Around the World in Thirty Days

ready married to the beautiful daughter of Shefket Verlaci, Bey of Elbassan, one of the most powerful nobles in Arabia. Tourists who are movie scenario writers please take notice.

AUSTRIA

THAT the horrors of war may be visualized not only by the present but by coming generations as mute arguments for peace, a society has been founded in Vienna to establish and maintain a Pacifist Museum. Relics of the War will be shown, which may serve as a warning against its cruelty and barbarism. The society invites all persons to send such relics, which may consist of every manner of death-dealing instrument or article, or even prints or pictures. Photographs of trenches, hospitals, barracks, concentration camps, and similar subjects are specially desirable. Visitors are welcomed at the offices of the society at Teinfaltstrasse 11.

Pomeranian dog, Toto, for whose benefit the flight was made. But it was not that this sort of an airing was desired for the canine, or that it was thought that the flight sensations might benefit his health. Only that Miss Hempel wanted to reach quickly a famous London veterinarian who had on previous occasions ministered to Toto in distress and by whom, it was hoped, Toto's malady might be better understood. That Miss Hempel was willing to risk Toto on this air journey is additional testimony to the comfort and safety of the air service between Paris and London.

TRA

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS

RAVELERS who have admired the flowering vegetation of Hawaii do not all know that but few of the most brilliant specimens are native, many of the most conspicuous ones being plant immigrants which have been brought from the four corners of the globe. Madagascar, Southern Europe, Africa, India, South and Central America, Australia, China, and the South Sea Islands have all contributed to a plant population more cosmopolitan than the human inhabitants of the islands. HUNGARY

and prisoners in the jails are starving, as there are no funds to buy food.

The electric light and waterworks companies contemplate closing because they cannot afford coal at the present high prices. Many forms of industry have practically ceased. There is no joy in Peking just now.

H

CUBA

AVANA is now the scene of sleuthing for three men wanted by the Mexican Government in connection with the assassination of President-elect Alvaro Obregón. The search is in charge of Colonel Alfonso Fors, Chief of the Cuban Secret Service. Let any sojourner whose attention is attracted by a person or persons thought to resemble a presidential assassin make prompt report of the same to Colonel Fors. It will be gratefully received.

I'

ALBANIA

MMEDIATE recognition of King Ahmet Zogu by Italy surprised no one, because Italian influence helped him to the throne; but an almost equally prompt recognition by Greece was unexpected by the Balkan Governments. Reason? It is hinted that Albania paid a considerable price for the Greek attitude by agreeing to drop claims for compensation for Albanian property, estimated at about $600,000, seized by the Greeks when Greece was awarded additional territory after the World War. Italy having furnished Ahmet with a crown would now supply him also with a queen. But the

ENGLAND

ISITORS to London's Kensington Gardens, approaching the spot where the statue of Peter Pan has stood for the past fifteen years, were surprised at a barrier of canvas screens which rendered the statue invisible. During the night the statue had been tarred and feathered by vandals or grim practical jokers. This act of vandalism recalled another about two years ago. Epstein's figure of Rima, which forms part of the memorial to W. H. Hudson in Hyde Park, was painted a deep green, and, though the paint was soon removed, the sculpture is said to have been injured. The green paint applied to Rima was probably a protest against the statue, then the subject of controversy, but the motive of the outrage upon Peter Pan is a mystery which even Scotland Yard has not been able to solve. FRANCE

King Victor Emmanuel, might be dangerous for Ahmet. This, because of an absentee ceremony taking place several years ago, by which, though they have never yet met, Ahmet is al

from Le Bourget for London recently carried Frieda Hempel, the opera soprano, formerly one of the five Imperial German court singers. Accompanying Miss Hempel was a

whose sincerity cannot be questioned, is about to arrange with the Budapesti Hirlap, a

daily newspaper, to conduct for him a lottery drawing, with unique features. The proposal is that the Budapesti Hirlap shall issue ten thousand lottery tickets at two pengo each, to be bought by women in want of a husband. The writer offers the newspaper five hundred pengo for the expenses, and an additional honorarium of five hundred pengo.

The newspaper points out that the idea is a practical one, as, in addition to a wife, the writer would win twenty thousand pengo. It is not stated that the tickets are limited to Hungarian ladies, or that tourists may not participate in the drawing; but before purchasing the pasteboards, it would be safer to ascertain the detailed conditions of the scheme.

ITALY

THEN an attempt is made upon the life of

W Premier Mussolini, a special judicial tri

bunal is usually constituted to try the would-be assassin- that is, if he survives summary action at the hands of the populace. Privileged visitors are said to have been present at some of these trials, and a recent proceeding was more than usually interesting. Anteo Zamboni, in Bologna, fired a shot at Il Duce about two years ago. Mussolini was not wounded, though Anteo's bullet grazed a decoration on the Premier's breast. Anteo was enthusiastically lynched by a mob, the surviving members of his family being tried by the special tribunal for complicity in the crime. A brother, Ludovico, was acquitted for lack of evidence, but the father, Mammolo, and the mother, Virginia, were convicted and sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment.

A PARAGRAPHIC WORLD TOUR

political wiseacres below the Rio Grande, and the subsequent election to be Provisional President of the youthful Emilio Portes Gil, squarejawed sportsman and lawyer, was complete refutation of the assertions of meddlesomeness by the United States.

SPAIN

REPORT from Amendralejo, in which full

A credence is not placed, but which comes

from a source usually dependable, declares that a tax has been imposed upon every woman whose skirt 'reaches less than a certain minimum length.' There is a graduated schedule,

Photo Wide World

A FAMILIAR FIGURE THE DECORATIONS on the breast of Italy's Dictator have deflected more than one bullet intended for his heart.

the higher the skirt, the larger the tax. One feature of this measure is that the payment of a certain amount entitles the payer to a sort of 'license of abbreviation,' as it is called by the Observer (London), for a month or other fixed period of time. Perhaps this provision is especially designed for tourists or other transients. The correspondent of the newspaper referred to deprecates the principle that skirts may be curtailed according to the wealth of the wearer, noting, however, that the Spanish are a law-abiding and not a very rich people. Many will agree that wealth should not regulate the length of skirts. Other considerations are of far greater importance. We are not advised as to the number of inches which will enable female visitors to avoid this irritating tax, or the information would be given here. Tourists

CUST

UNITED STATES

USTOMS difficulties in the Port of New York have more than ever plagued returning travelers during the present autumn season. Women have had more trouble with the customs collectors than men. A well known American short story writer and author of several best sellers declared her switch from Hoover to Smith due to resentment at the action of the customs examiners. Mme. Ganna Walska's trunks, said to contain jewels valued at $2,500,000, were impounded upon her debarkation from the French liner Paris. But men experience difficulties, too. The Reverend John G. Rongetti, of Saint Anthony's Parish, Newark, N. J., a solidly built, middle-aged priest of dignified bearing and genial countenance, paid $539.58 at the New York Customs House as duty and penalties on undeclared goods. In addition to oil paintings, trinkets intended as souvenirs, and ten pounds of canned ham, the priest's luggage contained saints' relics plus twenty-two bottles of Cognac and seven quarts of Benedictine. Father Rongetti paid the duty ungrudgingly, but indignantly protested a lecture upon morality and the iniquity of evil example received from the Customs authorities. Upon questions of morality, 'I am your teacher,' said the padre to the Collector.

face covered with deep scars, received me in a bare room which contained only a little wooden table. From the windows one could see the smokestacks, belching flames.

"The Leuna Works,' said the young Director, employ six hundred and eleven engineers, one thousand three hundred and twenty-nine salaried employes, two thousand one hundred and twenty-six skilled workers, thirty-one thousand six hundred and twenty-four laborers. Is that what you wished to know? If you desire further statistical information, I shall be glad to let you have a brochure on the subject. You will find everything there which you might wish to know.'

'Everything? Is it possible? The figures which you have just given me are very significant.'

"They have been published before, I believe.'

'Of course. I know that. But no one has explained them. What is this new industry which has built up such a formidable organization in so short a time?'

The young engineer feigned great surprise. A new industry? Everybody knows that we make ammonia and fertilizers.'

'Yes, but it is also known that you manufacture synthetic gasoline.'

'You seem to have unofficial information.'

'It is generally known. Is it not the astonishing discovery of a method of synthesizing gasoline which has made possible the huge development of the Leuna Werke? Is it not artificial gasoline which has created this new city where even in 1920 there was only open countryside?'

The Director nervously fingered the brochure which he had destined for my information. 'Have you any introduction from our Director-General, Dr. Bosch, who lives in Heidelberg?'

'No; I was not aware that it was necessary.'

"That's too bad. You see, the manufacture of gasoline is not yet official; I have no right to discuss it with you, although I am convinced that you are not a "dangerous" person.'

ARTIFICIAL GASOLINE

From Gebrauchsgraphik, Berlin

AMMONIA LIQUOR TANKS, LEUNA

A GERMAN ARTIST makes vivid the impressively large scale on which the I. G. Farbenindustrie plant at Leuna, Merseburg, Saxony, has been built. At this plant it is planned to make one hundred thousand tons of synthetic gasoline next year, following the success of this year's efforts.

'But why? Herr Doktor Friedrich Bergius's invention is well known. Bergius's invention is well known. Haven't you sold his patent rights in France and the United States? Well?'

The engineer smiled with pride. 'No one would get very far with Bergius's methods,' he said, not realizing that this was leading to exactly the information I wanted.

173

'You have discovered some other technique?'

'No, but we have improved his method. The original method has undergone over a hundred modifications, of which the world at large has remained in complete ignorance. You can easily understand our care and my discretion in discussing the matter.'

'Yes, and the vigilance of your watchmen. You implied that these modifications made the manufacture of artificial gasoline more practical. Do you mean that you can make gasoline commercially here at Merseburg and Leuna?'

'Not officially. Actually, we are placing on sale each month some ten thousand barrels of gasoline. The consumer does not know that it is not natural gasoline; you yourself may have been using Leuna gasoline without knowing it. For the time being ours is sold at exactly the same price as the natural product.'

'How much does it cost you?'

The young engineer hesitated a moment, torn by the conflicting desires of overwhelming me and keeping the great secret. Then he exclaimed in triumph, 'Sixteen pfennigs a litre!'

I was so amazed that for a moment I could only think, 'Leuna gasoline, sixteen pfennigs; Pennsylvania, Mosul, Caucasian, or any other kind of natural gasoline, thirty-five pfennigs!'

What a future there is for this industry, an industry which is no longer a dream, which lies out there beneath the windows of the bare little room, completely realized, which has already, like the oil wells and the gold mines of yore, made a whole city spring up over night.

Is this new industry a danger for France and the peace of the world? I believe not. I believe, on the contrary, that the new Germany finds in the amazing progress of its industry a new outlet for the old desire for conquest. There is triumph in the achievement of Leuna, accomplished as it has been with feverish mystery; a triumph which must warm the hearts of young Germans, who can now see that their country is able to astonish the world by other means than the destruction of human life.

W

By G. de Raulin

HERE was the island on which Robinson Crusoe had his dramatic adventures?

In the accounts one usually reads, it is described as 'the island of Juan Fernandez.' But Juan Fernandez is not an island at all. It is an archipelago composed of three islands, lying off the coast of South America, far out in the Pacific, which were discovered in 1572 by the famous Spanish explorer whose name they now bear.

In those days, when sailors wished to go from Callao to Valparaiso, they kept close to the coast, in spite of the fact that the wind was often dead against them. Juan Fernandez, impressed by the consistency of the off-shore wind, decided to strike a more daring course toward the open ocean, in the belief that if he went far enough out, he would find a shore breeze in the opposite direction that would take him back toward the coast. Sailing from Callao to Valparaiso, he reached a point three hundred and sixty-two miles off the latter city, and there discovered an island which he called Mas-a-Tierra. It was on this part of the archipelago that Robinson Crusoe later found refuge.

As he had expected, Juan Fernandez found that from Mas-a-Tierra a favorable wind took him back toward the Chilean coast. In four weeks he had made the voyage from Callao to Valparaiso which until that time had taken five or six months. When he departed from Mas-a-Tierra, he left behind him a good many goats whose progeny were later to prove highly valuable to wandering buccaneers.

there is an unpleasant season stretching from April to October, and there are violent rain storms at night. Cattle, goats, pigs, and game birds abound on the island. Peach trees and fig trees grow wild, as well as many varieties of vegetables. The island's single village, Juan

Separated from this island by about a mile of water is another, Santa Clara, sometimes called Goat Island, whose queerly marked cliffs give it a strange aspect. It has no great interest, being only five miles in circumference, with its highest point about a thousand feet above the level of the sea. Eighty miles farther westward, however, is the larger island of Mas-a-Fuera, thirty-two square miles in area. It is wooded and well watered and its most remarkable feature is the Mountain of the Innocents, nearly six thousand feet high. On the island is

Yunque, some twenty-eight hundred feet high and well wooded, looks from a distance like an anvil. On its flanks are a number of fertile valleys with brooklets running through them. There are three harbors, all on the north coast, and named according to the nationality of the navigators who frequented them: the French Port, the English Port, and the Spanish Port. There is a depth of ninety feet in each of these three harbors.

Though it is mountainous and wooded at its northern end, Mas-a-Tierra seems flat and dry as one works toward the south. Steep cliffs, deep red in color, cut by green ravines, stretch between the three ports mentioned above, and encircle the magnificent Cumberland Bay. The climate is healthy, though rainy;

Bautista, is located at the Spanish Port; it has two hundred and sixty inhabitants, all fishermen.

SHALL not attempt to retell the story of how Alexander Selkirk was abandoned on this desert isle in February, 1704, by Captain Straddling of the Cinque Ports, nor of how he was discovered on February 2, 1709, by Captain Wood Rogers of the Duke, who took him back to England. It is a curious fact, however, that the adventure which in the eighteenth century provided Daniel Defoe with material for Robinson Crusoe has had its parallel in more recent days.

After Selkirk left, Mas-a-Tierra was for a long time forgotten, perhaps on account of the fact that Defoe, fearful of being accused of plagiarism, adopted the expedient of setting the adventures of his hero on an imaginary island which he placed off the mouth of the Orinoco.

In 1891, however, the French sailing ship Télégraphe approached the archipelago. She was com

manded by Captain Morthiers, and was going from Talcahuano to Iquique, with a single passenger whose name was Charpentier. A sailor discovered that the door of the storeroom had been left open by an oversight; he entered and drank bottle after bottle of liquor. When he had grown tipsily generous, he secretly called his. comrades that they might benefit by his discovery. In no time at all the whole crew was decidedly drunk. Only the passenger, Charpentier, refused to yield to temptation.

The drunken sailors could think of only one way to escape punishment: mutiny against the Captain. Luckily he was armed, and the mutineers were not. When he saw that prayers and threats had no effect on such madmen, who wanted to kill him, he shot two of the wildest. This calmed the others and