Evening Star Newspaper, September 20, 1925, Page 42

2 HE EVENING STAR| With Sunday Morniag Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. SUNDAY. ... .September 20, 1925 THEODORE W. NOYES...Editor| The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office 11th St. and Pennsvivania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 43nd St. Europeun Office:.- 16 Regent St.. London. England. The Evening Star. with the Sunday mom- ing edition. s deliverad by carriers’ within ha City at 60 cents per month: daily only. 357 cents “her month: Sunday only. 20 cen Tor Tonth. - Onders may be sent by mail or Telenhene Main 5000. Collsction ia made by carrier at the end of each month Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Dailr and Sunday....1yr. $840:1 Daily only 151 $6.00 Sunday onls 1518240 mo.. 70¢ mo’. All Other States. Daily and Sunday....1 ¥r..$10.00 ¥ only : 131 $7.00 Sunday only 1 00 mo. mo. mo. Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news d Patches credited to it or not otherwiss cr ited in this paper and also the local news Dublished herein. Al rights of publication of special dicpatches herein are also reserved. We Must Have Good Streets. The Star is irrevocably determined that the streets of the National Capi tal must be at least as good as, if not better than, the streets of any city or State in the Union, and that these streets must be constantly maintained in first-class condition. The Star wel- comes and solicits the co-operation of all civic leaders and organizations, business men and their associations in a persistent drive on the municipal of- ficials and the Federal authorities, in- cluding the Budget Bureau and Con- gress, until this purpose is achieved. During the past week The Star has published a series of articles, based on months of investigation and con ference with the best authorities, showing in a logical and systematic way just what the conditions are re- marding the streets of the Nation's Capital largely because repair work was 5o long held up. during and after the war. Today The Star prints the concluding article in this series, sum- marlzing the principal things to be done to correct the situation. These articles have shown (1) that a large majority of our streets are “outlawed” by age, worn out, having been in use up to a scoré of years be- yond the normal life of streets of similar construction; (2) that periodi- cally a strain comes on our streets, which must cause serious deteriora- tion, so that “the worst is yet to come"; (3) that there is a bitter con- troversy as to whether the best sur- facing material is being used; (4) that heretafore very serious damage to the streets, which shortens their life and causes incalculable loss to business men and to owners of trucks, automo- biles and other vehicles and unneces- sary inconvenience to all residents of the city, has been inflicted by the in- efficient way in which heavy snow- storms have been allowed to block our streets; (5) that, while the gasoline tax fund has been used to resurface some twenty of the principally traveled thoroughfares, Washington is still more than 750,000 square yards of re- surfacing in arrears, most of which should have been done years ago, and ith a constantly increasing area of | street surface, due to the intensive home building since the war. In outlining today the program that must be followed to bring the streets of the Capital City into proper condi- tion, The Star points out: (1) That in building new streets and in rebuilding unimproved streets they must be built strong enough to stand the strain of modern traffic, with the heavy legal axle load; (2) that as rapidly as pos- sible we must catch up on our ac- cumulated deficiency of resurfacing, the total cost of which, if done right now, would be upward of $3,000,000, | and (3) that we must continue on an increasingly large scale the widening and repaving of our principal business and thoroughfare streets, to make them large enough and strong enough to meet the tremendous increase in volume apd strain of present-day traffic. Particular emphasis is given to the need for a more sensible and efficient method of keeping our streets open Quring and after a heavy snowstorm, in the interests of economy, public service and preserving the integrity of our street structure. Heretofore the District officlals in charge of this work have stressed the minor and more expensive task of removing the snow after it has fallen and piled up rather than the relatively inexpensive duty of keeping the roads “broke™ for traffic. There are two distinct phases of the street problem caused by a blizzard in Washington: (1) Plowing the snow to- ward the gutters as it falls so as to al- low traffic to move, and (2) getting rid of the piled-up snow after a storm. The Star stresses the importance of the former, while the District officials have heretofore devoted themselves almost exclusively to the latter. Scrapers to be attached to heavy trucks cost very little, and the Dis- trict, with Winter coming on, and with an average of three to six snow- storms a Winter, ought to have on hand a sufficient number of these scrapers. Last year there were 20, and this year there are 22, while a committee of business men and Dis- trict officials, called together by the Engineer Commissioner, recommend- ed after an extensive study that there ought to be at least 35 plows ready for work. This is an illustration of the short-sighted economy that re- sults in larger eventual expenditure. Now is the time to be preparing for the Winter storms. The Star urges every citizen, and District officlal, and member of Con- gress to read this series of articles, and then to help The Star in its cam- paign to get good streets, efficiently maintained, which are so urgently needsd here to meet modern traffic conditions. Reopening of the Schools. system will be seriously taxed. There will be many classes overcrowding the classrooms. There will be bulldings filled to overflowing. There will be need of half-time and platoon-system class arrangements. In short, with the smallest enrollment possible the schools will be congested and the work done in them will be lessened in value. Work is under way for the relief of this condition. New bulildings are being erected, additional ones are being planned, under a system of ap- propriations for a long-term series of constructions which, if carried out consistently and uninterruptedly, will in a few years catch up with the ar- rears and give the District for the first time in its school history an ade- quate public instruction equipment. Despite these conditions the public schools of the District have done and are doing good work. Whereas few years ago there was a serious shortage of teachers, owing. in part, to the war requirements, now this lack has been supplied. The schools are amply and capably manned. The standard of efficiency is high. This school vear will find the | schools better supplied with text | books. Obsolete hooks, rendered so by the changes incident to the war, will be replaced. The children will no longer be required to study about con- ditlons that have materially changed since the publication of the texts. The administration of the school system is in excellent hands. The school affairs are conducted capably and with less friction at present than for some time past. The teaching body is harmonious. No unfavorable repercussions of disputes and quar- rels over methods and practices at- fect the children in the classrooms. Taken altogther, with increased building equipment and with an ade- quate teaching force, the District's public educational system should in the yvear to come render the greatest service to the community in its his. tory. et The Press and National Interests. The American press should stand for America first. This in a nutshell is the view of the White House with reference to the attitude of the press In the coming delicate negotia- tions of the French war debt to this country. It is a pardonable hope on the part of the administration that partisan politics will be laid aside for a brief moment in dealing with a matter of so great importance to the entire Nation as the funding of the French debt. It may be too much to expect some op- ponents of the administration not to picture it as a Shylock in dealing with France, or to expect some other op- ponents to fail to denounce the ad- ministration as weak-kneed and too lenient. The hope felt with regard to the American press might with jus tice be expressed with regard to mem- bers of Congress during this period of negotiation. Doubtless those who have their country’s interest at heart will abstain from critical comment of the manner in which the American com- mission, representative of the admin- istration, handles the matter. Criti- cism of the American attitude can only give comfort to the critics abroad and perhaps encourage an opposition to the settlement of the debt problem in accordance with the principles deemed fair and just by President Coolidge and his advisers. How many American statesmen and newspapers have declared that Amerl- cans should stand united at the water's edge; that partisanship should be abandoned in dealing with interna- tional questions? And how many have falled to live up to such doctrine? Their number is confined by no means to any one political party. In the end Congress must pass upon the agreements made by the adminis- tration with France, Italy and other foreign debtors of the United States. Congress would be a unit in approv- ing the agreements so entered into. If there fs justifiable‘criticism it should be made when the debt settlements are before Congress for action. But in the period of negotiation, which is in commission created by handle the debt funding, it is not too much to expect that Americans will stand back of their Government. —ar—— Sir Arthur Conan Doyle says that sp! catastrophe soon to befall humanity as a punishment for its sins. Hereto- fore Sherlock Holmes has solved mys- teries after the event, never pro- pounded them. ———— That puzzling problem Iin mental sporting arithmetic, “If Washington wins so many games more, how many must Philadelphia win to capture the pennant?”’ will soon be reduced to comparatively easy terms. e Airplane explorers report tropical valleys in northern British Columbia. Now it is in order to locate a Summer resort somewhere on the Amazon. s From Abd-el-Krim. Desertions Things are going rather badly for Abd-el-Krim, chief of the fighting Rif- flans. The joint French and Spanish military operations are forcing back his lines and threatening to put him in a “pocket.”” While he still has con- siderable area in which to maneuver, he is beginning to be cramped. But his chief trouble comes from the fact that wholesale desertions are occur- ring, entire tribes going over to the French army. The religious frenzy of one of the most fanatical of the tribes, the Beni Zerouales, has sub- sided, and a delegation has just opened dealings for an unconditional surrender to the French. The Beni Zerouales, it seems, have not had enough to eat under Abd-el-Krim, and they have decided that the pros- pect of three square meals a day is better than the possibility of a future land of independence and plenty. Other desertions have occurred, more than balancing those that took place in the other direction earlier in the Tomorrow the District public schools will reopen, with a total attendance, at the outeet, it is estimated, of over 60,000, Soon this number will in- crease, as late comers enter. At 60,000, however, the facilities of“te.school| campaign. These Moorish tribesmen, it would seem, are fickle in their loyalty, When Gen. Lyautey opened the war against the Riffs he was greatly troubled by a steady move- ment over to Abd-el-Krim, whose emis- It would be too much to expect that | the hands of the President and the | Congress to | s send him warning of a great | THE SUNDAY saries were busy in the French ranks telling tempting tales of assured Rif- flan success and rich rewards for those who joined the standard of re- volt. Now the tribesmen are coming back. If late reports are correct, Abd- el-Krim is in a serious strait. He is surrounded by European soldiers of fortune of various nationalities, who are encouraging him to continue the war and deluding him as to his pros- pect of success. It would seem as though France and Spain have “turned the corner” in the African contest, ——e—s Saklatvala and the Law. President Coolidge makes it clear that he regards that the law which prohibits the entrance of persons into the United States holding incendiary and subversive views in regard to government applies to all, whether they are applicants for admission as potential citizens of this country or as tourists, or unofficlal delegates to conventions. The law is plain, and it {as plainly applies to the exclusion of | Shapurji Saklatvala as to any other Inasmuch as Saklatvala was not in- vited to come to the United States he had no right of entrance if this Gov- ernment regarded him as in the cate- gory of undesirable visitors. His re- ported and undenied language in pub- lic utterances, whether it referred to conditions in India specifically or not, has been certainly of a character to classify him as a revolutionary, an in- ternatjonal Communist. He virtually said that he was coming to the United States as a friend of the workers to advocate a ‘“‘workers' revolution.” That is all there is to the case. Sym- pathy for Saklatvala is misplaced and unwarranted. So long as the law reads as it does, no other course is possible than to exclude all such people as this incendiary. Gre—sdi L The Fine Arts Commission objects to the proposed side trolley poles on Connecticut avenue as “ugly.” To this all will agree, whatever the de- sign. The only attractive pole of. this character is one that is being per- manently removed. — eore——— Publication of Washington's twenty- five eligibles for the world series games ought to quiet the apprehen- sions of the doubters who hold that “there is no telling what will happen in base ball until the last man is out." e — For the present the public must be content with watching the aircraft investigators entering and leaving their meeting place. The later pro- ceedings will be more diverting. —_————— It took a Chicago jury nine hours to return a verdict of murder against the hotel robber-slayers whose guilt was admitted. The insanity complex is still troublesome there. o e Efforts to prolong the straw-hat period will probably soon be nullified by the weather. Men have no such liberty of costume as their Summer- tur-wearing sisters. Gen. Butler promises to wind up his career as director- of public safety “with a roar,” just to give the old town reason to remember him. e — Young Mr. La Follette demonstrates that he is quite as good in a political sprint as his father used to be. oo SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Practical Assistance. “Do you think that Greek has much value in modern education?” “Certainly,” answered the young man with a college hat; “the Greek alphabet enables a man to know what trat he belongs to.” Measurement. “Why do vou insist on regarding yourself as only half educated?” “Because,” answered the modest man, “I have read only two-and-a-half {feat of my five-foot bookshelf.” Character Reading. ““What makes you so sure that man |18 naturally cautious and diplomatic?"” ““The fact that whenever I offer him a cigar he puts it in his pocket and says he will smoke it after dinner.” Prelude to Long Silence. “I wish Mra. Flimgilt wouldn’t talk 80 much during a game of bridge whist.” “You can’t blame her for making the most of her opportunities,” an- swered Miss Cavenne. “The chances are that none of the plavers will be on speaking terms after the game is over.” Reduced Value. “Why do they say talk is cheap?” “‘Probably because the most loqua- cious people usually get their ideas second hand.” The Peacemaker’s Experience. He tried to pour ofl on the wat nor balked At the prospect of infinite toil, ‘When along came some people who carelessly talked And calmly set fire to the ofl. Solicltude. “Cherlie, dear,” saild young Mrs. Torkins, “you must stop worrying about household details. “What's the trouble now?" “You were talking In your sleep again last night. Every once in a while you would use some expletive and say, ‘Gimme some more chips.’ You really must get your mind off the woodpile.” The Long Story. Life is a story, so they say. A chapter grave, a chapter gay; It moves through acenes of shine and storm, Of chilling grief or laughter warm. Night brings a pause. The pages close. Expectancy yields to repose, A phrase familiar haits the text— ‘To e continued in our next.” An endless chronicle and strange! Each follows the mysterious change Of passing time and knows that he A figure in the plot must be. And as the swift years alip away Something within him seems to say “This tale so varied and perplexed Will be ‘continued in our megt.’* STAR, WASHINGTO D. C., SEPTEMBER 20, EVERYDAY RELIGION BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES E. FREEMAN, D. D, Bishop of Il Kings, vil-2. “And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, ‘Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell' And he an- swered, ‘Go ye.'" rogress Through Oblivion of the Past” s the title of a sermon by a great English preacher. Progress through dissatistaction with things as they are or have been is a theme that may readily engage our deep interest at this time. One of the most dan- gerous maxims, all too popular at times, is “Let well enough alone.” Many a man or woman from want of ambition or the will to work has jus- tified himself by this rule. The world's progress has been inevitably registered by those who would not let well enough alone. The above passage deals with a very interesting incident that is quite il lustrative of what we have in mind. The young sons of the prophets had evidently grown restive under the conditions imposed by environing cir- cumstances. There was no dissatis- faction with their leader, but the spirit of adventure and a desire for expan- slon had laid hold of them. Coming to the great prophet, Elisha, they de- clared, “'Behold, now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.” They further demanded that they be permitted to migrate to what they conceived to be a broader field in which they might dwell and carry forward their plans and work out their ideals. The wisdom of their leader is evident in that he immedi- ately acceded to their demands, but furthermore, in response to thelr ur- gent appeal,” he expressed his willing- ness to accompany them. It is inter. esting'to note that these young men not only sought a new field of oper- atlon, but that each one severally of- fered to contribute his part to the setting up of their new home. Here, In a story utterly remote in time and place, 1s an expression of the whole- some restlessness or dissatisfaction of youth All forward movements, and indeed all progress, have been characterized by this spirit. To repress it may issue In failure and disaster; to give it rea- sonable encouragement may mean the ushering In of a new era with all its accompanying benefits. We find this illustrated in the life of peoples as well as of individuals. The progres- sive nations of the world have not been static. Their advance has been marked by wholesome dissatisfaction and a determination to effect better conditions. Only within our genera- tion have we witnessed the awaken. ing of the Orient. China for centuries walled herself in from the rest of the world. The progress and inventive genius of the Western World made no impression upon her. Her internal life was wholly insular and her insti- Washington. tutions were backward and out of step with the new age of progress. Both China and Japan have emerged from their restricted and insular life and hold conspicuous places today in the councll of nations. Our post-war period has been marked bv more unrest and dissatisfaction than any other period in our genera- tion. There are those who look on these new signs with concern and arm. They seem to fear that the old landmarks are to be effaced and the foundations themselves to be de- stroyed. We do not belleve this to be true. The great Master himself was essentlally a progressive in thought and action. The constituted authori- ties of His age repelled-and ultimately crucified Him. They regarded Him as an Innovator, possibly as a revolu- tionist. He quickly saw the shallow- ness of their convictions and the pur- poselessneas of their methods. His first public act was to cleanse the sa- cred precincts of practices that long and prevailing custom had sanctioned. He inveighed against a system of re- ligion that made clean the outside, but within was full of all manner of un- cleanness. So marked was His influ- ence upon His disciples that their crit- ics said concerning them: “They that have turned the world upside down have come hither also.” There was nothing in the teachings of Christ that upheld a provincial or insular habit of life. He dia not speak merely to His own age and people, but to every age and every people. The mighty system He taught, uniike other notable religious systems, was neither ethnic nor tribal. Judged By human standards, He was not a con- servative. In an age such %s the present, that {s marked by unrest and dissatisfac- tion on every hand, the church as an institution cannot remain static. The teachings of Jesus have lost none of their power of appeal. Men are more deeplv interested in His personality and His ideals of life than they have ever been. Perhaps they are not as much interested in matters of church polity or the conceits of denomina- tionalism. They certainly are not in- terested In substitutes for the Chris- tian religion or the abstract theorles of theologians. The church as well as the individual must exemplify belief through practice. Individually and collectively the members of the Chris- tlan community must give to an eager age a practical demonstration of the falth that is in them. If there is need of revising methods to meet the de- mands of a restless age, or If some of our systems seem to be out of touch with the conditions of modern life, then it is time for the declara- tion to go forth, “The place where we dwell is too strait for us.” Let it be sald with deep conviction neither big- otry nor intolerance, nor vet insularity or proud conceit, can contribute to the solution of the mighty problems that confront us. (Copyright, 1925.) OLD TORNGAK’S KINGDOM BY FREDERI Old Torngak, evil fiend of the Arctic wastes, who sits at the Pole radiating malice, and whose breath is sald to extinguish the aurora, again has suc- ceeded in repulsing those who would invade his domain. The peoples from the South in recent vears have made serious inroads into his silent empire and they have penetrated even to his very citadel, but he still guards a secret, guards it jealously with all the resources at his command, and thus far no one has been able to dislodge him from his position. Sitting atop the world, Old Torngak has drawn a line about a vast expanse, and the foot of man or the keel of ship has never crossed it. Between Lands End, that barren point at the mouth of Nansen Sound, and the Siberian mainland lle 1,625 miles. Across this expanse is an un- known, a vold, silent and mocking. that constitutes Old Torngak’s king- dom. From Alaska toward Spitz- bergen, running past the Pole on the Asian side, its distance is 1,400 mijes, while crossing in the opposite direc- tion the distance s 1,000 miles. What is there, no one knows. Its mystery is swallowed up in a sea, stranger and more silent than that upon which the bark of the Anclent Mariner sud- denly burst. “He heard of a new land far to the north, and rest was not his until he saw it,” says the Eskimos. Their traditions tell of a fabled land. At Point Barrow they tell that their fore- fathers many years ago were blown northward on ice broken up by a southerly gale and arrived, after many nights, at a hilly country inhabited by people like themselves, speaking their language, by whom they were kindly received.” Their stay was long, but they finally returned one Spring in which the ice remained without move- ment, and they never went back, for the way was perilous and long and they were afraid of Old Torngak. This tradition was first reported by a surgeon attached to the ship Plover, exploring the Arctic in 1832. He talked to the Eskimos along the Alaskan coast, especially at Point Bar- row, and, heard it from them. The Plover tHen set out to verify it, but was held back by great pressure ridges and all the other obstacles which Old Torngak throws in the way of intruders. An obscure indication of land to the north, however, was actu- ally perceived from the thead of the ship. Others Who Saw the Land. Again, in 1850, Capt. McClure, when off the northern' coast of Alaska, wrote in his journal that, judging from the character of the ice and the “light, shady tint in the sky.” there must be land to the north of him. And in the 70s Capt. John Kienan, in command of the whaling bark Stamboul, was startled to see land to the north. He could not in- vestigate, however, as he was not prepared with supplies and fuel for an_exploring trip. The legend persisted and in 1894 there appeared in the National Geo- graphic Magazine an article by Mar- cus Baker entitled “An Undiscovered Island Off the Northern Coast of Alaska.” It told of the fabled con- tinent that lay in the unknown sea, saying, “It is often told that natives, wintering between Harrison and Camden Bays, have seen land to the north in the bright clear days of Spring."” Then in 1906 Admiral Peary made his famous dash to the Pole. He penetrated Old Torngak’s citadel, but he retreated from the north with his imagination fired with something else he had seen. 'He was standing at Cape Thomas Hubbard, most northern point of Axel Heiberg Land, which comprises the left bank of Nansen Sound. There three peaks rear their majestic heights and gaze out at the unknown sea. From the topmost of these the famous explorer saw a dis- tant country lying to the northwest. He first perceived it with his naked eye and then, looking through his binoculars, he brought it closer, “I saw the snow-clad summits of a distant land in the northwest above the ice horizon,” he says in his book. He had previously seen it {rom Cape Colgate, on the other side of Nansen Sound, when standing 2,000 feet above the sea level. He fixed its location at 100 degrees west and 83 degrees north, or about 125 miles from Cape Thomas Hubbard, and he named it Crocker Land, {n honor of gmn Crocker of the Peary Arctic [ul C J. HASKIN Peary returned disappointed at not being able to visit this magnificent land of huge mountains, great val- leys and plains, and in 1911 Dr. R. A. Harrls, tidal expert of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, added his statement that Crocker Land was the eastern edge of a great land area, or archipelago, lying north of western America and eastern Si- berla. This appeared in the mono- graph, Arctic Tides, and was based upon certain phenomena. in the tides of the region which indicated the presence of a great land mass. It remained for others to complete Peary's work. George Borup and Donald B. MacMillan, both of whom cessful trip to the Pole, volunteered to Investigate. Their proposition was accepted, but Borup never took the journey. He was drowned in April, 1912, when the canoe in which he was riding capsized near Crescent Beach, Conn. But MacMillan went ahead. He led an expedition into the North to invade Old Torngak’s realm and find out what he was hiding. He scaled the precipitous heights of Axel Hel- berg Land, and, in company with Ensign Fitzhugh Green and two Es- kimos, set out across the frozen sea In quest of the mystery land. For some time they saw nothing. Then one morning, with the sun shining brilliantly, Green appeared at the | door of the Igloo in a breathless ‘!lile and excitedly shouted tha: | had it. Running to the door, MacMil- |lan saw the mystery continent. There it lay, snow-capped peaks crowning tremendous ranges, huge canyons and valleys incising magnifi- cent mountains. Jubilantly MacMil- lan turned to one of the Eskimos, whose inscrutable countenance had not changed, and asked which head- land they should try to reach. The native smiled, turned to his chief and said, “Poojok” (mist). The Land Dimmed From View. The other was equally indifferent, but the two white men hurried forward. Then a strange thing hap- pened. The land changed. The farther they went the dimmer it be- came, until it finally faded into the boundless waste of the unknown sea. ‘They went on, but the same silence and vold greeted them. Then they turned back. They reached Cape Thomas Hubbard in May, 1914, one day before the great sea became a hideous chaos of grinding, crashing ice. They had been 152 miles, 27 more than Peary had estimated. But the sea had not given up its secret, and, looking back, MacMillan again saw the great peaks and ranges, mag- nificently rising out of the wastes, mockingly alluring, but as far away as_ever. He returned and declared it a mirage. But where there is a mirage there must be land. What lay beyond the point where he had gone? What caused the mirage? Those great peaks must have substance some- ‘where. The airplane came forward as a means of answering the question, so MacMillan again turned northward in quest of the mystery continent. The planes he had were of a 700- mile crulsing radius, which would permit them to go 360 miles over the unknown sea, 200 farther than he had gone before. But again Old Torngak threw him back, this time before he had reached Axel Heiberg Land. The weather was terrible, the worst Summer ever known in the Arctic. A great fog descended from the North and shrouded the unchart- ed peaks of Axel Heiberg. To pene- trate it without knowledge of -them was suicide, so again MacMillan turned back. ;{e'ru on his way home now and Ol ‘orngak still sits supreme in his citadel, guarding his secret. The Universal Provider. From the Duluth Herald. The only man who really needs to know a little about everything is a buyer for a drug store. Dig for Them. From the San Antonio Evening Ne 1t would ‘seem that New York citi- :;I.Il ;ih:u!d lmx.w ;ty this time that o WAy more subways 1s to dig for them. had accompanted Peary on his suc- | they | 1925 PART Capital Sidelights Now that the Interparliamentary Union, which meets in the Capitol next month, is expected to ask Presi- dent Coolidge to call a conference for the codification of international law, ‘we are again reminded that a very valuable work of codification of ail the Federal statutes was completed several years ago, and only awaits final action by Congre: This codifi- cation, which represents years of very earnest labor, is already in type, the bill having been drafted In sich a way that the costs.of turning out the vol- umes when once the legislation was enacted would be reduced to an in- finitesimal minimum. This codification was made under the personal direction of the late Rep- resentative Edward C. Little of Kan- sas, who died broken in spirit because he considered this the crowning labor of his life and suffered keenly when the delinquent tactics of one Senator frustrated his endeavors. He was ear- nestly supported by Representative R. Waiton Moore of Virginia, the rank- ing Democrat on the committee, him- self an able lawyer, who repeatedly emphasized the value of this book to the legal profession. Before we lead the world in codifi- cation of the laws of the natlons it would not seem inappropriate to first issue this codification of our own laws, especially since practically all of the work has been done. * X oK ¥ On the 138th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution by 12 States. Representative John Philip Hill of Maryland, “wet” leader in the House, in a speech at Columbus, Nebr., reminded us of one of the fore- fathers of the Republic, Caesar Rod- ney, whose statue adorns the green in Dover, Del., but whom we are in- clined these days to overlook. A forebear of Representative Hill, Judge Ridgely, was Caesar Rodney's guard- ian after the early death of his par- ents. As pertinent to the occasion, on the birthday of our Constitution, which he describes as “the Declaration of Inde- pendence in action,” Representative Hill recalled that: “In 1826 Charles Carroll of Carroll- ton, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, said: ‘I do hereby recommend to the present and to the future generations the principles of that important document as the best earthly inheritance their ancestors could bequeath to them, and pray that the civil and religious liber- ties they have secured to my country may be perpetuated to the remotest posterity and extended to the whole family of man.’ “The first State that ratified the Constitution was Delaware. I know what the Declaration of Independence meant to the men of 1776 in Delaware. Senator Bayard sald in 1889: ‘May not we of Delaware, descendants of the Blue Hen's chickens of the Revo- lution, afford to smile at, sneer at, or Jest at, our scanty area and popula- tion, and say, “Our best crop is men, men like Caesar Rodney?" It was Caesar Rodney who cast the deciding vote for the Declaration of Independence, signed 150 years ago next July 4. As signer of the Decla- ration as general in the Revolutionary Armies, as Governor of Delaware and as Senator of the United States, he personified the vitality of the Consti- tution. 92 * ok % Radio has not vet replaced the wire in the collection of weather reports by Uncle Sam’s prognosticators, al- though its use in the last few years has made such rapid advance. In Europe, however, radio has almost completely replaced wire telegraphy In collection of weather data. The radio station on the Eiffel Tower in Parls sends out messages containing data for the whole of Europe and northern Africa and re- ports received by radfo from the United States Weather Bureau, which carry the results of observations made over the greater part of the North American continent, including Alaska as well as from ships in the western part of the Atlantic. While the United States Weather Bureau still uses the very efficlent wire service from the telegraph com- panies in collecting weather reports from’ domestic points and in exchange- ing reports with Canada and Mexico, yet it receives by radio weather re- ports from Europe, the Far East, many remote places in high altitudes, and from a large number of ships at sea. * x x The youth of our land goes march- ing to school these days well shod and leaving more numerous foot- prints on the sands of time than pre. viously, arcording to some interesting statistics compiled b; B. Butman. chief of the Boot and o the Department of Commerce. While the United States this year has had a general increase of 3.2 per cent in shoe production, it took 9.9 per cent increase to meet the demands of voung America for good leather “kicks.” But at that the boys are not able to hold the pace set by their jazz- crazed flapper sisters, for Mr. Butman finds that it required an increase of 21.3 per cent to supply enough satin and other fancy dancing slippers to keep the “female of the species” sup- plied. * ok x * Uncle Sam has turned poet, with Dr. W. M. Jardine, Secretary of Agri- culture and formerly college profes- sor, as patron of the muse. To movie audiences in the Depart- ment of Agriculture’s educational campaign, he presents “The Modern Pled Piper,” saying: “I am a foe of noxious things— Of the pest that wastes and the pest that stings; Of worm or weevil, rat or viper— In short, the up-to-date Pied Piper.” * k x % President Coolidge, beset with ad- vice and urgings in reappointments to official positions, commonly known as ‘“presidential patronage,” has had visual proof furnished him by Rep- resentative Maurice H. Thatcher of Kentucky that at the very beginning of the Republic this same problem proved a difficult one. Representative Thatcher gave Pres- ident Coolidge a photostat copy of a letter written by George Washington on May 5, 1789, five days after his first inauguration as President of the United States, to Edward Rutledge of Charleston, S. C. In the letter Wash- ington writes that—“from a system which I have prescribed to myself I can say nothing decisive on particu- lar appointment yet I may be al- lowed to observe in general that nothing could be more agreeable to me than to have one -candidate brought forward for every office of such clear pretensions as to secure him against competition.” This sentiment, no doubt, has been prayerfully breathed by every Amer- ican President from Washington's time to this tflod]‘K n hour. * % The congressional law carpenters are again whetting their hatchets for a few more attempts to shape up legislation that will give relief to the farmers. Representative Israel M. Foster of Ohio rises to the occasion, remarking that “ there is a dealer or distributing population of more than 19,000,000 lving—not only living, but 08 the country's feiming. pomtiasian of the country's ng population of 34,000,000, e “Stated in another way, this means that on the back of every one and three-fourths of the farming popula- tion of the Nation there is one dealer or distributor of a farmer's products. It has not been lon&lmn every citi- zen or subject in rope had a - War o relieve Burope ot thiy cr ar_to eve BEurope this crush- ing burden. Let hoe Division | MEN AND AFFAIRS BY ROBERT T. SMALL. ‘Washington already is feeling the influx of the statesmen, getting ready for the big show on Capitol Hill, which opens the first Monday in De- cember. The fact that the national legislative curtain does not rise for another two months and a half is no deterrent to the incoming Representa- tives and Senators. All of which leads naturally to a consideration of the question as to why Representatives and Senators leave home. The reasons are many and varied. Some come back to Wash- ington early each year to put the chil- dren in school. Washington is more like home to many of the solons than thelr own towns and bamlets. Some own their own houses here; othe maintain their homes and apartments on an all-year basis. There was noth- ing like that in the olden days. Most Senators and Representatives, who have been in public life any length of time at all, like the limelight which plays about Washington. They like the social gayeties of the Capital. They like their nice mahogany offices in the white marble office buildings which flank the Capitol at each end. Pennsylvania avenue is far more en- ticing and intriguing than Main street. Still there are other reasons, and one western member of the House has very frankly stated to the writer why he left home at this time. “There are a lot of petty political squabbles going on out my way,” he said, “and as I didn't want to get mixed up in any of them I thought it best that I should have pressing busi- ness in Washington. They would all be coming to me as an arbiter and I'd be sure to offend some of the squab- blers. Life in Washington is far more calm and peaceful than out on the prairfes. Would you like to make a fourth at bridge this afternoon?"” * % x % Among the first of the Senators on the scene, as always, is Reed Smoot of Utah. Being a Senator is more of a business to Reed Smoot than to any of his fellow solons, although there are plenty of other hard workers. When the late Senator Aldrich of Rhode Island was chairman of the Senate finance committee he was re- ferred to nearly always as general manager of the United States. Sena- tor Smoot is now chairman of that committee, and while he is not so spec- tacular as Mr. Aldrich, not so master- ful in his manner, he is “‘general man- ager” of a far bigger concern than Senator Aldrich ever dreamed of. Taxation and financial problems of the Aldrich days were simple as the A B C's compared to the equations which must be met and solved today. Mr. Aldrich was a pre-war general manager. Senator Smoot is a post- war G. M., with a thousand more in- tricacies on his hand. Even the tarift of the Aldrich days was not quite so perplexing as that of the present mo- ment. The coming session will be a hard one for Senator Smoot. Tax reduc- tion is coming. The tariff will be up for discussion, If not for actual tinker- ing. Senator Smoot is at his office at 8 o'clock in the morning, a whole hour before the hard-worked depart- ment clerks report for duty. The clerks are off at 4:30. Senator Smoot often works until far into the night. Last session the work almost got the better of the gentleman from Utah. He missed a_complete break- down only by an eyelash. He has re- turned to Washington, however, seemingly fully restored to health and ready for the long grind which is to come. * koK ¥ Senator Borah of Idaho also is early on the scene. He, too, is a hard worker, but of a different type from Smoot.” The latter's work is largely within the committee room. Senator Borah's best efforts are on the floor of the Senate, where his oratory car ries him far. Senator Borah is cheered on by the plaudits of the people. His forensic appeal is strong, even where logic does not always follow in the wake of rhetorical splendor. Senator Smoot seldom struts the stage. He is a quiet worker behind the scenes. The Senate is but another evidence that in this life every man eventually finds his own niche. There are 96 varfeties in togaland—and there are 95 Senators. * X * % They are thinking of cutting down the size of paper money by one-third, s0 that every one can carry more of it in less space. Men could lay the new small bills flat in their pocket- books. A bill could be malled in an ordinary envelope without being fold- ed. In this nonfolding campaign. however, women are not considered. They reserve their inalienable right to crumple and crush the bills into their handbags, no matter what the size or condition of the currency. It is be- lieved the smaller bills would save the Government many thousands of dol- Jars and would be a greater conven- ience to the people and in trade. Con- gress will have to act upon the mat- ter. To the man in the street, how- ever, the problem of the hour is not better bills, but more of them. Just how the Government I8 going to meet the demand is the real worry. (Copyright. 1925.) Fifty Years Ago In The Star An item in The Star of September 15, 1875, citing a statement prepared by J. Ormond Wilson, su- Crowded perintendent of schools, Schools, fhows that the public * schools of the District 50 years ago were greatly overcrowded, even as they are today. Supt. Wilson states that there were 1 seats in the first division and that 2,343 pupils had been admitted: that in the second division there were 2.298 seats and 831 pupils; that in the fourth divi- sion there were 1,804 seats and pre- cisely the same number of pupils, while in the fifth division there were 928 seats and 1,003 pupils. The refer- ence to the third division shows 600 puplls, but does not give the number of seats. Omitting that division, there were 7,311 seats and 8,281 pupils, an excess of 97 * * x Efforts to increase the speed of the malil trains between New York and . Chicago were made Speeding half a century ago = with marked success. the Mails. 17 "Siar of Septem- ber 15, 1875, is the following comment: ““The trial trip of the fast mail train from New York to Chicago is reported a success, the train reaching Chicago in twenty-six hours from New York, less than twenty-four hours from Phil- adelphia and Baltimore and twenty- four and a half from Washington. This is sald to be four hours faster time than any on record. The new ar- rangement will doubtless be a great convenience to business men and others. and is a notable event in Gov- ernor Jewell's (Post Office Department) administration. Within the past few rears the increase of our postal facili- ties has been quite remarkable, and from a very slow coach Uncle Samuel has developed into a progressive ve- hicle, always fully up to the require- ments of the times. By and by the people may become dissatisfied even with the present facilities and demand that the telegraph afford them an op- portunity of intercommunication at cheap rates.” - * % News distribution was not as effec- tively organized and conducted half Belated News °Ccntury ago asat present. The after- e noon newspapers es- Distribution. eliayy" " sutrered from lack of efficient news service. In The Star of September 17, 1875, is the following comment upon the situ- ation: “Now' that fast mail trains are an accomplished fact, it will be necessary for the telegraphic news associations to reorganize their service, especially in the large cities that are closely connected by these rapid distributors of intelligence. It will no longer an- swer, for example, for the news col- lector or agent of one of the associa- tions at New York, Philadelphia or Baltimore to content himself with making up a rehash of the news in the morning papers of those cities and sending it out in the form of ‘dis- patches’ for the afternoon journals of the country. Under existing mail arrangements these papers themselves are laid down at the principal points within a radius of 200 miles from the place of publication before the resume of their columns is filed in the tele- graph office for transmission, and they are delivered to exchanges as much as 250 miles distant before the matter so made up has all been received by tele- graph. This will never do. Improve- ments in the dissemination of news by telegraph must at least keep pace with the progress made from time to time in the mail service or the public will soon learn to look upon it as an expensive piece of machinery that has outlived f{ts usefulness, except for great distances. If it is intended that the telegraph shall maintain the su- emacy it has held so long, it will u necessary for the news associa- tions to entirely abandon their habit of clipping from the newspapers and g0 to the original sources of informa- tion, to be sent off by wire on the instant. - Not only this, but the tele- ph companies themselves will also g‘obllg.d to improve the quality of their service by more prompt trans. mission and the quicker delivery of the dispatches intrusted to their care. Unless both these things are done, the mai] under Postmaster General Jewell will soon supersede the tele- graph, 8o far at least as the large cities lying near together are con- cerned.” Wait Till Next Year! From the Indianapolis Star. Gertrude Ederle is confident in the fact that the English Channel will Toront I ‘i attempt st swimming terest in an a a it will be jyst as great. This and That By Charles E. Tracewell. The cat, Jack Spratt, has gonse in for radio. His principal role to date in rela- tion as this new sclence and art is that of changing the capacity of the an- tenna. This he does by laying his striped body on the lead-n wire, as it runs around the floor at the bottom of the baseboard. Jack’s knowledge of radio is about as limited as mine, but his hold on the great principles of feline govern- ment is strong. He may know nothing at all about electricity, but he knows a great deal about how a good cat ought to act under each and every circumstance. Therefore he s well aware of the } fact that the one and only place in the room where the humans do not want him to lie 8 the one and only spot he wants to ptace himself. Cats are like that. Forbid them entry to a closet, it will not be long before they manage to sneak into it. Cats will insert a deft paw in an almost closed door, and quietly pull it open, so that your first intimation of their presence is when you find them curled up on a suitcase in the rear of the closet. Friends of cats can recall scores of such instances. Nor is it necessary to formally forbid a cat to occupy a certain position of vantage. They are mind readers, and can tell where you do not want them to go, merely by looking at you. This is not just cussedness in the cat. If it were, we might have to apply much the same reasoning to our pre. clous children, who manifest the same perverse impulses at times. No, the cat has lived around man so long he is a great deal lke him! That is all. * x % x The cat Jack, therefore, park his tiger-striped length along the lead-in wire, running from the antenna to the radio receiving set. Now we know perfectly well that the lead-in wire ought to be put on in- sulators, and all that sort of thing, but we also discovered, some months ago, that there is a great deal of theory in radio, and that if you do not want to bother with it, you can get practical results in almost any old fashion. Wherefore, we run in the lead-in wire right on the floor at the bottom of the baseboard. But it would make no difference where we put it—Jack would get on it, just the same. We get a station tuned in nicely. It is coming in in great fashion. We settle down to some solid radio en- Jjoyment. In comes Jack Spratt. He looks around inquiringly, as it trying to decide whether to get on.the couch, the chair or up into the.win- dow sill. We know, however, just where he will go. Right over to the side of the room loves to he walks, with all the grace of his tribe. (Those who do not like cags call such walking “slinking.”) 5 Imagine us with one of our fine ig- cal stations tuned in to a hair's Dreadth. There are no “roush edges” tonight. The music is pouring in just as it should. The execution, is: fine, and the modulation at the statiom 3s perfect. This is radio at its best! A Then Jack Spratt lies down on'tle lead-in wire. a “Whee—ee—ee—se!” groans : the tube, as the capacity of Jack's 86 inches of cathood gets mixed up with inductance or whatever you call it By introducing himself into the cir- cuit, Jack throws the whole works out of Kkilter. There is nothing to do but tune in all over again. * K ok % That’s easy enough, of course. We glve the dial a flip, and in she comes again, sweet and pure, smooth on the edges, like velvet. Jack stretches lazily. By altering his adjustments in this manner, he again plays havoc with the impedence, or whatever it is, and we get another disturbing howl in our sét (and no doubt neighbors for blocks around get howls in theirs.) Yes, we bave that kind of a set. The music resumes its accustomed sweetness in our ears, after we tune in again, when Jack Spratt decides to turn over. No sooner does he roll, than he rolls us out of tune. Good humoredly wp turn the dials, and get back into com- cord with sweet sound, when—— Jack waves his tail. Anyway, we havé found out what an important part the cat-whisker plays in modern radic Teception!