Evening Star Newspaper, December 2, 1924, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. i WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY......December 2, 1924 THEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor T The Evening Star Newspaper Company Bualsess Office, 11th 8t. and Pen: ta Ave. New York' Offee: 110 East 42 Chicago Office : - Towe 3 European-Gtie : 16 Regent 81 London. England. he Sunday morniny with the Sunday ias 43 per The Evening Stai edition, fs delivered Ly carriers within .city at 60 cents per month: dally only. centa per month: Kunday oniy, 20 con month.* Orders may be sent by mal phone Maln 5000. - Collection 18 made by ear- tiers at the ead of each wonth. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance, Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday..1yr., $8.40; 1 mo., 70¢ Daily only 1yr, $6.00; 1 mo., 50c Sunday onl; 1yr, $2.40; 1 mo,, 20¢ All Other States. Daily and Sunday.1 yr., $10.00; 1 mo.. 85¢ Datly only .1yr, $7.00:1 mo., 80c Sunday only .1yr, $3.00;1mo, 26¢ Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press i1s exclusively entitied fo the nse’ for republication of all newa dis- patches credited to it or not otherwise credited | fo this paper and also the loeal news pub lished “hereln. "All “rights of publication of i reserved. The District’s Budget. District estimates of $32,335,827 are laid before Congress today with the budget, an Increase of about. $2,000,- | 0400 the regular appropriation and supplemental estimates for the current al year. In its details the District’s budget is satisfactor .pro- Viding for increases in municipal costs of maintenance which are .incident to the for ne over ded new work Bureau's figures thi by s laid before Con- s the President represent a severe mitted by the Commissioners, who jn tarn were conipelled to scale the fig- ures of subordinate branches of the District government. Under the budget system Congress is presented annually with a carefully considered series of estimates based primarily upon the funds avatlable in ect for public expenditures and darily upon the needs of the pub- ervice, The District shares in this ovess. The appropriations commit- tees of Congre supplied with these ba imates as guid In the submission of the estimates for the District the Budget Bureau formulates the enacting clause in two crnative styles, one following the language of the current law, which ap- propriates $9,000.000 of Federal funds, and the er following the language of tie law for the year 1924, appro- priating’ 40 per cent of the whole amount out of the Treasury. This s due to the fact that the present ap- propriation act is not to be regarded ‘as a substantive law, a permanent enactment governing the future as well as the present fiscal year. It was a compromise reached in conference be- tween the lump-sum proposition of the Ifouse and the definite proportion proposition of the Senate, and applied by its specific wording solely to the fiscal year ending June 30, 1925. Whether the ratio principle or the lump-sum principle be adopted by the liouse appropriations committee in the framing of the District bill the budget ures shouid govern. They represent a survey of the District's needs, as thorough as can possibly be conducted by a congressional com- mittee. They represent, furthermore, material reductions from the acknowl- ; cdged requirements. Should there be | any changes they should be in the line | of increases rather than decreases. The District is not a mendicant in | the mutter of its annual appropria. tions. It provides the greater part of own fund. It asks Congress to| liberally with if in appropria- for it needs many things that | even a liberal budget does not pro-| more schools, more sewers, more protection forees, better street paving, more lights, more, in fact, of every- thing in the way of municipal equip- ment. Protesting the injustice of the lump- sum form of Federal participation in Capital ‘maintenance, the District | hopes for the consideration of this present budget in a spirit of liberality and with recognition of the fact that it represents a careful, considerate curtailment of actual needs. ——————— 1t is too much to expect that a Re- | publican Congress in Washington would be as orderly and direct as a | Republiean nominating convention in Cleveland, are nced e its deal tions pose, ———————— Increase the Annuities! the press of legislation at the last session of Congress bills on the calen- dars of the two houses were post- poned for future action which, affect- ing directly the welfare of the Govern- ment's civil annuitants are now to be urged for action. These bills, identical in form and purpose, provide .for an increase of the annuities paid by the United States for the veterans of its service who have been placed on the inactive list under the retirement act. The maximum annuity is raised from $720 to $1,200, with proportionate ad- vances in all the grades. It provides further for optional retirement after .30 years of service, providing the em- ploye had reached the age of €3, save that mechanics, letter carriers, postal clerks and laborers may retire at 58 after 30 years of service. In order to pay for the increased annuity the con- tribution of the employes is advanced Jrom 2% to 3% per cent, which in it- sclf will pay all the cost of retirement for about 20 years. The plea for a larger maximum re- ‘tirement pay has not fallen on deaf eves, although .Congress has not yet neted in‘response. Sympathy s felt in both House and Senate for the plight of the ennuitants who, after many vears of faithful service, have been compelled to retire, even -though in full health ‘and eficiency, at the merest pittance of pay. Regardless of the annual salary drawn during the ‘latter part of their service, none of them has been granted more than $720 a year, or $60 a month, which at the present scale of living costs Is inadequate for - the decent main- tenance- of life. Although capable of doing effective work these people are, s a rule, at an age where they can- Tiot ind employment to ‘eke ‘out their pitifully small retirement stipend, and A rowth of the city and providing | Ygt the Budget | caling of the estimates sub-| ! much acute suffering has been felt by them. Actuarial computations show clear- ly that the Government is saving money through the retirement system, in terras of higher efficiency in the working force, The retirement- fund 1s maintained from contributions from the active force, which are at a raté in’ excess of the actual.demands for retirement pay, the Government en- Joying the use of this surpius, amount- ing to millions, pending readjustments and reimbursements to those who quit the service before reaching retirement age and who have a claim for the amounts paid by them to the retire- ment fund. The retirement. system, in 'short, has been highly profitable to the Unitkd States, and as the case now stands it has been profitable -at the expense of those who have been trans. ferred from the active to the inactive list. Owing to’the age at which retire- ments are effected many of the an- nuitants have died since the new sys- tem went into effect, many of them dying in privation and suffering due to inadequate income. A further post- ponement of the legislation now pro- posed, increasing the amount of the annuity, would cost cruelly in terms of suffering and death. At the last session of Congress the rules committee of the House prom- ised to grant a rule for the Lehlbach biil in the early days of the present session. Representative Lehlbach, who has the interests of the annuitants at heart, will, it is understood, call upon the committee to redeem that promise This bill is one of the most meritori- ous measures on the calendar. Its passage early in the session would be simply an act of good faith, { Congress and Referénce by the Commissioners of { the traffic problem to Congress is in terms of certain specific recommenda- tions. It is proposed first of all that a traffic court be established, to con- sider no other classes of cases. It is also proposed to increase the penalty for driving while intoxicated to im- | prisonment without the alternative of fine, and to prevent the non-appear- ance of defendants in court through the mere forfeiture of collateral. Members of Congress as residents | of the city during part of the year are familiar with the traffic situation. They know that the streets are con- gested, that more unlicensed motors are probably in use, that many motors are driven by reckless and irresponsi- ble persons, that the reasonable traffic rules are flagrantly violated and that there are some motorists who without the least compassion flee after collld- ing, perhaps killing the victims of their recklessness. This matter should be promptly considered to the end of an early enactment. Differences of opinion be- tween certaln specific’ rules of the road or methods of managing the traffic at congested points should not cause delay on the major items of im- portance. This i a matter that affects the lives and the property of the mem- bers of the Legislature, They may themselves be victims of reckless driv- ing any day. So it is for their own protection as well as for the protec tion of the permanent members of this community to frame and enact a measure of law which will aim at the root of the evil by providing prompt of the rules. While the Commissioners have not 0 recommended, it will be well for the District committees, which will have jurisdiction over the traffic bill, to consider the question of requiring the virtual bonding of all licensed drivers through a stipulation that no license be granted save upon proof of an insurance against damage to per- sons and property. It is obvious that there are too many motors on the streets of Wash- {ngton for safe operation. Collisions are constantly occurring due to the congestion of the streets. Accidents are being recorded daily, many of them fatal. Washington has today a lamentably bad standing among Amer- ican citles of comparable size in point of percentage of accidents in terms of motors in use and an even worse standing among citles of all sizes. That can mean only one thing, that there are either too many or that the average of care exercised | by arivers is very low, In these circumstances there is one obvious remedy, and that is to lessen the number of motor cars in the streets of the District. One way to ac- complish that Is to place a restriction upon the licensing of motorists to in- sure that those who are granted per- mits to drive are responsible for the consequences of thelr carelessness or misadventure. : In any case a traffic court com- petent to handle the great volume of cases promptly and effectively, to give force to the law and to the traffic rules, is an imperatiye necessity and should be provided without delay. T — The fact that London Is now able to send-photographs by radio shows no signs. of materially changing results in our American fad for beauty con- tests. —————— Bootleggers are busy with Christ- no help whatever to the spirit of peace and good will, The Animal Rescue League. With nipping cold upon us, and the special time of charity and good will near, men might give & thought to homeless, wounded and forlorn crea- tures who live in misery and die with- out friends to make their passing easy. There are thousands of dogs and cats that have no homes, or that have homes where there fs no kind- ness and not enough to eat. ‘The An- mal Rescue League has arranged an entertainment for tomorrow afternoon to raise funds to carry on the league another year and to provide shelter and food for poor animals at the old brick house on the northeast corner of Maryland avenue and Four-anda- half street southwest, The women of the league maintain a little car, which is their ambulance, and a cur- rent report of the league estimates that the number of animals received in 1924 will be about 20,000. The league receives no public funds, and nearly all.the money for its support the Traffic Problem. | trial and severe penalties for violators | motors here | s given by members. All its officers work voluntarily, Ask your happy, loved and well fed dog about this organization, and if Yyou, understand his words he will tell you! “The ladies o the league hold out helping hands tg dogs that shiver at night, prowl”the alleys on the chance of finding a bit of anything to eat, turn half-wild from hunger and die friendless unless a member of the league takes them to the home on Maryland avenue.” Ask your cat, snuggled in a warm corner, and she will purr this answer: “The ladies of the league are kind to poor and lowly cats. No cat is too' debased by cruelty and misfortune to find food, warmth and gentle treatment’at the ‘home.’ If a cat I8 lying in the gutter dying from poison and from wounds a telephone call brings the little ambulance, and all that can be done for the unfortu- nate#fnember of my tribe is done.” The courteous assertion by Sir Auck- land Geddes that England has “yield- ed. the position of leadership to Amer- ica in connection with the work de- signed for the higher service of hu- manity” sounds almost too deferential to be accepted as the judicial expres. sion of a coldly logical concluston. Tt passes to this Nation with a deference which {s most complimentary a very heavy moral responsibility, —e—s Valuable horses burned at Tia Juana might suggest as a slight con- solation the idea that people may save some money, through being deprived of the opportunity to bet on them. But human nature does not work out that way” The man with foolish money in hand is bound to find some way to dispose of it. et . Americans do not realize the safety and security they enjoy, Emma Gold- man, after leaving for what she es- teemed brighter prospects, is apparent- 1y willing t6 come back and lecture on “America Firsf ———— When the average actor or play- wright publishes his reminiscences it becomes difficult to realize that there was ever anybody except him- self who amounted to much in show business. ————————— Transmission of pictures by radio is a marvelous achievement; yet, after all, a secondary consideration. Tt must be conceded that what a man looks like is less important than what he thinks and says. —— e In relation to the Leugue of Na- tions, Uncle Sam has at least succeed- ed In making the waiting list more prominent than the actual ;member- ship, ————— So far as the ultimate consumer is concerned, coal investigation will con- tinue to be limited to an inspection of his own bank account. A “shimmy queen"’ is reported have made a sensational impression in Milwaukee; thereby conveying the as- surance that Wisconsin is interested in art as well as politics. ———— “Reading a man out of the party” i naturally likely to cause him to won- der whether a “third party” is neces- sarily 0 much of a myth, after all. ———eaee— The example of Coolidge in keeping | cool may have its effect on Congress, although doubts in the matter are al-| ready expressed. —— e The spirit of Christmas placed in slight jeopardy by the over- willingness of the bootlegger to mis- take himself for Santa Claus, ——— SHOOTING STARS. bl BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Said and Done. ‘With Congress here, we have no fear Of indolent depres.ion. We hail the day without dismay That brings another session. The arts of speech new heights will reach With novel contests brewing. Things will be said—yet we'll be led To tell of “nothing doing.” Assertion. Why do you regard Wall Street as your natural enemy?” don’t.” answered Farmer Corn- tossel. “But them Wall Street fellers have & power of money, and us agri- culturists can't help’ wantin’ to. make & kick now and then, and feel that we're bein’ noticed.” Inexhaustible Supply. Although the breakage of the laws ‘We earnestly deplore For consolation still we pause, Since Congress, in @ worthy cause, Can always make some more. Jud Tunkins says aftér a man gets prosperous he fsn't known so mich by the company he keeps as by the lawyers he hires. A Point of Economy. The airplane now our hearts doth touch. * A useful thing we think it; mas trade. The fact is likely to prove I Besides, it would not cost so much Should we decide to sink it. Unisisterly. *“Would you vote for & wornan if she were candidate for President ™ “I don’t think s0,” replied Miss Cayenne. “I wouldn't mind having & woman supervise the Government, but I shouldn't enjoy allowing any fem- inine individeal the opportunity to dictate the fashions.” The Flowing Yuletide. Though time and tide may leave us glum, 'This much we know. The Yuletide never should become A bootleg flow. 'The theory of evolution would have 4 lot more supporters,” said Mr. Growcher, “if Great-great-great-grand. pa Chimpanzee had been in & position to make a will transterring real estate and personal property.” ‘A flivver speeder is lucky after all,” said Uncle Eben, “when he kin tell his troubles to de policeman instid of to de doctor in de hospital.” to} cheer is | | i { 1 i i | i i ! the, fa noun, _THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. A friend of ‘mine, who Is & great deal younger than he looks, and who Wears s cap, went to & ni and to buy & oettain magazine.’ “What do'you want, son?’ the proprietor. ‘“Nick Carter?” “Atlantie Monthly” solemnly re- plied the other. I felt somewhat ‘in,the same boat the other afternoon When I entered one of Washington's prominent book stores to purchase a certain volume. “T want a book I used to use In school,” T told the lady with auburn locks who came forward. “Oh, don't be ashamed of the grade you are in," she seemed to say. Of course, actually she did not utter those ‘words, but that was the way she made me feel she felt. You get the fdea? “It was Analysfs. “Oh, don't make out you have for- Eotten what the teacher totd you,” she replied, still In her silent though expressive language The clerk retired to the recesses of the store, emerging shortly with a thin volume in very pale blue boards, with a dark green back. Despite the many years it has been since I saw that book, I recogn'zed it on sight. It was difficult to wait until out of the store before exam- ining it. Under the watchtal eyes of the young lady, however, there was nothing to do but walt. Once on the sidewalk, T ripped off the wrapping, allowed the sales check for 48 cents to flutter unheeded to the ground, examined my purchase. It was like meeting an old friend of one's youth, because Swinton's “Word Analysis” was the only book of grade ®chool days to be held in memory. Out of A1l the text books used, this is the only one whose title and author 1 re- membered. Undoubledly there are thousands of men and women who cherish the memory of this little book. Sven the bad boys--there were no bad girls then—liked to study Swinton's “Word Analysis.” What child was there, or is there, who would not be interested to know that the word “capricious” comes from the Latin word “capra,” a goat—liter- ally, springing from one thing to an- other like the sudden leaps of that animal? “Hence, fickle, uncertain.” The names of the historfes, the arithmetics, the grammars, the geogra- Pphi all have vanished like the snows Of yesteryemrs, but this one book re- mains a treasured memory to many a man and woman who is working cross- word puzz'es today. The cover of the book holds a medal- lion, showinz a lady outlined against the blackest night. In her left hand Is a tremendous book, while in her right she holds w quill pen. Imme- diately behind her right arm is a newel Do, . The title page of the book containk fol'owing: “Word-Analysis: A graded class-book, of English deriva- tive words, with nractical exerci: . In elling, analyzing, defining, synony: and the use of words, by William Swinton, A. M., professor of the Eng- lish lanzuage in the University of California.” The volume is published by the American Book Company, and is still in use in the pudlie o asked called Bwinton's Word | the District of Columbia. righted in 1871. % & * The child who learns once and for all that the prefix mis means wrong or wrongly, can never be at a to define misconduct or misspell. He will say automa ¥ that the for- mer means wrong conduct, and the atter to spell wrongly, If he knows that the suffix an or ian .means one who, when it forms and belonging to, when it forms an adjective, he will define Christian as one who follows the re- ligion of Christ, and republican as belonging to a republic. He knows that ize means to make, | | ———— e WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE Capitol HilL seemed very much it- self on Monday when the Sixty-eighth Congress reassembled prits swan- song session. The floors of both houses were vibrant with Jife and good humor." Republicans, Demo- crats, Progressives, renegades, lame ducks, victors and vanquished of all hues, mingled with « another as gleefully as if such things as politi- cal differences never existed. If thers was a doleful note. it was only when members looked in the direction of seats vacated by colleagues who have jolned that Great Majority whose predominance is enduring. 1t will take the Senate a long time to ac- custom itself to the eternal absentee- | ism of Henry Cabot Lodge and Frank Bosworth Brandegee. The United States Congress ylelds to nobody ih the world In camaraderie. Senator David I. Walsh, Democrat, of Massa- chusetts was called upon -to exhibit it in a dual capacity. Himself a re- cently defeated candidate for re-elec- tion, Walsh first eulogized his depart- ed colleague, Lodge, and then, arm in arm, led Lodge's successor, Willlam M. Butler, to his place. * k ok % President Coolidge at Chicago on the evening of December 4 will face an uncommonly representative gath- ering of Western agricultural people when he speaks in Dexter Pavilion at the vast and aromatic Unlon Stock Yards. Chicago this week is the scene of its annual horse show, an international live stock exposition and the international grain and hay show. Thousands of representatives of these three great branches of ru- ral industry are assembled In the Windy City. Broadcasting apparatus will carry Mr. Coolidge's words of wis- dom to ‘the farm folks far and wide across the Western country. The Dexter Pavilion plays many roles in Chicago. Big prize fights are staged there, in- door athletic meets are held within its tanbark arena, and political ral- lies for gatherings of 20,000 or 25,000 have made history on the scene. John W. Davis bad such a mammoth meeting In the pavilion in September that it made him think Illinois was going Democratic. * X ok X Thoughts on the Army-Navy foot ball game at Baltimore on November 29. . . . Baltimroe Stadtum, bullt to hold 80,000, is all right for the hundreds who jour- ney thither by automobile, but is not comfortably accessible for the thousands who must travel by train or trolley. . . . No Army-Navy classic ought ever again to be played in Baltimore until rallway and street car facilities, capable of land- ing crowds at the stadium, are pro- vided. . . . The city and Maryland police ought to hire -Tex Rickard to coach them in the ‘handling of a_foot ball throng. =~ Chaos for a while ruled supreme. The Annapolis = Midshipmen were held up by a hopeless jam of cars and pedestrians as they-attempted to march Into the stadium. ;" Basily visiblé slgns, indicating gates.and sec- tions, were lacking. Seat holders were jostied from pillar to post in a mad Quest for light and leading. . As to the game itself, one hopes and prays that, the Navy's markmanship in the next war will .be better than its for- ward-passing aim against.the Army. * %k ok X Representative Sydney Anderson of Minnesota will disappear from Congress of his own free will. He has become president of the Millers'’ National Fed- eration, with headquartéers at Chicago, and already sssumed his new dutles. Anderson was one of the bables of the House when he first entered it in 1911 at the age of 29. Today he ranks as one of the_country’s foremost authoritfes on agricultural problems. He was chair- man of the congressional joint commil loss | and therefore that legalize means to make legal. The suffix kin means Hittle, therefore lambkin means little lamb. Let or ling, also, means little, such as plantlet. But there are no lamblets or plantkins! Suppose you should get a letter signed: “Yours without wax,” etc., Would you think your correspondent crazy, or just temporarily abberated? Nelther, if you remember your word analysi On page 107, under the title of tudy of Words,” you find that the word sincere is derived from the Latin, sine, without, and cera, wax— applied originally to pure honey hence its derivation meaning of pure, unadulterated, true, Any government employe ought to know—as most of them probably do —that our word salary Is derived from the Latin sal, salt—literally, al- lowance for salt. Our common 8ay- ing, “He is not worth his salt, might be written, “Re s not worth his salary.” Our word alphabet comes from the first two greek letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and beta. The word nausea comes from the Greek naus, a ship. Pretty neat, eh? I am sure that even sea-sickness would be lightened by this knowledge. Take the word preposterous; this comes from the Latin prae, before and posterus, behind; Swinton tells us that its literal sense is, putting that before which ought to be be- hind, that Is, “putting the cart be- fore the horse.” How many gentelmen looking at the world solemly from behind their whiskers know, as their 12-year-old son does who studies world analysis, that our word calculate is from the Latin calculi, pebbles used by an- clents to aid them in their math matical computations? When they are brought down with the stone they may find out. Would it not be well for all of us to refresh ourselves on the difference in meaning between the synonyms Lifeless and inanimate? It might help us in our business of working out cross word puzzies Good 0ld Swinton—peace be to his soul—tells us: “Lifeless implies the absence af life where it has once been; inanimate, its absence where it h, never heen. A person I8 said to be lifeless or dead from whom life has departed; the material world consists of objects which are by nature inanimat And which would you say: “Presi- dent Coolidge is a silent man,” or “President Coolidge is a tactiturn man?' Swinton says: “Silence ex- presses less than taciturnity; the sllent man does not spguk; the taci- turn man will not speak.” The section of this little school book devoted to derivatives from the Anglo-Saxon is especially interesting. We are shown that our word heaven is from heave, to raise up. literally, that which is heaven or heaved up over our heads, the sky. Personally T always derived an explicable mental satisfaction from these 0ld words. They seem 0 to be a part of one’s very mental being. How I8 the word heathen connected with the word heath, a barren pla or moor? “A heathen meant ori inally, a dweller on a heath, or wild. When Christianity first spread throughout the Roman Empire, in the early centurles after Christ, the new | religion was first accepted in the | lare cities; the dwellers in the dis- ant parts, or heaths, remote from Ulization, still Kept up the old| Pagan worship—hence heathen came | to mean the same ns pagan.” It might help o gadding wife to know that the word wife is derived | from the Saxon verb wefan, the same word from which weave comes. | Its original meaning was who | one weaves. sion of agricultural inquiry in which produced four volumes of on the farming industry |last word 'in comprehensiveness, An admirer of .the young Minnesotan says {that if the Coolidge Farm Commisgon | Wwill “bone’ on Anderson's reports, it'll imbibe all there is t farmer and his woes. 1921, data | that are the to know about the * % Harlan F. Stone, Attorney Gener: the United States, has nmade his d.:h::: before the Supreme Court as Uncle Sam's chief law officer under what he must 1ook upon as ideal circumstances, “In the matter of Philip Grossman of Chicago,” Mr. Stone this week was called upon to argye the right of the President—in this case, his friend and Amherst classmate, Calvin Coolldge— to pardon in contempt cases. Yet the Attorney General must have approached the task with some mixed emotions, for while defending the prerogative of the President, he also was required to com- bat the contentions of a Federal court. It Is one of the prettiest tangles the Supreme Court ever was asked to un- ravel. Constitutional lawyers are fol- lowing the case with eager interest, saying it will make history. * ok ok * Social Washington breathes more freely, now that the White House an- {author a background, [ sectives. i | Thefa nounces a Winter season that will equal any of ‘fts nifled splendor. From New Year day tlil Lent, Mrs. Coolidge will be as busy a hostess as any lady in the land. At one time it was feared that the presidential family's year of mourning for Calvin, jr., would in- duce the abandonment of White House dinners and. levees. . Society now has its cue. and henceforward the pace will be fast and furlous. (Copyright, 1924.) +—otems-. Basis for Evolution Theory Is Questioned To the Editor of The Sta: Anent Mary B. Graves' reply to letter, both of which were publishay In The Star within the past several days. in which she said my statement that Dr. Hrdlicka said man originated from monkeys was grossly incorrect, If Dr. Hrdlicka hasn’t said man origl. nated from monkeys, he has said man descended from monkeys. 1f he hasn't, what does. he mean when he says: “Out of the anthropoid apes, such as the chimpanzees and gorillas, there Is evidence to indicate & new super ape ig developing that may be comparable to the creatures from whom man descended, -although the process is very slow and difficult”? And in another part of the lecture he saya: “In the gliocene age, or closing years of the tertiary period, came the high-class apes of Western Europe from which the super-apes, out of which man must have developed, such as the ‘Java man,’ doubtless origi- nated.” I do not care whether man origi- nated from monkeys or whether he just descended from monkeys. What I want to know is why the monkey has been doing practically all of the evolving, while, if other animais have evolved at all, they have not evolved enough 0 that any one could notice it. Perhaps it is just as well that ti monkey has been dofng all the evolv- Ing, because if -the elephant should evolve as much as the monkey has, and the “higher creature” the ele- phant evolved into was as much larger than the -elephant than men are than monkeys and as numerous as men, the earth wouldn't-hold the élephant’s descendants, JOHN AUSCHUTZ. predecessors In digs | AT RANDOM I I FORTY YEARS IN NEWSPAPER- DOM—Milton A. McRae. Bren- tano's. Among the many marvels calculated to stamp the past half-century the dawn of a new miracle age, none presents a more striking, a more spectacular front than the prodiglous growth of the'newspaper. Indeed, the dally press looks to be the super- miracle of them all. For it stands chronicler and interpreter of every other one of the astounding facts of progress included within this perfod. Promoter, too, of even greater achievements, it is clearly destined to be, through the emulation and compe- tition and Inspiration set up.by its wide distribution of the various as- pects of modérn conquest. In its own individual capacity the newspaper malses a magnificent diurnal gesture —a miracle in itself if you stop to think of it—by which it spreads a panoramic view of the universe at its successively sensitive points. In this dally turning of the earth upon its axis, the press does away with distance and foreshortens events un- tl that which used to be a remote and unknown world now draws close to every man in a near neighborhood of common needs and understandings and contacts. Already it is the greatest of educational forces, 8o gen- erally recognized and accepted, its dally lessons conned in the strect, in office and workshop, in the home. Al- ready has it outstripped its two older collaborators in the ways of civiliza- tion, these both retarded by timidi- ties and withholdings—the one duunt- ed by the disconcerting face of youth, the other by its en more perturbing frontage upon the soul of man. “Let me make the newspapers’—W endell Phillips talking—“and [ care not what is preached in the pulpit, nor what is enacted in Congress.” * k% Truly a greatdemesne, this ourth Estate.” A laud of prime adventure, too, wherein explorer and discoverer —and occasional freebooter, maybe — sail the seas of the world; wherein experimenter and organizer and pro- ducer combine in the tremendous en- terprise that sets the wide world down each day beside the morning cup of coffee. Once in a while there steps out from this paper-walled kingdom some one who is widely and deeply experienced in the things that go on hehind the print we read from the outer face of this curious barricade, Such an emergence Is a deeply inter- esting ceremon provogcative of lli!hI atlons. Not n y months ago it was Melville E. Stone who in “Fifty Years a Journalist” took us upon a vicarlous way through this kingdom—a leisurely out-faring of seasoned experienc and astute Judgments and kindly wisdom. Still later it was “Marse Hen " who gave us qulte another kind of adventure through the same domain—robust hours, these with Henry Watterson, hours shaken with the thunders of his eloquence and electrificd by the lightnings of his wit. Now it is Milton A. McRae, who in “Forty Years in Newspaperdom” leads us along the half-century trail of his own amazing activity in about every part of the newspaper world. o ox % “The Autoblography of a News- paper Man,” Mr. McRae callg his story and that is what it is, including more than the years of actual career. This going back to parentage and birth and early shaping years serves double purpose. - It provides the something to for clearer definition interpretation. It also the long running start which in part, for the nergy of initial impulse that has| A him in undiminished velocity 1 through one great enterprise after another, all headed upon more and more ambitlous newspaper ob- stand against and truer gives him None of these three men attempts n orderly laying out of events. here's a reason. The genius of the profession is diffusion—to cover a world—rather than concentration in the pursuit of a single line. There- tore the effect of this book, like that of the other two, is kaleidoscopir. Notable men crowd into it, hundreds of them, each by way of incident or| sketch characteristic of mood or at- titude or action. Politics presents its many phases in emphasized po of this important issue or that one. Industry, economics, science, philan- thropy, travels—or, round and round the world and back agaln—home life, | quite ‘beautiful this, too, and, above all, the pursuit of the newspaper ideal as the widely and promptly a. cessible schoolhouse of the world. are the elements, all big and vital elements. out of which thi author has reconstructed his new. paper life in a sories of dramatic and deeply interesting scehes that. reach- ing_from his own personal activities, include many of the high points In| the history of newspaper dm-elnp-{ ment, and many points as well in the outstanding affairs of the country itself. * % ok ok Out of this special adventure in newspaperdom with Mr. McRae cer- tain impressions come that are bound | to stay by one long after the read-| ing ls done. One of these is the great energy and activity and indus- try of the man himself. Another is his appreciation and use throughout his career of opportunity—oppor- tunity of the American, sky-is-the- Jimit brand. This whenever it shows its face, Mr. McRae—both boy and man—tosses and worrles and bullies in true American fashion till it makes gaod in full all of its promises of re- ward. These two Iimpressions, both vivid and vital, make an exceptionally stimulating story. Out of it there comes too the important and interest- ing story of the development of the hewspaper along the same lines as other great enterprises have developed within this half-century span. One is nowadays more or less. familiar with the combinations that have made ® big business out of many little ones. The department &tore, “chains” of grocery stores, hotels, eating houses, what not, have all become facts un- der the same impulse—expansion into many branches united under one di- recting central organization. And here one gets the story of “chains” of newspapers, too, that have arisen ex- actly in the same fashion. Centraliza- tion, both in the gathering and in the distribution of news, such is the story that one picks out here from the sep- arate items that go into its making, a story that the author himself, in the press of the many things he has to tell, does not set down as & connected whole,. Tn a very clear way one gets out of this newspaper survey a thing that he only vaguely sensed before— the interdependence of the paper and the community of which it is a part. The paper a reflection of the industries of the community, of its civic needs and projects, of its manifold organiza- tions devoted to charity, art, sclence, religion. The community making use of the paper as its mouthpiece, as an organ of information and needed-pub- loity of its desires and plans. Per- haps the most useful part of this wholly entertaining story is the con- crets demonstration at & hundred points In its course that the newspaper is a component part of the national life, animated by the same purposes, growing by the same processes and fulfilling itself in the same ways as does each of the great institutions that, together, constitute the common life of communities and the nation itself. There is no gainsaying the Interest to the general reader that lies in this human and dramatic story of a cer- taln period and phase in the history of the “Fourth Estate” I G. M. jis a twig ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN Q. How did the idea of serving turkey on Thanksgiving day origi- nate?—H. T. M. A. In referring to records of the early colonists, we find that when Gov. Bradford Issued his proclama- tion that Thanksgiving be observed, in 1621, in practical furtherance of the proclamation he sent out four men in search of game. The sports- men returned carrying a burden of wild fowl which consisted princi- pally of turkeys. In 1672 Josselin, in “New Fngland Rarities,” speaks of the settlers bringing up “great store of the wild kind of turkeys.” Thus it would seem that as this form of game was particularly plentiful in this part of the country, the turkey continued to be the main feature of the Thanksgiving meal. » Q. How many cities in the United States have underground wiring for city currents?—E, C. A. A. The Electrical World says that, although there are no staustics com- piled upon this subject, yet it is & very safe guess that every clty above 25,000 population has underground distrlbution at the present time. This would apply, of course, to the center of the city, as the suburbs would not have underground distribution. A case such as this is New York itself, In which the main part of the city has underground distribution, but the suburbs still have poles. Q. What languages are spoken in witzerland and which is most com- monly used?—P. H. A. The languages of Switzerland aro German, French, Italian and Ro- manshe. It Is estimated that Ger- man s spoken by approximately 71 per cent of the population. Q. Tow are the names of presi dential electors decided upon? —T. NP A. They are usually nominated at the State conventions of the differ- ent political parties. Q. How old is Theodore Roosevelt Q. When was irrigation first used? —P. T. D. A. TIrrigation is a very anclent practice. There is evidence which shows that works for ths storing and distributing of water for irrigation purposes were in existence in Egypt s early as 2000 B. C. Extensive frri- gation works existed in remote times In Assyria, Mesopotamia, Persia, India, China, Aylon, in the East and in Peru, Mexico and the southwestern sec- tion of the United States (now in Mex- ico and Arizona) in the Western Hemi- sphere. Q. How long does the President of Mexico serve?—R. B, A. The President of Mexico is elected for four years. He cannot succeed himself, but he may be re- elected after he has been out a term There 1s no vice president. Q. Is a fllm preserved of each mo- tion plcture released?—P. C. M. A. The negatives of motion pic- tures are held in storage vaults for further prints. Prints are made from these negatives and are used untll they become worn, when new prints are made from the negatives. Q. Do birds have a fluld over their eyeballs to magnlfy objects at a dis- tance?—E. W. B. A. The Blologlcal Survey says that 80 far as it knows birds do not have a fluld which passes over the eye and magnifies objects. However, birds do have what Is called a third eyelid, whose only purpose is t6 protect the eyeball. Q. What is the joldest form of writing?—E. E. A. A. The Egyptian system of writ- Ing s perhaps the oldest of the known scripts. This writing was in the form of pictures. ‘The most an- cient Egyptian papyrus now known contains accounts of the relgn of King Assa (3530-3536 B. C.). The earliest literary papyrus is that known for the name of its former owner as the Priese Papyrus, now preserved in Paris. It contains a who ran for Governor of New York? —F. B, A. He was born September 13, 188 50 he is just past 37. Q. When and where was the first concrete road bullt in this country? ~L. D, A._The first concrete road of which the Bureau of Publlc Roads has any record was built in Bellefontaine, Ohio, in 1893-94. “an_gasoline be made non-ex- plosive’—F. J, S. A. The Bureau of Mines says that it is fmpoesible to remove the explo- sive features from gasoline. Any number of experiments have been tried out in an endeavor:to secure methods of diminigshing the explosive features of gasoline, but such ex- periments have always proved un- successful. Q. I it necessary for an alien to live in one State to become & citizen of the United States, or Is he per- mitted to move about?—J. A. B. .. A. An alien who desires to be- come a citizen of the United States is allowed to live in any State in the Union, and not required to live in one particular Stat Q Defends Evolution. Writer Replies to Critic of Dr. Hrdlicka Speech. To the Editor of The Star: Mr. John Anschutz's questioning of the sclentific claim of evolution of man which recently appeared on your editorial page prompts me to say a few words in answer. Mr. Anschutz accuses Dr. Hrdlicka of claiming the origin of man from the monkeys, Dr. Hrdlicka neither claimed nor even hinted that man originated from the monkeys. He, like the other scientists, who are students of the subject, goes claim that man and the monkefs are the descendants of the same progenitor, who is now extinet. Scientists usually fllustrate the facts they know to the layman by analogies which convey to the latter, although In most instances in an un- satisfactory manner, the meaning of some principle. If I may be permitted, for Mr. Anschutz's benefit, I shall liken the life evolution to a tree hav- ing a single trunk, from which origi- nate numerous branches in every di- rection. Assuming that each particu- lar direction about this imaginary tre represents a certain definite characteristic, it is evideng that every twig and small-branch belonging to a large branch shall have characteristic common to every ‘other twig of that branch, as well as the particular characteristics @that tw may have in virtue of its exact di- rectional location. Therefore a major branch with all its minor branches which, say, faces east shall have cer- tain charactistics which are not manifested by all other branches that do not face in that direction. There is one branch in this tree rising straight up, at the tip of which repregenting man. In the vicinity of this twig situated littls lower are a few twigs representing several species of monhkeys. T assumed man to belong to that branch which grows upward, because the specific characteristic in the upward direc- tion I assume to be “intelligence.” Now every branch of a trep tends to grow upward so that the ultimate twig of any branch is situated high-p or up than any other twig of that branch. Elephant, undoubtedly one of the most intelligent of animals, represents an end twig belonging to one of those branches, in our evolu- tionary tree, that faces some direc- tion other than upward, say west, 5o that even though elephant fis the most advanced of its own branch, the basie characteristic of westward- Iy direction iz predominating and such branch as a whole cannot, under ordinary circumstances, attain the height of upward growing branch. The scientists have placed each twig representing a species in its relative place in this evolutionary tree not because of mere external ap- pearances or similarities of behavior of this species to the neighboring species, but its place Is determined by psychological, anatomical and em- briological * study thereof. Man is related to the monkeys, Rot because monkeys act and look so much more like man than any other animal, but they act and look like man because they are related to him. In other words the monkeys’ behavior and morphosi's are not the causes of its relation to man, but they are the e fect of the above-mentioned causes, which are the fundamentals. Mr. Anschutz's questions might as well be: Why does one branch of a tree grow in, one direction and an- other branch in another direction? Why does a certain branch grow' higher than another? Why didn't one particular twig grow up at the exact location of another twig? While exact answers to these questions cannot be given, yet a scientist's answer would be “natural caus which may be chemical, physical, environmental, etc. If Mr. Anschutz should study the sub- Ject of evolution of life, or drop. over to tha New National Museum as Dr. Hrdlicka pleads, and examine evidence gathered thereln Instead of condemning this theory, he will have the basic | the |- work composed In the reign of ‘u King of the fifth dynasty, and is com- puted to have been written as early as 2500 B. C. Q. What is the difference between the timber wolf and the loafer wolf? —M. McF. A. The “timber” wolf is one found in the northeastern part of the Unit- ed States, while the “loafer” wolfs inhabits reglons in the vicinity of Arizona. Thess may be regarded as the same type, the only difference being in the terms applied to them in various parts of the country. Q. Where are the radlo broadcast- ing stations in South Africa?—L. It A. The radio division of the Ds- partment of Commerce say® that the only broadcasting station of South Africa which it finds listed is that at Johannesburg, having a wave length of 450 meters. (Have you asked Haskin? He dors wot know all things that people ask him j but he knows people who do know. Tvy him. State your question briefly, wrilc plainly and inclose 2 cents in stamps fo1 retwrn postage. Address Frederic J Haskin, director, The Star Informatio Bureaw, Twenty-first and C stiee: northwest.) VITAL THI_E]MES Hara-Kiri for apan. Former Ambassador CYRUS E. WOODs. Committin By The press dispatches state that the body of the unknown soldier, who committed hara-kirl tn Tokio imme- diately after the passage of the ex- clusion legislation, is to be placed in the national cemetery with those of other national heroes. It is always difficalt for a race to comprehend the psychology of some other race and in order that we may understand this action on the part of the @Japanese we should consider the facts preced- ing it. Betore the passage of the exclusior legislation no country could have had more respect and admiration for another country than Japan had the United States. America, p thropic, democratie, Chfistian, stood before Japan as a natlon to be emu- latéd and followed. The W ngton | conference had paved the way. This | was followed by the effic nt and un- selfish service rendered by the Amer- fcan cobony in Tokio and by the won- Gerful response given by the | lcan people to their sister na the time when the greatest disaster in the world's tory visited Japan At the same time, out American churches had been teaching not oniv the Christian religion, but had been ably presenting America ideals and the American viewpoint to Jupan The result of all this was to make the Japanese feel that their truest friend among all the nations was the United States and the history of the past justified them in that belief Then came the exclusion legislation and to the surprise of the Japanesec they were denounced, in course of the argument on that legislation, as be- ing an inferior race Their pride ot race was irreparably injured They felt that they, a first-class power, had been humiiiated before the nations of the world and that they had been be- trayed by a friend. Tt was then that this unknown sol- dier, according to the ancient rites, committed hara-kiri. A letter wa found on his person, addressed to the American Ambassador, in which he says: “I am one of the Japanese who now are humiliated v the United States before the eves of the whole world, and that without cause. 1 pref death. * ¢ * T shall seek to invoke the judgment of Jesus Christ and shall implore Him to cause the Amer- ican people to reflect.” This was, therefore, not a suicide in the ordinary sense of that word People kill themselves in Japan as they do in every other country, and no more attention is paid to suicides there than elsewhere. But this un- known soldier sacrificed his life for a principle. His life was just as dear to him as Jife to any one ix dear, but he was willing to give it up in order that, as he thought, by this startling act, he might bring home to the American people the unnecessary hu- miliation which had bee imposed upon his country. He believed that with that knowledge brought home to the American people u remedy would be found. Loyalty to a principle is a part of the moral code of the Japanese. It was because of this loyalty that this unknown soldler gave up his life. No natlon can produce higher exam- Bles of devotion to honor and loyalty than characterize the whole history of Japan. It is that loyalty which the Japanese people are recognizing in doing honor.to the humble remains of this young man, who so cheerfully &ave up his life for a principle which to him, as well as to them, was dear. May his sacrifice not have been in vain. e O Cosmos Newspaper Syndicats P ihiem “Atien “Whtte, " Chatriun ivor Board.) . ——— at least an elementary knowledge of it, and then if the evidence does not satisfy him his Suture criticisms will have larger value, OSMAN RAMSAY. The Paramount Issue. From the Fiorida Times Union.— ‘The paramount issue, outside of poli- tics, seems to be the question of where can’ the car be parked?