Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE SUN. NEWBERRY. S. C- FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 1940 Our Old-Time Couch Is Made Streamline By RUTH WYETH SPEARS \\T AS there a couch like the pic- ’ ture at the top of this sketch, in the family “sitting room” when you were a child? Let’s get it down from the attic, for just see what can be done with it! First paint the front of frame; then cover well up onto the head portion with cotton batting; next use bright cotton upholstery ma terial. Remove i luffing at high end. Now, make box-like end ta bles like those illustrated. The dotted lines indicate how the couch fits under these box tables and how a partition and shelves are put in the one at the lower end. Paint tables to harmonize with fabric. The final touch is the back and end cushions cov ered with the upholstery material. NOTE: Full directions for changing an old iron bed into the latest style, are given in Mrs. Spears’ Book No. 3; also step-by- step directions for making ‘"The Rug That Grew Up With the Fam ily.” Thirty-two pages of fascinat ing ideas for Homemakers. As'k for Book 3, enclosing 10 cents in coin to cover cost. Address; Mrs. Spears, Drawer 10, Bedford Hills, New York. On a Dollar Bill 'Hie design and inscriptions on our one dollar bill are taken from the reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States, adopted in June, 1782. The two Latin mottoes translated read “He (God) favors our undertakings” and “A new or der of things.” The pyramid is an unfinished one, emblematic of the unfinished republic. Above is an all-seeing eye surrounded by light, to indi cate the Diety. The other part of the design shows an eagle holding an olive branch and 13 arrows. INDIGESTION Sensational Relief from Indigestion and One Dose Prores It If the first dose of this pleasant-tasting little black tablet doesn't bring you the fastest and most complete relief you have experienced send bottle back to us and get DOUBLE MONEY BACK. This Bell-ans tablet helps the stomach digest food, makes the excess stomach fluids harmless and lets & eat the nourishing foods you need. For heart- . sick headache and upsets so often caused by excess stomach fluids making you feel sour and aldk all over—JUST ONE DOSE of Bell-ana prove* ■peedy relief. 25c everywhere. Ever Apprentices Hurry and cunning are the two apprentices of despatch and skill; but neither of them ever learn their master’s trade.—Colton. NIGHT COLDS DUE TO Need Mere Ulan “Salve” To Quickly Relieve DISTRESS I Before yon go to bed rub your throat, chest and back with warming, soothing Musterole. You get such QUICK relief because Musterole is MORE than “just a salve.” It’s a marvelous stimulating —counter-irritant'’ which helps break up local congestion and pain due to colds. Its soothing vapors ease breathing. Used by millions for over 30 years! S strengths: Regular, Children’s (mild) and Extra Strong, 401. Hospital Size, $3.00. Playing the Fool People are never so near play ing the fool as when they think themselves wise. — Lady Mary WorUey Montagu. BLACK MAN’S • PERFORMANCE • CONDITION • HEALTH Drop Blackmon's Lick-A-Brick In the food trough. Stock do the rest. No drenching. No dosing. Animals keep in healthy working condition Nature's way. "STOCK LICK IT—STOCK LIKE IT" SOLD by leading Southern Dealers ONE PRICE 25c If there is no Dealer near you. write direct to BLACKMAN STOCK MEDICINE CO. 23 C St. Chatlanoosa, Tenn. lick-a-brick £ £ Ajduuf^A- ODD ?S?1 Wilkes' Discovery of New Continent One Hundred Years Ago Gave America Its First Claim to Antarctic Lands By ELMO SCOTT WATSON (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) T HE recent departure of Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd for his third ex pedition into the Antarctic, an expedition which has three purposes—exploration, scien tific investigation and, most important of all, strengthen ing any future claims of the United States on territory in the region of the South Pole —recalls another intrepid American explorer who gave us our first claim to that coun try just 100 years ago. He was Lieut. Charles N. Wilkes of the United States navy, who, on January 16,1840, was the first to discover the exist ence of a continent in the Ant arctic sea. As has been the case in so many parts of the world, Great Britain was the first nation to as sert sovereignty over Antarctica. Her claims go back to January 17, 1773, when Capt. James Cook crossed the Antarctic circle for the first time in history. A year later he reached what was then “farthest south” (even though it was 1,318 miles from the South pole!) and discovered a land which he named the Isle of Geor gia, in honor of George III, and Sandwich land, in honor of the fourth earl of Sandwich, first lord of the admiralty during the American Revolution. In 1823 James Weddell of the British royal navy discovered the sea which now bears his name and set a new “farthest south” record or 1,102 miles from the pole. Soon after that the famous whaling firm of Enderby in Lon don became interested in Antarc tic exploration and sent out sev eral expeditions. In one of them in 1830 James Briscoe of the Brit- The Vincennes in Disappointment bay—From an illustration in Wilkes “Narratives.” him. Among them was Titian Peale, artist and naturalist, the third of the famous Maryland artist family. Friction and jeal ousy sprang up among the offi cers of the command. The com mander of the Peacock was senior to Wilkes in the navy, thus requiring a delicacy and tact al most impossible during the cruise and always galling for so down right and headstrong a man as Wilkes. The crew was insubor dinate, and there were 125 deser tions during the cruise. Wilkes set sail from Hampton Roads, Va., on August 18, 1838, and after a goodwill cruise down the coast of eastern South Amer ica, he rounded Cape Horn and arrived off Tierra del Fuego Feb ruary 17, 1839. Winter came on almost immediately. Four months later the vessels scattered east and west for polar explora tions. The little Sea Gull and its entire company went down to death in a storm, and this catas trophe increased the depression The Porpoise in an Antarctic gale—From an illustration in Wilkes “Narratives.” LIQUID-TABLETS . , / SALVE-NOSE DROPS ! fsh navy discovered and named Kemp land, and in 1839 John Bal- leny discovered and named the Balleny islands. To Aid Whalers. By this time the United Slates had become interested in South polar exploration also, and in 1836 congress authorized an expedi tion which was intended primar ily to assist American whaling in dustries in competing with the British by recharting and routing the South Pacific islands, locating islands, whaling areas and indus trial prospects. Antarctic explo ration was a secondary purpose. For this reason the expedition was not fitted out with vessels especially selected to buck ice packs or withstand polar winters; they were ordinary naval vessels of thin walls, weak prows and ex posed rudders. The two larger vessels, the Vincennes and the Peacock, had the added disad vantage of a superimposed gun deck and exposed open gun ports in the lower deck. There was poor and inadequate stowage space for food and medical sup plies and water and a very small supply of fuel. If Lieut. Charles N. Wilkes of the United States navy, commander of the expedi tion, had been ice-trapped and forced to winter within the Ant arctic circle, he and his entire party would have been frozen or starved to death. The five ships that made the cruise, the sloops Vincennes and Peacock, the storeship Relief, the brig Por poise and the tenders Sea Gull and Flying Fish, totaled less than 2,000 tons, and yet carried a crew of 440 men. This meant cramped quarters, with foul air and lack of space for isolation in case of sickness. Also, the authorities had failed to stock the squadron with anti-scorbutics to prevent scurvy. Wilkes Has Troubles. Further to add to the difficul ties, Wilkes began to show con descension and almost open con tempt to the group of civilian sci entists that had been assigned of the captain and the fear and discontent of his crew. From May to November the squadron made a great sweep across the South Pacific to Australia. On December 26 Wilkes led his squadron of four vessels, the Vin cennes, which he commanded himself; the Peacock, command ed by Capt. William L. Hudson; the brig Porpoise, commanded by Lieut. Commander Cadwalader Ringgold; and the tender, Flying Fish, out of Sydney harbor and headed for Macquarie island, the first rendezvous. Within a week after leaving Sydney the Flying Fish and the Peacock dropped out of sight in the fog. Then the Porpoise disappeared but Wilkes pushed on southward in the Vin cennes. Finds a New Continent. By January 16, 1840, he had reached 66 degrees south latitude and had found the Peacock and the Porpoise. They were now confronted by an ice barrier, but the crews of the remaining ships reported that appearances be yond the barrier seemed to indi cate land, and in his report Wilkes sets January 16, 1840, as the date of the discovery of a new continent. Concerning this Wilkes writes in his five-volume narrative of the expedition that “appearances believed to be land were visible from all three vessels, and the comparison of the three observa tions, when taken in connection with the more positive proofs of its existence afterward obtained, has left no doubt that the appear ance was not deceptive. From this day, therefore, we date the discovery which is claimed for the squadron.” From the Pea cock the mountains could be dis tinctly seen “stretching to the southwest as far as anything could be discerned.” More Discoveries. On the nineteenth, “land was now certainly visible from the Vincennes, both to the south- southeast and southwest, in the former direction most distinctly." The same day Hudson, in the Pea cock, saw what appeared to be an immense land mass, 3,000 feet high and covered with snow. On the twenty-second, twenty-third and twenty-eighth there were more “appearances of land,” the proximity of which was further indicated by the discoloration of the water and the character of the bottom shown by soundings. On the thirtieth the Vincennes entered an indentation of the ice bound coast, which was named Piner’s bay. “We approached,” says Wilkes, “within half a mile of the dark volcanic rocks, which appeared on both sides of us, and saw the land gradually rising be yond the ice to the height of 3,000 feet. It could be distinctly seen extending to the east and west of our position fully 60 miles. Now that all were convinced of its existence, I gave the land the name of the Antarctic continent.” On February 13 the record notes: “Land distinctly seen from 18 to 20 miles distant, a lofty mountain range covered with snow.” The following day land was again seen. On the four teenth: “By measurement the extent of coast of the Antarctic continent, which was then in sight, 75 miles and 3,000 feet high.” Land Named for Him. Wilkes turned north when in about 97 degrees 40 minutes east, 64 degrees 1 minute south, after having skirted the Antarctic coast for fully 1,700 miles. What he had actually discovered was the large segment of Antarctica afterward named Wilkes land in his honor. On March 11, 1840, Wilkes ar rived at Sydney and wrote to the secretary of the navy: “It af fords me much gratification to re port that we have discovered a large body of land within the Ant arctic circle, which I have named the Antarctic continent, and refer you to the report of our cruise and accompanying charts, en closed herewith, for full informa tion relative thereto.” On March 13 the Sydney Herald published a long account of the expedition, in which appeared the first print ed notice of the fact that a conti nent had been discovered in the Antarctic. Before the end of the year a similar announcement was published in London. Wilkes’ expedition, made in un seaworthy sailing ships which lacked the special equipment usu ally regarded as indispensable by polar explorers, was a daring and splendid venture. Some of the positions he assigned to the coast have since been proved to be inaccurate and some of his “appearances of land” were probably ice, but the fact is un deniable that he found a vast stretch of Antarctic coast where no land of any kind was previ ously supposed to exist, and that the knowledge we possess today concerning the outlines of the Antarctic continent began to take definite shape with his discov eries. But, most important of all, those discoveries gave the United States a real basis for its claims in Antarctica and some day if we wish to establish airplane bases there that may be a very important fact indeed. Wilkes, our first Antarctic ex plorer, was a native of New York city, having been born there April 3, 1798. It is an interesting fact that his name is better known to most Americans in connection with an incident which occurred two decades later than it is for his polar discoveries. That in cident was the famous “Trent af fair” of 1861. In 1855 Wilkes was commis sioned captain and at the out break of the Civil war in 1861 he was placed in command of the sloop, San Jacinto. On Novem ber 8 the San Jacinto encoun tered the English mail steamer, Trent, which was on its way from Havana to St. Thomas in the West Indies. Aboard the steamer on this voyage were John Slidell of Louisiana and James M. Mason of Virginia, who had been ap pointed commissioners to enlist the sympathy and aid of France and Great Britain for the Con federate cause. The San Jacinto easily overtook the Trent, which hoisted the Eng lish colors while Wilkes ran up the Stars and Stripes and fired a shot across the Trent’s bow as a signal for her to stop. When the British captain paid no atten tion to this summons the San Jacinto sent a shell screaming across the water in front of her. Then the Briton hove to. Wilkes ordered Lieutenant Fairfax to man two boats and board the Trent. When the lieu tenant did so and asked permis sion of the captain to see his pas senger list, the request was re fused. However, Fairfax, seeing Mason and Slidell, and their sec retaries, Messrs. Eustis and Mc- Farlane, on the deck informed them that he had orders to take them aboard the San Jacinto. Over the vigorous protest of the British captain this was done, al though the families of the foul Confederates were allowed to re main on the Trent which contin ued on its way to England. Hero of the Hour. Captain Wilkes took his prison ers to Boston where they were imprisoned in Fort Warren. Their capture created a sensation throughout the country and for a time Wilkes was the hero of the hour. ^His act was indorsed by the secretary of the navy who wrote the captain a letter of thanks and he received a simi lar letter from congress. Ban quets and receptions were given him in Boston, New York and Washington. But over in England the affair was viewed in a very different light. The British government made a peremptory demand upon the government of the United States for the restoration of the prisoners and an official apology for Wilkes’ insult to the British flag and his violation of inter national law. For a time it seemed that the United States and England might be embroiled in a war over the incident, for popular feeling in this country was running as high as it was across the Atlantic. Fortunately, however, Presi dent Lincoln and his secretary of State, William H. Seward, were unswayed by public opinion. They ordered the prisoners sur rendered on the ground that Cap tain Wilkes had erred in not car rying the Trent to a neutral port to have the case adjudicated before a prize court. In acting as the judge himself and practi cally executing his own decree the captain had technically com mitted a violation of international law for which the only redress was the restoration of the status quo. Several years later the Royal Geographical society of England presented him with a gold medal in recognition of his work as an explorer. It was also striking evidence of the fact that the Eng lish people bore him no ill-will because of his action in the Trent affair. He died in Washington on February 8, 1877. i — I »■■■■■ LL i ^Isk Me Another 0 A General Quia The Questions 1. Has Brazil a state as larg* as Texas? •B. What makes wood decay? 3. Does the moon influence pen dulum clocks? 4. How do waves on the Greal Lakes compare with waves on thi oceans? 5. Which is the longer coastline, the Atlantic or Pacific? 6. How do our rivers compar# with those of Europe? The Answers 1. Brazil, which is larger than the United States, has 20 state^ 3 of which are larger than Texas. 2. Bacteria and certain micro scopic plants called fungi grow in the wood and destroy the struc ture. 3. The mechanism of pendulum clocks is affected slightly by the gravitational pull of the moon. 4. Waves on the Great Lake* sometimes reach 25 feet; ocean waves, more than 50 feet. 5. The Atlantic. 6. The Mississippi alone dis charges more water than all the rivers of Europe. WITH CAMELS SLOWER BURNING YOU GET In recent laboratory testa, CAMELS burned 25% slower than the eaeraje of the 15 other of the largest-selling breeds tested — slower than any of them. That means, on the average,, e smoking plus equal to EXTRA SMOKES PER PACK THE CIGARETTE OF COSTLIER TOBACCOS