Evening Star Newspaper, January 6, 1925, Page 6

THE EVENING With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY. ....January 6, THEODORE W. NOYES. . ..Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office, 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave, New York Ofice: 110 East ind St. Chicugo Office: Tower Ruilding European Office : 16 Regent St.,London, England. The Evening Star, edition, ix delivered by carriers within city at 60 cents per month: daily only, cents per month; Sunday only, month. Orders may be sent by mail or tele- phone Main §000. Collection {s made by ear. riers at the end of each month 45 Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance, Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday..1yr., $5.40; 1 mo,, 70¢ Daily only....... 1 yr, $6.00; 1 mo., 50c Sunday only “1yr, $2.40; 1 mo., 20¢ All Other States. Daily and Sun 00; 1 mo., b5¢ Daily 7.00; 1 mo.. 80c | Sunday 00; 1 mo., 25¢ Member of the Associated Press. The Assoclated Press Iy exclusively entitled fo the ‘use for republication of all news dis patches credited to It or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news pub- ished fiereln. Al rights of publication of served, Coolidge and the Farmers. President Coolidge’s address yester- day to the Council of Co-operative Marketing Associations will furnish but cold comfort to those misrepre- sentatives of the American farmer who have n trying to do the Lorelei act with promises of Govern- ment price-fixin farm products and other sedu ive schemes for rural prosperity through legislative enact- ment. It was an address full of hard common sense, and hard common sense is about the most effective weapon which can be employed against the panacea peddiers, Co-operative marketing has long heen urged by all well informed and sincere agricultural economists as the farmer’s one best bet for bettering his condition, but it has been like @ red flag in the faces of proponents of the McNary-Haugen bill and kindred get- vich-quick farm-relief programs, They have contended that it is impossible for the farmers to co-operate, that Yoth economically and temperamentally they are unfitted for associated en- deavor. President Coolidge took hold of this favorite argument of the Mec- Nary-Haugenites, and when he got through with it it looked like the proverbial 30 cents. He started way back at the starting place, where two men learned that by uniting their ef- forts they could roll a larger stone than one man could alone, and showed that since that remote day all human progress has been the result of co- operation. And his hearers saw how @&bsurd it was, in the light of this ex- position of human history, to argue that twentieth century American far s, the most enlightened agricul- tural producers the world ever has known, were incapable of co-operative endeavor. But the President, convinced as he is that co-operative marketing is the way to enduring prosperity, would not have farmers think that it promises en overnight revolution in their eco- nomic status. He told them they ought to adopt co-operation es a principle, not as a panacea, and also that their co-operative undertakings must be built from the bottom up, not from the top down. He effectively demolished the notion that the Government or philanthropies or Providence could hand them an elaborate scheme of co-operative marketing, abundantly financed, with nothing for the farmer to do but rake in the profits. Were it possible to devise such a scheme it would be an unstable structure, be. cause the necessary foundation of in- dividual endeavor would be lacking. The essential difference between President Coolidge end some of the professional “friends of the farmer" is that the President bares realities to view and talks sense, while the latter produce a pipe with an invitation to smoke up and dream dreams. The New Associate Justice. Nomination of Attorney General Harlan F. Stone to be an associate jus- tice of the Supreme Court to fill the vacaney created by the resignation of Justice McKenna causes surprise, in- @smuch as the selection is not from the same section of the country as the retiring justice. It has been the prac- tice heretofore to consider geographi- cal factors in making selections for the Supreme Court. Mr. Stone is from New York, and his predecessor on the bench is from California. Tn the course of his brief service of less than a year at the head of the Department of Justice Mr. Stone has given proof of the possession of em- inent ability. He entered that department in conditions of great dif- ficulty, and has administered its work s0 capably as to warrant the bellef that his transfer to the bench will be fully justified in his service there. Now in his 53d year, Mr. Stone is com- paratively a young man for the high- est judicial service. This fact, how- legal ever, is not to his disadvantage. It as- sures, assuming confirmation of the appointment, the presence on the bench of one likely to serve & long period, which is highly desirable. P R I SR T T Sovietism has worked around to many theories, but has never departed far from the old, familiar struggle on the part of the taxpayers to keep up with the officeholder: g ¥rance, always polite, is busily en- zaged in an effort to discover the best way to owe money gracefully. —— Cleanliness and Education. Save the paper towels! This is the new cry of the superintendent of schools, who 1s struggling to keep the education system of the District alive on starvation rations. The stock of towels is running low, and there is no money available to replenish the rapidly vanishing supply. The use of other paper is likewise discouraged, and for the same reason—the stock being barely sufficient to stretch to the end of the session, even Wwith the strictest economy in use. Poor children! And poor teachers! Cleanliness is about the first slogan which is impressed upon the child en- tering school es a_new pupil, and STAR 1925 th the Sunday morning the 20 cents per of the first lessons in character de- velopment is that clean hiinds make for a clean mind and a clean body, both of which are essential to right living and right thinking. School work is dirty work. Books are shabby and accumulate dust which will not wipe off with a cloth. Black- boards are dusty and chalk has a dry- ing and irritating effect upon the skin. Paper lint and lead filings also add their bit to the accumulation of dis- agreeable and possibly ddngerous sur- face soil, But comes the injunction that hands must stay dirty, or be washed and not dried. “What's the moans the patient, long-suffering [ “How can the beautiful of personal cleanliness be demonstrated in practice when means for its application are all but denied?” The question filters into the young mind that is grasping for effects and causes. Why tell them today to be clean and tomorrow deny now use? acher. theory same them the privilege of washing soiled tands by falling to furnish the facili- ties for keeping them clean? Psychology has been appiied to per- sons of all ages in all phases of social, industrial, educational and professional ife to determine reactions to new ex- periments and old conditions. The psychology of cleanliness is unques- tioned, and the young genius now in process of development should surely be guaranteed the privilege of clean hands. r———— Collateral in Traffic Cases. In his statement before the joint District committee confererice on the proposed local traffic law, Judge W. Bruce Cobb of New York urged the adoption here of the summons sy tem In cases of traffic violation, which is now in use in his city. The col- lateral system, he said, should be abolished altogether, unless in every case where collateral is forfeited a bench warrant is issued. The taking of collateral is one of the present evils of the local traffic situa- tion. Violators of the traffic rules and of the laws are allowed to forfeit, and thus escape penalty other than the amount of money taken from them at the station houses as security for their appearance. In a great number of cases these violators never go to court, Only when the more serious charges are lald against them are bench war- rants issued to require their appear- ance before the judge for trial. Those who forfeit regard the amount thus abandoned as tantamount to a fine. They are in many instances induced to forfeit collateral because of the long delays at the traffic court and the loss of time from business. With more judges, whether sitting definitely as a traffic court or merely assigned to that branch of the work as part of the Police Court routine, these delays would be lessened if not altogether avoided. There would be then no warrant whatever in allowing violators to forfeit collateral to spare them the inconvenience and loss of business time of going before the court for trial. 1f it were definitely established that every person arrested, even though re- leased on collateral bail immediately, would have to appear in court for trial and perhaps to be more heavily fined than the amount of the collateral, the enforcement of traffic rules would be less difficult. The habit of obedience to the regulations would become more fixed. In the present conditions, however, it is idle to attempt to hale to court every violator placed under arrest. The court cannot cope with all the cases as it is now constituted. A veri- table traffic court, or a traffic branch of the Police Court, must be estab- lished to insure a full clearance of each day’s calendar under a non- forfeiture law. It was also suggested in the course of yesterday's session of the joint com- mittee that more discretion be given to traffic policemen in the matter of making arrests, that they should be instructed to warn and aedmonish in many instances where now arrests are made in cases of trifling infrac- tions of the rules. There is merit in this suggestion. Most of the minor traffic violations are the result of in- advertence, ignorance of the rule or misfortune due to peculiar conditions. The serious violations are the result of deliberate disregard of the law or a spirit of recklessness and indifference to public safety, or perhaps of incom- petence. Tt is cases of that character which should be taken to court, while the less grievous offenders should be warned, though with notation, per- haps, of their identity to permit a de- termination of whether rule-breaking is habitual, —_———.———— If a process of sending plctures by radio is perfected the film drama may become & household entertainment, if some equitable method of making the box office collection can be devised. e New Year hilarity is said to be on the wane, owing, perhaps, to the fact that the cover charge has replaced the old-time charge for corkage. JEE———— American politics used to puzzle Europeans, but never to the extent that European politics mow puzzles Americans. —————————— A Closed Season for Bass. Anglers who enjoy, or rather who used to enjoy, fishing in the upper Potomac River for that widely dis- tributed and popular game fish, the small-mouthed black bass, should, and probably will, welcome the proposai for @ three-year closed season in those waters in order to enable the sadly de- pleted stock to make & comeback. It s hard to forego one’s favorite sport in favorite waters for such a length of time, but it will pay in the end. The Federal Bureau of Fisherles has Indicated that it favors the idea and will help make the enforced idle- ness on the part of fishermen pay by distributing carloads of fish at strate- gic points, Better bass waters than the upper reaches of the Potomac would be hard to find, this notwithstanding the fact that bass were not found native there, but were implanted. For years they have been the mecca of local fishermen, but of late years expert englers have come home without fish mora.oftgn than, With them, X the | of good size are getting rarer each year. The Potomac Anglers’ Association is {in hearty accord with the closed- season plan. The governors of the three States bordering the Potomac— Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland —have been usked to give their assist- ance in furthering the proposition by | placing it before their State Legisla- tures. The angling fraternity of the District of Columbia should be tempo- rarily self-sacrificing enough to place itself squarely behind a plan which {has been found highly efficacious in \many other fished-out waters. ————— Associate Justice McKenna. The retirement from the bench i terday of Associate Justice McKenna of the United States Supreme Court marks the passing from public life of |2 man who has rendered distinguished service to his country and to the of justice and of one who | bridged the period of time from Har- rison and McKinley to Harding and Coolidge. His withdrawal from the court was marked by unusual cere- mony in the chamber, attributed, it was explained, to the affectionate re- gard in which he was held by his col- leagues on the bench. The bar at- tested its tribute by rising silently as the aged jurist stepped with firm tread from the court. His public record, outlined by Chief Justice Taft, was conspicuous by faithful public service. It began in California, after he was admitted to the bar in 1863, by being elected twice district attorney of his county; two years in the State Legislature, then to the National House of Representa- tives, where he was a cotemporary of Reed, McKinley and the great stal- wart Republicans of that era. Induced by President Harrison to become a Federal circuit judge, he served for five vears, until President McKinley called him to his cabinet as Attorney General, later appointing him an As- sociate Justice of the Supreme Court. He served in that tribunal under three Chief Justices—Fuller, Taft. So for many years Mr. McKenna has been a resident of Washington and a figure in the official and soclal life of the National Capital. He will be a cherished and respected figure in this community as long as he chooses to remain here. cause e Her present national perplexities do not prevent Paris from asserting her- self with even more enterprise than usual as headquarters for the world's supply of follies, foibles, fads and frivolities. Whatever happens, Paris must be gay. e S The Baltimore judge who protests that too many people are airing their family troubles in court strikes a blow, incidentally, at a method of art publicity that is very widely regarded as becoming tiresome. —————— Hints of gambling in congressional circles indicate that poker is not the quiet pastime it was when Uncle Joe Cannon used to raise the limit in a 10cent game and stand pat. ———— Uncle 8am’s employes are naturally fearful of a deadlock as to whether their situation is to be met by rais- ing wages or lowering rents. ————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Sir Oracle. 014 Si Simlin, talkin’ strong, Keeps this world from goin’ wron, Every question, great or small, Si knows how to solve "em all Every day the news we see, Thanks to good old R. F. D. Every night, down to the store, Si explains things, long before Diplomats an’ statesmen great Start in to officiate. ‘When you put things in the air, They will land, no tellin’ where! And his wisdom, I opine Is transmitted up the line Thought by thought an’ word by word Till our Leaders great are stirred To proceed with confidence And employ Si's common sense. Every policy that wins In Si's intellect begins. Though he doesn’t make a show Things he says are always so— Rules to run the Nation by ‘We believe; an’ so does Si. Misleading Poetry. “You never quote any poetry in your speeches.” T disapprove of poetry,” an8wered Senator Sorghum. “Years ago some- body wrote a piece of poetry about ‘Beautiful Snow,’” which evidently made some towns so sentimental about it that they absolutely refuse to clean it off the streets.” Shop Talk, Diplomacy is highly prized; And yet, its phrases fit ‘When they are closely analyzed Relate to ‘Please Remit.” Jud Tunkins says he'd rather dance at an inauguration than take chances on having to march in a street parade. To Be Sald Quickly. “Happy New Year!"—For e day. January's on his way, Brick bats we will throw once more, As we did in days of yore. As the pace becomes more rough, Growing older and more tough, January bids us say, |.‘'Happy New Year!—for a day.” Pushed Into Publicity. “I understand there's a movement among your friends to run you for the Legislature,” “Not among my friends,” rejoined Farmer Corntossel. “That movement was started by certain enemies who want a chance to talk about me.” Immunity. The actor’s words are far from neat, Yet he is unmolested. If we said such things on the street No doubt we'd get arrested. “De sayin’ 'bout a cloud havin’ a silver linin’,”” said Uncle Eben, “don’t make a flivver wif a smoke screen no comfort whateves i White and| THIS AND THAT It was a shabby room, a large room, a room sparsely furnished and made to appear even larger than it was by the lack of furniture. There was dirt everywhere. A shabby wooden bed stood at one side, while on the other were two small wooden chairs of the kitchen type. A half empty bottle of milk rested on the floor, Dirty clothes were strewed around as if the wearers had allowed them to remain just where they had fallen when taken off. The bed was rumpled with solled linen, which was heaped upon it, rather than spread out. This bed had never enjoyed the luxury of be- fng “made up” in its long life, if one |could judge from its present appear- ance. There was an air of dissolution about the big room that bespoke general untidiness on the part of its inhabitants, for a room cannot get into such a shape without having recelved continual and long neglect from those who live in It. Now there was no necessity for that room looking so dismal. A big bucket of hot water, a cake of good soap, and plenty of “elbow greas would have transformed it in an hour. A little work with a broom would ve worked wonders, too, follow- ing the removal of the clothes to the closet, and the articles of food to the kitchen, One left this dirty room with a feel- ing of rellef. After all, poverty needs no excuse, except to the hard- harted. but uncleanliness can never be forgiven In a land overflowing with s0ap and water. Dirtiness Is a state of mind, rather than of body or habitation. Show me where a man lives, and, no matter how slickly he dresses, I will tell you what he is. Be clean. Certainly that is one of life's hard- est lessons. We consider it Sth in our serfes of 10, in this column, but in reality it needs foremost consid- eration by all of us. You see it is not so much a matter of taking baths and wearing clean finen, although it is that, too. Prob: bly the foundation is physical clean- liness. Lucky is the person who always looks as if he had just gotten out of a hot bath. Some fortunate persons are that way. Thelr blood stream flows 0 close to the surface that it glves them a roseate hue, & gentle flush that most of us acquire only after indulging in our bawth. These lucky folk can be as dirty | as pigs, but ail the time appear clean- er than angels. Right here let me digress long enough to put in a good word for pigs. Pigs are probably the most mis- judged creatures in the world. In my limited acquaintance with pigs 1 have met some fine fellows. What s the fairness in feeding = creature on slop, then knocking him for being filthy? Most of us would be dirtier than very hogs if we were put into a mud puddle and fed out of a garbage can. In the wild forest state the pig is a not uncleanly animal, even If he does turn scavenger now and then. The pig seldom appears in litera- ture, but when he does, he gives a good account of himself. Adventure Magazine about a year ago carried a story entitled “Fretful Muncher, which had & hog hero. To get back to our subject: Thos few who naturally appear clean are very fortunate; the rest of us will have to continue to scrub.and wash away as if our very life depended upon it, for, as a matter of fact, our enjoyment of life largely depends upon our being clean, physically, men- tally and spiritually. T l{st those three divisions because it is the best way to express it. No two will agree on the meanings and limits of the sub- divisions, especially that third one, but all must feel that they represent realities. You may know little about the spiritual things of life—very few “WOMAN GOVERNORS VS. PARTY POLITICS.” BY CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT, President International Woman Suffrage Alliamce. ‘Wyoming was the first State in the entire world to grant full suffrage to women, which she confidently did in 1869 and has boldly defended her act ever since. Where women have voted for 53 yvears a woman governor might well be expected to emerge, but even Wyoming is cautious in the midst of her progressive standards. The State is normally Republican and no Dem- ocrat gets a sniff at the political plum tree unless Republicans fall out. A Democratic governor chanced to be presiding over the State October 1, 1924. On October 2 the entire State was shocked to learn of his sudden death. The Democrats promptly nom- inated his widow for the vacant can- didature. The Republicans, with po- litical hearts softened by the tragedy, as confidently elected her a month later. However, they cannily saw to it that the State was not turned over to the Democratic party. They elect- ed a Republican Legislature and the entire staff of State officers with the sole exception of the governor. The deceased Gov. Ross had a pet hobby—the so-called ‘severance tax,” whatever that may be, and this had been submitted to the voters In the form of a constitutional amend- ment. That wi snowed under. An- other of his strong policies was oppo- sition to a plan of carrying certain moneys in permanent funds. This plan was carried by a large vote. Wyoming has honored a woman who, both parties agree, is a fine, in- telligent type, but they have so ef- fectually tied her hands that she will do no harm to the Republicans and give no advantage to the Demo- crats. Mrs. Ferguson is the Gov- ernor of Texas. At the Democratic convention of 1918 Gov. Ferguson presented a minority woman suffrage report from the resolutions commit- tes and in his speech announced that he opposed the enfranchisement of women because it was contrary to the Bible and to God's will. He de- clared that the home was the sole sphere to which God had consigned women, and that the man was the head of the house and the woman owed obedience to him. Eight years later when the Supreme Court de- olared him ineligible to the governor- ship he turned a dizzying mental handspring and led forth the ex- cellent woman, who, according to his theories, had been consigned to the four walls of her home by God's will and thereln owed him complete obedience, and {ntroduced her to the people of Texas as his candidate for governor. The election of Mrs Ferguson came naturally enough. Texas being a one party State makes up for the usual bi-partisan conflict through two primarfes. In the first ome all candidates are free to run and there were so many that the anti-Fergu- son opposition was much divided. The two candidates emerging were Mrs. Ferguson and a candidate of the Ku Kiux Klan. Many develop- ments in Texas had aroused enormous _opposition to the Kian add the people, uur'otore. defeated the Kian candidate, leaving Mrs. Fergu- a8 the Democratia candidate Lo% BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. sticks and stones, no one can properly deny. “I'll bet there has been many a man converted to a bellef in spiritual things as he sat at his radio and lis- tened to the voices and music that came to him over the air. “My In- visible audience” is .the invariable salutation of the boresome radio speakers, But the audience is not the only Invisible thing. The very words, the very notes, the very rustle of the paper held by the distant reader, the very sounds of the automobile horns that float into the studio and go out again on a longer journey than any auto horn has a right to expect, all these sounds are absolutely invisible, just impulses in a substance that may not even exist! Yet they come into the head phones like a ton of brick and roar out the loud speakers like Niagara. From the nvisible, the intangible, they materialize into motion of diaphragms and o into the lovely strains of the waitz song from “La Bohem and the voice of the earnest preachers declaring, “And now, brethren, let us remember that it is more blessed to give than to recelve.” Probably for the first time in the world the average man has a clear- cut case before him of the invisible accomplishing actual results. He does not have to argue himself into acceptance of a theory, but knows and apprehends for himself that here {s & mystery, here is a miracle What has this to do with being clean? Simply this, that our enjoy- ment of life and our happiness with ourself depsnds upon being clean, physically, mentally and spiritually, especially the latter. If I do not shine my shoes every day—and most often I do not—I miss Just that chance of doing something to make myself think better of my- self. . Hang what anybody else thinks! It s what I think about myself that counts, it is what you think about yourself that matter (1 paraphrase this from Walt Whit- man, who got it from Ralph Waldo Emerson. I wonder where Emerson got it?) * ok ¥ % If I chaw tobacco and spit to- bacco juice all over my nelghbors, I am just that much farther from the ultimate cleanliness, which is my alm. You may think I have a long way to go, and so I have, but I am on my way. If you revel in flithy pictures— which you Indignantly hasten to as- Sure me you do not—you need to wash out your mind with soap and water. If you have given up that cool— not cold—bath in the morning, go back to it in modified form, allow- ing the big bath towel to take the place of so much water. The action of what water you use and the cool air will be enough, after you have rubbed your epidermis into a pink glow with the big towel, to send you down to work in the morn- ing ready and anxious to fight a bulldog with bare hands. Maybe you will even feel like giving a full- Erown tomcat a bath. The Army does for thousands of men what & college course does for thousands of other men. Each trains Its men In cleanliness. It is curious to watch boys come to a college and see the transformation that comes over them in regard to their per- sonal habits. It is safe to say that if our umiversities and colleges did nothing else but inculcate this per- sonal regard for physcal cleanline they would be doing a very great deal. “Clean up and paint up” is the slogan of the paint industry, and it is 2 very good one, too. For per- sonal ajplication most of us—even the ladies, or perhaps especially the Wwomen—can confine ourselves to the first half of that sentence and make our dafly motto, for use at all times and fn all things, physical, mental, do, even the ministers—but that spir- | spiritual— ituality 1s a reality, the “Clean up.” governor. Governor, therefore, Mrs VIT % I THEMES Ferguson is, but she gives evidence that the anxiety of her opponents, lest the old Jumes Ferguson would be the real governor, may not prove trus. He was one of the wettest of the wets and reports have it that the old wet army, which had fought so many victorious battles in Texas, had rallied to her support, yet she boldly announces that any liquor laws passed by the Legislature will be promptly vetoed. So it happens that our first two woman governors were each elected in the spirit of vindication of their respective husbands. In the one case the voters tied fast the hands of their candidate, in the other they thought they had, but she may yet immortalize herself and Texas by an unsuspected revolt against the “head of her house.” (Copyr 1925.) A Plea to Owners of Work Animals To the Editor of The Star: For ‘mercy’s sake, owners of work animals, take off your check reins! Give your horse or mule all the ad vantage possible in handling his load! The Streets are almost impassable at the best—don’t hamper your animals! Give them the use of their heads! Let them do their worl in a natural man- ner! MRS. CARRIE K. HUNTINGTON. ——o— Distorting Bridal Facts. An Eastern writer, in an effort to ridicule the United States Senate, as- serts that nobody goes there to hear the oratory except hand - holding bridal couples from West Virginia and North Carolina, but it is impos- sible to believe the writer is drawing a true picture of the typical bridal couple from either of those States. The impression we have gotten “rom facts gleaned from tourists is that bridal couples from that section don't B0 to the Senate at all, but make straight for the Washington Monu- ment, climb to the top, hand-in-hand, and look out upon the great world that they never have seen before. The very idea of saying that West Virginia and North Carolino bridal couples care for Senate oratory! Why, the things of interest to those couples from the hills are tall monuments, big buildings and high bridges—Kansas City Post. ———— Some Chance. From the Boston Transcript. “The Democratic party,” says the New York World, “faces the next four years without a national leade: Some chance for it at last! May Recognize Issue. From the Shoe and Leather Reporter, Good thing the politicians are talk- ing so much about “honesty”—it shows they are considering it, any- way. . CAOBA, 8. G. P. Putnam's Sons. It used to be—so the oldest of the old stories run—that man and nature Walter D. Wileox, ¥. R. G. once walked and talked together, To be sure, in those far days man's role before the natural world was that of special pleader—fear in his heart, of- ferings in his hand, promises upon his lips—praying off from the awful punishments of tempest and thunder- bolt, of riven earth and engulfing seus, of drought and blight and fam- Ine. But, since no creature may con- tinue to exist with perpetual fear upon him, man turned himself to face upon the comforting fact that the earth is not forever in a turmoll of destructive fury, that it has seasons of easement, smiling and fecund pe- riods of joy and fruitage. This hap- py truth seized upon, there followed the discovery that the world held lit- tle gods of laughter no less than the great gods of wrath. And with these bright spirits of wood and stream and fleld, of twilight and dawn and full midday, man found companionship and solace. With nymph and oread and naiad, with dryad and satyr— Pan a-piping all the day long—there slowly spread around him the long, golden age of beauty ahd the joy of life. Released, in this pleasant time of joyance, from the beating weight of fear, man instinctively turned to- ward the ‘arts of circumvention, to the devising of many a measure for the outwitting of the dread forces of the natural world. A wizardry of success attended him. 1In effect, he turned nature against itself, convert. ing powers of destruction to innum erable agencies for his own protec- tion and continued well being. Not all triumph, this, however, for whe: ever mastery approaches friendliness flies away. 8o, today, at the hetght of human dominion over the natural world, man and nature no longer talk together in th intimacles of that golden age. Just here and there one, just now and then a man, who has clung to the old spirit of friend- ship, to the old hours of free com- panionship. * K ok ok But for such an one the story of oba would have been lost in the deep Cuban forest where it fell from the lips of Caoba himself. Happily this one, this relic of the old days of companionship between man and na- ture, was at hand when Caoba out- poured his life story. And that's how you and I have come by it. * K K K The old Spanish mainland, the shores of the Caribbean, {s the na- tive home of the mahogany tree. For 200 years Caoba, king of the trees, has grown finally to a stature that overtops the forest roundabout and spreads before him the distant waters of the blue Caribbean. Full of years and with a prescience of doom upon him, Caoba, one day, as old men are wont to do, fell into a mood of deep reminiscence wherein his whole life and that of his family as well pass- ed, plcture-like, before him. And as the scenes came and moved away to give place to other ones, the lips of Caoba were loosed, illuminating recol- lection with speech. And at the feet of this monarch of the Cuban forest sat @ man who listened and under- stood and set down the words of Caoba. * ok ok K A faint dawn was just breaking in the deep forest shade when the man, sitting at the feet of Caoba, heard the reminiscent voice of the great tree going back to the time when he left his father's house for a place of his own. Where millions failed to gain foothold he, quite by chance it seemed, found security where he could send a slender root down into the moist earth and could stretch a cautious head up into the air and light. With this start, Caoba went on to tell of the fears and dangers of those early years. Of strange creeping and fly- ing things that menaced him, but which by Providence alone, it seemed, were di- verted to more promising prey. He told of the terrors that assailed those helpless days at the sight of fatality on every hand. He told of the strangler, the monster that fastens to the slightest cleft in a tree and from this point secures a true strangle hold which finally does for the victim, turning it into no more than a throttled and lifeless support for this pirate of the forest. This was the time of growth. of the taking on of habits, of devising means of self-protection, of making his young way in the forest world. And this was his first story told to the man, listening and recording. iy It was midday when Caoba again took up the story of his life. Bridging a long stretch of time, as story tellers must needs do, he began this noontide tale in the hushed and sleepy depths of the deep wood with the triumphant day when, his full height attained, he looked out over the massed treetops of his demesne, a King of the forest, a tree of rosal lineage. From this commanding outlook Caoba pointed out to the eager and lis- tening man the wonders of the forest, the beauty of its tree life, the variety of its living and moving denizens—par- rots and paroquets and now and then the gorgeous macaw, the “great brown cuckbo, who flits so silently and calls so strangely”; the great buzzard, ‘“who uses the sky for a resting place as he s0ars for hours on untiring wings.” And the bird lore that he unfolded about the quite human life of these winged wood folks was a part of his own long years of living In their midst, a part of his own wise conclusions upon their habits and behaviors. And Caoba turned into the truest of poets and painters as he plctured this realm of “supreme beauts" over which he was looking with rapt and passionate eyes. He told of the great voices of the woods and the great visipns that have opened to these secluded and secret creatures. Having completed, richly, his “tale of the forest” Caoba fell into the sadness of self-contemplation at the approach of his own doom. “Two centuries have passed since I was born. Two centuries So replete with fateful happenings that the events of my child- hood seem to have taken place in some remote and distant world. How dim and faint now appears that dawn ot My life when, s a seed, I floated to the ground by the pale light of the crescent moon ! The shadows are gathering round m The story of Caoba’s life is nearly told ! * kK ok X “Nearly,” but not quite. For there is a third story. One not to be mentioned here. Rather to be left for your own pursuit. A sad story, as you have al- ready guessed. Sad, that is, viewpoint of the nature's free life with- in its own domain. However, the story of Caoba, the great mahogany tree, would be incomplete without this final chapter. So, some day, when you can get in fouch with this book, that is true painting and true poetry and real fact, all centeréd upon the multitudinous life of a Cuban forest, be sure to take ad- vantage of the opportunity to fill out, to your certain delight, that which, within these limits, can be touched only by hint and suggestion and the vaguest of ges- tures. * Kok K A beautiful story from a traveler and acientist who has thought it worth while to embody in a highly poetic form the true story of Caoba, the mahogany tree. A story so inclusive as to cover a wide domain of nature in one of its most gorgeous manifestations. Rarely beautiful pictures go along with the story itself to illuminate the words of this prince of story tellers, Caoba. Trade Acumen Is Acute. From the Boston Transeript. Becretary Hoover s prospect of good business, and he is not given 0 seelng things that are-mot-aoy Exhilarating Spectacle. From the Waco (Tex.) Times-Herald. Shall we have the Q. Which was larger in 1850, Wash- fngton or Chicago?—R. S. A. In 1850 the population of Wash- ington was 40,001 and that of Chi- cago 29,963, . Q. Are the letters of the inscrip- tions in tho Lincoln Memorial made of bronze?—S. R. T. A. It was originally planned that they should be, but a change was made when it wus decided that a certain amount of dampress which must pervade the building might af- fect the metal and stain the walls. Hence the letters were chiseled into the stone and darkened to simulate metal letters. Q. What is the oldest cross-word puzzle?r—J. J. A. For many years archeologists have been trying to solve what is believed to be the oldest cross-word puzzie. It was made by a Cretan about 2,000 years ago, and a copy of it now lies in the archeological mu- seum at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Bal- tymore. This puzzle is called the Phuestus disc. It was found on the Island of Crete by an expedition many years ago. Q. What percentage of our present population are college graduates, and how does this compare with 30 years 2g07—G. 8. A. In 1917 there were 40,810 college graduates liviug, out of a population of 103,635,306. In 1887 there were 11,818 living college graduates, out of a population of 58,712,678 Q. How should a place be treated when vacated by a person having tuberculosis?—M. G. B. A. The Public Health Service says that a house occupled by a tubercu- losis patient should be well alred, allowing the rays of the sun to pene- trate the rooms as much as possible. Tubercle bacillus lives in dark rooms or halls for months, but sunlight kills it in a few hours. Dirt serves as a preserver of these germs, therefore, & house so infected should be well cleaned, the woodwork and floors be- ing washed with hot water and 50ap. It would be safest to have the walls repapered. Q. Where was the first shirt fac- tory in the United States and who ran it?—M. C. A. The first shirt factory of which there is & record was owned by David and Isaac N. Jordan, merchants, in New York City. They frequently re- celved from the South orders for shirts which they emploved seam- stresses to make. In 1832 they start- ed a factory for making stock shirts, and in 1345 the first shirt factory was in Troy. opened Q. length of presi- dential terms in the various republics —R. 8. A. Argentine Republic, term 6 vears; Austria, 4 vears, President may be re-elected once; Bolivia. 4 years, not eligible for re-election; Brazil, 4 years, not eligible for re- election; Chile, 4 years, not eligible for re-election; China, 5 years, Presi- dent may be re-elected; Colombia, 4 years, not eligible for re-election; Costa Rica, 4 years; Equador, 4 vears; Finland, 6 years; France, 7 years; Germany, 7 years; Latvia, 3 years, no ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN and injured in England by air ralds during the war?—N. . A. The British Library of Informa- tion says that the civilian casualties in airship raids from January 19, 1915, to August 5, 191%, were 598 killed, 1,236 injured; aeyoplane raids, Decem- ber 24, 1914, to July 20, 1918, 619 killed, 1,650 injured. Q. What causes potatoes to turn black after they are bolled?—A. M. A. The Department of Agriculture says that the discoloration of the po- tatoes is undoubtedly due to sun- scald. This does not render the po- tatoes poisonous nor unhealthful for food. Q. Please tell me the meaning of Burne-Jones' plcture, “The Golden Stairs.”—I. N. D. A. “The Golden Stairway" was originally named “The King's Wed- ding,” then “Music on the Stalr It was designed in 1872, begun im 1876, and finished in 1§80. From the fact that the canvas was first called “The King’s Wedding,"” it is safe to assume that the picture simply depicts the musicians assembling for the wedding of their king. Q. How fast does a candle burn?— J. B, A. The standard candle of the United States and Great Britain welghs one-sixth of a pound and burns 120 grains of spermaceti in one hour. Q. Is there any State in the Unior which has a greater negro than wh population?—J. D A. South Carolina has whites and 8$64,719 negroes; sippt has 853,96 and negrocs. Q. How are the stars counted? S. A H A. The Naval Observatory saysthat photographs have been made of the entire heavens, showing stars as faint as the 17th and 18th magnitude. B} means of these photographic plates It is possible to count or estimate tha total number of stars of sufficient brightness to form images on the plates. to call silver and S. Q. Is it correoct gold money currency?—C. § A. Currency is sometimes used as synonymous with the phrase med of exchange, but more commonly c fined to the paper elements of the medfum. If used fn the broader sense s two kinds should be distinguished metallic and paper. Q. In the Russo-Japanese Wa which nation had the longest range gun?—O0. C. F. A. The guns of the Japanese nav were superior in range to those o the Russian. The Japanese mnavy practiced at long range from 10.000 to 12,000 yards; genegally opened fire on the Russian ships at 10,000 yard The Russian army was equipped with a standard fleld gun superior in rang. to the Arasaka gun used by the Japanese. It was capable of accuracy at a range of from two to three miles while the Japanese were forced t bring their fleld pieces within tw miles or less to obtain an equal de- gree of accuracy. (Have you a guestion you want an- aweredr Semd it to The Star Informa tion Bureau. Frederic J. Haskin, dircc- person can hold office more than 6 consecutive years; Liveria, 4 years. Q. How many people were killed IN TODAY’S BY PAUL ¥V tor, Twenty-first and C streets north west. The only charge for this service is 2 cents in stamps for return postage.) SPOTLIGHT ". COLLINS. An arboretum is a “museum” of living trees and shrubs. cultivated for scientific and educational purposes It differs from a museum of geology or blology, whose specimens relate to the past. It is out of doors, where nature is beautiful, as well as in- structive and inspiring. The Government is now considering the establishment of such an ar- boretum, and when established and developed, this institutfon will be more than a mere gallery of *speci- mens” where the scientist may spend quiet hours of study and where the unlearned may find curiosity in the unknown. 1t will have practical use- fulness in furthering the introduc- tion of new plants and trees, creat- | ing new sources of food and in the study of soils and climatic conditions. The Pepper-Luce bill, now pending in both branches of Congress, pro- vides for a national arboretum upon Mount Hamilton, in the suburbs of Washington. It will occupy some 457 acres, already partly covered with original forest patches of fine trees. The arboretum will be under the control of the Department of Agri- culture. The United States is almost the only country of importance which does not possess such an arboretum under government contrel. Amerl- cans are proud of the fact that, since the establishment of the Department of Agriculture, in 1862, and later of the State experiment stations, more rapid progress in scientific agricul- ture and horticulture has been made than in any other country; but it must not be forgotten that in Europe the nations began to feel the need of such science before we did, and they are in advance of Amerfca in technical investigation. America has nothing comparable with the arboreta at Kew, near London, in Edinburgh, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Petro- grad; Peridenlya, in Ceylon; Calcutta, in India, and Buitenzorg, in Java. The only tree museums which ever existed In the United States were of pri- vate origin. The earliest and one of the most important was established in 1728 on the bank of the Schuylkill, 3 miles from Philadelphia, by John Bartram, a farmer. The Bartram Garden i{s now a part of the Philadelphia park system, and some of its original trees still flour- ish. Here were planted the first foreign trees introduced in America. * K Ok K In 1773 Humphrey Marshall, a cousin of John Bartram, also a farmer, planted a similar arboretum near West Chester, Pa., and some of Marshall's trees are to this day unequaled, except by those at Mount Vernon, planted by George Wash- ington. Marshall wrote the first Ameri- can book about Amerlcan trees, and from the | thereby initiated the systematic and sclentific investigation of them. In the first half of the nineteenth cer tury other private collections of trees were planted. Gradually public interest was aroused, making possible the recog- nition of the importance of the science of arboriculture which came, 50 years ago, by Harvard University, through the initiative of a Boston schoolmaster, George Barrel Emerson. Mr. Emerson was & trustes of the estate of James Arnold, whose will had bequeathed $100,000 to “increase the knowledge of agriculture and horticul- ture.” In 1872 the Arnold trustees pro- posed to give the bequest to Harvard University, provided the university would set aside a certain tract of 175 acres for an Arnold Arboretum. Little was done in its development until 10 years later, when a contract was made with Boston whereby the city added to the acreage of the arboretum, and agreed to build and maintain public through it and to pay all taxes for 1,000 years. control of the university, but was opened to the public. By this coptract it is as- aured that, no matter how Boston land may increase in value, the Arnold Ar- exhilarating | boretum will not be disturbed prior to spectacle of the Democratic Senators |‘the year 2882 A. D., and, according to his offering asylum teo La Follette and | Dr. ‘associatest C. 8. Sargent, its director, and the Arnold wd’n-or, of arborioulture of roads The arboretum remained under Harvard, “its tree-crowned hills still invite the student for centurie | er other departments >f tha univ have been forced to find larger a modation. wi! * %k % % . While other arboreta are pow ma tained as parks for the enjoyment beauty lovers, the Arnold Arboretu is active in scientific research, as w |also be the national institution fa thered by the pending Pepper-Luce b At present, a ding to Dr. Sargent |the Arnold Arboretum is “the onl | museum in the world devoted exclu vely to increasing the knowledge trees,” but if the national arb | be established with its connectior with the Dapartment of Ag ultur: the work research will be in mensely auginented. What such research and plant ev lution may plish can best he lustrated by some of the pioneer cf forts of individuals long before the science of ugriculture and horticul-» ture had been systematized as it today. It is less than a century ago that the catawba rape was produced it a vineyard owned by a Revolutionar | veteran, Maj. Adium, a native of Yor! | Pa. The vinsyard was located upo the bank of Kock Creck and extended up the hills, to near where is now buflding the great National Cathc- dral of the Episcopal Church, Mount Atban. Maj. Adlum was a sclentific exper menter in horticulture, and in his vinevard he planted several varietics of wild grapes, including the varlets found in 1821, by Dr. Solomon Beach near Murraysy:lle, Ohio sembled the tokay This s0 re grape that when it ripened in the Adlum vineyard i was at first called tokay. Maj. Ad lum unselfishly gave slips of the vine to many friends, Longworth, sentative Lo including Nicholas rrandfather of Repre gworth, anfl throust those slips there was developed great grape and wine industry in and around Cincinrati Twenty or thirty years prior to the development of the catawba grape Swiss family, named Dufour, under took to grow a vineyard in Kentucky but without financial success, and 11 was not belleved that any but wild grapes would flourish. While the success of Maj. Adlum was mot ascribed to sclence, yet it demon strated that early failures proved noth- ing as to possibilities. R A more recent {llustration of horti- cultural achlevement is pointed out in thé discovery of the secret of growing blueberries. . These luscious berrles grew wild throughout the Northwest and some sections in the East and South, and it was noted that certain bushes gave especlally fine fruit, but when they were trans planted .into the gardens of experi- menters they died within a year. Dr. Coville of the Department of Agri- culture investigated the cause of the dying and discovered that the wild blueberries thrived only in acid soil and when they were transplanted in rich neutral or alkaline soil, Which, is most desirable for other plants, they were out of their element and dled. Most of the formerly worthless acld soil may now be used for grow- ing the finest, largest, sweetest of blueberries, and a great berry indus- try will be developed These successes indicate what will be accomplished in a scientifically managed arboretum. The soll of the Mount Hamilton location is varied: the altitude is varied and ideal con ditions are there found for testing all kinds of trees and plants imported Department of Agriculture scouts from Asia, Africa, South America and the islands of the sea. Actual condi- tions will be recorded and tests \x(,l be varied until the best conditions adapted to each tree or plant will be proved, -Eventually branch arboreta will be established in Florida, Loui- siana and California for experiment- ing with subtropical plants and trees. (Copyright, 1925, by Paul Ve Collinsd