Smuggling Guns to
Ethiopia New Game
• ■ - ----
Rumrunning Adventurers
Now Turn to Arms.
Paris, France.—Europe’s gang
sters and international adventurers,
who have found time on their hands
since bootlegging booze into Amer
ica became a dead Industry, have
discovered a new racket in gun
running into Ethiopia.
While the chancelleries are busy
trying to find a solution to the quar
rel between Benito Mussolini and
the emperor of Ethiopia, Halle Sel
assl I, gunrunning racketeers are
busy rushing Into Enst Africa the
munitions which may blaze when
talking ceases.
With some 500.000 men to resist
the might of Italy, and the need
for airplanes, tanks and motorized
artillery, the ruler of Ethiopia has
sent emissaries to munition plants
of Europe to try to obtain the equip
ment necessary to carry on war
against the white Invader of the
kingdom founded, according to le
gend, by Solomon and the queen of
Sbeba.
Secret Orders Placed.
Owing to the ban on export of
arms, the Ethiopians have not been
able to buy enough war stocks, al
though the emissaries have offered
gold from their fabled mines. Some
secret orders have been passed and
ships, under sealed Instructions,
have sailed mysteriously from sev
eral ports In Europe down through
the Suez canal and the Red sea.
Normally, they carry trinkets and
western goods for the emperor’s
people, but in reality they have been
loaded to the Pllmsoil line with pow
der and arms.
The gunrunning racketeers are
supplementing this traffic. Mostly
Greeks, Germans, Armenians and
other Individuals of no defined na
tionality, they have spread their ac
tivity from the capitals of Europe
to the shores of the Red sea and the
inland frontiers of the emperor's
kingdom.
Their agents throughout the west
ern capitals are charged with the
mission of buying all available rifles,
shot-guns and revolvers and, If pos
sible, machine guns. These nre then
shipped to the nearest port, where
bartering goes on with the captains
of vessels bound east of Suez.
Racketeers Charter Ships.
The smugglers’ agents offer big
rewards to sen captains who are
willing to use up available space In
loading guns for the East African
war. As, however, the number of
vessels available on the regular
routes Is limited, the racketeers
have been chartering vessels of their
own, Idle tramp steamers, yachts
and sailing craft
Crammed full to the decks with
grenades and rifles and machine
guns, they steer for the Red sea.
unload their cargoes and rush them
over the cnrnvan routes by camel
and mule pack to the frontiers of
Ethiopia.
Here the Ethiopians, hungry for
the guns which they need to defend
their sol), are rendy with precious
gold-dust tied In cloth, which they
pay to the gun traders.
Throughout the vast desert wastes
Archer Kills Snake
With Bow and Arrow
Fresno, Caltf.—Spinners of
fanciful rattlesnake yarns often
wander further from the truth
than fishermen, but Arthur H.
Shipley, deputy county superin
tendent of schools, vouches for
this one:
Shipley spied a 3-foot snake
along the roadside one day.
Anxious to get a set of rattles,
he searched for something with
which to kill the reptile. Clods
of dirt served only to enrage the
snake.
Finally he thought of the bow
and arrow in the back of bis
car.
With only three shots Shipley
pinned the rattler to' the ground
in three different place. A
fourth arrow pierced the head
and killed the snake. Shipley
has a set of rnttles as evidence.
of Arabia and the Yemen, where
Lawrence roused thp tribes against
the Turks In the World war, the
gun traders today are searching the
land for guns which they can ship
across the stretch of water which
separates the Arabian state from
Africa.
Arabian tribes, eager to help
their Ethiopian neighbors against
the invading Europeans, gladly con
tribute their sharp-shooting rifles
to the cause, especially when they
get well paid for their benevolence.
Mailbox’s Use Disputed
by a Mouse and a Woman
Washington.—Miss Frances Lund
qulst, of Brookfield, Conn., wrote
her Uncle Sam an urgent note con
cerning the mutual disturbance of
herself and a long-eared field mouse.
“Dear Uncle," wrote Frances,
“What shall I do about it? A field
mouse with lung ears and big eyes
has made a nest in my mail box,
and every time I lift the top I dis
turb him and he disturbs me—and
how! 1 had to leave this postcard
on top. ’
The Post Office department said
It would refer Miss Lundqulat's ap
peal to the rural mall service, whlcn
Is expert in solving field mouse and
allied problems.
Robot Puffs Cigar
and Reads Books
Montreal.—Mrs. Betty Leyborn,
professor at the British Institute
of Mental Science, has taught
her robot, "Algi,’’ how to see,
read aloud and think.
Mrs. Leyborn has brought Algi
to Montreal for a series of pub
lic demonstrations. She argues
that the robot really thinks be
fore it answers and can produce
the right reply for the right
question.
Algi has a mechanical nervous
system Inside a nickel-plated
body which reacts to the vibra
tions of the human voice and
controls the answers. The ro
bot’s ears are concealed micro
phones. The eyes are photo-elec
tric cells which actually can
read a book and repeat the words
In the book audibly. Algi can
smoke a cigar and fire a pistol
whenever told to do so.
School Teacher Learns
She's Recorded as a Boy
St. Clalr8Vllle, Ohio.—Bertha Of
ferdinger, a school teacher, learned
that she had been officially recorded
as a male for the 30 years of her
life. The discovery was made when
she applied for a passport and was
surprised to find that she had been
listed as a boy when her birth rec
ord was submitted In 1809 without a
first name. An order of Probate
Judge Harry Albright was necessary
to correct the error.
Spend $1,000 Month on Dionne Babies
Famous Quintuplets Finan
cially Independent.
Callander, Ont,—Through their
physician, Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe, the
Dionne quintuplets recently gave a
message to the world. They said:
“Thanks for all your help, and
we wunt you to know we are now
self supporting. We say this be
cause so many persons and organ
izations helped us when we were
not able to take care of ourselves.
Now we are making enough money
to meet all our needs and allow us
to save some. We thought you would
like to know.”
Doctor Dafoe sat back In a deck
HE STIRRED ST. PAUL
When liomer S. Cummings, United
States attorney general, designated
St. Paul as the "poison spot of
crime" Wallace Jamie, twenty-seven,
crime student, walked Into St. Paul’s
public safety building and asked
permission to hang around as a
Bldellne spectator, to watch a po
lice force in action. Jumle watched
and worked with the knowledge he
had obtained at the University of
Chlcugo and Northwestern univer
sity crime schools, and brought into
use a number of devices of his own
invention. Through a monitor sys
tern he tapped all telephone wires
In the public safety building and
rigged up an Instrument to record
conversations of police officials. In
side of lamps and telephones he
Inserted microphones connected to
ills own office and recording ma
chine. lie established a close link
between high officials of the police
department and the crime element.
The grentest shnkeup In St. Paul’s
•- 1 — • ■ - —.. ..
chair on bis front lawn and elab
orated on the statement
The girl babies of Oliva and El
zlre Dionne are not nearly as
wealthy as many persons believe.
They have $45,000 in bonds and
cash, and contracts now In force
probably will bring them another
$50,000. In their 14 months of life
the youngsters have spent a lot of
their own money. How much, the
doctor declined to say.
The Canadian Red Cross paid for
the nurses for a year and, with the
Ontario government, helped out in
various ways. In the last four
months the children have paid all
their own expenses—and expenses
of quintuplets are large.
No figures have ever been given
out, but salaries of the doctor and
nurses probably total $450 a month.
Other salaries, for an orderly, two
maids and two guards, take perhaps
$250 more. That total of $700 does
not Include upkeep of the hospital,
which must be large, as all the
staff, but the doctor, have their
meals there. Everything the ba
bies eat and drink is of the best
and their food bill Is large.
In addition there are many ex
tras which all go to make $1,000
a conservative estimate of the ba
bies’ monthly expenditure.
One of their chief assets is their
home, valued at $20,000. The small
Dafoe hospital that was opened a
year ago has been enlarged to a
12-room building with three baths.
The babies’ $45,000 In bonds and
cash hns come from endorsements
of products they use—milk, tomato
juice and the like—and motion-pic
ture and newspaper photograph
contracts.
turbulent police history ensued, and
now he hns been named deputy
commissioner of public safety by
H. E. Warren, commissioner.
Blame Henpecked Mates
if Women Go Hysterical
Berlin.—"If women go hysterical
their husbands are to blame In most
cnses, and especially the henpecked
ones !’*
This Is the conclusion reached by
Dr. G. Glehm, psychiatrist of a
large snnltarlum at Zepernlck In
the north of Berlin, as a result of
an Investigation of cases of hysteri
cal women.
This kind of husband constitutes
the greatest danger for the hysteri
cal patients, he believes.
Naming Reno, Nev.
Iteno, Nev., Is named after Gen.
Jesse Lee Iteno, a federal officer
In the Civil war.
Work Relief Job for the Imperial Valley
One hundred four-horse teams are here busy on one section of the All American canal which will replace
the main now serving California's Imperial valley. The new canal will have a width of 2T2 feet, a depth
of 21 feet and will carry the water of the Colorado river <Stt miles across die valley for Irrigation purposes.
The men and teams shown In the photograph above have turned more than l.tXKi.dOO yards of earth with
their Fresno scratters.
SEEN
HEARD
annmd the
NATIONAL
CAPITAL
fiy Carter Field
Washington.—Herbert Hoover is
not going to say anything about his
possible candidacy for the Repub
lican nomination next year for some
time to come. That may be accept
ed as a fact, regardless of various
stories to the contrary. This state
ment Is based on the Impression ob
tained from the former President
by one of his close friends, who had
a long talk with him
While no single word can be put
in quotation marks of what Mr.
Hoover said to this friend, the Im
pressions the friend obtained are
highly significant In a word they
are:
1. That Mr. Hoover craves a vin
dication.
2. That he therefore wants the
nomination very badly.
3. That he would prefer to have
the nomination come to him with
out effort, either on his own part or
that of his friends.
4. But that If it becomes ap
parent that the nomination will not
come that way, very little coaxing
would be required to Induce him to
get out actively for It.
As this Is written—anything can
happen to change It—the famous
public utility holding company leg
islation seems destined to die, so
far as this session is concerned.
Strangely enough, a mere lifting of
a hand by the President would re
sult In Mr. Roosevelt’s getting more
than half a loaf—really nine-tenths
of a loaf. Even without the death
sentence the bill is terrifically dras
tic. There would be no trouble put
ting the measure through both
houses of congress If the conferees
of the two houses should report the
bill back without the death sen
tence.
Very Much Exaggerated
Actually the Importance of the
death sentence has been tremen
dously exaggerated by the publicity
over the fight between the Presi
dent and the utilities. The utilities
concentrated on this one objective,
and as far as congress is concerned,
they won the fight. But Its Impor
tance can best be Illustrated by the
simple statement of the alternative,
or house, provision. The senate
draft forces the end of the certain
holding companies on a certain day.
The house provision leaves discre
tion as to whether the sentence
shall be executed In each particular
case by a commission—members of
which are appointed by the Presi
dent.
So that Mr. Roosevelt could ob
tain his objective without the
slightest difficulty—IF—he would
acknowledge defeat In this spec
tacular battle. The utilities would
emerge with some glory, but with
out the fruits of victory. The
President would have the fruits,
but little glory.
Yet betting odds at the moment
are that he will wait until next
year, when he expects to win both
fruits and glory.
Downward Revision
Processing taxes and farm bene
fit payments are both due for a
sharp downward revision next year.
High AAA officials, In private dis
cussions, explain this on economic
grounds. Actually President Roose
velt will force their hands on po
litical grounds.
Experts who have studied the
Rhode Island sltuntlon—so disas
trous to the New Deal In Its Impli
cations—bring back a remarkable
story. They say that the price of
ham and bacon had more to do with
the result than even the cotton
processing taxes, although the lat
ter are blamed, together with Jap
anese Imports, for the closing of
so many textile mills.
These reports flabbergasted the
administration and delighted the Re
publicans. Both the New Dealers
and G. O. P. leaders hnd figured
that while the conditions affecting
the First Rhode Island district ex
tended to Massachusetts and New
Hampshire, they were not general.
On the other hand, resentment
against high prices for pork prod
ucts, It is figured, would be Just as
apt to be strong in California or
Michigan as In Rhode Islnnd.
In this connection there was much
Interest in the apparent healing
of the breach between Governor
Davey of Ohio and the New Deal.
All the bitterness against Davey fol
lowing his caustic comments on Re
lief Administrator Hopkins was care
fully concealed. Davey hnd in his
power to force a state-wide elec
tion in Ohio to fill the vacancy
caused by the death of Representa
tive-at-large Truax, and most po
litical observers believe that if an
election were held today In Ohio
the state would go strongly Repub
lican.
Must Cut Food Price*
In the first place, Ohio was never
very strong for Roosevelt. Its del
egation did not even vote for him
on the finnl ballot at Chicago. On
election day, when most states were
piling up record-breaking majori
ties, Ohio gave Roosevelt only
about 73,000. Moreover, resent
ment In Ohio, which has consider
able state pride, is rather strong
over the failure of the President
to put an Ohioan In an important
place.
The administration Is now faced
with almost the necessity of reduc
ing food prices before election. On
the particular items on which there
is now the most resentment, pork
products, no difficulty is anticipated.
Pigs are usually marketed at the
age of nine months, so it should
be possible to have a plentiful sup
ply of pork for the nation’s house
wives well before November, 1936.
Reduction of benefit payments on
hogs would naturally have the ef
fect of enormously increasing hog
production. Similarly, reduction of
processing taxes on pork would help
to reduce prices on ham, bacon and
other pork. But danger threatens
from several other angles as far as
the grocery bill is concerned. Re
ports from the Northwest and Can
ada about the ravages of black rust
on the wheat crop are alarming.
Some of the AAA experts are fear
ful that wheat may touch $1.50.
This would be fine for farmers not
affected by rust but would bring the
same kind of clamor from house
wives. So a sharp soft pedaling of
the wheat reduction program, ac
companied by a reduction in the
processing tax on wheat, is in order.
In fact it may be taken for grant
ed that regardless of all past the
ories, the administration will do its
best to have food prices down by
next summer.
To Make Concessions
President Roosevelt will make
concessions In the present labor
war on relief projects. The con
cession will not be to pay union
scale wages on work relief projects.
The President’s jaw Is firmly set on
this. It will be to remove present
restrictions which limit Jobs to peo
ple now on relief.
Very little has been heard from
union labor sources on this last
phase, but it has been vitally Im
portant to the unions. Not only to
the rank and file, who need work in
many instances, though they may
have had sufficient pride and suffi
cient savings to stay off relief, but
to the leaders. For men out of
work are not apt to be reg
ular in paying their dues, and thus
the union treasuries get hurt. Espe
cially as union leaders have been
forcing in the check-off system
wherever possible for years now,
with the result that union workers,
in more than a majority of cases,
are not used to paying dues per
sonally. They are educated up to
having their dues deducted from
their pay envelopes. Hence, no pay
envelopes, no dues.
Work relief Jobs, under the orig
inal formula to which the union
leaders object so strongly, were to
be given only to persons on relief
rolls last May. The Job could not
be obtained unless the United
States employment service so certi
fied.
In the near future orders will
go out from Washington that the
employment service must certify
union men who need Jobs, whether
they were on relief last May or
not.
This will meet a very Important
point in the present controversy
between the government and union
labor, but it will by no means leave
a good taste in the mouths of the
union men.
May Cause Feeling
The situation makes for artificial
discriminations—likely to raise bit
ter feeling. For exaitiple, two groups
of bricklayers may be working
across the street from each other.
One group will be on a public works
project—one approved by Ickes un
der the old “spend our way out of
the depression” theory. Those men
will be drawing the prevailing wage.
The other group will be working un
der a work relief project—approved
by Harry Hopkins. They will be
drawing relief wages. Under the
Hopkins schedules the highest rate
permitted at present Is $04 a month!
Obviously every man drawing the
lower wage will be sore for they
will be union men In each case; the
administration may be fairly brave
at times, but it Is not going to em
ploy many non-union bricklayers in
big city projects. The man draw
ing the lower wage will have a
grouch against the government to
start with.
But John Taxpayer also enters
the situation. He Is being taxed
for relief, and knows It. The aver
age middle class taxpayer has more
or less of a fixed opinion that union
wages In the building trades are
too high. He resents the day wage
rates for carpenters, bricklayers,
plasterers and plumbers, though he
thinks It fine that Henry Ford has
raised minimum wages In his plant
to $(! a day.
As to Huey Long
All this talk about Huey Long
is food and drink to conservative
critics of the administration. There
is nothing they would like better
than for Huey to be an independent
candidate for President, and to run
In as many states ns possible. They
figure he would not get any elec
toral votes, save possibly those of
Louisiana, where his machine con
trols the election machinery. But
they also figure that In certain rad
ical states, particularly in the West,
every vote he would draw would
come from Roosevelt’s strength,
thus aiding in the election of the Re
publican nominee.
CoDvrlght.—WNU 8»ry|o«.
I
THE AZORES
Modern Wheels Sing a Discordant Note In Rural Azores.
Prepared by National Geographic Society,
Washington, D. C.—W’NU Service.
□ITTLE more than 1,000 stat
ute miles from European
mainland and about 1,300
miles from Newfoundland, in lati
tude a little north of Lisbon, a lit
tle south of New York, lies the
most westerly of the nine Azorian
islands.
Fast steamers from New York
reach Ponta Delgada, metropolis
of the Azores, in live and a half
days. Seaplanes have flown across
from Newfoundland between dawn
and dusk. Three hospitable har
bors in this friendly archipelago
await the coming of commercial
seaplanes, which will form another
link between the New world and
the Old.
Closely allied as they are with
Portugal, of which they form an
Integral part politically, these fer
tile green Islands, with their lush
pastures and mist-wreathed moun
tains, long ago turned their faces
toward the West, sending their
frugal, industrial sons to the United
States, where, before 1929, there
was probably one Azorian to every
two left at home. Most of them
are found in Massachusetts, Rhode
Island and California.
More than once on the streets of
Azorian towns, a traveler Is ap
proached by a stranger who doffs
his hat and politely inquires: “You
are an American?”
When you assent, your new ac
quaintance Informs you he voted
in New England or California, but
was bom in the Azores; was “back
home to see the old folks,” or “here
until times are better in the
States.”
From a rounded hilltop back of a
rainbow-tinted town, one looks past
oblong fields bordered by high stone
walls of dark-gray lava to tile
roofed, many-w’indowed buildings
stretching between gardens and
parks along the curving coast. All
about is the trilling, piping, and
fluting of birds. In the fields bare
foot men sing as they toil.
Portugal’s "Islands Adjacent.”
In the Fifteenth century, the val
iant ocean-mapping Portuguese col
onized these islands and, save for
60 years of Spanish rule, have gov
erned them ever since.
The islands, of volcanic origin,
stretch for about 375 miles from
northwest to southwest, in three
severed groups with clear channels
between. Corvo, smallest and by
far the most primitive, lies farthest
north; Flores, beautiful and well
watered farthest west.
To the southeast, across a tem
pestuous stretch of sea, is the cen
tral group: Fayal, seat of the ocean
conical mountain; Sao Jorge, with
Its rich pastures, exporting excel
lent cheese; Graciosa, with “more
wine than water"; Terceira, most
interesting historically, preserver
of old customs.
Another wide channel and the
traveler reaches Sao Miguel, which
the British and Americans call St
Michael’s, largest and most impor
tant of the group, with Ponta Del
gada, chief city of the archipelago;
and, again to the south, Santa
Maria, first to be discovered and
colonized.
“Islands adjacent" is Portugal’s
official designation of Madeira and
the Azores, the last named, as one
wit has remarked, being adjacent
only to one another. In Portugese
the name is Acores, which signifies
“hawks.”
The wide expanse of ocean on
every side and the force of the en
compassing winds tend to give the
newcomer a feeling of isolation.
This lessens as the weeks pass, in
spite of the provoking sight of
many big ocean liners, which steam
past the Azorian capital with only
the blast of the siren as a nod of
recognition.
Portuguese mail boats, leaving
Lisbon twice each month, come by
way of Funchal. Madeira, and reach
Ponta Delgada in four days. One
of these ships goes only as far north
as Fayal; the other goes beyond
Fayal to Flores, touching six times
a year at lonely, storm-harassed lit
tie Corvo. The round trip from Pon
ta Delgada to the northern islands
can be made in one week.
Motor boats and sailing vessels
also ply. when weather permits, be
tween insular ports.
Independent of the World.
There Is a fruit and passenger
line of small ships, with semi
monthly service between Ponta Del
gada, London, and Hamburg. Ital
ian. French, and Greek transatlan
tic liners stop at the Azorian cap
ital. Ponta Delgada and Horta,
with their adequate artificial break
waters, are havens for ships In need
of fuel, provisions, or repairs.
Cruising ships crossing the North
Atlantic now and then Include the
Azores on their Itinerary.
To the quarter of a million Azor
ians their temperate, agriculturally
productive archipelago Is a com
plete little world In itself. For
their food supply these islanders
are practically Independent of lands
beyond. They produce their own
cereals, vegetables, fruits, meat,
milk, butter, cheese, and eggs. They
make sugar from the beet, spirits
from the sweet potato, press their
own grapes into wine, “roll their
own” tobacco, "curl their own” tea.
Their seas abound In fish.
Their buildings are constructed
from the volcanic basalt of the Is
lands. Furniture Is made from na
tive woods. They manufacture linen
from home-grown flax and woolen
garments from sheep’s wool. Lux
uries are Imported, chiefly from
the Portuguese mainland; but
should every ship sailing these seas
fall to call at the "Western Is
lands,’’ the Azorians could survive.
Ponta Delgada’s religious festival
In honor of Santo Cristo dos Mil
agres (Our Lord of the Miracle),
is one of the Azores’ most striking
feasts to tourists. The devout wor
ship an Image called locally "Sant’
Crist’.” This image, revered for
nearly 400 years, is remarkable for
the number of precious stones with *
which it is adorned. When a na
tive of Sao Miguel prospers In the
New world, a portion of his first
savings is usually sent to his be
loved Sant’ Chris’.
The festival begins on a Thurs
day with the arrival In town of
farmers bringing 00 head of cat
tle to be slaughtered as meat for
the poor. Banners wave; rockets
shoot skyward in broad daylight; a
band plays.
Worship With Skyrockets.
On the following day the meat*
with bread, is blessed and distrib
uted. On Saturday the sacred Im
age Is conveyed with ceremony from
Its home In an old convent to the
Church of Esperanca (hope), next
door. That night thousands kneel
before it. Not only from the rural
district of Sao Miguel, but from the
neighboring Island of Santa Marla,
worshipers flock to the capital.
The facade of the church glow*
with electric lights, adjacent build
ings on the public square are il
luminated, and a line of flaming
arches stretches across the streets.
There is a band concert, with fire
works and rockets, the latter be
ing closely associated with religious
ceremonies in all Portuguese lands.
On Sunday afternoon comes the
procession, when the image, accom
panied by the clergy and hundreds
of laymen, Is conveyed throngh the
city and back to the convent. Men
and women of distinction, of the
middle class, of the peasantry, all
participate. Embroidered hanging*
drape balconies. The street* are
strewn with incenso (PIttosporum>
leaves, aromatic fennel, and fresh
blossoms. All kneel as the Image,
under Its canopy of native-made
feather flowers. Is borne past.
One Is disappointed that so few
old native costumes are to be seen
on the streets during those festival
days, but glad that one, at least,
still survives. It Is the capote e
capello, distinctly Azorian, the wom
an’s long, dark-blue cloth cape, cir
cular in shape, with a large hood
of the same material, resembling a
coni scuttle. It Is amusing to see
two capotes stopping for a friend
ly gossip. The scuttlers meet and
only gesticulating hands are visible.
The shrouding of the woman’s f
head and shoulders is a relic of cen
turies of Moorish rule on the Ibe
rian peninsula. This particular gar
ment may be of Flemish origin,
brought by early colonists from
Flanders. Some Azorians believe It
owes its being to the period when
these Islands were ruled by Spain.
The hood Is not always the same,
heing larger on the Islands of Santa
Maria and Sao Jorge, more stiffen
ing with buckram and whalebone
In Fayal. The young moderns scorn
It; but, conservative, convenient,
protective, and long-lived. It Is still
worn by some of the older women,
especially for early mass. If the
wearer happens to see somebody on
the street whom she wishes to
avoid, presto! the hood Is pulled
farther forward and she Is within
her own fortress.