Evening star. [volume], October 21, 1939, Page A-10, Image 10

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With Sunday Morninc Edition.
THEODORE W. NOYES, Editor.
WASHINGTON, D. C.
SATURDAY..October 21, 1939
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A Good Speech.
The speech of Chairman King of
the Senate District Committee to the
Federation of Businessmen's Associa
tions Thursday night merits the ap
proval of local public opinion on
several grounds.
The Senator's recognition of the
fact that, as time goes on and the
needs of the National Capital expand,
the Federal share of the annual Dis
trict budget should be increased, is
particularly gratifying. While the
ornate cnauiuan na.-s nut occn cytj tu
eye with local residents in their advo
cacy of a return to some definite
rule for measuring the national
obligation, such as prevailed for
many years prior to the lump sum
practice, his declaration shows he is
mindful of the fact that the lump
sum should not remain unchanged
when the national character of the
city creates new burdens.
The most direct and tangible evi
dence of this growing national char
acter is the steady acquisition of land
for Federal purposes, narrowing the
taxable area, which must produce a
large part of the local revenue.
The last session of Congress gave
partial recognition to this trend by
adopting a compromise increase from
$5,000,000 to $6,000,000 in the Federal
lump sum payment, after the Senate
had made every effort to bring about
a return to the wise percentage prin
ciple of fiscal relations, as expressed
in the Overton land-area formula.
Another point in Senator King’s
speech which gives local residents
cause for gratification was his state
ment that Washington is one of the
best-governed cities in the United
States, from the standpoint of clean
municipal administration. On this
the Senator is in a position to speak
with authority, for he has been in
close touch with District affairs for
more than a quarter of a century.
Again, it is encouraging to the local
community to hear the chairman of
the Senate committee reiterate his
conviction that the existing vacancy
on the District Court bench should
go to a bona fide Washingtonian. The
District Bar Association has centered
Its recommendation on District At
torney David A. Pine, and Senator
King has expressed his approval. As
long as District residents are de
prived of suffrage, the only way in
which they can have any share in
their government is through appoint
ment of local men to important posts.
Another reassuring note in the Sen
ator's recent address was his praise
of the District’s school system. There
Is need for a building program to
replace a number of antiquated
echoolhouses, but this undertaking
may have to proceed gradually if
District residents are to be spared
still further new tax burdens on top
of the increased levies enacted dur
ing the past few years. Taking notice
of the sentiment of representative
city-wide organizations, the Commis
eioners have prepared their new
budget with a view to keeping it
Within existing revenue availability.
The Lion and the Bear
Second only in importance to the
Anglo-French-Turkish mutual as
sistance pact itself is its indication
of Great Britain’s determination to
avoid offense to Russia. Hence,
London’s complete acquiescence in
that clause of the tripartite agree
ment, which frees Turkey from any
obligation to fight the Soviet, should
the Union of Soviet Socialist Re
publics find itself at war with the
Turks’ entente partners. At no point
of their negotiations with the Ankara
government did the western powers
Interpose any objection to that pro
vision of the accord.
This inclination to view the Soviet
Union through eyes wholly different
than those which they cast upon
Germany has been manifest ever
since Hitler and Stalin proceeded to
spread themselves in Poland. For
eign Undersecretary Butler told Par
liament Thursday that Britain’s mil
itary pact with Poland applied ex
clusively to German aggression. The
fugitive Polish government, Mr. But
ler added, confirms that understand
ing. Thus, if and when Anglo-French
“war aims,” including the “restora
tion of Poland,” are achieved, these
will not include a demand for evacu
ation of that portion of the country
which the Russians now occupy. It
Is apparently regarded in London
that the Soviet has racial claims re
1
specting Ukrainians and White Rus
sians in the territory allocated to
Moscow under the Polish partition,
and these claims will not be chal
lenged. What the bear has, he will
hold.
It may not be easy to understand
why the democratic allies are ready
in Eastern Poland to compound a
territorial felony which they refuse
to recognize in Western Poland. It
is possible that British and French
statesmen contemplate the time
when Hitler and Stalin will fall out
and when, in consequence, the Soviet
Union may again be in the market
for bedfellowship they rejected last
summer. Against that hour Britain
and France are plainly casting an
anchor to windward by avoiding any
thing designed to alienate Russia.
London and Paris are also as clearly
minded to respect the friendship long
existent between the Soviet Union
and Turkey—an entente which seems
not to have been weakened materially
by Ankara’s final decision to do busi
ness with Downing Street and the
Quai d’Orsay rather than with the
Kremlin.
It is also advantageous for the
allies not to split with the Russians
while uncertainty* remains as to
Italy’s future course. Now that
Turkey, Greece and Rumania have
come within the Anglo-French orbit,
it means that a firm barrier has been
erected against Mussolini’s Balkan
and Near Eastern expansion plans.
It means that a non-antagonized
Russia, too, may one day be found
athwart Fascist Drang nach Osten
ambitions. That is definitely some
thing to give Rome pause. It dis
tinctly increases the likelihood of
Italy’s remaining neutral—that is,
unwilling to make common cause
with Germany.
Altogether, the feat of allied diplo
macy in winning Turkey deserves the
description which is being applied to
it all over Europe, as one of the major
developments of both th& pre-war
and war periods. If there were any
doubt of its magnitude, such uncer
tainty would be dispelled by the fact
that it has stunned Berlin and caused
a typical outburst of Furor Teu
tonicus to the effect that Poland's
fate may soon overtake Turkey.
Plain Speaking to Japan
Ambassador Grew's address to the
American-Japan Society in Tokio was
a forthright statement, without the
usual diplomatic embellishments, of
the feelings of the American people,
and of their Government, toward
Japan's campaign in China. It was a
pronouncement which will strike a
responsive chord in the masses of
Americans who have resented the
actions of Japan’s military in China,
and for that reason deserves the
closest attention by the Tokio gov
ernment.
Mr. Grew in no way exaggerated
when he told the mixed group of
Americans and Japanese that “the
people of the United States resent the
methods which Japanese armed
forces are employing in China”; that
“the many things injurious to the
United States which have been done
and are being done by Japanese
agencies are wholly needless,” and
that “the American people have been
profoundly shocked over the wide
spread use of bombing in China, not
only on the grounds of humanity, but
also on'the grounds of direct menace
to American lives and property, ac
companied by loss of American life
and the crippling of American
citizens.”
Japan flounders now in a state of
confusion which is a composite of de
termination to achieve in full her
aims in China, dismay over the er
ratic course of international relations
and anxiety not to antagonize the
great democracy across the Pacific.
What the Japanese people have
failed to realize is thdt there can
be no question of rapprochement with
the United States on the basis of the
goals Japan has set for herself on the
continent of Asia. The United States
—both Government and people
have taken a clear position toward
Japan: insistence that enduring
friendship must be based upon re>
spect for the rights of other powers
and their nationals in China.
Because oi me pecunar manner in
which western civilization got its
foothold in China those rights are
extensive and deep-seated, founded
in formal treaties with Chimt. Japan
cannot remake the order j)i East
Asia in her own interest, as Mr. GreW
said the American people are con
vinced Japan is trying to do, while
those foreign rights remain in China.
And there can be no conciliation be
tween Japan and the United States if
its rights are destroyed.
Japan sees herself in a critical
situation. The German-Soviet non
aggression pact and everything flow
ing out of it has jolted Japan’s con
fidence in her ability to defy the
western nations. Conciliation with
Russia—which, it is feared, may be
all too short lived—has done little
to restore her confidence. Japan
feels herself deserted and friendless.
Casting about for friends, she sees
the United States, with which there
is every fundamental reason for
amity, but across the Pacific the way
is being cleared for economic reprisals
against Japan for her policies.
In that situation Japan’s leaders
have undertaken a campaign of con
ciliation of America, a campaign
of words unsupported by the deeds
which are the surety of intentions.
Japan’s cabinet is committed to the
paradoxical program of conciliating
the United States while speedily ful
filling Nippon’s program in China.
Mr. Grew has yanked Japan sharp
ly back to reality from its dream
world of hope that the United States
could be induced to accept Japan’s
program in East Asia. Th« sooner
1
Nippon revamps its policies in China
to conform to its expressed desires of
amity with the United States the
sooner will a re-enlivened American
Japanese friendship become a possi
bility.
Nazi Economic Plight
Germany, face to face with the
stark realities of a war economy, is
beginning to draw in its belt. Dis
patches from Berlin tell of reduc
tions in the lard and tallow allow
ances and an increasing scarcity—
almost to the point of disappear
ance—of most of the non-rationed
foods which had consoled Hitler’s
regimented consumers. Fish, for ex
ample, which had been exempted
from the rationing regulations, has
become a rarity in Berlin’s stores,
due to disruption of the North Sea
fishing industry. There has been a
veritable “run” on the fish market
in Germany because of the one
pound-a-week limitation placed on
per capita meat consumption. Sup
plies of soap of private manufacture
are rapidly • being exhausted. The
w'ell-know brands will be replaced by
a “war standard soap”-of fixed com
ponents.
Apparently as a sop to discontented
housewives, the Nazi government
has granted an extra ounce of butter
per person per week, bringing the
maximum allowable per week to four
ounces. As a further concession to
its war-pinched populace, Germany
has decided to defer certain wage
cuts which had been planned as a
corollary of wartime control of prices
and profits. It is reported that the
i postponement grew out of fears that
wage reductions at this time would
seriously impair the morale of the
workers and result in decreased effi
ciency and lowered production.
How long Germany can exist under
such a “slow starvation” plan is
<x mauci ui iteen speculation among
economists. The Reich has been in
financial difficulties for years. The
Nazi Ministry of Economics stated a
year ago that taxes and other com
pulsory contributions amounted to
one-third of the national income and
that the government was spending
more than half the national income.
The Reich at war finds itself almost
devoid of gold and other cash needed
for war supplies, dependent almost
entirely on what credits can be ob
tained abroad. Germany is self
sufficient only in coal, fertilizer, beet
sugar and a few other essentials.
She must import large quantities of
iron, copper, aluminum ore, alloys,
cotton, rubber, lumber, petroleum
and fats. All rubber imports have
been cut off by the allied blockade,
and the best efforts of Germany's
i chemists have produced only about
one-fourth enough synthetic rubber
to meet even peacetime requirements.
The blockade also has interrupted
the fuel oil and gasoline supplies
from the United States, Mexico and
Venezuela. Only the oil wells of Ru
mania and Soviet Russia remain
available to the Nazis—and little can
be expected from the Russian fields
because of the Soviet’s own consider
able needs.
It is to be expected, therefore, that
the German military forces will fight
the tightening bonds of the British
and French naval blockade with every
means at their command—from
U-boats to bombing planes. The
partially successful attacks on sec
tions of the British fleet within the
past few weeks are evidences of the
desperate struggle which the Reich
is making to break the allied stran
glehold. It is becoming increasingly
obvious that the chances of a Ger
man victory in this war will be meas
ured largely by the degree of success
which the Nazi high command is
able to achieve in evading the allied
blockade and avoiding the peril of
economic strangulation.
Time Marches On
The march of time is purely rela
tive. Einstein proves it, with the aid
of dozens of trained tensors and dif
ferential equations; less gifted mor
tals know it by instinct. It may be
, technically true that a minute is only
a minute, wherever and however
spent; practically, in a dentist chair
it may be equivalent to an hour
somewhere else. Careful research by
uyp me tsiooa ana nis ienow sci
entists have convinced them that the
Alcatraz year is roughly co-extensive
with three eons, an era or so, and
ten per cent of eternity. Conversely,
time may also fly. To a woman on
the telephone it often travels with
the speed of light.
Miss O’Reilly found it so, when
from her Chicago hotel she called her
family in Waterbury, Conn. It had
been six years since she had been
home, and there was a lot of back
talk to be made up, so time meant
nothing to her. To the telephone
company it meant money—if it could
be collected.
Miss O’Reilly, after making a down
payment of a quarter or so, is now
obliged by a court order to repay the
rest of the $37.35 bill in install
ments from her earnings. As she
works in a restaurant as a waitress,
it is thought that she will wait quite
a while before again calling Water
bury.
Helen of Troy is remembered as the
lady whose face launched a thousand
ships. In their spare time the Brit
ish seem to be trying to prove that
the pretty but plebeian wife of Mar
shal von Blomberg is largely respon
sible for the launching of ten thou
sand tanks.
Colonel Fleming, engineer officer, Is
now assigned to “build a machine for
the enforcement of the wage-hour
law.” Fine, and the fewer nuts in
cluded, the better for all concerned.
i> k
Believes United States
Must Keep Philippines
Islands, Free, Would Soon
Be Lost to Japan,
Writer Says
To the Editor of The Star:
An Associated Press dispatch from
Manila the other day reveals that the
retention of the Philippines indefinitely
by the United States is now being advo
cated openly by Filipino nationalist
leaders because of the unsettled interna
tional situation.
This bit of information is without
doubt disturbing to the Japanese who
expect Uncle Sam to abandon the Philip
pines in 1946, so that they can gobble
them up to bring about the new order in
Asia of which we have heard so much
of late.
It does not take .much imagination to
see that the Japanese, patterning their
foreign policy after that of Hitler’s Ger
many and other totalitarian states, are
very desirous of annexing the Philip
pines, occupying as they do a strategic
position in East Asia, commercially, po
litically and militarily.
The question, it seems to me, is not
whether the Filipinos desire independ
ence or vice versa. It is whether or not
the United States would be willing to
give up the Philippines only to have
them fall into the hands of the Japanese
who may utilize these islands as a step
ping stone to the eventual elimination of
America’s influence from Asiatic affairs
and the collapse of America’s commer
cial supremacy in that part of the world.
There appears a preponderant Ameri
can sentiment for the retention of the
Philippines by the United States, come
what may. But the lack of a definite,
consistent colonial policy of the Gov
ernment has contributed to the errone
ous impression that the American people
are not vitally concerned about what may
happen to the Philippines. At least the
Japanese have had reasons to believe
that America has not fully realized the
real strategic value of the Philippines to
her international trade expansion with
its concomitant advantages. me
American people, certainly, have given
out the impression that their Philippine
policy is based not on strength and a
clear conviction of their interests but
upon weakness and fear and confusion
of mind. That impression has given the
Japanese inspiration to declare them
selves as the sole arbiters of Asian des
tinies. It has given unscrupulous Filipino
politicians the chance to use the inde
pendence slogan as a means to maintain
and perpetuate their political power.
The only sound course is for the United
States Government to maintain a strong,
consistent colonial policy as regards the
Philippines, intended to impress Japa
nese imperialists and native politicians
with its resolution and its strength rath
er than with its weakness and its fear.
This is the only kind of policy which
will be respected sufficiently to permit
the American people to keep the Philip
pines for their own highest good in the
Orient. There is little respect in the
world today for a government with a
vacillating colonial or foreign policy. If
the United States is to pass through the
ordeal of the years to come having pre
served its security and its self-respect
and its honor, it must begin by putting
Japanese imperialists on notice that it is
unafraid, that it is united, that it is
mature, that it cannot be intimidated by
threats of aggression by any foreign
power, that it knows its interests and is
capable of defending them.
Only in that spirit of confident self
reliance and defiant attitude shall the
American people be able to preserve the
Philippines from Japanese imperialism
and Filipino politicians’ stupidity and
greed, to preserve their lives, their for
tunes and the liberties that they cherish.
TEDDY DE NOLASCO.
Brooklyn, N. Y.
September 27.
Deplores Attacks on
Col. Lindbergh.
To the Editor of The Star:
There is nothing so rankling to the
sensibilities as to have some one or a
group of persons spread what they know
to be untrue, unmerciful and violent ver
bal and written attacks upon prominent
figures in public life.
Nothing could be any worse than the
verbal and written invective campaign
started against Col. Lindbergh because of
his two recent radio speeches. Lindbergh
has been labeled pro-Hitler and pro
German because he was the victim of an
unforeseen and deliberate attempt at
German propaganda to show the world
that he had been decorated by the Hitler
government for his contributions to the
welfare of aviation.
it wouia nave Deen just as embar
rassing and humiliating to the President
of the United States had he been a vic
tim of the same German enterprise and
had he attempted to reject the decora
tion at a time when every eye was upon
him. Lindbergh had not expected to be
so ‘'honored” by the German government.
His embarrassment was noticeable at the
time. But what could he do about it?
The fact that he did not smile when a
German official approached and placed
the decoration upon his coat-front should
be ample show to the American public
that Lindbergh was not pleased.
There are experiences in life that peo
ple cannot forget. When some one hints
that America should help her former
allies in their present dilemma, those who
have knowledge by the past experience of
having been called “Uncle Shylock” be
cause they insisted upon being paid for
a just debt cannot reconcile themselves
to “give until it hurts” in men and money
to the same debtors. There is bitterness
over this situation, and there always will
be—unless those behind in their obliga
tions can come to some sort of an agree
ment with their creditor. Even a rea
sonable adjustment would help to elimi
nate some of the pain and anguish con
fronted by the two English-speaking
countries. How reasonable can be the
settlement, only they can decide.
October 16. F. F.
Suggests Col. Lindbergh
Change Title.
To the Editor ot The Star:
In connection with the so-called “pa
triotic” activities of Col. Lindbergh, would
it not constitute a graceful gesture on
his part, if he would follow the example
of Mr. James Roosevelt, whom I greatly
admire, and exchange his honorary title
of “colonel” for one a little more in line
with his lack of military knowledge?
October 17. A. M. L. de L.
THIS AND THAT
By Charles E. Tracewell.
His wife wanted him to get rid of
some of his books.
He had too many, she said.
They were attracting moths.
But why should he get rid of his books?
It is a nice thing, to have a house over
run with books.
If a home has to be overrun, few
things are better than books.
Pestered with fleas, a house would be
in a far worse state.
* * * *
Books are not insects.
They cannot be sprayed out of exist
ence. The only thing one can do is to
sell them or give them away.
If you sell them, you get precious little
for them.
If you give them away, you have more
satisfaction—perhaps.
But why not keep them?
After all, the average individual, even
when some other member of the family
thinks he is practically overrun with
books, will not have more than a few
thousands.
* * * *
As an amateur booklover, did you ever
stop to count your books?
Making an index is one thing; taking a
census of books quite another.
A room may be overflowing with them,
and still have far short of 1.000.
“Oh, I have thousands of books,” the
booklover may think to himself, as he
pictures his cases filled, odd volumes
placed behind the rows, others on tables,
in chairs, even on the floors.
Let him actually count, he may be
amazed to discover that he is short of
2,000 volumes.
* * * *
A thousand books make no small
library.
Two thousand books offer a real keep
ing problem in an average modem home.
Three thousand, and you have some
thing.
Five thousand—and you probably will
have to move.
Many a famous donation to a college
library has been far short of the latter
mark. It is not the number, after all,
which counts, but the books themselves.
A few books have been the core of some
very noted selections.
A complete college course is based on
100 books.
* * * *
It may be admitted that an average
home library, even when selected with
real taste and discrimination, contains a
good deal of junk.
Good junk, let us call it, junk which
one was entrapped into buying.
Junk, but containing some good things,
nevertheless.
And then there will be a few, maybe
I --
more, which one has never read. These
volumes often arouse great ire in the
minds of those who bewail the number
of books around a place.
“Why, you never read them!”
Alas, true.
* * * *
But all the good in books is not gained
Just in the reading thereof.
There is something in the mere sight
which may restore the soul of man.
The feel of many books is solace to the
bookloving mind and heart, a ready med
icine when spirits are low, a brew which
is not heady, but which, nevertheless, is
magic, because one does not even have to
take it to get the benefits of it.
No, the sight of books sometimes buoys
one up, in a world where only force
seems to hold the key to great events.
Suddenly one feels sure that as long
as there are books, the case for moral
man in this world which he has created
will not be lost.
* * * *
It is far better for a household to get
rid of its moths than its books.
In the first place, the moths are easier
replaced!
There always can be moths and small
insects which love to feast on glue and
paper, but once a book is gone to the
second-hand store, or to a friend, it is
lost forever.
It is possible to overlook, with the best
will in the w'orld, the necessity for clean
ing and dusting book collections at fairly
frequent intervals.
This dusting, with the inspection
which it entails, will rid the home cases
and book piles of all insects whatever.
No chemicals are necessary.
Requisite ingredients are some time,
some careful looking, and a clean cloth
or several of them.
It is not a job to be undertaken lightly,
or by some one who is not in sympathy
with it.
It takes more time than one might
think. Paper jackets will have to be re
moved, covers opened back and leaves
shaken lightly.
The largest and most agile insects will
run out at once, feeling that they have
been betrayed in their quiet homes.
None of these creatures, unless it be an
unwary spider, can do the duster any
harm.
Real dusting of shelves is next in order.
While one is about it, one should look
for possible mildew on the backs of
bindings.
Such periodical care of the home stores
of books is far better than getting rid
of any. If there are too many, put some
of them in the attic, or in the garage,
but hold on to them, in the name of all
the humanity for which books stand.
Letters to the Editor
Urges Congress to Stop Talking
And Buckle Down to Action.
To the Editor of The 8tar:
What is all the noise about in Wash
ington? Is it really an honest effort to
decide what is best to be done about the
neutrality law, or is it just a fanatical
desire on the part of a few legislators
for popularity and free advertising?
Free, that is, to them; costly to the
people who have to pay for time spent in
so much useless talk. WTiy do they ex
press such loud and noble sentiments
about the cruelties of war, and at the
same time permit Japan to buy war ma
terials here with which to massacre help
less Chinese? Why be stubborn in re
fusing this same assistance to other na
tions? W'hy are not these noble isola
tionists and vocal Christians denouncing
Japan instead of England? Which is it
—justice, or hypocrisy?
If they must be oratorical, let them at
least explain these matters for the bene
fit of us ordinary, bewildered human
beings. PUZZLED.
Cleveland, Ohio.
October 17.
Deplores Attitude
Of Star Columnist.
To the Editor of The Stir:
Mr. David LawTences article in The
Star of October 5 and his general view
point in other recent articles on*the war
is deeply disappointing. They suggest
that peace must be had, at any price, and
would allow Hitler to keep the countries
and non-German peoples he has so
ruthlessly seized. Mr. Lawrence places
Britain, France and the Nazis all on the
same low level, without distinction. Not
a word is said of Hitler’s blood purges,
attacks on the Christian religion, false
hoods, concentration camps, or the over
throw of small nations by agents paid
with Nazi money to foment unrest and
even assassination.
ernam ana nance nave ineir iauits
but no Tme can truthfully assert that
any one living in either of the two-coun
tries is not accorded humane, kindly
treatment and regarded as having a soul
and certain God-given rights which a
government must respect. It is sad that
an American, a citizen of a Nation
established upon the principles oi the
Declaration of Independence and Bill of
Rights can so ignore moral values.
Hush, hush, do not be critical of Hitler
and his barbarity. Let him have his own
way and his own peace.
October 16. CHARLES V. POOLE.
Proposes Question for
Isolationist Senators.
To the Editor of The Star:
In the October 16 issue of The Star I
read Representative Sol Bloom’s com
ment on the pamphlets you have Issued
containing a compendium of recent edi
torials on the subjects of neutrality, the
embargo and peace.
Recently, after listening in Carnegie
Hall, New York, to speeches of Senators,
I sent a message to the President to
have them state their positions unequiv
ocally and in particular how they would
have stood if they had been in the Con
tinental Congress of 1780. Would they
have asked Washington, Franklin,
Adams and Jefferson to cease imploring
France for aid with ammunition, cannon,
ships, soldiers or loans? Have these
Senators forgotten Yorktown?
October 16. ALVIN WORTHAM.
Claims England Is Not
Our Mother Country.
To the Editor of The Star:
All this talk and propaganda that Eng
land is our mother country is the bunk.
In proportion to population, we have
fewer people of English stock than from
any stock in the world. Our dviltsa
k
Letters to the Editor must
hear the name and address of
the writer although the use of
a pseudonym tor publication is
permissible. Please be brief!
tion, ways and habits are not English,
but European as a whole. Hence the
whole Europe, not England, is our mother
country.
History shows that English and French
imperialisms are just as rapacious and
undemocratic as Hitlerism. Hence they,
the imperialism and Hitlerism, are twin
biothers. Irrespective of what they say,
English and French imperialisms are not
fighting Hitlerism; they are fighting the
pro-Soviet Hitlerism. If Hitler would
pledge that he'd annul the Soviet-Ger
man non-aggression pact and make war
on the Soviet, English and French would
not only make peace with him, but as
a reward would give him a few more
small countries. By snubbing and re
fusing the help of the Soviets, English
and French are solely responsible for
the second world's war. Let us keep out
of it by all means. MAX TYDINGS.
October 14.
Pleased With Exhibitions
Of Knee-Hi.
To the Editor ot The Star:
I have been following the pictures in
The Star of little Knee-Hi the terrier
and each time I think how much real
education Mr. Bronson is giving the
children of all ages, not only in traffic
laws but awaking the minds of the little
ones as to the intelligence of the dog
as can well be seen in the love and
sparkle in their eyes when they behold
him.
Some of these boys and girls have
never had a pet but I'm quite sure when
they do own one they will treat it with
kindness. MARY E. CLARK.
October 12.
HnnncM f'nnenliditinn
Of Fire Stations.
To the Editor of The Ster:
After reading your editorial of the
14th, “Fire Fighting Efficiency,'’ I request
you to oppose vigorously any move to
combine fire stations, as also any at
tempt to reduce either personnel or
equipment of the Fire Department. In
my opinion such a step would seriously
hamper the efficiency of the service in
many ways. It would be more popular,
and wiser, to add strength to cope with
any emergency. I hope that civic as
sociations and property owners of the
District will unite and turn on all the
power at their command to prevent de
trimental changes. HENRY C. ASH.
October 15.
Equal Opportunity Wanted
For the Colored Race.
To the Editor of The St»r:
On October 7 in an article on the Dies
Committee you stated that there are 325
members of the Communist party in
Washington, one-third of whom are
colored. I am much concerned over such
a grave situation. History shows that
the colored man, even under great
handicaps, is loyal to his country. There
fore I wonder if there is not some reason
for their Communist affiliation. To me,
it lies in the lack of opportunity.
It cannot be denied that America will
accept people of every nation, and give
them preference over the colored man.
And yet many of them seek to over
throw our form of government. Why
not clear this country of such undesir
ables, and give the colored man his
rightful place and opportunity?
WILLIAM E. BROOKS.
Derwood, Md.
October 10.
Answers
To 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. When did camouflage in warfare
originate?—C. J. D.
A. Its present usage dates from 1914,
when a group of French artists at the
front conceived the idea of using their
art to blend the appearance of troops and
equipment with their natural surround
ings.
Q. What is Calypso music?—J. C. H.
A. Calypso is the term used to de
scribe the songs and music of Negro min
strels from Trinidad. Some of these are
sung in a French patois containing some
Spanish and Hindu words and idioms.
The majority are sung in English with a
peculiar British accent. The songs are <
accompanied by a guitar and have be
come very popular in this country where
many have been recorded by Wilmoth
Houdini, who now lives in Harlem.
Q. How many acres of forestland were
destroyed by fire last year?—J. C. H.
A. In 1938 forest fires burned over
33,815,100 acres of land.
Q. What percentage of all cigarettes is
made by the four largest manufacturers?
—T. J. S.
A. Between 80 and 90 per cent of the
total number of cigarettes made in the
United States ar- manufactured by the
four largest companies.
Q. At what height is skywriting exe
cuted?—T. C.
A. Skywriting is done at approximately
15,000 feet, or about three miles above
the earth. The entire message is not
written at the same altitude, but each
letter is executed at least 50 feet above
the preceding one to prevent the words
being blown away by the backwash from
the propeller.
Q. Who are the best known profes
sional whistlers?—K. L. H.
A. Two who are outstanding are Fred
Lowery with Horace Heidt's orchestra
and Elmore Tanner, who is a member of
Ted Weems’ orchestra.
Q. What is the longest bird flight on
record?—C. D. G.
A. The longest individual flight is that
of an Arctic tern, which traveled 9.000
miles, from Labrador to South Africa, in
less than 90 days.
Q. Is the German word Nazi an abbre
viation?—W. B.
A. Nazi is the name popularly applied
to the German National Socialist Work
ers' Party led by Adolf Hitler. The Ger
man form of the word is Nationalsozial
istische Deutsche Arbeiter Partei.
Q. When was the first presidential in
augural ball?—L. M. H.
A. The first inaugural ball was held in
May or June of 1789. several weeks after
the inauguration of George Washington
as the Nation's first President. The ball
was held in New York under auspices of
the New York Dancing Assemblies, and
Gen. Washington insisted it be delayed
until Mrs. Washington could make the
long journey from Mount Vernon.
Q. What was the former name of the "j
Belasco Theater, which faces Lafayette I
Park in Washington. D. C.?—C. H. L.
A. When the Belasco Theater was built
in 1835 it was known as the Lafayette
Square Opera House. The name was
changed in 1905.
Q. Is it true that some petunia seeds
sell for as high as $1,000 a pound?—J. C.
A. Some of the rarest double petunia
seeds are worth as much as $1,200 a
pound.
Q Have houses ever been built of cot- j
ton?—L. J. H.
A. The Farm Security Administration
is conducting experiments in the use of
cotton as a building fabric. A house has
been erected in Coffee, Ala., with roof
and walls covered with cotton duck. The
material is nailed to a smooth backing of
plywood, plaster or composition board.
It is painted with a mixture of white
lead and linseed oil. The cost of such a
house, including modern plumbing and
electric wiring, is only about $1,350. j
Q. Who developed the first halftone in
a newspaper?—E. M. J.
A. Stephen H. Horgan, an expert in
photo-mechanical printing, developed the
first halftone of any kind ever to appear
;n a newspaper. It was published in the
New York Graphic of March 4, 1880. Mr.
Horgan also produced the first halftone
ever printed by a high-speed newspaper
press, which appeared in the New York
Tribune on January 21, 1897.
Q. Is there a Calvin Coolidge Col
lege?—VV. J. H.
A. Portia College at Boston is to erect
a new building of social sciences and
government which will be called Calvin
Coolidge College. !
Q. When was the first railroad built
on Cape Cod?—G. B.
A. The first railroad to be built on
Cape Cod was the Cape Cod Branch, in
corporated in 1846 and opened for traffic '
from Middleborough to Sandwich to
connect with the Fall River Railroad
on May 29, 1848. It was extended to
Yarmouth Port and Hyannis on July 8,
1854. This same year the name was
changed to Cape Cod Railroad Co. This
company passed into the hands of the
Old Colony Railroad in 1872 and on July
23, 1873, the line was opened for traffic
through from Boston to Provincetown.
In a Convent Garden
High overhead a shell drones through
the air,
And like the booming of a giant bee.
Upon the autumn wind comes ceaselessly
The thunder of the guns. The
Sisters wear
A vague, bewildered wonder, as they fare
Amid the roses, stripping bush and ,
tree
That fevered men, who toss with agony
In shot-tom wards, the crimson
blooms may share.
The Virgin bends from her vine-shaded
bower
To bless their labor; and the Holy
Child
Smiles tenderly upon each dewy flower
That carries to those lives from death
beguiled,
A hope bom in the midst of ruin, for
A rose’s fragrance shall outlast all
war.
CHARLOTTE BECKER.
1 A