Evening Star Newspaper, August 3, 1926, Page 8

" The Evening Star Newspaper Company THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C TUESDAY. August 3, 1926 THEODORE W. NOYES. . ..Editor 1 Business Dfl\"! i . St. and viv. ve. New York Office; 110 Fast 42nd St. > scago Office’ Tower Building. Buropean Office: 14 Regent St.. London, England. ening Star. with the Sunday morn- d by carriers within i nly. 20 cent’ h. Orders may he ment by mail or one Matn B000" - Callection 1o aiade by r at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Dail d 0. Baily Snd under - 1ye- 2000 1o Sunday only S.1vr. $3.00: 1 mo.. 25c All Other States and Canada. Dafle and Sunday 1 yr.$12.00° 1 mo.$1.00 Dally Sty SUM%Y 33T AR AR ) e Y 7me Sunday only 1yr. $4.00;1mo., 3¢ Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Pross fs exclusivaly entitled to the use for renahlication f all news dis- atches credited to it gr not atherwis ored: ted in this paper and also the published herein. All rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved The New District Commissioner. President Coolidge's selection of a District Commissioner to succeed Col. Fenning commends itself to Washing- ton. Proctor L. Dougherty is a cit- izen of estimable qualities, who has been a member of this community for many vears and has identified himself | with its activities in a wide range. His business connection has brought him into contact with many people. He has participated " in citizenship movements of merit looking to the advancement of the welfare of the Toeal news | factor of sccesaibility from all sides. Traffic considerations are important. The market center should be freely approachable.. It should be so situ- ated, furthermore, as to have a chance to expand without undue encroach- ment upon the street spaces. Wash- ington will grow, and its market ecen- ter will therefore need to be larger twenty yeark or fifty years from now than today. One finul consideration is to be borne in mind. A market center is not an altogether desirable neighbor- hood factor. It Is likely to become somewhat of a nyisance, even with the best administration. It should be located, therefore, with particular thought to the effect upon adjacent !'properties und interests. e —— British Feeling Reaoting. Press. reports from London indicate that attacks upon America because of American presperity snd England's war debt to this country are becom- ing lesz popular. Indeed, it is sald there has been a strong backfire to the Winston Churchill criticisms of this eountry and to Lord Rother- mere's slurs. Thoughtful people in to the dangers of such anti-American displays. of temper on the part of British people. As a practical proposition, men of business, hotel keepers, storekeepers and shipping men view with concern attempts of the politicians to rear a barrier between Britain and American trade. Until recently the British and Amer- icans have been particularly close to- gether since the end of the war. The British tackled the matter of funding their debt to the United States promptly and with good grace. They Capital. He is thoroughly acquainted with District matters and as a mem- ber of the Citizens’ Advisory Council has participated in affairs at the Dis- trict Building in a way to equip him exceptionally for the administrative work which he will now be called upon to discharge. In his search for a Commissioner the President has reviewed many people, summoning to his aid those well acquainted with the District per- sonnel. Some of those who have been considered most favorably have proved ineligible under the law which re- quires residence here for three years prior to appointment, with claim of residence nowhere else meanwhile. Some of those thus barred from se- lection by this provision of the organic act would have been most suitable se- lections as District executives. Some others whom the President has fa- verably considered have been disin- clined to accept appointment for finan- cial or other reasons. The choice has finally fallen upon Mr. Dougherty who fortunately is qualified under the-| law, having made this his definite residence for twenty-seven years and being in a position to surrender his private employment to render this service to Washington. The selettion of Mr. Dougherty is calculgted to allay friction that has arisen during the past few months at the Capitol. His appointment closes an incident which has aroused deep feeling and has given rise to much unpleasantness. The happenings of this late perigd, however, do mnot .handicap the new Commissioner on his work at the District Building. He will take office with the full confidence of the community and his personal character and his repute as a con- sclentious citizen devoted to the wel- ‘fare of Washington will be to his ad- vantage in future relations with Con- gress, the District’s legislature. Wash- ington’s best wishes are extended to him for a successful administration and Washington's thanks are extend- ed to the President for the careful se- lection of so excellent a Commis- sioner. B Americans pay their bills when touring in Europe. In doing so with- out argument, they sometimes create resentment. Their readiness to meet debt may be construed as antagonistic to a local interpretation of interna- tional policy. ———a—— Ford, jr., bids fair to have more success in reducing the cost of fliv- vers on land and air than Rockefeller, jr., has in reducing the cost of gas to run them. . ——os The Market Center Problem. Three propositions have been ad- vanced for the solution of the problem of Jocating the general market center in replacement of that which is now situated just north of the Mall between Sixth and Twelfth streets. One of these is to establish the market on the Patterson tract in the northeast section. Another is to put it on the water front, and a third has just been made to center it around the present Convention Hall Market. In point of general convenlence of access, the Jast named of these plans is most striking. The center of population 1es only a little to the west and south of this proposed market center. Either the water front or the northeast loca- tlon would be far removed from the population center. In support of the northeastern loca- tion 1t is urged that railway communi- cation would be avallable for the transport of goods. It has already been pointed out, however, that this is & questionable factor, in view of the peculiay situation, with the proposed market 'site cut off from the freight tracks by the passenger express lines to the north and west. The river front site woald provide both rail and water transportation. The mideity site would have no possible means of direct transport, save by truck. All these considerations are to be welghed most carefully by those who are now studying the question with the view to.recommendation of a site. It is desirable to choose a location that will for all time meet the com- munity’s needs. It is improbable that there will ever again be a shift, for the city planning lines are now well laid down, and it fs inconceivable that a . selection of site will be made that can possibly inzerfere with the future de- ‘velopments. = Publlc convenience *is a primary consideration apart from interference , with city planning. The factor of dis- “ance is important, Likewise the stood strongly with the American Government in its effort to improve conditions and minimize the chances the goal. Gertrude Ederle and Lil- lian Cannon, both of whom have tried before, unsuccessfully, will probably make the attempt in a few days. More than, two hundred persons have tried to syim the Channel, mak- ing at least one. thousand attempts. Five only have succeeded. Those five are Capt. Matthew Webb, 1876; Thomas Burgess, 1912; Henry Sulli- van and Charles Toth, Americans, and Sebastian Tirabocchi, Italian-Argen- tinian, 1923, ————— e A Problem to Solve. After a thorough and comprehen- sive investigation of all angles of the problem both Traffic Director Eldridge isfactorily with automatic lights un- less changes are made. The signals for these streets have already been orderéd, and will be installed within the next few months, but in the mean- time the traffic office has a perplex. ing enigma to solve. Because of the narrowness of these thoroughtares, which are only thirty- two feet in width, traffic officials feel Bngland and America are giving heed | that they are faced with two alter- natives—that of banning all parking or creating one-way streets. With parking allowed with two-way trafic there would be no possible way to co- ordinate the lights for a non-stop pas- sage as is the case on Sixteenth street and Massachusetts avenue, because there would be room for only a single lane of traffic each way, and. in rush hours particularly, thts would not be enough to meet the situation. Parking in Washington is being necessarily cut down so rapidly that it would appear that the one-way street plan is thesolution. One-way streets have come to be the accepted method of dealing with traffic conges- tion, especially on narrow arteries. It weuld seem logical, therefore, to treat of further wars at the Washington conference on limitation of aymaments and the problems of the Paeific. In more than one quarter the. suggestion was made that the hope of the world lay largely in the great English-speak- ing nations pulling together. There is still reason to believé that the co. operation of the United States and the British Empire gives promise of greater stability in the world. After all, Americans and British, including the peoples of Britain's vast domin- ions, are the only two great nations that understand each other thor- oughly when they speak. A common mother tongue is a strong influence for good feeling. There is a growing belief in Great Britain that the prosperity of America is by no means due alone to war profits. The United States national debt when the war ended was stu- pendous and is still, although it has been reduced by several billions of dollars. Yet the country is greatly prosperous. There is a feeling among the British themselves that they could with great benefit follow some of the methods and policles adopted in this country to better economic conditions. Premier Baldwin's decision to send a government commission to America to study the relations between cap- ital and labor is an evidence of this feeling. Americans have never been slow to respond in kind when they have been subjected to attacks by forelgners. It would be unfortunate for both nations it a period of backbiting, slurs and contemptuous charges should endure for any length of time on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Politics, rather than good sense or good manners, has been responsible for the anti-American outbursts abroad in recent weeks. o The suggestion has been made that France turn over her tobacco monop- oly to the United States by way of an item toward debt settlement. It would be a philanthropic move en- abling the French smoker to enjoy the flavor of tobacco as it has hith- erto been unknown. The tobacco mo- nopoly may yet correspond om & large scale to the primitive pipe of peace. oo Mexico, with charactéristic reck- lessness, has picked out the hardest of all problems as a dominant feature of controversy, that of church «and state, ) Another Channel Failure. Her pilot boat off course on account of fog, Miss Clarabelle Barrett of New York has failed in her effort to swim the English Channel. Her perform- ance was such as to indicate that but for the factor of fog, which caused her to’swim a much greater distance than the span between the two coasts, she would have reached the French shore. As it was, she was compelled to desist when only two miles from land. So her fallure was, in fact, a triumph, even though she did not gain the goal for which many swimmers have striven, and which thus far no woman has attained. ¥ > A woman will eventually swim the Channel. Of that there can be little doubt. It took a long time for a man to make the passage. With'every try there came new knowledge of the conditions and some new gain toward the long-sought mark. . But the vagaries of the Channel are infinite. The conditions of today are rarely those of tomorrow. Now there is a heavy sweep of tides with eccentric twists, again a gentler current with few deflections. Now the water is bitterly cold, again it is warmer. But never s it the same in temperature or in current for the entire stretch hetween France and England. The dfstance is 'such that any swimmer must spend so long a time in the water that tidal and other conditions altogether change hetween the start and finish. Miss Barrett was 21 hours and 35 minutes in the water. A factor of particular interest in the failure of this American girl is that lack of funds compelled her'to select the British rather. than.the French side for her start, although that is the Jeast favorable point of beginning for a cross.channel swim. She was obliged to hasten her preparations because she could not'longer maintain herseif. Had she been as well financed as are the other American aspirants who are even now waiting in France for favor- lable conditions she might have made that timing of the lights could be shortened considerably. In other words, the signals could be so regu- lated that a fast passage through the one-way sectlons of these streets would be a regular occurrence. Abolition of parking, however, would work a serious hardship on all resi- dents of these streets. It would create an undesirable situation. The suppert of Washington citizens is needed to bring about the solution of the problem. The traffic office is a unit in believing that one-way streets will be the most satisfactory method. Many motorists are of the same opinion. There are some, however, who believe that parking should be abolished rather than establish addi- tional one-way streets. There is plenty of time for the matter to be discussed and for the plan having the most gen- eral support to be adopted by the traf- fic office. Hence residents should give their meost earnest consideration to all angles of the proposition. N Eminent Republicans and Demo- crats agree that the candidacy of Mr. Butler may be regarded as a test of President ‘Coolidge’s strength in Mas- sachusetts. Even the most implaca- ble antagonists may find themselves in unexpected harmony. ——— o Swimming the English Channel is a fagcinating athletic undertaking. The average pergon would be satisfied with a demonstration of some way to get across without becoming sea- sick. B Large programs relating to the reg- ulation of radio are in progress. The programs may improve. Please stand, by. —o—————— The sentiment in Texas appears to be that Ma Fegguson is too good a wife to make a successful politician. USRS SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Era of Mechanics. Faster and faster still The wheels go 'round! Fashioned with wondrous skill Machines abound. They bear us on our way Strange things to view ‘Which, after all, display Not much that's new. Where is the gentle lay Of simple grace? ‘Where is the dance so ga: In courtly pace? ‘Where is the thoughtful skill, Smart, or profound? Faster and faster still iThe wheels go 'round! Entangled Issues. “Statesmen never fight duels any more.” “No, said Senator Sorghum, “Opinions have become so confused that when you meet a foe in one is- sue you are mot sure he may mnot prove a valuable friend in another.” Awaiting a Songster. Katydid! Katydid! \ Your silence has been long. Somewhere you are stayin’ hid A-studyin’ your song. Katydid! Katydid! Our hope we haven't lost. Soon you'll do as you are bid An’ sing “Six Weeks Till Frost!” Jud Tunkins says the chief objec- tion to a natural born loafer is that every once in a while he gets tired of loafin’ and wants to butt in.” Sense of Humor. “Have the Europeans a sense of humor?” “They must have,” replied Miss Cayenne, “a tremendous sense of humor, when they can regard a na- tional debt as merely a joke.” Says the Farmer. I want relief and want it bad My day must yet appear. " I'm 'bout the only one who had No chance to profiteer. - these highways in the same manner rather than to bar parking.. With single-way traffic north on Fifteenth street and south on Seven- teenth street, movement of vehicles would be expedited to such a degree “A, busy bootlegger,” said Uncle Eben, ‘“instid o' bein’ satisfied wif de killin’ he kin accomplish wit wood alcohol, is liable to go an’ git and Assistant Director Moller are con- vinced that neither Fifteenth street nor Seventeenth sireet will work sat- At present foreign corporations are limjted to ownership of 2,600 acres, The Filipinos need offer no such deal., They need not offer to trade away the islands for independence. When in- - THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Tennis is & great gam In our youth we indulged in it with great vim, playing more wisely than well for se' .Tl years unti] we were dafeated vegularly by every one we knew, when we gave up the pastime in_despair. You have to win at anything to enjoy it A few optimistic souls may tell you that they do pot mind being ten, but most of us do. Lord, how we hate to get licked! The realm of sport has given many interesting and instructive examples of this, from the shyness of rflu-fln[ champions to meet the challenger to the actual running away of chess masters. ‘When Paul Morphf' of New Orleans went to England during, the Civil War to engage the great Staunton in & match the latter fled to Frence, and when Morphy crossed the Channel Staunton came back again. The reigning chess master mu have had.a sneaking suspicion (a ways the worst kind) that Morphy was the better of the two. He knew that if he allowed himself to meet the American face to face there would be no getting out of a match, so he pro- ceeded on the old maxim that discre- tion is the hetter part of valor. Any chess enthuslast (or tennis player, either) who will compare the recorded games of Morphy with those of Staunton will see that the former played an entirely new brand of chess ~one that was ta color all future hess strategy. Staunton would have een licked as soundly by Morphy at chess as we were defeated by our opponents in tennis. * kX% Always, however, tennis has re- tained a warm place in our affection because it gave us our only oppor- tunity to pose as an athl Every oreature that wears trousers in this day and age has a secret de- sire to be an afhlete. If you could look into the brajn pictures of yonder Buccessful executive, he with the fat aunch, you would be amazed to see im lithe, trim and speedy, flashing down a track beating the world record for the 100-vard dash. very man has dreamed of receiv- ing the plaudits of the crowd, and there is no easier way for the average male to do it than to do something in a physical way faster, or higher, or longer, than his fellows. So one athlete runs faster, another ;‘ymps higher, another jumps longer. hese sorts of records are for high school boys and college men. For men grown there remain professional ten- nis, golf, and so on. The men in the business and pro- fessional world who have stuck to as an exercise are those who were ‘“good at it.” as the saying is. There is no particular pleasure in being beaten at games. One has to win now and then if he is to keep up his interest. For this reason we have always thought there ought to be two sets of tennls courts—one for the good play- ers and the other for the poor per- formers. The former naturally prefer to be seen of all men, but the latter wish to hide their miserable work from all eyes. Therefore, the “dub” courts ought to be inclosed by high board fences #o that the fellow who knocks his serve into the net 9 times out of 10 might whale away In peace. As far as that g it is not only the outand-out “dub” who sends his serve into the net. Have you ever witnessed the “pepp{" tennig player who bounds onto the court as it on springs? Ah, now we are going to see something! He rears ck, shoots his racket up the ball from a the sphere ) flexible left wris §-beater and on the very tip of his slams it forward. Surely, his opponent can't get it! . The opponent can- not. It goes into the net. There comes again that spectacular leap into the air, as if he were trying to caress the top of the Washington Monument or something equally tall, say, the ears of & {ln le. Whizz! ‘What! No whizz? No, not a sign of a whize. This spectacular fellow, when he falls to put the first one over, goes through the preliminary motions, but slows down at the crux and hif over in so gentle a curve that any malden could gather it in. At the other extreme there is the !rujeclor{ expert who seems to be fir- ing tennis balls out of a mortar. The higher, longer curve he can get, the better he is satisfled, for his object is not to astopish but to put the ball over so that his opponent can hit it back to him. After all, is not that the big idea of tennis? We never did feel that the owerful server was playing the game irly! Once the ball is in play, it is pall right to smash it, but the other chap ought to be given a chance at least. We speak, of course, of ordinary, garden variety of tennis, such as you see played 6n most of the courts. We except Helen, Suzanne, Bill, Wallace and a few others of the !'blg league.” * k¥ % The really good tennis player, of course, has no particular trouble re- turning the smashed serve that just clears the top of the net: He—or she—chops the ball, merely putting the racquet in the way, allowing the ball to return itself, which it generally does very promptly, and almost al- ways “in." Among the rank and file of tennis amateyrs, however—at least of the kind we see—the “cannon ball serve,” as it is sometimes called, is a knock- out, for the fellow on the other side attempts to smash it back, and so either sends it into the net or far out of bounds. Tennis is a “tit-for-tat” game, how- ever. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, tpo. f your opponent makes you feel silly with a terrific serve, your opportunity short- ly comes to make him feel equally foolish. There is a certain proficiency which one must attain to enjoy tennis. Com- pared with such a “dub’” tennis player as ourself, this irreducible minimum seems large. Compared with the really expert play, it is not so much, but is always satisfactory to the player. ‘Pennis has a long and honorable history, and is one of the few sports that the great novelists have men- tioned regularly in their works. In for instance, the reader will account of how a certain prince of the roval house of France won his freedom from prison by send- ing notes over the walls in tennis balls purposely knocked out. Little Symp: For Philippin Demands for Philippine independ- ence, more than ever urgent in con- nection with the visit to the islands of Col. Carmi Thompson, representative of President Coolidge, get little sympa- thy from the American press. Most of the editors who comment on the situation take the position that the time for ending American sovereignty there is a long way from ripe. “The United States is responsible for administration in the islands, and 18 not disposed to shift that responsi- bility. By so doing it will endanger the welfare of thousands of natives,” declares the Oakland Tribune (inde- ndent Republican). “It is not yet lemonstrated that the routine reso- lutions of the Philippine Legislature express the majority opinion; it is vet to be proved that the Filipinos have ‘gufficient political maturity for inde- pendence.’ But Col. Thompson, who seems to be highly qualified for the task, is making a survey upon which the unprejudiced opinion of the coun- try may be based.” The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (in- dependent Democratic) is convinced that “the United States .should not grant independence until the Filipinos shall have gone through a long period of education and are a united people instead of an artificial union of intensely hostile elements.” The pa- per also believes that there should be & change in “the law which gives the Philippine Legislature the right to limit land ownership,” but that “am- ple provision should be made for pro- tecting the rights of the people of the Philippines” and that “the rubber in- dustry should be de;:el:ved fairly.” R * % ‘ “A bill has been introduced in the Philippihe Legislature,” it is pointed out by the Portland Oregon Journal (independent), “which has the ear- marks of offering land ownership on the islands for national independence. dependence is granted it should be granted solely on the basis of whether or not the islands are prepared to not purchased govern themselves, and The Chicago through land grants.” Daily News (independent), also con- tends that “the United States, it is safe to say, will not grant independ- ence to the Philippines for the sake of rubber, no matter how many native and American cliques favor such a dicker. The question of reasonablere- vision of the land laws,” the Daily News adds, “should be decided on its merits. Native interests should be pro- tected, and exploitation of the islands by combines indifferent to principle or good faith should be t;arred," * k% Commendation of Gen. Wood is given by the Charleston Daily Mail (independent Republican), which de- clares that “those native Filipinos who 8o violently are assailing Gen. Wood and demanding his resignation or withdrawal show an unappreciation almost approaching heardess disre- gard of the welfare of their own race, when one takes into consideration what the governor general has done in caring for the arm of lepers in the islands.” The Grand Rapids Herald (independent Republican) is also in- that if the clined to ‘‘suspect actual, positive welfare of the Philippine Islands . could be im- partially and judicially consulted, it would be found that they are—and will be—infinitely better off, not only in material benefits, but in the tangible fruits of freedom, under the American flag than under the un- certain banner of their own hai republic.” A “The tyrant is a new role for Uncle Sam to play,” according to the Los Angeles Times (independent Republi- can), “one in which neither our car- toonists nor other people on this con- tinent_ever have dreamed of seeing ‘him. But in the childlike mind of the athy Is Shown e Indeppndence excited Filipino, who clamors for in- dependence as a small boy impatient- ly demands a huge piece of pie, re- gardless of whether or not it is likely to agree with him, our Government is as despotic as any of anclent Rome. It seems impossible for these pur- blind people to appreciate the anom- alous position they present to the world—the strange spectacle of 10, 000,000 trying to get out of the United States, while at the same time more than 10,000,000 Europeans are wildly anxious to get in, but must be denied admission.” . The conclusion of the Tulsa World is that ncle S8am’s experience in the Philippines shows what comes of taking a people and teaching them the ways of modern politics; now they are playing the game of politics with greater fineness than their precep- tors.” P The pbsition of Gen. Wood is dis- cussed by the Des Moines Tribune (independent Republican). “Legisla- tive opposition to the governor is gen- eral, rather than exceptional, extend- ing into minor matters,’ says that paper, basing its statement on news reports. '‘Another news event is the development and expression of op- position to the governor on the part of Americans in the Philippines. One important group has come to the con- clusion that, regardless of the merit of his proposals, he has developed such hostility toward himself among the natives that his recommendations cannot result in favorable action.” The proposed plebiscite on the ques- tlon of independence inspires the statement by the Yakima Herald (in- dependent) that “the minority would be almost negligible and the vote for independence would be overwhelm- | ing,” but that “the main question re- ‘mains, whether even then the United States would relinquish its protecto- rate.” The Bangor Dally Commercial (independent) holds that ‘“foreign capitalists have no confidence that the Filipinos ‘could successfully han- dle their own affairs’’; that “this as- pect of the situation is making its ap- peal to the more intelligent of the Filipinos, who desire that the United States shall continue its friendly supervision of their affairs.” The Abilene Reporter (independent) feels that “abandonment of the Philippines at this time would mean the domina- tion of the Pacific by the little brown men of Nippon,” and Uncle Sam “is not _quite ready for that.” The Independence party “is eh- titled to the serious consideration of the American people,” says the Springfield Illinois State Journal (Re- publican), while the Sioux Falls Argus Leader (Republican) is of the opinion that the islands “will get their inde- pendence in a few years, and will then be easy prey to designing na- tions.”” The Santa Barbara News (in- dependent Democratic) sees ‘“no rea. sonable excuse for retaining control. oo Advises Drive Agains Higher-Ups in Drug Ring To the Editor of The Star: Your editorial in The Sunday Star of July 18, 1926, entitled. “The Dope Trafic Raids” does not go to.the bottom of the problem at all. It hardly skims the surface. What good does it do to arrest and convict a few peddlers of narcotics when the wholesalers, importers and smugglers are not apprehended? Other peddlers be found to sell the stock supplied by the arch criminals who ake it possible for the little fellows fi; obtain it. ‘Without removing the. source of supply the traffic in drugs can never be solved even if the jails, work- houses and penitentiarfes are filled with the little dope peddiers. Destroy the source of supply of these ped- diers which -is the traffic in drugs carried on-by_importers amnd smug- glera, . ROSCOE W. NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM LG M, PEARY: /The Man Who Refused to Fail. By Fitzhugh Green. G. P. Putnam's Sons. “I am an Eskimo woman. I live in a 'snow Igloo which the slanting gouthern sun turns sometimes to shin- ing silver, sometimes to glittering dia- monds. Just outside my hut the flerce Frost Demon stands, waiting to seize 'me and to freeze me should I dare to venture forth.” In some such strain, to some such tune, runs the litany which in these scorching days serves the auto-suggestive purpose of shut- ting off many degrees of surplus heat, of turning the body into an automatic, welf-cooling plant, of bringing illusion to the service of utility. The good gift of imagination, led by the great potency of suggestion, is by all odds the best of assets for the hot Sum- mertime And into this happy, self-protective state of illusion there last week drifted a book of most timely appear- ance. Here is a true story of that very North into which I had re- treated for succor. Here is the story of a great struggle with ice and snow and whirling storm that not for a minute let go their grip months on end. Here is the face-to-face story of a flerce region whose annals are chiefly those of human life sacrificed to Aretic cold. * k% % A much deeper fitness, however, les in this story of Robert Peary than that of merely helping to ameliorate excesses of Summer heat for imagi- native people. Just now the North Pole has again swung into an excited, general interest. A brief while ago another adventurer actually flew like some huge bird straight over this im- memorial goal and then flew back again the way he came. And still another one flew from Europe quite across the Pole and on even to Amer- ica {itself. These achlevements not only bring this regior nto a new prominence, but they re-emphasize Peary, the discoverer of this long- sought point, as the -last of the land foneers in Arctic ‘exploration and lscovery. Peary marks the end of a period; Amundsen and Byrd the be- ginning of a new one. And there is, besides, another rea- son why it is good for this story to appear just now. .Of late there have been a few grumblings against the complete authentieity of the Peary expedition and triumph. A grumbler in Europe and at least one other in America. The source of these dis- sents lles deep in human nature it- self, but they are none the less un- fortunate, for all that—unfortunate for the critics themselves, of course. And it is good for this complete and convincing story to come just now to the attention of readers all over the world. v e That it is the story of a remarkable man is the ougstanding fact that is- sues from the study itself. Independ- ent of the particular issue at stake, the record of such tenacity of purpose is an inspiration to every reader. It is an incitement to stick to his own goal, no matter what the goal may be under whose urge the reader is striv- ing. Forgetting defeat time and time again, Robert Peary each time ad- vanced upon his purpose in a virgin freshness of enthusiasm that could not entertain permanent faflure. Yet this heroic undertaking carries with it nothing of the appearance of hero- ies. It is plain attack, grinding hard work, unspeakable hardship, over and over again, till at last the great tri- umph came—as, one thinks, it would come to any enterprise into which so much of human stuff has been put. That is on® of the queer effects of this great story. There are no more polar points to be discovered. .The number of unique achievements of herolc size is dwindling. So this record does not stir one to such en- deavor. It is not that. The urge that comes here is to put into one's own vision the qualities that went into Peary's great dream. What I am try- ing to say is that here is a record of work that easily fits any sort of con- siderable aim. It is one of the great counts for the book. It Is everybody’s book in its human qualities of great worth. * k% % A glorious story, and an infinitely pathetic one. .So many odds against success, so little of material resource, so little of general sympathy and sup- port. Nobody is to be blamed, of course. The world is too busy with its own affairs to bother with wild young men who crazily cry for the North Pole. Might as well cry for the moon and have done with i¢. So the makeshifts to which the explorer was reduced merely add still more to the count of his unconque “It is always interesting' Green talking—"to see a with a new idea go out and try it. But for him to prove that he has the right idea when millions might have thought it out ahead of him, but didn’t, makes a thrilling tale.” That's just the kind of tale that Fitzhugh Green makes of this one. bert Peary couldn’t have found a better man to tell his story than Green is. ‘The spirit of the record lies in the subtitle of the book, “The Man Who Refused to Fail.” -That is the core of Robert Peary; that is the point which every page of this account brings into the open. There is no formal biography here. There is better than that in the au- thor's exclusive search for the sources of the real Robert Peary—for his es- sential spirit. The rest of him, that which all of us possess in common, receives no attention here, and 1d not. The revelation of the man lies in certain of his qualities, and to these the author devotes his work. Com- pletely in sympathy with the theme, indefatigable in hunting out the truth to its utmost point, wholly fair in his’ findings and judgments, Mr. Green adds to these gifts of the investigator the art of the story-teller. And that is as it should be. A pity to submit so grand an adventure of a man's, spirit, and body, too, to the laborious Jottings of an unimaginative student. However, there is nothing of this sort here. The story fits the facts in every respect. One reads hers of the jour- ney to the Far North, of Mrs. Peary’s participation in the actual hardship: of the birth of the little girl, of the dealings with the Eskimo people, of faithful friends made, of valuable as- sistance rendered, of failures here and there, of triumphs that blotted these out, of exploring northern Greenland under stresses of monstrous signifi- cance—an incredible story, yet we know it is a true one. *“‘On the Green- land Ice Cap” is an epic of endurance and heroism and the dauntless heart. “The fates and all hell are against me, but I'll conquer yet'—this per- haps sums the quality of the man as it comes out in a hundred exigencies, even one of which would crumple the ave man to a rag of futility. It is not, one feels, the discovery of the North Pole that counts here—it is Robert Peary that counts as an urge to every one who has a purpose to 'pursue. And it is this which Fitzhugh Green has brought out so markedly, 8o dramatically, so completely, by way of the many and tragic experi- ences through which this indomitable man passed: But the time came when he could no longer triumphi “It came, not ugly, not too abrupt; just a dimming vision, a flickering of the candle flame, a sentence or two and a half-smile, ln?T L;.wu over.” ' " task was finished; oh, so beau- ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Q. How many shows are produced in New York theaters in the course of a year?—B. C. A. During the last year for which figures are available, 1924, ductions were made in New York City playhouses. Q. What is the object of the Gug- genheim Foundation?--L. L. D. A. The John Simon Memorifal Foundation, established by Mr. and Mrs. Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, is for the purpose of providing fellowships for advanced study abroad. The value of a fellow ship {s about $2,500 per year and the first appointments will be for the year 1926-27, when it Is expected that 40 to 50 students will be designated. Q. Has Finland any other name? D. A, The official name of Finland is Suomen Tasavalta. Q. Is the production of gold fn- creasing or decreasing in Alaska?— A. Government statistics give Alaska a gold production, estimated, of $6,150,000 for 1925 as against $6,- 285,724 for 1924, a slight decrease, although the final figures for 1925 may make a different showing. Q. What company or firm spends the most in advertising in a year?— P. J. H. - A. Authoritdtive figures covering all forms of advertising are not avail able, but advertising experts say that one of the largest, if not the largest advertising appropriation for 1925 was that of $4,000,000 for Palmolive Soap. 2. Who was the author 'of the anhotated Hebrew Prayer Book?— B. D. E. A. Israel Abrahams, an English author and lecturer, who died at Cambridge in 1925, pablished in 1914 a volume entitled, ““Annotated Hebrew Prayer Book." Q. Where are the most farmers' cosoperative marketing assoclations? A. More than 70 per cent of all the farmers' co-operatives are in the 12 North Central States, the largest number reporting from any one State last year being 1,383 from Minnesota,, Towa ranking second with 1,094, and Wisconsin third with 1,02. Q. Can you give me the Civil War record of the late Gen. Agnus of Bal- timore?—G. F. A. Felix Agnus enlisted May 9 1861, as a sergeant in Duryea’s 5th New York Zouaves; promoted to lieutenant September 6, 1861, for saving the life of Gen. Judson Kil- patrick at Big Bethel: promoted to first lleutenant July 8, 1862; to cap- tain_on November 6, 1862; to major on September 2, 1863, and on March 13, 1865, he was brevetted lieuten- ant colonel for “gallant and meri- torious services” at the battle of Gaines Mill, where he was wounded; colonel for similar services rendered at the battle of Port Hudson, La. where he was again wounded. and brigadier general of volunteers for 64 pro- | Q. What is meant by “labe pe R y r loss’ A. Labor loss is defined as a term that refers to the loss in productivity and the cost due to the inefficient application of laber in industry, whether such losses arise from fafl- ure to recognize proper man‘power requirements or from inefclency in man-power {t The term first appeared in a bulletin of the Emer- gency Fleet Corporation in 1918, Q. When and whers wers Bebs Daniels and Constance Talmage born’ —A. C. M. A. Bebe Danlels was born in Dal- las,” Tex., January 14. 1901, Cen- nee Talmage was born in Brook- Iyn, N. Y., April 19, 1900. Q. When moon tip downward, does cast & ralny month?—8. G. A. The Weather Bureau savs that the position of the lunar erescent depends upon the angle that the moon's path mMkes with the hori- zon, and on any given date it is ai- ways the same in places having the same latitude. If this weather sign were trustworthy, the same kind of weather, efther dry or rainy, would prevail on any given date throughout a belt of latitude extending entirely around the globe. Of course, there is no such uniformity of weather in reia- tion to latitude. Near the Equator the position of the young moon never makes an angle of more than 30 de- grees with the horizon, and it is gen- erally in an even more nearly horl zontal position. so that in a part ef the world notorious for regions of heavy rainfall, the moon is, according to the proverb, always a “dry" ene. Q. What proportion of the children that start to school are graduated from college”—W. B A. Out of 1,000 children entering the first grade 139 graduate from high school, 72 g0 to coliege, 62 be- come sophomores, 39 juniors, 30 sen- jors and 23 graduate; 63.4 per cent of the pupils who enter grammar school graduate. the horns of tre new it fore- Q. What is a thoroughbred horse” Must it be a race horse and descended from one_ stallion?—J. B. 8. A. A horse is termed thorough- bred If he has had an ancestry of noted stock recorded in the stud beok for several generations (five in Amer- foa and seven in England). All ther- oughbreds are not descended from one stallion. All race horses are thoroughbreds, but not all thorough- breds are race horses. Thorough- bred means descended from pure blood and pure stock. The keynote of the times is eficient service. In supplying its readers with a free Information Bureaw in Wash- ington The Evening Star is living up to this principle in deed and fact. We are paying for this service in order that it may be free to the public. Sub- mit your queries to the staff of ezperts whose services are put at your dis- posal. Inclose 2 cents in stamps to cover the return postage. Address The Evening Star Information Bu- “gallant and meritorious services rendered throughout the war.” requ, Frederic Haakin, Divector, Washington, D. C. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. “Yes, Washington has more beauty in its trees than has any other eity in the world, but does anybody imagine that we are planting new trees as fast as matured ones are being cut down? It's a crime—a crime, the way trees are being sacrificed,” exclaimed an official of the American Forestry Association yesterday as he con- templated Connecticut avenue, where many blocks are denuded in the process of widening the street, “Of course,” he added, “widening the roadway will let more automobiles go by, but look at those magnificent trees! It makes me sick to think of them.” “1 am assured by an expert that they know so much more now than they did 25 years ago, about selecting and cultivating trees for shade, that in 10 years they can have a fine lot of new trees, in place of what he calls the trash—soft maples—which they must now sacrifice,”” was suggested. “Trash? I beg to differ with him— there were many fine sycamores. All over the city trees are being cut— ruthlessly. Back of‘where I live is a grove of the finest of natural forest trees. We have tried to get the Park Commission, to buy it and save the trees, but, no, they have no money.” “Why don’t we have a law preserv- ing trees, as they have in Eurcpe, where, for every tree, even on private ground, that is out down another must be immediately planted to re- 1 “Well, they’ have some such law aoross the line, in Maryland. Also in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts—and 1 think also in Minnesota. In some of these States no tree on the highway can be trimmed or: sprayed or cut down without a notice posted several days in advance, announcing the in- tent to so attack the tree, and notify- ing all who object to meet beneath that tree at a certain time and enter their protests, which will be decided by popular vote. “Of course, here in Washington, the trees on the sidewalks are under city authority, and trees in the parks are under Federal authority—the director of parks and public buildings. But there is no control over privately owned land hearing primeval forest right within the city. Builders have no compunctions in destroying beau- ties which can never be replaced— certainly not in our generation. “If the public only knew the havoo that is going on in Washington, day by day, by the builders, they would hold a mass meeting to protest,” de- plared the forester. * ok k¥ The care of shade trees has become a science in recent years. Capitol Hill is a marvel of arboreal interest, not only in its fine variety of trees, but in their perfection of develop- ment, too often inadequately appre- clated by the visitor, and through over-familiarity, certainly not always recognized by the citizen. For example, there is that magnifi- cent American elm, known as the “Cameron elm,” because, through the insistence of the late Senator Don Cameron, its life was D! and the paved path made to detour around it when the Capitol grounds were improved many years ago. A year ago the Cameron tree was. suf- fering for nutriment and especially for water. It is perched. “high and dry” upon a mound, left when the ground was graded down. It is what is known as a shallow rooted species, so that, what with the paving and grading, it was dying of thirst. Then came the expert care, under the nursing of W. A. Frederick. A trench was dug four or five feet deep in a 35-foot circle around the tree and a layer of broken stone filled in, with openings in the con- crete‘above the trench, through which water can be flooded daily. The ground was manured and the branches of the tree supported by cables, with a great cable running from the mass to'a stake 100 feet away to brace against'the prevailing winds. « ' b Today the tree—so Sickly a year ago—is actually shouting its strong health from its thrifty green foliage, while masses of new footlets cross the ‘water holes. ] been similarly doctored or nursed, and, wherever there is decay, treated with tree surgery as scientifically as any human patient. * ok kK Now that Washington is to lose the arboreal support of Senator Pepper, the project of a National Arboretum may be delayed, but in the mean- while there is a world of interest in studying the trees of Capitol Hill. both from the standpoint of horti- culture and historical romance. Opposite the Cameron tree there stand two glorious specimens of elms, alongside each other. One is an American elm, the other an English elm. The difference in the varieties is marked. The American elm is lighter in color and perfectly sym- metrical in form. It leaves out eamlier in the Spring, but the English elm holds its follage five or six ks later in the Fall, and the 3 more sturdy though less uniform in shape, will live, perhaps, half a cen- tury after the other dles. Connecticut avenue, now as bald as a noctogenarian, is soon to have a setting of uniform American elms and in 10 years—well 10 years will make quite a showing. * ok k¥ The selection of trees for city streets is governed now by the en- vironment, not by first cost, but by the height of buildings shading the street, etc. One of the recognized authorities on street trees is William Solotaroff of East Orange, whose book ‘‘SBhade Trees in Towns and Citles" i$ the “Bi- ble”” of experts. He says: “What shall the image of the ideal street be? Looking down the long perspective we observe that but one species of tree has been throughout its entire length. These trees are alike in size. The distance between them is uniform, and is such that, when the trees mature, their out- stretching limbs will not meet, but will leave sufficlent space between the trees for the admission of light and free circulation of air.” Surely, that expert must have seen our triumphal arch of foliage, alias New Hampshire avenue! Yet the sky- light seems missing!' Or has he seen the avenue of gingko bilboa in the grounds of the part- ment of Agriculture, and on certain favored streets? Or have we all looked upon the “Washington tree’—an American elm —on Capitol Hill, beneath which George Washington once ate his lunch? Have we seen the rare Zizy- phus jujube there on the hill—the only one in America? In Lafayette Park there is the cedar of Lebanon, such King Solomon used in buflding tI temple? (Mighty poor looking for lumber, if that be its full size. Even in today's lumber famine we get bet- ter beams than that would make.) And there is the huge tulip poplar on the Grayson estate, Thirty-seventh and Quebec, and the mighty oak on the grounds of the Naval Observatory! Yes, we've seen the Japanese cherries —as if that were all we could ap- preciate! “‘See Washington first” before crossing the continent find th glants of California, or ving the government of President Calles and the priests of Tule, to behold, near Oaxaca, Southern Mexico, the marvel of marvels—the ‘“‘cypress of Monte- zuma" in the churchyard there. It is 146 feet in circumference and 164 feet high and as old as the bulrushes of little Moses. Read the apostrophe carved into its bark by Humboldt a sesquicentennial ago! From the battleflelds of France comes the voice of the slain poet, Joyce Kilmer, to ‘'the Washington barbarians who do not love trees: I think that I shall never see A poem as lovely as a tree; A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the earth’s sweet-flowing . breast; A tree that looks to God all day And lifts her leafy arms to pray; { A tree that may in Summer wear A nest of robins in her hair; Upon' whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with raip. Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tres. (Copyrisht, 1026, by Paul V. Oullias ' -