Evening star., 1935-09-29
BY LAURENCE sTALLINGs.

MAJ Twenty miles west OF this cap
ital, on the floor of a valley green with
immensity of pastureland, a group Of
rectangular, metal-roofed buildings Is
the only sight within eyeshot which
seems touched by the hand Of Western
man. These buildings house the school
for mounted artillery practice.
The Ethiopian state. for the first
time in its long history, pursued the
lore of the Franks-the red-faced men
of the Crusades.
Ethiopia is unlike any other country,
and, unless oi,e suddenly tumbles
down upon another planet, there could
be no greater contrast. So lavish is
the Ethiopian Valley Cat 10000 feet
altitude), that its matched tukul huts
stretched upon the plain seem a part
Of the vegetation, bloSsomed by an
incredibly prodigal nature for the
myriad bees droning among ripping
miles of luiin.
For here on this high plateau man
lives with less effort than any other
mountaineer might dream OF. In oO
miles this correspondent saw only one
sheepfold, in a valley teeming with
broad tail sheep and beeves hee-deep
in grasses.
Farm Land In Valley.
The slopes of the high encircllng
mountains would be taken for pas
ture land in any other quarter OF the
globe, for the valley itself is actually
farm land, deep alluvial soil dark with
fertility, the grasses so tenacious that
there are no ugly washes, the drain
age canalized into deep, narrow
bitches paved by the encroaching turf.
The sudden appearance OF three
Swedish officers around turn in the
road reminds one that Ethiopia now
seeks Western lore. These Swedish
gentlemen may be teaching the arts OF
war. but assuredly there will be arts
of peace accompanying them.
One climbs out Of car shaken
from the road ruts to greet these
Scandinavians. all blue-and-whlte In
King Gustave's service. and realizes
for the first time what has been miss
ing in the minds eye: 1t is the hand
of man upon the face Of farm land,
those byres and folds. silos and cribs,
and all the scattered gear OF hus-
bandry.
These Swedish gentlemen have
come to teach the craft of indirect
fire, but one refuses to think Of them
as soldiers. Rather, they are the red
faced men from a far continent,
breeders of cattle as well as inventors
of dynamite, husbandmen no less
than warriors. They may be school,
ing the Emperor's best cadets in the
fire of mountain artillery; teaching
lads of Sheba's strain to know ranges,
parabolas, exterior ballistics. But as
suredly, If they remain in this val
ley through the dry seasons, they Will
give their pupils lessons in other,
more profitable exercises.
Their school itself is a marvel OF
| tidyness in a valley where Natures
lush carelessness is equaled by the
indisposition of those who take her
bounty with thankless ease. The bar
racks are scrupulously neat. hunks
policed meticulously, blankets and
kits forever on inspection.
Have Aptitude TO Learn.
The class itself is conducted on a
balcony. At one of the class rooms
a sand table is contoured to represent
a mountain pass. At the other end
of the veranda 20 dark youths stand
with alidades and rulers, while slen-
der Scandinavian, patrolling the floor,
calls out ranges and fuses. Response
is almost instantaneous, in a French
which amazes.
They have aptitude, these black
mountaineers, for a learning long
denied them. Whatever their elders
white -cloaked feudal barons, followed
/ by herds Of motley fusiliers-may
think of Western man and his lore,
the seed has fallen upon fertile
ground in this high valley of in
credible richness. 1t will not be long.
one thinks-as the students cry
sharply in French the ranges, bursts,
fields Of flre-before these dark lads
from the high Ethiopian Kingdoms
will put this trigonometry to sweeter
purpose, this rigid sanitation to a
wider horizon, than the school Of the
soldier.
It is not to be thought that the
valley is alien to the use OF arms.
This scene, for all its tranquil green,
has known sling and arrow, lance and
spear, flintlock and high-powered
cartridge before ever Halle Selassie
asked King Gustave for instructors.
The rifle is at the Crook of every shep-
herds arm as he watches the fiocks
of his family. The child standing by
tethered ponies, the youth following
the cows, each carries lance in his
right hand. Barefooted and togaed,
with the grace Of those who wear