Evening Star Newspaper, September 9, 1924, Page 6

ith Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY.....September 9, 1924 ®BEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor ¥he Evening Star Newspaper Company Basiness Office. 11tk St. and Peunsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd St. Chicago Office: Tower Buildiug. Buropean Oftice: 16 Regent St.,London, England. h the Sunday morning @dition. is delivered by carriers within the @ity af 60 cents per month: daily only, 43 cents per month: Sunday only. 20 cents per month. Orders may be sent by mail or & phone ‘Main 5000. Collection is made by Tiers at the cud of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Dally and Sunday..1yr., $8.40; 1 mo., 70¢ Dally only . 1¥r., $6.00 ; 1 mo., 50c Sunday only . 1yr., $2.40; 1 mo., 20¢ All Other States. Daily and Sunday.1 yr., $10.00 ; 1 mo., 85¢ Laily only . ..1yr, $7.00;1 mo., 60c Sunday only .lyr, $3.00;1mo, 25¢c Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled fo the use for republication of all nows dis- patches credited to it or not otherwise ardited in this paper and also the local news pub- lithed herein. All rights of publication of #pecial dispaiches herein are also reserved. The Evening Star, The Maine Result. Maine has voted once more for a Republican governor, despite factional differences in that party. Brewster wins by a majority of between. 30,000 and 35,000 over Pattangall, who waged a furious campaign on the issue of the Ku Klux Klan. If the Nation votes as does Maine, according to the old adage of American politics, this result is comfortless for the Demo- cratic leaders, who have been stress- ing the prospect of a Republican de- feat due iv that issue and the sharp party division manifest in the pri- maries. But, as has been noted in the course of the campaign in Maine, the fight there was on a strictly local question. The factionism of the Republicans was of a local character. There was no national political factor in the fight, unless the Klan question might be so regarded. Effort was made by the Democratic speakers and writers 10 give it that character, but without success. Had Maine voted Pattangall into office, however, doubtless there would have been an outbreak of Democratic joy on the ground that this result indicated a national trend toward Democracy. The fact that the State has remained in the Republican column on a State question does not necessarily mean, on the other hand, that the nation-wide trend at present is Republican. One striking fact about yesterday's election is the size of the vote that was cast. At this morning’s figures, with only 40 out of 633 precincts to report, Brewster had 136,648 votes and Pattangall 103,273, a total of 9.921. In 1916 Hughes narrowly car- ried the State with a vote of 69 64,118, a total balloting of 133,624. In 1920 Harding polled 136,355 and Cox received 58,961, a total of 195,316. The total of the Pattangall-Brewster vote vesterday was, therefore, with incom- Dplete returns, at least 44.605 greater than the total of the Harding-Cox vote of 1920. A State election usually does not arouse as much interest as one for national officers. In this case, how- cver, there was a rousing campaign, and a special appeal was made by both sides to get the voters to th= polls. The response may be hearten- ing to those who are this year seek- ing to secure the fullest possible at- tendance of the voters at the polling places in November. Organized move- ments are in progress, of a non- partisan character as well as partisan, to bring out the vote. What Maine has done in a State election other States should do in the presidential contest two months hence. Awning Fires. An awning broke into flames at the window of the maternity ward at Sib- ley Hospital, caused fright and threatened danger. Forty-five babies were removed from the ward as the smoke blew in. Firemen put out the blaze. The awning fire is frequent. The usual cause of such a fire is the live butt of a cigarette flicked from a window above the awning. Perhaps a live cigar butt may also be a cause, but there are so many more cigarette stubs than cigar butts that it is prob- ably reasonable to lay the blame for most awning fires on the cigurette. The lighted match may also be an- other important cause. A smoker strikes a match, lights his “smoke” and tosses the match through the window without taking care that it is “out.” It all goes back to human carelessness or thoughtlessness or in- difference or ignorance. The fellow who throws a lighted match or a burning cigar or cigarette end from a window has some vacancy in his upper story. ————— No matter how profound his thought or earnest his expression, the campaign orator cannot feel sure that he will be a successful radio com- petitor with the tenor singer or the saxophone soloist. —————————— the successful defense of flagrantly guilty lawbreakers, adds an element of concern to the public feeling. Can of thwarting justice? There is noth- ing in Judge Caverly's career or in his bearing in this case to indicate that he has been infuenced in the least by this factor, or by the means of de- fense permitted by the resources available. Yet in a certaln degree there remains a doubt in the public mind on this score, a doubt so definite as to accentuate the anxiety with ‘which the final disposition of the case is awaited. Another element enters. The em- ployment of psychologists to establish mental unbalance—the word insanity was carefully avolded by the defense throughout the hearing—has caused a fear lest justice be thwarted through an evasion of responsibility. Finespun analyses of character and motive and tendencies going to show a lack of judgment and realization on the part of the slayers caused a sharp reaction in the public mind. That, so far as it has been mani- fested, the public demand is for the infliction of the death penalty does not signify e reversion to the old spirit of cruelty which prevailed in the past. It means that in the opinion of most people only this punishment is suitable and is likely to serve the purpose of punishment in general, to warn and to prevent. But there is also back of this feeling, which is vir- tually e demand, that a sentence of imprisonment, even for life, would not guarantee society against thc ulti- mate, perhaps the early, release of these youth, with their diabolical tendencies uncured. The World Flyers. Washington regrets that it could not welcome the homing world flyers with brighter skies and more clement air. Coming from Mitchel Field in the teeth of a southwest wind, they have faced a veritable storm, but unde- terred by such adverse conditions they have pushed on for the Capital. They have faced much worse than this in the flight that has carried them to nearly round the world. They have crossed long mountain ranges and long stretches of sea. They have passed over great areas of uninhab- ited territory, to fall in which would leave them helpless, if they survived. They have made much longer “hops™ than that which ends today. But the spirit that has brought them on through those perils has been needed for this advance to Washington. The fact that these intrepid men have not flown according to an exact schedule does not lessen the signif- icance of their achievement. They have had to feel their way. They have been required in this experiment to advance with caution, adjusting to conditions. While they have persisted with 50 per cent of their original force to this point, other representa- tives of the nations attempting the same accomplishment have failed. Only one other is still on his way around the globe. The American flyers have, it is true, had the advantage of numbers. Two of the planes have failed, one by crashing against a mountain in the Aleutian Archipelago and one by fall- ing into the sea off Iceland. Probably if the other nations had sent forth equal numbers at least one of’each team would still be flying. It was the foresight and ample provision of the United States that sent four planes instead of one that has brought the Police statistics reveal with relent- less accuracy that many of our best bandits do not have bobbed hair. ———————————— Tomorrow’s Sentence. QPomorrow Judge Caverly, in Chi- oago, will render his decision as to the punishment to be imposed and in- flicted upon two young men recently tried on confession in his court for a shocking crime, the murder of a little boy whom they had. kidnaped for she original intention of asking ran- wom. An intense interest is felt throughout the country in this case, and concern is also felt on the score of the punishment Judge Caverly will pronounce. The case is without parallel in the history of this country. Phere is no approach in any of the Secords of fhe past to the anxiety with which the sentence is awaited. " Back of this feeling on the part of #he people of this country is a realiza- tlon that crime, particularly among the younger members of soclety, has reached a point endangering public safety and the morals of the Nation. 1¢ is the universal feeling, with but few exceptions, that the extreme pun- fshment should be administered in this instance as a means of preven- Aamsugh warning. 1” of the families of v.h,‘e experiment to this present success in its last phase. A high degree of skill and unflinch- ing courage have been needed in this round-world flight. These four men who have carried the flag over seas and mountains and continents have blazed a trail for untold future de- velopment. They have brought honor to the American people. ———re. Those who accuse Washington, D. C., of being a city engaged in treading the primrose path of dalliance, regard- less of constitutional amendments or the mandates of Chief of Police Sulli- van, should remember that its regu- lar citizenship has no political au- thority whatever. The work of Gen. Smedley Butler in Philadelphia has taken more time than was expected. Nobody doubts that the general's work will represent a thorough job when finished. Intimations that the Prince of Wales is not the best-dressed man now in America lead to the fear that our experts in haberdashery are not doing their duty. Those who are not inclined to keep cool with Coolidge can turn to the vice presidential candidacy and warm up with Dawes. Detense day in America may be re- lied on to provide a very influential argument against “another war.” Voyage of the ZR-3. Interest is growing in the forth- coming transatlantic venture of the dirigible ZR-3, built in Germany by the Zeppelin Company for the Ameri- can Government. A dispatch says that departure of this Zeppelin for America now depends upon the de- livery of her engines. The plen is that the airship will make the flight from Europe by the far northern route, following in part the course taken by the world-circling planes. The American ship Patoka, which has served as a tender for our own dirigi- ble Shenandoah, has orders to be at a point at sea 300 miles south of Cape Farewell, Greenland, not later than September 15, and the expedtation is that the ZR-3 will leave Friederichs- haven about September 20. The transatlantic effort of this dirigible will take a place as “big news” and, the world flight of the American planes ended, the cross- sea flight of the Zeppelin will hold a great deal of public attention. Wishes for good luck and a prosperous. voy- age for the ship will go out from hun- dreds of millions of people on both sides of the Atlantic. Popular faith in the utility of the dirigible as compared with the air- large means be empioyed tc the end | THE EVENING STAR., WASHINGTON, D. C.‘, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1924. T EVENIN young criminals, with many instances | plane is not strong. ‘This type of air- | o il g THE TRAFFIC PROBLEM - BY ERNEST GREENWOOD Secretary of the Conference on Street and Highway Safety in the past of the use of money for | ship failed to fulfill the promises and meet the hopes of its promoters as a destructive agent in the World War. It is believed that the percentage of accidents to dirigibles, measured against the number of ships and im- portant tests in which they have been employed, ia large. Thelr speed is far below that of planes. Their bulk makes them a prey to storms and ad- verse winds. But the dirigible has great carrying capacity, and buoyed by non-inflammable gas it is much safer than the older dirigibl Nu- merous experts in aviation hoid that the dirigible will be developed to the point where it will be able to *de- liver the goods,” and these are mat- ters on which laymen who have no particular knowledge of aviation might well withhold opinions. The effort to steer this giant ship through the sky from Europe to America is one of the big experiments in this age of aviation, and all wish good luck to the venture. Buying a Big Diamond. A man named Stehlin, representing a New York syndicate, recently went down into North Africa to buy a dia- mond. It was owned by Muley Hafid. former Sultan of Morocco, who needed the money more than the flawless 143-carat stone. Stehlin got the dia- mond. paid the price and started back for New York. A commonplace sort of business transaction up to that point, but just the kind of an affair to make for advanture. Innumerable stories have been written about such experiences, thrilling hair-breadth es- capes from death, persistent pursuit by thieves, the trailing of the dia- mond buyer by fanatical natives seek- ing to restore the precious stone to its sacred setting. Evidently Stehlin had read some of these stories. At any rate, he went through all the tradi- tional procedure. He disguised him- self as a native, he used fast horses, yachts and racing automobiles, and every device known to the fictionist in order to get the gem out of the country. At latest reports he had reached Paris with it, and he sailed from France Saturday for his last lap of an exciting journey. The stone, it is stated, has never left his person since he took it from the hands of Muley Hafid. There is no mention of faithful attendants or a strong-arm bodyguard. So far as the report goes, Stehlin is playing a lone hand. It would seem that once on board the liner all would be well. But every- body who has read adventure fiction knows that it is just there that some of the trickiest things are done. Ac- cording to all practical reckoning, the chances are all in favor of Mr. Stehlin putting the big stone safely into the hands of his principals in New York in a few days. According to the standards of literature, how- ever, the chances are against him. But, in any case, probably Mr. Stehlin will be a much happier man when he has got that dangerous lump of car- bon off his person. —————————— The more recent expressions of President Coolidge call attention to the fact that when he was earning his reputation as a silent man he was also & thoughtful one. —_— et The chief objection to bobbed hair appears to lie in the fact that it has mysteriously fascinated the fancy of the police reporters. —e————— Having taken credit for the inven- tion of gunpowder, China evidently feels under obligation to promote its use. Mention of the Ku Klux Klan has subsided to the status of a perfunc- tory formality. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Psychic Defense. Everybody has, they sy, A little complex of his own, ‘Which helps to pass the time away, And calls on others to condone. Everybody claims the right In an emergency to show That he has traces large or slight Of impulse or of libido. Everybody ill at ease ‘When it's time a case to try Finds some little things like these Better than an alibl. Enthusiasms. “Your speeches hgve made the welkin ring!” exclaimed the enthusias- tic friend. “Yes,” rejoined Senator Sorghum doubtfully. “But much as I admire the welkin, it has brought to my at- tention that the people who are likely to cast the’ deciding votes don’t re- side there.” Interesting the Populace. The voter views the show immense That often thrills with eloquence, And wonders if the grand display Is worth the taxes he must pay. Jud Tunkins says politics would be easier it people understood the moves in a campaign as clearly as they do the plays in a base ball game. Poems of the People. “I understand our distinguished visitor from abroad has remdined out all night once or twice.” “Yes,” said Miss Cayenne. “I am afraid New York has given him the idea. that our national anthem is “We ‘Won’t Go Home Tl Morning.’ " Relaxationists. Vacation’s day has passed away; The charm of outdoor life has fled. ‘We loaf no more on hill or shore, But at an office desk instead. - Too Much to Ask. “Do you think Shakespeare really wrote those wonderful plays?” “Of cougse I do,” answered Mr. Stormington Barnes. “You surely don’t suppose I'd favor any theory to the contrary which would compel me to change my billboard advertising and press notices!” “After a man gits through excusin’ his own fauits,” said Uncle Eben, “he’s liable not to have much charity left foh de faults of others.! Answers to Questions BY FREDERIC J, HASKIN Why 1is President Coolidge's father given the title of colonel?—G. M. McN. ‘A. He recelved this honorary title as a member of the staff of a Gov- ernor of Massachusetts. Q. Has Halley's comet come closer to the earth than Mars did Iast month?—R. J. M. A. The Naval Observatory says Halley's comet was at Its shortest distance from the earth on May 20, 1910; namely 14,000,000 miles. Mars at its closest was more than 34,000,- 000 miles away. Q. Under English law, what con- stitutes murder?’—D. H. M. A. The generally accepted defini- tlon of murder in English law is that of Coke: When a person of sound mémory and discretion unlawfully killeth any reasonable creature in be- ing and under the king's peace with malace aforethought, elther expressed or implied. Q. What and how much does an elephant eat in a day?—P. D. A. The National Zoological Park says that a large elephant will con- sume from 100 to 125 pounds of hay per day. Besides this, bran mash is also given, Q. How far was the jump from the Lincoln box to the stage when the President was assassinated?—B. A. C. A. The distance was 9 feet. The jump was not a great feat for Booth, since he was a trained athlete. Q. What has been the ‘greatest number of people that have moved from one country to another country in one year?—J. H. A. Probably the high point to such emigration was the removal of 338,452 inhabitants of Austria-Hungary to the United States in 1907. Q. What s the largest museum in the world?—L. S. A. The British Museum, in London, which includes the British Museum of National History, is undoubtedly the largest institution of this kind. Q. What can be used to whiten diapers that have become dingy and gray looking?—J. H. W. A. Diapers may be whitened by boil- ing for one-half hour in strong suds made with yellow soap and milk and water (half water and half milk). Then wash in ordinary suds (hot) and rinse first in clear hot water and then in cold blued water. Q. Can you tell me what the Ger- man word “selah” means, which is written at the end of some verses in the Bible?—L. W. A. The word “selah” found at the close of many of the paragraphs in the Psalms is not German. It is a Hebrew word. Its precise meaning is not determined, but it is held to be a musical notation and Indicates a pause or rest. Q. How many kinds of chickens are there>—W. L. F. A. The Leghorn breed of fowls orf inated in Italy. There are eight va- rieties: the single-comb brown, the rose-comb brown, the single-comb white, rose-comb white, single-comb buff, rose-comb buff, single-comb black, and single-comb silver. Q. What is dynamite?—K. B. A. Any explosive substance consist- ing of nitroglycerin and an absorbent. which is fired by detonation, is styled dynamite. The original one, consist- ing of nitroglycerin and an absorbent, such as infusorial earth (Kieselguhr) or diatomaceous silica, tripoli, rotten stone, etc., was invented in 1866 by Alfred Nobel. Leghorn Q. When was the habeas corpus act passed in Great Britain?—J. F. T. A. It was passed in 1679, and pro- vided that a prisoner or witness must be presented in person before the judge or tribunal. Q. What is to be built on the site of Madison Square Garden?—F. W. J. A. The New York Life Insurance Company owns the property and pro- poses to erect a magnificent and lofty structure to replace Madison Square Garden, which is being torn down, Q. In marcel should the waves be?’—W. T. S. A. “The American Halrdreser” says that the proper width of a wave is 1-inch in diameter. In order to obtaln this, a fold is formed on a straight strand of hair about every 1% inches. Q. What is the difference between a carillon and a chime?’—L U. B. A. The word “carillon” should be used to indicate the musical instru- ment consisting of about three or four chromatic octaves of perfectly attuned bells, played by both hands and both feet by means of a keyboard and pedal board. A chime is made up of from 6 to 16 substantially diatonic bells. Q. Why is there a kick when a gun is_discharged?—S. D. A. This is one of the laws of motion discovered by Sir Isaac New- ton—the law that for every action there is an equal opposite reaction. waving how wide Q. How many tires are inade each year?—M. V. F. A. In 1923 the production of cas- ings for motor cars and motor cycles in the principal tire manufacturing countries of the world reached an estimated total of 54,520,000 The United States, which uses 80 per cent of the world's motor vehicles, produced about 46,000,000 Q. How did the population of De- troit and Cleveland compare in 1910 and in 19207—A. W. A. A. The 1910 census gives the pop- ulation of Detroit as 365,766, Cleve- land 560,663, Census of 1920 gives Detroit as 993,678 and Cleveland 796,841, Q. How many Americans are there in China?—A. T. C. A. The latest estimates of the Chinese customs authorities place the number of Americans in China at 8,230, constituting the fourth largest of the foreign groups there. Q. What are the chances of an I.ndlvldug's being killed by lightning? —A. T. D. A. In the last year for which statistics are available 425 persons were killed by lightning in the United States as compared with 1,038,952 deaths from other sources. It is figured that the individual per- son is far more likely to be killed in a railroad wreck or by an auto- mobile, to drown, or éven to be murdered than he is to die by lightning. Q. Why do some peaches that have this loss of the true peach flavor, B.A E. A. The Canning Trade says that uncontrollable factors may be re- sponsible for some small part of this loss of flavor, but several years of practical experiment and observation of modern canning methods has es- tablished the belief that there is but one canning practice responsible for this loss of the true peach flavor, and that is lye peeling. (It is certain that you pussle daily over questions that we can answer for you. You are confronted dy prodblems, grave to you, which can de answered easily by us. Our attention is directed chiefly to matters of fact. In matters legal, medical and financial we do not give strictly professional advice, but even én these e con often smooth your way ond provide the comtact you need with teokniclans. Make a practice of e v e e L wreau, Proderio. J. Haalis, Director, mv- Arst and C streets northwest. I 2 oents in stamps for a direct reply.) ARTICLE 1L There are 15,000,000 motor vehicles of all descriptions loose on the streets and highways of the United States in the hands of drivers of every shade of responsibility and irresponsibility. Last year these motor vehicles were directly responsible for 18,000 deaths and 100,000 more or less serious accl- dents and the annual toll for 1924 promises to be even higher. This Is why Secretary of Commerce floover called together representa- tives of the automobile manufac- turers, the railroads, the insurance companies, the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, the National Safety Council and the American Au- tomobile Association last April and told them that, in his opinion, some- thing ought to be done about it and that something soon. This is why they agreed with him enthusiastically and solemnly pledged their co-operation In any scheme he might suggest for finding the solu- tion of the traffic problem and the problems of street and highway safety. This is why eight committees made up of men of national reputation in their respective lines from all over the United States have with innum- erable subcommittees been holding meetings all during the Summer for the purpose of discussing the various phases of the subject, such as statis- tics, traffic control, city planning and zoning, engineering and construction, education, insurance, the motor vehi- cle itself and last of all, the impor- tant phase of public relations. This is why a research organiza- tion has been set up with headquar- ters in the Department of Commerce itself which has been sending out thousands of questionnaires to State and city officials as well as to pri- vate organizations and is now busy collating the replies and getting the information in shape so that it will be available. % %% For the Secretary of Commerce proposes to call a conference late in November or early in December of representatives of all national or- ganizations, which by reason of their characteristics, either are or should be interested in’ the question of street and highway safety. It will be called the conference on street and high- way safety and the Secretary himself will preside. But before that time— probably a month before the con- ference meets—the eight committees will have drafted their final reports, together with their conclusions and recommendations, and these will be made public for discussion. They will then be taken up by the conference and out of it will come a definite national policy with regard to street and highway practice and a national co-ordinated program, which all or- anizations can adjust to their own safety programs. In this way all will be working along the same general lines, without dublication, without gaps, and without sacrificing the in- dividuality of the work they are now doing. Summed up, the communities and States of the United States are, with & few notable exceptions. treating the swollen river of today as we treat- ed the sleepy creek of 25 years ago. These notable exceptions will be dealt with in future articles for the result of their efforts indicate very clearly what can be done by scientific methods. Qur city streets are the same city streets of pre-motor ve- hicle days. We are trying to accom- modate to them a stream of traflic undreamed of by Alexander Winton as he laboriously put together In a blacksmith shop his first automobile with an internal combustion engine. * k% x The vural highway presents no such problem as the city street. Here it is only a question of widening the sur- face and constructing it so that it will remain intact at least for a rea- sonable length of time. Curves, grades, and road intersections can be so marked that the driver has no alibi for an accident except possibly some mechanical imperfection in his car, But the city street with its nar- row sidewalks faced with costly buildings cannot be widened unless these buildings are cut back at great expense. The problem here resolves itself into such questions as parking, traffic control, city planning, zoning, arterfal highways, one-way streets and a dozen other expedients design- ed to make the streets safe without slowing up the traffic or adding to the congestion. The traffic problem proper divides itself naturally into seven distinct methods of approach, each of which will be dealt with in future articles. There is a committee of Secretary Hoover's conference to study the problem from each one of these seven approaches. But while they rep- resent separate and distinct phases it will be found that they are inter- locking and have much in common with one another. Together, how- ever, the results of the work of these committees will be one of the most complete surveys which has ever been made of a national problem. * k% % Statistics, which are at the basis of all surveys of this kind, deal with the causes, location, frequency and severity of accidents. Available sta- tistics from cities and States which are leading in accident prevention work are being studied with a view of devising standard methods of gathering, collating and redistribut- ing them on a Nation-wide scale. Traffic control deals with laws, rules and regulations for the control of traffic. It includes the licensing of drivers, signal systems for police and drivers, speed limits, pedestrian facilities, street and road markings, parking regulations, one-way streets, illumination, ~patrols, intersection problems, safety measures in rela- tion to rapid transit and the like. Construction and engineering de- fines itself. It deals in road con- struction, surfacing and the main- tenance of surfaces, snow removal, grading, borders, side paths, elbows and the elimination of curves. The city planner and zoner ap- proachbes the problem from the stand- point of decentralization, parking reg- ulations, segregation of traffic, street widths, exits from congested districts, safety isles and zones, diversion of main trunk highways, one way streets, intersections and the location of particular buildings such as schools. The city planner is no longer the city beautifier—he is a trafic engineer. * x % % The insurance folks look at traffic from a point of view of the preven- tion effect of rating, compulsory au- tomobile insurance, selection of risks, classification records, certification of titles and theft prevention. While insurance is usually looked upon as the financial apology after an accident has occurred, it has a very material contribution to make to a campaign of accident prevention. Education deals with lessons in safety in the schools, the training of traffic officers, the training of trafc specialists, methods for training the employes of operators of large fleets of motor vehicles, not forgetting the education of the general public as represented by the driver and the pedestrain. The committee on the motor ve- hicle concerns itself with mechanical equipment of the car itself such as brakes, lights, bumpers, weight and size of trucks, etc. The eighth committee to be organ- ized by Mr. Hoover is the committee on public relations. This committee has the job of making a survey mnot only of the work of the other commit- tees but the present safety programs of the co-operating organizations. As its name indicates, it will also study the question of making the results of the conference effective as well as methods of carrying on the work per- manently. (Copyright, 1924, by Current News Featares, Inc.). WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC Gen. Winter defeated Napoleon at Moscow, and Gen. Apathy is playing havoe with all the plans of the three major political parties in the United States. The presidential campaign of 1924 to date has been about exciting as a Red Cross drive. Lead- ers in every camp call it the dreariest and dullest contest in many years. A common explanation is that the fight is being waged with kid gloves. No- body has *“got mad.” There is no mudslinging of the good old-fash- foned kind. No dramatic issue, capa- ble of generating passions, like “16 to 1, separates the Republicans and the Democrats, Mr. Coolidge’s ‘‘com- mon sense” slogan, and Mr. Davis' “common honesty” rejoinder are not the sort of battle cries that send men and women hotly into the fray., Mr. La Follette’'s fireworks have been shot off so often that they fail nowa- days either to exclite or enthuse. The net result is almost universal indif- ference. This will diminish as No- vember 4 approaches. At this writ- ing the base ball championships, the Prince of Wales, the world fiyers and the Chicago murder trial have the campaign backed completely off the popular map. * ¥ ¥ X% Patriots and taxpayers who feel the quadrennial urge to tear their hair blame the “boards of strategy” at the various party headquarters for the absence of campaign pep and punch. These geniuses seem to have dis- covered absolutely nothing new un- der the sun. They are pursuing the same moth-eaten methods that were in vogue when McKinley and Bryan were candidates in 1896. If Mars had established communication with the earth the other day, it would have observed that the campaign game is belng played just about as it was 28 years ago, except that mod- ern politics has not developed a Mark Hanna. The radio and the movies are supposed to introduce & .revolution in presidential campaign- ing. But the timeworn and weary battle of mimeographed claims, bom- bastic prophecies and stereotyped ar- gument is raging in the same old way. _If the strategists in the Cool- idge, Davis and La Follette camps gave birth to a real idea, the coun- try might awaken to the fact that a presidential campaign is on. * kX ¥ Secretary Hughes is anxiously awalting the arrival of Dr. Jacob G. Schurman, American minister to China, who will be in Washington this week. Dr. Schurman thinks that Gen. Chang-Tso-Lin who has now declared war on Peking, will wipe out Gen. Wu-Pei-Fu this time. Wu whipped Chang in 1922, when the Manchurian war lord tried to unify China by fire and sword. Meantime the latter has been thirsting for re- venge, and Dr. Schurman's opinion is that when he moves he will be sure of victory. The minister has so expressed himselt since arrival in this, country last week. Wu is a better general, but Chang has & su- perior war chest. China's soldiers have a passion for fighting on the side of the man with the biggest WILLIAM WILE John W. Davis is scoring with his un- commonly nimble wit on the stump. He has a knack of interlarding se- rious argument and immaculate Eng- lish with a merry quip in the ver- nacular, which Invariably “gets across.” Mr. Davis entered the cam- paign with a reputation for being high-browed, aristocratic and exclu- sive. Those who know him best sa; that such a reputation libels him and that he is a champion mixer. When the West Virginian was in Congress he was one of the shining lights in that famed organization of Washing- ton good fellows known as the Al- falfa Club. Nobody who is not a past master in mixing ever becomes an Alfalfan. George White of Ohlo, one of the Davis high command now on tour with the Democratic candidate in the transmississippi country, struck up his acquaintance with him while they were brother Alfalfans. * ok k ok Mr. Coolidge’s hour-by-hour activi- ties in Washington have the place of honor in the publicity issued daily by the Republican natlonal committee. The subtle purpose is to show that “Cal” is attending strictly to his presidential knitting and not neglect- ing it for anything so unseemly as a sordid scramble for votes. When there are callers at the White House, whose identities speak for themselves at this more or less witching hour, Mr. Butler's vigilant young men mimeo- graph it to the world post-haste. The other day a rabbi paid his respects [to the President. That was one in the eye for the Klan, and it was duly bulletined. £ % * % Herbert Hoover isn't often guilty of an inconsistency, but he committed a glaring one during the recent week- end. The Secretary of Commerce went to Atlantic City to deliver an address in favor of conserving the diminishing contents of our coastal fisheries. Then he proceeded to come home by the way of a fishing trip through Chesapeake Bay and hooked everything that nibbled. Fishing is Hoover's grand passion. He does most of his heavy thinking while walting for bites. Hoover says the trouble with the world is that there are too few fishermen and corres- pondingly too little thinking. * % % % Mrs. Mina Van Winkle, Washing- ton’s chief policewoman, has joined the faculty of George Washington University as its director of social studies. She has just completed the coming year's curriculum, which deals in brass-tacks fashion—calling spades spades—with all of the problems that come under the eye of the police in great cities. The course is based largely on Mrs. Van Winkle's own experience as a “woman cop” and is designed to interest university wom- en in policemanship as a career, but men are also eligible to it. Mrs. Van Winkle's theory is that people ought to be educated for police work just as they are trained for othes publio servide. Washington's course is sald to be & ploneer effort atrection. in that £ (Copyright, 1924.) NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM THE GQLDEN LADDER. Rupert Hughes. Harper and Brothers. The story of Betty Bowen. No, you do not know her. Fer it is a century and a half since Betty Bower made that prodigious splash in the provin- cial town of New York. Between then and now, a thousand disturbances, fe- male in origin and quality, have served to obscure this gallant adven- turer, or would have done 80 but for her brief matrimonial alllance with Aaron Burr. Nobddy forgets Aaron Burr. Even now, once in a while, some delver into the gossip of old chronicles turns a wry smile of ridi- cule upon the adventuring pair—78 and 60. But Aaron Burr, crowding 80 years, had still a devastating eye and the ways of many a tender gallantry. And Betty Bowen—Madam Jumel—at 60 had by no means forgotten the arts of lure and seduction. Grotesque, banal, the marriage proved to be. Of course—"“Just a pair of old fools” we, today, would say. Probably this was said in that day also. The mar- riage did scrve, however, to give to Mistress Burr the stamp of historic reality, whereas the identity of Betty Bowen, or even Madam Jumel, would years ago have been lost in the long and obscuring legend of loose women. * x % % “The Golden Ladder” is the story of Betty Bowen, Madam Jumel, Mis- tress Burr. The Burr marriage Is its climax. This marks also the last rung of the ladder by way of which the dauntless Betty climbed out of a wretched childhood and set herself high and dry in the ease and afflu- ence craved by a heart that was fam- ishing for pleasure and beauty and indulgence. Single of instinct as the beaver, as untiring too, Betty worked ever on the up grade. Each lift an- other move toward the pleasant land of plenty—the land of beautiful rai- ment, bright jewels, flashing equip- ages, no end of other soft cuddling seductions. And since in all the world there is no such thing as a free gift, Betty paid in the only coin she had. Each rung of the ladder—one end in the mud, the other against a cloud— was listed with a new name. The low- est, that of Pierre, the French lad. Then Capt. Delacroix. a sailor-man. Then, M. Jumel a merchant of France. Then Aaron Burr—and God knows how many besides. Not so many though, one judges, for good custom- ers in any trade are hard to find affiuent and generous patrons scarce. And Betty, to her marrow, was the instinctive shopkeeper. A spectacular rise for those days. A pageant of one. Then the inevitable came to pass. Betty grew respectable. The years do do one that way. Nothing short of a genuine wifehood would serve. A legally married woman of decorous ways and a growing good repute became the goal of the sobering Betty. So, with arts and crafts diverted toward a new aim, but in no wise diminished, Betty fell sick unto death all because of her sins. And the good M. Jumel, demurring but svielding, finally brought her back to life by legally tightening the loose bonds in which he had hitherto held her. | But—respectability is a dull state, or so Betty found it, since all the other respectable women turned hard and skeptical faces upon the belated spot- lessness of Mme. Jumel. Not worth the candle to Betty, all this dull virtue. She had no gift whatever for it. So she turned away toward the really sporting business of making money. Her ability in this direction already demonstrated. And Betty became a successful finan- cler, which accounts in large part. one suspects, for the Autumn Jumel-Burr romance. A remarkable woman, despite the frailties which all perfect men and women are bound to deplore and con- demn, e “This account of her is hardly worthy of the high name of fiction’—Rupert Hughes talking. “It is hardly better than mere history. It almost stoops to common biography : for the astonishing things in it are recorded fact. The rest is mere background and eackcloth to fill up the chinks where the documents are missing.” A situation, this, to the perfect liking of Mr. Hughes, who has demonstrated, 16 or 17 times now, that he must have something solid to stand on when he reaches out for the genuine human stuff in which he deals. No. not a realist. He is not dull enough for a | prime realist. He is selective where the | other is_aiffusive. His points do not scatter the light. They focus it. And while within a definite plan he may roam about a bit. he {s mindful to adopt no plan inadequate in any respect for the content of the matter in hand. Up to a certain point, a literalist of skill andWiscrimination, who reproduces place and event first of all in exactitude of outline and feature. This secured, Mr. Hughes, to meet his own ideals of further fulfiliment, becomes many things—the good psychologist, a bit of a moralist, eomething of the philosopher and certainly the smilingly ironic critic of a host of old commonly accepted re- spects and venerations bred of many | misconceptions or deliberately cher- ished untruths. Betty Bowen, Madam Jumel, Mis- {tress Burr—a real person set down in a picturesque and momentous past of time and place—provides an ex- ceptional theme for such individual equipment. A story deeply human in content and highly dramatic in effect {steps out to meet you here and to greet you with a promise of some- thing more than mere entertainment. And the promise makes good. To be sure, it is quite likely that some man- darin of modern criticism may point in reprobation to the Rupert Hughes habit of holding up the straight and cumulative line of action while the author himself zoes off at length into one or another of his various roles—psychologist, moralist, preach- er, cynic. But we, plain readers, sharing no part of the burden of ex- pert judgment on unities and bal- ances and sequences and things, de- light in the thrill of these illuminat- ing excursions all around the place. * x x % “Betty’s mother was one of the bil- lions who become mothers because they cannot help themselves. She bore children for the same reason that weeds bear flowers, and weasels multiply, and jungles are populous with little savages. She was the helpless victim of the self she drew in the one lottery that human laws have never touched.” And right along here—"It is not usual or respectable to write the truth about mother- hood: therefore, the women who triumph in this most difficult of ca- reers are robbed of their rightful praise by an idiotic habit of pretend- ing that all mothers are divine and all homes temples of virtue, and that the world would easily be saved if children would only obey their mothers and stay at home. It makes no difference that history is packed with proof that really good mothers are as rare as really profitable homes; and that the beginning of most suc- cessful (and unsuccessful) lives has been the departure from home.” Betty’s mother was a ‘“wrong one consistently from start to finish, with not a single handsome thing mentioned of her in her whole life. And so, since perfect scores are im- possible in this world, one is tempted to wonder if malice or oblivion were not her blographer instead of the perfect all-mereiful truth, ‘Who can ponder long upon the sto- ries that are toldus of souls like Luci- fer, Cain. Jezebel, : Judas, Messalina, and their sort without coming to think that they are victims of some con- epiracy of history as well as of fate, and that whadtever wrongs they have done, wrong has been done to them? We know now that Lucrezia Borgla, chiefly remembered as a wom- an who poisoned nearly everybody she ~ probably never act- ually poisqned anybody. We know that th, the wanton queen, THIS AND THAT BY C. E. TRACEWELL. The curfew tolls the knell of parting dar, The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the le The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea, Aud Ifaves the world to darkness and to m If Gray were writing those lines to suit Estey alley, he would be forced to amend them slightly, We have a curfew, but no lowing herds —Just crying children. No longer do ploughmen plod their weary wat they go home in automobiles pable gas lamps make entirelv impossible leaving the world to darkness. As for “me—" few people nowadays féel that the world is lef: entirely to them. There are too many cther persons around. Evening in Estey alley has merit: of its own, joined to the age-old charms of eventide, ancient when Eve took her first look at a sunset Evening in Estey alley is the natural complement to morn in the same vicinity, rounding out a perfect day or a near perfect day, or a less per- fect day, as the case may be, ac- cording to innumerable factors, such as breakfast, whether the children are sulky, how business ran during the day and so on and so forth. A “day,” to most of us, is the period between the time we get up and the time we go to bed. We think naturally of sunset as the end of the day, and so it is, in many ways. For men are creatures of sun- shine, like flowers, although millions of them refuse to admit it Man's true life is in the light. Whatever he manages to steal from darkness he must pay for, and does, in that unescapable thing known as “the end” Benjamin Franklin “said it,” once and for all, when he wrote Early to bed and early to rise, Makes a man healthy, wealthy and w L Thought is discursive in Estey alley in the evening. The mind leaps from idea to idea, much as a nimble flea, without any particular connec- tion between point and point. Is not this a happy thing? Legal documénts have to be pain- fully precise, so much so that the majority of them are ridiculous, judged simply from the standpoint of good English. “Free verse” the so- called verse libre, runs to the other extreme of incoherence. Here in Estey alley, in the even- ing, when the sun begins to set be- hind those tall hills, crowned with trees that as yet have escaped the hands of the street wideners, nelgh- bor may talk to neighbor in the middle ground. Evening chatter over the low fences, twined with morning glory vines, but tressed with zinnias, cos- mos and asters, the latter now in full bloom, takes in many topics, from why the grass in one yard has not done as well as that in another, to discussions of the “latest” in a sensational trial. Flowers, grass and automobiles are the major topics, however, spliced with a few side remarks—in low tones—as to Sam Jones' habit of staring as he takes his car out of the garage, or why Mrs. Jolly would look better in a longer dress. s o> Much real work is done in Estey alley between suppertime and the dark. Flowers must be dug around, the earth loosened up. perhaps a bit of bonemeal sprinkled in. This mulching, if faithfully practiced, con- serves the moisture. It is a hard job, though, requiring much stooping. If there is any ordinary houR!}old pursuit more tiring than stooping, Whether in garden or house, it is diffi- cult to think of off-hand. Many who neglect their gardens do so, it eeems, mostly because they are unwilling to stoop. One simply has to “stoop to conquer” a garden. These non-stoopers are unaware of their dislike, probably, and would say it was not a fact. How- ever, when a man or woman has sev- eral inches of euperfluous fat over the abdomen it does make bending rather difficuit. Something like trying to fold a pil- 1o {ooping also is tiresome on the legs, especially when an attempt is made to get around bending by sinking down on the heels. This is what is known in gymnastic parlance as “static exer- cise” After a few minutes of such quiescence it will be discovered that the thighs are getting mighty tired. Trimming around the walk, after the lawn mower has been used, and clipping in places where the mower is difficult, if not impossible, to insert, has a weal ing effect, likewise. Real hard work is easier. R To me at least was never evening yet But seemod far beautifuller than its day. Thie is a thought few have not had at some time or other, and yet I wonder if it is true? A beautiful evening is glorious, but not “beautifuller,” to use Browning’s phrase, than its day. One must never be too critical of i poets, however. The sense of what they mean is enough. The poet, in the above lines, is not at all hard to ‘under- etand.” He simply says that any.old sort of evening, to him, is lovelier than any daytime, whatsoever, using the common meaning of “day,” sun- rise to sunset. Here in Estey alley sunsets are beau- tiful as they can be, which is saying a great deal, for the District of Colum- bia enjoys wonderful settings of the sun. I have seen Union Station at eve outlined against as gorgeous a eky as Italy ever boasted. In a city one be- comes so used to life, if one may ex- press it like that, he ceases to look at anything with eyes of seeing. Do you get me? One may look at a thing, actually see it, and yet not see it at all. If a man looks at a rainbow, says, “Yes, it's pretty,” and immediately turns back to his work on the carburetor he has not seen the rainbow at all, but his car- buretor, which he may eee any time by opening the hood of his car. One by one the flowers close, Lily and dewy rose Shutting their tender petals from the moon. People that have no sentiment in their natures make me tired. 1 have no use for a man whom you do not dare to speak to before he has had his breakfast—unless he is ill—or the guy who has no_thought for the beauty of the National Capital in which he passes his life To live here and not enjoy the beauty of this city is to miss much. Beauty is like air, one of the few things still free. The glory of the four-inch morn- ing glories on & neighbor's fence is as much yours as his, There is nothing unmanly in tender- ness, or particularly feminine in beauty. Those who think so are suffering from a complex, and ought to submit them- selves to a real psycho-analyst. Evening in Estey alley is beautiful, calm, restful, with its garages growing dim under the deepening gray that set- tles over the alley, its golden glow in windows, the gleaming street lamps casting their circles of light. A gentle breeze rustles the nas- turtium leaves, now dark blots by the E\?e of the walk. It is evening in our ey. was the helpless prey of slan- der and was probably the permanent virgin she boasted of being.” So, Betty's mother was “quite too ideal a wretch to be possible” There must have been moments of winsomeness, of pathos, of regret, of generosity. Perhaps all her crime was her too lavish generosity of herself. Eise, how could she have borne a child of such high spirit as Betty?” It is when, turning away in char- acteristic fashion from the immediate business in hand, Rupert Hughes faces squarely upon certain_historic figures of that period—Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton—that he ces violence, wholesomely, Jarriog, 1G M