Evening Star Newspaper, April 15, 1926, Page 8

8 THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY.......April 15, 1026 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Offico: . 11th St. an1 Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 Easst 42nd St. Chicago Office: Tawer Building. European Office: 14 Regent St., London, England. The Evening Star. with the Sunday morn ng edition. is delivered by carriers within 1he city at 80 cents per month: daily only. 45 cents per month: Sunday only, 2 Per month, Orders may be sent by elephone Main 5000, Collection is made by carrier at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. < Sunday only 3.00: 1 mo.. 25 All Other States and Canada. Naily and Surday.l yr..$12.00: 1 mo.. $1.00 Eunday only L1yr., $4.00: lmo. 3Bc Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press s exclusively entitled o the use for repunlication of All news dis atches crodited to it or ot otherwise cred- ted in' this vaper rnd also the local news published herein. Al rights of publication ©of epecial dispatches herein are also reserved. The Annuity Maximum. Secretary Work’s proposal of $960 as the maximum annuity for retired Government employes is a difference- plitting compromise between the pres- ent limit of $720 and the $1,200 sug- gested In the Senate. 1t does not ap- veal to the e of justice of those who are aware of the present condi- tion of annuitants or the prospective condition of those who will shortly ke their places on the retired list. The present average of the annuities is slightly less than $345. Under the plan proposed by Secretury Work the average would be about'$725, or a lit- tle more than the present maximum. That is not enough for the main- tenance of these veteran Government workers who have been forced into re- tirement. It must always be borne in mind in the consideration of this matter that while these annuitants were getting a great deal more money in active serv ico than they were allotted upon tirement, the annuities were fixed upon w very low scale of p: In many cases the semi-monthly amounts which they received while on active harely adequate to meet They had been unable in of cases to malke any sav- tngs. They had practically nothing of thetr own on which to sustain them- selves when they were required to step aside as muitants. '] were suddenly down from their small pay to & pitifully small fraction the $1,200 maximum has been proposed by a subcommittee of the Senate engaged in drafting the retirement revision will bring afilu- ence to any annuitant. The average will still be less than $1,000 a year, which in these days of high llving ©osts by no means permits any luxu- ries and allows but few comforts. Those who have been and those who will shortly be retired from active service should be regarded from a dif- ferent point of view than those in the Government ranks who have two or three decades to serve, The retire- ment act was passed partly for the purpose of clearing out a number of superannuated workers who had, in fact or in theory, passed the point of efficiency. It was furthermore de- the corpse and prisoner back to ‘Washington by road and steamboat, were thrilling parts of the tragedy Then followed the trial by mill- tary commission of the alleged ac- complices of Booth and the hanging of Mrs. Mary Jenkins-Surratt, David Herold, Lewis Payne and John Atzerodt in the arsenal grounds, Fri- day, July 7, 1866. Not long after came the capture of John . Sur- ratt in Egypt and his trial in the Criminal Court in Washington. It was a long trial, the jury disagreed and was discharged by Judge George P. Fisher August 10, 1867, and the prisoner was freed. There was next the bitter quarrel between Judge Fisher and Joseph H. Bradley, who. with R. T. Merrick, defended John Surratt. Those things made history that was and remains deeply !nter- esting P Thousands of our people in the District and nearby counties ap- peared, one way and another, in the great events of those times, ' Many were suspected of complicity in the assassination or of alding the flight and concealment of Booth. Nearly everybody who had ever spoken to Booth, or who knew Mrs. Surratt or Herold, was a suspect. Many who did not know them but who had held sentiments favoring secession or had hoped for the success of South- ern armies were arrested and im- prisoned. There wore scores of wit- nesses at the trial of the conspi tors and at the trial of John T ratt. Time passes and tens of thou- sands of Washington people would not think of last night as the 61stan- niversary of o stupendous event un- less their thoughts were called to it. o e Infant Pickets. it is announced from Passaic, N. J., that six little girls, ranging from four to twelve years of age, are coming to Washington with thelr mothers to “picket” the White House in an ap- peal for a settlement of the strike of the silk workers of that city, which has been in progress for nearly three months. It is to be hoped that this move will be abandoned before the children are actually used for this pur- pose. The spectacle of infants pai ing the streets of the Capital in advo- cacy of an impossible Federal action to settle a labor dispute would be lam- entable. In the first place the Pres dent has no power whatever to inter- vene in this matter. He cannot take cognizance of it in any manner. It is strictly a local happening, a contro- versy between employers and workers in an industry that cannot by any stretch of the imagination be rated as a public necessity. If any officlal move is made to end the strike it must Le by the State of New Jers The practice of picketing the White House started some years ago when the militant suffragists undertook to force action by the President in favor of the nineteenth amendment enfran- chising all the women of the United States. That was a Federal question. Unseemly though the proceeding was, it had some basis in reason. But the parading of little children in an ap- peal for the settlement of an industrial disturbance in one of the States is al- together of a different character. This Passaic strike has caused much disorder in that city. There have been many clashes between the police and the strikers and between the strikers and the strikebreakers. The city has been in a state of turmoll for some signed to establish a rotation or cur- rent of promotion by systematically dropping the elder workers, taxing all on active duty a fraction of their monthly salaries in order to create a fund for the payment of annuities. Tt is true that those who are imme- diately retired paid nothing and those who shortly afterward were relieved from active duty paid but little. But they had served for many vears faith- fully and efficient! in a great many cases they did not wish to leave the active ranks; to them retirement was a grievous hardship. Of course, a dif- ferential annuity in their favor can- not in justice he established, but their sufferings should be reckoned with in any modification or amendment that may be effected in the retirement act. The younger members of the Gov- ernment service may upon resignation withdraw all their contributions to the retirement fund. If the rate of annui- ties is fixed so low that penury is in prospect upon retirement inducement is furnished for resignations before the passage of years has robbed these vounger workers of their chances of profitable employment elsewhere. Thus the establishment of a low standard of retirement pay tends to defeat one of the most important chjects of the retirement act, namely, the stabiliza- tion of the Government service. e Authorities refuse to ban a maga- » before it has been issued. This de- ion spoils what might have been valuable advance advertising. i - April 14, 1865-1926. Last night, a little after 10 o'clock, sivty-one years had passed since Abraham Lincoln was shot and a few minutes after 7 o'clock this morn- sixty-one years have elapsed since he died. The assassination of the President on the fifth day after Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House, April 9, 1565, and while the North was re- joicing that the main fighting force of the Confederacy had yielded and that the war would soon end affected the people of the United States, and those of that part of the country called the Confedarate States, as no other murder had or has moved them. John Wilkes Booth was a popular actor in Washington and was known to everybody in the country who went to the theater or read of actors. He was a member of an historic stage family. The hunt for the mur- derer and the numerous clues kept the people under excitement. The coming upon Booth and Herold in a barn on the farm of Richard H. Gar- vett near Bowling Green, the county seat of Caroline County, Va, by Lieut. Doherty’s detachment of the Sixteenth N. Y. Cavalry, the burn- ing of the barn, the shooting of Rooth by Sergt. Boston Corbett, and the taking of Herold, April 26, 1865, ing 4 weeks. Advocates of radicalism have utilized the strike for propaganda purposes, and only yesterday a former clergyman, who has on several occa- slons been Soclalist candidate for mayor of New York, was arrested at a meeting in Passaic for the delivery of a speech at a meeting of the strikers, in which he denounced the riot act of the State and the proclamation issued under It as illegal denial of the funda- mental rights of free speech and free assembly. It is evident that an effort is being made by extremists to make the Passalc strike a natlonal cause. This present move to send children to ‘Washington to picket the White House is plainly a part of this same program. ‘Wise leaders of labor will discourage this effort to invoke Federal interven- tion in a situation that is strictly local. The evident intent of the children’s parade s to attract attention. Obvi- ously the children cannot be treated as malefactors. They are being prompted to this service. They are unconsclous and innocent instruments of a mischievous propaganda. They should be returned to their homes promptly. Those who are using them to advertise the Passaic strike are guilty of cruelty and should them- selves be punished for thelr action. e b A villa in France for Abd-el-Krim would mean a complete forfeiture of his popularity among followers left to go on struggling with the housing problem. e Iowa is willing to try a Democratic Senator once in order to demonstrate that an unsatisfactory Republican may be subject to discipline. e Grade-Crossing Cure Urgent. Yesterday In the Senate a bill was passed for the construction of a bridge across the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- road and Michigan avenue, in the sub- division of Brookland. This measure is one of urgent importance and should be given special consideration in the House to complete the enactment at the present session., The work pro- posed is designed to prevent the sacri- fice of life at a point of heavy traffic ‘which now crosses a busy railroad line at grade. Attention has been called anew to this dangerous place by recent tragedies. Only a short distance north of the Michigan avenue crossing a few weeks ago a little boy and the watchman at a crossing were killed. Fortunately, the need of a corrective work at the Michigan avenue crossing has not been demonstrated by the sac- rifice of lite there. But the conditions are Ighly favorable to a fatal accl- i dent, and this present bill is designed to prevent such a misfortune. It is a work therefore of precaution and pre- vention that should be speeded. The work of consolidating the rail- road stations in Washington and elim- inating grade crossings within the city undertaken twenty years ago cost an immense sum of money. It was de- 0@ the progress ef the party with'signed mainly to cure am intelerable” $ THE EVENING evil that had developed in this city in ithe course of years. But it was not finished. The grade crossings were numerous death traps of this charac- ter were permitted to remain uncor- sections. Traffic conditions have changed completely since then. Road | travel has- Increased enormously and train headways have Increased as well. It is no longer possible to re- gard the outlying sections as immune from daily, hourly danger. Every part of the District requires the same standard of,safety as that which was established in the major work under- taken at the beginning of the century for what was then regarded as the cure of the grade-crossing evil in ‘Washington. P Good 01d Fudge! Many cases have come to light of the watchfulness of dogs, their fidelity and their value in giving warning of danger. But perhaps as remarkable a case as any ever known is reported from New Rochelle, N. Y. Fudge, a fox terrier fifteen years of age, blind and deaf, but still endowed with a sense of smell and with vocal organs unimpaired, sniffed smoke early the other morning and barked so loudly that it awakened its mistress, Every one in the house got out safely though the flames were under high headway. No one knows just what enables a dog to sense peril. In this case per- taps old Fudge was simply obeying an instinct of self-preservation. But there have been so many instances of dogs risking their own lives, indif- ferent to their own safety, helping others, their masters and mistresses and children of the fanilies, that it must be belfeved that this old veteran when it smelled the smoke knew that those in the house were in danger and did ite best to arouse them. The dog has been called man’s best triend. It has done things which are not in animal nature, though evident- 1y distinctly in, dog nature, for the safety and welfare of humans, That the dog has a sense of responsibility has been proved repeatedly. There are countless evidences that it fecls accountable. This old blind, deaf ter- rier was running true to type when it gave the alarm and saved the lives of the inmates of that burning house. e e Gen. Smedley Butler, having shown his teeth as a reformer, {8 promptly commended by opposing counsel to the dentist. Defective teeth are being held much il health and ec- a rellet to find B n the stock market fluctuate, but the man who {8 content to look for regular dividends or interest as an unmortgaged owner need fecl little concern. The values are there and the stock ticker is in large degree an fdle though often mischievous gossip. e Another base ball season is under way, and the effort to induce Walter Johnson to settle down as a nice old gentleman with a fan and 2 rocking chair proves as usual unavailing. . om s Prohibition enforcement must de- pend on the co-operation of the indi- vidual citizen. The question of law support is more important than that of law enforcement. e A musle publishers’ monopoly is hinted at. The small boy who whistles a tune on the street may yet be ar- rested as a sort of melodious boot- legger. st The corner saloon is a reprehended recollection. Reformatory determina- tion may yet reduce the liquor-laden motor car to the same desirable status. — World peage may be established, but there is little hope that conditions at Herrin, IIl, will ever become other than habitually riotous. e - Muscle Shoals {llustrates how even the mighty forces of nature may be slowed down in getting into economic operation by red tape. Blue laws have too often caused a rebellious, reactive tendency to paint the town red.’ —— et ————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Man. Man is a culminating force For mighty execution From a remote and humble source Produced by evolution. ‘We fear the earthquake and the trust And war talk that grows grander. Man is at present only just An innocent bystander. In Favor. “What is your position regarding the League of Nations?” “I'm for it,” answered Senator Sor- ghum. “It will do a great deal of good it it can keep people so busy arguing that they will have no inclination for fighting.” Ups and Downs. 1 look upon the April skies And seek to check each frown. But every time my spirits rise, ‘The mercury goes down. Jud Tunkins says a silly person is always satisfied with himself and often gets by because nobody is hard- hearted enough to disturb his hap- piness. Sigh for Solitude. *““Where have you been?"” “Fishing.” “Catch anything?" “Didn’t expect to. I mentioned fish. ing merely as an excuse for getting off to myself.” General Program. The farmer is a candid man ‘Who, following out the simple plan That many have pursued before, Gets what he can and kicks for more. “Listenin’ to a radlo,” said Uncle Eben, “is a lesson in life. You take de bes’ you kin git an’ tain’ no use Kieki Our Biggest Product. From the Evansville Courter. This year, mfil r.n.on, the Nmt eliminated from the urban area, and | rected and unguarded in the suburban | STAR, WASHINGTON, THIS AND THAT Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pon- red, weak and wears, Over many a filllln! and curious volume of forgotten lore— Thus begins one of the most famous poems in all the literature of the wide world. Since its publication in 1845 | it has been a universal favorite, in the true sense of the term. If there {s any poem that wears the aspects of genius, “The Raven” is certainly it. Perhaps no ever taken up Poe's mast: out feeling this Intensely. The 18 stanzas of this bit of rhym- ing made such a “hit” that Poe, in the year following their publication found it necessary to explain to the world just how he did it. That explanation, termed by him “The Philosophy of Composition,” re. mains today one of the curiosities of literature. In it the poet set forth what he declared was his method of composing *The Raven.” Sixteen steps he took (according to him) in the composition, following al most mathematical rules, of this mas- terpiece of music, invention and sub- tle effect upon the reader. From first to last, Poe says, he knew exactly what he wanted to do and did it—just as easy as that! That no one, either then or now, ever be- lieved he composed “The Raven” in any such analytical manner does not at all detract from the interest one takes in the “explanation.” There is probably some germ of truth in what Poe tells us, and many a hint to those who would write, or try to write, poetry. ok Poe begins his treatise by an easy reference to a_note lying before him from Charles Dickens—just as if we were to tell you about a letter we had Just got from Kipling or IL G. Wells. Dickens says, Poe tells us, that a writer of a then-popular novel wrote it backward, first involving his hero in & web of difficulties, and then cast. ing about him for some mode of ac- counting for what he had done. “I cannot think this the precise mode of procedure,” commented Poe, adding, however, that the author of the novel in question was “too good an artist not to perceive the advan- tage derivable from at least a some- what similar process.” Poe then lays down his preliminary generality: “Nothing is more clear than “that eve plot, werth the name, must be elaborated to its denouement be- fore anything be attempted with the pen. The above was a new thought in 1845, and was listened to by writers throughout the world, as Poe had for many years established a reputation as a teller of tales. “It is only with the denouement constantly in view that we can give a plot its indispensa- ble air of consequence, or causation, making the incidents, and especially the tone at all points, tend to the development of the intention,” he adds. The proper way to begin a story is to begin with the consideration of an effect, he declares, and continues by saying that he had often thought how interesting a paper might be written by any author who would de- tail, step by step, the process by which any one of his compositions at- tained its ultimate point of comple- tion. Most writers, poets especially, prefer having it understood that the: compose by a species of fine frenzy, the poet sald. Just to show how wrong this idea | ‘piece with- ader has th BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. s, Poe then took_up his ‘‘Raven” and proceeded to pill it to pleces. The initial consideration, he says, was that of extent. His theory was that there is no such thing as a long poem, that a true poem must be short, but not too short. So he selected 10 lines as the proper length for “The Raven.” ‘Then he decided that *“Beauty is the sole legitimate province of the poem,” as his second step, and, for his third, ‘all experience has shown that this tone (of its highest manifgsta- tion) is one of sadness.” The length (108 lines), the province (beauty) and the tone (sadness) being thus chosen, Poe tried to determine some “artistic plquancy which might serve as a keynote,” and decided upon that of the refrain as his fourth step. His fifth was to select a single word as the best refrain. As to the char. acter of thls word: It was to be at the end of each stanza, and there- fore must be sonorous and suscepti- ble of protracted emphasis. This de- termination of sound was his sixth step. His seventh was to actually select such a word, and one that would be in the fullest keeping with the melan- choly which he had predetermined as the tone of the poem. “In such a search it would have been absolutely fmpossible,” Poe blandly tells us, “to overlook the word ‘nevermore.’ In fact, it was the very first which presentcd itself.” (Which was very accominodating of ‘never- more,” to be sure!) The eighth step was to find a pre- text for the continuous use of the | word. The idea of monotony brought | up that of a bird, first a parrot al.ml‘ then a raven, the latter better in keeping with the tone. This eighth step led to the ninth, the selection of death as the most melancholy topic, and then on to the tenth, in the choice of the death of a beau- tiful woman as ‘‘the most poetic topic in the worls * % k% “I had now to combine the two ideas, of a lover lamenting his de- ceased mistress and a raven continu- ously repeating the word ‘Never- more,’” Poe tells us. His eleventh step was to make the raven eay the word in answer to the queries of the lover. The twelfth was to select a climax: “Here then the poem inay be said to have its beginning—at the end, where all works of art should begin— for it was here, at this point of my preconsideration, that I first put pen to paper in the composition of the stanza: “Prophet,” said T “thing of evil! prophet i it bird vill By that heaven that bends above us—by hat God we both ore, with sorrow laden, if within ant Al n, D » salgted malden whom the s o enore— re. Quoth the raven Thus, at the very crux Poe fails to tell how he did it! He just does it, that is all-but to go on with his thirteenth point: Fle makes the locale the lover's chamber. His fourteenth step 18 to introduce the raven, and to make the night tempestuous, us his fifteenth move. His eixteenth step was to make the bird light on the bust of Pallas. From then on—according to Poe—it was merely o problem in mathematics. There is a g deal more explana- tion, but we have given enough to show one thing—— That Edgar Allan Poe never in the world composed “The Raven” in the way he sald he did! Reapportionment Failure Stirs Criticism by Cities Postponement in Congress of the proposal to reapportion representation in the lower house has drawn some vigorous comments from the large and growing centers of population, while in some other parts of the country the failure to conform to the census of | Tribune (Republican) suggests: 1920 is viewed as satisfactory. The factors in the situation are the objec- tions to two possible courses of action —decreased representation from some States or Increase in the size of the House. It is argued in behaif of the present arrangement that there is nb great public interest, that no time lim- {it is established and that another cen- sus soon will be taken. “For the first time in history Con- gress has persisted in ignoring what would seem to be obligatory though not definitely expressed as to time,” says the Pittsburgh Gazette Times (Republican) as it notes that “the fail- ure to act is regarded with compla- cence by those States which would lose in representation relatively or actually, and in much the same light by others in which there would be no change, but not so by those entitled to an in- crease in numbers, were a new appor- tionment law enacted.” 1In this situa- tion this paper asks, “If the mandate may be ignored for one decade, Why not for two?” The Kansas City Post (independent), reiterating that ‘*‘the Constitution_contemplates the appor- tionment of Representatives according to population,” calis attention to the fact that “some States have grown in population; others have lost.” and that under reapportionment the latter would “lose some seats” in Congress. % oK K K «At present there is no great appar- ent public interest in whether Con- gress is reapportioned under the 1820 census or not, and since more -than half the decade has now elapsed, many Congressmen are opposed to any reapportionment until 1932, after the next census,” declares the Roanoke Times (Democratic). “Failure of reapportionment at the tinues, “If a majority in the Ilouse wish to beat the Constitution by refus- ing—as they did Thursday—to make an apportionment upon the 1920 cen- sus, the exact lunguage serves their purpose.” The New York Herald- “If a bill retalning the present limit of membership &nd reducing some State delegations cannot be passed, one {in- creasing membership to the point at which no State wil| lose a seat ought to be substituted. Congress has too long delayed doing what it should have done in 1921 or 1922." The Herald- Tribune also asserts: ‘“The position of the census committee, which re- cently went on record as favoring postponement of reapportionment un- til after 1930, is usurpatory and inde- fensible. nd the House is becoming an accomplice in this defiance of law by countenancing the committee's op- stinate inaction.” EE A query as to attitudes toward two different parts of the Constitution is uttered by the Lynchburg News (Democratic). “Is it permissible,” asks the News, “to wonder how many members of the House committee hav- ing the matter in charge and which has refused to act are ‘drys,” and how many of them regard the eighteenth amendment to the Constitution as sa- cred, while ignoring other provisions of that document?” The Chattanooga News (Democratic) adds that ‘“‘consti- tutional guaranties are suspended in the refusal to reapportion congres- sional representation.” A further query comes from the Worcester Tele- gram (Republican), which says, “If members of Congress who will be up for re-election this Fall dont put through a satisfactory reapportion- ment measure, what will they say in their campaign speeches?” The Tele- gram also remarks, “The States mak- ing the slower gains in population would lose proportionately under any reapportionment measure; that is what reapportionment is for.” The situation in one State— Ver- present session means, in all lkeli- | mont—which stands to lose when the hood, that there will be no rearrange- | change s made is discussed by the ment before the next presidential Rutland Herald (independent) with the election, because there is little proba- | comment, “Once more Vermont es. bility it can be undertaken at the De- capes from the impending shadow of cember_short session,” predicts the|losing a Representative, but this, of Miami Daily News (Democratic), which continuing, says: “Then will appear the election of a President on the basis of the 1910 census 18 years after it was taken. The avoidance.by Con- gress of its manifest duty directs at- tention to what sort of travesty the electoral college system can become.” Taking up this same point, the Spring- field Union (Republican) says that failure to vote for reapportionment ‘““would be less serious were the con- sequences conflned to the House mem- bership.” But, it argues, “the fallure also affects the electoral college, as each State has as many electors as it has representatives in the House and Senate. In case of a close election for President, this might prove to be a serious matter. The election might go to & 'candidate who would be defeated on fair basis of population as deter- mined by the mest recent census.” * % % ¥ Among the causes blocking reappor- tionment the Beattle Daily Times (in- dependent Republican) lists the fact that “public opinion is opposed to any enlargement of the House member- ship, and no State will consent to a reduction in its representation.” The Philadelphia Public Ledger (independ- ent) contends: ‘“The farm districts now have a larger representation than is justified by their population. The cities are entitled to more than they now have. Farm members have blocked reapportionment,” this paper claims. On the other hand, the New York ‘World (Independent Democratic) calls attention to the fact that ‘“no time limits are set "stated terma, upon apportionment in| If it is impolite to point, hew should * and the World con- one go about selecting French pastry' course, is only a temporary reprieve.” Universal Curiosity. From the Portland Evening Express. Maybe it was in Missourl where they first had to be shown, but the de- mand has become general. An Even Division. From the Boston Evening Tramscript. Republican party in Texas has split. It was always hard to get two men to agree, anyway. Muite. From the Columbia Missourian. The malin objection to a “‘Use-No- Slang week” is that too many people couldn’t talk. If We Only Could. From the Waterbury Democrat. Some of us would like to hang on for another 50 years if only to hear the third generation’s version of moral turpitude. Soggy. From the Columbus Dispaich. The housewife would say of what han.thfippened to the bread trust that it “fell.” Pastry and Politeness, From the Boston Traveler. ? "THE NORTH WINDOW By Leila Mechlin. ‘There {s a rumor that one of the greatest private art collections in this country {s coming to Washington, and will be housed here as a unit in & gallery of its own erected by the donor.” This brings up the subject of the small art museum, its advantages and shortcomings. Our Amerfcan tendency is toward aggregation. We are laughed at by other nations for our love of size. We have a faculty for combination; we have bullt the tallest bulldings in the world and the longest bridges; we are a Nation of quantitative production. We are only now beginning to recog- nize that quality must go with quan- tity if values are to be maintained. Algo, in this later day we have come to realize with a shock, now and then, that it is possible to have at one time and in one place, too much of even a very good thing. Citles can be 00 big for convenience and comfort; the same {3 true of art museums. R The growth of art museums in thiy country has been phenomenal. The two oldest in the country were estab-| lished less than 60 years ago—the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Metropolitan Museum, New York: in fact, our oldest art institution, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts has only celebrated its 1218t anniver- sary. Both of these oldest of our museums started extremely modestly and have gradually spread out. Very lately the Metropclitan Museum has opened, with appropriate ceremontes, a new wing, in which it now can dfs- play beautifully rare works of un- and of modern times, tropolitan Museum of Ne become one of the great museums of the world, and those who any branch of art, or the,art of any| period, may seek out therein objects| which are {llustrative. In other words the Metropolitan has become a gre: research museum, a place in which the wpecfalized student may pursue his studies, an endless reservoir of inspiration; but to the casual visitor with small time at his command, its size and the multiplicity of exhibits are almost overwhelming. Even for those who go with o fixed purpose— such, for instance, as inspection of the new Venetian room—there is dan- ger of being diverted by the interest of exhibits passed en route. Obvious 1y, there is much to be sald in favor of the large comprehensive collection or rather aggregation of collections both for convenience and for continui- musenm undoubtedly would earrs the prize. . At # A great foundation appropriated a {year ago several thousand dollars for an investigation and report on the cause or causes of “museum fatigue.” Certalnly one of the contributing causes is the temptation to see too much at one time. How much less wearisome, for instance, is the Wal- lace Collection in London than the great British Museum, with its count. less, well ordered treasures! Fow re. freshing is the Freer Gallery in this city with its unified showing, as com- pared to some of our la nd more comprehensive museums of art! Un. doubtedly the fact that the National Gallery collections are shown at the pregent time in the heart of the Nat. ural History Museum Building, with xzs‘ (nnu]memhhle specimens and eth- nological exhibits, militates grea against their enjoyment. e There are, of course, those who, like Oliver Twist, are always crying for more, but art cannot be properly assimilated when taken in too large doses. The pleasure to be found in art is of a gentle, meditative sort, and requires an intimacy of acquaint- anceship which cannot be gained en masse. Of course. however, there is the danger of too many little museums, and there is an economy in the aggre. gation of units. Boston now has fts Isabella urt, which is essentially in- ic: Philadelphia _has Johnson_collection in the house in which Mr Johnson assembled i Baltimore has the Walters Gallery: w here have the Freer and the Phiilips Memorial Galleries. There is still room for others. ¥ % And it should not be thought that the addition of separate, privately en- dowed galleries would militate against the upbuilding of a great national collection, * % There arg vermw few collectors who have the means, the time or the taste to assemble - unified collec- tions of such size and importance as those mentioned, whereas there are many who have acquired in- teresting groups or single examples of the works of the great masters which might very well find their way even- tually into a national collection. Take, for instance, the great National Gal- lery of London, one of the finest and the best arranged in the world—large, but not too large, representing the de- velopment of painting from the days of the primitives to modern times. It is inconceivable that such a collection could have been built up by any sin- gle individual. It js eminently desir- able that such a collection should be owned, housed and cared for as a na- tional institution. * Ok K ¥ Occasionally one hears it said that the supply of works by old masters is running low, that the time will come when none will be obtainable, but so uch are in private ownership s still remote. The National Gallery of London has been built Up in the last hundred years. It is quite reasonable to sup- pose that no nation teday could hope to equal this collection, even the rich- est Nation in the world, if it deliber- ately went into the market, but un- doubtedly it could more nearly ap- proximate such a result now than 20 years hence, and each decade that passes will make it more difficult. Postponing action is, therefore, eco- nomically a mistake. ‘The mere fact that collectors are de- sirous of permanently placing their coltlecfions hex‘el :n ‘Washington indi- cates a recognition of the posi which this city, as the Nallon:l Cfl‘gl'f tal, occuples and its future possibil- ities as a great cultural center of art. H * ok ox % Never, perhaps, in the histor; the world have such great sums )I;e:: given for the establishment of art museums and their support as in the present day. Through the will of the late Frank A. Munsey the Metro- politan Museum has this Winter in- herited a fortune of approximately $40,000,000; through the will of the late Edward D. Libbey, the Toledo Museum has come into possession of about $20,000,000; it was made known a short time ago that John D. Rocke- feller, jr., had offered $10,000,000 to the Egyptian government to estab- lish in Egypt a Museum of Egyptian Antiquities. Within the last few days announcement has been' made of a bequest of $1,000,000 to Yale Uni- versity for an art museum. Gifts of this callber would be sufficient to erect a suitable building for a National art gallery and adequately endow it. Who can measure the benefit to the people at large, not only of the present day but of coming generations, that such an institution might bestow! * * % % The topic most under discussion at the present time is that of pro- hibition. Speaking of another re- strictive measure some years ago, Benator Root said, “It is impossible ;o successfully prohibit anything un- ess you are prepared to put some- thing better in its place.” surest safeguard of taw and order is the wish to make an intensive study oftutions for religic ty, but for real pleasure the small ANSWERS TO BY FREDERIC Q. When was the famous murder committed which led to Abraham Lin- coln defending the accused?—N. A. B. A. “Duff” Armstrong, in a broil on the night of August 29, 18 t a comrade, one Metzker, who had pro- voked him to & fight. That same night | Metzker was hit with an ox_yoke by | another drunken reveler, Norris by | name. Three days later he died. Both Armstrong and Norris were arrested. | Q. When saying "He, as weil a8 his cousins,” should the verb be singular or plural?—C. G. A. "Together with” and “as well as” do not affect the number of the verb. In the construction about which you have inquired it is correct to say “He, as well 4s his cousins, is going.” Q. When and where was Kipling born and where does he live now?— —-V. P. I A. Rudyard Kipling was born in Bcmbay, India, December 30, 1863, the son of Jokn Lockwood Kipling and Alice McDonald Kipling. At the age of 5 he was brought to England and educated. Returning to India, | he edited several papers and wrote | voluminously. He visited the United States and married, in 1592, the daugh- ter of H. W. Valestier of New York and lived for scveral years in Ver- mont, Kipling now lives in Sussex, England. Q. How did Coral Gables, Fla., get its name?—L. A. C A. A local office representing the Coral Gables intereste in Florida says that Coral Gables is located on_coral homes is confines Q. insti- { monasteries and orders started by the Christians?—L. 8. A. The building of monasteries and {nstitutions of religious orders dld not originate with the Christian | world, but was known to the ancfent | Egyptians and was prevalent among Jews and later among Mohammedans. Q. When will the new speedway | near Atlantic City be completed” Je V. A A. It is hoped that it will be completed May 1. This speedway is located 28 miles from Atlal City and 38 miles from Philadelphia. Q. How ma power of electric energy are developed hyedams on the Ohio River?—L. W. A. There are no dams at the present time on the Ohio RIvi However, there is one under con- | struction at Louisville, This will generate about 300,000,000 ki Were owatts a year. 1 classed as| condiments e { A. They are known as food ad-| juncts. They are used to sthnulate | BY PAUL } The once-popular opera, “Pinafore undertook to define a “Pocbah,” hut | that was before Gen. Pangalos, dicta- tor of Greece, had demonstrated his own capabilitfes in that line. The dictator has been elected President of the republic and as President has nominated and con- firmed his own appointment as premier. He had previously dismissed the Parliument, declaring that his country was not successful in parila- mentary government, and, as minister of war, under the Revolutionary Pro- visional Government, with his friends and allies in command of the navy, he controlled both the military and naval forces. Hence, why bother with a lament? The State—it him- self—dictator! That was about a year ago. Before Parliament had been dis- eolved, it had appointed a committee of thirty members to revise the pro- visional constitution. The committee deliberated long, and at last produced a constitution modeled after the constitution of France, in which the pepper, { mac?—H. L. T QUESTIONS J. HASKIN. the appetite by adding flaver to food. Among the most important are salt, cayenne pepper, mustard, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pimento. nutmeg, mace, vinesar, capers and horserudish. Q. What wers the expenses of the Currency Bureau last year anc what income did it bring the Gov ernment "—D, E. A. The total expenses incident 1o maintenance of the Currency Burea: at the end of the flecal year, June 80, 1925, were $4,934,164.86. The ner income to the Government from taxes on circulation was $2,621,874.48. Q. Which of the principal cour- tries of Europe has the largest num- ber of automobiles and the largest increase?— L. L. F. A. Registered motor vehicles in Germany total 216,220, 65 per cent increase; United Kingdom, 208,165, 15.8 per cent increase; Lrance, 1i8 000, 26 per cent se. Q. How s sugar used instead starch?—N. A. L. A. Sugar solution is used as a sub stitute for starch if the lace or art d is not to be ironed. Use ap- ately one cupful of cane sugar to one gallon of water. . Who was Phaon, depicted in “A Reading from Homer”?—H. N. ¥ A. Phaon was a deformed boatman of Mytllene. He was famed for hiv chivalry. Once an old woman asked him to ferry her ucross the although she could not | When safely across the 1 box ¢ an gave the kind ferryman g ointment, teiling him to rub tents on When he did | to & handsome and Sappho Q. Monitor when lovers How many men were on tis it fought the Merr! A. The Naval Library says tha there were §8 officers and men o the Monitor when it fought the Me: rimac. Stop a minute and think alout this fact. You can ask The Evening Ste Information Bureaw any question of fact and get the answer back in o personal letter. It is a great educa- tional idea introduced into the lives of the most intelligent people in the world—American newspaper readers It is @ part of that best purpose of o newspaper—service. There is 1o charge except 2 cents in stamps f return postage. Get the labit of asking questions. Address yowr letf-r to The FEvening Star Information reau, Frederic J. Haski director, Washington, D. C. BACKGROUND OF EVE *. COLLINS, 1 followers of a leader. These s drift from one group to an- | other, as minor issues control or in- fluence them, und debates ure both prolonged and often very acrimo- nious, It was this feature that im- pelled Dictator Pangalos, a year ago, to denounce all efforts at parlia- mentary government as futlle and tiresome. When Venizelos was premier he undertook to develop a party based upon distinctive prirciples; he want- ed peace, both internal and foreign. He was supported by Gen. Pangalos, until they differed over the policy of pacification or aggressiveness in the course of the negotlations preceding the Laueanne treaty in 1923. This _was the settlement of tha Greco-Turkish war, which war bad resulted in the terrible debacle of the Greeks in Asia Minor. By the treaty after the 1912 Balkan war Bulgaria had been awarded part of western Thrace, from which all Greeks soon emigrated to get away from Bulgarian rule. After the 10 Parliament was both legislative and executive—ruling with a cabinet made up of its own members, headed by a premier responsible to Parliament. The committee claimed to hold plenary power to devise and adopt the constitution, but Dictator Pangalos disputed that presumption and set aside the French model constitution. He proceeded to make his own con- stitution after the style of the Ameri- can foundation, with a distinct separa- tion between legislative and executive powers. Yet he distrusted an exec tive, like the President of the United States, without fortifying the execu- tive's powers by adding a premier appointed by the President and re- sponsible to the President, and who, with his cabinet, initiates all legisla- tion to be merely debated and ratified by Parliament, in case there ever is a Parliament. The Pangalos constitution has not been submitted to any parliamentary debate. The dictator has merely announced that it is in force, super- seding the constitution of the former monarchy, the provisional constitution and the constitution of the Committee of Thirty. It és “‘unanimously ap- roved” by the dictator. '3 ‘The ml)xlln)' at Saloniki which broke out among & few hundred sol- diers last week was reported as a be- ginning of a revolution against the Pangalos government. A colonel and two majors were arrested and sen- tenced by court-martial to death, but President Pangalos has commuted the sentence. This lenjency is construed as a sign of conscious strength of the government, otherwise the summary execution would have resulted. 5 * Rk K In Greece it is the political custom for any party which faces prospective defeat at an election to refrain from voting at that election. By absten. tion the sting of defeat is prevented. So, in this week’s election of Presi- dent under the new constitution there was only one candidate—Gen. Pangalos was elected by 90 per cent of the registered voters. In the United States the records indicate that only about 50 per cent of our citizens take the trouble to vote, even in presidential elections. The fact that 90 per cent of the Greeks took part in their presiden- familiar with Greece as an indication that the masses are especially inter- ested in government, but rather that they are ready to let any strong man govern who will relieve them of the persistent unrest and upsetting of cabinets and policies. * %k ¥ ok Greek politics is not controlled by two or three strong parties, as in the United States and most other republics. The parties are not formed around any particular set of political principles, but are merely divided by Er’onnel and the adhesion of a few cultivation on the part of the people of the powers of enjoyment of health- ful, recreative pleasures, such, for in- stance, as music and art. The only way, furthermore, to implant a love of art is through a knowledge of art, the possibility of seeing great art. There is every reason to believe, by an examination of the attendance records at the museums of this country (the turnstiles at the Metro- politan Museuin, New York, and at the Art Institute of Chicago for the past year record over a million each), that the people of the country have discovered art as a source of enjoyment; therefore, the more little museums of.the right sort and the museums (not too big) that the better it will be. more we have, tial election is not construed by those: rout in Asia Minor the Greek arm: was demornlized and helpless, un Gen. Pangalos personally took com- mand and reorganized it into a strong fighting machine. In the second Lausanne treaty nego- tiations the existence of the Pangalos army upon the boundary of Thrace was the chief weapon of strength to the allies, who used it to threaten the Turkish and Bulgarian opponents into making a_favorable settlement. .\t that time Venizelos was in Lausanne engaged in_delicate negotiations of peace, and Pangalos was at the head of his army, straining to march against Constantinople. The differ- ences between the policies of the two leaders resulted in the fall of Veni- zelos and his retirement to Paris, where he i{s devoting himself to liter- ary work, while Pangalos has risen to supreme power. Under the aggres- siveness of the later rule, Greece has had to pay indemnitles to Italy and Bulgaria for encroachments upon their territorial rights. * % % % Greater problems than boundaries have confronted Greece in recent years, especially since the Turkish defeat. With a normal population of less than 5,000,000, she has had to re- ceive and provide for 1,500,000 Greek refugees from Asia Minor, exchanged for un equal number of Turks export- ed from Greece. There has never been such a migration of peoples as was that Greco-Turkish exohange. The refugees in Greece equaled 30 per cent of its normal population. That would have been equaled in the United States only if every man. woman and child in France had suddenly entered our country, practically penniless and al- together homeless, and Americansshul been called upon to supply shelter, food and employment for 35,000,000 newcomers. The refugees in Greece were Greeks, but they had lived all their lives in Asia Minor. The refugees’ toll in health, in suf- fering and in loss of life through ex. posure has been appalling. There are thousands of orphans who have sur- vived the loss of parents or of father: These are being cared for by cha table organizations, including the Re- lief of the Fatherless Children of Greece and the Near East Relief. The Greek government operates 30 or- phanages. In spite of the influx of refugees. there is a shortage of male help, an much of the labor in the flelds and in- dustries is done by women. ‘The art of rug and ‘carpet weaving, for which Asia Minor was famous, has been carried into Greece by the refugees, ahd is being fostered there, with not less than 4,000 looms, each employ- ing four or five women. More will be introduced as fast as raw material and spinning equipment can be pro- cured. The League of Nations has planted the largest mulberry tree orchard of the world, with the view to providing the refugees with silk industry. Other work is being introduced for both women and children. * kK ¥ While Gen. Pangalos has been a soldier. all of his life and owes his present power directly to his controt over the military forces, rather than to his experfence and proved ability as a statesman, none has questioned his patriotism and his desire to de- velop Greclan prosperity. He is not accused of personal ambition of con quest or of theoretical visions of ele vating the proletariat. ‘The success of Pangalos, the first elected President of the new Republic of Greece, will mark a new chapter in history. (Copyright. 1936. by Paal V. Collinall