Evening Star Newspaper, October 15, 1923, Page 6

-THE [EVENING STAR, With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. MONDAY. .October 15, 1923 THEODORE W. NOYLS. !‘dltal‘ The Evening Star Newspaper Company 111h St. and Pennsylvania Ave. ast 42nd St. Bullding. Londos, England. Sanday morning \in the city i5 cents per or- ers imay be sent by mail or teleplone Main 000 Coilection is made by carricrs at the Europesn “with ‘The Bvening Sta S by carriers w edition, is Duily and buily only. 1\r‘smw 1mo. 37.00; 1 mo., it or not otherwise credited 150 the local nmews pub- of publicat'on of <o seserved. Wanted—A Decently Clad Capital. The llud w fitting to new suit .ike Uncle Washington is youthful vi Last » small for both of ext year both s suit. annot cut cutgrown producing 't burcau is nest Sam, the rowing veu ra=ouinal with s suit was to this year, nave The most expert of it without m and out down u and worn a tonly to cut d to deny om of genuine Capi- sy and mutilate estimates, arbitraril needs national or at the 1] municipal, but to co-ordinate, and harmonize ext v nt duplications, to eliminate dvagance and waste and to secure the community 100 cents of wel- pron; dollar spent. wisely Ired this r's approp vear's needs without climinating unnecessary ex- nount. Indeed, r's appropriations the full ex- the satisfac either ematiz -xt for ire + No istration can atel ons cut millions ¢ e » meet and wendit in that nditures, | that the real | 1 be no greater For nelther na- anding every y and in needs, vision for main- 1 development. n of the unprofitable ser- scriptural parable sug- zests div as well as oroval “h handling of a trust, rither national, municipal, commercial domestic, that the subject matter £ the trust, metaphorically buried in k neither waste nor > of today. both e vant in the v s function of eliminating waste and extravagance from national and he Capital's municipal he b bureau find jurlsdiction many tances riot doubtl travagance in Uncle San outlays, which net dupl t within its f pa- necessary ex- -time ated in al ex- other facts call for and are are whic And there ions penditure and conside quitable dis sam and p the wise applicati siple upon which the Jases its opes Thus in appropriating tal municipality t bureau, well as Congress, will in equity keep in mind (1) that more than 60 per cent of the money which they are appor- tjoning among municipal needs will be contributed by the people of the mu- unicipality; (2) that the local taxpayers in budget bureau ations. for the Capl- | human disap- ! expenditure ! n of the sound prin- have accumulated to pay their share | of the cost of meeting the accumulated unmet municipal needs of the war time nearly five million dollars, which the v 1878, under which fthe surplus accumu- | ent and just participation in contribu- tion (by bond issue or through loans or advances by nation to District) of tax- payers of the mear future, who will profit more than anybody else from the completion and utilization of great per- manent public improverdents, Prohibition Pot and XKettle. Little is gained by the pot calling the kettle black., Gov. Pinchot of Pennsylvania, in an address before the great citizenship conference on lnw enforcement now in session here, ly charged that the failure of m‘ohlln ion enforcement lay at the door of Washington, the federal gov- ernment. Federal Prohibition Com- missioner Haynes, on the other hand, addressing the same conference, charged that the fault lay in the fail- ure of adequate co-operation on the part of the state and municipal eu- thorities with the federal government. These gentlemen united on one thing, the blackness of politics as it is played in this country. Mr. Pinchot urged that the prohibition en- forcement service be ‘“‘taken out of politics.” Mr. Haynes urged that poli- tics be made “‘clean” by the people in the states, and insisted that under such conditions there would be no doubt about the enforcement of pro- hibition or any other law. Under the tem of government that prevails in the United States, party government, it ippears impos- sible, as a practical matter, to take prohibition enforcement out of politics. The suggestion of Mr. Haynes that tice be improved gets at the real meat of the situation. The citizenship conference has be- gun as a great movement on the part of an aroused people to bring about obedience to and respect for the law. 1t would be sad, indeed, if the real is- sue, £0 Vi to the republic, should become beclouded through a contro- versy as to whether the federal gov- ernment or the state governments are to blame for the lack of enforcement of the prohibition law. Not only would it be sad, but it would be cause for considerable rejoicing on the part of the lawbreakers. What is needed is co-operation to the uttermost degree between state and federal authorities in the war on the criminals now violating the Cons stitution and th.: dry law. There is little to be proud of, either in Wash- gton or in Pennsylvania toda when it comes to the question of vio- lation of the prohibition act. Undoubt- edly the ventilation of these evil con- ditlons will do good. One thing is increasingly evident as he citizenship conference has pro- ed. The time has come when men in hign places, merely because they are in high places, are not to be long mmune from obedience to the pro- hibition law, if the people who believe in prohibition have their w The peakers have pointed out that it is not the poor, ignorant foreigner or mountaineer who needs attention most, but those respectable citizens of means, who act as if prohibition applied in full force to the worker, the man who was compelled to get his liquor in the cor- ner saloon, but not at all to them, A New Kind of Dog Show. A mutt dog show is to be given at Washington by the Humane Educa- tional Society, and it is planned to] form a National Mutt Show Associa- tion which will hold an exposition at the Capital each year. A mutt is the kind of dog that belongs to the aver- age Washington man and boy. Some- times this kind of dog does not “be- long.” but lives in freedom by his wits. That is a hard way to live, and any dog in that state would weicome adoption by a boy. The only dog to | be barred from the approaching show will be the one with a recorded pedi- | gree. The judges will have naught to do with dog genealogy. It is what a dog is and not what his great-grand- father was that is to count. The plebeian dog is to have his day. Perhaps he is now expressing himself, by vibrations of his tail and other- ige, in somewhat this fashion: “Yelp! Yelp! Pass the news to Towser Smith, Bowser Jones, Rags Brown and to | @ll the other regular fellows that we under the law of |2r¢ going to have a plain business{ A monkey might complain of persecu- . dog show. Dogs that have malids, lated, is under obligation to add for | manicures and footmen; dogs that Capital expenditure a like amount; (3) : have never felt the bite of fleas; dogs THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C. the signal to mean that the way was clear. He started his car, saw his danger, stopped the machine, evident- ly trying to back off the tracks, but not in time to avoid being hit. All but one of the occupants of the car were killed, one man escaping by jumping. These circumstances clearly indi- cate that the view of the track was obscured, else the driver of the car would not have gone ahead. There are hundreds of these crossings in this country, places where there are no gates and no signals save perhaps a warning sign. These mute signs, however, have become ineffective. There must be something to arrest sharply the attention of the motorist, a flashing light or a gong. In New York state a swinging sign hanging over the road gives notice that dan- ger is near. At a crossing in one of the New England states where nu- merous fatalities have occurred the wreckage of machines that have been hit by trains has been assembled and hung upon telephone poles on both sides of the track. One of the terrible facts lll connec- tion with the grade crossing evil is that the slaughter is in such large numbers. For instance, in the Penn- sylvania accident last week six were killed, and in the Ohio case eight were killed. Yesterday in Indiana nine lost their lives, a total of twenty-three fatalities in four days in three cases. —_————— Clemenceau says his political life is finished forever. His impression may prove fallacious owing to the fact that there is no crisis at the moment of a kind that fits Lis particular personal- ity and power so closely as to make him appear Indispensable. However content a statesman may be with re- tirement, there is no resisting a genu- ine case of overwhelming demand. B S A volume of reminiscences is ex- pected from Ambassador Harvey. It is early for him to begin reverting to the past. Despite an exceptional! carcer he is still regarded as a young man with @ great future; one in whose biography the most interesting chap- ters are still to be created. e Girl in Baltimore charged with a minor offense said she would rather go to jail than go home to her par. ents. Again fears arise that philan- thropy is making prison life too attrac- tive and interesting. ———— e Disinterested and expert observation may reveal to Germany more re- sources that she has overlooked in the excitement. Her present mood might | easily be one of exaggerated financlal pessimism. ——— Fixing prices is recognized as an ex- periment of great difficulty. Even the Standard Oil could not make the same price for gas all over the coun- try. ——————— A dictatorship suggests complete and arbitrary authority, but under | some circumstances it may mean only | an extremely delicate responsibility. ———— Hugo Stinnes is described as tug- | ging at his beard while sitting in the refchstag. The hair-pulling will come {1ater. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Evolution in Reverse. IN TODAY’S What Is more exasperating than to have a clock continually inaccurate? When it gives the exact time, that accuracy Is taken as a matter of course. But how minutely accurate must be its adjustments to make it register, year after year—century after century—millennium after mil- lennfum—with the one perfect time- plece in all creation! One of the most baffiing problems of man has been to find a true meas- sure of the lapse of time from the crossing of & meridian by the sun, at exactly the same altitude, one year from the fraction of a second when it crossed in the previous vear, at the same altitude. ST How long is a year? a millennium? ‘The earliest known efforts to mark off the lapso of seasons and years were made in Egypt. It was highly Important that every avallable hour of crop-growth time be used in that narrow strip of fertile land along the Nile, where intensive cultivation was vital to the necessary food pre duction for the great population. No delay In springtime in the planting of the crops could be permitted. Therefore, certain wise men planted a pole, about eight feet high, and me ured the length o its shadow when the sun cros 1 the meridian. At a certain lenzth, the crop was SOW] Yet, in even days, the measure was never ulike. The shadow never seemed to reach its apex from year to year at the same time. From the cight-foot shadow pole evolved the building of the pyramids in such exactness as to direction and height that their shadows formed gigantic sundials—35,000 Eo. ‘The shadow of the Sphlnx marks the seasons, though too indistinctly at thelr extreme points to come within a week of accurncy. In India, in Borneo, in Mexico and South Amer- ica, glxuntk‘ sundials told the cal- endar—not too crudely. The shadows of Druldical Stonehenge of Lngland, the Delhi obelisk in Ind and the obellsk in the center of St. Peter’: square, Rome, all mark the passage of time. It has been proposed that the Washington Monument be utilized as a igantic sundial. A circular con- crete walk laid around the great shadow-casting shaft could be prop- erly marked to Interpret the stretch of the shadow according to the sea son and da ! | ! How long is e ke Greece follow the Egyptlans, When Romulus founded Rome, e proclalmed a mnew measurcment of the year. The Egyptian year was 50 short that the feast days of win- ter gradually receded into autumn, then backward into summer. Romulus made the vear 365 days, and that measure continued up to the time of Julius Caesar. But the sun's erossing of the merid- lan at the me altitude showed that 365 days were not a full year. Cen- | turies ‘had passed since the time of Romulus, and the error was cumu- lative. Julius Caesar proposed to cor- {rect the calendar—and was ridiculed by Clcero for his audacity. Never- theless, he decreed that, beginning in what we know as 44 B.C., the years {should consist of 365% 'days. [ {died the year before his decrce be- {came effective, but today he fis re- membered most clearly by what is | known as the Julian calendar. 0 ok ‘ Yet even the Jullan calendar wa {inaccurate. d the knowledge of From London A “solidified Britain” probably will | result from the imperial conference By In the fourth century fts | |Britain-First Policy Expected MONDAY, SPOTLIGHT BY PAUL V. GOLLINS Inaccuracy was noted by the Coua- cil of Nicea, which found that the feast days of the Christian church were about three days wrong. By the sixteenth century fits dates were about ten days too slow as compared With sun time. It was at this time that Po% Gregory became the head of the Roman Cathollc Church. In 1582 Pope Gregory decreed new adjustment of the calendar, since which time :he Gregorian calendar has been in use in all Roman Catholic countries. In 1762, this calendar was adopted by Great Britain, though prior to that date both systems w used jointly—with a double date. * ok ok % While all Roman Cathelic and Prot- estant peoples have long since aban- doned the use of the Jullan calendar, it has been retained by the Greek Orthodox Church. Greece, Russla and most of the smaller European natlons adhering to the Greek Church have clung to the Julian calendar, espe- clally in ecclesiastical matters, though being confused in political and diplo- matic affairs. Slovakia adopted the Gregorian calendar immediately after the world war; Russia, when the soviets gained control. China had a lunar calendar of her own—364 days In a year—until the organization of the republic in 1911, when the Gregorian calendar was adopted. Japan also has the ; ian system. last nation in the world to retain the Jullan system, adopted the Gregorian calendar on Friday (October 13), 1923. ok % x inaceuracy of the Julian cal- year amounted to three days every 400 years—a month In 4,000 years. Pope Gregory attempted to adjust that discrepancy by adding an extra day every forty vears, and drop- ping three of these extra days every 400 years. But the year is still twenty-six seconds 00 long, making an error of one day in every 3,323 years. When Cortez conquered the Aztecs at the close of the fifteenth century, the Aztec calendar was measuring from the year 469 B.C, with an curacy which would requirs years to make a day's error, compared with the sun. * % % % How long is a sotar year? Asked at the United States Naval Observ tory, this is the mathematical an- swer: It is decimally expressed as 365.242,198,790 days; but for real ac- curacy it is to be diminished vearly by 0.000,000,961-4th of a day. Students of mathematics will easily reduce to minutes and seconds those millionths of a day—and set thelr watches ac- cordingly. The endar 000 when AR Bible students will be interested in noting that a Hebrew year varied in length, and was never 365% days. The year, in Methuselah's day, was “ono moon” long. His 989 “years” when he died was seventy-nine years. Abraham's 175 “years” (of five months each) were seventy-two years. Jacob's 147 years (of six months cach) were | seventy-three years. These dates are according to the calendars of the va- rlous periods referred to. The Hebrew calendar was In use {prior to the Egyptian bondage of the sraclites. During their stay in! Egypt—two centuries—they adopted the Egyptian calendar. Not once, after the Exodus, {s any age men- {tioned in the Bible beyond the modern jusual limits. (Copyright, 1923, by Paul ¥. Collins.) ! Imperial Parley: democratic way in a commonwealth | of world-wide area a lesson has been | ‘When they say my primal forebear ot premiers now in seseion In London, | {2uSht o obvious in its implications | was a monkey, Who somehow evoluted into me— Just an ordinary organ grinder's flunkey— 1 ought to grow indignant as can be. And yet I feel no sense of agitation. To monkeys quite a liking people take. I contemplate with pride my present | station. My past remote—what difference does it make? But if this plan which some call “evo- tion"” Should turn around and work the ; other way, tion If friends about him certain things should say. that Congress, the District's local | that have never dug for bones, will{if a3 a homo they should vow he legislature, has not vet permitted the Capital y to increase its | revenues by borrowing money through | i not be there. Cream-fed creatures ithat have a silken bed made up for ’em in the drawing room with a nurse started, ‘Who drank and fought and robbed the helpless poor, hond issues like other American mu-. 0 lullaby ’em to sleep will not have | That simian would be angry and down- nicipalities, and that the money ap-| propriated must pay not only for cur- | rent maintenance, but for permanen improvements on the pay-as-you-goicd in the Mayflower, a look-in at this show. Dogs whose ancestors went to England with WI- t | liam the Conqueror or came to Amek- and never did basis; and (1) that the post-bellum re. | anYthing after the trip, will not have trenchment of the nation’s war ex- penses, which the budget bureau is; systematically to enforce, has no ap-| With th plication to expenditures meeting the municipal needs of the Capital, which were necessarily neglected and permit- ted to accumulate unmet in the war time. For five years we bore, at first in- directly and then directly, the burden of world-war conditions and conse- quences. War monopolized us, our la- bors and our treasures, in patriotic and self-sacrificing service. We must cconomize now that the war is over; that is, we must econo- mize in those matters which relate to war-making and war-preparedness. We have been wisely extravagant in war expenditures, and this estravagance is now to cease. We have not been ex- travagant, but scrimping and neglect- ful, in outl: for the Capital’s munici- pal maintenance and development, and especially in outlays for permanent public improvements, which have had no direct relation to war-making. These wise projects, both of just municipal maintenance and of per- manent municipal upbuflding, like those relating to schools, streets and water-supply plant, properly pushed aside in order to give Uncle Sam full swing in the war-making function, ought now to receive from budget bu- reau and from Congress the thought- ful, liberal and sympathetic considera- tion which they deserve. In respect to them, not retrenchment of appropria- tion but deliberate and substantial increase is the demand of wisdom and equity. And in meeting now these great municipal needs neglected in war time all the resources of the Dis- trict ought to be utilized, including the unexpended tax surpluses of the past, reasonable taxation of the pres- | l l standing room in this show. We dogs of the District who play tag end ball e boys, guard the home, ter- rorize the cats—that is, some cats— bark at burglars, strangers and every noisg, are to be the whole show. The medals will be pinned on us! So yelp the news along that the mutt dog show is on the cards! e e The attitude of the French is de- fined as @ willingness to let Germany suffer anarchy and chaos for a time as a matter of discipline. Chaos isa dan- gerous neighbor, and anarchy an ex- tremely infectious mental allment. e e So much protest has been raised against the selection of Zev to race Papyrus that it almost looks like a demand for a referendum in turf mat- ters. The Ruhr has a right to regard any- thing it stoed to win in the war as all out of proportion to its particular share in the penalties of defeat. Twertty-Three in Four Days. Wholesale grade-crossing Kkillings are coming 80 rapidly now that it would seem to be the order of the day. Following quickly on the acci- dents of last week when fourteen lost their lives at two crossings, in Ohlo and Pennsylvania, comes a similar tragedy at Fairland, Ind., where a train hit a motor car and killed nine of its occupants. Evidently this was a masked crossing, for the driver of the machine ahead of that which was struck says that on crossing the tracks he saw the train approaching and that he turned and motioned the driver of the following car to stop. Apparently the latter misinterpreted hearted And think he had a libel case for sure! Menu Reform. “I propoee,” exclaimed Senator Sor- ghum, “to lend my influence to any moverhient to end this pernicious prac- tice of printing menus in French!" “What for “My daughter 1s the only one in the family who has studied French, and I can't get anything to eat except what she happens to know the name of. And the way it sounds always makes me feel as if I'm not golng to be able to eat it.” {American editors believe. Questions of world politics are being considered with the utmost frankness, but it 'ls accepted a policy will be adopted | { before final adjournment that should assure complete harmony among all| of the parts of the British Empire. | That viewpoint is amplified by the| Springfield Republican, which ex- plains that “to some extent the con- ference must be tentative in its pro- gram and methods. It has to feel jits way in establishing impertal re- lations upon a broader and solider | {basis and it Is well that the general disposition should be to approach these fundamental problems in a cau- tlous and conservative spirit. None ress will be a long step toward the reconstitution of the empire, and is worthy of the pen yard Kipling.” the opinion of the Detroit ews that “men now living, who can recall the British Empire as a purely colonjal structure, shall live to seo the Canadian, Australian and South African peoples as effective & part of British government as the cabinet in London itselt.” This is als part at least, the view of the New York Tribune, which feels “pressure in Europe is driving Great Britain: to look further and further afield for profitable trade, and imperial ! policy and Insular policy are both deeply affected by the new polnt of view.” | "In" this connection the Winnipeg Tribune makes it plain “Canada will | accept her honorable obligations. Tho | Canadian people are not dead beats lor poltroons and If they were un- | willing to accept the responsibilities i that go with the benefits of imperial i partnership they would take the man- ly course of withdrawing from it. * k k % The Boston Transcript emphasizes t some length the importance of the ominions” as “an aggregate of powers to Which no one man can the less the discussions now in prog- | that nobody can escape it. If wlun-[ tarily Canada and Australia say at| this conference that imperfal unity is better for them than independenc | the bearing on the future wiil be in- calculable. On the other hand, if Can- lnda and Australia and South Africa | call for independence that also wil | have @ bearing fully as Incalculable. o k% The New York Post feels that the, addresses of Premier Baldwin and Lord | | Curzon before the conference *show one side of Downing Street is mper- | fectly in sympathy with what the other ‘qxdc of Downing Street is doing,” al- though the Spokane Spokesman-Review suggests this 1s of no great concequence because “a powerful appeal will be {made to the patriotism of the as- | sembled premlers, to their pride in the great British Empire and to their self- interest so that the results may exert a profound bearing on our trade re- lations with the British Empire and with Canada in particular. This view is amplified by the Detroit Free Press in calling attention to the fact that “the British Isles do not ask to be the exclusive beneficlary in any arrangement for the promotion of | trade that may be evolved. The bene- fits are to be mutual and everybody, | the helpers and the helped, is to be happler and richer. The empire will be | working toward a goal that will make 11t self-sustalning in every direction. The dominions are to provide the food. {stuffs and the raw materlals for manu. Irzu:umn . the British Isles are to pro- i vide industrial plants, the overseas dis- tributing mediums and the defense equipment. The idea is a great one and the British are a people who ought to_be capable of working it out.” Despite the admitted mistakes of British past policy, the Birmingham News is convinced *the sound and sane and wholehearted oco-operation of the colonies with the mother govern- ment, in peace and in war the same, would seem sufficient proof of Britain's will to justice. The manner in which the empire en masse sent representa- jtives to the titanic wrestle in central urope when trouble was on, and in the dogged persistence with which Britain has opposed the war aftér the Jud Tunkins says music has got m;fl,,um, They cannot be moved un-|war, are arguments sufficlent to all queer @ man can't say he likes a new ;| song without feeling called on to epologize. Simple Calculation. “In ten little years prohibition will thrive Undisputed,” the lecturer said. “Those who shun the bad liquor will still be alive, .And those who do not will be dead,’ Avallability, “'Of course, I like him,” said the am- Hitlous girl; “but why should I marry him? He has neither fame nor for. mildly suggested Miss Cayenne. “If he had either he might be entirely too ‘busy to fall in Jove and propose.” Coal, Twenty Per Ton. “Your wife tells me she prefers cre- mation to interment.” “Yes,” replied Mr. Meekton. “Hen- rietta’s tastes were always the most extravagant possible.” “l admires education an’ refine- ment,” said Uncle Eben, “but dar is times when plain talk is necessary. “Tain’ no use recitin’ poetry to & mule.” less they want to be moved.” Their mission also, as the Wall, Street Journal sees it, 1s to “devise the fuller utilization of the great partnership of which they are mem- bers. It is noteworthy that they are not debating the solldarity of the British Empire, The great war demon- strated that fn a most extraordinary way, and it should make many of us Americans thoughtful to remember that it was not only the Germans who were wrong about its strength on the outbreak of that war. Sensible Amer- fcans will have nothing but good wishes for this real league of nations, the world's best guarantee of peace. The fact that the conference “favors negotiation to limit air armament” is impressive, the Indlanapolis News emphasizes, because the people who ay the taxes all over the world ‘would be glad to reduce them. The British government needed no con- vincing, and doubtless there are other governments in the same frame of mind.” The addreeses so far made at the conference, the Winnipeg Free Press points out, “contain a clear in- timation of the importance of the de- 1iberations, but it is to be remembered that there are distinct differences in various ways in the circumstances o: the various parts of the common- wealth, and it must not be surprising that the parts, while desiring to co- operate closely, should differ as to how it should be done. The influence of the session cannot' be overestimat the Des Molnes Register insists, when it is remem. bered that “Britain has one-fourth the population of the globe. If theee peoples can be held together in & level-headed thinkers that the British policy is a policy of peace, and its drift toward a ‘parliament of man, a feder- ation of the world." And “Baldwin, | the business man,” the Peoria Tran- script ocontinues, “is taking the ob- vious business course of developing the property of the empire. Cultivating the dominions is now deemed imperative, for unemployment is Increasing and Eu- rope is in @ turmoil.” ot Versatile Diplomats. From the Kansas City Star. The British ambassador at Parl: has complained to the French foreign office of a theatrical production in which Britaln is criticized for its at- titude on_the German reparations question. It seems that, in the pres- ent state of national sensibilities, ambassadors must not only be diplo- | mats but dramatic critics if they are to successfully uphold the pres- tige of the countries they represent. B S Here’s to More of ’Em, Cal! From the Portland Express. The Coolidges celebrated their eighteenth wedding anniversary at! the White House on Thursday. We trust that they will also celebrate heir twenty-second anniversary in ‘ the same domletle. The Housing Problem. From the Boston Tramscript. “The Possibllities of a Small House™ makes an interesting subject, but more peopl ‘haps, are seriously con- cerned about the tmpossibility of even a small house, OCTOBER la, { President Li are ome question; 1923. EAST IS EAST BY FRANK H. HEDGES Georgas Washington s a vitul fac- tor in China today. e is the symbol of patriotic democracy to many of the Chinese statesmen and military lead- ers who are groping and stumbling in the direction of a sound republican form of government for their coun- try. The Chinese is accustomed to searching the past to gain Inspiration and precedents for the present and the future, and those Chinese who have committed themselves whole- heartedly to the rearing of a great republic in their homeland find George Washington their chief inspi- ration. The American patriot's military career during his fight for freedom and justice, his subsequent administration of the nation as head of the state, his refusal to aspire to royal honors and, finally, his retirement from public life to pursuc a quiet, leisurcly old age all carry a tremendous appeal to the Chinese. They are In conformity with the teachings of the great eage Confucius, but they are the working out of those teachings under moders conditions. There can be but little question that it was the struggle of the thir- teen colonies and the creation of the United States of America that con- stituted the ideal of the republican leaders who, twelve ye 80, rose in revolt against the u dynas and overt throne of t pire. | America was their beacon torch, and jt wus a torelf whose gia Ht the whole vast dome of sky stretching _from Canton in the far south to Mukden, many miles north of the great wall. * K ok ¥ Adverse criticism of China today is widespread and in a large degree is justified. The ideal held by Sun Yat- sen and his followers of 1911 has not yet flowered and borne fruit to any great extent. The Chinese is fond of comparing the present state of his country with the period of trouble that this republic and the republic of France went through when they were born into the nations of the world. He pleads with his critic for time, and he Is entitled to it. Twel years is very short, especially for a people to make over institutions and customs that have come down through the centuries with but little change. Li Yuan-hung, twice president of the republic, i Chinese statesman to_voice his miration of George Washington his desire to follow in the American patriot’s footsteps. From the city of «rnnzha. whither President Li has fled after having been virtual driven from the president’s palace in Peking last June, he has said that he ts “most anxious to follow the notable example set by Washington.,” and has emerged from a retired life to work in_politics toward this end. It is natural that President Li should sec an analogy between his career and that of America’s first president. Although it may have been against his will, Li Yuan-hung was placed at the head of the re- bellious troops | struck at the power of the reigning family and_ brought about the birth of the republic. He did not go in as | president, but as vice president, in the first constitutional election. The death of the president a few vears later elevated Li to that post.” Re- signing in 1817, he was recalled to office more than a year ago as the legal heir to the presidency, which had been usurped by northern mili- tarists. L The abilities and qualifications of the ideal of Washington that spurs him on to give his service to his country- men is another. To him, and, as z consequence, to all who support him, George Washington is a living force in the working out of the destiny of the oldest of the new republics of | Asia. Gen. Wu Pei-fu, {China today, has consistently looked to the early days of America's strug- | i gle to become a nation as an example | was appointed some time ago to in- {and a prophecy of what lay before | his own country. Wu's personal hero {has long been George Washington, the military leader who turned from the ways of war to the paths of peace once his victories were won and his cause triumphant. Wu real- izes the curge of China's many mili- tary chieftains and burdensome ar- mies and would end their power. His belief that China will parallel the American commonwealth amounts almost to an obsession. He points out that the people of China rose against the Manchu household just as the people of America against the crown of England. There followed the national gathering at the Temple of Heaven in Peking when the provisional constitution was drawn up and the new government actuslly began to function. This, to him, is a duplicate of the articles of confederation. e For more than three years Gen. Wu has insisted that China must take the third step. There must be ! another national convention when a permanent constitution will be drafted and offered to the natlon for ratification. Even before he became a major power in China Gen. Wu advocated such a scheme, and he will never rest contented until his coun- try, llke this, shall have held a con- stitutional convention. It fs the foremost plank in his program. That Sun Yat-sen, hero of the revo- Jution and outstanding advocate of the republican form of government, should look to George Washington with a feeling akin to devotion is to be expected. The example of Amer- jca has long been his guide. Going in as provisional president, he stepped aside when Yuan Shih-kal Was elected to that office, and as long as China seemed to be governed wisely and well was content to re- main In obscurity. It is because his country has fallen a prey to ambli; tlous and self-centered politician warriors that Sun has re-entered the troubled arena. I know of pothing that gives as graphle and accurate a picture of §in Yat-sen as does his Shanghai; home. The house, very like a house in the suburbs of an American city, stands in the center of a wide grassy lawn, as utterly unlike the typical Chinese garden as Dr. Sun himself is unlike the typical grafting politician of that ocountry. In answer to an electric_ door bell, & blue-coated China boy ushers the visitor into a; drawing room with tall windows and | carved Chinese furniture, for Dr.! Sun has not discarded his native land for the west, but has attempted to adapt one to _the other. "An oil por trait of Dr. Sun himself hangs over | the mantelpiece, while the rest of the walls are covered with French etch- ings except that in the place of honor there hangs a steel engraving. The engraving is of George Washing- ton and other early Americans, and beneath it, written in a large flowing hand, are the words: “Washington refusing a dictatorship.” Dr. Sup’s philosophy of government, his drea: of what he hopes China to come, his inspiration and his whole life are expressed by that stecl engraving. It embodies the whole movement and work of “Young China,” for Dr. Sun is still the hero- lutl.zr of those Chinese who have t the spirit of the day and are wm ing to labor for their country rather than for themselves. George Washington is most tremendously a vital factor in China today. in 1911 when they ! one of the four; strongest and most powerful men in | rebelled | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN Q. Do you have to have a license to hunt in the District?—L, H. A. Tt s not necessary to have a lcense, but hunting is prohibited in the District of Columbia by aot of June 30, 1306, except on the marshes on the Eastern branch above Ana- costia bridge, and- below the Aqueduct bridge on the Virginia slde of the Po- tomac. In these areas no birds may be shot within 200 yards of any bridge or awelling. Q. What fs the depth of the Poto- mac river at Chain bridge?—C. F. S. A. Tt has been reported that in certaln spots of the Potomac river near Chain bridge there s a depth |ot trom seventy-five to eighty feet. Q. How many veterans of the world war have taken advantake of their {preferred. standing for civil service appointments?—F. D. A. At the (-Xosw of the last fiscal year, 250,000 had taken civil servic examinations. Of these, 165,000 quali fied and became eligible for appoint- ment and more than 65,000 actually received appointments. Q. Is American foot ball played in Canadian colleges and high schools?— O. N. A. No Canadian high schools play American foot ball. McGill Univer. sity {s the only Canadian college which plays the game, and it does so only when playing the American team at Syracuse, N. ¥ Q. Who was the first of our Presi- dents to have a valet?—A. ¥, A. W. H. Crook, who was for years connected with the White House, says in his memoirs that Arthur was prob- | ably the first. Q. What is the object of the or- ganization known as Scapa?—P. T. This s the popular designation of the Society for Checking the Abuses of Public Advertising. It was founded in London for the purpose of re- straining through legislation and eo clal influence, the disfigurement of towns and rural scenery by business announcements, i Q. What is tho term applied to the dizziness and nausea experienced when one is high in the air?’—D. C. A. The sclentific term applied to the condition of becoming 'dizzy in | high places is “acrophobia.” Q. Has Great Britain an air station § at Gipraltar?—L C. T. ! A. It is reported that this huge rock fortress is being tunneled for hangar and repair space for a British |air station. l Q. What was the 1 chemicat | element discovered 7—G. R. A. Hafnfum was the last element discovered. This brought the total of known elements to elghty-seven, five having been discovered since 1918 Since scientists argue that there are ninety-two elements, this leaves five to be discovered. Q. Has the Iibrary of Congress a {good collection of opera librettos?— L. D. A. Its collection is thought to be | the largest and most important in the | world. Q. How is Petoskey stone polished? —C. AL i A. Petoskey stone is silicified fos- {sil and is polished like agate. Various polishing powders such as tin-oxide, | {chromium-oxide and iron-oxide are used. Q. Does it rain every day in Pan- ama during the summer?—C. S. A. The rainy season begins about the 20th of April and lasts until early December. It does not rain con- | BY THE MARQUISE DE FONTENOY. To what extent Buckingham Palace, ’ the principal London residence of | King George and Queen Mary, is ex- posed to the danger of fire may be {gathered from the publication of & report of the royal commission which vestigate the perils in this connec- {tion of the leading public buildings lor London, and to recommend the ‘ndom(cn of the necessary safeguards. 11t seems that while Buckingham Pal- {ace has a very elaborate system of firé alarms and fire-fighting devices, vet it has not a single fireproof door, or floor or wall, with the result that, if it were once to catch fire, the flames would probably gut the entire huge bullding with most of its treas- ures and priceless archives. Buck- | ingham Palace was built, in its pres- ent form, just about a hundred years | ‘mo and has always been considered | {in the light of a white elephant and! as distasteful by the sovereigns who | {have made their homes there. Queen | Victoria hated Buckingham Yalace and declared that even the briefest stay there affected her health in- juriously. Edward VII spent the greater portion of his brief reign in attempting to modernize the palace and to render it pleasing to the eve and habitable, but without much suc- | cess, while King George has, more | than once, expressed himself in favor | of converiing the palace and 1ts ex | tensive grounds into bullding sites, at {a huge profit to the civil list, and | the transfer of his abode to Hensing- ton Palace, after it had been sub- jected to elaborate repalrs and ex- tensions, ! ok Royal and imperial palaces have, on the whole, enjoyed a considerable amount of immunity from fire, not. only fn the present, but also in the| past. This is not only the case in Great Britain, but also in most of| the capitals of the old world. In; Great Britain only five royal palaces have been destroyed by fire since the | Norman conquest, near a thousand | {years ago, namely, the Palace of, Richmond, in 1498, of which today, merely the gate house remains; the Palace of Holyrood at Edinburgh, { which was burned down by the sol- {diers of Oliver Cromwell, in the seventeenth century; the Palace of, Whitehall, which fell a prey to the flames in 1697, only the banquet hall' | escaping destruction, and the Henry { VIII Palace of St‘rfimeflm ‘“d"?n;’lf.‘; mall portlon, inclu O Y way. was saved, Gnd in 1534 the Palace of Westminster, al' se o | Ratewa Ro; 'mg?ed by the crown to the u ment. i P e Tuilleries, whero the kings and emperors of France had held | their court, fell a prey to the flames 1in 1871 it was because it had been set on fire by those female furles of | he commune insurrection who wer nown by the name of “Petroleuses,” ! while tho suburban Palace of Bt Cloud, the favorite home of Empress Eugenie, was reduced to ruins by the German and French guns fired during i the siege of Paris, a little over half |a century ago. The royal palace at Stockholm was burned down in 1697, when tho| Ibody of King Charles XI. which was lying in_state, was almost consumed in the flames. The present palace {was bullt on the foundations of the| old palace, which, in turn, had been| preceded by a Viking stronghold, so that the huge maze of subterranean vaults, dating back 1.000 years. some | of them still awaiting exploration, | have remained well nigh intact and | even undisturbed. * % k¥ The reigning house of Denmark has been subjected to heavy losses . | Pennsylvania | brother, —— stantly. Usually rain does not fall more than {wo hours of the twenty= foyr. Q. Who wrots "Swes e, Bolt 1 W 3y o Allee, A. Thomas Dunn English, an Amerfcan physician and man of let- ters, published this poem in WillL New York Mirror in 1813. As set to music by Nelson Kneass it becam widely known both in England and America. Q. In connection with the observe ance of the ono hundredth annivers sary of the birth of Francis Parkman (September 16, 1923), I sce referenca to his “youthful motto.” Can you give it to me?—A. G. A. “Not happiness, but ac ment" was the motto chosen by Parkman when a young man. How well he exemplified it in his coura geous life is a story in itself. Een Q. Whe szid on the eve of execu tion, “I hear the executioner is a good one, and my neck is very Httle” >—R. A. These words are attributed to Anne Boleyn. Q. Would you advise ys what rail- road yards in the United States and Canada are largest and how many cars can be stored in them L. L. A. The two yards of the Canadiar Pacific railway at Winnipeg, Mani toba, are the largest in Canada and probably In the world. They contair respectively, 100 and 183 mile! latter is'composed of Some of the lurxe vards in the Unit yards at s of tracl 1 have 100 mi! accommodate lalso @ vast yard at Mitchell, S. D. Q. How many current magazine are received by the Library of Cc gress in a year?—M. D. A. A. Last yea rent periodi ing all the issue recelved, a total reached the Librai Q. At what age should a child's training begin?—F. O. N. A. It should begin as soon as the child is born. Regularity is the first lesson. Feeding, bathing, alring and putting a baby in its bed at the samo times daily inculeates its first habits Q. J. L P Is there n! less tobacco?— tment of Agricultur: t €0 far as th nt time a nicotineless toh an impossibility. It is the nicotin content of tobacco that makes it so entirely different from other products Q. Are as many turkeys raised a there used to be?—C. P. A. In 1900 the census shosved 6,594,695 turkeys in the United States In 1610 there were 3,688,708, while in the 1920 census they stand at 3,627,028 One of the reasons for this is that a farming becomes more intensive there is less space suitable for turkey range. In the middle wes most of them are ralsed, contain_ more than fift. Texas flocks of several common. 4 pundred arc Q. When were pensions first gra ed to civil war veterans?—C. G. A. The first law pensioning ¢ war veterans was a disability pens! law of July 14, 18 (Have you a_question you want answered? Send it to The Star In- formation Bureau, Frederio J. Has- kin, director, 1220 North Capitol strect. Give your full name and ad- dreas and inclose 2 cents in atamps for return postage.) Home of British Kings Believed Likely Prey of Conflagration in connection with the destruction by fire, of some of its most beautiful palaces at Copenhagen, notably the | Christiansborg, which was burned {down In 1794 and again In 1884, and another sovereign palace which was { partially destroyed by fire within the last twenty years was the birthplace of the Queen of the Danes, namaly. the fairy-like home of her only the former reigning Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, at Schwerl { where the very fact that it i perched on an island surrounded by wate rendered it a matter of difficulty for the firomen to hurry their engine alvage apparatus to the scen conflagration. In Brussels -called Palace of the Nether- imperor Charles V ab- became a prey to th in 1731, the present royal erectad "on_its site, dating from the reign of press Maria Theresa. Laeken, the suburban home of the Kings of Belgium, was par tially burned down during the reign of the late King Leopold. The Kremlin, at Moscow, and the Winter Palace, at Petrograd, as weil as the Krasnoe-Selo palaces of thel Emperors of Russia, and the dream like group of palaces at Peterhof, on the Guif of Finland, have survived the davastating activities of the bolsheviki and, though to a great extent looted of their treasures, have, in some mi- raculous way, escaped destruction by fire, while, despite all the bloodshed in the'streets of Berlin during the risings of the populace which have tuken pigce there at various tim when streets were swept by grapeshot. various palaces of the rulers of Pri sla_have remalned intact. The royal palace of Madrid, Emperor Charles V and his son Philip, made their principal resid: was burned down In 1734, while & Twenty years ago the roval palace gof Aranjuez, the Spanish Versallles of fho Bourban kings, was partially destrd; by fire. The maze of buildings, of them dating back to the twentil century, known as the Hofburg, Vienna, and where few are acquair) with their area and extent, has, some miraculous way, escapcd harm by fire even when, in 184S, Austrian_capital was for a number days in the complete control of ins gents bent on rapine and destruct Fire has never attacked Sans Soudi; any of the palaces of Frederick the C and of other Prussian rule: at F dam, while when a fire broke out the Vatican during the reign of XIIL the flames were extinguished fore much damage was done. 5 x % One of the most disastrous and ¢ sational conflagrations of eovergign residences within human mehbry was the intentional destruction sy fire of the so-called Summer Palace the Emperors of China, in the naigi | borhood of Peking, some sixfy ve ago, by an allied army of France] Great Britaln as a punishment {0 & series of outrages and cruelties 'to which their subjects fn China had been subjected. It was a conflagra- tion which lasted for a number of days, and which {nvolved the destruc- tion of some of the most exquisite buildings and temples, and of t most priceless treasures of art of history that had ever been coi | lected in one grand oid park throug out the passage of many centuries. The obliteration of the world-famed Summer Palace of the perors o China_was_considered by the com- manding officers of the allied armics 38 necessary to teach the Chin lasting lesson as to the dang { maltreating and torturing ¥ jand French missfonaries, merchant and_government officials. It Is per- fectly true that it left an indelib impression upon the Chinese peoplc, but was an got of indescribable bar- barism, whicl today is condemned b¥ all civilized Jgovernments as a plece of wholly {fexcusable and {rrepara- ble vandalisin. v/ flames palace, i3