The Wilmington morning star., 1941-02-27
. WASHINGTON Daybook
BY JACK STINNETT

military way as the result of collapse of
its war machine in Libya.
WASHINGTON, Feb 26.-No matter how
the future evaluates Italy's losses in Libya,
one thing is certain-she certainly lost heap
of history.
At first glance you might not think this i'm
portant, but behind it is the terrible wound to
Italian pride. Back of that may be damaging
effect on Italian morale.
Probably there is no colony in the world
that has a stranger story than Lbya-all of
it-but for the purposes of this column we will
consider principally only Cirenaica, the eastern
half, which already has fallen to the British.
Four great civilizations have flourished on
her soil-the Neolithic Qate stone age), the
Phoenician, the Greek, the pre-Christan era
Roman But in Cirenaica, except for the Neo-
lithic, whose crude stoneware has withstood
the ravages of sand and time. and the Greek,
whose walled cities and temples have been
unearthd by archeologists, all records have
vanished.
Moving back from those few gardens by
the sea, which now are Libya's only remnants
of agricultural splendor, into the desert and
barren uplands, one finds it almost impos-
sble to believe that Libya once was the
''breadhasket OF the Mediterranean" But such
was true. Its grains and fruits served Greece
in her heyday and filled the tables Of Rome at
the height of the empire.
CITY OF 100000
once there was a great city at Cirene,
peopled by anywhere from 100000 to mil
lion Greeks and natives. Many of them, as
merchants, gained fabulous wealth-qute
few in the flourishing trade in silphum, ar
herb which was supposed to cure all ills. Odd
ly enough, not trace of the silphium plant
exists today. The story is that after the Ro-
mans had taken over in SO BIC, they placed
high tax on the herb and every grower de-
stroyed his plants in protest.
According to a recent National Geographic
Society bulletin, no trace of the Phoenician
civilization remains today, but it is known
that the Phoenicians were traders and the
cities they founded were mostly trading cen
ters and ports.
1t is to 'the granary of Imperial Rome that
modern Italy tied its historical apron strings.
Looking about for colonies in the early part OF
the century-some place where her crowded
millions could find breathing space. Italy set
tied on the once populous shores across the
Mediterranean. The land Theoretically be-
longed to Turkey, who exercised little con-
troll and that probably only because Libyas
people were Mohammedan. When Italy took
the colony as a great prize at the close of the
Italo-Turkish war in 1912, the world haw-
hawed. 1t was the worlds worst desert, and
certainly no gem OF colony.
In tne years SINCE, however, Italy mas poured
billions into the colony and in the last five
years had gotten start on its great COLOMBIA
ton scheme. Whether Lbya ever would have
amounted to more than a row of sand hills
from the standpoint of economic return-can't
be said now. Certainly, by 1940 it was costing
Italy more than it ever had. It was only then
that its strategic Importance militarily made
it seem to be worth some of the money and
sweat that had been soaked up by the sands.
OLD GLORY FLEW AT DERNA
While it is we'll remembered that in 1906 the
United States and Stephen Decatur made his
tory in the siege of Tripoli and threw off the
shackleS of the Barbary pirates; it may not be
SO well known that the American flag once
flew over Derna, the beautiful little pearl Of
Cirenaica," whose gardens grace the seacoast
ITS miles west of Egypt.
1t during this same war on the Barbary
coast pirates that General William Eaton,
former U. S. consul al Tunis. went to Egypt,
and recruited the oldest army ever collected
Arabs Greeks Americans, and exiled Ber-
bers. Marching over 900 miles OF desert in six
weeks, they captured a superior force in the
fort of Derna in 48 hours and ran the stars and
Stripes to the top of the battlements. There it
remained until the with Trlpoll was over
the only time, as far as can 1iho, mat oio
Glory ever floated over chunk OF conquered
African terrain. D
If the American people have contributed
any thing to the English language, 1t is the
quality Of terseness and vividness represented
IL