Evening Star Newspaper, July 17, 1923, Page 6

6 THE EVENING STAR, With Sundsy Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. July 17, 1923 THEODORE W. NOYES.. Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Busipess Office, 11th St. and Penusylvania Ave. k. Offic 110 East 42nd St. Ch 0 Offic Ing. Turopean Office: 16 Regent St., London, England. Star, with the Snnday morning rriers within the city #t 80 cents per month; daily only, 45 cents per v only, 20 ceuts per month. Or- be sent by mail, or telephone Main . lection 1s made by carriers at the ead of each month. Rate by Mail—Payabl Maryland and The Eventn in Advance. irginia. only. Sunday only. All Other States. Dally and Sunday..1 yr., $10.0( Daily only....... 1yr., $7.000 1yr., $3.00; Sunday only 1mo. Member of the Associated Press, The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dis patehes credited to it or not otherwise credit in this paper und also the local news pul lished herein. ~All rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. Minnesota's Choice. The fallibility of election forecasts was well illustrated yesterday, when | Minnesota, accredited in the prelim- inary estimates with a narrow margin between the regular republican and the farmer-labor forces in the sena- torial contest, returned a rousing ma- Jority for Magnus Johnson, candidate of the latter, reaching 27,000 on a half- way count, and probably rising to 50,000 in all. The question that has been asked for some weeks past has been an- swered. Minnesota, for years a rock- ribbed republican state, has now twice in close succession replaced republican senators with men of a radical type, standing for proposals of a sjrange nature. First Kellogg, and now Nel- son! st Shipstead, and now John- 5o This result in Minnesota may be re- garded as further evidence of the rise of a tide of dissent in the middle west. It immediately revives memory of the populist movement of 1890-92, which rose to a. height in 1894 and finally broke when the democrats precipitated the free-silver issue in 1896. These radical movements occur with @ certain periodicity in American poli- tics. They are natural reactions. In this case the question of moment is whether the farmer-labor tendency will go to the point of forcing a modi- fication of the policies of one of the major parties, or will progress to the point of the formation of a definite third party Just now these elements are in the relation of a third party to the major organizations. In the® next Congress the two Minnesota senators will sit as independents, not being members of the republican caucus, and assuredly not taking part in the democratic councils. They may hold the balance of power. As the Senate now stands there are fifty republicans—with a va- cancy just caused by the death of Senator Dillingham of Vermont—forty- three democrats and two farmer-labor members. This apparently leaves the republicans with a majority of five. But the fifty include Brookhart of Towa, Norris and Howell of Nebraska, Ladd and Frazier of North Dakota, Norbeck of South Dakota and La Fol- lette of Wisconsin, not to mention Borah of Idaho and Couzens of Michi- gan. Each of these senators is in some degree at variance with the party pro- gram as framed by the caucus. Some of them do not attend the caucus. Others attend irregularly. Some def- initely refuse to be bound by the cau- cus votes. In point of strict party regularity the Senate, therefore, will, with the Vermont vacancy filled, presumably by election or appointment of a “‘regu- lar,” consist of forty-three democrats, two independents, forty-four republi- cans and nine near-republicans. There i no assured or dependable party ma- jority in the upper house of Con- gress. Recently at Chicago the farmer- labor party convention was virtually captured by the radicals and a split occurred. It was thought by some that this demonstration of the *“boring- from-within™ tactics of the commu- nists would give affright to the Minne- sota republican radicals and cause I them to stand fast by their old party in the senatorial election soon to oc- cur. But yesterday's vote indicated that the farmers and workingmen of the state did not consider the Chicago affair at all, or else concluded that they had nothing to do with it and, being intent upon putting a man of party independence in the Senate, pro- ceeded with that purpose to the end of a big majority. ——— By one of the freaks of publicity an impression is favored that the ships using the ocean just now are the Leviathan and a few others hardly worth mentioning. Tt was a great victory for Firpo. But Father Time must be credited ‘with helping a little. A Quota Law Inequity. Inequity of the immigration quota law was given fresh illustration yes- terday in New York, when 335 second- class passengers on the steamer Baltic were notified that the British allot- ment for July had been exhausted, 2nd that they could not land. When they sailed from' the other side there was every assurance that they would reach New York before the quota was filled, but before they could land a rush of British immigranta occurred over the border, and by Saturday the entire July quota of 15,468 immigrants was exhausted, including the British percentage. In anticipation of this possibility, as soon as it was learned last Saturday by the @mmissioner of immigration of New York that the Baltic, which sailed July 7, had a large number of British immigrants on hoard, he advised the steamship com- pany to land them at Halifax, where they could wait for the August quota. It was then, however, too late to change the ship’s course. In December, 1921, 1,000 Hungarians who were barred by the quota exhaus- tion were hold at Ellis Island until Congress passed a special act admit- ting them. Such a measure of relief is not now possible, inasmuch as Con- gress will not meet for several months. These British immigrants may be car- ried back to Halifax and there wait their turn in August. They still have a chance to enter the country. But the situation illustrates the unfair un- certainty of the law. Application of the quota law at the American ports of entry leaves a wide margin of chance, and subjects immigrants to & most unjust degree of risk. It used to be said that the ‘steam- ship companies were not sufficiently careful in bringing over aliens, and loaded their ships with all sorts and conditions without regard to the Amer- ican laws, bringing over many who could not possibly be admitted. It would Beem that this laxity now pre- vails. If the British quotas are to be ex- hausted by rushes across the Canadian border British steamships may be compelled to land their second and third class passengers on the British soil, preferably at Halifax, to make their way overland to Boston or to New York. It is assuredly unfair to intending new citizens to subject them to delays and disappointments like those just suffered by the Baltic's con. tingent. Modification of the quota law may be forced by such happenings as this, | which is merely the latest of a long | series of consequences of the mathe- matical limitation imposed upon the allen tide. —————————— British Interest in Prohibition. Sir Auckland Geddes' report on the effects of prohibition in the United States, published as an official paper by the British government, presents no new facts. It does, however, serve to call attention to the keen interest which his countrymen are taking in America’s dry laws, particularly with regard to their economic effect The . British have a reputation for sticking to old-established customs. But this has not prevented them in the past from keeping their ears close to the ground to catch the meaning of movements in other countries, es- pecially countries which are their rivals in the economic field. The am- bassador to the United States, in his report, fails to say, whether, in his opinion, prohibition has been a large contributing factor in the prosperity found in America in these post-war days. In fact, he says, there have been so many factors contributing to this prosperity that it is impossible to declare with any definiteness whether prohibition “has contributed to this recovery or otherwise.” Old Ben Franklin in his autobi- ography called attention to the very large amount of work which an ab- stemious worker in a print shop in London approximately 175 years ago and ale drinking co-workers. That is an economic phase of the matter with which the British is concerned ly that prohibition has increased the efficlency of the American workman and added to the industrial output of the United States, Great Britain wants to know it. Prohibition already has many advocates in the British Isles. It big business there should get behind the movement it would receive tremen- dous impetus. Furthermore, the British are inter- ested in American prohibition because it affects @ big industry, the produc- tion of beer and liquors, in their own | country, and because of its effect on international relations. The last is in the public eye today. But there is ap- parently every desire on the part of the British for an amicable settlement of the ruling in regard to foreign ves- sels entering American ports with al- coholic beverages aboard. ——— Lady Astor's bill in parliament to prevent sale of liquor to people under eighteen years old is meeting with some opposition. The support, how- ever, is sufficient to encourage the hope that when its eminent sponsor has established an age limit she can contribute valuable suggestions con- cerning a three-mile limit. —_—— Republicans who announced long ago that Warren G. Harding would be the party's next presidential candidate are maintaining ‘a very consistent stand-pat record. ————— Even those who still subscribe to a “superman” school of philosophy are now compelled to admit that none of the Hohenzollerns is “it.” oo A few more distinguished visiting parties will induce Alaska to improve her golf links. ————— The Photographers’ Convention. A large number of our people will follow witli interest the proceedings of the convention of the Photographers’ Association of America now in session in Washington. While the population of the District is somewhat short of half a million, it is believed that close upon that number are amateur photog- raphers, and it is sometimes assumed that there are almost as many pro- fessionals as amateurs among us. A majority of these happy and busy per- sons will be interested in the discus- slons carried on by the masters of the camera who have gathered here from the four corners and all the other corners of America. In the matter of excellence and in- dustry there can be no line drawn be- tween the amateur and the profes- sional, excepting that the professional sometimes makes enough money to pay for his plates, chemicals and paper, and the amateur never does. As photographers pur¥e and simple there are some amateurs who some- times make better pictures than pro- fessionals sometimes do. They all make hits and misses, and most ama- teurs will probably agree that the misses are especially numerous and trying. But there is always an ex- planation. The plate was put in the holder film side to the rear. The ex- posure was too long or the shutter worked too fast. The object meved. The light was not right or the light meter proved unworthy of its name. The developer was too weak or too strong or the hypo was not .fresh. There might be many other reasons. Usually the exposure was all right, but the professional who developed could perform, as compared to his beer 1 today. If it can be shown COl’l(‘luSi\'e-‘ T the film and made the prints was careless in his work. Interest In the camera is great. There is the camera which makes the “movies,” and all the other kinds of cameras which men carry in the hand or wear jauntily slung over the shoulder. It is an easy guess that every one in Washington and the suburbs, if there are any suburbs now, is or has been interested in photogra- phy. Almost as many persons have made pictures as have collected post- age stamps. There are a few Wash. ingtonlans who believed themselves too old to take up photography when the full force of the photographic passion came upon us, but even they were interested in photgoraphy. They had some daguerrotypes or ambro- types or tintypes which they treas. ured, and they had a family photo- graph album. No home was properly furnished without one. It was almost as hard to get along without a family photograph album as to struggle through life without an autograph album. i Floods in the District. Washington seems to be getting into the flood belt. Another heavy rain has resulted in a rush of water and a large property loss in two suburbs beyond the Eastern branch and northeast of Benning. Streets and roads were dam- aged and many persons were driven from their homes. That section of the District had a flood several weeks ago which resulted in loss of life, serious property loss and considerable damage to public weorks such as roads, culverts HE EVENING STAR, and bridges. It is easy to find the reasons for these floods. There has been no change in climate, and rainstorms in the sum- mer of 1923 are not more severe than many which have come in other years. In the part of the District involved there are high ridges of land. A good many years ago these were well tim- bered, and after the timber was cut away the land continued for many years to be covered with a scrubby second or third growth of pine and oak, and with shrubs and vines that are usually found in such a situation. Heavy rain falling on this mat found its way gently iito the streams that flow through ravines in the ridges and linto the brooks that flow along the valleys. There has been a remarkable in- crease in the number of inhabitants in | that section within a few years. Sub- division after subdivision has been laid | out on the high ridges and their slopes {and in the valleys. Many villages have grown up. Much of the thick @mnd tangled growth of saplings and vines has been cleared away, and miles of streets or roads, many of them un- paved and without sewers, have been cut through the land. Rain pours from the hills as fast as it falls, the streams are greatly swollen, the roads become i gullies and such sewers as there are along the highways in the valleys can- not carry off the water. The only solution lies in sewers numerous and large enough to conduct the flood wa- ters to the Eastern branch. —————— | French scientists are working on the theory that sun spots have a direct influence on the nervous system of the individual, and hence on the social system of the masses. Popular opinion may defer an expression on the sub- Ject until Col. Bryan completes his an. notations on the theory of evolution. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Doc Braney. Old Doc Braney! In days of long ago I looked on him in terror as the author of my woe. He fed me dreadful doses, with in- exorable rule, And made me go to bed. I'd most as lief have gone to school! } 1 {Old Doc Braney, I have greatly changed my mind. In memory your features seem so gen- tle and so kind, I think of you as one who held mere profit in disdain, Who sacrificed his comfort to relieve another’s pain. Dear Doc Braney, men of wisdom long ago Failed to find appreciation, just be- cause folks didn’t know. Yet Time reveals their goodness, and men change their point of view And we name them with affection— which is all that we can do. Constitutional Gloom. ““Is your potato crop a failure?” “Not yet,” replied Farmer Corntos- sel; “but I reckon it will be, as usual, when it comes to tryin’ to dispose of it at the market.” Thrills. “Your constituents say your speeches are not as thrilling as they | used to be." “I'm not trying for thrillsany more,” said Senator Sorghum. “We public men have got to appeal with calmer methods. There’s no use of us tryin' to compete with the scenario writers.” , Psychology. They bid us’ forgive and forget, But, alas, they are teaching in col- lege That the past will arise and be met Unawares in our subconscious . knowledge! Jud - Tunkins says he wonders whether the law of evolution mentions why, at home or in business, a pet generally develops into a pest. Appreciative. “How did you come to go back to the penitentiary?” “I was jist learnin’ a lot of things to improve me,” replied Bill the Burg, “when me sentence expired. I'm goin’ back fur a post-graduate course.” The Next Step. “Prohibition authorities say there is very little good whisky avallable any more.” > “I realize that,” replied Bill Bottle- top. “All we got to do now is to keep the bad from being too plentiful.” “If you don't succeed,” said Uncle Eben, “try agaln—but don't keep tryin’ de same plan jis’ "cause you's too lazy to learn a new one.” . 3 1 Another American Woman Becomes One of Peeresses of British Realm BY THE MARQUISE DE FONTENOY. | mittee has already been appointed to To the long list of American women Who become peeresses of the British 1ealm must now be added the daugh- ter of the late Frederick Wiggin of New York, a first cousin of James W. Gerard, the war-time ambassador of the United States at Berlin. For her Lusband, the Hon. Charles Napler Lawrence, since many years chair- man of the great London and North- western trunk railroad system of England, has just been raised by XKing George to the house of lords. He 18 @ younger brother of the pres- ent and second Lord Lawrence, who was lord-in-walting to Queen Vie- torla throughout the last six years of her life and who was likewise at- tached In a simllar capacity to the household of King Edward. His father, the first Lord Lawrence, was raised to the peerage for his services as viceroy of India_ after a long and distinguished career in that great dependency. Indeed, he won the gratitude of his country for the part which he took in suppressing the terrible {nsurrection of 1857, known in history as the Indian mu- tiny, and in which his elder brother, Gen. Sir Henry Lawrence, achicved for himself lasting name in British history through his heroic defense of Lucknow against overwhelming odds. ok ok K Another pecrage which has just been created by King George I8 that which he has bestowed upon Lord still | take charge of the undertaking. The Janfculm is sacred to Garibaldi, and the Aventine to Mazzini, and now Monte Mario is to be devoted to_the natfonal glorification of Dante. This has the effect of putting an end to the cherlshed project of the American Methodist Church to erect a great college of its denomination on this hill, which overlooks the Vatican, and which has been strongly objected to by TItallan Catholics on this account. _It may be recalled that last year King Victor Emmanuel conferred a dukedom upon Generalissimo Diaz, the great commander who retrieved the disaster of Caporetto in 1917, and led the Italian army to final victory in the following year. The monarch has now bestowed a similar distinc- tion upon Admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel, the ranking officer of the Itallan navy and who commanded in chief the “maritime forces of his country through the great war. To this gallant gray-bearded officer, who bears a marked resemblance to Rear Admiral Sims of the United States Navy, belongs the credit of having obliterated by his victories at sea the memories of the disaster of Lissa in the war of 1868, and in addition to the naval battles which he won he afterward played a leading role at the peace conference in Paris in con- nection with the prevention of the alienation of Fiume to any forelgn power, and also in subsequently se- curing the retirement of D'Annunzio from Fiume and his return to his al- legiance to King Victor Emmanuel and to the national government of Italy. * ok % Revel the Admiral ai identified with was to defense closely of the Aldenham’s younger brother, the Hon. : long coast line of the kingdom in Herbert Cokayne Gibbs, for his serv-| { war and with the protection of Italy’s | predominant interests in that injand ices as chairman of the public works loan commission and as a commis- sioner of income tax, services ren- dered to the nation without remuner- ation. For, like his brother, Lord Aldenham, he is one of the merchant princes and great bankers of London and a partner In the old established firm of Anthony Gibbs & Sons, which has been in existence since the time of the American war of independ- ence and which for the past hundred years has been more largely inter- ested than any other English house in the South American trade. ‘The name of the firm of Gibbs is a synonym for everything that is high principled and straight, in one word, for commercial integrity In its very best sense, throughout South and Central America and Australia; and, as I pointed out some time ago in these letters, when at the time of the war in Manchuria the English gov- ernment availed itself of the good offices of the firm to purchase two fine Chilean men-of-war so as to prevent their being acquired by the Russian government to the disadvantage of Great Britain's ally, Japan, Herbert Gibbs, as well as his elder brother Alban, now Lord Aldenham, but then member of parliament for the city of London, considered it incumbent upon themselves to resign their seats in the houes of commons in deference to those ethics, according to which peo- ple interested in government con- tracts should not sit in the house of commons. Although the Aldenham peerage is of modern date, having been created some eighteen years ago. yet the Gibbs family is a_very old one and was flourishing in Excter in the reign of Richard II. Moreover, the estate of Pvtt. still one of the country seats of the Gibbs family. has been in their possession_since the days of Edward VI Sir Vicary Gibbs was lord chief Justice of England under George II1 and no lees than five generations of the Gibbses have been associated in the control of the Bank of England either as directors or as governors. Through his mother, Herbert Gibbs, the new peer, is one of the co-heirs to the Viscounty of Cullen, now in abeyance. and his brother, the present Lord Aldenham, is, now dead. a cousin of Arthur Balfour and of Lord Salisbury. She was the daughter of Lady Mildred Cecil, who married the Right. Hon. Alexander James Beresford Hope: both of the late Marquis of Sal and of Arthur Balfour's mother, Lady Blanche Balfour. The Gibbs family may be said to be indirectly connected with the reign- ing house, for Ma). “Evie” Gibbs of the Coldstream Guards., whose large fortune is derived from the firm, is married to Lady Helena Cambridge. daughter of Quecen Mary's eldest brother, now the Marquis of Cam- bridge, and formerly Duke “Dollie” of Teck. ok k% Premier Mussolini has yielded to popular sentiment in Rome. in favor of reserving the unrivaled site of Monte Marlo for national purposes, and his minister of education has of- through his wife, | i i 1 l} !of the French army ficially announced that Monte Mario | is to be devoted to a national me- | the Adriatlc throughout the great sea, Interests that are vital to the future political and economic future of his native land, that his country- men are suggesting that instead of being known from henceforth as the Duke di Revel he should be accord- ed, if not by the crown, at any rate by popular claim, as the Duke of the Adriatic. Meanwhile, Gen. Count Luigi Ca- dorne, who commanded in chief the Itallan army until the defeat of Caporetto_in 1917, is living in the utmost obscurity as an officer on the retired list, with a pension of twenty lire, that is to sav, under $3 a day, at the present rate of ex- change. ' His countrymen have en- tirely forgotten that before the dis- aster at Caporetto he had won no less than eleven most brilliant vic- tories along tme Isonzo front in southeastern Austria by means of Alpine military operations, which commanded the unbounded admira- tlon of the entire civilized world, operations in which Prince Gelasio Caetani, one of his principal and most_ resourceful engineer offic and Italian ambassador to the United States, played a very important part. 1f King George has just accorded to the French Marquis de Hautpoul a warrant enabling him to use his ancient French titles and honors in England, where he now makes his home, it is lecause of the great affection which the entire British roval family enter- tain for his most charming glish wife, who was the Honorabl Julia Stoner, and virtually brought up with King Edward’s daughters. Her mother, the late Mrs. Stomer, was one of the earliest ladies-in-waifing and most in- timate friend of Queen Alexandra in the early days of the latter's marriage, and when Mrs. Stoner died the then Prince and Princess of Wales took her daughter Julia under their wing and virtually her entire girlhood was spent between Marlborough House and Sand- ringham. She is a sister of Sir Harry Stoner, gentleman-in-waiting to Ed- ward VII and to King George, and sis- ter also of the late Lord Camoys, con- sequently an aunt of the present peer and of his American wife. who is a daughter of the late W. Watts Sher- man of New York ok % % As for husband d'Hautpoul, family flourished in Languedoc a thousand years ago and took its name from the family castle of Hatto Pullo, Constant, Marquls d'Haut- poul, greatly distinguished himself in the Napoleonic wars In the battles of Wagram, at Moscow and of Leipzig. and was governor for 2 good many vears of the Jittle royal Duke of Bordeaux, who reigned for twenty-four hours ov France as Henry V. after his grand- father, Charles X, had abdicated in his favor, and who died as the Comte de Chambord. Under the Bourbons an- other Marquiseof Hautpoul was gov- ernor of Algeria, general in command of occupation at Rome, French ambassador to the holy see, and died as grand referendaire of the senate in 1865. He shares his wife's popularity and represents all that is best in the breeding and distinction of the patrician, both of England and of her his the Marquis morial to Dante: an influential com- | France. EDITORIAL DIGEST Opinions Differ Widely on Federal Coal Commission’s Report. While the anthracite miners and operators sit about the cool hotels of | Atlantic City and discuss the new wage scale and whether there shall be a strike this autumn editors de- bate the merits of the report of the Federal Coal Commission without get- ting much further than the conferees have to date. Everywhere it is agreed there “must be no strike,” either in the hard or soft coal industry. But cditors are inclined to aoubt whether the fact finding commission has blazed any new trail. They also scoff at suggestions that the result of the investigation has conclusively demon- strated any panacea or anything more than to “furnish grounds for debate.” Taking the outlook in New York, the Wall Street Journal is certain “consumers would gladly pay a small insurance premium to be certain of a steady supply,” but insists that “re- ducing rates on transportation, be- sides being manifestly unfair to some of the carriers, has nothing to do With the case. The miner's license TYesults in making a tight monopoly of anthracite production. No one pre- tends that the President has power to coerce the hard coal miners in Pennsylvania. Until the license law is repealed the suggestions of the coal commission are of small practical valu & There seems little new “with regard to costs,” the Syracuse Herald is con- vinced, and the remedy—taking over the mines in case of a general strike —has “its drawbacks. Nevertheless, in spite of all the manifest disad- vantages, the majority will believe that it is the paramount duty of the government to protect its citizens from suffering, and that its power should be equal to the gravity of that responsibility.” Conceding the “natu- ral monopoly,” the Allentown Call agrees. “it must be brought to an end.” And to achieve that alm the Richmond News Leader feels operation must be assured always, “a Dolicy that pub- 1ic sentiment not only should approve, but should demand.” Then, again, as the Pittsburgh Gazette Times sees it. this “report is preliminary,” but the public will expect that “it prove the beginning of a satisfactory settle- ment of the coal proBlems. . The crux of the situation, the Provi- dence Journal insists, is that “‘the suocess or fallure of government op- eration of mines would depend in great measure on whether or not they were used for political pur- ses.” Naturally, argues the f- u‘:‘) l:.'l, "'b?l“é;"""brflm“:f?"' trol 1s e publio opinion Wi Sand back designed to keep the home fires burn- | Evening World says ! ! n of any proposals and discretion = before the matter ing.” And, while there is no hard and fast rule set down, the New York he commission strikes a popular chord when it warns operators and miners that they had Letter get togetfier and be 2 Which impels the Christian Monitor to argue that the scrutiny and open publicity” regard- ing costs “will be the chief result of the inquiry” and provide for a ‘“per- manent controlling board for the in- dustry.” That view meets the ap- proval of the Albany Knickerbocker Press, inasmuch as it feels “government interference with private business al- ready has gone too far in many lines. But the coal industry is one that must be conducted xo that the people will not freeze in the winter time, so that industries will not be forced to_ shut down for lack of fuel, so that profiteer- ing shall cease. The government is the only agency that can bring order out of chaos in this particular industry.” Whatever action Is taken should be “compelling,” as the Cleveland Plain Dealer sees existing conditions, because “nothing is to be gained by the creation of a powerless, fact-finding, account- keeping, coal commission. The anthra- cite industry should either be subjected to the kind of regulation that affects the public interest in prices, or it should be left alone.” The element in the mine workers' organization which favors “government ownership, will be disap- pointed by the report,” the Scranton Times insists, “but the public at large ‘will look with more than passing favor on the suggestion of regulation which will leave ownership of the mines in the hands of private individuals.” This, also, is very much the view taken by the ‘Bangor Commerclal, which further feels “if the recommendations are sup- ported by congressional action the sup- ply of anthracite coal will be adequate for national demande.” The section of the report dealing with planned action in the event of a strike is closely scruti- nized by the Springfleld Union, because “this is precisely what some of the more radical labor interests advocate. In that case the union leaders would make their demand on the government, rather than on the companies, and the govern- ment would need the power adequately to meet such a situation.” Which leads the Williamsport Sun to suggest “if some effective plan of enforcing con- tracts is adopted the situation in the mining industry will be improved.” “Too many mines, and too many miners are two very good arguments for some sort of control of the coal indus: Post_Di pa s statement that there are 200,000 more miners than are needed to produce coal certainly means uncertain and spasmodic employ- ment. But federal solution of this, like all other questions, necessitates “‘strict government control, and the Chicago Tribune hopes, *“for the benefit of all concerned that the responsible men in the industry will see the light of r‘ulflllh taken entirely out of their hands.” | WASHINGTON, D. C, TUESDAY, JULY 17, 1923. NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM BOOKS IN BLACK OR RED, Ed- mund Lester Pearson. Thé Mac- millan Company. There had been other plans. One had touched upon the Canadian Rock- ies in the company of a wayside mountain man. Another had veered @ward following in the wake of the buccaneers under the seamanship of the last of the pirates, belated in his final sailing. Both of these plans, however, and, in fact, all of the oth- ers, bespoke effort, activity. And just then a “spell of weather” had settled down upon us. You know—the Wash- ington kind that in midsummer fries out from flesh and bone the last drip- pings of energy and ambition that cooler days may have stored up. Noth- }ing at all to be done in this case ex- [cept to sit by, pondering, more than likely, on the bad arrangement that had set mere man down in a climate specifically designed and prepared for the tribe of fabled salamander. One day, just walking along still grous- ing over this particular plece of poor management, 1 came upon a half- .open door. Rather it came upon me. | A couple of queer things about this, too. I had walked it no end of times. But never before had there been a door to it. Besldes, there was nothing here to call for a door—no house, no inn, no shelter of the usual sort to invite entrance or provide exit. Like Alice, I simply had to go through that door. Unlike that amazing child, however, I had to drink from no lit- tle bottle either to stretch or shrink myself to a proper size for admis- sion. This was just an ordinary door. Through it I could see a long alley, walled and canopied with greenery, a twilight shade upon it. Its leafage, wet with rain or dew, was tossing in robust play with the gusty wind that, sweeping through, met me in a boy- ish challenge of comradeship. I could hear from within cool streams chuck- ling and chattering about their ice- cold home in the mountains. 1 could hear birds whistling in a joyous give- and-tuke of comfort and content. What a spot to hit upon! Just to slip in here out of the heat and the glare —no other plan comparable to this one at the moment. * ¥ x ¥ I stepped through that door into the very topnotch of bodily comfort. And, just around the corner of an outthrust of tangled and dripping vines, 1 came upon a person. He was lounging at ease, talking and laugh- ing, with no one at all, so far as I could see. Yes, he said he was laughing at a good joke, several of them. This set me back a bit, for {I had said not a single word out- loud, though, “What's the joke?" was the very question that my mind was asking. Yes, he was laughing, so he went on to say, at the jokes which writers—all along the writing line— have played on an innocent and un- suspeoting public. I sat right down on the grass then, for I knew that ino mountain climbing, no chasing of i buccaneers, could fit the situation as !wnuld the company of thia idler under the trees. At the moment he was chuckling over the hoax, “The | Spectrist School of Poetry.” Seem- ng actually to taste the joke. he went on 1o tell about the creation of this “school.” All tired out with the furore of damfoolishness over the new poetry, Witter Bynner and Arthur Ficke, with a mellowing din- ner for inspiration—some years ago, this—and the name of a popular dance on a thes program, ‘La Spectre de la Rose,” for suggestion, then and there performed the act of creation. Elaborate principles, laws, methods, effects and ultimate in- fluence, clinched the matter. Noth- ing more to be done, except to sit back for the avpreciations, the he e. the general claque of the devotees. And it all came in full measure. From here this easy and companionable man moved to the clever hoax built upon the passion- ate and undiscriminating acceptance of Russian literature. “Feodor Viadimir Larrovitch; an Apprecia- {tion of His Life and Works.” is the { soberiy convincing title of satire {on u form of literary affectation. “The Cruise of the Kawa" came next, the most _influential hoax of them all, so {he said. T edged away here. The “Cruise” was a tender noinf with me. For 1 had read it in perfeci good falth—oh, ever so far along. 1 really came to, only when “millione of assorted nuts” falling from the trees pelted the soil of the Filbert Islands and. when “hundreds of loaves of fresh bread” tumbled from the breadfruit trees. How it does bruise one’s vanity to be fooled, es- pecially to be fooled in matters of intellectual import * ok x * From the literary hoax to the lit- srary forgery is no distance at all And right here this loafing man slip- ped over to the story of Thomas Chatterton. born in Bristol in the eighteenth century. When Thomas was just a lad, only about fourteen, he formed an armorfal blazon and a { zenealogical chart in proof that plain Mr. Burgum was clearly of the line lof the noble house of De Bergham. This tickled the good tradesman to the measure of five shillings trans- ferred to the pocket of Thomas. Fired by his success, Chatterton, in the re- maining four years of his life, made out of whole cloth “T. Powlie,” the serious work of a_ studious fifteenth century monk. This, a clear hoax. Besides, some very real poetry must be counted to the credit of this ver- satile boy. Then, hungry and hope- less, Thomas Chatterton, before he was eighteen, poisoned himself. And | many folks declare that the whole kit and caboodle of literary trick- sters should go and do likewise. A simon pure forger steps out through this running talk in the person of one Vrain-Denis Lucas, who forged and sold documents to what must have been a pitifully simple minded and ‘gullible public—letters from in- numerable celebrities, including Pas- cal and Shakespeare, including even Lazarus and Mary Magdalene. Right Tere T throw & 100k over toward this easy and amiable talker—a look that I try to make casual—to find out if, by any chance, he, too, may not be trying this pesky trick of foolery upon me. 1t is not past him. He has done it already by his own admis- sion. However, he is a clear enter- tainment. And it is not a crime nor a sin to be fooled. It's worse than either to be sure. * ok ok ok This summer-day adventure touch- ed many another spot of interest and delight. For instance, we went—we two—a-hunting old book shops. Cool, dusky places instead of dark ones to stumble through. Clean places—this a surprise. 1, out of my experience, had made the old book shop a sloven, a down-at-heel, hole-in-stocking drab. Nothing of the sort, as was clearly pointed out to me. One of my first real outings when the weather is re- stored to normalcy, will be to find that ideal shop—dusky and clean and cool, with ghosts of writers and ghosts of characters following me about and touching me with !uldins or admonitory hands here and there. And 1 shall follow up—I am sure I shall—many of the new and inter- esting things that with a light and passing touch were indicated to me on that fortunate day when I ran out of a literal mess of things into that cool green alley and sat upon the grass while this bookish man talked and talked in 2 manner as unlike the usual bookish man as one can well imagine. He was a joy and a delight. Moreover, he came at ex- actly the right moment—when almost nothing in the world does come at the right moment. More power, still, to this genial book man who can be- stow such gifts of pleasure! “For him lefere have at his beddes hed Twenty bookes, clad In black or red.” 1 G M. { | i For here was a familiar path. | l ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS By Frederic J. Haskin Q. Where is the biggest electric sign in the world?—S. O. A. The Wrigley sign atop the Put- nam building, New York, is the largest and most elaborate. There are 17,266 lamps, which are burned at a cost of $108,000 a year. Q. How many packages are handled by express?—F. T. G. A. The American Rallway Express Company says that during the year 1922 it handled 181,657,655 shipments. A shipment may consist of more than one piece, and frequently does, but no record is kept of the number of pieces. Four or flve years ago when the last calculation was made it was shown that a shipment averaged about 14-10 pieces. Q. Is the man living who presented ;heMI-'rcer Gallery to Washington?— A. Charles Lang Freer died Septem- ber 25, 1919. While living, he pre-| sented to the Smithsonian Institution his art collection, together with $1,000,000 for a bullding to house it.} The gallery was completed and | the collection installed this spring. Whistler's famous peacock room is probably the most interesting feature of the exhibit. Q. How wide is the Mississippi at its widest point? How many bridges cross the river>—N. S. H. A. The Mississippi River Commis- sion says that according to the latest survey the greatest width at bank- ful stage was found seventy-seven miles below Cairo, II., where the river was 14,420 feet acro are 119 bridges across the Mi seventy-seven above St. forty-one between St. point where the Ohio joins the river, and two below this point. Two of | the largest bridges are at Memphis, Tenn.; one at Thebes, 11, and four at St." Louls, Mo. Q. Will spreading vipers bite through boots?—J. C. S. A. The Department of Agriculture says that, contrary to the general be- lief that spreading vipers are very poisonous, they are classed as harm- less serpents.” It is said that they can hardly be forced to bite, and when handled are found to be gentle. Q. Are the Indian children who are born of parents who have taken out citizenship papers considered citi- zens?—G. L. C. A. Such children are American eiti- zens, Q. Was the battle of Waterloo fought the day after the ball of the Duchess of Richmond?—W. M. B. A, The ball was held in Brussels on June 15, 1815, The Duke of Wel- Lington, at about 3 o'clock on that same day, had received news that-Napoleon was advancing toward the frontier by the road from Charleroi. The infor- mation received by the duke ball was of a character confirming the previous news. This news was of so serious a nature that the Duke of Wellington and many of the guests of the ball left immediately for the field, Although some firing oc early the next morning, the battle of Waterloo was not fought until the 18th Q. What is the present density of the population of Palestine W. R. A, According to the latest official estimate, the density of population is i which flows Q. Are the Faisley shawls manufactured at Paisley, A. The shawly by which the town of Paisley, Scotland became famo are not manufactured there to any extent at the present time. The city is the great thread manufacturing center for Great Britain, and al.a famous for its manufacture of ta tans, muslins and carpets Q. Which country in Europe | the highest and which the Id percontaxe of illegitimate birt wis still Scotland? t . Statlstics since the war are very incomplete. Th- most reliabi however, indicated that the percen age in Austria was 40.1 per highest, and Ireland, 3.8 per « lowest.” The number of illegitimata births in Europe just previous to t world war in a Single year was re- ported at 600,000, Q. How could I estimate 000,000, or the amount owed b; Britain to the United States?—K. F A. A statlstician recently stated that the amount which will be paid $4.600 D I by Great Britain to the United in settlement of her war debt interest would equal $2,500 for letter in the authorized version Bible from the first letter o book of Genesis to the last le the book of Revelation. Acc: to another statisticlan ther. 2,728,100 letters in the Old Te 88,380 letters in the New T. f the er in ing Q. Did_Columbus discover America? —M. A. H. A. Strictly speaking, Columbus rr discovered America and gave it 1o the world. According to the sa or handwritten story men, Lelf Ericson sailéd throu: into t sea” The river is the onl: river on the New gland co which answers this description. ving to the Charles river basin huge “lake’—it flows into the lantic. On the Cambridge side ne the hospital are the cellars of fou houses which the Norsemen erected in the year 1000 A. D. The citizens of Boston have placed on Commor wealth avenue a bronze statue Erieson, who. with his hands s his eyves, looks out upon the Charles. Q. If all labor-saving mac) in the United States were abc vhat number of men would poly the defieit?—H A. According to a recent repo the book, “American Resources Gilbert and Pogue. published by the government printing office. the "cst mate is made that the work of } 600,000 hard-driven unskilled ers would be necessary to repls work done by mac! ery Q. What is the comnarative per acre of the wheat crop of and India, respective weig Br average wheat crop of Gres acre, according to late offici ports, was 2,000 pounds. An Yoar average of the wheat crop India gives the welght to b pounds per acre. (Let The Star answer your q Write your full name and « | that the information may be sent direct Inclose 2 cents in stamps for retwrn postage and address your letter to The Ktar Information Bureaw. Frederic J Haskin, director, 1220 North Capitol | street.) ti eighty to the square mile. | CAPITAL KEYNOTES One out of every eleven families in) the entire population of America has bought a new automobile within the last six months. In addition a few| families already had one or more. | Americans on wheels revolve around | their homes; the world turns on its axis and whirls around the sun, and the sun, with its eight revolving planets, goes whirling around space. Are we any more than rotifera, whirling—whirling—whirling and not knowing what we are whirling for? Take a powerful microscope and look into a drop of sea water and the tireless whirling of the which magnified a thousand times, look quite “some pumpkins,” could not be more dizzying if they each had a “Lizzie” to whiri in. ¢t as important in v as some of the drivers buggies” re in ours. n‘rl;(d‘ \:hnu the: dm.g!h v will be missed as much, but they travel too fast in their diszy whirl for us to catch the haughty expression on their faces. * ok ok ok Judge Elbert H. Gary, head of the United States Steel Corporation, prom- ises to begin reducing the working hours of the stecl workers to eight hours “ir. about six weeks.” That will mean S—emoecr 1. He says it will re- quire an additional number of 60,000 men to operate on an eight-hour in- stead of a twelve-hour schedule. While the drawing of 60,000 borers away from other vocations or- dinarily would not be very serious, the farmers will be right in. the height of thrashing. from September to frost, and the loss of help at that time may prove serious. in view of the present shortage on the farms. Ti Applies naturally to the northern farms more than to the southern planters. rotifera-sized their la- * K K X The chemical warfare service of the Army may find a field of great useful- ness if it is ordered into action against a Japanese invasion which threatens serious damage. It is not a human invasion, but one of Japunese beetles, which are said to have entered in the roots of azalias in 1916. The beetles have gotten a foothold in New Jersey, not far from Philadelphia, and are spreading with frightful rapidity over many square miles. They devour almost every kind of foliage and other vegetation, and no spray has yet shown any effect upon them. Gas has not been tried. Scientists are seeking through Japan, Korea, Hawali and Russia for some parasite which will attack and destroy the beetle, for every insect has its enemy, capable of destroying "“In the meantime here is a_chahce open for the chemical warfare ex- perts to devise a gas which will as- phyxiate the beetle, but will not harm the earthworm. The beetles a destroving golf courses, as well as orchards and fields. \ * K K % Official statistics of building per- mits issued in twenty large cities show an increase for the first six months of the year from $812,223,730 In 1822, to $1,126,381,630 in 1923. That does not Indicate much of a slump in business, as indexed in home building. Some of the reports that are coming to the Navy hydrographic office are enough to scare any bootlegger's best customer. One skiper reports most _solemnly that off Block Island he plainly saw a colller with the name “Tracy” painted on its funnel. Suddenly, its hull doubled its height, then the forward part lifted clear of the hull. remained as a cloud, mast- high, quavering. Then it returned. Later the skipper saw many stakes rising out of the water, changing into a breakwater fence. The reports are accepted as very clear mirages, close to the three-mile limit. hat mi- rages will be seen, in case Secretary rotifera, | BY PAUL V. COLLINS Hughes gets his plan accepted to make the limit of stop and search suspected liquor ships four times as far from *dry land"? CaE | Certain Washingtonians {out to try to stop neediess noises [they should undertake to list need- |less noises, all of which tap {nerves and lessen the vitality of | sufferers, where would the list begin and where would it end? lapolis and St. Paul the | company as introduced | street car. Every wheel is ball- ing, and the cars run along with no more sound than a rubber-tired carriag Incidentally, the ball-hear- ings so reduce the necessary trac tion that the saving of power. will eventually repay the investment A noise-nuisance mentioned ! some complaining witness in Was ington is that of open throttles o automobiles, both passenger and truck, and the frenzy somc drivers have for racing their engines. Once there was a small boy going throush a forest, and he was SInging to keep up his courage. A friend called out “Listen to Willie! Thinks he’s some, ‘cause he's hollerin’.” That is about how the engine racers strike the neighbors: “Think they are some” because they can make a v nuisance of themselves. It is nark of knowledg an_engin. ke it pestiferously rackety—quite Ty, What equals a milk wagon ock in the morning. espe in_an open court. with its echoing walls? Nothing, except two milk wagons and the neighbors’ aroused dogs. str * ok ok A representative of one of the leading firms of builders of Wash- ington is going to Europe to study the ideas of building small homes a la European If he inter- viewed Ellis Island candidates for Americanization, he would find among the European improve- ments that much may be saved by eliminating bathtubs and other plumbing. Steam heating, or practi- cally any other heating, is “waste- ful and ridiculous excess.” peans prefer a tempera degrees F., while American on 68 to Our bullt-in garage is not exactly new. for Europe has long had its built-in cow house and horse stable Lighting used to consist of a tallow candle, but Europe is catching up on that item, and using electricity. though not so freely as we do. Te ephones in the private homes rare, but probably the home occu- pied by a former budget controller was equipped with a French tele- phone. Its service nearly alway. sults in “profanitis” just trouble. Yes, we_have no need of many Eu- ropean improvements on our Amer- ican homes. Eugene Fleld, upon re- turning from an extensive tour of Europe, wrote a poem in which his theme was the various heating sy tems in different European countries, contrasted with what he found at home, and every verse ended with the refrain: “The land of stoves and sunshine is good enough for me.” * ok KK like American legionaires are rejoicing over the decision of a federal judge to the effect that “total disability” un- dér the war insurance law is not limited to the cases that come under the arbitrary rules lald down by the Veterans' Bureau. It is a question of fact, to be declded in each on its merits, as to whether a vete an is so disabled that he cannot earn a living, and as to whether that disabllity is of a permanent nature. The_old limitations were fixed be- fore Gen. Hines became director, and the court's construction of the law will undoubtedly be welcomed by him, for his course Is looking always to the in- terests of the wounded veteran. (Copyright, 1923, by P.-V. Collingdh