6
-te EVENING STAR
With Sunday Morning Edition.
WASHINGTON, D. C.
THURSDAY... December 18. 1924
THEODORE W. NOYES Editor
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The Five-Year Building Program.
The five-year building program as
adopted by the Board of Education
yesterday proposes new buildings for
the McKinley and Business High
Schools, purchase of a site for an ad
dition to the Armstrong High School,
seven new junior high school build
ings and additions to others, 14 new
elementary school buildings, purchase
of sites for future buildings and ad
dition of playgrounds to the District
schools. Such a program would fit out
the District school system effectively
and would practically catch up with
the arrears up to this time. If the
program is adopted promptly and
work is started without delay and the
yearly appropriations are made in ac
cordance with the plan, in about seven
years from this time this work will
have been accomplished.
It is always to be remembered that
n construction program arranged for
a certain period is subject to delays,
of authorizing legislation at the be
ginning, of appropriation during the I
period and of construction under the I
execution of the law. To estimate a I
seven-year lapse with a five-year I
building program, reckoning from the j
present, is therefore warrantable. 1
Should Congress adopt this plan and j
provide the funds from year to year
itrictly in accordance with it, by Jun
C ould be brought up to date in its
building equipment—that is to say,
brought up to date as of January 1,
3 925. For the buildings provided for
in this present proposal are all needed
now. If by the rubbing of a lamp
some genii could be made to place
this school outfit on the ground ready
for use today, or, say, on New Year
day, Washington would have a com
plete equipment, and no more than
that. The school children would be
adequately housed for once in the his
tory of the Capital. Insanitary build
ings could he discarded, halftime
classes could bo placed on full-time
basis, the platoon system could be
abandoned and portable schools swept
into the junk pile. That, of course,
iii subject to the provision of teachers
to man the plant.
So ft is necessary in considering
this five-year building program to re
gard it as veritably an emergency
measure and not a provision for the
future. It is not an extravagant esti
mate of the school building needs.
Testimony to that effect can be had
from school officials and teachers,
from pupils and from parents:
Though this is the short session of
Congress, this measure can, and
should be adopted. If it is postponed
till the next Congress the needs will
have Increased, for their is a steady
and a large growth of the school pop
ulation year by year. The problem be
comes annually more difficult. The ar
rears increase.
The District prays that this measure
will be put upon its passage at this
session, despite the fact that only a j
little over two months remain before
final adjournment. There is no sub
ject that is better understood by the
District committees and the appropri
ation committees. The money is avail
able for a big start in the execution
of this program. The Senate has
passed a bill to make available for
District uses District tax money now i
held in the Treasury, due to failure
to appropriate in the past, and de
clared to belong to the District by a
joint committee of Congress. Definite
allocation of this fund to execute the
five-year building program, upon the
equitable basis of the same terms as
those that prevailed when the fund
was accumulated —namely, an even
contribution of Federal money—would
permit the beginning of this work
next Summer.
The U. S. A.’s prosperity is no
doubt a comfort to European nations
who would regret to see Uncle Sam
embarrassed because of difficulty in
collecting money due him.
Street Lights and Safety.
In the course of his statement be
fore the joint District committee con
ference on the traffic question yester
day Col. A. B. Barber, motor expert
of the Chamber of Commerce of the
: United States, in answer to a ques
tion, said that dimmers should be
used on motor cars whenever the
streets are properly lighted. There
upon Senator Jones of Washington
jinmediately exclaimed: “There isn’t
any such place in Washington.”
That statement is literally correct.
There is no place in Washington
-where the streets are sufficiently
illuminated at night, and that is one
of the roaaons for the large number
of accidents here. Responsibility for
This fact rests in the main on Con
gress, not on the District, for pleas
for funds for more and better street
-lights have been made for years,
with wholly inadequate response.
Save in a very few of the streets
of this city a pedestrian is barely
visible at an Intersection until he
comes within the range of the motor’s
headlights at a short distance. The
i illumination of the street lamps at
corners does not protect him. The
. lamps cast a glow upon the sidewalks
and for a few feet beyond the curb.
Out in the middle of the street there
is no Illumination. In midblock a
pedestrian who. In disregard of the
safety rule of crossing only at the
’ Intersections, leaves the curb to
traverse the street is virtually in
visible until a machine is on him.
All drivers in this city knew that
they cannot depend upon the ilia
: mination of the streets to prevent ac
’ cldents. If they are conscientious,
as most are, they drive carefully
when they approach crossings for
their own protection as well as that
of the pedestrians.
As the lights are now the pedestrian
must protect himself at night by
watching the traffic, which he can
mark by the motor headlights. Yet
he has difficulty in determining dis
tances. owing to the variation in
the brightness of those lights. The
best protection to him and to the
motorist is a proper illumination at
the crossings.
The street lamps should be so
shaded as to throw bright beams of
light upon the cross-walks. A differ
ent style of lamp from that which is
now in use in Washington should be
adopted to effect this Illumination.
It will cost money, but, considering
the fact that lives are at stake and
that lives are being taken constantly
in this city because of lack of proper
street lighting, the cost should be
rated as the least consideration.
" - -• «
Pistol Legislation.
The House of Representatives yes
terday voted to exclude from the
mails pistols, revolvers and other tire- |
arms that can be concealed on the
person. This was done to reinforce
the State laws against tjie improi>er
sale of weapons. It Is an excellent
measure for the prevention of crime.
But it depends for its effectiveness
upon the State laws. Take, for in
stance, the law in effect here in the
District of Columbia, for an amend
ment of which effort has been made
for years without avail. Under the i
law here any person can obtain a
deadly weapon quickly and cheaply,
without any check whatever save the
giving of a name and an address.
I The name and address do not need
1 to he genuine and are not subject to
j verification. The dealer must report
1 such sales to the police after the
I fact, often after the damage is done.
| If the District had a proper “state
I law” it would he further protected by
the proj>osed law against “mail order”
pistol transportation. Such a law
should indeed lie framed along with
the proposed statute prohibiting the
transport of deadly weapons through
the mails. It should .prescribe a sys
tem of permits for purchase, under
which no dealer is permitted, under
severe penalty, to sell a deadly
weapon save upon the presentation
of a license to buy issued by a desig
nated responsible public official.
The present concealed weapons law
is no protection whatever to the pub
lic. It prohibits the carrying of guns -
on the person save under specific
permit, hut it is rarely enforced be
cause it is difficult to catch the of
fender. The “gun toter” is usually
detected only when he commits some
other offense and is searched. The
first need is to prevent him from
getting a weapon that he can carry
upon his person. If the local shops
and the mails are closed to him he
will have difficulty in arming him
self for criminal purposes. He might
go into another jurisdiction, where
the laws are more lenient, and buy
a deadly weapon: but if the District
were to have the protection of a
proper pistol law neighboring juris
dictions wmuld then be subject to
pressure to follow suit. At any rate,
the person of criminal intent could
not arm himself here at home quickly
and with practically no risk of de
tection.
So, while Congress is passing this
bill to make pistol buying by mail
impossible, it should give the District,
which is directly under its legislative
custody, a “State law" which will
conform in principle and effect to this
prohibition.
I
A great deal of criticism used to he
leveled at the Speaker of the House
of Representatives. In view of recent
historic events, a man may under
take the office without fear that any
irate rhetorician will refer to a live
statesman as a “czar.”
Chinese troops show a tendency to
mutiny owing to a more or less busi
nesslike impression that there is
more money in banditry than in sol
diering.
The post office workers will go
ahead with Christmas deliveries with
out stopping to hear all the discussion
as to a raise in pay.
A grateful public enjoys seeing “In
dian Bummer” taking as many en
cores as possible.
Borah on Peace and War.
Senator Borah of Idaho, the new
chairman of the Senate committee on
foreign relations, contributes an in
teresting chapter to the discussion of
plans for world peace In the address
delivered by him last night to the
Philadelphia Forum in the “City of
Brotherly Dove.” It comes at a time
when public thought in this country
is intent upon the subject. Just at
the moment President Coolldge and
Secretary of State Hughes are en
grossed upon plans to promote the
conservation of world peace. It is in
the air.
By reason of his position Senator
Borah’s remarks are calculated to be
invested with significance, and un
questionably with interest. He would
create a body of International law, go
ing as far as humanly possible to
reduce international relations to es
tablished rules of conduct, establish
ment of an Independent tribunal with
jurisdiction and power to determine
all controversies involving construc
tion of International law or treaties.
The core of his proposition is to de
clare by that tribunal that war is a
.crime and that if it comes it must he
without the sanction of law, but in
violation of it, ds piracy or murder.
The evening star, Washington, i>. c m Thursday, degeairek ih, 1924.
He caustically points out that we con
i fine our love of peace to paper, while
i our war spirit finds its expression in
deeds. “We profess friendship and
practice vengeance,” he said, speak
ing of the world in general. There is
no hope for peace so long as great
powers will that there shall be no
peace. He cited a number of inter
national Incidents since the World
War which have involved a resort to
violence and force upon the part of
great and powerful nations against the
unarmed and helpless.
He would drop the phrase outlawry
of war for substitution of law and ju
dicial tribunals in international af
fairs. Senator Borah is likely to find
himself at the head of a large follow
ing in this country In sympathy with
his efforts for maintaining Interna
tional peace with the very simple doc
trine of “the will to peace.”
The People’s Tribute.
The high esteem in which Samuel
Gompers was held by the people of
this country has been attested by
an extraordinary demonstration of
sorrow in the course of the progress
of his body from San Antonio, Tex.,
to New York, where today his funeral
occurred. Few men, indeed, have
ever been so acclaimed in death, or
by representatives of such widely
variant groups of people. Had he
been a public official of the highest
rank his cortege could not have been
more impressively received in mourn
ing. Exceptional honors were j>aid
to him here at the Capital, the scene
of his activities for many years. The
Government itself expressed tribute
with a military escort. Representa
tives of the Government are present
at the funeral services today in New
York. All this is due both to the
value of Samuel Gompers’ work In
behalf of the American workingman
and to belief in his integrity and his
I>atrlotism. He was labor’s advocate
first of all, and he was always a
good citizen, a stanch supporter of
th© principles of American govern
ment. He fought his battles vig
| orously as partisan of the working
t men, but always fairly. His contribu
tion to the welfare of th© toilers of
America was beyond measure. He
rests now in death, with a monument j
of affection and respect rarely given j
to one who never held public office.
xtr
Italy has been able, thanks to Mus
solini, to offer an example tending to
explain why several communities in
this country manage to be fairly con
tented with a vigorous boss and a
smooth-running political machine.
Patriotic sentiment is so strong
that announcements of a quiet in
auguration never prevent crowds
from assembling in Washington in
order to honor the Nation’s President.
When a politician announces that
he is a Socialist he conveys no ac
curate impression of his principles.
There is a different kind of Socialism
to fit every phase of discontent.
There are apparently statesmen in |
the U. S. Capitol who experience a j
certain satisfaction in giving the |
Coolidge veto enough exercise to keep
it in good form.
Investigations would make a clearer
impression on public attention if ar
rangements could b© made to have
them conducted more rapidly and one
at a time.
Statisticians assert that the rapid
pace of the "flapper” shortens life. It
is impossible to make statistics as in- j
teresting and influential as the jazz
orchestra.
Great relief would be afforded to
humanity if the "next war” could
be fought out in diplomatic council I
by tearing up blueprints.
SHOOTING STARS.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON.
“Ease.”
“Some day I’ll sit and take my ease,”
Said Hezekiah Bings.
"When that time comes, no doubt I’ll
wheeze
Until the doctor brings
Some stuff the rheumatiz to cure,
Or chase the gout away.
While friends bring books to make
me sure
I’m better every day.
I
“I’d rather hit the busy pace
And toil with human zest
Than settle back and seek to grace
An armchair built for rest.
Though tales of dreamy bliss may
please
The poet as he sings,
I’ve small desire to take my ease”!—
Said Hezekiah Bings.
Command of language.
“Your speech was very valuable to
me,” remarked the friend.
“In what respect?”
“You happened to us© exactly the
word I needed to fill out a cross
word puzzle.”
Research,
Said Hamlet, “Words, words, words,
I read.
In course of time I may
Find just the rough stuff that I need
To put into my play.”
Jud Tunkins says he always sus
pected that after the first few meals
the prodigal son got his nerve back
and began to criticize the menu.
Determination.
“He says he will be miserable un
less I marry him,” said the pensive
girl.
“You must decide for yourself,”
answered Miss Cayenne, “whether he
is a devoted lover or merely one of
these people who can’t be happy un
less they are having their own way.”
Comparative Costs.
“There Is no Santa Claus,” they sigh.
I hear it with a frown.
Perhaps ’twas he in days gone by
Who held the prices down.
’ “If you’s lookin’ foh trouble,” said
Uncle Eben, “de quickest way to find
it is to go along wif yoh eyes shet.”
| THIS AND THAT |
BY CHARLES E. TRAC EWELL.
L J I
How many remember the late Dew
Dockstader singing "Shovelln’ Coal”
at the old National?
What a genial minstrel he was, to
be sure! How the echoes of his voice
continue to roll down the ages, and
how the remembrance of his ohee.-y
personality helps to brighten our
own efforts at shovelln’ anthracite!
'Phis Is thfe open season for tossing
shovels of coal into the furnace that
adorns the tjasement as an ancient
Image of brass or Iron might have
decorated the temple of some long
ago nation.
The joys of tending the furnace
ought to be kept in mind at this sea
son. for, properly estimated, what
might be a task becomes a rite com
parable to the bowing' of some old
sun worshiper In a temple dedicated
to the sun.
Heat and light.
These two qualities we must have
to continue our existence on this
planet. XJttle babies naturally seek
them. So do dogs, so do cats. Tabby
will curl up in the sunshine with
huge satisfaction, never seeming to
get too much of It, except perhaps in
the warmest part of the hottest sum
mer days. •
Since our very existence depends
upon heat and light, the two yet be
ing inseparable by science, let us not
approach the daily task of tending
the furnace as a prosaic duty merely,
but rather as a sort of pleasant offer
ing to certain great forces of nature.
Thus we will not only get the heat
which we want, but we will receive
also mental stimuli which are there
waiting for ns to take them by the
hand and make them ours.
♦♦ ♦ ♦
After all. do not most of us make life
entirely too prosaic?
What is the sense of going through
our days in an entirely matter-of-fact
way, our life devoid for the most part
of interest or "pep.’’ lacking sunshine
and “moonshine,” too, if you will, when
we might as easily make every day a
thing of beauty and something of a joy
forever?
In childhood we are near this sense of
elation, close to the fundamental under
standing that this is a Joyous adven
ture on which we are engaged, that we
are actually here, and that we really are
going somewhere.
It mattered not, then, that mankind
sails under sealed orders, placed aboard
this wonderful ship, th£ world, without
any asking of permission or specific is
suing of directions.
What cared we. as children, that the
chart was hazy, or that the lines tended
| to blur, or that the how. what, which
j and why were poorly defined?
The sky was blue, the air was fresh,
| the night was dotted with a thousand
' stars.
The wind tossed clean hair over un
sullied foreheads, and the rain fell upon
fairy flowers in the garden. Th© world
outside the door was a very interesting
place, and the old attic held romance
atop every trunk and box on rainy days.
Night came down, then, as an uncon
scious benediction, a blessing we ac
cepted although we did not realize all
its meaning, as something rightfully
ours, welded into the texture of our
days and nights in an Incomparably
clever fashion.
** * *
Kind friends, our days and nights are
no whit less wonderful now’ than they
j were then, if once we stop to brush
away the dross which we have allowed
to accumulate upon them, or which we
have permitted others to encumber
them with.
We are living in Washington, the
Capital of our great-Nation. It is a city
cleaner and fairer than ancient Rome
ever was. and our country - is a republic
j greater and better than Plato ever out
-1 lined.
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE
•
That first test vote in the Senate on I
the attempt to pass the postal pay
bill over the presidential veto shows
that Calvin Coolidge, like Woodrow j
Wilson, also has "a little group of I
wilful men” on his hands. There !
were thirteen Republicans among
them. With the exception of Cou
zena of Michigan, Johnson of Cali
fornia and Howell and Norris of Ne
braska, all of them ranked as recent
ly as November 4 as “Coolidge men.”
Two were re-elected to the Sneate, in
addition to tiieir own merits, bn the
Coolidge tidal wave that swept their
states—Edge of Jicw Jersey and Mc
i Nary of Oregon. The others—Cum-
I mins of lowa, Jones of Washington.
! McKinley of Illinois, Reed of Penn
! syivania, Shortridge of California. |
i Stanfield of Oregon and Wadsworth ;
| of New York—do not deny Coolidge j
i allegiance, either. In most cases
! their alibi for hostility to the Presi-
Ident on the postal bill is entangling;
j campaign pledges.
** * *
Appointment of Col. Joseph W. Me- j
Intosh of Illinois as controller of
the currency, calls attention to the |
fact that Illinois has had something!
of a mortgage on that job in our
i day and generation. During the past
thirty years five controllers have
come from the Prairie state. James
H. Eckles of Illinois was controller
in 1893, during the second Cleveland
administration. Charles G. Dawes
succeeded him when McKinley took
office in 1897. William B. Ridgely,
1 another Illinoisan, was controller
j under President Taft, and Henry M.
I Dawes, brother of Gen. Dawes, was
appointed to the post by President
Harding in 1923. Now President
Coolidge goes to the commonwealth
of Lincoln and Grant for another
guardian of our paper money. Col.
Mclntosh was for many years an of
ficial of the Armour Packing Com
pany at Chicago. Since 1920 he has
been director of finance of the Ship
ping Board and Emergency Fleet
Corporation. He saw active war
service in France, Italy and the Bal
kans in 1917 and 1918.
*♦ ♦ ♦
At the White House this week in
quirers about the state of the Navy
were advised by President Coolidge to
read a speech on the subject made
by Senator Hale of Maine last May.
Hal© Is chairman of the Senate com
mittee on naval affairs. Probably
with the exception of people who
have an incurable habit of reading
the Congressional Record, the speech
attracted the attention of very few
persons. Members of Congress long
have complained that many important
utterances on Capitol Hill fail_ to
catch the public eye and ear. When
Warren G. Harding, as President
elect, visited the press gallery of the
Senate In the Winter of 1919-1920, he
mentioned “the best speech I ever
made” —on the League of Nations, In
September, 1919—and lamented that
nobody dignified it with notice.
** ♦ ♦
Eugene Meyer, jr„ managing director
of the War Finance Corporation, is a
Treasury official who believes in prac
ticing what the Treasury preaches.
He loads himself down every day with
a pocketful of the 1924 silver dollars
which Mr. Mellon's department is try
ing to popularize, and puts them In
circulation. .The rural northwest is
absorbing wholesale lots of the glis
tening new cartwheels. A trial ship
ment of $300,000 was sent to the Fed
eral Reserve Bank at Minneapolis the
other day, and two duplicate orders
have meantime been sent in from
there.
** * *
Students of Calvin Coolldge's lit
erary style detect a conspicuous par
tiality on his part for alliteration,
These facts are known to all of us,
but not known enough to each one
of us. We do not stop to realize
often eenough the glory 6f our every
day existence.
Why. radio alone Is enough to bring
back to us the entire fairyland which
once was ours.
You sit at a little box and pluck
out of the air the very breathing of
a singer half way across the conti
nent, or turn a small dial and snare
from the invisible and perhaps non
existent ether the multiple sounds of
a distant orchestra, the laughs of
diners and the rattle of silver and
dishes.
Yes. our everyday existence still
has romance about It—even when we
shovel coal Into the furnace.
* * *
A furnace is such a homely’ cuss,
standing there without praise in a
corner of the basement. The recent
ads of fancy furnaces, with the en
tire company. In full dress, down-,
stairs admiring them, rather tickle
our sense of the eternal fitness of
things, for if there ever was a house
hold favorite which deserved open ad
miration now and then it is the
trusty old furnace.
It sits down there, all by Itself,
sending up warmth Just a* long as
you feed it properly. Its defalcations
seldom result from any Inherent fault
in Us sturdy structure, but almost al
ways from some defect in the food
with which It is nourished.
No hones© furnace can give A1 re
sults on rations of slate and bone.
Klate and bone have their proper
I places in the world, hut certainly the
inside of a furnace Is not one of them.
jThe maw of a furnace, whether steam,
hot water, vapor or hot atr, requires
plenty of good grub in the shape of
clean coal.
No one can get out of a furnace
more than he puts into it in the
shape of honest coal. T heard a
woman in a store the other day tell
ing about running the furnace.
“We have regular coats, and hats
and gloves we wear,” she lamented.
“We look just likq the stokers, or
stevedores, or something. You see,
the furnace goes out every day, and
we have to rake It all out and build
it up again. I don’t know what is
the matter, but it gets all full of
clinkers.”
One felt very much as If he ought
to chirp up and declare: “Madame,
change your coal dealer.”
*♦ ♦ *
Surely, the clinker is the curse of
furnace tending. What joy to have
ycur furnace perform up to expec
tation? when it percolates merrily
in the morning, how happy the
household is!
Misery reigns on a large scale,
however, when a real clinker gets
caught In the grate. A real clinker
is a big hunk of metal or other un
breakable substance that gums up the
works.
Sometimes (he coal will fuse to
gether into pseudo-clinkers, masses
of ‘‘stuff and nonsense” that threaten
the necessity of cleaning the whole
mess out and the construction of a
perfectly clean tire.
These false clinkers usually can be
broken up and removed, either
through the feed door or the clinker
door. Fireside tongs come in very
handy. By scraping the offenders to
one side, removing them, and spread
ing the live coals out, many a heart
less-looking fire can be resuscitated.
The true clinker is more stubborn
that a mule, stronger than the pow
erful Katrinka, more obdurate than
a cat. You coax, poke, plead in
vain. Strategem fails miserably. The
only hope lies in a strong right arm
and an unbreakable grate.
j especially for words beginning with
his own cabalistic “c.” He went in
strong for words beginning with the
I third letter of the alphabet when he
I addressed Secretary Hoover's traffic
I conference at the White House. The
President talked about "conditions”
not "contemplated” when the “car”
was “created,” and then discussed the
"congestion, confusion and conflict"
which had resulted. These, if not
“combated." Mr. Coolidge said, would
end in ‘calamity” and “catastrophe."
** * *
A fortune rests in the hands of any
one who possesses an autograph of
Button Gwinnett of Georgia, one of
the signers of the Declaration of In
dependence. It is the scarcest of the
jSB immortal signatures. One authen-*
[ tic Button Gwinnett recently sold at
i auction in Philadelphia for $14,000.
! The signature of Thomas Lynch. Jr.,
j of North Carolina, Is also rare, and
j not long ago commanded $4,750. There
j are only 17 or 18 complete sets of
"signers" extant. One set this year
| fetched $32,500. Forty or fifty years
| ago a set. was worth less than S7OO.
George Washington's autograph,
i though not a rarity, sells nowadays
i for $l5O to S2OO. Once it was a drug
on the market at $lO.
* * 4= *
Albert Halstead, chip of a famous
journalistic block—Murat Halstead
Os Cincinnati, is a visitor to Wash
ington. Halstead is now American
consul general at Montreal and one
of the distinguished figures of the
United States foreign service. For
many years he was a Washington
newspaper correspondent, having in
herited a talent for journalism from
his father. While Murat Halstead
edited the Cincinnati Commercial Ga
zette, Alfred was its representative
at the National Capital. Since his
first consular post ih England in
1906 Halstead has seen official service
in Vienna and Stockholm. He is a
Princeton man and once edited the
Springfield (Mass.) Union.
** * *
Latin America will have a friend,
and a well posted one. In Congress in
the person of Senator-elect Hiram
Bingham of Connecticut. So will the
air service, for Bingham was an
aviator pilot during the World War.
Besides having spent his early man
hood as a lecturer on South Ameri
can affairs at big Eastern universi
ties. Bingham has traveled exten
sively throughout out sister repub
lics south of the equator. He speaks
Spanish fluently. In the course of
several expeditions of exploration.
Bingham crossed South America in
half a dozen directions. He hap
pened to be born In Honolulu,, where
his father was a missionary. What
Senator Bingham thinks about the
Monroe doctrine is Indicated by one
of his books, entitled “The Monroe
Doctrine an Obsolete Shibboleth.”
(Copyright, 1924.)
A New Coolidge.
From the Topeka Capital.
“A new Coolidge" since the election
some Washington correspondents re
port, "President's meekness gone as
he directs affairs with snappy vim.”
The old Coolidge suited the country,
judging by the vote. We don’t know
about his meekness,, but if that Is
what it was, It inherited the earth,
according to the scriptural promise.
No Chance for La Follelte.
From the Indianapolis New*.
One reason 'La Follette didn't do
better Is that bad weather favors one
old party and good weather favora
another, and there’s no weather last
for a third party.
The North Window
BY LEIL.i MECHLIN.
Said a lady the other day, “I am
tired to death of the word 'art.'
Everything 1 is art nowadays, from
metal beds to higher education.” And
she spoke the truth. The, word
"an,” alas, seems to have been so
111 used that it has to a large ex
tent lost its precious meaning.
Curiously enough, this calamity
has not befallen the word music.
No matter how had the manifesta
tions are—and they run the gamut,
from the novice pianist to the dis
cordant church choir—the /word
music always has a glamour, and
I It has the power to stir the Imagina
tion and quicken the heartbeat. Along
comes Jazz, but the glamour Is not
lessened; jazz is Jazz, music is music
—always has been, and always will
be. Hut why? Even had some name
like Jazz been Invented for a similar
form of modernistic expression In art
It would have made no difference.
The word ‘‘art" In the popular mind
is not associated with Joyousness,
festivity, good times.
Misuse and association of ideas can-.
• not altogether explain this difference,
for though we see advertised “art
metal beds” today, we cannot forget
that a generation or two ago we had
musical stools and chairs—delight
ful pieces of furniture so constructed
that when in use a music-box tinkled
out familiar tunes. No, the difference
goes deeper than this. We have not
yet awakened to a realization of the
delight-giving power of art.
** * *
In his lecture last we£k on "Realism
m .Seven Arts.” given at the Central
High School under the auspices of
the Washington Society of the Pine
Arts, Stark Young suggested that
part— -a large pan—of the trouble
m all of the arts today is our demand
for realism, our supposition that In
art we must find a resemblance to
the actual in life. Architecture, he
pointed out was free- of this limita
-sdo not expect to see a
building resembling a man or a tree,
a horse or a dog. or even a moun
tain It is a thing apart, and suffi
cient unto itself. To an extent, music
is free for. as he put ft; the majority
know that when music begins imi
tating common sounds it is getting
out of the realm of pure mu.fc To
be sure, some of the modern com
posers are making efforts in this di-
b r l th<?y ar ® StiJl ,aken as
occasions for mirth rather than sub
ject for serious admiration.
But in painting, and still more in
tH^l P Vn re ’ the m,RC °hception prevails
srvme»hin a r tlst ,s trying to imitate
something in nature, and the closer
the imitation the belter the art
mimV‘ S .K othinir more difficult to ex
plafn to the average layman than that
the picture painted so accurate!}' that
Jt deceives the eye is not the acme
of fine expression. It is this neces
sity which in large measure has in
duced the modernist movement in
painting and sculpture. To be sure,
it has gone too far, so far that manv
of its manifestations have little oV
no likeness to anything that one has
ever seen, and. unhappily, almost, no
element of beauty, without which no
art can survive. But. despite all this,
U has served to stress the fact that
art is by no means inherently or pri
marily a matter of repetition, of imi
tation. The great artists of ail
times have been those who have pos
sessed originality and found, uncon
sciously, individual and new expres
sion.
** * *
In Italy and in Prance the word
art. which is practically the same in
all languages, f.hares today the dis
tinction among common people that
all here give to music. In Italy and
r ranee to the boy and girl on the
street or the laborer In the ditch, the
shopkeeper behind his counter, art
has a magic, quality, and offers in
stantly the suggestion of recreation,
of a delightful means of employment
of leisure time. The problem for us ■
in America today is how to inoculate '
our own people with this suggestion. !
In an address made at a public ‘
meeting recently Mr. Frederick Kep- i
pel of New York, at one time assist- 1
ant Secretary of War, said: "From
every possible source time is being
saved. The electric washer is quite
as important a factor in this time
saving ns the eight-hour day, but for
what is time being saved? That is
the great problem.” He lamented the
fact that so little of this leisure time
is being devoted to the arts. "The
remarkable thing.” he said, "is that
a people like the American people
have gone S o far in other directions
while they have succeeded in going
so short away in the appreciation
and consideration of the opportunities
in the production of the arts,” add
ing: "I do not suppose anv great
civilization In the history of the
world has ever gone as far as we
have with so few people drawing
from that Inexhaustible spring." Re
ferring later to this spring, he con
tinued: "The peculiar quality, the j
peculiar value of the art side of our
appeal or the appeal of the art to us,
of course, is its absolute directness.
You do not have to have a long prep
aration to enjoy great art. If you
have it in you you will do it the first
time. And it stimulates and vitalizes
ail the other things where we do
have to have preparation.” He urged
most strongly teamwork In the arts,
community effort. "Unity of the
arts," he reminded his listeners, "is
nothing new-, but it is what was a
commonplace in the earlier civiliza
tions. All the arts grouped around
the temple or around the forum or
around the cathedral: they were the
great flowerings of the human spirit
in the past.” If'we hope to have
similar flowerings today, Mr. Keppel
thought, it must come through sim
ilar effort.
** * *
Along this same line of thought
Homer Saint Gaudens, in an address
made at the meeting held last week
at the home of Mrs. William C. Eustis,
made the following contribution:
"Nowadays," he said, "we consciously
think of art only In terms of painting
and sculpture, yet really, when we
get down to brass tacks. In all our
surroundings, whether they be ele
vator grills or fln-de-siecle automo
bile bodies, or neckties, or our wife’s
hat, or dressing a dinner table, every
single one of us is subconsciously at
tracted and interested to some extent
by charm in color and form—attracted
with a little taste and discrimination,
I hope, but anyhow attracted. And
that desire is the fine, wholesome
universal appetite for art.”
It is this unsatisfied appetite which
is causing, some think, not a little
of the restlessness of today. The so
called amusements do not cure the
hunger; It goes deeper than this.
** * ♦
The sense of peace and tranquillity
that comes over one upon entering
any of the great cathedrals in Eu
rope is the gift of art. It is akin to
the feeling of joyous exaltation pro
duced by beauty in nature —a magnifi
cent view, a glorious sunset—but it
is different; it is more intense and
profound, because subconsciously
there is the knowledge which art al
ways conveys of human thought and
touch and mastery. There are very
few who do not re-act to the Lincoln
Memorial, to Saint Gaudens’ master
piece, the Adams Memorial. Almost
every one prefers beauty to ugliness
and is affected by it, and the more
frequent the contact the keener the en
joyment. The appeal of Versailles,
of the garden of the Villa d’Este, of
all the beautiful gardens and pub
lic parks the world over, is the appeal
of art —they are man-made, and their
beauty did not just happen, the genius
pf man is behind It. The fact is that
the manifestations of art are so nu
merous and so disassociated that very
often they are not recertified at all
as in this category. Moreover, art is
so free, even when it gets by chance
■ —1 1 ■■ll—l—ll - I ■■ - - - - •
ANSWERS TO QUESTION!
BY FREDERIC J.\aSKW
Q. How many Protestant and how
many Catholic churches are there In
the District?—M. D. T.
A. According to the 1924 directory
of Washington, D. C.. there are 33
Roman Catholic and 342 Protestant
and other churches.
Q. What is the oldest Washington
golf course?—W. T. O.
A. The Chevy Chase Club, Chevy
Chase, Md., has the oldest golf course
within the immediate vicinity of
Washington.
Q. At what degree will gasoline
freeze?—A. E. C.
A. The Bureau of Standards says
that gasoline has no definite freezing
point. It stiffens up slowly like
melted wax at temperatures far be
low' those ordinarily encountered even
in the Arctic.
Q. What is done to the wood of
which pipes are made so it does not
burn?—J. O.
A. Smoking pipes are usually made
of special kinds of wood which are
very tough and close grained, which
do not crack or burn easily. Many
pipe bowls do become charred.
Q. Where were Christmas trees first
used?—C. E. R,
A. The Christmas tree is from
Egypt, and its origin dates from a
period long anterior to the Christian
era. The palm tree is known to put
forth a branch every month, and a
spray of this tree, with 12 shoots on
it, was used in Egypt at the time of
the Winter solstice, as a symbol of
the year completed.
Q. Is it true that in sow* coun
tries people are buried only for a
time, then are disinterred and put in
a bone yard?—N. G. B.
A. The American Funeral Director
says that in regard to temporary
burials, the custom of dumping bones
of dead human bodies after they have
lain in an above-ground “grave" is
practiced today in Cuba. and. Indeed,
in nearly all the Batin American
countries. They do not believe it is
practiced in any other countries than
those of Spanish origin.
Q. Can borax be made too strong?
Have heard that water only dissolves
so much.—M. P.
A. The Bureau of Chemistry says
that the saturation point of a solu- I
tion depends upon temperature. At
an ordinary temperature you can
make about a 4 per cent solution of
borax. At boiling point it is possible
to make a 85 per cent solution.
Q. 'What is the meaning of the ex
pression "hallmark"?—D. B. V.
A. A hallmark is the official mark
of the Goldsmith Co. of England,
stamped on gold and silver articles
at Goldsmith’s Hall, in Bondon, to
attest their purity. Hence the term
came to imply any mark used for the
same purpose by assay officers in the
United Kingdom.
Q. What is the origin of the name
Penn Van, a town in New York?—
F. N. C.
A. Some of the first settlers of the
village Penn Yan were from Penn
sylvania. while others were known
as New England Yankees. A discus
sion arose as to the name of the vil
lage. and both parties were satisfied
by the adoption of the present name,
Penn Yan, made up from the first s
syllables of Pennsylvania and Yan
kce.
Q. How many foreigners were ;
there in the United States in 1920,
and about how many become natu- j
rallzed yearly?—J. B. S.
A. According to the 1920 census !
report, there were 13,712,754 for- j
eigners In the United States. The
: number of citizens naturalized in the ;
(United States for five years were-I
1918, 63.993: 1919, 128,335; 1920, 51 972- !
! 1921, 17,636; 1922, 9.468.
I Q. What is the origin of the phrase,
■ “To let the cat out of the bag"?—S. H.
; A. The Danes claim to have originated
I
I
Cross-Word Puzzle Craze
Held Beneficial by Editors
1 Like the dancing mania of the mid
; die ages, the cross-word puzzle has
swept over the lard, and, as Whistler
said of art, "no hove) is safe from
it.” Wall street has prescribed, un
der penalty of dismissal, any of its
employes from "working” during of
fice hours any of the hypnotic check
ered squares. A large newspaper
syndicate held off for months before
it capitulated to the rising demand
from Its clients for a daily puzzle.
Now it is selling 58 different ones
| each day and reports that some of the
editors are clamoring for two or three
a day. In the opinion of the New
York World, “it may be better than
ping-pong or mah-jong in that it
compels Its devotees to add to their
vocabularies. It may keep husband
and wife from domestic bickering. It
may bring to life once more the cor
ner saloon, where the tired citizen,
hoisting his foot onto the brass rail,
may say to the white-jacketed dis
penser. 'Let’s have a cross-word puz
zle and a pencil. Jack. I’ve had a
hard day.' ”
Referring to the statement of an
English professor that the average
business man in this country has a
vocabulary of but 3,000 words, the
San Francisco Bulletins declares:
“That is a pity, but it is going to be
remedied. When he goes home to
dinner his wife greets him with: ‘Oh.
James can think of a word of five
letters that means the same as French
fried potatoes?’ Little James calls
from his corner: ‘Ma, what’s a word
that has eight letters and means egg
plant?’ And ma replies: ’Ask your
father, he knows everything, and I’m
busy.’ And. in a short while father
catches it himself trying to answer
all those questions as if he knew. He
goes oft in his golf, can’t think of a
funny story any more, carries a book
of synonyms In his pocket, mutters
to himself, and when he reads the
ticker, absently looks for words,
words, words. The cross of the cross
word puzzle is on him. In time his
speech will be so rich in synonyms
that nobody but another cross-word
hound will be able to converse with
him.”
** * *
No cause, remarks the Buffalo News,
"may be regarded as well on its way
until it has had its martyrs. By that
token cross-word puzzle addicts have
something to hearten them in the fact
that a man has gone to prison in New
York rather than submit to a fine for
refusing to vacate a restaurant table
at which he had been working for
hours to find ’a five-letter word for
microscopic hairs’.” The cross-word
puzzle, the Springfield (Maas.) Union
declares has become more than a
fashion. "It Is a movement, a sweep
ing, staggering, compelling move
ment. We should not hesitate to call
It the greatest movement In modern
times were it not that no one,
as yet, has attempted to incor
porate . compulsory puzzle-solving
Into the Federal Constitution.
That may be a mere oversight. One
into museums, that we are apt to
take it as a matter of course. All this
goes to lessen its value among those
who do not know’, for it Is the costly
which is accounted valuable.
Let it be remembered, however, that
art Is never cheaply brought forth: it
has Its price and it is more than that
of a king’s ransom. But those who
pay are they who produce—artists to
whom art Is life, and even more.
this expression. In Denmark there is
a choice confection made in the form of
a cat. Children delight in placing a
number of the confections In a bag
which is then tied almost out of reach.
They then attempt to bite holes in the
paper—thereby “letting the cat out of
the bag."
Q. How can stamps which are stuck
together be taken apart without los
ing the mucilage?—W. F. P.
A. Bay a thin sheet over them and
Iron with a hot iron.
Q. Is the lifting of oil from the wells
to storage tanks an expensive pro
cedure?—N. O. K.
A. The Bureau of Mines says tjtat
from 20 to 90 per cent of the total cost
of producing petroleum may be charged
to lifting the oil. Although the lifting
cost ranges from less than 3 cents a
barrel at flowing wells, producing sev
eral hundred barrels a day, to S 3 a bar
rel, at wells producing less than a ftfth
of a barrel a day. the lifting cost |>er
well may fee i more than Sl,fK" !
at large flowing wells of the type re
cently developed in Oklahoma, Texas.
Arkansas and California, to less than
$lO at many of the old wells pumped
only a few hours a week, as in ua>*t
of the oil fields of New York and Penn
sylvania. where the average dally pro
duction per well per day is less than
one-fourth of a barrel.
Q. How can famish be removed from
silver metal cloth slippers?—B. K. S.
A. Silver and gold slippers may In
cleaned by brushing with alcohol or
gasoline. There are commercial prepa
rations on the market for this pur
pose which seem quite satisfactory.
(j. Does a country’s proximity to
the »ea make it more liable to earth
quakes?—O. C. W.
A. It has been thought by som*-
that the center of earthquakes and
volcanic disturbances is always neai
the sea or other large supplies of
water, and that the disturbances are
directly caused by the filtration of
the water down to igneous matter,
and the consequent generation of vas;
quantities of steam, which frees
itself by explosion. Others hate
sought to explain earthquakes as
part of the phenomena of a planet
cooling at the surface or to the
yielding of strata so as to slip down
ward upon each other.
Q. What is thrown pottery?—
F. O. P.
A. Thrown pottery is shaped on a
rapidly revolving disk. The prepara
tion of the clay is a scientific process.
The ingredients—bail clay, flint, pow
der, feldspar and kaolin—are care- *
fully selected and weighed in certain
proportions, so that they will fuse
properly and become sufficiently
hard when shaped and fired. The
mixture is loft to stand until thor
oughly soaked and then is lawned
through fine linen and dumped into
a plaster box which absorbs the
water and leaves the clay in condi
tion to be beaten. All the air bub
bles must be driven out of the ball
of clay before it is placed on the
throwing wheel. Workers in pottery
delight in the touch of the plastic
clay as it spins upon the disk. The
thumbs make the inside of the object
while the extended fingers shape the
walls. After the work of art is prop
erly shaped it is put into a plaster
i box to become “leather hard” and is
; then finished or turned. The plain
■ objects finally are ornamented and
i placed in the fire oven, and a still
| later baking process puts on the dc
| sired glaze.
j Q. Kindly inform me how I can
! put celluloid in liquid form?—J. C.
I A. Celluloid can be dissolved in
denatured alcohol.
j (Readers of The Evening Star should
j send their questions to The Star /«-
; formntion Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin,
director. Twenty-first and C streets
northwest. The only charge ferr this
service is 2 cents in stamps for return
postage.)
expects it to be remedied speedily.”
Nearly everything in this country Is
investigated sooner or later, adds the
Indianapolis News, and "since the
cross-word puzzle craze has become
epidemic a State or Federal inquiry
may be expected. People w r ho have
not yet become cross-word puzzle
i fans, but who are plagued by other
i members of the family who are, wish .
j to know’ what is back of the move
i ment.” The Boston Traveler fears the
i worst and adds: “The cross-word puz
zle mania is bad enough now, good
! ness knows, w’ith formerly sane folks
\ sawing the air, pawing the diction
j aries and clawing the minds of
i friends and enemies for missing
j words. There is no peace in the land,
| Reviewing the history of American
' fads, including the ouija, mah-jong
and the cross-word puzzle, the Mil
waukee Journal contends, "what these
succeeding ’crazes’ tell us is that as
a nation with a good deal of leisure
w© haven’t learned how to use it.”
The Journal suggests that if each
individual used his spare time to de
velop his own individuality—"used it
in whatever way he felt would give
him the most pleasure and the most
returns, that would be a ’craze’ worth
j while.” On the other hand, the Cleve
| land Plain Dealer believes the cross
word puzzle ought to have some ele
ment of permanency, because "it is
not silly. Considered from several
viewpoints it is beneficial mental
exercise. Incidental!?', it is good fun.’’
** * *
By comparison, continues the Nash
ville Banner, "the cross-word phase
of American desire for fads is to be
preferred to anything which has re
cently come along. It is eminently
better than repeating phrases about
every day in every way and wonder
ing what it is ail about. It is more
enlivening and instructive, too. than
indulging in endless bouts at Chinese
dominoes, otherwise known as mah
jong. It is bound to teach the enthu
siast more about his own language
and facilitate his use of it. It is also
calculated to impress quite a good
many interesting and useful facts
about history, mythology, science.,
business and sport.” The Lansing
State Journal thinks "the cross-vt* 7 **
puzzle will compel a lot of people to
increase their knowledge of words.
In that it will serve a useful purpose.
Is it too much to hope that they use
them when they get acquainted with
them?" If one acquires a new word
by wrestling it out of a cross-word
puzzle, and it finds resting place In
the mind, the El Paso Herald believes
that "sooner or later, in the proper
connection, it pops out. A fragment
of the newly acquired vocabulary has
been put to use. Another thought
begs expression, and Ilk© as not an
other new word enters into it. And
so it goes.” Says the Wichita Eagle;
"We do not doubt that the cross-word
puzzle has concealed in it a great
American flareback and is good for
: the Nation. Basically, America re
mains deadly serious on one thing in
1 particular—education. The cross
word puzzle fits In. It doesn’t merely
deal with words; it deals with the se
-1 lectlve qualities of .the mind. It doesn't
; call so much upon knowledge as upon
skill. And mental skill is'at the bot
tom of American education." The Sa
vannah Press decides: "The sport
which demands a little thinking is not
utterly despised. It is an unselfish
game, any number can join in, and the
1 family need not preserve a stony
silence, aa is necessary where bridge
or radio enters the home."