Evening Star Newspaper, February 3, 1925, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR're.mn of study and experience of the ‘With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY. .....February 3, 1825 THEODORE W. NOYES. . ..Editor| The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office, 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Oifice: 110 Eaat 47nd St Chicako Ofcc: Tower Tuilding. European Office : 16 Regent St.,”.ondon, gland. Star, with the Sunday moraing | within the | v only, 45| cents’ per il or tele The Eventnz edition, fs delfvered by ecarriers city af 60 cents per month: di cents per month: Suj month. Ordurs may phone Main 5000. Collection s m: merr at the end of each month Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday. .1 yr.. $8.40; 1 mo,, 70¢ Daily only 11yr, $6.00; 1 mo., 60c Sunday only ‘1 yr., $2.40; 1 mo., 20¢ All Other States. Daily and Sunday.1 yr., $10.00; 1 mo., 85¢ Dafly only “1yr, $1.00;1mo., 60c Sunday oniy ..1yr., $3.00;1mo, 26c] Member of the Associated Press. The Assoclated Press 1a exclusively entitled | fo the ‘use for republication of all news dis- | patches credited to {t or not otherwise credited in this paper and ‘also the local mews pub- lshed hereln. Al rights of publication of spectal dispatches hereln aiso_reserved. | The District Parks Campaign. The Capital community is deeply concerned in putting into practical | operation the law providing a park | commission for the National Capital | and authorizing for park development large appropriations and expenditures. Washington's policy has ever been to preserve its prized park heritage, to protect its public breathing places sgainst all injurious trespassers, whether railroads, individual squat- ters, or the brick and mortar or stone of public buildings; and to enlarge, mprove and adorn its park areas. The report of the president of the Oldest Inhabitants’ Association for | 1924 (printed, .in part, elsewhere in | The Star), quoting from the report of the president of the Board of Trade of 1899, shows how vigorously and help- fully the Capital community partici- | pated in the park campaign which re- sulted in the original MacMillan Park Commission, and how actively, and in | the same spirit, Washington has co- operated in the corresponding cam- paign of today, which has resulted in the wise of the National Ct'y's Park Commission, fhe Park Commission of 1924 is the natural supplement of the Park Com- mission of 1901, and, representing both Nation and local community, is to be supplied with the funds neces- | sary to put into effect the plans of the 1901 commission, so far as they meet with the approvai today of the powers that be. How are the park funds, amount- ing to many millions, to be obtained? The law itself gives specific answer to this question. This law by its authorization of ap- propriations representing a l-cent an- nual contribution for every one of the 110,000,000 of Americans suggests that the project is so broadly national as to interest at least to the extent of a cent @ year every man, woman and child in the republic. The title to the parks to be secured is solely in the United States. The jurisdiction of the Park Commission extends bevond the boun- darfes of the District of Columbia. The law provides that in financing this great national project the cost of such purchases and improvements as shall be paid in accordance with the current ratio of relative contribution by Nation and Capital, whether 40-60 or 50-50: “The funds so appropriated shall be paid from the revenues of the District of Columbia and the general funds of the Treasury in the same pro- portion amother expenses of the Dis- trict of Columbia.” Clearly the law never contemplated the possibility that all of the cents representing the public-spirited and patriotic interest and concern of 110,- 000,000 Americans in a grand national | project could be exacted from the half- | million of Americans of Washington alone Four conclusions follow: (1) friend of fair play should in thusiasm for the park project, but| in violation of the law, urge Congress to appropriate the Park Commission’s | annual million solely from District tax | money, thus making a false pretense | of the allusion to a cent- con tribution by 110,000,000 Americans, and shifting a national burden upon the unrepresented and legislatively impotent District (2) When Congress appropriates this annual million for parks, or any | part thereof, in the regular District | appropriation biil special scrupulous care should be taken that | In accordance with the law Capital | and Nation meet this joint obligation | 80 per cent from the Capital and 40 per cent from the N If the Na- tion in lieu of its definite 40 per cent contribution lump-sum | payment it may save 3 or 4 per cent of the park contribution from the Treasury contemplated by the But is this saving worth while? fair? (3) When the Commissioners submit estimates to the Budget Bureau, either regular or special, for appropriations, for Park Commission purposes they will naturally, in accordance with their own precedents and in this case | in accordance with specific law> pro-| pose that the park appropriations shall be paid in accordance with the current ratio of relative contribution by tion and Capital, or 60 per cent by Capital and 40 per cent by Nation. (4) There something radically wrong in the temporary substitution | of a lump-sum payment for the def- inite 40 per cent of national contribu- tion if this substitution threatens, as In this case, to bring about automat- 7cally by indirection a palpably in- squitable and law-violating result. creation 50 year 1 | or by act, ion. substitutes a { [ | is The rush to Alaska this time is not for the purpose of bringing back gold, but to carry antitoxin. The real Amer- ican enthusiams are always unselfish. - The New Trafiic Code. Prompt actien vu the part of Con- gress in ens:dng the new traffic bill into law will give Washington, for the first time in its history, a modern set of traffic regulations and an ade- best traffic minds in the country. There will be four major changes, all benefiglal, in’ the bill, namely, 300 new policemen, two more judges for the Police Court, a traffic director and drastic penalties for three classes of motorists, those who drive while intoxicated, those who “hit and run” and those who use smoke screens to evade arrest. Mandatory jail sentences are to be imposed for the first two classes, while the third to be a felony, punished by a fitting term of imprisonment. The proposed traffic director is to be given broad powers. He will cor- respond with commissioners of motor vehicles in the various States, as all branches of traffic will come directly under his supervision. He will, in co-operation with the Commissioners of the District, promulgate all minor traffic regulations, map out arterial highways and generally supervise all matters relating to traffic. It is important that a competent man be appointed to this post. He | should be thoroughly versed in traffic matters and should put into effect only reasonable regulations. With the new law in force, Wash- ingtonians can look to the future with confidence, knowing that in so far as is humanly possible, the vital traffic problem is being attacked with the modern and up-to-date weapons, There will be enough policemen to catch the offenders, there will be enough judges to try them promptly and the penalties imposed will be such as to make violators “stop and think” after having once been through Washington’s system of traffic enforcement. 1S most new The Affluent Charwomen. An increase in the pay of charwom- en serving in the Capitol, just ap- proved by the House appropriations committee, is not to be attributed to a burst of generosity. Careful explana- tion is made that this increase in com- pensation is approved, not because these women need more money on which to live, but because it will “facilitate accounting and deductions on account of the retirement fund.” It is plainly the judgment of the com- mittee that these women do not need more money. They already get the ex- travagant salaries of $410 a year each, Assuredly, that is enough. The addi- tion of $2.80 a year is made merely as a bookkeeping measure to prevent splitting pennies when the United States takes its percentage to swell the retirement fund now accumulat- ing in the Treasury. But somehow it is impossible to avoid feeling that bookkeeping is not the only end to be served in this mat- ter of pay for Government workers. The total addition of $58.80 a year to enable the Treasury accountants more conveniently to compute the retire- ment deductions from the pay of these 21 scrubwomen is comparable with some of the salary changes effected through reclassification. It is, indeed, rather characteristic of the general average of pay increases brought about through that long contemplated and much protracted process of read- justment, as a result of which thou- sands of the Government workers fcind themselves practically where they were before, with the bonus pay- ments discontinued. Reference in the appropriations com- mittee's report to facilitating account- ings and deductions on account of the retirement fund brings furthermore to mind the fact that every Govern- ment worker up to a certain sajary limit has a percentage of his pay taken from him each month. Those who get $1,200 a year find this de- duction a material deprivation. Those who get, as do these charwomen, $410 a year, suffer even more severely in the curtailment of their stipends. To them retirement, for which they are paying in advance, is not a glowing prospect. A retired charwoman who in active service gets $410 a year, now to be raised to $412.80, minus retire- ment percentage, is not likely to con- template freedom from toil at the scheduled pens with any enthu- siasm, particularly as to enjoy her vilege of retirement she must serve until she is upward of 70. The figure of a retired charwoman of three score and ten, living upon her retired pay based upon an annual salary $412.80, is not calculated to impress the public strongly with the prodigal- ity of the Government in a generous on | mood. The potential charwoman annuitant, however, is no more appealing a figure than the actual annuitants, already retired, who are now asking for an in- se of pension pay, abundant funds in the Treasury for this purpose, funds taken from salaries with no accompanying con- tributions by the United States, funds that are at the disposal and use of the Government. These people worked for many vears in the hope of even- tual release from daily, monthly, year- ly toil at small pay with little chance of promotion, trusting to the adoption of a rftirement system that would enable them to live in decent comfort. They have now been turned out with pittances so small that few of them are able to maintain themselves with- out help from relatives and in some cases from charity. A proposal is pending for an in- crease of the annuities. It should be enacted. And while Congress is about this business it might review the situ- 31 of the 21 charwomen whose case gives rise to these reflections and con- sider the propriety of making an addl- tion to their wages on other grounds than those of convenience of account- ing. — Enthusiastic cheers have been raised by the Athenian populace for more war with Turkey. The habit of mili- tary overstimulation is as hard to deal with as the narcotic habit, The Public Buildings Bill. Yesterday's action by the House in passing a general public buildings bill contemplating the ultimate expendi- ture of $150.000.000 will, it concurred in by the Senate, establish a definite basis of construction for the Govern- ment's needs greatly superior to the mode heretofore followed. This meas- ure grows out of the plan to spend quate number of policemen to en- gerce them. The new mezsure is the ] $50,000,000 in the course of a few years for public buildings exclusively of | There are | in Washington. It is understood that the Senate prefers the latter measure, but inasmuch as this present bill car- ries no immediate appropriations it may be that the Senate will accept it, or at least will substitute its own measure, leaying the matter of gen- eral public building construction out- side of the Capital to be worked out in conference, to the end of some enactment this session. The only objection serious'y raised in the House yesterday to the omnibus public buildings bill was that it less- ened the power of the legislature to determine specific constructions. This was countered by the statement that it does not so lessen the legislative power, inasmuch as provisions for par- ticular buildings must be made from time to time by Congress, The obvious advantage of the now proposed method is to correlate building enterprises to insure a systematic series of construc- tions according to the most urgent needs. That the Government is desper- ately in need of more buildings in this city is conceded. It is paying an enormous sum annually in rents for structures that are not suited to Gov- ernment and that impose a heavy risk of loss. Government serv- ice is handicapped by congestion in these makeshift quarters, time is wasted ip communications, records are exposed to destruction and admin- istrative efficiency is lessened. This condition has prevailed for some years. The Government has, in fact, been never quite fully equipped. Re- cently the situation has become un bearably, bad. By use of temporary structures erected during the war the Government was housed at the time of greatest need poorly and danger- ously. Even with the reduction of force that has followed the armistice and the restoration of normal condi- tions, the congestion continues in the retained temporary structures and in the still rented privately owned buildings. This problem will never be less dif- ficult than it is now. Costs will never be less, either sites or constructions. Delay is waste. Everybody recog- nizes that fact, and that is why hope prevails that this measure will as a means of economy be enacted at the present session. uses| o The prominence attaching to mat- ters in which Congress takes a direct interest is calculated to create the erroneous impression that Washing- ton, D. C,, is the only large city of the country that has a serfous housing problem. ————s People used to ridicule tight trousers. Now they deride loose trousers. Anything fashionable is con- sidered funny at first, but ft usually succeeds in making the cost of main- taining style great enough to be taken seriously. ———— The internal revenue authorities have sent out their annual reminders that tax reduction has not yet gone far enough to make filling out a re-| turn a year, e A cabinet official is more comforta- ble if he has a private income to en- able him to meet the expense of liv ing. The Government worker 1s learn- ing to feel the same way about the matter. light-hearted incident of the China is trying to reorganize her re- public. Reorganizing the government has been the leading activity in China for some time. Much will be gained if a system can be reached involving less violence of method. ————— Only those who have been dead 25 years or more are to be admitted tc the Hall of Fame. Many enterprising citizens must regret restrictions which prevent utilizing so interesting an in- stitution for purposes of advertising. ————. Paris has increased the price of her fashionable gowns 50 per cent. If this can be done often enough France may | become rich enough to do no worrying about debts. ————s. 3HOOTING STARS. RY PHILANDER JOHNSON Legislation. When any business goes amiss Or seems not up to date, The universal call is this: “We'll have to legisiate! Though laws were framed since ages past To keep our morals straight. We keep on saying to the last “Come, let us legislate.” Though ancient statutes we may find With ease, to guard the State, It §s a habit of mankind 10 say. “Let’s legislate!’ Perturbed Spirit. “Do you think the Third Party will ever matfrialize?” “Well,” answered Senator Sorghum, “it does a great deal of bell ringing and shows shadowy forms that fill us | with momentary awe. But I'm not enough of a medium to say whether it will definitely materialize or not.” Soothing Words. The cross-word puzzle brings me rest 'Mid arguments intense. I've learned to love our language best When it does not make sense. Jud Tunkins says too many of us are ready to call a spade a spade, but kind o' timid about lookin' a snow shovel square in the face. Uselessness, Since Happy New Year found The snowflakes thickly lying ‘round. If we to eat them could contrive, The old “free lunch” we might revive. day we've Art Enjoyment. “Did your mother enjoy the opera?”" “No,” answered Miss Cayenne. “The diamonds worn in the adjacent box were much handsomer than ours.” “One man’s opinion is jes’ as good as another’s,” said Uncle Eben, “but jes' de same, dar ain’ no sense arguin’ wif a traffic cop.” i | { cludes ! stantine, | warns that the act will be answered | From the League of Nations at Geneva THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Dr. Emerson Electron, well known authority on cats, was on the verge of an important sclentific discovery. He had a “hunch,” as the news- paper men say, that before dawn of another day he would be able to make some sort of announcement to the press. Just what it was he was going to astonish the world with he could not for the life of him say in advance, but he knew perfectly well that it was going to be a “knockout,” as the laymen were prone to declare. Not that Dr. Emerson Electron, expert on felines, their construction, habits and possibilities, ever used uch Americanisms as “hunch” and nockout” himself. He dwelt alone in the clear heights. He believed with Disraeli, who, when asked what his religion was, replied, “The religion of any sensible man,” and, when asked what that was, rteplied further, “No sensible man ever tells. Dr. Electron, you see, was com- pletely scientific, from his gray mous- tache to his sensible orthopedic shoes. But when a vague premoni- tion of coming discovery shook his frame, he did not discount it, for he was completely human, too, as well as scientific. "Or, rather, e had a firm belief in the scientific possibil- ities of the “hunch,” although he never phrased it that way. When he went to bed that night he did not sleep well. When he awoke at 6 o'clock, in a very dark world, something still troubled him. Look- ing out the window, he could see the lumplighter trailing down the alley, having turned off the gas lamp, leav- Ing the world just that much darker. Dr. Electron got into his slippers and robe, and descended into Aver- nus—i. e the basement, where he ovened up the furnace. “Bitter cold, bitter cold,” he told himself, looking out over such a portion of snow-clad Washington as came within the range of two eyes of normal scope directed northward from that par- ticular spot at that particular time. ¥ R At that moment Dr. Electron's favorite cat, Radio, bounded to the basement window and emitted a cou- ple of well directed “meows” wh attracted the immediate attention of the professor. If the latter had any fondness for anything, it was for Radio. Then Dr. Electron did a curious thing for so prosalc a scientist. He stooped over, picked up the well fed tiger tom, and brought it up under his chin, where he cuddled the animal for a moment Radlio responded to this experi- ment with a prodigious purr that sounded like a cross between an auto- mobile about a mile down the road and the noise made by a busy tea- kettle on the stove in the kitchen. Suddenty Dr. Electron sniffed vig- orously at the striped fur of Radio, the cat. He pushed his nose down into the fur, then gave several rather prolonged sniffs. “Now what does that smell like?" he muttered to himself, stroking the dar back of the animal. “I know that odor well-—why—ah—by George, that's it, that's i Dr. Electron swung Radio high into the air, then placed him on all four feet on the basement floor. “Radio, old top, I am going to make you famous!” cried the scien- tist, in rather unscientific glee. ok ok % That was how Dr. Emerson Elec- tron, eminent catarian, made his fa- mous discovery of the ventilating possibilities of the ordinary house IN TODAY’S BY PAUL V. Is the Lausanne treaty about to become a “scrap of paper” through the action of Turkey in alleged vio- lation of its provisions protecting the Greek minority in Constantinople? Turkey has ordered the expulsion from Constantinople of the patriarch of the Greek Catholic Orthodox Church—the equivalent of the Pope Rome in his relation to the Roman Catholic Church. Against that ex- pulsion Greece protests so vigorously that she threatens to sever diplo- matic relations with Turkey, while active and open steps toward prepa- rations for hostilities indicate that war may be threatening. This en- dangers not only the Balkans and Asia Minor, but who knows how much else of the Near East and Eu- rope? The patriarchate has had its seat in Constantinople for seven centuries. It is the spiritual head of the religion of 140,000,000 people. To affront that population is not merely for Turkey and Greece to renew thelr quarrel, but it inyolves the peace of mind of all adherents of the Orthodox Church in whatever country they live. It in- the Russians, who have not all acquiesced in the athelsm of the Soviets, but cling to their spiritual head. Already the patriarch, Con- | has fled from the city, and | the synod, constituting the ruling| body, awaits definite decision. Thé Greek government, exceeding the customary reserve of language in diplomacy, warns Turkey openly: “This act is a flagrant violation of existing treaties, and an act of hos- tility toward Greece.” Thereby the Greek government, taking official notice of the fate of the patriarch, champions his cause as that of the government itself, and by its refer- ence to “an act of hostility” fore- with hostilities. Mobs rage through the streets and ignore the fact that their country is in no financial or military condition to renew a war which so recently ended in complete Grecian debacle. Greece is sald to be preparing an appeal to the nations, though both Greece and Turkey are adherents of the League of Nations, which is organized with the avowed purpose of preventing' such war- threatening crises. R 1t has been claimed by an American diplomat of high standing and intimate familiarity with Turkish traditions that while Turkey has been often accused of intolerance and cruelty she has a record of literal observance of all treaties. comes the report that the mixed com- mission which has been superintending the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey under the agreement of the Lausanne treaty, has ruled that Constantine, the patriarch, was person- ally subject to the exchange, since he had arrived in Constantinople after the armistice, contrary to the terms of the exemptions. The Greek reply to that ruling is that the patriarch is not to be considered as a mere individual, but as the head of an institution which the treaty bound Turkey to protect in its spiritual free- dom. The patriarchate was to be bereft of its former political power and func- tions which, originally, had been thrust upon it by the Turkish government with the view to aiding Turkey in ruling all the Orthodox Church, both inside and beyond the borders of Turkish jurisdic- tion. The question of the status of the patriarchate was one of prolonged dis- cussion in-the Lausanne conference. The treaty provides in part 1, ticle 42 - “The Turkish government undertakes to grant full protection to the churches, synagogues, cemeteries and other re- ligious establishments of the above- mentioned minoritie: +In part 4, article 1, it also provides: “As from May 1, 1923, there shall take place a compulsory exchange of ar- | but | triumphal cat, fells domesticus, there possibili- ties being due to the prodigious quantities of ozone brought in on the animal's fur after a night spent in the great outdoors, Ozone was what the doctor smelled on Radio that eventful morning. ‘Che professor, in earlier days, had arti- ficlally created ozonme, with its pe- culiar odor, yomewhat resembling weak chlorine, and he had never for- gotten the smell. Nothing is more tenacious in mem. ory than odors, 30 it was no wonder that Dr. Electron almost Instantly recognized the faint smell clinging to the fur of his cat. That is the difference between sclentists and ordinary folks, The night had been unusually cold. Radio had been out all night, and his dry fur, highly charged with electricity, had converted some of the oxygen in'the air into ozone, quanti- tles of which clung to its body, and were released on his coming into the warm house Cats have been doing this for thou- sands of years, but nobody recog- nized it until Dr. Electron did, and to him goes all the credit for the dis- covery. Like Columbus’ egg, the thing is absurdly simple—once you know about it. An ozonizer, according to the dic- tionary, Is “one that ozonizes, espe- clally, ‘an apparatus for converting oxygen into ozone, usually by pass- ing a silent electric dischar through a current of air.” The cat precisely fulfills these con- ditions, as Dr. Electron pointed out later in his famous monograph, being a gdivinely constructed apparatus of | avtomotive character for converting oxygen and thus collecting ozone. This conversion the cat accom- plishes by running rapidly through very cold air, its warm dry coat pass- | ing a silent electric discharge through the air currents. Although the ani- mal itself cannot always be sald to be silent, its well known electrical manifestations are absolutely mufiled, with the exceptlon of a sharp crackle when the tips of fingers are rubbed rapidly over its back. * K oE % Emerson Electron called in “the He spoke gravely, as befitted scovery. ntlemen,” said Dr. Emerson Electron, “I have discovered a way for every household to ventilate its living rooms, introducing a plenteous quantity of ozone, which is one and one-half times as Invigorating as oxygen, as no doubt you know. Dr. Electron recounted his base- ment discovery, his recognition of the odor of ozone on his cat’s fur, and told his theory of the cat's action as an ozonizer. “Thus. gentlemen, the humble cat, from today on, will ¥y a new role In the world, and will be accorded new respect.”” continued Dr. Emerson Electron.. “When he gets in a fight at night, the careful housewife will not declare, ‘Drat that cat’ but will say, joyfully, “There is Tom working up a fine supply of ozone for us.’ “As to the sclentific possibilities »{ this discovery, 1 am unable to make any predictions at this time. Perhaps it may take at least one cat to a room to thoroughly ozonize a dwelling. Perhaps 1,000 cats to a public building. ““This gift of the cat to mankind will cease In Spring and Summer, of course,” concluded the sclentist, “ow- ing to the lack of cold air, but that is nothing new in sclence. Radio broadcasting, for instance, is weaker n Summer than in Winter. Well, what do you think of my discovery?” “It's the cat's meow!” chorused the sentlemen of the press. SPOTLIGHT . COLLINS. his ai. Turkish nationals of the Greek Orthodox religion established in Turkish territory, and of Greek nationals of the Moslem religion established in Greek territory.” This latter provision, however, re- lates only to proselytes of the respective nationals, and cannot apply to Constan- tine, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church. Article 2 of the ame part provides: “The following persons shall not be inciuded in the exchange provided for in article 1: (a) The Greek inhabitants of Con- stantinople. (b) The Moslem inhabitants of west- ern Thrace. “All Greeks who were already estab- lished before the 30th October, 1918, within the areas under the prefecture of the City of Constantinople, as definéd by the law of 1912, shall be considered as Greek Inhabitants of Constantinople.” The present Greek construction of that exemption is to the effect that since Constantine is head of the patriarchate which has existed in Constantinople for centurles, he was not to be considered as a newcomer, his status was that of patriarchate—centuries old. He was elected to the supreme office of patriarch last December 19. He was formerly Archbishop of Broussa (his birthplace), and later Archbishop of Dercos. His election was by the synod, according tb the custom of the church. Turkey declares that her opposi- tion is not against the patriarchate but against the man, Constantine, be- cause he was an outspoken enemy of Turkey in the World War and in the late Turco-Greeco War. Turkey intimates that she would nominate a patriarch who would not be ob- Jectionable, but the Orthodox i kerents contend that while it h been agreed to take from the patriarch all political leaving only spiritual power, it weuld be highly objectionable to per- mit a Moslem government which boasts of having separated state from rcligion to have any volce in select- ing the spiritual head of a Christian church. 0 e (o Under the Sultan, the Turkish government was a theocratic mon- archy, wherein the Sultan was head of the church—in fact, dictator of the politics. of all churches within his jurisdiction. The Young Turks ruling the present republic boast that | they have deposed their Caliph and completely severed church and state. In the course of his discussion in the Lausanne conference, Ismet Pasha recited the history of Turkey's relation to the Greek Orthodox patriarchate, saying: “Within the three days which followed entry into the capltal, invited the fanatical monk Scholarius to occupy the patriarchal throne. The Sultan himself was present in state at the investiture of the new patrlarch, on whom he con- ferred in his capacity of spiritual successor of the Greek emperors the obsolete title of Millet Bachi (head of the nation). At the same time he granted to the patriarch and his suc- cessors an almost unlimited juris- diction over Greek nationals. By that Indulgence and dictation of the Sultan, centuries ago, Ismet Pasha sought to prove how well the Turks had always protected mi- norities within their jurisdiction. To that argument Lord Curzon, in reply, pointed to the Armenians, Whom Ismet had pictured as happy and contented under Turkish rule, and he pointedly asked: “If such appy relations had always existed be- tween these two peoples, how was it that the 3,000,000 Armenians formerly in Asia Minor had been reduced to 130,000 (Copyright, 1925, br Paul V. Collins.) Mahomet the | authority, | his | | man | man, | with those which NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM LG M WILLARD STRAIGHT. HerbertCroly. The Macmillan Company. When President Coolldge goes a-walking along the street, interest spontaneous and general turns upon him. The Presicent of the United States is passing by. In diminished degree lesser notables also command prompt and eager attention. Here in Washington, Senators, diplomats, military heroes, even millionaires, come In for a goodly share of curios- ity and concern. Personal achievement recognized and acclaimed, is an irre- sistible lodestone toward which the ma- Jority drifts in ready homage. But be- low “these superexcellencies of attain- ment, always relatively few in num- ber, there are thousands less notable who, upon some chance of discovery, some accident of contact, are found to be fronting upon the great busi- ness of being alive in a manner of fi- lumination and significance to the rest of the world. As it is with men, so it is with books about men. The life story of & great man is an already discovered country, its richness of resource and promise well known. Around it crowds of eager readers and listen- ers gather in a surety of substan- tial reward. On the other hand, the blography of an uncelebrated man, unless it speedily uncover some spe- clal lure of gesture, some striking promise of good returns, remains a neglected reglon into whose doubt- fulnesses few are inclined to ven- ture. Rk Ak Willard Stralght is an unknown man. So, a study of hie life must, at first, depend upon externals to bring one to attention before it. If a mere book, as such, can make this passing gesture of arrest and consideration, this book may be counted upon to do it. A dignified volume, possessed of personality, this one—all of its parts contributing to such an effect. As one leafs it, feeling its suave quality, relighting in its innumerable sketches—Straight's own—that help to objectify the text at a hundred points, one s very likely to say, “What a beautiful book!" And it is, On the front page is the picture of a young man. The face finer and more sensitive than it 1s merely hand- some. Eager, questioning eyes look straight at you out of this picture And 1, personally, recall one of twr inspired teachers that it was my good fortune to meet in a profession dealing exclusively with teachers. There, the same sensitive face, the same ardent absorption in the eyes. Willard Straight's father, this, who, In a little city of New York State, spent himself in a passion of zeal for education just as Willard Straight spent himself in other fie 3x- actly the same spirit inflamed, and consumed, the two. 0 o h Inside the book, in the hands story itself, you are carried along, enthralled with its youth and ardor with its adventure and romance and drama. It is like the swift passing of some bright and shining figure of the that by its own high spirit and dar- | ing seizes upon life itself and holding it high sweeps onward like some storfed hero of legend or of myth Yet this is a plain account—as plain as the documented facts of daily record and the evidence of witnesses and the testimony of friends can make an account reliable and true. It is the essence of Willard Straight" life distilled through the usually in- adequate medium of words that de- livers over to us this figure out of chivalry and romance * ok ok % And what did he do, this Willard Straight? He only partly did each of several things. No, this does not here connote vacillation and insta- bility of purpose. Rather does it give the effect of some flying creature, its wings perpetually astretch for the attalnment of still greater heights, for the trying out of still rarer zonss. And more—for it portrays fearlessness in the face of change, that dread thing before which the rest of us are so altogether fearful An_ architect by college training, he threw aside this profession, hold- ing fast, however, to the art culture that this training involved. For the is, clearly, an artist, talking easily with a pencil as about every page of this book discloses. At 21 he was in China, an official in the Chinese customs service, putting in hours and hours each day to the study of the Chinese language. In 1904 he left this service to become a correspondent for the period of the Russo-Japanese war. Next, he was vice consul at Seoul. After that he served in Korea, in Washington, in Cuba, representing the home Gov- ernment. Then in Mukden as consul- general. Then into the World War. Then into death itself—still a young still eager and ardent and pressing. His most considerable work—th too, an unfinished enterprise—was done, one Jjudges, when Willard Stralght was consul-general at Muk- den. An American of highly patri- otic feelings, he readily brought him- self to the conclusion that the United States In its policy toward China was less self-seeking than the other countries were in their designs upon this crippled country. To catch a belfef was, for Willard Straight, like catching the flery zeal of a crusader. At once he set to work, in an effort the circumvent the encroachments of these other countries. Where he could he sought an out-and-out co- operation with the best of these, he considered the best, the most unselfish. With the | others he tried such measures as he thought best suited to their own methods. No one man in the world could achieve what he set out to do. No one man could travel this road for any lengh of time without com- ing upon hindrances and harrass- ments calculated to thwart his de- signs and to cut short his own career in that particular fleld. Undaunted, he abandoned the consular service in order to Interest American capital in the development of China. This new venture became the forecmost object of his immediately succeeding years, an object to hilm justified through seven years of study in China, of ex- perience and experiment there. His viston for China was that of a coun- try opened to opportunity through the honest development of its na- tural resources, through the found- ing of industries, through a changed political suit and support these new conditions. He could work in a frenzy of energy to materialize that vision. But under political intrigue and under diplo- matic duplicities he could work not at all. So, he come back home to interest capital in the economic sup- port of the cause of China. How this enterprise came out you will read. Indeed, you know it already from your press knowledge of the state of that far country. As a mat- ter of course Willard Straight would enter the World War. And there, too, the personal side of the event fell short of his desire. A crusader wants to fight. That is what being a cru- sader is about. But the superiors thought otherwise about this trained and capable man, And then he died— not at the front. Another dlsap- pointment for Willard Straight. A record of half successes or whole tatlures. of elther of these. You will gather substantial achievement out of this brilliant story. But even if you do not you will gather the greater thing than this or that work done and neatly packed away. Almost any one ean achieve, Very few cap be—in and social organization to | Not within a thousand miles | 1 l | today’s vital objective in the fight tc ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN Q. Is the statue of Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial carved from a single piece of marble?—R. G. W. A. J. W. McSpadden in his recent book on American sculptors says that to carve such a huge figure from & single block would be impossible. Twenty-eight blocks of Georgia mar- ble, perfect and without fissures or seams, were used In creating this statue. The total mass measured over 4,000 cubic feet. The statue weighs 270 tons. Q. What is the name of the cap- ital of Norway?—E. H. A. On January 1, 1925, the capital resumed its anclent name of Oslo. The city was founded by King Harold III 300 years ago. Six hundred vears later, the city was in ashes, and a new city was founded by King Chris- tian, who called it Christiania, E ‘:}!nen was broadcasting begun? A. The Radio Division of the De- partment of Commerce says that broadcasting was used experimental- ly during the war; however, the sta- tion broadcasting with which we are famillar at the present time was first licensed in September, 1921, Q. Can you give me even an ap- proximate idea of the number of times the framers of the Constitu- tlon spoke in the constitutional con- vention?—R. S A. Roger Sherman spoke 13% times; James Wilson, 168; Madison, 161; Gouverneur Morris, 173. Q. Will covering a radiator reduce its heating power?—A. P. A. The Bureau of Mines says that the covering of a radiator with linen cloth or with a board will not reduce the heat in a room. On the contrary it throws the heat out into the room where it is more effective than if allowed to ascend directly to the ceil- ing. Q. What relation Beecher Stowe to Beecher?—F. T, A. She was his sister. was Henry Harrlet Ward Q. What is done with the money obtained from license tags?—W. R. B. A. In practically all instances the | money obtained from automobile | license tags is used for the main- | tenance of the various State high- ways | Q. Did country or city boys aver- | age best in physical fitness during the war?—R. E. P. A. The records of physical exami nations show that the country boys made better records than thoss from the cities. These differences were So considerable that 100,000 country boys would furnish 4,790 more sol dlers for the military ssrvice than would an equal number of city boys Q. What are the highest ranks i Spanish nobllity?—S. N. E. A. The three highest ranks are duke, marquis and count. Q. When do the northern appear?—J. F. C. A. The Naval Observatory says that there is no wpecified time for the northern lights $3 appear. The causs of the aurora barsalis is incompletely understood. There seems to be some connection between sunspots and the appearance of the auroras. Prob ably they are merely an eleotric luniinosity of very rare gases. It ir certain that the auroras are con nected with the magnetism of th earth and that a strong Influence upon the magnetic needle is exerted in some manner. Q. How can I get a position as & mail aviator?—E. L. A. The Post Office Departmen! says that an applicant for the aerial mall service must have 5,000 hours of flying time, some experience in cross-country work, and must be fiy ing at the time of his applicatior Q. Does the ie Triangle, giving Pennsyly a seaport on Lake Er! belong to the Federal Goverr ment? If not, why there Gov ernment 1 on 1t?—C. M. T A. The Geological Survey says tha the Erie Triangle was sold by New York to the Federal Government ir 1781 This in turn wa sold by the Federal Government to Pennsylvania in 1792 It is not Federal land bu owned by the State. The markers or benches on this land are mere historical markers. lghts E (The Star invites its readers to use this information service freely. Am er tensive organisation is maintained 1o serve you in any capacity that relates to information. Failure to use the service deprives you of benefits to which you cre entitled. Your obligation is only a 2-cent stamp, inclosed with your inguiry for direct reply. Address The Star Informa tion Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Direc tor, Twenty-first and C streets north- west.) Capital’s Park Development; How the Co (Extract from annual report of pres dent of Association of Oldest Inhah tants of District of Columb Theo- dore W. Noyes, December 7, 1924.) The putting into practical ope: of the legislation providing .a park commission for the National Capital and authorizing large appropriations | and expenditures for this purpose is make the city more healthful Much of Washington's strength, like that of woman, is in its beauty; its face is its fortune. Experience indi- cates the wisdom of those who labor to increase the city’s material pr perity by developing its external at- tractiveness. Its parks and r rvations consti- tute the cit: conspicuous and char- acteristic charm; and also one of its most valuable assets as a residence and show city. Wahington has always—at any rate since 1878—recognized this direct re- | lation between the prosperity and health of the community and the s breathing places and natural or artificial beauty spots. Washington's policy has ever been to preserve its prized park heritage, | to protect its existing parks, its pub- lic breathing places, against all in- jurious trespassers, whether rail- roads, individuals or the brick and mortar or stone of public buildings and to enlarge, improve and adorn its reservation areas. In 1898, 1899 and 1900, in connec- tion With the celebration in 1900 of the one hundredth anniversary of the | removal of the seat of government to the District of Columbia, able na tional leaders and the local ¢ommu- ¥ yperated in a vigorous cam- paign for the systematic improve- | ment of the National Capital and | Federal district in a manner and to| an extent commensurate with the dignity znd resources of the Ameri- can Nation. Reflecting the keen community in- | terest in this campaign in my 1899 re- | port ‘as president of the Board of Trade park development was 'the | main text, and on the basis of the | plans therein outlined it was de- | termined by the committee on parks | and reservations of 1§00 that a sys- | tematic effort should be made by th»‘ committee to develop on broad. artistic, practical lines the park sys- | tem of the District Board of Trade Resolution. In pursuance of this settled policy the Board of Trade on December 14, 1900, unaniuously adopted the fol- lowing resclutions foreshadowing | the MacMillan park commission sub- | sequently appointed, which, with its | natural successors, has done such fine and wonderfully veloping Washington as beautiful.” ‘Whereas it has long been mani- fest that a comprehensive and symmetric plan of treatment for the parks and reservations, public building sites and bridges of the District could no longer be de- ferred without detriment to the original designs of President ‘Washington and his associates * * *: Theretore, Resolved, That the Board of Trade earnestly recommend to both Houses of Congfess that an appropriate legislative act be passed at the earliest practicable date to authorize the President to appoint a commission of three or five buiflding and landscape archi- tects, each eminent and experi- enced in his profession, whose duty it shall be to devise and re- port to Congress suitable and ade- quate plans for the development of the Capital City in subordina- tion to the plan of its founders and yet sufficiently expanded in dimensions to typify a century's growth of the republic. more beautiful and the As the community in 1893-1800 and | the immediately subsequent years, through the Board of Trade and its committee on parks and reservations, participated vigorously and helpfully in the park campaign, which resulted in the original MacMillan Park Com- mission, so the community, through the same Board of Trade committee on parks and reservations, has been and s conspicuously active and help- ful in the corresponding campaign of today, which has resulted in the wise creation of the National City's park commission, which, with its fine organization, intelligent vigor and unstinted enthusiasm, glves promise of great things in Washington's de- Velopment as the city of parks. This carefully considered legisla- the sense that you will find Willard Straight being, and doing, in this surpassingly human and dramatic record of one young man's short life, | exacted | | | the south |and the ancient | fathers’ plans lying between the Capi st Is to Be Met tion, by its authorization of appre riations representing a 1-cent nual eontribution for every the 110,000,000 Americans, gested project was yroadly as to interest east of a cent a ever n and child in t republi this broad distributi a al one sug not, course, that practicable. the cost of the Distr provided such provem should b paid in accordance with the current ratio of relative contribution byt Nation and Capital, whether 50-50 ¢ 40-60. But action of Congre last year in inating for the fisc yea appropriations only, thous without amending the organic ac the provision of any defin! j~oror- by tha > atio tionate ibu and exacting a sum payment by the National Government in liev of such definite proportionate contri- bution robbed the law of equitabls application and rendered it possit that all of the cents representing th 110,000,000 of ans might fro Americans Washingt Washington is not e per: Washington wi ure of success to the national upbuilders who have already ward pract ington whose of s that this nplated and w In that confidence the fullest meas e labors of thoss of the Capita one so much to al development of Wash as the city of parks, and fro energy and intelligently di rected enthusiasm even greater things are to be reasonably and confidently expected. The Purk Commissi natural supplement of the Park Com- mixsion of 1901, and, representing both Nation and local community, is to be supplied with the funds neces- xary to put into effect the plans of the 1001 commission, so far as they n of 1924 is the | meet with the approval today of the powers that he. What I said as president of the Board of Trade in 1899 concerning the parks campaign of 1900 may be repeated in part by me as presiden of the Oldest Inhabitants in anticiy pati of the parks campaign 1924 Opportunity an Unrivaled One. No other labor of the centenni. year is more inspiring or more pron ising of notable results in increasing the attractiveness of the Capital thar that of developing Washington as th city of parks and the forest city by s vigorous campaign for the series of connected reservations above out lined, utilizing at every step Wash ington's diversified natural advan tages, the urban circles and trian gles, the larger reservations whicl furnish an emerald setting for publi buildings, the heights to the mnortl and west, and the beautiful rivers t and east, whose banks ar- changing, and should be quickly an thoroughly transformed from marshe and malarious wastes into beautit landscapes with shaded driveways ark. with lawn surfaces, diversified by at tractive lakes. “There would not be, in Vienna o Budapest, or anywhere in the world, grander ring street or boulevard tha that which would take its start o the westward grassy slopes of tl Capitol ground, sweep through ti Mall and Potomac Park and up Roc Creek to the Zoo and Rock Creek Na tional Park; thence by boulevard to the Soldiers'’ Home, and finally b boulevards and Anacostia Park bac to the eastern sward and shade tree- and impressive dome of the Capito! Its only rival would be the boulevard drive which should sweep from the Capitol through the Mall and Potomas Park, across a magnificent memorigl bridge to Arlington and by a nationdl boulevard along the Potomac to the |tomb of Washington and Mount Ver non. “The old Washington is a series of parks, connected by broad, park lined and tree-lined thoroughfares, in whose verdure and follage the publi and private buildings are framed. “The park system which thus per meates the original city is to pervads in like fashion the new Washington park of the fore tol and the White House and touching the Potomac is to merge into a grea river park system, which will include as already suggested, both banks « the Potomac, the valley of Roc Creek and the flats and heights « Anacostia. “Let us of the Washington of toda {in building up the Nation's City of t. second century of its life, emulate t breadth and boldness in design gnd the vigor in execution which wie displayed at the end of the last cen tury and iIn 1800 by the founders of the Capital” | (