Evening Star Newspaper, April 3, 1923, Page 6

6 THE EVENING STAR, With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY.........April 3, 1923 line of duty. Two pieces were dam- aged in the long run to Chssapeake Beach, and an engine and truck were damaged in answering the call to the Bolling Field fire. Several other pisces of motor equipment are out of com- mission. There is no reserve apparatus THEODORE W. NOYES........Editor | ;;, tpe District fire department to take e e e the places of the engines, hose wagons 3 o e 3 IESIEVENINE Hihe Newimape: Y |ana trucks that havo been disabled, Busiess Office, 11¢h St. and Peansylvania Ave. and even the fund for repalring this New York Office: 150 Nassau Ot. Turopecs Gife 18 Nigen Br, Lantion Eoglana. | broken equipment is so slender that the Commissioners are almost at their “The Evening Btar, with the Sunday moridk | wity end to find the money with which tion. the city e e 7 Gaiis paly, 45 cests per | to bring the department back to mor- only. 45 ceats per s per month. or. | mal. The department on its best foot- be sent by mail, or telephone Main . 5000, Collection is made by carriers 8t the}ing is too small, and repeated efforts SIEJRT aRR otk have been made to secure an appro- Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance, |priation for reserve equipment. The Maryland and Virginia. efforts must he renewed, and the pres- Daily and Sunday..1vr.. $8.40; 1 mo,, 70c{ ent situation of the department point- Yy o 1 yr., P 09; 2o ed to as proof of the need for reserve engines, reels and trucks. The condi- tion is serious today, and it is obvious- 85c {1y hazardous that the department \_305 thould be without apparatus to imme- P diately replace that put out of coromis- sion by hard use and accident. —_———— Rolling Eggs. ...13T., $2.40; 1 mo., All Other States. Daily and Sunday..1 yr., $10.00; 1 mo. Daily only. J1yr. $7.00; 1 mo. Sunday only 1yr, $2.00;1mo. Member of the Associated Press. The Astociated Press §s exclusively entitled | o the use for republieation of all mews dis | paiches credited to it or not otherwise credited I3 this pe) d also the local news pub- The eg Haned > hireia “Ab Yients of poblieariog of | The esgrolling spectacle in the pecial dispatches herein are also reserved. | White 1louse grounds and on the < slopes in Zoological Park is one that can be seen in no other city in the world. Nowhere else is Easter egg- rolling @ children’s pastime. It is dis- tinctively Washingtonian, end from this city it spread to Baltimore and Richmond and a few other places, but it never made there the appeal it does to Washington children. The Easter egg and egg games are as old in northern Europe as recorded history. | Arbitration Instead of Strike. On the face of the showing made by both sides, the dispute between the employers and union painters of Washington called for arbitration and not strike, the only point m controversy being as to the correct interpretation of continuing clauses | in last year's contract. An increase of from $3 to $9 a day in wages is de-{put the plav of rolling eggs down a manded, and the employing painters ! zrasey clope was not one of the games | are willing to grant the increase. but!of our northern ancestors. There is no { there is conflict of @s 1o record of how, it came to be plaved in whether the ixinters ave entitled 10| Washington, but the oldest Washing- have the increase take effect immedi- | tonian remembers rolling eggs, and at or after an interval of sixty davs{says that he remembers that his father from the time the demand was made.{and mother, if Washington-born, told Both parties rest their case on the|phim that when they were little chil provisions of a contract which expired | gren they rolled eggs at Easter. The on the last day of January. The union | custom probably originated on the sod nainters contend that the 1922 agree-| terraces at the west front of the Capi ment lapsed on January 31, the lastday | o] generations before the present of its stated term. The employers insist } “marble terraces’ were built. The that the agreement continued auto-| Faster picnic was an early institution wmatically after that date until sixty | pere, as in other cities, and many davs’ notice tion had been | years ago there was only one public ziven by eil and "that they | park in the capital to which picnickers had no notice from - employes of | could resort. That was Capitol Park, desire to terminate the agreement or | mych smailer and less handsome than change its terms until March 15. it is now. A few trees and shrubs The cmployers rightly contend that|and plots of grass had been planted ‘t is vitally necessary to their business | within the higi fence around the Capi end to the interest of their emploves|tol Square and it was a park. In the that the industry should be stabilized:| children’s picnic lunch baskets were ibat contracts have to be entered into | hara-boiled dved eggs. Some child. ac months in advance and that they can-| cidentally or purposel; lled eggs rot risk entering into such contracts|down one of those steep turf terraces. it they cannot know from one month, Other children followed suit and to aenother the wages they will be|custom was born. When th called upon to pay. The union paint-|peds knows. but it was many ers undoubtedly will concede rez-{ggo conableness of this contention, and all reputable unionism now is committed | to the proposition that contracts once entered into must be faithfully (arried our. 1t wouid seem, therefore, tha:t the only dispute between the master paint- ers and their striking employes is the | vesult of a distinct difference of opi n as to the proper interpretation of contract. No such dispute ever ought to be permitted to reach the stage of a strike. It is clearly a caee which should have been submitted to impartial adjudication, preferably to €n umpire with legal training. It is not yet too late to take such a com- mon-sense way out of the difficulty. a opinion hat was no- vears ————— Women in Politics. Secietary Davis of the Department of Labor, addressing the Women's Re- publican Club Boston terde paid a deserved tribute to women's activities fn politics. It was not by way of handing them a bouquet in a spirit of political gallantry, but the studied words of an observer and a participant national politics. He | found, he said, “a great consolation for the present. a great hope for the future. in the advent of our American women into political life through the exercise of the right of suffrage.” That sentiment is now shared widely among in > 3 in and both parties will show thelr good | Practical wnoliticians,” so called be faith and fair intentions by agreeing|Cause they are presumed to be in %o thiaimethod oF conauiatior touch with the rank and file of the electorate. ard to study political cause e Cleaning Up. and efiect rather than pursue theori Secretary Davis went on to say, “1 We are now in the midst of Clean-fam one of those who believe that 1p week, and the city refuse division | women politics means better poli i3 doing an extra bit of collecting. Spe- | ot worse women, and that won cial wagons follow the ordinary trash | carts through the alleys to pick up everything that may be thrown out of the basement or the attic. the wood- shed or the garage. This is done to help citizens clean up. 7The Distriet government does something besides collect taxes. Some fellow citizens may lose sight of this, but there are times when the government goes in for co-operation and is willing to do | zome of the co-operating. This is one of those occasions. The engincer de- rartment is helping in the clean-up. In many houses there are things cast off which cannot be cast out without hir- § a private carter or wagoner, or| @y the phrase goes now. a truck, to haul the thing away. The engineer department will attend to that, once vou get the cast-off thing out of the house and into the alley. While spring house cleaning is going on, and reople are making ready to paint up the frent porch and spruce up the back porch, many persons whose habits have been sedentary all winter can get some exercise by raking the litter and dead grass off the lawn and giving it & chance to turn green. f————t————— They are panning to use the beau- tiful Lincoln Memorial pool as a land- ing station for Navy Department planes. Why not turn over the Wash- ington Monument to the War Depart- ment as a signal tower and develop the Arlington Memorial as a rest room for the wireless operators. ——————— The strike of the local painters’ union does not stop any progressive ‘Washingtonian from buying a can of his favorite color and a Bru: and making “Clean-up, Paintup week” a personal issue.* en will bring into public life those same virtues rey have so long displayed in American home life.” The “practical politicians™ know that they are doing so. Croakers were wont to say, in opposing woman suffrage, that mixing in politics would brush the bloom from womanhood, by contact of the delicate with the gress. The proving the case; the gross is being refined. Woman's most effective work in politics, many thoughtful politicians think, will be to discern the evil, the | hypoerisy among politicians through her own highly sensitive instinct for the good and the true, and to fight|{ them when found. The country needs women to take part in politics in greater number, and they will as they become increasingly familiar with the game and appraise the value to the nation of woman's work in politics. —————————— The French sculptor whose statue of a doughboy wears gloves could never have seen the way a real Yank aid his job. Fritz will vouch for the fact that he was not handled with gloves on. ———— The “big five” becomes the “big! four.” Armour & Co. has ebsorbed Morris & Co. The merger is said to be legally unassailable—being heavily Armour-plated. —————— Despite the claim, made not so long ]on, that the league is dead, Lord Robert Cecil will speak to the United States on a topic of live interest. ————— The Jackson Statue. 1t is not easy to evict Andrew Jack- son from lafayette Square. Any at- tempt to do this which may have been contewplated has been abandoned. Doubtless there never was a serious thought of making the attempt with- out putting the question up to Con- gress, and it may be that suggestions were made that Old Hickory be moved to a less conspicuous place and Wash- ington put in his place just to see what would happen. It happened. Old citizens, even some never suspected of being Jacksonian democrats, ob- Jected. The Tennessee Daughters of the American Revolution protested and the Andrew Jackson Soclety of Tennessee objected. A member of Congress from Tennessce protested “on behalf of the entire citizenship of Tennessee. Secretary Weeks says the War Department has no intention of putting Jackson in Washington Circle and Washington in Lafayette Square, and that no steps will be taken in this direction without au- thority from Congress. There the Jackson statue has stood since Janu. According to Secretary Davis, Presi- Aent Harding is letting the opposition do the worrying about 1924, ————— Horse-Drawn Fire Engines. ‘The fire horse has been called out of wetirement to pull fire-fighting appara- tus, and we will probably see him gal- loping through the streets drawing an antique engine. He is not as young and mettlesome as he was, and he cannot be in as high state of training as when he was answering alarms day and night. It is a fortunate circum- stance that pleasant weather is here, and that the going is fairly good for an old horse. We salute the old fire horse with affection. He is & veteran and he has done the state some serv- jce. We think of him most kindly for the good he did us in other days. His return ie picturesque and romantic, out there is another story to be told. Severe!l pieces of modern fire-fighting apperatus have been disabled in the i the p THE. EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 1923. ary 8, 1833, there it stands end there it will stand. Jackson's friends are still numerous and alert. There have been other efforts to put Andrew Jack- son off the reservation, but he refuses to be put. Art critics have squinted at the statue, made faces at it and de- clared it was not art. Jacksonians have said: “Art critics, bah! Touch one bronze rivet in yon old statue if thou darest! Art or not art, it is a statue erected in honor and dedicated to the memory of Andrew Jackson, and any- body who proposes to put chat statue out of the park is & whig, or worse.” When Congress, in March, 1855, ap- propriated $50,000 for a statue of Lafayette the commission having the matter in charge recommended that Lafayette be given the center of the park and that Jackson be transferred to some other site. The proposal to oust the victor of New Orleans started an uproar. The Lafayettecistas re- treated, and proposed that the statue of the great Frenchman be given a place on the Pennsylvania avenue side of the square halfway between Jack- son and Madison places. The foun- dation was built, but Congress, in Au- gust, 1890, directed that the work be stopped because the Lafayette statue would obstruct a view of the Jack- son statue from the White Ilouse. So far from permitting Jackson to be put out of the square, Congress would not | permit his view of the White House to be cut off. Lafayette, thercafter, was stood up on the southeast corner of the square. The Jacksonlans are very moderate in permitting the square in which Jackson rides to be called after Lafayette. If they should exert their strength they might res store to the reservation its ulder name, Jackson Square. ——— Sun Yat Sen is going to open China's door to American and British capital. American capital, contemplatng all the doors mow open to it, finds jtself suffering from an embarrassment of riches in opportunities. —_—————— One of 115 questions 1o be asked en- listed men in the Army is: Who won the war against Germanyv?’ Why ex- pect a buck private to answer a ques- tion which is stumping world's greatest statesmen” e ———————— The world champion long dancer vegetarian. This is haps good propaganda for vegetarians —but e troul is there are so few who aspire to that particular cha plonship. —————— A Virginia cow has produced 152 pounds of butter fat in one month and claims a world record. a Virginia cow committed suicide. Bossy is willing to go to any extremes for Last week { publicity. ———————— The decreased British income tax produced £50,000,000 more than it was expected to, proving that excessive in- come taxation is as bad for the na- tion’s interests as for dividua!. ————————— se of the in- ¥rance seems determined to Leep ¢ ranke of her army full. Tobacco il supplied soldiers at 3 francs a kilogram, though taxation has for rice to civilians up to 27'% franes. —_—————— e American dancer who is report- ed to have shocked Paris. while de- serving censure, has only accom- lished what Parisian danc have long attempted without success. —_—————— Pennsylvania mounted police have been ordered 1o enforce the prohibi- tion laws. A case of riding to the rum hounds. —_—————————— However much noise dealers may make, the Maryland oyster is keeping mum on the question of its disappear- ance. A British scientist has discovered the origin of coal. We can guess at the destination of the coal profiteers. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHIL NDER JOHNRON Miss April Miss Aprii's 8o coquettish dat she'll always keep you vexed She's smilin’ sweet one minute, an’ she’s sheddin’ tears de next. One day she’s dressed in blossoms, like a lady fit to kill, An’ de next she's col’ an’ distant, till you nearly has a chill. She almos’ drives us crazy wid her tantalizin® ways. But jes’ de same we loves her an’ we allus sings her praise. Her frowns is full o' sadness, an’ dey Lothers us a lot, But when she smiles upon us—all de rest is clean forgot. Protect the Pie. If your going to be & statesman perform your duty well, And make a showing in the tale history has to tell, You want to mind a point that's very often overlooked And give minute attention to the way your food is cooked. For an intellect that's placid under ordinary use Becomes abnormally alert or painfully obtuse, And lends itself to actions that are very impolite In cmotional excitement when pie ain’'t right. and that tae How many accusations that were cruel end unjust Have emanated from a bit of tough and s0ggY crust; : How many weird suggestions that have made the people wince Are caused by injudiclous things that mingle in the mince? For the ills of indigestion so affect the best of men That they grow as harsh and restless @s a lion in his den. So let’s turn in and legislate and toil # both day end night To prevent the things that threaten when the pie an't right. THE WAYS OF WASHINGTON BY WILLIAM PICKETT HELM NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM There is only one person in the United States who can sign the Presi- dent’s name to an official document and get away with it. One person, I mean, of course, other than the Presi- dent himself. That person is a woman, Mrs. Viola B. Pugh, who lives in Kensington, Md., and works In the general land office of the Interior Department. She Is authorized by law to sign the President's name and is the only per- son so authorized. Her whole duty consists of signing his name to official papers. When {there are no more papers to be sign- ed her day's work is done. It may be that there are enough documents on her desk to keep her busy all day; it may be that there are only a few. It matters not. If there happen to be only a few and she should finish the job by, say, 1 o'clock in the after- noon, she has done her task and the rest of the day is hers. A good job, vou say? of lacking in vartety. Moreover, the short-hour feature isn't all it's cracked up to be. Mrs. Pugh gener- 1ally finds that there are enough pa vers to be signed to keep her occu pled from 9 to 4:30. Mrs. Pugh is not authorized to sign the Prf!udeu!'l! name to any and every kind of official paper. She fs restricted in her work solely to sign- ing his name to land patents. "There are about 400 of these docu- ments Lo sign every day. Some davs. of course, there are a good many more than that number; on other days the number will fall below 400, but the figure Is a fair average The law requires her to sign her immediately beneath that of the thus G. Harding Yes, but sort name By AMrs. Viola B. Pugh. Secretary. Mrs. Pugh enfered upon her duties 1921, She has signed Harding’'s name to about uments since that time. All of which. of course, lightens the President’s task by just so much. A considerable lightening of the task. it figures out in the long run, of a man who not only has a man's share of pressing problems put up to him every day, but in addition has hours of just such routine as Mrs. Pugh {takes from his desk. About a vear ago Mrs introduced President Harding at the White House. He had heard of her, but had not met her before that tme. “I feel, Mr. President” she said, “that it a most distinctive honor to be permitted to sign vour name.’ The President smiled.. “Well” he replied, “there are not many who can do it Pugh was The job of p was created esidential name signer v Congress upward of ninety vears ago, during the admin tstration of Andrew Jackson. _Prior to that time the President wds re- quired to sign personally every land patent However, in March, 1323, President Jackson had got Lehind to the extent of 20,000 patents. In other words, it would have been necessary for him to devote his entire time for about two | Sincere Regret Voiced Over Bern- hardt’s Passing. The ng of Sarah Bernhardt caused versal sorrow throushot America and emphasized here, probably more than in France, that the last of sroughly trained ac- their art above In her prime she Duse and Ellen likely in sheer an ac- the old school of ti tresses who placed money has departed. was mentioned wit Terry jougs very | charm of manner and avilit riress psed both of the: no' only a memory to the older generation of stagegoers. As the Sche- ~tte points out, “as long as o she ecl who are rectads Bernhardt lived and walked the tragic sta 1e kept alive in the world some spark of idealism in her masterly terpretation of the urge of life that always being lost 00 men and women with tence who dally things of long an 1st, er visits to Am g0 News rec: “were unfailing Perfuniphs until perhaps the last one. Her dauntless courage enabled her as a | grandmother over seventy to undirtake and successfully carry off vouthful {parts. It kept her fighting for renewed sirengh through the loug illness that ended in her death.” In addition, the Ind:anapolis News points out, “there wus the skill that is associated only with genius and she used it well” Which rica, the leads the Asbumy Park Press to suggest leaves ber life after he the los “the inspiration which for those who follow measure, compensaies her physical presence.’” “If there ever was a queen of the was her mafesty, the Divine the St Louis Bost-Dispatc “What a relgn she had v middle ageo of today Bernhardt is mostly a legend But 1o the elders of all the nations there are great Bernhardt memories that thrill across the years The curtain flickers and drops. but, as the Albany News points out. “while she was dying workmen were carrying from the house the equipment and setting for her last motion picture. So we will always have her with us in form and feature as weil as in memory. But the great theater is very dark today.” Supreme in her art and versatile to a pre-eminent degres, Bernhardt ‘“‘was famous in several flelds,” the Buffalo Times says. and she won renown “as author. scuiptor and painter, as well as the world's greatest tragedienne. Awe is _deeply with admiration in the feeling with which she world bows to the ever-living memory of her whose golden voice is forever hushed.” ~This likewise is very much the opinion of the Dayton News, urges. the vouth and even ear! which points out while shc belonged ! “to the old school.” that branch “never- | theless has left an enduring monument {o iis greatness.” The Roanoke World- News recalls that “for the second time in the twentieth century the world has pauced at the bier of & woman. In 1901 it uncovered its head for a last look at the beloved Queen Victoria of England. Now it stands contemplating all that remains of the Divine Sarah. When the creator let down the curtain upon In a Few Words. The modern girl does not love with the "11-follow-you-into-the-desert” sort of love. Love is only one of the jssues in marriage today. —KATHLEE! ORRIS. Any one who refuses to swallow the fatuous optimism which govern- ments feed to the people in order to decelve them knows that we are still in the midst of storm and far from port. —M. FERREROS. From coast to coast bobbed hair is being coaxed to grow, for the flap- per's relgn has ended. —_MISS EDITH KEMPTHORNE. ficulty with Germanv, her d her people, is that im- ly after the war she began, I palam. of propeganda to prove that she did not start the war, and, second, & gn to prove ‘ehe aid not lose the war. hoping thus %o prove that she did not owe any P ln—y:;dmA%:TIN W. LITTLETON. dered my staff to stop cl;-:‘e‘l‘(’: a‘;:loklns because it is too effeminate. My deputies must be un-toting, he-men, with & shooting ron_on oach hip and & corncob in ‘mouths. it —SHERIFF TOM CAVNAR. (Oklamoha City, Okla.) The i statesmen an: EDITORIAL DIGEST To | mingled | months just to signing his name to the patents in order to catch up. President Jackson was dismayed at the magnitude and monotony of the job. An appeal was made to Con- gress and a law sed authorizing him to appoint a secretary, at a salary of $1,500, to sign his name to the documents. The law provided, however, that the arrangement should continue In force only four years. Forty-five vears later, or in 1878, Congress again came to the rescue of an overburdened President and au- thorized him to designate one of the executive clerks as name signer to land patents. Willlam N. Creek was appointed to the job and held it for six years. It was found then that the arrangement didn’t work well, almost wholly be- cause Mr. Creek had so many other {duties that he was compelled to delay the name signing from time to time. President Arthur.then obtained an appropriation designating “one fe- male clerk, to be designated by the President, to sign land patents.” The authorization has been continued ever since. The first ‘emnale clerk’” so desi nated was Miss Marcia McKean, a descendant of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and also of the first governor of Penn- sylvania under the Constitution. She held the place until her death, thir- teen vears later, in 1897. When she died, her sister, Miss F. M. McKean, was appointed to succeed her. She held the place ten years, until her death. Mrs. M. W. Young, the next incum- bent, was appointed by President Roosevelt in 1907 and served until her death in 1910. Then there was appointed Mrs. M. P. LeRoy, widow of Jaumes A. LeRoy, | i who had been associated with Mr. Taft in the first Philippine commis- sio: President Taft eave her the appointment and she held it for more than eleven years. At the end of that time Mrs. LeRoy was apponited recorder in the gen- eral land office, a position she now holds, and Mrs. Pugh w her successor. Incidentally, Mrs. LeRoy has signed the names of Presidents Taft. Wilson and Harding. She has signed as many as 1,500 documents a duy. And if you are inclined to make light of that feat, try it some time. You will notice that several of the women who have held the place have s named as been designated by the initials of their Christian and maiden naines. There is a reason for that When Mrs. LeRoy entered upon her duties she was asked how she usuaily signed her name. “Mabel P. LeRoy,” she replied. “Well, let me suggest.” sald Ler ad- lviser, “that you dou't do It Suit ‘vourself,” of course, b |save @ lot of extra writing Jcut the “Mabel' to just plain She aid so. But somehow |Mrs. Pugh took over the work she failed to receive this sound advice So she started in by signing her full first name And now she's got to keep on sign- ing it that way. It means littie, so far as one signature is concerned, but when it cores to 200,000 signatures— Well, figure it out fo rse her life He brought to a close tne exh bition of one of His masterpieces.’ Thres generations, as the Harris- burg Telegraph see it, “have known and admired her. Sie was the ‘last a famous figure throbbing personality n and women of today living link between the drzb of the present and the glory Fat was yesterd A world figure, she i3 now history,” and “for the slage of Prance she did much; for the stage of the world, more.” the | Newark News says. She was uncon- | Querable vouth incarnate. At nearly eighty she submitted to the only ux Ibeatabie adversary. Now she is g and her successor ie still ugknown For, in all the wide world of the stage today. there is no one to take her place ~ She was unigue.” Paus- ing to reflect on her crowned career the Knoxville Sentinel shows how even at the last her art was supreme like Napoleon. whose stormy soul ared on the field of battle at death, leaf cn the tree’ | ratl:er than {for voung m —last | realftie | ! Mme. Berniandt's soul trod the mimic stage as she died” and, as the Norfolk Ledger Dispatch recalls, “of course France mourns. itself bows its head.” less and “her fame confined to no c to no one continent; it flam- ed 8o high and in glory so superb as to be seen around the world,” the | Lynchburg News asserts. “The world & tes her with its homage, while { princes nd potentates, statesmen and sages, the renowned of the carth {and the more obscure in countless numbers, pay the tribute of exalted lionor to the unrivalled spiendor of | the wonderfuily lived and matchless- 1y_wrought career.” Now she belongs to the ages the Boston Post suggests_in recalling Lincoln’s death nd Stanton's im- mortal remark. “and it will be a precious rememberance to thousands of our countrymen that they were privileged to see and hear upon the living stage thie rare embodiment of dramatic power and glory.” Her suc- cess very probably was due, the Al- bany Knickerbocker Press believes, in that “what tc others would have been an insurmountable obstacle, to her was of little moment, o compel- ling and convincing were the factors which _made her impersonations Mme. Bernhardt's career covered glorious era In the history of the drama, and her name stands among the foremeost.” This also is the view of the Lynchburg Advance, which suggests that “sheer technical effi- ciency and the mastering of every detall is said to have been the real secret of her success. She dominated the stage scenes by her dramatic talent and her emotional acting. based principally on love, hate and jealousy, captivated her audiences. Mme. Bernhardt reached a pinnacle never attained by another actress. and her death leaves vacant a place in the theatrical world that may never be filled” A great actress and “an ! otherwise remarkable woman,” the Washington Star points out. the lines of great writers never suffered by her delivery of them.” and in her passing, the Philadelphia Public Ledger says, “Franco has lost an ornament, the stage a genius, the age a fine spirit, who set humanity an * example of victorious courge.” And art | | She was peer- ;Deplores Failure | | to Cut Coal Price To the Editor of The Star; As a citizen of the District of Co- lumbta, I want to thank vou for the splendid_editorial on the high cost of coal and the notice of the dealers that the high price of coal would continue as now. I have for many years put in my supply of coal for the winter in April or May, thereby getting _the benefit of the' summer prices, but according to & notice I read in the papers a few days ago there will bo no summer prices and in my humble judgment there is no sane reason for this highway rob- Lerv. It seems to me there should be a law to protect the people from such hands. but all the people get is in- vestigations. and after the investiga- tions a higher price for everything you have to buy. Look at the price of sugar, is there any sane reason for this? 1 believe there,Is to be an in- vestigation on tho high price of sugar. Now we are paying nine cents and after the investigation wo vrill no doubt be paying ten or cloven cents. Is there no help for us? R. F. FORTUNE. Opposes More Speed. To the Editor of The &tar: From time immemorial there has existed a subconcious antagonism between the pedestrian and the rider. Increasing the sgeed Mmits for au- tomobiles will not’ tend to ameliorate this condition. G. E. GRIFFIN. LIFE AND LETTERS OF WALTER H. PAGE. By Burton Hendrick. Doubleday, Page & Co. “He was as much of a war casualty as was his nephew, Alllson Page, who lost his life with his tace to the Ger- man machine guns in Belleau wood. Burton Hendrick, author-editor, is speaking of Walter Hines Page, the subject of this “Life and Letters. Once you have read the book you will yourself—but read it. The London Times only a few da: ago_published an open letter, signed by Bonar Law, Balfour, Mr. Asquith, David Lloyd George and Lord Grey. suggesting that a tablet be erected in Westminster to the memory of Mr. Page. The dean and chapter of the abbey welcomed the plan and today contributions from a grateful Eng- land promise its prompt and worthy fulfiliment. ‘These tributes of recognition spring from the public service of Walter Page—service that was substantial, devoted, self-forgetting, inspired, when the world itself was at its high- est point of need. * ok £ % The letters cover the five years during which Mr. Page served the United States and England as am- bassador from the former country to the latter—years that coincided with the course of the world war. They are addressed to President Wilson, to Col. House, to the Secretary of State (Bryan or Lansing), to his own sons and to personal friends, among thess Mr. F. N. Doubleday of the house ot Doubleday, Page & Co. All of them have but a single common theme—the war. One comes out of this reading tre- mendously impressed. Work—moun- tains of it; obstacles set off against the work—these also mountain high. Achievement, nevertheless, of an or- der 50 high, even in a world-wide crisis, as to hold attention and com- mand recognition. A self-sacrificlal achievement, too, as it turned out to be. One comes out enriched by new contacts with m man of sound fiber, of flaming patriotism, of electric per- sonality. ~ Dauntless, persistent, pos- sessed of a vision that no clouds of indifference or disfavor could dim. * %k ok During the two and a half years of United States neutrality the work of five embassies, Leside his own, fell upon Mr. Page and his force. But plain work coufll be carrled out, and was, in a whirlwind of enthuslastic efficiency. One in sympathy here grows tired in mind and body over what Mr. Page tried to accomplish agalnst enormous odds, and did ac- complish, with the help of a most intelligent, untiring and loyal set of assistants. The ambassador would tngpire that kind of service. Such is the kind that he himself gave =% The bulk of these letters should have been official rather than per- sonal. They would have been had not the State Department failed to function in respect to the ambassador. Impertant questions unanswered; im- ds unheeded; vital secrets leaking out into the open. The first secretary babbled of peace. The sec- ond one lost himself following the labyrinthine thread of the law on “continuous voyage.” perative n raband” and the " of ships. Andthe submarines were winning the war— Lad it all but won. Mr. Page was forced. in something like desperation, to turn to the President and his chief adviser in an urgency of personal ap- peal for decision and action. At first, before the letters grew importunate and troublesome, Mr. Wilson welcom- ed them w and then he would read one In cabinet meeting—maybe merely for the gusto and charm of it For here was a man of his own classic tradition; a man, too, of dy- namic force and wide outlook. Won- derful letters these, picturesque in portravel, meteoric in effect But the etters grew in anxiety and urgency, for the submarines were winning the war. Mr. Page wanted actlon and destroyer ships, and wanted both im- mediately, as the only salvation from a world-wide catastrophe. The Presi- dent cooled. “Page is more British thar the British.” * * And upon us a “neutrality in thought” as well as in word and deed. He was holding up to admiration the lofty spirit that makes one too proud to fight. Te was temporizing, seeking delay. in the hope of negotiations that would end the war, bringing “a peace without victory.” ' He was en- gased in academic discussions upon the equal culpability of both belliger- ents in all wars, past and present. The President was, in his own mind, projecting peace wherein he was en- Visaging a peacemaker, such an one the world had not seen in 2,000 years. E submarines were The English, dazed the winning the war. and stirred to the depths of apprehen- sion and alarm, came to lose confi- Meanwhile dence in the American government. They never lost faith in the Ameri- can people. And in this meantime the Germans were one with the Presi- dent in an advocacy of delay, In pro- fessing themselves ready for nego- tiations. They were, however, carry- ing forward in this_ countr: with characteristic thoroughness, course of instruction on the blessings of pro-Germanism, interspersing this program with effective and far-reach- ing methods of sabotage or utter destruction of war industry plants. One smiles now, almost, over the art- lese and inept character of our states- manship; over the easy confidence of the amateur; over the plous provin- cial notion that we are all honest and good together. The Lusitania! Now! This is the day! Not at all That day is a long way oft. Thrill- ing reading right here in these let- ters. Pitiful reading ,too. *® K ¥ % Then Pershing and Sims and our boys—thousands and thousands of these soldiers of ours. The rest of the immortal story is open. It has small part here, for the ambassador's job is finished. And these letters make a disclosure such as no other set of circumstances could have pro- duced. Forced into the open by the urge of the situation, they profect a clear record of intimate and signifi- cant fact that is of historical value quite apart from any man's indi- vidual fortune. * x k% Work-—more than any man could stand; anxicties such as no man should, in such a cause, be expected to carry; a new diet that did not fit the overtried system—a rigid food ration throughout; the mission, de- epite all this, triumphantly com- pleted; and the ambassador turned for home in 2 passionate longing for America. ‘Then the racing ship, driven by fear. Then the landing and the temporary revival. Then the further longing for the old home in North Carolina. Only a day or so there—and the great ambmssador had gone. One Yeads here in tears of gratitude and affection for this finely great and simple compatriot, who, to Tiis last ounce of strength and to the last moment of his life, worked with inspiration and ardor for a sincere friendship between the United States and Great Britain in the full con- viction that their understanding co- operation meant the future well being of the world. The first step in this rogression was the winming of the :l‘f to which himeelf B;‘ gfl own life. . A the President from his own| high plane was steadfastly urging| =B S e e e e e — CAPITAL KEYNOTES BY PAUL V. COLLI? Senator Fess, republican, of Ohio, Wwho has always been rated as a con- servative, comes forward with a pro- posal to limit the powers of the Su- preme Court so that it will require & vote of aix justices out of the nine to declare a law unconstitutional. He claims that that would stop the one- man power, under which some im- portant legislation has been set aside, by a vote of five to four justices, and, in some cases, reaflirmed as constitu- tianal later when a new justice suc- tice succeeded to the bench. * w b oW The power of Congress to control th, acts of the Supreme Court in this way rests upon the provision of article 3, section 2, which provides that in all cases In which ambassadors, minis- ters, consuls or a state is a party the Supreme Court shall have origi- nal jurisdiction. “In all other cases before mentioned the Supreme Court shali have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such excep- tions and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.”" Clearly, then, Congress may make such regulations as it deems proper limiting the appellate power of the Supreme Court. That is & very different proposition from the idea advanced by Senator La Follette, that in case the Supreme Court shall nullify a law as being unconstitutional, then Congress may repass that law, much as it is now empowered to override a presidential veto. In that case it would stand as law, regardless of the Constitu- tlon. That would be an enlargement of the powers of Congress as well as a curtailment of the powers of the Supreme Court, and, as held by law- yers, would not be possible through a constitutional amendment Senator Fess contends that the La| Follette proposal is “vicious.” * % k% Some pessimists of the churches have bewailed the coming of the automobile, the wireless telephone and general amusements, which, they believed, were sure to distract public interest away from church attend- ance. The statistician of the Coun- cil of Churches reports that during the last year the churches have had a net increase of 1,220,428 members— an average of 3,345 Increase of mem- bers daily. The total church mem- bership now is 47.461,158 which is nearly half the population of the country. C The use of wireless telephony for troadcasting sermons and church services, instead of drawing people away from church attendance, is found to arouse interest in churches and Increase the local attendance. Who can say but that the automo- bile has not been unjustly accused of being anti-church in its {nfluence? It certainly takes less effort to over- come the inclination to stay at home, when one may ride comfortably to church, than if the trip meant a long walk or an uncomfortable street car ride Whatever may be the causes of the growth of churches, the fact stand and it suggests that the churches are fulfilling @ popular want. In some denominations the tendency appears to trend toward consolidation—fewer but larger and better churches. ® % % % Even with the preliminary scratch- ing of the surface, the current in- vestigation of the Veterans’ Bureau by Maj. Gen. O'Ryan and his staff, on behalf of the senatorial commit- tee, s discovering “wild extrava- ance and irregularities in the spend- ng of hospital moneys. inefliciency in the rehabilitation division and a general fallure effectively to carry out the government program of aid to the disabled veterans.” There appears to have been “gross negligence in spending the $2,146,000.000_ disbursed by the bureau,” says Maj. Gen. O'Ryan. Turkey. Contrary Will Not BY THE MARQUISE DE FONTENOY. Turkey will not be dry. Tt had been announced with great flourish of trumpets that the Angora govern- ment had determined to follow im- plicitly the commands of the prophet and of the founder of Islam, who in A. D. 632 had pronounced himself unequivocably for teetotalism and that prohibition would therefore be rigidly enforced throughout the Otto- ‘man empire, not only by the religious, but also by the temporal authorities. In fact, all the foreigners at Con- stantinople and elsewhere in Turkey were laying in big stocks of wines and spirits in prevision of the in- auguration of a totally dry regime, which it was believed, perhaps wrongly, would appeal favorably to the American government and people. Since then the heads of the An» gora government seem to have been enlightened about the difficulties and enormous expense of the enforcement of prohibition in the United States and about the lawlessness which it has engendered. For the Angora government, under the guidance of Kemal Pasha and of his premier, Reouf Bey, Turkey's naval hero, has declded to abandon its project of making Turkey dry, owing to “local difficulties.” It is a great victory for the wets— a victory which is sald to have been due in no small measure to the influ- ence of the exceedingly up-to-date, progresstve and emancipated Smyrni- ote heiress recently married to Kemal | Pasha, and through her good looks, her cleverness and her wholly for- eign education has Teduced to com- plete subjection her husband. who is near a quarter of a century her senfor. Indeed, it looks very —much as if the real ruler of Turkey 18 not Kemal or Reouf Bey, nor vet the Angora government, but the twenty- two-year-old Mme. Kemal. = & ¥ ¥ Count Albert Bernstorff, who has fust been appointed second secretary of the German embassy in London, s not the son, but the nephew of ex-Emperor Willlam's former repre- sentative in the United States. Ger- many's ex-envoy at Washington has only one gon of the name of Gunther, now over thirty vears old, whose mother was a Miss Luckemeyer of New York, and who, at the time of the outbreak of the world war, was learning American business methods as @ clrek in the New York bank- ing firm of James Speyer. After- ward he became involved in a scan- dal at Berlin, which resulted in his aismissal from the German army by the ex-kalser as the result of a ver- alct of a military court of honor, composed of the officers of the cav- alry regiment, in which he held a commission, one of the causes heing that he had permitted his shoulder- straps to be torn from his uniform and his sword to be broken across the knee in & public resort in Berlin by the former husband of the Ameri- can lady who s now his wife. The newly appointed secretary of the German embassy in London is an entirely different person and a landed proprietor. _He completed his edu- cation at Trinity College, Oxford, where he took his degree, and is the son and heir of the late Count An- drew Bernstorff, who was during the latter part of his life one of the heads of the state department of pub- lic worship at Berlin and the princi- pal adviser and counsellor of the late r except 5 S There is no one in the American Legion who will take any satisfac- tion in the “I-told-you-so” attitude, although the investigation is more than confirming the worst charges of neglect and waste ever made by the friends of the veterans. Gen. Hines has set about correcting the maladministration of affairs as rapldly as possible. One wrong re cently stopped is the practice of &o- called “guardians” of the mental de fectives who have been gouging their charges for collecting their monthly allowances. Millions of dollars have been reaped from the insane or the shell-shocked, just as was the abuse of pensioners “which grew up afte the civil war by “pension agents until stopped by aj. Gen O'Ryan proposes to an ir vestigation com each state to g0 to the bottom of the entire scandal. In this he will have the operation not only of the Legl of many attorieys who are in Army service and are natural cham- pions of justice to their buddies the Ve solution tha sild- Gen. Hines, erans' Bureau, has found a for the great bugaboo afflicting White committee hospital b ing. The committee hesitated delayed the carrying out of th date of Congress to erect as expeditiously as possible beca the members fearcd t atter so years, when the hospital needs will have pass. cre would be too many hospitals in the and no way to use them. T} would pass more rapidly If the and wounded were not properhy housed. But that was not what the committee had All that the committee wo was wh to do with the & director of ar hospita the soldiers now needing them would pass on. n. Hines says that by that tin there will be nced for soldiers’ homes for the middle-aged veterans of toda will be growing old, their infirmities naturally will begin_ to tell upor them, and out of 4,500,000 men the Army there will be many needinz the benefit of a retreat in old ags and feebleness. ‘There is one feature about Ge Hines which is not always prominer in public servan is human He's a regular budd * * The most discreet order ever glve by Col. Sherrlil was that one he pr mulgated last Friday when the the too. mometer hovered around zero in the shade. He took that occasion to d¢ nounce the one-picce bathing suit Everybody had to agree with hin then, that at least two pieces were preferable, especially if they wer “all wool and a yard wide.” How % hate fans in winte * % * obile tags L Distr: week Reciprocity of au tween Maryland and Columbia during the Shriners’ convention i is denied by Maryland enforcing officials” are powerless to suspend the la Itheless, the District of Columbia will welcome the automobiles fro states, including Maryland, witho requiring a local tag wi Preparations are making for least 400,000 Shriners in this city 450,000. There have been predictions that it will be impossibie to ratio that many guests, but the prophets of evil forget that which rationed over F. this is the ¢ 4,000 £00.000 gu les from ts? 1 very well to f o £logan, “Park your camel w . * but_where are we go park the automobiles after the ro will be ross are all filled? Every camel comfortable, for ya desert a week on what before he started: and this dryest Sahara any camel cross. Why, the po the daughter of stead last weck fered with a horse jwatering trough. She e can march tin front of the drir how dry it is. But lmln& (Qopyright. 1823, Ly I'. V. Collins) to Expectations. Accept Teetotalism press in all her fgious and philant In his younger days in the diplom s been dismissed b: marck, owing to the incompatibilit of his evangelical hobbies with his diplomatic duties. Thus, while secretary of the ‘man Madrid, he had started embassy wall upon a ing tour through the provinces. ac companied by a cart drawn by . donkey, and freighted translations of As Protestant prose strictly forbidder became involved rural authorities ¥ law trouble with the clergy—was i mobbed in many places by the peas- ants-—and was 1y arrested locked up, which naturaliy re in a diplomatic incident, in parture from Spain v termination of his diplomatic career He married a very rich Swiss lady remarkable for her immense stature which exceeded six foot two. * % ¥ % As for Count Gunther Bernstorf? and his American wife, the latter is an adopted daughter of E. J. T son_of Burlington. N. J. husband was James A. Birch, Jr. carriage manufacturer, and brother of Col. Thomas Rirch, one time American minister to Portugal. After being divorced, she became the wife of the soi-disant “Baron” Walter “von” Radeck. unfavorably known i New York societ When she ascer- that not tained, somewhat late in the da Radeck was not a diplomat, baron, not even an ordinary noble with the predicate of “von.” and that she was nothing but plain “Mrs.” Rad wife of a man with an extrem shady past, she came to the conc sion that 'she had bought a gold brick—that he had acquired posses sion of her hand by faise pretenses and she took Immediate step: secure a dissolution of the She then married Count Gunthe: Bernstorff, which must have been gall and wormwood to his fathe the ambassador, since the latter had had no end of trouble with Radect in England and in America It seems that Count Gu storfe had expressed hi freelv ahout the man. learr Radeck sought out his successor | his wife's affections and publicly sub jected him to the indignities’ zub scribed above. Radeck is a man o such notorfous past that he had long been known as “hors honneur is to say, incapable of granting s isfaction on the fleld of honor in a duel. Bernstorff was required by military regulations and social ethics to cut Radeck down with his sword for tearing his shoulder straps from his uniform and was about to do it at t- when Radeck smdshed his sword Bernstorff made no further attempt to resent the insult, and, as ther could be no question 6f a ducl, he had to_leave the army. Radeck’s career in England brought to a sensational through his exposure in a court law in November, 1905, the records of which T have now before me. In spite of the publicity of the case, he ubsequently turned up In N secured the entree to society temporary membership of several its smartest clubs, But one night ke had the misfortune to encounter at a dinner given by some well knowr people on 5th avenue Gen. Sir Cecil Lowther, then military secretary to the Duke of Connaught at Ottawa and who denounced him so vigorousis as a fraud and a blackleg that was then and there ejected from the house.