THE NORTTT PLATTE SEMT-WTCEKLY TltTRTTNE.
SYcfertd Hy Thi Nitiol Gmgrtfhll J S
MANILA: KANSAS CITY OF
THE PHILIPPINES
In connection with tho contlnticl (lis
"cusslon of Independence for tho Phil
ippines' the cnpltnl city of tho Islands,
Mnnlla becomes of speclul Interest.
As n transport wends Inwnrd from
tho China sou, It passes the Island of
Corregldor, beyond which stretches
Manila bny, whoso 120-mlIo circumfer
ence could surround tho navies of the
world. Its rival will not bo found In
tho far East. On tho right of Its en
tranco stands Cnvlte, where Dewey
sank tho Spanish fleet
From tho bay tho city of Manila
seems to He almost at water level
with hazy mountains for a back
ground. Before the United States
dime to tho Islands Manila was a
sleepy town, sprawled luzlly beyond
tho bay and tho wharves of the river
l'nslg, which bisects It. Its streets
were quiet and almost deserted at
times, lis suburbs shady and pretty,
and n general air of "mamma" per
vaded its atmosphere.
Today its estimated population
equals that of Jersey City, Indianap
olis or Kansas City; the river Is allvo
with launches and vessels of every
description, Including the houseboats
of a lltorally floating population of
fifteen thousand; and through Its port
It sends yearly to other countries near
ly a hundred million dollars' worth of
hemp, sugar, copra, tobacco and other
comodltles.
A unlquo sight in Manila Is the Pnco
cemetery, which at present has fallen
Into disuse. It Is composed of two con
centric walls about six feet thick,
honeycombed with holes Just large
enough for a coflln. In the olden days
theso wero leased for periods of live
years. At. tho end of that time If no
ono was sufllclcntly Interested In tho
remains of an Inmate to pay. his rent
for another flvo years his bones wero
thrown on a heap at tho back of the
cemetery. Imagine tho "shimmy" tho
flesh on an ancestor-worshiping China
man's backbono would perform should
ha behold tho queuo of ono of his pro
genitors protruding from this Golgotha.
Out from tho walled city near tho
bay shore Is Luneta, a small amuse
ment park, and Wnllnco Held, used
for sports and the nnnual carnival.
In the days of Spanish ruin Wallace
Held was an execution ground for po
litical prisoners, and here Dr. Jose
Wzal, tho Filipino surgeon, novelist
and patriot, was executed.
Manila's chief shopping district is
north of tho river, and enterprising
Filipinos, Americans and Chinese have
net up stores, banks, factories and
restaurants, giving this portion Of the
City nu up-and-dolng air.
WHAT'S IN THE NAME
! "AMERICA"
Millions sing "America"; compara
tively few know tho origin of tho
name. Its history and its symbolism
nre described In a communication to
tho National Geographic society by
John1I. Flnley as follows:
"'America a namo that was flrst
heard on tho planet, or at any rate
flrst put on a printed puge, according
to tho best authorities, in tho vlllago
of St. Die, among the Vosges moun
tains In the cast of France, often call
cd tho baptismal font of America.
"On a pllgrlniago to this valloy of
the Vosges some years ago, I found
Btlll standing the cloisters where the
scholars hud lived who wrote Tho In
traduction to Ptolemy's Cosmography'
the book In which It was suggested
that tho namo 'America bo given to
tho nowly-dlscovcred fourth continent
and who prepared the now famous
map on which tho emerging continent
was Idcntlfled. There, too, I found
tho slto of tho old printing shop, nnd
the house Itself In which the printer,
Jcnn BubIii, had lived.
"At tho beginning of tho war tho
Germans had occupied It, and In 1017
their guns looked down upon It from
tho 'blue lino of the Vosges.' Tho
cloisters, close under tho mountains,
I found In n recent nnd second pll
grlmngn hud not been damaged, but
there wero many houses that had been
destroyed by shell or by wanton llro,
though Jean Basin's was still stand
ing.
"Europe could not readily forget tho
geography of Its Infancy and child
hood, but America began from Us God
fearing settlement with nn astronomy
of Inllnlto distances, with a geography
partaking of tho Bky an well as of tho
tsca and land.
"As there was no feudal system of
Hoclety for America to unlearn, be
ginning, as It did with tho 'compact
nnd 'constitutional, so there wns no
physical theory of the universe for It
to abandon. It wns democratic and
Copernlcan from' Its flrst national con
sciousness. "With this Oopornlcun consciousness
p'f tjib universe, Atriorlca should bo tho
loiuC provincial of the continents, for
Asia and. Africa, ns well as Europo,
tlll remember Uie old cosmography
Hud In BOino darker regions still cling
jito It" .
BARBADOS: ISLAND OF
VAST RESOURCES
Barbados Is one of the most inter
esting nnd least known of tho pos
sessions of Great Ilrltaln.
I'enr-slmped, solitary, fnrthest cast
of tho West Indies, Ilarbados general
ly is accounted tho most healthful of
the group, even though It Is the most
populous country In tho world, per
square mile, except China, and George
Washington carried to his grnvo tho
marks of smallpox contracted on n
visit there.
Tho island there Is but one despite
tho misleading plural name Is but an.
eighth tho size of our Rhode Island,
but tins twice as ninny Inhabitants
per squnre mile ns our smallest and
most densely populated state.
Seldom does n volcnno become nn
asset, but volcanic eruptions have con
tributed largely to the fertility of Bar
bados. When tho sun wns obscured
throughout one dny In May, 1012, the
Itnrhndans wero panic stricken, but
when tho gentle rain of blnck dust
subsided, tho deposit was found to
be nshes from nn eruption of St. Vin
cent Soufrlors, nenrly 100 miles to the
west, which enriched the soil.
Long beforo that time, though, Bar
bados wns productive. Oldest of Brit
ish colonial possessions except New
foundland, It nlso was tho flrst plneo
In tho British empire where sugar
cane wns planted. Its nverngo crop
of this now high-priced commodity Is
C0.000 tons. It nlso hns 2,000 lucres
planted In Ben-Island or long-stnple
cotton ; raises 40,000 bunches yearly of
tho Chinese banana, and exports mo
lasses. Ono phenomenon of Barbados has
not been accounted for. For years
tho so-culled "Barbados Coflln Story"
furnished a mystery which would In
terest present-day psychic Investiga
tors. In the yard of n church near
OlBtln's Town Is n churchyard burlnl
vault, hown from rock nnd arched with
cemented stone. A womnn wns burled
thcro In a lead coflln, according to
Bnrbadan custom. Several years Inter
when tho vault was opened again to
receive another body, the colli n had
been removed from Its original po
sition. Upon the second occasion spe
cial precautions wero taken to seal
tho vault. Sovcral times thereafter,
though seals wero unbroken and there
seemed no other modo of entering
tho solid rock nnd masonry, the cof
fins wero displaced. Finally tho mouth
of the vault wns cemented, nnd when
It wns tlmo to receive another body
ofllclnls of tho Island and nn Im
mense crowd gathered for the core
monj. Once more all the leaden cask
ets wero found to hnvo been disturbed
nnd the family had their dead removed
to Another burying ground. No satis
factory solution of these strange oc
currences hns been offered.
A natural curiosity of Barbados Is
tho "Animal Flower Cnvo," tho so
called flowers being sea worms.
Not so ngrccablo are the Maucltlneel,
or poison trees, along the shores,
whoso leaves blister tho skin and con
taminate tho water.
WHAT IS THE UKRAINE?
In tho heart of the-Ukrainian ter
ritory Poles nnd Ukrainians partici
pated in a struggle wltli tho Bolsho
vlkl. "What Is tho Ukraine? Tho Polos
nnd tho .Lithuanians of u few centuries
ngo know well tills most turbulent sec
tion over which they nttemptcu to
rule, and Imperial Itussla for a long
tlmo wns greatly troubled by tills very
unruly part of her expansive domain..
The Tatars and tho Turks felt. Its
proximity because of tho many raids
made upon them by tho wild warriors
of tho steppes," says Novln O. Winter
In n communication to tho Nntlonnl
Geographic society.
"Tho Ukraine includes southeastern
Itussla, with tho exception of tho
province known as Bessarabia, which
Ukraine Peasant Girt.
partakes of the character of the Bal
kan Btatcs and Is peopled with ItoU'
inaulnns and Bulgarians. Tho great
seaport of Odessa and surrounding
country havo been added to It under
tho now alignment
"Tho Ukrnlno docs not reach much
north of Klov or cast of Kharkov, but
It Is a largo Btato In Itself, about as
largo m tho former Gennnn empire,
with somo twenty-flvo or thirty mil
Uoiih of peopto living In It.
'Thera is u lure about tho limitless
stretches of tho steppes In tho
Ukraine. In wide, level Hpuces, or In
gentle undulations, they reach out un
til sky nnd horizon meet In a barely
perceptible line. Parts of It remind
one very much of our own western
prairies. In spring and summer It Is
an ocean of verdure, with the vnrlcd
shades of green of the growing vego-
tatlon interspersed with flowers of
many hues; later, In the autumn aftei
tho crops are harvested, it becomes a
brown waste of stubble and burncd-up
pastures; In winter It Is a white, glis
tening expanse of snow.
"Thcro are not many old towns In
tho Ukraine. Kxcept In Kiev nnd
Kharkov, one will hardly And a build
ing more than a hundred years aid.
No old medieval churches- built up by
Iho toil of generations of devout
hands, no Old chateaux of the nobil
ity, no palnces rich In pictures will
be encountered. The great mujorlty
of tho towns are still big, overgrown
villages. 4
"The towns nre scpnrntcd from each
other by enormous distances, with Im
perfect communication. The peasants
plant their vlllnges In the Iccof somo
swell In tho surface or by tho edge of
a stream In which they can water their
flocks during tho drought which may
come."
SOME BIG GAME OF THREE
MILLION YEARS AGO'
Speaklng of tho brontosnurus, If any
one ever did, one might paraphrase
Gclett Burgess: . '
"I never saw a dinosaur,
I never hope to seo one."
Yet, nccordlng to reports from Af
rican explorers a Uvo dinosaur, a
hrontosnurus has been foimd In Africa.
now mat tne dinosaur is witu us,
potentially, big game enthusiasts will
bo Interested In this description of pre
historic big game, quoted from a com
munication to the National Geographic
society by Barntnn Brown: k
Today we must go to Africa for. tho
biggest galne; but there was a time
In tho dim distant past when America
produced animals larger than any now
living. That was so long ago that
nothing remains of these creatures ex
cept their lioncs, nnd they nre turned
to stone.
"Tho animals nro dinosaurs; for
tho moment we will call them lizards
not tho creeplifg, crawling kind, but
huge reptiles thnt stalked- upright
through the jungles, rivaling In size
tho elephant, the hippopotamus and
the rhinoceros. . -
"Tho place Is Alberta, Canada,- and
tho tlmo of their exlstenco 3,000,000
years ago.
"In theso marshes of prehistoric
times dwelt a host of reptiles, somo
large, somo small and of various forms,
flesh enters and herb eaters, but .all
sharing certain characters In common
and known ns dinosaurs. Not .any
wero closely related to any living rep
tile, yet they had some characters
common to Uie lizards, crocodiles and
birds.
"Of tho kinds characteristic of tlio
period ono species, a herb eater named
TrnchQdon, was more than 80 feet long
nnd nbout 15 feet-high when standing
erect. Its' head, with broadiy-cxpanu-
ed mouth, resombles that of a duck,
but back of the beak thero aro moro
than 2,000 small teeth, disposed In
many- vertical rows each containing
sovernl Individual teeth, the now ones
coming up from below as tho old ones
woro out.
"The long hind legs terminated In
threo largo-hoofed toes, and tho short-,
or. slender front feet wero partly
webbed. A lone. thin. Blender tall act
ed ns it nowerful mvlmhilng organ, nnd
hn hndv wns covered witu rougn iu-
berculato Bkln. Having no means of
iii.ff.nsn. it lived chiefly In two water,
whoro It was' free from attacks of tho
flosh eaters."
SEA SLEDS FOR- AIRPLANES
o...i nf niant Floats cvibkcb ino
. . iL .
Taklna Off From omau opaco
Matter of Ease.
rsinnt sea sleds capable pt carrylni
nlminnes out In raldocean nro helm
developed b.v n Boston concern, ouiuu
. n
nro equipped with four motors, total-
in 1.7R0 norsenower. ami nave a
Hneetl of 55 miles an hour.
In the event of war witn n roreign
nntlou theso sou sleds would, bo utll
lr.id to transport heavy bombing
nlnncs across tho ocean. Thousands
could bo sent at a comparatively iow
1
cost.
While It Is possible for an airplane
to lcn"votho deck of a Ben sled, there
Is not sufficient room for n lanuing to
bo mnde. The flying machine would
hnvo to work out Its own salvation
onco its wheels left tho sled.
Those sen sleds nre built to lift and
run on tho surface of tho water. When
a speed of 00 miles' an hour la reached
It Is posslblo for nn airplane to open
Its motors nnd leave tho deck without
any further runway,
Experiments mudo off tho Now Kng-
lnnd coast show that a small airplane
can "tuko ore" when tho Ben sled Is
making but 40 miles an hour In a
heavy sea. Other tests nre being mndo
to develop tho high power pinning sea
sleds Into plensuro craft ns well ns for
military nnd naval purposes.
Gordon S. Ormo of Now Orleans, a
wealthy sportsman, has had a 32-foot-
or built for his ubo In tho Gulf or Mex
ico. Factories have been established
In Atlantic City to aid In producing
tho sea sleds, which are now being
tested off tho New England coast
Paiilno True.
"Tho leading lady of tho play made
her mark In tho flrst scene."
"Yes, I saw her do It when she
leaned her powdered faco on tho hero's
black dress coat shoulder."
Bolshevists Invade Mexico's Presidential Palace
Crowd of BoUtievlsts outside the
nce, nnd the man In tho tenter on horseback, holding the "Bed" flag, Is reported to have waved It from one of the
balconies.
. Irish Families Fleeing From Burning Town.
Itcsldents of Mallow, county Cork,
British troops burned nnd .sacked In
Society Woman
Louiso Q. Beavor, society woman
a mounted policeman, who wero wed secretly not long ngo. The brldo is re
lated to many prominent families, nnd Is n well-known horsewoman, and tho
groom has been a member of tho Central park mounted squad for several
years.
Church Given by Frank J. Gould
I
Tho Gould Memorial church of
opeaklng colony at Malson Lafltte, a
American millionaire sportsman, was
,of England.
presidential palace In Mexico City. They
Ireland, fleeing with such furniture ns
reprisal for raids by Sljin Fein sympathizers.
Weds Policeman
of New York, und Thomas J. Leonard.
ilrS 1 FOR HOMELESS BIRDS
the Holy Trinity, presented to tho English
suburb of Paris, by Frank J. Gould, tho
consecrated recently by Bishop Orracby
. .
were bold enough to invade the pul-
they could save, from their town, which
DONATES FAMOUS SWORD
Lord Garloch, only son of the thirty-third
earl of Mnr, premier earl of
Scotland, hns just presented tho sword
worn by "BonnloPrlnce Charlie," ono
of the most famous nnd historical Id
Great Britain, to Mrs. Clarence Crit
tenden Calhoun of Washington, a de
scendant on her mother's Bide of tho
Jiouse of Mar. Tho illustration shows
Lord Gnrloch nnd the sword.
Tho girl scouts of New York city
have undertaken to provide homes for
tho birds that wish to spend the win
ter there. One of them Is hero Been
putting up a bird house In a tree la
Central park.
