How hero Alf beat the toffs
QUESTION
Does anyone recall a cartoon strip in which a working-class boy routinely thrashed posh boys in athletics races? Alf Tupper, the Tough Of The Track, began life in the British comic The rover in 1949. The strip was written by Gilbert lawford Dalton, who also wrote Wilson The Wonder Athlete and Matt Bradock (World War II bomber pilot and VC).
In 1962, Alf left The rover and began to appear in The Victor. His best known artist was peter Sutherland, also known for his Kit Carson strip.
He had various jobs, principally as a welder, but his love was athletics, and in many races this ‘ hard as nails’ runner always succeeded in beating the ‘toffs’, usually university students, running under the Amateur Athletic Association badge.
What really set Alf apart, though, was that he would win, having arrived late for various reasons — falling asleep on the train after a night shift and missing his stop at the stadium (usually The White City, then a well-used athletics stadium), rescuing a cat up a tree on the way to the event or some act of ‘skulduggery’ from his competitors that delayed his arrival.
I first encountered Alf in my childhood in the fifties and became a lifelong fan. At this stage Alf — a teenager — impressed me with his training diet of fish and chips, frequently consumed before a race.
Alf would on occasion set a new world record. His running career was long and successful. The last story in print ran in Scotland’s Sunday people in 1992. It had Alf in training for the Barcelona Olympics.
There’s a compilation The Best Of Alf Tupper: The Tough Of The Track, produced by Morris Heggie with a forward by Brendan foster CBe. Barry Evans, Cardiff.
QUESTION
Why ‘French’ polishing? TOWArDS the end of the 17th century, the increasingly high cost of lacquer production in Japan and the inferior quality of lacquer imported from China prompted europeans to seek to master this technique themselves.
The study of lacquer enabled skilful artisans to recreate its deep, velvety sheen and masterfully imitate oriental lacquers.
In paris, a host of varnishers’ workshops sprang up in the Saint-Antoine quarter alongside those of the cabinet makers and joiners already established there.
Among the most famous were the Martin brothers, Guillaume, Simon etienne, Julien and robert, whose name became associated with their technique, Vernis Martin. There’s no evidence that the Martin brothers themselves developed the technique of french polishing, but they made french lacquer and wood treatment the most sought after in europe and probably influenced its name.
Terry Marsh, Worcester. frenCH polishing is the term used to apply shellac to a wooden surface, normally on fine furniture. previously, beeswax and turpentine had been used as a preservative and sealant for bare wood, a hard, laborious way of keeping furniture shining.
Shellac comes from the insect, Laccifer Lacca, a parasite living on branches of certain trees in India and other Asian countries. It is about 1/50th of an inch long and lives for about six months.
The lac beetles are scraped off the tree and their resin is turned into shellac flakes, of which there are slightly different types and colours. It takes about 300,000 beetles to make 1kg of flakes.
Shellac was introduced into europe from India in the 16th century. The Indians had brushed it onto wood to form a bright shiny sealant. It became particularly popular in the 18th century.
To be used as french polish, the flakes are dissolved in alcohol and normally stored in a glass jar, ready for use. An application pad is made from linen, with a centre of cotton wool.
The pad is then charged with french polish and the polishing commences, with circular motion and linear applications. Between each coat the polish is cut back with pumice powder. After many coatings a hard, shiny surface is created, bringing out the best in the wood’s colour and grain.
After the final coat of french polish, it is sometimes coated with a thin coat of beeswax or carnauba wax.
It’s a hard surface, but the drawback with french polish is its susceptibility to water stain from the bottoms of glasses or flower vases. This can easily be restored.
Women are now having fingernails coated with shellac, but it does start to chip after three or four weeks as the nail grow.
Peter N. Lockyer, Gosport, Hants.
QUESTION
What was the first recorded instance of an official period of silence as a gesture of respect? On feBruArY 10, 1912, diplomat, professor and journalist Jose Maria da Silva paranhos Jnr, Baron of rio Branco, Chancellor of Brazil, died. An outstanding politician, he had managed peacefully to resolve Brazil’s border disputes with its South American neighbours.
When the news reached lisbon, the House of Deputies suspended its session for half-an-hour, as was traditional, out of respect for the diplomat.
In the Senate the following day it was stated: ‘ The Baron of rio Branco also honoured the portuguese traditions of the origin of his family, and for this reason I ask that for ten minutes, as a tribute to his memory, the senators remain silent in their places.’ It was the first official moment of silence.
The two minutes’ silence to honour the war dead has South African origins. In May 1918, the Mayor of Cape Town, Councillor Hands (later Sir Harry Hands) at the suggestion of Mr r. r. Brydon, initiated a period of silence to remember the events unfolding on the battlefields of europe. Mr Brydon’s son, Major Walter Brydon, three times wounded and once gassed, was killed on April 12, 1918.
A daily three- minute pause was instituted following the firing of the noon Gun, followed by the playing of the reveille. Moved by the gesture, Sir percy fitzpatrick, author of Jock Of The Bushveld (a record of his travels with his dog), wrote to George V to suggest its use across the Commonwealth. This was accepted and implemented by royal decree.
On november 7, 1919, the King proclaimed ‘that at the hour when the Armistice came into force, the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, there may be for the brief space of two minutes a complete suspension of all our normal activities . . . so that in perfect stillness, the thoughts of everyone may be concentrated on reverent remembrance of the glorious dead.’
Alison Painter, Dawlish, Devon.