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McCORMICK MESSENGER, McCORMICK, S. THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 1940 . Southwest Turns Back Its Clock [ Four Centuries to Honor the Exploits Of Coronado, Spanish Conquistadore By ELMO SCOTT WATSON (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) N THIS year of invasions of peace-loving countries, of blitzkriegs and con quests, it is somewhat ironical that one section of the United States, the only major power not yet directly involved in the second World war, should be celebrating with pageants and other ceremonies the in vasion of American soil by armed forces from Europe. True, that invasion took place 400 years ago—two and a half centuries before there was a United States—and the coun try which these European in vaders set out to conquer was occupied by nomadic tribes of savages who were far from being a peace-loving people. It is also somewhat ironical that the leader of the invaders, who is being honored this year as a great explorer, was regarded as a failure by the powers who sent him forth. He was Fran cisco Vasquez de Coronado and the 1940 Coronadk Cuarto-Centen- nial celebration in Arizona and New Mexico recalls the begin ning, in 1540, of his epic journey through the Great Southwest. The events which it memorial izes began 44 years after Colum bus discovered the New World. In 1536 Cabeza de Vaca and three companions, who had followed Narvaez on his voyage of explora tion to Florida, began their long, weary journey from what is now Louisiana back to Mexico City. They were the only survivors of more than 60 adventurers,, who had penetrated far into what is now the United States in search of gold. From the Indians they heard tales of great cities to the north where the houses were studded with gold. Their imagi nation fired by these yarns, they eagerly repeated the stories when they finally reached Mexico City. In 1539 the Spanish viceroy in Mexico sent Friar Marcos de Niza to check on the reports which De Vaca had heard. His « guide was the Negro, Estevan, who had been with De Vaca through all his wanderings and Estevan, who pushed on ahead of De Niza, sent back glowing re ports of the great cities which . lay ahead and their treasures. Friar Marcos pushed on to see for himself these great cities. From a hilltop in what is now New Mexico he looked down upon adobe-walled cities gleaming in the sunlight and his imagination soon transformed these into the reality of the legendary golden Seven Cities of Cibola. Without bothering to investigate further, the friar hastened back to Mex ico^ and his story stirred the gold lust of the Spaniards anew. Sev eral of the leaders in New Spain fought for the honor of leading an expedition to conquer this new territory and recover the treas ures of the Seven Cities of Cibola but Francisco Vasquez de Coro nado was finally chosen as the lucky commander for the v6n- , ture. ': Spanish arms had completed the conquest of Mexico and the flower of Spanish chivalry rallied to Coronado’s banners. On Feb ruary 23, 1540, his army, com posed of 250 horsemen, most of them methbers of the nobility, 200 foot soldiers and 1,000 Indians— grooms and servants of the Span ish cavaliers—moved out of Com postela to march north. They were accompanied by great herds of cattle, sheep, goats and pigs for food and their camp supplies, munitions an<J other provisions were loaded on the backs of a thousand horses and mules in their pack trains. Coronado’s expedition entered what is now the United States at the southern end of the Hua- chuca mountains in the region of Montezuma pass and Yaqui springs in Arizona. But his huge force with its pack trains and herds of animals proved cumber some and delayed the explorer’s march unduly, so with a force of picked troops Coronado moved on ahead, north and east, into what is now New Mexico. The Spanish leader soon learned that he was doomed to disappointment. For instead of finding the Seven Cities of Cibola with their golden streets and their jewel-studded houses, he found only the seven villages of the Zuni Indians in western New Mexico. While they were impos ing in size, with great houses ris ing five stories high and built of adobe, stone and wood, there was no gold whatsoever in them. Pushing eastward, Coronado came to the largest city in what was to become the United States. It was the pueblo of Pecos, which had 500 warriors who boasted that they had never been defeat ed. But awed by the glitter and .. . . . Don Diego de Vargas, played by an actor in the Santa Fe Fiesta, kneels in the Plaza of ancient Santa Fe to give thanks for the recon* quering of New Mexico. (Santa Fe railway photo.) mystery of the Spanish arms, the warriors of Pecos decided not to try to resist the invaders. In stead they welcomed Coronado into their town with drums and pipes of peace and gifts of tur quoise and native-woven cloth. But again there was no gold or other treasure to reward the white men for their long journey. Later the Indians of Pecos began to regret their hospitality to the strangers, so one of them, nick named the Turk, was persuaded to lure these gold-hungry white men away to the northeast by promising to show them the Gran Quivera, a city of silver and gold. On to Gran Quivera. Instead of starting directly for the Gran Quivera, Coronado seems to have marched south and eastward to investigate other In dian pueblos. He next turned east and pushed on into what is now the state of Texas where he marched for weeks over arid des erts and trackless prairies, con stantly harassed by hostile Indi ans who were more dangerous foemen than the peaceful inhabi tants of the pueblos. After circling around in the Staked Plain region of the future Lone Star state, he turned north to seek the Gran Quivera and As night falls on the first day of the Santa Fe fiesta, the giant effigy of “Zozobra, or Dull Care,” is burned as the climax of the fireworks display. (Santa Fe rail way photo.) near the present site of Wichita, Kan., found—not the treasure houses of gold which the Turk had promised but a land where the only human habitations were skin tepees and grass lodges. It is believed that Coronado got as far east as the Palo Duro canyon in the Texas Panhandle and dur ing his wanderings he was the first white man to cross such rivers as the Canadian, the Red, the Cimarron and the Arkansas. Disappointed again in his search for cities of gold, Coro nado started back toward Mex ico. His return journey took him through southwestern Kansas, across the “panhandle” of Okla homa, thence westward across northern New Mexico to the Sev en Cities of Cibola (the Zuni towns) again, and on westward through northern Arizona. The first white man to see the won ders of the Grand canyon were members of a detachment of Cor onado’s army who gazed in awe upon that vast emptiness. Retreat to Mexico. For two winters Coronado made his headquarters at Tiguex, an Indian pueblo located near the present town of Bernalillo, N. M. Returning there in the fall of 1541 from his vain quest for the Gran Quivera, he found his main army disgruntled and homesick for Mexico. In the spring of 1542 he suffered a severe injury and while he was on his sickbed, his captains signed a petition to re turn to Mexico. They finally ob tained his reluctant consent and soon afterwards the indomitable leader set out on the return jour ney over the route he had tra versed with such high hopes two years earlier. Although Coronado’s expedition was, in the eyes of his contem poraries, a sad failure because he had not brought back the gold and other treasure that was ex pected of him, history has writ ten his expedition down as one of the greatest land explorations of all time. Moreover, it gave Spain a claim to a vast new territory in the New World and established in the Southwest a civilization, many traces of which still sur vive after the passage of four centuries. Half a century after Coronado’s expedition, another led by Don Juan Onate came into the valley of the Rio Grande and, establish ing settlements all along the river, he set up his first capital at San Gabriel, six miles north of Espanola af the mouth of the Chama river. Some time be tween 1606 and 1610, Don Pedro de Peralta, the third governor of Spanish New Mexico, established the city of Santa Fe and this an cient city, which has been the seat of government of province, territory and state under old Spain, Mexico and the United States, is the scene of one of the most important events of “Coro nado year,” although it has been observed every year for two cen turies. It is the Santa Fe Fiesta, one of the oldest continuously ob served celebrations held in the United States. It commemorates the reconquest in 1692 by Don Diego de Vargas of the vast ter ritory which had been lost to the Spanish authorities in the great Pueblo revolt of 1680. Held on August 31, September 1 and 2, the first day of the fiesta is given over to gaiety with the populace and visitors in Spanish costumes, native orchestras playing in the Plaza and dancing by the Indians from the pueblos near by. In the evening there is. a picturesque ceremony, the burning of a giant effigy of “Zozobra, or Dull Care,” and the crowning of the fiesta queen. Sunday morning is devoted to time-honored services in the an cient cathedral and in the after noon the colorful pageant of the re-entry of De Vargas and his armored conquerors into the cap ital is held in the Plaza. That night there is a candle-light pro cession to the Cross of the Mar tyrs overlooking the city. On Monday the children hold their costume and pet show in the Plaza, in the afternoon there is more pageantry through . the streets of the city and the climax of the fiesta comes that night with native dances and songs on the balconies of La Fonda, the lead ing Santa Fe hotel, dancing in the streets and finally El Baile de Los Conquistadores (the Ball of the Conquerors) at La Fonda. Thus for three days, Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico, turns the clock back two and a half cen turies just as the whole Southwest has been turning its thoughts back all this “Coronado year” to the days of that great explorer and his mail-clad conquistadores. FIRST-AID io the AILING HOUSE by Roger B. Whitman (© Roger B. Whitman—WNU Service.)» Cleaning Pewter. Q UESTION: How is pewter cleaned and polished? Answer—Immerse the pewter in a solution of one-third cup of lye in two quarts of water. After three hours the dinginess will begin to loosen, and can be rubbed off. In very bad cases, much longer im mersion is necessary, but in that event a fresh solution should be used every six or eight hours. The pew ter should be watched and kept in the solution no longer than neces sary. The immersion should be com plete. Any part out of the solution will form a line, which cannot be eradicated. Wood handles should be taken off or kept out of the solu tion. After removal from the solu tion, rinse the article with plenty of clear water. To brighten the metal use a good quality metal polish as soon as possible after cleaning. Be cause of the corrosive effect of lye, wear rubber gloves and avoid spat tering the solution. Cod Liver Oil Stains. Question: How can cod liver oil stains be removed from cotton goods? Answer: When fresh, cod liver oil stains can be taken out with carbon tetrachloride. Place the stained part over a thick pad of cloth and apply carbon tetrachloride liberally. The pad will absorb the oil as it is dis solved. With the carbon tetrachlor ide still in the cloth, wash with soap and water. Another remedy is to rub the stain with a mixture of 1 tablespoon soap flakes and 2 table spoons of boiling water, with 2 ta blespoons amyl acetate added after the soap and water mixture begins to thicken. Rub well, and after the stain has been rubbed away, wash with warm suds. When cod liver oil stains have been laundered, they be come set, and the brown stain is almost impossible to remove. Cracked Wallpaper. Question: A chimney goes up the wall of a bedroom, and wallpaper always cracks in the corners. In repapering the rooms, how can we prevent this? Answer: That cracking may be due either to the settling of the chimney or to expansion and con traction with changes of tempera ture. One cure is to put quarter- round moulding in the corners, nailed to the wall only, these mould ings to be painted with the trim in the room. Another idea is to bring the wallpaper on the wall only up to the chimney, whUe wallpaper on the chimney is brought only to the wall; in other words, the paper does not go across the corners. Selling Old Furniture. Question: I have a lot of furniture over 80 years old. The woodwork is perfect; not scratched or marred, although the upholstery is somewhat affected by age. I would like to sell it. I, know there are people who would buy such furniture, but in our town we could not get much of a price. Can you make any sug gestions? Answer: Your best move will be to take photographs of the different pieces to show design and details as clearly as possible, and to send these to antique dealers in nearby large cities. It would be a stroke of luck for you to get into contact with a purchaser; your best chance is to work through dealers. Grease on Flagstone. Question: Tell me how to remove grease from bluestone flagging. I have tried soda and water, but \gould like better results. Some times this solution leaves large white spots. How do I remove the white from the soda? Answer: Make a paste of hydrat ed lime and a half and half mix ture of benzine and carbon tetra chloride. Put this on the stain at least an inch thick, then cover with canvas to check evaporation. Scrub bing with washing soda and hot wa ter, followed by thorough rinsing with clear wat§r will also remove grease, and should not leave white spots. Shellac Over Wax. Questiort: Is it possible to get a satisfactory finish with either shel lac or varnish over wood that has previously been given a coat of paste wax? Answer: No. The wax must first be removed by wiping thoroughly with turpentine. Shellac or varnish ov§r wax will not dry. Chimney Construction. Question: In using a flue liner in 'the chimney, should there be a space between the liner and the brickwork? If so, how much? Answer: No air space should be provided; the space between the lin er and the brickwork should be filled by pouring in soft concrete. Fiber Rug. Question: I am told that shellac on a reversible fiber rug will im prove wear and prevent spots. Do you advise it? Answer: Shellac would be too brit tle to use on fiber. It would chip off. Thin varnish would be better. Stained Piano Keys. Question: The tops of piano keys are turning ajl shades of brown. How can I clean them? Answer: If the keys are ivory and the staining has gone through, there is no remedy. Otherwise, try rub bing with French chalk moistened with alcohol, or bleaching with pen oxide of hydrogeii. / £>. yOU can’t just wear any old slip * and expect your small-waisted frocks to have the smooth, suave, round-bosomed line they should aarve. Here’s a design (1892-B) especially planned to do its part toward figure-flattery, and to fit as only a slip you make to your measure can fit. The top has bosom gathers to give you a little extra fullness. The waistline is dart-fitted so that it melts into your middle just beautifully. These are simple details, very easy to do, but they make all the difference in the fit of your slip, and therefore in the fit of your frocks. There are seven easy steps in your detailed sew chart. Make yourself a whole wardrobe of slips like this, light and dark, of satin, lingerie crepe or taffeta, and some batistes and linens for your coming cottons. Barbara Bell Pattern No. 1892-B is designed for sizes 14, 16, 18, 20; 40 and 42. Corresponding bust measurements 32, 34, 36, 38, 40 and 42. Size 16 (34) requires 2% yards of 39-inch material without-nap for built-up shoulders; 2^4 yards for strap style; 11 yards of shirred lace. Send order to: SEWING CIRCLE PATTERN DEPT. Room 1324 211 W. Wacker Dr. Chicago Enclose 15 cents in coins for Pattern No Size Name Address Party Symbols As the foremost cartoonist of his time, Thomas Nast is generally recognized by researchers as the man who introduced the donkey and elephant as symbols, respec tively, of the Democratic and Re publican parties. Although the donkey was used occasionally to lampoon Democrats in Andrew Jackson’s day, it apparently did not acquire national status as a symbol until Nast drew it in a political cartoon in Harper’s Weekly in 1870. He did not intro duce the Republican elephant un til 1874. In both cases, he meant the symbols to be uncomplimentary —the donkey was supposed to rep resent Democratic stubbornness and stupidity, while the elephant was supposed to represent Repub lican clumsiness and timidity.—. Pathfinder. AROUND the HOUSE l© El Items of Interest to the Housewife The broad side of a knife which has been dipped in cold water will flatten cookies so that they may be more easily rolled. * * • Store salad oil in a dry, cold place. Keep coffee, tea, sugar, baking powder, spices, soda, cream of tartar and cereals tight ly covered in a dry, dark place. • * * Lemon slices cut thin and sprin kled with chopped parsley, served alternately with plain lemon slices, add much to the attractive ness of a fish salad. * * * Metal teapots sometimes give a' “musty” flavor to tea made in them. To prevent this, store a lump of sugar in the pot. When you’re ready to use the pot rinse it in boiling water. * * • Save your kitchen towels this way: Place a roll of paper towel ing near the sink. Use the paper to clean greasy pans, to wipe up spilled foods and to wipe out the sink strainer. A tablespoon of vinegar poured into glue that has become hard ened in a bottle will soften it. • * • To cool a pie quickly as soon as it comes from the oven place it on a colander and the air qan cir culate under it so that it will cool quickly. Love the Lovely Never marry but for love, but see that thou lovest what is love ly.—William Penn. 1i WINGS OF COOLNESS FOR TIRED FEET THAT HURT WITH HEAT. DUST ON FAMOUS MEXICAN HEAT POWPER.y Being Virtuous Be virtuous and you will be ec centric, yet blessed. Get this FREEBfBlEf For over 70 years grateful people all over the South have trusted Wintersmith’s Tonic for the relief of Malaria. To convince YOU, we are offering this complete, 761-page Holy Bible, FREE. Just mail the top from one large carton (or the tops from two small cartons) to Wintersmith Chemical Co., Inc., Louisville, Ky. WIimRSMITH'S TOniC r 4 croc OF HUMAN BCTTUMCNT Advertising gives you new ideas, / \ and also makes them available to you at economical cost. As these new ideas become more accepted, prices go down. As prices go down, more persons enjoy new ideas. It is a cycle of human betterment, and it starts with the printed words of a newspaper advertisement. JOIN THE CIRCLE Q READ THE ADS , J < «