Evening Star Newspaper, March 16, 1926, Page 8

With Sunday Meming Editlon. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY.......March 16, 1926 THEODORE W. NOYES. . ..Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Oftice: . L1th 8t."and Penneylvania Avo. New York Office: 110 East 42nd St. O Tower Building. ent 8t.. London, The Evening Star. with the Sunday morn- o7 G + ia deliverad by carriers within %o city a¥ 60 cents per wionth: daily oniy. » 10 cents per month: Sunday only. cenf © Jor month. Orders may be tent by mail or » telephone Matn 5000. Collection {a made by arrier at the end of ewch mouth. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. paty anSiZiayd 210, VDA Dally only . sunday only ' .00 .00 1 mo.. 3.00: 1 mo.. 5 g0c 123 AH Other States and Canada. Daily and Sunday.1 yr..$12.00:1 mo. $1.00 + Duily only 1yr. $A.00:1mo., &= Sunday only - $4.00i 1 mo.. 3bec Member of the Assoclated Press. The Associated Press i3 exclusively catitled 20 the use for republication of all news di Patches credited to it or not otherwixa cre ited i this paper and al:o the local news pablished herein. All rights of publication 1 special dispatches herein are also reserved. Water Rent Equities. The proposition to increase the water rents partly in order to extend the city's water plant revives the old clalm of the unsoundness of this method of enlarging capital plant invesunent by increase of prices of 1 servive or commodity from the view- rwint of commercial and public utility cconomics. It also suggests the un- wisdom of reducing to & minimum the domestic use of water on consid- crations of public health, which de; mands the cheapest, fullest use of water which the available supply per- mits, It also calls renewed attention 10 the elaim of inequity in todays division of the cost of the Capital's water supply plant and system be. tween he United States as part owner and free water consumer on one side and the local commumty as part owner and paying water con. sumer on the other. There are many peculiarities 1n the relation of the Nation to the peuple of the Capital in respect Lo the water supply. According to the earliest cir- culars adverusing Washingion lots _ for sale, water supply was one of the benefits to be furmshed by the Na- stional Government in cousiderution of «nd from the proceeds uf the sale of the lots donated to it for this purpuse. “The New Universal Gazetteer,” pubhshed at Edinourgh by David Ramsey in 1796, gives with minute particuiars the plan of Waskingon City taken from a circular sent abroad by the Commissioners of the new l'ederal Capital, in effect pledg- ing the faith of the Nation to bund & spiendid city here and inviting the liberat minded of all nations to ccme here to establish the home of free ipstitutions—and to buy lots. “The President of tl United States,” it says, “in locating the seat of the city prevailed upon the proprietors of the 8ol to cede a certain proportion of ihe lots in every situation to be sold by his direction und the proceeds to be solely applied to the public bufld- “ ings and other works of public util ity within the city. This ground will produce about 15,000 jots and will be sufficient not only to erect the public buildings, but to dig a canal, conduct water through the city and to pave and light the streets, which will save & heavy tax that arises in other cities and consequently render the lots con- siderably more valuable.” President Jefferson, in hls message of 1802, recognized *a restduary inter- eet of the city” in these donated lots, pointing out that if wisely handled they would not only meet the national requirements, but would “insure a considerable surplus to the city to be employed for its improvement.” Over half a century later the Nation built a water supply system for itself and permitted Washington to tap its pipes and use its surplus water on condition that no expense in connec- on with such use should fall upon In deluyed fultillment of its orig- inal obligatlon the Nation thus per- formed & benevolent and beneficent function in regard to Washington's water supply for more than a quarter of a century. Then a great enlargement of the aque- duct system became necessary, and the so-called Lydecker tunnel was dug. At this time the Nation revolutionized its relation to Washington in respect to water supply. Beiween the construec- tion of the originul water works and that of the Lydecker tunnel the or- zunic act of 1878 bad been passed, put- ting the Nation and the people of Washington into a partnership in Capi- 'al building and ‘maintenance, or, rather, recognizing the national obliga- tion in such o partnership which had oxisted from the founding of the city. The Nation, in paying for the Ly- decker tunnel, abandoned its original position that the Capital's water sys- tem was solely a national affair and put it in effect on a half-and-half basis. The work of building the Lydecker runnel, it will be remembered, was bungled by agents of the National Gov- * ernment, over whom the District had # no control, and for whom it was not “ responsible, and for a long period the _ tunnel was abandoned as worthless "'and the heavy indebtedness fastened by the Government on Washington taxpayers or water users in this con- nection did not represent a quart of ship of the plant based on money con- tribution toward the cost of construc- tion. The local community, composed of taxpayers and water rent payers, was compelled to become a large part owner in the plant—on the half and half basis so far as the cost of the Lydecker tunnel and other plant-ex- penditures from taxes were concerned —and with the local community in- creasing its percentage of plant own- ership by application of water rent surpluses over the cost of mainte- nance to development of the plant, es- pecially the distribution plant. Recent figures of relative equitable ownership of the water supply plang are interesting. Water Department figures up to June 30, 1925, of expendi- plant, including water collection, fil- tration and distribution, show expendi- tures: 1. Nation ... .. g e $8.830.028.38 . District " (iaxi 1019, 3 District (rent Dayere). 042 $36.825,648.61 The original aqueduct expenditure Yy the Nation (approximately three the United States for 31 years and had deteriorated so much In these years that {ts value as an asset of the new compulsory partnership was greatly depreciated from the original cost and was left as & comparatively small as- set of new partnership ownership. The Nativn today retains legal title to the whole of the water supply plant, but only a small fraction of the equitable ownership, based on relative contributions of money to construct today's water supply plant. While the Nation's equitable owner- ship of the plant has thus been re- duced to a small fraction, the National Government has continued to be a large water consumer (18 per cent), and a consumer which pays nothing for its water. Since 1890 the tendency has been to decrease the Nation's relative per- centage of equitable plant ownership: (1) The new 60-40 ratio, substituted in 1922 for 50-50, has increased every year the percentage of contribution of local taxpavers toward the total plant expenditufes, and in the end twith the depreclation to the point of disappearance of the value of the $3,000,000 original plant) the District will ewn in equity nearly all the plant (as taxpayers and water rent payers), and will be at the same time the only part owner who pays for water con- sumed. By every increase of water rent the amount of surpluses from water rents over cost of mainte- nance corregpondingly increases, and consequently the District’s owner- ship percentage bafed on the {nvest- ment of surplus water rents in the distribution water plant will be cor- respondingly enlarged. It is thus to be noted that here- after the United States, paying only 40 per cent of the tax contribution for water supply development (or less under the lump-sum plan), and pay- ing nothing whatever in water rents surplus toward the upbuflding of the ‘Wwater supply system, will steadlly de- crease in its percentage of equitable ownership in the water supply plant for collection, filtration and distribu- tion, with the inevitable result that in time the District community as taxpayer and water rent payer will own in equity nearly all of the water supply plant and will at the same time pay in taxes and water rents nearly all of the cost of water works operation and extension, while the United States, with its equitable plant- ownership reduced to a negligible frac- tion of the total, will have all of the free water it wants to use, o paradox{- cal, inequitable result. ——te—— There is naturally some European disquiet over the immediate tendency to draw distinctions in the League of Nations relating more or less to wealth and position. —————— One or two more reductions and the “overburdened taxpayer” will become an obsolete figure in political or eco- nomic discussion. The Chapman Case. George Chartres, better known by hig name in crime of Gerald Chapman, must hang in the State of Connecticut on the 7th of April. This is the result of the refusal of the Supreme Court to grant a petition for a writ of cer- fiorari filed with it on the ground that the President of the United States had no right to grant him & commutation of Federal sentence in order that the law of Connecticut might take its course. He has exhausted all his ap- peals, save to the State pardon board, action of which must be unanimous, and such action, in the light of the composition of the board, headed by the Governor, who has heretofore ex- pressed his bellef that Chapman's con- viction was justified, is improbable. Yet his attorneys declare that they have not given up hope of securing a stay of execution or a retrial on the ground of newly discovered evidence. Public interest in the Chapman case is Intensified by the extraordinary character of the accused and now con- demned man, his ingenuity in effect- ing escapes from prison, his daring in crime, his unusual temperament. But chiefly interest centers mnow in whether a man who has been con- victed and has exhausted all the ordi- nary appellate resources to escape pun- ishment will go to the gallows. When he was convicted there was some de- :» +additional water enjoyed by them. At|gree of sympathy for him, some be- this juncture the Nation, through Con- <réss, began to apply the so-called sur- pluses of the District in the Treasury, apeumulated in violation of the spirit of the organic act, to the payment of the water debt, and about a million of the local revenue was thus, in effect, domed as worthless. In the year 1890 the Nation—hereto- fore legal and equitable owner of the entire plant and benefactor to the ex- tent of permitting surplus water to be used by private citizens without cost o itself—finding the old three-million plant through the depreciation of 81 vears and through increase of the number of water users inadequate to meet water supply needs, undertook to replace in part its water supply plant ind changed gadically its system and leving that he had not been given a fair trial, that he had been convicted upon his reputation. The records of the trial, however, do not justify this sentiment. When all appeals in the State were exhausted and Chapman faced the noose he had resort to an &/isunk in the tunnel, at that time abaz | oxyraordinary expedient, claiming that he must be returned to the Atlanta penitentiary to complete his term of imprisonment for maik robbery. To avoid any possibility of such a com- plication and delay, which would have been in effect a defeat of justice, he was granted commutation of the At- lanta sentence, and thereupon he claimed that the Federal Government could not pardon him in order that he might be punished in a State. This clatm the Supremo Court has denied. The publio safety demands the )y THE EVENING BTAR, WASHINGT! THE EVENING STAR |poticy tn réspect to equitable owner- |speedier execution of sentences. De- vices of delay have been so effectively utilized " by criminals of the worst character that the law would seem to have been thwarted. The Chapman case has be : regarded as a test. It now remains to be seen whether there is any new method whereby the sol- emnly rendered verdict of the Con- necticut jury can be set aside. r————— It Is Time to Act! ‘When is the Police Department go- Ing to take action to check the mount- Ing total of accidents between fire en- gines, street cars and automobiles? Is the department walting until fire- men and citizens are killed before in- augurating a campaign to Impress on motorists the fundamental rule of self- A mo., 78c | tUre on construction of water supply |preservation and trafic—pull over to the right curb and stop when the fire siren is heard? Is the department willing that firemen should continue to risk their lives in order to reach the blaze and there risk their lives again in putting it out? Is it not pos- sible for one of these risks to be elim- Inated by simple measures on the part of the police? And, lastly, is Wash- ington to witness almost dally ex: amples, unchecked and unheeded by the police, of inconceivable stupidity on the part of motorists who hold in their incompetent hands the lives of firemen in pursuit of their duty? Two more accidents occurred yes- terday, one between u fire engine and a street car and one between a flre engine and «n automobile. Five col- lisions in less than three weeks have conclusively demonstrated the extreme hazards of piloting one of the huge engines through the streets without pollce co-operution. Recently The Star suggested a po- lice car escort for fire apparatus us the beginning of a campaign to erudi- cate the seeming desire of Washing- ton motorists to challenge the right of way of these vehicles. This plan may not be feasible, but if it is not other measures can certainly be in- voked to remedy these appalling con- ditions. If police on motor cycles or in auto- mobiles followed the engines on a few runs the resultant number of arrests and convictions could not help hav- Ing a beneficlal effect on the motor- Ists of Washington. There would not be the slightest difficulty In getting convictions, either, because of all traf- fic violations failure to give right of way to fire apparatus is cne that of- fers the least excuse. The time to act has arrived. very motorist who violates this regulation should be taken immediately to court and given a fine that will not be for- gotten. It is the department's move, and all Washington is anxious to see what form it will take, as enough warning has been given and responsi- bility now rests squarely with the po- lice. —t As it proceeds to eettle some of the questions arising in the course of or- ganization, the League of Natlons enjoys an experience which should prove of value in disposing of matters yet to come before it. The unraveling of complexities: may as well begin from the very start. It means good discipline for many great tasks. —_———————— TWonderful ancient works of art are being unearthed daily in one part of the world or another without greatly influencing popular opinfon toward the view that ancient art could com- pete In interest or ingenuity with our own modern movies. —— All the efforts of Europe in art and In poittics have not succeeded in tak- ing the attention of the American base ball fan away from his favorite line of interest. A clean national sport {s a wonderful safety valve for the emotlons. S— When a man speaks disrespectfully of Mussolint in Italy he is arrested and fined. In planning a restoration of anclent glories the present dictator evidently holds in admiring attention the methods of some of those merci- less old emperors. et SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOIINSON. Paying the Price. Whenever they investigate The doings of a mnation, 1 settle down to cogitate ‘With sage determination. I try to learn just what was done And analyze each movement. Of course, this life can’t all be fun, It we're to have improvement. An irritation great I find In blameful disquisition. Investigation helps the mind, But spoils the disposition. Startled. “IWhat do you regard &s the most startling feature of that last investi- gation?” “The rapidity,” answered Senator Sorghum, “with which the public for- got all about it.” The Autocratic Instinct. ‘When I for peace put in my plea, 1 feel it isn't right For folks with me to disagree On polnts that start a fight. Jud Tunkins says in some parts of the country values have to rise mighty fast in order to enable spec- ulators to keep up with the cost of livin', Businéss and Pleasure. “Business is business!” exclaimed the severe person. “Not necessarily,” answered Mr. Cumrox. “When a firm easily makes as much profit as ours does, business is pleasure.” ‘Welcome to Spring. A welcoms, Gentle Spring, to you, ‘With genial moods aglow! We're sure that in a week or two ‘We need not shovel snow. I care not if the birds renew ‘Their songs where blossoms grow: T hail & Blissful Hope come true— We Need Not Shovel Snow! “Trainin’ a dog to stand on his hind legs,” said Uncle Bben, “makes de dog look almost as redic’'lous as the man doin’ de tratuin'.” D. 0, TUESDAY, THIS AND THAT i “Christ in Chicago,” a :tory by T. S. Stribling, in the number of Ad- venture Magazine dated April 8, wali | well repay uny reader the time put upon its 40 pages. Hero we.have o story which, if it had appeared In Harper's or Scrib- ner's or any of tho so-called “high- brow" publications, would have been given wide recognition, but which, since It was printed in a magazine of & different type, will be forgotten ex- cept for some such notice as this. There are those who affect to sneer at Adventure Magazine, now in its fifty-elghth volume, because of its type of story, more or less reduced to a sclence through the efforts of its editor, Arthur Sulllvant Hoffman. The fact that Adventure, however, printed stortes by Rafael Sabatini, author of “Captain Blood,” “The Sea Hawk,"” etc., long before this now popular author was ever heard of by the general public gives the magazine a standing with those who know. Mr. Hoffman has {deas of his own about how a story ought to be told, chief among which is that nothing— absolutely nothing—should be intro- duced in the story to take awuy from the narrative flow. In other words, to give a single in- stadce, there should not be any strange word used, for if a reader stops to ponder the word the sto effect 1s lost nstantly. Hoffman mu: be a man of considerable force, for he has imposed this and many other re- astrictions upon a long list of writers and has set them forth in several books of his own. The one drawback this method has s to make all the writers write allke, or at least tend in that direction. oa %ok Stribling, however, with his “Christ in Chicag (probably sug- gested by Dr. Stead's “If Christ Came to Ch: 0'"), has written a story with- out paying much attention to Hoff- man’s restrictions. In doing so he has given us one of the most unusual narratives printed in an American magazine for many months. It is one of the few stories which we have feund ourselves using a pencil in reading, to underline sen. tences which struck us as meriting retention. Thus it is seen at once that Mr. | Stribling has violated Mr. Hoffman's big principle. He has done so in an- other respect, tog—he has introduced a genuine Jove element, something never found in an Adventure story be- fore. In the past the “he-men” of Adven- ture have scorned the ladies with large and healthy scorn. Such women a8 have appeared in its stories have been ouly Incidents. Never has one of them done so much asc kiss a char- acter. To kiss u character would be too much! 8o has thought Mr. Hoffman, and the large bulk of readers for whom he edited the magazine has backed him up. So it will be readily realized that “Christ in Chicago” is doubly amazing, The story deals with a Chicago of 14,000,000 inhabitants, a tidy little metropolis, wherein Luge apartment and tenement bufldings of 60 or more stories are commonplace, The Board of Health is in complete charge of the city. Crepe rubber side- walky keep down the noise, now uni- versally admitted one of the curses of city life, and raucous laughter is not permitted. The present tendencies of American life, at which magazines such as the | American Mercury poke such per. sistent fun, have progressed to such an extent that material things are in control of the republic. BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Great buildings devoted to gas, cop- per, steel, etc., have become, in this gigantic Chicago, so many temples to the materials Whl:h they represent. Rk A In such a setting the author in- troduces us to Page, the Virginian, who has come to pay a visit to his friend, Harvey Meachem, one of the editors of the Tribune. We in turn meet Dr. Strachan, head of the Board of Health, who belleves that science will save mankind (from what?), a faith-healer, Havesh, whom the med- ical profession is after; Vita Orloff, who really represents the vitai forces of this ruysterious quality and quan- tity known as life, and others in- tegral to the story. It 1s not our purpose to tell here this interesting story, as to do so would deprive readers of a pleasure rightly theirs, for the tale iz, above all, a corking good one. By its imaginative concepts, how- ever, and its subtle interplay of al- legory with real life, it assumes pro- portions outside @ mere narrative. To the writer of these words iU seemed a -better sermon, infinitely more interesting and compelling, than any he had ever heard from u pulpit. This story achleves that intangible thing, bringing Jesus Christ down to terms of modern life, for Havesh the falth-healer, as you no doubt suspect, is simply the Christ come to_earth again. It is largely due to the restraint wherewith he handles this divine character that Stribling achieves a quality rarely found in a story, a proper combination of philosophy and narrative. So cleverly are the modern Ameri- can attitudes on growth, science, blg business, material possessions, etc. woven in with the anclent doctrines of the soul, life eternal, the invisitle spirit and the higher things of faith that the reader does mot feel, until the story ends on a strange nofe, that he has participated in a mental adventure that runs the gamut of human lhoug);h)“ ® ¥ Such, however, 1s the fact. Tlere, in tho sugar-couting of a story we get o modern appeal for the reilgion of Jesus Christ. + Under the guise of Satire with a larze §. the reader finds himsel® pondering (as the story moves!) the different attitudes toward life ex- emplified in the writings of flin, su- perficial “sclentlfic” writers, and as set forth, once and for all, in the | Bible. | 7“In his heart Page held the Ameri- can view that unless a man was well { placed financlally, he really did not deserve any great amount of consid- ,eration or respect,” tho story tells us. “The sharp, wrinkled face suggest- ed acuteness, sophistication and a certain fronic amusement at life such as all youngish men who are not do- tng particularly well in thelr pro- fessions.” The difference between the reli- gious and the irreligious in America lies in the degrees of thefr skepticism. A skeptic's doubt stands on the sur- face; the falthfuls cowers in his heart. The girl Vita “was a poultice to Page's mind; an easement to his inter- minable theorizing about life and truth and morals. “I don’t think I would care for a world with evervbody In it sound and healthy and eflicient and—heartles: In giving these quotations, we have purposely left out any idea of the plot of this unusual story, which is 2 credit to its guthor and the maga- zine which publishes it. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V, COLLINS, Uncle Sam {s asking the world to releaso its monopolistic tentacles of trade. A committee of the House of Representatives has reported monop- olies fostered by Great Britain, Franco- Germany, Brazil, Mexico and Chile, which are alleged to be costing the United States nearly a billion dollars annually in extortionate prices on commodities they control and we con- sume. The monopolists ask ‘‘What are vou going to do about it?” The committee gives no answer. EREE Thero is the rubber monopoly of Great Britain which, according to our Department of Commerce, cOSt Americans $100,000,000 in the last three months of 1925, above what rubber producers had conceded would give them a falr price above cost of production—36 cents a_pound for crude rubber, which would yleld investors in rubber plantations from 15 to 25 per cent on their holdings. The plan of control was formulated in 1922 whereby all producers were allocated & certain maximum they Iaight export annually, based upon their previous exports. If they ex- ceeded that maximum they were taxed upon their entire eXports a con- tiscatory amount. The result was to send prices up to $1.21 & pound. The House committce's review of the ex- tortion contains this statement: “The impert cost above the ‘fair price’ during the last three months amounted to over $100,000,000. Our rubber imports in 1925 were 888,478,~ 385 pounds. Had the price of No- vember and December continued dur- ing the year 1926 rubber imports of like volume would have cost $897,363,- 169. The hearings showed that 18 cents was a fair average cost (of pro- duction) per pound. The plantation cost of osur supply therefore was 159,372,665. i 4 “On the basis of 36 cents, the ‘fair price’ announced by the growers when the control was inaugurated, the scheme would have cost_the Ameri- can users a total of $318,745,131. But if the November-December price (of $1.01 average) was maintained the American rubber purchascr would be paying $897,363,169, or $737,990,604 more than cost of production a!:t"{ $578,618,038 more than its ‘fair price,’ ‘British prices have been reduced by the retrenchment in American con- sumption of rubber in efforts of self- defense of consumers, but the British authorities as late as February 1 last continued the policy of restriction on exports. What recourse is open to America? The standard rubber tree is indigenous to South America. Brazil had a law prohibiting the export of seed, but some years ago, it is said, a British ex- plorer surreptitiously exported some seed, and from that the entire indus- try has developed in the British East Indies. Our Department of Agriculture has been studying the possibilities of pro- dueing rubber in the Philippines and in other regions under American juris- diction. Southern Phiippines are well adapted to it, so far as climate and sofl are concerned, but owing to the fact that it takes seven years for a tree to begin producing, and to the uncertainty as to how long the United States will retain jurisdiction over the islands, capital hesitates to invest therein. At present Philippine law forbids any one unit of land holdings im excess of 2,500 acres, which is too small for rubber production owing to costly overhead expenses. Experiments are in the making with various kinds of rubber plants, in Cal- {fornia, Texas, Florida, Huwaii. and the Philippines. The most successful plant for Texas is the guayule bush, which must first be propagated two years in a greenhouse, then set out. developed it is reaped and crushed, after the manner of crushing sugar cane. ‘Thousands of pounds of guayul used {n mixtures with other rubb: is not g0 good, however, as para rub- ber. It will be & long time before we can develop home competition with Eust India rubber production. * % % % Brazil produces €5 per cent of the world's coffee, and the United States consumes more than half of her crop—56 per cent. For the last 20 vears the Brazilian government has exercised “valorization” of her cof- fee “to standardize prices.” Yet, while the coffee preducer was getting 6 cents a pound for his crop we were paying 30 cents retail in the United States; since government control has “Increased efficlency” we pay from 50 to 60 per cent higher. This con- trol began in 1906 by the govern- ment’s buying 10,000,000 bags, which it held out of export five, years, then sold it at a profit, by reason of its “corner.” This enterprise was made possible by a British loan of 3,000,000 pounds sterling. In 1918 a second large purchase wus made by the government, financed by issuing paper money and by a loan—a total of $102,000.000 That enabled the government to ma- nipulate prices and sell at a profit in 1919. Since 1921 the government merely limits the shipment of coffee from plantations. Loans from Amer- ican banks have enabled the Brazil- ians to hold their shipments until they could raise prices on American consumers. Our coffee excess cost 1s $135,000,000 a year. * Xk % Germany, before the war, held a monopoly on potash; today Krance whares that monopoly through pos- session of Alsace-Lorraine; but it is still monopoly, even with France and Germany combined, and it is sus- tained by agreement between the governments of those ‘‘enemy na- tions."” Potash has been found in Texas by diggers for ofl, but it will cost a mil- lion dollars to ascertain whether it is there in sufficient quantities to be profitable. In the meanwhile the Franco-Germans outbid Americans in America. A bill is pending to enable the Department of the Interior to bore and test the potash. % ok X We are paying to the government of Chile an export tax of $16,032,000 a year on the nitrates we buy. Chile has the only natural deposit of pure nitrates in the world. When we com- plete our Muscle Shoals development we may make our own from the alr. Yucatan holds the cord that could strangle American grain raising. She raises 75 _per cent of the world's sisal and we buy 90 per cent of it. Our sofl and climate would produce sisal, but there is a problem of labor. We cannot hire sis. laborers for 60 cents a day, as does Yucatan. We cannot import Mexicans to ralse our sisal on our own soil, because of our immigration laws, so we let Yucatan control our binding twine. If the kaiser had succeeded in buying all Yucatan's sisal in 1917 and 1918 our wheat would have suffered, or we would have been at war with Mexico for seizing the fiber. Manila hemp is better but 1=suglclen: in quantity. E) Mississippi and Texas can produce long staple cotton, almost as good as that of . Would it pay? The yield per acre is less than ordinary cotton, so that the spread in price does not make it profitable—at least it has not yet demonstrated the profit. Spinners declare that with additional labor in spinning they can substitute short cotton wherever long staple Is|goin used. Hengce, they claim, we noed not MARCH 16, 1926 NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM LG M OREGON SKETCHES. Wallace Smith. G. P. Putnam'’s Sons. A bad morning for Maverick Todd Mullarkey and his partner, that morn- ing when the covered 25 model—a. clearly inebriate staggered and siouched Into the Or gon end of the Lewi Clark trail. Well, companero,”—Mullarkey tal Ing—*"it's time to shove off. The coun- try's getting too so-andwo crowded. Another couple weeks and therc'll be ore asterisk-dash tourists in this country than there are smelt in the Sandy River. I'm for heading some- whera where the wide open spaces aren’t so blinkety-blank wide open.” A futile word of protest, . feeble gesture of exclusion flune out against the hiccuping invader, and the pair in sflent accord closed the door of the tittle shack. “said adios to the wood- nle.”” and shoved off. The eloquence of the Orezon hooster registered with these two fust nothine at all. “The automobile tourists are *he colonizers of todav. The railroads Ald all the pioneer work. Thev built ‘he country. But side bLv side with | thelr work stands the work of the motor pioneers.” Lven th's Rotarian fAight drew 1o more than “AN1 right! Perhaps next year I'll he tak- ng off my hat. tov, when I see an automobile toting a phonogranh and a anotted ceranium and a terrler named Trix. But not this year.” And, turn- tng away, Mullarkev and his com- vanero signed up for the slow, sea- going journey to Alaska. % ok ok K In this retreat by sea Mullarkev’s nartner kebt looking back upon the Oregon country, marked by the Lewis and Clark uail, ound whose st 134 years avo suiled the Boston clip- ner, Columbia, discovering and nam- 1ing the great river of this region. He saw again the land so long unknown ‘o the white man and. later, so long ‘n_dispute Lefore it settled down us « part of the great Renublic. A land he reasoned, whose underworld must have heen peopled by uneasy and tur- hulent gods to vresent upon its fuce such clear evidence of stunendous ‘nner turmoil and cataclysm. For lonz ‘he land of the Indian and vast herds of wild creatures. Then the goul of adventurers, hard men. Now-—- * ok & % And Mullarkey’s partner consoled himself, in part, by gathering up and setting side by side sketches of the old Oregon and the new. Ilere are saga and myth, adventure und ro- mance. Here are the gay buckaroo and the bronco-buster; here are the | last of the wild herds and the bad | man's last stand. A brightly inter- woven web of f: and fanev spreads here for reminiscent delight in the days when Oregon was a part of the vast domain known as the “Wild West.” And upon this fubric Mul- larkey's partner sets the stamp of the radio, the moving picture, the motor tourist—magle innovations that are exercising tremendous influence on the “wide open s " The motor and the radio are, clearly, doing away with dis‘ance, effecting immedi ate contacts that, unequivocaily, face forwurd. The movie is at the roment holding the past of the Wild West static in certain of its most pictur- esque uspects for the purposes of transferring it to the film. Of these, *he old and the new, Wallace Smith writes with a keen aporeciation that he makes cominunicable by w ~00d wit and stralght speech and the nower to gather into live moving pic- tures certain outstanding charucter- fstics. An eloquent and picturesque man, this partner of Mulla Lis- ten to him: R “Wild horses running free on the open plain! There are few spectacles to equal that. But there was some- thing beside unfettered, swift grace in this frantic flicht. Tragedy sul- loped stride for stride with these flee ing animals. They were the lust of *he wild herd—the last of the great bands of 20,000 wild horses thut once roamed the legendary stretches of the Horse Heaven countrv. This band, rucing after its frenzied leader, wus <alloping to extinction. This was no splendid contest between horse and man, to have its end in a fair strug- ele for mastery under a bucking sad- dle. These horses were being driven fo slaughter. It mav have been a knowledge of that tragedy which gave *he forlorn stampede a new dramatic color us we watched. Or it may have heen a sentimental memory of better Aavs on the wide range. . . . The leader was a shaggy knob-kneed stl. lon. His rolling eyes made a fierce search for liberty. He swerved to the left. One of the horsemen swung his Tone-looped lasso. The stalifon squeal- ed and ran straight. After him the whole pied cavalry. Behind them rode three cowpunchers. vipping and swinging their ropes. Long arter the nightmare flight. s‘aggered a long- Teeorad colt. 1t whimnered as the dust rang down a slow curtain on the lit- tle play.” W % % There's a heap written about the nassing of the old West: the fencing of the onen ranes: the gathering of the ancfent, picturesaue men to the tong shadows. Monrnful chants from the romancers. Spirited brochures from the commerclal associations. Be that as it may—— When the voung buckaroos at Pen. dleton ride there ride acain all the Adashing fizures who ever swung into saddle and galloned across the plains. All the great horeemen of lezend and history and fiction. The pony ex- nress rider. Ruffala RN tha vellow. striped cavalry after Geronimo, In- Aian scouts in buckekin shirts, “T.one Hafr" Custer, the lone Texas ranger— It is Romance that is in the saddle when the voung buckaroo tells the wrangler to turn ’er loose and let ‘er huck. And Romance remains in the eaddle. no matter how auickly the vounester comes sprawling to the ground. LR v movie smile,” declared Paddv. ‘Won't I a_ romantieal tooking actor This is the land. nowadayvs, of emotional cowbovs and rhetorical redskins—every one of the lot an aspirant for movie honors. AW of them livine scenarins, all of them talkine in subtitles. The scenery of the West, its past and the contagion of Hollvwood are at the moment the ereat trinmvirate of the nicturesaua West. t heats me.” sald a cattle man, “how these hands will turn enod lving down to starve in the movies.” An unhanpnv man for lahor conld gather no workers under the greater lure of the screen. “As he engke wa reached the ton of Fmi- erant Hill. Relow us to the horizon were wheat flelde and wheat flelds An overwhelmine allamary of natinnat strength. We were silent. It is a <iht that commands’ silence. Tha old eattle man enaka firet, ‘Sak!” ha exclaimed, ‘wouldn’t that be a won- Anrénl coama in o maovia i — * “That's fear Egvpt—nerhans. The same in- Aenendence apnlfes to Japan as to her sik. We no longer need har silk. now that we have ravon—‘“iust as 2ood” for milaliv’'s gown. thongh not so strong and serviceahle for para- chutes. nor so smokeless for gun® vowder bags. 5 * ok ok % ‘The committee does not recommend any retsliatorv legislation — not even suggesting recinrocity efforts on non- competitive products.. The protection- ints “point with pride” and the mi- noritv “view with alarm’ the enera- tions of the tarift, but ro nolicy is an- nounced telling the world what we are about it. g to (Copyright, 4890. by Paul V. Collias.) ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. 'Qfi 1s & deodorizer a disinfectant?— "A. Deodorizers are not disinfectants nor antiseptics, and are of no use save to cover up disagreeable smells. Q. ‘What is Pola Negri's real name” G, A. Her name is Appolonla Chalupez. Q. Did Peckinpaugh ever have the managership of an American Leaguc team? 1. T. A. This player was manager of the New York American Leaguo teani from September 12, 1914, to the close of the scason. Q. How does the pulling strength of an elephant compare with that of a horse?—M. N. A. The pulling strength of an ele- phant is equal to that approximately of 12 horses or 8 oxen. Q. What is the closing date of the “'o(l;l\l‘s Fair at Philadelphia?—B. C. cC. A. It is now set at December 1, 1926. Q. What is the size of the crater of Fujiyama?—C. B. A. The voleano of Fujiyama, Japan, is 12,395 feet high and has w crater with an estimated depth of 500 fect, 214 miles in circumference, Q. Did any ocean-going traflic leave | Lake Superior last year”—J. M. A. Forty-five ocean ng vessels passed through Lake Superior last year. Q. la. Keep: A. The Little Scout in “The Keeper of the Bes by Gene Etratton Porter's daughter, Gene Stratton. Q. What became of the Hessiar who came over during the Ievel tion?>—C. G. A. Of the 20,867 He: to America, only 17,313 Germany. Of those were killed, and ol wounded died. Some also disappeared but a great number are known to have | remained and _settled; grants were given them in Nova Scotfa, but many scattered to different parts of the country. Q. Has the been determined?—W. N. A. Molecules are estremely nute, but have a definite size weight for each definite substance. The number of molecules in one cubic inch of air is forty-three millfon mil- lion million. Q. What was C name?—P. T. D. A. Her malden name was Martha Cannary, but she was luter known as Mary Burk., She was born in Princeton, Mo., May 1, 1852, and died August 2, 1903. When was Harrison College Island of Barbudos who The Who was the little girl »d she was a little boy in r of the Bees?—W, A. C the wavie, was played grund | size of o molecule ¥ 3 umity Jane's real founded on the Ww. P. A. In 1733 Thomas Harrison found.- ed a grammar school on the Island of Barbados. The school i3 now gecondary grade and is kuown us Har- rison College. Q. What is the or! of the apple?—W. A. The common apple, Pyrus Malus, has been in cultivation since pre: historfc times. Charred rewains of the fruit have been found in the mud of the lakes Inhabited by the Lake Dwellers, and, according to De Can- dolle, the tree was probably indige- nous to Anatolin, the south of the Caucasus and northern Russia, and it cultivation began at o very early ate. Q. Who wers the most Important Irish patriots?—1°. M. B. p and hi . without figuring on a small exchange fee. . Q. What are “puts” and “calls” G. L. A A “put" is w contract vehich gives Its possessor the right to deliver t 2 the sumo a cer- of stock a named the time stated in the 1" is a contract which gives its possessor the right to de- and from the party signing the same a certain amount of stock at o. named price during the time stated in the contract. amount ce duri contract. Q. What was the 50 often in connectic day movement?--\! & A. Possibly you refer to the Eng lish jingle, “Eight hours for work elght hours for play, eight hours f sleep, eight bob a « me repeated om with the §-hour- CHOW Q. Why was a church wi Waushington attended cul Church?—E. E. A. The church was given this name on account of its proximity to Pohic] This was probubly so namedl because of the » hickory trees growing there. *aweohiccora. a food of the Algonquian Indians of Virgl was made of the pounded nut kernels and water. The niame was transferred by the whites to the tr ring the nuts, and Shortened to pohicke and finally to hickory A. i des anti-Jewish riots progroms took place in 131 and the direc ise of the first w Russian-Je e n, while the oute with itings and glyphics recounting the life and deed of the deu A." Mosquitoes will breed even in little rain water in an old tin ¢ ed roof gutter. the earth and the hub. wide is it A. The bed is ¢ and 6 feet wide. walnut. Q. How are the size ned?—G. M. I Gloves ure | It third of the 3 the lengt L of the hand to the wrist. Ladies’ i wre madn silmmer in the bodv of the hund. with relutively longer fingers. Q. What is origin of the parole?—C. H A. The parole is of military origlr It was a pledge of honor given I isoners of war that if released the 1d not take uy the 4 Q. When wa Connecticut? A. Betwe tivation w law restricting tlie use of tobacco A. Among the number are: St Patrick, Daniel O'Connell, Robert Finmet, Feargus O'Connor, Lerd Edward Fitzgerald, Charles S. Par- nell, Rory O'More, Eamonn de Va- lera. Q. Is th any way to keep the finger nails clean when working around machinery?—MECHANIC, A. Putting cold cream under the nails before starting to work will prove helpful. Q. How m loties bought for a dollar in money ?—G. E. ) A. The zloty is the monelary unit of Poland. The rate at par is 18.3 cents, It is now quoted ut about 13 cents, Therefore 7 could be purchased for about 91 cents or § for 104 cents THE BURIAL OF could Le American that grown in the colos Q. Where w Destinn born? "TA. She was born in Prague, Bo- hetdia, in 1878, She has been a nat- uralizéd American cftizen since 1915, Take advantage of this free servic.. It you are mot onc of the thousands who have patronized the bureau sinc: its establishment we want you to start This is @ service maintained for the benefit of the readers of The Eve- ning Star, @nd we want pou to your share of benerit from it. your questions to us. Inclose 2 in stamps for return postage. Addre Tie Eveniny Star Information Bu- reau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. (. THE . BATTLESHIP MAINE To hLave bLeen in Flavana, Cuba, March 16, 1912, was to mark upon one's life calendar a day of days, never to be forgotten! One recalls it all vividly, and per- haps the anniversary permits one to tell the story again. “To have seen the burial of the} Maine, the splendidly solemn cere- monies, was to be stirred by a feeling of patriotism, pride and pathos that touched deep chords in the heart. The history of the great disaster that destroyed the big ship and killed 260 of her crew, the finding of the court of inquiry, the war that fol- lowed, the bill authorizing the raising of the wreck and its wonderful ae- complishment has often been written and vividly told. The events of Sat- urday, the 16th of March, were the closing chapters in the thrilling tale.’ The day was faultless, with a mid- summerlike sunshine; a clear ' sky that reflected itself in the biue sea made it a deep sapphire. The city of Havana with its pretty vellow and pink houses stood out like 2 camev-cut village, vivid, picturesque. The incurving bay along the Malecon was outlined by white foaming waves that broke below the sea wall. Moro Castle, at the harbor’s entrance, stood grave and beautiful. The whole Cu- ban world seemed to stand, to watch and wait for the signal that was to open the sluice gates of the bulkhead and let the sea into the hold when the three-mile limit was reached. Following timmediately behind eamo the dredze that had so important .. part in tie marvelous feat of raisin® the Muine, like a faithful servant that. performs the last sad offices for the dead. Then gradually the line was formed. the North Carolina, Birmingha. cruisers, the four Cuban gunbouts yachts, followed by steamers and tugs carrying various civic organizations. The ships moved very slowly, keeplne a measured distance apart, and a9 they passed the griin Moro Castle she boomed out salute, Wwhich echoed by the breuking of the s a | against the ramparts. The soft Summer breeze wuftel back to us Chopin’s funeral mar: played by the band on one of t cruisers. On, on, they saiied until the three-mile distance they formed, the cruisers on the right, the Cubaii boats on the left, leaving the Mai alone in the center. The lines of the Osceola were cut off. The small boat bearing the pilet who had opened the vilves to let the water of the. Gulf drew The marines and sailors on the b tlekhips and gunboats stood at atten- move the great funeral procession. ERCE T From our vantage point at Cabanas we overlooked the panorama down into the bay where the big gray cruisers, North Carolina, with her sad burden of dead seamen, and the Birmingham, awaited the moving of the brown, shell-crusted wreck. breakwater formed for her ralsing. A great American flag waved bravely above her flower-strewn deck. About the bay, yachts, motor boats, ferry boats, the Cuban gunboats and hun- dreds of small craft sailed about ready to fall into line. Ajong the shore, as far as eve could reach, stood crowds, on balconies and roofs, in windows, upon battlements of the forts, silent, absorbed spectators in a strange, im- pressive pageant. Promptly at 2 o'clock the guns were fired from Cabanas, the North Caro- Una and Birmingham and slowly the tugboat Oscecla started making taut the cable that fastened her to the Maine. Like some broken old war- rior, leaning upon the little tugs that supported on either side, she moved away from her 14 years’ mooring, dig- nified but pathetically battered. * K K X All the world that looked on re- membered the gallant ship that went down, not in defeat, but to liberate a country, and that her burial was to be her homer and triumph. A lone figure in black stood at the front of the boat, the ilot, who was to Vel The Maine still stood within the . tion. Americans and Cubans bared their heads. One began to wonder if the Mair broken and crippled as she not protest, rebel at the last, again_buried. It scemed so cally human. But had she refused tc sink there were weupons at hund against which she would be power- less. Patiently, resignedly. she gave up, growing weaker and weaker, the for- ward portion of the boat lifted and sank, then as the sea broke over her it was like some wounded creatur: struggling to regain her hold. ¥inally the lower end of the bout went down, and we saw the big flig dip as if bowing to the inevitable, and it was gone! Taps were sounded, salutes from all the ships were fired, and above t grave floated the roses and lilies, . perfect tribute. The ship bearing the gead seamen lost in the sinking of the Maine so many years before sailed away for the last burial at Arlington, and thr beautiful day with its sad yet glo ous triumphant procession was over, perfectly planned, perfectly executed, Our little party, which had pla their flowers r within tha ship the day be » down with her, came away prouder than ever of being Americans, of belonging to a Nation that undersiands the signifi- cance ot such an vecasion and can express with such touching eloquenca the depth of jts feeling and upprecia- tion! HELEN WRIGHS