Evening star. [volume], January 31, 1938, Page A-8, Image 8

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

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THE EVENING STAR
With Snnday Morning Edition
THEODORE W. NOYES. Editor
WASHINGTON, D. C.
MONDAY--January SI, 1938
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Geneva’s Short Memory.
In that habitat of hesitancy and vacil
lation known as the League of Nations,
eome typical Geneva jugglery is again
In progress, with China as its object.
The Council will today discuss a resolu
tion sponsored by Great Britain, Rus
sia and France, purporting to pledge
International aid to the victims of
Japanese aggression. Although For
eign Secretary Eden and his French
and Soviet colleagues, M. Delbos and
Mr. Litvinoff, have already watered
down the plan, largely because of Polish
objections, to the point of platonic in
nocuousness, even its adoption appears
to depend upon the United States’ readi
ness to Join in a typical Geneva gesture
that would commit nobody to anything.
Eight years ago this winter Japanese
activities in China also occupied the
League's attention. Nippon’s guns were
blazing at Shanghai and her armies were
occupying Manchuria. The shoe was on
the other foot. It was the United States
which sought the co-operation of Ge
neva powers in resisting Japan's aggres
iion. But Secretary Stimson's proposals,
acceptance of which might well have
averted the crisis the world now faces
In Asia, were spurned. British Foreign
Secretary Sir John Simon would have'
none of them.
As Washington is blessed with a
longer memory than Geneva, it is not
eurprising to learn that both Secretary
Hull and Senator Pittman, chairman of
the Senate Foreign Relations Commit
tee. deride the idea of American par
ticipation in any League-hatched scheme
for aid to China, even though President
Roosevelt four months ago talked about
"concerted effort” and "quarantines.”
This country contemplates no change in
its hands-off policy in the Far East. It
will be confined to impartiality as be
tween the belligerents and to protection
of American life, property and rights in
the war zones.
Britain, France and Russia, for rea
sons of their own—mainly, the risks they
would incur in weakening their military
snd naval strength in Europe—clearly
would like the United States to bear the
lion's share of any armed help for China.
They, of course, are , chasing moon
beams. But Mr. Stimson, shortly after
the ‘quarantine" speech at Chicago,
submitted a thought still worthy of the
League's consideration and of our own.
“China's principal need,” he said, “is
not that something be done by other
nations to help her, but that outside
nations should cease helping her en
emy”—that is, stop supplying Japan with
raw materials and foreign credits which
•lone permit her to go on waging war.
Dogs will not be allowed to play in
Greenbelt, Md., until the town is fully
populated and then only if permitted to
do so by the votes of the people. The
race horse will be active in the neigh
borhood regardless of personal per
missions.
Some Philadelphia girls are engaged
In a demonstration favoring the sale of
■ilk stockings. The test so far has only
promoted a conviction that other fabrics
look quite as well.
Mussolini worked hard to establish
Fascism in his country. As time goes he
decides to leave airship exploits to his
•on.
Troy Kinney.
The etcher Troy Kinney was in Amer
ica what the painter Degas was in
France. Each found in the art of danc
ing a theme—a living spirit—to be studied
•nd interpreted. The former, however,
frankly loved Terpsichore and brought
to her service a gentle and gracious
technical skill; the latter permitted his
heart to be less definitely engaged and
was content to wield a heavy impression
istic brush.
But such comparisons are unnecessary
•s well as unkind. What needs to be said
•t the moment when Mr. Kinney rests is
that he merited the popularity which his
work enjoyed in the judgment of a public
discriminating enbugh to be not too easily
pleased. He was a draftsman of un
doubted genius; his plates showed the
touch of a hand truthful and sure; the
eye that witnessed the “poetry of mo
tion” was correlated to a mind compe
tent to direct fingers trained to sketch
with veracity, courage and a certain
natural charm which was distinctively
their own.
In the best achievement of his career
Mr. Kinney also was fortunate in the
assistance of his talented wife, the
former Margaret West. They wrote and
Illustrated their history of dancing
together. Probably most of the research
labor required was Mrs. Kinney’s contri
button. Her husband provided the pic
torial portion of the book—downs of
etchings of the great Pavlowa, Isadora
Duncan and her troupe of lovely girls,
Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Castle and many
other famous personalities. The finished
volume became a classic, as it richly de
served to be, and still is a “best-seller”
in its field.
It would be a pity, though, if Mr.
Kinney were remembered only for his
devotion to the dance. He worshiped
beauty in its every aspect and left
thousands of drawings of architecture,
landscape, still life, etc., dating back
more than four decades. Even his news
paper illustrations were notable. His
powers must have been bom in him. His
friends believed so, and they doubtless
were Justified in their faith.
An Appropriate Change.
Now under consideration by the 8enate
Judiciary Committee is a bill designed
to free the Federal Courts of an ad
ministrative and financial control by the
executive branch of the Government
which for many years has been a source
of frequent embarrassment to all con
cerned.
Sponsored by the Department of
Justice and introduced by Senator Ash
hurst, committee chairman, the measure
calls for creation of an administrative
office under a director appointed by the
Supreme Court, which would be the
fiscal agency of all United States courts
and entirely independent of executive
control. The sole duty of the director
would be to serve the courts, keep track
of dockets, make recommendations re
specting assignment of judges to meet
changing conditions, and to ascertain
the needs of each circuit and district
and present those needs directly to Con
gress without revision by the executive
department, as at present.
No power now vested by statute in the
judiciary would be transferred to the
new official, who would be the servant
of the courts, charged with administer
ing their fiscal business under the di
rection of the Chief Justice and the
Conference of Senior Circuit Court
Judges.
In the interest of an independent judi
ciary and the impartial dispensation of
justice, the Importance of this financial
emancipation of the courts can scarcely
be emphasized too greatly. “There is
something inherently illogical in the
present system of having the budget and
expenditures of the courts and the in
dividual judges under the jurisdiction of
the Department of Justice,” said At
torney General Cummings, who testi
fied in favor of the bill. Of the truth of
the Attorney General’s statement there
can be little doubt. The illogic of put
ting the purse strings of the courts in
the hands of the agency which is the
largest single litigant before them is
evident.
This is no implication, nor have the
sponsors of the bill intended to imply
that any Federal judge would so far
forget his duty as to lean to the slightest
degree toward the Government in grati
tude for past favors or in hope of future
preferment. Indeed, the absence of any
suggestion of judicial unfairness is a
tribute to the character of the judiciary
and of the officials of the Department
of Justice who have administered the
affairs of the courts since 1880. Never
theless, the impropriety of the situation
is apparent.
The Chinese people have never liked
the Japs. The reason for the Mikado’s
extraordinary seclusion becomes simpler
when it is realized that a personal dis
courtesy may be extended to citizens of
another nation with attempts even to de
fend it.
What Japan’s public men are accused
of telling their constituents justifies the
Chinese without further argument in re
fusing them unobstructed freedom in the
management of human speech.
The President’s birthday asserts itself
as a reminder that there is an abund
ance of money eager to be spent but re
sentful of being wasted.
“Too Narrow” Streets.
One of the reasons frequently given
for traffic congestion is that the streets
are too narrow to accommodate the
constantly increasing number of auto
mobiles using them. The assertion car
ries an implication that widening of the
roadways would speed up the flow of
traffic.
But even wide streets, such as are
generally characteristic of Washington,
can be too narrow—and a recent article
in the New Yorker Magazine succinctly
explains why. The article, quoted in
an editorial published by the Engineer
ing News-Record, tells of a New York
man who boasted he never paid garage
rent or parking lot fees, yet used his car
constantly.
"Don’t you ever get a ticket?” he was
asked. "Sure,” he said, “I get between
none and two a month. I send a mes
senger boy to Traffic Court with a dollar,
the fine for parking overtime. The boy’s
charge is 35 cents, so if I am unlucky,
parking costs me $2.70 a month.”
The New Yorker’s comment was: “And
that, friends, is one reason evqjy street
in town is narrower than it should be.”
To which the Engineering News-Rec
ord added: “But the porkers still per
sist and hundreds of miles of street
surface, located on the moat costly real
estate in the world and improved at
great expense to all the taxpayers, are
smugly monopolized by a few . to the
discomfiture and great cost of the many.
But the few do save their parking fees.”
These expressions are typical of the
growing resentment of many citizens
over pre-empting of public streets by
all-day and all-night patters, not to
mention the part-time variety. Motor-,
ists are learning — sometimes under
pressure of court decisions—that the
public highways are built for the free
flow of traffic and that no individual
has a legal right to impede that flow.
District authorities have indicated
their Intention of drastically restricting
parking on busy streets. Eventually
parking may be banned altogether on
certain streets, such action will be
fully as effective as moving the curbs
farther apart—and it will be cheaper
in the end for all the taxpayers.
Irresistible Forces.
The power that is wrecking bridges at
Niagara is the same which destroyed
San Francisco in 1906, Chicago in 1871.
It has many names, appears in numerous
different aspects; but its effect invariably
Is identic. Floods, earthquakes, fires,
volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, blizzards
—all these spell ruin when the dynamic
force represented in them is released to
run wild. They are irresistible. Man
governs them only in relatively minor
degree.
A mountain moving toward the ocean
at Los Angeles listens to no argument.
The Mississippi, carrying millions of tons
of precious top soil to the Gulf of Mexico,
heeds no prayer. It is useless to petition
a tidal wave or a dust storm. Similarly,
no human appeal could have stopped the
iceberg which sank the Titanic in 1912
nor stayed the explosion which brought
down the Hlndenburg in flames last year.
The history of mankind might be written
as a catalogue of vain attempts to con
trol the universe.
But, instead, it has been chronicled in
terms of increasing facility, expanding
capacity, growing talent for survival.
The reason is plain enough—the race Is
learning the lessons of its experience,
discovering new techniques and new in
struments of service, finding improved
disciplines, developing better adjust
ments, generating greater powers of its
own.
Perhaps the struggle is tedious, arduous
and expensive. Let It be granted that it
might be pleasant for the species to live
in a cardboard paradise, unbothered and
untroubled by any challenge from the
cosmos. In such an Eden all would be
peaceful and serene. But would it not
likewise be monumentally dull? Some
might answer in the negative. The
majority, however, probably would rather
risk occasional discomfort, even occa
sional disaster, than willingly submit to
being perpetually bored.
Having assisted many players to celeb
rity, Mr. Lee Shubert brings a group of
actors in a successful play to the Presi
dent's fight against infantile paralysis
and becomes a celebrity himself.
The collection of taxes must be re
garded as especially expensive when it
becomes necessary to compute not only
the assessment but also the refund that
will be due.
Harvard University finds itself re
quested for answers to questions as
puzzling as some that were submitted
in early stages of its history.
The battle in the clouds continues to
be a feature of activities around Spain.
It will be stopped but Just how must be
for events to decide.
Japan may have to consult the psycho
analysts to make it clear that what the
public designates as war is only suicide
on a grand scale.
Mussolini has sent a son by airplane to
South America, thus demonstrating his
confidence that air travel properly super
vised may be safe.
Many points come up for inquiry.
One of them is the slap as a signal in
diplomatic intercourse.
Shooting Stars.
By PHILANDER JOHNSON.
Brief Interval.
Speed the way toward merry May
When stormy skies are banished.
So fast we stray upon our way
A year too soon has vanished.
St. Valentine with pleasures' fine—
The glorious Fourth—Thanksgiving
Will pass in line. We'll jest and dine
And vow we’re glad we're living.
A few months more, as we explore
The moments glad or surly.
Then, as before, well shout “Encore!”
It's time to shout “Shop Early!”
Avoiding Artificiality.
“Did you ever study elocution?” in
quired the friend.
“No,” answered Senator Sorghum.
“If I were to do anything like that it
would cause me to lose friends. They
must feel that I am impetuously pour
ing forth my soul in unstudied words
and not merely speaking a piece.”
Jud Tunklns says you have to read
a lot to learn things, and then read a
lot more to find out which of ’em was
true.
On With the Dance!
We thought the cakewalk rather queer.
The turkey trot was awful.
But names of dances now appear
That seem almost unlawful.
The Soft Speaker..
“We should always speak gently.”
“If you have violated a traffic regula
tion it’s absolutely necessary. But if
you’re the cop you don’t have to.”
“Peace may come among nations,”
said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “but
a family quarrel means war that never
ends.”
Lamps.
Aladdin, the scamp,
Had a wonderful lamp.
He rubbed it. A djinn did the rest.
His toil seems tor much
As marvels we touch,'
When merely a button is pressed.
"After a politician has shook hands
mebbe a thousand times,” said Uncls
Eben, “you kind o' doubt his sincerity
when be says ’Pleased to meet yccu’ ”
Two-Job Families Blamed
For Unemployment Rate
To the Editor of The Star:
In 1929 we had a market crash that
caused a slump In this wealthy country
of ours and today we still have that
slump, our unemployed and our relief.
Just what is behind all of it?
I have recently been in some seven or
eight different States and I obtained a
few figures. One cause of unemployment
is giving one family two and three in
comes each month while other families
have not one cent coming in except the
relief check.
In Detroit married women in the fac
tories operate drill and punch presses,
put ignition wires on automobiles, wear
overalls and operate any and all kinds
of machines. In our rubber shops in
Akron, Ohio, 31 per cent of the married
women employed have husbands who
also are working. Just go to the roller
bearing companies in Canton, Ohio, and
see the women there. Go down to our
fruit-packing plants in Florida and the
married woman is right on the job. A
•bakery here in Washington has at least
15 women working behind the soda foun
tain. Take a stroll through several
Government buildings and look for wed
ding rings. Believe me, they are there
by the thousands.
Ooing to a store to open an account
you used to talk to a man credit man
ager. Today it is a girl.
A man bookkeeper in 1915 received
$150 salary. Today some young girl, just
married, takes over that same Job for
$10 or $15 weekly.
Just a few days ago I saw where the
working girl was allowed $17 weekly
wage to keep her in lipstick, silk hose,
and have her hair curled. Look around
you and count the married men with
families that are on relief getting $12.
So you see one lone girl is allowed $17
and one man with four or five children
is allowed $12 if he is lucky and can
get it.
If the unemployment question is set
tled and married men put back to work
it will be by a law that permits only one
in a family to work. A. TOMLINSON.
-» <l» I-■
Drivers Implicated in
Accidents Need Third Test
To the Editor of The Star:
Your valuable editorial In The Star
of January 27 carried a ray of hope for
all who use the streets of Washington,
whether pedestrians, drivers or those
riding in automobiles.
No one can dispute your statement,
"In view of the ever-mounting traffic toll,
a city or State may properly be classified
as negligent if it fails to take every
logical step to prevent accidents. • • •
Two factors are involved in every acci
dent—the car and the driver.. It is only
common sense to make both subject to
examination.”
Will you kindly allow me to suggest
that in case of accident these two ex
aminations should be followed by a
third examination to determine if at the
time of the accident the driver wa»
thoroughly competent to drive a po
tential death car through the streets
and on the public highways, even though
he showed no visible signs of not being
thoroughly competent. He might have
been an expert driver a short time be
fore. but not at the time of the accident.
Then is it not reasonable to require
that in case of accident he take an addi
tional test that is thoroughly dependable,
absolutely harmless, inexpensive and
quickly made to determine his fitness to
drive at the time of the accident.
Such a test would soon show the
basic—though hidden—cause of much of
the appalling slaughter in our streets.
Who can deny the justice of requiring
that such a test be made in case of every
accident? Even the liquor people say
in some of their advertisements, “If you
drive don't drink; if you drink don’t
drive.” GEORGIA ROBERTSON.
Repeal of All Legislation
Hampering Business Urged
To the Editor of The Star:
The wise men from the East, including
John L. Lewis and William Green, who
were summoned to Washington to advise
with the President concerning the re
cession. seemed to be unable to give any
help in the matter. This should surprise
no one. The President wants business to
recover while at the same time it is being
penalized with the endless variety of
taxes and while he is distributing bil
lions of the people's money in subsidies
to farmers and other favored classes. It
can't be done. The business situation
has been still further aggravated by the
Wagner Labor Act, the Federal Labor
Relations Board, and other special favors
awarded to union labor having the direct
efTect of encouragement for unjustifiable
labor strikes.
Here are a few suggestions concern
ing the problem which might well be
considered: A monthly reduction of 10
per cent in all the philanthropic expendi
tures of Government until all are can
celed: repeal of the Wagner Labor Act
and abolition of the Labor Relations
Board; repeal of the Social Security Act;
repeal of tariffs on all imports; 10 per
cent annual reduction of income taxes
until all are canceled; repeal of all triple
A and other subsidies to agriculture; re
peal of all inquisitorial regulation of
business; reduction of armament appro-"
priations to a peacetime basis; gradual
concentration of all taxes upon ground
rents which, according to political econ
omy, is the only ligitimate source of pub
lic revenue.
HENRY WARE ALLEN.
Wichita, Kans.
Notes Difference When
On Inside Looking Out
To the Editor of The Star:
How much difference it makes some
times as to which side of the fence we
are on in expressing views about events
or issues. For instance, when Mr. Roose
velt was on the outside, then the man in
the White House, Mr. Hoover, was solely
responsible for the depression which de
scended on the world a few years ago.
Now that Mr. Roosevelt is on the in
side of the White House, responsibility
for the depression now affecting the
United States alone he boldly lays at
the feet of “big business” and cries out
in loud tones that business must be
“purged.”
It has been quite noticeable that when
Mr. Roosevelt is more or less directly re
sponsible for the adverse results of some
of his “New Deal” policies, the louder
and stronger he comes out with blame
and invectives against some Innocent
victims. Always it is to say or do any
thing to turn the blame from himself
and his policies on to some other group.
Mr. Roosevelt probably fails to con
sider that the Intelligent, thinking peo
ple of today can figure some .things out
for themselves, and all this unjust shift
ing of blame only tends to reflect on the
sincerity of Mr. Roosevelt. The reading
public is aware that this administration
has overburdened business with taxes
and has encouraged unfair labor de
mands. JANE MARLOWE.
Magic in Jail.
Prom the Macon (Oa.) Teletranh.
A magician has been sent to the peni
tentiary in Illinois. Stand by, folks, to
see what he can do in the way of pulling
•teal saws from his socks.
THIS AND THAT I
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.
A doorbell for squirrels is the novel
arrangement of a Washingtonian living
in one of the larger apartment buildings.
The "how” and "why” of this device
is explained in the following letter:
"Dear sir:
"I wish to thank you for the pleasure
that you give us in your This and That
column in The Evening Star.
"You have made us all more conscious
of the birds, the flowers and other living
things.
“While we who live in city apartments
do not have the advantage of as com
plete enjoyment of birds and flowers as
do our suburban friends, yet we are
fortunate in living in one of Washing
ton’s large apartment buildings that has
a front yard.
“In this same building lives an elderly
gentleman, retired from Government
service, whose love for children, birds
and flowers, is well known to us all.
"In the summer we enjoy the large
bed of roses which he has planted and
cared for and which bloom profusely for
all of us to admire.
“In the winter the yard is full of birds,
cardinals, bluejays and sparrows, too, at
tracted there by a feeding table which
the gentleman has placed under the tall
bushes by the front porch.
* * * *
"To avoid walking on the wet ground
or into the deep snow, to set out the
bird food, he has a false top to the feed
ing table with a ring in the center, and
to replenish the feast he has but to step
to the porch with a long stick with a
hook in the end and ‘fish’ the table top
to the porch level.
"The other day I noticed that the ta
ble top bears tills inscription:
*’ ’Free lunch, all birds welcome.’
"Though I did not know that birds
could read, they certainly must, for they
come in great numbers to take advantage
of the ’handout.’
“I asked him some time ago how he
knew what to feed them, and his reply
was. ‘Put out several different kinds of
food, wildbird seed, scratch feed, bread
crumbs, etc., see which is taken first,
and you have your answer.’
"Squirrels he feeds with peanuts placed
on his second-floor window sill, but the
pigeons have found this lunch place, so
to avoid feeding the pigeons he no lunger
fills the sills with real peanuts, but in
stead has an artificial peanut beside the
window, within reach of the squirrels,
and attached to a ’buzzer” circuit.
"The squirrels, finding no other nuts
in sight, attempt to eat the artificial one
and this sets off the buzzer inside the
apartment and the gentleman hastens to
provide real peanuts for his callers. Very
truly, R. C. B.’
* * * *
This letter shows what the real ncture
lover can do. Apartment house living is
regarded by some as living outside the
influence of nature, but our correspond
ent proves the reverse.
He shows how the genuine lover of the
anlmRl world may aid the wild creatures,
and at the same time provide real enter
tainment and happiness for himself and
his neighbors.
No doubt some suburban dwellers fail
to get the most out of their environment,
whereas many a deep-city resident
makes the mo6t of the opportunities he
has.
The love of nature and her creatures is
not given to every one.
It, too, Is a gift.
He or she who has It holds one of the
real enjoyments of this world.
* * * *
It Is true that apartment dwellers, as
a group, do not have the advantages for
nature study which are the privilege of
those who live either ip country or sub
urbs.
But they really do have the advantage
of as complete enjoyment of birds and
flowers, in a sense, if they take advan
tage of every opportunity offered.
There is no apartment, large or small,
which would not be bettered by some
flowers, even if nothing more than win
dowboxes.
The person who shows some interest
in such work, and a little knowledge,
gladly will be given the job by others.
It must be remembered that many
persons now living in apartments are
older people who once lived in country
and small town.
Many of these persons have a really
great knowledge of the small animals, the
plants of the world and how to make
friends with the one and grow the other.
* * * *
Good humor and understanding is
shown in the above letter, both by the
writer and its subject.
"To avoid walking on the wet
ground-”
That is not because the gentleman
wants to keep out of the wet, so much,
as because he knows that walking on
soft earth, in winter and spring is not
good for the grass.
The sign which he has on his feeding
table shows the desire for fun which is
one qf the most attractive elements of a
love ror nature. Sometimes persons en
gaged in this occupation permit the small
worries of it to make them Intolerant and
crabbed.
Good humor and tolerance are as fine
virtues here as elsewhere, and just as
much needed.
* * * *
The method of trial and error remains
a very good one for any person who de
sires to know "what to feed the birds.”
Some species prefer some one foodstuff,
others still another.
If you want starlings, for instance,
bread will do it.
If you don't want starlings, do not put
out breadstuffs in any form.
It is almost as simple as that.
So it goes all down the line. Most mix
tures of wildbird food, as they are called,
contain rape seed, but very few birds
which winter in this vicinity seem to
care for it. So it might as well be left
out. Canadian peas are not a favorite
with many birds.
A little experimentation along these
lines will show what the birds like to eat.
It is only sensible to reject what the
birds themselves reject. One soon finds
out, too, what they like, and it is the
| very essence of this wisdom to give them
what they prefer.
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE.
Anti-New Dealers, by which are
meant Republicans and conservative
Democrats, cherish no honest-to-good
ness expectations of obtaining numerical
control of the House in the 1938 cam
paign for which battle lines are now
being drawn. The Senate is irrevocably
Democratic until 1941. About all the
anti-Roosevelt combination hopes for
is to capture enough seats to reduce the
present top-heavy Democratic House
majority of 200-odd at which the ad
ministration can be checkmated. Repub
lican leaders are now wishfully talking of
gaining 40 to 60 seats. Even if the ele
phant does as well as that, administra
tionists would still be overwhelmingly
preponderant, though their majority
would be more apparent than real. The
present Congress has shown that Bank
head and Rayburn head a phalanx of
followers in name only. The fate of the
five-point Roosevelt program, stalemated
at every turn, is glaring proof that
New Deal "control” at the Capitol is
a mere figure of speech. Bi-partisan
efTort in many congressional districts
and States is likely to feature the com
ing contest. , Senator Vandenberg. arch
coalitionist, is understood to be ready
to stump for certain Democratic Sena
tors endangered for re-election by their
opposition to the President's Supreme
Court plan.
* * * *
When Dr. Glenn Frank's 200 Re
publican best minds pow-wow at Chi
cago a month hence, their nominal
business will be to consider a party pro
gram. What will be little less conspicu
ous in their minds is the paramount
question of presidential timber. Com
monest of all current political comment
is that the Republicans today haven’t a
man who'd stand the ghost of a show
against even a third-term Roosevelt
candidacy. While the party isn’t devoid
of "possibilities,” it is notoriously lacking
in a personality possessed of what it
takes to capture the popular imagina
tion. Vandenberg is probably outstand
ing. though he's done little since the
Landon convention to enhance his stat
ure. If the view persists that only a
Westerner measures up to 1940 necessi
ties, Glenn Frank himself may come
into the running. Young Robert A.
Taft of Ohio looms in the same geo
graphical connection. The Repub
licans’ other white hopes are confined
to the Atlantic seaboard, especially New
England, including Senators Lodge of
Massachusetts and Bridges of New
Hampshire, Gov. Aiken of Vermont and
Representative Bruce Barton and Dis
trict Attorney Dewey of New York.
John Moore Allison, American Em
bassy secretary at Nanking—victim of
the face-slapping incident which has
provoked our latest fracas with Japan—
is a 33-year-old Kansan who entered the
foreign service after living in the Far
East as a teacher of English in Japanese
schools and business activities in China
i and Japan. He was in the consular
service at Shanghai, Kobe, Dairen, Tsi
nan and Tsingtao before being assigned
to Nanking last September. Allison’s
official refutation of the Japanese alibi
for a sentry’s unprovoked attack on him
carries particular weight at the State
Department because the young diplomat
speeks Japanese fluently and was able,
unbeknown to his tormentors, to under
stand the verbal abuse they heaped on
Americans in general while maltreating
him. Episodes like the Panay and Al
lison “incidents’’ have far more than a
surface purpose, in Washington’s esti
mation. The object, Far Eastern au
thorities feel sure, is to show the Chinese
that Westerners have completely lost
face in the Far East.
* * * *
President Roosevelt’s plan to build up
the Navy by 20 per cent has one tran
scendent reason not generally realised.
It will expand* the United States fleet to
that point which will enable us to face
Japan in the Pacific, if necessary, with
1
out dependence upon the British navy.
There would still be the vital matter of
naval bases. On that account, Hong
Kong and Singapore would be of in
estimable value to us, but, as far as ships
are concerned, the Increase now pro
jected will give Uncle Sam ample power
more than to hold his own against any
force the Japanese could pit against him.
* * * *
Capt. William H. Stayton, Annapolis,
'81. who probably did more than any
other one American to kill prohibition—
he was founder and chairman of the
Association Against the Eighteenth
Amendment and the Repeal Associa
tion—has again cleared for action
against his old foes. He's now bombard
ing the “American Business Mens Re
search Foundation," which has asked the
President and Congress for $50,000,000
for "dissemination of the truth about
alcohol.” In a statement questioning
its capacity for propagation of any kind
of truth, Stayton assails the Research
Foundation as a concern “directed
chiefly by professional drys and mas
querading under a business guise.” The
veteran wet is confident Congress will
decline "to foster a movement three
fourths of the voters in 37 States have
definitely condemned.”
• * * *
Former Belgian Premier Van Zee
land’s proposal of another world eco
nomic parley fails to set the Potomac
afire. Veiled hopes that President
Roosevelt could be hornswoggled into
convening such a parley at Washing
ton are vain. The administration pins
its hopes for international economic
peace on bilateral trade agreements, as
contemplated by the Hull reciprocal
program and impending Anglo-Ameri
can negotiations. The United States is
opfn minded on the subject of appeas
ing “have-not” nations like Germany
and Italy, but holds that concessions of
colonies or raw materials must be con
ditional on disarmament and non-aggres
sion pledges.
The retirement, a year in advance of
the expiration of his term, of Senator
Steiwer, Republican, of Oregon has
made way, by gubernatorial appoint
ment, for still another Democrat in the
Senate. The lop-sided score now reads
77 Democrats and 15 Republicans. The
Oregon congressional delegation will
consist of two Republicans (Senator Mc
Nary and Representative Mott) and
three Democrats (a Senator and two
House members).
* * * *
Dr. Edmund A. Walsh of Georgetown
University, who is about to resume his
annual series of public lectures on Soviet
Russia, calls the new course “Twenty
Years After.” Summarizing it. Dr. Walsh
says: “The commissars have had 20
years to experiment on the body of the
Russian people, and the results may
now be analyzed in the historical per
spective which two decades have af
forded—a process not possible 13 years
ago, when the present lecturer began a
history of the Russian Revolution. But
in' point of fact, most of the opinions
and criticisms then advanced have been
confirmed by the public record of the
Intervening years and are now re
luctantly admitted by previous defend
ers of the Communist regime.”
(Coprrltht. 1938.)
Secrets.
From the Lot Aneelei Tlmei.
Naval secrets of the United States will
no longer be published by Congress, it
1s said. Henceforth they will be known
only to the intelligence departments of
all the foreign powers.
Still Doing Business.
From the Manchester Union.
The cabinet replacement business in
Francs Is as good as ever, which is say
ing a gnat deal.
ANSWERS TO
QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.
A reader can get the answer to anp
question of fact by writing The Evening
Star Information Bureau, Frederic J,
Haskin, director, Washington, D. C.
Please inclose stamp for reply.
Q. How is aerial machine gun practice
managed?—J. 8.
A. It is conducted by firing at a sleeve
(cylindrical cloth) target, towed at the
end of a long wire by an airplane.
Q. What does slalom mean?—M. L.
A. It is a term applied to skiing,
usually in a race against time, in a
zigzag, downhill course, between upright
obstacles, generally flags.
Q. How large do lobsters grow?—N. D.
A. Sometimes lobsters are caught
weighing 15 pounds and a few have been
known to reach 28 pounds. Lobsters sold
in markets are usually from 1 to 2 pounds
in weight.
Q. What caused the milk sickness
which was common in the Middle West
in the early nineteenth century?—C. L.
A. It is now known that it was caused
by trematol found in several weeds.
When eaten by cows their milk was fatal
to human beings.
Q. How should a guest congratulate a
bride and groom?—E. F.
A. A guest is careful not to congratu
late a bride. This is in violation of the
rules of etiquette. One wishes the bride
the greatest happiness, and congratulates
the groom.
Q. Where in North Carolina is the
school for boys and girls which is man
aged bv Teachers’ College, Columbia
University?—W. H.
A. The Springdale School is 32 miles
southwest of Asheville, N. C. It is for
boys and girls from 10 to 18 and is
operated by New College of Teachers’
College, Columbia University. The school
is located on a farm and practical courses
in farm management, household arts,
etc., are given as well as the regular
academic work.
Q. In what order do the various mili
tary organizations march in a parade?
—C. H.
A. The order is as follows: (1) Cadets
of the United States Military Academy;
(2) midshipmen of the United States
Naval Academy; (3) Coast Guard
cadets; <4> Regular Army; (5) United
States Marines; (6) naval forces; (7)
Coast Guard; (8) National Guard,
Marine Corps Reserve, Naval Reserve,
organizations which have been federally
recognized (a) National Guard organi
zations. <b> Marine Corps Reserve, (c>
Naval Reserve organizations; (9) other
organizations of organized reserves. Na
tional Guard, Naval Militia. R. O. T. C.
and other training units in the order
prescribed by the grand marshal of the
parade; (10) veterans and other patriotic
organizations in order prescribed.
Q. In making cotton curtains, how
much should be allowed for shrinkage?
—R. C.
A. About one inch to the yard, if the
material is loosely woven.
Q. Who founded the Actors’ Fund
Home?—C. L.
A. The Actors’ Fund Home was
founded by Louis Aldrich, the fourth
president of the fund, and was opened
at West New Brighton. Staten Island, in "
May, 1902. The institution was trans
ferred to Englewood. N. J, in April, 1925.
Q. How many works were composed by .
Haydn?—W. H.
A. The latest list, still assumed to be
incomplete, enumerates 118 symphonies.
53 piano sonatas, 83 string quartets. 24
trios, 19 operas, 5 oratorios, 24 concertos
for various instruments and many
smaller works.
Q. How are doors opened by having
lights shining upon them?—D. B.
A. As a person approaches within a
few feet of these self-opening doors he
intercepts a light beam of the size of a
half dollar. By so doing it releases a
mechanism which automatically flings
the doors wide open.
Q. Who coined the expression, Tm
from Missouri?”—S. J.
A. The late Representative Vandiver of
Cape Girardeau. Mo., coined the expres
sion. “I'm from Missouri; you must show
me.”
Q. Who played the leading feminine
adult role in “Little Miss Marker”?—
J. M. P.
A. Dorothy Dell. She was killed In an
automobile accident, June 8, 1934, at the
age of 19.
Q. Do the Japanese have factories in
this country making the toys that are
labeled "Made in Japan”?—S. M. G.
A. The Japanese do not have factories
in this country to manufacture toys. The
Tariff Act requires that all goods man
ufactured in foreign countries shall bear
a label showing this fact. All of the goods
bearing the label, “Made in Japan,” are
actually made in that country.
Q. When was the Salt Lake City
Tabernacle Choir organized, and how
long has It been on the air?—J. J. K.
A. The famous Salt Lake City Taber
nacle Choir Was organized at the call of
the president, Brigham Young. In 1870.
The choir numbers 330 singers who con
tribute their services voluntarily, meeting
three times a week for rehearsals and
the weekly broadcast. The choir has
been on the air weekly for seven years
for the tabernacle broadcast of the organ
and choir. It is the oldest standing pro
gram of the American network of com
munity origin.
—
Q. For whom was Mount Rainier
named?—E. H.
A. Mount Rainier was named after the
British admiral, Peter Rainier, who fig
ured in the American Revolution. The
name was given by Capt. George Van
couver, English navigator and explorer.
Q. How long has the metric system
been in use?—K. K.
A. It was an invention of the French
in the latter half of the eighteenth
century. The French government ap
pointed a committee of the Academy
of Sciences under the authority of the
National Assembly sanctioned by Louis
XVI to devise a system of weights and
measures. On June 22, 1799, the stand
ard units, the meter and the kilogram,
made by expert scientists and instru
ment makers, were deposited in the
archives at Paris.
Q. What was the first San Francisco
bank to reopen after the earthquake?—
W. H.
A. The Bank of Italy was the first
financial institution to reopen after the
catastrophe and extend loans for re
construction.
Q. When did Lon Chaney die?—
H. W. H.
A. He died Aagwt 23. MO.