February 15
[ 2007-02-16 01:12 ]
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| Thousands of items of
children's clothing were found after the camp was
liberated |
| 1974: Newspaper heiress kidnapped |
England have
The daughter of the millionaire American publisher, Randolph Hearst,
has been kidnapped.
Patty Hearst, aged 19, was with her fianc? Steven Weed, in her flat in
Berkeley, California, at 2100 local time yesterday (0500 GMT) when there
was a knock on the door.
When Miss Hearst answered it, two men and a woman burst in to the room.
In a violent exchange, Mr Weed was forced to lie on the floor, and then
hit on the head repeatedly with a wine bottle and tied up.
A neighbour who heard the commotion and tried to help was also tied up
and beaten.
The kidnappers carried Miss Hearst off, kicking and screaming, and put
her in the boot of a white car.
Another car was also used, and as they sped off down the street they
fired several shots at people in the street, although nobody was injured.
Police said no ransom
demand had yet been made, although this is thought the most likely motive
for the kidnapping.
Miss Hearst is an heiress to the multi-million dollar Hearst publishing
empire, founded by her grandfather, William Randolph Hearst.
Mr Hearst senior was a flamboyant newspaper proprietor whose career
inspired Orson Welles in making his film, Citizen Kane.
He built the spectacular and whimsical castle on the 127-acre family
estate in San Simeon, California, from the proceeds of his empire, which
includes popular magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping and
Harper's Bazaar.
The company also publishes newspapers in a number of major American
cities, including the San Francisco Examiner. Its president is Patty
Hearst's father, Randolph Hearst.
Mr Hearst was in Washington when the kidnap took place, but left
immediately for California on hearing the news. |
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| Some companies are
giving out free sweets to children to mark the
occasion |
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1953: Sweet news ends
rationing | Artificially 1969:
The Children
across the country have been emptying out their piggy-banks and heading
straight for the nearest sweet-shop as the first unrationed sweets went on
sale today.
Toffee apples were the biggest sellers, with sticks of nougat and
liquorice strips also disappearing fast.
One firm in Clapham Common gave 800 children 150lbs of lollipops during
their midday break from school; and a London factory opened its doors to
hand out free sweets to all comers.
Adults joined in the sugar frenzy, with men in the City queuing up in
their lunch breaks to buy boiled sweets and to enjoy the luxury of being
able to buy 2lb boxes of chocolates to take home for the weekend.
Stocks 'sufficient' The government and manufacturers have been quick to
reassure the public that there would be no repeat of the first attempt to
de-ration sweets, in April 1949, when demand far outstripped supply and
they were put back on ration after just four months.
This time, the Minister of Food, Major Gwilym Lloyd-George, has told
the House of Commons that he has no doubt that stocks are sufficient. He
has ordered a one-off allocation of extra sugar to manufacturers to help
them meet the anticipated surge in demand.
Sugar itself, though, still remains rationed, and manufacturers say the
Ministry of Food should have freed sugar supplies as well as those of
sweets and chocolate.
As it is, they will have to make enough sweets to meet the demand of a
de-rationed market, but with only 54% of the sugar supplies they had
before the war.
However, overall the industry gave a warm welcome to the news. "We are
very glad about it," said a spokesman for the Cocoa, Chocolate and
Confectionery Alliance. "We will do all we can to make it work."
So far, despite the heavy sales, there have been no signs of panic
buying, even though there are already shortages of the most popular
brands.
One reason may be that the price of confectionery has nearly doubled
during the war, and many have not been taking up their full 6oz ration.
Sweet coupons, though, will be with us for some time yet: it takes so
long to print all 50m ration books that next year's have been designed
already, sweet ration and all. |
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| Vocabulary:
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ransom : the release of a captive, or of captured
property（敲詐；勒索）
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