Evening Star Newspaper, July 16, 1925, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Mlflon. WASHINGTON D. C. THURSDAY. .....July 16, 1925 THEODORE w. NOYES. .. .Edllor' The Evening Star Newspaper lompnuy Business Office’ 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. ‘vr(wh\urk r:mfi"e l‘ln Emi}‘ J“_:nd St fcago Office: Tower Building. Buropean Oftice: 16 Recthe St London, England. The Evening Star. with the Sunday morn- fng edition. is delivered by carngrs within ihe city at’ 60 cents per month: Zaily oniy cente per montn: Sunday ouls ter month, - Orders may be sent by mail or Jephone Main 5000; Collection is made by earrier at th ‘end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virgini Daily and Sund .1yr. §8.40:1 mo. 70c iy only .. 1111 yr. $8100° 1 mo. B0c ay only 1¥r.$2:40: 1 mo. 20¢ All Other States. Patiy and Sunday...1 5., $10.00: 1 mo. 850 only ... 1yr.. $7.00:1mo., 80c | Sabay only 1yr. $3.00: 1 mol 28 Member of the Assoclated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dis. Patehes cradited to it or not otherwise cred. ed in this paper and alto the locul news published herein of special dispat nes herein are also reserved. A Queer An unusual, suggestion is gram to the New York World from its French Proposal. not to say astonishing, contained in a cable Paris correspondent, and which was reprinted yesterday in The Star, with eredit to that newspaper. In brief, the correspondent writes that the French government is prepared to sus- gest that a co on be appointed consisting of five Americans, one Eng- lishman, one Frenchman and one Ttalian, to inquire into the matter of French armaments and to report whether, under the circumstances in Europe, France is excessively armed ‘The intimation is conveyed that France would expect such a commis- sion to be created after the manner of the Dawes commission of experts on German reparations and to function along the same lines. The Washing- ton Government would not be asked actually to appoint the American members, but the names of candidates would be submitted for informal ap- proval or disapproval, and Washing ton thus would assume a direct, it in- tangible, responsibility for the out- ©ome of the undertaking. [The proposal, of course, is hooked Up with the matter of the French debt to America and prospective early Hegotiations for its funding. The Erench government, according to the réport, anticipates being told at Wash- ington that if France would reduce its armaments it would not be under nmecessity of asking for such liberality in terms of debt pavment, and the proposal for a commission of inquiry would be in way of justifying the con- tention that present French arma- ments are necessary to the peace of Europe. It is difficult to believe the American Government would permit itself to be mianeuvered into any such position. Tn the first place, there is no com- parison between the questions of Ger- man reparations and French arma- nients. The first question is one of economics and finance. The second is political, pure and simple. The Dawes commission had to deal with only facts, ascertainable and demonstrable. A commission on French armaments would have to deal with the secret in- tentions of other governments toward France and France's allies, with the fears and hatreds and misunderstand- ings of an entire continent. If the cémmission reporfed that France could safely reduce armaments be- cause Germany had no warlike inten- tions, and this Government gave the same stamp of approval to the report that it zave to the report of the Dawes commission, America would become, in the eyes of the world, the guarantor of Germany's good faith, and if Germany broke faith France and the world would lock to this coun- try to apply disciplinary measures. It any scheme could be devised better calculated to involve the United States in the political squabbling of Europe it would have to be, in the language of the small boy, some scheme. ———— England fears a tariff altercation be- cause a duty on silk stockings might cause feminine resentment of a neces- | sity of wearing cotton. No fear! girls in this untrammeled age can settle the difficulty immediately by deciding to wear no stockings at all. ——— Europe is amazed at the sudden seriousness with which America ap- pears to take the subject of evolution. America takes everyth: for a little while at a time The 12 seriously ——— Polar expeditions by airplane would be even more interesting if they con- templated the establishment of an fce Toute from an inexhaustible supply. T — The Dollar Bill. Conferences are being held at the Treasury on the subject of how to make the dollar bill last longer. They are not unique. Conferences are being held daily in many American homes on the same question. The life of a dollz nial domestic debated by r bill is a topic of peren- discussion. It has been millions of experts in curreng longevity. The Treasury experts are talking about the physical dollar bill, which now lasts about seven months. The domestic exy fiscal unit rts are talking about the which lasts about as many hours. The same dollar bill provides matter for numerous family confer- ences as it passes to and fro. Every family that considers the en- durance of the bill adds to its frailty A dollar bill that lasts seven months serves thousands of oup people, goes ihrough ny hands. It pays for groceries, for coal, for clothing and footwear, for entertainment, for lux- wries, for medicines, for fripperies and for house rent. No matter how de- crepit it may become, it is still a dollar, just as it was when, crisp and fresh, it came from the Engraving Bureuu One proposed means of making the dollar last longer physically is to give it & little more time for “curing" efter being printed. So large fs the consumption of these bills, which cost on an average 17-10 cents each, that the Government cannot accumulate 2 | g | sufliclent stock to permit this season- Al rights of publication | 0 cents | | The spending public simply would not | That right was repeatedly vindicated | ! {ing. So it is proposed to push out substitutes in the form of more two- dollar bills. | Prejudice ngainst the two-dollar bill runs through all branches of the great spending family. It is disliked be- ause it “gets mixed” with the dol- _llars, and also because it is regarded with some degree of superstition. It {1s popular only with a certain class of people, who are prone to taking chances with Dame Fortune. The circulation life of the two-dollar bills is comparatively short, because they get back to the Treasury quick- |ly. They are turned into the banks for change and the banks turn them back to the central fiscal headquarters for transmutation into ‘“ones.” Probably the only remedy for. the situation is for the Government to print more one-dollar bills, to accumu- late a stock and permit seasoning. | Certainly there is no likelihood of re- lief being found through the issue of silver dollars. That was_ tried, some time ago, but the experiment failed. take them. The one-dollar bill is the | most popular form of currency with the mass of the people and the Treas- ury might as well make provision for supplying it in sufficient quantities to supply the demand. . Chicago’s Gun Evil. Stirred at last to action by the latest gang murder, the Chicago police are going after the pistol carriers in that city, with a view to ridding the town of the armed thugs who have been making life cheap and precarious. Certain facts have come to light in the course of the inquiries into the situation stimulated by these su cessive homicides. Permits to carry pistols have been issued by the thou- sands, apparently without the least discrimination. Justices of the peace have granted great numbers of them. Memberships have been taken in various organizations with a semi- police character. Two of these un- official groups, it s stated, number no less than 6,500 members, all of whom are qualified to carry pistols and to wear badges. Regulation of the pistol evil cannot be effectively undertaken by a single city or a single State. Pistol vending is interstate commerce. Until both the mails and the express service are closed to these goods, save for legiti mate sale, they will continue to 1 - distributed throughout the country, be bought by any person, whatev, may be the motive for personal arm ment. New York has an antipistol Ia which imposes a severe penalty upd the purchaser and carrier of a dead$ weapon. But through special permi‘§, which are easy to obtain, and by gi- ing across the State boundary mi) another jurisdiction, any crook cih get a gun without much difficult! The “Sullivan law,” as it is styled, virtually a dead letter. ‘ Concealed weapons laws, whmn merely penalize the carrying of guis without permits, are not capable &f enforcement effectively. The gun car- rier cannot be detected until he has been arrested for some other offense, or until he has used his illicit weapon. The only way to reach the root of the evil is to regulate the manufacture and the distribution of these imple- ments of death. e The Whipping Post. The whipping post remains in Mary- land, and from Frederick has come an account of a man stripped to the waist, tied to an fron bar of a jail door, and given ten lashes with a blacksnake whip. There comes a de- scription of the long red welts, the pallor and faintness of the man, his| call for air when the flogging was done and the administration of stimu lants to him by a physician present as an officlal of the county. The man | whipped is said to have shaken hands with the sheriff who flogged him and to have said that he felt no {ll will lo—l ward the official. The man was con- | victed of beating his wife and the ten lashes were given him by sentence of | a court. It would scem that the form of punishment has majority approval. THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, precedented electrical activity in a small field, and he thought that with a severe artificlal electrical storm he could wreck atoms and change their nature. In this way he obtained gold from mercury. There has been a report that a Ger- man chemist or physicist, Dr. A. Miethe of Berlin, has obtained gold from mercury. It is not uncommon to get gold from mercury, but the usual way is to expose gold to mer- cury, form amalgam of gold and| mercury, and then destroy the mer- cury to get the gold. There have been reports from remote times that men have changed quicksilver, copper and zinc to gold, and a great many persons have put faith, at least for some time, in the reports. Yet the world still depends on gold that was made by Nature in its old, mysterious way. The alchemist spoke in words so learned that his humble hearers were confounded and dumfounded; yet in spite of all the difficult and obscure language manutactured gold has not come to the mints. We hear of syn- thetic this and that, but not of synthetic gold. So many things have come to be known as “coal tar prod- ucts” that if a scientist would report the discovery of coal tar gold he would have a large audience. In times when Egypt was a voung and growing country and Greece was the world’s leader in progress alche- mists were busy trying to get gold without digging it or selling gold mine stock. Many practical people of old Rome believed in the making of gold Caligula tried to make gold from orpiment or yellow arsenic. Diocletian had little faith in manufactured gold and ordered all books to be burned that professed to teach ways of mak ing gold. 1f the Japanese physicist has made gold cheaper than it can be mined, the world will greet him as 4 wonder-man. s American aviators in FParis are willing to fight the Riffs on behalf of France. There is no particular rea- son for American hostility toward the Riffs, but the impulse to go to the assistance of France has been ren- dered strong among many individuals by recent historic experiences. e —r—t———————— Small towns are frequently made suddenly famous by some event of which they accidentally become the scene. It depends on the local busi ness boosters whether the advantage is limited to a temporary boom in sausages and near beer. = e S The modern intellectual impulse is struggling for release. Darwin did an unexpected service in providing some thing more serious than the solution of a cross-word puzzie or the dis- covery of a limerick’s terminal line. ———— Numerous surveys of the situation have been made with a v to relieving the situation, but of them has been able to suggest any improvement on the operations of the Dawes plan. The Bible and the works of Shake- speare are regarded by English speaking people as the two great in- fluences on the human mind. The Baconian theory is possibly due to de liver the next intellectual jolt. uropean = none —a— The attention showered on them is liable to delude the contending orators in the Scopes trial into the idea that in popular consideration they are as important as Walter Johnson himseif. e The ways of fame are devious and | surprising. “Director of traffic” is a modest enough title, yet in the Dis. trict of Columbia at present it is the center of attention. ———— In an automobile race the confer- jence in the hotel bedroom has to be considered as well as the decision at the judges’ stand. ———— The monkey has always been hailed by the loftering crowd as a comedian. But he is often very mischievous. » oo SHOOTING STARS. There are many persons in Mary- | land and a great majority outside of | Maryland who feel that flogging is a | punishment that does not belong to | our country and this century. There | were many punishments approved in | earlier centuries which if inflicted now | would shock the people. They would | be classed as cruel and unnatural, and in most parts of our country the! whipping post 1s in that classification. | The crime of wife-beating is odious, but the time is not long passed when 2 man had legal right to beat his wie. | Ly courts. Sentiment has changed and the man who beats his wife has no standing in public opinion or law. Law in most parts of the country makes it a cause for divorce. There is a brutality in tying & man to a bar and beating him, sometimes | to insensibility and death, which of- fends a common sense of decency. It is felt that this form of punishment does not deter wife-beaters, who usu- ally act under the impulse of natural | viciousness or drunkenness. It is not | believed that criminals are better con- trolled in any part of the country where the whipping post is retained than in those parts of the country where it has been abolished. e Clarence Darrow is almost in a mood to think that almost everybody concerned in the prosecution of the Scopes case ought to be psycho- analyzed. ———— v | Gold From Mercury? | A story is printed that a Japanese physicist, who seems to be nick- named the “Japanese Einstein,” has transmuted mercury to gold. The pub- fished accounts show that the man of Japan is in the front rank of sci- entists. It is said that “he has suc- ceeded in producing artificial gold by disintegrating atoms of quicksilver in an electrical field of several million volts per centimeter.” That is a trifle strong for the comprehension of lay- men or non-scientists. Dr. Nagaoka, this Japanese sclentist, has ex- plained that he made his discovery while trying “to accelerate the radio- activity of uranium and to speed up s, decay into radium.” The experi €nt failed, byt he congentrated un - booligh,™ BY PHILANDER JOENSON, A Gentle Deflance. The world is playing rather rough And there is now a rumor That politicians, as they bluff, Have lost their sense of humor. They say, instead of shouting for the brave and for the free, “You can't make any monkey out of me.” They fear no one who thorns might toss Upon the brow of Labor; r one who has a golden cross And draws it on his neighbor. The only little protest that they ven- ture seems to be “You can’t make any of me.” N monkey out Riddances. “We've gotten rid of the corner | saloon,” congratulated the prohibition | promoter. “I'm glad of that,” said Senator Sorghum. “I'm afraid the next thing we have to do will be to get rid of the corner drug store. All this Darwin discussion started around a soda foun- tain where everybody was guaranteed cold sober, even if perhaps a trifle dyspeptic. In the old days any such argument would have been dismissed from attention as {dle barroom chat- ter.” Jud Tunkins says, judgin’ from the pictures, Col. Bryan isn't goin’ to be able to do much advertisin’ for the | climate of Dayton, Tenn. Theory and Practice. “I can hire all the brains I need for $25 a week,” boasted Mr. Dustin Stax. “If that's the case,” rejoined Miss Cayenne, “why don't you?” The World's Hope—a Laugh! The man who takes in serious mood ‘Each serious thought that may intrude In mind is ever tempest tossed; And he who cannot laugh is lost. “De Bible,” said Uncle Eben, ‘holds encouragement foh ever' strugglin’ sinner; even foh de man dat insisses on gittin® up in public an’ tglkin’ D. C., THURSDAY, JULY 16, 1925. ‘Who is an ignorant man? The evolutionist says the funda- mentalist is, and the fundamentalist, in his turn, is more than positive that The school teacher is apt to imag iine that the man without “book {learning” | Who prides himself on physical feats is likely to think the “high brow” ex tremely so. custodian of Truth not only has a tremendous zeal for converts, but is willing to hurl the word “ignoramus’ at those who do not know what he knows, and especially at those who disagree with him Marcus Aurelius, in the eighth book of his **Me itions, gives a more complete definition of an ignorant muu, refusing to consider the mere mechanics of life, choosing, rather, the ethical qualities. He says “The mind which is free from pas sions is a citadel, for man has nothing more secure to which he can fly refuge and for the future be inex- pugnable. He who has not seen this is an ignorant man.” This idea of what constitutes a man of ignorance differs largely from prev alent modes of thought, plucing the accent upon the subjugation of the varfous so-called passions Every man possesses a fortress in his own mind, where he may lock himself up from anger and the other daily vices which beset us all. This, in the final analysis, is the last and best refuge a man has. Take the passion of anger as a type of them alk. norant man, Marcus Aurelius & oE ays. Is the reader one who pleases him self or other people? I do not mean in selfishness, but simply by taking others’ opinions be we sincerely try to live them accord ing to decent standards One of the false deductions com monly made is that freedom means license. Sometimes it does, of course, since human beings are human be ings. Often, on the other hand, free dom of action and thought means growth, worth, fineness. Aurelius says: “Thou hast fallen into disorder, so that it is no longer easy for thee to get the reputatior of a philosopher, and thy plan of life also opposes it Perhaps most of us would come un der this classification “If. then, thou hast truly the matter li throw away the thought, how thou shalt seem to others, and be content if thou shalt live the rest of thy life in such wise as_thy nature wills." When s of seen where one thin! all the good there is no vision, the people_ perish.” So spake the ancient Hebrew proverb. The converse: With ! vision all things are possible—moun | tatns move, ave, the glory that upon Seven Hills shall move and be cast into the midst of the sea A new capital of the world is sought | by an association whose headquarters “Where sat |is in the ancient city of Caesars, and tens of thousands of dollars have been spent in interesting 40 leading architects to design an ideal world capital, with every essential building complete and in perfect harmony with purpose and environment. Mag | nificent designs are published. They outshine the palaces of Babylon and the majesty ¢ Solomon’s Behold the conceptions of a genera tion which suspends gravitation in flight and distance in speech: This wonder book of architecture costs $§700 for a single copy. * ¥ x X Where shall be located? Not upon the ruins of Nineveh or Babylon. Not near the ancient Per- sian throne nor the capital this city of wonder Pharaohs, nor_in the city of David Jerusalem. Not in the land of Alexander, the world conqueror. Rome, that ancient ruler of the uttermost parts of the worli—Rome has perish- ed as a political center. zens no ancient splendor. fou Its own citi longer have vision of its Carthage——its very d. No modern of such dations are crumbl has shown itself worthy honor. The Roman association, seeking a suitable site for its world capital, ap- proaches the Pan-Pacific Union with a request that it take action toward of civilization—the Hague of all na- tions, the capital of the world. The proposition is offered in great serious- ness, and at a recent meeting of the Pan-Pacific Club of Hawali the own- ers of Palmyra Island offered to donate the island for the purpose, provided the United States Govern- ment would release it from its sov ereignty. As Maryland and Virginia surrendered the District of Columbia to the National Government, Island of Palmyra would become neutral _territory, belonging to the “Federation of Man, the Parliament of the World.” Who has turned the eyes of the world upon that focal point in the middle of the great waters—the crossroads of the Pacific Ocean? * ok ox K Ever hear the story of Ford? Not Henry, but Alexander Hume Ford? He is a bundle of nerves and energy. He was trained &s a newspaper writer upon the staff of a New York daily. He developed a keen sense of news values. He could sweep- aside the unessentials and tell a human story with a snap. He could see through smoke screens and lead the blind. But he could not rest in routine. He circumnavigated the globe and told what he saw—what others had overlooked. IHe stood before kings unabashed and talked with premiers and other statesmen. He found the peoples of Europe frenzied with the feuds of the centuries, which were visited upon the sons of each genera- tion, age after age. He also studied the races of the Orient and found that they, too, were mutually jealous, mutually prejudiced against each other, mutually fearful. In the Orient he began to discover points of contact, at which the inter- ests of several peoples coincided. All were backward as to sclence—all meeded better knowledge of methods of food production and conservation. Trade lnterchange aong the 22 pa THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. the evolutionist is an ignorant fellow. | is_ignorant, while the man | { Each person who feels himself the for | so common that few stop | 2 what a disturbing factor it is In life; yet if we could peer into houses at will, we would see home after home being slowly poisoned by constant bi ring, perpetual nag ging, constant criticism, all forms of | anger ) subtle, indeed, is anger that many regard it as lite, whereas it is only a retention of the w it features of an animal characteristic, helpful to them but harmful to us He who does not know how and makes no attempt to free himself | from this and other passions is an iz fore his own. putting too much stock | in what “They” will say, doing cer tain things because he thinks others will approve, not doing various other things because he imagines ‘“They will not approve. Marcus Aurelius, writing nearly | 000 years ago, told us once and for all ta live our own lives, as long us 1 BACKGROUND OF EVENTS i BY PAUL V. COLLINS. Temple. | of the | having Hawail chosen for the center | so the | |folk reading good books that bor | them " terribly,” simply because they think it the “thing to do,” one longs to say unto them, “For heaven's sake. put that book down and get yourself copy of a well known weekly and en- yourself! Why worry because Mrs <-Smith may think you a low brow? Let her think as she pleases. | Please yourself once and a while.” | “Observe, then, what thy nature " Aurelius continues, “and let nhnlln).' distract thee; for thou hast had experience of many wanderings ng found happiness any- where, not In syllogisms, nor in wealth, nor in reputation, nor in en- joyment, nor anywh; Many a man goes hupfifu\l\‘ to Eu- rope, to find he has left happiness be- hind him on this shore. Reading proves futile (syllogisms); in withogt h: much reading is weariness of flesh and of the making of many books is no end, said the preacher in Ecclesiastes rere is more than one man sitting pretty” in a wonderful house on top | of the hill who would tell you, it you |ever got close to him, that he was | happier 20 years ago in a little apart- | ment | To have one's name in every one's | mouth is 1g for a time, but it must grov lendously tiresome Famous personages impress 15 bored with th | “Aint We Got asked the | popular song several years ago, but we ed of the tune while listening to it Where is happiness, then?” asks | Aurelius | “In doing what man's nature re- quires,” he snaps back | How can one do it. Marcus Aurelius? “If he has principles from which | come his affects and his acts.” | What principles? | “Those which relate to good and bad: The belief that there is noth- 0od for man, which does no nitke him just, temperate, manly and and that there is nothing bad, which does not do the contrary to what has been mentioned.” | oy | | Here are more good paragraphs | from the eighth book | _“On’the occasion of every act ask thyself, How is this with respect to me? Shall T repent of it? nsider that men will do the same eless, even though thou things nevert | shouldst burst | “This is the chief thing: Be not perturbed, for all things are accord- | ing to the nature of the universal | “In the next pluce, having fixed thy | eves steadily of business, look ut and at the same time rememberin t it is duty to be a good man, | and what man’s nature demands, do | that without turning aside i “Spenk as it seems to thee most| just, only let it be with a good dis- | position and with modesty and with- | | “Every ure is contented with it-| | selr when it goes on its way well; | and a ratienal nature goes on its| way well when in its thought it as-| sents to nothing false or uncertain | and when it directs its movements to | social acts only and when it confines its desires and aversions to the things | ich are in its power and when it | is satisfied with everything that is| assigned to it by the common nature.” { Thou hast not leisure to read. But ire to check ari g | leisure to be saperior to} 1 pain: Thou hast leisure to | be superior to love of fame and not | to be vexed at stupid and ungrateful people, nay, even to care for them | “Men exist for the sake of one |another. Teach them, then, or bear with them.™ | tions bordering on the Pacific Ocean would be mutually profitable. Preju | dices might be smoothed out if they | but knew each other. Modern edu cation would broaden their horizons | |and teach them capabilities and re- | sources which would bring plenty and peace | * % % % rd began organizing the Orient. | t found surf riding at Haw The sport was unknown islands, except to travel ips. He orzanized a surf. lub, and travelers staved ove: ter ships in order to stride the boarc nquer the wayes. Great sp L i toiks back Rt Do ohe zained 7,000 members, then its founder turned for more worlds to conque namesake of the Macedor Next, he told the wealthy sugar planters that their scenery was superb. They had not thought about that. He | needed $30.000 to make paths and | |trails so that tourists could ascend outside N the pass he o |the mountains. Of course, he got it. | It pays to advertise. Folks back home began to talk about the wonder He started a maga- | to help them tell straight stories |2nd not exaggerate. But the publicity | was only preliminary. PR i | Hawaiian lslands. ne He checked up the prejudices of the | Orient, the islands and the countries of Asia. He visited their capitals and suggested to their premiers that it would be of great value for them to confer with scientists of other coun- tries concerning the trade and produc- tion of the Pacific countries, which had much in common. He never wast- ed time talking with underlings; his | only for the chiefs of peo- He called a conference of scien- representatives of all the coun- {tries—no, of all the peoples. That meant that Koreans—not mere- ly their Japanese rulers, but the | Koreans also, were invited to that first | pan-Pacific conference. Our Secrets jof the Interior, the late Franklin | Lane, attended, and was welcomed by a score of nationalities, in procession, ch marcher bearing an American ag and the flag of his own country. | The scene overwhelmed Mr. Lane, {even to tears of deep emotion. That was, indeed, a vision of a new world— a parliament of man, not yet har- monious in politics, but one in hu- |manity and one in needs. { * Ok K ok | Mr. Ford had begun his travels jaround the world in 1908; his first pan- Pacific conference was held in_Hono- Iulu in 1911. Out of that conference grew the Hands-Around-the-Pacific Clubs,- and out of those clubs grew the Pan-Pacific Union. The union is similar to the Pan- American Union, whose headquarters are in Washington, except that the Pan-American Union is made up of official representatives, diplomats of all American nations living in Wash- ington, always presided over by our Secretary of State. The Pan-Pacific Union has no official power, but it is actively indorsed and supported by the governments of 22 nations bordering on the Pacific, from the Arctic to the Antaretic. Starting with discussions of their common problems of science, the dele- gates soon found that their fellow scientists were serious, thoughtful and intelligent men, regardless of the difference in color and speech. Soon political topics, also, could be infor- mally discussed at luncheons, and even in general debates. In 1920 there was a pan-Pacific science conference; in 1921 an educa. tion conference, together with two press conferences. In 1922 there was a commercial conference, in 1924 a food-conservation conference. There was also a Y. M. C. A. conference planned for 1925 in Honolulu, but not under the Pan-Pacific Ugon, which could not offend its mes of non- s | all mus | the pos | may ! but that no one can hereafter discover ! a continent anywhere | States is not vi Is There an Arctic Continent? (Note—The recent perilous adven- tures of Amundsen, Elsworth and their heroic companions in the first flight attempted over the northern polar cap, has once more stirred pub- lic _curiosity in the old geographical riddle at the top of our globe. Mr. Stefansson, whose first trip into the frozen Far North dates back to 1904, is himself an erplorer of note and speaks in this article with unques- tionable authority. He has added con- siderably to the map of the North American continent, including a river over 300 miles long, and once lived a whole year with Eskimos who had mever scen a white man and whose ancestors never had.) BY VILHJALMUR STEFANSSON. The press dispatches have been car- rying much speculation lately as to whether one or another of the sev- eral expeditions now in the field is likely to discover an Arctic continent this Summer. The theory that there might be in the Arctic a large undiscovered land sounded plausible enough some 40 years ago, when put forward by the distinguished explorer, Gen. Adolphus W. Greely, the learned tidal expert; R. A. Harris and others. But even in those days the hypothesis seemed unwarranted to those who followed the equally distinguished explorer and learned scientist, Dr. Fridtjof Nansen The theoretical land soon developed in the public mind into un undiscov ered continent. As constructed by Harris, from a study of certain tides, it overlapped the North Pole hand somely, and stretched, on the other side, well toward Alaska. At that stage it Was, on his map, a very large island Peary Found No Land. But Peary knocked a big chunk out of It when he went to the North Pole and found, not land, but an ocean about two miles deep. It seemed to many that the theory of Harris Land might still be sound even after Peary. Indeed, some con sidered th damage he did by taking a 9.000-foot sounding near the North Pole and thus removing one corner, was made up by his sighting Crocker Land west of Cape Thomas bard—for Crocker Land was sup- posed to be another corner of Harris % . Before this, Lefingwell and Mikkel- sen had knocked another prop from under the Harr v, for his land was supposed to rise from a ‘con tinental shelf” north of Alaska. By 2,000-foot, no-bottom, soundings taken a hundred miles morth of Alaska the Spring of 1807, they showed that the continental shelf,” or belt of water shallower than 600 feet, extended only a few ore miles from shore, and be. yond that were abyssmal ocean lepths. Storkerson of my expedition made this conclusive by taking 1 15,000-foot sounding a hundred miles still farther north. No Bottor at 4,400 Feet. Misfortunes were now crowding thick and fast on the poor undiscover ed continent. The Spring of 1813 my sledging over moving fce and by hunting seals, ran a line of 1gs across the southeast corner party living sour of the “land” as mapped by Harris, and found no bottom at 4,400 feet. We did much other damage to it later, too long to tell here. In 1815 MacMillan and Green trav. eled to where Peary theought he had corner of the They found , according to ed reports on seen the Crocker Land undiscovered contine: no land nor sign of an Mr. MacMillan's publish his ret On the other side of the ocean Nan sen had run a line of soundings and found abysmal depths. Some think these discoveries have destroyed the theory of Harris Land; concede they have destroved sibility of the land being large, for a big thing cannot hide in a small place. If any land does exist, it can { hardly be larger than Newfoundland or Cuba. If it were twice that big, it {would still be tiny compared with Australia, and therefore not a con tinent, but an island. Victims of a Phrase. is, then, about as reasonable tc about discovering a continent the unexplored part of the retic Ocean as it would be to expect to find a base ball inside of a pea. But you must not, therefore, neces blame the explorers who, now the past, are connected in the mind with the search for an continent.” They may be of a phrase that will public rctic The important point for a thought- ful person to realize is that some one discover an island in the Arctic, on our earth because thére is not enmough spare room. N Island Possessions. The suggestion of Hamilton Fish that the United States buy more is. | lands in the Caribbean Sea from the European powers by canceling part of their war debts to the United sionary as it may*seem It must be remembered that we have already acquired the Virgin Islands from Denmark by purchase. Mr. Wi sets out the fact that the pur. chase of other of the Caribbean is- lands owned by foreign powers would act as a protection for the Panama Canal. “What we of these United States should do at this time’ Mr. Fish says, “is to buy all the islands ~vned by European nations in the Caribbean Sea. It is very easy to do, requiring only the cancellation of vortions of the war debts due us from other powers. It is necessary to persuade European nations to leave us the Whole hemisphere, otherwise there will always be the dagger at our throats | in the exposed ~osition of the Panama Canal.” There is no question that the United States would feel more secure for the canal if Barbados and other Euro- pean-owned islands were under our protectorate instead of as at present. It is never wise to give snap judg- ment on anything as important as territorfal acquisition, but Mr. Fish’s proposal will bear careful investiga- tlon.—Asbury Park Press. Christian religions by connection with any religious matter. At the education conference the late President Sun Yat Sen of China pro. posed the founding in Honolulu of an international university for teaching the practical arts of road building, agriculture and construction. * k¥ % Plans are formulating to establish at Honolulu a permanent Institute for Scientific Research, and to hold inter- national conferences there every two years. These conferences will cover all possible interests. A pan-Pacific bar conference, a Red Cross confer- ence, a_pan-Pacific women's' confer. ence and several others are being pro- vided for, to be held in the next two or three years. The high representative interna- tional character of the union is dem. onstrated by the list of honorary presidents, all of whom have desig- nated approval: Calvin cnoudge, Presi- dent of the United States; S. M. Bruce, prime minister of Australia; the late W. F. Massey, prime minister of New Zealand; Tsao Kun, President of China; W. L. Mackenzie King, prime minister of Canada; Prince I. Toku- gawa, president House of Peers, Tokio; His Majesty, Rama VI, King of Siam. Director, Alexander Hume Ford. (Copyright, 1925, Ly Paul V. Qollins.) i {not_up to expectations. ANSWER BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. TO QUEST TONS Q. How much bituminous coal fs b there in the United States?—G. S. |angle T A. The estimated stock of bitumi-|ture, wi nous coal in the United States on June disturbs . 1, 1925, was 38,000,000 tons. platfor ¢ Q Who mblded the first silver dol- | After tk lar for the United States?—W. P. M. | triungulatio A. The office of the director of the mint says that the first silver dollar was coined in 1794 at the Philadelphia | Mint. Henry Wright was appointed | by George Washington as coine Q. I have been told that among the thousands of seals killed by New foundland seal hunters no males are ever found. Can you tell what t comes of the males”—T. J. O'B. A. The Bureau of Fisheries says |, that the story which has b re to you would not appear to be accu rate. In the seal farms by the Government there are sands of baby seals and usually are as many males as females. Afte three or four years the majority of the males are Kkilled, however, leaving only enough for breeding purposes. | . maints thou Q. When was the first Pullman car | f built?—E. L. A. In 1859 George Mortimer Pt man went to Chicago to engage in 1 novel business of building blocks of brick und stone buildings His at- |0 tention was drawn to the problem of : sleeping cars, and he took two ol coaches of the Chicago and Alton R and transformed them into sleep- | ing cars. These immediately became popular and there 8 a demand for more. In 18 he built his first P man palace car, which was the fore e runner of all modern sleeping cars B Q. Please explain how the mont¥ July got its name?—E. B. A. July was originally the month of the year and was called Quintilis by the Romans. Later the name of Julius was given it in hon of Julius Caesar, who was born in thi month, This name came into use the | vear of Caesar's death. fitth | Q. When, where and how old Japanese adage about the Wise Monkeys" originate A. “Little Apes of Nikko,” times known as the “Three W keys,” is the name of monkeys w appear in a mural decoration ancient tombs at Nikko, Ja three monkeys are Mizaru. who sees no evi who hears no evil, and Maz: speaks no evil. The legend connec with these monkeys is simply a moral | idea to point out the wisdom of m ing one’s own affair Q. When was the use of the p abolished in Massachusetts?—R A Tt abolished in setts in 1839, Q. Who was the first mi A One of the earliest mentioned in ear! John Jaco s obably the firs: " ates Q. Has President been in California? M t A. As Vice President that State in Aug Q. Please tell Mediterranean is important.—M. A. They hiefly because of products. They grow citru a_considerable extent and ofl. Fisheries, including ti are also valuable. Q. Is it proper for a student help a young lady teacher up a down the stairs’—K. S s are economica O'R are important econc A, Inasmu the teacher re-| ferred to in your letter is nof elderly woman, we suggest that it is 3 in better taste not to assist her on|,. (1 the stairs. Q. How manv Eagle Scouts e ' there in the United Etates’— A. The records of the Boy of America show that up to the close of business on June 3 6 Eagle badges had be Q. What are the large wooder ers used for which the United has_erected along the Canadian bor- agent der’—E. L. J ce A. These towers are used for tri - angulation purposes. They nge in|dress pla height from 20 to more than 100 feet r and consist of two separate Woo structures, one a tripod, on the of which set the theodol, Defense Day Observanc Arouses No - Enthus Public opinion harmonizes with t} acknowledgment by the Army gen- eral staff that the results of mobili- zation on the Fourth of July were “Put as good a face on it as we may it must be acknowledged that July 4 is not a good day for national registration,” observes the Ha burg, Pa., Telegraph. “The ‘test! was more a test of the day as a suitable one for the purpose almed at by the War Department than of national de- fense plans, and the result leaves no doubt that sentiment is overwhelm- ingly against July 4 ds Defense day,” | is the conclusion arrived at by the Williamsport Sun. Heading its editorial, “Defense Day Failure,” the Springfield, Ohio, News says: “Whatever the cause, Defense day, as a show of defense strength of the Nation, was a failure. It appear that July 4 was a’' poor date to select for Defense day. Labor day might be as bad. Armistice day. first suggested by Army officials, unthinkable. The particular day however, has no meaning. The thing that counts is what the people think * k * ¥ Speaking regretfully of the vague- ness of public thought, the Casper Tribune, Wyoming, asserts: “It is a painful truth that anything not con- nected with the immediate present concerns the generality but little. The past is of but little moment be- cause it is gone. And the future, aside from the hope it may hold, is of but little greater moment because it is not vet here. | The Hartford Times finds that “the | country is ready for peace, and since | it sees no wars on the horizon which cannot bes fended off with a little common sense in Washington, it isn't particularly worried.” Editorial writers generally agree | that this sense of security is based on an innate patriotism rather than on any lack of this virtue. As the Dafly Oklahoman expresses it, the American people, “knowing that American strength is always equal to American needs, have little interes in military spectacles staged in day of peace to show what could be done | WOrd “sce! in days of war.” This lack of interest | DD 1 is partly due, according to the Pitts- | 1PV burgh Sun, to the fact that it “is the ingrained tradition of the aver- age American that this country rattles the saber only when it means business.” One wond bring new One of permit any then ng “se makers have s “There are a lot of people who still | words are heir misunderstand the purpose of Defense | tive sense day,” regrets the Canton News, be- | matter of cause “its {nception branded it with So one militarism, though every one knows it is not militaristic to be ready to iang up? ge The defend.” shall cultiv “War will be neither hastened nor | words and cul prevented,” the Omaha World-Herald | far from the states, ‘“‘nor 4@~ the loyalty of any |obsc man proved o disproved by the | sult. word “secure’ f n" than othe an pok} B(‘f()“"z”h Wor (L