Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1920-08-19

A tragic event which occurred re-
Gently in this county reminds the
writer of a poem or ballad which we
used to find in our school readers. The
poem was entitled ttBingen on the
Rhine" and the first couplet ran like
this: GA soldier of the legion lay dy-
ing in AIgiers, there was lack of
woman's nursing, there was dearth
of woman's tears" And the Life his
this recent fatal accident is further
reminder of the fact that we never
know when we are safe. One may
face the greatest dangers and then
escape unscathed, or meet death in
the middle of the road and pass by
unnoticed and unknowingly, only to
fall by the wayside later on through
the most trivial incident
William Harris was broncho
buster by occupation and tanned with
out mishap many a fiery equine spirit
some of them quite as vicious as
the wicked Hun whom he afterward
faced on the field of battle. In the
Great War a piece of shrapneI tore
away a part of his forearm and a
machine gun bullet pierced his ear.
For days with other members of the
sslost battalion" he was surrounded
by the merciIess enemy and faced
death by thirst and starvation but
his life was spared and he lived to
tell the story in the homeland. His
was experience not accorded to
many and fate and good fortune
seemed to favor him, but after all
this, one day, busy with the common
place duties of life and in the midst
of peace and plenty, fate called him
and he died inglorious1y beneath an
-upturned Ford. He died alone and
unwept- Ne sscemrade steod beside
him" nor stopped to hear what he
might say" He died among strang-
ers but his EfeIess body raised UP
friends to his memory and it was
ernInentiy fitting that his comrades
of thesLegion gave him decent burial.
And though there was a fsdearth of
woman's tears and though far from
the last resting place of William Har-
ris his kindred and their graves
may be-" he will not be forgotten
Up in the far Montana home a mother
mourns the loss of a son and with her
are two mother1ess grandchildren
who will never see their father again
Get your atlas and turn to the
map of Asia, more particularly it's
eastern coast. Find the island of
Saghalien, near the sea of Okhotsk
and note that it is the first or most
northern one of long chain of is
lands which extend southwark for
hundreds of miles, continuing down
even to Australia. The northern half
| of this chain of islands constitute a
series of outposts guarding the coast
| of China, but unfortunately for that
country they all belong to the island
| empire of JapanEthat long, narrow
/ empire, so narrow that man car
walk across it from east to west al
| its widest part in two days. The
] Chinese empire is just waking uI
from a sleep of four thousand years
and is becoming a rich market fo7
| the merchandise of other countries
but just now is boycotting japanese
products. Just south of the Japanes.
empire are the PHILIPPINE Islands
which belong to the United States
This is where we break through the
long Gordon of islands that guard tn.
coast of Asia. The PHILIPPINE Is
lands are our door to China-soon t.
be the greatest market in the world
and the Hawaiian Islands 1000 mile
west and south from San francisco
and Wake Island 1000 miles furthe
west, and the Island of Guam 200
miles still further-a1 belonging t
the United States@are the steppin;
stones that lead to that door Al
this will explain why the Philippine
) are worth to US a million dollars pc
square mile even though they were on
1y bare sand.
Fifth avenue, in New York City,
Il 55 feet wide, and the people of tina
more or less busy city operate a five
way trafice over it. There are som
sJ Kansas counties that think the JAG
rabbits won't have room unless the.