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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1961-08-03, Page 3®E712 1E1© © °'©�0® 1 iI I' �M . ���r�'']]jj© -r0©i0 © ©' ®i�©©® 4 ©©0©�©d, ©0C` D0 ©IIOLIMEIBIAE1 ©0©CC II�1:1 Iponi DDMD©MD (;JOfoia anzu 'GIUJ C.7l9MQ . MOOR -©© [31111111111 OBE! The IPoaaous House That Downing Built Ort all the hacards th:it have beset the path of the Prime Ministers In Great Britain, it would appear that the most peril- ous has been the necessity of inhabiting No. 10 Downing St, Revered by the populace as the very temple of British Domoc- 'racy, it has been less enthusias- tically assessed by the un- fortunates who have had to live there. It has even been suggested that the function of the eternal policeman by the door there was not, as is commonly supposed, to keep intruders out, but co pre- vent the reluctant residents from escaping, The rooms at No. 10 have al- ways been draughty, the founda- tions uncertain and the plumbing unmentionable, Indeed,the whole house seems to have been design- ed as a battle course to test the moral calibre of each successive Head of Government. Some have cracked under the strain; others have refused to pit themselves against such unequal odds and haveelected to live elsewhere, Only Sir Robert Walpole profess. ed to loveit; ' I am writing itiug to you in one of the charming rooms towards the Park', he informed a correspondent, 'It is a delightful room, and I am enjoying this sweet corner while I may ' We can only assume that the foundations had not yet begun to subside, It was through Sir Robert Wal- pole that No. 10 achieved its fame, for it was he who accepted it from George II, with the stipulation that the house should be conveyed in perpetuity, not to future Prime Ministers (the of- fice had no defined place in Constitutional Law at the time) but to future First Lords of the Treasury, That was in 1735. Thirty-one years, later we learn that 'the old part of the House was much de- cayed, the Floors and Chimneys much sunk from a level' and, in 1783, we find the Morning Herald saying .rude things about 'the Great Repair' which cost £11,000 — a lot of money in those days, The first person to benefit from 'this expensive overhaul was Wil- 11am Pitt the Younger. He i esided # here twice; first very briefly as Chancellor of the Exchequer and en, from December 1783 on- ards, he returned not only as on- wards, but as First Lord of the Treasury as well, for a period lasting over seventeen years. Whether Pitt stayed this un- usual length of time because he actually liked No. 10 or whether his trades people opposed his de- parture until he paid his bills is a delicate point. Certainly dur- ing his period of residence Downing Street witnessed aomes- tic expenditure on a very lavish scale. 'Debts accumulated,' says one chronicler, 'and it was com- monly asserted that the Col- lectors of the Taxes found more difficulty in levying them from the Chancellor of the Exchequer Upsidedown to Prevent Peeking V 900 rr• DONE WITH MIRRORS? — Two Polish (left) and two Russian motorcycle racers cut similar tracks around a course in Warsaw. Their strange costumes are for protection in case of accidents. Thick steel soles are for guiding with the feet. than from almost any other in- habitant of Westminster Pitt's successors did not dis- play the same staying powers, A few years later we find Lord Portland arriving on the scene, flushed and enthusiastic as First Lord of the Treasury: 'Yesterday' (reported the! Morn- ing Chronicle of July 21st, 1807) 'the family of the Duke of Port- land took possession of the offi- cial house in Downing Street.' and on August 27th, less than five weeks later — 'His Grace's family will remove from the House in Downing Street . . , back to Burlington House, Piccadilly, on Tuesday next' Among other distinguished vic- tims of No. 10 may be counted the Duke of Wellington, who, as First Lord of the Treasury stuck it out there with soldierly deter- mination while Apsley House was being overhauled — and not a moment longer; Earl Grey, who rapidly fled to more com- fortable quarters in East Sheen 'until it shall be more fit for his reception'; Disraeli, who sur- vived the experience for three years, and then beat a strategic retreat to No. 2 Whitehall Gar- dens without offering any ex- cuse at all; and Lord Rosebery who decided to compromise by having a bedroom set aside for him there as a sort of gesture — and then continued to live at Berkeley Square. The fact of the matter is that No. 10 never really had a chance. In the first place it was built on waterlogged ground, •and in the second place it was built by Sir George Downing, from whom the street takes its name. Sir George was an intriguing uaracter, a kind of North Euro- pean Machiavelli whose disarm- ing air of piety deceived every- one; even (which is saying some- thing) his mother. He wormed his way into the confidence of Oliver Cromwell and, as Ambas- sador to Holland, he spied . on the exiled Charles II (for which he was paid something like £40 a day on the basis of our present valuation) while at the same time he obligingly supplied the King with confidential informa- tion about the affairs of the Commonwealth. At the Restora- tion, he was knighted for this loyal service and later given the land on which Downing Street now stands. He built there as a speculation — which explains a great deal:—Froin "600" Maga- sine. Doctor: "Tell your wife not to worry about that slight deafness as it is simply an indication of advancting years." Husband: "You tell her." ONCE A CAMERAMAN — Antony Armstrong -Jones,. a profes- sional cameraman before 'he married Princess Margaret,takes a crock at his old vacation. While his wife watches the play he focuses on the Wimbleton tennis match in England. °HIE FARM FRONT k'QeLL A Russian view ,of an Ameri- can farm has roused consider- able interest and the particular farmer .whose methods were de- scribed is not .entirely happy about the whole thing. From Moscow came an Associated Press story saying; * C * Iowa corn farmer Roswell Garst, an old acquaintance of Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev, is being described in the Soviet press as a man who doesn't pay his hired hands very much. And some of his political ideas were called "somewhat naive." This portrait of Mr. Garst was written for the Oficial news- paper Rural Life by A. Roma- nov, one of the Soviet journalists who recently toured the' United States at the invitation of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, After a visit to the Garst farm, Mr. Romanov wrote: "On his 5,000 acres of land he employs 20 men, who know well how to handle farm machinery and are real masters in their trade, "He does not pay them much: 51.10 an hour on weekdays and 51.70 on Saturdays, In this re- spect he acts like a man who knows well the value of money, and takes good care to have ev- ery dollar bring hint a clear pro- fit or two. "Besides, a high price is not set in the United States on the labor of those who produce wealth for others." * e 8 Mr. Romanov approvingly noted that Mr. Garst called the arms race a "world craze," but the writer added:, "Some of his views as, for example, the idea of dividing the world into li- terate and illiterate, range some- what naive," And when it came to explain- ing why a corn farmer has a swimming pool on his farm, Mr. Romanov did it by quoting Mr. Garst to this effect: "Do you think I have a swim- ming pool in my garden because I ant a capitalist? I have this pool because I feed the corn cobs to the cattle and do not thrown them 'away or burn them like others do." • Y ;, r Describing ,the inside of Mr. Garst's house, Mr. Romanov wrote: "The walls inside the cottage, EASY, NOW — A bandit -faced raccoon is the picture of cau- tion as ,he descends a ladder in London's Regent's Park Zoo. as I remember them, were light green, the carpet green too, and the low armchair in which Mr. Garet sat was upholstered in green too. In fact, the green seemed to absorb the strong odor of manure carried in from the cattle enclosures," The area around Mr. Garst's farm was depicted in a gloomy fashion, Mr. Romanov said he was able to view it when Mr. Garst took the Soviet visitors to see land that was lying idle be- cause the United States Govern- ment was paying to have it idle. "On our way," wrote Mr. Ho- manov, "we passed empty little farm homes with broken window panes and doors swinging in the wind. The homes had been aban, doned by their owners. We won- dered: Where were those farm- ers now whom the land no long- er feeds? Some may have turned into homeless tramps, others, if lucky, got jobs in town... . * '5 e In Coon Rapids, Mr. Garst called Mr. Romanov a "three- hour expect." He recalled that Mr. Romanov visited the farm with a group of other people last May 14. "He stayed about three hours," said Mr. Garst, "then went home and wrote an article about our farming operations. That would be like me going to the Soviet Union, staying three hours, and writing all about Russians—full of inaccuracies." He said the Soviet newsman stopped at the farm on a Sun- day during corn -planting time. "We had been rained out for a week before and decided to work that day," Mr. Garst said. "Most of the employees he saw were day laborers which we use occasionally throughout the year Most of our employees are per- manent, year-round men living in nearby farm homes." Mr. Garst said Mr. Romanov was particularly inaccurate about the amount of land he actually owns. "He not only grouped my land, but also land owned by my sons and some of the farmlands I manage for others," said Mr. Garst. He did not reveal, how- ever, how much. land he does claim title to. e • k Mr. Garst also took exception to Mr. Romanov's calling some of his (Mr. Garst's) political ideas naive, and to the Soviet journalist's gloomy description of the 'farm area around the Garst homestead. Mr. Garst said he told Mr. Ro- manov that the countries with high literacy rates, including the United States and Soviet Union, have been the leaders in prog- ress, whereas famine and pov- erty were rampant in nations with high illiteracy, a e 0 He added that technical prog- ress in the United States has en- abled the country to take more men off the farms and put them in industry, whereas the Soviet Union is using nearly half its total population on the farms. Regarding Mr, Romanov's de- scription of the interior of the Garst home, Mr, Garet said: "That doesn't bother me, But it probably will make my wife a little angry," "It's no good trying to give people the benefit of your ex- perience," says a psychiatrist. Yes, they all like to see for themselves whether the paint is wet. Getting Money Out Of Books An absent-minded North of England man was urgently want- ed by the police recently. But not for a criminal offence, They wanted to return to him banknotes worth £20 which he had thoughtlessly used as a book-, mark while reading a volume of theology he had borrowed from the local public library. The man had returned the book to the library with the notes still in it, The assistant who found them asked the police to help trace the man. One thing this absent-minded reader had to tell the police be- fore he got kris money back -the title of the book. He did so. Quite often there's money in old books—for the reader as well as for the author. In the Vatican Library in Rome they tell the story of a penniless student who used to spend occasional afternoons there reading little-known books. One day he was thumbing through the dusty tomes of an almost forgotten philosopher when, at the end of the last vol- ume, he came upon a faded sheet of paper on which was written: "The finder of this should go to the Probate Court and ex- amine File 162, Rome, February 5th, 1784," The student went' to the court and took out the file. The phi- losopher had left his entire for- tune, $1,500,000, to the first per- son sufficiently interested in his works to read them to the end. The student netted the fortune. Another lucky book -lover was the one who bought an old copy of the novel, "Paul et Virginia." Inside the book he found a brief note telling him to go to a bank. "It's a hoax," he thought. But it wasn't. He went to the bank next day and to his amazement he was given $1,000. Said the bank manager: "The money was left ten years ago by the book's previous owner to the next per- son to read it." A Dulwich, L o n d o n, man bought an old family bible for five shillings at a local auction sale. Two days later his wife was turning over the leaves when she found several pasted together. Separating them, she discover- ed six £5 notes. On the back of one was written this brief will: "I have had to work very hard for this money . and having no heir T leave you, the new owner of this old bible, elf of it. Julie 17th, 1840, Southend, Essex" ISSUE 30 — 1961 MDR SC LESSON By Rev. 8. Barela,t Warren B.A., 16,0 Dorcas, a Woman of Good Works Acts 9; 36-43 Memory Selection: To do good and to communicate, forget not: for with such sacrifices God i$ well pleased. Hebrews 13.16. We frequently read of in- stances of suspended .animation v/here someone is thought to be dead but, to the surprise of those about, revives again. This was riot the case here, Luke, the writer, was a physician, Be says concerning Dorcas, "And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died; whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber." He men- tons the cause of her death, the fact of her death, and the pre- paration of the body for burial. He leaves no room 'for skeptic- ism. Moreover, he wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The sending for Peter may have been more a gesture of friendship than an exercise of faith. Peter was near at hand. Just prior to this, he had been instrumental in' God's hands of raising Aeneas from his bed where he had lain sick of the palsy for eight years. There may have been spine hope on the part of the friends but w= doubt that there was real faith. For Peter put them all forth from the room before he prayed No one remained to share with him in the prayer of faith. When the maiden had arisen he called the saints and widows and present- ed her alive, It was a remark- able miracle. No wonder that as a result, many believed on the Lord, Dorcas's life of service was evi- .denced by the weeping widows showing the garments stip had made, She was no ordinary seam- stress. She may have made her living in this occupation but the preparing of garments for the needy widows was a work of love. "She was full of good works and almsdeeds." We have well organized wel- fare services which we support through taxes and community chests. But there is plenty of room for those who want to help the needy. To use the ability which God has given us, to heli others, is laying up treasure in heaven. It brings happiness here, too. CROSSWORD PUZZLE ACROSS 3. Volcano 4, Chief commodity 5. Eccentric. part 5. Among 7.Goatee 8Absonder 9. Man's nickname 3, Female antelope 4. Incrustation 8, Geraint's beloved X12. Norwegian county 1118. Docile 14. Mother of Apollo 15. Bunker 116, Bowfin genus 17, Scent 118. Brand '20, Relinquish Armpit 22. Armpit 24. Showy 28. Homage 82. Crinkled cloth 89. South Sea island �34. RiverUrchin 37, River island 87, Gambols B 140, Backslider 43. Maintain 45, Damp 40, Route 48, Nautical es, Expires 88, Cargo 87 Macaw 88. Jap, set of boxes 'CO.e0 Ger, river -.lap, measure $1. Groan X 82. Soothsayer 68. Tibetan ox DOWN 1. Strikes gently 2. Leave out i2 /r ys 2 10, Jap. 38. Individual statesman 39. Theater 1. June bug pp. Chart stat, Cab.) iHiller whale 41. Seller 2$. Have effect 42. Gr. letter 35. Wither 44. Yarns 28. Roasting 47. Distribute stake alms 27. Volutid 41. Change gastropods 50. Elaborate 28, So. Amer. melody pla gnt-cutter 51. Skinny 20. Totals 63. Daughter of 31. Oriental lute Cadmus 3366 drops 1n 84. Epoch 88. Mr. Lincoln S C a /0 /t /S /9 /9 /d /e' 71i 2/ 2x 25 2e 27 2a 33 29 30 32 34 37 93 46 35 94- 34 4/ 42 witqf 52 5e at 53 54 46 49 50 • 5/ 56 59 60 6-/0 63 Answer elsewhere on this page. BOXED IN — This wagon puller seems swamped by his load of boxes and baskets on the streets of Paris.