Evening Star Newspaper, July 24, 1925, Page 6

6 THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition WASHINGTON, D. C FRIDAY THEODORE W. NOYES .Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd St. Chicago Offic d Buropean Office The Evening Star. with the Sunday morn- Ing edition. s delivered by car within the city at 60 cents paF month ,,15 nn!{. 5 cents per month: Sunday only, 20 conts per month < may be sent by mail or Collection is made by ‘h month. tslepbone M earrier at Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Iy and Sunday vr.. 88.40: 1 mo., 700 303 Gay oo 11T vr 80.00¢ 1 mo. 80 Sunday only 1y i1 mo.. 20¢ All Other States. aily and Sundas. .1 yr..$10.00: 1 mo., 8¢ LIy Shiy ey} rn *4260: 1 mo go 8unday only 137 $3.00: 1 mo.28c Member of the Assoclated Press. The Associated Press is exclysisely entitled 1o the use for republication of all news df atches credited 1o it or not otherwise cred tad in this paper and also ihe local mews lis] in. All richts of publication herdin are also reserved, Shall Ships Be Scrapped? A new complication has arisen in connection with the proposed sale of 200 Government-owned cargo ships. It now is doubted by the Shipping B d. or board, whether it has authority in law to sell these vessels for SCTADPIN purpeses, and the matter has been put up to President Coolidge with a view to ob- taining a ruling from the Department of Justice. President Palmer of the Fleet Cor- poration has recommended acceptance ot Henry Ford's bid of $1,706,000 for the 200 vessels. Members of the Ship- ping Board are disposed to approve the recommendation, but a question as to the meaning of the law having been raised they are in a quandary. The mierchant marine act as amended pro- by some members of the vides for the sale of ships, but there is a school of thought which contends that Congress had in mind sales for operat purposes only, that there was no intention that vessels which were undamaged and still potentially serviceable should be scrapped is no doubt that British and shipping ts would be slad to see these vessels sqld to Ford and converted into flivvers. It would suit them equally well were the ships taken out into the Atlantic and scut tled. These tied-up ships have long constituted a British grievance against the American merchant marine. The British complain that the possibility of their being put into.commission operates to keep down ocean freight rates, and also discourages new con- struction, all to the detriment of Brit- ish shipping and British shipbuilding. The British viewpoint, however, is not one which need be taken seriously into account in determining: the' mat- ter. The question is whether scrap- ping the ships would be good business from the American viewpoint. If there is any real! doubt about the in- tentions of Congress #he ships ought not to be scrapped until Congress has had opportunity to make its meaning clear. These vessels belong to the American people, and Congress is the only agency entitled to speak for the people in the matter of their disposal. Certainly an administrative authority, in doubt as to the construction of the law, would be taking long chances to authorize their breaking up. It would be much easier to destroy these ships than it would be to replace them. Radio and Real Estate. Realtors must wake up to the fact that a new element has entered into the equation of property selection nowadays. Heretofore a model home site had to be only this and that, such as free from nuisances, close to con- veyances and conveniences, healthful and quiet, with good society within reach. But now there is another fac- tor. To secure a purchaser the realtor must demonstrate that the house site is free from static. It must, in short, be a perfect radio station. A man out in Washington State has found his ideal home. Being a radio fan he knew that conditions varied be- tween lots and neighborhoods, and so when he went house hunting he took along his set and tested out the condi- tions. He spent several weeks looking for the right house. If a dwelling looked satisfactory in lts outer form and its inner arrangements it still had 0 pass the supreme test. The home- seeker would take his apparatus out at night and tune in and determine the interferences. He had to pass up up one house thet met his wishes in every respect, save that it was full of static. At last he got what he wanted, | and is happy. Here is a tip to the promoters of | subdivisions. It is not a question of hills and hollows, of natural advan- tages, of accessibility. What are the tadio conditions? If they are bad, leave the land to lie idle, or to remain in market gardening. For what this Bpokane man did others will do, and the search for static will become gen- eral. A bad radio condition will con- gemn an otherwise attractive location. Bo realtorism becomes, {n truth, a clentific pursuit. A radio expert will perhaps be hereafter a vitally impor- tant factor in every real estate office. . Col. Bryan mentioned a desire “to drag” reporters who had ridiculed him before an audience which was very friendly to him. Even so persuasive en orator could not in his dispas- sionate moments hope to transform | the courteous hospitality of Tennessee into a demonstration of mob violence. SEES British Coal Strike Threat. Faced by the possibility of at least partial suspension of coal mining in this country, Americans can sympa- thize with the gloom in England over the strike threat there. British miners and mine owners are seemingly irre- trievably at odds and hope has about been abandoned that suspension of mining at the end of July. can -be averted. Great Britain, with nearly a million and a half of her people un- employed and most of her industries July 24, 1925 avert the crisis. The mine owners have made a demand for longer hours |gnd lower wages, insisting that they cannot continue operations otherwise. The miners simply refuse to accede {to the demand, without making any counter proposals of their own. The government is going through the mo- tions of trying to bring the disputants together, but apparently without any belief that its efforts will be success- ful. It is difficult to see how either the miners or mine owners can hope to gain by permitting their differences to reach the point of a strike. It is ad- mitted that conditions in the British coal mining industry are bad, but so are conditions in most other British industries. German steel is undersell- ing British steel in the markets of the world, cheaper coal belng one of the factors which enable German steel mills to do this. If British coal prot duction ceases, British steel produc- tion will necessarily cease, and the Germans will have opportunity to grab off larger slices of the diminish- ing « British market. The London Times is warranted in its gloomy as- sertion that the threatened strike would be “a disaster of immeasurable magnitude, which could give satisfac- tion to none but England’s enemies.” Certalnly the American people are not among the enemies of England who would take satisfaction in such a disaster. In the light of our own | mining situation, the thing comes too close home to think of possible profit at the expense of England. What our own miners and mine owners ought to do is to take note of the disaster which threatens England and let the light of reason and consideration for the national welfare enter their nego- tiations. [ —— Proposed Anti-Gossip Law. John Washington Butler of Tennes- see, author of the anti-evolution law, is quoted as saying that he will intro- duce in the Tennessee Legislature a bill to prohibit gossip. If this fellow Butler does not quit butting into other people’s rights he will get some folks down on him. He would clip the wings of liberty and pluck the plumes from the tail of the Amerlican eagle. With- out gossip there would be no conver- sation. To rule out gossip would put another dent in the free-speech provi- sion of the Constitution. It would destroy great and florishing industries —the afternoon tea, bridge party, quilting bee and the sewing circle. uch legislation would make life duller in small towns than it is. Besides, it would be an unworkdble law. The ladies of Tennessee would refuse to obey it, and that would settle it. What tan the law and its constables do with a lady who refuses? It would tend to bring the whole structure of jurisprudence into disfavor. All the constables in Tennessee could not sup- press illicit or moonshine gossip at Four Corners, Three Oaks, Four Pines or Sassafras Grove. The ladies would rather let their hair grow and cast the lip-stick into the fireplace than submit to such evil—nay, worse than that— such ungallant legislation. The ladies of Tennessee, like the ladies of it other Btates, are the most impor- tant as well as the loveliest part of the population. This man John Washtngton Butler, who combines in his name the names of two old and honored Virginia fam- ilies, is getting too much fllumination from the spotlight. He seems to have traits that have made several men candidates for the presidency, or one man a candidate several timesand per- haps all his life. Gne likes to think of Tennessee as a State made famous by Andrew Jackson and by Isham Harris of Memphis, Benton McMillin of Car- thage, James D. Richardson of Mur- freesboro, Willlam B. Bate of Nash- ville, Leonidas Houk of Knoxville, H. Clay Evans of Chattanooga, Walter Preston Brownlow of Jonesboro, John Wesley Gaines of Nashville, Thetis Willrette Sims of Linden and Finis James Garrett of Dresden. John Washington Butler should let his fame rest on the anti-evolution law. He has stirred up enough trouble. His proposal to prohibit gossip in Tennes. see is an attempt to tle the tongue of manhood and womanhood. It is a brutal effort, and it can never suc- ceed. It is also an effort to turn man aside from a habit which he claims the right to practice under the rule of anclent and immemorial usage. e Dayton, Tenn., by this time is doubt- less rejoleing in the fact that “hot sausage” has retired from a command- ing epicurean position ang given fried chicken a chance to reassert its native supremacy. ) Every attack on foreigners in China Is attributed to bandits. A bandit is a person who can be held to no officlal responsibility. He may be diplomatical- ly useful even when mythically em- ployed. R The acquirement of the crown estates has evidently made Wilhelm Hohenzollern so prosperous that he feels able to employ a press agent. —— Snakes. The announcement is made that so many snakes have been received at the Washington Zoo that proper ac- commodation cannot be found for them, and they are being temporarily lodged in the office of Dr. William M. Mann, the superintendent. This an- nouncement may reduce the number of callers at the superintendent's office, but news is news, and the understand- ing is that the new snakes are so well cared for that they cannot give prac- tical expression to any il will they may feel toward visitors. It is said that among the new snakes are a Cu- ban boa, very rare; two brown rat- tlers, a Mexican rattler and a racer. This is interesting, of course, but the public is disappointed with the Zoo management in that it does not put on exhibition & hoop snake, a glass snake and a stinging snake. There is a pub- lic demand to see the snakes that men heard about when they were boys, and which they have heard about ever since. Few men have seen one of these snakes, but every boy knows a boy who has seen one. Truthful boys in a bad way, can see nothing but dis- aster ahead if the strike materializes. who would not tell a lie except for necessity or convenience have seen There is warrant for believing that | these snakes. Boys so bold and brave neither party immediately concerned | that they would ‘feés up to taking ap- in the British dispute is anxious te!Dles ‘from Jones' orchard or water- “\ THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., THIS AND THAT melons from Smith’s patch—when they were caught—have been chased by a hoop snake, which is & long snake that takes its tail in its mouth and in hoop fashion rolls along the road with the speed of a ‘“davil chaser” in pur- sult of a fleeing kid. The virtuous boy who pretended to wash his face in the morning, who would not go barefoot without mother's permission and who ‘would not go swimming in the branch when believed to be at school has struck a snake which flew into a thousand pleces—the glass snake. A few days ago one of the sclentific bureaus of the Government got out a manifesto denying that there are or ever were hoop snakes, glass snakes and stinger snakes. The ordinary man refuses to be consoled by this. He insists there are such snakes. He knew it well when he was a boy, and his boy perhaps has seen one, and surely knows a boy who has seen one. These sclentists may show disrespect to the Bible by teaching blology, geology, geography and all that, but they cannot get away with their denial of the existence of hoop, glass and stinger snakes. There are other snakes which the Zoo should add to its collection. One is the snake that if mashed and cut in half at any time of day would not die until sundown. In fact, that was a characeristic of most snakes in the days when we were boys. Another snake was that which was evolved (treacherous word) from a black hair taken from a horse's tail or mane. Every boy in the Washington region knew that if a long black hair were clinched between two stones in a branch it would turn to a black snake. In the Ohio country it was only neces- sary to put the long black hair in a rain barrel to produce a black snake, but the better practice in Maryland and Virginla was to put the hair in running water. Another snake that ought to be shown at the Zoo is the milk snake—the snake that crawled into the cow barn and milked the cows, or which would pilfer milk from @ cow In the pasture. S s Advice to Hay Fever Patients. Reports by the United States Public Health Service and the American Hay Fever Association contain a number of “don’ts,” but give little consolation for hay fever sufferers. The assocla- tion says that it has figures to show that more than a milllon persons in the United States have hay fever and that the number {s increasing. It says that maladies called “Summer cold,” rhinitis and recurrent catarrh are hay fever. It belleves that the increase is due to the easfer transit facilities be- tween cities, their suburbs and ad. Jacent country and the increase of population where weeds grow. The Public Health Service says that hay fever subjects ‘‘should choose locall- ties distant from weed-infested locall- ties,” and that ‘“though pollen of grasses and Summer hay fever weeds does not commonly travel more than a mile, pollen of the ragweeds and other Fall hay fever weeds in breezy weather will travel five miles or more.” Many persons understand the difSculty of living in the country so far from weeds that pollen will not reach them, and a large number of persons passing between their country bome and city work-place usually have te pass troublesome weeds. Hay fever patients are advised by the Health Service not to ride in sub- urbs abounding in weeds, to avoid elec- tric fans in the hay fever season, to keep away from theaters and other places where crowds gather and not to take railroad trips in the hay fever season becauge dangerous weeds grow along the railroad and action of pollen is aggravated by dust. 17 railroad trips are to be avoided it would seem that motor trips should be foresworn, be- cause weeds grow along auto roads much as weeds grow along railroads. The Health Service gives advice as to diet, exercise and bathing which may help hay fever victims, but nearly all hay fever patients have tried every- thing, or nearly everything, that has been recommended. ———————— Many statesmen insist that the fili- buster has its use as a check on the growing tendency to senatorial im- petuosity. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. High Cost of Chatter. Everything goes up in cost. The beefsteak and the stew Amid the spinach find us lost As prices rise anew. Opintons that were once so free For expert chatter call, And conversation seems to be The dearest thing of all. Jokers. “Why do they call these surprises in legislation ‘jokers'?" “I dunno answered Senator Sor- ghum, “unless they refer to practical jokers who never make anybody laugh and always make somebody mad.” A Fondness for Fiction. The katydid thus early sings Of Autumn days. And so, a little comfort brings To Summer ways. T don't believe the little song. Yet, solemn fact Has grieved me, till for speech I long Quite inexact. Jud Tunkins says the man who pre- tends to know more than anybody else usually gets in bad by acting as if he thought nobody else knew anything. The Fond Illusion. “So this is hemlock,” said Socrates. “It's rank poison,” sald the execu- tioner. “I know. But in order to cheer my last moments couldn't you have pasted a fancy label on it and assure me you bought of a bootlegger?” The Real Question. We need the toiler to relieve Each sorrow new. I do not ask what you believe. ‘What can you do? “‘Maybe religion would be mo’ influ. ential,” said Uncle Eben, “it dey'd print a man's name every time he goes to church same as dey does every time he gits errested.” \ BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Bright gentlemen in New York, who have set themselves up as both judge and jury of mankind, delight in sneer- ing coplously at the modern demand for books on ‘‘etiquette,” etc. Only “‘bounders in bow ties,” they say, want them. Yet this desire for help upon cer- tain matters is as old as man, and probably will continue after the self- constituted “intellectuals” have waked to the fact that they have no mo- nopoly upon brains. Our old friend Epictetus, famous Roman slave, who vied with the Emperor Marcus Aurelius in explain- ing Stocism to his age and this, had a regular series of “Rules of Conduct” in his Encheiridion, or “manual.” Telling others how they ought to think, of course, Is very old; H. L. Mencken of New York has no copy- right upon it! Epictetus had ideas of his own upon what constitutes a ‘“regular fellow,” even as did Lord Chesterfleld. Nor was he slow about expressing them, either. “Immediately prescribe some character and some form to yourselt,” he says, “which you shall observe both when you are alone and when you meet with men."” Then he expresses a few prejudices ©of his own concerning men and topics uf‘convtrnluon of his day: ‘Let silence be the general rule, or let only what is necessary be salid, and n few words. 'And rarely, and when the occasion calls, we shall say something; but about none of the common subjec not about gladiators, nor horse races. nor about athletes, nor about eating | or drinking, which are the usual sub- Jects, and especially not about men, as blaming them, or praising them, or comparing them.'" LR How often, indeed, is the co: rRa- tion of those men whom Mr. Mencken playfully calls “yokels” confined en- tirely to the above list of topics, as given by Epictetus. Take away prize fights, hoss racing, athletics, eating and drinking, what would thousands of men find to talk Abgul? Perforce they would be dumb! It you are able. bring over by your conversation, the conversation of your _assoct: to that which is proper.” advises Epictetus; “but if you should happen to be confined to the company of strangers, be silent.” One will see many a youth minding the Epictetian precept as he sits sil- ently in the smoking end of the Pull- man, while the wise drummers talk freely about gladiators, horse racing, athletes, eating and drinking—espe. clally drinking. “Let not your laughter be much, nor on many occasions, nor exces- sive,” continues the ex-slave. Lord Chesterfield gave much the same ad- vice to his son, who took it with little relish, and probably guffawed every chance he got. ‘Refuse altogether to take an oath, it it is possible; if it is not, refuse as far as you are able.” There is a neat little bundle of ad- vice that many a man could swallow whole, to his immediate and future benefit. This Includes, of course, signing documents for friends. “Avold banquets which are given by rangers and by ignorant per- sons," says Epictetus. “But if ever there is occaslon to join them, let your attention be carefully fixed, that you slip not into the manners of the vulgar.” Epictetus becomes sententious: you must know,” he say: fect Babbittian manners, “that if your company be impure, he also who keeps company with him must become “or with per: Why Farmers Failed to Back Scheme for Marketing Grain ‘Why did the farmers reject the elab- orate co-operative system of Chicago’s $26,000,000 Grain Marketing Corpora- tion? Lack of faith in the leadership of Chicago bankers and dealers is the answer given by most of the comment from the grain-growing sections. Other observers think high prices make the farmer too complacent. “Perhaps,” suggests the Little Rock Arkansas Democrat, “the fly in the butter was the natural suspicion that the average farmer has for a project which apparently is devoted entirely to his welfare. Perhaps the farmer made a study of the natural law of supply and demand, looked over pro- duction figures for the Canadian wheat crop, took a further look at some of the salaries to be paid leaders of the project and decided that instead of utting his money In such a plan ge would keep it in the old woolen ock."” . o cxxx The Akron Beacon-Journal declares that in leaderships the movement was too close to the Chicago wheat pit and to the grain and beef companies to inspire much confidence from the prairies, and in the same vein the Great Falls Tribune says: “The farmer, we believe, was inclined to look out of the corner of his eve when large grain firms and bankers sat down to arrange a solution. While there was considerable farmers’ sup- port for the proposition, it didn’t have enough general appeal. We think the grain firms and the bankers who were trying to arrange this matter did not have the proper advance agent. The plan that may finally succeed will have to originate somewhere else.” “Evidently the project did not ap- peal to the grain growers themselves as an attractive investment or as an industrial experiment,” is the judg- ment of the Kansas City Journal. In Indiara, according to the Lafayette Journal and Courier, “the scheme was branded officially as unsound financ- ing, and the same verdict in other States prevented the promoters from reaping the harvest of dollars that had been anticipated. * x K ¥ Blame is placed upon politics by the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader. “Literally all kinds of politics,” asserts the Sioux Falls paper, “were mixed up in the scheme from the first i-agricultural politics, banking politics, board of trade politics and plain everyday poli- tics. The advice frequently given in these columns for farmers to learn how to co-operate still holds. It in- cludes not merely the abllity to get along harmoniously with neighbors and other co-workers, but it demands & high degree of intelligence in pick- ing inspired leaders."” “It is to be feared,” suggests the Lansing State Journal, “that the grain farmers as a class have the excessive- ly human failing of being much ex- cited over their affairs when things are not going right and rather com- placent when all is well. If wheat had not sold at an extremely satisfac- tory figure last Winter and did not show fair promise for the coming crop, it ‘might have been easier to interest the farmers in thé management of thelr own grain.concern. Evidently the process of education must be con- tinued, because it is extremely doubt. ful whether the unjust spread of prices between that secured by the original grower and that paid by the ultimate consumer can be so quickly cured by any other method as by co- operative marketing. But to get its help they must show that they are willing to help themselves.” The Christian Science Monitor contends that the ‘“‘collapse of the plans for or- ganizing an independent co-operative association, to be operated for the benefit of the grain growers instead o impure, though he should happen to be pure.” ‘Whence comes, no doubt, Mr. Mencken's delightful crack, “A man is known by the company he keeps.” * Kk X . Now we come to one of the best bits of advice in this book of conduct. Epictetus says “If a man has reported to you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make any defense to what has been told you, but reply, ‘The man did not know the rest of my faults, for he would not have mentioned these only." " Personally, I am waiting with in- fantile and Babbittish joy for the first busybody who shall come to me with a whispered ‘‘So-and-So says so-and-so about you.” “What!” T shall exclaim, without one fear of what Mr. Mencken shall say, “Is that all he could say about me? Why, he doesn't know one-tenth my faults Then I shall grin with an H. L.-ish expression. Mr. Epictetus had no proper regard for theaters, either. Evidently they had bedroom farces in his day. “It Is not necessary to go to the theaters often,” he says, “but if there is ever a proper occasion for going, do not show yourself as being a par- tlsan of any man except yourself. Abstain entirely from shouts and laughter at any thing or person. “When you are come away, do not talk much about what has passed on the stage."” Epictetus passes on a few pointers about how to act when you go to meet a bank president: ““When you are going to meet any person, and particularly one of those who are considered to be in a su- perfor condition, pic~e before yourself what Socrates or llencken would have done in such circumstances, and you will have no difficulty in making a proper use of the occasion. “When you are going to any one of those who are in great power, place before yourself that you will not find the man at home, that you will be ex- cluded, that the door will not be open- ed to you, that the man will not care about “you, “If, with all this, it is your duty to visit him, bear what happens, and never say to yourself that it was not worth the trouble.” Epictetus has a few words of wis- dom for the concelted. He says “In company take care not to speak much and excessively about your own acts or dangers; for as it i pleasant to you to make mention of your own dangers, it is not so pleasant to others to hear what has happened to you.” ictetus warned against discussing evolution before a mixed company. He used the term “theorems,™ of course, but would have included evolution, etc., had he lived today. He says “‘On no occasion speak much among the uninstructed about theorems. 1f any conversation should arise among instructed persons about any theorem, generally be silent; for there is great danger that you will immediately vomit up what you have not digested. ““When a man shall say to you that you know nothing, and you are not vexed, then be sure that you have begun the work of philosophy. “For even sheep do not vomit up their grass and show the shepherds how much they have eaten, but when they have internally digested the pas- ture, they produce externally wool and milk. “Do you also show not your theo- rems to the uninstructed. but show the llcts which come from their di- tion.” of for private profit, is one more illus. tration of the dangers that beset the injection into what should be a purely economic function of elements that savor of high finance.” * % ok X The Pittsburgh Gazette-Times thinks the real explanation is yet to be dis. closed. Noting that the marketing corporation operated for nearly a year with reports of substantial profits, the Pittsburgh paper continues: ‘“Why, then, cannot it go on? Simply be- | cause the farmers for whose benefit it was projected refused to buy its stock. Their surprising attitude re- mains to be explained. Until it is explained and the whole history of the Grain Marketing Corporation is pub- lished, no positive judgment can be formed with respect to the future of farmers’ co-operatives on the plane attempted.” Having been “suspicious or slow and let the opportunity pass,” the Western grain growers cannot expect much sympathy in future for their com- plaints against marketing conditions, in the opinion of the Utica Observer- Dispatch. To the Boston Transcript, however, what happened “simply illustrates the difficulty of correcting a faulty system overnight,” and the St. Paul Pioneer- Press is confldent that some such co- operative plan “will be the ultimate outcome.” All Is Not Rosy For the Criminal There is a feeling that criminals are having it more and more their own way in the world. Frequent com- ment appears on the prevalence of crime in all civilized countries, but particularly in the United States, which boasts of being one of the most progressive countries in the world. Moreover, the increase in wrong-doing is attributed to the fact that convic- tlons are getting rarer and rarer, and that punishment gets lighter and lighter. Now comes the suggestion that convicts should be paid for their labor while serving out their sen. tences, and the effect of this is feared by many as a direct incentive to the commission of crime. At the recent International police conference in New York the principle of paying prison- ers was approved, and it is one fa. vored by high authorities in this country. If it is being made more comfort- able for criminals after capture, there is this to be sald about the matter— it is being made distinctly less com- fortable for them before capture. That is to. say, they are aware that their chances of escape are being steadily diminished. It is true that many of the inventions of medern science are as helpful to the criminal as they are to the authorities responsible for his suppression. The motor car, for in- stance, has been a most fruitful source of crime and has contributed per- haps more than anything else to the perpetration of daring robberies and the escape of the miscreants. Yet what a boon to the police hpve been the telephone, wireless telegraphy, telephotography, etc. An_ extension of these services is now in contemplation, and has, in fact, already given practical demonstration of its effectiveness, in the establish- ment of an_international finger-print bureau in Washington, where some 8,000,000 finger prints will be regis- tered, which will be placed at the disposition of other nations. A crim- inal identification system, on inter- national lines, is about to be set up, and the transmission of essential in- formation by means of long-distance pho = h; udtohnho!:l: communi- cation provided for. The way of the vd&‘.‘d is thus to be made harder —Hamilton FRIDAY, JULY 24, 1925. The greatest fault of the American people today is restlessness. Calm- ness and polse are disappearing rapid- ly and in their place is a constant shifting, squirming and gesturing as contagious as the plague of plagues itself. One “fidgeter” in a group will inoculate those about him in a few moments, and soon we have a rest- less, inattentive group with frazzled nerves and naturally & resultant bore- dom.. Why should I, a theatrical pro- ducer, bother with the personal habits of the remainder of the public? Be- cause, forsooth, this mad restlessness in time will have its effect on the stage. No audience is so bad for the morale of a company of players as a squirming, inattentive audience. Noth- ing will more surely detract from the artistic worth of a production so far as the players are concerned, as con- tinued movement on the part of the onlookers. Penalty of Superspeed. Of course, it is the penalty we are paying for the last few years of su- perspeed in all things. Noteworthy, indeed, is the spectacle provided by the calmly poised man or woman who. in public, fails to disclose those little “tics” as the French designate them, which disclose to the practiced eye a deranged nervous system. Men twiddle their watch chains, pluck nervously at their ties, pinch their chins, caress their ears or erack their finger joints continuously. Women always are making minor readjustments of their bobbed hair, shifting nervously in thelr seats, tearing at programs or handkerchiefs or frankly consulting vanity cases and powder puffs at moments when if their nervous systems were normal they would te too interested in what is proceeding before their eyes to think of extraneous matters. What man or woman of today can resist the temptation in cafe or pri- vate home of rearranging the silver, moving glasses here and there or doing the thonsand and one uncon- scious things that infuriate even the best bred hostess? Of course, all of these things are done subconsciously, but the terrible fact remains that they are done. Coughing a Public Fault. Coughing—not the necess oxysm of some slight illness. nervous little cachinnation, other of our great public faults. to any concert, theater, church or auditorfum and you will find some irritating overtone assailing your ears. Analyze it and you will find the “Great American Cough,” with the “Great American Squirm” for an accompaniment. So much for the aural side. From the visual side you will find attention distracted continu- ally by feminine hands flashing up momentarily to coiffures, heads bob- bing back and forth in fruitless en- deavors to see about the bobbing heads of those ahead, and twitching shoulders of the other supernervous ones. We are coming rapidly to the pomt where a place ¢f public gathering is a place cf calisthenics rather than cne of rest and recreation. Are we beceming a Nation of neurotics? We most dacidedly are not, but we ars a Nation of squirmers, wrigglers, knuckle-crackers and what not. We must relearn poise and dignity and the answer to the unasked ques- tion is: “Do not fidget:" (Copyright. 1925.) ———— Columbus’ Salary Was $320 a Year From some old record it has been discovered that the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria, the three ships of Columbus, cost $2,800. Adding to this the expense of the voyage, the discovery of America mounted up to the munificent sum of $7,200. Colum- bus received an annual salary of $320. 1f Columbus had waited until today to do his discovering he would have had hard work locating a bungalow on a 50-foot lot for that figure. If he were a base ball scout he would have to get Queen Isabella to pawn $50,000 worth of jewels for a new pitcher. Or it he were a movie star astronomer he might have to disgorge several hun- dred thousand ducats to drag the star down out of the firmament. Columbus manifested rare business acumen in choosing an age when dis- covering was comparatively cheap. Even a first-class North Pole in good condition would tax the great naviga- tor more than the entire Western Hemisphere combined. This reminds us that Milton put his “Paradise Lost” on the bargain coun- ter for £23. Michaelangelo spread his dreams over the vaulted arches of St. Peter’s for nothing and it took him years to do it. Emerson had hard work marketing his wares. Even today you have to give people a bonus to get them to accept and en- joy the best things. The flying ma- chine was received with guffaws. Possibly it is a good thing for hu- manity that Columbus lived when he did. If he had undertaken to discover America now and prove that the earth is round he would have to have a whole battery of lawyers to defend him. As it was, they brought him home in chains. Statesmen have often shown peculiar wisdom in handling matters of science. Chains seem to be their favorite decoration for the bene- factors of the race. Considering the billions the United States has loaned Europe the past few years, the discovery of America has paid fair dividends.—Los Angeles Times. Ireland Faces Crisis Concerning Doctors Achievement of independence by the Irish Free State offers a serious problem to Irish doctors. Ireland has trained thousands of doctors for ex- port. Irishmen practice in Great Britain and in all the British colonies. Their names appear on the British register and that fact entitles them so0 to practice. If the Free State is to have a separate medical register and the names of qualified Irish prac- titioners disappear from the British register it is feared that the result will be to cripple the Irish medical schools. Thus far the situation has been met by temporary acts continu- ing the present system. But a final decision must be reached soon and the medical profession generally is convinced that the accommodation with Great Britain in this matter should be made permanent. Flog the Wife Beaters! To the Bditer of Tho Star: Kindly allow a reply to your edl- torial “The Whipping - Pos You cannot brutalize a brute. Tears shed in behalf of and bouquets thrown to that Frederick brute are wasted. If the sheriff did his duty the man's wife may rest assured she will not again be beaten. I trust he did. A few pleasant words from his honor, a few peaceful and restful days in jail; three square meals daily while his wife and children get along as best they can do not deter from wife beating such members of the community as this Frederick man. Delaware is the fortunate possessor of an ancient and honorable post. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS Q. Is there an official international radio language?—J. T. A. At the international amateur radio congress held recently in Paris Esperanto was adopted as the official international radio language. It fur- rishes the medium for addresses and special courses broadcast from nu- merous European stations. Esperanto has a place in the curriculum of schools in many cities of Europe. Courses are frequently conducted for policemen, post office, hotel and in- dwstrial employes and for Boy Scouts. Q. Did Persia ever make any repa- ration for the death of Robert Imbrie, American vice consul at Teheran? M. W. H. A. On October 2, 1924, three Per- sians, one an officer, were executed by a firing squad in Teheran and the Persian treasury remitted $60,000 in- demnity to Mrs. Imbrie, widow of the major. Q. Does the Coast Guard do much actual life-saving?—F. J. G. A. During the fiscal year 1924 the Coast Guard saved or rescued from peril 2,462 persons. Q. How many automobiles are there in the United States and in the world?>—C. D. A. The Department of Commerce ys there are approximately 22,500,- 000 passenger cars, motor trucks and motor cycles in the entire world. About four-fifths of these are in the United tates. During 1924 there were 17,591,981 motor vehicles regis- tered in’the United States. Q. Please tell me how to rid a dwelling house of bats’—B. W. B A. First, close all openings where the bats usually enter. Then set sev- eral small steel traps, such as are used in catching rats, balting them with any of the baits used for rats. If they infest the building to any great extent, it is suggested that you burn a sulphur candle or fumigate with carbon disulphid. Q. Who directed the picture “The White Sister”? Isn't Lilllan Gish un- der the direction of D. W. Griffith?— J. M. L. A. “The White Sister” was pro- duced by Inspiration Pictures, dis- tributed by Metro and directed by Henry King. Miss Gish has recertly signed a contract with Metro- Goldwyn Q. Which State has the greatest number of playgrounds?—F. M. H. A. New York State is the first, with 858 playgrounds and community cen- ters. Massachusetts is second, with 706 centers, and Pennsylvania third, with 687. Q. My daughter is going on a visit to a distant city in which lives an old friend of mine who is an un- married man. In what manner should 1 request this friend to call on my daughter?—J. R. G. A. The most usual way of inviting a friend to call upon a visiting daugh- ter or relative in another city is by a personal letter, recalling old friend- ships and saying that it would give you pleasure to have your old friend make the acquaintance of your young daughter. Q. Do bananas grow up or down?— F. A. A. Bananas grow upward, opposite from the way they appear in shops. celebrating its centennial anniversary this week, but which might, with greater vim, jubllate over the last half alone. Akron was a town with a “Main street” and not much else until 1870; now it is a metropolis of | 200,000 and is known to all civilized nations as the greatest rubber center of the world. No wonder that its centennial week is marked with a three-day jubilee and the most spec- tacular pageantry which money, en- terprise and enthusiasm could pro- vide. * K ok ok Great Britain may boast that she produces more rubber than does any other country, but what would she do with it if there were no Akron? Three-quarters of the world's produc- tion of rubber is used in the United States, vet we have but one Akron. Count that day lost whose setting sun fails to gild the 100,000 pneumatic tires made that day in Akron, to- gether with its 150,000 inner tubes for the tires and the 150 tons of solid rubber tires for heavy trucks. There is nothing made out of rub- ber which Akron does not make. \ Each day it produces 15 miles of rub- ber conveyor belting, 400 miles of rub- ber bands, 25 miles of garden and fire hose, scores of miles of air brake and steam hose, tons of rubber czzuplings and a million rubber heels.” Shail all its rubber items be listed? They ex- ceed 30,000 different articles. Its pay roll in the rubber industry amounts to $75,000,000 a year, and its products 1l for $380,000,000. uThe xt!*eeu of great cities today are paved with rubber. According to the anclent Arabic saying: “He who is shod with leather, to him fit is as i the world were covered with leathe: The adage, “Nothing takes the place of leather,” is now revised with an added clause, “except rubber.” Think what would be the state of the world if there had never been a State of Ohio with its inventors of aviation r! and of rubhe' i Other cities have earthquakes; Ak- ron has her rubber quake, for Britain {8 shaking the rubber industry as a terrier shakes its prey. Ninety per cent of the world's rubber is con- trolled by Britain and 75 per cent is used by the United States. A few months ago raw rubber was worth in the markets 17 cents a ‘pound; |today ¢ brings $1.20, and may go higher. British rubber monopo- lists have decreed that the output shall be cut down. Usually the rub- ber in British warehouses amounts to 50,000 or 60,000 tons; today it is less than a tenth of the normal supply, and Akron—i. e., the rubber inter- ests of America—is showing unrest, anxiety, over the rubber famine im- pending. Have you a little tire in your ga- rage? Nourish it, for it is priceless. When Akron can get no more raw rubber 50,000 .employes wiil be job- less, but millions of Americans will be tireless. * K K Has there ever been such a trade romance as that of rubber, d has any trade romance ever had close a setting as has rubber? Tt all cen- ters {n the little town of Akron—if one may so speak of a city of 200,000 bustling, thriving citizens. ‘When Akron was founded, in 1825, nobody Knew that rubber was of any consequence. A man named Conda- mine had brought a bit of raw rubber to Europe 90 years previous, but it was sticky, useless stuff, until in 1770 Dr. Priestly used a chunk of it as an eraser for lead pencil marks. Thirty years later Charles Macintosh used it as a varnish to make waterproof *“machintoshes.” It was more than half a century after Dr. Priestly's eraser that rubber came into its own for the first time. In 1839 Charles Goodyear was ex- perimenting with a mixture of rub- ber and sulphur. He had gone into bankruptcy experimenting in iron Wife beaters are not indigenous to|manufacture in Philadelphia, but after the soil of that State. DU PONT LEE. problem of how to taki the - rubber he found utilize the sticky BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN. Q. Give dates of the founding of several of the old Itallan universi- ties?—G. C. M. A. The oldest Ttalian universities are Bologna, founded 1200; Padua, 1222; Naples, 1224: Genoa, 1243; Pe- rugia, 1276; Macerata, 1290. There were nine more founded between 1300 and 1550. During the Middle Ages Ttaly was the greatest resort for stu- dents seeking higher education. Q. When a pine thicket is cut down, what makes an oak thicket grow in its place, and vice versa?—A. C. O. A. The Forest Survey says that when a pine thicket i{s cut down the oak growth which starts is a natural sequence of forest types. The acorns are doubtless brought to the pine forest by squirrels and other small animals ‘and as soon as the larger growth is removed it makes room for this oak growth which starts. The same would be true of an oak thicket being removed and pine trees starting to grow. Pine needles are doubtless blown into the oak forest from older pine trees near by. As soon as the oak is removed the pine starts its growth. Q. Will the use of a sextant fix %;le’a position with accuracy?—W. F. A. The Naval Observatory saysthe amount of error in determination of position by means of the sextant de- pends very much upon the skill of the observer. A competent navigator, working under the best conditions, makes an average error of about 2 miles. Q. What ships brought the news of the discovery of gold in the Yukon?— C. M. N. A. The arrival of the steamers Ex- celsior in San Francisco and the ‘l‘orllland in Seattle brought the news n 1897. Q. Will anything make hair grow on a scar?—L. B. L. A. So far as we can ascertain there is no substance that will do this. Where scars are very disfiguring surgeons have by operative measures transplanted hair. Q. Where are the Irish Hills of Michigan located—H. W. P. A. They are in Lenawee County, on the southern border of the southern peninsula. Q. In what dimensions is the helght of & horse measured?—E. F. H. A. It is measured in hands. A hand is equal to a hand's breadth, which for calculations is considered 4 inches. Q. How many oceans?—M. R. A. According to late figures, there are at present 550 submarine cables, (The Star is prepared to assist you in your pursuit of knowledge and in- formataion. When you want opinions substantiated or facts verified consult our Washington Information Bureaw. This bureau is headquarters for in- formation of all kinds. It is & free educational service instituted to serve a very apparent need of our readers and its popularity is attested by the many who seek information from it daily. Use this free service and learn its possibilities. ' No question of fact is too difficult for its staff to anawer. Address inquiries to Frederic J. Has- kin, director, The Star Information cables cross the I northw Bureau, Twenty-first and C streets ) BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. There is a “Buckeye” city which is| that an inventor named Hayward had preceded him in mixing sulphur with rubber to harden it. He bought out Hayward's rights, but it was years later when he accidentally let some of his rubber and sulphur drop onto a hot stove and beheld the work of the Roman god, Vulcan. He had pro- duced hard rubber and elastic, heat and cold defying rubber of today's commercial uses — ‘“vulcanized rub- Ber * k x ¥ Still there was no immediate use made of the new substance. In spite of Goodyear’'s 60 patents on the proc- esses, he died poor in 1860, and 10 years after his death the modern, prosperous and world-transforming rubber industry began In Akron, fo. Dr. Benjamin Franklin Goodrich, a young surgeon of the Civil War, fall- ing to pick up a medical practice in New York, resorted to real estate trading. In one of his trades he ac- quired the stock of a small rubber company located on the Hudson River, and soon after he moved it to Akron, where the town was offering factory sites and cheap water power. He began making fire hose which would not burst under pressure of the water, and it was such good hose that it soon came into demand. From that other rubber manufactures were developed by the same company. * ko % The methods of handling rubber became more or less familiar to Akronians, and the next chapter in the romance came from that general acquaintance with its manipulation. Dr. John Boyd Dunlop, a veterina- rian of Akron, was the proud father of a first-born son. The father w: only 27 yvears old, and his practice was gaining slowly. His boy meant more to him than a team of horses. He gave the boy a tricycle, and then noted that, in spite of its solid rub- ber tires, the chili was having a bouncing time, riding over cobble- stones. That set Dr. Dunlop to pondering, which resulted in an ex- periment of producing for the toy tricycle the first pneumatic tires ever made It is noted that even those first tires of 2 inches, diameter, bore a greater ratio between diameter and load than do the greatest “balloon” tires of today. THe sudden craze for bicycles grew out of the comfort of the pneumatic tires, and immediately following, came the automobile era, making an unlimited demand for rubber tires—more than 70,000,000 made by the Goodyear Company alone. * k% % Now that the rubber famine is scaring the market, it is the aim of American manufacturers generally, who depend on rubber, to discover land and climates where Americans can produce it independent of the British. A commission appointed by Congress has reported that in the Philippine Islands there are 3,000,000 acres suitable for the purpose; the en- tire world's rubber acreage today is only 4,000,000. There are laws governing the Philip- pines intended to prevent a monopoly of rubber land, which it is claimed hamper production on an economical scale, and at the next session of Con- gress efforts will be made to modify the restrictions, which now prevent any company from owning or con- trolling more than 2,500 acres in the Philippines. In the meanwhile, it is re- ported that Mr. Firestone of the Fire- stone Tire Co., Akron, is acquiring, by leasehold, a monopoly of many thou- sands of acres in Liberia, and is plan- ning to finance that country in con- sideration of his monopoly, so that Liberia will be enabled to make great improvements in roads and rallways to the rubber plantation. All rubber trees require from 6 to 15 years before they produce paying yields of latex— the milky fluid which makes rubber. Truly rf Boston continues to be th “Hub’” she will not dispute Akron’s right to be the tire of the world. (Coporight. 1625, by Paul V. Collined