Evening Star Newspaper, November 6, 1924, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTO D. C, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1924. e e T e O N S Py YR SO ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS THE EVENING STAR "~ With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY....November 6, 1924 THEODORE W. NOYES. . . . Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office, 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd St. " Chicago Oftice: Tower nnud‘nfi ‘Bgropean Office : 16 Regent St.,London, England. The Evening Star, with the Sunday morning edition, is delivered by carriers within the SN 8 ok onth: amity ouly. 43| cents per month; Sunds 0 cents per month.. - Orders may be seat by mail o tele- plione Main 5000. Collection is made by cur- Fiers ut the end of cach month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sund: .1 Daily only . 8unday only... All Other States. Daily and Sunday.1 yr., $10.0 Daily only eeulyr, 8unday only......15r., Member of the Associated Press. ted Press is exclusively entitled use for republication of all news dis- credited ta it or Dot otherwise credited paper anG alao the local news pub- herein. " A rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. A Mandate for Progressivism. Tuesday's election was a distinct and emphatic rejection of radicalism by the country. It was a plain Geclaration by a majority of millions | that the American people will have none of the Communist, ultra Social ist doetrines methods advocated by small groups and proclaimed for political purposes by the promoters of the third party. The Republican party profited by this reaction. Its candidate for Pres- | ident was elected by an overwhelming margin in both the popular and the electoral votes, It has been given majorities in both houses of Congress. It is commissioned for the next two years legislatively and the next four years executively to carry on the work of government. There is, however, no warrant in Tuesday's bailoting for the rejection Wy the Republican party of the course | of progressive action. Tt would be @ fatal mistake to interpret the de cision rendered then as mandate | o courses and policies. The the agains | radicalism was large does not signify | that country wishes to go to the other extrems The Republican party ceived in progress. 1t owed its exist- | 1856 to the wish of the people North to rid the country of institution of slavery. It won | first victory on that issue and | the party of progress then.| 1t has been progressive in later vears, | with occasiof into fsm. Now issue, cipitated by its that point of «djustment Its de cision, 1 adminis tively, guided the fact at, majority of | millions has just given against radicalism, the people wish to develop progressive pulicie statesmanship between be classed who far and a reactionary fact that majority vas con- | ence t 1 in its hecame lapses reaction- | has met an revolt from brings it to the to conditions, gislative should although been pre a own 1y and be by a de- those ! a con nat- Constructive mands who progr co-operation are properly to and those There is a sive are rervative, more | the derangement and disablement from air stresses as it increases in size? If the gas bag s to be increased greatly the difficulty of supplying non-explosive gas gor its flotation grows. The supply ©of helium, now the exclusive product of this country. is limited. It is costly, Much doubt is felt whether hydrogen can be made safe enough to use in regular operations. A dirigible twice the size of the giants now in this country may be too expensive in point of in- flation to be a success commercially. The President’s Gratitude. President Coolidge's expression of gratitude for his election is charac- teristic of the sincere belief in higher powers than those of the individual that has marked him throughout his career. He is a modest man, con- scious of his own limitations and yet guided by a genuine faith in his con- ception of the public need and his determination to supply that need with diligent service. He now ap- peals to the common sense of the people who have just given him their votes in such overwhelming numbers. They must not expect miracles, Xe cannot perform them. He has given, he says, no pledge except to serve them. And he has no other object except to promote their welfare. It has been said that Mr. Coolidge was his own platform in the cam- paign. His bearing throughout the canvass was that of a man who, con- scious of the righteousness of his cause, believed that his strongest ap- peal for understanding afid support was to be made through diligent de- votion to duty. But this was not a pose, adopted for campaign purposes and effect. It was the natural habit of the man. He kept at work throughout the months of agitated discussion. In anticipation of the election he resolved not to put the Government to the expense of the transportation of himself and the party that must necessarily accom- pany him whenever and wherever he goes, as President, and he cast his vote by mail, That was another char- acteristic proceeding. The millions who voted Coolidge Tuesday did so, seem. largely because they felt that they understood the man. For he a plain, simple man, like the great of the people; just such a man as is to be met in any small community, a typical American citi- zen. He had gone into office in cir- cumstances of difficulty and had himself ably and with regard for the best of the country. He had impr mself upon the pubiic imagination, not by virtue of any showy qualities, not by any par- ticular graces of personality, or by any spectacular performances, but by his diligence, his common- sense view of all matters pertaining to the Federal administration and his expression in all of his utterances of the ideals and the thoughts of the for Mr. it would majority borne interest ssed quiet | average of men. Commissioned for four years by votes of the people in numbers that might conceivabiy be most flat- tering to any man, Mr. Coolidge ac- cepts the decision in a spirit of dedi- cation to a duty which he is called upon to perform and which, with the guidance of Providence, he sets out of between ural between them ne nce true end the radicals, r the progre: sceks to without extreme | changing of principles of government. | while the radical would change those | principles. Abandonment of the plan | of forming segregated groups required for the de- | velopment. time aban- donment of opposition to whatever s d or advocated | by of the truly progressive @chool of thought is essential. The of the Republican party, newly commissioned to con. | Guet the Government, will depend | upon the coalition of these forces. | It must be borne steadfastly in mind that Tuesday's mandate was chiefly given by the progressive voters of the | Western States, who, though tempted toward radicalism by the specious promises and impossible pledges of the third party. have in deciding num- bers returned to the support of the Republican party. They have ex- pressed their faith in the real progressivism of the party, and that faith must be respected, else disaster will befall. the ve | bloes and Congress s of in sl consistent national At the same stubborn those Success v - At least the campaign has had the effect of conciliating the attitude of W. J. Bryan toward great lawyers employed certain cases by great capitalists. in ————— the proposition that Coolidge is safe the general public was for once in thorough agreement with Henry Ford and Wall Street. On a man —————————— John W. Davis never worked hard- er in his life than he did for the Democratic party; nor for a less Femunerative client. e The Greatest Dirigible. Announcement is made in London by a representative of a large manu- facturing firm that a contract has deen signed for the construction of en airship of 5,000,000 cubic feet. This is more than twice the size of the ZR-3, now the Los Angeles, built 1 Germany for the United States and lately brought over here. No statement is made as to the contract- ing party, but it is assumed that puly the British government is likely to be interested in such a huge construction. LA dirigible twice the size of the Los Angeles will indeed be a mon- .ster. . It will have a larger sailing ridius, perhaps greater power and spgedi It mey be the solution of the lem of practical commercial t. At the end of the voyage of the ZR-3 its designer and navigator declared that with sufficient power and speed the dirigible can navigate on schedule regardless of storms and other weather conditions. Perhaps this new giant just contracted for in England may provide the means and establish the standard. ° There is, however, one considera- tion in the matter of dirigible size that always raises a question. . Does the @rigible become more subject t | never | have | womanhood of e A Record Vote. of the totul vote cast vary from 30.000.000 to It is in any case plain record-breaking vote was The people responded as before to the appeal to go to ballot boxes. Whether this was the specific plea of organized agencies, several of which set out to bring the people to the polls re- | gardiess of partisanship, or to the natural arousal of interest in the election, cannot be determined. It is enough to know that the people have turned out as never before to vegister their will on election day. Possibly the radio has had its effect in keeping the people alive to the importance of voting. Perhaps they been aroused by the almost nightly appeals through crystal sets and tube sets by candidates and their supporters, Certainly there is no reason to feel that anybody has been unaware of the fact that an election was at hand and that it was im- portant to record the personal will. Another factor has been present| this year in the fully enfranchised the country. Four vears ago the nation-wide enfran- chisement was too recent to effect a complete turnout of the women. Millions of them shrank from exer- cising the voting privilege. This year they have evidently gone to the polls in great numbers, intent upon discharging their duty. The organi- zations that have been engaged for months in arousing the women of the country to a sense of political duty have rendered a valuable service. Estimates on Tuesday 32,000,060. that given, a the due to ————————— Up to the present time Calvin Coolidge has been in large measure a reflection of previous political con- ditions over which he had no con- trol and which nevertheless imposed certain restraints. Now, thanks to the confidence of the American peo- ple, he is master of the situation. Having established his new party, it now remains to be seen what Mr. La Follette will succeed in doing with it. Flower Shows. “all flower shows are being held in many cities and each exhibition draws a numerous attendance, It is the number of these flower shows and the size of attendance at them which is worthy of comment. Most of the exhibitions are without charge for admission, and it has been said that a free show will always draw a crowd, but that saying does not mean as much as it did in other years. Free shows, lectures, con- certs and exhibitions have so multi- plied in recent years that a crowd even at a free show testifies to in- terest in it. The lesson in these shows is that a great many persons feel & strong inférest in flowers. Of the persons who attend these shows only & small number may be interested in botany as a science. Perhaps they are in- | necessaries. terested to the point of sometimes thinking that they would like to know what is knowable , about a flower, but that is as far as interest leads them. A large percentage of the patrons of the shows probably do not know a staminate from a pistillate flower, and yet their in- terest is keen enough to lead them there. Sometimes it is the beauty of the flowers that calls them. The form and colqrs of the blossoms draw them and people get something like the emotion—‘kick” is the modern word—which little children get from looking at pretty pictures. But there is more in it than that, A great many people have learned to talk of the wonders of nature and increas- ing numbers of people travel to look at landscapes and marvel at seas and mountains. They see in a flower a work of nature that is small and intricate. They do not know as much about its works as a learned botanist does, but they know enough about it to marvel at it. It is a creation of G6d which they can hold or look at and they know that within its small compass are a number of mysteries which the mind has not penetrated. Dasheens. The Department of Agriculture says through a bulletin that the market for dasheens is yet limited, “and principally for the reason that a very small part of our population is familiar with this new vegetable.” That seems quite true. The dasheen was introduced in this country as a substitute for the potato or as sup- plementary to the potato, and also for the important reason that in the South and Southwest dasheens will grow well in soil which will not pro- duce a good potato crop. It is not probable that the dasheen will woo us from our faith in the potato, white or sweet, but a dasheen now and then at dinner might be tasty and some of us may get the dasheen habit. The white potato was once a new vegeta- ble with our ancestors and one won- ders how the world got along with- out potatoes. One also wonders how it got along without coffee and other things which people now count as The dasheen is said to be a good and serviceable vegetable and perhaps if men were to eat more dasheens, as well as beans, peas, cabbage, spinach and squash, and £o a little lighter on roast joints and broiled steaks, we might live better and longer, Representative Zihlman's Return. Washingtonians are gratified at the re-election of Representative Zihlman of Maryland. Mr. Zihlman has been one of the most steadfast friends of the District in the House. In his service on the District committee he has been of constant aid in the pro- motion of sound measures for the advancement of the local welfare, He has a thorough understanding of the local situation and it is always a cause of pleasure to the disfranchised | Washingtonian to find such capable men and such stanch friends returned by their constituencies. ————wt———— The comparatively scant showing made by the La Follette-Wheeler ticket will gratify two widely sepa- rated elements of public opinion; the conservatism that frankly feared him and the communism that publicly de- nounced him. ——————————— Like Mr. Al. Smith, Mr. Charles Bryan can console himself with the reflection that it is a great and im- portant honor to be the governor of an influential and respected State. —————————— A Republican President and a Re- publican Congress emphasized the miscalculation of those who predicted a deadlock. ————————————— The American voters decided to heed the historic remark of Charles Dawes, “Let's get together and get somewhere.” SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. “Told You So!” There is a phrase which irritates The most complacent mind When its expression indicates A tendency unkind. He bids your thought in channels flow Both turbulent and queer, The man who says, “I told you so!” And says it with a sneer. But when a prophecy fulfilled Bids all the world admire, ‘With joy the populace is thrilled It hails its heart's desire. The sunshine has 4 brighter glow And life seems more worth while If you can say, “I told you so” And say it with a smile. Period of Repose. “Now that the campaign is over I suppose you will take a good rest.” “No,” answered Senator Sorghum. “I'll have to keep busy one way and another. I won't get a rest. But my audiences will.” The Financial Backer. Our ancient course we will pursue ‘With generous delight And calmly cash each I0U That Europe has to write. Jud Tunkins says in order to be elected to office 'most any man must have enough personal popularity to cause him to be forgiven for a few things. Touch of Novelty. “What made you vote the way you did?” “The orators kind o' won me,” answered Farmer Corntossel, “by comin’ around for once and offerin’ us agriculturists congratulations in- stead of sympathy.” Those Betting Odds. The situation brings renewed delight Unto the watchful throng. ‘With nearly everybody guessing right, How can the world go wrong? “My ole mule,” said Uncle Eben, balked in de middle of de road, held up a line o' flivvers an’ kicked at de trafic cop. An’ I says to myse'f, ‘Mistoh, Mule, you may have a bad disposition; but you sho’ got courage® * THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. True poetry s known not so much by what it tells or by what it means a8 by a sense of exaltation which it brings to the sympathetic reader. Thus a poem may be worthless in 80 far as it can be analyzed and re- duced to concrete thoughts, yet be worth much more than fine gold be- cause of this quality which it induces. In our school days, when we were forced to wade through Shelley's “Adonais,” in all probability we hated it heartily, but now that we can ap- proach that elegy simply because we want to, we find in it qualities which bring about the exaltation of spirit we find induced by all truly great poetry. In this, the second of a series of reviews of old books, we will con- sider only the “Adonais,” from the poetical works of Percy Bysshe Shel- ley. At this distance, in this age, the death of John Keats in his 24th year means nothing to us. The unfortunate death of that young poet, however, stirred Shelley to his depths and resulted in the “Adonals,” the elegy on the death of Keats, which must ever remain one of the purest examples of English poetry in existence. 1t has about It all the precise charm of Beethoven's “Moonlight So- nata,” which, though it is far from epic In structure, yet contains quali- ties of sadness that breathe out of the composition even In the hands of an amateur. With the meaning of “Adonais,” therefore, we will have nothing to do. We will leave that for the professors and the teachers. Let us, however, attempt to enter into the charm of the music of the composition and ex- perience its exaltation, the glory of old-time poetry. X ox o % T weep for Adonais—he is dead. ® * ® till the future dares Forget the past, his fate and fame shall be An echo and a light unto eternity! For he is gone where all things wise aid fair descend. Thus we are told, in fairest verse, a truth as old as mankind, vet ever new in this world of life and death, mixed so curiously together, vet so far apart that neither state seems to have much realization of the other Most_musical of mourners, weep enew! Thy extreme bope, the loveliest and the last, The bloom, whose petals nipt before they blew Died on the promise of the fruit, is waste; The broken lily lies—the wtorm is overpast He has come to that high capital where kingly Death keeps his pale court, and has purchased, with pric of purest breath. a grave among the eternal. He will awake no more, oh, never more! This has been the passionate cry of all men, in all ages, as they stdod before the tomb of a beloved one. It was heard in ancient Egypt; its echoes resound in the Old Testament; today there is not a day goes by but it goes up somewhere. Tt was not heard in the election night crowds because the spirit of life was there. In the hustle and bustle of the great city the thought of death held little place. But at the same hour in muny homes there was quietness and sadness and an utter disregard of how the election came out because the ultimate sorrow had come to those households. = % % % “Oh, weep for Adonais. The quick dreams. The Pastion winged ministers of {Bougnt. Who were Nia. Socks, whoin near the living Nreams Of Mt young spirit he fod, and whom be taught The love which was its music, wander not. Wander o more, from kindliag brain to droop” there, wheace mourn. their lot Round the cold heart, Sweel pain. They ve'er will gather strength nor find & home. again. So one passes away who had served his life in the interests of the educa- tion of young men; so goes one who has spent his vouth, middle age and old manhood in the active life of news gathering. There is not an office that has not known this sudden passing in the night. We come down to the office in the morning, and the clevator man But they sprung: and where, after their TRACEWELL. tells us that this one is dead. “No. we exclaim, “we will not believe it. Yet it is true. Yet we have our work to do, and we must do it. So, to us, it seems that the missing one has only gone on a journey, and will come back to the office some day, and we will shake his hand as of yore. Alas! that all we loved of him should be, But for our grief, if it had not been, And grief itself be mortal Wo is me! Whence are we, and why are we? of what scene ‘The actors or spectators? Great and meas Meet massed in death, who lends what must borrow. As long as skies are blue, and fields are green, Evening must usher night, night urge the ‘morrow, Month foliow month with wo, and year wake year to sorrow. Looking down into the face of the beloved dead, there is but one thought that can come: his is not he.” Whatever may be one's faith or hope for a future life, that much is sure. The man we knew and loved is not there. He has gone away. So no child who has not known death can possibly understand these lines: Peace, n life peace! he 1s not dead, he doth Dot ‘sleep— He hath awakened from the dream of life— 'Tis we, who lost in stormy visions, keep With phantoms an unprofitable trife, And in mad trance strike with our spirit's knife Invulnerable nothings— Comes, now, the climax of this poem, lines suffused with music, over- flowing with calm resignation, filled with & trust of Heaven: He has outsoared the shadow of our night; Envy and calumoy. that Late and pain And’ that unrest which men miscall delight Can touch him not and torture not again; From the contagion of the world's slow stain He is secure, and now can never mourn A beart grown cold, a tead grown gray In vain. Hé lives, he wakes—'tis Death is dead, not he! So the triumphant lines move on, to those great stanzas, than which there are nothing more stately in English literature: He is made ons with Nature: there {s heard His voice in all her music, from the moen Of thunder to the wong of night's sweet bird: He is & presence to be felt known In darkness and in light, from herb and stone, Spreading itself wher'er that Power may move Which bas withdrawn his being to its own: Which wields the world with never wearied ove, Sustains it from beneath, and kindles it above. He is a portion of the loveliness Which once be made more lovely: he doth bear His part. while the one Spirit's plastic stress | Sweeps through the (ull sense world, compell ing All new successions to the forms they wear, Torturing th' unwilling dross that checks its flight there To its own likeness, s each mass must bear; uty and its might ts and men into the Heaven's light. Only in certain passages of Isaiah { will one find the exaltation of those lines—a spirit that cannot be pinned down by words, but which, neverthe- less, is compelling beyond description. This is authetntic poetry. No need. here, to argue what poetry is. or what t is not. Poetry, too, is a presence to be feit and known in darkness, and in light, from herb and stone, spreading itself where'er that Power may move which wields the world with never wearied love. The splendors of the firmament of time May be eclipsed, but are extinguisbed not: Like ‘stars “to 'their appointed height they climb, And death is a low mist which cannot biot The brightaess it may veil. The One remains. the many change and pass: Heaven's light. forever shives, Earth's sbad ows Life, like & dome of many-colored glass, Stains the white radiance of Eternity. So we gome to the end of a perfect poem, ending in music worthy of the rest of it: The breath whose might I have invoked in ong Descends on me: my spirit's bark is driven Far from the sbore, far from the trembling throng Whose sails were never to the tempest given: The massy earth aad shepherd skies are rive T am borne darkly. fearfully, afar; Whilst_burning through the iomost veil of Heaven The soul of Adonais. like a star, Beacons from the sbode where the Eternal are. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE There is pretty general agreement in Washington that the Coolidge cabinet after March 4, 1925, will be of entirely different complexion than its present make-up. The President, relieved of his publicly expressed pledge to conserve Harding polici: and Harding official associations, is certain to branch out on individual lines in both respects. Secretaries Hughes, Mellon and Hoover will un- doubtedly be invited to retain their portfolios. Attorney General Stone and Secretary Wilbur are both Cool- idge appointees, and probably: will be asked to remain, too. But new men are likely in the War, Interior, Labor and Post Office departments, and, of course, in the secretaryship of agriculture, recently vacated by the passing of Mr. Wallace. Some the managers of what the Presi- dent terms his “superbly” conducted campaign are strong cabinet possi- bilities. Chairman Butler is almost a certainty, and former Representa- tive Good of lowa, a leading Cool- idge factor in the West, a prob- ability. * Tk Ok E Shifts and changes in the Amer- ican foreign service are on the cards with the ides of March, too. By long custom, our ambassadors and ministers always tender their resig- nations to a newly Inaugurated Presi- dent, because envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary are es- sentially personal representatives of the Chief Magistrate. Only a couple of United States ambassadors are Coolidge men—Kellogg, at London, and Sheffield, at Mexico City—in ad- dition to Bancroft, who is about to reach Tokio. The plums of the for- elgn servico were preserved by a kindly Congress from inclusion in the Rogers bill. They are still rich pickings for worthy partisans. It is inevitable that some of them will drop into the waiting lap: of Re- publicans who did yoeman service in the landslide. Towa behaved so handsomely to the G. O. P. on November 4 that there is increasing talk of President Cool- idge's readiness to give the Agricul- tural Department over to a fellow Hawkeye of its last two chieftains, Edwin T. Meredith and Henry C. Wal- lace. The lowan now mentioned in this connection is James C. Davis, who is winding up the affairs of the United States Railroad Administra- tion. Davis is a lawyer bw profession. but a practical farmer besides. His intimate acquaintance with the ins and outs of the transportation prob- lem—the farmer’s biggest question is freight rates—would fill the rural West with a good deal of confidence that their paramount issue would re- ceive skiliful handling. Mr. Davis is by way of concluding the most gi- gantic financlal transaction Uncle Sam has survived since the war—the liquidation and settlement of contro- versies arising out of Federal control of railroads. Hundreds of millions of dollars were involved. * % X %X “Smith and Donahey” is the ticket that forward-looking Democrats up from the cyclone cellar are already talking about for 1928. The re-elect- ed Governors of New York and Ohlo are considered about the only two Phoenixlike figures that raise con- spicuously from the ashes of last Tuesday's conflagration. Donahey, de- spite his Gaelic surname, is neither Irish nor Roman Catholic. Democrats who could. respectively, carry New York and Ohio while Coolidge was overrunning those States like a devastating flood are considered to be vote-getting timber that cannot, be overlooked. By 1928 both the pro- hibition and Klan issues ought to have lost their Nemesis, and “Al" Smith, undoubtedly the champion vote-getter of his age, may strike the Democratic party as having “avail- ability” which it would not recognize in 1924 * ok ok % What's going to be “young Teddy's future? No political question is ask- ed with livelier interest in Washing- ton. It is not likely that Col. Roose- velt will care to return to the assist- ant secretaryship of the Nav sip has him placed in the secretary- ship itself next year, when Mr. Wil- bur may retire. It is hardly probable that President Coolidge would allow 80 eminent a lame duck as T. R., jr., to hobble around unemployed, par- ticularly as he has the powerful backing of Senator James W. Wads- worth, jr., of New York, who pushed him into the gubernatorial race. * ok k% Watch out for prominently placed women in the reorganized Coolidge administration. G. O. P. managers accord the newly enfranchised sex high credit for thelr sweeping presi- dential victory. It will not go unre- warded. Texas and Wyoming having elected Democratic women to gover- norships, the politically plutocratic Republican party cannot afford to be any less generous with the countless fa- vors it now has to bestow. There may be a woman cabinet member in the forthcoming administration. The highest executive post now held by a woman is the assistant attorney gen- eralship_so ably occupled by Mabel Walker Willebrandt. She has broken an effective lance for her sisters by demon- strating the ability of Eve's daugh- ters to keep the swiftest official pace set by mere men. Miss Sarah Butler, daughter of Dr. Nicholas Murray But- ler of Columbia University, is a pro- fessional Republican politician who has won a big reputation in New York. Next year may find her serv- ing Uncle Sam in Washington. * % K % ‘Washington isn't likely for some time to hear the last of the revela- tion that it spent $523,346 to see the Nationals win the world’s base ball championship from the Giants. A visiting nurse society, which like many another worthy enterprise in the Capital is chronically in need of funds, has just issued some unusual- 1y clever publicity designed to re- plenish its treasury. It shows a couple of deadly paralied tables of percent- ages, with Washington at the top in “base ball standing” and at the bot- tom (behind Boston, Cleveland, New York, Detroit, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Chicago) in “nursing standing.” Bucky Harris, victorious Napoleon of the Nationals, has consented to the use of his name to boost the nurses’ cause. “I'm going to do my best to it them in the championship class, (Copyright/se24.) lexisted.” The North Window BY LEILA MECHLIN It has been sald that the difference between a Chippendale chair and a kitchen chair was merely a matter of art. Truth to tell, nowadays some of the kitchen chairs which are pur- chasable at small cost are much more worthy of being regarded as works of art than the chairs of twenty times thelr price which are purchased for the drawing room. But all furniture comes within the category of art, and a poorly designed chair is, after all, no worse than a poorly painted pic- ture, except the one has a useful purpose and the other a purely es- thetic appeal. On the 10th of this month a new wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, will be opened with appropriate ceremonies. This will be devoted exclusively to American dec- orative arts. The rooms throughout are exact reproductions of rooms, chiefly early American, built into houses designed by American archi- tects or their bredecessors, American builders. Within, the exhibits will be furniture and furnishings, mostly American made, and not of today but of earlier yesterdays. How little the makers thought that some time their works would be procured for the greatest art museum in America, but how skillfully and artistically they produced! * ¥ x ¥ Art is not a matter of fashion nor merely of individual taste, but rather of the acceptance and following of certaln principles, together with an intuition as regards fitness or the ad- justment of fitness to use. Studying carefully the furniture of the early American types, one comes to the con- clusion that its real charm is its line The furniture makers of those days understood the beauty of line and demonstrated their appreciation of it in the design of their furniture. To be sure, they followed to a great ex- tent English tradition. Much of the work was in the spirit and style of Chippendale, Sheraton, Heppelwhite, but it was not a slavish copying; it was an interpretation. There was consideration for use, and then there was an effort to secure beauty, and a pride, moreover, in craftsmanship. The work was beautifully done. Why is it that the furniture made by these great furniture makers in England or by our less famous but equally sincere furniture makers in this coun- try should bring today such fabulous prices? It is not simply a craze for the antique; it is a knowledge of what is artistically good. These men designed a chalr, a table, a secretary, a cabinet with the same skill and Io\'e_ of the beautiful that an architect designs a house: or a painter com- poses a picture. It was a matter, lit- erally, of composition, of rendering and sheér joy in the doing. x % % % Two valuable monumental works on furniture have lately been issued. | Both are English publications, but bear in this country the impress of | Charles Scribner's Sons. One is on “English Decoration and Furniture of the Early Renaissance—I500 to 1630, by M. Jourdain; the other is “A Dic- tionary of English Furniture,” by Percy Macquoid and Ralph Edwards, to be published in three volumes. of which only the first is out. The former gives an account of the development of English decoration and furniture and treats of char- acteristic forms; the second half of the volume has to do only with fur- nfture, the first being given to wall panels, balustrades, etc. But the two g0 well together and show the real relation between architecture and this branch of industrial art, hinting, moreover, at the way some of our present, every-day termqs were de- rived. For instance, Edward F. Strange. who writes a foreword to this volume, says: “The chair was a symbol of power and state, proper only to kings and such like dignita- ries (in these renaissance days): queens even in these harsh, northern climes, had to be content to sit on stools, or at least low chairs. Other folk had benches or the simplest sort | of stools. Tables were mainly boards with trestles. and in the terms “chair- man’ and ‘board’ as now used, we Rave a far-off yet absolutely accur- ate reflection of the state of furni- ture of this time.” Thus a study of old furniture brings us to a better understanding of the life of the time. To quote Mr. Strange again: “One would desire that the student should give some atten- tion to the human interest that un- derlies the changes these old pieces imperfectly record; for the house and its contests, more than anything else, bear testimony to the condition and | aspirations of the people who dwell therein.” What an Interesting thought! How shall our “condition and aspirations” be judged in the fu- ture by the furniture with which we surround ourselves today; what will it tell of refinement of taste, of love of beauty? Mr. Strange urges in his commend- ation of Miss Jourdain's book the im- portance of studying this subject, the importance for every one, nor merely the collector and the furniture make: and points to the present “craze for the antique” as an additional reason. “Old furniture.” he says. “has become almost a gambling counter in the market, so far has the craze for the acquisition of absurdly styled ‘an- tiques’ carried the confiding amateur. In the early part of the sixteenth century this term had a definite and logical significance. It cannoted forms or ornaments derived or be- lieved to be derived from classical forms. Now these who concern them- selves ‘with the old furniture trade (or industry) apply it even to chairs and tables of a presumed ‘antiquit of little more than a century.” And exclaims, “It is time that furniture was studied with some approach to a sense of history, and its value ap- preciated as a mirror of the gradual growth of a standard of good living and comfort among the classes with whom in the middle ages such hardly *x %k k % “The Dictionary of English Furni- ture,” unlike most dictionaries, is of absorbing Interest. Dedicated by gra- cious permission to her majesty the Queen, it is indeed a royal publica- tion, authoritatively written, sumptu- ously illustrated. It, too. has its in- troduction, stressing the interest and importance of a study of this branch of the decorative arts. “Not merely the people of Great Britain,” It says, “but the ‘whole English-speaking world, now takes a keen interest in old English domestic furniture. Heretofore it has been difficult to find at any one source authoritative ma- terial familiarizing the householder with the best. To know what is good one must see fine examples, for only by seeing can standards be acquired. No museum contains so complete an exhibit of English furniture as is [ing census year. catalogued and illustrated In this sumptuous dictionary. * * % % But to return to our own day and generation. Excellent furniture is now being made in this country, much of it in Grand Rapids, some of it in New York and Boston. To be sure, the machine and the factory have to a large extent replaced the cabinet maker, but not wholly, and after all. quantitative production is not to be deplored if it is good pro- duction. The kitchen chair that was first alluded to was undoubtedly turned out by machine, but it was well designed, it was a ‘good kitchen chair. Obviously it is almost impos- sible to get the same feeling into a plece of furniture which is produced by the hundreds, perhaps thousands, each part turned out by machine and later the whole assembled mechanically, ;hnt o:,e ‘would have tn h::'g‘“ work lone eraftsman, ere is no Ratsoever why such chaire BY FREDERIC J.- HASKIN Q. Is there a point on the earth's surface at which point it has been agreed that the new day begins?— H P. B. A. The Naval Observatory says each day begins at East Cape, the eastern- most extremity of Siberia, before it begins at any other place. Q. Do leaves change color regard- less of frost?—A. C. W. A. Certain leaves change color re- gardless of attack by frost. Colora- tion indicates a dying condition of the leaves. This condition may set in at almost any part of the tree and may occur very early in the season due to drought or disease or injury of some kind. There is no set rule in what part of the leaves the color first appears. In fact, some leaves start at the tops, some along the mid- rib and some are mottled. In the normal course of coloration you might reasonably expect the oldest leaves on the terminal branches to color first. The scarlet oak holds it3 col- oration last. The weeping willow and elderberry remain green until the leaves are drying; the chlorophyll is not taken back into the trunk. Q. Did_ President Wilson speak enough French to see him through the peace conference?—J. M. W. A. The late President Wilson had a general knowledge of the French lan- guage, but was not sufficiently fluent to dispense with the services of an official interpreter during the peace conference in Paris. Q. How many married women are gainfully employed? How does this compare with the number employed 20 or 30 years ago’—G. E. A. The latest census of the United ates shows that there are 2,000,000 married women who are gainfully employed outside of their homes. The number is steadily increasing. In 1890 only five in every hundred mar- ried women worked, but in 1 it had risen to nine in every hundred, Q. In a game of poker can the player opening a pool, split two small pairs and draw three cards’— E. W. S. A. In jack pot poker, an opener is supposed to protect his discard. He can split openers without an- nouncing his play until the hand is over. Otherwise it is necessary for the opener to announce his discard if he splits openers. Two small pairs are, of course, openers. & Where is Benning Forest?—T. A. The Benning National Forest is near Columbus, Ga. It has just been formally created by proclama- tion of the President. This forest is located within the area embraced by the Fort Benning Military Reserva- tion, the forest boundaries including about 80 per cent of the military reservation, or 78,500 acres. Q. Are more baby carriages man- ufactured now than were manufac- tured several years ago?—sS. S. A. The Department of Commerce announces that, according to data cellected in 1923, the establishments engaged primarily in the manufac- ture of children’s czs-iages and sleds reported products valued at $34,172 976, an increase of 57.4 per cent as compared with 1921. the last preced- The establishments covered by this industry classifica- tion are those which manufacture, as their principal products, baby car- clages, “walkers,” go-carts, sleds. doll carriages, and children’s veloci- pedes and tricycles. Q. What is the average number of tlr;eacmn children are il] each year? A. The Public Health Department says that the only studies that it knows of in regard to the length of sickness per family in the United States for medical attention was made in Hagerstown, Md., but the result of the imvestigation is an ex- ample of what might be expected of other cities and communities. This investigation was confined entirely to school children. In the terms of averages it was found that each child of a large group of children in the public schools was ill during the echool session 23-10 times. Common colds, headaches, digestive disorders, tonsilitis, etc., seemed to cause more absence than any other conditions. Q. At the appearance of a mnew moon, it is often spoken of as a wet or dry moon. Please describe a “wet moon."—P. T. D. A. A “wet moon” is a mew moon having one horn much lower than the other, thus resembling a tilted bowl. It is erroneously believed to be a sign of a great deal of rain during the month. Q. Is it true that King George England of Revolutionary times co speak no language but German? A. S E. A. George III, who was King England at the time of the war of American Independence, learned to speak German and French during his_youth, but also spoke Englich as his native tongue, though he was considered poor in English conver- sation, as his education as a whole had been neglected. It was George I of England, who was unable tu speak English. of of Q. How much silk is required by the telephone companies?—FP. G. A Such statistics are not avail- able, but the Bell Telephone News states that 300,000 pounds of silk yarn are used annually by that com- pany. Q. Where is “Little Egypt’’—R MiC A. This is an imaginary country which the gypey hordes who entered Europe in the 15th century invented as their home. They pretended that they were pilgrims to Rome on ac- count of apostas; and their chiefs posed as kings, lords, counts and dukes of this country Q —M. G A. The American Nautical Alma- nac is a mathematical publication of the Bureau of Equipment of the Naval Observatory. It contains tables of positions of various heavenl bodies at stated times and other in- formation of like nature and is is- sued several years in advance. It |is used by navigators, astronomers and geodesists. What is the Nautical Almanac (Readers of The Evening Star should send their questions to The Star In- formation Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin. | director, Twenty-first and C streets northwest. The only charge for this service s 2 cents in stamps for re- turm postage.) Editors Condemn, Demand Ban on Publication of Taxes “Wholly indefensible,” *“mischiev- ous abuse” and “contrary to sound public policy” are some of the terms used in expressing the almost unan- imous editorial view of the situation which made possible newspaper pub- lication of Federal income tax re- turns. There are differences of opinion concerning the part plaved by the Treasury Department in car- rying out, while legal aspects were in doubt, the provision of the revenue law providing for “public inspection” of the returns. but the demand for clarifying action is general and in- sistent. “The confusion that has resulted is such as might be expected from a law of this character,” in the opinion of the Buffalo News (Republican). which belleves “it is as careless in its pro- vision as it is obnoxious in its pur- pose, and the sooner it is expunged the better it will be for the coun- try—the better for everybody but the | demagogues.” Until the courts can interpret the publicity of the law. the Cleveland Plain Dealer (Independent Democrat), declares “the Treasury ought to place an interpretation upon them which will have application throughout the entire country, and then, in December, irrespective of the court’s decision, Congress should close the tax records to the morbidly curi- ous in language which cannot possi- bly be misunderstood.” The Albany News (Independent Republican), agrees: “There is absolutely no ex- cuse for the la It should not re- main. It is a violation of the rights of citizens to privacy. Moreover, tax payments may give wrong im- pressions. The only way out is to repeal the law.” Referring to the report that Presi- dent Coolidge and Mr. Mellon will recommend the repeal to Congress, the Chicago Daily News (Independent) insists “such a recommendation should be made and should be pushed with all possible vigor and resolution,” be- cause “there is no necessity for or propriety in such tax publicity, which is favored principally by the curijus, the idle and the malicious.” * X ¥ X Publicity, suggests the San ¥rancis- co Bulletin _(Independent), ‘“may be all very well for financial magnates and motion picture artists, but it is fraught with unpleasant possibilities for those of smaller incomes, because it encourages gossip and petty spite and scandal, and may even be fruit- ful of blackmail.” Since the amount paid in income tax is not necessarily an accurate gauge of his-income, the Hartford Times (Independent Demo- crat) adds, “the publicity provision can lead to all sorts of unfalr as- sumptions_and the pettiest sort of gossip.” The Philadelphia Bulletin (Independent Republican) also is sure the law “opens the door for abuses, the realization of which should bring about its appeal.” “The whole idea of making public income tax returns is repugnant to the average American,” insists the Birmingham News (Independent Democrat). “What he makes is his own business. How many of us want our neighbors to know how much or how little we make? That is cer- tainly a matter for our own pride or shame, and we are entitled to hide it away from prying eves” The Balti- more Sun (Independent) holds: “The whole business is humiliating to right-thinking people. It is a posi- tive damage to thousands of busi- nesses and It subjects hundreds of thousands of good citizens to un- necessary and often harmful disclos- ure of matters that do not concern the pub) After the first thirst to gratity an unwholesome curiosity is should not invariably be well designed— and many of them are. The furniture manufacturers have themselves done much to improve the standard of American-made furniture. The public, realizing that furniture ‘well designed comes within the cate- gory of art, can do still more by seeking the best. satisfied, the better sentiment of the country should insist that Congress amend’ the law and prohibit a prac- tice that is wholly indefensible.” As the Pittsburgh Sun (Independent Democratic) views it: “The action of the Government in opening up the tax reports to public scrutiny without warning has had deplorable results. It was particularly ill-advised that this action should have been taken before officials were clear in their own minds as to the legality of pub- lication by newspapers. To put the burden of determining this upon the press itself resulted in vast confu- sion” A reasonable explanation, ac- cording to the Springfield Republican (Independent), “is that officials are trying to make the press ‘the goat, in case the income taxpayers becom. indignant over the unwelcome public- ity thrust upon them,” for “the de- partment throws out the suggestion that printing names is very different | from making them ‘available for pub- |lic inspection,” and that, therefore, the | wicked newspapers must bear the |blame for whatever publicity fol- llows." ok The confusion in Washington over the legality of the publication by newspapers is at least “laughably di- verting,” remarks the Ohio State Journal (Republican). for “those charged with the duty of interpret- ing the law have been running around in circles,” and “since nobody seems to know what the law means, the At- torney General has wisely decided to bring a test case against one of the newspapers which made bold to pub- lish some of the returns, and we sup- pose the question of exactly what, if anything, Congress meant by this re- form measure will be decided some time with proper judicial solemnity. That the test be immediate, the De- troit News (Independent) contends “is desirable, since if Congress felt the general publication of tax figures trespasses on the rights of individuals or is otherwise detrimental to the public policy the fact should be ad- duced before the offense is repeated.” Voicing a viewpoint held by a num- ber of papers which declined to print amounts paid in income taxes, because the Portland Express (Republican) declares it believes “the publication is contrary to sound public policy, be- cause it can serve no useful pur- pose, because the returns are decep- tive, furnishing ne accurate gauge of incomes, becauge they lead to wrong conclusions that not uncommonly re- flect on the honesty of those making the returns, and finally because there is a question of the legality of the publication.” Along the same line, the New York Evening Post (Inde- pendent) holds it is “an utterly un- warranted and mischievous abuse,” and that “for a newspaper to print information of this sort is to play the game of a demagogue.” The Rich- mond News-Leader (Independent Democratic) observes, too, that “the embarrassments are many and ob- vious, especially to business houses, while the advantages are few and doubtful” Explanation of the attitude of the newspapers which took the bull by the horns and printed returns as soon as the Treasury made them “availa- ble for public inspection” is found in the following from the New York Times' (Independent Democratic) comment on Attorney General Stone's position: “The Attorney General ob- serves that ‘publication of this infor- mation in newspapers is not sp eifically provided for by the law But it is not specifically forbidden in the section requiring that the tax payments be made ‘available to public inspection.” The Attorney General adds that newspaper publication ‘ap- peared not to have been authorized under the provisions of section 257 (B)." But if the lists were, as good lawyers contend, public records, their publication required no authorization except that of the United States Con- stitution. The press is guaranteed freedom to print all such matter un- less contrary to public morals or dition.”