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SOUTHERN,,
RHODESIA.
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Victoria Falls, Rhodesia.
(Prepared by th National (leoifraphlc So
<b‘ly. Washington, I). C\)
Southern Rhodesia has become the
“African Newfoundland," politically,
l*y Ilia recent vote of Its people not
to enter the Union of South Africa
hut to heroine Instead a separate unit
In (In* British empire. Adjoining the
Union on the north, the region had
conic to he considered In tills country
is having something like the status
of our one-time territories; and It
"ns thought to be a foregone conclu
sion that just as the United States, a
generation or so ago, reached out to
the west and made Its territories Into
stall's, the Union of South Africa
would reach northward and Incorpo
rate Its (rentier regions. Technically,
the Union has no definite claim on the
llrltlsh colonies, protectorates and
regions more or less under British
control that lie to the north; hut it
lias boasted that It Is "heir to all
South Africa,” and even though South
ern Itbodesl a stays out, It Is not Im
probable that other regions In the
neighborhood may Join in the future.
Ithodesia Is In many ways in a con
dition of development comparable to
that of some of the western prairie
states when they entered our Union.
Only trunk-line railroads have been
constructed, for the most part: the
close network of the well-developed
country Is yet to come. Highways,
too, are still few and poor. Both pro
duction and markets are largely un
developed, and the farmers and ranch
men necessarily live the somewhat
hard and primitive lives of the fron
tier. in recent years, however, Vic
toria (capital of Southern Rhodesia),
ltulawayo, Salisbury and other towns
have developed Into 'modern munici
palities with all the conveniences of
the western world.
Owned by a Corporation.
In one way Southern Rhodesia Is
without parallel in the United States,
for nothing approaching ownership of
an empire by a commercial corpora
tion has ever come up In our history.
In fact. In the extent to width such
control has gone, Southern Rhodesia,
together with Northern Rhodesia ami
adjacent territories, stands alone even
In British experience, which contains
the stirring history of the Hast India
company's exploits in India.
The region, nearly half a million
square miles In extent, became,
through concessions from a nntlvo
chief, a royal charter from the British
crown, and conquest, virtually the pri
vate property of the British South
Africa company, of which Cecil
Rhodes was the moving spirit. The
company, as might he expected of any
developmental enterprise, sold land,
leased mineral rights, and built rail
roads and other engineering worlds.
But besides all this It actually gov
erned the country, though In late
years the Imperial government has as
sume! some measure of control over
the company's governmental activities.
Now a mining, ranching and agricul
tural country. Southern Rhodesia may
also ■have.a future as a ,manufactur
ing region.' On Its northern border
flows the Zambesi river with its Vic
toria Falls of great volume, more than
twice the height of Niagara, promising
abundant power. Not far fyora the
faljs are extensive mil fields.
Its People and Topography.
The natives of Southern Rhodesia.
uj.ml,orlnu some XlXliKSl ura (n ♦K
anomalous position of having no offi
cial political status. They have drift
ed, or like Topsy, have “Just grower],”
into their present e< .dition. They
have never been formally made Brit
ish subjects, though British control
has been extended over the country.
They might almost he considered sub
jects of the Britisli South Africa com
pany. The company has all along laid
claim to ownership of the lands on
which the natives live except the
areas recently set apart as reserva
tions. The white population of the
country numbers about 30,000.
Though at present separate govern
mentally, the two lthodestas demand
consideration together. They repre
sent together the field of activities of
(’coil Rhodes’ South Africa company
and have considered uniting, though
for tiie present at least the Idea hua
been given up. The two lthodesins
make up a region shaped like a but*
terfly. Southern Rhodesia forms tlie
left wing, while Northern Rhodesia
forms both the right wing and the tall,
the latter stretching up to the region
of Africa’s Great Lakes.
Roth regions lie wholly within the
tropics, but Northern Rhodesia ex
tends farther into the theoretical hot
country. Owing to its high altitude,
however, Its temperature is not so
high as might he expected.
While Southern Rhodesia lias a
white population of about 33,000 and
n native population of something over
750,000, Northern Ithodesia Ims less
than 4,000 whites nnd nearly a mil
lion blacks. It is still the happy hunt
ing ground for the human geographer,
where he may study the effects of a
plateau region upon remote tribes that
have been little affected by the en
croachments of the white man.
The Illusion that all savage peoples
do pretty much as they please Is dis
pelled upon a cursory examination of
n legal system that has penalties of
mutilation for minor offenses, whose
Judges must fold their hands in a cer
tain way when they try cases, and
where every native male Inevitably
becomes something of a lawyer, since
the dally public trials furnish the
principal village divertissements.
Customs of the Natives.
The quips at woman's extravagance
in dress, and the variability of modes,
which often provide the Inevitable
topical song at American musical
shows, find their prototypes in the
minstrelsy of a Wemba swain whose
metrical plaint is, “O woman, you are
like a greedy wagtail, pecking up all
you can get.” Hut a “mother-in-law"
Joke in this tribe would result disas
trously for its perpetrator. So great
Is the reverence shown this relative
that a husband must step aside out
of the path If he meets her abroad.
Should he come upon her unawares,
ho must bow his head, cast his eyes
upon the ground, and not dare look
at her. Nor may he address her at
all until after his first child is born.
Women anoint their bodies with cas
tor oil, they whiten their faces with
chalk at new-tnoon time, but the va
riety of ways they dress their hair
also Is a subject for native humor.
Deformation of their teeth forms an
other adornment; but the practice
which their husband? complain about
Is their penchant for acquiring-rings
and bracelets. Thd lafter range from
bands of- copper to spirals of metal
from wria* to elbow.
THE DANIELSVILLE MONITOR, DANIELSVILLE, GEORGIA.
Peace Reigns
in Oil Town
Tame History of Newest Unique
Boom Village in
Arkansas.
NOT LIKE 6000 OLD DAYS
Gamblers and Gunmen Conspicuous for
Their Absence in Smackover, Ark.
—Promoters and Get-Rich-
Quick Men Gone.
Smackover, Ark.—An oil boom town,
with most of the characteristics of a
boom town eliminated, surprises visit
ors to this place, which, less than four
months ago, was a sleepy, little rail
road stop, but now is a booming, hus
tling city, with a population said to be
15,000. Slot machines indicate the
limit. in open gambling, and the old
time ’‘bad men” of boom towns are a
matter of history.
A. M. Friend, elected the town’s first
mayor December 22, won his fight in
an election in which 48 votes were
polled on a platform of law enforce
ment. Before the election and in the
early days of the boom town there
were some disorders, including four
homicides, but what disorders have oc
curred in tlie field, authorities declare,
were before the present law enforce
ment’ system had been worked out.
None Get Rich Quick.
There is a notable absence of pro
moters, lease peddlers, “oil stock ex
changes” with tin ir quotation boards,
and the usual rush of excited men car
rying blue prints of the field in their
hands. These things are explained by
tlie fact that the entire field, with the
exception of a few small tracts, is all
in tlie hands of the big companies. The
speculator and promoter haven’t a
chance.
There are no get-rlch-quicks. in spite
f* e ggy Is Champion Fox Hound
Here is the greatest fox hound in America, "Peggy," with her owner,
Woods Walker. “Peggy” won her title in n sweepstakes over more than two
hundred blue-blooded fox hounds entered in the bench show at the annual
meeting of the National Fox Hunters’ association at Washington Courthouse.
MOVE TO BUY
Association Plans Memorial to
Yanks Who Fought in France.
Within the Limits of the Proposed
Memorial Nearly 3,000 American
Marines and Soldiers Were
Killed or Wounded.
Washington.—A movement to buy
the Belleau Wood battlefield In
France and make It a memorial to the
American forces who fought there in
May, 1918, will be pushed by the Bel
leau Wood Memorial association, of
which Mrs. James E. Frazer is presi
dent.
Special impetus has been given to
the plan by the news from Paris that
an Anglo-French tourist agency was
planning to open an amusement park
< n the silt- and buitd a big hotel from
which sightseeing busses would rum
The association here immediately
of the fact that the territory Is the
most productive in the mid-continent
field. When oil was struck, the own
ers were unable to realize from the sale
of leases at high prices, as most of
them had already leased their land.
The few who w T ere suddenly made rich
were the non-residents whom the orig
inal lease buyers had been unable to
sign.
Fire Is Feared.
Smackover is a typical boom town in
one respect —the tent colony. There
are 20 short blocks of one and two
story frame buildings, hastily con
structed, and several acres of tents.
The buildings are all rooming houses.
To Rid London
of Fog Shrouds
Scientist Discovers Method of
Eliminating Dust and Smoke
From Fuel.
HARD COKE IS NOW PRODUCED
Claim Made That Invention Will Stop
Much of Great Waste of Fuel
That Now Exists and Cheap
en Coal Mining.
London—The London fog soon will
be as much of a myth as the dodo or
the unicorn If a newly discovered
process of coal carbonization does all
that its inventor says that It will.
Tlie man who is threatening to de
stroy one of tlie English capital’s
BELLEAU WOODS
cabled to get an option on the battle
field and obtained it
The price of the nearly 150 acres
which it is desired to obtain is 200,000
francs or about $16,000. In addition
to the cost of the land, money will be
needed to place the area in condtion
to be a permanent memorial with
markers, a monument, etc. The asso
ciation plans also to aid in the recon
struction of the village of Belleau
and adjoining territory so that the
whole district may commemorate the
valor of our soldiers.
President Harding has Indorsed the
plan and already SI,OOO subscriptions
to the proposed fund have been made
by Mrs. Frazer, Secretary Weeks, Col.
Robert M. Thompson and Otto EL
Kahn. A woman in Philadelphia has
promised an equal amount.
The central committee here which
will direct the campaign for. the fund
will have as honorary heads General
Pershing; Major Genera-l Harbord
and Major General Le Com
mittees are being formed all over the
hotels, stores, or other business ni
They are Jammed together and as?
town is absolutely without water
cept from half a dozen wells
equipped with pumps, fires similar 7
the ones that several times destroy*!
the boom town of Breckenridge Tex
are' almost a certainty sooner w £
Every building Is plastered with
signs warning of the fire danger and
the state fire marshal has taken ’what
other means are within his power to
prevent fire, but most of the citizens
of the town confidently expect that the
place will be razed by flames when one
of the "boomers” becomes careless and
drops a cigarette In one of th e oil
soaked, flimsy buildings.
Jury Applauds Wife Shooter.
Geneva.—To shoot a wife who neg.
iects her sick husband in order to g os .
sip has received the approval of a
Swiss jury. It not only freed Erne3t
Rochat, a consumptive, who shot his
wife fbr those reasons, but started a
subscription for bis benefit.
most famous traditions is John Rob
erts, a mining instructor of London.
Perhaps Mr. Roberts got lost in one
of the swirling yellow mists as lie
was hurrying to an important en
gagement, so that he has since cher
ished a grudge against it. Be that
as it may, tlie fact remains that ever
since he got out of the army in 1919
lie has been working to find a method
of liberating London from the fog
once and for all.
The fruits of his labor Is anew
process- of making semi-coke from
coal. A mixture of powdered coking
and noncoking coal is subjected to
carbonization at a temperature of
between GOO and 700 degrees centi
grade, resulting in a bright, hard
coke. Mr. Roberts asserts that it is
easily ignited, will produce little dust
and burns with a straw-colored flame
producing a cheerful glow.
In attacking the fuel problem Mr.
Roberts has at least gone about in
the right way to eliminate the fog,
for it is e smoke produced from the
smoke of thousands of London grate
fires that makes possible the dense
fogs that this city has every autumn.
But ridding London of her fogs is
only one of the virtues Mr. Roberts
claims for his indention. He main
tains I that it will stop much of the
great waste of fuel that now exists
and will result in the cheaper mining
of coal. The inventor says that about
50,000,000 tons of small coal annually
Is waited in British mines, Which could
be converted into solid fuel and that
his process will convert a large part
of tills waste Into useful by-products,
such ns tar fuel oil, motor spirit, rich
gas and sulphate of ammonia.
But if Mr. Roberts can only rid
London of her fog the citizens will
hold that he has forever entitled him
self to the gratitude of his country
men.
C'vil War Bomb After
57 Years Wrecks Home
Opelousas, La.—Tossed about
for 57 years, i which it served
as an andiron and was used In
shotputting exercises and for
other purposes, a bomb intended
for use in the Civil war exploded
the other day, wrecking a tenant
house on the plantation of A.
E. Veltin, two miles south of
here.
It was serving as an andiron
when it exploded. No one was
in the house at the time. The
house was wrecked and burned.
country, and benefit performances,
etc., are being planned in many towns
and cities. Letters have been written
to the marine corps, the commanding
generals of the First, Third and
Twenty-sixth divisions and the heads
of organizations and clubs of veterans
belonging to all units which fought at
Belleau Wood.
" Ithln the limits of the proposed
memorial nearly 3 000 American ma
rines and soldiers were killed or
wounded during the terrific fighting
of May, 1918.
Buried Alive on $5 Bet.
Philadelphia.—Frank Miller, a wait
er In a restaurant In Germantown,
won a $5 bet when, after three at
tempts, lie remained covered with
earth five minutes. Miller wagered he
could be burled alive five minutes and
survive. A grave was dug in back of
the Germantown theater, Germantown
avenue and School lane.
Now Lay in Your Supply.
It is usually lack of sand that
causes our resolutions to slip.—Boston
Evening Transcript