Evening Star Newspaper, March 19, 1925, Page 6

6 THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 1925. THE EVENING STAR|Washington is now about to seek a | ber are destroved by man-caused fires, ; THIS AND THAT With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON. D. C. . THURSDAY......March 19, 1925 THEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office. 11th St. and Pennsyivania Ave. New York Office: 110 East znd St. Chicago Office: Tower Building. European Otfice : 14 Kegent 8t.,London, England. with the Sunday morning by earriers within the per man:h: duily only, 43 cents per month: Sunday ooly, 30 cents per month. Orders mas_be went by mail or tele- uhone Main 2000, Col o is made by car riers at the end of each month. The Esening Star. ition, s delivered iy At @ e Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. 1 e, $8.40; 1 13, $8.00% 1 1w, $2.405 2 Daily Daily Sunday and only only Sunday All Other States. Iy and Sundas....1 yr., $10.0 iIs only 1rr, $id Bunday onlv 1y, 8 Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dis- ed to It or not otherwise credited per and also the local news pub. All rights of publication of tehes herein are also reserved. New York's Rent Problems. New York, like Washington. to solve its housing prob- lem arbitrary The report of the New York Housing Commission, now made public, indicates that the attempt nas Leen a failure; that the housing prob- lem in New York continues, and that conditions are growing steadily worse instead of better. With the failure of the Ball bill to extend the life of the Rent Commis- of the District of Columbia, Washington is returning to the pre- situation, when the economic the law of supply and demand, upon prices Che District Rent Com- been decisions, rough Leat ms sion war law, will be the sole checl and rentals. mission, whose activities have restricted court through ceases to exist May n next New York the housing problem has angles which do not exist here, vet nevertheless there are points of similarity which make the report of the New York Housing Commission of much Arguments put forward by supporters of rent regu- lation interest. in the two cities are similar— the arguments of the op- New York went a step fur- Washington in its effort to e problem. It provided for a remission of taxes on new construc- tion houses and apartments for and relieved trom the as are ponents. ther than solve t of rental new purposes such appii- law. construction of rent-regulation while there has been much rew building in New York, it is not of such a character as to meet the demands of moderate earnings pocketbooks. in cation But, the the people who have and small sized Capital will not engage building operations because of the regulation of rents. The same has been found true to a considerable extent in Washington. To meet this situation, it is now proposed in New York that the State provide funds for constructing homes which may be occupled by the near- poor and the poor. But such a step would, it scems, remove the proba- bility for a time to come of having private capital engage in this field. A vicious circle is threatened in which the building of moderate- priced homes hecomes the job of the government for an indefinite period. The New York State Housing Com- mission has shown in its report the poor are being driven into the old tenements, undesirable in every way except price. Pre-war apartment such long houses are not being kept up; repairs are neglected by landlords, who feel that they are not permitted to obtain a fair return their money. In short, living conditions and the com- fort of the very people whom the law alms to assist are growing worse. Under such circumstances the al- ternatives to be further and more drastic control by the govern- ment, with the government actually entering the field of construction, rental, ete., a complete abandon- ment of government <o that the economic laws may again hold sway. In New York, as in Washing- ton, the demand from of the tenants is for additional government control. Here in Washington the de- mand for a permanent Rent Commission —as embodied in the Whaley bill—and for more drastic laws dealing with the landlords in be- half of tenants. In New York it is now proposed that the government itself enter the real estate business. Opposition to the continuance of Government control of housing in Washington, while the congressional committee was struggling with the problem a few weeks ago, was argued along two lines. First, that housing, conditions had improved in Washing- ton so as to warrant the abandon- ment of Government control. Second, that Government control as long as it is maintained would prevent the in- vestment of capital in the needed field of building operations. In the end the congressional committee compromised. A bill was reported extending the life of the Rent Commission for two years, providing for the licensing of real estate operators and dealers, and penalizing - pyramiding of values through fake sales. But in the leg- islative jam at the close of the last Congress the bill failed to be brought up for consideration in either Senate House In other cities of the country—in- cluding Chicago and Philadelphia, and our neighbor, Baltimore—there was the same cessation of building opera- tions during the war as in Washing- 1on and New York. The country gen- erally got far behind in meeting the requirements of its people for homes. But in those other cities the law of supply and demand has been permitted to operate—working temporary hard- ehips to individuals, it is true, but with the result that conditions have Yettered instead of growing worse. on seem or control, ome arose a | Senators themselves has | {the Associated Press solution of its problem in the same way. In New York, however, with a vast renting population, and the fear of immedlate increases in rentals, there may be some delay before gov- ernment control is finally abandoned, as undoubtedly it will be abandoned in the end. e Mr. Dawes Enters the Fray. Vice President Dawes is promptly going to the people with his fight for | reform in the Senate rules of debate putlined in his inaugural address. He {will take the war into the enemy's country, meaning by this that instead of conducting a contest with the Sen- ate he proposes to induce the constit- uents of Senators to bring pressure to bear from “back home” on the in favor of the reform. He is to build a fire in the Senators’ rear. Persons in the confidence of Vice President Dawes declare that he is in deadly earnest in his fight against the existing rules of the Senate which permit unlimited talk, to the detri- ment of the public interest. In his opening address to the Senate Mr. Dawes made plain his realization that he is under no obligation for office to the Senate. He was elected by the people and is not indebted to the Sen- ate in any way for his tenure of office. Naturally of a very independent na. iture, he is said to be in no mood to governmental | consider anything in this campaign for reform but his stewardship to the voters at large. His first address on the subject will be delivered at the annual luncheon of of New York, April 21. Later he will speak in Ohio and then in Indiana. Assured of the widest publicity for his campaign, he will urge his proposed reforms in quarters where they will attract the widest public attention. It is his ex- pectation to be able to create a vol- ume of public sentiment in favor of his proposed change in the Senate rules which may be reflected in the attitude of Senators when they come back with the new Congress and face the duty of revising the ancient rules of the upper chamber. Vice President Dawes does not look upon the issue of rules reform as par- tisan. He will, therefore, not make his intended speeches before parti- san political gatherings, but to non- partisan meetings. The Associated Press audience, of course, will be non- political in the widest sense. That Mr. Dawes' fight for reform will bring discussion and expressions of varied tenor goes without saying. The extent of limitation of senatorial | debate is a two-sided question and as old as the Senate itself. Between 1806, when the present rules were adopted, and 1917, when the cloture rule was added, 87 different resolu- tions were introduced in the Senate to bring it into effect. Yet the power exerted by the individual Senator through the right to talk legislation to death has proven so precious to the senatorial mind that for 111 years practically nothing was done to cur- tail it. And when, under President Wilson, a cloture rule was finally adopted, it was only in such restricted form as to have created an apprecia- tion of the nced for additional reform. It is this desire on the part of an unknown portion of the public which Vice President Dawes has rendered articulate and virile—the desire to secure the right of a responsible ma- Jority to obtain a decision on its legis- lative proposals. Tt is now his mis- sion so to crystallize national opinion as to render it conclusively for or agdinst his proposal e ‘Walter Camp. Americans in every walk of life are mourning the passing of Walter Camp, often called the father of foot ball, dean of athletic mentors in this coun- try, who was laid to rest Monday in New Haven, the place of his birth, his college career and his lifework, large- ly a labor of love, in promoting clean athletics. As @ fine and appealing type of modern American manhood his su- perior would be difficult to find. Those who played against him dur- ing his college career pride them- selves on the fact as highly as do those fortunate enough to have been his teammate: Those who had the benefit of his skilled coaching and his understanding advice are gcarcely less proud. Men of more than middle age today thrill to the achievement of hav- ing been placed on one of his long series of all-America foot ball teams. His annual selections were noted with interest by thousands of persons who never saw him and never saw one of the players on his mythical elevens. As good a commentary as any on the esteem in which his powers of discrimination and fairness of mind were held comes from a rival univer- sity, Princeton. Some years ago that college had @ number of players of all- American calihgr. Opinions differed so sharply as to just how many, that bets were made on the subject. Sev- eral well qualified experts were then publishing these elect elevens. When the results were made known all the others gave Princeton more places than did Camp. But the bets were cheerfully paid according to the dictum of the man from New Haven. Although Yale University was his alma mater, and throughout his life. time received the special benefit of his fine mind and fine body, he neverthe- less belongs to all American colleges first and to Yale second. e L The confirmation of Mr. Sargent was 80 prompt as to bring some high- ly, interesting oratory to an abrupt conclusion. N American Forest Week. President Coolidge, by proclamation, has designated the week of April 27- May 3 as American Forest week. He urges that Arbor day, the national plant-a-tree day, be observed within that week, so far as not inconsistent with State laws designating specific Arbor day dates. But Arbor day tree planting is only a minor feature of the proposed For- est week observation. A more im- ‘portant feature, but still not the major one, is forest fire prevention. It is a national scandal that each year about 8,000,000 acres of standing tim- some of the fires being of incendiary origin, but most of them being due to plain carelessness and indifference. Such devastation of any other na- tional resource would be looked upon as criminal, but the American people ave strangely apathetic over the de- struction of their forests. They seem to accept it as a visitation of Provi- dence, when it is nothing of the kind. Destruction of wealth through the burning of forests runs into amazing figures, but there is an immeasurably vaster loss of wealth through lack of any consistent forest program. Secre- tary Jardine estimates that about 80,000,000 acres of forest land is now idle which ought to be at work today growing timber for future genera- tions. Amnericans, with respect to thelr forests, are like the improvident peo- ple of old who ate their seed corn and slaughtered their heifers. A great deal of thought is being de- voted to conservation of our coal and oil resources, but all that can be hoped to be accomplished there is economy in consumption. It is not within the power of man to replenish these reser- voirs of fuel supplies. Not 8o with our forests. If we are wise we can do what the little girl was unable to do, we can eat our forest cake and have it, With an intelligent forest policy, supported by law and public opinion, a hundred vears from now the forest resources of the Nation will be as great as they are tod: And that is the reason for American Forest week which President Coolidge has proclaimed. There is not & man, woman or child in America who has not a stake in the game, and all must be brought to a realization that each must do his part in the way of sup- port and encouragement for a na- tional forest policy. . An impression on the part of Sena- tor Borah that the atmosphere of Washington is weakening to backbone must be regarded as an objective spec- ulation. Subjectively it cannot be be- lieved that Mr. Borah has noticed any- thing of the sort. ——— too. Long ago the question “What's the matter with Kansas?" used to be pro- pounded in more or less whimsical spirit. Criminologists are beginning to make the same inquiry in all se- riousness about Chicago. R Arrangements will be required to secure an orderly system of seat- ing diplomats at a senatorial debate The privilege of listening at the Cap- itol, hitherto largely ignored, has be- come one of valued importance. ———— The one prominent success Ger- many has enjoyed in connection with the war is that attending her hopes of prolonging the argument as to final settlement. ——— An administration which couples an economy program with systematic tax reduction cannot fail to impress the country as being eminently prac- tical in its ideas. . Having nearly weathered the Win- ter's coal bills, the ultimate consumer | is now confronted with threats of a | raise in cost of Summer gasoline. o The Attorney General's office has become a notable stepping stone from comparative seclusion to general fame. ——— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. At the Newsstand. Give me a Record, mister, With the latest Congress news. I'm tired of the cross-word twister And the comics that don't amuse. I'm tired of the news, so checkered, Of crime or a sad misstep. It's the old Congressional Record That's providing the real pep. What do I care for the stories Of sweetheart or sleuth today, When I catch a hint of the glories Of Webster or Henry Clay The fiction that ripples gaily Proves futile with all its skill. Just give me the Record daily That’s providing the real thrill! Suppressed Emotion. “How do you account for the de- cline of oratory in this country?” Some of us statesmen,” answered Senator Sorghum, “got o in the habit of filibustering that we kind o' for- got the art of speaking out in genu- ine earnest."” Spring Poem. They say none should ever be lofty or proud, the season approaches boasting’s allowed. The chiding of Winter is laid on the shelf And Nature is throwing bouquets at herself, Yet when Jud Tunkins says faith in human nature is a fine thing, but it has got 50 there’s no use expecting it from a prohibition agent. Familiarities. “I was surprised to learn the man you threw out of the card game was a stranger.” “You might have known it en- swered Cactus Joe. “Only a stranger would have tried to make hisself per- fectly at home all over the Gulch the way he did.” Inert Inoculation. The quietude of last.Inauguration day A rather slight impression seems to make. It was a vaccination fine, they say, But 3k apparently has failed to Meeting an Emergency. “You discovered moonshine liquor in your settlement.” “Yes,” answered Uncle Bill Bottle- top. “Did you send for the police?” “We forgot about that. We were t0o busy trying to get a doctor.” “De man dat gits de most benefit f'um religion,” said Uncle Eben, “is de one dat keeps thinkin' ‘bout, it 'stld o' talkin’ 'bout it* Our old friend “Subsoriber” writes me the following letter: ‘As an interested reader of your evening discussions in your column of “This and That,’ may T not ask you if you do not place Edgar Allan Poe and Sidney Lanier in your literary square? “A reply to this much-discussed question would greatly interest many of your readers. Of course, the po- sition of these two poets, with Eng- lishmen of letters, has long since been decided.” . I print this letter because it gives me & chance to write about one of my favorite poets, Edgar Allan Poe. 1 seldom print an anonymous letter, because 1 seldem receive one. My readers sign their names, just as [ dad. 1 did place Poe and Lanier in my square, and in proof thereof refer any one Interested to “This and That” of February 27, in which I first pro- posed such a park. Discussing therein the statues of eminent American literary men and women to be placed In the square, the writer advocated a commission, and continued: i “Certainly such a literary commis- sion would have to consider such |men as William Cullen Bryant, Edgar {Allan Poe, Walt Whitman, Jumes | Russell Lowell, Henry Wadsworth | Longfellow, er Wendell Hoimes, Ralph Waldo son, Siduey Lanicr {and John Greenleaf Whitt “Curtis Hidden Page, in his Chief American Poets, gives selec- tions from the above authors The | frontisplece shows their portraits, with Longfelllow occup ng the honor position in the center of the page.” * ¥ ¥ ¥ Other names I proposed, in that original article on Literary Square, were Nathaniel Hawthorne, James Fenimore Cooper, Herman Melville, Washington Irving, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Stephen Crane, O. Henry, Mark Twaln and Benjamin Franklin. Sine that time suggestions have come for the inclusion of Joaquin Miller, Bret Harte, James Whitcomb Riley, Eugene Field and Jean Stratton Porter. Indeed, a Literary Square without Poe in it would be no literary square at alll Tt would be worse than “Hamlet” with no Hamlet, or that absurd book published during the war purporting to deal with the world's musiclans—with German composers left out. Today let us consider Poe just as a poet. T believe that he is the best answer in the world to the group of ultramodern intellectuals who feel that there is something unworthy in rhyme. There is nothing unmanly in rhyme when it is written tMe way Poe wrote it. “The Helen. thy beauts is to me Like those Nicean barks of yore That gently, o'er a perfumed sea The weary, way-worn wanderer bo Ta his own native shore. On_desperate seas long wont to roam, Thy hyacioth hair, And the grandeur that was Kome The man who wrote that, world- famous and age-famous, as undying in fame as the stars above, was the master of rhyme. It did not master him. Hisart was so spontaneous, yet S0 mature; so free, vet so careful, that he achleved impressionism with end-rhymes far beyond anything that the so-called “free verse” writers of today can get with effects. * ok ox % Poc’s poems, probably more than those of any other poet. remind one of gems. another like a ruby. fect, clean cut, yet inner glow. His poems remind one of the finish- ed work of a small group of short story writers, including Daudet, de They are per- alive” with the The Washington Society of Artists has an exhibition of paintings at the Corcoran Art Gallery. Another show- {ing of art is in progress at the Na- j tional Museum, and next Saturday a third exhibit of pictures will be opened at the Auditorium in connec- tion with the Board of Trade In- dustrial exhibition. Nevertheless, the public of Wash- ington is dlagnosed by the artists as |having locomotor ataxia or anemic indifference as to whether thei |paintings are ‘“archaic,” primitive,” | “Renaissant,” “Barbazonic,” “lumi- nistic,” “plein-air,” “shut-in," “tight,” ‘impressionistic"—"post or “in: aviste,” “futurist,” “jazzis or the “I-know-what-I-Like" school. A The innocent bystander asks naively, “What is art?” The wife of one of America’s most famous artists confided to an inti- mate friend: "My husband is now fa- mous; - his pictures are given the place of honor in all exhibitions. The critics praise his technique and art- ists defer to hix skill. But we are still poor, for nobody buys his can- vases, even after they take prizes. I can’t understand why." Another artist, Whose pictures “sing” with the joy of the beauty of {nature, has orders ahead for his color dreams. Yet the art juries often grudgingly poke his canvases into obscure corners and damn with praise more neutrally evasive than a_ Whistler “Symphony in White." Why? Which artist ' is expressing art? * ow o Dr. Burleigh Parkhurst, pupil of Sartain, Bouguereau and Tony-Fleury —a popular college lecturer on art, author, of the standard handbook, “The Painter in Oil" and of books tracing the history and development of successive ideals—a critic today sojourning in Washington—declares that for centuries the public had be- come accustomed to accepting cer- tain symbols of art and had learned art’s language as interpreted by the great artist: Then some. 50 years ago Monet invented a ‘“constructed language.” based on Chevreul's sci- ence of juxtaposition of pure colors, whose optical effect is more brilliant than that of pigments mixed into tints, upon the palette. Certain fol- lowers of Monet have adoptec that “constructed language” and seek to carry their messages to the ‘public in the invented vocabulary, regardless of whether the public knows the new words and phrases. “It is like the invented languages of Volapuk and Esperanto,” says Dr. Parkhurst, “not understandable ex- cept to the inventors and their pu- pils. Not so is any language brought into general use. It is not through invention, but by graduazl evolution and accretion and expression, that a language gains use. “Not long ago, in France, there was an attempt made to create in literature a new use of words. The dadaists attempted to rely on rhwh- mically expressing messages by using familiar words entirely apart from their accepted meaning and se- quence. The dada writer perhaps knew what he meant, but certainly others could not.” * x x *x ‘What is recorded in a painting could not exist except as it has come through the mental acceptance of the rtist; nor be comprehended except through the mental recognition of | to their studied | seem One gleams like a diamond, | BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Maupassant. O. Henry and Haw- thorne, In their stories results are achieved with such perfect art as to conceal art. Days may have been aspent In polishing a story, yet the story itself does not show it. The tale shines with life. The right word is in the right place. Here Is an adjective that just fits. Only the mind of a master could have put it there. ‘It is genius. So it Allan Poe. is with the poems of Edgar His words are used with a purpose. He knew what he was doing. Personally, 1 do not believe he composed “The Raven” in any such mechanical fashion as he himself sald he did. Genfus works by no laws, not even its own. A spirit hovers over him and selzes his pen. When he gets through, he looks at his work and whispers: “Who wrote itz Take those lines from “The Valley of Unrest.” Ab. by no wind those clouds are driven That rustle through the unquiet heaven Uneasily, from morn till even, Over the violets there that lie In myrlad types of the human eye— Over ‘the lilies there that wave And weep above a nameless grave! They " wave:—(rom out thelr fra Fternal dews come down in_drop They weepi—from off thelr delicate Perennial tears descend in gews. nt tops stems. One has a suspicion that most any modern writer of “verse liber” would | sell hix soul to be able to write four lines such as those last. be read aloud Try it They have for the best effect wave:—from out their fragrant ernal dews come down in drop They weep:—from off their delicate stems Perennial tears descend in gems. The secret of this charm is hard to find. It is in more than just the end-rhymes. It {s music in words, whether the new poetry cult cares to admit the existence of such a quality or not. Thou wast that all to love, For which my soul did pine— A green isle fountain tops, We can forgive that “did pine” for the rest of it. The ending: And ‘ail my davs are trances, And_all “my nightly dreaws And where thy gray ese glances, And where thy footatep gleam In_what ethereai dances By what eternal streams. X E* One lingers over Poe's posms as he might over a casket of rare Jewels which belonged to some one else, but which one would like to keep. The reader enjoys the word music, but he cannot call it his own, al- though he loves it. Do you know why? Because these poems belong to Poe. These poems are more peculiarly his than the poems of any other writer are that writer's. The magic he put in them was his alone. In their pecullar way they unigue. It fs not NIt that does it, although they have lilt. It is not their music that makes them great although they possess that quality to a transcendent degree. Only from a dark, brooding soul h as Poe, could these poems have and, although he gave thein to the world, he kept them fast to him- self forever. Perhaps no real lover but feels this. reads with delight, yet he goes dissatisfied. Other poets sur- ender themselves to the reader. The. to say. “Here are my poems, they are yours. But Poe is different. He makes you realize the precious irony of life. Lol 't is a gal Within the lo 1 throng, nd dro are away bewinged, bedight wied in’ tears. fears. a breathes fitfully The music of the spheres. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. the beholder. What one sees s whatever he is trained by habit or education to look for, however un- consciously he exercises that train- ing. A modernist protested that he “must paint what he sees”—he must “express himself.” Whistler conceded that liberty, but added: “Yes, my dear fellow, paint what you see, but the shock comes when you see what you paint.” * % ok % The untrained public, not learned in the dadaism of modern art, per- sist in choosing, in opposition fo the art juries, the pictures - for their homes which may not “express the artist,” but by which they are sooth- ed, comforted or inspired. Is that not art's mission? Some artists profess that they care nothing for truth of drawing—and prove it—and still less for the thought behind the color. “Is art thought? Has art a mes- sage beyond its technique? Should & modern artist be tied to the use of models?" they protest. Dr. Parkhurst rejoins: *“Is art not dependent still upon perceptions which derlve uitimately from nature? If the expression of these percep- tions be technically so detached from the comprehension of the layman, can it carry a message?”’ The inference is that art 2 message is void. “But art is not in was suggested. Certainly not,” replied Dr. Park- hurst, “but neither is it art if it be bound up in the chemistry of optics. Art is the expression of the esthetic ideas of the artist,. For example, at the Corcoran exhibit is a painting of “Spring." From time immemorial -all peoples have expressed by dancing their joy at their relief from cold Winter. In this picture is the spirit of the Spring dance. It is true to nature and the scene—not to a mere scientific color formula of vividness. Monet .never forgot the fundamen- tals, but many of his followers have exaggerated the science of colors while they forget the art of color and the true aim of art.” * k% % without itation of na- Sir William Orpeh, president of the Roval Academy, writes in his “Out- lines of Art “The public, as well as the techni- cal expert, can appreciate good draw- ing, attractive color and well balanced design; but these things alone will not serve to capture its imagination. It demands rightly that a picture should contain an idea or an emotion that can be clearly grasped.” * Kk ok One of the strongest American champions of the modern art tech- nique—the Monet sclence in extreme —was the late Dr. Ernst Fenallosa of the Boston Art Museum, one time spe- cial art commissioner of Japan. Dr. Fenallosa contended that the test of art was its rythmic flow of lines, its proportions, its “pattern” and its pointillistic handling of pure colors, which get their blending in the eyes of the beholder and not on the pal- ette. The thought expressed in a pic- ture w of no consequence—all that mattered was technique. If thought were emphasized, the picture would be “literary” —a condemnation be- yond hope. Let the Washington public rise from {ts lethargy and answer cate- gorically yes or no—after seeing the exhibits. b 5 AVoprright, 202, by Paw Y, Geliaa THE NORTH WINDOW BY LEILA MECHLIN. A story is told of a native of Mount Desert Island who, becoming exas- perated at the con‘inual boasting of the mainlanders of the scenic beauty of their outlook, remarkec, “We have scenery on the island—plenty of it; only we're settin’ on it.” This is ex- actly the position in which many of us find ourselves with regard to co- temporary ‘art. We are too close to it to realize its beauty or judge of its merit. To do either correctly we must have perspective; we must look across @ span—in this case, of years. Thomas Jefferson counseled his Vir- ginld colleagues who were planning to erect a State capitol at Richmond to take as examples those great buildings of the past, the design of which “generations had agreed to admire.” It was a safe standard, for as perspective is prolonged that which is not great disappears from view. And yet there are those today who would have us discard such ac- sumulative wisdom, those who hold that the past Is utterly unrelated to the present, and that it holds no value for us save in matter of avoid- ance. * % * % The commission appointed by the Sccretary of Commerce to visit and report upon the International Exposi- tion of Modern and Decorative In- dustrial Art in Paris in 1925 has is- sued recently for publication a state- ment concerning the program of this exposition. After calling attention to the importance of the exhibition and the fact that practically every for- | cign country will exhibit therein its artistic productions, mention is made of the restrictive clause barring out all “reproductions, imitations and counterfeits of ancient styles.” “For the first time,” we are told, “an in- ternational exposition is to be held that will be confined to examples of decorative and industrial art con- celved in the modern spirit—a very significant event in the history of arts” Then comes this interesting paragraph: The exposition represents a very important milestone in the long stretch of years from tlie time when the machine replaced the craftsman as the labor element in producing industrial art—years that were mark- ed for half a century by awful ex- amples of the florid and ornate, and in later times by slavish copying of the older forms and methods. Of these later vears M. Clouzot, conser- vateur of the Musee Galliera, has £aid: ‘We assist at the extraordinary spectacle of a society which is heated by steam and lighted by electricity, ich travels by automobile and con- verses by telephone, living in a dec- oration of the period when Mme. de Maintenon was carried in her chair and when Mme. de Sevigne wrote letters which required 15 days to reach Brittany. . ver enough this sounds, but what does it mean? Because we live in steam - heated and electric - lighted houses mu the really fine things which our ancestors have handed down to us either in fact or ideal? What kind of art, may we ask, would be in accord with steam heat and electric lighting, automo- biles and other twenticth century conveniences? Obviously, we should not be merely imitators, but likewise, reasonably, we should not insist upon being consistently and in all things up to date, or we lose much that is precious. * x % % Writing on the new American wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in # recent number of Scribner's Maga- zine, Royal Cortissoz had the follow- ing to say The visitor to the American wing will miss the service it is there to render who fails to grasp it as the embodiment of ain idea. It is based upon archeological research, but it is concerned essentially with warm hu- man things. It answers first and last the question of countless Inquirers— th question as to how the instinct for art was implanted and nourished in the genius of the American people. 1 don’t think they were very subtle folk, these ancestors of ours. I dont think there was anything recondite about their esthetic outlook at all Indeed, it is an open question as to whether the word ‘esthetic’ had any great status in their vocabulary. As I have indicated, I do not see them as collectors in the strict sense, even though they had their occasional col- lections of prints and ceramics. I see them, rather, just as people of good breeding and consequent good taste Art as the American wing puts it before us, art as it was brought over from England, and somev-iiat artless- 1y nurtured here, was wreaked upon nothing more nor less than social amenity. And in its very detachment from the milieu of the collector, the connolsseur, it kept itself free to strengthen the one quality which was to prove, esthetically, our salvation. The seasoned collector pays a certain penalty for his role. It makes him a complex being and makes his taste eclectic. We began with a strong tindture of fairly classical simplicity, and the outstanding lesson of the American wing is that it stayed with use for full 200 years.” This is the spirit of our early American art, the spirit which, in surrounding ourselves by its best ex- amples, we manage to retain in small measure today in our homes in spite of steam heat, electric light, inces- sant telephone calls and the hooting of automobile horns. * % % ¥ Writing some time ago of Joseph Pennell's etchings of Old Brooklyn, Elisabeth Luther Cary, art critic of the New York Times, ventured the suggestion that we turn with pleas- ure to this art of the past today for | this very reason—because it seems to be surrounded still with the quiet, the composure, the self-poise of the time in whioh it was brought forth. Nothing under the sun will pre- vent & man or a woman from being original if he or she possesses origi- nality; originality is something which cannot be suppressed, but neither can it be forced. So great a preacher as Phillips Brooks once said, “Dreadful will be the day when the world be- comes contented.” Contentment in art blocks progress, but we should not confuse contentment with smug- ness. It is those who know the most who are the most modest. The really great are always simple. Nicholas Murray Butler once sald that there are only two things which are permanent in this world, two things which endure—art and ideas. He might have added that the for- mer reflects the latter, for after all the spirit of an age is invariably manifested in its art. In this sense perhaps the steam-heated and elec- trified age must bring forth un- avoidably a kindred art, but as the skyscrapers of New York have taken on subtle beauty in their towering helght, through a kinship With the great monumental works of the past, so the minor arts, by remembering the best, will express the spirit of this great age of invention in which we live, not vulgarly, but beautifully. * ¥ % X Vulgarity seems to have a vogue, a vogue which finds expression in painting, sculpture, literature and the drama. A writer in a current period- ical lauded the “seven lively art: not simply because they were lively, but because they permitted the ex pression of cotemporary vulgarity How different this is from the point of view expressed by Robert Frost, the poet, in his lecture before the Wash- ington Soclety of the Fine Arts last week when he said that it was homely beauty which most allured him, beauty latent in the commonplace. This kind of beauty is often unseen by the casual observer and only made patent by the artist, by one who has reverence for art. Mr. Frost sald that he d14 mot encourage criticism among his studgnts at Amherst—la ANSWERS TO QUE BY FREDERI Q. How many school teachers are there in the District and how many school buildings?—H. E. S. A. There are 3,224 school teachers and 158 public schools. Q. Is denatured alcohol used in the hair tonics that are on the market?— J. P. McG. A. The United States Government has prescribed formulas of specially denatured alcohol for use in the man- ufacture of toilet articles and medici- nal preparations such as hair dress- ings, perfumes, shaving creams, den- tifrices, liniments and the like. Com- pletely denatured alcohol which is s0ld to the public for heating, cook- ing, non-freezing solutions, etc., could not be used, as it would be injurious to the scalp. Q. Are there any statistics to show Wwhat proportions of housewives bake their own bread, or have it baked at home, and what proportions use baker's bread?—T. A. S, A. There are no officlal data of that kind. It is sald, however, that In a census taken in San Francisco out of 1,047 women questioned 957 were buyers of the family bread. Q. How is Walter Resd Hospital supported?—J. L. N. A. Tt is an Army hospital. It does not recelve a separate appropriation, jbut comes under the general appro- priations of the War Department Q. Did ¥ this country H. 0. W A. He reccived a grant of land in Pennsylvania on March 4, 1681, and sailed for America September 1, 1682, am Penn before he own land in Q. What countries of the Christian world are represented at the Vatican? —L. W. J A. According to the Pontifique An- nuaire, the following countries main- taln representatives at the Vatican Embassies—France, Germany, Spain, Belglum, Chile, Peru, Legations— Austria, Bavaria, Bolivia, Colombla, Costa Rice, England, Halti, Holland, Hungary, Morocco, Nicaragua, Po- land, Portugal, Rumania, Czechoslo- vakia, Venezuela, Jugoslavia, Luxem- berg. Semi-oficlal—Japan, Turkey and Lithuania. The French govern- ment has voted practically to discon- tinue the office of representative to the Vatican. This is now under dis- cusslon Q. Why is the Dead Sea never navigated?’—A, T. C. A. The Dead Sea has been navigat- ed. Strabo and Diodorus tell of floats from which men fished for bitumen There have also been several sclen- tific expeditions on the sea for pur- poses of investigation. The sea con- tains no life of any kind with excep- tion of a few microbes, This Is due to its extreme salinity Q. Who owns the Schuyvler Man- sion In Albany, and is it furnished?— AR E A. The State of New York owns the jmansion. The original furniture is on exhibition. Q. Is there perpetual snow mountains at the Equator?—M. W. A. The lower limit of perpetual snow has, in general, an altitude of about 15,500 feet in the equatorial reglons. (Glaciers are found on all the high peaks of the Andes—even those near the Equator exceed 13,000 feet in height. Hers, however, they are small, descending the mountain slope only & few thousand feet. on Q. What are corn flakes made of?— P. E. B. A. Corn flakes are made from hominy grits which are treated so as to change the composition and soften the grits so that they may be rolled ut flat between rollers. The flakes are then toasted. Q. Ts the idea of forming co- operative communities new in Amer- ica?—E. L. C. A. The idea is not n.w. There have been & number of attempts to form community settlements, which New York Housing Conditions and Rents From the New York Herald-Tribune. The State Housing Commission's finding that housing conditions in this city are steadily growing worse | instead of better is based on & study of the percentage of vacancies in what are called the old-law tene- ments. This is the barometer which shows the pressure of rent increases in the great mass of the population. In 1916 6% per cent of the flats in tenements of this sort were vacant all the time. Now the percentage vacancies is down to 1.81. It was the hope of the framers of the new tenement house regulations that the old-law tenements would gradually be wiped out, economic conditions allowing occupants to move into better quarters. But the war and the cessation of normal building have operated to drive ten- ants from better to poorer apart- ments. New building has helped only the fraction of the city's population able to live in high-rent apartments. The rent laws stabillzed the situation for hold-over occup t the same time they discouraged the con- struction of lower-cost housts and led to = rapid deterioratl war apartment houses. A viel circle has been estab- lished. Capital will not go into the sort of comstruction most needed be- cause rentx are regulated by law. Landlords hesitate to keep houses in proper repalr unless they get re- turns from such expenditure. Hold- over tenants who move must seek accommodations in an artificially re- stricted market. They must either pay much higher rents or take lower- grade apartments. The free play of economic laws ix suspended in order to meet the demands of what was originally a war police power emer- geney. It was a mistake for New York not to 1et the remt problem solve itself, as 1t was permitted to do nearly everywhere elne in thix country. The Leginlature was unwilling to risk that experiment. Tt would have involved a great deal of mmediate discontent and hardship. But by this time it would have brought about a pretty complete economic readjustment. The main housing and traffic prob- lem here is to get manufacturing and the manufacturing population out of Manhattan and distributed through the outlying boroughs and suburbs. | The rent laws have retarded the re- | gional planning program, which the Housing Commission also has at heart. The two programs are, in fact, inconsistent with each other. Yet repeal of the rent law is confronted with serious political difficulties. The voting power of the city rent payvers is enormous and probably neither party would be willlng to advocate repeal in 1826. A venture of this sort is mot easily liquidated. The crisis which it was sought to tide over re- mains. It may abate somewhat Qv 1928 or 1930. But the only way {o end it will be to remove rcstrictions on economie law, let the population shift and create a condition within the city under which rents, like com- | modities, will seek a natural eco- nomic level. fact, that he only permitted it in nar- rative form when the student could relate a personal adventure with a work of art. This is an excellent rule; such adventures give true un- derstanding, whereas criticiam too alton leavsa ona soldX o the gulsids. came over?— | of | STIONS C J. HASKIN | for the most part have been unsuc- cessful. Ainong the best known are Brook Farm and New Harmony, Ind The Shaker communities at Mount Lebanon, N. Y.; Union Village, Ohlo and Watervliet, N. Y., stil sur- vive, Others are the Oneida Com munity, N. Y.: Amana Community. Towa, and Fair Hope, Ala. Com munities of this type were establishe: in America during the nineteent century. Q. Is there more smallpox ?—C. R. A. The conviction is growing that there are different strains of the d ease, one of which is naturally m and one that is severe. How many Jews have returned Palestine?—W. E. T. A There are about 80 oolonies numbering more than 20,000 people who are working some 160,000 acres of land. than one kind of ] Q to Q. How old 1s Meade Minnigerode” —M. C. A. This American writer was born fn London in 1837 Q. What part of the films used in the motlon picture industry is fur | nished by the United States”—C. E. F | A In 1924 the United States fur nished 90 per cent of the films used in the entire world | | | @ wn was the Calendar E. K. L. A. It was a calendar adopted dur ing the French raign of terror, de creed in 93 and continuing until Napoleon restored the old system in 1805 Q. Is it against the law to offe a reward for the urn of stolen property and promise “no questlons asked”?—C. W. S, A. In England the advertiser, print- er and publisher of such a reward may be fined, but in this countr such advertisements are common Q. How vast are Alaska?—W. A. T. A. The forest area expressed miles of Alaska may be estimated a! about 109,000 square miles. This i not the exact figure, since a grea! deal is not known about the interio stands R the forests o Q. When was “The End of a Pe fect Day” published?>—C. A. N A. This song. by Carrie Jacobs Bond 1w-.< published in 1910 | Q. Is it true that the rubber tree. | of India were started with seeds fron | South America?— P. About 1876 Mr. Wickham, a shman, smuggled out of Brazi great many rubber plant {He carried them to India and planted them. th Q. Does the King of England pa the ecxpenses of keeping his pa aces?—O0. 1. E. A. The King required to pa for the upkeep of the royal court and any private estates h) may have The salary of the King and Queen « | England is $2,256,000. Q. Whera is the original monumer from the grave of Thomas Jefferson —W. W A. The ort University of M al monument is at {1 ourl, Columbia Q. Which is the oldest museum !: America?—S. W. W. A. The Charleston Museum Charleston, S. C., is so classed (The person who loses out is the ons who guesses. The person who gets o is always the one who acts upon reliabls information. This paper employs Pred- erio J. Haskin to conduct an snforma- tion bureaw for the public. Thers i no charge except 2 cents in stamps for re turn postage. Write to him today fo any facts you desire. Your inquir should be addressed to The Star I formation Bureau, Frederio J. Haski director, Twenty-first and C stree: northwest.) Colored Nurse Mourned. Melvina Fletcher, Dead at 97. Served Blair Family Since 1853. To the Editor of The Star: of the decease Melvina Fletcher on the 15th day of March, 1925, as published The Evening Star of the 16th, conveys tc our oldest and most respectat ed citizens the sad message of their number has been ca her 97th year to render a | count and receive the just reward | @ most exemplary and Christian 1 | _Melvina was born a siave in Princ Georges County, Md., and when 1 | vears of age was given her freedom by deed manumission by her mistress, Priscilla Rantin, as certified to by certificate of the county clerk of Prince Georges County, dated June , 1845. Shortly after obtaining he | freedom Melvina came to Washing ton, where she served as a domestic with many of the prominent families of that day. In the late Fall o 1853 she accepted her last employment as & nurse maid with the family of the late Montgomery Blair, who at that time occupied the old residence | of the Biair family, which some of | our citizens may remember as “No 6 Presidents square.” now des e as 1651 Pennsylvania avenue, owned by Maj. Gist Blair Melvina nursed, with th ailing | devotion characteristic of the colored mammy, five children who were born to the Blair family. She v not only a child’s b in | telligent application became a very | efficlent sick nurse, whose assistance was always sought by all the pro fesstonal nurses employed by the | family, and as a member of the house | hold " she shared alike the jo: | anxieties and sorrows of the famil | during her 54 years of active servic #nd 16 years of semi-retirement, whe: she was surrounded faithful at tendants and every comfort cor Qucive to a happy old age and peace ful end Melvina was the oldest member o the Zion Wesley Methodist Church of Washington, She was respected by every one white and colored, whos privilege 1t was to know her. He devotion and loyalty to those sl served was a consclentious duty, se ond only to her religion. Love fo children was a dominating interest her long and unselfish life | WOODBURY BLAIR RS- ueens’ Opinions Differ P! On Headdress Styles | Notice of the late of Iy and | | Queen Mary of England frowns upon bobbed hair. So comes the word from the press agents or the cour gossips or whoever it is that keeps royalty in the limelight. Presumably the Queen also frown< | upon cigarettes. She ought to; she is « true granddaughter-in-law of the late Victoria | But just across the channel dwells the Queen of the Belgians. Way back | before the war, Elizabeth was gayls {smoking cigarettes, and now she has | gone bravely fortk and had her hair bobbed. When Queens disagree, you know what happens. The girls will simply have to go on using their own judg ment.—Binghamton Press, B It's a poor climber who can't gel on_his own feet without getting on some one else's.—Wall Strest Jour-