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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1962-02-22, Page 2• 1y .T v v) YV ♦ 7 , 7. Behind The Scenes In High Society At a svelte 57, Cecil Beaton is one of the world's leaders in the, realm of chi -cliff. As a young man at the university, he was, a trem- bling snob who wanted to know the "best people at Cambridge, if there" are any," and he has grown up to become photog- rapher to. the British 'Royal fan'- sly, the costume designer for "My Fair Lady," and altogether aa fragrant a 'swell as ever wafted among friendships with such peo- ple as Edith Sitwell, Greta Gar- bo, Pablo Picasso, Gertrude Stein, and the Duchess of Windsor, • The diaries of such a 'man from the age of le to 36 might be expected to be somewhat re- barbative. But "The Wandering rears" is not, and for good rea- sons: Beaton has feelings as well as whims; he is self-critical as well as self -intoxicated; and he writes about his environment with comic insight as well as infatuation, He can't help being himself, but he knows a good deal about what that self is..The result is an acute self-portrait and a fascinating panorama of the world of high and gasping fashion, Most of his pages read like breathless and privileged gossip. Parties of William Randolph Hearst at his California castle, San Simeon, are intimately des- cribed in all their heroic -scale vulgarity, Adele Astaire devot- edly learns new dance steps from young Negroes, Greta Gar- bo relaxes in an evening of the- alricaI horseplay, sighs "tomor- raw 1 got to work with a lot of peep'e who are dead," and gives Bettor. a yellow rose "which she had kissed, and which I now took up the turret stairs to keep pressed between the pages of my diary," Pablo Picasso surprises Beaton by having furniture which is not In the least chic but which pos- sesses its own sturdy virtues. France's pyrotechnic "intelli- gence, wit, and authority" Jean Cocteau seems to be eaten by a central unhappiness — "the per- sonal tragedy of being abandon- ed by lovers," Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas are as easy as old pairs of espadrilles. Mrs, Wallis Simpson makes Bea- ton her confidant just before her wedding to the Duke of Windsor, when everything is so strained, although the duke's equerry, For- • wood, "seemed pooped but alert." When Beaton is finally summon- ed to photograph Queen Eliza- beth of England, just before World War II, she acts like a happy young girl enjoying a treat. In the midst of such ga-ga ex- citements, however, Beaton re- mains a student of himself, winc- ing at his snobbery and his early unpopularity. Ile tells how he was bullied at school (by a gang led by Evelyn Waugh), and was some years later thrown into a river by other tail -coated guests at a grand social occasion, He re- calls how the arch -fashionable Noel Coward, one of his idols, first scathingly mimicked him and then gave him advice: "Your sleeves are too tight, your voice is too high and too precise. You mustn't do it. It closes so many doors." Beaton also tells profes- sional tales on himself: How, for instance, a veteran photographer beat him to the front pages with pictures of the Windsor mar- riage, Beaton writes exceedingly moving pages on the death of his father, a loving, cricket -play- ing businessman to whose mem- ory the book is dedicated, and on that of his brother, an RAF flier, And nowhere does Beaton write with more arresting suggestion than in an entry during 1935: "I 1S ISSUE 5 1962 drug myself against reality by plunging into work and engage- ments, without allowing myself time to be aware of anything be. yond my immediate interests I mingle with too many people; I'm dazed by too many lights. My sketches are too quick, my articles too eluiek-fire, my photo- graphs too many , , . I am at best able to appreciate only certain superficial forms of beauty and sensual delights." Some Stars Move In Ftalntilies A glance at the sky, or better, at a Photograph of a fragment of the sky, suggests that, in the main, the stars are scattered at random over the sky, except for the 'concentration of faint stars in and towards the Milky Way. , Any small bit of sky does not look very different from what it would if bright and faint stars had been sprinkled hap- hazard out of a celestial pepper - pot, Yet this is not, quite the whole story. Here and there groups of conspicuous stars are to be seen, which can hardly have come to- gether purely by accident, Ori- on's Belt, the Pleiades, Berenice's hair, even the Great Bear itself do not look like accidents, and in point of fact are not, it is the existence of these natural groups of stars that lies at the root of, and justifies, the division of the constellations. , . The members of any group, such as the Pleiades, not only show the same physical proper- ties, but also have identical mo- tions through space; they are journeying perpetually through the sky in one another's society. As the stars of such a group are both physically similar, and trav- el in company, they might ap- propriately be described •as a family of stars... . Let us first turn out attention to families consisting of only two members. Even if the stars bad been sprinkled on to the sky at random out of a pepperpot, the laws of chance would require that in a certain number of cases pairs of stars should appear very close together. And a study of a photograph of any star -field shows that a large number of such close pairs actually exist.. The number is, however, greater than can be explained by the laws of chance alone. The appa- rent closeness of some pairs may - be attributed to chance, but a physical cause is needed to ac- count for the remainder. We can unravel the mystery by photographing the field at inter- vals of a few years and compar- ing the various results obtained. Some of the stars which original- ly appeared as close pairs will be found to move steadily apart. These are the pairs of stars which, although they appeared close together in the sky, were not so in space; one star merely happened to be almost exactly in line with the other as seen from the earth. Other pairs are found not to break up with the passage of time; although the two compo- nents change their relative posi- tions, they never become comple- tely separated. Each star is found to be describing an orbit about the other, just as the earth does round the sun, and the moon round the earth, and for precise- ly the same reason.—From "The Universe Around Us," by Sir James Jeans. DIPLOMACY Leaving the hotel, a miserly- guest iserlyguest stalked past the doorman without tipping him.. Neverthe- less, the doorman helped the man into the car and said: "In case you happen to lose your wallet on the way home, sir, just remember that you didn't pull It out bere." REAL HUMILIATION — Charles Von Doren and his wife Geraldine, leave court in New York after Van Doren pleaded to Tying about his appearances on rigged TV shows. Hr received a suspended sentence from a judge who said he could "read the humiliation on your face," SHAPE OF '62—Travis Hudson, who'll appear in Leonard Stillman's "New Faces of 1962," wears one of the 100 cos- tumes made for the show by Brooks Costumes, euzrLd.olirtie P. Ctexk,e We have actually come out of the deep ,freeze—and 1, for one, am very glad. The cold winds were bad enough but stepping around on the ice was even worse—to say nothing of the glare of the bright sun on the snow and ice. It was almost blinding, even if one wore sun glasses, However, weatherwise, we really have little to grumble about in this part of the world, Even at zero most of our houses are so equipped that we ran be comfortable and warm. Our main worry in bad weather is not for ourselves but for our friends and relations in England. Yest'erd'ay I had a letter from Cicely—e friend living near Swanage and it was mostly about the weather. On Christmas Day.a taxi she had ordered couldn't get to the. House so the driver left his cab emu the Pair of Leaves .Looking for something un- usual? Crochet this pair 01 leaf- doilies—pretty and practical. Leaf. doilies — for chair set — table, For luncheon set, crochet in green, russet tones, or match china, Pattern 750: doilies 15x16 and 10x1.11/2 inches in No. 30. Send THIIRTY-FIVE CENTS (stamps cannot be accepted, use postal note for safety) foe this pattern to Laura Wheeler, Box 1, 123 Eighteenth St., New Toronto, Ont. ' Print plainly PATTERN NUMBER your NAME and AD- DRESS. FOR THE FIRST TIME! Over 200 designs in our new, 1962 Needlecraft Catalog — biggest ever! Pages, pages, pages of fash- ions, home accessories to knit, crochet, sew, weave, embroider, quilt. See jumbo -knit hits, cloths, spreads, toys, linens, afghans plus free patterns, Send 25e. Ontario residents must include le Sales Tax for each CATA- LOG ordered. There is no sales tax on the patterns. main road and walked up the street to collect Cicely and her overnight case. Another time she wanted to visit a sister-in-law in a hospital at Lewes but she coouldn't because the buses had stopped running—storm-bound. And since her letter was written 1 know there have been to rific gales sweeping 'across the coun- try.. So, in comparison, what have we to complain about? The early part of the year al- waye seems to bring an influx of mail. And bow I do love get- ting' letterer But then, doesn't everyone? Partner -goes for the mail' about eleven -thirty — rural delivery. When he comes in -my flet: question is—"Any letters to- day??' If there are letters then F sit down and read them. Dinner has to wait until 1 have enjoyed and digested them. Such nice'let- ters most of the time but some- times they make me feel' guilty. For instance, in a recent letter Lariats C. wrote—"I was so de- . lighted' to get your 'nice, long letters—but 1 do wish you would write more often — your letters are always so interesting." Well, that was mews to me. I didn't know 1' wrote an interesting let- ter.. I just write—period. But her remark set tine thinking and I tried! to analyse various types of Tetters. And do you know what I' 'discovered?. I found the sort of letters: people enjoy most are the, ones that show interest in the recipient's personal affairs, and do not dwell too ,much on the writer's own worries and af- flictions. I am sure you know what 11 mean. Haven't you some- times had a letter .from your sister or Aunt Susie going into dbtaill aboutt the tremble they've had with Junior or the latest argument with one of the "in- laws?" Then at the end of the letter the writer says—"I'm sor- ry Fred has been in hospital. Hope you have all got over the 'fIn and that the children are back to school. Guess that's all for now . The closing remarks show how tittle genuine interest the writ- er had in the other person's prob- lems. Now I don't mean we shouldn't write about our own personal affairs -it is only nate ural that we should-bttt they ought not to be the main topic of the letter Interest and eon cern for the person to whom we are writing should surely come first, also letters should be the media for an interchange of thoughts' and ideas concerning other than family affairs;— for instance an opinion about some particular book, concert or tele- vision •program, or a descrip- tion of some outstanding hobby -and of course a 'few Intelligent ternaries about the problems of the world in general would in- dicate a*e are not exactly living in a world of our own. I'll tell you something else 1 have discovered, It is mother and dad, or the grandparents, who hold the family together. Mother, in her friendly, chatty way, gives you all the news about the other cousins, uncles and aunts. Witltout keeping up a steady cor- respondence with tither members of the family you know what they are doing through mother's letters, Without realising it mother is the central figure within what might otherwise be a loosely -knit family circle. Think back, those of you who have lost your parents, and you will realize that what I have said is true, How much da you know aboutyour second and third gen- eration cousins? If you were to take a hurried trip to the Old Country — wherever that may be—would you know where to go if you wanted to visit some of your family connections? i am afraid "the family" meant more a few generations back than it does today. Most people took great pride in their family name and; Christian names were. handed down from father to son. A Famvl'y BThie was a treas- ured possession in many homes as in it were recorded the births marriages and dealers—to all in- tents and puugnses• a complete family tree. Isn't it time we re- vived our intenesif ere family tra- ditions? Villbges, ere ells— appear-ing, 'towns becomiirg cities, fam- ily names forgotten,One thing we can do to' preserve local his- tory is to keep in' touch with our own immediate, etudes — and there is no better,- way than by writing lettersi. Now adient it, friends—what aboutthose let- ters you have• forgotten' to an- swer? Water Pistol Nabs, Drug Peddler Hong Kong police, are, waging an all-out war against drug ped- lars. And recently a policeman hit on a brightt idea tb, catch a slippery customer—by using, a water pistol loaded with' red iselt. At a house, where' dbug-traf- ficking was suspected, tate police- man handed a. dollar bill to through a crack in the, dbor.. A small packet of heroine was pushed out and the poileeman immediately fired his water pis- tol through the crack.. When the door was: svamathed open, the offender was easily identified, among sdueral people in the house, by the. tied ink which was splattered ewer barn. The story was ne.vealled in court when the mans, wilts eight previous convictions,. was sen- tenced to three. years" imprison- ment, 'Tuts. is Tldee-Didee Diaper Service WAA,-MAH!" Modern Etiquette 133' Anne Ashley q. Wilton writing a tetter or note to a brother and . sister (both unmarried), may one ad- dress the envelope to "Miss ibor- othy Norris and Brother"? A, Never. The envelope should be addressed: either to the sister or the brother, but never to both. When a woman guest is leaving a party and the men are standing nearby waiting for her to /make her exit, and she is en - peed in conversation with the hostess, should they remain standing ormay they At down? A, They should remain stand- ing for so long as they are nears by, . It would, however, be all right for them to sit down. 11 they move to another part of the room. Q. Please advise me the best Tole to follow regarding the or- der of use of one's ietensileat a dinner. A. Use the outside utensils first — the ones farthest from the plate on either side. Tbat•set of utensils is then left on the plate and removed when the course is changed. Then pick the ' outside utensils for the next course, '11 ley any chance„ the outside fork is not the correct one, it's the table -setter's fault, not yours, 31 !ie dealt/ about whether a forst et epees is cor- rect for a eeriaiitr aoumse,Maas" your hostess'' %aid.• Styled: ra-Sl!Tiaxn PRINTED IPAT'TERNI 4942 SIZES 141-241 Contrast fabric crisply outlines, the collar of a casuail with ai choice of flared or shin, skirts.. Choose print, cheeks orr tweedy,' textures of cotton, rayon. Printed . Pattern 4942: Halle Sizes 141h, 161/2, 161/zi.2D1/2, 221/2r, 241/2. Size 161/2 taken 41ye yardk; 35 -inch fabric; 2/e:yandtonntrastt Send FORTY' (1EN11lSi (atampe cannot be aconpted, use goatee note for safety.,) fon titik putted -le Please print piinity SIZE' NsbME,. ADDRESS, S3PYLE NdJMBEIt Send ordeal' tp ANI13I; tbRi9SMS',, Box' 1, 123'. Eighteentlh Slt,. New Toronto, teat. FALL'S ,11611 BEST FAS365©1IS — separate*, dresses„ aniiless„ en- sembles,, alt sizes, alll Um slam new Pattern' Catalog in cotem. Sew leer yourseilltt;, family. 35r,. OnMasao. residents, musts isicluele le Sales Tax Post• each CATA- LOG ordered. Theme is no sates tax eb the patterns„ "POOL ROOM"—Here, in shoat used to be the Bloxwich, England, school kitchen, young- stars enjoy swimming leseeo t in a huge glass fiber filtered pool that fills the room.