Evening Star Newspaper, October 20, 1923, Page 6

8 THE EVENING STAR, With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. BATURDAY.....October 20, 1923 THEODORE W. NOYES.......Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Comn:ny Business Office, 11th St”and Pennsylvanis Ave. New York Office: 110 East 420d St. Chicago Ofice: Tower Buflding. Furopean Oftice: 16 Regent St., London, The Brening Stai tion, 18 delivercd by carriers within the city &t 60 cents per month: daily only, 45 cents per month; Suaday only, 20 cents per month. OF- ders may be sent by mail or telephone Main ©000. Collection is made by carriers at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Mary'and and Virginia. Dally and Sunday..1yr., $8.40; 1 mo., 70¢ Dally only. .1yr., $6.00; 1 mo., 5 Bunday oniy. ‘1yr., $2.40; 1 mo., 20¢ All Other Btates. Daily and Sunday.1 yr., $10.00; 1 mo., 85¢ Daily only. Sunday only. ngland. with the Sunday morning Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press in exclusively entitled o the use for republication of all news dia- tehies credited to it or not otherwise credited the local naws pub- 2 hts of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. —_— The Supreme Question. On the eve of their visit to Wash- ington for a White House conference the governors of the states, assembled Baden, voted almost unanimously to indorse national pro- hibition, and to pledge to President Coolidge their “fullest cooperation” in the enforcement of the Volstead act. This is a departure from the traditions of the governors' conferences, which have now been maintained for fifteen year This action is a climax to a move- ment that has been in progress for some time looking to the redemption of the law from the assaults made upon it. The question at issue is not prohibition, but the supremacy of the law. It is not whether people may or may not have liquor to drink, but whether there is force and vitality in mandates of state and federal isiation which have become the sub- stantive law of the land. The governors, by close approach to unanimity, have declared: “Observ- ance of law is the fundamental basis of American citizenship, and enforce- ment of law is the primary duty of every official.” There can be no dis- sent from this proposition. There should be no avoidance of it by dis- simulation. If the people of the United States will not accept this declaration of the Jovernors as substantially sound they are, indeed, in the way of undermining the foundations of the government. If the prohibition amendment and en- forcement law can be evaded and vio- lated with impunity other laws can be similarly set aside. The guarantees of government are weakened, are men- aced. Enforcement is demanded and is pledged now by the executives of the states who met in Indiana, and who will today confer with the President. They are in a position to do much to- ward carrying out the purposes of the law. They can reinforce the federal agencies. They can co-operate with the federal government. They can demon- strate that the states are part of the Union. This governors' conference is not, to be sure, an official organization. It has no defined status. It is virtually a voluntary organization. Its declara- tions have no force of law, but are merely the expression of sentiment. Yet when a majority of the state executives formally pledge themselves to law enforcement, and call upon a nation-wide co-operation to that end, they speak for the people of their states, and, it may not be questioned, for a majority of the people of the whole country. The time has passed for recrimina- tions on the score of non-enforcement, for fault-finding and bestowal of blame for the present scandalous condition of law-deflance. The present duty is to put to a definite test the citizenship of the American people, to the end of determining whether they are law- abiding or lawbreaking. It matters not whether the law that is in question is that for prohibition, or that against murder, or that against theft. It is the law, formally and fairly and openly enacted, by the voice of the people, in accordance with all the forms provided in the Constitution. It may be re- pealed by those same processes, if the people will. Until repealed it must be observed, whatever the cost of enforce- ment, whatever the pain, if this coun- try is to retain its status as an organ- ized government. ——— Paper marks are circulated in suffi- clent numbers to convey assurance that the situation has not been compli- cated by a pressmen's strike. —————— Army experts make it clear that in order to keep the aircraft going it will require the support of a little statecraft, The Recorder’s Office. There are numerous reasons why the coming Congress should make an appropriation for constructing a build- ing for the office of the recorder of deeds, a plan for which has already been made. The sum needed was in- cluded by the Commissioners In their estimates to the budget bureau. Among the reasons is that the work of the office cannot be carried on satis- factorily in the present rented quar- ters, and the owners of the building will turn out the office unless the gov- ernment pays a higher rental, An im- portant consideration is that this office is self-supporting and turns in a large surplus to the Treasury every year. Since 1892 the office has deposited nearly $300,000 as unexpended fees and emoluments, which is approxi- mately an annual average of $10,000. Year by year the work of the office grows, as does the surplus. An “earn- ing” of $43,004.44 was turned over to the Treasury for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1923. The growth of the office may be seen in these figures: Total receipts for the fiscal year 1900 were $23,118.05; for 1810, $42,995.32; for 1920, $85,665.09; for 1923, $120,997.74. In twenty-three years the annual re- ceipts increased nearly six times. Notwithstanding this increase the emount of work space available, in rented quarters, ill adapted to the needs of-the officas is just about what i : it was twenty-three years ago. Em- ployes are so crowded that their health is endangered, and they are unable to reader the prompt and efficient service which the public demands and for which it pays. The work of the office is about one year behind, and under present conditions cannot be brought up to date. The employes are not only crowded, but are wretchedly underpaid. Com- pensation of the salaried employes re- mains as it was about forty years ago excepting for the bonus. The salaried employes consist of the recorder at $4,000 per annum, deputy recorder at $2,500, two clerks at $1,200 each, two clerks at $900, one clerk at $720 and a janitor at $500, all the salaried em- ployes, excepting the recorder, receiv- ing the bonus of $240 a year. While the work has increased there has been no increase in the number of salaried employes since 1802. The larger part of the office force consists of per diem and plecework employes, and among these, through no fault of office management, verita- ble sweatshop conditions prevail. Com- pensation of the per diem employes is $2.50 a day, it having been raised to that figure from $2 a day in 1917. The pay of pleceworkers, who copy papers into the record books and make certi- fied copies, was increased in that year from one-third to four-tenths of the fee paid the office for recording. What they earn depends on the calls made upon them and on their industry and speed. They do not receive annual leave, sick leave nor the bonus. The per diem employes receive the bonus, which brings their pay to $3.62 and a fraction cents a day, and they receive neither annual nor sick leave. A day from the office means a day's pay lost. There should be a new building in which the work of the office may be done satisfactorily, and in which the employes and the public doing bus ness with the office may be comforta- ble. Unless Uncle Sam is to continue in the role of a profiteer in human la- bor the pay scale should be increased. Three-Token Sales Denied. A plea for the establishment of a car fare rate of three tokens for 20 cents has been denied by the Public Ctilities Commission. While no writ- ten opinion has yet been delivered, it may be assumed that the two con- tentions of the companies were accept ed by the commission. One of these was that the sale of the half-portion of tokens would slow up the service by requiring conductors to make more sales. The other was that the twenty- cent token rate would cut down the number of cash fares, reducing the revenues of the companies from that source by 50 per cent. It is rather difficult to follow this reasoning. In the first place, most cash-fare payments of 8 cents per person require the changing of coins by the conductors. It really takes longer to pass a cash-fare passenger into the car than to sell him tokens and let him drop one of them into the hopper. For the cash fare consists of four pieces of money at least, a nickel and three pennies, whereas the token is a single bit. On the score of the reduction of the revenues from cash fares the ques- tion reverts to the original establish- ment of the fare rate of six tokens for 40 cents. That virtually sets, for the very great majority of passengers, the rate of 62-3 cents for a car ride with- in the District. If that is a proper and reasonable rate it should apply to as many passengers as possible. The di ferential between that and the cash- fare rate is believed by many to be too high, that a seven-cent cash fare ‘would be more equitable. The purpose of making the differential as large as it is now, 11-3 cents, is supposed to be to induce the people to buy tokens. If that is the purpose, why should not the three-token sale be desirable? The case is for the present decided. Until the final written opinion is ren- dered, however, it may be regarded as subject to reopening. Water-power development was chosen by Gov. Pinchot as the subject of his address before the assemblage of his confreres. It was not construed with the emphasis that might have been expected as being related to pro- hibition. ‘The opinion having been advanced that the fossil man-ape of Java is of the feminine gender gives scientific as well as soclal significance to the motto, “Ladies First.” In the excitement a great many people have overlooked the fact that it is not strictly legal to bet on a horse race. A Minnesota draft dodger donned his mother's clothes and escaped detec- tion for five years, Bergdoll evidently went to unnecessary trouble. ‘With a little practice a conference of governors can develop enough dif- ferences of opinion to make it seem almost like a session of Congress. Three car tokens for 20 cents might save the time of a cotductor by obviat- ing the necessity of changing so many dimes to pay an eight-cent cash fare. On Addressing Letters. The Post Office Department and the Washington post office have tried in many ways to have correspondents use care in addressing their mail and have issued many warnings that this be done and many instructions as to how it should be done. The number of letters put in the malls with in- adequate or Incorrect addresses is large. Whether the ratio of such let- ters to those properly addressed is larger than it used to be and whether there is improvement in this respect is not known, but the number of let- ters that find their way to the dead list because it is impossible to deliver them is still much too large. It is sald that the local post office receives scores of letters every day so ad- dressed or unaddressed that carriers cannot deliver them. The city post- master has caused to be displayed at the post office numerous specimens of envelopes taken from the mails which could not be delivered. Some are so addressed as to be illegible, many have no street address, and one speci- men, though sealed and stamped, is without name or address, Most of | director of the budget—that the fire THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1923. —_———— e e e e e e ————— WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS the mail sent to the dead letter list goes there because the senders did not take sufficient care, or took no care at all, in addressing it. Many disap- pointments result and the postal serv- ice is blamed for faults of its patrons. If a letter is worth sending it is worth addressing right. Another thing which the post office authorities de- sire to help them increage efficiency in the postal service is that the name and address of the sender should be on the envelope, preferably in the upper left corner. This is a very easy thing to do and every correspondent should do it. The Fire Danger. Another citizens' association takes up the question of fire danger In Washington, discusses it In strong terms and adopts appropriate resolu- tions. This is the Northeast Associa- tion. It is significant that nearly every citizens’ assoclation In the District has discussed this question and reached the same decision. Members of these assoclations are famillar with conditions in the District and take a strong interest in the Capital. The Northeast Citizens’ Assoclation comes out vigorously for high-pressure water service in the' central sectfon. Many other assoclations, some of them representing far outlying parts of the District, have done the same. It is clearly one of the great local questions and concerns everybody in Washing- ton. The fire chief has reported to the Commissioners—and the facts have been brought to the attention of the department is using elght tractor en- gines that have been in service since motorization of the department be- gan, and that it Is necessary to call into the service old and retired fire horses when a motor engihe breaks down. Breakdowns have been fre quent. It is clear that the fire department is not on that basis of efficlency which citizens desire. The blame does not lie with the administration and person. nel of the department. They can fight fire only with tools provided for them with public money. One of the most effective tools that could be given the department s high-pressure water service. ‘The observations of Lioyd George so far impress him with thoughts of peace, unity and brotherhood. It isa correct impression. The directors of his tour will doubtless be careful not to raise any curiosity in the distin- guished visitor's mind relating to the contradictory spirit in Oklahoma. Deer are taking refuge in New York state villages. The Intelligence of ant- mals is astonishing. They may be learning to avoid the forest crowds of huntsmen and go to the compera. tive loneliness of thoroughfares where ‘weapon-carrying is against the law. Mussolini, like every other states- man, finds that popularity is as much a matter of public temperament as of individual deserts. Gov. Slizer says New Jersey is no wetter than any other state. This im- plies a good showing, considering the fondness of booze buccaneers for a nice long stretch of coast line. Bread rises milllons of marks in a day in Germany. At that, the one who parts with the bread gets the worst of the bargain. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Stumbling Block, A man once sat and pondered on the ‘ways of this existence As he counted up a scanty store of pelf. He sighed, “I've solved great problems as to housing and subsistence, But I somehow cannot do it for my- self. I can tell men how to labor while dis- couraging dissension, And how to galn a fortune of superior dimension ‘While practicing philosophy to soothe | the nervous tension; But I somehow cannot do it for my- self. I can always solve a problem that re- lates to moral duty For each inquiring, undecided elf. I can show him how to lead a life of beatific beauty; But I somehow cannot do it for my- self. I I can indicate just how the country ought to meet expenses, And offer pleasant platitudes in all the moods and tenses To show 'most anybody how he ought to mend his fences; But I somehow cannot do it for my- self.” Going Into Details. “Do you always fully understand that subject you feel called upon to discuss?"” “That oughtn't to be expected,” re- plied Senator Sorghum. *“When we were in Europe we frequently had oc- casion to mention a million marks, but not one of us had ever counted as much as a million in our lives.” Jud Tunkins says a crowd often cheers not so much because it's pleased as because it's nervous and wants to holler. ( Damaged Poetry. “The mask of night is on my face,” Said Juliet demure. Then Romeo looked around the place ‘With manner insecure. He paused to utter no regrets As from the scene he ran, And said, “I bet these Capulets Are members of the Klan!" A Suspicion. “Your boy seemed to take a great deal of interest in religious matters last summer.” “Yes,” replied Farmer Corntossel. “I'm suspicious he got it into his mind that prayin’ for rain was more restfyl than gettin' into the garden with a waterin’ can.” “De fact dat I los' my money one day,” sald Uncle Eben, “didn’ keep me f'um goin’ out to de track de nex’. Hoss racin’ {s one o' de forgivin'est games dar is.” ’-n that question, although it has been St. James. the British as a breaker with the tra- dition that Yankee envoys must steep in English atmosphere. H. W. Massingham, famous liberal jtheir daily meal > BY FREDERIC Calvin Coolldge’s extensive collec- tion of public utterances {s astonish- Ingly devold of references to prohibi- tion. He has been caution personified an issue throughout his political ca- reer, Ever since Mr, Coolidge became President dry leaders have examined his “prohibition record” with a fine- tooth comb in the hope of raking up something significant. MHis veto of the Massachusetts 275 beer Dbill in 1919 1s practically the only “commic- ment” discovered. For the rest, tne dry researchers have had to content themselves with the President's nu- merous and ringing exaltations of constitutional law. They have faith that Massachusetts’ son is about to nail his colors to the mast In uninls- takable hue. * ok ok K Britons, who are about t> 1id fare- well to Col. Harvey, mourn in his de- parture the loss of a new type of Amerfcan ambassador to the court of He appears to have struck editor, h ust paid Harvey the fol- lowing frank tribute: “George Harvey’s approaching re- tirement will, I think, be regretted by many not specially sympathetic with hls ‘personality nor admirers of his The feeling is that he ‘We have had political record. hag done extremely well. a long succession of American ambas-) sadors, beginning with the elder Low- ell and ending up with Choate, Page and Davis, whose position in our society ‘was one of an adopted son. rather than the pepresentative of a forelgn power. They caught the English air. They seemed to be only a slight variation of the English type. Mr. Harvey was very different from this. He has re- mained absolutely American, friendly, but detached. I belleve this new de- parture in American ambassadors, for such it 18, to have been a great advan- tage to both countries.’ * *x ¥ % Announcement that George B. Chris- tian, jr., may become president of the Cleveland American League base ball club is no surprise to his friends. Pres- ident Harding's secretary is an incura- ble fan. His first love has always been divided between the diamond and poli- tics. Albert D. Lasker, who Invited Christian to join one of the former Shipping Board chalrman's numerous business enterprises, is a stockholder in several major league base bail clubs, He is said to be heavily interested in the Los Angeles club of the Pacific Coast League, and hington has heard that Christian might eventually take charge of that organization as Laskers representative. AS a base ball magnate Christian will probably draw a salary four times his White House income and twice the cabinet officer. * x % % Vermont is the fifth state in the Union to have as both of its United States senators men who are grad- pay of a WILLIAM WILE uates of the House of Representa- tives. Frank L. Greene and Porter H. Dale, who will succeed Senators Page and Dillingham, respectively, in the Sixty-elghth Congress, have had sev- eral terms at the other end of the Capltol. Both senators from each.of the states of Illinols, Ohio, Virginia and Washington are former members of the lower branch of Congress. Other senators similarly promoted are Messrs. Lodge and Robinson, the ma- Jority and minority leaders; Brande- j&ece."Watson, Curtis, Stanley, Rans- dell, McKellar, Harrison, Norris, Sim- mons, Harreld, Gerry, Sheppard, King, Neely and La Follette. Many sen- ators were elevated to Washington from the governorships of their states, * K ok k Henry Ford {s the largest individual consumer of alcohol in the United States. His requirements for the year 1923 are estimated at a million gal- lons. Ford uses alcohol for his arti- ficial leather factory at Detroit and he is the most important single consum- er of Commissioner Haynes' with- drawal-permit department. Next to Ford, a Belgian-American artificlal silk ‘manufactory in Virginia is the biggest alcohol consumer. Its needs are nearly as heavy as Ford's. * k x *x It's an amusing circumstance that Wall street — the farmers' pet aver- slon—should, in the person of one of its most gifted sons, Eugene Meyer, Jr, now be working out the rural west's salvation. Meyer _has hecome the administration’s physiclan extraor- {dinary for relief of agricultural dis- tress. Though essentially a “Wall street man,"” Meyer was born In Cali- fornia and brought up in the great open spaces. He s one of the few American financiers who have been educated for their profession rather than merely grown up in it. After graduation from Yale, Meyer spent this early life in Europe, mastering the banking practices of Germany, Great Britain and France. The vast scheme of rural credits carried out by the War Finance Corporation has been virtually planned and admin- | isterea by Meyer. He is still in the |sunny forties. Secretary Mellon re- gards him as one of the real finan- clal minds of the country. S0 does Bernard M. Baruch, who discovered Meyer. * % x X | Mr. Coolidge is not confining his conferences with “men of vision and experience” to those who can merely talk In terms of domestic problems. ; The President is secing from time to |time our leading authorities on in- ternational matters, as well. One of his recent callers was Dr. Herbert Adams Gibbons of Princeton, whose | new book, “Europe Since 1918, is an | authoritative account of present-hour | topsy-turvydom in the old world. Gib- ,hqnn keeps the Army War College at | Washington up to date on foreign af- fairs. He has just been lecturing to |its students on “Antagonisms Be- | tween British and French Foreign Policies.” (Copyright, 1923.) Comment on Britten Qutburst By Newspapers Is Varied Since the time of Lafayette it has been “the eternal French” in some form or another, particularly in things sartorial and epicurean, till the good- natured public has come to accept as & matter of course the label, “La Maison,” or the appellation, “a la thls or “a la" that, and to hold such, terms as a criterion of excellence in clothes and food. Now, however, there comes along no less a personage than one of the nation's representatives, Fred A. Brit- ten of Illinols. who would upset this time-honored custom by translating the menu Into the homely phrases of the proletariat. His letter to the Skipping Board has evoked a mix- ture of opinlon, especially when, to prove his conelstency, he used “menu” rather than the Americanized “bill of fare.” “What he lacks is a fine understand- ing of the art of capitalizing human- ity's pathetic appetite for short-order culture.” says the Norfolk Virginian- Pilot. “One does not go to Europe on the world's greatest liner expecting or desiring to dine in the linguistic simplicity of the American cafeteria. One goes, on the contrary, to have magnificent experiences — geograph- ically, mentally, culturally, victuaily. The exotic menu card is part of the great adventure. It intrigues the im- agination, appeals to the sporting in- stinet, flatters the culture complex and puts a fine imported finish on Chicago chilled fowl—all without ex- pense to the American taxpayer.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle thinks the effort to teach Americans French by way of the menu card has much to recommend it, becau ‘a full under- standing of Poincare's forelgn policy is, of course, impossible without a knowledge of the tongue of Talley- ran a The Chicago Daily News, however. feels that “they should not be forced to begin with menu cards replete with typographical errors and culinary jargon.” * ok ok Ok “It will be hard to displace French names so long as the preference for French dishes remains,” believes the Boston Transcript, “but that does not mean that the cooks and head walt- ers, when they offer a thoroughly American dish, should do lawless vio- lence to the works of their national lexicographers in trying to invent names for them.” The Danville Bee pleads: ‘Let the chefs’ literary style prevail. Life is lottery anyway. Why remove the thrill ‘of the unexpected on ;he lhllar hungry passengers sit down for Taaie dany. Furthermore, the Bee calls Mr. Britten's attention to the psychology of the thing, saying: “Hundreds are willing to pay 70 cents for chicken hash under the resound- ing terminology of ‘hachis de vol- laille aux haricots verts' when they would rebel at the price under the name by which they know it best.” The Springfield Union argues that “if for someé reason French must be used In naming dishes why not put the prices on a franc instead of a dollar basis? Let us order in the same language in which we pay. The Decatur Review agrees that a “man_who pays the price mentioned on a French menu is entitled t~ rea- sonable protection, which should come at once.” The Butte Miner thinks, however, “thers may be some Americans who have forgotten their own language, and for their convenience the names of dishes, after being printed in Eng- lish, might be repeated in French in smaller type,” but adds: “This is a concession that appears uncalled for, ag It would accommodate 80 few pas- gengers, after all.” T‘: New York Sun attaches no par- ticular significance to the French menus, but takes exceptions to the titles “Chateau des Fleures” for an establishment along the country road Where they sell hot dogs and soda in bottles and “Au Teapot Bleu” for a woodshed that has been converted into a wayside .tea room, adding “when our wholesale, earthy farms where the old stock was raised an- nounce themselves as ‘Locust Vue' or ‘Au Bar Vert' we fear for the future.” ‘The New York Times points out t. innumerable possibilities and adva: tages that lie in French menus, espe- clally when members of Congress ar on board. “They could be served with an instnuating ‘sain de canards sauvages au Congres'—a delicate but obvious hint could be offered to them in the form of ‘sate de subvention grosse Lasker.’ Perhaps their emo- | tions could be touched by a ‘gigot du | defici montant, style parti republi- cain.’ " Anyway, the Milwaukee thinks, Mr. Britton should recognize that the Shipping Board needs the money and that it couldn’t get 70 or 75 cents for a couple of eggs on toast if patrons called for them in the good old American way as ‘Adam and Eve on a raft; wreck ‘em.' " * % ok % In expressing surprise from the soon-to-be center of the country’s intellectual and ecultural life should not know that it is im- proper to admit one doesn't speak | French, the Providence Tribune says “when confronted by the French menu card the stunt is simple enough. One runs one's fingers down the price column, order. ordingly and hopes hard that what is brought him will not turn out to be a cigar or a souve- nir of the restauran Feeling that the government on its ships should use the official language of the nation, the Omaha World-Her- ald ponders, “But in many other cases the government uses language to confuse. It puts tariff on wheat to frn}ect it and wheat goes unprotected. t issues income tax blanks to be filled out by busines experts at filing returns are bamled to know what the government means, The most obscure and indirect way of doing government business seems [gften to be the way the government purposely chooses, but we must look on and grin if we can refrain from being profane. ersey City Journal thinks “maybe French menus have becoma as necessary as constitutional amend. ments and only a two-thirds vote of the states should be allowed to change them,” but “what a blow to the Journal that one American comic actor if there were | no Fronch food names to mispro- nounce,” laments the New York World. After all, the general trend of opin- ion agrees somewhat with the Spring- field News when it suggests “we are accustomed to go to extremes & good many times in this country in an ef- fort to make it appear that we are no longer provincial, when as a mat ter of fact it Is high time we were establishing a national independence, and individuality at least in ous menus. The man from ‘Main street doesn't care for this smoke screen on IAmerlcnn dining tables. And, after all, he is a factor to be considered.” In a Few Words. My political life is finished forever. All that s left me now is to take my place at the window and wait to see my funeral pass. —GEORGES CLEMENCEAU. Children of the future will be taken to the facial surgeon for the con- struction of a pleasing physiognomy, ix“nu" today they are taken to the en -DR. HENRY J. SCHIRESON. One of the signs of decay of the present civilization is the loss by the ruling classes of confidence in them- selves. —SIDNEY WEBB. It was almost the millennium to see the delegates of the league applaud, particularly the British, when Ire- land was taken into the fold. —MRS. J. BORDEN HARRIMAN. Spain only lacks two words in its vocabulary. One is “no” and the cther is “Yes Use them and forget “manana” and the country will go ahead. —AMBASSADOR MOORE. It takes from seven to forty years to put an idea over on the public. Sgmetimes it takes ten years to put over a self-evident fact. —THOMAS A. EDISON. It is a completely wrong idea to suppose that my husband considers his views as unchangeable and defi- nite as law, which every one must recognize. On the contrary, he re- !joices when he finds real, convinced opponents. —PRINCESS HERMINE (Kaiserin). The business of the country is on a basis so sound it can withstand any shock. —J. BE. EDGERTON (President Na- tional Association of Manufac- turers). { Erasmus, Cromwell and Wesley. concerns, and | The Library Table BY THil BOOKLOVER A modern Damon and Pythias story 80 well done as to make one wish that the theme of friendship were oftener used in fiction is W. B. Max- well's new novel, “The Day's Jour- ney.” In explanation of his title the author quotes on the title page the following from “Fables of an-East- ern Land”: “Is life, then, no more than a day's journey? , *No more and no le: “But who shall be my companion tor the day’s journey? “It does not matter. Chance will decide. And one may be as good as another so that you both keep to- gether till the journey's end.” Chance decides very early in their lives that Wilfred Heber and Car- rington Bird are to begin their day's Journey together. When both are boys Bird lives with his parents at & place in Hampshire and Heber spends his holidays with an aunt in the same place. They become pals, friends, companions, inseparables. There is nothing unusual about this, for they are nearly of an age; they are thrown together, and boys must play with boys. The unusual thing Is that, through many vicissitudes, Including a not very satisfactory marriage on the part of each, they remain pals, friends, companions, almost Insep- arables. Heber (s tall, lank and billous, both in appearance and dis- position; Bird is short, rotund, bald and jolly. In their later years, after the war, when they make their an- nual summer pllgrimage to Beach End, chiefly for golf, their fellow members of the golf club often call them Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. These same fellow members are also much annoyed by the incessant and often violent quarreling of the two, and more than one grumbling sug- gestion is made that they be asked to resign from the club. The life story of Heber and Bird, often humorbus, often pathetic, is remarkably well told. They are like many married couples, who must nag and quarrel, but cannot get on without each other, who criticize each other freely, but rush to the defense of each other from outside criticism. A brisf but effective climax in their story is reached when, during the war, in which both are participating actively in spite of middle age, each believes the other to be killed or wounded in a dangerous night expedition, and goes back, under heavy shell fire, in the darkn through the mire, to find his pal. ' We are glad that they find each other, glad also that the book ends with ‘them both stiil alive and with, as Bird says, “some happy years before us both vet, old boy.” * % *x % Astronomy stripped of mathemat- ical sclence and embellished by imagination forms the subject mat- ter of Camille Flammarion's new book, “Dreams of an Astronomer.” The author is one of the most noted popular astronomers of France, and for years has also been an ardent de- fender of various theories of spirit- ualism. The present book opens with the author seated at a window in Venice, on a clear night, gazing at the mdon, planets and stars and al- lowing his mind to wander where it will among the unprovable possibil- ities of the universe. Some of these possibilities are that Mars Is in- habited and that its people are so far superior to those of our world that we cannot even conceive their intellectual life, and that the citizens of Mars have for centurics been try- Ing to communicate with astronomers on our planet. Flammarion’s discus- sion of the relativity of time s In- teresting and more lucid than much of Einatein's theory of relativity. Time, he says, is merely relative to human state of mind. When one is asleep, seven or eight hours seem no more than as many minutes, It life is suppressed, time itself ceases 1o exist. The publication of YDreams of an Astronomer” recalls the fact that Flammarion's trilogy on psychic research was recently translated into English, under the titles, “Before Death,”’ “At the Moment of Death” and “After Death.” In these volumes he attempts to prove by nearly 5,000 authentic incidents the continued ex- istence of the soul after death. ®EE % The “Gentleman With a Duster,” who caused so much guessing a few vears ago with his “Mirrors of Down- ing Street,” has published anew book, intended to be the story of the de- velopment of the human mind. It is called “Seven Ages: A Brief and Sim- ple Narrative of the Pligrim Age of the Human Mind as It Has Affected the English-speaking World." The seven ages are the periods of Soc- rates, Aristotle, Jesus, Augustine, The uthor believes that these great men originated most existing philosophi- cal viewpoints and methods of thought. permanently displaced their teach- ings, which are still powerful in their influence over modern life, * ok x % Chinese literature Is discussed au- thoritatively and interestingly In the new edition of “A History of Chinese Literature,” by Herbert A. Giles, pro- fessor of Chinese in Cambridge Uni- versity, who was at one time a Brit- ish consul in China. The author has divided his book into eight sections, according to dynasties. He shows the general course of literature and the special forms that predominated un- der each dynasty. Considerable at- tention is given to the Chinese drama, which began in the thirteenth cen- tury, Including the peculiar Chinese technique of the stage. R “Girth Control” is the humorous ti- tle of a humorously serious book by Henry T. Finck. It is a book which should be read by every one who tips the scales at a figure beyond that al- lowed by life insurance tables for his age and height. The solution of the problem of overweight, the author says, is slow eating, simple foods, deep breathing and plenty of outdoor exercise. Mr. Finck belleves that “oxygen gluttons’ are the only ex- cusable ones. Since the person who is fleshy eats for pleasure, not for flosh, why does he not “eat with his nose"—that is, eat a small amount, very slowly, and enjoy the odor and flavor? A tribute 18 paid to Dr. Har- vey W. Wiley for his fight on adulter- ated and drugged foods. There is a chapter on autointoxication and its prevention by the use of bran, blue- berries and petroleum; and one on underweight, with gocd advice to the young person who seems to prefer the absence of any girth in the in- terest of esthetic effect. * X k ¥ Young writers today have better opportunitles to break into the world of literature than ever before. Thé varicus prizes, In the United States and abroad, for the best novels, plays and poems of the year, many of which are limited to new writers, offer chances to the beginner to make a debut. Some publishers are also strrting series of novels or plays by new writers. The house of Flam- marion in Paris is one of the most recent to do this. It has just begun publication of a new coliection en- titled “La Premiere Oeuvre,” to be composed, as the name indicates, of the works of young writers. The books chosen for inclusion in the colleotion are not to be the actual first volumes of the authors, but the first which show distinguishing char- acteristios. Nothing has seriously or | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN Q. What hospitals in Washington have contaglous wards?—M. L. A. There are only two hospitals in ‘Washington that accept patients suf- fering from contaglous diseases. Gar- fleld Hospital has a contagious annex, where persons suffering with scarlet fever, meningitis, whooping cough, erysipelas and with mixed infections are treated. Providence Hospital ac- cepts only diphtheria cases. Q. Give comparative cost of the maintenance of our President and the King of England?—R. M. D, A. The total bill for the expenses of the President and the upkeep of the White House {8 about $400,000 a year. The civil list of King George of Eng- land approximates $2,888,900. Q. Why does H. G. Wells, in his “Outline of History,” give the date of the birth of Christ as 4 B.C.>—W. G. G. A. For many centurfes the exact date of the birth of Christ was based on the calculations of Dionysius, a learned monk of Rome. of the sixth century. Subsequent investigations, however, demonstrated that Dion- yeius' date is at least four years too late. The discrepancy was discovered by a comparison of the historical rec- ords of Rome with the Scripture records of the birth of Christ. Ac- cording to Scriptures, Christ was born at the time of a census, or enu- meration, made in the territory of Herod, in accordance with the decree of Augustus, when Quirinius (in Bible Cyranius) was exercising authority in the Roman provinces of Syria. Th was four years earlier than the date of Dionysius. Q. Why is the title “dame” applicd to Mrs. Lloyd George and Mme, Melba?— 8. L. V. A. The title “dame,” as used by Mrs. Lloyd George, is conferred upon members of the Most Excellent Or- der of the British Empire. This was an order instituted during the war on June 4, 1917, membership in which is looked upon as an homor or re- ward of merit. Q. 1Is yellow fever a disease native to Brazil>—S. H. A. Is was not epldemic there was imported on a salling vessc! the second half of the last century. Q. Please give the date that the stars fell L C. A. The aval Observatory says your question asking the date and year the stars fell probably refers to the meteoric shower of November 1833, the most remarkable one ever recorded. This shower was vis- Ible in America from the Great Lakes southward almost to the equator. One observer declared that “he never saw snowflakes thicker in a storm than were the meteors in the sky at some moments." Q. What will restore to fabric the culoxr destroyed by perspiration?— L. M. A. Often the color can be restored by applving ammonia, which neutral- izes the acld, then saturating with chloroform. Q. When was the first automatic telephone system installed>—T. H. B. A. Probably the first automatic telephone system for public use was installed in La Porte, Ind, by the Strowger Automatic Telephoné Ex- change about 1893 or 1894. It was apparently a more or less experi- mental system, based on patents is- sued to Almon B. Strowger in 1891 Forbes' Magazine says that the first board of this type was exhibited at the world's fair in Chicago in 1893 Q. Should an automobile be re- varnished in the winter time?—F. H. in A. Varnishing should not be done | with temperature below 70 degrees F. . What is the largest lake in the world?>—C. J. A. Lake Superfor is the largest body of fresh water in the world. It has an area of 31,200 square miles. The Caspian sea is sometimes classed as a lake. In this case, it would be the largest in the world, having an area of 168,765 square miles. Q. Am I correct in believing that street car rails wear more where the car stops?—D. A. According to the Electric Rail- way Journal, this is true, because when the brakes are put on the wheels tend to siide, and sliding fric- tlon wears faster than rolling fric- on. Q. Please give a description of the Glant's Causeway in Ireland?—A. W. C. A. According to legend, the Glant's Causeway was the beginning of a road to be constructed by glants, from Ireland to Scotland. It projects from the north coast of Antrim, Ire- land, into the north channel, seven miles. It consists of 40,000 vertical, closely fitting columns of basalt rock. varying from 15 to 18 Inches, and is formed into three sections, known as little, middle and honeycomb causeway. The “Wishing Chalr,” Wwith two arms and a back, and the “Lady’'s Fan" are on the middle caugeway. At the starting point is the “Glant's Loom,” to the left the “Giant's Wel to the right the “Giant's Chair.” An electric tram Way now connects the town of Pot- rush with the Q. How many fur-bearing animals are killed for their skins in the United States yearly?—J. T. A. About 30,000,000 are killed each year to supply the demand for furs. It is estimated that 20,000,000 of these consist of muskrat, opossum. mole, lamb, kid, marmot and squirrel. Q. In a golf tournament at match play why can't T walve a Tule or the enforcement of a penalty against my opponent if I want to be a “good sport” —w. W. J. A. Not only can you not walve a rule or a penalty, but your opponent cannot accent such generosity on your part. The reason for this is that such action might determine the re- sult of the match. Every other player in the tournament is directly affected by the result of your match. For example, to waive a penalty might favor a stronger player, which would be to the disadvantage of the other player in the succeeding match, or it might favor a weaker player, which would be correspondingly to the ad- vantage of the player next to meet him. Q. Is it more economical to make bread than it is to buy {t?—J. L. S. A. When material, fuel and labor are considered the price differs very little, If the housewife places no value on her time, and if the stove is hot anyway, it 'is more economical to make bread at home. Q. What is the welght of the human brain?—D. H. Y. A. The brain of man is usually heavier than that of woman, although at birth and at the age of fourteen the female brain is heavier. The aver- age weight of the adult male's brain is about forty-eight ounces, and of the female about forty-three and a half ounces. Weight of brains, how- ever, has no direct relation to intelli- gence. Q. How many passengers will an escalator carry In an hour?—E. D. A. The capacity of an escalator de- pends upon its speed and the width of its steps. There are no mechan- ical limitations to the rate of speed, but engineers have found that a speed of about 100 feet per minute is most satisfactory. At this rate of driving, 4,000 steps per hour arrive at the landing, and an escalator five |feet in width, each step of which would readily accommodate three people, would have a maximum ca- pacity of 12,000. Q. How many members are there in the British house of lords and how many of each rank?—E. W. | _A. The house of lords consists of 639 members, as follows: Three princes of the blood roval, 2 archbishops, 21 dukes, 25 marquises, 122 earls, 46 vis- counts, 24 bishops, 353 barons, 16 Scot- | tish representative peers, 28 Irish repre- | sentative peers. | (Have you a guestion you want | answered? Send it to The Star In- formation Bureaw. Frederic J. Has- kin, director, 1220 North Capitol street. Inclose 2 cents in stamps for | return postage.) N TODAY’S SPOTLIGHT BY PAUL V. COLLINS Within the last week a new kind of steamship has made a new vovage. Without breaking cargo, it came from Duluth to New York city by way of the great lakes, the New York barge canal and the Hudson river. This trip is announced as the begin- ning of a new epoch of maritime commerce, for a line of such ships Is to be built to carry traffic along that route during the eight months of the open season and to enter coastwise trade during the winter. Citizens of not be jubilant over this P lict favatis Dot'the fainiiment of their dream. * K Ok K The celebrated speech of Proctor Knott in Congress half a century ago| aroused hilarity when he cried: “Where, oh, where, is Duluth?” A true Duluthan is quick to answer: “Duluth is the terminus of ocean transportation for Europe on the east and South America on the south. Ocean-going ships will travel up the St. Lawrence river, through Lake Ontario, the Welland ship canal and Lakes Erie, St. Clair, Huron and Su- perior. “Ocean-going ships will come up the Mississlppi river to St. Louis, whence great barges will bring their cargoes up through the Illirois waterway and the drainage canal into Lakes Michigan- and Superior to Duluth—the greatest iron ore port, the greatest export wheat market in the world, and the gateway for the traffic supplying the infinite wants of the whale northwest.” Wil Duluth submit to being a mere barge port, when it has dreamed of becoming an Atlantic seaport, for transatlantic vessels to and from the uttermost parts of the world? > A thousand times, no! The St. La rence river, highway of world com- merce, though flowing through an alien country, is the dream of the Zenith city. e vean Yessels require a_draft of twenty-five feet or more. The depth of all the great lake harbors has been standardized at _twenty-one feet. Therefore, to enable ocean vessels to navigate the lakes, it would be neces- sary to dredge the lake channels and especially their harbors, as well as to deepen the canal of either project. The barge canal's depth now is twelve feet. According to Army engineers, the billions of dollars represented by Duluth’'s dreams are incalculable. Yet the dreams are Wworth while. The traffic of the great lakes.is so far heavier than popular conception that its statistics are astounding. While through the Suez canal the traffic an- nually is 17,514,651 tons and through the Panama canal 11,599,214 tons, the freight which passcs through Lake Su- perior is 79,282,219 tons. The tonnage which passes Detroit exceeds all our coast trade combined. ~There 1s no commerce in the world equal to that of the great lakes, even without con- nection for ocean-going ships. Duluth is not the only dreamer of waterways. Pittsburgh hopes for the development of the Ohlo river, that it may ship by water its structural fron, its coal and manufactures through the Ohlo and the Mississippl rivers, thus supplying the midmest and the southwest, the gulf-Atlantic and the Panama-Pacific commerce of e world. tnflm\' shall the Mississippi be im- proved? The great Father of Waters is described by Senator Ransdell of | Louisiana as penetrating 75 per cent of the area of the United States, where {dwell 73 per cent of the population, | with 72 per cent of the wealth, and where is produced 78 per cent of the farm products, iron, steel and other { minerals. | * ok % % There are other projects pending or dreamed by which water transpor- tation will again become an important factor in our Internal commerce, as it |was in earlier times. There is the |system of canals with which the At- |1antic coast Is to be paralleled. Thers |are now under consideration by Army engineers four links to connect Lake | Erie—and thereby all the great lakes ——with the Ohlo river, either through “weslern Pennsylvania to Pittsburgh, or through Ohio. * k% % American development has been | through the buflding of railroads, { rather than along waterways, but it |18 not proved that that has been the | most economical course. ‘The great- est railroad buflder in this country, the late James J. Hill, told Congress fifteen years ago that “In the near future transportation facilities will collapse under the burden if We con- tinue to rely solely upon the rafl- roads to carry all the things that people produce.” President Rea of the Pennsylvania system says that in the last year the rallroad companies have built 400 miles and abandoncd 700. The capital cost of all rallroads built in the United States In the last 100 years has been $21,000,000,000, to which the government has given land grants of 157,000 square miles, an arca nearly equal to the state of California, and greater than the | thirteen original states. | . With all the talk about the “pork | barrel” in connection with the de- ivelopment of rivers and harbors, their total appropriations amount to only $1,062,000,000 in a century and a half, while our wagon roads have cost over $2,000,000,000—an indls- pensable investment, which, it is claimed, needs the waterways to com- plete the service. * k% x In Europe the total land area is almost the same as that of the United States, Its coast line, more than double our own, gives Furope nat- ural access by water, 118 per cent greater than our coastwise ports. Yet her inland waterways are like latticework, and traffic by water al- most outranks that by rail. The freight cost by water is a small fraction of that by rail. Sen- ator Ransdell cites one instance of Germany's advantage over all com- petitors in securing very large con- tracts for South American trade. Be- caus#e of her inland waterways she carried raw material from Latin America from the ocean to her fac- tories, and the finished goods to her ocean ports, and thus saved in transe portation enough to_outbid' competi- tion. In Germany, France and Bel- glum, prior to the war, the water- way 'ton mileage was increasing 50 to 100 per cent faster than rallroad ton mileage. (Copyright, 1023, by Paul V. Collias.) -