Evening star. [volume], June 12, 1930, Page A-8, Image 8

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

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A-8
THE EVENING STAR
With Sunday Morning Edition.
WASHINGTON, D. C.
THURSDAY June 12, 1930
THEODORE W. NOYES Editor
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special dispatches herein are also teserved.
Use of Business High.
The ‘‘principle of the thing” and not
thi merits of the suggestion itself is
what riles the Board of Education in
connection with the future use of the
Business High School. The spirit of the
board's protest is understood and wins
B’-mpathetic response in Washington. It
is significant, no matter what comes
of it.
When Congress was considering the
1930 estimates last year thefHouse com
mittee told the school officials that they
could have the money to begin work on
the proposed Roosevelt High School, at
Thirteenth and Upshur streets, which
eventually will replace Business, pro
vided they continued use of the vacated
Business school building as a colored
elementary school. The appropriation
bill itself carried a legislative provision
to that effect, although it did not specify
the use of the building for a colored
school, and the board protested against
It at the time.
Business High School is about as un
fit for an elementary school as any
building cou’.d be. It is built to the side
walk on an island bordered by that
through traffic stream, Rhode Island
avenue; Ninth street, which carries a
busy car line; Eighth street and R street.
It has no playground and no recreation
space. The lack of such facilities, as
well as the dangerous flow bf traffic on
all sides, adds to the disadvantages.
When a bill was introduced a few
days ago broadening the permissible
uses of the building to Include that of a
junior high school, a senior high school
or a combination of the two, the Com
missioners innocently reported that the
Board of Education was in favor of such
liberalization. That struck fire at the
Board of Education. It was stated most
emphatically that the beard had never
expressed anything but opposition in the
matter and the board wanted it under
stood distinctly that such policies as the
us? of buildings should be left to the
board, and that Congress had no busi
ness Interfering. Mr. Gilligan was ap
pointed to represent the board at hear
ings on the bill and to protest its pas
sage on that ground, but, failing there,
to s:ek congressional sanction to use of
the building as an Americanization
school, provided that the board de
cided to use it as such.
As matters now stand the Beard of
Education is opposed to Congress telling!
it what to do with old buildings, but if
•Congress feels compelled to issue such
directions, the board desires permission
to choose between using the structure as
an elementary school, as a junior high
school, a senior high school, a combina
tion school or an Americanization school.
Congress might have taken a short cut
In the first place and enacted a law
stating that the building must be con
tinued as a school, but could not be
used as a race track, a car barn or a
stating rink.
Swimming is a popular accomplish
. ment. The Coast Guard may be able
to meet the extra demands for super
vising rum-runners as life-saving be
comes less arduous.
Chicago gangsters kill a reporter.
Old-time journalism led to duels, but
the fighting was opened up with due
notice and carried the assumption of
being fair and square.
As a horticultural expert, Gifford
Pinchot might define Senator Grundy
ms possibly a political annual, but not
a hardy perennial.
Big Cities.
Census reports are coming from time
to time to give cheer and concern to
city boomers. A day or so ago the final
count for Detroit was announced,
1,564,397, giving it fourth place in rank
of cities as against fifth place for Los
Angeles. The motion picture center
has been pressing forward rapidly in
recent years and its growth is probably
at the greatest rate of any municipality.
But it has not been capable of catching
the motor car center, though the latter
has slowed up somewhat in its rate of
Increase.
Yesterday Chicago’s total was pro
claimed, 3.373.672, a gain of 672,648 in
the decade, the increase being at the
rate of 84 7 per cent. This news was
announced at a luncheon meeting of
the Association of Commerce, where it
caused a great outburst of enthusiasm.
It was flashed to all parts of the city,
where school children and business men
were gathered to learn the final total.
Whistles were blown, flags were hoisted
to mastheads, school children sang
songs of jubilation and sidewalk groups
gave ringing cheers at the glad tidings.
Meanwhile the police were scouring the
city for gunmen and gangsters in the
latest ‘‘clean-up,” occasioned by the
murder of a reporter, and the popula
tion was being depleted by a hurried
exodus of underworldlings to safer pre
cincts. Nine of them, it may be men
tioned in passing, were arrested in New
York and in Trenton, N. J., on theii
way to swell for a time the dwindling
population of Manhattan. New York
will probably send them back to Chi
cago despite the anxiety felt in the big
Eastern center on the score of its
shrinking population.
New York City—that Is, Greater New
York —is not diminishing, but Manhat
tan borough is undoubtedly slipping
Yesterday the final count in the bor
ough census was completed showing
a drop of 18 per cent there since th<
last Federal enumeration, actual
depletion being 427,515 persons since
1920. But Greater New York itself Is
expected to top the list of American
cities with something like 6,600,000, as
} against 5,620,048 ten years ago, a gain
. of about 980,000.
r T
■ The Zoning Changes.
Significant of the growing pressure
created by shifting tides in city develop
ment were th» twenty-one applications
placed before the Zoning Commission
and decided after lengthy hearings last
i week for changes from residential to
, commercial use. Os the twenty-one np
, plications the commission granted eight
r and turned down thirteen. Generally
t speaking, the commission thus holds to
a previously stated policy of refusing to
make these changes on the ground that
area now zon r d as first or second com
: 1 mercial is already more than necessary
: to care for the demand. There w'ere,
however, two notable exceptions.
J These were illustrative of the sources
: of pressure brought to bear on the com
mission. One case represented the plea
i of property owners whose residences
; have lost former value as homes be
| caus? of traffic and other new develop
. ments. The other represented the plea
of property owners, developers of com
mercial prop'rty, whose Investment, to
be successful, demands more area for
' expansion. The commission decided
’ both cases in favor of the property
1 owners, though modifying its decision
; to appease to some extent the opposition
' : of others who felt that they would be
' i adversely affected by the changes.
The first case involved an about
’! face by the commission that is difficult
| to understand, the causes of which are
left to conjecture, inasmuch as the
commission does not explain its views.
Twice previously the commission has
1 turned down applications for rezoning
' from residential to first commercial
1 the triangle bounded by Connecticut
avenue, the park and Calvert street.
The application assumed extraordinary
prominence because Senator Smoot,
who once owned a house In this tri
-1 angle, was one of the proponents of the
change and last year personally ap
peared to urge it, without avail. This
year, however the commission granted
the change. It also changed, as the
petition urged, the zoning of another
triangle diagonally across the street,
bordered by Calvert street, Connecticut
avenue and Twenty-fourth street, but
refused to change, as the property own
ers requested, the zoning of a row of
houses on the east side of Connecticut
avenue from Calvert street to Woodley
road.
Owners of the property involved in
the two triangles got what they want
ed, although owners of nearby prop
erty protested. The result is that the
Zoning Commission has approved a
group of stores at the Connecticut ave
nue bridgehead, and also on one side
of the approach to the Calvert Street
Bridge, which structure eventually will
be remodeled and made beautiful. Fur
ther, the Zoning Commission has per
mitted stores to back up on Rock Creek
Park, which is not desirable. In the
other triangle commercial development
will be permitted, although across the
street on the other side of Connecticut
avenue only residences will be per
mitted.
In the case of the “Smoot triangle”—
if the Senator does not object to the
identification —the new buildings will
have to conform tq plans approved by
the Fine Arts Commission, as this area
now comes under the provisions of the
Shipstead law. A part of the other
triangle, across the street and facing
the park, will likewise be brought under
the provisions of this law, but the re
mainder will not.
For the first time, under the new
Shipstead law, the Zoning Commission
thus “passes the buck” to the Fine Arts
Commission. The latter body will doubt
less exercise great care to see that the
stores to border Rock Creek Park and
mark the entrance to two fine bridges
of the future are housed attractively.
They can be, and their prominence at
this point demands that they must. It
is also to be trusted that the Zoning
Commission, in overriding the recom
mendation of the advisory committee of
citizens who opposed the zoning change,
was impelled to make the change by a
real necessity for this commercial de
velopment.
The other important case decided re
lated to the change from residential to
' second commercial of land lying between
! the Gallaudet College campus, the Pat
terson Park tract, and the new Union
Terminal Market development around
Fifth street and Florida avenue. The
market developers sought to have the
zoning changed because they needed
more room. The change was opposed
by citizens, who feared the bad effect
of a market on the approaches to the
park, and by the officials of the college,
: who contended that such development
) should hot be adjacent to the campus.
! j The Zoning Commission's decision took
,! the form of a compromise. No changes
: j will be allowed until streets through the
> l area have been dedicated, and part of
: the area sought as second commercial 1
i was retained as residential or first com
r mercial. Sixth street, to be opened, will ■
. thus form a buffer between the market!
I and the park, with land on the east side j
r of Sixth street zoned residential between
f the campus and the market. The street!
will be ninety feet, Including sidewalks, j
- In this connection the sidewalk might [
i: well be confined to the east side of the j
i street, the western side of the street be- j
s ing left without curbing or walk to fa- j
f cilitate loading and unloading of mar- |
t ket vehicles. This would cut down the J
. interference to pedestrian traffic on
, Sixth street, one of the points mentioned
l \ in opposition to the change.
i' Soviet Russia has undertaken to solve
? many old problems all at once. Older ]
s governments find one problem at a time
as much as they can handle.
e The Big Fight,
e Tonight In Yankee Stadium at New
- York American and German fists will'
1 fly, while two husky sons, respectively, l
-of the Republic and the Reich battle for }
- ; the heavyweight championship of the i
v world. The contest will be notable in j
r one unparalleled particular—never be
g | fore has a German been a contender for
k j the coveted crown which Gene Tunney
- , put away a year or two ago. Jack Shar
g key, talkative Boston sailor, yclept by
s another name in real life, for he is of
I Lithuanian origin, will face Max
n j Schmeling, first of the Teuton tribe to
- ; win laurels in the prize ring.
j : Naturally, American sympathies will
•- j be with the gob, though Sharkey has
g alienated a good many compatriots who
te would otherwise be his partisans, be
ll cause of his loquacity and braggadocio.
THE EVENING STAR. WASHINGTON. D. C., THURSDAY. JUNE 12. 1930.
especially on the eve of a fight, and also
because he has nlver rated as real
heavyweight "class.” In his contest with
Dempsey, after the Manassa Mauler had
lost the title to Tunney, Sharkey re
vealed anything but championship
quality.
Schmeling vaulted to high rank in
what Grantland Rice calls the cauli
flower Industry by whipping decisively
two American pugilists who were them
selves aspirants for heavyweight su
premacy. The German lacks the ring
experience of Sharkey, but he has youth
in h s favor and the priceless incentive
of all the glory and fortune that go
with the world championship if he can
propel Sharkey to the mat and keep
him there while the referee counts ten.
The betting odds favor the American,
but the challenger swings a deadly and
an ambitious right, and it may well be
that the land which builds the fastest
ocean liners and the best airships will
before th s day is ended hav» some
thing else to be proud of in the form
of the Black Uhlan of Hamburg.
Welcome, Senor Prestes!
Herbert Hoover seems to have set a
happy precedent when he toured South
America in the capacity of President
elect in 1928-29. During the past year
no fewer than three Presidents-elect of
Latin American republics have visited
the United States. This week Wash
ington is honored by the presence of Dr.
Julio Prestes de Albuquerque, who is
about to assume the presidency of
Brazil.
The two giant commonwealths of the
Americas have much in common. Bra
zil’s economic prosperity, through the
exportation of her great coffee crop, is
dependent to a vast degree on its sale
in the United States. The Brazilians
on their part are heavy and valued
customers of this country. Above and
beyond the mutual value of our eco
nomic relations, we see eye to eye with
each other in the realm of all those
things which make for Pan-American
unity and friendship.
Dr. Prestes will take the helm at
Rio de Janeiro as the chosen leader of
the Conservative party, to hold office
until 1934. A brilliant lawyer, an ex
perienced legislator, an enlightened
statesman, his administration is certain
to be marked by a continuance of those
close ties which have always united
the Republic of the Amazons with the
Colossus of the North. Washington has
not forgotten the gloriously enthusi
astic reception which Brazil’s incom
parably beautiful capital extended to
President Hoover a year and a half
ago.
There will be no lack of effort upon
the part of the Federal Government
and Washingtonians to greet President
elect Prestes in the same fervent spirit,
though it is not easy for the people
of any- country to equal the tempera
mental fervor which Brazilians exhibit
when they set out to honor the stranger
within their gate.
The primaries provide a means of giv
ing early notice to statesmen that they
are to enjoy the privilege of retiring
from public service in order to enjoy
greater emoluments in private employ
ment.
Astonishing advance is shown for Los
Angeles by the census. The movies
have given this handsome city the ben
efit of the best press-agent talent in
the world. •
New York has sent no messages to
North Carolina. A1 Smith is content
with a silence, implying that he is too
much of m gentleman to say "I told
you so.”
Women in politics do not hesitate to
tell an old-time political boss what they
think of him. The feminine privilege
of the last word is eternal.
— 1 8
SHOOTING STARS.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON.
Sartorial Effect.
A uniform I dearly love,
Like others of mankind.
I hold at first and all above
.The costume so refined.
The base ball player bids me stand
In admiration mute.
As he appears with manners grand
In his athletic suit.
The tennis player lightly springs
Into the public gaze.
: The golfer also brightly brings
A picture to amaze.
The swimmer shows a classic curve.
The aviator bold
Has armor which suggests the nerve
Displayed by knights of old. «
I have a nature primitive.
To athletes I declare
Sometimes the greatest thrill they give
Is in the clothes they wear.
Bubtle Move.
■ “You think your opponents have made
a subtle move to embarrass your cam
! paign speakers.”
“Yes,” answered Senator Sorghum,
j “The latest report is that they have
1 started on an anti-noise association.”
i -
1 Jud Tunkins says whenever a stranger
1 grabs your hand and insists on shaking
‘ it, you don’t need any formal lntroduc
j tlon to let you know he’s a candidate
■ for office.
Metallic Illusions.
The clouds have silver linings.
Imagination's tricks
May leave us to repinings,
The same do some gold bricks.
Lofty Assumptions.
“What are you going to do with your
boy Josh?”
"I’m going to make an aviator of
him,” answered Farmer Corntossel.
"Can he qualify?”
“I think so. He has been so busy
I thinkin’ he’s far and away above the
, rest of us, I’m goln’ to see to it he gets
! a chance to make good.”
“He who permits himself to be dis
courteous,” said Hi Ho, the sage of
Chinatown, “admits at the outset that
he has a bad argument.”
Renewed Juvenility.
! The dial phone has pleasant ways.
The dalliance I regret to stop.
It brings me back to boyhood days
When it seemed fun to spin a top.
“You can’t believe more dan half of
what you hears,” said Uncle Eben; “an’
it’s jes’ yoh hard luck if you happen to
pick out da wrong half.”
1/
: I THIS AND THAT |
i
* BY CHARLES E. TRAC EWELL.
i
I
In one of those felicitous sentences
of the kind which no man ever wrote
• better Charles Dickens said in his
"Pickwick Papers":
“There was a bower at the further
end, with honeysuckle, jessamine and:
creeping plants—one of those sweet re
' treats which humane men erect for the
, accommodation of spiders."
One might almost think that Nature
had designed the entire out of doors for
’ the insects from the way they proceed
to take possession of it.
Gardens are full of flies, gnats, ants,
spiders, plant lice, rosebugs, mosquitoes.
The woods are filled with them. Some
species are in the very streets.
Once we saw a large bug cross F
street at the busiest time of day, and
although, it took him longer to do it he \
managed the passage as well as most of
us do.
** * *
So far this Spring—or whatever one!
calls it—the biggest garden pest is thej
gnat.
We are not sure “gnat” is the proper
title.
It Is a good little word, however, and
■ every one understands it.
i The reference is to those small pests
. which buzz in front of the home gar
dener's eyes every time he decides to
cut the grass, water the lawn, or do
some other necessary outdoor chorf.
In ordinary seasons these creatures
come early and go early, especially dur
ing warm weather, but this Spring—if
it may be called such —they came very
[ early and are staying very late.
Even the cold days of several weeks
ago—the same which gave so many
people colds when they sought to econ
: omize by sternly refusing to build up
the furnace fire again—saw no diminu
tion in the number of activities of these
1 miniature insect pests,
i Just whftt the fascination of the hu
, man eye is for these tiny creatures we
have never been able to determine.
! All we know, along with the rest of
I humanity, is that a gnat would much
rather fly into a human eve than into
any other place in the world.
Pprhaps it is the glitter, or the color.
1 or some other matter. Just what it is
i need make little difference, for the fact
remains the same in any case.
The gnat pines for admittance to the
human eyeball.
With a whole wide world to choose
from, he comes directly to an eye and
proceeds to insert himself between the
lids as dexterously as possible.
His wings take the place, of hands, of
course. With them he hopes to gain
admittance before the victim can shut
him out.
He might select a hole in a tree, but
he prefers a near-hole in a human face.
. One must wink fast to outwit him.
j** * *
As for the spiders of which Dickens
speaks, we must confess an unholy in
terest in them.
Although we shrink from the ap
proach of their numerous legs, we are
fascinated by their clever adaptability!
in a monstrous, roaring world.
How did the spider learn to swing
those long strands into the air and
build himself a bridge from nowhere
to nowhere else, a bridge of sighs, in
deed, for unwary flies and other small
things?
Spider specialists can answer that
question no more than the veriest gar
den amateur. They will tell you that
.each variety works according to its own
individual pattern, some using 28
strands for a web, others 30, and so on,
Highlights on the Wide World
Excerpts From Newspapers of Other Lands.
i :
EL TELEGRAFO, Guayaquil.—The
tests In which Death flaps his
wings, in which shine splendor,
valor and temerity, are the char
acteristic glory of the Latin
countries.
In many of the South American
I countries they still celebrate the spec-
I tacles in the bullrings, an institution
derived from the time of the Spanish
Conqulstadores. These carnivals of
sunlight and blood have remained with
these nations as an inheritance from
their fiery ancestors, from whom they
have received a nature passionate and
vehement, now tempered in some de
gree with the fatalism and melancholy
of the aborignes.
These mingled emotions have re
sulted in the abolition of bullfighting
in some Spanish-American countries,
and in its clouding in some others.
Peru and Venezuela are some of the
few countries retaining the battle
of the Arena in all its historic tradi
tion. In Mexico a prejudice is arising
against it. In Cuba they no longer
have the bullring, but they have an
other diversion equally full of color and
excitement —the sport of cockfighting.
Cockfighting is a brilliant and inspir
iting pageant, replete with life, color and
emotion. Some say that it is as cruel
and barbarous as bullfighting, but it
has less of savagery, in our opinion,
than a contest where a man is pitted
against a beast, as in the Plaza, or
man is pitted against man, as in the
"squared circle.” The pugilistic en
counter, that so-called “virile” sport, is
in reality the most horrible of all.
„** * *
Mails Receive
Special Attention in Siberia.
North China Standard, Peiping.—Dis
covery by the Shanghai post office that
mails from Europe via Siberia are tam
pered with en route, three instances
having come to notice, is not calculated
to put confidence into the fast route
between Asia and the Occident. In
the last incident, alert officials found
the registered mail had received “spe
cial attention” en route. Notification
has already been sent to the postmaster
general at London, but what the
Chinese post office hopes to accomplish
in that quarter is not clear, except,
perhaps, that the evidence can be
tightened against the Russian route.
Weight of opinion is that the trouble
lies within Russia. Postal authorities
everywhere should exercise a thorough
check on bags which pass through
Russia, with a view to securing absolute
certainty as to responsibility for in
fractions of international procedure.
The public in China wants to feel
; secure in its postal relations with Rus
sia. That fast route is the one every
body wants to use, if he can do so with
absolute confidence. So anything that
can be accomplished by the Moscow
Commissar of Postal Affairs will be ap
preciated at both ends of the Trans-
Siberian Railway.
** * *
Denounces Us of
Initials in Newspaper*.
Manchester Guardian.—The London
correspondent of the Journal des De
bates is much excited about the
growing use, particularly in newspapers,
of initials in place of words. He de
nounces the practice as “alphabetical
t orgies.” What seems to him its climax
is the employment in an English news
paper of “B. I. S.” to indicate the “Bank
ol International Settlement.” The
r English, he declares, are much the
, worst offenders in these maddening
' abbreviations, which they began long
5 ago by turning “cabriolet" into “cab"
and "omnibus” into “bus.” What, he
asks derisively, are we to think of a
. nation with whom “P. C.” may mean
, either “Privy Councillor” or “police
[ constable," and with whom only the
t use of capitals distinguishes “P. M.”
for “Prime Minister” from "p. m.” for
“post meridian”?
But the French critic has to admit
that his countrymen are fast following
the example set by us and that many
people in France fail to identify “S. D.
N.” for “Soclete des Nations” (League
of Nations). And in some cases we are
using short, simple words where the
French are employing similar multiple
f initials. Our "wireless" against their
. “T. 8. F.” is an example. And then
again there is the “A. B. C,” of Madrid,
3 which, as the designation of an impor
tant illustrated journal, has long been
and that the creature which specializes
in one number never infringes on the
patents of another.
There is one thing which may be
said for the garden spiders. If you let
| them alone, they will let you alone.
They do not belong to the varieties
which go sprawling suddenly across a
floor as if intent on crawling up your
trouser leg.
An ordinarily well behaved outdoor
spider, no matter how ferocious his ap
pearance, may be depended upon to
stick closely to his web..
** * *
There is one variety, about as big as
a silver quarter, which becomes furious
when a human being touches him in his
i web.
Then he will dart his yellow self
; backward and forward in rage, as if
I seeking, as no doubt he is. to intimidate
j the inquisitive fingers which pry into
! his affairs.
Next to the spider, the mysterious ant
! is the most interesting garden insect.
I Some may even give him the prefer
i ence. The ant has got himself a repu
tation second to none for being a busy
body. He- is forever at it. When the
biblical writers wanted to shame some
lazy young fellow they told him to go
to the ant, thou sluggard, and be wise.
Modern research she vs that the ant
by no means desert"’ his reputation,
since his instincts are not the result of
his own innate reasoning. The credit
must go to the mysterious Power be
hind him.
Most gardeners regard the ant as one
of their most undesirable visitors. It
helps place the plant lice, or aphids,
upon his flowers and upon their roots,
and does no good at all to lawns. Be
sides, it is a constant menace to the i
house if lured thereto through care
lessly left foodstuffs. Ants are very
fond of bread and butter, and will come
for miles to get at a piece left by
| Junior on the back porch.
* * 4) *
Flies of recent years have become
outdoor insects, as the good propaganda
against them has borne results.
Today many a fly looks wistfully,
through screen doors at a table tempt
ingly set for man’s repast.
His great - grandfather, one million
generations removed, was free to fly at
will over similar collations.
Poets in those days wrote odes to the
fly, and invited him to sip, too, at the
same cup with them.
The fly of today is banished by the
simple expedient of 16-mesh wire, cop
per or otherwise. Occasionally one gets
in, to meet his doom at the swish of
a swatter.
Among the strictly garden insects,
so called, are the hosts of “bugs" which
chew, suck and otherwise devour the
leaves, roots and petals of flowers and
vegetables.
Scientific men have created a host of
insecticides and poisons with which to
combat them where found.
** * *
i The mosquitoes (as witness the pend
ing appropriation of $60,000 to combat
! them in the District of Columbia) is
still very much alive.
About the only good thing one can
say for this pest is that he gives warn
ing of his approach, at least sometimes.
That buzz of his (or hers, we believe,
strictly speaking) is unlike any other
noise in tfre world.
The automobile horn is merely an
Imitation of the mosquito s warning cry
of “Here I come! Watch out!’-’
i
an alphabetical mystery and enigma to
all mankind.
“A. N. Z. A. C.” “I. W. W.” “S. O. S.”
and “T. N. T.” are by no means as in
comprehensible. “R. F. C.” of course
means "Royal Flying Corps,” but we
cannot blame the Frenchman if he finds i
“M. S. C- P.”—used a few days ago in
a morning paper—a little vague. Being
interpreted, this is “Mean Spherical
Candle Power.”
** * *
German Language
Falls Off in U. S. Schools.
Cologne Gazette. —The optimists in
this country that are rejoicing over the
resumption of a place in the sun by the
German language in America are in
spiring rejoicing that rests upon veVy
frail foundations. From a report re
cently issued relative to the study of
modern and ancient languages by the
junior and senior high schools of New
York City, it appears that very few
pupils are studying German in high
school compared with times prior to the
World War. Indeed, of the languages
studied German occupies a very poor
fourth place, even the dead language,
Latin, being vei*y greatly preferred.
French is the favorite exotic tongue,
and the professors making the report
state that the rank and file of the stu
dents take to that speech like the aver
age American woman does to a
Paris gown. The appeal seems equally
Irresistible. Before the war German
stood first in preference when one
wished to study a foreign language.
Now in New York 79,972 high
school pupils are studying French.
35,295 are studying Spanish (important
because of the United States’ growing
commerce with South America!. 33,131
are studying Latin, but only 10,707 are
studying German. If one considers
carefully the relative figures given above,
German is not likely soon to regain the
popularity in America it had before the
war, and although people in Amerloa
read German novels with increasing
avidity, it is always in English trans
lations.
** * *
France Would
Bar Mourning Veil.
Le Matin, Paris. —The heavy crepe
mburning veil, worn in France for gen
erations, is in danger. It is no longer
proper to wear the insignia of grief any
more than it is proper to advertise our
religion or our politics. Emotions be
long in the heart, not in our external
garments. There is sorrow enough in
the world without reminding people of
it by the somber vestments of death.
Census Figures Awake
Annexation * Question
From the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
As the census figures come in, and
city after city is disappointed in its
total, the question of annexation be
comes a live one. Cities and towns
have not yielded to the modern tend
ency to consolidation as much as have
business institutions. Communities
which have visibly grown together, and
which may be functioning practically
As one for economic purposes, still
maintain their separate political organ
izations and identities.
Big communities which have spawned
populous suburbs often find themselves
closed in by a relentless ring. The
suburbanites, when away from home,
unhesitatingly give the parent city as
their residence, because it is well known
and they are proud to be associated
with it. Yet at home they stubbornly
stand aside with their separate set of
officials, even though it creates awk
wardness and confusion in adjusting
public utility services, fire protection,
taxes, educational systems, traffic reg
ulations, etc.
Census year, with its emphasis on
population, tends to change this atti
tude. Citizens of parent cities and
daughter cities alike come to feel the
injustice of the census totals and wrong
impression given by them. They realize
more clearly that communities which
are one economically and socially should
be one politically. So there is a strong
movement for municipal mergers,
either through annexation of the
smaller units to the larger or through
borough systems which, uniting the
whole group of municipalities in a sort
of federal plan, leave the outlying unite
self-governments ip local matters.
I The Political Mill
By G. Gould Lincoln.
National interest is focused on the
New Jersey senatorial primary, which
takes place Tuesday. And chiefly this
interest lies in the struggle between
wet and drv forces for supremacy. Am
bassador Dwight W. Morrow, since his
opening campaign speech declaring
against national prohibition and for the
control of the liquor traffic by the
States, has become the great ‘‘wet
hope.” He has given the Republican
wets the country over a thrill. They
see in him a possible national leader.
The Republican wets have been in the
minority, not only nationally, but. gen
erally speaking, in the Individual States.
Jersey, as a matter of fact, is one of
the few, very few, States which have
elected Republican wets to the Senate
in recent years.
** * *
But just when the stage seemed all
set for a struggle for the Republican
senatorial nomination between two wets,
as they have been dubbed—Mr. Morrow
and former Senator Joseph S. Freling
huysen, at one time a dry—Representa
tive Franklin Fort leaped into the fray
as a “drv." The fat was in the fire, and
all South Jersey, where Republicans are
principally dry. was ablaze. And now
the race is said to be between Mr. Mor
row and Mr. Fort, with the wet strength
split because of the candidacy of Mr.
Frelinghuysen. In Jersey the sentiment
is predominantly wet. It has been
proved at tht polls many times, despite
the fact that President Hoover, run
ning as a supporter of the eighteenth
amendment, defeated A1 Smith, the wet
Democratic candidate for President, two
years ago. A lot of things besides the
wet question were involved in that elec
tion. One of them was the fact that
the country was running - along on an
even keel, with the people generally
prosperous. The cry was. “Don’t upset
the apple cart!” No Democrat could
have carried Jersey under such cir
cumstances.
•** * *
The question which is to be settled
next Tuesday is whether there are
enough drys among the Republicans in
Jersey to put across Mr. Fort, despite
the wetness of Mr. Morrow and of Mr.
• Frelinghuysen and the national reputa
tion of Mr. Morrow. Incidentally. Mr
Morrow’s reputation is more national
than State-wide. There are plenty of
voters in New Jersey who are much
more familiar with a mug of beer than
.with Mr. Morrow's record as an Am
bassador to Mexico. „
Mr. Morrow has the organization
back of him. The organization was
bent on defeating the senatorial aspi
rations of Mr. Frelinghuysen and settled
on Morrow to turn the trick. It is the
dry Mr. Fort who has threatened to
upset the organization’s calculations. It
is a fact, however, before Mr. Morrow
got into the race at the request of the
organization the leaders w-ere very much
afraid that Mr. Frelinghuysen could not
be defeated. The former Senator had
' been working for more than a year to
build up an organization of his own.
Reports were to the effect he was en
tirely liberal in meeting campaign ex
, penditures. + *
If Mr. Morrow wins, the wet cause will
receive a big boost. It will be widely
heralded as a victory over the drys. On
the other hand, if Mr. Morrow loses, the
Ambassador will go into a political
eclipse and the wets will suffer the hu
miliation of having a foremost potential
leader of their cause defeated in a State
which is supposed to be wet and which
has had wet Republican Senators in the
recent past. So both sides are working
tremendously hard. Mr. Fort has sought
to bring the Hoover administration into
the picture. He claims that Mr. Mor
row and Mr. Frelinghuysen have de
serted the President in his stand for
the eighteenth amendment.. He insists
they have drawn away from the Re
publican national platform of 1928.
which pledged the G. O. P. to uphold
and to enforce the eighteenth amend
ment.
** * *
The wet Republicans in New York
and elsewhere have caused the drys
some uneasiness by threatening to put
up wet independent Republican candi
tdates for Congress in districts and
States where Republican drys have held
office. If the wet Republicans follow
such a course they will simply be mak
ing the drys take a little of their own
medicine. The drys appeared to be
lieve that the wet Republicans would
remain loyal to party even if the can
didates nominated continued to be bone
dry. But the dry Republicans them
selves did not play the game that way.
For example, in New York in 1926 they
put up a dry independent Republican
to take a fall out of the wet Senator
Wadsworth. They polled 300,000 votes
for their dry candidate and brought
about the election of a wet Democrat in
his place. Now the wet Republicans are
suggesting that they might force a few
wet Democrats into Congress by placing
wet Republican candidates in the field
to split the Republican vote. These
wets are becoming almost as clever at
the game of politics as the drys have
been in the past. The Democrats should
worry, particularly the wet ones.
** * *
The drys are claiming that despite all
the noise about wet sentiment they have
had no reverses at the polls so far this
year. They point to Mrs. McCormick's
victory in the Illinois senatorial primary.
But Mrs. McCormick was running against
a dry, with a drier record than her
own. The wet and dry test in Illinois
is to come in November when Mrs. Mc-
Cormick meets the wet Democratic
Senator J. “Ham” Lewis. They, the
drys. are pointing with pride to the
Tact that Gifford Pinchot won the guber
natorial nomination in Pennsylvania and
that he is an ardent dry. On the other
hand, the wet vote in Pennsylvania was
split between Phillips, an out-and-out
wet, and the moist Mr. Brown. Had
Mr. Brown in the beginning declared
himself a real wet, he might have beaten
Pinchot hands down, but he straddled.
Furthermore, out in the State of Wash
ington, the State Republican convention
went wet and adopted a wet platform.
That means something, probably a good
deal more than the nomination of Pin
chot in a three-cornered race in Penn
sylvania. And now the Republican wets
are proposing to support the Democratic
nominee for Governor in Pennsylvania
because he is a wet.
** * *
Senator William J. Harris of Georgia
is to have opposition in the Democratic
primary for the senatorial nomination
after all. Former Gov. John M. Slaton
has announced his candidacy for the
nomination, although it was expected
for a tune he would not do so. This
means a bitter fight, although Senator
Harris’ friends insist he will win re
nomination. Slaton doubtless will have
the support of former Gov. Hardwick,
whom Senator Harris defeated for the
Senate years ago. Indeed, Hardwick has
declared as much and Senator Harris
has charged that it was Hardwick finally
w ho persuaded Slaton to enter the race.
Former Gov. Slaton has announced he
will oppose the entrance of the United
States into the World Court and the
League of Nations. He has accused
Senator Harris of supporting both. He
has attacked Senator Harris also for his
vote against the confirmation of ihe
nomination of Judge John J. Parker of
North Carolina for the Supreme Court.
He has sought to raise the race issue in
this last attack on Senator Harris,
claiming that the National Association
for the Advancement of the Colored
People, which strongly opposed the con
firmation of Judge Parker because he
had made campaign speechs* declaring
the Negro should not take pwt in poli
tics, is claiming the rejection of the
Parker nomination as a victory.
** * *
Already there is talk of the coming
mayoralty fight in Chicago, to be staged
next year. Judge Joseph Sabath,
brother of Representative Adolph J.
Sabath, is mentioned as a possible can
didate. Judge Sabath has presided
over the Superior Divorce Court in Chi
cago for nine years; he ft popular and
has been a great vote getter. Inciden
tally he has granted 35,000 divorces dur
ing his service as judge. It has been
suggested he would have at least 70,000
votes cast for him under these circum
stances.
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ,
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.
Few Americans realize how much i
their Government does for them
Readers of The Star can draw on all
Government activities through our free
information service. The world's great
est libraries, laboratories and experi
mental stations are at their command.
Ask any question of fact and it will be
answered, free, by mail direct to you.
Inclose 2-cent stamp for reply postage
and address The Evening Star Informa
tion Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, di
rector, Washington, D. C.
Q. Does a person going to Oberam
mergau to the Passion Play have to
get a German visa on his passport?—
J. P.
A. A visa is necessary, but there is
no charge for it.
Q. How many working people are
there in the United States? —P. O. R.
A. There are approximately 30,000,-
000 wage earners in this country.
Q. On a tailspin does the nose or the
tail of the airplane come down first?—
p a
A. The nose comes down first. The
heavy nose spins around in a small
circle and the tail follows around in a
larger circle. %
Q. Are lotteries legal in Canada? —
A. Lotteries are prohibited in Canada.
Q. Please give the origin and cere
mony of ivy planting at Princeton. —
W. V. Q.
A. The first class ivy at Princeton
was planted by the class of 1877 on its
class dav at its graduation in June,
1877, and the ceremony was accom
panied by an oration, called then and
since the ivy oration. The orator in
1877 stated that ivy had been chosen
as a symbol of the perpetual remem
brance the class would have of Prince
ton, striking deep, clinging close, and
always green. The class of 1877 turned
out to be one of the most remarkable
classes in after years that Princeton
has graduated. The first ivy was
planted at the new library. Since then
it has been planted at Nassau Hall with
a tablet naming the class. Some of the
ivy has been historic, being brought spe
cifically for the planting, one spray
having been sent from the castle in
Germany of William of Nassau, Prince
of Orange, after whom Nassau Hall
was named in 1756.
Q. Why is cream of tartar put in
candy?—H. G.
A. It is used In making candy and
icing to prevent crystallization of the
sugar by Inversion.
Q. How much ground can a camel
cover in a day?—G. F. D.
A Some of the racing camels are
capable of doing more than 100 miles a
day.
Q. What is a cryptogram?—R. C.
A A cryptogram is a cipher used in
secret correspondence whereby the
message is interwoven into a book,
story or just a sentence. A special key
is required to know how to understand
and-put the letters together. Probably
the best known cryptogram is the one
believed to be contained in the books of
Shakespeare, proving according to some
authorities that he was not the author
but that the real author had laboriously
woven into the text the facts of the
case through a complicated cipher.
Q. What is the Cardiff giant?—
B. S. G.
A. The Cardiff giant is a rude statue
of a man. 10 Vi feet high, cut in Chicago
from a block of gypsum quarried from
great beds of that mineral near Fort
Dodge, lowa, in 1868 and buried near
Cardiff. Onondaga County, N. Y„ where
Pride in Bobby Jones’ Crown
Expressed by Whole Nation
Bobby Jones, as the unrivaled mon
arch of the golfing world, is made the
subject of universally friendly comments
on his recent brilliant success in adding
the British amateur championship to
his other trophies in this country and
abroad.
Happy phrases in complimentary vein
are found in papers throughout the
country. “The climax to the career of
Jones will be greeted with enthusiasm
wherever golf 1s played,” says the Pitts
burgh Post-Gazette. The new title
“makes his golf diadem complete,” as
serts the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "Cer
tainly the young man from Atlanta Is
a marvel, and he has made sure of a
most distinguished niche in the golfers’
hall of fame,” exclaims the Manchester
Union, while the Little Rock .Arkansas
Democrat sums up its opinion in the
words, “Undeniably the king of them
all.”
His is not the fate to be a prophet
without honor in his own courary, for
the Atlanta Journal waxes eloquent in
his praise, saying, “Coeur de Lion of
the links, king of the sport of princes,
golf emperor of the world, starry son of
Atlanta, we salute you,” and the At
lanta Constitution proudly avers that
his “unprecedented performances have
fixed his fame in the popular interna
tional sport and set a mark for all
after-comers on the links to shoot at,
with faint hopes of becoming his peer.”
** * *
The Indianapolis Star concedes that
“other stars will flash across the firma
ment.” but asserts that “Bobby Jones
undoubtedly will go down in the records
as one of the greatest players the popu
lar game ever produced.” Confessing
that “Bobby is our hero,” the St. Joseph
Gazette declares, “We like to see him
win.” The Jersey City Journal calls
rim “the pride of America and the para
gon of amateurism,” while the Spring
field Union places him as “one of the
greatest golf champions of all time.”
The Salt Lake Deseret New'S sees him as
having “brilliantly fulfilled every ex-|
pectation,” and the Flint Daily Journal ,
cries. “He is the Lindbergh of golf, or
the flying colonel is the Jones of avia
tion, depending on the viewpoint.”
That to reach the position he occu
pies today Bobby Jones has had to con
quer not only the - game but himself is
referred to by a number of editors in
their reviews of his career. Says the
Milwaukee Journal of the recent event
on the links of St. Andrews: “Jones,
standing there, probably remembered
the day, nine years before, when in a
fit of temper he tore up his card on
St. Andrew’s because the ball had not
fallen as he wished. It was only when
he became the cool, imperturbed player
that he succeeded.” And “this trans
formation has been the result of ardu
ous self-discipline and a continuous
quest of self-control,” says the Kala
mazoo Gazette, which states further
that “it is only by mastering himself
that Bobby has succeeded in mastering
the royal and ancient game.”
** * *
The Kansas City Times recalls that
years ago Chick Evans predicted of
Bobby Jones that “here was a boy who
might go far if he could only subdue
his temper,” and the Times notes that
Jones .“recognized his fault and con
quered it, as he had conquered the deli
cate health that first sent him to golf
for outdoor exercise.” The New York
Sun says of the champion’s career, “Per
severance is all that copybook maxims
have said it to be.” And the Dayton
Daily News declares his latest achieve
ment was “another evidence of his com
plete self-control, or rather the pow'er
over self,” adding, “It has taken a
long time to produce this Jones, and it
may take longer to bring another,”
The New York Times speaks of him
as “a splendid example of self-mastery,”
and describes him as “not only a model
of sportsmanship in his bearing but a
man whose poise and self-control are
never shaken by the slings and arrow's
of outrageous fortune on the golf links.”
As to his newly won championship,
the Lynchburg Daily Advance calls It
“no pyrrhlc victory,” but the reward
“that cones from a grueling, nerve
it was “discovered" late in the follow
ing year and exhibited as a petrified
giant. The hoax was subsequently ex
posed by Prof. O. C. Marsh of Yale. It
was perpetrated by George Hall (or
Hull) of Binghamton. N. Y„ his pur
pose being to ridicule the belief in
giants.
Q. Did the Earl of Shaftesbury ever
live in the Carolinas? —L. G. C.
A. Biographies of the first Earl of
Shaftesbury do not indicate that he
actually came over to America to look
after his estates in the Carolinas.
although he took a leading part in the
management of the colony.
Q. How many Presidents of the
United States are buried in Arlington
Cemetery?—J. O.
A. William Howard Taft is the only
President buried there.
Q. In what batuTwas the American
flag first flown?—H. P.
A. The American flag was first flown
from Fort Stanwix on August 3. 1777.
It was first under fire three days later in
the Battle of Oriskany. August 6, 1777.
Q. What is the length of the River
Lena? —J. L.
A. Approximately 3,000 miles.
Q. About how much money a year
does this country lend in otner coun
tries? —L. D. „ <
A. For the first quarter of 1930 the
foreign borrowing in this country •
totaled $338,000,000, the largest total
since the second quarter of 1928.
Q. What places in history were oc
cupied by the following characters:
Razi and Hugbald?—K. F. R.
A. Razi or Rhazes was an Arabian
physician who lived from 852 to $32.
He is noteworthy as being the first man
to describe smallpox and measles in an
accurate manner. Hugbald or HucbeJd
was a Benedictine monk and writer of
music. He was born at Toumai, France,
about 840. He later started a school of
music and other arts at Nevers. He
was the Inventor of the gamut. The
only work positively ascribed to him is
the Harmonica Institutio. He died in
930. 1
q Did Gary Cooper to to college?—
M. C. F. x . „
A. He was a student at Grlnnell
College, Grlnnell, lowa, for two years.
Q. How much money is spent on
higher education in the United States?
What per cent is Government money?—
S A* 1 In 1927-1928 half a billion dol
lars were spent on higher education In
the United States. This represents in
come and receipts, including additions
to endowments, for 1,071 colleges and
universities. One-fourth of the amount
came from tuition and educational fees
paid by the 919,381 students, 23 per
cent was appropriated by State and
city governments, 13 per cent was given
by private benefactions, 12 per cent
was income from endowments, the bal
ance came from miscellaneous sources.
The Federal Government contributed
3.4 per cent of the total funds.
Q. How does the number of battery
sets in use compare with the number of
electric radio sets? —B. W.
A. According to a survey made by
Radio Retailing, at the end of May
there were approximately 13,000,000
families in the United States equipped
with radio sets. They are divided as
follows: 7,700,000 electrically wired
homes have all-electric receivers, 2,000,-
000 electrically wired homes are using
battery-operated sets, 1,000,000 unwired
homes in' cities and suburbs are using
battery sets and 2,300,000 farm homes
are provided with battery sets.
racking week of hard play,” and affirms
that “the crown rightly rests upon the
brow of Georgia’s favorite son.” The
Roanoke Times quotes and approves the
statement of Reger Wethered, who was
defeated in the final round by Bobby
Jones, “There goes a real champion of
golf.” The Chattanooga News, placing
him “at the pinnacle of golfing fame,’
says, “Perfect co-ordination of body
and brain alone could have carried him
; there.” As the New York Herald Trib
une puts it, “Knowing what was ex
pected of him at St. Andrews, Jones
faced the worst of hazards —the mental
one—without flinching.”
#* * *
“The Jones record, unequaled In the
annals of golf, is the more remarkable
because of the nature of the sport in
which it obtains. For golf is not a sport
in which a reasonable margin of supe
riority guarantees victory,” the Cleve
land News explains, and asserts,
“Greater the glory of Jones.” The com
pleteness of the Jones victories is
stressed by the St. Paul Pioneer Press
with the statement: “In winning the
British amateur golf championship
Jones has won the only major golf
trophy he had left to win, and becomes
the first golfer to have held all the
major titles the game affords —the Brit
ish and American open and the British
and American amateur championships.”
And the Appleton Post-Crescent notes
that now Jones has “won every national
and international championship worth
going after,” and is “in a class by him
self.**
The popularity of the victory on both
sides of tie water is most pleasing to
the American press. The Baltimore
1 Sun rates Jones as “a great favorite”
both in this country and in England,
as does also the Springfield Republican,
which notes that “true art knows no
national bounds, and the British par
ticularly admire perfection in style.”
Os the Scots the Columbia State re
marks: “All of us Joke about the ‘near
ness’ of the Scots. But who piore gen
! erous in tribute to excellence? Golf is
their game, but they are as appreciative
! of its great master from Atlanta as they
' would be were he native of their own
country.” In fact, the Chicago Daily ,
Tribune asserts that the Scots are said
“to regard him with a sort of awe, a
wholly generous admiration of a player
who always has enough golf for the sit
uation which requires it.”
The Duluth Herald sums up American
sentiment in the words: "It is great to
have an American win this splendid vic
tory. It is greater still that it has been
won by this quiet, modest, unspoiled
young man who, before he is a golfer,
is a true sportsman and a true gentle
man—which are, after all, much the
same thing.” 4
Fascist Kills Fascist;
News “Tucked Away"’
Dingy heads, tucked away in the last
pages of Italian newspapers, are the
standard type of measurement ordained
by local city editors when “Fascist kills
Fascist.” In the beautiful town of
Ravenna recently, a Fascist named An
gelin! was mortally knifed by a member
of one of the local Fascist syndicates.
From what the reader could gather
from write-ups, the victim of the ag
gression was standing in conversation
with other Fascists outside the Fascist
headquarters of the town, when a man
named Gordini walked up and struck
a blow at him, which immediately
proved fatal. Gordini. who was chased
and classified as an “old oppositionist,”
told the police that Angelini had pre
viously beaten him with a stick. Re
prisals on the part of thq policemen
took the form of no less than eight ,
i arrests.
* t
Street 220 Feet Wide.
From the Detroit New*. »
The widest paved street in the world
—Main street in Keene, N. H —is 220
feet wide from curb to curb. We shall
have to look up the mark for the 70-
yard dash to see if it is held by •
Keene pedestrian.
A •: .... . . ,/.• '