Evening Star Newspaper, August 10, 1926, Page 8

8 THE EVENING STAR ___With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY August 10, 1926 THEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor The Ev Nusiness Offics o 11th St and Pennsyivania Ave. New York Office: 110" East 42nd St. Chicago Offii . Tower Buildine. European Oftice ent St Londen, with the Sunday morm. 1% deliverad by carriers within The Fvenine Star. Ing edition the ety At 60 conts per month- daily onls, 45 cents per manth. Sunday only per ‘month. | 0. be sant By mail or telephone Main carrier at the cnd of ca is made by Rate by M. Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Dally and sund 1.00: 1 mo., The Daily onlv 300: 1 mo., 50c Sunday only 1360 $3.00: 1 mo. 26e All Other States and Canada. Daily an! Conday. ! ve $12.60 1 mo. §1.00 Dailv 1yr SN00:1mo., Be Sunday 1yr. $4.00: 1 mo, Associated Press. exclusively entitled o of t or not oth w1 alto the loea in Al rehts of publieation Athes herein are also reserved. Member of the The A o the e Ppatches - fted in t publiched of &pe ted Revoked Permits. Publici s the medium by which Traffic ctor Eldridse hopes to break up the practice of certain Washingtonians of driving automo- biles after their permits have been revoked or suspended. In a memo- randum to Commissioner Dougherty the »r states that this practice has beeome prevalent since the inau- guration of the campaign to rid the streets for varying periods of those convicted of serious trafic offenses. Inasmuch as there is no apparent way to p on all illegal driv- ers, the p ests that a bi- monthi: of operator be published in the newspapers, point- tist of this clas; fng out that at the present time the revocation or suspensiof Is known only to the driver himself, the traf- fic office and the police, and, except in cases W P driv are arrestgd offense, they are mot apprehended driving without a permit. The belleves that publication would act as a deterrent to who otherwise would con- tinue to violate the law., The suggestion of the director is a her for director for some ¢ those good one, and should he acted upon promptly. The Star will be glad to co-operate n any effort to eliminate a traflic hazard from the streets of the city by publication of the lists of revocations and suspensions. Every driver who is convicted of a major offense and who continues to drive in defiance of the law after his permit is revoked is a menace to all users of the highw It is the duty of every cltizen to do his part to make it tmpossible for these drivers to roam unmolested through the city. Tt must clearly understood, in this connection, that only those who have been gullty of major violations of the law have had their permits revoked. Leaving after a collision without ‘making identity known, using or possessing a smoke screen, and driving while drunk are thres of the charges which, if sustalned, make mandatory the revocation of a per- mit. Certalnly no law-ablding citizen would countenance continued driving on the part of a motorist whe had committed one of these offenses, be- cause on the next trip downtown of one of these reckless and heedless operators a loved one may be killed without a trace of the culprit. be Anything that can be done to hold this class of motorist in check should be done. If public shame, by the printing of lists, will be effective, the roll should be prepared at the earliest possible moment. By all means, rid the streets of this undesirable class of motorist. R D’Annunzio is talking about how he fascinates women. Mussolini takes his cue from woman herself and de- votes himself to brow-beating men. ] still the French He has his growl but not oth Clemencean “tiger.’ his forr T ngley's Victory. ingley’s nomination Mrs. La Mrs. John W for the House Ly the Republicans of th the te congressior 1 district of Kentucky, to fill the seat formerly held by her Lusband, now serving a sentence in Atlanta Penitentiary for conspi to te the dry laws, howev d.” can scarcely cause joy to the p hition b Her nomination may have been due to Mrs. Langley's own ability and to her campaizgn. Without any purpose to detract from her personal wictory, it may be sug by growing up rich widows and daughters and wives of men in public lite who have been called from office by or have been re- tired for e other reason are selected h voters as the successors of husbands and fathers. In the Hov John Jacob Rogers of Mas: was clected to fill the unexpired term of the late Repre- sentative Rog: sbably will be s, and p, re-elacted. Mr Kahn of Cali- fornla, whose husband served for many vears in the House prior to his death, was clected also to succeed her husband. Mrs. Nellle T. Ross is Gov- ernor of Wyoming, having been elect- ed to that office following her hus- band's death case of “M Ferguson, now of Texas, who was elected as u vindication of her husband who had been impeached while in office as governor, i even now in the limelight. Mrs. Robert M. La Follette, widow of the Senator from Wisconsin, doubtless could have had the nomination for the unexpired term of distinguished husband had she =o desired. and would have n elected had she made the race. Mrs. La Follette, however, declined to become a candidate, giving good rea- gons for her denial The election of a widow or wife of a former member of Corgress for senti- mental reasons alone would be de- plorable. After all, the proper test for office is ability to serve the people and the country. In the case of Mrs. Fer- gusom, Governor of Texas, her effort was to vindicate her husband. Mrs. vernor her iing Star Newspaper Company ted that a practice is | Langley’s nomination, which in the tenth Kentucky district is regarded as equivalent to election, also will be regarded as a vindication of Repre- sentative Langley. If this be the case the voters of that district do not re- gard serlously, it seems, the crime of which Mr. Langley was convicted, or they do not believe that he was guilty. It wiil be recalled that Mr. Langley himself was re-elected to Congress with the indictment hanging over his head, and resigned his seat only after he had been convicted and sentenced to prison. ) Clemenceau’s Letter. President Coolidge has met the open letter of former Premier Clemenceau of France on the subject of the war debt settlement with the simple state- ment that the United States will con- tinue to conduct its relations with the French people on all questions through their duly constituted diplomatic au- thorities. In other words, it has been made plain that the United States will not recognize the voice of Clemenceau as that of France. The war debt settlement effected by Ambassador Berenger and Secretary Mellon, now pending before the French Parliament for ratification, is to be regarded for the present as the final adjustment. It may be rejected by the French people through their legislative representatives. Clemen- ceau’s letter may prove to be a means of effecting that rejection. But mean- while that letter is to be regarded as addressed to the French government and not to the President of the United States. It cannot be heeded here of- ficlally. There can be no reopening of the matter by the Washington Govern- ment pending action by France. Cle- menceau of course knows this. He knows that he has in effect appealed to France and not to the United States. If France refects the settle- ment, or seeks its material amend- ment, the case comes back to Wash- ington. Public sentiment in this coun- try may be affected by the Clemen- ceau appeal, or protest, as it may be viewed. It may-have been affected already. But there is no way for it to manifest as the case stands. The conclusion is inevitable that Clemenceau’s purpose in writing his extraordinary letter, giving it public- ity in advance of its receipt by the President, was to affect French polit- fcal conditions. It was obviously aimed at the Poincare program of fiscal re- form, whieh has thus far proceeded satisfactorily through its legislative stages. It was designed to consolidate sentiment in France against ratifica- tion of the debt agreement. Heretofore the main difficulty about the French financial situation has been the disposition of leaders in that country to make political capital. Re- peated ministerial dissolutions have been due to the inabllity of successive premiers to secure support for their programs of readjustment. In final emergency the task was given to Poin- care, supported by a “national” min- istry, comprising representatives of all partles and groups. It has been successful in putting through a series of enactments and the fiscal condi- tions have been in consequence great- 1y improved. The franc has risen in exchange value by a substantial per- centage. But it is significant that im- mediately following the publication of the Clemenceau letter the franc dropped in value appreclably. Repudiation by France and cancel- lation by the United States of the war debt are both probably out of the question. The present agreement rep- resents large concessions by both sides. That it has less chance of rat- ification by the French Parllament now than before the Clemenceau let- ter was published appears likely. But there is small chance that it will cause any material change in the American { public feeling, especially in view of the manner in which it was put forth and the obvious purpose of its pres- entation. v If Mexico thinks she can settle the | problems of church and state, she should be allowed to struggle without linterference with a problem which relates to the economics of the entire ! world. I P | The embarrassment of the French !tranc 1s in some degree due to the difference often arising between the taxpayer and the profiteer. | e | “The modern alchemy secks the eco- | nomic alchemy which will transmute |a loan in good falth into a gift out- right. o 5 The Perseids. We are in the season of sthe Per- selds, the August shooting stars, be- |cause the earth in its revolution {around the sun is cutting across the ! orbit of that myriad of meteorites. | The suppositton is that they are frag- | ments of a planet that was like the earth and was smashed to pieces ! many ages ago, but whose particles continue on thelr way, obedient to {hat mysterious force which keeps ob- jects denser than air whirling through | space around a central body. Astrono- mers have computed the orbit, or ! course around the sun, of these frag- ments. When these bits of that which | may have been a planet touch the atmosphere of the earth they become heated to incandescence by friction, ! so great is their speed and that of the earth, and thus are visible to us. Meteors have been a wonder to | man ever since he came upon the earth. Many that have fallen into or have been struck down by the earth have been recovered. There is a remarkable collection of these me- teors at the Smithsonian Institution. | Some are iron, and others are stone. | The iron meteorites, about 90 per cent ferrous, are almost always al- | loyed with nickel. In the stone me- teors are found those elements which are present in the rocks of the earth, leading one to believe that the planet of which they were parts was consti- tuted of the same components as the earth. All elements of the earth have been found in meteors, and no min- erg®, not to be found in the earth, has been found in a meteor. The August shooting stars are THE EVENING STAR, WASHING called the Perselds because they ap- pear to come from the direction of the northern constellation Perseus. ‘The November meteors are called the Leonids because they come from the direction of the constellation Leo. They have' nothing to do with those constellations, but observers use those skymarks as a means of direct- ing one’s attention toward the August and the November meteors. It is cer- tain that many faces will now turn toward the sky. A radio inventor has asked listeners to set their dials so as to avoid, if possible, interfering sounds, and then watch for falling stars. When a star streaks across the sky and dies out the radio operator is asked to note if any sound is heard. The inventor believes that the fric- tion which causes the meteorite to break into flame and perhaps to be consumed is likely to set up an elec- trical disturbance. The sound might be that of “static”, or it might be one which men have not heard before. ——————— The Second Texas Primary. Yesterday the Democratic State ex- ecutive committee of Texas designated | Attorney General Moody and Governor Ferguson as the candidates jn the run-off primary for nomination for the office of governor, to be held on the 28th of this month, following a report from the officlal canvassing board showing that in the July pri- mary Mr. Moody lacked 1,770 votes of a majority over all. The commit- tee in designating the two leading candidates for the run-off merely fol- lowed the law of the State and took no cognizance of any informal or un- official promises or pledges that may have been given by the candidates prior to the July primary. It likewise refused to consider a charge filed by an advocate of Governor Ferguson al- leging that frauds had been perpe- trated in July by the Moody manage- men to the detriment of the governor. It paid no heed to other charges relating to campaign funds. So now the names of the attorney general and the governor are again before the people for the second primary. It remains to be seen whether the promise to withdraw if Moody led her by a single vote in July will be kept by the governor. As to the out- come of the run-off there can be little doubt, for Davidson, the third can- didate for the nomination in July, has declared for Moody and most of his followers will probably vote for the attorney general. The only real ques- tion in the case is whether the pre- primary pledge to withdraw will be kept by Mrs. Ferguson. She still has soveral days in which to make good. PO One of the points to be admired about Gertrude Ederle is the fact that she does not put on a bathing suit merely for the purpose of being photo- graphed. —_— e The English Channel has been se- lected by America as the location made famous by James W. Riley, “The Old Swimmin® Hole. ——— e European financial talent is exert- Ing itself to show why America should pay for war which*she never started and never desired. ot The sea serpent sighted off the Jer- sey coast is forgotten. The homiclde mystery inland commands all the at- tention. e Among the mysterious disappear- ances, there is again to be noted that of Grover Bergdoll. —— et SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Halil, Gertie! Oh, Gertie, we hail you With cheers and bouquets! We're happy to greet you As fondly we gaze On photos depicting A girl who is brav: And who, in addition, Knows how to behave. You swam that old Channel ‘With safety and care, Then called for your mother The triumph to share. You scoffed at the trainers, ‘Who misunderstood, So, Gertie, we greet you, The Girl Who Made Good! The Influential Criminal. “I understand there is a crime wave in your town.” | “We've got to check it,” answered Senator Sorghum. “I'd rather go out of public life altogether than rely for my political influence on a bunch of burglars.” ‘Vandalism. These musical releases Cause painful agitation. They break a tune to pleces And call it “syncopation.” Jud, Tunkins says no singer is along with the kid who knows how to fix a busted radio. Art and Agriculture. The Farmer tells a tale of woe, And yet, why should he weep? The price of pigs doth upward go, ‘While Art is sadly cheap! Excusable Neglect. the poor girl had a fit? “We thought ‘she was only dancing the Charleston.” To Fame Unknown. Into obscurity he's gone, Though honored is his lot; He never murdered any one Nor framed a bootleg plot. “A friend,” said Uncle Eben, “is a man dat wants to help you, even if {you ain't fn a position to boost his line o' business.” R 4 The Other Foot. From the Grand Rapids Press. ‘What if you had to wait as long for a doctor to come as he has to wait to get his money? Labor Lost. From the Loutsville Courler-Journal. A commission is now at work re- vising the Italian civil law code. Why all this labor when all that is needed is to collect Mussolini’s decree? great enough to rank as a genius | “Why didn’t you call a doctor when | i | { sanizations s | | | | | THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. i 1"Tlle great sllent men!” sald Car- yle. ‘While appreciating the wise man’s point of view, we have always been suspicious of sllent men, great or otherwise. ‘We like & man who has something to say, and doesn’t mind saying it. We know then that he is interested in life, and can act like a human being. Silent men, of course, may be in- terested in living, too, but you would never know it from anything they say, because they never say anything. Silence may be golden, but also it is leaden. A too-silent man weighs upon the spirit of the more talkative ones, who comprise 9844-100 per centum of mankind, and, therefore, ought to rule. Much has been said about keeping the tongue, but nothing ever put into print concerning keeping it too close. One may be stingy with words, a “tight wgd” when it comes to con- versation] as easlly as he may be covetous of money. In this, as in all matters, the “golden mean” is to be desired, if one may judge from the great bulk of hu- manity, who in ages past made more or less of a success of living. Think back over the lives of really happy people and you will realize that socfal actlvities formed a large part of their lives. Hermits are seldom happy. Misanthropes talk little, either. The happy folk are those who hold normal soclal intercourse with their playmates of this world. We would not always be a-sighing, and so we talk, laugh, sing, read aloud together. * kK ok ‘The largest part of social life lies in talk. Talk is the life of the party. Just listen to them buzz! Every one has poked fun, at some time or other, at the hum of conversation before a banquet or prior to the raising of the curtain at the theater. One then detaches himself, as it were, from the crowd of which he is a part, and, as if situate on another sphere, listens to the noise for what it is, per se. Then he becomes amused at the aggregate roar, finds himself laugh- ing at the pecullar humming sound made by a large number of his fellow beings all talking at once. Yet the composite buzz is made up of separate conversations, each one mlli‘restlnk and lively to those engaged in it. Talk is the life of the party. /Imagine, if you can, a banquet of those great silent men! . It might not be a bad idea, at that, if the toastmaster were muzzled. He 13 however, merely an instance of the buse of talk. Conversation itself must not be blamed for the faults of those who overstep the bounds of modesty and good breeding. There is something pernicious in putting a man at the head of a table and telling him to “go to it.” Invari- | ably he talks too much. Radio an- nouncers commonly do the same when they get in charge of the microphone. They tell you how much you enjoyed the last number, and how much you will be thrilled by the next one, and then they ask you to write in and tell Iiked her number, when all the time they hope you won't! * ¥ % ¥ ‘What is more pretty than the prat- tle of a little child? No one would think much of a “great silent child” He would be regarded as “queer,” and hauled off to the doctor to have his tonsils taken out, or something. “Great silent boys,” too, are unusual little fellows. Often they have a cold eye, and sometimes end up in prison. When it comes to a choice between a boy who talks his head off and one who never says anything, we will take the former without a moment's hesitation, even if he does threaten our repose. e will at least feel safe with the As men are only boys grown up, we prefer men who talk to those who do not, too. We make an exception of men in positions of power, who feel that familiarity breeds contempt. 1t they do not choose to talk to us, that is their business, not ours. The loss is theirs, too, perhaps, as much as it is ours. No telling what we could tell 'em if they gave us a chance! Silent men, bah! They are no more silent than any one else, it you could catch them among their familiars. Hunt up their cronies, and they could tell a tale of how silent they are—not. The real silent men are those who positively do not talk. Every one knows one or more. They look, they listen, they read, they write, but they will not talk. Conversation is a lost art, as far as they are concerned. * Xk x ok Privately, we believe that silent men do not talk because they do not know anything. How can one live in this rolling, sun-bathed world, so filled with my: tery and gigantic forces, every leaf a letter from God, as Whitman said, and not be impelled to talk to some one about it ajl? To breathe, to live, to see, to_hear, to read of the wonders of sciendé, to be breathless over some fine tale of a master, to feel the power of love, to tremble with anger at injustice and cruelty— Is there a man with soul so dead that, feeling these things, he is not impelled—nay, compelledi—to say his say about them? If a man does not converse some- what normally with his fellows, we belleve that he is not moved, he is not thrilled, he is lacking the owels of compassion,” he has no milk of human kindness. He is a cold clam, unable to say anything because he sees nothing, hears nothing, feels nothing, knows nothing. Better to babble like a fool, and say things you never mean, than never to say anything. In the long run it will be better for you If you unburden your mind to some one, act natural with your assoclates, than to go down to the grave never having ut- tered a syllable. Praise if you can, must, but, knock if you for Heaven's sake, say Miss Sallie Screamer how much you BY PAUL V. Sixteen of the great fraternal or- of the United States have been co-operating with Mr. Harry (. Evans of Des Molnes in making a survey of the poorhouses of all States. The result of that sur- vey, published in a pamphlet of 120 pages, is summed up in the following paragraph: “The word ‘poorhouse’ has become the threatening symbol of one of humanity’s great degradations. To many a despairing heart it comes with a sound like the crack of doom. It is a word of hate and loathing, for it includes the composite horrors of poverty, disgrace, loneliness, hu- miliation, abandonment and degra- dation.” Rather than the poorhouse, too often suicide has been the rebuke given to civilization by aged victims of proverty and feebleness, or a combination of misfortunes. Yet, in- dicating in even full measure that rebuke is the fact that in a single year we could do no better for in- nocent children than consign 1,100 bables, under flve years of age, to that disgraceful introduction to life, and children of all ages up to 19, totaling 6,225, to the same fate. It is testified by one who has had more than 30 years' experience in public welfare that most of the victims of mature years must charge up their fate as a direct result of a mis-spent life—immorality and drunken dissipation In the main. But it can not so be sald of thou- sands, and “who art thou that judgest another?” The question con- fronting clvilization, says this ex- pert, is not the shortcomings of those who suffer, but the inadequacy and inefficlency of the intelligent, the gelf-approving and the prosperous, who are responsible for the way the problems of society are met. * x K % Mr. Evans writes: ‘Some States sentence criminals to poorfarms; other States send paupers to convict camps. This practice is not far removed from the treatment paupers recelved in England during the fifteenth century, where they were treated as criminals, and punished by | whipping, branding and cropping of the ears. We are at least as profi- |clent at ‘branding’ as they were in We brand them by put- goorhoune or prison, and sometimes by publishing their names in the papers. It is almost unthinkable that American legisla- tures and governors would_enact laws permitting such practices, or that local boards of American citizens would enforce such laws. “Many old poorhouses have cells with barred windows for the criminal and violently insance. * * * The prac- tice of sending paupers to convict camps s fully as atrocious as the practice of sending criminals. to live and mingle with paupers. * * * Many of the deserving poor suffer in silence for the actual necessities of life {in preference to the disgrace attending life at the prison camp.” * ok x o There are decent poorhouses—bar- ring the stigma of the name. But here are paragraphs describing two typical institutions within 100 miles of Washington: No. 1.—"Men and women use same toilets and bathrooms. * * * Bullding three stories high, over 100 years old; built of inflammable material, no fire escapes; inmates sleep on third floor: negroes use same room as whiteg for sitting room, dining room and bed- room in Winter, as it has the only stove. No. 2.—*“Nearly all inmates mental cases, left to shift for themselves; the place is insect-ridden and insanitary; no modern conveniences; white man and a negro sleeping in an old shack; inmates squat or lie upon the floor for lack of chairs; beds so bad that some sleep on the floor; no running water, no toilets; ofl lamps, stoves, well water; no sewerage.” Other descriptions of poorhouses within two hours’ automobile drive from the Nation's Capital, are too re- volting to print in a family news- paper. . That the statement made by Mr. Evans to the effect that “many of thi deserving poor suffer in silence for the actual necessities of life,” in pret- erence to going to such squalor and the old days. ting them in a BACKGROUND OF EVENTS something! . COLLINS. humiliation, is verified by at least one instance here in Washington. It oc- curred fn the nidst of our heaviest snow of last Winter. A feeble man of more than four-sccre Years weakly climbed the steps of a comfortable home and solicited the purchase by the home owner of two cotton cushion pads for use in handling hot utensils in the kitchen. Price, 25 cents for the two."” The half-frozen octogenarian was taken into the house, that his be- numbed hands and feet might thaw— and, incidentally, that his story might be extracted from his quivering lips. Here it is: He lived with his daugh ter, who is bedridden—she never got over the “flu” of 1918. They had been put out of their rented cottage in the suburbs because they could not meet the rent—$8 a month—but a colored man had offered them the free use of his stable. So daughter made these cushions and father peddled them. But the stable was a mile from the main road—a mile, then, through more than a foot of snow, with no broken path. ‘Then he could get the car, near Chain Bridge, and come in to Washington. But some days he did not sell enough even to pay his car fare. The old man did not beg, and when taken to the Salvation Army and given $4, which was $1 more than enough to pay for a room in Georgetown for a month, he explained that the kind colored man would haul his goods in | free, but he could not get his team through the snow just then—the mile ! of snow the old man got through. He hoped to get his sick daughter into a hospital and then she would be comfortable, and he—he was never heard from again. No thought of the poorhouse. Just trudging through a foot of snow a mile to reach the street car, to try to peddle cushion pads in midwinte He looked with intense envy at labor- ers on the streets shoveling snow, ahd he sald frankly that the $4 was more money than he had had for years. * ok ok ok ‘Washington is exceptionally pro- vided with rescue homes for the aged, but usually there is a walting list. 3 Mr. Evans says of our poorhouse: “The poor®farm at the Nation's Capital is among the well equipped and best managed institutions of its kind in the United States. There are 200 acres, 150 under cultivation. The investment is $325,000; number of in- mates, 304—$1,069 per inmate. The maintenance cost is $84,583, or $278 per inmate. He suggests: ‘“Much that might be done in the way of occupational work and developing the usefulness of in- mates is wholly neglected. The hos- pital quarters are insufficient and un- derstaffed.” Then the author adds: “With only 61 per cent as many paupers as the District; South Da- kota has over three times as much money invested in her 29 farms, and spends $20,807 per year more; 38 per cent of the State's total income and 25 per cent of the District's go to the pay roll.” * K k% The fact that some States have many more institutions than has the District, in proportion to inmates, and that more, per capita, is expend- ed, is not given as proof of superior treatment, but of waste and inefl- clency. The modern tendency is to cen- tralize_and combine in larger cen- ters. Five counties of Virginia are now considering the desirability of uniting and building a district poor- | house. 2 The subject is wholly one for the States to handle, but in addition to this survey by the fraternal organiza- tions, the United States Department of Labor has issued a pamphlet (No. 386) on “The Cost of American Alms- houses,” by Miss Estelle Stewart. This, * too, shows the extravagant waste of county institutions, as well as their inadequate care of the in. TON, D. C. TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 1926. NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM L.G. M. THE MEADOWS. John C. Van Dyke. Charles Scribner's Sons. A book vacation Is in one respect at least like the more conventional sort of vacation. Having spent & certain time with the mountains, the desert, the sea, or with all of these in turn, one comes finally to the sur- passing moment of turning toward home again. And, indeed, coming back is, after all, the very best of the business of going away. So, in this delectable book vacation of mine, with many a far place and curious circumstance and strange adventure in my pack, there has been no more enjoyable hour than this ome in which T sit looking out upon home, upon well known beloved things, in the company of a man whose famil- iarity with a friendly neighborhood has bred only a deeper affection, a keener sight, a completer under- standing. . . The particular “meadows” upon which we are looking lie in New Jer- sey, along the banks of the Raritan, where a “nation called Raritangs” in the early days used to live. In the words of Denton, a chronicl f 1670, both sides of this river are “adorned with spacfous meadows, enough to maintain thousands of Cattel, the Woodland is likewise very good for corn, and stored with Wilde Beests as Deer and Elks, and an fnnumer- able multitude of Fowl"” Some of this has passed away, but meadows such as these might, however, lie anywhere within the region of which New Jersey is a part in climate and soil. For me they spread around the lovely lake country of western New York. The river has another name, to he sure. The “nations” that there used to hunt the “Wilde Beests™ and one another, that there used to pla- cate strange gods in wild ceremonials, were the Senecas, the Cayugas, the Onondagas, the Oneldas. For you there {s still another stretch of field, another river, another chapter of local history. But in essentials these meadows are all one to us of this general locality. Therefore, it is in a real joy of home-coming that we may sit beside this friend of familiar things in a resurge of old affections, in a glow of mellow mem- ories, and, to a certain degree, in the excitement of a new revelation. Long acquaintance levels people and places and events to a sameness that makes no call to fresh interest, and sets up no stir in the imagination. Tt s out of such monotony that this com-| panion lifts the landscape into new ind points to a hitherto un- m of life urgent with the existence. we see the fields the year anging from brown body to{ groen-grass raiment, and on to their | Autumn weave of rich patterns in golden rod and aster, splished here and there with the brilliance of the cardinal flower. Iiere before us the trees move out from the rapture of Springtime to the glory of Summer and on to gray Winter, when all the long days through they lay traceries of surpassing delicacy against the sky. Here are a thousand forms of life — flying, swimming, crawling— which. under the watchful friendli- ness of this companion, display an economy of existence, the fitting of means to cnds, that sets one to won- dering about “human intelligence” as an exclusive possession of the human. A host of familiar but hitherto un- | considered things swing into vision here. A prompt resolution emerging from the experience is that no longer will it do to go around with eves shu{ to the astonishing immediate world of affairs. , This outlook upon the Raritan Val- ley is sourced in affection. It is of- fered to readers in a beautiful sim- plicity that links up other meadows and other rivers in their many furnnx1 of wild life with this one, about which | this author has both talked and sung. For sometimes he lays aside a very poetic prose and breaks into song itself. A man of scholarship, who has written, much about art and other themes of learning, here clearly thinks it worth while to linger in the meadows of the Raritan for refreshment. Cer- tain it is that many a reader will gather a new zest for his own home fields out of this “familiar study of the commonplace.” * ok ok K VIGNETTES OF THE SEA. Felix Riesenberg. Harcourt, Brace & Co. ! It is now 28 years since this young man took to the sea, making his first voyage around Cape Horn. As sallor and officer he has followed this career. Commander of a school ship, the New- port, he has, besides, written a stand- | ard book on navigation. These are, so to speak, his credentials. They may interest you. The point here, however, is that he is a story teller who has a story to tell. Oh, a thou- sand tales, instead of one, gathered from the inexhaustible store of the sea itself! As the title of this book indicates, it is not the author's pur- pose here to spin a long yarn. Rather does he choose to flash before one innumerable swift pictures of the sea itself, of those who put their lives into its conquest for the uses of man, of a single one of its many moods, of some tense moment, of some fa- mous ship of some great seaman. The pictures begin with “Fog” and end with “Books of the Sea.” There are something like & hundred views lying in between. Each a clean-cut plece of economy in writing. Every line on the job, not a superfluous scratch of the pencil anywhere in the book. Here are snapshots of ships and captains and crews. Here are shadows of storms and other bedevilments of the monstrous deep. Here are sea chests and mutinies and fantastic nights in strange ports. The superstitions of sailors have a brief hearing. From many and many a point of approach does one here look upon the sea through the eyes and the expert hand of this practiced sea- man. Listen to him on “The Romance of the Sea": “The old sallor, lying about the sea, larding it on for the landsman whose appetite for this sort of thing is simply unappeasable, tells half the truth, paring away, or sliding over the harsh things all deep-water sailormen remember, the things that keep them mute in the glow of great glories and in the memory of mighty moments . . . Men at sea once lived like felons in a den, rotten with scurvy, drawing their whack of salted harness casks at noon. They took their pannikins of tepld brackish water and bowed and trembled before cruel masters under alien skies, de- nied even the rude justice that, In those days, hung a man for stealing bread.” “The snarling lash of the cat cut across bare backs and men were hung up by thelr thumbs. Aye, the old scuppers of ships ran red with out- rage! But harsh as the sea was in its relationships between men, it still held virgin pleasures not vet spoiled by millions of smeary hands. Life was hard like the diamond and in the polishing became a sparkling flame. Little, very little, but wisdom re- mained when a man came in from sea, and, in his wisdom and to save his soul, he kept his memories dark.” mates. It is stated that 137 such county poorhouses, in the few States covered by the department’s survey, contain no inmates, and many more only one or two, with no attendants. The Labor Department's report also urges consolidation of alnfahouses In place of county institutions. (Copyrish. 1996, by Psul V. Colling) - This about “Moby Dick": “When the whale has been exterminated, mu- seums will hoid a few disintegrating i Catholic population. beet and pork, fished from greasy | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Q. From what distance is the {llu- minated dome of the Capitol visible to a night aviator>—E. B. A. It depends entirely upon the height of the aviator and the clear- ness of the night. From an altitude of 10,000 feet the dome might be seen nearly 100 miles away. Q. Is there skiing In Colorado?— J. E. A. The National Park Service says that skiing and other such sports are popular in the Winter time in th Rocky Mountain National Park, miles from Denyer. Q. In & double-header train why wouldn't the first engine pull the sec ond, or the second push the first?— L. K. A. In a double-header train both push and pull are exerted by the two Tocomotives. The Bureau of Standards says that a simple experiment to de- termine this is to take hold of an au- tomobile or wagon with one hand and get a friend of yours to pull on your other hand. Q. Why does lightning strike re- peatedly in the same place?—J. C. F. A. The Weather Bureau says that this selective striking occurs only where the objects struck are more ex- posed than other things round abou Tall trees, for instance, especially when on elevated ground, are more liable to be struck. Q. What rate of interest should I | get for my savings?—B. E. T. A. The returns on Investments vary so much that a specific figure cannot be named. The important point in such matters is the safety of the principal and not the rate of return. Q. Which would be the nearer cor rect, the present Gregorian calendar or a calendar in which all years di- visible by four were leap yvears ex-| cept those divisible by 128, which | would be common years?—M. A. The Naval Observatory says 128 years Is the correct interval for the omlssion of leap years. Q. Is an electric washing machine apt to give the operator a shock?—| G. M. K. A. In that the operator is likely to have wet hands, the machine should not be adjusted or lubricated while the cord is attached to the plug. A little care should be taken in order to avold a shock Q. What {s the potential horsepower of Niagara Falls, and also the amount now developed by water power there? —R. J. K. A. Samuel S. Wyer of the United | States National Museum says that by | using the total drop between Lakes and Ontarfo, and diverting all the | water, 6,000,000 horsepower should be | developed at Niagara. The total ca pacities of the several plants on the | Canadian and United States sides of the Niag River are as follow: Canadian, 783,000 horsepower: United States, 560,000 horsepower. The con- tinuous service capacity is about | 1,000,000 horsepower, since part of the | equipment must be held in reserve. | The total that can be developed with- | out destroying the scenic effect of the | Falls is estimated at 3,500,000 horse- power. Q. Are bananas nutritious?—F. V", A. They are substantial food and | quite digestible when ripe. The ba- nana is then rich in fruit sugars. | | ‘When green the carbohydrates are in the form of starch, and cooking is necessary to make the fruit digest! ble. Q. Does cream rise faster on some kinds of milk?—P. E. A. The fat in mlik is in the form of minute globules or droplets which are distributed throughout the milk in the form of emulsion. The fat glob ules of Jersey and Guernsey milk are considerably larger than Holstein Ayshire, while the size of globules in Shorthorn milk ranges between. The fat will rise to the surface more rapldly in milk containing large fat globules. It has been estimated that a quart of average milk contains not less than 2,000,000,000,000 fat globules. Q. How many people are employed in the Government Mall Service?—T W On December 31, 1925, there were 304,092 postal employes in the Government ser ‘This figure does not include 35 in fourth 3 mail mes sengers. Q. Where is the busiest corner in the world?—H. (. A. Recent {nvestigations {indicate that Seventh and Broadway, Los Angeles, is the most congested inter- section in the world. More than 200, 000 persons pass this corner on street s during a day of 24 hours. The pedestrian traffic reaches nearly 270, 000 and the automobile occupant traf fic about 35,000, making a grand total of 505,000 persons in 24 hours. Other busy corners are Hyde Park corner. London; Fifth avenue and Forty-sec- ond street, New York City; Times Square, York City: Columbus Circle, New York City, and Place de I'Opera, Paris. ) The Amerl —S. W. It is official in so far as it was an's Creed” off chosen by # committee from thou nds submitted in*a cont The author was found to be William Tyler age. The chairman of the commit tee on ecucatlon of the House of Rep entatives had it inserted in the Congressfonal Record and made the request that it be printed as i public document. Q. Please state whether Booker T <hington was a dark or light-col ored negro.—T. M. H. A. Booke Washington moderately light complexion. w was of Q. What is the largest cotton firm in the world? M. V. S ced that the Anderson headguarters, Houston, Tex., is the largest cotton firm in the world. Tt has been estimated that this firm handled 2,000,000 bales last year Jut of a total production of 16,000,001 bales et the o writing B ansiver The Eve teau. Fred- Washington. applics strictly {o ation. The burean cannot give advice on legal, medical and jinan cial matt If does not attempt to settle domestic troubles, nor under take crhaustive research on any sub ject: Write your question plainln and bricfly. Give full name and ad dress and inel > cents in stamps for return postage. The reply is sent direct to the inquirer. Address The Evening Star Information Bureau Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Wash- tngton, D. C. Any reader can anyquestion by ning Star Informat Haskin, Direetor This offer The bitter conflict between church and state in Mexico has inspired widespread comment from the new papers of the I'nited States, but fc the most part the commentators | Iy withhold opinions on the ma nes at stake. They show rather a sincere concern over the po sible effects of the struggle upon the | Mexicans themselves, regardless of their spiritual or political affiliations. “The government regulati s pointed out by the New Orleans Item, “restrict the personnel of the clergy | of all denominations to natives, and forbid them to take part in educa- | tional work or in political affairs, | even when thus restricted. Other | restrictions are also imposed. The | catholic Church, being the most e tensively established there, is mo: widely affected. Mexico has a_ heavy 1t is likely that a good many of them -are even more affected by the formal observances of their religion than a corresponding | body of Catholics in the United States | or England would be. It thus be- comes a question what vexations and embarrassments may result to the government from the withdrawal of the mass and sacraments, even if only in a formal way, from so large a body of communicants accustomed to have recourse to such observances.” ““The present clash between church and state,” explains the Brooklyn Eagle, “is the outcropping of a cen- | tury-old contest. Mexico has never | been altogether free from religious controversy. It has played a part in all the changes that have kept that country in turmoil during the years. Broadly, the clerical faction has been conservative and opposed | to the revolutionary movements that were regarded as radical.” The Kal- amazoo Gazette suggests that “if Mex- fco had started the task of separat- ing church from state centuries ago, the country would not now be facing one of the most serious crises in church history. Yet for some reason,” continues the Gazette, “President Cal- les and his associates are disposed to accomplish their purpose at one full swoop, regardless of what it may cost. For the time being, church and state are opposed in what prom- ises to be a bitter test of endurance. and, whichever side may win In the end, Mexlco"and the Mexican people will be the principal sufferers.” * ok K X “Once upon a time says the | Pittsburgh Chronicle-Telegraph, “the French government decided to ‘abol- | ish God,” but it did not get very far with its program. The Mexican of- ficlals disavow any atheistic inten- tions and claim that their action is taken to insure the stability of the government, but to place religious in- stitutions under governmental dicta- tion must_be abhorrent to all true b llevers. No previous administration felt it necessary to invoke such re- pressive measures.” “There is need for a sympathetic at- tempt to understand a conflict,” ad- vises the Jackson Citizen-Patriot, “from which, through the good for- tune of our history, we are happily | spared. In Mexico there has been | none of the conflict between Chris- tian denominations out of which de- veloped our own principle of religious tolerance and non-interference state with church or church Mexico’s Religious Turmoil Deplored by All Americans seeking to establish « relationshi; toward government which the people of this country will never brook.’ “Unfortunately the Mexican ecivil authority,” according to the Sacra mento Union, s done comparative |1y little in providing schools or sup | porting agencles of mental and moral development. In consequence, the people have of necessity relied to an extraordinary extent upon the church The government has now removed { their sole prop without providing a substitute.” The New York Evening Post also finds that “a surprisingly general idea is spreading that it ap pears clear that the church is a abilizing influence in Mexico, that it is a bar against present bolshevik tendencies and that without it the country may tend to slip back into a ! period of re-Indianization.” The Hartford Times is of the opinion that “the government magnifies arbitrari ness above justice, as it has consist ently done since before Porfirio Diaz." ke “The government will have to com promise in time,” decla; Ledger-Dispatch, “and will no doubt revers tirely, for no temporal force on earth with its weapons of decree and ‘hre: of force, can resist for very long the dammed-up fervor of a me and religious tide.” The Grand Rapid Herald holds that “Mexico is not mal ts; it is making .martyrs, and the Aberdeen Daily World points out that “religion is fundamental in men, rooted in their hearts, and the: cannot be constrained in_ their belie by governmentil compulsion; what ever the Mexican regulations, they will be construed as a tyrannical ir aslon of an inherent right.”" The Anaconda Standard argues that “if the people of Mexico are persecuted in their religion and the church of their faith is assalled, world sympathy will spring up overnight for this un fortunate folk, and their government will find little’ sympathy and no port in the capitals of the world “President Calles to the contrary notwithstanding,” remarks the Spring fleld Union, “the only possible effect of the enforcement of the regulations apparently will be to bring about a lunion of state and church, with the state in the ascendency | the separation of church and state which Calles decls pose of the regulation: bia Record similarly advises that “Mexico should have gone no further than to the line compellfig churches to keep to their base instead of the effort 1o establish an opposition atate | church.” The New London Day predicts that “Senor Calles will find that in his zeal to drive religlon out of Mexico he has only cemented a great proportion of his people to their religion.” The | Wheeling Intelligencer believes that | “President Calles and the others re ble fom the antireligious laws more credit for their courage than for their intelligence.” The . Charlotte Observer adds that ‘“al- though no definite information can be made a basis for the statement, it | must be admitted that the Calles ban resembles somewhat the Soviet decree that drove religion, as an organiza- tion endeavor. from Russia. “If a revolution is started,” says the polic {4 state.” The Baltimore Evening Sun, however, asserts that “great and ap- parently increasing numbers of people | in the United States are exerting | every effort to produce a like condi- | tion of affairs in this country. effort to involve the churches in poli- ! tics and to involve the Government in religious affairs,” continues the Sun, “never ceases, and any one who dares protest is branded as a devil's advo- keletons; but the soul of the great fish and the secret of the sea he lived in and much of the secret perversity of x-na.n“w.iil1 :.t,m remain wi!hlnu ;tl:a €O Dick' Read ' Y Dk A cate.”” The Chattanooga. Times also maintains that “lobbyists from some of the denominatipnal churches have made themselves. consplouous in the cloakrooms of Congress and the Legis- latures, and in ®o doing they are The | UtleaObserver-Dispatch, “the serious. ness of the situation will increase and | Mexico will be in for a repetition of internal struggles for which that coun- |try has long held reputation.” The Ann Arbor Times-News maintains that “unless a compromise is effected soon, the consequences in Mexico will i be disastrous, from the point of view of Uncle Sam, the Catholic Church and the Mexican government.” The Ashe- ville Times holds that fexico will have her lucky stars to thank if she is able to enforce her present religious policy without serious loss of life and [;‘l;nl';ert z Tl::: Spokane Spokesman- view fears the conflict “may Mexico into civil war.” e @ an Fp gy sl