Evening star., 1941-10-12

DiitIkIlcSS anu DlOCkducSs Sllll III d
very real sense "Therell Always Be
an England" geographically indus
trially, economically-not to men
ton a France, a Spain and a Bel
GUM.
For geographic reasons the west
ern fringe of Europe, all the way
from jagged Norway. down through
! jutting Denmark, the half-sunken
Netherlands, wedgelike Belgium
Northern and Western France, and
along the upper edge of Spain, must
follow certain ways of life whatever
its political complexion.
Even Hitler can't hope to raise
olives on Norway's bleak fjords, or
cut ice on Lake Como.
II StlrS the Imagination TO con-
slider what world power is repre-
sented by the well watered lands
on the accompanying map.
Move an astronomical observa-
tory far enough out in space and
every hour of the "a, as the world
spins around, some part of the Brit
iSh Empire would sweep under the
mythical telescope
Tiny Belgium acquired 80 times
the area of its homeland in African
holdings. Frances overseas posses
sions run % times the area of the
pre-war mother country The diked
Netherlands, with nearly two -fifths
its land below sea level, gained un-
told insular riches in rubber, Qui-
nine, spices and coffee.
Why, asks the geographer, have
so much art, science and thought,
as we'll as political and economic
power, radiated for centuries from
this focus?
How did it come about that West
ern Europe and its adjacent islands
! discovered and populated all the
New World, took over virtually all of
Africa and gained such extensive
political and economic control over
venerable and vaster Asia?
The answer lies in geography
in the ways Mother Nature, not the
politicians, wrote favored-nation
clauses for the countries of this
region.
Foremost natural blessing is the
Gulf Stream, mighty oceanic river
equal to 1000 Mississippis, which
warns and waters the British Isles
and Western Europe to almost un-
4 surpassed fertility. "a
Trace the black line of the lati-
tude OF populous London due west,
ana you come to Labrador, where
Sir Wilfred Grenfell was knighted
Tor maintaining school and hos
pltal Normally summer cruises
carried thousands of tourists around
North Cape of Norway to view the
midnight sun. Go to Scoresbv
Sound in the same latitude of
Greenland and you qualify as an
amateur Arctic explorer.
Were 1t not for the beneficent
Gulf Stream most of the area here
mapped would be as icebound and
thlnly settled as Labrador and
glacial Greenland.
Europe's major mountain cluster
the Alps, is set far inland. so that
oarrlers do not cut off the warm
moist winds, as do the Andes in
South America, leaving an arid area
on the other side. Europe is the
only continent without a desert.
Then, again, nature kindly in
dented the coast till it looks like
scalloped scarf, with the result that
no lands anywhere in the world
nave more or better harbors.
SUCH coastal conformation is true
Of all Europe. South America is
twice as large, Africa three times
as big, yet Europe, landlocked on
the east, has a longer coast line
than either continent
Much of Great Britain's wealth.
also major impetus to her world
shipping, is submerged. Worth more
to her than any single land county
Is the continental shelf-the great
encircling shadows of the Atlantic
Ocean and the North Sea, which.
like land plateau, leads in gradual
steps up to the surface of the
islands.
Light penetrates to the bottom
OF these banks, aiding the growth of
tiny vegetable and animal organ
lsms that serve as food for fishes.
Hence fishing, hence shipbuilding,
hence the mastery OF the sea. which.
at one time or another, all these
nations have shown.
There is another effect of this
narrowing submerged shelf which
Is all important to shipping. Fill
bowl with water, tip it from side
to side. The middle will show Slight
rise and fall, but along the sides
of the bowl the water will rise so
high it may spill over. Same way
with the tides.
In mid-Atlantic tides may be only
l to 3 feet. But heaped up on these
shallow seas and funneled into the
narrow channels of Britain and the
continental coast tides are incredibly
high. Because of such high tides
inland London is world port.
Constant movement of these rest
less waters also renews the fish food
OF this rich submarine pasture"
Turn back again to the Britain
that was when the first Romans
came or the Paris Basin when the
first Norsemen halted at the small
island in the River Seine which was
to become the heart of Paris.
Long ago the British Isles were
cloaked with dense forests of decid-
uouS trees. These built the ships
for fishing, fighting and exploration.
Ships now are built of steel, and
only a few forest samples remain,
such as Epping, Arden and Sher-
wood. But English ships ply the
seven seas.
Its broad-leaved trees likewise
suggest the pattern of English agri-
culture and set the stage for great
Industries. In the clearings, where
oaks, elms and beeches grew, wheat,
oats, apples, potatoes, berries and
other harder grains, fruits and root
crops could be cultivated.
Areas of heavier rainfall made
ideal grazing lands for cattle. The
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