Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-05-19

more were WOun0eQ, ana tnen the gov
ernment sued for peace at any price.
The price was surely high enough to
pay for the settlement of a squabble
about some pies. Mexico was mulcted
| to the tune of $500, 900, and the French
| troops and warships withdrew, cover
ed with glory and Git is to be hoped)
stated with pastry.
Sometimes the immediate occasion
| Of a war may be trivial, while it's real
cause Is deep-seated and serious.
That Is true Of the War of 1912, al
ready referred to; and notably true of
the war of the Austrian succession.
In the beginning the conflict was be-
tween Spain and England, and was
] facetiously referred to as the War of
Jenkins's Tar"
In 1871 Captain Jenkins, skipper of
the ship Rebecca Of London, was en-
gagged in the West Indian trade. Sail
ing from Jamaica on his way to the
American colonies, his ship was hailed
by the Spanish coast guard Of Florida,
boarded on the pretext that he was a
smuggler and thoroughly searched.
There were many British smugglers in
West Indian and Floridian waters In
those days, but 1t does not appear that
Jenkins was one Of them; and the
most thorough search Of the vessel
failed to reveal anything that even
the Spaniards could construe as evil
dence of Illicit trade.
Enraged at their lack of success, the
Spaniards gave a good foreshadowing
of modern American police methods in
the endeavor to make Jenkins confess,
administering the third degree in q
manner calculated to make the front
office force Of any large American city
just q little enviOuS. Jenkins was
hanged to the yardarm and lowered
just in time to save his life. Then
other methods of torture were tried,
without success; and finally the skip
per's ear was clipped off and given to
him, with instructions that he take 1t
and give it to his king.
1t was years before Jenkins got back
to England, but he never forgot the
indignities to which the hated Span
iards had subjected his person. In
England he told his story, and in due
time was summoned before the house
of commons. There some one asked
him how he felt when being maltreat-
ed. His answer was: II recommended
my soul to God and my cause to my
country"
Those words touched a chord Of
sympathy, and soon all England was
athrill with martial ardor to avenge
the loss of Jenkins's ear In response
to the popular clamor, war was de-
clared against Spain October 19, 1888.
1t was not long confined to Spain and
England, but soon broadened into a
general European war, known as the
War Of the Austrian Succession.
Not so well vouched for Is the story
to the effect that the War Of the
Spanish Succession, which lasted for
twelve long years Q701-1713, was
caused by the simple spilling Of a
glass of water. 1t Is said that an Eng
lish woman, named Mrs. Mashaur, at
society function, while carrying a
glass of water became involved in a
disagreement with the Marquis de
Torley. In the heat Of the argument
the lady was so unfortunate as to spill
the water upon the French statesman.
His soiled linen so incensed him, not
only against Mrs. Mashaur, but against
the whole English people, that he de-
voted his great abilities and powerful
influence to fomenting war between
France and England.
Camphor Is important to the art Of
war, as now conducted, for the reason
that 1t Is necessary in the manufact-
ure Of smokeless powder. That the
invention Of process for manufactur-
ing camphor artificially from turpen-
tine should result in a destructive war
|-betweeH- -Japenese-and the head
hunters Of the interior Of Formosa Is
an unlooked-for consequence OF the
Industrial chemistry.
Industrial chemistry.
The worlds natural supply Of cam
phor Is derived from the island OF For
mosa. much of which Is covered with
forests of champion trees. A little
more than forty years ago 22O-pound
tubs Of crude camphor could be bought
for $3.50. Owing to the vast increase
in the demand, for the manufacture Of
cellulod, the manufacture Of smoke
less powder and other industrial pur-
poses, the price rose rapidly until In
1907 II reached the record figure or
$16S per tub.
While the price had been soaring
German chemists had been thinking
and experimenting, and In 1907, when
il appeared that the price was likely
to reach 5000, or even more, per tub,
great quantities Of synthetic cam
phor" were suddenly thrown upon the
market by German manufacturers.
The price dropped at once, and eX-
ports from Formosa and Japan ceased.
So long as Japan monopoliZed the
worlds supply of camphor the Japan
ese cared not at all how high the price
was. so no eIOTtS were Nldue W III
crease the supply to keep pace with
the worlds increasing requirements.
But when it became evident that ia
pan must either produce natural cam
phor at prices lower than the cost of
manufacturing the artificial camphor,
the government got busy at once. In
| the interior of Japan are vast virgin
forests of camphor trees, capable of
supplying the worlds requirements for
decades, or, perhaps, for centuries.
| These have never been touched for
the reason that the interior Of the is
land is occupied by untamed tribes of
Malay head hunters, of unexampled
| ferocity. In order to make these for
ests available for the purpose of plac-
ing a more abundant supply of cam
phor on the market and preventing the
Germans from driving Japan out of
the camphor producing business, Japan
appropriated a sum equivalent to ST.
175.O00 for prosecuting what Is prac-
tically a war of determination against
the head hunters of Formosa.-Kansas
| City Star.