Evening Star Newspaper, December 30, 1928, Page 23

CHACO CLAIMS ARE BASED ON TITLE AND POSSESSION Bolivian Contentions Stress Historical Documents While Paraguay Holds to Occupation Argument are at odds, are truly sisters nations. In certain respects they are more alike than any two other Latin American republics. Bituated, the one on the western, the other on the eastern, portions of South America, they share the fate of being -ipland countries with no direct sccess to the sea, with no coast- line. They have also in common the fact that, having been warred upon by neighbors, they have lost a great por- tion of their respective territories, the valor of their population proving of no avail. And because of these things it should be only natural for them to draw together. That, however, has not been the case, as between them there is an old dispute, already half 2 century old, bearing on the possession of a vast ter- ritory, El Chaco Boreal, that lies be- tween the two countrie: ‘The territory that via and Para- guay dispute embraces, according to the Bolivian internationalist Miguel Mercado, somewhat over 12,000 square leagues. tile region of the southern continent. a region not unlike the Valley of the Euphrates, and much larger. Chaco Boreal is three times larger than Portugal, five times the size of Belgium and Switzerland together, four times as large as Denmark and Holland taken as a unit, twice the size of Uruguay, almost as large as the five republics of Central America, and of an even size with Italy and Great Brit- ain. It covers one-fourth of the area of Bolivia and is one-half as large as BOLIVIA and Paraguay. who now | by this authoritative writer, Azara as-| all Paraguay. | Has Shape of Triangle. Tt has the shape of an isosceles tri- | @ngie, its apex ai Asuncion, Paraguay’s capital, and its sides running along the rivers Paraguay and Pilcomayo, which are its natural boundaries. The Para- guay River divides it from Paraguay, the Pilcomayo from the Argentine Re- public. As it slopes toward the Para- guay River Basin it is watered by many fan affluent of this large stream. Chief among these is the southern arm of the Pilcomayo, navigable for some 250 kilo- meters, as from the Paraguayan Fort Gen. Burguez (founded in 1920) down- stream to where it merges its waters ‘with those of the Paraguay River; Con- fuso, that springs north of the Estero de Patino, navigable a considerable distance by small craft; Aguaray Guazu, navigable by small craft for some 150 ilometers; Monte Lindo, that springs )y the Bolivian Fort Saavedra; Negro, that has its source by the evangelical mission ar Macklawaya and runs for some 160 kilometers to Concepcion, where it joins the Paraguay; Verde, a stream of peculiar bitter water that its source by Fort Arce, and the r streams of San Carlos and Gon- mes and the Galvan, that flows into Paraguay south of Port Sastre. To this water system there must be added o i elioon o B e P western bank by the Paragua; River when it floods. g Rich in Soil and Forest. In. this territory a population of 80,000,000 could be at ease. It is an ense reservoir of resources. Mea- serly populated now, it is none the less a powerful asset. The benignity of its climate, its natural irrigation facilities, the richness of its soil and subsoil, the wealth of its virgin forest, thick woods, ake of it a land of veritable promise the mankind that lives a stifled e in an overcrowded world. Bolivia’s grounds for claiming title to the territory involved are as follows: The Audiencia of Charcas, which on becoming an independent country was transformed into the Republic of Bolivia, ‘was founded by the Spanish conquerors in the sixteenth century as covering a territory of round proportions with its eenter at Chuquisaca and extending cir- cularly for a hundred leagues (300 miles) about this center. By Royal Charter (Cedula Real) of August 29, 1563, His Magesty Philip I granted to the Audiencia de Charcas the lands that had been explored by Andreas Manzo and Nunez de Chaves “together with whatever other lands may be settled in those parts.” It is this region, lying like a wedge between the Pilcomayo and Paraguay Rivers, that Paraguay disputes Bolivia. Ruling by Monarch. On December 10 of the same year, 1563, the Spanish monarch definitely ruled that the entire Chaco region be- longed to the Real Audiencia de Charcas, fixing the boundaries of this dominion of the Spanish crown on the south by the entire course of the Picomayo River and on the north by the lands of the Portuguese crown, now Brazil. So that, what now constitutes Paraguay proper as well as the disputed territory, were under the jurisdiction and were judged to belong to the Audiencia de Charcas. Purther evidence is given by the fact that by virtue of the royal charter of October 1, 1566, the King denied au- thority to Commandant Francisco Ortiz de’ Vergara to explore either Chaco or Guaray (as what is now Paraguay was then called) based the royal action on the fact that these provinces were already under the domain of the Audiencia de Charcas could not be oper lands for exploration on which pase claims looking forward to grants. Charcas constituted an Immense domain. It soon became evident that to keep order within all its confines was a difficult matter. The revolt of the Indians presented a grave prob- lem. The Guaycuru and Payagua Indians, now the republic of Paraguay, were especially restless and troublesome, In order to better defend that out- lying province of the Audiencia de Charcas, Guayra was made into Gobernacion, or seat of government, enjoying a certain measure of autonomy in order to better meet emergencies. ‘The jurisdiction of this new govern- ment did not extend at any time over the Chaco region, and a provision to this effect was definitely stipulated in the royal charter of December 16, 1617. Jurisdiction Assigned. In 1661 the Gobernacion de Guayra, which comprised four cities, was re- Jeased from the jurisdiction of Charcas and assigned under the Audiencia de Buenos Aires. The province of Chaco, then a deserted region, remained under the jurisdiction of the Chuquisaca government as an integral part of the Audiencia de Charcas. Among many roofs of this fact jt is pertinent to cite he royal charter of December 17, 1743, wherein affirmed by royal author- ity that “All nations or portions there- of that are between the Philcomayo and Paraguay Rivers extending beyond the community of Santa Cuz de la Sierra, do belong to Charcas.” This region described by the King is pre- cisely the land whiclt Paraguay now claims. Besides the innumerable documents emanating from the Spanish crown, which Bolivia presents in her defense, there exist a].;{: many opinions from personages of the time, the impartial views of authorative men, all of them favorable to Bolivia’s cause, among which we make note herein of a few of the most important ones. Don Felix de Azara, a renowned his- torian, cosmographer of fame and Jearned naturalist, was appointed by H. M. Carlos III of Spain as commissar to define the boundaries between the Spanish and the Portuguese possessions in America. This illustrious savant re- mained nine and a half years in Paraguay, given entirely to his work, end among his works he published a map in which the great Azara says: *“The boundary of Paraguay to the is the same River Paraguay, it v%:\o possession in Chaco.” work eatitled “His Voyages” i It is situated in the most fer- | | serts the following: “The boundaries of ‘Cham are very broad, but despite its | nearness to Paraguay, this government {does not possess any portion in that territory.” And this was a true fact so | acknowledged that it was no obstacle against the granting to Azara by the | municipal government of Asuncion, as (a reward for the work mentioned, the | title of “Illustrious Paraguayan,” not only showing gratitude thereby, but | also, as is quite evident, evincing its | conformity with what was stated in | the learned book. | “Juan Francisco de Aguirre, demar- | cator of boundaries for the possessions | of Spain and Portugal in America, af- | firms in his diary that “the jurisdiction of Paraguay as a government exfends * * * to the west up to the settle- ment of certain Spanish provinces, a considerable extension of wild land, ‘hich is the Great Chaco, the border of which is the western bank of the Para- guay River.” And it is well to bear in mind also the opinions to the same effect with regard to the boundaries between Par- eguay and Chaco, expressed with full knowledge of the case by witnesses as trustworthy as Julio R. de Cesar, Cosme Bueno, Fray Inocencio Canete, Lidan y Cisneros, Father Guevara and Antonio Alcedo, who in the course of centuries have had occasion to refer to the boun- daries of the Province of Paraguay. Audiencia Incorporated. Finally, when Buenos Aires, by Royal charter of June 14, 1777, was constituted a Viceroyalty, the Audiencia de Charcas was incorporated therein as including all the “Corregimientos” (districts under a Corregidor), townships and territories over which its jurisdiction extended as from 1563, forming a single undivided unit within the new colonial organization. And as such a unit it remained until 1810. When the proper area of each new country formed from the former vast empire of Spain was con- sidered, by common consent of all the new States, the “ulti-possidetis juris” as of 1810 was accepted as final basis. In other words, each new country was to comprise the land which belonged to its colonial unit in 1810. In 1810 Chaco was an integral part and parcel of the Audiencia of Charcas, and when the Audiencia of Charcas was constituted as the Republic of Bolivia by the uti- possidetis just explained, the new state that took for its name that of the great liberator was conceived and_exercising its new sovereignty over Chaco. So Bolivians hold that the Chaco province rightfully belongs to them. Paraguay’s side in the controversy is thus presented: “On the western side of the Paraguay River extends a vast territory, several thousand square miles, says President Guggiari of Paraguay, this territory be- ing, since colonial days, a part of the Jl‘:risdk:uon of the government of Asun- cion.” Executive Explains. ‘To explain this, the Paraguayan Ex- ecutive adds: “Asuncion, as capital of the Province of Paraguay, was the most important colonization nucleus of all districts adjoining the river of the same name. It was in Ascuncion, therefore, that the Spaniards concentrated their efforts to dominate the neighboring regions, including Gran Chaco. When independence was attained, the terri- tory of Gran Chaco naturally became a part of the territorial estate of the new Republic of Paraguay, which inherited the Spanish Province of Paraguay.” And to prove it, Paraguayans adduce the arbitrational decision given out by President Hayes of the United States in 1870, deciding that the part of the Gran Chaco extending to the north of Ascuncion belonged solely to Paraguay, and thus defeating the supposed rights claimed by the Argentine, government over that territory. Bolivia inherited the Spanish prov- ince of High Peru—states the Para- guayan viewpoint—adjoining the bor- der of Paraguay, precisely at the northern edge of Gran Chaco. The boundaries between the provinces had not been properly outlined. The ter- ritorial boundaries of the colonial era were somewhat vague, and remained so after independence was gained. To eliminate this impression of uncertain- ty Paraguay and Bolivia signed three boundary treaties from 1879 to 1894, which were not ratified later for sev- eral reasons. In all three treaties, Paraguay and Bolivia referred to the question as “a demarcation of boun- daries.” It was never, in any sense, considered a matter affecting the dom- ination of Gran Chaco, whose Para- guayan ownership was never doubted. Such is the Paraguyan contention. Claim Based on Possession. Even though legal titles and historical documents are the real grounds for the Bolivians claiming ownership to the province in question, the Paraguayan claim is based on possession. Paraguay, because of her proximity to the Chaco territory, her easy access and commu- nication with it and its adaptability to her living conditions, established her- self in the Chaco province long before the Bolivians ever thought of asserting title to it. The Paraguayans were the first to explore and establish them- selves in it. They have, for the past century, brought _civilization to it.| These are the principal reasons upon which Paraguay bases her claim to the disputed territory. In addition to this, in the course of the controversy and in various treaties that have been signed, Bolivia to a certain extent recognized Paraguay's possession of part of the Chaco province, and although none of these treaties is now in effect, this has sufficed, according to the Paraguayan contention, to justify her claim of own- ership over the territory under dispute. Lion Steak Popular Dish in London Cafes Lion steak is now the most fashion- able dish in the exclusive London res- taurants. It is not on the menu yet, but enterprising restaurant managers have ordered from big-game hunters in South Africa a couple of lions. They are being sent to England in the same way that beef comes from Aus- tralia and will be on the menu on Janu- ary 1 or so. This new fashion of eat- ing lion has been established by the duke of Gloucester, who shot his first lion during his recent trip to central Africa. ‘The flesh of the king of animals was cut up by the natives to be used as meat and the duke received the choice morsel -—a lion chop. He looked at it doubt- fully and attacked it gingerly, but find- ing it unexpectedly good continued to eat it with a wholesome appetite. He admitted later that it was nicer than the best veal he had ever tasted. First Angora Hotel Will Be Constructed Angora, Asiatic capital of Turkey, will now offer good accommodations to trav- elers in the form of a big hotel under French management. Lodging until recent years has been such that when the actress Cecile Sorel, on.a tour in Constantinople, was requested by Presi- dent Mustapha Kemal Pasha to visit him in Angora, and she asked where she would put up, his only possible sug- gestion was that she remain in the sleeping car. But as the car was not immune from insects, the. fastidious actress found an excuse to stay in Con- stantinople, THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. What Boulder Dam Means Gigantic Engineering Project, Which Will Cost $176,000,000, Will Be of Untold Benefit to Mankind BY WILLIAM A. MILLEN. HE Prospero of engineering will wave his magic wand and by 1936, if all goes well, the much- mooted dam in Black Canyon, on the Colorado River near the Arizona-Nevada line, will be a reality, furnishing power and impounded water for irrigation projects, controlling the furious floods that sweep down through the primeval volcanic valleys and func~ tioning in unison with an All-Americ: canal that will furnsh verdure and fer- tility to the windswept desert country just north of Mexico. The spectacular feature of it all will be the erection of a dam towering aloft as high as the Washington Monument, the greatest dam of its kind in all the world, after the Colorado River has been literally turned as:de from its nat- ural course and diverted through four huge tunnels cut in the living rock just beyond the canyon walls to permit of the dam’s construction. Only Groundwork Laid. This engineering achievement, com- parable to the Panama Canal, will be at- tained only after a series of mighty ef- forts, for in signing the long-fought Boulder Canyon bill President Coolidge has but laid the groundwork for the pretentious project. To Fresident-elect Hoover will fall the task of seeing that the plan reaches fruition, and, engineer that he is, the construction of this giant dam in Black Canyon will doubtless be one of the monuments of his adminis- tration. Several important steps remain to be accomplished before the first stick of dynamite is set off or tie first overall- clad workman begins his lowly task that will mean another engineering tri- umph for America. The Star asked Dr. Elwood Mead, Commissioner of Recla- mation of the Interior Department, to outline the steps ahead, for this genial Californian will have much to do with the construction, if Mr. Hoover retains him in that post, as he is expected to do. Must Ratify Agreement. “Six of the seven States in the Colo- rado River basin—Utah, Nevada, Colo- rado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Arizona and California—must ratify the agree- ment,” Dr. Mead said, “and bids for BY HENRY W. BUNN. GERMANY.—Blessings of the Ger- man republic! The new German ar- chitecture cultivates simplicity, eschew- ing the preposterous grandiosity and medievalism of the imperial days. prominent German architect observes, no doubt correctly, that the change reflects a happy psychological change in the German people. And here’s a hint for American architects. The German architects are making a prime consideration of the aerial aspect of a building or architectural group. Chi- nese and Japanese citles show fairest as viewed from above. American cities? It is to shudder. The German republican government has shown singuarly good taste in its choice of portrait-heads for its postage stamps; as: For the 3 and 25 pfennig stamps, Goethe; for the 8 and 20 pfen- nig, Beethoven; for the 5-pfennig, Schiller; for the 10-pfennig, Frederick the Great; for the 15-pfennig, Kant; for the 30-pfennig, Lessing; for the 40- pfennig, Leibnitz; for the 60-pfennig, Virchow, and for the 80-pfennig, Due- ro. A nmagnificent company; but would not Beethoven's massive front more appropriately appear on an Aus- trian stamp? German beer production is up to 75 per cent of pre-war, Munich continu- ing queen of malt. There are about 6,500 breweries in Germany, while some 25,000 households brew their own beer. A commission of verification and con- ciliation is to_take the place of allied troops when all of the latter have been moved out of the Rhineland. * ok ok k ITALY —The total of enrollment of the several Fascist organizations is/ 6,815,000. The Fascist party proper comprises 1,027,000 full-fledged man members and 88,000 women in nearly the same select category (but they haven't the vote), Italians” and 17,000 members of the “university group”—in all, 1,564,000, I confess I do not understand the clas- sifications. Then there is the Avanguardista, or organization of Fascist youths on mili~ tary lines, numbering 325,000, and the Balilla, or organization of, Fascist boys, numbering 781,000. Finally, there are 3.577,000 members of syndicate con- federations and 563,600 members of other associations afiijiated to the party. To summarize, there are nearly 7,000,000 Simon-pyre Fascists, near- Fascists and Fascigts of sorts. Premier Mussolini now hclds 7 of the 13 portfolios in the Italian cabinet—- namely, those of foreign affairs, in- ternal affairs, zrmy, navy, aeronautics, corporations and colonies. o S CHINA —Jn constructing the govern- ment which is to serve China over Sun 66,000 “Young Italians,” 366,000 “Little [ i : ! et e s divmesn . SITE OF THE PROPOSED BOULDER DAM AND ENGINEER'S CON- CEPTION OF HOW IT WOULD APPEAR. ITS HEIGHT IS COM. PARED WITH THAT OF THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT, THE MONUMENT BEING 555 FEET AND THE DAM 560. power invited and satisfactory bids re- ceived that will insure the cost of the dam, less $25,000,000 for flood protec- tion. These preliminary steps will take the best part of a year. “The engineering features that re- quire study in the future are the best way to utilize the water for irrigation in the coming years. We will have to start making surveys as how best to use the water in Arizona and California, and the act also provides for a study of the country above the dam.” As the Legislatures of the seven States intimately concerned are sched- uled to meet in the immediate future they will be given an opportunity to pass on this important question. Con- gress, in the legislation, has allotted six in the new arrangement an interim phase only, and will credit the group in power with the earnest desire to hasten the preparation of the pegple for representative government; the pessimists see a fresh embodiment of the principle of autocracy, a richer ir- rigation from the inexhaustible celestial Music Is LIKE grand opera music, and dislike grand opera. In the first place, grand opera costs too much. In the second place, it seems to me a hybrid art. Acting and singing no more belong together —for. me—than reading and dancing. The acting of a play or the narration of a story car- ries me along with it. | can surrender myself to the illusion: identify myself with the charac- ters and forget everything in my interest in their affairs. But s simply beyond me to feel any illusion concerning a love e between two sup- posedly passionate young lovers when the parts are sung by a burly Italian man and a burly German woman, both over 40 years old and more than 40 stone in weight. The only way | can enjoy the acting of opera is to close my eyes. Furthermore, | like to be able to start my opera and sto when | want to; to oke if | like, or lie down if 1 i and, finally, to be able to leave when | get ready, without feeling that | am losing any money by doing s0. In other words, opera on a machine. Music is not merely entertain- ment: it is medici Pythagoras, who lived many hundred years ago, discovered that. He was able to work wonders in cases of violent in- sanity with no other remedy than soothing music. Gladstone, attacked by occa- sional periods of nervous ex- haustion, would have his favorite hymns sung to him, Herbert Spencer, when neural- gia shot him through, lay down 1 like my Yat-Sen’s /period of tutelage, the Na- tionalists ‘have taken leaves out of the books of both Lenin and Mussolini. The goyernment is centralized and self- perpetyiating. The optimists will see and ordered soft music played, and invariably obtained relief. months for six of the seven States to extend their co-operation. “The engineering difficulties are all involved in putting in the foundation,” Dr. Mead, who is an engineer himself, pointed out. “There will have to'be a cofferdam placed in the stream that will deflect the water out of the chan- nel into four tunnels to be built to carry the waters of the Colorado River around the dam site during construc- tion. Another cofferdam will be built below to prevent the water from back- ing up, and thus a pool will be formed between the two cofferdams. Out of this pool the water will be pumped. “The four tunnels, two on each side of the canyon, will be 50 feet in diame- ter and will be started above the upper 1fount of polifical corruption. Let us hope for the best. Let us wish a great future to the National Research Institute, on the model of our Smithsonian, recently es- tablished by the Nationalist government. The Smithsonian is to co-operate cor- dially with the new foundation, which Medicine BY BRUCE BARTON. And 1, in my humble fashion, have the same experience. I like to go home in the eve- ning before dinner, and lie down for half an hour and listen to my favorite music. Music is a mental and spiritual massage, or a bracing cold shower bath, according to what you select. | personally do not care to take my spiritual mas- sage the Metropolitan Opera House, any more than | would care to have my hair cut in Madison Square Garden. Every child should grow up in a home where music is constant- ly played. Every experience of a happy youth should have some particular song bound up with it, so that the playing of that song in after life will reawaken that experience and ca t to be lived again. I can never hear Handel's “Largo” without living over one of the quiet Sundays of my boy- hood, because it played in our- house almost every Sunday. “Sweet Alice, Ben Bolt,” brings back a memory to me that peculiarly intimate and sweet. There are a hundred favorites— each calling its own particular bit of grand opera back into my memory—a fragment of the opera of my own life. Do not deny your child the blessed ministry of music. It one of the rarest gifts. Sweeten his soul with it And he will be in good com- That is the way the prophet Elisha OFf him it is written that, when perplexities of his busi would cry: “But now bring me a minstrel. “And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him.” (Copyright, 1928.) C., DECEMBER 30, 1928—PART cofferdam and carry the Colorado River around the site of the giant dam, discharging the waters into the river below the lower cofferdam. Sand and gravel and mud will then have to be | taken out of the space between the two cofferdams and the engineers will then dig down to bedrock for the foundation " |of the Black Canyon dam. “This dam will be spectacular in mag- [nitude. In the Owyhe Dam, in Oregon, | which is 405 feet high—150 feet lower than the Black Canyon project—we had | far more difficulties in construction |than we anticipate in the Colorado | River, for the geologists inform us that the rock there is suitable for dam con- struction. “Prior to the report of the Colorado River Board, which was made to Secre- tary West on December 1, there was a problem as to whether the Boulder | Dam or Black Canyon site was the bet- |ter. Personally, my selection was long i since the Black Canyon site, and the | board's report confirmed this. In the Boulder Canyon site there is a granite | formation, while at Black Canyon the | formation is known as ‘breccia’—a vol- icanlc rock. All the geologists agree that this is suitable material. We made | borings 250 feet deep and found that | the formation was uniform and suitable to that depth. One of Major Problems. “One of the major questions involving the construction of the dam was how to get the water out of the channel, ex- cavate and lay the foundation. The last commission - provides for greater safeguards against heavy floods while this is in progress. “The only great problem,” Dr. Mead continued, “is if a large, sudden flood came up and washed out the coffer- dam. This would not mean a loss in money, but would represent an appre- ciable loss in time. “After the construction of the two cofferdams and the river deflected it is then a question of organizing our forces,” the commissioner of reclama- tion declared. T cost of the mighty project is placed at $176,000,000. Nation-wide in- terest has been stimulated by President Coolidge’s signing the measure making it_possible on December 21, and so nu- (Continued on Fifth Page.) The Story the Week Has Told already has outlined great plans, chiefly archeological. There is no doubt that immense light is destined to be thrown on early Chinese history by archeologi- cal exploration, whereby very important beginnings have been made. We are told that the finds, in Honan and Kansu provinces, of the 1928 expedition, head- ed by the Swedish archeologist, Dr. K. S. Andersson, and the finds, in Shansi province, of the 1925 Freer Gallery ex- pedition, headed by Carl Whiting Bishop, “have opened up new chapters in Chinese archeology.” The latter amazingly illuminated the origins of ceramics and sericulture in China, causing us to date back the lat- ter by at least a thousand years. The essential accuracy of the ancient an- nals is being curiously vindicated. It should be remarked that, prior to the introduction of Western methods and the colaboration of Western pundits, the Chinese made no mean advance in archeology. The native literature of the subject is immense and there tremendously interesting. Bertrand _Russell estimates very highly the Chinese capacity for orig- inal sclentific work, and rightly so. A geological survey of China by native scientists is now in process, and its reports engage international inferest and respect. The biological laboratory at Nanking does good work; another is being established at Peking. Natural history is being taught competently, intensively and extensively in the Chinese universities. * kK K JAPAN.—The Japanese Imperial Diet went into regular session cn Decem- ber 23. The new Lower House is the ! first Lower House eclected under the new manhood suffrage law, whith in- creased the total of voters from about 3,000,000 to about 12,000,000. A lively session is promised, with keen debate over policy respecting Japan and over taxation. The government's majority is the narrowest, and its demise in the near future would cause no sur- prise. A world engineering congress is to be held in Tokio next year., It seems centuries, yet 'tis only 60 years, since the Emperor Meigi took the charter oath containing the clause: “Wisdom and knowledge shall be sought through- out the world for the purpose of promoting the Welfare of the empire.” * %k BRAZIL.—An expedition is about to start into the Brazilian jungle to sift to the bottom native stories about the vestiges there of a magnificent ancient settlement. The explorers (eight in all, including a woman and a radio operator) are convinced that they are going to find the remains of Ophir, whence Solomon's ships of Tarshish brought back no end cf gold. No harm in that sort of thing; on the contrary, delightful. With that bee buzzing in your noddle, every Indiam you see has the Semitic cast of feature, all the customs obu:ve;] :re Semitic. b * UNITED 'ATES OF AMERICA— Contin jed on Fourth Page.) BY RALPH V. D. MAGOFFIN. HE perennial joke of Rome shows no tendency to die. Nearly every tourist follows the dictum, “Walit and see the Colosseum by moonlight.” All those visitors who, touristwise, have not interlunarily i fitted, do go down to see the Colosseum | by moonlight. The guides then spread | their sayings over Rome. About 90 per | cent of all the tourists, be they from France, Germany, England or America, |all say, or are said to have said, “Yes, | the Colosseum is weirdly beautiful, but how much more wonderful it would all be if only they had the same moon here that we have at home!” That is the | true spirit, at all events, of what is known popularly as the “patriotic brag.” Mary are the stories that are current of what Americans traveling abroad | have said in exuberant praise of things in this country. Perhaps the best one, with “reverse English,” is that told of | the German professor of geology who | visited this country some years ago. He | was shown many things and had them | explained to him fulsomely. But when | he walked out from El Tovar ‘o the edge of the Grand Canyon, he lost his power of expression for a time. When he could | speak, he said, “Well, here is something |that not even an American can | exaggerate.” | Bragging Called General. Now we do not brag any more about our things than foreigners do about | theirs. It is only that most of us can- | not talk in his own language on equal | terms with a foreigner. But those who {can say that he talks just as much about money as we do, the only dif- ference being that he talks of it in smaller denominations. He stresses the scenery of his own country more than | we ours, and when it comes to com- | ment on the superior cultural, historic |and artistic glories which his country possesses over that of any other, then, really, we cannot hold a candle to him. Perhaps there is one stage more than others, however, from which we have llowed ourselves to be “backed off he boards.” That is the stage on which archeology has played its part. ‘There is a reason for it. We came into the field of scientific archeology cen- turies later than did certain of the European countries. Besides that, the ancient dead were much more numer- ous in India, Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean area than they were over here, and having had there a more or less continued population more of the ancient monuments and artifacts remained there than here. But the most pertinent fact is that the peoples who now live on the same sites or in the same general localities claim to be, as they in some part are, the descendants of the earlier peoples and the heirs of their civilizations. We do not claim to be either the de- scendants or the heirs of Western Hemisphere autochthons, because we do not yet know whether there were any, or of Mayan, Aztec, Mound- builder or Indian aborigines. There- fore we have not an equal amount at stake, and we have not had to de- fend atrocities, inhumanities, or even the peculiarities of our local forebears. Begin to Study Indians. We have begun, however, to realize that there are in this Western Hemi- sphere antiquities of civilizations that go back centuries farther than we had ever supposed. It seems to have been the Germans who first waked us up to the fact. It was nearly 75 years ago that their professors and students of antiquity began to study the American dian. The splendid example of Indian basketry, pottery, weapons, artifacts and skeletal remains which the Ger- mans obtained in this country and took back to Berlin and other places gave. to Germany a museum of Amer- there was here. It took years of hard work before the scientists of the Smith- sonian Institution forged ahead with the collection which cutranked all others. American archeology began here, as might be expected, gradually, acci- dentally, fortuitously. Our early col- But, as the red man diminished in numbers before the white man, he gained more than proportionately in sentiment; or, to gut it badly, as the Indian gave up taking the scalp lock, he gained a halo. Arrow heads, as they were ploughed up, became the nucleus of thousands of private collections, many of which have now been concen- trated in local museums. Specimens in Many States. The mounds and earthworks in South Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Wisconsin and Minnesota became objects of arche- ological and historical study and the thousands of bone, flint, shell, pearl, red sandstone, copper and polished stone artifacts of useful or ornamental style were collected, compared, tabu- lated, published and localized. The pot holes in the rocks of the | Susquehanna, the marks on the walls of caves in the Ozarks, the burials in | the mounds of Southern Illinois, the | serpentine and other animal shapes of Ipw mounds in hundreds of Midwestern localities came in for their share of private, then local, then popular in- terest. 3 The Spaniard overran Mexico and Peru before we were ready to start west of the Alleghenics. He seized all the gold in sight, and even made long marches up into New Mexico and there- abouts, hunting for the fabled gold of Rome, over the ancient Forum, without knowing it. The Spaniard not only did not know | he was marching over the graves and monuments of bygone eivilization, but he did not care. But now, we have begun to know it, and we care a great deal. It might easily be forgiven if we began to “talk much bigger” than we| do about the splendid remains of the | early inhabitanis of this hemisphere. . Rich Finds in Mexico, There is plenty -of room for pride in | the fine pyramids, the wonderful deco- rative relief carvings, the artistic beaut; of the turquoise mosaics; in the per-y fect naturalism of carved animal forms | and the meticulous skill of the work- men who made thousands of miniature gods and figurines in clay, stone and, gold with which the culture sites of | the pre-Aztec Mayas in Yucatan and; Guatemala abound. Here the fine work of late by Morley, Morris and others under the Carnegie | Institution of Washington should come in for more than a meed of praise. The | four great tomes issued a few weeks ago | by the government of Mexico as its contribution to the twenty-third In- ternational Congress of Americanists | which met in New York have illustra- | tions of the monumental remains in | Mexico that are nothing short of| astounding. i There are prehistoric remains inj every one of the states. In many states | there are archeological societies which have helped to gather the local an- tiquities into museums. It is, however, in the Southwest that lie buried the greatest reservoirs of America's pre- ! history. It was this dimly apprehended fact that led the Archeological Insti- tute of America more than 20 years ago to found its School of American Archeology at Santa Fe, in the heart of the region of American antiquities. From that school as a center, under the wise and able direction of Dr. Edgar L. Hewett, now also the head of the Departme of Archeology and An- ent. ican archeology better than anything | onists tried rather to avoid the Indian | arrow heads than to hunt for them. | the Seven Cities of Cibola. But he was | worse off than Goethe, who walked in | 3 'AMERICA’S ARCHEOLOGY WORTH BRAGGING ABOUT Discoveries in New Mexico Show Ceramic Work of 400 B. C.—Every State Has Prehistoric Remains. | thropology in the University of New Mexico, explorations have marked num- berless future sites for work, and ex- cavations have laid bare many early pueblos. In this work many of aur universities and schools have also en- gaged, among which the work of Har- vard and Phillips Andover particularly, under Kidder, and of the University of Minnesota, deserve special mention. The most remarkable of the pre- historic cliff-dwelling sites in this coun- try are in the side canyons of the Mancos River in Southwestern Colorado. Hundreds of these interesting villages are inside the limits of the 49,126 acres which have been set aside by the Gov= ernment_as the Mesa Verde National Park. The names of Bandelier and W. H. Holmes, for many years chief of the Bureau of Ethnology, are linked forever with the early days of scientific work in the sites of the cliff dwellers. The other type of prehistoric sites, which are many times more numerous than the cliff dwellings, is the pueblo, a large scale community Qouse. New Mexico and Arizona are full of them. They dot the tops of innumerable mesas, they line the side valleys and canyons of the Rlo Grande; there are hundreds in the great Pajarito plateau on which Santa Fe is situated. Date Back Centuries. ‘The Hopi villages, Pueblo Bonito and Chettro Ketl in Chaco Canyon, Gran Quivira and the Rito de los Frijoles, to single some out of many, are the real things, and they date back centuries before such tourist show places as Puye and Taos. The same question arises in connec- tion with the excavation of ancient culture sites in our Southwest as did, and to some extent still does, arise in the Mediterranean, Near and Far East prehistoric centers. How old are they, and how does one know? ‘The protagonists of the Maya culture in Yucatan now have certain dates ‘hat reach back before the birth of Christ. So have the excavators in the pueblo sites in New Mexico. The dates of the former are arrived at by the deciphering of Maya chronological inscriptions: those of the latter by comparative ceramics. It has come to "2 the most widely admitted fact in arcneologicdl discovery that the finds of pottery, both whole and in shreds, give the most exact chronological yardstick that science knows. It comes much closer in its figures than does geology, and it reaches back centuries and millennia before there was writing of any kind. Excavation in New Mexico. An account of a single excavation, choosing one out of many, ought to do more to explain and clarify the meth- ods and results of a dig on United States soil than any amount of argu- ment. By good chance such an exca- vation was conducted last Summer in the Mimbres Valley in Southwestern New Mexico. It was done by a joint expedition of the University of Minne- sota, under Prof. Albert E. Jenks, and the School of American Research at Santa Fe, under Wesley Bradfield. That part of the work which dealt with the chronological data from pot- tery was under the charge of Mr. Brad- field, perhaps now the leading authori- ty in this country on ceramic chro- nology. The School of ‘American Research is particularly well equipped to do singly |or in a joint enterprise such an Ameri- can excavation. Director Hewett is the best all-around American archeologist we have, and he has also the necessary knowledge of a comparative kind gained |in actual work and surveys in the for- eign fields of Mesopotamia, Palestine, Egypt, Africa, Greece and Italy. In Kenneth M. Chapman the school at Santa Fe has the best expert on the art and decorative side of ceramics and |in Wesley Bradfield the leading au- thority on chronological ceramic data, based on provenience, technique and material. Dig in Cameron Creek Area. | The site dug last Summer in the Cameron Creek district of the Mimbres Valley is an extraordinary one. It is remote enough to have remained vir- tually untouched, although from the |ruins one can see Fort Bayard in the distance outlined in white against the base of the mountain range. Naturally, the rooms nearest the sur- face were of the later periods. At first one might wonder why some of these later period surface rooms were so clearly marked out as ceremonial rooms. coming, as one likely would, from cliff dwellings or pueblos wiere the cere- {monial kivas (or rooms) were under- ground and at a lower level than the living rooms. But when one is taken into an under- ground pitroom where objects of a ceremonial character, that proved its use, were found, and is shown the prior, older entrance when that pit- room was used as a living room, the | transition from house to ceremonial use, as the levels of the pueblo rise, be- | gins to grow clear. Cameron Creek, which runs through the Mimbres Valley, shows considerable erosion below the recently excavated' pueblo. The south end of the pueblo was recognized by the thousands of wall stones which had been carried away by the creek when in flood. When the excavation began, it was found that virtually nothing remained of the sur- face houses except the foundations. What had not been carried away by the water had been taken, after the abandonment of the surface rooms, for the construction of other rooms toward the north. Discover Ancient Grave. There happened to be about 30 or more visitors the day the first pit- burial was found. It was under the floor of a pitroom of the middle or carly middle period of the pueblo. It was the grave of an adult woman. On the bone of her left arm above the elbow were four shell bracelets. Long strings of beads and two beautifully carved bracelets of shell came to light at the bottom of the pit to the right of the skull. Four broken bowls and pots were on the floor of the room at the right. The bowls were broken, as was ex- pected. In the graves and tembs in the Mediterranean area the pottery buried with the dead 1s usually found unbroken. In the American pueblos, after the body was buried face down- ward and in a contracted kneeling or crouching position, a large bowl was purposely broken down over the head and shoulders, and the other bowls, for the most part, were either broken or had a hole punched in them. It tooX nearly four hours to excavate the smal’ pit grave just described, because th fine gravel had to be scooped or duste up very carefully and then every eup- ful of it sifted: Ashes in Fire Pits. The second level was found about 7 feet below the surface. The room: were much deeper and the work of excavation therefore, necessarily wac much slower than in the surface rooms Some of the hardest work was expe- rienced in clearing out the rooms a the south end of the West Hous: mound. Most of July was in this section of the pueblo. In one of the latest used rooms the fire pits werc found still full of ashes. The floor was covered with scattered pottery. Thc stubs of the posts which had been used to hold up roof were also brought to light. Late in July two of the students from the University of Minnesota were as- signed to the excavation of a certain room which gave evidence of having been an abandoned storeroom. These | ¢