Evening star. [volume], November 07, 1927, Page 8, Image 8

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

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
8
?1E EVENING STAR
With Sunday Morning Edition.
WASHINGTON, D. C.
MONDAY November 7, 1927
THEODORE W NOYES Editor j
The Evening Star Newspaper Company !
Hum ness Oltieo:
llth st. and I'ennsvtvania Ave
New Yoik Oil ice: 1H» Fast 4 ■’u i ft.
Chicago txti-e Tower Huiluinir.
£u roue.an OtUee: It Resent St.. London
Ensland.
The Evening Star with the Sunday morn
tngr edition is delivered by earners within
the city at 60 cents per month: daily only.
45 cent* per month - Sundays only go cents
per month. Orders may tie sent by mail or
telephone Mam 5000. <'oli< i torn is made by
carrier at end of each month
Rate b.v .Mail—Payable in Advance.
Maryland and Virginia.
Daily and Sunday , 1 vr SHOO: I mo. 75c
Dailv only I rr SO,00: 1 mo.. 50c
Sunday n!v Ivr SHOO" t mo.. 35c
All Other States and Canada.
Dailv and Sunday 1 vr.. $13.00: 1 mo. SI.OO
Dailv only 1 vr.. SS.OO: l mo.. 75c
Sundav only. •*•«.] vr.. S4OU; 1 mo.. 3oc
Member of the Associated Press.
The Associated Press is exclusively entitled
to the use for repilbheation of all news dis
patches credited to it or not otherwise cred
ited in this paper and also the local news
published herein. All r'shts of publication
of special dispatches herein are also reserved.
The jury System.
The American jury system, which is
just now subject of a country-wide
discussion because of the withdrawal
of the panel in the Fall-Sinclair case
as a result of suspicion of espionage
over the jurymen conducted by the
defense, is a direct adaptation from
the English system of common law
trials. The function of the jury has
completely changed from its begin
ning. Originally those persons from
the vicinity of the crime or other
cause of trial who had knowledge of
the matter were summoned to court
to state upon oath what the common
opinion of the neighborhood was as
to the facts which formed the basis
of the criminal charge to be tried, or
of the right to possession or enjoy
ment of land which was at issue, these
being the typical cases of early days.
It was early established that twelve
“substantial” men were a sufficient
number to determine this question. As
litigation grew more extensive and
as courts came to have wider jurisdic
tion it was found that the attendance
of twelve persons acquainted with the
facts of each cause to be tried would
impose an intolerable burden upon the
community and the plan was develop
ed of submitting legal controversies
to the decision of impartial juries,
sworn to determine the facts in issue
upon testimony given under oath by
witnesses summoned by both sides.
Thus at the outset jurors were
chosen because of their knowledge of
the facts and of the opinion of the
community. A great change has taken
place. Jurors are chosen because of
their lack of knowledge of the facts
and of public opinion, especially be
cause they have themselves no set
opinions. In the winnowing out of
veniremen the entertainment of a
fixed opinion is the most frequent
cause of rejection. Prejudice, rela
tionship in business, kinship in any
degree exclude a person from the
panel. #
In earlier times it was not difficult
to secure a jury composed of men w ho
had no knowledge of the case and had
formed no opinions, for the spread of
news was narrow and many persons
were unaware of happenings that.are
today the commonplaces of public in
formation. Now with a high degree i
of literacy in this country, with the
voluminous issue of newspapers', tvith
the extensive publication of facts and
conjectures concerning criminal cases,
with the freedom of discussion. that
precedes trial, it is next to impossible
to find in any community twelve
intelligent persons who are not more
or less acquainted with the circum
stances and who have not in some
degree formed opinions regarding the
guilt or innocence of those who may
be accused of crime.
Originally the jury considered ques
tions of law as well as of fact, and
Indeed in this country up to a com
paratively recent date the doctrine
by which this was permitted was
sustained. It was not until 1895 that
the Supreme Court of the United
States ruled in agreement with Chief
Justice Mitchell of Pennsylvania,
whose opinion was rendered in 1891,
that it is the duty of the Jury in
criminal cases to receive the law from
the court and to apply it as given by
the court.
Unanimity of the verdict is an
essential feature of the jury system
as known to English law and has been
expressly so decided by the Supreme
Court of this country. A few of the
States have modified the system by
providing for juries of less than
twelve and for verdicts rendered by a
vote less than unanimous. In con
sequence of the unanimity require
ment mistrials thro.ugl? failures of
juries to agree upon a verdict have
been frequent. Much of the conges
tion in the courts and the delays in
the administration of justice may be
attributed to this requirement.
The sanctity of the jury is one of
the fundamentals of the system.
Interference with the free judgment
of the twelve persons sitting as inter
preters of the facts is rightly regarded
by the public as a most heinous
offense, deserving the severest punish
ment. Under the law of unanimity it
is necessary only by coercion or cor
ruption to influence one person to
prevent conviction, and this possibility,
offering such strong temptation to a
guilty defendant, evokes the highest
indignation on the part of the com
munity when suspicion arises that
this criminal enterprise has been
undertaken.
Circumstances arise when one sleuth
has to go out and try to catch an
other.
Distress Follows Floods.
Keen suffering has been caused by
the floods in New’ England. Several
thousand xieople have been driven
from their homes, the buildings them
selves destroyed in many cases. Farms
have been covered by water. Fac
tories have been wrecked and the em
ployes put out of work. All the ordi
nary activities of life in an area of
many hundreds of square miles have
been suspended. Moreover, this lias
H occurred at a season of the year when
, the -elements are unpropitiou*. Cold
has followed the mild weather during
which the heavy rains fell that caused
the floods, and the situation of the
survivors of the disaster now in the
grip of dangerous temperatures is
; grave.
Relief always flows in abundant
j volume and promptly to those who
j thus suffer from catastrophe. But it
! must be started speedily, else those
who escape the rush of the waters
may perish from exposure and lack
of shelter. It is not a case where the
refugees can be herded in the open, as
could be done in the Mississippi flood
regions. They must be housed and
cared for in the face of a severe cli
mate.
In some of the stricken districts
there is danger of pestilence, due to
the fact that the ordinary drinking
water supplies have been swept away
and the people have been driven to
using other waters, which have been
contaminated. There must be thou
sands in this peril, and it is one of the
first essentials of relief that they be
rescued from flus danger.
Red Cross relief is assured. There
may be no occasion for a public sub
scription for Hie purchase and dis
tribution of supplies. The States in
which the disaster occurred may be
able themselves to furnish the re
quirements of shelter, clothing and
food. But if the word is sounded, if a
call is made for assistance, there will
be an outpouring of funds comparable
with that of the devastating waters
themselves. No amount of giving now
can restore the lives that have been
lost, but the generosity of the people
can. in case of need, lessen the suffer
ings of those who have been spared,
and that is assured.
Keep the Y. W. C. A. Going!
The A'oung Women’s Christian As
sociation is asking the men and women
of Washington to subscribe to the
amount of $60,000 for the maintenance
fund for 1928 to cover the cost of
operating the greatly enlarged facili
ties in the six centers of this organi
zation, which is rendering a valuable
service for this community. These
centers are serving a constantly in
creasing number of young women and
girls, particularly at the new main
building, at the corner of Seventeenth
and K streets. This building, splen
didly equipped and second to none in
the country in this service, has been
financed, built and put to actual use
within two years through the gener
osity of the people of Washington,
who are now asked to make it possible
for the association to give the where
withal for Its fullest service.
Not less than ten thousand women
are employed by the Government
alone within three blocks of this cen
tral building, and thousands more pass
it in the course of a day. In a single
week recently more than 18,000 young
women and girls made use of the va
rious buildings and facilities of the
association.
The membership fees of the organi
zation are only one dollar a year.
This nominal sum cannot possibly
cover the cost of operation and main
tenance. From certain of the activ
ities there is, of necessity, no income
whatever. There is thus a margin of
expense which must be met by the
community, in the form of subscrip
tions.
Evidence of a great and growing
service to Washington is afforded by
the records of the-association’s work.
During, the past year more than 4,950
women and girls were supplied with
oomfortable rooms at reasonable rates,
within their means. At one desk
dlo'nd, 'ln the downtown center, ap
proximately 24,000 telephone calls for
information were received and an
swered. Not less than twenty-seven
outside organizations in the city have
already made use of the new K street
building since last May.
The Y. W. C. A. places at the dis
posal of unlimited numbers of women
and girls in Washington recreational,
educational, social and religious ad
vantages of the highest type. Its
work is to build a fine American wom
anhood, developing business, profes
sional, civic and home interests among
thousands of the women of tomor
row. To sustain this invaluable work,
to keep it on its present high plane of
value and efficiency, and to insure its
expansion, call for the liberal dona
tions of the people of the Capital, and
when the present campaign for main
tenance funds for 1928 closes on Wed
nesday the full sum should be sub
scribed, as proof of the recognition
by the people of Washington of the
service which the association renders.
When base ball is over, foot ball
begins. American sport is valuable
in affording crowds to express public
enthusiasm while silently thinking
over matters of serious public impor
tance.
Oil, prized as a lubricant, becomes
conspicuously associated with friction
that suggests very rough work.
Night Deliveries to Aid Traffic.
Traffic conditions in New York have
become so serious that the delivery of
goods by the merchants of the city
has been seriously Impeded and de
layed. Cost of deliveries has increased.
This naturally goes back into the scale
of prices at the shops. The conges
tion has reached the point at which
merchants and manufacturers are
now considering a change of schedule,
confining their deliveries between the
hours of eleven p.m. and eight a.in.
Such a change would necessarily rad
ically affect the whole industrial sys
tem of the metropolis. To be prac
ticable it would have to bo acceptable
to steamship lines, railroads, express
companies, labor organizations, truck
ing companies, merchants and manu
facturers. The plan is now under
consideration before the City Commit
tee on Plan and Survey, and an Inves
tigation Is in progress to determine
its feasibility.
Recently the 34th Street Midtown
Association sent out to members a
[ questionnaire. The first query was,
, "Could you and would you arrange
. your organization so that incoming
s merchandise can be received during the
. night or early morning hours?" Al
. most eighty per cent of the answers
. were in the affirmative. Another ques
f tion was, “Could you and would you
• arrange your loading so that all out
i going merchandise can be forwarded
i during the night or early morning
I hours?” Thirty-four and a half .per
THE EVENING STAR. WASHINGTON. TV. 'C.. 3TONDAT. NOVEMBER 7. Igg7._
cent answered yes, twenty-four per
cent no, seven per cent did not reply,
and the remainder stated that they
made no shipments. Another question
was, “Do you believe this plan will be
of advantage to you individually and
to the community collectively?” More
than eighty per cent of those answer
ing were affirmative.
Other questionnaires have been in
stituted with the same general results.
Thus the subject is being canvassed
and there is a prospect that in the
near future the experiment will be
tried of making at least the larger
transfers of goods, those borne by
heavy trucks, during the night hours
when the ordinary traffic is at a mini
mum. This will add to the noise in
the streets during the hours of sleep,
but most of this heavy trucking is
through the mercantile district where
there is a minimum of residences.
Every large city has this problem to
greater or less degree. Washington
has not suffered noticeably from it
yet, but street conditions here are
such as to make it a possible question
of importance in the near future.
Much of the traffic congestion here
now is due to the presence of large
trucks and vans which must be
backed to the curbs, cutting off the
ordinary traffic lines, causing diver
sions of the current and leading to
jams and accidents. The adoption of
a night schedule for heavy goods
movements through the city would en
tail a complete revision of hours of
labor. In view of the possibility of
the increase of local traffic congestion
beyond the present point the experi
ment of night deliveries in New York
will be watched with interest here.
——- »
Paris waiters considered the substi
tution of fixed percentage charges on
bills for tips. The fixed charges were
to be collected by the management.
The waiters preferred tips, the Ameri
can tourist being more liberal and
reliable.
If the new tax bill is written in ac
cordance with all the suggestions that
have been made to the House ways
and means committee during the hear
ings it will be a composite that will
overtax the financial genius of Secre
tary Mellon to apply in practice.
An Italian aviator has attained a
speed of more than three hundred
miles an hour, breaking all records.
This, how’ever, does not signify that
the Atlantic will be crossed on the
eastward course before Spring.
Bones of a ten-thousand-year-old
mammoth herd have been found in
New Mexico. Certain political ex
plorers hope soon to be able to regard
the elephant as sufficiently extinct to
justify their researches.
Some of the records said ?o have
been seized in the recent detective
round-up in this city indicate that the
questionnaire put to veniremen should
include queries as to financial obliga
tions.
■ $ >
Shipment of a cargo of $11,000,000
in gold from New York to Brazil does
not raise a flutter among the hijackers
of the sea. There is still wet goods
enough afloat to keep them busy.
One way to discourage crime waves
would be to discover some method of
satisfying public curiosity without
promoting the criminal as a pic
turesque figure in attention.
In his experiments with new mecha
nism even Henry Ford demonstrates
a respectful attitude toward the adage,
“It is never too late to learn.”
A substantial basis for peace might
be reached by examining the treaties
of the past and reducing them to a
code commanding respect.
The oil juror who is approached by
influential wealth makes a great mis
take if he allows himself to feel flat
tered instead of insulted.
SHOOTING STABS.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON.
Merciless M. D.
Long, long ago, I said, "Some day
I’ll dine on viands rare,
And have a wonderful display
Upon my bill of fare.”
Our hopes at last find sad defeat,
The doctor says, “You must not eat."
I thought to lounge at ease and let
The world go drifting by,
To read a book and quite forget
The crowd’s exciting cry.
Again appeared that doctor, wise.
Said he, "My boy, take exercise!”
Larger Figures.
“People should learn to practice
economy.”
“Os course,” answered Senator
Sorghum.
“There are still opportunities for a
capable person.”
“Great opportunities. A young man
may easily build up a respectable for
tune after he has saved up his first
million dollars or so.”
Dreams and Reality.
He dreamt he dwelt in marble halls,
Apart from every gloom.
He hastens, when somebody calls,
To the grand jury room.
Jud Tunklns says the aviator is
lucky who can take as cheerful a
photograph at the finish of the trip
as he took at the start.
City of Pleasures.
“Many persons still go to Paris to
find pleasure.”
“Yes,” rejoined Miss Cayenne,
"And, after all, what could he more
pleasant than a timely divorce?”
“Greatness," said Hi Ho, the sage
of Chinatown, “consists less in deeds
than in deft appeal to public imagina
tion.”
Words and Music.
We see, as years slip on their way.
A change in song and story.
The song is mostly jazz today—
So is the oratory.
Souvenir.
“You have a fine mint patch.”
“Yes,” agreed Uncle Bill Bottletop.
“It has no practical value these days.
I cherish it as a souvenir,”
"When a man plays a boss race,”
I said Uncle Eben, "he nios' generally
: lose* not only his money, but his self
■ confidence.” jj
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACER ELL. ____
Every one knows the talkative gen
tleman from whom one simply can
not get away. He generally catches
his victim when the latter is in a
hurry and insists on recounting some
thing with infinite detail.
“You see, it was this way,” lie be
gins. The experienced person' knows
what will follow. He has suffered lie
fore. Being a ‘‘good listener,” as the
phrase is, has its had points.
Politeness is rightly praised as a
1 fine trait in a civilized human being,
and so it is, but it has its drawbacks
now and then, in no connection shown
more strikingly than in relation to
the aforementioned Talker de Luxe.
If one were not so confounded po
lite it would be easy enough to get j
loose from him. no matter how firm a
grip he had upon the victim’s button
hole, nor how earnestly he conversed.
This earnestness and this harsh
grit> would roll off the victim like
water off a duck’s back, leaving him
free to say, "Well, old man, qpe you
later, I must hurry along!” But as
it is, the polite being is too polite for
his own good, f
He must meet the enemy standing,
like a man, and not welsh when the
long-time conversationist insists on
working out the minute details of
every little bit that enters into his
recital.
He must smile at the proper point,
show keen interest when keen interest
is demanded, and in other ways make
it plain to the orator that lie is listen
ing. Above all—and this is the crux
of what is demanded of him —he must
stay till the show is over.
Anything less is to insult a friend.
** * *
He meets you on the corner.
You see him coming, and willingly
would melt away in tho crowd, but
realize that the chances for such a
bland liquidification are precisely
nothing.
Old Joe Jones has long eyes as well
as a long tongue. He spots his vic
tim half a block away, singling him
out from a mixed crowd with pre
cision and vim.
There is a lot of vim about Joe
Jones. Even as you groaningly go
forward to meet him you are willing
to admit that Joseph A. Jones,
is a callable man and a good friend.
He has traveled extensively, knows
something about stocks and bonds,
owns his own home, knows how to
take a radio set apart and put it back
together again, has studied differen
tial calculus with some success, makes
callers feel at home, pretends to know
everything and everybody.
Perhaps that is the trouble. He
knows too much, and he remembers
it all. The worst of it is that he in
sists on telling it all,
Suppose he begins on such a simple
thing as the sight of a man he met
down the street. An ordinary man
might say, "Well, who do you sup
pose I met down there—nobody else
hut old Monty Hacksaw. ’Member
him?”
And when you should inform the
ordinary man that you did recall one
Montesque Hacksaw, that would end
it for the day. But here is the way
old Joe Jones tells you about meeting
Mr. Hacksaw:
“I just met Monty Hacksaw down
there in front of the Five-and-Dime.
Did I ever tell you about that exciting
experience I had with Hacksaw? The
development of the 5-and-10 cent
stores is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?
Once when I was a little feller—now
let me see—l couldn’t have been
much older than 5 years—no, I must
have been 6 years old, because that
was the year my dear old father pre
sented me with my first rifle. He
wanted me to learn how to shoot, said
every man ought to know how to hunt
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE.
So many national organizations of
one kind or another now have their
leadquarters in Washington that an en
terprising real estate man has con
ceived the idea of erecting for their
exclusive use a huge modern office
building. He intends calling it the
“National Association Building.” If
the scheme is carried out, the build
ing will rise in the midst of the down
town financial and Government office
district. Nobody knows just how
many national organizations actually
operate in Washington. Their num
ber certainly runs into the hundreds.
They ramify into every imaginable
field of politics, commerce, agriculture,
trade, finance, labor, religion, educa
tion, peace, war, patriotism, ethics,
morals, sport, art, science and human
activity. Many of them are crank
and fad concerns. In the majority of
cases these organizations perform here
for the purpose of bringing close
range influence to boar upon Congress
and upon the administration. In
many instances they are lobbies, pure
and simple. In the aggregate they
give employment to thousands of per
sons, and some of their “executive
secretaries” and “legislative agents”
are paid salaries bigger than cabinet
ministers receive. Some, like the
Chamber of Commerce of the United
States, Inhabit noble premises.
** * *
Senator Joseph T. Robinson of Ar
kansas, Democratic leader in the
Senate, is about to reach the United
States after spending two months in
South America. Together with Sen
ator Jesse 11. Metcalf, Republican of
Rhode Island, he represented the
United States, by appointment of the
State Department, at the Interpar
liamentary Union of Commerce at Rio
de Janeiro in September. Robinson
reports that the conference opened
amid a visible atmosphere of hostility
to the United States on the part of
Latin American delegates, but that
this- feeling was considerably dissi
pated as the meeting progressed. Fol
lowing the conference. Senator and
Mrs. Robinson sailed to Buenos Aires
and then crossed the Andes to San
tiago de Chile. They came north
along the west coast byway of Peru.
The Democratic Senate leader dbesn’t
think the time has come when the
United States needs to consider a sec
ond American-built canal, to cross
Nicaragua. He believes the Panama
ditch will be adequate for years to
come.
*# * *
One of the wittiest women in Wash
: ington is Mrs. Ollie M. James, widow
' of the Democratic senator from
Kentucky, who passed away during
the close of his first term, in 191 K.
Somebody remarked to Mrs. Janies
the other day, speaking of the grow
ing traffic congestion in the Capital,
that the number of automobiles is
. increasing nowadays “by leaps and
. bounds.” To which observation the
vivacious Kentuckian rejoined, “Yes,
and pedestrians nowadays survive by
leaps and bounds, too!"
•** * *
*
There’s a certain former ambassa
dor of the United States who brought
back with him, from the post he re
cently adorned in Europe, a recipe
for candy that can be eaten with
, impunity, without the slightest dan
ger of producing avoirdupois. He’s
made himself extremely popular in
Washington society by supplying a
number of his woman friends with reg
ular consignments of the anti-fat
sweets. An authority in the candy
trade claims that since the reducing
craze struck American womankind,
* sales of chocolates and bonbons have
* appreciably fallen off.
** * *
* Rear Admiral Hilary P Jones,
president of the General Board of the
Navy, will reach retirement age <«4)
■ on November 14 and thereupon
leave the service to which lie has
and fish and engage in the various
manly occupations. I tell you, there is
nothing in the world like hunting to
develop a boy. It brings him into close
contact with the earth, and helps
build up his muscle.
"1 had a surprising lot of muscle
for a 6-year-old. I was 6, all right, be
cause I remember I vow my fine old
Aunt .lane came over to see my
parents on my birthday, and it was
bitter cold—well, something of such
a Fall day as today, although per
haps just a trifle colder. It was cold
er in those days. We didn’t have any
of this modern steam heat, either. We
got up in a cold room, and had to
break the ice in the basin before we
j could wash our faces, and we were
lucky to have any bowl to wash in at
all. These pampered children of this
day and age don’t know what it means
to walk-10 miles to school every morn
ing and 10 miles back in the evening.
"Today a child gets an electric train
for Christmas, and his father has
twice as much fun with it as the kid,
but in my day all I got was a couple
of oranges and a piece of stick candy,
and I was just as happy over It as
the modern boy with his electric train.
"I was C years old when my father
presented me with that rifle, and told
me to go bring him home a rabbit.
I went out into the woods, all by my
self, hoys weren’t afraid to do such
things then, and the snow was up
to my knees. We don’t have such
Winters any more. Why, I can re
call a blizzard that walled us in for
weeks, as I remember. It must have
been in the February of ’B7—now lot
me see. it must have been the 16th
and 17th of February, 1887.
“A few wild pigeons flew over our
house the day before—no, that
couldn’t have been so, because the last
big flight of the wild pigeons was
in ’77, wasn’t it? We had apple pie
for supper that night, and it was real
apple pie, not the junk you get now
adays when you ask for apple pie.
“it was precisely at 4:30 o'clock on
that cold January afternoon that
Aunt Bess —no, let me see, it was
not Aunt Bess, but Aunt Harriet.
There were two relations in our family
that all the children were very fond
of. Aunt Bess and Aunt Harriet. Aunt
Bess was the one who always had
cookies in the big blue crock on her
pantry shelf. Aunt Harriet had a
gray crock with red lines around it,
and generally kept it filled with gin
gerbread in the shape of soldiers and
so on.
“Aunt Bess would take us into her
pantry and point up to the gray jar
with the red lines on it—now let me
see, was it Aunt Bess or Aunt Harriet
that had that crock, maybe it was old
Aunt Mary, same name as the one
Riley wrote about; she was much older
than the other aunts, and we didn’t
see as much of her, but all of us chil
dren were fond of her, probably be
cause she made it a point to have
plenty of punkin pie when the boys
came over.
“I believe I like punkin pie better
than any other kind, although very
few people know how to make it any
more. They don’t cook the punkin
long enough to bring out its flavor,
then they try to make up for it by
putting in a spices, I call it
spice pie, nowadays. Well, anyway,
what can you expect in this day and
ago when people do nothing hut ride
around in automobiles and go to the
movies? Why, a feller down the street
thero came within an ace of running
into me. I was coming across the
street, he made a right-hand turn,
light into me, didn’t blow his horn or
nothing, just sneaked Jip to me, and
believe me, if I didn't still have good
legs I wouldn’t he here talking to you
now! But to get back to Monty Hack
Saw.”
been attached since he entered An
napolis 47 years ago. Admiral Jones’
friends feel that he quits the Navy'
laurel-crowmed, for it was to no in
considerable extent his merit that
Uncle Sam stood fast at the late la
mented Geneva Conference against
agreements that might have reduced
our fleet to a point of dangerous in
feriority. Naval authorities hope that
ways and means may be found of
further utilizing Admiral Jones’ abili
ties. There’s bound to be another
Geneva attempt at naval limitation.
The United States is sure to partici
pate, and Jones’ experience, even
though he be on the retired list, would
prove incomparably valuable on that
occasion. The admiral is a Virginian.
His wife is one of the well known
Lippincotts of Philadelphia.
** * *
Dr. Vernon L. Kellogg, permanent
secretary of the National Research
Council, confesses to a passion not
commonly identified with a man of
science. His favorite outdoor sport
is horseshoe pitching. Two or three
years ago President Coolidge called a
national conference on outdoor pas
times. The Florida branch of the
National Association of Horseshoe
Pitchers appointed Dr. Kellogg its
oflicial delegate to the conference, and
he so functioned. Kellogg is as close
a personal friend as Herbert Hoover
has. Perhaps some day he'll induce
the Secretary of Commerce to go in
at least for horseshoes as an outdoor
exercise. Hoover, like Coolidge, never
wastes any time on sport.
♦* * *
The National Railways of Mexico,
which are owned to a very consider
able extent by American and British
investors, have invited that celebrated
Hoosier-born transportation wizard.
Sir Henry W. Thornton, president of
the Canadian National Railways, to
come to Mexico and look their rail
problems over. Thornton plans to go
there, this month, make an inspection
lasting several weeks, and recommend
vital changes in operating man
agement. The vast Canadian system
which Thornton directs is said to be.
in point of mileage, the largest in the
world. It happens to be the owner of
the Central Vermont Railroad, which
pierces the heart of the stricken Hood
area around Montpelier. The Cana
dian National Is also the proprietor of
lines running through Minnesota.
Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. As
Thornton’s road belongs to the people
of Canada, its holdings of right-of-way
and other American realty is almost
a unique example of property owner
ship within another nation’s domain.
(CoD.vrijrht. 19-7.)
UNITED STATES
IN WORLD WAR
Ten Years Ano Today
German artillery pours a con
tinuous rain of shells around
the American positions in the
front line trenches. Looked like the
’ forerunner of another raid, but none
' developed. The Americans returned
the bombardment in full measure.
. * * * Big spurt in recruiting attributed
’ to news of American losses in front
line trenches. More than 1,000 men
; enlist in single day. • * * Treasury
Department announces that subscrip
! tions to the second Liberty loan total
$4,617,532,300 and 9.500,000 persons
subscribed in varying amounts. Sol
| diers and sailors take more per capita
than civilians. * * * Marked decrease
in U-boat sinkings for past week.
Only eight vessels of over 1,600 tons
lost. * * • Secretary Lansing an
s nounces safe arrival at a British port
i of the American commissioners to the
i allied war conference to be held in
i Paris November 15. •
Urges Protection
Against Temptation
To the Editor of The Star:
While the Association of Bankers is
in Washington, at the call of the
National Crime Commission, may i.
through your valuable paper, call its |
attention to the punishment meted j
out to the serpent for tempting Eve !
in the Garden of Paradise, and to the j
part of the Lord’s Prayer which says I
•Deliver us not into temptation”? i
Tho modern child sees candy on j
counters, where it can he brushed off J
in passing; fruit on display in easy i
I reach, money on newspaper stands,
I newspapers, bread and milk on every
I doorstep.
I Children’s banks, full of money, sit
ting exposed; money in banks in easy
reach, unlocked autos, bicycles.
People count large sums of money
in plain view of the public, place it in
their pockets, and mingle with the
crowd.
Shouldn’t we punish the tempter
and deliver the child not into tempta
tion?
If a child is caught stealing an
apple, he is arrested and a record kept
in the Juvenile Court. After several
offenses, he is branded as a thief and
becomes hardened and goes after
larger game, as he has the blame.
The messenger, route agent and in
surance company are the losers in
many cases.
, Arresting a boy is a detestable job.
And why should the police watch and
protect property wantonly exposed?
It would seem as sensible to place
your purse and diamonds on your
doorstep and demand that they be
given police protection.
Can't the money in a bank be kept
out of sight? Couldn’t money in large
sums be placed in envelopes, with the
amount stamped on the outside and
counted in a booth in the bank
building? MARY E. SLATTERY.
Duck Hunting Laws
Assailed as Uitfair
To the Editor of The Star:
Wild ducks were very plantiful and
were sufficiently protected by the
192fi-7 game laws, with which the ma
jority of duck hunters were satisfied,
but, owing to a privileged few whose
ambition was to monopolize the duck
ing shores and privileges, new laws
were made under the disguise of game
protection. Now the unfortunate indi
vidual, even though he is a taxpayer,
who does not belong to a duck club or ‘
own a portion of river shore in our
so-called free country will be arrested
if he attempts to kill a duck from a
boat, which was his only means of
securing one for his table. Yet hun
dreds of ducks may be killed daily
from the blinds of duck clubs or of
shore owners in favorable locations.
Who owns the wild ducks? Should
not all citizens of the United States
have equal hunting rights? Under
the new law certain locations are per
mitted the use of sink boxes, from
which hundreds of ducks are killed,
while in other sections it is a viola
tion of the law to use any floating
device for that purpose.
The laws displaying so much par
tiality have caused great dissatisfac
tion, involving the governors as well
as the residents of Maryland and Vir
ginia. The change in the Maryland
law is the cause of much of the con
troversy. The State now requires a
sls hunting fee from citizens of the
District of Columbia, and yet provides
no place where a man may hunt with
out being liable to arrest..
It is hoped that the governors will
reach a decision which will be fairer
to the people at large.
O. J. TRENIS.
Says Mafalda’s Crew
Subjected to Insult
To the Editor of The Star:
In your editorial of October 29, I
noted your comment on the sinking
of tho Italian steamer. Princess Ma
falda. Tho entire world, and espe
cially the people of the United States,
sympathize with the Italian nation in
this unfortunate catastrophe. It is
with this thought in mind that I feel
it my duty as a citizen of the United
States and a brother of the Italian
people to protest the insult which one
of the survivors of the wreck made
against the officers and crew of the
sunken ship, namely, that part of the
crew were in an intoxicated condition.
The least that can be said of such an
unfair remark is that it must have
had its origin in the mind of a vindic
tive individual.
I have crossed the Atlantic as a
passenger on Italian liners eight dif
ferent times and have yet to see any
member of a crew undei; the influence
of liquor. I know how rigidly disci
plined are the men of any crew, how
solicitous and devoted toward all pas
sengers aboard, and, therefore, it
seems to us inconceivable that this
particular crew would thoughtlessly
jeopardize the lives of many hun
dreds intrusted to their care. And
the gallant captain of that ship and
crew—what more noble praise could
one utter in his behalf than to say
that he lived up to the code of the
sea; he remained with his ship to the
end, doing all that was humanly pos
sible before and at the time of the
disaster and panic, and certainly we
feel that he and his brave crew must
have gone to their deaths confident
that their duty had been fulfilled in
the name of Italy and her great mer
chant marine service!
M. FERRARI.
Campaign Opened
For Route Markers
To the Editor of The Star:
Referring to the editorial in The
Evening Star of November 3 and the
article by William Ullman regarding
directional signs for the guidance of
tourists, etc., I am pleased to advise
you that a definite movement is now
under way by the Chamber of Com
merce and the A. A. A. to provide
such signs on the principal thorough
fares of the city.
The A. A. A. has already prepared
designs for route markers in accord
ance with the standard markers
adopted for the United States road
routes, which are to be placed on the 1
four principal roads leading to Balti
more, Frederick, Richmond and Win
chester. At prominent intersections
and at circles additional signs are to
ho placed, pointing to the cities the
roads lead to, as well as principal
points of interest in the District of
Columbia.
Upon approval by the Director of
Traffic of the designs submitted, the
necessary markers and signs will be
ordered, and it is hoped that by the
time the heavy touring begins next
Spring the routes through the city
will be adequately marked.
LOUIS E. SFTOLTES.
- -
Divorce a Marriage Aid.
Prom the Cincinnati Enauirer.
Those who are alarmed by the fact
that there now is one divorce for
every four marriages should remem
ber that each divorce makes possible
two more marriages.
The Pedestrian’s Privilege.
From the Portland Oreponian,
Tho astounding news comes from
Washington that 5 per cent of traffic
accidents are due to people who walk
into automobiles. Nevertheless, they
are recorded as accidents to the pedes
trian rather than the car.
How Times Have Changed.
From the New York Herald-Tribune.
The Borgias are said to he better
than they were once believed to be.
That is because dispensing poisoned
liquor is no logger regarded as a seri
ous offense - / ‘ _
! ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC i tI.4SK.HS.
Q What did William Haines do i
l before he entered the movies?—S. E.
| A. He was educated at the Staun-
I ton Military Academy. From there i
j he went to New York to a broker's !
! office. One day he had his picture j
j taken and this was the beginning of i
| his path in films. He started posing !
j for huts and suits and “what the well ;
i dressed young man will wear.” In j
If*- he entered the films.
Q Where do hornets and bumble
bees five during the Winter, and what
do they eat?—L. D. Z.
A. Bees and hornets become torpid
during cold weather and consume j
comparatively little food. The wither- !
ins of the last blossoms in the Fail
compels them to desist and to go into ,
Winter quarters. There the social
species have stored a supply of honey i
in a series of small waxen chambers |
or “cells,” combined into “combs.” i
upon which they subsist until Spring
while the solitary species which do
not lay up such stores usually die; ;
but their larvae, snugly placed in ’
burrows, or other concealed or para- !
sitic situations, remain quiescent until
the return of warm weather, when j
they emerge. This applies to the
colder climates; in the tropics Winter
is not to be feared.
Q. What Presidents have left this j
country during their terms of office?—
E. W.
A. Presidents who left the confines j
of the United States while in office I
were: Roosevelt—visited the Panama j
Canal Zone and went to the city of ;
Panama; Taft—crossed the border into |
Mexico and dined with President Diaz i
at Juarez; Cleveland—on a fishing trip j
exceeded the boundary of the United I
States; Wilson—Peace Conference in j
Europe; Harding—British Columbia, 1
Canada.
Q. What States have a barbers’ !
license law?—J. K. H.
A. The Journeymen Barbers' Inter- !
national Union says that the follow
ing States have such laws: California,
Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware,
Georgia, Idaho. Illinois. lowa. Kansas!
Maryland. Michigan, Minnesota, Mis
souri, Nebraska, North Dakota. Ore
gon, Rhode Island, Utah, Washington
and Wisconsin.
Q. Do Canadians coming to this
| country to live have to pay a head
| tax?—W. D. C.
A. Canadians are required to pay
the same head tax as is required of
all immigrants e* tering this country.
The tax is $8 and is paid to the
United States Government.
Q. ITow long have roller skates i
been in use?— F. 11.
A. These skates were patented in j
France in 18lC. but came into use
in England and America about 1864. !
An American invented the device used j
on skates that geared the two pairs ;
of wheels together and cramped when
tjie foot plate was turned.
Q. When did E. P. Roe live?—L. L.
A. This American clergyman and
novelist was born in 1838 and died in
1888. His novels possessed but mod
erate literary merit, but were whole
some and usually of absorbing inter
est.
! Press Differs With Attempt
To Identify Average American
A magazine writer's attempt to
j identify the average American and
| his choice of a popular citizen of Fort
Madison, lowa, for the honor have
stirred up a national discussion in
which it appears quite certain at least*
that the average cannot be described
to til© satisfaction of everybody.
How the magazine’s average man
was “tracked to his lair” is described
by the Akron, Beacon Journal, which
says: “An expert used a map, a
weather chart and the census report,
dividing the number of cities and
towns in the country into its popula
tion to find that Fort Madison was
the average town. Once Fort Madison
nas selected, the citizens there were
asked to choose among themselves the
man who best represented the aver
ag . The city found that 'there is a
little bit of all of us in Roy L. Gray,*’”
records the Beacon Journal, which,
however, proceeds to find in the
PHILOSOPHIES
BY
GLENN FRANK
The call-bell might well serve as a
symbol of our civilization.
The national gesture is to ring for
the maid or to buzz for the secretary.
We began our national career with
a declaration of independence from
tyrants: we may end it with a decla
ration of dependence upon servants
and assistants.
A man is never greater than the
challenges he hears and answers.
And yet this Airplane Age is remov
ing challenge after challenge that men
of the Stone Age had to face.
What our primitive ancestors did
for themselves we have others do for
us, and this dependence cannot but
tell upon our bodies and our brains
in time,
Henry Fairfield Osborn, in his “Cre
ative Education.” suggestively con
trasts the mental powers of the Stone
Ago youth with the mental powers of
the modern youth in a study that
snows the striking shift from inde
pendence to dependence that has come
with civilization.
Here are the six points around
which his study clusters:
First, observation. ,
The primitive youth made incessant
use of his powers of observation
through sight, hearing, taste and
touch.
The modern youth makes slighter
and slighter use of his powers of ob
servation which are dimmed and di
minished through disuse; he does not
have to observe to save his skin, ex
cept when crossing a crowded avenue,
and even then the traffic cop is there
to observe for him.
Second, imitation.
The primitive youth gradually elab
orated the art of life through imita- j
tion.
The modern youth overdoes imita
tion until it threatens to sterilize life
and stop invention in mental and so
cial fields.
Third, creation, invention, initiative,
adaptation, resourcefulness.
The primitive youth was daily chal
lenged to personal initiative and per
sonal adaptation to new situations.
The modern youth sponges on the
gifted few whose resourcefulness does
duty for the lazy many.
Fourth, reflection, reason, recogni
tion of cause and effect.
The primitive youth found reflection
and a recognition of cause and effect
necessary to survival in the struggle
for existence.
The modern youth can get along and
survive by letting the gifted few think
for him and surround him with safe
guards.
Fifth, the struggle for existence.
The primitive youth found this
struggle intense and continuous.
The modern youth finds it rarely in
tense; only intermittently must he
really struggle.
Sixth, imagination.
The primitive youth found his imag
ination constantly stimulated by his
direct contact with nature.
The modern youth finds his imagina
tion dulled by his life in an easy and
artificial environment that has been
created and is kept going by the imag
ination of the inventive few.
The real problem Is to bring chal
lenge back into civilization.
(Copyright. Mdfeiur* Newapaper Syndicate.)
| Q. What ships are included in our
j merchant marine?—R. T.
A. The term “merchant marine” is
: i comprehensive one including ali mer
chant ships sailing under tho Ameri-
I cun llag.
| Q. Is tiie Sahara Desert all of one
| elevation? —M. C. T.
A. This great desert, with an area
d about 3,r>oo,n(K> square miles—about
the size of Europe—is a rather rough,
! stony, mountainous region, traversed
; by valleys and defiles, but expanding
; in places into broad plains or exten
sive sand dunes.
Q. How can an amateur tell plati
num from white iron? —W. H. R.
A. A magnet might be used. It
; would attract the iron, but not the
! platinum.
i Q. Is there any radio station In
| ibis country that is broadcasting pic
i tures? —K. J.
A. There are no stations sending out
! picture signals for public reception,
i Pictures are sent from point-to-point
J stations.
Q. Is the day longer than the night
j at the Equator?—H. W. C.
I A. Theoretically the days and
; nights are equal throughout the year
jat the Equator. If, however, the day
| is regarded as beginning and ending
| when the sun's upper limb appears
! above or disappears below the horizon,
j then the day at the Equator is six
|or seven minutes longer than the
j night, the difference being due to re-
I fraction and the sun’s semi-diameter.
! Q. What is a Government acre?—
JJ. F.
j A. The Government acre is always
1 measured on the level ground and in
; the hills the difference in the area
| would be the difference between the
j base of a right-angle triangle and the
! hypotenuse. The acre of land in the
hills would represent the hypotenuse
of a triangle.
Q. When was the size of our paper
money last changed?—G. E. E.
A. The present change is the first
since 1861.
Q. What causes spontaneous com
bustion in coal?—S. B. F.
A. Spontaneous combustion in coal
is almost entirely limited to bitumi
nous. serni-hituminous or lignites. The
heating effect is mainly due to oxida
tion. 'reshly mined coal will absorb
more oxygen than after it has been
exposed for a period. Sulphur in the
form of iron pyrites is also thought to
accelerate the temperature rise, the
I iron sulphite changing to ferrous sul
| phate with the evolution of heat.
letters are going every minute to
| our free Information Bureau in Wash
| ino ton tellino readers whatever they
: want to know. They are in answer
to all kinds of queries, on all kinds of
subjects, from all kinds of people.
Make use of this free service which
The Evening .Star is maintaining for
you. Its only purpose is to help you
and we want you to benefit from it.
Get the habit, of writing to The Eve
ning Star Information Bureau. Fred
eric •/. Ha.skin, Director, Washing
ton, D. C.
nominee one grace that Is not aver
age in these days, namely, “He votes
prett -regularly.”
“The important thing about the dis
covery is that the whole thing is un
* important,” declares the Greensboro
Daily Record, and the Providence
Journal is sure that “a great many
Americans will persist in their con
viction that the average man is noth
ing more than a statistical illusion.”
The New York Sun dismisses the
matter with the comment: “One
question was not asked him, and, to
remedy this defect, we herewith ask
it and answer it as we think the aver
age man would answer it: ‘Q. —What
do you think of the persons who sup
pose there really is such a thing as
an average man? A. —I think they
are nuts.’ Wherein we find much
disappointment, one of the most
cherished of human delusions thus
comes in for reproach.”
** * *
“We do not believe there is such a
thing as an ‘average’ man.” observes
the Flint Daily Journal. "If there is.
Heaven help a nation made up of aver
age men!” The Richmond Times-
Dispatch states with emphasis, “The
‘average man’ in America does not
want to be the ‘average American.’ ”
So, also, the Columbia State remarks.
“After scanning the catalogues of the
traits and actions of a supposed aver
age American man, we are more firmly
convinced than ever that there is
no visible or producible average man.”
Calling the term "average man" a
“damning, a classification that holds
no hope, a prison which has not one
gate toward freedom.” the Omaha
World-Herald adds: “If society is
working for anything at all, if the
plagues and the wars and the catas
trophes and the victories that have
fused men have any significance, they
mean that man is working toward a
state of living together in which no
one needs be average, in which each
one has opportunity and encourage
ment and a chance to succeed in
raising himself high, in forever mark
ing himself aside from the common
herd.”
In fact, Roy L. Gray "is no longer
an average man and never will be
again.” as the Bellingham Herald
sees it. for. says the Herald, “his aver
age life has been stepped up to a
higher key, and he joins the galaxy
l of the average great.”
Was Mr. Gray ever average, in fact?
His wife says not, according to the
Toledo Blade, which quotes Mrs. Gray
as declaring, “If Mr. Gray is just an
average man, then there isn’t a hus
band anywhere who is above the aver
age.” as she enumerates his far-from
average virtues of “devotion to his
family, dependability and industry.”
The New York Evening World docs
not agree with "some of our high
hat intellectuals who have persuaded
themselves that the average Ameri
j can is beneath contempt,” and says
of him, “It was the average man who
felled the forests, bridged the streams,
built the highways, erected the school
houses and the churches, and who
has fought the battles for liberty in
peace and for national preservation
in war.”
** * *
The Abilene Daily Reporter apos
trophizes the average man in thi-<
fashion: “In spite of what the literary
panners have to say of you and your
kind, you're the backbone of the coun
try. May your tril>e increase!”
The Manchester Union thinks this
Roy L. Gray, from the qualities
ascribed to him. must be "a very good
neighbor—which, after all, is one of
'the real tests of human worth,” ac
cording to the Union: and the Detroit
News, commenting on “his tolerance,
his mental, attitude of fairness,” asks
“why the politicians do not appeal to
the square eommonsense of this aver
age man, instead of feeding him a lot
of foolish propaganda, which he Im
mediately puts down as so much
tripe.”
Summing up its view of the matter,
the St. Paul Pioneer Press offers the
suggestion: “The true average would
have to be a composite; in his veins
the blood of many races, in politics a
Republican with Democratic leanings,
a flair for stand-patism and traces of
tendencies to kick clear over the fence.
In religion a hybrid, socially a non
descript, morally a moderate sinner
and intellectually, according to th*
latest data from the Wall Street Jour
nal, about the age of 12.”