►
Hainan Island, Taken by Japs
Inhabited by Aboriginal Tribes
Strategic Land Held by
China for Past
2,000 Years
Prepared by National Geographic Society.
Washington. D. C.—WNU Service.
First important break in
Chinese ownership of Hainan
island, southernmost posses
sion of China, for more than
2,000 years, came with the
recent landing of Japanese
troops on the island. The
island lies in the Gulf of
Tonkin whose shores are formed by
the southern part of the Chinese
mainland and by the northern part
of French Indo-China.
Ever since the Chinese conquest
of the flat coastal regions in 111 B.
C., Hainan has been Chinese. There
now are more than 2.000,000 Chi
nese on the island but most of them
live In the coastal zone. The moun
tainous region in the interior is the
domain of the Lois, aboriginal
tribesmen who have refused to be
dominated by outsiders.
Because of Hainan’s lack of mod
ern development, it is of litUe pres
ent commercial value to any coun
try. The climate is tropical and
coconuts, pineapples, mangoes, ba
nanas, breadfruit, oranges, sugar,
and rice thrive, but a comparatively
small area of the island has been
cultivated. The forests are rich in
hardwoods, including mahogany, but
there has been no extensive lumber
ing operation. There are known de
WHEN JAPS ENTERED
HAINAN—Japanete marinet,
their band playing, entering
the important tea port of Hai
koic during the occupation of
Hainan Itland.
posits of gold, silver, tin, and re*
ports of the discovery of copper,
lead, iron and coal deposits, but
mining has been done only on a
small scale.
Strategically, however, the island
is important It places Japanese
forces within 1,500 miles of Brit
ain’s new naval base at Singapore.
A modern transport airplane could
take off from Hainan and land in
French Indo-China after an hour’s
flight;-and a flight to Manila would
take only about 3V4 hours. In fast
battle planes, those times could be
halved.
The Lois tribesmen are partially
responsible for Hainan’s economic
plight. They inhabit small villages
in the inland mountains, to which
they were pushed back by Chinese
immigration. Most of the tribes
men have managed to avoid com
ing under Chinese control.
Lois customs have not changed
for centuries. Three blue tattoo
rings are worn on their left hands
to protect them from smallpox.
Charms are generously worn to
ward off evil spirits; and the medi
cine men are highly respected as
devil chasers. Like their ancestors,
the Lois of today do not use hooks
when they fish. Instead, they dam
a river, pour into the stream poison
ous Juices from roots, and easily
spear the stupefied fish.
Staid London Drops Tradition,
Eats Yankee Salad, Ice Cream
_ '* _
Big Restaurant Chain
Notes Transition in
Englishmen's Diet
Prepared by National Geographic Society,
Washington, D. C.-WNU Service.
Simple qualities of old-fash
ioned English cooking are not
disguised, as in Paris, by
fancy names and sauces. Un
like the French, the English
do not feel that inventing a
tasty new dish is more im
portant to mankind than dis
covering a new star. But
somewhere in London the epi
cure may easily find any con
tinental dish, be it Italian,
French, German, or Greek.
There are Indian restaurants,
too, like Vereswamy’s, where re
tired army men go for curry and
rice.
London has as great a variety of
eating places as any world city—
except Paris. You can easily find
American hot cakes and com on the
cob.
Dense populations of recent times
have brought the rise of large in
dustries which import vast amounts
of food, prepare and distribute it.
Conspicuous is the Lyons company
of London. It operates over 250 eat
ing places, a string of hotels, em
ploys 30,000 people, and uses nearly
2,000 trucks to deliver food.
‘‘In the 40 years of its life, our
pioneer cafe at 213 Piccadilly has
fed over 35,000,000 people,” said an
official of this company. “Some
guests, young men when we started,
still dine with us.
“We have seen changes in Lon
don's eating habits. During our first
year, we served only 40 dishes of
ice cream a day; now we sell as
many as 3,000,000. Curiously, about
70 per cent of all our customers
ask for vanilla flavor. When this
fact was ferreted out by reporters,
a perfect spate of letters followed,
many to the Times, wanting to know
why people didn’t eat more straw
berry, lemon, etc.
"Take salad. Years ago we served
none at all. Now our customers eat
half a million dishes a day.
"Weather, of course, affects hu
man habits. Our weather expert
makes his Anal decision between
three and five every morning. The
change point in diet lies between
M and eo degrees. Fifty is on the
cold side and people start to order
more soup, hot entrees, stewed
steak, hot sweets, suet dumplings,
and jam rolls. Sixty is the begin
ning of a milder spell. Then de
mands upon the cold counters and
ice cream increase.”
So huge is this firm’s tea business
that it pays one-sixth of the whole
tea duty collected in the United
Kingdom, and sells more than 1,250,
000 packages of tea a dayl
At this company’s Greenford fac
tory sits a line of teatasters. These
men of keen palates may taste a
thousand different brews a day. Sam
ples of drinking water from differ
ent places in the world are tested
and tea blends are made up to
suit each locality.
Robinson Crusoe never heard of
vitamins, but he was on the right
LONDON IN A FOG — A
scene on Black friars bridge
during a typical London fog.
Lyons restaurants, preparing
for such emergencies, have an
extra supply of hot foods on
hand.
track when he packed and stored
limes and dried grapes.
This vitamin problem is only one
of the many studied in Lyons' lab
oratory, with its 150 chemists. They
not only test flour dough and other
foods for nutrition value, but make
bacteriological examinations of fish,
meat, and poultry.
NATIONAL
AFFAIRS
Reviewed by
CARTER FIELD
Taft's Gridiron dinner
speech didn't do much for
his presidential ambitions
. . . Two schools of thought
on the subject of a Euro
pean war . . . Sabre shak
ing here might help to keep
fteacc there . . . New Deal
ers present another of their
brilliant ideas in the new
job fixed for Edward J.
Noble.
WASHINGTON.—It is not permit
ted to repeat anything said in a
speech made at a Gridiron dinner,
though from time to time history
has actually been made by speeches
at the gatherings of that organiza
tion. But there is no ban on the
comments of guests following the
dinner.
Consensus is that Sen. Robert A.
Taft did not do his presidential am
bitions any good by his speech at
the recent dinner. As a matter of
fact, one diner actually congratulat
ed Thomas E. Dewey on Taft’s
speech!
Dewey, incidentally, who spoke at
the December Gridiron dinner, had
a much better break all around than
Taft. In the first place, President
Roosevelt did not reply to Dewey.
He did not really make a speech at
all. just a few pleasant remarks at
the end of the dinner. After Taft’s
speech, however, the President
made a real speech, which, accord
ing to comments of guests after
wards, was a very good one.
In the case of Dewey the club
followed its customary practice of
having one speaker from each of
the major parties, but, the President
r.ot wishing to make a regular talk,
James A. Farley had to carry the
load for the Democrats. Farley was
in a tough spot. ' He had to make a
speech to which the President would
listen, which meant that he had to
be very careful about what he said.
General opinion afterward was
that Jim did not do himself justice,
which made Dewey’s spot all the
more attractive.
A curious phase of all this is that
the President actually feels rather
friendly, personally, toward Taft,
and dislikes Dewey very much in
deed, yet as a result of his own ac
tions Dewey was helped and Taft
was hurt before gatherings of tre
mendous political importance.
Taft's Economic Views
Anathema to New Dealers
Roosevelt is so politically minded
that it is just possible he “planned
it that way.” Taft may be person
ally more agreeable to the New
Dealers than Dewey, but his eco
nomic views are anathema. It is
very obvious that most of the New
Dealers have been moving heaven
and earth to discredit the Ohio sen
ator for months. Taft in the White
House, with a sympathetic congress,
is just the last thing the New Deal
ers would want to see. It might,
as they see it, bring about a re
action in their favor, which would
sweep them back into power four
years later, but they shiver at what
he would do to their social and eco
nomic “reforms” in the meantime.
Many of the tycoons present at
the Gridiron dinner were terribly
disappointed. They have been agree
ing with so much that Taft has been
saying, in his speeches, statements
and radio talks, that the Ohio sena
tor had obtained a considerable fol
lowing for his candidacy in down
1 town New York, and in the financial
districts of most of the big cities
I of the country.
The.* not only liked his views,
but hip magnificent showing in Ohio
against New Deal Sen. Robert J.
Bulkley.
But since the Gridiron dinner they
are remembering Alfred M. Landon,
whose views also they agreed with.
In fact they remember sadly the
points the Kansas governor made in
his 1936 speeches. But they also
remember the deadly dullness of his
speeches—how he drove away votes
every time the radio carried his
voice. Which is not so good at the
moment for Mr. Taft's chances.
Two Schools of Thought
As to a European War
President Roosevelt is being
sharply criticized for his warlike ut
terances, even attacked for “gam
bling” on getting this nation in
volved in casualty lists. But there
is a school of thought, to which
many friends and many opponents
of the New Deal subscribe 100 per
cent, that the more certain Mr.
Roosevelt can make Hitler and Mus
solini that the United States will en
ter the war on the side of Britain
and France, if and when w-ar comes,
the less chance there will be of a
big European war.
Even more important, those hold
! ing this view believe that if the op
posite is done—that is if Hitler and
Mussolini can be convinced that the
United States will remain neutral,
the probability of war is increased,
and the probability that the United
States will eventually be sucked into
it will become much greater.
The theory behind the support that
President Roosevelt gets on this is
sue, on which he is being opposed
by most Republican leaders and by
a great many Democrats, Is very
simple. We start with the assump
tion that war is not absolutely cer
tain—that it may be that a suffi
cient number of factors can prevent
it—that Hitler and Mussolini are not
absolutely determined to keep on un
til they force a general conflict.
If this assumption is not correct,
then nothing matters very much.
There will be war, and eventually
the United States will be drawn into
it. In that case nothing said at this
time by President Roosevelt or any
body else is important. Only what
is done by way of preparation is
important.
But if the assumption is correct,
then it would seem obvious that the
more strength Hitler and Mussolini
know is going to be thrown to their
enemies the more chance there is
that they may decide not to risk the
consequences of war.
Sabre Rattling in V. S.
Might Help Keep the Peace
There are several theories which
seem to reinforce the argument. For
example, it is believed by most
army officers here that if war comes
the power of Hitler will at once be
come very much curtailed. The Ger
man army does not recognize Hit
ler as a military genius. It has
been backing him right along be
cause of his demonstrated hold on
the people, and because of his dem
onstrated power as a bluffer in in
ternational negotiations. But with
the coming of war, it is held, he
would be sidetracked and ignored.
The prestige resulting from the ear
ly victories — most army officers
think the early conflicts would be
German victories—would go to the
men who directed the troop move
ments.
Pretty soon a new Hindenburg or
a new Ludendorf would be the pop
ular hero of Germany. The thought
is that Hitler must know this, and
would be scarcely human if he rel
ished the idea. Hence the longer
he can win victories by sabre rat
tling, instead of actual military en
counters, the longer he remains No.
1 man in Germany and retains prac
tically dictatorial powers.
Noble's New Job Another
Bright New Deal Idea
No one is ever going to say that
the New Dealers do not have ideas.
They reek with them. One of the
most interesting involves the rea
sons for the sudden elevation of Ed
ward J. Noble, administrator of the
civil aeronautics authority, to as
sist in administration’s program for
the promotion of business recovery
as undersecretary of the department
of commerce, a new position which
congress will be asked to create.
The answer, it is explained, can
be found in a public statement made
by Mr. Noble the day before his
appointment. In brief, Mr. Noble,
in the eyes of President Roosevelt
and Secretary of Commerce Harry
L. Hopkins, has made a huge suc
cess in applying government regu
lation to one industry—the air lines
—which are highly competitive and
alive with individual initiative.
So the theory is that Mr. Noble,
having accomplished this with air
lines, can spread out over all lines
of business his supervision and co
ordination, and bring about the ideal
economic state visualized by Roose
velt and Hopkins—no monopoly,
plenty of competition, plenty of indi
vidual initiative, and yet complete
regulation and control by a benefl
cient government!
In the public statement in ques
tion, Mr. Noble dwelt at length on
the record made by the air lines
during the last winter. The lines, he
pointed out, flew more than 64.000,
000 passenger miles for each pas
senger fatality between December 21
last and March 20. There was but one
fatal accident in that period, during
which the lines flew 17,863,270 plane
miles. The statement also pointed
out that the three transcontinental
lines and the principal north-south
line flew 50,000,000 passenger miles
this winter without a single forced
landing.
After recounting this record Mr.
Noble said:
Turns It Into Boost jor
Government Regulation
“These figures present a striking
example of the way a highly com
petitive business, in a stage of high
ly individual initiative, can co-oper
ate with government regulation and
get results.”
Much further down in the same
statement Mr. Noble said: “It seems
to me that the lesson is obvious.
Sane and wise application of our
regulatory laws not only protects
the public but at the same time en
hances the profit of the business.
Long experience has shown—and it
is shown strikingly in the air trans
port industry—that only through the
co-operative services of the govern
ment can this kind of regulation pro
duce a result that protects every
body, both the enterprise and the
citizen. I wish other business men
in this new day might learn that the
air transport industry has learned
so well, and applied so well, on the
record it presents here today.”
A critical examination of all this
might produce just a little skepti
cism. In the first place, it is pointed
out, the railroads also can make a
magnificent showing so far as pas
senger miles per fatality are con
cerned. But this "proof" that gov
ernment regulation of highly com
petitive enterprises is not calculat
ed to appeal to investors. The finan
cial situation of the railroads, to put
it mildly, is not bright.
Also critics are inclined to think
that fate had more to do with the
small number of fatalities in the ail
service this winter than government
regulation.
S) Bel] Syndicate.—WNU Service.
Big Top Hits Trail Once More
With Bigger Bundle of Thrills
Shut down last mid
season by bad busi
ness, Ringling's t(great
l est show on earth” ex
pects its biggest run
this year thanks partly
to Charles LcMaire
(left), noted designer
who planned unique
costuming, air-condi
tioned big top and re
styled it with a blue
ceiling.
_ _
'*
Elephants are al
ways good circus at
tractions. Modoc, an
acrobatic pachyderm,
pulled this head
stand from her trunk
of tricks at the show's
winter quarters.
Horses are also good attractions. Above, Tex Elmlundt,
famous trainer of liberty horses, puts a quartet through their
6aces. Beloic, Achmed!, the performing horse, performs for
illiam Heyer. He leaps directly up into the air and lantls in
the same spot. This is probably the first time such a stunt has
been accomplished or photographed.
r
Aerialists rehearse
their breath-taking feats
; at winter quarters.
...■■ " mumiiaiiiii ..in
Right, Hubert Castle, iris*
nr</ of the wire, knows what
perfection means, and here he
is putting in some practice at
his specialty. Reckless riders,
intrepid handlers of fero
cious animals and the world's
funniest clowns complete the
picturesque assortment.
Roustabouts loading up for the overnight trip.
WHO’S
NEWS
THIS
WEEK
< I
By LEMUEL F. PARTON
'^J’EW YORK.—Progressive educa*
* ’ tion has been pushed around a
lot lately. The Bellwether Lincoln
school of New York has been back*
See What Came
Of Leaving Chap
With $2 Camera
tracking, as
have several
other Daniel
Boones of the
educational wil
derness. From the right came the
charge that they just let the young
sters fool around with toys and tools,
without rubbing in any real educa
tion.
Here’s a field goal for the other
side. At the somewhat ultra Foun- •
tain Valley, progressive school of
Colorado Springs, the boy David
Hare, scion of a highly placed New
York family, was given carte
blanche to build his education
around a $2 camera. The idea, as
in all progressive schools of those
few years back, was to give the
green light to any creative impulse.
But, at 22, here Is Mr. Hare
with a New York exhibit of cam
era portraiture, with President
Roosevelt among his subjects,
and with famous artists and
photographers, including Arnold
Genthe, cheering him as the
“Leonardo da Vinci of the cam
era.” Specifically, they agree
that young Mr. Hare has proved
indisputably that the camera not
only may be, but now is an in
strument of the highest artistic
expression, and that he demon
strates an absolutely new meth
od and medium of color por
trait photography.
His three-lens camera allows the
superimposing of color images, in
the manner of the color-printing
process, and makes possible shad
ing and emphasis in the service of
mood. His is the first and only color
portrait exhibit in the country. Art
ists and prominent society folk are
boiling with enthusiasm over Mr.
Hare’s achievement.
He is a tall, shy, personable
young man, somewhat inarticu
late, as he filters life through a
lens, and hesitant in any other
form of expression. As was the
young Lindbergh. There is the
same “We” combination here.
Whether he knows the preposi
tions used with the ablative or
whether he stumbled across the
“Bridge of Asses” is not re
vealed.
OUT of the limbo of the past rises
“Ole Bill,” Bruce Bairnsfather’s
famous walrus-mustached cartoon
character of World war days, to
Time’s Attrition
Marks‘Ole Bill’
AndHis Creator
adorn recruit
ing posters be
ing displayed
throughout the
United King
dom. Bairnsfather says his revised
character reveals signs of age, but,
for that matter, so does the car
toonist.
The slow attrition of 20 years since
a slender youngster created "Ole
Bill,” in a trench in Flanders, has
added to his bulk, had taken toll
of his thatch of wavy black hair.
Bitterness came, too, as when he
returned all his war medals to the
British government in protest
against its treatment of veterans.
Somehow, despite the wide
and varied exploitation of Bill—
books, lectures, a play, “The
Better Ole,” a syndicated piece
and so forth—Bruce seemed to
get the short end of it all. He
is said to have received some
$10,000 out of $500,000 earned by
his black and white creation.
Putting on his own review,
“Ulle,” he lost $40,000, and after
that events led him straight to
bankruptcy, liabilities $75,000,
assets negligible.
He was born in India of a long
line of army forebears and began
life as an electrical engineer. Of
recent years, what with lecturing,
writing and drawing, life is said to
have dealt more amiably by him.
SELECTED for transfer from his
post as ambassador to Argentina
to the government of Gen. Francisco
Franco in Spain, Alexander W. Wed
dell, 63 years
Our Ambassador old, bears with
To Spain Packs him such assets
Diplomatic Bag “ £ £*%
perience of a career diplomat, a
man of tact and diplomatic deft
ness, combined with broad humani
tarian sympathies.
Mr. Weddell was educated at
George Washington university
law school and the University
of Catania in Italy. Appointed
private secretary to the minis
ter to Denmark in 1908, he en
tered the consular service two
years later as consul at Zanzi
bar. He spent two years, 1913
14, as consul at Catania, going
thence to Athens as consul gen
eral.
Retiring from the diplomatic serv
ice in 1928, he returned six years
ago, filling various consular posts
until his appointment as ambassa
dor to the Argentine.
® Consolidated News Features.
WNU Service.
