The state herald., 1920-04-02
CAUCASUS IS
RICH COUNTRY
Contains Fertile Fields and Noun.
tains Stored with Precious
Metals.
RABBIT WARREN OF HUMANITY
A. One Time There Were 500 Tribes
and Dialects In Reolon-is Sort Of
Three-RIns Group Of Nat.
ural Marvels.

Washington.-With various antibol.
shevic governments seeking resting
place and capital at one end of the
range and fabulous oil boards Of Baku
at the other, inspiring covetous Inn
perialistic interest. the long line Of
mountains which separates Europe
from Asia gives promise Of once more
attaining the headline position 1t so
often has held throughout the ages.
Made up Of 400 miles Of majestic
peaks, in three ridges, the Caucasus
stretches from northwest to southeast
like a petrined wave. whose north.
eastern face mounts to the snow crest
but whose southwestern front, facing
toward Turkey. seems dashed into
countless precipices BY the titanic
forces Of nature, says q bulletin from
he National Geographic society.
The Caucasus is the most Interesting
rabbit warren Of humanity on the
globe. For uncounted ages various
peoples sifted through the secluded
valleys leaving q fraction Of thc.,
number In some remote spot, go :hha:
ct one time El Axixi said tina. there
were 800 tribes and dialects In the re-
gion. $50 miles long and 100 miles
broad, which he called the "Mcuntaip
Of Languages"
Straby spoke Of 20 races Of men,
some Of them armel with poisoned ar.
rows and wearing skin shoes with
spiked soles. Troglodytes they were
and are. The Caucasus Is a sort Of
three-ring group Of natural marvels
compressed between Europe and Asia,
between the Black sea and the Cas-
plan.
Where Tolstoy Served In Army.
On the European slope the Caucasus
fs flanked by the Cossacks Of the Don,
the kuban and the Terek, along whose
banks the famous Tolstoy served as a
young soldier. On the Asiatic side
there are the new republics of Georgia.
Azerbaijan and Armenia. partly carved
from Russian, partly from Turkish
lands.
The people who have left the deep
est Impress on the Caucasus, although
most OF them cmigrated TO Turkey In
1854. are the Tcherkees or Circassians.
The Tcherkees gave to the Caucasus
and the fancy dress ball the Tcher.
keska. the familiar skirted costume OF
the warlike Cossack and the 1.-the
Georgian grandee. II is the original
opera bouiTe uniform. with a narrow
waist and haring skirts above soft
boots without heels. This costume Is
also distinguished by IS cartridge
cases ranged across the chest.
Martial Dress Once Worn.
Formerly real cartridges gave truly
martial aspect to the dress until the
automatic revolver came into fashion.
But comparative wealth and peace
overlook the Georgians and the other
town dwellers who wore the striking
dress, and gradually these cartridges
were changed for decorative imlta'
tons. Some Of them were made Of
ebony at one end and ivory Mt ths
other.
Modernity has gone even further
One OF these cartridge cases Is now
sometimes used for fountain pen. and
the ultra-fastidious dandy sometime,
has hollow decorations In whose solid
gold shell is concealed rich perfume
for the mustache.
The North Caucasus is not distIn
guished solely by legendary lore am
fancy dress manhood. The broad fields
which sweep gently up townrd th'
slopes, produce some OF Russia's mos
abundant grain crops, and form an I'm
porinnt field for the sale and use o
modern agricultural machinery.