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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1962-04-26, Page 2In Memory Of A Great Comedian In Dan Leno England lost - a man of genius whose untimely (end melancholy end was yet an- other reminder that great wits are sure to madness near allied, Not that he was precisely a great wit: rather a great droll; but great within his limits he eertain- ly was, and probably no one has over caused more laughter or gleaner laughter. That was, perhaps, Dan Lends greatest triumph, that the grimy sordid material of the Music ball low cotuedian,. which, with so many singers, remains grimy and sordid, and perhaps even becomes more grimy and more sordid; in his refining hands become radi- ant, joyous, a legitimate source of mrth. In its nakedness it was drunkenness, quarrelsomeness, petty poverty; still htmger, even crime; but such was the native cleanness of this little, eager, sympathetic observer and reader of life, such was his gift of show- ing the comic, the unexpected, side, that it emerged the most suitable, the gayest joke, He might be said to have been a crucible that transmuted mud to gold. It was the strangest contrast— the quaint, old-fashioned, half - pathetic figure, dressed in his out-landish garb, waving his battered umbrella, smashing his impossible hat, revealing the most squalid secrets of the slums; and the resultant effect of light and happiness, laughter irresisti- ble, and yet never for a moment cruel, at anything, but always with it. The man was Imma- culate. In this childlike simplicity of emotion which he manifested we can probably see the secret of his complete failure in New York. In that sophisticated city his genial elemental raptures seemed trivial. The Americans looked for cynicism, or at least a com- plete destructive philosophy — such as their own funny men have at their finger-tips — and he gave them humour not too far removed from tears. He gave them fun, that rarest of qualities, rarer far than wit or humour; and, in their own idiom, they had "no use" for it. In the deserts of pantomime he was comparatively lost: his true place was the stage of a small Music Hall, where he could get on terms with his audience in a moment. Part of his amaz- IN THE SWIM — Keyhole back is an added attraction to popcorn stitched suit, done in red orlon knit for 1962. ing success was his gift Cf taking you into his confidence, The soul of sympathy himself, he made you sympathetic too, He address- ed a Hall as though i,t were one intimate friend, Re .told you his farcical troubles as earnestly as an unquiet soul tells its spiritual ones. You had to share them. His perplexities beguile yours— he gathered you in with his inti- mate and impressive "Mark you"; and you resigned yourself to be played upon as he would, The bright security of his look told you that he trusted you, that you could not fail him. You shared his ecstasies too; and they were ecstasies! No matter what Dan did to his face, its air of wistfulness always conquered the pigments. It was the face of a grown-up child rather than a man,- with many traces upon it of early struggles. For he began in the poorest way, accompanying his parents as a stroller from town to town, and knowing every vicissitude. This face, with its expression of pro- found earnestness, pointed his jokes irresistibly. I recollect one song in the patter to which (and latterly his songs were mostly patter) he mentioned a firework explosion at home that carried both his parents through the roof. "I shall always remember it," he said, gravely, while his face lit with triumph and satisfaction, "because it was the only thne that father and mother ever went out together." That is quite a good specimen of his manner, with its hint of pathos underly- ing the gigantic absurdity. Irish (of course) by extraction, his real name was George Gal- vin: he took Leno from his step,- father, tep,father, and Dan from an inspired misprint. His first triumphs were as a clog -dancer, and he danced superbly to the end, long after his mind was partially gone. But he will be remembered as the sweetest-souled comedian that ever swayed an audience with grotesque nonsense based on na- tural facts. From "A Wanderer in London" by E. V. Lucas. Don't Let Lobsters' Feet Get Singed! The human is the most compas- sionate animal on earth with the possible exception, of'some tame, lovable pet, ...The gest of the earth's creatures Bill er main, eat each other withottt,a, gualm... As New Engla'hdec4, we love to dine on lobsters, ' crabs and clams. Our common habit is to bring a pot to a rolling boil and toss them in, , , . We excuse our- selves by the thought that they are among the lower forms of life — but, they do feel pain, ob- viously. This pain to crustaceans .. , is all needless, according to au- thorities! They point out that the large crustaceans, who inhabit our cooler sea waters, die quietly, peacefully and automatically if the temperature of the water should rise slowly to about 100 degrees — a temperature that is only warm to human hands.. , So, the recommended method is to put these creatures into cool, fresh water and let them stay there for a while. This, itself, nas an anesthestic effect, since the fresh water dissolves the native salt from their bodies. Then turn the heat on and bring the water to a slow boil and then cook to the recommended time. , According to authorities, there won't be a quivering sound come from the pot. As an added touch, they recommended that a metal mesh be put at the bottom of the pot, so that the feet of the lobs- ters or crabs cannot touch the sudden, quick heat on the bottom of the pot.... Here's to more, humanely home -cooked crustaceans. — Ar- lington (Mass.) Advocate MISSILE HOUND Reporter Don Cosgrove "interviews" Dingo, a five-year-old Welmaroner trained, to track down small missile parts which bury themslves in the sand at White Sands Missile Range. The parts are sprayed with shark liver oil before the missiles are launched, TABLE TALKS JwmA,dpen. Folks who come to our house for dinner always ask how we cooked the vegetables, because they are invariably crisp and tasty, full of flavor, never flabby or overcooked, limp or watery. "We cook them with lettuce leaves," we explain, "and with- out water." First requirement far this is a heavy cast - aluminum saucepan or a casserole (glass or ceramic), with a tight, heavy cover, writes Edrie Van Dore in the Christian Science Monitor. * • • Melt butter or bacon drippings in the container — or use salad or cooking oil if you prefer — about:two tablespoons or more. Place vegetables (frozen or fresh) in the casserole or sauce- pan, add seasonings but no wa- ter, and cover completely with washed and dripping wet lettuce leaves — at least two or three large ones, enough to cover com- pletely the other vegetable, I use the outer leaves. It's important that they be wet, for this small amount of moisture provides the steam necessary for the cooking. Now put the lid on, and set the pan over low heat, or the cas- serole in a slow (325'F.) oven, for about 45 minutes. You need to practice this method a little to learn your own timetable, but the results are well worth the effort. Peas, beans, corn, or any other vegetables are delicious this way. s • Before they were being packed, frozen, in combination, we cook- ed our peas with fresh diced cel- ery in this fashion, added shred- ded onion and green pepper to the carrots, or celery and green pepper to the corn. And here's a secret: a surpris- ing texture is added to sliced cooked carrots if you add diced raw green pepper and slivers of crisp raw onion just before serv- ing, The color accent is pretty too. . Incidentally but importantly, do you plan your meals in terms of color? It's so easy and such fun to think of vegetables espe- cially ih terms of their color value, and it's nice to have a guest or husband remark, "That looks delicious:" Probably, if the trots were known, that's how the well- known team of peas and carrots got together, hard - boiled egg FIRST ONE — Bobby Cutoir, 6, seems resigned to his fate as he helps entertain his 1. year-old quadruplet sisters, who are, left to right, Annette, Bernadette, Celeste and Denise. came to be sprinkled on spinach, and a blob of sour cream depos- ited on the plate full of borscht. * e • We never serve carrots at our house with sweet potatoes, or cauliflower with mashed ones, for i n s t a n e e, but vice versa. Cauliflower looks better on r plate with yams, and carrots nestle nicely next to mounds of mashed potato, The interesting thing is that when you choose vegetables for color, you usually get a contrast of texture, too, and then your guest or husband says, "It tastes as good as it looks!" ▪ a Strudel is made by rolling a special pastry paper-thln, spread- ing it with filling, and baking. Traditional strudel made this way is superb; but so is a strudel - like cake made with yeast -raised dough. The Fruit -And -Nut La- den Roll below is a fine example, and far easier for the home ba- ker to turn out. Its sweet dough holds a delicious filling of rais- ins, cherries and almonds. The recipe was developed to appeal to strudel fans and home bakers alike. . r One tip: Roll the dough out on a floured cloth. Then, after spreading it with filling, pick up the long side of the cloth and hold it so that the strudel rolls easily into shape. Then pinch the seam and ends well, so all the filling stays right inside the dough where it belongs. • 0 0 FRUIT -&-NUT LADEN ROLL 'Yield—One Cake, 16 Servings 2 cups (about) pre -sifted all- purpose flour 34 cup granulated sugar 'j teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons chilled butter 31 cup lukewarm water 2 teaspoons granulated sugar 2 envelopes active dry yeast V4 cup milk 1 egg separated 2 cans (15 ounces each) sweet- ened cherries, well drained 1 cup seedless raisins 1 cup fine dry bread crumbs 3's cup granulated sugar cup finely -chopped blanched almonds 1 teaspoon almond extract . 1 tablespoon butter, melted 3 tablespoons granulated sugar -Combine the flour, V< cup su- gar and salt in a mixing bowl; cut in the 2 tablespoons chilled butter finely. Measure lukewarm water; stir in the 2 teaspoons sugar. Sprinkle with yeast. Let stand 10 minutes, then stir well. Scald milk: cool to lukewarm. Beat egg yolk Add dissolved yeast, lukewarm milk and egg yolk to flour mixture and mix well, adding a little more flour, if necessary, to make a soft dough. Turn out dough onto floured board or canvas and knead until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl, Grease top. Cover. Let rise in a warm • place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk — about 45 min- utes. Meantime, combine the well- drained Cherries, raisins, bread crumbs, the le cup sugar, ?s cup of the almonds and almond ex- tract. Punch down dough. Turn out onto a lightly -floured canvas and roll out into a 15 -inch square, Brush with the 1 tablespoon melted butter. Spread cherry mixture over dough to within 1 inch of edges. Lift canvas at one side and roll dough jelly -roll fa- , shion, a-,shion, Pinch seams and ends to seal weIL Place roll, seam side down, diagonally on a large greased cookie sheet. Brush with ISSUE 15 — 1982 Times Have Changed In Tin Pan Alley Richard Rodgerswrotehis first song for a Broadway .musical wben he was 17. Forty-two years later he got around to Compos- ing his first lyrics. "leo Strings," a new musical with the novel phenomenon of Rodgers wgris. set to Rodgers music, opened a few weeks ago at 54th Street Theater. Mr, Isodgers, his fellow pro- fessionals, and the public re- garded his deeision to try an a second hat as venturesome, There are 12 musicals currently on Broadway, In only two others has a composer dared to double on the lyrics, We do indeed live in the age of the .specialist. And when a composer and a lyricist — Fred- erick Loewe and Alan Jay Ler- ner, according to the legend — can walk into a Rolls-Royce showroom and casually write checks for two $28,000 cars, who will dare suggest that he alone can fill both their jobs? Is any man worth two Roils- Royces? At the turn of the century a singing waiter named James Thornton wrote "When You Were Sweet Sixteen" for a profit of $15, which — to make the vehicular comparison might have brought him a new bicycle. If he had been so rash as to split the fee with a lyricist, he could barely have afforded the rear end of a second-hand tandem. Behold the rise of the song- writer, from rags -times to riches. Fifty years ago — remember those bad film biographies? — he was the man in the striped shirt with elastic armbands and a derby hat, thumping out musi- cal illiteracies on a battered up- right. His qualifications as a lyricist were based on an instinct for sniffing out new rhymes for moon and June. One imagines him writing about that moon shining above the Wabash, coming over the cowshed, and puffing through Other pastoral and romantic ex- ercises while he faces the blank egg white, sprinkle with the re- maining chopped almonds and the 3 tablespoons sugar. Cover. Let rise in a warm place, free from draft, until almost doubled in bulk — about aft hour. Bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees) 30 to 35 minutes. Serve warm or cold. wall of a Broadway airahaft. The window shade is flyespedced. The smell •cif cooked cabbage rolls in waves from the hall- way. A representative of the Philistine public bangs the rads. iator downstairs whenever the composer -lyricist tests s phrase against a melody on an out -of - tune piano whose black keys stick. Time fox-trots on, (Calendar leaves' flip on the screen. The sound tracks advances from "Tur- key Trot" to "Charleston,") In one short generation the image of the composer is trans- formed into a debonair colleg- ian who begins by writing fra- 'ternity musicals while studying law (Cole Porter), engineering (Vincent Youmans), or ernhitec- tecture (Harold Rome), His working quarters are the Ritz, a Riviera villa,. or a re- constructed new Bngland farm- house, writes Melvin Maddoeks in the Christian Science Mont - tor, The scores of Broadway musi- cals are musically correet, even demanding. The" 32 -bar song is an antique. The lyrics are sophisticated. The day has long since passed when grammar teachers smirked over titles like "Alone Toge- ther," Only on the Twisting fringe can they find targets as ripe as the aforementioned Mr. Thornton's "It Don't Sea Like the Same Old Smile." Today's composer measures himself against Leonard Bern- stein ("On the Town," "West. Side Story"). Today's lyricist competes with a Pulitzer -prize poet (Richard Wilbur, "Candide"). Tin Pan Alley has become an apt dead phrase, applying to a world that has largely ceased to exist. No one has contributed more than Richard Rodgers to this so- cial, economic, and stylistic revo- lution in songwriting. Now he has returned in just one respect to the older jack-of- all-trades tradition, and a New York reviewer solicitously won- ders if double duty is "using up some of Mr. Rodgers' composing energy." It is ironical enough to sug- gest one of those gently disillus- ioned songs that Mr. Rodgers writes so well ... with lyrics, of course, by somebody else, Lady on the Bus: "1 didn't know what this pay television business was all about until we got the first bill front the televi- sion repairman." Fashion Hint FOR WARMER WEATHER n r� 11, ,.JI,tl