Evening Star Newspaper, November 7, 1923, Page 6

expressing & simple thought iells to an { trom sederal revenues. The annual Instructed man a good deal about his | pension roll is now something like mind, end perhaps something he does | $300,000, about six-tenths of which i bl gy Politics at Large ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WASHINGTON, D. C. WEDNESDAY. . November 7, 1083 THEODORE W. NOYES. . . . Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Busipess Office, 11th 8t. d Penusylvania Ave, New York Offive East 420d 8t Chicago Oftice: Towet Hullding. aginnd, Europesn Office: 16 Regent St., Lendon, The Eveaing Star, with the Bunday mornis edition, is Gelivared by catriors withia t) i uE G ceain pee wduih; dally ealy, 47 cents per month; Sundag aniy, 20 cents’ per montd, Orders i bu went by mafl of t ollection fa made Ly N tnontd. Rate by Mall—Paysble in Advance. Maryland and Virginia, Daily ahd Sunday..1 Daily only. Sunday onh . All Other States. Daily and Stnda; 3 Delly only.. Bunday oniy. E Member of the Associated Press, Associuted Press Is excinsively entitied uxe for republication of ail news dis- ca Credited 10 1t us 5ot otherviis per w81k ‘the local news b All rights of pubdlleation ches hereln u 1o reserved, Yesterday's Elections: With the possible exception of tha tate of Kentucky the off-yeur’ eloc e states canfhot bo classed as significant of any violent «hanges in political condition The utcome us between the democratic partics migit be termed a dog-fall, few overturns hav- ing occurred. The po lans will ind difficulty in subs ting claims that the results man st any decided tur of the tide in political sentiment. Tammany's vietory with its ticket of candidates for supreme court ju of tices was expected, as lkewiss was the | retain of control of the lower ha of the Jegislatura by the republicans The fight over the judgeships i Man- hattan and the Brops clear breach betwaen Mr. Hearst and the democrats which, if continued, hould bo of beneflt to the republicuns in 1924, Boss Murphy unnounced af sction complete severance of thlg has oceurred b 1 v inferosts necosst o D soven districts In which elec ational Houge of I sontatives held the democrats won four und the refableans thr the republicans scorfig a gafn over the democrats in the twenty-fourth New York by electing ¥ Fairchild, The party lineup ir next House w £25; demvera dependent, fore. with when the I the tions to the “am nt wet This close majority in the Houee i caleulated to fequire the bast of team work among the republicans, and to vest the radical element with o chance to make combinations which tnay in. oreuse thefr power. Tn Kergucks, whers great republican vietory of 420 was wiped out and supplanted by a decisive democratic conquest, both state and natlonal lssues entered into the result. But, taken as a whele, the elections furnish but o very siighi straw to show which way fhe wind will blow in 1924. In most instances it was a case of “the Dutch have taken Hol- land. th A Mine Mystery. At 7130 o'clod! terday the “fire bosse: ten Rogers coal mine in West Virginta inspected the working and prohounced it saf A few minutes later Seventy-five wminers descended the S00 feet of shaft r thefr working places, prepared for + record production day, At § o'clock & spark in some way not detérmined iznited an accumulation of gas in one of the chambefs und an explosion fe- sulted, killing (wenty-seven men, Here is ancther mide mystery. If the fire bosses did their work thorough- and found the mine free of gas, ith the fans in working order, cumulation ghotld have come about within half an hour. Had the explo- slon taken place later if the day it| would have been conceivable that in some pocket, some gdction or headinig zas had seeped in to the explosive point. Either the inspection was not perfect or a sudden dislodgement loosed a volume of gas. But there remains the question of the spark which ignited the gas. If the mine was Well equipped, it every niner was careful with his lamp, if no atches were struck, If the electric wiring was perfect, there could have heen no chance of ignitions But some- how, somewhere, either a rule was broken or equipment was imperfect. In short, whatever the causé of the a8 accumulation, there was careless- nese to cause the explosion. These mine explosions are not spon- taneous. They do not merely ‘‘hap- pen.” They are caused by dorhe ins fraction of rule, some act of careless- css, some meglect of precaution. TRoofs dnd walls of undérground work- ings may cave through sudden pres- sures or the undisclosed rotting of timbering. But explosions may be traced always to man's negligence. The great misfortune is that no one can be held accountable. The disaster brings its own punishments, a8 a rile, to those who are guilty. But those punishments do not restote the lives of tlie victims or solace and sustain thelr families. ——— s Like all creditors, France i nclined t0 b skeptical when & debtor is en- thusiastically émphatic ih admitting that he is dead broke and eéxpects to be so for a long time to come. ————— Berlin is now trylng t6 deeide which < niore to be dréaded, imperialism of communism. . 2 Better Speech. Pupils of the colored high schools are observing & tine called “Better Speech week.” Meetings have been ueld at which #peakers have em- phasized the importance of better speech, and thefe is a goneral stirring n the study of Iinglish. It is pralse- worthy effort and enterprise. Mecasured by any fair standard of linglish the speech of an average man podr. He uses too many words and words that do not transfer his thought correctly, The words will not b8 de* livered In that sequence commanded Ly what 1s callod good usage. Afl_ remlted in u | morning | it! scems Incredible that an explosive ac- | 1 the | mprov not mean ta tell. Language is hatd to léarn. No man knhows all that may be known of Eng« lish, no Frenchman knows all that may be known of ¥rench, no German knows all that may be known of Ger- man. There are men who khow so much more of Mnglish than miost men know that we call them masters of our language, Good mpeech s & valuablo gift, and the man who knows English has an interest that gives him satisfaction. He cannot have learned English with- out learning many other things, There s no highway to knowledge of Eng- | lish: no more is there a highway to other learning. A man sometiines wonders how English ¢an be taught. One knows it can be learned, and per- +hups the best & teacher can do 8 to show another how to learn It. It can- not he learned from a spelling Book and a grammar book. Grammar js es sential, yet it has been said there have heen exceptional men who knew Eng- Ish without knowing its grafnmar. They Were, indeed, exceptional tnen. A mai fouy speak cotrectly what he dovs speak without knowing much 1English, and to speuk right the Eng- nsh which the avérage man uses fs not diffieult. With a teacher’'s &id one should learn to do this without much wear on the mind, A child Who hears wrong Iinglish ot home cefries handicap, but he can learn from & qualified teacher to speak correctly. Many children do this. Nothing that one can do will hide his fgnorance of English from the man who knows. Here s hoping that Better Speech week i the colored high schoohy will have the result desived, and that Det- r Speech weeks asd Better Speech will be fn all the schools. a Virginia Rejects Good Roade. At the clection yestérday in Virginia the propusal to bond the state for 350.'] 000,000 for @ comprehensive good-roads program wus ede-fed by o substential The plan was favored, it ap- L in cities, with & few escoptions, wus disupproved In the riral s an unfortunfe mitcomne of a 1paign thet had for its ohjeet the stublishment in Virginiw of a syste improved highways that would meun a marked advance in prosperity he commonwealth. good-roud butlding has been far in ar- rears for & long petiod. Ohly a few d highways exist in the state, and the majority of the tions are poor, some of them wretoh- edly poor. Yet Virginfa hae reason to | provide the best of roads for the at- { i i | i | | traction and accotmodation of travel- ers. I scenic resources are excep tional. It is a state full of historical interest. It has many monuments and memoriale to great and distinguished Ameticans of the yast. With a system of goud rouds comparable with those of the neighbor s Maryland, Vir- ginia would attract tourists by the teng of thougands annually, who would leave much wealth within the bound- aries of the state and would stimu- late industry greatly by their patron- uge. Expenditure of $50,000.000 upon roads of Virginia in the provision of a m of trunk highways would tming | u rich retutn to the state. Thé “earn- ings” from those roads in indirect ex- penditures by visitors alone would mdra than pay the interest on the bonds. But the state hag ofice more roturned a negative vote.on the propo- | und it must wait for another thmission to the people. The hope is that meanwhile gthe voters of the Old Dominfon will be edu- cated by good-roads and state-progress sition, advocates o that when next this ques- | tioh is put Uefore thetn they will, { raalizing their own interests, vote for its adoption, A better business invest- ment is not possible for any state. A genuine dictatorship is usually seized by meand of superior cleverness at the psychological moment, Presi- dent Ebett may have been misled by base ball end the movies into tho im- pression that the position can be con- forred by officlal appointment. Possibly there is such a thing as giving @ ruce horse the spotiight to such an extent that he gets stage fright when it is time for the perform- | ance. War wili unquestionably lose its ter- rors if the optimistic laboratory work- ers can turn out e gas that is not only harmless, but pleasant. Ho lohg as he is fiot able to enforce prohibition single-handed, Gov. Pinchot is determined to let the world know he has a good excuse. Virginia's | goes for police pensions and the re- mainder to pensioned firemen or their beneficlaries. The pension of the widow of & policeman is $60 & month, | Ascording to Army records, the per- with $10 @ month for each child under |centags of soldiers of the world war| vixteen years. That is as far as the [who died from thelr wounds (not in- District government can go. It.is the |clusive of those killed on the field of law. When that pension system was |battle) was higher than the percent- inatituted 1t was not lavish, but it|age of similar mortality in the Brit- was reasonable. Mixty dollars went |ish war of the Transvaal, In 1900 and threo times farther than it goes now. | 1901, and was close to the loss fn our A policeman’s widow cotild get along | ¥panish war of 1898, In the face of on $60 a month with $10 aplece for the much-talked-of advance in asep- the ohildren. But a policernan’s widow | 110 surgery during the interval be- with only $60 & month is “up ngainst | t¥een the Spanish war and the world {t" in this period of prosperity and |2 this tailure to bring down the 2 percentage of death after the wound- profiteering. That is Why contfib-| " a0 reachiea the cars’ of surgeons tions are being tnade in the case in requires study. hand, and why people are joining the | Th, worla war percentage g o woted Line of Duty Club. . o~ & was obtained from the office of the There is a polfce and firemen’s 1o« i yqjutant general of the Army, and for Hef fund, No pubilc memey goes into |the previous wars from the report to this. Bach man in the service gives Consrens by the committee of 100, 1 eu y Dr. Irving Fisher of Yale $2 & month, and the relief assoclation | University, henco thelr, uccuracy can o AW 3 ardly uestioned. The conclusio Pays $1.000 to the widow or helr of | hbearu to be that, whila rurgery has poflceman or fireman. The pension |4qvanced, the art’ of killing by the system should be revised and brought new methods of carnage has out- up to date, so that widows and orphans of policenen shall not suffer nor be the subject of public contribution cat- stripped it, * ok ¥ ¥ In the world war thers wore 211,472 puigns. But in the meantime good fellows should get together on the wounded, wnd 13,523 died of their wounds. That amounts to 6.35 per fund for the widow and vhildren of Policeman John Purcell. | cent of the total, The recérds of previons wars are {as follaws: {Crimean war ....... {1*rench in Ttaiy (1859-60) . Germang, 10 the Franco-Prissisn war Spanish-American war T Transvaal-British war (1800%01) World war, A. E. F. There 18 u difference of opini among doctors as to the effect of gaw volsoning, eome claiming that it does not predispose the victim to tuber- ulosis und other respiratory discases and that It is “the most humune weap- on.” "Other authoritles contend that gas hax a fearful train In it wuke, causing long-postponed denths. Nhell- shock Iy denled by some doctors. Yet the victims class such mild Judwmonts us coming from those who “laugh at scars who never felt a wound.” What other new Kinds of wounds are add- 1g 1o the mortality which s ot in cluded In the 6.35 pér cont cannot even bo estimated. P Humanity owes « greatsr debt to modern surgery, mediciie and esps- clally hyglens than can ever be cal- culiited. Today the averugs man and woman over twenty-flve years of age qwe directly to selence the fact that they ars Hving. According to offictal records of Gemava, longevity in the h century averaged only New Connecting Road. Maryiuud proposes to build a short and good road which would give cusier and quicker communication between Washington and a well settled and fast-growing transdistrict suburban seotlon. The mafn teuson Maryland proposes to build this read fe that it shall be o erossway hetween two other through automobile roads, Central avenue and the Marlboro road. Capitol Heights is about two miles | east of Benning and directly across | the District line. Tn that neighbor- hood, a8 in Othere, the District line has been overgrown, and nelghbors talk to each other across the boundar: “Through the upper or northerly part of the Capitol Heights section runs Central avenue, which strikes off from the Lenning rcad where it crosses Yiney run near Glen ding east | | inta Prinee Georges county. Pennsyl- | vania avenue at the crest of the ridge beyond the Iustern branch connects h Bowen rowd, and the Mariboro pike i8 o contlnuation of that road. Tha pike leads through the lower or southarn part of the Capitol Hefghts wection und passes on to Forestville nd Marlhoro. There is o point in the | Capitol Helghts scction where Central | and the Marlboro pike are| | something over a wile apart. e road tun seutherly through Capitol ! Haights would shorten the & Washingten for a popeus se using Penneylvanty avenue. Those Washingtonians who do fiot | vimit the eastern part of the District | hevond Benning have little knowledgo | of the development that has been go- | ing on for several years and is still in progress, Valleym and lofty ridges | are covered with new subdivisions | which bave become growing villages. The broad fields and forest of the Be | ning, Scaggs, Young, Sheriff, Dean.’ Berry and other land-helding families | .38 ) * i populutt would hate died In the sevent orafe age wus 2 eenth century (the days lutfon) ft was 356 ve na from 1801 to 1883, 29.7 yenrs. Today it ox- 82 yeiire, Scientists promise to ot unother fifteen yaars, ngland and Wales, between 1828 1834, man's life uveraged 39.9 ars, but in 1881 to 1960 It was §4.1 ars In all cures women ! years longar then men, It once eost Great Britain a large loss to diseover tRAT A century made u difference in ma Tonge vity In 16883 nry the v n the efgh f our revo- evente ce two or thre A demand that:a con- nection With thé alleged abuses in the Veterans' Bureau be disclosed is voiced by editors every section of the country. The allegations of graft and incompotency wmust be fully cleared up, it is dasisted if there was any violation of law those re- sponsthie should bo sent to pris of tha olden thne are laced with streets | and closely markod by houses. South- | erly from thls fegion I8 another sec- | tiom that s fast developing. Part of | that section ed Capitol Helghts. i 1n spite of all the humane efforts 1to make penitentiury life agreeable “It is & sorry thing to huve su | prisoners continue to escupe. There department us this under fire s no conquering a roving disposition. |early In Its existenc « the Bos- ton Post, “but, facts being they are, the light cannct be turned on any too soon.” DBvery “citizen wants the faets,” the Worcaster (iazette s vinced, “and the probe should g0 too deep to leave any un If it confirms the bureau's cla everything possible is be done for those veterans who =till need montal and physdleal rehabilitation it ease publlec misgivingd” When it is recalled that during the past year e government spent the enormous sum of $467.000,000, and yet criticism hag been rife, the veteran unhappy and the oftizen suspiclous” the New Huven Journal-Courier feals only complete publicity will serve to re- store confidence. And in securing it the Senate committe: the New York Tribune holds, greatly in putting soldier relief and rehabiilta tion on a sound basis and Gen. Hine! wili_have public opinion behind him in lifting the bureau to the highest possible level.” * K % % The Lafayette Journal-Cotrier feel “unwise policies persist against the urgent counsel of experts because of the selfish and tnreasoning insistence of local politicians,” and this can be remedied should the probe be thorough Oh, gentle Indigh Bummer maid in its character. While “Investiga- No wonder that you flee, afraid, tions usually are a deluslon and & When Winter, that remorseless brave, | Snare,” as the Baltimore Evening Sun Fhe warpath takes and won't behave, | $6°8 the situation, “If thera can be is cov a ; as An carly presidential boom is some- times desirable in order to teach the general public to hear mention of the | matter without laughing. —————— { Russia has such a surplus of com- munistic as well as artistic talent that she is willing to undertake a con- tract to supply the world. In diplomacy, as well as in war, Bel- glum impresses itself as & nation with the courage of its convictions. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON, The Warpath, When Indian Summer goes her way Across the distant skyline gray— Then sounds tho threat beyond the hills Of heartless moods and thrills. reckless IN TODAY’S SPOTLIGHT BY PAUL V. COLLINS | the government, needing money, sold life annuities and made a good profit. A century later she tried it again, on the wame actudry tebles, but found that men lived so much longer that she suftered a heavy loss. In Prance, from 1831 to 1503, lon- fevl(y increased from 38.3 years to 5.7 years. In Prussia, Denmark and Sweden the increase in the century has varied from eight to eleven year: Outsida of Massachusetts, the United States has no statistics 'which will show the span of longevity, but there, in 1739 men lived thirty. years: in 1855, forty years, and from 1892 to )l,::: lonigevity - averaged forty-five For the whole century and all coun- tries, except in the orient, the increase was fifieen years for men an for women. £ % % ‘There was no increase in India. |civil There the average length of 1ife s only | ord. twenty-three years for men and twen- ty-four for women.. India knows no hygiena and little medicine. there is practically on the same plane that it wwas before the flood. Marriage | servic ocours . in infancy and chlldr¢n are born to parents less than eight years of age. Do thuse fucts, givem on the au- thority of ethnology, not throw light on why Sarah was incredulous when | | BY N. 0. MESSENGER ‘That attack recently fssued by the democratic national committee on the civil service record of the republican adminlstration, extracts of which Wwere quoted In these chapters at the time, certainly d1d “get a rise” out of the republican national committee. The onslaught was contained fn o pamphlet and set forth to the extent of thirty-five pages a comparison be- tween the alleged record of the Wil- son and the Harding administrations on clvil service practices, I its “comeback” the republican national committes hits out from the shoulder, “Nothing issued by the democratic “committes equals the pamphlet in question as a brazen nineteen , f818ification of facts,” says the state- ment of the republican committes, Instead of giving the record of the ilson administration in relation to ervica, it suppresses that rec- It contains no mention of the fact that President Wilson ousted two members of the Civil Service Commis- sion In 1919 becuuse they refused to 1ite | debauch the public servics and agree to_the bt With demmlic pay rolls belng padded democrats in viclation of civil 6 laws,"” ' L Continuing, the républican retort says: “It contains no mentlon of the act of the democratic Congress in 1916 suspending for a perfod of two She haa reached beyond the aversge |Years all oivil service regulations and e of the race—thirty-seven true ars—and the angel aphounced that she would bring forth a child. Few mother is twenty years old. * x % W children are born in Indfa after the[&Overnment providing that during that time ap- pointments could be made to any position without any Ymitation. This act taken i1 order to permit demo- restriction or wi Scient!sts have predicted that withe|cratic oficials, from Presldent Wii- In the next guarter of a century &n-|son down, to add tens of thousands other fifteen_years will be added to|of democratic politicluns to the gov- BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN Q. Where did Billy Sunday play base ball?—8. H. R. A. Before he becamé an evangelist, Billy Sunday was:an outflelder on the Chicago, Pittsburgh and Phila- | delphla teams of the Natlonal League. Q. Have any animals the power of giving electric shocks?—K. T. A. None of the mammals, birds or reptilés has the power to discharge electrical currents, but thers are sev- eral species of Insects and flsh thus endowed. The electric eel is one of the bést known of the “living bat- terd It inhabits the rivers and lakes of Brazil and the Gulanas. It sometimes attains a length of eight feet. The electric organs are situated in che tatl and are composed of nu- merous cells contalning a Jelly-like substance. 2 Q. Are motion piotures s popular in other countries s im the United States?—T. R. 8. A. Motion plctures are universally popular. Considering its population, tion pictures than any other country in the world, With & population ot 6,000,000, it has over 600 cinema houses. In Gredt Britain thers are 4,000 houses; in France, 2,000; Bel- gium, 800; Jupan, 600. The first mo- tion plcture drama produced in China with a native cast was screensd July 1, 1921, at Shanghah In Shang- hal there are twenty motion picture houses; In Canton, fifteen, and in Hongkong, elght. picting bolsterous comedies and serial dramas are the most popular in China. Sweden is better supplied with mo- | Amerfcan films de- | | will | America {8 triumphant in racing and in yachting. Having excelled on land and sea, an air competition is now awaited. ke Fund for Policeman's Widow. ‘The fund for the widow and orphans of the policeman killed on duty by & gunman rises, and at the latest count had reached 3855, and perhaps this toment it hag crossed the thousand mark. Citigens are chipping in & dol- lar or so aplece and Joining the Line of Dty Club, All have not been heard from, but it 18 & safe bet that thoti- #ands tnore will clip the coupon from The Btar, drop their mites int5 the fund end become members of the Line of Duty Club, It is easy for many tmen and woten to do this. Bome are shy beciuse they do not like to see thetr names in thé newspapérs. Others are shy because théy do not want fo see thelr names coupled with so small a contributioh a# & dellar, but if all the good fellows and good woment who can afford to give a dollar, and who want to give it, would send {n the little green-backed bill the total would be impressive. There is oné thought that comes to most of us, It {# thet the District governmént should make full pro- visien for Widows and orphgns ef po- licemen who di6 in the service of the city. The District government would do this if it eould, and the District au- thorities would 1ike o 46 it. But the facts afe against them: There is a police and fire pensioll systém, the fund for which is dra‘vn from District revenues plus the appropriation made, His Attitude. “Some of your constituents say they don’t exactly understand your attitude toward prohibition enforcement. “My attitude,” replied Senator Sor- ghum, “is precisely that of some of my constituents. 1am strong for pro- hibitien ae & prineiple, but I don't want it to interfere too much with my personal convenience. Jud Tunkins says When he dislikes a man and wants to avoid ever seeing hiin again hé lends him an umbrella. Overcaution, How oft you note trom day to day That man in @eep despair © Who puts things carefully away And can't remember where, Conversational Sports. “Do you enjoy polities?” "Very muich,” replied Miss Cayenne. “Politics for mé 18 like gelf for some of my man friends. It's a pleasurs to talk about the game, whether one plays it well or not.” Cartographical Prudetice, “"How about doing something o put Crimson Gulch on the map?” “Theré's @ difference of opinion about the advisability of 8o doing,” re- joined Cadtus Joe, “Severul prominent citizens are apprehensive that if you give a traveler @ map showing the Guleh’s location it only inereade his facilitiés for takin' some other road.” such a thing &8 an honest investiga- tion the Veterans' Bureau is ripe for it, The veterans have a right to know what Is being done with the money that has been appropriated for their benefit, and certainly the bill-payinhg ublic is entitled to an accounting gf the bufésu's,stewardship. If an investigation doés'no more than ex- plain the preposterous expenditure of $6.000,000 in one year for dentistry it will be worth while.” The €incinnati Commercial-Tribune considers it ‘re- markable that ground wufficlently substantial to support charges of gross irregularities can have existed and not have had official detection. Secondary, it is almost beyond belief that this sort of prostitution te sor- dldness and selfisliness can havé char- acterized any one-or several having in charge any phase or feature of the work of ministering to the broken men, sacrifices to the saving of the country. One thing Is impefative. There should be no pause this time until tho bottom fs Téached and the Wwholly revealed. e 18 alao. the opiniof of the Chi- cago Daily Néws, which insixts the Ycommittee must plade responsibliity for irregularities and abuses where it belongs, but even more SmPortant than exposure and fitting punishment of men gullty of grave offense against the laws of the countfy and the wel- fare of disabled ex-service e s ef- fective prévention in the future of maladministration and waste.” This 1ally 15 necessary, the Indisnap. olis News adds, because “the manage- {,nlnt of the bnr?luflh:ls been mnr.k:'a_l the gross nef lency, care s and indifference fo (Ho pubiic's opinion that th everything poksible for thé meén broken in the war. This ln’ iry 1s expected, if the committee its duty, to bring out faets to show wide- spread distress among disabled men. cruelty der the nll1 of bufeau economy.” It 1s the opinfdii of thé New York Bvening World that “the Senate committee cannot sidestep ev! dence aiready before it. ‘Senstoris! S R ol the average length of life. not tuking Into account the cumulative coveries in medicine, denths aw seven of the most dréaded dfseases combined—smallpox, typhoid, Aiphtheriu, cancer, diabetes, &ppendi- citla and meningitis, Today tubercu- losis Is not only preventabls, but curab Vaceination hus increased general longevity three and one-half years. It hne practicuily eliminated &mail- pox wherever there had been compui- &ory vaccination. In 1900 the yellow fever mosquito was Mdentifled, and the disease has been banished. In the clght years ba- fore that discovery there were 4,420 deaths: in the elght yeurs which fol- lowed there wore oniy 465 deaths. Mortality stutistics showed that in 1906 dlabetes was tiie m‘ly jmportant dizease vot unconquersd.” The Nobel prize awarded last month to the dix- cover of inenlin, which will master ! diabetor marvelgusly, testified to the & t medical victory of this geh- P There ure scientists and Bible stus dents, therefore. who find it caster to axplatn the 969 “vears” of Methuselah with the historic length of & Hebrew yers (u moon), father than belleve {that what secms a purposeless miracle | was performed that mads fim live | nearly 1,000 years, in the mtdst of | wnhygienic cnvironment, with 5o nowledge of the principles of health, ut a time when the people, general, were certalnly not longer lived. than the FKaest Indlans are today. Paul V. Collins.) Country’s Editors Demand Full Probe of Veterans’ Bureau figurs. But now tha thing has be- Jcome public, there is nothing to do | but see it through, 5o matter who is | hurt.” % ok % | Indorsing thik position, the Chatta- i{nooga News feels “a program of recklemshess und waste is apparently | | well established. And there is prob- | |ably no method whereby uny of the | &raft can be recovered. But the gov- {ernment is rich. It has plenty of | money! We shall probably become ! horrified, however, and go back to |sleep.” The 8t. Faul Dispatch in turn | |uolds that “even at thiw stage and | with no expression of opinfon as to Ithe outcome the regret must be volced that this department of gov- ernment, this diseharge of duty and obilgation to disabled veterans, hould 1A Involved in ¢ven the hadow of a scandal. To clear and clean it up, promptly and thoroughly s obviously fmperative.” It is the | conviction “of the Mobils Register, however, that “it was inevitable that in a new and highly complicated undertaking of the government in- |eompetence and perhaps downrigh | aishonasty would be encountered. The guilty must be punished, the | Utica ~ Observer-Dispatch insists, re- lcalling “there 1is nothing much :mauner than a grafter of public | funds. Confidence und faith are shat- tered through treachery that is even worse than an act of open rebellion.” Only the “punishment of 21l who are Jguiity will satisfy the public.” the { Cincinnati Times-Star convinced, | because ‘Uf the charges are true | veterans and tax pavers have been betrayed. And vengeance should be thelrs, “1t would be hard to find citizens depravity than those who have graft- ed upon veterans' funds,” the Toledo Blada asserts. some poor soldier must be deprived by so much. The evidence brought out tends to muke one despalr of clvilizatien. For our conquests over the spirit of agery we have 1ot yet weeded out the human crea- tures whose souls are the souls of swine” It is “sickening.” the New York Times fesls, “to thihk that the igreat effort of a geneérous people to jeare for disabled soldiers, regardless fot expense, should have been attend- !ea b ers.” Pleads for Schools. Some Pupils Tanght in Cloak- rooms, Patron Finds. 'To the Editor of The Star: i Pleasd 1ot me, through the people’s jcolumn, enter protest agalfist such { cotiditions as follows fn our schools: In the lower grades, first, second and third, there is a coaching school. The children of these grades who are not well up in thefr work are required to put in about two hours’ extra work each day with their teacher. In one school 1 know, and I am told it is as bad in others, this group of children and- their teacher have no place in which to hold this coaching class ex- cept in a cloakroom. The cloakroom contains tie usual number of coat hats, etc. They cannot use the class. rooms, as_‘they aiready have two classes day, the two {lstlnl' from rely 18 not PEht to compel these ybung ehildre attend school in a cloakroom, where fothing like nary comforts can be sup- plied them. 1In the GAss to which I “'the w, after schoo! has opened x this. coaching class s, they are still attending in a ¢loakroom e glars. a large part of it, is out the windows. rely We of the District of Colum- ==t‘-u & right & h&-fl léast & 601 8 d mot SSAER such a vulture flight of graft- country should do |9 directly from these funds means that | i {farmers pays for the clothes he anq of food, shelter or medical treatment | 1 who have fouched lower depths of ; worth of commoditie This 15 |ernment pay rolls. “It makes no mention of the fact effect of hyglene nor the future dis-|that President Wilson and William J. Bryan pros ted the consular Tn 1907 tuberculosis cAused a8 many | service of the United States in order to find Jobs for deserving Gerdocrate. It makes no mention of tha fact that the stenoh of the ccandal In connec- tion with the admintstration of civil service law under Wilkon's first ad- ministration became so offensive that the Natlonal Civil Service Raform League asked permission to inspect the ‘records of the commission in order 0 macertain the facts. It makes B, mention of the fact that Presi- en! son himself refused to gr: this permisuion.” S After this foreword the republican statement “brauches out,” but gets too hot to Liold. * % The democratic national cormnmittes, in a current statement, charges that 0. . offars hypocritical char- ity to Germany as substitute for deme ocratic reconstruction pollcy.” Alleg- Ing that the republicans are likely 1o sponsor a plan to offer Germany a charitable gift of 40,000,000 bushels of wheat, the committee asserts: “It Is apparent that, under the guise of philanthropy o the German peopie. the republican ministration 18 really promoting a schéme to evda its responstbility for the serious dis- tréss umong American producers The rapublican admintstration is pretty 1ate with the suggestions for & greater measurs of moral and ce nomic co-operation w Germar and the rest of Europe Aatatement, “The democrats nearly three years ago oftered a program that #f adopted would have insured the rehabilitation of Germany and the other countries torn by the war, This program contemplated 4 prompt pesce and speedy restoration of reciprocal trade between the United States and all of Burope. 1t was scorned and rejected by the republican leaders and in its prace was substituted a po of ‘isolation, economic, socta] moral.’” * % % Then, warming to the subjact, the democratic statement goes én to su “The consequences of this refgsal to let the United States take a helpful part in Buropean reconstruction are now manifest. They ate to be seén in the dwindling of American foreign trade, compared with 1920; in the de- cline Amerfean shipping, in the larger competition boing met by American exporters; in the industrial and commercial stagnution at home, and, above all, in the deplorable con- dition of thousands of American farms. wving ‘caused all this dfsaster and _incurred a grave responsibility, the republican leaders are now trying to cover their sin of injustice to the American people, including the Ameri- can farmer, with & little hypoeritical charity to Germahy.' ko The democratic national committee asserty that Investigation into the farmer's cost of living, Just made by ingstone county, N. Y., regarded as typical of modern successful farm- ing, reveals that the average expendi- ture of the 402 agricultural familles studled was $2.012 a year and that $277 went for clothing alone. Taking this as a text for a drive at the republican tariff law, the commit- tee asserts that the tariff on clothing, hardware and numerous other com- modities which the farmer cannot produce and must buy “Is dollected which the Fordney:. was enacted. rate of prot MoCumber law 1t gives the alleged ction on every dollur's , which it con- tends ranges from cants on cot- ton goods to 182 cents on cutlery, and ‘Every dollar taken {adds, “There is a good deal of re- publican tariff in the §277 each of the his family must wear." EE Gov. Pinchot i{s swinging Into his stride in attempts to enforce the pro- hibition law in Pennéylvania with a vim. He has been the subjéct of a good deal of “ragging” since the 1,300 Philadelphia saloonkeepers defied him s0 openly and since President Coolidge’s sharp admonition that ffie statés must do their duty in law enforcement and not leave It all to be done by the federal government. The governor secured a temporary injunction - this week against the selling of liquor by & Pottsville saloon- keeper., The court, however, refused to padlock the prémises. This wa foliowed Dy the federal district at- torney securing warrants alnst half & dozen Philndelphla saloonkeepers for maintaining & fuisance and vio- lating the law, and the fling of bills in equity for padlocking the prem- ises. To these suits the property. owners were made party, and a new phase of enforcement will bé at- tompted in Philadelplita, which, if wuocessul, will*add to the governor's prestige in his role of the great shampion of prohibition enforsement. Which he is supposed to use as a pregidential asset, PR It Gov. Pinchot does take a fiyer in the presidential nomination game, he will be opposed in\ Pennsylvania by Senator Hiram Johnson of Cali- fornia in seeking Pennsylvania dele gatés to the republican natienal con- vention, according to & statement {ssued ‘by one of the governor's staunchest backers for the governor- . This man is Editor t'ihuu'p Jirg "-.f' the Norristown Times- Herald, who, it 18 sald, regards “Gov. Pinchot as hardly of presidential tim ber.” The Strassburger statement, sent out from his newspapér office, comes out emphatically for Senator John- son and against President Coolidge's omiination. It predicts that Senator I ¥ & week. says the | the Department of Agriculture in Liv- | from him by the special interests for | “will announce himself a Q. Is Melba still singing opera?— P. P ’ A. Mgiba has recently sung her favorite roles In “La Boheme” and “Fuust” at Covént Garden, London. the therter {n which she made her debut s Luclu, thirty-five years dgo. The English critics claim her contlnued supremacy. Q. Who now holde the international fres rifle record?—R. S. A.”Thé American Rifleman says tha the record made at Blarritz in 19 and regarded for more than a decads as unbreakuble, wad broken at the {nternational matches of 1923, held at Camp Perry. September 15, by squad representing the United State: e Biurritz tear record wak bet- toped 128 points by a teum total of 5201, 4nd the record for the Individ- { ual championkhip of the world—1,075, held by Stahell of Switzerland—was surpassed by twelvs poings. Q. Can fce g der than 33 de- grees ., and does ice contain heut? -C. 0. A. Water freezes at 82 degrees F. but fee can become very much colder and it does in extremely cold cl mates. There is some heat in an material that hax & temperatur jabove the absolute zero—273 degr: below zero centigrade, or 450 degr { below zero Fuhrenheit. ! Q. DId Presldant Lincoin's body lie | in state In New York elty?—E. ( A. The body of Abmiham Lincols | ate in the ¢ all, > ork eity, from the arrival of the funeral traln Toesday, April 24. 4 pom.. until noon Wednesday, April 15, 1365, Q. Does tha forest & trees to replace those cut national forests’—T. W. A. Only in rare cases fg 1t neces- sary to plant trees on timber sale arems. Natural reproduction is e ily obtatned in most of these fore when the mature timber is cut and the area protected from fire and grazing animals. i ® T | ice plant - 5!IRoyal Wedding | |y rr MARQUISE DE FONTENOT. | Queen Victoria of Sweden, who Is | prevented by the state of her health | from" attending the wedding of her oldest son, Crown Prince Gustav Adolph, In London, which took p |saturday, designated her chamber- lain, Charles Duke of Otrante, to proceed to ¥ nd and to place him- self entirely at tHe servi her new daughter-in-law, Princess Louise Mountbatten (formerly Battenberg), and to remain in attendance upon her throughout the various ceremonies and court functions anection with the marriage. .lt s understood, alike in Stockholm and in Leondon, | that this 1s merely preliminary to the {appointment of thp Duke of Otrante &s master of the household and chief {of the court of the future crown ; princess and eventual Queen of Sweden. The duke, Who was a favorite with King Edward, and decorated by Bim with the Victorian order, enjovs, in a marked degree, the good will of the reigning house of Eugland and especially of Queen Alexandra, llhrouzh his mother. She wa: by birth, a Swedish Cotntess Stedinglk, @ girlhood friend of Queen Alexandra, and married as her first husband the {many sons of the second Earl Grey. As the Hon. Mrs, Grey, she was ap- pointed one of the ladies-In-waiting of Queen Aléxandra, on the occasion of the latter's wedding in 1863, Mr: Grey, after becoming a widow, mar ried the late and fitth Duke Ofrante, but continued to be a mem- ber of the household of Queen Alex andra until the accession of Edward V11, when sho was obliged to resizn owing to the old standing rule whic requires that the ladies-in-waiting of ana natfonality. It is this which has always st0od in the way of the ap- pointment of any American woman wha, had become a British subjeet by her marrisge to any office at couri. D The late Duchess of Otrante died about & year afterward at Baden- Baden, deeply mourned by Queen { Alexandra. Jor she had shared with the Hon. Charlotts Knollys the al- together exceptional confldence, inti- mate friendship and deep affection of their royal mistress. Count Charles Otrante is the only son of the late jdauchess’ second marriage and has therefore known Queen Alexandra, who is his godmother, since his earll- est childhood. The dukedom of Otrante, although a French dignity, of Napoleonic crea- tion, is, mevertheless, today Tecos- nized by the crown of Sweden, the present duke, like his father aud grandfather, being a Swedish citizen, an officer of Swedish cavalry and a dignitary of the court of Stockholm. The late duke was master of the horse to King Oscar. "The first Guke, it is scarcely neces- sary to recall, was that' Joseph Fouche of Nantes who adquired such unenviable celebrity as minister of police to the first Napoleon, and who, along with Savary, bore the responsi- Bility of the aitogether inexcusable kiduaping ih Garman: o enar S the 111 Enghien. by N in 1808, on 8 count of the emplre Duke of Otrante in the wae_twice married. abrielle de Cas- had no children. But by gpife, Who was renowned for rom the | Hon. William George Grey, one of the a queén consort should be restricted | exclusively to women of English birth | and execution ' fated Duke of | Fouche, who was created Q. What will take 2 musty odor o:* | ot mattresses?—M. P. B. A. The musty odor can bdst be moved by thorough airing. The m tress and other bedding should taken from the bed every day aired. wnd the mattress should brushed und beaten at least omce { month. Q. What wasg thg “bloody assize R. R R, A. The “bloody assize” was held Judge Jeftreys in Dorchester in 17 when 292 persons received sen of death for being implicated In 3 mouth’s rebellion. | Q. Who invented the time lock c.C B A. The .time lock was first zested in 1831 by an English Willlam Rutherford: in 1857 brook and Fish of the United St devised another, but the first cessful time locks put on the ms were the Sergeant and Yalé I brougitt out In 18 Q. What 1s the derivation of name “Detroit”?—V. D. A. The name ‘“Detroit” 18 t French word “detroit” meaning |8trait, @ sound or narrows, Q. Haw old fs Corra Harris, novelist?—E, H. A. 8he was born at Farm Hill, G in 1869. ko will be Rfty-four yes old during 19 & me of the taverns | Georga Washington Known to have stopped.—M. R. € A. Authenttc Washingtonian erns include: City Tavern, Phi | phia; Bunch of Grapes Taver ton: True Americs N. J.; Arnold's Inn, ferin's Tavern and Smiths Cove, N. Y | near Phila a: the tavern a | Chester. ¢ Fountaln Inn | moré: Day's Tavern. Harlem: T ces' Tavern, New York; Mann's tel, Annapolis; City Hotel, Alexand Q. Do flies ever cause biindn [ Are {pd T Egypt f Smith's the Buck Ta Bu! ence of blindnes is probably tracesble to that tie fly is eacred in thL It is sald that a motl | not kill a fly nor even brush {from the eyelid of her child, Infe 1tion is often carried from onme ch ! to another, in the case of diseasc( leyes the m is spread in th manner. e prev: " trecdom of ublishad —F. H. onstitutione of Pen are, Mary the gy vania. Del Carolins, adopted_in tain the earliest de wny ative au the llberty of the | adoption of artic United tes Const | the principle of 4 f cech was for the d ratio in_favg me W amending tion, in press w first time w of an fn | count trade S A. The great length of Inke coasts, the number ¢ bors wnd the fact that n coust region of the United b makes the of this country the most extens the world (The &tar Information Bureaw wi wer your question. This offer ap i s strictly to information. The b { i cannot give advice on lege ! aud ginanclal matters. I s mot_attempt to settlc donies froubles nor to undertake cohaist | research om any subject. Inclo tweg conts n stamps for’ retur postage and send your query to Th Star “Information Bureau, Freden | V. Haskin, director, 1220 North Cap: ! tol street) Recalls Story Of Creating Otrante Dukedom | her homeliness, he Liad three sons, wi each, in turn, bore the title of Duic of Otrante, the present and sixth Duk. of Otrante being the grandson of ti third of Fouche's three sons and | therefore, o great'grandson of | first duke he latter, after Napoleon, found it difficult to sett! down a: here with his family. Ov {ing to the part which he had playe( |1n connection with the abduction |death of the Duke de Engh |by reason of the fact that ho hae {voted for the death of Louis XVI a: |of Queen Marie Antoinstte on t1 | scaffold of the Place de la Concor: |tn Paris; aleo in consequence of t! | terrible massacres for which he wu {responsible 4t Lyon during t |reign of terror in 1793, he was «¢ | pressly excluded from the aminest: which Louls XVIII found it prude 1(0 {ssue after the restoration of t Bourbons to the throne of France 1815. Prince Metternich, chanc 61 Austria-Hungary; Emperor Al ander 1 of Russia, and King Geor IV, then prince regent of Engiss all’ refused to permit him to sett their pective countriss, and nself driven, after the b £ Waterloo. from plllar to po tracized everywhere, and, to all | | tents and purposes, an outdast, unt he finally died at Trieste, in 1520 | 'Taught by sad experience,Shis son betook themselves to . Stockho | where thev found in the former Flels Marshal Bernadotte, who had mean {while become King of Sweden, & soverelgn willing not only to permit them to make their homes in his |domintons, bt also to take them into service. Perhaps he did n. forget that he, bimself, had been « dut s a soldie the foot of th d when King Leufs XVI w ecuted, and that on his right ar: was indelibly tattooed a Phrygian caj emblematic of the terrorist regin ng with the Inscription? “Death 1 all Kings und tyrants.” It was owly to' this that after I esslon to throne of Sweden, whenever his ph sicians found it necessary to blecd him, he alwaye insisted that ti should restriet their operations to hi left arm. It was only after his death, an when during the cdurse of the au top: they removed the black satin bandage which he had always worn on hiw right arm, that they dlscover- ed the tattoo marks which he |been so anxious to concesl. * ®x ¥ % The second, third, fourth and fifth {Dukes of Otrante, like the presert land sixth of the line, all held hig offica at the court of Stockholm. The présent duke is married to the Swec ish Countess Madeleine Douglas of the enormously wealthy Bwedish branch of the historlc Scottish hours of Douglas, which has-alwaye playe a very conbpicuous and influen role in Sweden, éver eince the relg: of the grest King Gustav Adolph of thirty years' war fam The duke has a half-sister of the name of Augustine, tha issue of Lis father's first marriage with Barot ess Augusts Bonde. She {s marric to Count Frederick Peyrom, capta of the Swedlish navy, 4nd grand mar shal of the court of the King of {Bweden. He, like his late father-i: law, Is of French origin, gnd th great-grandson of a French eolder of fortune, wiio made a colossal for tuhe by “shaking the pagoda tres. ds the saying used to , in the setvice of some of the native rulers of India, in the days when they worc still at waf with England. On il feturn to France he married hLis daughter Into the ducAl house of De In Rochefoucauld, and thus. became ailled to one of the oldest heuses af. +he French aristocragi + the downtall 1 v