Evening Star Newspaper, September 1, 1925, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR With Sundsy Marning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY.....September 1, 1925 THEODORE W. NOYES. ...Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: . J1th St."and Pennsylvania Ave. New York'Office: 110 East 42nd St. Chicago Office: Tower Building. European Office: 16 Regent St. London, England. The Bening Star. with the Sunday morn- {ng" edition. s delivered by carriers within e by at 60 cents mer monthy: dally “enly. b tenis per month: Sunday enly. 20 cents per month. Orders may be sent by mail or telephone Main 5000, Callection is made by carrier at the end of each month. Raie by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Iy and Sunday....15T. - Mlle B:fi only .. Am . B0c Sty only B £ - 20c “All Other States. Daily S y . 8Bc PAlR oy Sunday. 800 Sungay only - 25c Membay of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dis- patches credited fo it or not otherwise cred- 4n this paper and also the local news published herein. Al rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. e Another Ship Board Issue. Bert E. Haney, member d the Shipping Board from Oregon, has locked horns with President Coolidge over the operatign of the Govern- ment-owned merchant fleet. The President has insisted from the time of Bis entrance into office that the operation of the merchant fleet should hecontrolled by the Emersency Fleet Corporation and its president, and he “chose former Admiral Leigh C. Palmer as president of the corpora- tlom, to whom he has given his con- stant support. Commissioner Haney is seeking to oust Admiral Palmer from the presidency of the Fleet Cor- poration. This, President Coolidze declares, is contrary to the under- standing which Mr. Haney had with the President last June when the President reappeinied him as com- missioner. He has asked Mr. Haney's resignation. Mr, Haney, in a letter to the Presi- dent, asserts he had ng such under- standing gs that implied by the Président in his telegram to Mr. Haney demanding his resignation, and declines to resign. If Mr. Haney did not understand at the time of his re- appointment that the President in- tended to continue Admiral Palmer in office, and that he desired the opera- tionof the fleet turned over to the Fleet Corporation by the board, he must have been difficult of under- standing. The President has again and again made his position clear to the Shipping Board and to the country. Mr. Haney in his letter de- clares that he accepted reappoint- ment only after he had told the Pres dent that he did not approve of Ad- miral Palmer's in regard to| the’ ships, and that he accepted course pointment reluctantly. The fact re- mains, however, that he did accept appointment at the hands of the President. In -declining to submit his resigna- tlon #s demanded by the President, Mr, Haney emphasizes his responsi- bility to Congress to carry out the merchant marine act. He forgets! that the Chief Executive is just as| responsible as any member of the| Shipping Board. and more so, per-| haps, to carry out all the law acted by Cong Thefact that the Congress created the Shipping Board | does not differentiate it from other executive agencies of the Govern-| ment. Congress has created by law all -the various departments of the Govérnment. A member of the Ship- ping Board has no more power to| set himself up against the Chief Ex- ecutive in the matter of enforcement of the law other official of the Government so created. As in the case of other officials cre- ated by Congress, members of the Shipping Doard are appointed by the Chiet Executive, who also was given authority by Congress to remove | them from office “for cause,” which inclydes malfeasance, incompetence en- ress. than an Af the bottom of the row lies the unwisdom of the present merchant mdyine act, which places the Emer- gen¢y Fleet Ceorporation under the Shipping Board 1e President has recommended to Congress a change in the law divorcing the two abso- lutely, and it may be confidently ex-| pected this proposal will be pressed for action when Congress reassem- bles. The Shipping Board originally was" created the as a regulatory body, Interstate Commerce During the stress of war emergency it was given certain duties to perform regarding ship operation, and the present merchant marine continued the board in this position of authority, though with the direction that it should act through the Fleet Corporation The. operation of the fleet by the Shippitis Board proved inefficient and costly.. President Coolidge deter- to om. act mined that it was necessary to make agency use ‘of the the:law, kegp its hands off and allow the cor- poration to handle the ships. At his| hehest; resolutions have been passed by the board to turn over the opera- tiow of the ships to the Fleet Corpo- ration. Tt 'was well understood that if members of the board had not agreed to such procedure, they would not have been continued in office, and & number of them have been reap- pointed since that understanding with the President. Admiral Palmer's administration of the fleet-has saved the Government millions of dollars, und at the same timg has' increased the’efficiency of the, fleet. (T e SO Strikers Making Holiday. Report’ comes from the anthracite region. that many of the hard-coal minery are looking on the period of the strike as a holiday, and in an- ticipation of the suspension of work have for several days been preparing provided for in from the cosl fields. there is' now an cxodus of miners This, of course, does not mean that the miners will abandon their fields permanently. They are simply closing their houses and running off on vaca- tions. Perhaps some of them can live on the union doles from the strike fund while on the road. “Tin can- ning,” as this form of transit is now called, is not particularly expensive. Possibly some of these anthracite tourists, if they get to Florida, will stay there. There is no mining in that State, but just at present it offers oppertunities for enterprise in the real estate fleld. Everybody is buying and selling land. A boom is on and for- tunes are being made. It would not be surprising to find some of the pick- and-shove! men from the hard-coal flelds turning into capitalists through lucky strikes in the sand belt. There will be plenty of miners, how- ever, when the whistle sounds for re- sumption of work, whenever that may occur. For there are many who can- not leave home, even for a flivver trip. R — Health Officer’s Report. The annual report of the District health officer is gratifying in many ways, but especially so in the matter of infant mortality. He says that Washington has the lowest death rate in fts history among infants under one year old. The death rate for white infants was 61.1 per cent and 109.2 for colored, an average rate of 75. The lower death rate of infants is due to the improved education of mothers in the care of babies, and for this improved understanding great credit goes to medical science. An in- creasing number of prospective moth- ers go to hospitals for the great event, and this makes for the safety of mother and babe. More exacting res- nlutions of dairies and the milk sup- ply contribute to infant and adult health, and the purity of the District’s drinking water and the extension of filtered water service play a part in the general situation. The expansion of Washington into I new territory is preventing unwhole- some crowding of population. There is increasing recognition of the impor- tance of sanitation and year by year the standards of sanitation are raised. Today poor people have sanitary con- veniences and safeguards which most well-to-do people did not have a gen eration or two age, or even a few years ago. The importance of knowl- edge of sanitation and sanitary living surroundings is shown by the differ. ence in the death rate of white and colored infants. While the white citi- zens of the District are concerned with correct living and health meas- ures for all the pecple, the matter of the higher death rate of colored in- fants is of particular concern to col ored people and is a point on which leaders of the negro race and all it {better informed and more progressive { members should devote especial effort. Poorer worldly circumstances are not necessarily a bar to health and there is no cause which cannot be remedied to prevent the death rate of negro infants from being materially lowered. Dr. Fowler's report contains a strik- ing argument in favor of vaccination against smallpox. In 1924 147 cases of this disease were reported in the District. .From January to June, 1925, there were fifty-nine cases and twenty deaths. Dr. Fowler says that of the fifty-nine cases only four had ever been successfully vaccinated, one fifty years before the attuck, one thirty- eight years before, one eighteen years before and one fourteen years before the attack. Kach of these patients had the disease in relatively mild form and each got well. The death rate from organic heart disease was high. Seven hundred and fifty-one persons died from this cause —more than from pneumonia or other single cause. This is a matter for dis- ssion by physicians, but a layman may be permitted to make an observa- tion., It seems that this malady is comparatively rare among manual workers and relatively common among desk workers. The inference is that the man with office employment does not do enough work with his arms and legs. This points to the need for more outdoor exercise and less ener- vating and monotonous grind indoors. It also points to the desirability of plentiful, plain and wholesome food and more regularity as to rest and sleep. The health officer urges a larger force of medical and dental practi- tioners, that children entering the public schools may be examined, and where defects are found that such defects may be given needed treat- ment. Health is the most important question and there ought to be no in- disposition toward supplying ample public funds for the promotion of the heaith of the people of the city. -t Very little comment is made when the price of gasoline begins to go down; owing, possibly, to a fear of dis- turbing it. ———— A Truce in the Tong War. It now turns out that the On Leongs and the Hip Sings have been called off the warpath by their re- spective leaders, who appear to have been actually impressed by the threat of tie New York police to hold them personally responsible for any further outbreak of the conflict. Mes- sages have been sent out from head- quarters to all the local tongs through- out the country canceling the declara- tion of war. The leaders have, of course, continued to protest that there has been no war, each side declaring that the other has been breaking the peace. This, however, is only an armistice, a truce. The tongsmen will not quit quarreling merely because of prosecu- tion threats. The causes of -the con- flict lie too deep for that. The tongs are well disciplined, but members hundreds of miles away from Broad- way are likely to ignore the influence of the police of New York with ‘the titular heads of the organizations. There are private feuds mixed up with the tong feuds, and these will not be held permanently in abeyance to “take motor trips. some of them planning even to zo to Florida. They have been tuning up their cars for long runs and zetting together their touring #jgs. Mo it is probable that = & because some big chief is threatened with prosecution if a gun cracks and a Hip Sing er an On Leong crumples to the sidewalk in some Chinatown.” Appeals have been made heretofore to the tong chieftains to submit their differences to the courts, and to I the law dispose of their quarrels, punish the killers and, cheaters and contract breakers. But the celestials have always blandly refused to yleld. They have not enough confidence in the efficacy of the judicial processes of this land. In view of the greal prevalence of crime in this country, with American robbing with freedom, it is really. somewhat anom- alous for the law agencies to hold hostages for good behavior of their followerss the leaders of these Chinese organizations, inasmuch as the tong “wars” are merely a form of private justice. Perhaps, however, with this as an example, the prosecutors of the law in our large cities may find a way to stop organized crime by holding personally responsible the known leaders of criminal gangs. e President Coolidge has not indicated any desire to referee the differences between miners and operators. If con- ditions should arise calling upon him Lo assert himself, the public does not doubt that he will do so. In the mean- time he preserves his record as a pub- lic man who never permits himself to be regarded as deliberately seeking notoriety. A coal strike vears ago was a star- tling event. It has become an ordinary occurrence. The “treat 'em rough” idea, fostered somewhat by war-time conditions, has expanded into . indus- trial relationships and a strike is com- ing to be regarded as little more than a formal signal that renewed bargain- ing is desired. Notice that coal prices will not be changed because of a strike offers an unusual assurance to the ultimate consumer. 1€ has heretofore been the custom for both sides to stand aloof in the hope that the sufferings of the general public would persuade some- body to give in. ———— et - A freight yard and factory belt around Washington might restrict suburban development in a manner that would make the District of Co- lumbia an area of congestion calcu- lated to make the housing problem more formidable than ever before. T Stop signs on the pavement are soon partially obliterated by traffic. A little ingenuity might devise a system for giving the signal audibly by pho- nograph. The experiment of taming wild motorists by the spoken word may be worth trying, . If Miss Ederle succeeds in swim ming the English Channel to the ac companiment of jazz, the seashore re- sorts should find inspiration for some amphibian ideas in the way of novel dances B S —— The determination of M. Caillaux to remain only nine days will please busi ness people who admire neatness and dispatch, but is likely to cause dis- appointment in social circles. e — As a student in Baltimore John T. Scopes may be handicapped by the solemn warning he has had not to take seriously everything he finds in the text books. ——————— By means of a Smith-Hylan contro- versy New York may be able to swing the disputatious spirit of the time back toward the usual chanmels of political debate. ————— 1f Caillaux thinks Uncle Sam is only “blufiing”’ he should remain longer in America and learn more about the game from which the term is bor- rowed Many Washington citizens regard the belt line project as an effort to duplicate, in modern terms, the old Chinese wall. L e Italian fashions announce that the Fascisti black shirt still has the Mus- solini collar attached. ——— = The use of soft coal will provife overtime work for the expert scrub- bers. e S SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOKNSOX. Sensitive Genius. You may speak in accents harsh to a professor. An artist you may boldly criticize. But you won't assume the role of an aggressor Toward any you're wise. base ball plaver, if The high-brow person’s used to rude contention; All courtesy toward him you may forget. The base ball player needs soft inter- vention. Remember that he has been raised a pet. Discretion. “You used to quote a great deal from Shakespeare.” “I have quit it,” declared Senator Sorghum. “There's a rumor going around that Bacon wrote most of the stuff, and I am not going to take a chance on introducing any more queer controversies into polities."” Jud Tunkins says music speaks a universal language, and some of the jazz sounds like profanity without words. Anti-Toxin. “Do you think a prohibition officer should necessarily be a man who never in his life tasted alcohol?” “I dunno,” answered Uncle Bill Bot- tletop. “Mebbe it's best for him to have tasted it once or twice so's to be sure he's not apt to learn to like it." Shunning Temptation. George Washington, that honored man 2 Of loftiest position, Stuck closely tohis truthful plan And never went a-fishin’. “Coal is gittin’ so expensive.” said Uncle Eben, “dat it’s a mark of trust an’ honor to be allowed to git up lay de fire in de kitchen stove,” THE EVENING STAR J controls _the WASHINGTON, THIS AND THAT D C BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Every man is at heart a painter. No matter what he does for a liv- ing, whether the law, or the Govern: ment, or selling, or talking, or writ- ing, secretly he believes he can paint. Not paint portraits or landscapes, or marine scenes, but houses, back porches, etc. Almost every woman. she is an adept at brush, “All you have to do is daub it on,” the lady of the house will say. Well,” there is a little bit more to it than that—ask any painter! The professional will smile discreetly if you hand him any such sentence as the above, as if loath to enter into argu- ment about such a profound matter. If he would deign to say anything, 0 doubt it would be alongz this line: y dear sir, your complete igna- rance of my profession makes it impos- sible for me to talk about it in & way that will be understandable t6 you. “When any one declareg, in my pres- ence, that all there Is tG painting is daubing it on with & brush, I find my- self utterly unable to say a word, for it would take me hours to explain just the difference between a real painter and ‘a dauber. “Suffice it to say that a dauber is one thing, and a real painter distinct- Iy another. If you want to daub up your house; do it yourselfy but if you desire to get @ real job done, call on me, biddy. 00, thinks swinging the ® K kw Despite this admonition from our worthy friend, the house painter, thousands of men yearly paint their own houses, many of them gentlemen who have never swung a wide brush before in all their lives—and some of whom never will again. You see, the average man secretly believes that if fate had been kind to him, he, too, would be walking around in paint-stained white coverals, dan- gling a pail of paint at the end of a long left arm. There is something satisfying about painting. A Secretary of State may find com- plete satisfaction in his job, and then again he may not. No Secretary of State can tell until he tries it. So it is with all the other jobs which men turn their hame 5 and brains to in this, our terrestrial life. Every work whether it be known as a_“‘position or o “job,” has its good and bad points. Often the individual puts too much attention on the latter. In some few cases he exaggerates the former. Whatever the cage may be, in the main all work has its ups and downs, as the elevator man says. The painter, however, finds soul satisfaction in his. The smooth flow of paint on unpainted wood gives one a sense of actually accomplishing something in a complete sense that scarcely can be duplicated in any other work whatever. It has often seemed to me that the street sweeper, humble though his job may seem, takes second prize in this respect. It must thrill the very hez of one to take a dirty, .grimy thor oughfare, and by’ one’s own unaided effort shortly turn it into an“immac- ulate place wherein ladies may walk as over a parlor floor. . These are, of coyrse. satisfactions of the crafts. gexterity, although it requires brains, does not use certain cells much ysed in vocations that depend for their success upon the constant evolution: and gyrations of sald cells. %% the durable Your “white collar man” will find soothing diversion, then. in painting his house. He may not be able to do BACK “gatety fi That_old- bore,- Sta- tistics, drones out his figures proving that Americans are not only the most criminal people in the world, but also the most reckless in the way of acci- dents. - The accident death rate in America is 76.3 per 100,000 people. That statement conveys little to the general reader, but when it is stated that in the World War $7,813 Ameri- cans were killed in battle or died from wounds after battle, and that last year, in peace, we killed 21,000 boys and girls alone, there is something tansi- ble for making comparisons. —Orie third of these children were killed on the streets and 5,000 were scalded or burned to death. The other 9,000 were killed in miscellaneous ways. The summing up of the whole matter is ex- pressed in one word—Carelessness. Somebody has cleverly stated the B-C” of preventiofi a§ being merely “Always be careful.” % That prescription, however, is so ob- vious that it is too easily forgotten when the child is oat of sight of p: ent or guardian, and his ball flies into the street. and he after it just ahead of a swiftly running automo- bile. In France, at least in Paris, the law penalizes the father or guardian of any child which is hurt in the street. Any pedestrian- who -meets with a_traffic accident is assumed to be guilty until he proves his inno- cence. 1t is no excuse that he en- joyed jay-walking and had no time to walk to the corner crossing. He was knocked down—therefore, he was the trespasser. 3 * ¥ Rk Returning to Mr. Statistics, the nui- sance is that he ends the argument just when the other’ side is ready:to talk, Statistics points to England, Scotland and Wales and tells us that there the rate of death by accidents is only 33.6 per 100,000. There is a London traffic manager now in America to inspect our regula- tions of traffic. Almost before he had gotten safely down the gangplank of his steamer he announced that they do mot have so' manmy rules-in:Eng- land; they do things better over there, for they trust to people’s good sense to get them out of trouble. Here there | are rules for stepping lively and dodg: ing, until one is dizzy. ah The London traffic manager cites that in England, Scotland and Wales they kill only 33.6 victims out of 100,000, while we slay 763, But the deadlines of their slaughter is not ap- preciated until it is measured by the tools they use. To kill 33.6 people they use only 642,853 automobiles, for that is the total of passenger and truck vehicles upon the island.. So | the United Kingdom kills one victim annually ~with 19,480 - automobiles, while in America it Is comparative- ly 10 times as safe, for here we re- quire 15,092,177 automobiles_to kill 76 victims out of each 100,000 population, or 198,581 automobiles for each victim per 100,000 population. The problem of traffic handling is recognized as one of the. most puz- zling studies with which modern .city life is concerned. Washingtonians sometimes grow impatient to see wholesale results of accident reduc- tion, while forgetting the brief time since serious study of the intricacies of the situation began—only last May 3. Railroad traffic is a science which requires many years of expe- rience before a traffic manager be- comes skilled, and such & man. volumes of precedents to guide his rulings, while automobile traffic com- plications were unknown until the last few vears, and they have been studi scientifically but a few months. The railroads are safe. guarded with a block system which is almost fool-proof in minimizing human unreliability of conduct. Where is there a block system which Manualy GROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. it quite as well as the skilled painter, but he will do a creditable job. To get the most sport out of it, he purchases his paint from a mail-order house. The family decides on green. Color plates in the big catalogue show a galaxy of greens. variously labeled “Mary,” “Jane,” “Susie,” etc. “The Jones across the alley got that Mary green, and look what they got!” pipes up Mabel, his wife. “No, we don't want that,” says her husband. “We want a darker color, don’t we, dear?" “Much darker.” ““How about this Susie green? “Yes, let's try that. So the order is made out, and mailed, and in‘a few days here comes the postman with a big box. It is like dipping into a grab-bag. Out come the cans. The painter cuts open the top. ‘Oh!"* shudders Mabel. Wall tIl T get it all stirred up,” remonstrates the painter, stirring in dustriously. “It will take a lot of stirring.” Little Willle, all this time, in the happy business of his 3 vears, has been investigating the can of turpen- tine In which some old paint brushes are kept. “Oh!” screams Mabel, darting across as Willle upsets the can down the front of his nice clean suit. “Oh!” The head of the house continues tg_stir with might and main, as if to bring up out of the depth the darker hue that something tells him s not there. He tries it out on a board. No amount of stirring has been able to make that paint anything but a bright emerald green. “lust exactly what we did not want” ax Mabel moaned. PR No amount of “working in" the | paint on the board could make it any darker. It was completely, hopeless. Iy green. “Mr. Jones said he selected his by lamplight, that was the reason it looks as it does,” says the painter. “We can send it back, you know.” says his wife. He looks at the can of paint, with the 1id neatly cut out all around How?" he inquires. “It would be easier to put some- thing in it to make it a darker green.” his wife admits. She is a bright girl A little lampblack, deftly incorpo- rated, sets the world right again. A-ha! now for the fun. A tremen- dous ladder j& borrowed from a meigh- bor, and with much trepedition is leaned agalmet the back of the house. Proudly the painter mounts to the eaves. ‘‘Hold 'er steady down there, he calls, but Mabel is busily rescuing Willle from the jar of turpentine, for which he has a great fondness. Slap! On goes the first brush of paint Slap! Slap! On go two more brushes. As the color covers up the wood, Which was showing the grain through, the "painter begins to get the hang of it. Every now and then he leans back on bis big ladder to view with pride hig handiwork. Not a drop of paint has yet touched the shingles. No. Painter could do it better than this, he boasts to himself. The joke of the whole thing is that a painter probably could not., - He might do it faster, and with consid- erable less wrist tire, and he might.be able to work the paint into the grain better, but as far as the looks of the well will leave our amateur house painter, perched on his long ladder, deftly slinging on green.paint by the brushful. driver, the the reckiess or enced or the stupld and slow-witted. plunging into:the midst of thronging thoroughfares? * * % % inexperi- During the Yirst six months of 1924 there were 1n ‘Washington 43 deaths from automobiles, and during the cor- responding period this yvear there were only 38 deaths. This reduction becomes more #ignificant in-the light of the fact that thé number of auto- moliiles’ increased 27 per cent in the ‘year. - If the Incréase of machines be considered, the comparative number of deaths is decreased more than 30 per cent. In the same six months, last year, there were 4,555 accidents, and con- sidering the 27 per cent increase of | machines, there would be required this year, as normal compared with last vear. 5,774 accidents in the first six months but, in fact, there were only 4,758, a comparative reduction of about 19 per cent: ‘The -traffic management administration was in istence only during one-third of that six months, and it naturally takes considerable time to gather any data on which to formulate plans. The improvement of automobile lights has been: a -great- factor-in re- tnder. ‘way . toward better . street _Ughting. Hy. October 1 the new system of synchronized signals will be installed, ‘at least along Sixteenth street. This is dependent upon the introdction of -the new " high-power street lights which are now being put in. “At.each corner, on each side of the street, will. be. signal .lights of three colors. - Red will mean stop, yellow, a warning -that the signal is about to change; green go ahead. When the yellow shows all along the street, all machines everywhere will slow down; when the red shows, all will stop. At the time the red shows, on the boulevard, the green will show at all crossings for the cross streets. Instead of this syStem slowing trafiic, it will speed. if,.for & motorist .will know that -he 'meed fear no eross traffic while the signal is set for him to go ahead, and he can speed.up, perhaps trayel four or five blocks before the next stop signal. I In the office of the traffic manager there is a large ‘map of the city to receive pim%, -hn thiscmap is stuck a white pin at thé point of every accident; if “the - @eeiflent happened at night the White, pin head has a black dot. A red pfh indicates where any fatal accident occurred: Thou- sands of pins are already in that map. and they crowd together in certain localities, thereby pointing. out danger spots to be reformed. The issuing of licenses' to dFive | will be much more .closely safeguard- ed hereafter, and reckless, incompe- tent drivers ‘will be inated. Al license cards will heaf a - personal description of the holder—color of eyes and hair, age and other narks of identification. ‘The practice of buying and selling licenses will thus be_checked. " 4 The courts are ‘co-Gperating " with the Traffic Bureau by heavy fines, especially in cases of driving while drunk or without a license. In May there were four fatal accidents; two drivers were indicted by the grand jury, charging murder. In June there iwere “six_accidental- deaths, in - one case resulting in indictment for sec. ond-degree ' murder. In July there | were seven deaths—all feclared by the coroner to have been accidental. Of the victims this year seven were children under 10 years of age, play- ing on the streets. Traffic Manuzer Eldridge believes that accidents witl never be adequately curbed until jay- walkers afe prohibited, or arrested. 1921 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1925, ducing gccldents, ard much is now | NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM L G M. THE STORY OF IRVING BERLIN. Alexander Woollcott, G. P. Put- nam's Sons. Last year Gilbert Seldes wrote an in- teresting book on the “lively arts’— the movie, the revue, jazz with its brutally shattered measures bringing quick response in songs of weird ca- dence and dances of sudden cataleptic seizures. Now, since the very day of their birth, these lively arts have stood as high in the favor of the great hol polloi as they have sunk beneath even the contempt of fastidious culture. Mr. Seldes, arguing that where there is so dense a smoke of popular ap- proval there must be at least a few sparks of sustaining fire, set himself to the study of these lively arts. Seri- ous and sincere, he betook himself back to thelr beginnings. Out of what kind of soll did they spring? What contributed to their growth, so lusty and teeming? What the tang and sa- vor that gained them so eager an ac- ceptance, so wide a spread? What their effect? What the promise of their endurance? Questions _these such as other scholars put to themes of accepted standing Mr. Seldes put to these wayside growths of the lively arts. Ov* of the study certain names emerge—Charlie _Chaplin, Florenz Zeigteld, Irving Berlin, Paul White- man, George Cohan and other names and other. Under the seeing eye and philosophic mind of Seldes it turns out that these, under the extravagance, under even the absurdity and gro- tesquerie of their work, are ali in quest of the elusive and kaleidoscople forms of beauty. Here Chaplin proves to he much more than the catastrophic art- ist of custard pie and buckets of whitewash. Zeigfeld is trying to spell out the lesson of beauty by wav of twjnkling feet and beauteous bodies and charming graces of face and pos- ture, all set to light and harmonious measures. And the others who stand for the lively arts, each in his own way is trying to fouch the common heart of common men with the beauty of joy and elation and laughter. Under Gilbert Seldes and one or two others of his kind the lively arts are growing respectable. Let us hope not too respectable. Culture itself is, nowadays, taking a tentative step in their direction. Only the other week over In London a Hamlet in golf toggery and an Ophelia in flapper undress relieved the immortal bard of the impedimenta of ancient long- clothes and by that little much brought him closer in a more gen- eral acceptance of his surpassing hold on the naked human heart that is common to all men. And the people liked it—so the papers say. They would. They will. And the other day, out m St. Louls, stronghold of erman classicism in music, there Was sung to jazz measure an opera which in theme and lyric and orches- tration comes clearly under the head of “grand opera.” A greatly en- thusiastic audience—3,000 strong— greeted this “opera in the vernacu- lar.” It is clear. from these signs, and others, that however much the dyed-in-the-wool classicist may shiver away from the fact, there is move- ment toward each other between the lively arts and those of static and traditioned implication. *ow ok x Alexander Woollcott's story of Irving Berlin is, in effect, if not in Intent, a corroboration of this move- ment, as it 1s also an eminently worth- while addition to the stories of per- | sonal “achievement with which the life of America is enriched. From canal driver or rail splitter to Presi- dent, from newsboy to head of a rail- way ‘system.or: great mercantile en- terprise—this is purely an American formula._of fact, the basis of more than one true story of American life. And the story of Irving Berlin be- Jonzs with these. A Russian immi- grant of the New York Ghetto, a childish troubadour of the Bowery, & busker at Njgger Mike's, and the gift of melody—this, the 'equipment of Izzy Baline, Irving Berlin. “To him, above all others of his day, a young- ster carried out of Russia in the hold of a ship and pitched Into the swarm of struggling life in the lower East Side, it was given so to -catch the rhythm of his land and time that the whole. worid has ed along to the measures of his songs.” This is his story. As it is written here, it will be left to you to guess by what alchemy he transmuted into music the jumbled sounds of his life—the wash of the river against the black- ened piers, the alarums of the street cars, the roar of the elevated, the frightening scream of the fire engines, the polyglot hubbub of the curbs and doorsteps of his own East Side, the brassy jangle of the hurdy-gurdies, the cries of the fruit venders and push cart peddlers, the chants in the synagogue, the whines and squeais of Chinatown, the clink of glass and the crack of revolvers in saloons along the Bowery—above all, the plaintive race notes, the wail of his sorrowing tribe, the lamentation of a people harried and self-pitying since time out of mind.” Read for vourself the story of the strange al- chemy that worked this medley of life into the music of Irving Berlin, into the life of Irving Berlin. And some time, should you achieve worth- ily in any direction, even should you only be worthy in some way, try to have Alexander Woollcott tell the world about it. An understanding man and a sympathetic one, a human ‘man obviously endowed by nature and equipped by both training and ex- perience, he will do for you in a way to satisfy your sense of fair dealing and in a way also to carry vou and other readers along in a constant and deepening satisaction over the sim- plicity and beauty of his art of ap- preciative and honest writing. ERE TWENTY YEARS ON BROADWAY. George M. Cohan. Harper & Bros. “And the Years It Took to Get There” George Cohan adds as he takes up the story of his life for the enter- tainment of his friends and readers in general.. Another promoter of the “lively arts” is George Cohan, and a tively promoter as well. In a perfect buoyancy of spirit he goes back over the hard road, his elation appearing to increase as hopes of success flicker away into one vanishing point after another. A sort of psychological sur- vey taking into account his various states of mind and the behaviors in- cident thereto. As one reads this utter honesty about himself the outstanding effect is that George M. Cohan must have been a daily trial and a nightly grief to those related to him by either the ties of business or those of blood. Just an impossible youngster—bump- tious, self-assertive, casily angered, vain—and all this given, not by any subtle allusions on his part, but by the most out-and-out of, exposures, However, one likes it, for, in spite of everything, the fellow is getting on— all the time getting on, no matter who is knocked out of the way in this progression. - There -is achievement here all set out in the dress clothes of public entertainment and given with a gusto that is worth many bushels of bright sunlight. George Cohan not only bas pep for himself, but he hands over a lot of it to the rest of us. “The Yanks are coming—and we'll not come back till it's over—over there.” We'll never forget it, and right here we register a protest against Mr. Wooll- cott's scaling it off as a bit of unwar- ranted exaggeration of the actual fact. We deny it. And we'll never forget what if did to us in those old mad days of war time. fine storios about ‘the lvely artlsts, Q. What are “Praying Mantis"?- A M W. A. ‘What are called in some parts of the worjd the “Praying Mantis” are insects” belonging to the family of Mantidae, somewhat similar to the grasshopper with large protruding eves. ‘They are found in many countries and endowed with many supernatural qualities by the credu- lous. The manti seizes its prey with | its fore feet and to devour puils the | prey in front of it with its fore legs as suming an attitude of prayer. In| Japan the mantis are sometimes kept | in cages and trained to box. being | placed on exhibition for this purpose. | They are quite common in the South: | ern States. | Q. Where is the "“Oleander City"?— C.7B. A. Galveston, referred to. Q. What dent receiv: A. He receives no salary for having been President. Q. When and how ‘“Reverend” given 1o D. 8. A. “Reverend” was generally used throughout England in the fifteenth century as a title of respect. A young man would address his senior or su- perior as “Reverend Sir.” The habit was continued in respect to the clergy and by the seventeenth century it was generally used as a title. It was established by custom, not authority, and belongs to no special denomina- tion. Q. —L, Tex.: is often thus does an ex-Presi- | was the title clergyman? a gull's eggs found? How are L A. There is no particular process or system by which an ‘“egger” searches for sea gulls' eggs. Such birds make no attempt at building a nest but deposit their one egg any- where on the bare ground. Breeding | grounds are located by the study of the birds’ habits—they travel in colo- | | i nies, 5o that they are easily found. Q. Has a second moon been dis covered traveling around the earth?— | W. I. B. A. The Naval Observatory say that it is conceivable that certain un- explained irregularities in the motion of the moon may be due to the attrac- tion of a second moon: but no such body has ever been seen, and even the possibility of its existence is very | rarely mentioned in astronomical literature. Q. Are the fumes from a hox con taining moth balls poisonous?— G.E. W A. The fumes given off by the slow evaporation of the napthalene crystals | in a room would not be injurious to health to any great extent. However, if the odor is very noticeable it signi fies that the boxes are not properly closed in order to afford the best pro- | tection against moths. Q. How did men dress about 15307 | —H L. A. The wig and the pigtail went out of fashion early in the nineteenth cen- tury and gentiemen wore their ha rather long and freely oiled. Loose cossack trousers, high waisted vest and voluminous cravats were in fas fon, the shirt collar was often worn | turned up with the points showing above the cravat. The coal cut away squarely in front went out of date and | the style replacing it resembles the ! | BY WILLIAM ARTICLE 11 | America’s railroad presidents have | decided ideas as to what is needed to | increase our presentday prosperity.| As it is they find it good: but, from a railroading point of view, it could be made better. Too much govern ment, too many conflicting laws, too | little opportunity to exercise individu- | ality of enterprinse—these are the plaints of many of the executives of | our great railroads who have respond- ed to this correspondent’s inquiry, “What should we do to increase pros- perit. ! Straight talk comes from most of them. Witness the following from W.| G. Besler, president of the Central Railroad of New Jersev: “Who and what has suggested that we have not in this country as of to- day, business prosperity? “I might ask with equal purpose, ‘What is the chief need to increase the population” to which 1 would answer, ‘Let nature take its course,’ and stop meddling with people’s pri- vate affairs, and stop political meddling with business affairs. “And to that I might add a long list of further ‘stops,’ and at the head of that list would be, ‘stop passing foolish laws limiting legitimate op portunity and throttling by intolerable regulation business enterprise.’ How should the need for increased prosperity be met? By an awakened | and aroused public interest in what is going on at National and State capi- tals, where self-seeking politicians and half-baked theorists are meddling and attempting to interfere with matters which they do not understand. “When a people understands and is willing to admit that in every suc- cessful enterprise, no matter whether it be social, religious, political, busi- ness, agricultural, or what not, there must be intelligent direction by ex- perienced and able leaders if success is to be attained; and that a town meeting never got anywhere beyond the status of a vast amount of ‘hot air’ and the venting of individual opinion by those with the ‘gift of gab’ and who like to hear themselves talk. “If one may rely upon the state- ments which have been published showing the small percentage of vot- ers who go to the polls, it suggests itself that only some hard Knocks which ‘will reach the people’s pocket- books rather. than' their heads will be the awakening influence that this matter requires.” Yower Taxes: Less Meddling. To which, in general terms, Percy R. Todd, president of the Baugor and Aroostook, assents in the following statement: : g “The chief need is reduction in taxa- tion and less Government interference in business. The more taxes are re- duced the more people will be encour- aged to invest their funds in develop- | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. 1 present. frock. -coat | morial succeeded “The Puritan” | know A phrase in Bulwer-Lytton's “Pelham” . (1828), in appearance to look well in black started the fashion of black for eve- ning dress. High silk hats reached their perfection in the 30s and the masculine dress has changed very Iit- tle since then. Q. Where did the chinchllia tabbit come from?—R. I. 1 A. Little 1s known of the history of the chinchilla rabbit and as one breeder expressed it “We are satisfied that the rabbit is here—how it came is yet to be ascertained.” Color is one of the most important points of this rabbit. Bach individual hair con- sists of first, a band of medium grav: very near to the sKin; then a band of dark or slate blue; then a band of light silver gray: a band of dark blue; band of gray and lastly a number of hairs with black ends or ticking. Q. Who made the flag which in- spired Key to write “The Star Span- gled Banner"?—¥. H A. It was made by Mrs. Mary Pickersgill. who lived at the northwest corner of Pratt and Albemarle streets. Baltimore, Md. Q. Should the air in a museum be kept - at a certain temperature’— M. C. A. The air in museums must be kept at a standard temperature and humidity if the exhibits are kept in first-class condition. Q. How is the term “broken-up faced" used by dog fanciers?—P. 0. N A. This term’ refers. as a gen: rule to the face of @ bulldog or tov. spaniel and is descriptive of the reced ing nose and so called “condensed face.” Q. Do katydids make a noise in their throats or together>—M. . A. The sound made by katydids ix produced by friction caused by the modified wing membranes which over- lap the wing covers rubbing against one another. Q. In “The Ambassadors” by Hol- bein there is a strange looking object in the lower foreground. What is its significance?—S. E. ¢ rubbing their iege A. The reference is to a human skull which serves as a rebus on the painter’s name ‘Holbein” means “skull.” Q. How long did Saint-Gaudens work on his Peace of God or Grief Statue whichs stands in Rock Creek Ceme tery?—M. G. A. Augustus Saint-Gaudens savs in his autobiography that the Adams me. on the scaffolding in 1887. It was finish. ed in the late Summer of 1591 (Find out whatever you wan! 1o There is no room for igno- rance in this busy world. The person who loses owt is the one who guesses. The person who gets on is always the one who acts upon reliable informa- tion. This paper employs Frederic J Haskin to conduct am information bureau in Washington for the frec use of the public. There is no charge except 2 cents in stamps for 7eturn postage. Write to him today for any facts you desire. Address your letter to The Star Information Bureau Frederic J. Haskin. director. Tiwenty- first and C strects nirthiwest.) THE VOICE OF BUSINES P. HELM, IR. transportation service which they are rendering. “You ask further, ‘How shouid this need be met? I reply did a f mous American. ‘The way to resume is to resume.' The railway structure of the country should not be disturbed by such legislative action as that con tained in the Hoch-Smith resolution The revenues to the carriers, particu larly in the Northwestern region should be mads adequate. “The tax burden on the railroads is exceedingly heavy, and is growing heavier vear by vear. In every year since 1917 the carriers have paid out more in taxes than they have in diyi dends out of income. Taxes are now practically $1,000.000 a day. They should be reduced.” Railroads Large Buyers. Mr. Aishton points out that “in man- es the steam railroads are the lar, est single group of purchasers of proil ucts of American industry.” Their pur chases for new equipment and other capital improvements- .amounted in 1923 to $1.738,703.000 4na in 1924 to $1,343,055,000, -Which leads him to the following thought: “Railreads of this country are to- and have been for the past t(wo years, . affording shippers practicaliy 100 per cent service. Such resuits will be continued and will have further ef fect upon business prosperity if the carriers are permitted 1o receive ade- quate revenues to maintain the stand- ard of service they have set.” With this statement President 1.. W. Baldwin of the Missouri Pacific Rail- road is in complete accord. adding that “the chief need could be sum- marized in the one word, “Stability." And this leads President Loomis of the Lehigh Valley Railroad to remark “The chief public need to increase prosperity, in my judgment. is less political interference with-business af- fairs. I think we can all agree that there has been a wholesome Improve- ment in the situation since Congress adjourned. As long as it was in ses- sion, and this condition has prevailed for several recent Congresses, there was a general air of unsettlement and instability. “‘I believe that the tendency of Con- gress to interfere with the legitimate affalrs of business-—honestly and fair- Iy conducted—can best be curbed through-greater interest-on the part of business men in the affairs of gov ernment. **The rank ‘and file of our national (law-making body is desirous of work- ing, I'believe, for the best interests of all the people and for national pros- perity. Too long, however. they have been left to ‘the merey of theorists with little or no knowledge of actual business affairs or groups with a spe- cial interest fo serve. Repeal Burdensome Laws. From S. M. Felton, president of the Chicego Great - Western = Railroad, comes this reply: ment of business, and the same is true as to Government interference in busi- nes: ‘“This need can be met By Congress keeping its hands off. The result wil be more development of new business and more prosperity in existing busi- ness following almost immediately after the suggestions made above be- come operative.” On behalf of all the class 1 railroads in the United States, a $20,000.000,000 industry, President R. H. Aishton of the” American Rallway Association, says: £ “Any answer which I am able ‘to give to this particular inquiry—what is the chief public need today to in- crease business prosperity—will have to do with the problems affecting the. stearp rafiroads of the country. My. reply in two words would be, ‘Ade- Quate revenues.’ % > “Actual earnings of class 1 railroads of the United States since 1921 on the ‘tentative valuation' basis represent an aggregate deficiency in net operat- ing income exceeding $1,000,000,000. It is manifest that the railroads have not been, and are not now, adequately compensated in terms of net operating income by a rate of return for the ' “What is needed- to fcrease busi mess prosperity, in my_opinion. is fewer laws a s regulation. This ahould be met inducing Congress to repeal the:obnoxious and burden- some laws which have been passed in recent .years.''’ X “Confidence of ‘all sources of busi- ness in one another and confidence of each one in all” is the chief nced of today, in the opinion of President Ber- net of the Nickel Plate, while Presi- dent Kurn of the St. Louis-San Fran- ciseo Railway would “incgease the un- derstanding of the other fellow’s prob- lem,” to which he adds: “Give consideration.to what might be accomplished through proper co- operation. Curtail expenditures lead- ing to useless and extreme extrava- gance. Follow the advertising slogan of the bankers—don't take such an ex- treme pride in what you make, but ex- ercise the greatest thought in the di rection of how much you can save. Create among all people a desire to ac- quire, the base thereof being individual activity. Then, T think, you will have established firmly the foundation for an increase in general husiness pros- perity.” (Copyright. 1921 s People must be very distinguished