The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, December 3, 1928, Page 12

PAGE TWELVE WASHINGTON LETTER, ¢ Washington, Dec. 3.—A secretary ef the interior does not, usually, have much chance to become famous (if ‘ou overlook the case of Mr. Fall). Yet the cabinet member who holds that job*is one of the most impor- tant officials of the government, and on his wisdom, energy and foresight depends much of the welfare of fu- ture generations of Americans. The vast problem of conservation of our natural resources comes un- der his jurisdiction. He is the man who must see to it that water pow- er sites, timber lands, coal and ore deposits and prospective oil fields are husbanded for the future. The department was established in 1849, when there was infinitely more in the shape of public domain to look after. But for a good many years nobody ever dreamed of con- serving anything for the future. The entire west was just being opened, and the population of the country, compared with today, was small. It seemed absurd to think that the country could ever run out of forest lands. Water power sites were only of minor interest, the coal fields of the east seemed utterly in- exhaustible, the Lake Superior iron and copper fields looked amply large for the: whole country, and nobody had much use for an oil Pool. So the government got rid of its public possessions—rapidly, lavishly. The Interior Department originally devoted most of its efforts to fact finding; it would make surveys, tell Prospective settlers or prospectors where the choicest lands were to be found, advise mine speculators and timber companies what fields were best suited to their needs. In the course of time, however, it became evident that something must be saved for the future. The policy of wholesale grants of lands and mineral claims gave way to a more thoughtful attitude as:the limits of the public lands came to be realized. us, during the past 20 years, a new idea—the idea of conservation— has arisen, and the Interior Depart- ment is the department primarily charged with putting it into effect. As one step in this program, the department is now completing a vast |inventory of all public: domains. Forest lands have been sorted, classified and graded, and tracts to be set aside for preservation have been picked. Extensive examinations are being made of lands where the mining of coal, oil, gas, potash or phosphates is possible. Part of this job consists of map- ping and classifying agricultural lands. More than 290,000,000 acres of land on the eastern slope of the | Rockies and in the great plains have | been mapped to show irrigated lands of various grades, land suitable for | dry-farming, land suitable only for | grazing, and so on. This data is jmade available for the use of the | Department of Agriculture and west- ern ranchers and homesteaders. On top of this, the department is reckoning the country’s future jsupply of energy. It is making a national inventory of the tons of coal, barrels of oil and second-feet of water power that will be available to American workers and industrial- ists of the future. In this work, the tabulating of water power resources takes an important place. The de- partment estimates, for instance, that undeveloped water power sites in the public-land states have an aggregate potential capacity of 15,- 000,000 horsepower. - pers Untapped coal reserves also figure importantly in the inventory. Al- though there is at present little de- mand for new coal veins, the coun- try’s coal reserves will eventually be extremely important; indeed, the country’s national prosperity’ may depend on them in the end. The In- terior Department, very encourag- ingly, points out that the estimated quantity of coal on government- owned land in the west is greater than the total tonnage of all the coal in the British Isles. Those are a few of the reasons why the secretaryship of the interior can be said to be one of the busiest and most responsible posts in the cabinet. There isn’t much oppor- tunity in the job for fame, but there is a tremendous opportunity for val- uable public service. THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE SEATED IN THE SMOKER OF THE TRANS- CONTINENTAL LIMITED= WTS A SOUTARY FIGURE =. THE KEEN PENETRATING GLANCE SHOOTING FROM BENEATH THAT BROAD BRIMMED WAT 1S MERCILESS JN (YS SCRUTINY= SAXING NOTHING = BUT SEEING ALL— HE GIVES EVERY INDICATION OF A MAN BENT ON ‘A PURPOSEFUL WHY THE IDEA YOO) HES A FIERCE BEPPO! KE MUSTA ener Cie IAD SOME REASON FOR BREAKIN’ LOOSE FROM THE ZOO UkE THIS! —o IN NEW YORK | New York, Dec. 3.—It’s the “raga- muffin” season again among the youngsters of New York. Long since, the family trunks have been rummaged and pawéd in the search for cast-off clothing. And the more tattered and torn such clothing may be, so much the better for the purposes of the small boys and girls. On Thanksgiving Day occurs the official “Ragamuffin parade,” a pageant quite unlike any other to be found in America. For it is a trans- plantation from the “old world,” which was introduced by the gamins of the ghetto. Within the past year or two, it has penetrated to every district of the city. It is a custom, native to certain sections of Italy, where the bite of hunger is felt by the poor. About this season of the year, with winter upon their heels, the boys and girls fare forth, garbed in rags and tat- ters; they daub their faces with dirt or rouge or coal dust; they affect the garb of clowns; they prank and they caper—but, most of all, they In New York, the eccentricities of dress are exaggerated to carnivalean proportions. Every conceivable sort of costume and disguise is attempted by tens of thousands of children, who go through their neighborhoods in mobs, begging for pennies and dimes and “hand-outs.” A number of efforts have been made to eliminate the begging from the day’s program. Civic organiza- tions have tried to get the American boys and girls to set an example for their foreign brothers and sisters— but to no avail. The number of par- ticipants has increased yearly and, even in the exclusive residence sec- tions, it is possible to see the gamin paraders in action. ‘ The bright and particular visiting “lion” of the present New York sea- son is Ottorino Respighi, the eminent Italian composer, whose opera, “The Sunken Bell,” is being given at the Metropolitan for the first time in America. He has been feted and greeted and entertained. He has been a favor- ite for years with symphony goers and his “Pines of Rome” is a tone poem repeated many times during a Manhattan music season. I met the composer for the first time at a dress rehearsal of his which offers Mrs. Elizabeth Hethberg her moment of triumph following the early season argument. with Jeritza over the leading role in “The tian Helen” which, by the way, received a very cold reception from the American critics. Mme. Rethberg introduced Respighi ‘to New York the other day at a tea vt the Ambassador. . A dress. rehearsal at the Met, by he way, is like nothing else in the theater. Specially invited audi- ences, including scores of music world celebrities, often fill the or- chestra seats. There is hub-bub and commotion back stage, as the scene shifters work with new scenery. An air of nervous tension prevails and even the oldest veteran performers admit considerable nervousness, par- ticularly when a new opera is to be given. Fatigue often brings about curt bickerings, though.every effort is made to produce the opera with the precision that marks an actual performance. Costumers rush up at the last moment with tenor’s tights and gaudy garments and fiddlers tune up in the orchestra pit. Directors rush about, rounding up the chorus mem- bers and from a dozen places come sounds of voices, male and female, running lightly through the scales. GILBERT SWAN. (Copyright, 1928, NEA Service, Inc.) | AT THE MOVIES | e el) ELTINGE THEATRE Richard Arlen, who is co-featured with Nancy Carroll in “Manhattan Cocktail” at the Eltinge for today and Tuesday, battled Hollywood's extra ranks for three years before he got the “break” which started him straight up the ladder leading to success in motion pictures. After he got his big chance in “Wings” he shot straight up the line. Before that he had a varied and colorful background. Born in Charlottesville, Virginia, he was educated in St. Paul, Minne- Sota. Before going to Hollywood he was a lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps, a swimming instructor, a pro- fessional hockey player, a bond sales- man, a worker in the Texas oil fields and a sports writer on the “Duluth News-Tribune.” Failing to make the grade in Hol- lywood as an actor, Arlen took a job carrying film between the studios and one of the big film laboratories. He was carried into the Paramount studio hospital with a broken leg fol- lowing a traffic accident in the street and made friends who eventually gave him his opportunity. “Manhattan Cocktail” is a back- stage melodrama of Broadway, show- ing Arlen as a young playwright and mes Carroll as an aspiring chorus girl. ark Ay ME CARINOL. illiam Russell, appearing with Virginia Valli in “phe Escape,” di- rected for Fox Films by Richard Rosson, has at last drawn a role with which he is thoroughly con- versant by reason of long associa- tion. 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