European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 7, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Arlene Allen of Rockford iii., digs for diamonds. Glittering prospects in Murfreesboro not by Lisa Belkin new York times Murfreesboro Ark. Is a town caught Between a Rock a hard place. The rocks Are honest to goodness diamonds. Tourists can $3 for the right to dig All Day in a Muddy 40 acre Field taking Home any raw diamonds they May find. What is hard is deciding whether the Muddy Field apparently the Only operating source of diamonds in the United states should be opened to commercial miners. Are strip mining a state Park compatible asked Jim Cannon superintendent of Crater of diamonds state Park which surrounds the Field. Will it ruin the town or will it save us i wish i the Field brought 70,000 tourists to town last year they spent about $4 million eating camping buying souvenirs. They took Home 989 diamonds weighing on average of just less than a Quarter of a Carat but that is far too few tourists most people in town agree. There were 120,000 tourists 10 years ago. Tourism is the largest Industry in Murfreesboro population 1,883 since the Weyerhaeuser co. Timber Mill closed in 1982. And the poultry Plant Diamond country foods is threatening to close. So the debate Over commercial mining goes something like this those who favor it say the town needs the tax dollars the jobs that the operation would bring. Those opposed say mining is noisy dirty would Chase the tourists away. Those in favor say the tourists could watch the miners at work. But those opposed warn that the diamonds will run out one Day the miners will move on the town will be left with no mine no tourists a 600-foot-deep pit that will take decades to fill with water become a Lake. The Field was operated As a mine from the 1920s to the 1940s. But the owner lost his Fortune on the project. The finders keepers Rule was developed by owners in the 1950s 60s. The Arkansas department of Parks tourism now owns the land. Over the years some hefty diamonds have been discovered. The largest found when the mine first opened weighed More than 40 carats. Some weeks ago a Digger found a 6-Carat Diamond. But no one knows How Rich a Diamond Deposit is under the Field which is the result of a Volcano eruption 95 million years ago. The value of the mine could be anywhere from $2 million to $2 billion said John Morgan a Diamond mining consultant hired by the state it could take 5 to 100 years to remove the diamonds. More precise figures he said depend on the shape of the Diamond Deposit. Is the Diamond Field like the shallow Basin of a Champagne Glass extending into a narrow Diamond bearing Stem or is it the top of a Deposit that extends straight Down for hundreds of Miles the Only Way to Tell is to test Morgan said. And the Only Way to test is to there has been talk of doing exactly that since the state first bought the Park in 1972, but few took it seriously until business in town turned sour. Last year the Arkansas legislature passed a Bill that would allow the state to lease the Crater of diamonds property to a commercial mining operation. A study group was established to evaluate the proposal debate has raged loudly in Murfreesboro Ever since. We need the jobs said Tammy White who has been looking for one for a year a half. I read somewhere that there would be 400 new jobs with the is Arkansas so hard up for a few temporary jobs a bit of additional Short term Revenue that we would sacrifice the one thing that Arkansas has unique in the world Kay Killgore asked at one of the nearly dozen task Force Public hearings in the past 11 months. We can t just sit Hope that tourism will pick up said Clifton Crews owner of the a do a Indian Village Murfreesboro s other major tourist attraction. Ticket sales there Are dropping by $200 each month he said in a trend that could be reversed if the mining contractor was required to build elevated walkways around the mine offer Public Tours. State proposals include such a provision suggest that several feet of soil from the current pit be moved elsewhere so that the tourists could continue to sift for diamonds. Now the question is out of the residents hands. The study group has recommended to the Parks department preliminary testing on the Park to determine the shape value of the Diamond deposits. The department s decision is expected at the end of the month. But the fact that the Choice is no longer theirs to make has not stopped the debate among the residents of Murfreesboro. Diamonds Are just diamonds said Howard Kidd who would like a mining company to come into town. Kidd owns the Mauney House petting farm across the Street from the Park Entrance says the business would bring More tourists. What we re talking about is More important than Page 14 recycling old names in Amer by Joy Aschenbach National geographic without Greaf feats of geographic gymnastics it s possible to drive from Paris to Rome Vienna Madrid Moscow Stockholm never leave the state of Maine. The sophisticated capitals of Europe Are Small towns in the United states. Entire nations such As China Poland Norway Sweden Denmark also shrink to City county even Crossroads status. The March of old world place names across the new land during the past 200 years intrigues Irina Vasiliev a doctoral student in geography at Syracuse University in upstate new York. She presented her research at this year s annual meetings of the association of american geographers the american name society. Tracking the names of 15 european capitals Egypt s Cairo she found 41 . London 31 Lisbon 32 at Henses 12 Amsterdam 56 berlins 24 Dublin 19 Warsaw 27 Moscow. These include such variations As new London Lisbon Falls Moscow Mills. Just How Many american place names Are recycled old world names has never been tallied says Donald Orth of the . Board on geographic names. Certainly a High percentage but that could be 2 or 20 percent he explains. All tend to be populated places very rarely mountains Vasiliev says she was initially curious about Why . Cities were christened Moscow. Why did communities that bore no resemblance to the original cities adopt their names was there a pattern to naming the reasons vary from admiration or nostalgia for the old places to mistakes or Chance literally picking a name out of a hat. The motive for Many remains a mystery. Global shift to self determination by Joy Aschenbach National geographic a world without colonies Earth s political realm has move closer than Ever to the elusive state. In what ranks As one of the periods of greatest political transition More than 80 places have been de colonized since world War ii. Each year a special United nations committee reminds the rest that deciding their own Fate is their inalienable right. The remnants of colonialism mostly Small islands with few resources Are scattered around the world from Britain s Anguilla in the Caribbean to new zealand s Tokelau in the South Pacific. The . Special committee on decolonization claims that 19 places with populations totalling More than 3 million Are still under colonial Rule More than half of them Fly the British Flag. The largest twice the size of California is Namibia whose 1.5 million people have struggled for More than 20 years against domination by neighbouring South Africa. The smallest a peaceful bit of Britain in the South Pacific is Pitcairn Island whose dwindling population of 57 in the Case of Moscow Maine in about 1816 the townsfolk were really impressed that the russians had thrown Napolean out of Moscow four years earlier Vasiliev tells National geographic. They commemorated that historic at least eight Moscow were named for the russian capital. But the biggest Best known american Moscow Home of the University of Idaho was not. Seems that in the 1870s the Idaho townspeople seeking their own Post office wanted a prestigious name perhaps because the town was originally called hog heaven later Euph Emited to Paradise Valley. Faced with a postal deadline no promising names the naming committee left the decision up to grocer Samuel Neff. Born near Moscow pa., Neff had lived in Moscow Iowa before moving to the Idaho town. He named it after his Birthplace. Moscow kan., was a mistake. The kansans really wanted to Honor an officer named Moscoso who had been part of the 16th Century Coronado expedition to the Southwest. They shortened his name to Mosco. But when the Post office application was processed in Washington an official thinking kansans could spell added the it stuck. Not All parises have roots in the French capital. But Paris Maine proudly does says Ben Conant a minister local historian resident for 45 years. Old revolutionary War soldiers settled this area. They honoured the French which helped fight our War he explains. A Shadow of its european counterpart the Maine town has a population of 4,100 is known for sleds toboggans. Small though it is it was on the tour route of a group of Young French people who visited some . Parises there Are 37 Paris Ontario last summer. -. The american custom of using notable or Fine sounding foreign names evolved from two earlier naming practices George r. Stewart wrote in names on the land. The colonists had first chosen English town names such As Plymouth Boston. At the birth of the nation americans considered themselves the new Athens the new Rome explains geographer Wilbur Zelinsky of Pennsylvania state University. Adopting classical names is uniquely american. There Are hundreds thousands. The cultural Hearth for classical place naming he says was West Central new York state particularly around an old military tract. The Region riddled with the names of renowned greek roman heroes also includes Syracuse Ithaca Utica. Communities in Ohio Georgia that aspired to be centers of learning called themselves Athens. They Are University towns today. Herculaneum mo., memorializes the ancient roman City destroyed with Pompeii when mount Vesuvius erupted in . 79. Along the Mississippi River Stewart wrote people hoped that a civilization surpassing that of ancient Egypt would Rise on the Nile of hence an array of names such As Cairo Karnak iii., Memphis Tenn. Some namesakes such As Toledo Ohio Toledo Spain share More than just a name. They have formalized their relationships As International sister the stars stripes Are descendants of the seamen who mutinied on the Bounty nearly 200 years ago. Others Are As diverse As British St. Helena the isolated South Atlantic Island where Napoleon died in exile Gibraltar the strategic Rock locked in a centuries old tug of War Between Britain Spain East timor he portuguese Island Colony now occupied by Indonesia As its 27th province. Among the 19, the two in Africa Namibia Western Sahara Aro on the Brink of Independence should be next to be dropped from the . List the special committee s senior political officer Ozdinc Mustafa tells National geographic. The latest Colony to be removed was tiny Cocos Keeling Oral islands in the India Ocean which voted in 1984 to become an integral part of Australia 1,750 Miles away. The special 27 years ago with a Mission to Speed up the eradication of colonialism still names to its list. In 1986, following racial violence political unrest new Caledonia was put Backon the list because France s recent policy toward its South Pacific Island was deemed a significant backward step. France opposed the committee s action. The decisions of the24-member body dominated by third world countries Are often disputed. Britain for example believes the decolonization processes Over in its 10 dependencies still on the . List says Stephen Smith second Secretary of the United kingdom Mission to the United nations. At the moment they be made it Clear through democratic processes that they Are Content with the status quo Smith says. They tuesday february 7,1989 have retained their links with Britain because that is what they wish. If they move toward Independence we will not stand in their Britain objects to policies that presume that the Only outcome of self determination is National Independence. The United states takes a similar position that self determination can also result in free association with or integration into an Independent nation. Second to Britain in number of territories on the . List the United states argues that the Peoples of american Samoa Guam the . Virgin islands have repeatedly what s left of colonialism Nineteen places on the Globe More than half flying the British Flag Are All that s left of vast colonial empires according to the United nations special committee on decolonization. Most Are Small Island dependencies with few resources. One is the last vestige of the Trust territories created by the United nations after world War ii. The special . Committee charged 27 years ago with the Mission to eradicate colonialism reminds the 19 of their inalienable right to decide their own Fate. The committee s role is often disputed. Britain for example believes decolonization is Over because its dependencies have freely chosen to be linked to the Mother country. National ideographic society expressed their Strong desire to maintain a close relationship. The . Government stands ready to respond to the wishes of the Peoples regarding their future political staus whenever they indicate the direction in which they wish to proceed says Patricia m. Byrne . Alternate representative to the . General Assembly. In november 1988, the . Virgin islands will hold the first referendum in its history on its political status. Although non binding it will be an official indication of the Peoples preference among a half dozen choices including Independence statehood incorporated territory or status quo As an unincorporated territory. The United states has repeatedly objected to committee attempts to put puerto Rico on the list. The . Government claims that the general Assembly recognized puerto Rico s act of self determination in 1953. As part of its duties the special committee warns countries administering Caribbean colonies to protect them against drug trafficking Money laundering operations against exploitation by foreign investors. Everywhere it advocates promotion of the cultural heritage of indigenous ethnic Peoples such As the Chamorro people of indonesian Stock who account for nearly half the population on Guam. The special committee also watches Over Britain s other colonies Bermuda the British Virgin islands Cayman islands Falkland islands Montserrat turks Caicco islands the .-administered Trust territory of the Pacific islands which the . Government contends is the proper jurisdiction of the . Security Council. The stars stripes Page 15
