Evening Star Newspaper, April 12, 1926, Page 8

THE FEVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. ¢, MONDAY, APRIL 12, 1926, ________—____________.___—_—J__)_.—-—!—————-——————_——-_—-————_ ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. THE EVENING S e WASHINGTON, D. C._ MONDAY.. THEODORE W. NOYES. The Evening ons Office Pennsylvania Ave. e: 1 East 42nd St Tower Building. Regent St.. London, 1. 11th St New York Off Chicago Office European Office: 14 . Engl s the Sunday morn b carriers within month: dajly only Sunday b 5 cents per month per month. Orders may telephone Main 5000 carrier at the end of o Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Paily and Sunday 1 yr. $6.00: 1 mo. Daily only 1yr 36.:00: 1 mo Sunday only 13 $3.00; 1 mo ollection is made by b month. All Other States and l‘xinmln.';x o Sunday .1 yr..$12.00: 1 mo.. |, Sunday. 1 £5- S4R001 1 o, 18c 11§, $4.00:1mol 3¢ Member of the Associated he Associated Press iy excly i Press. entitled o it published hi f special d v Anti-Prohibition Dissensions. Evidences have appeared that there hre dissensions in th ranks of those who are i king prohibition and en rorcement and who have just had eir hearing before the Senate com- ittee in the first round of th de- have developed. Two < ations have been form- called an association, the other Promoters of the latter ponsors of the r are stealing their thunder. It it tried to deliver the was e allianc kload of Saturday, votes to but fr m unfeeling police interven- ion on the score of lack of permit to dvertising through one of nee wails s the wets are continually the fighting each other arys wolid ranks From the beg agitation over <ulminating in wvrogress, it the thi has wet-dry question, hiear now in been evident that there is a lack of cohesion between the various ng prohibition or unti-enforceme There are eighteenth return to the 1 restraint or vestrict vho wot umendme There are those Wk the ment to stand, but wish the cnforce- ment act modified. And there are those vho want different forms of modifica- It is expected that there are also those who want no change but are professedly wet, actually hoping that present conditions will continue in order to take advantige of the high prices that prevuil in the illicit trade, On the other hand, as the spokes- man for the alliance declares, the drys anited. They want to' maintain be amendm nd the law, and they want enforcement. In this pre week's program there will doubtless ome numerous evidences of a militant Jesire on the part of the prohibition forces for a strengthening of the meth- s nforcement. for increase of appropriations for nurpose, safeguards against corruption of the enforcement agents, for speedier court vroceedings. They will be represented through spokesmen ctors comp: the tho: amendment outright and wditions of no are those 1d subst » Federal wan tion. for The opponents of «w change either modification of the enforcement act | or by repeal of the umendment have a inite advantage, especlally in view of the dissensions in the ranks of the proponents for change. In the first their virtual ubstention from the recent polls has rendered it im- ssible to measure their strength. As long as this remains un unknown quantity Congress,will be loath to move in the direction of modification, | and there is no likelihood of a serious attempt at repeal, which would re- quire a two-thirds vote of each house d three-fourths of the State legisla- tures. o The European economist almost in- warlably arrives at the conclusion that the U. S. A. as the most prosperous ©of nations is the one to be studied 23 a source in one way or another of necessary funds. The idea sound enouzh and needs only a sys- m of practical and eauitable appli- vatfon ———— e Browning, the New kire who has married ‘voman, refers to her €erella girl.” le is fifty-one years of tge, a little old to figure acceptably #5 the liero prince of a fairy tale. N Luther Burbank. Luther Burbank is dead, with a fecord of valuable services for man- ¥ind which is not equaled in the field his labors. e devoted his life to the study of plants suitable for food, and produced, as a result of number- Jess experiments, nearly four hundred dovelopments which have added richly to the store of humanity. So remark- able were his productions that he earned the title of the “Plant Wiz- erd.” Other men have worked in this field of plant development and others have achleved success in certain lines, but Burbank gave more to the world than any others. His methods, al- ways highly scientific, were calculated to leave no doubt of resuits. His ex- perimental farm was a mecca for scientists, statesmen, philanthropists, foreign dignitaries, botanists and hu- manitarians. Congress granted him &n extensive tract of land for his work. The Carnegie Foundation ewarded him an annual gift to sus- tain him in his researches. He never commercialized his discoveries, but gave them freely to the world. He was a benefactor, a society, chartered by the State of California, serving as disseminator of the fruits of his ex- perimental work. Unfortunately, near the close of his Yemarkable career, Luther Burbank challenged criticism on the score of his religious views. He declared his .xam. in terms that evoked a storm Qxd included fn an appropriation bill, 'price of coal” April 12, 1926 . .Editor Star Newspaper Company ity 20 cents R T are in} el - | fog- ST AR’“ protest from churchmen. Bewil- dered by this emphatic rejoinder to a statement which was, no doubt, griev- ously misunderstood, Burbank suf- fered in health. He was unable to comprehend the feeling which his words had aroused, and it is to be { feared that his end was hastened by the emotional straln which he suffered as he reallzed that his words had been taken in a literal sense that he did not intend. He died before he had finished some important researches upon which he was engaged. It is to be deplored that a contro- versy over theology should have cloud- ed the last da of this wonderful man, who had g0 modestly and so valuably served his fellows during many years. Burbank’s contributions to human welfare were of infinite value. He gave everything freely. All he asked was opportunity to pro- ceed with his experiments, to wrest from nature new products that would enrich the dietary of mankind. His life was simple, clean and pure. He was industrious, patient, self-effacing and mbdest. Adequate recognition of Burbank’s es will not be easy. His life is a memorial in itself. It will, doubt- Jess, be fittingly symbolized in some endowment or monument that will serve as an inspiration to young peo- ple to selec worthy line of life work and to pursue it devotedly, regardless of emoluments and rewards. B All Set for Tomorrow. Temorrow America’s greatest out- door sport starts with the opening of the professional base ball season. For | weeks the teams have been practicing in their “Winter quarters,” trying out rookies, imbering up old jolnts, fles- ing longddle muscles. Scouts and critics have been touring the training - | camps watching the teams in action |and trying to get “lines” on their rela- {tive capacities. . Many predictions have been mads of the standing of the clubs in the two big r wbout to start. Washington, twice winner of the | Americun League championship and once winner of the world champion- { ship within the past two years, is, of course, again an aspirant for first honors. It presents practically the same front as last year. A few new faces will be seen on the bench and in the field. Tt is o seasoned team, o team of proved worth and fighting quality, a team of both individual ex- ¢ { cellence and demonstrated capacity for co-operation. It is rated high in the race by the forecasters. The novelty of the sensation of hav- ing a championship team in this city has somewhat worn off, but the hopes of those who regularly follow the game are nevertheless high, and ex- pectation is keen. Tomorrow, with good weather, there will be a capacity crowd at Griffith Stadium. The oppo- sition will be furnished by the organi- zation commanded by Mr. Cornelius McGillicuddy, more fondly known in {base ball circles as Connie Mack. Once a persistent champion, this team suffered changes and lapsed iInto al- most equally persistent trailing at the {end of the league race. Now it has {come back. Last year it was the league leader for the better part of the season, the pacemaker, the team that Washington had to beat in order {to win the championship, It is recog- | nizea as one of the best prospects of the season of 1926. Tomorrow’s opening game will lack the usual feature of base ball premiers in this city. The President of the United States will not be present to toss out the ball, owing to a death in his family, which prevents such unofil- clal public appearance. His place will be taken by the Vice President. But the crowds do not go to see this little ceremony of initiation. They go to sce the teams in action. They will be there tomorrow to root for the home team, to bewail its defeat if fortune is unkind, but hoping for better things to come, and to cheer these repre- sentatives of the Capital if they turn in a victory, as & happy augury for the season. ot A Fog Eliminator. Air, 1and and marine traffic dangers ‘in foggy weather will be practically eliminated if experiments now being conducted with a fog-dispersing de- vice prove successful. At the naval air factory in Philadelphia a machine is now being tested which electrically charges the air, rendering it fog-proof. means of this apparatus a landing field can be completely cleared of fog for a space 1,000 feet high and 2,000 feet wide. Airplanes, once inside this |area, can be maneuvered with the | same ease as in fair weather. Harbors on foggy days can be changed to meet the needs of navigation and cities, such as London, which is often bound, can be cleared of their sur- rounding blankets of mist. The benefits to be derived from such a fog-clearing device are too numer- ous to chronicle. They embrace not only a great many of the business ac- tivities of the country, but the pleas- ure, welfare and safety of a large pro- portion of the population. It may be that in time even the weather will be controlled by electricity in the hands of man, but that i{s a far-off vision. If the fog-dispersing device is successful, however, it is a step in | that direction and this generation will enjoy the fruits of scientific advance- ment. —— So long as Trotsky has his type- writer and a good supply of paper he need fear no unemployment. e aome. New Deeds Building. An appropriate structure for the of- flce of the recorder of deeds is in pros- pect, a clearer prospect than in all the time during which efforts have been making to obtaln for the Dis- trict proper quarters for the keeping of fts land and certain other prop- erty records and for the dispatch of the important and growing business of the office. The Senate has approved with amendments the bill passed by the House authorizing the construc- tion of such a buiflding. The change must be concurred in by the House, but advocates of the blll contemplate no delay in the final passage. The measure goes no further than to au- thorize & new and fireproof structure for the deeds office and the cost of the building must be estimated for —_——————— All that will follow. Plans for a suit- able structure were drawn several years ago and a site tentatively chosen in Judiclary Square. Perhaps there will be some recasting of thoe plans and the subject of a site may come again under discussion, but these de- tails will be promptly disposed of in view of the need for new and speclal quarters for this District office. The bill as passed by the House and Sen- ate provides that the fees of the of- fice will be depositeed with the Dis- trict collector of taxes and appropria- tions for the maintenance of the office will be estimated by the Commission- ers and included in the appropriation bill. This change in the administra- tion of the office has long been urged. It seems almost assured that a large and safe Recorder of Deeds Bullding ‘Wil soon be added to the public build ings of Washington. ——o—— e ‘Washington’s War Memorial. Today begins a campaign to raise by public subscription the District’s fund for the erection of a war me- morfal. It is proposed to erect in Potomac Park a beautiful marble tem- ple in commemoration of the services of those who represented the National Capitul In the great wur. This struc- ture symbolizes in its purity of de- sign and material the spirit of devo- tion which carried Washington’s quota into service and sustained it in camp {and n fleld during that ‘great trial. Otler citles have gone ahead and erected their war memorials. Some are still contemplating these records of appreclation. Washington is now at the point of consummation. If the people of the District will respond to the present appeal the Capital will soon be able to present to the view of all who visit it a substantial and in- spiring token of its recognition of the valor of those who served in the war, with espectal record of those who died. It is fitting that this work should [be carried through to completion promptly. Careful preparations have been made in the selection of a de- sign, in securing a site and in the organization of committees. A con- siderable sum has already been sub- scribed. The President of the United States has headed the list to set an example to all his fellow Washing- tonfans in this patriotic enterprise. That the remainder of the sum needed will be quickly raised is the confident expectation of those who are now giv- ing their services in this endeavor to afford all Washington an opportunity to participate. The Star will receive | and acknowledge subseriptions to this fund, which sihould be fully guaran- teed during this present week. B B, The Paris police have been round- ing up foreigners in an effort to locate responsibility for rumors tending to depreciate the French franc. It has heretofore been & widespread impres- sion that the foreigner in Paris has been one of the most reliable influ- ences toward giving the franc a higher status in purchasing capacity. e —t—— Prohibition will be recorded as an inestimable boon to mankind if sta- tistics can show that it {s worth all it costs. . As a reliable sign of Spring’s return the humble “early robin” has been magnificently superseded by the Po- tomac Park cherry blossoms. Sl Driving without a permit is an of- fense against law, but when circum- stances make it unanimous, authority must bo patient, ety TR SHOOTING STARS. | BY PHILANDER JOHNSON Fleeting Sensations. For a day or a week we are much overwrought By some scandal that flares. New subjects arise in the hurry of thought. For the former ones nobody cares. suddenly They fought back in Babylon, Persia and Greece, And the battles were mighty affalrs. Now, only the poets surrounded by peace Discuss them; and nobody cares. We call the Grand Jury to make out a case. For thrills the great public prepares. To matters more recent the old ones give place And the answer is, “Nobody Care: To better conditions we're all on the WaY. ©Old Satan will peddle his wares, And while they may cause us some passing dismay, We forget 'em; and nobody cares. Puzzles of Posterity. ““George Washington was the Father of his Country. 'Yes,” answered Senator Sorghum, but George has been dead many years and It looks as if his great- great-grandchildren were liable to quarrel over his estate.’ The Spotlight. An old astronomer obscure Toiled on with calculation sure ‘While others reveled in the light ‘Which sparkles through a festive night. A distant star he found afar In space where myriad others are. Its tiny ray illumed his name In bright and everlasting fame. Jud Tunkins says the real pros- perity of a country is not reliably in- creased from the great profit derived from the manufacture and distribu- tion of stock tickers. Humane Embellishment. “What do you think of my Navajo sweater?” inquired Small Brother. “It 18 a vivid and humane form of decoration. “What do you mean, ‘humane'?” “It makes you look as picturesque as & tattooed man, without invelving any physical pain whatever.” Too Much Publicity. ‘The Oyster now will disappear. The active Clam {s prouder. He tries to flourish all the year And merely hits the chowder. “De Springtime,” said Uncle' Eben, “dis year don't encourage de ther. ‘mometer to go down no more dan de THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Once upon a time we thought we knew something about grass. This Spring, however, we freely confess to_utter ignorance upon the subject. Last Fall our front and back lawns stretched out llke unto perfect carpets of green. Ireely we boasted that we had the best yards in our community. If modesty sometimes constrained us, even then we claimed that, at the best, no other householder had any better yards. We still belleye this was true. Had we not cut our grass twice a week, regularly? Had we not allowed hy Dings to remain on? Had we prinkled” at mathematically siated intervals, and had we not strewn bone meal according to Hoyle? Yes, all these things had we done, Accordingly, this Spring we should have been rewarded with fresh, green grass, thick, velvety, springing up through the dead grass. Yet what have we? The worst looking lawn in our com- munity {s what we have, and we as freely admit it us we did the other, if not more so. No one can tell us that our grass looks “‘poorly,” for we know it a great deal better than any one clse. * % % * . Most of our perfectly good square feet of ground are still bare and brown, as if we had never sown any seed, as if we had never cared for it, as {f we had never watered it, and bonemealed it. Our general mistake, we see now, was in pestering the grass. The particular mistake was in cut- ting It too short too late. In the first place, grass {s a great deal like children. Coddle them too much, and they are likely to catch colds and develop all sorts of allments. There is a happy medium—in re- lation to children—where the physi- cal, mental and moral growth of the child is taken care of, with not too much stress placed upon any one element of a well rounded human being. In regard to grass, much the same thing holds true. Evidently there s a medium ground, wherein one may treat grass with care, yet not with too much care, so that it will be helped. not hindered. It s mnoticeable in our neighbor- hood that those who spent the most time on their yards have the worst grass this Spring, while those who did not put €0 much time on it have the best lawns now. ‘We recall that last year we warned readers about “pestering the grass' — and then went right and did it our- selves! ich is human nature. “Pestering” includes such prac- tices as sweeping luwns with brooms, incessantly pulling out crub grass, weeding, and too much cutting late in the season. % % Considering these in reverse order, o fundamental error (as we admit now) is to cut thp gruss too often in August, and especially in September. 1 all right to mow a lawn twice a week, or every four or five days, WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS || BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE President Coolidge is getting first- hand information about present condi- tions in the Philippines from TIlugene Allen Gimore, vice governor uf the! isfands. Prof. Gilmore, who i3 now in Washington, has been at Gen. Wood's right hand sir 22. At the t his appointmer 4 fessor of law at the Universit. consin_and was given leave of ub- sence for the duration of his service in the Philippines. A Nebraskan by birth and an LL. E. of Harvard, Prof. Gilmore i one of the best-known teachers of law in the United States. He has been attached at various times to the law facultles of « nia, Chicago and Columbia ul | ties and is a former president of the American Association of Law Schools. Prof. Gilmore fs an optimist on the Philippines. 1n particular, he scouts the theory that revolt is likely there, Lolding that where prosperity pression, prevails the seeds of rebel- lion have little chance of sprouting. Secretary Kellogg is expected to make an impressive pronouncement on forelgn affairs at the annual lunc eon of the Assoclated Press in New York on April 20. It may include an official forecast of American policy at the preliminary disarmament confer- ence in Geneva next month. No S retary of State in recent times has in herited 80 big a bag of troubles as Mr. Kellogg found on his desk when he succeeded Charles Evans Hughes i March, 1025. The intervening 1 months have increased rather than di- minished the tribulations to which Kellogg fell heir. jssue still vexes. Mexico is far from a closed incident. China remains tur- bulent and incalculable. Tacna-Arica 18 as bothersome as of yore. The Eu- ropean debt problem is not yet in shape. Soviet Russia is an eternal issue. The treaty with Turkey hangs fire. For a country that likes to think it s detached from the world's broils our State Department is a fairly busy little institution. * ® % One of the acknowledged assets of the present administration is the First Lady’s smil Mrs. Coolidge is the in- spiration of a song, entitled “A Smile,” just dedicated to her by Mrs. ‘W. W. Chalmers, wife of Representa- tive Chalmers of Ohio. It runs as follows: A gmile 15 such a little thing, ard it with the care precious gold, For emiles aro in the gentle rain, In_every bluebird's. soni Coyid we but graup It ouid b Thess Air have Kis: one we know eo true, gracious gift thereon, arm the heart of you. * ok k% Although the outlook for farm leg- islation grows darker and gloomier from day to day, its proponents have by no means thrown up the sponge. ‘The Midwest corn-belt folks, who have had the ear of Congress since early in March, are deriving much encour- agement from the support that's just come to them from the cotton belt. The American Cotton Growers’ Ex- change of Memphis, Tenn., represent- ing 10 cotton co-operative marketing associations, has come out for the modified Dickinson bill providing Gov- ernment aid in 1 of crop sur- plus. Opponents of radical farm re- lief hitherto have counted confidently on Southern opposition to such legis- lation. But Dickinsonites now con- tend that if only half of the Southern members, who supported the {ll-star- red McNary-Haugen bill in 1924, vote for the Dickinson proposition, its pas- sage is assured. * Kk ok % Friends of preparedness throughout the country awalt with lively interest a penetrating survey of the pacifist movement in the United States, about to be published in serial form by the Army and Navy Journal of Washing- ton. The author is Fred R. n, editor in chief of the New York Com- mercial. A story of the origin, operations and pu mfinfin 18 foreshadowed. e m""‘*{' Catiany of Army now for- during the briskly growing weather of June and July. This procedure will make the grass spread out, instead of waste its en- ergy in vertical growing. It will keep & fine mulch of blades over the roots, helping conserve moisture and pro- tect the grass from the hot sun. During August and September, however, evidently the better practice is to cut the lawn only once a week, and not at all after the first of Sep- tember, “Let the lawn go into Winter with a long coat of gruss'—yes, we, too, had read that bit of advi but we thought we knew more about it than the book. That {s human nature, too. So we cropped our lawns vigor- ously, right up until the last crop- ping time. We had the thickest, greenest grass in all Eutopia, “out where the qulet begins"—and ends. As grass experts we were distinctly there, were we not? We were not. We were lke the foolish Ml‘vantl who had a talent and insisted on hanging onto it instead of putting it out to interest, so that next Spring he might have a good lawn again. We got our metaphor slightly mixed there, but the idea is plain enough: Don’t put too much care on your grass, and especially don't mow it too late in the season. * A Kk rass is pretty tough, but without such a protection us nature requires, it cannot weather the freeze: Most grasses used in lawn mix- tures are perennials, but they will not be unless they are given some sort of Winter protection. The best covering, we see, is that afforded by the long blades, perhaps a foot or a foot and a half high. Not only do these long blades give Winter protection, but before that they allow the grass to go to seed, thus reseeding itself. Scrupulous cutting all the time pre- ents the grass from reseeding itself. This we have discovered through bit- ter experience, and pass the informa- tion along to others who ¥y not | have realizod just what is wrong. From looking around, we have dis covered that our lawns are not the only ones in poor condition. For such Winterkilled lawns there is but one real remedy—reseed- ing. Rake off the dead stuff and put in some new seed, plenty of cover it slightly, press it down, and then trust to Providence. This Spring we stick to our plan of last Autumn, used on a terrace, of covering the reseeded areas with ! Mr. Marvin's revelutions. | training of its sta The World Court ; bone meal. This {s a practice con- demned by some, but hitherto it has succeeded well with us. The portions reseeded last Fall are flourishing this Spring, thereby bear- ing out the advice of the cxperts, (o} the effect that the former season is | perhaps the best fn which to sow | grass seed. After all, there i3 uo planting more bLeautiful than grass, and ne amount of trouble is too much to secure it. Green grass, blue skies, white clouds —are not these the most beautiful colorings in the world? merly a distinguished Washington newspaper correspondent and an As- sistant Secretary of State under Rousevelt, i offering o seres of na- tional prizes for essays commenting on Many of the South American writ- ers now in Washington for the Pan- American Congress of Journalists are expert fencers. Being Lundy with the sword has long heen one of the useful requisites of the newspaper profession in the Latin countries. A prominent paper in Buenos Aires once main-| tained a school of fencing for the The idea seems to be that when a South American doesn't llke something written about him In the press he usually challenges | the author to a . Since Firpo, the more or less Wild Bull of the | Pampas, achieved fame 'in pugilism, fists_have somewhat supplanted the | €word as a popular weapon of defense | on the other side of the Equator. Senator Peter G. Gerry of Rhode | Island will be the busiest Democrat in the United States before many moons. He is chairman of the Demo- cratic senatorial campalgn committee | and his job is to smash the Republican majority in the Scnate at the forth- coming_congressional el ry's fellow-committeemen soned campaigners—Senators Walsh, Bayard, Harrison, Swanson, Pittman and Jones (New Mexico). Wherever there's a fighting chance to wrest Senate seats from G. O, P. incumbents Gerry and his raiders will conduct a whirlwind campaign. Of the 84 places to be filled in November, 27 are now in G. O. P. hands, The Democrats expect to capture no fewer than half a dozen of them. If they do, Coolidge | control of the upper house will be in grave jeopardy, if not entirely wiped out, after March 4, 1937. The Demo- crats, in more optimistic moments. think that seats in even rock-ribbed Republican States like Pennsylvania and Illinois may fall to them in conse- quence of bitter Republican primary fighte. Py i Washington's cherry blossoms, the Capital's crown of Springtime glory, are very near and dear, with their colorful reminder of the homeland, to Nippon's official family here. A day | or two ago this observer had occasion to communicate by long-distance tele- phone with the Japanese Ambassador, who was sojourning at Hot Springs, Va. An episode of international inter- est was the reason for the intrusion. Mr. Matsudaira supplied the informa- tion wanted and then sald he'd liko to discuss something of ‘real impor- tance.” What he desired to know about was the weather in Washington and whether the cherry trees were in bloom! (Copyright. 1926.) There and Here. | matal; { months ag Rev. Chas. Stelzle Defends His Prohibition Figures To the Editor of The Star Replving to J. B, Debnam's letter in your issue of April 5, which has just come to my notlice, concerning the address I gave on “The Facts About Prohibition” in the First Co gregational Church during * Holy Week, I would say that the statistics on arrests for drunkenness were ob- tained from the Moderation League— a distinctly “wet” organization—and were for 350 cities with a population of 5,000 and over. In the course of my remarks I quoted directly from their own printed report, ‘National Survey of Conditions Under Prohibi- tion,” to demonstrate that, according to the testimony of the “wets” them- selves, the number of arrests had de- creased rather than increased. According to this report, arrests for intoxication had materially decreased in most of the larger cities—for ex- ample, in San Francisco the arrests in 1914 were 15,234 und in 1924, 7,953; in Boston, (9,159 in 1914 and 39,536 In 1924; in St. Louls, 6,277 in 1914 and 2551 fn 1924; in Buffalo, 13,713 in 1914 and 11,135 in 1924; in | New York City, 23,041 in 1914 and 13,036 in 1924.° It should be remem- bered that these figures do not take into account the increase in popula- tion in these cities, which averaged approximately 18 per cent. The figures given for Chicago in- cluded those for disorderly conduct and therefore are not valid for this discussion, although they were en- tered in the Moderation Leagne's grand total of arrests. In Detrolt, the number of arrests for 1914, ac- cording to the report, was 9,404, and in 1924, 13,717, showing an apparent Increase of 46 per cent, but the popu- lation increase for 10 years according to the latest available census figures was 113 per cent. In Philadelphia, the percentage of increase of arrests Was 8 per cent, but the population increased approximately 17 per cent. In Washington, C., the arrests for durnkenness as given in this report were 8.837 in 1914 and 9,149 in 1 an increase of 314 per dent, whereas the increate in population 80 per cent. While the increase in population here shown was from 1910 . there is no doubt that the in- crease from 1014 to 1925 in the same Mr. Debnam then res the in- rrests in country, where galnst drunkenness and liquor violation ure the strictest of any country in the 11d, with the number of arrests in uropen countries in which eve thing is wide open und where com- paratively few people are arrested for drunkenne Obviousl, such a comparison—where laws are totally difterent—is unfair and unscientlfic Furthermore, Mr. Debnam compares convictions" for drunkenness abroad for drunkenness the strictest of any coun in the world, with the number of arrests in Burupeun countries in which every. thin i pen and where com. ba ‘n' Yy few people wre arrested fof drunkenness. » such a col are totally dif ferent—is unfair and unscie tific. Furthermore, Mr. Debnam compares ‘conviction for drunkenness abroad 4s aguinst “arrests” for drunhwnness in the United States. Mr. Debnam declares that % am ne of the highest priced propagan- 5 was approxi- | Q. —W. L. 8. A. The Post Office Department say: that the foliowing stamps have been issued since 1924; Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary stamps—': cent, 1'% cents; ordinary stamps—13 cents, 17 cents; Lexington-Concord Com- memorative stamps—15 cents; 20 cents, speclal delivery; 25 cents, spe- clal handling; Norse-American com- memorative stamps; Air Mail—10 cents. Q. Are substitutes for lumber belng made?—C. G. D. A. There are three such substitutes being made—one of bagasse and two from wood fiber. The properties of these eynthetic boards are much dif- ferent from those of ordinary lumber. The material is not usually so hard and §s of a more porous and open texture. It 15 claimed by manufac- turers of these materfals that when used in certain ways it develops sat- isfactory strength. For instance, it is used for sheathing for houses. The bracing cffect of the large pleces nafled to the studding is claimed to be about as good as where diagonal sheathing is used. It is apparently @ better insulator than ordinary lum- ber because of its open texture. The material {s not so &trong as wood in bending. Another advantage for it is that it can be obtained in large sheets which, for many purposes, is quite worth while. Q. What chemical elements found in protein?—A. C. K. A. Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen. Q. Has there ever heen a b ball game played during a stor ‘What stamps are the newest? are A." The concluding championship game on September 27, 1881, between Troy and Chicago was played in a heavy rainstorm, it being the only vacant date open before the close of the season. The ball was so siip- pery and the ground was so muddy that the game wus a farce. About 4 dozen persons pald to see the game. Q. “What kind of wheat is used for making macaroni?’—B. W. A. The bulk of the durum wheat crop is used for macaroni. Amber durum s the best. Farina is used by one manufacturer. Farina con- sists of the purified middlings from kard wheat. place farther st chosen for United State: A. When the Nati established Washington the t of the Mississippi was | arcely inhabited except by Indiun tribes, therefore shington was centrally located h respect to the States then in question of moving Capital to a more central po: epeatedly been discussed, importance of the question is not so paramount at the present time be- cause of the development of trans- portation and communication. Since the Capital of the K. P. | nal Capital was | Capital of the United States can kept in constant communication w any part of the country Q. When was natural gas first used heat and light in the United es?—K. J. A. As an illuminant, it was fir used ut Fredonia, N. Y., about 1824 As a fuel, it was first used c merctally in the Pittsburgh district Pennsylvania_about 1882, where i was used for heat and power both for domestic and industrial purposes. Q. Have gold and silver always been used as the money metal of the civilized world”—C. K A. Copper. silver and gold have each in turn been chosen as the princi- pal meney metal of the clvilized world. the transition from cheaper to dearer metals indicating the growth of ex change and of wealth and the conse quent need of larger money units, 1 ! Q. When did the “Answers to Que tions” column_ 1 appear in the newspapers?—. G. N. A The question and answer metl o0d of presenting news began in Eng lish newspapers in the seventeent! One of the first aavice de question and snswe: in the London Athenia: Mercury in 1691. Charles Dana wi one of the first editors to answer let ters in the editortal column of the New York Sun. Q. How many words does the ave age person know?—E. K. A. Dr. Frank Vizetelly the average person kno to 10,000 words: the une son knows 3,000 to 5,000, and the co lege graduate over 0. The v« cabulary of professional men a: women is generally much larger, 1 the es addressed to the pe ple of America between 1913 and 191¢ Woodrow Wilson made use of abo 6,221 words, but hils entire vocubular comprised over 60,000 words. . tha fx 8,00 icated per Q. Ts tobacco grown in Egypt?—2 H. . Egyptian cigarettes are sold « | over the world, yet the growing of t | bacco in Bgypt is Q. How long is a roll of wall pape: —AL P A The general length is § yards Ask_Uncle Sam about it throuy | the Washington Information Bureau of The Lvening Star. Ail knowleds the Government gaining throug’ | research ana investigation is availabl- to you. Don’t hesitate to make your wants known 2-cent stamp 1 bring wou the prmation you nee This service is for all readers of The Lvening Star and is d gned to helpful to all who themselve of it. An effective clearing house be tween the Government and the peo ple will aid you, and help is yours fo the construction of rafiroads and the inauguration of the telephone, wire- less telegraphy and wireless telep as well as the telegraph, the dists of the Anti-Saloon League.” I bave rever recefved a dollar from the Anti-Suloon League nor from any ther prohibition organization, and certainly have never been “one of the Anti-Saloon League's stars’—ask the Anti-Saloon League! Furthermore, I mude no prohibitfon speeches from the time the amendment was passed until I debated the question with William H. yton in an open Montc N. J., a few Nor did I receive a fee upon this oceasion. | appeared merely us a citizen who was interested in great public question. My approach to the liquor problem through the Years has been that of a soclologist rather than that of a prohibitionist, and in my public discussions I have tried fairly to look wt both sides—and there are two sides to the prohibition situation! For two years previous to the passing of the eighteenth amendment made a study of the econon aspects of the liquor problem, secur- ing my data in this country and from liuropean sources. This study was inanced by an individu not by the Anti-Saloon Leugue, Ithough some of my material was distributed by the league under its imprint. | Therefore, whatever connection 1 had with the league was purely nominal. In na sense was it ever financial. Mr. Debnam quotes me as saying many years ago when I was in St, Louis that “the saloon was a great boon to the laboring man.” The fact is T said this in Washington the other day in the Tirst Congregational Church. T have not changed my mind on this point. But, while the saloon undoubtedly served as an important soctal center in the life of many workingmen, it nevertheless was a curse to the great body of workers. ‘This is now admitted by the ‘‘wet: themselves, for they declare unani- mously that fhey do not want the saloon returned, so that there is no need for argument on this point. My study of the prohibition ques- tion had demonstrated clearly to me that from an economie standpoint the Jiquor men twere absolutely wrong in their ertions that a catastrophe would result from the passing of a law for prohibition, and T am per- suaded that these conclusions have 'becn substantially verified. CHARLES STELZL! Retirement Saves Money To the Government To the Editor of Tho Star: After reading your editorials and articles on the retirement law, please permit me to call your attention to the fact that the civil service retire- ment bill is a strictly money-saving proposition for the United States Government and not an act of charity to its ex-employes. The annual report of the Commis- sioner of Pensions for June 30, 1925, Exhibit E, page 28, shows that the number of retired employes was 11,689. Exhibit G, page 30, shows the sum paid to these 11,689 retired employes amounted to $6,366,296.96. Exhibit H, page 30, shows that the ¥rom the Canton Daily News. The chief gets his tanning in Flor- ida; the employes get theirs when he comes back. A Definition. From the Fort Wayne News Sentinel. An optimist is a chap who, after 10 or 16 years of adverse experience, still scatters grass seed on the bare spots every Spring. Plenty of Chance. From the Toledo Blade. A Des Moines window peeper has been given three years in prison. Now he'll Jook out. 00 Much Matter. From the San Bernardino Sun. Perhaps the reason why the French find it so difficult to talk with us about their debt {s that there is so much to talk about. salary of the retired employes aver- aged $1,307.65, or a total for the year amounting to $15,283,f which is a net saving to the United States Government, as the annuities were from a fund contributed by the em- ployes and not by the United States Government, which fund had a sur- plus of $44,665,778.56, not counting the reductions for 1924:25, which will add not less than $18,000,000 more, and all the clerks ask is that those retired employes recelve increased annuities from their own fund of about 50 per cent or to increase the average of $554.65 to an average of about $878, for which they are willing to pay by increasing the 2% per cent to 4 per cent deduction. ‘The actuaries seem to have made an estimated guess that the new law will cost the Government about $620, 000,000 in about 40 years. But, grant- ing this guess to be right, it will be found that the Government is now saving about $15,000,000 a year, and in 40 years it would save $600,000,000, which would offset this estimated guess loss. Let it be remembered that before the present retirement bill en- acted, the United States Government was paying these millions of dollars -annually to theso superannuated, in- oolumn-.pewul Mm' 4 e $ % % { rule | use. Common Sense the asking. Address your wants The Evening Ktar Information Bureau Frederic J. Haskin, director, Wash tington, . € Demanded As Traffic Peril Solution The public is conv mon sense is the on ment for the improvems conditions in the United Stat resulting greater safet ways. It is belteved. press comments, that persistent campaign to impress upon both mo- torists und pedestriuns the need of more intelligent observance of such may be established with is great n “The auto has one great family.” sa; Ohio State Journal, tween the States, from coast to coast, is heavy and \ill be heavier as roads are improved and more autos put That makes uniform reg: tions and laws most des under that condition, drivers would be ully informed of their obligations, matter in what part of the countr they might be truveling.” Because of gram advocates few and with the comment: *Speed regulations, traffic rules and observ- ance of lights are all that should be required. If they are the same in every county and State. the auto driver can have no excuse for violat- ing them. A half dozen can easily cover the subject and greatly simplify enforcement. P “Orgunized work for highway safety,” according to the Springfield Union, “finds its strong vindication and justification in the lessened death and accident rates on the highways in communities where such work has been carried on by energetic, well di- rected committees. The great need of a stronger and mdre comprehensive campaign in this regard is emphasized by figures teiling of 24.000 lives sacri- ficed and 600,000 persons injured in highway accidents in this country last year. Reduced to a cold financk summary, these figures, taken in con- nectlon with property damage incurred in such accidents. are estimated to mean a loss of $600,000,000, and th takes no account of the loss involved in blockades and delays caused street congestion, or needless on cars due to improper care of the v The Peoria. Transcript, however, contends that “speed regu- lations are valuable only when intelli- gently enforced,” and explains: “From the scientific standpeint, certain speeds will enable traffic to move more smoothly and rapidly. At high speed, the margin of safety between | cars_foust be greater than at low speeds, but when speed is too 1o traffic is likely to become tangled be- cause of the difficulty attendant upon turning out of the stream.” * ok K Ok No set rules, however well formu- in the opinion of the Kalama- 200 Gazette, “can eliminate the necessity for ordinary discretion and common sense at the wheel, or .do away with the need of punishment for motorists who refuse to be guided by the regular considerations of safety. On the other hand, it is wholly impractical to leave the question of epeed entirely to the judgment of the individual operatofr. Our yearly accident statistics show that a sur- prisingly large number of automo- mile drivers either have no juds- ment or else are hopelessly unable to use it.” The Decatur Review discussing the same subject, remarks: “The traffic problem will not be solved because Hoover asks it, but because of national necessity. It takes a Hoover, however, to strike into the hearts of the people a show them that it is a necessity. The position that drivers “must be taught that their permission to use and the lives of others” is indorsed upon their remaining sober and in a condition to protect their own lives and the lives of others,” is indorsed by the Rock Island Argus. while the the present law and the low annui- ties paid now, thousands of practi- cally disabled and inefficient employes are kept on the rolls or are having their names extended from two to four 1 of which is a dead loss to_the Government. I ho) ’:h your, ble, becuuse, | the condition, the Fort Worth Record | T fmple | Velieve nishment of reckless drivers it and persistent cam ation, through ever So long as the can be kept he he driving public will he the rule whit | with Fis | fore the eyes o careful motoring ays the Heral grade cros oned as u matter which c On_this subjec lino Sun remarks 1es now require chauf cal | dividual ton Fr ade crossings, e way fror | pedestri | “A ne | the opinion of the Syracuse He | “would by fine developme fter all, it can neither be plished dopte oss pplies 1o the s { problem, provia | petent poli supervision |ing the motorists least half lin the process of adjustment | ehaotic conrus a’'system of set | tled, sensible r ! | Plea to Save Birthplace | Of Dr. Walter Reed bi 1 itself To the Editor of The Star Mark Sullivan’s book, “C contain birth) v imes, a picture of Waiter Reed s place at Gloucester Post Office. which is the Awerican people. | i rom the photo raph 1 judge the house to be unu and far gone in decay s are gone from the roof, the to the front door have rotted psed, the windows are wit! anes, the walls without paint weeds are growing in the vard. 1 less something is done promptly t historical landmark will in & few years | disappe The American people owe too grea a debt 1o the memory of Walter Reed to permit this to happen. It was R who made the epochal experiments on human beings which determined that vellow fever is transmitted by mosquito, thereby paving the way fc Gorgas' extermination of yellow feve: in Cuba, Panama and elsewhere,which in turn opened the tropics to occupa tion by northern European races. Ha it not been for Reed it would still e unsafe for Americans to travel through Central and South America; it would even be unsafe for them to visit i Florida, Texas and Louisiana. T wasn't so many years ago that Stat ong the Mississippi River maintainel “shotgun quarantines” to keep out suspects from yellow fever zones Again, had it not been for Reed it is doubtful if the United States could ever have completed the Panama nal and the American effort would have been an even more colossal and costly faflure than the French one of De Lesseps. Walter Reed was one of America’s truly great men and the time will come when he will be so recognized. ‘Walter Reed's birthplace should be preserved for the inspiration of fu ture generations. The house should be put in repair and furnished as it was at the time of Dr. Reed's birth 75 years ago. The land about it should be converted into a park. This is no task for a philanthropist As Dr. Reed was a benefactor to all s0 should this memorial to he form of a popular tribute. colieagues in the medica! profession should start the ball rolling by forming a foundation to acquire title to the property and to solicit sub scriptions for its maintenance. Indi vidual Iublcrl};tl:onnl should be limited the %mdfl