Evening Star Newspaper, October 22, 1925, Page 6

e (£ i ’ THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. U THURSDAY,: OCTOBER 23, 1925. —eeeeeeeeee e S e — THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. ters, regard the final offer made by M. Calllaux to the American commi: WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY. .. .October 22, THEODORE W. NOYES...Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company 11¢h st P vani Ave. | Buropean Omico: 18 Hegent St.. Loidon. The Evening Star. with the Sunday morn- A0 edition, is delivered by carriers within the City at 60 cents per month: daily”only, 45 cents per month: Sunday only. 20 cents Orders may be sent by mail or Tolinction 1s made by & end of each month Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. 1mo.. Iy only .. rday oniy.. {1mol Member of the Associated Press. The Assc 0 th ted Press 1s exclusively entitled leation of all news dis- Y'also the local news hts of pubileation h are also reserved A Half-Million Wastage. Signing of a new lease by repre tatives of the United States Gov e for the building now oc 1925 sion as too liberal and seek to pare it still Jower? It negotlations are to be renewed, it must be presumed that France will act in entire good faith and in the hope of a final adjustment of a just obligation. A mere gesture on the part of France, a continuance of con- versations about the debt through dip- lomatic channels, could scarcely suf- fice. 0 The adoption of the Locarno se- curity pacts, assuring peace in Eu- rope and giving still further asur- ance of payments to France under the Dawes plan, may make the nego- tiation of the French debt to the United States somewhat less difficult in France itself. The United States will continue to insist that the war debt of France and other European debtors shall not be entangled with German reparations so far as this country is concerned. But under the new agreements the IFrench may be more willing to make definite arrange- ments for the payment of their debt. The United States is in the position of a creditor who has offered to friendly and esteemed debtor the priv- ilege of postponing the day of settle- ment until better times arri with the payment in the meantime of £ome- thing less than one per cent on the principal. The rejection of this pro- a cupled by the Department of Justice e R r a perfod of five vears at an i |y e this country ready, of course, creased rental of $25.000 @ year, OF) ., ontinue negotiations for a final 2000 in all annually, 18 JuStl.oement now. But the position of nother example of the costly Pro-f e yyeq States in regard to the -astination of the United States in matter of providing its own quar- French debt must be as clearly under- stood in Paris as it is in Washington, Leapfou s ot ‘wet” at the | In View of the negotiations, which, un e e € i Avente {ri,| fortunately for France as well as for Westerntiend fof fithe" s €nue T his country, resulted in failure. 1f angle was acquired by the Government fifteen years ago the construction of three department buildings there was contemplated, homes for the Depart- ments of State, Justice and Commerce these negotiations may be considered, however, as 2 necessary preliminary for other negotiations in the near fu detinite settlement, they a no means have been wasted will by and Labor, then united in a single | %0 > s fotnd to ] erort organization. The site was found t b iy be too s r three structures, and | § g it v proposed to put the Depart-| A National Congregational Church. ent of Justice on the Mall itself Next Saturduy a resoclution will be Objection was at once raised to such an invasion of the park space. But not g W done in any way toward Luilding, and the matter lapsed When the war time came permanent building enterpriscs were abandoned and in varks to house the 1 departmental per- or nt of the emergency, acco porary t s were erected mbers on sudder the increas | presented to the National Council of | Congregational Churches of the United States, in session in this city, to in- dorse the plan for the erection here of & new home for the Congregational Church of Washington and to permit subscriptions to the buflding fund by Congregational churches throughout the.country. This resolution will be tablishing at the Capital a national sonnel Enough rent has already been paid | church of that denomination. Its for the inadequate housing of the De. | @doption is expected, as there is every partment of Justice to have con.|indication of warm approval of the structed a suitable permanent home | Plan. . €or that branch of the Govern.| 1IN the event of the adoption of this ment. At the increased rate now to | Fesolution, which is, as stated, forecast be paid for the rented quarters half | Y Present evidence, a fourth national a million dollars in addition will have been expended in five v If the proposed building prosram is enacted into law at this coming session of Congress, fully that length of time Il be requjred for the completion of a home for this department. By the time it is ready for use the Gov. ernment will have spent far in excess of its cost in rents during the period of walting This latest instance of the extrava- zunce and waste of relying upon pri- rs. vate structures for departmental housing should insure action at the coming session, not merely for this one particulur department, but for all & Government offices now housed in rented buildings or chokingly con- gested in public buildings long since outgrown in the expansion of the Government’'s work e e citizens hoped that Albert Beveridge would be permitted to as himself as « literary influence in The genius Many National statesmanship. of Indiana continues to pursue lines of fiction in preference to those of historic research. Perhaps Beveridge will be remembered more respectfully as the man who wrote the “Life of John Marshall” than he ever could be as an appointee to a senatorial ——— makes his Mussolini dictatorship more in the usual dem- | city is becoming the center of art. It onstration of requiring « [is decidedly the appropriate location king to accept it with deferential | for the central churches, the mother courtesy. | churches of all the denominations, ———— | taiths and sects. France Must Move Again. | — Ihe stop-map proposel, $30.000.000] A favorite comic opera comedian & year for a period of tive vears, made | has been married for the fourth or by the Amet slon | fifth or sixth time—memory flags. | when became ¢ > that an | It is no wonder that the spontaneous | SR R with the|#Avety of old-time comic opera is ench war debt commission, will not ImouEnedifor Anain | en be accorded a presentation to the 7 ek e choh Charlier of Derarls pe | It is only natural for the accusers ng to reports cabied from Paris, The | Of CoF Bill Mitchell to wonder what | Trench wovernment hms tarneq | e €XPects to do with all the publicity | | they are enabling him to accumulate. ie sugizestion. Lven | e | s Wt the debt o] Plang for income tax reduction re- His colleagties of the/commitbaloniiave | oo i oe dncomen i Jilnef temn fafled to put in 5 rool srd for this | PEMIts discriminating argument. | atest proposel of the Americans. | s S e ! Instead ceding to this tempo Crime and Communism. rury plan, which amounts practically | Imbezzlement of state funds by w0 an amortization for five vears of | trade union co-operative emploves, it the $,000,000.000 Jrench debt to the |18 reported from Moscow, have be- T'nited States, overtures are to be|come so frequent recently that death ‘e by the French sovernment to|Denalties have been administered to the United Stites looking to further | Offenders as a means of checking a regotiations to bring about a definite | €Sty tendency. During the past six <ettlement of the debt question, In|MONths there have been more than the same breath. almost, ft fs said | 2:000 Of these thefts, involving several that the French will azain insist upon | Milllon rubles. In only a small per- what came to be called their “securi. | CeNtage of the cases detected was the ¥ clause, urized by them quring the | MONEY taken because of need and dis- | ecent negotiations in Washington, | FS55: Most of the crimes were com- This clause was intended to give the | Titted throush overindulgence in al- rench a right to cease payments on he debt at any time when the French determined they were unable to pay and to ask for another review of the whole situation. This so-called secu- rity clause was one of the greatest stumbling blocks to . settlement of the debt. To suggest that the French will again demand it is like admitting the futility of the proposed new nego- tiations before they are begun. If there are to be new negotiutions of the French debt. and it seems prob- able there are, will they begin where the last left off? Will the French pro- church will have heen established in Washington. First in order of erec- tion was the Southern Methodist Church at Mount Vernon place, which was created with the co-operation of members of that denomination throughout the South, to serve as a mother church. The National Episco- pal Cathedral was next in order chronologically, although the thought of a national edifice for that denomi- nation had been entertained before this present project was defined and launched. The co-operation. of Epis- copalians in all parts of the country is now assured to make the Cathedral of $S. Peter and Paul the truly Amer- fcan church of the Episcopal faith. The third in order of undertaking is the Shrine of the Immaculate Con- ception at the Catholic University, which 18 to be the work of the Cath- olics of America. Its construction is | now under way. Other denominations }are contemplating similar projects. | These four enterprises, the latest of which is the Congregational Church, are fn recognition of the truly na- tional character of Washington. Oth- ers doubtless will be proposed and carrfed into effect. This city is the headquarters now of many secular or- kanizations of nation-wide scope and !activity. Labor bodies, political bodles, organizations, commercial institutions, industrial representations, all such and others are centered here. This cohol or by reason of gambling. It must be rather shocking to the Soviet commissars to find the co-oper- atlve system weakening in so impor- tant @ respect as the good faith of ‘the workers. The co-operative trade unions of Russia, under the bolshevik regime, have been regarded as tho |last word In practical communism. | But communism, or joint ownership merely the willingness, but the de- sire, of all to share only equally. Here is founa the persistent human trait of desire for something more than an | equal share. Bound to definite and pose the funding of their debt on|fixed proportions of earnings, the co- terms which may be re led as more | operative workmen have been tempted liberal than their I offer, which|{to take more than their percentage Jeft the proposal of France about a billlon dollars short of the proposal of the United States? Or will the French, as it has been reported in some quar- under the communist system in Rus- sia. The only way they can get more is by stealing it. jin effect a declaration in favor of es-| socfological organizations, educational | | of all property, is predicated upon not | | | | | 1 occupations. They are bound to their strict share. Hence the thefts. Idealistic pictures of future states of soclety, founded upon the com- munist principle of *“share and share allke,” of mutual ownership, of equal division of all values and properties, do not take into account the indl- vidual differences in men. They do not reckon upon the personal equa- tion, which sets man apart from the animals. It is impossible to herd hu- man beings as are the beasts of the field that are content with whatever is allotted them in pasture or in fodder. In many particulars the ideal of Lenin and his associates has been dis- proved. The Communist organization has been modified in Russia step by step as it has fafled to work out in practice. In this present matter of the thieving of state funds by dishon- est co-operative employes it will be found at Moscow that punishments, even the most drastic, will not effect a cure. The system is wrong funda- mental e School Excuses. Supt. Frank W. Ballou of the public schools has prepared a list of seven acceptable excuses for absent school children and has submitted it to the Board of Education for approval { These new excuses, which will super sede the old ones, due to the compul- sory school attendance law in the Dis trict, range from sickness of the pupil to unusual emergency. Absent students, If the recommen- dation goes through, will have to stay within the scope of the seven excuses, although an ‘“unusual emergency” might mean almost anything. No longer will a pupil be uble to stuy awuy simply because he feels u trifie badly; that s, unless he can get a doctor’s certificate to back him up. Of course, if 4 subpoena is served on him by court of “‘competent jurls- diction” or he is “detained” Ly the civil authorities, he will be able to offer excuses numbered four or five to his teacher, which will, under the new regulations, be a valid reason for ab- senting himself. It is evident that the Board of Edu cation intends to be sure that every child of school age in the District will receive an education. This determi nation, although probably not appre- ciated by the children themselves, will work manifold benefits upon their fu ture ltves and will be a deciding factor in any kind of career. - It has been the distinguished priv flege of Locarno to call attention to the fact that Furope is weary of wars and ready to consider means of avolding them in the future. S i The popularity of Go on would be more secure if Pa Fer- guson could avold the suspicion of asserting himself as a political in- fluence. is r————— Next month's Thanksgiving proc- lamation will be a document of his- toric significance if all the plans for world peace come true. vt Florida is bringing up the very anclent question as to the difference between a gamble and an investment. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON Officlal Prestige. My dear Cousin Jim Was a personage grim. His talk made each listener sob. But now he's a wit And proclaimed as a hit. He's got a political job. The things that he said Went over each head And caused no one’s pulses to throb. But now when we hear Him, we chortle and cheer He's got a political job. Publicity’s game Is forever the same And plaudits are due from the mob For a simple refrain From a personage plain- If he has a political job. Disappointment. “You have been in politics a long time."” “I have answered Senator Sor- ghum. “As a statesman I am a suc- cess, but my family continues to re- fer slightingly to my failure to grab oft a really glit-edge salary in some regular business. The World and Its Wars. It's a rough old world. It's a tough old world. It's no use being a bluffer To worry the weak And methods to seel For making it rougher and tougher. Jud Tunkins children should obey thelr parents instead of setting the dear old folks €0 many bad ex- amples. says “He Who Survives Triumphs.” A Polar expedition is a wonderful af- fair. We only ask, today, that it be man- aged with such care That members won't be left behind to freeze or else to drown they start for the Old Town. are Home A Polar expedition is success If, when the roll is called, all hands seem healthy, more or less; And all that's necessary to secure them great renown 1s to land in the Old Home Town. accounted a Luna Ignored. “Any moonshine around here?"” quired the stranger. “Not a bit,” answered Uncle Bill Bottletop. “The production now goes on 24 hours a day, regardless of cloudy weather.” in- Averages. The youthful man In trousers wide Pursues a plan Of hopeful pride. With ladies fair He goes on view And tries to wear Enough for two. “It's easy to find fault,” said Uncle They cannot earn | Eben, “but when you does you ain't ‘more by working harder or changing ! found nuffin’ valuabl Ma Fergu- | THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Templeton Jones, having purchased a barometer, found himself about ready to begin competing with the United States Weather Bureau. “It is only fair,” Jones sald, fondly eveing his glistening instrument, “that I make no reference whatever to the published predictions of the bureau. It_wouldn't be fair, First, he had to work out his own system’ of taking observations. He knew that the big Government estab- lishment at Twenty-sixth and M streets took barometric readings about once every 4 hours, day and night. Jones dectded fnstantly that it would not be at all necessary, in his one-man home weather bureau, to make any reading of his instrument at 4 a.m. Perhaps he might be able to make it by § o'elock, but 4 a.m. was unthink- able. guess it {sn’t necessary, anyway, Templeton told himself. “The main thing is whether she is going up or down, and I can find that out by taking a reading in the evening and one when I get up.” Upon these two observations, then. Jones sought to prophesy what the weather would be for the next day. It was a hardy undertaking, one that would have deterred a more scientific man. But Jones is not scientific; he is filled with the milk of human kind- ness, as they say, surcharged with interest in life, that 18 all. He honestly thought he could do as good a job of weather predicting as the Weather Bureau. Thousands have thought the same, thousands still {magine they can do it. Who, however, except Templeton Jones, has % koK ok When Jones went to bed that first evening, after the barometer arrived, he hied himself up to the ‘“‘observ tory,” as he called it, to take his first reading. The blue hand had stood at 29.70 when the instrument arrived. ow it read 29.92, and a glance at his chart of instructions told him, “29.6 to 29.9, fair weather, with fresh winds tonight and tomorrow.” predicted Jones. “Any one would know that,’ his wife, looking out the window. Jones said nothing, but solemnly Jotted his observation down on & piece of paper. He referred again to his “Directions for Reading and Adjust- ing Baron.eter.” cise, and read as follows: Rising Indications: a) A gradual but steady rise shows settled fair weather, “(h) A very slow rise from a low point usually means high winds and dry weather. “c) A rapld rise indicates clear weather with much wind. “Falling Indications: “(d) A gradual but steady fall ndi cates unsettled or wet weather. “(e) A very slow fall from a high point usually means wet, unpleasant weather, without much wind. 0 sudfen fall indicat den rain or snow, or high winds, or both. " 'he gist of that,” Templetc said 1 Jones | mused, that a rising barometer, in the main, means falr weather, and a ing berometer, unsettled weather.” He read over the ‘“‘Approximate Readings for Different Sections of the Barometer thing v could one go wrong “Rising_Barometer: “29 to 29.3 in., Clearing, winds and cool wave. “20.3 to 29.6, High winds, with cool wave preceded by squalls *“29.6 to 29.9, Fair weather, with fresh winds tonight and tomorrow “28.9 to 30.2, Fair, with brixk vind which will diminish 30.2 to 80.5, Generally fair weather; Here was some. indeed. How e read BY M. B. When the crooked stock go-getter | goes out to get he uses 1o end of tricks, Some of them are £ clever ihnd some are stuy 11 de- | pend on the willingness of the victim ! to belleve—sometimes to keep on be lieving despite a string of prison sen tenc in the carcer of his b factor. The staple methods are tried and true, vet the men who watch these thing: with « punitive eye say the stock crooks show their individuality in their work. An expert on crooked methods will be able to sa when he hears the methods used by some com- pany that only a grandiloquent name, “Oh, that's So-and-So again.” The salesman himself may be an | ordinary type of his kind. ‘He may even believe what he is doing: crews the is are sometlmes turned loose on public trained in high-pressure sales- manship, without knowing just what is back of their work. Or he may be an affable fellow cashing in on his { popularity. The big operators, ever, often have 4 way with them that shows even in the forms of circular letters. Some of them can put per- | sonal magnetism in a printed page. | Occastonally a touch of the pic- | turesque lights up some wolf—the ac- | cident of “Doc” Cook's polar experi- ences, the mere name of “Gen." Rob- ert E. Lee. Business men fought the chance to give Leo Koretz their | money; he got 100,000, and when | he died in priso credulous world | refused to believe he was really dead. Rice Got Six Millions. | George Graham Rice had a fascina- tion of a different sort. such as it was. In 15 years he duped 30,000 individuals out of $6.000.000, it is said. Originall Jacob Stmon Herzig, he used many names, corporate and personal. was somewhere in the West a vear or so ago. He served thre New York prisons and was known as a forger, tout and promoter, yet he found no trouble in getting new in- vestors in cach venture, and he was always claiming he had been vindicated. He bought reputable financial papers and ran them into the ground. He found partners who had reputations. He acquired options in mining com- panies whose officers were innocent and then looted stock buyers. “Shanghai” Larry Sullivan he organ- ized a trust company at Goldfield and sold stock, and there was no evidence of crime. He ran branches in seven cities; they looked well on the let- terheads, but they were bucket shoj But at any rate he could fight. His fifth arrest came in 1918 after a battle on every one of the country’s 20 exchanges—in none of which did he hold membership. 1In that fight he rigged the market: the stock went from 60 cents to $3.75 as a result of fake sales. Other operators bought short, expecting to clean up when Rice reached his limit. But he kept on. There was mass attack. - He bought and bought. He was uccused of using his clients’ funds. It cost him a million dollars, that fight. But it was a different sort of work than picking pockets. i No Saving Grace. | Rice figured in a list compiled six | vears ago which showed fake promo- tions with a capitalization of $3,000,- 000,000. Some of the promoters had organized as many as 30 companies each. By and large, the crooks have no saving attributes. They don't fight. Their routine is made up of old dodges. The promoter who protests his un- selfishness, the one who is crusading to save his victims from vague in- terests and octopuses, the one who ever gone to the trouble of trying?| They were very pre- | with high | | LOST DOLLARS ABiLuioy A YEAR IV—Who Gets Them? how- | Rice | terms in | With | prol:inbly cool today, with varlable winds. 30.5 to 30.8, Clear weather tonight and continued cool, with moderate winds. ““30.8 to 31, Southeast rains, with high winds. “Falling Barometer: '30.7 to 30.4, Fair and warmer, fol- ved by wind and rain. 30.5 to 30.2, Storm brewing in the direction of the wind. “80.2 to 29.9, Cloudy and warmer, followed by unsettled weather. 29.9 to 29.8, Unsettled weather, in- creasing winds and warmer. “29.6 to 29.3, Clearing. Slight squalls. Fair and cooler tomorrow. “29.3 to 29.0, Clearing weather, with high winds, accompanied by squalls and cooler. “29.0 to 28.7, Stormy." * ko ok et’s go!” shouted Jones, hopping out of bed next morning. He ran into the obsepvatory. One glance at the barometer showed him she had “‘drop- ped” during thé night. The reading was 29.85, as near as Jones could make out, for the hand was rather fat, and one one-hundredth of an inch is a small quantity, indeed. His reading in the evening had been 20.92 inches. Referring to his faith ful chart, Jones read, under falling indications, ““29.9 to 29.6, Unsettled weather, increasing” winds and warm- et lo official _prediction for tomor- began Jones, in a loud volice, s uneettled weather, increasing | winds and warmer.” “Any one could say that,” replied & member of the family, from a dis- tant room. “The sun fsn't coming | out, and it looks ltke rain, anyway. At his office Jones could hardly wait until the officlal Weather Bureau forecast was available, about 11 o'clock. *“They have more time than I do.” Jones said to himself. “I have to make my prediction before break fast, and they have nearly to lunch. ‘When the officlal Weather Bureau forecast came, Jones seized it eagerly from the office boy. ir and continued cool tomor- said the report. Sure enough, the sun was already out. | “What does the Weather Buresu | say, Templeton?” asked Mrs. Jones, $hat evening. “It says continued fair and cool to- morrow,” declared Jones. “Thought you sald it to be unsettled?” wus golng winds t ed out. [ *Just what the Weather Bureau | say came the answer. In the morn. ing Jones ran to s barometer. Out side the sky was bright. le read T still predict unsettled wenathe: announced the chief of the weather Jureau Ir u stick to 1t stead: bound to hit it some time.’ wite. The upshot of Templeton Jones' in- vestigations, one sample of which is detailed above, is that he found the barometer not so hoa as a thermometer, of the weather. It does go up and down for fair or foul weather, as the case may be, but only |at about the time the weather Is oc. curring, not very much, if any, in a vance. Small changes seem to count for little Today both Jones and this | have 4 far greater respect United States | ever. right and tomorrow,” he o you are smiled his writer A for the Weather Bureau than LEVIC | financial responsibility —those are familar types usi back of him g fa- millar palaver. One of the newer telephone canvass antage that can lie witho jmum of identity roub A voice has been known to talk a | stockholder into agreeing to switch | his stock; then the salesman appears, ng not the substitute stock, but @ receipt. Sometimes he gets ay with ft. Freque the victim sends his stock by mail Lists of stockholders in unsuc companies are an asset to the tele- phone operator. A standard device: the holder is told the salesman has a lient for the poor stock, but wants a larger block than the vietim holds More can be bought, to make up the rm]U}r«d block if the stockholder will furnish a checl with the shares he is methods is the It has the ad- + voice on the telephone limit and has a hould come. bea onl essful | selling. | Gets Stock By Mail. | Recently a broker advertised for | stock in a certain company, saying }lhv company was not paying divi- | dends; he offered $50 a share. He got considerable stock mail, though the company had resumed dividends | and its shares were worth $0 in the | market. | There are special pitfalls in stock | options, and the bucketshop is u prob- | lem in itself. In the opinion of some authorities the financial losses to the public through crooked brokers equal the loss to swindling promoters. Orthodox bhusiness has its hazards, | too, and also its abuses. The death | rate of corporations has been esti- mated at 1 out of 10. Twenty vears ago a list was compiled of legitimate companies whose securities were obso- lete and worthless; it showed 18,000 names. Seven years later a new list, with none of the old names, ran to | 26.800. In varlous cities there are | auctions of securities. In a way they are a graveyard of stocks. Offen ex- cellent securities come up, but often the items read like this, “*2,000 shares, | par value $100,” and the price that takes the $200,000 par lot is $2 cash. Such examples stand for the vicissi- tudes of legitimate business—bad judgment, worse luck, poor manage- ment—as well as for less excusable | things. The moral is simply this: Invest- ment at best calls for intelligence and care, while at worst it doesn't give even a gambler's chance. Now and then the stock swindler takes a chance himself. But it is some such proportion as this: Ninety-eight per cent of the income from stock sales going to the sales force, 1 per cent to the company's officials as salaries, leaving for the treasury just 1 per cent. Question: Why so much for the treasury? | (Copyrixht. 1925.) Tomorrow—""Plugging the Leak.” ———— How would the great statesman get {under way in his orations if there had never been two Irishmen named Pat and Mike?—Detroit News. ——ors. | _The investigations of the Army and | Navy alr services will certainly lead |to something, if only another investi- | gation.—South Bend Tribune. ——or— You can be an idealist, however, without slipping the other fellow all the aces.—Flint Journal. —— e o Select your words carefully, and you won't suffer much if you have makes wild guarantees but has no to eat them.—Spartanburg Sun. “So T did, but we will have to waft | great painter and loved his work. He { antil tomorrow to see which of us is| Was not altogether, therefore, to be right.” pitied.” | That evening Jones locked at his Bt | }‘r‘.j:‘:_(.n&xl;rg before Folng to bed. Jt| Referring again to the subject of | | Frapesoing, up agaln: It read: 20.06| lay criticism, the comment of a visit predictor. | mini- § THE NORTH WINDOW By Leila Mechlin. “That's a good Blakelock—one of his best” said one of the visiting academicians, standing before the landscape by this well known artist, which hangs to the right of Abbott Thayer's masterpiece in Gallery C in the Natlonal Academy of Design's centennial exhibition, now on view in the Corcoran Gallery of Art. “Poor fellow,” he added, “when he was painting no one wanted his pictures and now they bring thousands.” This brought forth an interesting reminiscence. It seems that Blake- lock painted pictures whether the world wanted them or not, and was sure that they were good pictures, but they did not sell, and his familv had to live. One of his fellow acad- emicians recognized their value ar- tistically, and, having more of this world’s good than he, bought them from him when there was real neces- sty £0r from $100 to $200 each. When he could, h» sold them for what he paid for tiem or less, rarely more. At one tyme he had as many as 18 of Blakeiock’s paintings in his studio, when Llakelock himself arrived with a roll of canvas under his arm. It was & beautiful moonlight picture. “When did you do this?” asked hls friend. “Some tune ago,” was his reply. “Where have vou had it?" “Put away—it's going to be worth ‘something some time.” “What are you going to do with it now?” “Sell it,” he sald. “I need the money. If you don’t want it, I am going to take it to Evans or Lambert and see ff| they won't give me $50 for it.” Then followed an argument. No matter what the necessity, it was a crime, hig friend told him. to sel] a painting like that for so little. It de- preciated the value of his work. It was not fair to those who had bought his pictures. “I'll tell you what I will do,” his adviser said, finally, “I ill give you $600 for that picture.” All right,” sald Blakeloc can you give me $5 now? 1f so, I will leave it, and vou can pay me the rest later. The transaction was accomplished, and the picture remained for several vears with the other 16; then it was s0ld for exactly what had been pald for 1t—$600. Not very long ago that e picture sold for $17,000. ‘What a tragedy was Blakelock's life,” some one exclaimed who heard | thi story. “Yes and no.” replied his friend and benefactor. *I say ves, be- cause its story in itself is sad, and no, because the truth is that, despite his hardships, he was alm always happy. Whatever others might think, he always was certain that he was 4 ing painter at the Arts Club on Sun- day afternoon was iluminating. He | was a landscape painter and had paint- | ed a picture of a river dashing over | rapids. When finished he though it | one of his best und sent it to a well known dealer in New York. In ac knowledging the afe arrival of the picture, the dealec wrote that he doubted its salability, because it had | no sky, “and the buying public al | likes skies,” said the deale that,” the painter remarked, ture which could not huve a sky—it was a picture of u river—and | s0 T suppose it will not sell.’ | | Another painting by the same man set forth most charmingly & blossom- ing apple tree, standing in front of a typieal little white New England farmhouse. Under the tree on the fresh green grass was a bench on | which were seated two women, lend. | ing human interest. But the real| theme was the apple tree, and it was | beautifully rendered. This picture was | sent to a would-be purchaser in an ! adjacent State, on approval, and was | promptly returned, not because it was | | not well painted, not because it was | not lovely in color and full of pleasing | suggestion of Spring rejuvenation, but | i | i cause all of the tree was not shown. Well. never mind,” sald the painter amiably, “T paint pictures hecause I like to, and if they sell they sell; it they don't, they don’t, but I am going | to keep on painting what I like and | in the way I 1:’9 it—and there it is.” ¥ ox X { The times are changing—they al- ways are. As a rule the change comes so gradually that it is not noted; now and then, however, we get | a joit. A little typewritten sheet, sent | out by one of the book publishing | i houses to ennounce the publication of two artists' blographies shortly to come from their press, conveyed the startling information that two of the leading ~ general reader magazines, Harper's and the Century, which, to quote the notice, “gave American - lustration a world-wide reputation and themselves fame,” have now given up illustrations. This was a shock, indeed. but it is true. When | one of the leading illustrators was | asked to comment upon the change, here is what he said: “This is simply another incident in the economic history of publications— | another tragic incident in the history of American illustration. { “It Is almost impossible to conceive of Harper's, Scribner's and the Cen- tury Magazine appearing without pic- | tures—what would Howard Pyle have | thought! Scribner’s, of course, does | still carry pictures, but chiefly photo- | graphs. The trouble is simply, as 1| have said_ the economic upset of con- | ditions. Prices are high, wages s0 excessive, costs so exorbitant, that | to pay the price necessary to a dis- | tinguished artist to obtain an emi- nent picture, to pay for reproductions. to pay the printers and engravers, to pay for paper publicity. to pay for anything, to pay for all things that are necessary to produce a sumptuous magazine such as we had before the war, all would cause the price of such a magazine to be at least a_ dollar or more—far_ beyond the pocket of most people. It is, in other words, absolutely impossible to sell a_distinguished magazine today in sufficient quantity to keep the pub- lishers solvent. It is_a miserable {state of affairs, but I cannot but nope it may prove only temporary.” “Thank heaven, however,” he added, “the fleld of books is still open to distinguished work, and it is to that field that, at least for the present, America must turn for the best of illustration.” Curlously enough, many of the fllus- trators are now being employed to illustrate advertisements, so that the advertising pages of the magazines chiefly set forth the pictorial fea- tures. The advertisers can afford to pay, and do pay, sometimes as high as from $2,000 to $6.000 for a single lllustration. No wonder the students today are clamoring to enter the fleld of commercial illustration. But what an upturning this signifies; how strangely do we seem to have hitched the cart before the horse. % % * & In this changing world it is well now and then to stop and take stock, as it were, to note not only progress but the direction in which we are going. In a booklet, which can be slipped into the ordinary letter en- velope, C. Valentine Kirby, director of art for Pennsylvania, has lately concisely reviewed “A Quarter Cen- tury of Public School Art.” In answer to the question, “Have we made good?”’ his reply is positively, “yes. The reasons for this convi tion he gives as follows: “It is gen- erally understood today,” he says, “that the homes of the masses of our people are the most tasteful in the world. In matters of dress there has come an émancipation from slav. ery to Panlsian styles, and the de. velopment of American independence, and individual fitness and taste.” “The growth of art quality,” he con- tinues, “in our manufactured prod- ucts, the superiority of our advertis. <0 | tha | Mark | co-operate with the ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Q. Has it ever been customary for a world serles to be won by three games out of five?—L. D. A. The only year this was done was 1884. In 1885 the clubs tied three- three—they had four out of seven and in 1886 did so. Q. Is an eel a fish or a snake?— C. B. McC. A. The eel s an apodal fish, having a snakelike appearance. An apodal fish is one having no fins or legs. Q. Which planets are visible in Oc- tober and November?—R. D. A. The Naval Observatory says Mercury may be seen near the wes ern horizon for a few days near No- vember 22, when it sets about an hour after the sun. Venus will be evening star for the next few months, visible in the west after sunset. Mars is now near the sun @nd inconspicuous Toward the end of November it will rise about two hours before the sun and may then be seen low in the eastern sky. It is of a rudy color. Jupiter will be visible in the southern or southwestern gky in the early eve- ning for the remainder of the yeer.| Saturn also is now visible in the southwest_after sunset, but sets ear- ler than Jupiter and will soon be too near the sun to be visible. It is of a pale yellowish color. Q. What acid will make copper or brass look white?—W. P. A. The Bureau of Standards says that it is possible to prc.uce a white metallic appearance upon copper or brass by treating it with solutions containing mercury or silver. Such solutions are poisonous, however, and should not be handled except by per- sons with considerable experience. Q. What makes rubber deterio rate’ A. B. N A. The principal factors causing de- terforation are light, heat and oxvgeu. Rubber should be stored in the dark in a cool place. The absence of ox gen or air would probably be an ad: vantage. Q. Why are the boundaries of the time zones zigzug on the map of the United States?—-V. J. T. A. The Interstate Commierce Com- mission fixes the boundaries hetween the time zones. Often the boundaries are made to depart from the half-way position between the standard meridi ans in order to suit the convenfence of the railroads or to meet the demands of the communities aftected. Q. How is the total income reported distributed by sources of income?- EiiCs M A. The total income reported by per. sonal returns for calendar vear 1923 was $29,318.927,503, the amount of in come from personal industry was $2 17,380,808, or 74.41 per cent; the f come from property was $7,501,046,994, or 25.59 per cent. Q Is it true that the t born intended playing | a family is necessarily the most bril | Hlant?—O. R. €. | "A. According to recent reports there is no scientific basis for the popular bellet that the eldest child has the best chance of obtaining promine; Examples of brilllant men contr. ing this bellef are James who was the eleventh of twelve ch dren, and Gen. Sherman, who came ir | the middle of a large family. diet F. Cooper. ‘ Q. What causes the deaths so p. (;m‘m this time of the vear among }farn.bru while engaged in storing e: sillage?—R. S. 8. A. Numerous studies on ensilage | havesshown that the green fodder, or | being placed in the sflo, fmmedtatel: begins to undergo changes opposite te normal plant metabolism; that is, the oxygen of the surrounding r | sumed and carbon dioxid ated. In some cases the = almost consumed. The carbon dic surrounding the particles of ensilace | is supposed to be the principal servative of the green fodder. | cause of the high specific grav the carbon dioxid, it tends to rem | at the surface of the ensilage and |a few feet ubove. To prevent u dents the blower should always ie | started for a few minute: re the | | workers enter the s { Q. Please give an the Japanese earthquake A. The Japanese c curred a few minutes aft ’ noon, September are | comprising Tokio, Yok suka and other ge The first shock w others and by fire | The number of lves Ibst value of property d ved | be accurately k several weeks | placed the te dead at 163,00 Fokohama W s appr om were seve Q e W comes ATt t true th {18 in {1l health fleas 1 fleas are known to 1 ave dead (Letters are going ecvery from our free information bureau Washington telling readers whatever | they want to know. They are i | answer to all kinds of queries on al | kinds of subjects from all kinds of peo Make use of this free service The Star is maintaining for Its only purpose is to help yo and we want you to bemesit from it tiet the habit of writing to The Information Bureau I'ruit‘rwj‘ d which you st Haskin, director, Washington, Inclose’ 2 cents in stamps for retur postage.) BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. President Coolidge told the annual 1 of Congrega hds what the c for he “can see no adequate for the evils which beset soclety except_through the influence of religion.” He added: “It is tr that Government can aid, and alding, in the solution of some of our problems * * ¢ but the utmost ingenuity on the part of the police powers will be substantially all wasted in an effort to enforce the w if there does not exist a strong and vigorous determination on the part of the people to observe the law.” President Coolidge brings the duty to “do something about it right home to the “good citizens,” not alone « relizi remedy those who have been victimized, but all who are “good citizens” and | patriots. The President defined the { “religion” which he had in mind as something more tangible and prac- tical than mere attendance upon church services: it involves ‘“a strong and vigorous determination on the part of the the law.” That has been earlier e faith without alone. * * * lieve and tremble. * * elf-interpretation : “Even so being Iso be- ® % In New York, some week ago, there s organized Citizen's Commis- ion to Suppres me, futhered by 0. Prentiss nd indorsed by Judge Elbert H. Gary and others of the highest standing in business Mr. Prentiss said that one trouble is that “some of us have been so intent on studying the psychology of the criminals that we bha neclected to stud own chology. And the psycology of average hone: law-abiding is really the importan point in this study of crime cure. Crime Is organized; must be organized.” Mr. Prentiss issued a call to all citizens to help by organizing units in their own localities, which would national organ ization, as part of it, in meeting the crime crisie. He wants the organized units to be made up of busin men laymen, rather than police or the citizen t starting nd its society judges. It is an effort to “put more business into our Government, expressed by President Har though it is far from being a parti san effort. Up to date there has been no response in the Nation's Caplital. * ok ok ok This movement is diametrically opposite to that of certain theories of the National Committee on Mental Hyglene, meeting this week in New York, which listened sympathetical Iy to Dr. Frankwood E. William proposal to abolish jalls and peni- tentiaries, and to substitute “cures” of all criminals, as psychopathic pa- tlents. All crime is an indication of some form of mental disorder, ac- cording to such theorfes. If a bur- glar robs you, if a murderer sla your family, he s “sick”; give him a ‘“‘treatment.” The famous pulpit orator, Rev. Dr. Parkes Cadman, urges that the ob sisters and sob brothers who sympathise with the wilful criminal should go weep in the cemeteries, where the victims lie.” Justice Talley, one of the most noted judges of New York, declares: “The crook has no fears of the law, for two reasons: (1) He knows the average juryman is reiuctant to con- S. Ing art; the art disnlayed in our re- tail establishments, are matters of common observation and knowledge. Last year a million people visited the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and another million visited the Art Institute of Chicago; while less than a milllon people represented the combined attendance at the Louvre in Paris, and the National Gal- lery in London. More than 70 citles in our country have art museums and others are being planned. Our art schools are crowded, almost without exception. There are Art Alllances, Art in Trades Clubs, Business Men's Art Clubs—all indicative of a new in- terest in the arts and a higher re- gard for everything which promotes them."” To a lieves thi art in the public schools, to the solid foundation laid therein. This is en- couraging. eat extent Mr. Kirby be- people to observe | is due to the teaching of | on has a the evi better is an $5.( movies are first showr reach Broadwas Eve and Sunday the convic fessional base ball, and labor,” with which they ex murders, crimes, cc a half hour: | Justice Talley cipal cause of c is the pamper timental ref alize that at les inmates of such prisons are men who have adoy rn a profession, and wk least one term senten This from an indict it to be the r earth. ntry fronted eriminal Not a d: William National fraud, and i United Sta‘es next ye vear uver last, the nt 1926 will be 12 thr crime lions, not mere mi Chief Justic ministr United States is u disgrace to tion. The trial of a criminal seen to be like a game of chance, with { the chances in favor the criminal {and if he escapes, he seems to have | the sympathy of a sporting public | __Inthe last 279 days there have been 288 murders in Chica Only 1 in 10 murderers in America finds th: there is any truth in the old saving, “Murder will out”; the 8 out of 10 are | never apprehended. Of those arrested nly 1 in 10 is ever punished In today's news fron Chicago comes the report that blackmailers have ex {torted from wealthy citizens more than $1,000,000 hin the last few | months.” Even hootleggers are com plaining to the police that they are | robbed of their profits by blackmail. o Eminent authorities in law denoy | the tactics of lawyers w regardless | of the known guilt of their clients, will | use every possible technical trick |the laws to free the criminal. . The | fiction that even his lawyer is not sure |of his guilt soothes the conscience « such “criminal jawyers.” | Roscoe Pound, dean of the Hary | Law School, says: “Criminal law the almost excl ve fleld of the lowe | stratum of the American bar.” Dean Vance of the George \Washing ton University says: “Bluntly, the | American lawyer has proved a failure | In no other free and civilized country lare the laws so ill administered as in these United States. In the adminis |tration of law America lags two gen | erations behind the rest of the civil ized world.” rd It is generally conceded that t crux of the situation does not lie enacting more laws; rather in e | forcing what laws exist. It is not th purpose of the Prentiss Commissi | to Suppress Crime to rely on states | men, but to enlist all good citizen organize for law enforcement, ur present statutes, including a sweepin: away of court technicalities which de feat justice. This may involve the disbarring not of all ‘“criminal |lawyers,” but all lawyers who are | criminal in thelr practices, defeating justice and bringing law into dis repute. In 1904 we had 1 lawyer to every | 700 population we have now 1 to 870; England has 1 to 1,100: France, 1 to 4,100; Germany, 1 to 8,700; Russia, 1 to {31,000, and China—the celestial land | has no lawyers at all | We have the greatest proportion of lawyers. in the world, and the reputa { tlon of the most crime and the worst | enforcement of lav | Dr. Thomas B. Simms, head of the | department of philosophy, Trinity University, in a recent lecture said: “In spite of the fact that some of lour fine men are in the practice of law, the legal profession has the lowest standard of ethics of any of aur worthy vocations.'” iheprTiabi- 3025, W Paul V. Ctans