FAM6uS "
~HIAPLINE HUNTER
“U-Iioat 15V*
By FLOYD GIBBONS.
HERE’S a lad with an amazing story. He is Thomas P.
Carey of Brooklyn, N. Y., and the experience he had
was one that has happened to mighty few people in the
world. Tom—an American—had the rare thrill of cruising
on a German submarine while it raided our shipping along
the Atlantic coast.
That, of course, happened during the war. On May 22, 1918, Tom
shipped as a seaman on the schooner Hattie Dunn, sailing out of Charles
ton, S. C., bound for New York with a cargo of cotton.
The third day out. off the Virginia Capes, a submarine broke
the surface of the water and fired a shot across the Hattie Dunn’s
bow. The skipper heaved to and dropped |he topsail. Tom says
that ail that happened so quickly that, standing there on the Hat*
tie’s deck, he hardly realized that anything exciting was happen
ing. He little dreamed he was about to start out on a great
adventure.
Blew the Hattie Up in a Hurry.
Hie submarine swung a boat over the side and an officer and four
German sailors boarded the Hattie. Just then another schooner ap
peared on the horizon and bedlam broke loose. The sub’s commander
shouted across the water to the searching party. The searching party
ordered the Hattie's crew into the lifeboats. Hurriedly a charge of
TNT was set off in the Hattie's innards, and as the Hattie went down,
ber crew, in their boats, watched the submarine pursue and sink the
second schooner.
The second schooner was the Hauppage. bound for Portland, Maine.
When it was blown up, the sub came back. The crews of both schooners
were herded aboard the undersea craft. Tom then learned that he was
on the German submarine U-151, commanded by a skipper named von
Nostitz.
There were 17 prisoners aboard, but Tom was Che only one
who couid speak German. “So I went to the skipper,’’ Tom says,
"and pleaded with him to set us adrift in the small boats. He
refused to do it because he didn’t want it known that a sub
marine was present in American waters. He told me he had a
task to complete. He said he had planted 50 mines in Chesapeake
bay, and had 50 more to plant in the mouth of the Delaware.’*
Trying Time for the Poor Prisoners.
At that time there was room enough aboard to accommodate all
the prisoners without crowding. The ship submerged, and that was an
uneasy moment for a lot of captured sailors who had never been under
A Charge of TNT Was Set Off.
the water before. They hadn't been down long when the periscope
watch sighted another schooner—the Edna, bound from Philadelphia to
Santiago with a cargo of gasoline. That was capiured and blown
up and six more prisoners were taken aboard.
While Tom acted as interpreter, the commander questioned the
newcomers. They assured him there was no news abroad of a sub
marine lurking in American waters. Tom says all of them gave von
Nostitz advice abcut the shore line. They knew only too well that their
own lives depended on his navigation. It was a trying time for the pris
oners. and their nerves were frayed to the breaking point. For in addi
tion to the hazards of living on a submarine which might be sunk any
moment by an American battleship, they were remembering things
they’d read in the papers—tales of subs that had shelled life-boats full
of helpless men- * prisoners tortured, killed—of men shot up through
torpedo tubes and left to drown in the empty ocean.
Still, the German crew seemed friendly and hospitable. They
shared their bunks with the prisoners and made them as
comfortable as possible under the circumstances. The U-151
was running toward Delaware bay, and at 9:15 that night the
watch sighted Overfall lightship. Then, without warning the boat
gave a terrific lurch.
•Disabled by Striking Bottom.
The lurch took Tom completely off his feet. The boat bumped two
or three times, then leaped toward the surface. There was general
pandemonium aboard. The officers were yelling all kinds of orders.
Some of the prisoners were praying, some yelling, while others were
so stunned they couldn't move. The engineer cried, “She won't stay
down. I can't control her.” They had struck bottom and disabled the
steering apparatus!
The ship was spinning around, helpless in an eddying current. Lights
were looming up ahead, and any one of them might be an American pa
trol boat. A large steamer passed a few hundred feet away. Two more
passed almost as closely. The current was pulling them toward the
lightship. “We could hear its bell, and it sounded like a death knell
to all of us.” says Tom.
Down below, the crew was working with a fine frenzy. At last
came the order to close the hatches and dive again. The break
hsW been repaired.
They Cut Two Trans-Atlantic Cables.
The sub lay on the bottom for a few hours, then came up In a
thick night fog to plant the remaining mines. At ten the next morning
they were on the bottom again while the crew took a nap. That evening
they set out for New York. On May 28, they were off Fire island, to cut
the trans-Atlantic cables with a newly devised instrument. After two
days' angling, they had cut two of them—one to South America and
another to Europe.
From there the sub went back to Delaware bay, where it took the
S. S. Winneconne and the schooner Isabel B. Wiley. The lifeboats of
both ships were drawn alongside, and then it was that Commander
von Nostitz told Tom the time had come for a friendly farewell. The
prisoners put off in motor lifeboats, and landed at Lewes, Del., after
eight days of captivity—eight days in which they witnessed—and lived
through—a war-time epic of the sea.
We were all supposed to hate the Germans during the war, but
Tom found it pretty hard to hate Commander von Nostitz. As a mat
ter of fact, he and Tom parted the best of friends, and to this day they
keep up a correspondence. A war may separate a couple of nations—but
there’s nothing like a good adventure to bring them together.
Q—WNU Service.
Shoe-Bill Stork |
This shoe-bill stork is native to
the White Nile. He spears fish
with the curved hook on the end
of his beak, or uses the beak like
a dredge to scoop minnows from
the bottom. His long legs are ad
mirably adapted to wading. They
also can support him motionless for
hours while waiting for an unwary
fish to swim within range of bis
hungry beak.
Camels’ Sense of tHrection
Camels possess a wonderful
sense of direction to any place
where once they have watered and
fed, and for tne rirst two or Uirtre
days after leaving a village or
oasis, the camels often try to turn
back, but once away in the desert,
they st.ck close to the caravan, and
thereafter nave no need to be roped
—instinct tells them that to stray
1 means death.
SEEN
and
HEARD
ardund the
NATIONAL
CAPITAL
Washington.—For the tirst month
since May the Commerce depart
ment reported that the nation’s
foreign traders chalked up in Sep
tember an excess of exports over
imports.
The report listed September ex
ports at $219,987,000, compared with
$198,803,000 for September a year
ago. Imports were $215,525,000 and
$161,647,000, respectively, thus mak
ing an export margin for the
month of $4,442,000. The export bal
ance was smaller than for Septem
ber, 1935, however, when the excess
was $37,156,000.
Although a $33,156,000 edge on
the import side was reported for
the first nine months of this year,
compared with a $66 496,000 excess
of exports in the corresponding 1935
period. Secretary Roper told re
porters this might be changed to a
balance of exports before the end
of the year. He explained that cot
ton and several other commodities
are exported most heavily in the
last quarter.
Exports $1,732,314,000
For the nine-month period exports
were $1,732,314,000, compared with
$1,568,271,000 in the corresponding
1935 period. The respective import
totals were $1,765,450,000 and $1,
501,775,000. At his press conference
Roper called attention to increas
ing volume of aggregate foreign
trade, predicting that combined ex
ports and imports would total be
tween $4,800,000,000 and $5,000,000,
000 for 1936. This would exceed the
volume for any year since 1930.
The commerce chief expressed
the view that “our economic prog
ress is as well, if not better, re
flected in our imports than in our
exports.”
He added:
“Many of mr more important
manufacturing industries are de
pendent upon foreign sources for
certain of their raw materials.
Therefore, one of the best indica
tions of expanding activity is an
increase in our purchases of essen
tial foreign materials.”
Roper said that “a number of
agricultural commodities, particu
larly wheat and meats, have been
imported in increased quantities,
chiefly due to the temporary con
ditions created by the drouth.”
Aids Road Safety
A record year in accident-preven
tion work has been reported, one
year after the start of the Red Cross
drive to eliminate death and inju
ries on the highways.
Personnel has been trained and
2,000 first-aid stations established
along principal thoroughfares
throughout tha country. Mobile
emergency first-aid units also have
been established through the co
operation of state police, state high
way departments, public service
companies and commercial com
panies operating carriers on high
ways.
Within the next year, Rear Ad
miral Cary T. Grayson, chairman
of the Red Cross, said, it is hoped
to have a much larger number of
stations and mobile units in opera
tion.
He also announced that new rec
ords were set during the year end
ed June 30 in all phases of the first
aid and life-saving program spon
sored by the Red Cross.
He pointed to the “alarming”
number of persons who lose their
lives or suffer permanent injuries
while engaged in agricultural pur
suits or within the supposed safety
of their homes.
“We believe such conditions un
warranted,” he went on, "and we
are conducting a program of educa
tion among children in schools as
well as among adults, and espe
cially parents.”
A week has been designated
as a period for special concentra
tion against home and farm ac
cidents.
“The Red Cross is prepared,
throughout the coming months, to
carry this fight against death and
injury to every corner of our coun
try,” he declared.
Bank Assets Climb
Assets of the 14,059 federally in
sured banks amounted to $53,578,
392.000 as of June 30, the Federal
Deposit Insurance corporation an
nounced. Total deposi's were $46,
625,749.000.
The bulk of the increase in assets
of the banks from December 31,
1935, to June 30, was accounted for
by a jump of $1,497,188,000 in gov
ernment bonds, notes, and bills, re
flecting the New Deal's deficit bor
rowing program. On June 30 the
government loans swelling the
bank's assets were $15,107,185,000.
Other securities amounted to only
$7,411,609,000, an increase of $570,
510.000 during the six months.
Loans, discounts, and overdrafts,
including rediscounts amounted to
$15,107,185,000 on June 30, an in
crease of $409,204,000. Other assets
reported by the FD1C included: Re
serve with federal reserve banks,
$5,607,119,000; balances with other
banks, $5,321,897,000; cash items in
process of collection, >2,194.114,000;
coin and currency, $915,988,000;
banking house, furniture, and fix
tures, $1,194,621,000; ether real es
tate, $574,024,000, customers’ liabili
ty on account of acceptances. $139,.
267,000; borrowed securities, $1,000,.
000; and other assets, $319,091,000.
Liability Side
On the liability side of the ledger
the banks increased their total de
posits by $2,500,128,000 during the
six months. Demand deposits to
taled $21,463,913,000 on June 30, rep
resenting an increase of $1,389,850,
000 during the six months, while
time deposits were $13,005,697,000,
an increase of $510,138,000.
The capital account of the banks
aggregated $6,298,588,000. Of this
$3,212,615,000 represented capital
stock, notes and debentures, and
$2,042,072,000 was surplus.
For the first time the FDIC re
ported that the capital investment of
the Reconstruction Finance corpo
ration in the insured banks was
$782,434,000. Of these federal
advances 1,872 national banks were
chalked up with $411,107,000. There
were 336 state banks, members of
the federal reserve system, owing
$170,682,000 to the RFC and 3,299
banks not members of the federal i
reserve system debtors to the RFC
in the amount of $200,645,000.
Weed Out Criminals
In 1922 civil service officials in
New York first began to wonder if
any federal employees had criminal
records.
Upon checking the employees’ rec
ords, they discovered a large num
ber of ex-criminals on the pay roll.
After authorities had weeded them
out of the New York postoffice staff,
which was to handle the Christmas
holiday mail, its ranks were re
duced by 50 per cent.
- Startled by the findings in New
York, the civil service commission
ers spread the idea of finger print
ing, until now all persons tentative
ly approved for appointments un
der civil service are included.
Last year, 1,635 persons applying
for government jobs had criminal
records. Their police histories were
discovered when the bureau of in
vestigation compared their finger
prints with the Department of Jus
tice criminal records.
Experts in approximately 1,200
cities throughout the nation take
the finger prints. If job applicants
temporarily approved for appoint
ment refuse to submit to the finger
print check, they are barred from
appointment.
Many notorious criminals have
been detected attempting to gain
government positions. An embezzler
who had served three years in pris
on for stealing funds frerr, a post
office was caught applying for work
at another post office under an as
sumed name.
Down on the Farm
The farm population of the Uniteo
States remained virtually stationary
last year, the bureau of agricultural
economics said in a report just
issued. The number of persons liv
ing on farms January 1, 1936, was
estimated at 31,800,000, as compared
with 31,801,000 one year earlier.
The number of persons on farms
at the beginning of this year was
only slightly greater than in 1920
ard was somewhat less than in 1910.
Births on farms last year were esti
mated at 727,000, while deaths were
placed at 333,000.
The fact that the total farm pop
ulation did not increase materially
despite the excess of births over
deaths is explained by the migra-.
tion of persons away from the
farms. During the year it is esti
mated that 1,211,000 persons moved
away from farms to towns and
cities, and 825,000 moved from town
to farm.
For the first time since 1930 every
region in the country showed a net
migration away from the farms ex
cept the Pacific coast, where one
movement balanced the other. Thus
it appears that the farms last year
furnished the towns and cities with
a gain in population of 386,000 and
at the same time added 8,000 per
sons to the farm population.
Discussing the effects of the de
pression years on farm population,
the bureau noted that between the
beginning of 1930 and 1935, farm
population increased by 1.C32.000.
Migration away from the farms
during those years was compara
tively light, amounting to a net loss
of only 598,000 persons for the whole
period.
On the other hand, during the
preceding five-year period, 1925-30,
mainly one of urban prosperity, the
farms lost people to the cities at a
rate of 600,000 annual net loss.
Farms are an important source
from which new population is con
stantly recruited for urban centers,
the bureau points out. The rate at
which people leave the farms
changes greatly from year to year,
depending upon the relative attrac
tion of urban jobs and opportunities.
Farm Income Gains
Increased cash receipts from the
sale of principal products by farm
ers in four out of six regions in
August as compared with August,
1935, were reported by t! bureau of
agricultural economics.
Gains ranged from 17 per cent in
the Western states to 30 per cent
in the West North Central states.
Receipts declined 7 per cent in the
South Atlantic states and 5 per cent
in the South Central region.
Smaller marketings of tobacco in
the South Atlantic region in August
this year, as a result of the later
opening of the markets for some
important types of tobacco, and
smaller cotton marketings in the
South Central region were reported.
Gains in the cash receipts in the
other four regions were due to
higher prices of truck crops, po
tatoes, and barley,
* WNU Service.
NEW MEXICO’S GYPSUM
The White Sands of Alamogordo.
Prepared by National Geographic Society,
Washington, D. C.—WNU Service.
AS ONE stands upon the
heights of the San Andres
mountains in the neighbor
hood of Rhodes Pass, New
Mexico, one looks out upon an ocean
of white. South and east stretches a
vast sea on which the glint of white
caps appears as real as the rocky
shores. The view is a startling
mirage. Closer inspection reveals
that the billowing snowy expanse is
the White Sands of Alamogordo.
The windrowlike dunes seem vel
vety in their softness, yet many of
them are firm enough to permit
motorists to roll their cars from one
crest to the next in roller-coaster
fashion. Some of the hills have at
tained a height of 100 feet, but 50
feet probably represents the aver
age.
Curious stories of the origin of the
sands have circulated since they
have been known to Americans, but
the truth is not less interesting than
the fanciful explanationas. The proc
esses of making are going on con
stantly.
Underlying the Tularosa basin are
beds of Permian limestone and
sandstone, between the layers of
which are interspersed thick beds
of gypsum. Borings made in recent
years reveal that the gypsum is
hundreds of feet below the present
valley floor and that water is en
countered at depths of a thousand
feet or less.
The nature of the sedimentary
rocks above the water-bearing sands
is favorable to upward seepage. As
the water on its upward course
passes through the gypsum de
posits, it dissolves that material and
carries a rather full load to the
surface. The limestone through
which the solution passes is not
readily soluble; very little in addi
tion to gypsum is carried by the
rising water. When evaporation
takes place at the surface a fairly
pure crust of gypsum is deposited,
which, under action of the atmos
phere, crumbles to form crystalline
grains.
The prevailing southwest wind
sweeps these crystals from the sur
face upon which they were formed
and piles them in huge drifts to the
north and east of the point of origin.
The wind erosion excavates basins,
the flat floors of which may be 10
to 30 feet below the surface of the
plain and 50 feet or more below the
tops of the dunes.
Basins of Moist Sands.
Nearly everywhere in the basin
floors moist sands are encountered
at a depth of a few inches. Ordina
rily sand erosion does not develop
flat surfaces, but the flatness of
these floors is manifestly caused by
the water table which limits the
depth to which the sand can erode.
The largest of the basins from
which the sands are blown is a
boggy lake bed at the south end of
the dune area, but many of the
smaller flat floored depressions are
scattered through the area. The size
of the depression apparently af
fects the height of the sand piles
built up to the lee of it.
Hills and mountains surrounding
the Tularosa basin contain gypsum,
and it is evident that some of the
deposit is brought from this source
by surface waters that feed it to the
large natural evaporation pan at the
south end of the sands. Whether
the source is the deeply buried beds
or the visible deposits in the moun
tains, the processes of evaporation,
crumbling, and drifting with the
wind ore the same. The end product
is invariably beautiful, white, win
nowed, and clean.
The picture afforded in this ex
panse of white sand is unlike any
thing known. The white environ
ment has produced a notable effect
upon the limited animal life of the
sands, and zoologists look to this
natural laboratory for possible an
swers to questions bearing upon
adaptation. Botanists long ago
turned to the White Sands as a field
in which to study the responses of
plants to unusual physical influences.
In places large cottonwood trees
nearly covered up with sand live a
strange existence, producing roots
where upper branches once grew.
When the sand drifts and exposes
their modified anatomy, they still
stand, amazing specimens, with
roots interspersed with dead
branches along trunks much
changed as a result of long burial.
Disinterred specimens of the
yucca are to be seen that have
struggled in an effort to keep their
heads above the shifting sands until
their stems have elongated to some
thirty feet.
‘‘Red Lakes” Come and Go.
For several years the appearance
and disappearance of ‘‘red lakes”
in the sands have caused conjee
ture among biologists and chemists.
Studies made during the last few
months have tentatively identified
an organism which may be responsi
ble for the strange color changes
that take place in the waters of
certain ponds and pools. Apparent
ly the vermilion “lakes” can exist
only when the water has evapora
ted to a condition of high salt con
tent, for the organism is known to
grow only In salt water of high
c jncentration.
Sites once occupied by an ancient
people are well known to the present
residents of the region, and obscure
reminders of early Spanish activity
are to be seen in many places
throughout the valley.
Three centuries ago Spanish ex
plorers and missionaries frequented
the Tularosa desert and wondered
at its white sands. They noted the
unusual chemical properties of the
nearly 300 square miles of drifting
gypsum and, quite likely, wished
for means of transporting this
abundant supply of pure alabaster
to the settlements and churches a
hundred miles to the north.
Recently, at the mouth oi Dead
man canyon in the San Andres, just
west of the White Sands, a promi
nent son of the state of New Mexico
uncovered unmistakable evidences
that the Spanish Americans of a
generation long dead had entered
the Tularosa desert area with vehi
cles. Divulgence of this forgotten
travel came in the form of two mas
sive wooden wheels from an early
Mexican oxcart.
If an authentic story could be
woven about those relics, perhaps
the period of the bullwhacker who
abandoned his conveyance would be
established as no earlier than the
Nineteenth century. However, maps
of the padres and dons definitely
point to Eighteenth century routes
east and west across the Tularosa
as well as north and south, where
the trails parallel the mountain
boundaries of its basin.
Many Uses for Gypsum.
The value of these sands for
plaster of paris and fireproofing ma
terial is well recognized, and re
peated attempts have been made to
make commercial use of them.
Gypsum finds a multitude of uses
in commerce and industry. As a
fertilizer and soil* conditioner it is
distributed as “agricultural gyp
sum.” As “mineral white” it finds
use as a filler in paper, paint and
fabrics. The makers of Portland
cement require it as a retarder. In
sculpture and the making of decora
tive devices in architecture and
building it is known as “alabaster.”
Even the school boys’ crayons
utilize much gypsum.
When natural gypsum is dehy
drated by heat, it becomes the
quick - setting cement known as
"plaster of paris.” About four mil
lion tons of this calcined gypsum
are used each year for wall plaster
or stucco. Plate - glass makers
imbed their glass in plaster of paris
preparatory to polishing.
Plasterboard, wallboard and gyp
sum lath require much gyp
sum each year. “Gypsum blocks”
and tile are used in partitions, roof
construction, and flooring, where
fireproofing and sound insulation are
important. Surgeons, dentists, and
artists demand the finer grades of
calcined gypsum for casting plaster.
Dreaded By Pioneers.
It appears on first thought that
here in the nearly pure gypsum of
White Sands is a veritable fortune
in plaster. But Tularosa is far re
moved from large markets.
Old settlers of the region have
watched, feared, and hated the White
Sands for half a century. This, one
of the world’s greatest deposits of
pure gypsum, has grown before
their eyes, threatening homes and
land that might be useful.
These pioneers—cattlemen, sheep
men, farmers, and lumbermen—had
few interests outside their own busi
ness. The spreading sands, ever in
creasing in volume, struck dread
into the stockman, who came to
believe that th§ snowy-white mass
would creep upon and envelop not
only his ranch, but the towns of
Aiamogordo and Tularosa—now 15 to
20 miles from the heavy white sea.
With the increase in population in
the little cities about the basin there
came the realization that the ala
baster dunes provided charming
sites for church picnics, school par
ties, and lodge gatherings. Intimate
and happy association with the
sands caused fear to turn to love
and pride. In 1930 the communities
of Alamogordo, Las Cruces, El
Paso, Carlsbad, Artesia, Roswell,
Mescalero, Ruidoso, Cloudcroft, and
Tularosa joined forces in an effort
to create a national reservation in
the White Sands.
Rug That Is Easy to I
Crochet in Triangles
Pattern 1240
Like to turn rug-maker for a
time, and both make and design
your own colorful rugs? Easy cro
cheted triangles joined in strips
or hexagons make exciting new
designs. Crochet them of rug wool,
candlewicking or rags. You can
make your rug any desired size.
Pattern 1240 contains directions
for making rugs in various ar
rangements; an illustration of
them and of all stitches needed;
material requirements; color sug
gestions.
Send 15 cents in stamps or coins
(coins preferred) for this pattern
to The Sewing Circle Needlecraft
Dept., 82 Eighth Avenue, New
York, N. Y.
Write plainly pattern number,
your name and address.
j ~
Don't let
Winter
catch you
unprepared
CHANGE TO
QUAKER
STATE
W/NTER
0/1
Retail price ... 35^ per quart