Evening Star Newspaper, January 13, 1925, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR ‘With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY......January 13, 1925 THEODORE W. NOYES. ...Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Busiy Office, 11th §t. and Pennsy'vania Ave. ew York Office: 110 East 42nd St. Chicago Office: Tower Building European Ofice : 16 Regent St.,London, Eugland. The Evening Star, with the Sunday morning edition, s delivered by carriers within the city at 60 cents per month: daily only, 43 cents per month: Sunday on! cents per month. Orders may be sent by malil or tele- phone Main 5000. Collection is made by car- riers at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Adsance, Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday..1 yr. $8.40; 1 mo. Dally only.. .1yr, $6.00; 1 mo., Sunday only. .. .1yr, $2.40; 1 mo. All Other States. Daily-and Sunday.1 yr., $10.00 Datly only $7.00 Sunday on $3.00 70 50c 20¢ ;1 mo., 8 1 mo. i1 mo. Member of the Associated Press. The Associnted Press is exclusiyely entitled to the use for republication of all news dis- patches credited to it or not otherwise credited n this paper and also the local news pub. lished “hereln. Al rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. Yesterday’s Election. So completely changed is the sys. tem of electing the President and Vice President of the United States from the theory of the constitutional pro- vision for that procedure, and so long has this change prevailed, that public attention is scarcely drawn to the fact that although the popular ballots were cast on the 4th of November it was not until yesterday that in law the clection was effected. It was yester- day that the electors chosen by the people November 4 met at the capitals of their respective States and cast their votes for President and Vice President. That constitutes the defini- tive choice of the people through their delegated representatives. That was the meeting and that was the ac- tion of the so-called electoral college. In the beginning the electors named by the people in the general balloting in November exercise a veritable choice, although at the first two elec- tions there was no dissent whatever from the naming of George Washing- ton. Very soon after, however, through, the formation of parties, the choice of the electors began to be dictated by these political groups and factions and instructed electors were chosen. The “college” never, in fact, acted as an independent body of opinion and judgment. Under the first provision of the Constitution the person secur- ing the highest number of electoral votes became the President, and the person getting the second number the Vice President. This was changed by the twelfth amendment, proposed in does the earth in its dislocations take heavy toll. At San Francisco a griev- ous loss was suffered, but mainly due to the fire which was occasioned by the quake. In Japan the sacrifice of life is by the thousand. So it is that whenever the earth quakes, even though the phenomenon is familiar, there is dread of disaster of magni- tude, involving the wiping out of en- tire communities. Tre sickening part of such a situ- ation is that nothing can be done to avert these catastrophes. They can- not be foreseen, and they cannot be lessened in magnitude by any pre- vision or precaution. Certain areas are more susceptible than others, and vet in the region of seismic disturb- ance there is no zone of assured safety. The only thing to be done is to build and rebuild in the hope that another visitation will not occur, - American Justice. Gaston B. Means was placed on trial yesterday in New York on a charge of conspiracy to obstruct justice. It is a notorious case, and in view of its prec- edents public expectation is that it will be protracted. But the court is disposed, it would seem, to hasten the proceedings. Judge Lindley, presid- ing, invoked the new Federal time- saving system of selecting a jury. Counsel were allowed to question jurors only through suggestions to the court. As a result the work of picking a jury was completed in short order. With this good beginning what will be the outcome? WIll the case drag for days and for weeks with protract. ed examinations of witnesses and cross-examination and redirect exam- inations? Will minor points be spun out into an infinity of dissection? Will arguments be extended over days? Will, if conviction is voted by the jury, eppeals be taken prolonging the case for months and perhaps for 1803, which directed the electors to vote separately for President and Vice President, thus preventing deadlocks as between those offices. The “‘electoral college” has never @ssembled, in fact. The electors meet at their respective capitals in 48 groups. In theory each group does not know what any of the others is doing. In fact, everybody knows the whole story. In the old days, before immedi- ate communication was established, if the electors had been actually inde- pendent in judgment and action the question of the choice of President and Vice President, undetermined on the popular election day, would have been unknown until the actual can- vassing of the votes by Congress in February. Now the electoral meetings at the capitals and the congressional joint session canvassing of the elec- toral votes are mere formalities to record the votes cast by the people and the will expressed by them in No- vember, Still, under the Constitution, yes- terday was the day of election. Had the third party which figured in the recent campaign held the balance of power and prevented a majority cholce yesterday would not have been election day. The choice would then have been referred to Congress, to the House for the selection of a President and to the Senate for the selection of a Vice President. Fortunately for the country, no such condition prevails, and so yesterday's proceedings at the 48 capitals were but a formal registra- tion of the will of the people expressed in November that Calvin Coolidge should be President of the United States and Charies G. Dawes Vice President. ———— Tt will be a comparatively quiet in- auguration, according to present cal- culations. However, the cabinet pre- liminaries afford a certain degree of excitement. o Helen Maria is no longer mentioned in spite of the fact that recent events seem to justity some interjectory demonstration. R Owing to the pressure of strictly modern interest, the public appears to have lost sight of the once thrilling discoveries in the tomb of King Tut. ——e— Debt cancellation usually means debt payment among individuals, but not necessarily among nations. Earth Shocks. Japan is greatly disturbed again by earth shocks, which are causing e feeling of panic. A series of temblors of high severity occurred yvesterday at Tokio, and at the same time Mount Aso, one of the active Japanese vol- canoes, was in eruption. These mani- festations of a disturbed condition be- neath the crust are calculated to cause a feeling of profound apprehension, for Japan is only now recovering from the visitation of September, 1928, which cost so many lives and such cnormous damage to property. The other day in the neighborhood of Boston shocks occurred which oc- casioned alarm among the inhabitants. After the quakings had ceased a crack 2 fnches in width and 40 feet in length was found on a hill, indicating that the disturbance was not due to ice clipping, as was first thought, but was a veritable seismic shock incident to some dislocation beneath the surface. No further manifestations have oc- curred. There is a great difference between these occurrences, in Japan and in Maseachusetts. In the former country o quaking of the earth has a terrible significance, BB this country rerely years? These questions are natural. They are prompted by repeated records. There is now in progress in Chicago the trial of two men accused of con- spiracy to defraud the Government in Veterans’ Bureau work. The jury was selected in September and after post- ponements the. taking of testimony began early in December. The public, at first interested deeply in each day’s proceedings, has turned its attention to other topics. It has lost interest not in the outcome, but in the details. The case may last for two months longer. Members of the jury are held from their work and family associa- tions. The costs of prosecution and defense are mounting to enormous sums. And, after all, there is no cer- tainty that through this protraction, this extravggant waste of time, jus- tice will be donme. Indeed, a feeling prevails in the public mind that the prolongation of these proceedings usually signifies the defeat of jus- tice. The Federal courts have undertaken a shorter cut at jury choosing. Other reforms should be instituted, to lessen the time consumed in the examination of witnesses, in arguments and in ap- peals. American justice is in danger of utter defeat if the court procedure is not hastened and simplified. Public morals and public safety are prej- udiced and put in jeopardy. A leaf should be taken from the British code of criminal practice to the end of giv- ing the law its fullest effect and giv- ing the people the fullest security against fraud and crime. The Slippery Streets. Could the present slippery condition of the streets and sidewalks have been prevented by prompt action in street cleaning? That question is naturelly being asked by the people who are slipping and falling and by drivers whose cars are skidding. The answer is not hard to give. The snow began to fall during Saturday night. There was not much of it, barely enough to cover the remains of the former snow, ‘which caused so much discussion and such great discomfort. Had it been attacked, assuming that it could have been, with the full power of the Street- cleaning Department early Sunday morning, and had the work continued throughout that day the streets would have been kept clear. But the snow changed to a drizzle, and the drizzle was frozen and a film of ice formed which no street cleaners could pos- sibly have removed. The presence of the light coating of snow, in fact, made progress easier than if the sleet had formed upan bare pavements and walks. With the beating of the wheels the coating became impervious to the blades of plows and the brooms of sweepers. Only a dusting of sand or ashes or sawdust had any effect. The wheel chains scored the iced cover- ing sufficiently in most places to give some measure of footing for pedes- trians and traction surface for ve- hicles. The continuation of low tem- perature maintained the condition and prevented melting. That, in short, is the story of the past few hours, There is literally no one to blame but the sun. e ————————— The uncertainty of news from Rus- sia leaves it @& matter of slight doubt whether Trotsky has departed into practical exile or merely gone for a sleigh ride. e Among the distinguishing traits of Mr. Charles Evans Hughes are the ability with which he fills an office and the graceful ease with which he relinquishes it. —————e As a vice presidential candidate Mr. Borah might have had more tempo- rary prominence, but not quite so much practical influence as he now enjoys. The Government Print Shop. The public printer in his annual re- port tells Congress that the old Gov- ernment Printing Office, at the south- west corner of North Capitol and H streets, should be replaced with a suit- able fireproof structure for the protec- tion of the whole plant and to furnish adequate work space. The public printer lays stress on the fire danger. For many years the unsafety of the cld printing office building has been shown to Congress. It required years of effort to secure authorization of the new section of the Printing Office plant, which was granted only when THE EVENING STAR, WASHI the office 5o far outgrew the old quar- ters that work demanded by Congress could not be carried on in the build- ing. The demand for more room has again become more pressing, and the argument is clear that the site of the old section of the printing plant should be used for a modern building. What is true of the Government Printing Office is true of other Gov- ernment buildings in Washington. There is lack of room for the efficient conduct of business, and the danger to clerks and records by fire becomes greater every year. Nearly all of the departments and various independent offices of the Government have rented rooms in grivately owned buildings, some of which were not designed for office use and none of which was de- signed for Government office use. These structures are crowded. The rent is high and the accommodation is unsatisfactory. The only way to remedy the situation is for the Gov. ernment to put up a number of mod- ern buildings to meet present needs. The building program should be lib- eral enough to meet the needs of the Government for a good many years to come. ————r—r————— London’s Literally Heavy Fogs. According to a London scientist, London fogs are not only dense but literally and physically heavy. He has determined that in the fog of Friday night last, which was particularly dense, there were about 256,000 parti- cles of soot in each cubic inch of air, and that in the fog that enveloped the British capital there were nearly 300 tons of carbon. These soot particles come from the innumerable open fireplaces Which constitute the chief means of warm- ing the houses of London. They are held in suspension by the moisture, and they give the fog its peculiar char- acter, which makes such a visitation in London a terror to all. It is easy to see that with this im- mense quantity of soot held in the air breathing is a risky operation. An enormous amount of carbon must be taken into the lungs. Whether it is dissolved and passes into the blood is a question for physicians to answer, but it is clear that much of it must be thus absorbed, whether for the good or the ill of the British constitution is not determined. So a London fog has its terrors be- yond the impeding of traffic, the in- terruption of business and the de- moralization of all who use the streets. It is a physical factor affecting the public heaith. No American city is so situated as to suffer such a serious nuisance. —_——————————— Like other political bosses, Musso- lini is represented during his entire career as on the verge of being de- posed. —————————— In contemplating debt adjustments European nations show a thorough sympathy with a program of econ- omy. —a—————— References to Ambassador Kellogg as @ taciturn man emphasize his sym- pathy with one of the policies of the present administration. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Halr! Hair! When to the barber father goes, He sits for hours perplexed. A lady’s always waiting when The barber hollers, “Next!” So father wends his patient way Bereft of barbering skill. They say bobbed hair will make 'em bald. Pa says he hopes it will. He vows he'll join the youthful throng Andwglance & merry jig ‘With real hair down to his knees ‘While mother wears a wig. Eloquence. “I can remember when you would bring an audience to its feet with your old-time eloquence,’” “That sort of eloquence,” replied Senator Sorghum, *“will still bring "em to their feet. Only they're liable to stay on their feet and walk out on you.” Thoughts. How often, oh, how often, I think I've thunk a thought And find that it is only An echo vaguely caught. N\ I'msure the world will listen And give it lofty rank. The thought I have been thinking Is worthy of a thank. How often, oh, how often, The thought I think I thunk When I at last express it Proves ordinary junk! Jud Tunkins says if profanity be- comes any more prevalent he’s in favor of a constitutional amendment to stop it. Competitive Instinct. “Are you envious of Wall Street's prosperity?” “No,” answered Farmer Corntossel. “I'm still hopeful we can make farm products so expensive it'll need all the prosperity them Wall Streeters can muster to pay for a breakfast.” Depressing Influence. Bach jest is now a bloomer. The poetry is bad. The resignation rumor Makes everybody sad. ‘What chance has careless humor? ‘What show has merry rhyme? The resignation rumor s Is with us all the time! 1 edmires art,” said Uncle Eben, “hut I can't git over de notion dat dar is two many banjoes an’ not enough snow shovels.” A Word Prodigal. Prom the Kansas City Star. They used to say that skill at billiards was a sign of a misspent youth. What shall be said of a champlon cross-word puzzler? Holding His Job. From the Birmingham Age-Herald. . Among Samuel Gompers' notable achievements may be mentioned his genlus for holding & Job, THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. The friends of cats are awakening, rallying to the defense of their four- footed allies attacked on all sides by the cat haters. Recently I printed in The Sunday Star a letter from one of the latter, who declared that cats are “sly, sneaking quadrupeds,” and said that he, for one, was “fed up on cats” The response has been illumi- nating. 3 “I have just read your column in The Sunday Star,” writes G. H. B. “Keep on writing about cats, regard- Mless of G. B. F. s opinion. If he doesn’t like it, let him take another paper. Let’s hear some more about Jack Spratt, M. J. R. R, employed in one of the great Government departments, writy “We are not fed up on cats. On the contra « do let the good work continue. Several of yeur ‘feline es- says’ 1 have considered worthy of living within the covers of what 1 had always considered the ‘cats’ Il- liad? and what I was expecting to see you cite as such. *an it be that you are unfamiliar with Agnes Repplier's ‘The Fireside Sphin If it has not vet come to vour notice—and it has been my pleasure to intreduce it to many life- long cat lovers, though the book was Dublished in 1901—1 feel that there is a great deal of pleasure in store for you, and that your appreciation of those essays is certain, “And do_you know Kipling’s ‘The Cat Who Walked by Himself'? You wlil find it among the ‘Just So Stories’, and while not wholly in the most admiring vein, is truly, so far as it goes, & perfect delineation of the cat. “So much so that years ago I bor- rowed a bit of Mr. Kipling’s phrase- ology in designing my bookplate. It is a copy of this plate that I offer as a guaranty of my devotion to the ‘mutual little friend,’ and as a pass- port to the court of his defense.” M. P, a school child, writes: “I like the stories you write about Jack Spratt, and I am afraid the man who said in The Sunday Star that cats had no affection for peoples does not know cats very well. “I know that cats have affection for people, because two years ago, when I had scarlet fever, our cat, Mosquito—Sketa for short—came ev- ery night to the door of my room and cried. He did not come up there to get something to eat, because there was nothing up there for him to eat; he simply came because he was lone- some for me. “At that same time Kenneth, my brother, was staying with some neighbors. Every time Kenneth came to the door Sketa would hear his voice and come running to the door. He looked up at Kenneth and cried as much as to say, ‘I'm lonesome.’ “Sometimes Kenneth fed the chick- ens for the people next door and Sketa would go over there and cry at the chicken fence where Kenneth was feeding the chickens. Now, Sketa did not do all these things for some- thing to eat. He was trying to show his affection for us.” * ok * R. W. F. writes: “For some time— in fact, ever since you have been writ- ing your most delightful articles on cats, Jack Spratt in particular— I have intended to write and tell you how much I do enjoy them and how much I do approve of your doing it. I am glad that in spite of the criti- cizing letter which you mentioned in Sunday's Star that you intend to con- tinue the good work. “It s true that much needs to be written to make people know and appreciate the beauty and wonder of a cat, who Is, as vou say, a ‘miracle in fur’ I have, of course, read ‘The Tiger in the House,' and hope some day to own a copy of my own. Have you read these: ‘Lords of the House- tops’ Van Vechten reside Sphinx,’ Repplier; ‘The Cat' Repplier, and ‘Kittens,’ Fleuron? “My reputation as a cat lover seems well established the width breadth of the United States, Judging from my array of cat Christmas cards. Unfortunately, I now live in an apartment where I cannot have a cat, but I have a wonderful one which an aunt of mine is keeping for me, in Harrisburg. As I could go oa and one for pages about him, T will writes, with enthusiasm: to the cat! adorable, piriful, graceful and noble. Soulless the person who cannot be fond of them. It Is impossible to understand how any of God's creatures can be despised, but least of all the cat— the poor, shivering alley cat, who is =0 purringly grateful for a gentle stroke, the splendid house pet, who seeks your lap and licks your hand while he claws so funnily at your dress (or trousers, as the gender may be), proclaiming affection better than any human words could do. “Suppose some few do prove indif- ferent. there are probably good rea- son for it. Maybe they've been taught to understand blows rather than caresses, or satiated by the rough fondlings of well meaning children. And these people that pro- fess to dislike cats because they don’t think cats like them—Dieu! if we couldn’t love anything that didn’t love us our hearts would atrophy early. % ® ¢ For me, no appoint- ment has ever been to urgent, no dress too new, no street too dusty, to keep me from stopping to stroke any little ‘stray’ that happened to be along my way, and I've never found an unresponsive onme yet. 1 hope you keep writing articles by, for and of the cats till doomsday. Good luck to you, and that one of yours—may he drink milk and grow fat for years to come!” * Kk ox % These selected letters from the unmber I have received ought to con- vince any one that the cat has his friends as well as the dog. The cat fanclers are harder to arouse, that is all. Let there be an instance of cruelty against the faithful dog, men and women run to its defense. Vivisec- tlon has been fought for years by Life and other publications, and in this ofty scores of earnest persons stand firm .against this misuse of sclence. The friends of cats, however, privi- leged to intimately know and appre- clate a quiet, dignified animal, have taken on some of the characteristics of the creature. Ordinarily they re- fuse to get excited over slurs at their friends. Because one calls a dlamond a pebble makes it no whit less a diamond. The gem may be covered with mud, but beneath the dirt it blows and vibrates with life. When the friends of cats do con- descend to notice the slings and ar- rows of the enemy, they do it in a calm, happy way, as shown in the above letters. They do not descend to invective in their turn, but simply content themselvks with pointing out what they know One most interesting thing that has struck me in all these letters is the use of “who” instead of “which.” Per- sonally, I always have preferred and used the pronoun “who" when speak- ing or writing of dogs or cats. The grammars may say “which” is cor- rect, when speaking of animals, but who cares for grammars? Usage Is what makes correctness, and when cultured persons, such as the above correspondents, invariably use “who,” then that pronoun is correct. In his monumental book on the cat, “The Tiger in the House,” Mr, Van Vechten always uses “who.” Yes, In thousands of homes the cat holds its place by the family fireside, or, lacking that, the living room radiator. It needs no defense—and vet I am happy to have turned out 50 much defense for it. I love the cat because it gives me opportunity daily to be a friend to something that for thousands of years has been true to us—and to and itself. Editors Are Inclined to Frown On Shaw’s Boom for Coolidge Former Secretary of the Treasury Leslio M. Shaw stirred reminiscences of the early davs of the Roosevelt administration and the subsequent Roosevelt 1912 campaign in the breasts of editors when he “launched a boom” for renomination and re- election of President Coolidge in 1928. Many editors object to the launching of any beom at this time, but others appear willing enough to discuss the points of qualification raised by the former cabinet éfficer. Mr. Shaw's main argument in his re cent Nebraska speech is that Presi- dent Coolidge is not now President in fact, but is merely acting Presi- dent until his Inauguration in March to the position to which he was elected last November. The Worcester Telegram (Repub- lican) says: “Discussion as to whether or not Mr. Coolidge ought to be nominated again in 1928 is pre- mature. But it is not too soon to consider thoroughly the status of Vice Presidents. When Presidents die, the Vice Presidents who fill out the terms are in a trying position. If they don’t act vigorously and fear- lessly in all matters, they are ac- cused of timidity. If they do try to exert strong leadership, they are ac- cused of going beyond the spirit, it not the letter, of the Constitution.” The Jersey City Journal (independent Republican) believes “many will no doubt be inclined to sympathize with the view that the President ought to have another term as & recompense for the load that was wished on him when he took up the presidential du- ties.” In the opinion of the Journal, «“Messrs. Fall, Daugherty, Forbes, et al., were very heavy freight to tote, particularly for a presidential candi- date.” > “TWhile no doubt there may be precedent for it as far as the element of time is concerned,” observes the Stoux City Journal (Republican), “Leslie M. Shaw's boom for Calvin Coolidge for the presidency in 192§ may impress the country as prema- ture, to say the least. There should be more of a breathing spell allowed between elections. Mr. Shaw invites ths criticism that he is disposed to rush things a little too fast. What the country really wants now is a Justification of the vote of confidence it gave Mr. Coolidge on election day.” * K K X Mr. Shaw, In the opinion of the San Francisco Bulletin (independent)’ no doubt means well. But, the Bulletin adds: “Good intentions do not justify impertinence. Surely it will be for Mr. Coolidge a practical embarrass- ment. Tacit acceptance would be an indiscretion; denial would be to reject an offer that has not and may not be made. Mr, Coolidge’s position at this time is one of some delicacy. He is at high tide of public favor, a posi- tion which no President can maintain for an extended period. Every Presi- dent comes at some period of his ad- ministration upon a decline in popu- larity. It will be so with Mr. Cool- idge. Presumptive candidacy for re- nomination will be a special aggra- vation, and that status ought not to be imposed upon Mr. Coolidge. “The fine point whether the man solely responsible for the executive headship of Government is ‘acting’ or ‘real’ President is not considered by the people,” the New Haven Register (independent) thinks. The Register adds: “To them Calvin Coolidge be- eame President in August, 1923, To them, when March, 1920, comes, he will have been President six years and six months. To them, if he should seek the nomination in June, 1928, he will be contemplating continuance in office for nine years and six months— an unprecedented term in our history. It will take a very unusual instance to justify it”” As a bit of abstract reasoning, the Columbus Dispatch (in- dependent) says: “Mr. Shaw's argu- ment may be interesting; but it is in- teresting rather as psychological side- light on Mr. Shaw than a contribution to the elucidation of the United States Constitution_as it affects the office of President. If the people are sufi- clently anxious to choose Mr. Coolidge gain in 1928, they may do so; but in Whatever measure the third-term idea might operate against him, that op- position will not be affected by any hair-splitting argument that he was never President at all, but only Vice dent until the 4th of March, x dok “To one unacquainted with the un- written law and guided only by the written law,” declares the Wichita Eagle (Independent), “Mr. Shaw’s ar- gument would sound for all the world llke a most eloquent appeal by a father to a train conductor that his child's age was belng misunderstood by that official. He was not one year below the half-fare limit, as the con- ductor supposed, but two. Mr. Shaw, however, knows his eggs. More pow- erful than the written law is the un- written law. More effective than statutes are the dictums of custom. And especially is this true of so thor- oughly a conservative country as the United States.” In the opinion of the Omaha World-Herald (independent Democratic): “By every sensible tegt Mr. Coolidge has been President of the United States since August, 1923, just as much as Mr. Harding was from March 4, 1921, to the day of his death. He will not be President after March 4, 1929, unless the people take into their heads to upset the prece- (lient established by George Washing- on."” “President Coolidge's administra- tion will be judged by what it ac- complishe: thinks the Burlington Gazette (Democratic), which adds: “When the time arrives again to nominate another Republican candi- date for President Mr. Coolidge may be the unanimous choice. Again, h may look like a lemon to the party. The Chattanooga News (Democratic) refers to Mr. Shaw's speech as “boy- ish twaddle” and declares: “A . high school student who seriously propa- gated that view would probably be reprimanded for such iffantile exer- cise of his thinking faculties. Calvin Coolidge is President—already —and has been elected for a new term. Of that there is legal and actual cer- tainty. We may not yet understand, however, why there should be such haste about electing him for still an- other. The reason may become appar- ent before the necessity of making a choice again arises.” ———r—e——— Some men’s idea of an art collec- tion is a windshield full of stickers.— Oakland Tribune. France claims to have the finest air service in the world, but she evi- dently never heard onr Congress de- TON, D. €., TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 1925. NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM LETTERS FROM A SENATOR'S WIFE. Frances Parkinson Keyes. D. Appleton & Co. THE SPIRIT OF THE HOUSE. Anna Dorsey Wiiliams. D. Appleton & Co. On the north side of T street but a few steps awa from T teenth there stood only ar or so ago a house whose face, lined and wrinkled and faded, once bore for me the ap- peal of distinctly human personality, T used to walk by that house with loitering steps, for I had been re- llably assured that some vears be- fore the author of “Little Lord Faun- tleroy” had lived there. This the fact that so stirred my feelings toward the house on I street. Neither the wit nor the skill had I; and certainly not the will, to pass any judgment upon this author. Enough for me that & writer of stories—a woman writer—had come so close to me through the vicarious touch of that empty and falling house. r never once bad I actually set eyes upon genius, upon any considerable talent even. Never before had 1 come =o near to a place known to have shel- tered success. Weedsport had had no celebrities—save, to be sure, the Erie Canal, whose mile of frontage upon the little village had been the en- chantment of my childhood, whose noble trafiic had stood to me as the shining emprise of a wide and wonder- ful world. But even the Erie 1 lacks, a little, the warmth of appeal that human greatness excites And to be suddenly transported to a place where a famous person had come and gone daily—that was one of the many thrills of those first Washing- ton years. R Provocative, Indeed, have been these intervening Washington years where- In have blossomed many fields of art under the creative urge of beauty. The city itselt—its lovely face, its gracious setting of river and hill and embracing greenery, its rich em- broidery of official life, its leisured existence—this has clearly been the source and Inspiration out of which an art peculiar to the conditions of its origin is so conspicuously de- veloping. Novels and other literary forms, painting and other pictorial agenoies, landscape building, archi- tecture—all bearing something of the stamp of this Inspiring individual locale—are contributing definitely to the larger and more general currents of artistic expression. So, today— coming back to the point in mind—the woman writer of Washington no longer walks alone, or at best in straggling twos and threes. Indeed, were one 80 privileged and were all conditions favoring, one might for months on end give weekly recog- nition to the pen women of this city. Only a week or so ago two histories of the Capital came this way. Both written by Washington women. Both of definite and substantial purpose. Each consistently and competently de- veloped in pursuance of its own ob- jective. Books of uncommon merit, both. Merely a case in point, this. * ® X x Two more books. These, too, writ- ten by Washington women about Washington. These offer studies of the social life of the Capital. In a series of letters Frances Parkinson Keves, from the standpoint of a Sen- ator's wife, portrays not only the general features of Washington so- ciety, but gives in effect, also, the ob- ligations and con‘ributions of the senatorial group to the official social whole of the Capital City. In the freer latitude of a novel Anna Dorsey Williams here pictures the near past and the remoter past of social Wash- ington. ek N A By way of a popular serial publi- cation the “Letters of a Senator's Wife,” are so well and so widely known that comment upon them looks like nothing more than a superfluous gesture. Only a bit of self-indul- gence, then, maybe, this wish to speak of the satisfying union here of con- tent and form, whereby the intimacy of the friendly letter is made to carry nothing more weighty than passing sketches of this and that in the washington life—a social event touched off lightly. a winning person- ality here, an appealing episode there, a near view of this celebrity, an in- timate moment with that personage— all light and bright and gay, as let- ters should be. Obviously this Senator's vrife is not of the dour clan that spills its black moments out in ink for the further darkening of a friend's al- ready beclouded mood. Cheerful let- ters—oh, no, not incorrigibly cheer- ful, Rather the letters of an optimist, wholesome letters from one who pos- sesses the gift of ready friendship and the good genius of spontaneous enjoyment. Much of information on innumerable topics goes along here, and something of instruction. What to do upon this occasion or that, and how to do it. A glint of humor at this point does away with the pon- derous effect of instruction, as such, even while it recognizes the impor- tance of being familiar with the ritual of official social life at the seat of government. Upon the whole these letters serve the double role of revealing official Washington in_its bours of relaxation and of revealing the genial and receptive personality of the writer herself. * K X % There 15 an historic flavor to “The Spirit of the House” For this the story goes back to an old George- town mansion, where, from colonial days on up to the near present, a Southern line of gentlemen had lived in the exclusions and reticencies peculiar to the flower of Southern chivalry. But fallen fortunes had come upon this house. So, when the story opeus, it is owned and occupied by a United States Senator from the new West—a bluff, full-blooded, vul- gar man—clearly “a man of the peo- ple” A common and foolish wife, a beautiful daughter of left-hand mothering—token of the Senators youthful errancy—complete the house- hold. A generous man this rough Senator, since he proves to be a fairy godfather to the children of the Southern family who had for so many years owned the old mansion. The son marries his daughter, the beau- tiful and clever girl of the new order. The daughter of the old house lives on there with the Senator's family. This {s the starting point of the story, and this the situation that throughout s malntained, as & basis for the sum of contrasts by which the story makes its way out into ‘Washington general soclety, always in the spirit of setting up the new against the old, always with the in- tent of stressing the superiority of the old order over the new. The divided spirit of the old Georgetown mansion—the faded flower of the South on the one hand, the rank vulgarian growth of the new West on the other—this moves out to take possession of the whole of Washing- ton society. Here, the few and fail- ing relics of a dignified and exclusive gentry of other days. There, the swarming scions of material sue- cess. Here, high {deals and courtly manners. There, no ideals at all and behaviors comporting with this lamentable estate. A pure case of special pleading, this novel. Much of it executed with skill, with in- sight, with a decided gift for making live people and episodes out of words and word contents. A case of special pleading, nevertheless. An insecure foundation in support of which the author makes use of an obsolete system of values. In support of which, as well, the author resorts to thinly disguised personalities away from falr-minded people are bound to 4mem in displeasure, Thi: ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN Q. If a person wishes to charter a Government boat, how should he pro- ceed?—H. W. A. In order to charter a boat a per- son should communicate direct with the charter department of the Ship- ping Board, provided he is interested in Shipping Board boats. If the ship is chartered on a bare-boat basis, the charter supplies the crew. How- ever, there are a number of contracts, such as trip contract, in which the boat is outfitted by the owner with exception of fuel used. Q. Who general of Q. Do people live longer than they did 50 years ago?—H. E. W. A. Actuaries of the large life insur- nce companies report that within the last 50 years the span of human life has been lengthened 10 years. The gr decrease in the death rate is due pri marily to the better preservation and care of infant life, but the actual longevity of man has been advanced. According to Dr. Mayo, the virility of man has also been extended over a longer period. Q. Do ants keep cows?—A. R. &5 Their cows are aphides, or greei flies, which they cherish for the sake of the sweet “honey dew” that exudes from their bodies. little Q. Can you glve a comparison of Japanese and American air forces?— W. H. P. A. At present the United States has 630 first-line planes, 48 plane squad- ons, with a personnel of 14,466. Japan has 330 first-line planes, 33 plane squadrons and a personnel of 9,000. Q. Can a person plant a Long Island potato in New Jersey and sell the potatoes as Long Island, when they were not raised there?’—J. A. Long Island is the name of a varfety of potato, and the potatoes are known as Long Island wherever they may be grown. Q. There is a conjuring trick Whereby an unsupported figure floats in the air. Can you tell me who first presented this trick?—H. S. C. A. This illusion was first produced by the Chinese. Q. How was gold first discovered in California?—C. D. R. A. On February 9, 1848, a piece or nugget of gold was picked up in a mill race on a branch of the Sacra- mento River by a little girl named Marshall, daughter of the overseer of the mill, which was owned by John A. Sutter. Some of the men at work repairing the mill race recognized the lump as gold. That was the real gold discovery in California, although it is said that gold was noticed there by persons with Drake in his expedition of 1677. . Q. What insect is it that has only one pair of eyes, yet can see both above and below?—K. T. C. A. This characteristic s found in some of the aquatic whirligig beetles. These insects have one pair of eyes so divided that half of the eye is di- rected up to keep a lookout for dan- ger from above, while the other half is scanning the water below In search of prey. Q. What is the correct spell 407—J. D. A1 A. The correct spelling is “forty." It is from the middle English fortl. way to Q. How many women are honored by having statues erected to their is to have a statue to her memory, in | Battery Park, N. Y. erected by tha Jenny Lind Association. It will be'in the historfc costume of her period, Aslde from busts in the Hall of Fam, she 15 to bo the only woman so hono! ed in that city except Joan nf Arc She will also be the sixth musiclan; Beethoven, Mozart, Weber, Grieg and Verdl being the others. The status will be dedicated October 6, 1925, her 150th birthday anniversary, and less than a month after the seventy-fiftii anniversary of her New York debut on September 11, 1850. Q. Does the green sawdust or com- position material sold for decoratf purposes around Christmas trees con- tain polsonous dyes?—H. F. K. A. Analyses made by the Depart- ment of Health of this city show that the material. which you have In mind, which Is sold for decorative purposes, contains no barmful ingre- dlents. Tt was found that this greem substance ‘was sawdust colored with a harmless aniline dye. Q. Will sharks come into wateg not more than six feet deep and ats tack people often?—M. C. J. A. The Bureau of Fisherles says that sharks sometimes enter relative- ly shallow water. Danger of attack from this form is very slight. That sharks do occaslonally attack human beings is admitted, but the danger is far more remote than ordinary haz- ards of life, such as being killed by an automobils or death from the more common forms of disease. Q. Has Canada a universal divorce law or do they have separate laws in the provinces? Would a long separa- tlon be considered a divorce?—D. O. 7. A. The majority of the provinces of Canada either conform to the clauses of the divorce and matrimonial causes act of Great Britain in the courts of the provinces or grant divorce only through speclal act of the Dominlon Parliament. New Brunswick main- tains separate courts. The fact of separation does not constitute a di- vorce. is ironwood and where does it grow? G. J. “Ironwoo s the name given to various trees with hard, heavy wood. Metrosideros vera, a native of Java and other Eastern islands, is much valued by the Chinese and Japanese for making rudders, etc., and is exported In small quantities. The bark is used in Japan as a medicine. Mesua ferrea, a native of the East, is planted for its heavy, hard wood and for its fragrant and roselike flowers Q. Who is called “the first Amerl- can poet”?—T. T. McM. A. This title is usually given to Anne Bradstreet of Andover, Mass. Q. What is the word “shalloons”?—W. D. S. A. This word, applied to woolen goods used chiefly for lining coats, was named from the city of Chalons The material was popular in colonial days. erivation of the Q. In this country are there any equestrian groups the riders of which are not mounted?—IL C. E. A. There are only two such eques- trian groups—John Massey Rhind's statue of Washington in Newark, N. J., and the bronze high rellef of Lafay- ette, by D. C. French, in Brooklyn. (If you have a question you waent answered, send it to The Star informa- tion bureaw, Frederic J. Haskin, direo- tor, Twenty-first and C streets north- west. The only charge for this service memory in New York City?—H. B. H. A. The Etude says that Jenny Lind IN TODAY’S is 2 cents in stamps for returm post- age.) SPOTLIGHT BY PAUL V. COLLINS. Beginning next Saturday, there will be a whole week devoted to a “thrift drive,” not confined to Washington, but national in its scope. We shall hear much which modernity will tell us is out of date. It is not recognized today that— Early to bed and early to rise, Makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise, as Poor Richard used to say. Many of the automobile accidents are reported as having occurred ‘“early erday morning.” but whether the victims had risen early or staved up until the wee hours is not always explained. How would Poor Richard prove the wisdom of his adage toda; Men used to go to bed with the chickens—at dusk—and_rise with the lark, before sunrise. Were they as healthy as we of today? Statisticiark tell us that longevity has increased 15 years within the last half century. How much longer do we live today than did the average man or woman in Frank- lin's time? “Wealthy?* “And passing rich at 40 pounds a year,” was said of men in those days. A year's income would be squandered in a night before any mod- ern might pretend to be “rich.” “Wise?” There is a recognized aif- ference between knowledge and wis- dom, but who that is “wise” today has failed to burn the midnight ofl in study, and who that has learning, as taught by the progressive sciences, has not taken the owl for his symbol—aye, and the owl's agenda? “He that riseth late must trot all day, and ehall scarce overtake his business at night, while laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him,” as we read in Poor Richard. ‘What is the speed limit in such a case? Shall men take to “trotting” while the traffic officer turns his sema- phore and says, “Go! Go!” Who wants to “trot” when he can “step on it"? Poor Richard opposed fine clothes, but today a man is judged by his dress, and a woman by her best gown. The tailors are beginning a campaign of education upon the importance of being well clothed in business as well as in so- clety. Poor Richard taught in slang more modern than his teaching: Fond pride of dress is, sure a very curse: Ere fancy you consult, consult your purse. Dick was certainly not advancing his popularity with the tailors when' he slammed them with What is a butterfiy? At best He's but a_caterpillar drest The gaudy fop's his picture just. * kX ¥ Poor Richard added: “Pride {5 as loud a beggar as Want, and a great deal more saucy. When you have bought one fine thing, you must buy ten more, that your appearance may be all of one piece.” Poor Dick says, “'Tis easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that follow it.” In spite of the out-of-date phrase- ology of the late Mr. Richard, after all, who can improve upon his phi- losophy? Times have changed, but not eternal wisdom. Today Wwise- acres give a longer name to old- fashioned “thrift”.and call it “ef- ficiency.” 1Is it not the same thing— the ability to plan ahead, to control one's carelessness, to waste neither time nor money, to make the most out of one's abllities and opportuni- ties. Some of us moderns look down upon dowdy Franklin. Some sneer at his own record and probity—though few can discount his ability. Franklin was not a church man. John Adams wrote of him: “The Catholics thought him almost ingecure foundation, this one-sided view, detracts markedly from the worth of what would otherwise be welcomed _as an _excellently con- structed novel of Washington social dite, g LG M g a Catholic. The Church of England claimed him as one of them. The Presbyterfans thought him half a Presbyterian and the Friends be- lieved him a wet Quaker.” Since that was long before the eighteenth amendment, what was a “wet Quaker?” It is fortunate that men are not always required to judge the virtue of sound advice by the faithfulness with which the giver follows his own good council, for when Franklin wrote to his daughter, he urged her to go to church, “for the discourse is often better than the man, as sweet and clear waters come through very dirty earth.” i * ¥ % ¥ In that same spirit, we of modern life may judge the value of Framk- linfan thrift, regardless of the per- sonality of his Poor Richard or his own self. Business men talk of the budget system in business and in public finance. How many of us use IE in planning our personal affairs? Yet that is “efficlency.” Business men say that to spend from day to day, upon each day's impulse, soon ties up one’s bank balance and drains the red ink bottle beside our ledger The budget assigns so much to Le allowed for food, so much. for rent, 80 much for clothes, so much for charity and amusements. While the budget is being planned, it is easy to control the figures, and then the figures will control us, before it is too late. Poor Richard was right when he sald: “When the well's dry they know the worth of water. Again he tells us: “A child and a fool imagine 20 shillings and 20 years can never be spent” ‘We may give advice, but we can not give conduct as Poor Richard says. ¢ The banks, the preachers, the busi- ness teachers, all are loaded with advice for Thrift week, and, as Poor Richard .says: “They that wom't be counseled can’t be helped.” * x k% They teach us that thrift does not mean niggardliness; it does not re- quire that joy be taken out of life: on the contrary, it enables one to be master of himself, his time and his destiny. The engine which has no Whirling weight, called a “governor," does not accomplish half so much as that one whose revolutions are equal- ized and controlled with the rhythm of the governor. No apostle ever sald that money is the root of evil, but Paul said that “the love of money is the root of all evil” Poor Richard never denled that Paul cautioned us not to love money for itself. We are admonished that thrift stands for foresight, for endowment Insurance, carried during our produc- tive years, for savings accounts while wages are coming or profits are £00d, for the buying of a home where the landlord and the rent commission and other goblins cannot bother, for casting bread upon the waters, which after many days will return to us again—investing in the love of fel- low man whom we can help when worthy, iInvesting In good credit, more precious than gold in a bank, foreseeing our own need of independ- ence when old age creeps on. There is neither virtue nor reproach, per se. in poverty. Poverty sometimes Is due to misfortune, but quite as often to shiftlessness, lack of industry and foresight and providence, Poor Rich- ard emphasizes that he who robs himself of time or health, of produc- tion or wealth, which might be his through industry and application and frugality, robs his neighbor and his country. No man liveth to himself, hence no-man has a right to squan- der his time or his ability, for as Poor Richard admonishes: or age and want, save while you o mioeaing won Iasts 8 whott day . T (Copyright, 1925, by Panl V. Collins.§