DANIEL H.
DeVANE
N.C. HOUSE OF
REPRESENT A TiVES
Falkland# A Cozy British Spot
Despite Long Argentine Claim
By Boris Wetatraub
National Geographic Newa Scrvlce
WASHINGTON -- The last lime
anyone fought seriously over the
Falkland Islands, the United States
was there-helping to evict an
Argentine settlement and pa\e the
way tor British rule.
One of your choices. A Man that is AGGRESSIVE &
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WELLINGTON
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But thai was nearly 150 years
ago. Since then the tiny islands,
with a total land area less than the
state of Conneticut, have become
very British. Until the recent
Argentine invasion, the residents
drank English lager in their four
pubs, fondly remembered Prince
Philip's 1957 visit, and avidly
looked forward to the annual
"Falkland Islands Olympics." pitt
ing East and West Falkland Islan
ders in such sports as sheep-shear
ing races.
God Save the Queen
"They're British, "God Save the
Queen' all the way," says Martin
Rogers, a photographer who was
in the Falklands on assignment for
National Georgraphic in 1979.
"They have tea every afternoon,
and you have no sense while you're
there that South America is only a
couple of hundred miles away."
The invasion that broke the
tranquility brought the islands out
of their recent obscurity into a
place in the sun--if the sun shone
more frequently than it does there.
The bleakness of the Falklands
or the Islas Malvinas, as the
Argentines call them-is a central
face of their life and history. The
average mean wind speed on the
islands is 16': knots, there are
hardly any' trees, and on only
about 18 days a year is the sky
more than half free of clouds.
So bleak and so far off the
world's beaten track are the
Falklands that nearly 175 years
went by from the time they were
discovered by English navigator
John Davis until settlers arrived.
And those s-ettlers found no in
digenous human residents, only
geese, penguins, albatrosses, and
other birds.
Davis sailed by in 1952, and it
wasn't until 1690 that the sound
between the two largest of the 200
islands was named after Lucius
Carey, Viscount Falkland, the
1-irst l ord of the Admiralty. The
islands themselves were named
alter Falkland some years later.
The first settlers were French
men who arrived in 1764 to
avenge the French honor after be
ing ousted from Canada the
previous year. They set up a colony
called Port it. !.o": only to find
themselves control*. _d a year later
by a Britfsh colon} .
Spanish There Too
Meanwhile, the Spanish, who
had established themselves
throughout South America. e\
pressed unhappiness at this turn of
events. Within a few vears the>
purchased title to the islands trom
the French tor the equivalent of
25.000 British pounds.
In 1770 the Spanish and the
British almost went to war over
their rival claims. Negotiations
gave Britain the right to found a
settlement, but it was abandoned
in 1774, and the Spanish moved
back in. ruling the islands for 40
vears.
When Argentina won in
dependence from Spain in 1816. it
claimed inherited sovereignty over
the islands. Louis Vernet. a
French-born merchant from Ham
burg who had settled in Argentina,
established a settlement in the
mid- 1820s.
But whaling and sealing vessels
plying their trade in Falkland
waters irked Vernet. with
disastrous consequences.
In 1831 he seized three U.S.
whalinc ships, and the United
Stales retaliated bv sending a war
ship which sacked the Argentine
settlement and let t it virtuallv
deserted. The British returned in
1833 and retained control, despite
Argentine objections, until this
month's invasion.
The strategic position of the
Falklands, not tar from Cape
Horn, led to a brief period of pro
speritv in the mid- 19th centurv.
after the discoverx of gold in
California and Australia and the
growth of the Peruvian guano
trade. Main ships traveling bet
ween European Atlantic ports and
the Pacific put in tor repairs in the
Falkland's capital of Stanley.
The advent of the steamer, t he
growth of a mainland port in
Chile, and the greed of the
Falkland Islands' craftsmen led to
a decline, however. The islands set
tled into life as a British colony
whose peak population, reached in
1931. was 2.391. That has dwindl
ed to about 1.800. who are vastlv
outnumbered by half a million
sheep and several million
penguins.
GIANT FROM GARDEN ?? Jimmy Jacobs grew this cabbage and also two
giant cucumbers in his garden. The cabbage weighs nine pounds, each
cucumber was 16 inches long. This photo was taken June 15. \StafJ photo
by Pam Frederick. ]
Shootings
(Continued from pjge I )
prosecute, the sheriff said. The
shooting ol' Carter was described as
an accident. The gun tire took
Place at the Hideaway Club in the
ive Points community about 1
a.m. Friday.
The report filed by Deputy
Sheriff Craig Hart says the investi
gation shows Carter was standing
by a pool table when a scuttle broke
out between two customers and two
bouncers after the bouncers had
asked the two to leave. A .22 pistol
of one of the bouncers discharged,
and the bullet struck Carter in the <9
right side of the neck.
Then Ransom, a friend of Car
ter. left the club, went to the car in
which he had been riding, got a .22
pistol from it. and started firing
towad the club. A bouncer started
shooting back. Ransom ran into
nearby woods and was struck in the
buttocks by a bullet. Deputy
Sheriff Ronnie Odom investigated
the shootings with Hart.
In the shotgun shootings, the A
victims and Oxendine were at a
cookout Saturday night at McGirt's
trailer, near Lowery's Grocery on
N.C. 20. the report, filed by Hart,
who investigated with Odom. says.
Oxendine had been having a
"problem" with his girl friend and
went home, then returned to
McGirt's with a lb gauge shotg'un
shortly after midnight. He asked
whether his girl friend was there. ^
and he was told she wasn't. Then W
he fired twice into the crowd.
Oxendine came to the Sheriffs
Department later Sunday and
turned himself in. He was released
after posting SI. 500 bond for
appearance at a preliminary hear
ing of the charges.
McGirt was struck by pellets in
the left side of the body and in the
face. Locklear suffered five pellet
wounds, in an arm. the chest, and
the clavicle. Locklear was wounded W
by four pellets.
MEET
Senator Sam R. Noble
Thursday Night 6:30 until 9 p.m.
National Guard Armory
CENTRAL AVE. RAEFORD, N.C.
CHICKEN BOG
and
FRIED CHICKEN
Visit With And Er\joy The Fellowship
Of Our Senator ? Sam R. Noble
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Paid for by Sam Noble Re-election Committee - Gene Ballard, Chairman