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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1920)
TTTE NOT?TTT PTjATTE ST3MT-WEEKTiT TRTRTTNT! WtJYrfertJ 1y Hit NttioJ! Cungriphil B mnof ImtnofAnor ou ofAWMtlon SANTO DOMINGO: FIRST LOVE AND LAST RESTING PLACE OF COLUMBUS Christopher Columbus, In placing the great western hemisphere on the uuil of the world, left bin Impress more deeply on what It now the Dominican republic thmi on any other bit of land In the New World. The very mime of the capital of the republic, Santo Domingo, whose ward ship under the United States has been under public discussion recently, Is a family affair with the Columbuses. The great discoverer nnnied for bis father this first permanent city estab lished by Europeans In the Americas. The same name Is applied to the Isl and of which the republic Is a part almost as commonly as Its aboriginal name, Haiti; and finally the paternal name Is further perpetuated In that of the republic Itself. The remains of Columbus are be lieved by Investigators who have ex amined the evidence In the case to lie In the cathedral In Santo Domingo city. The body of the discoverer was brought to the Island of his early irl imrihs from Spain, where he died and was placed beside Hint of bis son Diego. It was thought that the Span iards removed the remains of Chris topher Columbus when they trans ferred sovereignty of the Island to the French In 17(a. It appears from later examinations of the burial vaults of the cathedral, bowevor, that the casket which was borne In such great state from Santo Domingo to Havana at the end of the Eighteenth century and from Havana to Spain a hundred years later, contained Instead the ashes of Diego, the son. The city of Santo Domingo grow to he a wonderful place during the early days of Spanish dominion, but Colum bus did not live to see much of the development. His son, Diego Colum bus, however, engraved the family name deeper on the city and the coun try of which It was the capital, setting up there a court of such regal splrn dor that It uroused the envy of the Spanish king, Santo Domingo seemed destined to become the bustling metropolis of a Western empire. Hut It became the victim of exploitation. After a turbu lent history, during which, the native Indians were exterminated ami thou sands of African slaves were Import d, the latter, assisted by mula'tto free men, rose, In the last years of the Eighteenth century, abolished slavery and drove their oppressors from the Island. Though the land of the'Domlu lean republic reverted for a while to Spanish control, and later wns con quered by the republic of Haiti, with which It shares, the Island, it estab lished Its Independence In 1814 and lias retained Its Individuality since. WOMEN THE FINANCIERS OF A FORGOTTEN KINGDOM vAlong busy highways of ocean trav el, land links between Japan and For mosa, not far from China's coastwise routes, yet visited by only two or three white persons a year-such are the Loo Choo (I.uehu or Hyiiku) Islands. "Loo Choo Is a land full of the hide Hcrllmblo charm and mystery of the Orient, but replete with the pathos of a vanishing rnce," writes Roy Chap man Andrews to the Nntlonul Geo graphic society. "Hut, although !t has been -10 years since there sounded tho death knell of this little hidden kingdom, Loo Choo s not yet Japan. The traveler realizes this even before he lands. The pine-clothed, tomb-dotted hills which form the background of the strange little cities of Nana and Shurl have nn unfamiliar look and tho pretty tiled roofs of tho diminutive houses, Just visible over the surrounding gray stone walls, give fascinating hints of what may be found beyond their hu ll tiered gateways. On their entire 000 nqunre miles of land only one white man, an American missionary, Is resi dent. "With our money changed, we began to look about to spend It, for Loo Choo Js tho home of the red lucquer ware famous throughout the world. Much of It Is exported, and the finest of the boxes, bowls, trays, tables, etc., which are In dally use In Japan and China and sold to tourists throughout the Orient, come from the little city of Nairn, or Shurl, Its neighbor across the hills. The lacquer ware, when first made, Is a dull brown, but really tlrst class pieces Improve with nge and soon change t n beautiful vermilion, be coming brighter and clearer the longer they are used. "When wo came to buy lacquer we were greatly surprised to find that bar gaining bad nn place In Loo Choo. Without exception, the first price asked for at article wns the one for which It was sold. Never In the Ori ent had we' mot with u similar condl tliui. "It was Interesting to Hud, also, that the women of Loo Choo conduct all business 'and have charge of every thing pertaining to money with the single slight exception of spending It. fj'he market, where In the morning lending for vegetables nnd fruit Is ear ned on. res-mbles a suffrage meeting place, for among the crowded mass or Immunity not a man Is to be seen. "The straight backs nnd erect car riage of 11m Loo Choo women are due to the custom of carrying everything upon their heuds. No mntter what the object, be It large or small, It Is perched upon their thick, bluck hair, and off they walk In the most non chalant mnnner. "The most striking thing about Nairn nnd Shurl are tho high stone walls which surround tho houses. These walls are generally covered by a small banyan tree, called the gojn. mum, growing like a great vine and sending out numberless roots which sometimes reach a hundred feet from the original stem. "These also serve as a biding place for a snuke. a kind of adder, six or seven feet long, which Is the curse of the Islands. Their bite Is generally fatal In a few hours, and many people are killed by them each year." MODERN TATOI AND ANCIENT ATHENS Constautlne, whose return to tho throne of Greece was discussed after the death of Alexander, bad a famous summer palace at Tntol, before his ab dication. There he spent much time during the flnnl uneasy months of his reign. Tatol Is 1(1 miles north of Athens by way of Kophlsla. In strong contrast to the harsh and stormy political situ ation which encompassed the members or the royal family following the out break of the World war, their physical environment was wholly delightful, for Tatol Is ono of the most beautiful spots of Attica, nestling almost at the foot of the I'n rues mountains. In the distance towers tho famous Pontoll kon, from whose summit one may ob tain the finest view to he hud from any of the Attic hills. Historically, Tatol Is noteworthy for being freighted with unhappy associa tions. In Its vicinity stand the ruins of an old fort, known us the ICastro, which marks the center of the demo (township) of Decelea. It was at Decelea, 11! miles In un air lino north of Athens, that the traitor Alclbhides, he of whom Aristophanes wrote that "they (the Athenian sol diers) love, they hate, but cannot live without him," counseled the Spartans to construct strong fortifications In or der to Intercept the caravans of grain from Euboeu, which supplied the cap ital with food. Alclbhides, by his be trayal of the Athenian navy which had Invested Syracuse In Sicily, hud al ready fulfilled the prophecy of tho misanthrope Tlmon who had said upon one of the many occasions when tho young Athenian's rash proposals had been Indorsed by the populace, "Go on, my brave boy, and prosper; for your Iirosperlty will bring on the ruin of all this crowd." Ills advice to seize and fortify Decelea In -11!! . C. brought Irretrievable ruin on bis native city and resulted In an Inestimable loss to the human race, for It crushed Athens. By "no of the strnnge whims of "the crowd," the Athenian army In Its dark est hour sent a message to Alclbhides Inviting hltn to desert the Spartans In to whose power he had betrayed Ida own people. And by an equnlly strange whim Alclbhides accepted the Invita tion, rushing to Samns to assume command of his old associates. Hut It was too late, Athens was doomed. Lysander, commanding the Spartan navy, administered a crushing defeat to Athenian sea power nt Aegospotanil, on the Hellespontr Three thousand of the defeated Athenians were massa cred, and Xenophon, the historian, with tragic simplicity relates thnt when the news' reached the capital, "That night no man slept." Tatol is reached today by a railway Journey of eight and a half miles to Kephlsla, and a carriage drive of seven and a half miles from that point. The new summer palace was built for the king and the old palace was de signed as the residence of the crown prince. A beautiful park and a ven erable oak grove surround the royal homes. A short distance to the north Is the barracks of the rural police, known as the Chorophylakes. THE GRASSHOPPER: MUSI CIAN, MONSTER AND AVIATOR Once more the ravenous grasshopper wrought devastation upon Western fields this fall, and the plague became especially destructive In Texas. . Writing to the National Geographic society. David Falrchlld describes this fascinating, If ruthless, creature as follows: "The young king grasshopper Is probably twenty days old and Its wings have not developed, but It can Jump a hundred times Its length, whereas man can, scarcely cover three times his length at a leap. When Its wings grow and Its luternnl air sacs till with air It can sail nway for miles. One represen tative of this great family can sail for a thousand miles before tho wind, and they go in such numbers that they make a cloud '.2,000 square miles In ex tent. "Its great front Up hides a pair of Jaws as effective as a hay-chopper, and it has an appetite as voracious as that of a hippopotamus. This voracious ness and those Jaws are what have made several of Us relatives tho plague of mankind. They multiply In such numbers as to batllo all calcula tion, and every living green thing for thousands of square miles disappears down their throats, leaving the coun try they Infest desolate. "When the young grasshopper emerges from the egg It Is very small Indeed a wingless, helpless little creature, all legs and mouth. "It pusses through successive ages, or stages, ai they are called, each one of which Is separated from the other by a moult or casting of Its outer shell, "These moults tuke place nt fixed periods, and as the Insect finds Itself restrained by Its firm, inelastic skele ton, a longitudinal rent occurs along the back, and the Insect, soft and dan gerously helpless, struggles out of the old skin inclosed In a new but delicate cuticle, which takes some time to harden nnd color up. "Whether this creature has a per sonality or not may be forever ex tremely dllllcult for humans to decide. Its eyes, that look like cows' eyes, rcitlly cast a thousand Images' on i special kind of brain, so different from our own that we cannot understand It anil then besides these great big eyes It has three others. Its short, ringed horns are not horns at all, but sense organs of so complicated a nature that we do not yet know certainly whethei they nro organs of smell or not. and It Is supposed that they may be the Feat of sense organs that we humans do not have. "In front of the great thighs Imbed ded on each side of the body are the so-called ears, tuned no doubt to catch vibrations of the air far too delicate or too frequent for our ears. "The Jumping legs of the creature are filled with powerful muscles, which, when they expand, can hurl It through the air and enable It to es cape from Its enemies. On the Inner side, along the lower rib, of the wing, Is the musical Instrument. It Ik a row of hard, head-like projections, which are very highly developed in , the males, but not at all In the females. When the edge of the wing Is scraped over these projections a musical sound Is made." ALONG OUR TURBULENT BORDER "No region In all North America Is more frequently mentioned or more widely misunderstood, perhaps, than the Mexican border." writes Frederick Slmpleh, formerly American consul nt Nognles, Mox.. to the National Geo graphic society. "From the Gulf of Mexico up to El Paso, along the Texas frontier, the Rio Grande forms the boundary be tween the United States and Mexico; thence to the Pacific coast the line Is marked by stone or Iron monuments (save a short break nt the Colorado), so set that one Is supposed to be vis ible from another. liy this plan a Sol dier, miner or cowman (yes, and a smuggler, too) can always tell which side of the line he Is on ; or, If wholly lost and he conies suddenly on a mon ument, he soon can get oriented. "Adventurous, colorful and full of contrasts as It Is, the 1,800-mlle trip along this crooked, historic line is rough nnd dllllcult and has been made by a few people. "The Itlo Grande purt of tills border has caused both Uncle Sam and Mex ico much work and mental anguish. During bad floods the line as formed by the river squirms around In so as tonlsblng and lively a mnnner that what Is Mexican soli one day may be In Texas the next, and vice versa. "Railroads cut this long border lino nt Brownsville, Laredo. Eagle Pnss and El Paso, Tex.; r.t Douglas, Naco and Nogales, In Arizona, and at Calex Ico and Tin Juuna, In California. Only four of these railroads, however, are main lines of through trnfllc that pene trate the Interior of Mexico; these start at Laredo, Englo Pass, El Paso and Nognles. "No section of the border has seen so much of adventure, tragedy and turbulent activity as Texas. The flags of France, Spain and Mexico have waved over It; for a time It flew Its own Lone Star and also the Confed erate flag. "As you follow the bonier west, oaks, pines and underbrush decrease, aridity Increases and cacti lift their thorny bends. Border counties like BreWster, Presidio nnd El Paso are of amazing area larger than some of our small Eastern states. Windmills are everywhere "big electric fans to keep the cattle cool,' a waggish cow boy once explained to a London ten derfoot. "El Pnso Is the only large city from 'San Antone' to Los Angeles, a ride of 1.WK) dry. dusty miles. "The largest Irrigation reservoir anywhero Is the great Elephant Butte dam, which stores more water than the world-famous Assunn dam on the Nile. "From the point at Monument No. 1, where the boundury line crawls out of the Itlo Grnnde (nt the southeast corner of New Mexico), it strikes west Into a wilderness of slngulnrly dry and empty aspect. For -10 miles along this march the traveler must carry his own water. "To the west lie the rough, hostile foothills of the Dog mountains; near here, In tho San Luis range, the line reaches a point of 0,000 feet above the sea, marking the continental di vide. "In tho San Bernardino valley the lino strikes the tlrst running water after quitting the Rio Grande 101: miles to the east. Here rises tho famous Vaqul river, thnt long, crooked stream that mennders through the vast Mexican state of Sonorn and through the turbulent Yaqul Indian zone, final ly emptying Into the Gulf of Califor nia below Gunymus. "In tho whole 700-mlle stretch from the Rlo Grande to the Pacific this line crosses only :lvo permanent running streams, and the nverago rainfall throughout Its length Is only eight Inches. "Save the hamlets of Columbus nnd Hnchltn, tho Now Mexican section of this border Is almost uninhabited." bat Is believed to bo the world's only hotel for horses, Is In Clmrlottenburg, near Berlin, and It not only pro villus luxurious quarters for the horses of the Berlin Bus company, but rents many "rooms" for horses brought Into the city. It Is four stories high In back and three In front, with n basement. On each lloor there Is a roomv "porch" running the full length of the building. These "porches" are used with an Inclined runway for entering or leaving the "hotel." A regular hotel service Is provided for the "guests." .Many new representatives of Lutln-Ainericnn countries sat at the tlrst JOUO meeting of the Pan-American Union governing board, held nt the Pan-American building, Washington. Secretary of State Colby presided. Those In the picture left to right are: Secretary Colby; Dr. L. S. Rowe, director general; Ambnssador of Brazil Augusto Coch rane de Alencnr; Minister of Venezueln, Sr. Dr. Don Santos A. Domlnlcl; Minister of Colombln, Dr Carlos Adolfo Urueta; Minister of Uruguay, Dr. Jacobo Vnrela; Minister of Guntemnla, Dr. Jules Blnnchi; Chnrge d'Affalres of Panama, Sr. Don .7. E. Lefevre; Charge d'Affalres of Haiti. Albert Blanchet; Assistant Director Pan-American Union Francisco J. Ynnes; Charge d'Affalres of Bolivia, Sr. Alberto Cortndellns; Minister of Costn Rica Dr Octavlo Bed chl; Minister of Honduras, Sr. Don J. Antonio Lopez Gutierrez, and Minister of Ecuador, Sr. Dr Don Rnfael II Ellzalde. Turkey for Senator Harding The origin of the White House turkey during the Wilson administration has been Maryland, but the first Unrdlng turkey, n 38-pound Illinois bronze turkey, was furnished by the Harding Girls' club of Morris & Co.. Chlcugo, and wns forwarded to President-elect Harding nt Panama canal zone. Last of the Mohicans in Washington Lemuel Oocum Fielding, tho "Lust of the Mohlcnns." surviving chief of that tribe, In Wnshlngton with his son nnd daughter, to confer with Cato Sells, commissioner of Indian affairs, regardlug the title to land In Norwich, Conu., which he says belongs to his tribe. Only Hotel in the World for Pan American Union Board Horses in Session GOLD STAR MOTHER 1 This beautiful statue, the Gold Star Mother, now stands In front of tho building of the Chicago Historical so ciety. A REAL POLICEWOMAN Miss Irene McAullffe of Weston, Mass., the latest appointee to the Washington squad of policewomen, has had much experience In police work. She Is the daughter of the chief of police of Weston, and for more than n year has been acting head of the town's police force. She was sworn In as a bpeclal otllcer of tho Weston department several years ago, Is an expert horsewoman nud a dev otee of all forms of athletics.