Walker Lake bulletin., March 25, 1916, Image 2

About Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926

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Walker lake Bulletin
Jotoa A. McCarthy. Fnb
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FIRST TO BUILD TRENCHES
Romans Instituted System of Field
Fortifications Which Are Used by
the Armies Today.
The Romans, who were the first to
make a real science and art of war,
wore responsible for one of the prin
cipal features in western Europe—the
fortified frontier. This does not mean
the ordinary fortified frontier as it
was known up to 1914—a series of
strong fortified camps with unin
trenched gaps between them. It was
in southwestern Germany that the
Romans built, as a protection against
the inroads of German barbarians,
what was the prototype of the lino
of trenches which today runs from
Switzerland to the North sea. And
just as the German trenches in
France and Belgium aro to all intents
and purposes tho frontier of the Ger
man emplro, so tho Roman trenches—
tho limes Germanicus—were part of
the frontier of the Homan empire.
The northern—known in ancient
times as the Pfablengraben or palls
ado ditch—ran from the east bank of
the Rhino, near Bonn, across tho
Taunus mountains and tho Main in
a general southeasterly direction
south to near Stuttgart. It consisted
of an earthen wail, with a ditch—the
trench being, of course, on the out
side and the wall boing the position
of the defenders. The wall was topped
by a palisade, and at intervals there
were towers—burgl—occupied Dy
small bodies of troops, who patroled
the intervening sections of wall. At
longer intervals were stone redoubts
—castella—whore larger bodies of
guards wore stationed. One of the pe
culiarities of this frontier—which in
its details represented, of course, an
artificial boundary through what at
the time was a very sparsely settled
country—was that a stretch of about
fifty miles in length ran In a straight
line due north. It has been roferred
to in English and German writings as
one of tho earliest known boundaries
on the American plan.
Near Stuttgart the Pfalilc’ —•i''en
meets tho Teufelsinauer—the aevil's
wall—which was the name given in
medieval Germany to the other half
of the limes Germanicus—a rampart
of stone which extends a little south
of eaBt till it meets the Danube at
Regensburg. There were forts at in
tervals to strength this, and in the
main it was apparently garrisoned
much like the Pfahlengraben.
ELDER NOT ALWAYS THE BEST
Modern Science Has Thoroughly Dis
proved a Belief That Was Held
for Many Centuries.
There was a time when the eldest
son was supposed to be superior In
all respects to his younger brothers.
That time is paBt. Modern science
has proved that when there is any
.difference the eldest son averages
somewhat behind later-born children
in mental strength and ofttimes In
physical endurance.
Does this, perchance, help to ex
plain why hereditary government is
so unsatisfactory; why the direct
royal line so frequently runs out and
the crown shifts to the descendants
of some younger brother; why the
first prince of a new line is so often
superior to any of his successors?
Under the royal rule the eldest son
of the eldest son takes the crown. If
there is even a trifling handicap in
being the first born the constant mul
tiplication of this handicap would
raise it to considerable proportions in
a few generations.
The Turks avoided whatever evils
may lurk in the law of primogeni
ture. They allowed the sultan to
name his successor, but provided that
this successor must be the son of a
slave. In practice he was usually one
of the younger sons of the monarch,
and always the child of a woman who
had wit or beauty enough to make
herself the leader of the harem. As
a result Turkey had the most wonder
ful succession of able sovereigns
known in history, but the palace in
trigues and fratricidal wars to which
the cuBtom gave rise proved intoler
able. _
NIGHT’S BEAUTY IS HIDDEN
Few Artists Have Been Given the
Ability to Depict Its Proper
Glory and Majesty.
One of the perpetual regrets ot
painters Is the unattainable beauty of
night. Whistler's successful Noc
turnes are of early twilight.
The later hour, when the world's
vast shadow weighs on us, seems un
realizable In paint.
Even Crome, perhaps the greatest
master of nightfall pictures, could not
go beyond the twilight.
The perfect medium for darkness
was discovered by Turner, whose set
of engraved Moonlights are among the
most precious works that man has
made.
There are but about a dozen en
graved and printed by the master.
They so far transcend his colored
drawings, from which they were de
rived, as to prove that black and
white can conjure up the spirit of
night more potently than color.
But they are not ordinary mezzo
tints; .they are creative rather than
reproductive; no one but Turner could
have done them, nor could he have
communicated their secret to his en
gravers.
ague
THE first thing I did when I ar
rived at The Hague was to
lump into a low decked cab to
see if the Peace palace was
still there, writes Karl K. Kitchen. 1
found it was, and looking quite new
and clean, despite the fact that it is
i untenanted. I’ll confess I wasn’t
j much impressed with the huge pile of
brick and stone built by my fellow
I townsman, Mr. Andrew Carnegie, and
I'm sure I caught my cabbie laughing
at mo because I asked so many ques
tions about it. However, the caretak
ers were positively enthusiastic about
the building, and after I had paid a
llfty-ccnt fee two of them assured mo
j that it would be used for its intended
purpose.
As I was in a hurry to reach the
; Hotel dos Indes, I gave its empty mar
ble corridors and yawning council
chambers the "once over” and re
turned to my cab.
“Sehr nett, nicht wahr?” said the
cabbie, who thought I was a German.
I was tempted to say "nit,” but I re
strained myself with an effort.
Few people I met abroad spoke of
I the Peace palace seriously, and in
The Hague the mere mention of An
drew Carnegie’s name invariably pro
voked smiles or laughter. For Hol
land is in a position to know that
peace in Europe is a remote possibil
ity. And her own position, geograph
ically and every other way, 1b a very
difficult one.
What The Hague Is Like.
The Hague is one of the smallest
and least distinguished capitals in
Europo. It is really only a suburb of
Rotterdam, for it is but twenty-five
minutes’ ride by electric train. It
has a population of about 300,000. Its
moBt imposing pile is the unused
Peace palace. The Royal palace
looks more like a barracks than a
queen’s residence.
However, The Hague gives one the
mpression of being quite an impor
ts I
there was enough German in it for me
to catch a few of the jokes, which
were about the war.
Aftei the theater I went to the Cafe
Central, which is the principal rendez
vous for the well-to-do Hollanders,
wealthy refugees and international
spies. If one is fond of gin and bit
ters—the national drink of Holland—
the Cafe Central is not half bad. But
the Dutch beer served there is a great
disappointment after the wonderful
Pilsener at the Deutsches Haus in Vi
enna. And its cocktails are vile.
I discussed the "bloedige corlog”
(which is Dutch for the awful war)
with a friend from Rotterdam, who is
in the shipping business. He was par
ticularly bitter against the English be
cause the ships of his line had been
held up for weeks, with the result that
the annual dividends were cut in half.
"Our sailings are regulated by the
British admiralty," he said. “Of
course they can wipe us out if they
choose to do so and we can't do any
thing. Literally, we are between the
devil and the deep blue sea. And 1
tell you we’ll all be glad when the
crazy nations stop killing each other.’’
“Which side will be victorious?" he
repeated. “Well, you can bet on it
that peace won’t be made here in The
Hague. Peace will be dictated either
in Berlin or London. You can take
your pick. Personally, I pick Berlin,
for T don’t believe the entire world
could crush Germany, let alone the
allies, as they are lined up today."
It is Interesting to know that con
scription is in force in Holland today.
Before the war the young men of
each district drew lots to determine
who should serve and who shouldn’t.
Today every youth must serve in the
army unless physically unfit. Never
theless, the people of Holland are
very well satisfied with their present
form of government. The queen is
very popular, and is frequently seen
walking about The Hague attended
tant little place, especially in the early
hours of the evening. Then the nar
row little streets in the heart of the
city are thronged with people and the
hotels and coffee houses are filled to
overflowing. Of course, there are
plenty of uniforms in evidence, but
what is even more noticeable is the
large number of Germans, Belgians,
Austrians and English who are on
every side. Like all neutral capitals
on the continent. The Hague is a clear
ing house for spies. All the Germans,
Belgians, Austrians and English one
sees are not spies, but many of them
are. They do not keep to themselves,
ns one might expect, but chat with
each other across the tables in the
coffee houses and bars.
German, Belgian and English news
papers are sold in the streets, and in
largo numbers, for the reason that
there is nothing in the Dutch papers
but rumors. Two Belgian papers,
l'Echo Beige and Iji Belgiquo, are
published in Holland, but the Berlin
! and London papers, especially the Ber
! liner Tageblatt and the London Times,
, have the call because a larger propor
tion of the population reads and
speaks either English or German.
The Hotel des Indes, which is the
1 best hotel in Holland, is the mecca of
the members of the diplomatic corpB.
Its prices have advanced slightly since
the war owing to the increased de
mand for accommodations. In gener
al, however, restaurant prices are the
samo as they were two years ago, and
one can have a Dutch treat for very
little money.
A French opera company is playing
at the leading theater—giving per
formances of ‘'Rlgoletto,” "Carmen,''
"The Jewels of the Madonna” to good
houses. In addition, there is a play
house devoted to musical comedy
1 where “The Marriage Market” is the
bill, and a variety theater where a
fairly good revue is holding forth. I
j dropped in to see a portion of the re
' vue. It was played in Dutch, but
by a single companion. The Socialists
make a little noise from time to time,
but they are in the decided minority.
Little by little the country is regain
ing its former prosperity, and a big
boom is expected after the war. No
one was able to give me any real rea
son for their optimism, but the fact
remains that they are optimistic.
Hdad of German Naval Staff.
Admiral von Holtzendorff, recently
announced as the new head of the
German naval staff, is former com
mander of the German high seas fleet
and one of the big men of the navy.
Emperor William gave him command
of the high seas fleet at the outset of
the dreadnaught era, when the advent
of the all-big gun type of battleship
made Germany a dangerous rival of
Great Britain, and he retained that
command until just before the war
began, when he was succeeded by Ad
miral von Ingenhohl, who gave way in
turn last spring to Admiral von Pohl.
North Carolina Dobbin Is a Loafer.
Horse labor in North Carolina is
now estimated to cost an average of
seven dollars per acre for each of
the 6,600,000 acres in crops in that
state. There are 300,000 horses and
mules employed on the North Carolina
farms, which are kept at an average
cost of $125 per animal. These work
animals as now handled average only
S3 full days of productive work in a
year, or les -. than one day in four.—
Farm and Fireside.
Twice Found.
Visitor—I suppose you have taken
a great deal of pride in your farm.
Farmer—Yes; I was as proud as
man can be when 1 bought this farm.
I don’t expect to be that proud but
once more in my whole life.
Visitor—When will that be?
Farmer—When 1 succeed in selling
1L
LONG ‘NO-MAN'S LAND'
FALKLAND ISLANDS NOT CON
SIDERED WORTH POSSESSING.
Though Now a Part of the Britisl
Possessions, This Dates Only
From the Eighteenth Cen
tury—Rivers of Stones.
The Falkland Islands, which will
always bo memorable in the history
of the war, were first discovered by
a Captain Cowley In the days of
Queen Elizabeth, but It was not until
1764, In the days of King George, that
the British decided to annex them.
It was then found that the French
had established a colony there In the
previous year and had annexed the
islands in the name of the king of
France. The British, however, later
came into possession, but were evict
ed by the Spaniards by main force.
A war between England and Spain
was averted, and the English resumed
possession, only to abandon the place
three years later. Until the transac
tions which took place between the
Argentine and the British governments
in the early part of the eighteenth
century the islands were a no-man's
land.
Lecturing before tho Royal Colonial
institute in London recently, Major
Quayle Dickson, formerly colonial sec
retary for the Faiklands, remarked
that the rivers of stones were con
sidered by many to be the most in
teresting feature of the Faiklands.
They varied in length from a few
yards to two miles, and from a dis
tance looked like rivers.
There was no accepted explanation
of their existence, but one theory put
forward was that the whole country
(including Patagonia) was at one time
covered with ice. When the ice
melted these stones were left bare
and slipped down the hillsides into
the valleys where they were now
found. It was also suggested that the
bowlder streams were due simply to
the natural disintegration of the solid
rock.
The blocks were not water worn,
their angles being only a little blunt
ed. They varied in size from one to
two feet in diameter to ten or even
twenty times as much, and were not
thrown together in irregular piles,
but spread out into level sheets or
great streams.
It was not possible to ascertain
their depth, but the water of small
streamlets could be heard trickling
through the stones many feet below
the surface. The actual depth was
probably great, or tho crevices be
tween the fragments must long ago
have been filled up with sand and
peat dust. So large were the stones
that one could easily find shelter be
neath one of them.
In some cases a continuous stream
of these fragments followed up the
course of a valley, and extended even
to the very crest of the hill. On these
crests huge masses, exceeding In di
mensions any small buildings, stood
as if arrested in their headlong
course.
There also the carved strata of the
archways lay piled on each other like
the ruins of some vast and ancient
cathedral.
War and the Horse.
Farm and Fireside quotes American
horsemen high in authority as saying
that about 500,000 of our horses have
been sold on war orders for about
$100,000,000 since the outbreak of the
war.
Fully 90 per cent of the artillery
horses purchased were sired by draft
stallions and wore out of small mares.
The same horse authorities claim that
the Belgian breed in Europe has been
practically destroyed and Percheron
breeding stock has also been heavily
sacrificed for war use. •
A representative of one of Ameri
ca’s greatest horse importers says it
would not be possible to find 200
draft stallions suitable for export to
America, even were exportation al
lowed.
The crux of the matter clearly indi
cates that American horse users must
depend on the pioduce of American
studs for draft sires for many years to
come.
Judicial Hearing.
Judge T. J. Moll of the superior
court, room 5, has the reputation of
being accommodating to those attor
neys who have cases pending in his
court. Recently a relative of a local
attorney suffered an accident which
made him almost deaf. The attorney
was telling another lawyer of the acci
dent, and in the course of this said a
specialist, who had been consulted,
gave no encouragement of restoring
hearing. After listening to the narra
tive, the second lawyer asked his
friend:
“Why don't you take it to Judge
Moll? He'll give your relative his
hearing at an early date.”—Indianapo
lis News.
Rats Recovered Liberty.
The official ratcatcher of the British
Western Railroad company died a few
days ago. For over forty years this
man's family have been the official
ratcatchers of tho company. His meth
od was to take the rats alive when
ever possible. On one occasion he
secured over ninety live rats, which
he imprisoned in a cage. Coming
home in the train he transferred twen
ty of the rats from the cage to a sack.
He then fell asleep, but was aroused
by the rats, which had eaten a hole
in the sack, running about the com
partment, one being actually up his
sleeve.
The Villa Achilleion.
ONLY a little over a decade
ago the beautiful and pic
turesque Elizabeth, empress
of Austria, built upon that
lovely island, Corfu, the Villa Achil
lelon. And here Just to the west of
northern Greece, that restless royal
soul was wont to "steal awhile away”
from the irksome royal etiquette of
the Austrian court and “invite her
soul.” Then a wretched anarchist shot
her in Switzerland and presently the
kaiser acquired the delightful Villa
Achilleion as a southern residence.
Now that the allies, who have occu
pied Corfu, have decided to there re
habilitate tho Servian army the charm
ing little island is again in the public
eye, writes F. Maude Smith.
If you love color, go to Corfu.
Corfu, like all Greece, is simply
bathed in light.
Under certain conditions the moun
tains are lilac, deepening to rose and
crimson, the fields violet, with salmon
pink, purple, ochre and cinnamon, all
melting into each other. Over all is
“a sky miraculously blue.”
Though separated only by a strait
from Greece visitors usually come
across the Adriatic from Brindisi, em
barking in the evening and seeing the
island next morning. Others come
down from Fiume and Trieste. One
may simply stop as long as the ship
Is discharging and taking on cargo,
galloping over a part of the ground,
or one may “stay over,” which is, of
course, the better plan.
In fact, most of us, after once get
ting ashore at these lovely eastern
places vow never to leave, thanks
to the confusing noise and insolence
of the boatmen who convey passen
gers and luggage ashore.
The Island and the City.
Corfu (Kerkyra) is the capital of its
namesake island. Very irregularly
shaped it covers 277 square mil-s and
contains something like 115,000 inhab
itants, over 25,000 of this population
being In the city of Corfu and its sub
urbs. The safe and spacious harbor
on the east slue, next Greece, is lively
with shipping (they export olive oil
and a few years ago imported chiefly
Russian grain and English manufac
tures). There are ruined fortifications,
of course, the Fortezza Vecchia to the
east of the town and the Fortezza Nuo
va to the northwest. Originally the
town was inclosed by a wall, so the
streetB are very narrow and the stone
houses four and five stories in height.
March, April and May are the ideal
times in which to visit this Interesting
island. October and the first half of
November are also very pleasant, but
the summer Is very hot and the win
ter is noted for sudden changes of
temperature and heavy rains.
In the Odyssey one comes upon Cor
fu under the rule of Alkinoos, the an
cients identifying it with the Phaea
cian island of Scheria.
The Corinthians in 734 B. C. estab
lished a colony here and the infant so
flourished as to menace mamma. In
665 B. C. they fought a battle, the
now grown-up offspring (called Cor
cyra) being victorious. A shrewd col
ony. she did not share in the Persian
wars because she was waiting to
throw In her lot with the victors.
Indeed, it has been a case of war,
war, war, with Corfu. In 229 B. C.
the Romans took possession, but on
the partition of the Byzantine empire
by the Crusaders in 1205 A. D. it fell
to the share of the Venetians, who
were replaced by the kings of Naples
from 1267 to 1380. The Venetians
took it again in the fourteenth cen
tury. Tho Turks made two tries for it
(1537 and 1716) and the French occu
pied it from 1807 to 1814, while from
1815 to 1863 it formed with the other
Ionian islands a Heptanesos (seven
island state) under England's protec
tion. In 1858 Gladstone was sent as
extraordinary commissioner to consid
er the grievances of tho people. In
1S63 tho English yielded to the de
sires of the islanders and consented
to their incorporation in the kingdom
of Greece.
Its Beautiful Gardens.
Having been released from the Dog
ana (custom house) the visitor may
stroll eastward to the royal palace
(built by tho English) and to the Spin
nata (esplanade) thai is from the new
fortifications to the old ones. Continu
ing south we come upon the strada
marina, where the sea and the moon
light are enjoyed to wonderful advan
tage.
And the gardens!
In them flourish the olive, cypress,
orange, lemon, fig, magnolia, palm,
banana, eucalyptus, aloe and papyrus.
But the olive is seen in greatest pro
fusion in the center of the island,
4,000,000 trees being in the groves.
April sees them in bloom, while the
fruit ripens from December to March.
Unfortunately Corfu does not produce
choice oil owing to the primitive ap
pliances for expressing and clearing it.
The inhabitants show more culture
than is usual in Greece. This 1b said
to be due to the Venetian and English
domination of Corfu. Good roads lead
to nearly all parts of the island.
Some seven miles south of Corfu Is
the Villa Achilleion, which, a few
years ago, was to be seen providing
one was armed with a permesso from
the Austrian consul. The most inter
esting part of its varied architecture
is the colonnade to the east with its
fine frescoes. The large park de
scends to the sea in terraces, the fish
ing village of Benizze with the remains
of a Roman villa being below. Among
the works of art is a Dying Achilles
by Herter and (in a small temple) a
seated marble statue of Heine by the
Danish sculptor Hasselries.
Drives to the westward are embow
ered with medlar and apricot trees
and romantic cypresses.
A drive to the north and west of
the city of Corfu (nearly crossing the
long, narrow island) discloses red
cliffs on the west coast honeycombed
with caves. On top of the rocky
height there’s a wonderful view—be
hind the city of Corfu and the pic
turesque east coast, while far to the
northwest are the Othonlan islands,
one of which is thought to be the isle
of Calypso. There is also a fantas
tically shaped rock resembling a sail
ing ship which was once thought to
have been actually the vessel of
Ulysses.
Real climbers are content with noth
ing less than an ascent of Monte S.
Salvatore, the island’s highest peak.
This view embraces the entire island,
the Othonian Isles, the mainland of
Greece to the east, the island of Ceplia
lonia to the south and to the west the
sea.
PUT IN HOLIDAYS WALKING
One Hundred and Forty Miles Trav
eled in Seven Days Is Record of
Minnesota Girl.
While many Minneapolitans rose
from the dinner table and walked to
the drug store two blocks away to
settle their Christmas dinners, Miss
Amelia Braathen went without a
Christmas dinner and started out on
a walk which lasted a week, says the
Minneapolis Journal. She returned to
Minneapolis New Year's eve after she
had walked 110 miles and visited four
teen towns and eight counties. She
wore out a pair of shoes, hut came
home satisfied with her Christmas va
cation.
Miss Braathen was the guest of a
sister in Minneapolis. She is teaching
a rural school She left Minneapolis
for her work soon after returning
from the walking trip.
“I have always liked to walk,” Miss
Braathen said. “My home is on a
farm and there Is a lot of room for
walking out there. I often used to
take walks of ten miles or more, but
this was my first attempt at a really
long trip.
"On the whole, the trip was not
eventful. In all the towns through
which I passed 1 was received most
courteously. The last day of my trip
I though my shoes would give out be
fore I reached home, so I bought a
pair of rubbers to save the day.
“I traveled light, with my baggage,,
in a small satchel. The first few daysj
I took it easy because 1 didn't know),
how fast I could go, but one day Ij
made twenty-five miles. After that 1
took it easy again, because 1 was get.,
ing near home too fast.”
Well Received.
Mabel—So you asked papa for my
hand? Did he give you any encour
agement?
Arthur—Well, no, but ho gave mo a
drink and a cigar, so I had no kick
coming.