Evening Star Newspaper, May 8, 1924, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. 'THURSDAY........May 8, 1924 THEODORE W. NOYES. . ..Editor Fhe Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office, 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 119 East 4Zad St. icago Office: Toller Bailding. Buropean Office: 16 Regent St., London, England. . _The Evening Star, wilh the Sunday morning ‘edition, is delivered by carriers within the €y ai 60 cenis per month: daily only, ‘eents per month: Nunday obls, 20 conts per month. Orders may he sent by mail or tele- ahn Main 5000. “Collection is made by car- s at the cod of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance, Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday..1 yr., §8.40; 1 mo., 70¢ i Daily only. 00 5 Bunday only. . 2140 1 mo., 20¢ All Other States. “Dafly and Sunday.1 yr., $10.00 : 1 mo., 85¢ Daily only J1yr, $7.00 Sunday only. -lyr, $3.0 ‘Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is_exclusively entitled %o the use for republication of all news dis Feftehes credited 10 it or not otherwise credited In this paper and also the local news pub- Tished herein. "All rights of publication of special dispatehes hereia aro also reserved «No Betrayal Price High Enough. , The Senate is not likely to assent 1o the Killing of the definite propor- tienate contribution principle and to the substitution of the lump sum payment plan as the result of a com- promise which betrays to its death a VHal principle and merely increases Ly a million or two the initial pay- ment that is the price of this be- trayal. The House proposcs legislation on #n appropriation bill which radically ¢hanges the District’s fundamentai law. If the Senate stands firmly by existing substantive law, the House as the body proposing to change the law by legislative rider on an appro- Jpriation bill is bound in the end to yleld. A betrayal or sacrifice of prin- ¢iple through the suggested compro- mise is thus unnecessary. If the lump sum payment plan comes into being on the basis of its insertion by the House into an ap- propriation bill under the application of the Holman rule, the decrease or elimination of the national contribu- tion through action on an appropria- tion bill will, so far as the House is concerned, be invited and facilitated, while its increase will in effect be forbidden. The eight, nine or ten millions of original payment under this plan might in the hasty caprice of a subsequent Congress be the only payment. The Senate is not likely to sacrifice a wise, sound fiscal principle to which it is traditionally committed and in the defense of which it is im pregnably intrenched in law and equity and the rules governing such issucs in conference between the houses, when the only temptation to sacrifice or betrayal is this inadequate and prospectively vanishing consider- &tion. Can any money consideration be edequate for the sacrifice or betrayal of a fiscal principle which Washing 1on has long believed with reason to have been for years a vital essential -of the Capital's life and to be today eseential to it welfare? Comparing with reverence the infinitesimal and the infinite, every one would be pro- foundly shocked at the i that, while the Great Betr: price of thirty pieces of silver was indefensible, something might per- baps be said for gudas if he had demanded and received forty pieces ——————— By Acclamation ? The Republican voters of the coun- try have expressed their choice of President Coolidze as the Republican candidate for the presidency prac- tically by acclamation. That is what it amounts to, only two states pre- terring others. Why would it not be X good plan, in the interest of party harmony, for the convention to make the nomination by acclamation? Long before South ' Dakota is Teached in the call of states on the nomination President Coolidge will have received more than a majority #nd will have been nominated. When Wisconsin is reached on the call that fumber will have been increased. What purpose will it serve for South Dakota and Wisconsin to be found holding out against the overwhelming sentiment of the convention, express- ing the wishes of the Republican voters of the other forty-six states of the Union? Senator Johnson of California has & golden opportunity at hand to “make a hit” with the country, which rwould redound to his credit as a good sportsman in politics. He has made his fight and lost. 1f he should come out with a sportsmanlike acknowledg- ment of it and a declaration that he would still “play the game” in the Repunlican party he would raise him- #cif immeasurably with the country. B A better showing might bave been made by Hiram Johnson in California it he had devoted himself to an ani- mated discussion of the Japanese question instead of diffusing his tal- ents through the map. A Nevw Era in Business. Herbert Hoover believes we are en- tering upon = new era of business practices and business ethics. It is an era in which business will lose much of its selfishness and sordid- ness and in which the spirit of serv- ice will prevail. This new cra is be- ing brought about not so much be- gause -men's natures are growing more kindly and their impulses more generous, but because business is be- ing educated to the advantages of fair dealing—because, in fact, it is belng found that a square deal is the most profitable deal a business man can put across. During the three years Mr. Hoover has been Secretary of Commerce progress made in the cultivation of “this new business spirit has been one of his most conspicuous achieve- ments, Leading business men from &N parts of the country have come “to Washington, singly and in groups, and have had the spirit of service in- stilled {nto them. Mr. Hoover has been in a peculiarly advantageous to talk service to these men. X of business understandingly, btut he has back of him a record of ten years of notable service to his country and to humanity, in which there has been no element of self-profit. He has not been in the position of Artemus Ward's patriot, who was willing to sacrifice all his wife's relatives on the altar of his country. But Mr. Hoover has not, of course, eppealed solely to the altruism of business. Altruism is fine and en- nobling, but it cannot be tendered stockholders as a substitute for divi- dend checks. What he has driven home to the business world is that not only in the long run will it be more profitable, but that in self-pres- ervation business must correct abuses from which the people suffer, or the people, through their government, will’ force corrections by processes which will not be unaccompanied by punishment and pain. And be has been able to point to some conspicu- ous examples where big businesses have reformed themselves, and prof- ited thereby. When business as a whole has caught the spirit of the times and has learned that the most enduring suc- cess will flow from the largest meas- ure of service, we will be on the way to realization of that ‘“equality of opportunity” which Mr. Hoover preaches as the American ideal. Congress and the Primariés. California’s primary vote for Presi- dent Coolidge as against Senator Hiram Johnson is the latest of a vir- tually unbroken series of indorse- ments in the states. His forty-five or fifty thousand majority there is an impressive showing of public ap- proval, in view of the fact that his opponent in the primary was the state’s “favorite son.” In other states where no local candidate appeared the primary majorities given him have been large, in most cases over- whelming. These primary votes are significant of a country-wide approbation not only of the President's personality, with its characteristics of honesty, courage and level-headedness, but of his course and policies in the brief period of his incumbency. They should be considered by the Repub- lican members of Congress, House and Senate, as their guides in shaping the legislation upon which their party will go to the country in the coming campaign. Mr. Coolidge urges tax revision. The country approves. Hec asks the enactment aw which will reduce the taxes liberally and at the same time release capital from excessive imposts to permit investment in dustrial enterprises, to maintain the economic health of the country. For partisan purposes the opposition in the Cong ., Democrats and pro- gre Republicans, are secking to frame the tax measure in such a manner as to force a veto, thereby permitting the campaign claim that the President and his party are not sincere in their desire for tax re- vision. It is vitally important to the Re- putlican party that it go to the coun- try with an accomplished fact in the matter of tax reduction. A veto, how- ever justified by the failure of the legislation to measure up (o the standard of genuine, helpful revision urged by the President and the Secre- tary of the Treasury, would not be an accomplishment. For party pur- poses, thersfore, it is important that the Republican majority in Congress, which has the votes to pass a tax bill in general accord with the Presi- dent’s views, should take cognizance of the country’s reaction, as evidenced at the primaries, and put before him a measure which he can conscien- tiously sign. In the matter of the bonus bill, too, his stand is positively krown. He bas stated his position clearly. He has himself “gone to the country” on that matter in his candidacy for in- dorsement and nomination. The pri- mary votes may be regarded as the public response on this subject as on others. In the matter of foreign relations, as affected by the immigration law, the arrangement just proposed by the conference committee to give a period before Japanese exclusion is effective to permit a friendly arrangement with Japan is likewise a matter of con- sideration. The~ President has just ‘won out in California, the state most interested in this question. His views ‘were known. He has received a heavy majority over California’s senator and most popular Republican. Had his position been obnoxious to that state he could not have gained this em- phatic indorsement for the nomina- tion. * These primary votes should be taken by the Republican majority in Congress—a majority in enumeration if not in action heretofore—as a dis- tinct mandate for harmonious, con- structive legislative procedure to vield the results for which their party leader—already, in effect, their nomi- nee for the Presidency—stands before the country. ———— In addition to keeping tab on a number of investigations the busy cltizen finds time to give the usual attention to the base ball and golf scores. —————— Religious organizations in Japan should reciprocate and seek to re- strain expressions that might injure the feelings of the U. S. A. Signboards in the Country. Opposition to having the landscape converted into en advertisement for soap, tires and toothpaste is growing in the environs of Washington.! The supervisors of Arlington County have before them a proposal to put @ tax of $1 a square foot on aedvertising signboards and that plan is support- ed by the Arlington County Civic Federation. The tfax measure is brought forward as & revenue raiser and as a means to discourage sign- boards, but the leading reason which prompis advocates of the plan is to save the landscape from sighs. It is perhaps the beginning of & movement to forbid the use of country as an advertising medium and it is pos fia in- ve will st jength be followed by & pro- hibition of roadwide signs and the building of signbcards on -private property. The advertising committee of the Arfington County Civic Fed- eration is slready urging lmndowners not to euthorize erection of sign- boards on their lnnd. WZXh the in- crease in ruad travel signs have mul- tiplied until along many weys the view is domtnated by them and the traveler gets the impression that coundry is a region of signs. It is believed that few persons read these signs and that fewer still remember them after rcmding. As a business proposition for advertisers it is quess tionable and the practice has been declared o nuiance by people in nu- merous sectionst of the country. Road- side signboards have probably reached their peak in the country around Washington ard will decline. 1In Arlington County, no matter what happens to the pending ordimuince, the citizens in general are expressing antipathy to signboards and they will find a way to correct that which they have come: to understand to be an evil. ———— The bobbed-hair bandit of Brooklyn has tasted the fascinations of noto- riety, so dear to the mind with a criminal bent. One of the greatest hardships of a penitentiary Sentenge is the completeness with which it shuts off the spotlight. ———e—————— Canada is afraid United States«canal canstructions will take too much water out of the Great Lakes. Herve is a new problem, which, like a num- ber of others, will be wiped out when transportation is given over to.air-! ships. ——————————— New York taxicab drivers tfre reg- istering @ demand for 40 per cent of all fares. The Gotham hack driver established certain autocrate prece- dents which are maintained in princi- ple.in spite of modern imprawements. ————— France assumes that Germany is panning future revenge. A fierce game has long been played by the two countries and there is not much inclination on either side to make arrangements to call it a draw. The men who stole J. . Morgan's passports showed the characteristic recklessness of the criminal in being willlng to jar the finances of the worl@ for the sake of a slight per- sonal advaniage. s e Ultinzte consumers are supposed to rejoice when an excess profit tax is paid, and not to worry ais to whether the priee tags on what they buy do not prowide for full reintbursement. —————————— Nicky Arnstein may be no wizard of finance, but he is @ bit of a magician when it comes to arranging mysteriows disappearances, almost in full view of the audience. ——————— As an eminent and critical educator Dr. Nicholes M. Butler does not hesi- tate to attack portions of the litera- ture in the statute books. ————— At the Cleveland convention Presi- dent Coolidse will be equipped with a veto power that no-one will venture to question. Like the President of Germany, the | President of France is supposed to be | a cautious speaker, but a good audi- ence. ——— A few prominent clergymen, instead of persuading the congregation to have faith, are busily engaged in air- ing their own disbeliefs. The Mellon tax plan brought into prominence a number of plans both economic and political. SHOOTING STARBS. BY PHILANDER JOHNBOK. Bedtime Staries. Tell me some bedtime stories, Oh, gentle radio voice, Of the strange fantastic glories Where the animals rejoice! How the Elephant went parading ‘Through the jungle dark and denss ‘Where the Oil Bug serenading Chased the Hoot Owl off the fence. And the Donkey; he brought the jun-! gle Of trouble a further flow, As a bung he happened to bungle In the kerosene bungalow. And each as he scanned the other In greasy and grim distress Remarked, “You have landed, brother, In a worrisome wilderness™ A lightning bug then fluttered And caused them their breath to catch. “I thought,” the Eilephant muttered, “That some one had struck a match!™ The Catter Acushnet and the Word She Brought—Pasting Through Rum Row and the Men on the Deck—The Mystery Boat and the Ruse That Didnt Work—Home @nm. In Five Parts—Part IV. BY BEN McKELWAY. Btormy weather keeps the rum-run- ners and the Seminole idle several days, but, clearing, we make a rendes- vous off Block Island with the coast guard tug Acushnet, which is patrol- ling the waters around Marthas Vine- yard, Nantucket and Woods Hole. The Acushuet brings news of a new rum fleet Of sixteen vessels anchored twenty-four miles off the coast south- east of Block Island. Six steamers, four British, one from Panama and one from Norway, and ten British schooners compose this fleet. This is the farthest from shore any rum fleet bas chosen to anchor. They're safe from seizure under any sort of treaty. It may make rum-running between them and the shore a little more haz- ardous, but that will only temd to Send up the price of bootleg liguor. Where there's a will there's a way, and twenty-four miles won't stop rum- running, according to gossip in the wardroom. Presence of this fleet adds strength to the story that sea- going tugs aro now being used as Tum-runners, and only that morning a radio to the “Old Man* said the Man- hattan, which relieved us off Sandy Hook. caught a sea-going tug enter- ing New York harbor with 1,500 cases of liquor aboard. The tug she caught, by the way, had been put under bond twice before for carrying liquor. The Seminole hauls up her anchor next morning and starts for a thor- ough round-up of the fleet off Mon- tauk Point. The new flect reported by the Acushnet Is not on the Semi- nole’s patrol. 1t would be a waste of time to bother with them now. Montauk Point Fleet. Two vessels have joined the Mon- tauk Point fleet since we passed that way before. Now there are three steamers and five schooners. Two of the steamers are Norwegian and the other is British. All the schoon- ers are British. Coast guard vessels on the rum fleet patrol keep close tab on what vessels leave and which ones join the fleets, and the reports are radioed in code to division headquar- ters in New York. Today the Old Man_decides to look each ship over carefully. They are anchored any- Where from half & mile (o Six miles apart, and the Seminole inspects each one by sailing close alongside. The cutter's coming seems to break the monotony of life aboard ships of the rum fleet. It must be a monotonous life. Anchored sometimes as long as six months, with little to do but clean ship and wait for a rum-runner to come aboard and buy a cargo, a sailor's life in the rum fleet is nothing to brag about. The schooners have supplies brought from Halifax or the Bahamas by steamers, which make a regular business of providing Rum Row with necessities of life. There's a story of a mutiny not long ago on Rum Row, when t men demanded higher pay or to oe put ashore. The Seminole, one day last winter, came upon a burning schooner and took off her officers and crew. She was in Rum Row and the schooner had been set afire ir tentionally when she sighted the cut- ter afar off, if the signs were right There's another tale of an abandoned schooner, found near the row with blood-smeared decks and a dead man or two, but maybe its only a sailors yarn. It couldn't be verified. ” Sailors Wave Bottles. As we pass through the flest the men aboard the rum ships crowd the rails and wave Some of them give us the merry ha-ha, waving quart bottles, going through the motions of taking a long swig, rubbing their tummies and giving other evidence of great and unbounded enjoyment. One fellow dances a jig for our benefit as we pass, while another imprudently thumbs his nose and goes below. But the rummies, they fay, are not unfriendly to the cutters, and newspaper men who have gone aboard and visited some of the snips in the row say they like lo see a cutter come around once in a while. Perhaps this is because some sign that there's law and order somewhere is always welcomed in a community where there's nothing to enforce either. There was never such & gold- en opportunity for piracy, the gossip goes. If a bunch of New York gunmen can hold up a bank and get away with it in broad day, it's hard to See what's to prevent a squad of them coming aboard a rum schooner one these fine nights and making a regular haul Thers wouldn't be any detectives hunting for_them, either. But thers seems to be no authentic information con- cerning piracy, although there's plenty of gossip. We pass through the flest and head south once more for New York. Press Concedes Early next morning the Seminole be- gins to pick up the outlying' vessels of the rum fleet off the entrance to New York Harbor. ~They 'lie off Jones Inlet, Fire. Island Injet and on down the coast to the entrance to the harbor itself. We steam through this fleet steadily for three bours and at no time iz a rum ship out of sight. They can be seen in three directions as far as the eye can reach and we ocount twenty-twe of them—sixteen KEritish, one Nor- wegian and one French—most of them schooners and some large steam- ers. Most Active Flotilla. This fleet is the most active of any along the coast. ' They lie offshore within easy reach and the rum-run- ners can either outrun or outmaneu- ver the cutters by heading for Jones Inlet or Fire Istand Inlet and Great South Bay, losing themselves waters full of shoals, but safely nav- igable for small boats. They dump their cargoes at Freeport, Babylon, Amityville, Patchogus and Bay Shors, Long Island—villages within _easy automobile distance of New York. There seems to be no secret about where the liquor is put ashore, vet it keeps coming ashore. The “Old " is sorry to come into port without a scalp at his belt, for these past days have been fruit- less ones—blame it on the rotten weather—but our hopes rise when word comes from the bridge that a rummy has been sighted making for shore Korced draught again, wheez- ing boilers, thudding pistons and a churning screw. We take up the chase. He's setting a course that leads for Jones Inlet and we've got to beat him to it befors he gets there. This is a speedier boat than any we saw off Montauk Point, but luckily he's within range and the gun crews get to work and limber up by placing a few shells that fall too far from the target to scare him into stop- ping. Shot Halts Rum-Rummer. But what's up? Leaving astern a long streak of silver foam, another speedboat puts out from near a ship in Rum Row and heads for our quarry. He's taking a course that ought to bring him to the rum-runner about the point we would intercept him if we were fast enough. The Old Man holds his fire a moment to see what's golng on, but resumes fir- ing at his original tavgst, for the other boat is coming nearer our ship at every turn of his fast propeller. One of our gumners is a long and lanky North "Carolina boy. Maybe he learned his marksmanship shoot- ing squirrels out of chestnut tree with a single-shot rifle. He takes a long sight this time and lets her £o. A shot strikes so close to the rummy that, had it been explosive in- stead “of solid, it ‘would have blown him to kingdom come. It's enough for him. He stands up and wav heaving to. In the meantime t other speed boat is drawing in. We signal him (o stop. He keeps coming, then swerves and starts for land. We let_him e a couple. They land cross his bow. He stops. Tha ts are half a mile or so apart The captain is about to order “Cease firing.” but the gunner is quick on the trigger and lets the second beat have another shot for good luck. It lands near him and he figures that if stopping his boat isn't going to stop that six-pounder he'd beiter be on his way, and his boat leaps forward in another wild spurt. . Disappears Over Heorison. We've got one rimmy nbw, but we can't leave him. The other fellow is nearly out of our range and disap- pears over the horizon with. six- pounder shot spattering the water astern. But he gets away. -Where he came from, why he was trying to in- tercept the other boat, what he was and what he had ave mysteries of the sea. Maybe he was a highjacker'and thought he could snatch some liquor from the other boat under our nose. Maybe he thought to divert the cut- ter in her chase and make g0od the gscape of both. * He got away, any- ow. Our last capture is fairly good—300 cases of whisky, champagne and al- cohol are aboard and the Seminole tows her into port. We are tying up at the Staten Island dock, now. As the saflors go about the work of getiing everything snug, they might have been singing: “Sixteen men on a dead man's chest, Yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of rum. We got four and the weather did the rest, Yo, ho, ho, and a botfle of rum.” But they weren't to Mme. Duse Clear Place Among Immortals Universal regret is expressed over the death of Eleonora Duse, greatest of Latin actresses. Her passing, far from the scene of her early triumphs, has made more pathetic the incidents which marked her career. As in the case of Sarah Bernhardt, editors re- call that her early vicissitudes devel- oped her artistic career. Like Bern- hardt, she “rose from the people™; but, unlike the famous French artist, she was truly a child of the stage. Incidentally, the effect which Gabriele d’Annunzico had in making her for a time almost a recluse is commented upon. ““The story of Mme. Eleonora D whose death occurred on her farewel Tell me soms bedtime stories Of the animals® hopes and fears. These curicus allegories May be worked up for years and years! Careful Consideration. “Whet is your opinion in this mo- mentous matter?” “T'm still studying the questiom,™ replied Senator Sarghum. “Reading up on the facts?™ “No. Figuring on which side of the controversy is likely to win out in the voting.” Jud Tunkins ssys that if bathing costumes are any scantier this sum- mer theyTl be mostly composed of freckles. 3 Looking for Trouble. ‘There may be people up in Mars. But why get out emong the stars ‘While on this planet folks ere set Whom nations can't control as yet? Scattering Sunshine. “Whenever I propose to you you laugh,” complained the persistent man. “That's becanse I have a happy dis- position,” answered Miss Cayenne. “A great many girls would merely be annoyed.” ‘“Men enjoy flattery,” said Wncle Eben, “even when dey knows it ain’ r tour of the United States, is the story of one of the greatest actresses the world has ever seen” in the opinion of the Springfield Union. Eleonora Duso was incomparable, declares the Detroit Free because “there was nobody, in the latter part of her life at least, with whom to rate her; individuality marked her course; she was an_artist_par exeellence,” and “her passing, writes finis to a career that will continue to {illumine the pages of theatrical history when most of those now in the foreground have been forgotten.” This oponion is in- dorsed by the Savannah Press. While other great actresses have bad their imitators, the San Francisco Bulletin believes “Duse has none, and could bave none, for the reason that her greatness was not a matter of gesture, deportment, voice inflection or any similar detafl upon which the imitator could séize,” because “it was of the spirit, and the spirit is not to be duplicated”; in- faot. “she -was great as an actress because she was great as a woman and knew how to give her audiences freely of herself. T g The Baltimore Sun points out that “at twenty Duse was a star, and at thirty-five she was & world figure— 80 great that Bernhardt was jealous of her,” and the Sun asks, “Is there greener laurel™ Comparing these great actresses, the Springfield Re- publican holds that “Mme. Duse simed at beauty, Mme. Barnhardt at force— each in different ways embodied orig- tive conceptions of ey g e 1ite likeness, Mme. Bernbardt for striking _effect” The Sloux City Journal suggesis “her American- suc- cesses were not, perhaps, as great-as were Bernhardt's, for the reason that she did not appear here as fre- quently.” Before 1900 her chief pride, erhaps her most notabls character- b 1o the Richmond News of every artificial aid in her art” returned to the theater a white- haired woman, who _insisted upon m:‘\u (ha‘ roles nlu Yyoung Elglx: makeup, continnes . the Paul Dispatch, thk-h says “her vital- 18'. her dominating quality, recon- ciled the discrepancy—everywhere the verdict was that she was one of the immortals of the theater.” The Oak- land Tribune mentions that “it is given to few who have suceeeded and aged to return to scenes of triumph and find that love and praise and ap- plause remain, but Duse did this, and, baving done it, it is probable that she n;‘et d“fi M:nm To lhg eng “her style, her method, her finis have been Dwemserved as surely breathed life,” asserts the New York: World. Mme. Duse, as the supreme tragedienne of her day, thé Lansing State Journal claims, lived as she iraesty ana Gareqmies over! "Bo: t an ! 2 cause, “she leazned the deepest meas- ures of life's sordidness in_a tragio marriage and in her love affair with D’Annunsxio,* ths New York Sun re- calls. The Sun believes that a wom- an’s devotion was never “more -out- raged than was hers when, after a soldier's promisa, D’Annunsio told the intimate story of their relationship in ‘Il Fueoo'.” Yet from all her dis- illusions, the Newark News declares: “She took flight to purer worids and found in art the 'satisfaction life] denied her * ¢ ® So ghe passed across the stage, she dis- solves into s radiant mist—solitary, stataly, sad™ ¥ ‘Whatever her final place in the great catalogue of the muses; the Des Moines Register feels “the dignity. and grace with which she sustalned the part of & waman abandoned must win her a place with Heloiss and Griseida and all the women Who have hercically borne the-'meann of men” After all, what we shall re- member, the Milwaukee Jéurnal con- cludes “is that Duse, the actress, when she came back to us, so wan and weak that her voice could nat be heard by half the sudience, still bad the power to thrill the thousands who could ses, but not hear—that alone proved her greatvess.” Al the San Antonio Light N A as some others of her profession who ‘Wwere more often and prominently in the public eye, -it insists “she was one of the great dramatic artists of all timo—her death s a great loss to_the world" ThedPh}ttst;ur::‘ = agrees “ fame and art leap o bounds of nationalism.” b ~The North Window BY LEILA MECHLIN “We do not 8o much criticize works of art as endure their criticism of ourselves,” says Frank Jewett Mather, Jr, In his essay on *“The Art of Arthur B. Davies” one. of several essays in-a superb volume on this painter just issued by the Phillips Memorial Gallery. Duncan Phillips, in his foreword to the volume, char- acterizes Mr. Davies as “the most in- av of living artists.” ' It is per- haps because of his extraordinary in- dividuality that he is so little under- Stood. Prof. Mather himself confesses that on first contact with A. B. Davies' work he failed in apprecia- tion, and there are other crities of distinction who have had similar ex- périence. 1In fact, there is possibly no painter of our time who is so liable to be misunderstood and whose work at'the-aame time would seem to in- vite and reward exposition. Among painters—indeed, among all artists—there is a tendency toward scorn of the written word concern- ing art, for they, better than others, recognize the fact that a work of art must eventually speak fo' itself. Undoubtedly there is much written out art which is of little worth, but such analytical writing as is found in this recently issued Phillips pub- lication No. 3 is of the utmost value, offering real enlightenment {o the layman who follows the by-paths of art and sympathetically interpreting for such the intent of the artist. * ¥ ¥ ¥ Perhaps no living painter ever re- osived at the hands of his cotem- poraries a flner tribute than this monumental volume. The book is a symposium; six well known authors have collaborated in its production, each furnishing a chapter. Among the authors are three of our leading American art critlcs and essayists— Royal Cortisson, Frank Jewett Mather, jr., and Duncan Phillips. Two of the ‘contributors are Dwight Wil- liams, who was Mr. Davies' first teacher of artistic principles and practice, and Gustavus A. Eisen, who was his fellow student of ancient art. The sixth contributor is Edward W. Root, son _of Eilhu Root, and pro- fessor of fine.arts at Hamilton Col- lege, Clinton, N. Y. It was the pur- pose of these authors “to lay a foun- dation for future orities to build upon; to offer a starting point for the evolution of world opinion about Arthur B. Davies.” * x % % Thers are two paintings by Arthur B. Davies now to be seen in the Cor- coran Gallery of Art in a special exhibition lately set forth. 'Others are to be found at the Phillips Memo- rial Gallery; forty are reproduced;in connection with these essays in the Phillips publication. From these and from a passing acquaintance with other works shown from time to time in the Corcoran Gallery’s biennial ex- hibitions, in which Mr. Davies has invariably been represented, one may follow {ntelligently the critics’ lines of argument and pleasurably com- prehend the varying modes by which each in turn develops his theme. Those who have found Davies dificult of comprehension may in the pages of this book learn why, and at the same time acquire patience toward the painter and themselves. It is as well to know why one does not like something as why one does. * £ x * Mr. Phillips tells us that “the type to which Davies.belongs is that of the alchemist, whose imagination is always speculative and whose re- search {s always romantic The yearning to do something never done before is the besetting passion. Thie searcher, whether ‘hé bs poet, musi- [<ian, sculpter or painter; eannot rest until he has achieved beauty of some new and vaguely apprehended kind. What matters it to him if in his 'groping, tentative experiments- he is. incomprehensible to the rest of us? He, takes a positive pleasure in be- ing difficult of access, and he even builds himself a wall around the en- chanted garden of his dreams and makes it steep and insurmountable with personal eccentricities in some of his incarnations, but with techni- cal mannerisms in most cases, some. times suggesting madness, but only to the matter-of-fact.” * % ok % That there is a kinship between Davies and the early Italian masters all of the critics who have joined at this time in paying tribute seem to recognize. Royal Cortissoz safd: “When I first encountered the work of this painter it immediately awoke in me memories ot Plero di Cosimo,” and adds, “I saw in him a belated ohild of the renaissance, a lover of beauty, a man of imagination.” And Edward Root remarks that “a com- parison botween the work of Davies and_ that ‘of Botticelli is inevitable" Almost_every one finds, and most particularly in Mr. Davies' earlier paintings, great beauty in interpreta- tion of landscape, beauty of a class cal type, recalling not only the back- grounds of the early Italian primi- tives, but the cotemporary works of Mecnard, the great Fremch painter of our own time, who doubtless de- rives from this same source. It is the introduction of figurés in these landscapes—nudes, strangely unre- lated—which Seem frequently - the stambling block to understanding, yet Mr. Root claims that Davies is seen at his best in his rhythmical combi- nations of many figures, the grace- ful complexity of some of which he admirably describes ~as _follows: “Bodies spin like tops on diverging axes, legs rise and fall in barbaric unison, lifted arms toss hither and thither in stimulating oppositions, limbs flow Into torsos and torsos into Ilimbs, slender waists bend outward, heads are gathered into clusters and feet touch feet” * ¥ * % Arthur B. Davies was born in Utica, N. Y. in 1862, of Weish descent, and to his Celtic strain of ancestry some of his -biographers seem to feel is attributable his indomitable energy leading to sucoess. Mr. Root llkens his painting to_the poetry of Yeata According to Dwight Williams he ‘was apparently a perfectly normal boy, who early developed a fondness for sketching and an iInterest in art. According to this blographer, “he was ever bright, sunny and attractive, with a keen sense of humor, a de- lightful companion,” and such, ac- cording to his comrades-0f today, he still remains. The lyric quality of the landscape fn the Mohawk Valley wherein. he up 18 thought to have strongly [ifuencea his art. From the eariest time the way seeméd cleared for him toward accomplishment in his chosen fleld. The Chicago Art Instituté may claim him as a pupil. He studied also, however, at the Art Students’ League in New York, and began his professional career as an illustrator for the St Nicholas magasine and other publica- tions. Benjamin Altman, the merchant, of New York, who was also an art collector, at the solicitation of the late ‘William ‘Macbeth, the art dealer, made it possible for Mr. Davies to go-to Italy and continue his studies there. From his personal appearance, we aré told, Arthur B. Davies ‘might be mis- takén for a strict young lawyer er col- lege professo: He has retained in his fiftieth year “the alert and buoyant grace of youth': his glance is keen and penetrating. He is, according to Mr. l’hflm the intellectual rather than the nctive type of original geniu: alert to all that is, has been ani ‘will be; but he is also a dreamer of dreams—a - painter of - allegories: ‘Theso dreams are sometimes a bit incomprehensible, and the titles he lves them are frequently fantastic, ut there is undoubtedly a reaching out toward the eternal—a -desireto transcend material things, to get be- yond cearthly bounds.. This alone, as Mr. Cortissoz Bays, gives him “a’re- markable . slngularity ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN Q. Please state when horse cars were taken off Pennsylyania avefiue? —C.S. R. A. The Washington and Georgetown Raliroad Company, now the Capital Traction Company, first abandoted the use of horses and adopted & ca- ble. motive power on its 7th street line, April 12, 1890, and on its Penn- sylvania avenue line and its 14th street line on August 18, 1892. After the burning of the power house of the Capital Traction Company, and while that company was substituting electric cars for the cable cars, horses were again used on Pennsylvania ave- nue and on 14th street, but the horses were again discontinued on Pennsylvania avenue on April 20, 1838, and on 14th street on Yebruary 37, 1898. This was the last use of horses on street railroads hcre. .__What is a telephone city?— whi, = A. Telephone companies divide cit- ies into sections, each with several thousand telephone subseribers. Each section is a telephone city, has its own central office and a name such as “Columbla” or “Potomac” to desig- nate it. When a number is called that is not within the same telephone city, the local central connects with a trunk line which leads to a central office in the proper telephone city. There connection is made with the subscriber wanted. Q. Can a player that has been giv- en six bisques use more than one on a hole?—J. A. A. The American Golfer says that a stroke bisque is one that a player may apply as he sees fit. If he chooses to take more than one of his allowance on one hole he is entitled to do so. Q What breed of cattle holds the milk-producing record and what breed the butterfat record?—G. L. D. A. Both the butterfat record and the milk-producing record have been held. for the past three years by the Holstein Friesian breed. Q. What is the best season of the year to take a trip down the Ohio and* Mississlppi Rivers in ‘a canoe? —R. G, S. A. The .weather bureau says that, all things considered, it is probable that the fall months would be the most satisfactory to make the trip in auestion. The danger of severe storms is 1éss at that period of the year and the waters are usually at moderate stages. Q. What book has been called ““The Bible of the Romantic Reforma- tiop”?—A. R. D. . A. This name is applied to “The Reliques of Ancient English Poetry.” Q. Is there any way of estimating the number of women in this country who do laundry work for a living?— L W. T A. Census figures for 1920 show 120,715 washwomen em; in laundries and 396,756 not in laundries. Q. Is there a town in_the Klon- dike named Flat?>—C. H. M. A. There is a town in Alaska by this name. It has a post office, but malil is restricted in winter months 1t .may be located ¢n.the map by 63 “degrees “north latitude and 138 degrees west longitude, Q. In what states is the old-fash. icned curfew Jaw enforced?—W. A A. There are ro states im tne Union where the curfew as it wi known in the early days-is enforced Formerly, the curfew was sounded as ‘a signal for all fires and lights ty be put out. This was because heat was obtained from open MHreplace and -the measure was regarded necessary for the safety of the com munity in order to prevent fires. A cording to Bouvier's Dictionary, sorm states have enacted legislation In re gard to the -curfew, but it is used generally as a convenient method « letting the Inhabitants know wha time®of night it is. Q. Has science decided wheth or not there are any sex difference: in regard to intelligence?—>M. M. A No such sampling of the &dult female population has ever been mar As was afforded by the draft and w are not in a position to compare t average adult man or woman in rc gard to intelligence. Infelligenc tests given to boys and girls si that in tests calling for quick, curate work girls have on the averag slightly surpassed the boys of t same age. This may be due to fact that girls mature at an carl age than boys. According to inet tests,-boys and girls average almos the same year by vear. .The co women ofi the Alpha test score o the average a few points Jower college men, 'but this may_ be due t the fact that the Alpha’ test w framed for men and includes sut that are outside women's interests present there is little evidence of any significant differencé betweer the sexes on this point. Q. When was the first peace mo ment?—A. W. Z. A While suggestions of a mos ment toward peace are to be found in classical literature and in writings of the earlier churchmen, the first ef- fort to d world peace was ated by the King of Bohemia | 1462. He advanced a plan for a fed- eration of Christian nations, having an international parliament to dis- cuss matters df eommon interest and a tribunal, backed by international military forces, to hear and decide all disputes between natfons. Q. What were star shells™D. T A. Star shells were Roman candies shot from Very signal pistols. Theso shells were used for signaling and for lighting up, “no man's land” night. Q. When was the first aerial ma Qelivery in the United States?—L. T. ¢ A The Post Office Department sa that the first serial mall del made in the Upited States tool plas in September, 1911, when the first bag of mail was delivered to th Mineols post office. = Postmaster Ger eral ¥. H. Hitchcock sent the ma and E. L Ovidgten, pilot, delivercd (Let_The Star Information Bure: Prederic J. Haskin, director, 1220 North § Capitol street, onower your questions There is no charge for this service oept 2 cenis i siamps for returm po tage.) WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE Brown University, at Providence. will bestow an honorary degree of LL D. on Masanao Hanihara’ Japa- nese ambassador to the United States, on June 18. The distinction is not withont significance at the presedt moment. It takes of-added interest from the fact that Bfown is Secretary Hughes' alma mater, which made him a doctor of laws in 1906. The famous Rhode Island University prides itself upon the fact that no fewer than three celebrated American Secreta- ries of State ‘were graduated from there—Richard Olney, John Hay and Charles Evans Hughes. Ambassador Hanihara hopes the diplomatic situ- ation will permit him to receive his degree at Brown in person and not in absentia. He has been invited to deliver the annual commencement luncheon addresa. . * ¥ ¥ % Nicholas Murray Butler is rumor’s latest candidate-for the Republican vice presidential nomination. The suggestion is carrent in New York and is said not to meet with disfavor at the hands of the president of Co- lumbia University. Butler's recent assault on the elghteenth amendment, it appears to be thought, makes him so outstanding a “liberal” on the prohibition issue that he would adorn a ticket overweighted at the top with conservatism. Dr. Butler's friends say he is not a candidate now, but might change his mind when he sees how the wind is blowing off Lake Erie in June. It would not be the first time that Butler was in sight of the vice presidency. When James S. Sherman, Taft's running mate, died in October, 1912, leaving Republican electors to vote for whom they pleas- od, several electors in western states voted for Butler. He was New York's favorite son at the Chicago conven- tion in 1920, polling 69% votes. * ¥ X ¥ Champ Clark’s rulings as Speaker of the House are being invoked in con- nection with the pending controversy over Japanese exelusion. - The ques- tion has arisen as to whether a con- forence committes deliberating over bills passed, respectively, by House and Senate is empowered to fix an entirely new date for enforcement, or must fiz upen a date between two differing dates in the Houss and Sen- ate bills The House fmmigration bill would make Japanese exolusion effec- tive July 1, 1924 The Senate bill called for enforosment immediately upon enactment of the law. Accord- ing to the Champ Clark ruling, which has always ranked as a precedent. a conference committee cannot decide upon an entirely.new date, but must reach a compromise as between the poriods over which Honse and Senate differ. %k x How third-party preferences are running is indicated by the straw vote which the “National Farmer- Labor-Progressive” organization is taking, in anticipation of its con- ventton at St. Paul on June 17. Ons said to be typical of the - Zolt Ma? Lt Sohe 4 Borah, 118; Norris, 114; Amos Pinchot, 52; Wheelor, 49; Brookhart, 48; Ship- stead, 26; Frazier, 25:. Victor Mur- dock, 19; Ladd, Hopkins, §; Walsh (Montana), 3. . i * * ¥ % This observer has been getting some kindly remonstrances in con- nection with his habit of occasionally referring to the President as “Cool- idge,” and now and then as “Cal” or even as “Cautious Cal” or *Silent Cal” There is no reasbu to suppose Gt e Dreaifent himselt oblects to such familiarities. Some men con- der it'a distinotion to be publicly referred to exclusively by their gur- ‘names: It carries the suggestion Qh.,g they are so celebrated that they no longer. need identificatjon. After the British _army began distinghishin itself on the western, front the late Tora Northeliffe posted up-a motice in his newspaper offices reading: “The field marshal of the British armies in ¥rance should no“longer be re- .| ferred to im_our news or editorial columns as SIr Douglas Haig. He is bigger than that -He is to be de- scribed henceforwardsimply as Haig As for “Cal” being either familiar or disrespectful, the President prob bly- realizes -that a popular nick- narivs i worth fts welght in coz a-politician. _ “Teddy” almo Roosewdlt.” =~ ° * The American Protective Tar League doesn't intend.1o Jot the ancient battle cry of “protection” fade out of the lexicon of- the rising politi generation In accordance with old tradition, the league Is tabul ing the names of every “first voter it can get hold of, in order that may supply him or her with a primer on the venerable subject of Protectic vs. Free Trade. ¥ ¥ x ¥ A brand-new story is an achieve ment in Washington, but one i3 now making rounds which is destined to have national (and international) eir culation. As it is-being told wit gusto by some of Mr. Wilson's warm est admirers, the varn can here b set down without risk of giving o fense in those quarters. The President, it would appear, w on arrival in Heaven by “Woodrow,” said the great law- “they certainly knocked the spo's of your fourteen points, didn’t thev Quoth Wilson: “Yes, they did: hi: you ought to see what they're doi down there to your Ten Comman ments!” o % * % x % KGO, the Pacific coast station the General Electric Company at Oak 1and, Calif, plans to inaugurate ihe world's first “radio university.” Full courses “’in agricditure, letters sciences and even music are to be conducted “on the” &fr.” They will be supplemented by mail courses where desired. KGO has an estimated radlus of 4,000 miles, and air stu- dents may matriculate at any point within the sphere of operation. Noted California University professors will conduct the courses.and deliver | tures. The. University of Califo at Berkeley is understood to i partner in the KGO enterprisc. (Copyright, 1924.) New Horrors of War. Discovery Bids Fair to Put Oid Weapons in Discard. To the Bditor of The Star: These .many years science and in- vention have tmade war more and more <costly, both in buman life and hard cash. In 1918 our chentical warfare service was by Congress allotted 48,000 men, and $100,000,000 was the appropriation for its use. Sixty-three poison gases with fmpossible names, but twenty-six being deadly, were sctually used in the late world war. Now comes Mr. Grindell Matthews an English scientist, the discoverer of a_“certaln invisible ray” which causes telephones, wireless or any other 4 electric apparatus to ceage to function It will e films which, when thrown on a sereen, will simultineously make audible the voices of the actors. Matthews further gave a demonstra- ‘tion “that it would &top motor engines, cause gunpowder to_ explode, or light t is very simple” he concluded, “but Ixannot give details, for I should be a traitor tb my country if 1 gave any indication of how it is done’™ ‘When engines of battle-ships and battle planes can be stopped by radio- activity, when powder magazines can be exploded, on land-or at sea, by this supreme force, the era. of militarism will be.necegmarily one of the night- mares of the past. Mars is moribund, maimed or mur- Wilk interest electricians to know mlmkesé' réstiits were obtained sing about a quarter of a kilo- wate ‘Ho ‘adgus “Iis possibiities: nre’ boundless, and us yet 1 cannot say what we can or cannot do with it. As Sooh as postible ‘w# are moving out into the country, where we can experi- ment freely without dangef (o life or property.” Verily the world does move! EDWARD BERWICK. )