Evening Star Newspaper, September 14, 1925, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR . With Sunday Morning Edition. ~WASHINGTON, D. C. )QONDAY. . .September 14, 1925 THEODORE W. NOYES...Editor| The Evening Star Newspaper Company Bustnaas Offics 3 112 st Ana IWanta Av Now To it e 110 Eant an st Chicagd Ofice: Tower Buildine Buropean Ofee - 16 Ragent St London. Enciand. Srhe Evening Star. with the Sunday morn- "‘I‘.; !{Nn?a\‘: fltl\\"r: !’Al\'i?\.fl. ""‘t“h‘('n 1 city al cen r BT, el iy ingae nte 58 cants ner month rders may he sent by mail or 12lgnhoas Main R0DD. Collection s raxde by carriar at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Dallr » o b T N T Suhday onl : Al Other States. Dailv and Sunday. ...1 yr..$10.00: 1 mo Dafly only. ... 1 v $7.00: 1 me ks 38 5 only BEd 0: 1 mo. .Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusivaly entitled {2 #he e. for republication of all naws dix- Aagning credited {0 It 0F ot Btherwien cre ifofl in this paper and algo the local news publisheds Nerain. Al rights of publication ©of anecial disnatches herein are also reserved 0 28¢ The Aviation Inquiry. President .Coolidge’s action in ap- peinting a committee 16 investigate the. Government's Air Service require- ments takes this question for the present out of controversy and sepa- rates it distinctly from the issue of Cel. Mitchell's insubordination, which is being met by the War Department. The Secretary of the Navy and the Aeting Secretary of War jointly re- auested this inquiry, thereby demon- strating that there is now no breach of opinien between them on the score of the policy or scope of the desired in- vestigation. In his selection of members the President ras chosen a strong, capa- ble committee representative of the Army and Navy, Congress and the public through highly qualified and ex- pert technicians. These nine men are well and favorably known to the peo- ple. That they will make a searching and impartial inquiry is assured. | Their conclusions will command con- fdence. 1t does not follow that this commit- tee’s work precludes or estops an in- quiry by Congress either jointly or conducted by each house. The ques- tion is certain to be considered by Con- gress. It may accept the findings and conelusions of the President’s commis- sion or.it may proceed with its own investigation ‘into aviation disasters ingly beaten in the primary there will be little encouragement for him to boit and run as an independent. I, on the other hand, he is beaten by a narrow margin he may with some measure of hope set up the claim that he has been “machined” out of the nomina- tion, that he Is really the people's choice, and consequently take the field under a banner which, it is rumored, has been already brought out of stor- |age and dusted off for use, the flag of {the Jndependence League. arganized by W. R. Hearst for his own purposes some years &ago. ———— The Prohibition Survey. Results of & survey of the social conssquences of prohibition. under taken by the research and education department of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in this country, are now being published. From the initial installment, which s today printed, it appears that the research was conducted ‘without prejudice or previous conviction, a sincere effort to ascertain the effect of prohibition upon the public morals and the condi- tion of the people. 1t is not a con- clusive finding. Yet the specific show- ing rendered by this first publication, relative to home conditions, is gratify- ing to the advocates of prohibition and supplies a powerful argument for its continuance. From replies to a questionnaire sent to members of the National Confer- ence of Social Work—270 out of 2,700 responding—certain definite indica- tions appear of better conditions. In practically all cases homes are better furnished since prohibition was writ- ten into the law, and in likewise vir- tually all instances wives and families get larger proportions of the husband's income. In most cases marital rela- tions are improved, and in almost all instances sanitary and health condi- tions are better. Similarly in & very large percentage of cases the mental health of the home is improved. A siight decrease in children's delin. quency is indicated, but a majority of | reports indicate an increase in drink- ing by voung people. A considerable decrease in cases of malnutrition among children is shown. Most of the reports show that liquor for minors is less accessible. The attitude toward law enforcement and respect for laws in general is reported to be worse. These returns are not to be accepted as conclusive. They are, as the report states, only “partially significant.” Many of the social workers declined to fill out the questionnaire, expressing the fear that guesses rather than facts would be elicited. Nevertheless the and policies. Indeed. a House commit- tee.is even now studying air defen: the aircraft industry and commercial aviation for report at the next session. The President in his letters to the executives of the War and Navy De- partments ‘indicates that he had ap- proved ‘last Spring of the suggestion of a broad inquiry into the best means of developing and applying aircraft in national defense, in order that a re- port might be laid before him for his information and for the use of Con- grées. Nevertheless the conclusion will be generally reached by the coun- try that this present action is pre- ]| cipitated by Col. Mitchell's published criticisms of the Government's avia- tion policies and practices. Certainly ever since the Shenandoah disaster and the utterance of Col. Mitchell's eriticisms and charges the subject has been inescapable. It was inevitable that some procedure be started to de- tegmine the exact conditions and to afford guidance for future policy. Evidence of the President’s skill in executive management appears in the joining of requests for this inquiry by the heads of the two departments. A division of opinion had been pre- viously developed. The Acting Secre- tary of War urged a full inqui ex- tending beyond the purely military auestion of Col. Mitchell's insubordi- nation. The Secretary of the Navy, it was_clearly evidenced, favored .con- centration at this timé upon the ques: tion of discipline, leaving for some later occasion the inquiry into policies and practices. The joint letter of re- quest may be attributed to President Coolidge’s diplomacy. The appointment of this commission has cleared the air. 1t assures the country a full research. It may be hailed by partisans of Col. Mitchell as a vindication of his charges and eriticisms. That does " not follaw. Much that he has claimed and charged has been refuted. His insubordinate attitude has been strongly condemned by public opinion, regardless of the merits of the questions involved. As was stated at the outset, there are two quite distinct issues in this mat- ter, one of ‘discipline and one of fact. The War Department is attending to the former, and the President’s com- mission, it is confidently expected, will satisfactorily attend to the latter. ———— The Paris Spiritualist Congress hav- ing ordered the spooks to speak in Fisperanto or remain unheeded, the way is opened to effective alibis for the lack of “communication.” * —————————— Owing to @ certain peculiar reaction of popular emotion Comdr. Hodgers and his men got a more rousing re- eception in Hawaii than if they had furge is the substitution of the *near made the full flight. Will Hylan Bolt? Tomorrow New York. wotes in a pri- mary election to determiine the candi- dates for the mayoralty and other municipal offices. There is a general expectation that Tammiany's candl- date for the Democratic nomination, Sénator Walker, will defeat Mayor Hylan, who aspires to a third term in thét office. Indeed, so strong are the indications of Hylan's defeat to- morrow at the polls that there is little batting, and such as there is in evi- Aence is at wide odds favoring Walker, Bt there is nevertheless a keen in- terest, not especially in the result but in the consequences of the primary. The question “Will Hylan bolt?" is on alt lips. Yesferday for the. sixteenth suecassive day Candidate Walker for- mally called upon his opponent. to.de- clare whether or not he would support tha Democratic. ticket if defeated for the nomination. No response ~was made, and none .is really -expected In advance of tomorrow's voting. Mueh, it would seem, depends upon the size of the btallot. If Hylan le overwhelm- ' trend of those opinions that wers ex- pressed. is that home conditions have improved, and that save in the point of increased drinking by young peo- ple there has been a gain for soclety since the enactment of the law. Later installments of this report wil hed further light upon the nature of the research and the value of its con- clusions. It is evident that the survey | was undertaken in an unprejudiced ef- fort to determine in a broad spirit the actual consequences of national pro- hibition. Thus far the indication is that domestic conditions have ma- terially improved. Opponents of pro- hibition will find n the report some encouragément in respect to the in. conclusive showing of an attitude of increasing disrespect for law. Advo- cates will find in it encouragement in the benefits which are indicated in the living conditions and the marital rela- tions and child welfare among the working people. There is, in short, in this initial presentation, which so fair- ly states the case, occasion for re- Joicing by both friends and enemies of the eighteenth amendment and the enforcement law. But nothing in the report, so far as it has been given out, encourages the thought that pro- hibition, whatever its effects, is losing ground in public favor to an extent to warrant belief in its repeal or ma- terial modificafion if the question were submitted to a referendum. —_— e~ President Lewis of the United Mine ‘Workers takes pains to state that the proposed strike of the bituminous miners will not be in svmpathy with the anthracite men, already out. Neither will there be any sympathy on the part of the consuming public. ——————————— If the American League pennant race were as stubbornly contested as yesterday’s game between the leaders to the end of the season the result might have to be determined by the flip of a coin. - People who wait at the “Car Stop™ signe when they are in a hurry to get downtown are inclined to question the report of the experts that the trac- tion lines keep faithfully to schedule. ————— Gen. Smedley Butler says the people of Philadelphia simply do not want to be good, so he is going back to the Marines, who always cbey orders. et Restore Near-Side Stops! Traffic Director Eldridge states that he will recommend to the Public Utilities Commission certain changes in the routing of the street railways of the District, and ‘also in their operation. One thing which he will aide” for the “far side” car stops on Connecticut avenue beyond - Rock Creek, with an early extension of this system to the entire District. hood 1s often left stranded while cars &0 buzzing past. There is no method of flluminating these signs, and in the average street of Washington the lighting is inadequate to bring them into view, 1f the cars were to ston always at the near side of each inter. sectlon there would be no confusion. ‘Washington has besn getting back from the “Beeler system™ of severa) years ago, which, in the opinion ot many people, contributed to rather than solved the confusion and con.’ gestion of that abnormal time. 1t is surely time now to return fully to the principle of systematic near-corner stops on the theory that public vehicles are operated for the con. venience of the people. —— The King's X Law. The escape of an inmate from the Overbrook Asylum in New Jersey, from which Harrison Noel “eloped” in July, later to take two lives in a mur- derous escapade, brings to light a peculiar condition of law In New Je sev. Under this law, which is called the “king's X ruling,” the guards of the institution are prohibited from crossing certain limits in pursuit of a prisoner. When this man escaped the other day the guirds who chased him had to give up the pursuit at the limit of a fixed zone, beyond which they are forbidden to exercise their functions. The fugitive apparently knew this prohibition and remained within the zone of safery for a time, but later wandered back into the un. safe zone and fled a second time when he was pursued. The police were notified, but the maniac. who is ath. letic and fleet, had up to the latest reports eluded them. This is & strange state of law. It is perhaps a relic of an old English prac tice which assures full liberty to any inmate of a hospital for the insane who on escaping can remain at large for a period of one month, on the theory that a person who is capablé of eluding pursuit and detec- tion for that length of time cannot be actually insane. There is, however, little public assurance of safety in the shrewdness of a fugitive who happens to know about the “king's X rule” and ekips over the line beyond which his guards cannot go. Relief will be felt when the longer arm of the law reaches him and returns him to cus- tody. — e French and Spanish forces are col- laborating in a general assault on the Riffs, with the capture of Abd-el-Krim as a possibility. Each side doubtless hopes that the other will catch the old tartar, who is likely to prove an em- barrassing prisoner. ——e— President Coolidge has handled the aviation question with the skill of a competent base ball manager who gets teamwork out of his nine. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON On the Contrary. “Young man,” said the nervous pedes trian, “do you toot that automobile | horn in order to scare people?”’ “No,” answered Mr. Chuggins, 7| toot it to let them know how scared 1 am.” Limitation. Man wants but little, so they And this 'tis safe to pray for; The shops won't let vou get away ‘With more than you can pay for. Lack of Judgment. ~Bliggins 1s a most kind and con- | siderate man. | “Yes, but he has an unfortunate | way of showing it. He is the sort of | person who will ring your door bell at 6 a.m. to ask you whether the crowing of his rooster disturds you." Sordid Considerations, Will your rew play have a happy ending?” asked the friend. “T won't be able to say.” answered Mr. Stormington Barnes, “until T bal- ance my books at the ¢lose of the sea- son.” The Final Transaction. “Father,” asked little Rallo, “‘what is the ultimate cohsumer”” “‘He is the last person, my son, that an article reaches in its commercial existence.” “I know what you mean. He is a man who goes into a hotel and orders a chicken hash.” A Crisis in Affairs. There's a time of subtle sorrow for the ordinary man That the poets paused to note. A mist of melancholy gathers o'er this earthly plan And the shadow of a sob is in your throat When fortune, always fickle, has been more than ever rude, And the study of your wardrobe brings dismay. As you take an inventory and reluc- tantly conclude You must wear your Sunday clothes | for every da: somehow never Oh, the tatter past all trimming and the shine that won't come off, And the break that now defies the needle’s art Confront you with a picture pathetically grim; that's During thé heavy congestion in Washington due to the war the Com- missioners sought the advice of a traffic expert, who proposed and adopt- ed .many changes. calculated to re. lieve the pressure at certain points and to facilitate the movements of street cars. One of these was the establishment of the “skip-stop” sys- tem, involving the planting of signs on the curbs indicating the points at which cars would come to.a halt. It took the people a long time to adjust to tifs innovation, and just as they did se other changes were ordered, 80 that the community was kept guessing for a number of years, To return to the corner-by-corner system of car stops would be an ad- vantage to the riding public, and 1t would, furthermore, be helpful if a fixed system of stops were adopted such as that new proposed by Di- rector Eldridge. The car-stop targets now in use are hard to find after dark. One who i a stranger in & neighber- A picture of old friends compelled to part. The tailor, as you seek his shop and carelessly walk through Has nothing that's encouraging to say, And you know that he is thinking of that little.balance due— You must wear your Sunday clothes for every day. This gala raiment. once the garb of laughter and of song. Becomes ‘@ mournful last. Oh, better far were sackcloth and the penitential thong Than this mockery so sleek of pleas- ures past. Ah, what will be the next relief when this bas had its ;prime, ~ uniform at THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. “ldiot Man” is the titls of a new book announced for publication this Fall. I am going to look up that vol- ume, which has an alluring subtitle, “The Follies of Mankind.” It reems to me it ought to prove interesting. Man in a crowd, especially. is some- thing of an i@iot. He neither acts nor talks normally, and is At the mer- cv of strange whims and - vagaries which {n his saner moments would have no particular effect upon him. A very good example of this sort of “mob mind" wi given the other afternoon in front of one of the elec- tric scoreboards showing the progress of the Washington base ball club in the game of the moment. A gentleman and a scholar—he was all of that—watched the hoard for some time from the crowd directly in front of the flashing affalr, with its lights appearing now here, now there, indicating physical movements of lnm; 18 men In a distant city, Afier being thoroughly satisfied that the Nationals were winning another game, the gentleman left the crowd and wended his way across the street. eel rope had been stretched along idewalk, so that spectators might e their room to stand and passers- by thelr place to walk. Our hero (in this little drama of eaveryday life in Washington) carefully inserted himself beneath the rope. prodded a few vicarfous base ball players gently In the ribs. himself in the space ach! his v to a restaurant overlooking the athletic scene, * K oW So far, so good, and the reader may wonder what all this has to do with man, {diotic or otherwise. We are gettng to that, swiftly enough. néw that we have got f gentleman into his restaurant. We watch him consume a cup of coffes, then saunter out again, intent on tak- ing a final look at the scoreboard be- fore leaving for home. This time he stopped just outside the wire, on the side devoted to pe- destrians. The watchers crowded up to the very wire, packed one and one. Just on the other side. with back to our hero, stood & small shrimp in a blue serge suit and a straw hat. As the coffee drinker took his stand on the wrong side of the wire. the small man in the serge suit deliber- ately turned and gave him a malicious look, so full of venom over nothing that the other was forced to take cos- nizance of it. “Now I wonder what that shrimp has against me?” he asked himself, as the other continued to stare at him, utterly forgetting the scoreboard, and the events of the game. Realizing that he had in no way offended the little rat-faced fellow, the other decided to stare him out of countenance, in turn. Now, under or- dinary circumstances, this man would np more have thought of resorting to such tactics than he would to a thrown brick. In the crowd, however, the gentle- man calmly surveyed the offensive lit- tle fellow from shoes to hat, conclud- ing his visual tour with a quiet smile. The plan worked nobly. The shrimp lowered his eves, then turned them back to the scoreboard. At this moment a policeman strolled down the sidewalk. “Will vou move on, please?” he asked the gentleman, courteously enough The little man in the blue serge came to life with a start. He made a derisive noise with his mouth, a sort of cross between a HOW UNCLE BY WILLIAM Note—This is the first of six ar ticles by Mr. Helm showing how, by direction of President Coolidge. economies amounting to millions of dollars have been effected. Uncle Sam’s professional money- savers at Washington, hired for the sole purpose of dusting off the Treas- ury's dollars and injecting 100 cents’ worth of efficiency into each one, have | listed approximately 5,000 individual economies in the Federal servicesdur- ing the fiscal year 1925, which closed June 30 last. The record has been made available to this writer. It contains the sum total, so far as can. be recalled, of the effort to put more business in Government. On its tangible side, it tells of great savings and small, of economy to the point of pettiness and of impressive savings that loom large in blazing the way to the next tax cut. On one page there is written the story of a single clerk’s discharge to save a few dollars on each semi-monthly pay roll; on the next is recorded an act of business ingenuity that has swept | double eagles in a golden pile back into the Federal Treasur: For what it is, the record in its highlights and shadows is presented here. Upon it has been spread no glamour in the telling. Those things that the critics of Calvin Coolidge will call cheese-paring and niggard are given along with those other things which his admirers will rank as great and statesmanlike. Those who are for him and those who are against him alike will find in the rec- ord much to their manner of liking. Done in President’s Name. ‘Whatever has been done has been dope ir his. name. He .himself knows one-tenth, perhaps, of all the economies, true or false, which have been wrought through his dele- gated authority. They are but de. talls . of the picture; tn studying the completed - canvas, Calvin Coolidges probably” will be as much_ surprised by them as any other spectator. Perhaps one of the most lar economy maves of tie flacal year was the one which tied together the Government's lines of &rhmnhlc and radio communfcation into a single compact branch of the service. That act, while it by no. means tops the list of éconcinies, has resuited in a zaving of $200,000 a year on telegraph tolls alone. The Federal Government, it should be explained, owns thousands of miles of telegraph and telephone lines. The Army and Navy have extensive sys- tems mcv‘-:ln' into u;nr -‘t‘:uun-. the Coast-Guard has, stru , Cop- per strands along the um.f:: Mhm Pl m‘l’h“’bcunyn::tuof Axd;\‘:; Pacific. e ture operates & lsased wive aervice that connects, in instantaneous.com- munication, -the chief cities important to the agricultural trade. And other branches have other systems. Some of these Government-owned wires operated on an 8hour basis daily, some were open for 12 hours, some for 24. Here and there a wire sagged under a heavy traffic burden: elsewhere the wires were idle -for minutes or for hours at a time. And all the while the busy bureaus of the Government were giving employment to scores of operators in the -pri- vately owned telegraph, companies. Scattered Links Unifed. Under the direction of the Govern- ment's professional. money-savers, headed by Col. H. C. Smither, chief co-ordinator, Bureau of the Budget. these scattered links in the Federal system were almiost literally united. The wires which had hitherto been And seam by seam it finally gives way? You know that fate's toboggan has you scheduled for z climb * When you wear your Sunday clothes for every day. . operated for single departments were thrown open to the business of all departments. Those which had been idle for hours at a time were gFiven work to do—work diverted from the Western Union and the Postal Tele- graph companies, with little, if any, | sdditional cost to. the Governmsnt. MONDAY cluck and an audible sneer. Men have been killed for a great deal less. The little fellow, with his little mind, | had beeh waiting all along for this; very thing to ha . and. new that it happened, was elated beyonil mere words. ? % He could cluck derisively, however, and this he procesded 1o dn. 1t was magnificent in its way, a clucking such a8 only a lifetime devoted to scornful thoughts could evolve. The gentleman. while admiring the cluck, was riled by it, just as you or 1 would have been, so succumbed to the herd instinct and replied, *All right, officer, T will be glad to move from this rat-faced fellow then immediately felt sorry ldiot man * ok ox ¥ The gentleman who told me this everyday adventure also related two dditional anecdotes as “take the taste out of his mouth,” as he said It seems that, going down the block in the quiet residential section in which his heme is located, he came across Mary, 3 years old, going on 4. Mary, the daughter of an Army of- ficer, ‘was taken to the West Point graduation exercises recently, and was quite interested in it all, as Army girls alwave are at any age. il the boys like me, mother?” asked Mary. “Why.' what a question’” laughed her mather. “Wait until vou are older, then they will be interested in you.' ‘Don’'t vou think they would like A nice little gir!?" pleaded Ma with tremendous accent on the word “little. ‘Well, when our friend met that afternoon she seemed like an angel from heaven. in contrast 1o the | rat-facd fellow who had clucked at| him. That was the way he put it, like a small angel from heaven. Mary was just donning her first pair of roller skates. Our friend watched her struggle to her feet and | stand there expectantly Nothing happened. of course. and the man wondered why the child did | not make some effort to begin to| learn how to skate. Instead Mary remained looking down at her feet. suddenly bursting into tears. “Boo hoo!" she wailed. “What's the matter, Mary?” ques. tioned the man, hurrying to her side. She peointed accusingly at her skates, “They won't go!" won't go!" Mary she wailed. “They | * ok ok ox All lingering traces of the venom of the clucker left the man in the | contemplation of this tragedy of child- | hood as he explained to the little one | that the skates would not go of them selves, but that she herself must make them go. He then proceeded to his own door- step, let himself in and began 1o read his paper. While engaged in this pleasant duty of a civilized man he was intefrupted by a ring at the door. Opening it, he found a small col- ored boy, who asked for a package that was to go downtown. Upon re turning with it, the man found the boy rolling his eves in pleased aston- | ishment at the furnishings of the | home. | They were just ordinary things in that house—good. but not elaborate— but to that lad they seemed to repre- sent unlimited wealth. “Gee!” breathed the hoy. “Ah bet you-all got a 00" SAM SAVES P. HELM, JR. lectric iron, From January- 1o 'March. inclusive, of the current vear, says Col. Smither, more than 2,000,000 words thus di- verted were handled over the Army wires alone at a saving estimated at $40.000. That was for the War De- partment. During the same time the Veterans' Bureau saved $5,375 in the! same way. the Labor Department $1.800 and the Attorney -Genergl $1.700. 5 Further, under a system of classj- fication riot permitied on the. privately owned lines, -the most ' important messages are given the right of. way over those of ordinary routine. And no message is held over till the next day. When quitting time comes, the detks must be clear. If too much business i& offéered the Government lines, that awhich it cannot handie is diverted to private companies. To facilitate deliveries. the Signal Corps has provided a messenger serv- ice ~at .- Washington operating not slower than every 45 minutes. Having - accomplished this, the money-savers turned to the common- place of routine. By way of con- trast, the next saving recorded con- cerns the deportation of aliens. The money-savers found that these unde- sirables were being sent back to their respective origins by foreign vessels. Sent on American Ships. “The Government owns a merchant marine; why not send them back on American . ships?” they asked the immigration authorities. There was no reason Why: simply nobody had thought about it before. So now all .|sitive to unusual odors. | wary the donof& &0 back under the American wherever that flag en- ters a fo relgn port. Then therg was the littie thing of discounting ‘bills. Here is the indict- ment presented by one of the mone: savers against the Federal Govern- ment in:that. particular: “It was found that many Govern: ment age did not look with fa- vor upon thé ‘adoption of a general policy reguiring a uniform request on all dealers for offers of discounts for prompt payment.” One wonders why; and reads on— “When such offers of discount are made, the General Accounting Office requires explanation for failure to take advantage of them. This makes it necessiary-.to pay the bill promptly or to explain failure to do sg- Prompt payment of bills in mapy bureaus has never been mads,- and it is dificult to do so because the fiscal, administrative and accounting systems are -such that they do not lend themselves to such action. “Any lmm:uemem to pay bills more ly disturbs the office routine of long years' standing. The :n?.b“-h?m othelfloeuu fiscal con- rol syrtems which bills to de paid prompu'f il pre. vidiflg greater busimess ency per. would also, result in sonnel. 5 g the' age-old conflict betwee: vidual worker and eficiency the. ind methods plages itself directly across the road of progress, and, wo far, not much has. accomplished, Walt—just wait—till Mr. finds thdt out! One can imagine the sort of thing he is going to say when he hears that the Government isn't discounting {ts bills because if it aid 8o some of the clerks would lose their jobs! (Copyright. 1925.) e ———— Unanimously Unpopular. From the Bufialo Evening News. - No law. satisfies eVervhody, but Canada's 4.4 statute achieves the unique distinction of satistyjng no- body, according to .a Michigan Con- gressmar. : From the’ Decatur Mefald. ther note: The change il b OESENS. Dorter; SEPTEMBER. 14, 1925. Interesting Facts About the Little White Mouse To the Editor of The Star Most everybody has had some ex perfence with that little rodent known as the common house mouse which infests our cupboards and pantries, but few’ peapie know what service has been rendered to mankind by the Hitle white monse.. It was used ‘to ‘guite an ‘extent’ during the war for the purpose of detecting the presence of dangerous gases in and about the trenches. A large number of them were shipped abroad by the Govern- ment for that purpose. It is known that they were very quick in giving alarm at the approach of noxious gases, for the reason that the olfac- tory nerves were highly developed, hence it is that they are very sen- They were sometimes carried on submarines to detect the escape of ammonia from the tanks and of gas from the electric batteries. It is well known that white mice have sometimes been of service in mining operations, their peculiar actions giving warning of the presence of foul gas. The symp- toms they display on these occasions are usually by frequent squeaking and frantic attempts to bury their noses. The little rodents are much used for experimental purposes, and not long ago the civic branch of the American Red Cross was greatly in need of these little animals, they be- ing particularly adspted to aid in detecting the different stages of pneu monfa, particularly in the Southern cantonments, and a large number were employed in United States- lab- sratories in’ detecting different stages of pneumonia and fevere. Just why the little mouse is preferred to the larger rodents or rats for sclentific research is not stated, but it may be for the reason that this little creaturé requires less food and occupies but little space. They are also more docile and easily handled. While they are very timid and nervous, they can be easily managed by those with whom they are familiar, but ave very in the presence of strangere. * % % x Where 1a¢ white mouse originated has not been definitely determined. They do not, so far as is known, exist in a wild state. They are not freaks of nature as are the white blackbirds; white crows, squirrels, peacocks and other animals, not to mention the so- called white elephant. The white deer has been seen from time to time, but they are rare. These animals are ab- normal and their offspring does not inherit their markings. Albinism may occur in the human race as well as in the animal kingdom, but the white rat and white mouse are in a class by themselves, as their color and traits are transmitted to their young. These \ittle animals are most prolific and produce several litters during the sea- son. The period, of gestation is about four weeks and they produce from seven (o nine little ones at a time. They are unadorned with fur on their first appearance, but in the course of eight davs they are quite covered with white silky hair and their little pink | eves are opened soon after. The white | mouse is an albino throughout. All| their points—the tail, feet and ears— i are pink: their eyes are like little rubies. The buck is somewhat larger than the doe. The latter are capable of producing young when six weeks old but these early offspring are usually weaklings and do_not suryive long. The mouse is at its prime when three months old, and they continue to pro- duce progeny until they are two vears of age. Their longevity is about three years. These little creatures are noc. turnal in their habits. and after dozing all day they come forth at nightfall In search of food. and after having satisfied themselves they become very frolicksome. When feeding they set on their haunches and hold their food with their front paws, after the man- ner of a squirrel. They are really a most_available little_pe! * % ¥ % For some time during the war they were very scarce and hard (o procure, and they demanded quite & high price, but at present many of them can be obtained at a low figure, and prove ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J, HASKIN. Q. What is the cause of the ledves | of meple trees slong Sixteenth street | having a brownish appearance, par- ticularly tha sections nearest the | street?—W. (. A A. While no investizations have been made o determins definitely the cause Of this. it ix believed 1o he due 1o the gasoline and exhaust fume from automobles | Q. Are automoblle accidenis increas. ing or decreasing?—A. A. C. A. During the five months of this year the number of automobile acci- dent fatalities in 148 citles of the jted States was 1487, as compared | with 1,773 for the same period in 1924, | a decrease of 18 per cent. Q. When 4did the catcher on a Mlll team start standing close behind -the | batter?—J. 8. Q. A. During- the season of ‘1880 the catcher was compelled to go up be- hind the bat when a batter had two strikes and the foul-bound-caught ball was done away with, but it was not antil~ 1901 that the catchers in both Jeagues took their places behind the bat when the game began and re-| mained there during the entire com-| test. Q. In it true that after a bee stings it dles?—D. M. & - A. The bee division of the Depart: ment of Agriculture says that honey | Dbees after stinging do dle. though not | always immediately. It is possible for them to live seyeral hours. Q. Where did maraschino cherries originate’—C. A. | A. Maraschino cherries ave made | trom marasea cherries. grown chiefly | in Zara, Dalmatia. They are pre-| served in white honey and clear sirup. | This form of preserving has been used | in central and southern Europe from | very early times. Q. When did Mr_ Matheson write 0 Love That Will Not Let Me Go!"> W. W, H. | A. The clergyman has recorded that | he wrote the<hymn on June 6. 1582 He believed ‘that the work was com:| pleted In fl\" minutes. Q. When avas the Victoria cross in- | stituted?—H. W. A. It dates from January 28, 1856, tion for the also Q. Please give pronunc Straits ‘of “Mackinac,” naw’ City?=E. P. N. A. They are pronounced the same, as if sbelled “Mackina Q. When was Ulster given iis pres ent standing in the British H. O. A. The bill making Ulster a_ sepa rate entitv of the British mpire passed fts third reading in the British Parliament on November 12. 1920, and the King's consent was finally ob tained in December. Q. What is artificial silk, and how is it made’—H. B A. Artificial silk is altogether ferent in it composition and nature from real silk and is only what may | be called an imitation. There are sev- eral varieties of artificial silks, those which are known commercially being composed of matter of vegetable origin, namely cellulose, usuaily that of cotton, such cellulose having been | treated chemically and converted thereby into the form of a solution. The best known varieties are pyrox ¥lin or collodion silks, made from a solution of nitrated cellulose: copper- ammonia silks, made from 2 solution of | cellulose in ammoniacal copper oxide, and viscose silks, made from a solution of thio-carbonate. The viscose process ‘Mackl- | Zmpire?— | ait- | has acquired the first position becase of its lower producdon costs. In the case of all thiese varieties the celluione ution is “spun” by heing forced under pressure through fine jer orifices, cither into_a coagulating Yauid ‘o -into-the dir. Usually, a nunther of the fine Mamante thus pro uced are caused 1o unite 1o form = thread. Threads thus produced aie washed, bleached, dved, etc., stantially as in the manufacture of threads or varns of other materia and also, as the case may be, are c verted into cloth, stockings, ste, weaving, knitting. ete Q. 1x it possible to visit the ranct of the Prince of Wales?—1. D. A. 'The Prince of Wales' ranch ir Canada is in Alberta, 60 miles fron Calgary. It is quite possible tha visitors would be permitied to view the ranth when the prince is not ir residence. A request for permission should be addressed to W. L. Carlyle manager of the E. P. Ranch, nea: High River, Alberta, Canada. Q. 1s there a magazine printéd in Esperanto in this country?—G. S A. A periodical printed in the Esperanto language is the Amerika Esperantisto, 507 Pierce Building Boston 17, Mass. Q. When was Mass., fire”—N. T. A. The fire at curred on June 1914, Approxi mately one-third of the ecity was destroyed and 15,000 people were rendered homeless . the P Salem big Salem Mass.. Q. How many American holv yes: Pilgrims are now in Rome’—H. Y. P A. A conservative estimate places the number at between 5,000 and 5.000 Q. How much Northern capt invested in Florida”—C. T A. Authorftative statistics are no available. It estimated, how ever, that in 1324 the amount of ir vested Northern capital in Florida 1 proximated half a billion dolia: What s light>—N. A. L. A. It i a name given to recent { vention—a ~ four-candlepower lamr | with one green lens, two white ar | two red lenses, 1o be attached to 1he hub of the left front wheel of an 2 tomobile. 1t revolves with the whee | giving a pin-wheel effect, can be see 200 vards away, and, it i claimed | reduces the danger of accidents | night driving against glaring heac | Mghts. | Q Where do the rabbit skins ths | are used in making fur comts come from>—L. T. M A. Australia is the principal source of rabbit skins known in the fur cos trade as “Northern seal.” More tha: $7.000.000 worth of the rabbit skins | were .hrought into the United Stale from Australia during the last 3 Q. a fety clearan (Gen. Robert Lee sain thorough education of people is most eficacious means of promn the prosperity of the Nation.” Thesr words of the distinguished Southern general are none the less trus moi than when he spoke them. Our Wash ington information bureau is oue o the greatest agemcies for the distre bution of free information and edu cationa! data in the world. Its serv ices ars free fo readers of this paper Al you need 1o do is to send tn your query together with 2 cents in stam ps for return postage. Address The Stas Information Bureau. Frederic J. Has- kin. dcirector, Twenty-first and streets northiwes! The the WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Summer breezes at Swampecott have bronzed Calvin Coolidge’s countenance, but not visibly loosened his tongue. As far as the yWashington corre. spondents are concerned, the President is stil “Silent Cal” Probably never since he entered the White House have most_interesting little pets. There is Quite a variety .of fancy mice, the re- 2hd ey ampesrdn. various. colers a they r in various # many being, pleBatd-or skewbald. . Of codirse, these are a.mongrel.type: The go-called Japanese or waltzing mouse is a miost interesting- little creature. It is well established that they are no more Japanese than they are Portu- guese, as they are not confined to any particular country. The original of this breed is stated to have had brain disorder, the result of some peculiar operation, and it has become heriditary. hence their peculiar ac- tions, which are manifested by the continuous whirling about in one place after the manner of the reli- glous fanatics of Turkey, the Mev- levis or Whirling Dervishes. The mouse, while spinning about, remains on all four feet and revolves so rap- idly that it resembles a little ball of fur. They are usually black and white and are somewhat smailer than the white mice. They are very deli- cate and difficult to raise, eat but little and are exceedingly docile and tame. Of recent vears they have be- come quite a rarity. In conclusion it may be said that the singing mouse a misnom their vocal ability is not very exten- sive, and the wheezing sound that they .emit is the result of some affec- tion of the throat, such as asthma, and this peculiar noise, by stretching the imagination, might resemble the singing of a bird. Their respiration is 120 breaths a minute, so the chirps or squeaks given forth by a so-called minging mouse are so freguent that they very much resemble the: chirp- ing or twitter of a bird; ‘It may be here stated that fivere is a certain provision of nature Whereby tértain animals- whose fur or pl be- comes perfectly white during”the Win- ter months in countries where there is & great deal of snow. - This absence in color protects ‘them to some extent from their common enemies. This may he noted in the ermine and the weasel and certain birds of the par- tridge family, for instance, the ptar- migan. FRANKLIN STEELE. Untimely Rémcm})ering. One stll occasionally bears of per- sons suffering from a propaganda hangover who refuse to buy goods made in Germany. That Germany also has cases of like sort we may gather ¥rom the announcement that Roald ‘Amundsen’s former publishers in Mu- n& have declined his latest book be- ‘cause “he severed all connection with the German nation when, during the war, he returned his German decora- tions and resigned his honorary mem- bership in German socleties.” Not un- til_He has made proper amends.for his” offensive behavior, says the pub- lishers, will they consent to publish more of his works. s These are short-sighted publishers, indeed. No doubt Amundsen is heartily ashamed of his action by now; th fact that he is scheduled to deliver a series of lectures in Berlin before com- ing to this country next month sug: gests that l::-:d r:t.u'lum none of the propaganda-bred_ ng it; His former publishers might have helped in the restoration of sanity. by continulng relations with him as. it nothing had. happened. They reopen: the avound by demanding that he apologize—for that seems to be What they expect. It is better that every one of us, realizing to what depths of e cargied by that caused|. local scribes wended their inquisitive way to Mr. Coolidge’s office 80 con- fident of ‘an earful as they did upon the. occasign .of Their first seanve with him on. September 11. But, that oracular -personage known as *‘the White House spokesman” ' ouf- Sphinxed the Sphinx. It was painfully evident (o the newsgatherers that the President’'s celebrated temperament is in full working order. It may look to the outsids Wérld like a sea of troubles that Calyin Coolidge | is navigating. yet by wverv external indication he is afloat on nothing more tempestuous than a mill pond. Things called coal, Shipping’ Board. afrcraft flurries and the Other front-page catastrophes of the moment are pre- sumably not remote from the. Presi- dent’s thoughts. He has simpiy. deter- mined not to let them unduly upset him. It is the Coolidge way * ok ok % Although the President manifested no excitement over the aircraft huila- baloo, the country now Knows that he let no grass grow under his feet be- fore tackling it. The appointment of the board of inquiry is typical of Cool- idge celerity in a crisis. IHis entire career is marked by episodes of that kind—calm _deliberation, then a quick decision, followed by action. It is evi- dence, too, of the President’s political acumen. He has moved promptly in the afrcraft business because he real- izes that Col. Mitchell, right or wrong, has stirred the popular imagination and created a-demand for the facts that is irresistible. . 1t will be difficult to deny Mitchell credit for bringing mat- ters so speedily to a head. But it will not have escaped his notice that the President looks to the revelation of the Alr Service's “'good qualities,” not. its seamy side, as the pal result of the inquiry. There is in that Jan- guage proof of .the administration’s faith that the War and-Navy Depart- ments have fiothing to fear from searching scrutiny of Col. Mitchell's charges. EEE Barring unforeseen contingencies, the country may expect President Coolidge _continuously to keep his hands off the anthracite coal strike, 1t has become a major administra: tion policy to let capital and labor | fight out their own battles. If some | inside history could be revealed there would be evidence aplenty that war- ring industry has learned by experi- ence during the past two years that it must not lay its troubles on the White House doorstep. Mr. Coolidge's refusal to mix up in squabbles like the coal controversy is part and par- cel of his program to have the Gov- ernment mind its own business as far as private enterprisé is concerned. In executive quarters the feeling pre- vails that the anthracite strike will eventually burn itself out through natural causes. The principal one of these is that hard coal is no longer king to the extent it used to be. “By- product” coke, ofl and bituminous coal today comprise a triple alliance of competitiva factors that destrov an- thracite’s once dominating position in the realm of fuel. * ook % Senator Joseph T. Robinson a; of nate,‘is another v ngreskional d'flu;;%fl ‘heen Fdoing” Hui this Summer. | He widll return to Washington next week. . The . battling commander of the minority forces is one of his _pargy's_representatives on the for- eign- relations committes of ‘the Sen. went ¢ b. worry-proof |. nags, Democratic leader in. ths|libraries and historical socleties | Court, the debts and the Lausanne treaty are in the limelight on Cap itol Hill Senator Robimson is ex pected to lead the Democrats in val fant support of the Coolldge admin istration on the World Court project The lacter cannot be ratified without Democratic votes. With the excep tion of Reed of Missouri. Robinson counts upon a virtually solfd phalanx of Demoerats for the court. Before discussion ends thev're likely to take plenty of shots at the Republican bréthren Who refuse to accept Cool idge lradership on the proposition Herhert rhas water on the brain hese It's the turgid ers cemprising the socalled “Missis sippi complex t engross the ai tentic 1 of the Seecrefary of Commerce How to make the issippi, Mi< souri, Ohio, Tllinois and Chicag« Rivers profitable in a navigable sense s the problem on which Hoover concentrating. On October 19 he will expcund some views on the subjec at & greal public meeting arrange for tie purpose at .Kamsas Cit | The Southwestern metropolis, long throbbing railway centér, is now chiefly concerned with waterwa: < improvement, and with the develon ment of the neglected Missouri Rive in pacticular. Kansas City is “Jim Reed's home town. Hoover is Reed s pet aversion. But the handy man of the cabinet will mot’ take a bod: Byard with him to the Kaw countrs Dext, month. * %ok % The Navy thirsts for the echance to-go to'the mat with Col. Mitchell on his charge.that the Shenandoah wreck, the Arctic.airplane flight and the FN.9Hawaiian expedition prove the “incapacity” of the Naval AD Service. 'In brief, the Navy's retort to the allegation is (1) thatghe Shen andosh disastsr was mnoth bt wha' Is known professionally s A “casualty of service,” such as will iney1ably occur despite the most elaborate précautionary measures; (2) that the Arctic flight was far re moved from a failure, because it will presently be disclosed that Comdr. IByrd and his planes made researches in the unexplored reaches of the North that will prove to be of in éstimable value, and (3) that Comdr Ro(gers’ heroic exploit has demon strated the diffculties an enemy wonld “encounter in trying to nse Hawzii as & base fiom whith to a1 tack our Pacific coast by airplane Comdr. Rodgers himself will prob ably have a thing or two to say to Col. Mitchell about the “‘failure’ of the Hawaiian flight when the time comes. * ¥ % x Charles F. Jenkins, piblisher of ths Farm Journal at Philadelphia and ‘one of ‘the foremost autograph collectors in the country, has just published a brochure on “The Com- plated - Sets of the Signers of the Daclaration of Independence.” He exumerates 49 authentis collec tions of -these -immortal “John Han c¢cks.” One is in possession af the Library -of Congress, the gift of the late J. Pierpont Morgan, sr., who wrote to President Taft in 1912 that " learned with chagrin and regre that our national lbrary does not own complete set of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The New York Public Library has 4 complete sets, the Historical So- ciety of Pennsylvania 3, olhv-"v' and individual collectors the balance ot the-sets extant. -Mr. Jenkins com pieted his own; set in December, 1924, The .autograph of Button Gwinneti. one " of . Georgia's three ‘signers fotched $14,000 at a sale in Phila dslphja last November—§1,000 = for letter ‘in his namve, 'registering 4 mfi.&; w;h & value of