Evening Star Newspaper, November 3, 1924, Page 6

i THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Moerning Editien. WASHINGTON, D. G MONDAY......November 3, 1824 THEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office, 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd Bt. Chicago Office: Tower Building. FEuropean Office: 16 Regent St.,London, En, The Evening Star, with the Sunday moraing get them to the polls on election day was one of the jobs of earnest party workers, and in thousands of election districts it was not a job of small size. Loyal Democrats and faithful Republicans who had enough horse- power and traction equipment would “put in” their teams “for the good of the party.” Neighborhoods were map- ped off and mopped up, so that John Smith with his two-horse farm wagon gland. | could bring Bill Jones and Jack Rob- inson and their sons and a few other edition, is delivered by carriers within the [ neighbors to the polling place. The city at 60 cents per month; daily only, 43 cents per month: Sunday only, 20 cents per month. Qrders may be sent by mail or tele- Dhote Main 5000. Collection is made by car- riers at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable fn Advamee. Marvland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday.1y Daily only ..1yr, $6.00:1 mo. sunday only 1y 11 Other States. 50c 20¢ Daily and Sunday.1 yr., $10.00;1 mo., 85c Daily only ......1yr, $1.00;1mo., 60c Sunday only ....1¥r, $3.00;1 mo,, 25c Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled 10 the use for repablication of all news dis- patehes eredited to it or not otherwise credited i this naper and also the local news pub- Tished " hes All “rights of publication of si-cial d.epatches herein are also reserved. The Day of Claims. This is claims’ day, claims by the candidates and Dy their managers. According to tradition all are claim- ing victory at the ballot box tomor- row, some with figures and some with- out. Those who believe Mr, Coolidge will be elected are offering tables of States, with alternatives of certain- ties, probabilities and possibilities, the ieast reckomng showing an electoral majority. Those who are predicting the election of Mr. Davis are tender- 15 no specifications, but declaring it the trend of public sentiment is in his favor and will so tomorrow. Those who be- to believe, that the use will triumph, assert ter ieve La F that their candidate will win if all the votes that are t for him are counted. All the weight of statistical verity is on the side of the Republicans. They are making their claims and predictions in terms of specific States and electoral votes. Their estimates are supported in the main by the fore- casts of the supposedly and probably actually non-partisan news writers who have been following the cam- paign closely and are in a position to Judge the situation. It is a significant fact that these surveys of the situa- ton all trend in the same direction, which is the election of Mr. Coolidge. Save in 1912 this phenomenon has not been pr nted in recent years. Not even in 1920, cn the eve of the great landslide which clected Harding, was there such unanimity of judgment. Just why this feeling of confidence prevails is a matter of interesting speculation, Certainly there was no sround at convention time for Re- publican confidence to this de- gree. The third-party movement appeared to threaten the integrity of the Republican party. It was promoted by Republicars and was centered in a normally ‘tepub- lican area, the States of the North- west. It was expected to drav” mainly from the Republican strengt® Even granting Mr. Coolidge the sol:s Nerth- east, comprising all States above the Mason and Dixon line and as far West as the Mississippi River, save Wisconsin, he could be beaten by the defection of those States in such num- ber as to prevent an eclectoral ma- jority. That possibility became a fac- tor of prime importance at once upon its disclo The Republican cam- paign was immediately shaped accord- ingly to appeal to the people to make their own decision and not leave the choice of the Executive to the expir- ing Congress, with the House dead- | locked. Meanwhile prosperity became the portion of the farmers of the ‘West. High prices for their crops pre- vailed. They no longer felt pour and downtrodden. Their discontent evap- | orated. They became less ‘“progres- sive” and reverted to their old-time Republicanism. Another factor ap- peared in the challenge by the Repub- lican management and_speakers of | the anti-constitutional proposals of the La Follette party. proposals | which furnished a definite issue pl: ing the Progressives upon the defen- sive and finally forcing explanations and cvasions that greatly weakened | their position. lf So these three faclors operated to- gether, constitutionalism, good times and the capacity of the people to choose for themsclves. This combina- tion appears to have won the West away from La Follette, who had un- doubtedly expected to carry 10 or 15 transmississippi States, and to whom now are conceded only two or three. Meanwhile in the Kast the cam- mign was shaping to the point of drawing to the Republican ticket the | support of the conservative voters who otherwise might have aligned themselves with a more even division between the Republican and Demo- cratic parties. The radical menace compelled them to choose, and all the computations indicate that they have chosen Coclidge as more likely of elec- tion than Davis. They, too, have been influenced, it would seem, by the pos- sibllity of an electoral failure and the resultant uncertainty of choice by Congress. Thus the very factor that five mmonths ago made for Republican de- feat has worked to the Republican 'victory which . is so plainly fore- shadowed on the eve of election, ac- cording to the judgment of the most competent observers and forecasters of political events. No campaign orator ever advocates monopoly. And yet ronopoly man- ages to survive. { Getting Them to the Polls. Country voters cah get to the polls gnd probably will. It was formerly a stiff problem to poll a full vote in a eountry district. Even in horse and buggy days not every man who lived in the “rural regions,” or in the “back {in favor of Mr. Coolidge from 3 to woods,” or the “tall timber” owned presidential campaigns ago there were man with the team and willing to use it in the party service was an impor- tant citizen, around election time at least. ‘Today nearly everybody in the coun- $8.40;1 mo,, 70c | try owns an automobile or something like, and many more men have a ma- chine than ever owned a horse and wagon. It is nothing at all to crank the machine and gather up some neighbors who otherwise would have to walk three miles to the polling place, lounge around all day and then wk heme. Nothing at all! The man with a flivver can make a dozen trips where the man with the horse and wagon could make one. And the flivver man does it all with less effort. There is no talk that the horses should be plowing or resting instead of haul- ing voters. The country vote can be brought out in full. It is even hard for a farmer or farm hand to find an ex- cuse for not going to the polls. He need not take a day off. Perhaps he can perform the function of “declaring his principles” in twenty minutes or an hour. The automobile has become a political machine. — Chicago's Grade Crossings. One of the most shocking of all the grade-crossing accidents that have occurred in this country took place early Sunday morning in Chicago, when a street car loaded with merry- makers returning from a costume party was hit by a backing freight train and 10 were killed and 40 in- jured, some of whom will probaby die. The crossing was *‘guarded” by gates. They were up when the street car ap- proached. The watchman, who has been held on a charge of intoxication and negect of duty, declares that he did not see the train approaching as the engine was on the far end. His excuse, of course, is no defense, as it was his business to know the condi- tions and to lower the gates whenever a train approached. Chicago has a deplorable railroad terminal condition. There are scores of grade crossings, all of them dan- gerous. A few tracks are elevated and some sunken, but the streets and the tracks coincide at level in so many places that life is risked at | every hour of the day throughout the city. < An urban grade crossing is an anachronism. It should not be tol- erated. In this city all such crossings were abolished years ago, but not un- til they had taken a very heavy toll in human life. Chicago has been | “‘studying” this problem for decades, but has got only a short distance to- ward its solution. Conflicting plans have contributed to the delay. Now a terminal system is projected that will probably eliminate most of the level intersections, but it is proceeding so slowly that in all likelihood many more of these tragedies will occur before the final release of the com- munity from this peril. The sacrifice of 10 lives through| one man’s carelessness is a shocking reminder of a gross neglect of duty | by both the municipality and the rail- roads, and should hasten the work of installing a terminal system which will rid the city of these death traps. — e The fact that he missed being the Democratic presidential candidate has in no degree dulled Al Smith's enthu- siasm about being Governor of New York. —————r—e———— The active campaigner will after next Tuesday welcome the opportu- nity, regardless of the result, for an eight-hour night's sieep. e According to the Wall Street bet- [ ting odds the election is all over ex- cept for the formality of paying the winners. ——a———————— At least two of the candidates will classify the election on Tuesday as | “unfinished business.” —————————— One of the greatest objections to the bootlegger is the ease with which he evolutes into the gunman. —_—————— Farmers have had a great deal of sympathy. ‘The city man may next demand some when he buys his bread. —_—————— Eleven to One. Never before, as far as recollection runs, have the betting odds been so large as those that are now offered | in the presidential campaign. By steady changes the odds have risen 2 in July to 11 to 1 on the eve of elec- tion. The odds against Mr. Davis are now quoted as 13 to 1 and against La Follette at 25 to 1. ‘With such overwhelming odds pre- vailing little betting is recorded. Two classes of bettors respond to such offers—those whose partisan hopes are low, but who are willing to take a chance for a big winning, and those who have previously bet on the favor- ite at shorter odds @nd are now “hedging” as an insurance against the possibility of a heavy loss in case of a surprise result. It has been claimed this year, as in other years, that the election odds are manipulated for campaign purposes, to influence voters, many of whom are “band wagoners,” preferring always to support the winner regardless of policies or personal preference. But it is an extremely difficult thing to ma- nipulate the odds. To do so means that an enormous sum of money must be risked, if bets are genuine. Even to proclaim fake odds is highly dan. gerous, as they may be accepted and a horse and buggy or a horse and |the manipulative bettor must be ready wpring wagon. Far from it. A few |to make good. Most of those who take part in the ‘many poor persons living in the pines] pre-election betting do so in a non- ‘and in clearings in the pines, and to | partisan spirit as a speculation. ' bring them to the crossroad or the|are mot influenced by their wishes. ‘genesal store to reglster and then t,o"nuy make their bets because they lgpolis New: They T believe they have a chance to win. Their judgment may, of course, be affected by their political affiliations, but in the face of a 5 to 1, or 7 to 1, or 10 to 1 bet in favor of the opposi- tion candidate a' partisan must be an extreme optimist to risk his money. Rarely have the betting odds preva- lent on the eve of election failed to indicate the outcome. In 1916 they were a false guide, for the quotations stood 6 to 5 on Hughes at the close of the campaign and Hughes was beaten. In no case has a candidate favored by such a disparity of odds as those quoted on Coolidge failed to win. The Star’ Election Service. Throughout the campaign which is just closing The Star has undertaken to keep its readers posted on condi- tions throughout the country by means of correspondence from staff and special writers. Beginning this service immediately after the nomina- tions, it has continued to the present with a weckly survey of the States, together with voluminous daily corre- spondence. The writers of these letters and dispatches have been instructed to present only the most faithful pos- sible non-partisan pictures. It has been sought to give the readers of The Star the clearest understanding of the issues and the developments of the campaign without partisan bias. In consequence, it is believed that the readers of this paper are today fully and fairly informed. Tomorrow night The Star will in the same manner give to the people of Washington the speediest and fullest and fairest possible report of the bal- loting. It will present the returns by stereopticon on a double screen as rapidly as they are received from the Associated Press, with its unequaled facilities for the gathering and trans mission of the news, together with other supplementary services, general and special. It will offer a running analysis through a powerful ampli- fier by one of the most competent of political cbservers. This show of re- turns will be interspersed with other teatures to afford a diversion from the strain of constant watching and listening. As promptly as the results warrant extra issues of The Star will spread the news of the election to those who are unable to reach the bulletin point. — ot When high prices are accompanied by high wages, as in the present era, it is difficult to awaken the general public to a sense of grievance. ———— The Prince of Wales is frequently photographed in riding costume. The horse is kept out of the picture in the fear, possibly, that a mettlesome ani- | mal, fit for a prince, would shy at the camera. | e | None of the candidate: turned to private life” after tomor- i row's election. They have all com- manded a place in attention that will make the public waat to hear from them further. will be “re- oo | | Oldtime election bets prevented men from cutting their whiskers until a favorite candidate was elected More modern bets may cause women to let their hair go unbobbed. Chinese tongs have suspended their | warfare in New York City, thus set- ting a good example to the folks out home. — e Great discretion was observed by Ramsay MacDonald, but not enough to gain him a reliable reputation with the voters as a safe man. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Sweet Relief, i Our serious problem will be solved! By ballots falling fast, And all the questions so involved Will be made clear at last. Once more I can be free from fear And let the heathen rage, While I return with gentle cheer Unto the puzzle page. The anagram T can pursue Into its secret lair. R | The rebus, the enigma, too, i May claim attentive care. The themes of economic need No longer will engage 1 My thought. Unhindered Tl proceed Unto the puzzle page. Running. “You have been running for office all your life!” “Yes,” answered Senator Sorghum; “when a man depends on politics he keeps on running same as a rabbit. | He's afraid to quit.” ‘While the Listening Is Good. ! I listen in with keen delight. | I know beyond a doubt Some voices on election night For keeps will be tuned out. Jud Tunkins says he wouldn’t think of cornering wheat. He'd be satisfied, with election night approaching, if he could corner the confetti supply. In Doubt, “Why don’t you beb your hair?” “I can’t decide on the style,” an- swered Miss Cayenne. “I don’t know whether to have it look like a whisk broom or a feather duster.” Final Analysis. Some speeches we'll recall with pride As thoughts well thunk; And others will be classified As merely bunk. X “De world is gitten better.:' said Uncle Eben, “but a lot o’ de folks in it ain’t.” , H 1 —_——————— Heredity may not be the predomi- nating influence, but we wonder why the son generally wears the same size of hat as his father—Little Rock Arkansas Democrat, —————— ‘We are told that millions of people in this country have only the men- tality of children, but after trying to. answer our children’s questions we are inclined to think that is enough. ~—Cleveland Times and Commercial. —_— st ————— | What the fraternities and sororities need for the remainder of the rush season is a squad of traflic policemen to keep everybody In line.—Indian- HE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C. ‘MONDAY, ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Center Market, like a good many people, is more interesting on the outside than on. the inside. This is no reflection on the comely interior of the market, with its neat stands, white-coated market men, and coun- ters of viands. It is on the outside of the market, lowever, that the visitor comes into close contact -with the men and women of the soil who make the entire market possible. These are the folk who grow the giant radishes and the succulent carrots, the great pumpkins and the beets, and the celery and the spinach and all the other edibles we take into our homes. Here on the south front of the building, and along Loulsiana avenue, between Tenth and Eleventh streets, we find the sturdy country pcople, both white and black, who have o, ten out of their distant beds at 2 a.m. in order to bring us our bles. The whole area lying just north of the National Muscum ~belongs to Center Market. There in the museum repose, in a sort of embalmed state, many wonders from all parts of th world. Here, in the market area, lie huge quantities of good things to ea fresh and unspoiled from the ve lap of nature’ It is not too much to say that a visit to this great market is as near as we will ever get to the Garden of Eden. For the Garden of Ede: as all men know, was lost many years ago, but the Power that made it to bloom and to grow still works His wonders in the humblest truck gardens of Maryland and Virginia. Here, in the presence of these great mounds of green, yellow, red and other colored products of the soil, we are down to the elementals. Bless our soul, if there isn't the very apple the scrpent gave to At least, the original apple of could h| by no prett than those in that great pile there, giv- ing back the blushes of the mother of us all to this gray October sky. * x x ok Under these long umbrella shed: stretehing along Louisia avenue between Tenth and Eleventh streets, just scuth of where the tower of the Post Office Department looms, the corner grocers of Washington buy what they later sell to you. How fresh and clean everything looks! Here there are no small piles of anything, but great heaps of prod- uce—carrots by the bushel, their coper-red making a pretty sighl:l cabbages by the half ton, with curly fresh green leaves; pumpking by the score, all ready for Halloweeg looking sweet potatoes, reziments of them, doomed to walk right down into the valley of the four hundred. Look at those radish. They a foot long, it they are an inch white s alabaster, or a tiled such radishes as one never drean to see outside a seed catalogue. Now here before our eyes they have come One wonders who buys them. er in all my life have I seen radish like that on a plate. Here is a man with rows on rows of bottles of cider surrounded with the apples from which the drink was fine true pressed. Wagons back up, while the n in charge of the exhibits stand and walk around, with the unconcern of those who work with Nature. After all, no men so touch bottom with life as do the farmers, the truck growers, the flower culturists, all those who grow living things from the soil that the body and souls of the fed. er you see a farmer you a man who is not as other men. n any of the bunk about the “backbone of the repub- although the, farmer undoubted- is that, to say nothing of being ribs, too. & man who has faced Nature at 2 dug in the ground all day lon see I do not me be lic, 1y th IN TODAY’S Ten years ago the lcading nations met at The Hague to formulate some general plan for curbing the use of narcotics. Today, after a decade of comparative inactivity, the same question is taken up in a conference of seven nations, meeting at Geneva. The World War postponed results of the first campaign; it is hoped that { definite action will result from the new movement to formulate interna- tional laws and treaties which will regulate the nefarious commerce in the death-dealing drugs. On November 17 another anti-nar- cotic conference will open in Geneva. It will undertaKe the consideration of the “American plan,” which is to limit the production of raw opium, regulate the manufacture of narcotic drugs and even restrict the growing of cocoa leaves to the amount legiti- mately needed for medical or other scientific use. This last proposal strikes directly at the root of the evil, affects the revenues of nations, in- | cluding Great Britain, and is likely to meet the strongest opposition, however disguised. The mere formu- lating of commercial regulations is harmless and unobjectionable, ac- cording to diplomats, but to stop in- ustry, to cut off the living of whole regions devoted to the profitable growth of poppies and other oplate crops—that must be carefujly con- sidered, not only iIn the interest of the growers, but also in the interest of national revenues. The November 17 conferencé, therefore, will surpass in interest the one which opens to- day. Opium is grown in China, Ser- bia, Greece, Turkey, Indla and Per- sla—particularly in Persia. It is manufactured in the United States, i Germany, Japan, Great Britain, France, Switzerland and Holland. * X X ¥ The evil of addiction to narcotics is often held up as a greater bogic than the facts warrant. Not that there has been exaggeration of the horrible suffering of the victims, but that the number of addicts is not so formidable as the public has some- times been led to believe. Sensa- tionalists have reported estimates that | here are a million addicts in the {nitea ‘States, and that since the Vol stead act cut into the alcohol evil, weaklings by the _thousands have turned to oplum and.other narcotics. This is authoritatively contradicted by the United States Public A Health ice. X SO Yess reports have appeared to_the effect that “more than 2 per cent of the people of this country are addict- ed to the use of opium or cocaine, and this nuiber is being augmented at the rate of 100,000 a year. For every ounce of cocaine employed legitimate- ly there are 200 ounces consumed il- agitimately.” 1t has been asserted that the Harrison law regulating the traffic in narcotics contained a loop- hole which enables the addict to get unlimited quantities of his favorite drug in a nostrum form, and that 0 per cent of the drug stores live upon their narcotic sales. Such sensational statements are dis- proved by official authority. Surveys of the number of addicts in a limited area in Tennessee, Florida and else- where show that the total number of victims in the United States sddicted to the marcotics is less than 200,000. The total amount of narcotic drugs imported or smuggled into this coun- THIS AND THAT BY C. E. TRACEWELL BY PAUL V. COLLINS. gone to bed with the chickens, such a man comes to have a stolid look about his face, because he uncon- sciously reflects the face of the land. The land does not get all excited because an airplane flies over it. The rock-ribbed hills showed no particu- lar excitement when the ZR-3 flew overhead. Some way or other the cosmos of Autumn, bright flower of windy days, pays no particular at- tention to the speeches of the candi- dates, There is something tranquil, vet vivid, restful yet exciting, about Na- ture and all her ways that sinks into the soul of the countryman and also into the heart of the city man who cannot—or will not—forget the days of his youth. That is why rich men, if they have any sense, get themselves country places, where they may take them- selves when the atmosphere of the metropolis tends to suffocate them. That is why those who are not rich love the parks of the city That is why even a visit to a great market is a refreshing experience. It may seem an everyday thing, and so0 it is If one visits it in the spirit of the money changers. If he hold fast to the truth, however, he will realize, although it may be in an ut- terly subconscious way, that here, too, he finds the men and women of the' country, and the things they have grown, and the spirit of their growing. There is a peony grower by the name of Farr who advertised his bloonis: “Better peonies by Farr.” Another peony culturist, by the name of Gumm, thereupon advertised his as follows: “Better peonies by Gumm.” Speaking in all reverence, it seems to me the rest of the peony Krowers « country might advertise their peonies simply: “Better peoniessby God.” | Here in Center Market there are bushels of sermons in carrots, fresh from the hands of the Creator. every one bearing God's signature in un- mistakable terms. These bright vellow chrysanthe- mums preach more eloquently than any minister T ever heard. We came to the market to get some string beans, and we go away hugging a wonderful sermon in flowe F R In the outdoor stands along the south wall of the market sit country | men and wom pme of them are E Py, Yonder old mammy, with placid, severe face beneath steel- | rimmed spectacles, is sound asleep among her 4s of flowers, and arm- fuls of red oak leaves. Over there a typical smoking a corncob pipe. mammy is The odor of | | mingles pleasantly with the | snt odor of horse-radish that out of the market. - comes d by procession of cats, y tiger cat, his sides | bulginge. say Washington has the finest tiger cats of any city in the world. Behind the tiger comes | black and white cat, with gleaming white whiskers, while in the rear marches a cat whose coat is nearer green than any other color. What a paradise this market area must be for feline 0 wonder their | sides bulge. what with scraps of meat from the.stands, and bits of fish | from the stalls where fresh fish are kept on ice along Commission row. See the Jack O'Lantern, made of an enormous pumpkin, with a long car- Fot stuck in its face for a nose. “How much is this?” asks a pretty lady of a motherly looking market woman. . “One dollar, dear” replies the woman, her bright, blue eyes smiling. Some people can say things like that to utter strangers without offending. Have I not said she was a | country woma SPOTLIGHT try is equivalent to 2,500,000,000 doses of opium or its derivatives per year. and 325,000,000 doses of cocoa leaves and cocaine. The average consump- tion per day of the morphine addicts is 8.5 grains, or 1,000 doses each, per | month—12,000 per vear. If the ratio | of addicts found in Tennessee holds | good throughout the United Sfates, the total number of addicts would be 118,000, and at their average consump- tion, that would use up approximately 1,416,000,000 doses—out of the total imports " of less than 3,000,000,000 doses, allowing nothing for the legiti- mate uses. Allowing an addition of 5 per cent to the Tennessee propor- | tion, the National Public Health Serv- ice concludes that there are not more than about 150,000 addicts—almost certainly not to exceed 187,000, * ¥ ok % Another most encouraging feature | of the situation is that the evil is not increasing in this country proportion to the growth of popula- | tion. In an investigation of 213 cases | in Jacksonville, Fla, 10 years ago | it was found that 4.6 per cent had been the result of medicine taken on | physicians’ prescriptions or treatment | personally administered by the phy- | siclans. Progressive medicine has made great advances in the decade | and less medicine is prescribed today | than formerly and certainly much | greater care is taken in iving nar- | cotics. Physicians know more about | the possibilities of even small doses | than they did ten years ago. Even than it was reported in the Journal | of the American Medical Association | I that the average person will develop addiction to opium or one of its alkalolds, after 30 days of daily use, | and that after three months' use it | not be discontinued without medi- cal aid. Persistent use in small doses is recognized a& more perilous than occasional use in larger amounts, The drug peddler has been accused of creating many addicts, and like the moonshiner and the bootlegger, his prosperity is supposed to be based | upon the law cutting off the “legiti- | mate” dealer in the forbidden drug. | This is denied by the officials, who allege that not one case of an addict has been found which could trace the origin to the despicable drug peddlers. They supply confirmed addicts, but seldom approach pros- pective victims not already addicted. “Among the influences which have tended to lessen addiction,” says Dr.{ Lawrence Kolb, surgeon of the Pub- lic Health Service, “may be mentioned the enormous advances which have been made. in medical science and medical education during the last 30 years, and the specific information that has been gained about nardotic addiction. As a result, there hasi come. about a better understanding of the dangers and therapeutic limi- tations of opium and cocaine, and those drugs are no longer used in many,bf the diseases for which they were at one time commonly pre- scribed. Another factor which has caused addiction to take a down- ward course is the enforcement of the restrictive laws enacted by the State and Federal governments.” * % % % In 1918 the Treasury made & survey of the number of narcotic addicts who were being treated in New York State by physicians, and found that 37 per cent of the physicians who re- ported showed that they were treat- ing 12,365 addicts. In 1923 a similar survey of New York was made and 51.6 per cent of all physiclans of the State reported a total of only 775 cases of addictio progress has never b _more mark- { fledgling when Five .years of | gver mational greed. NOVEMBER 3, 1924. FLOWERS For the Living Frank L. Polk BY JAY JEROME WILLIAMS When the day comes for Frank L. Polk to take confidingly the hand of an astral spirit and be conducted up the marble stairs that end at the golden gates of Heaven, cne can vis- ualize the “rap-rap-rap” of the knocker on the big front door, and St. Peter'’s old, bald head, halo in- tact, popped inquiringly above the rampart. “Who've you got there?’ St. Peter will ask. “Fellow named Polk from Amer!- ca,” the guide will respond. “Have to know more about him be- fore I'll open the gate,” Peter will decree. “Well,” the guide will say, “if your holiness will take my word for it, he seems to be a pretty. good fellow. Course, I haven't known him long. Just got him in tow at the bottom of the stairs, and brought him up here, but (and this will be sotto voce) he seems like an A No. 1 applicant to me. I think you can let him in without fear of the con- sequences. The record shows that at one time he was a kind of a general utility man for the United States Government, and—"" “That don’t mean a thing to me,” St. Peter will remark. “But,” will continue the guide, “he went to Washington during Woodrow Wilson’s administration, and so far as 1 know he didn't make a single enemy while he was there. Even the Republicans liked him. “What!" St. Peter will exclaim. “Bring him in at once! By George, he is unusual!” Soldier, statesman, public servant, lawyer—thls, in brief, is the career of Frank L. Polk. And s for the career part of it, it's in the mak- ing, for Frank Polk is still a voung man. In fact, he was somewhat of a he marched away to Porto Rico as a captain in the Span- ish-American war. He graduated from Yale in_ 1894, took his LL. B. at Columbia '97, hung out his shingle in New York the same year, and went to war the next. At some time in his life he must have learned the ad- vantages of being an all-round, gen- eral utility man to the nth degree. He was counselor for the Depart- ment of State back in 1915—you may recollect there was a war on then which took considerable counseling —and later he became Undersecre- tary of State. It was about this time that Destiny called for all his tal- ents When President Wilson journeyed to Parix in December of 1918, he took with him many of the responsible members of the Government. But k Polk was left behind as Act- ing Secretary of State and during this turbulent period most of the busi- ness of Government revolved around the State Department. Mr. Polk bore the brunt of all official complaints centered on an absentee President. when the President returned home in 1919, Frank Polk was the man chosen to go to Europe to bear the brunt of most of the ire against the American peace delegation. And there was ire a-plenty, for Europe had taken down the welcome sign for visiting Americans, no matter what their capacity, and the task that lay ahead was not a bed of rowes. Yet Frank Polk did a credit- able job, maintaining his own high standard of usefulness, and made friends for his country and himself in Europe. Frank Polk is a hard worker and an able one. He has taken at all & ®00d citizen's interest in his Goverlment. He has served well and diligently as a member of the Board of Education of his natal city, New and has also been a member of the Civil Service Commission. He has a delightful faculty for making friends in both high and low estate. But don't for a minute set him down as a Pollyanna type. His chin alone would be sufficient- evidence to the contrary, if evidence were needed. He now is practicing law in New York. He is, in fact, a member of the same law firm as was John W. the Democratic presidential nominee. This firm numbers among clients the banking house of . Morgan, but it's a safe bet to ume that on Mr. Polk's list of clients there are as many poor pe: sons, who are receiving his services gratis, as there are plutocrats. (Copyright, 1924.) Would Upbuild G. W. U. Hopkins Declares Institution Fills Great Need. To the editer of The Star: At the Fall conventfon of the George Washington University on the 28th of October a remarkable state of facts was disclosed, which I am sure cannot be paralleled in any college or university in the land. The 76 graduates represented 29 different States—North, South, Bast and West, with one from the Philippines. The number of States at the full gradua- tion at the end of the year will doubt- be largely increased. The gratifying aspect of this condi- tion of attendance Is that it exactly fulfills the earnest wish and wise pur- pose of George Washington as ex- pressed in his will. He indicated in the bequest which he made for the founding of a non-sectarian univer- sity at'the Capital, as one of, if not the principal, benefits to result from the bringing together at an im- pressionable time of their lives vouths from all sections of the coun- try in such relations of companion- ship and common interests as to soften, if mot wholly remove, their sectional prejudices. and make them feel that they were first and foremost citizens of the United States; thus in- dicating his high aspiration and be- lief that the Nation which he above all others had done so much to create as to be perpetual. There is now, at a time when the need of streagthening and spreading |pride in and attachment to national citizenship is very great, a growing tendency from the existence of State universities and local institutions to keep the youth of the land at home, bringing a great risk of promoting and perpetuating local and sectional prejudices and preference. A great, well endowed university at the Capital, where the best instruc- tion can be had at the lowest rates, would exert a powerful influence in counteracting such tendencies, and it is strange that men of wealth the country over do not recognizé the fact and build up such an institution here upon the existing solid founda- tion. Every one who has contributed or may hereafter contribute to enlarg- ing the facilities and opportunities of the university becomes thereby an executor of George Washington's will. and I suggest that a list of donors from the beginning be made and kept, creating an_association to be known as George Washington execu- tors, o ARCHIBALD HOPKINS. ed in any other line of science and good morals than thus shown in the narcotic evil, which science and gen- eral education are combining to elimi- nate in Ameri Whether the “American idea” will be internationally adopted in restrict- ing the world production of the drugs to the legitimate medicinal needs will be the test of how much altruism ‘and the Golden Rule can yet }Hdmph (Cupyright, 1924, by Faul V. Collins.) i Q. motor?—Q. 8. How much freight is hauled by A It ls estimated that 1,000,000 motor trucks in service in the United States today haul annually a matter + of 1,430,000,000 tons of freight. Of this amount’ 134,400,000 tons represent farm products. Q. Must one lead in auction bridge before Dummy’s hand is put down’— M. 0. A. Law 47 of auction bridge says, “As soon as the Initial lead is legally made, Declarers partner places his cards face upward on the table and becomes Dummy.” It is therefore an infraction of the rules to place trumps on the table before the lead is made. Q. How many_ States have State libraries?—J. C. M. A. All the Stites with the excep- tion of Arkansas and New Mexico have State libraries of some sort, according to a bulletin published by the Bureau of Education. Q. Are there any statistcs to show how many matches are used daily in this country? What is the world output_of matches?—G.R.H. A. The United States uses more than 1,500,000,000,000 matches made out of wood every year. This is about 37 matches a day for every man, woman and child in the country based on a population of 110,000,000, or 4,000,000,000 daily. Recent sta- tistics from Europe have placed the per capita consumption there at 14 matches a day. The world output costs $200,000,000 and reaches a total of 4,675,650,000,000 matches a year. Q. Is it true that one should not indulge in mental work directly after eating?—E. M. A. The Public Health Service says it is more or less injurious to indulge in mental work directly after eating a meal, because of the fact that the blood is taken away from the abdom- inal organs to the brain, and this arrests the process of digestion. Q. Iintend to start a nursery bus ness on a small s Will I have to have the nursery inspected?—C. N. G. A. The Department of Agriculture says that if you wish to start a nur- sery business it will be necessary for you to have your premises inspected every year. Q. What method shall I use in cleaning my home steam-heating plant’—F. E. B. A. The Bureau of Mines submits the following in regard to cleaning the boiler of a small home steam- heating plant: Close all radiator supply valves on steam supply and return valves at boiler. Blow down boiler through bottom blow-off under water pressure of at least five pounds Fill boiler to operating level with clean water. Add about three gallons of acid vinegar, and operate entire plant—boiler and all radiators—for from 24 to 48 hours. Then blow off through top by replacing safety valve with a full sized pipe connection to sewer having a valve in the line by which escape of steam can be regulated. Build up as hot a fire as possible, maintain a pressure of 5 to 10 pounds, with water at normal level, feeding make-up water as the steam blows off for a period of six or eight as rapidly as possible into bottom of boiler and let it escape through top blow-off. Finally, wash out boiler again through bottom. Blow’off as at beginning. Q. What is the highest salary for a postmaster?—J. K. M. A. When the receipts of an office reach $40,000 it goes into the first class. The salary in this class begins at $3,200 and increases by statutory gradations until it arrives at $8,000, the statutory maximum. This is reached when the receipts are $7,000,- 000 and upward. Q. I have a piece of cloth in a gun barrel. How can I get it out>—F. M. A. One way of getting a piece of cloth out of a gun is to burn it out by inserting a hot wire. It requires a great deal of patience and care, however, in order not to overheat the barrel of the gun. Q. When a word sounds the same as another, but is spelled differently and has a different meaning, what is it called?—C. H. A. Such a word is called a homo- nym. Is Expected Hope for a better.situation in Ger- many, with a stronger government coalition to carry on the reparations plan, is found by American editors in their surveys of prospects in the im- pending Reichstag elections. “Rather than surrender to men who place personal and factional interests above the national welfare, cellor Marx finally has taken his case to the German voters,” explains the Chicago Daily News, which finds it | difficult to believe that “the Germans will permit themselves to be deccived by extremists and betrayed into de- livering a political verdict that would mean the undoing or jeopardizing of the encouraging work that has been done in Europe in the last eight months.” “From the first the trouble twith this German government has been the fact that it had no workable ma- jority in ‘the Reicastag and never could have one with the existing | party line-up,” in the opinion of the New York World. “While Europe has been moving toward peace and recon- struction, Germany has been governed by a Reichstag that was elected upon a false assumption of French inten- tions, the product of uncertainty and deadlock,” therefore “it is time that the German people should have a chance to vote again, and vote upo; the realities of an altered situatio; In the coming election, says the Baltimore Sun, “all minor contentions will give way to the issue of whether the conciliatory Republican groups or the deflant monarchist elements shall receive a clear mandate to con- trol. On the whole, the chances favor the republicans. The new &conomic { stability in Germany helps them, just as chaos hampered them six months Both the communists and Lu- fascisti have discredited themselves with the voters by a sur- plus of rant and a deficit of reason * k K % The Indianapolls News declares “whether the coming election results in a more stable political alignment is wholly conjectural.” An approach to a two-party, or even a three-party plan, is probably not imminent, and perhaps the best that can be hoped for immediately is a more effective coalition.” The San Francisco Bul- letin also thinks “the most that may be hoped for 1s a combination party with a following strong enough to accept the Dawes plan and to give such guarantees as will permit of its operation for long enough to estab- lish the truth that it will pay Ger- many to pay reparations as read- Justed.” The immediate “heartening effect of the economic scheme has no doubt strengthened the hope of the people in the move,” remarks the Louisville Courler-Journal, to which, it seems, the gene: 'will chiefly be a contest for Prestige, and net to ’ J hours, then for two hours feed water | Chan- | Q. Which President had the most children?—B. M. N. A. William Henry Harrison had the | largest family—six sons and four daugh- ters. Q. What are the names of the Three Fates?—R. U. V. . A. In a poem of Hesiod they ap- pear as the three daughters of Zeus and Themi—Clotho, the spinner; La- chesis, the assigner of the lot; Atro- pos, the inflexible, who cuts the thread (of life). Q. What is a profiteer?>—B. B. D. A. According to a 1920 edition of a dictionary, it is “one who makes what is considered an unreasonablo profit, as by taking advantage of a public or national need in time of war.” Q. Should a baby sleep with pillow under its head?—L. E. C. A. A baby will breatbe more easily and take more air into its lungs if no pillow is used. A clean, folded napkin may be placed under his head. Toward the end of the second year a thin hair pillow may be used. Feather or down pillows are unduly heating. a Q. Why are coffees blended?—H, M K. A. A careful study of the best, points of several kinds of coffee is made, and experiments show that a blend of several with due regard to age, grade, body, flavor, appearance and affinity, will produce a beverage more pleasing to most palates thaun one made of a single variety. Q. When was the first concrets ship built in the United States?—D. R The first large concrete ship built in the United States of a type designed to be propelled by motor power was the Faith, a ship of 5,000 net tons cargo. This ship was launched in San Francisco in 1918 and put into service the same vear. Q. When was the first upright piano made’—L. G. A. The first genuine upright pianu was patented in 1800 in England and the Tnited States by John Isaac Hawkins, an Englishman lving in the United States. The first upright that yielded practical results was produced by Southwell in 1807. In 1820 the original of the present typa of frame was patented by Allen and Thom. Q. How are “index numbers” as used in compilations of statistics de- cided upon?—D. S. C. The “index number” is a well established device commonly used for measuring changes in wholesale and retail prices, and rates of wages over long periods of time. It is construct- | ed by securing each month the prices or rates of a uniform list, at certain specified places, and striking an av- | erage. Such numbers are usually re- duced to percentages. The lowest price known is sometimes taken as a base, or, as in case of investment stocks, 100 is used. Q. What are “pieces of eight’?— BW. 1 A. These are gold pieces which were coined early in the seventeenth century at the Amsterdam mint, the | Netherlands being under Spanish rule |at the time. They wére worth eight | Spanish reals or about one Spanisi Peruvian dollar, and were coined at the time that Spain was at the height of its power and prosperity. Q. Where was John Sargent, the great American painter, born?—J. . P. A. John Singer Sargent, artist, was born in Florence, Italy, but his father, Dr. Fitzwilliam Sargent, was a resident of the State of Massachu- setts. Q. Who was known as the Last of the Goths?—A. B. H. A. This appellation was given to Roderick, the last monarch of the west-Gothic kingdom of Spal (The persof who loses out is the one who guesses. The person who gets on is always the ome who acts upon reliable information. This paper employs Fred- eric J. Haskin to conduct an informa- tion bureau for the public. There is no charge except 2 cents in stamps for re- turn postage. Write to him today for any facts you desire. Your inquiry should be addresscd to The Star In- formation Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Twenty-first and C streets northwest.) Better Situation in Germany From Elections upset what already has been built up.” The St. Paul Dispatch agrees “the Dawes plan is an accomplished fact and its acceptance or rejection is not involved in the election,” which “is being held to determine whether a coalition dominated by the Peoples and Nationalist parties, or one run by th ialists, Democrats and Clericals will carry on.” The Cleveland Plain Dealer is sure: No government hostile to Marx and | Stresemann would venture to repudi- |ate the coalition policy of repara- | tions. 1t might co-operate half- | heartedly in the Dawes program, or |it might co-operate only under cu~ ercion, but it would not attempt to knock out the plan entirely. It is hoped that the new government, if there is to be new government, lwill be as moderate, as practical and | as honorable as the Marx government has been. But whatever may hap- pen Germany has gone too far to try to go back.” L 1 | i * | “It would be unfortunate for Ger- many, as well as for other countries,” ntinues the Springfield Republican, if the merits of the plan should not eceive @ fair and thorough test, | and a defeat of Chancellor Marx and | the policies for which he stands would bo a matter for regret.” In the same vein the Boston Transcript { says the feeling of the people “must be honestly in favor of living up to their written agreements if the Dawes plan is to succeed, and we shall watch for a strong majority as an indication of that honest desire when Germany's twenty-eight mil- lion voters again go to the polls.” The New York Times observes that the situation is much more auspicious for the government parties than it was six months ago. “Today,” adds the Times, “the Socialists should be in position to win back a number of the Reichstag Seats they lost to the Communists, - and the government ‘bourgeois’ parties ought to score against the Right bloc. The very re- fusal of the Socialists to bargain with the National groups is a sign of confidence.” Canadian viewpoints are voiced by the Toronto Globe and Montreal Gazette. The former says: “There are {hopes that the moderate parties, jwhich have so far maintained the Marx government in office, will gain at the expense of the Nationalists and that the Socialists will win back seats lost to the Communists in the last election. Such a result would insure a more powerful executive and I more favorable conditions for. the | operation of the Dawes plan.” In any event, the Montreal Gazette holds “there seems no ground for appr hending a.result that will interfers with the application and fulfillment of the Dawes plan, since the German people as & whole have backed the chancellor in respect of this all-im- portant issue and have already ex- perienced & foretaste of ity benefita™