Evening Star Newspaper, August 18, 1924, Page 6

6 THE EVENING STAE, WASHINGTON, D. C, MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 1924 RUSSIA SINCE LENIN THIS AND THAT THE EVENING STAR __With' Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON,/D. C. MONDAY.......August 18, 1924 THEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor TheEvening Star Newspaper Company Busiess Office. 11th 8t. and Pennsylvania Ave. o co: Tower 3 Zuropean Oflice: 16 Regent St..Loodos, Kagland. The Evening Star. the Sunday morning edition, is deliversd by carriers within the city at 80 cents per month: daily only. 45 cents per month: Sunday only. 20 cents per month. Orders may be sent by mall ot tele- paone Main 5000. Collection is made by car- Tiers at the eud of each moath. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Dafly and Sunday..1 yr., $8.40: 1 mo., 10¢ Daily only .+.1yr. $6.80 : 1 mo,, 50¢ 1jyr., $2.40; 1 mo., 20¢ All Other States. Dally and Sunday.1 yr., $10.00 ; 1 mo., 856 Dally only ......1¥z., $7.00;1mo, §0c Sunday only ....1yr, $3.00;1mo. 260 Member of the Associated Press. Thie Associated Press is exclusively entitled %o the use for repudlication of all news dis- patches credited to it or Dot otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news pub. | lisbed herein. ~All rights of publication of dispatzhes hereiu are also reserved. o ol ol L America's Best Role. greatly contributed to of the world.” S0 ran the cablegram dispatched yesterday ¢ President Coolidge to Ambassador n nowledgment of the lesxize announcing the com- ss of “the London confer- eparations. recurd of the reparatior b been completed it will nfluence and the United States have the adjustment. ing no direct stake in the settle the interest of ‘uropean welfare at heart country has been able to participate effectively with advice and practical Ive a problem that had than the atesmen s of she other countrie *You have the welfare having only master. Three Am Duwes, Owen Robinson, ns, Gen. (I Young and H. were upon invitation des rated unofficial representatives of the United States upon a commission of experts to seek a plan for the scttlement. They did not represent the United States. They went to Europe as individuals. but with the prestige of designation I the President of the United States. To them is given the credit for the wevelopment of a project of pay- ments and refinancing methods meet- ing all the difficulties of the situation. Then the question of secur- ing adoption by all of interested powers. After ind at times dangerously complic nf between representatives of the governments, a meeting was d Londen, attended by the premiers of the allies and ultimately by a delegation of German represent- atives. At this conference Am- tassador Kellogg, though not directly @ participant, was in the crisis a factor for agreement. In relations to ri came its in his the conference at London the American Ambassador | €nough policemen to do the work. Of | anie qre of self-defense.” A few | this | | was one of difficulty actually | the | protracted | ted | wild West posses were men as daring and perhaps more courageous than the bandits. When railroads were built through wild and thinly settled regions, the 'train robber appeared. The chronicle of train hold-ups in which ‘express and mail cars were looted and passengers in the coaches were lined up and robbed is a long one. » In later years the bandits generally came to overlook mere passengers and specialized on the robbery of ex- press and mail cars. When these criminals committed a robbery and got away, pursuit was often prompt and long-continued, and always reso- lute. The chance that a bandit could escape grew small and the trade of holding, up trains waned. During the war, and especially in post-war times, there seems to have been a revival | ot desperate crimes, and mail wagons in cities and mail cars on rallroads [were objects of many attacks. Mail truck robberies in large cities became numerous and the Government took rigorous protective. measures, and there seems to have been an abate- ment in crimes of ‘that kind. Re- cently the railway maill car became the subject of attention by desperate | thieves, and sometimes their baoty was large. The Govegnment has con- | tracted for 3,000 siicially designed !and armored mail cars, and one of | them hus been delivered. The others { will follow soon. It is belicved that | these cars with armed men inside | will give full protection to mail in {transit through the country. A { few days ago the Post Office Depart- ment gave a handsome reward to a postal clerk who killed a mail bandit land routed others when they at- { tempted a robbery of the mail in New I Jersey | was received at the White House and | congratulated by the President. —————rae— Specie Payments and Parking. ! When John Sherman was Secretary | of the Treasury, nearly 50 years ago, | the problem of resuming specie pay- imvm_s. which had been suspended during and following the Civil War. A solution had | been proposed in various terms, but not untii Secretary Sherman declared in language that could be understood | by everybody, “The way to resume is to resume.” wus headway made. So Secretary Sherman “resumed.” He | made his preparations, and to the | country’s astonishment specic pay- ments were re- slightest difficulty and with no reac- tion whatever unfavorable to the eco- nomic conditions of the country. Let Washington take a leaf out of | Secretary Sherman’s book and attack |the parking problem In the same spirit. Let it declare. “The way to prohibit is to prohibit” and impera- | tively forbid the use of the streets for | the storage of idle motor cars d | and night. As in the 70s it was wailed | that the money market would never | be able to adjust without panic to the | specie payments, 80 now it is de- | clared that it is impossible to enforce isuch a rule. Why impossible? Be- ! cause, is the answer. there are not The successful postal clerk | tablished without the | Y i her 2hould, upon approaching a known grade crossing, bring his machine to a full stop before getting .on the tracks or attempting to cross them. That is the first principle of safety. But often the driver does not know that there is a crossing. There may be signs alongside of the roud giving warning, but he may not sec these signs. Ot course, he should see them. He should obey, the primary rule which commands him to “Stop, look and listen.” But experience shows that he does not in many cases, and those are the cases that make the casualty record. Here, then, is a grade crossing acknowledged to be dangerous by the presence of a watchman. But the watchman is on duty only part of the time. Ho is off duty at the very time when he is most needed, the hours of dusk and darkness, when the danger fs greatest. Yet in the usual language of description, this is rated as a “‘guarded” crossing. It is no more guarded than a buzz saw with a shield that is absent half the time. This is a typical grade crossing. There are thousands of them in this countr; It is just the kind of cross- ing that should be banned by the law with a definite time limit for the abatement of the nulsance. If the lives sacrificed at these death traps were capitalized at an economic valuation the deaths in five years would pay a large percentage of the cost of eliminating these man- slaughter canditions. —_————— Nearby Apple Crop. Fruit-crop reports from nearby dis- | tricts cast. north and northwest of Washington have been mixed, a few sections promising a full return, many sections iridicating a reduced yield compared with other years and a num- ber of sections reporting that the yield will be poor. On the whole the fruit prospect forw considerable part of the Washington territory may be rated as between fair and good. The Virginia apple crop holds out much hope. The August forecast of the Department of Agriculture is for a yield of 2,336,000 barrels, or 600,000 barrels less than in- | dicated by the July forecast. A heavy drop of apples from the trees and damage by scab and cedar rust are re- ported from many sections, A drop of 600,000 barrels under the July esti- mate is uncomfortable, but, reckoning that loss, the forecast is still for a vield of 2,336,000 barrels, which would be more than a quarter of a million | barpels over last year's crop. The in- i dication is that the vield in the north- lern part of the Shenandeah Valley, i the great Virginia apple region near- est Washington, will be below last | ear’s crop, which was not particular- {1y profitable to the zrowers. ———te A New York magistrate spoke | Pharshly to a woman for powdering nose in the courtroom. No idoubt her intentions were entirely | respectful. No woman feels that she |is adding to the dignity of an oc |casion by appearing with a glossy nose. ———— | Boxing has been described as ‘“‘the was free of any trammels of alliance | COUrse there are not cnough police- | by giligts ,have failed to model their | or interest. He was working con- men to enforce the rule throughout careers on the lines laid down by so sistently for the adoption of w practi- | the congested district on the same ! gignified a definition: asserting them cable plan to end the disputes and misunderstandings and war-inviting complications that-had grown out of | not going to autherize such an in-| the failure to enfe treaty. The presence can Secretary of § London during part of the time in an individual capacity as a member of the Amegican Bar Association, s#eatly aided in briaging about the settlement. Tn all the critical conferences held between the British and French premiers and other heads of govern- ment, Ambassador Kellogg was con- sulted. He was frequently present at these meetings. He was the only man on the ground who could advise without prejudice and could propose solutions and compromises without arousing suspicion of self interest. was, in short, in effect the umpire of the European game without hav- ing been so designated by the participant No more effectively could the ad- vantage of the present American policy of relationship to foreign affairs be demonstrated than by this successful indirect and unofficial participation. This is no policy of aloofness. It is a policy of helpful- Membership in an interna- tional organization would limit the services of this country in any crisis. In the present circumstances the United States is a free agent for peace, which is a much more helpful role for world welfare than direct organic association could possibly create. —_——— As usual the joy of the farmer is hindered by the fact that a scarcity In the production of grain is one of the principal reasons for its high prices. the Versailles of the Ameri Germany is prepared to give the world earnest assurance that she is ®ow ready to manufacture Zeppeling ealy for the export trauc, —_———— Coast guards are now on the look- out for a new line of joy-riding that the ocean has developed outside the 12-mile limit. Protecting the Mails. The Government is taking ener- getic and costly measures to protect the mail "against bandits. Robbery of the mails has become perhaps a fa- vorite form of theft with a class of particularly bold criminals. Tt has al- ways been attended with great risk, but if carried out the reward to the cvildoer is often very large. The atage-coach bandit was a daring and spectacular figure in our earlier an- nals, and the stage-coach drivers and guards had thrilling experiences. Many of them were Kkilled when the ‘West was young and wild. The way of the mall coach robber was often hard, and his career was frequently: ‘closed at the end of a rope. Those ald mail drivers and coach guards were of stern stuff and would shoot quiek and straight. A posse would 2 9 the bandits’ trail, and in those tate, who was in | | da: 1t would take several hundred [ pot A emen to do that, and Congress is | crease of the force for that purpose only. Popular habit was the cause of the | fiscal problem half a century ago. | Popular habit is the cause of the | parking problem here today. John Sherman corrected the soft-money | habit with one stroke. The District | can correct the all-day parking habit | practically with one stroke. | Concentration of the available po- lice force upon a single square, or two | squares, in a day will demonstrate to the car owners of Washington that this rule has meaning and that it will cost money to break it. Supposing 8,000 cars are parked on a given day {in the congested district and 60 of rule. That imay seem a very small percentage, but all the other 7,940 car owners are.made to realize that they may be taken next, tomorrow or the day after. In short, there will be no security for anybody at any time if the rule is enforced in this manner. It will be only a short time before the habit of using the streets for free storage, to the endangerment of pe- pestrians, the discommoding of busi- ness and the blocking of traffic will be cured. The Maharani of Jind was per- fectly willing to ke interviewed before the boat sailed from New York, but her husband abruptly ordered her to her stateroom. Evidently these East Indian potentates have not heard of the new status of women in affairs. The occupation of the Ruhr' has not been advantageous as a business proposition, @and was certainly not regarded as a pleasure by anybody. ————— The fact that a visiting prince is being abundantly entertained does Tiot necessarily imply that he is being at all amused. The Watchman Went Home. Yesterdgy efternoon the watchman stationed at a grade crossing on the New York Central line near Mount Kisco, N. Y., quit for the day. His time was up. It was still quite light and many motor cars were going over the road. But the hour had struck, and he rolled up his flag and closed his shelter and went home. A few minutes later a train came down the track just as a motorist cama down the road. There were six people in the motor car. The view of &he track was blocked by factories and other buildings. A gong was suPposed to ring upon the approach of the train, Nobody seems to- know Whether it 'was ringing or not. Th& motorist got on the tracks and was ‘hit, and five were Kkilled. Some evidence points to the fact that the motor stalled as the driver tried to stop and back off when he saw the danger. . Of course, every motor driver them' are “pinched” for breaking the | 1sl'l\'e! as cavemen afflicted with a! | Narcissus complex. ——— | There is evidently nothing among | {the 1924 band wagon models that | causes Henry Ford to feel that he would like to have one for himself. —_——— | When a presidential campaigner | | mentions “apathy” he invariably as- sumes that it is limited to the two other partics. | When organized labor goes into politics it intimates a willingness t work overtime if necessary. , SHOOTING STARS. ‘ BY PHILANDER JOHNSON, The Yesser. Beware the man who, when you state | The views that you profess | Will never even hesitate i To greet you with a “yes.” | | For you at times will surely grieve At human fickleness If in that person you believe Whose sole reply is “yes.” | He makes you feel exceeding wise, * Correct in every guess; Too frequently He will disguise A sneer while murmuring “ye: Ins and Outs. “I suppose you are familiar with the ins and outs of political life?" “Only the ins,” answered Senator Sorghum. “The outs haven't enough influence to make familiarity worth ‘while.” - Farm Finance. The price of corn is going some As loans approach maturity; A hoe cake will perhaps become A form of good security. Jud Tunkins says the trouble about socialism is that it encourages too many people to loaf along in hopes of cutting in on other people’s earnings. Evolution. On wheels we all pursue our way Through roads or through the street; And Nature presently will say, “What is the use of feet?” So, when we evolute a while And meet life's new demands, ‘We’ll find the human structural style Is mostly head and hands. Moonshine and Money. “What has become of that moon- shine still you used to show the Sum- mer boarders?” “There wasn’t enough interest in it to make it profitable for exhibition purposes,” answered Farmer Corntos- sel, “so the proprietor shut it up and went to bootleggin.’ " “What I'm lookin’ foh next,” sald TUncle Eben, “is some scheme to per- vide each weddin’ wif alimony insur- ance.” | pared to support Rum ! ments. {lating in view of her threatened mil- ! man at | infernal machine beneath the central | traced | Lemberg arsenal and carry out | are making desperate efforts to blind The truth about that country as & is today, in a series’of uncensored articles by an observer who spent months in Russia studying conditions. BY SEYMOUR B. CONGER. ARTICLE XIV. Military developments beneath, the apparently serene course of Russian army reform point to next spring as a possible danger point, and may have a grave bearing on the peace of Europe. Much has bee: made of tho great re- duction of the red army since the de- feat ‘of the Wrangell movement as an indication of bolshevism's pacific inten- tions 50 far as open attacks on its neighbor are concerned. What has escaped notice is that the Red army will be brought up this Autumn to a point 50 per centigreater than fits nominal peacetime effective strength, that the extra molety will be ready for service next Spring, that some mysterious force Is making des- perate efforts to weaken Russia’s most probable opponents militarily, and that the Red army is avowedly being reor- ganized to fit it for co-operation by in- vasion with insurgent Communists in outside countrfes. Early in April, at the height of this yeur's war scare over the Russo-Ru- manian crisls and the possibility that Russia might seek to recover Bessarabia by arms, the bolshevist censorship per- mitted me to telegraph my conclusion that the alarm this year was unjusti- fled. It was based on a very simple promise—namely, the issuance of the order demobilizing .the time-expired soldiers of the Red army and calling up the new 1902 class only in May, so that the Red army would be loaded up with green recruits and of inferior fighting strength during the entire Summer. What 1 could not telegraph was that other indications of the same nature pointed to next year as a period of danger. The Red army reform pro- gram, it may be revealed, provides for calling up this year not one, but two, annual contingents of recruits, the 1902 class in the Spring and the 1903 class this Autumn. Under the two-year period of service and with discharges of time-expired men only in the Spring, the Red army next Spring will include one extra years comtingent of trained soldiers, increasing its striking force by one-half. Red Army to Total 1,000,000, Instead of something inbre than 600,000 men, its nominal peacetime strength, Russia”s active army will then number approximately 1,000,000 trained men. Whether the bolshevist chieftains, in compliance with their threat never to swallow pe efully the loss of the province seized by Rumania, may depend on the then international constellation, upon Ru- mania’s vigor in her efforts to ob- tain allies and military assistance and upon the vigor with which France and Poland are then pre- fa’s cause. Several portentous incidents since April may be read in this connec- tion. Resxponsibility, it is true, has not been definitely traced to Russia, but circumstances point to it, par- ticularly in view of the Russian War Academy measures to send out flocks of trained military experts to prepare the ground for later military opera- tions against established govern- xt came the great explo- sion at Bucharest, which destroyed a large part of the reserves of shells, explosives and other material of war which Lumania had been accumu- | itary position Though the catastr: complete as to destroy all indications | as to its origin and cause, it was go bbviously to the advantage of Soviet Russia to justify a working theory of a carefully laid plot to destroy the | 1l ! munition reserves of a country with | which she might soon be at war. Hardly had the smoke from the | arest explosion and fire blown when an exactly similar catas- | barely averted at the | great munitions depot of Rumania’s ally, Poland, at Lemburg. A work- the munitions depot was aught in the very act of placing an storehouse, containing more than 200 carloads of dynamite and artillery shells, the explosion of which would, as Bucharest, have destroyed the entire depot Conspiracy Traced to Moscow This attempt w first attributed to Ruthenian irre 2 bly annexed Eastern 3 was later stated that the threads of the conspiracy had been definitely to Moscow. It furnished a highly plausible explanation-of the mysterious Bucharest explosion. A ew nights after the fallure of the first Lemberg plot a desperate effort was made, to rush the guards at the the destruction by force, but the assail- ants were driven off in the darkness. Attempts to tamper With troops or military supplies have also been re- ported from HEsthonia and Latvia. A Russian central espionage organiza- tion has just been broken up at Prague and the Russian secret police the eves of the Polish and Rumanian information services in Russia, the newspapers having almost daily re- ports of the arrests and trials of foreign spies. So when bolshevist advocates point to the great reque- tion in the size of the Red army ince the defeat of the last invading force, the Wrangell army, as proof of Russia’s pacific intentions, it is well to remember the above facts. That this reduction has been sweep- ing cannot be denied. The Red army numbered on paper at the collapse of the Wrangell movement 5,300,000 men, though how many of these were labor battalions and other noncom- batant sections is uncertain. The total cdmbatant strength of the army and flect at the beginning of the year was placed at 610,000 men. The num- | dling ‘are called up separately at a special ber has been somewhat increased "|since then by the reform In the period of army service, which reguires the infantry, by far the most numerous branch, to serve two years instead of the elghteen months formerly specified. The two-year period’ in general ex- cept for the air mervice, three years, and the navy, four years. Incident- ally, there I8 a lot of dissension in the fleet over the fact that the 1901 class there are_still belng held after four and a half years' service, while thelr brothers in'the army have been dismissed to the regervo, All camé from the same contingent, the sallors being the unfortunates who were transferred from land to sea service to flll up the fleet after the great Kronstadt mutiny. Weakness of New Army. There are points of weakness about this new Red army. In the first place, it is no longer Trotsky's army, the bolshevist machine having taken ad- vantage of Trotsky's {liness and long absence In the Caucasus to root out every vestige of Trotuky influence and control. They way this means nothing, that the new hands to which the army s intrusted are quite as capable and qualified as the old. Probably they are—Iin peace time, but 1 venture to assert that the Trotsky energy and punch, the undoubted prestige, personal popularity and magnetic influence which he exer- cises, would be sadly missed in a Krave emergency. Under the reorganization, the min- ister of war, the post which Trotsky still holds, has besn deprived of all personal power over the army, which has been put under a Revolutionary Military Council of five, four of them Trotsky opponents. The command ing general of the army, Kamenev, a Trotsky man, has been relleved of these functions and made “inspector” of the army, while Trotsky's deputy and rival, Comrade Frunze, has as- sumed command a8 chief of staff un- der the council. He was also made chief of the War Academy, where all the higher officers are trained. A general shift of military com- manders also took place,'under which the Trotsky men were removed from all places of influence in the higher command and in the staff. Gen. Muralov, a Trotsky man, was, for fn- stance, removed as commander of the troops in the Moscow district and transferred to a post of little au- thority in the North Caucasus, being replaced by Gen. Voroshilov, an anti-Trotskyite. The post of com- mand of the forces in the Ukraine and Crimea, second in importance only to the Moscow post on account of the concentration of troops on the Rumanian and Polish frontiers. was intrusted to Gen. Egoroff, another Frunze selectio A reform which was calculated to strengthen the Red army as a strik- ing force for proletarian Russia was the exclusion from service with the | armed forces of all but children of | the proletariat, the sons of the bourgeoisie being conscripted for service only in labor battalions and | not intrusted with arms. The army of workmen and peasan however, ix not entirely satisfactory to the | Farmer-Labor government, even un- der this reform, since the percentage | amunists in it is small and Toss. evists in Army Dwindle. rding to figures which 1 was | able to secure, it included the first| of the yvear about per cent pea- sants and 181 per cent workmen. but, after bringing in the new class of 1902, the percentages changed to 76 per cent peasants and 14 per cent workmen. About the only reliable bolshevists were found among the workmen. The Bolshevist Central Committee, after listening to the r port of the Revolutionary Military Council on the army reorganization, expressed its alarm over the dwin- number of active Communists and instructed its organization bu- ‘reau to study measures to increase the proportion of Communists. At present Communist party members { | | mobilization and may be required to serve a longer term in order to attain the desired result. Another polnt of weakness is the unpopularity of army service. The bolshevist speakers and orators make a great point of the difference in this respect compared with the old imperial army of “conscript slaves,” but all my evidence, derived in part from bolshevist sources, is that the farm boys are no happier today than they were undér the Czars to leave home and submit themselves to mil- itary discipline. The desertions among peasant recruits and the dis- cussions In the military organs of ways and mans of checking them fur- nish corroborative evidence. ‘The army is also weak in aviation, despte all gratuitous advertising which this arm is receiving, while chemical warfare, tank and other special services are almost nonmex- istent. Seventeen airplanes were added to the army this spring, with a promise of twenty more, as gifts from the class-consclous workmen, The fuss made over them by the en- tire bolshevist party showed what an important addition to the air forces these seventeen planes consti- tuted. Russia maintains a second army in addition to the Red army—that of the G. P. U, or Political Police Depart- ment, the successor to the Cheka. It embraces infantry, artillery and cav- alry formations, also tank and air- plane sections, but it is devoted ex- slusively to domestic service, main- taining the power of the bolshevist dictatorship in Russia, and is not available for service against an ex- ternal foe. (Copyright, 1024, by Public Ledger Company.) ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— The Parking Problem To the Editor of The Star. Your editorial on the abuse of the “Curb Stone Parking” and my article in Sunday’s Star on “Parking and Shopping Garages,” have put the problem squarely up to the public and the city authorities. I failed to call attention to two serious objections to the erection and ownership by the municipality of these parking and shopping garages, and especially here in Washington, where the dominating control over such establishments would be in Congress. ] Under such conditions it is prob-,| able that the Federal interests would receive first consideration and that “citizen” and business man would take second place. If the Federal Government would provide parking space for the:cars of its clerks and other employes it would take many thousads of cars, which now stand all day in front of pri- vate property, off the streets. The other objection to the city-owned ga- rage is that such garages, in order to’| help out in the congested distridts, must necessarily be convenient to shops and business buildings where property is of relatively high assessed value; and the Government owned g rage would withdraw large pleces of valuable property and buildings from taxation with a tendency to make up for such witlidrawals by increasing the taxation on unexempt private property. In Baltimore, where such public or city owned garages are under con- sideration, the city authorities have control, but not so here in Wash- intgon. 3 § 1f these parking garages had not been shown to bo a safe and’profit- excuse for the oity gover - to make an outlay of public funds for such a public convenience. But unless the city is prepared to monopolize the business and furnish all the down town garages heeded by the public, it would interfere with and discourage the investment of pri- vate capital which will ultimately meet the growing demand for such buildings. SNOWDEN ASHFORD. Can This Be McGuirk? To the Editor of The Sta The finding of the skeleton recently at Seventeenth and U streets is per- haps the solution to one of primitive Washington’s mysteries. In 18302 a bricklayer of convivial habits and living on F street between Twelfth and Thirteenth streets went home one night, perhaps urged by the tavern keeper, and indulged in an argument with his wife. His side of the question was accompanied by blows and kicks that brought about the premature birth of still-born twins and the death of the woman, to the horror of the little Federal City. & Justice was swift in those days and, after incarceration for a short time in the city’s first jail on C street northwest near Sixth street, the con- vlet, McGuirk, was taken to the foot of Capitol Hill, in the vicinity of the, Garfield or Grant statues, and bung before a large assemblage. McGuirk’s body was taken for burial to the Western, or Holmead's, grave- yard, in the square bounded by Nine- teenth and Twentieth and 8 and T streets, but the indignatt relativea and friends of others who were therein interred dug up the body of the murderer and deposited it out- of the cemetery. 'The friends ithe largest limousine in Washington. {He can never tell me again that he |gets down to the office with his clerks. BY C. B. TRACEWELL. The recent “guess the corner” con- test held in this column pleased so many, although it had no prizes, that hero goes for a ‘‘guess two blocks” con- teat. ry A well known minister was the first to name the street corner, described but not located in the article, calling by telephone in the midst of the storm which broke up the hot spell. Either the writer gave a good de- scription of 12th and E streets, or there are many more observant people in vashington and nearby places than he Imagined, for every one placed the corner correctly; BSeveral residents of Alexandria, Va., wrote in, o declaring after ‘naming the corner: “It is the thoroughfare of Alexandrians wending their way to the ¥ street shopping district.” * w K k| Somewhere in downtown Washington there iu a stretch of two blocks that shall serve as the subject for today's contest, the prize to be that pleasurable fecling experienced when one guesses correctly. Standing here on the northwest cor- ner of an intersection, the first object to strike the attention is a Visiting Nurse, in her blue uniform, running to catch a street car. Her black handbag swings like a pendulum, & pendulum of mercy and healing. A small, dark child with plenty of curls walks along with her mother; an old man, with quantities of white hair showing beneath his hat, knocks out his pipe on the curb; a girl in bright blue dress and gay yellow hat, walks by, re- minding one of these xalt cellars in the shape of a vividly hued duck. Bo much for the initial atmosphere of our “two blocks.” = But wait—that strange trio out there by the car tracks, walting for the string of automobliles to pass, must be included. First It was a solo—one motherly looking middle-aged woman, gray- haired, sedate. Then it became a trio when a duet of ggypsy women soft- shoed bexide her, without the moth- erly woman knowing it. hat a bright ‘splotch of color the Eypsy women make, contrasting so with the other. Red, green, blue, pink, yel- low, any color one can think of can be discovered in their costume. Both have long, brown hair, falling in braids over their shoulders. All gypsles seem to have the same color of hair, and exactly the same dark skins. By the way, who ever saw a bobbed- hair gypsy girl? * k ¥ x Catty-cornered across the street is a three-story building housing a restau- rant. Above the three honest floors is as glaring an instance of a ‘“false front” as ever was witnessed in a Far Western | settlement. Full sized windows, etc., are in this false floor, which, looked at head on. gives a perfect illusion, but, from this remi-side view, appears merely what it is—a fake. Down a side street looms a low. squat dome. Looking along our chosen thorough- fare, one sees next to the restaurant a theater building. Next comes & real four-story building—or so it seems—of newly painted brick. It is a pale yellow. Here another street cuts across and In the intersection is a small tri- ngle. and in the triangle stands a statue of a great American, his right hand lifted as If “laying down the law” to some one. “Presented to the National Capital by Stilson Hutchins,” says an inserip- tion. * * * % Two large trees, two small trees, stand across the thoroughfare. Here comes a Chinese woman in American clothes. An assistant secretary of a great Government department alights from 1 know better! Passes now a flow of men with moustaches and women with long hair. Moustaches and long hair, some folk believe, are relics of semi-bar- barism, and some day will be one with the dodo. Maybe all men and women will be bald as eggs in some future age when the great spiritual decades, so long prophesied by so many recent Writ- ers, come true. 1t has taken centuries since Samson and his locks, but mankind and wom- ankind are getting to look more and more like Chihuahua dogs every day. ¥ % K % On the “point” facing the triangle and across a street stands a five-story bank building. It is the opening wedge to “Shoe Store Row.” 1f there is any block in Washington that has more shoe stores per square inch, I wish some one would tell me about it. One shoe store, another shoe Stor here's a third bootéry—gosh! here’ another one. How many shoe stores are there in this block, anyway? Here is a 5-and-10-cent store. Another shoe store, another shoe shop; now a mercantile establishment where they sell footgear for men and | women. How many is that—scven or eight? One loses count drifting along this second block. Across the street are three-story business establishntents, nothing particular about them one way or the other—just the kind that has grown up with the city. One ought to.have no difficulty in the world in finding a shoe to fit him on this block. Here is still another shoe shop. Misery loves company, says the proverb. So must shoe shop: Shoes of a leather flock together, evi- dently. * ¥ % K Now we have come to the end of the second of our “two blocks." Just how many shoe stores we passed worries us. They say that Napoleon when engaged in his favor- ite occupation of counting white houses as he passed through con- quered towns would ride back and begin all over again if he thought he had missed one. Like Napoleon, we march back again, this time keeping careful count of the shoe shops as we go along, checking them off on the fingers. It is a providential thing that one’s fingers number ten, for that is the exact number of shoe stores along the way. Miss Lattimer, writer of a charm- ing new book on the National Cap- ital, and pthers who know their ‘Washington are invited to name the two blocks. Come one, come all! to the inside the cemetery. Once more the indignant element reinterred McGuirk's corpse and, ac- cording to rumor, burying it in the channel of Slash.Run, that coursed through the squares between Seven- teenth and Eighteenth streets north- west. Some one once claimed to have come across the coffin while digging post holes for a fence in the vicinity, and as the recently found skeleton was found near the edge of the lot it is possible that the loca: tions are the same. Sava‘rll hundred feet to the north of the corner of Seventeenth and U streéts ran the old turnpike to Bal- timore and the famous road that was the line of travel between the North and South, so that the corpse may have been carried down this road to its latest resting place, and not di- rectly from the graveyard, because the intervening route was notorfous: ly swampy/ * This event was the sensation of the day in early Washington and lgnyg before the streets of the neighbor- hood were lald out and graded. Ono hundred and twenty-two years are perhaps responsible for the absence of some of the bones and perhaps the ring McGuirk remains wil! now a final and pérmanent interment.- JAMES ¥, DUHAMBEL, original grave, |E. R, ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN Q. When did Magnus Johnson en- ter politics?—F. H. D. A. Senator Magnus Johnson's first political office of any importance was that of member of the Minnesota fl;}l;le of Representatives in 1915 and Q. Please distinguish: Radio operator, radiotrician, and radio en- glneer—W. & A. A radio operator is one who is skilled in the manipulation of radio transmitting and receiving sets and has a knowledge of the Continental Morse code and has passed th- United States Government examina- tion for proficiency in the foregoing. His duties are mainly those of han- dling messages between his station and those of others. There are ship and land operators in commercial and Government service. A radio- triclan is one who is skilled i the maintenance and repair of radio ap- paratus and should have a knéwledge of rddio superior to that of the aver- age operator. A radio engineer is a highly specialized graduate electrical engineer and must be thoroughly skilled ig the science. Q. What is the average floor space allowed for each person In theaters and such public buildings?—E. S. G. A. Generally speaking, theaters and similar places of public assem- bly are constructed under a compu- tation to hold twice the weight that will be imposed by a tull attendance. For the District of Columbla, the regulations require that in all theaters or public buildings with fixed seats there must be allowed a space of not less than 2 feet 6 inches from back to back of chairs, with an aisle width of not less than 4 fect, this width to be increased with the increased size of the hall. Where ‘e are no fixed seats, feet per person must be allotted. Q. When was the Boston police strike, and how many men were in- volved?—H. H. A. The Boston police strike was instituted in September, 1919, and 1,127 officers went on strike. Q. Can States increase the number of thelr counties?—J. E. B. A. Since 1920 new counties to the number of 28 have been created in the States of Virginia, Georgia, Flor- ida, Tennessee, Montana, New Mexico, Texas, Wyoming and Minnesota. Q. How much of an army and navy does Cuba maintain?—C. S. A. The peace strength of the Cu- ban army is 079 officers and 10,748 men, and the personnel of the navy numbers 144 officers and $07 men. Q. What do the farmers of the TUnited States spend for farm imple- ments in th& course of a year?™—R. A: In 1922 the farm equipment products to the value of $222,905,000 were gold in the United State: Q. Are there as many mules in the United States now as there were in 19217—C. A. C. A. In that year there were 323.000 mules, valuel at $46,235,000, ued at $35,848,000. Q. What was paid for ‘the new IN TODAY’S BY PAUL ¥ ‘War is threatening In the Sudan. ‘Which nation shall exercise dominion over that vast country—Egypt or Great Britain? to have little voice in the matter. The first conquest of the Sudan | was made by Egypt in 1820, while |obj Egypt was a Turkish proyince. The rule of the conquerors was marked by enslaving the natives and exploit- ing the natural resources. In 1881 the long-looked-for prophet of the Sudanese, the Mahdi (“the promised one"), arose in leadership and threw off the Turkish-Egyptian yoke. As Egypt at that time was in the midst of her own confusion, and was facing national bankruptcy, it was not until years later that she could make any attempt to reconquer the Sudanese. ! In the meantime, the latter developed power and became With each year a greater menace to their former mas- ters. In 1882 England intervened in Egyptian affairs to protect bonds held by British investors. ypt continued allegiance to Turkish suz- erainty, annually paying 682,000 pounds sterling, as tribute, but thenceforward was under control as to all details of admin- istration. 1In 1883 the situation in the Sudan had become so_disturbed that by the authority of Lord Cro- mer, diplomatic agent of Great Britain and adviser of the Khedive, an expedition of 10,000 men was sent to establish order. Led by treach- erous guides. it became lost in the desert, and of the entire army not one survived from the Mahdi's sur- prise attack and the desert thirst. The following January the British home government sent the “popular and erratio Gen. Gordon” to Khar- tum, as governor general of the Sudan. He went without troops to take command of the long unpaid Egyptian forces, already upon the verge of mutiny. The story of Britain's tardy rein- forcements of the Mahdi's capture of Khartum, the killing of Gordon and the abandonment of the Sudan by the British is familiar history. Six years later an Egyptian army, trained by British officers, reoccupied the country. Under the administration of Lord Cromer, as adviser to the Khedive, Egypt's finances were recouped. In 1892, upon the death of Khedive Tewfik Pasha, the nominal ruler of Egypt, Britain recognized Turkey’s right to appoint as his successor Abbas Hilma. He was finally de- posed by Great Britain at the out- break of the World War, when the British, as a war measure, declared dissolved all connection between Turkey and Egypt and announced a British protectorate over Egypt. PR In 1898, under the reign of Khedive Abbas Hilma, Lord Kitchener was made commander-in-chief of the British and Egyptian armies and sent to reoccupy the Sudan, although Egypt already held certain strong- holds. Possession was taken of Khartum, the capital, where the British and Egyptian flags were raised, side by side. Great Britain now claims that her leadership in ,the Kitchener cam- paign entitles her to hold the Sudan independent of Egypt. Egypt as- serts that she is entitied to the coun- try, which she had conquered in 1820, held against the Mahdi since 1892, and for whose complete sub- Jugation in-1895-1898 she had fur- nished twice as many troops and borne twice the cost of the military expedition as had her ally, Great Britain. 1 The new form of joint government of the Sudan was called a “condo- minium”—a co-dominion. In practi- cal application by the English, it be- came a dominion without much “co,” for all executive officials were to be nominated by the -British and ap- pointed by decree of the Sultan of Egypt. None but. Britons -were nom- inated. b * X kX “An expert,” in the August,num- ber of the British magasine, Foreign 8 square | while | in 1923 there were 397,000 mules, val- | The Sudanese seem | British | national park * J H G A. The National Park Service says at during the past year the national monument in Idaho, “Crater of the Moon,” was taken over by the Govern- ment. Nothin# was paid for this n: tional monument, as tho land was original Federal public land and was set aside by the President upon th. suthority of Congress. ‘rater of the Moon’" th, Q. What does our gold production amount to?>—E. R. N. A. The country’s record production of gold was in 1915, amounting to #101,035,700. Last vears product was valued at $51,378,700. Q. What does Iccland produce be- sldes fce? —A. B. W A. Fishing is the” great industry of Iceland, the yearly catch being valued at approximately $8,000,000. Hay, potatoes and turnips are the chief agricultural products, Q. Is the Atlantic Ocean ealtior than the Pacific?—J. L. B. A. The Geological Survey sajc there iy practicaily no difference i the saltness of the twg oceans. Q. Where did limburger checie get Its name?—A. K. lhA.l The cheese bears the name o e town in which it was first made— Limburg, Belgium. & Q. Where is the most buckwhear raised?—W. A. H. A. In 1923 Pennsylvanta retaincd first place in the production of buck- wheat, with a crop of 4,850,000 bush- {els, while New York was second with | 4,066,000. No other State produced 1,000,000 bushels, Michigan being third with 753,000 _QA Is there a printed list of the ’.\auonul Guard units with their new s?—W, J. L. The chief of the Militia Bur says a book is being printed w | contains a list of all the Nation. | Guard units, with the names of all th: National Guard officers and their gervices, This will be ready for di- tribution in about a month. Q. What is the record number of business failures for a single year i1 this country?—T. W. B. A. In 1922 there were 23,676 roni.- mercial failures in the United States, the greatest number ever recorded |a single year. In 1923 business fail- ures totaled 18, Q. How many buffalo are there this country?—C. B. I A. The last report of the American Bison Society contains a census taken January 1, 1923, which shows thers |are 147 herds of buffalo in the coun- try, with a total of 3,753 -head. (Take advantage of the free in- formation bureau which this news- paper maintains. If there is @ ques- tion yon want answered, don't hesi- tate to use this service. AU replies are sent direct to the inquirer. Ad- dress The Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Twen- ty-first and C streets morthwest. Inclose 2 cents in stamps fof return postage. Do not send inquiries to The Evening Star.) SPOTLIGHT ’. COLLINS | Affairs, describing the plan, as above | stated, declares: “This was Lord Cromer’s intention and it was carried out, not in order to further British imperialistic de | signs, nor to exploit the country it PBritish interests, but with the t of insuring good governmer {for the Sudanese. And so it has worked."” In the same article t conclusion is most na expressed “The Eritish view, more full analyzed, is that whatever the his | tory of the past, the dominating con | sideration now in settling the form | of government for the Sudan must bn |the wishes and interests of the | Sudanése themselv To safeguard | this is our first duty, and on all the | evidence of past history, and of the | present feeling of the people, we are entitled to argue that this duty wi be best satisfied by a continuance ¢ | the Eritish administration.” Yet there has been no Sudanes cite, nor any other form of ex- !pres: on by the 5,600,000 inhabitants Lot the v, | Egyptians allege that ties of blood | between Sudanese and Egyptians are closer .than between Sudfnese and English, hence the dark-skinned neighbors most naturally prefer | Egyptians as their govern Tk point to President W n's 14 poi and claim under the right of th ruled to choose that Egypt should | be the ruler. following * £ The Sudan has an area ¢ lion square miles—as great third of the continental United States, exclusive of Alaska. Under British management, the resourer have been partially developed considerable investments have been made. All this the Egvptians offe to reimburse. They urge the v interest they hold in protecting the source of the Nile, which already the British development, they claim is endangering by vast damming and irrigation projects. Egypt_has no_rainfall crops; it is absolutely dependent upon the flooding of the Nile. At water stages not a drop of the Ni water reaches the sea; it sinks into | the ground before it passes into the delta, Lvery gallon of the Nil therefore, is the life blood of the ma- tion, and consequently the Egyptian feel that the case is so desperate | that they cannot listen to any com- prom The newly redeemed country is ¢n- thusiastically nationalistic. All th: people are of the Nationalist party though some are more radical that others. The King, Fouad, is vers popular, because of his patriotic labors for the cause of education and relief of the poor, long before he a cended the throne of an independe: country. Prime Minister Zaghloul a self-made man who has suffercd long and much to create a frecd Egypt. Born of poor peasant parent age, he rose to a seat on the Supren Court bench. _Twice the Britis exiled him for his leadership in th nationalistic movement, and from t} last exile he returned, almost dyin: from tropical exposure, and he h: become the “father of his country and the people’s idol. He was electcd to the National Assembly by 93 pi~ cent of all votes cust, and was al once made president of the Assen bly, and soon after prime minister. He is affectionately referred to us “Papa Zaghloul.” * % % % In 1920, England sent a commission under Lord Milnor to compromise the Sudan question, but in Egypt the commission was bovcotted, and re- turning home, reported failure. To- day Prime Minister Zaghloul is in Europe. He indicates that he in- tends to visit England to talk over the situation with Prime Minister MacDonald, for the purpose of ascer- taining. if there is any hope of ad- justing thé controversy. If he finds Mr. MacDonald willing to accord some basis of settlement, he will re- turn to Egypt and appoint a con mission to go to England to work out the details. England is rushing reinforcements to her garrisons in * a mil os one- to suppor!