Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-10-10
WORLD TO OBSERVE
MAGELLAN TRIUMPH
All Nations to Unite in Celebrating Quad
ricentennial of Discovery of
Famous Straits.

which Charles placed under COM
mand Of Magellan. with the historic
title OF captain general Of all the
Meet and of the lands discovered,
skfrted along the Brazilian shores.
after brief stay at the Canaries. and
finally came along the coast Of the
land. which he named Patagonia be-
cause OF the large feet possessed by
the natives. The purpose. well known
to every school child. was to discover.
through the western ocean described
by Balboa. some waterway which
would open the path to the Molucca.
or Spice Islands
But along the Patagonian coast
came trouble thick and fast. One
ship was wrecked and another de-
serted. so that the stanch-hearted
put into the shallow bay of ST. Julian
and there rested for five months He
and his officers and crew made sew
eral trips inland, and from the jour
nal kept by Antonio Pigafeta,
Venetian gentleman who accompanied
Magellan. the most intimate and fas-
cinating glimpses may DO obtained
of that period when the circumnavi-
CATION lowered between success and
failure for SO many days.
Journal Links Events.
This journal is the sole link be-
tween that far-ofr event about to be
celebrated and the present, and from
its pages all the details. which will
be set forth in tableaux, have been
taken. The natives were a race of
giants. but friendly enough and will
ing to barter. The Venetian chron-
icler tells that, food running low. the
crew exchanged playing cards and
fishhooks and pocketknives for doz-
ems of chickens and eggs and de-
licious fruits. He mentions also the
excellent potatoes which were cult
waited. with a rich, luscious taste like
roasted chestnuts. and many delight
full vegetables, which the descend
ants still cultivate and OFFER as hos
pitably to the traveller.
Finally after loading the remaining
vessels as plentifully As they could.
Magellan began the second half Of his
famous cruise and on October 20. 1920.
the feet entered the strait. which
proved to be ITO leagues long. It was
on November % that the ships turned
their prows into the trackless ocean.
which, because it was 80 much calmer
and more friendly than the Atlantic.
he named the Pacific.
The Venetian chronicler makes quite
a point of this. that II, was Magellan
and not Balboa who called the west
ern ocean by the name which is SO
familiar today For four months the
ships sailed on without a sight of
land. Their. provisions became ex-
hausted and their strength almost at
an end. when they drifted to the La
drones. Refreshing themselves here
with rest and food. they proceeded to
the Philippine Islands, named in honor
Of King Philip. 1t was in the archi-
pelago over which the United States
now has jurisdiction that Magellan
met a violent death. One Of his ships
achieved what the feet had sailed to
accomplish. The Victoria. with a fleet
OF Sixty DedElHS d tEeIHcHuOuS lOdu
of nutmegs and cloves and other
costly spices, attempted to return to
Spain by way of the Cape of Good
Hope and finally, after hairbreadth
escapes from the marauding ships Of
Portugal, after the longest and most
important voyage ever recorded in
the history of navigation, arrived at
Seville, September 8, 1922. Magellan's
voyage proved that the world is
round, he discovered the western
route to the Spice Islands. where the
Portuguese had been trading for at
least ten years, and showed that the
continent south of Europe is sepa-
rated from Asia by the vast extent
of the new ocean, the Pacific
Punta Arenas, where most OF the
historical pageants will be staged. is
called the meriditional city Of the
world and occupies one of the most
southernly points of land on earth. 1t
is fine modern seaport, capital Of the
territory of Magellan, which is a
province of Chile, and its wharves and
warehouses compare with any in this
country or Europe. .