THE HERALD, HERMISTON, OREGON
n a m e s'
• y 1LMO SCOTT WATSON
EKE la an “Aak Me Another !"
quiz In which nearly every
one can grade 100 per c e n t :
W h o te “B a b e "
B a m b in o " ?
or
“T h «
P okar
W ho
IB " ta ttia
Faca" ?
W ho to "The O allop ln g
Q host"?
W ho
F ly in g
te
“ Tha
F in a ” ?
W ho U "Trudy"?
If he can’t, then he Isn’t able to
reed the newspapers. For, whether
In Seattle, Wash., Portland, Maine,
Hibbing, Minn., or Baton Rouge, La.,
those names In print have met his eye
constantly and he rarely tails to rec
ognise them. George Herman Ruth
may have an unfamiliar sound, but
not "Babe" Rath, he of the home runs
Harold Orange Is not an especially
striking name In Itself, bat translate
•Baba.1*
It Into "Red” Orange, the "Oalloplng
Ghost” of football, and It becomes an
other matter entirely. Paavo Nurmi
might be just “another of those for
eigners,” but “The Flying Finn” has
sped across the printed page too often
not to be pretty well known by this
time. To the University o f California,
where she was a student, she was
known as Miss Helen Wills, bat the
whole worig has followed the fortunes
of ^Little Poker Face." Not so long
ago “Gertrude Ederle” meant no more
than the name of any other girl swim
mer w to had a few records to her
credit, bat she emerged from a bap
tism In the English channel with the
name of ‘Trudy” and that's the name
by which 00 per cent of us know her.
Nicknames I They’re as characteris
tic of America as la baseball or hot
dog sandwiches or the movies. Per
haps the fact that we are a sports-mad
people accounts for the fact that we
are given to thinking In terms o f nick
names. Or there may be a more his
toric reason. Mr. Webster defines a
nickname as a "name given In derision
or familiarity,” but long ago we
dropped that derision part of It and
retained the familiarity, to which we
added fondness Perhaps It was one
of the natural developments of the
growth of a democracy. We declared
that all men are born free and equal
and have the Inalienable right to free
and easy methods of addressing eacn
other.
Of coarse, daring the early years of
the republic, while the aristocratic tra
dition still prevailed, we weren't so
free and easy. If we used nicknames
at all It was for some Revolutionary
military hero snch as “Swamp Fox"
Marlon or "Mad Anthony" Wayne, bat
not In speaking about the President of
the United States. Who would have
by a Tennessee backwoodsman and the
new Jacksonian democracy came Into
power, It grated on no one’s finer
sensibilities to refer to President An
drew Jackson as “Old Hickory," a
title, albeit an affectionate one, won
In sundry battles with the Indians and
the British. But Jackson was not the
only man whom a military nickname
was to carry Into the White Hopse.
There was William Henry Harrison,
who, even though he was .the scion of
a family of Virginia aristocrats, was
better known as “Old Tippecanoe"
than by his real name. There was
Zachary Taylor, the “Old Rough and
Ready" of Mexican war fame, and
as late as the last quarter century
the “Rough Rider" of the Spanish-
American war may have helped put
Theodore Roosevelt In the Executive
mansion as much as did the affection
ate “Teddy” or the historic Initials,
“T. R.” Although he had co military
record to commend him to the electo
rate the man who came oat of the Illi
nois backwoods In 1800 needed none
to win for him. The “Rail Splitter"
and “Honest Abe” were two nicknames
well calculated to catch the public
fancy until the simple name of Abra
ham Lincoln made him Immortal.
But lest It be thought that a good
nickname is a sure asset In winning
the Presidency, consider the list of
men whose nicknames have appealed
to the Imagination of the populace and
should have helped them on the road
to the White House but didn’t. There
were Henry Clay,*known variously as
"Harry of the West,” ‘T h e Mill Boy
of the Slashes” and “The Great Com
promiser” ; Stephen A. Douglas, “The
Little Giant” ; John O. Fremont, “The
Pathfinder” ; Daniel Webster, "Black
Dan” and “The Expounder of the Con
stitution"; Winfield Scott, “Old Fuss
and Feathers"; George B. McClellan,
"Little Mac" and "The Young Napo
leon” ; WTnfleld Scott Hancock, “The
Superb” ; James G. Blaine, “The Plumed
Kntgbt” and William Jennings Bryan.
“The Boy Orator of the Platte,” all of
whom aspired and aspired In vain.
But If the popularity of nicknames
In politics has declined In recent years
the Increasing popularity of sports has
more than made up for that loos. Nat
urally the national pastime has given
"The Oalloplng Qhost"
us the greatest number of national he
roes whose nicknames are household
words Christy Mathewson Is dead,
but the name of “Matty" and "Big
Six” will last as long as there are men
living who saw that great pitcher in
action. It Is said that his fame was
so great that one morning the mall
man brought to him a letter which
had traveled across the continent The
only mark on It was a big figure “6"
on the address side.
The great baseball pitcher may tie
the hero of the hour, but when his
arm loses Its cunning then the crowd
soon forgets unless he has had a pop
ular nickname to fix his personality la
the mind of the fan. So Christy Ma
thewson Is almost unique In the his
tory of baseball.
Thoy may soon fCrget the man on
the mound, but the man who pulls
them out of their seats when he slams
one Into the bleachers or over the
fence for what the sports writers call
a “circuit clout”—well, that's a differ
ent matter. Of course there’s only
one "Home Run King.” But you don’t
have to use that name In speaking of
George Herman Ruth of the New York
“The Flying Finn."
American league team.
Just say
been so bold as to refer to George “Babe,” "Bambino" or “Sultan of
Washington with a shorter, even Swat” and anyone will know whom
though It were a more affectionate you mean. Time was when Tyrus
name? What headline w ilier (If they Raymond Cobb held somewhat the
had had headline writers In those same position In public esteem that
days) would have had the temerity to Mr. Ruth does. Perhaps that was be
call President Adams “John” or even cause he was known as ’T h e Georgia
to refer to that first Democrat, Thomas Peach,” and even the fact that he Is
not now the great baseball player he
Jefferson, as "Tom” or "Jeff"?
But when the Virginia and Massa once was, this veteran of many years’
chusetts aristocrats were succeeded service Is still good enough to hold a
Selects Her Own Nest
C. E Herson. of Wl.ton, N. H., owns
l notional hen which wandered one
lav *r<>m her uxual haunts .town back
it lua store on Mali, street along the
ildewalk, past the shoe store and the
news aland, to the entrance of Drapers
>- '.hers' garage. She entered, went
nto tha office and looked around
twhlle. At last she hopped and flew
>a ,i shelf and settled down, apparent-
y comfortable and content. A little
B eau tiful Bird»
position on a major league team, and
“Ty” Is still a nickname that means
one man and only one to the fan.
Flstlana also has its long roll of
nicknames, beginning with the great
and one and only John L. Sullivan, for
whom “John L.” was sufficient to Iden
tify him at any time, although he was
also known as ’T h e Boston Strong
Boy.” Pugilism has known the follow
ing; James J. Corbett, “Gentleman
Jim "; Bob Fitzsimmons, “Ruddy Bob”
or the “Kangaroo” ; Jack Johnson,
"Ll’l Artba” ; Sam Langford, the “Bos
ton Tar Baby"; Battling Nelson, the
“Durable Dane"; Harry Greb, the
“Pittsburgh Windmill"; Fred Fulton,
the “Plastered Plasterer” ; Jess Wil
lard, the “Man Mountain" or the "Pot
tawatomie Giant"; John Harrison
Brief Resume of Happenings of
the Week Collected for
Our Readers.
The 22d annual convention of the
Oregon Bankers’ association waa held
in Gearhart last week.
The summer Improvement program
at Springfield lnclndea the laying of
more than two m iles of concrete tide-
walks.
The largest senior class In the his
tory of The Dalles high schooL num
bering 111 students, waa graduated
last week.
Drillers at the new city well at The
Dalles have reached a depth of 740
feet and are planning to sink the shaft
to the 1000-foot level.
Between ISO and 17S delegates from
coast and down-river communities at
tended the Roosevelt highway meeting
in Portland last Monday.
Veterans of foreign wars from 13
of the 1# Oregon posts were repre
sented at the annual state encamp
ment held In McMinnville last week.
The state land department turned
over to the state treasurer In May a
total of >78,779.42, according to George
G. Brown, clerk of the state land
board.
Construction of an $120,000 logging
road which will lead from Algoma ten
m iles Into a heavily timbered area in
centra) Klamath waa announced last
week.
A grower-packer plan of marketing
for the northwest prune Industry was
unanimously adopted by the state
prune convention held in Corvallis re
cently.
"The Georgia Peach.”
The Marlon ar.d Yamhill county
Dempsey, the "Manassa Mauler"; courts awarded the contract for re
Georges Carpentier, the “Orchid Man” ; building the Newberg bridge over the
and Louis Angel Flrpo, the “Wild Bull W illamette river to the Clackamas
of the l’utnpas.”
Construction company. The bid was
Football has furnished some great $25,760.
Individual stars, of course, but for
The 34th annual commencement of
some reason or other popular nick
the
Medford high school was held last
names never clung to them. That Is,
until one Harold Grange streaked week and the largest graduating class
across gridiron history and left behind in Medford's history, 92 members, re-
him the titles of “The Galloping celved their diplomas.
Ghost,” 'T he Bed Bover” or Just
A large delegation of Oregon dairy
"Red." Team nicknames, however, men Is expected to attend “Guernsey
have been popular and more enduring. Gaitles’’ annual .gathering .of state
Who will soon forget the “Four Horse
Guernsey breeders to be held in As
men” of Notre Dame, who rode rough
shod over a great Army team to win toria June 9, 10 and 11.
The frost danger season of the
that title? Or the “Praying Colonels"
of Center college, who sprang Into Rogue river valley waa officially de
sporting fame when they humbled the clared at an end last Saturday, as the
mighty Crimson o f Harvard. Virtu latest frost ever recorded there was
ally every college has Its nickname, on May 28 several years ago.
based upon the colors of the school or
Virginia Hastings,
19-months-old
some Animal mascot, but few enjoy
the picturesque descriptive names, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Hast-
such as the “Golden Tornado” of Ings, was suffocated when tire de
Georgia Tech, the “Green Wave" of stroy6d the ranch home of the family
Tulane or the ’Thundering Herd" of 20 m iles southeast of The Dalles.
the University of Southern California.
The state board of control approved
In other sports nicknames are not
the organization of an association In
so common. There are a few which, ap
plied to the outstanding exponents of Salem to Include the superintendents
their arts, have given them national of the various state institutions. Meet
renown. An Indian once saw a girl ings will be held monthly and quar
named Helen Wills play tennis and terly.
was so Impressed by the fact that, re
Pure tin is being extracted from thi
gardless of how the tide of battle ran, rocks near Gold Hill, in the Rogue
her countenance remained Immobile, river valley. That the white metal It
called her “Little Poker Face.” Those
tin has been attested by assayers it
who have seen Charlie Paddock run
recognise the appropriateness of the San Francisco, Denver and othei
“Fastest Human,” And American run places.
ners who saw only the heels of Paavo
State Senator McNary will be one
Nurmi can tell you why he Is called of the principal speakers at the Wil
the "Flying Finn.” Tennis also has lam ette valley Chautauqua session at'
Its “B ig Bill” and "Little Bill" for Gladstone park Friday, July 15, which
is Grange day. H is subject will be
"Farm Relief.”
Rhea Lupar, state engineer for torn
years, was re-elected to the office by
the state reclamation commission. Mr
Luper will serve as secretary of the
reclamation commission, in addition
to state engineer.
Portland’s nine high schools will
graduate the largest class in their his
tory this June. The graduation list
will total 12(7. Of these 553 are boys
and 714 are girls. The June class oi
1926 had 1187 members.
While the apple and pear crop oi
the neighboring district was not af
fected by the April cold weather
George Chamberlain, Mosier grower,
I reported that the cherry crop will be
International
| only 10 per cent of normal.
“Little Poker Fsos.”
Messrs. Tilden and Johnson, respec
tlvely, and ‘T h e Comet” for the bril
liant Maurice McLoughlln. But foi
alluring alliteration In nickname no
menclature has anyone ever yet In all
different realms of sport been able t<
conjure up the equal of the "Boundlnj
Basque of Biarritz" for Jean Borotra
the French tennis champion?
later she flew down and left. An egg
was found where she had been. Every
day since then she repeats (his stunt
and If the big door happens to he
closed ahe will slam there waiting ft>r
some one to open It.—Boston Globe.
change our habits on this account, be
cause the lengthening of the day li
estimated to amount to one-tenth <x
a second In a thousand years.
Titles
some anttqulty, says: “When I was i
child, I thought as a child; hut whet
I Itecame a man. I put away chlldtsl
things." — Thomas Paine, In “Th-
Illghta of Man.”
C o ffo n on 7"Aron«
“Cotton Is King" Is an expression
D a y » B e c o m in g L o n g e r
used by James H. Hammond, In the
The oft-expressed wish of the busy senate In March, 185& The flgure of
man that the day were longer Is being speech means that so Important Is the
grntlfled. for the earth la stendlly re state of the cotton Industry that It«
ducing Its rate of rotation. It will be condition rules the destiny of meu
some time, however, before we need connected with IL
Bird of Paradise le the name of a
family of birds found In New Guinea
and In the nelghbnrinr Islands of the ' Titles are but nlrknamee. and every
nickname le • title. The thing le per
Mouth Paellle The male bird Is noted
fectly harmless In Itself, hut It marks
for the extraordinary beauty and lus
a sort of foppery In the human char
ter of Its plumage.
acter, which degrades It it reduces
man Into the diminutive of man In
To F re then Furniture
things which are great, and the coun
terfeit of woman In things which are
Equal parte of olive oil and lurpen
tine, applied with a flannel cloth, form little. It talks shout Its tine blue rib
an Ideal polish to keep the shine on bon like a girl, and shows Its new gar
ter like a child. A certain writer, of
the furniture.
OREGON STATE NEWS
OF GENERALINTEREST
H itto rica l P eriod
The "Hundred Days" Is the namt
given to the period which elapsed be
tween the departure of NajtoletH
Bonaparte from the Island of Elbe
where be wa« In exile, and his crust
Ing aad Anal defeat at Waterloo e
June 18, 1818.
It will require 40,000 loaves of bread
12,000 pounds of meats, 4000 poundi
of beans, 2500 pounds of coffee and
30,000 dozen eggs to feed the 3000
members of the Oregon National
Guard during the annual encampment
at Camp Clatsop beginning June 15
The encampment will continue for U
days. The total cost of the encamp
ment, Including compensation to the
guardsmen, will be $115.000.
Hood River’s new high school audi
torium was dedicated last week, when
commencement exercises were held
there for the class of 1927, 30 boys and
54 girls, the largest ever graduated by
the school. The new auditorium seats
1200.
Thomas M. Miller. 88, bailiff of the
Clackamas county circuit court for 57
years, has retired, and E. P. Carter
of Gladstone was appointed to take
over the duties. Mr. Miller was the
oldest bailiff in Oregon In appointive
service.
Oiling operations hare started o
the Old Oregon Trail highway (roc
Pendleton to La Grande by the stat
highway department and all traffic li
being detoured over the Duff grad<
between Pendleton and Mission.
Mr. and Mrs. R. E. Walker, promit
ent pioneers and residents of the Cot
tage Grove section for more than 6
years, were both seriously injured li
an automobile accident when their ca
skidded on the Pacific highway.
Lane county has 15.054 r e g is t e r
voters, according to County Clerk DI)
lard, who checked up the reglstratloi
books after they closed a few dayi
ago for the special election June 28
Of the total number registered, 8431
are men and 6619 are women, the rec
ords show.
The directorate of the Apple Grow
ers’ association made tentative plans
for construction of a plant for remov
ing spray residue from fruit. It Is
proposed to erect the building on the
Union Pacific tracks In Hood River.
The plant will have a capacity of 5000
boxes a day.
Senator Joe E. Dunne and Repre
sentatlve J. O. Bailey of Multnomah
couaty and W. J. Herwlg, secretary of
the National Narcotic association,
were appointed as members of the
state narcotic commission authorised
under a resolution adopted at the last
session of the legislature.
The Dalles plant of the Libby, Mc
Neil & Libby cannery will open for
the season next week using new equip
ment Installed during the winter that
will speed up production considerably,
It was announced. The cannery will
open on strawberries largely purchas
ed from Hood River valley.
Virgil Learned, 11-year-old son of
Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Learned, is in s
serious condition in a Medford hospi
tal from severe burns suffered when s
spray rig engine caught qn fire and
the gasoline tank exploded on th<
Learned orchard ranch on the Crate)
Lake highway, near Medford.
The Nestucca Improvement associa
tlon held a picnic at Blaine Grangi
hall, May 29. The purpose of tht
meeting was to bring together peoph
of Beaver, Blaine, Silver Falle, Carl
ton and Yamhill who are Interested li
the proposed Nestucca route as i
shorter road between Portland an<
Tillamook.
A proposed amendment to the See
aide city charter tc authorize th
water commission to issue $26,000 li
bonds for construction of a pipe lim
along the w est side of the Necanicun
river and maintenance of the presen
system was defeated at a special elec
tlon by five votes. The count was 9.
for, 102 against.
First-half taxes in the amount of $2
233,140.06 have been remitted to th
state treasurer by the various Oregoi
counties, according to a statem ent pre
pared by the treasury department
There are eight counties which hav
not yet completed their remittance?
There was due the state in first-hal
taxes the amount of $2,613,103.62.
Bids for grading an eight mile sec
tlon of the Waplnitia spur of th
Mount Hood highway In W asco corn
ty were opened by the United State
bureau of public roads. The bid of F
L. Brown of Boardman, for $61,108
was lowest. There yet remains ibou
six m iles of the spur to be graded, th.
contract for which will be let nex
year pro'hably.
A smokers’ code which would pre.
hlblt smoking while a person la It
motion in a forest has been parti)
worked ont by forest service official)
In session at Bates, near Bend. Undei
the proposed code, persons will not
smoke while walking, driving or rid
ing. The theory advanced waa that
smokers will put out all lighted mater
ial while standing still.
Action which may eventually lead
to changing the name of the D alle»
Californta highway was taken recently
by directors of the Bend chamber of
commerce, who went on record a s fa
voring a new name for the north-south
route through central Oregon. Names
tentatively considered are the Fre
mont trail, the Cascade highway and
the Dalles-Bend-Klamath highway.
Marlon county filed a demurrer to
the alternative writ- of mandamus in
proceedings brought by the state to
recover a part of the county’s share
of the Oregon ft California railroad
grant land tax refund.
The caae
against Marion county Involves ap
proximately $41,000. The outcome of
the atate’s suit against Marion county
Is being watched closely In that It will
affect the grant land tax refund to 17
other counties In Oregon. The aggre
gate tax refund to the IS land grant
counties in Oregon involves more than
$6.000.000, of which amount the state
claims more than ■$1,850,000.
The meadowlark is the winner In
the Oregon state bird contest, receiv
ing more votes than all of its oppon
ents combined. An unofficial estimate
made by those in charge of the con-
teat'gave the meadowlark 40,000 votes
out of 75.000 cast.
Crews from the state highway de
partment are making the final survey
for grading work which will start on
the 13-mlle uncompleted stretch of the
Pendleton-John Day highway between
the Laalnka ranch and Teal tunnel
within the next tiro weeks.
A F pm m I*« Arfvtc«
She—Tse, I appreciate the fact that
Robert is rich, but bow am I to live
Grafting change« the character et happily with a man who Is my hs-
fsrior?
plauta. li reveals that of men.
Widow Wy ae Don’t tell him my
One thing we have given up antici dear, and he'll never know IL
pating, as hopetnm, la a spinach borer
Nicaragua’s banana belt la develop
ing Into a cartridge b e lt
Bill posters are usually pretty de
cent but they do a lot of sticking up
Mending thoughts by radio wouldn’t
he so had tf the thoughts were worth
anything.
W a ttif
Rod— Tou say Mae didn’t reject
iOU»
Bill—No. She said any time she
(ett lik e making a fool of herself
►he’d marry aie.
Li&or to
Khartum
Group of Natives of Sudan.
( F r a p a n d b y th e N a tio n a l O eographla
S o ciety , W a sh in g to n . D. C-)
TRIP from central Egypt to
Khartum, disclosing life along
the Nile and in the desert, is
described by a recent traveler.
fcWe traveled south,” he writes, “In a
little white train, with blue glass win
dows to lessen the shock of the rush
ing sunshine.
"Before we were a mile from the
station at Luxor “the desert began to
assert Itself. The temperature In the
coach climbed to almost unbearable
heights; yet when we opened the win
dow for what we thought would be a
breath of fresh air, the glare of the
sun struck us like a blow In the face.
We had never conceived of such vio
lent sunshine.
'"Late In the afternoon we reached
Shellal and transferred to a boat on
the Nile for Haifa, whence stretches
thé railway to Khartum, completed
by Kitchener between 1807 and 1800,
when he made war on the forces of
Mohammed Ahmed, the 'Mad Mahdi,’
concentrated at Omdurman.
"The Nile trip from Shellal to Haifa
lasted from five o’clock one afternoon
to noon o f the second day. The boat
w as too small to permit the passen
gers to move a b o u t There was noth
ing to do but sleep and eat, read and
talk.
"For half the distance to Haifa the
desert was saffron-colored, sienna,
burnt orange; In the high light of
noon It waa golden. Most of us think
of the Sahara as composed of white
or gray sand. To the contrary. It Is
colorful. Often the ’sand’ Is broken
rock, and there are many ledges and
ridges. Everywhere the ground heaves
and swells.
“The desert Arabs live In desperate
squalor, on. the fringe. On what they
subsist Is more or less a mystery. The
Nile flows close by, bnt it Is not used
for bathing. H alf the Inhabitants
seem to have sore eyes, and the sight-
lead ones are everywhere.
Sunrise Over the DeeerL
"The heat In the cabins of the
small boat waa almost unendurable,
so w e turned out at daybreak and
went on deck to breathe.
"We saw the sun rise over the des
e r t A huge brassy disk slid Into
place with astonishing rapidity. One
moment there w as a soft haze; the
n e x t a bright hot sun assaulted the
land.
“Along the shore small palm trees
grew delicately out of the water Itself
and gently waved green branches at
us. Off toward the horizon were hum
mocks and pyramids of crumbly rock.
Near at hand an Arab mud village
slept soundly and odorously. Swarms
of wispy gnats moved down from no
where to settle In our hair for addi
tional warmth.
“The steersman, a Mohammedan,
came ont of the little deckhouse to
say bis prayers on the roof of the
lower deck. It w as the season of the
Feast of Ramadan. He faced Mecca.
He stood. He lifted both gaunt hands.
He dropped his hands. He bowed.
He kneeled. He prostrated himself.
He laid his forehead to the deck.
“At midday the heat was so ener
vating that we would sit and eat In
silence. Those of us who were new
to the country ate very little.
“The only animals we saw in the
desert were lean white camels. They
browsed and grazed, apparently on
nothing, or reclined on shadeless
sands hot enough to burn the skin
from one’s hands.
History Along the Nile.
“The banks of the Nile are a pano
rama of history. We passed Phllae.
the ancient shrine of Isis, which since
the building of the Aswan dam Is
submerged almost half the year. We
passed a Romnn fort high on a rocky
and desert shore, set there to watch
over the barbarians while Antony’s
romance with Cleopara flourished. We
passed a temple supposedly erected
by Cleopatra herself—In a fit of re
morse. we presumed to think.
“When we came to a Temple of the
Sun, carved out of rock, we were
A
Pugnacity
Senator Shlpetead, discussing the
French objection to naval disarma
ment. said at a dinner In Minneapolis:
“It’s funny bow pugnacious the
French are. Yon wouldn't think they
were pugnacious, either. Judging from
their duels.
“Tour French duel reminds me of a
dialogue between Calhoun Clay and
George Washington Whits.
“ T o n ’s a Hah I* said OaL
given an opportunity to land, and w e
entered Its cavernous depths at
night with torches that threw weird
shadows.
“We passed
Kitchener’s camp,
where the great British soldier spent
something like three years equipping
an army with machine guns and ar
tillery to go into the Sudan to sub
due a religious zealot and his fanati
cal followers.
“The train from Haifa to Khartum
was scheduled to leave at 1 :30 p. m.
one day and to arrive at Khartum at
4 the next afternoon. We arrived at
our destination 18 hours late, having
been marooned an afternoon and a
night In the desert with masses o f
sand hurtling over and around us.
"We did not dare to go forward,
for when these desert storms swirl,
often they blow the roadbed out from
under the crossties and leave the rails
suspended In the air, like bright steel
ribbons. Eventually, before the full
train was permitted to proceed, a
hand-car had to be sent ahead as a
scout to see If all were well. It waa
late in the afternoon when the full
force of the sirocco struck us, turn
ing the daylight to darkness.
“We were fascinated by Its ap-
prtteeh. Thin, angular Arab figures
-danced In Its path, like grotesque
scarecrows, trying to escape. It
whirled across the Nile, striking us
broadside on, and fo r. a few stuffy
minutes the air was nnbreathable.
“The storm carried all the sand and
scenery with It For a half hour w e
breathed d u st swallowed dust, and
spat d u st Then It passed over, and
we could watch It playing havoc on
the horizon.
“Khartum was a welcome sigh t!
Luxor, Aswan, Haifa, Omdurman and
Khartum are river-bank villages. Be
cause of their fame, one thinks o f
them as cities. Khartum plays at be
ing the capital o f the Sudan; Omdur
man, Jnst across the Nile, Is an all-
nrn4 native village covering a vast
area.
“Khartum Is 1,000 miles south o f
Cairo. This w as the frontier, the end
of civilisation.
In and About Khartum.
"Late afternoons we rode donkey«
along the Nile, past the palace of th»
governor general, where Gordon w a»
killed by the Mad Mahdi's men, to
ward the statue of Gordon sitting on
a camel, looking ont across the d esert
“Tttb Gordon hotel, where w e
stayed, faced on the public square,
perhaps a hundred yards across. '
There was no grass. There was only
sand. Step ont Into this square nnder
the midday sun without one’s pitb
helmet and one may have a sunstroke
before he takes a hundred steps. A
short time before onr arrival a Greek
trader attempted to cross the square
at noon on a rush errand, without*his
topee. He was stricken and died b e
fore he reached his destination.
“With evening came relief. A gen
tle breeze blew from the Nile and w e
sat on the earth terrace In front of
the hotel from dinner until midnight,
drinking lemon squashes and whlskys-
and-sodns. Off across the square,
tom-toms heat perpetually and whit»
figures of dervishes danced to th»
wild music. During Ramadan, every
day Is a fast and every night a festi
val.
“A delegation went over to watch
'the show. Three musicians shuffled
backward In a perpetual circle. They
thrummed tom-toms—shallow hoops
with skin stretched taut across. They
sang; they chanted.
“From time to time figures broke
away 'from the tightly packed ’mob
which Inclosed the torches, and danced
furiously, whirling after the manner
o f dervishes. Around and around they
went, barefooted fanatics, leaping and
gyrating In their long white robes and
odd white turbans. One minute they
struck a self-appreciative pose and
held it; the next, they were In a
frenzy again. They resembled noth
ing so much as chickens with heads
cut off, fluttering In the purposeless
dance of death."
“ •Say dat agin .’ saM Wash, *and TO
bust yo’ Jaw p
“ ’Consider It said agin I’
“ ‘Consider go’ Jaw busted p •
O ld Maritte Policy
Marine Insurance Is really older
than the Christian era. Lloyds still
possesses a copy of a policy (not Its
own. of course) dated 16W. This was
believed to be the oldest marine policy
In existence until, six years ago, •
document dated 1056 waa found.—R »