Evening Star Newspaper, May 19, 1925, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY May 19, 1925 Editor THEODORE W. NOYES. . The Evening Star Newspaper Company ; Businegs Office T Pennasivania Ave, Nea Sork’ Gifice’ 110 Bagt 4400 St hica : Tower . Buropean Omce Efl Regent St.. London, h 11th 8¢ The Evening Star, with the Sunday morn- ing Saitiog. 15 Seliered by cathers within the city at 60 conts per month: daily only. 45 cente per month: Sunday only. 20 cents pe month, Orders may be asent by mall or telephone Main 5000, Collection is made by carrier at the end of each month. Rate b{’ Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sund 137, 3840:1mo. 7 Baily only v oo $7:36.00: 1 mo. Stnday only i1 o All Other States. Paily and Sunday...1yr. $10.00: 1 mo Daily only. 1yr. $7.00: 1 mo. Sanday only i $3.00: 1 mo.. ember of the Associated Press. TThe Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news die- patches credited to it or not otherwise cred- ied in this paper and also the local news pablished herein. Al rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. James F. Oyster. native son of James F. Oyster, a ‘Washington, served his community valuably and faithfully during practi- cally his entire life. Few citizens of the District have contributed so much to the welfare of the National Capital as did he in his various activities. In all of h 74 yvears he was devoted to his native city. In business, in citizen soldiery, in public office, he strove al- ways for the zood of Washington. That he died in office as District Com- missioner was a comfort to him in his last days, For many years known as “Captain Oyster, the late Commissioner was identified in the minds of many of his elder fellow citizens with a military organization that was at one time the pride of the District, the National Rifles, an admirable example of the volunteer defensive force of the days before the National Guard was organ- ized. He was proud of this compli mentary title and cherished it through- out his life, for it represented a serv: ice rendered to Washington before had attained the position of direct participation in civic administration. As a member of the Board of Educa- tion Capt. Oyster gave himself stintedly and vigofously to the cause of public instruction. He was himself @ product of the District's school sys- tem, and he saw its needs from that un- viewpoint. As a director of the Federal Reserve ard for the Richmond division, Which includes Washington, Capt. Oyster devoted himself to his duties with characteristic thoroughness. That service was interrupted by the summons to take the Distriet commis- sionership, an office to which he had long aspired and which he filled with marked ability, though handicapped by failing health. As District Commissioner Capt. Oyster was stanchly a defender of the principles of Capital maintenance that had prevailed for many decades and had resulted in the growth and de- velopment of Washington toward a high municipal ideal, In the division of duties at the District Building he was particularly in charge of police and fire administration, which he dis- charged with energy and broad vision. In all of his activities and service as Commissioner he was a loyal son of Washington, a firm bellever in its capacity to become one of the world's most important and most attractive cities. He loved the District, and in all he did he was guided and influenced by that affection. A tribute of gratitude for services rendered is paid to him who has now passed through great suffering to his rest. James F. Oyster contributed greatly to the Washington of today, and it shows its appreciation now by a sincere mourning for him. e Horse racing, base ball, pugilism and motion pictures all offer outlets for popular enthusiasm which may be relied on to prevent too great a pres- sure of emotion in politics. The most valuable equipments of engines are their safety valves. N Statisticians point out that the world owes this country over $12,000,000.000. There is no sentiment for “isolation,” although Uncle Sam might easily feel Justified in deciding to retire from ac- tive business and live on his income. e e A blockade of the rum fleet cannot prevemt the availability of foreign labels for the synthetic stuff. e Columbus’ First Voyage. An attempt has recently been made By historical researchers to question the title of Christopher Columbus as the true “discoverer” of America. ‘Writers have been analyzing some old records that havegcome to light in France to prove that Columbus did not set sail from Cadiz with no knowledge of the new world to the west, but with actyal information that a rich land my overseas. It is contended that numerous other Europeans had made voyages to the American continents. Of course, we have long known that the Norsemen came over and settled and left before Columbus hoisted sail, ®nd that other adventurers probably had reached these shores before he came. But it has not until now been contended that Columbus was not in truth a “discoverer,” but that he was mimply following a tip and that he knew what he was going to find. It will be impossible to rob Caristo- pher Columbus of his title. However many adventurers may have preceded him to these shores, however fre- quently contact had been effected be- tween Europe and the Americas, as they came to be known, the fact re- jnatns that not until Columbus came was the New World opened to the Old. 1t earlier traders came they departed fever to return, or they kept their pecret of Western riches jealously. It was Columbus, and he alone, whose voyages effected the settlement and therefore the development of America. Now it is brought to light, in a re- search much more important in fact than the other, through investigations in the archives at Genoa, that the en- tire oest of Columbus’ first voyege, hilaly in ths discovery of 1 'Amerlu—tor it must be called that despite all controversy—was only $7,200.°It appears that the caravels themselves cost $2,800, while the ex- penses of the trip were $4,400. Colum- bus received a salary at the rate of $320 a year, his captains getting half this amount, while each seaman re- ceived a monthly stipend of $2.50. Pretty cheap discovery that! But it was a great sum in those days. It was a speculation, a venture on an un- icertainty. The immediate profits of that first voyage were not large. In fact, it barely paid expenses. But from it developed an investment of incal- culable value. In coniparison with the whole value of the two great con- tinents that were brought into the world’s economy through Columbus' discovery, the cost of his voyage is as but a mustard seed in relation to the earth itself. e The U. S. Chamber of Commerce. The United States Chamber of Com- merce, representative of the great in- dustries of the country and of busi- ness generally, is fast becoming the principal means of contact between the business men of the country and the Government. Its delegates are gathered here for the thirteenth an- nual meeting of the national chamber and for a most significant event in the history of the organization, the dedication of - its - new million-dollar home. This splendid building emphasizes the growth and stability of the United States Chamber of Commerce. It em phasizes no less the important place which Washington has come to have in every phase of the life of the Nation. The United States has seen in a comparatively brief period. a tre- mendous industrial development and a growth of business that is without parallel. The science of government has failed in some respects to keep pace with this development. More and more there is need of better un- derstanding between the Government, which is located in Washington, and the business of the country, affecting it does the lives of all its citizens. The National Chamber of Commerce, covering all branches of the country’s business, is in a position to become of more and more value in the solution of the problems, both social and eco- nomic, which have arisen with the in- dustrial and business changes in the country. The life of the United States Cham- ber of Commerce has not been long, but it has covered an important period in the world’s history. Since its con- ception and birth here during the Taft administration, there have been vast changes in this country and through- out the world, due to war and recon- struction. The helpfulness and influ- ence of the chamber wiil depend to a very great extent upon its attitude to- ward all the people. If it acts selfishly and takes a narrow view, with the in- terests of a special group too much in mind, then it will have failed. But if it seeks to be helpful to all, as there is every reason to believe it will, then the United States Chamber of Com- merce will continue to be a force for great good. The program outlined for considera- tion of the delegates at the present meeting covers subjects of importance to the country as a whole, including the rules of the Federal Trade Com- mission, that Government agency set up by Congress to see that fair play be the rule in competitive business. The American merchant marine, agri- culture and our foreign relations are among the other topics for considera- tion. The discussions and recommen- dations of the business men of the country represented here should be illuminating. e The theory of evolution does not as- rt that man is a direct descendant of the monkey. It does assume that hu- mane are related to simians on terms of collateral descent from a common origin, and the controversy resolves itself into one of those unfortunate family quarreis from which the world has never been able to escape. . In the opinion of Mussolinl, women who vote should also be permitted to enter the army. The picture of modern civilization grows more and more classic and there will be Amazons as well as dancing nymphs of the wood- land. Hindenburg's y appears to be sufficient to prevent any wild Hohenzollern rush for the center of the stage. ——— Gov. Smith Under Fire, With Gov. Smith of New York life in the executive chair is one combat after another. He seems to relish it, however, and is always ready to sally forth to the fray whenever he is not “starting something” himself. He is never tardy in picking up the cudgels in defense of his party when assailed from important quarters, and defends his administration as the apple of his eye. He realizes that he is an out: standing figure in the political lime- light, and that it is his responsibility to let no essault upon his administra. tion go unchallenged. The latest instance of the governor's quickness in seizing buckler and sword was shown last night, when Repre. sentative Ogden L. Mills, in an address delivered before the Economic Club at a dinner at the Hotel Astor, New York, attacked Gov. Smith's financial policy. The New York congressman, who is a man of note in Republican politics, bitterly scored Gov. Smith's financial policy. He charged that the govermor’s claim of tax reduction was an insult to the intelligence, in that it was a case of tax shifting, and not, in fact, tax reduction; that the governor had reduced income taxes only to put a greater burden on owners of realty. Gov. ‘Smith and Mr. Mills were paired to discuss “Economy and Ef- ficiency in Government.” The gov- ernor made copious notes of Mr. Mills’ charges as to “tax shifting,” and stepped briskly to'the platform to re. fute them. He led off by saying that according to Mr. Mills’ idea there are two kinds of tax reducticn, Republican tax reduction, which is all right, and Democratic tax reduction, which, while it reduces, is all wrong. The reports of what was practically & Jolnt debate 49 pot sy who was the s victor. Probably judgment would de- pend upon one's political viewpoint. It was shown, however, that Gov. Smith cannot be assailed with im- punity, and that he is still a live wire to be handled gingerly. ————— America’s Costly Transportation. Some consolation is to be found in the shocking figures of the National Board ef Casualty and Surety Under- writers regarding auto casualties in the United States in 1924. It is only a slight consolation, and relative, to be sure, but it is something. Motor cars caused 19,000 deaths and injuries to 450,000 persons in the United States last year, a daily average of 52 dead and 6,650 injured. The consolation comes from the fact that while the deaths in 1923 were 20 per cent greater than those in 1922 the increase in 1924 over the preceding year was dnly 4 per cent. Moreover, there is some shade of reassurance in the fact that the ratio of deaths to cars in use shows a decrease. In 1915 twenty-four deaths occurred for every 10,000 auto- mobiles, while in 1924 there were only 9.6 deaths for every 10,000 cars. Undoubtedly the decrease in rate of casualty increase and in the ratio of deaths to motors in use may be at- tributed to organized campaigns for the reduction of accidents. In all parts of the country the shocking menace to life and limb has stimulated con centrateq endeavor to regulate traffic, to educate the public. If in a single year disease in this country were to afflict nearly 470,000 peaple, taking 19,000 lives and leaving 450,000 victims more or less seriously crippled, the situation would be r garded with the greatest alarm. Ex- traordinary remedies would be sought and applied. Quarantines would be established. The daily lives of the people would be regulated strictly. The traffic casualties in the United States are the result of a veritable epidemic of carelessness and haste. The remedies that are being applied are, as the comparatively small reduc- tion of.deaths and injuries indicates, only palliative. The country is paying a terrible price for its facility in in- dividual transportation. —————— A Motorless, Pilotless Plane. Now comes the motorless, pilotless airplane. It is a German device that, according to a dispatch from Frank- fort, flew for 21 minutes. The German gliders have already made some re- markable records, but those have been directed by pilots. This device has nefther man nor motor. No details are at hand as to the method of launching. It seems from the brief cable that something of the same sort of thing has been done here in this country, for the 21-minute achievement of aerial maintenance is said to be double the American record. The gliders have already proved that it is possible to maintain a heavier- than-air machine aloft without motive power for long periods. This has been done, however, through skillful steer- ing and wing manipulation, by a per- fect co-ordination between planes and air currents. Just how this co-ordina- tion is effected in the new device with- out human. agency remains for dis- closure. It is conceivable that com- pensating mechanism may have re- placed the pilot to secure adjustments as the wind pressure varies. Yet it would seem to be impossible to give guidance to the plane short of radio control. The marvels of aviation have by 1 means been exhausted. Great as ha been the advances since the Wright brothers flew over the sands of the North Carolina shore a marvelous de- velopment has taken place, and still the basic principle has remained the same, that of utilizing the pressure of the air for sustaining a heavier body. Heavy sacrifices have been made in the gaining of knowledge in this new science. Now it would appear that the stage has come of a more subtle use and control of pneumatic force, perhaps for the accgmplishment of marvels barely dreamed of by the ploneers. ——.———— Among the changes America has witnessed is that of substituting rum- fleet skippers for bartenders. ——e—. SHOOTING STARS. %Y PHILANDER JOHNSON. Tmpro#ing Time. I went a-fishing; and the fish Eluded my determined wish As they industriously ate At will, my mcst expensive bait. That fishing is a waste of time I've been informed in prose and rhyme. My time was squandered, I confess. The fish improved theirs, more or less. Impractical. “An orator should speak clearly and to the point, and quit when he gets through.” “Sometimes, maybe,” answered Sena. tor Sorghum. “But that's no way to filibuster.” Jud Tunkins says all this advice about “forget your troubles” simply helps to make more business for the bill collectors.” Agricuiture and Commerce. The farmer raises oats and corn. And yet he lingers, all forlorn, In envy of the profits made On the Chicago Board of Trade! It's hard enough toraise the truck. The farmer feels he's out o’ luck In raising grain in such amount ‘When raising prices is what counts. Providing for Emergencies. “What has become of Mesa Bill?" “His temper got so rough an’ un- governable that he decided the old Guich didn’t have the modern con- veniences he might need. He went on to Chicago where there's always & bunch of alienists fiandy.” Performance Postponed. Said the movie star, “I want divorce.” Said the judge, “It's yours as a matter of course. Said the movie star, “Oh, please delay! My press agent's taking a holiday.” “I sees some people raisin’ chillun,” said Uncle Eben, “in-a way dat makes me think de parents ain’ sho’ nuff done riz deirselves,” THE EVENING STAR, “Will not wilt, wrinkle,” said the collar ad in the street car. That line has fascinated me, rolling shrink, ecrack or down town. It has exercised the same sort of fascination upon friends to whom it has been pointed out. It is not enough to read it alone— 1t must be said aloud to get the great- est joy out cof it. So repeated, the “crack or wrinkle” portion of this ad writer’s gem will be discovered to have great potency. After saying it aloud several times the unwary street-car rider finds him- self much in the position of Mark Twain's famous character who got involved In the rhyme about “Punch, brother, punch, punch with care, punch in the presence of the passen- gair The only way that unhappy man could get that verse off his mind was to repeat it to some one else, who im- mediately took to saying it day and night. It ran through his head like the refrain of a catchy fox-trot tune. He, in turn, rid himself of the in- cubus by folstering it off upon some other unwary soul, who, in an un- lucky moment for him, listened with avidity to the tripping measures. “Will not wilt, shrink, crack or wrinkle” will not reduce the hearer to such straits, of course, nor, indeed, aid the verse, except in the fertile imagi- nation of Mark Twain, who indulged in wholesome exaggeration, the pre- rogative of writers. R Our ad line, however, will give one a snappy morsel to repeat at the odd | {moments in life when the mere joy | of living wells, with lving fires, | through the essence of man. At such times, we have found, it adds much to be able to say, apropos of nothing at all, “Will not wilt, shrink, crack or wrinkle!” Thus, from a collar ad, we have transmuted the phrase into a general exclamation of happiness. “A great day!” says Bill, in greeting John. “Great!” agrees the latter. “Will not wilt, shrink, crack or wrinkle!” After all, is there not considerably more in this slogan than just collars? Why should we conflne it to an article of wearing apparel, when it may as well be appropriated by the whole lite of man? There are few situations in life when the sentiments expressed in that | sentence will not bolster up the failing courage, the weak will, the unmanly fear of power and authority, the tendency to truckle, to be ashamed of the right because some one else is afraid to call it right. In these matters most men are alike. There is none of us so brave, so strong, so magnanimous that he never makes a mistake; that at times he does not need the encouraging quali- ties of good mottoes, sentences in which some one, in a happy moment, has struck off a resounding truth. That the world of men does appre- clate such sayings is shown by the generous use of heartening mottoes by business men. cient, “peppy”’ men of affairs, men “right up to the min- {ute,” even ahead of time itself, are the largest users of hopeful quota- tions. * Almost any business man’s desk will reveal one or more framed mottoes, or bright sayings, of the sort it has be- come more or less tashionable in some quarters to sneer at, along with gen- eral flings at the tendency of recent years for self-improvement “There is more in you,” may be found in many a staid business man'’s office. This is a gentle reminder, of course, that the bottom of the pos bilitles’ of any man is seldom struck, that no matter how much he does, or how well he does it, he can do more and do it better. ‘“There is more in you.” Each framed saying that contains a truth, or the germ of a truth, has its New romance for the Navy and a very important practical step toward modern efficiency are recognized by the country in Secretary Wilbur's ordér that all graduates of Annapolis shall qualify in aviation. The action is welcomed by the Sa- vannah Morning News as recognizing officially that aviation is as basic in sea warfare as navigation. “Airmen are no longer mere scouts,” remarks the News. “They are flying artille fiying_machine gunners, flying bomb- ers. It must be recognized that avia- tion is an important auxiliary arm and will increase in such importance as the years pass.” ‘The President’s approval of the idea for both service academies is com- mended by the Kansas City Post, which regrets the delay in reaching this decision. “Considering how thor- oughly the World War demonstrated the importance of the airplane,” says the Post, “the layman will immedi- ately wonder why extensive training in the science of flying was not intro- duced into the two academies at least five years ago.” * ok ok % The new appeal of the service im- presses the Providence Bulletin, which notes that “to a life on the ocean wave is given a new element of romance to replace that which measurably paled through the substitution of modern steel fortresses for the gallant old battle frigates.” The Bulletin con- tinues: “What would Clark Russell, Capt. Marryat and Oliver Optic think of it all? One may fancy the shade of Gilbert humming thoughtfully for his old admiral: ‘So stick to the air and never go to sea, and you may be the ruler of Uncle S8am’s Navee.'" “Doubtless the new order will make entrance into Annapolis more at- tractive than ever to the youths of the country,” says the Springfield Union. “The mechanics and the theory of an alrplane are bound, sooner or later, to prove fascinating to young America.” Youth in material things as well as in personnel is the essence of the change, according to the New York Evening Post. “As the younger offi- cers of the Navy take the places of the old fellows,” predicts the Post, “the opposition te the airplane will take its place on the retired list, with those whe have outlived the newer defenset * ok ok % “In the meantime,” warns the Pe- orla Journal, “our shortage of planes continues to involve in controversy at home and ridicule abroad. It is de- sirable that every man who wears the uniform of the Navy shall be known as a sailor and a flyer, but it is im- portant that he shail have something to fiy.” The Nashville Banner sug- gests that “it sounds as thoughthe powers that be in the Navy might have somewhat extensive plans for amplifying and making more nearly adequate the aviation end of their outfit.” An increasing number of young men must learn air navigation, not only for the Navy, but for commercial service, declares the Lansing State Journal. The importance of the step in view of conditions both in the Pacific and in Europe is emphasized by the Rock Island Argus. “We shall certainly possess the largest commis- sioned force of qualified flyers to be ylelded anywhere in the seven seas,” is the view' of the Worcester Tele- gram. Certainly, in the opinion of the Morgantown New Dominion, it should :jhz mwl::"‘m.lklnz the United States Gen. Mjtehwlia coatribution to this WASHINGTON, D. 0, TUESDAY, MAY 19, 1925. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. influepce, although in many cases it may be impossible to trace it. Its im- perceptible influence is for good. Like the good will built up by some adver- tising, one may not be able to put his finger upon the exact point of gain, but he knows it exists, just the same. * ok ok * “Will not wilt, shrink, crack or wrinkle,” used as a general motto for the life of man, has many dafly appli- cations. If a man will not wilt in the face of adversity, misunderstanding or un- truth, he has solved one of the great problems of life. Many do wilt. They wilt badly under the ordinary fire of life. Does any one think that the brttle line dis- plays the only fire unde which men must stand? The less picturesque conflict of daily life has its trying situations, too. One might think, for instance, that writ- Ing this column is a bed of roses. It is not. Recently 1 wrote an article on fishing, which, though no reader of this paper has kicked, offend- ed several of my acquaintances, and hurt the feelings of two of my “bosses,” I am told. I have been ad- vised that this was very ‘“undiplo- matic."” Well, a higher opinion of all my I can say with pride that there is not a one of them who will not give me credit for being ab- solutely honest, if not always diplo- matfc.” Wherefore, I will not “wilt, shrink, crack or wrinkle.” Every one faces similar situations in life, which arise when most unex- pected, made by reactions which a de- cent man who does his best and makes no pretense to do more cannot anti- cipate, because his conscience is clear. Like the strong note of a liberty bell, comes then the admonition not to wilt. Wilt not, in the face of mis- understandlng, young men—and old men—and you will be the better for it in the long run. It is the long run that counts, be- lleve me, not just one day. * kK ¥ X Simtlarly, comes the warning not to shrink. If we are able to look at life without shrinking, and yet retain some of our childhood wonder, as Mr. Kipling more or less said in his tour de force, “If,” we will be men, indeed. Day by day we face facts, truths that tend to make us shrink, facts that are not to our llking, but are true; truths that we care not for, but are facts, neverthele: We can dismiss the poor of our city with a wave of the hand, or we can, as many men are doing, give them of our time and money. Such men do net shrink. Nor must we crack under the strain. Our ctvilization, with its innumerable avenues to the senses, its many ap- peals, tends to crack those who do not keep thelr mental footing secure. The late President Harding must have this when he spoke for “nor- inally, we must not wrinkle. As possible we are not to worry, and so get wrinkles, nor are we to wrinkle up our noses at other folks. This seems to me to be the final mes. sage of our motto. The daily life of going down town to our work, doing it. going home, seek- ing recreation, finding it, this tends to make us wrinkle in an alarming fashion, unless we keep a good watch out. The mental wrinkles are the worst of all. It is these that are to be shunned by women and men alike, rather than the physical wrinkles upon the face. The latter come with age, and growth, and are more or less inevitable, although some do not like to admit it. Mental wrinkles, however, appear at almost any age. That is why we have to be careful not to “wilt, shrink, crack—or wrinkle."” Order to Make Annapolis Men Flyers Is Applauded development is seen by numerous ob- servers. “The next time anybody named Mitchell bobs up to advocate a separate air force,” remarks the Binghamton Press, “the Navy will rise as one flying man to defend its vested interest "in_aviation.” The Albany Evening News finds that the “recog- nitlon of the importance of aviation as a big arm of the national defense should lead to further development, and in a way upholds the contentions of Gen. Mitchell.” The Greensboro Record adds that “in the controversy which cost Gen. Mitchell his rank the plane is winning for itself, and al- though the higher authorities were able to silence him, they were not able to silence the arguments that he ad- vanced.” The development is ‘“fur. ther convincing evidence that Col. ;‘;fixc.heux's propagan;la for a separate ervice was not in vain,” say: Adrian Telegram. s The lighter side of the question as well as the romance strikes numerous editors. “The planes that go forth with our Navy may well be called our mosquito fleet,” suggests the Los Angeles Times. “Paul Jones Would not understand and approve,” the Louisville Times comments. ‘“Those Navy boys are to be taught to fly, but not from the enemy the contribu- tion of the Saginaw News Courler. “Is the fact that Annapolis graduates must learn to fly an example of higher education?” asks the Uniontown Her- ald. “When the Naval Academy boys are all taught how to skipper an air- plane,” adds the Chicago Dalily News, there will be a new meaning to the old term, ‘flying squadron’.” Praise for Peter Borras. To lh!. Editor of The Star; ‘Whatever he put his hand to, who- ever he may be, success to your cor- resporident who, in the interests of the American housewives, signs him- self “Peter Borras.” Any man who drives a wedge of -estrangement be- tween woman afid the cookstove has a. oft spot within him for the feminine sex—and that soft spot is not his dic- tatorial, despotic diaphragm. ‘When man stops his wife from mak- ing her monotonous, incentive-deaden- ing daily “Cooks Tours” between mar- ket, pantry and his palate, conjugal fe- leity will slow down the divorce mill perceptibly. Half the decrees granted should have “incompatibility of tem- perament’’ struck out and “dyspepsia’ inserted. Not because woman’s cook- ing is bad, but because the tedium, fatigue and nerve strain of it makes her disposition inelastic. Having his wife jump up and down at table to wait on him, seeing her in an undec- orative house-dress every night, and observing her vegetable-stained, dish- water reddened hands grows wings on a man's romantic thoughts about her. Next thing, “plaintiff deposes and says” in the divorce court. It may not be quite as bad as that, but taking his wife out to dine with the same frequency as when they were sweethearts is good, sound ad- vice from one who knows. CHARLOTTE B. BRICK. Awakening Is Rude. From the Los Angeles Times. ‘We read an account of & man who slept past the time for his wedding. That's nothing. Lots of men don't NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM L G M. THE STORY OF WOMAN. W. L. George. Harper & Brothers. Since woman has played a vital and certainly an exclusive role in the continuance of the earth as a going concern, it is both important and de- sirable to be able to scan the long, long trail by wey of which she has come upon today and stands facing upon tomorrow. In the large manner of the modern time calculator W. L. George tosses aside 30,000 years, more or less, and sets us down in that dim neolithic day when man was “like some sort of animal,” the male and female of the species, say like the tiger and tigress, with many a_ thousand years yet to come before them is born be- tween them any intelligible idea of the man and the woman. An enormous progression, the one we are to make. Therefore, the strides set to accomplish it are those of some gigantic Gargantua, pacing off eons and eras in place of mere centuries. A A long backward leap and we are within sight of neolithic men, only about 10,000 years away from now. Here the tribes takes on definition. And the old man of the tribe stands clear, owning all the women and ap- propriating them to his various needs of food and covering and comfort. Death to a younger male who so much as touches one of these chattels —the dawn of the taboo, here. These younger males for their own food and cover and comfort must go out and fape women from other groups, be- coming each in turn the old man of his own newly constituted tribe, set- ting up his own monopoly in the women whom he has seized. Plunder, property, slaves—such are the women of this time and long succeeding times. It takes another enormous reach of years before the idea of the one wife arises. This, we discover did not, after all, spring from divine injunc- tion, as we have so piously been led to believe. Monogamy rose out of the question of food rather. The old man of the tribe, his powers failing, found his multitudinous drove of females a drug upon him, creating a food prob- lem, scanting his own supply, giving much more cover than he desired, of- fering comfort that he could not take. It is out of such dilemma that the great_institution of monogamy first looked feebly out upon the world, a ymark in the progress of woman. Sy Another long unrolling of the cen- turfes and we come upon the He- brews who originated the wife idea in a recognizable approximation to the concept now lying within this term. A great factor, this, in the story here coming to light. The Hebrews were the first to seize upon the moral basis of national life and, aided by their racial exclusions, the first to make use of that order and justice upon which the modern state is reared. In this particular connection, the most important fact of the He- brew moral law is the invention of the wife idea out of the rags and tat- | ters of the old neolithic notion of the wife as property and slave. Ty Among the Greeks, still nearer to us, rose the cult of the courtesan, the intelligent and educated woman set off against the dull and ignorant wife s the rule then was. Out of this cult —the point of special interest here— came the first hint of feminism in the intellectual revolt of Sappho and As- pasia and their kind against the sit- uation of ‘'woman in the scheme of Grecian life. With the Romans this revolt still went on to a degree, though these prime organizers of the world organized marriage among other things tightening it up in certain forms and legalities generally favora- ble to the advance of women. s Christianity, the most important event not only in all history, but in the history of advancing woman well. This has proved to be the only growing and adaptable religion. What- ever excellencies other religions may have they have remained static. Chris- tianity has, on the contrary, shaped itself to the changing needs of man, has fitted itself into diverse situations. It is this flexibility that has in great measure included woman as well as man in its divine ameliorations and assuagements. Broadly speaking, Christianity ning to set woman distinctly further on her w: of individual and collec- tive advance. S Then the dark ages with no light for any manner of human. Then, the Renaissance, when troubadours began to sing of love and chivalry, of knights and ladies. When there grew up that age of talk—men and women talking together, analyzing the emotions and the heights to which they soar when brave men devote themselves to the service of fair women. This means that in the midst of so great a flow of words there must have been some thinking on the part of women as well as on that of men. This stir of the mind set many a woman of that day definately and enduringly into the great story of the world's general ad- vance, infto the story of woman's progress. And all through the seven- teenth and eighteenth centuries the women kept on talking, drawing for substance from the general movement around them, a movement calculated to make women think intellectually, rather than morally, as they had been thinking_in the period just behind them. Rousseau, Montesquieu, Vol- taire are their masters. These three, the “founders of the eighteenth cen-. the restless skeptical eighteenth cen- tury, the restless, skeptical eighteenth century, a curious forerunner of the dull, heavy, respectable nineteenth century.” * ok ok ok There are certain surprising dis- closures along the way of these pro- gressing ages. So much that we have been taught to assign to man's in- stinctive goodness or to God's im- maculate intent turns out to be sheer expediency, shabby expediency, too, at times. The one-wife idea—monogamy —a food expedient. Love, a growth out of the mire, not.a miracle out of heaven. The kiss—a recent inven- tion—at first no more than the ram- pant nuzzling of the male, not the ethereal symbol of the most delicate of illusions. Modesty, a device—of the devil Anatole France says—sourced certainly in no very exalted state of mind, in no very high conception of morality. And, most recent of all, re- spectabllity, a stodgy and uninspiring and crippling set of inhibitions pro- Jected by blind and ignorant arbiters. A sketchy view, this, of the ways by which woman has come to her present estate of advancement and in- fluence. The next point in this ad- mirably clear and interesting study takes on the character of implicit question—What is woman going to do now in the immediate future? What i8 now her greatest need? The answer—not Mr. George's answer alone, but yours and mine and every- body’s—is education. Not education of the books and the schools, neces- sarily, but the training to a clear seizure of the salient truths of the period and of all life, a training in self-control, in the proportioned and balanced outlook, in a conception of the rights of others, in giving as well as in taking, in cultivating substan- tial things like kindness and under- standing, like reading and music and art and all the other lovelinesses and permanencies of which today is so clearly compact. Yes, it is education for the next move, and an assimilation of l.\{ htlut has been w;m before m;xcl‘nt on other great emancipatory agencies for the weal of hi . _An inspir- ing story, surpassingly well told. tended from the begin-| Q. Have many churches been built to include office buildings?—J. H. H. A. Many modern churches have been built on this plan. Los Angeles and Baltimore have four each. New York apd Detroit come next with three in each city; Chicago has two; Kansas City, Mo., Boston, Cincinnati, Syracuse and Rochester, N. Y., Des Moines and Paterson, N. J., each have a building of this type. . Q. Has the Panama Canal paid for itself yet?—L. A. The Panama Canal has not as yet completely paid for itself. The cost of construction including pay- ments to Panama and France, approx- imated $375,000,000. The total amount of tolls collected from 1915 to 1922 ag- gregated $75,000,000. Three years ago, for purposes of accounting, a part of the ‘total cost of constructing canal was written off to national defense. This left, June 30, 1924, a balance of 5,684,662 as the investment in the canal proper and an additional sum of $4,017,642.46 invested in equipment. In 1924 the net income of the Panama Canal was $16,307,948.50, and the net profit on auxiliary business operations was $901,624.12. Q. Wh 80 called? . H. A. Lucy Stone was a suffragist who achieved considerable notoriety by declining to change her name upon marriage to the one borne by her hus- band, in accordance with common custom. A league was founded of women who preferred to retain their maiden names and was named in her honor, the Lu tone League. Q. y is the Lucy Stone League E. H. Is it correct to that there are five fingers on each hand?— J. W. AL A. Strictly speaking, the thumb should not be referred to as a finger and we have on each hand four fingers and a thumb. The term that refers to all five of the divisions of the hand is digit. However, the word “finger” has come to be used loosely in reference to the four digits and the thumb. Q. How large is the biggest smoke- stack in the world?—C. G. L. A. Its height is 585 feet from the ground. The inside measurement of the top is 60 feet, with walls 2 feet thick. This smokestack is at Ana- conda, Mont. Cr)(. (Pld Disraeli become a Christian? A. Benjamin Disraeli tized at St. Andrew burn, London, in 1817, and thereby ad- mitted into the Church of England. This occurred after the death of his father in 1816. Both of his parents were Jews, Q. What kind of ground hard maples be planted in? L. O. A. In order that they do well, a heavy clay soll is essential. was bap- Church, Hol- should What is the origin of the ex- fany a mickle makes a ?>—W. L. O. 5 It is a modern form of an old Scotch proverb, wheen o'mickles mak’s a muckle mickle”” meaning little and “muckle,” meaning much The author is unknown Q. How did the term “jazz” origi- nate?—L, M | A. James Reese Europe says: *I | believe the term jazz orfginated with |2 band of four pieces which was known as ‘Razz Band.’ This band was of truly remarkable composition. It consisted of a baritone horn, a trom- ys Lev Davidovitch Bronshtein has re- turned to Moscow! Such announcement does not thrill jmany readers today, but it is believed by observers of Russian developments {to be the beginning of the greates menace since the outbreak of World War. After the death of Lenin, Lev Davidovitch Bronshtein, jalias L. Trots] commander-in-chief posed from his command by the na- | tional executive committee, controlled |by the radical Kameneff (Rosenberg) and Zinovieff (Apfelbaum)—becayse he hadsupported Lenin's retreat from ultra-socialism and they feared his power with the army and his potential coup d'etat in seizing supreme dictatorship of Soviet Russia and the Soviet world conflict. xx x * Is it possible to convey an adequate picture of the horrors of the Soviet reign of terror? Historians have not vet agreed as to the French reign of terror, a century and a quarter ago, but the average student understands that it was a holacaust of death, wherein life became too cheap to keep account of the tragedies. The num- ber of victims of the guillotine of France is estimated from 17,000 to 50,- 000. Some authorities assert that the number ran close to 300,000 before the awful slaughter was staved and superseded by the dictatorship of Napoleon. In Russia, the terror— which still persists—is reported as al- ready exceeding 2,000,000 victims, vet, it is said, there exists no real social- ism or bolshevism in Russia, for bolshevism implies communism, wherein_all people share benefits alike. There is tyranny of the few in power, and suffering of the many. There are over 600,000 sworn bolshe- vists in Russia, but not bolshevism. These 600,000 have taken the blas- phemous oath denying that there is a God, abjuring ail faith in any re- ligion and recognizing no law but that of self-interest of the state, ruled by the proletariat. The great act of treason to the Soviet Republics is to baptize a baby, or to teach religion of any kind to a child; it is punish- able by immediate death. No one, except a farmer, may em- ploy labor on any terms, for the greatest conflict of civilization, ac- cording to Marx, is the conflict be- tween the eternal enemies—the em- ployer and the employed. To employ help on any terms is to cease to be admitted into the rights of bolshevist proletariats. At first, even the farm- ers were included in this prohibition. When, under Lenin and Trotsky, it was discovered that that theory did not save ripening crops, Lenin made his famous “retreat,” and so modified the original Soviet law as to permit peasants to hire help to save the crops in harvest—that there might be more of a “surplus” of grain which could be confiscated to supply the prole- tarfat of the workshops, laboring not for money, but for 8 pounds of bread and one or two herring per week. While the Red radicals were exploit- ing their theories, Lenin and Trotsky were making practical discoveries that theories of socialism failed to plant crops or turn wheels of factories. Lenin, the statesman, recognized that the law must be modified. He pro- claimed his famous decree, the “N. E. P."—the new economic policy—which professed to reinstate the inspiration of self-reward to endeavor. The radi- cals disagreed with Lenin, and if that leader had not died, a new conflict might have been launched dividing practical Lenin and Trotsky from the visionary Red radicals. * ¥ x % ‘What Lenin had learned by observa- tion, Trotsky had faced in practical obstacles, which, as commander-in- chief of the greatest army in the werld, he had overcome by sheer genius. That genlus of organization displayed by Trotsky was superb. In spite of national distraction, in spite of national poverty and ignorance, Trotsky, who had had no previous ex- ‘perfence in military science, crganized, ‘ ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN bone, a cornet and an instrument made out of the chinaberry tree. This instrument s something like the clarinet and is made by the Southern negroes themselves. Strange to say, it can be used only while the sap ix in the wood, and after a few weeks’ use has to be thrown away. It pro- duces a beautiful sound, is worthy of inciusion in any band or orchestra. The four musicians of Razz's Band had no idea 2t all of what they were { playing, they improvised as they went | along, but such was their innate sense of rhythm that they produced some. i thing that was very taking. From the small cafes of New Orleans they graduated to the St. Charles Ho. i tel, and after a_time to the Winter i Garden in New York, where they ap- il peared, however, only a few days, the I individual musicians being grabbed up by varlous orchestras in the city, Somehow, in the passage of time, Razz's Band got changed to Ja Band and from this corruption rose the term ‘jazz’." Q. How early were girls to the public P! O A. Not until 1789. They were then permitted to go half the year in Sum- mer only. admitted *hools of Boston?— Q. What are the latest stati; forest fires?—J. C. K. e A. In 1923 there were 78,829 fires, the total damage amounting to §2 738,187, and the area burned was 26,135,177 acres. The Forest Service says that in all probability the 1924 statistics will exceed these Q." Which t surfaced road is | most used?—A" A. According to atest com . plete surv of gravel roads exce Q. “What vegeta grown I commereially in B. F | BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. the | of the Soviet army, was suddenly de- | triumvirate—satlin, | A. Greenhouse cucumbers, toma- toes and lettuce make up the bulk of the vegetables forcing crop of the United States, according to the 1919 census, being worth about $15,000,000 per annum. Q. How long was Cotton Mather's noted prayer at his own ordination’— A. The young divine prayed one hour and a quarter and preached for nearly two hour: Q. Is smallpox more prevalent now than it was this time last year?—>. P. A. The Public Health Service re. ports for the week ending April {‘!23‘ 686 cases in 34 & s. Last ye for the corresponding week it re ported 1,419 cases of this disea: Q. How many newsbo in the United States>—C. R. A. Occupational statistics report of the Bureau of in 1920 Q. Have women contributed much to invention in the Uni States?— M. H. B. the Census show: A. According to a recent survey of the Women's Bureau it was found that 5.000 patents were granted w during the 10-year period (Take advantage of the free infor- mation bureaw which this newspaper maintains. 1If there is @ question you | want answered, don’t hesitate to use this service. All replies are sent di- rect to the inquirer. Address The Star Information ~ Bureau, Frederic . Haskin, Director, Twenty-rirst streets northuwest stamps for return Inclos postage. | armed, drintea and fed an arr in number to the peak of the can Army during the world w army of 5.000.006. He was su mlt;o‘mmum! of that great forc s not surprising that the radicals | who had been opposed by ToniCils | Trotsky, because these men had he | come ““‘practical,” d Trotsky's | Power. If the great commander but nodded he might order the arrest of every civilian official in Russia and in a night become supreme dictator | Hence the triumvirate, controlling the central executive committes of 30, an | ticipated his possible seizure of power by deposing him from the head of the army. As a private citizen he well kne danger, and so he fled to the Caucasus. There he proceeded to write books, and the triumvirate dis covered that he was threatening with a pen mightier than his sword. What conspiracies he might be developin in his “Cave of Abdullum” no one could know. He was too far away from the espionage of Moscow; he was invited to return. Napoleon returned from Elba; Trot- sky returns from the Caucasus. In both cases the returning hero was ac- claimed as the idol of the masses, and his martyrdom enhanced his power. There are observers who esteem Trotsky, who had created out of con- fusion ‘and chaos an army of 5,000, 000, the greater military genius of the two. Today the Soviets maintain an army of 1,000,000, and there is no agitation toward 'disarmament To undertake such agitation in Rus- sia_would bring the speaker to the firing squad before night. In Madison Square Garden, York, three weeks ago 8,000 cans’ denounced our Government and proclaimed the coming revelution, while our police protected their “right of free speech,” for no arrests can be made for treason until the “overt act.” On the same day, in Chicao, there was a patriotic meet- ing, into which some 300 socialists penetrated for the purpose of breaking it up. They started a disturbance which resulted in fighting, until the L police interfered and closed the pa triotic meeting. This was in_strict accord with the bolshevist t: to take advantage of the laws of the country to start unrest and further the coming of “the revolution.” * ok kK According to bolshevistic doctrine, separate nations no longer should be recognized; all mankind belongs to one 1 of the two classes—employer and em- ployed. All trouble arises out of that division, therefore the bolshevik pur- pose to abolish the employer class and rule the world through the “workers” alone. All religion is to be abolished, because they would not acknowledge a diety as a power higher than the will of the proletariat. All family ties are to be wiped out. Even now it is unlawful for either a man or woman to be divorced more than three times a year or 30 times in a lifetime. Chil- dren are property of the state, and if a mother dare manifest maternal love 1 of her child when she visits the state i ! institution holding and training it she ) may be penalized and forbidden come. This is a brief summing up of con- ditions as set forth in Trotsky’s own book, “Problems of Life,” written while in exile last year. He writes: “The first destructive period is still far from being over in the life of the family. * * * In an article the subject I have read that the dis integration of the family in the work- ing olass was represented as a case of ‘bourgeois influence on the prole- tarfat’ It is not so simple as th The root of the question lies deepe: and is more complicated. The influ- ence of the bourgeois st and the bourgeois present is there, but the main process consists in a painfulevo- lution of the proletarian family-itself, an_evolution leading up to a crisis, and we are ‘witnessinig now the first ‘chaotic stages of the process.” to on