Evening Star Newspaper, March 11, 1924, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR{of them overlap, but practically évery | tralns. There s a steady--stream ‘With Sundsy Morning Edition. T . WASHINGTON,D. C. JTUESDAY. THEODORE W. NOYES.... The Evening Star Newspaper Cilmuny Chicago Office: Tower European Office: 16 Regent St., Loodo The Evening Star, with the Sunday morsing edition, Is delivered by carrierv within city at 60 cents per month: daily only, 45 -cents per mooth; Sunday only, 20 cents per month. Orders may be sent by mail or tale- phone Main 3000. ~Collegtion is made by car- Tiers at the end of each month. " Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance, Maryland and Virginia, Daily and Sunday..1 yr., gedo Daily only. [ Sunday only. $2.40; 1 mo,, 20¢ All Other States, Daily and Sunday.1 yr., $10.00; 1 mo,, 85¢ Daily only .1yr., $7.00;1mo., 60c Sunday onl, $3.00; 1 mo., 25¢ Member of the Associated Press. Yhe Associnted Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dis- Jatcbes credited to 1t or ot otherwise credited n this paper and also the local news pub- lished “herein. Al hts of poblication of apecial disp o reserved. — Objections to Reappointment. Opposition to the reappointment of 4he District. Commissioners has been expressed at the White House by dele- gations of citizens representing vari- vus citizens and groups. They have stated to the President, direcily or in- directly, the grounds for their feeling that the incumbents in the chief mu- nicipal offices have not faithfully or properly served the community, and are therefore not entitled to a renewal of their commissions. President Coolidge will doubtiess weigh these objections with the same care that he weighed the reasons ad- vanced to him for the reappointment of Commissioners Rudolph and Oyster. He has had experiences as a mayor and knows the requirements of the of- - fice, knows the limitations imposed upon @ municipal executive, and par- ticularlv knows the impossibility of pleasing everybody. Consequently he is in @ position to appreciate the value of falthful service, even though objec- n is raised to a continuation of that service herause some of the constitu- ents have been disappointed and are aggrieved ‘Washington has never had a Com- missioner, and never will have one, who satisfies everybodv. For the ques- tions that the Commissioners are re- quired in their wide range of duties to consider and decide necessarily affect divergent ‘interests. If there were no conflicts of interest there would be nothing to. a District commissioner- ship, as there would be nothing to a mayoralty, requiring especial quali- fications on the part of the incum- bents. The District Commissioners are not only in charge of the routine of mu- nicipal business, but they also are by law vested with two important sup- plementary duties as members of the Public Utilities Commission and as members, with others, of the zoning commission. In both of those func- tons they encounter strong conflicts of opinion and of interest. Indeed, the toughest questions that they have to answer arise before these commis- sfons. Tt is doubtful- whether they should e vested with these responsi- bilities, whether they are not sufficient- 1y burdened with duties as municipal executives without being required by law to sit in judgment upon the tech- nical matters of zoning and utility regulation. But being so vested with | that authority and responsibility they must conscientiously proceed to ad- minister the laws in the interest of the entire community as they see it. In regard to the public schools the } Commissioners' duty is a pecular one, They have no power of appointment in the creation of the board of edu- cation, and therefore no direct au- thority in respect to the management of the schools themselves, Yet they are chargeable as the fiscal officgrs of the District with the finunces of the school system, responsible to the budget bureau and to Congress for the estimates and for the broad finan- cial structure of the school system. They would be negligent of duty if they did not concern thomselves with theso matters of school finance, which bear so large a proportion to the Dis- trict’s budget. Objections to their in. terest and action in the matter of school salaries cannot be entertained es ground for refusal of reappoint- ment to these efficient, worthy officials who command the respect and con- fidence of the community at large. —_——— The fact that telegrams are sent in eode does not necessarily Imply that ‘there is any harm in them. Ciphers# often afford intellectual relaxation to while away the long winter evenings. the same as charades or guessing con- tests. A Hard Job. Time was when a senatorship was supposed to be an “‘easy job.” The up- per house of Congress was referred to slightingly as a “millionaires’ club.” The popular conception of a member of it was a man who spent about two, hours a day in the Senate chamber, an’ hour or so perhaps in his office and the rest of the time as he pleaséd, per- ‘hape sitting in the cloakroom smoking and chatting about politics, crops, finance and social matters. One ribald, cynical porson. on a certain occasion deciared that a senator was elocted for six years and spent two months of that time in all in aectual work. Of course, that was an exaggeration, as are most cynicisms. Yet the popular conception’ was of & rather soft sort of assignment to “public duty” when & man was sworn in as senator. Now look at the Senate. It is one of the busiest bodies of men in the ‘world. There are ninety-six members, and every one of them is as active as @& housewife with no maid. To do the job properly the senator must get to the Capitol by 9 o'clock and go througn ‘his mall for @n hour, dictating replies to letters—and most letters in the senatorial majl are difficult to answer, for many of them contain “jokers.” Then at 10 o'clock, or perbaps 10:30, e must go to a commitiee room for & meeting, or more likely at this pay- ticulsr time for a session of a “probe.” There are, it is recorded, no less than fourteen of these “probes™ under way at this time. The membership of some Editor | consclentious senator m member of the Senate is sitting on at least one of these inquisitorial bodies. A “probe” meeting lasts always un- til noon, and often, by special dispensa- -«-March 17, 1824 yion, until lafer in the day. At 12 o'clock the Senate convenes, and a get into the chamber for the “morning bus ness,” if not for the prayer. Some- times the prayer is regarded as negligi- ble. There are bills to introduce, and resolutions, and reports to present, and there are bills to watch that must not be passed without particular dis- cussion. Then there are speeches to he made, questions of personal privi- lege to propound and the speeches of other genators to be followed and per- haps answered. Meanwhile callers are coming, some of whom must be seen in the marble room. Luncheon, once @ rather ceremoni- ous affair, has become a catchas- catch-can performance. Thus the day wears on, filled with incident and de- tail and duty. Even the silent mem- bers of the Senate, which has been | pronounced one of the most loguacious bodies in the world, have a lot to do. By § o'clock the session closes, on the average, and the sepator is free to pick up the routine of office work, sign his letters, perhaps open some more mail and dictate some more replies, and then he may go home. He has put in a full eight-hour day. Then, after dinner, there are social duties, which are almost official, and are usually interspersed with inter- views and conferences. By 11 o'clock the senator is ready for rest. He has earned it. He has put in a strenuous day. And tomorrow lies ahead, just another day of the same sort. In all this stress the senator must ‘be alert to refute attacks. He must be quick to resent imputations upon his honor, and to declare his fearlessuess and willingness to devote his life'to his country. Sometimes he must step forward and dare the wicked enemies of the public welfare to send their emisgaries to assail him. For he is a marked man, the active, intrepid sena- tor. Muscle Shoals and Henry Ford. After pendjng in Congress for more than two years, the proposition to lease the famous Muscle Shoals proj- ect to Henry Ford was ratified by the House yesterday, and the bill now goes to the Senate, where its fate is in doubt. The plan has been the subject of bitter contention, in which party lines disappeared before the conflicting Judgment of men, honestly differing in opinion as to its merits. There was prolonged disputation over the ques- tlon whether the project is econcm- ically sound; whether the manufac- turer can produce the output of phos- phate for farm fertilization he visions at this time, and, whether the terms pon which he is given the lease are 4 fact just to the United States, or whether he * is being granted e bonanza. The subject is possibly bewildering to the layman. What the plan involves is explained to be this: Henry Ford is to lease two dams at Muscle Shoals jfor 100 years, through a $10,000,000 | corporation to be forméd by him. He is to complete two dams providing water for the production of power. The government is to be paid an an- nual rental of 4 per cent, plus $55,000 { purchase two nitrate plants and a | quarry for $5,000,000. He is to manu- facture a minimum of 40,000 tons of nitrate for fertilizer, selling to the farmer et a profit of not greater than 18 per cent. ’ It has been objected that many of the proponents of the bill have protest- ed against guaranteeing the raflroads 6 per cent under the transportation act, and that they are inconsistent in proposing a guarantee of S per cent to Mr. Ford. ‘This project Is likely to be a case of “the proof of the pudding is in the eating.” It is so intricate that prob- ably it will have to be put'to the test of actual operation before the demon- stration of its efficacy can be made. ———— Enough delégates to the Cleveland | convention have already been pledged | to President Coolidge to make it need- Jess for him to take his attention off present problems of state in order to consider matters of political' concern. ————— As a publisher, expert in measuring the value of educational campaigns, Mr. Bok is-better able than the aver- age citizen to decide whether the dove of peace got its money’s worth in the prize competition. H Mr. Daugherty is light-hearted enough to encourage the theory that « resignation rumor may prove cheer- ful company after a man has been ac- quainted with it for a few years, Were former President Theodore Roosevelt alive he might feel obliged 1o invent a new term for “muck- raker.” Only a steam dredge would now suffice for the metaphor. The French cabinet approves Poin- care’s forelgn policy without feeling |able to certify positively as to its fa- vorable effect on a financial policy. RSO U The Silver Spring Crossing. There 15 a proposl to eliminate the railroad and highway grade. crossing at Silver Spring, It is published that the Maryand: state roads commission is preparing plans for a bridge over the Baltimore and Ohio tracks where the 7th ‘street pike crosses them at Sitver Spring and will ‘submit the | plans at a public meeting fo be held under the auspices of the Silver Spring, Citizens’ Assoclation. Elim- ination of this grade croesing would be an importint step toward safety and progress. 3 ‘While all the much-used grade crossings in the Capital have been abolished, and plans are being made for making safe three crossings-far out in’ the District and over which there is relatively little automobile traffic, there are in the environs of ‘Washington two crossings of stéam tracks and highways where danger and inconvenience are present every hour in the day. One of these is the intersection of the Washington and Baltimore boulevard with the tracks of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad at Hyattsville. There are a nmnhervot rallroad tracks at thet point and mahy p 12 treacherous month in this latitude. for maintenance and repair. He is to! of automobiles, and steam ani: auto- moblle traffic is perhaps greeter therd than at any other grade crossing near ‘Washington. The railroad tracks are | guarded by gates and watchmen, and there is a blockade of automoblles at the approach and pasaing of every train. So far no plans have been con- sidered for doing away with this grade crossing, but its elimination is indicated as one of the .needs of th immediate future. ~ After the Hyattsville crossing, the most-used -grade intersection of high- way and railroad is that at Silver Spring. tha 7th srteet pike, or Georgia aVenue, there crosses the Metropolitan branch of the Baltimore and Ohio, and though not as many traine pass there as at the Hyatts- ville crossing, the automobile traffic: 1s very heavy and Is steadily increas- | ing. The section between the Dis- trict line and Silver Spring has built up at a remarkable rate, and Silver Spring and the adjacent country have become ‘populous and houses are -be- ing bullt all the while. The road leads into a highly developed reglon and is the main way between Washington and Wheaton, Olney and Sandy Spring neighborhoods. To a considerable ex- fent it is used as a highwgy between Washington and Baltimare and Wash- ington and Rockville. © The Silver Spring crossing is. guarded by gates and watchmen, but these pfecautions are below the needs of the time. ———— March. Those who sald ““Wait till March comes” in answer to the chortles of glee over the successive fair days and weeks of the early winter are now having their innings. March is per- forming according to tradition. It is It is likely to break forth eny time into @ temperamental tantrum that upsets all calculations and speils plans.. It may be balmy one day and tempestuous the next, bland as May today and riotous as Januarytomor- row. - This {s one of the rancorous moods that is now prevailing, one of the meanest “spells of weather” Washing- | ton has suffered this season. Not So cold as that sudden severe snap in early January, nor as that of a little later—there have been only two really cold periods since the first of the year—but altogether abominable. The | snow is not even giving pleasure to the youngsters. It is just the slush of utter misery for everybody. But there is reason to be cheerful. | The season is well advanced. There | cannot be many more days like. this, if any. The season may bave slipped its gear altogether, and- it may go wrong for two or three weeks to come, but spring will be officially at hand in nine days, and after that whatever | March may do in the way of unwel-| come flarebacks will be shortlived, and therefore easy to bear. ————— io is expected to prove of value in taking the political pulse of the people. 1t should be a means of get- ting the returns in on election night with sufficient accuracy to prevent the fear that the news may be reversed next day. —————eeo e Unions credit the Railway Talbr Board with being able to advance the interests af all concerned Ly tendering its resignation. i —_——— 014 subscribers to the Congressional Record are entitled to protest that it is going too far as a sensational pub- lication. V ————t—— ‘The French franc is very much de- pressed, but it is still valuable enough to buy @ bale or two of neighboring money. ———— In code communications Albert Fall was apples; the fruit that started the trouble away back in- the Garden of Eden. ——————————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Rhetorical Reminiscence. I'd like to hear a good old speech— The kind you read about, ‘Which bade the soaring Eagle screech ¢ And clear away each doubt. The present finds this world denied That oratoric charm Which made men pause and Point with Pride, Or View Things with Alarm. 1 H i Nobody pauses, and the proud Are disappearing fast, As each man hustles with the crowd By whom the votes are cast. Audacity now thrusts aside The fear of human harm:, There's scarcely ‘time to Point with Pride Or View Things with Alarm. T'd like to hear the old band piay ‘The patriotic airs, _ Where simple earnestness held sway To ease the Nation's cares As people hurried, far and wide, From factory or farm, To greet some man who'd Point with Pride Or View Things with Alarm. Gratitude, s “Are republics ungrateful?” “Not & bit of it,” answered Senatoe Sorghum. “That ‘idea got spread around by people with exazgerated ideas of what's owing to them."” Jud’ Tunkins says some of the re- cent complications in . Congress have| misde the Binsteln theory seem com- paratively easy. Emotion. ‘Those campeign speeches were: con- fined \ Of yore to dgys of summer cheer. The busy statesman’s now inclined To keep them up throughout the years s Prudence Overdome.: ““Why did Mesa Blil have toleave the Guleh?” 3 » “He was# too prudent an’ conserva- tive,” answered Cactus Joe..*He got %0 he wouldn't ‘play cards unless hé could ring in & marked geck.” “Money,” said Uncle Eben, “very gittin® it, an’ how foolish heé'kin be it» s | lization! ' A Series of Articles on the Co.t of Goverfi.ment; “ - "Where the Money Goes, and Why. " Author CHAPTER XVI. One-Eighth for the Navy. On- February 6, 1922, United States, Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan signed the first naval disarmament con- tract in history. As a result .twenty- onc battleships and battle crumers of the. United States navy haye beén or will be scrap) and destroyed. .Yet the navy of the United States cost the tax- payers for the flscal year 1923 a total of $623,218,000. This is $83,000,000 more than was spent by all the colleges and #}ovmlu“ n’‘the Unlted States 'In In the fiscal year 1922 the Navy even more. he amount wi over $476,000,000. ‘These fi big to comprehend. #till, not always been 80 costly. The American government spent $570 on the navy in 1791. The next year, just §53 was spent, and 1793 was the nner ‘year—we spent not w cent. It was not until 1853 that the amount equaled $10,000,000 for any year, k Then came the civil war.” Naval ex- ;aa{uu tose rapidly. - They rose from 112,400,000 In 1361 to .$122,600,000 fn 1865. The next year they dropped to $43,300,000. For ‘the next thirty years $15,000,000 to $20,000,000 a yéar was the usual anount spent on the Navy. Fifty milllon was not n reached until 1898. From that time on the Navy ex- penses have grown enormously. Five Billions In Six Years. During the last twenty-five years, the Navy Department’ has had given to It by the American people a grand total of approximately $7,750.000,000. Of th amount, more than $5,000,000,000 | been spent on building up the Navy during. the past six years, How much is $5,000,000,6002 1t is nine times as much' as’ the ductive funds of all the colleges and universities in the United States. . It is equal to more. than one-third of the valuation of all the rallroads in the United States. It.is more than the capital stock of all the 30,000 banks in America. For that amount 3 workingmen's homes, costing $5.000 each, could have been built to relieve the people of acute congestion and high cents. plain Englieh, the people of the United States have spent more than $2,400,000 every day for the past six years on building up the American Navy. That is $100,000 an hour, or $1,666 a minute. National preparedness has been the great slogan. The state of Minnesota has at this time $12,019,000 invested in bulldings and dormitories for all the colleges and universities of that state. It includes the great plant of the University of Minnesota, with about 10,000 ‘students. A modern battleship costs three and one-hal{ times this amount. And it's Just junk A fifteen years. Modern civ- Igures are too. the Navy has Perhaps ' we can' better comprehend this huge spending debacle by com- paring the recent expenditures fn this direction with the early efforts of the nation, We haye spént every day for the last &ix years more money on the Navy than George Washington did on his navy during bis entire eight years of office. | We_ spent more money_ in 1923 for the Navy than we did in all the years from 1791 to 1360 combined. Surely we are now prepared for every, need. We ha not been stinting in our expenses to make our Navy the first in the world, but it seems we are not in good shape. Deficient, Says Expert. -Capt.” McNamee, ‘niaval expert, say: 1 find that in capital ships, both the United States and Japan are at present deficient In offensive and defensive strength, or older capital snips, as com- pared with Great Britain ¢ * ® modern cruisers, we are definitely in- ferior. When our ten are completed, we will have thirty-seven less ‘than Great Britaln and fifteen less than Japan. * ¢ ¢ In fiotilla leaders, Great Britain has eighteen buiit and building, while neither the United. States or lapan has a single one, * ¢ * \We are faced by a condition and not a theory. Tt is a condition that raust be met Lieut. Commander R. R. of the bureau mmet of navi United States Navy, says: “So long as we re- main a second-class sea POWer, We res main a second-class commerclal pow- * ¢ Another billion of dollars, besides the current expenses, spread over a period of ten years on our navy, would be the best and most profitable iny. i ill-balanced and so deficient in cruiser strength that it would be put at a serious disadvantage in a major operation of any kind." The Navy -League, a2 group of dis- tinguished and anxious Americans, says in a recent circular that the United States should spend about $700,000,000 a year for several years in order to bring our Navy up to the standard of Great Britain, and we spent only $323,000,000 for the flscal year 1 1924 Shows Increase, It just seerus from these expert opin- fons that we aré-in for a long perfod of huge spending in order to put us on a par with Great Britain. Now let us go.into the figures which COURAGE “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain_of my soul” ' O _HENLEY. Stanley From the Poorhouse. Henry M. Btapley was born at Denbigh, Wales, and was brought up in a poorhoyse. Life was bleak until, at sixteen, he. shipped as cabin bo: 25 Now Giloane, Adopted by & rioh merchant,- who . gave him his he dropped his original cogno! John no-rm;g; and became Morton - Stanley.” - Enlisting- in the. Confederats grmy at the:beginning of the civil war, he Was “takep prisoner- and was dis- charged Wwith the understanding, aft- erward carried out, that he join the United States Navy. > As_ newspaper vorrespondent ‘he “roughed it’ on the frontier along the routé of the’ Union Pacific rail- Toad; wiileh way then “building. - He T T Royseinian sxpeai on Lord Naplers - tion and during the Cerliat uprising n. e thie fime "the world wanted to know what had become, of Liv- ingstone, who had been swallowed up by the dark continent. Commis- sioned’ by .James Gordon. Bennett of name, m of enry ) the New *York Herald to find the ex- plorer, Stanley set out in 1871 from Zanzibar and_ with ninety-two men plunged .into the Adrican jungle, In November, on ke Tangan found Livingstone, who recelved him coldly and’ refused to’ peturm with . during’ 1oy Struguied badk 1o exploret, 'Stanley strugg! ™ Sivilization, - wrote “How. Found Livingstone, dlfl(;!q find "his word doubted.and his.1{fe embittared. . £ Back to the.jungle he went, éx- plored the n;'}:“o;'fi‘ lake re lon,’; and, was. the first white 1. ) trave! e Jonath of the. Jango, - the Dark Continent’ was his thrilling narrative; which the world read applauded. - Instrumental In f ng Kongo Independent Si under the rotection 6f Belgium, Be refused to gecnho‘ its ‘governor. - He made a third and ‘a "fourth’ exploration of Africa and wrote two Tore books.’ - - ‘Wherever he lectus in Eugland, Aimefica and: “Australia . thousands He was granted e froetiom o Londeh and khiphted e B R AioTa s Secheent The -royal family, am ors, ministors of state d” publi omalals o funeral sxercises. oDl in Wentminster 4bbeP. - ke, he| | 000 " BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR, r of “Can Europe Hold Together?" make up these huge totals. I shall ;"fi’.:,‘.;‘“‘? all the fractions less than 1,000 1. A total of $3,681,000 was spent for the running expenses of the depart. ment proper for 1923. ‘This 18 to be in< creased by about $300,000 for 1924. 2. A little over $56,922,000 was spent in 1923 in increases in the Navy. This 48 for construction of ships. This is in- | < by about -§1,000,000 for 1924, according to tho budget bureau . esti- ‘mates. Another item of $9,507,000 was spent in scrapping old vessels. It seems that vessels get old in a remark- ably short time. Those ships that were ‘been relegated to class 2, Soon they will be out of commission entirely, and will be used for target practice by the new vessels now being bullt, This lter of scrapping is increas ) mated total of $15,000,000 In 1924, 2 The buresu of ssronautics spent $16,702,000 for 1923. THs is a new de- partment, which bids fair to become one of the big spending bureaus of .the Navy. However, this i{s reduced to | about $15,000,000 in the 1924 estimates. Bureaus Outspend Departments. We pass over quickly the expendi- tures of several of the bureaus where additional millions were used up in 1923. The bureau of ordnance, $10,670,000. The bureau of yards and docks, §7,- 504,000. ‘The bureau of medicine and surgery, $3,290,000. . The bureau of navigation, $12,474,- 000, The bu},’ll\:) 000'0 construction and re- airs, $17,510,000. » The b'uruau of engineering, $19,309,000. The Naval Academy at Annapolis, $2,192,000. . : Clerical expenses in the Secretary’s ofléce. umu,gvo. i 0 xpenses 'for temporary- - ment for West Indlan Islands, $343,- 000. The Naval Observatory, $30,000. You will note several of the bu- mentioned in one line spent more money in 1933 than was spent in the same year by several of the important departments of the' gov- ernment. In the expenses for the current operations for 1923 two spending bu- reaus of the Navy Department de- serve speclal mention, the bureau of supplies and accounts and the Marine Corps. The bureau of supplies and accounts spent $160,274,000 for the fiscal year 1923, It is asking for $157,760,000 for 1924, but for 1925 it asks again for about $160,000,000. This includes the pay for all men in the service, pro- visions for the departments, freight and fuel and transportation. Thi about half a millfon dollars a da. The Marine Corps spent $30,159,000 in 1925 1t asks for $6,000,000 less for 1924. This is the land contingent of the Navy, and it is nearly always the first branch of the military serv- ice in battle. This was true in the world war. The Marine Corps is scate tered throughout the world. The ma- rines are in Haiti, Santo Domingo and many other countries. $341,000,000 Estimates for 1934, ‘The expenses so far mentioned are all for current operation. They totaled for 1923 over $310,164,000. The other division of naval activ- itles is that of public works. The amount spent for this division for 1923 was $10,073,000. This is, how- ever, decrcased by more than $4,000.- in the estimates for 1924. No money was spent for new projects in this division for the fiscal year 1923, A few miscellancous costs make up the balance. And $0 o sum up: Nineteen twenty- three saw an expenditure of $323,000, 000 by the American Navy. The rev- enue of the department totaled about $19.000.000. mostly made up of the #ale of war supplies. The estimate has been increased for cxpenditures for 1924 to $341,873,000. ‘ In addition to'a naval and Marine Corps personnel of more than 100,000 officers and men, th. vy Depart ment maintains a'civil force of 42,842, The Department in Washington em- ploys 5,418 stenographers, clerks and other civilian assistants, ) These then are the bare facts of the Navy Department. It is one of the large spending bureaus. For cvery dollar spent by the United States gov- ernment in 1923, the Navy Depart- ment took 1213 cents. This does not include expenses of past wars or interest on the public debt due to Navy increas: It would sesm as though here was a place where joint action could be bad with the present government of England and of other governments in Hurope, which are now very hard pressed in making national budgets balance, to have a second conference called which will demand drastic re- duction_in all other naval buildings not included in the first conference, such as cruisers, airplanes and sub- marines. Along gome such 1line lies at least some possibility of hope for the American taxpayer. (Copyright, 1924, in Tnited States and Great Brityin’ by North American Newspaper Iiance. A1l rights reserved.) Tomorrow—The conf the war. Wants Fort Site Kept. Writer Objects to Bailding on |}y Historic Ground. To the Editor of The Star. Y am very much disappointed at th thought that any portion of the ground surrounding Fort Stevens should be taken for bullding pur- poses. The Grand Army of the United States will be similarly moved. The' Grand Army has asked that Congrass :shall appropriate sufficient funds to make the grounds around Fort Steyens a memorial park for the great American President who ‘was present at the battle which se- cured the safety of the National Cap~ ital; The fame of Abraham Lincoln now folds around the whole earth. Nothing can be done fof the en- hancement of the attractjon of Wash- ington like that of restoring Fort Stevens to its war-time condition and appropristely marking the - place where the President stood. All our own people and the world at large are interested in everything that per- tains to Lincdln, and there ig nothing that will $peak so eloquently as a park on his only battlefield. The is- sues then pending were tremendous in evedy way, aside from the safety of the -capital and the success or fallure of the rebellion. I e always had great admiration for "the Tate W, Vo o vas s he grounds of the old fort upon which Lincoln actually stood during the battle of Fort Stevens, hoping that Congress would yet purchase all the rest of it I-‘ng.. make it & public park, as it s 2 If this s made into an appropriate natfonal-park, as is_contemplated, it will be a mecca to which every au- d | tomobile that comes to Washington from any part of the country will o d those in it will look with will surpass in liv- ything else that Wash- to_offer .the . tourists, ‘whethar. they. are Americans or fors elgners. > g:ngnu shenld at oifice’ take the -onw steps to secura the grounds urrol Forl Stav ., By~ thorise lu:fu»n' tion 0 155 WA tON *RPam 8o “:a hy-mttn 1 loek with At contemplate Il £ ‘D ',‘."‘o&a'" e bullding | map srection | plk HCHLROT, | guideace HILL-TOWNS OF THE PYRENEES. Amy Oakley. The Century Com- pany, 5 Everybody ls, at heart, & vagabond. He has to be. That is his lineage— a blood current set away back when man was beginning to be man .and continuing in updjlyted, flow for countless ages thereafter., The' one. settled fact of, ‘that early map's ex- istence was that ‘there could be for him no settled ghiding place., WHoliy, dependent upon the free frpitage of) the earth he, periodically havjng cat- en himselt out of house and home, a0 to speak, was forced to moVe o @0 fresh fields ofs'food and- forage.,: In the course of long ages. $hig restl to and fro passed m‘;‘z‘; Toere be- cessities of the. b into the quality of the blood, into the essence of be- ing, into & fundamental demand of the nature. And that's how every- body, speakin’ by and large, is decp within himself a good deal of a vaga- ond. That's why there comes to the everyman in us, that irresistible re- recurrent urge to be off and away out of the clutter of things and things that, in the name of civilization, have trusfed and thrown us. The conforming and respectable brother shies away from that name vagabond. Nevertheless, it is a-heau- tiful name, of clean Latin parentage. 1t holds freedom’ and. the long road. It holds the good green earth and the kindly vaulted sky. It bespeaks that superlative palship—me and my dog. 1t pictures sheep and cows feeding on the gentle uplands. It carries within it also the feel of rain upon the body. And for bed, the laid boughs of heal- ing aromatic -lsafage. But' society and the law have tried in a partial success to give the name a bad char- acter. So the timid folks give it a wide berth. Whatever the English law may have secyred in pepalty for the vagabond, it 'has, in'aefinition: succeeded clearly. in addigg lure to the joyous existénce of these brothers of the road—"strolling fellows such as wake on the night and sleep on the day and haunt customable tav- erns and alehouses and rout about, and no man, wot whence they came nor whither they go.” That, all by itself, is enough to set the brogher- hood ‘of vagabonds high in its $wn esteem. * X ¥ kg0 And now the sun is on its norther- ing way. And the earth s quicken- ing to its approach. The sap is ready to lift. “The red gods medicine again.” So from far and near are you hut tuned in to it, you catch the feet of the young man beat- | ing, you hear the cadenced call of the great brotherhood: 2 1 Add we must go—gov-go away Trom. here! On the other side of The world, we're Gvendue! ‘Send the road I dlear before you when the old spring-fret comes o'er you, And the Red Gods call for you. The big trek Is about te lel-i[in The true vagabond goes by shank's nag or rude bateau. The make-believe by padded land craft and sea craft. * ¥ % % T take the -Oakleyé — “'siew, madame.” Not mo much at first be.| :tzuu they promise the Pyrenees. Not |80 much at frsy because they teil of other wanderings through this range and the intimate friendships that have risen from these. Neither of these, at first. Rather ‘because 1 had -heurd them declare stoutly for the mule against the motor, for the lone trail against the open highway, That declaration stood, to me, as the sign {manual of their validity~yagabonds in good stahding. * * % x And here we are in Perpigan, whose jred roofs light the whole city in a {rosy glow which we construe into. a warm and (riendly. welcome. . It s {here that the Pyrenees, having fih- ished a more or less successful job of #tanding in between France and Spain istep off castward into the blue .t the j¥ea, into “the deep, ricli Mediterranesn plendor which breaks the heart in Your bossom, it is &0 beautiful.” {(Mark Twain, speaking.) . Here we. {climb the Canigou so dominant round-: about, dictating the life of the peos ple, shaping their thoyghts and be- llefs, coloring such dreame as these ipractical folks permit themselves. Facing west—for westward the course {of this adventure takes its way—at jthe right we look down Into a rich {and storied corner of France. At the {left, down ubon the restless and pro- ipressive Catalans who are at this moment busy spreading separatist Propaganga against the government of ore progressive and deeply patriotic Alfonso XIIL = * %k k% But governments are none of our present business. And so we move jalong. We climb dazzling heights. We niggle around the sharp shoulder of this peak or that one. We sing small and move warily along narrow paths that overlook eternity on the one hand and scan the sheer wall of heaven on the other. From point to point we gather views as apocalyptic in splendor of beauty as were those that held the hypnotized vision of John himself. At lower levels soft pastoral scenes relieve the tension of {an over long grand manner on the part of the Pyrenees. And by and by we are facing the Atlantic, having traversed the Pyrenees from end to end. Looking backward over the ad-| venture we are deeply impressed with e manner of these mountains. The history which they have witnessed, and in great part shaped, is all here. Whereas in most other regions each period succeeds, finally, in a pretty effectual effacement of those that have gone before, here it is not so. Here they stand side by side, the modern set off against the ancient, leach complete in its own integrity. The Pyrenees spread out for one a ::gulir (outline ot history—quite i e useful an uminating fashion! of the modern historian, e * X ¥k % 3 War, it is clear, has been this way often, s it has elsewhere. Wars with racial and religious hatreds at the heart of them. These are pictured in falling battlements and shaken gprt- resses, in crumbling monasteries and abbeys. Set down among ghese ruins are the common people, the working folks, who cultivate the smiling fields in good proof that the ways of pro- ductive pesce must outlive the de- structive ways of war. ong the mountains are little racial units in the very pattern and blood purity of genturies gone by. This complete and intact quality of racial life so marked in the Pyrénees indicates, one as- that the great tides of racial tional interest swept to other regions, leaving this mountain life to the perfection of something preserved and bottled against the inroads of change. And here is magic scenery, bearing on the one hand these old waymarks of strife, on the other hand a simple and picturesque life of peace and work. The Pyrenees spread the goal of this adventure. Not more than half the matter, this. It s the adventure {tself.that counts prodi- glously. it s *x %X Let me- tell you. iif you. cannet really go along with the ‘Oakleys, read this book. Nt every one pos- sesses the courage 'of his vagabon- dage. Idid not. I read the book in- stead. It Is, certainly, an active and .ocogn! lcture aff Sl ther Serowa trom the Buily cotfars ing. When words fall “madame” and can do no, mol ve & bold an 4 oed sketching hand, in no time at all, sets up a quaint town, or a cliff- ruin, or a broken wall, or & stretch of nature that is either wild and forbidding, or poft and invi finitely effective, slways. ¥ou cannot miss the way in this {»ok, for upon its covers is a with every move as plain as a upon it, and every place WAy set out for your- safe use. Lo M ke théir | ANSWERS TO BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN Q! How, large is a twenty-five- pound cake of ice? How full should the refrigerator be kept?—E. W. A. The National Assocfation of Ice Jfidustries says that'm .piece’ of ice 11x11x6% weight twenty-five pounds; one 11x11%13 weighs fifty pounds, and one 22x11x13“welghs 100-pounds. A Tefrigerator should -be filled ‘to ca- ty 'and feonstantly replenished Half measuremeht pidcés—ibat about 70 per cemtof ‘the cubie ace in the ice chamber shold be filled with ice; : “ Q. “How lopg i it. possible for . %l!!é“ to go without a .drink?—E. A camel should be given water " Ahree or ‘faur days, but a (Mealthy .camel can go eight or tem days withoUf water, A camel has beemsknown to-survive sixteen daye but this is excep- withou' tional. water, . What was the cost last year of administering the internal revenue laws?—B. W. B. S A. For the flscal year 1923 the cost was $45,316,312.24. or amount $8,135,842.44 was expended in the administration of the prohibition lay, and $679,406.86, In the enforces ment of the narcotic law. 3 ' Q. Of svhat is Australidn “bish™] composed?—M. P. McM. A. The bush in Australia consists of thickets of the paper bark tree. Q. How did the word “bridégroom™ originate?—R. J. G.. “ A. The origin of the word “bride- oom” is from the old Anglo-Saxon yrd,” meaning bride ar wife, and “guman,” meaning man. Q. How many people live in Mex- ico?—ALC. C. A. ThEé estimated population is 15,- £00,000. Q. How many blocks of stone are there in' the Great Pyramid?—G. M. C. A.“It contains more than 2,300,000 blocks of stone, averaging in weight im0, nd one-half tons. | According to tradition, it took 100,000 men twenty years to build it, working during the inundation seasons. Q. Why do Indians never have beards?>—C. Y. - A. Most Indians would have a slight 20 moderate growth of beard and -mustache if they allowed the hair to.grow. Beards are not wholly unknown. Some of the Mexican In- dians have -full beards. The Guar- ayas, Bolivia, wear long stralght beards and - Cashibas of the upper Teayli ; are bearded. Q. ‘Ave miény of the dates ‘on the ;?B;kel‘ «grown in "this country?— A §n 1921 about 500,000 pounds of | dates were grown in California. The date fmportation for that vear was | 48,504,000 pounds. The California date is of such excellent quality that the crop is practically consumed o the Pacific coast. The domestic date brings & much higher price than the imperted date. ” "_‘%-.‘ma nr;t :;qd the ‘expresiion, ese are the 'S that y ¥ souls”?7—E. J. PRy e A. Thomas Paine began his famous pamphlet, “The Crisis,” issued in De- cember, 1776, with ' the rentence, “These arc the times that try men's souls.” Q. I have been told that cow's milk has been almost unknown in Japan until recent vears. If this is true, 8unuyou give an explanation?—O. | A. Cow 'S milk was practically un- known_ii n old Japan. -In the begin- DIng of the' modern era it was sold | ¢ in csmall measurefuls for the sick . However; at the present time, many large dafries have been opened, and in sdme places butter, cream and this: cheese are being produced: I gen- eral, it 1s said-that the'Bick of graz- ing facilities prevents.the develop- ment of rich milk.. The fields are worked intensively with two or more Crops a year of grain or vegetables or both, and billsides are frequently covered with a tough bamboo grass, the sharp leaves of which are an :umm:'to-; ll’;flng, The best dajry arme sre. in the nortnern island of HokRaldo. 7 Q: How was the term “Gallia” used ” y the Romane?-=C. B. H, _ A. They emiployed the term in three arying: wayst i., in its broadgs: sense, which included Gulia Cisal- pina, North:Italy, and Gallia Tra; alpina; in a narrow sense, only lia, Transalpina; {n° most restri senge, the Land of Gaul, the middl part ‘of Gaak-- al- a : Q.- What is the proportion to boys in high schools?—. A. There were 1,857,155 pupils In the public high schools of the United S‘u‘les in 1920, an@ 1,034,155 werc girls. ot girls M. F. Q. How man in the United States? i Al There are aboutd?85,000 oil wells In this country. Q. Why ig the Adam's apple o caliod?—F, 4, E. { A. This projection in the heck .is’ formed by the thyrold cartilage. in the male it is particularly prominent, and is 8o called from the fancy t is was caused by the forbidden fr of the Tree of Knowledge sticking | the throat of Adam. Q. Please tell me whether bacter: are plants or animals?—>M. L. H. A. Bacteria is a name applied * vegetable organisms, the most m ndte organisms known. Bacteria found almost everywhere. It is ir teresting to know that bacteria were first placed in the animal kingdor but since 1855 scientists have proved that bacteria are plants Q. What is meant by “relative hu midity”?—W. A. D. A. Relative humidity is the ratic of the vapor actually present as com- pared with the greatest amount tbe air could possibly contain at a given temperature. Q. What do_the English call the “withbone"?—C. G. A. The English name for the wish bone is “merry thought.” Q. How is Los Angeles pronounced”’ Also St. Louis?—A. A A. Los Angeles may be pronounced 1as an’-gel-es, long o, short a, &h e-5; or los jel-es, short o, shor &, short e-s. T ation is los an’ St. Louis may be pronounced eithe { sant loo’-is or sant loo'-i. Q. What is the difference betwean & mastodon and a mammoth?— (. S w. A. The mammoth was an elepharit, , now extinct, related to and nearly the same size as the existing Indian slephant. It, however, had a long. thtick, hairy coat and very long. ward-turning tusks. The ma is any of the numerous p. extinct elephants, which diff the mammoth chiefly in the teeth, which have high conical cusp or parallel ridges with lttle o . in the interspaces. Some have small tusks in the.lower jaw -besides thase in the upper jaw. molar (The person who loses out i the one who guesses. The person who gets on is always the ome who acts upon reliabic information. This paper employs Fred- eric o Haskin to conduct an informa- tion burgau for the publio. There is ro charge WPaPpt 2 comts in stamps for re- url, postBge. Write to him today for any facts you desirs. ¥our inquiry should be-addressed (o The Star Information Buredth, " ¥rederic J. Haskin, Dircelor. 220 North Capitol rect. ) 'WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS —_— BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE Ol hath charms to soothe the long- ings not only of ome-time cabinet offi- cers, but also of former diplomats. Two ex-members of the American dip- lomatic service are in the forefront of the battle for oil concessions now raging merrily in Venezuela. W. T. S. Doyle, once chief of the Latin American division of the State De- partment, is the general manager of the British-controlled Caribbean Pe- troleum Company at Caracas. Ruth- erford Bingham, who served as charge d'affaires at many European and South American legations, is at the head of the rival Standard Oil Com- pany of Venezuela, a subsidiary of the Standard of New Jersey. Mr. Doyle was the companion of Secretaries Elihu Root and Philander C. Knox on their various diplomatic trips through South America and organized many of the pan-American conferences of recent years. The interests which employ Messrs, Doyle and Bingham find that men of their experience are ideally equipped for ofl diplomacy in Latin America. *® ¥k % According to word that reaches Washington, Frank A. Vanderlip has engaged eminefit New’ York legal counsel to defend him in the $600,000 suit for damages instituted by the proprietors of the Marion Daily Star. Messrs. Stetson, Jennings and Russell, the law firm of which John W. Davis is the head, and Messrs. Winthrop & Stimson, the firm in which Henry L. Stimson, former Secretary of War, is the prineipal partner, have been Tre- tained to represent Mr. Vanderlip's garrwious interests. Blihu Root was the founder of Mr. Stimson’s firm, but is no longer a member of it. E e Commander Adolphus W. Andrews; U. S. N, President Coolidge's naval aide and the skipper of the Mayflower, ; hails from Dallas, Tex. One 6f his claims to fame is that he:is,the pioneer of skyscraper construction in the Lone Star metropolls * and throughout the southwest. When An- drews returned from navaf, duty in Shing sixteen years agoj he conceived the idea of erecting Dalias’ first tall building. Undeterred by the pessimis- tic predictions of skeptical fellow- townamen, he reared a twenty-story ramed “cloud-scratcher’ Germans call ‘em), in the heart of the business district.- It's stili known as the Andrews bullding. Today a whole flock of skyscrapers plerces the Dallas héavens—each a monument to the daring enterprise of the town's gallant sailorman. * K ¥k . Arthur W, Page, son of the late Walter Hines Page and editor of Warld’s Work, has been in Washing- ton In conneetion with a forthcoming thisd .volume of his: father's famous “Letters.” That still best-selling war classic is subjected, now and then, to the criticlam that it reveals Page as unduly {‘pro-British,” . There is ample "evidence -that such wlthnu:d foundation 'l‘nl fmipm 5 pro] supplemental volume i fm’n"&a to mce convincing proof of the ambassador's thorou mna Americanism at London.. One wi Rive such testimony (s Earl Gréy of Fallodon—Sir Edward foreign secretary of during the days that American neutrality which never ceased to irk Page. Grey frequently conflded that Page on no occasion allowed his pas- s nu{er the .szd O’IBIC lm! Wl:keln vocacy of American Interests in 5, when British interfer- (as the Great Britdth Grey, who was |: ence With our shipping more than once threatened a crisis in Angl American relations. ® x % % Roland S. Morris of Philadelphia, former American ambassador to Jas pan, is the newest entry in the demow cratic presidential free-for-all. He i said to enjoy the backing of Josephus' Daniels. During the past sixty-ecight Years the democrats have elected only three men to the presidency—Buchan- an, Cleveland and Wilson—and o of them, Buchanan, came from Penn- sylvania. Though now a resident of the Keystone state, Morris can qual- ify as a westerner, for he was born at Olympia, Wash. ~He's one of the youngest possibilities the field, reaching his fiftietn birthday today Mr. Morris was a student in several Woodrow Wilson's classes at Pri ton and the war President made him envoy to Tokio in 1917. He has been active in Pennsylvania democratic politics for twenty years and once / ‘was state chairman. * % % % The only thing more numerous these days than democratic presiden- tial possibilities is prospective suc~ cessors to Harry Daugherty in the Attorney Generalship. This observer hears that Harlan Fiske Stone, dean of the law school of Columbia Uni. versity, is undergoing consideration in exalted quarters. He was born near President Coolidge’s native heath— in New Hampshire; is in the prime of 14 y oil ‘wells are there * %D, P. middle lifée and has a high reputation | » among the legal fraternity United Stages. Another western name favorably mentioned for thg Depart- ment of, Juatige portfolio is that of an Towan, “James Davis of Keokuk, of the j Who is completing a remarkable rec~ ord as liquidator of the United States Rallroad Administration. * ¥ x ¥ Miss Mabel W. Willebrandt, assist- ant attorney general in charge of pro- hibition laws, decorates Chicago with a distinguished service medal as the banner enforcement area. That record has been achieved through the bi-par- tisan teamwork of a democratic may- or, Willlam E. Dever, and a repub- lican United States attorncy, Harry Olgon. The Chicago district leads the whole country in the use of injunc- tion proceedings st liquor law violations. Duri the months of 192 manently closed. In. one decrees for permanent Injunctions were granted, tying up property val- ued at $3,000,000. While the repubs lican federal authorities were thuf functioning, the democratic municipul government closed 1,400 place through local courts. Meantime pracs tically as many Ablind pigs” and sa- loons, seeing that the federal govern- ment and the city of Chicago both meant ‘business, wers voluntarily abated by the landlords, who ejected ‘their lawiess tenants. (Copyright, 1924.) e S Never_Contributed Peace. From the 8¢ Lpuls Post-Dispatch. E Looking back over a long and fairly active. iife, or La Follette can truthfully say that he has never knowingly contributed to the peaca or happineds‘s? thegrand old party: | Lb ————— e His High Ideal of Living. ¥rom the Boston Transeript. .} ( 1t there Is anything more distréug ing to the earnest, thoughtful man than to see s0 many people live with- out working, it i5 to see so Mmany ‘work without livin - ’