Evening Star Newspaper, August 26, 1926, Page 8

3 _J\'Ith Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY THEODORE W. NOYES. . . . Editor |UY to turn an occasion of mourning The Evenlng Star Newspaper Company | 10k to & point of interest, a funeral Business Office ¢, LIth St. and Penneylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East st. Chicago Offico’ Tower Building Buropean Office: 14 Reent St.. London, England. The Evening Star, with the Sunday morn- g edition. is delivered by carriers within 13° glty ‘at 60 centa per month: dafly”only. 45 cents per month: Sunday only, 20 cen| per month. - Orders may bo sent by mail or telephone Main 5000 Collection is made by earrier at the end of each month Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday 15r.80.00: 1 mo.. Daily oniy L1 yrl$8100: 1 mol Sunday only 1 v/ $3:00: 1 mo. All Other States and Canada. Iy and Sumday. sr. $12.00: 1 mo.. 8100 aily only ... 1y $R.00: 1 mo. o The Sunday only 111 l1yr] $1.00:1mo. 3 Member of the Associated Press. news d Ton n this paner and also published herein. Al rights ©f special dispatches herein are the news of publication also reserved. Bus and Trolley Merger. A vapid transit amalgamation is-un- der way in New York that is signifi- cant of the trend of urban transpor- tation. The IMifth Avenue Coach C6. has, with the approval of the Rapid Transit Comumission, purchased all the common stock of the New York Street Railway Co., operating the lines on Broadway, Sixth, Seventh, Lexing- ton and Columbus avenues and sev- eral crosstown streets, with a total of seventy-one miles. TFurthermore, the coach company, through a sub- sldiary known as the New York City Omnibus Corporation, has applied for the right to operate busses on ten crosstown routes and on Sixth, Sev- enth and Columbus avenues, the street surface lines paralleled by the bus lines to be abandoned. A ten-cent fare on the north and south routes is proposed, with five cents on the cross- town routes, and a universal transfer and retransfer system. At a hearing sentative of the coach com- id: You can't put busses in competition with existing trolley lines without im- pairing the assets of those lines. I do not believe that the city author- give any bus a f to compete with existi surface lines. If they do, it will mean five to ten years' litigation. While New York's traction situa- tion Is somewhat different from that in this city, owing t6 the peculiar con- formation of Manhattan Island, this matter of the possible replacement of track lines by bus lines is to be taken into account in considering the local transportation conditions. A volun- tary merger of the street raflway com- panies has failed of accomplishment. It is now proposed to present to Con- gress a bill for a compulsory merger, which, it is hoped, will be passed on equitable terms and lead to a union of the lines under single ownership and management. In framing this measure account must be taken of the bus factor. The street railway com- panies are now, In recognition of the greater flexibility of the bus, Install- ing non-competitive feeder lines and bus companles have secured rights to operate lines on routes most of which are not occupied by car tracks. Two rates of fare prevail, one for the bus lines and one for the traction lines, re- gardless of distance or route. This Is not a desirable condition. The chief purpose of a merger from the public point of ‘view is to equalize the financial conditions of the two traction systems to permit a regula- tion of fares which will be advan- tageous to the patrons. It is hoped that under a merger a lower rate of fare than is now required to maintain the immediately less affluent but po- ly more profitable system can ablished. But this would lead to & wider differential between the two systems of transportation, tr rs al actor in this matter of possible consolidation between trolley and bus Ines and the eventual replacement of the former by the latter, which is re- garded by many as inevitable, is the goneral traffic situation. The streets are now congested with motors. In some cases the car tracks are an ob- stacle to the free flow of the traffic, Regulation is more easy streets without trolley cars. The bus, which can take on and discharge its passen- gers at the curb, has an advantage over the midstreet vehicle, to reach and leave which passengers must get through the Mc streams. In their preparatfon of a measure to be laid before the houses of Con- gress at the next session the Commis- sfoners should and aoubtless will note on the developments in New York and take Into account the possibility of the eventual removal of all tracks .and the maintenance of the transportation solely on the b mechanically independent vehicle e st ty's is of Aviation is the great subject of mod- ern interest. It Is the occupation of the fearless hero. The lure for the plain citizen whose motto is “Safety first™ s not yet irresistible, in spite ©f the wonderful progress made in the elimination of risk. 3 —— 4 Morbid Mobs. Morbid curiosity combined ith sincere sorrow at the bier of Rudolph Valentino in New York during the greater part of two days to cause| & shocking spectacle. Thousands of people struggled to gain access to the undertaking establishment where the body of the motion plcture actor lay. Police guards were necessarv and were at times ineffective to prevent shocking scenes of rioting. The streets were packed with milling crowds, only after hours of effort r duced to some semblance of order. When at last the people were formed into line and the thousands filed through the place ft evident that there was more of spectacle seeking than of reverence on the part of the multitude. The decorum of a “lving in state” was ahsent. The was majority were plainiy out for experi- | completion. They gigeled and joked and |safe on the majority of these streets ence. altogether showed an utter lack of THE EVENING STAR)|the “exhibition” was closed ahead ot ..August 26, 1928 | i but has not been completed owing to the scheduled time last night and the remaining lines were dispemsed by police guards. It is unfortunately the disposition of a great many people in this coun- and sorrow into a pienle. They or the scene of a crime, like tradi- tlonal bargain hunters. They are magnetized by tragedy and sensa- tion. They make holiday of the most solemn occasions. In this case the remarkable fame of the dead man seemed to put & premium upon per- eonal participation In the funeral rites. With no reasoning they all rushed at once to gain access to the mortuary chambers. No one seemed to realize that this very crowding put everybody in danger. That is the way of big cities. Fortunately no one was killed in this series of punics. Many people .| were hurt, some were made i1l and much damage was done to clothing and to property. Valuable windows were smashed. Taken altogether, a good many thousands of dollars’ worth of harm was done. It was a “free show” to most of the multi- tude, for which really a heavy bill was pald and which has written another record of bad manners against American civilization. ——o—— Reporting to the President. President Coolidge is getting reports as to both the state of the country and the state of the Republican party during his vacation rest at White Pine Camp. So far as they have been reflected in the mews they are optl- mistic. He has been told that indus- try is booming, business is lively, that crops are good, that labor is well em- ployed; in fact, that prosperity is on the boom. Political leaders have told him that while there are some troubles here and there, the Republican pros- peets for 1926, and inferentially 1928, are bright. Yesterday Representative Wood told him that there will be a Republican majority of at least twenty-five in the next House of Rep- resentatives. Inasmuch as Mr. Wood is chairman of the Republican con- gressional: campaign committee, this information must have been a positive reassurance to the President, who has had reason during the past few months to question the continuance of party support in Congress during the last two years of his term. Presidents have been often beguiled by undue optimism on the part of their advisers and informants in the past. Unpleasant facts have been withheld from them or the political and economic situations have been painted in unduly bright colors. Rut it is said of Mr. Coolidge by those who know him well that he is decidedly from Missourl on such matters. He is hard to cajole with pleasant news not justificd by the conditions. Rain- bow painters make poor headway with him. Probably President Coolidge knows the political situation in this country as well as any of the specialists of party management and direction. He is in constant touch with all the ele- ments that affect the economic and political conditions. He does not care for merely pleasant pictures. He wants true pictures. Representative Wood's forecast of twenty-five majority in the next House concedes some losses to the party in the coming elections. The present enroliment of the House shows a “‘paper majority” of eighty- eight. This, however, includes the Progressives, some of whom are not In the party ‘caucus. Actually the straight party majority is about thirty-five. Probably Mr. Wood is reckoning upon terms of a straight- out party ulignment, with all non- caucus members enumerated as oppo- sition. Such a majority of twenty-five is a good working margin—better, in fact, thun a larger one for purposes of party efficlency in legislation. Regardless of partisanship, it is much to be desired that the adminis-. tration should have the support of a majority in both houses of Congress during the next two years. An oppo- sition majority in either house would mean the practical stoppage of legis- lation. A — Chemists who think it possible to explode the atom show a certain amount of hesitation in their experi- ments, owing to a difficulty in render- ing the molecule foolproof. e The League of Natlons functions gradually owing to some delay of the deliberations of its committee on mem- bership. et Thirty Miles an Hour. Recommendations for a thirty-mile speed limit sections of thirteen streets in the outlying districts have been made to the Commissioners by the traffic oftice in line with the policy to complete at the first possible moment the boulevard and arterial highway system in Washington. At a meeting of the Board of Commis- sioners on Monday decision was re- served until the traffic council could take action on this and other traffic matters. It has been nearly two vears since Congress passed the original traffic code providing for boulevard “stop” streets and arterial highways. Work on the system was started at once, a on lack of funds and delay in securing the proper equipment. “Stop” signs painted on the street were found to be inadequate as warnings and easily erased by the friction of wheels. No funds were avallable at that time to buy curb signs and the plan was held temporarily in abeyance. Curb signals have now been con- structed in sufficient quantities to mark every intersection of a boule- vard street. They are now awaiting installation by the police department, and it is on their erection that the traffic office bases its recommendation | for higher speeds on certain streets | where dwellings €re few and inler-! sections are amply protected. No further delay should be en countered in pushing the system to | Thirty miles an hour is even now. safe It will be doubly marked by stop signs. Congress in- tended that higher speeds should pre- vail in the outlying sections of the District. It stressed this point when it gave the traffic director authority to raise the limit at his discretion. The modern theory of traffic regula- tion is that the faster the traffic is moved, compatible with safety, the less the congestion. This theory is being carried out in all sections of the country. % ‘Washington, with its broad thor- oughfares, amply marked to prevent accidents at Intersections, furnishes an ideal setting for the fast traffic boulevard system, and nothing should be allowed to interfere with the com- pletion of this very desirable plan. R Fonck Tests Overseas Plane. High hopes of a successful non- stop New York-to-Paris flight are held by Capt. Rene Fonck, French war ace, who tried out for the first time recently the glant Sikorsky plane in which he and his two American aides will attempt the history-mak- ing trip. Capt. Fonck with Lieut. Snoddy of the Navy and Capt. Berry of the Army, has been waiting fm- patiently for the trial flight of the big air liner and now that it has been held he and his companions are Jjubllant over their prospects of mak- ing the thirty-six-hour voyage with no mishaps. The big three-motored Sikorsky ship performed admirably. It took the air in thirteen seconds und re- sponded easily and sensitively to the controls. It is capable of remaining aloft on only one of its three motors and in that fact the aviators belleve that the success and safety of the trip depend. Other tests will be given before the plane, which is declared to be a marvel of ingenious construction, is given its final approval. Then, with weather conditions favorable in the early part of September, the world will breathlessly await news of the intrepid flyers as they wing their way across the Atlantic to the French capital. ————— The deep regard manifested for a favorite film actor is not only a trib- ute to his genius, but a reminder that the American public still retains its sense of idealism and its capacity for hero worship. ————————— Germany is & republic, but Wilhelm Hohenzollern does not hesitate to sug- gest his willingness to resume respon- sibllity. No thoroughgoing monarch- st 1s ever able to take a republic seri- ously. F S Evolution {s still & subject for acrl- monfous discussion in spite of the fact that it never harmed any crea- ture who succeeded in undergoing the proces: ———————— Having swum the English Channel, Miss Ederle can afford to observe with calm the efforts of competitors who show what a difficult feat it was. ———————— More and better automobiles are still promised. More and better park- ing space remains a dream of the fu- ture — Europeans who deliberately offend Americans should study the old fable of the goose that laid the golden egg. == ——— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. August Wistfulness. Wish I was a fish, Dumb, But goin’ some! Beneath the silvery tide Securely I would ride ‘With natural precision, Protected from collision. Stops By motor cops Rude ‘Would not intrude. Some day 1 might be caught — An end with glory fraught! But in the meantime, daily, I'd nibble bait so gayly! Wish 1 was a fi h! Paternalism Defeated. ‘George Washington was the father of his country.” “He was,” answered Senator Sor- ghum. “But votes for woman have compelled us, in considering the des- tinies of the Nation, to take into account a large number of sisters and cousins and aunts, not to men- tion granddaughters Revivification. he ripe peach soon starts to de- ' sald the feeble philosopher. “Not at my house,” answered Uncle Bill Bottletop. “You ought to taste the peach brandy our wimmin folks kin make!” Bargaining. Bach ad I peruse Conveys the glad news That cash 1 can save If I will behave So, bargains T buy 1 frequently sigh And vow it's no joke— My thrift leaves me broke! Misquotation. does a locomotive say ‘choo “It doesn't answered Miss Cay- enne. “I never beard any such ex- pression. Even a locomotive is liable to be misquoted nowadays."” : “xcluded. “Have vou any knowledge of boot- leg licker around here?” ¥ “None whatever,” answered Uncle Bill Bottletop.! “I couldn't give you no information if I wanted to. Boot- leggers have all got so prosperous that 1 can’t afford to associate with Tmaginations. Your enemy proves, in the end. One ‘of the myths that haunt land He had the making of a friend Whom you cpuld not quite under- stand. the “De Xatydid.” said Uncle Eben, lays a tune on its hind legs which seems to me mo' dignified dan gittin’ Heavy and continued rains of last week forced hollyhoek seed pods into growth upon the plants, making them parasites for the nonce. The continual moisture caused bursting of the pods and the forma- tion of roots at the base of each seed, with the resultant growth of small leaves above. At the cessation of the rains garden- ers were surprised at the strange green follage which had developed on the hollyhock spires. Closer examination showed that each ‘“growth” was composed of a muiltitude of tiny hollyhock plants, each with its own root system, body and leaves, the latter of an intense green. The threadlike roots were almost pure white, heing exposed to the ac- tion of the light, and had sunk them- selves into the sheath of the seed pod, which had been softened by the down- pour. Placed in a saucer of water, the seed-pod aggregation continued to thrive, and no doubt each minute plant, if separated and put into the ground, would do well in the garden, there yet being plenty of time for growth, TRese rain-forced hollyhocks, if properly cared for, should get enough growth this Autumn to live through the Winter and ought to bloom nicely next Spring. The power and necessity of water in the growth of plants was thus strik- ingly brought out. Many gardeners are afraid to water, but Nature is not when she gets started. * Lk ok ok Damage is done to wheat in much the same way, heavy rains causing the grain to sprout in the shock. It must be apparent, however, that Nature does not concern herself with the wheat crop, or the hollyhock crop, as such, but simply as plants of the fields. Nature does not care a whoop if the crop is ruined. There will be more plants next year, for her billions of seeds are sprouting, and will fall to the ground and there grow up. The race will be perpetuated. Water, earth, air and sunlight— these are the magic quartet, the “Big Four,” of Nature. Everything that lives came from the water, in the first place, according to sclence and the immemorial legends of mankind. Water was once everywhere, then the mountains stuck their heads up. Widely separated races had legends of a great flood, when the whole world (or at least such part of it as they knew) was submerged once more beneath the rolling waves of water. Water is necessary to all growing things, including man, whose body is largely composed of it. Members of the vegetable world can scarcely get along without it, except certain fami- lies, such as the cacti, which have learned to harbor up liquid. They are the camels of the vegetable kingdom, and form an interesting race, of which the average person knows prac- tically nothing. The vast majority of growing things, however, need water, and more water, If there is good drainage, it is not likely that any harm will come to a plant from the recent heavy rains in these parts. Lacking proper draining facilities, either natural or artificial, some plants may suffer, particularly the bulbs, in which the excess mols- ture may cause rotting. Watering gardens, particularly the flower garden, is one of the most per- plexing_problems to the amateur. It is significant that all garden books and garden magazines treat the sub- BY PAUL V. COLLINS, The news has come that the Smith- sonian-Chrysler expedition into Brit- ish East Africa has caught a giraffe and a pangolin, which will be added to our Zoological Garden, and an in- quisitive layman, whose training is to ask questions, demanded of a sclen- tist, “What is a giraffe good for? Why a pangolin?” The n‘:angol learning taunted the questioner by referring to the tradi- tional story of the farmer who de- clared, when he saw a glraffe at a circus, “There ain’t no sich animile,” and by retorting that if the present edministration {s found to hafe done nothing else for the farmers, it counts as for something to have demon- strated that there are giraffes. That leaves only the pangolin to b ustified. be ju 5500 A pangolin is an anteater, it usu- ally refuses to dine on anything else but ants, and one wonders how the keepers will find time to feed peanuts to the elephant If they have to skir- mish dally to catch enough ants to tten the pangolin. T & Sehle-covered creature about 4 feet long. \Where the pangolin grows, the native humans believe that its scales, when worn as neck- laces, will keep away lions, hence the scales have a market value of about halt a dollar each—but it is with no such sordid motives that the captured pangolin is to be quartered at the Zoo. No more would the sclen- tists traffic in pangolin scales than in the quills of a fretful porcupine or the tafl feathers of an ostrich. * ¥ ¥k ¥ It is cruelty to animals to back a scientist against a wall and crowd him into defending the usefulness of sclence. He tells us that sclence broadens i man’s horizon and en- ables him to comprehend the marvels of creation. That which is “pure sclence” today becomes the very foundation of man's advancement to- morrow. and without its discoveries civilized man would be lower than the savages, FEven savages study the species of wild nnr"lll(\alfl about them learn their habits. A owds of tourlsts flock daily into the museum of the Smithsonian In- stitution to gaze at the specimens, the shells and stones of ancient days, the huge skeletons of dinosaurs and the weird remnants of other monsters of the past, the re‘;lca of ‘sx:zclel which, es ago, ceased to exist. R fhe most unlearned the sight of strange animals, birds and reptiles, as found in the Zoo and the Museum, is an_experience which, oftener than may be supposed, gives the beholder broader outlook upon the mysteries of nature. o v farmer knows how live stock may be bred and improved—or by wrong breeding may be degenerated until pure-bred herds become worth- less scrubs. If such be obvious upon a farm, in a decade’of breeding, how much may be observed in the develop- ment of wild life through the cen- turies! In a glass case in the museum may be seen five or six beaut!ful antelopes of different specfes. There is one with stripes running around its body, like hoops around a barrel; it has a white crescent between its eves and two white spots upon its jowls. It is graceful of limb, and. in life, is so swift of foot that no white man has | ever been known to kill one. It is| called a “Harnessed Antelope,” for its white stripes suggest a_harness. | Alongside of that little antelope | stands another somewhat larger. but | it has identically the same stripes and | spots of white. although much less | distinet. This one has a neck more than a foot long, vet it retains the grace and suppleness of its “ances- tors,” for who can doubt that it is a development of the smaller antelope, with a less elongated neck? THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. ject with a lofty indifference. They know no more about it than you do! No one, not even an expert, can look into the soil and actually see the condition of the roots. He can only judge from the appearance of the leaves and flowers whether the plant needs water. Long experience. with growing things, of course, will give the pro- fessional gardener a ‘“feel” as to a lant's various needs. The amateur, go"e\'er, must trust to Heaven, since the books do not help him. Receatly we had an interesting and, perhaps, instructive experience with the gladiolus in regard to water. This flower came originally from Africa, where the air is tropical, hot and moist. The gladiolus bulb (corm) “will not stand wet feet,” the cata- logues tell us. ‘When the late hot spell struck our Esstee alley garden, it caused some of the flower spikes to droop, taking on the appearance of being scalded, the buds looking for all the world as if they had been cooked. Soaking the beds in the evening with the hose seemed to help this condi- tion, the faded spikes flowering very well, after all. Yet shortly after they had flowered, the leaves began to rust, a sign of too much water. Now the point s this: The recent continued rains, during which a thou- sandfold more water struck those beds than they received from the hose, only served to make the gladi- olus foliage green and healthy look- ing. Perhaps the varieties that rusted would have done so in any event, probably ripening early. Some bulbs are healthy enough to bloom properly, but contain in them the seeds of dis- ease, 80 that they will rot later. Yet the amateur grower has no sure way of knowing, and he must trust to luck, in large part, in the matter of watering, if Nature does not give a normal, well spaced rainfall during the Summer. * Ok ok Moonflower and morning glory vines climbed with renewed vigor, as the result of the big rains, the foliage positively gleaming with luxuriant greenness. Vines like to go up, not sideways, and will go over the top of your house, if you give them the chance, and do not have too tall a house. Moon vines ought to be blooming pretty soon now, opening their great white flowers at dusk—a pretty sight. Morning glories have not done so well, in the matter of bloom, as during the two preceding seasons, but this may be a purely local matter, not general. Rain is good for small ornamental pines, despite the opinion of many to the contrary. Such heavy downpours ds were experienced here served not only to water the plants, but also to wash away the obnoxious red spider, which turns the branches brown. One may rid his evergreens of these pests by placing the spray at the base of the trunk, and allowing the water to_wash up, from bottom to top. Water is good for grass at any time of the year, and will make it green and luxuriant, or save it when the hot suns of Summer have done their best to ruin it. It will work miracles, but cannot make a fine lawn out of an_indifferent one. Rain washgs the streets and the air of great cities, and seems to help everything except the human family, which it sometimes causes to become “blue” and petulant. The fault, how- ever, lies with us, and not with the rain. smaller antelopes naturally feed on grass—they don’t need long necks for that. But the longer-necked ‘‘gernuk’ feeds on the leaves of bushes, and has to stretch up after them. He can stand on his hind legs and reach up double his normal height, and, in thousands of years, the longer the neck stretched, the more food that animal got, and so the long-necked individuals grew strong and became a ‘‘survival of the fittest,” until a distinct species, or at least a varfety, developed. So there were first “Harnessed Antelopes,” then, when feed grew high, that high- cost-of-living developed longer necks to reach it, and the result was “Great- er Kudus” and Giant Eland: And there grew antelopes as big as Hol- steins, and quite as good to eat, though too costly to raise on farms. But in certain regions in Africa, even the Giant Elands could not find leaves in sufficient abundance. until, through a milllon years or so, they had stretched their necks longer and longer and longer, and men began call- ing them “giraffes,” that being a more elegant term than what is sometimes applied to tourists. Giraffes eat the leaves of tall timbers, for the foliage ltu closer than the grass beneath their eet. b To a sclentist it is no offense to term that sort of development “Evolu- tion,” while a Fundamentalist farmer is at liberty to speak of it simply as “breeding up." EEEE Tn another case at the Museum there are two giraffes, which stand some 20 feet high, and they have lips which are formed to grasp the follage. They can browse off of trees 25 or 30 feet high. Standing between these two giraffes 1s a most pecullar animal, which, for want of a shorter name, is called a Baluchiterium. It has a modified neck of a giraffe, with a horn between ity eyes like that of a rhineroceros, and striped hind quarters like a ‘‘Har- nessed Antelope.” Less than 15 vears ago the most advanced sclentist would have sided with the skeptical farmer in saying of a_ Baluchiterium, what the farmer said of its ancestor, the giraffe. Call that Evolution if yvou are a biologist, or just cross-breeding if a farmer. 1It's all the same. * Kok ok The sclence of biology had its roots in the days of Aristotle, who began classification of animals. But for 1,500 years or longer it made no progress, until in the time of the Italian Renaissance, that great génius —painter and engineer and sclentist —Leonardo da Vinci, suggested that there was evidence in the shells and bones, and footprints found in the rocks even upon mountain peaks, which proved the previous existence of animals or birds or fishes which no longer could exist there. That was the reawakening of in- terest in the *“sermons in stones paleontology. It tells us that trop- ical plants once grew in the Arctic region, and elephants roamed the plains of America, and mosses grew like trees, until at last they lay de- caying in swamps to make coal for twentieth century man. It tells us that horses were no larger than com- mon curs, and through the ages they developed—or evolved—into beasts of burden weighing a ton. The various stages of that evolution are shown in the National Museum, in relics of horse skeletons, from the Eocene age to the present—the breeding up through millfons of generations. True biology began only a century and a half ago, when Cuvier laid its foundation in the science of paleontol- ogy—the lore of the records in the rocks and shells tracing animal life. | The first use of the term biology was | made by Lamarck in a work pub- lished in 1801. Since then the science has become one of the most important THINK IT OVER Time to Write Books, By William Mather Lewi Prosident George Washington Uni Some philanthropist, interested in education, would render inestimable service by establishing an endow- ment fund for text book writers. ‘We need good school books no less than we need good school buildings and good school teachers. At the present moment the bullding situa- tion and the teacher situation are more satisfactory than is the text book situation. o In the first place, taking them by and large, text books are not pleas- ing to the eve. We give much thought to the printing of attrattive books for children in every fleld save in that of education. One text looks about like another — monoto- nous paragraph breaks, small type, insufficient and mediocre illustra- tions. In the second place, too many school books are written by men who are not recognized authorities’ in their flelds and who enter the realm of authorship as a side issue at the behest of some company which wishes to take quick advantage of the demand for a text of a certain kind. I know ‘men—college professors, superintendents, elementary school teachers—who could write texts of outstanding merits and who are not doing so because they cannot spare time from other pressing duties. To such as these the philanthropist should say, “Lay aside your routine duties for a year—for two years, if need be—and out of your rich expe. rience prepare a text book on that subject in the teaching of which you have achieved success.” And the writer would set to work in an unhurried, scholarly way, un- hampered by propaganda, to produce something which would stimulate and not discourage the intellectual curiosity of the child. The philanthropist would have the satisfaction of knowing that in mak- ing such an enterprise possible he raises appreciably the educational effectiveness of the Nation. (Copyright. 1 ——o— Better Homes Needed For Alley Dwellers To the Editor of The Star: ‘The good Intentions of the unknown philanthropist who proposes to erect apartments to be rented or sold at cost to Government employes are be- yond {uestion, but it remains to be seen whether a considerable propor- tion of them wish to avail themselves of the proffered opportunity. I, for one, feel that paternalism is some- what misplaced when extended to the employes of the United States Gov- ernment. The salaries paid Govern- ment clerks are not lower, on the average, than those paid for similar work outside the Government service, with the exception of the higher grade positions and the unclassified labor at the other end of the scale. It is assumed that the proposed apartments are not designed for the representatives of either of these classes. It seems unfortunate that the more appropriate field for practical charity represented by Washington’s chronic alley problem should be overlooked. The fact that some thousand unfor- tunates still live in the alleys which Congress years ago declared were to be closed is a disgrace to the city. The date for closing the alleys has been moved forward until it has be- come a farce, and the alleys are no nearer closing than ever. It is im- possible to put the law into effect so long as the alley dwellers have no place to go: there are not enough houses to be had at any price, and those available are generally far be- yond their means. If up-to-date apartments can be erected to rent at a cost of $12.50 per room, why could not plain, decent dwellings be put up to rent at a_price within the reach of the poor! If the owners of some of the wretched alley shacks have found their investment lucrative, surely a (ublic-spirited philanthropist willing to forego profit could provide decent living quarter for these unfortunate citizens with- out too great a loss to himself. Let the greater need be met first! E. M. HOUGH. —————————_ Wets Are Singing in Discord. Not Harmony To the Editor of The Star:* Rome kind friend of the wets should writa some words and music for them, 80 that they might avoid the laugh- able discords that they make in their arguments against prohibition. One arises and sings out lustily, “There is more liquor drunk now than ever before,” at the very time that another is trilling, nable to get liquor, the people are turning to drugs.” One asserts that “the officers are not even trying to enforce the law,” while another complains that “life is made unbearable by the scores of officers one meets at. ev turn, who are hampering business and invading the home to smell out law violators.” Just as one wet brother scores the point that thousands of people are leaving the country because they can- not get drink, another pounds home the assertion that, whereas before pro- hibition one had to go to the saloon to get a drink, now there is a sizable flock of bootleggers waiting on every street corner to accommodate any who feel the effects of the drought. Recently a wet. writer bewailed the condition (?) that laboring men had been thrown out of work by prohibi- tion, and then, in the same paragraph, most emphatically declared that there was no prohibition. Otherwise stated, “There was no wind, and it blew a huge stone up out of a deep well and balanced it on the church steeple.” ‘These amusing contradictions are the more laughable because the wets seem utterly to fall to see their rich humor. GEORGE F. WELLS. Light Signals Better Than Traffic Cops To the Editor of The Star: The Sunday Star recently carried a short item about the health of traffic cops being damaged by gaso- line fumes. There is no necessity for it. Electric signals on “through streets,” which change simultane- ously, would eliminate all of those cops and give them a better em- ployment in the handling of crime and criminals. Electric signals are better than any cop ever dared to be and they give a much more satis- factory service. Of course, obedience to them must be compelled. I have seen these signals used in many cities and have never heard them ad- versely considered. C. D. REEDER. mark that man can create synthetic milk out of grass, without the aid of the cow: =o. just when the world's overpopulation frightens some econo- mists, lest men starve, science evolves a means of independence from animal life. Why continue, then, to study giraffes and pangolins in the face of in human culture, and has contrib- uted to man's knowledge of breeding, i e & Giasorar 4 -&-discovars dniDens Al modern improvements, which may abolish all beasts of the field to make room for man? ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Q. How does the nutmeg grow B A. The nutmeg is the pit or kernel of a fruit which, when ripe, looks something like & small peach. The pulp of this fruit is quite unpleasant 10 the taste. Inside the pulp is a red flesh known as mace—one of the mosg popular spices known to modern cookery. When you flavored with mace you will know that you are eating what was once the soft red covering of a nutmeg. Nutmeg trees properly located and well cared for are remarkably pro- lific. In one year a single tree has been known to produce more than 2,000 nutmegs. The nutmeg blossom is white, bell shaped, and as fragrant as it is beautiful Q Who invented mezzotinting?— “\In" the year 1611 some one watching_a_soldier clean rust from his sword found in the method the inspiration for the proce The name of the inventor is unknown. Q. Is there a bank known as the Bank of America?—B. T. “’A. The Bank of America is located at 44 Wall street, New York City. Q. What Is_the national wealth of Canada?—B. D. C. i A. In 1924 Canada’s national wealth was $22,195,000.000. Q. What do most American people eat for dinner?--M. M. H. A. It is belleved that the average American dines on white bread, meat, potatoes and sweets. Q. What are some of the industrial uses of the cotton plant?—D. I. P. A. The cotton fibers ave used in making varn, cloth, cordage, cotton batting, cellulose, smokeless powder, celluloid, artificial silk. The cotton stalk is used in making paper and fuel. The cotton seed is used for carpets, fertilizer, paper, rope and twine, stock food, seap stock, Winter yellow” oil, soap, salad oil. Q. How old was Jackie Coogan when he appeared on the stage? —A. E A, At the age of 4 Jackle did some dance steps in a vaudeville act featuring his_ father and Annette Kellermann. He appeared on the screen in “The Kid” about a yeir later. Q. What is a family A. Economists usuall data on a family that consists of two adults and three minor children. The United States C(‘ensus, however, rates as a family greup of persons, whether related by blood or not, who live together as one household, usually sharing the same table. For census purposes one person living alone Is counted as a family, while all the occupants and employes of a hotel or boarding house, or lodging house, if that is their usual place of abode, and all the inmates of an in- stitution, however numerous, are also considered as constituting a single family. It is pointed out that the members of a natural famlly, blood relations, in many cases do mot live together ‘in the same private family, the elder sons and daughters fre- quently being married and having households and families of their own. Q. How long have race horses been kept at the barrier?—S. E. M. A. We find no record for this, but are told that it has been in excess ot n hour and a quarter in a big stake race, Q. What per cent of criminals are caught and punished in this country? —G. 8. T. A. Gov. Hadley of Missouri has esti- mated that 90 per cent of those com- mitting major crimes in this country are not apprehended and punished, and 75 per cent of those apprehended and prosecuted escape the minimum punishment provided by law. Q. Explain England.—E. A. The Privy Council in_ England is the hody of advisers of the sover eign. Its duties are as follows: To advise the King on affairs of state; to give formal sanction to orders in council by which the King, on advice of his ministers, expresses his plea- sure with respect to various admins- trative matters; to perform ceremonial Privy Council of the G. taste a_dish | — functions: to perform duties of an ad ministrative and judicial nature; to deal with appeals from dominfons and colonial and Indian courts; to de- cide concerning petitions for extension of letters patent, copyright, etc., and to perform ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The members of this body have titles of right Honorable and rank next to the Knights of the Garter. They are appointed by the soverelgn, and their number is not limited. The presence of siy members is sufficient to con- stitute a council. Q. Are thers other supplies of muni. tions that are stored near enough to cities to cause castrophies like the one at Lake Denmark’—G. 8. A. Curtis Bay, six miles from Balti- more, is said to have milllons of pounds of ammunition in storage Tona Island, near Peekskill, N. Y, is another repository for explosives, Q. What part of a tree is actual used for lumber?—S. N. A. Two-thirds of the tres s wasted, only one-third being turned into lum ber. Some of the waste product {s utilized to a certain extent. Q. How man ople in this coun- try use electricity”—S. A, W, A. On January 1, 1926, there were 14,600,000 household electric customers in the United States and about 63,000.- 000 people living in wired houses. Q. How long does a widow wear mourning nowadays?--A. I8. I, A. The widow who intends to leave off her mourning in due time wears a crepe honnet and long veil a vear After this, black costumes of crepe de chine, lusterless silk, etc., are as sumed, with hats and bonnets ga nished with black ribbon, black flow ers, black chiffon and dull jet orna ments. Six months later white and lilac touches may suitably relieva the second mourning. and after two vears have passed colors may be resumed Q. What is the wording of the Ten nessee antl-evolution law?--0. I'. A. The law provides that “it shall be unlawful for any teacher In any of the universities, normal and all other public schools of the State which ara supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine creation of man as taught in the Bible and to teach in stead that man has descended from: a_lower order of animals.” The pen alty is a fine of from $100 to §500 for each offense. Q. How many people ride on eleva- tors In a city Mke New York in the course of a day?—M. M. H. A. It has been estimated that every day and night more than 10,000,000 people are carried in the elevators in New York City. This is more than the total number of passengers car ried in the same length of time on all the subways, elevated, raflroads, street cars and principal railroads entering the city. Q. Do all the Southern States ob D. R. 8. : Lee's birthday, January 19, 1s observed as a holiday in Alabama. Arkansas, Florida, Missis sippi, North and South Caroli Tennessee and Virginia. Q. Where did we get the name “bug juice” formerly applied to whis ky?—M. M. A. In the early 90s a Japanese announced the discovery of a new process for making whisky in which he used a specles of bugs found on rice instead of yeast for the fermen ing process and the name “bug juice was derisively given his product and later used by some as a general term in referring to whisky. Find out whatever you want to know. There is mo room for {gno- rance in this busy world. The person who loges out is the one who guesses The person who gets aon is alwaus the one who acts upon reliable info. mation. This paper employs Fred- eric J. Haskin to conduct an informa- tion bureaw in Washington for the free use of the public. There is no charge except 2 cents in astamps for return postage. Write to him today for any facts you desire. Ad- dress your letter to The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J Haskin, director, Washington, D. Secretary Hoover's recent announce- ment that, with the approval of the President, great national alrways were to be established over the United States, meets with the heart mendation of the press of the “It is an encouraging sign that commerecial aviation is entering upon a period of extensive development,’ predicts the Lynchburg News, as it voices its indorsement of the efforts to make “aviation an important factor in the transport United tes."” rler and Journal sees in the recent statements indications that “the Gov- ernment has decided that the time has arrived when comme aviation can be pushed forward be made to assume the place in the commercial life of the Nation it seems destined to fill” while the Trenton Evening Times finds, in the “gigantic program” outlined, a “tremendous stimulant to the natfonal imagination.” Savs the Winston-Salem Journal, “In spite of the fact that it has been long ex- pected, the announcement of Secre- tary Hoover. outlir plans for blanketing the entire country with a mnetwork of commercial airways, comes with a genuine thrill “Before very long, it is reasonable to believe that vou can hoard an afr- plane and travel nearly anywhere in the count; declares” the Bingham- ton Press, as it notes that “lines have been planned that will take vou down the Atlantic Coast from Maine to Florida, across the continent by vari- ous routes, up and down the Pacific Coast and down the Mississippl Val- ley.” Discussing the proposed routes along which pioneer work has already been done in soms instances by the alr mall, the Asbury Park Evening Press says: “This sounds like some- thing. America may vet redeem her- self by practical commercial success in an industry which she has re- garded so far as little more than a sport. Substantial transportation achlevement may succeed the quest for speed, distance and altitude rec- continues this paper, while the cramento Union sees cause for na- tional congratulation in the “fact that the Government is definitely and sub- stantially behind a policy of develop- ment of commercial aviation.” * % % Although recognizing that “the last session of Congress passed three measures in the jinterest of aero- nautics,” nevertheless the Dayton Dally News holds that “if America hopes to overtake her sister nations, it is going to take more than these three legislative measures, and far more money than has yet been ad- vanced.” An important point is stressed hy the [St. Joseph News-Press when it says: “President- Coolidge regards commer- cial aviation as the central point in the proper solution of our air-defense problem.” Agreeing with this opinion, News-Press recommends that Vision of Great Air System In U. S. Disclosed by Press ~ the operating of military planes. Fac tories equipped to turn out commer clal planes in quantity could, without serious delay, be adjusted to make the military type of plane,” continues the News-Press. In similar vein speaks the Nashville Banner, which sa “The fmportance of flourishing commercfal fiylng companies can hardly be overestimated. In case a national defense emergency did arise a trained flylng personnel. al equipped with planes, might everything to the Nation.” Coincident with the announcement of the plans for immediate and tre- mendous advances In the use of the alrplane for commercfal purposes comes the report from authoritative sources that already the United States holds an enviable place in the aviation field. The Providence Evening Bulle tin remarks, “For several years there have been lamentations In various quarters because this country was lagging behind the rest of the world in afrplane development, but now we are told that America leads all oth nations in this respect,” and thi spite of the fact that there is sort of subsidy for commereial transport, as there is in about other countries.” e The Rirmingham News, analyzing the report of Col. Paul Henderson general manager of the National Afr Transport, whose figures prove the leadership of the United States in this respect, says, “He means simply that the United States is leading the way in air comrierce, in numbers of frefght-carrying and passenger-carry ing planes and in mail and freigl tonnage handled.” The Buffalo Eve- ning News declares, “Whether the American claim to precedence can be disputed now or not, there can be no question that it will be established in the near future when the plans an nounced by Secretary Hoover are fully in effect.” Calling attention to the fact t ‘“‘aerial passenger service is conducted mean no atr all | both safely and profitably in Europe, ™ the San Francisco Bulletin says, “And depend upon it. whatever can be manufactured profitably anywhere else can be manufactured on a greater and cheaper scale in Amerfca.” The Abilene Reporter notes that “it has become the fashion to remark that aviation, like radio, is ‘in its infancy.’ From a standpoint of commercial utllization, it is,” agrees the Reporter, “but from the standpoint of relia- bility and safet this paper contends. “aviation has passed the experimental stage. Its complete conquest of the fleld of transportation is only a few vears oft.” It is the opinion of the New York World that ve have reached a stage in transportation | where freight and passenger air serv ice is to he promoted both as a genera! {convenience and necessity The Fort Worth Record-Telegran | expresses gratification that its eity | 18 to be “a terminal of one of the two (lines to receive the presidential sanc- tion.” and believes that “we are the the l“lilotl get their early schooling in the | natural distributing point for a vast commercial field, and then ¢ In caselarea that is rapldly growing in im- b e e s