Evening Star Newspaper, January 25, 1926, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR| Weth Sunday Morning Edition. A D. C. WASHINGTON, MO THEODORE W. NOYES The Evening Star Newspaper Comaany Business Office 11th St. and Pennsyl New York Office: 110 E Thicaes OMes. Tower: Ruild Eurapear Ofcr: 14 Texent St London. England The Evenine star. fne edition. ia drhivered by the ity at 60 conts per month: dal 45 cents per manth: Sunday enls. 10 centr Per month_ - Orders may le sant by mail o teisnhene Main 3000 carrier at the end of each month. Rate hy Mail—Payable in vance. Maryland and Virginia. 1 v S0.00: 1 me. 1 vi 30081 Mo 1 1. $5.00; 1 mo. Dty Snle only Sundas 1day All Other States and Canada. nd Sundas £19.00: 1 mo.. $1 00 s 3 s8.00: 1 mao c $4.000 1 mo.l B5¢ e 1 Dl £ indas 1y Member of the Associated Press. The Ascociated Press is exclusively eniitled 10 the ‘use for renublication of all naws dis natches credited (o it or not ctherwis: Ped i this pansr and also the local uews Amundsen’s Blunder. Roald Amundsen has a grievous of judzment and is zuilty of a zrave wh of t in declaring that Dr. eliim to havinz discovered ihe North Pole is a that of the late Comdr. Rohert In the nrst plice. he is seekinz to reapen a controversy to the sat isfaction of both science and the lay Voould has bheen settled initely in [ the Peary claim. Azain. h 1= hesmirching the credit and the char .4 man who is dead and who cannot defend himself. Finally. he is arousinz the suspicion that. not con tent with his own henors in the field of polar exploration, he seeks to throw Capt mitted com error 1 br ste 200d E deliberately that as vor of o Acter doubt upen all claims of North Polar! dizcovery in order that the field may | be opened for his own enterpiise. Much allowance may be made for personal sympathy between Amund- sen and Cook, the latter mow i pris- cner and an object of pity for his plizht, the result of his inveterate disposition to deceive. They were triends long azo, fellows in an early Iielzian Antarctic expedition. Amund. sen was one of the first to acclaim Cook as the discoverer upon his re- turn te Copenhagen. He refused aft- erward to accept Peary's proofs that he, and not Cook, had reached the point of no latitude. There is at present no doubt in the minds of the great majority of people as to the honors of North Polar dis- That they helong to Peary 1= the settled belief of men and wom- en of science as well as of the laity. Cnok has been disclosed as a faker in the matter of far-Western mountain climbing. He has been convicted of fraud in business. He has no credit in the public mind. He is rated as the perpetrator of a hoax that can never he pardoned. a hoax based uvon the public’'s willingness to believe in the integrity of those who go into the great wastes of the world and, return- ing. report upon their findings. Cook’s acceptance upon his return as the dis- coverer of the Pole was due to this faith, the betrayal of which was an unpardonable crime, beyond the scope of law, but nevertheless punished by 2 world-wide repudiation. Amundsen has many achievements to his credit, and it is a pity that he should now align himself with this discredited faker and renew a discas- sion that was closed, it was thought, once and for all time when the official awards of discovery were made to Peary. In any case, there is a de- cided lack of sportsmanship in the de- nial of Peary’s title as the polar dis- coverer mow that he cannot himself defend it. harm Peary, nor coes he help Cook by this present performance. He only harms himself, and that is to be deep- Iy regretted. . The best news so far concerning the fuel situation is the report of the arrival of fifty robins at Ashury Park. ———— The World Court will easily gain new sympathizers if it wiil undertake to interest itself in the traffic problem vt —— covery. “Abe” Hummel. ¥or nearly twenty yea H. Hummel has been merely a mem- ory in New York, though for a longer period prior he had been one of the best known of Manhattanites. Now he is dead, in London, and it is almost necessary to tell the world who he was ! in life. so much has happened sinve his disappearanee from public view Time was when the name «f “Abe’ Hummel was as well established as A metropolitan character as that of “Dick” Croker. The title of his firm of lawyers, “Howe and Hummel,” was as famillar as the of Central Park. When finally Hummel came a cropper and was accused of conspiraey and subornation of perjury in voree case, he became for a little while a veritable national fizure. He fought the charze with all the inzenuity that had made him famous as a lawver, but finally he was sent to prison for a aquietly slipped England, where he lived during the rest of his life. In his heyday “Abe” Hummel one of the veritable landmar] York. Short, dapper, quick in action. suave, he was the antithesis of his partner, Howe, & huzc man given to fashy dressing. Howe was the typical court thunderer, a remarkably suc- cessful “trial lawyer.” He attended to the criminal business that went to the firm, Hummel chiefly to the mat- rimonial and theatrical cases. Howe was an overpowering personality, Hummel persuasive. Howe was an adept in wearing out the patience of the, prosecution by securing postpone- ments. Hummel was a “fixer,” wor ing mainly outside of court, though he often appeared. to represent some famous client, usually connected with the stage. Hummel's final slip cost him his place at the bar. He knew that he n1ld not return to practice with his Id prestige. During the many months that elapsed between his accusation and his release from prison his place in court’had been definitely vacated, 4 name a d away to was 2 NDAY......January 23. 1826[ . Editor - t,,:'hv stege with as keen an with the Sundas morn- rriers within anly. Collection is made by | Amundsen does not in fact | Abraham | vear, and after serving his term he | s of New | THE EVENING and others had occupied it—no llnll!]hulden who have found effective sub- verson- could quite replace thé pic-|stitutes for anthracite these next six turesque “Abe.” It was his wish to|weeks of probably hurd weather hold spend the remainder of his Hfe in{no particular terrors. To those who quiet obscurity, and that' he succeed-|huve not found them, who are still ed in doing, though he made no at-jdependent upon hard coal as domestic 1o hide himself. He followed | fuel, there ix a certain sinister aspect inerest as ever, becoming one of London's steadfast “first nighters.” as he had once heen the foremost of New Yo: 1t is = id that he “smiled to the end. | Despite his sins, Abraham Hummel | was liked ir: %> days of ‘his prosperity, {and is regretted now that he is dead {an London. | | | tempt telt. ANl fuel buyers ure feeiing the pinch of higher prices. The happiest 1of all aré those who bought last Spring enough coal for the entire Win- ter at the then prevailing rates. It has been demonstrated a fact {that the strike might last until warm weuther comes and ways would be found to keep the bouses warmed. {provided the people could pay the i price. But there are many people who e i Another Failure. | Another internation:l radio tes {night can be marked down as a fai’- ‘fure, in Wushington and its vicinity lat least, due (o the careless, Ingiffer- lent ar optimistic operators of regen-|from week to week. Unquestionably lerztive sets, who effectively blanketed | there is fuel economy in most houses, the entire city «nd prevented recep-und this means luck of the usual de- ton of overseas stutions, gree of warmth, and probably an in- | Proverly handlea crease of sickness. | rucio reception But, ufter all, the severest sufferinz the best. and the greutest privation are in the hard coal district, where the miners and their families and thousands of others who are affected by the strike are out of employment, whose rev- enues huve been cut off. whose sup- piies ure exhiusted and who are ac- tuully objects of charity. It is for their sake that the hope s chiefly felt thit this renewed negotiation muy result in u prompt resumption of mining and the end of this disgraceful trag- edy of obstinucy. seoes Before entering into close European relationships, Uncle Sam would he justified in demunding that no nation will again, as during the fight against Germany, refer to us as “blodssinnig Yankees.” There are two dots over the and the word means “over confiding.” The unavailability of the two dots in American print may serve to remind us that we are dealing, in new emergency. with slightly un- tumiliur terms of thought and expres. sion. {for anthracite. They are finding it more and more difficult to get along 4 regenerutive apparatus is one of Badly operated it is one of the vicious elements of the develop- ment of the new art and bids fair Lo step in its tricks the progress of ! radio. ! AU 11 o'clock last night the Ameri- | | ean stations, by internztional agree- ment, were shut down so that listen- ers in this country would have a| better chuince of picking up European | {stations which special Dbroadeast | transutlantic programs. | | Previcus 1o the hour set for the| | beginn of the test reception of | American stations by other stations | this country was highly satistac- {tory. Tt w hat is known to radio enthusiasts “s0od night” be- jcause of the lack of static, and high ! hopes were entertained by those with powerful sets for success in the in- { ternational tests. Prompuly at 11 o'clock, however, it iseemed as if every regenerative set {in the world was improperly tuned| |in on the announced wave lengths of {the Buropean stations, and operators j of other sets, although capable of pick- | ing up overseas broadcasting, got nothing for their pains but screeches, howls and whistles the minute they reached the required adjustment. A rezenerative set is one that when crowded as to volume rebroadcasts the station it is receiving. This, in effect, results in a large number of small transmitting stations on each wave length. In tests conducted in Cleveland one badly operated regen- erative set was shown to have com- pletely ruined the reception of all| radio machines within the city limits. | Another element enters into last | night's flasco when it is realized that there are few regenerative séts made which are powerful enough to pick up England or continental European sta- tions. So it appears that there were many of the species known as “su- preme optimists” on the air when the tests began. They may or may not have realized that they had scant chance of success, but in all prob- ability they realized, by the noises in their own sets, that they were making it impossible for any one to pick up the overseas stations. Many States are seeking legisla- tion to bar the regenerative set be- cause of its misuse by the public, but laws of this kind are hard to secure because of the admitted quality of re- Senerative reception when properly operated. A campaign of education would seem to be the next best step. Cer- tainly something must be done, or the progress of radio will be stopped by the refusal of the public to buy ex- ! pensive apparatus on which nothing | but “backyard melodies” can be heard. NT— A Murder Mystery. e A finger print, a piece of string— | Smoking is a bad habit: worse even these seem to be the only clues injin the case of bituminous cozl than Washington's latest murder mystery. |in that of tobacco. a case of exceptional atrocity. A ! ! woman is found slain, the motive oh. scure, though robbery Is suggesied. | The police are baffied by the lack of | evidence beyond the finger print on; the victim's glasses and the similarity of a bit of string found in the home | of a suspect to that used in Linding the slain woman. The case may he suddenly cleared jup by the capture of the undoubted | slayer. There is always nope of u chance discovery or of the successful pursuit of clues that point to individ. uals. Police acumen is keen and the members of the Detective Bureau arc | adept in following apparently incon- sequential indications to definite re. sults. Unless the slayer is caught in the act, or leaves behind some \ nmistaka- ble trace of personality, evary murder is mysterious. This one may prove o0 be quite simple of solution after all. Aguin, it may remain unsolved for all | !time. There are several of such char- jacter on the local records. for the i solution of which all hope has now Landlord and Tenant. Ibeen abandoned. Yet even they may | Unto my window ledge there comes any day be solved, perhups after the' A mocking bird, requesting crumbs. {slavers themselves have passed be-| i grant them; for you will repay {vyond the range of punishment. | With songs that you will sing in May. ———ate———— ng | lin ———— At the age of seventy-four vears Cardinal Mercier passes on. Seventy- four s a goodly age, though far this side of the estimate which modern sci- ence assigns as the limit of human life. It is still conceded that ‘“the good die voung,” but the definition of the word “youns” depends more and more upon the viewpoint. e Comments by Charles Evans Hushes call attention to him as a pre-eminent figure in judicial science. Confidence if he were reliably available as a lead- ing figure in its personnel. ———te— Careful inquiry reveals the fact that the determination of Otto Kahn to move Metropolitan Opera quarters further uptown in New York is in nowise due to the hope of concealing them from Ganna Walska. ——— It is not fair to say that Washing- ton, D, C., has more intoxicated drivers in proportion to other cities. It is fair to say that Washington, D. C., exercises more than ordinary vigilance in arresting them. ————————— Tributes to the late Sam Gompers are ‘numerous. is a negative one: the recognition of | nection with the anthracite crisis. —— e Weather prophets who foretold an exceptionally hard Winter are now saying nothing and pointing to the thermometer. S So far as Senator Wheeler is con cerned, it has been decided to give {some of our leadinz zrand juries { a { holiday. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Genuine Enjoyment. Had a litue party Down to Pohick on the Crick. Friends was true an’ hearty | An’ the gals was lookin’ slick. With sandwiches an’ salads ‘The hostess came across. We had a lovely ballad: And, likewise, some applesauce. T've dallied with Delsarty And the classic dancin’ trick— But, give me the little party Down to Pohick on the Crick! Courtesfes. “What do you understand by the term ‘Senatorial courtesy’?” “It is not clearly defined,” answered Senator Sorghum. “But to a certain extent it implies the assumed privi- lege of being impolite to a newcomer.” | Jud Tunkins says a statesman is not a politician out of a job, but one who has a job secure enough to let him go on talking, even though out of public office. The Limit. ““What aoes ‘Somnambulism’ mean?” inquired the traffic officer. ““Walking 1n your sleep.” “Great guns! For Jay Walking, that’s the limit!” Myths and Mortals. . The myth, an enviable elf, Exists but to enjoy himself. 0Old Santa Claus is on his way, ‘While father has the bills to pay. Nature and Art. “The stage holds the mirror up to Nature,” remarked the ready-made philosopher. Possibilities of equine education are | jextraordinary. A horse may be per- mitted to venture among the traffic ‘ys|gna|s on Sixteenth street when he jcan demonstrate that he ig not color- blind. i Ancther Coal Conference. Diszppointed on several occasions, the public that burns coal as fuel will not be optimistic regarding the, possibility of coal peace resulting from tomorrow’s conference between the operators and the miners. There is only one new factor in the ca that promises results, and. that is in ct the same one of the miners’ n Cessities, which are today greater than ever and are perhaps sufcient to compel agreement. Nothing in the exchange of state- ments by the two sides gives a clue| ~Nonsense,” exclaimed Mr. Storm- to the prospect. To them it would| jngton Barnes. “The way to make a seem to be “just another conference,”| hj; with a chorus is to dress 'em up with no new materfal on which t0}so that the members will uppear as work, save perhaps the Lynett plan,| ynnatural as possible.” proposing a five-year peace with im- mediate return to work and some sort of provision for a midterm readjust- | said Uncle Eben, “give him credit foh ment. X speakin’ de truth. Nobody ain’ gineter The worst of the Winter. In this re- | stand by an’ keep out'n de Charleston gion, Is vet to come. To u:-e house: ' unless he positively has tof “When a man tells you he's tired,” to the time until Spring warmth is¢ cannot pay the price of the substitutes ! in the World Court would be greater | The greatest tribute ! need of leadership such as his in con- | STAR. WASHINGTON A thing of heauty is a joy lorever: Tta loveliness increases: (t will never Pass into nothingness: but still will keep A hower quiet for u, and a sleep Full of swest dreams, ‘and health, and quiet breathing. Perhaps no line in English poetry is more quoted than the first above: somehow it has stuck in the fancy of the world. and is likely to crop up in jalmost any conversation. Often it is used by those who have no idea in the world who wrote it Ask the average person, who uses it &libly enough. and he is just as likely | 10 reply as mot, “Oh, it’s’ in the Bible | somewhere: John Keats. the poet. did not spe- clallze in quotable sentences. His works are not treasure houses of | smart maxims, such as one will find on almost every page of Alexander Pope. Just what there is to certain writ- ings that make for “quotations” is hard to define, for often enough what 15 sald is not’ different from what is sald elsewhere. Perhaps the merit les In a certain felicity of thought and expression absent in the other. The plays of Maurice Maeterlinck, for instance, are vastly entertaining. when vead in the study: but after: { ward, if one tries to recail a line, he finds' himself practically unable to | do so. The writer of these lines has read, although some years back, practi- cally all of Macterlinck's unusual dra- matic offerings, vet cannot remember a single line from them except the following: “The soul of a kitchen mald looked out from her green eves. Writing lines. then. that will be turned into “quotations” by future zenerations of readers is more luck than anything else. Some authors at- tain it, and others do not, vet the lat ter cannot he said, in justice, to be any the less writers. * %k o* To the latter class belonzed Keats, with some fer exceptions, notably the one instanced at the heginning of this article. While he did not succeed in striking off lines that would he much quoted in 1926, some hundred vears after his short time on earth, he did manage to write poetry that s practically per- tect in form. It has always seemed to me that Keats should be called “the poet’s poet,” instead of Edmund Spenser, who 'has been so dubbed in literary his. tory. It is true that the author of “The Faery Queene” is relished most by those who have dabbled in verse them. selves, but the very same thing may be sald of Keats. One has to have had some personal experience in handling verse forms be- fore he can relish Keats from start to fintsh. Then he is able to really ap- preciate the exanizite structures which this man created. His handling of his was essentlally poetic. Those who “do not care for poetry.” as they declare will find themselves terribly at sea in | attempting to read Keats, for the sim- ple reason that they do not give the Doet credit for heinz a poet. Does that seem @ strange thing to sy ? Well, is | different way. { bricklayer, 1 thoughts, too it in o« not a a tax mevelr declaring. that a poet is a plumber. or collector, or a hewer of stone. | A poel is a poet. and. as such. has a right to be a hit roundabout in ar riving at hie thoughts. He works with words, in a peculiar way sanc- tioned by the centuries. If you, on the other hand, have not studied the forms. the plans. working drawings and blue prints of this architecture of words, how dare you, then, sit off and critic | | t 1 BY FREDERIC i Everybody on Capitol Hill concedes that Scnator Norris has started some- !thing with his revelations of Presi- ident Coolidge’s dealings with the | Tariff Commission. With the Republi- ican insurgent and Democratic packs tin full e At the administration’s iheels, a hunt is in prospect, the even- {tual results of which it would be rash to predict. If it i congressional cam- paign ammunition that is sought— s some of the President's defenders allege—the Norris-Democratic group < he timing its attack as badly as oil attack was timed twe It was roushly in [ aRo. it { Teapot Dome ! scandals. But by the time the Novem iber elections rolled around. the oil fumes, as far as political effect was jconcerned, had evaporated into the | thinnest of alr. Senator Norris is sald his friends to be “loaded for i heur Before he has stacked arms. they expect him to shoot mot only ‘at Coolidse methods with the Tariff| | Commission. but administration strat- *agy in connection with the Federal | Trade and Interstate Commerce (‘om- { missions and the United States Ship- ping Board. By all the signs of the | political zodiac, Washington is on the threshold of another season of | rumor, recrimination and remorse. * k * x | Dr. william M. Jardine, Secretary !of .Agriculture, is back from the | lions’ den—the radical Nlinois farm- {ers' convention—wearing no scars | of battle and apparently fecling that administration prestige out there {stands a little higher than before he went. When Jardine entered the big stock-judging _pavilion at Urbana, where he spoke, 2,000 farmers cho- rused at him the refrain, “Hello, Jar- dine, you're a friend of ours!" That turned out to be the spirit of the occasion. The Secretary of Agricul- ture doesn’t think he converted “Sam"” Thompson's embittered and embattled cohorts into rock-ribbed conservatives. But he believes he did show them that there is a real Cool- idge agriculture program. based on a 100 per cent desire to lift the farm- s out of their rut, and that it holds promise of doing just that. Jar- dine went one step bevond the policy {hitherto advocated by the administra- tion, viz., ald In co-operative market- ling organization. The step is the one comprehended by the Dickinson bill. whereby a Federal Farm Board Is to be set up at Washington. * Kk * * Charles Evans Hughes seems to have adopted a novel way of taking himself out of the 1928 presidential race. He has accepted employment as general counsel of the American Petroleum Institute—the nation-wide organization of the oil industry—in its dealings with the Government oil conservation authorities. At least, | Washington politicians are certain ithat no Republican with White House ambitions would knowingly identify himeelf with anything so politically odoriferous as petroleum, A couple of months ago the Petroleum Insti- tute hired Judson C, Welliver, liter- ary guide and counselor to Presi- dents Harding and Coolidge, away from the executive offices. Now the institute has put on its pay voll the statesman who was Secretary of State in their administrations. * ok ok ok Philadelphia is boiling with Indig- nation over Chicago’'s capture of the 1926 Array-Navy foot ball classic. Tf Representative Fred A. Britten of IMinols, who put it over Willlam Penn, shows up in the vicinity of the Quaker City, dire vengeance probably waits him. But Philadelphians are ready to wreak almost as savage a fate upon its own congressional delegation, which is accused of lifting no finger to ward off Chicago’s bid for the game. Nor Is any brotherly love wasted upon | | THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS hat Washington hezan to seethe with | citement and its allied | . D. €, MONDAY, 1 ' “A is a joy for-| ever—" so Keats saia. and, in so sa\ ing, sald it all. as far as the rough- and-ready reader is concerned. “What did he say all the rest for?" | such a one will ask. He said it, we may reply, in order to elaborate his theme, to make music, In the true meaning of the original definition of a poet, who was “a maker.” A thing of beauty is a jov foreves Keats tells ue. Its loveliness in-: creases; it will never pass Into noth ingness, but still will keep a bow quiet for us and a sleep full of sweet dreams and health and quiet breath- ing. Thfi:!(nre. in evers morrow. we are wreath- A II:W”.\' bhand to bind us to the earth. Snite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth Of noble natures. of ‘the gloomy day. Of all the unheaithy and o'er darkened ways Nade for our wearching: yes. in spite of all icme ahape of heauty moves away the pall ¥From our dark spirit thing of beauty | Yes, despite our human failing of sloom and all the unhealthy ursuits common to mankind, whom God made noble, but who has xouzht out many inventions of evil. w: dally discover new faces of beautv, whether of child or woman, or natural beauty, to re. move the darkness from our strug- gling spirits. The poet was right— it is h; to hold us Jown! Stch the sun. the moon. Trees old and young. sprouting a sh. Eor simple ahean: and such are daffo With the green worid they tive in: a rilly Trat for themmelves a cooling covert make Gainst the hot season: the midforest hrake Rich with of bloome And such. 100, is the grandeur of the dooms We have imagined for the mighty deac ATl fovely talen that we have heard or read An endless fountain of immortal drink Pourtng into us from the heaven's hrink | a wprinkling fair muskrose i | Nor do we mearely feel these cssences For one short hour: no. even as the trees That whisper tound a femble. bacome <oon Dear as the temple's self. so does the moon. The passion noess. glories infinite. Haunt us till they hecome 4 cheering light | [nto our sauls, and hound 10 s s fast That, whether there be shine, or gloom o er cast. They alware must he with us. or we dic * ok ox ox i Thus Keats. who died at the age of | . sets forth (in his “Endymion") | the very essence of the poetic scul. | "In such verse, as in his sonnet | precise vessels of poetry. and | yerses as “La Belle Dame | Merci,” meticulous in its ballad form, ! the poet spoke to the heart of poetry | lovers of his and all future davs, ! There are <ome who think that, “pomes.” as they call them. are on for the classroom, not for real Lfe. “Red-blooded men.” they believe. are| not interested in verse. They are woefully mistaken, The amount of Interest in verse| wmong section hands, men in all sorts of occupations. women and children | ts amazinz. The writer of this col- | umn in the past two vears has had | AN unusual opportunity to estimate | this love of poetry. He never writes of the poets hut what he zets a large number of let ters of appreciation. and more often thzn not many -amples of homemade | verse, which he is asked to criti To date he hus been very success- | ful in side-stepping all such requests, ! and. for the peace of hie own soul intends to keep on :hyinz away! A far better judgment than I can zive. kind rcaders. may be secured | At will simply by comparing your own | verse with that of John Keats. or of i Shelley. or Shakespeare, or Lonzfel low, or any of the true poets. True poetry lovers, all ye who write | verses! Read vour poems side by side with those of John Keats. It will prove an interesting and perhaps | Vluminating test. i | i ! i | | WILLIAM WILE. Representatives Butler and Morin, both | rv\' Pennsylvania, and, respectively, chairman of the House naval and | military committees, for failing te exert their powerful influence on Philly’s behalf. Sciasors Pepper ind ' '{(‘Cd sit, respectively. on the Senate Navy and Army conunittees. They too, re being called to account fo Philadelphia’s discomfiture, P | John W. O'Leary, six-footed Chica- | coan who is the new piesident of the ! Chamber of Comrerce of the 'nited States, journevs to its marble heuad- quarters in Washington two or three | tmes a month. He says he | meets a new person who does Ito know his relationship 1t that ! | famous Chicago lady whose cow kie ed over a lamp and started the bi fil:o of 55 vears ago. “I'm sorry, O'Leary explains. “that T can't irace my pedigree to that public lLenefac- tress, for her cow did more for the cre- ation of modern Chicago than wn nl!\'r one thing T know of. There i.re still some mshackles left that are | | worthy the attention of a modern lLo. | vine with kickinz propensities.” * ok ¥ ox | One of the loveliest ladies of the | |land—she lives in Washington—is a | recent convert to the Charleston. She | came v it honestly. Her teacher | was her own son, who gave his mother | lessons when hé was home for the holidays from college a few tweeks ago. Being passionately fond of danc. ing. and uncommonly talented for it besides, the distinguished and delight. ful matron picked up the Charleston in no time. For at least an hour each day—so she informs her friends—she and her bov tripped it snappily. But she is not likely to do any of her new 1steps in public. * ok koK The irreconcilable German element in the United States now vents its spleen weekly in a periodical called the Progressive, and published by the Steuben Co. at New York. Its policy of keeping the American-European waters muddied Is evidenced by its current tirade against Senator Henri Berenger, the newly arrived French Ambassador at Washington, whom it slanders with a varlety of vituperative veferences. He is charged. among ! other things, with international | “oll trust” affiliations and pro- prietorship of a group of Parisian | newspapers of somewhat unsavory reputation. There is no .reason to | ! suppose that the Getman govern- /ment’s representatives in America ap- Iprove of the Progressive. But readers {of its recent issues think Baron Malt- zan might. with usefulness to Ger- can-American relations, remind its {managers that the war is over and that Viereckian venom Iz ‘‘vorbei” and “verboten.” (Covyrirht. 1926.) Chasing the Sun. From the Christian Science Monitor. Chasing the sun across the top of the world is not a pastime which is likely to prove popular in the immedi- ate future, but it is the purpose aimed at by the Detroit Aviation Society’s Arctic airplane expedition, when it takes off from Point Barrow, Alaska, in a couple of months. The thought of it is really fascinating. This is how Capt. G. H. Wilkins, leader of the ven- ture, has put it: “If we start in the morning from Point Barrow and keep on flying we should reach the geo- graphic pole at midnight. The sun at that time just ahout touches the hori- zon and immediately begins to rise again. We will lose 12 hours in that instant when we cross the North Pole. In other words, it will be hoth morn- ing and afternoon.” This sounds like the next best thing to racing the earth i i t JANUARY {on appeal. ! constitutional i pears singular | plove 1926. 25. Court Rulings on Libels Against the Deceased To the Editor of The Star: Anent the alleged censorious criti- cism of the habits and character of our first President by a prominent novelist and his defense of his utter- ance under the mantle of privilege on the ground of truth, which hasawak- ened considerable interest with the press and public, it may be of interest to the legal profession to note that a similar attack, a few vears ago. in Tacoma, Wash., was adjudged crimi- nally libelous in a suit instituted against the critic by a taxpayer in the courts of that State, which judgment, was affirmed by the Su- preme ©ourt, December 29, 1918, The action was brought at ihe in- stance of Col. E. Joab of Tacoma against Paul H. Haffer, a young Ta- coma Socialist, accused of libeling the memory of George Washington. Col. Joab, an attorney, cau: Haffer's ar- rest after the latter had sent a letter 10 2 newspaper referring to Washing- ton as a “blasphemer.” “slaveholder” and “inveterate drinker.’ Under the rule of the common law, and this was the point the defendunt based his defense, prose- !cutions of this kind may be brought where there is a surviving relative or friend of the slandered deceased who suffers by the libelous attack. The theory of the law was that if a landerous attack is made on the memory of a deceased it might incite the relatives of surviving friends of the dead person to breaches of peace. The case was tried before a jury in the Superior Court of Plerce County, Wash., May 4, 1918, Judge Card pre- siding. In his trial Haffer produced what he could from hi supporting his criticisms of the Father of His Country: also relvinzg upon privilez: respectinz the constitutional safeguard of his right to free speech. in accord- ance with custom of freely attac the inz char. | acters of public men, with the further contention that the nhject of his criti cism was long dead and no injur: { could follow. Less than two hours were required 1o reach a verdict. Haffer victed, fined and sentenced to serve four months in jail. Motion for a new trial was made and denied, and appeal was taken to the Supreme Court, on eround, and on the further ground that the criticism was true and therefore not actionable. The decision handed down by the Supreme Court, December 29, 1918, af- firmed the judgment of the lower court, the validity of the trial and the sentence, holding that there was no question that the article was libelous and was maliciously published. In its decision the court said. “One has no mere constitutional right to de- fame the memory of a deceased than of living persons. This is believed to have set a prec- edent for the entire country. In this connection it is interesting to compare the ruling, on January 21, 1925, reported in press notices from Kansas City, of Federal Judge Albert L. Reeves in sustaining a demurrer of the Iamous Players-Lasky Corpora. tion to the onsmillion dollar suit of Mrs. Virginia Bridger Hahn. alleging that the motion picture, “The Covered Wiagon,” defamed her father. Jim Bridger. famous Indian scout. by de- picting him as 4 “two-squaw man” ané a drunkard. Mrs. Hzhn con- tended the picture cast reflections upon her life and that she had been damaged accordingly. Judge Reev held that one’s an- cestors might not he defamed because the habits and standards change so with the generations that what might he considered perfectly proper in one aze would be considered improper im another. While the merits of the respective cases are dissimilar, the legal princi- ple involved appears to be the same. with a preponderance of justice in favor of the last cited case, where direct relationship (and hence a vest- ed interest involved) existed in a sur. ving descendant of the person whose memory is claimed to have been slan- dered. CONSTANTINE M. PERKINS, o Compulsory Retiren:ent Conflicts With Reason To the Editor of The St The Garber-Harreld bill the civil service to amend retirement act ap- v uneconomic and un- cthical in 1ts requirement that an em. of retirement age—under this bill, 62 to 65 years, upon the position filled—shall not only he automatically separated from the service. but shall not be “employed again in any position within the pur- /iew of this act, nor he appointed to nother position in any branch of the ernment service.” The underlying logic of this pro vision appears 1o be that an employe of retivement age must perforce be in- capacitated from rendering further ceptable service. Mere logic, however, may conflict with common sense, com. mon experience and common human- ity. Under the existing law there is a presumption of inca- pacity upon attainment of retirement aze. but this presumption may be re- butted by proof that the fact is other- wisc, and provision is made for exten- sions_of employment where the ap. pointing officer is satisfied that such will be for the zood of the service. This provision enables the Gover ment 1o vetain the services of em- ploves found physically and mentally fit ‘who possess, in addition, a valu- « upon which | the universally established | was con- | | erally taught i< that thev | ditions Dictator in Greece Marks depending | | make the world retirement | able training, the result of vears of | service. True, pressure is sometimes brought to bear upon appointing off- cers to retain an employe whose days of usefulness are past. and this ex- perience is probably distinctly unpleas- ant, but are not such experiences in- cident to almost any situation of au- therity and responsibility? In the Army and Navy there is full recognition of the fact that a retired officer is not ipso facto moribund. Not infrequently. following retirement— |and often coincident with retirement —he is assigned to duties of the high- | est difficulty and responsibility—dutie: whose very importance determine: their placement in experienced hands. In the legislative branch of our Gov ernment there are positions which are virtually the counterparts of positions in the executive branch. 1s it not con- ceivable that an experienced pension examiner, patent examiner or Treas. ury clerk familiar with Federal ap. propriations might be a useful em. ploye in the proper committee on Capi. tol Hill> And there are many minor positions in the Government service | that a retired Federal' civil servant might acceptably fill, and thereby eke out his slender retirement pay, which, under the terms of the bill, would at most Be $100 a month, and for many persons much less, § Far from barring the retired Fed- eral employe from all other employ- ment under the Government, it might be urged with a good deal of grace that he has an equitable claim for ac- tual preference. For half a century past salaries in Federal positions have been woefully low, making it practi- cally impossible for an employe with a family to save anything. Reaching the retirement age, fi'e is dropped from the service upon a mere pittance. What more fitting and proper than that the victim of the Government's parsimony should be accorded a pref- | ington, ANSWERS BY FREDERI: . Is it proper to send Christmas cards to persons with whom one is not personaliy acquainted? Shonld cards be acknowledged?-—N. N. A. 1t is considered good form to send Christmas greetings to public perso ages that one admires. Last year President Coolidge received over 14,000 cards, most of which were from strangers. It Is not customary to re- ply to such mail. and in the Presi dent’s case it was not possible hecanse of the great volume and in most in stances addresses were lacking. Q. Is it true snakes in Ireland . A. A snake that was discovered in Dublin is on exhibition at the National Museum of that city. It is a <mall specimen, less than 2 feet lonz and of a harmless variet . suct no Q. Who are the world's most lar authors?—G. A. ¢ A. According to Irving Harlow Hart for the Publish- ers’ Weekly, the best sellers for the last 24 years were: Winston Church- ill, Harold Bell Wright, Booth Tark- George Barr McCutcheon, Roberts Rinehart. Zane ev. Stratton-Porter. Eleanor 11 popu- ist prepared by Mary Gene | Porter, William J. Locke and E. Phil- | lips Oppenheim Q. Are flat omelets fallen omelets”—", AL A. Flat omelets are those made of the volks and whites of egzs heaten together. not separately. 4 Nuffy omelet the volks and whites are sep- arated and beaten well. To the volks, the milk and seasoninz are added. lastly the fluffy whites are added and carefully blended. Fluffy omelets sometimes fall. Q. How are vowels formed? - M. It A. There are numerous theories con cerning the formation of vowels C. K. Rogers. writing in “Your Vuice ard You." sevs: “The theory most commonly accepted and most zen are <haped in the mouth b various positions of the lips and tonzue. which pocitions furnish so many forms or molds into which the stream of vihrated air poured.” Q. Please tell something about the Hofburg Palace in Vienna.—H._ A. I A. The Hofbieg Palace in Vienna is a complex of bulldings of various epochs and various styles, inclosing several courtvards. The oldest part of the prevent edifice dates from th: thirteenth century, and extensive ad have been made since - 1887 In addition to private rooms and the state apartments. the Hofburz con tains a lbrary of about $00.000 vol umes, 7,000 incunabala and 24.000 manuscripts, including the celebrated Papyrus Rainer. Before the war the palace contained the imperlal treas- ury, in which were kept the family treasures of the house of Habshurz and Lorraine and other important col lections. the same as Q. Who are now many and France’— A. The President of Germam Paal.von Hindenburg. The President of France is Gaston Doumergue. Q. Where is the lizhthouse in the world A. The most powerful lighthouse in the world has heen erected on Mont Afrique. on the plateau of Dijon cesidents of Ger R. is ost powerful A. R. TO QUESTIONS C J. HASKIN. in France, for the. purpose of guldinz | aireraft proceeding from and te Pa Switzerland. Italy and Africa. lamps consist of eight powerful elec | tric_arc lamps with dioptric lenses divided into two groups of four. The light from each four is converged into ne beam, one heam facing one wau and the other heam the other way cach heam having 1.000,000,000 candle power. The lantern measures 1% feet across and each lens fs 5 feet in diameter. Lamps and lenses are mounted on fwo circular platforme one above the other. The platforms are mounted on hall hearings on | eireular pivot. about which they are | rotated hy an elect motor. On clear nizht the light of the heams i< visible for 300 miles. Q. What has heen discovered in the survey of so-called “Californian carth movements"?—W. T. D. | A A comprehensive scheme | research 1= being carried out in Call | fornta with the object of investizat ing the alarming movemente to which the earth’s crust in that region is subject. The United States Coast arvey and the Hydrographic Offi have trianzulated the land and ron foured the ocean floor. and the Geolozieal Survey. aided the un verzities of California studyinz eolozy in detall. Great fault are found alonz the Californian const for the Sierra Nevada rises to more | than 14000 feet on the east. whil- the ocean floor drops sharply tn o depth cf 12,000 feet on the west. The danger zones of structural unstabii ity are being carefully mapped that in future definite predictions the piaces where earthquakes ms occur may e made from a knowledze f the direction and nu..'nnln? of the ereepinz and 1ilting movements of the tand hy 0. Are there more deaf-mutes men than among women A. A survey of 35026 zave the following per 156 males, 15,560 females. 153 these were white males, 15.110 white females, 16825 males were nati« horn. and 13,980 females. Negroes males, 701 females. Chinese. Japane:- or other colored persons, &3 males and 19 remales, mute 1 Q. How many pencils are used in the United States?” B €. A. It is estimated that one pencils are consumed vearly. billion 1t is gratifying to mote the splendid wee our readcrs are making of the free information burcau conducted by The Evening Star. Individuals. business firms. organizations, teachers, stn dents. are all sending in their querie Men and women interested in the points of history. politics, literature inventions, science, art and a hun- dred othcr subjects are writing to the hurcau. Women are asking for an- thoritative information from ment experts on household problen and the carc of children. Ambi young men wre getting the informn tion they need to help them in train- ing themsclves and choosing their carecrs. What problem have yow that must he solved settled? Write Frederic J. Haskin, The Evening Star Information Bureau. Washinaton. D. €. Inclose 2 cents in stamps for ve- turn postaoe Gorern- Another Swin Dictatorships in Europe are getting to be an old story. American editors see in these flarcbacks o one-man rule temporary stages in the swinging of the governmental pendulums. Pre. mier Pangzalos, the new self-anaounced dictator of Greece,.at the moment o« cuples the center of the stage in dis- cussions along these lines. The dictator idea in Kurope.” ob- serves the Oakland Tribune, “finds supperters in times of political need. and after one parliament or cabinet after another has heen unable to es- tablish policies and translate them into terms of action. then when the necessity has passed, or when the strong man has lost his zrip. will come the reaction and the return of a representative government.” Commenting on ‘“the string of dic- 12torships on the Mediterranean.” the Morgantown New Dominion thinks “this is a curious situation, seven veurs after a <reat war, fought * fe for democracy.’ but does nmot see in it a lasting con- dition. for “history, so far as it teaches anything definitely. teaches the alternation of popular moeds.” PR “After all, the ‘dictatorship’ of Pangalos in Greece amounts m to the frank avowal of a condition which has existed for many month the Christian Science Monitor points out, as it further declares, ‘“He is no more dictator—nor less—today than he was when he avoided arrest, exile and possibly more serious penalti Dby seizing the government before his foes could seize him.” As the Charle: ton Lvening Post further explains, “Gen. Pangalos, who accomplished a coup detat in Greece last year and has been at the head of the Athens government since, has mow thrown off all pretensions to constitutional restraint and has assumed dictatorial powers."” Seeking a reason for the develop- ment in Greece, the Kansas City Journal takes into account Italian in- fluence and says: “Whether this is © retaliatory gesture to match that of Italy does not appear in the announce- ments. But the fierce rivalry between Greece and ltaly lends verisimilitude to the suspicion. Pangalos may try to restore ‘the glory that was Greece or he merely may desire to place hi country in a position to resist any oftensive gesture by her rival, Italy. ok ok % “Where the Western nations are trying to break new ground inte A new world where mankind can find better ways of living. Italy and Greece r turn to the blood and thunder loyal- ties of the middle ages.” deplores the Houston Chronicle, as it recalls that “‘Greece gave the world its first de- mocracy: Rome's greatness was built on the strength and virtues of the republic.’” The Chronicle expresses the hope that these two nations will “soon abandon the false gods they are now worshiping and return to the loyalties that animated those early Greeks and Romans.” Speaking in similar vein. the Los Angeles Express remarks: “Love of liberty, independ- ence and self-government have been the outstanding character of the Greeks since the earliest record of that people. It isn't likely that those of the twentieth century of the Chris- tian era will long submit to a con- dition against which the Greeks of twenty centuries before this era re- belled. “The political reaction has been due to transient conditions, and will prob- | ably pass with them,” in the opinion of the Rockford Star. “The people erence in employment in other gov.|feel the need of a strong man and ernmental fields? r | Barring a person, | surrender their power for the moment, and especially a class of persons, from | feeling that they can take it back opportunities of useful employment when they like.” To the Duluth Her- is serious business, and, on the part of |ald “it is mot surprising that ambi- the Government, justifiable only upon the clearest showing of public need. GEORGE A. WARKEN. There Are Many of Them. From the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. The headless horseman 'could get violent means.” 'l-';‘l." with #t—but net that kind of a tious and powerful men in countries where disorder is rife take advantage of conditions to grasp power. But it is surprising,” continues this journal, “that great populations should allow control 1o pase into the hands of in- dividuals who get it by illegal and * ok ok % ““The more stal democracies have g of Pendulum viewed the spread of dictatorshin as indicatinz the temperamental unfit ness of certain Europeans to make demoeracy work.” declares the Ch |cazo Tribune. This seems to be the opinion of Pangalos as far as Greece is concerned. for, according to the Charlotte Observer, “that dictator thinks the Greek people not fitted for democratic government. He may he right. “The Observer continues, “It i< safe to v that no people are fit for self-zovernment who do not want selt government.” The Wichita Beacon, reviewing the | history of Greece for several vears Aecides that “Greece is one of the u fortunate victims of European po tics. It seems that she will not try dictatorship. She has tried evervthine else in the form of zovernment the World War.’ ‘Peoples like to have the right rule themselves and they like to main tain that they do rule: but at least In crises they like 1o be ruled.” contends the Appleton Post Crescent. which finds the reason for this in the fact that people hecome “discontented with chanze. uncertainty and indecision in zovernment.” * % %o Commenting on the statement Pangalos that he will rule with the nelp of the army and the navy. the Portland Oregon Journal savs: “This warrior hold is challenging the senti ment of the civilized world. which now for peace and will remain for peace. It's a bis job. for one tim zeneral. even ‘with the help of the army and navy' of Greece, a ver: <mall force in a very big world. Na poleon tried that program 100 yvears 1zo, he died solitary and alone on St | Helena, where the sea chanted hi requiem. | e | Another Democratic ; Presidential Proposal To the Editor of The Star : Believinz in the fundamental princi ples of the Democratic party nf “equal rizhts 1o all and special privi | lezes to none.” 1 was naturally inter ested in your editorial the other eve ning on the subject of the next eandi date for President of that party. Some s will say that it is a little too early 1o peculate at this time on candidates, since jssues make candidates. Admit ting that to be partially true, I am £0ing 1o mame a man who, if he he {living at the time of the next Demo. jcratic national convention. should i commend himself to all factions of ths party and have a fair chance of elec tion. Enough is at hand to concen trate on the few names mentioned { from time to time and to eliminatc them as impossible of election. name { Iv: Smith of New York. a wet: Ritchic {of Maryland. a wet: McAdoo, becausc 1 of the Klan issue, and Josephus Dan {fels of North Carolina. The latter | could secure the support of both the Bryan and Wilson factions in the party and would be a strong candi date. but geographically is weak he cause of the prejudice still existin- against a man south of the Mason Dixon line. Then. too, ¥ome gov | ernors will be mentioned as time goes on. but since none of them siznd out {in a national vy they must be elimi { nated. Looking aroiunl for a man { Who 'is zeographically right and would offend neither the prohibitior ists. the wets nor any other faction in the party, my mind wanders to a Democrat who is leading his disorgan ized party as best he can in owposi 1 tion to the iniquitcus revenue tax bill in the House—Henry T. Rainey of Tllinois, a» man whom bryan, whilr living, mentioned as up to the stand- ard of the presidency, and I now nominate him, through The Star, for the next Democratic nomination ani commend him to the serious corsider ation of the leaders of the party Pick him to pieces, fellow Democrats and then name a stronger candidats. W.J. DWYER. of