Jasper Weekly Courier, Volume 63, Number 28, Jasper, Dubois County, 3 December 1920 — Page 2

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PISA: AN OLD CURIOSITY SHOP OF HISTORY A city of 10,(XX) skyscrapers before Peter Minult nought Manhuttan Island for the present price of a supper at a Hroadway cabaret. . ' A city that warred and tradu with empires, yet plunged Into a disastrous struggle with a rival city over the rights to a lapdog. A city which was seized after a Florentine Hobson "bottled up" Its harbor entrance with sunken boats six centuries before the battle off Sant tlago bay. Such is Pisa, whose leaning tower was endangered by recent earthquake tremors in Italy. Pisa's record abounds In Incidents as freakish as Its famous tower; yet It possesses a history necessarily more Biniiicant than any British or American city. Indicative of Pisa's importance in the thirteenth century was her sending an ambassador to Home. Thereby hangs the story of the lapdog. During the coronation ceremonies1 of Frederick II the Florentine emissary admired the lapdog of h certain cardinal, so that dignitary promised to give the tiny animal to Its admirer. Next day the Pisan ambassador said a few kind words about the same dog. and tle cardinal Just as readily promised it to him. The Florentine sent for his gift, and got it; the Pisan sent, and received an apology. Florentines began joking the Plains ahout this incident, and fights ensued on the Hornau streets. When the Pisan home folks heard this It gave them an ex cellent chance to pick a quarrel that had long been simmering. A sort of medieval ISoston tea party was staged by the I'lsnns, who seized all the enemy merchandise within their reach, and thus precipitated the first of a series of wars with Florence which culminated In the subjection of Pisa by her long-time rival. The lapdog story seems trivial, yet characteristic of a certain childish quality noticeable among the juvenile civic nationalities that preceded national Italy. As further proof one might recall the occasion when the victorious army of Lucca hung upon a Pisan tower a mirror with the inscription "Oh women of Pisa, use these to look at yourselves.' No other challenge wasi needed for the Pisans to march to the gate of Lucca, and there to plant poles, topped with mirrors, bearing retaliatory comment. Were a super Hip Van Winkle of medieval Pisa to come with Iiis latterday compatriots to Kills island in 1020, not only the national bird of his adopted land, but the skyscraper line of New York might make him feel at home. Towers they were called, these Pisa skyscrapers, huddled together for all the world like groups of tall apartment houses. Two reasons are assigned for this method of building, common to Italian towns of the twelfth century. One was that the wall permitted only vertical expansion when population pressure increased. Another, believable in view of the constant factional tights and family fer.ds, attributed them to the necessity for protection. Uridines that could be thrown from tower to tower further suggested the skyscraper likeness. On thosv precursors of the modern fire escape, many a community battle has raged. The Leaning Tower of Pisa served humanity well, aside from becoming the most effective bit of city advertising yet devised, for It permitted Galileo, a native of Pisa, to carry on his experiments with the laws governing the pendulum. V THE FLAMINGO, A BIRD OF BEAUTY AND MYSTERY, IS SAVED FROM EXTINCTION Assurance that the Uamingo, bird of beauty and mystery, will escape extinction is contained In a letter from II. K. W. Grant, colonial governor of the P.ahamus. which says: "You will he glad .to hear that an order in council has been passed, giving complete protection to the Uamingo. This glory of our marshes owes the expedition a debt of gratitude." The action of the Hahamas council was taken following an expedition, which trailed the tlamingo, the most beautiful f the world's larger bird. to its last stand, took motion pictures of the timorous creatures; and brought about a realization of how near they were to becoming extinct in the new world through annihilation by native pponge fishermen. These fishermen hunted them down for food purposes at the nestln?: and molting season. The first American naturalist ro locate ami study the gorgeous Uamingo was Ir. Prank M. Chapman In llx)l, when he estimated that some 0,000 fiamingoes were to be found on one of the little Known islands of the Hahamas group. Since then it Is believed that fully two-thirds of the colonics have perished. The expedition that spent ten days In the abysmal salt swamps of Andros LJand, filming ti.e llamlugo and study

ing his habitat for scientific purposes, wa sent out by the Miami Aquarium association, A yacht was the mother ship of the expedition and an express cruiser was used as a scout boat. Canvas canoes were taken along to get into the shallow salt creeks, and nose Into the lagoons for deep entrances to the murky swamps where the flamingo hides. A Paliama guide, Peter Bannister, who had aided Doctor Chapman's party 19 years ago, also went with the party. After penetrating to the utmost navigable points with the canoes It was necessary to traverse miles of . the "swash" or tidal marl marches, carrying the heavy cameras and motion picture machines. In search for the birds. Wading In water up to the waist, knee deep In the marl mud, was the dally program, while blinding swarms of mosquitoes compelled nightly retreats to the yacht, anchored several miles off shore. Put the hardships found a worthy reward when the party came upon colonies of several hundred birds, described by a member of the party as "a flaming mass of brilliant scarlet bodies. Jet black beneath the huge wings, with their long, slender necks gracefully lowering and raising their Roman-nosed heads as they sought beneath the water the tlny spiral shell known to scientist as Ccrithiuin upon which the flamingo lives exclusively In Its native habitat."

SARDINIA: THE ISLAND OF PYGMIES AND WOLFRAM A traveler of fine imagination suggests that travel involves a double journey "one forward through space, the other backward through time." Your steamboat ticket from Civitavecchia, the port of Home, entitles you to an eight-hour voyage to Sardinia, but affords a premium of several thousand years backward to Kuropo's earliest traceable history. Sardinia has a double Interest just now because of the reported native demand for home rule, and because Americans have found tracts containing wolfram, highly prized as a source ! of tungsten. Second only to Sicily among Mediterranean Islands, Sardinia has been referred to as the lost Isle of that sea. Geographically It has been said to turn Its back on Italy, for Its east coast Is mountainous. This Isolation has a compensation in preserving the homogeneity of a people who have a Sardinian Miners. vpeclnl interest for students of racial history. Sardinians are small of stature. Even their soldiers have an average height a fraction under five feet, four inches. Put the most conspicuous curiosities of Sardinia are its nuraghl, great round towers, relics of the bronze age. which served as fortified dwellings for some prehistoric people. There are fi.OOO or more of these towers, some 00 feet high, usually about .H) feet In diameter at the base, made of stone blocks and smeared with clay mm the Inside. Stairways lead o upper chambers and platforms. Interesting as are these relics of unknown Inhabitants, even more fascinating are the traces of ancient civilizations to be found In the dally life of Sardinians of today. One may find oxen plowing as they did In the days of the Uoman empire, implements which were introduced 1 the successive occupants, one Catalan town (Alghero) where there Is- no jarring note In the illusion of old Spain, and dances of the classic Grtek period at the mountain feste. Only In Sardinia and Corsica is the muflonl, predecessor of our sheep, to be found. Wild deer and wild boar are plentiful in the mountain districts. Tunny fishing Is a major Industry. In area Sardinia Is comparable to Vermont, but has more than twice the population of that state. The island lies directly south of Corsica, and is separated therefrom by the narrow straits of Ponlfaclo. In shape It has been compared to a human footprint. AIRPLANES TO WHIR OVER THUNDEROUS FALLS While Niagara Falls will continue to hold their own as n mecca for hon-ey-mooners and other travelers, they must henceforth submit to comparison with another natural wonder, the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi, as Africa becomes frequented by tourists. From being a place of mystery, so feared that Livingstone, who discovered the falls In 1SV, had great dimculty In persuading his followers to accompany him. the fall now are vis

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ible from n railway that crosses th river half-mile below them, and they lie under the route of the proposed Cape to Cairo aerial service. Louis Livingston Seaman, in a communication to the National Geographic society, describes a visit to Victoria Falls and contrasts them with Niagara, as follows: "Karly In the morning of the third day, we were suddenly awakened by the guard and treated to a scene of beauty never to be forgotten. Some ten mile.? distant five enormous columns of vapor were shooting their roseate-tinted shafts hundreds of feet heavenward, while the faint roar of the falls told us the Mosloa-Tunga the smoke that sounds was no longer a mystery. "Fach moment Increased the beauty and vividness of the scene. With the firt rays of the rising sun came a picture of color of wondrous loveliness. Delicate tints of violet, crimson, and beryl played through the mounting spray as It shot higher and higher, ultimately disappearing as virgin clouds In heaven, while the ever-Increasing thunders of the waters lent an added solemnity to the view. "Hardly could we wait to reach our destination, so great was our enthusiasm. Hut our hopes were doomed to momentary disappointment, only to be more than realized after a study of the environment ; for, notwithstanding their magnitude, the first view of Victoria Falls Is decidedly disappointing. "Although nearly a mile in width and 400 feet in height, the grandeur of their proportions is eclipsed by the sudden disappearance of the river, as it plunges into a narrow, rocky fissure extending across Its entire width. Only at a single central point Is there a breach in this fissure through which the falls can be seen and appreciated in their full proportions, where the converging waters rush madly to the zigzag canyon below. So restricted is this view that there Is an entire absence of that awe-Inspiring and most paralyzing effect which strikes the visitor dumb with wonder and amazement when Niagara bursts on his near vision. "On first sight of the Victoria Falls one involuntarily exclaims, 'Oh, how beautiful!' but they lack the majesty of our grand Niagara "No slngre visit can adequately reVeal the fullness of their charms, but repeated excursions must be made to their islands and precipices, their grottos and palm gardens, their rain forests and projecting crags, their rainbows and cataracts and many-sided views of their exquisite setting in the emerald framework of tropic forests, before their Indescribable beauty can be appreciated. "Had the falls been in America, tho Indians would surely have named them Minnehaha, Laughing Waters."

THE MARSHALL ISLANDS The Marshall islands, along with the Carolines, were seized by Japan soon after the outburst of the war, and their permanent disposition has been under discussion. Their proximity to the Philippines has been referred to in this connection. The two chains of curiously-shaped atolls, or coral Islands consisting of low-lying coral reefs encircling lagoons, known as the Marshall group, lie a little south of the center of an imaginary line between the Philippines and Hawaii. Guam, Samoa and Honolulu form a triangle of trade routes, with its sides not penetrated by Important steamship lines. Near the center of this isolated Pacific zone are the Marshall Islands. Pefore the war Sydney was reached by steamer, a voyage of more than a.CHM) miles. The only other egress is a steamer to Ponape which connects with the French line to Singapore. Like two loosely-strung chains of jewels, the islands stretch from northwest to southeast, each with its lagoon setting encased by a strangelyshaped circlet of coral, some like triangles, harps and stirrups, and one outlining a bull's head with its horns. Straight-hatred, dark-brown native, still preserving the religious significance of tattoo and taboo, are to be found. Woman was given a higher position than among most savages because succession was through the female line. Put the chiefs power was absolute, to the point of life and death. One ambitious ruler learned an alphabet and is said to have beheaded all his subjects who seemed likely to acquire more knowledge than he had. In some islands the mother was allowed to keep only the first three children. She had to hury the fourth. Skillful and fearless navigators, the natives used bread-tree wood to make sailing canoes In which they would voyage for months. They devised charts, made of sticks, showing the locations of islands and the directions of prevailing winds. Ancestor worship was their predominant religious sentiment. With petitions and gifts they worshiped the ! departed whose spirits were supposed to return to earth in certain palm trees which tliey set off In stone Inclosures. Illrds and fishes sometimes embodied these spirits, they believed, and thus certain species became taboo. Homes of the natives were not pretentious Floors were raisvd above the ground to escape the rats, and thatched roofs covered the combination house and storage room. The two Island groups are known ns the Ratak and ltallk chains. Their entire area Is not more'than ICO square miles; their native population 15,000, with fewer than T00 foreigners. The seat of German government was on .Talult and the most populous1 island Is Majeru, with but 1.000 persons.

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A HOPELESS CASE. A teacher could not get a little girl to remember the number four. She would count, 2, 3, f." Finally In desperation the teacher asked her If she had n cat at home. The little girl said she did. "Then run along home and count the cat's feet, then come back and tell me how many she has," said the teacher. The little girl returned to the schoolroom promptly! "Well, did you count the cat's feet?" asked the teacher. "Yes, ma'am." "How many has it?" "Two In the front and two in the back." Kansas City Star. v v ANOTHER She I was a fool to marry you. He No doubt; but I am not will Ing to let you bear all the blame. I asked you to. At the Zoo. See the critters at the zoo See the panther and the bear; Then the thought occurs to you, What expensive furs they wear! The Other Kind. 'l hear food is going to take a drop all over the country." " "That Is more than the consumer can do unless he goes outside the three-mile limit." Satisfactory. "Is your husband voracious In his appetite, madam?" "Not a bit of it, doctor. He'll eat anything and everything as long and as fast as he kin git It." At the Club. "How far have you proceeded In your discussion of intimate domestic problems?" "We have just gone through the trousers pocket matter.' Naturally. "What are the best export places for cork?" "I suppose It's where they have the largest floating populations. Porch Ascent. Knicker Did he begin at the bottom of the ladder? P.oeker No, you might say he started at the bottom of the front steps. Contrary Hopes. "Funny, isn't it, when a throws his hat Into the ring " "Well?" "He wants a square deal." man FAIR Fortune Teller You will marry a rich man who will give you a princely allowance. Two dollars, please. Customer I'll pay you out of my allowance. Good day. Good Idea. To have no noiion Is a bore To all us writing men. I'll go Into a notion store And All m fountain pen. Familiar Appeal. "Do you believe you can get women to understand a blanket ballot?" "Sure, If It is piarked down.' Mistook Its Sex. "Kings has a clever parrot that remarked the other day it wasn't worth while talking when you had nothing to say." "Then what does he call It Sally for?" Certainly. Fair IMaygoer (to friend examining poster of famous play being performed by equally famous actor) Whose Hamlet do you like bt, dear? FriendOh. Shakespeare's, by all mears.

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"It Takes Leather 0y REALLY NOTHING MUCH DOING Llge Parsons Wa3 Not Actually on the Warpath, but It Seemed There Were Casualties. 'Everybody expects a Keiitucklnn to tell a feud story," stated Governor Morrow of Kentucky recently. "The thins has really been much overdone, hut the story of Llge Parsons may be worth telling. Lige dropped into the courthouse to see his friend, the probate Judge. "'Howdy, Lige! greeted the Judge. 'Howdy, Judge!' 'What's doln' down your way, Liger " Ntithln Judge, nuthlnV 'T'other evenln' I was a-settin. areadin of my Bible, Judge,' spoke up Llge, 'when some .shootin' begun. One of my gals said 'twas the Harris boys down by the middle pasture. Now. Judge, I didn't mind them Harris boys a-shootln', but I was afraid a stray bullet might hit a calf or one of the kids, so I picked up my ride and dropped a few shoots down that way and went back a-readin' of my Bible. JCext mornin I went down that way an they was all gone eept four.' " Harper's Magazine. Diagnosis. The telephone rang, and the bookkeeper answered it. "Yes, madam, this is Wllkins' market." "This Is Mrs. Blank. I want you to know that the liver you sent me Is most unsatisfactory. It Is not "calf's liver at all; calf's liver Is tender and" "Just a moment, 'madam, and I'll call the proprietor." "What Is It!" Wilklns asked. The bookkeeper surrendered the phone. "Mrs. Blank," he said, "Liver complaint." Boston Transcript.

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to Stand Weather" HONORED AS GREAT TEACHER Works of Euclid, Ancient Mathematician, the Foundation of the Science of Geometry. Euclid was an ancient mathematician, who is said by some to have flourished in the third century before the Christian era. It Is generally held that he was a Greek, bilt the dato and place of hU birth are. unknown. It is generally held that much of his work was done at Alexandria, Egypt, Which in those ancient times was a famous seat of learning and the center of extensive commerce. The most famous work of Euclid that has como down to us Is the Elements of Geometry ln 13 books. The flrst six are tho most valuable. They contain the foundation of geometry, on which Is based several branches of higher mathematics. These books nre stlll used in schools and colleges. Tho next three books deal with the properties of numbers but they are superseded by modern arithmetic. Euclid also left other works, euch as treatises on harmony and optics. It Was Potent "How about the bootleg goods ln this town?" asked the stranger. "In what particular?" said the old Inhabitant. "Is it potent?" " Totcnt Is the word. A gentleman of my acquaintance stepped out of a theater one night during an Intermission and purchased a few drinks In a near-by alley. Then he returned to the theater." "Well, what is so remarkable about that?" "He didn't know, until the doorkeeper kindly told him, that it was the next night." Birmingham Age-Herald. If a man falls off a roof he certainly has an excuse for eavesdropping. TOTÜM