The Alamance gleaner
VOL. LVI. GRAHAM, N, C., THURSDAY AUGUST 14, 193o! NO. 28.
1?Thousands of Communists In Union square, New York city, listening to a Chinese orator the day after they
had staged a big riot there. 2?Yacht Gem, 85 feet long, offered by Jeremiah Milbank of New York to President
Hoover to take the place temporarily of the Mayflower. 3?Thomas A. Edison congratulating Arthur O. Williams,
Jr., of Rhode Island, winner of the annual Edison technical scholarship for high school boys.
NEWS REVIEW OF
GURRENTEVENTS
Huge Crop Losses Due to
Drought Boost Prices and
Rouse Government.
By EDWARD W. PICKARD
DROTRACTED drought and exces
* sively hot weather brought to the
farmers of the United States a mix
ture of good and evil and aroused the
administration to the consideration of
relief measures beyond those con
templated by the act creating the fed
eral farm board.
Both government and private crop
reports led to estimates that the new
corn crop had been damaged to the ex
tent of at least 500,000,000 bushels,
and the rains that fell throughout
much of the corn belt during the week
were said to have come too late to
have much Influence on the yield since
pollination had failed.
rrivaie reports ny one or tue leuu
Ing experts of the Middle West indi
cated that a large part of the crop
was beyond any material recovery.
In Ohio the corn was deteriorating
rapidly, and in southern Indiana it
was badly damaged. In Illinois the
situation was at its worst in the
southern part of the state. The crop
in northern and western Kentucky
was said to be entirely ruined, and the
condition in Missouri and Iowa was
not much better. Throughout the
whole drought region, also, pasturage
and all fodder crops were burned up
to an alarming extent.
On the other hand, these bad crop
prospects led to a sensational rise In
the prices of grain on the exchanges,
mm wunin a iew uays mere was mi
estimated increase of about $6o0,000,
000 In the theoretical value of farm
ers' products. The market in Chicago
went wild and corn led in the swift
advance, followed by wheat and the
other grains. For the first time In
Ave years the public came In on a big
scale, and there were heavy buying
orders from foreign countries. It was
believed there would be a heavy sub
stitution of wheat, oats, rye and bar
ley for corn as live stock feed, and
consequently the demand for those
grains was large. Also the estimates
of the Canadian wheat crop were
slashed as a result of damage by
drought, heat and black rust. The
yield of rye in Europe, exclusive of
Russia, will be far below normal, and
the Prussian onts crop Is greatly
reduced.
DHESIDENT HOOVER couferred
with Secretary' of Agriculture
Hyde on plans for a government pro
gram to aid the farmers threatened
with ruin by the drought, and he
asked both Mr. Hyde and Chairman
T?gge of the farm board to make rec
ommendations within a few days. II
was stated at the White House that
the President had received prompi
?nd favorable response to liis appeal
'o railroad executives for co-operation
In reducing rail rates for the etner
gency movement of live stock and feed
?n the stricken areas.
The farm loan board said It wa;
willing to do all possible to extern
credit through the Intermediate credil
hanks, the farm land banks and Join'
stock land banks. From congresslon
si quarters came many requests foi
help, and to those was added the of
'or of .Senator Robinson of Arkansas
the Democratic leader, to undertaki
1 refund by congress to the furtt
'xiurd if the latter would divert al
Its tvuiiable funds to drouglit relief
"The measures of assistance tha
i the farm board and the other agenclei
of the federal government can and
should undertake are being deter
mined," said Mr. Hoover. "It Is too
early to determine the precise charac
ter of relief; much depends upon the
further spread of the drought; but
no stone will be left unturned by the
federal government In giving assist
ance to local authorities."
TN OTHEIt ways the drought had
1 serious results. There were nu
merous destructive forest tires in
both the West and the East; the
milk shortage in many regions was
serious; and the water in the
Mississippi river was so low that
barges and towboats were stuck on
sandbars and mud flats all along the
Father of Waters. At the same time
the levels of Lakes Michigan, Supe
rior and Huron were higher; which
led commentators on the lake di
version controversy to think that the
policy of the government has resulted
in giving the citizens who use the
Great Lakes more water than they
need, at the same time depriving the
manufacturers and farmers of the
Mississippi valley of sufficient water
to. float their cargoes to the sea.
WHEAT prices ami drought did
not have much ciTect on the lte
publican primaries in Kansas as many
persons had expected. Gov. Clyde M.
Reed, who sought to champion the
cause of the farmers and severely
criticised the policies of the federal
farm board, was defeated for rcnoml
nation by Frank Haucke, farmer.
World war veteran, and former state
commander of the American Legion.
Senator Henry J. Allen, who was ap
pointed by Governor Reed and is a
staunch supporter of the Hoover ad
ministration, was nominated for the
senate term ending in 1033. and Sen
ator Capper was unopposed for re
nomination for the long term.
On the Democratic ticket Harry H.
Woodrlng will oppose Haucke for the
governorship, and Jonathan M. Davis,
former governor, will try to defeat
Senator Capper.
SOI'THEKNKRS who voted for Hoo
ver in 19-8, through Horace Mann,
formally announced tlielr rebellion
against the administration of southern
federal patronage and political affairs
generally by .Postmaster Walter H.
Brown. Mr. Mann's (Statement, which
was Issued on the eve of a meeting
of the Republican national executive
committee In Washington, outlined
plans adopted by a group of promi
nent southern Iloovercrats to incor
porate In "all-southern'" Republican
organization and throw off the yoke of
northern "patronage carpet-baggers"
as well as of "designing political hi
jackers."
The Republican executive committee
accepted the resignation of Claudius
M. Huston as national chairman and
elected Renafor Fess as his successor.
Robert H. Burns was made executive
director, and he quits his post aa In
ternal revenue commissioner to give
Ills full time to the work.
BEFORE a crowd of 5,000 persons,
two negroes were lynched by a
, mob In Marlon, Ind. They had been
arrested for murdering a white man
I and attacking bis girl companion, and
were said to have confessed. The
, sheriff, iioliee and Are department,
I tried in vain to scatter the lynchers
t with tear bombs and lire hose streams.
t
GREAT interest was felt In a con
ference which Gov. Franklin D.
Roosevelt of New York held with
John J. Raskob, former Gov. Al Smith
? and other part; leaders. It was un
i derstood tliat Mr. Roosevelt would
I seek re-election on a "drlpplng-wet"
'. platform and would make a leading
t Issue of public electricity rates. The
i belief was that Mr. Smith would place
Mr. Roosevelt in nomination at the
state convention.
PRESIDENT HOOVER announced
the appointment of Maj. Gen.
Douglas MacArtliur to be chief of
staff of the army to succeed Maj. Gen.
O. I\ Summerall when the latter re
tires In November. General MacAr
thur, who Is bead of the army de
partment in the Philippines, is now
on temporary duty in Chiua. He Is
fifty years old, the youngest army offi
cer of bis rank in active service, and
was advanced over the beads of sev
eral older officers, the President said,
because he is the senior major gen
eral whose age would permit him to
serve the full four-year term as chief
of staff. He graduated from West
Point in 1903 and his career, especial
ly in the World war, was brilliant.
At the same time the President ap
pointed Brig. Gen. Ben H.- Fuller to
be commandant of the marine corps
to fill the vacancy left by the death
of General Neville.
REAL foreign intervention in China
may soon result from the bloody
doings of the Chinese Communists in
Hunan province, if It is not already
in effect. The British are leading the
way, sending a considerable number
of soldiers up the Yangtze to Hankow,
which was threatened by the Iteds.
The troops were to be placed on a
cruiser ready to be landed if necessary
to protect British property. The
American gunboat Tutuila left for up
river to reinforce the Palos, and the
flagship Pittsburgh of the Asiatic fleet,
with a destroyer division, was on the
way from Tsingtao to Shanghai. Ja
pan also was in action, sending a num
ber of destroyers with landing parties
of marines to Hankow, Kiukiang and
other river ports threatened by Com
munist invasion.
The Nationalist government had ad
mitted Its Inability to guarantee pro
tection for foreign residents of Han
kow, though it was sending additional
troops to that region and had re-oc
cupied Changsha. The Communists
were still entrenched in the hills about
the city and were continuing their
sanguinary course, having already
slain two thousand Chinese residents
of the place and captured four thou
sand. Outrages against British Na
tionals Included the sending of a se
vered finger of Miss Edith Nettleton,
missionary, with a demand for $50,000
ransom for herself and Miss Edith
Harrison, held captive a month, to the
British legation.
JOHN HENRY HEARS and his pi
lot, H. J. Brown, who intended to
make a record-breaking airplane flight
around the world, have had to post
pone it, for their plane was wrecked
as It was leaving the runway at Har
l bor Grace, Newfoundland.
The German aviators, Hirth and
Weller, who were on their way from
Berlin to Chicago by way of Iceland
and Greenland, reached Reykjavik.
Iceland, safely, but abandoned their
project for want of a suitable landing
place in Greenland and because their
supply of gas did not arrive.
('apt. Frank Hawks set a new rec
ord for flight from New York to Los
Angeles, making the distance In n
swift little monoplane in 14 hours. 50
minutes and 13 s?conds, with Ave
stops for refueling.
OFFICIAL but un re vised census
figures give the total population
of continental United States as 122,
729,472. The outlying possessions
bring the grand total to 137,501,501,
this Including an estimate for the
Philippine islands where an enumer
ation has not been made for several
years. The proportions of population
east and west of the Mississippi have
shifted less than one-half of 1 per cent
In ten years, being respectively 09.C
p#r cent and 30.4 per cent.
(?. 1120. Wettsra Newspapsr Unlcn.)
>t;f M
| TOO MUCH I
I CREAM FOR 1
V ?
1 ONLY ONE I
I
1 TO USE 1
v ?
v V
a , i i,,. a
l? by D. J. Walsh.)
MISS MART SANDFORD nwak
cned us usual at 6:30. Im
mediately there came the
sound of a Jingle and u slam
from the back porch. With a leap she
was out of bed, peeking through the
curtains of her bedroom window.
Down the back walk strode a hand
some bareheaded young fellow In
brown, swinging a metal carrier full
of bottles. He wag whistling softly
an old tune. "My Mary's asleep?"
She thrilled. Mary was not asleep.
Nor could site again go to sleep that
morning.
She lay on her pillow thinking sweet,
vague thoughts until Percy, the yellow
cat which slept on the foot of her
bed. Jumped up and came to rub her
cheek. Percy wanted his breakfast.
She arose, dressed and went down
stairs.
On the back porch she searched for
the little note she had painstakingly
written the night before. It was
missing. He had taken It with him!
It read: "My dear Mr. Twaddell.
please leave one dollar's worth of
cream tickets. Thank you. Mary
Sandford." She had pinned the note
to a dollar bill and inserted It in nn
empty milk bottle. Her cream tickets,
printed on blue pasteboard, reposed
under the second bottle. She had for
gotten to tell him how much milk am]
cream to leave and he had left a quart
of each. A quart of cream was a
large order for a single lady. And It
did not keep good In this weather.
But, undoubtedly, Mrs. Gray could
make use of It. As for Percy, he had
already lapped so much cream that
he was getting lazy. Mary herself had
never cared much for It, It sort of
went against her. And most certain
ly she could not afford to make such
an excessive use of dairy products;
It necessitated her cutting down on
other things. Still, she would have
sacrificed far more than she was sac
rificing for the sake of putting Joy
Into the milkman's voice on a gloomy
morning.
Mrs. Mcintosh was out taking In
her milk as Mary tried to steal hy on
her way to Mrs. Gray's. Mrs. Mcin
tosh was a widow, snnpplng-eyed.
much younger than Mary and much
better looking. Mary felt thnt she
hated Mrs. Mcintosh a little.
"Sakes alive," exclaimed the widow,
eying the quart bottle of cream.
"What you going to do with all that
cream? You're getting extravagant In
your old age."
wnm auuui yuurwn; rcivritru |
Mary, flushing. "l'ou've got four
quarts of Grade A milk there. And
you are all alone."
"I'm going to do some baking." Mrs.
Mcintosh flushed In turn. She went
Into the bouse rather quickly. And
j Mary went down the alley to the
| shack out of which even at that early
1 hour many hoys of assorted slr.es were
j spilling. They welcomed the cream
1 with many joyful shouts And Mary
returned home feeling that she had
j begun the day well. There was, how
! ever, the painful consciousness that
! Mrs. Mcintosh was also buying cg
I tenslvely of the handsome young milk
man. And Mrs. Mcintosh could afford
j to buy. She could take his entire
truckload of dairy products If she
chose. Her husband left her a forty
thousand-dollar life Insurance.
Mary's breakfast did not taste aw
fully good. Neither did Percy's He
; passed up his second saucer of milk.
There would be a good pint left to
turn Into the sink.
That day It rained. The roof sprung
a leak. Mary had to climb Into the
attic and put a couple of pans under
the eaves to catch the trickle. She
scratched her arm on a nail and had
visions of blood poisoning. Would
Wlrdy?she understood that was Ids
name?care If anything happened to
! her? She wept a little out of sclf
! pity.
Not for worlds would Mary have
| admitted, even to Percy, the cat, that
she was In love with a milkman. She
bad been brought up to have a high
er Ideal than that. Probably that was
why she had not married. Middle age
found ber lonesome and alone, with
enough to live on If she used It dis
creetly. It certalply wasn't discreet
In her to buy such quantities of milk
and cream.
All np and down the street women,
some of them murrled. tool?were
buying lots of milk. It wasn't that
the milk was so much better than Mr.
Ranaome's, but It was peddled from
a bine truck by a dashing young fel
low who whistled ? different tune at
each house.
After dinner Mary made ready for
a walk In the rain and went out to
hunt up n carpenter. Milk or no milk,
she had to have the roof fixed. She
couldn't have It coming through on
her neat wallpaper. On her way home
she met Mrs. Mcintosh going out to
buy herself a now hnt.
"Don't seem like this one looks as
good on me as It ought," the widow
said, preening herself for Mary's ben
efit. The hat she wore was lovely,
Mary sighed.
A putty-colored roadster drew up
beside the two women. A dark, laugh
ing face looked out.
"Can't I take you luilles some
place?" cried the milkman. But he
was a milkman no longer, he was a
millionaire, n fairy prince.
"Ton can take me to the Louise Mat
Shoppe," said Mrs. Mcintosh.
"fllad to. Step In, where do you
want to go. Miss Sandford?"
"Home," murmured Mary duzedly.
He tucked them both into the roomy
car. lie beamed upon them. Mary's
heart tightened. v
"The longest^ way 'round," he
laughed.
Slippery streets, rain coming down.
But the car flew. Oh, Mary thought
glancing at Mrs. Mcintosh, if only she.
too, had put on her best hnt I
She had the longest ride. At her
door he seemed to linger. Percy sat
on the steps, washing his face.
"That your cat?"
"Yes," breathed Mary.
That was all. But It was enough.
Next morning Mary found a little
gift heslde her bottle of creain?a gny
strlped pencil slipped Into a memoran
dum pad. But Mrs. Mcintosh and all
the rest found the same.
A week later Mary awakened much
earlier than necessary. She lay wait
ing for the familiar sound of the Jin
gling bottles. She hail put out anoth
er dollar for cream tickets?and dear
knows she could not afford them. Kor
the roof had cost a lot.
She waited and waited. No milk
man. She looked at the clock. Seven!
And he hadn't come! Never before
had he missed. She rose, dresed rap
Idly and ran downstairs.
No sign of him anywhere. Another
half hour. Suspense, agony. Mrs.
Mcintosh came In.
"Where's our milk?"
"I wonder I"
"Maybe something h?s happened!
Why I You are pale as n ghost!"
"So are you!"
"I guess I'll go Into Mrs. Peek's.
She's got a telephone. Maybe she
hus heard something."
"If you hear anything let me know."
pleaded Mary.
She sat down and clasped her
hands. She felt she knew what had
happened, lie drove so recklessly.
Yes. something must have happened.
Mrs. Mcintosh caise hack.
"Couldn't hear a thing. Well, old
Ransome will be by pretty soon. We
can get some milk of him."
Rut at nine o'clock the blue truck
came tearing down the street. Out
Jumped a lean, red-headed youth who
Jingled the milk bottles impatiently
and shouted "Milk!" Mary Sandford
ran out.
"Sorry I'm late, Indy! But I'm Just
leornlng the route," explained the red
headed youth.
"I.enrnlng the route? Where Is
Wlrdy?Mr. Twaddell?"
"Sold out to me?threw up the busi
ness. Got married yesterday?left
town for good. How much milk,
lady?"
"A?n pint," gusped Jlury Sandford.
Wonder of Nntoro
Tlininas Jefferson owned the "End
less Cavern" In Virginia In 177.V. Cliief
Justice Jnhn Marshall called It "na
ture's masterpiece." Hundreds of au
tomobiles crisis Its mighty span dully.
No Idea of Its massive proportions can
l>e gained except by standing al the
foot of Hie arch and looking up to the
old trees upon Its top. The thickness
of the rock Is greater than the height
of the trees. Niagara falls Is not as
high as the aperture.?Exchange.
Retort With a Kick
Vacillating In his selection of a
vocation, between one Involving brain
a",id the other brawn, a Detroit grad
uate asks the I'ress: "Which has the
better chance for a long, healthy life
?a blacksmith or a college profes
sor?" "A professor," Informs the edi
tor. "He doesn't have to shoe mules
?he only teaches them."
Interesting Letters
If yon want to rank high as a fas
cinating correspondent, keep a file of
Items you clip from papers and mag
azines that bring this or that friend
to mind. So often you think of send
ing something to a person but lose It
before you write.
An Excuse, Net a Ticket
Old Lady?And I want a ticket for
Dlddums.
Booking Clerk?It Isn't on this line,
madntne.
Old Lady?I mean for Dlddums, my
doggie on the leash here.?Humorist.
KurdsGoocHBad
A Kurd of the Turkey-Perele Border.
(Prepared by the National CJoographlc
Society. Washington. D. C.)
THK Kurds, who hava revolted
along the Turkish-Persian bor
der and cgninst whom lurge
Turkish forces have been oper
ating near famous Mount Ararat, have
been fighting periodically against the
established states of Asia Minor for
thousands of years. Always their
favorite method of strife has been
guerrilla warfare. They have been
historic marauders, but perhaps they
have every reason, so fur as environ
ment .s concerned, to lead such lives.
State after state has struck against
them with forces more powerful than
any they could raise.
When Xenophon retreated from
Asia Minor In 401 B. C. the Kurds
(then called the Carduchl) attacked
his 10.000 Creeks, rolling great stones
down on them from cliffs and moun
tains. They fought continually against
the Bagdad caliphs. Since the Turks
rose to power In Asia Minor the
Kurds have fought them repeatedly;
in fact, the Turks never established
any considerable measure of control
over these tierce, freedom-loving high
landers.
Since the World war the European
territory of Turkey has been neglI-N
glble. The country has consisted al
most solely of the big, fat peninsula
lying between the Black sea on the
north and the eastern arm of the
Mediterranean on the south, and an
extension to the east about as broad
as the Asia Minor peninsula, reaching
roughly half way from the Rlack sea
to the Caspian. The southern half of
this eastern extension?the southeast
ern corner of postwar Turkey?Is
what Is loosely culled Kurdistan. The
other half of the eastern extension,
Immediately north of Kurdistan, was
once Turkish Armenia.
Kurdish 8phsr? It Large.
Now that tens of thousands of the
Armenian residents have been driven
across the Russian border, while other
tens of thousands have perished, the
region hardly deserves the old name.
The Kurdish population was always
high in Turkish Armenia; now It Is
proportionately much greater. The
whole eastern end of present Turkey,
constituting almost a third of the
territory of the country, therefore,
may roughly be considered the Kurd
ish sphere of Influence. It is In the
northeast corner of Turkey that the
Kurds have recently been most active.
(Geographic and political and eco
nomic complications aplenty are
found In this region. On the east
Kurdistan touches Persia, and the peo
ple for a considerable distance Into
that country are Kurds, too. Indeed.
Kurdish people inhabit the entire
Zngros mountain range which extends
from Turkey for 000 miles to the
southeast, forming the boundary bo
preen Persia and Iraq.
The Kurds belong to the Iranian
branch of the white race. Because of
the open-air lives which they live,
most of them have harsh features.
The great majority are nominally
Mohammedans.
The plateau region lying partly in
old Armenia, partly in Kurdistan,
where many of the most warlike Kurds
live, presents a good example of the
effects on man of a mixture of nigged
uplands and fertile valleys. Limestone
mountains and recently extinct vol
canoes occupy the upper levels. Lower
are magnificent canyons cut by the
Tigris and Euphrates beadttreams
aid numerous broad, basin-shaped ral
leys whose noors are rertue plains.
The ancestors of the Kurds were
pushed from many of these desirable
lowlands by the Armenian invasion
and from others by the later arriving
Turks.
Some Recent Revolts.
Kven the fairly recent regime of
Kemal Pasha has had several Kurdish
revolts on its hands. There was n
sporadic uprising in 1IK5I; and In 192~>
the tribesmen made an unsuccessful
effort to set up their own government.
The scrapping of the caliphate at Con
stantinople aroused them and nearly
every change In old Moslem customs
has Irritated them. Revolt after re
volt has been quelled but as soon as
tlie Kurd replenishes his forces ami
supplies, he is ready to attack again.
The Kurd farmers of the Iraq plains
are more prosperous than the tribes
men of the hill country. Travelers
climb the trails of Kurdistan for miles
without seeing a village. When one
does appear. It Is usually situated in
a well protected spot. Houses are
placed without regard to building line
and a bird's-eye view of a village re
veals a Jumble of mud and stone
structures.
Tli/i nancmr'a iinnco la ft nnP-PtUim
structure which might be mlstnken for
n stable. The trihesmeu reserves one
slile of his abode for his animals while
his family occupies the other side.
Kurds sit on the floor when they rest
or eat, therefore they do not need
tables or chairs.
The tribal chief or headman fares
belter. He has a house for his family
and a guest house where he lives and
entertains guests.
They Buy Their Wives.
Coder Moslem law, the Kurd may
take four wives. Wives are bought,
so the peasant usually has only one.
The chiefs take the full quota. Wives
are priced according to their rank.
The tribesman can get a wife In ex
change for a pony or goat, or one
may cost the equivalent of $2..rj00. The
wedding entails a season of merry
making In which the whole tribe joins,
hut It takes less than a minute to dis
solve a union. The man simply says
"I divorce you" three times and the
parties nrc free.
To the foreigner, the Kurds seem to
know little else than the "art" of hlgh
wuv robbery. Many of the mountain
tribesmen are adept thieves, but In
the bills as well a$ the plains, many
Kurds earn honest livings by farming
and cattle raising. Kurds are pastoral
people, seldom moving from their vil
lages except to migrate to higher alti
tudes duylng the summer for new pas
turage.
In spite of exciting events In the
lighting history of the Kurds, the
tribesmen were almost unknown out
side the Near Kast before the World
war. When n delegation of Kurds ap
peared at the peace conferences In
1919 newspaper men did not know who
the sunburnt tribesmen might be.
When their Identity was revealed the
Kurds went on the front pages and
frequently have been there since.
The presence of Kurds In the Mosul
region of what Is now northern Iraq
was a hard diplomatic problem for the
I treaty drafters to solve after the
i World war. Except In Mosul City, the
I population of this region Is almost
i solidly Kurdish. It Is the odor and
power of petroleum that In some ways
dominate all else In this region. What
i promises to become one of the major
oil fields of the world centers about
Mosul. .