Lithuanians Now in Full Control of Memel
ifS
pi
vs
IfNTER NATION
Unj.^trs of the Lithuanian volunteer army, led by Commander Budry, as they entered the Memel district
?lously declared a free state by the League bf Nations council, Memel was not Independent very long when th^
i^n'iins entered and seized control. William Falck, whose portrait is shown above, has been appointed chiel
lie-Man's Job to
I Climb Everest
?>mber of Former Expeditions
Tells of Difficulties Involved
in Reaching Top.
vew York.? "Why did you want to
[nib Mount Everest?" This question
is asked of George Leigh Mallory,
jio was with both expeditions toward
summit of the world's highest
fountain, in 1921 and 1922, and who
now in New York. He plans to go
ki:i in 1WM. and he gave as the ren
in for persisting In these repeated
(tempts to reach the top, "Because
f 8 there."
But hndn't the expedition valuable
^entitle results?"
"Yes. The first expedition made a
^ologionl survey that was very valu
|ble. and both expeditions made ob
lations aad collected specimens,
Ioth iier>logical and botanical. The
eoiogists want a stone from the top
f Everest. That will decide whether
. is the top or the bottom of a fold.
3ut these things are by-products. Do
fou think Shackleton went to the
South pole to make scientific observa
Jons? He used the observations he
lid make to help finance the next trip,
lometlmes science is the excuse for
exploration. 1 think it is rarely the
reason.
"Everest Is the highest mountain in
the world, and no man has reached its
(summit. Its existence Is a challenge.
|r?,e answer is Instinctive, a part, I
suppose* of man's desire to conquer the
universe."
Tins is pure romance, call it what
Seise you will, and every man recognizes
its t??uch. It leads Into jungles and
over deep waters and up through the
hitrh. thin reaches of the air. Its glam
orous trail goes through the doors of
moving picture houses and up one
(flight to the chop suey restaurant. It
is inherent In the "dares" of child
hood. It makes the timid boy dive
from the pierhead, and It sent the Brit
ish Royal Geographical society's and
the Alpine club's expedition nearer the
sky than any man had climbed before
without taking unto himself wing^
1,700 Feet Yet to Go.
The first expedition sent out by the
R'l.vul ( ieogrnphical society and the Al
pine club cost ?0,000 and only got as
h!<rh as 21,000 feet. The second at
tempt cost ?11,000 and reached 27,235
fert. That leaves 1,700 feet to go, and
there Is 'no telling how much It will
cost to make the last spurt. Moreover,
It takes a long time to reach the place
whrre climbing begins. The last stage
of the journey is a five weeks' tramp
h cross the Tibetan plains from Darjee
Mncr. mile after mile of bare earth and
rock, with meager patches of dried
crowth in the lee of a ledge or In a
slight depression, showing where a lit
tle moisture collected In the spring and
summer. The pack animals live on
this prior fare. The human natives,
v.-hoin Mr. Mallory believes to be the
!''ast virile of the Mongols, pushed into
this desolate corner by their stronger
kin, fare hardly better on tsamfa, a
? oarse sort of barley meal.
Plans for assault on Irverest are laid
as carefully as for a military cam
palgn. That, aside from the grit and
stamina of the climbers, is the most
important factor for success. The lack
of a moklng pot, an oxygen tank, a
"intern or a rope, at the right spot at
rikiht moment, may doom the ex
pedition. The party was able to go as
Mch as they did by the establishment
? f :i succession of base camps, the hlgh
M heing at 21,000 feet. This meant
"'fit rarh camp must have supplies suf
JMent not only for the climbers, but
> 'so for the porters, who were to carry
r(|uipment necessary to make the
:'r\r ramp, in all, the expedition car
? ,(1 something over twenty tons of
'piipment, baggage and stores. Pack
:>nlmals, mostly yaks, were used across
rf>e plain and up the slopes as far as
'he glacier. Beyond that point the
work was done by fifty porters, men
from the native state of Nepal, whose
sphmdid strength and endurance hold
"W the hope of establishing camp at a
-tit greater height.
Must Be Perfect Physically.
Other things besides time, money and
?*xe?mtlve ability were demanded of
the expedition; the utmost quality of
climbers, for Instance. Perfect
physical condition 1s, of course, essen
tial, for under the most favorable con
dit'oDK the Ptraln of effort In those aw
ful altitudes Is such that normal fitness
Is not regained for months after the
ordeal. Good heart and lungs are the
most important prerequisites. Even
perfect organs would not avail without
long mountaineering experience. The
men were picked on their Alpine rec
ords, not so much on the written record
of so many feet climbed In so many
hours as on the reputations that grow
up through the gos9lp of mountaineers :
That so-and-so is a fearful fellow to
keep up with, that another Is fast and
sure and never tires. They had need
for every bit of their skill, experience
ai.d strength In this strug^e.
Perpendicular travel is slow at best,
but on the higher slopes of Everest it
slowed down to 330 feet an hour ?
about the length of a short city block,
the distance that a good runner can
make in ten seconds. Twenty-nine
thousand feet of that is no week-end
sport.
For Instance, no mountaineer experi
ences vertigo. He wouldn't be one long
If he did. The reason the untrained
mortal feels dizzy on the brink of a
thousand-foot drop is that his eyes find
nothing to rest on. The mountaineer's
eye is trained to vast spaces all about,
and particularly beneath him. There
Is rarely a vertical' wall to be climbed.
Almost always there Is a slight slope,
and here a few degrees mean every
thing to the eye. Mr. Mallory says
that personally he can use with equa
nimity at the sky end of a few thousand
feet of cliff ?r Ice wall any footing that
would serve him on lower levels.
A Useful Hint.
Here Is a useful hint fqr Incipient
mountaineers upon conduct during an
avalanche, or rather In ail avalanche.
If It is o? rocks and Ice, the affair must
be left almost entirely to the avalanche
Itself. Its constituent parts bounce.
You are all right unless you conflict
with a trajectory. There is little
chance of dodging. Snow Is another
matter. Its tendency irf to pull you
under and crush or suffocate you. The
point of endeavor Is to stay on the sur
face and to keep your arms up above
your head. In the avalai\che which
killed seven porters and halted his own
attempt to reach the summit, Mr. Mal
lory found himself "swimming on his
back." At the end Lh?? snow packed In
such a way as to pus!i him and others
to the surface, Instead of dragging
them down.
"It's easy enough to breathe," he ex
plained, "and while you keep perfectly
still you feel all right. But when you
try to move, you have a bad time get
ting started. Then you have to pump
so hard to keep going that you wear
yourself out. When I came back from
the expedition, the muscles of my
diaphragm were tremendously devel
oped just from breathing." (N. B.
Why wouldn't breathing rarefied air
be splendid training for opera singers?)
Oxygen, Inhaled In small doses, will
keep you from freezing to death. This
fact a part of the expedition discovered
during one night spent 25,500 feet
above sea level, In the grip of a furious
storm. TJhe insane wind threatened
every minute to ^weep them and theli
tiny tent off the slope, and the cold
gripped them with fatal creeping numb
ness, In spite of their heavy woolen
clothing, wlndproofed and electrically
heated. Hot drinks were impossible,
because the water boiled at such a
ridiculously low temperature. Alcohol
was a dangerous stimulant, from the
point of view of altitude, not morals.
Oxygen was the last chance and the
first whiffs brought the tingle of re
turning life.
"Climbing In the Alps," said Mr. Mal
lory," is wonderfully exhilarating, but
scientists say that, above 18,000 feet,
altitude is physically and mentally de
pressing. Your perceptions are all
slowed down. For Instance, toward
the end we were making only 330 feet
an hour. In the Alps we would have
been going at four times that rate, yet
I didn't realize that we were climbing
slowly."
Depend! on Oxygen.
Hope of ultimately reaching the very
to^) of Everest depends largely on the
Increased use of oxygen and the estab
lishment of a camp at 27,000 feet. One
scientist told Mr. Mallory that they
should remain at that altitude for as
many as five days, since acclimatiza
tion would greatly lessen the strain of
exertion. The chief obstacles to this
scheme are that every day of good
weather must be used, and the diffi
culty of finding a possible camping
place. % There are no levels or adequate
shelters. This makes It almost Impos
sible to sleep and very hard to secure
a tent. Some one has suggested that
they blast a shelter out of the moun
tain side.
If a returned explorer Is properly
polite and becomingly modest, his man
ner will give you the Impression that
he has done nothing that any earnest
and industrious young man might not
get up and do. For instance, Mr. Mal
lory will tell you that his real job is
teaching English literature and history
at the Charterhodse school for boys.
He was In the habit of spending every
August in the Alps, and when he was
asked to go with the Everest expedi
tion, he thought he'd do it "for a
change." His chief interest is in writ
ing, and he had a book on Boswell pub
lished a few years ago. He could tell
you a lot about Boswell If you weren't
so obviously Interested In mountains.
Be not beguiled, O, armchair ex
plorer! Stick to the comparative se
curity of your subway strap. For this
quiet young man's casual commeat
raises the ghost of such a /tremendous
adventure as the fireside mind can
scarce donceive; of crawling along
knife-edges In the teethj of a bitter
wind; of chopping footholds up the
f^ce of a wall of Ice; of moving on
where each step may very reasonably
be expected to be the last, and yet tak
ing that step, and the next, and the
next after that ; of pushing up and up
In spite of frozen fingers and toes, in
spite of laboring heart and bursting
lungs, until death Is certain just ahead,
and then turning back just as steadily,
to wait for the next opportunity.
Photograph shows a general view of St. Anne's Episcopal church at One
Hundred Forty-first street and St. Anne's avenue, the Bronx, New York, which
Is said to be the resting place of Pocahontas, the Indian maiden who saved the
life of Capt. John Smith. It was believed that the body of the Indian girl * as
taken to England and burled there. A research party was to have sailed for
England shortly in an effort to locate the grave, but it recently became known
that the body had been Brought back to New York, and buried in the graveyard
of St. Anne's church, which was built originally by Governor Morris, one of tha
earliest executives of New York. The body is said to rest la a vault In the
graveyard.
MUCH HRE LOSS -
MORE THAN HALF MILLION DOU
LARS WORTH OF PROPERTY
DESTROYED.
125 WERE DWELLING FIRES
Largest Single Lots Waa That of Fur
niture Plant at Lexington,
$100,000.
Raleigh.
Property to the value of $674,671
was destroyed by fire In North Caro
lina during March as compared with
a property damage of $476,452 for
March of last year, according to the
report of Stacey W. Wade, Insurance
Commissioner. This does not include
the loss from forest fires which, in the
opinion of the Insurance Commission
er, will duplicate the figures of dam
age to buildings and contents during
the month.
' On the total March loss for North
Carolina, the property immediately at
risk aggregated $3,775,251 with total
insurance of $2,669,125.
Of the 204 fires during March in
which the loss reached $5,000 or more,
there were 20 with a total of $544,135
leaving a loss for the entire other 184
of only $130,566. The largest single
loss was that of furniture plant at
Lexington, $100,000. Other large sin
gle losses weer at Raleigh, supply
stere, $63,000; Wadesboro, garage and
contents, -60,000; Charlotte, store, $53,
000; Asheville, garage, $46,000;
Greenville, planing mill and lumbar,
$45,000; Statesville, business building,
$23,000. '
There were 125 dwelling fires, with
total damage of $178,546, valued at
$668,955, and insured for $362,916.
Among the other classes of prop
erty involved were 15 stores, 11 indus
trial plants, 8 garages, 5 schools and
5 warehouses.
" Of the cause of fires, the principal
were, defective flues and shingle roofs,
95; unknown 40; gasoline ignition, 6;
oil stove explosions Unsual for the
time of the year were two fires re
ported from lighting in March. , ,
According to Commissioner Wade's
estimate of the value as well as in
terest of the fire record for the month
of March, follows:
Asheville: 17 fires, $453,650 at risk,
$200,750 insurance! $49,752 loss.
Charlotte: 17 fires, $276,800 at risk,
$196,450 insurance; $59,752 loss.
Durham: 10 ,res. $37,750 a^ risk,
$27,550 insurance; $15,265 loss.
Fayetteville: 7 fires, $30,725 at risk,
11,250 insurance; $60 loss.
Greensboro: 8 fires, $120,400 at risk,
$27,300 insurance; $10,330 loss.
High Point: 4 fires, $35,700 at risk,
$16,800 insurance; $31,710 loss.
Raleigh: 11 fires, $101,600 at risk,
$20,500 insurance; $65 935 loss.
Rocky. Mount: 10 fires, ? $347,225 a^
risk, $19,150 insurance; $935 loss.
Winston-Salem: 11 fires, $38,025 at
risk, $18,300 insurance; $4,070 loss.
Tarboro: 3 fires, $86,950 at risk,
$12,450 insurance; $1,120 loss.
Albemarle: 3 fires, $21,000 at risk,
$19,600 insurance; $5,215 loss. (
Lumberton: 4 fires, $8,250 at risk,
$2,800 insurance; $1,375 loss.
Reidsville: 3 fires, $7,650 at risk,
$3,600 insurance; $4,275 loss.
Wilmington: 16 fires, $307,250 at
risk, $240,350 insurance; $16,625 loss.
Total: 128 fires, $2,992,475 at risk;
$2 102,350 insurance; $268,752 loss.
All other towns 44 fires; $485,450 at
risk, $372,025 insurance; $270,612 loss.
Rural and suburban: 23 fires; $136,
600 at risk; $68,000 insurance; $103,
180 loss.
Grand total: 204 fires; $3,775,251 at
risk; $2,669,123 insurance; $674,671
loss.
I
Highway Confmission Meets.
The state highway comission
?straightened out one of its most deli
cate tangles when it agreed on the
construction of about 60 miles of road
way In the v mountains. Disagree
ments among the commissioners cen
tering on the proposal to construct
a highway from Marion through Little
Switzerland resulting in compromises
at the meeting that will build the
Marion-Little Switzerland road, a
highway from Marion to Micaville and
put seven miles of hard-surfaoa above
Old Fort to connect with the Bun
combe county line.
The present route of the Marion
Little Switzerland highway, some 2 J.
miles will be used instead of a new
route proposed by advocates who had
been pressing this territory's claim be
fore the commission. The highway
commission will expend $75,000 on ita
construction.
National Guard's Strength, 2,520.
The North Carolina National Guard
has reached a strength of 2,520 offi
cers and enlisted personnel, the Ad
jutant General's office announced.
This is the greatest strength of the
?*uard since the war and represents
all save a small per cent of the fall
strength allotted to this state.
Several new organizations, in wait
lug for recognition, are not Included
in the statement of strength and all
over the state recruiting campaigns
are in progress preparatory to the
summer encampment!.
Parker Reports Peach Shortage.
"The "most conspicuous agricultural
condition right now is the shortage ia
the peach crop of the whole stated
even the ' Sandhills probably will not
make as much crop as has been ex
pected. ? Other early blooming fruit
was seriously damaged also. How
ever, applies may make a fair crop."
This is the introduction to the offi
cial March crop report issued by
Frank Parkef, satistician, of Federal
and North Carolina Deparment of Ag
riculture.
"The wheat crop for the stats
shows a condition of 8$ per, cent of
the full crop, which is eight per cent;
below the condition of a year ago,
but five per cent above the condition
in December," the report continues.
"The price 1.46 pe? bushel is only six
cents less than a year ago. The gen
eral growth and stand of the crop is
good, the eold weather not having
damaged it The acreage is less than
for the previous crop.
"The oat crop is much the same
as with wheat^ showing the condition
of 89 per cent wtih good stands and
growth. Rye also has the same con
dition and trends aa the oat crop.
The winter clover shows an 88 per
cent condition, which indicates a good
supply of both seed and hay for the
early summer. This being the first
' iquiry at this season, no com
"The prospective supply of pork
may be had from jthe % number of
breeding bows compared with a year
agor This shows four per cent in
crease for the state and six per cent
for the nation. According to the re
port the present number of produc
tive swine is slightly above the usual.
"The farm conditions show a trend
toward better wages than a year ago.
This can be accounted for by a tea
per cent shortage in the supply as
compared with a year ago, while the
demand for farm labor at current
wages shows an equivalent need as
compared with a year ago.
"The spring and summer supply of
eggs and frys will be same as last
year and perhaps slightly more than
the usual, according to reports re*
ceived from all parts of the stats.
Our supply of milk also will be larger
as the number of milk cows show a
three per cent increase.
"The season is late as shown by
the five, hundred^ reports representing
all counties, which show that there is
perhaps twenty per cent less acreags
plowed to April 1 than was the case
a year ago and also with the usual
year. The effect of tenants is reflect
ed by the two per cent decrease in
plow land to be cultivated this year,
because of the reported ten per cent
decrease in land worked by tenants
and croppers.
"The weather conditions show that
the ccfld periods of March did con
siderable damage to the early truck
and fruit but perhaps helped the soil
and winter crops. The boll weevil
has many farmers scared, but ap
parently not enough to prevent ! in
creases in the cotton acreages in most
counties of the State. The favorable
price of tobacco and cotton is; the
cause.*'
figures .are available.
i
May First Declared "Bundle Day."
May 1 has meen declared "Bundle
Day" In North Carolina and the peo
ple of the Tar Heel state are asked to
send all of their cast-off winter cloth
ing to the Neal East Relief, In a proc
lamation Issued by Governor Morri?
son.
Dr. E. C. Brooks, sate superintend
ent of public Instruction, is state
chairman this, year for the clothing
campaign of this great humanitarian
organization. Most counties of the
state have completed their financial
campaigns to feed the unformnates In
the oldest Christian nation in the
world and the people are now asked
to send in winter clothing which they
are casting off.
Dr. Brooks points out that every
complete suit of warm clothing in
which there is still some wear will
save a human life. Straw hats and (
cotton goods or summer clothing can
not be used. Last Winter, in spite of
the generosity of American people,
many froze to death or suffered from
Wute rheumatism or pneumonia.
Clothing should be sent to the local
Near East Relief chairman or to the
Near East Relief clothing warehouse '
in Raleigh. Parcel post shipments in i
sacs is preferred but clothing can be
shipped by freight it most convenient
to the shipper.
i ft
Joslin New Purchasing Agent.
H. V. Joslin, for the past two years
Assistant to the Chairman of the j
State Highway Commission, has been
made purchasing agent of the Com
mission to succeed W. S. Pallia, trans
ferred to other work with the Com
mission, and L. R. Ames, assistant to
Charles M. Upham, chief engineer oi
the commission, to become asslstanl
to the Chairman under arrangements
put into effect.
Appoints Members of oBards.
Several applontments of members
on various boards of directors in the
State were announced by Governor
Morrison.
Mrs. I. P. Jeter, of Morganton, is
appointed member of the board of
the North Carolina School for the
Deaf, while Mrs. A. C. Miller, of Shel
by, is reappointed to membership on
the same board.
James P. Stowe, of Charlotte, /was
appointed to the State Board of Health
to fill the unexpired term of Charles
B. Waddell, of AshevlUe.
SLACKEN OF
RECENT HG
MORE CAUTIOUS TONE APPAR.
ENT IN FINANCIAL AND COM.
MERCIAL CIRCLES.
PRODUCTION IS G0IN6 ON
Government's Move In Sugar Invests
gation Had an Unfavorable Effect ?
on Market *
\
New York. ? With recent buying
movements showing further signs of
slackening, a somewhat more cau
tious tone was apparent in financial
and commercial circles during the
past ^eek. This was attributed part
ly to the fact that consumers are now
covering for some time ahead and
partly t othe passing of special de
mands occasioned by the spring sea
son. It also seem to be the news
that the numerous wage Increases
have had a sobering effect In some
quarters. In any event, the change
in sentiment?was due not to apprehen
sions lest the business revival may
have reached it peak but to misgivings
lest the advance in prices and cost
la in danger of being overdone.
A specific unsettling factor in the
commodity markets was the attorney
general's petition for an injunction to
restrain trading in sugar futures at
New York. In this petition the attor
ney general takes the ground that the
rise in the price of raw sugar which
has taken place since February 1, has
had no economic juctiflcation and that
it has resulted from a combination
and conspiracy by the sugar ex
change, its officers and members and
their clients or principals. In rebut
tal the trade maintains that the rise
In prices has occurred in response to
growing indications of a smaller Cu
ban crop, and points to the fact that
the Himely estimate, which is empha
sibed in the attorney general's peti
tion, was reduced from 4,102,857 tons
to 3,750,000 tons.
Whatever the merits of the case
may be, it is clear that the petition
exercised an unfavorable effect on
sentiment in commodity markets.
Sugar futures reacted sharply and
then steadied, the spot commodity
meanwhile eafeing slightly and then
recovering to the previous high price,
thus reflecting the opinion held by
refiners that lower prices are not like
ly to prevail. Cotton meanwhile
turned distinctively heavy, the May
delivery losing about 1 3-4 cents and
closing the week only slightly above
27 cents. Wheat prices also reacted
after recent strength. While both of
these commodities moved partly in
relation to factors peculiar to them
selves, such as weather conditions it
was believed in most quarters that
the government's theory in the sugar
matter had unsettled sentiment. It
was also felt, however, that this par
ticular action was not to be accepted
as setting up a principle to be fol
lowed in the case of the other ex
changes.
Kaiser is Victim of Brain Storms.
London. ? Former Kaiser Wllhelm,
one time war lord and ruler of a
powerful nation is suffering from
"brain storms," in his refuge of exile
In Holland, said a Doom dispatch to
The Daily Mail.
Reports were recently printed in
European and American newspapers
that both the Former Emperor and
the former German Crown Prince
were failing mentally.
"Ex-Kaiser Wilhelm is not mad,
but he is morbid," said the "Dooran
dispatch to The Daily Mail.
"An old abscess in the Inn*r part
of his ear Is causing deafness and
brain storms. The attending physi
cians are worried.
"Wilhelm underwent a rejuvenat
ing course of treatment, but the ef
fect is wearing off. He has morbid
intervals and spends much time por
ing ov?r the Bible. His health is fail
ing rapidly.
"The Crown Prince is mentally all
right, but is bored to distraction in
his lonely home on Wieringen Island."
Youth Run Over and Killed.
Wlnston-Sa^em. ? The five year old
son of "Razz" Leight, farmer of the
Walkertown section, near here, was
instantly killed when run over by an
automobile. A coupe with two men
dashed by, swerved to the side of the
road where the child was playing
crushing him fatally. The car did
not stop, and as yet the police have
not ascertained the name of the
driver.
Overlooked Effective Weapons.
Washington. ? Germany while in
troducing poison gas and other de
vices to add to the horrors of the
World war overlooked one of the ,
most effective weapons of modern
warfare invented and patented by a
German two years before the conflict
began.
A search of the records of the
American patent office lias disclosed
it was announced by the interior do
partment, that the armored tank, flis*
used in the war by the British. ^