Evening Star Newspaper, August 21, 1923, Page 6

se-~ Rate by Mail—Payable i Fg ™ E EVENING STAR, With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY.......August 21, 1923 Editor "“[HEODORE W. NOYES... "*five Evening Star Newspaner Company »5tBushiess Office, 11th St. und Pennsylvama Ave, New York Office: 110 t 42nd St. »' Chicago Oftice: Tower Buildiog. # Ewropean Ottice: 16 Regeut St., London, Eugland. Ape Evening Star, with the Sunduy morning AiiYon, Is deliverad by carriers within the clty 60 cents per month; daily only, 45 cents per Inonth: Sunday only. 20 cents per month. Or- ders may be ail, or telephone Main “goon, " ¢ made by carrlers at tbe end of cacl Advance. Maryland and Virginia. ¢ and Sunday..1yr., $5.40; 1 mo. ~....1yr, $6.00; 1 mo., ...1yr., $2.40; 1 mo:, All Other States. Daily and Sunday..1 yr., $10.00; 1 mo.. Dally only... $7.00; 1 me Sunday only.. 700 50¢ 20¢ 85¢ 60c i 25¢ Y Member of the Ass 46 the “use e phtelios i . I this Tished “herein, Al g rights of publ special dispat bes herein ure also reserved. B The Wheat Problem. American wheat farmers by the thousand face ruin with the low prices of wheat onfronting them, ac- cording to Secretary Wallace of the Department of Agriculture, unless some remedy can be found for the situation The agricultural is giving the adm n. The wheat crop of the country is large this vear and must be marketed within a hort time. Proposals of government aid have come from Senator Brook- hart of lowa and other legislators from the middle west and northwest. The government, they say, should act to stabilize prices, or at any rate fix @ minimum price. But the administr tion is not disposed to have the gov- ernment undertake such business. The distress of the farmers in the * northwe been responsible for the political revolt in Minnesota and the election of two senators farmer-labor This pe volt, it ha: predicted, will spread to other something tion, The . few week: by a large as acutely felt if the mines now problem istration much conee has ticket beer unles agricultural is de ne to relieve the situa. coming within a a crisis which wiit be felt part of the population just a would be Gown of in fact, a coal strike ited more acutely. Secretary Wall, on the sore spot. ship between the farmer has to pay for and, the prices W those things w the farmer « his implements, etc., at prices having some relationship to the prices which he receives for his wheat, his corn and his other produce he would be able to make ends mee But wages in indu are high, taxes are high, freight rates are high, building materials are high, and the prices of all the commodities which - the farmer uses ave in consequence * high " Underlying the situation is the con- * fliet which exists hetween the agricul tural the industrial terests, and which seen W will exist. It is to the inte of the farmer to buy what he needs cheaply and to sell what he prod as high 1t to the of the men engaged in industry to sell what they and to purchuse what heaply as they can, am the products fliet of interest that -the farmer worker can political combination at bottom ave oppostd ance is with the industrial worker. His s standard of living ul. To take improve thé farm- it would be disa 1ce has put his finger ed relation- the he uses the dist which t reccives for duces. If cloth w he he uid purch ich ich pr se hi = interests and in- ngly Vs = as possible is interest they need ng the latter This it doubtful nd the industrial make a sful Their Today the bal s the farm. con- ma ever succe wages are high, high, is away these might condition, but trous to the city dwellers. But despite this conflict of interest there Should be scme more zround, some betted relationship, as Seeretary. Wallace say the prices of farm products and those of manufactured products. “The farmers ould assist by limiting their planting of wheat and other eommo by Giversifying their crops. In that event the law of supply and demand would undoubtedly prove effective. A reduc tion in transportation charges, and more economical methods of distribu- tion would be other factors. These are matters that will require time, however, and the farmers who have wheat to sell are facing an immediate problem. is wor plen ars’ between _——— Chancellor Streseman has discovered an element of German’ industry - suf- - ficlently prosperous. to fear that its profits may be disturbed in the process of finaneial adjustment. ————— In labor controyersy ihe term “check-off” has taken the place of public prominence once occupied by “rights of seniority.” —_—— A coal argument has grown weari- _some, indeed, when the government has to be called in to proleng the con- -vereation. e e Coal Strike and Coal Cost. Hope for a settlement of the coal controversy is distinctly revived by a statement given out yesterday at At- . lantic City by one of the anthracite operators to the effect that if the ad- # Jjustment is reached on the basis of the increase of wages demanded by the men the price of anthracite to the public will ‘be increased anywhere from $1.70 to $2 a ton. THat is a dis- inctly known stage of all such dis- putes, Whenever the talk-at a_hard- i eoalsconference turps upon the price the public will-have to' pay for a set- “{lement it fg-fairly well assured that . the settlement will be effected, and the * “public/wil have to pay the price. For the public always pays the price. 1t is inevitable that it should pay the price in some degree. It naturally fol- Jows that if say $30,000.000 is added to the'cost' 6f mining- anthracite in the, form of an additional puay roll that $30,000,000 will have to be provided by those who use tho product. The *‘cost” " gt coal has riser. steadlly duringhe produce as high as possible | interests ; |.vears, chiefly by reason of the wage ladvances. . ' ; s | But there is a point in thfs matter that demands the closest attention. First.of gll the people want coal. They must’ have it, or radically'and at a heavy 'cost’ reorganizey their .house- ‘heating methods. They are willing to pay for their coal at a rate which enables the operators to pay fair wages and make a fair profit. But that profit must not be an exaggerated one, nor must the cost of distribution be too widely distributed. Somewhere in the “spread” between the mine and the furnace are several profits; that of the opervator, or mine owner; that of the agent of transportation or rail- road; that of the wholesaler, and that of the distributor or retailer. Every time a dime is added to the cost of production at the mine through in- creased cost of labor or material, that additional dime takes a toll all along the line, and the dime becomes a dol- lar by the time the consumer is reached. So there are two problems now to be faced, one of actually producing the coal by a continuance of mining. and the other of distributing it at a price that will not mulet the public in extortion for the befefit of miners, operators, railroads, wholesalers and retailers. The first of these problems is the' more important at present, for the public must have anthracite. But the second one must be tackled vigor- ously, and the hope is that the Federal Fuel Commission will have the power to prevent the extortion that follows upon a readjustment of wage rates up- ward in every item of public neces- sity. The Rockville Fair. We have with us again the Mont- gomery county fair. This annual ex- hibit of products of the great county, and contests between horses of Mont- gomery and neighboring counties, were an “institution” when old men were boys. When Washington was a village-like place the Montgomery fair s an event which drew marked at- tention from our people, and it is still an occasion which is of interest to many citizens of the Capital. While the county fair is a yearly merrymaking, it has a very serious nd substantial side to it. Farmers match their skill against each other in | raising cattle, hogs, sheep and poul- try. and in growing corn, wheat, fruits and vegetables. It stimulates many farmers who need stimulation. It makes for the widening of one’s ac- quaintance. Nearly all the people of the county attend. and the fair takes the form of a general reunfon. Old friends and kindred are sure to come together on the fair grounds, and thou- sinds of folk from all the districts. Laytonsville, Clarksburg, Colesville, | Bethesda, Olney, Wheaton, Gaithers- { burg, Potomac, Barnesville and Da- {mascus, join hands on the fair grounds {at the county seat. i Prince Georges has its annual fair {at Marlboro, and Frederick county holds its fair at Frederick city, or, as | we used to say, “Frederick-town,” and | these fairs draw together great num- bers of the county people and many { from the.Capital, but for several rea- | #ons more Washingtonians take part in the festivities at Rockville than at Marlboro or Frederick. Montgomery's ln*nunly seat is nearer, and Washing- | ton has grown in its direction until it | has far overstepped the District-Mary- { 1and line. What conveniently called our | metropylitan district reaches weil on jln\vurd Rockville. The good roads {leading through Montgomery county {are popular drives with Washington { motorists, and thousands of them | know the way to Rockville. Electric cars lead there, and steam trains con- | nect great Union station with the pic- ! turesque little station at Rockville. | Montgomery county, though a con- siderable section of it has become a i part of suburban Washington, s one | of the prosperous agricultural coun- | ties of the United States. Between Rock creek and the Monocacy and be- tween the Potomac and the Patuxent are some of the highly fertile’ fields of America. Towa is not the only place “where the tall corn grows.” Montgomery also grows it. Tt reaps big harvests of wheat, and in wheat growing, acre for acre, it holds its own with the wheat-belt states. Its orchards are fa- mous. Its dairy herds bow their heads t0 no other cows in the country. Its people are progressive and energetic. And now that the fair is on let us {hope that the best horse wins, that i the best bull gets the ribbon which is his due; that the best hog gets the premium that is coming to him, and that the best hen receives due ac- knowledgment of her. egg-laying vir- |tues. One feels assured that the judges will do justice to the ears of corn, sheafs of wheat and the jellies | and preserves. | = Cuba, should she succeed in estab- | lishing a lottery, will have the benefit of large advertising as the result of | efforts to forbid it. The situation ap- | pears reprehensible not only because of Cuba’s desire to set up & gambling ! device, but also because of her con- fidence that there are enough lawless i people to make the game profitable. The price of gasoline goes down in some parts of the country and up else- where, thus demonstrating the ofl com- pany’s respect for the law of averages. The U..S. A. is the richest of na- tions. This fact does not prevent ap- prehension that its people will not | nave money enough to buy coal. ! In its foreign policy France is the | great standpatter of the world. i No Nagging! A South Carolina court has just ruled in a non-support case that a husband, while he may fully express his feelings in reproach to his wife, must not expose her to the aebusive language of others of the houszhold, particularly her mother-in-law. It de. cided that a husband must supply his wife with a home free frum abuse, ill- treatment and unwarranted interfer- ence from members of the household. If he fails to do so the wife has a right to leave, and in so doing she is *“‘not only not guilty of desertion, but may charge the husband wjth constructive desertion,” ' In oiber words, & 4R Ca. JA¥W his THE EVENING wife directly, but no oge else can do 80. This seems sound doctfine. It is surely not incumbent upon a woman 'to éndure the tongues of a family syndicate of critics. If she is living in a “two-famil band-cannot curb thetongues-of his relatives it is his duty either to clear the house of them or to remove to an- other dwelling. o Nagging is one of the surest de- stroyers of domestic happiness. It is certain to wear away the temper, Tt arouses the sharpest animosities, And nagging from a relative is the hardest of all to bear. A dual establishment is always exposed to that danger. This South’ Carolina decisic®, though it ap- { plies now only to that state, may by its influence spread elsewhere, at least cause the institution of a greater num- ber of independent homes. On With the War! It is @ merry war that is raging between Senator Brookhart of Iowa and former Secretary Meredith of the Department of Agriculture, holding promise of adding to the gavety of politics. Senator Brookhart. in the course of a speech at Radcliffe, Towa. charges that Mr. Meredith, while Sec- retary of Agriculture, “sat in the Wall street game and helped produce the greatest panic in farm prices in the history of agriculture. Thereupon Mr. Meredith finds his feelings hurt and directs his attorney to bring suit for libel and damages against the senator. But, taking the circumstances and the senator into consideration, he assesses his dumages at only 30 cents. “But few people give any credence to Brookhart's state ments,” says the former Secretary, with fine scorn, “and 1 cstimate his effectiveness at about 30 cents.” He adds that his real purpose is to get the senator on the stand under oath. This does not faze the Iowa senator, however, who retorts: “Let him sue. We'll get a farmers’ jury and fight it out.”” That is a new idea; a farmers’ jury, to judge between a republican senator and a democratic ex-member of the cabinet. Go to it, and the coun- try terest. THere are the makings of good midsummer reading in the proceed- ings which ought to tollow the filing of the suit. —————— Ambassador Geddes calls attention to undesirable conditions at Ellis Is- land. A criticism like this should be welcome as inspired by helpful pur- poses. Distinguished foreigners have perhaps given more time than they should in considering from their own viewpoint minor local customs and soctal superficialities. ———————————— Efforts to bar the rodeos as a form of county fair entertainment will not gain strength by reference to it as “brutal.” The same adjective has been | employed through time immemorial to the immensely popular sport of prize fighting. —— Duels between bootleggers and po- lice are referred to in the news of various cities. If the duel'is revived in America it will not be the formal and bloodless affair it has become irf the old world. —————————————— Democrats may as well look forward to a long national convention next summer if all the men mentioned es presidentially eligible are heard from in the proceeding: A campaign to permit the manufac. ture of light wines and beer will glad- den prohibitionists by its implied ad- mission that home brew has been a total failure, By this time the printing of paper money in Earope should show a lot- down. Tt is no longer possible to fool anybody with it. * Cohl discussions make busiriess for stenographers instead of work. for miners. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON Conversational Nature. T wonder what he talks about, The bee in yonder clover! Is he a creature filled with doubt, Or but a singing rover? I wonder what they have to say, The kine so softly lowing, Or fow] that lift a barnyard lay, The pigs who grunt while growing. | They paused in matters they discussed And said, in haughty humor, “You're not supposed to know. You're just The ultimate consumer.” Conservative. “You are always opposed to a third party.” “Always,” replied Senator Sorghum. “If & man can't manage an old party that has béen broke to harness for years I don't see what he can expect in trying to tame a new one.”. Jud Tunkins says it's a pretty seri- ous matter to expect @ bricklayer to work hard enough to earn such a big day's wages in so short a time. 2 Perplexities. I must confess I do not understand All that the diplomats so grave re- late, And fear thit diplomats in many a land May reach a somewhat similar men- tal state. The Great Revived. “I understand you are going to re- vive Shakespeare. . “An actor doesn't have to revive Shakespeare,” answered Mr, Storming- ton Barnes. “But there's always a chance of Shakespeare’s reviying an actor.” Athletic Art. “My boy Josh wants to be & ‘motién plcture actor,” said Farmer Corntos- bel.” . - L . ‘‘Has he talent in that line?” “I guess mebbe he.has. He fell off. the barn.and got hit by a flivver an* didn’t hurt hisself none to spenlv: of.” “Take keer o your marksmanship,” said Uncle Eben. “De man -dat puts in his time shootin’ crap'has a bad ainy house and her hus. | will look on and listen with in-{ STAR, WASHINGTON | One of the brightest days in the jhistory of the postal service of the United States is Tuesday, August 21, 1923.° Mark it on the calendar. It will rank with the day when the Atlantic cable carried fts first mes- sage from America to England. This is the day when for the first] time a letter writtén in New York i will start on the “wings of the morn- ing” (11 o'clock) and arrive in San Francisco the following day (3 o'clock)—long before the slanting sun will gild the Golden Gate. Sunny America! The sun will light all the way, except from Chi- cago to Cheyenne, and that night ride will be the Great White Way of the plains, for every three miles there Wil be a bright signal; at every twenty-five miles a great glowing beacon, and at stated strategic points there will shine lighthouses of 600, 000,000 candlepower. t * * x x Not the beginning of air mail. Far from it. The total service of the air mail of the United States is al- ready equivalent to more than 200 times around the world. And all that 6,000,000 miles without losing a {single lite, in the line of duty. It is equal to sixteen round trips to the moott. Yet the public hardly knows that we have already established a regular alr mail service. * ok X % : There is an interesting'map in the May issue of the Postal Guide, drawn to scale, showing how the area of the United States has shrunk by reason of the Improvements in the mail service within the span of the living generation. The map does not do Jjustice to the shrinking within the memory of men still living: for i starts with the “pony express,’ which, in itself, was a great marvel of speed for its day, as the twent. elght-hour schedule of this week {5 for our generation. The map showing the pony express service measures five inches from New York to San Francisco. Drawn to the same. scale (of time) the steam cars reduced the stretch from New York to San Francisco to five- elghts of one inch. The sume time x'culfi for the airplane brings New York and San Francisco only one- elghth of an inch apart. If that map had started with a scale indicating the time required before the days of the pony express, it would have been not less than forty-five inches wide— in ‘place of the present one-eighth of one inch. * X ¥ X “Wanted information! Wanted to know what has become of the mall. Some four weeks since, the mail actually did arrive. Since then, two other mails are due, but none have come.” > That was the appeal of the editor of the Los Angeles Star, in 1833. In those days it took two months for an Atlantic” coast letter to reach San Francisco. That was the minimum time. ~ Theoretically twenty-two days via Panama, but the average was two months. Ak What did that mean to the argo- nauts buried in the wilds of the gold hunt? Two months! And irregular and undependable at that! The boys of the A. E. F. know what two months' wait for letters from home meant, while they were . “somewhero In France The greatest marvel of the world war was its miraculous accu- racy inits mail service, but there was no such accuracy in previous wars. The medical records of the Unfon Army fn the civil war tell the ghast- iy tale of 10000 deaths directly at- tributed to nostalgla—dead because of letters that never came, or came i too late. ok e There is 1o step in the development | ) civilization In America filled with thrilling romance as the estab- fshment of the pony express Before the end of the fities, population of California had so in- creased that there was an insistent demand for a better mall service. Va- rious schemes were considered. - The first was that camels and drome daries might be imported from Africa i to carry the mall across “the great American destrt.” as they were trans- iporting it in_ caravans across the Arabian and Sahara deserts. Those beasts of burden and of swftness might drink their fill at the Colorado river, then trot across the sands, and thereby reduce the mail time from New York to San Francisco to fifteen days. Camels were imported in 1857, but they were used for freight—never for mail. 0 the * ¥ kX ' In 1835, the Butterfield stage was | established, maKing the trip from St Louis and Memphis to San Francisco in twenty days—the mail reaching St. Louis from the east by steam cars. | Tow the Californians celebrated the firet_arrival of the stage is told in ‘lllc Star extra of Los Angeles, * % % was a wicked Wall street {lobby in those days. In the winter |of 1839-60 it appeared before’Con-} | gress”with a scheme to take a year's i There Soviet Russia is flirting with the nowly organized “federated farmer- labor party,” born at Chicago in June. Moscow -has invited W. H. | Green of Omahd, vice chairman of ithe party's national committee/ and a couple of other farmer-laporites to visit Russia at soviet expense during s ber and October. e imme- ;:fl:':urpoao of the invitation is to ihave American agriculture represent- od at a Russian agricultural exposi- fion which the soviet has organized. Mr. Green and his companions are now on the oceam. en route to Riga. They declare’ their American red blood is the only crimson thing about them and hope to return to-:the United States without having been dyed the Lenin shade. Green is an outspoken radical and wants Henry Ford for, President. * ok kK Willlam Howard Tatt and Willlam Jennings Bryan each has a brother Charley, and so has another man who would be President of -the United States, Senator James E. Watson of Tndiana. In this period of watchful waiting on- Calvin Coolldge's per- formances in the White House, “Charley” Watson is the only visible sign of the “Jim"” Watson presiden- tial boom. If and when conditions, warrant, Brother Charley will. be: much in the picture on behalf of one | of Indiana's favorite republican sons.: Having made his pile in Oklahoma oft, he has moved back ‘to ancestral | ®oil in Indiana, to devote himself advancing __ Brother | henceforth = to havé a fervent backer when the time comes, ~ “Charley” Watsont 1s Washington at ‘the. moment, giving the G. O. P jigsaw puzzle a micro- scopio-inspection. Kk ox % Dewitt :Clinton Poole, jr., for. the past .two vears chiéf of the Russian {division at the State Department, has been-appointed American cansul gen- eral at Yokohama. The great Japa- Tese’ port ‘is one .of our banner con- sular posts, being in the secondary rade, which carries a salary of 8,000. . ‘Mr. Poole ‘is one of ‘Uncle Sam’s most experlenced- professional reign sarvice men, AIthough -nok | age Iseventeen TUESDAY, ' AUGUST 21, 1923. D..C, 2 CAPITAL KEYNOTES BY PAUL V. COLLINS contract to carry all the malls be- tween the Atlantic andthe Pacific for $5,000,000. It was a fake offer, but the agitation in its behalf aroused Williami - H. Ruséell, who was en- gaged in the business of freighting across the continent. Russell bluffed the Wall street gang with a bet of 200.000 that he could establish a service that would make the trip of 1,950 miles between San Francisco and St. Joseph, Mo., the western ter- minus of railroads, in ten Gays. * Kk ¥ ¥ . Russell's bet was accepted by Wall street. He told his partner, A. B. Miller, what he had done, and they enthusiastically agreed to establish & pony service. Russell and Miller scoured the west for the fleetest horses. They bought 500 animals, which they stationed from ten to twenty miles apart, along their familiar route. They hired 125 of the best riders of the west. They took thelr chances with their flect horses and expert riders, in out- distancing savages who might give chase on their inferior cayuses. *Ern There was great excitement at both| ends of the line. The race against time was to start from San Franclsco April 8, 1860. Miller's private horse, Border Ruffian, was chosen to make the start. An immense crowd gath- ered. At the signal gun, fired on the deck of a steamer in the harbor, he was off. He made the first twenty miles in forty-nine minutes, Then a relay horse took up the with a new rider, and was lost fo hours in a snowstorm in the foot- hills, ¥resh relays, every ten or twenty miles, and the Salt Lak valley| and the vast plains passed. In the quicksands of the River Platte the horse was drowned, but the rider, with his precious mail, swam_ashore. The half-drowned rider tramped ten miles with his mafl and reached the next relay. The mail was then sixty miles from St. Joseph, an hour behind schedule. Only three licurs and thirty minutes in-which to reach St. Joseph! The roads were slippery with rain. Johnny Fry was the name of the rider. Ever heard of Paul Revere's wild ride? Not to be compared with that of Johnny Fry. * ¥ ¥ ¥ Five thousand spectators were gath- ered on the bank of the river at St. Joseph, speculating on what Johnny Fry might accomplish. Only seven minutes left. No horseman in sight. Six minutes—five minutes. He can't make it. The roads are too treach- us. {urrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" The vast crowd yelled itself crazy! “Johnny is here!"” He had just five minutes to spare! The pony express had covered the 1.950 “miles “in ten days— the fastest long-distance riding In the world’s record. The full nineteen days included "the railroad service from St. Joseph to New York Where Is the monument that has ever been erected to Johnny Fry and his wonderful horse, celebrating their sixty-mile ride? Or even to the pioneers Russell and Miller? * % ¥ % Five days before the start of the great $200,000 race the pony express et out from St. Joseph for the west— April 3, 1860. The crowd at St. Joseph almost pulled the tail off the pony as {it was starting. In the eagernees of the men to possess a souvenir hair from that tail. It arrived at Sacra- mento in ten and a half days, just in time to finish the trip by boat to San Francisco, arriving .there the follow- ing day. Ter Sy * ¥ x The pony express was never able to make cxpenses. although the*post- was for a half-eunce letter. It was discontinued the next year. In the meantime, however, its daily adventures were far more thrilling than any experienced by the alr mail service, which has now been running for five vears. Its great- est rider was Buffalo Bill, who one occasion rode continuously miles. Its greatest message Lincoln's first Inaugural address. schedule time from St Joseph Sacramento was seven days hours, making the from New York to San thirteen days for letters and eight dayvs for telegrams. The telegrams were wired to Fort Kearney. carried by pony to Carson City: thence wired to San Francisco. The telegraph clear through was completed in 1561, and that killed all prospect of profits from the pony express. The first all-rail transcontinental service did not become possible until the com- pletion of the Union Pacific in 188 ok ok % Not only does the twenty-eight- hour schedule of airplane mail out- rank the service of the pony express with its boasted nineteen days, but it beats it as to cost. Instead of $5 postage for a half-ounce letter, a spe- cial air-mail stamp of § cents now takes the letter across the continent 384 was It to and time !in a day and a sixth. The United States post office is the “largest single industry in existence.” It operates in the clouds, upon the earth and through the tunnels under the earth. (Copyright, 1923, by Paul V. Collins.) WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE yet thirty-eight years old, he has seen | extensive service In Germany, France and Russia. Poole was on duty a Moscow during the thrilling days of the soviet turmoil in 1917, comport- ing himself with gallantry during hours of danger to American lives and interests. He was the last Amer- ican official to quit Russian territory in 1918, having been speclal assistant to our ambassador at Archangel. Poole is an authority on Russian con- ditlons and Secretary Hughes has de- pended upon him for information and counsel during the bolshevist regime. * ok ok ok The Campbells are coming at Wash- ington. Secretary Wallace's appoint- ment of Walter G. Campbell of Ken- tucky as director of regulatory work at the Department of Agriculture adds another member of the clan to those already in responsible federal positions. Edward K. Campbell is chief justice of the Court of Claims. Johnston B, Campbell is an Interstate Commerce Commissioner. The Camp- bells are not vet as numerous in Tncle Sam’s household as the Davises, who can count almost as many fed- oral noses as Massachusetts, but Secretary Wallace is a patriotic Scots- man and Caledonia will not long lag behind. d * ok ok % ‘Winthrop M. Danlels of New Jersey, former chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission, and well known in Washington, has been en- gaged by Yale University to become “Jim's” political fortunes. They will |the head of its new department of | simple tribal j transportation. in |man and.protege of Woodrow Wil-| plicity to which the essentials of the Danfels, a Princeton son, is a profassor of political econ- omy by professiom, and has written books on American history. In addi- tion to his duties at Yale, Danlels has been given a unique commission by the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroad. The management has asked him to prepare an elabo- rate treatise on “What's wrong with the N. Y., N. H. & H" The road's cotemporary history is a long story of trials and tribulufil‘ons. Daniels is ex| 3 8 2nd | their avoldance in the future. ACoDTTISRE 103D o aiaitia A on | Francisco | NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM PEAKS OF SHALA. Rose Wilder Lane. Harper & Eros. If Rose Wilder Lane's great-grand- motlier had in her own day felt, run- ning along the soles of her feet, that certain tiny tattoo so faint yet so un- mistakable withal, she would never have dreamed even that the gods of the open road and the far trail were tapping out their wireless call to her to come on out into freedom and ad- venture. Instead, this dutiful woman would, no doubt, have mét the dis- quleting summons by walking to and fro, day long, the straight path set by the sweep of her spinning wheel, or by treading the road toward win- ter blankets and wearing gear by way of the.old kitchen loom. And ever since that day—long befare it, too— the great mass of women have mis- read the releasing call. This fact stands clear as day, by no more than a casual look around upon the huge number of squirrel cages, infinite in varlety and pattern, set thick every- where roundabout, exch in a futile whirl under the frenzied energy ‘of its fe- male occupant to get away out into pen of joyous freedom. The de of many piled-up vears of iunumerable ‘“verbotens” has shut women off from adventuring with the £0ds of life. And it has come to pass, therefore, that their eyes are holden, thelr ears sealed, their 1ips.dumb, both to overture from the lords of adventure and in power of response on their own part. But, once in a long blue moon, there appears one who, in some woman way, has reached the barricade, one who, by hook or by crook, has held herself open to the manifold lure of life. to the call of far places, to the begulling beauty of ro- mance, £ % Ae the point at which we come upon Rose Wilder Lane—a rain-soaked woman from start to finish, a sodden mop of clothes and hair and shoes that make squeegee noises .under the foot action that drives the water out of them. How- ever, if you happen to be looking for somebody who is haying the time of her life you would better stop right here, for, despite what looks like a_torment of bodily discomfort, Roxc Wilder Lane is in a triumph of complete joyousness. Where and how? 'Oh, in a remote corner of Albania, climbing its mountains and getting acquainted with the people and the places. Alone? No. ~Two other young women, sober and. use- ful voung women we suspect, gO along. And there is Perolli, a native with outside education, coming back on some mysterious errand that he keeps close under his hat. There is Rexh, the voung Mohammedan, who refused to_be shaken out of the ad- venture. Then, of course, there are guides and mules, the necessary im- pedimenta_of even the most unpre- tentious of mountain caravans. Those mules, skirting _impossible ledges overlooking unimaginable depths, provide the reader with inany thrills, as in Ane impartiality they offer to their human burdens—one moment a footing in this world; the mext moment some gpot in the world of eternity. And the travelers too, no doubt, thrilled mightly at this fre- quent close-up of the truth that in the midst of life we are’in death And what are they all doing here? What ix the real purpose of this e: pedition among the Albanian moun tains? About this we are not al- together clear. To be sure, we do re- call, vaguely, something about es- tablishing schools, or a school—the mission of the two sober young women. Bear in mind there is not & shred of disparagement here, not a Suggestion even that the ertand was elther an obscure or an unimportant ene. The truth of the matter is that Whatever business the others may have had there, Rose Wilder - Lanse Was frankly out for advenfure, her ness that of mkdlngmlir'\');o::‘l)w chatever goods the’ gods - Vide, - And. we in deliberate choice with her. ‘olehn‘ kKK ko . Under thé spur of Mr#. ‘s own lusey” delight we, too, clitifeand, lin | and erawl along the mounteitt trafls: e, too. ¥ide the strong natiyes actoss the mountain streams; we, 100, soak in rain and shiver in cold, till at vome sudden turn there spreads a panorama so _incredibly beautiful i that the body forgets to ache as the | ipirit lifts it to a zome of radiant “plendor. We. too. learn in pride to “And to you long life.” as some grave and gracious mountaineer greets us. “Long life to you: go on i the smooth trail.” And at night, in the company of our unconquerable | saventurer, we creep into a tiny Stone hut. plastered like the nest of A bird against the face of some for- { bidding cliff. There, in the midst of | the tribal family—men, women, chil- dren, goats and chickens—we lie on the floor. warming. steaming. gnawed with a hunger that must wait the deliberate ritual of enter- tatning strangers, ceremonials of hospitality that have not changed simee Gays reaching back beyond the time when Rome was and Greece. %A small kid was brought for our in- spection: we were to eat it for din- ner. It looked at us mildly, content- | 2a"in the arm that held it comfort- Gbly: its fur was soft as sealskin One of the children rose and smil- ingly kissed its delicate muzzle, with a pesture of charming affection. Then fhey took it out and Killed it. bring- ing back its skin, which they hung lon a peg. After a time the mother { goat came over and nuzzled that skin fhoughtfully. Then they brought us lamb, all woolly white with youth. find we praised that; and they took it out and killed it. Tts skin hung | beside that of the kid. And after that they showed us a fat hen, and it also was so used to the compan- jonship of humans that it uttered no faintest squawk when the woman Wwho held it nonchalantly wrung its neck. just beyond the circle of fire- ight. He P perhaps, off again a new trail toward another f mountain life, to fresh con- mountain people. rain s busy save ‘hen, for a moment. the sun, push- N Tihe clouds away, pours a heat upon the travelers that sets them Arsteaming in their own brew. At every farrying place there is the same boun- tiful hospitality, unchanged from its | lent ceremonial. There is always the same quiet courtesy, always the same grave talk as Perolll passes the questions back and forth between fhe travelers and the natives. They tell of their tribal laws and customs, of the place of the women among them, of the care of the children. They talk of the blood feud as an instrument of justice and protection. Thev are politely skeptical on the theme of private property and frankly puzzled over the intricacies and in- direction of a government other than the tribal. They believe in beings that for centuries we have embalmed in myth and tell confidently of a man who married one of these wood sprites, living most happily with her, though no one, except himself, could see her, nor could ony one, not even i{he husband, lay finger upon the tangible substance of her. The whole adventure grows by innumerable furns of coming and going among the people living under the “peaks of Shala.” As a part of this daily unfolding of a wonderful mountain landscape, as a part of her human joy in the primitive life of this brave and beautiful people Mrs. Lane has, according to her own feelings and statement, rediscovered the oneness of the world of men. That is, by way of this adventure she has been enabled to lift up and to set aside centuries of accumulated civilization, under which she has found, in a society, human beings no different from-us living in a sim- And this { upon oint o { facts with these And always the | | ! Then, next day civilized man of the present o ond with understanding and much of approval. Innumerable delightful Says of partaking await the reader |of this book, whose modest author disclaims anything more for it than something “casually learned while adventuring among the tribes in the nterior nothern Albanian mountains.” Tt is not even all of Albania,” she goes on, “that little country too small to be found on every map. .It is a fragment of this Jarge, vari- B e romantic. world, sent, back by a traveler to those who stay at agma/t e il MY ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN Q. How many pictures were taken of the late President Harding?—C. R A. Harris & Ewing say that they made more than 1,500 pictures of Mr. Harding while he was President. This number is a mere indication of the volume that the business of photo- graphing a President attains, since many other photographers also take countless pictures of such celebrities. Q. When does Washington have its first killing frost? B. A. The average date of first killing frost in the District is October 21, although killing frost has visited the city as early as October 2. Q. Who was responsible for the in- troduction of women into govern- ment service?—H. G. A. F. E. Spinner, who was treas- urer of the United States during the civil war, was the first to have wom- en in a government office. Q. How long do the soldiers who are on guard at a funeral like that of President Harding stay on duty?— A. Soldiers detailed as the guard of honor at the bier in a military fu- neral such as that of the late Presi- dent are relieved every twenty min- utes. For this length of time they are required to stand motionless. Q. Has “The Star Spangled Ban- ner” ever received any official recog- nition®—J. W. C. A. Congress as late as 1914 refused to' declars it the national anthem. Tts nly official recognition occurred nearly “one hundred years after it was written, when it was formally ordered to be played in the Army and Navy on_ occaslons of ceremony Its stunding has never been disputed in other lands, and wherever Ameri- ca {5 honored-in musle, this familiar air is played. Q. Is the distance from city to city measured In a straight line or along a road?—W, C. H. A. The geological survey says that the distance between two citles is generally measured along a public road or rallroad from the center of one city to the center of the other, unless actually specified from outside boundaries. Q. How many pounds of white bread can be made from 100 pounds of wheat?—J. R. M. A. By the usual bolting method, 100 pounds of wheat will yield about sev- enty pounds of flour, from which nine- . -ludur pounds of bread may be pro- uced. Q. T have less than one-half of a 1-dollar bill that has been burned. Can it be redeemed?—A. L. R. A. The redemption division of the Treasury Department says that if a person has three-fifths of a bill it can be redeemed for full value. If he has less than three-fifths, but more than two-fifths, it will be redeemed for one-half value. Q. Do eggs with double yolks ever hatch?—M. M. W. A. The Department of Agriculture says that there have been instances where a double volk egg has been hatched. However, such instances are very rare and the chickens which hatch from eggs of two volks are not normal chickens, as they are de- formed. Q. When were mirrors or lnoking- glasses first brought to this country? =M L J. A. The first authentic record of mirrors or looking-glasses in this country is In an inventory in Mary- New President land in 1639. They were at that time rare even in England, being imported from Venice, Q. Did Mark Twain believe in a future life?—C. C. G A. Mark Twain said: “T have'neve seen what seemed to me an atom of proof that there is & future life. And 1 am strongly inclined to expec THarding’s middle Biblical name’ Q. Is Warren G Gamaliel, » means “God is ward,” and two persons of th are mentioned in Bible histor: Q. Is it possible turkeys?—IL M. C. A. The wild turkey has been bred in some cases, but only where ar extensive tract of inclosed wild wood- land is available. Q. Is the letter Y ever an adjec- tive?—A. D. J. A. It is when it is used to modify a4 noun, as Y track or Y branch. Q. Will the teredo live in a lake M. M. WL A. The teredo or ship worm live in salt water and does not survive in fresh water. a re ame to raise wild adobe houses practical’— A. Adobe may be made from an: material which becomes hardened o1 exposure to the sun. The process of baking consists in first exposing the molded bricks to the direct rays o the sun for « day, then turning them exposing different faces for from eeven to fourtcen days. Because of the lack of coherency, adobes can be employed only in regions of 1i d rainfall. Who disc ('I'Fcln'w light?—B. A. The credit of the bas of the electric light is prob: bly due 1o sir Humphrey Davy, who in 1810 ob- cerved the electric arc and produced the Incandescence of a fino platinum_wirc in connection with his famous experi- ments with & 2,000-cell battery. m red the possibility Q. Can sour milk Le substituted for sweet_milk in recipes for biseuits and pancakes?—C. H. A. Usually sour milk and soda may be substituted for sweet milk and bak- ing powder. One-half level teaspoonful of soda is enough for a cupfut of sour milk. Q. How does balbriggan underwear gets its name?—D. D. L A briggan is the name of a sea port in Ireland twenty-two miles fror Dublin. Its principal manufactures ar embroidered muslins, cotton, calico and hosfery. The name balbriggan has been extended to describe varieties of cotton knit goods made elsewhere. Q. hat gases are set free When a storage battery is charged ?—K. ¥. A. Oxygen and hydrogen. Q. Do humming birds live on the nectar of flowers?—L. L. A. This substance does form an im- portant part of their food, but they do cat insects and spiders also. { Q TWhat is the correct | alright or allright>—C. C. Such a word is not The expression should be two words—all right. spelling— sanctioned. written as (The Star Information Burcan will answer your question. Give your full |mame and address and send the inquiry | to The Star Information Burcaw, Fred- eric J. Haskin, Director. 1220 North Capitol street. Inclose 2 cents in stamps | or return postage.) of Portugal v ’ Occupies a Difficult Post BY THE MARQUISE DE FONTENOY. Portugal has shown an unexpected degree of political sense and sagac- ity, promising well for her future, in electing Senhor Texeira Gomes by an overwhelming majority to the presi- dency of the republic. For instead of being a political adventurer, a mil- itary conspirator or one of those uni- versity professors who are so much wrapped up with theory, doctrinal fads and intellectual idealism as to be incapable of understanding or ap- preciating practieal issues, he is a member of a very ancient and dis- tinguished family, possessed of great landed estates in the province of Al- garve and of a considerable private fortune, and is a graduate, but never a professor, of the great University of Coimbra and is the author of sev- eral books on art and travel. For the past thirteen years. indeed ever since the establishment of the re- public at Lisbon, he hae been the Minister plenipotentiary of Portugal in Great Britain. He arrived there under very discouraging circum- tances and at first his position was not only a very delicate, but also a very difficult one. PR People tn England from the royal family downward had been profound- ly shocked by the butchery of King Carlos and of his eldest son while driving through the streets of Lisbon in 1908, seated in an open carriage with Queen Marie Emelle, who was drenched with the blood of her hus- band and of her eldest boy and also with that of her younger boy Manuel, tho was wounded. The callous atti- people In dealing with the crime, in Withholding any manifestation of sym- pathy for the victims or for their be- reaved famil and their neglect to punish the assassins, created world- Nide indignation, and especlally in Great Britain, where King Carlos and his eldest boy were greatly liked and held in affection by King Edward and by his entire house as a near and dear relative. But thg climax of indigna- tion boiled over When, in the spring of 1910, a band of naval and political conspirators, after partly destroying the roval palace at Lisbon with gun- fire from the warships, proclaimed a republic and drove the widowed queen and her young. and inexperienced boy, King Manuel, to flight and to seek retuge in foreign exile. * ¥ Xk ¥ Manuel was too young to have been able to do much harm, while Queen Marie Amelie, by her charity and by her devotion to the people of the land of thelr adoption, by the heroic role ¢ she had played in various epl- e, in hursing the victims of the bubonic plague, of typhus, of cholera and of smallpox, in the hospitals which she had founded, endowed and organ- ized, had every right to lock, if not for gratitude at any rate, for some de- gree of sympathy on the part of the Portuguese people. Both the king and his mother went to England, where they were warmly welcomed, and where they made their home and where they found, as their principal adviser, the late Marquis of Soveral, who had represented Portugal at the Court of St. James for nearly twenty years and who had been one of the most intimate personal friends of Edward VII, of Queen Alex- andra and of their children, including the present king, and a universal fa- vorite in London society. R Under the circumstances, the welcome accorded there to Senhor Texeira Gomes, as the minister plenipotentiary of Portugal, was more than cold. He, how- ever, bore himself with so much tact and dignity and discretion that, by de- grees, he managed to win the reluctant admiration and good will of ail those with whom -he .was brought into con- tact and, gradually, the sympalhy which he had won for himself was ex- b epres | sented, that is to say. the old time a of England. For a treaty has existed between Portugal and England since the eighteenthi centu according to the terms of which C at Britain i bound ito protect Portugal and her lonies from foreign invasion and to uphold her government against anarchy and chaos especially of the bolshevist order. * * * % | It is by virtue of this treaty that Great Britain embarked, in the early part of the nineteenth century. upon the |so-called peninsular war, when her { troops were landed at Lisbom and her ! fleet anchored in the Tagus for the pur- pose of freeing Portugal from foreign in- vasion. Indeed Duke of Wallington stili be titles of Duke Vittoria and of Marquis of Torres ras for his services in ridding the ngdom from the presence of the enemy. Again, in 183}, England sernt warships _and ' troops to re-establish Queen Maria_della Gloria upon the throne at Lisbon in the place of he uncle and guardian Miguel, who had usurped her crown and who ‘was drive: out of the country to end his days i exile in Austria. ~ If Great Britain in tervened in behalf of Queen Maria deliu Glorla to restore her to her throne, i’ was because the usurpation of her uncle was_ascribed, at the time, to foreig: intrigue and’ was unpopular with th nation. 5 * %% When the revolution of 1810 tooi place, the crown had been rendered 1 g0 unpopular by the acts of its min |isters and the people seemed so ber {upon a radical change in their for: of government and in trying a re- public, that England refrained from intervention in behalf of the dynasty Now Portugal depends very largel: upon the friendship of England in a political and, above all, in an eco- nomic sense, not only Portugal her self, but also her colonies. The for tunes of Portugal in the matter of the stability of her government and in the development of her trade and industry are influenced largely by the good will or displeasure of Lngland It is, therefore, of manifest advan tage to the people of Portugal that they should have elected as the 'Drcsh—l(nt a man who has managed to win the sympathy and the confidence of the English government and of the British captains of commerce. finance and industry, in the face of almost Insuperable dificultie xx * % That the rulership of Portugal i a post of personal danger, as been-shown by the assassination of at least two of her kings in modern times, and of one of her presidents of the republic, shows that Senor Texe ira Gomes is & man of courage and of patriotism, who is willing to sacrifice the very agreeable position which he had ended by winning in London for the sake of his country. Wealthy and respected as he is. both at home and abroad, the troublesome and dif- foult post of president. where he is called upon to deal with ail sorts of I perplexing problems and exposed to Ithe certainty of winning more ene- Inles than friends, can offer few at- tractions to him. especially as his principal task will be to abolish ond all sorts of abuses and official as Well as_ political dishonesties that have hampered the success of Portu- gal's government in the past. has ‘The Commuter’s Ticket. This 1s Easu’s ticket, a month in which all the days are his. He can sit on the garden bench and within the walls is a_world wholly his, from raspberries of his moré delidate fancy to cabbage of his sturdy moments. The young green corn is above his head and strawberries are in both blossom and fruit. Early goldenrod and sunflowe blossom and more color spreads ov the wayside and into the thickets Wild asters come into the field. The katydids come back into the oual Cosmos and_the lute phiox il the borders. Easu’s month Jg pleasant to -ug o nercepuonaztlre» Honth of the boiling pot and the garden full, =Chicage Fribung, 3 ! 3