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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1962-07-26, Page 6Hoard Work Behind Author's Light Touch "Shakespeare's stuff is differ- ent from mine, but that is not necessarily to say that it is inferi- Ar. There are passages in Shake- speare to which 1 would have been quite pleased to put. my name. That 'Tomorrow and to - Morrow and tomorrow' thing. That one gets over the plate all right. I doubt, too, if > have per done anything much better than Falstaff," It is good to see a touch of modesty in a successful pian, and one must say these words are not surprising from P. G. Wode- house. They are to be expected from few who could also record that "in the sixty years esinee I left the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank (in London) I have written ten books for boys, one book for children, forty-seven novels, if you can call them novels, four hundred and sixty-nine articles, and three hundred and fifteen short stories, and only two oaf the novels and two of the short stories were not my own unaided work," Now comes an autobiographi- cal footnote in the form of letters to an old friend and fellow wri- tes; W. Townend, titled "Author! Author!" From 1920 to 1960, 1VIr. Wodehouse preserves the same tone, and here there is a genuine modesty to go with the banter about the Bard. Never does the Wodehouse gold strike in the United States cause a note of condescension toward the less known writer of sea stories across the water. In the later letters, as in the first, Plum talks to Bill, giving advice, criticism, plot ideas, in the manner of wri- ters with common problems. "My stuff may not be the sort of stuff that admits you to halls of fame, but I do work at it," 3Gir. Wodehouse writes in one of the many latter-day comments he has added to the letters in "Author! Author!" (Which his native Britain knew in somewhat different form as "Performing Flea.") This is the old pro con- firming what has become almost a commonplace among those admirers of Jeeves and friends who must analyze as well as laugh. The lightness of the Wodehouse souffle depends on the hard labors of the cook. The present book casually dis- closes how a comic writer goes about his job. James Thurber's endless rewriting comes to mind as Mr. Wodehouse talks about writing "every sentence half a dozen times," making "about four hundred pages of notes before I can get my scenario set," and on one occasion writing 13,000 words of scenario for the first 40,000 words of a novel. "I suppose the secret of writ- ing is to go through your stuff till you come on something you think is particularly good, and then cut it out," he writes. And: "How do you get your plots? 1 like to think of some scene, it How Well Do You Know SOUTHEAST ASIA? '.•.irrpii:•:.:•:�i�iiiiii`lfzE� Eft4lEajEiEi< PHQNG SALY,ii MILES 0 100 TCHEPONE e ,RAVANE SOUTHEAST ASIA C7 SOUTH CHINA , BAY CF SENGAL 11. IN THE AIR — The SRN2 Hovercraftseems almost ghostlike as it is demonstrated on the Solent, the channel between Southern England and the Isle of Wight. The craft, which rides on acushion of air one foot over the water, reached speeds of 70 miles on hour with its four jet turbine engines. It is designed to carry 75 passengers, but can only operate in calm water TABLE TALKS Meal -in -one -dish recipes are especially valuable during the summer season as they have the advantage that most of them can be fully cooked ahead of time and then simply be reheated a few minutes before time to serve. Here are some such casserole dishes I'm sure you and your family will enjoy. BEEF AND BEAN CASSEROLE 1 lb. dried Lhria beans 2 qts, water 11 lb. salt pork 14 cup cooking (salad) oil 1 lb. ground beef 2 large onions, chopped doesn't matter how crazy, and work backward and forward from it until eventually it be- comes quite plausible and fits neatly into the story," "You shouldn't ever have your villain manhandled by anyone except the hero." "Odd how important story names are, It always takes me about as long to get them to my satisfaction as it does to write the novel." Mr. Wodehouse likes Kipling. He finds Aldous Huxley's novel, "Brave New World," a bore; Don Ettlinger's television serial, "Love of Life," at work of art. In 1961 he writes, "Nobody has laughed in a Broadway theater for years," which suggests he has not been visiting all the Broad- way Theaters since the days when he and Guy Bolton had five shows running simultaneously. Hollywood and France, as well as the present Wodehouse home in Long Island, are among the places from which Mr. Townend got letters. The correspondence was interrupted during World War II. There is not as much as one might hope about Mr, Wode- house's internment by the Nazis and those broadcasts that he la- ter called a "terrible mistake." But the book does not pretend to be complete, just full of Wode- house. No more need be said. Now an American citizen, he writes to Bill, '"I can't picture myself retiring, can you?" He likes the status of octogenarian because people leave him alone and he can work. No longer must he go to parties. "The thought that I will never have to wear a paper hat again is a very sustain- ing one." 2 cloves garlic, minced 11/2 tbsp. prepared mustard 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp. chili powder 1 tsp. 'salt 14 cup white vinegar 1 15 -oz. can tomato sauce Rinse Lima beans under run- ning water, Bring water to a boil and add beans slowly, stir- ring and keeping water at a boil, Turn down heat. Dine pork into 1/2 -inch cubes and add to beans. Cover, and simmer until beans are tender, 11/2 to 2 hours. Add more water if necessary. Drain, saving cooking water, Pour beans into a greased 2 -qt, casserole. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil in heavy skillet. Add beef, onions and garlic and cook and stir until beef is well browned. Stir in remaining ingredients and 11/2 cups of the water beans were cooked in. Simmer 5 min- utes. Pour over beans and mix in lightly. Bake 1 hour. (Serves 6to8.) , * SAUSAGE CASSEROLE 1 lb. sausages 11/2 cups packaged ready -cooked rice „11/2 cups grated carrots (use medium grater) 2 tsp. grated onion 2 tsp. grated onion 1 egg, beaten 14 cup grated Cheddar cheese / tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. pepper 14 cup grated Cheddar cheese 12 cup milk Cook sausages thoroughly, cool until they can be handled and cut into slices 1/4 inch thick. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 11/2 -qt. casserole. Prepare rice according to package directions, adding grated carrots to boiling water alone with the rice. Add onion, egg, % cup cheese, salt, pepper and sausage pieces to pre- pared rice -carrot mixture, blend- ing well with a fork. Pour into casserole. Sprinkle with 14 cup cheese and pour mills over all. Bance 25 minutes or until lightly browned. (Serves 6.) * * * TUNA CASSEROLE 4 slices bacon ' 3 green onions and tops, chopped 1 medium green pepper, chopped 1 20 -oz. can tomatoes (21/2 cups) 1 10 -oz. can mushroom pieces, with juice SIGN AGREEMENT ----The three Princes of Laos, left to right, Boun Oum, Souvanna Phouma and Souphanouvong, sign an agreement for the formation of a coalition gov- ernment national union in Plaine Des Jorres, Laos. 2 7 -oz, cans tuna 1,6 -oz, pkg. shell or elbow macaroni, cooked and drained 11/2 tsp, salt 14 tsp. pepper 1/1 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1 tbsp, butter Heat over to 375 degrees. Grease a 2 -qt. casserole, Cut bacon into small pieces and fry until crisp. Add onions and green pepper, cook gently . until anion is yellow. 'Add tomatoes and mushroom pieces and heat to boiling point. Drain Ulna and rinse under hot water, Break into bite -size pieces and add to skillet with salt and pepper. Put 2 of the cooked macaroni in the casserole and add 1F3 of tuna mix- ture. Repeat these layers twice more, Sprinkle with cheese and dot with butter. Bake 35 min- utes or until well browned. (Serves 6 to 8.) * 0 * CALVES LIVER CASSEROLE 1 lb. calves' liver, cut thin 1/,k cup flour 1 tsp, salt 1/s tsp. pepper 3 tbsp. butter 3 tbsp. flour 1 1012 -oz. can. consomme 2 medium potatoes, sliced thin 2. medium onions, sliced thin 2 carrots, sliced 2 tomatoes, sliced salt and popper Heat oven to 350 degeees. Dip liver in mixture' of 1/a cup flour, 1 tsp. salt and pepper to coat both sides. Heat butter in heavy , skillet. Add liver and brown well, lifting out slices as they brown. Add 3 tbsp. flour to drippings in pan (use any left over from dipping meat) and blend well. Remove' from heat and add consomme all at once, stirring to blend. Return to moderate heat and cook and. stir until thickened. Put a layer of potatoes in the bottom of a ' greased 12 x 71/2 x 2 -inch, baking dish, Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper and top with a layer of liver slices. Add a layer each. of onion slices, carrot slices and tomato slices. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Pour gravy over all. Cover tightly and bake 1 hour or until vegetables are cooked. (Serves 4,) Mechanical Clacks Are Old . Stuff The early history of mechani- cal clocks is still uncertain and obscure. It has been suggested that they were an Arab inven- tion and were brought to Europe by the Crusaders. As the Arabs were far ahead of Europe in scientific attainment at that time, this may very likely be true. In early illuminated manuscripts, the figure of Prudence or wis- dom is usually shown holding a weight -driven clock, and so they are traditionally called wisdom clocks, They appear in Flemish tapestries; fine examples Can be seen in the National Museuin in Madrid and in the Glasgow Art Gallery; , . But we really know a great deal about the masterly astro- nomical clock made by Giovanni de Dondi in 1364 in Italy because he left behind a full description of it. This clearly shows that it could not have been better de- signed, even with all the ad- vances in mechanical knowledge, today;. and that it was apparent- ly made of brass, unlike other early clocks, all of which were of iron. This Dondi clock remained in Italy until 1585 when it was tak- en to Spain and in 1809 was cle- stroyed in the Peninsular war. From his complete drawings which have luckily survived, an enbirely new clock has been only recently reconstructed underthe supervision of the well-known horologist H. Alan Lloyd, and this is now in the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, The first clocks were made by blacksmiths and locksmiths in an iron frame, and were designed for putting on a wall bracket so that the weights could hang down unhindered. Italy was the brilliant pioneer; but soon the craft was carried northwards to the South German towns which became world famous for clock - making, Nuremberg, Augsburg, Cassel and Ulm. In these cities clockmakers had to obey certain guild rules, assuring standards of ISSUE 27 — 1962 perfection that have eeldo:n been surpassed, Before a ciockmalaer was allowed to practise his craft, he had to make a satisfactory horizontal, square, or hexagonal table -clock (the choice was his) and he was given eight menthe in which to do it. About 1500, in Italy, and a little later in South Germany, springs were being introduced into oloekt. in place of weights. The inven- tion has been ascribed to Peter Henlein of Nuremberg, but the idea is illustrated in Leonardo. da Vinci's notebooks, though it it not known whether he ever alp- . plied it practically. —From 'Clocks;' by Simon Fleet; Letters that should never have been written and ought to be immediately destroyed are the only ones worth keeping. Sidney T,'emayne: THISTLE — Hat of a veiling base with block thistle leaves swirling and turning arcund the head upwards giving the illusion of space is called "In Orbit," created in New York. Inside Franco Spain Four Groups and a Phantom Support the Present Regime By TOM A. CULLEN • Newspaper Enterprise Assn. Madrid — The two rumors en- countered most often in Spain are: e Generalissimo .Franco, 69, has just had a stroke, o He is just about to restore the monarchy. There has been endless specu- lation concerning Franco's health since a gun exploded in his hand last December while he was hunting. So powerful was the whispering campaign that the generalissimo found it necessary to refute it recently via national television. "I feel as young as you do," he told his audience, flexing his hand ostentatiously in front of the television cameras. "And I have the majority of the people and the armed forces bracing me." ' The second rumor is intimate- ly connected with Franco's health, age and a successor * * * Recently the faces of handsome Prince Juan Carlos, son of the Spanish Pretender, and of his lovely bride, Princess Sophia of Greece have smiled from maga- zine covers all over Spain. News- ' papers gave such vivid accounts of the royal nuptials in Athens that readers could almost smell the 35,000 rosebuds used to dec- orate the church. Immediately the rumor flew around that Franco was about to name 24 -year-old duan Carlos as his successor. Such talk is us- ually spread by the monarchists themselves, but they cite the following "hard" facts to back it up, • Franco arranged to have Juan Carlos educated at the Spanish Military College, where he was always addressed as "Your Highness," • The generalissimo has pro- vided the young prince with an official residence in Spain and with an official car. When Juan Carlos visits his father in Esto- ril, Portugal, he is flown by a service pilot in a Spanish Air Force plane. • Franco did declare Spain a kingdom in 1947, even though he has go far declined to make room for a monarch, 0 1 0 But Franco's flirtation with the monarchists could just as well be part of a cat.and-mousy game. Franco` is the master of suspense and he has kept the monarchists on the edge Of their Beats for 23 years. His own family background is anything but artistocratic. PRINCESS AND PRINCE — After 23 years oh suspense will Franco finally seat a king? Born at El Ferrol in Galicia, Franco was the son of a naval paymaster who sent the young Francisco to military college at considerable sacrifice. Franco justified his father's faith by becoming the youngest colonel in the Spanish Army. He was promoted to general during the Riff rebellion in Morocco, became nationally prominent af- ter crushing the revolt of the Asturian coal miners in 1934 The main props of the Franco regime have been described as one writer as "four power groups and a phantom," The power groups are the armed' forces, the Catholic church, a small oligarchy of industrialists and landowners, and the Fal- ange, Spain's only legal party. As a general himself, Franco has been able to keep the armed forces reasonably happy. The Catholic church was given ' sweeping powers over the lives of 30 million Spaniards — in- cluding control of education, power of censorship — by the Concordat which Spain signed with the Vatican in 1953. Franco, in' turn, was given a final say in the selection of archbishops and bishops. The oligarchy shows no signs of withdrawing its support from Franco. As for the Falange, it shows signs of withering away. Falangism has been unable to supply the ideology that a totali- tarian system such as Franco's requires, The party is now used chiefly as a buffer group to be played off against the monat'eh- ists and the Catholics. The phantom upon which Franco relies is that of the 1938- 39 Civil War which cost between 600,000 and one million Spanish lives. For most Spaniards the war is still a traumatic experience. At a recent open air art exhibit in Madrid, one of the paintings showed a young man in uniform about to smash his image in a mirror with an axe. It was titled. "Fractricide," But Franco has done his best to keep the Civil War alive. He never misses an opportunity to inveigh against the "anti -Span- iards," as he calls the Republi- can forces. Streets and parks are named after Franco's generals. The main cities have public holidays to commemorate the clay they were liberated by Franco's troops. Lastly, there is the "Valley of the Fallen" at the foot of the Guadarrama Mountains where Franco has erected a monument` to the Civil War. It includes a basilica bored out of solid rock, and which has all the warmth and beauty of a subway station. The world was led to believe that this church was intended as a token of reconciliation and a resting place for warriors from both sides. In reality it is a mon- ument to the Nationalist vi,'tory, a tribute to Franco's crusade against "anti -Spain," No Repub. licans are buried there. (Next: Who is the opposition?).