Evening star. [volume], October 20, 1939, Page A-8, Image 8

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With Snnd.j Mornlm edition.
THEODORE W. NOYES, Editor.
WASHINGTON, D. C.
FRIDAY...... October 20, 1939
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Submarine Ban
President Roosevelt's proclamation
closing American ports and territorial
Waters to belligerent submarines ex
cept as they may be obliged to seek
refuge by “force majeure” will be
welcomed by the American people
as an important phase of efforts
being made to preserve our neu
trality from violation by the mari
time forces of the warring powers.
It is obvious that the effects of the
edict will be felt principally by Ger
many, since there would be little
reason for French or British sub
marines to be operating in our
waters. The surface warcraft of the
allies are maintaining their blockade
of Germany in European waters and
they could gain nothing by detaghing
submarines for patrol duty on this
side of the Atlantic. For the Ger
mans, however, a submarine block
ade against British and French ship
ping near our ports would be advan
tageous, especially if the arms em
bargo is to be repealed and a cash
and-carry plan provided. There is |
also the possibility that the Reich ;
might endeavor to purchase supplies \
here and transport them to home
ports in large commercial subma
rines. The conduct of such a trade
would be impossible under the Pres
ident's edict, however, and the diffi
culties of maintaining a blockade
force would be greatly increased as
no American port could be used for
refueling or reprovisioning purposes.
But the mere fact that the ban on
submarines will operate to Hitler’s
disadvantage is no argument against
its desirability from an American
viewpoint, and the question of
whether it serves our own interests
should be the controlling factor. The
great majority of Americans would
not look with favor on the acquisi
tion by Germany of war supplies in
this country, and our own welfare
would be put in jeopardy to the ex
tent that such supplies might con
tribute to victory for the military
forces of the Reich. Nor would the
presence of a blockading force of |
German submarines off our coast be i
conducive to our own peace and
safety, for. in the process of sinking
French and British merchantmen, it
Is quite possible that some of these
submarines would torpedo American
ships engaged in trading with other
neutrals.
It should be noted that the Presi
dent's proclamation is not altogether
specific in its terms. Some uncer
tainty is created by his use of the
phrase “territorial waters,” which he
has defined as reaching “as far as
our interests extend.” The inexact
ness of the President’s language in
this respect is somewhat modified,
however, by Secretary Hull’s state
ment that he understands the term
to refer in this case to the old three
mile limit. Nor is it entirely clear
what Mr. Roosevelt means by “force
majeure.” Other officials of the
Government are not in agreement as
to the precise meaning of.lhis term
and under the circumstances it is
not unreasonable to suppose that
the President purposely avoided
hard and fast definitions, wisely
preferring to refrain from commit
ting himself until particular cases
arise.
Ordnance Show
Demonstration of the ability of
American military science to keep
pace with the “blitzkrieg” and other
foreign military developments of
momentous consequence to the world
was the purpose of the recent ord
nance show before 5,000 legislative,
defense and industrial leaders at
Aberdeen Proving Ground.
New automatic weapons, anti
aircraft and anti-tank guns claimed
to be superior to any in the world
today were demonstrated in action
before the manufacturers who will
be called upon to produce them not
only for our present small Army but,
in case of emergency, for our en
larged forces.
The demonstration gave a grim
picture of the speed with which mili
tary science is progressing. Not
many years ago the 50-caliber ma
chine gun was developed as a prin
cipal weapon against tanks and
armored cars. Operated by remote
control, however, a robot tank
showed itself invulnerable to this
weapon. An Army equipped with
nothing heavier than the anti-tank
weapon of a year or two ago, there
fore, would have been nearly as
helpless against a modern tank at
tack as werev the Polish Armies
against the German mechanized in
vasion.
Operating at nearly the effective
range of the average tank weapons,
however, the Army's new anti-tank
gun within ten seconds converted
another robot tank into a blazing
heap of wreckage with two direct
hits. Batteries of such guns in the
hands of the Poles probably would
have turned the Nazi “lightning war”
into something of quite different
character.
There was a demonstration of the
new Garand automatic rifle which
gives one soldier the fire power of
five men armed with the World War
Springfield, until now one of the
world's finest infantry weapons. The
War Department has just placed an
initial $8,000,000 order for 65,000
of these automatic rifles, which can
be fired as rapidly as the soldier can
pull the trigger, without interrupting
his aim for bolt action or any other
manipulation. A trained soldier can
place sixty aimed shots per minute
with the new rifle with less recoil
fatigue than is caused by the older
rifles.
Superiority in modern warfare is
to be gained only at the price of un
ceasing research and development, it
was made clear by the demonstration
at Aberdeen. The gains resulting
from such research can be made ap
plicable to defense of the Nation,
however, only by keeping our Army
equipped with the finest available
weapons. This is the purpose of our
existing military program, which is
intended as our surest guaranty
against aggression in a troubled
world.
Turkey Joins the Allies
Great Britain and France, in sign
ing a fifteen-year mutual assistance
pact with Turkey, retrieve to a highly
important degree the diplomatic re
verse they suffered at Moscow two
months ago, when Hitler and Stalin,
behind the allies’ backs, sealed the
pact which led to the joint partition
of Poland.
Under the terms of the Ankara
agreement, the western powers pledge
themselves to come to the aid of Tur
key if she is the victim of attack by a
European power or in the event of
her involvement in a Mediterranean
war due to aggression by a European
power. The Turks agree to help
Britain and France if they find
themselves at war in the Mediter
ranean area under like circum
stances, or if they are engaged in
hostilities by virtue of their guaran
tees to Greece and Rumania. An im
portant stipulation is that Turkey is
freed of any obligation to fight for
the British and French should they
be at war with Soviet Russia.
The implications of the tripartite
pact are of immeasurable signifi
cance from the allies’ standpoint.
Perhaps most vital of all is the right
they will now enjoy to use the Darda
nelles, which they tried in vain to
penetrate during the World War at
terrific cost in life, treasure and pres
tige, and enter the Black Sea if they
are called upon in Hitler’s war to
back up their guarantees to Rumania.
The agreement is an undeniable
black eye alike to German and Rus
sian statecraft. Hitler's arch Near
Eastern intriguer, Von Papen, has
been working night and day at An
kara, to which he is the accredited
Nazi Ambassador, to prevent the
Turks from ratifying the tentative
undertaking into which they entered
last spring, while Chamberlain and
Daladier were forming their non
aggression bloc to thwart Germany.
The Ankara accord is an immediate
rebuke to Moscow, which kept Turk
ish Foreign Minister Saracoglu at
the Kremlin for three weeks in an
attempt to wheedle him into ac
cepting demands which would have
made Stalin master of the Balkans.
Those demands proved the straw that
broke the camel’s back. Saracoglu
declined to sign on the dotted line on
three counts—Turkish recognition of
the partition of Poland; agreement
to the virtual partition of Rumania
by return of Bessarabia to Russia
and of Dobruja to Bulgaria, and un
conditional closure of the Darda
nelles. Within twenty-four hours the
Turko-Anglo-French treaty took its
place in the history of this tortuous
year—a milestone of inestimable
magnitude for the western powers.
It comes at a psychological moment.
Their fortunes on land, at sea, in the
air or around the diplomatic board
cannot be said to have been marked
by any outstanding successes since
the Nazis plunged Europe into war
fin Rpntpmhpr 1
Second only to the Germans and
the Russians, Italy stands to lose
most through the new triple entente.
The pact speaks merely of “a Euro
pean power” whose act of aggression
in the Mediterranean area would
automatically call for its enforce
ment. Neither the Reich nor the So
viet Union is likely to commit such
an act, because of the geographical
factors involved. Italy could do so,
and the Fascists cherish notorious
designs in the Near East. Mussolini
has soft pedaled them since Italy pro
claimed her neutrality in the present
war—a decision which can only have
been fortified by Germany’s acquisi
tion of Communist Russia, 11 Duce’s
pet aversion, as a partner on a scale
that convinces the Italians that the
Berlin-Rome axis has now been sup
planted by the Berlin-Moscow axis.
With Italian aspirations checked
in the direction of Greece and in the
Aegean Sea, to say nothing of Musso
lini's ambitions to become the “grand
protector of Islam” in the Near East,
it will be worth watching to see what
the Fascists do about the bargain
which the western powers have
struck with Turkey. Were II Duce
to move now to help Hitler, a mere
glance at the map suffices to Indicate
what would happen to the boot that
dangles from the continent between
the Mediterranean and the Adriatic.
Against the British, the French and
the Turks, Italy henceforth faces a
grouping of armed strength, the
mere existence of which is a hostage
for her good behavior toward the
western powers and toward the Near
East.
Bund Revelations
The amazing Fritz Kuhn, so-called
fuehrer of the German-American
bund, has provided the Dies Commit
tee on Un-American Activities with
important additional information re
garding the curious activities of his
much-publicized organization.
When Fuehrer Kuhn first appeared
before the Dies Committee he nearly
came to blows with Representative
Starnes, Democrat, of Alabama. Yes
terday he continued his attitude of
defiance, charging that he and his
followers are being persecuted. Per
haps the most interesting of the
fuehrer’s revelations — under pro
test—were that “improvements” have
been made to the bund since the
spotlight of public investigation was
turned upon it. One of these improve
ments was the discontinuance of the
Nazi salute, he said. Another was the
removal of the Nazi swastika from .
bund meeting places. A third was
the discarding of the Nazi-style uni
forms worn by the bund’s "storm
troopers.” All of these changes were
made "to avoid criticism,” the wit
ness explained. It might be pertinent
for the Dies Committee to inquire
into the possibility that an additional
j reason for the reforms was a desire
to make the bund less conspicuous
to the public in general and to inves
tigators in particular. Heretofore the
bund has operated openly—indeed
brazenly. If it is taking cover now,
it behooves the Dies Committee to
redouble the commendable efforts it
is making to bring this and other
questionable groups into the open
ana to examine tnem carefully witn
a view to finding if they are inimical
to the United States. If the commit
tee finds that these foreign-accent
groups are taking advantage of the
liberality of America’s policies gov
erning free assembly and free speech
to the extent of transgressing any
law, it is presumed the information
will be turned over to the proper law
enforcement authorities for action.
Independently of the House commit
tee, th* Federal Bureau of Investiga
tion and the intelligence services of
the Army and Navy are known to be
scrutinizing suspicious individuals
and organizations. The data Ob
tained under subpoena and under
oath by the Dies Committee should
be of considerable value to the F. B.
I. and its associated agencies. And
out of the protracted hearings no
doubt will com6 recommendations for
needed legislation—not to restrict
any of the rightful liberties reserved
to free American citizens by thrf Con
stitution—but to prevent the abuse
thereof by alien-minded individuals
and by organizations whose activities
tend to impair the security of the
Nation.
Once Upon a Time
Hans Christian Andersen, famous
writer of fairy tales, often had his
hero, the king’s only son, become
hopelessly enamored of a lowly shep
herdess, much to the disgust of his
courtiers. These gentlemen, feeling
that their racket would be endan
i gered by the alliance, cooked up foul
schemes to break it up, but in the end
they failed and were either exiled or
boiled in oil, depending upon how Mr.
Andersen was feeling at the time he
wrote the story. But he never got
around to claiming that a world war
could be started in such fashion.
The fairy tale department of the
British government has just done its
best to rectify the omission. One of
their white papers tells that once
upon a time the Fuehrer was sur
rounded by reasonably prudent ad
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considering the material with which
they had to work, to keep him out of
the soup. Then one day they strayed
off matters of statecraft and snob
bishly protested against the marriage
of General von Blomberg to a car
penter’s daughter, Erika.
The Fuehrer was cold to their pro
test. Had not he himself once been
an Austrian paper hanger, and a
mighty poor one at that? His heart
warmed to the romance of Erika.
She was only a carpenter’s daughter,
but she knew how to nail her man.
He showed his advisers the door. In
his preoccupation he forgot to close
it, and consequently was soon up to
his neck in “ja men,” with each of
the gang eager to re-establish him
self in the good graces of the great
Adolf. Unfortunately, at that time
he was engaged in a fascinating lit
tle puzzle concerning the number of
knots that could be tied in a lion’s
tail without waking it up, and won
dered if there were room for one
more. The chorus, according to the
British white fairy book, anxious to
hold their jobs, answered “ja," and
instead of every one living happily
thereafter, thus brought on a war
that could have been avoided if the
love bug had not bitten Von
Blomberg.
No, Willie, that’s all there Is to the
story. Run along to bed now!
When Russia invited Finland to a
“conference” the people who were
not reminded of the childhood poem
beginning “ ‘Won’t you come into my
parlor?’ said the spider to the fly”
could all have been put into one large
room.
? . - - ---JL- ^__
Von Ribbentrop is a rather apt
crosser and double-crosser, but he.
may some day learn new wrinkles/
from Foreign Minister Molotoff, sur
preme master of the triple-cross.
Here is hoping you live until Adolf
Hitler has made his really last "last
peace offer.” “
—_:
Denies Embargo Act
Led to War of 1812
President's Statement Held
Not in Accord With Facts
Of History
To the Editor of The Star:
This is written in reply to that amaz
ing statement in the address of President
Roosevelt to the Congress appealing for
the repeal of the present arms embargo
referring as follows to “ * • • the so
called Embargo and Non-Intercourse
Acts. That policy * • * was the major
cause of bringing us into active partici
pation in European wars in our own
War of 1812. It is merely reciting history
to recall to you that one of the results
of the policy of embargo and non-inter
course was the burning of this Capitol
in which we are assembled.” .
It is, of course, realized that those are
the words of the President of the United
States, and it is assumed that every one
wishes to be fair and accurate in regard
to the facts and causes of history, but
facts are facts regardless of who states
them. The above statement of the
President was characterized by Dr.
Edwin S. Corwin of Princeton Univer
sity as “an argument of desperation”
and as “news” to students of American
history. As every historian and student
of American history well knows, the
Embargo and Non-Intercourse Acts and
the policy that they represented were
not even a minor cause of the War of
1812.
They represented a sincere attempt to
remain neutral in and aloof from the
war then raging between England and
France, but their repeal made possible
and aggravated the vexations of both
belligerents that finally led us to declare
war on England. The repeal of the
embargo was due to the insistence of
the shipowners of the Atlantic Seaboard,
and especially of New England, who
clamored for its repeal and insisted, in
spite of the apparent dangers to them
selves and to the peace of their country,
in venturing into the danger zones.
r ranee Dy ner decrees and England by
her retaliatory orders in council, each
in violation of our neutral rights in
international law, interfered with our
neutral commerce with the other bel
ligerent. From 1806 to 1810, England
had captured or destroyed nearly 1,000
of our trading vessels and France ap
proximately 500. Nevertheless, the Amer
ican shippers were willing and persistent
to endanger their country and take the
risk for the enormous profits to them
selves.
On December 17. 1807, Congress passed
the Embargo Act forbidding trade with
all foreign ports. On account of the
protests and the compelling Influence of
the shippers, the embargo was repealed
on March 1, 1809—more than three years
before our declaration of war against
England on June 18, 1812.
The embargo was followed by the Non
Intercourse Act of March, 1809, forbid
ding trade with the belligerents only.
This act expired by its own limitation in
March, 1810, and was followed by the
Macon Act of May 1, 1810, giving the
President authority to revive the opera
tion of the Non-Intercourse Act against
any belligerent that persisted in its
policy of unlawfully interfering with our
neutral trade. The object was to compel
the belligerents to respect our neutral
rights.
Relying upon the promises of the
French Napoleon, which later proved
false, President Madison held the Non
Intercourse Act in suspense as to France,
but because of the inflexible policy of
unlawful interference on the part of
England, which had not withdrawn her
orders in council, he revived it against
that nation. In the words of Prof. Willis
Mason West in his "American History
and Government,” "Jefferson and Madi
son were buffeted pitifully back and
forth between the arrogance and indif
ference of English Pitt and Canning and
the duplicity and the insolent greed of
French Napoleon and Talleyrand.” The
unlawful interference with our neutral
trade by both belligerents continued
whenever opportunity presented itself,
regardless of protests and promises.
We thus had a cause of war against
either or both England and France, and
until 1810 we had not decided which,
if any, belligerent to fight. Under the
circumstances, we chose England, for
in addition to her violations of our neu
tral rights in shipping, she had persisted
in her vexatious policy of impressment
of American seamen on her theory that
she did not recognize their naturaliza
tion as American citizens and that “once
an Englishman, always an Englishman.”
Besides the above grievances we were
more friendly toward France and more
hostile toward England. We still bore
animosity toward England from the
time of the revolution a generation
before; and we nourished resentment
against her because of her failure to
evacuate her military posts along the
Canadian border in violation of the
treaty of 1783 and the suspicion, finally
imcu, uiai me nrius|i were arming
the Indians and inciting them against
our settlers in the Northwest Territory.
All this had brought us to the fight
ing pitch and presented us the long
desired pretext to attempt to capture
Canada from the British. Henry Clay,
then leader of a new generation in Con
gress called the “War Hawks,” made
perhaps the mast compelling appeal for
war against England stating that the
militia of Kentucky alone could capture
Canada. He said that it would be only
a matter of marching and that peace
would be dictated in Quebec. So on
June 18, 1812, the Congress declared
war against England, not as a conse
quence of the embargo, but largely as a
result of the conditions caused by its
repeal due to the persistent clamor and
high pressure of the shipping interests
that were willing to risk the peace of
their country for the profits of their
trade and succeeded with the Congress
and the President.
The Capitol at Washington was burned
by the British as an act of retaliation of
our having burned the Parliament and
other public buildings at Ottawa.
This does not purport to be a complete
statement of the causes of the War of
1812, but only to show that the state
ment of the President is not warranted
by the facts of history.
; October 16. FRED P. MYERS.
Pink Slips for Reds
From the Wlmton-Salem Journal.
The Dies committee should be happier
now that the "reds” in the W. P. A.
have drawn some of thos^^nk slips.
THIS AND THAT
By Charles E. Tracewell.
One of the friendliest and most per
sistent birds in suburban gardens is the
white-breasted nuthatch, which new
observers sometimes confuse with the
downy woodpecker.
This nuthatch, one of the four in
America, can do something no wood
pecker or creeper can do, and by this
action alone It can be very easily identi
fied.
Tne nul hatch can run up and down
the trunk of a tree either head up or
down, it makes not the slightest differ
ence to him or her.
If a feeding station is located on the
trunk, the bird will creep down head
first, seize a seed, and make off up the
tree with it.
* * * *
This nuthatch is 6 inches long, where
as the smallest of our woodpeckers is 6'i
inches long. Both strike the newcomer
as looking very much alike, but the nut
hatch is distinctly blue-gray, barred
vith white, whereas the downy wood
pecker is white and black, barred.
The stubby tail of the nuthatch, as
compared with the much longer tail of
the woodpecker, is what enables the
smaller bud to get around in such a fas
cinating manner
The tail just isn't in the way!
This "devil downhead" attitude of the
common nuthatch is its one distinctive
trait, but once it is identified by an
observer the latter never has any dif
ficulty telling it, whether it is head down
or head up on a tree.
Trees play almost as great a part in
the life of nuthatches as they do in the
life of the squirrel.
* * W ¥
The chubby little birds are looking
for insects as they ceaselessly go up and
down trees. About half of their food
intake consists of insects, spiders, moths,
caterpillars, ants and wasps. The other
half is vegetable, mostly acorns, nuts and
seeds. It is their iiking for this latter
half of their daily fare which attracts
them to feeding stations. There can be
little doubt that the sure way to attract
nuthatches is to place a small feeder
filled with seeds and grain on the trunk
of a tree. This makes a good location,
in any event, since it strikes all birds as
highly natural, since all species like trees.
But to the nuthatch, the tree trunk lo
cation is just made to order.
The chances are that within the hour,
after a small feeder is affixed to a tree,
a nuthatch will be seen spiraling his
way, usually head down, to it as fast as
his legs will take him.
There is a probability that tnese birds
gather small grains and seeds, too, which
have been secreted in the crevices of
bark by other birds. Chickadees some
times hide food against the winter in
this way, and the blue jays are known to
do it, although they often hide nuts in
the earth, as pointed out here recently,
or peanuts in crotches of trees.
Some may wonder why the nuthatch
is called a songbird, when it never sings,
in any true sense.
It is ranked with the Oscines, or true
songbirds, because it has vocal organs.
It is not a real singer, in the sense that
the wood thrush or the mockingbird is a
singer.
Perhaps it may prove interesting to
some to digress here for a moment, to
point out that in the trade papers dealing
with the popular dance bands, the girl
singers usually included in most of the
orchestras are termed canaries, thrushes
or sparrows.
This is interesting mainly because the
boys have their ornithology down better
than you might expect them to. The
canary is a real singer, and so is the
thrush. The members of the sparrow
family, especially the song sparrow, have
really very pretty songs, once you stop
to listen to them. Even the English spar
row can be classed as a songbird, prob
ably better in choral singing than as a
soloist.
* * * *
This aspect of bird song must not be
overlooked.
The usual attitude is to listen to each
and every bird as if it were a soloist on
parade.
This is scarcely fair. Birds, too, like
humans, have different ways of making
music.
There are some birds which, like the
famous skylark, and the nightingale,
shine as solo performers, whereas there
are others, notably the sparrows and
starlings, which make pretty music as a
congregation.
Listeners will expect too much if they
demand of every bird that it be a Caruso.
(Still the standard.)
* * * *
The typical nuthatch utterance is a
short guttural “yank" which is so char
acteristic that most listeners soon come
to like it, and to look forward to hear
ing it.
The birds, no less than human singers,
have a right to expect listeners to make
a real effort to correlate the song with
the singer, and to try to find it pleasing
in regard to that relationship.
In this way, the caw of the crow sounds
as felicitous, in its time and place, as the
undoubtedly sweeter strains of the wood
thrush or the mockingbird.
The nuthatch has a bright eye, like an
old-fashioned shoe button.
If you want to see it. stand real still
at the base of some tree on which a
nuthatch is performing.
The chances are 10 to 1 that the bird
will come down, head first, to see if you
are still there.
Once he has determined you are, he
will walk sedately up again, disappearing
around the trunk as he goes. And if
you provide for him he probably will stay
with you all winter long.
Letters to the Editor
Neutrality Problem of
1871 Noted.
To the Editor of The Start.
In The Sunday Star of October 8, 1939,
Frederic J. Haskin reviews “History of
Neutrality Edicts.” Regarding the Grant
administration he writes:
“Now we come all the way down to
President Grant. On August 22, 1870, he
issued a neutrality proclamation on the
occasion of the Franco-Prussian War.
Hamilton Fish, an ancestor of the pres
ent Representative Hamilton Fish of New
York, who has been so active in behalf
of neutrality legislation, attested as Sec
retary of State. There was no German
Empire then, of course. The war was
between France and the North German
Federation and her allies. The President
declared, ‘I do hereby give notice to all
citizens of the United States and others
who may claim the protection of the
Government, who may misconduct them
selves in the premises, will do so at their
peril and that they can in no wise obtain
any protection from the Government of
the United States against the conse
quences of such misconduct.”
However, it is a little-known historical
fact that President Grant permitted his
Secretary of War, William Worth Bel
knap, to sell more than nine million
dollars’ worth of arms, ammunition and
supplies to the French .government. This
violation of the neutrality laws caused
much comment among the German
adopted citizens of our country, and on
January 22, 1871, Mr. Louis Schade, a
young lawyer of our city, wrote a petition
to Congress, asking for the revocation of
the sale of Government arms and muni
tions of war to the agents of the French
government and procured the signatures
of a number of Washingtonians of jGer
man descent. Next day Mr. Schade
handed the petition to Representative
Boyd of Missouri and also saw an old
friend, Gen. John A. Logan, who ad
vised Mr. Boyd to have the petition
referred to the Military Committee, of
which he (Logan) was chairman. This
was done. About 6 o'clock in the after
noon of the same day, January 23, 1871,
Representative Boyd and Logan were in
formed by messenger that the President
had stopped the sale of arms to France
and that no further steps need be taken
by the Military Committee regarding the
petition. A,WASHINGTONIAN. )
October 10.
Thinks Americana Would
Not Forsake Allies.
To the Editor of The Star:
This letter should be signed “Stephen
Decatur,” because I feel that Decatur,
the outspoken, hardy and able American
commodore of 1815, would pen his name
in sanction to the few following lines.
Because of Germany’s war prepara
tions for the past six years, the embargo
is aiding the ambitions of one man,
Adolph Hitler. We all sense the feeling
that this country would never let Eng
land and France down ff their lifelines
were about to be cut. Are we to lay
back until the Hitler arm is on the
downswing before we make a move?
Why not send them all the planes, arms
and ammunition they can buy and ship;
give them a fighting chance?
The primary cause of the embargo
was to keep us from shedding blood In'
foreign entanglements. If the allies
overcome their adversaries from the
start there will be no cause for us to
ship men overseas. Think of the boom
in this financially distressed Nation;
there would be no excuse for the vast
numbers of unemployed tramping our
streets day and flat. The crews of
Letters to the Editor must
bear the name and address of
the writer although the use of
a pseudonym tor publication is
permissible. Please be brieft
our Idle merchant marine could be quick
ly absorbed by factories at much higher
wages. Economists tell us that we would
be “kings for a day,” with a crash fol
lowing, but is that not better than never
having been king—and still in a crash?
Let me close with Decatur's own words:
“Our country! In her intercourse with
foreign nations may she always be in
the right; but our country, right or
wrong.” DANIEL J. CARR, Jr.
October 10.
People Urged to Be
Pro-American.
To the Editor of The Star:
On October 6 Frederic William Wile
wrote in The Star: "An excellent op
portunity goes begging for a great speech
on real reasons for arms ban repeal.” He
made reference to former great speeches
such as Bryan's “Cross of Gold” oration
at Chicago, and asks the repealists to
come out into the open and admit that
they do not want real neutrality, but
want to help England and France.
I, too, wish they would come out into
the open. Ninety per cent of the people
know that selling arms destroys real
neutrality. Mr. Wile’s article shows up
the untenable position of the arms ban
repealists in claiming that “real neu
trality” is their aim. They know that a
frank admission of their object would
spell the doom of repeal. In my opinion
we should have a 100 per cent embargo
on raw materials and everything else,
as most of it is going to the allies in
stead of to Germany.
The argument that the British are
fighting our battles is ridiculous since
they never fight any ones battles but
their own and have been just as guilty
Of aggression as Germany in the past
and would be in the future if given the
chance. When they fight to help an
other nation it is in reality only to
maintain a balance of power for their
own protection. Therefore I think we
should play fair and stay out of the Eu
ropean war altogether. Remember that
we owe just as much of a debt of grati
tude to Steuben, de Kalb and Siegel as
we do to Kosciusko, Pulaski and Lafay
ette for our existence as a free Nation.
Let us not be pro-British, but pro
American. F. W. SCHUMACHER.
October 14.
Deplores Senator Lundeen’s
Forced Annexation Proposal.
To the Hltor of The Star:
The American people deplore the
thought that one of its members, a Sena
tor from Minnesota, could make a
proposal that we should seize British
and French possessions. It's not only
un-American but disgraceful. What if
the unpaid war debt of England is a sore
point? There are others, Finland ex
cepted, who have not paid their debts to
us, but to collect from a sister nation
in such manner when she is in such
trouble is indeed not the American way.
Words are Inadequate to express the
contempt we should feel.
Minnesota, I am sure, would never
sponsor this proposal, but will realize
that instead of picking the cream of the
crop it chose Just a bad seed. I am proud
that Senator Connally of Texas answered
just the way a true American should.
We must do things the American way—
not the axis way. INDIGNANT.
October IB.
Haskin's Answers
To Readers' Questions
By Frederic J. Haskin.
A reader can get the answer to any
question of fact by writing The Eve
ning Star Information Bureau, Fred
eric J. Haskin, director, Washington,
D. C. Please inclose stamp for reply.
Q. What is a pocket battleship?—
E. T. H.
A. This term is applied to three Ger
man 10,000-ton ships which are small
and heavily armored. They were built
to conform to provisions of the Treaty
of Versailles.
_
Q. Please give a brief history of the
Huntington Museum in South Carolina.
—H. P. G.
A. The 4,000-acre estate which Archer
Milton Huntington has presented to the
State of South Carolina is located at
Brookgreen on the Wacamaw River. The
mansion was bought from the British
Crown in 1730 by the Allston family in
whose possession it remained for more
than 100 years. Mr. Huntington bought
the property in 1930. The beautiful gar
dens are labeled for botanical identifica
tion. Throughout the grounds are scat
tered over 137 works of famous American
sculptors. Mr. Huntington has endowed
Brookgreen with $2,000,000 for upkeep.
Q. How many miles of road are used
for rural free delivery of mail?—T. W. H.
A. Rural free delivery of mails extends
over routes totaling 1,390,000 miles of
public roads.
Q. What are the rarest animals in th*
New York Zoological Park?—J. D. G.
A. According to the director of thfl
zoo, the rarest animals are the two
giant pandas, a female, Pandora, and
a male, Pan, the former of which is
being exhibited at the New York World’s
Pair. Then there are Congo, the okapi,
and Doreen, the bongo, both from Africa
and the only two specimens of their
kind ever to have reached the Western
Hemisphere. The great Indian rhinoc
eros is also a rare animal because ft
is difficult, if not impassible, to obtain
a specimen nowadays. The zoo also
j has a giant forest hog, which is the first
specimen to be seen in any zoological
garden in the New World. . ,
Q. Who were the greatest English son
net writers of all time?—A. J. H.
A. Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth
and Keats are unexcelled.
Q. Please give some information about
the religious sect that practices flfigella
tion.—H. E.
A. According to the Catholic Encyclo
pedia, the Penitentes Los Hermanos’tthe
Penitent Brothers) is a society of flag
ellants which exists among the Spanish
Catholics of New Mexico and Colorado,
and also among the natives and half
breed Indians. The discipline consists of
flagellation, carrying heavy crosses, bind
ing Individuals to a cross for hours,
tying the limbs to prevent the circula
tion of blood and other acts of bodily
torture as a means of expiation of sin.
— 1
W. vvnat IS the origin of the word
“clue"?—W. O'B.
A. It is from the old English, cluwe. a
ball of thread. Its meaning as a piece
of evidence leading to discovery, is de
rived from the story of Theseus, who was
guided through the labyrinth by the ball
of thread held by Ariadne.
Q. How many hairs are there on ft
man's head?—B. J. W.
A. The average man has about 100.
000 hairs.
Q. Is it unusual for a fighter to fall
forward as Pastor did in his bout with
Louis?—T. A. P.
A. A sports authority says that the
knockout in the Louis-Pastor fight was
a very unusual one because of the un
expectedness of the blow. It is seldom
that fighters fall forward. When they
do. it is almost certain that they will
not arise until the final count is com
pleted.
Q. Who played the lead in the motion
picture "Broken Blossoms”?—T. D. R.
A. Lillian Gish and Richard Barthel
mess played the leading roles in the mo
tion picture "Broken Blossoms."
Q. How many automobiles are there
in the world?—G. G. F.
A. World registration of motor vehicle*
this year is estimated at 43.819.929.
Q. Were playing cards once hand
painted?—.!. C. B.
A. The early packs of cards werft
painted by hand and very expensive.
The accounts of the French King,
Charles VI. for the year 1392, show the
payment to a painter of a sum equivalent
to $500 for three packs of cards in gold
and various colors ornamented with
various designs. Between 1420 and 143#
engraving was applied to the manu
facture of cards.*
• -■ *•
Q. Who was the first President to use
the word administration with reference
to his term of office?—W. C. B.
A. George Washington introduced ad
ministration in its United States political
sense in his farewell address in 1796. ,
Q. How can grease be removed from
wall paper?—T. J. D.
A. A paste of cornstarch and carbon
tetrachloride will remove most grease
stains. Two or three applications may
be necessary.
Q. Is there a firefly that flashes a red
and green light?—S. B. R.
A. In Paraguay there is a remarkab*!
form of firefly called the railway beetle
which flashes a red light at the ends of .
the body and a green light along the
sides.
Q. How early was Indiana’s sterilisa
tion law passed?—M. C. R.
A. Indiana in 1907 legalized operation!
on any inmates of institutions, insane,
Idiotic, imbecile, feeble-minded or epi*
leptlc, who by the laws of heredity are
potential parents of socially inadequate
offspring.
Q. Please give some information abou!
the Melungeons.—D. C.
A. There is little authentic knowledge
of the Melungeons, a people found in cer
tain parts of Tennessee and Virginia.
They are about the same color as mulaU
toes, with no other discernible Negro
traits. According to their own traditior
they are of Moorish descent, probablj
descendants of the ancient Phoenicians
They settled to Portugal and later crossed '
the Atlantic before the Revolutionary
War. settling in South Carolina. Due to
discriminatory taxes and ostracism they
emigrated in a body and settled in Han*
County, Tenn.