Loading...
The Brussels Post, 1961-08-10, Page 7several cases physically sick at what they saw. separate graves for the victims were impossible. And so two big pits were dug in the churchyard, and the pitiable remains buried in these, Altogether ter. aPd, this is recorded, in the parish seventy-six people 1ed that awful night, and tivti more the following day from their in- juries. But how did the fire start? Naturally, there were exhaustive inquiries, and eventually a man named Richard Whitaker was Ar- rested, He appeared at Caur bridge Assizes in the following. March, and was charged with negligently placing a lighted lan- tern in close proximity to several bales of straw, That, solo the prosecution, was the cause of the disaster, writes 1.1. T, Cooper in "Tit-Bits." After a fairly lengthy trial, . Whitaker was acquitted. But his ordeal was far from being Over,. Despite the verdict, many people still firmly believed that he was indeed guilty of :the crime. Vet the jury was right. Rich- ard Whitaker was completely in- nocent of any responsibility for the death of those seventy-eight people, But it was a good many years before, this was proved beyond doubt,' over half a cen- tury, in fact, • Then in February, 1784, a poverty-stricken old man lay dy-e ing a village not far from Bur- well, And despite his age and feebleness he was by no means resigned to his approaching end:. Instead, he seemed almost deliri- ous with fear, fear for which his, conscience was responsible. And so the old mall,:` a formere ostler, unburdened himself to those around his bed, a fact which was duly - reported, al- though brieffy,"in the Press. He confessed that leg had, set the barn at Burwell alight—de- liberately. He; had done so to revenge himself on the owner of the puppet show. "I awed him a grudge!" he said. The payment of that grudge had resulted „in nearly eighty people suffering a' frightful death. Grudge Killed Almost Eighty One September evening in 1727 company of strolling players presented a puppet show a Bur- well, a Cambridgeshire village about five miles from 'Kew- market. It took place In a Oh-webbed and grimy old tarn. The build- ing was packed tight with people, Farmers and farm laboarers and their families jostled for elbow mom with ladies and gentlemen of quality and fashion, attended by servants. To-day, such a turn-out for, a village puppet show seems fan- tastic, But there was precious little entertainment in the rural areas at that time, and here was a real, live, professional show — something not to be missed. In fact, so many people arriv- ed that many were turned away at the door. They tried to force their way in, but the door wan slammed in their faces and bolt- ed. The performance started well, But as the first wave of applause died down a man turned to his companion, "Can you smell burning?" he whispered. Barely had he finished speak- ing when an unmistakable wisp of smoke drifted towards the roof of the old barn, Other people began take notice then, and glanced round uneasily, Then a heap of straw burst swiftly into flames. It was as though a huge torch had been suddenly light- ed. A nervous murmur came from " the crowd. The building was con- structed of wood, roofed with thatch. They realized the dan- ger, Those nearest the outbreak were the first to move. They scrambled to their feet, struggled towards the door, and tried to pull or push it open. Then they stopped in sheer horror. The clamouring crowd outside had been so aggressive that the door was nailed up to stop them getting in. And by now all the disappointed ones had gone home. A moment later the fire had caught hold of the bone-dry rafters, and the thatched roof eves soon blazing furiously. At that, those nearest the door be- gan to attack it desperately with hands, boots and anything avail- able. At last, it burst from its hinges. The way of escape was open. But only for those.at the door. For as it collapsed the air rushed in and fanned the flames. The in- terior of the barn became a rag- ing inferno. Frantic shrieks of fear and agony came from the terror- stricken and densely packed crowd, Men, women and little children pushed and fought in a desperate effort to get away. Their clothes and hair slight, showered with sparks and black- ened with smoke, they resembled a painting of a dreadful night- mare. - Many collapsed, or were hurled to the ground. For them there was no hope whatsoever. They were trampled underfoot by the seething, screaming crowd, and died where they lay. But most of the others were no more for- tunate. They were hopelessly trapped. Only a few — a very few—managed to reach the open. air — and safety. The last awesome scene of the tragedy came when the roof crashed down, showering burning timbers and blazing thatch. One long, piercing scream which those who heard it never forgot was heard above the roar and hiss of the flames. And that was the end, When the fire had burned out, a thorough search was made for the victims, The searchers were stunned and dazed, and in to-de LOndOlt teXtile Mange faeturer, did , his first sizable They All Like To Take Big Chances NDAY SC11001 1,ESSON business in t h ea tre zenagement, Be has since acquired 4t, varied business empire (shoes. ship„, 'machinery), largely by acute market study and by pioneering the once unorthodox. and "ungentlemanly" practice of "take-over" bidding — getting control of companies without consulting their management, by offering shareholders prices well -above_ the stoclr,exchange The versatile Clore,. a. divorce,. has had many outside interests Marcel Soussae,,12, the largest textile manufacturer In Franco" was the son -of a .solid textile. man, By 1-914 Boussac had 'made • a fortune with fresh colors and designs of cloth, eheaply pNd4c- ed.. in the Vosges, Be. steadily ac- quired mills, and. has. promoted them with a large chain of in- expensive men's shops and the founding of the high-fashion. house of Dior, A- terrific worker, he also enjoys a quiet family life and conservative political activi- ty, Seeking for common traits, the author finds in the very rich no ruling desire for more money, but a love for the game of subtle, exhaustive calculation, dramatic- ally combined with a fascination for cOlossal gambling, "It is the willingnessto accept . • huge riske,". he writes, "that psycho- logically distinguishes the multi- millionaire." • Public ettriesity about Very rich men never ceases There is certain suspicion that they must have, among them, some dark secret of accumulation. In "The Multimillionaires," six of them are studied briefly, calmly, And cogently by the able British journalist Goronwy Rees, former principal of the University Col- lege of Wales. He reaches one conclusion that may be dis- couraging to those who like to make types out of individuals: "The very rich are pouch as other men are, in that they are all dif- ferent, and indeed their dif- ferences , are even -greater simply because they have more opportunity to be themselves" The force of these words can be suggested by notes on Bees' six subjects: Jean Paul Getty, 68, the U.S. oilman, is the richest and per- haps an actual billionaire. Start- ing out with inherited Oklaho- ma oil wealth, he multiplied it by letting his experience and his fine geological and general edu- cation play over vast quantities of information, and by taking huge risks with his own money. Getty has never sold a public share: "I like to sleep at night. I shouldn't like to think I owed people so much money," He has had five marriages, lives and works mostly in hotel suites, but collects large houses, Sir Simon Marks, 72, the Bri- tish chain-store man (Marks & Spencer), inherited 70 up-and- coming stores from his Polish im- migrant father. Sir Simon built the chain into a great-quality- low-price business on three main principles: (1) Plow back pro- fits; (2) deal directly with pro- ducers, bypassing wholesalerb; (3 exert the most detailed quality control aver the producers He is a settled family man, a devout and important Zionist. Aristotle Onassis; 55, the Greek tanker magnate, was the son of It Smyrna tobacco merchant. As a boy, Aristotle, escaped from the savage Greco-Turkish war of 1922 and went to the Argentine,' where he imported' tobacco, ship- ped out hides, grain, and wools, and began to learn the shipping business. He was a millionaire at 25. His great fortune came from buying ships at bottom depres- sion prices and holding on for boom business.,His fernOus yacht, Christina, is more or less a sym- bol. Most of the time Onassis, re- cently separated feom. wiie and two young children, is ashore and at work. Alfried Krupp, 54, inherited sole ownership of the mighty German combine which bears his name (steel, iron, heavy and light industry, a world of con- sumer goods). After six years in prison as a war criminal, he was released through a change in U.S, policy, Krupp, who has had two marriages, is a somber, re- tiring man who lives in a modest fourteen-room bungalow and en- joys sailing, shooting, and ama- teur photography Charles Clore, 56, son of a well- 01' Rev, It, itiarclay Warren 041.ke Matthew, the ',Cower:44 .Pulelicatt Nattliew 9: ,944; .11).:14 Memory Selection: left. Olt 1.0$4 up, and followed Jfiln, Luke $;2I8.t looked like poor strategy, ss Worae;,e 1,:ofaegtibilianis wfcreeiretnandiens:of spoiledPJesPl everything now. If Matthew wanted to repent of his sins and be a follower of Jesus, that was fine. We just wish all those Publicans who have sold them- selves into the employ of the foreign power that rules over us, would leave their jobs. Why' should our money go to Hornet But then to make this Publican one of the twelve to go about with Him, that will antagonize our people generally." But the people who thus talk- ed were wrong. In the first place the very essence of the Gospel which Jesus preached made it most appropriate that one of the inner circle should come from the despised class of publicans. The Gospel invitation IS not re- stricted to a select few, "Whoso- ever will, let him take the water of life freely." In the second place, the inclu- sion of Matthew as one of the twelve was a constant reminder to the Pharisees as well as to the Publicans that Jesus loved the sinners and desired to save them. This was an encourage- ment to sinners. Hence they drew near to hear Him, As they did, Jesus gave greater en- couragement to them by giving them that priceless parable of the Lost Son. At the same time it was a rebuke to the hypo- critical Pharisees. Even in the parable they saw their own sel- fishness in the attitude of the elder brother. Too often fervent Christians in zeal for their ideas, in reject- ing what they think is wrong, give the impression that they are rejecting the people • who do those things, A medical doctor invited me to, have a drink: Now have neVer• drunk any alcd- holic beverage and I don't ex- pect to start. I think I can glori- fy my Lord better by refraining. By any example I don't want to influence anyone to start the habit. But this was, no time for a sermon to my doctor friend. I slapped him on the back and thanked him very much for his generosity and said, "Really, I don't care for any, but come an over and let us have a milk- shake," In a few minutes he wanted to know more about my joy in Jesus Christ, I had the opportunity to witness for Him. I hadn't insulted my friend by trying to prove that I was better than he. Rather our friendship deepened, ees.e.ei‘See: LIKE LIFTING. THE CALF — Young Lori taishley makes like the lad who picked up the calf each day until he' could heft this cow. The calf in 'this case is a 7-yeek-old great Dane. Only 20 pounds now, it will grow to 180. Taxicab War In Old London THIFARM FRO Doused with champagne, braced by an affectionate slap on the rear bumper, the first of 200 low-slung little "minicabs" darted out into London's traffic bedlam one day last month—and the "taxi War" was on, Bright red and plastered with ads, the Renault-built minicabs were challenging one of London's most beloved institutions — the squarely built, uncompromising- ly Victorian calls that by law must be able to turn in their own length, and, by custom, en- able a lady to get out without embarrassment and a gentleman to get in without knocking off his topper, Owned by hard- driving Michael Gotla of Wel- beck Motors, Ltd., the minicabs were hailed as the "working man's taxis." When three per- eOng share one, Gotla claims, is nearly as cheap to go to work by cab as it is by train or bus. The minicabs charge a flat rate of 14 cents a mile with no extra charge for additional passengers. By comparison, regular ,London taxis ("maxicabs" as Gotla calls them) charge 24 cents to trip the meter flag and 17 cents a mile thereafter, The only snag about the mini- cabs is that a man can't just step into Piccadilly and hail one from the curb. Because the mini- cabs operate under "car-hire" regulations, they must be sum- moned by telephone. But this didn't deter Londoners who made 1,500 minicab calls the first day, Within a year, says Gotla, 2,000 minicabs will be on duty in London. The main opposition to the minicab invasion came, inevita- bly, from the regular cabbies. They jeered at their new compe- tition and maneuvered to box them in at busy crossroads. But these were only minor incidents and did not detract from what Gotla called a "glorious debut." Even the London Times (whose readers would find it hard to open their august newspapper in a minicab) editorialized: "If (this) rivalry leads• to more thought for the people who keep the meters ticking, a welcome change will have been brought aboutt" ',and thus permits a crop of po- tatoes to- be- hariested even 1n years of severe -blight. . Although the battle to control late blight by breeding -may a long one, a great reserve of ' resistance is on hand in the wild potatoes received by Canada. 4. 4 * Testing of the last Cow in the' struggle againit ' bovine tuber- culosis will go down as an im- portant milestone in Canadian Agriculture. A,ppropriately, this historic event' took place in the beauti- ' ful Peace Ri4er district of nor- thern Alberta — ore of the last great frontiers of inada. Also appropriately, the pio- neer spirit that initiated this eradication program was person- ified in Mr. Joe Skirlik, owner of the last herd to be tested. A native of Czechoslovakia who came to Canada in 1933, Mr. Skirlik acquired- his modest Peace River farm as a home- - stead and, ..aided by his hard- working wife, cleared 80 acres of bushland with an ax. * Men with pioneering courage and foresight doggedly followed the long trail that began with a f e w experimental tuberculin tests before the turn of the cen- tury and ended with Lena, one of two milk cows in Mr. Skirlik's small herd. * The benefits are legion. Not too many years ago, it was common to see farm chil- dren suffering from bone tuber- -culosis -- often crippled for life. This has almost completely dis- appeared from the Canadian scene. And with the decline in bovine tuberculosis has come a marked increase in ni-ilk and beef prodection. It speaks well for Canada that its people have voted large amounts of money year after year to stamp out this dreaded disease. Fake Inspector—A man claim- ing to be a federal inspector re- cently visited an Ontario hatch- ery, spent about 20 minutes look- Ing over the prenilses and then asked for' a $25 fee. He had dis- appeared by the; time police were called. Federel inspectors carry identification and charge no fee. 4, * Amendments to Canada Dairy Products Act regulations have been made to, safeguard this country's valuable export trade in cheddar cheese, with the Unit- ed Kingdom. Effective immediately, the re- gulations require that 60 days must elapse between the time that cheddar cheese is first grad- ed in Canada and its export to the United Kingdom. The life of a cheese certificate is 60 days and as all cheese for export must be graded, the re-grading made necessary by the regulations will help ensure a uniform high quality. When Teachers Had It Tough These rules for teachers were posted by a New York City principal in 1872: 1. Teachers each day will fill lamps, clean chimneys, and trim wicks. 2. 'Each teacher will bring a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal for the day's session. 3. Make your pens carefully. You may whittle nibs to the individual taste of the pupil. 4. Men teachers may take one evening each week for court- ing purposes, or two evenings a week if they go to church regularly. 5. After ten hours in school, the teachers spend the remaining time reading the Bible or other good books. 8, Women teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed, 7. Every teacher should lay aside from each pay a goodly sum of his earnings for his 'benefit during his declining years so that he will not be- come a burden on society, 8. Any teacher who smokes, uses liquor in any form, frequents pool or public halls, or gets .shaved in a barber shop will give good reason to suspect his worth, intentions, integri- ty, and honestly. 9. The teacher who performs his labors faithfully and without fault for five years will be given an increase ' of twenty- five cents per week in his pay providing the Board of Educa- tion approves. * It there is more than a 21-day delay between this re-grading and shipment, a ,further examin- ation of • the product is neces- sary before the product qualifies for export. Tightening up of cheese in- spection is an attempt 'to avoid deterioration of the product which occurred last season in some shipments where the inter- v al between manufacturing, grading and :export was much less than now required. * From the central highlands of Mexico, wild potatoes have been gathered and sent to Canada for research work in agriCulture. Canada Department of Agricul- ture scientists hope that from these potatoes late blight resist- ance can be bred into. the Cana.- dian product. Dr, K. M. Graham of the De- partment's research station at Fredericton, N,B., said the im- ports are being crossed with good commercial varieties and, from the crosses, seedlings are selected that combine good yield and quality with resistance to blight, Upsidedown to Prevent Peeking a -ills 61A11.5...11 VA imm V asa 1 iv V 1 d a 1 S a 1 a w 1 S. 3 1 d S a 1 2! 3 S 3 a O a N S N M 0 1 S A a 1 a V O 1 a 3 N a S a S NMI 1 a S a 9 1 a a N S 11111.1_43 D I W 9 H SEC) a V wiga s ISSUE 28 — 1961 9, Mahe rigid 33. Purses cRosswoRD to. Retrontt,ynotive ot 35. Periodicals 38. Cripple It Gerniali City 40, Coarse hohlInY 19, Tract 43, Mediterranean 18. Shelter, vessel , ACROSS DOWN 20. Maim into a. 45' Dan ger (naut.) 1 mastInel Ian 1. Salt W • la 47. Kill 22, Of the sun 49, Preilitre shins 2, Ago 1, Disprove 23, Pay honittge to for leather 4, Variety of wet' ri tks 90. Narrow Inlet 24, Merits of beets 20. (lam resin 5, Morning ton 27, Hindu 0. L -ee pettaithts 7, P 'oats a take 80. TO bend in 3, Kinder prayer PUZZLE Bad News FOt• Heavy Sleeper fire , you a heavy sleepei") If so, here's some alarthing news from Italy, A new alarm clock design- ed there for morning sluggards rings normally at first, then hoots like a ear horn, barks like a dog, imitates a gunshot and erns with A noise like an exploding gren- ade; It's no good trying to snatch A few extra minutes in bed when you're wearing an alarm-cum- ewristwatch invented by a swiss watchmaker recently. It has A beilit-in alarm, a device hardly bigger than a dime which rings like a full-sized alarm clack. txperts describe it as a miracle of modern watch-making, Q. Whin is a good' and Wee- tiVe tit :1y to dean OW a greos$, fry in,!: non? A, Fill the pan with hot water to v, hick a ten.itt).:71111t1. of wash- ing soda no' so ;p' powder hag been add;:d. Allow to bail for few Minutes, empty, and rinse weight 4. 1,eader of Jinn orotram. myth.) 9, That Woman 12 second note 11 Priest's vestment 34 :Icotch Can 15 Pnther of Ilnehel and 17 Particularri 10, Solicit 21. Fl go 22 llomq fabrics 20 Pertain 26 f iypotlictleal force 8i1 Aity, • 81 .5 l poesy 32 I ,ejected 31 licatie metrica Ily 10 New IcOMU. forth) $ ling. :solo° imager 29 saplings 41 trig), tun ltib.) 42 unbend 44 hod of the low e r World 46 uritrothg, , 46 sr!. seteatee • 62 Month of ptiowovg '62 River 'gland . ns A rUst's,stand 158, The bath eve Ent rTga being 00, Saul 61„ Ilitultauce In Mexico, many kinds of po- tatoes grow wild in the disturb- ed soil of forest clearings and in the shelter of oilier plants — conditions favourable, for blight, Centuries be ,exposure to 1h e blight fungus has led to the tia- tura] selection of wild plants that are highly resistant to the disease. The National Potato Breeding Program at Frederic(on recently ,received a large 40.116ctioti„'Of thesie- potatoes obtained firm 6.11 eXPloratiOn of the high. lands. The wild tubers are very small and bitter. Might fungus complicates the breeding Work by producing new '.Lypes and races and scan'after 'new variety is released a new race of blight may attack it. However, the wild type of re sistance does slow down the tringuS as it invades the plat tS orh, 0, t have (contr.) 64. huddiltst Column 07. And (Lit.) /0 3' 6' 4 2 3 OJ 4: At: /4 /3 12 /8 /7 , /6 rs 4 * 2 / /9 27 26 24 23 22 3/ 30 29 29 32 36 34 33 41 40 3'7 33 45 98 46 • 5 5 52 5/ 50' se 57 56 55 6/ • 60, 58 DOWN IN FRONT! Spectotors scatter at a bull lunges into the stands hi tegtetci, Et kith did hot' succeed, nobody Welt injured and the fight continued, Answer elsewhere Ott th page.