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The Seaforth News, 1943-10-07, Page 6Corsica. Soon the Island of Corsica, 100 miles southeast of the coast of Prance and 60 miles from Leghorn, will be onee more -nurser French con - hid. French and American conunun- dos have chased the Hun. ' The story of Corsicais the story of many an island in the history -old Mediterranean — invasion, battle, murder : and sudden death. There were invaders and there were feuds, The lovely and exquisite island has known war and betrayal, sacrifice and cour age, out of which its dwellers have created tradition and custom and written history. Something of all this adventure of living is told in "France Canada," the magazine of the Fighting French: This is not the first time in Cor-- siea's troubled history that the cur- rents of war have swirled about her shores, nor is there anything new in the claim that Italy has a "right" to the island'. Time after time the in- domitable litle island — like Malta in this war — has fought off invaders. Never vanquished for long, she has stood throughout the years like a for- tress of independence, Enmity be- tween Corsica and the Italian main- land has a century -old foundation, France brought the Mediterranean island what the Italian invader never offered; freedom in a republican state. French in name ever since 1769, Corsica became French in fact, permanently and whole - heartedly when the French Revolution pro- claimed the inalienable Rights of Man and the basic doctrine of Liber- ty, Equality and Fraternity. Corsica, the Greek "Cyrnos," is one of the beauty spots of the whole Mediterranean. "Rich in beauty and little else" Corsicans used to say, be- fore they discovered not so 1ong ago that their wild and lovely landscape was in itself a material asset. A. little more than 100 miles long and no- where more than half as broad, it rises out of the blue sea life a chain of mountain tops whose granite peaks climb to 8,000 feet in the serene Med- iterranean sky. At the time Iine the forest begins — a vast stretch of beech, pine, cork -oak and chestnut; the giant chestnut trees whose gener- ous yearly crop of nuts has saved Corsicans from starvation more than once during the dark days of her past. Heather, too, from whose gnarl- ed roots one of the ram local indust- ries make rough pipe bowls to be finished in the factories of Northern Europe. In all this green, the "sol- anes," the sunny clearings, appear like oases, terraced vineyards, olive, lemon and orange groves. As for the people of Corsica, two factors determined their history; the topography of the island and its posi- tion in a sea that for centuries has served as a highway far many na- tions. Preyed upon by Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Barbarians and Saracen, and later by the Italian states of Pisa and Genoa — what wonder that the native Corsicans took refuge in the natural fortresses of their island, Shunning the dangerous seaboard, they became a people of mountain- eers, with the characteristics of mountain people tbe world over, hardy, self-reliant, individualists, jeal- ous of their liberty and possessed of a strong fighting tradition. In the mountains, customs and tra- ditions are deep-rooted, Corsicans like all mountain folk, have a family tra- dition, a "clan" spirit akin to that of the Scottish Highlander. In the past, family tradition, a ticklish sense of honor and the long habit of relying upon individual justice as a substitute for remote authority, produced the Corsican vendetta. Corsica's era of peace and prosper- ity began with her incorporation in the French Republic. Her coast ceas- ed to be a clanger zone. Villages and towns crept clown the heights. Houses of tinted stucco dotted the fertile valleys and the vineyards, olive and fruit groves spread' wider over the gentle slopes. Corsican wines found their place on world markets. Tour- ists brought the island an increasing revenue, The coast towns of Ajaccio and Beetle grew to modern cities. As the years passed on an increasing thinking that Australia has been 'an - number of Corsicans took to the sea, wise in holding down its population sailing in French merchant vessels to considerably less than that of New and in the warships of the fleet. York city. Perhaps Australia regrets it Within recent years tbe island built too. For a rich and sparsely settled her first nirflelds, I country with an American army and Today, after a century and a half, navy helping to protect it is regarded Corsica is egain invaded, And, for the with greedy eyes by the Japanese ele- seconcl time in her history, German meat in the one billion congested Asia - troops support the Italian invader. ties of color who are not so very far Bit by bit, as in Southern Prance, away from this white man's land, all the island's resources—wine, oil, Needless to Say, Australia, with its and fruits -were drained away. When background of Old Country stook, is the war shifted to the Mediterranean intensely British. Her people speak areas, Corsica was occupied. Froin with an English accent. The use 50,000 to 70,000 troops, the largest pounds shillings and pence in their number of foreign soldiers ever to currency. They drive+ to the left, occupy the island, were sent over, drink quantities of tea and love But long before the actual invasion, cricket, the old Corsican guerilla tradition Per all that its main activities are had flamed into adtion, Young men confined to the coastal areas, Auetra-! put to sea in tiny craft hoping to he iia is a very rich country. It grows picked up by Allied warships, Patriot- vast quantities of wheat and other , is groups organized underground re- Cereals. With a climatic range of 2,- TIIU SEAPORT sistaee Today many C'orsicaus etre lighting on land and ou sea in the ruined forces of Fighting France. From the island itself news filters to the outside- world of many a frecked and flaming truck and the dynamiting of railroads and railway stations. And there are stories of hostages seized by the enemy and executed in re- prisal. Long before our invasion, awns and ammunition — tomny guns and gren- ades and light field guns -- had been landed by submarine and dropped by parachute for the oor•sictin patriots. When the Allied invasion started it was aided from the moment of land- ing — and before by these courag- eous sons of Corsica to whom guerilla lighting is a•proud tradition. These are the "Men of the Masada," the men out of the mountain fastnesses, dead shots, resolute, tough and dur- able who have helped us now to drive the hated Hun into the last enemy stronghold. The Brazzaville radio broadcasts recently sent out a circular addressed by the resistance groups in Corsica to the "Men of Mavis." Some of its Paragraphs are worth quoting as showing the spirit and determination of these Corsicans. Stressing the im- portance of the guerillas as auxiliar- ies of the French army, the circular lists such requirements as utmost of the limited suply of arnis and. weap- ons "the loss of which will entail the death penalty," Here are some of these orders: Discipline—The guerilla agrees to be subjected to the very hard discip- line of the Maquis, and to obey, with- out discussion, all orders received from his chosen leader. He will not, until the end of the war, attempt to communicate with his family or friends. He will maintain the utmost secrecy on places and names. All in- fractions will entail the death penal- ty. He will understand that no special letter can be forwarded to his family without his being subject to the jeal- ousy and denunciation of the neigh- bors. The guerilla knows that no pro- mise of a regular salary can be made to him, that the supply of food and arms must be uncertain, that the least thing that he obtains will have been obtained only through constant ef- fort, at the price of immense difficul- ties and extreme dangers for all con- cerned. Japs Covet Australia What country has the biggest pro- portion of her people living in very large cities? No, it is not Britain nor yet India, China or Japan. The answer is Anstlalia. The chunky con- tinent "Down Under," with an aver- age of two persons to the square mile, has almost exactly half her pop- ulation in five cities ranging from nearly a quarter of a million in Perth to almost a million and a half hi Sydney. Why, one is inclined to ask, should Australia, whose area of nearly 3,- 000,000 square miles approximates that of the continental United States, have such a small total population? One reason is that the great interior of Australia is largely waterless de- sert, Another reason is that the pol- icy of the Australian labor party, which dominates the country under a labor premier, has long been to pre- serve a white Australia. Immigration laws are very strict and though some are admitted, Asiatics and members of other colored races are not per- mitted to reside there permanently. Actually, says a commentator in the New York Times, Australian na- tional sentiment is hostile to immi- gration of any kind which is an ob- vious over -statement. But Australia is choosey. Following the last war there was a; beginning of immigration from southern Europe stimulated by the drastic restrictions set up by Ar- gentina and the United States. Aus- tralia was not over friendly to the newcomers. She had even frowned on unrestrietecl immigration from the British Isles. Australian labor, so powerful politically, has been even more sensitive than American labor on the subject of immigrant competi- tion, The American critic is not alone in 300 miles from the tropical north to the temperate south, the land prod- uces oranges, lemons, apples and grapes, which make raisins and, fine wines. Dne to small rainfall in :rrauy parts irrigation and artesian wells are necessary.. Australian exports frozen beef and Mutton in huge quantities and wool which makes the finest British cloth. She grows cotton, tobacco and sugar cane, and her hardwood forests lire- duce iraduce excellent timber. Her manufaet- tires and trade account for her big cities, Her coastal waters are full of fish, Many of her railways have been built to exploit rich mineral re. NJ WS :THIJRSQAY, ORTooeri 7, '4842 sources; Atthe height of the Austra- lian gold rush in 1863, 'swarms of for, tunelriinters Rooked into the country from Europe, the United States and China. Arrivalseat Melbourne that. year averaged 2,000 persons a week. Besides gold the eolintry has silver lead, copper, iron quires, and goal in abundance, Near Sydney coal seams are exposed on the surface. Labor has long been powerful in Australia. The eight-hour daY was conceded during the series of strikes which took plane between 1873 and 1889. And during that period, though living costs were falling, wages kept their high. Despite compulsory arbit- ration there have been many strikes over wages .and working co rdit:hale, but sirlee 1931 little trouble has 00' cerrea. Marco Polo, visiting the East in the 18th oentulT, mentioned a south- ern continent reputedly known to the Chinese, Subsequently Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch navigators sailed into the i'egiou. But not till 1668 was Australia sighted by a British inar- i11er, Dampier. For a century later it still remained a mystery, Fnally .Capt. James (look, R.N., who bad been mas- ter of Capt. John Simcoe's warship' in the attack on Quebec in 1759, was sent by the British government to solve the puzzle. Cook left England in 1786; primar- ily to observe the transit of Venus,, but also to asteitain "whether the unexplored ' part oq the southern hem. ispbere be only an immense mass of water or another continent." He fouud the elusive country', explored its coasts, and et Botany Bay, on the island • of Tasmania, in 1770, hoisted the Union Sack and took possession of the new continent. "Did your friend °completely re- cover from Ms broken leg?" "No, Complications set in," "How so?" "He married his nurse," Send us the names of your visitors. TREMENDOUS RESPONNSE GIVEN C. W. A.C. PIPE AND BRASS BANDS ON TOUR Around the corner and down the street come members of the unique and popular Canadian Women's Army Corps Pipe Band and the C.W.A,C. Military Band, the latter the only all -girl active force band in the British Empire. Stirring tunes of the pibroch and brass as played by women drew tremendous audiences on their Eastern tour. The bands opened the Western tour at Winnipeg, S eptember 27. TOP, i5 the pipe band on parade during their visit to Halifax. Pipe Major Lillian Grant, of Victoria, B.C., leader of the band, is at the left of the front row. Band - mistress Nadia Svarich, of Vegreville, Alta., is piettued at the left in the LOWER photo marching with .the mili- tary band in Halifax. 5 Court er C ck Book We Are Selling Quality Books Books are Well Made, Carbon is Clean and Copies Readily. All styles, Carbon Leaf and Black Back. Prices as Low as You Can Get Anywhere. Get our Quotation on Your Next Order. The Seaforth News SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, el