Evening Star Newspaper, April 27, 1924, Page 42

THE EVENING STAR, With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHVINGTON, D.C. SUNDAY April 27, 1924 THEODORE W. NOYES. . . . Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Busioess Office, 11ih St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Oftice: 110 East 42nd Tower Duilding. Chic: e pes T e . Loudon, Lngland. Furopean Office: 15 Regent S ing Star, with the Sunday morning city y per. por . Or- s ur telephove Main s mude Ly carriers at the Maryland and Virginis. Daily and 28.40: All Other States. Iy and Sunday.1yr., $10.00; Daj Ly 13T, $7.00; Sunday only. T $3.00: lie use for republication of ail pews dis- | =5 credited to it or not otherwise credited {s paper and also the jocal news pub- Vahed here rights o publication of s exclusively entitied g | tiv Heights was largely attended, and the federation’ will hold such a service each year. 1t is noted that there is an increase in sentiment toward unity of effort by the Protestant churches and a desire for closer co-ordination of | church work. The federation believes that it has had a large part in promot- ing “the growing spirit of Christian fellowship which has been strikingly exhibited in many ways during the last year,” and stresses the fact that it gave important aid to the meeting at Washington of the national citizen- ship conference, “which had a pro- found effect all over the nation, creat- ing a country-wide demand for law observance.” —e—o——— The Republican Keynoter. Selection of Representative Theo- dore E. Burton of Ohio to be tempo- rary chairman of the Republican na- tional convention, announced yester- day, evokes a general feeling of ap- proval on the score of fitness. Mr. Burton is one of the most highly es- eemed members of Congress. After a Service in the House of Representa- for six years he spent an equal ches hereln are g4a reserved The Boss and the People. New York is in deep grief over the | death of “Charlie” Murphy, am- | many leader. Tea are flowing. they speak of him. a friend. For “the boss rank and file of New Yorke) v of his own pa 1 dear intimate. | Ihis is not a remarkable condition. | The boss as a rule comes up from the | bottom. He is strictly one of the peo- ple. In the course of his progress up- ward he makes scores of warm, loyal | friends. Asa preeinct leader he shares in the joys and sorrows of several hun- | dred. When he is promoted to ward | bosship his field of patronage and vi tual parentage widens. At the. head of a district he is the source of benefac- | tions for many thousands. | One of the means of the political | oss in @ big city like New York for | gaining and consolidating power is the | bestowal of bounty. He gives freel, dis He helps the unfortu- c. e binds the men to him by | finding them jobs wa public or priva employment, and he enlists the sup- port of the womem by providing enter- | tainment for tpe children. The club | over which he &8s a rule presides i clearing house or neighborhood social | activities. He gets people out “trouble.” He is guide, counselor and friend. So when he goes up to city | bosship he has behind him a wide le of direct intim#te acquaintance: In other districts than that from which he graduated into highest pos tion and power are men just like him- self who are in touch sympathetical with the people. to the whole com munity “the bos at the top is just | like the man immediately known. | housands, tens of thousands, in New York feit that they were ““Charlie's own people, even though they may never have met him or even seen him. Because they knew the type. This is the secret of the boss rule in the big cities of this country. His power springs from the early neighbor- hood leadership influence. The man who rises to heights is he wha in- variably maintains the same prineiple of contact with and sympathy for the humblest person. No successful bo has ever reigned in an American city who has become an autocrat in the sense of forbidding access by the peo- pie themsclves, directly or through their representatives. In other words, the big boss of the kind that Murphy | was preserves his relations with the people who have the votes, regardless of tho wealth he acquires or the mag- nitude of the interests he has de- veloped. This is why it is so hard to beat the boss system in cities where it has gained foothold. For to the boss politi- cal management is a business, not an avocation, not something on the side, not the matter of a spasmodic sense of civic responsibility. Every day of the vear and every year in the calen- dar, whether elections are impending or not, as intently just after an elec- s just before, the boss is “pla: {ng politics,” by keeping up his rela- tions with the people who have the| votes, watching out for their interests, helping them to positions, sympathi ing with their sufferings, rejoicing with them in their successes and act- ing always as their friend and helper. Thus do bosses keep their strength, and though they are overthrown from timo to time, they are hard to beat. L ———————— ‘The life of a United States President would be easy if he could maintain the same authoritative contact with Con- gress that he can with his party's na- tional convention. B e A leader commands respect even among those who do not approve of the objects he sought, and the late Charles Francis Murphy was a leader. — e A gratifying rumor is in circulation sthe effect that Harry Thaw has nafly decided to retire from public life. sorrow sob when mourned as | to the| . especial- is of | At ‘present the one thing Gaston Mpans can be absolutely sure aboer is that he is a wonderful detective. Federation of Churches. The growth of the Washington Fed- #ration of Churches is shown by the @nnpal report of the executive secre- 18fy, Which tells that the federation KOW -numbers eighty-one . churches with six allied organizations, and that ihe congregations enrolled total 45,000, Thirteen churches of seven denomina- tions, with a membership of 7,000, 114¥¢é become affiliated with the federa- tion during the year. Roughly, two- thirds of the white Protestant churches of the District are now part of the federation, and this Christian con- rederacy hopes that within the year its membership will include all Protestant congregations in the District. During st summer thirty daily vacation Bible schools were aided by the federa- fon, and by co-operation of the tele- phone company the service of one ochurch was broadcast each Sunday during the past six months, and in this way, says the report “Christian messages have been brought to tens of thousands of people weekly, many of whom are unable to attend church.” Sunrise Easter service on ‘Temple, length of time in the Senate, and in 1920 returned to the House from Ohio. Fle is a Republican of unbroken record. He is a forceful speaker. He may be relied upon to deliver the salutatory at Cleveland in terms that will serve his purty well as a “keynote” for the campaign. 1t is especially fitting that Mr, Bur- ton should have been selected for this honor and duty. For he is @ resident of Cleveland, where the convention will be held. He will therefore be in the position of a host to welcome the representatives of his party to the gathering. Washington, knowing Representa- tive Burton so well, will be particular- ly interested this in the “key- note speech” at the Republican con- vention. In the course of his long re: dence in Washington in his official capacities he has become widely ac- quainted. His friends, therefore, will follow with the closest attention his service in June when he wields the gavel to open the meeting. Wooden Excursion Boats. A fire took place in the Hudson River yesterday morning that has particular £0 on water excursions. Five wooden excursion steamers, together with sev- eral smaller craft. were burned at their winter berths, with a loss of over $1,- 000,000. The fire, which started from a gasoline explosion on a small barge, spread to these ships, with the result of their total destruction. The speed with which they caught fire is a shock- ing suggestion of the risk that is run in maintaining these wooden craft in the excursion service. One of the steamers burned was the Grand Re- public, the sister ship of the General locum, which was destroyed by fire in the East River twenty years ago with & loss of 1,000 lives, one of the most horrible disasters of its kind in history. Yet the Grand Republic, just as subject to the same happentg as the Slocum, has been maintained in service during all these vears. It is the practice throughout this country to keep the old wooden steamers in service as long as they will hold to- gether, or until they are burned. When they actually pass out of existence they are replaced by steel ships, which are much less dangerous and are ac- tually more economical of main- tenance. Many of the hulls of the wooden excursion ships are of steel, but the upper works are of wood and burn like tinder. Considering the number of people who take to the water for their pleas- uring the number of lives lost through fire disasters afloat is a small per- centage. Yet there is no justification whatever for maintaining even this risk, inasmuch as modern construc- tion would reduce it to a much lower point. The loss of these five excursion steamers out of season may be viewed as a public blessing, for there is a chance that they will be replaced by craft of greater safety. —_————— A third party may be deemed neces- sary by those who believe a campaign cannot afford a reasonable degree of excitement with only two presidential booms in evidence. ————————— Even drug stores are now accused of selling bad whisky, reviving the theory that the remedy in many cases is worse than the disease. e ——e————— A study of the G. O. P, band wagon will convince Col. George Harvey that it is no apple cart to be lightly dumped. ——————————— Development of the Capital. There is a strong sentiment that the future growth of Washington shall be regulated by a program which will extend, in so far as it can be done, to the new and the future Washing- ton the general principles of the plan of the old city. Particularly is there a present urge that the Capital shall have sufficient park space for its en- richment and for the comfort of citi- zens and pleasure of strangers. When L’Enfant, with the advice and en- couragement of Washington, Jefferson and other Americans great in their time, and great for all time, drew the plan of the Federal City he gave to the Capital reservations on a scale not then known in any other city. As ‘Washington grew it developed these reservations and they were set with trees, flowers, fountains and me- morials. In some cases the city was not allowed to grow in conformity with the first plan, and because of one of those mistakes we have the closely built south side of the Avenue. It was a mistake which men have been try- ing for fifty years to undo. As Wash- Ington grew, with wide tree-lined streets and pretty parks, its fame for peauty spread throughout the world. In the 70's and 80's of the last century .the city grew beyond its boundaries of 1791 and absorbed villages and suburban settlements whose plans did not conform to the plan of the city nor to any other plan. This ‘situation was cor- rected, so far as it could be done, by the highway law of 1888, and since the enactment of that law outlying 1and has Been subdivided in conformity with the street plan of the old city, and there has been some’lengthel gnificance for those who | | construction of such a building has for it, and much of it is in storage. | space taken by the art collection is and widening of old streets in the new city as funds could be fougd for that work. 1 In the new Washington little pro- vision has been made for parks. Rock Creek, Potomac Park, Meridian Hill, Moutrose, McMillan aud a few other parks have been laid out since the foundation of the city and Anacostia Park is in the making. Practically no park provision is being made for the ‘Washington of the future. As the fame of Washington spread other cities took up the park idea and the city adornment idea, and various | cities younger than Washington are better furnished with parks than the Capital. Cities older than Washing- ton have provided parkland for their newer sections, so that in the matter of parks, as in a number of other things, the Capital of the Republic is far from the head of the list. There is pending in Congress a bill providing for the establishment of a National Capital Park Commission which would have in charge the ex- tension of the Capital's park and play- ground systems. At a recent public hearing before a subcommittee of the House District committee there seem- ed to be unanimous sentiment in vor of the bill and no opposition has ap- peared to it elsewhere. Washington has fallen behind other American cities in playvgrounds, and there is a stirring of public sentiment that the Capital shall at least be brouxht in line with them in these maodern requirements of a city National Art Gallery Building. The prospect for early legislation which would give a proper home to the National Gallery of Art seems to be excellent. A bill to authorize the been introduced by Senator Lodge. Various other senators and a number of representatives have maid that a building for the art collection should be constructed. Many important as- sociations have indorsed the proposal, plans are in preparation and a site has been chosen. The art collection is | increasing and public interest in it is growing. The whole collection is not on exhibition because there is no place Through the munificence of the donor of the Freer collection that part of the National Gallery is housed in a fine building. The secretary of the Smith- sonian has sald that housing fa- cilities for the National Gallery are not only most inadequate, but that the size and growth of the col- lection interfere with the chief pur- poses of the Smithsonian, in that the needed for other things. Recently Congress authorized a new assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institu- tion, and in urging this action by Congress Dr. Walcott laid emphasis on the growth of the National Art Gallery and said that its administra- tion would be one of the principal duties of the new official. A large number of good Americans are sup- porting the proposal to treat the National Art Gallery as it should be treated, and it seems probable that a fine new, building will soon stand on the north side of the Mall east of the Cational Museum bullding. e Under the present circumstances the task of sounding the keynote of the campaign becomes one of oratorical distinction, even though without great influence in modifying political results. R In case German national securities are marketed abroad, Berlin should be willing to throw in a few million paper marks*with every purchase, as a com- plimentary souvenir. ——————— There are many things that eminent foreign artists and statesmen do not like about this continent, but they all agree that America has good money. —— e Certain phases of the investigation sound as if the great sensational scenario were about in shape for the camera man to begin to shoot. —_— e e—— In deliberations on foreign finance J. P. Morgan is an unofficial observer with a remarkable amount of capacity for influential suggestion. ——————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON European Chorus. Our Uncle Sam is young and strong And well supplied with coin. So let us, when he comes along, In salutation join. In kindness we will bring to view New ways to use his wealth, And any work we make him do ‘WIll benefit his health. More Problems. “What's the worry?” exclaimed the cheery old friend. “More problems!” exclaimed Senator Sorghum wearily. “Legislative?” ““Worse than that. My wife insists on my learning to play mah-jong.” Jud Tunkins says the invention of the barbed-wire fence has been a great time-saver, because the hired man can't sit on it and whittle, Long Distance. ‘When we talk with a planet so distant from here, As we probably will, I wonder if charge for the talk will appear On the telephone bill. Socialism in the Gulch. “How did you come to bar Tarantula Tim from the poker game?” “He's got socialistic notion: an- swered Cactus Joe. “Whenever he' loser he wants to make a rule that'll glve white chips the same value as blues.” Side-Stepping. ““You enjoy the radio?" “As e matter of local pride,” said Miss Cayenne. “It enables me to blame the jazz music on some other town.” “When a man lif's his voice an’ be- gins to talk rough,” said Uncle Eben, “'it's generally & sign dat he's Sees Liberty Put in Jeopardy By Court of Curtailed P(‘)wers BY THOMAS K. MARSHALL Formcr Vice President of the United States. The difference between Great Brit- ain's unwritten constitution and the written Constitution of the United States Is that under the former the British parliament has full power and authority to declare anything to be the law of the land, while the lat- ter imposes metes and bounds beyond which the American Congress may for the avowed purpose Ing wrongs or guaranteeing the rights of citizens. In consider- Ing changes to be made, whether in statutory or in organic law, it should always be remembered that & change should be mude not only to rectify a grievance, guarantee a right or en- large an opportunity, but also to guard against an impending ov This statement applies particularly to changes In the organic law of the land. Whenever one is - proposed, consideration should dwell not so much on what is likely to happen 4s a result of the change a® on what may happen. Quite frequently it is better to bear the ills we have than to fiy to others we know not of. I cannot keep off my dargers which to might mind como the the rights and Jibertles of the individual | under the proposa! to change th Banic law with reference to ma rule in the Supreme Court o United States. The tim, those who are sutisfied with the in- tegrity and justice of the court to be on guard lest lawyers who have lost their causes and clients who have suffered from adverse decisions raise such a storm around the Con- gross and state legislatures as to make the change possibie. * % ok % Much is being said about majority opinions of the court, as though ma- Jority opinions were as common as flowers that blom in the spring. It is Well to remember that during the en- tire existence of the court only seven- teen cases have been decided by a bare majority and that only eight of these seventeen opinions declared @ law to be unconstitutional. It is a far better record of good faith, jus- tice, honest and square dealing with the people than can be shown b either the executive or legislativ branches of cur government. If the Supreme Court has been mistaken only eight times in nearly seven soore years, granted it has been mistaken each ‘time, its record of acouracy Is marvelous in comparison with predigested and ill-digested legisla- tion that is constantly being enacted to control the lives, liberty and busi- ness of the American people. “No man ere felt the halter draw with good opinion of the law.” and I doubt if ever there was a lawyer or a client who lost a cause without a feeling that the court was either corrupt or incompetent. But if agi tion to change the rights of the Su- preme Court is to continue, then the people ought serfously to consider possible results under the proposed change, remembering that organic law is'made for what may happen, rather than for what will probably take place. or- ority the * x % If seven justices are to agree in de- claring an act of Congress invalid then the legislative authority of this country will be supreme, if in way It can control the opinion any of three of the justices of the court. Let | us suppose, merely for sake of illus- tration, that the religious contro- versy which is going on in this coun- try at the present time shall keep up. Let us assume that a Ku Klux Presi- dent and overwhelming Ku Klux Con- gress are in office in Washington Then let us assume further that three vacancies on the Supreme Court LOOKING UP FAMILY TREES BY FREDERI One of the early signs of spring in Washington is an unusual display of interest in family trees. Genealo- gists, professional and amateur, haunt the Library of Congress all the year round, but about this time the gov- ernment library has a steady stream of callers demanding the history of this family and that. Family trees put out new branches and grow amaz- ingly. The reason is that spring is the tra- ditional time in which to see the ) tional Capital, and in consequence the city is thronged with tourists and delegates to all sorts of conventions. Many of these visitors are interested in the story of their ancestry, and they selze the opportunity.of consult- ing the Capital's libraries and gov- ernment records to rescue some long- lost ancestor from oblivion. The genealogical season reaches its height in April, when the Daughters of the American Revolution hold their annual convention. Members of this society trace their lineage back to some ancestor who aided In estab- lishing American independence. The organization has about 140,000 mem- bers, which means that at least 140,- 000 American women have success- fully traced their anacestry back to the revolutionary days. There is no telling how many more women have tried to trace the record and found it incomplete. Some 10,000 new mem- bers were added to the society’s rolls last year, and an equal number were added this year during the conven- tion just held. The records of new members are not, of course, traced at the time of the convention. Genealogical research is slow, and months may be spent in trying to prove the existence of an elusive ancestor. The completed rec- ord of a prospective member must also go through the process of being checked for accuracy at the D. A. R. headquarters before it is approved. But the large delegations of Daugh- ters who attend the conventions have had their interest in family history thoroughly aroused, so that they are not satisfied to stop with two or three centuries of ancestors. To many of them the pleasures of climbing the Washington Monument and riding around the Speedway to view the fa- mous cherry blossoms cannot com- pete with the thrilling adventure of tracing the family ancestry back an- other generation. A Gemealogist’s Paradise. The genealogical collection of the Library of Congress is regarded as one of the most extensive in the United States. As a result it is a genealogist's paradise—when the de- sired books are not in use. Profes- sional searchers may be seen at work in the reading room from morning till night. One expert comes from Salt Lake City every year to spend a month conducting research in Washington. There are not many fine genealog- ical collections in this country. Those in libraries_in Chicago, New York, Riehmond, Boston and Hartford are probably the best known, together with the D. A. R, library and th government's collection in this city. ‘The government has about km nluml-:“ of o h and mariouh geneal es. teresting thefe are more volumes about is ripe for | the | | bench are filled by the appointment | of three justices of Ku Klux tenden- cies. Under these supposititious con- ditions let the Congress of the United States pass an act that a Roman Catholic shall not longer be permitted to worship God according to the dic- tates of his own conscience. Three justices voting that this was not pro- hibiting the free excreise of religion as guaranteed in article 1 of the Con- stitution, but had only to do with churchly establishment, the Roman Catholic would be a proscribed eiti- zen of America. Under like circumstances, let us assume that the party in power had been vexed, annoyed and harassed by public fpeeches and by articles in the press of the United States: and let us assume that the legisiative body, smarting under the injustice of thess assaults, should declare that although a man may speak or print whal he pleases under the govern- ment of the United States, yet if he speaks or prints anything by way of adverse criticism of the party in power he shall be deemed guiity of an offense againgt the law and sen- tenced to the penitentiary. The three Justioes, resenting party criticlsm and incensed by personal attacks, m hold that the guaranty of ar- ticle I was not impinged upon by the fatute: that the act did not deprive | the citizen of his right to speak or | print; that it only made him respon- sible for his sayings or his writings, and that although the act might hold | ntm responsible for his conduct and Ithough he spoke truthfully and en- | deavored to give the people an hon- cat understanding of the conduct of | | public officfals. nevertheless hie might | | be held guiit | E * ¥ | What might happen to the people | of this country with reference to| the guaranty in the Constitution that tiey are to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, under extreme circumstances? — No- body knows what unutterable woes might follow the public passion or personal hatred engendered in a po- litical campaign if the angel of death £hould strike from the Supreme Court three of its members. The whole bill of rights, which seeks to guarantee the rights of a minority against the | assaults of & majority. might be stricken down if the Supreme Court were deprived of its right b jority to hold ets of the Congress | unconstitutional. | More and more the people of this| country need to be impressed with | the fact that although majorities ust rule, inasmuch as there is no | her way in which a democracy | can conduct 3 government still the | majority’s rule must be hedged about, | hampered «nd constricted by the con- stitutional guarantees which are col | tained in_the bill of rights. Majority | rule in America does not mean the | | mad, unreasoning sway of partisan or | personzl prejudice. It simply means | the right to rule carefuliy. If we de- | sire to get quick action and a speedy | response to the shifting currents of | public opinion. passion and prejudice; | it we are wiillng Lo admit that min- | | orities have no rights which majori- ties are bound to respect; if we are | unxious to proceed to purer de- | | mocracy where might asrepresented | | by more than one-half the ballots| makes right. then, of course, we | should adopt this propcsed change in the organic law of the land. On| the other hand. if we concede 1o @ minority inalienable rights of which no m ent of American politics can deprive them. rights which are to| |be preserved by the eourts of this | country, then we shall resist the | change. | Ours is not a perfect government; | { none has ever been set up| among men, but a government that | has fought for the rights of man, withstood the stress of civil con- flict and me! the exigencies of ex- panding. business must be gareful | about changing ite form. It should | reject uny change conferring author- ity which might be used in the heat | of passion to do injustice either to an individual or to bodies of individ- 5 (Copyright, 1924, | such by Twenty-first Century Press.) C J. HASKIN. the Smiths than about any other name, and next in number come the histories of the White and Clark families. These books, with their facts about births, deaths and marriages, char- acteristics and careers, are really popular. Attendants at the Library of Congress are often asked what type of book is most in demand. Visitors are surprised at the answer that, after fiction, books on genealogy are most often called for. Some amateur searchers come to the Library with enthusiastic plans for proving relationship with a Saxon king or a medieval conqueror. One | Marylynd congressman spent some time at the library struggling with the problem of tracing his line back to King Solomon and thence on back to Adam. Available records proved inadequate for this Interesting piece of research. The congressman soon Tan up against some persistently misstng Unks in his ancestral chain. Other ambitious researchers have had better luck. One expert who traced a line back to the fifth cen- tury used the government reference books to settle many important points. The difficulty of tracing a line of ancestry can scarcely be appreciated by any one Who has not attempted the task. Historic records are far from complete and family histories are not always conveniently com- pised in bound volumes and waitlng on library shelves. Genealogists write to family connectiéns for in- formation and they consult old Bibles, copies of land grants, tomb- stone inscriptions, county tax records, marriage registers, contracts, wills, Some states and towns and some families have kept their records much more accurately and complete- ly than others. Fires have destroyed archives that can never be replaced. Mischievous boys have changed dates on old colonial tombstones. Romantic chroniclers have tampered with fact in recording family exploits. It is only in the past few decades that genealogy has begun to be restricted to the rules of an exact sclence. The genealogist of today finds it neces- sary to distinguish carefully between reliable and questionable sources and to_verify facts as he goes. How complicated the matter of tracing genealogy may become if it is pursued far enough by an inexpert searcher is readily apparent from the mathematical facts alone. Each in- dividual has two parents, four grand- parents, eight great-grandparents, and 8o on in progression. By the ti: the tenth generation of ancestors is reached the complete collection of di- rect forebears numbers 2,046. Go back about forty generations and the number would be in excess of the world’s population. Intermarriage and multiple relationships explain the contradictory sttuation. According to Miss L. 8. Kimball, a logist, “the entire English- ing populstion of the world s of inbred descendants of agne through Isabel de Ver- who died in 1131, and who ended from Charlemagne through six separate strains.” If the meaning of this statement is grasped it is not surprising to learn at among the persons whose line- traced back le- | frog Capital Sidelights * BY WILL P. KENNEDY, The country of Fenimore (ooper, Cooperstown, N. Y., the land of the Glimmerglass of Uncas, Chingachgook, Killdeer and & myriad of our boyhood heroes, is included in_the congres- slonal district represented by Rep- resentative John D. Clarke, who tells this story: “One day last summer my boy came In from reading “The Last of the Mohicans™ with the picture of the forest primeval vividly in his mind, of the abundance of game that sought the friendly shelter of the woods, of the lurking Indian, of streams that abounded in fish, and looking out upon the barren hills just across the dear old Delaware River from my farm, knowing his daddy's keen interest in and work for reforestation, remarked to me: ‘Daddy, wouldn't it have been wonderful if my grandpa and the grandpas of all the other kids had not cut all the trees and if under the protection of the trees there might be found game and wild life and in the brooks and rivers there were still many fish” “Then it came over me as never be- fore” says Representative Clarke, ‘what we of this day owe to all the children of all the tomorrows.” * ok ok % Representative Thomas D. Schall, Wwho is going to make the campaign for the Senate, is blind, not with the unknowing darkness of one who has never seen the light, but with the thorough consciousness of great loss of one who in his early youth had such evesight as enabled him to win distinction as the champion bats of his college with a record which Babe Ruth has never equaled. He keeps up his courage magnificently with beautiful, inspiring thoughts, and he brings them to bear on the legislation he is voting upon. Anent the measure for relief of the distressed and starving women and children of Germany he told his col- leagues how his little four-year-old daughter before going to bed crawled upon his lap. rubbed her nose against his, and said: “Daddy, can't you see ?" With a catch in his voice he re- o, little curly head, I ean't.” After a moment of silence she said “Well, your heart sees me, doesn't it, daddy > Representative Schall's lesson from this is: “In her childish philesophy she encompassed life. 1t is the heart that sees aright. The vision of the | heart is the true guide. The heart is| the foundation of whatever power and greatness there fs in man or woman or nation.” >k ox % Even from an imaginary frog Rep- resentative Schall with his mind's eye can vision a lesson of encouragement in most disheartening circumstances. He pictures the farmer who is short of milk because an obstreperous cow kicked over a bucket of milk, and ®who supplies the deficiency by taking the empty bucket to the brook and ! filling it with nature’s elixir. { The next scene is enacted within | a large milk can as it is jounced | about in the farm wagon proceeding | to town over a rutty road. Two frogs, | scooped out of the brook in the milk | bucket by the farmer in the dim light of early morning, hold converse. It| it dark and close within the can and the frogs are extremely uncomfort- | able in strange, sticky, greasy | surroundings. One Is despondent and | says: “There is no way out. This | is a terrible place. 1 am suffocating. | 1 have given up hope.” and forthwith | he_dropped to the bottom of the can. The other frog was more optimistic and said to himself: “It's pretty bad here, but Il just keep kicking and kicking, and ‘bymeby something Is sure to happen,” so as the can | lurched about in the wagon as it conquered the ruts in the road the withing the can kept Kkicking away for déar life, more confident | with each Kick. When_ the farmer reached the mar- ket and the can was opened out hopped the frog, who had ridden to pe on a golden pat of butter that his optimistic kicking had made as an island of safety in a sea of milk * k¥ How sometimes members of Con- gress devote themselves to some pet | piece of legislation was notably 2x- emplified during the week, when Rep- resentative Christopher D. Sullivan of New York showed up at the com- mittee which has jurisdiction over the measures affecting the National Cap- ital. Although he has been a mem- ber of this committee nearly eight years, that was only the third time that Representative Sullivan attend- ed a meeting of the committee. Each of these three times he came in to vote on the Fitzgerald workmen's compensation bill, and the third time the roll call was rushed so_that he could catch a train to New York. * ok k% There is in the United States Veter- ans' Burean a translation unit which is acknowledged to be the most ex- pert in any governmental agency in the whole world. In fact, the military intelligence service, even the State Department and all government de- partments when they came across a particularly difficult bit of translat- ing call on this unit for help. Lieut. Col. F. A. Awl is in charge of the mail division of the Veterans' Bureau, and Miss Florence K. Tinkew, who has been with the service since the early days of the old war risk bu- reau, is in administrative charge of the 'translation section. They are both extremely proud of the record of their battery of six expert translators, who turn out daily translations of some 300 letters in forty-one different languages and no telling how many dialects. Two of the experts translate from ten to twelve languages and count- less dialects and others six and eight languages. Each translation might well carry @ notary public's seal, for they are unquestionably absolute- iy correct and letter perfect. These men and women CArrying on this work are not only thoroughly ex- pert in the language of these coun- tries, but in their laws and customs as well. Lieut. Col. Awl is also proud of the economy of operation as well as ef- ficiency of service. He points out that the best contract for translating that can be made in outside business is at the rate of 1 cent a word. His six expert translators operate at a cost of under one-third of a cent a word, including the pay of the stenog- rapher who works with each trans- lator. | is an inspiring thought, but strictly speaking it doesn’t mean much to the modern American. According to Gal- ton's law of heredity, each parent contributes one-fourth 'of an individ- ual's heritage. To this is added the contribution of each grandparent, which amounts to_about one-six- teenth, and so on. The individual is a combination of traits bestowed upon him by his forefathers, but as they become remote the contribution of each becomes infinitesimally small. Some one has figured that an indi- vidual's heritage from one Mayflower pessenger today amounts to one part in 65,536 To' prove kinship with the hero Charlemagne, therefors, may seem merely a futile and egotistic pursuit to the literal-minded, But genealogy has important uses, both practical and idealistic. On the practical side expert genea- logical research builds up records of great value. The court's decision re- garding many a contested will de- pends on family records, which may or may not be complete. Heirs to property often find it impossible to prove their claims because of the lack of accessible records. The individual’s benefit from know- ing the facts of his heritage is most often mental. History becomes more nal and more vital to him when i e perts “Tusters played in ere is no doubt also that pride in a sturdy MEN AND AFFAIRS BY ROBERT T. SMALL There was more point to the story told by President Frank B. Noyes of the Associated Press on President Coolidge at the “A. P.” luncheon in New York last Tuesday than Mr. Noyes himself perhaps imagined. President Coolidge was facing for the first time the editors and pub- lishers of the country. All through the luncheon they had been watching him with an appraising eye. And they noticed that, although he was seated between Mr. Noves and Mel- ville E. Stone, two of the most wide- ly traveled and entertaining lunch- eon companions in America, Presi- dent Coolidge was mainly silent. So much so, in fact, that both Mr. Noyes and Mr. Stone visibly lapsed into the same mood. About half way through the luncheon President Coolidge lit a cigar and puffed away at it medi- | tatively as the last courses were be- ing served. Mr. Noyes told the story in his best style. “It is related in Washington.” he said, “that a vear or So ago a certain very high official of the government, with a reputation for reticence that had become almost world-wide, was seated at dinner with a very viva- cious lady as his partner. The lady turned to the gentleman in question and told him that it within his power to win or loge for her a quite | desirable wager. e said she had wagered, that no matter how silent he might be with others, the very high official would certainly con- verse with her. “There was a measurable pause,” continued Mr. Noyes, “and then t gentleman laconically said, ‘You lose. The story made a great hit with the big luncheon audience, and the effect was heightened when Mr. Cool- idge, with a grim little_smile play- ing about the corners of his mouth, declared that, like many other re- ports emanating from Washington, this one was “without the slightest foundation.” * ¥ ¥ ¥ President Coolidge listened with real interest to Mr. Noyes' expoition of the purposes and ideals of the As- soclated Press. But in no way did | the president of better illustrate its efforts to be non- partisan and non-interpretative than when he turned to Mr. Coolidge and said: “I have, T think you realize, Mr. President, no commission from the members of the Associated Press au- any controverted question. Aoccord- ingly, 1 cannot say to you that th Fifty Years Ago In The Star Fifty years ago Don Piatt was editor of a weekly newspaper in Washington styled the Piatt Caned Capital. Piatt was a v i s fearless by Proxy. vigorous writer whose satire and excorfating attacks upon public men were the cause of much feeling and kept him in continual hot water. A news article in The Star of Aprit | 21, 1874, tells how he was “caned” by proxy by an aggrieved member of Congress. In an issue of the Capital | on the Sunday previous Representa- tive George C. McKee of Mississippi | was styled by Piatt a “spoilsman and legislative pumpkin head.” The of- fended legislator called at the Capital office the next day and called for Platt, who, he was told, was absent from’ the city. but that Mr. James Piatt, a relative, was in charge of the paper during his absence. Rep- resentative McKee then sought Mr. Piatt at the library of the House of Representatives, of which he librarian, and on learning that he had read the proof of the offending article he struck him a severe blow across the face with a rattan cane. The Star's account says: “Mr. Piatt, who seemed surprised by the suddenness of the attack, made no resistance, and Mr. McKee left, saying that he now considered their account as squared. Excepting a_swelled lip, Mr. Piatt bears no traces of the biow. Mr. Piatt is a poet of some repute and is an ex- ceedingly quiet and unassuming gentleman. It is rather hard upon him to have to take the canings that belong to the truly wicked writers on the Capital.” * “It is satisfactory to note” savs The Star of April 21, 1874, “that while the bogus reformers are Silk Hat abroad blowing their horns for their own profit or exaltation one sturdy knight has raised a lance against a genuine enormity that no- Dody has had the courage er the hon- esty to attack. This is the modern silk hat, and the former is Mr. Julius Henri Brow ne, who opens the war in the last number of Appleton's Jour- nal. In the language of his vigorous indictment the silk hat is entitled to the distinction of being at once the least convenient, the most uncom- fortable and the worst looking head covering that has ever been known to civilization. About everybody ad- mits this, and yet the capital mon- strogity is worn more and more every year. In raiment it is an absurdity; in logic a_fallacy; in form a trans- gression. It makes the dull man look duller, the plain man plainer. He who can endure it shows his capacity for endurance, not its possibility of ornament. Its hideousness is illus- trated by every change in fashion. The spring style escapes criticism until the autumn style appears, when it at once becomes absurd. The silk hat is bad enough at any time, but out of season it intimates total de- pravity. Besides the inconvenience and ill taste, it is undeniably un- healthful. It generates headache, fever and lays the foundations of not a few troubles in the brain. It causes, too, premature baldness, which has grown to be a national defect. It is believed that a large part of our hair- less heads is owing to that shining instrument of torture which mode alone sustains. It Is noticeable that baldness Is most prevalent among men of soclety, who feel compeiled to suffer these cephalic inflictions. The only word spoken in favor of the hat 18 that it is dressy—as if anything could be truly so which is stiff, hard, inconvenient and unbecoming. “Reforms must always begin at home, and with ourselves. Let every man on this side of the sea who de- tests silk hats assert his principle by refusing to wear one at any time, under any circumstances. Obedience to this decree would soon reduce the manufacture to the point of unre- muneration and America would have the glory of being regarded the land where the natural grace of the head is respected and the silk hat banished foreve: Ever since that protest was uttered men have complained of the tyranny of the “tile” of cardboard and silk, the badge of serviture to a rigid rule of dress. In England the silk hat has ed in service much longer than in the United States, where it was Tong ago thrown generally into the dis- card, save on the most ceremonial and formal occasions. In London profes- sional men and clerical forces in the nold quite st the “top- o S oy e e gained from it by others It is - of duty, that organization | v | from CI John | was | agree with you in your stand on the Surtaxes or any other question now occupying public thought, although I do feel warranted in at least i arded approval of your Thanksgiv ng day proclamation.” * k% ¥ Sir Esme Howard, the new British ambassador to Washington, laments the fact that he has no great oratorical powers, although those who have lis- tened to his simple, carnest talks since he has been in this country are in- clined to disagree with him as to his effectiveness, especially as an after dinner speaker. | At the dinner of the advertising sec- | tion of the American Newspaper Pub lishers' Association in v X Thursd: night, Sir Esme gizing at the outset of his add; his supposed forensic insufficiency " he said, “I can bes and how 1 feel by re 10 you & story told me by Char Schwab coming over on the Olympl | not _so long ago. Mr. Schwab, as you know, owns a very fine herd of Jerse: cattle. A farmer one day offered tu sell him another cow. “‘Is she a Jersey d sir, not e 11, does sh r, not & very great deal.’ she is not a Jersey not a particularly good milker, should 1 buy her? said Mr. tiy, “We and why hwab, farmer, d cow and will give all she car. * x * Junius B. Wood of Chicago, war cor respondent and reporter extraordinary who has been in the far east for the | past three years, tells an interesting story of a voung lady school teacher from the southern part of the United States who set out for China to devots her life to educating the “heather Chinee." The young lady was particu- larly fond of peanuts—a product of h native state—and her one thought in going to China wi what she would do for peanuts. She thought to solve the problem at least temporarily, by buying an ex tra suit case—a very large one—and packing it to the brim with her fa vorite “goobers.” “Imagine . surprise of the voung lady,” said Mr. Wood, “when she stepped ushore at Shanghal to fi | that China ships n rly three million pounds of peanuts fo the United | States every vear. It may surprise a | 1ot of people to know that last vear | China also shipped 0,000 pounds ot eges to the United States. Why houldn’'t the United ates raise | enough peanuts and enough eggs for itzelf? This country also could raise 11 of the raw silk which is imported ina 'and Japan.” Heard and Seen | | “If Dante were writing his ‘Divinc | Comedy’ today he would make one of | the circles of his hell a restaurant. wherein hungry sinners would br forced to eat until eternity.” With this remark a man viewed his auditor, as they stood on Pennsy vania avenue, paused to let it sink |in, and then resumed his conversa tion. “Yessir,” he continued. “T have th greatest sympathy for the man fore to eat in a restaurant. You sece, | | went through it myself. I know {Don't get mg wrong. I'm not pan- ning the restaurants. They do the best they can. “For an oceasfonal breakfast, regular lunch or a meal before or after the theater, the restaurant ful fills all demands. It is the bird con | demned to eat his every meal at them | for whom my sympathetic heart blesds | “The lions roar and get their mea: | from God, according to the psalm, but | thousands of people in a great city are not so fortunate. They have tu |50 to restaurants . “Eating becomes. for these poor souls, merely stoking of the humar turnace. Most of them realize it. too Look at the ‘regulars’ in any restau rant, They are a downcast-looking lot, with the weight of the world on their shoulders and e heaviness of pancakes and sausage in their in- teriors. “Their ears are attuned to the ery of ‘stack o' wheat,’ ‘Ham an’ and ‘cup o' light’ Their eves know the ap- proach of the waitress with the gold tooth and their lips the taste of coffee that is too strong for any place ex- cept the trenches, P “These wights eat in a perpetual din of dishes, a hurrying to and fro of men and yet more men. If con- tentment is “a continual feast, as some one said, they must be hungry all the tim Appetite-juice has a hard time flowing in a restaurant. The sensitive gastric juice finds itseif next an old gray-whiskered party who eats soup like « fire engine and not far from the man who thinks coffee is a mu- sical instrument, * “Under these circumstances the so- called feast of reason and flow of soul refuses either to feast or to flow. matter what time of day one goes into a restaurant, here comes an Aframerican with a mop. It would seem as if cleanliness is the main endeavor of a restaurant. For this they are to be commended, of course but it is unfortunate that they have to have this fervor at exactly the time one comes in. “No sooner do you get your cup of coffec and chunk of cake than down the aisle sidles the man with the mop or long-handled broom. It is alway< one or the other. “He sprinkles sawdust—this is to give the mop something 1o chase— then proceeds to make the mop func tion. Every grain of sawdust is swept up. . “Several elusive fragments hide be- tween your feet. That is where all the trouble comes in. The whole re- mainder of the room is open for sweeping, but no place is so desirable as the few tiles under the only cus- tomer's feet. 7 “So the mop gives your right trouser leg a side-swipe, ‘then bark both shoes, taking off that shine for which you have just paid more than it is worth, caresses the other trouser leg, whacks up dust into your eyes. into the coffee and all over the cake. = % “From the haughty lady behind the cash register ‘o the familiar counter- man every restaurant is like every othér restaurant. No matter which one you drop into, there is the same sign, ‘If you are pleased, tell other: if you are not, tell us’ Only don't act on the latter tip—take a tip from me. “Has a restaurant no redeeming feature, then? Yes, it has. It does what it sets out to do and in the ma- jority of cases does it well. Its faults are mostly those of humanity packed close together. “Sometimes, now and then, there is a memory of & restaurant that glori- fles the subject. Maybe it was triendship made and cemented at u white-topped table. Maybe it was the smiling face of the eternal fem- inine, some friendly walitress, ex- tending to us a bit of the visiomn of home.” 5 5 " CHARLES E. TRACEWELL