Evening star. [volume], December 11, 1926, Page 6, Image 6

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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6
THE EVENING STAR!
With Sunday Morning Edition.
WASHINGTON. D. C. j
SATURDAYS. .December 11, 1928
THEODORE V/. NOYES Editor
The Evening Star Newspaper Company
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The Utilities Commission Bill.
It is indicated that the President is
tempted to veto the bill providing for
h sejiarate Public I'tilities Commission
for the District of Columbia on tin
ground of the residential qualification
requirement and also that which pre
vents the appointment to the commis
sion of any iterson Who has had ex
perience with a public service utility
Corporation. His objection is the
stronger toward the latter of the two
restrictions.
There is no substantial ground for
objection to the three-year residence
clause which has been written into
this legislation in keeping with the
law relating to the appointment of
District Commissioners. That require
ment was adopted in 1878 as a means
of insuring the selection of mnniciiwl
administrators who were identified
with the community and familiar with
its needs. It has worked admirably,
and while occasionally it has prevent
ed the selection of men of highly spe
cialized qualifications because of lack
of •‘residence’’ in the District, it has
served to protect the Capital com
munity from exploitation and any pro
posal for its repeal or modification
would he vigorously opposed.
There can be no lack of good mate
rial for the Public. I'tilities Commis
sion in consequence of tlie three-year
residence clause that has been writ
ten into the measure. In just the
Same way as in the case of the Dis
trict Commissioners, it will he always
possible to find District people who
are competent to fill the«e offices and
discharge these duties.
It is unfortunate that Congress has
limited the range of selection by the
second restriction. Experience in pub
lic utility matters should be rated as
a qualification rather than as a bar
to faithful, competent service for the
community. The suggestion of the
restriction that a person who lias
v n bin five years had direct or indi
rect connection with a utilities cor
poration cannot be trusted to be a
faithful and efficient public adminis
trator is preposterous. In fact, the
more fully acquainted a utilities com
missioner may be with corporation
a hairs and practice" the more com
petent he is likely to *r in administer
ing the law in behalf -f the people. It
must he assumed tnat he is honest
and that on taking office’he will re
spect the oath that is administered
to him.
However, the biil now lying before
the President carries this provision I
and he must either sign it as it is or
reject it as a whole. The District has
waited a long time for this legislation
and it now hopes that it will not suf
tor another poatixmement because of
features that merely have the effect
of narrowing the field of selection I
without assuredly lessening the effi
ciency and the fidelity of the person
nel of the I'tilities Commission.
The Russians are a nation of'
music lovers. If their government |
were as accurately organized as their
orchestras, the prospect would be
lairer.
A problem that has puzzled in
dividuals and nations is that of how
t<> get rid of a debt without paying it.
Not Money Worshipers.
Hilbert K. Chesterton, British essay--
Et and critic, rebukes the proposition!
that has for some time prevailed in j
England t,hat the American is a wor- •
•hiper of money. In an address be-,
fore the American Club at Oxford he j
says: “An American never talks of!
money in the hushed and awestruck \
tone that an Englishman employs in !
referring to financial matters.” | j
It is gratifying to find this acute ob
server thus discerning a fact that can
not with propriety be specifically ex-j
pressed by an American exponent ofi
ilie western philosophy of life. Now |
that Mr. Chesterton has broken the ictsj
by giving the lie to the statement that !
Americans worship money, it. may i
w ithout risk of incurring British die-!
pleasure be pointed out that the Amer-j
Jean people, thrifty as they are, are >
not hoarders or misers. They are)
spenders. They are liberal users ofj
iheir means. The worship of money |
is an entirely different thing.
To the American rich man money
Is merely a means of expanding his
life, of enlarging his experience, of en
joying more adventures. There are
few American misers, and it is the
miser who worships money, not the!
spender, not the user of wealth.
I n perfect frankness it must bo
acknowledged that ‘here are a great'
nv’7;’ Americans who flaunt their!
wealth, especial!*.- when they travel,
who make a show of their good for
tune In possession of means of luxury.
They are. h< iwever. not typical of the
i*eople of this country. And eventual
ly they learn the lesson of good taste i
and with few exceptions sdopt a more
modest slid hemming attitude.
Mi. Chesterton v> far a* the report
of his ri'imn Ks Indniites, does not
tom h up<mi the icel cause of the
spread of the l>ellef aliroad that Amer
‘Site ate money wotshlpere. which
t* that the lees fortunate people of
E irvpa are mar* e >*i J****ua
| of the greeter prosperity of this coun-j
| try. Perhaps some American tourists j
have adopted a “lord and lady bounti
j ful" pose toward their less fortunate
brothers and sisters in the old coun
try and have given this spirit sub
stance. Then there is the feeling that
has been aroused over the matter of j
the war debts, which is undoubtedly j
a factor In causing the unfortunate
title of “I'ncle Shylock” to be applied !
to the United States. Somehow it j
would seem that many Europeans feel ■
that the individual prospei ify of the
American people is due to the exaction ‘
of reiwynient of these obligations. 1
which, of course, is nonsense, forj
America would be prosperous if all
the debts were canceled.
Traffic Rule Enforcement.
Despite the campaign of the traffic
office to have enforced the morning
and evening rush-hour parking ban
on alternate sides of various streets,
nineteen automobiles were counted
this morning parked on the west side j
of Twenty-second street between N |
and I, streets northwest. Added to i
this shocking lack of enforcement of j
an Important regulation, a patrolman <
was observed yesterday at Scott
Circle leaning nonchalantly against
a tree while three motorists delib
erately ignored the red electric auto
matic signal and narrowly escaped
collision with cars running on the
green light.
These two cases vividly illustrate
the laxness of certain members of the
police department, especially in en
forcement of vital regu'ations. Every
policeman, it seems, is avid to arrest
an overtime parker. to bawl out the
chauffeur who parks abreast for a
minute or so to let out or pick up
his employer, or to he severe with
the motorist who parks too near the
corner. Hut when it comes to keep
ing the traffic lanes clear in the
morning and evening when the peak i
hours are reached and to laying the j
heavy hand of authority upon the ]
motorist who, through stupidity or |
defiance, runs past a rod signal and
invites a serious accident, there
seems to be a decided policy of in
difference.
There are serious infractions of the
traffic regulations and there are
minor infractions. Every motorist
who parks his car in the prohibited
zone at morning or evening rush
hours is a serious violator of the
rules: almost as serious as the mo
torist who runs by a red danger
signal. Doth the parking ru’e and
the automatic control are regulations
of the greatest importance, are uni
versally accepted as the best means
of handling heavy traffic, and will
work to the benefit of every motorist j
and pedestrian in the city if the !
recalcitrants arc weeded out by the !
simple and effective measure of strict
enforcement.
Violations of both the regulations
are taking place by the wholesale !
every da y. It is time for the police
department to get busy so that the
National Capital can receive a full
return from the adoption of modern
traffic practices.
Clothes or Drinking Water?
Clothes are more important to the )
shipwrecked person than food and j
water. This unusual statement is at- ■
tributed to a noted Englishman who !
had been asked by the Hon dun Board !
of Trade to give his opinion of what j
necessities should be placed on life- !
rafts for persons forced to leave their i
ships. Elaborating on this advice, the j
expert declared that experiments con- J
ducted by him and his assistants j
showed that it was far more important :
to be possessed of warm, waterproof I
garments than it was to have avail-)
able plenty of hardtack and water. He j
therefore urged the board to dispense I
entirely with food and drink hut to ’
make sure that warm clothes were a j
part of every liferaft’s equipment. \
Comparatively few people, in these !
days of fine ships and comfort on the |
high seas, have the unpleasant experi- ;
once of being forced to take to the life- j
boats after a wreck. On this account i
it is difficult for the uninitiated to !
know exactly what he would need j
under such circumstances. In the 1
broiling hot sun of Summer, however, j
even those who had never been ship- !
wrecked, and probably those who had, !
would agree that drinking water I
would be a paramount consideration
rather than waterproof clothes.
Jn Winter and in the northern
stretches of the ocean the garment 1
plan would undoubtedly be the most
feasible, although -drinking water
would certainly be needed to sustain
life. The very best plan would seem
to be to provide a little water, a few
clotjie.s and a little food. Ship
wrecked persons are entitled to all the
comforts that are possible, and even if
it was necessary to build larger rafts
and boats for this purpose, it would be
well worth it.
Mr. Kipling wrote a poem the re- I
train of which was “Lest We Forget.” j
When it. comes to comment on an in
ternational debt, his motto appears to |
"Forget it.”
Damp Drudgery Dispelled.
Both bathtubs and washing ma
ohines are going into American farm
houses at such a rate that .statist!-
dans can barely keep count ol" them,
according to a. Western home econom
ics expert. Thirty-eight per cent of
the farm women of 'America hate
abandoned the slavery of the wash
tub and the washboard in favor of
washing machines, “he declares.
Commendation of the common sense
of the. j e women cannot possibly par
take of the nature of a puff for the
manufacturers of these labor-saving !
devices, any more than to mention
automobiles as being more efficient
than leg muscles. Ask almost any
housewife, urban or rural, what
household duty is the most monoto
nous, the most wearing, the least sat
isfying in accomplishment. The an
swer will almost invariably be the
laundry work. There is a certain
rhrtlJ in competent cookery, and there
i i the gastronomic pleasure gamed by
the family as a result. Nor can its
attendant physical labor be much
lessened.
The sousing, i libbing ai d rinsing of
clothing and household linen by hand
is «■ archaic, mm uneconomical and a t .
foallth •• Ik* manufacture of boards 1
THE EVENINg STAR, •WASHINGTON, D. 0., SATURDAY, DECEMBER If. 1926.
I by means of adze and whipsaw, or the
i wearisome turning of a roast on a
nplt. llow womankind has borne it
this long is a marvel. There comes
to mind a picture of a tiny farmhouse
in extreme northern New Hampshire,
far beyond the Summer hotel belt: a
; house not much bigger than the little
j offices erected on subtil visions by real
I estate Anns. It has. to the city mind,
! no conveniences of any sort except a
! telephone. Existence therein, barring
I the change from open fireplace and
crane to wood-stove, Is as piimitlve
as that of a. century ago in the same
' locality. The man of the house if in
(the fields or off in the woods. On the
back porch, empowered by a small
stoj»ge battery, a, merry, little wash
ing machine hums and gurgles, each
revolution thereof selling a benedic
tion to the young housewife, who sits
by it and gazes enthralled at a highly
colored mail-order catalogue.
She Trumped His Ace!
Society will ' divide sharply on
whether Mrs. Gudrun Garner of San
| Francisco had just cause for divorce
| in a suit she brought against her hus
! band Fred. She based her claim for
separation on an act of cruelty. Gud
run and Fred were playing as part
ners in a game of cards, probably
bridge, and in one of those lapses that
occur to even tlie most careful play
ers. she trumped bis ace. whereupon
he threw a deck of cards in her face.
Thin, she said, was the la-t straw
and she demanded a legal dissolution
of the bonds of matrimony.
There are those who will side with
Fred rather than with Gudrun. They
will hold that the assault committed
on her was justifiable and provoked.
They wifi contend that a husband has
a perfect right to punish his wife for
trumping bis ace in a card game.
The old English law which permits
a man to beat his wife with a stick
i no larger than bis thumb does not
I prevail in this country and there is no
I statute which warrants a husband in
| using a deck of cards as an instru
ment of punishment. Indeed, a deck
of cards has never been considered as
a punitive weapon. Much depends, of
course, upon the cards, the range and
the aim of the wielder. A deck of
cards encased in its original package
might inflict a very severe injury. But
a loose deck flung in auger would
probably scatter and would impose
only a moral wound, leaving no visible
scar, however deep the hurt.
The judge in this case, it is related,
has granted the petition. It may be
that there were other grievances than
the assault by printed pasteboards.
Perhaps this was merely the culmina
tion of a long series of tyrannical
demonstrations. It would be of value,
however, if a line could be had on
the reasoning of the justice who sat
in this case to determine how the
court viewed the assault. As a guide
to domestic relations generally, it is
important to know how far a husband
■ —or a wife—is warranted in going
in retaliation f< :• that unpardonable
sin of trumping a partner's ace.
It is generally conceded that Mr.
I Coolidge can have a renomination
iif he wants it. There is no mention
jof any reason why he should not
: want it. At least one great question
! in national affairs appears to be
rationally disposed of.
________
When a motion picture star quar
rels with his wife the silver screen
continues to show them in conven
tional scenarios instead of the do
mestic drama in which the public
has been compelled to interest Itself.
Efforts of Air. Doheny to save this
country from the Japs have caused
the courteous Japanese to ®look
through the files to ascertain if there
was any serious trouble brewing and.
if so. why. and huw much.
Complaints are made that radio
has been commercialized to a degree
that classifies even the-greatest of
the o.'d poets and musical composers
is ad write:s.
Hole Fuller has had u great deal of
publicity which, as a dancer, she may
not lie able to utilize unless she can
learn the "black bottom.”
The fiction writer again assumes
his place in attention. The Hall-Mills
case could not last forever.
SHOOTING STARS.
BV PHILANDER JOHNSON’.
Home C ondensed.
A cabin where the ivy climbs
And woodland creatures roam
Inspires the sweetest of all rhymes,
"There’s No Place Like Home.”
\ folding bed. a kitchenette.
Nearly a brush and comb—
But just the same we're singing yet.
"There's No Place Like Home.”
Important Distinction.
“Did you use much money in secur
ing your election?”
“No,” answered Senator Sorghum.
"What my' promoters may have done
I don't kjiqw. T am a statesman, not
an expert accountant.”
The Real Ross.
The traffiic cop may spoil my life.
Yet I take cheer anew.
I When he jgets home, I know the Wife
Tells hijn a thing or two.
Jud Tunkins says music appeals to
his emotions, and a saxophone always
leaves hirp in doubt whether he ought
to rejoice'or sympathize.
“Riches,” said HI Ho, the sage of
Chinatown, "strengthen the weak and
also weaken the strong.”
Queer Business.
“I hear they arrested a bootlegger
in your settlement.” •
“He ain’t at all penitent.” said
Uncle Bill Bottletop. ruefully. "He
simply says that when he gets out o’
jail he’ll charge extra for his loss of
j time."
i "A humble thought well expressed,"
said 111 Ho. tlie sage of Chinatown,
“is likely 10 prove more powerful
than the lengthy edict of a mandarin."
j “Evolution.” said Unde Eben. "ain't
jno comfort to nobody. A monkey
I couldn't no mo be happy in a small
I flat dan wa could be in a traatop."
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.
"The first hundred years are the
hardest,” some one has said about life.
Templeton Jones believes this to be
true, after his recent five-mile walk
through the snow, the longest trump
J he has taken in many a long year-
Let no one sneer.
There are tens of thousands of per
sons in Washington who have not
done so much as walk two miles at a
stretch for nobody knows how many
years. No doubt there are thousands
more who can scaroe-.v recall the last
time they walked a mile.
As for those who regularly-walk as
much as five miles a day, their num
ber probably could be counted on the
fingers of a good-sized octopus, at
least.
With real hikers, of course, five
miles is as nothing, something just to
be rolled off the feet, a pleasant diver
sion, a little pick-me-up before break
fast or gentle trot after dinner.
Why, Charles Dickens thought no
more of a 15-mile walk than most of
us today do of a 50-mile run in the
car on a Sunday afternoon. If one
may believe what he reads of Vic
torian England, even the ladies took
pleasant strolls of 10 miles all of a
sunny afternoon, or "just walked
over" eight or nine miles to call on a
friend.
Tramping through the rain, accord
ing to what one has read, is still the
mbst genuine entertainment English
men can find. They must have stout
boots over there.
•)! •!" * *
As for our friend Jones, he never
couhl see any fun whatever in walk
ing through the rain. The last time he
tried it he got his feet wet, and re
turned only to find that the thick red
paint which the painter had put on
the roof that morning was dripping
ajl over the back porch. After that
Jones was not surprised when a rival
painter, viewing the roof, declared
pointedly, "That's nice red ink you
have on your roof. Better let me
paint it for you."
This cured Jones of walking in the
rain. Thereafter the day itad to be
sunny, at least, if the world was to
be treated to the diverting sight of
Templeton Jones extending his legs
methodically one after the other over
considerable stretches of ground.
Now a mile seems nothing at all, or
even less, when one reads about it in
the paper. No and So went 200 miles
an hour in his airplane. Some ex
ploring party has covered 5,000 mih s
and another one has been six times
around the world and hack again. Ail
this means nothing: it is only theory,
In which a mile is an unknown and
unregarded quantity.
But get out on jour two legs and
start walking! Then a mile turns out
to be a quantitj' of measurement, in
deed. It is the same wpj- with a ton
of coal. A ton. in the bin, seems little
enough. Heaven Knows. Nor does it
particularly strike »nc a« immense
when the man is putting it in with hi.t
j shovel and wash boiler.
; But in a ton of coal yourself. ii:i
--| mediately it becomes a staggering
■ thing, a heap. inde?d. a real quantity,
j through which one digs and digs and
I digs, and which one lugs and lugs and
| lugs.
I in the matter of walking a mile is!
| made longer, as every one knows, in '
: ratio to tlie time one spends away
! from personally counting them.
! The longer one refuses to walk, the I
i longer become the miles,
i If you don't believe it try a 10-mile
i walk tomorrow!
j Ik >i: O
1
i Jones was getting too fat around
1 the mid-section. He felt its if he had \
! a pillow tied around his waist, only
1 placed permanently in front. For the
i Press Divided on When to Say
"When” on Medicinal Liquor
It seems as difficult to get a unani
mous agreement “to say when” as it
was before the days of prohibition.
At least this conclusion is cached
from the wide variety of opinion ex
pressed concerning the Supreme
Court's decision as to Hie limit of a
physician’s prescription for alcohol.
The fact that the court was divided >
is widely commented upon and the I
verdict of the commentators is even ;
less harmonious. Few seem satisfied j
with the "pint every 10 days" ruling.
"By the leg.:! profession as well as i
by students of Government.” in the >
opinion of the Chicago Daily News, j
"five to four decisions of tlie United
States Supreme Court are regarded as •
extremely unsatisfactory." The Daily ;
News admits that "the reasoning ofj
the vigorous dissenting opinion is very ;
persuasive." but it recognizes that ,
"the decision of tlie majority is the
authoritative interpretation .of both j
the Volstead mi and tlie constitutional <
clauses invoked in the case.” That
paper adds that "one thing is plain
the Supreme Court is affording the
Volstead act every chance to succeed.
The benefit of every doubt raised be
fore the court concerning the act has
been given deliberately to that act, or
to its author. Congress."
"The notion that a physician has a
constitutional right to prescribe a
cargo of rum for the sick room as
often as he likes,” according to the
Springfield Republican, "is not toler
ated by five of the nine justices: and
no wonder it isn’t. A rear attack on
the whole prohibition system can Vic
made through the physician if he is
unrestrained in his use ot spirits for |
his patients.” The Spokane Spokes- '
man-Review refers to the fact brought j
out in the opinion that “practicing j
physicians differ about the value ot j
malt, vinous and spirituous liquors, j
and concludes that “where physicians ■
differ, and the preponderance of judg- j
ment is against the internal use of a!- i
eohol for medicinal purpose, its bene
ficial use is far from proved and. in >
deed, the presumption is strong that j
the alcoholic dosing of patients by :
physicians is more baneful than help- j
ful.”
|
"The picture painted is not that of
meddlesome Federal authority arbi- ;
trarilv setting the amount of liquor j
physicians may prescribe, but of a |
majority medical opinion being
enacted into law and liberal safe j
guards allowed besides, says the
Flint Daily Journal, while the Des
Moines Tribune makes the incidental
charge that "liquor prescriptions, as a
general rule, have proved to be merely
a handy means of doing a favor to the
thirsty.” The Columbus Ohio State
Journal adds the comment. “It is
often argued that the Volstead law
could not validly be liberalized as long
ns the eighteenth amendment stands,
but this decision indicates that the
Supreme Court is ready to give Con
gress a pretty free hand in the mat
ter of liquor legislation."
The end of a long fight is seen by
the New Orleans Tribune, which re
calls that “the case has been decided
four times in lower Federal courts,
the clause being upheld twice and
held invalid twice.” The Springfield
Illinois State Journal remarks that
"when nine men competent to sit on
the Nations’ highest court cannot see
the same evidence alike, and acquire
from it diametrically opposite con
victions. is it strange that juries of
ordinary men sometimes ’deadlock’ or
return verdicts at variance with pop-
I ular notions of tlie case?”
! "The dissenting opinion contends
i that the court's opinion has tran.s
--! ferred the control of medical practice
.from th« States, where, under the
i plain inference of the Constitution, it
belongs, to Congress.” states the Co
lumbia Record, with the added opinion
that “in this ballef the four diseenting
Juatlee* have exactly stated, our-ob
first time In his life he became rest
less when putting,on his shoes.
Any one who has ever tried to fold
a 50-pound mattress will know how
Temp Jones felt when he tried to put
on his shoes.
Thfe hig trouble is, one has to bend
at the very place it is hardest'
Now, when a person is engaged in
what is pleasantly' termed a "seden
tary occupation” he is not thereby
relieved of the responsibility of put
ting on his own shoes.
Probably there are not 100. cer
tainly ;:oi more than 1,000 men alive
in Washington today who have valets
to put on their shoes for them.
Great and small, bank presidents
and clerks, Washington puts on its
own shoes every morning, and takes
or kicks them off every night.
Templeton Jones saw himself as he
would he 5 years hence, if he did not
do something about it, pictured him
self a mere bag of fat, utterly unable
to put on his own shoes, perhaps even
unable to see his shoes as he trod
along.
It was a fearful vision, and Jones
determined at once to dp something
about it. He would cut down on his
food intake and take plenty of exer
cise. There is no other way. This
is the common-sense way to reduce,
Jones told himself. "I’ll begin with a
6-mile walk today,” he said.
** * *
It is just about 5 miles from Jones’
I office to his residence,. part of the
j way—the last part —considerably up
hill.
The most capable snow for its thick
ness ever to visit Washington lay on
the ground as Jones started out. rub
ber shod. For a snow only about L
of an inch thick it was sticking Dot
tor and lasting longer than Jones hail
' ever known a snow to do.
Jones hot-footed it along the down
town streets, causing various ' slow
speed pedestrians to turn around in
amazement, out of which action Jones
j got considerable “kick.” If he were
! going to walk, he would walk right.
He would do the thing up brown.
; “By George, I ought to do this
every day.” iis said to himself, as lie
struck into an avenue leading up town.
Now that lie was getting into the
swing of it, lie liked it very much, llis
i light coat was warm enough now.
Rounding a circle be put on additional
speed. He was breathing deeply by
this time. Splash! went the automo
biles in melted ruts of water and ice.
Jones splashed along, too, crossing
a bridge and turning into the hilly
country. It was at this point that he
first became conscious of bis legs.
Three miles and considerable speed
were lieginning to tell on them. They
were getting tired just l>elow the place
where Jones sits down. But he re
sisted the urge to get on a bus and
kept on. How nice and warm it looked
in the bus!
Resolutely he turned his back on the
vehicle and went up hill. He admitted
to himself that lie was glad when the
sidewalk leveled out. This was the
home stretch. Sparrows were hop
ping and singing about. No doubt
they could hop five miles and not feel
it a bit. Jones compared himself to
sparrows with much humiliation.
There went a squirrel! That baby
could even run live miles without a
quiver. Jones felt completely
squelched.
His home looked pretty good to Dim
as it came in sight at las*. Suddenly
his uair.s began to clear up. ”1 feel
fine,” he said; but that evening, after
listening tp the radio, he could scarce
ly get out of his chair. But he was
determined to walk another live miles
the next day.
jections to the majority decision.”
The New York Herald Tribune de
scribes the decision as "wholly bad.”
and expresses the hope that ”<’on
gre.ss, having had its demoralizing
work approved by the Supreme Court,
will now change the law so that a
physician, having the Hippocratic
oath in mind, may legally do every
thing possible to save a patient’s life.”
-Jf S- *
“The physician may be safely trust
ed to use bis professional judgment as
to the amount of strychnin®, arsenic
or other lethal drug required in the
treatment of any given case.” argues
the Omaha World-Herald, “but whis
ky he may prescribe only in the
amount which, in the scientific judg
ment of Congress, is reasonably cura
tive. Thus Congress becomes pos
sessed of another power which was
hitherto reserved to the State*—the
power to regulate the practice of med
icine.” The San Francisco Bulletin
takes the further position that "the
ruling is indirectly a reflection upon
Hie medical profession, and it remains
to be seen whether enforcement will
be materially helped by the re.strie
t ion.”
“A pint of whisky in 10 days.” ft
is pointed out by the Newark Evening
News, "is equivalent to a few spoon
fuls per day. In the influenza epi
demic many high-grade physicians
used literally quarts in shorter periods
per patient and saved lives. Even
law enforcement officers, appealed to
in the crisis, cast aside the legalistic
view and aided in procuring the neces
surj- liquor in extreme cases.”
The Charleston Dally Mail suggests
a test of the value of liquor, asking:
“Is it possible, by means of such tests,
to determine this question? It is im
portant that a definite decision should
be reached in the interest of the pa
tient. as well as to give something
like stability to the prescribers." The
Cleveland News holds that "the ma
jority dictum of ‘so much and no
more' is not made easier to understand
by l>eing based largelj - on a contention
that none is actually necessary.”
A Dry Democracy.
From tlif Philadelphia Evening Bulletin.
California democracy's dry stand
emphasizes the fact that prohibition
is what Gen. Hancock considered the
tariff, decidedly a local issue. The Me-
Adoo following secured a majority in
the convention to adopt a bone-dry
platform indorsing the rigid State en
forcement act and condemning the
wet proposal to repeal it by initiative
at the November election.
Irrespective of any relation this
action may have to the McAdoo cam
paign for presidential nomination, it
; shows the impossibility .of making the
prohibition issue a matter of national
party division. In States in which
their normal constituency is predomi
natingly wet, as In New York. New
Jersey and Massachusetts, the Demo
crats naturally lake the wet end of
the argument. In States where the
prevailing sentiment is not clearly
defined, they tend to pussyfoot. In
dry States all factions tend to be po
litically dry.
! But not even State platforms, wet
j or dry, will bind the candidates whose
i bailiwicks register convictions con
} trary to that of the party platforms.
In the days when party platforms
1 were drastically for tariff reduction
i there were always protection Demo
! erats in tills State, Lodisiuna and else
i where. Neither wets nor drys will be
bound by pronouncements contrary to
their convictions or their political
forecasting issue. Modification will
"onie. if it does, when a national miq
i jorlty of Ilic districts registers n po
; lltically convincing mandate for the
1 change, and tt will be n bipartisnn
1 action with nolther parly nationally
committed to aUbor
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By the Booklover.
One of the earliest successful
woman Journalists lived in Wash
ington during and immediately fol
lowing the Civil War—Mary Clem
iner Ames. A year before her death
she married Edmund Hudson, a
Washington editor, hut all her writ
ing was under the name "Mary Clem
mer Ames,” or "Mary- Clemmer,” and
her simple gravestone in Rock
Creek Cemetery bears only the name
“Mary Clemmer.” For many years
she contributed to the New York
Independent articles under the title
“A Woman's Letter From Washing
ton.” These letters were by no
means filled with tiie social tattle of
Washington, though that played a
part, but discussed politics in such
a vigorous and outspoken manner
that the writer often made enemies.
As they covered the period of the
impeachment trial of Andrew John
son and the presidency of Gen.
Grant, there was opportunity for the
expression of decided opinions. Os
Grant’s administration she wrote:
“After years of close personal obser
vation ... so far as my words
can reach the people, I warn them
. . . against the rei»etition of such
an administration as closed March 4,
1877.” In the galleries of thp Sen
ate and House, at public gatherings,
in the drawing rooms of Washing
ton and at her own Monday "at
homes” on Capitol Hill, she had the
opportunity of seeing and meeting
people of prominence, and pen pic
tures of public men were frequently
in her “letters.” Os John Sherman.
Secretary of the Treasury, she wrote:
“He has the judicial brow and
mind, a wise, strong man. with a ten
der heart, which lie never hangs out
for tiie world’s inspection." Os Gen.
Garfield, at the time of his election
to the presidency, she wrote. ‘‘The
first* consciousness is of his immense
vitality.”
* sir lie if.
Two published volumes of Mary
Clemmer Ames drew some of their
material from the Washington "let
ters" —"Outlines of Men, Women and
Tilings" and “Ten Years in Wash
ington.” One of the best descrip
tive chapters in the former volume
in "Arlington in May.” In this there
is a touch of iter strong anti-South
ern feeling. She was very close to
the Civil War. She says, "Far be
tliat day when to Mary Custis (wife
of Robert K. Lee), or to her chil
dren. shall be given back the home
of her fathers:” Tiie chapter “Wom
an Suffrage” in the same volume
shows Mrs. Ames as sympathetic to
ward all efforts to gain justice for
women, but not herself a believer
tiiat tiie ballot was the greatest need
01 women. “Ten Years iti Wash
ington” is of interest to many resi
i dents of Washington today, who dc
sii-c to know the Capital of the past.
One chapter, "Old Washington.”
tells of the building of the city and
its early muddy condition; and |
’’Building the Capitol” carries on
tiie story of origins. "The Congres
sional Library" describes the old j
library in the Capitol and gives an!
interesting sketch of Dr. Bpofford j
the librarian. "The White House"
chapter covers the official residence
from the days of Abigail Adams, who
hung iter linen to dry in the east |
room, to those of Lincoln. “Ladies
of the White House.” “Wives of the
Presidents” and “A Chapter of Gos
sip” are all gossipy chapters. “The
White House Now” and “Mrs. J
Grant’s Reception” are devoted to I
the official social life of tiie Grant j
administration. “Inauguration Day !
at Washington” enables those who !
have seen recent inaugurations to |
make comparisons.
*f * * *
The Middle West occupies t very i
large place in our modern American !
literature, perhaps a disproportion- ]
atelv large place Easterners and Far ;
Westerners might say. Booth Tar-
Uington. AVilla father, Sinclair Lewis.
s!ona Gale. Hamlin Garland and
Sherwood Anderson have all helped
to make the Middle West vital and
sometimes poetio. The life of a
child in tiie Middle West in the years
following the Civil War is the sub
ject of Sherwood Anderson’s “Tar:
A Midwest Childhood." In his fore
word Mr. Anderson characterizes
“Tar” as partly autobiography,
partly fancy. Tar Moorehead is a
sensitive boy who grows up in a
hit-and-miss sort of way, because
his father lias too little sense of
responsibility toward his family and
too little love for conventional work.
He is a delichtful boy. with his love
of solitude and of the woods and
streams, his dreams, his pathetic at
tempts to understand tilings, and his
loneliness in the midst of sordid town
life. “Tar” is a companion to “A
Story-Teller's Story” and the two
seem to give Sherwood Anderson’s
sincere feelings not only about tiie
Middle West, but about much of life
anywhere.
»f» v V >|4
Self-realization and self-expression
may be the ideal of most of our mod
ern novelists for their character crea
tions, hut it is not an ideal which
seems adequate or worthy to Mar
garet Deland and Dorothy Canfield.
These two established fiction writers
have this Fall had new novels pub
lished. in both of which the old-fa>h
iorted ideal of self-sacrifice is revived
and vigorously defended. In each
case the example of self-sacrifice is
so eccentric and is carried to such an
extreme that it becomes an excellent
argument for the modern doctrine of
the right of each individual to self
realization—even selfishness. In Mar
garet Deland’s novel “The Kays.”
Mrs. Kay devotes over 20 years of
her life to caring for the insane for
mer mistress of her husband. With
some distorted idea of vicarious atone
ment for her husband’s sin. she with
draws herself from ail human asso
ciations and passes her days secretly
in the antechamber to the insane i
woman’s attic room, until she her
self becomes at least decidedly
“queer.” In Dorothy Canfield's novel
“Her Son’s Wife,” Airs. Bascomb as
sists her daughter-in-law to become
a bed-ridden invalid —-really pushes
her into invalidism—and then devotes
the rest of her life to caring for her.
The reason for this extraordinary
course of action is that Mrs. Bascomb
wishes to save her granddaughter
from the contaminating influence of a
hopelessly vulgar mother, and the
only way which she can discover to
accomplish this is to consign the
mother to an upstairs bedroom, so
that the family life may go on
smoothly and beneficently below
stairs. The question suggests itself
—are not both Mrs. Kay and Mrs,
Bascomb pathological cases?
Ss« s;* sjc :|c
The prime minister of Great Britain,
Stanley Baldwin, has written a book
which lias run Into four editions, and
is still going. It is not fiction, either,
yet the British public asks for it eager
ly at the bookshops. It is called On
England, and Other Addresses.” and
presumably expresses his convictions
and ideals on government and public
questions.
*a * *
The John Billings Fiske prize in poe
try of the Culversity of Chicago lias
been awarded to Sterling North of the
j class of 1420. for his volume of verse
, entitled “Village Rooms.” The Judge*
I were T'rnf. Robert Moras Lovett, art-
I lug head nr the English department:
Miss Marianna Moore, associate editor
of the Dial, and Uawellvn Jonea. liter-
af Uia Chicago Eitnlng
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
BY FREI) EMC J. U ASK IIS.
Q. What State ranks as the most
arid and sparsely settled? —A. X.
A. Nevada.
Q. What is meant by a "piedmont
plain”?—R. P.
A. It means ‘‘a plain at the foot of
a mountain.”
Q. In betting, where must a horse
finish in order to win place money?—
X. U
A. In the T'nited States, place refers
only to second place, and a horse
must finish first or second in order to
win place money. In England usually
the term is used as the term “show” is
used here, and includes first, second
and third places.
Q. Are there two towns in Pennsyl
vania named "Elizabeth" and "Eliza j
bethtown,” or are they one and the
same?—S. B. G.
A. Elizabeth is 14 miles south of
Pittsburgh, and has a population of
2,703. Elizabethtown is 18 miles south
east of Harrisburg, and lias a popula
tion of 3,319.
Q. How does the width of Wash
ington street, Indianapolis, compare
with that of Market street in Kan
Francisco?—J. K. D.
A. The width of Washington street,
Indianapolis, from building line to
building line at the center of the busi
ness district is 120 feet. The width of
Market street, San Francisco, is 76
feet from curb to curb, with sidewalk
of 22 feet on either side, making a
total of 120 feet from building line
to building line.
Q. How many stockholders has
the Pennsylvania Railroad? — H. 1».
A. Thfc? company has about 140,000
separate stockholders.
q. Whom did Margaret Elaine
marry?—R. W. H.
A. Margaret, daughter of James
G. Blaine, married Walter Bamrosch,
composer and now conductor of the
New York Symphony Orchestra.
Q. Is the air mail route lighted from
coast to coast? —It. F.
A. It is lighted from New York City
to Salt Rake )’itv. Only the portion
from Salt Rake City to San Francisco
remains to be lighted.
Q. How many black walnuts are
there in a bushel? —G. E.
A. There are about
Q. I low much money is raised by
the sale of the tuberculosis Christmas
se^ls? —P. 11.
A. Last year the sale ran to $4,900.-
00". The first seals were sold in 19"7.
to the amount of $3,000.
<4. What country are the Basque?
from? —R. C. I
A. The question is still unsettled.
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAL L V. COLLI SS.
\
The discussion by the Senate of
f cJiemica! warfare brings into light
1 the vast increase of the importance of
[ science in all affairs of modern j
progress, whether in the matter of
destroying or preserving human life. j
Public opinion, a few years ago.
was assumed to be practically united
in horror against the toleration of ;
poison gas as a means of warfare, j
but within recent time at least part
I of the public has come to look upon
the subject with greater equanimitj
since it is proved that only 2 per
cent of the victims put out of action
by gas die from their injuries, while
of the men wounded in battle b>
shell or gunfire. 24 per cent die, as
a direct result of the wounds.
In the debate in the Senate. Sen
ator Wadsworth gave statistics di«-
\ proving th<* allegiilions often hear»l
I that gassed victims developed
tuberculosis. Official statistics showed
1 that "there was less tuberculosis ;
I among gassed men than among those >
! who had never been gassed at all "
! Senator Heed of Pennsylvania
: added that “in the investigation of the
: Veterans' Bureau, Dr. Franeine, who
! is one of the leading experts on tuber-
I eulosis in the United States, testified
that in his judgment the inhalation
! of chlorine led to a thickening of the
i surface of the membrane of tlm lungs,
j wha n made it more resistant against
! the lodgment and spread of the bacil
lus of tuberculosis, and lie gave it as
his opinion that gassing did, for that
I reason, tend to prevent it."
. That led to the conclusion of Sena
! ter Shipstead (educated in medicine)
; that “the Senator (Reed) evidently
I does not believe that killing people in
| war with bayonets and shrapnel Is any
i nicer way than killing them with gas.
j • • • The Senator's remarks are
i very painful, because they ‘debunk a
i lyt ‘of this stuff about ‘making war
- huniHije'.”
The most significant development ot
! the debate is the fact that it proved
1 that no less a "tyro" at war than
| Gen. Pershing was quoted on both
I sides of the subject, though it only
i proved that his latter judgment re
! versed his first commitment. Testify
-1 Ing before a House committee, the
i general declared that oui chemical
! warfare department "should be main
; tained by all means.’’
Every organization of veterans has
! gone on record against the Geneva
j protocol, and last October the Asso
i ciation of Military Surgeons at Phils -
j delphia. at its national annual meet
ing. adopted strong resolutions to the
i same effect. Three years ago the
! American had adopted reaolu
tions against chemical defense, which
they have now rescinded.
Whatever may be the final con
clusion of the debate in the Senate,
it lias demonstrated that men change
their minds as they delve more
deeply into facts, and that the de
velopment of chemistry is changing
many phases of modern life, not only
in warfare but still more broadly in
peace. ....
It would be a very fine distinction
. to draw the dividing line between the
I known facts of chemistry and ot
bacteriology, except that in chem
istry all elements are dead and in
bacteriologv all are living. Both sci
ences might almost be ascribed to
the discoveries of the present gen
eration, and both sciences have given
us miracles within the last two
decades or so. Also, both sciences
have produced achievements within
the periods of the great wars of
our days which were of sufficient
value to pay the entire cost of each
war (This statement is not to be
construed as justifying or measuring
the horrors of war, hut is a simple
statement of financial fact.)
** * *
One of the leading authorities of the
Surgeon General’s office of the Public
Health Service, being asked yesterday
to name the 10 most important discov
eries in medicine and its allied sci
ences, In modern times, did so as fol
lows:
t. Jenner's discovery in li9b of
vaccination for prevention of small
pox, which in the century and a quar
ter has saved millions of lives,
2. Pasteur’s discoveries in the 70s
and 80s, showing that all communi
cable or infective diseases come from
germs, each disease having its own
particular microbe. On Pasteur's
work is based all modern development
in preventive sanitation and medicine
against communicable diseases .Irn
ner found vaccination bj observation:
Pasteur developed It by science, ere
nting serum by Infecting the horse or
.goat with the disease germ, which
'created the resistant serum, with
1 which ihc human oetng inoculated]
become*lmmune against the disease.
There is no doubt as to the extreme
antiquity of the Basque settlements
on the Pyrenees. It is now pretty
generally received that the Basque
race is connected with the ancient
Iberian or Celtiberian. and was dis
persed over the districts named above
Q. Do objects weigh more on the
ground, under the ground, or at an
elevation? — J. B.
A. The maximum weight of any ob
ject is at the surface of the earth «
Weight above or below Is less than at
the surface.
Cl. What is colonial time and where
is it used? —R. 11. B.
A. Standard authorities refer to a
fifth standard of time known as ’'in
tercolonial,” “colonial,” "Atlantic” or
"provincial” time, corresponding to
the sixtieth meridian and one hour
faster than Eastern time. This fifth
standard is used in New Brunswick
and Nova Scotia.
Q. What is vegetable ice cream? —
A. M.
A. The chirimoya, a fruit grown In
Ecuador, has this name. Its pulp is .
white and its flavor is a delicious com
bination of pineapple, banana and
strawberry.
CJ. Please define electricity.—C. B. E.
A. Electricity is a material agent
which, when in motion, exhibits mag
netic, chemical and thermal effects
and which, whether in motion or at
rest, is of such a nature that when it
is present in two or more localitie 1 -
within certain limits of association ;<
mutual interaction of foree between
stu b localities is observed Rerent in
j vestigations indicate that i* is discre •
j or granular in nature and that there
| may be two kinds, positive and n» , ;»
! five.
Q. Do the Naval Academy 'lassc
have class colors? If so, what at*-
they for? —S. I\.
A. Each class in the Naval
Academy has class colors. The class
colors arc used in the same way in
which a class seal would be used,
to designate the particular class to
which one belongs.
You want to knotv something. You
wish to hr positive before you go
■ ahead. Well. The Evening Star win
; teil you uhat you want to know; and
l give you assut anec before you pro
‘■•red. Our Washington bureau ran
answer any Question of fart pro
, pounded to it. Here is the university
|of information— a great free eduva- *
\tionnl institution established solely (■.
j serve you. Send in your Question and
| net thr right answer Inclose 1 rents
in stamps to cover the return postatw.
j Address The Evening Star Informa
i rion Bureau. Frederic .1. If ask in, (!■-
I rector. Washington. ft. f.
■ 11 ■
Pasteur’s work in saving the French
crops of grapes and of silk from tic
diseases preying upon them wa- ,
j worth more to France than the cost
• of the Prussian war. including tiic ii
I demnity. Thousands of lives arc
i saved annually by means of his di>-
1 eoveries in relation to rabies, anthrax
] and other maladies.
3. Von Behring's development of
serum against diphtheria which today
has annihilated that dread disease
wherever the scrum is used.
4. During the Boer War in South
Africa Sir Almotli Wright studied
typhoid fever and found a serum
against it. In our own Spanish War
of 1898 one soldier out of every six.
had typhoid, from which disease 1,58"
died out of an armv of 175.000. In
the World War only 1 to 3.5"0 sol
diers had typhoid, and more than
half of those were in one camp—a?
Chickamauga, Tenn. Os the entire
Army of more than 4.500.0(h). only ,
213 deaths from typhoid occurred
| 5. From colonial days to 1899, this
; country suffered 90 outbreaks of yc!
low fever. In one epidemic, in 1853.
! New Orleans alone lost T.OOn victims
and the financial b-ss to interrupted
j commerce and travel amounted t->
hundreds of millions of dollars. Then,
a score of years ago. it was found
that it all came from tie* female
*• Aede« Egypt!" mosquito. which
could ,s,.i live without its bite of
huma . flesh. By destroying all pools
of water, or treating them with kero
’ sene «<r other ch* micals. all such
mosquitoes were killed, and for 21
j years wo have had no yellow fever
; The economic value of that mosquit
was greater than tip- entire cost of
I our Spanish War. including the cos;
| of the Philippines.
i fi. Ehrlich of Berlin discovered the •
j germ of a certain blood disease, and
la chemical company in Germany mo
j nopolized the patent and charged $4.5"
I a dose for the specific called “800
so called because that was the *4\
! hundred and sixth experimental com
! bination of arsenic and a neutralize!
(tested which would destroy the germ
■ without killing the patient. In the
World War the United States cap
lured that secret and made the medi
cine for 50 cents a dose —a loss to Get
many equal tu her entire cost of the
World War.
7. Until within the last 30 years it
was not known that the disease of
pellagra exist'd in America. What
was pellagra was diagnosed as tuber
culosis, skin disease or malaria. Re- (
search by the United States Public
Health Service disclosed the fact tint’
in 1911 there were in our South more
than 100,000 cases of jiellagra, with
1.000 deaths annually, all due to tie
fective diet —polished rice, molasses
and eornbread —larking vita mines.
There is now to be a "pellagra
preventing vitamin.” abundant m
milk and milk products, eggs. pea>.
beans and meat; also in lemons and
limes.
Xo vitamin was known 25 years
ago and little was known JO years
ago. How much is really known to
day as to what is a vitamin?
5. Rocky Mountain spotted fever
baffled physicians, until a decade ago
a special research proved it came
from a germ on an infected tick. So
they captured billions of ticks, crushed
them, attenuated the virus with hen'
and vaccinated. That, ends the apot
ted fever.
9. Three or four years ago tula
remia was discovered. That, is a (vat"
ful disease, quite pn vulent in parts
of the country. There are four «use
of it now in Washington. To acquire
it. kill a wild rabbit and dress It your
seif. The rabbit is infected, and the
hunter is poisoned in the pnooaw of
dressing the rabbit. Tame rabbits arc
not infected. Tho wild rabbit he* ‘
been bitten by* a deerfly. The cuia
tive serum has not yet been developed.
10. one of the greatest discoveries
is toxin-antitoxin as a cure ot diph
theria. Toxin is the poison gernr
Bntitoxin is the natural enemy ot the
poison. If a child be inoculated with
the toxin alone, it will probably dlf
if inoculated with the antitoxin
alone, it will not get diphtheria e»
long as the effect of the antitoxin
Uu*ts —three nr four months. Bus if
given both at tho same timo. tb**
antitoxin will neutralize or prevail’
seiloua affeo .« of the toxin, while lh»
toxin will create within the liodv »
j sort of iw rpetunl chemical works pro f
j during a continuous supply of hoi
toxin, and the patient l«ecoiu»-» h
[ itiune. The doctor d«*« lares that ••
j parent Is exrtiuoMe f-n nexleriii »
such protection fur his i tub I Ye
i wa« unknown a decade ago
i Him# I*oo «rience has added «i*
Ivaara in tha average life of all etvt
llred humans.
iCanmjut mi. *e»»We« »■*»—