Evening Star Newspaper, February 7, 1925, Page 6

6 THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. SATURDAY....February 7, 1823 THEODORE W. NOYES. . ..Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Compeny Business Office, 11th 8t. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd St. Chicago Office: Tower Bnidiag. European Ofice : 16 Regent Bt.,London, Eggland. The Evening Star, with the Sunday morming edition, s delivered Ly carrfers within the city at 60 cents per month: daily only, 43 cents per month: Sunday only. 20 cents per month. Orders be sent by mail or tele- phone Main 5000. Collection I8 made by car- Tiers at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday $8.40; 1 mo., 70¢ Daily only... - $6.00; 1 mo,, 50¢ Sunday only $2.40; 1 mo., 20¢ All Other States. , $10.00; 1 mo., 85¢ $7.00; 1 mo., 80c $3.00; 1 mo,, 25¢ and Sunday.1 y only.......1yr, Sunday only Member of the Associated Pres: The Associated Press s exclusiveis entitled o the use for republication of all news dis. atches credited (o i or not otherwise credited p_this_paper and also the locel news pub. lished herein. All rights of special dispatches herein are also reserved. ‘Wanted: More Houses. If control of District rental property by a punitive Rent Commission is to continue for at least two more years, the New York device to prevent rent regulation from paralyzing all activity in building houses for rental purposes should be adopted here by suitable amendment of the pending rent regu- lation bill. New York State exempts new buildings erected after date of passage of the law from the statutory rent regulation, and New York City, under authority given by the State law, exempts such new buildings for rental purposes from municipal taxa- tion. Thus a double artificial encour- agement is given to promote the vital essential of large and continuous in- crease in the supply of dwellings for rent at reasonable rates; an increase of wholesome building -activity which without these modifications and off- sets is rendered imposible under rent laws which deprive the owner of all eontrol of his property. Our housing problem will never be solved until we have more compara- tively cheap houses. The pending rent bill, unamended, absolutely checks the building of such houses for rental pur- poses. Washington's slums are in its unimproved alleys. The evidence be- fore the joint rentals legislative com- mittec disclosed anew Washington's shame in insanitary conditions and excessive rents in alley dwellings. A series of articles just printed in The Star shows clearly the status of the campaign to clean up or clear out the alleys. Rentregulation laws do not solve the alley problem. Years ago Wash- ington recognized ‘with shame the humiliating conditions in certain of its Jegislature, to remedy the evil. Con- gress, the District's exclusive legls- lature, to remedy the evil. Con- gress responded with a law térbldding the use as dwellings of houses in un- improved alleys after a fixed date. Why has not this drastic remedy ef- fected a cure? Why has thé& whole- sale eviction decreed by the law never taken place? Because the thousands of evioted alley dwellers would have absolutely no place to go. Humanity forbids the putting of them upon the street, homeless and hopeless. Hous- ing relief of the alley dwellers and of the Government employes will come through the same channel. The rem- edy is to build houses, and houses, and more houses; very cheap houses for the ailey dwellers; better, more ex- pensive, but still cheap sanitary houses for Government employes whose sal- ary increases during the war have not Dbeen in proportion to increase of the cost of building and of housing and of the general cost of living. These conditions impose an obliga- tion upon all employers, including Uncle Sam, the great, dominating em- ployer in the National Capital, with more than sixty thousand employes. Is Uncle Sam, as an employer, do- ing all he should to enable his em- ployes to meet the increased cost of living? Is he paying his lowest-paid employes, who suffer the thost, an in- crease of compensation even approxi- mating the increase in the cost of living or the increase in compensa- tion of employes paid by all other District employers? Has Uncle Sam taken the same pains to provide cheap, sanitary hous- ing for his employes in part at his own expense that many great private employers have taken? Where are his model villages? Why should he not extend largely the principle and pol- icy which authorized and justified the building of Government hotels for em- ployes? Secretary loover suggests dhat Uncle Sam will release large “buildings for tenement use when un- der the $50,000,000 bill he has substi- tuted for rented quarters new depart- ment buildings of his own. Why should not Uncle Sam follow the example of other employers, in- cluding The Star, in helping his em- ployes to obtain homes of their own by financing them in the purchase of a house; 50 that they may get a long- term low-interest first trust and & sec- ond trust, if needed, at reasonable in- terest and without commission? Is Uncle Sam’s only solution of our housing and high rentals problem to refrain from constructive legislation and Deneficial action as employer #hich will give Washington the great- Iy enlarged supply of comperatively cheap housing which the city needs, and to commandeer, in effect, for the housing of its employes the rental properties of the District owned by athers than himself? Can nothing wiser be devised than a renewal of the bitter struggle for possession and control of rental prop- erty between owners and tenants, the latter backed by a powerful, punitive Rent Commission and the former rely- ing upon the American's constitu- tionial bill of rights and the Supreme Court of the United States? This warfare follows a vicious circle of retaliatory reprisals and threats of reprisals. It is hurtful in the last de- A gree to the welfare of the Capltal community as a whole. The legislative wisdom of Congress should contrive to avoid it. ————— The Opium Conference. Withdrawal of the American dele- gation from the international oplum conference at Geneva has shocked the delegates from other countries, according to report, and will cause disappointment in this councry, al- though the decision of the delegates will be received with general ap- proval here. Indeed, under the joint resolution of Congress authorizing participation in the conference the American delegates could not have signed such an agreement. as the con- ference is evidently about to con- clude. The American position in regard to the opium traffic has 'been that the nations represented at Geneva should agree to a prohibition or control of production and should not. stop at merely palliative remedies. The joint resolution which authorized participa- tion in the conference stipulated ex- pressly that the representatives of the United States should “sign no agree- ment which does not fulill the condi- tions necessary for the suppression of the narcotic drug traffic.” Under the reservations already drawn at Geneva, and supported by a sufficient number of national representatives to insure adoption, no appreciable reduction in raw opium is to be expected. The United States is consistent in its opposition to the narcotic drug traffic. It has prohibited the distribu- tion and use of habit-forming drugs, save in medicine. It prosecutes ail violators of the national law on this subject. Growing no raw material of this character- itself, it bans the im- portation of such products, save under the most rigid supervision to insure that the drugs themselves will not be used outside of medicinal prescription. Other nations, however, have failed to respect this prohibition. The Geneva conference was held for the purpose of putting a ban, if possible, upon the production of these materials, but, as Representative Porter stated in the memorandum submitted at Geneva \explanatory of his withdrawal, there is no prospect of such action. Large financial gains incident to the opium and coca leaf production stand in the way of an international agree- ment. Certain nations decline to sub- scribe to an agreement which would lessen the output, perhaps reduce it to the bare needs of science and med- icine. There remains a possibility that the withdrawal of the delegates of the United States may bring about a change in this attitude. By their withdrawal the representatives of this Government throw the onus for the maintenance of this traffic upon the governments which are failing to carry out the protocol of the Geneva conference and are not sincerely seek- ing the suppression of this wicked trade. — The Day After. February 7, and this mundane orb is still busily twirling its merry way along its regufar route, with all on board! Nobody is surprised, not even those ardent believers who made all preparations for the end which they proclaimed to be due on Friday, Feb- ruary 6, And now that they find themselves upen the same old sphere, with all the machinery in action, what is to be the next step of the several hundreds of millennium seekers who gave up their means of livelihood, sold thelr earthly goods and repaired to the high places to await the great destruction? Why did they leave their jobs? And why sell their possessions? And again, why take to the hills and mountains? To fast and pray could be as effec- tively accomplished in the course of daily toil as while idle, and, according to all Christian teachings, the money realized from the sale of personal be- longings would be of no mbre use in the hereafter than the belongings themselves. Again, the high places are expected to share the same fate as the low places in the grand finale, and when the real end is at hard it would seem to be of no particular ad- vantage to seek to view the spectacle from a grandstand seat. A few weeks of disruption and un- settlement, a period of waiting, and now the smoke of disillusionment rolls away, leaving these anticipators of the day of judgment face to face with the problem of rehabilitation in the good old workaday world of yester- day, today and tomorrow. . RIS The Nevada Legislature wants the prohibition amendment reconsidered. The flexibility of constitutional pro- visions is often overestimated. Sattra—s If a serious altercation should arise concerning sums paid by Germany, that nation wil be inclined to regard the money as well spent. The Kentucky Cave Prisoner. Alternations of hope and despair have been felt in ihe case of Floyd Collins, imprisoned for eight days in a cave in Kentucky. Collins was caught by a slip of rock in an underground passage on his property in the com- paratively wild territory while explor- ing to determine the extent of the opening into the earth. His foot was pinned so tightly that he could not re- lease himself.. A rescue party found him and immediately started to work for his release. The passage to the imprisoned man is & narrow crevice barely wide enough in places to admit the body of a single person. It ex- tends for more than 150 feet through rocks and earth, at first dipping at 60 degrees for 65 feet, then running level for 20 feet, next dropping 50 feet at 45 degrees, and finally after a short verti- cal descent extending 20 feet horizon- tally to the pinioned man. Rescue work in these circumstances has been attended by difficulty and danger. Yet men have risked their own lives in an effort to release the captive. He has been fed, and electric lights have been carried into the cave, with one left burning near him to comfort him in his painful imprison- ment. Attempts at excavation have been carried on, but with great risk of causing a complete collapse of the cave and the imprisonment of all the workers, Finally, by some strange treak, the floor of the passage leading to the captive heaved sufficlently to block off further ‘access. Now: drillers are at work to try to reach ‘the man by other means. There is no certainty now that he Is living, Indeed, it would be remarkable if he had survived the pain and privation and shock of his long imprisonment. Yet doubtless the effort will continué, for there is no limit to the endeavor of those bent upon rescuing a helpless human being. In the midst of all its busy affairs this country has paused to watch the reports from this remote rural reglon in Kentucky regarding the imprisoned man. A universal sympathy is felt for him. He has become a national figure. There will be great rejolcing if he is rescued, and sorrow If those seeking his succor are finally baffled. The region in which this tragedy has occurred is honeycombed with caves. The nearest town ls called the Cave City. Within 10 miles lies the entrance to Mammoth Cave, one of the greatest caverns in the world. Col- lins was exploring the passage in the hope of finding a great underground room of the same nature. The fissure, running zgzag steeply into the earth, is an unusual formation. That it leads to a large opening or to other fissures connected with ventilated spaces is probable, as otherwise at the depth at which he was caught the man would have been suffocated. The air, how- ever, appears to be good, and prob- ably this chimney is a passage to some cavern, itself supplied with fresh air from the surface. The mystery of it will doubtless be solved some day, as, whatever happens to Collins, whether he is rescued or is eventually found dead in his prison, in all probability others will seek the solution of this strange passageway through the crust of the earth. —_— e Raisuli Dies Again. Raisuli is dead again. Gen. Primo de Rivera, president of the Spanish di- rectorate, announces that he has re- celved a report that the Moorish ban- dit leader, recently captured by Rifflan tribesmen, died while being conveyed from his home town, Tazarut, to Sheshuan. A dispatch from Madrid to this effect further says, however, “this report lacks confirmation.” Any report of Raisuli’s death—and there have been many—requires con- firmation before it will be accepted. And even confirmation must itself be confirmed. For Raisuli has proved a veritable feline for his ability to die frequently. He has been reported dead many times, and on several occasions the reports have been detailed and cir- cumstantial. He is, or was, according as the re. port may be true or false, a unique character, intrepid, resourceful, craft; bold. He must be now—it is impossi ble to think of him in the past tense— an old man. He was well advanced in life 20 years ago when President Roosevelt issued his famous mandate: “‘Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead.” He had been a professional bandit and kidnaper for a long time then. Natu- rally in the course of time Raisuli must pass, but any report of his death will require unusually specific con- firmation before it is accepted. — e o been indulged in from time to time through centuries. The only practical effect has been: embarrassment to a small circle of people who seriously believed there was no further cause tor solicitude about rent and taxes. ———— Predicting the end of the world has The Kaiser has his estates back, and Hugo Stinnes’ heirs succeeded in evading thé inheritance tax. The Ger- man taxpayer unquestionably has a great deal to irritate him. Any man's place can be filled. Nevertheless a great many Russians are wishing Lenin could come back. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Uplift. The uplift that we read about From time to time, we question. But that is due to morbid doubt, Or else to indigestion. The prices of our ham and beans And things of less utility Are boosted by all sorts of means With wonderful facility. Whenever we pull up to buy The gas to run the flivver, A higher figure greets the eye. The coin we must deliver For every purchase, every day, Is managed so progressively, We feel at liberty to say The Uplift thrives excessively. Facts Accomplished. “Are you in favor of votes for women?" “Why bring that up now?"” inquired Senator Sorghum; “you might as well ask me whether { am in favor of the Declaration of Independence or the War of the Revolution.” Documentary Comparison. As Nations and Men in all candor we view, This common condition we meet; It's easy to scribble a fine 1. O. U. But it’s hard to secure & receipt. Jud Tunkins says the more he studies the Einstein theory the less he can see what difference the old thing makes. Carelessness. About the ground hog still they tell. He is an ugly duffer. - He wouldn't carry an umbrell, ‘And so we've got to suffer. Discipline. “So you are going to send your boy Josh to college 2 “I am,” answered Farmer Corn- tossel. ‘“He needs discipline. He's too big for me to whale, 50 I'm going to send him where he can get hazed.” ‘Trying. 1f at first you don't succeed, You should try some more— 1If too long this tip you heed, You become a bare. “If nbbody talked,” said Uncle Eben, «rceppin’ folks dat knowed all about what dey was talkin'. 'bout, dar wouldn’ be hardly no talk what- somever 'bout nuffin’."* THE EVENING STAR, WASH INGTON, D. C i W THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Today let us consider the cat's meow. “The, gat's. meow” ls-a slang phrase meaning that the person, thing or circumstance to which It is appiled s about the limit In excel- lence. It Is not of the slang, however, I would write, but simply of the language of the cat, fells domesticus, the ordinary house cat that inhabits our heafth by day and prowls the alley at night. Since the cat, Jack Spratt, came to Hve with me, I have recelved a liberal education in the wavs of fellnes. Of especial Interest to me has been the varlety of his speech, meowing, or whatever one chooses to call It The dog’s bark ls more or less a stercotyped affair. Confined to con- sonants, its bark {s a hatsh sound, simply varied in Intensity, made com- paratively mild for ordinary use, forced Into stridency when strangers or warfare demand, The cat, on the other hand, is master of such a variety of sounds that It may be sald to posvess a voritable language, so full of meaning ia its meowing. To people not privi- leged to know a cat Intimately, all one of these beasts does !s 'yowl,” of course. ‘Listen to that!" such a will say. calling attentlon to & mu- sical program being givon on the back fonce. “Listen to those darn cats!" The'e caterwaulings, however, but one of a number of sounds made by the cat, In which the full gamut of the vowel sounds are used. * ok k% 1 have counted 14 different and dis. tinct sounds made by Jack Spratt, and n® doubt there are many more which Will be revealed to me in time. Any one who has a cat can add to the list. There are at least, then, 14 varieties of the cat's meow, ranging from the 80ft purr, sometimes called the song 'l)x“g"wh cn; to l‘he awful caterwaul- s heard at night. Ea distinguishable. e _Let us consider the purr first, as it is, perhaps, the most distinctive. It has been compared to the singing of @ tea kettle on the stove, and, Indeed, is not unlike that utensil’s bubbling sound, The cat Jack Spratt has two varfe- tles of purrs, one the ordinary brand, the other an_ extraordinary tvpe. The first is usually on tap the. first thing in the morning. Jack is a somewhat surly fellow, chary of his purrs, but he invarfably gives a good demon- stration in the morning, whether he has just come In from the outdoors or up out of the basement A purring cat is about the ne plus ultra of satisfaction. Even the white whiskers seem to participate in the noise. Some writers have labeled purring “singing,” declaring that it 1s, In fact, a real song, confined to one note. The cat, it has been said, is thus the only quadruped that sings. He holds his drone bass continuous- ly. as long as the mood is upon him, then drops It abruptly. Pull his tail, touch a hind leg, the cat stops purring. The extraordinary purring usuaily arises when the cat wants something. Thus Jack has been known to outdo himself in purring when he thought he was going to get a plece of meat. At such times he purred fit to burst, his singing growing louder and louder. The cat's meow for meat is a special varlety, differing somewhat from his demand for cream, or even fish. It takes a delicate ear, how- ever, to distinguish, an ear attuned to fine niceties of the cat's meow. Such a meow has a certain liquid quality which differentiates it from other household meows. It is pitched in C, a® near as I can make out. It would go well on the air, and ought to be broadcast, for the delectation of the friends of cats. As far as I know, no broadcasting station has ever put a real, genuine cat's.meow. on the alr., It would be a “knockout,” especially during the bedtime stories hour. Any good cat would willingly oblige—If a large plece of beeisteak were held just out of reach. Perhaps Jack Spratt’s unique meow is & rolling note much like that of a canary bird. This meow holds a note of inquiry, and Is usually utter- ed when Jaok is pleasantly disturbed. A cat, It may be sald, can be disturbed either pleasingly or un- vleasingly. This, from his stand- point, of course. If your cat lles asleep in a chalr, if you walk up to him and gently stroke his head, he probably will glve evidence of his appreciation by the canary-like sound referred’ to above. -This meow is a sort of a cross between a stralght meow and a roll, marvelously resembling the ordinary rolling of the canary. The big dif- forence Is that in the cat it Is not prolonged. 1f it were possible to devise some means of teaching the cat to continue this trill, & new .species of canary cats might be put on the market. Another variety of meow Is a | auerelous one given when a cat ix rudely disturbed when he is asleep. The roll, so liquid llke, is entirely absent, In Its place Is a soft, some- what sharp sound, as if to say, “For sake, can't you let a feller When a cat sees sparrows out on the walk, he is very apt to glve vent to a serles of sharp, chattering sounds, much resembling the lingo of a monkey at the zoo. There is a mall Rhesus monkey out at the National Zoological Park that chat- ters for all the world the way Spratt carries on when he sees Sparrows and cannot get at them. This sound {s somewhat allled to the whimper a cat puts up when it is spanked for some Infringement of the nitary laws. Looking at you somewhat remorsefully, the cat slides off under a bureau, giving vent to a sertes of slight whimpers, as if re- pentant, but unwilling to admit it. * Ok K % A cat has two varletles of meows to get in and out a house. When it hows up in the early morning, after & night in the open, its meow is some- what plercing, as if determined to carry through walls. Once, on Pennsylvania avenue, in the early morning, I saw a big black cat stand in front of a Chinese mer- chant’s door and set up a tremendous clamor to get in. It was quite an ugly cat, its face made more ugly than usual by its determined meow: Soon the door opened slightly, an old Chinaman peered out, the cat slid within, The meow to get out of the house is pltched lower, and is no way near as loud, as if the animal realized that those whose attention it was trying to attract were there in the house with him. The war cries of the cat are many. The clamor made to strike terror Into the heart of a larger foe is distinct from the ordinary war cries. It is made by a smaller cat who Is quite sure that the battle is going to go against him. The mating calls of cats are like no other meows they make, and are easily distinguished. Spitting must be classed as a form of the cat's meow. Every one has heard it, when a cat was treed by a dog, and the feline had its back up and eyes glaring, claws unsheathed. The cat's growl is seldom heard, but Jack Spratt has favored me with sev- eral demonstrations. These growls were given when a dog came barking up to the window in which Mr. Spratt was sunning himself, with the pane between. There no neces- sity for spitting, he knew, but the situation demanded something out ot the usual. So Jack growled like a dog, deep down in his throat. BACKGROUND. OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS.. “Ye fruits, thorns, their from shall know them by Do ‘men gather grapes or figs from thistle For seven years bolshevism has ruled Russia. Under the Moralo law every seventh year was the year of release, the year of reckoning and a re-start. Bolsheviki want civilization to start over, by the Russian plan. What are its fruits? By the bolshevistic theory capi- talism {s abolished, the accumula- tions of years of faithful effort and industry wiped out in communism. Women and children no longer be long to the family, but to the state. Destruetion of religion is to bring liberty and joy, with license. All lands, live stock, farm implements, mines and other natural resources, factories, mills, banks, publications and control of commerce belong to the state. The right of Inheritance is abolished—all children start upon the same level, in penury as state wards; debts to landlords and na- tional debts to foreign lenders are repudiated. Free speech Is super- seded by the state Inquisition and the guillotine. Hundreds of thou- eandg of victims have been executed to teach this last lesson of tyranny. Now the leaders are obliged by the tragic ruin about them to suspend full enforcement of these radical theories, though they profess that the suspension. is but temporary. * ok Ok K The peasants are all illiterate— 70 years ago they were slaves. They have had no Freedman's Ald Soclety for thefr uplift, as had our own slaves 60 years ago. They were supersti- tious even under the guidance of their priests, who were moderately educated. Now that most of the priests have disappeared the church services are continued by the peas- ants, folklore taking the place of the Orthodox priesteraft. The peasants know nothing of modern” farming—they burned what farm machinery they could in their revolution. They have no incentive to produce & surplus above what will feed their own familles and stock, for it is overtaxed or conmfiscated, so less land ls cultivated since all land was confiscated than before the new treedom. This_condition betokens the “truft” by which bolshevism shall be judged. xox KX Counting the census for only such regions as remain Russian, after eliminating_ territory which has passed to Finland, Poland, Esthonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Rumania, in the post-war adjustments, it is found that permanent Rusalan-territory had a population in 1915 of 148,910,000, and in 1923 of 133,047,438—a loss of 15.000.000 in eight years. Another estimate indicates the loss as of 18,000,000 Prior to the World War the population of Russia had been increasing at the rate of 2,000,000 net a year; sincé the revolution, the net decrease has been 2,000,000 a year, making a total slump of 4,000,000 & year, as the “fruit” of the new treedom. These are Russian official data. . Before the war' there were 62,000 elementary schools, with 4,200,000 children in attendance. In October, 1923, there were only 49,000 schools, with 3,700,000 children. There a now only two-thirds as many second- ary schools as there were three years ago. Only two-thirds as large an appropriation for education is now allowed in the budget as was given Bafore the war. Conditions are grow. Ing worse for education. Even a: late as 1921 there were 160 universi- ties and higher schools and 80 tech- nical schools; now there are I than In 1921 the students of the universities and higher schools num- bered 190.000; now less than 100,000. These are flgures taken from the official report of Lunacharsky to the second session of the Russian central executive committee, made last Oc- tober, as published in the government organ, the Pravda, October 10, 1924. The Pravda also gives the report of Dogadov at the sixth congress of trade unions, concerning wages be- tween last July 1 and September 30, as compared with wages before t! wor. For example, metal workers are now receiving 56.6 per cent as much wages as before the war, tex- tile workers 91.7 per cent, miners 52.2 per cent, chemical 89.2, rallway 50 per cent and clerical 45 per cent. The average of all workers through- out the country Is 75 per cent aver- age of all industries in Leningrad, 90 per cent; in Moscow, the capital, where discontent would be dangerous, 109 per cent. In general, heavy in- dustry is getting 50 to b5 per cent, light industry 80 to 90 per cent of pre-war wage: Education and skill are espécially penalized—for such workers are in the minority of the people. . Doctors of medicine, outside of Moscow, re- cefve only 17 per cent of pre-war fees, when the Provinces of Moscow and Petrograd are included In the survey. excluding thosé two provinces, the “‘country dootors” get only 10 to.12 per cent, according to Semasko, the people’s- commissariat for - public health, reporting at the eleventh all- Russlan congress of Soviets, Janu- ary, 1924. * ok ok ok It is not sarprising that production keeps pace with reduced compensa- tion of workers. The agricultural production of 1922-23, as reported by the Supreme Soviet of People’s Econ- omy and published in Investia—gov- ernment controlled—December 4, 1924, was 75 per cent of pre-war produe- tion. The Industrial production for the same period was only 30 per cent. By the same authority, it ‘{s noted that to produce what 100 men .did before the war, now requires. the following numbers of men: Coal, 214 men; petroleum, 179; petroleum refin. ing, 213; cement, 212; glass, 203 woolen, 106; chemical, 292; tobacco, 318; shoes, 235. In metallurgy the annual output of one worker before the war worth 3,227 rubles; in 1923-24, 988 rubles. In machine making, 99,000 men before the war pro- duced goods valued at 173,000,000 rubl but in 1923-24 80,000 men turned out goods worth only 62,000,000 rubles. * %ok ok The comforts of life are indicated by the food consumed. In America the en» tire population averages 100 pounds of sugar per capita annually; in Russla, prior to the war, the sugar -consumed was 20 pounds per capita; In 1921-22 2.3 pounds; in 1922-23 it was 4.1 pounds, and in 1923-24 7.4 pounds. In coiton cloth the consumption last year was a trifle over one-third of the average before the war. Of pig iron, the universal in- dex of construction, the pre-war aver- age amounted to 72 pounds per capita in 1922-23 3.2 pounds, and in 1923- 14 pounds. All through these years the govern- ment has been exporting grain to force a favorable trade balance, mil- lions of Russians were starving; the SATURDAY, F RUARY 7, ’:Av. ~1925. THE LIBRARY TABLE BY THE looxLovn;n g Old George Forsyte, bachelor, club- man and sportsman, of the famous Forsyte family, whose genealogy, John Galsworthy gives at the begin- ning of his three- tamily novel “The Forsyte Saga,” has Just died in his lonely apartment, No, 11 Bel- ville Row, London. Soames Forsyte, his cousin, who has not seen him for months, happens to hear of his illness and stops to Inquire for him just a few hours before the old sportsman passes away, with a cigar in his mouth. Incidentally, Soames’ visit of a few moments is utilized by his dylng kinsman, who has been “always rackety,” for the drawing of a brief fcodicll to his will leaving £12,000 to his mistress. But it is not this fact, which will, of course, outrage old George's brothers and sisters, which Soames chiefly remembers about his visit. It is the presence over the fireplace in the bedroom of George Forsyte, opposite his bed, of a Chinese picture of “a large whitish sidelong monkey, holding the rind of a squeezed frult in its outstretched paw. Its whiskered face looked back at him with brown, almost human eyes” The picture haunts Soames and after George's death he buys it in and gives it to his daughter Fleur, wife of Michael Mont, “The monkey's eves,” he reflects, “the squeezed-out fruit—was life all a bitter jest and George deeper than himself.” This episode explains the title of Galsworthy's new novel “The White . Monkey,” a sequel to the “Forsyte Saga.” * Xk %k X The picture of the white monkey as a symbol of modern life forms the underlying theme of the novel. Aubrey Greene, the painter, expresscs the meaning of the monkey when he first stands before It in Fleur's draw- ing room and surprises Soames by being reverent instead of modernly fiippant. “Why, it's a perfect alle gory, sir! Eat the fruits of life, scatter the rinds and get copped doing it.” When Fleur is expecting her child and Soames is wandering about downstairs and in a state of nervous misery, he stops in front of the white monkey. There he is found by his son-in-law. “I should take were you,” he says, “Why, sir?” asked Michael, in sur- prise. Soames frowned. muttered. Michael went up to the picture. Yes! He was a haunting kind of brute! “But it's such top-hold work, sir,” Soames nodded. “Artistically, ves. But at such times you can't be too careful what she sees.” “1 believe you're right. Let's have him down.” So the white monkey is taken down and stored in a closet until the eleventh baronet of the house of Mont is safely born. Then Michael takes him out and mutter “The creature's eyes! But * ¢ T'll see the brute further before he shall depress me!” And he and Soames carefully replace the picture on its hook In the Chinese drawing room. “Those eyes,” he * kX K Blasco Ibanez, the Spanish novelist, has launched from Paris a furious on- slaught against the Spanish monarchy and King Alfonso, demanding his ab- dication. Published simultaneously in Spanish, French and English, the American editien of his first book or pamphlet in this campaign is entitled “Alfonso XIII Unmasked: the Military Terror in Spain.” It has been under- stood that Spain and its King had been neutral during the great war. Blasco Ibanez charges that through Alfonso's connivance certain Spanish ports were used by German subma- rines as supply bases, and that the King sympathized with the Kaiser be- cause he himself desired to be an absolute ruler of his kingdom. The King he holds responsible also for the recent disastrous Spanish campaign in Morocco. The author has suffered both prison &nd exile in defense of his republican ideals. His climax is “The King must go.” ® ok ok K In *The Faith of a Liberal” Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler has written a collection of 22 essays on social and political conditions in the United States. The discussion of what con- stitutes liberalism is the heart of the book. Dr. Butler considers radicals the only reactionaries and the worst enemles of liberalism. Socialists and communists, he says, impose upon the governed uniformity and conformity and eompulsion is their method, so they are in no sense democratic or liberal. The true liberal is a believer in liberty under the law, in a govrn- ment based on a constitution. He opposes government regulation of business, Jaws multiplied for the re- striction of personal liberty and locs” in legislative bodies. = Dr. Butler calls attention to the fact that party names have come to mean little, and that liberals are to be found in both the Republican and Democratic parti It is time for the formation of two new parties—a liberal Demo- crat-Republican party and a party which shall gather into itself all the radicals of the country. As regards international affairs, Dr. Butler be- lieves in our entry into the World Court, but not into the League of Nations. He says: “The conviction grows in many lands that there must be, in fact if not in form, a recon- sideration of some of the settlements made In the treaty of Versailles' ff Europe and the world are to regain their economic and political feet. * k ¥ % Q. When did Plerce's Mill, in Rock Cesek Fark, cesse operation?—O. 8. A. Plerce’s Mill, in Rock Creek Park, was bullt by Isaac Plerce In 1858. The caretaker says this mill a grist mill and it ground oats. barley, whaat and practically all grains raised in that vicinity and in Prince Georges County. According tg his records, the last batch was in 1502; however, previous to this date the mill did not operate for several years, . Q. Have Detroit and Pittsburgh any public schools where the “work- study-play” plan is followed?—L. T. M. A. Detroit has 85 schoolfon this plan. Pittsburgh has 40. Q. Has' foot ball alwavs been played by teams of eleven?—H. L. A. When the game of foot ball was first played 15 men were on & team The number was reduced to 12 and then to 11, as it now stands. Q. What is the story about the writing of the “Recessional,” by Kip- ling?—B. W. D. A. Kipling wrote the poem called “Recessional,” but regarding it as in- adequate, threw away the manuscript. Mrs. Kipling found it in the waste basket, from which she rescued it The poem was sent immediately to the London Times and appeared in that paper on the date of the cele- bration of Queen Victoria's great ju- bilee. Q. How have the four moons of Jupiter been responsible for the ad- vancement of geography and naviga- tion? T find this statement in a book. AW S.T. A. The Naval Observatory says to determine his longitude a navigator or explorer gets the lgcal time from astronomical observations and the Greenwich time from his chronome- ter. The difference between the two then gives the longitude from Green- wich. In the days before accurate chronometers were available the moons of Jupiter could be made use of as a substitute. Almanacs were published, as they stili are, which gave in advance the time of all the eclipses of the four moons, which oc- cur pretty frequently, and an ex- plorer provided with such an al- manac and a small telescops, by ob- serving an eclipse, could get the Greenwich time at whatever other place in Europe the almanac was constructed for, though by no means 80 accurately as it would be"got from a modern chronometer. The use of a telescope at sea being difficult, this method of determining longitude was not suited to mariners.. The first manac of the moons of Jupiter ap- peared at Bologna in 1688. Q, Why is it stated that no one was ever bitten by a snake in Jeru- salgm?—A. B. C. A. Theo authorities we have con- sulted say that there are poisonous snakes in Jerusalem, and tnasmuch as.yipers are apt to attack people re. gardless of the vicinity where they are found, the statement made that persons in Palestine have never been bltten is not based on fact. Q. When was the law passed re- ducing the flag to 13 stripes?—B. B. A. The Continental Congress pass- ed a resolution on June 14, 1777, that the flag have 13 stripes, alternating red and white, and a union consist- ing of 13 stars of white on a field of blue. Vermont having been admitted to the Union in 1791, and Kentucky in 1792, Congress enacted, on Janu- ary 13, 1794, a law that the flag of the Unlted States be 15 stripes, alter- nating red and white, and that the union be 15 stars. The number of reason, in 1817, Congress enacted a law that the number of stripes be re- duced to 13, to represent the 13 origi- nal States, and that the number of stars be increased to 20, one for each State in the Union. Q. What was the remark that Dr. Lyman Abbott made about Jenny Lind's singing?—A. C. S. A. He sald “It was impossible to doubt the resurrection while she was singing ‘I know that my Redeemer liveth.” " Q. When did arithmetic originate? —S. W. P. A. Mathematics as a science made its first definite appearance among the Egyptians. There mre evidences States increased rapidly, and for this | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN Hindus and Babylonians, but the earliest written -records of consider- able mathematical progrese are found in Egypt and give an interesting view of the state of the sclence as early as the latter part of the third millennium before Chriat.. Q. What are Mexican called?—E. E. T. A. They are known as teccalll. pyvamids Q_ When was it made legal in Eng- land for & man to marry his deceased wife's sister ?—T. M. A. The law was passed in 1888 ‘Q. Why 8 there such a demand for self-rising flour in the South for quick breads?—W. M. A It is to somie extent @ matter of habit and preference, but based upon the fuct that yeast does not keep well in warm climate: Q. 1s the Fas political party?—F. A. McQ. A. The Fascisti Is not a religious. but a political organization. The ma- jority of the members undoubtedly belong to the Roman Catholic Church Q. Please give reasons for Ameri can occupation of Haiti.—A. E. A. In July, 1915, American marines were landed in Halti in order to ter- minate the increasing reign of terros and to protect the legations. Contin- ued revolutionary uprisings led t more active intervention, and on Sep tember 16, 1915, a treaty was signe{ providing for the establishment of receivership of customs and super- vision of Haitian finance for a term of 10 yea under the control of the United States Q. Can carrier C. C. A. According to the postal laws a regultaions a rural mail carrier an postmaster cannot be husband wife. a religious or a the be wife of a rural ma appointed postmaster Q. What is the ‘WVirgin of Alsace™ ?— V. T.R. A. You evidently refer to Bourdell's memorfal, which Is to be placed o the highest peak of the Alsatian Alps in memory of the men who fell in the World War. A mother offers in sacri- fice her chiid, whose body forms a cross. The original design in marble is now on exhibition in this country. Q. When was Alexander II of Rus- sta killed?>—H. O. A. He was assassinated March 1881. Q. What will from mildewing?- H. A The simplest way to prevent rildewing is to keep the leather in a well ventilated and well lighted place, preferably one oxposed to the sun- light. Mildew cannot make muc headway in sunshine. ‘When mildew develops it should be washed off with s0ap and warm water, or simply wiped off with a moist cloth, drying the leather ell afterward. keep leather books Q. When is the best time to trim maple trees?—S. H. F. A. The Department of Agriculture says that the best time to trim maple trees is in June, when they are § most active growth. Probably t worst time is in August, unless just as the b are pushing, they are most likely to bleed. Q. Please give the purcha power of the dollar from 1913 now.—R. M. O A. The purchasing power of the dollar taking the average of 1913 as |a base, computed in December each { year, for all commodities been: | 1913, $1.01; 1914, $1.03 cents; 1916, 67 cents; 1917, 1918, 50 cents; 1919, 45 cents cents; 1921, cents; 19 cents, and 1923, 65 cents Q ac A. The Paint Manufacturers” Asso- ciation says that the commonest causes are dampness in the woo | dampness back of the wood; oc! priming coats; .old paint loosely at- tached to the wood and not thorqush- ly cleaned away; fatty, resinous wood, not properly seasoned or prepared for painting, and boiled oil. (If you have a question you want an- swered send it to The Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Twenty-first and C stre worthwest The only-charge for this service is 2 it is when till What causes paint to peel off?— of its antiquity among the Chines. Reminded again ‘of that peculiar situation which has made “Bloody Willlamson” County, IHinols, the dark spot in America, many editors see hope that from the recent slaying of Glenn Young and Ora Thomas, to- gether with two othar rival faction leaders in Herrin, new leaders may not spring to arms and that Herrin may qulet down and become a normal American community. Others are not so optimistic and point to the fact that “Bloody Willlamson” has been “Bloody Willlamson” since long be- fore the late leaders were born. ~According to the New York Times: “Willlamson County, in southern Il- linols; is an old Nordic enclave, the t of a spirited population. For Tyler Dennett of the State Dgpart- ment is engaged on a study of Theo- dore Roosevelt as a diplomat.‘which will sooner or later be issued in book form. Under the title, “Could T. R Have Stopped the War?' he _pab- lishes in the February World's Work an interesting analysis of Roosevelt's probable action during the last days of July, 1914, had he, instead of Woodrow Wilson, been President. He bases his conclusions on what Roose- velt actually did In 1904:1905 to keep the Russo-Japanese War from becom- ing a world war, and his warning to the Kalser not to permit the Morocco affair- to -bring on- a gen- eral European war. In view of these facts, and Roosevelt's statement in 1911 concerning the interest of the United States in the balance of power in Europe, Mr. Dennett believes that he would undoubtedly, as he aft- erward asserted, have again served notice on the Kaiser of the American Interest in the maintenance of peace, with the result that the great. war would have turned out to be only another of thé periodic outbreaks in the Balkans. * % ok % According to Stuart P. Sherman, one of the. distinctions between H. G. Wells apd Thackeray is. that the Vie- torian novelist percéived and resign- ed himself to the'fact that “tedium 18 three-fourths of life.”” " In his new and sometimes contentlous book, “My Dear Cornelin,” Mr. Sherman remarks, “Sensible men settle down quletly to . years or more, before and after the Civil ‘War, it practiced the ven- detta. Under one name or another, Regulators, White Cappers, Night Riders; 1t ‘indulged in the diversions of “minding other people’s business, 'shooting and being shot at” Due, te- Industrial lawléssness and - to state of war between Klan and anti-Klan factions,” observes the Minneapolis Tribune, “there have been 33 deaths by violence at Herrin, Ill, within two and a half years. Twenty-two . others -~ have been wounded. o “Out of this.latest shooting,” re- marks the South Bend Tribune, “comes the mot unfounded hope that it will be the last. S. Glenn Young, agatnst ‘whom the men-of -the Wil- Hamson Tounty sherHt's office were in relentless opposition, is dead; and in dylng he brought “down with his pistol Sheriff Galligan's chief deputy. That should even the score &nd fur- nish-a basis for future peace, es- pecially as two of Young’s assoclates also were killed in the street battle.” * Xk % The“ Peorla Transcript thus de- scribes the aftermath of the latest upriging: “A purple robe, red head- lines and columns of ‘human Interest’ stuff in yéllow newspapers: is the color_scheme decorating the death of S. Glenn Young, man-killing, two- gun_ Kien raiier, who ‘shat it out’ with “a deputy sherifft jn a “Herrin cigar store. The purplé robs is be- cause he was a kieagle in the Klan, it is sald. The red headlines are be- ¢ndure it, sustained by their fortitude .ind their 25 per cent of creature com- corts and Incidentals. The others imagine that by Babbittian advent- ures they can change the proportion and get something better than tedium. There' 18 nothing that is even ‘just as good.’ Thackeray knew this and ad- mitted it. Mr. Wells® hasn't admit- cause news editors know that Her- rin's savagery is always salable news. The human interest stuff in yellow newspapers is beeause it is inherent in man to read and shiver.” 1 S “The comtinuing shame of Herrin reflects first and most on WilHamson QCounty and on the State,” declares the New York World, which adds, “I1- linois cannot escape its share of the ‘| responsibility If it still takes the lazy ports are no longer possible. With not only agriculture paralyzed but-industry at & standstill/ the beginning of & total collapse of the Russian experiment. ap:. (Copyeight, 1088, by Paul V. Collins.. view. that nothing can be.done about Hefrin except to let it alone.” For once too often, thinks the Akron Be on Journal, “Herrin has disgraced self-governed people which is fond of sending missionaries to Instruct cents in stamps for return postage.) Editors Deplore Failure - To Prevent Herrin Tragedies |others im Christian precepts and the |blessedness of righteousness and land order.” And in the opinion the Chicago Daily News: “The law {and the representatives of the law are very close to abdication when |pitched battles and murderous feu can be fought out time after time in public thoroughfares. Speedy and ef- fective justice is the oné remedy for feuds and gang murders, as it is for individual crimes.” “The latest tragedy in Herrin ap- pears to have resulted fatally for the leaders of rival factlons,’ says ‘the Seattle Times, which adds; “Perhaps, 1€ left to follow peaceful impuises, t population of Herrin may settle down to ordered peace. In that way last- ing good may come out of the grim meeting between the leaders.” And the Balem (Oreg.) Capital Journal ex- presses a similar hiope with, “now that- the ringleaders in the battle of bigotry have paid the final penalty, |1t is to be hoped their followers will jrealize the folly of their way and permit law and order to resume its sway, as becomes a civilized com- imupity.” While the Fargo Tribune, |with some pessimism, asks the ques- ition: “Can it be that the troubles in {Herrin have attracted any more like Yeung? of *w ok ok ‘When we forget law and order it is the women and children who pay,” the Milwaukee Journal réflects. The Journal adds: “They don'€ even have the-benefit of dying. Thelrs i$ a life wrenched -from its proper ehannels, with hardships ahead, bieak years. That Is the first toll of the gun.” The historical novels of the Waest, ob- serves the Sioux City Journal, “tell of days that have gone and of char- aoters that-have passed, bad men who fowght and -killed, unwilling that the law should take its course in an ef- fort at the correction of Injustice. These narratives would have it that nowhere js' there left a community where Mfe is.lived.in the raw; but their authors have not given atten- tion to Herriu, 111, that town which continues to revive perfodically the sensations of an earlier day.” _Speaking of Young and Thomas, the Memphis News-Scimffar says:- “They Dboth are Jaid to rest in the same little cemetery and after a whilé even Her- rin will forget that they ltved, and when feminded -of the traged§ the answer probably will be that ‘two freaks, each believing himself to be the embodiment of righteousness, died at-the hands of each other and ihen came peace and. quiet.” Of - Glenn Young: the Charlotte Observer says “Escape had been given him in many instances that probably he had some reason to believe he bore a charmed-lite, a bellef which no-doubt added to the‘courage and boldness of| his ‘operation.” And the: Savannah News adds: “Men said be wae ‘hard to kil but after all it only takes one well directed bullet to end the luckiesq career.”