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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 1934)
Seek to Stamp Out Use of Marihuana Authorities Start Fight on Pernicious Drug. New York.—Narcotic authorities throughout the country hare start ed a grim. Intensive drive against the use of marihuana, one of the most Insidious and pernicious dope evils of the Twentieth century. The campaign will be prosecuted with an Intensity that no similar past crusade has known. And It probably will fall. Almost Inevitably It must do so. But that Is not deterring United States officials from bending every effort to stamping out widespread use of marihuana. If anything, their determination was whetted by the recent discovery here of the raw material for 1,000.000 “reefers." This is the slang term, used by addicts, to describe the Innocent-looking cigarettes made from the lethal Mexican plant. A Drop In the Bucket. But—statistics startlingly show— this seizure, while Imposing on pa per, perhaps—was a mere drop In the huge bucket of marihuana dis semination. To root out the menace It would bo necessary to Include marihuana In the list of drugs for bidden by the Harrison act. This measure fixed a heavy pen alty for the sale or possession of opium, heroin, cocaine and similar ly deadly narcotics. But on the topic of marihuana It Is silent, al though desperate efforts are made yearly to have the Intter Included In the ban. The outstanding reason why the latest and most snvage thrust against marihuana may fall Is eas ily explained. This Is the facility with which the addict can provide blmself with It locally. If you craved cocaine or heroin, the only way you could get It would be to buy It surreptitiously from a peddler. But marihuana can easily and cheaply be made by almost anyone. "Mary Warner,” as It Is known along the waterfronts, will readily Leaves School to Rule Indian State - -y — — . 14-Year-Old Rajah of Khetri Now Multimillionaire. London.—Reluctantly leaving the oak desk of an English public school, a fourteen-year-old boy with in three weeks will ascend a golden throne to become a multimillionaire and a ruler with the power of life and death over 300,000 people. His name Is Rajah Sardar Singh Radadur, and he Is the ruler of Kbetrl, one of the richest first-class native states In India. The young prince, destined to be come ruler of the state since the denth of his father seven yenrs ago, came to England In 1031 to complete his education. While In this country he had lived the life of an ordinary public school boy. Ills tutor trained him to be democratic In his views. He had no servants to wait on his com mands, and did his work by him self. Fascist “Martyrs” Are Interred at Florence The imhjIob of 87 early vlctlma of the Fascist fight for |»*er In llnl.v. who foil In Hu»hcs with t'oiinuiinlsia, being carried In the solemn procession that preceded their Interment Mi the IIiibIIIim of Manta t'rooe in Florence. The ceremony, attended by Premier Mussolini, w«a on ihi twelfth anulverimry of MitasoH&la ramoaa march on Home. grow In window boxes, backyards, any patch of earth. Therein lies the grimness of the situation. And the ironic corollary to this Is the fact that In at least half the states of the Union it may be sold quite openly, without fear of arrest. Terrible In Effects. What Is this sinister marihuana? It Is scientifically designated as can nabis Americana (American hemp). From Its plant hasheesh Is made— a mixture of the dried seeds of the hemp, a little opium and aromatic spices. American addicts, however, usu ally smoke the ungarnlshed leaf, known as “reefers” or "muggles.” After the first few puffs the nov ice experiences a sense of wild hilarity. Then he falls Into a pro found slumber. The second time, however, the real effects begin to tell. Space and time become vastly distorted, so that a second seems like hours, and a kiss will last for erer. Sensuous Images become mag nified and last Indefinitely. A hand clap sounds like a thunderbolt, and the addict can literally bear a pin drop. The craving for It becomes great er, unconquerable. After five years of taking It periods of temporary ln I sanity result. Move 150-Year-Old Home From Coast to Coast Portland, Maine.—Charles Quincy Chase, of San Francisco, will trans fer from coast to coast, the 150 year-old homestead built by his great grandfather. So delighted was he with the landmark when he visited Maine that he arranged to have it taken apart and shipped to California, where It will rise again on the shores of Lake Tahoe. Science to War on Common Cold Germ Englishman Wills Funds for Research Experts. London.—At last science Is going to war with the germ of the com mon cold. Ammunition Is provided by the will of the late Henry Itoyce, auto motive engineer of Itolls-Itoyce fame. In compliance with Its provisions, two unknown British research work ers are to be provided with finances with which to support themselves while finding n cure for colds, a problem which up to now has defied medical science. In his will Sir Henry set aside one-tenth of his fortune for “re search for the Improvement of health, or preventing disease, In the human rnce.” Two Fellowships. After careful consideration the trustees of the estate have set up two Itoyce research fellowships, one nt Manchester university and the other at London university, with the object of the fellowship re searches to be “the cause and cure of the common cold and the cause und cure of Influenza.” The decision to direct the re search toward the colds followed the revelation a few weeks ago by the British Medical Research coun cil that common colds cost the world billions of dollars annually, not only In actual expenditure but In lost working time. Seek More Funds. The medical council, for some years conducting research toward a positive cold cure, recently an nounced It would abandon Its ex isting researches until a new line of Investigation presented Itself. Its researches had failed to develop ef In contrast, when he reaches his own shores within a few days he will find hosts of secretaries, serv ants and state officials at his beck and call. Ills Income from the state will amount to about $1,000, 000 a year. Soon after his arrival he will be Invested with full ruling powers. Since his father died Khetrl has been administered by a Hrltlsh offi cial During Its ruler's minority the wealth of the state has been care fully preserved for him. In Khetrl there are rich copper mines which are undoubtedly rich, but yet to be thoroughly exploited. The rajah has passed his schoo certificate examination with credit while In England, and has become an ardent sportsman. He will take back to India n number of silver cups he hfls won In England and In Switzerland for athletic achieve ments. fectlve treatment. "We do not expect the problem to be solved In a day,” C. II. It.TIldes ley, one of the trustees, declared. “To expect such would be foolish. But we do feel that the research fellowships offers an exceptional opportunity for uninterrupted and progressive work which may pro duce good results. In any case, this Is an Initial effort and It Is one, we feel, that Sir Henry would have approved.” W’hen certain other provisions of Sir Henry’s testament have been ful filled, research funds may be ex panded, Mr. Tlldesiey said, and other common ailments of man looked Into. JEWELRY-MINDED D) ('IIKKIK NICHOLAS Handsome Jewelry Is a requisite with this season’s luxury inode. As you see In the picture evening com pacts have gone very formal and are hejeweled to tune In with their environment. Jewelry ensembles for evening wear are often extreme ly ornate, ns the necklace, earrings and bracelet here shown clearly demonstrate. The very smart neck lace and bracelet worn with the daytime frock In the picture are very new and most attractive. The unique feature about them is that they ure a combination of velvet and silver. These stunning velvet and-sllver pieces come In colors to match your costume. SEEN*"'HEARD around th* National Capital ■ ■■By CARTER FIELD=SB«I Washington.—The extreme left wing of the administration is split almost precisely In half on what Is actually a fundamental factor in the whole recovery program. The question is whether to stimulate foreign trade, which means holding down the price of articles this country must exfKirt, or whether to concentrate on boosting American standards of living, regardless of the fuct that this may so boost the cost of exportable articles that America will be forced to be self sufficient. At one extreme stands Mordecal Ezekiel, right bower of Agriculture .Secretary Wallace. He has recent ly, In public, painted a dire picture of what will happen to this coun try unless international trade Is in creased. At the other stands Sidney Hill man, labor leader, who is far more concerned with forcing higher wages and shorter hours for Amer ican workers of all sorts. Hillman denies that he is an isolationist, but believes that for the time be ing, perhaps until the rest of the world sees the light, America had better be content with Its own mar kets, rather than cut production costs so as to make exports pos sible. Meanwhile the State department is supposed to be proceeding— though with characteristic diplo matic pace—with what amounts to reciprocity treaties. Only one has been consummated—that with Cuba. Hut about six others are scheduled to be proclaimed in about six months. That seems a long time in view of the fervor with which the Peek move to encourage trade and thus reduce the necessity for plowing under crops and killing pigs was begun. Hut the ways of foreign offices are slow. It Is rather curious that Ezekiel, who seemed a year ago to repre sent one extreme In the Agricul ture department, while George Peek represented the other, should now come out with such a blast ac tually on Peek’s side in that fa nous controversy. Hut nothing so levastatlng to opponents of the treaties has come out ns the recent tarrage laid down by Ezekiel. For example, the effect of a drying up if foreign trade on the railroads In tie United States leading to the >orts. The Idea of the South •hanging its crops so as to get the imount of cotton down to the total hat can be manufactured and con sumed inside our tariff walls. His remarks about what would happen to shipping, docks, etc., were not io potent, because they had long been realized, nnd had never stirred ip the excitement their economic vorth perhaps rated. Buy Foreign Goods Ezekiel, accused by many con iervative critics some IS months »ack of being a Bolshevist, ham nered along the line so often made, »ut so seldom carried to its logical oncluslon, about the necessity of mylng goods abroad If we wished o sell any In exchange. This eoun ry, he pointed out, had tried to es ape thut logical conclusion in every vay possible. For instance, by luying foreign goods, which In too nany instances were now worth css, so that the goods bought with lie proceeds were actually gifts to orelgn nations. By plain Inference he suggested hat It would be better to take roods, which would have some ulue, than promises to pay, which md very little. But this runs directly counter to die logic of Hillman and his fellow iheorists, who are not worrying at all about the cotton growers who want to keep on growing cotton and sell It abroad. They ure worrying about the American workers who •ould be employed at fabricating the goods with which the foreign countries would buy the cotton and other exports of this country. Boiled down, this difference of ■pinion In the left wing Is precise ly the old economic difference— supposedly nt least—between the Heinocrats and the Republicans In 'lie period between Reconstruction md William .lennings Bryan's in troduction of free silver. It promises no more ready solu tion now than it did then. Home Mortgages Pressure from all over the coun try to have the government proceed without limit to take up ail the home mortgages anyone may desire it 5 per cent, and thus definitely orce the mortgage rate to that fig ure, will not lie tlie determining actor In what Hie President de cldcs shall he done. Two factors will determine wheth er the President has congress In creaae the amount of money for home mortgages. First, whether private capital, through the hanks, building and loan association*, in i turn nee companies. etc., seem* to | is* filling the need and supplying j necessary fund* at ren sour hie rati** of interest. Second, whether I there should itpis-ur to he danger of ' i new wave of mortgage foreolo* are*. | Which !* really two wav* of nay otg the same thing—Will private -npltal function on the admlnlstni •on* term*, or will It not? Already there Is In process enough political pressure to stam pede congress, under normal condi tions. For if there is a senator or member of the house whose office has not been deluged In the last week or so with demands that this or that mortgage loan be made, whether the money set aside for the purpose is exhausted or not, he is singularly fortunate. The point Is there are enough letters In the office of every senator and member of the house to force them under ordinary circumstances to be lieve that, whatever may be the right or wrong of the matter, here is a need so important that It must be recognized. But—the President is very much In the saddle. A great many mem bers of both houses of congress are so fixed that they simply must op pose the President on the bonus. Watchful Waiting The President, however, Is pursu ing a course of watchful waiting. Of one thing he Is determined. There Is going to be no wave of foreclos ures. If private capital does not finance the country's mortgages on homes, the government will. But he hopes private capital will, be cause there are plenty of uses for government money, and in huge amounts, to which he would prefer to devote It. For instance, mort gages for new home building. There is no limit, practically, to the amount of money the administra tion Is eager to pour out in this di rection. That sort of loan means some thing to the return of prosperity. It means jobs for all the varieties of building trades. It means sales of lumber, cement, plumbing fixtures, roofing, heating plants, paint and varnish. It means that the work ers getting these Jobs will spend the money and boost the sales of virtually every line of industry. And the same for the wmrkers in the plants which produce the building materials, even the coal miners and the lumbermen In the woods. Whereas, the funds poured out by the Home Owners’ Loan corpora tion simply represent the transfer of debts from private agencies to the government. They do not rep resent a single job provided /nr a jobless man or woman. And the security to the government that the loans will be paid hack actually is a little less sound than the mort gages on new property, for obvious reasons. Silver Sellers Strike With nothing like the total amount of silver In hand that the govern ment had planned to acquire. It Is apparent that the treasury has run Into shallow water In Its buying campaign. China and India, accord ing to latest reports, have simply closed up as far as selling silver Is concerned. They have been finally convinced that the United States government is determined to put the price up. and are waiting for the higher price before selling. The point is whether they should attempt to go ahead and comply with the terms of the silver act. buying the requisite amount of sli ver no matter what It may cost. The alternative, of course, is to stop buying, and point out the situ ation to congress when that body, which passed the law, convenes. So far the government’s actions have had the effect of advancing the price of silver more than 1ft cents an ounce. Starting at around 45 cents, the price gradually rose on government buying until, Just be fore it reached 5ft cents, the gov ernment nationalized at that figure. It simply commandeered all the silver in the country at 50 cents an ounce. Just as it commandeered all the gold at the old price before mnrklng it up to $35 nn ounce. Since then heavy government buy ing has gradually forced the price of silver up in the world market to around 55 cents. At Just this point, the sellers’ strike was encountered. U. S. Put One Over Moreover, the Unite! States put one over on the metal speculators of the world on gold, and they re membered it very sharply. It will be recalled that Wall Street and Eu rope both simply refused to believe that the United States was going to devalue the dollar in gold, and hence sold gold to the United States government at way below’ the $35 price, despite the fact that the Pres ident had congressional authority to fix the price of gold in dollars, at something like $42. They were fooled that time, but now comes the United States gov ernment doing the same thing to the world price of silver, and this time the world speculators are not so eager to sell. It is true that this time they do not have an accurate idea of what the final goal of the United States treasury Is for the price of silver. The old coinage price Is $1,23 an ounce. The price being paid for newly mined silver is (52Vi cents. The coinage price. If gold Is devalued the remaining 0 cents authorized, ami If silver Is re stored to the old coinage level, would he $2.58, So that they know that (124 cents Is the positive bottom line of the government’s possible objective, nnd $2.58 Is the positive top line, That is entirely too much leeway, but, since the note to China ended all doubts that the government would pursue Its stiver policy, It Is not surprising the world should refuse to sell silver much below the posi tive low figure of this country’s goal. Coprrlfht —WHU SvrvlM.* Tanaier^ Gibraltar I 'll.. HI I him ■"■ III - — — The Grape Market of Tangier. Prepared by National Geographic Society. Washington, D. C.—WNU Service. FEW cases of bubonic plague, which has seldom appeared In late years west of Suez, recently were found In Tangier, the international settlement on the south side of the Strait of Gibral tar in Africa. Modern medicine has stepped in to thwart this once dread disease, and the entire population must be vaccinated. Although Tangier has nurtured its old traditions for centuries, mod ern resort builders have, from time to time, during recent years, brought it forward as a prospective playground for European vacation ists. In the shadow of venerable mosques and minarets and keyhole like Moorish archways, they would build modern hotels, bath houses and casinos that would rival the Riviera and vie with Monte Carlo. Tangier is but a few hours’ ferry ride from the Rock of Gibraltar. For many centuries it lias occupied a reserved seat on the Strait of Gibraltar, in full view of the parade of commerce to and from Mediter ranean ports, but today its unim proved harbor does not permit docking of the larger ocean-going vessels. From the anchorage, Tangier re sembles a white sheet spread from the seashore up the African slopes. The spotless white walls, glistening in the sunlight, suggest that “clean up, paint-up week” is perpetually observed there and that the city fa thers will allow nothing but white paint or whitewash to be used. As one nears the shore, however, dashes of yellow, green and red mark the encroachment of modern builders. Once inside the city walls the traveler Is bewildered by the maze of lanes which the Tanglerians call their streets. So narrow are they that wheeled vehicles have never rumbled over the cobbles and pedes trians are compelled to jump into doorways to avoid being side-swiped or trampled upon by huge, moth eaten camels and donkeys, whose bulging loads spread nearly from wail to wall. Coffee Houses and Beggars. In the business section coffee houses offer the principal Tangier recreation. I'atrons sit in groups on the floor, playing with odd marked cards, or lean against the walls sipping a beverage, smoking their pipes, and sometimes singing to the tune of a native orchestra. Next door an unkempt shopkeeper, seemingly more interested in keep ing his long-stemmed pipe lighted than in making a sale, presides over a cupboard-like shop displaying pot tery, brassware and trinkets. Beggars are more importunate. They beg for alms and often follow a "prospect" until he yields a coin. Shouts of came! men and street venders and chatter of pedestrians make a monotonous din, broken oc casionally by the weird strains of a “holy” orchestra composed of dervishes who parade about the streets with Moslem banners, beg ging contributions for the mosque. Most travelers agree that a visit to the large market, lying Just out side of the city wall, is well worth a trip to Tangier. There city folk mingle with the rural folk from the fertile regions in the vicinity. Men, women and children, camels, horses, donkeys, dogs and fowl, all are hud dled together in the dust amid piles of oranges, baskets of eggs, casks oT olives and improvised stands for nuts, dates, candies, kitchen uten sils and homemade shoes. The country women wear broad-brimmed straw hats. The Moslems wear ker chiefs, half covering their faces. Around the edge of the market place letter writers and fortune tellers ply their professions; black, portly Sudanese negroes In tatters dance to the tune of metal cymbals and disks dangling about their bodies, and the tire eater and snake charmer amaze throngs with their clever tricks. “Dog of a Town,” Say Arabs. Once a |H»werful Phoenician city and biter a Carthaginian strong hold, Tangier has been despoiled by many an Invading unity or bombard ing tleet. The Itomans, Vandals, Arnhs. Portuguese, Spaniards and English each have played a dramat j lc *art In the life of this city. Tangier Is situated not only at the crossroads of the sen, but of the air and land ns well Swift bus lines radiate from It In a network which covers Morocco. There Is dally air service to Casablanca and Spain. A railroad runs to Inland Fez and Atlantic ports. While Tangier has a distinct ori ental atmosphere, European contact Is bringing it up-to-date. Maybe that is why the Arabs call the city a “dog of a town." Telephones are everywhere; the French have built a modern hospital; the Pasteur in stitute is the finest in Africa, and there is a European residential dis trict. Tangier’s country club has a nine-hole golf course, but ragged little Arab boys, descendants of the corsairs of old, are caddies. Nevertheless, Tangier has not out grown the East’s special taxi—the single passenger donkey—and per haps never will, for automobiles and busses cannot navigute its nar row streets. Across the Strait looms the lofty Rock of Gibraltar, the northern pil lar of the famed Pillars of Hercules that guarded the western entrance to the Mediterranean. The rock’s highest point is more than twice the height of the Washington monu ment or about 100 feet higher than the world’s tallest building. Since the Moors first occupied Gibraltar centuries ago, its face has frequent ly undergone “treatment.” A for tified castle dating back to Moorish occupation still stands in one of its recesses, sharply contrasting with the .more modern British ramparts. Tunnels have been bored, paths dynamited and in places its rough “countenance" lias been given an application of cement upon which rain water is caught and drained into reservoirs. In natural caves in the rock live the famous Gibral tar monkeys, probably the only monkeys in Europe that were not brought there by men in modern times. The animals are protected by law and are fed by the British , army. Gibraltar City Very British. Gibraltar, the rook, is known to every school child. Gibraltar, the city at its feet, is known to but few. Gibraltar city is extremely Brit ish if the traveler coniines ids ob servations to British soldiers who are everywhere, British ‘‘Bobbies'’ *4 who appear as if they had just emerged from a London police sta tion, British Hags that top the masts of municipal and govern ment buildings, and British war ships and commercial vessels that outnumber all others anchored in the harbor. But a glance at its street crowds and its buildings reveals a strange mixture. Most Gibraltar buildings are Spanish in design. Its narrow streets are crowded with busy throngs from many parts of the world. Scotchmen in kilts brush past turbaned Moors from the other side of the Strait; Spaniards from Madrid, Malaga and Cadiz, mingle with sturdy Greeks; ruddy-skinned Hindus and Egyptians jostle Levan tine Jews in gaberdines; and swarthy Senegal negroes rub elbows with Chinese from Canton. And weaving in and out of the human mass are hundreds of foreign sea men from boats that come to Gib raltar for fuel, trade and repairs. The town begins at the shore of the broad bay and rises 250 feet up the north side of the rock. Long flights of steps lead to the upper portion of the town, making wheeled traffic impossible on many streets. The Mediterranean, or south side of the rock, is almost a sheer cliff. Fishermen have built, however, small villages in the few recesses which are reached by nar row paths. Between Spain nrul the British territory Is a narrow strip of laud called the neutral zone where trav elers get the best land view of the rock. The city took Its name from the rock which was called Mount Abyla or Apes hill In ancient times. It was once owned by the Phoeni cians and fell. In turn, to the Car thaginians, Homans and Visigoths. In the Klghth century the Moor ish chief, Tnrlk lhn-Zejad. landed * on the rock and railed it Cibel Tnrlk or Mountain of Tnrlk of which “Gibraltar" Is a corruption. The moors had held (ilhraltar for six centuries when In litUP the Span ish seized It, but ‘-'I years huer the Moslems regained possession. It became Spanish territory iiesli) In 14*1^1. The British have held the rock since 1701 when they defeated | a combined Spanish and French I fleet. Since, the British have foul frequent wnrs over Gibraltar's po*. session, one Spanish siege lusted i four ‘ram (17701783).