicken pieces in at least 1/4 inch
of fat in heavy skillet. When
chicken is lightly browned, place
one layer deep in a shallow bak-
ing pan. Chicken should fill pan
without crowding or leaving any
pan area exposed. For, each
chicken, spoon 2 tablespoons
melted butter and 2 tablespoons
broth or milk over chicken, Cook
in a 350° F. oven until chicken
is fork tender, about 35-45 min-
utes. Turn once during cooking
to brown :and crisp evenly (if
chicken appears dry during cook-
ing, add more broth or milk).
Chicken is done when the thick-
est pieces are tender.
e * *
BROILED CHICKEN •
For anyone who prefers tender
young chicken broiled, the meth-
od' is simple. Split chicken in
half lengthwise or quarter it,
Shape wings "akimbo"; bring
wing tips onto cut side. Place
chicken skin side down in broiler
pan (do not use rack). Chicken
should fill pan, one layer deep
without crowding or leaving
space, Brush with melted fat.
Season each chicken with ?/s tea-
spoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pep-
per. Place broiler pan about 9
inches from heat, regulating the
distance or the heat so that sur-
face of chicken just begins to
brown after le minutes of cook-
ing, Broil slowly 25-30 minutes.
Turn skin side up, brush with
fee and broil 20 minutes longer.
Brush with fat several times
during -cooking to give even
brown. Total cooking time; 45-50
minutes. Pour pan drippings
over chicken to serve.
* a *
BOUILLON POTATOES
2 pounds raw potatoes, peeled
and cut small cubes
3/ cup minced onions
Mt cup minced carrots
14 cup minced celery
Pinch minced parsley
Dash ground black pepper
Dash ground nutmeg,
Salt to taste
1. quart beef or chicken stock
Put ingredients together and
simmer for about 45 minutes.
Serve hot.
If no stock is available use
bouillon cubes and water.
* * *
SCALLOPED POTATOES
6 medium-sized potatoes
2 tablespoons flour
11/4 teaspoons salt
Pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups hot milk
Peel and slice potatoes. Put a
layer of potatoes in a greased
baking dish. Sprinkle with part
of flour, salt and pepper. Dot
with butter. Repeat until all po-
tatoes are used. Pour in the milk
(be sure milk is very fresh, or
it may curdle). Bake at 350° F.
for 1 hour, or until potatoes are
tender and browned on top. Add
more milk if the potatoes seem
too dry.
4 4 *
MINTED CARROTS
12 carrots, peeled, sliced and .
cooked until barely tender
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons mint jelly
Melt butter and mint jelly in
skillet; add carrots and saute
slowly to glaze, turning often.
Serve hot,
He Caters For
Royal Appetites
Meet a man who always rides
in the Queen's train wherever
she travels in the British ,Isles
as chief steward catering for
the royal appetites. When he's
not travelling with royalty he
supervises meals on the eine be-
tween Euston and Glasgow.
His name? George Holmes, -
who has worked on royal trains
for forty-four years and recently
celebrated his sixtieth birthday.
But this -pleasant -faced man cer-
tainly doesn't look his age,
When he 'first started waiting
et table in trains he merely.
carried bread and rolls. He soon
acquired the knack of holding
six plates of soup, four in his
right hand and two in his left
and walking about'with them in
too speeding train.
He has had only one mishap
— when a passing passenger jog-
ged his elbow many years ago
and a 'dish of eggs and bacon
slid down the waistcoat of a
company director who was on
his way to a race meeting. It
was bad luck, but the director
was quite cheerful about it, say-
ing that he had plenty of other
suits!
,"What happened tothat girl
you used to saw in half in your
magic act?"
"She's living in Toronto and
Montreal."
ISSUE 10.— 1961
Trunks, Tru4ns
And Television
Everybody used to have a
trunk. I had onemyself, a hand-
me-down from 'some previous
administration, but I don't recall
I ever took it anywhere. I was
just hunting in the attic for the
skimmers we use in the sugar
operation, and I bad to climb
over a trunk that belonged, I
think, • to Cousin Harriet.
Cousin lkarriet, If 'twere she,.
flourished' in a bygone era with
enough, style so she remains a
family tradition. None of us to-
day ever laid eyes' on her, but
we mention her occasionally.
"Use Cousin Harriet's cut -glass
pickle dish ." they'll say in
the kitchen when turning out
relish for the beans, Aild her
trunk, empty and tucked back
under the eaves out of thought,
serves now only to stimulate
musing on the general subject.,
If now occurs to me that the
trunk has been lacking in all the
period plays we see on televi-
sion. Now and then, in the. mod*
ern morality of virtue triump-
hant, and so on, we see an old-
time railroad station where veri-
similitude is achieved by having
a steam engine puff up, bringing
heroines and desperadoes to
town, I don't remember, in any
of these plays,. that sufficient
emphasis was placed upon the
trunk activity around the bag-
gage car, It was not, I believe,
thus. Whenever you went any-
where, you took a trunk, and
whenever you coursed a"depot"
platform you had to dodge ex -
pressmen pulling on their hand
wagons of trunks.
We had a family ' uncle I can
remember who regularly made
train trips between here and
"out West," and he never came
or went without his trunk. I
don't know what happened on
that end but on this end we'd
meet him with the buggy or
pung, and lash his trunk behind
with what he called a rope but
we called a line. Then we'd
drive up to the farm and he'd
stay with us a time. After he
had enough of us, he'd pack up,
and we'd drive him to the sta-
tion and watch Hermon Ogilvie
shove the trunk into the baggage
car.
Uncle's trunk (we still have it,
too) 'was a massive thing all
brassbound and cornered; and it
had a rounded top. The domed
top on a trunk was supposed to.
discourage stacking them, and
expressmen couldn't pile trunks
up one on another until the bot-
tom one got crushed. The trav-
eling public would sit in the
coaches believing their trunks
were all on the floor, but the
expressmen simply stood them
on end and stacked them that
way. A good expressmen could
stack anything, regardless of
shape.
Of course I'm writing this now
from Maine, where our rail pas-
senger service is gone and we
don't ride the rails any snore.
And you "can't take a trunk on
buses or planes. Besides, the
eye -appeal of modern luggage
makes an old trunk so thorough-
ly outdated you wouldn't care to
be seen with one.
But here in Maine we also had
a seagoing version of the trunk
which -has considerable beauty
even yet—the sea chest. I've a
couple of them, too, left over
from many voyages. They are
pine chests, beautifully dove-
tailed, with hemp beckets and
wrought -iron hinges and locks,
and even now if you open one
on a warm day you'll get a whiff
of tar and spices.
No seafaring man ever took a
"dress suitcase" aboard ship, as
this was considered unlucky, but
passengers did, The seaman had
a bag anti a didsly baix. And it
may be a note for folklorists that
around Maine you often hear
dress suitcase in Lull, instead of
just suitcase, Hut I think the,
ideal companion for a trunk was
really the "grip," This has an.
interesting derivation, It was a
gi'ipsack, or a sack with handles
for grasping, or pipping, and in
usage this was shortened,'Uncle's
grip was a handsome piece of
. leather, and added distinction on
any railway platform, and I re-
member once I saw him open it
and he had two' pearl -handled
.45 Colt revolvers laid on top of
Isis personal• things.. This is the
closest I ever came to the rip -
meeting days of Leadville, 'La*
ramie, and the like.
Since passengers on a vessel
weren't bound by the traditions
of the mariners, we used to have
odd suitcases and trunks around
here which came home from
' afar, Now and then, combing an
old attic, we'd see a trunk made
with a camel -skin covering with
the hail still on, These may
well 'have been handsome in
foreign ports of call, but in my
time they had become bedrag-
gled, and we'd' hear the term, "a
bald-headed trunk."
There was one story i barely
remember about a lady who, be-
ing less hairy on top than her
trunk, had tried some kind . 'of
patent "tonic" to restore her lost
beauty, and by a grievous clums-
iness she had spilled the bottle
on her camel's-hair trunk. The
story went that while the lady
turned to a "transformation," she
had to take the trunk every two
weeks to the barber's for a hair-
cut, I have no idea who made
those things' up.
Nor did our old trunks open
up into spare rooms with shelves
and drawers. They had a lift
lid, and then a tray which lifted
out. Uncle kept his souvenirs in
the •tray, along with collar but-
tons and his Bible and "Blue-
book," lie also had there a tied -
up bundle of papers, one of
which was his deed to a quarter
section in "Dakotah Territory."
It now seems that whatever
uncle had, he had it In his
trunk, and the trunk is still
there just about as he left it.
Cousin Harriet, on the other
hand, left a trunk which is still
empty.—By John Gould in the
Christian Science Monitor.
Common names of the phea-
sant are Ohinese pheasant, ring -
neck, and chink. Description:
Brightly coloured, long-tailed
imported game bird.
PATCHWORK — Fifteen. ton
"hooked rug" is mode of 26,-
108 lengths of bridge wire
lumped into a bridge cable
sample at U.S. Steel. It will
be used to determine final
specifications for the Narrows
Bridge, the longest suspended
span which will link Staten Is-
land and Brooklyn.
TOP DOG Apparently not too excited over her triumph, Ch,
Cappoquin Little Sister yawns as she sits in trophy cup after
being choren Best -of -Show at the 85th annual Westminster
Kennel Club bog Show.
_