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Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, December 04, 1937, Image 8

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THE EVENING STAR
With Sunday Morning Edition
THEODORE W. NOYES, Editor
WASHINGTON, D. C.
SATURDAY__December 4, 1937
The Evening Star Newspaper Company
Main Office: 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave.
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" X.
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Member of the Associated Press
The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to
the use lor republication ol all news dispatches
credited to it or not otherwise credited in this
paper and also the local news published nerem.
All rights of publication ol special disp&lchei
hpreln also arc reserved.
The Price of Liberty.
Keystones of political liberty are free
dom of speech, of the press, of the pulpit.
They are—at least they are supposed to
be—guaranteed by the Constitution with
in the limits of laws against libel and
treason. In times past a great deal of
emphasis has been laid upon them.
Any move to curb any one of these
freedoms or to punish or harass an indi
vidual for exercising them should be
closely examined. Something of the
sort seems to have arisen in connection
with the trade publication, Mill and
Factory, the editor of which the National
Labor Relations Board seeks to subpoena
to explain the background of an article
condemning that body and the law un
der which it operates. Copies of this
article, it seems, were distributed among
employes of the Wierton Steel Company
In an effort to discourage unionization.
It may be that a Federal court will
uphold the authority of the board to
subpoena this editor. It may be that
the Labor Relations Act provides au
thority for such action. If this is indeed
the case it will be well to have such
authority very sharply defined. Offhand
it would seem to constitute an intoler
able nullification of the cherished free
dom of the press in the rather broad
field of relations between industry and
labor. Once such power is placed in the
hands of anybody it inevitably tends to
become broader and broader.
But, it might be said, the members of
the Labor Relations Board are discreet,
upright men. They will only exercise
their powers in flagrant cases. But who
knows what type of men will constitute
this body next week or next year? That
is precisely the method by which most
tyrannies are established. There is no
OTootoy f hroot tn TiKortir tVia c-nt*
rendering of any broad, discretionary
powers to any group of human beings,
however upright and honest they may be.
Doubtless the Mill and Factory article
annoyed the members of the board.
Perhaps it hobbled them in the perform
ance of their duty. But the principle of
freedom of the press is altogether too
sacred a principle in America's gospel of
liberty to be trifled with, regardless of
who may be annoyed.
Watch this move. Watch what the
Federal court does about it. If freedom
of the press is to be destroyed or restrict
ed, let it not be destroyed or restricted by
the people’s default of interest.
Congressional Holiday.
Tentative plans for an adjournment of
the present special session of Congress
on December 22 have been made. If the
program is followed, there remain six
teen working days for Congress, includ
ing Saturdays. The special session has
already run sixteen working days—and
bo far no legislation has been enacted.
Not one of the four major proposals of the
President, crop control, wages and hours,
reorganization or regional planning, has
been carried through. The crop-control
bill will take another week. Tire wages
and-hours bill is not expected to come
before the House until December 13.
Entirely aside from the delay in the
President's program, nothing has been
done by Congress to encourage business
or to halt the “recession” which has been
under wTay for weeks, carrying in its
path more and more unemployment. A
very definite program might have been
undertaken—with the repeal or revision
of the burdensome capital gains tax and
the undistributed profits tax. Aside from
kind words, however, nothing has been
done. The President has asked for a
huge building program, to be aided by
Government. He has proposed a reduc
tion of the Federal expenditure on road
building of more than $200,000,000—all
Steps toward budget balancing.
If the Congress does not care to re
main on the job and put through the
legislation which the President desires—
and there seems little prospect of more
than one or two of his recommendations
going through by December 22—it might
remain in session and take action on
measures that would help halt the reces
sion. Or is it more necessary to have a
holiday?
An adjournment by December 22 would
give the Senators and Representatives
ten days “off,” before the regular session
opens January 3. Ten days is neither as
wide as a church door nor as deep as a
Well, but it may suffice. It would do
away with a "constructive adjournment”
of Congress—an adjournment a few
hours or a few minutes before the new
session is due to start. In these more
enlightened days, when money1 is needed
to balance the budget, a “constructive
adjournment” plus the payment-of the
mileage which members of Congress re
0
ceive for coming to and going from a
session, would strike a sour note.
On the other hand, if there is to be a
ten-day interval between the closing of
the special session and the opening of
regular session, the question arises: Are
not the members entitled to the pre
scribed forty cents a mile to go and re
turn from their homes? It is true that a
member who lives on the Pacific Coast or
in the deep Southwest could scarcely
make the trip and remain more than a
day or two at home. It is also true that
many of the members have homes right
here in Washington, to which they may
cling during the holidays.
No step has been taken yet to shake
the mileage tree. But sooner or later a
proposal to appropriate the necessary
amount—a total of more than $225,000—
is expected. Congress provides gener
ously for its own traveling expenses—
twenty cents a mile each way, or a total
of forty cents a mile for the round trip.
Once the money has been provided, each
member is entitled to draw the mileage,
and no questions are asked. •
Of course, no member of Congress is
thinking in terms of mileage when he
proposes an adjournment of the special
session on December 22. But what of the
member who remains in Washington
during the ten-day holiday, or who
makes a short visit to New York instead
of traveling to his faraway home? The
urge to be off and away for Christmas
is understandable. Equally understand
able, however, is the demand that Con
gress remain on the job and do some
thing—if it can—to ameliorate condi
tions.
More Common Sense.
More than passing interest is due the
remarks made by Senator Thomas *-of
Utah upon assuming chairmanship of
the Senate Committee on Education and
Labor this week. Plainly, he indicated
it to be his intention to lend his influ
ence as committee chairman to three
important objectives.
First named was the creation of a
Cabinet department of education and
welfare; second was the formulation of
a comprehensive national labor policy;
third was the perpetuation of the C. C. C.
as a permanent institution.
The Senator’s most interesting com
ment was in connection with the second
of these objectives, probably most im
portant of the three.
“It is unwholesome,” he said, “to have
labor divided against itself and equally
unwholesome to have labor and industry
feel that their interests are necessarily
divided. We have crudities of several
kinds to iron out. Espionage is crude.
Irresponsibility of any kind is crude.
Even some of our legislation, being new,
needs refinement. Labor must become
more responsible for its group action than
it is today. If the United States is to
have a comprehensive national labor
policy we must give further study to our
problems. It is of importance that labor
and industry of their own accord under
stand each other better than they do
today.”
Truly, one of the most vexing “crudi
ties” in the field of irsriiistrv and lahor
has been the failure, seemingly willful in
many instances, of both sides to under
stand or acknowledge understanding of
the other's point of view. Both have
spoken frequently of the statesmanship
within their own ranks, but too often
their relationships have been marked by
an absence of such quality on either side.
It probably is not desirable that Gov
ernment assume full responsibility for
this relationship, its own shortcomings
in economic statecraft have been dem
onstrated on occasion, but it is encour
aging that one in a position of Influ
ence in this regard should speak under
standing^ and impartially. Such ac
tion is one of leadership in itself and
along lines of such obvious common sense
that it is difficult to see how either labor
or industry can disregard the opinions
thus voiced.
II Duce Demurs.
If there were any lingering doubt
that Secretary Hull is on the right track
in promoting his trade agreements policy
as a constructive peace program, such
misgivings would be dispelled by the
day's news from Italy. Mussolini angrily
deprecates the. United States’ plans to
take the economic gunpowder out of
international relations. He discerns in
contemplated negotiations for an Anglo
American commercial pact a heinous
democratic plot to “strangle, asphyxiate,
blockade and starve” Fascist peoples. In
an article in his own Milanese newspaper,
Popolo d’ltalia, which is understood to be
the product of his own pen, II Duce at
tacks the Washington theory that recip
rocal economic arrangements among na
tions pave the sanest and surest path to
political peace. “Between gold and
iron,” thunders the Fascist dictator, “the
great Machiavelli chose iron, and we
stand with him. In a supremely idiotic
dilemma—butter or cannon—we have
made our choice: Cannon!”
While it is a wholly lopsided view to
argue that the Hull trade plan in general,
or the projected agreement with Great
Britain in particular, menaces the
economic security of any country, the
American Secretary of State does not
dissemble the view that the policy he so
passionately espouses is designed to pro
ject into the European situation a factor
capable of displacing rivalry, suspicion
and friction—the classic breeders of war
—with mutual trust and benefits Which
may minimize if not obliterate the
war psychology which keeps Europe an
armed camp.
Secretary Hull earnestly believes that
no more effective, realistic peace measure
is conceivable. His anxiety to conclude a
reciprocal pact with Britain is not only
an earnest of his philosophy, but
the expression of a conviction that
the spectacle of the world’s two great
est democracies and trading nations
burying their differences is bound to be
a contagious demonstration of the
soundness and workability of the Amer
ican theory. A concomitant of It la the
belief that, while abolishing tariff hos
tilities and the political dangers inher
ent in them, trade agreements should
also be the precursors of armament re
duction and abandonment of territorial
aggression programs. Secretary Hull has
long held that appeasement of peoples
non-self-sufficient with respect to food
and raw materials must be the ultimate
purpose of more fortunately circum
stanced nations like the British, French
and American democracies.
Mussolini’s avowal that he prefers
armed force to economic accommodation
is at least fresh warning to all concerned
as to what they have to expect from the
new league of have-not dictatorships.
- 1 ■ ■ ■ $ l ■ 1 ■
Apology.
In an editorial yesterday discussing
the Post Office patronage bill The Star
referred to members of the Senate
Finance Committee. The reference
should have been to the members of the
Senate Post Office Committee. The Star
offers no explanation of the error. It
is unexplainable. The Star does apologize
for associating the members of the Sen
ate Finance Committee with the Post
Office bill. Those gentlemen have
troubles enough of their own — taxes
being what they are—without being in
volved unjustly in the ramifications of
the spoils system.
Old railroad men are stepping forward
with courage to admit that the steam
engine has faults to be considered in
spite of the manner in which the air
plane defies rights of property and the
laws governing human existence.
A melancholy note marks the remains
of a suicidal demonstration and no
longer leaves as much real impression
as a dispatch from Shanghai. Even
death has been made the means of
conveying new impressions of terror.
The Santa Claus myth will be heard
from this year with all its old appeal, but
with some new and interesting devices
relating to the extension of credit. If
you have well founded credit now is the
time to use it?.
Wicked gambling houses are still in
dicated to be flourishing in all languages.
Gambling threatens to assert itself as a
source of profit which can claim safety
in defiance of morals.
The initials “ H. O. L. C.” stand for
“Home Owners Loan Corporation” and
remain important in affairs because they
continue to cite home owners who can
still be found with money to pay taxes.
A. F. of L. and C. I. O. are leaving a
great deal to be argued in the State of
Maryland with the U. S. Government
itself as an attentive listener.
As reports continue to come from
Shanghai there is a combination indi
cated of bad intentions with good
marksmanship.
Our language is not spoken with suffi
cient readiness and skill in the Eastern
Pacific Ocean. The students of the
world have an immense task before them.
The season for grand opera is on as
the enthusiasm for football fades. Foot
ball by all reliable calculation claims the
largest share of influence.
Shooting Stars.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON.
Disregarded.
Santa is a dear old soul,
Yet he stands alone.
With togs beyond the style's control
And whiskers all his own.
While we enjoy his gentle sway
And greet him with applause,
What person would consent today
To look like Santa Claus?
v
The worldly mode is still correct.
While Sant seems merely quaint.
The fashions wild we can’t neglect,
To imitate a saint.
Oratorical Brevity.
“A man in your position must be care
ful not to say too much.”
“Of course,” answered Senator Sor
ghum. "The ideal position for a states
man is one so exalted that the longest
speech he is personally obliged to make
is ‘howdydo!’”
Jud Tunkins says some men make
themselves seem important because they
can be tiresome for hours without any
body’s venturing to stop them.
Anticipation.
On early shopping we agree.
On Christmas morning, presently,
Old Sant will merely call to see
If thinks have passed off pleasantly.
Beauty Contests.
"Beauty contests are over for the
present.”
"They are,” answered Miss Cayenne,
"unless some Eskimo fashion expert in
troduces the sealskin bathing suit.”
“He who speaks only the truth,” said
Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, "must-be
as cautious as a workman with high ex
plosives.”
Ultimate Aspiration.
They peddle stuff that’s very bad
And into scandal run—
The man who makes us truly sad
Is he who packs a gun.
We’re starting many a moral storm
To stop life’s rougher fun.
Some day, perhaps, we will reform
The man who packs a jjun.
“De gifts of eloquence is valuable
’cordin’ to de size of de audience,” said
Uncle Eben. “It’s easier to address a
congregation dan it is to ’splain things to
a traffic cop.”
A lA
Brotherhood of Taxicab
Drivers Urges Limitation
To the Editor of The BUr:
It was with great interest that I read
the editorial appearing in The Evening
Star, November 29, headed, ‘‘Too Many
Taxicabs.”
As president of the Industrial Broth
erhood of Taxi Drivers of Washington I
wish to say that it is a definite objective
of our organization to fight for a limit on
the number of taxicabs to operate here
in the District. Although we have ac
complished very little in this matter, we
have made our position clear before the
congressional committees that have thus
far had this matter before them.
There are now two bills pertaining to
the taxicab industry here in Washington,
which have been before the Congress
for the past seven years, bills which we
all have heard much about—the taxicab
limitation bill and the compulsory lia
bility insurance bill. Why neither of
these bills have ever been passed is a
question to be studied.
The position of the Industrial Brother
hood of Taxi Drivers has been made very
definitely clear to the committees at
hearings on the two bills. What we want
is this, and just this, and the Washington
public we know is with us: We want a
definite limit on the number of taxicabs
to be licensed for operation as such in the
District of Columbia, and we want a law
to compel each of these taxi cabs to
carry financial responsibility. But we do
not want to be made to pay the high cost
of financial responsibility with the doors
wide open for some huge taxicab inter
est to walk in and within a very short
time extinguish the seventy to eighty per
cent of independent owner drivers who
now constitute the great majority of
taxicab operators here in Washington.
We want both of these bills, but we
want the limitation bill first of all. It
has been said that the financial respon
sibility bill will limit the r.umber of
taxicabs. I am sure the public does not
want to starve the taxi men off the street,
which would be the result of the passage
of this bill. Huge taxicab interests will
invade this city with from one to two
thousand cabs, and very quickly squeeze
out the independent owners.
Now we say again to the Congress, first
limit the number of taxicabs, and then
we, the taxi drivers, will gladly accept the
bill for compulsory liability insurance.
E. ERWIN DOLLAR,
President Industrial Brotherhood
of Taxi Drivers.
In Defense of Pavement
Worms and Jay Walkers
To tho Editor of The 8t»r:
Several drivers, turned commentators
in your estimable columns, continue to
have it in for pedestrians, whom they
hold in an esteem making it charity to
exterminate the species. Slighting allu
sion is made to the caliber mentis of the
pavement worm as evidenced by his
seeming lack of concern for his own con
tinued welfare.
The blame rests with the speed mani
acs and uncurbed darlings of devil-may
care who monopolize the concrete
slaughterways, using them as nature
never intended—with no relief in sight
till oil grows scarce and expensive and
the motor age goes into a deserved de
cline.
Many pedestrians are riders or drivers
temporarily set down to breast the turgid
streams to which at other times they so
ably contribute. Crossing streets via the
mathematical straight line, they avoid
the awful ordeal of a little walking. At
light crossings their avoirdupois is torpor
personified; or, at any time, in fact, ex
cept when “stepping on it.”
grab his breaks when he sees ’em. If he
acts torpid, put it down that he's not a
real worm but a motor addict temporarily
grounded. Crossing midblock, the pave
ment worm feels at least as safe as when
braving the pistol-shot picker-uppers at
a light take-ofT.
Five per cent of pedestrians may be the
dumb apes one critic asserts. But the
remaining 95 per cent are completely
cowed, intent only upon negotiating the
slaughter lanes in one piece.
What really is needed is 200 more cops,
alive to traffic control; 2,000 permits re
voked annually Instead of 250; a drastic
cut in the number of taxicabs; speed
governors if the majority won’t conform.
The dare-you-hit-me lads, among
real pavement worms, are really rare.
The reason is, my dear crying motorist—
whose sacred rights are being so wan
tonly trod upon—they don’t trust you
more than they would a stick of dyna
mite in a hot fire. And if they did trust
you, how long would they last?
I. H. LATIMER.
Two Drivers Who Failed to
Understand Traffic Signs
To the Editor of The Star:
Undoubtedly the Police Department
should adopt a new parking sign system,
for when a Representative in Congress
can’t learn in a week's time what "No
Parking” means, there must be some
thing wrong. Perhaps the signs need
editing or maybe they should be illus
trated. Now I know why I have been
"pinched” twice in the past few weeks—
I didn't understand the signs. But for
some reason I was unable to make the
officers at the station understand that
I didn’t understand, so I had to pay my
fine (the cop wrote one ticket incor
rectly) and promise that I would never
commit such a misdemeanor again. Per
haps it was because I’ve been here six
years instead of one week, but after
all I’m only a Government clerk.
I wonder if Representative Connery’s
position had any influence on the officer
who excused him or if his conscience
hurt him for removing the car.
LOLA BOSWELL.
, )lr -
Unemployment Census Card
Fails to Identify Aliens
To the Editor of The Star:
The “Unemployment Report Card” of
the “National Unemployment Census”
does not contain any questions In refer
ence to aliens.
There is reason to believe that these
qutftions were intentionally omitted
from the unemployment census card.
From all of the reliable figures that
have been obtained, this Government for
more than three years has been giving
employment to more than 2,000,000 aliens.
They have had direct help in money and
fuel.
These blanks should have had the fol
lowing questions: “Where were you
bom?” “If not bom in the United States,
are you a naturalized citizen?"
CHARLES SHERMAN,
r , ,,tr 1
Cites Need for Overhead
Bridge on Lee Highway
To the Editor of The 8t»r:
A little foreright in traffic matters
would solve much of the future traffic
problems.
For Instance:
The new Lee boulevard cuts across
Arlington Ridge road before it enters
the Memorial Bridge. The terrain is
ideally situated to allow for an over
head bridge at Arlington Ridge road
and tlfe cost would be small if done
now. Future traffic will be bad at this
point if Lee highway is completed as
now planned. C. H. GREGG.
D
THIS AND THAT 1
L. £. ~ , f
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.
Albums for record collections are a
nuisance, but they serve two very ad
mirable purposes: They keep the discs
nicely, and they prevent overplaying.
Overdoing is the curse of America, and
in nothing is it worse than in music.
We hear music hour after hour, all day
and night long, in every conceivable place
and in every possible way.
Mechanical means of music making,
brought to a peak of perfection, enables
the honest music lover to do something
even Beethoven could not—have it con
stantly on tap, as it were, like water from
a faucet.
Just as the music masters of past ages
had no running water, in our modem
plumbing sense, so they had to play and
listen to music within reason, too.
Usually they met together once or twice
a week, four persons, perhaps, to play
quartets.
Occasionally there was a grand concert,
with the necessary rehearsals. But there
was no constant dinning of music into
their own and other people’s ears.
* * * *
The lover of the more serious music,
as presented by the modern electrical
discs and machines, now long out of the
"canned music" category, will discover
that nothing holds him down more than
the albums.
Whether he chooses to place them flat
on the shelves or upright—we prefer the
former—he will And that they are a great
nuisance.
Since these albums, in various forms,
come down to us from the former age of
the acoustical talking machine, it is
queer that there has been no particular
improvement in them.
The envelope openings still are at the
wrong end, the top, Instead of being at
the side. Many of these albums are so
clumsy in handling that one hesitates to
take them from the cabinet.
And that, of course, is where their
great service comes in!
Any one, or anything, who or which
will keep us moderns from overdoing our
music—or anything else—is doing us a
genuine service.
* * * *
Another failure of many of the albums
is to lie flat, when the leaves are turned
over. Often the records not desired are
left standing up in the air.
This gives the careful collector a case
of nerves, as he sees his masterpieces in
danger of warping. Warping, of course,
is not so serious a matter, with the newer
machines to play them on. It was on the
older phonographs that such records
tended to play "sour.”
Still, a warped record is not desirable.
There is warping and warping, of course.
Probably not one record in a hundred,
even today, is absolutely and mathemati
cally flat.
It makes no difference, with elec
tricity doing the work.
* * * a
The careful record enthusiast will de
sire his discs to be as flat as humanly
possible. No doubt the record makers
aim at that perfection, too.
Whether discs should be stacked, one
on top of another, or set on edge, closely
together, remains a question with many.
Maybe it is significant that dealers in
variably set them on edge, in their heavy
green envelopes.
Purchasers should alwa^p keep the
thin paper jackets on their records, un
less albums are used. If these contain
ers are placed one on top of another, the
weight Is probably enough to keep the
board covers from warping. There can
be little question that cardboard, even of
the heaviest variety, has a tendency to
curl. If records were placed face down
in an album whose bottom, or back,
cover, had a decided bow to It, especially
of the upward sort, the records might in
time become bowed.
* * * *
Hence It may be believed that these
albums are not an unmitigated joy to
the collector. The record people have
experimented with them over the years,
and are forever changing their physical
make-up. Evidently they are not satis
fied, themselves.
Advent of the two and three pocket
albums Is a good thing. These are light,
and easier to handle. There is far less
danger of a record slipping out, if one
happens to grow careless.
Less weight is very desirable, all things
considered. A dozen twelve-inch discs
make a handful; If one happens to lose
sight of which end is the open end, a disc
may fall out.
One may wonder why a small clasp
cannot be placed over the open end, so
that such a catastrophe simply could not
happen.
♦ * * *
Albums, from the nuisance sidflf re
quire a rather large space for ease of
handling.
Nothing less than a large table, free of
other objects, will do. for when the leaves
are spread the total across is between
twenty-four and twenty-eight inches.
If the album one desires is at the bot
tom of the pile, the remainder must be
lifted out. one by one, and placed some
where while the one sought is retrieved.
A good trick is to turn the album, so
that the top, or open, end is at the right
hand, so the records can be pulled out
with a right-handed and therefore nat
ural motion.
Some albums are so hard to handle
that they require, two persons. Their
nuisance value is high.
There is no real loss, however, since
all such small troubles tend to prevent
overplaying.
The ease with which we may have
music today must be fought against at
all times. Tonal values are too fragile,
being simply sound waves, intangibles—
yet how mighty!—to permit brutal han
dling by anybody.
If we permit others to assault our ears
all the time, or have no more regard for
our own musical appreciation than to try
to do the same to ourselves, we run a
very grave risk.
Overplaying music, in any way, gives
even the real musician a certain sense of
being ill at ease, a vague, undefined but
nevertheless very real malady.
This is musical overdoing. Not all per
sons are alike, of course, in this more
than in any other matter. But when re
produced music, in particular, does not
sound ‘ right,” although the same com
bination has sounded exquisite before,
rest assured that the old truth has been
proved again:
“Too much of anything is bad.”
Albums help.
STARS, MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress in Field,
Laboratory and Study.
BY THOMAS R. HENRY.
It just does not add up.
Somebody, somewhere, ought to be
paying us Americans a good weekly wage
for undergoing whatever inconvenience
there may be to living.
The United States Bureau of Stand
ards has been in operation for thirty
years. It will celebrate its theoretical
thirtieth birthday Monday and Tues
day. Now not a year has gone by that
the physicists of the bureau have not
discovered a variety of things that have
saved the American people millions and
even billions. The aggregate of the sav
ings during this third of a century make
the astronomical deficits of the National
Government small change.
And yet, somehow or other, the bills
come around the first of every month.
‘‘How many millions did you save
today?” is a bromidic joke among Bu
reau of Standards physicists and chem
ists. What becomes of all those millions?
But when one thinks it over a little the
paradox begins to solve itself. These
savings have been put into a gigantic
trust fund for the future of man. And
every one of us actually is getting the
daily dividends on this fund in the forms
of thousands of things that enrich our
lives. We can have for a few pennies
hundreds of commodities and experiences
that the richest man in the world thirty
years ago couldn’t have bought with all
his millions. And today the poorest
tramp wouldn’t take as a gift the rattle
trap automobile for which the late An
drew Carnegie paid thousands, and
which, he gave willing testimonial, must
represent about the limit of perfection
in land transportation.
Bureau of Standards researches, in col
laboration with those of automotive engi
neers in industry, have resulted in the
savings of untold millions in the con
struction of automobiles. What has be
come of all these millions? They have
been invested in hundreds of thousands
upon hundreds of thousands of new and
better automobiles, pleasure, health,
longer lives—in some Instances, of course,
shorter and faster lives also—and alto
seiner an aaaea richness of existence of
inestimable value. These savings are
entered on the account book of every
American. Money, after all, is only a
medium of exchange. It is the things to
be exchanged that constitute true wealth.
And in this respect every one of us has
vastly more, in a certain segment of hu
man wealth, than Mr. Carnegie in his
wildest dreams ever could have hoped to
have. A good part of it might be con
verted into a cash saving, if folks were
willing to live that way.
By and large, these Bureau of Stand
ards researches, extending into almost
every phase of the machine age civiliza
tion in which we live, have given all of
us vastly more to spend—a great catch'
all of wealth not contained in bank vaults
or underground fortresses, but open for
anybody to dip in and take a handful
whenever he needs it.
Few more glorious roles have been
played in history than that of this Gov
ernrqent bureau. Actually, it is learned
from the historical sketch prepared by
Dr. H. D. Hubbard of the bureau staff,
it was started with a staff of fourteen in
1901, a sort of nondescript group at the
time. In 1904, when its staff had in
creased to'flfty-two, it moved out in the
woods to its present location at Connec
ticut avenue and Van Ness street and the
tribulations which the scientists suffered
from the depredations of chiggers around
the place constitute one of the bureau’s
legends. But by 1907 it was ready to go,
[ its buildings in order, its men making
progress on fundamental researches
which since then have changed the face
of the world. Then it made its first
appearance before the public and had its
first birthday party. A sort of leap year
baby—this Bureau of Standards—and
entitled to change its own birthday.
The institution has gone infinitely be
yond its original purpose—that of testing
the qualities of materials purchased for
the Federal Government. It has carried
out this function, and if it hadn’t the
much-discussed national deficit would be
vastly greater than it is now. But test
ing has required researches to find out
how to test. To determine the qualities
of a specific product one must know all
about that product—and in learning all
about a lot of things the Bureau of
Standards has made its everlasting mark
in the world.
It has weighed the earth. It has ex
plored the interior of the atom. It has
measured the heat of the farthest stars.
It has gone down into the mysterious
depths of absolute cold, where creation
stands still. It has gone upward into the
white fire of the sun's exterior. It has
made better false teeth and better silk
stockings for milady. It has explored
with uncannily delicate instruments the
desolate deserts of the planet Mars. It
has measured the tensile strengths of
blond hair and brunette hair, thereby
rendering beauty parlors safe for democ
racy. It has trapped the heat of the
sun and changed it into electricity. It's
activities have extended from beer bottles
to cosmic rays, from kiddie cars to the
ineffable elixer of light that pervades
creation.
And out of the absolute cold, the dis
tant stars, the insides of atoms it h&
brought back to America wealth com
pared to which the wealth of the Incas
was an insignificant trifle. It has made
every American rich—maybe, too rich.
The gold of the Indies ruined Spain.
Perhaps the wealth brought out of the
invisible world that surrounds us by these
Bureau of Standards explorers will ruin
America. Some philosophers think so.
And then again it may have placed us
on the threshold of a destiny so glorious
that it transcends imagination. Some
philosophers think that also.
»
Select Administrative
Workers From Jobless
To the Editor of The Star:
Twenty per cent of the Works Progress
Administration administrative forces
were never on relief and are holding Jobs
that they can well afford to give up and
make room for many of the destitute
unemployed.
Take for instance the Federal theater,
art and music projects in New York City
and particularly those localities in other
parts of New York State, and here you
will find the administrative forces are
non-reliefers, or those never on relief, but
who have been certified for relief to re
tain their Jobs. To carry cases like these
on a Federal relief pay roll and let desti
tute men with families walk the streets
is almost beyond belief, but it is a fact.
Why not slash the W. P. A. 20 per
1 cent right now, and replace with men
and women who are in dire need of em
ployment to keep the wolf from the
door. S. ALEXSON.
Too Many Masters.
From the Ooih.n (Ind.) Ncwi-Democrit.
A 13-year-oid San Francisco girl asked
annullment of her marriage so she could
return to school. Nope; love and career
just won’t mix.
Not Too Old to Learn.
From thi Naihvilli Banner.
Bernard Shaw says he is too old to
make a speech. Maybe he is just old
enough to know better.
A.
ANSWERS TO
QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.
A reader can get the answer to any
question of fact by writing The Evening
Star Information Bureau, Frederic J.
Hatkin, director, Washington, D. C.
Please inclose stamp for reply.
Q. Was Maureen O’Sullivan, the movie
actress, bom in this country?—W. F.
A. Miss O’Sullivan was bom at Bayle,
Ireland.
Q. How many times were horses shot
under Napoleon while he was in bat
tle?—S. M.
A. Nineteen horses were shot dead
under him.
Q. What determines whether a State
shall have a Representative at large in
Congress?—M. D.
A. The apportionment based on the
1930 census was made by the method of
major fractions. Considering a House •
of Representatives with 435 members,
each State has as many Representatives
as the whole number of times 279,712
was contained in the total population of
the State, plus an additional Representa
tive if the fractional remainder wa3
greater than one-half.
Q. How many ships have a tonnage of
over 50,000?—J. L.
A. There are five ships in the world
with registered gross tonnages above
50,000.
Q. Explain magnification and light in
tensity.—J. F. G.
A. Magnification is the ratio of the
magnitude of the image to the magni
tude of the object expressed in diam
eters of the object. Light intensity
means the quantity of light per unit*area.
Q. What is an elephant-shrew?—W. H.
A. It is an insect-eating mammal re
sembling the rat. The popular name
alludes to its peculiar, elongated nose,
which looks like an elephant's trunk.
The hind legs are long and out of all
proportion to the fore legs and fit the
animal for jumping. Elephant-shrews
are confined to Africa.
Q. Please tell something of the Dra
conian laws in ancient Greece.
A. The Draconian laws are noteworthy
primarily for their cruelty. The death
penalty was attached to almost all
crimes, even the petty ones. This code
of Draco is said to have made the first
legal distinction between voluntary and
involuntary homicide and to have made
a murderer liable to punishment by the
state. Theft was made punishable by
death and debt exposed a man to the
danger of slavery. The 51 ephetae or
special judges were probably Draco's
creation.
Q. Do people often get airsick on com
mercial airplanes?—C. S.
A. The large airlines say that airsick
ness is very rare and occurs or.ly in verv
rough weather. There is much less air
sickness than seasickness or carsickness.
Q. Who was the fair Rosamond?—E.
W. H.
A. This was the common appellation
of the daughter of Lord Clifford, wdio
became the mistress of Henry II. A pop
ular legend says she was kept by the
King in a bower at Woodstock which
was reached by a labyrinthine passage
known, only to him. Legend also adds
that in 1176 she was discovered and poi
soned by Queen Eleanor.
Q. Is the United States represented
somewhere in France by a consul who is
a Negro?—A. H.
A. The consul at Calais is a colored
man.
Q. Please give a biography of Roger
Martin du Gard. winner of the 1937 Nobel
prize for literature.—L. W.
A. Roger Martin du Gard is a member
of the board of the French literary publi
cation Les Nouvelles Litteraires. Born at
Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1881, he studied at
the University of Paris and the Ecole des
Chartes and became an archivist and
paleographer. His first published work
was a monograph about the Abbaye de
Gumieges. In 1909 his first novel.
“Devenir,” was published. Four years
later “Jean Barois” came out. He began
to publish the series of "Les Thibault?”
in 1922. M. du Gard is married and has
one daughter. He lives at 10 Rue du
Dragon in Paris.
Q. What is embracery?—C. J. H.
A. It is an attempt to corrupt or influ
ence a jury by money, promises, letters,
threats or persuasions.
Q. Who discovered beet sugar?—C R
A. The discovery of sugar in the beet
was made by a German chemist. MarE
graf. as early as 1747. Little progress wa?
made until 50 years later when another
German chemist. Achard. succeeded in
extracting sugar from the beet root on a
comparatively large scale.
Q. In what play is the line, “A rose
by any other name would smell a?
sweet?”—V. R.
A. It Is from the second act of “Romec
and Juliet”: “What's in a name? That
which we call a rose by any other nanit
would smell as sweet.”
Q. Who invented the method of re
enacting a crime by photography?—C. H
A. The method of reconstructing a
crime by photography and rehearsing it
in the way it was probably perpetrated
was the invention of Alphonse Bertillon,
although the idea is said to have been
harrowed from Gaboriau.,
Q. How old Is Josef Hofmann, the
[ pianist?—H. T.
A. Josef Hoffmann will be 62 years ok.
on January 20.
Q. Who was the prince who led hi
army from a sick bed?—W. J.
A. Edward the Black Prince was so 11)
that he was carried in a litter to lead hi.*
army against Limoges, which he captured
and burned, putting many of the Inhabi
tants to death.
Q. Is kiln-drying of lumber for furni
ture a much shorter process than air
drying?—K. W.
A. Kiln drying takes from two week.!
to a month, while air drying takes two
years or more.
Q. Where is the body of the late Pres
ident Wilson buried?—M. E. H.
A. It Is buried in the crypt of the
Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul,
Mount St. Albans, Washington, D. C.
%
Bulls and Bears
From the Charleston (W. Va.) Mall.
During the last two years a new high
has been set for the number of interna
tional conferences—and a new low foi
international co-operation.
Speed the Day!
From the Fort Wayne News-8entlnel.
Some day some radio announcer Is go- *
lng to talk in a normal voice and at i
normal rate of speed and every other an
nouncer is going to wonder why he dU
not think of it first.

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