Horace Ashton

              HORACE ASHTON-F.R.G.S.

Figure


ILLUSTRATED NARRATIVES
management of
150 Lafayette St.   Nomad Lecture Bureau   New York City



CAVE MEN OF THE DESERT

Figure



Figure



Figure


A VISIT to the Troglodytes of the Sahara—thirty thousand people who live in holes in the ground—gave Horace Ashton the material and data for this most interesting lecture.  Twice he has journeyed into the rugged, inhospitable Ksour Mountains of South Tunisia for the purpose of studying at first-hand these little-known tribes of the Berbers, who are the direct descendants of the Mercenaries who fought with the Caesars in the overthrow of fair Carthage.  In this lecture we are told and shown that in twenty-two hundred years or more they have stood still, defying not only all enemy invaders, but, in their curious underground dwellings, even the passage of time.  They live and dress precisely as they did before the Christian era.  Here survive quaint native customs, the origin of which are hopelessly lost in antiquity.  Some of these customs are so odd that their description almost defies belief.  To quote from The Boston Sunday Herald: Every bride must be knocked out with a club before she's really married.  Tooth and nail, hand and foot, she throws herself upon the bridegroom as though to blot out his very existence.  Manfully he fights back until she is at length overpowered, then comes the crowning climax of the wedding.  He takes her firmly by the hair, holds her at arm's length, and grasps the 'marriage stick' in the other hand.  Then, to put it brutally but truthfully, he knocks her out, picks her up, throws her over his shoulder and carries her off to their new home.

For its human interest, this is one of Horace Ashton's most popular talks.  It shows him to be an unusually keen observer of human nature and possessed of more than ordinary tact and diplomacy in overcoming the barriers of language and fanaticism which have so long isolated these Cave Men of the Desert, for he was allowed to enter the sanctity of their harems and photograph, unveiled, their women, who had never before been seen by the eye of another man than their husbands.  He says that it is his sense of humor which gets him through, and after hearing his talk you will agree with him.


Figure



Figure





Figure

By
CARAVAN through the GARDEN of ALLAH

Figure


IN MR. ASHTON'S thrilling account of his long caravan journey into the fastnesses of the treacherous Sahara we are introduced to another side of this versatile traveler, for here we see him as a true naturalist, ever alert to each new surprise which nature presents to him.  He tells us of strange creatures which the natives call sand fish, caught in the early morning in the sand of the great dunes; of curious beasts with disjointed eyes, which wandered into his encampments to look him over; of scorpions and poisonous vipers and the myriads of insects which swarm in the great dry wastes of the desert.  That side, which long ago won for him a fellowship in the Royal Geographical Society of London, is revealed in his able presentation of geographical knowledge, as he pictures for us oases of waving green, vast salt schotts which lie below the level of the sea and where, shimmering in an almost unbelievable heat, dance the most fantastic and convincing mirages.  We are taken into the Erg, that most forbidding and yet most beautiful region of the earth, where, like huge storm-tossed
waves the mountainous dunes of fine wind-blown sand stretch out for hundreds of burning miles.  Into this land of thirst Horace Ashton forced his way, not in winter as the average traveller would go, but during the hot months of the Sirocco or south wind, so that he could bring back to you the first authentic pictures of a real desert sand-storm and describe to you as an eye-witness one of those great natural phenomena which, to most of us, must remain throughout life as mythical as the great flood.  For pictorial charm and strangeness these motion pictures rival any that have ever been made.  They depict not only the natural beauty of this alluring region, but bring to us an intimate view of the lives of its little-known inhabitants in their life-long struggle with sand.  This lecture, though describing one great journey, is the result of many, and has brought the lecturer the distinction of being America's leading authority on the Sahara.  Mr. Ashton is the author of many notable contributions on this subject which have appeared in America's leading periodicals and the press.



MOROCCO TODAY

Figure



Figure



Figure


MOROCCO, in peace and war, is as familiar to Horace Ashton as is our own country to many of us, for he has made an intimate first-hand study of that land of mystery and enchantment.  He spent months on end in its remotest corners, as a guest in its most exclusive palaces, and a sojourner in walled cities which, for centuries, have been forbidden to foreigners.  In his inimitable manner Mr. Ashton tells of his interviews with Morocco's great native chiefs and with the leading representatives of France in the Protectorate.  As a foreign observer, he stood with both sides during their conflicts, and comes to us with an unbiased story.  All of Mr. Ashton's entertainments are magnificently illustrated, for he is first of all an artist.  His Morocco is a land of amazing contrasts: where twentieth century civilization meets that of the middle ages; where the tents of the Arab are pitched against radio towers, and brass bedsteads and grandfather clocks are seen against backgrounds of anci
ent oriental splendor. You are given glimpses into some of Islam's most sacred mosques, where the foot of the unbeliever has never trodden, and are entertained in Moorish palaces which rival the famed Alhambra of Granada in their grandeur and magnificence of detail in mosaic and arabesque; palaces which no other foreigner has been permitted to enter.  Quaint native ceremonies are entertainingly described and pictured, as we are gradually led up to the zone bordering on the Riff, which has for years been the scene of unrest and international dispute.  This lecture has been described as a revelation, for it shows us a Morocco of snow-capped mountains, vast olive groves, miles of country literally carpeted with wild flowers and inhabited by a kindly and hospitable people who in their own way are trying to solve their problems as earnestly as we are ours.  His impressions of this mediaeval land bring to us a keen appreciation of the beautiful and a rare sympathy for his fellow man.  No audience could help
being charmed by Mr. Ashton's artistic presentation of this timely and instructive subject.


Figure





The New York Times
Magazine Sertion
Section
4

(Copyright, 1925, by The New York Times Company.)

NEW YORK, SUNDAY, MAY 31, 1925   TWENTY-FOUR PAGES


OVERSEAS IN THE LOS ANGELES
Only Civilian Passenger Describes the 4,000-Mile Flight to Porto Rico and Return
—Marvelous Beauty of Sea, Land and Sky as Seen From Car of Dirigible

HORACE ASHTON had the distinction of being appointed by the Secretary of the Navy as Special Observer for Naval Intelligence to accompany the airship Los Angeles on her flight to Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands.  He was therefore the first civilian passenger ever taken on a trip on this great Zeppelin and made the four thousand mile voyage through the air, which was the longest overseas trip ever attempted by a helium-filled airship.  On the trip he made four thousand feet of startlingly beautiful motion-picture films which show clearly every phase of the thrilling voyage.  In the lecture he tells you every detail of life aboard, of the intricacies of the rigging and the operation of the great ship.  You live with him over again all of the thrills which come to one on his first experience in the great Leviathan of the air.  He tells of the difficulties of aerial navigation in a lighter-than-air ship as compared to aeroplanes and of the startling effects of sudden climatic changes on the sensitive helium gas, and tells lively detail all the excitement incident to the stay at Mayaguez, Porto Rico, when the heat melted the cement of the water ballast bags Everyone in America is intensely interested in the Navy's pioneer work with helium gas, and Horace Ashton's lecture answers every question that could possibly arise in the average mind concerning the airship.  The return flight along the Florida coast gave them an opportunity to circle above every coast city from Miami to Norfolk, and in the films all of these cities are clearly shown.  Some of the most beautiful sky effects ever photographed—thunderstorms, showers, sunsets, moonlight, sunrises, etc., are shown during the lecture, for the entire voyage was made through the clouds.  The Navy has been strongly criticised by newspapers and individuals who have not taken the trouble to get the facts for their experimental work with helium gas and lighter-than-air ships.  Horace Ashton answers these critics with a clear and comprehensive and an exceedingly entertaining presentation of the whole matter.


Figure






Figure

Press Comments
Mr. Ashton's talk was by far the best our Club has ever given.  His audience remained intact until 10 o'clock to listen to his replies to questions put by them.—St. Petersburg, Florida, Woman's Club.



Incongruities of Christian civilization introduced almost overnight into a Moslem community, were shown in motion pictures before the National Geographical Society last evening, when Horace Ashton exhibited films of Arab tents pitched against radio towers, of brass bedsteads and grandfather clocks against backgrounds of mosaic and arabesque, and veiled women riding in automobiles.—
Washington Star.


Horace Ashton, the explorer and lecturer, stands to one side while his marvelous films of the overseas flight of the airship 'Los Angeles' are being shown, and as the amazing views are being unrolled he tells the whole story.  Every question arising in the minds of the audience is anticipated and the travelogue, delivered by this man who saw it all and made it possible for others to feel most of the excitement and none of the annoyance, is a most satisfying performance.—
Philadelphia Record.

Mr Ashton interested both old and young alike.  We are glad to recommend him to any organization.—Men's Club, 1st Congregational Church, Montclair, N. J.


We have heard a lot about the cave man, but there's one man in this country who can give us first-hand information on the cave woman.  Horace Ashton, adventurer and explorer, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and member of the New York Academy of Sciences, is the first white man to penetrate the underground harems of the Troglodytes, the mysterious cliff dwellers of the Sahara, whose origin and history have puzzled ethnologists for centuries.—
Brooklyn Eagle.