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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (July 18, 1935)
Sweden’s Riksdag Is 500 Years Old Fetes, Ceremonies, Pag eants Mark Birthday. Washington.—Sweden’s parliament has Just celebrated Its five hun dredth birthday. Pageants, fetes, and ceremonies were held through out the nation, especially In Stock holm, and in the little village of Arboga, a few hours’ distant, at the western end of Lake Malaren. "The first riksdag (parliament) was convened In 1435 by Egelbrekt Engel brektsson, leader of the na tional movement against union with Denmark and Norway,” says the National Geographic society. “A new monument to this great Swe dish patriot was unveiled at Arboga on the first day of the celebration. "The modern riksdag, whose pow er is greater than that of the king, now meets In the low, square house of parliament, set on one of the many Islands that make up Stock holm, a city that ofTers a beautiful background for pageantry, and where the greatest celebration took place. Blue waterways and grace ful, arched bridges lace the city’s many ‘parts.’ Greater Than King. ‘The oldest part of Stockholm Is on the lslnnd of Staden, where Birger Jarl, traditional founder of Stockholm, built his fortress In 1255. Here are narrow, winding —-- " | streets, high gabled houses, an an cient church, and the great square block of the royal palace. Nearby rises the slender spire of Rlddar holins church, burial place of Sweden's kings and heroes. 'Every citizen of Stockholm points with pride to the new town hall, completed only 12 years ago. The copper roof was flnnnced by popular subscription, and on each six dollar plate Is engraved the name of a separate donor. Built of red brick In a style at once medie val and modern, the straight, se vere walls and tall, square tower are mirrored In the waters of Lake Malaren. “At Stockholm Is waterfront. Not dingy, crowded wharfs, but endless miles of clean, granite quays, where hundreds of boats dock dally —giant ocean liners, fleets of lit tle steamers and ferries bring ing commuters from green, Island suburbs; trim private yachts and motor boats, and little white sail boats loaded with cargoes of birch logs for city fireplaces. Harbor Always Open. “In summer, when the long north ern twilight has faded, myriad lights are reflected In the dark wa ters of the lake. Even In winter the harbor Is kept open by Icebreak ers, though It Is In the same lati tude as southern Greenland. ‘‘Swedish food Is world famous, and Stockholm cooks live up to their reputation. The city Is rich In restaurants—gay sidewalk cafes; smart, scintillating establishments, and queer Bohemian cellars. The most distinctive feature of a Swe dish repast Is the smorgas-bord, or table of hors d’oeuvres. There are salads, cold meats, cheeses, pickled herrings, caviar, anchovies, sau sages, baked mushrooms, dark breads, and the grayish-brown, un leavened cracker called knackebrod. Heap your plate high with these, drink generously of good Danish beer, and forget that a full course dinner Is yet to follow.” KNITTED SWAGGER By CHKRIE NICHOLAS A (mart three quarter length knit ted swagger coat’s the thing If you want to look the part of hlgh-style and It la a garment you will love to wear the whole summer through and an Into the fall and then some. The model pictured possesses long, very wide sleeves, two patch pockets, and It has a modish turn-back col lar. Extra fullness Is granted by an Inverted pleat down tho back, starting from about four Inches be low the shoulder line. The knit Is a plain stitch In a zephyr yum. The raised box effect, which adds so much to the swank of this coat, comes from the Introduction of a rough nubby yarn ngnlnst the plain ■sphyr background. The guriuent, of course. Is white. Virtually 100 per cent of these three-quarter knit ted swagger coats come In white. Spirit of Democracy Evanston, 111.—A dozen young women, members of Evanston’s Junior league, were on a tour of the city Jail. As they filed Into the cell block one of the Inmates asked sympathetically: “Gee, girls, what were you pinched for?" Ha* Wild Car Ride Down Mountainside Missoula, Mont.—Bruised and dazed by his experience, G. F. Wilkinson, a railroad conductor, returned to his home here to tell of a wild ride for 29 miles down a mountainside on a runaway flat car loaded with steel rails with a dead man for his only "ompanlon. Wilkinson was on the car when It got out of control on Evaro hill, near Arlee, Mont., and hurtled downhill at 90 miles an hour. Careening around curves through cuts and over bridges. It struck two motor car speeders, killing F A. Lombardi and Alfred Morkert. Morkert’s body was hurled aboard the flat car. Wilkinson finally got It under control In a sag In the grade near McDonald. Mont Ivory Elephants Bring This Woman Bad Luck Paris.—Ivory elephants may bring luck to some but they brought a two months' suspended sentence to an American woman who gave her name as Sybil Therner from Boston. Mrs. Therner visited a supposed ly reliable gypsy palmist In Lon don a few days before she came to Paris. “Collect 109 small Ivory ele phants," said the gypsy to Mrs. Therner, "and be sure that you get I 13 rows containing 13 elephants each. After that you shall have eternal luck If . . .” And the “If” got Mrs. Therner a suspended sentence. The palmist stipulated that Mrs. Therner should not pay a cent for the 169 ele phants. The method of procuring them did not matter. Mrs. Therner came to Paris. She commenced her task of collecting the 109 elephants. Everything went fine until she was caught put ting a small row of elephants val ued at less than a dollar Into her pocketbook. She was later released on bail, but In the meantime police discov ered three rows of 13 elephants she had already taken In other stores. “I only did It because I was told It would bring me luck,” Mrs. Ther ner told the court. Because It was her first offense the Judge let her off with a two months’ suspended sentence. Erases “Blindspot” From American Map Yukon Expedition Encounter* Many Hardships. Washington.—In the face of blind ing blizzards, destruction by fire of equipment, and near tragedy to some of Its dogs, the Natlonul Geo graphic society’s expedition made tiie first crossing of the mighty St. Ellus mountain range on the Yu kon-Alaska border and thus with drew a vast region from the un mapped areas of the world. The expedition, led by the youth ful explorer, Bradford Washburn, of Cambridge, Mass., crossed the range on foot with dog sledges for the first time In history despite ter rific hardships. The expedition also mude maps and aerial photographs of a large area of the St. Elias range previously unmapped, near the Yukon-Alaska border. The area the Washburn party ex plored Is at the junction of the southeastern corner of Alaska and the southwestern corner of Yukon territory, Canada, famous In the Klondike days of 38, years ago. Several Immense new mountain peaks were discovered by the ex pedition and their positions located with surveying Instruments and cameras which were carried to a height of more than 12,UK) feet on Mt. Hubbard, the highest survey station ever occupied in Canada. Two of the new peaks In Cana dian territory were named for King George and Queen Mary In honor of yielr silver Jubilee year. The expedition camped 84 days on snow and Ice fields and conduct ed surveys In the face of extreme cold, bad snow conditions and se vere blllzzards. A huge glacier, 40 miles long, one of the largest In North America, was named after ex-President Abbott Lawrence Low ell of Harvard university. After reaching the Alaskan sea coast Washburn and one other man traveled the last lnp to civilization In a rubber boat like that tuken by Amelia Earhart on her flight from Hawaii to the United States. This boat was carried by the expedition all the way across the mountains. Lindbergh Watchdog Balks His Landing North Haven, Maine.—The German shepherd dog that watches over two-year-old Jon Lindbergh wouldn’t let Col. Charles A. Lindbergh land his airplane here recently. Colonel Lindbergh, flying here to be with his son and members of the Morrow family, circled the Island several times, and then dropped toward the private land ing Held nenr the Morrow resi dence. Little .Ton’s pet and con stant companion was loose and didn’t like the aerinl Intrusion, lie raced Into the field, yelping, and the flyer had to zoom up ward again to avoid killing the dog. A caretnker had to lure the dog away and tie him be fore Colonel Lindbergh could glide to a landing. Diplomas for Graduates in Anti-Crime Group of boys from the lowei Eust Side of New York city receiving iu Washington trout J. Edgar Uoover chief of the bureau of investigation of the Department of Justice, the emblem of their graduation from tin Boyg' Anti-Crime council, a project of the University Settlement of New York city. It marks the first orga nixed effort to decrease crime by xpeclflc instruction in the government's machinery to defeat criminal alms SEEN-'HEARD around the National Capital — a By CARTER FIELDS-iSSm Washington.—The so-called silver bloc in the senate—it Is not so im portant in the house for the simple reason that most of the silver pro ducing states are small in popula tion, and hence do not have many representatives—Is good and sore with the administration, but has not gotten to first base in making its resentment felt. Having stampeded the adminls tration In the last session, and en acted a law which seemed to prom ise to take the silver producers to the promised land—not to mention producing a fair degree of Inflation —the silver!tes have watched with growing irritation the bogging down of the treasury’s buying campaign. The law on the books Is ample to accomplish their purpose. It re quires the secretary of the treas ury to buy silver until the price reaches $1.29 an ounce, or until it becomes one-third of the govern ment’s metallic reserve. But It does not fix a time limit! Secretary of the Treasury Mor genthau is not In sympathy with the silver plan at all, save on one detail. He does like the idea of buying a lot of silver cheap, and then revaluing It, thus netting a fat profit for the treasury—as the treasury did on gold. But to accomplish the most in this direction it Is necessary to buy the silver at low prices. Every ad ditional cent per ounce paid for silver bought cuts drggn the revalu ation profit to the treasury when that day comes. Experts on the sidelines believe that Morgenthau has played a mas terly game at this. In view of the knowledge the whole world has that the law provides this $1.29 objec tive. For a while the price of sil ver spurted tremendously, holders not wishing to sell because they figured the price would be higher later on. Treasury Maneuvers Thereupon the treasury began Its maneuvering. It let leak out stories that the administration was deeply sympathetic with the plight into which the American silver buying policy had plunged China. And so on. Whereupon the price of silver banged down, and the silver sena tors got madder and madder. But meanwhile the treasury con tinued to pay considerably above the world price for all newly mined silver, making It clear to the min ers that the price paid them would not be revised downward no matter what happened ifo the world price. So the miners were happy, or at least, not angry. Just a little dis appointed at failure of the price to climb on up to $1.29, as pre dicted. The silver senators, however, were not even placated by this. The reason Is not merely that they felt cheated, believing they had provid ed for a gradual rise to $1.29, and then seeing it fall. It so happens that nearly all the silver senators are also Inflationists. They put tlielr bill over last session by a coalition with inflation senntors from non-silver producing states. And they knew perfectly well they were not getting the degree of in flation from the silver purchases that they had expected. Next session will see a much more militant silver and Inflation bloc. Next session will be leading down the straightway to election day. And President Roosevelt and Mr. Morgenthau will be much more considerate of the feelings of the silver senators than they seem to be now. But meanwhile the treasury will have bought a lot of cheap silver, und tlie prollt to be boasted about In the campaign will be much sweeter! Most Vital Factor Possibility that stockholders in the big corporations of the country, taking note of what happened to President lloosevelt’s public utility holding corporation "death sen tence” in the house of representa tives, may try to “save their bacon” on the White House tax drive against bigness, Is the most vital factor today in the whole New Deal program. The importance of that big house majority against the “death sen tence” is what caused it. On a rough estimate, LIX) members of the house voted against the President, not because they wanted to do so, but because they did not dare do otherwise. Their offices were flood ed with letters from stockholders In the utility corporations—stockhold ers who lived—and voted—in their districts. Stockholders in many in stances whose names they knew, and of whose good faith there was no question. It was this flood of mail—not the operations of the much criticized power lobby—which caused that surprising overturn. It is perfect ly true that the utility companies stirred up the letter writers. The attention of the security holders had to be called to the fact that legislation threatening their finan cial interest—or alleged to be so threatening—was pending. Nothing like it ever happened be fore. Hack in the days of the Esch Cummins railroad bill there was not a single letter from any stock or bondholders affected written to the congressman then representing the Seventeenth district This dis trict includes upper Fifth avenue. Riverside drive and probably is the banner district for invested wealth in the entire United States. The percentage of all railroad securities owned by persons living in that dis trict would be startling if there were any way of checking up on it. Yet no one of these wealthy own ers bothered to write. A little later in the same session in which the Eseh-Cummlns bill was passed there came up a little meas ure which would affect florists. The congressman from the wealthy Sev enteenth New York district was overwhelmed with mail. He hftd not realized there were so many florists in his constituency. Florists on Job The point Is that the florists were on the job, as far as watching against adverse legislation Is con cerned. The Investors were not. But this year has seen the in vestors mobilized for the first time. The question is: Can business in general do the same sort of Job that the utility executives did this year In arousing their stockholders? While no one knows what the final rates of the tax against big ness will be, the top rate In the preliminary figures—for which no one acknowledges responsibility— are 17% per cent This means nearly one-fifth of a company’s net income. Compilations as to what this would do to the big companies have been made, and general agreement Is that this would be sufficient to put them out of business. But the object of the sliding scale Is avowedly to put them out of business, which means that the present bill Is pnly an opening wedge. Obviously the Investors most hurt by this program, if con tinued, will be the common stock holders. Their dividends will be endangered. Sharp boosting in the taxes would mean that it, and other large corporations, would be obliged to reduce their dividends. The ques tion is whether the stockholders will begin a letter writing drive to their congressmen as the utility stockholders did. If they do, the corporation sliding scale tax will be beaten, as the “death sentence* was. “Ding's” Big Job Jay N. Darling—better known as “Ding,” the cartoonist—Is trying to do for wild ducks and geese, the mountain goat, caribou, antelope, and what-not in the game line, what Mark Sullivan, serious writer on politics and economics, did In his youth for the buffalo. Ding thinks Sullivan’s Job was magnificent, but rather amusing in view of the deeply serious nature of the Sullivan’s mental processes. For example, Sullivan is probably the closest personal friend of Her bert Hoover. When quite a lad, Sullivan read something in a newspaper about the American buffalo, or more cor rectly, bison, becoming extinct. At once he went into action. He wrote to every living person who owned a buffulo, including a British peer. He wrote to every zoo in the coun try, asking if they would like to have a pair, and If they would promise to take care of them and let them breed if they got a suit able pair. At the moment a big rancher not far from Yellowstone park had a herd, which he found so unprofit able that he was obliged to dispose of them. It was the story about this, setting forth also that the bison was about to pass into zoo logical history, that started Mark off. Before he was through he had disposed of every buffalo to that herd, placed them carefully in zoos that wanted them, in cities all over the country. As a result, the sup ply of buffalo today is so plentiful that every few years a herd is turned over to the Indians for slaughter. The fact that Ding is now head of the biological survey is more out of the ordinary than Mark Sul livan’s taking an Interest, in his youth, in the buffalo. This man, who is now head of the biological survey, is a Republican and was a delegate to the Republican conven tion that nominated Hoover. Called Smart Move So a great many people think the smartest thing Mr. Itoosevelt has done since he entered the White House was to put Ding at the head of the biological survey. The man Is naturally Republican in his ten dencies, and very hard-headed. In deed, although a Progressive. And the fact that his pictures were printed in about 300 fairly impor tant newspapers in this country every morning, before he arranged to lay off until his government job was completed, made him pretty nearly a nightmare for anyone in high office whose policies Ding might think humorous. He would be apt to get the whole country laughing at the unfortunate states man. Which is also the real answer to the fact that he may surmoum the tremendous difficulties in the path of his plans to save game in this country. This despite his forth right declarations that $100,000,000 of the taxpayers’ money has been poured ‘‘down a rat hole” up to now by having stupid political wheel horses operate as state game wardens. Floating Bridge Between Cowes and East Cowes. rrecl by National Geographic Society, ashlnKton, D. c.—WNU Service. NGLAND’S sunny Isle of Wight is a sort of cork in the harbor of Southampton. The incoming tide splits on the island. It piles up the Solent funnel on one side; then, a few hours later, it fol lows through Spithead on the other side. That is why the world’s big gest liners can dock at Southamp ton. On the landward coast of the is land is Cowes, famous city of re gattas. Along its narrow streets quaint, ancient houses alternate with stores that display anchors and steering wheels, nautical caps and field glasses, marine photo graphs and all the burnished brass appurtennnces of yachting. Every few doors tearooms offer tempt ing scones and crumpets; and there are miniature branches of famous shops of Regent street and Picadilly. Along the water front spreads the spacious Esplanade, with the Royal Squadron headquarters pro jecting upon it. This is the yacht ing capital of the world. The sun glistens upon the plate glass of the protruding gallery, grandstand for royalty and high naval officers, who largely constitute the member ship of the “most exclusive club in the world.” There they watch the races of Regatta week, when the Solent wa ters are flecked by fleecy clouds of canvas, dotted by rainbow bunt ing and pennants, and, when night comes, aglitter with myriad bobbing lights. Members of this club, and none other, may fly the white pen nant of St. George on their yachts; only members and officers of the Royal navy are privileged to land at Its near Jetty. One world-famous yachtsman, who spent'millions upon his hobby, was not admitted to membership until shortly before his death. By night or day all the big ships that put in at Southampton must pass the deeper channel within half a mile of Cowes. The para pet of the Esplanade seems built as an elbow support to keep sea gazers from tumbling Into the wa ter. All the houses on the gallery like hillside of the town have enor mous plate-glass windows turned toward the sea. As a place to watch the world go by In ships Cowes is an unsurpassed marine grandstand. East Cowes Is Industrious. Across the leisurely .Medina river, East Cowes takes on the industries which Cowes proper, and con sciously prim, seems to spurn. There Is a ship building yard which sup plies lifeboats for steamers and for beach guards, and there is an air craft factory which builds amphib ian planes. Every store on the precarious hill side streets is a reminder of the Is land's Intense preoccupation with the sea, offering paraphernalia ranging from oyster tongs to haw sers, and there are many shops that make shiny marine engineering parts. It was among the marshlands of East Cowes that Queen Victoria ns a girl collected seaweed, and formed an attachment for the Island that led to her purchase of Osborne House, which became her favorite place of residence. It is there to day, very much as she left It, a gift of King Edward VII to the na tion in her memory. The terrace commands the marine view which the good queen loved, vistas of blue ocean through groves of exotic trees —corks, ilexes, deodars, as well as pines and cedars. The one chamber of truly regal magnificence is the Durbar room, with its stone walls and ceilings carved in oriental designs, its stone peacock extending its color ful tall over the large fireplace, its cases with the gold and jewel offer ings of fabulous Indian potentates. In her black mushroom hat and white shawl, the queen would ride for miles in her carriage and pair around her own grounds. When she drove out through the island roads she was preceded by an out sider. She would greet the resi dents, often stopping to chat with neighbors of the countryside. To reach any part of the Isle of Wight entails no longer journey than taking a taxi across Greater London; it Is not quite 2.1 miles long and nowhere wider than 13 miles. Driving due south from Cowes, across Its axis, gives a quick picture of its peculiar geography. At first the countryside is wooded, and the clearimra are fields and , meadows where cabbages, carrots, and broccoli grow, or sheep and cat tle graze. Forests and Truck Farms. From the thick forests of the northern island came the timbers of many an old mansion and cottage of southern England, and today their dining room tables are pro vided with vegetables by the Wight’s truck gardens and rich milk from, its herds of Guernseys. Anyone who has eaten in English inns or on English trains must wonder about the source of all the cabbage served with potatoes at nearly every meal. Wight can account for many tons of it. Soon the trees and farms give way to vast expanses of acres car peted with heather, gorse, ferns, and occasional low, wind-blown trees. The downs, with as many sectional names as a London street, are formed by chalk uplands which stretch straight west and east across the island, humping to some 700 feet at places, and thrusting fractured fragments into the sea at the Needles on the west and Culver Cliff on the east. The pe destrian who yields to the spell of their lonely paths gets an impres sion of a height much greater than the altitude warrants. One can climb across them in an hour’s walk at their widest part. The southern half of Wight Is a “bowl,” sagging between the downs and the seaside cliffs that look so bleak to ship passengers as they round the island foy Southampton. Barren they are, these corrugated cliffs, but the islanders call them their sun trap because they cut off the fogs and temper the ocean winds. The trees are not so many,but the soil is fertile, the climate mild er, and the crop yield greater in this sheltered saucer.' Most of Wight’s attraction for visitors and its wealth of historic associations — ranging from the Roman occupation, through Jutish immigration, Danish assault, French attacks, and pirate raids—cling to its coast. Eastward from sedate Cowes is the up-and-coming resort town of Ryde, with its lamp posts' that wear garlands of flowers, Its tiny trnmcars, and Its spick prom enade where, on cloudless days, women knit as they garner sun tan. Second only to Cowes week is the regatta of Ryde’s Royal Vic toria Yacht club. And a pretty touch is a children’s regatta, held at their large boating lake, where young mariners sail elaborate toy craft and ride about in paddle wheel boats propelled by handles. Brading an Old Town. An hour’s easy walk south of Ryde Is “Ye Kynge’s Towne of Brading,”■ where benches and bathing ma chines, piers and yachts seem very far away. Yet along Brading’s high and dry High street ships once sailed under the eaves of the tim bered buildings, and one might pick from a score of shipmasters to take a cargo into the most distant port. Brading recalls the days when towns were set far up the island’s meager rivers, or well back in some arm of the sea, as a protection against invasion or pi rate raids. Yet the inhabitants, ex pert in their knowledge of tides and treacherous channels, could put out to salt water to fish or trade. I.ong ago silt blocked Brading’s har bor, and now dikes have thrust the sea some two miles from its center. Brading church, the oldest in the Island, is mentioned in Domesday Book. In its chapel is buried Sir John Oglander, who was garnering his salty chronicles of Wight while the Pilgrims were struggling to sur vive at Plymouth and the early Maryland settlers were putting forth from Cowes to St. Mary’s. Preserved in a house near the church are the village stocks, and one may decipher from the Town Book the offenses for which citi zens were punished. Still to be seen, too, is the large bull ring, souvenir of the days when bull-baiting was a national pastime. The island governor annually contributed five guineas to buy the bull, which, after baiting, was given to the poor. East of Brading, sheltered among the cliffs, is the lovely seaside vil lage of Bembrklge, which the world seems to have passed by. The tow-n lies along the embankment, “the only level mile on the island,” which has severed Brading Harbor from its name town, and this situation glve9 it the aspect of “Little Hol land.”