Evening Star Newspaper, August 8, 1924, Page 6

- HE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. FRIDAY.........August 8, 1924 THEODORE W. NOYES. . . . Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Ofice. 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. “New York Oftice: 110 Tast 42nd St. Chicago Otfice: Tower Buildin Turopeuss Oice: 16 Regent 8t.,London, Eaglend. The Evening Star. with the Sunday morning edition, s delivered by carriers within the city af 60 cents per month: daily onls, 43 cents ‘per month: Sunday ovly. 20 cents’ per mouth. Orders may be sent by mall or tele- Phone Main 5000. Collection is made by c riers at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday..1 yr., $8.40: 1 mo., 70¢ Daily only .......15¥r.,$6.00;1mo.,50c Sunday only 1yrl$2.49: 1 mo.. 20¢ All Other States. Daily and Sunday.1 yr., $10.00; 1 mo., 83¢ Daily only ... $7.00; 1 mo,, 60c Bunday only . $3.00; 1 mo., 25¢ s is exclusively entitled | to the e for republication of all news dis- Patclies credited (o It or not otherwise credited v this paper und also the local news pub- Dished here All rights of publication of special di: ‘hes hereil 1 . 0il Scandal in the Campaign. Last Was the ment Winter subject when the ofl scandal of nation-wide daily sensational develop wus generally believed that form the principal topic of in the campaign and the chief weapon of offense by the Demo- | crats Republican party. | As weeks dragged on. however, | the scandal seemed to pall upon the people. 1t was protracted with unim- portant and irrelevant side issues. Changd personnel in the adminis- effected. special counsel secured to probe and to the limit the law to right the wrongs that fiwd been done and to punish wrong- Other matters ¢ up for ation, other questions were und the oil scandal gradually nto the background of history. day Mr. Butler. chairman 1 Republican national committee 1etarked group of newspaper that little would be heard of the o1l scandal during the campaign; that the people were too busy and intent upon things of present moment. This ged as oo rosy a Mr. Davis gave Democratic rally at! that that party is go- ing to be roush on the Republicans | during the campaign and is going to | and » “Hon- | in government. of fact. it was Gov. the first cue. In his: own chastised the Repub- lican administration for the oil scan-| dal and other disclosures brought out | Ly Senate investigations last Winter. Mr. Davis, in following, said that he nd his associates in the Democratic organization feel that it is a duty to sce that their Republican friends arg not afflicted with failing memory od that subject. This sort of campaign necessarily will personalities. It was hoped that there would be no person- alities in this campaign, but that, it would seem, is not to be escaped. There will be a calling of names. There will be a rehash of scandalous and, in some parts, slanderous allega- tion against living and, possibly, dead persons. It remains to be seen how far such a campaign will affect the public judgment. it be expected that the La Follette organization will also assail the Republican administration on the score of the oil leases. It was Sena- tor La Follette himself who really started the inquiry with a resolution introduced long before the beginning of the actual investigation. It is hardly likely that he will forego the pleasure, if not the protit, of an oc- casional, and perhaps a frequent, blast on this subject as he warms up to the campaign. com- and ments it it would discussion against the the tration was wert of docrs. me conside framed. went uther mer was at once 2 challe view. 1 yesterday notice a4t u Foughkeepsie is as its nei slogan a Smith who matter Zave he it speech of involve a may Gompers Bidden to Clarksburg. Mr. Gompers is coming to be the sought-after man of the hour. He has disclosed how Candidate Davis tried to get in touch with him in New York immediately after his nomina- tion and, failing, then tried to have him submit a list of the things that organized labor desires. Then a spe- cial effort was made 1o get him to use his influence to have the A. F. of L. indorse the Democratic candidate. That failed. Now, with the action of the A. F. of L. and the correspondence between its president and former Sec- retary Wilson fresh in the public mind, it develops that the Democratic national committee has extended to him through the Clarksburg local com- mittees in charge of the ceremonies an urgent invitation to attend the notification there next Monday. No intimation has yet been given whether Mr. Gompers will accept. It is hardly likely that he will be pres- ent. He has gone so far in his letter to Mr. Wilson in rejecting Mr. Davis as unsatisfactory to organized labor that he can hardly put himself in the position of a special guest at the big Clarksburg party. 1t is doubtless gratifying to Mr. Gompers' soul to be thus an object of tender solicitude. Every beam of the spotlight is a | of independent organization units and { number of systems. Obviously | Nickel | Railroad. which is the official name of with muking the weather hot or cold. They hold that their duty is done {when they record conditions as they find them and foretell weather for the next 24 hours. There is @ famous al- manac which foretells weather for the next 12 months, but let us avoid an argument on that. The people at the Weather Bureau admit that they have no control over the weather, and some of the very wise men there doubt whether Washington weather can ever be brought under complete regulation by the National or District Govern- ment. It is believed that weather in the National Capital is as well regu- lated as weather in other cities, but it gives us many disappointments. The loyal Washingtonian will stand up for Washington weather, and can prove by statistics and quotations that it 1s better than New York. Boston. Chicago or St. Louis weather, but we sgree among ourselves that certain modifications might be made with ad- \antage. Those in general charge of the heating system show a disposition to turn on too much steam in August and to economize on coal in January. Another thing that Washingtonians will confess is that there is lack of proper regulation in the schedule of Swmmer storms. Under the present ngement these storms begin at 4 o'clock. interfere with ball games and cause wet feet and shirt walsts among | tired office workers during the home- golng jum from 4:30 to 6. If it could be arranged to have these storms be-| Zin at 10 am. and end just before the | lunch bell strikes it would be an ac | commodation to many citizens. The weather yesterday was decided- | Iy uncomfortable—confoundedly un- comfortable, one might say—and the weather today is not the most delight- ful of the year. but it is a change in the right direction. - ———— A Railway Merger. For several years it has been ac-| cepted that an effective way to bring the railways of the United States to the highest point of efficiency and economy of administration is through consolidations to reduce the number arr to establish a series of lare trunk systems. In 1921 the Interstate Com merce Commission drafted a tentative plan for such a consolidation, group- | ing the railroads of the country into a such a plan could be put into effect by compulsion. The railroads being | owned by the public, their union into | groups could only be effected by vol untary agreements. Such an agreement o have' been reacked in the case of the | Plate system and its affiliated lines, with some other mileage. Ac- | cording to the consolidations proposed the New York. Chicago and St. Louis not seems now the “Nickel Plate.”” will unite with the Chesapeake and Ohio, the Hocking | Valley, the Pere Marquette and the | Erie, making a single system with total assets of about $1.500,000.000 and a total trackage of 14,357 miles. As thus constituted it will be the fourth lurgest trunk-line system between the Atlantic coast and the Mississippi River, a direct competitor of the New York Central, the Pennsylvania and the Baltimore and Ohio. 1t will reach such cities as New York. Chicago. St. Louis, Clevelund. Detroit, Buffalo, Toledo, Peoria and Newport News, having two outlets the Atlantic seaboard. It is a noteworthy fact that this proposed consolidation, which has reached the stage of an agreement be- tween the controlling stockholders of | the various units, will be in direct op- | position to the 1921 plan of the Inter- state Commerce Commission. Under that plan the five railroads now pro- posed for the new Nickel Plate system were put into four different groupings, the Erie in system four, the Nickel Plate in system five, the Pere Mar- quette in system six and the B. &. O. and the Hocking Valley in system eight. These components, however, not only form a geographical unity. but they have, with the exception of the Erie, a present financial relation- ship. The Nickel Plate company now owns more than 150,000 shares of the C. & O., which in turn owns about 90 per cent of the Hocking Valley stock. Nickel Plate also owns more than 100,000 shares of Pere Marquette. If this consolidation is carried out as planned, and in the spirit of effi- ciency and economy which is contem- plated under the proposed general scheme of railroad mergers, it will ef- fect large savings in overhead ex- penses, will promote a more rapid movement of traffic and will in gen- eral be of more value to railroad users. The public hope is that out of these components will develop a strong. profitable, serviceable systeth. Should the merger be completed the Erie, 5o long the victim of financial misfor- tune, will have at last lost its identity as an independent railroad. —_———— It may be timely to remind the farming populace, now on the verge of obtaining ready money, that cau- tious consideration is due to the an- nouncement that Ponzi is out of prison. et on { fer in hot weather. hood. One report of the tragedy states that they had driven there to look at the scene of the earlier accident. In all likelihood this crossing pre- sents certain physical difficulties. In both cases the automobiles were stalled on the tracks. That means it was probably necessary to change pace, and maybe to shift gears in ne- gotlating it. Evidently, also, it is not a protected crossing. No mention is made of gates or of a watchman. There are probably certain warning lights that may or may not be visible to persons approaching in the night. There may be a bell, the ringing of which may not be heard by those in the motor ca In short, this is probably & typical rural-station grade- crossing with no safeguards. Within 24 hours it has cost six lives. The warning of one tragedy does not teach its obvious lesson of care- fulness. The crossing remains an open invitation to road users to pass. Re- sponsibility cannot be removed from the railroad company and the local authorities because of the failure of victims to observe the primary rules of caution in the face of a danger of which they may be unaware. ———————— Dog Days and Bad Dogs. We are hearing a good deal about dogs, and it may be that there to give a dog a bad name when he does not deserve There are things to considered. These are “dog days.” The period ap- proximates our July 3 to August 11. Modern astron- omers say that it is accidental that the conjunction of the rising of Sirius and our sun occurs at the hot season in our latitude. About the time of greatest heat the ancients noticed that normally good dogs went “mad,” and attributed this to the influence of the big bright star Sirius, which they called the great dog star. It is believed that there is no relation between the dog star and mad dogs. The probability is that nmany dogs become vicious in hot weather because of suifering from heat. Many dogs do not get enough water In hot weather, and it may that they go “mad” for want of a cool drink. Many dogs are weak from un- derfeeding and cannot stand the heat. There is no way to stimulate and en- lighten some ignorant cruel per sons to intelligent kindness to animals. and & dog which has a cruel or indif- ferent master might as well be put gently and painle: to sleep with gas Many ‘“vicious” dogs are being disposed of in this way. There are dogs so much cared for that they suf- Dogs fed till the are uselessly fat, and dogs stuffed with unseasonable food, perhape turn vicious because of suffering which ex treme heat causes. Overfed men suf- ter from heat, and it may be that over- fed dogs also suffer. That may be the explanation why some normally good pet dogs turn vicious at this time of year. vicious is a tendency e registry be or o Much flexibility is possible in ar- ranging weather comparisons which may relate to various dates and sea- sons in the past. This represents an. other wise provision of nature. In climatic stress there is peculiar relief in knowing that some kind of a record has been broken. ————————— 1t might win votes for Mr. Charles Duawes to have his classic composi- tions played in Boston. It may be doubted whether west of this cultured point his music would exert as much appeal as his rhetoric —_———————— As time passes new interests de- velops. It is not so long ago that no journal thought it would be possible to come out without a first-page ref- erence to Teapot Dome. ————— While not bragging about the mat- ter, Lawyer Darrow must be credited with representing a genuine case of supermentality. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Born Lucky. A man is lucky—so they say— Who keeps advancing day by day And comes at last into his own By toiling faithtully alone. A man is lucky—if he's born With courage that will let him scorn The gambler’s frenzy for the game The demagogue's rude clutch at fame. A man is lucky if he knows How to keep silence toward his foes As he strives on with tasks immense. It's luck to have both heart and sense. Indications. “The willingness of great men to be photographed indicates great good na- ture.” “Yes.” answered Senator Sorghum: “it indicates good nature, but not al- ‘ways artistic taste.” From Bin to Bakery. The farmer has the wheat, perhaps. And that is very nice. But how about the city chaps ‘Who haven't quite the price? History repeats itself. Even the gigantic oil sensation could not pre- vent sugar from resuming its ancient status as a subject for investigation. source of joy to him. He has never dodged it heretofore and will not begin now to do so. Having been invited to Clarksburg in the face of the Atlantic City pronouncement of organized la- bor, and his disclosure of the futile effort of the candidate to confer with him in July, he will be brightly il- lumined wherever he may be next Monday. ——————— His references to La Follette would indicate that while Samuel Gompers is moved tc approval and admiration he is not hypnotized. The Weather. Though it would be taking a liberty with English to say that this is brac- ing or invigorating weather, it is an improvement over sizzard conditions of other days this week. Everybody feels a sense of thankfulness for the improvement, and would gladly give thanks to any one deserving credit for bringing about the change. The people &t the Weather Bureau would deny that they have anything to —_— e The recent hot wave was intense enough to take people’s minds off the immediate necessity of laying in next winter's coal supply. ——e— An Open Way to Death. Jud Tunkins says the world owes him a living, but his trouble comes in trying to hold it up for motor cars and cabaret entertainments. Enchantment of Distance. Again the planet Mars draws near. We'll all investigate. ‘We need relief from problems here ‘Which for attention wait. Our fellow beings on this earth As if to illustrate that warnings mean nothing whatever, three men living *t New Brunswick, N. J., drove their motor car upon a grade-crossing at Voorhees Station of a Pennsylva- nia branch line, the car stalled and was struck by an express and all three men were killed. They were, presumably, familiar with the scene. They knew there was a grade-crossing and that trains were operated at fre- quent headway, and they were well aware of the fact that just about 24 hours earlier three other persons were killed at that very same point. The earlier victims were from Oakland, Calif., and Philadelphia. They might not have known about the crossing. The New Brunswick people, however, should bave known about it, because As yet we scarcely know— Their possibilities of worth— Their gladness or their woe. “Has Mars a people,” we demand, “Like us in fears and hopes?” ‘We disregard the folks at hand And grab our telescopes. Retribution. “Fire water demoralized man.” “The Injun is avenged,” declared Uncle Bill Bottletop. “Bootleg licker is doin’ even worse for the white the red “It's best to make a habit of bein’ agreeable,” said Uncle Eben. “De per- son dat’s never polite ‘ceppin’ when he wants sumpln’ never ketches any: THE EVENING ST. of time from | | the last males of their line. AR, WASHINGTON, [ RUSSIA SINCE LENIN The truth about that country as it ARTICLE VI Bolshevist aims to discard the “old bourgeols, patrlarchal, individualistic system of family life” and replace it with the new Soviet collectivism, with communal houses, kitchens and dining rooms, communal rearing of children and new communistic family relations are not working out In practice as well as on paper. The new order, ac- cording to Dr. Semashko, the Soviet minister of health, is working well in the big de luxe hotels of Moscow and |elsewhere, taken over for this pur- pose, but a lot of benighted Commun- ists, he laments, still prefer homes of their own and the non-Bolshevist population is not adjusting itself with uny grace or willingness to the new order. Children, so the up-to-dute Bolshe- vist doctrine runs, must and should not be brought up’in the family, not only to free the parents for the serv- lce of the state, but also for their own 800d. because participation in family life develops in the child “a narrow egoism” and prevents him from tuk- ing. as he should, his proper place in organized community life from the age of threc. Thus only is he sure o grow up u good, well balanced Bol- shevist of the future Thus prea¢h the wives of Bolshevist great to the Russian monalty. Read Mrs. Semashko, of the Soviet minister of hcalth how she is bringing up her three: have no particular methods eir education. | am always at the office. rarely at home and see them but seldom.” I want them to be inde- pendent. Unfortunately, the youngest boy. 5 years old, is sickly and I have had to’devote somewhat more atten- tion to him and have not been able to send him away to one of the collec- tive children's institutions.” Or Mrs. Olga Kamenev, wife of the vice premier and herself a bulwark of the commission which Is reorganizing Russian education on Bolshevist lines: ~ “My husband and I are so |occupica that we see our child of three only at meals; hence his impres- sion probably is that we do nothing excepl eat. He comes, I fear, far too much under the influence of his nurse, uch an individualistic education is shocking and utterly wrong, but I | don’t feel justified in sending him to an institution and depriving some or- | phan, or child whose parents cannot afford a nurse, of a place there. 1 hope that the coming extension of the network of children’s homes will en able ¥s to place him in onc of them.’ Busy With Other Children, Wadame Kalinin, who is chairman of the Commission to Combat Child Degtitution, occupied with the PlIghL of other children in her official work that, she says, she can pay little | attention to the education of her 10- | year-old son. She sees him on in the morning or at night after he has gone to sleep. Her daughter is already at a school, being cducated | with the children of actual workmen, a8 she believes the children of ali higher Bolshevist officials should be. Heretics to the cause are Mrs, okolnikov, wife of the minister of finance. who is devoting her entire personal attention to her year-old baby and scorns the thought of scnd- the com- wife on *F about is so France has not basked in such prosperity in years as that which she | is now enjoying. The ministry of la- bor reported early in July that there were only sixteen registered unem- ployed persons in Paris and fewer than 2,000 in the whole of France. To keep her throbbing industries going and to supply the general needs of trade and commerce, France is im- porting labor, mainly from Ita Spain and Belgium. Wages are in keeping. The only fly in the eco- nomic ointment is the dearness of living. But the Frenchman doesn't mind, as long as he has the money, and of that there is a plenty in circu- lation. ~ Paris presents the light- hearted, debonair aspect of old. Few scars of war are visible upon her beautiful face. Now and then you sce a one-armed man, grim reminder of the glorious and unhappy days of war, but, considering_the terrific or- deal she underwent, France is expe- riencing an amazing renaissance. * £k *x One of the veterans of the Ameri- can foreign service in Kurope has just been retired under the new dip- lomatic and consular laws—Alexan- {der M. Thackara, since 1914 consul general in Paris. Mr. Thackara, whose | wife was a daughter of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, has completed an uninterrupted period of thirty years the consular service. He was at Berlin before the war, and, previous to that station, at Marseille. Thack- ara, now a veferan of 76 years, is a graduate of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, but, after a few years at sea, became a' Philadelphia business man. * Kk ¥ Senator Robert Hughes Le Roux, who sits in the French upper cham- ber for the departments of the Seine and Oise, is the author of a new law designed to perpetuate the family names of soldiers of France who were In case a father lost his only son in the World War—there are thousands upon thousands of such cases—and has a daughter or daughters, these under the Le Roux law are permitted to attach their father's name to the name they take when they marry. The only surviving son of Senator Le Roux was Kkilled in battle, and a mar- ried daughter is now known as Mme. Le Roux-Bonmaison. The senator is married to an American woman, for- merly Miss Bessie MacGinniss of New York, who is well known in the Eu- ropean literary world under the pen name of B. Van Vorst. * x k * One gets contradictory reports of what really happened to the American Olympic teams at Colombes. For a week and more the British prese has over- flowed with accounts of the “persistently hostile” treatment accorded the Yankee athletes. The French version is that the Americans were merely the victims of rudeness on the part of a minority of hoodlums, who hooted, hissed and booed every time—and that was pretty regularly—there was an American first, second, third or fourth in any of the stadium events. The French concede that France has its full percentage of rowdies, especially in a sporting crowd, and declare that insults to America ‘were offered exclusively from such quar- ters. Most unbiased American authori- ties confirm this view. They say it would have been asking a good deal of human nature to expect the French crowds to explode with enthusiasm ‘whenever the Stars and Stripes were run up in token of a U. S. A. win. The French band was under orders to play the national anthem of each country that scored a first. One day “The Star led Banner” was played six times. Six the crowd had to stand up and do us honor. That sort of thing can get to be a tiresome performance, and now and then the French crowds succumbed to fatigue. * ¥ * % ‘What did rankle in the French breast is today, in a series of uncensored articles by an observer who spent months in Russia studying conditions. BY SEYMOUR B. CONGER. ing him to a creche because the Rus- slan ones are not good enough, or Karl Radek, the quenched firebrand of the Third Internationale, who de- votes all his sparc time to giving his 10-year-old daughter a carefully individualized education in the home. Mrs. Sokolnikov, who appears o be a regular old-fashioned mother and who speaks of “a_mother's instinct” In the way In which the more Spartan ministeriai wives mention the Bolshe- vist text books on rearing children in- stitutionally, even hopes that Father Sokolnikov may soon be less burdened by the currency and budget stabili- zation, 8o he will have a little time to devote to his children, of which there are six. But most of the prominent Bolshe vist femininists advocate communal collective rearing of children in insti- tutions and regard bringing up chil- dren in the family as undoubtedly harmful, since, as explained in a sym- posium for mothers in the newspaper Evening Moscow, there is no such thing as an ideal family. If the family is uncultured, the child's de- velopment is unhealthy and stunted, while the environment of a cultured family tends to make the child or children deep individualists and ego- ists, with little social instinet. stead they should be ‘“creched” in in- fancy and sent to the organized chil- dren’s collective communities at the age of three. Here they should re- main till the age of 14 or 15, going on then to a labor educational institu- tion o learn u trade or profession for ife O1d I1deaxs Sarvive. “Unfortunately,” Dr. Semashko la- ments, “the survival of old ideas and prejudices is one of the weak spots in our Soviet endeavors.” Family life, like religion, the property instinct and other factors of pre-Bolshevist Rus- sian life, is proving harder to eradi- cate and destroy than the Bolshevist theorists had counted upon. And the new order is not always proving su- perior to the old. The once mighty Trotsky, who has been talking to Moscow audfences on chemical warfare, collective kitchens and woman out of the home or bait- Ing foreign governments. now that he fs no longer permitted to have a say about running the army or the coun- try, admitted in a speech that he had seen a far higher degree of comfort and convenience in working-class homes in the United States than ex- isted anywhere in Russia under the new order. He told how astonished he had been during his residence in New York at the household conven- lences found in working-class apart- ments and said that the dominant characteristics of American house- hold lifc were the high technique, coupled with a bourgeols individual- ism. “We “this must borrow,” he declared. technique from the Americans and incorporate it with our collectiv- ism, as expressed in _community houses for the urban population. com- munity kitchens and community din- ing rooms.” He said only in this way could this aspect of communism be made per- fect and the Russian women freed from all domestic tasks to devote themselves to political work in the cause of Bolshevism, bringing them- selves, their husbands, fathers and brothers to the higher ‘levels of en- lightened communism. . (Copyright, 1924, by Public Ledger Company.) PARIS OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. can athletes cut, in comparison with their European rivals. In the first place, they came in unparalleled numbers— some 300 of them. They arrived in a chartered ship: They were met at the Paris railway station by a fleet of high- powered limousines, owned by rich American residents. They were escort- ed in a cavalcade to the Chateau Roc- quencourt, near Colombes, which was American’ Olympic headquarters, whi their retinue of trainers and attendants was accommodated in adjacent and more or less luxurious barracks. Euro- pean athletes, the while, were on hand not only in immensely inferior numbers, but were domiciled in modest boarding house quarters. All these physical cir. cumstances, coupled with our invincible habit of winning nearly everything that came along, combined to depopularize the American cause & bit. * ok * Paris is crammed with Russian ref- ugees of the better class, including numerous aristocrats and officers of the old imperial army. A delightful and distinguished gentleman, who once was Russian military attache-in Washington, now fills an humble cler- ical position in the United States con- sulate general. Like others of his caste, he is persuaded that a new and better Russia will rise on the ruins which the Bolshevists are creating, and he is biding his time bravely and uncomplainingly against that da: Hundreds of Russian ex-officers are employed by KFrance in the Ruhr, where their executive experience has proved of great value in the superin- tendance of railway and -industrial operations. * ok % % Gen. Gouraud, France's one-armed war hero, who visited the United States in 1923 as the guest of the Rainbow Division, is now military governor of Paris. He has an unfail- ing welcome ready for members of the American expeditionary forces who call to pay their respects. Men like Foch, Joftre and Gouraud, though their opinion of war coincides with that of Sherman, and though their prayer is that France may be spared another sanguinary ordeal, are con- vinced that Germany plans a cam- paign of revenge at the earliest fea- sible moment. ~ What France never can get out of her mind when she con- templates the German peril is that on the other side of the Rhine lies a virile nation of 60,000,000, while France is still a country of 40,000,000 Inhabitants. The children of the Ger- mans who fought in 1914 are grown up now, and are just as numerous as ever they were, while France remains in the same state of relative inferior- ity. Frenchmen always have the Franco-German population propor- tions, with their discrepancy in favor of Germany, at the root of their cal- culations of what the future may hold. * ok ok % Although the tomb of France's Unknown Soldier, at the Arc de Tri- omphe, is the mecca of endless thou- ®ands of visitors, few more impres- sive ceremonies have taken place there than the one carried out by the American advertising men. They went to the arc on 4 Sunday morn- ing, headed by an Episcopal bishop from Texas. After the leader of the Gelegation had laid a perpetual wreath of bronze, entwined with the United States colors, on the.grave, the bishop asked the throng of Amer- icans—nearly a thousand of them— to kneel around the grave while they recited the Lord's prayer. The French who watched the impromptu scene were deeply touched by its spirit of reverence. The eternal lamp that burns at the head of the Unknown's resting place, symbolical of the in- extinguishable glory of the French army, makes a lively appeal to the American imagination. 1t is a di tinction to be permitted to “reviv the lamp, which never goes out but :fi‘m“ 1s allowed to dle down to In- | D. C, FRIDAY, AUGUST 8 1924. - BY C. E. TRACEWELL. When magazine covers look allke, And all the candy bars taste the same; When every child is a brat or a tike And every one else but yourself is to blame; When the whole wide world begins to pall, you need a vaci that's all! Why, tion, my lad, When women in street cars step on your toes, out of the aisles refuse to budge, And all the men you meet seem foes, even the dogs bear you a And you curse the heat and sigh for Fall— you need a vacation, that's all! my lad, When the fox-trot's swing no delights, And the cal's meow is a fearsome thing; When the day the nigh And_even the dickie birds won't sing, When you turn away from a game of ball, Why, you need a vacation, old man, that's all. more ure as boresome as There's a land where the sky deep, bright blue, . There's a strand where the splash and pl There's a place fa calling vou, Where there's happiness all of the livelong day! S0 get on the train, whatever befall, And go on vacation, my lad, that's all! xx v x Washington is is a waters away that is Now humor. Not the humor of the great parade, with its bands, horses, marching men, flags, but of the annual vacation, “linked sweetness long drawn out.” Looked at in prospect, the vacation period seems like a fair strand of sausag. veritable “hot dogs,” the last one small in the distant haze. In retrospect, of course, vacation will look different. Hundreds of Government clerks, though small be their salary. are hus- tling around these days, either on va- cation or planning one. Thousands of other workers here 100k with envy upon the 30 or days which fall to the average Government worker. Those who draw only two weeks' va- cation each year feel that the Govern- ment clerk is blessed with richness, in- decd, when it comes to the annual v cation. Then classification, efficien ratings. chief clerks, standing in awe before the big desks of the higher-ups, and all the other items of daily de- tmental life are forgot. * Back home” we are distinctly some- body. . “You are from Washington Smith will say “You seen the dent " We modestly admit we have. What the use of saving we saw him get into his automobile after the theater? * * x *x Governmeny clerks guing away on va- cation usually take trunks. Those who have but two weeks to stay at shore or mountains manage to get along in a couple of Getting everything in that ought to go is the first trial of vacation time. This sore burden begins some days before the time set for departure. Have you got a warm coat in? Warm coat— what on earth will you need a warm coat for? You don't know how cold it can get down at the seashore. O, don't 1?7 Well, it won't get cold finnug]\ for that heavy coat, I'm sure. Well, if vou get cold, now, don’t biame me. Well, if vou insist, I'll put it in the trunk, but it certainly does take up an awful lot of space. 3 The lotion for sunburn must be in- cluded. One of the chief reasons for a vacation, of course, is to work up a good tan. Gives one that outdoor look, you know. No one will adit this. but it is a fact. nevertheless. Else why all those birds lying on countless beaches along the coast? Yes, getting a tan is one of the real reasons for vacation, no matter how much any one disclaims it. Who has to work for the Test of the vear during the sunshine hours wants to look a bit like a he-man. Women, too, do_not mind sunburn s they used to. The lily-white maid < given way to the tanned creature with bobbed hair. SR Cioing on a vacation is as much a matter of mind as it is of pocket- book and destination. “The more & man denies himself the more he shall receive from Heaven," said Horace. Naked, T see the camp of those who covet noth- Fiorace was mot thinking of one- piece bathing suits, either. The Sum- mer camp he sought was the camp of the satisfied, a small number in the world then, but larger today. “If vou are content. you have enough to live comfortably,” Plautus declared. You aiso have enough to o on va- cation. in boliday old Tim Presi- a * ok k¥ The point is simply this: One does not have to leave Washington to spend a pleasurable and beneficial vacation. Change of scenery and air often is necessary, as in the case of the per- son -described in the verse (thank vou very much) at the head of this column. There is a large class of persons, however, who profitably might stay at home and save money. Two young people last Summer had the vacation of their lives right in the Zoo. Of all the unlikely places to spend a vacation the National Zo- ological Park might seem the most unlikely at first biush. This man and_his wife antedated the author who has recently brought out a book about a man installing himself behind the bars of a cage in a 700 and refusing to come out. This Washington couple, however, _did come out of the Zoo every evening. Fixing up a nice Junch, they would start for the park about 9 o'clock in the morning, taking along books and magasines. ~They had a hiking com- plex, and spent most of the morning walking through the Zoo grounds and adjoining Rock Creek Park. In the heat of the day they ate their lunch, afterwards reading and paying calls on their animal friends. Many of the furry and feathered creatures got to recognizing them. The vicuna daily waited for their ar- rival ok k% On their way home in the evening the couple would stop in a little gro- cery store and buy pears and gra- ham bread, which at this shop seem- ed better than at other places. Store owner and clerk served them with etio smiles that chimed in D thett hofiday numor. - eem to like us,” laughed the womas to & friend who knew the ore. owner. “"They’ think you are newlyweds, ltving ‘on pears and graham ' bread and dreams,” smiled the other. ‘Fhey had been married five years, however. The holiest of all holldays are those Kept by ourselves in silence and art; The sccret anniversaries of the heart. formed. Gen. Pershing thus lit the lamp when last in Paris. * Ok kK Taxicab riding in lightning-like, trim little cars is the favorite Yankee pastime in Paris, Fares begin at a franc, and you can take a long ride for 10 francs, which is only about 50 cents in real money. Tibs are vir- tually compulsory, but you can tour the Bois de Bologne for an hour, D87 S Beck st your notel for . totat be at otel for a expenditure of less than a dollar. | “cat meat, A fellow | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN Q. Are the Capitol, White House, Washington Monument and other Government buildings equipped with lightning rods?—A. L. C. A. The Monument and White House are o equipped, but the Capitol and Government buildings generally are not. The Monument lightning equip- ment consists of an aluminum cap on its peak. Q. What is the world's record for speed in an airplane?—J. H. A. The National Aeronautic As- sociation says that Lieut. A. T. Wil- liams, United States' Navy, holds the record. It was made on November 4. 1923, in a Curtiss D-12A 500 horse- power motor. The flight was made at Mitchell Field at Mineola, L. L, and the record speed was 266.59 miles per hour. Q. Does the fiscal vear close upon Erhe'rxame date in all of the States? A. Not only do the various States close their fiscal years upon many diffcrent dates, but in some cases the fiscal years of funds and accounts of the same State close on different dates. Q. Is it true that cats are classed as_Government employes and are carried on the pay rolls?—L. T. D. A. The value of cats to the postal service has come to be so well recognized that an annual appropria- tion is made by Congress for their maintenanc The reward is in which costs about $135 a year. Q. Please give the names of some of the London streets which are de- voted to one kind of business.—T. S. A. Fleet street is mainly devoted to the newspaper trade; Paternoster row is the headquariers of the book business; Downing street con- tains the government offices; Bow street has~ the celebrated police court; Holborn viaduct and Regent street are lined with fine shops; the Haymarket has many theaters and hotels; Bond street is the center of the jewelers' trade, while Pall Mall is noted for its handsome buildings and club life. Q. What does Chinese?—R. T. S, A. It is the Chinese word for dragon—the chief of the four super- natural beasts of Chinese legendary lore and of the 360 species of scaly reptiles. Q. What is the energy value of olive oll>—G. M. G. A. Olive oil is practically 100 per cent fat and has energy value of about 4,000 calories per pound. Q. Will Concord grapes produce grapes the third year after setting out>—B. C. 5 A. The Department of Agriculture says that it is possible for Concord grapes to produce fruit the third year, but that it is not good practice to fruit them so early. 1In general, the vine should be allowed to fruit somewhat in the fourth year and the first real crop may be expected in the fifth year. This depends to a large extent, how- ever. upon the soil and weather con- ditions. Q. “lung” . mean in Did President Grant veto a sol- diers’ bonus bill?—F. W. A. The bill was passed and sent to the President. He wrote the fol- lowing reply, which was not received by the House before adjournment, a pocket veto being recorded for it: “House bill No. 3341 is herewith re- turned without my approval. for the reasons, first, that it appropriates from the Treasury a large sum of money at a time when the revenue is insufficient for current wants, and this proposes further drain on the Treasury. The issue of bonds, au- thorized by the bill to a very large and indefinite amount, would seri- ously embarrass the refunding op- erations now progressing, whereby the interest of the bonded debt of the United States is being largely reduced. Second, I do not believe that any considerable portion of the ex-soldiers who, it is supposed., will be beneficiaries of this appropria- tion are applicants for it, but, rather, it would result more in a measure for the relief of claim agents and middlemen who would intervene to collect or discount the bounties granted by it. The passage of this bill at this time is mconsistent with the measures of economy now de- manded by the necessities of the country.—U. §. Grant Q. If the convolutions of the brain were smoothed out how much space would it cover?—V, D. C. A. The cerebellum, or brain proper has'a covering known as the cortex one-fifth of an inch thick. This is composed of six layers, which are alternate gray and white matter. I 18 closely packed in convolutions which, If straigitened out, would Cover 'a space of four square feet. Q. In auction bridge which side wins a rubber, the side that wins two games or the side which makes the most points?—I. C. M. .A. The rules of the Whist Club of New York say that the side which wins more points is the winner of the rubber. This is a change from the rule in force until 1920, whicl was that the side winning two game: won the rubber, this -making the expression “winning a losing rubber’ possible. Q. Who was manager of Jess Wil lard while he was champion?—E. O. A A. After Jess Willard became champion he never had a manager. Q. How were the people of the United States divided as to national ity at the time of the Revolutionar: War and in 18207—R. L. A. There is no record of the na tionalities of the inhabitants of th colonies. There were, however, most Iy British, Irish, Dutch and Germar with a few French, Portuguese anc Swedes. In 1820 immigrants from the United Kingdom were 5,024; Germans 968; French, 371; Spaniards, 139, witl small numbers of other nationalities O. What body of water is known a the “Tideless Sea?”" R A. This term is frequently appliec to the Mediterranean Sea, which ha- but a few inches of tide. Q. Why does a snake after it killed. wiggle till the sun goes down —F. H. C. A. In lower animals such as th: snake and the frog, the spinal cord is of more importance than the spinal cords in the higher orders of animal life, since in the former it influences the body motions more than the brain does. Ii is because of this fact tha the heart of the snake will continu. to beat after the head is severed fro the body. In fact there have beer cases when the snake was kept in u cool moist place that the heart was found to be beating 24 hours after ti head had been severed from the hod On the other hand. 1f the snake wei: to be left in the hot sun. the hea would stop beating within a fen minutes. Q. What did the bicycle policenar of Brooklyn do to get the name “Mil a-Minute-Murphy " —H. W. §, A. “Mile-a-Minute-Murphy” was - member of the Motor Cycle Corps i1 Brooklyn, and was so named because he was paced by a railroad train riding a mile in 60 seconds. Q. Is there anything to put on tools that will keep the rust off 7—W. B A. Dissolve one-half ounce of cai- phor in one pound of melted lard, re- move scum, add enough fine black lead (graphite) to give an iron color Clean the tools and smear with thi mixture. After 24 hours rub clea with soft linen cloth. In ordinar. circumstances the tools will not rust for months. Q. Wi of 1873 at was known as “The crime M. J. R. A. The so-called ‘crime of 1572 was the demonetization of silver Previous to this bimetalism had bee: the policy of the United States, vary ing little from that of Alexander Hamilton’s, which was the free and unlimited coinage of silver in tin ratio of 15 to 1. It was cause of u great political split, some acclaiming the measure and some denouncing it (Have you asked Haskin? He docs not know all the things that people ask him, but he imows people who do know Try him. State your question bricfly write plainly, and inclose 2 cents i stamps for return postage. Address Frederic J. Haskin, Director. The Stas Information Bureau, Twenty-first and C streets morthwest.) Editors Discuss Canada’s Experience With Prohibition Now that the Canadian province of Saskatchewan has followed the prov- inces of Quebec, Manitoba, British Columbia and Alberta in abandoning prohibition in favor of governmental regulation of the sale of liquor, and the province of Ontario is facing a plebiscite to be held in October, the press of the United States Is discuss- ing the probable effect of what is happening upon prohibition in this country. Canada, the Topeka Capital ex- plains, “has been trying prohibition and confesses that it has made a fail- ure of it, to the extent that several of the provinces have climbed off the water wagon. The claim was made that enforcement of the law had com= pletely broken down.” This paper believes, however, “if the law did break down, it was the fault of the Canadian officers and Canadian peo- ple, because we know here in Kansas that prohibition can be enforced if the officers are willing to do their duty and are reasonably efficient.” Those who would hall the Canadian defection as a defeat for prohibition, the Des Moines Register suggests, will do well to consider what the Free Press of Winnipeg says about the change for, “it hints that the people may as well get ready for the reaction that is bound to set in should the old abuses return.” The Register feels “the reaction will set in in all the provinces quickly enough,” be- cause “state sale of liquor is ng more a safeguard than saloon sale” and “in the end Canada will do just what we have done in the States.” * %k k As to the change of sentiment, the Springfield Republican points out that “economic factors are prominent, though not necessarily dominant,” for it refers to the statement of the Mon- treal Star that the Volstead act is “the most courageous piece of legls- lation and greatest social experiment ever made by a great nation, and concldues that “such an opinion ex- pressed in a non-partisan review of the Canadian liquor situation implies that however excellently administer- ed the Quebec act may be from & business point of view there is acute questioning regarding its social feas- ibility, even with the profits derive from catering to thirsty American At any rate, says the Brooklyn Eagle, “one fact stands out in the legisla- tion and in the referendum votes .of the Dominion of Canada—viz, that there is no room in Canada for the saloon as we used to know it in the United States. Outside of the British Islands, Anglo-Saxondom is almost a unit against the saloon. The experi- ence of humanity is against it. That even in Britain its days are numbered is @ reasonable conclusion.” Calling attention to the fact that all Canada except the maritime prov- inces will be in the liquor business if the wets carry the Province of On- tario, the Buffalo News thinks ‘“the Canadian authorities are not likely to be so helpful as they are now in ef- forts to suppress the booze smugglers. The wet provinces naturally will have no sympathy with a campaign in this direction. The more liquor they sell the greater their revenue. In the circumstances the United States au- thorities will have a difficult time mopping 'up along the far-flung bor- der.” Since Canada adopted prohibi- uonu-wum&ntouy-m the eighteenth amendment, the Springfield Union confident “the ‘reform’ has therefore been in operation a sufficiently long time to afford a reasonable opportu- nity to judge of its results, and it is not without significance that province after province should express a de- :llded preference in favor of regula on.” * ek On the other hand, the Kalamazoo Gazette does not attach any signifi cance tG the development, because “Canada’s liquor system has never been comparable to the one which ran riot in the United States previous to July 1, 1918. In a country where the saloon system was never allowed to become a sinister influence in the political and moral life of the popu- lation absolute prohibition may pos: sibly be regarded as an undue re- striction upon the free will of ths individual, but in America the indis- putable evidence of historical faci shows prohibition to be the protector, rather than the destroyer, of per- sonal liberty.” Whatever Canada may do, though every province repudiaty prohibition. the Pittsburgh Sun d. clares “it by no means follows th the contagion will spread to this country in such measure as to result in any early modification of the Vol- stead law.”" The Lansing State Jour- nal concludes that ‘“vafrving the eggs in the United States will be far more dificult than in Canada, and We are not yet satisfied that prohi bition cannot be complete, although it may take a generation or more to frec the rum slaves.” Mr. Firpo Returns. Strange to relate, the arrival of Luis Angel Firpo from his Argentine home has failed to arouse the degree of enthusiasm that had been expected. It must be taken into consideration, however, that a good many of the sport writers in the East are away on vacation trips at the present. Unti! they return sporting hash relating to Mr. Firpo will be served sparingly The chief purpose of his return en- gagement seems to be to fulfill a con- tract with Tex Rickard to meet Harry Wills. The_possibilities of another bout with Jack Dempsey also loom strong in Firpo's mind. The Ameri- can public will not take much stock in this chap unless it can bé shown that he is learning more about the boxing game than he knew on that ill-fated day when Dempsey floored him repeatedly, even after Firpo had knocked the heavyweight champion through the ropes. That affair was not calculated to arouse intense inter- est in the Argentine giant, though sport writers all agreed that he poi :ju ed en‘ohush bhrute strength to d;‘f s way through an average crowd o batlers. Jlmlfly DeP'olr’:fi. a well known authority on boxing, has argued all along that Firpo could be trained into a formidable contender for Dempsey’s crown. He has worked with the Argentine battler and he knows whereof he speaks. Firpo, on the other hand, is pictured as con- ceiving that be knows it all and is a hard customer to-handle in the training camp. His supply of science ;Il.s l;l‘n!ilefl ero:‘hhl’hen‘fi; was ere before. If he hasn't ed to this tvm’-foap or it he hasn't taken steps to increase his boxing capacity Wins%8oe g