Evening Star Newspaper, March 6, 1924, Page 6

6 : THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, THURSDAY, MARCH 6 194 : THE EVENING STAR side. The merchant then began to cape and capture is a very slight one. With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY......March 6, 1924 THEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor - The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office, 11t New York Ottice: Chicago Ofi-e: Tower Buil Earopean Office: 16 Regent St., London, <. England. The Evening Star, with the Sunday morning edition, ix delivered by carriers within the ity ai 60 cents per month: daily only, 45 cents per month: Sunday only, 20 cents’ per imonth, Orders may be sent by mail or tele- phone Muin 5000. Collection is made by car. xlers at the end of eac b, Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance, Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday..1 yr., §8.40; 1 mo,, 70c Daily only. . 1 Sunday oniy. All Other States. Daily and Sunday.1 yr., $10.00; 1 mo., 85¢ Dally only $7.00: 1 mo., Bunday only $3.00; 1 mo., Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exélusively entitled fo the use for republication [atehies credited to it or st n this paper and also th 1 lished ‘herein. ~ AIl rights of pub wpecial dispatches berein are also r = Filipino Independence. President Coolidge’ to the delegation of Filipinos who recently presented resolutions that had been udopted by the Philippine legislatur asking for immediate independence is @ sound and s ike presenta- tion of the cas while imme diately perhaps unacceptable at M nila, must impress the people of the archipelago as inspired by mot of the highest consideration for their welfare. Briefly stated, the holds that the time has not vet for complete autonomy for Grave economic and pol ders, perhaps even amountin aster, would, in his view, result from the withdrawal of American support und protection. At present the Fili pino people are unable to raaintain the financial burden that vould be im- posed by political indeendence and lack the political capacty necessary to the people of a min r nation, suming the full responsibility of main- taining itself in the family of natio Undoubtedly a strongly sympathetic feeling for the wion of the Philippine people for independence prevails in this country, v @& nation founded as was this upon a desire for autonomous government would be partisan to the same desire on the part of a people long held under suzerainty by an alien power But, as been made plain to this country; the Filipinos, to-call them by thelr broadly inclusive name, are not @ homogeneous people. They com- prise many elements, some of which are mutually antagonistic to a degren which menaces pe: in the archi pelago, even under a strong central government not wholly identified with any group. Between' the Tagalogs of Luzon and the Moros of the southern fslands there is a strong religious antipathy. The Tagalogs, usually theé most intelligent and advanced of the people of all the islands, are nu- merically in minority. Great advance has been made by the Filipino people since the American occupation. In a quarter of a centur: education has been spread widely, a new generation has come. with a higher conception of the duties and responsibilities of citizenship. A long step forward has been taken, due to the kindly care of the American ad- ministration, But yet much remains to be done, if it can ever be done, to bring the population to the point of political capacity where it will be safe for their s to leave them 1o their devices as wholly masters of their own fates. Only recently the need of a strong central authority in the government of the islands has been shown in the outbreaks in the Moro regions, where fanaticism has developed and punitive | expeditions have been necessary. It i8 no reflection upon the more ad- vanced of the Filipino people to hold | that they could not maintain order in such circumstances if left to their| own resources. Moreover, as events have shown, there is lacking still that economic sense in government which is essential to the maintenance of stable administration. Al these things may come in time. It is the hope of the American peo- ple that they will come, that the Filipinos will continue to advance rapidly toward the point of full ability to govern themselves without dan- gerous domestic disorder, without financial embarrassment and without inviting foreign aggression through helplessness, President Coolidge's statement of the case holds out this hope while expressing a kindly but firm denial of the immediate aspira- tlon of the wards of the United States, —_——— Surprise 18 still manifested over the fact that Mr. Vanderlip should have interested himself in gossip when there were so many startling facts available. —_———— So far as Congress is concerned this year's spring housecleaning has started early. Aspil The Shop Window. Tt is announced that “Washington merchants will welcome spring at 8 pm. March 24, when a ‘spring re- view’ will begin, under auspices of the Merchants and Manufacturers’ Association.” It is said that “five grizes will be given for window' dis- plays” and that “no goods will be sold during the display.” It scems from this that the mepchants will celebrate spring with a window dis- play contest. ; There is beauty in the show win- dow. Merchants in Washington and in all other cities give thought and care to window exhibitions, and a re- flection that will come to many per- sons s the change that has come over the shop window within a few years. Not many years ago a mer- cHant set a sign up at his door which I | lof “window dressing.” | |enlarge his window and set in them samples of his wares. He'almed to | make the little window a brief index of his stock. Slowly the show window became an exhibit meant to halt the | passer-by* because of the beauty, of |the .goods and their arrangement. ,Men adopted and cultivated the art Merchants be- came connoisseurs in the art. The public, served with these free exhi- bitions, became harder to please. The shop window of thirty or fifty years ‘ago would not be noticed by .pedes- trians today. Or if a passer-by should stop at such a window it would be to marvel at it as a museum or a relic. The average window display today would have been so extraordinary fifty years ago that citizens would have come down town from as far north as Q or R street to see it. Many Washingtonians remember when a store window was glazed with small square panes and when the window was no larger than that of a dwelling house. Then came the “plate * window. Many Star readers remember that when a store late glass” window the store- per was set down as ultra-modern and a lavish spender. The merchant with a “plate glass” window in his store stood as high in popular esteem as the family which lived in a house “pressed brick” front. ———— The Thurber Confession. It is now suggested that the man in the London prison who has con- fessed to participation in the Wall street bomb plot is a sufferer from hell shock™ and that his story is unfounded. Some evidence appears of this in recognition of his description by a man in this country as that of ke explosion was known to have been in California. Furthermore, records at san Quentth prison, San Francisco, show that a man of that name was a prisoner there at that time, and, finally, a check of the names and ad- dresses given by the Pentonville pris- oner fails to yield results. Tt will not be surprising to find that the story is false, the product of an overwrought imagination, or perhaps a deliberate desire for notoriety, pos- sibly for extradition to this country on the chance of ultimate escape from custody. Indeed, it would be surpris- ing to find that the story is true. Only an extraordinary motive could prevail upon a man to confess a share in so diabolical a crime. He might be on his deathbed, or he might find himself implicated directly and seek the protection of confession by turn- i evidence. In the present state of the case there is no means for judging as to the reasons moving Thurber to tell his story. All the known circumstances of the crime indicate that several people were involved in the conspiracy. So it-may be sct down as altogether likely that ultimately one of them would be caught or will' give a clue to the others. It is certainly to be hoped that a solution of this mystery will be found soon, while the crime is fresh in the public mind. Short on Achievements, Congress has been in session three months, with a record to date of prac- tically no legislation of importance en- acted. Not even an appropriation bill has reached the President for signa- ture. The Interior Department appro- priation bill has passed both houses and is now in conference, while others are in the mill. The tax reduction bill has passed the House, but in such shape that it will have to be made over by the Senate, it is predicted by Senate leaders. At the outset of the session the administration presented an imposing program of legislation which was to be put through. President Coolidge later emphasized the desire that the Congress enact relief for the farm- ers. The farm bloc and the radicals thundered in the index about what should be done for the farmer, but they have not carried on. To be sure, a red herring was drawn across the trail by the oil dis- closures and other investigations. The Congress seems to be bent on nothing but investigations, and un- questionably legislation is suffering. There seems to be no hope for early adjournment, and the prospect is dim for a full meed of constructive legis- lation. ———————— Having left governmental service for the avowed purpose of improving his finances, Mr. McAdoo does not see how he can be expected to leave private life poorer than when he entered it. Money being so prevalent at pres- ent, it may oceur to Hiram Johnson that a presidential boom is just as well off without any ostentatious financial backing. ————a———— Decoding telegrams affords an in- teresting and Instructive pastime which has superseded the puzzle de- partment In journalistic circles. Congress has not been conducting itself in a manner which.shows much consideration for the hotel industry in | Florida. Girl Bandits, New York's bobbed-hair bandit con- tinues to operate, while Philadelphia’s | Specimen of this type of young crimi- | To keep the home fires burning nal has apparently been captured. The New York girl crook—she might be called a gun girl, or, indeed, a two- gun girl—has just pulled off two more strokes with a male accomplice. Tues- day night they got $1,500 in cash and Jewelry from a man in the street, and Wednesday night they held up a drug store, where they got only $36 in cash, some Spanish-American war medals and a little jewelry of no particular value. Neither of the robbers was told the kind of goods he sold. The boot shop had a glant’s boot on the sidewalk, the apothecary shop dis- Plyed a monster mortar and pestle and globes of green and red, the Jeweler hung up a mighty watch, and the leather dealer set a trunk at his @or. A painted sign would tell that @ry goods or groceries were sold in- masked, and in tha second case at least six people had full vision of them. While the enterprising young woman was pulling off this affair 500 police reserves were combing the streets of Brooklyn for her. i Ultimately this daring girl will fail. Thus far her exploits have been suc- cessful, but the margin between es- other, who at the time of the| Some night some one is going to make a swift attack and turn the tables. Of course, the advantage is always with the crook, who takes his victim by surprise, but there remains the possibility of a quick-witted or ner- vously reacting person doing the un- expected. There is no reason for surprise at the fact that girls are doing hold-up 1work. There.have been a number of | these cases. Chicago has had two or three of them recently. Possibly the so-called bobbed-hair bandit in New York is, in fact, a multiple person. ‘Women have been members of gangs for a long time. Usually they have been “stalls” and tually participating in the thefts. There is no temperamental difference between the sexes disqualifying a woman from such work. Indeed, in this Brooklyn case it is said that the girl has always shown herself to be cooler and more capable than her male companion. | The National Gallery. Another step has been taken toward the construction of a building for the National Gallery of Art. Announce- ment has been made that Charles A. Platt of New York has been chosen by the board of regents of the Smith- sonian Institution as the architect to design the building, that he has ex- amined the site which it will occupy. and that before drawing the plans he will visit the great galleries of Rome, Florence, Paris, London and other cities. Mr. Platt designed the build- ing for the Charles L. Freer cellec- tion, which Is a part of the National Gallery of Art, and his selection as architect of the building for the main part of the collection and to house additions to it is well received. 1t is worth noting that men inter- ested in art and in the erection of a building at Washington for the na- tional collection have not waited for Congress to make an appropriation for the preparation of plans. They bave subscribed the necessary fund, and the work is considerably advanced because of that. Congress has author- ized that such a building as proposed may be erected on the north side of the Mall between the Natural History building of the National Museum and Tth street. There,is already consid erable public discussion of the Na- tional Gallery, and a building to house it properly, and no voice seems to have been raised in objection. ————— In the opinion of Lloyd George, the United States is fortunate in having attained a prohibition status. British conservatism is not so strong as to insist that a bad habit is a good thing merely because it is more or less ancestral in character. —————— New York theatrical producers are going out of business rather than sub- mit to the demands of the actors. The regular season is soon to close, any- how, and the finish may as well be ar- ranged on spectacular lines to point a moral. ——— Earnings of the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton railroad have shown a sub- stantial increase. Mr. Henry Ford has demonstrated the fact that a man may get richer and richer without providing any grounds for an investi- gation. ———— In addition to his other accomplish- ments, Mr. Sinclair is credited with having evolved a system enabling him to guarantee to specially favored friends any tips he gave on the races. —_———— After waiting 'for years Standard Ol enjoys the privilege of being only an interested auditor when congres- sional attacks are launched against transactions involving petroleum. —_———— A bal masque in Philadelphia, while | providing no interest for Smedley Rutler in his official capacity, wel- comes him as an extra added attrac. tion. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Boyhood Days. T used to long for boyhood days, But now I note with pain The call, through governmental ways, To be a child again. I have to mind instructive rule When I would fain relax. I'm being kept in after school To solve my income tax. No problem in arithmetic The questions let me skip. T'm trying to acquire the trick Of neater penmanship. Alas, how vainly we recall Our previous dreams of joy. It is no privilege at all ‘Once more t6 be a boy, Uninfluential, “Posterity will hold you account. able,” sald the earnest friend. “That doesn’t scare me so much,” answered Senator Sorghum. ‘“Poster- ity Is not in a position to exercise any direct influence in the coming elec- tions.” —_— Jud Tunkins says he can't enjoy a horse race unless he bets on it, and even then he generally doesn't enjoy it for more than the first, minute. Pyrology. 1e an ambition fair, But when for warmth you're yearning You must proceed with care. ‘When you design, lighthearted, A cozy glow serene, Don't try to get it started ‘With too much kerosene, Wary. “Here's & man who says he wants to interview you about how you laid the foundation for your financial suc- cess.” “What does he represent,” inquired Mr. Dustin Stax, cautiously, “a popu- lar magazine or an investigating com- mittee?” “I don't want none of de kind of sympathy,” said Uncle Eben, “dat don’t do nuffin’ ‘cep’ keep me remind- ed of my troubles.” | : | > i e CHAPTER XI. Asriculture and $80,000,000 for Ronds. The Department of Agriculture of the United States was organized in 1889. Seven men since then have oc- cupled the position of Secretary of Agriculture. Of these, three have come from Towa, two from Missourl, one from Nebraska and one from Wisconsin—all western men. The present Secretary, Mr. Wallace, like his Immediate predecessor, s from lowa. He s the owner of a large farm journal. “Mr. Secretary, many people In the United States belleve you are spend- ng too much money In your depart- ment for the results obtained,” I said by way of opening. of fifty-seven. He has strong, keen, brown eyes and a deep bass voice. ‘Well, let's see about that,” de- clared the Secretary, “The Depart- ment of Agriculture spent approxi- mately $144,000,000 in the fiscas year 1922 and only’ $126,600.000 in 1923 There is a cut of $17.500,000 Now remember that considerably more than half of this expenditure s really not for agricultural purposes at all. It is for road construction, which happens to be handled by our department. ~With that eliminated. our expenditures were $47.300.000 in 1923 That s one and a half per cent of the total federal government expenditures for 1923. That seems like a small amount to give to aid the most important single Industry in America.” < “Yes, it seemg relatively smail. But is the department real'y helping the farmer? Is not the farmer in the United States worse off now when the department 1 asked. “Yes, that.ls probably true,” replied the Secretary. “but that again is due to conditions over which this depart- ment had no control. It is due to the war.” than o orsan ized?” Farmer Gets Less. “Is it not true that the farmer has been getting less and less for the products which he sells, while the prices pald for those same articles by the ultimate consumer In the city are getting higher and higher?" I asked. “Yes, unfortunately that seems to be correct,” he sald. “It is a most difficult problem to solve. We are now making a thorough investigation of that whole matter. So far there does not seem to be any satisfactory answer.” But let us look a little at the work of this department and see for our- selves just what is being done. The Department of Agriculture has to do with the agricultural activities of thy whole nation. ~In 1920 there were about 6,500,000 farmers in the United ~States, who owned farm property valued at approximately 78 billions of dollars, The department estimates are based on the crop value of the eleven principal crops. Those crops are corn, wheat, outs, barley, rye, buckwheat, flaxseed, potatoes, sweet potatoes, hay and cotton. Here are the department figures for the last three years for the total money re- ceived by the farmers, as of October 1 each year: 1921—£5,289.000,000 1922—3$5,711,000,000 1923—$6,947.000,000 The production of live stock and its products would add approximately $5,500,000,000 ‘more to the above figure for 1923. But the index figures of the Department of Labor show that the cost of living has been going up during the past year. Of course these figures are gross profits. Out of them must be taken taxes, interest and expenses in order to really know farm conditions, The Toll of Whe Low prices of farm products relatively, high taxes, high Interest and high freight rates are respon- sible for bad agricultural conditions, in the opinion of 79 per cent of the farmers, according to the 1923 report of the Secretary of Agriculture. Low prices for wheat have sent whole states into bankruptcy. The Department of Agriculture has is- sued a full report on the wheat situation to the President. It is a most tragic and appalling report. The detailed figures are given. They are almost unbelievable. Let us examine a_very few. In the fifteen wheat-growing states of the United Statex the Depart- ment of Agricuiture flgures show that 10.08 per cent of the farmers {lost their farms and 16.28 per cent more “retained possession of their farms or property through leniency of creditors. That is to say, one Wwheat farmer in every four lost out. This is the average record for fifteen states. Some states are much worse than the average. Take Colorado. Four farmers {n-every ten lost out. In South Dakota the same. Dakota, five out of every ten. Montana, six out of every ten. Now let us reverse the picture. In September, 1913, in_the city of ‘Washington the Department of Agri- culture made an investigation as to just where the money went which was pald to the grocer for bread. The wheat producers—the men who toiled and sweat and risked all to bring forth the harvest—received 2141 cents out of every dollars worth of bread sold. The miller got 7.76 cents for his services in grind- ing it into flour; the raliroad got 3.08 cemts. The baker, for working on the flour for twenty-four hours, got 37.25 cents. The grocer, for keep- ing it on his shelf for less than a day. without any capital outlay in- volved, got 20.55 cents, and the farm- In Mr. Wallace 1s a short, chubby man | In North } ; TR CAN YOUR TAXES BE CUT? A Series of Articles on the Cost of Government; Where the Money Goes, and Why. BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR, . Author of “Can Europe Hold Together?” er, for working up the grounds seeding, cutting, threshing and haul- ing to town (four to five months of hard work), got 21.41 cents. That was bad enough. It just couldn’t be much worse. Bl Drop In Ten Years. But it i, Turn over ten years from |1913. In 1923 the farmer got 16.37 conts, the miller 5.31 cents, the rail- road 3.21 cents, the baker 35.93 cents and the grocer 22.22 cents. The rest miscellaneous. Based on a dollar's worth of bread sold In the city of Washington in_September, 1923, the farmer received not 21.41 cents, as he did in 1913, but just 16.37 cents. Thé grocer received not 20.55 cents as in 1913, but 22.22 cents. If we translate these figures into overy-day facts, we should not be surprised at whole states going bank- rupt: at banks closing, not by the dozens, but by the hundreds in the states 'affected; at one million far- mers leaving the farms for the cit at the large increase in suicides. These facts ure only the outward ‘evidences of an appa which demands immediate heroic and vigorous action on the part of the government. Such facts the Department of Agri- culture found. Now what does all this cost the federal government? First, there is the weather burcau, with the weather man in charge. Thi is nation-wide, Important, and cost $1,466,000 for the fiscal year 19 This bureau is asking for an Ingrease of approximately $70,000 for 1924. The bureau of agricultural nomics 1s another potentially portant burcau. This is really th big marke g investigation bureau of the department. It sometimes in vestigates cost of production and marketing, arm organizations and allied subjects. It sometimes pub- lishes able data. With the farm- er getting less and less, and the men_ between the farmer and the consumer more and more, this bureau should concern itself very much more effectively with the problem of how to decrease this great spread between producer and consumer. Like many other nice bureaus in Washington, it is piling up and filing away, very carefully, much useful informatipn for the student of the future. This burcau spent $2.448.000 in 1923, and this is further inereased by approxi- tely $430,000 for 1924. (It seems though the principal activities of s bureiu are much more closely related to trade ommerce than to agriculture). eco- im Extension Service Cut. The bureau of plant industry deals with the whole probleb of plant life. It handles the problems of diseases, Dests and weeds. It tests new plants in new climates. This is a useful and important work. The bureau spent $3.113.000 in 1923 and expects to cut this by approximately $230,000 for 1924 The extension service contributes to the support of the 3.000 county agents in tha United States. For the fiscal year 1923 it spent $5,796,000, but this Is cut down to $7,150.000 for 1924, This is a questionable ser ice_which might be cut The bureau of animal industry deals with 21l work reiating to the live stock industry. It deals with the investigation. control cation of dis s of animal. epection and quarantiné of 1 the Inspection of meats and mea products, and dairying. It is an ir tense, thorough, and indispensabl bureau. Altogether this bureau spent $9,741.000 in the flscal vear 1923. It is asking for approximately $200,000 more for 1924, The forest service has control of the national forests. It studies forest conditions and investigates various for- ests and their products. A total of 933,000 was spent o this bureau in 192 ‘About the sume s axked for 14 However, this bureau took in $7,0 000 in receipts for 1923, and estir the total receipts for 1924 at $8,14 Of course. timber depletion mu constdered against these receipts Roads: The First Big Expense. We now come to the big spending buresu—that of public roads. For 1923 a total of $76,180,000 was spent. The estimate for 1924 Is $94,268,000, an increase of about $18,000,000 over 1923. Here, for the first time in these articles, we come to a large expendi- ture in our federal government. This work should be given very careful scrutiny. If the people of the United States want taxes cut, here is.one place where a cut could be made. iThis fund Is creeping up toward $100,000,000 a yvear. This bureau has more information about roads and road making than can be gotten any- where else in the country. To sum up, then, here Is a great Department of Agriculture, employ- {ing 2 1 people, of whom 933 ar |in~ Washington.' The departmen spent $126,567,000 in 1923, of which $79,240,000 was for goad roads. With out the expense of £ood roads the de- partment spent approximately $4 300,000 for the year. This is rela- tively small. For every dollar spent by the fed ieral government for the fiscal vea 11923 the Department of Agriculture i spent for its work about 1% cents. | 1t Is less than the Navy Department spends every sixty days. It is les: than the Veterans' Bureau spen every forty-five days, the Army spends every sixty days. The Department of Agriculture in | our large spending departments. The big cuts must be found elsewhere. (Copyright, 1624, In U. §. and Great Britatin by North American Newspaper Alliance. Al rights reserved.) (Tomorrow—The Departmentof the Interior.) Do You Know This About Coal? BY JOHN Have you ever stopped to think about the astonishing part that coal has played in the history of human activity? Without coal the story of mankind would have been inconceiv- ably unlike what it has been. More than a hundred and fifty mil- lions of years ago Nature began to lay up those deposits of vegetation which today we call coal. And when Nature ages ago fllled cavernous bins she filled them once and for all. There will be no more coal. When it is all gone man will learn to do without. He is learning today, as witness the great oil-burning en- gines of power. Coal, since the great Industrial era of the earth began in the middle of the eighteeith century, has {lluminat- ed the stories of war and the stories of peace. Military supremacy and the more glorious but peaceful triumphs of commerce have both rested on the coal supply. It has burned into the rocky bypaths of war and back into the main roads of p:l-e& Onl{‘ llm.; the age of the great consumption o coal has man grown into his gigantic industrial stature. Men have always speculated on the endurance of coal. It is a subject which forever fascinates. Scientiss tell us there are four thousand bil- lions of tons of coal in the United tes alone. That is more than half of all the coal in the earth, they say. Seven thousand billions of tons would cover It =il = Bituminous, or what we call soft coal, is mined in thirty-one states, though most of it comes from the middle west and south. Hard coal is concentrated in about 500 square miles of the state of Pennsylvania F CARLYLE Altogether coal lies under about one- sixth of the surface of the United States. Coal will be mined for as long as any of you who read this will live and for as long as your-children will live. But the end of coal will come. No_Treplenishment is observable. ‘What then? Perhaps it Is not so serfous a matter—this exhaustion of the supply of coal—as you might think. For there is a factor that is constant, without which no safe pre- dictions can ever be made. That factor Is the limitless resourceful- ness, the Immeasurable 'ingenuity of man. s Burning coal has {llumined the pages of man's chronicle. But when it is gone he will light the pages of history with something -els (Copyright, 1024.) In a Few Words, There can be no saclal advancement, no civilization, without co-operative effort. If co-operation is not possible, civilization 1 not possible. —PROF. .D..WEEKS. . ARLAND If the averaxe msan trcnul a. dog the way he treats his own body he woul put In B —GEN. GEORGE W. WINGATE. ANl over the world thé masses show R Ir by thelr Par A VINSTON. GHURCHILL, ‘Women have a far better sense of tumor than men or they wonld never ¢t "ZARTHUR WELLS BAWES. Y ling_situation | It is less than | carrying out our work is not one of | The North Window BY LEILA MECHLIN The chief toplo of conversation in New York at the present time, not only in the_studios, but.in the clubs, lunchrooms, the homes of the people, ‘is not the latest scandal, or the high cost of living, or the spring fashions, but an exhibition of paintings, an exhibition which Is being held under I the roof of one of the biggest rafl- road stations not only in the great metropolis, but in the world—the Grand Central station—and it fs the exhibition of paintings by John | Singer Sargent, assembled by himse!? | and set forth by the Assoclation of Painters and Scylptors. The collec tion comprises ofl paintings and wa- ter colors, the fqormer greatly in the majority, and the eighty-three works which comprise the showing are in- sured, it is reported, for $1,000,000. * K x X% It is a great many years since Sar- gent has exhibited. Nearly twenty years ago a collection of his works was shown in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, making a great stir and creating for those who saw It a memorable occasion. That was about the time that Mr. Sargent painted his well known portrait of the late John, Hay, which was included in that ex- hibition, has been frequently shown here in the Corcoran Gallery of Art and is now in the exhibition in the and Central Gallery of New York. ince that time, however, chere has ibeen no such exhibition. Mr. Sargent, furthermore, for some years has not painted portraits, and his contribu- 1 Lions to the various exhibitions have been either in the form of loans so- *,llzlll'(‘ from private collectors ur ou Pdoor pictures painted by him in the ; of pastime. There were some, in who for this reason were be- IL.'(lmlng to murmur that Mr. Sargent ) a8 not 50 great as we had once sup- posed, so it was high time that op- portunity was given to refresh one memory and renew one's acqualnt- ance With the art of this great mod- ern master, and a chance given to introduce him to the younger genera- tion—the art patrons of tomorrow That Mr. Sargent is not out-of-date i1s amply proved by the attendance at this notable exhibition. { were 8000 at the private view, so that it was difficult to see the ple- tures for the people, and at least one Who went now declares that hence- forth, in order to have more room and be less jostled, he will hereafter make a practice of attending public views. For almost the first time in this country the British custom of charging an admission fee to the ex- , and, despite the act that the fee is §1 and the illus- ted catalogue §1 likewise, the gal- lerfes in which the exhibition is set fo th are all times thronged. The receipts are to go toward the endow- ment fund of the Painters and Sculp- tors’ Association, of which Mr. gent is both a lay and a profes member. 1 - ional * % % % Some one has said that to visit an exhibition of Sargent's portraits Is like going into an assembly of distin- guished men and women, the por- traits themselves creating a social atmosphere. So intimate are they, indeed, so vitally alive, so intensely characteristic, that the observer leaves | the galleries with a feeling of having | come into direct contact with these {well known personalities. So vivid 118 the impression that meeting these ipeople on’ canvas becomes in retro- spect yu''e as much an occaston as having casually met them in life, There has been a strong tendency in recent years among the painters of {Amerlea to stress the ordinary side of cotemporary life, to £how us the slums, the bowery, the main streets of our villages and small towns, to iplcture the lowness, the squalor, the ugliness of present conditions; worth | knowing and noticing, of course, but. jafter which it is rathér refreshing to | pass into the atmosphere of the aris tosratic which Mr. Sargent's works o or transer As the greatest {of nZ portrait painters, Mr. Sar- !gent has had the opportunity of | Painting those of high position, but {he has painted them with that’ dig- nity and simplicity which betokens in | himself nobility igood brecding. of character and b He is a brilliant technician, but he is much more than jthis, a great artist 1 * Kok % John Singer Sargent was born in Florence of American parents and grew up In that city where beauty is most closely related to everyday life. | At tie age of eighteen he became a pupil of Carolus Duran in Paris and {in a short space of time outstripped his master. Like almost all of those {of great genius, his talent flowered {early and In a few short years he ifoundhimself in the front ranks of | painters, but Mr. Sargent has never been satisfled merely with success nor | been content to repeat successes. here are some who regard him as | psychologist, claiming that he nalyzes the character of those hei paints before he paints them, but Mr. Sargent himself says that he only paints what he sees, and the fact is that he sees correctly, that he has a genius not only fer perception, but nsight. N Among the most - notable of the portraits now on_exhibition in New York are his ““Col. Higginson of Eostor is “Mrs. Henry White,” his “Homer aint-Gaudens ~ and = His Mother,” his “Mrs. Iselin” and his “Mr. and Mrs. Field” as well as his most charming full-length portrait of his {sister, painted in 1882, entitled “Lady With the Rose All of these are great works, daring comparison with the noblest portraits of the past. * % k% The Corcoran Gallery of Art in- cludes among the books in its library a monumental volume, published in 1903 by Heinemann of London, of the works of Mr. Sargent, a follo made up chiefly of reproductions, very beautiful reproductions, of his most famous British portraits; for instance, those of the Wertheimers, which now | hang in the National Gallery, London; | the “Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, which is now in the Tate Gallery, at which Whistler aims one of his witti- | cisms: the charming child picture®of the “Hon. Lauia Lister,” the group of “The Hunter Sisters.” ‘Lord Ribbles- dale” and many others. The Introduction to this volume is he Mre Meynell. and, though written , mors than twenty years ago, Is fully | appiicable today. In this delightful essay the author calls attention to Mr. Sargent's ability to interpret in his portraits not merely character, but nationality, that subtle something which distinguishes French from Itallan, British from American, an ability’ which she suggests is some- what derived through early and inti- mate acquaintance with those of dif- ferent nations. ‘While emphasizing the universal quality of Mr. Sargent's work, Mrs. Meynell riotes the complaint that some of Mr. Sargent's portraits are insist- | ent of the moment, so much so that | it _has laughingly been said that one ! could tell from them whether the sub- | ject had or had not slept well the previous night. But this we toduy are inclined to think was: cotempo- raneous judgment, for certainly the portraits now on view in New York have permanency of Interest; they are not snapshots, but interpretations which go back to and take Into fc- count the yesterdays of the subjects. They are of people not merely passed and greeted in passing, but people who wiil live, people to whom Sargent himself has given immortality. Every bus which passed up and down Gth avenue bears on its side a notice of the Sargent exhibition, a | gay sign In black and yellow gold, catching the eye, yet not too insiste nt. Could anything be more gruti- fying to the lovers of art, when -as in his case. the exhibition |s worthy— an ‘exhibition “which rebukes modefn ulg_iem &ud seis a high standard? ! | soned executiv BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN l Q. 1s the “Unknown Soldier's” race known?—-E. P. A. The cemeterial branch of the ‘War Department says that there is absolutely no way of telling or iden- tifying the race of the Unknown Sol- dier who was buried at Arlington cemetery on Armistice day. This sol- dier had been reburled several times. Sergt. Edward Younger selected the Unknown American Soldier from the bodies in the American cemetery at Chalons-sur-Marne, the selection be- ing made by placing a rose on one of four caskets of unknown dead. Q. Where does Senator Hiram g:-m'r,xson live when in Washington?— A. He makes his home at Calvert Manor, Riverdale, Md. Q. Was Moza, grave’—F. G. T. A. Mozart dled of malignant ty- phoid. The funeral service was held in the open air, as was the custom with the poorest class. The strictest cconomy was observed in the funeral arrangements. Mozart was buried in a common pafiper's grave, the site of which was soon forgotten. Vienna erected on the probable spot a hand- £omo monument. rt buried in a pauper’s Q. Ts there a white mahogany?— A. White mahogany or Prima Vera 18 a Mexican tree belonging to the family Bignoniaceae. It attains a height of fifty to seventy-five fect and has a diameter of four feet. Q. What per cent of the people in this country live to be sixty-five years of age?—W. U. T. A. According to the census of 1920, 4.7 per cent of the population is com- posed of persons who are sixty-five years of age or older. Q. Did Stradivarius make any haif size or three-quarter size violins? What Is_the signature in a true Strad.?—W. L. L. A. Stradivarius never made a half size or three-quarter violin. uine Stradivarius bears a leg. as the following: “Antonfus Stradi- varius faciebat in anno 17— The fact, however, that a violin contains this legend does not necessarily indi- cate that it is a genuine Stradivarius. . How was the day divided Rome?—J. J. A. In Rome up to the fifth century the day was apportioned into perfods of sunrise, noon and sunset, the noon period being marked by the arrival of the sun between the rostra and a place called Grascoatosis, where am- bassadors from Greece and other places used to stand. Q. How old {s the cement dustry?—L. K. W. A. The industry started fn 1872, but was perhaps not on a ~ommercial manufacturing basis until 1874 or 1875. In the period of 1895 to 1900 an important change in the manu- facturing methods took place, where- by machinery in large measure re- placed labor previously required; however, at the present time the labor cost of manufacturing cement is one of the most important items. Q. 1s Thomas Hardy still living?— L. E. S. A. Thomas Hardy is alive, and living in his secluded English home. Q. Who discovered polonium?—L. F. A. Polonium is a metallic element discovered in 1893 by Mme. Curle while studying the radioactivity of various minerals. It is closely relat- | ed to bismuth. It 6mits only alpha rays and is perhaps identical with radfum F. It was named polonium from Polonia, the Latin name of Poland. Q. How many miles of streets has New York city?—L M. C. A. The chamber of commerce Says that New York city Has 4,627 miles of streets. Of these 2,285 are paved. Q. Where did quinine come from? —C. H. 8. A. Quinine comes from the bark of the cinchona tree. The virtues of this bark were discovered by Jesult priests in Peru about the vear 1600. 1In 1638 the Countess of Chinchon, whose husband was viceroy of Peru, was cured of fever by the use of this drug, administered by her physician. Upon her return to Spain in 1640, the in in- known to the world. The actual dis- covery and isolation of quinine is to be ascribed to the French chemists Peiletier and Caventon in 1820, al though Gomez, a Portuguese, ceeded In isolating the febrifuge principle ~ which was practically quinine in 1816, Q. What 15 the French name for canned goose liver and how are the livers prepared?—cC. P, G. A. Foie gras is the French term for goose liver. One of the most famous industrles of Toulouse, France, is the scientific fattening of geese for the enlargement of their livers. The birds kept in special coops which prevent their taking cise and are fed to the limit of thelr capacities. Fole gras is im- ported in jars or tins In four forms— fole gras au naturel, pate de fole gras, rurle de foie gras and saucisson de fole gras. Q. Will loadstone attract through vacuum? Will it lose strength from onstant use If brought in contact with steel?—A. M. E. A. Loadstone will attract through yacuum and will lose its strength from constant use, if brought In cor- tact with steel. = Q. What is the origin of the ex- pression “to exchange new lamps for old"?—G. A. M. > A. This expression refers to story of Aladdin and his wond lamp. A magictan obtained this ma velous, lamp by offering 2 new on to Aladdin's wife In exchange. Q. What are the Great Britain?>—T. R. A. The strongholds of Great Britain include London, Portsmouth and Southampton, Dover and Plymouth. strongholds of Q. Why are the boots of a cavalry- man turned backward when attached to the saddle of his horse in the fun- eral proc. ?- =, other cou of it is th his march. Q. What color is the Poland-Chir hog?—T. M. W. A. The color of the Poland-Chin pig is black with six white murkings Q. It is not a fact that ‘wild d as well as geese will fly in shaped formation when moving sou in the fall>—D. O. A. While ducks do frequently fly in aped formation, this is not able custom. t the owner “has ended a an invari; Q. What 1s the legend about a bird cemoving thorns from the crown placed on the head of Christ’—T. B. A. The medieval legend is that the crossbill, a bird of the family of finches, = whose bill Is peculiarly enabling it to ext su s deepy imbedded, worked at the thorns«of Christ's crown, seeking to extract them, and its plumage be- came stained with blood. For this act of mercy it was biessed by the dying Savior. Q. Why Is the Black sea sald to be different from all other seas?—B, F. P. A. The existence of sulphuretted fydrogen In great quantities below 100 fathoms, the extensive chem precipitation of ca.cium carbon: and the stagnant nature of its d waters serve to make the Black s unique. The depths of thix sea are lifeiess. Another pecuif: is that there is a layver of wat between twenty-five and fifty fathoms which is colder than the deeper water. This is becapse the decp water Is salticr than the surface water and practi 1y motionless. In wintertime the surface water reaches fre ng point and in the spring sinks to the top of the saline deeper water. Q. What proportion of its income do: a firm spend In advertising?— E. H M A. Each kind of business Is pecul- far to itself. The Gould Advertising Agency says that a comparatively small department store may not spern more than 2 per cent for advert A lurgge one will spend 3 per cent while the very big stores spend 5 and § per cent for advertising. (Let The Star Information Bureau answer your questions. There is no charge for the service except 2 cents in stamps for return postage Write your question plainly and bricf Address Frederic J. Haskin, Director. countess carried a supply of the bark with her and through her it became The Star Information Bureau, 1220 North Capitol street.) WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE Wanted—a Secretary of the Navy. Must bs a seasoned executive, with large experience in industrial man agement. Man with engineering training preferred. Westerner, with no entangling alliances in ofl, would be considered. Salary, $12,000. One year’s steady employment guaran- teed, with prospects for four years more. Address Calvin Coolidge, White House, Washington, D. C. * K k¥ ‘Who measures up to the standards and specifications of the President's advertisement? If Mr Coolidge con- templates a “reorganization” of his cabinet, as certain wiseacres belleve he does, Herbert Hoover comes nearer to qualifying for the Navy portfolio than any man now In ex- ecutive office. Hoover has not been altogether happy in the secretary- &hip of Commerce. The Navy Depart- ment might suit him better. He has all of the assets Coolidge is looking for in a successor to Denby. Gen. W. W. Atterbury, vice president of the Pennsylvania railroad, has the kind of stuff in him. So has Alexander Legge of Chicago, gen- eral manager of the International Harvester Company. Legge was one of the real factors in the War Indus- tries Board in 1917 and 1918, James A. Farrell, president of the United 1 "Corporation, is a “sea- Sates e tives and an engineer. A the same feather is John N. fi‘ly‘: Toledo automobile magnate. * k k¥ One of the difficulties President Coolldge is encountering in filling Denby’s post 1s the reluctance of big business men to enter federal service | because of Washington's mania for “investigation.” Current events are not of a sort to encourage them to court the perils of officfal life. In Great Britain, it has beer sald, f‘nl:‘h- ts of the state are knight- 2‘5‘ Tn America they are investigated. Men who have made reputations in civil life are not inclined to risk the creation of a lifetime in jobs where they are perpetually in "danger of being ruined by the innuendocs of a congressional inquiry. It is hard to refute a sneer, once cast. Congres- sional immunity enables an unscru- pulous politician to blacken the name of a public officlal or a private citl Zen with impunity. Many a patriotic and able citizen, who might other- wise be willing to serve the republic at personal, sacrifice, shrinks from it under such conditions. ' * k Xk X Westward the star of congression- al empire has Ccertdf{nly taken its course. Look at the names of the Senate committes . appointéd to in- vestigate Daugherty. Only one mem- ber (Moses of New Hampshire) is an eastern man. The other five all hail from beyond the Mississippl—Brook- of Iowa, Jones of WA Eall bis Wi and Ashurst of Arizona. The mem- bers of the Senate public lands com- mittee, which ~is drilling for oil frauds, Is an all-western combi It consists of representat Utah, Nebraska, Wisconsin, N Dakota, Oregon, South Dukota, Colo- rado, Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming and Montana. * x % The “Scandals of 1324” have be so absorbing that proper note has not been taken of the apparent de- termination of President Coolldge and Secretary Hughes to take diplo- macy out of politics. Probably no President, under our party system, will ever be able entirely to detach our foreign service from spoils poll- tics, but recent appointments are en- couraging signs. Fletcher goes from the embassy at Brussels to the am bassadorship at Italy—a promotion. Phillipstigoes from the undersecro taryship of state to Brussels—a pro- motlon, Grew comes to the under- secretaryship from the ministership to Switzerland—a promotion. Al three of these men have spent thelr lives in the diplomatic service. War- ren goes to Mexico City after an ambassadorial training in Japan and a_special mission to Mexico. Thi practical progress toward a_profes- slonal diplomatic service is along tho line of the pending Rogers bill for reorganization of our foreign repre- sentation. * ok ok % Factional squabbling seems to have broken out in the Minnesota farm- er-labor party. Upon the bheels of the triumphs of Shipstead and Mag- nus Johnson comes news that the farmer-labor organ, the Minnesota Daily Star, has gone into the hands of a recelver. The journal was founded several vears ago to promote the fortunes of the farmer-labor party. From its publication offices in_ Minneapolis Magnus Johnson's senatorial campalgn was conducted. The paper will continue to appear under the receivership of Albart Dollenmayer, a professional ne paper man who heads an advertising agency in Minneapolis. Two hostila groups of stockholders ~appear to have been battling for coutrol of the farmer-labor organ, _Views of the mafority element, said to be backed by A. C. Townley, founder of the Non-Partisan League, are to gov. ern the conduct of the Daper under receivership control. S Congressmen don't squander all their vocal emergy on Capitol HilL Representative Clifton Alexander Woodrum of Virginia—one of the babies of the House—is gaining fame as a radlo broadcasting singer. His accompanist “on the alr”. is also re~ cruited from the congrestional circle —Mrs. Carl R. Chindblom, wife of a representative from Illinols. Mrs, Chindblom comes by her music natu- rally, if there's anything in a_name, for she was a Miss Christine Nilsson, the name of a one-time famous Swedish prima donna. Representative ‘Woodrum, who i thirty-six years old and spending hig first term in_Con- gress, comes from Roanoke. He ix widely: known throughout Virzinia 28 an orator and - singer. (Copyright, 1924.)