Chapter 160: [Essay Contest]

"We should also start our own newspaper like the Cherokees did," said Rainy Day. "But at present, the news agency is only responsible for collating news from outside newspapers. I haven't found the right person to run the newspaper yet."

The Cherokee were the first North American Indians to have a written language and founded the first Indian newspaper.

Ma Shao also had the idea of ​​starting an Apache newspaper, but as Rainy Day said, there were no suitable people.

He and Rainy Day are capable of doing the job, but it is obvious that two people cannot support the text output of a newspaper. They are already busy enough.

Ma Shao thought for a moment and said, "Maybe we can try to win an essay contest."

"Calling for an essay?"

Ma Shao explained: "It is to encourage everyone to write articles, and then select high-quality articles. This can be used to select editors for the news agency, and also to provide articles for the news agency."

"We now have 20,000 people in our tribe, and there are several thousand people with some writing skills, so we can definitely find some good articles."

Ma Shao's top priority is education, so the Apache tribe has a very high efficiency in popularizing writing. Most people can at least write numbers and their own names, and there are also many people who have writing skills.

Of course, if we look at these people from the perspective of future generations, their so-called writing ability is probably just a narrative at the level of "Learning to Ride a Bicycle".

The people who can really write a good story or explain the truth clearly are probably one in a hundred.

After a brief thought, Xia Yutian could not help but nod repeatedly: "That's a good idea."

Ma Shao continued, "So, we pick out some important news from the past, use them as topics, and let the contestants express themselves freely around the topics..."

"The winners will receive cash prizes, certificates and the opportunity to work as editors in news agencies. Their works will also be exhibited publicly for others to learn from."

"We will also write one, but we will not be participating in the competition. We will just exhibit it together when the time comes."

Rainy Day nodded: "Okay."

The two of them immediately began to select news from the newspapers. For Ma Shao, this was also a way for him to make up for the lack of information in the past few months.

There are a few things worth noting.

First was the Irish Famine, which sparked sustained discussion in the international community and has always been a hot topic in newspapers.

Then there is the Mexican-American War. There is nothing much to say about this. It is basically the same as in history. The US military almost pushed its way through Mexico.

The only difference is that Mexico's guerrillas are more powerful than in history.

For example, in May, due to the surrender of the upper echelons, Puebla, Mexico's third largest city, was captured by the U.S. military without a fight.

As a result, the guerrillas directly surrounded the city from the countryside, trapping a large number of US troops to this day. They also inspired the Mexicans in Puebla to resist together, making it impossible for the US military to advance towards the Mexican capital.

In the original history, the Mexican-American War had basically ended at this time, and the US military had already entered Mexico City, the capital of Mexico.

But at least until Ma Shao received the news, no fighting had broken out in Mexico City.

If nothing unexpected happens, the end of the Mexican-American War will be delayed by at least a few months.

Manuel Chavez became the leader of the Mexican resistance. Relying on his advantages in weapons and tactics, he led his men to fight east and west, and at one point gathered thousands of troops, but suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Veracruz.

Of course, the U.S. military also suffered a lot in the Battle of Veracruz, with thousands of casualties, which made this battle no longer the U.S. military's "most successful amphibious landing operation in the 19th century."

There are also some news, such as the first congress of the Communist League was held in London, the first set of stamps was issued in the United States, Liberia, known as the "Little America in Africa", declared independence, Francis Guizot became the Prime Minister of France, and the German inventor Siemens established a company...

What particularly caught Ma Shao's attention was a piece of news from southern Mexico: Benito Juárez became the governor of Oaxaca.

Who is this Benito Juárez?

Benito Mussolini's name was plagiarized from him.

Mussolini's father and Lin Zexu's father obviously had the same idea, hoping that their children could learn from the person in their name.

But Lin Zexu obviously learned it.

And Mussolini...

Benito Juárez, the role model designated by Mussolini's father, was an Indian and a hero worthy of respect.

As far as Ma Shao knows, Juarez will become the first Indian president in Mexican history.

It was this Indian president who implemented the separation of church and state in Mexico, repelled the armed intervention of European countries, promoted social equality, and improved the education and lives of Mexican Indians.

This year, Juárez became governor of Oaxaca.

Of course, this does not mean that Juarez will have a smooth journey to the presidency. In fact, he will face exile a few years later.

Ma Shao looked at the news about Juarez becoming governor and asked: "Have you seen this news?"

"I've seen it." Rainy Day knew what he was thinking. "There's no doubt that we need to get in touch with Juarez. He will become an important ally for us."

Ma Shao nodded: "That's right. I will go to Oaxaca, Mexico in person to visit Juarez soon."

the next day.

A large notice was posted on the bulletin board outside the Chief's Hall, with a line of words written in red paint at the top: Apache Communications Essay Contest.

"Essay Contest?" People were attracted by the novelty, and in the early morning many Apaches gathered in front of the billboard to read the information on it.

"…anyone can submit an essay for the competition. The essay must be at least 1,000 words and should focus on any designated topic, regardless of the subject matter."

Soon people got the most important information.

"The first prize is $100, the second prize is $50, the third prize is $30, and the encouragement prize is $10."

"One hundred dollars!" People always like to stare at the first prize.

One hundred dollars is equivalent to several months' income for most people, and now all you need to earn this income is to write an article of a thousand words, which sounds very easy.

So people started discussing it heatedly.

"Hey, do you want to write?"

"Of course I wrote it. I went to the upper grades of elementary school."

"I want to write too. I think it should be no problem to get an encouragement award... Ten dollars is enough for a good drink at the drinking house!"

"The essay contest will be over at the end of this year, and I have to go inform my brother. He is still in Clark Town."

Amid the noisy discussions, there was a man smelling of cigarette smoke, quietly staring at the essay solicitation information on the notice board.

However, his attention was mainly focused on several news topics designated by the essay contest: "The Great Irish Famine..."