Evening Star Newspaper, December 16, 1924, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY. . December 16, 1924 THEODORE W. NOYES. . . . Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office, 1ith St. aad Peimaylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd St Chicago Office: “Tower Bullt Eyropean Ufice: 16 Regent St.,London, Kugland. The Eveulng Star, with the Sonday morning Mition. in delivered by cartiers within €ty af 60 cents per month: daily only, 45 gopta Per month: Kundey oniy. 20 cents’ per menth. Orders may be sent by mall or tele- phove Maln 5000. Collection {8 made by car Fiers at the end of each moath. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday..1yr., $8.40; 1 mo., 70¢ Daily only.. 1 yr., $6.00; 1 mo., 50¢ Sunday- only 1 yr., $2.40; 1 mo,, 20¢ All Other States. Daily and Sunday,1 yr., $10.00; 1 mo., £5¢ Dafly only.......1yr, $7.00:1mo., 60c Sunday only......1yr, $3.00;1mo. 25e Member of the Associated Press. The Associnted Press a exclusively entitled o the ‘nse for - republication of all news dis patches credited 1o it or set otherwise credited n this paper and also the local news pub lished “hereln. Al rights of publication of speclal dispatches hereln are also reserved. e Traffic Court an Essential. That surprise was felt by the local community yesterday, when. it was an- nounced that the House and Senate District committees had in their jolnt session, called to consider local meas- ures of importance, especially a bill to remedy traffic evils in the District, voted against establishing a traffic court, is to state the case mildly. In| all of the proposals for traffic remedies that of a specific court vested with full Jurisdiction and equipped to do its work quicklly and effectively has been foremost. It is recognized on all sides save, it would now seem, by the | legislative committees, that to give swift and fully corrective enforcement to the laws regulating traffic is the first essential in any program of new lawmaking. At present traffic violators are not promptly punished. Owing to the con- gestion. in the court, and as the re- sult of forfeitures of collateral, they ere able to remat save the collaterial, for a’'long time. | Cases are piling up in court owing to | demands for jury trials in the most serious offenses. The other day a de fendant charged with driving while drunk, which s one of the most griev- | ous of all violations, was seitenced only after five months of delay. The argument aegainst the traffic | court which appears to have swayed the joint committee to its surprising Judgment is that it would entail a needless expense and that the present courts should suffice for the trial of these cases. The record stands against | that contention. In the first place, a traffic court would more than pay its own expenses in the fines collected, at | the prevailing rate of rule-breaking in ~this District. In the second place, the present courts, crowded with cases of another -character, . cannot, unless materially enlarged, cope with the con- stant and increasing flow of traffic violations. Under the present conditions, with a judge of the Police Court assigned during part of the time for traffic cases, so slow is the procedure, owing to lack of time and jury equipment, that witnesses are kept walting at court for many hours, even for davs. Policemen bringing charges are held off duty. The traffic squad in active service is depleted in consequence. The very process of enforcing the law lessens the chance of detecting of- fenders and haling them to court. A traffic court is needed here to per- mit the immediate trial of minor of- fenders and prompt attention to vio- lations of a greater nature. The for- feiture of a collateral should be stopped, so that every rule-breaker may be taken at once to court and there tried and, if convicted, punighed. 1t the forfeiture of collateral con- tinues to be permitted the present congestion in the Police Court will be increased many times. If the practice is continued the laws fail of effect, as it is impossible to keep a reliable rec- ord of offenders and to determine the identity repeated rule-breakers, habitual violators who should be treat- ed with drastic penalties on an in- creasing scale. It is not too late for the joint com- mittee to reconsider this declsion. De- pendence upon the disposition of me- torists to obey the laws has proved to be dangerously fallacious. The so- called traffic court, which is merely a branch of the Police Court sitting on part time, has proved to be inade- quafe. Without a traffic court more evere penalties provided by the pro- posed new law for various grades of offendets will not be effective. Washington needs and must have fellef from the present murderous conditions that exist in its streets. A traffic court is one of the first essen- tlals of that relief, ————— To the layman it appears easler to Bestroy a battleship from above than to destroy an airplane from below, thus leaving an epparent advantage with the airplane. ———at There is legal protection for game, but the hunters still have to run seri- ous risks. of r The Brass Plate. The Soviet sense of humor must have been dulled by the troubles over Trotsky, ¢lse George Tchitcherin, the minister of foreign affairs at Mos- cow, would not have Sent a note to the American Government protesting as a gross violatlon of international law:and the sovereignty of the Soviet Republic a visit of the coast guardi wvessel Bear in 1920 to a rock on the Chukotsk Peninsula in Siberia. This helnous offensc appears. to. have con- sisted of affixing to a'rock on that barremr point of land a°brass plate bearing the inscription, “United States Geodetic magnetic * station,” with a warning which reads “for disturbing this plate $260 fine or imprisénment. Of course, the United States bas no right to go around the world by proxy the | n free of penalty,| | United States has not done this thing' in the case of the Chukotsk Penin- | sula. What it did there was merely to make a mark, o to speak, to [identify a point of certain sclentific observations. Plates of that ‘sort are scattered all over' the world. Unclé Sam has been tacking them onto trees and riveting them onto rocks in every clime under every flag for some years. They mean nothing whatever polit- feally. They are just “bench marks,” so to epeak, in @ great international survey to determine the magnetic currents. But the Soviet government sces mischief in ‘innocence and sinister purpose in science. This thing hap- pened over four years ago, and so re- mote and useless is the rock on Chukotsk Peninsula that it has only just been discovered. It would make precious little difference to anybody whether that brass plate meant any- thing more than a magnetic observa- tion or not. But the Soviet dignity is offended by this unwarranted call by a government with which it is not on speaking terms, and it formally notifies the offender that any similar “lawless act” will be sternly re- pressed. Probably ere now the brass plate, if it has not been shied into the Pacific, has been taken back to Moscow as proof of the sinister designs of the United States upon Siberian sov- ereignty. Secretary Hughes' reply, should he consider the note of suf- ficient importance to warrant atten- tion, should be framed and placed| alongside of this souvenir of the im-| pudence of the United States., raee—s Washington, Lafayette, Jusserand. Celebration of the one-hundredth an- niversary of the first commencement exercises at George Washington' Uni- versity, then known by another name, | was appropriately attended in this city last night by the retiring Ambas- sador from France, Jules Jusserand. For there was present at that initial commencement the Marquis de Lafay- ette, revisiting the United States to renew the friendships formed when he served with the Revolutionary army in aid of the American struggle for independence. From Lafayette to Jus- serand spans a century of marvelous development. Lafayette, the friend of | Washington, admirer of the American people, by his presence at the first commencement attested to his keen interest in the cause of education in America. Jules Jusserand has in his 22 years of service at this Capital like- wise shown his concern and admira- tion for the educational advancement of this country. When Lafayette was here in 1824 Washington was.a straggling city of magnificent promise, but with as yet small beginning in achievement to at- tain the ideal of his friend and.com- mander-in-chlef in war, George Wash- ington, The first President had con- ceived a truly national university at the seat of Government for the educa- tion of American youth and their de- velopment in citizenship. He had laid certain foundations which had been neglected. But the spirit of his vision prevailed, and inspired .those who were striving to establish_here @ na- tional school. In the century that has’ elapsed be- tween Lafayette and Jusserand Wash- ington has become a seat of learning, a center of education, a culture ground of patriotism and citizenship. The in- stitution which yesterday completed its centenary of service is one of nu- merous institutions located here work- ing to this end. It was appropriate that Ambassador Jusserand should last night revert to the visit of Lafayette and to the ideals of Washington. On a recent occasion he mentioned the-fact that in his.22 vears of service at this Capital the American population has increased by 25 per cent. He is qualified thus to speak -in retrospect in reference to beginnings and to present achieve- ments, Many honors have been, and others will be, paid to Jules Jusserand before his departure from this scene of his long diplomatic service, but no greater honor could be paid him than thus to link him and Latayetts upon the occa- sion of celebrating the centenary of. this institution of learning named for ifeel that he is the most prominent | will have to be reckened with in the | the world, but members of Chinese cause of the objections of certaln well meaning people” he had given up the plan. Garry is in everlasting” sleep in' his master's cemetery for dogs, and at his srave is a marble headstone which tells nis name. This 1s a handsome tribute from a master to his dog. It is encugh. A wan's grief on the death of his dog 18 his private sorrow. His grief is: polgnant-and must be borne alone. No other man can help him bear it. Many men who know how | hard it Is to lose forever a falthful dog will feel that there wds something theatric in the thought of . glving Garry & public monument In public grounds at public cost. The governor does well to abandon the plan. Garry rests in peace, and his old master will visit_ his grave and get such solace as that visit gives. Garry. sleeps on. Mayor Hylan to Rum. { New Yeork Democratic politicians are very much fussed up over the mayoralty. nomination which will en- liven New York politics next Fall. There has been much discussion whether Mayor Hylan will seek re- nomination and whether he can get it if he does make a play for it. It would seem from utterances yesterday that he is at present intent upon. ask- ing 1t, and he professes to have rea- son to think he can obtain it. At a meeting of the board of esti- mates i Neéw York City vesterday the mayor made the flat statement that if “anybody has any thought in his mind that I intend to retire let him get rid of it. I will be on this job until I am 60 years old.” He is now 56. This is all right us declaring the mayor's intention to run, but, of course, there is a long gap. beset with many possible political obstacles be- tween his running and his “arriving.” Gov. Smith will have something to say about the latter, and as the cards | fall now Gov. Smith does not see the mayor at the goal. New York Demo- crats reallze that Gov. Smith is the most outstanding Democrat in the Empire State, and many of them Democrat in the national party. He coming mayoralty campaign from start to finish. e ————— America is a Nation at peace with tongs do not appear to have been duly apprised of the fact. N Economy Is up for conspicuous dis- cussion, and the difference’ between theory and practice will again be brought to attention. LD Soviet ideas have not yet been al- tered sufficiently to move Tvotsky to follow the example of Emma Goldman and admit that he is homesick for the U. S. ————— Income tax publicity has increased the number of soliciting letters suf- ficiently to warrant the Post Office De- partment in joining in & protest, e T Frequent assertions that there are already too many laws may have a dangerous tendency to turn the atten- tion of Congress entirely to investiga- tions. ————— Muscle Shoals can be made very useful in a practical way when it has served a preliminary term as a topic of animated conversation. ——— Economies are possible in many di- rections. One of the most valuable is that which leads & man to buy some- thing substantial instead of going into speculative ventures. Ll e It is no doubt the duty of the ‘weather forecaster to announce snowy weather for the holiday season, but he should at least not mislead himself with the idea that he is'giving the public what it wants. —————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSO! Reviving the Worst. When Wycherly was writing. In the wicked days gone by George Washington, whom. Lafayetie knew and loved, and whom Ambassa- dor Jusserand respects as one of the great men in the world's history. ————— Many politiclans believe the recent campaign established a new party. Others belleve it wrecked the idea. B Evelyn Nesbit may be prevented from dancing in Miami, Fla., by the Ku Klux kritiks, There is no Santa Claus. A real Santa would neyer peddle wood alcohol under the guiss of “Christmas cheer.” Gov. Baxter and His Dog. The strange story of the Governor of Maine and his dog again comes into public notice. It is a matter 50 un- usual that it causes much comment and it will be written in history. The weight of sentiment will be against the governor, but & great many men, and some women, too, understand the feeling which sways him. They will understand the grief of thedgovernor and:the emotion which caused him to desire a public. tribute to his dog, but they will feel that the governor goes too far in public show of his grief. Garry was an Irish setter and the bachelor governor's friend. It is sald that Garry could always be seen in the governor's office, generally lying on an Orfental rug before the fire. Every Maine legislator knew him, and many shared the governor's admira- tion for him. A great many men will think well of a governor's dog though they may not have a fondness for other dogs. Garry died about & year ago, and Gov,' Baxter ordered the statchouse flag - flown at . half-staff. Protests came from the posts of sev- eral war veterans' assoclations. That was natural. . Later Gov. Baxter thought to have a monument to Garry set up in the statehouse grounds and to be paid for from the public' treas- ot its official navigators and magnetic observers and stake claims to uncon- sidered trifies of land that may, be en- countered, regardless of theéir national ownershlp. And equally, of course, the A ury. A bill authorizing the memorial and appropriating funds for its erec- tion passed the Governor's Coundil, but opposition showed itself, end Gov. ter this week announced that “be- The stage grew so.exciting People viewed it on the sl Actorial émployment’ . {typify our hopes and our fears. Surely | pass Proved a meretricious task. For the evening’s enjoyment Every lady wore a mask. We express a frequent yearning Yor the stately minuet And we long for the retufning Of the songs we oft regret. There's-no way of thus contrivirig— Though you find in many.a show Those old cuss words they're reviving From the days of long ago. Hard to Conduct. IAre you going to ‘conduct any in- vestigations?” “Investigations are seldom conduct- ed,” answered Senator Sorghum. “You can give them a start, but after the first few days they almost invariably run away with you.” Narrowness. How often we will find A man of narrow mind ‘Whose thoughts foreveér’ grope Within a selfish scope; For kim no good appears In what he reads or hears Bave what is boosting his " Especial line of biz, L Jud Tunkins says politeness costs nothing except when it enables a slick salesman to interest you in oil or something. Still Shopping. He thought his shopping through.: He finds that it is not, For every day he thinks anew Ot something he forgot. Sympathy Enough. “Why don’t you run for office?” “‘The way things are suits me,” an- swered Farmer Corntossel “I'd rather gc on receivin® sympathy I don’t need than get into a_fix where I'd actually. deserve it.” . % work was G ”BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Like Mnn’, of old, I place before you today.life and death. Both may be found .side by side on & peaceful street running west from Rock Creek. A cemetery stands at the end, high school ‘at the other. I speak of that portion of R stréet lying b tween T -enty-elghth ,and Thirt fifth stree.. Oak Hill Cemetery be- ing at the o.< end, Western High School at the other. -Along the uneven brick sidewalk by the cemetery two urchins run, let. ting two small sticks rattle acros the gfant iron palings of the great fence through which one looks Into the city of the dead. Clatter, clatter go the sticks across the black iron rods. Shouts of laugh- ter arise trom the little ones. No answor comes, however, from the rolling. . terraces of the cemetery. The white monuments arise row on row, testimony to the falth and the hopes of men. With the exception of the children, all is very quiet here on R street. The only entrance at the east is Twenty- cighth street, which ends abruptly as its strikes into the end. of the ceme- tery. Here at the corner of Twenty- eighth and R we are a tort of cul- de-sac, formed by this functure of the two street. To the left lies a low bank, to the right a small house in the cemetery grounds. By the dwelllng is a tremendous bird house, painted green, and ele- vated on a tall pole. 'Tis the sort of bird house you read about, but seldom see, with enough holes for all the birds along Rock Creelk, it would seem. There are 9 )m!r\ on the west side, 10 on the south. he birds fly in and the birds fly out, to alight now and then on the Innocent white marble angéls and the little girl kneeling In an attitude of prayer. * x % ox Well may ye pray, little marble child, kneeling there =o calm and white ‘neath the sun and the rain and the snow of the years, for you your Intercession will not be in vain, though to our eves your lips sgem sealed. “Cry! What shall T cry?_ All flesh is grass, and all the good]iness there- of is as the flower of the fleld: the grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the breath of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the_ people is | grass! The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our| God shall stand forever,™ Here, more than any place else in | the world, one may take comfort | from those ancient words, old yet forever new in their truth: “The eternal God Is thy dwelling Place and underneatn are thegyve lasting arm The cemetery of R street, so that one 18t either it as the 1 children did, clattering sticks against the palings, either literally or figuratively, or else must fall into the mood of hope and peace Lrought about by the silent tents of green. The big fron fence is flecked with rust in places, but is of such thick- ness that it would last 1,000 years it it were never painted again. Yonder stands a p. ect holly tree, with its bright berries Klistening through the green. This is one holly that will escape the ravages of the unthinking this Christmas What a beautiful sight it is, to be sure, recalling the fairy tales of childhood days, or perhaps the little known tale by Dickens, ‘The Holly Tree” How many have ever read that? dominates’ this end | *ok s e A5 we come to Twenty-ninth street we see the pretty chapel, and a big iron seat that is placed nearby. Few trucks come along R street today. It is as quiet as ulong a village streat in_midafternoon. We pass the main entrance to the WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE Naval agitation in Japan.and the United States, with its fanciful sug- gestions of a new Armageddon in the Pacific, has not disturbed Nippon's representatives in Washington. This observer ked Isaburo Yoshida, Jap- anese charge d'affaires, what he thinks about.the explosivetalk ram- pant among certain elements in both countries. He said: No sensible man in America or in Japan has any idea of war between the United States and Japan. We have nothing to say against any other country increasing its navy, but I must say that it is not only ridicu- lous but wicked to use as, the pretext the charge that Japan is preparing for war.” Tsuneo Mateudaira, who has just been appointed Japanese Ambasgador to the United States, is now vice min- ister of forelgn affairs at Tokio. The Washington ambassadorship has been going begging In Japan ever since Mr. Hanihara quit the post last July. Ow- ing to the irritation caused by our immigration laws, Japan's job an the Potomac is looked upon as a grave- vard for dipiomatic reputations. * kX% Unnoticed in "the throng of nota- bles gathered in the House.of Repre- sentatlves for the Woodrow Wilson memorial service was Col. Edward M. House. Although House and Wil- son never met from the time they parted company at Paris in June, 1919, the colonel’s esteem for the war President never flagged. An elev- enth-hour hitch in arrangements, not entirely dissoclated with the breach between Wilson and his one-time most confidential adviser, kept Hou from attending the late President's funeral last February. But tha colonel eagerly embraced the opportunity to do unobtrusive homage to his friend at the congressional memori; To date House has successfully r sisted seductive temptations to write his memoifs of days behind the Wil son throne. * ok k¥ American history records few more dramatic scenes than the one present- ed by the presence of William Howard Taft and Charles Evans Hughes on the floor of the House when Dr. Ed- win A. Alderman was eulogizing Woodrow Wilson. In one of the panegyrist's most vigorous passages he described the circumstances which gave Wilson victory in the successive campaigns of 1912 and 1916. Les than 20 feet away, separated by Cal- vin Coblidge, sat the two men who were victims of the presidential elec- tions which Alderman was analyz- ing. From the press gallery it was possible to observe closely the emo- tions the orator's words were arous- ing in the auditors nearest him. Neither Taft nor Hughes winced. Nor was there any visible perturbation among members of the Harding-Caol- 1dge administration, clustered thers in a semi-circle, when Dr. Alderman depicted “the four closing years in the life of Woodrow Wilson” as “harsh, unherolc, uninspiring years in public affairs.” * % ¥ ¥ Curtis D. Wilbur, Secretary of the Navy, is a glutton for work when it comes to the use of his pen. The recent voluminous report on the state of the Navy, which he addressed to Representative French, chairman of the subcommittee on raval appro- priations, was t:; product of ';lhfa own hand. As the report ran to sev- eral thousand words and formidable | tons of "ca | street cemetery, with its yellow house. There is an old man sweeping the side- walk. - Residences appear on tha south side of the street, whi‘e brick houses, then three-story houses of red brick. Open doors, with fiights of stairs, seem to place them rather as_small apartments. Now we are at Avon place, with Montrose Park, beautitul, to the north, its east boundary adjoining the ceme. tery, and with the Jackson School to the south. Two small boys run away from the achool. Maybe they are playing hookie! is singing very Inside some cla: precisely behind the dark green blinds. One-two-three-four—one-two- three-four. The voices of the chil- dren are fresh and sweet. Next comes the Henry and Annie Hurt Home for the Blind. Always of greatest usefulness, this institu- tion last year received an additional endowment, which will allow it to in- crease its work as the years go by. Bomehow there does not seem to be a greater work than this for the blind. To me and to you, as we walk along R street, the scene flashes with color. There s the green of the trees, the fading tones of the grass, the gray of the street, the red of bricks, the blue of the sky, the gold of sunlight across the pavement. To the blind there is nothing in all this but a faded memory, or lacking thi mental congept. Have you ever placed your hands over your eyes and trled to Imagine what it must be like to be blind? If you have, you know tbat you have quick- 1y opened them again. The blind, however, their hands away. * Ok ok ok Did I not tell you that I woutd place beforé you today life and death? Here ts a homo with the sign of mourning on the front door, not the old, barbaric black, but a pendant of purple, entwined with white flowers. We walk along a city street, we see mourning on the door, we walk on. That ends it fof us. But 4t does nof end It for' those in that house, But, at the least, we can look with syms» pathy. Here we dre at Thirty-first street, Where the rubbef-neck wagons turn down. Those big red houses on the corner aré too big—it must take 15 1 to heat them—15 tons at $15 a ton nimke $240 a semson. And hére we are at Thirty-second | Over there 'lles perhaps the prettiest block in Washington, extending cannot take Thirty-second street to Wisconsin ave nut. “Any Mdiwestern city can show miles like it, but Washington has few such blocks in the city proper, with houses, well back from the sidewalk, separated one from the other by com- | paratively wide lawns. Thero are. eight of these homes, broad- and square, some of brick some of -frame, with wide veran. One particularly pleasing is of brick, with bright green shutters. | Here wa are at crooked Wisconsin avenue. -There is the old reservoir on the cormer. Across the street is the Dumbarton Club. Past Thirty fourth street—there is no - Thirty- | third here—are rows of houses of sellow brick Here at the uortheast corner of| Thirty-fifth and R streets one can. look | north and slightly east across a va- cant lot and see the dome of the Naval Observatory plainly. ~There are scores living fn this neighborhood who never yet have noticed this-pos- | sibility. | 1 wondér how many students at the Western High, Sohool, just across the street, ever have glimpsed the white observatory tower. Probably they are too . busy .hurrying back . and | torth or drilling In the streets. Surely there is nothing more fero- clous 4 nature than a high.school cadet ofcer: But his bark is worse than his bite, thank heaven, else half of the company would be in .the guardhouse before night. rows of figures, it was a considerable manual performance. The adminis- trator of the Navy gets his fondness for doing his own writing from his experience on the bench in California, where he was accustomed to scorn stenographers and typewriters, and grind out opinions ab Iibitum in long hand. Also it.is recorded to Secre. tary Wilbur's credit that the report above-mentioned, which made a pro- found impression on the cabinet and on Capitol KHill, was entirely the child of his own brain, and not a rubber stump product 'put in his mouth by the general board of the Navy. * K ok ¥ One of Alaska's legendary heroes. “Jack” McCord, gold miner and oil prospector, who has made and lost half a dozeri fortunes farthest North, Is giving a farewell dinner in Wash- ington this week to the ,world flyers. McCord has been in Alaska for 20 years. He is one of the characters in Rex Beach's famous novel, “The Iron Trall the stery of the bullding of the Copper River railroad from Cordova to the Kennicott copper mines, the Guggenheim property in Alaska. McCord has a warm place in the hearts of our globe-girdling avia- torg because he helped their advance officer, Capt. Clayton Bissell, to lay out the supply depots at remote points along the Alaskan peninsula jn preparation for their hop-off from North American 8oil. One of ‘“Jack"” McCord's slde lines is bear fighting. He has been known to take on and hold his own with a brown bruin in the Kodiak Island country, where Dbears measure elghteen feet from tip to tip and weigh a ton. *x % # Samuel Gompers' passing draws at- tention anew to the continuous promi- nence of foreign-born men in the American labor movement. The vet- eran chieftain of the Federation was a native of England and of Dutch parentage. The two vice presidents of. the Fedration, who rank as the most likely successors of Gompers, lare, like him, European born—BMa thew Wofl, who first saw the light in TLuxemburg, and James Duncan, who is & native of Scotland. The only Secretaries. of . Labor the United States thus far has had_were both born In Great Britain—Willlam B. Wilson, & mative of Scotland, and James J. Davis, & son of Wale * kK x Sendtor George Wharton Pepper of Pennsylyania is the hero of the latest volume of the “Contemporary States- men Series,” of which Horace Green, a Coolidge biographer and former ‘Washington scribe, is the editor. Borah, Coolidge and John W. Davis are the subjects of the preceding volumes in the series. The Pepper volume is a selection of speeches and articles by the distinguished lawyer ‘who succeeded Boles Penrose in the Senate. Editor Green says of Pepper: “On the floor of the Senate he de- bates infrequently, but always to the point, mever in anger. His ro- cent record is too well known to require elaboration. It is sufficient to say that wighin an incredibly short time he has risen to the foreground of a body In which Meniority of nrvl.:uz the usual requisfte for lead: 280 (Oopyzight, 1924) [1deals as OUR CAPITAL ON THE POTOMAC. Helen Nicolay. The Century Co. YOUR WASHINGTON AND MINE. Loulse Payson Latimer. Charles Heribher's Sons.” 4 Two, _new " books, on.the Capital, bath written by Washington women, both sppearing ‘at about the same time apd stepping off' together In a mutual helpfylneds toward projecting a complete ufvay of the Federal City in _its ous phases of aspect, | significance, appeal. * KK * Just at the right time, too, the coming of this pair of books. To- gether, by way of full and.ready response; they. fall in with the new mood of general curiosity that the tomobile with its network of smooth highways has so deeply stirred, turning a goodly rhare of the population into seasonal nomads. New ways to travel, new scenes to tread, new cities. to know—a common d; days. Among the, many is but one in which all aitfzens. of the United States have a proprietary right. This is “Your Washington and Mine,” as Miss Lati- mer 80 aptly and dramatically points out. What more to be expected, then, than that ail the wheels should finally set aturning toward “Our Capital on the Potomae.” At the end of the journey.a surpassing climate for Fall and Winter and Spring. At its end a setting of setisfying nat- ural charm. And in ‘thiz setting a city growing into beauty out of an old Frenchman's dream. A ofty un- ike others, as Miss Nicolay reminds us, since these develop laté such they finally do possess, whereas Washington began with ideals which, year by year, its citi- zenry of the whole country may see embedied in a consistent expansion of its ortginat harmonious plan. Here the shades of great men walk its Appian Way. Here; season by season, the Jawmakers: and the judges and the President round out the triple alliance by which our republican Gov- ernment carries on. Here & brilliant social - embroidery holds the eye, quite possibly at the expemse of the substanial fabric underneath. How- ever, here it all is, set down In most useful and readable fashion for the great public whose interest in Wash- ington s of & peculiarly personal and appealing nature. * % ok % These two studies of the Federal PCity |along the north side of R street from | CitY cover the same ground.. ‘That 18, both set out with & histoty of the locality prior to its use ‘as the site and surroundings of the:, National Capital. From this‘common point of departure both move forward the de- veloping affairs of the city up to the present time. Within these 'common limits, however, marked unliknesses occur. These, due in part to a dif- ference of outlook and gbjective, in other part to the impress of two dis- tinct . personalities upon the plastic stuff of history. One offers an- ad- mirable organization of the material in hahd, the other a charming grage of narration. One bends itself to a clear setting out of the ssilent fActs of city growth under national enact- ment; its end a common intelligent | understanding pointed upon an ulti- mate citizenship within the Pederal compound that shall be both responsi- ble and efficlent. The other takes its smlilng way from stage to stage of development and change, with an easy gesture toward this or that of mo- ment-in the long passage between swamp and bog on the one hand and, on the other, the lovely city of our joy and pride. One is stirred by the compelling airs of a future for the. Capital that is to be infinitely greater, Individually, than it mow is. The other.is lapped in the atmosphere of Washington's rich past. One is un- excelled for reference. The other is unsurpassed for a leisurely forth-far- ing into the birth and childhood and youtk of the city on the Potomac. These, mind you, only the most strik- ing of the impressions of contrast that, covering the same ground, mark two studles which. together, not only serve greatly to ‘enrich the reader, but which, at the same time, point so clear- ly the special power of each write Having the two in hand it is not e: to see how one could, without distinct loss, relinquish either. Ehr s Both are equalls happy studies of the historic background of Washington. And this excellence 18 not alone due to the fact that both obviously made use of authentic recorded sources of information. While this fidelity to such sources {s equally apparent in both besides, something like equal zest for this part of the work. some- thing like a kindred feeling for the old days Ffoundabout here, when the Potomac. lorded it ‘over' the land, when the In- dian was sole recipient of its largess and sole wayfarer from point to point along its course. Both have caught, and held, the -picturesque and romantic favors of this period and place, Both have ' delivered these in a beautiful freshpess of. effect. Indeed, at this point, the two books might change hands without loss of identity. It is after this that, within the same boundariés, their paths.so greatly diverge. in their L A Tt i in the history of this early. period that Miss Nicolay gives 8o clewr & pic- ture of the “rolling foads.” These roads grew out of the ciltivation of tobacko, the taste for this weed in England, its use us money in exchange: for Buropean wares, “There were virtually no towns in the region and o roads, 8o the inspection (of tobacco) took place At the point of shipment,-usually a ware- house’ on some nayigable stream. To- ward this rough trails calied. rolling roads.were cut threugh the forest from all the plantations in the neighborhood. Dowr: these narrow green tunnels, scarcely wider than. the hogsheads in which the leaves ware pack headé were rolled, fitted with tongue and axle and propelied by ox or mule power or by the brawn of slaves. . . . Near the river, the vista at the end of the rolling road would bs closed by a glimpse of water or the gabla end of the tobacco-scented warehouse; " swallows twittering under its eaves.” “If the music of songbirds was sometimes marred by the sharp tones of an over- seer, or the sharper sound of his lash, the discord was soon forgotten. Slavery was lawful throughout all the colonies and regarded as sanctioned by Scripture, even ‘in New England.” “Thus matters went on while English kings were crowned and beheaded, and Cromwell's great enterprise gained headway and came’ to an end.” 8o, easily, in this fashion Miss Nicolay moves out into the coming of the settlers, and their grow- ing unrest with the affairs of the home government. A mere naming of the chapters gf this book reveals the au- thor's picturesque imagination applied to the facts of recorded history. The Federal City itself is “A Lodge {n the Wilderness.” And, throughout, one title after another—some of humorously ironic cast, some of imaginative struc- ture and application, some of plain fact —diseloses the succeeding phases of the growth of the Natlon and the develop- ment of the Capital. “King Andrew the First? is an illuminating caption. “Csars of Congress” is another one, one that brings certain masterful lawmakers up to our own day Into instant relief. “Two Uninspired | Presidents” is & hgoding and blanketing title that does not call for sauch guessing.- Finally, in ‘The High Point,” this true and delightful story,of Washington, by a clear master of the story in its flow and grace and humar and wit, comes to a distinguised and ‘triumphant. close. Here are .twa books, sg different yet 8o alike, that will supply you with what you want te know #bout your Washington and mine, ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN Q. How much do the electric cars weigh, -and the & A?—J. R A. “The Washington, Baltimfore & Annapolis office says that their cars welgh approximately 45 tons. The Rockville cars weigh approximately 26 tons. G. If a purchaser feels that the coal delivered to him is short weight, how does he arrange to have it welghed?—G. M. R. A. The District welghts and meas- ures law provides that a purchaser of coal may require the driver of the delivery vehicle to convey the load to any public or private scale in the District of Columbla and ‘there re- weigh the same In the presence of the purchaser. . - . Q. How large was Mount Vernon ir® Washington's time?—S, A. L. A. Mount Vernon contaimed 10,000 acres, about 15 square mifes. It was divided into farms of convenient siz which were under the personal super. vislon of Washington. In- 1787 he had 500 acres In grass, sowed 600 acres of oats, 700 acres of Wwheat, as much more in corn, barley, potatoes, beans peas, etc., and 50 acres of tur- nips. His stock consisted of 140 horses, 112 cows, 235 working oxen, heifers and steers and 500 sheep. In 1786 he slaughtered 150 hogs for the use of his family and provisions for his negroes. Q. How much money was sent to Europe from America for charity last year?—A. 8. L. A. During 1923 about $40,000,000 ‘was sent for actual charitable relief, such as that afforded by Red Cross, Salvation Army and sfmilar organi- zations. Q. Is the aifference between ben- zine and gasoline anything more than the degree of refinement?—A..G., M. A. The Bureau of Mines says that benzine and gasoline are two different and distinct products. Benzine- is a cosl tar product and gasoline is a pertoleum product. Q. Wheré are gloves m A. Glove making centers oble, Niort, Vendome France; Brussels, Belginm; Copen- hagen, Denmark, and Worcester, England. In the United States, ut of 255 glove-making establishments 219 are in New York State. 67—R. H. re Gren- and Paris, Q. Can a young still keep her —A. L. M, A. Seotiori 36 of the postal laws and regulations states, “promptly upon the ,marriage of a ‘female employe holding a classified position in the postal service, postmasters and other appolnting officers shall report to the proper bureau of the department the name of such employe as officially in- dicated on their rosters, the date of the last day of ervice prior to mar- riage, the married name of the em ploye as she desired to be officiaal known. and the date of the first day of service ynder her married name. A | woman postmaster should immediate- ly report to the buredu of the first assistant any change ip her name by marriage, giving ber new name, and failyre to do so promptly shall be sufficlent” cause for removal, Such postinasters will not be required to furnish new bonds, and another ap- pointment will not be necessary. Ske | shall sign reports and official commu- nications under her new name (using, however, her Christian name) after she has reported her marriage to the department.” ady marry and position in & post office? Q. When the original confedera- tion was formed was it contemplated that sdditional States would be brought into the Union?—W. A. K A. WhHatever the original idea may have been, Congress in 1780, in order to persuade the States having claims on territories, west of the Alleghentes or elsewhere, not included within their confines, to relinquish such claime, promised that it would not hold land Intrusted to ‘it subfect | step |tover 1, territory, but would erect it into States of moderate size as raplidly as population should warrant. This promise: has been kept 32 times by the Goverfiment. Aside from Maine, Vermont and Florida, all the States in addition to the original 13 have been created in accordance with it. Q Who was the first woman to upon. Plymouth Rock?—-C. G Mary Chilton A. Q. 18 there any place in this coun- try where steam or heat from under- ground is used to produce power?— SRR A. At Healdsburg. Calif., 75 miles from San Francisco, is a power-gen- cratthg plant operated by natural steam from underground. The steam comes from a depth of 300 feet and engineers say that there is enough of it beneath some 4,000 acres of vol canic land to 1ight and heat San Francisco and run al nearby fac tories once it had been completely harnegsed. Q. How much money was spent for hdvertising last year?—J. D. W. A. The Blackman . New City, gives the following info regarding the amount of money for advertising durlng 1923: News- papers, $600,000,000; periodicals, §1 600,000; street cars, $11,000,000; bili- boards, $12,000,000 Q. What is meant by locutory divorce?—F. A. D. A. By an interlocutory deeree of divorce is meant a decree which not final and upon which addittonal evidence may have weight Q. When were the erns discovered?—W. A. Endless Caverns andoah Valley were 1879 York an inter- Endless Cav- 0. H in the She discovered Oc Q. Please tell something about the longest night in history, when people went to bed on the 2nd of Septem- ber and awoke on the 14th.—J. P. W A. The longest night in history, September 2, 1752, was' when the Gregorian oalendar was adopted in England, through the influence of Lord Chesterfield. The calendar ar- ranged by Jullus Caesar by not making sufficient allowance for leap year had cdused the English date to become 11 days behind the right time. These days were omitted after Sepfember 2, so that the next day wag réckond s September 11. Q. When was Latvia by the United Sfates’— AT'On Juiy 2%, 19 nounced that the United States had accorded American recognition 1 Latvia, Esthonia, Lithuania and Al- bania. recognized P Q. What Is a deemster?—C. C. A. Originally the deemster was judicial otticer in Scotland, who fc mally pronounced the doom or senter of death on condemned crimiaals The name 15 now given in the Isle of Man to two judges, who act as chief justices of the island. Q. In a soafal gatherfng, when A proposes a toast to.8, should B drink from his glass?—>M. P. A. A. When A proposes a toast to B and the toast is drunk, B 'should not drink the topst proposed in = hi honor. Q. Is cannibalism still practiced? —J.J. L. A. Martin Johnson, who makes movies of savages, says that he se- cured some pictures on his last trip to the South Sea Islands which prove conciusively that “long pig” is still a delicacy eaten occasionally by some tribe: (Did you ever arite a letter to Fred- eric J. Haskin? You can ask our in- formation bureau any question of fact and get the answer in @ personal leiter There is no charge except 2 cemts in stamps for refurn postage. Address Frederic J. Haskin, direofor, Twenty- first and C streets northwest.) Opinion Takes Many Angles on President’s Regular Train Trip A wide range of editorial ooinion comes from the newspapers' of the country about the trip Presidgnt Co idge made from Washington to Chi- cago and return recently in an “ordi- nary Pullman” car. Ardent support- ers there are who talk of “Jeffer- @nian simplicity,” and & great exam- ple to Congress and the people in the the hogs-’ President’s method. Others see mere- 1y “a grandstand play,” while onegoes so far as to liken it to Andy Gump's cabooee, “The saving to the Government by using the ordinary train equipment on the journey was not of great im- portance of itself,” says the Seattle Times (Independent Republican). “As an object lesson it was worth millio: to ‘the people. Members of Congre: should not fail to be impressed. The incident may’serve to strengthen their resolution *when proposals are made to open the.flondgates of the Treasury.” His altered mode of trave eling -will ‘save the Government at best only a few humired dollars, in the opinion- of the Memphis News- Scimita?. (independent},; “but it is an example in economy, Which means a saving of mitlons if caified to its ul- timate conelusion.’ The main fea- ture, aceording to the $¢. Joseph Ga- zett® (independent Rebublican), *is the evidence thus given that the President, In advocating his polictes, esgiectaily that pertainigs to econoniy, is:mot dealing in empty words. He not enly advocates it, ‘but puts it into actukl practice in his own persomal ana offictal conduct” (ST As an example of timely economy, the Kansas-City Journal (Republican) ‘believes, “it is quite proper that the President should save the taxpayers |$1,750 on a trip not made in & public capacity, at least not on public bu: ness. So far as ‘lowering the dignity of the office’ is concerned, presiden- tial dignity is not created by display nor *minimized by simplicity.” Al- though “the dining car on a fast train creates awkwardness in all”” ®he Springfield (Mass.) Union (Repufli- can) observes, “the dignity of the presidential office did not suffer &n iota. He may have broken with the form, but Mr. Coolidge maintained ad- mirably the spirit of the requirements for presidential junketing. The de- corum of his office was admirably prese: ved, and, moreover, money was saved thereby.” He went to Chicago as any other. traveler would go, adds the Des Molnes Register (independént Republican), “and if anybody thinks the country did not get a new, dis- tinct and friendly impression out’of the whele mjnor business he is think- Ing through his hat” It is fortunate, thinks the New York Herald-Tribune (Republican) that “it has been re- corded in the newspapers and thus preserved for all time, so that the coming generations will know that one President at least was averse to splendor and parade, a real bellever in simplicity.” i 3R R Although admitting that:the Presi- dent’s mannér of traveling should. be a.rebuke to the “shameless junketing which many public men indulge in‘at public expense,” the New York World (independent Democratic) declares: Instinctively we knew that saving $1,750 out of the presidential expense account s irivial compared with hav- ing a President whose mind fs clear fn a vigorous body. Everything that aids' in saving a President's health and strength, in the long run, is economy. A private car is more com- fortable than & regular Puliman, therefore he should have a privats car Aceording to the Milwaukes Journal (Independent Republican)¥ “The Marion :Star, formerly Presi- dent_Harding's newspaper, may be a bit barsh when it calls President Coolidge's trip to Chicago in an ordi- nary Pulman ‘penny wise and pound foolish.” But there is logic in fits argument that it costs too much to lect Presidents to have them assume the hazards of common travel” Another thing the Brooklyn Eagle (independent Democratic) suggests, “Calvin Coolldge doesn’'t have to prove at this late day that he Is democratic or that he is of an eco- nomleal turn of mind. As an indi- vidual he has a right to be himself, but a President can be too democratic and too ecohomical™ Perhaps Mr. Coolidge feels the country needs a shock, thinks the St. Paul Dispatoh (independent), which says:, “Parhaps it does.’ But what the country feeds even more than a shock is the muin- tenance of the dignity of the presi- dential office,’and in trayeling to Chi- cago as he has the President has not done this. Thrift is desirable even in the richast country on earth, but cer- tainly its desirability has not yet brought us to such a pass that we can contemplate with equanimity the spectdcle. of our President traveling from the Gapital to Chicago as a shoe salesman might. Among the obliga tions of the Chief Magistracy is the obligation always to appear as a Chiet Magistrate.” * ® ¥ X Says the Baltimore Evening Sun (independent Democratic): “Buying rajlroad tickets at the same price plain citizens would pay, traveling by the same schedule that plain citizens would travel by, even if the tickets are Yor the luxury of Pullman com- partments, Wot only sounds econom- ical, but has the appearance of de- mocracy. -If that-isn’t a pleasant sop for the gallery and, withal, a piece of applied psychology of-a high order. there ‘ain’t no siga’ By & much a< the President simulates humijlity, by so much does he swell the fense & importance and manly pride of .t} - pee-pul. The real effect of spch® performance is not $o much 10 make the President like his fellow-citizen: as to make his fellow-citizens 17k the President. Clever stuff. As grandstand play it ranks with A\ drew Gump's hiring a caboose.” - = # “It is curfous,” observes the Har § ford Times (independent Democratic “how excited a democracy can ge® when" evidence of actual democrati @ ‘conduct on the part of a considerablc 1 personage actually appears. A Pres ident eats in a dining car, and h% meal’ s invegtoried to the fii crunch ‘of celery: He ride¥ in a sleeper, and the Nation takes on a hush as if- he had decided to make« the trip on a bicycle. “km this in stance the country may preserve calm “The President Is more than a mere Federal empleye. taking a trip “on Government ‘business and bound by ordinary limits of economy. We as a nation have a keen eye to efficiency. and citizens return peacefully 1q their homes ~without, disorder.. President Coolidge is fit to travel alone. His mother never had to tell him not te talk to strangers.”