Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-04
soME0F THE GATEWAYS
LECTURE BY COT. McELRoY AT
PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Some Gateways of the World was the
subject of lecture delivered by Col. John
McElroy Monday evening at the Washington
Public Library, as one OF the discussions of
the free lecture course OF the public schools
The speaker was introduced to the large
audience by Judge James T. Dubois of the
State Department. member Of the library
board OF trustees. who took occasion to COM
pliment very highly the earnest efforts of
Mrs. A. 8. Gitterman. who, he said. had
been the moving spirit In bringing about
the lectures for the public schools Judge
Dubois then paid q tribute to the speaker
Of the evening. The lecture was illustrated
by more than one hundred views.
Col MeElroy said that he would have to
speak often Of battles. because the battles
ragged about the gateways to country and
were the surest indications of the import
ance OF those gateways to the people who
were attacking and defending them. He
mentioned. as the most important of the
gateways Of the world the Plain Of Esdrae-
Ion. which for many centuries was the bat
tlefeld OF the world. 1t was OF this famous
plain that Gibbon. the historian. said that
ION resurrection morn more bodies would
rise from Its triangular valley OF from
twelve to thirty-six miles on side than
from any other place In the world, SO i'm
portant were the early wars fought there
and so destructive were they.
The next great gateway mentioned was
Constantinople, which controls the passage
to the Black and Mediterranean seas. Here.
the speaker said, every people In Europe,
ancient and modern. had fought time and
again for possession, and stood ready to
fight again. Constantinople itself had UNI
dergone more than 800 sieges, the very last
war being In 1877, when the Russian troops
camped within seven miles of the great city
and were only baked of their prey by the
arousfng of Europe. Col McElroy sketched
the centuries of fighting along the Danube,
hn rad hn fnorV ,iy1c
millions of Asia had poured into Europe.
He then passed to France, which he showed
was cut off from Italy by the mighty Alps,
winch finally sunk down into the plains OF
Belgium, where wars for the passage and
gateway had been SO innumerable that Bel
GUM had gained the name OF the cockpit
OF Europe For more than 2,000 years wars
nay nave occurred there every generation. he
wars of Caesar and the last war being in
lS11.I2. when Napoleon III lost his crown,
france was Frustrated and the German en-
plre was created.
Passages Through the Alleghenies.
The gateways of the United States were
sketched by means OF maps the speaker
showing the natural passages through the
Alleghenies which became the avenues
through which the people of the south and
eastern Atlantic seaboard traded and COM
municated with each other and with the
6tSdt west anu Tie N1lSSlSSlppl valley. He
declared that these passageways had been
arst marked out by wild animals In their
search Tor food water and salt, and were
In turn followed by the Indians the hunt
ers, the emigrants and finally became the
routes of the railroads which center here
and then from Richmond radfate out over
the south. These, he pointed out had an
nails OF dreadful fighting from colonial days
TO the civil war. His declaration that to
get south from Washington overland a cit
izen of New York or any OF the New Eng
land states must pass through Washington
ana that all the freight from the one section
70 the other must also pass through Wash
1ngton, caused murmur of surprise. No
body present seemed to realize that this city
was so important a railroad center, The
speaker then passed to the Mississippi val
ley' which he declared to be the greatest Of
all the worlds gateways
lie showed also how valuable Washing
ton was to the contendfng forces in the
civil war. He declared It's control by either
side political assistance, but its military
control was an absolute necessity to those
who would win
Geographically speaking, Col. McElroy
declared the Mississippi river the greatest
OF all the worlds gateways. the door to
an empire larger than all Europe, outside
OF Russia, and of Infinitely greater posi-
bilities He told the story Of the earlier
statesmen who believed that the Rocky
mountains just beyond marked the boun-
daries Of the country as laid down by the
Almighty, and that 1t would be impiety to
pass them, but the common people pressed
on to the shutdown seas firm In their belief
that they knew as much of the A1mightye
plans as anybody. He then showed how
the great Northern and Northern Pacific,
the Central or Union Pacific. and the Santa
Fe railroads had made their way over the
mountains. practically following Hum.
boldt's greatest Of civil engineers, the but
falo," and then the Indians, and tha emf
grants, though millions Of dollars had been
spent in trying to find other routes
In closing he said that the most brilliant
achievements Of our American soldiers oc-
Cured in the battling with the sioux.
Blackfeet, Crows, Comanches and Apaches