HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1952-10-30, Page 6Duke's Carr Broke
On Purpose
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During the "phoney war" of
1939-40, Gerard Fairlie --author,
screen -writer, the original of
Sapper's "Bulldog Drummond"
— was in charge of U.S. and
Trench war correspondents at
our G.H.Q. in France, and he re-
counts how Americans were very
eager to interview the Duke of
Gloucester, then touring front
positions. The Director of Mili-
tary Intelligence had ruled, how-
ever, that no special privileges
be given to any one nationality.
Mr. Fairlie and Bobby Bert-
elsen, a colleague, proceeded se-
cretly to pull some strings. And
the result was that one day the
Duke's excellent car "broke
down" near a certain estaminet
—and strangely enough, he found
.3'ahlie and Hartman there with
the American correspondents! A
pleasant chat ensued, the Duke,
whom Fairlie had known at
Sandhurst, playing his part mag-
nificently.
It was, Fairlie says in his gaily -
written memoirs, "With Preju-
dice" a pretty low trick on the
British correspondents, and he
]nearly lost his job over it. But
tai the long run it was well worth
while, since the Duke impressed
the Yanks enormously. Those
who were beginning to be critical
a the Mritish ceased to be so;
and Fairlie was told that the re-
sulting articles did a great deal
to prepare the U.S. public for
their immediate reaction after
Pearl Harbour.
On a visit to Buenos Aires
with his friend, (Sapper) Lieut. -
Col. H. C. McNeile, Gerard
Fairlie was playing a round of
golf on the Mar del Plata Club
course when he suddenly saw—
a camel! He was pretty sure that
there were no camels in South
America, and, shaken, he looked
again. There it undoubtedly was,
and now it appeared to be wear-
ing snow shoes!
Apparition Spoilt Party
In a panic—and thinking "blast
those martinis!"—he drew Mac's
attention to the phenomenon.
Mac turned quite green and ad-
mitted it looked like a camel
and was certainly wearing snow
shoes. He, too, had indulged in
martinis at the previous night's
party.
Fairlie missed his next shot
—and the following four—and
lost the match by a hole. Later,
at lunch, he plucked up courage
to ask the captain: had he, or
had he not, seen a camel on the
course that morning?
"Ah, so you saw him!" was
the reply. "A rarity in these
parts. We have one we use for
nearly all the heavy work."
"Why does it wear snow
shoes?" Fairlie gasped weakly.
"Snow shoes?" The captain
laughed. "We have fitted that
footwear so that its hoofs will
not hurt the fairways!"
Sapper's first effort, when he
was a needy subaltern, found a
home in a weekly journal. But
the editor omitted to pay for it,
and, when Sapper went to see
him, pleaded there was nothing
in the money -box but a few
shillings and stamps.
"I know a way in which you
can get more money for this
article of yours than I could ever
pay you," he added. "There's a
big race today up north. Go out
and put your shirt on so-and-so"
naming a rank outsider — "be-
cause it's going to win."
Mac and some friends pooled
all they had, backed the horse,
and it won at a Iong price. In
this way that first effort earned
more per word than he ever re-
ceived when he'd become prob-
ably the highest-paid short -story
writer in Britain!
Embarrassing Moment
The author had a highly em-
barrassing experience in the
summer of 1919, soon after he'd
received his commission in the
Scots Guards and was Officer of
the Guard at Windsor Castle.
It was a hot day. He had been
Ito a dance the night before and
wanted to make up lots of lost
sleep. Accordingly, when his
afternoon rounds were complet-
ed he returned to his quarters
threw off every stitch he was
wearing, gave himself a rub-
down with a bath towel and lay
down still undressed on top of
his bed.
He woke with a start to see
Queen Mary standing in the
doorway, staring at him open-
mouthed, and a scarlet lady-in-
waiting dancing about behind her
in an ecstasy of embarrassment.
The Queen said nothing, turned
quickly away. The lady-in-wait-
ing slammed the door behind
her.
Later he discovered that Queen
Mary's kindly practice was oc-
casionally to tour the entire
Castle to satisfy herself that all
within it were as happy and
comfortable as might be.
In those days, too, not infre-
quently the Adjutant of the bat-
talion at Windsor Barracks would
receive a message from the
Castle informing him that the
Queen would be glad that night
to entertain to dinner any young
officers not otherwise engaged.
About three weeks after the
incident one of these invitations
came, and as one of the officers
available Fairlie made his way
to the Castle that evening—not
without a tinge of apprehension
and hoping that Her Majesty's
memory would prove to be short.
They were received with her
usual graciousnes, and in turn
presented to her. When his turn
came and someone began intro-
ducing him, the Queen cut him
short. "Oh, we know each other,"
she said and, turning to Gerard
Fairlie, laughed. "I loved her
from that moment," he says, "and
I love her most respectfully still."
In a vivid account of his ex-
periences as Hollywood script-
writer, Mr. Fairlie quotes as the
"perfect verbal riposte" a retort
of actor John Barrymore's. The
Great Profile was drooping in an
armchair in his New York club
one night after imbibing un-
wisely, when an acquaintance
asked him: "Is it true that you
see pink elephants?" For a mo-
ment nothing happened, then the
actor rallied, became once more
majestic, magnificent. "No, sir,"
he said coldly, "pink elephants
see me!"
All who like a man -of -the -
world's richly human stories will
enjoy this friendly book.
34 Murders a Day
According to the latest sta-
tistics, crime in the United
States increased last year—by
five per cent., and fore people
under twenty-three were aid.
rested
r -
rested than in any other age
group.
The figures will astonish even
those who imagine that the
States are overrun with gang-
sters and that dead bodies lie
thickly in the streets of Chica-
go. In 1951 there were 1,882,-
160 serious offences, and every
day of the year there were 34
felonious homicides (as distinct
from justifiable or excusable
homicides), 1,115 burglaries, 143
robberies, 3,064 larcenies, 46
rapes, 540 car thefts, and 215,
aggravated assaults.
No one who has read a book
like "Murder Inc.," by Ben Tur-
kus, will doubt these figures,
for in that staggering disclosure
Turkus, District Attorney, states
that time and again criminals
who had twenty to thirty mur-
ders to their name were arrest-
ed and allowed to walk off
without a charge being prefered
against them. ne reason is that
those who squawked were rid-
dled with bullets, killed with
ice picks, or dumped into lakes
with a concreteovercoat to keep
out the wet;another, that ac-
cording to Federal law, no one
complicated in a murder can
testify against the murderer.
Pled Arrival—The Soviet Russia delegation arrives in New York
for the: opening of the United Nations. Chief of the delegates,
Andrei Vishinslci (right), smiles for an answer for newsmen.
Deputy AiPidrei Gromyko (left) does not smile.
Ever Try a Chew, Girls?—Academy Award winner Anne Baxter, left, may have Hollywood all agog
over her liking for small cigars, but the girls back in Boston aren't too impressed. Anne learned to
relish the ladylike stogies on location in Quebec, where she was introduced to the delights of the
weed by film director Alfred Hitchcock. However, Mrs. Evelyn Frye, right, of Medford, has been
smoking a pipe for some time, and tobacconists say many Eastern girls enjoy a hearty smoke.
TEST ¥ UR U TELUU EMfr E
Score yourself 10 paints for each correct answer in the first six
questions.
1. Which of the following games was originally, sometimes still is,
played on a green?
—Tennis -LTiddly winks —Bowling —Ping-Pong
2. Which of the following is the thigh bone?
—Digit —Cranium .—Femur —Fibula
3. Two states bordering on Canada have territory on peninsulas
reachable only by crossing Canadian territory. One of them is
named below. Can you find it?
—Maine —Minnesota —Michigan —Montana
4. Which of the following men led the "Rough Riders" in Cuba
during the Spanish-American War?
—Stonewall Jackson —John J. Pershing —Garcia
—Theodore Roosevelt
S. Pick out the. following word which does not match the other
three.
Mold —Fungus —Mildew —Trichinosis
6. Which of the following writers became famous for books which
were not written in his native tongue?
—Joseph Conrad —Honore de Balzae
—William Faulkner —Sinclair Lewis .
7. Match the following leaders with their respective countries. Score
yourself 10 points for each correct choice.
(A) Peron
(B) Tito
(C) Schuman
(D) Adenauer
Total your points.
superior; 90-100, very s
—France
—Argentina
—Germany
—Yugoslavia
A score of 0-20 is poor; 30-60, average; 70-80,
uperior.
ANSWERS TO INTELLIGENCE TEST ,
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dam Andrews
Here are some good sugges-
tions for using "left -over" pickle
juice.
Thinly slice fresh cucumbers
and sweet onions into a shallow
bowl. Cover with pickle juice
and let stand in a cold. place
while dinner is being prepared.
The slices will be spicely sea-
soned.
Use pickle juice as a dressing
for shredded cabbage or a salad
of chopped lettuce, tomato
wedges, and new onions.
Thin mayonnaise with pickle
juice for any green salad.
Sprinkle this vinegar over
tuna or egg salad for a piquant
taste.
When the taste for dill pickles
is dulled—as it often is before
the final giant pickle is eaten—
slice quite thin and let season in
the sweet pickle juice for a few
hours. They emerge as a new,
delightful pickle variation.
% *
Fall days make home cooks
think of casseroles, and here are
two ,you may enjoy trying now.
HA M CA SSEROLE
2 cups ground barn (l!'t ei•er
baked ham)
2 cups corn flakes
Sliced pineapple
Brown sugax
1 can co idense0 craa,: of
mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
Combine ham and corn 'flakes
lightly. Butter medium-size cas-
serole and cover bottom with
a generous sprinkling of brown
sugar. Pour ham -corn flakes
mixture over this. Combine and
partially dilute soups and pour
over ham mixture Bake at
325°F, for. about 1 hour.
4, 4, 4
This ape uses Inexpensive cuts
of lamb, yet is very tasty.
Budget Casserole
2 pounds shoulder lamb meat
cut into small pieces
3 pounds lamb neck cracked
and cut into small pieces
1 can tomato • juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
sauce
1 medium green onion,
minced
2 tablespoons minced parsley
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 . carrots- cubed
Salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
Place meat in large casserole.
Cover with all other ingredients.
Season and bake at 350°F. for
about 70 minutes, or until meat
is tender. Serves 4 generously.
k * +k
From Switzerland comes this
recipe •for little fried meat pies
—simply delicious with potato
salad or a creamed vegetable.
Over there they call them:
HUCHENPASTETLI
1 pound chopped meat (a lit-
tle ham or bacon fat is
good in this.)
1 minced onion
Salt and pepper
Chopped parsley
1 package pie crust mix
Combine all ingredients except
mix. Prepare pie dough accord-
ing to package direction and
roll to 14 -inch thickness. Cut in
4 -inch circles Put a spoonful of
chopped meat on each circle and
fold to form halt moons, Wet
edges and press dough together
to stick. ' crop Pastetli in deep
hot fat. When ' they rise to sur-
face brown they are done. Make
about 32.
HOMING
G. V. T. Matthews experimen-
ted with 249 lesser black -backed
gulls, ninety-one herring gulls
and twenty other migratory sea-
birds to determine their direc-
tion -finding ability. The lesser
black -backed gulls were at their
best in finding their way home
when the sun was not obscured.
The herring gulls were less effi-
cient There was no effect on
homing ability when the earth's
magnetic field was masked. An-
o t her investigator, Gustav
Krasner, found that pigeons
were astronomical navigators
because they seemed to know in
what direction to fly even before
starting.
Unexplored Island
Of Many Secrets
Madagascar, fifth largest island
In the world, which lies 240 miles
off the Southeast coast of Africa,
is one of the few regions still
waiting to be thoroughly explor-
ed. The white man's foot has
never, trodden on vast areas of
land in the interior,. and French
scientists have been hinting that
uranium and gold, desperately
needed by dollar -hungry France,
may lie there in workable quan-
tities.
Already gold, silver, lead, cop-
per, iron and zinc are being
mined neau'4 he coasts, but Mada-
gascar's remote areas still hold
their secrets. Quite untouched
by civilization, they are a lure
to adventurous prospectors.
But before packing his bags
and equipment and boarding the
next boat for Tamatave (the
chief port), the intending urani-
um -seeker would do well to con-
sider the appalling conditions
under which he might have to
operate in this primitive land.
Parts of it are so uncivilized
that even missionaries, only too
familiar with personal hardship
and native ignorance, have had
to admit themselves defeated.
One reported recently that he
had visited an area which he
could never have believed exist-
ed had not his. own eyes seen
it. He spoke of a land "inundated
by the xriost virulent drink, a
people saturated with disease
due to unrestrained immorality,
feuds resembling devil posses-
sion, polygamy accepted every-
where."
Sorcery and magic were em-
ployed by all and sundry, murder
and cannibalism were common-
place. Girls were being married
at nine years of age, and the sick
and the aged flung out of their
houses and left to die.
As for the terrain over which
prospectors would have to travel,
this consists of rugged mountains,
deep ravines, mysterious forests,
and malarial swamps. Crocodiles
lurk in the rivers and streams.
Poisonous snakes and spiders as
big as one's hand are liable to
attack the unwary.
Tiny inseets known as Algot!
cause agony by boring thele, way
underneath the toenails and lay-
ing their eggs there. Disease-
bearing mosquitoes swamp in
clouds. In some places ?:'t rains
every day in the year and in
ethers droughts are long r net fre-
quent.
Of a population of 4,351,000,
only a few hundreds are Euro-
peans, and rebellion against the
French is always smouldering in.
the background. When a revolt
took place four years ago, :native
Christians were massacred sand
Roman Catholic churches; were
systematically destroyed.
Nature worship still eernsaaris
the most important belief in maj-
or sections of the island. Sacri-
fices of livestock are resale as
prayers.
A Supreme Deity is recognized.
called the Creator or Fragrant
One, and children are gi°,'c.n un-
pleasant names such as ''Ugly
Face," or "Cross Eyed" in tie be-
lief that these will warn off evil
spirits.
In Madagascar one nee oe tells
a mother her child is bean;rtiful,
for that would be an ie. -Mallon
to the evil spirits to possess it.
But if one calls the child ugly,
bandy-legged, stupid and •o•bjec-
tionable, the mother is pleased,
because such insults are suppos-
ed to safeguard the child.•
Another strange custom is the
rite of body -turning carried out
by the Malagasy tribe. Each year
the bodies of the Malagasy an-
cestors are dug up, turned over
and re -clad in fresh shrouds in
the belief that this will keep
their spirits warm and comfort-
ed.
Death among the Malagasy is
the signal for orgies and feast-
ing. The corpse is Set ugi on a
trestle -work, and wild dancing,
drinking and sexual' licence go
on for hours around it. An ox
is killed and each mourner eats
a piece of raw red meat! .
The fact that an island so
near Africa is so similar to West-
ern Australia has interested sci-
entists for years. Madagascar's
natives bear little resemblance
to those of Africa, and are more
like Polynesian and Malaya's
than Negroes.
The theory has been advanced
that Madagascar was once part
of a lost continent which includ-
ed Western Australia. This con-
tinent has been called Lemuria,
because of the lemurs (monkey -
like animals about the size' of
a cat) which thrive in Madagas-
car. These do not exist in Africa,.
British forces landed in Diego
Suarez Bay to the north of Mada-
gascar in May, 1942, and de-
feated the Vichy French forces
there with the object of fore-
stalling a . possible Japanese in-
vasion. The following year the
island was handed back to Free
French Forces. It has been a
French Protectorate since 1890.
SNOWBALLS IN AUGUST
For a lesson in ice-cold calcar
lated salesmanship we recom-
mend you to Master Russell
Green, of Levittown, New York,
aged nine.
With an eye to the future he
filled the family fridge with snow
and slammed the door on his
assets.
Biding his time for a few
months until the August sun
was frizzling the pavements at
96 degrees, the lad opened the
doors of the refrigerator and
invited the public to buy his
"Genuine Snowballs" at a quar-
ter apiece.
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Topsy-1'urvy X-Ray—Caroline Golibart isn't defying the laws of
gravity. She's just being introduced tq the newest thing in X -Ray
equipment. The examining table of the unit is mounted on an
8 -foot -wide steel ring, and can be swung through an arc of 180
degrees from the vertical position for chest examination, to the
upside down position for skull and spinal viewing. A special
heavy footstrap supports the patient an the table,