gift JitfmJ j Tht Natiol GopplilZ 7(1
51 fSocrty, WJahiiigion, DC., fa DtM'
AFGHANISTAN ONCE MORE
FEARS BEAR'S PAW
The collapse of czurdom In Russia
was hailed with ncclalm In Afghani
stan as freeing her fnmj nn Influence
that often hns been embarrassing. But
tlie menace of the benr'fl paw Is re
newed with the threatened Incursions
of the Bolshevlkl,
To the stranger the Afghan dlsplnyw
a sort of specious and deceptive ori
ental courtesy. In fact, a nntlonal
proverb Is that "The man who shuw
his door to n stranger Is no Afghan."
But the stranger nlso would do well
to know n saying current among the
Hindoos: "God shield you from ven
geance of the elephant, the cobra and
the Afghan." For many strangers
have found that, upon provocation, to
which the Afghnn ts extremely sensi
tive, his disposition Is vengeful, cruel
and crafty. Ills deslro for pillage,
theft and deception also Is apt to get
the best of him.
Your Afghan Is a swarthy, swag
gering, proudi hut withal prepossess
ing sort of man, every Inch the war
rior while ho keeps his turban on,
but giving n faint suggestion of n be
wlgged Jurist of old English days
when ho removes It to disclose a head
shaven from forehead to crown, with
curly ringlets falling about his shoul
ders from the unshaven portions.
Occasionally tho men nro fair, as
are most of the women, whose hair In
two plnlts with colored tassels at the
end, conceivably might call to mind
an American musical comedy chorus ,
prepared to sing "School Days," were
It not for their flowing oriental robes.
Afghan women, like Turkish women,
nro secluded, hut they are consider
ably moro adventurous than their
Turkish sisters, hctico scandnl Is not
Infrequent oven In a land whero a
man may have as many wives as he
,can support.
By Ilahlbullnh's father, Abdur Rah
man, nlso were enacted measures of
national defenso singularly In keeping
with occidental schemes for conscrip
tion, lie made the boast that he
could throw n hundred thousand men
Into action in a weolr to defond one
of his provinces. nrH said his entire
domain could ralso a million lighting
men to defend her soil. Sior did ho
stop at the prediction. Ho worked
out a system by which each man In
every eight would alternnto In taking
mlltury Instruction. One hnd to be
very young, or very decrepit, to es-
capo tho amir's drnt, for the service
ages were from sixteen to seventy.
80 far as barring private munition
makers Is concerned. Abdur Rahman,
long boforu Ills death in 1001, might
have subscribed to tho principle, dis
cussed during tho peace conference at
Paris, for ho hud his own factories
nt bin capital, Kabul. There are said
to have been produced a dozen or
more rifles and thousands of car
tridges a day, and several guns a
week.
ONCE EXILEDFAMILY of
BRAZIL NOW HONORED
ThO visit of Secretary of State
Colby to Mo do Janeiro, and recent
press dispatches stating that Presi
dent Pcssoa of Brazil has signed a de
cree- revoking the edict which banished
former Emperor Dom Pedro ,11 and
all bis relatives, arouse Interest In the
history of these "United Stntes of
South America."
llarrlct Chalmers Adams, writing to
tho Nntlonul Geographic Society, says:
'There Is a movement under way
to build n national pantheon. In Illo
do Janeiro and bring to It, nt the time
of the 102'J centenary, the remains of
Brazil's historical porsonages, Includ
Ing Joao VI. Pedro I, Pedro II nnd
his consort. To this the Portuguese
government will probably consent, nnd
it Is to bo hoped that Princess Isabel,
too, will ngree. Dom Pedro II should
return with honor to tho land of his
birth. The dlfllculty hitherto lay In
tho fact that neither tho princess nor
her sons wcro permitted to enter tho
Republic of Brazil and could no long
or visit the family tomb.
"Dom Pedro II died In Porls In
1801. Princess lsahol, who married
the French Comto d'Iflu, ntlll lives In
France. In 100S her elder son re
nounccd his claim to the throne of
Brazil In favor of his brother Dom
Luiz, whose- little son, horn In 1000, Is
Pedro III.
"When in Lisbon I visited the Pan
theon, whero the rulers of Portugal
lie. Exiled from bis country, Dom
Pedro 11 also found a resting placo In
the land or ins rororntiters. 1 was
most unfavorably Improsesd with this
Pantheon. It altogether lacks tho
beauty and dignity of tho royul man
solemn of the Escorlul In Spain. For
v tho pnytricnt of n small fee. tho custo
dlnn permits you to climb a ladder
11 ml gaze nt tho embalmed body of tho
last emperor of Brazil. This seems
most unilttlng.
"Dom Pedro II Is Brazil's biggest
mime. He It wns who led bis country
hito tho brotherhood of groat nntlonB.
With him wisdom and kindliness
were pre-eminent. Every Inch on em
peror, ho yet was accessible to the
hilitiWest of his Hunjects.
"There Is much In the city where
he lived for so many years still eloely
associated with bis rule, which ended
only the other day, as wo count his
tory 1880. In tho cont-of-arms of
the house of Bragnnzn, still to be seen
on tunny of the buildings; In such
street names as Murqucz de Sao
Vicente, Baron de Petropolls, Vlscomlu
dc Mnraugunpo, and In the titled Bra
zilians one still meets In the country,
wo ronllze that not many years ago
Hlo do Janeiro was the abode of roy
alty.
"Closely associated with Imperial
rule In Its decline was the emperor's
daughter, Donn Isabel. While princess
regent, during one of hor father's vis
Its to Europe In search of health, she
signed the most vital decree ever Is
sued In the country. 1 saw the orig
inal document In the Hull of Archives,
and the pen, set with diamonds and
emeralds, with which tho princess
signed It, the decree of May 1!, 1888.
which liberated 1,500.000 slaves.
"Tho decree of 1888. which freed
all slaves, was Immensely unpopular
with many of the country's lending
men, who clnlmed the princess regent
hnd been unduly Influenced by her cler
ical advisers. This was one of the
reasons for the fnll of the empire.
although that event may be largely
attributed to discontent nil over the
country, owing to the centralization of
power In the capital."
DO FISHES TALK?
Do fishes talk?
Becent speculation nbout a monkey
language gives rise to this even more
startling theory, hinted nt by Dr. Alex
ander Graham Bell.. In n communica
tion to tho National Geographic so
ciety.
"Talk," of course. Is used In the
senw of communication ; n meaning
which Is not extreme since we dally
speak of "talking" over the telephono,
tho Instrument of Doctor Bell's Inven
tion, though the "voice" that Is heard
Is not that of the speaker, but a me-
chnnlcnl reproduction of his utterance.
"Did you ever put your bead under
water and chuck two stones together
to see what tho sound Is like?" Doctor
Bell writes. "If you have never done
thut, try It, nnd you'll get a new sen
sation. I did It once, and It sounded
as If a man were hummerlng for all bo
wns worth at my very enr.v
"I then took two tiny little pebbles
nnd tapped them together quite lightly
under water, and It sounded llko a
man knocking at tho door. It was
rather startling to hear such n loud
noise from such a slight cause.
"Reflecting upon various experi
ments, the thought occurred to me:
If two little stones tapped together
can ho heard under wnter, why, every
tiny lobster thnt snnps his claws must
mako nn audible click. I wonder If
thero are creatures In the water that
signal to ono another by sound.
"Well, I hnd occasion to try It once.
Bathing In tho Grand river In Ontario
n great many years ago, I put my head
very gently under water and listened,
add. sure enough, 'tick, tick,' came
a sound like a grasshopper's chirrup.
and a little while after that a chirrup
on tho other side. Thero were crea
tures under the wnter that were call
ing to one nnother.
"I don't know whether nil fish make
wounds or not, but thero are somo fish
thut certainly do. The drumflsh on
our const drums away In tho water so
loudly that you can hcni' him while
you uro walking on the shore.
"It Is nlso a significant fact that all
fish have ears. Why should they have
ears If thero Is nothing for them to
hear?
"Of this we may he certain thnt
thero is n whole world of sound be
neath tho waves waiting to bo ex
plored. "Three-quarters of tho earths sur-
faco Is under wnter nnd Has not yet
been explored, nt least to any great
degree."
RATS: ACOSTLY PEST
As carriers of the dread bubonic
plngue rats aro a menace, but thut
la only one form of tholr costly and
dangerous depredntlons.
"Rats nre practically omnivorous.
and their depredntlons cover a wldo
range," writes Edward W, Nelson In
a communication to the National Geo
graphic society.
"They dig up newly planted grain,
destroy It while growing, nnd also
when In the shock, stack, crib, gran
nry, mitt, elevator, warenouse, wnnrr,
and ship's hold, as well as In the bin
nnd feed trough. Thoy eat fruits,
vegetables and mcnts In tho market,
destroying nt tho sumo timo by pollu
Hon fur more than Is consumed.
"They destroy enormous numbers of
eggs and poultry, as well as the eggs
and young of song nnd gamo birds. In
addition, thoy Itivndo store and ware
houses and destroy grocorlos of every
description, as well as furs, laces,
silks, carpets and lenther goods.
"They cnuso many disastrous fires
by gnawing 'mutches, by gnawing
through lead pipe near gas meters, or
by cutting the Insulation from eloc
trie wires In carder to secure material
for nests and by gathering oll-sonked
rags and other Inflammable material
In their nests; flood houses by gnaw
Ing through lead wnter pipes; ruin ar
tificial ponds nnd embankments by
burrowing, and dnmngo foundations
floors, doors nnd furnishings of dwell
lugs.
"As dlsenso carriers they nlso cause
enormous commercial losses, espec-
clally through the introduction of bu
bonle plague and the resulting suspen
slon of commerce. With tho Introduc
tion of plnguo thoy become directly
responsible for business disaster a
well nn for an appalling mortality,
"Much of tho greater part of losses
from these pests Is In foodstuffs,
which, ns already Indicated, nre de
stroyed at every stage from the time
the seed Is planted until they are ready
for human consumption, -
"Investigation some ypnrs ngo Indi
cated that the direct annual toiscs sus
tained In the United Stntes wero
about $200,000,000. with n great addi
tional sum In Indirect losses, Including
the effect on the public health and
commerce from tho diseases carried
by rats, and the necessary expendi
tures In combating them. Assuming,
roughly speaking, that as estimated
tho rnt population In the United Stntes
Is no.000.000 for the cltlos and 150,000.
000 for the rural districts. It will re
quire tho destruction of property by
each rnt of only a little more than
one-fourth of a cent n day to make
tho nggregnte sum cstlmuted ns de
stroyed by these pests yearly In this
country."
CRIMEA: THE RIVIERA
OF RUSSIA
A proposal that Great Britain nnd
tho United States shall co-operate In
caring for tho Russian refugees from
the Crimen again directs world sym
pathy to a land which has already
known suffering.
Hanging down Into the Black sen
like n butcher's cleaver, with Its handle
pointed east and the near corner of '
the blade joined to tho mnlnlnud of
Russln, the Crimen, whero It wns first
planned to exile the abdicating czar,
Is about us uenr to being nn Island ns
a peninsula well can be, even though
n very narrow strait Is tho only wn
ter thnt lies between It nnd a second
connection with tho mainland. On the
one side, to the west, lies tho Perekop
Gulf, nnd to the east, shut out from
the Black sea by the handle of the
cleaver, Is tho Sea of Azov.
With nn area matching that of New
Hampshire, n population equal to thnt
of New Hampshire and Vermont t6
gether, nnd a climate that borrows
good features from Florida and south
ern California, and bad ones from
many places, the Crimea Is one of.
tho most fascinating bits of territory
between Portugal and Cochin China.
Its population Is a congress of races.
Its Industries range from the grow
ing of subtropical fruits and the hous
ing of Russln's elite ns they flee from
the cold, to the herding of sheep and
the growing of grains. It Is a place
of many-sided activities.
As the men of wealth of America
have their winter homes In Florida
nnd those of western Europo have
theirs along the RIvlcrn, the people
of Russia have their country seats in
the Crimea. And beautiful, places
they nre, for In Russia tho rich are
very rich. Tho height of tlie social
season Is from tho middle of August
to the first of November.
Tho peninsula Is occupied by 855,000
people, according to the last census,
mostly Turkish-speaking Tartars, with
a scattering of Russians, Greeks, Ger
mans and Jows. Cleanliness nnd mo
rality are said to be proverbial traits
of the Crimean Tnrtnrs, who have been
undergoing tho Influence of Russlfl
cation for several generations. They
have tnken up vino culture, fruit grow
ing, and kindred occupations with a
zeal seldom equaled east of tho
Aegean.
Tho novels of "Tolstoy give a graph
ic picture of the Crimean wnr from
tho Russian viewpoint depicting tho
miseries, of the march, the anguish of
the life In the casemates, and tho
nerve-destroying ordeal of manning
tho lines under shellflre, there to
nwult the night attack that might or
might not come. It wns In this war
that Florenco Nlghtlngnlo rendered
service as a nurse thnt made hor namo
a synonym of ministering angel on tho
world's battlefields. Then men knew
nothing of the cnuso of cholera and'
such diseases, nnd tho soldiers died
llko flics.
It Is cstlmnted thnt 50.000 British
soldiers lie burled In the cemetery out
side of Sebnstopol. Before tho pres
ent war this vast city of tho dead was
watched over by u German who could
speak no English, but who wns proud
of his prlvllcgo of guarding the ashes
of those who fell at Balakluva and
Inkermnn..
When Stephen Grnlmtn visited the
cometery tho old keeper told blra they
hnd .'15 varieties of oleander In tlie
cemetery.
Manuscripts Strangely Recovered.
Somo vnluublo munuscrlpts went
down In n torpedoed ship during the
wnr. How they wero recovered has
been told by tho Rev. J. Alston nt Sur
blton, Englnitd. Preaching nt St. Mat
thew's church on behalf of tho British
nnd Foreign Bible society, ho said the
late Archdeacon Dennis, n missionary
In South Nigeria, spent sovVrnl years
In compiling a dictionary and gram
mar of the Iho language, comprising
six distinct dlnlects, to enable tho
Bible to be printed nnd circulated
among tho nntlvo tribes. When on his
way to England his vessel was tor
pedoed, nnd ho lost his life. Some
months later his manuscripts wero
found In n crovlco of the rocks on the
Welsh coast, whero thoy had been
Washed up by tho sea. They are now
awaiting publication,
Hurrah for Cow.
Father had returned from a polit
ical convention nnd presented each of
his three youngsters with a badge
hearing a likeness of a candidate nnd
his name. Tho two older children
wero able to rend, so ran out of the
house cheering for tho tunn whose
name appeared on their badge. Mau
rlco was too young to read, but seeing
the seal of Indiana on his badge
(which Is u buffalo bounding over the
plain) ho shouted, "Hurrah for tlila
darn cow 1"
Funeral of
The fifteen English officers who were murdered In Dublin on "Red Sunday," were burled with full military
ors In London, while thousands lined the curbs ns the cortege passed. The photograph Bhows the procession
Honors in L.onuon, wnup tiiousanus lined
passing the cenotaph In Whttehull, erected to the memory of tho British soldiers who died In the war.
Silver nnd bronze medals were awarded In the public schools of New
specimens of bulb plants In the school contest In which 2,500 children took
mudo tho awards after a tour of the city's schools.
Group of Blue
4
More drastic prohibition laws nnd tho strict observance of the Sabbath,
nro two of tho reform topics discussed by the bluo law crusaders attending
tho twenty-sixth nnnlversnry of the International reform bureau In Washing
ton. Those In the picture nre, from left to right (top row), Stnte Representa
tive Thomus II. Harrison of Georgia; Bishop .7. W. Hamilton of Washington,
D. C. ; Dr. Mitchell Carroll, and Father Eugcno A. llnnnnn, rector of St.
Mark's church, Washington; (bottom row), Representutlve W. D. Upshaw,
Georgia ; Mrs. Ella Boole, recent New York senatorial candidate, and Dr.
Wilbur F. Crafts, superintendent of tho bureau.
Burning of Liverpool Warehouses
Tho first plcturo to reach tills country of tho fires which practically de
stroyed 18 cotton warehouses and many other buildings In Liverpool, England.
The Hit- tbought to have been the work of Sinn Foln Incendiaries.
British Officers Killed in Dublin
the curbs ns
School Children Raise Prize Bulb Plants
Law Crusaders
York to students who raised the fines,
part. The mayor's committee of women
CROSSED OCEAN ALONE
John W. Carter, three, who trav
eled alone on the liner lluverford from
Liverpool to Philadelphia, to return to
his father, Prof. John S. Carter of Old
Forge, Pa., whom he had not seen for
18 months. The boy's mother wns
taken 111 in Englnnd nnd sent little
John home alone. Instend of being
seasick, he proved his ublllty as a
sailor by "eating a dinner nt almost
every table In the dining saloon, so
thnt none of his friends would feel
slighted," the stewardess reported.
MAY BE MADE A MARSHAL
General I.yautey. win., according to
reports from Paris, will be made a
marshal of Franco as a reward' for
his work in bringing about tho pad
Hcatlon of Morocco. General Lyautoyi
has been commander of the French
forces In Morocco for several yenra.