Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1961-10-26, Page 2Gittings Leotards Through Customs "1 am sending you two pairs of leotards by airmail," wrote my friend, Marcella. "It is the only way to keep warm." This was in reply to a letter of mine complaining that Athens was cold and rainy and thecentral heat would probably not be turned on until December first in my elegant little apartment off Kolonaki Square. I soon received a Customs' 'notice that,. the leotards had arrived and would I please call for them and the duty would be 200 drachmas (about $7), This was probably 100 per cent duty and I intended to try to talk them out of it. The Customs' business is big business in Greece. Most con- sumer goods are imported and a high duty is levied. The Greek Government derives a consider- able portion of its revenue from import duties. Miss Merope Dingas, the kindergarten teacher in our school volunteered to go with me the following Saturday morning to help me cope with this implacable organization. We met in front of the Parlia- ment building on the Syntagma and took a bus down Stadiou Street through Omonia Square and on to the railroad station, This particular Customs' ware- house was just opposite. It was warm and sunny. We sat down at one of the tables outside the station restaurant and ordered coffee. Miss Dingas had bought some hulurias while waiting' for ,'me. They are second cousins once removed from doughnuts and pretzels, Greeks customarily take their own food when going on excur- sions and the proprietor of the tavern usually seems happy to supply tables and chairs, knives and forks just for the sake of selling something to drink. Greeks are sun -loving people, When the sun comes out after a week or more of winter rain older people are often heard to say, "Hera Theoul Hara Theoul Toy of God, Joy of God." That's the way we felt as we sat in the warm sunshine and watched people coming and going with their wicker baskets with cloths sewed over the tops. I sensed that Miss Dingas was gathering momentum for our assault on the Customs. It was obvious from where we sat that repairs were under way in the Customs' building, When we entered, we found that a new concrete stairway was being in- stalled. Old plaster, boards and rubble were everywhere. There MOMENT OF TRUTH — Luiz Campos, Madrid, Spain, sculp- tor, immortalizes Manolete, the great matador who died 14 +<ears ago in the bull ring in Linares, with the bronze statue, "His Last Afternoon." was no railing as yet on the new stairs and we precariously clung to the inside wall as we wound. our way up the long flights to the fourth floor. Polite inquiries revealed that the office we wanted was on the fifth floor. There we were told positively that we should go to the third floor. We must see the chief inspector and he had not come in. Now, in every office building in Greece, there is a cubbyhole on each floor where a man makes Turkish coffee, He races from desk to desk and from of - flee to office dispensing these tiny cups of coffee with glasses of cold water for one drachma, We sat clown at a long table in 'the center of a huge room where many others were waiting and sipped coffee and ate more hulurias and chatted about the surrounding scene, We were in. no hurry, A salient fact must be stated here, namely that Greek women of the middle and upper classes follow the latest French styles and dress very fashionably, That one would ever wear a leotard is simply preposterous, writes Frances Bohm in the Christian Science Monitor. Returning to the fifth floor, we found the proper officer and started to relate our story, Miss Dingas, sixtyish, short and stout with curly gray hair and the kindest and merriest blue eyes explained that I was an Ameri- can teacher employed at the American Community School. She said that he leotards were a gift from a friend who sent them because I had complained of the cold. He replied that he didn't be- lieve it for a minute and that T' undoubtedly intended to give them to one of my pupils. She assured him quietly and courteously that I intended to wear them. "I don't believe it," he roared. "Don't tell me such a thing. I won't believe it if I see it." Then he suddenly quieted down and looked me over very slowly from my head to my feet and said firmly, "She's no bal- lerina." Finally he shouted, "I'm going to give them to her, but stop talking. Don't say an- other word:" Miss Dingas had scarcely said a word. So we took them and after signing my name several times, we started to leave. He asked for my passport again, Then on the back page, underneath the space where descriptions and serial numbers of my camera and typewriter are listed, he wrote a statement that the leo- tards were . admitted duty free and must be presented at the Customs along with my type- writer and camera when t left Greece. And so it was, nearly a year later, I carefully stowed the two pairs of leotards in the top of my typewriter and they were duly ticked off by another Cus- toms' officer guarding the gate to the S.S, Atlantic at her pier in Piraeus. STING IN THE TAIL A young American boy, mad about philately and inspired in faith, wrote an impassioned plea to God for a hundred dollars in order to make up his stamp col- lection. . The Postal Authorities, amused at the address, re -direct- ed it to the White House. The Public Relations team there were also amused and, on the Presi- dent's instruction, sent the young philatelist a cheque for five dollars. Now in the possession of the Celestial address, the boy men- tioned the matter to his father who, also tickled, undertook to reply on his son's behalf and to express gratitude. As a post- script he added: 'I am interested to note that the White House has been asked to deal with the mat- ter but I should like to draw attention to the fact that, as usu- al, the so-and-so's have deducted ninety-five percent.' HAPPY RETURNS — The letters have begun to melt, but they still spell "Sophia," The cake was for actress Sophia Loren's 27th birthday, celebrated in Rome, The hand is Sophia's, and the ring is on Oriental sapphire given as a birthday present by her husband, producer Carlo Ponti, J ,+ TABLE'TALKS bane Andrews. CREAMED ONIONS 12 medium-sized onions Boiling salted water 2 cups milk and onijn liquid 4 tablespoons flour 2 tablespoons. butter Salt and pepper Toasted unbianched almonds Peel onions, pierce with darn- ing needle from one end to the other, to prevent centre from boiling out, Place in saucepan, cook in boiling salted water (1 inch in depth), covered, for 30-35 minutes, or until tender. Remove onions to heated serving dish and keep warm. , Measure onion liquid. Mix flour with enough milk to make a paste, add onion liquid and enough milk to make two cups. Cook over medium heat until thickened, stir in butter, add salt and pepper to taste. Pour over onions and serve, with a few toasted unblanched almonds sprinkled on top. n a '5 SAVORY TURNIPS 1 large turnip, peeled and cut in 3/z -inch cubes Boiling water 1 tsp. salt % tsp, caraway seeds 1/ cup butter 1 medium onion, sliced very thin % cup chopped parsley 1 tsp. lemon juice salt and pepper Cover turnip cubes with boil- ing water in sauecpan. Add salt and caraway seeds, cover and cook about 20 minutes or until almost tender. Drain. Melt butter in heavy skillet, add onions, cover and cook over low heat until onion is yellow but not browned. Stir occasion- ally. Add parsley, lemon juice and cooked turnip. Cook, stirring gently, until turnip is coated with butter and lightly browned. Sprinkle lightly with salt and - pepper. (Serves 6,) ' e GLAZED CRABAPPLES 1 cup sugar 1 cup water 2 tablespoons lemon juice 4 tablespoons orange juice 1 teaspoon grated orange rind 12 crabapples Combine sugar, water, lemon juice, orange juice, orange rind in saucepan. Bring to boil and cook, briskly, until it reaches 225 degrees on candy thermome- ter, or spins a light thread. Wash, dry crabapples, remove blos- som ends, place in single layer SUILDOGS SHOULD LOOK SAD - Too young to know any better, this pup • flashes a smile not suited to his breed. His mother, Lady Democrat, looks on in Sydney, Australia, in shallow baking dish. Pour syrup over, bake in 350 -degree oven. Baste frequently with syrup in dish, and bake until fruit is tender but not mushy, about 25 minutes. Serve hot or cold, as a garnish. * r w ORANGE -CHIFFON CAKE 2% cups sifted cake flour 1% cups sugar 3 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. salt 1/2 cup cooking (salad) oil 5 egg yolks 3/4 cup cold water 3 tbsp. grated orange rind 1 cup egg whites (7 or 8) Vs tsp, cream of tartar Heat oven to 325 degrees, Sift flour, sugar, baking pow- der and salt together into a bowl. Make a well in the cen- tre of the dry ingredients and add the oil, egg yolks, water and orange rind in order. Beat with a spoon until smooth. Put egg whites and cream of tartar in a large mixing bowl. Beat until whites form very stiff peaks. Pour egg -yolk mixture grad- ually over beaten whites, fold- ing gently all the time with a rubber scraper. Fold just until blended. Pour into 10 -inch ungreased tube pan. Bake at 325 degrees 55 minutes. Increase oven tem- perature to 350 degrees and bake 10 to 15 minutes longer or until top springs back when touched lightly in centre. Invert on funnel or neck of a small bottle to cool. * w,* CRANBERRY -APPLE PIE Pastry for 9 -inch 2 -crust pie 1 can whole cranberry sauce 1 cup seeded raisins, cut in halves 2 cups tart diced apples 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup honey Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line pie pan with pastry. Combine cranberry sauce, rai- sins, apples and sugar. Put in pastry -lined pan. Drizzle honey over top and dot with butter, Roll. out remaining crust and ,use to cover pie. Seal and crimp edges. Bake about 40 minutes or until apples are tender. Cover crimp- ed edge of crust with a narrow strip of aluminum foil to keep it from getting too brown, Poachers Hunt For Crocodile Skins Crocodile poachers have bag- ged hundreds of precious skins in the Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda, Gangs armed with rifles creep along river banks until they can see the red eyes of crocodiles shining in the reeds. Other parties go out at night and flash torches on lurking crocs, blinding them. Then, it's easy to drive home a fatal spear thrust, But in recent weeks, to the astonishment of Uganda's game rangers, this illegal activity has suddenly ceased, The reason, say the Rangers, springs from an alarming in- crease in the number of still births and births of blind chil- dren among local tribes -people. Such calamities may be mere coincidence but the natives don't think so, A witch -doctor has told them that these misfortunes are their punishment for having killed a huge mother crocodile, a sacred creature. The spirit of this croc demands that a blind child be sacrificed Both Sides Have A Right To Be Heard The editorial platform of The Warrensburg News does not em- brace teetotalism . or prohibition. From that fact, however, it does not follow that teetotalers or prohibitionistsare barred from using our letter column. We have never seen it argued, seriously that the freedoms of speech and press do not apply to that sub- stantial- section of our citizens who disapprove of the consump- tion by human beings of spiritu- ous liquors. Therefore, we •were.consider- ably surprised when several ta- vern keepers in Warrensburg vi- gorously and emphatically pro- tested our printing last week the letter of a citizen who signed himself, "Blue Jay." Blue Jay's paints were simple and they were concisely express- ed. hiving near one of our local bars, he said, he has the oppor- tunity to observe conduct which he regards as unseemly. Especi- ally he protested a habit of cer- tain parents of leaving small children in a parked automobile while they imbibed within the tavern. Aside from the moral question involved, Blue Jay said, there was the annoyance of be- ing awakened at 1 a.m, by the screams, of one of these neglect- ed, unhappy, and apparently hungry children. Blue Jay additionally made claims of having seen customers fighting on the streets after hav- ing departed (editor's note: or having been ejected by the pro- prietor) Trom a tavern. The writer of the letter was known to us as a serious-minded, responsible citizen. He satisfied us that his reasons for not want- ing his name appended to the letter were valid. The letter, our lawyer said, was not in any way a violation of the libel law. Moreover, we checked insofar as we could and found independent evidence to corroborate at least to it at the Falls. Believing this, a party of poachers invaded a village re- cently, and tried to snatch a blind baby boy, But the child's father and kinsmen greeted the kidnappers with a hail of speers and severely injured two. For the moment, crocodile poachers are too frightened of reprisals from their fellow tribesmen to think of resuming their trade. one instance of a child crying lustily at 1' a.m. in a parked. automobile while its parents re- freshed themselves in the nearby, tavern. We concluded that Blue Jay had, a right to have his let. ter published and the readers o • The Warresbhurg News had 'a right to read it. We did not, in fact, construe the letter so much a criticism of the tavern keeper as a criticism of the morals of certain indivi- duals who, one would think, were as much a problem to .the tavern keeper as they were to the tavern keeper's neighbours. But even ;if we had interpreted the letter as a criticism of the tavern lceepel', we do not believe that we would not have been justified in refusing to print it. Tavern keepers cannot claim to be exempt from criticism any more, than editors of newspapers or corporation officials, or the President of the United Ste tee, The criticism may he fair or un- fair, but the method of resolving that question is to answer the criticism with whatever facts seem relevant, Several tavern operators whose places of business are nowhere near Blue Jay's residence enter- ed the fray immediately. The ink was hardly dry on that issue of The Warrensburg News when ourtelephone began jingling. One after another they protested our publication of the letter, We informed the tavern opera- tors that our columns are open to any answer they may wish to make to Blue Jay's aspersions on the customers of one of their number, or to any implied criti- cism of their institutions. At this writing they have made no move to accept our offer. For the record, if it needs to be said, we intend to continue to give space to the serious opin- ions of our readers, whether or not we agree with them — if they concern matters affecting the welfare of the community; if they are legible, intelligible, and not too long or libelous; and if they are signed by the writer (although' the name of the writer may be withheld from publication in certain cases). We hope that we shall never be guilty of barring a letter which is otherwise worthy of publication because its appear- ance might annoy a group of advertisers. — Warrensburg (N.Y. News. ISSUE 42 — 1961 Ritw ,1 Fashion Hint