Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 296, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 December 1918 — Page 3

The Persian Gulf

m w -<BERE is & bit of seashore of r Ysuch vital Importance to our ■ \ world today that thitherward is directed the anxious gaze of all the leaders of the nations. It figures prominently as one of the- questions involved in the great war, is the territory of an Important campaign, and;was, in fact, one of the prime factors in the causation of the war. It has been a region of high importance since the first morning of our civilisation, rich alike in history and fable—probably the cradle of western culture; the playground of many empires gone (and perhaps of others yet to come), whose undulating sands and bills hold the ruins of sixty centuries. I* Is a haunt of tranceful dreams and infinite fascination, a latitude which can lay most plausible claim to the consideration of all of us. And yet, In our time of knowledge, these coast lands, famous for ages, are scarcely known—nd more probably than they were to the curious Greeks of Herodotus’ time or to the Chaldeans who studied the stars and the sea a dozen centuries earlier —assuredly no more than they were to the geographers of Bagdad or the merchants of Ispahan In the days of the good Haroun al Raschld, writes Proyer Butanal in the New York World. The Persian gulf Ues brooding with the-ages. Around its ancient water's are set the luster-shorn crown jewels of Islam. It Is a solitude of obscure wonders awalt4ng exploration. The Persian gulf Is a landlocked body of water of oblong shape lying between Arabia and Persia. It is about five hundred miles long by an average of two hundred miles wide, extending from northwest to southeast. Its outlet to the Indian ocean, the Straits of Ormuz, Is less than -three hundred miles .from the outpos't frontier of India, so that a power controlling the gulf, say by holding a fortress at the tip of the Pirate coast, the Arabian side of the narrow strait, would have an immediate sally port for excursions, against the empire of the east. Indeed, with proper railroad facilities In Ask atie Turkey, the Persian gulf becomes the logical route to India. go ft is not astonishing that when

the heavy spectacles "of German schol- , arship formed an alliance with kaiserllchmustachios the idea of the North-sea-to-Perslan-gulf railroad cropped up Immediately and showed extreme pertinacity. The center of equilibrium in the Orient lies In the control of the Persian gulf. ' .= As In the Day* of the Prophet. To one side Is Persia, to the other Arabia, with crumbled Babylon, looking down from the north. Where a fairer setting for the romancer? Along the low, sandy and forbidding west shore lie the provinces of El Hasa and Oman, the latter with that precious territory known as the Pirate coast Here the various touches of modern culture are perfectly unknown. The Arab holds forth mm* as be did when the prophet was raising the first ructions of the Islamitlc storm. And the Arab is a person of wide and deserved reputation. On this coast he is seen In his most characteristic guises—and also in roles comparatively unknown to the outside world. Camels, sand storms and the desert axe the usual settings for the burnoused follower of the prophet. But on the Persian gulf coast the Arab has become an expert sailor —and pirate; He follows both of these worthy avocations with all the guile traditional of his breed—and often it is guile quite fantastic to the occidental mind,* ■ ~ The coast has long been a refuge for outlawed characters from western Europe. They partake readily in the robberies and piracies of the natives, which in spite of English gunboats flourish exceedingly. Slave trading and gun running are lucrative professions, and the warriors of- central Asia are enabled to make large amounts of. trouble, thanks to the rifles placed in their hands by these hardy rascals of the gulf littoral. i' : . All along the sandy waste lie treasure stores of'ruins. Travelers have described half-burled stone formations, the reties of man long before the early civilization of the region. There is a resemblance to the famous stone age work at Stonehenge and other remains

On the Shores of the Persian Gulf.

of prehistoric man in Europe. Southern Arabia holds the Remains of what seems a very early and quite unknown civilization. Excavation may add a new and revolutionary page to the his> tory of culture. Large parts of Arabia have never been explored by the outsider, some not even by the Arabs themselves, it would seem. The natives will tell you that certain sections are impassable. Some of this may be taken with a trifle reports as to the fatal characteristics of this section or that—that the very air Is poisoned—thereby frightening away thieving tradesmen from the right of way of well-laden caravans. Land of Romance and Ruin.

The Persian side shows a rugged beach formation with bristling cliffs and rocks. There tin Bushire and Basra—from "this latter Sindbad, a historical character, sailed on his never-to-be-forgotten voyages. To the interior. .He Shiraz and Ispahan, of poeticoromantic gldgy. It is a land as strange as Araby itself. Takd the punishment of slaves. When a slave has misbehaved himself seriously enough he is punished by being freed and left to earn his own Hvlng, which virtually consigns him .to a lingering death. Across the Straits of Ormuz, opposlte the tip of. the Pirate coast, is the once great trading city of Ormuz, now a ruin, showing evidences of vanished magnificence. Western travelers who visited the city in the days of its splendor five hundred years ago used extravagant language in describing the wealth and luxury which prevailed there. But Ormuz after undergoing spectacular ups and downs finally decayed and fell into dust, and is now an object for the philosophic ruminations of the tourist, a cadaver for the dissecting picks and shovels of the archeologist. There are few ports on this rough coast and the interior is harried .by robbers and fractious tribesmen. There are sites and cities untouched by the ravages of tourists, Although they have Been drummed into the head of the western world by the great Persian poets in their latter-day occidental vogue. ..".--'-At,-

At the narrow northern shore of the Persian gulf lies the ancient land of the Chaldeans. It is here that the storied rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris, unite and fiow into the gulf, Qn the Tigris is Bagdad, the city of the Arabian Nights. The ruins of Babylon are near the Euphrates; the rivers run almost parallel. On every side, on the sands, or more often beneath them, are the decayed remnants of days which stir the imagination of the dullest Persia, Chaldea, Arabia — all clustered about the gulf—and the tourist found them not

HIS ALL-IMPORTANT QUESTION

Many Things Happened While Eager r Young Man Waited Answer That Meant So Much to Him. s He had asked her a question of the greatest importance and one which he felt warranted an Immediate . reply.. She seemed very calm and collected herself much as an Indianapolis street car conductor would collect a nickel fare and one cent for a transfer. As he searched her face and found nothing but a small brown mole near the end of her nose he knew that she must answer his question. Something told him that she would, but, of course, he didn’t know what Slowly a hectic flush began to suffuse her cheeks. He didn’t even know what hectic meant and, therefore, didn’t appreciate one when it suffused. He would have recognized a straight flush in an instant. -

Must he hound her for a reply? Nope; decidedly nope. Must he ask her ggain? Nope er that is to say, yep—or rather, yes ma’am. “Well, what do you think of Germany’s reply to Mr. Wilson?" he squiggled, alternating from one foot to the other until he had tried all two of them. -■ “I ddn’t know, George,” she a» bounded, as she broke into the charm of ‘Don’t Feed the Hand That P' You.’”—lidianapolfa News

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Propinquity's Part

By DOROTHY DOUGLAS

You’re that kind of stuff. And I’ll I Iwinb fr* vnn wlfh fl Villi Of , 1 _ j ormC ■full nf InVP ” HPF head drooped on his khaki shoulder for a moment while she almost gave way. “Good-by,” she whispered and pushed him from her. ,

He held hen for' one more moment “Good-by, my girl,” he said, swallowing the lump that almost choked him. Then he took his cap and strode down the garden path, closed the gate behind him and was lost to her among the shadows of the trees. June twisted her handkerchief to a hard knot, bit her lips and kept her eyes glueii to'the opening in the trees where she had last seen him. Then, slowly, she let the tears flow down her cheeks, threw herself' Into the binnmock and sobbed. Capt. Teddy Blake was soon back in his quarters with the knowledge in bls own heart that this was # the last time, he should see June for many a day. That he would sail on the following day or-the next at the latest he was sure. It seemed very hard to leave June; they had been so happy; she was wonderfully lovely. But —he would come back and claim her some day. That she would not, wait for him, that he could forget—those were impossible suggestions. June answered the call of the Red Cross for nurses. She felt In her first dejection and loneliness as if she must do something to help hasten the end -of the war that had separated Teddy from her. She was accepted and went into g hospital for training almost at once. She became absorbed-in the work, met many new and interesting persons and soon found herself quite cheerful At night When she-wrote her letter to Captain Teddy she told him of her work, of the new faces, of her ambition to get “over there” and-help, Und perhaps take care of him. But she did not vjeep; rather she grew more and more proud of having sent her captain off so bravely, and congratulated herself for her own cheerfulness. ■; ■-•J''. ;

“You’re going to make-a wonderful nurse, Miss Prince,” one of the doctors told her after she had helped him In some surgical dressing. “Oq, am I?” she exclaimed. “I love the work.” ■ * . Doctor Buchanan watched the wonderful color flood her face* at the compliment he had paid her. He was thir-ty-five and had been so absorbed In his profession that he had never taken time to get married. . . June worked more earnestly than ever after that wbrd of praise from so clever a’ surgeon as Doctor Buchanan. Also she now had the temerity to smile at him when she passed him in the corridors or he chanced upon her in the wards. Heretofore she had -never notided any- of the doctors, some one having told her it was better to attend strictly ,to the professional side of the work and not permit herself to know the doctors socially. Captain Teddy’s letters were filled with interesting stories of jaunts here and there, when he had time to himself. He spoke’more than once of the alacrity with which he was picking up the French language. A pretty French girl, Jeanne de Naeyer, A'hom he had met at a canteen, was giving him-les-sons on every available occasion. Oh, he would come back to June'quite an 'accomplished French student, and he hoped she wqs not being too lonely. The war dragged on and June finished her training, grew even more lovely, with a more serious expression in her eyes, forced there by the knowledge she was gaining of the suffering la this world.

■lnstead of being sent to France, Nurse June was sent to a base hospital “somewhere on Long’island” to take care of the poor wounded soldiers who were being brought home by every boat. Sipe bed little time for letter writing now. Her leisure hours, many of them, were spent with Doctor Buchanan, studying, always learning, more thoroughly the requirements of a good nurse. Without having become aware of it, .she had become very fond of the able surgeon who had done z sp much for her throughout her trailing. And she had not noticed that he sought her out on every Theirs Was a'serious sort oif companionship and they had been drawn together almost daily in their work. Letters from Captain Teddy, now In action, still referred to Jeanne, the little French girl. He spoke rather casually of her—.rather too casually, June thought once or twlcp, but she seemed not to mind. “Did you ever realize what a dangerous thing propinquity is?” she asked Doctor Buchanan one night, when they were leaving the grounds of the big base hospital for a couple of hours of rest from duty. “Dangerous?” he asked. She nodded. “Yes —dangerous. Now, don’t think I’m going to weep and have hysterics or be love-sick at what I’m going to tell you. You know I’m not that sort—don’t you, by this time?”

he longed to tell her what a wonderand of how he would like to write the letters high everywhere.' That French girl! How glad he was that she bad happened to be there—ls that was what caused Captain Teddy to fall out of love with June Prince. “Wouldn’t you call it a danger?” she was asking. a "No—l should not" “When you realize that falling in love must be onlyjtJnatter Of propinquity, doesn’t that seem rather dreadful?” - - • “Dreadful—dreadful I” mocked the doctor, patiently, waiting for his turn. “And all your young ideals are smashed —your Ideals which Inchide the one and only man in the world no matter where he be?” ' The doctor looked at_her. “Dare I tell you, June, what I think of propinquity?” “But—of course—why not?” said June. .. He took her arm and tucked it under his as they strolled beneath the old Long Island trees that surrounded the hospital. “I think it is the greatest thing in the world, dear. It has been propinquity that has shown, me the beautiful character, the sweetness, the dearness of you. 1 love you and I’m going to make you love me, and you may write to yOur one-time captain that have Intuitively felt he was falling in love with the pretty French girl, and that you—well, you are not too lonely. Will you, June? Will you go on making ours a case of propinquity?” Now that It had come, June knew she had long expected it. “Yes. I think I’ve been happier in these three years of working side by side with you than —than I’ve ever been in my life. Wouldn’t it have been dreadful If—” She blushed and hesitated. ‘ He leaned down to look Into her face. “If /Teddy hadn’t found the French girl?”

SURE DEATH TO COCKROACH

Commercial Sodium Fluoride Recommended as Effective In Warfare Against Common Household Pest. The Bulletin of the Chicago School of Sanitary Instruction has been dealing with domestic pests, the latest Issue describing a simple and effective way of ridding premises of these un- . pleasant arthropeds. Commercial .sodium fluoride mixed in' equal parts with flour is dusted over places frequented by the insects or applied with a dustgun or powder blower. j . . The immediate effect will be noticed that the insects will come out of their hiding places, and after rushing about in a frantic manner for a time* become paralyzed and soon die. The dead or paralyzed cockroaches may then be swept up and burned. As a rule premises can be ridden of roaches by this method in 24 to 48 hour®. The same mixture Is said to kill caterpillars when fed on foliage that shas been dusted with it. The fluorides should tee used, however, with care and the inhalation of the dust should, of course, be avoided, as these salts have an injurious action on the human subject. Their use as preservatives in food is*legally prohibited in the United States.

That Remarkable Sheep.

Some of the most singular plants in the world are the vegetable sheep of New Zealand. These are known to science as raoulia eximia, and although they are of such a strange habit of growth they a l * members of the daisy tribe. The vegetable sheep grow at jiigh altitudes, usually on some bleak mountain slope, which may be 5,000 feet above sea level. The whole plant is a compact mass of.stems densely covered with small wooly leaves. So closely do the raoulias resemble sheep that experienced shepherds will often cHmb a long way up the mountain, thinking that they see some missing member of their flock huddled against a rock, only to. discover that they have been deceived by a plant! During'a recent exhibition at Christchurch, in New Zealand, some ‘specimens of the vegetable sheep were collected for fi»e'show. The plants are often large and heavy, and it required the efforts of half a dozen strong men to secure some fine examples of raoulias. -s

First Official Newspaper.

The first newspaper capje into existence when written accounts of th< imperial armies pf,Rome were sent ti the generals In command in all parts of the provinces. In 15G6 the first official news sheets were published in Venice. They were written by hand and exhibited in public places, people paying the small coin of a gazetta to read them. ' The Church, averse to all diffusing of knowledge, tried' to impede this source of education, and Pope Gregor even prosecuted the editors. ' e

FIRST REAL BASEBALL GAME BETWEEN NEGLISH TEAMS AT HYDE PARK. LONDON

Big Crowd Watching Baseball Contest in London.

A game of baseball, recently played at Hyde Park, London, was the crown-1 Ing Instance of how the “Invasion” of the Yanks is forever cementing the entente cordlale. For the first time in history two exclusively British teams have met in a game of baseball, the scene being Hyde Park, London. The contest was the finale of an afternoon’s entertainment staged by the American Young Men’s Christian Assocfatidp. There have been many games by Americans in this country, but until September 21, 1918, epochal date, no two British clubs had attempted competition in America’s national sport. Made Good Showing. Coached for two weeks by athletic directors of the Y. M. C. A., the two teams made a good showing. They were made up of British soldiers of an outfit stationed at Hyde Park barracks. They appeared on the field as the Reds and the Blues, and their uniforms were fairly representative of the real article. An American sailor took the job of umpiring, and two American negro soldiers, after the

JACK COOMBS BUYS BUSINESS

Old-Time Athletic Pitcher Says He le As Through With Baseball—Now Living in Texas. Jack Coombs Is through with baseball for good. The thrifty New Englander, who saved the major part of his diamond earnings, bought an interest in a mercantile establishment in Nechcs, and is actively engaged In Its management. The store Is one of the largest in the country and does a big business. Coombs joined the Athletics in 1906

Pitcher Jack Coombs.

and was on the payroll until October 29, 1914, when he was unconditionally released, along with Chief Bender and Eddie Plank. In 1915 he signed with Brooklyn, and staged a comeback that lasted aj long «s baseball did.

UMP GIVES QUEER GRID RULE

Coach of League Island Marines Relates Odd Decision of Arbiter in Football Game. • Here Is one for the book which was unearthed by Byron Dickson, coach of the marines at League island.:.,"We were placing a game the other day,” said By, “and my team was forced to punt when near the goal line. It was a bum kick and one of the opponents raised his arm in signal for a fair catch: However, the ball fell short and another player out in front of him eaught the ball and ran it back for a good gain. We protested to the official, but there was nothing doing“After the game I asked him to give me a ruling on that particular play, and this is what he handed me: “‘A man has a right to signal for a fair catch and another player may catch the ball/, providing he runs in front of him. That makeqpit legal. If, however, he runs behind the man who signaled for the catch the play is illegal and should be called back.'* -•* S

official scorer, a British corporal, lost count of tiie hits. sat on all four sides of the diamond and watched the game. Most of thd “rooting” was supplied by American onrl thnro <* Ttfiftull HO™ with an occasional but* o£ modest applause. Whether good batting eyed hard to say, but the crack of the bal was almost continuous. errors were pjeuiuub uul when the bases were full, of the Reds stole third and appeared amazed when he found that bag already occupied by a team mate. Be It said that this was Wore the American ne.

What Is a Wrestler?

ed the pigskinlf » fighter, the : .it’ as < ever sported silk; if a Diiiiara

MITCHELL WAS VERY CLEVER

First Ring Fight Was Staged Neaf Birmingham, England—Wanted to Be Physician. The first ring engagement of Charlie Mitchell, the famous fighter who fought John L. Sullivan 39 rounds to a draw in France, was staged near Birmingham. England, on January 11, 1878. His opponent on that occasion was Bob Cunningham, whom he defeated in 50 minutes. Mitchell, who was born in Birmingham of Irish parents, and whpse early 'ambition was to become a physician, was only sixteen when he whipped Cunningham. He was then a lightweight, and in 1879 he fought a draw in London with Bill Kennedy, the lightweight champion. In 1881 he fought Caryadoff, the Belgian giant, at Antwerp, and defeated the big fellow in one round. Mitchell never weighed much over the middleweight limit, yet he mixed ft with some of the greatest heavyweights of his day, including Sullivan. He was on the downgrade when he was defeated by Corbett at Jacksonville io 1804, which was his last ring battle.

SPLENDID MEMORY OF SAMBO

Certain Golf Play<y Had Good Reason to Remember Colored Man Who as Caddie Ai -.yv. . , ■- Several years ago a certain golfer was particularly anxious to play in an Invitation tournament, but on the qualifying day a heavy storm set In and the rain literally “came down cats and dogs.” As a consequence he had great difficulty In securing a caddie, and caddying'for himself on such a day was out of the question. Finally he secured the services of a middle-aged negro, who stuCK bravely, although drenched to the skin. It rained for three solid days, but the colored man was on the Job every minute. Not long since the player happened to see this same negro on tne streets of a strange city. He spoke to hiat and the reply was a trifle out of the ordinary, although heartfelt through bitter memory. The dialogue, simple and unadorned, follows: / jg “Good morning. Sambo. Do you remember me?" “Didn’t it ralnr was Sambo'a i» stant response. . . . > £ - ■■