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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (June 2, 1938)
WHITE MOUNTAINS Looking Up at the Old Man of the Mountain. "Second Greatest Show on Earth" Barnum Called New England Range Prepared by National Geographic Society, L Washington, D. C.—WNU Service. INCE 1866 visitors to the White mountains have ascended Mount Wash ington, New England’s high est eminence, to scan the sea of northern New Hamp shire peaks. Soon another grandstand will be ^’oilable when the new tramway to the top of Cannon mountain which will whisk passengers 2,025 feet above Franconia Notch begins operation. "This is the second greatest show on earth,” P. T. Barnum said when he stood on the summit of Mount Washington and scanned the jumble of peaks and ridges of the White mountains, spreading from the waistline of New Hampshire to Can ada and from its Maine border to the Connecticut valley, which sep arates this Granite state from Ver mont. Many New Englanders, dyed-in the-wool White mountain fans who Insist that nowhere has nature en dowed a region with such fascinat ing heights, on first thought ques tioned Barnum's judgment. To them, the White mountains’ show is second to none. However, when they recalled the showman’s love for his trained ani mals, gaudy trappings, and strange creations of nature that drew mil lions into his acres of canvas, they felt that his exclamation was the highest praise. Origin of the Name a Mystery. How and when the White moun tains got their name is as mysteri ous as many of their often-told leg ends. ‘‘White mountains” appeared in a manuscript as early as 1672; and even before that time they were called the ‘‘White hills” by mariners on the Atlantic, 60 miles away, for whom they formed an important landmark. To modern eyes, too, the name ! seems apt, whether it be derived from the white mist that often hangs over the higher peaks, from the whitigh-gray effect of the sun upon rocks of the mountain tops above the timberline, or from the snow that normally covers the peaks of the Presidential range for eight or nine months of the year. The White mountains are divided into two distinct areas. Between Plymouth on the south and the vicinity of Gorham on the north is the high mountain region where every year more than two million men and women enjoy test ing their leg muscles among New England's highest peaks, motoring on excellent highways, and utilizing the scores of recreational facilities, or just looking up from spacious hotel verandas toward the lofty em inences sweeping from quiet val leys. Beyond Gorham is a challenging wilderness with Dixville notch its crowning glory and Berlin its only large population center. Here is the paradise of the sportsman searching streams and lakes for trout, salmon, pickerel, horned pout, perch, and small-mouthed bass. The forests shelter bears, deer, and ruffed grouse. It is the high mountain area that has been the White mountains' chief lure to vacationists for more than a century. Praised by the Great. “We know our mountains are not the highest in the East," a resident recently remarked to a visitor. "Mount Mitchell in North Carolina and several peaks in the Great Smoky Mountains National park ■lightly top Mount Washington. But the Impressions of Hawthorne. Whit tier, General Grant, Webster, Mark Twain, Winston Churchill, and scores of other men outstanding in politics, literature, and the arts of their day certainly warrant the en thusiasm of those of us who see the White mountains in every mood.” “But Grant came to the moun tains for relief from hay fever,” said the visitor. “That is true, but he, like many others, then and now, came here without knowing the mountains, and left with an indelible impression of their lofty summits, their tree-clad slopes, their cascades, lakes, and scenic curiosities, and their legends that have inspired multitudes of artists, writers, and just plain peo ple.” Darby Field, a son of Erin, was the first man to conquer the heights of Mount Washington, highest peak in the White mountains. It thrusts its summit 6,288 feet above the sea and a mile above the valleys at its base. It was just 22 years after the May flower had deposited its human cargo on the shores of Massachu setts when Field struck out from the coast on one of his many trips into the unknown wilderness that lay immediately behind colonial vil lages. Some settlers feared to wander far from their settlements, but Dar by Field was one of those bold ad venturers for whom even the hard life of the colonist was too tame. He was accompanied by two In dian guides. On a June day in 1642, Field stood on the rummit of Mount Washington. As the Colonies grew and demand ed wood for building, for paper, and for other manufactures, lumbermen carelessly swung their axes over the White mountain slopes and stripped them of their trees. All but a few thousand acres of primeval forest were cut over. The forests one sees today are largely second growth, but no long er are they In jeopardy. "Great Stone Face.” Mount Washington is admittedly the dominating feature of the White mountains and nearly every visitor to northern New Hampshire hopes to stand on its summit. But if your time is short and storm clouds thwart that hope, there are scores of other features that are well worth a ramble among the heights. Chief among these is the Profile, popularly known as the "Old Man of the Mountain," or as Hawthorne’s "Great Stone Face,” peering from the rugged granite ledges of Profile mountain above the highway through Franconia notch. It was a man’s appetite for par tridge for breakfast that led to the discovery of the Profile in 1805. Na thaniel Hall was a member of a road-building crew. Early in the morning he shouldered his gun and left camp. With only a well-browned par tridge on his mind, he silently crept along the shore of a small lake, his eyes penetrating the undergrowth. For some reason unknown to Hall he looked up—and for a moment was stunned by “the most wonderful face’’ he had ever seen. News of the discovery spread rapidly over New England. The road Hall was working on was pushed through the notch. Men and women came on horseback, by stage, carriage, and cart. The popularity of the Profile was one of the factors that influenced the build ing of a railroad into the Franconia region and the erection of the fa mous Profile bouse, since destroyed hy fire SEEN HEARD around the NATIONAL CAPITAL jBy Carter Field ^ Washington.—The strong stand taken by Joseph P. Kennedy as to what must be done about labor dis putes in the merchant marine if the United States is ever to get one has been completely scuttled through the influence of Secretary of Labor Perkins and the national labor rela tions board while Joe tells reporters he will wear long pants to the court receptions. The senate commerce committee, which at first adopted the recom mendations of Kennedy for compul sory mediation of labor disputes of water carriers, and a prohibition of strikes until after the mediation board had acted in such controver sies, cut his stiff, mandatory pro visions from the new shipping bill. The senate followed its committee. Though striking out the substance, the senate curiously enough re tained the shadow. For in the ‘‘shadow” were some lucrative jobs, nice $10,000 commissioner type jobs of the lame duck variety. Copy ing the railroad mediation board, the proposed new board (of course the house may strike this out in conference) would have no real pow er at all. More astonishing, it is deliberately short circuited by a direct statement that the national labor relations board is not deprived of any of its functions! The substitute provisions provide only for mediation in case both par ties to the water controversy favor it, and are not compulsory in any sense of the word. They are much more in line with the mild treat ment of striking seamen and dock workers recommended by Secretary Perkins than with the views ex pressed by Joe Kennedy. It was shortly before Kennedy left Washington to take his diplomatic post that he, as chairman of the maritime commission, and Miss Perkins as head of the Labor de partment locked horns before the senate commerce committee, of which Senator Copeland, of New | York, is chairman. West coast ship ping was tied up very generally by strikes at the time. As Kennedy Saw It Kennedy argued that the railroad mediation board, which functions satisfactorily in the settlement of disputes involving rail carriers, might widen its scope of jurisdiction to cover disputes involving water carriers. He recommended that the provisions against strikes by the railroad men until after the media tion board had acted be made ap plicable to the seamen. Miss Perkins pleaded for main tenance of the “status quo,” argued that tolerance must be shown to the various waterfront unions, be cause they are comparatively young, declared that the shipping industry was not "ripe” for com pulsory arbitration, and contended that anything savoring of it would be more harmful than helpful. Pres ident Roosevelt, consulted by sena tors, refused to take sides. Then the committee senators pro ceeded to exercise their own judg ment. They sided with Kennedy. But after this decision something hap pened. John L. Lewis is not without resources when it comes to pulling political wires. Especially as every one in Washington knows that he has it in his power simply by sulk ing after this week's Pennsylvania primaries to return anti-New Deal Senator James J. Davis to the sen ate, and throw the state govern ment at Harrisburg, with 30,000 em ployees, over to the Republicans. The admirals who were so anxious to get a real auxiliary fleet for the navy in the event of war are frantic over what has been done to the bill. They frankly admit, in pri vate, that the building of a merchant marine is impossible under the sen j ate bill, or without something like the Kennedy recommendations. But there seems no prospect of | Kennedy and the admirals having their way, despite the President’s j very definite desire to do everything possible to strengthen the navy, ev erything of course except to antag ! onize the labor leaders. Real G. O. P. Problem Connecticut is one of the real problems for the Republican party, and of enormous interest because it is typical of a great many other states, some of which have more and some less electoral votes. It is a tower of strength to the New Deal, and a staunch bulwark against the menace of the LaFollette move ment. The disease from which the Con necticut Republicans are suffering is the same malady which affects the Republicans in New York, Penn sylvania, New Jersey and Rhode Is land. All four of these states wrere always regarded as just about sure Republican in a presidential elec tion, despite the prognosticators’ sil ly chatter during campaigns, that i Ncw Y«rk was ‘ pivotal” and doubt ful. They were the backlog—especially it New York was excepted—of the Republican end of the balance of power, when joined with Maine, New Hampshire. Vermont and Mas •achusetts in the Northeast, and IV linois, Iowa and the whole group of so-called Mormon states—Utah, Idaho, Nevada—in the mountain re gion. The Democratic end of the balance of power, of course, was the solid South. The disease which has hit the Republicans of the Northeast, and most of the other one-time Repub lican states as well, is loss of lead ership. For years J. Henry Roraback was the dictator of Connecticut. He was the Republican boss, national com mitteeman, and what have you. No one thought of doing anything in the Republican party without con sulting Henry. There were little centers of dissent, notably in New Haven, where the rebels even dared to select their own congressman. But Roraback’s ability began to slip, and, so great had been the fear of him, that despite this slipping, ob vious to all who knew him, no one dared to take the initiative toward perfecting a new organization. Made It Tougher To make the problem tougher for aspiring Republicans, it so hap pened that even before Roraback’s slipping had become apparent, Con necticut elected a Democratic gov ernor who was a great personal friend of Roraback’s. Roraback praised him publicly. So as that once great political mind weakened the Democrats were developing pat ronage as well as organization. Finally Roraback died, but he did not leave a strong successor. There had been no regent during the pe riod of disintegration. New would be leaders, so to speak, started from scratch, with more interest in their personal advancement than in build ing up a strong organization. At the present moment there are three distinct factions aspiring to state control of the G. O. P., and any number of little groups not allied with the Big Three. No one of the Big Three would be pleased at the success, even though it meant the election of Republicans in place of Democrats, by any of the other forces. Were They Surprised? Utility officials and army officers alike were flabbergasted by reports of the President’s conference with Assistant Secretary of War Louis Johnson and Power Commissioner Basil Manly as to a proposed new survey of the national power situa tion, from the standpoint of national defense. The President said this matter had never been studied from that angle, and that it is not so much a question of additional power as it is tying in existing power lines that are not connected. He said if any thing should happen the District of Columbia could not borrow power from Baltipnore or vice versa. In the city of New York, he said, there is no physical connection between one side of the Hudson and the other. Of course the President was sim ply illustrating to the newspaper men the kind of inforniation he wanted mapped out. Actually there is a power line between Baltimore and Washington intended for the very purpose of permitting one city to serve the other in the event of some emergency. Actually also New York city is protected against failure of its nor mal supply. There is a connection, made for that purpose, with the power lines of the Niagara and Hudson company. Incidentally the President was enormously interest ed, about two years ago, when some of the power companies cut their connections at certain state bor ders, notably the New York-Connec ticut border, in the hope of escaping federal regulation and the death sen tence of the public utility holding company act. Here s Amazement But this is not the amazing part of the story. What really sur prised the army and the utility men was that there is a marvelously accurate survey of the whole situa tion right in the government’s pos session. It was made by the army engineers. Unfortunately, this report is con fidential. In fact, it is regarded by the army as a very important part of its war plans, and is kept on tap with other plans for industrial mobilization. Why Assistant Secretary Johnson did not mention this to the com mander in chief of the army, the President, when they were talking about this survey, and emphasiz ing its national defense aspects, is rather a mystery to some, but is explained, with political logic, by others. The President, these others point out, is not in precisely a friendly mood toward the army engineers. He still remembers with some bit terness the strength which the army engineers developed as a lobbying force a few weeks ago on Capitol Hill. The engineers, whose friends on Capitol Hill are legion, were afraid that perhaps Harold L. Ickes or somebody else in the adminis tration might at some time per suade the President to take the en gineers’ functions away from them, and transfer them to PWA or else where. So the army lads went u> work; and when they were through the senate reorganization corn nittee actually wrote a provision into thk bill, to the broad general elect that the functions of the army ?n‘ gineers were not to be tampered with. Furthermore, there was not even an attempt on the floor of the senate to strike out this notable ex ception. @ Bell Syndicate.—WNU Service^ TfydQMoH^ ADVENTURERS’ CLUB HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELFI 1 “Death by Proxy ** By FLOYD GIBBONS Famous Headline Hunter Hello everybody: There’s only one thing I know that’s less profitable than being a burglar, and that’s just posing as one. And Distinguished Adventurer Willard G. Stanton of Bloomfield, N. J., ought to agree with me there. Once upon a time, when Bill was a youngster of sixteen, he tried that little stunt. Not purposely, of course. Bill’s intentions were per fectly O. K. But it doesn’t make any difference what your intentions are. If you look like a burglar, or if you act like a burglar, first thing you know somebody is going to think you ARE a burglar and treat you accordingly. Back in 1907, when this adventure happened to Bill, he lived in an old fashioned apartment house in Brooklyn. At least it would look old fashioned today. At that time it was probably the last word in apart ment houses. It had a stairway running up the center of the building, and there were two apartments to the floor. The doors of the living rooms opened on the stair landing, and the outer doors were fitted with ground glass panels. The glass was opaque. You couldn’t exactly see through it. But when you were on the inside looking out you could tell when some one was at the door, because you could see a shadow of a human figure against the glass. Remember those panels. They’ve got a lot to do with the story. Burglars Alarmed the Old Ladies. Bill’s family had an apartment on the fourth and top floor of that building. Across the hall lived two old ladies—retired school teachers— jne of whom was slightly deaf. Remember that deaf old lady, too. Bullets Whizzed Over Bill’s Head. Between her and the glass panels, Old Lady Adventure managed to cook up quite a thrill for Bill Stanton. About three o’clock one November morning, Bill was awakened out of a sound sleep by a loud, insistent pounding. As he came out of a half-doze, he realized that the pounding came from the wall, on the other side of which the two old ladies slept. Something was wrong in their apartment! Bill jumped out of bed and went into his own living room. Then he saw what the trouble was. On the ground glass panels of the door leading to the hall he could see two shadowy figures. They were over by the door of the old ladies’ apartment and they seemed to be trying to jimmy the lock. So that was it! Burglars, trying to get in next door! The old ladies had heard them and pounded on the wall to attract Bill’s attention. Bill called out, “Who’s there?” and began rattling the door knob. The two figures moved noiselessly to the stairs and be gan to descend. Bill was sixteen, and impetuous. He ran out of his apartment and started to follow the two men down the stairs. “Right there,” he says, “is where my adventuring career started.” Bill Was in a Tight Place. Bill followed the crooks down two flights of stairs, but they were too fast for him. He was in pajamas, and he couldn’t very well dash out into the street after them anyway. Not on a cold night in November. He turned around and went slowly back up the stairs. Bill got to the top and put his hand on the doorknob. The door was locked. In his haste to follow the two men he had slammed it behind him. In his pajamas and without a key in his pocket, it looked as if he was going to have some trouble getting back in. He stood for a moment considering his plight, and then, suddenly he heard a voice coming from the next apartment. It was one of the old ladies—the deaf one—and her tone was omi nous. “If you don’t go away,” she yelled, “I’ll shoot.” All at once Bill realized what a tight situation he was in. The old lady could see his shadow through the glass door and thought he was one of the departed burglars. He knew she kept a gun in her apartment and didn’t have any doubt that she would do just what she threatened to do. Shot At by a Deaf Woman. “I thought I had a good pair of lungs,” says Bill, “and I screamed back: ‘Don’t shoot. It’s me.’ But I didn’t count on that old lady being deaf. Before I had a chance to get in an other word I heard a loud report and a bullet came crashing through the door. It was followed by two more. Then I dropped flat on the floor, and while I lay there, three more shots imbed ded themselves in the wall over my head.” The shots stopped then, but Bill lay right where he was, afraid to stir lest the slightest motion bring more of that hot lead his way. Then, inside his own apartment, he heard his mother open a window and start screaming for the police. Still Bill stayed where he was. Courage is one thing, but when a panic-stricken old lady starts blazing away right and left with a revolver, there isn’t any sense in giving her a mark to shoot at. Bill lay right where he was until the police came. Then he got up again. He looked himself over and was relieved to find that he hadn’t been hit by any of those wild bullets, but he found an ominous little hole in the sleeve of his pajamas that showed just how close he had come to having a funeral instead of just an adventure. "And now adays,” says Bill, “when there is any burglar hunting to be done, I do it by telephone.” Copyright.—WNU Service. Finland’s Name The name Finland has nothing to do with the fin of a fish, as one might be excused for thinking at first glance. True, the country has a long seacoast bordering on the Baltic, but inland there are many lakes surrounded by marshes and connected by glistening streams and canals. Many years ago re gions like this were called fens. Thus the little country in the north ern part of Europe became known as fen-land, or marsh-land, and, as the years passed and people spoke carelessly, its name changed to Fin land. El Templete in Havana El Templete in Havana dates from 1827 and commemorates the landing at Puerta Caranas of Don Diego Velazquez in 1519. An obe lisk bears an inscription commemo rating the mass sung at the town meeting held at the time in the shade of a giant siba tree. A tree shading El Templete is believed to be a slip from the original tree, cut down in '753. Brides Sold by Weight In some gypsy villages in Yugo slavia girl brides are sold by weight, the sale being held when the girls reach a marriageable age, says Pearson’s London Weekly. The average price is between 2 pence and 3 pence a pound, the higher price being paid for girls who can dance and sing as well as cook. To prevent cheating, the gypsy chief keeps the weighing scales under lock and key, The sale of girl brides is a recognized practice in Yugoslavia, but only in gypsy vil lages are their values assessed by weight. Caterpillars Can Hear This statement has been made be cause experiments have shown thal these insects have the ability tc hear; for certain sounds result ir sudden movements of the body. Hairs that absorb sound are pro vided in place of ears. In experi ments, when these hairs were coat ed with shellac and noises were made, the caterpillar did not re spend SCHOOLS POTATO PLANTS Sweet Potato Plants—Nancy Hail, Yellow Jersey. Red Jersey. 250, $1.00; 550, $2.00. Postpaid. Walter Eckley, Tekamah, Nebr. WANTED MEN WANTED Students to learn Welding Trade. Small tuition. OMAHA WEEDING CO„ 1501 JACKSTON ST., OMAHA. NEBR. 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