The Washington times., 1935-09-12
LEADERS FETE
SELASSIE ON
NEW YEARS
By H. r. KNICKERBOCKER
Copyright, 1895. by international
News Service)

Adds ABABA, Sept. IL G.N.S.0
Three thousand dusky warriors
ate raw meat dipped in red pep.
per and drank honey beer in the
compound of the imperial palace
today as guests Of Emperor Halle
Selassie on this Ethiopian New
Years Day.
This is 1928 years after the
birth of Christ and is days before
war begins, according to the reck-
oning at Adds Ababa.
Great and little barons laid gifts
at the feet Of Solomon's heir, and
all Ethiopia celebrated what may
prove to be the most fateful new
year in all its 20 centuries Of in.
dependent history.
Plane Scars Over City
Overhead one of Ethiopia's S
seven workable airplanes scared
through the crystal air of this
mountain city, nearly two miles
high. It cleaned in the brilliant
sunshine, but soon a binding
downpour sheeted the high plateau
in that rain which will come each
day until the 9th and then cease,
as though by clockWork.
That is the zero hour for
Premier MuSSolini and the out
side world has done much Specu-
1ating about the date Of the end
of the rains, but here they say
they always end within "a hours
Of the same moment.
Until then the rain is this coun-
try'S best protection against an
invader. Nobody who has not ex-
perienced it can appreciate what
cloudburstS fall upon the land.
En- route from Djibouti this cor
respondent passed through four
hours of rain which SWayed the
train and flooded the fields, max
ing it impossible to see so yards.
After the rains cease the amazing
topography takes over the duty of
chief guardian of this country's
liberties.
Impressive Picture
There is no such railroad Jour-
ney in the world as the 500 miles
from Djibouti here. It gave an
impressive picture of the difficult
ties the Italians will have to over.
come.
At the outset for hours we
passed through a torrid desert,
where savage spearmen herded
skeleton-like camels and goats.
Then came miles of impenetrable
thornbush, followed by fields of
needle-Sharp lava beds.
Most astonishing was a stretch
SO miles long and as broad as I
could see covered by ant hills
up to IL feet high. This plain,
avoided by every living animal,
contains giant scissors-bill ants
in astronomical numbers.
Even worse for an invading
army was the next stretch. of
volcanic rock, razor-edged and
cast in waves towering 20 yards
high. Before us lay on either
side mountains so lofty they
joined on the far horizon with
clouds in a chain four times
vaster than all the Alps of Eu-
rope.
Anywhere else they would be
blanketed by snow, but here in
equatorial latitudeS they are
green to the top.
Climb Narrow Valley
Up a narrow valley we climbed
until finally debouched at a height
of a mile to two miles on an
enormous plateau, fertile and
lovely as a garden, where coffee,
cotton, corn, wheat, and literally
every known crop flourishes.
That is the Ethiopia Mussolini
covets.
Going to meet him troop train
passed US, bound for the Ogaden
front, carrying modern rifles,
while on every siding along the
line a few freight cars filled with
munitions gave evidence that
Ethiopia is not so weaponless as
her enemies like to think.
The latest speculation is that
MusSolini will feint from Eritrea
to try to draw most of the Ethio-
plan troops north and then drive
rapidly up from the southern base
In italian Somaliland.
Like natural fortress, Ethiopia
waits behind her desert, Swamps,
lava fields, and mighty peaks,
which have proved an effective
moat against the invader ever
since recorded time began.