Evening Star Newspaper, April 13, 1923, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR, ‘With Sunday Morning Edition. WASBHINGTON, D. C. FRIDAY..........April 13, 1023 THEODORE W. NOYES. Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Business Office, 11th St. and Penasylvania Ave. ¢ New Yofk Office: 150 Nassau Bt. Ohicago Office: Tower Bullding. uropesn Ofce: 10 Hegent S, pday morning A by cartiers within the <ty The Event: { r -"fi#, 18 delivered e o 9 el & bt the Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. o Dail L 1 yr., $8.40; 1 mo., D‘Il, .0';“)'8"“4.-’ 1 ;f‘ ::-W‘. 1 mo., 50c 5“&)’ onl{ 1 yr., $2.40; 1 mo., 20c All Other States. Daily and Sunday..1 yr., $10.00; 1 mo., 85c Dally only. 1yr., $7.00: 60c Sunday oni Member of the Associated Press, The Atsociated Press fu exclusively entitled 1o the ‘use for republication of all news dis- atches credited to it or not otherwise credited n this paper and aiso the local news pub. lded bereln Al rights of publication ot special dispatches herein are alse reserved. —_———————————— On Convention City List. Now that the time has arrived when Teaders of the two big political parties have begun to discuss next year's con- vention plans, Washington ought not to permit them to overlook the ad- vantages of the National Capital as & convention city. Following a confer- ence here yesterday of officlals of the republican national committee, the As. sociated Press sent out a dispatch in which Washington was named as one of six cities under consideration for the republican convention, the others being Chicago, - Kansas City, San Francisco, Cleveland and Buffalo. Some of these cities already dre be- stirring themselves in efforts to cap- ture one or both.of the great party conclaves, and organized effort to for- ward the claims of Washington will not be neglected. The desirability of this city as e place for national conventions has often been discussed by party leaders, but the lack of a suitable convention hall always has operated to prevent more serious consideration of the ad- vantages offered. Now that this lack is in & way to be supplied these other advantages . should be brought for- ward and presented in their most at- tractive light. No final declsion is likely to be reached by either party for several months, and in that time a great deal might be accomplished. That Washington can adequately care for any crowds likely to attend & national political convention has been repeatedly demonstrated, and will be demonstrated again when the Shriners come here in June.. That a visit to Washington is more attractive to the average American than a visit to eny other city probably will not be disputed, and so, a suitable convention hall provided, it. would be difficult to find an’adequate argument against the holding of such conventions here. It uped to be a theory of party leaders that a certain political advan- tage was to be gained by the holding of conventlons in “doubtful” states, ‘but that notion has been pretty well «abandoned. With press facilities as they are today-e speech delivered in ‘Washington gets over to the voters in California as fully as though made in San Francisco, and the number of voters who can.come into personal contact with convention delegates is ‘too meager to have any appreclable bearing on eléction results. Since Baltimore and San Francisco have both had conventions in recent years the geographical location of Washing- ton cannot be used as an argument egainst it. Even if it is not centrally located; delegates traveling from the Pacific coast to Buffalo, Cleveland or even Chicago would gladly come on here for the sake of visiting Washing- ton. —————— The Associated Charities. ‘The Associated Charities in its late campaign te enroll 10,000 members anad raise $65.000 fellshort of reaching those -figures, but efforts will be con- tinued ‘until the necessary sum is ob- talned. The chairman of the special Baster committee has -reported that contributions Have been received up to date amounting to $38,618, contributed by 3,935 persons.” There is still needed o balance the budget for ‘the current fiscal = year ending September 30 $16,600. It is belleved that a sufficient number of Washingtonians understand and appreciate the service which the Associated Charities renders the city to give the sum needed. ‘The Maryland State gnd District of Cojumibia« Federation of Labor, in its emphatic. repydiation of the ‘“one big unlon” - plar, evidences & wise appre- ciation that‘'a good thing can be car- ried too far. L Democratic leaders think if they cun deyise a plan to make their party wet im wet states and dry.in dry states they will need no other issue in next year's campaign. ————— -To0 bad there is not some sort of a court to which the ébnflict over mem- bershlp in’ the world court could be submitted for adjudication. —_——————— 1t is apparent the ofl in the Chester concession will not help still the trou- ‘bled waters of near east politics. ——————— Be Kind to Animals, .On- Sunday many ministers will preach on charity and good will to- ward enimals. They will tell you that the right-hearted man is seldom cruel o animals, and that when he is cruel it 48 through ighorance, They will tell you: that the man who is not kind to animals has'some serious fault in his nsture. They may tell you that no 'man who is unkind to an-animal is a true’ gentlemean. You should listea to thele sermons and heed them. Circu- iars have been put in the hands of citizans, placards have been posted in s#tréet cars, the children in-the schools have taken the matter -up end_ the ngwspapers are co-opérating. The idea ig that horses should live more com- fortably, that dogs and cate shall be happler and better treated and that we should be kind to all animals. These thinga'are being done because this is Wdshington's art in the nationai observance of Be Kind to Animals week. It was ushered in last Sunday by a proclamation of the District Com- missioners. We have made much prog- ress in the matter of our attituds to- ward animals. The best of us help them and spare them suffering where we can. There are organizations of men and women who take the part of animals egainst cruel masters and cruel non-owners of animals, and these organizations have grown in recent years and are growing. They will keep on growing. They have done much good for animals and much good for men in putting Into them a sense of kindness toward those creatures that 50 much depend upon us. They are doing much for the education of men, and they are entitled to the good will and more substantial support of kind- ly thinking persons. Among these or- ganizations are the Washington Hu- mane Society, the Animal Rescue League and the Humene Education Society, and it may be there are others. You should take to heart the lessons that are being broadcasted during Be Kind to Animals week and you should teach them to your chil- dren if they do not already know them. —_——— The Labor Shortage. Every week brings accumulating evidences of steadily advancing pros- perity in the country at large, calcu- lated to cheer and to encourage, to stimulate every one to renewed en- deavor. There is no room in the land for the pessimist, no excuse for the groucher. The Department of Labor's latest bulletin on the employment situ- ation is a notable contribution to the mass of favorable indications and makes pleasant reading. ‘The report goes on to say that “in certain districts the building trades- men avallable are fully employed on already huge operations with every prospect of their being enlarged, and shortages of these tradesmen already exist in some cities.” It develops that the outlook for the iron and steel in- dustry is exceptionally bright. Al- ready there is a shortage of labor with an increasing demand evident.' The re- sumption of farm activities has re- sulted in an increased and widespread demand for farm labor. The report says that the shortage of labor may reach serious proportions, particularly in the far west. All that sounds good In its bearing upon the general prosperity manifest in other ways, and especially in view of the fact that there is an upward movement in wages, the employes in the textile and steel industries hav- ing recently benefited by substantial increases. Consideration of these con- ditions should lead to thankfulness, in view of the unhappy situation exist- ing in other countries. As in Eng- land, for example, where tha govern- ment is called upon to support thou- sands of idle men. Also, it should serve to nullify the efforts now being made by a radical element in this country to stir up dis- satisfaction among the workers, aimed at the government itself. We have the best government in the world. Dur people at this time are more pros- ¢ tham those of any other nation. The man who seeks to upset either the government or -our institutions is a public enemy, and those who lend ear to his doctrines are foolishly ignoring national good fortune. 5 —————— Company Coming. The estimate now comes from the headquarters of Almas Temple that there will be 35,000 visiting automo- biles in the District during Shrine week. It seems that estimates for all things in thet eventful’week are ex- panding. The last estimate of visiting cars given publicity was 20,000, end Shrine week is still six weeks away. Suppose 50,000 cars should be driven here each bringing four persons? Quite a fock of automobiles and quite a'flock of people! The Shrine commit- tee which is to provide places for parking the cars is doing its work well, and it is sald that every car will have a place to rest. They are to stand in parks and fields under guard of trusty men, who will see that their repose is not disturbed by thieves. ‘It is out of the question to give to every automobile a private stall under roof, because it is said that the public ga- rages have accommodations for only 2,700 cars. Whether that means that they can hold only 2,700 cars or whetQer they could take in 2,700 out- of-town cars is not plain, but no mat- ter. The visiting cars when not busy seeing the sights of the convention, carnival and the city can go to rest in Potomac Park, Camp Meigs, the horse show grounds and elsewhere with no other cover than their own hoods and the June sky. It is believed that June will be a warm month, and that the autos will not have their radiators frozen. From the estimate of visiting autos and preparations making by rallroads “to handle un- precedented crowds” Washingtonians must understand that company is com- ing in the first week of June. ————e It is to.be hoped that there iz no connection. between the fact that to- day is Friday the 13th and the news of a new reparations conference at Paris. s ———— It has been supposed the bootleggers weré well equipped with high-powered cars, without the necessity of stealing that of Prohibition Commissioner Haynes. —————— — Eight per cent of fatalities among Army fiyers is a fearfully high toll to take from the cream of the military personnel. g ———e e ‘ Nichols Avenue. - The Congress Heights Citizens’. As- sociation proposes to celebrate the completion of the $100,000 improve- ment of Nichols evenue. That street 1is entitled to mention not only because it is one of the important thorough- fares of the south or southeast part of the District, but because it is one of the old and historic ways of ‘this region.. It'was a part' of the north nd south post road before Americans ‘were thinking of the creation- of e District of Columbla. Travelers from Boston, New York and Philadelphia going to the sduthern Maryland towns and plantations on the Potomac side of the peninsula followed that road.- The north end south powt road forked close THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, 'D. ., FRIDXY, KPRIU 13, 1923 " WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE to Bladensburg. The right fork passed over part.of the site of Washington by & course that has been forgot, crossed Rock crepk and came to Masops Ferry on the Potomac, where Georgetown ‘came to be @ town. Then it continued to the Carolinas. The left fork near | Bladensburg passed down the souther- ly side of the Eastern branch, the present course of Minnesota avenue being closely that of this old “River road,” which was a link in the north and south post road. When the road reached that point where the Van Hook subdivision called Uniontown was laid out it turned south. Long after Washington came to.be a city four-horse coaches, traveling on sched- ule end carrying mail and pas- sengers, were running over that road between Washington and southern Meryland points. For many years it ‘was called “the road between the East- ern branch and Piscataway.” In the early '70s, between 1871 end 1874, ft was graded from the Navy Yard bridge to the top of “Asylum hill” by the board of:public works, of which Alexander R. 8hepherd was vice pres}- dent and near the close of the terri- torial government was president. Cul- verts were buflt over-a number of streams crossing the road, notably ‘that which is called Stickfoot branch. It was named after Dr. Charles H. Nichols, superintendent of St. Eliza. beth’s, who was the predecessor of Dr. ‘W. W. Godding. The memory of these good men {s held in affection by all the old people in the Eastern branch country and by many of the older resi- dents of Washington. —_— e School Needs. It is not pleasant to read the state- ments made before the board of edu- cation by representatives of the Dis- trict civic organizations, but the situ- atlon rust be faced. It must be given the greatest possible publicity. Telling the truth ebout the condition of school buildings may help to clear up | o the situation. The truth has been told about this subject a good many times, and it {s believed that the schiool situation shows improvement, but it is far from being what citizens would have it. The representative of elghty- three parent-teacher associations told of insanitary conditions in many school buildings, and it is well known that insanitary conditions are unsafe conditions. Many classrooms are not only overcrowded, but are so defective in ventilation that they would be dan- gerous with only their normal comple- ment of children. Somé rooms are £o poorly lighted by windows that gas- light 18 used during the dayand children strain their eyes in conning lessons. Paint is needed, it was said, inside and outside school bulldings throughout the District. Where there is a play space at the achool it is so crowded that play is difficuit. It was brought out that at many of the schools there is no play space. Reports of inferior school conditions were made fram all parts of the District. And this is ‘Washington! ———————— Cheirman Adams of the republican national committee may heve been away on & Mediterranean cruise, but he candidly admits that he has kept sufficiently informed on American fairs to know that the G. O. P. !? brought prosperity to America. 3 ————— Now that the Bonar Law govern- ment has weathered @ threatened crisis by yielding to the opposition in parliament, it is a safe bet the op- position will have a lot of fun with the Bonar Law government. —————— Even if, as seems most unlikely, the present British government is repudi- ated, it would hardly be edvisable to refer to Englahd as a Law-breaking nation. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. By the River. There is a beatific gleam In his observant eye ‘When he beholds the sparkling stream And hears the waters sigh. Like one whose soul is deep in thought His eye doth heavenward gaze, As if his mind poetic sought Some great and fitting phra: And yet within his brain doth dwell No soft and rhythmic tune. He's thinking up the yarns he'll tell About his fishing, soon. A Lingerer's Excuse. ‘When I were a very small chile I used to git many a fright F'um de stories told once in a while "Bout de critters dat roam roun’ at night. An’ I'd open my eyes, and I'd hark - Foh & ghos' till I mos® had a fit. I was born kind o’ skeart o' de dark— An’ T hasn® got over it yit. ‘When de ol’ house gits lonesome an’ etill An’ de win’ comes a-whisperin’ roun’ An’ dogs howl jes’ over de hill, My heart sure do bump at de soun’; ‘When.I's out late, I wants to remark .Dat de crap game I hates foh to quit, ’Cause, I'se born kind o’ skeart o’ de dark H . An’ I hasn’ got over it yit. Almost Due., s There's & hint in the air that it's time ‘to prepare To receive an old friend once again; Already the bushes are blossoming fair And the north wind has ceased to ’ complain. 3 The scene once so cheerless presents a * display - : > Fhat wakens e feeling sublime; The hens start to lay and the world % seems to say ¥ § .That it's pretty near sea-serpent - time. Of all the menégerie brought by the TN yele T < He is the particular pet; His haunts are the places to dear, - :Though few have caught' sight - of him yet. : The robin may carol in innocent gles As the mercury hastens to climb, But the thing that' rejoices one most is to see 5 That it's pretty near. sea-serpent time, ‘memory More than ordinary significance at- taches to the dinner to be given at the National Republican Club, in New York, on April 26, in honor of Col. Thomas W. Miller, alien property custodian. Col. Miller is said to be conspicuously in the running for the chairmanship of the republican na- tional committee, if and when that coveted portfolio needs filling. In light of that circumstance, Post- master General Harry 8. New's ap- Dearance at the Miller dinner as one of the principal speakers is not with= out interest. Former Gov. Edward C. Btokes of New Jersey will pre- side, and former Representstive James Francis Burke of Pittsburgh ®lso will speak. Charles D. Hilles— himself a receptive candidate for the G. 0. P. national chairmanship—and former Senator Willlam M. Calder are members of the committee on arrangements. Col. Miller is on his Way home from a trip to California. * X k X Fred W. Upham, chancellor of the republican party's national exchequer, has just completed one of his period- ical visits to Washington. This week’'s sojourn was mainly for con- ference with President Harding on organization affairs. No republican in the country enjoys Mr. Harding’s confidence to a greatér degree than Upham, who has grown rich selling coal to Chicago in-winter and ice in summer. One of the secrets of “F. W.'s” influential 'status at the White House is that he steadfastly refuses to actept administration favors for himself. But no man Is 80 persistently pestered to obtaln them for others. Senators, represent- atives, governors, lonal commit , state chairmen an small- Ty politiclans camp resolutely on Upham's trail whenever he is ashington, for they know he is of the' genulne powers behind the presidential throne. * % % ¥ The annual meeting of. trustees of the Catholic University of America took place in Washington on April 11. It brought together one of the most distinguished conclaves of Cath- olic prelates and laymen held in re- cent time The country's two cardinals—O'Connell of Boston and Dougherty of Philadelphia—were present, and the brilliant young Archbishop of Baltimore, Curley, who is chancellor of the university, was in attendance. Four laymen sit on the board of trustees. Among those who came for the recent meeting was Francis P, Garvan, former alien property custodian. ‘Talk of a third American cardinalship continues to be a topic of lively discussion. Arch- bishop Hayes of New York is prominently mentioned along with the “boom” for Archbishop Hanna of San Francisco. 3 * ok ok ok His friends understand that when Albert D. Lasker retires from the Shipping Board in June, he will ac- quire some important newspaper cipally to conducting them.. The mid- |dle west is named as the probable fleld of his activities. Wherever em- ployed, one thing may be put down as a thousand per cent oertain—they will be devoted heart and soul to the cause of Warren ng. The 'President seldom loses an_opportun- L1ty to volce publicly his affection for Lasker. He belleves the Lasker chairmanship of the Shipping Board is destined®o mark an epoch of “serv- ice” in American history. “Clean as a hound’s tooth” and “live wire” are typical compliments Mr. Harding hurls in Laskers direction. Journal- ism is the shipping chairman’s first love. He wooed it at Galveston as a boy. * K kK Dr. Alfred 8ze, Chinese minister to the United States, is on his way back to Washington after nearly a year's absence in China. His country's political fortunes, as well as his own, have run a tortuous course in the interval. Sze had been away from China nine years, as minister in Lon- don and Washington, and home poli- ticlans did_their utmost to railroad him to oblivion on the ground he was out of touch with modern China. In January Dr. Bze was appointed foreign minister at Peking, but that career was short-lived. There is a bitter feud between the Old Guard and the new school of western-edu- cated young Chinese of the Sze-Koo- Wang type. For the time being it has apparently been decided that Sze and Koo shall employ their talenty abroad—Koo is minister to Great Britain—leaving affairs at Peking in other hands. Dr. Sze's first task at Washington will be to square ac- counts with Secretary Hughes over the murder in China of Charles Colt- man, an American citizen. The State Department's vigorous representa- tlons at Peking have thus far fallen upon deaf ears. * ok % % Uncle Sam is spending $350,000,000 @ year on his navy, but he is care- fully watching where the money goes. From the accounting depart- ment of the Navy has just gone forth a solemn edict that no taxicab fares henceforth will be allowed as ex- pense items unless a receipt is fur- nished! Even an admiral in com- d of $200,000,000 worth of bat- mi tleships is not permitted to charge up 80 cents for a taxi ride from a through the formality of securing & receipt from the chauffeur. From the quarterdeck down, there is woe- ful protest over the new guling. (Copyright, 1923.) Congress of Lausanne to Consider Claims to Tiny Island of Ada-Kaleh BY THE MARQUISE DE FONTENOY. Among the extraordinary preten- sions put forward by the government of Angora, and which will engage the attention of the congress at Lau- anne next week, is its claim to the tiny island of Ada-Kaleh, an island so small that it is ignored by most maps and guide books, and which 1s situat- ed in the Danube opposite Orsowa in Rumanta, with Serbia on the other bank. Until the beginning of the great {war it enjoyed complete extraterrito- riality by virtue of treaties, not with either Rumania or Serbia, but on the strength of ancient agreements dat- ing back hundreds of years with the Hapsburg empire, before either Ru- mania or any of the Danublan states had secured their emancipation from Ottoman rule. It was a bit of purely Ottoman territory, peopled excluaive- 1y by Moslems, ruled over by a Turk- ish bey appointed by the sublime porte, where the crescent was every- where in evidence in lieu of the cross, and where a small Turkish garrison was maintained, nominally for the purpose of defending the ruined Turk- ish fort, but in reality to emphasize the sultan’s sovereignty over the is- land. * ok k% In olden times the island had been the scene of much fighting, and was a base whence the padishah exercised his despotic rule over the various ‘Wallachian provinces and vassal states and levied tribute on Danube traffic. But its population and gar- rison were compelled by Austria to maintain the strictest neutrality throughout all the various Balkan wars, both in the latter half of the nineteenth century and during the first fourteen years of the present century, until the beginning of the great world conflict, when first of all Serbia and then Rumania hoisted their flags over the island and made prisoners of the garrison and of the governor. For nelther of these Balkan powers, assoclated as they were with the entente nations in their war against Turkey, Germany and Aus- tria, wished to permit an enemy gar- rison, no matter how small, to remain literally in their midst. Since the restoration of peace, the {sland has remained subject to the erown of Rumania, which, however, treats the population with the utmost tiberality, and the people, still ex- elusively Moslem, with all the wom- en. rigorously veiled, lead an entirely oriental life of peace and ease, sell- ing cigarettes, roses and Turkish sweetmeats, without any interference by the Rumanian authorities, nos even from the officials of the Ru- manian state tobacco monopoly. Ru- mania imposes upon the island no taxation of any form, and its people are exempt from military duty and igations, left to virtually govern :l‘::x::a\vel, and are so well off under present conditions that they would vesent any reversion to the rule of the sublime Wru—dh:’l“l.l to say, of ra_government. e fo Sariods that there should have been .no intermarriages in the past with the islanders and the population rrounding countries. The in- s are gll the p&u aAalnE‘lg. race, ;obvio! o descend- Turke¥ the troops which were brought ither from Asia Minor to control and dominate the river trade on the Danube. As far the retention of old Turkish custo! and methods is concerned, they are much more Otto- man than the people of Constanti- nople and of Angora. hy on_earth the Angora parlia- ment shotld put forth a claim to the {land, and to make~sit a source of trouble, it is difficult to understand, 0 afford some satisfa ultra fanatic Mosle: y_of the Ottoman untries in Europe,: =ndin-Asia- thay sterling, but co ed R ‘tion lv'; vroucug‘r_ el were formerly subject to the rule of the sublime porte. g * k% x That Great Britain continues, as in past centurles, to exercise her vigi- lant protection even over the most diminutive and insignificant of her subjects has been strikingly shown by her action with regard to the lit- tle seven-year-old girl Dorls Hawker. The latter had been sent out to Ma- dras to be adopted by a childless cou- ple who were understood to be well- to-do -English people, and who had applied to the London institution where the child was being brought up as anxious to make her a mem- ber of their family, and to assure her future welfare, as if their own offspring. When the child reached Madras, the officers of the ship on which she had made the trip discovered that the people who met her on her arrival, and with whom she was to make her home, though bearing the name of Bentinch, and describing themselves as “Anglo-Indian: were in reality Eurasians, occupying & house in the native and insanitary quarter of Georgetown, at Madras. The man turned out to be & son and grandson of European men of inferior rank, and of their native wives, while his own wife was a native woman of the lowest caste, since no high-caste na- tive woman ‘would have consented to wed a Eurasian. On these facts being brought to the attention of the governor of Madras, Lord Willingdon, whose only son is now visiting the United States, he at once caused the child to be removed from the custody of the Bentincks, and from their home in the native quarters, and confided her to Com- mander Campbell of the royal navy, and to his wife, Capt. Campbell be- ing the conservator of the port of Madras, and one of the most respect- ed members of the English com- munity. Lord Willingdon took . this somewhat arbitrary step of taking the child from the Bentincks on the ground that it was not fitting that 8 white English child should be brought up amid such low-class na- tive surroundings, and that if the little girl had been sent out to the Bentincks from London for adoption, it was under the impression that they were English citizens, instead of half- caste natives. z * ok x X They had described themselves as “Anglo-Indians,” which was the cause of the misapprehension. The term “Anglo-Indians” in the past has been used exclusively for the fam- ilies of Englishmen of prominence whose families have furnished gen- erations of high officials to the ad- ministration of King George's great orfental empire. Thus, the Durands, the Lawrences, the Willcacks, the Rawlinsons, the Younghusbands— all of ‘'whose names are household words throughout the orient, are termed Anglo-Indians, and they have deeply. resented the growing pre- sumption of the half-castes in adopt- ing this style, owing to the contempt entertained alike by the whites and by the natives. for the designation of “Eurasians,” which is generally understood to mean that those fig- uring under that head have inherited the worst qualities of both the white and the dusky races. It is Lord Willingdon and the gov- ernment in London who will see to the future welfare of little Doris Hawker, and to her bringing up amidst wholesome English environ- ment, and the evidence that the Brit- ish empire-still continues to observe its old-time maxim of “De minimis, nom curat.lex,” and extends its pro- tecting arm over two continents to shield this London waif of seven from the risk of harm, shows that it still continues the policy which led it, in 1866, to send an entire army, under Lord Napler of Magdela, to avenge on the then Emperor of Abyssinia the cruel treatment which he and his warriors had meted out to & missionary who was an English subject, and not even an Englishman by birth, That Abyssinian war cost Great Britain millions of pounds er reputa- tizens, properties and devote himselt prin- dock to a hotel unless he has gone | Introducing a New Member of Congress Meet Representative Scott Leavitt of the second Montana dlstrict, a past -president and honorary life member of the Great Falls (Mont.) Advertl ing Club, & veteran of two great wars and exceptionally well acquainted with the, national domain through rugged experiences. ., Scott left high.school with patrictic urge in May, 1898, to enlist in Com- pany I, 33d Michigan Infantry. This company had the unique distinction of being made up of sons of veterans of the civil'war, who'came into Island Lake camp, two or three from a place, from all over Michigan. To hurry | this unacquainted and untrajned out- fit into shape for muster into the 334, Capt. Carl I Wagner, later attor- ney general of Michigan, drilled the youngsters an hour or go the first ¢day and tlien called upon all men with previous military trafning to step out. - The. rest were dogged around by these for perhaps a half hour or more, and then, back in com- pany formation, the captain asked: “Is there any one else in this com- pany who will take a squad and drill it?" Scott Leavitt had just had his total military experience during the preceding hour and a half, but he had learned to salute and step out. Capt. Wagner gave him the first set of fours, the elght biggest men In the { company. He got them out of hearing and repeated what he had just been given. There were some trained men in the squad and they set him right when Ihe made a mistake. So that when the captain signaled Scott was lucky enough to get them back on the line. Thé rush was on to get into the 33d and because of it two more men than could be mustered in had besh accepted. “The mustering officer set about arbitrarily to weed two of us out,” explains Representative Leavitt. “He and the captain stopped in front of me. was only eighteen and pretty slender. The Regular Army officer asked me how old I was. I swallowed my heart and told him. His pencil was poised to mark me off when the captain spoke to him and they passed on. Twenty minutes later the roll was called for muster in and I was designated as Corporal Leavitt. Later I asked the captain and found out that my chance to go to Cuba was saved becauss I had taken that squad to drill. The cap- tain saild he was trying to find out who in the company, nearly all strangers to him, wouid accept re- sponsibility and show confidence.” Representative Leavitt recalls that of the elght men who drilled him that day as much as he did them two were killed and three wounded be- fore Aguadores, on the left line at Santiago, on the 1st of July, only six weeks later. Two years after the Spanish war the wanderlust had got Leavitt com- pletely. He had taken up a squatter claim in the Coast Range mountains of Oregon, twenty miles from a set- tlement and at the back door of the Grand Ronde Indian reservation. His cabin was built of shakes split from a glant fir tree, and winter and sum- mer for more’ than three years he packed “grub” on his back from & foothill settlement. “It was great to lose myself for days, alone or with one or two companions, in the mountains where ferns grew to your shoulders and firs reached aloft a hundred feet to the first limbs,” he recalls with a wistful tone In his volce. Young Leavitt's first job in the foot- hills was in a sawmill, where by main strength he wrestled boards and edgings for $25 a month, time out without paying any breakdown. Ultimately he had done about every- thing in a mill except run the big saw and the engine. Representative Leavitt tells grip- ping stories, with a vigorous out-in- the-open atmosphere, of the long trail back and forth from his claim; stories of nights in the snow and days in company with the trees; but the real climax of those days, he says, was that in the foothill town where he worked in the sawmill, and later taught school between trips into mountains, where he found his wife, the ‘granddaughter of pioneers who had come to that same section in ox wagons over the Oregon trail in 1344. It was this experience which preai posed him a little later, in the cow country north of Goose lake, to be- come a forest ranger and begin the work with saddle horse and pack outfit, which only ended in Montana in_the days of the great war. He entered the United States forest service in the old days when the conservation idea was in the making. He was a forest ranger, working with saddle and pack horse In the moun- tains of southeastern Oregon firs There was no ranger station on his district, the forest being just put under &dministration; so he and his wife lived the first summer in a cabin which had been used by a cow- man for storing stock salt. He had the usual experience, of locating and fighting forest fires; handling the grazing allotments of cattle, horses and sheep; building roads and trails, and handling sales of timber. In about two years he was sent to help put a new natfonal forest in the Minnesota woods, against the Cana- dian line, —under administration. There travel was by canoes over waterways of lakes and rivers, with glant moose often in sight. In a year's time he was back in the west in Montana, becoming superintendent of the Lewis and Clark national forest, which occupies a hundred-mile stretch of the Rocky mountains south of Glacier Park, and later of the Jefferson national forest, which po- sition he held until after the United States got into the world war. After raising a volunteer company of infantry he was made federal di- rector for Montana of both the United States public service reserve and the United States employment service and served throughout the war. He has been president of the Mon- tana Good Roads Assoclation, state commander of the United Spanish War Veterans and president of the National Park-to-Park Highway As- sociation, circling the eleven western states, as well as of its Montana. line, the Y-G Bee line. He has been identified with irrigation and agri- cultural movements in Montana. Seeks Protection for Wild Flowers To the Editor of The Star: Now that the spring days have come, I have wished that you might raise your voice in behalf of the wild flowers. I took a long walk last Sun- day through the hills of Virginia from Arlington to Clarendon and Balston and to Chain bridge, return- ing via the canal. Everywhere along the road I noticed the buds swelling that will soon be full blooms, and what a beautiful sight to witness. I have noticed several articles in the papers of other cities calling attention to this _shameful habit so many city people seem to have adopted, and one writer has well said that it reminded him of the boy who said he would have to be a butcher because he loved animals so dearly. In a few days those who enjoy the long walks in the woods of Maryland and Virginia will see dozens of au- tomobiles returning to the city with dogwood, laurel, redwood and many other flowers. Many will have large pleces tied to the cars, all wilted even bafore they reach home. It does seem .that those who love such things ‘would be more considerate in preserv- ing them in order that those who are to come after them may not be de- prived of the pleasure of seeing the woods filled with these beautiful blogms. There is no better way to express one’s love for a soul than to try’ to protect and help them on, and it seems to’ me the same rule should hold good with all good-thinking people regarding the protection of wild flowers. Every acre of land be- longs to some one, and the flowers on the land should not be destroyed without permission from the own- er. Let's all remember the golden rule and commandment, “Thou shalt not steal” when wy woods, - JOHN: visit th R £ CAPITAL KEYNOTES BY PAUL V. COLLINS Just as Congress has ceased to maie | ever did become a general scientist—. / free distribution of rare and useful gar- den seeds here comes a consignment of decidedly rare seeds from the ancient tomb of King Tutankhamen. They are going to one scientific man at Yonkers, N. Y., who will plant them and wait for a crop. Such experiments have frequently been made with seeds from ancient tombs, but never has such seed germi- nated. It would be decidedly interest- ing, if any did germinate, to compare it with similar plants or grains of, today and note the changes of 3,300 years. For {llustration, the wild potato still grows in its original habitat in South America, but it {8 no larger than a grape. It has developed under cultiv tion, through evolution of only four or five cerituries, into a mealy vegetable, sometimes ten or twelve inches long, and becomes one of the chief articles of diet of men. How interesting it would be to dis- cover some of the national granaries bullt by Joseph, in which he stored the surplus of the seven ‘“fat”’ years, and from which he sold to famine-stricken Egyptians and finally to his own breth- ren, down from Canaan. In the meanwhile, it Yonkers should harvest Tutankhamen grain, it may in- troduce a hardier wheat than we now possess. * kX ¥ There is one phase of a Supreme Court decision which s sometimes over- looked. The decision Which proves un- pleasant to champlons of some reform may not be an expression of the court upon the beneficence of the proposed object of the particular law. The subject is many-sided, and it calls for patience and breadth of judg- ment in recognizing that the court's declsion of the constitutionality of the law has no bearing upon the personal sympathles of the justices. It is claimed that the decision upset- ting the minimum wage law will not cause any serfous change dn the present wage rates, for there 8 a job waiting for_every woman capable of doing the work. Some employers predict that it may result In encouraging firms to branch out with more help, untrained, in lines which they would not have ventured to undertake if all women— trained or untrained—must be paid the wages due to experienced labor. In that way it will increase demand for women and result, eventually, in en- hancing the wages of the competent. * ¥ k ¥ “There is a menace to the mation in the development of classes and blocs,” eaid President Harding in a recent speech. There is danger in envy and jealousy."” Has there not always been envy and jealousy? The “bloc” is recognized by the President as the new menace, for it is founded on class interest, and in just the degree that it adheres to its one class interest it must subordinate full patriotism. * % ok X It takes a great man to be a hero to his valet. How great Must he be to be commended by a hotel waitress, espe- jally one who has lived all her life in the atmosphere of the opposition? A waitress at a southern hotel savs Pres- ident Harding has beautiful table man- ners, but he does not eat enough for such a big man. She objects to the iightness of his noon lunch—just milk and bread—'half and half”"—and never any dessert or any finger bowls. Are finger bowls to follow the little saucers into which our grandparents set their coffee cups while they drank from their saucers? Or at least, let them go the way of the mustache cups and the napkin rings? Many a man from ‘way back has gotten into more trouble over finger bowls and what to do with them than anything else at a fashionable ta- ble. It is rd to convince such diners, sometimes, that it is fashionable to wash hands and face at the table, in those little glass or silver basins. And never any soap handy! Out with them! * % ¥ ¥ In order to read the dally papers nowadays. it is necessary to become master ofall sciences—but let any one who is not such. undertake to comprehend that insulin will cura diabetes—and why. And that trans- planting glands renews youthfu! powers. and adds decades to the pa- tlent's longevity—and why. And thar puncturing the heart tissues of person who has just dled and inject- ing adrenilin—a serum from the glands that control fear—will renew life to the dead—and why. Or, let the reader understand tha stars collided fifty years ago, and ths light of their conflagration is onl: now causing them to brighten, or rather to appear to men on earth to brighten. Or, how can the reader scan his morning or evening dally and reaa of the opening of prehistoric tombs, or the dlscovery of skeletons hun- dreds of thousands of years old, and not become thrilled with the romance of_archeology or geology? He reads of instruments to meas ure the heat of invisible stars so f. from earth that the heat vibrations, or whatever their heat is, has been centuries en route before it arrivea on earth. Or, of instruments whi enable us to look .through stone walls, or down to the bottom of the ocean, where, perhaps we may ye: discover the world that sank befors Noah's flood, carrying down as many people as the entire population - Germany. these things are everyday topics in the daily paper, and the reader. who does not them. misses a great part of the news he is paying for, Time was when newspaper news consisted in local happenings, scandals and crimes. Not so today. | * % ¥ % H. 8. Dulaney, chairman of the board of trustees of Goucher College, an nounces that he will make no more gitts to any college that teaches evolution. He explains: “I consider the Bible the greatest and most precious book in the world, and I don't think Christian men should countenance teachings contrary to it in the schools.” Who has ever proved that evolution is contrary to the teachings of the Bible? A professor of a Kentucky college i3 under suspension because he approves of the sclence of evolution. Yet he ad- heres to his science as did Galileo to his faith that the earth revolved. * % ok % Evolution does not say merely that man descended from a monkey, but that the monkey descended from eome an- imal lower in the scale, and that, in turn from some reptile, and that from some cell of protoplasm. But in all that descent, there must have been some gulding or creative power, - Evolution makes no pretense of discarding the, creative—the divine power. Bvolution does not come about by accident. The whole development of animal life from the original protozoic cell to the pres- ent civilized man, i repeated in the formation and development of every animal—man included—that is born. Each individual etarts his existence as a simple cell, adds other ceils, divides cells, and forms organs. What mystery ! ‘What an epitome of the whole science of the evoiution of animal life from the simple cell up to man! It came by de- grees to perfection, but with ali the knowledge of the 'degrees—from the lowest to the highest animal develop- ment—the whole is a chain of creative power, and absolutely nothing in scienca contradicts the Biblical story, which is a symbolic account made simple-for the comprehension of the early races, but, not at all contradicting later knowledge of the steps of development. Which is swse majestic—to perform a sudden act ef creation—or to work out a divine znd uniyersal plan? “God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform,” —yet a creation that comprehends uni- verses and millennia and the man of perfection out of the protozoic cell— “the.dust of the earth”—through all the stagés of animai development, is not less But more marvelous and awe-in- [ | spiring. Whence comes the right of a, ‘benefactor of learning to set the bounda of learning at his own back fence? a general scientist. Of course, nobody (Copyright, 1923, by P. V. Collins.) EDITORIAL DIGEST Agree With the President—Press Agent Not Needed. Despite the fact that President Harding immediately “torpedoed” the suggestion of certain of his friends that the government needed & “real press agent” who would tell the American people of the accomplish- ments of the administration, editors continue to debate the proposal from a more or less serious standpoint. Inasmuch as Secretary of Labor Davis, whose department is kept well | before the publio, insists that Mr. Harding 18 the “poorest advertiser in the United States,” there is a tendency to argue that there are press agénts and press agents, and possibly there might be some way that the com- plained-of defect could be remedied without giving offense. Certain edi- tors, among them the writer of the Boston Globe, recall that the “Creel administration of publicity” left a bad taste, and, as the Springfield Republican puts it, “it i3 not to Mr. Harding’s discredit if, like Taft and Wilson, he lacks something of. & capacity to blow his own trumpet.” This being a “commercial age,” as the Baltimore News sees it “while the President is unable to ‘sell’ himself to the public it 1s quite understand- able that he may some time be quite willing to allow & lieutenant to do the ‘selling’ for him,” because the “new school must be taken into con- sidbratiol Admitting “serious arguments, some of them worth attention, have been put forward” in behalf of the suggestion, the Albany Knickerbocker Press remains convinced “for the most part level-headed folks will go along with the President. The abuse of publioity; efforts to accelerate lic opinion; the doctoring and g&eorlnzpof the facts; the suborna- tion of the people’s Interpreters— press agent they wouid be ignored or resented. The best thing for Presi- dent Harding is a speaking campalign which will bring him into personal touch with people in every part of the country. His kindly and sympathstia personality ‘gets over’ to people Wh see and hear him as it does not fro his written words, or from the words of men who write about him. Of the latter an official press agent would be the most useless” The Reading Tribune insists that “President Hurds ing falls to recognize the value of publicity as Theodore Roosevelt did,” but it sees as the reason for this fact that he 4ee® Qealt with publicity men in the opposite way,” having, as an editor, - “learned to chronicle the' events of others without regard for himself”” And the Albany News, sug- gesting two sorts of salesmen, says “one is like the horn of an automo- bile. The other is like the smooth- running motor. But, since facts are facts, and people are people, you do have to advertise the qualities of the motor.” “Good wine needs no bush,” recalls the Newark News in suggesting “how T. R. would have laughed” at thy press agent thought. “It is enough t make angels wee it continues, re- ferring to the lamentations of those who think the President doesn’t ad- vertise, but it is “a penalty one pays for occupying a position so incon- spicuous as that of President of the United States. Still there have been some Presidents not altogeher ob- 'ure—more than a score of them, in fact” The country would resent any such plan, says the Hartford Times, and it feels that, while “the President is an easy-going man and doesn’t like to offend anybody, he will save him- self a great deal of trouble stands out against this suggestion.” ling the ship subsidy propagan- vith which the country recentl ged,” the Wichita Eagls serts that “Mr. Lasker is a clever man. If anybody can put Mr. Harding over for another term, Mr. Lasker should be able to do if.” To which Josephus Daniels’ Raleigh News and Observer replies “instead of Mr. Las- ker's proposing an absurd ‘puslicity, @epartment’ in order to ‘sell’ Mr. Harding, he could immensely help the President by resigning his office and persuading the Daugherties and Har- veys and the like to do likewise.” The Springfield (Ohio) News com- mends the presidential position and ese are among the active perils of S Semooracy 80 completely dependent upon the interchange of information as our own.” Ta which the Bridge- port Post also adds that “what is needed is not some one to ‘sell’ the President to the people, but some one to ‘sell’ the people to the President, while the Boston Traveler thinks the “best advertising the President could do would be of the third variety—to wit: quietly serving the country and | 'constraining the memberd of his cabinet to do the same.” % Seriously discussing _the.- eriginal proposal, but insisting it is somewhat hard to do.so, the Brooklyn Eagle commends the presidential judgment, because “President Harding has ed- ited & small town paper and he has been more closely in touch with the average citizen than most of his ad- visers have, and so_ his judgment in the case is sound. It is true enough that a yast amount of valuable public work is done by :ovemmenl depart- ments of which the people get only vague and imperfect ideas. The in- terest of the public, however, depends largely upon belief in the disinterest- edness of ‘man. who_tells about sy ‘Set. forth, by an official insists “the country would refuse to indorse such a movement,’ while the Milwaukee Sentinel believes “if the President can find it in his heart to muzzle his embarrassing friends St will be a measure of safety and an act; of_self-defense.” ‘While the “suggestion has gone to an unmarked grave,” the Savannah Press says, “at the same time it is felt. that the administration has suffered bécause of » lack of & more aggres- ¢ publicity policy.” ~Propaganda “has outworn its welcome to the Amerfean public,%:insists the Detrolc News, and. “in_the government ths press agent4s an especially undesir- able component. All that is necessary is frankness. Once government offi- cials understand that faet; their pub- licity problem will be settled. Offi- claldom is always suspicious that frankness might afford opportunity for the dlscovery of things to criticise. As a matter of fact, the publiclty would redound to the benefit of they departments discussed, while the trankness would dull the edge of crit- icism which secrecy always sharpens. The Presidents friends can press. agent ‘him best by hiring-no pres ‘agent.” = T fi { it he * b