Evening star. [volume], April 20, 1938, Page A-10, Image 10

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

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THE EVENING STAR
With Sunday Morning Edition
THEODORE W. NOYES. Editor
WASHINGTON. D. C.
WEDNESDAY..April It, 1938
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The Auditorium.
The plan just approved by a special
commission for a large public audi
torium at Third street and Constitution
avenue N.W. gives Congress an oppor
tunity to meet in a satisfactory manner,
at this session, a long pending and
widely recognized need of the Nation's
Capital.
As reported yesterday, the proposal of
the Capital Auditorium Commission is
that the Federal Government put up the
building, estimated to cost about $9,000,
000, provided the District government
contributes part of its Municipal Center
as the site.
If, as was indicated yesterday, the
commission has in mind that part of
the Municipal Center from Constitu
tion avenue to C street between Third
street and John Marshall place, the
donating of the site would represent a
local contribution toward the project in
the only way the District government is
financially able to contribute at the
present time.
Assuming that the legislation being
drafted to carry out the recommendation
will specify that square, the auditorium
project would not interfere with plans
already approved by Congress for mu
nicipal structures on other portions of
the Municipal Center area. In the new
District Appropriation Act, for example.
Congress has designated the square
•xtending west on Pennsylvania avenue
from John Marshall place to Sixth
street as a future site for a new Public
Library', and at the same time appropri
ated money for a new police headquarters
building in the square north of C street
between Third and John Marshall place.
Later, a new administration building for
the District government is expected to
be built north of C street and extending
west from the police structure to Sixth
street.
The commission, very wisely, has out
lined an auditorium project appropriate
to meet all of the requirements of a
National Capital—Federal and non
Federal, commercial and non-commer
cial. It should be essentially a national
undertaking, and, when completed, un
doubtedly will be under Federal super
vision.
Differences of opinion always arise as
to the best location for important struc
tures, and there are some who still
believe the auditorium should be placed
at the end of East Capitol strpet, where
It would fit in with plans for a stadium
and National Guard armory.
On the other hand, there is much to
be said for the decision of the Audi
torium Commission in favor of a central
location, convenient to hotels, public
buildings and Union Station. In addi
tion, it would be a further link in the
improvement and beautification of the
area between the Capitol and the White
House.
The paramount need, however, is to
obtain action on an issue that has
remained too many years in the plan
ning stage. And if the long-awaited
goal can be reached now by having the
local community contribute the $1,774,
000 it has invested in that part of the
Municipal Center not already designated
for local buildings, the practical course
would be for all who recognize the need
for an auditorium to urfite in seeking
prompt passage of the bill about to be
introduced.
Experience has shown that when ques
tions of this kind go over from one Con
gress to another, they grow cold and
may languish indefinitely. Washington
needs an auditorium now!
Radio is doing wonders for naval
communication but has not been, so far,
successful in choosing a site near the
Capital which will coincide with official
impressions of propriety.
Doctor Townsend is willing to be
grateful but insists on applying certain
intellectual methods of deciding pre
cisely to whom his gratitude is due.
That Airport Again.
One of the most serious features of
the prolonged delay on the part of
Congress in selecting an airport site for
Washington is not the fact that the
Federal Government is failing lament
ably in its duty but that, by its pro
crastination. it is preventing any real
improvement of the existing Washington
Airport by private capital.
Washington Airport is inadequate for
existing air transport traffic. That fact
is not contested by any one, even its
owners and operators. But, until some
thing more adequate is provided, Wash
ington Airport must serve all of the
Capital's airport needs.
It would seem very obvious that it is
tha duty of all concerned—not the least
of all, Congress—to see that Washington
/*
t
Airport is made as safe and adequate
as possible. And yet, Congress, year
after year, dangles over the heads of
Washington Airport owners the threat
that some day, possibly, the Federal
Government will construct here an air
port which will put the present airport
out of business.
In the face of this continuous threat,
it is impossible for private capital to
undertake the large-scale land acquisi
tion ana development program necessary
' to improve the local airport, even to the
possible limits.
In a way, it would be a mercy if Con
gress were to confess frankly:
"It is impossible for the great and
powerful Congress of the United States
to solve so small a problem as the selec
tion of an airport site for the city of
Washington. For twelve years we have
grappled with this great problem and are
baffled. But we will no longer stand in
the way of private capital, which through
the years has given Washington an air
port—of sorts—where Congress has
failed. We can’t cope with the problem
so we will step aside and no longer
threaten you. We relinquish to private
enterprise a task too great for the
National Congress. Carry on, with our
blessings."
Spain Pays.
No matter where one's sympathies lie
in the Spanish conflict—and seldom
have American sympathies in a purely
extraneous situation been so sorely
divided—it is plain to most observers
I in this country that Spain is cast for
the role of goat in the vaunted Anglo
Italian • peace” pact. Implicit in the
Chamberlain-Mussolini deal is the fact
that Great Britain in effect underwrites
Franco's victory, because Italian troops
will not be withdrawn from the blood
soaked peninsula until the war is over;
that is, until the republic's doom is
sealed by the triumph of the Insurgents
and their Fascist allies. It is that un
written, but only thinly veiled, provision
of democracy’s shotgun alliance with
dictatorship that justifies Loyalist
Premier Negrin's despairing plaint that
the Anglo-Italian accord is "clear inter
vention in the Spanish war.”
Thus, in the name of “realism,” Brit
ain scraps two years of lip service on
behalf of non-intervention, non-aggres
sion and collective security. When
France kow-tows to II Duce in a kindred
agreement, as Premier Daladier, another
"realist,” is about to do, European de
mocracy's debacle will be complete. It
will be ingloriously recorded that, in
international politics as in human rela
tions, It is every man for himself and
the devil take the hindmost. Spain is
about to go the way of Ethiopia and
Austria. It seems almost a pity that
none of those three ill-fated countries
was inhabited by Chinese. They alone
have shown that the way of the ag
gressor is hard.
The British and the French choose to
save their own skins from ravage by
Europe's allied and associated bullies,
blackmailers and bluffers. They prefer
salvation at'the cost of the destruction
of a friendly state, whose sole crime was
refusal to substitute alien ideologies for
a regime of its own creation. As the
nations send up Eastertide hosannas
for the “peace gain” registered by the
Anglo-Italian accord, let them ponder
the price paid for it. Spain knows. It
is she who will foot the bill. Once again
Freedom, which “shrieked when Kos
ciuszko fell,” screams in contemplation
of dictatorship's latest achievement.
The Truck Peril.
When a ten-ton concrete mixer truck
jumped the curb in Pennsylvania avenue
at Third street yesterday and ran down
J. Leroy Stem of Vigo Park, Texas, the
people of Washington were afforded a i
tragic dramatization of the need for
more drastic control of the operation of
heavy motor vehicles. The weight of
such juggernauts, manifestly, makes
them a particular peril in traffic. Run
ning wild, they create havoc in propor
tion to the power represented in them.
Of course, the problem is not new.
Thoughtful citizens have been conscious
of it for years. What is wanted for its
correction, it seems, is a speed regula
tion rigid enough to kovern such
machines. A ten-ton vehicle simply
should not be driven at a pace as
hazardous as that responsible for Mr.
Stem’s death. The operator of the truck
admitted that “his brakes failed him
when he tried to stop suddenly behind
a bus loaded with school children.”
Obviously, the basic fault was haste.
Moving cautiously and reasonably in the
city’s most important thoroughfare, the
driver would not have been obliged to
attempt a sudden stop. He blames his
brakes, yet they probably would not have
“failed” under normal strain. The fact
is that in the emergency he expected
more of them than they could do.
Twenty-seven fatalities in the Nation’s
Capital since January 1 prompt con
sideration of a revision of prevailing
speed regulations downward. Especially
for heavy trucks, there “ought to be a
law” definite enough to stop such
slaughter as that of yesterday.
A generous attitude is to be observed
in apportioning supplies of helium for
the use of German dirigibles. It will
be agreeable to assume that the gas may
always be relied on for a friendly de
meanor regardless of what the mental
attitudes of one or two members of the
crew may chance to be.
New Isthmian Canal.
In view of troubled world conditions
and the vital necessity for maintaining
speedy naval communication between
the Atlantic and the Pacific, if for no
other reason, the proposed Isthmian
Canal through Nicaragua would seem to
be a project meriting the most serious
consideration.
Proponents of the Nicaraguan canal
point out that the locks of the Panama
Canal are just large enough to accom
modate the Navy's largest airplane
carriers and that the size of the locks,
obviously, fixes ^lmlts upon the slse of
|
future vessels which must use the canal.
Commercial liners, such as the Nor
mandie and Queen Mary, are too large
for the present locks.
To rebuild the Panama Canal locks.
Army engineers estimate, would cost
$200,000,000. There is very strong senti
ment .in Congress against putting that
much money into the Panama Canal
without making any gain in strength
against enemy attack which might close
the Navy’s “life line” between the
Atlantic and Pacific.
Proponents of the Nicaraguan Canal
say that the new canal could be con
structed for $500,000,000, or about the
cost of maintaining the United States
fleet for one year. Army estimates,
which it is said are based on older, less
efficient types of excavating machinery,
are higher.
Aside from the fact that the Nicara
guan Canal would very materially
shorten the distance between American
Atlantic and Pacific coastal ports and
so prove of great benefit to commercial
traffic, it would greatly strengthen the
national defense, not only by speeding
up passage of the fleet from one ocean
to the other but by preventing the fleet
being bottled up on either side of the
isthmus.
And then, too, the project obviously
would provide a tremendous amount of
work relief for a great variety of Ameri
can industries.
Proponents of the new canal have
much of solid worth to offer in support
of their project.
Ambassador Kennedy will relieve this
Nation of much expense by putting an
end to presentations at court for the
sake of fashionable distinction. A step
further might be taken by a discourage
ment on the part of this country of
able lecturers, who are always made
welcome, and yet whose wares are sel
dom of intellectual service. We are
rapidly approaching a point of candor
which permits the questions, "What
have you?” and “Will it be useful in
meeting our human needs?”
Europe is rearranging her politics and
this country avoids delivering what
might be considered a shock in ac
commodating itself to them. There is
not even a suspicion to be harbored in <
considering the affection and feeling
with which that old waltz, "The Blue
Danube,” is played by radio. At all
events it is a good tune and its political
significances need not be too closely
analyzed.
It may be a satisfaction to the public
to realize that the gold put away in
Kentucky will some day come to a
career of practical usefulness. It is
abundant but not superabundant. There
is no danger that it will assert itself in
a way to govern the odds in a Kentucky
horse race.
It is alleged that Chinese children are
being taught songs which mean glorifi
cation of Japanese soldiers. Eastern
Asiatic music should be interesting, but
so far not enough of it has been pro
duced to give it serious standing as an
incident of war or strategy.
As the season progresses notice is
served that it will soon be too warm for
a truly named "fireside chat.” How
ever, it may be assumed that there will
be opportunity to revive a once familiar
political phrase, "Something equally as
good.”
Formosan farmers are to occupy them
selves in cultivating an area adjacent
to Shanghai. They will not insist on a
reconstruction of the city in a way to
make it immediately useful as a market
for their products.
Shooting Stars.
By PHILANDER JOHNSON.
The Difference.
When Betty goes to lunch with Bob,
She seeks some place where waiters rob,
And with the chef you take a chance
On cookery and high finance.
She goes through oysters, soup and fish,
And on, through many a dainty dish
And Bob pays up with smile so sweet.
He simply loves to watch her eat.
But Betty, when she takes her lunch,
Alone, is quite content to munch
A leaf of lettuce that displays
A tiny dab of mayonnaise.
While Bob sits up, quite by himself,
Upon a stool, next to a shelf,
And ere he bites his modest bun,
Nods, and the waiter yells, “Draw one!”
Intrinsic Discussion.
"We will have to print tons of paper
money,” said Senator Sorghum.
“That's all right,” said the visitor.
"It’s going to be perfectly good money.”
“Of course. Even if we have to keep
clipping off margins of value, all that
high-class paper ought to be worth
something.”
Sport.
Willie chipped an Easter egg
And then prepared to ramble.
His grandma said, "Desist, I beg—
You know it's wrong to gamble.”
“I observe with deep and respectful
interest the process of pump priming,”
said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown. “My
venerable ancestors in their centuries of
history have tried this, also.”
The Wash.
With bills the collectors stood by in a row,
And the cause of delay sadly learned:
“The Government now washes money,
you know,
- And my laundry has not yet returned.”
Cruelty.
“Are you fond of golf?”
"Useless question! If I were really
fond of the game, would I have the
heart to make it look so foolish?”
"De snake in de garden of Eden didn’
have to bite any one to show how pizen
he was,” said Uncle Eben. “He simply
[ went right alone bein' conversational."
fi
Anti-Recession Proposals
Offered by the President.
To the Editor of The Star:
In connection with the Chief Execu
tive's anti-recession proposals as offered
to the Congress this last week it might
be said that through this message Mr.
Roosevelt has returned to the inevitable
factor which so popularized the New
Deal that so gaily skipped the mile
between Capitol and White House some
what over five years ago. Abandoning
any semblance of laissez-faire, it proudly
shouted "The only thing to fear is fear
itself.” The "sick anxiety,” as one com
mentator wrote, of long months was
tossed to the winds; the New Deal had
arrived and it was but political seconds
before the methods which are facing
us at present were administered to a
thrilled and excited Nation.
This Easter season of 1938 finds the
words, "The only thing to fear is fear
itself,” spoken by every one but the
author of those words; it finds the New
Deal meaning little as compared to its
all-meaning when originally issued;
worst of all it finds the master political
author of all this popularly spoken of
in words unbecoming the man or his
country.
It now seems that such success as was
achieved led inevitably from suggestion
to broad demand, to defeat, and back to
suggestion. For was not Thursday
night's "chat” conciliatory, was it not
in behalf of something that would not
sell itself? But Mr. Roosevelt seems,
obviously, to think that nothing worth
while would sell itself. For the Presi
dent of the United States to deal with
particulars would be disastrous. Roose
veltian philosophy would indicate.
Broad objectives are befitting a great
executive, but lie must remain great if
they are to befit.
But let there be no doubt that ap
propriation for national improvement
and enhancement is simply to bolster
business courage. Without public im
provement, Mr. Roosevelt now realizes,
his administration would certainly be
resting on uncertain laurels. Members
of Congress, no doubt, will consequently
reason that to campaign next fall with
such weapons as their chief's recent
popularly called "disorganization plan”
would mean their individual extin
guishment.
But is Federal spending such a horror?
It is known that a corporation that
found itself in the red. generally speak
ing, could absolutely not spend a hypo
thetical $5,000,000 to construct an office
building. The Government can. The dif
ference being that financial management
of Government and business, of necessity?
follows on parallel and therefore never
meeting lines. In preparing the budget
of a business concern, property is an
asset; Government property remains
from budget mention.
Then again, if we were to accomplish
true business recovery, would certain
public works be even touched? No,
contentment would reign, and thousands
would be left dependent on private en
dowments in order to complete their
education. Many would never receive
them. Our land would drift from under
our feet through erosion that Wall Street
would never recognize as a liability.
C. C. C. restoration in national forests
would be diminished. Indeed, without
Government finance., simple business
recovery would be dark victory. Certain
popular needs cannot possibly be
achieved through conciliation with
business.
ROBERT CHARLES DUFFIE.
Holds L ewis as Chief Factor
In Prevention of Reeoverv.
To the Editor of The Star:
Roger W. Babson. the renowned statis
tician. at the Congregational Church
luncheon here the other day, said C. I. O.
Lewis is principally the cause of this
prevention of recovery during the last
six months. That is not news. It is
confirmation.
Lewis evidently thinks the regulation
of wages, hours and collective bargaining
is the remedy and if he can force those
onto the employer all differences and
arguments will be outlawed, while the
employer thinks he knows how to run his
own business—and sometimes he does.
There was a time when 10 hours
was a day's labor and no fault was found
and when the laborer got in extra time
it was something to write home about.
Many prospered on this. They lived well
and bought homes. To be sure, wages
were low as compared with today but
living expense was also low and those
of ability and willingness accumulated
property.
Does C. I. O. Lewis think, aided as he
is by the administration, that he can
bring employers to their knees and sub
mit to his dictation when employers
have the money in their pocket that
labor must first work lor? Were those
big factories to close their shops what
would the employes do for daily bread?
And by the same token when employes
become dissatisfied let them quit and if
some one else takes the job that does
not concern the man who abandoned it.
This is supposed to be a free country
and a man is supposed to have the right
to run his own business according to
his own ideas and plans, but when the
unions say a non-union man cannot
work on the job that is infringing on
citizen rights.
There was a time when every man
sought his own job and made his own
arrangements as to wages and if those
arrangements did not prove satisfactory
to him he quit and that was the end of
it. with no objection to some one else
taking the job. He was independent
and exercising his citizen right.
Suppose a national week hours law Is
passed. Better make it a maximum
60. Then let the employe arrange with
the hiring boss as to the hours per day
he wants to work and change it month
by month should he so want. Any em
ployer w'ants to run his own business
and so does the employe.
W. J. DERMOTT.
Wage-Hour Legislation
Would React on Congress
To the Editor of The Star:
It seems strange that those Govern
ment officials who are so anxious to pass
a wage and hour law, to win labor union
approval, don’t realize that they will
make many enemies if they do. It is
very unfair to pass such a law without
including all workers, and there will be
many hundreds of thousands of the un
derprivileged classes not in it, farm
workers, those in domestic service, etc.,
who must work from 16 to 18 hours a
day when their employers demand it at
times.
If this bill should pass, then we can
show our disapproval of such injustice
by voting against those ambitious poli
ticians in Congress at election time. It
is all the more amazing that this bill
is actually being pushed along by a
woman member of the House of Repre
sentatives, for a woman knows only too
well the long hours, and in many cases
low wages, of those in domestic service
at least. As all House members are up
for election in November, we can re
member this injustice and make our
votes count against them then.
If it is not possible to pass legislation
helping us, then none should be passed
at all. In the midst of such a severe
depression as we are in now, everybody
should be treated with equal fairness,
> THIS AND THAT |
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.
—
Upton Street. I
"Dear Sir:
"Here's what you do to have good
grass.
"First, you have or plant locust trees.
The grass always has a chance under
locust trees because they add something
to the soil—nitrogen, I think—which is
more beneficial to the grass than to
weeds.
“Then again the locust tree does not
give such dense shade as to exclude too
much sun, just as its presence is bene
ficial in excluding some sun in a place
where you can get too much.
“If the grass is in the shade half a
day—that's good.
“Second, the grass should be well
watered by soaking it—not a quagmire—
when you do water it. But then you
want to forget about watering it again
until the soil begins to get dry.
* * * *
"The grass likes its wet-dry cycle
because that's nature. Only by the use
of the artificial sprinkling can you pro
duce a more alleviated, moderated wet
dry cycle, which is salutary.
"Third, and very important—but let
the English groundkeeper answer: "You
cuts it and you rolls it and you cuts it
and you rolls it for a thousand years.’
“Cutting the heads off the budding
weeds is the greatest weed deterrent
known to man. If there is one thing a
weed doesn’t like it is to have its head
consistently cut off.
“You cut the grass often and as close
as experience teaches is best—not too
close.
"What makes the rolling so beneficial
is the insuring that the knobs and
hillocks do not hump up one wheel of
the mower and thus let some weed heads
escape.
“Fourth, the soil should not be as
rich as for flowers.
“Yours truly, 8. G. G.’’
28th Street.
"Dear Sir:
"I am particularly Interested In your
articles on birds.
"We have been living in our present
location on the edge of Rock Creek
Park for six springs and have had
bluebirds every year, including this.
"As a matter of fact, we usually have
a couple with us all winter. During the
past winter on many warm days they
visited the boxes, going in and out
and examining them as they do in spring
before building. For example, on New
Year Day we had them in our yard,
fluttering around one of the boxes, in
cidentally the one in which they built
this year.
"Last year our ‘blues’ built in an old
beech tree stump, which I had provided
on the edge of our deck porch.
“This was a convenient location for
observations, so I kept a kind of bird
log of the life of a bluebird family, in
the hope that it might be of interest
to you and your readers.
* * * *
"Last year the actual buillding of the
nest began on April 5.
"The female (largely) constructs the
nest out of soft grass, in a week and
a half or two weeks. One blue egg was
deposited in the nest each day, begin
ning April 18, for six days. Six eggs
are about the maximum; I had never
seen more than five before.
"On May 7 four frowsy fledglings
were hatched. (One egg was found out
I '
aide the box and a shell in the garden
nearby. I do not know whether the two
eggs did not hatch and were carried
out by the old birds, or whether
marauder starlings, which did sometimes
attempt to enter the cavity, got them.)
“On May 22 the four fledglings took
to flight at intervals of about half an
hour apart, flying into a nearby orchard
at their first attempt. A very severe
storm arose in the afternoon of that day.
We were afraid that the young birds,
not being very strong, were destroyed.
The male reappeared in the yard with
his call of lament later in the day. On
May 31 two young bluebirds returned to
the yard and examined the box in which
they were presumably raised.
"The female began carrying grass to
a new box and a second family, the log
of which I did not attempt to keep, was
raised.
"Sometimes in the early fall the old
birds, with 8 or 10 young ones, stay
around the yard and examine and re
examine the boxes. Perhaps that is
the reason we always have 'blue robins.’
If the parent couple does not take one
of the boxes, possibly a pair of the off
spring stay around or return.
"Sincerely, E. M.”
A summary prepared by Mr. M. shows
two weeks for the building of the nest;
one week for egg laying, two weeks’ incu
bation, two weeks until ready for flight
and one week’s care before starting a
second nest. The male, he states, cares
for the fledglings while the female is
building the second nest.
* * * *
Wesley Heights.
"Dear Sir:
"When I awoke this morning 'April
13) my first Jenny wren was near my
window singing to beat the band. When
I left home for the office he, or she,
was looking over my bird boxes for
a summer home.
"You will remember when I wrote you
last that we could look for the wrens
about April 15, so you see I didn't miss
it much.
"Very Sincerely, W. H. H.”
* * * *
Lowell Street.
"Dear Sir:
» "Can you tell me the name of the
silvery toned bird whose two notes woke
me this morning?
"Also do tell me what has become of
the mockingbirds. When I was in
Washington in December I saw dozens
of'them and expected to find them in
full song now.
“I have seen white crowned sparrows,
juncos, cedar waxwings, a mourning
dove, many cardinals and others.
"Am making a list to take back to
my forest and field club in Northern
New England and wish to identify as
many birds as possible.
“Sincerely, C. R. B.”
* * * *
Mockingbirds have gone north, but
many have remained. We have one in
full song morning, noon and night.
The bird with the silvery voice prob
ably was a song sparrow.
Wrens arrived in our community on
April 14. The male arrives first.
Our correspondent's ideas about grass
are admirable, in the main, but any
tree's roots take too much food and
wrater to benefit surrounding grass, we
feel. The grass close to the trunk mav
be all right, but that farther out will
suffer.
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS I
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE.
Editor & Publisher, the “newspaper ior
makers of newspapers.” has been polling
the publishers and editors of the coun
try about the depression. Fired at them
was the question: “With many essential
elements for recovery present, what
principal obstacle prevents it?” Fear
of the Roosevelt administration is held
to be the chief barrier. The most rea
soned reply came from a distinguished
Republican—William Allen White, editor
of the Emporia Gazette. The famous
Kansan says:
“The obstacle to the thing we call
recovery is not fear of one man. If
Roosevelt, Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin
all were to die within a month, the
obstacle would remain. For hundreds
of millions of men, round pegs in square
industrial holes not functioning fully
to capacity, although our presidents and
dictators all were dead, would still feel
that the distributive system of Christen
dom is not perfect. These hundreds of
millions will continue to agitate for a
larger share than they now receive in
the gross product of the machine age.”
* * * *
Continues the Sage of Emporia: “Uni
versal education and the common use
of machinery have fused a new dynamite
of discontent in the world. In Europe
the common man has turned futilely
to the dictator. Soon the dictator will
pass. In America the forgotten man
turned to Roosevelt. Roosevelt also is
temporary. His followers are here to
stay. Unless the wisdom of man can
find some fair way to secure exceptional
rewards to exceptional men who have
organizing talents and at the same time
to establish a universally high standard
of living which will satisfy the common
man who has only a common talent,
we shall have no peace in business or
industry. It is a world problem facing
modern man. No leader nor any small
group of men is the menace. The men
ace is inherent in the problem of the
distribution of income. Neither side
is right.”
i * * * *
One of Ambassador Joe Kennedy's
first tasks in London is right up his
street—the adjustment of the ticklish
controversy over admission of American
movie films to the British market. Al
though he was already well to do, the
foundations of Kennedy’s present for
tunes were laid some 11 or 12 years
ago as a result of his skill and activities
in reorganizing important units in the
moving picture industry. He is a former
president and chairman of the board
of the Film Booking Offices of America,
of the Keith-Albee-Orpheum Theatres
Corp., and of Pathe Exchange. It was
largely with movie-made dollars that the
“Boston Irishman” became the original
“For-Roosevelt-Before-Chicago” cam
paign angel in 1931-2. Both the State
Department and the motion picture
people are greatly pleased with the man
ner in which Mr. Kennedy is handling
the film fracas with our British cousins,
* * * *
Many of his old official and personal
cronies in Washington are in receipt of
gold-lettered invitations to the fiftieth
wedding anniversary of Ambassador
Josephus Daniels and Mrs. Daniels,
which will be celebrated at Raleigh on
May 2. The World War Secretary of
the Navy is coming home from Mexico
City for the party, which his four sons
are staging in their parents’ honor. No
one in the Capital cherishes Mr. Daniels
in more affectionate memory than Presl
i dent Roosevelt, who, wartime he sees
his war-time boss, invariably addresses
him as "chief." The editor-diplomat will
be 76 years old next month. He some
times claims to have been the original
patentee of the "Franklin Roosevelt-for
President" movement.
* * * *
Marguerita Sylva. prima donna of the
Strauss "Three Waltzes" musical ro
mance now playing in Washington, who,
in her Metropolitan Opera days was ac
claimed in America and abroad as one
of the great Carmens of all times,
recalls with pride her part in the at
tempted creation of the "Washington
National Opera" in 1920. A prime mover
in that enterprise was Mrs. Robert
Bacon, wife of a former Secretary of
State. To help the cause, Madame Sylva
gave three performances of "Carmen"
gratis and brought along as her
Don Jose a famous Czechoslovakian
tenor, with whom she had sung in grand
opera at Berlin and Prague, Otto Marak.
A native of Belgium, Madame Sylva in
private life is the wife of Maj. B. L.
Smith. United States Marine Corps, of
Richmond, Va.
* * * *
No one of the many addresses sched
uled for the forthcoming annual meeting
of the Chamber of Commerce of the
United States will deal with a more
vital subject than the one assigned to
Rear Admiral Emory S. Land, chairman
of the United States Maritime Commis
sion. On May, 3 he will discuss "Pres
ent Plans for Rehabilitating Americas
Merchant Marine." Like his prede
cessor, Joe Kennedy, “Jerry" Land holds
strong views on the urgency of combat
ing unbridled unionism in the shipping
industry. The major evils are the bitter
jurisdictional quarrels between C. I. O.
and the A. F. of L. and the Communistic
Influence at work in the Lewis maritime
union. Until ways and means are dis
covered for making Uncle Sam the boss
of his own ships, Land sees little use for
the Nation to embark upon an expansive
and expensive merchant marine pro
gram. Labor, the chairman is persuaded,
holds the key.
* * * *
Non-aggression treaties recently con
cluded between Brazil and Bolivia are
the latest examples of inter-American
good neighbor policy and peace machin
ery. They contrast currently with the
reign of force and disregard of law
prevalent in Europe and Asia. Instead
of one big neighbor swallowing a small
one. as in the case of Germany and
Austria, Brazil, the largest American
republic, declares it regards as definitive
and not subject to modifications the
territorial status of Bolivia, which is
surrounded by neighbors militarily more
powerful than herself. As to that part
of Bolivian territory still to be defined,
the blood-soaked Gran Chaco, which is
now under discussion with Paraguay,
Brazil will recognize and respect only
that which is accorded peacefully by
juridical means and in keeping with
the United States’ doctrine of non
recognition of territorial gains by force.
Rio de Janiero is thus insuring a dip
lomatic and legal settlement of the most
difficult South American controversy.
Brazil's own peace policy, a Latin Amer
ican commentator has just pointed out,
is manifested by non-fortification of her
8,000 miles of frontier, which is as
devoid of guns and forts as the Cana
dian-American boundary, although the
Amazon colossus abuts every country in
South America except one.
* * * *
It was unquestionably the quality of
mercy which impelled F. D. R. to pardon
Dr. Townsend. But the inventor of the
revolving pension plan still marshals
a host of hun^eds of thousands of sup
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.
Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C.
Please inclose a stamp for reply.
Q. Where was the first C. C. C.
camp?—J. H.
A. The first Civilian Conservation
Camp was located at Luray, Va., in mid
April, 1933.
Q. How tall are Postmaster General
Farley and Secretary of the Treasury
Morgenthau?—E. L. H.
A.. Mr. Morgenthau is 6 feet, 4 inches
and Mr. Farley is 6 feet, 2'i Inches.
Q. How many flve-and-ten-cent stores
are there?—H. J.
A. There are 5,658 flve-and-ten-cent
stores in the United States.
Q. Why is a planked steak so called?—
M. H.
A. A planked steak is cooked on a
specially made "plank” about the size
of a platter which contains grooves
to catch the gravy. The charred wood
is supposed to give the steak an espe
cially fine flavor.
Q. Who wrote the words of the song
beginning, "East Side, West Side, all
around the town”?—R. K. L.
A. James W. Blake wrote “The Side
walks of New York” in 1894.
Q. Is it true that most children know
very little about arithmetic?—W. H. J.
A. In a recent address Dr. Guy M.
Wilson, professor of education at Boston
University and an authority on simpli
fied methods of teaching arithmetic,
said: "Less than 20 per cent of pupils
in grades seven and eight in the United
States make perfect scores on very simple
addition, subtraction or multiplication.”
Dr. Wilson believes that failure is due in
part to poor teaching and the mass of
useless or little used facts which the '
average person never uses.
Q. What is the origin of the expres
sion, “When you call me that, smile"?—
H. K.
A, It is from “The Virginian," by Owen
Wister.
Q. In the movie “Marco Polo" were
the scenes showing the Great Wall of
China authentic?—K. V.
A, They were reproductions built at
Chatsworth, Calif., near Hollywood.
Q. How many veterinarians are there?
—E. G.
A. There are approximately 13.000
licensed veterinarians in the United
States.
Q. Has the force of the teeth ever
been estimated?—L. W. R.
A. Molars come together with a force
of from 100 to 160 pounds with a maxi
mum of 270. In cracking bones, a dog
uses 363 pounds.
Q. Was bread once baked in the
United States Capitol at Washington for
the soldiers?—A. E. H.
A. During .the Civil War soldiers were
quartered in the Capitol and bread was
baked in the basement.
Q. Did men shave in Bible times?—
C. F. H.
A. There are many references to
shaving in the Bible. In Genesis, 41:14,
we find that Joseph shaved himself
before going into the presence of
Pharaoh.
Q What was the name of Alexander
the Great's favorite horse?—E. H. W.
A. Bucephalus was the horse in
whose honor Alexander named a city
Bucephala.
Q. Why did the Army use two kinds
of tests called the Alpha and Beta?—
A. R.
A. The two Army tests, the Alpha and
Beta, are both intelligence tests. The
Alpha test was devised for those men
who could read English. The Beta test
was given to illiterates and foreigners
who could not read English.
Q. What is a stock r-Hiit?—L. G.
A. A stock right is an offer made by
a company to its shareholders. It per
mits them on or before a specified date
to subscribe for additional shares at
a price under the market.
Q. How many listeners responded to
Father Coughlin's address when he asked
them to protest against the passage of
the reorganization bill?—R. M.
A. It is estimated that more than
80,000 persons responded.
Q. How many States can be seen from
Lookout Mountain?—C. H. W.
A. From the top of Lookout Mountain
near Chattanooga seven States are vis
ible: Tennessee. Alabama, Georgia,
South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia
and Kentucky.
Q. What newspaper won the Ayer
Cup?—E. W.
A. The Francis Wayland Ayer Cup
was awarded to the Newark <N. J.)
Evening News. It is given annually to
the daily newspaper chosen as the most
outstanding for typographical excellence.
Q. When will the United States Cham
ber of Commerce Convention be held?—
W. H. J.
A. The Chamber of Commerce of the
United States will meet at Washington,
D. C„ May 2-5.
Q. Is Marietta, Ohio, holding more
than one celebration this year in honor
of its sesquicentennial?—J. H. G.
A. One was held beginning on April 7,
when a group of young men re-enacted
the 1788 trek from New England, which
opened the Ohio country for settlement.
Throughout the week an elaborate pro
gram of pageants, parades and display
of historic buildings was held. A second
celebration will be held beginning July
8, in commemoration of the establish
ment of civil government in the Terri
tory in July, 1788.
Q. Who was the Greek athlete who
carried an ox on his shoulders?—L. M. B.
A. Milo or Milon of Crotona, a Greek
athlete who lived about the end of the
6th century B.C., carried an ox on his
shoulders through the stadium in Olym
pia. He was six times crowned at the
Olympic Games and six times at the
Pythian for wrestling. His name was
a synonym for strength throughout the
civilized world and he commanded the
army which defeated the people of Sy
baris in 511.
Q. What has become of Billy Sunday,
Jr.?—H. K. L.
A. William Ashley Sunday. Jr., son of
the late evangelist, died recently in Los
Angeles, Calif, at the age of 37.
porters, especially in the Far West and
Coast country. It’s dollars to doughnuts
that the President's clemency to their
hero has harnessed their sympathies
to the New Deal chariot, which isn't
sneezing at sympathy these days.
Sji (Copyright, 1938.) ^