Evening star. [volume], May 22, 1937, Page B-1, Image 17

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

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' 1 FEATURES i-—i
Books Art Music | |ghg News of Churches B
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- • • WASHINGTON, D. SATURDAY. MAY 22. 1937^ P-V6??B-^
ARMY HORSES IN CAVALRY BECOME PRIDE OF BREEDERS
GREAT LAN D BUYER
Resettlement Enthusiast Finally Wins and
Conducts Operations Across Whole
Stretch of America.
a
By Blair Bolles.
BECAUSE Abraham Lincoln
learned about farming in the
Midwest, Lewis C. Gray to
day is the undisputed cham
pion land-buyer in the United States.
Dr. Gray sits in a comfortable office
♦n the Barr Building behind a door
marked. "Resettlement Administra
tion, Assistant Administrator."
He is an unpublicized bigwig, but
the thinkers who shuffle the New Deal
admire him as a chief prop of the
Roosevelt land theory. This month
he celebrates the anniverssary of his
•tart toward his title.
' Since May, 1935, the assistant ad
ministrator, Ph. D. and LL. D , has
signed "Lewis C. Gray" to hundreds
of documents which give the Federal
Government an option on 9.000,000
acres.
These pieces of land lie across the
whole vide stretch of America, from
the Bay of Fundy to San Diego Bay.
They are equal to 14,000 square
miles.
Out of such an area could be fash
ioned Saxon}’, Samoa and the Fiji
Islands, or Maryland and Rhode
Island or Vermont and Connecticut.
Gray buys the land in the name of
the Resettlement Administration to
'take it out of cultivation, and that's
where Abraham Lincoln comes in.
Lincoln ran for the presidency 77
years ago on a platform promising a
gift of 160 acres to each citizen who
would set out for the Far West and
•take his claim.
For 40 years the stream of pioneers
Keeking the homestead prize—later
raised to 320 and finally to 640 acres—
coursed across the continent.
But profitable farming in the Great
Plains region, where most of the free
land lay, was impossible on the 160
•ere tracts which provided a good liv
ing to Lincoln's Illinois neighbors.
'J'WO THOUSAND acras were the
minimum needed, and to make
. their little holdings pay. the home
steaders overworked them until the
ground retained little value as a raiser
of crops.
The grasses and the forests disap
peared. The wind blew away the soil
and the water was.ied it to the sea.
The same story of land-disappear
ance is true in many other parts of
the United States, and Gray's agents
have bought in every State in the
Union.
, The land is to be turned into parks
and forests and tourist paradises and
game preserves. Some day some of
It may be turned back into cultivation.
To Gray the fact that the Govern
ment actually decided to buy this
land is as thrilling as the discovery
of the lost city of Quivira would have
been to Coronado.
For Gray has advocated the pur
chase program since long long ago.
It is his favorite program and now it
Is coming home.
But buying a piece of land for Dr.
Gray to approve isn't the easiest
thing in the world. The agents of
the doctor of philosophy in economics
have their troubles, many of which
give a laugh.
Some holders of submarginal land
are most reluctant to turn their
parched and washed-out acres over
to the United States but not so two
old ladies in Maine. Theirs was a
different problem.
Gray wanted to buy and the ladies
Wanted to sell.
•'But.” said the ladies, ‘‘we do not
know if we can sell. What do you
think of this deed?”
The deed showed the land had come
Into the possession of the family of
the present occupants several years
before the Revolution.
And what stumped the old ladies
was its stipulation that title to the
land should pass to the heirs until
there were no heirs, and then it was
r to revert to the King of England.
'J'ODAY, of course, the King of
England, to the citizen of Maine,
Is just another man, but before the
Revolution he was the Down Easter's
sovereign lord. Gray's spokesman
assured the old ladies George VI
could not touch their acres. They
took the check the Government sent
them and happily left for a new
home.
The women, however, were lucky
to have a deed explicit in all details.
In mountainous West Virginia deeds
are vague because the people there
live so far from a town that they
rarely bother about going to the court
house to register title changes. Old
women who had the information
from their mothers are the fountains
of intelligence about land-holdings in
such settlements.
One resettlement agent who was
born in that part of West Virginia
almost lost his life in the service of
Gray down there last year.
The land holdings of an old moun
tain man was part of a parcel the
Government sought. The agent
trudged up to the man's house and
on the front porch he found the old
mountaineer sitting and talking with
some neighbors.
• The agent and the mountaineer
■ stepped inside the house, where Gray’s
man unwound his sales talk. The old
man was a little deaf, and the agent,
warming to his business, began to
He stepped toward the man so his
shout.
n A
words would fall more loudly on his
ears. The old man stepped back, the
agent stepped forward. This play
continued all the way across the
room, until the agent had the old
man in a corner.
JN THEIR excitement over the
bargaining the two began to wave
their arms wildly, pound their fists
into their hands, and bellow until
SERVICE QUALITIES
Better Military Mounts Than Those of
World War, and Hold Place in Face of
Rivalry From the Machine.
By Joseph S. Edgerton.
THE world hears a great deal
these days about the mechani
zation of the Army. Across
.the motion picture screen and
through the news columns rumble and
roar great tanks and small, armored
cars, combat cars, scout cars and even
armed motor cycles. In the back
ground may be glimpsed truck trams
horses than did the troopers. Blue and
Grey, who rode behind Pleasanton.
Kilpatrick, Custer, "Jeb” Stuart and
Wade Hampton.
^LTHOUGH there are repeated
stories in Civil War records of
Infantry outmarching Cavalry, there
is little likelihood that even the be;t
of Stonewall Jackson's famous "Foot
Cavalry’’ would be able to keep up
with the modem Army horse. Cavalry
reports of today describe records of
endurance on the part of the modern
Cavalry horse which would hate
startled the cavalrymen of earlier
days.
There is, for instance, a 150-mila
endurance race made by lieutenants
of the 8th Cavalry over a grueling
mountain and desert terrain from
Fort Bliss. Horses and riders were
pushed throughout with one of the
primary purposes a thorough testing
of the toughness and stamina of
mounts and men.
The winner, Lieut. Charles P. Walk
er, on a 900-pound, 7-year-old horse
named Boono, covered the 150 miles
in 27 hours 17 minutes 20 seconds.
The horse carried a weight of 180
pounds and lost 45 pounds in weight
during the race. The actual riding
time was 20 hours 17 minutes 20
seconds, which meant that the average
rate was 7.42 miles per hour, not al
lowing for straying from the direct
course. The horse finished in very
good condition. His condition the next
day was considered excellent, and he
was judged capable of doing another
25 miles in five hours, one of the con
ditions of the race. Many of the
horses finished in good fettle, one of
them taking a 6-foot ditch cleanly
and with ease near the finish and sev
eral finishing at full gallop.
Systematic breeding of Army horses
for qualities desired in the military
service is going on constantly at such
posts as the Army remount depot at
Front Royal. Va. The improvement of
stock is not confined exclusively to
Army mounts. The fine Army stallions
are made available to horse raisers in
the nearby Virginia counties for stud
purposes, and the quality of Virginia
horseflesh, long famous, is improving
along with the service animals.
At top: United States Cavalry on the march along the Texas
border. Above: Armored car in action at Fort Riley. Mans.
—Signal Corps, U. S. Army Photo.
Submarignal farm in Gannett County, Md.
_—Resettlement Administration Photo.
their voices echoed across the moun
tain.
The old man's son arrived home,
heard the commotion, looked through
the window and saw an outlander
from the low country threatening his
creaky old father.
The son lifted his shotgun, quietly
entered the door and sneaked across
the room. He stuck the gun in the
agent's ribs and limbered his trigger
finger.
At that moment the agent whirled,
knocked down the gun with one hand
and with the other seized the paw of
l the son, crying: “How do you do?
Glad to see you.’’
The father explained what the
noise was all about. The son, calmed
and penitent, entered the conversa
tion. But still the old man refused to
sell.
"Say." the agent finally exclaimed
in desperation, "what the devil do
you want to keep this old piece of
ground for. anyway?"
"Well, I'll tell you. Some men
across the mountain in Virginia told
me I ought to hold out for more money
than you want to give me."
"In Virginia!" The agent went to
towrn.
He knew no love was lost between
Virginians and West Virginians. He
plastered Virginians with every un
pleasant adjective he could think of.
Before he had to pause for breath to
continue his denunciation he had
pictured the Old Dominion as the
chief playground of Satan's helpers.
"Where's your patriotism?" he
screamed at the old West Virginian.
"Don’t you know those Virginians are
making fun of you? Are you going
to let them get away with that?"
"Give me that paper,” shouted the
old man. "Hurry up. Give it to me.
I'll sign. The land is yours.”
General Accounting Office for audit,
directly to the Treasury Department
without pre-audit.
13. Certificate of settlement is
issued by the General Accounting
Office authorizing payment.
14. The check is issued by the
Treasury Department.
15. The check is forwarded to the
Department of Justice and to the
special attorney in the field.
16. The deed and satisfaction are
obtained from the seller.
17. The special attorney examines
the record, records the deed, pays
for land and closes the case.
You have your money, but the book
isn't closed yet. There are two more
things to be done before the United
States Government is happy:
The final abstract is prepared.
The Department of Justice Issues
a Anal opinion stating that title to
the land lies in the United States.
After going through this routine for
9,000.000 acres, Gray decided to call
a halt. He isn’t going to buy any
more just now.
The man who put these 9.000,000
acres into the hands of the United
States is a pioneer in the study of
land economics.
^JNTIL recent years agricultural
economists emphasized the cost
of producing commodities. Gray, who
learned his lesson just 35 years ago
from R. T. Ely at the University of
Wisconsin, preached that proper use
of the land was a prime essential to
successful agriculture.
- - ..*“* . .
Planting slash pine on a resettlement farm project in Florida.
—Resettlement Administration Photo.
From that point he concluded that j
farm tenancy in America was an :
evil because it hastened erosion of
the land.
Few persons paid much attention
to the pet, theory of Gray, who was
born in Liberty. Mo. in 1881, just
?1 years after Lincoln ran on his
homesteading plank.
He was deeply respected for his
Army enca. ipment at Boonville, Mo., taken during the
march of the mechanized 1st Cavalry from Fort Knox, Ky.. to
Fort Riley, Kans. —Signal Corps, U. S. Army Photo.
fundamental soundness In agricultural
economics and he taught at Wisconsin,
Oklahoma State Agricultural and
Mechanical College. University of
Saskatchewan and the George Pea
body College for Teachers, Nashville,
Tenn.
But his sermon on land economics
brought him few apostles. In 1919
the Department of Agriculture, how
ever, realized that it might have pos
sibilities and put him in charge of a
tiny division of land economics.
His first interest was to show that
the United States had no land policy,
should develop one.
"We In this country are backward,
compared with Europe, in developing
national concern with land holdings
and bringing about a proper adjust
ment in land holdings.'' he told the
reporter.
Europe restricts private exploitation
of the land, and Gray would like to
see the United States do the same.
Since 1933 Gray has been listened
to attentively, and what he says about
taking worn-out land out of produc
tion has been acted on. Before then
he had a limited audience, and he
feels that if Roosevelt had never been
elected, he would not have signed his
options for 9.000,000 acres.
He owns a farm of his own near
Leesburg, Va„ but he has not decided
yet that Resettlement should buy it.
Unless he does, he will never have the
pleasure of signing the same document
as vendor and vendee.
in a haze of dust and exhaust fumes. !
Behind the Infantry, with its light
tanks, come the motorized guns of the
Artillery. Off on the flanks rides the
mechanized Cavalry on gasolme-swill
ing chargers.
Where in this picture of mechanical
fighting machines is the horse, which
has figured so picturesquely in warfare ;
since the days when the early Greeks
immortalized their cavalry in friezes
and on urns? So much stress has been
placed on the program of mechani
zation that it is not strange if the
layman should consider the horse as
much a thing of the past in the mili
tary service as he is on the streets of
a great city.
Nothing, however, could be farther
from the truth. Despite the multipli
cation of mechanized equipment for
the Army, equus caballus, the good old
horse, continues to hold his own. No—
wait a moment. It is not the good old
horse; it rather is a new horse upon
which the Army relies in this machine
a«e
For the Army is improving the
horse. By careful selection and breed
ing the Army is producing horses
which are better military mounts than
those of even so recent a period as the
World War. Within the last 20 years
there has been noticeable improve
ment in the strength, stamina and all
around fitness of the Cavalry horse,
Army officers say. There is no ques
tion. they claim, about the fact that
the troopers of the 3d Cavalry at Fort j
Myer, for example, ride much better
^ND the Army is making the best
possible use of its horses, despite
the encroachments of the mechanical
age. Horse Cavalry regiments are
maintained at the Cavalry posts and
are used as freely in the working out of
military problems, as are the mechan
ized regiments. Each type has its place
in the Army, and each is regarded as a
vitally necessary part of the service.
For this reason, although the horse
and the mule have disappeared alto
gether from the fully mechanized Cav
alry regiments, the role of the horse
actually is becoming more important
all the time.
Although the horse still is holding
his own in the Cavalry, however, there
has been a tremendous change in the
Cavalry' regiments. This, of course, is
especially noticeable in the case of
the mechanized regiments, but also is
true even of the horse regiments.
Where the peace-time Cavalry regi
ment of the Mexican punitive expedi
tion of 1917 had 1,028 horses and 168
mules, today’s horse regiment has only
714 horses, of which 68 are pock ani
mals, and no mules. The mechanized
Cavalry regiment has no animals at
all, their places having been taken by
229 motor vehicles.
The 1917 Cavalry regiment had a
train of 33 escort wagons. Today's
horse regiment has none of these
wagons, but has instead seven trailers,
which may be horse-drawn but which
more often are truck-drawn. There
are neither escort wagons nor trailers
in the mechanized regiment.
Although the 1917 Cavalry regiment
had no motor vehicles, the present
horse regiment has 34 motor vehicles,
this number including 8 motor cycles,
proposed as standard equipment for
such regiments.
'J'HE same agent, always the op
portunist, met another problem
not long after that success and quick
ly solved it.
A most religious couple, about 40
years of age, owned a few acres needed
by Resettlement.
"Will you sell?” asked the agent.
"We don't know,” replied the man
of the house. "We are sort of worried
about whether it's the right thing to
do."
“How will you find out?” the agent
said.
"I think,” interposed the wife, "it
would be best if we prayed for guid
ance."
"A fine idea.” said her husband.
Husband, wife and agent trooped
into the house and plopped to their
knees before the fireplace.
"You lead us in prayer," the hus
band said to the agent.
The agent prayed aloud for 15
minutes. Then the three held their
peace and knelt in meditation.
At last, after half an hour, the
husband arose.
"I think we have been guided to
sell,” he said. His wife agreed. They
signed the option, and the agent
went in search of other tough cus
tomers.
It's a wonder, however, that Oray
ever manages to complete a deal, so
much red tape entangles the business
of the seller's getting a check.
FLOW chart more involved than
a train dispatcher's dream decor
ates the wall of one office of the Re
settlement Administration, showing
the intricate course Gray's helpers
have had to follow to make him
champion.
Suppose, for instance, that you own
1 acre in South Carolina which the
Resettlement Administration needs.
Here is what happens before you have
the money the Government wanted
all along to give you for your land:
1. An appraisal is made.
2. An option or offer to sell is se
cured from the owner.
3. If necessary, a survey is made.
4. The option is accepted and the
seller is notified.
5. An abstract is ordered.
6. The bill for the abstract is ap
proved by the Department of Justice.
7. The abstract is received by Re
settlement and forwarded to a special
attorney of the Department of Justice.
8. Curative data for the abstract
are requested from the Resettlement
Administration by the special attorney.
9. Curative data are secured in the
field.
10. Preliminary opinion regarding
title is prepared by the special attor
ney of the Department of Justice.
11. Resettlement prepares an ac
count for payment on the tract.
12. The account is submitted to the
t.
CHILD SLAUGHTER PREVENTION IS PATROL’S AIM
- - - ___
Members of A. A. A. School Safety Patrols, Who Save Many Chil
dren From Being Killed or Maimed by Motorists An
nually, Hold Convention and Parade Today.
By Hubert Holloway.
HAVE you ever felt a tug at
your heartstrings when you
saw some youngster who had
been maimed in a motor ac
cident watching his more fortunate
playmates on a bicycle or skates?
Have you ever read in the newspaper
of some fine boy or girl of tender
years being killed in a motor crash?
Have you had that sudden sickening
fear for the safety of your own
children?
There would be more’ of these un
fortunate boys and girls doomed to
sit on the sidelines; there would be
hundreds more fatally injured; there
would be more parents under the
eternal fear that their children might
be injured, if it were not for the
250,000 boys and girls serving in the
A. A. A. school safety patrols. This
vast army of youngsters in 3,0*0 cities
and towns deily protect 7,000,000
schoolmates en route to and from
school.
Thus it seems only fitting that
once a year a grateful nation should
evidence its appreciation for the splen
did work of the school safety patrols,
sponsored by the American Automobile
Association in co-operation with local
motor club6, schools and police au
thorities. The occasion is the annual
patrol parade and conference that
opened yesterday, which has brought
together more than 10,000 boys and
girls from 20 States and the District
of Columbia. The National Capital,
which has the largest number of
school-patrol members of any city—
approximately 5,000—is playing a con
spicuous part in the parade and cere
monies that conclude the conference
today.
rJ'HE young visitors started arriving
in Washington early, coming by
rail, by bus. by automobile and by
water. In fact, the Norfolk delega
tion arrived in a chartered boat and
is one of the largest visiting groups.
Following a round of sightseeing, the
visitors gathered on the steps of the
United States Capitol at 4:30 p.m.,
yesterday and received "official”
greetings from Vice President Garner
and Speaker of the House Bankhead.
Members of Congress from the States
represented were also on hand to
greet their young constitutents.
Included in the list of States rep
resented in the parade and conference
are: Florida, Georgia, Illinois. Indiana,
Idowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachu
setts, Michigan. New Hampshire, New
Jersey, New York, North Carolina,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,
South Carolina, Vermont, Virgina and
West Virginia.
As a climax to the first day, safety's
"Legion of Honor"—the youthful
patrol members, gathered in the
auditorium of the United States
Department of Labor for the Second
Annual Patrol Conference, which was
featured by a program of entertain
ment and the appearance of boydotn's
heroes.
The Sixth Annual Patrol Parade
with approximately 10,000 boys and
girls In line, was to begin to move
this afternoon, at 2 o'clock.
Renewed Interest has come year
after year in the safety patrol parade
Scene to be repeated today when 5,000 members of the A. A. A. school safety patrols gather
for the sixth annual parade. The John Eaton and Phoebe A. Hearst school groups are shown in
practice formation. —Photo by Rideout.
m A t
These might be your children. They are arriving safely at
school after being carefully escorted across traffic-laden streets
by members of the A. A. A. school safety patrols.
since the A. A. A. began 6 years ago
the sponsorship of this huge gathering
in the Nation's Capital of representa
tives of these stalwart youngsters—
safety sentinels on the Nation's high
ways. This demonstration has served
to vitalise the entire patrol movement.
Officialdom turns out and “eyes right”
follow the snappy command of boy
leaders as the marching groups pass
the reviewing stand filled with elders
of national reputation. Only those
who watch the two-hour-long parade,
including bands, and bugle corps, and
drill teams, can understand the thrill
that comes to the thousands of parents
and friends who iine the sidewalks.
And to many, a lump appears in the
throat and eyes blink as “Boydom’s
Legion of Honor” marches past—boys
with medals presented after careful in
vestigation has revealed that they had
actually saved the lives of schoolmates,
or prevented serious injury.
r»UT thrills for the spectators is not
the sum total of effect of this
parade and conference that proceeded
it. Patrol boys, fortunate to be among
“those present’’ go back to their posts
with renewed interest, with renewed
alertness, with renewed belief in the
importance of the Job they are doing.
Less fortunate schoolmates work
diligently for a year so that they, too,
might be "picked” for the “Waahing
a
ton trip." And to local school spon
sors, A. A. A. Motor Club officials,
directors and members goes a thrill,
too. They return home from Wash
ington with renewed determination to
make present patrols more efficient,
if that is possible, and to install
patrols at additional needed locations.
While the parade and conference
provide a glamorous, flag-waving
event to inspire and reward tho6e
taking part in it. you, as a motorist
mustn't loose sight of the thousands
of patrol boys and girls serving
throughout the Country not fortunate
enough to attend, but just as worthy
of your constant commendation for
a job well done. And next time you
see a patrol member, give him or her
more than a casual glance. Look
intently at that happy, sun-tanned,
sometimes weather-beaten face, and
see in that patrolman the exempli
fication of all youth courageously
serving. Better words would be
difficult to find than those used by
President Roosevelt last May when he
spoke to patrolmen gathered on the
lawn of the White House: “• • * when
youth voluntarily assumes helpful
activities like yours for the benefit of
the entire community, I, for one, feel
ever so much more confident in regard
to the future—your future and the
future of the country.”
'J'HE change in the weapons of the
Cavalry regiment is even more
surprising. The Cavalry regiment of
the Pershing punitive column which
penetrated deep into Mexico carried
six machine guns. The 1937 Cavalry
regiment, horse, is armed with 69
machine or submachine guns, and the
fully mechanized Cavalry regiment of
today carries the amazing total of 522
machine and submachine guns. The
saber has vanished as a Cavalry
weapon and the rifle has diminished
in importance. The 1917 regiment
carried 885 rifles and 890 sabers. The
present horse regiment is armed with
501 rifles and these are to be replaced
by semi-automatic rifles as rapidly as
possible. The "mecz-’ regiment has
but 40 rifles, which are to be semi
automatic. The cannon is becoming a
part of the Cavalry regiment's equip
ment. The Cavalry regiment of 1917
had no cannon. The horse regiment
today has two 37-mm. guns and the
mechanized regiment six 4.2-inch mor
tars.
Since one of the primary missions
of Cavalry is the gathering of in
formation, the radio is coming to
play an increasingly important part.
Pershing's Cavalry regiments of 1917
carried no radio equipment. Today
the horse regiment has seven radio
outfits authorized and it is proposed
to increase the number to 10. The
mecz, it is planned, will carry 44 radio
sets into action; they now have 36
sets authorized.
All of these changes in the Cavalry
regiments have not been effected
without corresponding changes in per
sonel. The enlisted strength of the
1917 Cavalry regiment was 1,007. The
strength of the present peace-time
horse regiment is 693 enlisted men
and of the mechanized regiment 749
enlisted men.
T'HE changes, according to Maj.
Robert W. Grow, Cavalry, are
among the most striking and revolu
tionary of the many changes in mili
tary practice which have altered the
armies of the world in the past quar
ter-century.
| "If these changes had occurred at
(Continued on Page B-3T)