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By various esteemed friends and readers The New Yojsk Hebald has ieeu asked recently to lend its voice in favor of the establishment of n t mnn n.AT, *- r.f Tsansniirtutlnn with It ] Secretary of Transportation as on additional member of the President's j Cabinet; the establishment of a Department of Aeronautics, with a Secretary of Aeronautics; the establishment of a Department of Fine Arts, with a Secretary in the Cabinet to run the aesthetics of the Federal Government ; the erection of the present Bureau of Education into a full fledged Department of Public Education, with a Secretary of Public Education; and the formation of a new Executive Department to take clmrge of such governmental affairs and interests as specially concern the women voters of the Republic, with a woman Representative In the President's ' Cabinet. There may have been other proposals of a similar character which we do not at the moment recall. All this comes within a period of not many weeks; and the calls for the amplification of the President's council table to correspond with the stu pendous expansion of Federal actlvl-l lies of all Important kluds are so nmnerou*, and it may be said with truth so tjatural, that we feel ourselves lmjtelled to venture certain re marks of general application on the subject of Cabinet increase, In view of what the tendency forebodes to our Government's administrative framework. / L The habit of regarding the present Cabinet organization, meeting the President at the White House for conference, consultation and the discussion and arrangement of policies, as an Integral part of the Government's machinery, has become fixed In the public mind. Comparatively few people'remember, or stop to think. that no Cabinet Is known to the Constitution. or, attain, to the statutes enacted under constitutional authority. The body, in this sense, is extraconetltutlonal. In the same sense it Is extralegal. It Is the product of custom, convenience, probably of human necessity; but as an advisory Execu-1 * tlve council .holding stated sessions' It is so far from being fundamental that It could be dropped from the sys-; tern without evpn an act of Congress abolishing It. Such is the fact about Its legal status, whatever we may believe as to its practical usefulness and Indlsppfisnbillty. So far, Indeed, Is It an extraneous growth that the word Cabinet does! not occur in the Constitution. Nor is the word Secretary therein to be found, meaning the head of on Executive Department. Unlike the titles of | the President, the Vice-President, the Judges. the Senators, the Renresenta (Ives, the Ambassadors or Ministers, and even Ihe Consuls of the Cnlted States, the Secretaryship of a Depart Ment, now Involving by mere force of custom a membership in the Cabinet, Is entirely a statutory creation. The creating authority, the Con Kress. In establishing the Treasury Department, for example, could have styled Its head Chief Commissioner of Finance. It could have designated a law Chief Instead of an Attorney-! General to take charge of the Depart ment of Justice. It could hnve on titled the officer known as Postmaster General by the less grandiose name ol Superintendent of the Malls. It could make these changes now, or any similar changs of title or function. If Itsi wisdom suggested a reason for so doing. The Congress, by legislation, eonld wipe out nil the existing De part meats and substitute others, on a rearranged scheme of distribution, precisely as from time to time It transfers this Bureau or this Commission or this Board from one Department to another for administrative con\ettlenco. It. could combine two or more existing Departments into one. just as it separated the Department of Commerce and Labor Into two Departments In 1013, a I?epartment of Commerce and a iVpartmenf of Labor, thus adding a new Secretary to the nlready sufficiently large uutnher of Secretaries sitting accord | * I M \ 1 ins to custom but not by force of law at the President's Cabinet table In the White House. Quite true It Is thut the framers ot the Constitution foresaw the need of an orderly distribution of tiie functions of Executive authority. This practical and obvious ueed was recog j aized when they provided that the Congress might vest the appoiutiueut j of Inferior officers In "the heads , of Departments." It was recognized again, and just as clearly, when they authorized the President to "require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of tiie Executive Departments." Perhaps It is worth noting that Thomas J t. wesson was | disposed to interpret this clause so strictly as to hold that information as to the various blanches of the Executive service could be acquired constitutionally by the President ouly in manuscript; not by oral communications across official mahogany. But this recognition by the Constitution of the future need of differentiating the Executive Departments is very far from establishing a basis for the principle that because Congress creates new Departments the appointment of a Secretary or otherwise styled principal officer of a new De partment requires the Insertion of an extra leaf in the already too populous extension table of the President's Cabinet. II. The historical evolution of the Cabinet as we now know it illustrates the progress from efficiency as an advisory board to something which promises unwieldiness. From 1.7S9 to 1794, that is to say, during Washington's tirst term and part of his second term, there were only four Executive Departments. These were established by acts of Congress In the following order: Deiwtrtment of State, with a Secretary of State, July 27, 1789; War Department, with a Secretary of War, also charged with naval affairs, August 6, 1789; Treasury Department, with a SecreI tary of the Treasury, September 2, i 1789: Department of Justice, w ith hd I Attorney-General, September 24,1789. On May 8, 1794, Congress estabj lislied by law a Post Office Depart meat, with a Postmaster-General as , its head; and for the next four years what is now called the Cabinet con i sisteu or nve persons. On April 30, 1798, naval administration w;as separated from military administration by tbe creation of a Navy Department with a Secretary of its own. For more than half a century thereafter the Cabinet was composed of six fiersons. At the beginning of Zachary Taylor's brief term, in March, 1849, a Department of the Interior was established by Congress, with a Secretary of the Interior. The Cabinet grew to seven and held that number under ; Taylor, Fillmohe, Pierce, Buj cuanan, Abraham Lincoln, Johnson, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Ak' thl'B and Cleveland, during his.first term. On February 11, 1889, the pre' viously existing Department of AgriI culture?so styled, i?e it noted, in the i original legislation of May 15. although the act assigned to It merely a Commissioner and not u Secretary? was erected Into an Independent department with a Secretary In the Cabinet. For just n hundred years, therefore. of the Nation's history, during the entire period of the development j of what was originally hut a category Into a definitely organized and distinctly recognized. If extralegal, advisory board constituting an important part of an administrative system, the maximum membership of the President's Cubinet was seven. That number is not too small for the purposes of such a council. Perhaps a Cabinet of five would work itetter. By the inclusion of the Secretary of Agriculture in 1S89 and the comparatively recent udditlon of a Secretary of Commerce and a Secretary of Labor the Cabinet membership has already been carried up to ten; and ten certainly is overpopulation. III. The central fact to be kept in mind Is the dual capacity of the Cabinet member. He Is In the first place, by constl tuttonal appointment and confirms tlon, the administrative head of one of the Executive* Departments. He would be such If there were no Cabinet. In the second place, by a custom which has come to have all but the technical sanction of law, he Is one of a select body of Executive assistants In a broad sense, a unit in a small advisory honrd accustomed to meet at regular intervals for discus siuu HUM c*vuuu0u IH *irwn JIPJ i" [Milicy, a member of a sort, of General Staff at Whlttrtlouse headquarters, a counsellor holding Ipliiuutc official and personal relations with the Chief Magistrate, not only wfth regard to matters In his special field but also as to matters in the special fields of his I associates, a heljter chosen by the I President to share as far us possible the Immense burden of en re and responsibility that rests upon the American Executive. It requires no argument, to show that even extreme ability In the first of those two functions does not ne<4?*snrlly Imply great usefulness in the second. A Department head of surpassing efficiency In his own province might turn out to l?e n mighty poor fit at the Presidential eounc" tuble: nd vice versa. Everybody knows, accordingly, thai In making up a Cabinet the qualities of availability and acceptability and congeniality In the advisory function are studied quite as closely and nrr quite ns much the guides of choice by f THE N] | the appointing power as special fitnes* | for the Department work. The multiplication of Us.ecu.tive estubiishuieuts for the supervision of federal activities, whether the uew institution is exiled a Department 01 a Bureau or a Commission or a Board. ! eau proceed to any extent w ithout the i least impairment of the Cabinet's eflicieucy us h working board of counsel ; that is, it can so proceed if the country and Congress adopt and aci eept the principle that the creation of ;i new Executive Departmeut does not necessarily involve the addition of it new member to u Cabinet already us large as it ever ought to be, probably much larger than it ought to be. Otherwise the event may be fore- j j seet# as surely as to-morrow's daylight. lite enactment of the several proposals utentioued by way of example at the beginning of this article, . with another Secretary in the Cabinet j for each new Department, would Itself Itrincv liit ttm Pahlnni !n fn I M iu$ U1/ IliC IHV UUUC1 CJU?|? I." : u total of fifteen. Either already in sight or just beyond the horizon ure at! | least as many actual or potential further demands for Executive representation, each properly insisting on Its I 1 importance and necessity. This is bound to be the case in the; future. The tremendous growth of the country's resources and interests, the swiftly increasing complexity of Federul affairs, the certain appearance of new economic and material conditions requiring the erection of new governmental agencies render the result inevitable. jSome of the claimant Interests are not now predictable, any more than the need of a Department of Aeronautics could have been foretold by the most prescient statesmanship at the time when the business of the mails was committed to u Post Office Department. But, speedily or more tardily, the thing Is coming to pass If present conventions of Cabinet appointment continue to be sacred: and flic thine that Is comirie | to pass is a reduction to absurdity. .More exactly, it is the production of | an absurdity. Picture a Cabinet no longer con I sisring of six.or eight carefully chosen advisers seated for Intimate converse and conference around an ellipse of moderate focal distance, but a formal assembly or council as large as wa* the Senate in George Washington's time, arrayed at consecutive rows of individual desks facing the President in the chair and necessarily conduct ! ing business by the rules of parliamen tary procedure, like a legislative , body! ]" Let us Imagine that stage of Cnbi! net evolution and we get a glimmer! : ing of the anomaly to which the Cabl-( I net Is surely tending; that Is to say. ; a concern as devoid of practical use-j fulness as It is lacking In constitu-1 i tioual status as a purt of our govern I mental mechanism. IV. We have tried to sketch the main ' consideration which now disinclines The New Yobk IIebald from beconii j lng enthusiastic for the creation of | | new Departments provided the crea-l tion of each new Department involves an Increase of Cabinet membership. The alternative of course is obvious. It is to be found in a radical! reclassification of the Departments represented in the Cabinet and a regrouping and reorganization, accord- j j lng to modern conditions, of the j bureaus or commissions or boards which are or are to become subheads ! under the broader Denurtmeui head There would have to be a resolute rejection of some old fetiches. To Illustrate, if under the new classification it should be deemed advisable to institute ? Department of Transportation, represented in the Cabinet, it 1 is conceivuble that the present postat organisation, vast and important as its business Is, might logically be subordinated to Transportation in u new adjustment of relative vulues for j Cabinet purposes. We are not here ad : voeatlng such a ohunge; merely suggesting the range of possible reconstruction in order to restrict the Cabinet to workable size. A furtner II- i lustration is afforded by a circum-' stance referred to above. The Department of Agriculture, while actually created as a Department In j 18tt2, was conducted for twenty-seven venrs before It trained a Secretary! and a Cabinet place. Any such reform of the present cumbersome, haphazard and unscientific system would reqiftre constructive work of the highest order. It would meet with angry resistance, perhaps, by official Interests affected as to direct Cabinet representation. But it could be worked out In time by Intelligent cooperation of the Executive and the Legislature. No matter I how sweeping the change or how rndl- j jeni the reorganization, It is within the power of the Congress to do the Job j | without constitutional amendment. And the necessity of the reform. I sooner or later, Is Indicated by com-1 rnon sense. It will have to come I If the President's Cabinet Is to roj main a President's Cabinet. Matins Plymouth Rork. Plymouth Rock Is to be moved j again, for the fourth time In Its history. The contract hns been let i for taking It buck to Its original position on the great granite base on the 'shore level, which Is seven feet below the present site. It was In ,1774 that the Tlock was first moved from Its original site. On that occasion a twenty yoke team of| oxen was hitched fo the stone and If :j was hauled up to the Town Square of j Plymouth to serve as a base for a; 'i Hag pole. In 1828 occurred the second 1 moving duy, this time Hie stone being! ' taken to Pllgrlin Hall, where it re j ' malned until about foi tr r#nps ag" ' t h ELW VOiiK HKKALD, ' W when It had Its third translation to the site known to the present generation. During this lust ifiovlng the Nbck was split into three pieces. These have been cemented together, a condition that will necessitate great care In its final journey back to the "point or place of beginning." This is one. of the tasks undertaken by the Pilgrim Tercentenary Commission, which also proposes to remove from the canopy of the Uock the supposed bones of some of the Pilgrims who died in the first year after tue landing at Plymouth and to bury thein on Coles Hill, the o.lghwJ burial around where the bones of other Pilgrims who died in that first year also lie. The Tercentenary Commission has established Coles Hill as the permnnoiif PlUrrlm burial around.. thus! disposing of the proposal to remove elsewhere the bones burled there. With the contemplated transformation of the Plymouth waterfront Into a purk as a permanent Pilgrim memorial there should be an appropriate setting for Plymouth Kock. It Is to be hoped that with its return to Its. original site it will carry with it ali | the truditions of that distinctive and remarkable New England spirit which j has spread into every part of our land and Into our Insular possessions, to their spiritual and material benetit. a 1 spirit which so long as It endures will make for the betterment of our eoun-1 try and of mankind. . Astounding Demands of the Gov-! ernmeut Spenders. The armistice was signed about two years and a month ngo, but the Government spenders of the American people's money act as if it Is all news to them. The department heads of the national Government, who are still living; In the smoke and tumult of the war which Is long past and ^ still thinking In terms of billions, ask from Congress to cover army spendlngs In tl^p new fiscal year $270,000,000 more than was appropriated for the present fiscal year. To cover navy spendlngs, exclusive of the building programme. tuey usk $ii4,wu,uw more tiipn was appropriated for tliis year. For the building programme they ask $80,000,000 more than was appropriated for this year. On July 1, 1021, when the new fiscal year begins, we shall have had peace for the better part of three years, but the department plungers, who act as if they didn't know the war was over, want for all items of military expenditure a round billion and a half of dollars. This is $682,000,000 more than the $.825,000,000 appropriated for the present fiscal year. The Shipping Board wants $147,-j 000,000 more. This, that and the! nflinr dpiiflrfmonf- tvnnf morn Alfn. gether, with what they probably will want for deficiency and other payments overdue but not met, the Government spenders will ask about a billion dollars more than the appropriations for the present fiscal year. What Congress needs to do with these military estimates, what Congress needs to do with other estimates by department heads of the national Government who don't yet know the war Is over, is not to go at them with a knife or an axe but to run them through a sawmill. Francis Lynrle Station. While Francis Ltnde Stetson, who died on Sunday, was one of the ablest corporation lawyers this coun uj nu? \j*t?i mh.umi, 11 wuuui ne miJust to the memory of this distinguished nnd useful citizen if at his passing his fame were assumed to rest entirely or even in major part upon his professional accomplishments and engagements. .Mr. Stetson was too; great intellectually, too courageous in his citizenship, too useful in his \merieanlsm to he classified merely ' as u member of the Iwir of unusual scholarship, address, nnd erudition. Mr. Stetson occupied u place in; New York nnd the nation which only i a man of vision, courage and imagination could have won and held. The letter of the law did not circumscribe his interest in the problems he was cnlled upon to solve. The immediate question was always presented to his mind against an enlightening background of philosophic understanding. Effects Interested him as deeply as processes; he was not one of those to wnom (in apimiviK uuvamage quicaiy achieved obscures remoter and secondary consequences. Ills I mined curiosity and Insatiable desire for knowledge prevented him from the easy neeeptanee of cut end dried opinions nnd led hint to fruitful excursions In original Investigations. There are men who should not count the cost of any adventure, because If they do their courage will fall them nnd they will never move In any direction. It takes courage to start on a course which involves the possibility of ruin, no matter how worthy nnd how desirable the purpose to he attained may be. Mr. Stetson had this courage. He was one of those whom knowledge did Indeed set free. And this knowledge and freedom were made manifest In his fearlessness in all the controversies in which his talents were onf-' pioyen. m'iwu) got. irom chancis 1/VTvnrc Btkthon advice that was not baaed on Information, conviction and rra son. Mr. Stetson was ono of the most valued, as he was one of the most In-1 telllgent. correspondents of this news I taper. Ills keen Interest In nil that went to the upbuilding and strengthenlng of American Institutions Impelled him to participate In the discussion of many Important public matters In our columns. Whether he wrote over his own "Ignnture or rw?r % TUESDAY, DECEMBER a pen name, his sound thinking, tils J originality, his sagacity and his dis- j Interestedness gave value and pres ' tige to his utterances. < Strong Arm St.ts Treatment for I.ocaJ Sutliing draft. It may come as a thunder clap In the. ears of New York city, which bus struggled so long and so hand for , more, not less, home rule, that tlie; State Government is going to take' strong arm charge of our desperate) housing and building situation. But it is incredible that the local stupidity, incompetence and immorality responsible for the evil which has befallen New York can cure it. It is unthinkable that the frightful mess should be left in the state it is in. Furthermore, the Imperatively needed cleanup work is vastly greater than the general public realizes. It calls for ojore activity, more jurlsdiction and more power than any Legislature In Its senses would be willing to give to local hands which have so shockingly and disastrously failpd In 1 wliat they had to do. The trouble, In truth, Is not merely , that building combinations bave become bandits preying both upon the private purse and the public treas- ' ury and that labor union bosses have become vultures. Along with these crimes there are the resultant evils of inordinate taxes, < scarcity of mortgage funds, prohibitive interest rates?Interest rates Imposed upon a cruslilug bonus ex !?" K/.neAurnn nii/lcfutpi I . UCICU 1IUIII UVM junti ?v * **ers' abuses, all kinds of fuult9 and wrongs to terrorize Investors and mulct rent payers. The troubles are so many and so great as to make a t heroic disease for which Is required heroic treatment. 1 Flow far the State Government can go and how much it can do with this huge task only actual experience will tell. But It Is only the State Government which can he counted upon to make more funds available for building whether by inducement or by pressure. It Is only the State Government which can curb If not repress the methods of the underwriters who demand and compel with their rules and requirements change upon change during and after construction until no owner of a prop-! erty can know where they are going j to stop or wlien, if they liave stopped, tliey are going to begin again. It is! only the State Government which can accurately trace the cost of a brick, from the making In the brick yard to! the laying In the building. It can, In] truth, make brick and ship brick as a test of what the cost is. It Is only j the State Government which can thor- j otighiy uncover all the rottenness that] must l>e uncovered and break up the j criminal building rings and drive out! the union labor crooks. Not only a central and great authority but a single handed power must grapple with this problem. A multiple commission will never do the work that <1110 mnn nnntnrwl with >ho nwessary ability and armed with the fullest possible power, can do. He needs to be drafted, to be commandeered, from the best and the strongest timber In the State. lie needs to direct all the action and to shoulder all the resjKjnsibility. He needs to be chosen by the Govrfnor and to be accountable to the Governor. He needs the force of discipline over his subordinates to get quick actum and right results. A one man commission, backed to tlie limit by tbe State Government, is the only thing to meet this crucial summon. A Dublin despatch says that in Macroom a man must keep his hands out of his pockets or be shot. Over here at this season a man who refuses to put his hand in his pocket meets with killing looks from his family. Use of seven vessels belonging to the Un'ted States Shipping Hoard now tied up neir here was requested to-day from the Shipping Board to Vlevlate housing conditions in the city. The vessels are , not being utilized and could be used to advantage 'by the city as floating tempersry apartment structures.?News from Martinez, California. This - is a solution of the housing , problem which enlisted the attention of John ArmucKLK in this city years ago. His floating hotels in the East 1 River were popular with the lucky few who could get quarters on them, and ' their tenants, wholesome and lively { young women and young men. found , romance by the waterside. Martinez , will be fortunate if this help to housing her people can be worked. Minnesota bandits wore masks while robbing a mail train. Unlike their J New York contemporaries, these old ( fashioned Westerners still seem to,i think there Is some danger of being j caught. slid a Booth t As citizens of Flatbush propose to do to I house the neighborhood .policeman. If you'd like to keep a copper, 1 Build a booth! 1 I If on crime you'd put n stopper. Build a booth! On the Job and ever ready. With the crooka he'll play old Ned. ho I Will stick 'round sedats and atrady in mi Doom. i Am a remedy Intenalva. Build a booth! It won't prove at all ?* pensive I , For a booth If 8,000 Join their purree; Couch and draparler and nurrer Will combine to end crlme'r curses? Kuy a booth! ^ Should a burglar rtnrt to burgle, 'Phone the booth! If you'ro rtuek up, merely gurgle To your booth. Hhould you entertain pickpocket*. l,nrlng walleta, wnda or. tockets With astonishment And rhock, ft'r "Central! Booth!" livery rtract will very ehortly Own a booth; And your cop, precise and portly, From hlr booth Will protect you. Naught ran hurt you. If you're crooked he'll convert you. And we'll all lead live# of virtus? Hla#r tho booth I Mtl'tKj Minor. r 7, 1920. PERFECT IN ONE TONGUE. ' A Linguist Make* Error* la Flftoeu L>nvu?|?i, but Not la Esperanto. To The New York Hxkald I my-I ?'*lf Can understand sixteen languages, of which I can speak well only eight. ! but even in these 1 am quick at making mistakes, not even excluding my mother tongue. Only one language I speak in I common with your correspondent "Poly- | glot," In which I cannot make a mistake, whether In speaking or writing. I hope Mr. Polyglot will agree with j me that both of us can never make u mistake in the universal language called | Esperanto. The simple reason for this i lies In tire Ingenuity of the author of j Esperanto. Dr. L,. L. Zamenhof, who j based the entire grammar on sixteen rules, allowing no exceptions, therefore no Irregularities. It Is just the irregular verb In the different languages which makes it so difficult to learn a foreign j language. tvuowing tor tnjny years iiiuwi ?w German. for twenty-five French and for twelve English did not help roe to become perfect In these national languages, and I give up all hope to be ever perfect in them. Born as a Southern Slav, It was easy for me to acquire an under- i standing In the ten Slavonic languages in existence. Esperanto la th? beet aid to the study | of foreign languages, and therefore every 1 American should try to learn first Esperanto, and then by the help jt Esperantists belonging to the language which lie desires to acquire he can learn much quicker the dealred foreign language, because Esperanto Is the centre of all anguages and the sixteen rules are the embodiment of each grammar In any language. p. Markanovich Ki.ajin. New York, December 6. MR. WILSON AND ARMENIA. The President's Ability to Act In His Personal Capacity. To The New Tome Herald: How can 'he President act In his personal capacity In any case? You speak In an editorial article of his doing so In connection with Armenia. Of course. If the President acts, he acts as President of the United States and morally binds us us a na- j tlon, and Indirectly lugs us into the 1 League of Nations. Let people not delude themselves. The White House didn't hear the avalanche on November 2?nothing has happened to disturb that dovecote. A Student or Histof.t. New York, December 15. j AMERICA'S PENSIONERS. Seventy-ona Widows of the Soldiers of 181 a Still Survive. From, the annual report of the Secretary j of the Interior. There were on the pension roll at the end of the fiscal year .692,190 names, a net loss of 33.237 from the total of 624,427 on the roll at the beginning of the year. The number of civil war soiUici* on the roll June 30, 1919, was 271,391, and on June 30, 1920, 243,620, showing a decrease of 27,871. The number of doatlis; of civil war soldiers In 1920 was 27,871, as against 27,703 in 1919. The number of civil war widows on the roll June 30, 1919, was 293,244, and, on June 30, 1920, 290,100, showing a de-! crease of 3,144? The deaths of widows, minor children ' and dependents In 1920 numbered 21.762, as against 20,089 In 1919. The highest number of civil war soldiers on the roll was in 1898, when 7d" Tha VilehpMi .iLiiiioer of civil war widows on the roll was Inj 1912, when there were 304,373. Of the war of 1812 there were survlv- ! ir>K on June 30, 1920, 71 widows. Of the war with Mexico there were j on the roll June 30, 1920, 148 survivors , and 2,423 widows. Of the war with Spain the total num- , ber of original claims allowed by the bureau is 41.427. The number on the roll June 30, 1920, by reason of the war| with Spain Is >0,432. I ' "~ James T. Powers In "K^mI^lIe.', To Thi Nsw York Herald : Francis j Wilson is referred to in your paper as the only eminent :omedian who essayed the rO'e of Cadraux in "Ermlnle" here. | What about James T. Powers? He is an eminent comedian, and ho played the rflle at the Casino Theatre In New York, following Francis Wilson. One who ever had the good fortune to see Jimmy Powers In the part could never forget his humorous rendition of the role of Caddy. . Frank 8. Upton. New York, December 6. A Rfk WUh Mia; Krliflau AiMolathm. Frov. Hit Zanzibar Oazette. A report on tho Dome of tho Rock of Jerusalem la ahortly to bo published and will be of treat Interest to the Mnhemmedan world. It may not be generally known that thin place la the third In aancttty of all the aanctuartes of lelam, and Indeed for a short period It actually formed the Ktbla toward which all Moalema proetrated themsrlvea In prayer. Among the more Important rellgtoua aaaoclatlona of thla rock we may mention that It waa here that David and Solomon were called to repentance, and on account of a vtalen David choee thla alto for hla temple, fc'rurtl thla aame apot Mohammed aacended to the Seventh Heaven , after hla night journey from Mecca, find lastly It !s to be the accne of tho Oroat i Judgment. The htatorlcal aaaoclatlona arc not lesa atrlklng. and auch famoua namca as ; | Dinar, Abil-el-Mab I-, Paladin and Suleiman i are all connected with the rock. Official Rein eatloa Id Kansas. From the Toptka Capital. I Wilbur Stanfleld, water commlaaloner, and Fred Painter, auperlntondent of tho water ivorks, are great horseahoe cnthualaats. And Ihey ara always "armed." In the automobile oied by the two b#eno? of Toprka'a ivater ayatem there always la a compute , horseshoe pitching outfit. Including shoes. Tho horaeahooa were made specially for ! niavlna. If Stanfleld and Painter have a little spare time or are In need of exerclss they atop end hare a same. If they meet two men who think they are expert* Ftantleld and Painter forget their ueual rivalry, tako off their enata and ehow the "cocky" onea how to throw ringer*. A Canadian Cheering t'p Party. Port Arthur correspondence Detroit Free Press. Obtaining entrance te the City Hall on pretence that they had onme aa vlaltora to rheer tip the Inmatea, two *x-convlcta pullntl off a enappy robbery Sunday. While thn warden waa eonituctlng one of them to the prlaoner who wae to be "cheered," the other opened the private looker of the Jailer, pried the loek of the money dnawer with a Jimmy and took 91(10 In cash and a loaded revolver. The robbery wae not dlacoveretl for several houra after the men left. The Party Hlrda. Obaerve their aniline so smug and bright. When summer daye ware pleasant He filled the bin with Anthracite, '"lie made the Wtnerrnaa prtson* COLUMBUS'S VOYAGES. Argument* to Show That He Discolored America Before 1492. To The New Tork Herald: Tour Interesting article of Novamber 28 on Professor SteenebJ'a location of Karisefni's route from Greenland to the St Lawrence FUver. about A. D 900. Indicates that the professor's evidences began with .the two Inscribed tombstones on the island of Klnglktorsoak. In Baffin's Bay, discovered 1824, a full description of which, with latitude and longitude, appears In my "Ancient Britain." page 25. Theuce KarUefni'B route must have been'southwest through the Eskimo country to the St. Lawrence. As the Eskimos do not appear to have occupied the Atlantic seaeoast until a later period, these people seem to have been pushing from west to east, while the Northmen were exploring westward ; a circumstance which suggests that Professor Stecnsby's evidences would consist In part of exchanges of commodities or language between the explorers and the natives. Evidences of both of these kinds have been detected and published by Stefansson and others. When Columbus visited Iceland In 1477 the evidences recently discovered by Steensby must have, been known, and much more recently apd freshly known In Iceland ; and It Is tnconceivab'e thar being then within two or three days of tv.,% iruVimsvA rinw ftpttled on the coast, this prince of navigators failed to visit them during the two years which he 13 believed to have spent on the North American coast. Jio certainly visited Nova Scotia, for he mentions Its extraordinary and peculiar tides of twenty-six arms lengths? translated "fathoms"?while Beazly ("Prince Henry." page 16; evoked a suggestion that in following the Vikings Columbus may have explored 1/ong Island Sound, from Leifs Booths to Manato (New York) In the hope of finding a western strait to the Zipangu and Cathay of Marco Polo. Alexander Del Mar, Kx-Dlrector Commerce, Navigation and Statistics, United States Treasury. New York, December 6. OLD BLAST FURNACES. An Orange County ltellc Which Is Well Worth a Visit. To The New York Herald: In regard to your account of the last of the old blast furnaces In Tennesiiee It may interest some of your readers to know that In New York New Jersey, al-v most within our metropolitan district, th*.re still remain some of these old time relies. One of the best preserved Is at Queensboro, Orange county, only forty-live miles up the Hudson, and two miles back from the inn at Bear Mountain. As a tablet on the structure Indicates, It was b jilt before the Revolution and was standing when "In October, 1777, a British detachment of 600 men, on their way from Stony Point to attack Fort Montgomery, forded Popolopen Creek at this furnace." This old structure of cyclopean masonry was so well put together that It could be used to-day. About two miles west of the furnace Is the iron mine of the Fort Montgomery Iron Company, which supplied the ore used, and which has been worked for nearly 160 years and Is still working. Both mine and furnace will repay a visit. William H. Couoiilin. BnooKLTN, December 8. THE HIN DEN BURG LINE. It Was Lonr Enough to Lot Many Yankees Have a Whack at It. To The New York Herald: How either theTwenty-seventli or the Thirtieth Division can claim sole credit for the 1 reeking of the Hindenburg line, when in reality they went through only a small part of It is something 1 have long been trying to understand. The Hlndenburg line was not merely the small strip of German defences located In northern France, but It was th<" name applied by the Germans iu melr main line of defenco that extended from the North Sea to Swlteerland. Every American division that took part In the first two phuoes of the Meuse-Argonne offensive and several of those that took part In the reduction of the St. Mihlel salient "broke the Hindenburg line." German maps of the Verdun sector bore the names of the Hlndenburg, Kriemhtlde-Stellung and VolkerMtelhine lines. American divisions broke through these positions on September 26 and 21 as they did at St. Mihlel two weeks before. The Twenty-seventh and Thirtieth divisions got through the line on September 30. The Southern Congressman may have to buck the arguments of several other divisions besides the Twenty-seventh If he ever gets things fairiy started. JUMAN H. Salomon. Vice-Commander, Lorraine Cross Post. UnooKLTN, December 6. Necessity Knows No law. front the Macon Chronicle-Herald. gome very good friends brought the head writer te task recently for using the word "gallows" as plural. One only learns from his friends. Tile truth Is ths next word had to consist of three letters to fill out the line properly. "Are" was lust right. "Is" wouldn't do at alt. So the head writer hunted up the dictionary and It said the plural of gallows wasegallowses. Thsn It went a little farther and said the archaic nr antlauated plural was gallows. The emergency made It niceseary to I us the six-hale form In by the ear* and hitch It to the line up. . Kemarkablc Perception of an Iowa Motorist. Front the Ot niton Bulletin. Attorney W. B. Kahlor had an accident Tuesday which might have reeulted In a smashed Ford and possibly some broken bone*. Mr. Knhler was returning from Itelolt when suddenly a front wheel of the rar came off. Fortunately he discovered something wrong and retarded hla speed. An Appreciative Arkunsaa. Cove serresponrfeace Vena tiar. Pled, at Old Cove, last Sunday night. Old Fleck, B. A. Little's mule, .10 years old. Mr. Little tells us that this old ir.uto made him what he hae to-day. Persaaal Bewilderment. From thr tVasMnpfon Btnr, "Are you sure your auditors understood all of your argumentsT" "If they did," answered Bmator Rorghum, "1 wish they'd rom# around and explain some of 'em to me." Thd Hopeful Arkansas Correspondent. Ilrlkltkrm oorreep"Mdence Clarktvillt (.irk.) Heral4-Dr*nocrat. Nows seems to be scarce. We are unable to report any weddings, separations, fights or elopements; however, we hope to do bolter tn the future F ? i Daily Calendar THE WEATHER. For Eastern New York?Cloudy lo<!ay : to-morrow probably rain or anew ; not much change in temperature: freah northwest shifting to northeast wln.Ii_ For New jersey?Cloudy to-day. followed by rain by afternoon or night: to-morrow rain; not much change In temperature. For Northern New England?Cloudy and lightly colder to-Uay; unsottled to-morrow, probably enya. For tiowtlterti Near England?Cloudy to-day. to-morrow probably rain or auow; not much change In temperature. For Western New York?Cloudy to-day and to-morrow, probably enow to-morrow; dc much change In temperature. WASHINGTON. Deo. The northeaster > storm was central to-night pver the Canadian M orlrliM.. -r ? ?> luttn. 11 itas been attenrtt I liy snow or rain within the laat twenty-fou hours In New England and New York and by gales along the north Atlantic coast Another disturbance that was central ove~ eastern Tesar was attended by rain in th. Gulf States and rain and. snow In KansaOklahoma and northwestern Texas. A third disturbance had Its centre off the geitrnl California coast and a fourth off the north ern Pacific coast, and rain fell along the Pacific coast from San T'ranclsoo northward. The temperature was somewhat lower in the northeastern States, the plains States and the central Rocky Mountain region, asvl ' readings were near normal to-night ove much of the country east of the Rocky Mountains. The outlook Is for rain In middle and southern sections east of the Mtsstsslppl Ttlver to-morrow and to-morrow night, end rnlu Wednesday In the middle Atlantic States im.d snow or rain in the north Atlantic States, the lower lake region and the tippet Ohio Valley. The temperature will be lovyer In the Southern States Wednesday Observations at United States Weather Buicru stations, taken at 8 P. M. yesterday. I seventy-fifth meridian time: Temperature Rainfall ln-a hrs. Rsro-laitlM | Stations. High. I.ow. meter, hrs. Weatljor ] Albany Ss .12 ... Cloudy Atlantic City.. 4tl 44 2fl.0tl ... Cloudy Baltimore .... 48 42 ."O.fr-* ... Clear Bismarck .'18 ?2 S0.">4 ... Clear S"W? no 34 30(1.1 ... Clou.lv Cincinnati .... 44 30 30.2, >. Cloudy Charleston .... <12 48 Mm ... ClouVtv Chicago 40 32 30.24 ... Cloud', Cleveland 38 :it! 20.10 ... CJoudv Re"v,E 't2 28 80.4(5 ,0J Cloud". Detroit 44 36 30.18 ... Clear Gaveston .... OB Ci 20.88 .00 Clear Helena ... 02 20 30.1,5 ... Cloud'.' Jacksonville.. ^ (13 no ?o.OS ... Clear Kan.-n- City.. 44 38 80.24 ... Cloudy Los Angeles... 72 fiO 30.04 ... Pt ci'tL Milwaukee ... 44 20 80.2(1 pt Cl'dv New Orleans.. ,?? f,4 20.8(1 1.?? Cloudy Oklahoma 44 42 20.04 .36 ltaln ' Philadelphia... 4(1 44 20.11(1 ... Cloudy. Pittsburg 38 8d 20.1.8 ... Cloudy Portland. Ms.. 44 28 20.08 ... Cloudy Portland, Ore. 44 42 20.112 .14 Italn Salt Lake City 22 20 20.24 ... Clear Ran Antonio... (18 r.8 20.08 ... Clear San Hlego (41 48 20.04 ... I'C Cl'dv I San Francisco. 20 40 20 84 . 04 Italn Seattle 48 44 20.88 ... Hair. St. Lotfts 40 80 20.20 ... Cloudy HI. Paul 20 27 20.42 ... Clear ! Washington... 40 40 30.01 ... Clt: r LOCAL WEATHER RECORD. 8 A. M. 8 P. V Rarometer 20.73 20.88 Humidity ".8 .7.7. Wind?dlrn/?tlnn \V V VF Wind?velocity 2S Weather Cloudy Cloudy Prurtpltatlon None T The temperature In this city yesterday, ? recorded hy the offl lal thermometer, ' fhoivn in the annexed table: R A. M ... 44 1P.M 4fl tt P. M 41 ! A. M 44 11 I'. M 44 7 I'. M 41 10 A. M 44 3 P. M 44 8 I*. >1 41 11 A.M.... 44 4 P. M 43 (I P. 11 12 M 4(1 BP.M 41 10 P. M 40 1920. 1919. 1920. 1919. 9 A. M 44 H.'i (! P. M 41 lid' 12 M 4?> 24 9 P. M 41 40 3 P. M 44 37 12 Mid 40 43 Highest temperature, 4(5, at 12:10 P. M. Lowest temperature, 40, at 7:40 P. M. Average temperature, 43. EVENTS TO-DAY. Orover A. Whalen, Commissioner of Plant and Structures, will speak at a meeting of i the Merchant Truckmen's Bureau in the assembly room of the Merchants' Association, Woolwortii Building, 8 P. M. New York Chapter, Military Order of tho World War, meeting, Hotel A'tor, 8 p. M. Senator George W. Cartwrigbt will speak on "The World's Greatest Blunder" tit the dinner of the Hotary Club in tho Hotel Mc Alpln, 6:18 P. M. it. Henry lie Man win speax on "iu" Future of Industrial Europe" at Cooper Union. 8 P. M. The Association of Lifo Insurance Counsel, I annual mooting', Bar Association Building, 12 West Forty-fourth street, 2 P. M. I Dr. Gilbert Reld will speak at the .public l forum In Broadway Tabernacle, Broadway I and Fifty-sixth street, 8:1.1 P. M. J 30.1th Infantry Post. American legion, 1 meeting, Seventy-seventh Division Club, 27 West Twenty-fifth street, 8 P. M. I Laurette Taylor will participate In the benefit entertainment for tho Church of St. Jean Baptlste In the parish hall, Lexington avenue and Seventy-sixth street, tills evening. American Society of Mechanical Engineer*. ! forty-first annual meeting, Engineering Societies Building, 20 West Thirty-ninth strut . beginning 10 A. M. There will be u public conference on tin Immigration question In Brondway Tabet nacle, Broadway and Fifty-sixth street, thh afternoon and evening. People's Singing Class, rehearsal. Public : School .10, Fifty-seventh street, between Hoc ond and Third avenues. 8 P. M. ! Prof. Leon Dugult will leeturo on- "Tin Political and Social Irf titutlons of Franc Since 1780" at Columbia University, 5:10 l P. M. | The men's work committee of the Presby terlal General Assembly will hold u meeting ! and rnlly In the Hotel Penn-ylvanla, beginning with a luncheon at 12:30 P. M. ? Mrs. Douglas Robinson will speak on "Theodore Roosevelt. Cltlxen," before tho Women's League of W- Flatbush Congregational Church, Dorchester Road and East Eighteenth street, 2:30 P. M The American Society of Refrigerating lin glneers, meetings, Hotel Astor, forenoon and ?OuMinftn dinner. 7 P. M. Thorp will be a dinner In honor of Con! grosstnan-cleet Meyer London at Bt?lhatdn Hnll, 10 Fifth street, this evening. Dhgn Gopal MtikerJI will apeak on "The T.lral of Freedom" before the league for Political Education at the Park Theatre. 11 A. M. New York Academy of Medicine, oection of dermatology, meeting, 17 Went Forty-third street, S 11 P. M The Knickerbocker Civic Lengue will give a congratulatory dinner to State Senator elect Nathan Straus, Jr., Hotel Majestic, 7 P. M. National Aasoclatlon of Bras* Manufaeturers, meeting. Hotel Aator, 10 A. M. and 2 1?. M. Grand Street Boya, meeting, HOtel Ponnj aylvanla, 8 P. M. PUBLIC LECTURES TO-NIGHT MANHATTAN AND THE BRONX. "Trend of the Time*," by Prof. William B. Guthrie, "at VVadleIgh High School, 115th street, near Recently avenue. "Oxides of-Nitrogen Rhd Nitrogen lodldes' by W. Estabrnoke, at 8tuyve?a t High School, Fifteenth street and First avenue. "California and the Pacific Coast," by Robert G. Weyti, at Public School (W, Eightyeighth street and First avenue. ! "tfkralne and the fTkralnlana," hv Miltijn Wright, at Public School 132, 182d street and Wadsworth aveiuc. Mrs. Jeanne R. Foster will read from har own poems, stories and verse of the Adl-ondacks at American Museum of Natural Hliv tory, Peventy-scvegth street and Central Park West. "The Miracle of Irrigation," by Lewis A ~ T.h.,1, Beve l til IHPftrUHIPy, fit Wiropouinn ? avenue end Fourteenth street. Illustrated. J "Some American Composer* anil Poet*," by Ml** Sally Hamlin, at Public School r.3, lfiHtti 1 street, Flndlay and Teller avenues, Tti'i llrona. "Quebec ano the Maritime Province*," Ibr 1 Frederick W. Johieon, at Public School St. 2ntth etieot and Hull avenue. The Bronx Illustrated. "Theodore Roosevelt, the American," by Lawrence F. Abbott, at 8t. Anselm"* Halt. Tlnton avenue, near 19Mh rtreet. The Bronx. BROOKLYN AND QITBKN8. "Trend of the Times," by Ml** Jennie M. Davl*. at Hay Ridge High School. Fourth avenue and Sl*ty-*eventh street. "The Orowth of American Music In the l,a*t Fifty Year#." by Ml** Marie P. Oa*n* tmrg. at Olrl* Hlrh School, Noatrand avenue, Ilalsey and M*"en street*. "Puerto Rico, Old aid Neat." by Frederic I Dean, at Public School 80, Conover and Wu|| cott street*. I "The Orrat Pyramid and Sphinx," by ti. Pow Covington, at Public School I7t. ptimonl. Alabama and William* avenue*. Illustrated "The Hook o' the Hour," by Prof. J. <j Carter Troop, Ph. D.. at Brooklyn Pump Library, Psclfle et.eet and Fourth avenue. "Who Wot the War," by Dr. Hardy W Farrlngton, at Newtown Mlsh ftrhool, c:,v cngo and Oerry avenue*, Elmhurst, L. i, "Cotwumere Cooperative Association* a* ah Aid to lleduee the High Cost of Living," by Waltc. P. Long, at Public School 94, old House Landing road, Little Neek, L. I. IllutL trnted. 1 The Associated Pre** I* exclusively entitle, to the use for republication of all new* dc? patches credited to It or not otherwlsl' credited In this paper and al*o the looa new* published herein. All right* of republication of special dc < patches l orjlr. e--,; ai?n reserted