Evening Star Newspaper, December 20, 1924, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. O SATURDAY...December 20, 1924 ';’KFA)DOBE W. NOYES. .. . Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company 2 Office, 11th Bt. and Peansylvania Ave. Bl OFork Difice: 110 East 4znd 8L Chicago Office: Tower Bullding. European Ofice : 16 Regent T London, Eagland. day mornisg et T R Seres Ty carvichs wthinthe at 60 cen n Ty att o tele: month, Orde be sent Dhone Maln 5000, Collection ia made by car. Fiers at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance, Maryland and Virginia. Datly and Sunday. .1 yr., $8.40; 1 mo,, 70c Datly only........1yr., $6.00; 1 mo, §0c Bunday only.......1yr, $2.40; 1m0, 20¢ All Other States. Datly and Sunday.1 yr., $10.0 Dally only. Sunday only. mo., 85¢ mo., $0c mo., 25¢ Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press fs exclusively entitled to the ‘e for republication of all news dis- ntches credited to it or net otherwise credited i this paper and also the local news pub lished herein. ~ All of publication of wpecial dispatch: Also reserved. Labor's New Leader. Willilam Green, newly elected presi- dent of the American Federation of Labor, successor to Samuel Gompers, a miner. He began his daily toil in | the digging of coal as & lad of 15, his father having been a miner in Eng- land before him. Before he was of age he held office in his local union. Pos- sessing a natural ability for organiza- tion, he has for the past 24 years been an official of his own organization, the TUnited Mine Workers, and has for a long period represented it in the Amer- fcan Federation of Labor. His cholce as president of the federation was in the nature of a surprise, as others have been prominently considered for the honor the death of Mr. Gompers. The career of this Ohio miner has been such as to promise a continua- tion of the same conservative poiicles under the presidency of Mr. Green as those which were advocated and main- tained by Mr. Gompers in his leader- &hip. The new labor chief is definitely and uncompromisingly opposed to communism. It was he who at the Portland, Oreg., convention of the fed- 3 led the fight to expel Dunne Butte on the ground of his advocacy of extreme radicalism. He zlso opposed the in- dorsement by the American Federa- lon of Labor of the candidacy of La Tollette at the Atlantic City meeting last Fall. In his statement issued immediately after his election Mr. Green declared his purpose to promote collective bar- gaining, the observance of wage agree- ments and the acceptance of the or- ganized labor movement by all classes of people as a logical necessary moral force in the economic, industrial and oclal life of the Nation. These o lects, however, he made clear, are not | to b obtained by the sacrifice of American principles and traditions. Well wishers for American labor will hope for the indorsement of the selection of Mr. Green as president of the federation by the organization it- 1f at {ts next convent! , when the hoice of the executive council for the unfinished term of Mr. Gompers will %o to the general body for ratification. For his course as a leader and advo- cate of labor's interest has been of a nature to assure vigor tempered with Judgment and tactfulness in the man- ngement of contending interests with- out compromise on essentials. It is fortunate for organized labor that so capable a man is available to fill the place made nt by the death of the leader of many years of servi e s 0il Conservation Board. President Coolidge has taken a step | calculated to prove of far-reaching| public benefit in his appointment of the Ofl Conservation Board to study the Govermment's responsibilities and | to recommend safeguards against | shortage of ofl production for indus-| since of try and the national defense. The se- | laction of four heads of departments— | the Secretaries of War, Navy, Interior and Commerce—to constitute the board and to co-operate with the ex- isting Naval Oil Commission will go rar toward allaying the uneasiness which has prevailed for some time over a threatened oil shortage in the future. President Coolidge has become con- vinced that production cannot equal consumption unless means of con- servation, as well as new sources of yproduction, are provided. It will be duty of this board to regulate the leasing and royalties system so as to prevent waste and to enlist the co-operation of representatives of the ofl industry for the benefit of all con- cerned. The needs of the national de- fense must be protected, while the de- mands of industry are also considered. That President Coolidge’s action will be accepted by the oil industry and bring about the co-operation expected would seem to be assured by the statement of A. C. Bedford, chairman of the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey, who declared in a statement that “it 18 evident that the program of this newly created board is one of constructive co-operation laid out in businesslike manner and has our positive indorsement.’” ————————————————— Party lines have been confused to such a degree that a voter, like some other things, is hard to judge merely Dby the label, the ————t | year, $13,388, the sum of $8,762.50 was | this amount dow 1t will surely be necessary to maintain control posts at the corners to permit those who travel afoot to cross at in- tervals. There is no safety whatever for pedestrians In a street where high speed is maintained and the cars are not subject to periodical check. Most of the trafic accldents are col- lisions between motor cars and pedes- trians. Most of the victims of fast, reckless or incompetent driving are those afoot. Notwithstanding the great Increase in the number of mo- tor cars, the majority of people still traverse the streets as pedestrians, and their interests are to be most carefully safeguarded, for they are helpless. The motorist may be delayed and annoved, possibly his car injured, by reason of traffic congestion, but save in the rarest cases he is person- ally not hurt. There is no proposition to provide for bridges or subways for foot pas- sengers across the boulevard streets, and it is not conceivable that any plan will be adopted that raises the speed limit on such thoroughfares without some means of insuring safe crossing of the streets. Isles of safety are of service only for those who are able to get half way across. The pe- destrian must be protected absolutely at definite intervals in the traffic, and that can be accomplished only by maintaining the impulse system, with traffic officers at all corners. Thus the suggestion of high-speed boulevards to permit the rapid move- ment of the traffic has its complica- tions, which must be borne in mind most carefully as this plan is con- sidered. ———r———— ———— No Fleet Visit, No Rejection. It 1s now announced from Tokio, on the authority of the foreign office, that the newspaper versions printed in that country of Premier Kato's speech on the subject of the proposed visit of the American fleet were incorrect. The report of the speech, says the foreign office, “is the product of some grave misunderstanding, for this gov- ernment could in no wise decline a proposal that never was made.” Thus it would appear that not only dld not Premier Kato say that the proposed visit of courtesy had been de- clined but that the United States had never suggested such a visit. The case may well rest at that. There is cer- tainly no disposition on the part of the American Government to force an un- welcome attention upon Japan. But evidently somebody has talked too much, either here or there or both. ‘The suggestion in the dispatch about the premlier's declination that the American fleet will visit Japan was news to us here, just as the premier's declination seems to be news to the Japanese government. Mischievous propaganda is at work fn Japan, without question. Certainly, if a false report has been circulated there that the United States intended to send its fleet over on a visit fol- lowing the Hawailan maneuvers, the purpose is to arouse antagonism. 1f Premier Kato was surprised by the report, he had means of ascertaining the fact from Washington without making a public statement at a din- ner. If he made such a statement on the basis of an unwarranted report, he was taking long chances. If some-| body spread the whole story about the visit and. about the premier’s declination, he was trifiing danger- ously with international good will. Fortunately the misunderstanding has been quickly cleared, save that the purpose of the circulation of false reperts 18 not yet made plain. Twelve Opportunities Remain. Four full days remain after today for Washington take all of the Fourteen Opportunities for practical charity which are offered through the Associated Charitles. Two of these op- | portunities have been closed. Of the full amount needed to care for all of | the individuals during the coming | to still to be subscribed this morning. To? day's responses will doubtless bring | to a lower figure. A full subscription by small amounts by Christmas day is desirable. The more givers to this fund the better for Washington. It is, of course, gratify- ing that large amounts are subscribed | by individuals and by organizations, | but this is a matter that appeals to every person, and a far better result | is effected for community welfare if the full sum were given in small dona- tions by the greatest number of people, It is merely repetition to state that all of these cases are worthy, and that every dollar given will be applied di- rectly to their needs. There is no “overhead” in this budget. The amounts allotted to the fourteen groups will all be spent directly upon them. No organization expense comes out of this fund, so that every dime, every dollar given goes straight to the support of these helpless ones, to hold these families togther during the year and tide them over the period of dif- ficulty until perhaps another season they can be self-supporting. Close all of the Fourteen Opportuni- ties by Christme. ———r———————— Death has claimed many eminent leaders in the thought of this republic. The task of separating tho responsible personalities from the lounge lizards | is now before the people. ¥ —————— So much urgent business is in wait- ing that so far as Congress is con- cerned the salutation, “Happy New Year,” i8 an empty formality. Ibanez is a novelist rather than a statesman. His politics, however, is an undoubted asset, If intelligently utilized by his publishers. @peed Boulevards and Pedestrians. The proposal of certain traffic boulevards for ~Washington along which vehicles might be sped at a higher rate of speed than is now per- mitted in the city raises the question of pedestrian safety, which is quite as important as that of moving the traffic. If motor cars are to be al- iowed to speed—the rate of 35 miles an tiour is mentioned as the possible ‘nu.lmum—-“ these thoroughfares, 1.: also shor{y Our Agriculture De-}enough @rm The American Potato. The American potato goes to the aid of England, and no doubt it will give great assistance to the English. The potato is a friend to man. Its useful- ness is known In many parts of the world, and the visiting American mem- bers of the tribe will surely have a cordial reception in England. From the Agricultural Department one learns that potatoes are selling at a very low price in the United States, and it is sald that the Maine potato growers are in distress. The British potato crop has fallen below the need of the people, being about 3,000,000 bushels undey, the crop of 1923, which THE EVENING STAR, partment tells us that potatoes are selling in England at from a dollar to a dollar and a half & bushel, and that potatoes are selling in Maine ai 30 cents a bushel. The potato s American. Some per- sons have called it the Irish potato, but some things are given names to which they are not entitled. The potato was dofng its share toward nourishing Americans before Colum- bus discovered us. It s a native of the Chilean and Peruvian Andes, and it emigrated to Spain early in the sixteenth century. In the blography of the potato it is written that it went to England with Sir Francis Drake or with Sir Walter Raleigh about 1586. The authorities are not agreed on this part of the potato's early life. But then authorities ‘isagree on more things than pot s. It is a sure thing that the 1to was living in .England in 1597, for it was growing in the garden of old Gerard, the herb- alist. It was then looked on as & strange and curious forelgner, and the English people had not taken it to their heart. Christmas Travel. Rallroads are feeling Christmas traffic, and though the rush Is not yet on the Increased call for tickets and the number of reservations show, the railroad people say, that the Christ- mas tide of travel will be very strong, and that it will be the heaviest Amer- ican rallroads have known. Here is another result of prosperity. Perhaps some persons will say that it is an in- dication of prosperity. Indications are not needed. Prosperity is here. Re- ports of industrial corporations, all manner of trade reports, statistics of money, rise in bond and stock prices and statements from rallroads all show that business is strong and ac- tive, and that everybody except the chronic pessimist is full of satisfac- tion with the present and of confidence for the future. The signs are that Christmas travel will be extraordinarily heavy. More men, women and families than usual are going from thelr new homes to spend Christmas at cld homes. The tide of travel is setting in from the cities toward villages and farms. The number of persons who can afford the cost of this pilgrimage is larger than ever. This statement is based on fore- casts and reports of current travel made by rallroad men. And what of the people who will motor back to the home of other times? The number of machines that will be heading from cities to the country durlng the next few days wiil be the largest since the jatomobile began to run. — e European comment suggests that this country has no leadership. A Closer analysis of the bloc develop- ment reveals the fact that we have more leaders than we know what to do with. e Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, in contem- plating possibilities of a highly proper salary increase, frankly admit that there is no Santa Claus, e The recent election left President Coolidge in a position to fndicate to Congress that the man with a veto has a considerablo share in popular con- fidence, S Sam Gompers will leave “footprints on the sands of time.” His restraining influence on radicalism will be felt for a long time to come. —————— If there Is to be ancther war the ex- periments of the rum runner in de- veloping the smoke may be worth studying. r————— A nation is not in any great danger of political disturbance so long as it takes its cross-word puzzles as seri- ously as we do. —————— screen An operatic season must develop a wonderful amount of harmony to make up for the preliminary discord in the business arrangements, e Russia has demonstrated that “so- vietism" can cover a multitude of gov- ernmental systems, —————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Successful Farmer. The Farmer says, “I long to be So prosperous and gay and free That wealth will roll along so fast Ill have e bank account at last, ‘With cash secure at my command, In some big city I would land To revel in its mystic charm And never more attempt to farm:” Big Influence. “Do you regard woman as a power in politics?” “Decidedly,” answered Senator Sor- ghum. “A man used to vote by him- ®elf, but when a woman makes up her mind, she’s likely to carry the whole family with her.” 0 Germophile. They say, “Be kind to animals.” shall Attempt to do my bit. But if the Grip Germ is an animal, Here's Where I Quit! 1 Jud Turnkine says you can't judge a man’s influence by the amount of noise he makes. The worse & man’s voice is the louder he seems able to sing. Rather Pleased. “Did you shed tears when you first heard there wasn't any Santa Claus?” Not a tear,” answered Miss Cay- enne. “I was rather pleased to have my parents admit that they couldn’t fool me any longer.” Individualism. I care not for the problems great Which so disturb affairs of state. My present apprehension is That the old water pipe.is friz! . “Our reason foh de high cost of livin'," said Uncle Eben, “is dat dar’s too many banjo players and not hands.” . gl BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. X dweit in a city enc) And lonely, indeed, w: The loneliness of a great city is next only to the solitude of vast desert stretches, where the sun comes up on sand and alkali and goes down on the same, without so much as a single living creature being sighted in all that time. The loneliness of the desert fs abso- lute; that of the city comparative; yet the total effect upon one can be as dis- heartening in a metropolis as in waste places, for man Is a gregarfous animal, in the final analysls, made to live with his kind and love them, If possible. ‘There 18 no one in the desert—thers are too many In the city. Too many, per haps, that the lonely man does not know, and eces no way of becoming acquaint- ed with. The situation is much as it was on Coleridge’s ocean: Water; water everywhere, And ot & drop to drink. This comprises the great tragedy of city life to the young, the inexperlenced, the newcomers or those of any age who are unable to make friends of “divine philosophy” which exists in this as In most other situations of life. For to be alone 1 only unhappiness to those who allow it &0 to be; yet, to them, no greater unhuppiness can com: about than this utter loneliness among 80 many, this walking by one's self along a sldewalk crowded with thou- sands laughing und chatting together. It is in this thing, as it was in on school days, when life itsel? seemed to hinge upon whether one would get a bid" to a fraternity, eapecially th | mystical gociety of one’s cholce Looking back upon ft. v mile the stress we placed upon 1t then. Viewed from the standpoint of the years, we see how absurdly small the affair really was and wonder why we were so elated when we were finally “spiked. It meant 50 mtich to us then, simply | becauss it was part znd parcel of the life wo were living then. Today that student iife is passed. We wouldn't give & whoop now if Phi Beta Kappa would come and offer us one of thelr nifty gold keys on a sil- ver platter. So it Is with lonelin Most people alone | just mope around. after they have entered more or le the place, they will feoling of solitud enced. o great city Years from now, ade friends and into the life ot wonder at that they once experi- 8o lonely ‘twas that Scare seemed the Who has mnot, at soms other, experienced thut fee The city seems to be 1 you. verywhere you go m are talking if Inviting Goa Himselt o be. ughing at id smiling togeth a ur specific attenti { to their efforts. “Look at us and then realize how utterly out of things you are,” tn seem to declare, mockingly. Yonder girl, safe on the arm of her escort, gives you the last quarter of her smile as she saunters Ly. Conterupt and pity mingle in glance, The Whole world seems a veritable Noah's ark, where and-two prevails, rending exception. which Is yourself You walk by yourself: you eat by yourself: you go through the day the single-track principle. Of cour you could scrape up a few acquaint- ances, but probably they are not the i her With one heart- | kind you desire. “Not that kind,” vou eay to your- You are rather *choicy” and and find the consolation | the rula of two-| have a proper scorn for that old dictum that “beggars must not be choosers.” Better a beggar for friendship than a desecrator of that sacred thing. * K ok ok You retire, after a lonesome day, to vour hall bedroom and there com- POse & poem in the manner of Rabin- dranath Tagore as follows: 1 am a walf on the streets of life. All that I have and love is walting for me in another land, My parents and my friends, my sweet dream of love, all are walting for me in an- other land. We were together, in sunshine and shadow, hearing cach other's laughter and frowning each other's frowns. It was not my fault that they went |away, or that T went away. Life is too much for us, sometime We did not desire to part, T from them or they from me, yet are we parted and I am homeless. Friends 1 have, and the sound of their laughter, in remembrarce, is sweet in my ears, their pleasant smiles gladness In my eves. Yet In the twllight stretches be- tween remembering and forgetting, { dream of the friends I have not, I | hear the sounds of their laughter, | their pleasant smiles 1 see. | Oh, land afar and dream so pear, { who will bring you together? Shall { T not journey at last to that other land whers arents and my | friends ana dream of love f on the streets of ¥ sw | 2 mzon 111 | _ Those words, by Dr. | Charles W greet ths lonely one from the southwest corner of the Washington city post office Lullding. Surely the post office becomes & | veritable temple of friendship and | consolution to the strangers, includ- ing all those who feel keenly the loneliness of city life. Through its gates come the letters from home. Letters from home! As long as the lonely get their let- ters from home, they find their lone- liness bearable. Distance lends chantment—abser makes the | srow fonder. Those who, at home, we thought not much of, or maybe despised, ha' | become angels of light, in our imag- { ination, senders of beautiful news of home things. The g t daily gives us the news of the day, but we want to hear about | the calf gotten by the old red cow, i nd whether anything { about fepaving Main street and wh ally girl who was e ought learn that Sister @ bad cold, but {8 now re- It is enthralling to hear ks fine er new black en- heart [ f news than the open- 1 the President's | l | voarding restuurant stre In of the ess of the of the ¢ of the theater. I these situations one needs | the consolation of hope, the inspira- tion of pat the backbone of courage. S | There is solace in the thought that others are lonely, too, and that com- | radeship will be found presently from | their rank. | Time ne | ness. all things—even loneli- WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE Diary of a Washington correspond ent: Week end on Capitol Hill finds average member of Congress in far more of a Yuletide than a legislative spirit. Holiday recess is usually only a boon to Senators and Repre- sentatives within a night's ride of Washington. Exceptional to find a stateaman from a district west of the Mississippi River heading home- ward. Folks from the Pacific coast, for example, would use up virtually the whole recess getting to and frc Man from the extreme northwestern corner of the Republic assures me it's a good argument in favor of transplanting the Capital from the Potomac to some more geographically central point—Ilike the southern tip of Lake Michigan. Congress adjourns amid doubtings and bickerings on Mus- cle Shoals and postal pay bills. FE Jullus Kahn, though he had not served in the House as long as Henry Cabot Lodge sat in the Senate, wae almost as much of an institution in Congress as “the scholar in polities” was. 1 never could look at or talk to Kahn without remembering that his early training was on the stage. Every gesture, every intonation, even his exterior, suggested the footlights. The memb a truly lovable personality. He had as few foes in Congress as he had In the San Francisco district, which re- nominated and re-elected- him time after time without opposition. Last time I met Kahn was at dinner at the | Lome of Gus Karger, lamented Wash- ington correspondent. They lived in the same apartment house on Con- necticut avenue and were bosom friends. The Californian thought so much of Karger that Mrs. Kahn, fearing to shock him with the news of Gus’ passing, never told him. They have joined the Great Majority to- gether within & month. Am remind- ed that in Karger, Gompers and Kahn the National Capital has lost, almost simultaneously, three of its foremost Jewish citizens. * ¥ k % Night of December 17 is red-let- tered in my memory, for I sat at table with America’s gallant youns Magellans of the air, the world fly- ers. No nation was ever brought imperishable glory by men so modest a8 Smith, Nelson, Harding, Wade, Og- den and Arnold. They have com- pleted thelir officlal log for the War Department and now have scattered to the four winds which once they rode so triumphantly the whole earth round. A few weeks of leave and then service again at their reg- ular stations. Each is welghted down with one of the most luxurious clgarette cases smoker ever carried, the gifts of New York City. The cases are of gold, some 6 by 4 inches in dimensions. On the front is a relief replica in silver, accury'e in minutest detail, of one of the \ orld plan On the back is tr. in graphic outline the oceans a he continents the flyers traversed, ith their aerial line of march clearly indicated. Inside are engraved de- tals of the fiight. * ok Kk I look forward to delicious nights of personal reminiscence with the posthumous memoirs of my friend and mentor, Maurice Francls Egan. His “Recollections of a Happy Life described by .Henry Van Dyke a: “the best memoirs since Lord Fred- eric Hamlilton’s autoblography,” is a Christmas bookstand best _ seller. Egan was _my professor of English at Notre Dame. I remember,.as it yesterday, my swelling pride when & class essay, “The Courtship of Miles Standish,” was found worthy of pub- lication, at Egan's direction, in the Scholastic, - collegs weekly. ~ “You should become a newspaper ma |he adventured. We never met again for almost a generation, when I turned up at Copenhagen, where for the Golden Gate was | ®an was American Minister, to re. port the arrival of Dr. Cook from reglons more or less adjacent to the |North Pole. Egan was offered e Hvassndm'sh]pfiJ eral Presidents, |but never possessed the private for {Lune that permitted him'to serve a arsimonious republle o e: diplomatic s;;)u.rl-vun Gen * % % Japanese friends t Mme. Matsu afra, wife |appointea Nipponese 4 the United States, Washington wii make the acquaintance of one of the Ereat ladies of Japan. Mme. Maten. dalra is a lady-in-waiting to the Empress Yoshihito. She speaks Fnge |lish and French with the utmese {fluency and s a past mistress 1o the arts and graces of Occidente) life. When foreign ladies of Engiien o French language are presentad 1o he Empress Mme. Matsudaira fune. tions as interpreter at the imperial court. All who know her predict She VIl speedily take rank as ome Popuhington’s accomplished and * Senator “Pete” Dakota narrates best campaign me that in of the newly mbassador to * % ‘A'orbm‘k of South 0 me one of the £tories of th Vi Says that Senator Frank Bf“v?v?,?f.' of Ohfo came out to “the wheat belt to help keep the Dakotas safe for approached next day b; Woman ‘constituents, “Senator, who's ¥ one of his 48, o exclaimea: ellow ? He must be a dangerous cmzenm}:u:xi Mr. Willls said ahout Aim js I'm for Coolidge!" Fu * K ok % Am reminded afresh, down from the Olympian the Senate press gallery, turesquely accurate was a colleague’s description Johnson—“a disgruntled The shattered idol of the na of the Golden West, unbe the world at large, has uno returned to the political Johnson has introduced a olution calling for a co amendment whereby a mere E ity, Instead of a majority, shal;}u:::‘- fice to elect a Prestdent and Vies President. Doos Hiram still hug the delusion that he might some day after all, bag enough electoral co. lege votes to become President under the revised system he now sponsorss (Copyright, 1924.) 5 how pie- n English of Hiram Buddha.” tive sons known to btrustvely firing 1line. Senate res. nstitutional Washington Hospital Rates Are Questioned To the Editor of The Sta: Following the query of ; > kins in the {ssue of The Sfi‘rYofDJ.I‘:l- uary 6, as to why rooms in Washing.- ton hospitals cost around $10 per day I would like to say that a member of my family was recently confined in a first-class hospltal of & Middle West- ern city. She received a very good room, with board and nurses' care, for $2.50 per day. 5 £ Why should there be such a differ- ence? P. W. MASON, Futility of the Hour. From the Portland Oregonian. Our idea of a futility is a conven- tion of grand dukes called to debate ways and means for getting royalty back on the throne. Not Much to Mix. From the Houston Post-Dispatch. And then, again, you notice occa- Sionally that the man who mnever “mixes his religion with his politics™ never mixes it with anything else, i 1as been done | i WASHINGTON, D. C., SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1924 THIS AND THAT ||| Tetbmmra ||| ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASK BY THE BOOKLOVER Christmas does not, perhaps, re- celve as much direct attention from story writers today as it did some years ago, when Dickens was writing his annual Christmas stories and even later, when most publishers ex- pected to put out at Christmas time at least one novel or story with a hrismas setting by a well known author. Now almost any popular new book is supposed to be a good “Christmas book”—that is, a good book to ‘mail early” meveral weeks vefore December 25. Now any one who wishes to find some literary it, but it is to be found here and there, though perhaps chiefly in De- cember numbers of the magazines. * ok x ¥ Mary Wilkins Freeman has written several good Christmas stories, cen- tering in her usual prim New Eng- iand homes about her usual repressed ~New Fngland characters, John Fo Jr’s, “Christmas on Lonerome’ has a less chiliy atmosphere and re- fiects something of the warmth of the South, even though the weather 4D it {s snowy. Kate Langley Bosher seems to be fond of Christmas, for In two of her books the story ex- tends over the Christmas season. In “The Man in Lonely Land” thers ls a chapter on “Christmas Shopping” which makes that occupation seem 80 attractive that extracts might be used for advertising pages. Another chapter follows on ‘hristmas” ftself. ‘How It Happened,” by the same author, is entirely mas novel |and has for a t a picture of a pr With a little surrounded toys. Kate Douglas Wiggln's The Old Peabody Pew' is “a Christ- mas romance of a country church.’ C. and A, M. \\'Hllam-uy’x's charm- ing Christmas romance, “Rosemary In Search of a Father,” is located on the Riviera and there is a fem- inine villain and, of course, s happy ending. In “Maria Chapdelaine Louis Hemon describes a French Canadian Christmas. An fey Rus- sian Christmas at Petrograd, ‘shortly after the murder of Rasputin, forms the background of several chapters in Hugh Walpole's strangs payehic novel, “The Secret City.” A Christ- mas feast takes place, with “a fine, glittering Father Christmas in the middle * ¢ * ribbons and frosted strips colored paper” and “the Zakuska wero on a side table near the door—herrings and ham and smoked fish and radishes and mush- :I:J:IL\!! and ({mxu and caviare and, nost unusual of all | vi |decanter of ‘voakar - hO% 4avS 2 For the religious spirit of Christ- YI‘I-ZIBv We may go back to Lew \\';?- lace's “Ben-Hur.” The chapter head. eight books this great novel are enough in cnemselves to carry us in thought into the Eastern setting of the most beautiful of all Christmas storfes... { that o the birth of Christ. They &, Into the Desert, Meeting of the Wi Men The Athenian Speaks—. of the Hindoo—Love, Story—Good Works, The {Joppa Gate, Typical Characters at | the Joppa Gate; Joseph and Mary Go. {ng to Bethlehem, The Cave at Bothla. lehem, The Light in the Sky, Christ Is Born, The Wise Men Arrive at Je- rusalem, The Witnesses Bofore Herod The Wise Men Find the Child, 5 * % % % “Mark Twain's Autobiography,” re- {cently published, gives the grest American humorist's account of an incident connected with his visit to Washington to pay a visit to Prest | dent Cleveland. As he was leaving | Hartford his wife sald to him: i |have written a small' warning and | put it in a pocket of your dress vest. {If I should give you the word of warning by word of mouth now, it would pass from your head and be forgotten in a few minutes.” ‘While !ht: was dressing the next evening be- fore going to the White House he @Giscovered his wife's note, long since a C se, of se ~aith, The forgotten. He proceeds: “When we reached the White House and T was shaking hands with the President he started to say some- thing, but I interrupted him and said: ‘I vour excellency will excuse me, I will come back in a moment, but now I have a very Important matter to attend to, and it must be attended to at once’ I turned to Mrs. Cleveland, the young, the beau- tiful, the fascinating, and gave her my card, on which I had written ‘He did not,’ and I asked her to sign her name below those words.” “She sald: ‘He did not? He did not what? *‘Oh, I sald, *never mind. We can- not stop to discuss that now. This is urgent. Won't you please sign your name? (I handed her a fountain pen.) “‘Why, she sald, I cannot commit myself in that way. Who is it that didn’t? And what is it that he didn't? “‘Oh,’ T said, ‘time 1 flying, fiying, flying! Won't you take me out of distress and sign your name to it? It's all right. I give You my word all right.’ “She looked nonplussed, but hesi- tatingly and mechanically she took the pen and sald: ‘I will eign it. I will take the risk. But you must tell me all about It, right afterward, |#o that vou can be arrested before you get out of the house In case there should be anything criminal about this.’ hen she signed, and I handed her Mrs. Clemens' note, which was very brief, very simple and to the point. It s “‘Don't wear your arctics in the White House." “It made her shout, and at my re- quest she summoned a messenger and we sent that card at once to the mail on its way to Mrs. Clemens in Hart- tord.” * ok ok % Many economists, beginning with Malthus, have considered the question of population as the key of all social problems. Many others, who make no clalm to economlc wisdom, but be- long to that large group known as the general public, are lukewarm or even cynical toward the various forms of peace propaganda because they are convinced that wars will of necessity always recur o long as population keeps on increasing. Of this latter class is a British engineer, J. Swin- burne, who has written a book called “Population and Social Problems.” Though pursuing sociology and_ eco- nomics merely as a pastime, Mr. Swin- burne has very decided {deas, which he expresses vigorously, on various social problems. He calls attention to the fact that the human race dou- blep itself every twelve years at the physiological rate of increase. If it were not for limitations on this phys- fological rate the catastrophe would be overwhelming. His conclusion is: ‘For about 70 years the limitation of families has been practiced. It began with the middle classes and spread up and down, and it will gradually extend until it changes all the rela- tions of soclety. The limitation of offtpring and the means form the greatest discovery man has ever it b Ok k¥ Several volumes of one-act plays nave been recently added to the rep- crtoire avallable for Little theaters, girls’ school dramatic classes and wemen's club players. “Boccaccio's Untold Tale and Other One-Aci Plays,” by Harry Kemp, contains ten plays presented In Mr. Kemp's \vlnlqu' Little * theater in Greenwich Vlilage. “The Sin-Easter's Halloween,” by Francis Nellson, is-a two-scene fan- tasy. “The Flays of Turgenev, t ted from the Russian by M. 8. Mandell, with. an introduction by william - Phelps, contains ten. p-l:," a'?m ian novelist, one-act Christmas atmosphere must hunt for{ Q. Where t get a book Berryman's cartcons?—A. 8. A." C. K. Berryman of The Evening Star says that his cartons have never been published in book form, Q. Is there a public clinic in Washington where any one can have eyes tested?—E. M. B. A. The Episcopal Eve, Throat Hospital conducts elinic every day at 1 o'clock. Q. Were the Government employes > “Uncle Sam's Follles” excused for rehearsals?—J. L. P. A. The performers did not rehearse on Government time. Q. What is the address of the United States consul general in Lon- don?—R. D. M. A. Horace Leec Washington s consul general at London, England. He can be addressed at the American Consulate, London, England. Q. Is the United States Marine Corps a part of the Navy?—F. E. P. A. The United States Marine Corps is considered a part of the Navy De- partment. The Secretary of the Navy is chief of the Marine Corps. The personnel officers, however, are sepa- rate from the Navy personnel officers. Q. How is it possible for a foot ball score to be 1-0?7—A. R. A. A. The only way which & foot ball score could be 1 to 0 s in the case of a forfelted game. One to nothing is the official score of a forfeited game under arbitrary rule of Ear and free Q. When was Perth Amboy settled and why was it 80 named?—M. Z. A. Perth Amboy, N. J.,, was settled in 1683. It was named Perth for James, Earl of Perth. Amboy, a cor- ruption of the original Indian name, was afterward added. Q. What countries of are neutral™—W. S. A. The countri. that were per- petually neutral are Switzerland, Bel- glum, Luxemburg and the Kongo Free State. The neutrality of Belgium and Luxemburg was violated at the be- ginning of the World War. The countries that remained neutral dur- ing the war were Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland and Spain. Q. In a prize fight does there have to bs a knockout for a decision in New Jersey?—H. L A. It is necessary that thers be a knockout in a bout in New Jersey before any decision is given. It is against the law to have decision fights. Q. What is the work of the Bureau of Correspondence and Claims of the | Interstate Commeroce Commisaion?— W J. K. | 'A. The bureau to which you refer i3 now known as the Bureau of In- | formal Correspondenc It may be divided into two classes— | informal complaint cases and sp: |clal docket cases. The former a | complishes in an informal way hear- inge, cases, etc, without formal pro- cedure; through voluntary action of carriers complaints are satisfied. 1ae latter receives applications from car- riers and passes on them Q. Please tell something about the Great Southern Railroad of Buenos Aires—I. Lu A. The Buenos Alres Great ern Raflway is principally owned British interests; 71 miles of this rallroad were opened by 1865. Since then 3,948 miles have been in opera- tion, with branches in course of con- struction. It is a 5 foot 6 inch gauge railroad. The chairman of the rail- road is Sir Albert Bowen, § Queens South- by The chalrman corresponds to a presi- dent. FLOWERS For the Living Bud Fisher BY JOHN N. WHEELER. Bud Fisher's philosophy of life and his secret of success has been: “You've got to make 'em laugh and ke 1t.” are not his friends—and he has mil- lions. His stuff is always funny. Therefore the non-laughers must ac- cept the blame for fa to be amused—not Bud, Seventeen years ago in San Fran- cisco Fisher was making plctures to be pasted on the plate glass of store windows against which pro- spective customers flattened thelr noses bearing some such legend as this: “Meet the best hatter in San Fran- clsco face to face.” Bud had made what the hatter and he thought was a likeness of the mer- chant and one calculated to attract purchasers of headgear. He could also do a shoe man or a florist or a turrier after one brief look at the subject. For each work of art he re- celved 50 cents. Then one day he produced what he thought was a caricaturs of himself, labeled it “A. Mutt” and showed it to a newspaper editor, James Young of the San Francisco Chronicle. “What's that?" asked Editor Young. “That's me,” ungrammatically re- plied Fisher. “A. Mutt.” “It looks like it had possibilities” sald Young. “Do some more.” So Fisher made the first comic strip —A. Mutt going to the race track and the Chronicle published it. Mr. Mutt played race horses each day and his success was phenomenal, winning huge sums. It wasn't long before the ferry boat on the way to the track looked as if it had broken out in & pink rash, so many coples of the Chronicle were aboard The San Franclsco Examiner of- fered Fisher more money and he took it. Later he added Little Jeff. and we have Mutt and Jeff, the blggest money making comic in the history of the business. Bud Fisher makes about $300.000 a year—more than the President most newspaper publishers an¢ editors and not a few kings sinc the king business got so bad. 4 Fisher now owns a racing stab of his own, occupied by about 4 horses. Nellle Morse, named after his mother, won the rich Preakness in Maryland last Spring, this purse being for the amount of $58,385.05. 1 know for I saw the check. An inborn ability to stand up for his rights and recognize the value of his product has always actuated Bud. Some of the less friendly call it cockliness, but even less successful and more jealous cartoonists recog- nize that he is responsible for the high salaries paid to comic artists. His cheek got them. Once when he was working for the New. York American, under contract, and the New York World had made him a more tempting offer—not an unusual experience in his career—he walked into the American office smoking & cigarette. One of those executives aroynd the place who doesn’t know the cartoonist even by sight, especially since Fisher does most of his work at home, accosted him. “Young man,” he said, “don’t you know theres is a rule In this office against smoking cigarettes? You'll have to stop smoking that.” “And what'll you do if I don't?" “We fire our employes who don't obey our rules.” _ “T dom't know who you are” re- plied T, “but-i£ you'll fire me, I'll meet you 2 o'clock this afternoon and Claims. | Gate place, London 8 W. 7, England. | He thinks if they don't laugh, they | Q. Were two rivers ever known flow in cna channel?—M. C. V. A. At Khartum, the capital of t Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, the two Nil the White and the Biue, meet. Tho water of the one river is of a green ish-gray color; that of the other is clear and blue, except when in flood, when it gains a chocolate Lrow: from its alluvial burden. to Q. What is the technical name for eating clay or dirt?—J. M. A. The practice of eating some kind of earthy matter, such s clay or chalk, is known as geogphagy or gec phagtsm Thea Q. What is the mathematical nar for a solid the shape of that {s described by a cirel about a straight plane?—P. L D, A. Such a solid is 3 doughnut, Q. In what countries w comet visible the last tin seen?—H. D. §. aval Obser: ley's comet was visible parts of the earth Q. Are bot diles found In S. B. A. There are only two specles of u ligator, one of which is found Florlda and other parts of the There are several species of ¢ e of wh alligators and erc the United States’— Church established in t E. P. A. Immigran England brou, . to th United States. headed b what was octety I America in New York 6. Abopt the same time Robert Strawbridge began to preach and form socleties § Frederick County, Md. Some claim the Maryland beginning was prior to that of New York. The matter is in controversy. Q. What St are divided 1 tes besides Loulsia o parishes?—L. L. other States pofitical 4 rishes. Q. Do birds which go South for tha Winter ralse a brood of young chil dren while there?—D. B, S, A The Biological Surve, as a general rule birds do young while in the So Winter. Most birds breed during the Summer. Some species ralse mc than one brood during this time. says that ot raiss h during the Q. At what age do chil, graduate from high school” A. The average age of h graduates is 18 years Q. What State in the Union § windiest?—G, W A. The Weather Bureau says that this h: never been accurately deter- mined, and it is probably impossible to make a positive statement. How- ever, it is quite probable that Okla- homa. as a_whole, the windiest State in the Unfon. is due to the fact that the winds a rather con- stant at moderately high ities during t entire year in t H in many other sections the wind ma at times average higher than Okla- homa, nevertheless, they are not so constant or cove npletely th entire St i Th (Have you a question you want an- swered? Send it to The Star Informa- tion Bureaw, Frederic J. Haskin, direc- tor, Twenty-first and C streets no weat. The only charge for this service s 2 centa in stamps for return postage.) VITAL THEMES Ttaly’s Fascisti Under Fire RICHARD WASHBURN CHILD. Former Ambassador to Italy. Mussolini has carrfed two great burdens. One is the burden of polit- ical opposition from those groups in Italy which arrange themselves un- der”the leadership of old political figures such as Giolitti and Orlando or around persistent ideas such communism, socialism and repub canism. Such oposition is more less open. Even when it shows its supine and gives itself the manner of oily assent, as it did for a lo time in Italy, it may be identified ns Mussolini in direct frank word identified It, as an enemy whi smirks and bides its time. The other enemy—the opposition—is the enem lini's own party and in his own fol- lowing. No close observer with skill in the appraisal of political ments could have failed to prophe from the days of the march on Ro that Mussolini, because of the will of the Italian people, could disciplina Italy, but might fail in disciplini fascism itself. Today the enemies of ordered up- bullding in Italy and the old p ticlans have presented no subs tial case against Mussolini as a gre administrator. It would be folly t deny that he has shown unparalleled leadership not only of Italy's interr welfare but of Italy’s place in t world; the case against him is re resting upon the assertion and t hope that Mussolinl i{s being betrs in his own political household, th he must bear the blame for all follies of his extremists-—the group whick Roosevelt always called “the lunati fringe”—that he must suffer unaided by any truly strong assistants thae and give you $§0,000. I've been try- jealousies and conspiracies of dis- loyal fascists who place personal ain- bition above patriotic service. In religion ideas often remain ur tarnished even in the hands of : faithless priest; It is more than obvi- ous that such ideas may live, though adherents of the congregation betray them. In politics it is different. Pc litical ideas require not only a truth 'nd not only an unselfish and loyal riest such as Mussolinl has be out a certain degree of purity in the nearts of the laity. The degree of the purity of Inspir- ation and loyalty in the followers of fasclsm has always been the de- clding factor in the length and strength of Mussolini's leadership. While,those behind were in step and could be kept in step by his extraordinary and untiring devotion to his cause, while the march went on through Its earlier and easier paths, the very men who are whin- ing and snapping at his heels today were begging him to let them carr; a spear. The world may now regard the spectacle of the attack on Mussolini and reflect that the weakness of an thing approaching a dictatorship that if the leader dies or stumbles, chaos hovers like a vulture over & lone human body. But it may reflect also that this is Mussolin’s strength. because Italy may have to ask her self “What would I do without him? (Copyright, 1924.) ing to figure a way out of my « tract.” And he walked off leaving the ex- ecutive panting for wind. Bud meets all comers and fights at labout the lightwelght limit. He never takes & backward step. (Copyright, 1024.)