Evening Star Newspaper, August 27, 1925, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR _With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY.....August 27, 1825 THEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Bustness Office: o 11th St.and Penneyl New York Office: 110 East 42 Chicago Offics: Tower Building. Xuropean Ofiice: 18 Regent St.. London, England. The Evening Star. with the Sund fnk edition, is delivered by carrie the city at 60 cents ner month: di 45 cents per month: Sunday only. 2 per month. Orders may he ent by mail or felephone Main 5000. Collection is made by rier at the of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday....1 vr. $8.40: 1 mo. 70c Daily only 13 $8.00: 1 mol; 50e Sunday only ", 13r7$2.40 1 mo.. 20¢ All Other States. r. $10.00 LT87.00: Daily and Sunday Daily only .. Sfinday’ omly Member of the Associated The Associated Press ix exclusively entitlsd fo the use for republication of all news dis- tebes credited to 1t or not otherwiss cred- i in this paper and also the local news hed Nerein ' ATl righte of publication An Unwarranted Attack. There has been a demand for the resignation of Director of Traffic Eld- ridze, who has been characterized unfit and too inexperienced” by those who have asked the District Commis- sioners to replace him by a “traffic engineer.” This demand follows closely on the heels of constructive eriticism by motorists of the city on the multiplicity of traffic rules. It is regrettable that this action should have been taken. It is not only unwise and untimel; but un fair to a hard-working, conscientious public official, who is giving his best efforts to the solution of the most vex- ing problem in modern city develop ment. Mr. Eldridge is a traffic “expert” in every sense of the word. He has spent the greater part of his life in studying automobile traffic and re- lated subjects. The charge of “inex- perience” is ridiculous. He is by far the best man who could have been ob- tained for the arduous work of regu- lating Washington's automobiles and pedestrian Not only is the director thoroughly competent, but his two assistants, Col. Moller, traffic engineer, and A. G. Seller, have shown themselves to be «live to conditions of trafic in the National Capital, and have been work- ing night nd day in an attempt to promote frictionless travel. The traftic director’s office has re- cently come in for criticism on thg part of motorists on the many new regulations being put into force. 1t is believed that critics have put forth their views in a spirit of helpfulness <o that the director might know of the sentiment of the public and make cor- rections before open and active an- tagonism of all his efforts supplanted the hearty co-operation that Washing- ton has been endeavoring to give him. The traffic office has undoubtedly made mistaked. It will continue to make them. Perhaps the greatest mistake it has made so far is over- zealousness in its work for develop- ment and change af plans faster than the public is able to absorb them. There are, of course, many who be- lieve that certain features of the new traffic code are wrong, clting the head- light law; the inadequate marking of boulevard streets; the proposed at- tempt to change the right and left hand turns; and the lack of higher speed limits in outlying sections. These matters, however, will be ad- Jjusted. Public sentiment combined with the good judgment of the traffic director will attend to that. Demands for his resignation are decidedly out of order. N A kilocycle program will be no dif- ferent from that sent over wave lengths. The query, “What's in a name?” applies to radio as well as to roses. ————— The British-French Debt Plan. The tentative agreement resulting from the Anglo-French debt nego- tiations has unfortunately been made il some measure dependent upon the settlement of the war debt which France makes with the United States. The debts of the Buropean nations 19 the United States are of an entire- v different complexion than their debts to each other. For example, hoth France and Great Britain have attained great and valuable posses- sfons, wrung from Germany. Both ure to receive huge sums of money as reparations from Germany. The United States, on the other hand, shared in no captured territory, nor does it receive any of the German reparations. Furthermore, the ud- vances made by Great Britain to her allies in the World War, as in the case of loans to other allies in earlier wars, were regarded as direct sub- sidies to aid in carrying on the war rather than as debts in the usual sense. The British have offered to accent annual payments of 12,500,000 pounds sterling each in settlement of the French debt, and the French min- Ister of finance has agreed to submit this offer to the French government. The string tied to the proposal, how ever, is that the terms reached by Franee with the United States shall not be more favorable to the United States than those now proposed for Gireat Britain with regard to France's debt to her. If the terms made with the Urited States are more favorable to America than those made with Great Britain, then France will be expected to boost the annual payment to the British. In other words, the British have virtually said to France and to the world, “We are perfectly willing to be lenient—now what is the United States going to do?” Some day it may be possible for the United States to convey the un- derstanding to the peoples of Europe that the war debts owed this country. are not on all fours with the inter- Furopean debts. It is to be hoped so, af all events. The French debt to Great Britain is not so large as the French debt to the United States. In round figures it is £623,000,000. The proposal ten- 4 62 as| tatively agreed to in the Anglo- Franch negotiations contemplates the eventual payment by France to Great Britain of £775,000,000, »r about 2 per cent a year of the principal for 62 years. In making its debt settlements with Great Britain and with Belgium, the United States has agreed upon 3% per cent interest, though in the case of Belgium this country has remitted all interest on the pre-armistice debt and made some other concessions. If the United States should now agree to a 2 per cent arrangement with France doubtless both Great Britain and Bel- gium and Italy and the other debtors would look for equally favorable terms. If the United States insists upon 37; per cent on the French debt, then, it now appears, Great Britain will expect an increase in the pay- ments made by France to her. The British, on the face of the re- ports, have “passed the buck” to the | United States. Winston Churchill's statement that “it would be of no service to Europe, already grievously stricken,” if the sacrifices of one creditor of France merely conduced to the advantage of another” in effect declares that Britain does not propose to be lenient with France to the extent proposed unless the United States is willing not to take more. The President has made it clear that the United States in making settle- ment with France will take into con- sideration France's “ability to pay.” The United States desires to be lenient in the terms accorded France. But this country also desires to be paid. During the days of the war it was perfectly understood by all partie that the United States was to be paid for the advances of money made to the allied nations, but much has been sald since the armistice to becloud the situation. The terms on which the British debt to this country was funded were lenient, and were so re- garded by all. It is exceedingly doubt- ful that Congress would ever agree to terms more lenient than those ac- corded the British. The hopeful feature of the Anglo- British negotiations rests in the fact that at last there seems to be some definite move toward the settlement of the interallied debts. Until these huge war obligations between the na- tions of Kurope and between Eu- ropean nations and the United States are funded there can be little chance of real stability of world finances. The peoples must know what theis, obliga- tions are so that they can attack the job of settlement with hope of success. They have been drifting in a fog for s Street Widening. Projects for the widening of certain business streets in this city are to be discussed at a hearing soon to be held at the District Building. They in- volve altogether, it is estimated, a cost of nearly $850,000, about half of which would be paid by the owners of the adjacent property. At the hear- ing a week hence the views of prop- erty holders will be expressed. It is evident that many of the streets of this city are entirely too narrow to accommodate the traffic that flows through them. They were laid out in conditions totally different from those of today. Some of them, long after the establishment of curb lines, were used for street car routes which were not contemplated, were not indeed concelved as possible. Wide sidewulks were provided because pe- destrian traffic was the heaviest at that period. Had it been possible 25 years ago to conceive the conditions of today these changes which are now so urgently required could have been effected with far less cost. Just so the cost of street widening a few years hence, when the need will be more urgent even than now, will be greatly in creased. It is not at this time proposed to undertake the street widenings simul- it might be well to contemplate a program of immediate inclusive enlargements of the trafic area. The work will have to be done sooner or later. ———— weather is promised for the days of August. The fore- caster has become so reliable of late years that his good news is a matter for prompt rejoicing. The *‘weather prophet” joke, like the mother-in-law Joke, disappeared years ago. ———— It is now helieved that there are enough traffic regulations to permit a selection that will leave a practical and convenient equipment. ————— So much preliminary debate makes @ prize fight at least an affair in which there is no excuse for striking a blow in anger. Cool closing ———— Miss Ederle will try again to swim the Channel. Whether she succeeds or not, it is nice weather for a swim. The Tong War. A Chinese tong war has broken out in several cities in this country, with a number of fatalities. The Hip Sings and the On Leong Tongs are in battle array, and every few hours a vietim s slain by these rivals for trade suprem- acy. Yesterday in New York police of- ficizls endeavored to get the leaders of the two factions to agree to a truce, but with little success. At a meeting at the Criminal Courts Building the chiefs of the tongs sat on opposite sides of a big table and listened with impassive countenances to the pleas and threats of representatives of the law. Bach side professed willingness to keep the peace, but charged the other side with treachery. Hip Sing I'men said that they were always law- abiding, but that the On Leong Tongs were faithless. Thereupon the On Leong Tongs asserted gravely that it was their dearest desire to obey the American laws, but the Hip Sings were false to every pledge. Finally the act- ing district attorney assured both the Hips and the Leongs that if there were any_more killings in New York he would have them all indicted for conspiracy. That closed the meeting. The Celestials withdrew, but without any outward evidence of perturbation. They probably knew that the Ameri- can courts find it very difficult t> con- vict people of their own nationality of conspiracy, and in view of the ex- traordinary capacity of a Chinaman L lend of the vacation season, HE EVENING for silence it is plain that & conspiracy conviction in the case of the tongs would be one of the hardest things in the werld. These tong wars are mysterious to Americans. Nobody seems to know precisely just why they start. Some of them are of ancient origin. Per- haps even the tongmen themselves do not know just why one soclety is in deadly feud with another. The “hatchet men” who do the kiling— gunmen nowadays—get their orders from higher up and do theif deadly work without questioning, without hesitation, and usually without detec- tion. The spectacle of & bunch of New York policemen and assistant district attorneys trying to throw a scare into tong leaders by talking about prosecu- tions is rather diverting. The tong wars will continue as long as there are tongs, and there will be tongs as long as there are Chinamen. The only solace in this situation is that the tong wars are strictly family affairs, the victims being Chinamen exclusive- v. It is, In short, a system of private Justice which is in some respects more effective than the American method. But, of course, it will not do to let the Chinamen kill each other without at least holding up the finger of the law, even though in falling it makes but slight impression upon them. ————. Ackerman’s Umbrella. To keep an umbrella one week is an achievement. To keep one for six months gives a person something in life that can be bragged about with gusto. To keep the same portable canopy for one vear is a most ex- traordinary miracle. But to possess, use and globe-trot with the same “bumbershoot” for 45 years! Well, the English language boasts no word or phrase which car be stretched, even by the wildest imagination, 1o express the amazement created by so stupen- dous an accomplishment. To believe, or not to believe! The brain reels, spins, jazzes and all but cracks under the strain of decision! But Representative Ernest R. Ack- erman of Plainfleld, N. J., says it is s0, and he ought to know, for he has the proof—though he failed to take it out to Kansas with him on his present trip} Mr. Ackerman has chaperoned his umbrella to the tune of 865,000 miles. They have been bosom companions on trips to 110 countries which bedeck the map of the world. They have braved together the snows of the Arctic regions, the blazing suns of torrid, darkest ‘Africa, the vagaries of erup- tive Turkey, and, perhaps the most extraordinary of zll, they emerged triumphant from the debris of the earthquake which two years ago laid Japan in devastation. Now, an umbrella is an umbrella the world over, but one which has acquir- ed such a repulation as Representative Ackerman's should surely be given a prominent setting in some museum, where all the people may pay homage. Just one thing about that story that clinches it to the bedrock foun- dation of truth—Mr. Ackerman’s tale is about an umbrella—not & fish. ———. 2 France and Germany are both well equipped for industrial production. America has plenty of money with which to buy. The triangle should easily arrange itself on amicable lines. —————— Labor Day is supposed to mark the but in numerous cases it merely means the transfer of the golfing outfit to a course nearer home ——————— A difference of opinion arises in the Ku Klux Klan as to the desirability of leaving off masks and robes. Fash- ions change even in secret organiza- tions. e The head of many a family in cal- culating expenses would be glad if fashion could make the Winter fur I o wese il Gen. Giokeak: in ing pests at Panama while digging the | «coat as short as the Summer bathing *uit. R PR SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Another Traffic Suggestion. I'd like to start a movement Which would elevate mankind. In our struggle for improvement ‘We have left much good behind. At dizzy rates of speed we ride; It’s time for us to balk And move along with statelier pride— Let's all get out and walk. 1t’s time to quit the flivver: It's time to quit the bus: The weary human liver Will be benefited thus. Let’s shun the street congestion. Where horns so rudely squawk To stop all further question, Let’s all get out and walk! Fortitude. “Aren’t you sometimes tempted to retire to private life?” “Occasionally,” replied Senator Sorg- hum. “But a statesman has to resist many temptations and that is about the easiest.” Advice. . The mah who gave you good advice A year or two ago Now takes a tone that isn’'t nice And says, “I told you so.” Jud Tunkins says the Chinese are s0 patriotic that whenever there's a riot in China they start a tong war over here. The Important Item of Expense. “How much does your automobile cost you per year?” 1 can’t sav,” answered Mr. Chug- gins. “One vear it'll be less than an- other, according to the number of speed traps T happen to hit.” No Regréts. Skirts will be longer, we are told, As Fashion now prepares A change from gowns that Seemed so bold— Nobody cares. Bow legs and bandy through The thoroughtares. We've seen them al view— Nobody cares. have gone if shut from Hot weather arguments is danger- ous,” said Uncle Eben. “Always look at de thermometer befo’ you ‘spresses a positive opinion.” i | tles which catch a little water. 1$30,000.000. STAR, WASHINGTO. D. C., THURSDAY, THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Reading history is salutary, it for no other reason than that it’makes the reader appreciatefmore than ever the country and times in'which he lives, I speak. of course, of the Usfited States, and of 1925. Read a bit in Roman history, and then thank God for our land and our times. Ancient history is depressing even in the reading, being but an end- less succession of wars, intrigues, dis- asters. One cannot read in ancient or me- dieval chronicles without arising sad- dened, so great were the tragedies and so useless, so terrible the living conditions, so far from peace and happiness were the peoples of the world. Despite the “glory that was Greece, and the grandeur that was Rome,” to use Poe’s memorable lines, the under- current of all those times, and for centuries afterward, was one of fear. Pride over nothing, arrogance, ex- treme cruelty, misery, disease—these were some of the concomitants of life in the old days. Human sacrifice, gladiatorial combats, spectators clam- oring for death for others (glad for the moment to have the attention at- tracted elsewhere), tortures, spying, were commonplace. Home, as we know it now, simply did not exist, in the main. One who loved peace and the ways or peace, books and studies, had to seek a cloistered cell, not only to find the peace of God, but even to find such peace in this world as that today commonly vouchsafed almost any one who desires it. Read history, then, it you have greater appreciation for own country, your own home. e uppose most readers have some e era. Maybe they wish their lot had been cast in ancient Rome, or in Greece, or in France during Napo- leon’s time. To all such I would solemnly recall the plain fact that no country or no age had as much to recommend it as the United States now. The glamour of the past is a false lure, a spotlight that sets off so-called heroic figures, leaving all the remainder of the stage dark. In those shadows, however, creep pestilence, awful human figures, wolves in the shape of men, libel on the animals whose brothers they are, a desecration upon their Creator, & shame to hymanity. Read in the byways of history, ra ther than in the wide highways so readily displayed for us by those his- torlans who love to “play up” Julius Caesar as if he really amotnted to any- thing except a crafty, unscrupulous tellow. ¥From such reading you will bring two miain thoughts: 1. Gladness for the United States in 1925, would vour 1 Respect for all men and agencies that held aloft, in all former times, the highest ideals of human conduct. “The true thrill of history comes, not in the wars, the intrigues, the side- stepping. but in the forward move ment of humanity, as a whole, toward realization of its highest idesls. Sometimes, when ideals are more or less attained, there comes a sense of ennui, boredom, call it what vou choose.. Nations, as well as men, feel it. “Let’s start something.” Then it would be well if men in posi- tions of uuthority and respect, writers, preachers and others, would lay aside their controversial subjects and each devote himself to bringing home to all the blessings we already have. I never hear a minister in the pulpit discussing the Mexican question (or some such subject) but what I think he had better get back to talking about Jesus and His love ok ok ok Take the subject of home. just as one single instance of the great hap- | piness which the people of the United States today commonly enjoy. “Oh, there always were homes.” Not our kind of homes! A glimpse into Roman homes of the empire period already has been given in this column, in discussing the real “eternal triangle,” which is a man, a woman and.a house. Even comparison of the homes of the United States after the Civil War with those of today gives one much téod for reflection, and gratitude fol- lowing. ° Out of the physical betterment of homes ought 1o proceed, even if it does not (and T believe it does, in the main). a better mental and spjrit tone, if one may call it that, even as there is certainly a better physical tonieity Consider window screens. Today many young people regard | screens as an intezral part of a house, vet it was not more than two genera- tions ago that no house, however big, had wire screens. ¥lies buzzed in and out the windows of the wealthy the same as windows and doors of the poor. Householders of substance hired menials to stand at table and wave huge fans made of peacock feathers to keep flies off dinners and diners alfke. Even today these peacock feather funs may be purchased. now and then, at auctjon sales in the large cities. Tousewives who today buy popular cleaners in tin cans may find out, from asking their mothers or grandmothers, that in the old days there were no such articles to be purchased for love or money. Pieces of broken brick, found around town in the course of walks, were carefully brought home, and later pul verized for use as scrubbing material | for pots and pans. * % % % The modern bathroom, which puts a_river into our homes. under com- | plete control, is best appreciated by those who are old enough to have lived under different conditions. The modern furnace, out of sight in the basement, heats the entire home to an evenness utterly un- known when families had to depend on open fireplaces and drum stoves. If we heat our homes too hot, that is our fault, and not that of the furnace. The modern fancy for hardwood floors and rugs has done away with the old-time penchant for carpets from baseboard to baseboard, and the resulting necessity for tacks, paper under the carpet and tobacco stems to_keep “bugs” out. The good old times—bunk! Ask your grandmother, or even vour mother, if she would give up her modern vacuum sweeper, and return to the old method of dusting all the dust off the furniture with a duster and then sweeping most of it back again with a broom! We are so used to all these things | that commonly we do not stop to | reulize that thousands of years of progress wera necessary to bring them into being. They are not just the result of modern inventive genius —although that, too—but are ours because men and women have held certain ideals for hundreds and thou- sands of vears. Away back in Neanderthal man, with disapproval bones upon vacuum sweeper then! It is thrilling, it seems to me, to realize that we in America have the best homes in the world today. Hav- ing the best homes, from the stand- point of upkeep, health and vonven- it the caves of the a_woman looked upon the scattered the flinty floor. The had its inception ure, should be not only to make and | keep them so, but above all to bring them mentally and spiritually to the same high plane. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. A tiger recently captured in Africa | When these breeding places are about | and carried to Paris broke bounds in the city and escaped to the Bois de Boulogne. 1t created a panic in the park and thousands of people fled. After a hunt by hundreds of men. the tiger was shot. A writer who visited India reported that for every victim slain there by tigers and other great beasts thou- sands have been killed by molhuitoes. The daughter of one of the scientists ght- Canal was cautioned by her sclentific father as follows: “My child, if you should see a tiger in the woods, you had better return home promptly, but if you ever see one of the deadly mosquitoes, run as fast as you can and shut up all the screens tight. Don't ever let a mos- quito get yvou.” * ok % Last week a great swarm of mo quitoes from New Jersey invaded New York. There they attacked the City Hall, where the office holders and other redoubtable fighters most do congregate, and the attack was so overwhelming that the defenders were routed and put into as great a panic as were the Parisians who fled from the Bois de Boulogne tiger. The ferocious mosquitoes took possession of the City Hall, and it was with dif- ficulty that they were dispossessed the next day. The invaders were a thou sand times more terrifving than the Tammany Tiger would have been, for New Yorkers are accustomed to twist the tall of that beast. * X x X Dr. Howard, chief entomologist of the Department of Agriculture, says that he does not fear mosquitoes in his own home enough to provide screens to keep them out, for, he savs, if_anybody is troubled in Washington with mosquitoes it is his own fault. Every householder can destroy all mosquitoes in his own neighborhood. He expresses amazement that three years ago the manufacturers of wire screens confessed that they had sold, in rolls, screening to the amount of Dr. Howard thinks it would be cheaper to attack the mos- quitoes at their source. For example, New Jersey, growing tired of the antique jokes about her monster mosquitoes, began appropriat- ing from $200,000 to $300,000 a year, in co-operation with local communities or townships appropriating a propor- tionate amount, for the purpose of fighting the pests. As a result of that work the taxable valuation of real es- tate has increased many times the an- nual appropriation. The same might be done in all the coast States. The statement that each household- er cdn clear his own environment of mosquitoes does not apply to the Jer- sey swamp variety, but to the locally prevalent kinds, which breed in the gutters of roofs, where water stands, or in dead leaves in the roof gutters, or in any stagnant water, such as bird fountains, basins for watering poultry or dogs, or-in even bits of broken boi- Such mosquitoes breed by the hundreds, daily, in a pint of stagnant water, and they never fly more than 100 yards from their breeding place. A cup of water indoors may become a hotbed of mosquitoes, even though it be hid in a closet or cellar. A vase for flowers holding water may be a pesthole for mosquitoes. ‘Where there is mo standing water, certain varieties of mosquitoes de- posit their eggs in hollow spots in the dry ground, trusting to the snows of the following/ Winter to fill the holes, and then in Spring to meit and supply the proper hreefiing ground. Summer resorts which do hot open up until July the new mosquitoes rive before the resorter does. The time 1o destroy them is in the Spring, while the snow is melting. A few drops of kerosene spraved over the little pools of water will rid the local- ity for all the Summer. Any mosquito may travel long dis- tances when carried in automobiles rains, or blown by strong winds. * % ok ok 1t is popularly supposed that much | rain insures abundance of mosquitoes, but the contrary is true. For ex- ample, Washington has had abun- dance of rain this Summer, but com- paratively few mosquitoes. This is because the rain washes down the vents water standing long enough to hatch the eggs laid therein. In Louisiana a marsh has been sprayed from un airplane with arse- nate of lime, mixed with the dust of the road. 1In the test there were first placed basins of water into which larvae were put. These basins were located in various parts of the marsh, and the spraying was found to have killed all the larvae in all the basins. Enthusiastic laymen. basing their conclusions upon that test, have pro- posed that President Coolidge insti- tute a movement nationwide for spraying from airplanes or airships the entire continentz] United States so as to rid the continent of all mos- quitoes. Scentists say that such a campaign would be needless and fu- tile, for only the malarial and the vellow fever and dengue mosquito travel any distance from their breed- ing grounds; so the annihilation of the others is a matter of local atten- tion. * ok % % The anopheles mosquito. which con- veys malaria, breeds only in clean wa- ter, preferably with grass growing in it. A bite from an anopheies results in injecting into man’s blood a para- site_which causes malaria. Quoting from a pamphlet by Dr. H. R. Carter, senior surgeon of the United States Public Health Service: ““The parasites which she injects en. ter the red blood cells. They are then extremely small. They grow by feed- ing on the blood cells and get bigger and bigger. Then their edges -become scalloped and they divide into a num- ber of wedge-shaped pieces, meeting in the middle like a piece of pie. The blood cells break up and set the voung parasites free, and each one of them starts off as a new parasite on its own account and tries to enter another red blood cell and repeat the process of {its mother parasite. There are three kinds of parasites, causing different kinds of malarial fever. * * * It is estimated that at least 150,000,000 of parasites must divide at the same time to liberate enough poison to produce a :‘l;l‘m-genernlly many times more than s.” The scientist describes the further process of spreading the malarial fe- ver as follows: The man who has the fever is bitten by another mosquito, which sucks from his blood many of the malarial parasites. These pass into the stomach of the biting mosquito, and if both sexes are thus taken to- gether into the stomach of the mos- quito they there breed millions more parasites, which in due time rise to the saliva of their host, the mosquito. If, then, that poisoned saliva enters a human victim by his being bitten by the mosquito, a new case of malarial fever results—another source of para- sitesyto feast upon red corpuscles and weaken the victim while adding mil- lions more parasites. In the same AUGUST | means to prevent suspensions in the ience, our duty, as well as our pleas- | 1 = sewers and the roof gutters and pre- | 1925. Miss Tarbell’s Coal Strike Observations Corrected 27, | To the Editor of The Star: . The article by Miss Tda M. Tarbell, which appeared in The Sunday Star of August 23, under the caption of “Old-fashioned Coal Diplomacy,” is so unfair to the anthracite operators that 1 feel justified in entering a protest against it. The natural inference to be drawn from Miss Tarbell’s article is that the anthracite operators have refused uny | form of arbitration in the present con-, troversy with the United Mine Work- ers of America. The fact s that at the very beginning of the negotia- tions, when the anthracite operators and the representatives of the mine workers met in joint conference at Atlantic City on July 9, Mr. 8. D. Warriner, as spokesman for the oper- ators, proposed if, in the negatiations which were apout to take place, an agreement could not be reached that all matters upon which the conferees could not agree should be referred to an {mpartial board of arbitration. In order that there may be no mis- understanding, 1 quote Mr. Warri ner's statement in full: “Because of the differences which now arise between us, you asking for an increase in wages and we asking for a reduction, we wish to urge that provision be made at the outset against the possibility of a suspension on September 1. Such joint action on our part would deterve public confidence. It can be accomplished by an agreement to the effect that if our respective committees are unable to agree upon any issues, such issies shall be re- ferred to arbitratfon, upon the under- standing that production shall be con- tinued at the present wage scale until the arbitrators render an award “Let me say to vou here and now that the operators are prepared to co- operate in any fair and practicable plan, not only to prevent w suspen- sion next September, but to provide future in order that public anxiety in this respect may be put at rest.. This can be accomplished by a lonz-term agreement, with provision for the ad justment of wage rates during that term, so that wages may be conform- ed to changing economic conditions.” During the negotiations at Atlantic City Maj. W. W. Inglis, chairman of the operators’ negotiating committee, urged ' the representatives of the miners to agree to a proposition of this character and that mine opera- tions should continue uninterrupted after September 1 at the existing rate of wages and that no award of the arbitrators should be retroactive to September 1. It should be remember- ed that the operators offered to sub. mit all questions in conflict to a de- cision by the arbitrators. The representatives of the miners refused to agree to any arbitrary sub- mission, and as you know on August 4 Mr. Lewis, at the first meeting of the negotiators which he had attend- ed, abruptly terminated the confer- ence. In. 1922, precedinz the protracted strike of that vear, the anthracite »erators proposed arbitration of the matters at issue. The miners refused. {In 1923 the operators again offered to submit the matters at iesue to arbi- tration. The miners again refused. How is it possible, under these cir- cumstances. for Miss Tarbell to say that *nothing of this kind has heen tried by the anthracite barzainers.” Also that “from the beginning of the negotiations there has been hardly a sign of that will to peace which is the | very heart of agreements.” Miss . Tarbell also states that the “anthracite operators have not spread before us that full accounting of the costs, expenditures and profits of the business on which alone arbitration can be based and by which public opinion can be guided.” If Miss Tar- bell will consult the reports of the United Coal Commission she will find |verv full statements regarding the costs, expenditures and profits of the anthraeite operators over a period of 110 years. E. W. PARKE Director Anthracite Bureau of formation Philadelphia, August In. 1925, | swamps. ANSWERS TO Q. How are the green cherries | made that we see at soda fountains? —M. M. A. The Bureau of Home FEconom- ics says that the green cherries to which you refer are white ohorrlew colored by an artificial dye. Mint flavor is then added. Q. Must all national banks have the word national in the name?—M. M. D. | A. All such banks must include the word national in the title. | Q. Can ocean vessels land at| Miami?—C. C. C. Ed A. Miami is a port for ocean-going | vessels and has several steamship lines coming into it Q. The statement was made that only men should drive automobiles be- cause they have greater mechanical knowledge than women. I disputed | it. Am [ wrong?—T. 8. W. A. Dr. F. A. Moss, a professor at George Washington University, authority for the statement that 40 out of 100 woman drivers know more about the actual mechanics of the automobile than does the average man driver. This does not necessarily settle your argument, but may be cited as expert testimony. Q. In how many censuses were the names taken?—M. M. A. In only the first two censuses did the Bureau of the Census record names. What wood weighs the least? is {he lightest known in commercial in Cuba, parts of Porto Rico, Jamaica, Trinidad and along | the east coast of Central America, where it is confined very largely to the mangrove swamps and to other inaccessible swampy places. Explojt- | ers often experience the zreatest diffi culty in gettinz the logs ont of these | quantities Q. Will a horse hair put in water come 1o life?—J. C. H A. The Department of Agriculture | says that the fact is that in some regions certain organisms belonging to the genus Cordius, and somewhat closely resembling horse hairs, are not uncommon. They get into the water by leaving insects and other | small organisms in which they have previously lived. They go into the water for the purpose of mating and | depositing their eggs. These latter are microscopic and give rise to micro- scopic young ones in enormous nurn bers, some of which later find their | way into suitable hosts and grow to the size of the so-called hair snakes. This all takes place inside the host: The hairs from the mane and tail of a horse will not, however, come to | second_highest num | came Vice President in the first and dent in 1796 wh | rately for QUESTIONS BY FREDEFRIC ]. HASEIN. purpose of building Tenderden steeple so that in 1099 the unprotected ixland was inundated Q. Who was ‘Washington? A. John Adams, President . N. M. who received ber of vote: the second administrations. In the same way Jefferson was elected Vice Pres en Adams was elecied President, and Aaron Burr took sec ond place in 1800 when Jefferson was elected President By the twelfth amendment to the Constitution, ef fective September 1304, the elac tors were instructed to ballot sepa President and Vice Presi dent. George Clinton was the first man nominated and elected to the of fice of Vice President, being elected in November, 1804, when Jefferson was re-elected President. Q. Was it the same King Herod that is spoken of by St. Matthew al the time of Jesus’ birth that is named by St. Luke at Jerusalem when Pilate sent Christ back to Herod?—R. I A. The King Herod who reigned a! the time of the birth of Jesus Christ was known as Herod the Great, and was actual King of Judea. The Herod who reigned as Tetrarch Judea (subsidary king only) was Herod ‘Antipas, the voungest son of Herod the Great. This was the Herod before whom Christ was brought for tria fo. Q. What reasons are advanced making the columbine our nat flower’—V. W. L. A. Among the reasons are: Firs forms of the columbine zrow wild all States of the Union, withapossibic exception of Louisiana: second, be cultivated easily in any third, it lends itself admirably t ventional design; fourth, the comes from the same Toot wc Columbus; fifth, the technical aqua legia, comes from the word as eagle national emblem Q like?” A. The Bureau that no one, as yet locate a vitamin in a pure form. know very little regarding physical or chemical properties do not know. what they look whether they are crystalline or a phous substances: whether they color or taste. In fact. the qu has been raised with reference to one of the vitamins that it may be a for of energy, and nof a substance at Most that is known about vitamir has been learned from the effects the produce upon animals. Their functi has been lkened to that of the sp: plug in a gas engine. arden name name same tor B a vitamin of Chemistry has_been able to We their Wwe like mo hay life. Q. When is the recent period geology supposed to have begun R. C. A. Tt i= usually thought of ‘as bhe- ginning when man appeared on the globe and includes the Tt is also referred to as enoch. Q. How many new counties en created since 1910—C. D A. The Bureau of Census savs new counties have been made from 1910 to 19 The State having the greatest number of counties in 1920 was Texas, having 234. The State | having the least number was were, having 3 Q. Where does Cor —R. L. .C. A. Her home is in Rydal Q. in the human have | be 3. a Harris live? Ga. | Who is the minister of agricul-| ture in Italy?—M. E. H A. There is no longer an minister of agriculture. The work | of that office is included in the work | of that of the minister of national | economy, who is Giuseppe Belluzzo Q. Where are the Goodwin Sands? | —B. R, D. | A. They are a dangerous line of Italian A Way to Solve the Playground Problem | To the Editor of The Sta | Consideration of The Star's play- ground survey has so impressed me with the importance of the problem of the big boys in relation to play- £round management that the tempta- tion to submit a practical suggestion is too strong to be resisted. 1t is a serious problem. and T do not think it can be properly solved by such a simple method as the purchase of big- boy - base ball grounds, desirable though that may be. Surplus vitality as men are men and boys are boys it cannot be tanked up. It cannot be curbed, but it may be directed. The {city playgrounds should be managed with a_ view to its direction in the right channels, and the attitude of | that they are merely picnic grounds { for good little girls and boys, whose | surplus vitality is naturally under prop- er control. The bad boy-—the so-called delinquent boy—is frequently stirred to shameful stunts by an unregulated strength of character, which is the finest kind of raw material to be used in the molding of a dependable, self- reliant manhood. 1t should be one of the special aims, if not the chief aim, of playground administration to round up these bad delinquent boys and direct their ex- cess of vitality in the channel of healthy civic development. My sug- gestion is that this be done by curb- ing the harmful_impulses of such boys with responsibility. One way to accomplish this would be by finding some sort of supervisory and admin- istrative work for mischief-making ringleaders among the boys in connec- tion with playground activity, as indi- cated in the statement of a former payground director. At the same timg it should be un- view that the playgrounds are { “breeders of vice” is wrong, but that an important playground function is to uncover latent vice to the light of day, where it may be adequately dealt with. Another way to awaken un- ruly boys to a personal interest in the playgrounds—to make orderly play- ground citizens of them, so to speak, would be to give them assistance in the organization of big-boy athletic clubs in the several playgrounds of the city. Conducted with intelligence and sympathy such clubs would auto- matically help in developing a sense of responsibility in their members, and the burden of responsibility has directed many a vouth from ways of rampant deviltry to the path of stren- uous rectitude. Of course, in this view of the play- grounds unsympathetic, perfunctory and fussy directors will not do. And there, possibly, is where the chief dif- ficulty lies. ~ Competent playground directors must be he-men as well as she-women, even-tempered, resource- ful and in love with their work. Like pogts they are born not made. WM. TIPTON TALBOTT. way vellow fever is spread by the means of the bites of parasite-infected mosguitoes. Goldfish and surface minnows eat theglarvae in the water. In Texas a brebior of bate Siakms that 1t we mul- tiply bats they will destroy all mos- quitoes, but Dr. Howard, the ento- mologist, says he has no faith in bats or insectivorous birds. There are some people who would prefer mo quitoes to bats, for the latter, too, har bor parasjtee. - (Covyright. 1995, by Paul V. “olttrin is the great asset of youth. As long | | those is wrong who seem to assume | derstood that the former director’s | shoals at the entrance to the Strait | {of Dover from the North Sea about | 6 miles from the Kent shore | sands are shifting all the time and attempts to eréct lighthouses or beacons have falled. There are lizhts ! play buovs. and four lightships, but { many wrecks have occurred, the worst | being the los= of 13 men-of-war in November, 1703. Tradition says that the sands are the remnants of the Islands of Lomea. which belonged to Earl Goodwin in the eleventh century. The Abbott of St. Augustine at Can terbury used the money which should have been spent on 2 sea wall for the present time. | Dela- | The | Q. Do snakes make hales in the | ground and live in them in the Winter |time?—M. L. R A. There is a class of anakes known | as burrowing snakes which live under | zroun They have a cvlindric rigid _body « ed with gen | smooth i polished scales | strong tail; a sho {head " with narrow mouth. species of snakes bury themselves the zround and hibernate throughot | the Winter | Q the What is the smallest United States G. B. A. Bristol County, Rhode Island the small having an f square m Q Please explain the word H. B. K. A. Tt is derived from the 1. ‘juncta,” meaning *joined first applied a zroup of politicians in the refzns of Willi and Mary and Ann of England has eome to mean confe ence,” especially a political one Q. Why isn’t “Cro cluded in many collections of son’'s poems A. Tennyson |ing the Bar” vears old, works published “junto the By Tenn did n until write “Cros he was not incl tha over ded me. so is ef (He 1who knows but a little of eve | thing and mothing completely remar a little being to the end of his da | Learn thorouohly! Learn complete You can do, this by attending our free school. the University of Informatior | We will ansicer any question of | propounded to us. We can broadc wour -knowledge. Merely send question 1o us. inclosc a 2-cent stan and get ready for the ansier the question to The Star Informa | Burcau, Frederic J. Haskin | Washington, D. €y Railroad Mergers A President Coolidze has set himself a Herculean task in the unscrambling of the transportation situation if th many obstacles in the path of success: ful railroad mergers are as real they seem to the- Nation's editor: While voluntary action on the part of the roads scems advisable to many, others point out that conflicting in terests must be effectively served—ihe farmer who demands lower freight rates and the stockholder who insists on his dividends. An analysis of the President’s posi- tion. as made by the Birminzham News, emphasizes the need of fixing freight rates at “a level which would bring a fair return on a system’s en. tire operations and would put an end to any one road's tremendous profit, while another line. operating under the same tariffs. suffered losses.” At the same time there would, according to the hope expressed, be a solution “‘of the problem made almost impera- tive by the clamor of the farmers’ organizations for lower freight rates on their products.” The News sug- gests further: “Only one thing seems to stand in the way of such a consoli- dation, and that is the suspicion lagainst all sorts of huge organizations. Opposed to that, however, is the thought that since the Interstate Com- merce Commission now regulates the railways. the task would be greatly simplified.” * % x % “The railroads must be assured of fair earnings,” says the Salt Lake Deseret News, “and the farmer must have a freight rate which will enable him to market his product at a reasonable profit. If the consolidation will bring about this result the action should be taken without congressional | intervention.” A change of public opinfon_in favor of conhsolidation is observell by the” Spartanburg Sun, which states that while “a few vears ago the demand was for competition in freight rates.” the present tendency is “'to regulate freight rates by legisla- | tion or commission and to permit the railroads to go as far' as they like in the way of consolidations.” ‘It is important.” however, in the judgment of the New York World, “that consolidations be brought into effect solely with an eye upon the broadest policies of railroading, effi- clency, and not in such a manner that one consolidation, however desirable to the consolidators, makes impossible other consolidations which are dosirable to the public.” 1f these! consolidations can come ithout fur- ther action by Congress,” the Phila- delphia Public Ledger states, ‘‘so much the better. Enforced mergers might, or might not, be constitutional, but it is certain that’ there would be more politics than railroading in their shaping. The roads have mistakenly waited too long now." * x k% “With consolidation as a key to a - | with the | belicves. n'é Dif ficult To Achieve, the Public Believes them a chance o redeem themselve the satisfaction of farme merchants,” is the opinion of the Angeles Times. which adds that “they fail to even up the discrepan aid of the Interstate Com merce Commission. the vill laid before Conzress | It is zravely questioned { the Lincoln State Journal the great Nickel Plate merger the public interest. It was noi of those recommended the Inte | state Commerce Commission. How may the ratlroads combine accordir to ‘public Interest or transportatior efficiency when the interests of r road managers and owners may rur | the other way? Tt is to be | that the President knows how | the other hand. the Fresno Bee | serts: “All these merzers, accomp ed or in prospect, are part of railroa ‘wars’ in which a few men are ing for strategic positions, both in the transportation field and in Wal Street. They do not promise the sor of consolidation which is needed secure any sort of national system “Wholesome competition.”” the Har risburg Telegraph maintains, usually a better way toward the i tainment of efficiency and econon of operation than consolidation, witl resulting benevolent monopoly.” Tt the case of the Nickel Plate merger however, the Baltimore Sun sus that “opposition has not come from the public. but from minority holders,” and that *‘consensus of opin ion among States, cities and shippers affected, on the various lines taken into the new system, seems to be that the plan is in the public interest declare wheth 3 i hope. 2s “The Government the Ann Arhor find it necessary of cour Times-News, “woul to exert sufficient control to prevent any of the wvil generally recognized as associaten with trusts from creeping into the scheme, while, on the other hand. de mands and objections which the roads might have to offer would call for conscientious treatment.” The re sulting systems should, as viewed hy the Sfoux City Tribune. “‘constitute connected, reasonably direct routes across the country, with no ‘dead end’' terminals,” and “the rights of rail patrons located on branch lines which pay poorly will have to he considered.” “Railroad consolidation is on its face,” the Topeka Capital states, “a long-distance remedy for the out-of balance status of agriculture. It a gigantic project. It would ‘‘re quire almost superhtiman wisdom to establish approximate justice to all concerned,” the Portland Telegram Furthermore, “however im portant the proposed consolidation now occupying public attention fmay be, they are less s than the rate merger of the profit-hearing and loss- taking - rogds, * the President gives question as a whole,” according to the Fort Warth,-StarTelegram.