Evening Star Newspaper, November 10, 1923, Page 6

e @ F THE _EVENING i STAR, WASHINGTON, D. ., SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1923, - A o —e e ey A e B e THE EVENING ' STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. : WASHINGTD-N. D. C. BATURDAY. . THEODORE W. NOYES. . ..Editor +¥he Evening Star ewspaper Company . Musivess Office, T1th St. and Penniyivania Ave, New 110 Kast 12nd St. ower Butiding. ¢ St., London, Eogland, The Evening Star. with the Sundsy moraing edition, 18 delivered Dby carriers within ity at 60 cents per montii; d £ gents per month: inonth, - Orders may yhone Main G000. “Collection is made by car- Tiers at the end of each munth. Rate by Mall—Payuble in Advance. | | | orgies across the District line. Law- Maryland and Virginia, Daily and Sunday..1 yr., $8.40; 1 mo,, 700 Thaily only. 1yt $5.0 Funday onl: 3 All Other States. * Daily and Sunday.l yr., $10.00; 1 mo,, 8ic Daliy only.. 1yr. $7.00: 1 mo., §0¢ '‘Bundgy only......15T, $3.00:1mo., 26¢ Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitied o the use for republication of &1l news dis. Fatches credited to 5€ or Dot otherwise credited 30 this paper and alwo the locl news pub. ¢ lished herein. Al rights of publication of ial dispatehes berein are aiso rescrved, Failure of the Reparations Move. French reservations have prevented participation by the United States in &0 economie survey of the reparations question, and the efforc to bring about i un International inquiry looking to a settlement of this vexing and danger- snvolving problem on the basis of an expert determination of the capacity of Germany to pay her obligations Is ended. Tt does not follow, of course, that the whole project is closed. It may be revived. But for the present .November. 10, 1923 ' sheriffs have felt that they had more important calls on them than in keep- ing Washington gamblers from fleec- ing Washington victims. A gambler or whisky seller opens his shack across the lide, and his patrons come from ‘Washington. There is little complaint in the neighborhood, and few of the Teighbors know or care about what is going on. They often take the position that city people's ways are hard to understand, and if they want to. lose their money at games it is their own affair. Sheriffs have taken this view, and have gone about their business at Mariboro, Piscataway, Surrattsville, Cheltenham and Brightseat. The District police and the news- papers begin a campaign against respecting people in the county be- come aroused, denounce the situation ;as reflecting upon the good name of the county and state and call up the sheriff, who calls Sut his deputies. The evildogrs ave driven back to the city. Things quiet down and they cross the line again. It would seem that with this history before him a sheriff would not weit for a public hue and cry, but would close up the joints soon after being opened. Prompt ac- tion would save him much trouble and spare him much criticism. The Beer-Hall Revolt Collapses. Another German putsch has fliv- vered. The Bavarian revolt, which started in a beer cellar in Munich, fizzled completely and quickly. Von Hitler at present reports is a fugitive and Ludendorfl, having made his mag- nificent gesture, is a prisoner under parole, having pledged his honor mot it would seem that the French stipula- tions, which were not modified despite direct “conversations” between Wash- ington and Paris, act as barrier sgainst an allallied research. . Two points in the French stipula- | tions serve to bar this government | from participation. One was that the | inquiry shomid not touch upon the |25 Well to the forelgn governments|as® much money to spend on them. legal and political aspects of the Ruhr occupation, the manner in * France collected and imposed there, the guar: agreements with CGerman in that region. The the inquiry into Germs 10 pay must 1 2930. Poin: perts shouild invest and indu with relation atees industrials was that | pacity go t the al condition of the economic Ruhr to the value and - productive s was willing also that the ould go to the point of dete: power. inquiry mining | to' pay | wnce has held out | ions, first against any | ical or otherw! 3 second | | 1t is equally | atic upon | of ! the Ruhr against of reparation payments. that the and h of & dome character. il | ns either on the score of of the Ruhr occupation t of the requirement that Ger. v pay promptly. As the case now stands the United | . States has made tender of its good of- fices through expert representat ndjust the reparations ‘question, rticipant {n an international sur hose zood offices have been acecepted | in principle, but rejected in effect | through ol ons imposed. This jeaves the matter of reparations pre- | ciely where it was before Lord Curzon sto] to enguge again in any further revo- lutionary movement. The suddenness and completeness with which the “beer-hall revolution” {eollapsed must have a meaning to the German people. Tt is certainly a re assurance to those who support the republic, and it must be a reassurance that -ure concerned to ses Germany 1 | stabilized and put in the way of meet. | 3red, having 2,560 acres, and that city ing her war obligations. This is at least the fourth reaction that has failed in Germany since the war. First came the Sparticide re- volt, & communist uprising that was - { put down at heavy cost in lives. Thml urred the Kapp putsch, & monarc! al movement, which failed quickly 1 cost littie. Lately the Rhincland of estab- | separatist movement developed and is | now in the last stages of failure. The fourth the von Hitler-Ludendorft monarchical movement, which was a flash in the pan. In addition there was recently & red uprising at Ham- burg. which was suppressed after few hours. Thus there kave been two mon- rchical reactions, one, perhaps two, communist uprisings, and one sep- aratist movement. The Saxon-Thu- ringian affair has not been reckoned, is were based jas it did not reach the point of or-| ganization or demonstration. The conclusion to be drawn from these records is that the German peo- ple do mot want an overturn efther | for monarchy or for community, that -lthey arc content with the present| form of government, however inept | the administration muy have been. and however deeply Germany has been plunged into economic stress through the political moves of the Berlin ministers. President Coolidge Is Right. Announcement at the White House that President Coolidge will refuse to +] tugitive, ‘however unwei¢ome llrnv. The coincidence of Frederick Wir liam’s fight with the collapse of thie Bavarian revolt may have significance, Does it mean that the Hohenzollerns are on the point of striking for restora. tion? It would seem to be an unpro- pitious time for any monarchical movement, whether for the Wittels bach or the Hohensollern houses. There is no doubt whatever that Frederick Willlam wants to go back, that he is fully “fed up” with exile. 1t has been intimated that he wants to live on his “estates” in Silesia, and that he has given certain pledges that Le will live there quietly and take part in no political affairs. But little de- pendence can be placed in his purposes and promises. With him in Germeny he becomes a trouble center, and Ceer- many assuredly has enough trouble now without this addition to her stock of mischief-making elements. Care of Parks. Washington falls behind in the up- keep of parks. Higher wages for men, higher cost of material and diminished appropriations are having their effect on their appearance and development. Without more money for spending on the public reservations they may soon {have & shabby, seedy look. These facts are brought out in the annual report of Col. Sherrill, superintendent of public bulldings and grounds. He says that during the last fiscal year the sum spent on Washington parks was $531.219, as compared with the average of $1,151,331 spent by Minne- apolis, Buffalo, Baltimore, Detroit and San Francisco. Each of these cities spent ebout double the sum spent on parks in the American Capital. The average park erea in those cities is 2,452 acres, while the park area of ‘Washington is 2,826, Thus we have considerably more park space than the average for the five cities, and we have less than half l | ! l | Baltimore nearly equals us in park spent in the last fiecal year $1.230,904. In the matter of population the cities named excead us, the average popula- tion is 635.000. wkile the population of Washington is set down at 450,000, The taxable resources of those cities are far greater than the taxable re- sources of V ington. and they can afford to spend the money. There should be no neglect of the Capital's | | parks. The District neods more park- | iland. and care must be taken of the | parks it already l i — There are editors in Bato in America’s efforts to relle only a method of creating impression { faverable to ulthpate financial or| | political purposes. It is difficuilt for al ! mind thoroughly educated in old-world | | diplomacy to admit the posstbility of | |2 genuinely disinterested motive. i 1 i see | —_— e The desire to present President Cool- | {dge With some kind of househoid pet | i.\uerts itself in all parts of the coun- try. If there is any efficiency in mas- cots his administration should be most | | fortunate. —e——————— Tt is confident!y predicted that with- {in @ few years the traflic in alcoholic beverages will be discountenanced by law in England. Prohibition is no {tonger regarded merely as one of those | auaint American customs. H e ! Foreoasting becomes harder as time | passes, owing to the fact that a citi- ! zen's vote on issues of @ more or less | { wrote to Secretary Hughes suggesting | Svt aside the executive order of Presl- | 1ocal character is no guarantee as to | « £ move by the United States. TI t it is back at the starting point H Intimation has been advanced that ] Great Britiin may now propose, and poekibly promote, an international in- " auiry wh does not include France. 3This is not likely to be pressed. The * United States certainly could not enter such a survey. France would sharply resent it. The effect would be a dis- rolution of the alliance, which Great + Britain has ample Teason to avoid. . Meanwhile, France and Belgium are in the Ruhr, and will doubtless stay ' until the situation has been brought to the point of yielding payments from Germany. There is no prospect what- ever of a break-up of the Franco- Belgian understanding. The most important resuit of the episode is that the United States has demonstrated its willingness to take pert in an effort to resolve the situa- tion. It has shown its good faith and eoncern for the welfare of Europe. ———————— i i i In behalf of a metropolis it is occa- | slonally proper to mention the fact that a great city is seldom as had as #ts divorce news would seem to imply. = Over-the-Line Crime. The sheriffelect of Prince Georges county says: “I am under no obliga- tion to gamblers and other violators of the law. I'll do my duty.” Other men Lolding the office of sheriff ‘of Prince Georges and other counties near Wash- ington’ have expressed themselves in the same wav, and an Insinuation that , there have been sheriffs who were un- " der obligation to gamblers and other violators of law should not be read into the statement of Sheriff-elect John: Fink. That charge has been _prade by many persons, but it is easy to malke charges. The fact stands that he application of the law by some sheriffs has not been satisfactory to “law-respecting people in counties ad- joining the District ‘dnd to people | * within the District. Certain spécies of law-breakers who cannot- follow their trade in Washing- ton have found refuge across the Dis- trict line in Maryland and Virginia, and sometimes it has not been easy 0 Stir the county officers to the point of driving.them out. It-should be said, though, that after a certain amount of exposure and publicity the law of- “'ficers have done what was expected ‘‘of them. Generally when the clamor subsides the law-breakers, exiled from ¥ the District, sét up thelt gambling out- " fits and drinking bars again across the line, and continue operations until there is another uproar of public in- . dignation. Thers .is another side to this, as to .ell shields. Prince. Georges is a large #and populous county. There is a big "stretch of territory between the Poto- miac and Patuxent and Paint branch and Mattawoman ereek. Normally the V'gheriff is & very busy men, and many \ | dent Harding enforcing prohibition on American shipe outside the three-mile limit is conforming to the &pirit of the law. To be sure, his refusal to permit the opening of the bars on American ships, once they are beyond territorial waters, will place our passengor- jcarrying vessels at a disadvantage ) with British ships which are to be glven the privilege of carrying liquor for use outside the limit, to be seuled while the ships are in port. But the President is intent upon en- forcing the law both in letter and spirit. It is not quite a seemly spec- tacle, the sight of an American ship at dock obeying the law, with no visible sign of liquor aboard, and then, on signal, flashing up a completely stocked bar of liquors banned.on shore by the law. Nor for @ homeward-bound vessel, which had been selling liquor all the way across, upon nearing shore to conceal all evidences and creep into port smugly as if nothing had ever happened. 4 The Supreme Court, construing the rigid terms of the Volstead act, has ruled that foreign vessels could not have liquor aeboard their ships in American ports, even though they were under seal and to be used only at sea. This ruling will be superseded by a treaty, which is superior to an act of Congress, permitting the Brit- ish ships to keep liquor aboard, under seal. In return for this Great Britain will help the United States to put down smuggling by grenting the right of search up to twelve miles from shore. ‘This treaty will operate to aid en- forcement, and should be ratified by the Senate. ————— The belief is expressed by Mr. James M. Cox that the democrats will win next year. H2 is regarded as perfectly willing to back his judgment to the extent of being a candidate himself. France prefers a Germany thorough- 1y in debt, but at the same time not quite so desperate as not to care. Willie Runs Home. Surprising news comes from Holland and Germany today. The former crown prince, Frederick William, has crossed the frontier into Germany, and his flight is officially acknowledged by the Netherlands government. One dis- patch states that he had permission to go. This contradicts & recent dis- patch to the effect that the govern- ment at The Hague had given assur- ances to the ellied powers that it ‘would not permit the German refugee to leave. If Holland has given such assur- ances and permitted Frederick Wil- liam to crose the border that govern- ment will find {tself in an emberrass- ing position. It will bave to apologize to the allied powers, and it should de- mand of.Germany the return of the how he will mark national election. —_——— Soviet Russia is at last able to look | around the map in its vicinity and as- | an air of superior calm. { his ballot for al i | sume In certain parts of Germany they are thinking more of repairs than of reparations. i — SHOOTING STARS. | BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. A Modest Gratitude. “I'm thankful just to be on earih,” Said Hezekiah Eings, “Although I miss the glittering mirth That higher fortune brings. Of course, I envy men more wise Aund also men more good, And those who grasp some wondrous prize By means scarce understood. H { i | | l { “And yet when simple joys are mine, Such as all men may know, And rest comes with the stars that shine Beyond the twilight glow, ‘This life of ours seems fully worth The troubles that it brings. I'm thankful just to be on earth,” Said Hezekinh Bings. Respectful Repression. “Do you sing ‘The Star Spangled Banner?' " “Never,” replied Senator Sorghum. “We can't all be gifted musically, and the way for some of us to show our honest regard for a grand song-is not to try to sing #t.” Jud Tunkins says one of the bardest ‘worked men he knows of is one who good-naturedly got the reputation of always being the life of the party. Embiem of the Season. The shovel soon abroad will go Qur efforts to control. ‘When you're not busy shovelin’ snow, You've got to shovel coal. ‘The Cheerless Voter. “How are you going to vote next election?” “‘Same as usual,” answered Farmer Corntoesel; “not with any great ex- pectations that it'll do any good, but because it furnishes a good-excuse for soin’ to town."” . Attention, “There is some gossip about Mrs. Muggs.” “Really!” exclaimed Miss Cayenne. “She is coming on. For years she has not been considered important enough to be gossiped about.” —_— “De man dat whisties all de time,” said Uncle Eben, “is less worry dan de one who talks constantly, ‘cause you knows at de start he ain’ tryin to maike sense.” J , 'n‘m which furnished the IN TODAY’S BY PAUL ‘The greatest water power in the world is sald to be in the African Kongo, but it is mot worth a wagon- load of German marks, for there is no demand for its power by anybody within commercial reach of it. In the United States it is found that the: greatest natural water power 1e located on the west of the Rocky mountains, and the greatest demand for power lies with the more densely populated east. It {s not possible to move the people westward to the power and It 1s just as obviously im- possible to bring the Pacific coast power to the Atlantic. -All that the east can do is to study the possi- bilities of developing what power re- sources nature has vouchsafed us and note what problems the far west has solved. Upon the Pacific coast there is superpower extending from British Columbia to Mexico, with but four breaks, totaling twenty-five milés, yet not all of even the power possibiiities of Washington and Ore- gon—blest as are those states with nature's “white fuel”—has been har- nessed. * % % There has long been i problem be- fore engineers as to what to do with the potentlal power of the Great falls of the Potomac. Tens of thou- sands of wild horses are prancing over the ro of Great falls, within fifteen miles of the National Capital, which ought to be hitched to our Street cars and to the machines grinding our electric lights and to scores of other kinds of machines working for our comfort. There have been many plans put on paper by government engineers and very much misunderstanding on the part of Congress and the publie as to what constitutes a water power plant. The public learns that a cer- tain fall of water is equivalent to 50 _many thousands of horsepower and cafeulates, therefore, that as “the mill wili never grind again with the water that is past.”” the country has lost billions of dollars, which have flowed over the folls &ince tha Declaration of Indepen- dence. Such economists forget the cost of building n dam, with a system of conservation reservoirs in which to stere water In Reasons of full flow for use in equalizing dry periods. They forget the cost of carrying the current for distribution, the overhead of upkeep and running. As onme of the government's expert engineers hae remarke 'his pop- ular ignorance fs due primarily to lack of correct information ¥k * x The report of Maj. M. C. Taylor to Maj. Gen. Lansing R. Beach, chief of engineers, covers a new plan for harnessing Great Falls, with “brace dams at Chain bridge and above the fulls and storage reservoirs in Great * |Cacapon river. the north fork of the the south branch That project would ,421.000. It would require an annual upkeep of £ 803 With- out the reservoirs. ost of the water power plant would be some $15,000,000 less, it Shenandoah and of the Potomac. but WO jthen require emergency steam plants | Ohio river through to in co cover periods of low water nnection with the electrie plant. The Tyler plan is indorsed by the Pederal ~ Power Commisaion. which stimates that, with it, electric cur- ent delivered at way stations would cost between 5.6 and 7.9 mills: but that even at the higher figure, it wouid be much cheaper than coal Algo, the capacity of the plant would ba not less than 675.000.000 kilowatt hours annuaily—far more than Wash- ington is now consuming for all pur- Presumably, the cost above hour, as contrasted with the present rate to householders of 10 cents. * * ¥ There has been a greater advance in the development of hydroelectric power in the United States since Congress passed the water power act of 1920 thar during ail the period since the passage of the first act of 1896. At the time the present law SPOTLIGHT V. COLLINS was passed the total water power of the country amounted to 9,000,007 horsepower. Since then licenses and permits have been issued for new projects amounting to 7,000,000 horse- power. There have been completed, or put under construction, plants ag- gregating 2,500,000 horsepower. Ap- lications have been filed with the ‘sdernl Power Commission totaling 21,500,000 horsepower. Mr. O. C. Merrill, executive secre- tary of the Federal Power Commission, prophesies that “It Is only a matter of time, and that not far distant, when, through the natural expansion of adjacent local groups of plants and lines, we shall have in the east- ern United States a superpower sys- tem rivaling that of the Pacific coast.” * % * ¥ The United States geological sur- vey finds ;potential hydroelectric power yet to be developed amounting to 27,943,000 minimum horsepower and 53,906,000 maximum. The max- imum totals per region are New Eng- land, 1,605,000; middle Atlantic, 2,48 000; . east north central, 1,604,000 west north central, 1,956,000; south LA!huuqu 257,000; east south central, 1,964,000; west south central, 822,000; mountain, 16,131,000, and Pacific, 23,- 078.000. It ia notable that the total of the Rocky mountain system and the Pacific coast states amounts to over 39,000,000 horsepower, out of the grand total for all the United States of 53,906.000. What will the great far west do with Its opportunity within the next ten or twenty-five years * ¥ k% ‘Water power is not going to dis- place.steam power. 1t will save mil- lions ‘of tons of coal, which should cheapen the cost of that form of fuel to all consumers. Not only will it replace the coal in furnaces, but It will save the cost of the coal used in carrying coal from the mines to the point of consumption. But electricity costs more in transmission than is geuerally understood—in the copper required as conductor in long range. In California, it is transmitted 250 miles, but at enormous cost for the plant ond the transmission wires. Beeretary Merrill says: “Many people alize that when a bydro- nt is erected, less than cost of the combined gen- ting. transmission and distributing system hus been Incurred. Stili few- er people realize that from 70 to 90 I per cent of the costs of delivering the jcurrent to the resident consumer is fncurred after the power has left the | gencrating station. * ¥ ¥ ¥ This last statement puts a damper on the Edison-Ford plan to burn coal at the mouth of the mine and create eleatricity to supply a radius lof hundreds of miles. To run such enormous 'furnaces would require rivers of water for condensing. There |is= ome great furnace on the Ohio | river, which literally runs the whole its steam con- How many locations are Ithere where mine und river are in such plose proximity? Thére haye been many other sources of power tried out, but none has proved practical for large plants. One system in cxperimental use has been Lo trap the tides.in large reservoirs and let them out at low tide, while the trapped water was forced to es- upe through power-producing ma- chinery. The plan has not proved practical. since twice a day it was | densers. {Baoted means 1.9 mills per Kilowatt | out of seryice—at Jow tide—atid much {of the rest of the day it was of small | power. | " Sun power is a scientific plasthing with present means of capturing it. Windmills are only for farmers and very small units. The day may come when wood alcohol can be safely made on farms, from waste Vegeta- tion, but not while the Suicide Club is so_ active, under the eighteenth amendment. (Copyright, 1923, by Paul V. Colltas.) Destroyer Wreck Draws Editors’ That “it must pever oecur again” seen the unanimous sentiment of the varioud editors who are debating the duty of the maval court-martial, now in progress at San Diego, placing the complete degree of responsibility and fixing the punishment for the of- ficers of the ill-fated destroyer squad- peace-time catastrophe™ of the Amer- fcan Navy. Bditors unanimously in- dorse the result of the court of in- quiry, which preceded the assembling of the gemersl court. But they feel that it is up to the court-martial to say how far the “follow your leader™ methods In destroyer navigation shall continue in the future and to throw complete light on all of the events that led up to the tragedy. “The court of inquiry has under- stated rather than overstated the facts when it declared that fatal crulse reflected ‘no credit upon the Navy,'” says the Boston Transcript, becauss “our nmaval officers ought to have the training and the experience to enable them to be better navi- gators than this. We have a right to expect from them the utmost care in navigating the ships over which they are placed in command. How- ever, the acts of individual heroism and the diacipline and daring of the crews show that the Navy of today worthily upholds the traditions of the Navy of other yeara” The Bing- hamton Sun feels a “new responsi- bility will be established by the court- martial” and “that humap lives and costly ships will be placed above the time-worn traditions.” * % % % “Qur Navy won its best laurels in the days when vessels fought indi- vidually and Initiative was developed to the utmost,” claims the New York Post, and. “in running along a dan- gerous coast in time of peace officers should show sufficlent enterprise to make thejr own observations and maintain thelr own alertness to dan- ger. The hearing showed negiigence of & kind that can do a navy more harm than mild insubordination.” Agreeing that “the largest measure of Individual alertness and accounta- bility on the part of officers is de- sirable,” the New York Tribune hopes “the court-martial may find reason to distinguish a little more clearly be- tween the culpability of those who committed the fsult of blind leader- ship and those who committrd the fanit of ting that s without "’-fl. lent “"'r-'%u ln'z:ge :- o these Tainor officers oircume. stances point . almost entirely- to ‘complete exoneration’ the Navy needs the men more than it needs their drastic punishmrent.” - As important as the trial of the officers by court- martial may be, the Newark News be- loves “it is more necessary to find out to: what extent the defects dis- the inquiry court run through the Navy. It has little to boast of In its sise e i s, sl nd Jus en ST e are among its directing officers.” “‘greatest | Concerted Fire The country will accept the report s justice. It will expect that punish- ment be given to fit a guilt which as- tounded the nation.” asserts the Mil- waukee Journal, “but what the coun- try does mot vet understand and what 1t'is still deeply concerned in is the curious breaking down of morale that occurred on that fateful night. Just what were the circumstances aboard these ships which were dashing through a blinding fog along a dan- gerous coast? And has anything been done to prevent a similar occurrence?" Taking about the same veiw, the Bal- timore Sun compares it with the legend of the siren songs that lured anclent voyagers to destruction on ancient coasts, and feels that while “the wrecking of the squadron and endan- gering g0 many lives were a great material calamity, it was a greater moral calamity ‘that for some un- known reason the men to whom it was intrusted should have been so strangeiy lulled to sleen.” to which the Kalamazoo Gazette adds “the ev dence points plainly to a carelessness and failure to take the most ordinary precautions that approaches the crim- inal” The Asheville Times feels “the jpublic is convinced that there was | culpable negligence somewhere which sent the destroyers recklessly racing through th= fog for a guessed-at port —lJoy riding to death.” % %% Regretting the tragedy of fine and gallant officers who must - go into professional eclipse, the Philadelphia Public Ledger declares “the Navy Department must think of the whole Navy; it cannot afford to shield and exculpae individuals.” The Hartford Times affirms the report, “so rea- soned and broad-minded, sets the service {n the right direction and re- pudiates, though in a dignified and tolerant manner,’the claims of tra- ditions which would lead to stultifi- cation and decay.” The Brooklyn Eagle also thinks the report “a les- son on the necessity of individual initiative and intelligence.” The In- dianapolis News insists “the report should be taken seriously to heart by the naval officers as a warning’ that men charged with the safety of crews and the proper handling of government property valued at msny millions of dollars can il afford to take chances.” - “As a technical judgment of sea- manship, involving no question of moral culpability, this decision 1s likely to go unchallenged,” according to the Springfield Republican. “There are aspects of it involving justice to individual men which properly invite questioning. The practice of follow- ing the leader could not have been adopted voluntarily by the captains for that particular cruise without precedent, Is there not reason to suppose that American destroyer squadrons were habitually being nav- igated on this unsafe principle?” = ‘The Bristol Herald-Courier sums up the general opinion of editors that “the American peovle are proud of the courage and heroism displayed by the men after the ships were wrecked, but the disaster itself was discreditable to the Navy, and the officers responsible for it earned the sweeping condemnation of their con- Scclal pioblems seem to be crowd- Ing each other in the brain of Sheila- Kaye-Smith, since she has mixed two welghty ones in about equal propor- tions in her last novel, “The End of the House of Alard.” As the title in- dicates, the problem which is prob- ably foremost is the dying condition of the great English estates from the double disease of accrued mort- gages and heavy post-war taxation. The Alard estate is so heavily mort- gaged that old Sir John Alard can barely serape together enough annu- ally to pay the interest. Ho goads his sons and daughters to make rich marriages in order to save the estate, but rich husbands and wives are not always forthcoming, and when they are the marriages are not always successful. Gervase and Jenny, the youngest son and daughter, refuse to sacrifice them- selves to the family and so achieve hap- piness, each in a different way. The final catastrophe for the family is reach- ed when it becomes certain that there will bo no next generation of Alards and that the Alard estate must be sold. Gervase pronounoces the doom of the estate: “The family’s taken enough. For 500 vears it has sat on the land, and at first it did good—it cared for the poor, it worked its farms to the best Advantage, and the estate prospered. But iU's outlived those days—it's only AR incumbrance now; it's holding back the land from proper develop- ment; it's keeping the yeoman and #mall land owner out of their rights; it can’t afford to care for the poor. It can barely keep its hold on the land by dint of ralsing mortgages and marrying for money. It can oniy be kept “up by econtinual sacrifices—of the land, of the temanta, of its own children. Tt's like a. wicked old dying god. that can only be kept alive by sacrifices—human sacrifices. And, 1 tell you, it shan’t be any more" L The other problem of the book is religious. Miss Kaye-Smith tries to demonstrate that in English Ca- tholicism (or Puseyism, as Sir John called it) is to be found the modewn religion suited to the new democratic world. Gervase gives his conception of it: “Catholic Christianity stands fast because it belongs to an order of things which doesn't change. It's made of the same stuff as our hearts. It's the supernatural satisfaction of all our natural instincts. ¢ ® ¢ The parson and the squire will go and their places will be taken by the |yeoman and the priest who were there before them. * & * It'7 be a democracy which will have the best of avistocracy kept alive in it” *x % The importance of juvenile reading 1s being stressed by the annual ob- servance of Children’s Book week. Fori the fifth suceessive year bookseller public librarfes, schools, women's clubs, parent-teacher associations, churches and other organizations have increased the interest in chil- dren’s books all the vear round by focusing attention on the subject for | one week. This year's campaign | fallis in the week of November 11-17.1 Since the readers of children's books today will become the readers of grown-up books tomorrow, the Book- | lover welcomes this movement. In view of the many poor and weak books published for children and the lack of discrimination of well inten- tioned parents in making selections | of books for their children, he would | like to amend the logan adopted for ! Children’s Book week, “More Books | in the Home!" so0 that it would read: | “More and Better Books in the Home!" Of course, we do not wish our children to read books by the yard or the cord, nor 1o make their minds sieves through which to pour a vast quantity of poor stuff. There are plenty of good bocks for chil- dren, if only they can be weeded out from the even more abundant worthless rubbish. R Wallace Irwin's new novel, “Lew Tyler's Wives," is considered by some critics his “most serious effort” It is a real life story based on the clash of differing personalities in their dally relations. Lew Tyler is a] handsome, charming Californian, with more attractive surface qualities than soundness of character. His first wife, Jessle, is old fashioned in her devotion and trustfulness and is dis- illusianed but slowly. His second wife, Virginis, i3 young and frivo- lous, and we do not know how well Lew gets on with her, because the story ends when they have been mar- | ried only a short time. MNr. Irwin| indicates his belief, however, that if their life-is not altogether a failure it will be because of the oharacter training which Lew has received in his life with Jesste, % k% The life of devotion to incurable and impoverished cancer patients which Rose Hawthorne Lathrop (Mother Alphonsa) has led for nearly thirty years Is described by Maurice Francis Egan in a prelude to a new edition of the “Memories of Haw- thorne,” by Mra. Lathrop. It was the deep sympathy of her father for hu- | |man_suffering, and especially certain es of his essay, “Our OId| Home,” that suggested to Mrs, La- throp, who afterward as a sister of charity became Mother Alphonsa, the foundation of her charity for “the relief of incurable cancer.” She be- gan her work in 1896 on the lower | Fast Side in New York city. Thej present_sanitariums of the charity: are at 71 Jackson street, New York, | and the Rosary Hill Home, at Haw- thorne, near White Plains. The re- quirements for admission are that patients must be incurable and abso- Iutely without money to pay for care. The charity is known as “The Serv- ants of Relief for Incurable Cancer.” Dr. Egan says: ‘There is a touch of human warmth in the formal report | that tells of the marvelous growth of this work, and even of righteous in- dignation, where Mother Alphonsa declares that there shall be no for- bidding . aspect in the ospital rooms. As for experiments on the incurable patients, she will have none of them, while any exhibition of aversion in the presence of a pa- tient is anathema. The sisters, she says, are truly happy in their work, and she will have no wearing of rub- ber gloves that may suggest disgust or fear.” * ¥ ¥ * Zona Gale's novel, “Faint Perfume,” is to be published in revised Braille type for the blind. It is interesting in reading Miss Gale's novel to no- | tice how largely she speaks in terms of the sensesother than sight. Sounds and odors play & major part in her desariptions. Even her heroine one finds is ";}'," directly dxa-s-l: b:d as sl Appears. n fact, one O br bool's greatest charme i3 the fact that the impressions it conveys are built up in such fashion as this: “Leda smellod the odor of home, odor like clean woolen. The hall clock with incredible solemnity uttered a wrong hour. Her father in his study below tapped the fender with the tongm” The very a ere of a soene is wafted to one as one Senses the odors and receives the sounds that are its living qualities. * k% ¥ In the new editfon of the Encyclo- pedia Britannica it is interesting to observe the estimate of relative so- cial and political values. Charley Chaplin is given the same number of lines as Lord Derby, Douglas Fair- banks, twice as man lines as Lord Peel, and Mary Pickford only two fower lines than Lord Cave ! ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN Q. How is the value of & pari mutuel tick®t determined?—W. A. W. A. If in a race the wagers on all the horses total $10,000 and of this sum $2,000—the equivalent of 1,000 32 tickets—was ‘wagered on the winner, the value of a $2 ticket would be de- termined by deducting from $10,000 the 5 per cent commission for the asso- ciation, or $500, and dividing the re- mainder by 1,000, which gives $9.50. Q. Is it true that the United States goupumes more opium than China?—E. A. Recent statistics show that the United States consumes 36 grains of oplum per capita, in comparison with India, 27 grains; France, 4; England, 3; Germany, 2; China, 2, and Iwaly, 1. Q. Can you tell me whether drinking water was brought from England for Papyrus?—R. J. H. A. The English race horse drank the water of this country, but the hay he ate was brought from England. Q. Is the felly fish of any com- mercial use?—B. G. A. The bureau of fisheries says that the Jelly fish has no commercial valuc. Q Was Alexander Hamilton's son killed in 2 duel?—C. P. A. Philip Hamilton, the son of Alex- ander Hamilton, fell on November 23, 1801, at the same place where, three years later the elder Hamilton met his death. Philip Hamilton fought a duel with George Eacker, following a dispute over a political matter. Q. Please give me some information on the picture “The Blue Boy” by Gainsborough—F. A. B. A. Jonathan Butthel, the gon of 7 wealthy ifronmonger of London, wis the original of the “Blue Boy" por- trait by Gainsborougn. There is a tradition that the artict painted the canvas in deflance of a rule laid down by Sir Joshua Reynolds, who held that the color used in the “Blue Boy” could not he used to produce an ar- tistic effect. Q. From what is ermine fur de- rived?—K. G. A. The ermine_or white weasel, is the smallest of the fur-bearers found | The finest ermine fur comes from R and Siberia. In winter the animal is snow white ex- cept for a black tip on the end of the tail. In summer it turns brown, and the brown fur is, known on the market as in North Americ “summer bearings | from radio station V. M. H. A. The radio division of the Depart- ment of Commerce says that this may - done in two. ways. Radio cempass ations are maintained by the Department at various point. the coast, and shipe in the local these stations signal to them asking for bearings. On the other hand, there may be directional receiving appari- tus aboard ship, and this apparatus can Eet bearings from any coast sta- tion of which it knows the cail letters. Q. What is a smoke consumer? ‘Where is it used and under what con- ditions?—A. T. A. A smoke consumer is a device for saving fuel which otherwise would escape in smoke. It turns back the fuel by separating it from the gas. Thousands of tons of coal are wasted annually by escaping in the form of smoke. Smoke Consumers are used for this reason, | pricipally In factories and are a means of financial saving (o thess plants. Q. Who said, “There never was a good war or a bad peace?’—G. W. 8, A. This =tatement appears in a letter written by Benjamin Franklin to Josiah Quincy on September 11, 1 Q. What is laminated wood?—T. I A. Laminated wood is a block con posed of thin sheets of wood glucd together. It may be used in the same way as clear timber. This is a pr developed by the forest products ial ratory in Madison, Wis., &8 & conservi- tion measure. Q. Does it say in the Bible tn Christ was born in & manger?—>M A. In the second chapter of Luk. verses 7 and 12, King James' versio are found two references to the f. that the Infant Jesus was laid in t! manger by His Mother, Mary. Th is sometimes construed &8 Ineanin: that the birth of Christ actuaily o curred in the manger. Q““What is a Manhattan sandwich? LWL A. A New York chef says that ¢ Manhattan sandwich bas a filling of fried eggs, minced ham and onion. Q. Can government land be ob- tained in South America?—V. 1. N. A. The Pan-American Union says that there are no homestead lands in South America, but land is sold very cheaply there. Q. Is our system of weights and measures the same as that used in | England?—H. H. E. | A The prevalent in common use here are identical with the British imperial system erroneous. For example, the Unit States yard is slightly longer than the imperial yard, and this inequality extends to all its subdivisions and mu tiples. Q. What K. K. A idea that those is a Joshua tree?—i The Yorestry service s: th this is a desert tree, which grows California, Arizona and New Mexico, | 1t has light, soft, spongy wood, and {used for boxing and wrapping mi- | terial. | Q. What is the origin of the Keltic cross?—H. A. S. A. Keltic crosses are such as were found on the Blessed Isle, one of the | Hebrides group known as lona. Soue authorities belleve that the circular symbol, which appears at the con- nection’ of the upright beam and the ign of the sun. | eross beam, is the | Q. Please give examples of words {in which the lctter w is used as & voweL—R. J. McC. A. .In words where w forms sacond element of a dipthong, few and how, w is a vowel. | Q. What part of the United Statis | had more volunteers than its guota in the draft for the war?—J. E. G | A. Hawaii had the only troops tha | were so much over 100 per cent that it was necessary to draw men in the i draft. These troops volunteered | to a percentage of 18Z. | (s wou have o question you wast ansiwered send & to The Star In- | Jormation Bureaw, Frederic J. Hos kin, director, 1220 North Capitol street. The only charge for this service is £ cents in stamps for re- twn postage.) the s in | Proof Is Cited That Baldwin Foresees Long BY THE MARQUISE DE FONTENOY. Premier Stanley Baldwin's sfle last week of his beautiful town house, 93 Haton square, upon which he, and e#pecially Mra. Baldwin, have spent so much money and care, must be taken as an indication that they look forward to quite s prolonged tenure of 19 Downing street, once the home of the Harvard graduate, Sir George Downing, and which, for some two centaries or more, has been the offi- cial residence of the prime ministers of the British empire. Stanley Bald- win is there to stay, despite the an- ticipations of Lloyd George of an early return to the historic premises. The names of Devereux and de Bohun figure so largely in the- his- tory of England, notably in eonnec- tion with the reign of Queen Kliza- beth and’ the regime of Oliver Crom- well, that the announcement that St Margarets, Westminister, the parish church of the two houses of parlia- ment, i8 to be the scene December 5 next of the marriage between Rob- ers Godfrey de Bohun Devereux. lieu- tenant of the Welsh Guards. and Miss Audrey Meakin, daughter of the Countess of Sondes and niece of Lady Cayzer, I8 calculated to arouse at- tention, for the young guardsman, who received his training at Eton, is the grandson and heir presumptive of the octogenarian Lord Hereford, sixteenth peer of his line and. like- wise, premier viscount of England. * % % % Although the old gentleman esuc- ceeded to the family honors close upon seventy years ago, he has, by reason of mental affiiction, been under | restraint and in’' seclusion’ for close upon half a century and has only| once, during all that period, been {seen for a few moments in the house of lords, when ho was brought th town by his medical attendants and keepers from his country place, Ash- wood Hall, near Ludlow—where he has been confined—in order to cast his vote as an hereditary legislator against .the Gladstone Irish home rule bill on the occaslon of its de feat by the house of lords. For Whereas mental affliction invalidate. a vote in the house of commons, there is nothing to provent a peer who s bereft of his reason from the exercise of his constitutional sight, even though the fortune and the fate of the entire ruling British empire, wWith its 400,000,000 people of every race and hue and creed may depend on that one particular vote. Old Lord Hereford is the son of a clergyman, and his eldest Son and hetr—that 18 to say, the father of the young guardsman who i§ to be mar- ried to Lady Sondes’ daughter at St. Margaret’s, Westminster, next month —is a chairman of quarter sessions and county magnate in Brecknocke shire, whers he has a ocounty seat known as Tregoyd. The Devereuxs, who hail from Nor- mandy, have held lands in Fngland ever since the reign of Willlam the Conqueror. ~ Sir Walter Devereux was chancellor of Ireland in 1449 and supported the houss of York in the wars of the roses. Walter Dever. jeux was created first Viscount Here- ford by King Heury VIII in 1550 for his services in the French wars and he was succeeded by his grandson as second viscount and by the latter's son, the third viscount. The latter, as Earl of Essex, was the ill-fated favorite of Queen Elizabeth, who, after raising him to the the" hon- ers—namely, to the dignities of earl marshal of the realm and of viceroy of Ireland—turned against him and caused him to be beheaded as a traitor, not to the state or to the nation, but to her senile love, in 1601. 'His son, by the widow of Sir Philip ~ Sidney, Wwho succeeded as fourth Viscount Hereford, fought, first of all, under the flag of Charles 1, but afterward deserted his cause and became a general in the army of Oliver Cromwell. From that time forth the viscounty of Hereford, which must not be confounded with the Sey- mour marquisate of Hereford, has con- tinued to the present day. * ok k¥ As for the future Viscount Here- ford's .bride, .she made her debut Premier Term about two years ago. She is the daughter of Lady Sondes by her first and enormously rich husband, Jam Meakin, and so the young lady may be_expected to brnig her husband a very handseme dowry, So very numerous and socially powerful in England is the original German banking ho of Baring, now represented in the house of lords by Leord Revelstoke, the Earl of Cromer; Lord Ashburion and by the Earl. of Northbrooke, that the two half-American daughters of the Hor Cecil Baring. Daphne and Calypso Baring. who are making their debut in London this winter. or rather, T should say. in the spring, are cer- tain to nave a first-class time and ito have many entertainmentis given lin their honor by relatives ~and |friends. Their mother was the lato | Maude Lorillard. daughter of the late Pierre Lorillard, founder of Tuxedo, |eelebratea for his tobacco factories and for his racing stable. Her first marriage with T. Suffern Tailer was sundered by divorce and then she married Cecil Baring, who, at_the time, was representing In New York the interests of the great interna- | tional London banking house of Ba: ing,” of which ~Lord Revelstoke is the chief. .As Lord Reveistoke is unmarried, his brother, Cecil, sil succeed to the Revelsioke peers and estates.and will in turn be fo lowed by his vwn on, Rupert Baring. now a boy of twelve: * ¥ ¥ ¥ Daphne and Calypso Baring. the one nineteen years old and the other eighteen, have been very quietly ! bronght up, fnishing their education in Paris. Much, if not most, of the married life of their mother, the for- mer Maude Lorillard—a remarkably pretty woman—was spent with her | ehildren at her beautiful island home in Dublin bay, known as Lambay 1sland, a perfeetly ideal retreat and which had beep fitted up and ar- ranged entirely regardless of expense by her husband and by herself Ths two girls are to be brought out under the chaperonage of their aunt, the Countess of Kenmare and Lady Evelyn Baring; the latter the widow of Lord Magheramome when she mar- ried in 1905, the Hon. Hugo Baring of the 4th Husears, nmow a partner In the London firm of Baring, but who spent the first five years of his married life in New York, in charge of the interests of the firm, and where Lady Evelyn's daughter by her first husband, the Hon. Norah Hogg, made her debut in society. Norah Hogg is now the wife of Capt. Julian Groves of the Grenadier Guards, who won the Distinguished Service Order in the great war. Mrs. Cecil Baring, who had a town house in Bryanston square, died last year, and it was the fact that they were in mourning_for their mother that has delayed the debut of her two girls, who have inherited much of her beau- ty and who will, each, when they marry, be, well dowered, since their mother left a very large fortune of Lorillard origin, while their father, Cecil Baring, i3 a very clever business man and rich. Student Mechanics Need an Automobile To the Editor of The Star: An unfortynate condition prevails in Eastern High School. There are about fifty boys in the auto mechanto class and they have no auto on which to work. There is no appropriation available to purchase one and so these boys are partly wasting their time. I think there are many people in this city who would donate the use of a second-hand machine if they knew that such a condition existed. If you could ses your way clear to make this fact kuown to the city you would have the gratitude of the people of Fast Washington and es- pecially of the boys who are trying to learn something about automo- biles with only blackboard illustra- tions. D. A. EDWARDS.