Evening star. [volume], July 14, 1935, Image 57

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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|---1 FEATURES [——--—
Stage — Screen OL \ &1. o Books — Music
Autos - Radio 1 |£UJtaaXJ ptaf Children's Page
Part 4-10 Pages WASHINGTON, D C, SUNDAY MORNING, JULY 14, 1935 ~ '
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EYES OF A PUZZLED WORLD TURN TOWARD ETHIOPIA
JV7r Clouds Darken Central Africa IVhcre
Rivers Flow to the Nile, Men Are Meat-Eat
ers., Mountains Are High and Impregnable.
■ JL._ ___________
By John C. Henry.
AIN that promises not to
stop for another two
months today is turning
the lowlands of an entire
country into mud, its mountain
lakes into swelling reservoirs, its
rivers into angry cascades that
fight their way to lower ground.
And beyond the gray skies that
have been pouring their storms
over: a gorged countryside since
early in June are rising new
clouds, blacker and more potent.
The country thus suffering
♦ from its chronic discomfort, an
annual rainy season, is Ethiopia.
The darker clouds that are slow
ly piling up on the gray horizon
are the black-shirted fighting
men of Mussolini. Young, well
trained, well equipped and eager
for a taste of the glory that al
ways surrounds the opening of
warfare, they approach by sea
and will disembark at one of
several friendly ports. Princi
pal of these mobilization points
are Assab and Massawa, in
Eritrea, on the Red Sea, and
Mogadscio, in Italian Somaliland,
on the Indian Ocean.
Back in the foothills and
the mountainous regions of
a nation that now appears un
comfortably beset with troubles
is gathering a defending force,
however, that asks no quarter
from either storms or soldiers.
Justification for this lack of fear
, may be found in the fact that
Ethiopia today is one of only
three Independent nations in all
Africa, that her independence
has not been maintained with
the aid of reciprocal agreements
with foreign powers such as have
supported Egypt and Liberia,
and that, most important of all,
her own strength of arms against
foreign foes has been tested and
found not wanting.
ETHIOPIA, known also with ac
^ curacy as Abyssinia, is an
Inland country of East-Central
Africa. Comprising some 350,
000 square miles, it is about as
large as Texas and Oklahoma
combined, its population num
bering some 10,000,000, or slightly
less than that of New York State.
On its northern boundary, cut
ting it off from the Red Sea, lies
Eritrea, an Italian possession
and one of the focal points from
which the threatened hostilities
are expected. On its western
boundary from north to south
lie the British-administered ter
ritories of the Sudan, Uganda
and Kenya, while at the south
east is Italian Somaliland. It
is the boundary between this
territory and Ethiopia that has
been one of the subjects of dis
pute in the current controversy.
French and British Somaliland,
on the Gulf of Aden, complete
the encircling lands of the
Ethiopian nation.
, The coast lands which thus
^ut off Ethiopia from the se*4
| vary in width from 40 to 250
miles and are narrowest on the
northeast border, where Eritrea
fronts the Red Sea. Massawa is
about 75 miles from the Ethio
pian border, but runs, any in
vading army into rough, moun
tainous terrain almost at once.
Mogadiscio, in Italian Somali
land, is better than 100 miles
from the disputed boundary ter
ritory, with the terrain of that
region being low and sandy des
ert.
Physical features of the coun
try offer striking contrasts con
I tained in the lowland deserts of
! the south and the precipitous
mountain ranges of the central
and northern portions. Between
these two main ranges lies the
deep Rift Valley, and through
both of them rush torrential
rivers. In the comparative safety
of the northern range is located
Addis Ababa, capital and city of
some 70,000.
The Encyclopedia Britannica
description of the terrain con
tains the following phrases:
“Mountain ranges rise to 12,
000 and over 15,000 feet, with
fantastic forms and cut by enor
mous fissures, due to erosion;
some are wider, others have the
opposite walls but 200 or 300
yards apart, and fall almost
vertically thousands of feet. * * *
The valley between these hills
and the eastern escarpment is
one of the largest and most pro
found chasms in Africa. * * *
The uplands usually slope north
west and nearly all the large
rivers flow to the Nile. * * * The
Takkaze, the true upper course
of the Atbara, falls from about
7,000 feet in the central table
land to 2,500 feet in the tremen
dous crevasse through which it
sweeps west, north, and west
again to the western terraces
and the Sudan.
“DURING the rains the Tak
kaze (the ‘Terrible’) rises
some 18 feet above its normal
level, and at this time forms an
impassable barrier between the
northern and central provinces.
• * * These rivers, which form
for 250 miles the west and south
west frontiers of Abyssinia, de
scend in great falls, and, like
other Abyssinian streams, are
unnavigable in their upper
courses. * * * The chief eastward
river is the Hawash. * * • It is
nearly 200 feet wide and 4 feet
deep in the dry season, and dur
ing the floods rises 50 or 60 feet
above low-water mark, thus In
undating the plains for many
miles along both its banks.
“Somaliland and the Danikil
lowlands are hot and dry, with
semi-desert conditions; the low
er basin of the Sobat is hot,
swampy and malarious. * • * In
the deep valley of the Takkaze
and Abbai conditions are torrid
and fevers prevalent. On the
uplands, however, the air is
bracing and the nights very
bleak. * * * On the higher moun
tains the climate is Alpine.”
In this description of the ter
ritory in which fighting must
take place if war is pressed may
be seen one of the chief reasons
why the warrior leaders of Ethi
opia refuse tq be intimidated by
threats of foreign invasion. Stu
dents of warfare have observed
often that it was Russia, not the
Russians, that drove Napoleon
from Moscow, and it may be
Ethiopia, not the Ethiopians,
that will prove most formidable
foe of Mussolini’s black-shirted
youths.
In addition, communication
and transportation systems into
the interior of Ethiopia are par
ticularly bad. A single line of
railway covers the 780 miles
from Addis Ababa to Jibuti, sea
port in French Somaliland, but
few improved highways exist be
yond the limits of Addis Ababa
or the one or two Other sizable
communities. For the most part,
therefore, transport has been by
mule or other pack animal, a
system not conducive to efficient
servicing of an invading army.
Furthermore, conditions of ter
rain make any road-building
projects matters of considerable
labor and engineering skill and
of great expense.
This latter fact, plus perhaps
a shrewd realization of the
handicaps facing an invading
army, explains to a great degree
Upper left: Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia (A. P.
Photo); Benito Mussolini, Premier of Italy (Wide
World Photo). At top: The center of unrest in
Abyssinia. Photo shows a view in Addis Ababa, capital
of Abyssinia. (Wide World Photo.) At left: Barefoot
soldiers of Emperor Haile Selassie, king of kings,
equipped with rifles of latest design, bayonets and other
accounterments of modern warfare. (A. P. Photo.) At
right: Italian infantry on parade in Rome before taking
off for Italian colonies in Africa near Ethiopia. (A. P.
Photo.) Map: The scene of trouble in Africa between
Ethiopia (shaded) and boot-like Italy, in upper left
corner. Friction centers along the northern border of
Ethiopia and Italian Eritrea. Copyright, A. P. Wire
photo.)
why maps of this part of Africa
show networks of highways suit
able for automobile travel in
Italian Somaliland, Eritrea and
in fact in all surrounding terri
tories, but all coming to a dead
end stop at the Ethiopian fron
tiers.
A LTHOUGH this lack of trans
portation facilities has been
a retarding factor in commercial
growth of the nation,. recent
years have seen a faster pace in
this development. Principal ex
ports have been coffee and hides
and the principal imports have
been salt, cotton fabrics and
hardware. From America have
been received automobiles in
scattered numbers and for use
almost entirely within Addis
Ababa, Harar or Diredawa, the
three largest municipalities. With
the building of the railroad to
Jibuti in 1917 the main chan
In the mountain fastness of isolated Ethiopia. It is a
trek of more than two hours by caravan to the top of this
precipitous wall, tHe last battlement of the eastern range.
The high plateau region in the eastern and northern part
of the country is scored by deep gullies and wide, eroded
canyons, which entail hazardous descents and slow, gruel*
ing climbs.
Goprrifkt. National Georraphir Boprodured fry* the National Geo
frajgua Mamina bp ipacial peraiMion. 1
Russia, Not the Russians, Drove Napoleon
From Moscow—So Ethiopia, AW the Ethi
opians, May Stop Mussolini's “Muscle Men."
• .
nel of trade became that utility.
For its own needs, Ethiopia is
fortunate in having exceedingly
fertile soil for agricultural pur
poses. In the lower regions
maize, wheat, barley, rye. cotton
and sugar cane are among the
crops, while the uplands add cof
fee in considerable amount, veg
etables of all kinds and more
wheat and barley. Most regions
of the country yield two crops
per year, some yield three.
In addition the land is well
adapted to stock raising and
enormous herds of cattle and
sheep abound throughout the
country. In time of war these,
for the most part, may be driven
into the mountain fastnesses,
where they will be of most use
to the defenders. Horses are
numerous and strong, as are
mules, that are bred in great
quantities and are used for all
types of work.
In earlier years, as the tribes
inhabiting the country devoted
themselves to internecine war
fare, no large communities were
established. In 1892, however,
Emperor Menelik II built the
nucleus of Addis Ababa in the
mountain security of the Prov
ince of Sboa. Today it has be
come a rambling municipality
covering almost as much ground
as the City of Washington, but
with a population of only 70,000.
Spread over a cluster of hills,
the city centers around the im
perial palace, audience hall and
a new Parliament building. On
the western edge of the city is
the American Legation, rented
from the priests who control the
Menelik mausoleum fund. To
the east are the spacious grounds
of five European legations.
Of interest, and probably sur
prising to many, is the fact that
the real Ethiopian is not a Negro.
Dark skinned, with hair that is
usually kinky and lips that are
often thick, the pure Ethiopian’s
ancestry has been traced back to
a combination of the Semitic
and Hamitic races. In tempera
ment he is proud, courageous and
patriotic.
Of interest also is the fact that
the ruling majority of Ethiopia
have been Christians since early
in the fourth century. At the
present time the priesthood is
extremely powerful and numbers
nearly one-quarter of the male
population. Their Christianity
is of the Coptic, or Monophysite,
branch, which is believed to have
originated in Egypt.
T'HE modern history of Ethio
nia, containing the factors of
foreign penetration, which seems
headed for a new climax in the
current controversy with Italy,
may be considered as starting
in the reign of King Theodore,
who reached the height of his
power about 1855, when he had
all the more important factions
of the country subdued. During
the succeeding 10 years, however,
Theodore became involved in
differences with Great Britain,
which resulted in the arrival of
a British army under Sir Rob
ert Napier.
Numbering some 32,000 men
and aided by several native
chiefs who were desirous of
. throwing off Theodore’s rule, the
British force finally captured
the Emperor’s stronghold, but
then left the country as two
local chiefs divided the powers
of ruling certain provinces. The
Napier expedition was the only
one to penetrate Ethiopia suc
cessfully on a mission of war.
At this time Italy made its first
appearance on the scene in the
form of an Italian trading com
pany, which established itself
in 1870 at Assab, a port on the
Red Sea. Gradually this com
pany acquired more land, only
to sell out completely to the Ital
ian government in 1882. This
expansion of Italian influence
along the Red Sea in what is
now Eritrea worried both King
John and Emperor Menelik, the
two ruling Ethiopians, and major
warfare was averted only after
native troops had wiped out ,a
detachment of about 400 Italian
soldiers. Soon after, however,
King John was killed in fighting
with dervish forces of the Sudan
and Menelik became sole ruler
in 1889.
A treaty was made with Italy
and relations were friendly for
a short while, but in 1893 Mene
lik denounced the pact on the
grounds that the Italian and
Amharic versions were different.
Warfare opened in 1895. with
the Italian arms being victorious
i in early engagements near the
Eritrean border. As their forces
pushed southward into Ethiopia
proper, however, their fortunes
turned and reverses were suf
fered. Strengthened by rein
forcements in February of 1896,
an Italian army of some 13.000
men again took the* offensive.
Advancing in four brigades, the
invaders found themselves cut
off and overwhelmed one at a
time. About half the Italian
forces were killed, most of the
rest captured and tortured, and
before additional Italian armies
could reach the scene the Ethio
pians had withdrawn to the pro
tection of their mountain coun
try.
Eventually a treaty was signed
between the principals, followed
soon after by trade-encouraging
agreements between Ethiopia
and several other European
powers that had been attracted
by the ability of the African em
j pire to defend itself against un
welcome invasion. Great Brit
ain, as might be expected, took
the leadership in these agree
ments. one of her principal
co-operative projects with the
Ethiopian empire being develop
ment of plans for controlling the
flow of the Ethiopian lakes and
rivers feeding into the Nile, a
matter of great importance to
Britain’s Egyptian possessions
and interests. *
ITPON the death of Menelik the
Ethiopian dynasty of rulers
experienced troublous times for
a spell, but moved toward a new
stabilization upon the accession
to power of one Ras Tafari as
regent. By marriage, Ras Tafari
secured succession to the throne
in direct line from the House of
Solomon and its supposed union
with the Queen of J5heba, anjm
(Continued on Page 2, Column 4.)
Guide for Readers
PART FOUR.
Page.
John Clagett Proctor
writes story of “The
Old Patent Office”.F-2
“Those Were the Happy
Days,” by Dick Mans
field .P-3
A Day at the Dog Pound. .F-3
Book Reviews.F-4
Veteran Recalls Battle...F-4
Stage and Screen.F-5
World of Music.*. .F-6
Radio News and Programs, F-7
Automobiles .F-8
Aviation .F-8
Cross-Word Puzzle.F-8
Children’s Page..F-9
High Lights^)! History...,.F-»