The Morning Call from Allentown, Pennsylvania • 114

0 THE MORNING CALL. SUNDAY, AUGUST 2, 1992 Hobbies What's in the cards? 5" The bountiful mulberry is sweet and undemanding By LEE REICH Of The New York Times Imagine-a tree that produces bushels of blackberry-like fruits, ruits you hardly have to pick because they drop to the ground on their own or with the slightest jarring of the branches. Perhaps this tree, the mulberry, would be more appreciated if it were not so ubiquitous or if it were more difficult to grow. And yes, mulberry fruits, whose flavor is syrupy sweet, do stain lips, hands, clothing, sidewalks anything the fruits touch, so wear old clothes when you go out gathering. Mulberry fruits can be cloyingly sweet on some wild plants.

But you can grow a variety known to bear better-tasting fruit. Three species of mulberry are grown for their fruits: the red mulberry (M. rubra), the white mulberry (M. alba) and the black mulberry (M. nigra).

Despite their common names, do not try to identify a -species by its fruit. White mulberries, for example, might produce white, lavender or even black fruit. Red mulberry is the native species, growing wild from New York west to Nebraska, and down to the Gulf Coast. The tree has large leaves, sometimes lobed, with blunt teeth. The fruits commonly are deep red, almost black, and have good flavor.

The white mulberry is native to eastern and central Asia and was introduced to America hundreds of years ago. It found a congenial home here and has hybridized with the red mulberry. White mulberry is potentially the most cold-hardy of the three species, although cold-hardiness varies greatly from plant to plant. Some are damaged at 25 degrees Values for individual cards in very good condition included in the list of cards that accompanied your letter range from 90 cents to $10.50. A copy of "Sports Collectors Digest Baseball Card Price Guide, Sixth Edition" will tell you which is which.

The staff of Sports Collectors Digest edits "Sports Collectors Digest Football, Basketball Hockey Price Guide" (Krause Publications, 1991; 400 The information on the 1962 Post set reads: "Post Cereal's only U.S. football issue, the 1962 set, is complete at 200 cards. The blank-backed cards were printed on the back panels of various Post cereals and measure the standard 2Vi" 3Vi" when properly cut. Like the Post cereal baseball issues from the same period, the cards must be very carefully cut from the boxes to be considered in top condition. Players who were pictured on boxes of the less-popular cereals are scarcer and more valuable All your cards are valued at $1 in very good condition.

I recently obtained the following deck of cards from my father-in-law's collection: Educational Games, No. 1100 Strange People, Copyrighted 1895 by The Fire Side Game Co. The Cincinnati Game Co. Successors Cincinnati, U.S.A. The deck contains 52 cards.

A photocopy showing the directions and several of the cards accompanies this letter. What is the value of this deck? J.G., Clayton, N.J. A Bill Alexander's "Featured Company: Fireside and Cincinnati Game Companies," a one-page article containing a full list of the products of these two companies, appeared in "Game Times," Issue 8 (Volume III, 3), a publication of the American Game Collectors Association (AGCA). Copies of this issue are available for $10 (non-AGCA members) or $5 (AGCA members) by sending a check, made payable to AGCA, to 4628 Barlow Drive, Bartlesville, OK 74006. My primary source of information about playing cards is David Gait (Games Names, 302 West 78th Street, New York, NY 10024).

David informed me that he is above zero; others are unfazed by 25 degrees below. Early in the last century, American enthusiasm for the mulberry skyrocketed not for the fruit, but for the leaves, as fodder for silkworms. Silkworm eggs had been shipped to Virginia as far back as 1621. The 1830s brought a silkworm craze that began with the introduction from China of a superior variety of white mulberry (M. alba var.

multicaulis). SUk farms from New England to the Gulf Coast were envisioned. The bubble burst by 1839, the result of disease, winter cold and cheaper labor abroad. But the multicaulis plants produced some noteworthy fruits, the best of which was the "Downing," originating in New York about 1846. "Downing" trees produced tasty black fruits but proved to be insufficiently cold-hardy in the Northeast.

The black mulberry is native to western Asia and is the species most cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The leaves are large, dull-green and usually unlobed; the fruits are large and juicy, with a congenial blend of sweetness and tartness that makes it the best-flavored species of mulberry. On a midsummer trip to California a few years ago, I feasted on black mulberry fruits and found them just as delectable as the local tree-ripe apricots, peaches and nectarines. Black mulberry has been grown for its fruits in Europe for centuries, and Europeans turn up their noses at the fruit quality of the other species. Black mulberries have been planted to a limited degree in the United States, mostly on the Pacific Coast, because in the aware of three variations of the Strange People deck three different photograph groupings and two back motifs.

The most commonly found back motif has a young Japanese couple kissing behind a fan. The second version features a floral motif on the back. Because of the limited number of collectors for your deck, David and I feel that value is the same no matter what the variation. No. 1100 is the first game issued by The Fire Side Game Company.

Shortly after its founding, the company's name changed to The Cincinnati Game Company. The company issued approximately 40 educational playing card decks. A numbered series began with 1100 and ended with 1131, with no deck issued as 1107. There are nine, possibly ten, unnumbered decks. David suspects a connection between Fire SideCincinnati Game and the U.S.

Playing Card Company. U.S. Playing Card issued a deck numbered 1107, "Poker Dice," which is not educational in approach. It is possible that U.S. Playing Card printed the decks for The Fire Side Game Co.

and its successor. Most Fire Side decks contain 52 cards. Instruction information varied from a printed card to a booklet attached to the box. In many cases a small booklet promoting other games from Fire SideCincinnati Game accompanied the deck. Your card deck is an excellent example of early ethnic photography.

As a result, its primary collector is someone who collects early photography rather than playing cards. Its retail value is between $40 and $50 assuming the deck is complete, the original instructions are present, and the box as well as the deck are in very good or better condition. Do you have questions for Harry L. Rinker? Write Rinker on Collectibles, Food Section, The Morning Call, Box 1260, Allentown, PA 18105-1260. Selected letters will be answered in this column.

Harry cannot provide personal answers. Photos submitted cannot be returned. (C) Harry L. Rinker admired than before by those around him. "Mischa," I asked him during an interview, a few days later.

"Twenty-five years ago, you said the best game you ever played was with your young wife on your honeymoon." "It is still the best game," he quickly replied. "Another question: if you could be a chess piece, which one would you choose?" "I would choose to be a passed pawn," he replied with a gleam in his eye. "But why a passed pawn?" I asked. "Because then I would have a future," he answered with a warm but ironic smile. Below is a famous and wonderfully dynamic draw played with Bobby Fischer in the 1960 Leipzig World Chess Olympics.

Revised White House silver dollars are now politically correct Riga' embraced life East, black mulberry succumbs to humid summers and cold winters. But "Illinois Everbearing" is a hvbrid of red and white mulberrv that approaches black mulberry in iiavor. i nis tasty variety does nne in my backyard in upstate New York, as well as in other parts of the East. Mulberries are the second most common weed tree in New York City, which should be testimony enough to their ease of culture and tolerance of drought, pol lution and poor soil. Once a mulberry tree has been trained to a sturdy framework of branches, no pruning is required beyond removing dead, exhausted and overcrowded wood.

And no SDecial Drovisions are npprlori fnr pollination, because mulberries are wind-pollinated, and some varieties winois overbearing for example set fruit without any pollina lion. Although wild mulberries frequently grow elbow to elbow with Other wild Dlants in nart shade mulberries grow better if given full sunngnt ana adequate space: 15 feet of elbow room all around. Do not clant a mulberrv near a walk way, or stains from fallen fruit will una tneir way indoors on the bottoms of shoes. Mulberries are precocious, usu ally bearing their first crop the year following planting. To harvest the fruit in quanti ty, spread a clean cloth or plastic sheet on the ground, then give the limbs a gentle shake.

Gather up what falls, and separate ripe fruits from leaves, twigs, insects and un ripe fruits by dumping the whole mess into a pail of water. Everything except the ripe berries will float and can be decanted. Ripe mulberries are delicious out of hand but can also be enjoyed other ways. The fruits have been used in wines and, when har vested slightly underripe, in preserves and tarts. If you plant a mulberry, you are pianung Dom ior next year traits and for Dosteritv.

because mnlher. ries are long-lived trees. A red mulberry tree might live for 75 years. Black mulberries have been known to bear fruit for 300 years. A tree in c-ngiana planted in 1364 lived until Securing favorable congressional action on the measure became a high priority for the Treasury Department, which wanted to have the coins available for this year's celebrations of the bicentennial of the laying of the White House's cornerstone.

With only 500,000 of the coins authorized "the lowest mintage for a commemorative silver dollar in nearly a century," the Mint noted officials are hoping for a speedy sellout of the entire issue. Since each coin carries a $10 surcharge to benefit the White House Endowment Fund, that would raise $5 million for the purchase of art and antiques for the public rooms of the executive mansion. Until Aug. 28, proof versions of the dollar are being sold for $28 each and uncirculated versions for $23. After that, the price on any remaining coins will increase to $32 for proof and $28 for uncirculated copies.

The highly polished proof version is the first commemorative silver dollar to carry the mint mark of the West Point Mint in New York. The uncirculated version of the coin is being struck at the Denver mint. Edgar Z. Steever IV, a sculptor-engraver with the Mint for 27 years, designed the obverse, revising the proposal attacked by the Fine Arts panel. But John M.

Mer-chanti, who had created the initial reverse, was not so lucky. His design was replaced by the work of Chester Y. Martin, a fellow sculptor-engraver in Philadelphia. Additional information on how to purchase the White House silver dollar is available from the Customer Service Center, U.S. Mint, 10001 Aerospace Lanham, MD 20706.

Call 301-436-7400 or 800-872-1600. cup non-fat mayonnaise 1 tsp. grated or very finely chopped lime zest In a large bowl, combine gelatin, sugar and salt. While stirring, slowly pour in boiling water and stir until gelatin is dissolved. Add vinegar and lime juice.

Place in refrigerator until mixture is egg-white consistency. Stir in cucumber, onion, sour cream and mayonnaise. Pour into a 2-quart mold or pan and sprinkle with the lime zest, for color. Chill overnight or until completely jelled. Makes 6 cups, twelve V-cup servings.

Each serving contains approximately: Original Recipe: 236 calories; 20 mg cholesterol; 19 gm fat; 360 mg sodium. Revised Recipe: 82 calories; 8 mg cholesterol; 3 gm fat; 120 mg sodium. Send your recipe for revision to: Cook It Light, The Morning Call, PO Box 1212, La Jolla, CA 92038. Please include a stamped (52 cents), self-addressed envelope. By HARRY RINKER I read a great deal about baseball cards issued by gum manufacturers.

I have baseball cards from Post Cereal. One group features John Blanchard (No. 11) and Ruben Amara (No. 194). Another set has Tom Tresh (No.

23) and Brooks Robinson (No. 59). I also have several football player cards from Post Cereal. What can you tell me about my card sets and their value? T.Z., Mt. Carmel A Editor Jeff Kurowski's "Sports Collectors Digest Baseball Card Price Guide, Sixth Edition 1992" (Krause Publications, 1992; 736 my choice among the many baseball card price guides, provides detailed information on Post baseball card sets.

Your first group of cards dates from 1962. Kurowski comments: "Like the 1961 Post set, there were 200 players pictured in the set of 3" 2" cards. Differences include a Post logo on the card fronts and the player's name in script lettering. Cards are again blank backed and were issued in panels of five to seven cards on cereal boxes. American League players are numbered 1-100 and National League players 101-200.

With variations there are 210 of the full-color cards known. A handful of the '62 cards were also issued in smaller quantities. The cards of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris were reproduced in a special two-card panel for a Life magazine insert. The card stock for this insert is slightly thinner, with white margins. The 1962 Post Canadian and Jell-0 sets have virtually the same checklist as this set Your second set of cards is from the 1963 set, described as "Another 200 player, 3" 2'A" set that, with variations, totals more than 205 cards.

Numerous color variations also exist due to the different cereal boxes on which the cards were printed. As many as 25 cards in the set are considered scarce, making it much more difficult to complete than the other major Post sets Cards are still blank backed, with a color player photo, biographies and statistics on the numbered card fronts. No Post logo appears on the '63 cards 'Magician of By SHELBY LYMAN Mikhail Tal, the former world champion who recently died in Moscow at the age of 55, was an authentic genius of chess. So awesome were his mental powers that one famous grandmaster complained that it was unfair to have to play Tal, because he had the memory and calculating ability of a computer. But Tal was much more than a human chess machine.

He was an elemental creative force as well, a man who had a passionate love affair with chess and life itself. His brilliance at the chessboard, charming wit, modesty and warmth earned him world-wide admiration and affection. MW lkW! Jl IH1 ittsUlIgl sSSSSss 69 EM SSM MS fc SJLS IS i mnm i mtm mm ss a skssss. ss a i mm rfW jittlS. S4IV' mm a WHITE WINS THE QUEEN Whit movet Beginner's comer Hint explanation: Divert its defender.

By PHILLIP ALDER Temper thy patience There are times when, as a de fender, you should strain to get the lead as quickly as possible. Perhaps you have the setting tricks to cash, or you want to return partner's lead so that he can defeat the contract. But there are other deals on which you shouldn't be in such a hurry to win a trick. The bidding was straightfor ward, South's opening bid showing 20-22 points in the modern style. West led the spade queen and South won immediately with the king.

Realizing he needed to generate some club tricks, declarer led the club five to dummy's 10. East grabbed the trick with the queen and whizzed his second spade onto the table. However, declarer won with the ace and played his second club to dummy's jack and East's Si 1 v- sial reverse and replaced it with a new design that carries a bust of James Hoban, the architect who designed the White House, set against its main entrance. The obverse was stripped of the surrounding trees and foundations, which the commission said cluttered the initial design. "We incorporated the comments of the Fine Arts Commission," said Mint spokeswoman Hamilton Dix.

The Mint hurriedly assigned its Since each coin carries a $10 surcharge to benefit the White House Endowment Fund, 500,000 ccins would raise $5 million for the purchase of art and antiques for the public rooms of the executive mansion. Philadelphia sculptors to produce designs for the coins this spring after a dispute over coin designs had delayed final congressional action on the White House coin proposal. The commemorative silver dollars were endorsed by First Lady Barbara Bush as a device to raise funds to purchase antiques for the White House. FISCHER TAL 1. e4 e6 2.

d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Ba5 6. b4 cxd4 7.

Qg4 Ne7 8. bxa5 dxc3 9. Qxg7 Rg8 10. Qxh7 N(8)c6 11. Nf3 Qc7 12.

Bb5 Bd7 13. 0-0-0 14. Bg5 Nxe5 15. Nxe5 Bxb5 16. Nxf7 Bxfl 17.

Nxd8 Rxg5 18. Nxe6 Rxg2ch 19. Khl Qe5 20. Rxfl Qxe6 21. Kxg2 Qg4ch(a) Draw.

Note (a): White cannot avoid perpetual check. By bill McAllister Of The Washington Post WASHINGTON When the Commission of Fine Arts reviewed proposed designs for the White House silver dollar in June, there was an uproar over something John Adams said 192 years ago. "May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof," Adams had written his wife Abigail in 1800, after spending his second night in the still-unfinished executive mansion at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Under a design approved by Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady and forwarded to the commission, Adams's words were to be inscribed on the reverse of the new commemorative dollars, over a view of the North Portico.

That would be "asking for trouble," cautioned Fine Arts Chairman J. Carter Brown, the former director of the National Gallery of Art. Other commission members agreed that the word "men" might be offensive and urged Mint officials to seek a redesign of the coin. Last month, when the final designs were released, it was obvious that Brady had acceded to the commission's wishes and the U.S. Mint had produced a new coin that could be judged politically correct.

Adams' quotation was gone and so was the cluttered view of the White House on the obverse that the commission had attacked as "too busy." The Mint shelved the controver Just in time, By JEANNE JONES Dear Jeanne: Could you revise one of my favorite recipes? Thank you. Mrs. Ka.ue Jones, Oceanside, Calif. CUCUMBER SALAD Two 3-oz. packages lime gelatin 2 ups boiling water cup vinegar tsp.

salt 2 tips coarsely grated seedless cucumber 2 Tbsps. grated onion 1 nip sour cream 1 cup mayonnaise Combine gelatin, boiling water, vinegar and salt. Allow to cool in refrigerator until mixture is egg-white consistency. st ir in remaining ingredients ami place in a 9xl3-inch dish overnight in the refrigerator until completely jelled. Cut into squares and serve with salted crackers.

Makes 6 cups. From his youth, the "magician of Riga" suffered from chronic and often debilitating illness, resulting finally in his premature death. But despite his poor health, the gifted grandmaster embraced life to its fullest, always grateful for the considerable blessings bestowed on him. I first met Tal in 1956, a vital dark-haired youth with a piercing but friendly stare and a striking personal charisma. Thirty years later, I met him again in Brussels.

Before me there appeared a man, who seemed 10 or 15 years older than his actual chronological age. But it was the same Tal with the same chess powers and wit, even more respected and SOLVE-IT AFTER 21 Kxg2 Tal tan mi Si MS mm mm mi a i sssss ssssss? ssssss es a Fischer BLACK TO PLAY (See tet game score) ace. Back came a heart. Declarer won in hand, played a diamond to dummy's queen and cashed the club king. When both opponents followed, South claimed 10 tricks.

East was in too much of a hurry to return his second spade. He should have realized that this could wait. It was more important to try to annul that club suit. If East had just played his club nine at trick two, the contract would have died. Declarer would have returned to hand and played his second club, presumably finessing dummy's jack.

But now East wins with the queen, killing the club suit. Declarer doesn't have the two dummy entries he needs, one to drive out the club ace and the second to cash the established winners. The holdup play is a common declarer -play tool, but it is valuable for the defenders too. 'friendlier' cucumber salad Solution to BEGINNER'S CORNER: 1. Rh6ch! Kxh6 (the pawn is Qxg8.

Dear Kazue: Since cucumbers are at their peak right now, this salad revision should be perfect for a light summer side dish. By using plain, unsweetened gelatin, light sour cream and nonfat mayonnaise-type spread, there is a tremendous savings in calories, fat and cholesterol. The result is a much fresher-tasting salad that is also much friendlier nutritionally. FRIENDLIER' CUCUMBER SALAD 2 packages unflavored gelatin cup sugar tsp. salt 1 cups boiling water cup white vinegar 2 Tbsps.

fresh lime juice 2 large cucumbers (1 seeded and coarsely grated (2 cups) 2 Tbsps. grated onion 1 cup light sour cream NORTH 7 5 4 V873 Q3 10 8 2 WEST EAST 10 8 496 Q95 VJ1064 J87 10 964 64 3 AQ9 SOUTH AK32 tAK2 AK52 75 Vulnerable: East-West Dealer: South South West North East 2 NT Pass 3 NT All pass Opening lead:.