Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 8, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba Read the Winter 2024 issue at winnipegfreepress.com/fp-features Available at Manitoba Liquor Marts - while supplies last! P I C K U P Y O U R C O P Y T O D A Y ! MANITOBA W I N T E R 20 2 4 TOP MANITOBA SKI SPOTS MANITOBA’S PREMIER FOOD, DRINK AND LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE INSIDE SAVOUR HOLIDAY 2024 ISSUE DON'T MISS THE A8 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS I WORLD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2025 B ISMARCK, N.D. — If the speech- es weren’t enough of a draw when the North Dakota Legis- lature convened Tuesday, maybe a chance to slurp up punch from a 115-year-old silver punchbowl once used on a battleship did the trick. The 45-pound punchbowl — part of a 40-piece custom setting purchased and made for the USS North Dakota — was carried under guard when law- makers began their work in the cap- ital city of Bismarck. Those National Guardsmen watched carefully as people lined up to quench their thirst at the punchbowl. At one point, Gov. Kelly Arm- strong’s mother, Connie, took up a plastic ladle and filled clear cups from the valuable relic. “I’m trying not to touch it,” she laughed. “I’m trying to be very care- ful.” North Dakota residents in the 1910s raised US$16,000 — nearly US$500,000 today — for the serving set, decorated with bison heads and other agrarian motifs, such as prairie roses, wheat and corn. “It’s still something that North Da- kotans were proud of, proud to pro- vide, proud to use, proud to see used,” said Lori Nohner, a State Historical Society of North Dakota research his- torian. The USS North Dakota was chris- tened in 1908 and decommissioned in 1923. The silver service came back to North Dakota in 1926, Nohner said. The punchbowl and two candelabra have usually been used at the opening of the biennial legislative session and for the governor’s inaugural ball, she said. Preparing for the event entails re- moving the items from their display cases and cleaning them. A clear-coat application from long ago prevents tarnishing, but the punchbowl’s inside is still cleaned with mild soap and dis- tilled water. The gleaming vessel was tucked in- side a large, padlocked box that three National Guard service members un- loaded and wheeled to the Capitol’s great hall. Two State Historical So- ciety staff members wearing gloves carefully unboxed the punchbowl from the container with pads inside protecting its base and bison heads. Two guard members watched it dur- ing the event. After the festivities, workers will use cotton swabs to clean out drops of punch. They also fill out a detailed condition report before and after the event. The original ladle broke in half at some point and is no longer used. Other pieces of the silver service include a coffee urn, serving platters, cups and even a humidor for cigars. Much of the set is usually on display at the Heritage Center in Bismarck. — The Associated Press JACK DURA North Dakota opens legislative session with drinks from 115-year-old punchbowl PHOTOS BY JACK DURA / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Connie Armstrong, mother of North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong, serves punch from the punchbowl that is part of the 40-piece silver serving set purchased and made for the battleship USS North Dakota on Tuesday in Bismarck, N.D. An eagle spreads its wings along the base of the punchbowl of the USS North Dakota's silver service. Earthquake kills at least 125 in Tibet AN earthquake killed at least 125 people and left 188 injured after it struck a remote area of southern Tibet near China’s border with Nepal at dawn on Tuesday, Chinese state media re- ported. Liu Huazhong, deputy mayor of Shigatse, broke into tears during a news conference Tuesday afternoon while announcing the human toll and the damage. The quake struck Tingri county, home to 60,000 people,at 9:05 a.m. Bei- jing time, state broadcaster CCTV said. The U.S. Geological Survey put the quake at 7.1 magnitude, while Chinese authorities classified it as 6.8-magni- tude. The tremor brought down more than 3,600 homes, according to the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chi- nese Communist Party. The broader Shigatse, at the epicentre of the quake, is the second-largest city in Tibet and the holy seat of the second-most-im- portant religious leader in Tibetan Buddhism, the state-appointed Panchen Lama. The China Earthquake Networks Center has recorded multiple after- shocks and expects more in coming days. Tibet sits on the seismically ac- tive Himalayan region and is prone to earthquakes because of the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for an all-out search-and-rescue effort to minimize casualties. “We must … re- pair damaged infrastructure as soon as possible, arrange basic living arrange- ments for the people, and ensure people are safe and warm through the winter,” CCTV reported him as saying. Some 12,000 emergency responders were dispatched to search the rubble for signs of life and evacuate survivors. By Tuesday night, 407 trapped people had been found and rescued, People’s Daily reported. Sitting high on the Tibetan plateau at an elevation of 14,100 feet and 380 kilometres from the regional capital of Lhasa, Tingri is a major stop on the way to the North Base Camp, where adven- turers set out climbing Mount Everest from the north face. The region can be bitterly cold in January, with temper- atures often plunging as low as -15 C. Local tourism officials on Tuesday closed the North Base Camp until fur- ther notice. — The Washington Post ;