Evening star. [volume], April 28, 1937, Page A-10, Image 10

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

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
THE EVENING STAR
With Sunday Morning Editim.
WASHINGTON, D. C.
WEDNESDAY__April 28, 19S7
THEODORE W. NOYES_Editor
The Evening Star Newspaper Company.
llth St and Pennsylvania Avr
New York Office: 110 East 42nd 8t.
Chicago Office: 435 North Michigan Avt.
Rate by Carrier—City and Suburban.
Regular Edition.
The Evening and Sunday Star
65c per month or 15c per week
The Evening Star
45c per month or 10c per week
The Sunday Star_.. _oc per copy
Night Final Edition.
Night F*nal and Sunday Star_?0c per month
Night Final Star__ _55c per month
Collection made at the end of each month or
each week. Orders may be sent by mail or tele
phone National 5000
Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance.
Maryland and Virginia.
Dally and Sunday_l yr.. $10.00; 1 mo.. 85c
Daily only -1 yr.. $6.00; 1 mo., 60c
Sunday only_1 yr.. $4.00; 1 mo.. 40c
All Other States and Canada.
Daily ana Sunday. 1 yr., $12.00; 1 mo. $1.00
Daily only_ l yr.. $8.00; 1 mo., ?5c
Sunday only_1 yr.. $5.00; 1 mo.. 50c
Member of the Associated Press.
The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to
the use for ^publication of all news dispatches
credited to it or not otherwise credited in this
paper and also the local news published herein
All righ s of publication of special dispatches
herein are also reserved.
Local Flood Prevention.
While Washington is relatively free
Of the flood dangers so forcibly demon
strated by the suffering and damage ex
perienced by many other communities,
each recurring flood in the Potomac
emphasizes the importance of preventive
steps that soon must be undertaken
here. The question of a dike or levee
along the river, for instance, to protect
the Mall buildings, the gardens and the
park roads, has been discussed for many
years, but there is as yet no Anal or
approved plan on what should be done.
Last year's flood in March, which
brought a higher stage in the river than
the present flood and caused alarm for
the safety, principally, of the Navy and
Munitions Buildings on Constitution
avenue, led to the hasty construction of a
dike stretching from Seventeenth street
west to a point opposite the Academy
of Sciences Building. An earthen “core”
for this dike supported sandbags which
were removed after the waters receded.
But the core was left, sodded, and now
has become a permanent part of the
landscape. East of Seventeenth street,
meanwhile, extensive alterations have
resulted in raising the level of the Wash
ington Monument Grounds. But there
remains a wide gap of low-lying ground
along Seventeenth street which might
be flooded by exceptionally high water
in the river. If this were threatened, the
present plan calls for a hastily throwm
up dike of sandbags.
Some time ago the engineers planned
an extension of old ”B street south,” now
Independence avenue, westward into the
park, the proposal being to elevate the
surface sufficiently to provide a perma
nent dike. The plan was disapproved
by the National Capital Park and Plan
ning Commission, however, as marring
the park landscape and the United States
district engineer is now studying a
scheme for a dike that would follow the
line of the river bank from Hains Point
to the Lincoln Memorial. After the 1936
flood the seawall up-river from the Lin
coln Memorial w'as raised three feet, but
the authorities do not regard this as
ample protection against exceptionally
high water. t
Army engineers are now' engaged in
protective work along the east bank of
the Anacostia, designed to prevent the
future flooding of the Naval Air Station,
where the flood of last March caused
some damage and which has been under
water in the past few' days. But possibly
the worst condition in this vicinity is
at the Peace Cross in Bladensburg, where
r Summer storm is enough to close two
heavily traveled traffic arteries for hours
in addition to flooding some residential
areas in the vicinity.
This condition will not be remedied
Until the upper channel of the Anacostia
River is dredged sufficiently to take care
of the volume of water that now' over
flows a wide area of low-lying land.
Maryland so far has been unable to
obtain the necessary co-operation from
the Federal Government for dredging.
Every Spring freshet adds reasons for
hastening what essentially Is a simple
operation in flood prevention.
Amateur Camera Art.
The season of the year in which the
amateur camera artist is most enthusi
astically active soon will begin. Now,
therefore, is the time for a word of
guidance and caution. And not many
will object if the warning is explained.
The average photographer wants good
pictures and does not mind being told
how to obtain them.
Of course, the first stipulation should
be that competent camera result can be
had only by attention to the mathematics
Involved. Clear and distinct impressions
are feasible with even the least expensive
equipment when arithmetic is remem
bered. Distances must be accurately
measured, exposure time carefully
counted. Unless the operator is willing
to gamble on the chance of occasional
success by sheer accident, he must study
his problem. The light must be gauged,
the subject tactfully composed, the lens
be clean, the tripod or the hand steady.
All of which may sound very difficult.
Yet It may be comprehended. Indeed,
a skilled teacher can instruct a willing
learner in a single ten-minute lesson.
Most camera salesmen are anxious to
help. It is part of their business to
assist the novice. And the same ob
jective Is the aim of the technical
booklet inclosed with each new photo
graphic instrument. An hour spent in
the earnest study of such a primer may
save considerable money, not to mention
disappointment and discouragement.
Perhaps the fun of photography has
been exaggerated. Good pictures, as it
happens, are not frequently made in a
riot of laughter. Especially when group
portraits are attempted, it Is well to
postpone the comedy for later enjoy
ment. Reasonable quiet conduces in
many different ways to commendable
A
achievement. The point Is amply il
lustrated by the remark of a critic of
a beach snapshot: “We look like a
troupe of apes, half-drowned and waiting
to be thrown back into the ocean.”
The pleasantest themes probably are
children, pets, lovely landscapes, sea
views, fine architecture. But the field
is wide and there is no arbitrary prohi
bition of choice. The thing to bear in
mind is that the amateur camera op
erator can be an artist only by trying.
Just Jockeying.
The President’s court bill, with its pro
posal to enlarge the Supreme Court of
the United States, has reached the
jockeying stage. From this time forward
both sides will seek every possible ad
vantage, and the administration may be
expected to bring more and more pres
sure to bear. For the bill is being con
sidered by the Senate Judiciary Commit
tee in executive session, where it may be
amended or dismembered, reported
favorably or reported adversely. The
administration distinctly does not wish
an adverse report from the Senate com
mittee. So the proposal advanced at
yesterday's session by Senator Logan of
Kentucky that the bill be reported “with
out recommendation” from the commit
tee is being interpreted in some quarters
as a fear on the part of the administra
tion that the committee might not give
the measure a clean bill of health, but
rather a dash of cold water if allowed to
come to a vote.
It has been understood for some time
that many members of the Senate com
mittee were hostile to the bill as it
came from the hands of the President—
proposing to give him authority to ap
point a maximum of six new justices
of the Supreme Court. Senator Ashurst,
chairman of the committee and a strong
supporter of the bill, rather let the cat
out of the bag on Saturday when he
admitted there was a possibility, if not
a probability, that the committee would
report the measure to the Senate ad
versely. So much so, that administration
leaders have had cold chills up and down
their backs.
And now the President has let it be
known that he frowns upon any legisla
tion for labor and industry until the
Supreme Court bill has been disposed
of—and presumably been enacted into
law. This move looks like a bid to labor
to increase its drive for the passage of
the court bill in the form the President
desires. It is to be presumed, too, that
all farm legislation will be side-tracked
also until the court bill has been put
through the Senate. Generally speak
ing, it is-taken for granted that if the
bill gets through the Senate in the shape
the President wishes, it will pass the
House with comparatively little trouble
—although it has its enemies in that
body also.
This is exerting pressure with a wide
sweep. But the pressure and the yxkey
ing for advantage will not end there,
in all probability. It will proceed in
individual cases. There are 28 Demo
cratic Senators up for re-election next
year. Already Postmaster General Far
ley, who is chairman of the Democratic
National Committee, has been speaking
in many States in support of the court
bill and warning his listeners that al
legiance to the party will be measured
according to the support given this bill
which is so close to the heart of the
Chief Executive. If Democratic Sena
tors, in their effort to be renominated,
wish the support of the administration,
the intimation is clear that they had
better leap aboard the band wagon
before it is too late.
In this court bill fight, every vote
is being counted carefully. That goes
for both sides. Even the death of the
late Senator Bachman is not without
its bearing on the contest—for Bachman
had been considered hostile. A new
Senator is to be appointed. When he
is named by the Governor of Tennessee
his attitude on the Supreme Court issue
will be sought avidly—and probably be
fore he is appointed, if rumors are cor
rect.
The administration is not overlooking
any steps that may be taken to bolster
the court bill in its passage through
the Senate. A case in point is the
speech which was made Monday night
dealing with the court by Attorney Gen
eral Cummings, one of the co-authors of
the judiciary reorganization bill.
The end of the fight is by no means
in sight. The opposition has many
weapons at its command. It plans to
seek a separation of the Supreme Court
proposal from the remainder of the bill
before the measure is acted upon in
committee. It will be in a position to
debate for a considerable time a motion
to bring the bill up in the Senate. And
once the bill has been placed before •
the Senate it will have the potent
weapon of unlimited debate at its com
mand and it will surely use this weapon
until it is convinced that it cannot pre
vent favorable action, or at least wring
a compromise from the administration
forces which will be in part satisfactory
to the opposition.
Japanese Emigration.
As Congress in 1924 was about to sear
the national pride of Japan by enacting
an immigration law which excluded her
citizens from the quota system applicable
to other countries, the Hanihara note
of painful memory foreshadowed the
"grave consequences” that would ensue.
Japan's relations with the United States
did undergo a certain strain, which has
never been entirely eradicated, but the
dire results envisioned never material
ized. What happened instead was that
the stream of Japanese emigration was
diverted from the west coast of the
United States to South America. For
the better part of the succeeding decade
it flowed strongly in that direction.
Now comes news that Latin republics,
which formerly welcomed Japanese im
migrants, have also put up the bars.
Brazil, long the favorite Southern region
for settlement for the island empire’s
surplus population of migratory tend
ency, has decreed that instead of the
round 250,000 Japanese previously ad
mitted annually, a mere one-seventh of
that number, or 35,460, may enter this
year. The Far Eastern immigrants
proved to be such desirable coffee planta
tion and cotton field workers that a
former member of the Tokio Parlia
ment and finance ministry, Tsukasa Uet
suka, with cordial support of the Bra
zilian authorities, had set about to estab
lish a sort of “Japanese Utopia" in the
Amazon republic. That program now
has suddenly collapsed, including revo
cation of a huge jungle land grant of
about 2,000,000 acres which had been
allotted for the purpose. Japanese hence
forth will enter Brazil under a quota law
limiting Immigration from any one coun
try to two per cent of the total immigra
tion therefrom during the previous fifty
years. Japan unavailingly protested
against the law on the ground that the
bUlk of her immigration to Brazil had
taken place during the last decade.
Peru, which next to Brazil has been
Japan's principal immigration objective
in South America, has erected even more
restrictive barriers. When the Lima
government discovered that more . than
half of the 43,000-odd aliens domiciled
in the country were Japanese, it decided
to establish a rigid quota system, based
on earlier immigration. Under the new
system no fresh Japanese arrivals are
at present admissible. In future no
greater total than 16,000 persons of any
nationality legally may reside in Peru.
Japan is today no longer so dependent
upon a trans-Pacific habitat for her
emigrant class as she used to be. Before
South American governments instituted
their rigid restrictive laws, nearby Man
chukuo had begun to absorb Japanese
settlers in growing numbers, due mainly
to generous subsidy support from Tokio.
It is stated that more than half a million
subjects of the Emperor have already
taken up their abode in the great former
Chinese province since the “Incident” of
1931. Manchukuo thus gives promise
of providing the eventual solution of
Japan's population problem, with cor
responding relaxation of tension in re
lations with certain countries which dis
like the idea of excessive immigration
from the Far East.
Th? Maryland Legislature in trying to
solve tax problems faces complications
involving Fusionists, Democrats and Re
publicans all reaching, like eminent fig
ures of the National Government, to
have a finger in the political pie.
Alimony is sometimes mentioned in
connection with political celebrities. The
American public is inclined to leave this
item of expense entirely to the domain
of individual budgeting.
Collectors find interest in quaint nov
elties. There may yet be a demand for
used base balls that have never been
autographed by Babe Ruth.
■ > I ■ m
Some extraordinary demonstrations of
superstitious extravagance have called
attention to how much easier it may
be to raise a mob than to manage it.
If Government employes are forbidden
to speculate in the markets, it may be
considered logical to forbid transactions
with neighboring pari-mutuel machines.
Shooting Stars.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON.
Problems.
There are so many problems now
That life becomes a bore.
With every passing week, I vow
I'm sure to find some more.
And as among my fellow men
I plod my weary way,
I have to figure now and then
To find the time o’ day.
Kind Nature has eternal laws
That rule the earth and skies.
The sun has worshipers because
He knows just when to rise.
He's now too early or too late,
The clocks all go astray
As we attempt to calculate
The present time o’ day.
Unappreciated Candor.
“You have made a great many friends.”
“Yes,” answered Senator Sorghum.
“But I'm getting too many of the kind
who start in by saying ‘I’m going to be
perfectly frank with you,’ and then
explain that unless I change my opinions
they can’t vote for me.”
Jud Tunkins says there are two kinds
of weather watchers in his neighbor
hood. One thinks about crops and the
other about the ball game.
Highjacking.
The man who has a little coin
A stronger man will meet,
Who to his Own the cash will Join
By methods swift and neat.
The cat will eat the mouse. The fish
Will eat the smaller fry.
The powerful will always wish
To grab a neighbor's pie.
And as we view the total sum
Of deals that seem so raw
We fear highjacking has become
A sort of natural law.
Moral and Instructive.
“Do you enjoy listening to the radio?”
“Very much," answered Miss Cayenne.
“You approve of all the programs?”
“Not quite. But as I go on listening
its influence is most valuable. It teaches
me faith, hope and charity.”
“A wise friend,” said Hi Ho, the sage
of Chinatown, “knows how to restrain
advice, however excellent, if it would be
so unwelcome as to alienate regard.”
Laughability.
My radio! My radio!
When last within my home you spoke,
Although your wit was rather slow,
Your advertising was a joke.
“If you spends too much time listenin’
to hard luck stories,” said Uncle Eben,
“you’s liable to miss de good luck stories
dat might come true if you’d give ’em a
chance."
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
BY MARGARET GERMOND.
IMMORTAL FRANZ. By Zsolt Har
sanyi. New York: Frederick A.
Btokes Co.
THE LIFE OF RICHARD WAGNER. By
Ernest Newman. New York: Alfred
A. Knopf.
A little more than fifty years ago
practically the entire Western world was
mourning the death of a great artist.
Franz Liszt, whose genius had immeas
urably contributed to the culture of a
century richly endowed with composers
and masters of great music, had died.
Glowing tributes were everywhere being
paid to the gifted pianist and composer,
but, just as three years before the world
of Western culture unreservedly ren
dered its praise to the immortal music
of Richard Wagner, the opportunity to
pass judgment upon the private life of
the famous musician could not be re
sisted.
Two thousand years, as time is meas
ured in terms of the universe, is per
haps too brief a span in which to expect
the human race to advance far beyond
the savage state of mind that prevailed
when the Star of Bethlehem heralded to
the civilized nations of the earth the
birth of an infant upon whose mature
teachings a new religion of tolerance and
sympathy for human weaknesses and hu
man failures would be founded. And
evidence shows that the same span of
years is a sufficiently long time in which
to lay aside a few of the fundamental
principles of the new faith introduced
by the lowly Nazarene and to judge with
out sympathy and without understand
ing the behavior of human beings upon
whom the God who rules the universe
has bestowed gifts totally beyond the
comprehension of those whose talents and
experiences have not been kindled to
superior expression by the torch which
flames within the soul of genius. Can it
be that the Ruler of all things intended
that man, with his limited knowl
edge of the source and the sus
taining force of inspiration, should
assume the right to measure all fellow
beings who walk this earth by the same
yardstick? Faithful adherence to the
teachings of the Nazarene forbids such
judgment. But. despite its intelligence,
the world is still loath to recognize
that each mortal differs from his brother
and that man-made codes of conduct
differ materially from the infallible law
of the universe that holds man's only
clue to the riddle of the divine plan.
» f f f
In the category of these immortals who
have given to the world some of its
most treasured cultural blessings are
Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner,
whose lives ran parallel in the era
which witnessed the most prolific
production of great music in the
history of the art. Both men, as
mortals, violated every convention laid
down in the prevailing code of social
conduct. Yet both of them left
to the world which praised their genius
and condemned their morals a rich
heritage of immortal music, the full meas
ure of which no man has yet been able
adequately to estimate.
As literature for the shelves of a newly
music-conscious public, both of the
volumes included in this column are of
particular value. One is a novel and the
other is absolute biography. Yet the
novel is as important to those who would
have understanding rather than prej
udice as is the second volume of a monu
mental biography which, when com
pleted, will undoubtedly be the most
comprehensive Wagnerian compilation
ever produced by one author. Four years
have elapsed since the appearance of the
first volume, which detailed the life of
the famous German composer from his
birth until 1848. Now comes the second
book, covering in detail the years between
1848 and 1860 and giving full informa
tion concerning matters which in earlier
biographies have been deliberately omit
ted because they pertained to persons
still living, or which were undiscovered or
unknown by those who attempted to
present a complete story of the life of
the great composer.
And this stupendous work of Ernest
Newman, reflecting years of laborious re
search and study, may well cause the
musician to ponder and the layman to
gasp at the prodigious energy and the
indefatigable efforts of the man who
believed in his own genius and who
employed every wile at his command to
force upon his friends and his enemies
the responsibility of maintaining him in
his poverty and of financing and produc
ing the majestic compositions which are
destined through eternity to enchant
and enthrall humanity with their power
and their beauty.
^ ^ ^ ^
Of no less value Is the new novel which
Zsolt Harsanyi has devoted to Hungary's
most noted genius of music. He is him
self an Hungarian, whose family claims
to be the oldest literary family in the
world. For six hundred years its mem
bers have been writers and the author
of this novelized biography of one of
the world s most famous pianists and
composers has written over one hundred
one-act plays, a dozen full-length mu
sical comedies and dramas and drama
tized several important Hungarian nov
els. He. has also written biographical
novels on the lives of such notable
Hungarian geniuses as Imre Madaeh. the
playwright; Petofi. the poet, and Michael
Munkacsi, the painter.
★ * * * 4
In presenting the life of Franz Liszt he
offers no apology and begs no sympathy
for the idol of nineteenth century
Europe. He simply presents the great
geuius as he lived, reconstructing in
narrative form the tempestuous career
of the man whose two passions were
religion and music and whose fairly
long life was checkered no less than
that of many another genius .with a
succession of women — some of them
noble of character, many of them of no
particular spiritual consequence.
From early childhood, when his pas
sionate prayer was that he might grow
up to be exactly like Beethoven, until
his death, the work and the loves of the
irresistible Liszt are portrayed in a
novel which is as great in historic im
portance as it is in romantic interest.
Its educational and informative value
lies in the intimate disclosure of his
relationship to Beethoven, Chopin, Schu
mann, Wagner. Thalberg, Mendelssohn,
George Sand, Hans von Bulow, Meyer
beer. Tlchatschek. Rubenstein, Belloni,
Berlioz. Hiller, Uhlig, Grieg and others
whose lives touched his own, while the
romantic side of his life is disclosed
through his youthful love for Caroline
Saint Criq, his life with Countess Marie
D'Agoult and the truly inspirational and
spiritual love which existed between Liszt
and the Princess Carolyn Sayn-Witt
genstein.
Neither the sorrows nor the ecstasies
of the “Immortal Franz” are dramatized
or minimized, but the whole of his stormy
life, including his love for his mother
and for his three children, his introduc
tion of the works of Wagner and his
years at Weimar, is told with candor and
sincerity in a style which readers of
Harsanyi literature recognize as the au
thentic product of an accomplished
writer.
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.
A Florida gallinule, a member of the
rail and coot families, far off its beaten
track, fell dead the other morning In a
Washington garden.
The finder was much mystified by the
stranger, a bird about 12 inches long
from tip of red bill to end of tall.
It was dark slate in color, with green
legs, but its distinguishing feature was
the red bill, rising to a frontal plate,
also red.
What was the bird?
Identification always is interesting.
Just how may a bird be identified?
Often this search is as Interesting, in
itself, as the pleasure of knowing the
proper name and habits of a feathered
stranger.
The gallinule described above was
identified within a few minutes, and
*his is how it was done:
The family that discovered it, in the
dewy morning, called this writer over
the telephone.
He, having never seen a gallinule, nor
ever heard of one, was unable to name
the bird.
He suggested that the Biological Sur
vey should be called.
They should know.
Sure enough, they did!
From the description given, an orno
thologist told the family he would be
i inclined to believe the bird to be the
Florida gallinule, whose scientific name
is Gallinula galeata.
The name was looked up In an en
cyclopedia, and, as far as the readers
could be sure, their bird fitted the de
scription, which, however, was none too
full.
Some doubt remained.
The family called this writer again,
and he, by aid of "Birds of America”
(the one-volume edition), was able to
complete the identification.
The general and color description
especially put the matter beyond doubt.
The work contains two black and white
pictures of the gallinule, one a photo
graph showing the mother bird turning
its eggs in the nest, and another a draw
ing of the bird walking in a marsh.
There also is a color plate of the
gallinule.
* * * *
Now, the point of the above is this,
as far as home identification goes:
The amateur bird observer must have
some help.
Given that, so that the right approach
is made, it is easy enough to find the
bird sought.
The Biological Survey, through first
hand knowledge, was able to put the
family on the right track at once.
Even had this family been possessed
of the work mentioned, whose three
volumes recently were compressed into
one, there was every chance that the
right bird might not have been found.
With the right name, the full identifi
cation was easy enough.
* * * *
There are so many water birds which
are never or seldom seen hereabouts, ex
cept at the Zoo, that the amateur
searcher is likely to be confused, even
with the best of books.
Too many "cooks” will never spoil the
"broth” in bird identification.
Always ask questions, if you don't
know.
The person asked may not know
either—but he may be able to tell you
where to find out!
There is somebody, unboubtedly, in
a city of this size, with persons from all
parts of the United States and the world,
who knows everything.
If one is fortunate enough to ask the
person who knows, from first hand, he
will know himself, in turn, without un
due bother.
* * * *
Recently we told here of seeing a
wood thrush, dead, on a front porch, at
least three weeks before these thrushes
normally return to the District of Co
lumbia and nearby Maryland and Vir
ginia.
That bird undoubtedly had flown in
ahead of time, and probably had starved
on the way.
The gallinule must have been far off
its beaten track, being a bird which nor
mally would stay closer to the coast
line, or inland marsh trails.
Dr. T. Gilbert Pearson, in the work
referred to above, calls the gallinule
“hen-like” in many of its movements.
Its near relative in Europe is called
the moor hen.
Dr. Pearson says the Florida gallinules
possess a wonderful repertoire: “They
are all very harsh, but they suggest the
entire range of passions.”
Curious weather all over the country
no doubt has been responsible for many
birds getting their “dates” mixed.
Warm one day, cool the next, lack
of normal rainfall, these are factors
which no doubt perplex the birds, de
spite their instii..is.
Just as plants rush their buds into the
light, only to have them frozen the next
day, so no doubt many birds start their
annual migrations North at the wrong
time.
If the specimens are hardy and able
to stand the cold they pull through
without harm, despite the fact that they
may find snow and ice at the point
where they decide to nest.
A few days and the sun comes out, the
snow melts away, and the vegetation
stirs itself, until a migratory bird be
gins to feel at home.
Birds of lesser stamina do not sur
vive if they make a mistake in the
proper time of migration.
We will never forget that forlorn
robin we saw that last snowfall. He ap
peared to be very much put out by it all.
This probably will be a season of un
usual bird visitors, so those who love
their feathered friends must keep a
sharp lookout for them.
If you see a bird whose name you do
not know, try to estimate its size, note
its coloring, and. if possible, how it
differs from a known bird it may re
semble.
Then ask some one who may know.
If he doesn't, he may be able to tell you
who does. •
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE.
Across Capitol Hill stalks the bogey
man of a higher tax threat if the
administration economy program is
wrecked. Talk is now common that
unless drastic retrenchment is instituted
with a view to deficit reduction, if not
budget-balancing, all sorts of revenue
raising measures are possible, and some
inevitable. Congressional leaders bent
upon damming the spending flood men
tion chiefly a sales tax and heavier rates
in the lower income brackets among the
levies that may be unavoidable. Cur
tailed exemptions are also freely dis
cussed. Tax experts like Chairman
Doughton of the Ways and Means Com
mittee realize both the political and
economic undesirability of higher taxes.
They are hostile to them except as a last
resort, but Insist no good purpose is
served by refusing to recognize the
gloominess of the budget outlook. Presi
dent Roosevelt says "there is immediate
need for a careful survey of the present
tax structure.” That strikes nearly
everybody as unmistakable handwriting
on the fiscal wall. Whether the scare
crow of new taxes will chasten spenders
into thrifty mood remains to be seen.
Enactment of more burdensome imposts
would come on the threshold of the
1938 congressional elections. That is
likely to cause many a member of House
and Senate to hesitate before backing
schemes designed to throw the budget
still farther out of balance.
ik * * *
President Roosevelt has gone fishing,
serenely confident that his Supreme
Court program Is sailing through as
friendly waters as he hopes for in his
battles with the tarpon off the coast
of Texas. The White House view is
that while great elements of the profes
sional and business world, especially
lawyers, are arrayed against the admin
istration plan, the broad masses of the
people, as typified by organized labor,
overwhelmingly approve it. F. D. R. be
lieves that when decisive rolls are called,
back home sentiment will tell the tale
in his favor. Compromise talk persists
and will do so until the showdown. Just
as the Supreme Court's attitude toward
the labor relations act was looked upon
as a factor that might turn the scales,
it's now the position of the bench on
social security that is discussed as the
thing that may finally affect the vote.
The measure's fate rests with eight or
ten uncommitted Senators. They'll be
the object of high pressure and vote
trading from both sides from now on.
* * * *
George Rector, celebrated New York
restaurateur and authority on the culi
nary arts, moves that hors d'oeuvre
hereafter be known as “mavericks” in
honor of Representative Maury Maverick,
Democrat, of Texas, who previously pro
posed that the world famous but un
pronounceable palate ticklers be called
“dingledoos.” At a banquet in his honor
the other night, Rector disclosed that
he had sent the two-fisted Texas liberal
the following telegram: "Suggest calling
the things •mavericks.’ A maverick is
something that does not belong any
where in particular, and any man can
put his brand on it If he can catch it.
And that fits the old-time free lunch
Just as well as the fancy appetizers in
the fanciest hotel in the country. Well,
why not?”
* * * *
MaJ. Gen. Friedrich von Boetticher,
military and air attache of the German
Embassy, will address Washington units
of the Organized Reserves of the United
States Army tonight. His topic is the
“Battle of Tannenberg,” the famous en
gagement in the East Prussian marshes
in August, 1914, when Hlndenburg out
maneuvered and smashed the invading
forces of Czarist Russia and drove them
from German territory. Gen. von Boet
ticher did not personally participate In
the light, but was a member of the
Berlin general staff at the time Hinden
t A
burg's sensational and decisive victory
was won.
* * * *
Senator Gibson, Republican, of Ver
mont proudly calls the attention of Con
gress to the fact that unemployment in
the Green Mountain State is two-thirds
less than in April. 1936, due primarily to
the absorption of workers by private
industry. The number of jobless has
been cut from 19.169 a year ago to 6.033
this month. The State Employment
Service reports a lack of household as
sistants and farm hands to fill the many
calls for these types of employment.
The burdens on both Federal and State
relief funds / are steadily falling in
Vermont as men and women leave the
rolls for old-time jobs.
“Gone With the Wind” apparently
Isn't the best seller in the country after
all. That distinction is claimed for the
Department of Labor's famous Children’s
Bureau publication No. 8. “Infant Care.”
The latter is still rated as the most
popular of . .1 the hundreds of publica
tions issued by the Federal Government.
More than 10,000.000 copies have been
sold. Nowadays, whenever a favorite
daughter is about to present her first
child to the world, it seems to occur
separately to each doting aunt, bachelor
uncle and more experienced matronly
friend to send along a copy of No. 8. A
commentator points out that as the
young mother herself probably already
thought of ordering the booklet, the
nursery usually has a supply on hand
sufficient for quintuplets.
* * * *
Speaking of babies, a late arrival in
the Capital, former Representative
Thomas L. Blanton’s first grandchild, a
girl, is responsible for the suggestion
that the Thomas Jefferson Memorial
should take the form of a maternity
hospital. Having accompanied one of
his sons, father of the newcomer, to the
well-known hospital in Washington
where the child was born, the Texan
was astonished to learn that, like every
establishment of the kind In Washington
nowadays, Its maternity facilities and
staffs are hopelessly overtaxed. Next
day Mr. Blanton urged Commissioners
Hazen and Allen to recommend a great
new maternity hospital in the District
of Columbia as the most useful memorial
that could be erected in honor of the
author of the Declaration of Inde
pendence.
* * * *
Impressive figures have been presented
to Congress about, the liberality of
Uncle Sam in contributing to great ex
positions at home and abroad. Apropos
the $5,000,000 sought for the 1939 New
York World's Fair, it was disclosed that
from 1873 to date the United States has
appropriated $35,000,000 for 46 exhibi
tions of various kinds. Including $2,294,
000 for the Philadelphia centennial in
1876, $1,650,000 for New Orleans In
1884, $4,800,000 for Chicago In 1893, $1,
450.000 for Paris in 1900, $1,014,000 for
Buffalo in 1901, $11,068,000 for St. Louis
in 1904, $1,637,500 for San Francisco in
1915. $2,186,500 for Philadelphia in 1926,
$1,175,000 for Chicago in 1933-4 and
$3,000,000 for Dallas in 1936. The New
York fair will cost about $125,000,000 and
5,000,000 visitors are expected.
(Copyright, 1837.)
Getting Used to It.
From the Jaekaonyllle Journal.
All atmosphere will have disappeared
from the earth in 2,000,000,000 years, a
savant warns. A race Inured to night
club air will not mind.
Rash Conduct.
From the Smut City Star.
It is said that Italian soldiers In Spain
are shooting each other. One can under
stand the impulse and still feel that
they ought to use restraint
ANSWERS TO
QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.
__ «
A reader can get the answer to any
question of fact by writing The Evening
Star Informationt Bureau, Frederic J.
Haskin, Director, Washington, D. c.
Please inclose stamp for reply.
Q How many automobiles were in use
In the United States last year?—A. F.
A- The total number of motor vehicle
registrations in the United States in
1936 was 28,270,000.
Q. What are the names of Colonel E.
R. Bradley's horses that are being
trained for the Kentucky Derby?—C. H.
A. Brooklyn and Billionaire are being
trained by Derby Dick Thompson at
Idle Hour Farm for the Derby.
Q. What is a strip-tease?—C. B
A. It is a dance in which the dancer
makes successive appearances in re
sponse to applause, each time divesting
herself of one of her garments.
Q. Is Boake Carter’s wife a newspaper
woman?—H. W.
A. His wife is Olive Richter, assistant
society editor of the Philadelphia Eve
ning Bulletin.
Q What piece did Greta Garbo play
on the piano in ''Camille?”—V. M
A. The piano selection used in “Ca
mille” was "Invitation to the Dance,” by
Von Weber.
Q. Plea.se name some of the plants
which the Indians had.—C. B.
A. Maize, potato, sweet potato, pump
kin, peanut, chilli pepper, kidney bean,
tobacco, long staple cotton, sisal hemp,
pineapple and cacao.
Q. Should stockings be darned straight
with the weave?—E. H.
A. Stockings should be darned on the
bias.
Q. How long did Mrs. Lincoln live
after President Lincoln's death? Did
she receive a pension?—E. Y.
A. She survived her husband by about
17 years. Mrs. Lincoln was first granted
a lump sum of $25,000, then a pension
of $3,000 a year, which was increased to
$5,000 a year.
Q. Where is the largest outdoor swim
ming pool in Pennsylvania?—C. K.
A. It is at Hershey.
Q Has Dr. Maud Slye. the pathologist,
written any books?—E. M
A. She is the author of 34 brochures
on cancer and a book of poems entitled
“Songs and Solaces.'1
Q How many words a day are received
by a paper such as the New Orleans
Times-Picayune and from what sources?
—S. F.
A. On an average day the influx of
news sent to the New Orleans Times
Picayune from these sources is as fol
lows: Associated Press. 167.040 words;
International News, 39,600 words; Uni
versal Service, 28,800 words; United
Press, 30,000 words; staff correspondents,
8.000 words; Chicago Tribune-New York
News Service, 12.000 words; State cor
respondents. 17,000 words; local reporters,
60.000 words, making a daily total of
362,440 words.
Q. How much can an ant carry or
drag?—R. T.
A. An ant may carry a load 15 or 20
times its own weight. An elephant
can scarcely drag twice its weight.
Q. What kind of sirup is most effective
in disguising an unpleasant taste?—H. G.
A. Experiments show that chocolate
and raspberry sirup are the mast effec
tive flavoring agents for this purpose.
Orange, cherry, sarsaparilla and lemon
are next, while cinnamon is the best
flavor for disguising a salty taste.
Q. Is more tobacco used for cigarettes
or cigars?—E. H. R.
A. More than three times as much
tobacco is manufactured into cigarettes
as into cigars.
Q. Can alabaster be molded?—W. A B.
A. It cannot be molded. It is carved
in the same way that marble is carved.
Q. Do other planets have orbits which
are elliptical?—A. F.
A. The orbits of all the planets are
ellipses. The elliptical form results from
the Newtonian law of gravitation.
Q Has the giraffe any means of self
defense?—C. B. P
A. The giraffe defends himself with
his heels.
Q. Please explain the expression, nth
degree.—G. D.
A. It is popularly used as a reference
to the superlative. In mathematics, the
letter “n” has for many centuries rep
resented an indefinite quantity.
Q. Why was Yale University so named?
—S. B.
A. Elihu Yale was a native New
Englander who gave money and books
to the Collegiate School at Saybrook,
Conn. When the school was moved to
New Haven the building was named for
him. Yale College, and eventually, as tho
Institution grew, the university was
formally given his name.
Q. Where was Luther Burbank buried?
—J. K. T.
A. He was buried on the grounds of
his home at Santa Rosa, Calif., under
a Cedar of Lebanon tree.
Sign of War.
From the Grand Rapids Press.
When you hear a stateman say, “We
are a proud and sensitive people,” he
means the war machine Is now ready.
Time for Opposition.
From the Chicago Tribune.
Ohio is to have a trailer cathedral.
Why not? Hell on wheels has been
without opposition long enough.
A Rhyme at Twilight
By
Gertrude Brooke Hamilton.
Nature's Healing.
I was restless; my soul was unquiet;
Tired brain had gone into a riot;
So I made for the open road.
Birds sang, but I seemed not to hear
them;
Flowers bloomed, and I wanted to spear
them;
The sunshine proved only a goad.
Then I came to a pool and sat down there.
Somehow feeling it harder to frown there.
By water so tranquil and cool,
I stretched out underneath a green
willow,
And, with soft, fragrant moss for a pillow,
I slept by the side of the pool.
I wakened refreshed in the twilight hour
Aware of each bird song and sweet wild
flower.