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• Armstrong • Cherryville • Coldstream • Falkland • Lavington • Lumby • Nakusp • Spallumcheen • Vernon • Westside Rd •October 23 - 29, 2015 Issue 00245

TIDBITS® REMEMBERS

HOUDINIby Janet Spencer

We honor the memory of Harry Houdini, who died on October 31, 1926 at the age of 52. He claimed that his abdominal muscles were so strong that he could bear any blow to the stomach without flinching. A college student decided to test this theory out without giving Houdini time to steel his muscles before the blows landed. Houdini may have already been suffering from an inflamed appendix; the unexpected blows might have worsened the condition, leading to his death. Come along with Tidbits as we remember Harry Houdini.

HARRY LANDS A CONTRACT• When Houdini first went to London, he had

no bookings. He approached a stage manager about getting a job, but the manager was skeptical. Houdini was told, “I’ll hire you— but only if you can get out of handcuffs at Scotland Yard!” Houdini rounded up some reporters, then challenged police at Scotland Yard to cuff him. Wrapping his arms around a pillar, the police superintendent snapped on the cuffs, then turned to leave, saying, “We’ll be back in an hour to release you.” As he headed for the door, Houdini called out, “You better take your cuffs with you!” He had undone the handcuffs in less time than it took the cops to walk across the room. Reporters made sure Houdini got a lot of free publicity out of the escapade, and he ended up with a six month run in London.

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• Houdini often hid tools needed to escape by swallowing them. He learned this while working for a circus, when an acrobat showed him how to swallow objects, then bring them up again by working the throat muscles.

• Another trick of his was to have several men from the audience come up on stage, first to examine him to make sure he had no tools hidden, and second, to examine whatever he was about to be locked up in: a safe or a coffin or a packing crate. He would then solemnly shake hands with all the men before being locked up. But the last man he would shake hands with was a shill who had been planted in the audience. During the handshake, a pick or a key would be passed from hand to hand.

• He sometimes hid a slim pick in the thick skin of the sole of his foot.

• He once escaped from a large milk can filled with water. The milk can was held together with two real rivets and a long line of fake rivets to make it easier to escape.

• Another stage method he used was to make sure his assistants on stage seemed as awkward and clumsy as possible— dropping things, stumbling, and making many minor mistakes. This averted suspicion from them while also managing to misdirect attention.

• His wife Bess frequently participated in the show. For mind-reading tricks, Bess and Harry worked out a secret stage code where one could tip off the other using words that stood for numerals: pray = 1; answer = 2; say = 3; now = 4; tell = 5; please = 6; speak = 7; quickly = 8; look = 9 and be quick = 10. If Houdini needed to divine the number off a dollar bill that Bess was looking at, Bess would merely say, “Tell me, look into your heart. Say, can you answer me, pray? Quickly, quickly! Now! Speak to us! Speak quickly!” Houdini the mind reader would correctly reply: 59321884778.

PUBLICITY MASTER• In Germany, Houdini wanted to stage a stunt by

jumping, roped and chained, off a boat into the river. The police refused permission— but he did it anyway. As he pulled himself out of the river and walked up the riverbank, he was arrested. The only thing the cops could charge him with was walking on the grass. The story made the papers all over the country.

• In 1899, the head of the Chicago police challenged Houdini to escape from his special handcuffs. Houdini agreed, then struggled for over an hour as the audience jeered. The cuffs had to be cut off— and only after the theater had emptied did the cop admit that he had tampered with the cuffs, dropping in a lead slug so that it would be jammed. When the trick was revealed, the local newspaper ran the story and Houdini raked in free publicity.

• Houdini became famous for escaping from straightjackets while hanging upside-down from his feet over public streets. Maximum publicity was ensured because he sought out the newspapers in each town and offered to do the stunt while hanging from their roof. He made the front page in every town he played.

• Singer Sarah Bernhardt was honored at a reception. There, she was presented with a bronze bust of herself. However, no one had paid the bill for the bust. When the $350 bill was sent to her, she promptly returned the bust to the maker. Houdini stepped in and paid the bill.

Within a few days his gesture had been covered in no less than 3,756 newspapers. A reporter estimated that if Houdini had bought that much newspaper space outright, it would have cost $56,340.

• On his first trip to Europe, Houdini hired seven bald men to sit in a row on the pavement next to a popular cafe. At regular intervals, the seven men would simultaneously remove their hats and nod their heads forward. Each man had one letter written on his bald head, and together they spelled “Houdini.”

FAMOUS STUNTS• In 1906 Houdini was locked in the death row

cell that once housed Charles Guiteau, who assassinated President Garfield. Not only did he escape from the cell, but he then unlocked all the other prisoners on death row, shuffled them around, and then locked them up again all in the wrong cells. The escapade took him 27 minutes. He then advised the police on how they could make their jail escape-proof.

• Often Houdini would escape quickly from his entrapment, then sit quietly out of sight of the audience, calmly playing cards or reading the paper while waiting for the tension to grow: “Is he dead yet?” “He’s never going to get out alive!” Then, when the audience murmurings and the accompanying orchestral music had grown to a fever pitch, he would drench himself in water to make himself look sweaty before stepping triumphantly out in front of the curtain to accept raucous cheers.

• Another pile of free publicity resulted when a magician named The Great Cirnoc interrupted one of Houdini’s performances with loud protests that he, the Great Cirnoc, was the true handcuff king. Houdini invited him on stage to prove

For Advertising Call (250) 832-3361 TidbitsVernon.com Cosita Publishing Page 3• One night he attended a dinner party and

met a man who was in the canning industry. He suggested that Durrani study rice instead. Cooking it was time consuming; what America needed was an easy way to cook rice. Perhaps Durrani could invent a way to put rice in cans.

• Durrani was intrigued and moved to the heart of rice country: Arkansas, where the local rice co-op gave him a laboratory. Years of experimentation showed that canning rice didn’t work. What did work was pre-cooking it, drying it, and packaging it in a box. It was easy to ship, the shelf life was long, and it would cook within minutes.

• In 1941 Durrani went to New York City and dropped in on an executive of General Foods. He whipped out an electric hot plate, a sauce pan, a package of his rice, and a bowl. By the time he finished his speech, the rice was cooked, and the executive was impressed. Durrani received a handsome fee, and General Foods began working with instant rice.

• The Army was interested in the product because soldiers needed quick food in the field. The product hit the market in 1949 and is found in most American cupboards today. Appropriately enough, it’s now called Minute Rice.

• The only grain that beats rice for world-wide production is corn. However, corn is grown for many uses other than human food, so rice is actually the top crop for feeding humans.

• China and India are the world’s top producers of rice.

DeDOMENICO’S RICE• In 1890 Charlie DeDomenico left Italy to come

to America. He moved to San Francisco, where he started a chain of fresh produce stores. He sent to Italy for his bride, Maria.

• Her family, who ran a successful pasta factory, closed their business and followed her to California. In 1912 Maria convinced Charlie to start a pasta factory which her family would run. They set up shop in the Mission District of San Francisco and sold bulk pasta to restaurants and grocery stores. They called it the Golden Grain Pasta Company, and their four sons helped run it.

• In the 1950s Charlie’s son Tom and his new bride Lois had dinner with their landlady, who was Armenian and served an Armenian dish that combined rice pilaf with vermicelli. It was very tasty, and Tom and his brother Vince wondered if they could add it as a sideline to the family’s pasta business, so they began experimenting.

• They added dehydrated chicken soup to the rice, packaged it individually instead of in bulk, and gave it a catchy new name which incorporated both of the main ingredients. Introduced in 1958, it sold well not only because of its taste, but also due to its easy preparation method, consisting of ‘sauté and simmer.’

• A trip to Italy in 1964 inspired a similar pre-packaged instant Alfredo noodle mix. Quaker Oats bought the company in 1986, but it still celebrates the San Francisco origins of the product. What’s the rice mix called? Rice-a-Roni, combining rice with macaroni. The noodle product is called Pasta-Roni.

• The average American eats about 25 lbs (11 kg) of rice per year. Rice has no sodium, no cholesterol, and no gluten. It contains over 15 vitamins and minerals. Although there are over 40,000 strains of rice, only a few varieties are grown commercially.

QUIZ: COOKIES• Because October is National Cookie Month,

enjoy this quiz about cookies!

• In 1930 Ruth Wakefield and her husband bought an inn in Massachusetts which had historically been a place where travelers would stop and pay the toll. Ruth did all the cooking, and one day she decided to make chocolate cookies. She was out of baking chocolate, but Andrew Nestlé (of the Nestlé chocolate family) had recently visited, and had given her a Nestlé’s chocolate candy bar.

• She broke it into bits and dropped it into the dough, expecting it to melt in the oven, creating chocolate cookies. It didn’t. The bits of chocolate softened but remained separate. The

himself by escaping from some special cuffs. The Great Cirnoc first insisted that Houdini demonstrate that it was possible to do (which he did, in the privacy of his cabinet, using a secret key). The Great Cirnoc then struggled to release himself from the same cuffs but found it impossible to do so. He was hooted off stage and the papers were full of the story the next day.

• One of his most popular feats was the Great Disappearing Elephant act. During the war, a lady asked him why he didn’t revive the stunt. He answered that President Hoover had ruled that elephants, as well as other resources, needed to be conserved. “I made two disappear a day, that is twelve a week. Mr. Hoover said that I was exhausting the elephant supply of the world.”

Noteworthy InventionsATTAULLAH DURRANI’S RICE

• Attaullah Durrani left his native Afghanistan in the 1920s and came to America to study chemistry. He wanted to work in the petroleum industry but couldn’t find any openings.

1. GEOGRAPHY: What is the capital city of Aus-tralia?2. MOVIES: Who won the 1961 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in “West Side Story”?3. MUSIC: Who is honored in the song “Candle in the Wind” by Elton John?4. HISTORY: Who called Dec. 7, 1941, “a date which will live in infamy”?5. NATURAL WORLD: What are the seeds of cas-tor bean plants used to produce?6. LITERATURE: Who wrote the novel “Barry Lyndon”?7. ENTERTAINERS: What famous actor who once played James Bond also was a contestant in the 1950 Mr. Universe contest? 8. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: In “The Twelve Days of Christmas” carol, what present was sent on the 11th day?9. TELEVISION: When did the award-winning kids’ show “Sesame Street” go on the air?10. DISCOVERIES: Who is credited with discov-ering quarks?

Answers1. Canberra2. Rita Moreno3. Marilyn Monroe4. Franklin Roosevelt, asking for a declaration of war after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii5. Ricin, a toxic poison6. William Thackeray7. Sean Connery8. 11 pipers piping9. 196910. Murray Gell-Mann(c) 2015 King Features Synd., Inc.

* When you make a chicken in the crockpot, use this trick to have it come out moist and delicious: Prepare the bird as normal, rinsing and patting dry, then seasoning. Ball up six to eight wads of aluminum foil -- enough to cover the bottom of the crockpot. Put bird in breast-side up on top of the foil balls. The chicken should not be touch-ing the sides of the pot. Cook on low 6-8 hours for a succulent dinner!

* “To use the last of the peanut butter in a glass jar, simply add your morning oatmeal for a yum-my flavored breakfast. Or add sliced bananas and a couple tablespoons of milk for a delicious dessert!” -- J.S. in Kansas

* To help kids in both becoming responsible for the food choices they make and being a helpful member of the household, encourage them to choose a family meal each week, and then help to prep or even cook the meal according to their ability. Experts say this offers a good opportunity to talk about nutritional choices and the impact of different food-preparation techniques.

* “If you purchase sodas or other drinks that are linked together with plastic rings, do the little critters a favor: Cut open the loops with scissors so that there are no rings for animals or sea life to get caught in.” -- A.A. in Florida

* When you are zesting or juicing oranges, lem-ons or limes for a recipe, go ahead and do sev-eral at a time. Freeze the citrus zest and juice in an ice-cube tray. You can pop out the cubes and use them in recipes later on.

* Lightly squish your toilet paper roll as you put a new one on. It will not spin as freely but still functions, meaning less waste.Send your tips to Now Here’s a Tip, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803.

(c) 2015 King Features Synd., Inc.

Page 4 TidbitsVernon.com Cosita Publishing For Advertising Call (250) 832-3361cookies were very good and the travelers raved about them. She called them Chocolate Crunch Cookies and their popularity led her to publish the recipe in several newspapers.

• Suddenly sales of Nestlé’s candy bars took a steep climb, and Andrew Nestlé wanted to know why. He and Ruth struck a deal whereby her recipe would be printed on the back of the candy bar’s wrapper, and the cookies were named after her inn. Ruth also received a lifetime supply of chocolate for her invention.

• Chocolate sales increased as the cookies spread nationwide, so Nestlé started manufacturing a scored bar to make it easier to break into bits. Then they started including a special chopper, until finally they introduced a new product in 1939: chocolate chips.

• Ruth later sold Nestlé the right to the name of her cookie, and the company began to produce the cookies as well. The cookie is now the most popular kind of cookie worldwide. What was the name of Ruth’s inn, now carried on cookie packages? (Answer below)

IT’S A FACT• The second most popular cookie is peanut

butter flavored, and oatmeal cookies come in third.

Answer: Toll House.

QUIZ: SNACK CAKES• O.D. McKee and his wife Ruth were newly

married in the middle of the Great Depression when they lost their life savings in a bank failure. He got a job as a deliveryman for a local bakery in Tennessee, but he really wanted to own his own shop.

• When a small failing bakery went up for sale in 1934, they used their car as collateral and bought it, living in the back of the store. Eventually they were able to afford a second shift of employees, and they spent the next several decades building their business.

• McKee discovered that baked products which were individually wrapped would keep longer and stay fresher than those that were packaged in bulk in bags or jars, so he adapted candy-wrapping machines to wrap cookies, bars, and cupcakes.

• In 1960 they created a new brand for their company, naming it after their four-year-old granddaughter. For the logo they used a picture of the child wearing her favorite outfit, complete with a straw hat with a crease in the brim where she stepped on it. The individually-wrapped cakes were now sold in multi-packs and the company began a period of prodigious growth.

• Meanwhile, their little granddaughter grew up to become the company’s director of marketing. The company named after the grandchild now

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dominates the snack cake market. What was the name of their granddaughter? (Answer below)

IT’S A FACT

• The world’s biggest chocolate chip cookie weighed 40,000 pounds and had a diameter of 101 feet. It was created in 2003 by The Immaculate Baking Copany in Flat Rock, North Carolina.

Answer: Little Debbie

Page 6 TidbitsVernon.com Cosita Publishing For Advertising Call (250) 832-3361

Apple Noodle PuddingFall is that wonderful time of the year when the traditional Oktoberfest centered on food, music and fun takes place in Germany. If you put on a polka record and share this dish with friends, you’ll see why these festivals are so much fun.

This dish is just plain GUTEN!

1 (4-serving) package sugar-free vanilla cook-and-serve pudding mix

2/3 cup nonfat dry milk powder1 cup water

1/2 cup unsweetened apple juice1 teaspoon apple pie spice

2 cups hot cooked noodles, rinsed and drained1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 1/2 cups peeled and diced cooking apples1/4 cup raisins

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Spray an 8-by-8-inch bak-ing dish with butter-flavored cooking spray.

2. In a large saucepan, combine dry pudding mix, dry milk powder, water and apple juice. Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens and starts to boil, stirring constantly using a wire whisk. Stir in apple pie spice and noodles. Add walnuts, apples and raisins. Mix well to com-

bine, using a sturdy spoon.3. Spread mixture into prepared baking dish. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Place baking dish on a wire rack and let set for 5 minutes. Good warm

or cold. Serves 6.

* Each serving equals: 188 calories, 4g fat, 6g protein, 32g carb., 123mg sodium, 2g fiber; Dia-

betic Exchanges: 1 Starch, 1 Fruit, 1/2 Fat.(c) 2015 King Features Synd., Inc.

Hero Dog Exposes Puppy MillsDEAR PAW’S CORNER: This year, the American Humane Association chose Harley, a scrappy, one-eyed Chihuahua, as the 2015 Hero Dog. Its decision calls attention to the stark realities of puppy mills, one of which Harley was rescued from.Harley had significant health issues when he was rescued, and he lost an eye when his cage was power-washed with him in it. Despite this, he retained a strong spirit and has become a beacon for other puppy mill dogs. The “Harley to the Rescue” campaign inspired by him (http://milldogrescue.org/harley-to-the-rescue/) has saved close to 600 puppy mill dogs.Can you let people know about the AHA’s Hero Dog, Harley? -- Ginny, via e-mail

DEAR GINNY: I sure can! Harley’s story also can be found at the AHA Hero Dog page: http://www.herodogawards.org/hda2015vote-harley. He was chosen from a finalist field of eight ex-emplary dogs, including service and military dogs, and other rescued pets that have become an inspiration to pet advocates.Unlike responsible breeders, puppy mills have destructive breeding practices, and care can be brutal: for example, they’ll attempt to produce as many litters of popular dog breeds as pos-sible, exhausting and often physically abusing breeding dogs, selling the best and mistreating the rest. Mill dogs often are kept in tiny, dirty cages, with little to no medical care.Puppy mill rescues gain access to and liberate such dogs, try to have the mills shut down, and provide care and rehabilitation for the rescued dogs. They’ll also try to find homes for dogs that are able to be adopted, but sadly, many are un-able to live with a family. Hopefully, through legislation and continued vigilance, puppy mills can become a thing of the past.

Send your questions or tips to ask@pawscorner.com.

(c) 2015 King Features Synd., Inc.

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* You might be surprised to learn that people have been using carbon paper to make copies since way back in 1806.

* If you’re planning to get into the business of deal-ing in building materials in Tennessee, you might want to note that in that state it is illegal to sell a hollow log.

* Collective nouns are fascinating. For instance, if you see a group of bullfinches, you can call it a bellowing; a group of flies is a business, a cloud or a swarm. You have a pitying of turtledoves and a hover of trout. A group of tigers can be an ambush or a streak; while a group of snails can be called a rout, a walk or an escargatoire.

* Those who study such things say that, on a per-capita basis, Canadians eat more doughnuts and more Kraft Mac and Cheese than citizens of any other country.

* Before he became famous as an author of hor-ror, suspense and sci-fi, Stephen King worked as a high-school janitor.

Thought for the Day: “Be not too hasty to trust or admire the teachers of morality; they discourse like angels but they live like men.” -- Samuel John-son(c) 2015 King Features Synd., Inc.

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FALL IS HEREAt the V.J.H’ Auxiliary Gift Shop, we have a beautiful array of falland winter scarves, hats, gloves, and new purses in great colors. Come in and see the treasurers we have got for you.

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Wednesday, Oct 28 @ 6:30Pampered Pixie Day Spa & Gift Boutique

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