Evening Star Newspaper, August 2, 1925, Page 38

THE EVENING STA With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. SUNDAY........August 2, 1025 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd St. Chicago Office : Tower. Building. pean Office: 18 Regent St., London, England. The Evening Star. with the Sunday morn- Ing edition, js delivered by carriers within Ihe city ‘at’ 60 conts per month: dafly omy. 45 cents per month: Sunday only. 20 cents Per month, Orders may be sent by mail or ielephone Main 5000. Collection {s made by ier at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. ) .40; 1 ., T70¢ E€unday only .. 1yr.. $2.40; 1 mo., 20c All Other States. Dails and Sunday...1yr., $10.00: 1 mo., 8 Pl ey T B Lo 00 Eudnday only 3300} 1 mo’. 26¢ Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is 9!(”!1\‘.‘7 entitled 10 the ues for republication of all news dis- patches credited o ¢ or not otherwies cred- ited in i r Ing lso the local news ublished hy in Al rights of publication Ll h rfl' are also reserved The Clark Collection Accepted. Decision by the trustees of the Cor- coran Gallery of Art to accept the Zift of the late William A. Clark of rich collection of paintings and other objects of fine art fnsures the permanent placing at the Capital of a rare display. When the announcement of the terms of Mr, Clark’'s will was made, with the provision for the tender of this gift to the Corcoran Gallery in case of its rejection by the Metropolitan Museum of New Vork, hope was felt that the good fortune would befall Washington, The Metropolitan Museum declined the gift on the ground that it was unavailable as an entity under the policy of that institution to classify all art works and not to house any definite collection separately. The Corcoran Gallery is not so inhibited by its own rules or by the general policy which has guided its trustees from the beginning. They have now wisely, and with a view to the de- velopment of Washington as a center of art in this country, voted unani- mously and enthusiastically to accept this rich donation and to house it properly by the addition of a new wing to the present building. Valued at between $2,500,000 and $3,000,000, the Clark collection is one of the most notable private assem- blages of paintings and art objects in the world. It includes canvases by Rembrandt, Titian, Gainsborough, Corot, Millet and other great painters * of past and present time, as well as priceless tapestries and rugs, furni- ture, glass and other rare and beauti- ful objects. It is alone a “gallery” of t of great richness and beauty. The combination of this group and the per- manent collection of the Corcoran Gal- lery makes it one of the greatest in this country, ranking high, indeed, with world art institutions. While no plans are announced specifically, assurance is given that the addition to the present structure for the purpose of housing this newly acquired group of paintings and ob- jects of art will be in every respect worthy of Washington, of the Cor- coran and of the contents to be housed and displayed there. An em- inent architect, one of whose works of this character is already in evi- dence in Washington, and who has een commissioned to prépare plans for the proposed new National Gal- lery of Art in this city, has been chosen by the trustees to design the structure. Mr. Charles A. Platt's mname assures the result. This decision by the Corcoran Gal- lery trustees is to be commended highly. They were confronted with a weighty responsibility, which they have met courageously and in a spirit of devotion to the artistic future of the Natfonal Capital. It may, per- haps, be inferred from the circum- stances that the donor of this rich zift, although he made the tender to Washington as an alternative, really wished his collection to come to this city. He had already manifested his Jeen interest in Washington as an art center by his munificent endowment of the blennial salon, which has done so much to bring here every other year the best works of cotemporary Amer- ican painters. The trustees have rec- ognized this possibility in taking over the collection, regardless of the cost entailed in its proper separate hous- ing, and they have earned the thanks of this community for their broad- spirited, progressive action. o The theory of the United States Government depends largely on the existence of at least two political par- ties. As a matter of patriotic duty ‘the Democratic party will endeavor to reorganize. ——— In spite of the claims of Soviet ‘Russia, the Chiness do not encourage any inference that there is a Soviet China. Begging for “Dead Letter” Cash. Recently publicity was given to the fact that a man out in Wisconsin had applied to the Post Office Department for a donation from the fund of about $60,000 that hes accumulated from moneys found in letters that have érifted into the dead letter division through lack of legible addresses and signatures. Immediately other appli- cants have been filing their petitions for portions of the fund. Uncle Sam, in short, has been flooded with beg- ging letters from all parts of the coun- try, and from “all sorts and condi- tions of men,” and women, too. Of course, not a penny of this fund can be given away. The United States has no right to dispose of it other- ‘wise than by turning it into the Treas- ury after every effoit to deliver it to the proper perscns has fafled. Just why any one should think that this “‘dead letter” cash is subject to public requisition passes: understand- ing. The “begging letter” habit, how- ever, is strong. It manifests itself fre- auently. If a person is proclaimed in the news as the maker of a sudden fortune he is immediately besieged by eolicitors. Every person of large wealth is constantly asked for alms, for loans, for aid for worthy inven- tors, for aasistance for struggling widows and orphans. Thé personal staff of a multimillionaire is largely engaged in disposing of these peti- tions. Even more significant, however, than the receipt of begging letters is the fact that so large an amount of money is intrusted to the mails with- out any means of identifying senders or addressees. People are extraor- dinarily careless about the use of the post for the transport of valuables. It would seem that {n case of the send- ing of money there would be particu- lar care with the address, or with the return designation. The post office is constantly warning people to be more particular. Notices are placard- ed at mailing points reminding the users of the mails on this subfect. Yet the dead letter office is kept busy deciphering and decoding ad- Iresses and signatures in undiminished volume. Apparently the mail users have great faith in Uncle Sam as a messenger, even as some folks are now showing their faith in him as a distributor of alms. The German-Polish Evictions. The crass stupidity of governments seems to be unending. Twenty thou- sand Germans are being driven out of districts now belonging to Poland, but before the World War held by Ger- many, on order of the Polish govern- ment. They are being driven out be- cause, forsooth, in the plebiscite held five vears ago to determine whether these districts should be Polish or Ger- man territory these people voted to remain German. (ermany, as a meas- ure of reprisal, is deporting some 10,- 000 Poles who lived in territory still owned by Germany, and who voted Polish in the plebiscite. Apart entirely from the tragic drama and the personal suffering which such methods impose upon thousands of men, women and chil- dren torn from homes which they have occupled for years and thrust into strange lands, are the seeds of hatred that this action is bound to germinate. If the time ever comes when Germany again is able to strike, Poland may ex- pect little mercy. Indeed, the desire to strike will be enhanced many times by such actions as the deportation of thousands of people. The Western Hemisphere, upon which Europe not infrequently turns the glance of scorn and emits the word “uncivilized,” will look with astonishment upon the barbarity of these wholesale deportations. The cruelty of the British, who 200 years ago drove from their homes the peace- ful folk of Arcadie, has been immor- talized by Longfellow in the poem, “Evangeline.” Dispatches giving details of the eviction call attention to the arbitra- tion verdict handed down by Pres- ident van Karnebeck of the Interna- tional Court of Justice, upholding the Polish claim to the right to compel emigration of Germans from this ter- ritory. Poland bases its eviction order on this decision. But the existence of a right does not always warrant the exercise of that right. The action taken by Poland seems the height of folly as well as cruel. The decision of the prestdent of the Court of Interna- tional Justice, by the way, will not likely be of assistance to the pro- ponents in this country of the ad- hesion of the United States to the World Court. The deported people, it is reported, are faced with grim want and suffer- in'g. They are being herded into con- centration camps from which it is hoped they will be distributed throughout Germany and Poland, as the case may be. But their homes are gone. The ties which bound them to those homes have been irrevocably torn. They are being penalized be- cause they voted, as any national would vote, for citizénship in their own home country. No advance word was given them that upon their vote depended the retention of their homes. Thé action takeén seems to make for war, rather than peace in Europe. —————— Towa may feel impelled to pause in the discussion of intricate ecomomic issues in order to teach her citizens to mark their ballots in a manner that will indicate their precise inten. tions. ——————— With a determined traffic diréctor in charge, the sign painting on the pavement strikes as much terror as the handwriting on the wall. — et In this Scriptural turmoil it is dis- couraging to find that we have gotten only as far as the first chapter of Genesis. — Peddlers. All society is not prominent at opera and horse show and all kings and queens are not in Europé and in carnivals, A message from New York says: ‘Peddlers of the East Side, who vend from pushcarts every- thing from pickles to fur coats, evi- dently have their periods of affluence, for 250 of them attended a $5 a plate testimonial dinner last night, at which the king and queen of the peddlers were crowned.” Invitations to the feast were *gold-nscribed” and the queéen wore a diadem of dlamonds and a gown of lace. The king and queen were ‘presented with four-foot-square gilt-framed testimonials attesting their aid in promoting the welfare of the peddlers.”” Here are a king and queen who seem to earn their salt. Mayor Hylan and other city officials sent letters of congratulation. The ped- dlers vote. It séems not often that the peddler gets into the news other than by way of the courts. The copper tells him to move on, or runs him in for standing at the curb, and the magistrate says something about *‘case dlsmissed” or “$5 or 16 days.' Yet the peddler is known to multitudes as a useful man. His trade is anclent. He thrived in cities Asian and Afric when the best people of Europe were wearing furs gotten without going to a fur shop. in Nineveh, Babylon, Bagdad, Thebes, peddlers were a busy folk, and when new towns in Europe needed peddlers they were there. Peddlers have been peddiing in Athens, Rome, Paris and London since those towns were groups of huts on muddy lanes. Old chroni- cles and pictures of American cities THE SU show peddlers with a back-pack or a cart. Contumely has been put upon the peddler. He has been ralled at by the passer-by and jafled by the constable. Laws, regulative, repres- sive and oppressive, have been made for or against him, but he survives and is doing business at the old cart. People buy his wares and he seems to thrive. Once it was thought that the In- terests had all the money and mil- lionaires were believed to be well off. Then rose a belief that the plumber had garnered all the cofn in the land, and if he has not laid by a store of shekels, ducats and the like he has been a speedy spender. As for mil- lionaires, most of them are poor. But here we have the peddlers at a feast, five bucks per plate, with king and queen upon a dais and the lady decked in diamonds and lace. Little is sald about the king, but at least he wore a full dress suit, with studs of pearl. No one will feel envy that the peddlers had a jolly time. ——————— Official Amenities in Gotham. Relations between the mayor of Greater New York and the controller have long been strained to the break- ing point. Indeed, they have broken sharply on several occasions. Al though closely related in the admin- istration of municipal affairs, these two officials are literally “at swords’ points,” as the phrase goes. They never meet except in the formal ses- sions of the various bodies of which they are ex-officio members, and they have long since ceased to be even superficially polite at such timep. The report of a recent meeting of the sink- ing fund commission vividly lustrates the state of open warfare between them. The following is an extract from it: “That man,” retorted the mayor, his face blanched with anger, as he indi- cated the controller, “lies day in and day out, deliberately and maliciously.” “And you, sir,” shot back the con- troller, “have been lying so long that you lie good and deep, and vou'll lie even deeper after next November!" “I never saw a man deliberately fabricate more consfstently or more maliciously than the controller,” de- clared Mayor Hylan. “I really think Mr. Craig's mental condition should be looked into. He is absolutely with- out regard for the truth. He will say one thing today and do something else tomorrow. Nobody knows when he will change his mind on a report and deliberately lie about it.” It is easily to be seen how in this situation New Yorkers are taking a decided interest in the question of Mayor Hylan's candidacy for a third term. The conflict between the mayor and the controller has seriously im- peded the municipal administration. Projects for the public benefit have been blocked. Every time the mayor and controller have one of their ex- changes of amenities the Tammany leaders shudder. Certainly the sort of thing that is reported in the ex- tract just given is not calculated to cause the voters of Greater New York to be particularly “regular” on elec- tion day. ———— When @ -rich man advertises for advice as to what to do with his money he runs a great risk of being transformed in the course of a few mail deliveries from a philanthropist to a cynic. ——ae— By this time it may have occurred to Harry Thaw that he has been a trifle too generous in permitting him- self to be used as a New York cabaret advertisement. —————— A revival of old and obscure laws is untimely. The ordinary -citizen has all he can do to keep intelligently in touch with the uptodate traffic regulations, e SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON, Unrest. “Why are we not happy?” philosophers ask. Invention stands ready to lighten each task. Regardless of steam, and desplte elec- tricity, We fail to arrive at a state of felicity. “Why are we not happy?” The ques- tion is old. We are not content to tame hunger and cold. To: cuestions we turn all uncertain and tentative And long for the thrill of a life argu- mentative. Willing to Oblige. ‘“What is your opinion of evolu- tion?"” “I am opposed to it answered Senator Sorghum. “It is unpopular among my constituents, and I may yet feel it my duty to introduce a bill in Congress to have it stopped.” Dear Teacher. My Teacher was a person grave ‘And wise and good. If teachers now do not behave Just as they should Before the school board they are ‘brought Without delay, And told what taught To éarn their pay. must by them be Jud Tunkins says he wishes they'd 80 ahead and boost the price of coal without harrowing his feelings about the possibilities of an anthracitc strike. Sense of Fair Play. “Do you believe that the whale swallowed Jonah?" “Yes,” answered Miss Cayenne. “I know a number of fishermen, and the case of Jonah provides the only story 1 know of in which the fish had the best of the argument.” Summer Degrees. Degrees they bestow with collegiate show. Just now on the shelf they are laid. The only degree that's impressive to me 1s Ninety or More in the Shade. “I has read de Bible through,” said Uncle Eben, “‘and I's gineter read it some more without tryin' to answer questions dat 'ud stop me &t de fust chapter of Genests” ze: NDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. AUGUSBT 2 CIVILIZATION PAYS HEAVILY TO SATISFY NEED FOR ROOM Pressure Involves Destruction of Forests and Streams and Brings About Slaughter of Birds and | Harmless Animals. BY DAVID STARR JORDAN, Chancellor Emeritus of Stanford University. Civilization crowds elbow-room. It destroys forests, dries up springs, turns brooks into desolating torrents, replaces the big mammals by rats and mice and the insect-eatifg song birds by “English” sparfows. This we cannot help, but we can mitigate it, and if we care a hoot for what our grandchfldren think of us, we shall leave some part of nature, unwrecked, for their contemplation. To do this we must get busy today and tomor- row. ‘When, {n 1880, T first came to Cali- fornia I say limitless herds of the pronghorn antelope scampering over the hills of what s now Wyoming. In the last 30 years I have crossed the continent some 70 times without ever seeing one. And the Rocky Mountain goat, one of the finest and most unique of all beasts, has in the meantime al- most_utterly vanished, and with it the bighorn sheep. When I was a boy in New York every farmer had in his sleigh at least two buffalo robes. Yet were it not for a few nature- lovers the American bison would today have joined the mastodon and the passenger pigeon in total extinction. Barely Saved the Seals. Forty years ago the Pribilof Islands, just purchased from Russia, sent forth a million or more of mother seals, each with & pup of her own. Rec! less slaughter at sea cut the number down to 130,000 in 1897, down in 1910 to 43,000, and the species was saved only by 14 years of hard work, from 1897 to 1911, ending in the protection treaty of 1911. The herd, thanks to the wise provision, had again risen to 168,000 fn 1920, and about 250,000 in_ 1922, In a London journal I saw an obitu- ary of a venerable pot hunter whose chief pride was that he had caught 400,000 sky larks, and sold them for a penny aplece In the London markets. Along “the Mediterranean my heart has been torn at the sight of the song-birds of Europe, in the markets, killed in their Winter migrations— each for the thimbleful of flesh its little body may yield. Among these are thrushes, bullfinches, blackbirds, redbreasts, beechfinches, warblers, anything bird pirates can shoot or trap. A single song-bird in its day devours thousands or millions of noxious in- sects, saving to the farmer far more than the cost of protection. The fruit grower pays a high price for the ignorance and carelessness of the “op- pressed of every nation,” “the beaten men of beatén race: ‘whose very presence here contributes to our own oppression. ‘Weeds Saving Cultivation. Everywhere in our land of elbow- room we mark a vanishing fauna and flora. A few plants flourish best under oppression. These we call weeds, and we try in vain to exterminate them. They have learned the way of civiliza- tion and how to beat it. The vermin which follow man around—rats, mice, insects and parasitic worms—are sort of animal weeds eéqually hard to eradicate. There are some wild animals which interfere with our businéss, even though afldlnl' to nature's pleturesque- ness. But I hate to see these go. With Thoreau, “I am glad there a owls, to do our demoniac hooting, and their expression of supernal wis- dom is not wholly assumed. I miss the coyote, an untamed, impossible, dejected dog, without a trace of self- consclousness, whose hind legs run faster than his fore legs, thus turning the beast around at intervals, when he sends out an emotional howl which has the merit of seeming to come from a whole pack. The Trout Hog’s Work. And how about the trout hog! He is always with us. We wouldn't mind the lies he tells of his great catches; we are all prone to this fault, lovable when not too tedious. What we object to in his fables is that they are often founded on fact, as heaps of little withered fishes some- times testify. The angler goes afish- ing in order to associate with fish— to be out in places where fish live, and no creature lives in cholcer sur- roundings than a trout. Big rivers, little rivers, cataracts or pools, the trout loves clear waters, well aerated, and will have nothing else. Green banks 'mid shady forests is his home. When these are gone the trout will still thrive, in artificial p.nds, fed on chopped liver, to be c«ught by tourists at a dollar a pound. And the angler will wandér far afield to search for the “Nameless River,” the haunt of the “God of Things That Are. (Copyright. 1925.) THE PEDDLER’S TRIUMPH BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN The peddler continues to lead a charmed life. Despite the numerous and diverse means by which commu- nities have sought to prevent his ply- ing his trade he manages to carry on and he may call at your door any morning with impunity. The law usually upholds him and, although apartment houses and family hotels forbid his coming in the front door, he usually contrives to get into your presence.” The sales argument con- cerning collapsible suitcases, paper- bound books, opera glasses, detach- able wastebaskets, or anything else you may conceive of, then begins. A recent case in which the law up- held the house to house vender had its inception in Portland, Oreg. This city passed an ordinance requiring the aforementioned vender to pay a license fee, such fee to amount to $12.50 per quarter should he go on foot, and $25 should he use a vehicle. It was something like Paul Revere and his lanterns. Likewise under the ordinance he had to file a bond. The bond was to be in the penal sum of $500 and conditioned to make the final delivery of goods, etc. Oregon Law Challenged. Shortly after the passage of this ordinance a Middlewestern firm em- ploying house to house salesmen as its means of reaching the consumer. filed a bill in the United States Di: trict Court for Oregon challenging the ordinance and asking that its enforce- ment be restrained. It asked restraint on the ground that the ordinance was repugnant to article 1. section 8 of the Federal Constitution. The tri court upheld the enactment and sus- tained a motion to dismiss the bill. The case In question finally found its way to the United States Supreme Court, where the decision of the in- feriar tribunal was reversed and the appeal upheld. Tmmediately from various people arose the clamor that communities were not recetving fair treatment be- cause the Supreme Court decision pre- vented levying what they called a legitimate sales tax on itinerant ven- ders. Hence, according to the com- plainants, the citizens of the commu- nity were being defrauded of revenue which was rightfully theirs, It was de- clared that the Supreme Court's de- cislon precluded the passage of any effective legislation to cope with the so-called peddler nuisance. Always Leads Charmed Life. But Supreme Court Decision No. 417 might have been expected. It is but another instance {llustrating that the itinerant vender—the peddler— leads a charmed life. It has been so in all time, for, no matter what he sought to sell, nor what measures were taken to prevent his selling it, he usually succeeded in gaining his ob- Jective. The ancients recognized him, and he has been the subject of several of their poems. In order to explain his un- usual qualities they gave him a patron of godly lineage. In the *Metamor- phoses” of Ovid it is told that Mercury and Apollo were traveling together. In the course of their journey they came to the top of a high hill. Surveying the verdant valley beneath them they espied the maiden Chione, who is de- scribed by the poet as being of ex- treme beauty and possessing great charm. He tells that the youths of the vicinity vied for her hand in mar- rlage. The two immortals, however, were so enchanted by the sight of her reclining on the greensward that they decided to possess her. She bore each of them a son. The progeny of Mer- cury was named Autolycus, and was endowed with his father’s sagacity and wit. Apollo’s son was called Philamon nd was endowed with manly beauty and a genjus for music. He is de. scribed as being a virtuoso of the harp and lyre. The Patron of Peddlers. Autolydus may be said to be the pa- tron of peddlers, as later authors and poets ascribed this to him. He sprang from the immortals and led a life of romance. His deeds are obscure, but it is established that he is the mater- nal grandsire of Ulysses and passed on his cleverness and sagacity to his randson. In the " Homer eclares that the Ithacan prince owed his wisdom to Autolycus. In his early youth Ulysses, according to some chroniclers, saw much of his grand- father and absorbed a deal of his cun- ning. Hence he was abld in his ad- venture at Troy, which eventually fell due to Mis strategy, and in his subse- quent_wanderings, to éscape unscath- ed. The wisdom of Autolycus served him well. Since Autolycus s the twin brother of a mu n, the wandering dlers, mendicants and gaining sense with a musical talent. Also they are described as possessing a _divine sense of humor. In “A Winter's Tale” Shakespeare has drawn a charming character and, stealing a leaf from Ovid and Homer, has called him Autolycus. His songs thrilled the peasant girls of Bohemia, and he had an irresistible lure that caused them tc desire the wares he purveyed. A wandering peddler, he was aleo & clever thief, and was both hated and admired by the youths of the countryside, Bards Peddled Their Wares. Men of letters, as Wallace Irwin points out in a recent essay in Vanity Fair, have, until recent times, heen placed in the same category as ped- dlers. Many of them, conspicuously Homer, were wandering bards who sang to the vanity of the privileged classes. Virgil wrotethe “Aeneid,” says Irwin, to satisfy a Roman patrician. Dante was hated in Florence and eventually was exiled. He took re- venge in the “Divine Comedy” by placing many of the Florentine aristo- crats in eternal inferno. Likewise the troubadors and min- strels of the Middle Ages and ancient times shared the despised opinion held of peddlers. Wandering through the country singing to the feudal lords, they gathered what scraps they could through the favor of those they flat- tered. Men of letters and music have, of couse, been graduated and now hold an enviable position In the soclal scheme of things. Not so the ped- dler. He remains as he was, the per- sonification of the wandering Jew, a person avoided and often hated. If he calls at your door and haggles with you there is often a desire to commit mayhem or even murder, but you doubt *hat it would do any good. And if you pause to think vou find that in some cases he occupies an affectionate spot in your memory. The Song of the Junk Man. Who is thers who has not heard the cry of the junk man, the song of the man with tinware clanging on his wagon, the chant of the fruit vender? Who {s thers who has not heard the strident music of the hand- organ and watched the antics of the monkey or listened to the bark of the side show man? And who is there who has not smiled and been inter- ested—perhaps mildly, but interested, nevertheless—in the proceedings? Peddlers, all of them, shrewd and sagaclous, possessing the instincts of Autolycus. One French composer, struck with the thematic qualities of their chants, successtully worked the songs of peddlers into an operatic opus which took Paris by storm! They have led charmed lives. They have been despised and ridiculed, but at the same time admired for their ability to succeed under adversity. They are a world class. They are the chimney sweeps of European ro- mance, the river venders on the Ganges, the sage street peddlers of Bagdad and Cairo, the water carriers of Granada, the street guldes of Paris, the venders of New York's lower East Side, the house to house salesman of the many American cities. All Should Observe The “Stop” Signals To the Editor of The Star: 1 was very interested Friday morn- ing while driving to w.rk to see the utter lack of co-operation un the part of motorists and motormen with Mr. Eldridge in heeding the new “stop" signs before entering a boulevard. A few motorists stopped, more slow- ed up, but many more went on re- gardless. Not a single motorman stop- ped his car before crossing Rhode 1s- land avenue from North Capitol street to Connecticut avenue. At one corner 1 stopped and watched three cars go by and not one even hesitated, al- though the “stop” sign was clearly vis. ible. Policé will not summons a motor- man, and if street cars are not subject to the reégulation, why should motor- ists be? If when crossing a boulevard & street car can go on while I am com. pelled to stop, I cannot see where any- thing is gained. On a wet morning the regulation is doubly valuable and I for one intéend to abide hy the spirit of it and others, but the apparent con. tempt of a well knovn street railway resident for the e .ts of the Traffic ureau are reflecte n ‘r° attitude of his employes and b - those of the other company as well, Eiven if, as Mr. Ham contends, the regulatioa Was not pro- mulgated in accordance with law, why not accept it anc co-operaté in the [ Capital Sidelights BY WILL P. KENNEDY. ‘Washington is having a pleasant time this Summer getting acquainted with new members of Congress who are gradually dropping in to get their offices settled and incidentally attend to a few matters with Uncle S8am of direct Interest to particular constitu- ents, One of those in whom political and soclal Washington is taking especial interest is “Joe” Hooper, partially be- cause he is going to succeed the late Representative Arthur B. Willlams of Battle Creek, Mich., who was one of the most popular and able of the newer Congressmen and partially be- cause “Joe's” fame ad an impromptu orator has preceded him. Of course, “Joe' Hooper still has to 80 through the formality of an elec- tion, but he got such an overwhelm- ing vote in the primaries—a record vote—that his opposition is negligible. He got that record vote in testimony that the Republicans in his district are not ungrateful. For 17 years he has been going up and down the line— in Battle Creek and out, in the third district and out, {n Michigan and out— singing the praise of somebody or something else. Possessed of a re- markable gift of oratory, he is con- stantly in demand and always ready to respond. It {s estimated that he has made more th: 600 speeches a year for the last 17 years. He was the youngest prosecutor ever elected in Michigan, campaigning before he was of age and taking office Just after he reached his majority. He never went to college, but studfed law in a local office after graduating from high school. He is a Shake- spearean student and a Bible student and quotes at length. He recites Latin poetry and speaks French and Spanish fluently. During the 15 years he was in the role of prosecutor or counsel for the defense in every murder trial in his bailiwick he never lost a case. Although his pleas to the jury in fmportant cases have been so striking that courtrooms are crowded and he is quoted extensively in the daily press and professional journals, his most celebrated case was one that is con- sidered unique in the annals of American jurispruence as the shortest on record. A woman had brought suit against a neighbor, claiming that rats had infested her place, causing dam- age to her personal effects. The plain- tiff put a number of witnesses on the stand and the plaintiff's attorney dwelt long upon the damage done his client. Mr. Hooper arose, faced the jury and in tones filled with disgust said, “Rats!” Then he sat down. The jury retired and in five minutes returned with a verdict for Mr. Hooper's client. * ko % Mrs. John Jacob Rogers of Lowell, Mass, New England's first woman member of Congress, Is impressing Government officlals as a “live wire” in_her first official visit here. She will be here for about two weeks, learning the ropes of departmental procedure while on business for con- stituents. Mrs. Rogers has the advantage of long residence in Washington and a wide acqualintance. Her political cam- palgn indicated she has political sense, and this is shown also by her shrewd: ness -in_handling her new problems here. She modestly refuses to take any credit for her overwhelming vic- tory, insisting that it was a tribute to_her late husband. Mrs. Rogers has arrived with no set program. She is interested par- ticularly on carrying on her work of inspecting veterans’' hospitals as personal representative of the Presi- dent, which she will continue. She is also making a study of industrial un- employment. She is desirous of ascer- taining whether the present system of reporting employment conditions and opportunities by the employment servica of the Department of Labor can be made of more assistance in bringing employers and employes to- gether. In her deep mourning, with flowing black veil, Mrs. Rogers is a striking figure about Washington. There is much curiesity as to whether she in- tends to make congressional service a career, a8 many of her friends hope she may, or whether she plans just to serve the balance of her husband's term. She herself says: “I really don't know. 1 haven't given that a thought.” * * k¥ Office boys in Uncle Sam's service and everywhere throughout the coun- try should be heartened by the well deserved promotion that recently came to Floyd R. Harrison, who succeeds former House Leader Frank W. Mon- dell as head of the War Finance Corporation. Harrison started in as a messenger boy in the Federal service and worked his way up. His first big job was as administrative assistant to the Becretary of Agriculture, which job is now heid by William A. Jump, who was a fellow office boy with Harrison. * K ¥ ¥ Some bizarre and uncontemplated outcropping of the new postal rates will be called to the attention of a joint subcommittee of Congress at the hearings which are to begin here on July 20. One of the conundrums to be solved is: “When is a cata- logue not a catalogue?” According to the Post Office Depart- ment’s interpretation of the new pos- tal rates, a catalogue is not a cata- logue if it contains less than 24 pages. Under that ruling it would have to bear a rate of 113 cents per two ounces instead of 1 cent per two ounces. Some very surprising effects of this ruling are found in many letters of complaint and protest to the de- partment of transportation of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, which heads up American business in a little capitol building of its own just across the park from the ‘White House. As American business and the United States Government are interdependent this congress of business and the Congress for all the people are going to get together and try to work out a just adjustment of these unforeseen inequities. For example—many business houses are increasing their catalogues to 24 pages with a tendency to break down well established trade standards of paper size, printing and folding. Some have discovered that by attaching a circular, on which the rate is 1% cents if mailed alone, to a 24-page catalogue, the whole can be malled at the l-cent rate. o ne These are busy moving days about the Capitol, with offices being put in shape for new occupants. As usual during each recess between Congresses, there is & drive by the older and more prominent members to get offices in the Capitol Building instead of in the House Office Bullding. Representative James Begg of Ohlo, who managed Representative Long- worth's campaign for the Speakership, has been given one of the best offices— on the ground floor, directly under the office of Chairman Green of the ways and means committee. Speaker Longworth is to have supplementary offices on the basement floor, which extends out on the wést terrace, for. merly occupied by Senator Schall when chairman of the flood control committee. Representative John ~ Tilson, the incoming floor leader, will, of course, occupy the offices in the Speaker’s lobby and in the old library space which have just been vacated by Mr. Longworth. Representative Allan T. Treadway of usetts will probably be given the attractive office suite on the ground floor under the House leader’'s office, which was used as supplemental offices last year by Speaker Gillett. Work hard and save your mon MEN AND AFFAIRS BY ROBERT T. SMALL. Two men were talking in the new union statlon at Chicago Thursday noo; 0 “Well, Billy Bryan certainly went suddenly, didn't he' It was enough to make one look around. It was the first time I had ever heard the Commoner called “Billy.” “Yes, he a1d go suddenly.” “¥You know, I live iu Lincoln.” es?”’ “Yes, I've often waited on Mr. Bryan in the store. “¥es?"” “Yes. man.” “No, there never was.” No man could have a face like his and not be good.” No, they couldn’t: you're right.” Mr. Bryan was so earnest cere. There never was a finer Yes, he was, he always stood pat.” | launch. Then it was discovered Y o! mean he always stood by his that's what I mean.” “He certainly did. The country is going to miss him." “Yes, it 1s.” “You know I never quite agreed with Mr. Bryan politically.” Didn’t you?"” o. and I just loved to hear him speak.” 'He had a great voice.” “He did, that.” “I never voted for him.” You didn’t?” No. _Did you?” No. I never voted for him, but I always regarded him as a grand man. “Everybody did.” And there was the tragedy, almost in words of one syllable, of Mr. Bryan's life. People would travei miles and miles to hear him speak, would go away entranced by all that he had said, and then travel miles and miles to vote for the other fellow. Since last Monday morning thousands of men have met and thousands of times the conversation set forth above has been repeated. * %X % ¥ How things were always breakin, badly for the (:omma.-mery was !”u: trated by an incident of his triumphal return from a European trip in 1908 Which never got into the newspapers, Mr. Bryan had been a sphinx abroad, but the stage had been set for a grand reception in New York. The first bad break came when the steamer suddenly was reported to arrive a day ahead of schedule. - This would have thrown everything out of gea Fifty Years Ago In The Star Half a century ago the country was shocked by a case of juvenile crime in Massachusetts, which was revived in memory last year when two Chicago # youths committed an Pomeroy’s atroclous murder, for which they are now Statement. R they are now tencea, A Jad named Jesse Pomeroy accused of slaying a younger child for esheer cruelty. He was placed on trial, was convicted and was sentenced {o hang, the gov- ernor later commuting the sentence to imprisonment for life in solitary confinement. In The Star of July 26, 1875, is an account of a portion of a statement made by Pomeroy after the trial as follows: “The boy murderer, Pomeroy, has concluded his remarkable story. In this concluding portion Pomeroy commences by quizzing and criticiz- ing ‘the mad doctors’ who came to see him. He describes, in a plain- ness of speech that is very amusing, the mental and personal peculiarities of each doctor, and evidently has not an exalted opinion of the medical profession, though he is careful to disclaim any intention of being dis- respectful. Upon the verdict of the Jjury he is good enough to give his opinion of the reasons that led the jury to their determination. He thinks that the government failed to prove that he premeditated the mur- der and that the circumstances went to show that if he did kill the child it was because he could not help do- ing it. He occasionaily qualifies his suppositions in this direction by the saving phrase, ‘I am imagining my- self to have did that murder.” “He reviews his alleged cruelties and the statement that when he was between 3 and 5 years old he was caught with a carving knife carving a cat. It makes him laugh when he thinks of it. He says that if he did have a carving knife at that age it ‘was much more likely for him to stick it into himself than into the cat. About the snake story, he said he did kill a snake., which was found in the garden of Mrs. Clarke, to oblige her, and that she, ‘in conformity with females, set up to shrieking and said she did not see how I could kill a snake so.' Of the witness, Mrs. Fos- dick, who noticed that he had a white eye, when she says she saw him 40 or 50 feet from her, he says, ‘she ought to hire out to Barnum on ac- count of her wonderful eyesight.” He analyzes the evidence to show that the witnesses contradict each other as to the time when the boy was last seen alive. He mildly reproaches ‘Uncle Cook’ for violating the promise he gave to keep the confession from the newspapers. ‘“Pomeroy then reviews the ‘good and rellable re{mrt' of the hearing of his case before the governor in council and comments on the sign- ers of the petition who desire his execution. He says they are nearly all women who signed that petition, and ‘women know nothing of law or humanity.” He concludes a lengthy review of the governor's hearing by the declaration of his bellef that the governor will commute the sentence. He claims innocence on the ground that the crime, if he committed it, never troubles him, that he sleeps well, has a good appetite and ‘am hunky-dory." He concludes this startiing narrative by severe criti- clams of the jury system and save that the law which requires that men shall serve who have not formed an opinion is a disgrace to the country and that the effect of this is to put a set of “human donkeys’ in the fury box instead of 12 intelligent men.” * * “For a good while the centennial zeal and impulsé was confined t Philadelphia,” says Appeal for the The pSiar, of July 2 28, 1875, “and rival Centennial. (jtiey dainned it with faint praise if they did not give it the positive cold shoulder. ~ Now, however, the fact is generally recog- nized that the exhibition must be made a success for the credit of the country, and the New York Times makes a strong a; 1 for more State aid and individual effort in behalf of the centennial. There is danger, it intimates, of the unreadiness to re- celve our guests in response to in- vitations to foreign nations sen it by the National Government and under the authorization of Cor;&ou. The {:nml. it says, is now ly a national enterprise. - 80 far as for- eigners are concerned, it i a matter purely within the management of the United States Government. There- fore, évery State has its share of in- terest in the success of the under- taking. Every publicspirited and atriotic citizen should feel that the onor of the country is to some de. gree bound up in the prosperity of the exposition.” 3 . —tts Necessity is a good thing to make & virtue of—if you have no better Finally it was decided to take M Bryan off the steamer down New York Bay and keep him somewhere in seclusion for 24 hours. The writer ‘was one of a group of reporters sent down to cover the story. Mr. Bryan was kidnaped off the liner and placed aboard a houseboat belonging to Lewis Nixon. Next morning he was transferred to a small yacht belonging to Ed Goltra of Si Louls, one of the pallbearers at Fri day’s funeral. The yacht was gayly dressed with bunting and on the way to the Bat tery, where the landing was to be made, she recefved many salutes. At the Battery a great throng had gath ered, including the reception commit tee, and cannon to boom & salute—and everything. The yacht came to anchor 300 yards offshore. The party was to proceed to the Battery in a small ste: the craft could not hold everybody. The reporters aboard begged permission to go ashore first. They said if they had to wait for a second trip, the land procession would have started and they would never catch up. Always obliging, Mr. Bryan consented to the scheme. Four of us started ashore in the But I always admiréd him |launch. As we neared the Battery we realized a terrible mistake had been made. Bands began to play, cannon began to boom amera artists began to snap; military bodies stood at at tention—and then the launch landed with four grinning reporters aboard No reporters ever received such a royal reception. There was much cha grin ashore, but when the Commoner finally landed, the reception was re peated with as much gusto as possible The first “pnnch” was lacking, how ever. In the end it didn’t make much dif. ference, however, for that night Mr Bryan came out for Government own ership of rallroads and the effect his long silence abroad was utter] ruined. And_ that was one gr “cause” the Commoner soon gave up * ok % % Mr. Bryan had an inordinate love for radishes. He ate them almost b the peck. And, Southern like, he al ways used both salt and butter as condiments. Callers at the Roger: home in Dayton, where the Commoner stopped, nearly always found hin munching on radishes and many were astonished to see the spread of but ter before each bite. That is an old Tennesses custom, however, and is used on Spring onlons as well. (Copyright. 1925.) This and That By Charles E. Tracewell. Jack Spratt, having consumed an egg malted milk for his breakfast sauntered out to snoop around the neighborhood. The little striped fellow was fesling fine after his convalescence from his recent vacation of two weeks in the unknown. Breakfast had tasted pretty good as was' manifested by the avidits with which the cat lapped up the egg malted milk, or rather egg malted cream, for Jack Spratt turns up his white snub nose at milk. Descending the back steps, Jack stopped to enjoy the sunshine before starting on his snooping tour. What a morning it Like transcendental g shine poured down over th a flood, Roses the sun garden in bathing alike the nodding the glorious Gladioli, the sturdy the giant Mallows, Phlox pan lingering Snapdragons. It is among these that Jack always begins his snooping, characteristic of the feline tribe. 1In this occupation he holds fast to the Middle English word, snoken, from which our modern “snoop” is derived. Snoken meant to sniff, and this Jack Spratt does with infinite pains He wiggles his sensitive nostrils at everything, from the moist earth to the Qistant barking doge. First he started out, thi by undulating his gra. striped body in and out among the Gladiolus stalks, without so much as touching one of them, just rustling the leaves. A dog would have ruined them all, but a cat is more discriminating e Seating himself at the base of a Hiblscus, Jack peered out from be- tween the broad leaves clothing the willowy but thick branches. His white front might have answered for a soap advertise nt, so white it appeared there, against the green. Adventure called, however. “You must not linger, Jack.” thrilled Adventure. “Try the next yard. Some grand bug may be lurk. ing over there.” A wild look sprang into the cat's eyes. He laid his ears back, slanted his eyes, arched his back, stood the hair up along his back—and sprang. Strafght into the vard he bounded leaping high into the air after a yel- low butterfly, spatting his forepaws together much as a child claps ite hands. The butterfly gayly flew away. Looking somewhat chagrined, Spratt bounded for the fence, and disap- peared over it into thé next vard. Wildly he crossed the yard, leaped the next fence, and so across yard after yard, taking each partition with a long bound. It would be interesting to match a cat against a greyhound. These lanky fellows have a great reputation for speed, but I belleve a tom cat can outrun one of them any day. Jack then investizated a garbage can, sniffing around the 1id. Perhaps this recalled unpleasant memories of hardships sufféered on his two-week sightseeing tour of Washington—per sonally conducted. Anyway, he epeed ily dropped the can and slid across the alley. Yard after yard was probed in turn Finding everything all right, Spratt would go on to the next property. taking care to poke around behind clumps of flowers as he went. * oK X X Closely planted flower beds delight the cat beyond anything. Evidently he imagines he is a tiger, or some thing, when he gets completely cov ered out of sight. Concealment is one of the basic laws of the cat family. “Thou shalt not be seen,” says their Lord. It is not for nothing that there ia such a term as “fraidy-cat.” Cats are afraid, and are not a bit ashamed of it, as we are. With them it is Mght and proper. A cat has to be afraid in his business of living. Only by clever sneaking can a soft-bodied little animal such as a cat take care of itself for days at & time in a great city. They go out alone, and they come back alone, and no one has seen them. It is just ‘an everyday miracle of Catland. Jack crouched in the flower bed, walting for a bird to settle just above him. He particularly hoped that the Humming Bird would take a shot that big pink flower. The Humming Bird annoys Spratt excessively. “What was he created for?” Jack’s big eyes seem to say, as he lurks, and lurks, and lurks. “For you to catch, Jack!" shrills Adventure. “Take your time, old tellow, and wait, and ‘wait, and wait It may be true that we are descend- ed from apes, but how did so many men develop the traits of a mule?— Des Mo