Evening Star Newspaper, May 16, 1925, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. BATURDAY.......May 16, 1825 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: } 11th St. and Penneylvania Ave. g N'& York’ Office: 110 East e Bt. Chicago : Tower Building. Furopean Office: 18 Regent St.. Londen, England. The Evening Star, with the Sunday morn- Ing edition, is delivered by carriers within the city at'60 cente per month: Aaily only. 45 cents rer month: Sunday only. 20 cents r month. - Orders mag be sent by maii or ielebbone Main 5000. Collection is made by carrier at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virgini Dai a .. $8.40: 1 mo., 70c PU> et sunawy L B T e 00 Sunday only "\ 1 yr., $2.40; 1 mo., 20¢ All Other States. Paily and sunday...1yr.$10.00: 1 mo.. 88 Daily only .. 1yl 8T Sunday. only . A% § Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled 10_the use for republication of all news dis- Atches credited to it or not otherwise cred: ted in this paper and also the loc: published herein. of put ©of epecial di re also reserved. 00: 1 m 00 1 m The Preliminary Estimates. Preliminary estimates of the various department heads of the District gov- renment will, it is now computed, reach a total of approximately $40,000,- 000, which is about the amount recom- mended last year at the same stage of District budget making. These first figures represent the total of actual re- quifrements for District maintenance upon the ideal ba of full provision for ev need. It is, however, neces cale these figures. The Com- missioners must reduce the total be- fore presenting the budget outlined to the Budget Bureau by which, under the present law and practice, it is sub- Ject to still further revision downward. In framing their estimates out of the material supplied by the prelim- inary requisitions of department heads the Commissioners, upon whom alone Tests the responsibility, are to be guided by the fact that, despite a de- parture by Congress, the definite pro- portionate contribution system is still the substantive law governing Dis- sell at three for 10 cents, but chee. roots, like all vegetables, have gone up. The dispatch might have read better had it said the President pre- fers stogies. First-class stogles, the best that West Virginia, Pennsylva- nia and Ohio could turn out, used to sell ‘at two and three for 5 cents. A 10-cent cheroot is-a modern device. Not many years ago when a man walked up to the hotel cigar stand and said in loud volce, “Give me an imported 10-cent . cigar,” bystanders stared at the spendthrift. This administration is making head- way with the plain people. The Vice President smokes a pipe—smokes It upside down. Not many pipe smokers £0 to that length, but they note that the Vice President shows intelligent appreciation of the virtue of a pipe. So far as published no member of the administration chews tobacco. That is an art practiced only by old-fash- foned men. There is no man in public life who chews tobacco as cordially as the late Justice Harlan. — The New Branch Library. In development of the fundamental plan upon which the Washington Public Library is established a new branch has been opened to serve the northwestern section of the commu- nity. Last night this branch library at Sixteenth and Lamont streets was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies. It has been made possible through the munificence of the Carnegie Cor- roration, which contributed $200,000 for the building. Congress appropri- ated funds for the site and for the maintenance of the branch. Thus the usefulness of the institution is greatly increased and the community is more efficiently served. The Washington Public Library was established ad a supplement to the public educational system of the Dis- trict. The central building was given by Mr. Carnegie and provision has subsequently been made for the crea- tion of branches as needs develop and as funds are provided for sites and maintenance. Three branches are now in operation, the first having been established at Takoma, the sec- ond in Southeast Washington, and the third, just opened, .in Mount trict maintenance. The fact that for | pleagant. two years in succession Congress has departed from the substantive law in he enactment of lump-sum provisions for the fiscal years 1924-25 and 192526 | does not warrant any other procedure than the submission of a budget based upan the 60-40 ratio. Tt is, of course, desirable that the | fullest possible provision be made for District needs, current and extraordi- nery. But it is not desirable that the estimates should go to an extreme be- cause of an assumption that, having departed from the fixed ratio prin-| ciples in the framing the two District Dills in succession, Congress is willing | to allow the District to spend without | stint of its own tax money and, in order to meet such expense, to in-| crease its tax levy indefinitely. The Budget Bureau will doubtless take the view that the definite propor- tion plan, which is now the substan- tive law, will prevail, and that there- fore the Federal interests will call for a curtailment of the estimates in the interest of the program of économy affecting all Federal appropriations. | ‘Washington cannot meet a $40,000,- 000 budget upon the lump-sum basis at the scale established for two succes- sive fiscal years without an increase of taxes which would impose an un- bearable burden upon the owners of Pproperty. L DO No man in this country has been laughed at as much as Henry Ford. He has been patient under derision. Few men at present are taken more seriously. ————————— In order to find space for motors it may be necessary for Traffic Director EMridge to make a special study of the fourth dimension. ——— There are no intimations of e paint. ters' strike that will affect the allure- ments of the flapper complexion. ——rae— The President’s Cheroots. Evidence piles up that President Coolidge is a plain man and that his sympathies are with the common peo- ple. He has some tastes so simple that the most virtuous and incurable Democrat stands astounded. The As- sociated Press sends a dispatch from New York that “President Coolidge smokes 10.cent cheroots, preferring them to expensive cigars.” The story was told the Ohio Society by Charles D. Hilles. It was said that a friend of the President, seeing or detecting by another sense, that the President smokes low-priced cigars, sent him a box of costly cigars. The President tried one, closed the box and lighted a cheroot. If this story had been put out in campaign days one would have thought it a trap to catch the votes of certain numerous cigar smokers. But the story comes after the Presi- dent had signed a four-year lease on the White House and when he could, d1d" his taste incline, smoke as high- priced cigars as J. P. Morgan, Charles Schwab and the late King Edward. It is plain that the President prefers cheroots rolled of United States to- bacco—Permsylvania, West Virginia, Connecticut, Ohio or Wisconsin leaf. Perhaps to give the cheroot strength and Yorce a little Maryland tobaceo is added. ‘Sympathies of a great number of Americans lean to the President. While a few sensitive and luxurious géntlemen insist on a cigar rolled of foreign tobacco and made in an alien land, the President smokes a 100 per cent United States cigar and says he likes it. A million native-born Amer- fcan cigars are smoked in the United | States to one of the alien kind. Those statistics are a little rough, but they will do. There is one thing about the Presi- dent's cigar that one may chew on. It 18 a 10-cent cheroot. Not all smokers buy 10-cent gigars. The old 6-cent and six or sevén for a quarter are selling at two for 15 cents or 8 cents §traight, and there is no reason why a man should take a 10-cent cigar when he is paying for it him- | that of a leader of men. These branch libraries extend the circulation of books, increase the use- fulness of the library and particularly enlarge its educational scope by fa- cilitating its use by the school chil- dren of Washington. It was a wise as well as a generous act of the Car- negie Corporation thus to provide for extension centers of library activity. Other branches may in time become necessary. But it is most desirable that the service at the central library and at the branches already estab- lished be maintained and developed to meet the requirements of the growing population and the constantly increas- ing library use. Washington is eXceptionally served today in respect to public reading and library reference. From an insignifi- cant beginning has grown a great sys- tem of library accommodations. Con- gress has in the main dealt liberally with- Washington in promoting this growth, and the grateful thanks of the community are due to it as well as to the Carnegie Corporation for the ‘development of this splendid system, which is so- definitely promoting the intelligence and culture of the Na- tional Capital. >t Nelson A. Miles. Making his home in this city on his retirement from active military duty in 1903, Gen. Nelson A. Miles became one of the Capital's best known and most highly esteemed citizens. De- spite the advance of years his soldierly figure was still erect. His bearing was It was diffi- cult to realize the flight of time, and that he was past the middle of the| eighth decade-of his life. His death without warning came, therefore, as a shock, conveying a sense of deep per- sonal loss for which this community, where Gen. Miles was regarded with so much affection, was unprepared. The career of Nelson A. Miles was one filled with stirring adventures. He served in three wars with distinction and ability. He was one of the few men without West Point training who has risen to the highest Army rank. A mercantile clerk in Boston at the outset of the Civil War, he volunteered and raised a company, entering the service -as a first lieitenant. His ability won him speedy promotion. At the age of 24 he had gained the high- est commendation for gallantry and ef- | ficiency, and at the close of the war | he held the rank of brigadier general, with the brevet of major general. He then joined the Regular Army as a colonel and served threughout the In- dian campaigns. Rising steadily in | rank, he was named commanding gen- eral of the Army in 1895, which post he held during the Spanish-American War, in which his own personal par- ticipation consisted of service at San- tiago and in Porto Rico. It was characteristic of Gen. Miles| that upon his retirement he continued | to take the keenest interest in matters pertaining to the welfare and develop- ment of the Army and in all questions relating to the national defense. ardent patriot, a heliever in the prin- ciples of the American Government, he was constant in his contribution in writings and in speech to the service of maintaining the highest Amefican ideals. Nelson A. Miles served his country greatly, and died with the affectionate esteem of the people, grateful for his example of good citizenship. Washing- ton mourns his 10ss as one of the most highly respected and beloved members of the community P g e The indecent drama fs calling on a-diences to declare whether the stage really holds the mirror up to nature. o Democratic Militancy. Forthcoming publication of a parti- san Demoeratic newspaper to be known as the National Democrat is announced by Representative Oldfield of Arkansas, chairman of the Demo- cratic congressional campalgn com- mittee. This prospect is regarded in self. The 2-for-15 cigar has a brilliant band and it will draw. The 10-cent cheroot is a modern smoke. The most famous Amseriean chfroots used to [a) political ecircles as presaging a mili- tant campaign for the election of a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives in 1926 as prelimi- TH nary to the presidential campaign ot 1928. In recent months, while proposed “reorganization” of the Democratic party has been under spirited discus- Islon by Democrats, Mr. Oldfteld has consistently maintained the conten- tion that the first’ step toward reor- ganization was to win the next con- gressional elections and thus to gain a position to frame policles on a foun- dation of actions. The Democrats dur- ing the last campalgn complained of lack of means of publicity and diffi- culty in getting Democratic theorles before the public. No doubt out of this complaint has grown the formu- lation of the idea of -tablishing a strictly partisan newspaper. Mr. Oldfield prophesies a circulation f & million copies weekly for the new publication. He explains that it is not to favor factions or the personal political fortunes of candidates. Dem- ocratic candidates for office, regard- less of personalities or factions, are to be supported. The editorial control of the paper is to be vested in-a board which will include members of all fac- tions of the party. Victory for Democ- racy at the polls is to be the gulding motive. Another feature of editorial and news policy is to be aggressive assault upon the ‘alleged errors and weak- nesses of the Republican party. The Democrats are not to be always on the defensive, but alleged Republican omissions and commissions are to be assailed. Mr. Oldfield charges that the special interests seeking special privileges through the aid of the Re- publican party seem to influence the press. That is “old stuff,” of course, heretofore sponsored by Democratic leaders and more than once riddled by independent as well as by partisan Republican newspapers, The appearance of the new partisan weekly will be welcomed as adding to the gayety of politics. The Republi- cans have a partisan weekly of their own and in the future the man who reads can have before him the policies and actions of both of the two great parties. ———— When Col. Bryan accuses the peo- ple of having too much admiration for brains, he modestly forgets the high regard in which many people have held hira as a leader of political thought. —————— Public display is not enjoyed by Hin- denburg, who realizes probably that the German people have paid him a compliment which although very hand- some is at the same time rather dan- gerous. ———— Farmers resent gambling in grain. The farmer himself - has to take a variety of chances, but without hope of anything like the favorable odds enjoyed by the speculators. —_—— e The new traffic system will call for more busses. The rapid growth of the city will in the course of time bring up the question of where to park the busses. ——— An impdttant part will be resumed by Trotsky in Russian affairs, even though it is by no means the same old Soviet government. he helped to or- ganize. e Several United States Senators find it impossible to mention Vice President Dawes without saying “‘Helen Maria,” or something similar. —— v The term “dictator” used to imply unlimited arbitrary authority. At pres- ent, in order to be a successtul *‘dic- tator” a man must use discretion. ‘s Hindenburg is now at the crucial point of his career. Up to his recent election to the German presidency he ewas at least always taken seriously. N — It may become a national custom to try to sell whatever is too large for the people of the country to operate for themselves to Henry Ford. ——— Paris observes the franc with the German paper mark always in mind as a horrible example. ———— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Return. When the noonday glare has faded From the lofty azure dome, And the lane is softly shaded, Then the cattle turn for home. When a lifetime’s toil and yearning See the twilight drawing near Memory always finds us turning To the scenes that Youth found dear. And our pace anew we strengthen As the backward trail we roam. ‘When the évening shadows lengthen, Then the cattle-turn for home. Restoration of Type. “You don’t refer to the subject of evolution in your speeches.” No,” answered Senator Sorghum. “I don’t want to encourage any im- An | Pression that the Darwinian theory | may work backward as well as for- ward." ‘Value of Publicity. Old King Tut was a monarch great Who lived, no doubt, in splendid state. That he had lived was scarce surmised Till he was duly advertised. Jud Tunkins says he can’t see how economy is possible when the less a woman wears the more her clothes cost. A Modern Philosopher. *“Are you in favor of prohibition?” ‘“Yes," answered Uncle Bill Bottle- top. “But in our settlement a man has got to learn that there is no use being peevish if he can't have his own way."” Catching Up. All Summer long I'll greet The bill for Winter fuel. All Winter long I'll meet The ice man’s tax so cruel. “De North Pole is a great comfort, said Uncle® Eben. “Every time any- body discovers it T feels better satisfied to live right whar I " s E _EVENING STAR, WASHINGTO. C,, SATURDAY, THIS AND THAT Lack of observation on the part of the average person has been demon- strated many times at trials, when two so-called eyewitnesses would tes- tify as to exactly opposite ““facts.” In everyday life one may prove the inabllity of most to observe by asking almost any one to tell offhand whether his watch face bears Arabic or Roman numerals. When I went to get my watch from a jeweler, with whom T had left it to be cleaned, I found several score time- pieces hanging on a velvet-faced board, and was extremely surprised to find that I had to make six guesses before I located my own watch! 1 could have sworn on oath that the big ticker I have consulted thousands of times bears the numbers 1, 2, 3, etc., but, as 4 matter of engraved fact, it has Roman numerals, as I learned, when 1 actually looked at the face for the first time. Ask any friend to tell, without look- ing, what is on any coln, and you will find immediately how little the aver. age person observes when it comes to familiar things. It has occurred to me, therefore, to describe the route taken by a certain public transit company line, in an ef- fort to see if readers who ride it will recognize it. Directions will be left out, of course, as well as all names of streets, parks, ete., and the descriptions will be con. fined to sights along the route that all see—but few realize they see. ok ok K The route begins in a residential seotion, row houses, well kept lawns, Washington's usual trees, paved street, triangles for vending papers at the curb, children, dogs, elders. Not much of a clue there, eh? Walt till we get started. Here we go! We are lucky, for three blocks from this corner every seat will be taken. We, comfortably seated, start to read our paper, but give it up to look out the window. We must ob- serve, today! Now we round the bend into a wider street, an old street, one of the oldest in the District of Columbia. There, to the right, stands one of our high school buildings. To the left are residences, Farther down, in the distance, we see flelds, and a girls’ school, but we turn before we reach it, and start sayly on our way downtown. Downtown! That word holds a_vision of work. It is packed with meaning for me It tells the tale of the average man’s biggest dally adventure. And many there are who go, like Shakespeare's schoolboy, with men- tally dragging feet, as if whipped to it. There be others to whom downtown calls with thrilling voice, renewed and surcharged with glamour each day. Thrice happy, these, who meet the call of downtown with efually glad- some answers. * To them is given to enter the King- dom of Work, and to be masters there. There are executives who go to it like galley slaves, and there are office boys who already have entered the -king- dom. Downtown is no respecter of per- sons, you see. The difficult adjust- ment of a man to his work has so many faces that no school or person can solve it for others, except now and then. It works itself out. That is why the executive may make the most money, but be unhappy, whereas his clerk, on a small salary, may be the best off of the two. * x x Here we are going down another of Washington's old streets! Here the green boughs arch overhead. To the left stands a big estate with a vellow house placed on a hill, and to the The Norwegians are celebrating in Brooklyn and New York today and Monday two events in the history of | America. Other Norwegians elsewhere will join in the celebration of the first centennial of the coming of their coun- trymen to the United States, May, 1825. What will they say about the famous Northman blunder of finding the Western Hemisphere in 986 A.D. {and not knowing what to do with their find? Mayor Hylan of New York will dedicate today a Leif Ericson Square. This Summer Capt. MacMillan, the Arctic explorer, will visit cerfain al- leged ruins of Leif's houses in Baffin Land, which the Eskimos describe, but which no white man has yet seen. Sim- flar ruins in Greenland are familiar, but it is argued that the ruins in Baf- fin Land will prove that Leif did not settle alone in Greenland, but pushed his way to the land which bore abun- dance of fox grapes from which “good wine” could be made. As no fox grapes grow in Greenland, is that legend not sufficient to prove that five centuries before Columbus found America the Norse had preceded him? The great Ttalian based his vovage on an egsg; the Northmen base proof of theirs on grapes. * ¥ kK Like the War of the Roses in Eng- 1and, there are today valiant knights ready to take the lists under the sym- bol of egg or fox grape. What will it gain to prove that Lelf Ericson real- ly found the Western Continent if it also be shown that he accomplished no more with it than to spend a season in. a hut, barter some milk for Indian furs and then, after many of his men had been massacred, flee back to Tce- land, whence he had sailed? When Columbus found the new “Cathay” permanent- settlements -followed, and now great nations have spread over North and_ South America, directly traceable to that discovery. The sages tell of Leif’s trading milk for furs, but John Fiske, the Harvard historian, ignoring that legend, dis- proyes the tale of Leif's ever having. made a Settlement in.this continent, because, as Mr. Fiske argues, no Nor- weglans would. have ever come ‘to a new settlement without bringing cows; vet the fauna of North America, up to the arrival of Columbus, had no trage of cattle, horses or pigs. Columbus and the. Puritans and Pilgrims all brought Hve stock In their first ships bearing settlers. If the Norwegians in the tenth century did bring cattle. and did_trade milk with the Indians, some of the cattle would have feft progeny whith would exist to this day, even if only in “skeletel” relics, ar- gues Mr. Fiske. In Siberia, not many years ago, the frozen body of a huge prehistoric ani- mat was found in the ice of a great glacter. Its meat was sald to be still edible. Ethnologists have fllled .our museums with bones of animals and even of men dating back more hun- dreds of thousands of years than Leif's supposed colony dates centuries. - Why no bones, then, of the. Norweglan 52 cattle and p&s. e Nobody denies that Leif may have safled in a wild search for Greenland, where his father, Eric the Red, had lived, and that he was “lost’ on the ocean, for that was before the inven- tion of the mariner's compass. He may have been storm-cast upon Baf- fin Land and named it Vinland, and then, without real settlement, pushed off as soon as the season arrived when further voyaging was possible. But what if all that were true? As tar before Leif's ““discovery” as his antedated that.of Columbus was the arrival in Alaska of Buddhist mission- aries, via the Aleution Islands. They never heard of the American *jingo, who cried “Fifty-four-forty or fight,” and in the course of many years they wandered through the fine olimate of right are smaller homes, with purple Iris bleoming- along the paths. As we ride we pass houses of all kinds, behind which one now and then catches glimpses of gardens, cool green lawns, stately trees, flowers Just starting to bud. Tulips grow In many front yards. To the left there stand two green- painted boxes, filled with rows of red and yellow tulips, their green foliage matching the green of the box. We roar across a bridge, with great animals guarding the sides. See, John- ny, what noise does that animal make? Moo, moo! No, Johnny, you are wrong. Iry again, son. Easily we glide into an avenue. Over there stand severalhomes of the vast- ly rich. Personally, we hope we never get that wealthy. It must be terrible to have to share your home with so many servants. ‘We notice, with some pride, that the lawns of these big places are not in as &ood condition as the more modest stretches of sward around our own houses. Here we are near a circle. Its cool depths charm from a distance. How much the parks, squares, circles, tri- angles, add to the National Capital! ‘Without them, we feel, Washington would not be Washington, exactly. We now glide into.a street which 18 narrower, a thoroughfare that is resi- dential for a time, as we ridé, then glves place to garages and some busi- ness estabishments. We come to Pan's Grocery, as we will call it here. There, at this time of the morning, a bevy of policemen is standing, preparatory to going on their beats. The precinct station house is across the street. The “cops” swing their clubs jaun- tly, talking to each other the while, looking rather snappy in their blue. Somehow we always have a soft spot in our hearts fur‘hc firemen and po- licemen. * ok ok ok Turning again, we start on our final drive downtown. This is a wide street, one long connected with the political and social history of Wash- ington. On this street, in the oid days, rear- ed many magnificent homes, some of which are still standing. Down far- ther we will pass all that is left of one of them, razed for construction pur- poses. S We hated to see that beautiful old brick work pulled apart. Every brick was set as with a level and compass. The line of any row, from end to end—and the line was long— was- absolutely true. Today the street is being occupied by apartments. Here, on one side of one block there are four falrly large apartment buildings. One wonders where all the people come from to occupy them. Behind yonder yellow stone wall we see, through an arched gate, & small building set back. It must be a studio of some kind. Not far away yellow and blue. Up there, on a balcony, is a baby basket draped in a turkeyred cloth. We try to imagine what a baby must feel like, sleeping urder such a color —and fail. We cross tracks—we cross more tracks—we whirl by one of the pret- tiest parks in the city, down one side of it, down another, over tracks again—over _more tracks—we are downtown! This thoroughfare has been widen- ed. with the loss of some trees, it is true—always regrettable—but = with improvement to the business aspects of the section. After all, it is devoted to_business. Ring the bell—here is our corner! Can you tell what we rode on? BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. California, down into Fusang, now known as Mexico. This legend, too. is questioned. None dares query the reliability of the story of the Irish. Historian Iiske records: “Irish an- chorites certainly went to Iceland in the seventh century, and in the course € this book we shall have frequent occasion to observe that, first and last, | there has been on all seas a good deal of blowing and drifting done.” Blow- | ing? Of course, no Harvard professor could mean to use slang. Prof. Fiske also refers to the stories of Japanese junks which were driven cross the Pacific and stranded on the | California and Oregon coasts. He also |tells of one Jean Cousin of Dieppe. France, who, while sailing down the African coast, was driven across the Atlantic and landed on the Brazilian coast—four years ahead of Columbus. If, therefore, the Norwegians ‘dis- covered” America before Columbus, so did the Orientals, and even our French cousin. The Harvard professor fur- |ther remarks: ‘“Moreover, the ques- tions raised are often of small impor- {tance, and belong not so much to the serious workshop of history as to its limbo prepared for learned trifles, whither we will hereby relegate them.” * k% ok The claim of the Norwegians to priority of rights, based upon the Leif voyages of the tenth century, were not thought of by Norway when, in the fifteenth century, the Pope recog- nized the controversy between Portu- gal and Spain, and decreed that all territory east of the meridian of the Azores should belong to Portugal, and all west of that meridlan to Spain. That left none to Norway, vet that country set up no claim.” It is not dis- puted that Leif and others did spend two or three Winters in Vinland, and that he carried a cargo of timber from Vinland to Greenland. Where was “Vinland”? Late~, Leif’ brother, Thorvald, borrowed Leif's ship and voyaged to Vinland, where he and companions spent two Winters, where Thorvald was killed by the Indians. Another brother, Thornstein, with his wife, Gudrid, set out on the same ship trom Iceland, seeking Vinland, but Throstein died before reaching port and the widow returned to Iceland. Later she married Thorfinn Karlsefni, and they, with a colony of 160 men, several women and some cattle, are said to have gone to Vinland, and [there, the next year, 1007 A.D., a son was born, and was named Snorri— the first white child born in the West- ern world. The settlement later dis- red. S * % % ¥ All of the above history of actual settlement is based almost wholly upon the Norwegian sagas, which are Scandinavian myths or hero stories— ot reliable as history, but_probably with some basis of truth. The sagas were orally recited for more than two centuries and were first written down after the year 1140, hence it is recog- nized that they are more or less hero tales, exagserated and idealized and impregnated with imagination of | fairies and demons. There remain the ruins upon Greenland, and Capt. Mac- Millan may tell upon. his return from the Arctic next Fall whether similar ruins really exist in Baffin Land or Labrador. * k% ok Near the Falls of the Potomac, in 1867, there was found a tombstone Ibearing runic characters ascribed to Scandinavians of @& century or more previous; also in Minnesota, near Kensington, in 1909, & stone wag dis- covered purporting to bear a runic in- scription telling of a Scamdinavian exploration reaching that point in 1362. Both inscriptions are exposed as fakes, according to scientists. (Coprright, 2925,.by Paul V.. Collins.) is a small house being: painted bright | MAY 16, 192 THE LIBRARY TABLE BY THE BOOKLOVER g Shelley as a spirit of air and fire, loving freedom above all things, like Shakespeare's Arfel, is the conception of Andre Maurois in his romantic biography of Shelley, which he calls “Ariel.”. But Shelley had no wise Prospero to guide his life and per- haps to whisper to him that life is far less complex if one follows the rules of the game instead of playing the part of a revolutionist. After all such an argument of expediency would never have appealed to the boyish creature who from his school: days had been called “Mad Shelley.” For a time he thought he had found a Prospero in Willlam Godwin, phi- losopher ot life, “the destroyer of mar- riage, the enemy of the divinity, the athelst, republican and revolutionary, author of “Political Justic Shelley considered him “Virtue's own high prophet” and wrdte him a letter of ad- miration and devotion, begging for acquaintance with the “regulator and former” of his mind. Godwin's van- ity was tickled, he immediately as- sumed toward Shelley a paternal, .di- dactic attitude and soon began to borrow money of him, a habit he kept up with increasing frequency all of Shelley's short life. Shelley was such a complete idealist that it was .long before he discovered the hypocrisy of Godwin_and his entire lack of dell- cacy. When Shelley, following the teachings of his ‘venerated friend, deserted his wife Harriet and eloped with Godwin's daughter Mary, God- win was as infuriated as would have been any conventional parent. He refused to have any communication with Shelley and Mary, except to con: tinue borrowing money. He pointed out that the principles of his “Politi- cal Justice” would be excellent in some ideal Utopian society, but were not applicable to London and his own Qaughter. Shelley could not under- sand such distinctions. Godwin also pointed out that, since he expected to keep on receiving money from Shel- ley, it would not do for him to forgive the eloping couple, because that would lock like selling his daughter for money. Shelley was finally disgusted by this reasoning. After the suicide of poor Harriet and the marriage im- mediately affer of Shelley and Mary, Godwin magnanimously consented to forgive them. Mary was pleased, but Shelley had by this time ceased to worship and did not care whether he was forgiven or mnot. * % ok Lord Byron, who figures as Don Juan, plays almost as important & part in this biography as Ariel him- self. Byron was as affected and insin. cere as Shelley was passionately sin- cere. -Shellev, a mystic, managed to scandalize Byron, a dissipated liber- tine. Shelley, without belief in a God, acted in accordance with his own high- est beliefs; Byron, believing in a Ged, defied iim. Shelley, ¢ marriage, nevertheless held women al- most inreverence and found in them a source of poetic exaltation; Byron, be- lieving in marriage as an institution, insulted his own wife at the church door and treated all women as toys or slaves. “It is the plague of these wom- en,” said he, “that you cannot live witk them or without them * ¢ * I cannot make up my mind whethér or not women have souls. My beau ideal would be a woman with talent enough to understand and value mine, but not sufficient to be able to shine herself.” In their association in Switzerland and later in Italy, Shelley and Byron got on well together. Each admired the other's genius, and Shelley tried to elevate Byron's moral ideal and to win him to a less futile conception of life. “Shelley had read to know, Byron had read to dazzle, and Byron was per- fectly well aware of the difference, He felt, too, the instant conviction that Shelley’s will was a force, a bent bew, while his own ficated loose on the cur. rent at the mercy of his passions and of his mistresses * * * He (Shelley) had expected a Titan in revolt, and he found a wounded aristocrat fully alive to the pleasures and pains of vanity, | which seemed to Shelley so puerile. i Byron had outraged convention, but all the same he believed in it. 1t had stood in the path of his desires, and he | had flung it aside, but with regret.” When Shelley's body was burned on the seashore near Via Reggio, where it had been washed up by the sea after | the wreck of his little bark, the Ariel, | Byron was present. Full of affection, as atways, he at first assumed an air of indifference, but was unable to keep it up. He exclaimed: “How brutally ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN Q. What is the name of the tree in the White House grounds south of the White House which bears large purple blossoms?—E J. D. E A. It is the Paulownia imperalis, or imperial tree. Q. Is a mule or a horse more sure- footed?—W. 8. A. A mule seems to be. It will carry a rider or pack over precipitous tralls which would be unsafe for & horse. Q. Has any ruler a woman in his cabinet?—W. D. A. It was announced at a meeting of the International Council of Wom- en that Denmark boasts a woman in the cabinet as weil as nine women in Parllament. & How long have detective stories beon popular’—A. R, M A. “The Woman in White,” pub- lished in 1860, was the first of the meodern detective novels. It achieved de popularity, and its author, Wilkie Coliins, is known as the father of the detectiVe story. Q.- What are Great Britain's coins made of?—L. C. A. The pound sterling or sovereign and half-covereign are gold; the crown, half-crown, florin, shilling, sixpence, fourpence, threepence and twopénce are silver; the penny, half-penny and farthing are bronze. Q. What is meant by putting any- thing in escrow?—R. 8. A. Escrow is a writing which has been fully executed but which has beer: placed In the keeping of a third party, to_be held by him until such time as the specified conditions under which the instrument was prepared have been fuifilled. Q. Please tell me why the cliffs along the lower Hudson River were named the Palisades?—E. B. A. The Palisades of the Hudson River are so-called from their re- semblance to palisades, a term which means a fence of pales or stakes for purposes of defense. The Palisades are a line of bold cliffs showing ba- saltic columns. Q. Who holds the record for fastest time in iceboat sailing?—S. C. A. On February 24, 1907, the ice- boat Wolverine broke all world rec- ords for a two-point course at Kala- mazoo, Mich., making the 20 mile in 39 minutes 50 seconds, which remains a record. % A. Are castor beans poisonous?— €8, 8, A. The castor oil plant is not known to be poisonous, and, although the leaves are not relished by farm ani- mals, they are said to be used as fod- der for cattle in india. Castor beans, however, contain a polsonous prin- ciple, and, though harmless when han- dled, may cause serfous if not fatal eifects when eaten, especially in the case of small children. How did Florida get its name? B. ‘The word “Florida™ is Spanish means ‘“flowery.” It is possible that Ponce de Leon named this part of the country either for his discov- ery of it on Easter Sunday—Pascua florida, meaning flowery Easter—or on account of the abundance of flow- ers he saw growing there. Q. Do we see exactly one-half of the moon?—W. S. W. A. Owing to the facts that the ro- tation of the moon on its axis and Its motion around the earth are not quite uniform and that the moon's axis is not quite perpendicular to its orbit, we do see extra portions of the eastern and western faces and the north and south caps. The motions caused by these deviations-are called the librations of the moon and they allow about three-fifths of the moon's surface to be visible at one time or another. Q. Whose place did Associate Jus- tice Harlan Stone take?—H. T. T. A. It cannot be said that he took any one's place. He was appointed to fill a vacancy created by the re- tirement of Associate Justice Mc- Kenna. His seat on the bench 1s the one always occupied the newest member of the court, the one at the extrema left of the Chief Justice. Q. Does a person grow in height after reaching the age of 18?—J. V. A. As a rule, a boy attains his adult height when he reaches the age of 21. However, some individuals have been known to grow while in their 20s. It is said that a new-born baby is about 20 inches tall, and at the ‘end of its second year of life hus attained half of its adult height. Q.. Was Cleopatra a blond or bru- nette?—J. Q. Ay There is no authentic portrait of 8leopatra in exlitencg except in effigy upon coins. Many blographers are, however, of the opinion that her hair was auburn. Q. When were free public schools establiched in Prussia, Canada, Eng- land and France?—A. M. P. A. Prussia had free public schools maintained by the state in 1713, Can- ada in 1867, England in 1870, France in 1881. Q. In canning acid vegetables what is used to countersct the metallic actfon_of the tin can?—W. C. & A. The inside of the can is lacquered before being used as a container for acld vegetables. Q. When and where were the mur- derers of Herman Rosenthal put to death?—W. W. H. A. The four gunmen, Lefty Loul: Gyp the Blood, Dago Frank and ‘Whitey Lewis, convicted of the mur- der of Herman Rosenthal, were elec- trocuted at Sing S prison on Au gust 14, 1914 Charles Becker was electrocuted at Sing Sing on July 30, 1915. Q. What is the area of tbe Belglan Kongo? What portion of the popula- tion s white?—L. W A. This torritory has an area of 909,654 square miles. The estimated population is 10,000,000, of which only 10,037 are white. Q. How many kinds of lichens are there?—H. M. E. A. There are about 250 genera, while there are about 4,000 species Q. Wh: “legitimist” A. The French word “legitimist” was arplied In the sense of a sup. porter of hereditary right to govern as against parliamentary rule have parties been called —A. G. Q. What is the largest emerald in existence?—A. G. A. The largest emerald known tcday is the Muzo stone; an uncut crystal, six-sided (as all emeralds are), about 2 inches long, of the same diameter and weighing over 1,300 karats, more than 9 ounces, and is owned by the Duke of Devonshire. Q. When- did Weston, the walker, first come into public notice?—W. P. A. Edward Payson Weston, pedes- trian, began his professional career in 1867, but he first attracted attention in 1861 by walking 443 miles in 208 hours to attend the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln. Q. What is the Knight>—H. G. S. A. During the War of 1812, the Brit ish soldiers received orders to burn in the occupied territory of land. It was at this time that Kitty Knight said to the soldiers who warned the people to leave their houses: “I shall not leave: if you burn this house, you burn me with it." ‘This defiant reply was reported to the officer, who came in person to see her. He was struck with admiration at her courage and spared her house 1lnd the one next to it. story of Kitty (Frederic J. Haskin is employed by this paper to handle the inquiries of our readers and you are invited to call upon him as freely and as often as y6u please. “Ask anything that is a ‘matter of fact and the authority will | be quoted you. There is no charge for this service. -Ask what you want, sign your name and address and inclose 2 cents in_stamps for return postage. Address The Star Information Burcau Frederic J. Husktn, director, Twenty- Jirst and C streets northwest.) Ship Subsidy in New Guise | mistaken men have been about him! He was without exception the best and least selfish man I ever knew. And as perfect a gentleman as ever crossed a drawing room.” * x ok % “Impressions of Great Naturalists,” by Dr. Henry Fairfield Osborn is not designed to give complete accounts of the scientists treated, but does give interesting personal reminiscences of Darwin, Huxley, Wallace, Pasteur, James Bryce, Roosevelt, John Bur- roughs, John Muir, Howard Crosby Butler and others. In each case the author, who is himself one of Ameri- ca’s most distinguished scientists, manages to give many biographical data and critical estimates of the men included. In the case of Darwin the author, at the age of 22, “had the rare privilege of meeting and looking stead- ily in his face during a few minutes’ conversation * * * The impression of Darwin’s bluish-gray eves, deep-set un- der the over hanging brows, was that they were the eyes of a man who could survey all nature.” His high es- timate of Roosevelt as a naturalist s particularly interesting. Of him Dr. Osborn . “What Roosevelt did know in history and in natural history he knew thoroughly; he went to the very bottom of things, If possible, and no ‘one was more conscientious than he where his knowledge was limited or merely that of the intelligent lay- man. His thorough research in prepar- ing for the African and South Ameri- can expeditions was not that of an amateur or of the sportsman, but of the trained naturalist who desires to earn as much as possible from previ- ous students and_explorers.” Dr. Os- born pronounces Roosevelt's “African Game Trails” to be one of the “finest books we have * * * a volume replete from cover to cover with accurate, original information—in fact, a real contribution.” * ¥ ¥ % Bernard- Shaw’s “St. Joan" and Edna Ferber's “So Big" lead the list of books recommended by librarians as the best books of 1924 for public library use. *Booklist Books,” pub- lished annually by the American Li- brary Association, lists and describes some 200 of the year’s most worth- while publications _ Selection of titles is based on the advice and votes of a large number of representative librarians intimately acquainted with the reading public’s tastes and prefer- ences. The books feceiving the largest number of votes in their order of pop- ularity are: Non-fiction—Shaw, “St. Joan”; Maurols, “Ariel”; Learned, “The ‘American ~Public Library and the Diffusion of Knowledge”; Dickin- son, “Life and Letters of Emily Dick: inson, Becker, “A Reader's Guide Hornaday, “Tales From Wonderland.” Fiction—Fer- i _Galsworthy, Forster, “A" Passage Sedg: “The Little French » GIF"; Walpole, “The Old Ladies'; Jehnston, “The Slave Ship"; Bvrne, ' “Blind Raftery”; * Wharton, “Old New Yerk.” Juvenile non-fic- tion—Colum, * “The Island of the Mighty”; Hillyer, “A Child’s History of the World' kins, “The Atlan- Stories,” tic Treasu Juvenile -Nordhoff, *“The Pearl *“The New Moon"; ittle’s Circus, Gets Knocks and Bposts Heated debate accompanies the re- vival of the ancient controversy over Government aid for American ship- ping. The subject comes as a result of the proposal by Chairman O'Con- nor of the Shipping Board that a $20 monthly wage bonus be paid to each American sailor aboard an American ship. Some of the opponents of the measure make renewed attack on the seamen’s act. ‘The contention that subsidies should be avolded if possible and that bonuses to workers are hardly more desirable in principle is made by the Pittsburgh Gazette-Times. “We might expect the proposed form of subvention would arouse the enthusiasm of po- litical demagogues,” the Gazette- Times argues, “but it will not sait their ideas of right and justice, since it would not threaten the success of the_ ship owners.” The Pittsburgh paper attacks the seamen's act as constituting “the principal obstacle to. development of an American . mer- chant marine through making ship operation more expensive under Old Glory than under foreign flags.” -As the New York Evening Post sees it: “The cost is reckoned at $2,000,000 yearly, for American ships now in serv- ice and $6,000,000 annually when 15,000 ‘reservists' man the merchant fleet. That cost would be less than the pres- ent deficit for Government-owned ships—very much less, in fact. The shipping interests will support it, of course. A goodly part of their pay roll would be met thereby. Never- theless, it i a subsidy that cannot very well be disguised, unless these men are carried as ‘naval reservists rather than “merchant marine re- serves,” and two of the most unpopu- lar words in the American language today are ‘subsidy’ and ‘bonus. * kK k The subsidy is mentioned inci- dentally in commendation of President Coolidge’s interest in the future of the American merchant marine, by the Norfolk. Dispatch. “The whole trouble has been,” says the Norfolk paper, “that no administration within the memory of the present generation has been free from influences detri- mental to the American merchant ma- rine. The word ‘subsidy’ has been like a red flag and has been seized upon by antimerchant marine propa- gandists to prevent any preferential treatment for American ships. The bonus for seamen, on its face, Is an indirect subsidy and offers no par- tioularly attractive prospect so far as permanent results are concerned.” The Racine Times Call commends the. proposal that the United Btates Chamber of Commerce have a survey of the situation made and report on Government policies designed to set the shipping industry on its feet, add- ing: “It is a question fraught with grave consequences to the. country, both in the matter of industry and na- tional defense, and should be worked out to a definite conclusion at the eatliest possible time:"” * % % % The bonus proposa) fails to meet the approval of the Baltimore Evening Sun, which suggests: “Since Chairman O’Connor’s announced object is to find a means to do away with the differen- tial between American and foreign wages of seamen, there is another pro- posal he might make. Let him call a tention to the fact that one of the chief factors in this differential is the La Follette seamen’s act. Let him then propose the repeal of that act, and thus make it possible for Ameri- can shipowners to do what other ship. owners do—that is, to hire their crews on the best possible terms.” The Great Falls Tribune, however, cites the recent sale by the Shipping Board of five big merchant liners to the Robert Dollar Ship Co., and continues: “The interest- ing part of Robert Dollar's proposi- tion is that he is willing to buy thes ships and run them in the ocean trade under the terms of the La Follette bill for five years. Satire i8 hurled at ‘“our ancient much battered, oftrejected. pesti lential ‘friend, the ship subsidy,” the New York Evening World, which declares: “The sponsor of the plan wants to get the Government out of the shipping business, but he wants the Government in the shipping b ness to the extent of taxing the people to raise $20 a month for every mem ber of the crews of the vessels of private interest. The Government pays the money, the private interest takes the profits, and—the Govern ment gets out of the shipping busi ness.” As opposed to this view, the Manchester Union asserts that the objects of the O’Connor proposal are universally conceded to be sound, bur “it rémains to be seen whether the old “objections to any form of ship subsidy are to be revived with suffi clent backing to defeat the proposal The Union sees hose in “the new ap preciation which has come to the agricultural West of its dependence upon exportation of foodstuffs for rural prosperity.” * ok x ox It i8 certain that merchant marine subsidy bills will be offered at the next sesslons of Congress, according to the Chicago Daily News. “If there is a satisfactory alternative to direct sub. sidies, that fact should be made plain,” the News proposes. “If ex emption of shipping companies from certain taxes can take the place of direct aid,” 1t submis, “ihar circum stance should be brought to public attention.” Favorable attention is given to the matter also by the Phila delphia Evening Bulletin, which holds that “public opinion would not toler- ate lowering of American shipping costs at the expense of the sailor's pocket or comfort.” The Bulletin de- clares “it is but logical, then, if Con gress wants to see American merchant nien real competitors tn world trade. it “#hould give American operators some mpensating financial ad vantage. “It looksas though action of some sort would haye to be takeén if the American merchant marine is to be maintained, and it subsidy is the an swer it .must be accepted,” in the opinfon of the Springfield Ddily News. ““The administration is likely to meet defeat if it attempts to forge adoption of a ship subsidy bill,” ‘predicts *he Schenectady Gazette.