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The Seaforth News, 1959-10-15, Page 2Great Opera Star Blows Top Again "My hest hours are in bed, And they are my beat work hours, too, There 1 study the scores. With my dog cuddling beside me, and my husband fast asleep." This oozy scene was once des- cribed by the usually tempestu- ous, New York . born Maria Callas, while discussing her ten- year marriage to 62 -year-old Giovanni Battista Meneghini. An opera patron and sponsor at young divas who finally found one with a voice, Meneghini trimmed Maria down to size (from a slab -sized 202 pounds to a nicely rounded 130) and took over asher manager. It was no easy chore, In the grand tradition of su,'i7 luridly temperamental sopranos as Geraldine Farrar and Mary Darden, Maria whooped it up, She brought glamour -. and sensationalism --back into grand opera and while doing so walk- ed out on performances ("bron- chitis') and split spectacularly with La Scala in Milan and the Met in New York. But on other stages, when she soared up to high C or raged through her Favourite role as the Greek en- chantress, "Medea," she brought her audiences cheering into the aisleg. Through it all, including court battles, upstaging assorted ten- ors and baritones, and a running feud with her mother, Managor Meneghini stood firm. In quiet counterpoint to her fieriest out- burst ut- burst s, he bought the travel tickets and handled the family checkbook. "I would give my life for this man," said 35 -year- old Maria. "He owns me as a husband." But apparently this wasn't quite true. The other day la Callas sent Meneghini packing with a terse suggestion that he go live with his mother. At her side as she dismissed Meneghini was "an old friend," Aristotle Socrates Onassis, the fabulously wealthy Greek tanker tycoon, who reportedly was ready to bankroll a spectacularly new movie film for her. The blowup came during an August cruise on Onassis's yacht, Christina. Aboard, besides Onas- sis, his beautiful blond 29 -year- old wife Athina, and the Mene- ghinis, were Sir Winston and Lady Churchill. So was Greta Garbo but somewhere along the route, she had picked up her sunglasses and gone ashore. As the seas ran high, tem- pers on board ran higher. The husky, 53 - year - old Onassis prowled topside. Below decks, Maria grew "more tigerish" by the hour, as Meneghini put it. She flatly refused to sing for Sir Winston who chomped down on his cigar and huffed: " I un- derstand." By the time the yacht reached Istanbul, both Onassis and Maria were ready for a fling. They had it together, hitting the night spots and drinking champagne until the wee hours, This annoyed husband Mena- gbini to the point that he call- ed his lawyers — and they soon were shouting it out with. Maria's lawyers in a Milan hotel room, Meanwhile, Onassis (in- sisting that Maria is "like a sister" to him) returned to the Chrie na off St. Mark's Square in Venice, and held a solemn conference with his wife. She headed for Paris, installed the A machine capable of produc- ing a jet of energy three times hotter than the surface of the sun is being used by an aero- space company in its research rogrom. children,, Alexander, 11, and. Christina, 9, in school, and con= (erred with her wealthy par- ents. Back in Venice, Onassis wait- ed until Maria showed top — this time without Meneghini. Together, she and Onassis board- ed the Christina and sailed an down the Adriatic Coast, into a purple sunset, "I am a sailor, and those things happen to sailors" w a s Onassis's parting shot. A gondolier leaned on his sweep and commented: "Well you know how it is, when Greek meets Greek," This Time Father D dnst Know Best His neighbours know Charles Butts as a good provider No one doubts his love for his fa- mily, particularly for his raven - haired daughter, Charlene. But he rules his own with an iron hand; his will is as unyielding as the austere horizon of his Southeast Kansas f a r m. Thus, when Butts decided against an operation for Charlene, noth- ing the doctors could say about the tumor that was threatening her eyesight could sway him. But Charlene, 19, has a will of her own, As a minor child, she began a court fight to overthrow her father's decision — and per- haps save her life. About a year ago, Charlene, a Kansas City, Kans., clerical worker, had started suffering dizzy spells, headaches, and im- paired vision. Then, about two 'months ago she began to black out. At the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, brain specialists told hex' she was suffering from a tumor of the pituitary gland. Without quick surgery, they said, Char- lene would go blind and, in five or six years, she 'would die. The girl wrote to her parents. They seemed to agree that sur- gery was required, and brought her home while the hospital prepared for the operation. "On the way home," Charlene said last week, "Daddy said to me, "You know, I think I'll take you down to Oklahoma to see Doc Hunt. I think if he can heal you, he will say so'." So they took Charlene through the rolling countryside to the small white house where "Doc" Hunt lives. There, H, C. Hunt, who claims only' to be a masseur, gave her steam baths and exposed her to a device labelled "ultrasonic." Charlene said: "He told me my sight wasn't damaged 40 per cent, He told my parents I had an excess of water in my system, and it was filling up my lungs and head. I think my folks paid him $81 for the eleven treatments." "She had a kind of scum over her eyes," Hunt himself told a reporter. "I'd hesitate to r e - commend an operation. What I mean is that I understand the chances are one in nine of sur- viving an operation." Back in Kansas City, Char- lene's headaches and dizziness became more frequent. Still, her father refused to permit an operation. Charlene went to an attorney, Emil Anderson, who started proceedings in the Wy- andotte County District Court to remove her from her father's guardianship. Late last week, before the court acted, Charles Butts fin- ally bowed to pressure from his slaughter's lawyer and doctors: He agreed to the operation, and it was set for this week, "Of course, we're not sure about re- storing all Charlene's sight," said Dr. Vernon E. Wilson of. the Medical C e n t e r, "But at least, the operation will prevent it from getting worse." PACING THE FUTURE — Kevin Winkler, 5, peers into a Park' Ing box Tined with boo»t;ful masks for Hallowe'en, ;n a spooky preview of Fun to come, KHRUSHCHEV TASTES HOT DOG — Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev tastes his first American hot dog, complete with mustard, After finishing the hot dog, the Communist boss said it was "wonderful," and quipped, "We have beaten you to the moon but you have beaten us in sausage -making," ekaw, AL1624\1513 If you want a variety of cookies for school lunches and your cooky jar with some left over to freeze for another day, here is a recipe that makes seven kinds of cookies, They number about 16 dozen, depend- ing, of course, on the size of those you make. Bake at 425° F. 5 * SEVEN -FROM -ONE C00KIES 2 cups shortening 3 cups sugar 4 eggs 1/4 cup milk 4 teaspoons vanilla 5 cups sifted flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt Mix shortening, sugar, and eggs thoroughly. Stir in milk and vanilla. Sift dry ingredients together, and stir into first mix- utre until well blended. Divide dough: r/z to use as plain dough, 3/4 as spiced, r/4 as chocolate. Plain dough: Divide into 3 por- tions; wrap and chill. Scalloped Cookies: Roll and cut. Decorate with small col- ored candies. Bake about six minutes. Crescents: Work into dougb 1 cup moist coconut. Shape small portions of dough into crescents 11 inches wide in center. Chill. Bake 8 minutes. Trim with tinted uncooked icing, if desired. Nut Wafers: Sprinkle dough with chopped nuts or maca- room crumbs. Roll; cut into desired shapes." Bake 7 min- utes. Spiced Dough:. Mix r/4 teaspoon ground cloves and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon into basic dough. Frosted Spice Cookies: Chill half of spiced dough. Roll and cut. Bake 7 minutes. Cool and frost. Cherry Drops: Soak 20 glazed cherries in warm water 5 minutes. Drain. Cut in quar- ters. Work cherries and 1/4 cup chopped nuts into remaining spiced dough. Drop by tea- spoonful onto cooky sheet. Bake 10 minutes. Chocolate Dough: Pour 1/2 cup boiling water over ler cup co- coa, Stir to blend. Mix into remaining r/4 of basic dough. Pecan Crisp: To x/z the chocolate dough add 1 cup chopped • pecans and 1 cup corn flakes, Drop by teaspoons onto cooky sheet. Top each with pecan half. Bake hall 8-10 minutes. Date Wrap -Ups: Use a rounding teaspoon of chocolate dough to completely cover a pitted soft date, Bake on cooky sheet 10 minutes, Cool; sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. * * HONEY RAISIN NUT BARS 2 eggs M, cup honey lis cup sifted flour :t teaspoon baking powder teaspoon salt V.; clip ready -to -eat bran 1 cup seedless raisins ya cup nutmeats, chopped Beat eggs until thick and lemon colored; beat in honey, Sift together flour, baking pow- der and salt; add bran, raisins, and nut meats, Add to honey mixture; beat well. Spread bat- ter 1/2 inch thick in greased shallow pan 10x10 inches, Bake at 375' F. about 25 minutes, Cut into bars while warm and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Makes 40 bars 2x11/4 inches. 5 * No matter how cookies are S made, that sugar -and -spice smell that conies from the kitchen is the same in every generation and forms an attraction kitchen - ward that never fails. Molasses cookies, especially, give off a wonderful aroma, writes Eleanor Richey Johnston in The Chris- tian Science Monitor. If you've lost your grandmother's recipe for these childhood delights, here is one you may want to use. Shape them like footballs if you want to make a real hit with the young aspirants for the back- yard team. MOLASSES FOOTBALL COOKIES ?^s cup shortening 34 cup unsulphured molasses 2 tablespoons sugar 2 cups sifted flour 34 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon soda 1 teaspoon cinnamon RA teaspoon ginger IA teaspoon cloves 1 small egg Melt shortening in sauce pan Iarge enough for mixing cookies. Stir in molasses and sugar; cool Sift together flour, salt, soda and spices. Stir a small amount of dry sifted flour -spice blend into molasses mixture. Beat in egg. Add remaining flour, blend- ing until smooth. Chill dough about 2 hours. Shape into 11/2 - inch balls; form into oval shapes. Place on baking sheets about 11 inches apart to allow cookies to spread during baking. Bake at 350° F. 15-20 minutes. If de- sired, put "lace" on "footballs" with the following frosting. Frosting 1 cup confectioners' sugar Ye teaspoon cream of tartar 1 egg white ''4 teaspoon vanilla Sift together the sugar and cream of tartar; add egg white and vanilla. Beat with rotary beater until frosting holds its shape. Cover with damp cloth until ready to use, NO SITTING ON THE JOB Employed as an attendant in a museum at Belgrade, Yugo- slavia, Rudolph Zorc is able to walk and lie down, but cannot bend sufficiently at the' waist to sit. As a result of an injury to his spine during World War 1, Zorc has been unable to sit down for over forty gears. GOING STRONG -. Mrs, Anna Mary Robertson, above, known as "Grandma Moses" to thou- sands of primitive art enthusi- asts, celebrated her 99th birth- day recently, Sutter paddles And Butter Making A lady from Georgia passed this way the other day, and she contributed to our sum total. She had been on a puffin hunt up around the Gaspe, but had incidentally garnered a feW antiques, for that is hes' business and she buys and sells. The only antiques we have around here are some fine old pieces I made myself, so our interview was wholly on the intellectual side, and she said she could sell every butter paddle she could lay a hand on. Inasmuch as the gentle' art of spanking butter is not on she increase, this becomes an inter - e s t i n g commentary on the mores of America, which has some pips. The .importance of butter paddles in Georgia aston- ishes me, This lady also said there is a definite difference between a northern butter paddle and a' southern butter paddle, and with all due respects to the Confederacy she had to admit the northern butter paddle is, superior, and there is more call for thein in Georgia. This seemed to me, to explain many things. I remember "The Tarheel Cow" by Bill Nye, in which he said if the Carolinians would work their cows less and their butter more, they would confer a boon on the consumers of both. Now we learn that the rank quality of southern butter is the fault of the paddle and its structural design, rather than of the citizenry, and we may have fought the war over the wrong cause. A southern butter paddle is straight from handle to blade, requiring an open or forthright approach, and gives the operator no leverage advan- tages. A northern butter paddle, which we always called a spanker, had an offset to it, so the wielder sneaked up, sort of, and worked at a helpful angle. This, if nothing else ever did, shows the superiority of the North, and shows who won the war. Even Georgia, this late, now recognizes that we were right. I have not only spanked Union butter, but I have made Union spankers, and if the South grows as an outlet for northern butter paddles, I could take down a maple and get to work. Maple is the proper wood. It grows wild in these parts. 'Tis true a new butter paddle, made a -purpose for the southern trade, would not have the patina and sheen the antique shops prefer. I doubt if it could be simulated easily, New maple, no matter how artfully sanded down, becomes a butter paddle only through the making of but- ter, Butter is not much of an abrasive, and smoothing some rock maple by rubbing it on butter takes a long time. It also takes a lot of rubbing to make butter. You spank and pat, turn and push, and wash and rinse, and gradually work out all the buttermilk. Then you have to worts it quite a bit more just to be sure, after which your work in the salt. A paddle thus, after many years, gets its pores filled, and feel friendly and smooth al silk. It would be quite a project to start from the log and make northern butter pad- dles in quantity for the diseri- minating southern trade. This lady said she could also sell any number of butter bowls. She seemingly means "wooden. bowls" a n d "chopping bowls," which we also used for making butter. Lately we hear people call them salad bowls. I neglect- ed to ask if there is any market down there for the butter board. I suppose a modern people knowing only fission and space hydraelies would find it hard to understand the peculiar me- chanics of a butter board. It was a device on four legs, a kind of table, with a rack and pinion, a crank, and a roller that came and went. You slob - bed your butter From the churn into the thing, and as you cranked the roller belabored the butter wondrously. This dis- entangled the buttermilk, which ran off in channels and dripped into a pail on the floor. This • p at e n t butter -working machine had numerous disad- vantages. Usually in the exer- tion of cranking you kicked over the pail. There was also a stormy -weather reaction, some- times you cranked in a deluge of buttermilk. If anything stuck, and it sometimes did, you could crank the thing so it would climb right up your back. Also, they invariabley "travelled," go- ing back and forth across the floor as you worked. Our womenfolks dismissed the butter board as inefficient, tend- ing to make the butter "strong," at least after a time. Certainly it couldn't ego as well as a pad- dle, with muscle attached. I didn't find out why Geor- gians want butter paddles, par- ticularly those from the uncul- tured North. It would help if I knew what in the world they dog with them nowadays.—By John • Gould in The Christian Science Monitor. It Happened In In Jackson, Miss., after his home was invaded by a swarm of bees and his family severely stung by bees while on a picnic, Alon Bee mused: "We'd change our name if we thought it would give us any relief." 5 5 * In Compton, Calif., when burglars held up Liquor Store Owner Max Stanman, and in- vited the half a dozen customers in the store to help themselves, customers and c r o o k s alike marched out with arms full. ISSUE 41 — 1959 For the "Junior Miss" Three-part Chanel -inspired suit with easy -fit jacket over scoop- ed blouse, arrow -trim skirt. Note Trimtex rayon fold -over braid that gives a couturier look when applied to edges of jacket. Printed Pattern 4676 in Junior Miss Sizes 9, 1°1, 13, 15, 17. To order, send Fifty Cents (50e) (stamps cannot be accepted, use postal note tor safety) to ANNE ADAMS, Box 1, 123 Eighteenth St, New Toronto, Please print plainly NAME, ADDIR,ESS, STYLE,' NUMBER and SIZE,