Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 17, 1920)
TIIE NORTII PLATTE SBMl-WEBKLY TRIBUNE. fJttlcJo imim -to 'ifccl S3 NSocKfy, WluliinAon, D.JC, fo Djjyrtt- H WARSAW: THE PARIS OF POLAND No other people, In nil tlie world's lilstory, has liorno oppression ho brave ly and gloriously ns tho Poles, except the Jews; nml Warsaw, where the "Russians liml to keep n gurrlsotl of 2M.000 troops to overawe n city of 1(00,000 people," Is to Poland whnt Paris Is to France. Indeed the vivacity, tlio gayety and the quick wit of Warsaw's people arc a constant reminder of Paris; as well as those deeper likenesses which spring from Warsaw's ascendancy In the letters, the arts and the social jjruces. All this, too, In a city whore tho most gruesome tragedies have stalked. As recently as the years of our own civil war tho Russian nrmy mowed down thousands of men and women as they knelt In the snow, singing their national anthem. Deportations nre an old story In Warsaw, every effort at nationalization was followed by slaughter, and hundreds marched the long trail to Siberian exile. Hut Poland's spirit meanwhile, be came a synonym for the Indomitable. The success of the Husslflcntlon of Po ' land has been described as tho process of keeping 12.000,000 Poles pinned to Russia by bayonets. Politically non existent, for even Poland's name was expunged from all ofllclal Uusslan rec ords, the prc-wlir Warsaw vied with world capitals In science, particularly medicine, In manufacturing, In trade and In literature. Though Warsaw betrayed nono of the grlmness characteristic of Russian cities, reminders of her by-gone glories and tragedies were to bo found even before tho World war restored her au tocracy. In tho Lazlcnkl gardens Is a monu ment to John Sobleskl, who stemmed the advance of tho Turks In Europe, a figure na plcturcsquo as Padcrowskl who now sees his land a barrier to bol shevlsin'H westward spread. It was In 108.1 thut n Turkish force had thrown Itself In crescent formation around VI nna. Tho encampment was no less threatening because It resembled a cir cus rather than a siege, with its herds if camels, and luxurious tents with ImtliB and parrots within and foun tains without. Mighty events often hinge on slen der circumstances. Sobleskl hesitated becauso Leopold, Austria's emperor, II rut declined to nddress him as "Your Majesty." But Sohleskl's hesi tation Is said to have vanished when lie learned that the French ambassa dor Uiad written to Louis XIV., who lather hoped for tho worst for Aus tria, "Don't trouble yourself, Sobleskl li loo fat to sit on a horse nnd fight" The "fat man" rodo his charger Into the thick of the light, helping hew his M'liy to where tho Turkish grand viz ier stood, and after tho battle handed one of that dignitary's stirrups to an aide, with tho command, "Take It to l lie queen and tell her that be to whom U belonged is defeated and slain." HOW ANTS CAN HINDER , AIRPLANES i Ants have assumed a now rolo In Africa that of enemies of aviation. Reports from surveyors of the pro posed air route from Rhodesia to Cape town, say that ant bills have Inter fered seriously -with the pluclng of aerodromes. To understand thjs phenomenon one must understand how ubiquitous Is the nnt In South Africa, writes William Morton Wheeler to tho Nutlonal Geo graphic society. He continues: "Ants nro to bo found everywhere, from tho arctic regions to tho tropics, froms timber lino on tho loftiest moun tains to tho shifting sands of the lunes and seashores, and from tho dampest forests to tho driest deserts. Is'ot only do they outnumber In indi viduals all other terrestrial animals, but their colonics oven In very circum scribed loqalltlcs often defy enumera tion. I "One subfumily of tho nuts, tho Poryllnno, embracing tho wonderfut driver ants of Africa and tho legionary nuts of tho American tropics, are high ly carnivorous, but nevertheless sue feed in forming Immcnso colonies, oft en of hundreds of thousands of Indl vldnnls. This they accomplish by re llmiulshlng the sedentary habits teo characteristic of the great majority of ants. They keep moving In long flies through the Jungles, capturing or kill Ing all the Insects they encounter, nnd oven overrunning dwellings, and, In ijiplr search for cockroaches and oth op vermin, driving out tho human In luihltants. "From time to time theso strango i nts bivouac for tho night or for n low days In some hole In tho ground, or under ,t tree, but soon continue their predatory mnrch. Evldeutlj fliqy are able to remain carnivorous, end ht the same time to develop largo colonics, only because they nro nomad ic and can thus draw their food sup fly from a largo area. i "Certain Individuals, the 'repletes' of jlip colony refrain from leaving the nest nnd foraging for food nnd be come convorted Into flagons by dis tending tho crop to such enormous di mensions that tho nbdomen looks like a transparent bend. In this condition they hnng by their clnws from tho roof of the nest chamber and thenceforth spend nil their lives receiving liquid fowl from the tongues of the foraging ants, storing It In their crops and re gurgltallng It to hungry individuals when the liquid food supply outside the nest becomes Inndcqunto. "This Is, of course, apt to be tbo rase periodically in ury regions, so thnt we find the true honey ants only In deserts like those of thesouthwet- ern states, northern Mexivo, South Af rica and contrnl Australia." TACNA AND ARICAt SIA MESE TWINS OF GEOGRAPHY Tacna and Arlcul Tho words are fast becoming as Inseparable as the Gold Dust Twins, tho Dolly Sisters, or Mutt and .Jeff. The regions form n territorial bone of contention among Chile, Peru und ISollvla. Tho province of Tncna, coin- posed of the department of Tacna and Arica, Is shown on maps made In Chile as the northernmost province of thnt country, and on maps mado In Peru ns the southernmost province of Peru, bordered on tbo north by the Rio Sama nnd on the oust by Bolivia. Its broad uplands nre rich In nitrate, and on the Bay of Arlca, at the ter minus of one railroad leading to La I'll;; and the Interior of Bolivia, and of another running to ports to the south, the delightful city of Arlca Ts situated, giving the possessor of tho territory a great ndvnntago In South American affairs from both political und commercial standpoints. Here Is ample renson why these two South American republics want It, and Why Bolivia hopes that, In the adjustment, she will have an outlet to the sea ac corded her. The trouble over this region arose originally from the fact that, In the days of the early Spanish settlers, the country wns so vast thnt a few hun dred square miles more or less mado no difference In tho nffnlrs of the col ony, and when the colonies organized themselves Into republics they still were too busy with their intcrnnl prob lems to bother about where their boundaries began nnd where they end ed. This condition wns tnio not only of Peru, Chile nnd Bolivia, but of most of the other South American republics, as Indicated by the numerous bound ary questions which have been In dis pute during the lust decade. So matters drifted until the middle of the nineteenth century, when guano and nitrate were discovered In this formerly Ignored region. The guano alone was then hastily estimated as worth .$20,000,000, not to mention the nitrate. What friends could be ex pected to romaln friendly with such n mountain of dollars between them? Since that tlmo the Peru-Chllc-Bolivln story has been one' of controversies, treaties, counter-chnrges and plebi scites never taken. THE MAIL MAN: COURIER OF CIVILIZATION Did It ever occur to you thnt your city letter cnrrler, your village post master or your rural route carrier has a past? He Is tho agent by which the long arm of Uncle Snm tnps, your shouldor one, two, mnybe threo times n day, yet be Is so unobtrusive that you probably do not know hhn half so well as most other agents of your government, the school teacher or the policeman, for exniuple. But ho not only Is nn essential, but n historic figure. Tho history of tho postal service nnd Its employees ox tends to the days of tho Romans when . tlio earnest Known means or transmit- ting a messn!go wns by cvirler. These admirable organizers, the Romans, marked by a "post" tho place In the road where the relay of ono runner by another wns effected ;-thus they named our system long beforo It wns born. Tlio first letter post seems to liavo existed In tho Hnnse towns In tho thirteenth century In order to fnclll tnto relations between the merchants of tbo vnrlous members of the Ilnn- Beatlc League. Tho British post ofllco bad Its be ginning In the sixteenth century, nnd our, own colonial methods of handling mall were Inherited from our British forefathers. Long beforo the peoplo had any menus of exchanging cither personal or ofllclal letters, tho klnghnd established n system of conveying his personal messages and ofllclal dociv ments by roynl messengers. In tho reign of King John that petulant men arch paid out n largo sum for a postal service and charged It to the house hold and wardrobe accounts. Messen- gers who were thus entrusted with matters of stato lind to be above sus picion. They went tho whole dis tance and were pnld according to the length and dangor of their Journeys, In 1038 New England proposed to the British sovereign that n postotllee system be established In the colonies, as It was "so useful and absolutely necessary." Ills majesty paid no at tention to tho plea, but Richard Fair banks, In tho same yenr, sot up an olllce In Boston to receive letters from ships; He undertook to deliver tlio letters received and charged n penny for each letter, lie also received mall for out-going ships, but no one was forced to send mall through bis otllce, A thrilling story of tho devotion of mnll men to their duties Is that of tho pony express, the first rapid transit mall line across tho 1.000 miles of prairie, desert, snow-capped mountain peaks,, nnd nlknll wasted between tho Missouri river and the Pacific coast. It was Inaugurated early lu 18C0 In order that the West might bo kept more closoly in touch with tho North In view of tho troublo browing from the slavery question, nnd. though It had an exhtence of only sixteen months, It made the Kast and West only ton days apart nt n time of crisis. The date of starting was to be March 2(5, 1800, and Forts Kearney, Laramie, Brldger, Great Snlt Lake City, Camp Floyd, Carson City, the Washoe Sliver mines, Placervlllo and Sacramento were to be tbo points of delivery of mall. In St. Joseph, Mo., eager and excltod crowds gathered In the streets to seo the first courier, the wiry, twenty-yonr-old Johnnie Frey, ns he dashed away on bis Jet black steed for tbo first lap of the raco of flesh, blood and determination against the desolato spaces of an unpeopled country. These riders were clad In buckskin shirts, ordinary trousers, high boots nnd soft slouch lints, nnd were armed with shenth knives, Colt's revolvers nnd Spencer cnrblnes. The best time they made across the trnckless wasto was In carrying President Lincoln's inaugural speech to San Francisco soven days nnd seventeen hours. ADRIANOPLE: A WEATHER VANE OF EMPIRES Entry of Greek troops into Adrlnno- Ele Is nn event In secular history fulrly omparuble to the Investiture of Jerusalem by Allenby's nmly, for this Turkish city has for nearly 2,000 years been a weatlicrvano of world poll- tics. The rebuilding of the ancient Thra- clan town of Hadrian, who gave It Ills name, signalized u high poiht In the power of the Roman empire. The decline of Rome wus foreshadowed some two centuries later when tno Goths defeated Vnlens there and made their lirst break through the Romun frontier. Next Adrlnnople wns the setting for the Turk's advent Into Europe. There Murad I. established himself, planned the capture of Constantinople, and sent out expeditions to subdue vnrlotis Christian peoples. For a time the European cnpltnl of the sultans, Adrl ajioplo was relegated to be the chief bulwark of Constantinople, There Turk first met Slnv, and there the Russlnns llnnlly forced their way to the Block sea by n treaty which also loosened the Turkish hold on tno Caucasus and compelled recognition of the Independence of Greece. Adrlnnople Is on the Marltza Hebrus of Grecian legend, where Or pheus was dismembered by tho Thra- clun women ; also celebrated, under Its later name. In Bulgarian song and story. It Is 137 miles by rail north west of Constantinople. Today tho city wears Its past glory with a sort of shabby gentility, with no pretension ' of prosperity but less squalor than the usual Turkish city. It possesses the grave of the first Murad, or Amurath, who was assassi nated In his tent after he lind van quished nn army of Christian allies on the field of Kossovo. A mosque benrlng the itaine of Sul tan Bnlczld recalls that monarch, Whose first ofllclal act whs to order tho execution of his brother, who was first Ottoman ruler to call himself sultan and whose conquests finally were checked when lie wus taken prisoner by Tamerlane. But the architectural masterpiece of Adrlnnople Is the Sellmleh, product of n Greek tribute-boy's genius, and relic of the reign of Scllm II, the Louis XV of Turkey. Yearly the Turks would seize n cer tain number of sons of their Christian subjects, nnd In Slnan they found they had acquired n skilled bridge builder. They allowed him to follow his bent, and the Shnhzadeb nt Con- stnntlnople, the Suleiman nt Stnmboul nn.i Mm third famed mosoue at Adrl anople were given to posterity. The Sellmleh stands upon the highest hill In Adrlnnople and four lofty mlnnrets tower far above a massive dome. STEEL AFFECTED BY FIRE Figures Gathered by the United States Bureau of Standards Reveal Sta blllty of Structure. Some Interesting figures relntlng to tho behavior of structural steel at tho high tempcraturo of onllnnry Area havo been given by tho united States bureau of standards. Naturally, tho strength of steel nt high temperatures has a very Important bearing upon tho stability of n structuro which may be subjected to fire. Without any pro tective covering, steel columns fall after only 10 or IS minutes of expos ure to temperatures such as are reached In ordinary fires. Resistance can bo greatly Increased by tho uso of coverings of brick, concrete, plaster, tile, etc., to such tin extent tint col umns so protected are unuffected after several hours' uxposurc to Intense bent, says tho New York Evening Post. Tests have been made to determine the compression strength of specimens of structural steel when heated In an electric furnace to temperatures cor responding to dull red heat (1,100 de grees Fahrenheit) and loaded up to 20,000 pounds per square Inch. It was found that structural steel loaded to 10.000 pounds per squaro Inch falls at about 1,075 degrees Fahrenheit, and under n lond of 20,000 pounds per squnro Inch fnlluro occurs at 025 de grees Fahrenheit For practical con siderations, however, the limit of util ity muy bo , regarded ns renched nt temperatures of ubout 130 degree Fahrenheit below those given above. American The American girl athletes, who Albert. Little Miss Wninwrlght, the Ambassador John W. Davis, American ambassador to Great Britain, und his wife arrival In New York on vacation. American Boy American boy scouts tuklng part ception In thnt city. Two yourtg girls sitting on tho plntform, before which New Span for Washington Bridge Kill. I 1 1 1 i fli&V An Interesting engineering operation in connection with tho construction or the Key bridge, nt Georgetown on tho Potomnc, which connects tho Btate of Virginia with Washington, wns tho placing of this huge 200-ton span. ,It was built over a timber frame erected over three bcowb lashed together and anchored m ar the Virginia shore. When the tide was at flood, tho scows and heir h'.i,h-soiirlng cargo wore towed between tho central piers of tho bridge Girl Athletes at Olympic Games took part In the seventh Olympic games thlrteen - yeur - old swimmer, Is the Inst Davis and Family Scouts in Paris In ceremonies at Purls during their re symbolizing Franco nnd America, nro the maneuvers were held. s nt Acitwern. marching before IClne figure ut left. Come Home aud daughters, photographed on their HONORED BY MEREDITH James llnlley Is a remarkable old gentleman. At least Secretary Merer ditli thinks so, for he Is planning to give him a private reception all of his own nt the depnrtment of ngrlculturc. And surely 58 yenrs of continuous service entitles old Mr. Hnlley to this, honor. Since July 1, 1802, until his retirement, Mny, 1020, he served falth fully In the department as a cabinet maker. When he retired on his pen sion of $041 n yenr, Mr1. Halley as serted that he was still able to do a . hard day's work. MARRIED AT THIRTEEN This gypsy lad, John Costello, only thirteen years old, was married re cently to his cousin, of tho same ngo. ui Autiiunuu, . x.-, in mo presence, of 125 gypsies encamped there. Johna father paid $3,500 for tho bride. I
