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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 1935)
Plan for Adequate National Defense ■■ ■ <* ■ — ' Rebuilding of the Army j^nd Navy is Under Way. Washington.—New steps, fostered by the administration, for more adeqnate national defense are be ing made on three fronts—land, sea and air. Plana for new battleships are under way, a mechanized army of swift mobility la being speeded and new air bases along the coast ara to be established. These are the foremost protective measures. Congress has given the govern Biant sufficient funds to develop a mechanized army and a scientific navy of smashing gun power. More than $800,000,000 was supplied In tbe 1930 army and navy appropria tion bills High-Speed Tanks The army plana to equip more In fantry units with the high powered semi-automatic rifle, which haa three times the firing power of the stand ard Springfield rifle. Acquisition of high-speed armed tanks capable of traveling 70 miles bd hour and combat cars, equipped with sponge rubber tires and with turrets con taining 50 caliber machine guns, and one pounder rifles. Is to follow. New armor protection has been developed for seven nnd 15-ton trucks, to be obtained. Armored scout cars equipped with radio and carrying 50 caliber machine guns pre on the schedule. With the Wilcox air base bill en acted the administration Is looking forward to the gradunl adoption of a new policy of national defense. The Wilcox bill, recently enacted, authorizes the establishment of a aeries of air bases along the At lantic and Pacific coastlines, on the Golf of Mexico end In Alaska. It la hoped that as much as $125, 000,000 will be expended on the creation of these bases during the next five years. Wall of Dofonaa. Proponents of military aviation claim these air bases will establish • veritable “Chinese wall" around this country, and that it will be adequate in defending It from at tack. The new air bases will be linked up vdtb naval stations wherever pos sible, to provide the maximum of efficiency. Tbe ‘United States is also draft ing plans for new naval vessels that can be thrown Into production at once—In the event of a world naval race. Naval leaders here hope the Brit- ! Ish-Japanese program of announc ing In advance, what the naval pro gram of each country will be for some years to come, will achieve results of mutual confidence that are predicted for it. Bnt they are skeptical, and frank Great Britain Prevents Sale of Spies' Secrets London.—Secrets of Great Brit ain's espionage network In the days of the Napoleonic wars are believed to have narrowly escaped being revealed for the first time In Sothe by's sale rooms In London. ' Their probable publication was prevented when the foreign office unexpectedly gave warning that the document In which the secrets are believed to be contained would be liable to confiscation under the offi cial secrets act As a result, there Is considerable likelihood that they ouy be taken to the United States for sale. The documents are a part of the papers sf Lord Stuart de Rothesay, British ambassador In Paris early In the Nineteenth century, and be long to the earl of Abingdon, who eras offering the entire lot for auc tion. They Include a series of 82 let ters from the duke of Wellington to Stuart de Rothesay between 1814 and 1830, chiefly dealing with France after the fall of Napoleon; correspondence of great Importance between Stuart and Admiral Lord Berkeley, chief commander on the Portuguese coast from 1810 to 1812; “official letters and dispatches from Portugal, 1810-13,’* and dispatches from Lord Nelson and the duke of Wellington. ly believe there Is little hope of any effective results from a “gentle man’s agreement’’ that isn’t even over a signature. In any event, this country will be forced to build seven new bat tleships. weighing about 35,000 tons and costing about $50,000,000 each, before 1942. That program will not Increase the American naval strength. The ships will be replace ments of vessels already In service. Approximately half a dozen cruis ers also must be replaced on the same basis, and by the end of the period the aircraft carriers Lex ington and Saratoga will be nearing the obsolete stage. Plant Blooms Each Night but Loses Buds in Day Berne, Ind—An unusual plant Is growing In the garden of Mrs. Edna Stauffer. It has no blooms during the day, but around seven o’clock every evening numerous buds open, and yellow flowers appear. All the blooms are wilted by eleven o’clock the next day. Man Lisps Way Into Charge of Robbery Atlanta, Ga.—Eddie Brown, ne gro, lisped himself into trouble here. Placed in a police lineup as a robbery suspect, Eddie was viewed by Rev. W. H. Major, who had lost $35 and a watch to a dusky holdup man. Major peered at the suspect closely. “Make some talk,** he command ed. “Say scissors.” “Thitherth,” replied Eddie. “That’s the man,” Major told police. "He looks like him and he lisps like him.” Uproot Street to Save Life of Stray Mongrel Boise, Idaho.—It was only a mon grel dog, but no effort was spared to save its life. The dog was trapped In an Irriga tion canal, its head wedged in a weed catcher. One man offered $5 to anyone who could free the dog. Another volunteered to swim down the ditch to rescue the animal. Police and firemen were called. Street employees finally used ham mer and chisels to tear up the street, ditch and concrete founda tions, and the dog was freed. It feebly shook the water from Its body and was on Its way. Find New Race of Pygmies in Annam _ « Tiny Couple Captured in Re mote Section of Asia. Paris.—A race of pygmies has been discovered in mountainous An nam hinterland of southeastern Asia, hlthterto believed uninhab ited. A tiny man and woman were cap tured by natives and taken to Hue, government seat of the Quang Binh province. Administrator Pierrot of province Id the French protectorate reported. They are being nursed to health from malnutrition. The discovery verified Pierrot’s long suspicion that a race of tiny people lived back up In the moun tains which few of the superstitious natives have visited. Typhoons that wrought much damage through the region gave Pierrot the first suggestion of the aboriginal race. While on an ex [•edition through the stricken area Pierrot thought he saw a pygmy clinging to a log being carried down a river. He was unable to reach the log to save the small man, If there was one, but the administra tor began asking natives If they hnd seen any pygmies. Pierrot found a few villagers who said they had seen dwarfish people occasionally, so timid and elusive that natives never could catch up with them. Later the pygmy man and woman were captured and brought here. Doctor Trehout, director of the French hospital, recognized them as belonging to a race closely akin to the African pygmies. The French School of the Ex treme Orient has been notified of the find and has begun an Intensive study to determine the origin of this curious race. Air Commuter in East Is an Old Time Pilot Georgetown, Md.—Late every aft ernoon this summer, the pontoons of a seaplane cut two troughs across the surface of Chesapeake bay and Milton Earl Reid, who claims to be the oldest active pilot In the United States, steps out on the deck of the houseboat—his sum mer home. The first Pennsylvanian to attain the distinction, he qualified as an airplane pilot on April 13, 1912, and holds license No. 114 of the Fed eration Auronautique Internation ale. But flying, to Reid, Is only a con venient means of commuting be tween his summer residence and his office In Philadelphia. It is a 40 minute hop from Georgetown to Essington- on - the- Delaware, where he lands. The 90-mlle trip requires at least four hours by water and almost that length of time by train. Aboard the houseboat, there Is a radio receiving set which enables him to obtain dally government weather forecasts. A radio beacon and a 54 gallon drum of aviation gasoline for emergencies complete the flying equipment at his floating home. FOR SCHOOL DAYS By CHERIE NICHOLAS Smart fashions for the school-girl "say It” emphatically In checks and plaids this fall. Here Is a two-piece dress that relies for Its smartness on a unique closely knit Jacquard patterning done In delectable con trasting colors. Among the combina tions In which the costume la par ticularly effective are beret green with string, rust and white, black and white, also chile and varsity. Interesting details Include the high waist, knife pleats In the skirt, pique collar and the self bow across the neckline. The metal trims In clude a huge belt buckle, also orna ments on the bow which spans the pique collar. This attractive two piece spenkB eloquently In favor of knitted modes for fall, the advance showings of which amaze In point of artistry, originality and smart ness of their styling. Bees Nett in Rail Switch Woodburn, Ohio.—A swarm of bees settled down in a railroad switch lock in the yards here, ham pering rail activities. Field Mass Held During Army Maneuvers During the great army maneuver* at Pine camp, N. Y., religious services were held regularly, men of all creeds attending. The Illustration shows a Catholic priest conducting a field mass at an Improvised altar. SEENand HEAR around the NATIONAL CAPITAL By Carter Field FAMOUS WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT Washington.—Black rust In the Northwest, particularly In the Da kotas and Minnesota, and to a less er extent—due to less rain—In Mon tana, Is going to upset a lot of AAA calculations on wheat this year. For example, all government figures so far are very misleading, in that they estimate bushels of wheat, but take no acocunt of the fact that due to the peculiar type of ravaging black rust effects, the same number of bushels of wheat will produce less flour. Conservative estimates In Minne apolis and St. Paul for example, are that from 40 to 50 per cent of the wheat crop expected In the whole Northwest will be unmlllable. That Is, It would not, in the normal course of events, be ground Into flour. This is complicated further by the processing taxes. The processing tax Is based on the bushel of wheat that goes into the flour mill. Now a bushel of wheat which has been affected by black rust will produce only a frac tion of the flour that a normal bush el of wheat would. In ordinary times, this would be carefully cal culated, and would be reflected In a much lower price paid for that wheat by the miller. But the fact that the processing tax Is based on the bushel of wheat, not on the barrel of flour, upsets normal cal culations. Black rust strikes the wheat on one side—always on the southern side. If the weather Is dry, It does not spread around the kernel. If the weather Is dnmp It does. It makes a ring all around, and as most of the nourishment comes up near the circumference of the ker nel, Instead of through the center, the food of the kernel Is choked off. This means that In a bushel of rust infested wheat, there is an unusu ally large percentage of bran, and an unusually small percentage which cnn be ground Into white flour. Canada Also Hit The duty on wheat from Canada is 42 cents a bushel. Canada also suffered from black rust this year, but Canada has a tremendous carry over—considerably more than 100, 000,000 bushels, which Is not affect ed by black rust. Moreover, the gov ernment of Canada has decided to liquidate this wheat, which it has been holding In much, the same way that the United States government held cotton, and as the Brazilian government held coffee. This hold-over Canadian wheat, experts say, can easily pay the 42 cents duty, and the processing tax, and still be a bargain for Minne apolis millers In contrast with about one-half of the northwestern wheat. This Is due to the complication of the processing tax plus the fact that half or more of the northwest ern wheat assays such a small pro portion of flour. Predictions by experts are that at least 50,000,000 bushels of this hold-over Canadian wheat will be bought by United States millers, and probably nearer 100,000,000 bushels. The rust-infested wheat thus driven out will have to be sold as cattle feed. But there en ters another complication. There Is already In the Northwest a great plenty of cattle feed. All fornge crops were good this year, due to the very moisture which hurt the wheat. Forage crops, due to their bulk as compared with their value, cannot be hauled economically for long distances. Which means that If they are to be consumed at all, they must be consumed In the north western states. From all of which experts pre dict that there will be tremendous buying of young pigs for fattening, and young cattle, In the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Montana, this year, and that while the production of beef may not affect prices before 1937, the price of pork will be forced down by next summer, no matter what the AAA may do. Atlantic-Gulf Canal Aside entirely from the question of whether the construction of the Atlantlc-Gulf canal across northern Florida will ruin the fresh water supply of that portion of the state south of the proposed ditch down to Lake Okechobee, the proposition Is really on all fours with the much talked nbout Passamoquaddy. It has been considered for many years. Always It has been reject ed, nfter a study by engineers. Al ways the reason has been the same. It Is entirely practical as an en gineering project—Indeed it pre sents few real ditliculties from that angle. If this contamination of Flor ida’s fresh water supply Is waved to one side. But Is It economically sound? The answer has always been “No.” Careful study, even this time, pro duced a report to President Roose velt that If the total volume of business which might be expected should materialize, still the propo sition would not pay Interest on its cost and operating expenses. There Is no hair line about this. The ex perts hnve no doubt about It what ever. But there is an even gloomier angle. Three-fourths of the pres ent tonnage moving from Gulf ports to North Atlantic American ports, and across the Atlantic (tonnage for South Atlantic ports, of course would not use It) consists at pres ent of oil. No one is in a posi tion to state how long this tonnage will continue so to move. Oil fields now shipping by way of the Gulf may continue shipping for many yearB. On the other hand, their production may slump any time. Also it is always possible that pipe lines may be found more econom ical for moving the product. So that no one knows at what moment three-fourths of the exist ing tonnage that this canal might expect may be cut off. Can’t Foretell Tonnage Against this the contention is made In defense that no one can foretell what business may arise to provide plenty of tonnage for the canal. It is quite possible. Many railroads doing a large business today, and serving very real needs, were con structed to accommodate traffic which has long since disappeared— would never have been built if their builders, and the Investors who provided the construction costs, had suspected that the traffic they were built to handle might evaporate. The immediate pressure for the canal, of course, Is to provide some useful work for idle men—some thing that will not be mere boon doggling. On the theory that this work may be useful—may even prove profitable for reasons not now realized—the work is Justified by its defenders. And it is a real Job. The canal will be 195 miles long. It involves moving almost twice as much dirt as was involved in dig ging the Panama canal—slides and all Though on account of the dif ference in terrain, climate, etc., the expense will not be anything like as great About Politics It is an old saying in politics that the man “out In front" In the race for the Presidential nomina tion of a big party—six months be fore the convention—Is bound to be killed off. The theory is that all the other candidates are shoot ing at him. Also that the public Is highly changeable, and forgets easily. There are exceptions to all rules, as evidenced In this case by the pres ent Incumbent of the White House. Franklin D. Roosevelt, was well out In front for the Democratic nomination for 18 months prior to the 1932 Democratic convention. He sprang into the lead when he was re-elected governor of New York, by a tremendous majority. In November, 1930. Ills boom de fied all traditions by staying there, despite all sorts of ups and downs, right through the whole period. To use a racing term, his boom was never headed. There was never a day from November, 1930, until his nomination In June, 1932, when fair betting odds would not have fa vored him against any other candi date. Or for that matter, against any two other candidates. Politicians of both parties are wondering If an exception will come this time In the Republican party. At present the two leaders, so far out In front that It seems hardly worth while to figure who Is third and who Is fourth, are Senator Wil liam E. Borah and Col. Frank Knox, publisher of the Chicago Daily News. Almost any politician, famlllnt with national politics, will tell his friends confidentially that if either of the two is nominated, It will be Knox. As to Borah That is one of the reasons the recent poll of Republican local lead ers by Robert H. Lucas was so In teresting. Apparently these local leaders thought Borah would make a very strong candidate in their communities, whether they person ally would prefer another type or not. As to his age, Borah is In marvel ous condition, considering his sev enty years. Friends are fond of saying he has all the Mormon vir tues. By which they mean he uses no tea, coffee, tobacco or alcohol. He is a sparing eater, and has kept up his horseback riding, even in Wash ington. He Insists on his beauty sleep every night, cares nothing abouv society, never subjects him self to any undue strains. For ex ample, even when he was tremen dously Interested in filibusters, he never made the long, grueling, time killing speeches for which some other senators are famous. All his life he has been a lone wolf In politics. In the senate he has never been a cog in the ma chine. He would never be "regu lar.” The strength of Colonel Knox, as shown In various polls. Is simply revolutionary from a political stand point. One has to go back to Hor ace Greely for a precedent, and even that Is not a good one. Copyright.—WNU 8«r»lc*. The Ananda, a Temple of Pagan. riared by National Geographic Society, Vashlngton, D. C.—WNU Service. AGAN, Burma's Sacred City, is solemnity and mystery; about it is enchantment. Here, 90 miles southwest of Mandalay, the traveler finds himself In the midst of a veritable forest of tem ples and pagodas, large and small, nearly perfect or almost unrecog nizable because of decay. Before their vast bulks the traveler be comes painfully conscious of his littleness and insignificance. His mere presence seems an Imperti nence. The crumbling walls, the fall en pinnacles and the desolation are eloquent of the vanity of fame, the hollowness of glory, and the futil ity of human effort. • Of the 5,000 or more temples that are still to be seen, the Ananda, the Thatbylnnyu, and Gawdawpalln, standing all three within a circle of a quarter of a mile radius, are surpassingly beautiful and majestic. The Ananda rises like a struc ture of foam. On its summit, like the flame upon some altar, a slen der, golden spire gathers the radi ance of the sun and flings it forth again to every quarter. It is the first of all the temples to com mand the traveler’s attention; it Is the last upon which he gazes as the swift steamer bears him away. The Thatbylnnyu has suffered more from time and neglect than has the Ananda. Its walls are blackened and much of the detail of Its ornamentation has fallen away. It is hardly beautiful; it is majestic. About It Is a suggestion of enormous solidity and a noble loftiness of conception. The third temple has neither the exquisite beauty of the Ananda nor the sublimity of the Thatbylnnyu; yet In the perfect harmony of its proportions, the refinement of every detail, it has a charm of Its own. It contributes with the others to the spell which Pagan casts over even the most careless visitor. Lovely • View From Circuit House. Past the Gawdawpalin the path leads on to the circuit house. At every step is revealed some new grouping of effects, some new har monies of proportion or felicities of detail, and from the spacious veranda of the resthouse the view is one never to be forgotten. West ward the river and the hills, silver and gold and blue in the sunset; near at hand the Gawdawpalin, with orange light and soft purple shadows mingling and shifting over its huge battlements; farther away the Ananda and the Thatbyinnyu, now Indistinct in the twilight; and all around, the half-seen outlines of pagodas. Heroic achievements, the basest villainy, successful subtlety—all these are mingled In the history of this ruined city. The greatness of Pagan, and with It reliable Burmese history, dates from tke accession of Anawrata, about A. D. 1017. This truly re markable monarch won by the sword a splendid empire and es tablished a dynasty that continued in power for more than 200 years. At the beginning of his reign he de voted himself to the moral and re ligious uplift of his people. A cor rupt and degrading ‘‘Naga worship,” or obedience to devils, in the form of serpents, had come through As sam from northern India. Anawrata's Great Reform. Soon after Anuwrata ascended the throne Buddhist missionaries arrived at Pagan from the country of the Talaings, a people dwelling to the south and, as a result of the frequent and easy communication with Indin by sea, highly civilized. These Talaing missionaries found the king a zealous convert, tie ex pelled the priests of the abomin able cult that for so many years had debauched his people, strict ly proscribed the Naga worship, and did everything In his power to furth er the efforts of the preachers. His fervor had, however, one la mentable result. Hearing that there were in Thnton, the Talaing capi tal, copies of the Buddhist Sacred Books and several precious relics, he sent a noble envoy to beg for such portions as might be spared. His reasonable request was refused In a singularly insolent manner. With characteristic energy Ana wrata assembled an army and a tleet and moved against Thnton. He was completely successful, and as the spoils of victory he carried back to Pagan not only the books and the priceless relics but the king and queen of the fallen city, to gether with principal nobles, rich treasure, 32 white elephants, and a host of 30,000 artificers and schol ars This signal success only fanned the flame of Anawrata’s zeal. A fresh field for enterprise was found In Ceylon. There was In that Island a most sacred relic, nothing less than a tooth of Gautama. Such a trophy was beyond price and its possession by Pagan would sancti fy and ennoble the king's name. Ac cordingly, with four trusty captains, mounted on matchless steeds, Ana wrata hastened to the seashore and embarked for Ceylon at nightfall. But unseen hands were fighting on the side of the sovereign of Cey lon and sacred tooth. The ship sped swiftly on through the night Yet when the travelers awoke It was to find themselves anchored a little below Pagan 1 Baffled but not defeated. Ana wrata sent an envoy to Sangabodhl, the king, an envoy who bore many costly presents and who was In structed to demand the tooth of Guatama In return. Gautama Supplied Teeth. Sangabodhl, unwilling to surren der his most precious possession, yet fearful of arousing the Ire of so dreadful a monarch as the king of Pagan, was in sore straits. In his distress he expressed the wish that he might have two such teeth. No sooner had he given utterance to this desire than the tooth pro duced a fellow exactly resembling Itself 1 In fact, the two were In distinguishable until the original declared Itself by rising Into the air and performing miracles. The duplicate was placed In a casket of gold and delivered to the envoy wlw> carried It back with great pomp to Pagan. To solve the difficulty of choos ing a site for the enshrinement of the prize, the casket was placed on the back of a white elephant, and It was announced that wherever the animal halted there should be the resting place of the tooth. Much to the disappointment of all, the elephant bearing his pre cious burden crossed the river and knelt down near the Tangyi hills. This was very far from the palace, and the king expressed his regret that he also had not two sacred teeth. Here again the wish was father to the miracle. Immediate ly there were two teeth Instead of one! The duplicate was placed on the elephant’s back and the beast was hidden to move on. Five times the elephant halted be fore reaching the neighborhood of the palace, and at each place the tooth was miraculously multiplied, until at last the site of the Lokan anda was reached and the king pro fessed himself satisfied. At each stop a shrine was built, and at the last was reared the pile which still remains as one of the monuments to Anawrata’s greatness. Conquered by the Chineee. For more than two centuries the successors of Anawrata more or less worthily maintained the dignity and prestige of Pagan. But in the north was developing a power that was soon to engulf not Pagan only, but almost the entire continent of Asia. Kublai Khan in 1254 con quered what is now Yunnan, and the Chinese were thus brought into contact with Burma. To the result ing conflict there could be but one issue. In 1286 Pagan fell before Invaders from the north, never again to attain historical signific ance. Of the great battle between the two armies on the plain of Voclam, Marco Polo gives a graph ic and spirited account. Though under the circumstances, the fall of Pagan was Inevitable, the last king of that unfortunate capital stands in pitiful contrast to the great Anawreta. Known to his tory as Tayokpyemln, the King Who Ran Away From the Chinese, he was utterly unworthy of his noble office. In the Mingaiazedi is an In scription which commemorates his achievements at the table. Here It is recorded that he never dined off fewer than three hundred dishes! While the Chinese host was yet a long way from the city, the cow ardly king fled down the river to Bassein. When the cooks whom he had taken with him were able to produce only 150 dishes, the full horror of his position dawned upon the unhappy monarch. lie burst in to childish ' tears and exclaimed, “Now I am poor indeed!’’ When the Invaders had taken their toll oi Pagan and retired, he thought of returning. At Prome, however, he was met b.v one of his sons, who offered him poisoned food. For a time the weakling hesi tated. At last, convinced thaf it was better to die so than by the sword, he yielded and met a fate that, as few writers have avoided the temp tation to remark, was singularly ap propriate to his character.