Evening Star Newspaper, October 14, 1926, Page 8

8 THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. 1 = lerection of modern fireproof tene- and are still being expended for the razing of insanitary dwellings and the ments. This work has been going on, THURSDAY. ....October 14, 1926 | Mr. Heckscher notes in his explan- — | atory statements, for thirty-five years. THEODORE W. NOYES. . . .Editor | And e | places where large numbers of people paper Company | congregate in bad conditions. The The Evening Star Ne Business Office 11th St. and Pennsyivar New York Office: 110 Chicago Office: Tower. Building. European Office; 14 Regerit St.. London. Fngland. nia Ave. t 42nd St. " The Evening Star. with the Sunday morn Ing edition, i delivered by carriers within the city at 6 r month: daily only. 45 cents : Sundays only per month. Orders may be sent by mail telephone Main 5000. Collection is made carrier at end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday ly only . Sindey only . All Other States and Canada. Dally and Sunday..1yr. $12.00: 1 mo. § onl; 1. $8.00:1 mo Dall : . Sunday only ...II1¥rl $4.00: 1 mo. mo. 100 Member of the Associated Press. yet slums remain—that is, trouble has been that the veritable slum dwellers have not taken advan- tage of the new facilities oftered in the construction of model tenements, which have been occupled chiefly by persons of a different class. When ) cents| the notorious slum known as Seven 5| Dials was cleaned out in London about twenty years ago and model apartments were erected to replace the shacks and warrens of that nest mo. 76¢| of crime and disease the new quar- . 25¢ | ters were immediately filled by trades- men, clerks, artisans and others of that class seeking the advantage of decent accommodations for cheap rates. The former slum dwellers went deeper into other slums. - The same The Associated Press is exclusively entitled [ experience was had in the reclama- 10 the use for republication of all news dis- atches credited o 1t or not otherwise o in this paper and also the local news shed herein. All rights of publicatiol ecial dispate 1 ** publi of s herein are also reserv: The Law’s Delays. red. | tion of Millbank, west of the Parlia- ment buildings. It may be possible to cure the slum disease through philanthropy. It may be possible to induce five hun- An appeal granted by the Iilinois dred persons to invest $50,000,000 a Supreme Court yesterday stayed the [ ¥year, or $100,000 aplece, in such a execution of Russell Scott, sentenced | Scheme and to secure an equal ap- to be hanged tomorrow for murder | Propriation from the State and city committed several years ago. action was based upon an alleged ir- This [ for that purpose. No greater work can be undertaken for the benefit of regularity in the latest proceedings the community and, through its influ- resulting in the sentence of death. This case has attracted national at- tention. The crime was committed in ence, the country at large. It is a worthy ideal and it may be achieved. The way to its accomplishment, how- the course of a hold-up in a drug|ever, will ot be speedy or easy. Mr. store where the victim was a clerk. Heckscher dedicates himself to this Scott, the present defendant, and his | Project in a epirit that commands the brother Robert were the robbers, | highest admiration and should inspire Russell Scott was tried, convicted and | co-operation. sentenced to hang. He wona new trial, at which he pleaded guilty, only to draw the same sentence. A yearanda e The School Hours Referendum. Although a great preponderance of quarter ago, a few hours before the | sentiment in the “referendum’ which execution, a reprieve was granted by The Star is conducting as a means of the governor on the strength of a|ascertaining public wishes in the mat- telegram purporting to be a confes- sion of guilt by Robert Scott, then a fugitive. This message was proved ter of changing the school hours to lessen the danger to the children in the streets strongly favors the pro- to be a hoax and preparations for the | posed shift to nine-thirty, it is evident execution proceeded. Within an hour | that in some localities and some before the time set the condemned |schools conditions are not altogether man won a stay by virtue of a plea | sitable to such a schedule. of ipsanity and the grant by the court of inquiry into his mental condi- tion. This Inquiry resulted in the findigg that he was deranged and he was sent to an institution. A few months ago he was returned for a new sanity trial, was found sane and was again convicted and sentenced to death. Once more now he has been saved from the gallows by a rul- ing of the upper court that the sec- ond sanity trial did not follow the proper procedure. No reasonable doubt remains as to the guilt of this man. The fraud practiced in his behalf to stay the ex- ecution in the first instance prac- tically removes all question on this score. The plea of insanity is taken as in effect an acknowledgment of guilt. Yet the invocation of abstruse technicalities regarding the exact forms of procedure succeeds in stay- The morning rush of traffic toward the center of the city is a wave. The time of its starting is earlier in the outskirts and later as it approaches destination. The farther suburbs feel the impulse as early as eight o'clock and by nine o'clock the streets are comparatively clear. Thus the con- dition shifts geographically. Yet the greater number of the chil- dren are at present going to school against the tide of the traffic and will continue to do-so as long as the school session begins at nine. In this mat- ter the habit of the children is to be considered. Most of them reach their schools a little before the bell rings. Tardiness is not prevalent. The ma- Jority of the children start from home as a rule half an hour or at the least twenty minutes before nine o’clock. That is the time of the heaviest traf- fie. A shift of thirty minutes would ing the execution of the law, probably | suffice in most cases to avoid the traf- for several months. Such cases as this promote crime in this country. fic danger. A difficulty arises in this matter on Regardless of whether | the score of the half<day schools capital punishment is justifiable or!which remain in session at present not, it is the law in Illinois as well | until three-thirty. as in most other states in the Union, If the hour of closing were changed to four-thirty and after a fafr trial which elicits all | these children would be on the street the facts there should be no blockade of justice on the score of minute points of fmmaterial procedure. Even if this man is finally punished as the law commands, the long delay will have been immeasurably harmful in the encouragement of banditry and outlawr: e The Daugherty-Miller jurors had a most unwelcome experience. The chief reward a juror can hope for is free admisslon and a good seat at an exhibition which is likely to provide some new thrilis. o Certain customs never change. The tariff is still referred to as a highly tmportant issue and much of the soul- stirring political news continues to come from Ohio. S o European walters refuse American tips. American tourists should heed the hint and save their money with a view to loaning it in bulk. R A Plan to Cure the Slums. New York’s tenement problem may be*solved if a plan which has just been proposed by August Heckscher, after a study of conditions in Euro- pean centers of population, is adopt- ed and worked out to a conclusion. Mr. Heckscher, who has accumulated a large fortune in real estate opera- tions, has become intensely interested in the conditioh of the poor of Great- eor New York, believing that many of the evils from which that community is suffering, disease, vice and crime, spring from the bad conditions in which hundreds of thousands of peo- ple are housed. He recently went abroad as spe« emissary from the * mayor to study European housing methods in congested districts. His plan for making over the East Side of Manhattan is to spend $100,000,000 & year for five years in the construc- tion of model apartment houses, the rents to be fixed not on the basis of investment requirements, but on the basis of the income and rent-paying abllity of the tenants. It is proposed to raise the money by equal participation of philan- thropie citizens and the State. Mr. Heckscher expects to find five hun dred persons willing to contribute $50,000,000 a year, or $100.000 each, on the prospect of a six per cent re- turn, while from public sources a similar amount is appropriated an- nually. The apartments provided by this fund would be flve stories in height, possibly ten if a new elevator device just being developed in Ger- many proves successful. These build ings will be constructed around in terfor courts to be treated as parks, with fountains and play for the children. Experiments in slum elimi have been carried in European cities, but not with complete success. spaces on on | a veritable hornet just at the time of the home-bound traffic, which is heavier than the morning rush. Progress of the vote by means of The Star’s coupon indicates that the parents of the school children of Washington are intensely interested in this proposition. The Board of Ed- ucation Is relying in large measure upon the outcome of the referendum regarding the school hours and it is therefore important that every parent should express an opinion promptly. r———— Corn on the cob is sald to be much appreciated by Queen Marie. If she can teach the epicures of this Nation how to eat corn on the cob and still appear as a representative of aristo- cratic grace she will confer a favor which society should never forget. I The normal man enjoys the service for which nature has best fitted him. Im demanding more work Mussolini has hit upon a subtle appeal to hu- man pride. ——— st The World War, like other wars, de- veloped a few wicked politicians as well as many noble patriots. T The Parading Princelet. Agitation over the escapade of the young grandson of former Emperor Willlam, who recently took part in reichswehr maneuvers, has not ceased with the dismissal of Gen. von Seeckt from the command of that body of troops. Criminal charges have been preferred by the German League for the Rights of Man against that youth for wearing the uniform and usurping the functions of a lieu- tenant. This organization, which has not heretofore been conspicuous for activity, as far as the dispatches have disclosed, also demands the punishment of Von Seeckt, of the former crown prince and of the com- mander of the regiment in which young Willlam served. The law pro- vides a fine of 150 marks for wear- ing a military uniform without author- ization. If this charge is pressed, serious embarrassment may be caused to some eminent persons in Germany. Gen. von Seeckt, it is understood, was quite innocent of any participa- tion in the affair. He did not know that the princeling had been made a member of the regiment. Ie did not know that back of his enlist- ment was an intrigue by the wife of the former crown prince and the co-operation with her of three gen- erals and two colonels. Not until after the maneuvers did he learn of this, and when he was quietly pressed to conduct an investigation he r zed that If he did so he would stir up nest. So he kept quiet, and then the anti-monarchists persisted and brought the matter into In London enormous sums have been ‘the open and poor Von Seeckt, hero of the people, was sacrificed. Now may come other proceedings and from them may develop a reac- tion against the monarchical party. Thus the effort of the ex-kaiser's eldest son and his wife to put their heir forward Into the ranks of the reichswehr has had a repercussion that they did not expect. Had the lad been content to wear the relchswehr uniform all might have passed off smoothly. But he donned one of the old-time uniforms of the imperial days and that marked him for attention and the storm followed. It is evident that the German republicans will not tolerate anything savoring of monarchism. Yet recently in a cere- monial parade in one of the secondary citles of the republic many of the old-time costumes of militarism were worn, without causing any trouble. It seems to be one thing for a com- moner to doll up in the gaudy gar- ments of imperialism and quite another for a scion of deposed royalty to do so. oo Feminine Costumes. Out in Jeffersonville, Ind., a nine- year-old school girl, clad in knicker- bockers, walked into school and was promptly sent home by outraged school officlals on the ground that the cos- tume {s “immodest and immoral.” Her mother sent her again; again she was returned. The mother claims that the daughter is as properly dressed for school and for play as any of her age who wear dresses. A number of other parents in the town have backed her up and urged her to seek an injunction to permit her child’s at- tendance on classes. Two young evangelists, sisters, con- ducting a serfes of meetings in an up- town New York church, declare in ringing tones that “bobbed hair is a sin and cosmetics are shameful.” A good many persons will probably agree with them on one or both points. They say that the Bible warns women against bobbing their hair, “although not in just those words. Grown women wear knickerbockers whenever it suits their convenience to do so. They wear riding breeches. They wear overalls. Many thousands of young women, and others not so young, have bobbed their halr and re- Joice in the freedom and comfort thus gained. Hundreds of thousands of women woud no more think of omit- ting cosmetics than would their brothers and husbands think of ap- pearing without neckties. Times change and there are always some who never seem to catch up with them. A Washington woman is au- thority for the statement that in the days of hoop skirts she, having left off her flaring hoops, but being other- wise as adequately clad as were malidens of a decade or more ago, was sent home from school on the same ground, namely, that her costume was “not modest.” A certain number of persons complain that humorous mag- azines are not nearly so funny as they were when the complainers were young. As long as the daily press car- ries news stories like these they can solace themselves satisfactorily else- where. — . Senate rules are criticized. They may yet demonstrate an important in- fluence in affairs by making a Vice President famous. ————— e Judge Mack held the Daugherty- Miller jury as long as he could with- out unduly punishing the majority as innocent bystanders. ——— et It becomes evident that more revues are needed in order to provide suitable jobs for all the winners of beauty con- tests in obscure communities. R Teapot Dome remains one of Amer- ica’s prominent bits of scenery less important in picturesqueness than in historic interest. ———rate. Theft of a priceless dlamond in France calls attentlon to the fact that in a financial crisis enormous latent resources have been available. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Classicism. The olden days, they tell us, Forever have been lost. The modern days impel us To a contempt of cost. Yet now the garments flutter Revealing wondrous grace— Where tones musicians utter Set a barbaric pace. So, still we take our chances Upon a classic plan— The woodland goddess dances Unto the pipes of Pan. Hard Thinking. “I suppose you are thinking up a number of things to say when Con- gress convenes.” No,” answered Senator Sorghum. “I don't have to think of things to say. What I have to pause and con- sider about is whether it is safe to say 'em.” Jud Tunkins says a friend who does vou a favor has to be tactful to pre- vent a feeling that he has ceased to be a friend and has become a creditor. Long Waiting List. When trying crooks—'tls sad but true— The law delays with reasoning fine. Before with one we've gotten through A dozen more arrive in line. | it is a wicked world,” said Hi 1o, the sage of Chinatown, only describe the part of it with which they are best acquainted.” Call for Rehearsals. It isn't so long till Thanksgiving— The leaves are beginning to fall And life seems again worth the living. Its sorrows are fleeting and small. “Men who Let's be grateful for gold in wood- land— And harvests so well under way. We live in a wondrously good land. Let's practice for Thanksgiving day. “You kin 1 lot o' good advice, said Uncle Eben. “but if you had sense enough to use it, you could| have thought most of it up foh )‘oh-l ) B —— 8 Tur! | | to give THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Herbert Spencer is one writer many persons tend to shy at. Yet this dis- tinguished gentleman, whom America befriended early in his career, has many lessons for every reader. ‘There is no one alive, whether mar- ried or single, who would not be bene- fited by a thoughtful perusal of Spencer’s four essays on “Education,” published separately in magazines be- tween 1856 and 1860, and brought to- gether in book form shortly thereafter. In this book one will find no men- tion of Spencer’s theory of evolution, “an integration of matter and con- comitant dissipation of motion, during which matter passes from an indefi- nite ncoherent homogeneity to a defi- nite coherent heterogenelty.” Not at all! “Education” is a small book divided into four parts, which one might read- ily read of a sunny Summer's after- noon, while sitting away out on the end of the Steel Pler at Atlantic City, as one Washingtonian actually did. “Education’s is that sort of book. It is not ‘“heavy,” but it requires some application on the part of the reader, as every good book on a seri- ous subject does, of course. This is a good book. It gives a normal person a plan of life to which he can look for help all his days. In this era of often wrongly placed accents, when pleasure, “fun,” amusement and 80 on hold first place in the thoughts of thousands upon thousands, a book that puts things in their proper places has its value. Surely. ki Spencer’s “Education” does just at. “What knowledge 1s of most worth?” he asks. ¢ Education is at best playing a losing game, despite marvelous advances, if the individual it attempts to teach has no personal conception of what it 18 all about. The average young man who reads “Education” is put in a position to co-operate with his teachers, whether they be at home, in school or in busi- ness. He Is glven a system whereby he may plan, and a chart by means of which he can judge. Parents, too, who have the upbring- ing of little ones—not wholly to be folsted off onto professional “teach- ers”—are put in a better position to help their children in that greater education known as living. Much that Spencer advocated has been put into effect, so that the mod- ern reader must mot be fooled into regarding this book as “trite.” When written it was revolutionars Many readers today are likely to find it so, in its application to their personal lives. Education, forsooth, does not end with school days. That is a trite saying, too, but a true one, and fits in here; that 1s why wae use it. Spencer was among the vanguard of those who put the modern so-called ‘practical education” in the lead. Among mental as among bodily acqui- sitions, he pointed out, the ornamental comes ' before the useful. This was especlally true in his day—for we have taken Spencer to heart! Surely. * % ok ok “If we inquire what 18 the real mo- tive for giving boys a classical educa- tion, wo find it to be simply conform- ity to public opinion,” he said. To realize the truth that with the mind as with the body the ornamental precedes the useful, he continued, it is necessary to understand that, from the far past down to the present, so- cial needs have subordinated indi- vidual needs. The chiet social need has been the control of individuals. “To get above some and be reverenced by them, and to propitiate those who are above us, is the universal struggle in which the chief energles of life are expended,’ Spencer declares. This is one of the most searchingly honest statements to be found in books, and could only have been writ- ten by & man who had stud! fLuman nature deeply, not superficialy. “We are none of us content with quietly unfolding our own individual- itles to the full in all directions; but have a restless craving to impress our individualities upon others, and in some way subordinate them. And this is what determines the character of our education.” So Spencer, speaking half a century ago of “the rude, un- developed character of our education.” He wanted a standard of values; he had a list of them, for his own use, and he set them down in plain order for all of us. On every side today, in great cities and small, we see Technical High Schools—S8pencer had something to do with putting them there, although one will never find his name over the doorway. * % x “It behooves us to set before our- selves, and ever to keep clearly in view, complete living as the end to be achieved,” Spencer tells us. (The won- der of books is that a man long dead can still tell us something’) To find out the knowledge most worth while, he continued, the first step must obviously be to classify, in the order of their importance, the leading kinds of activities which con- stitute human life. This he does as follows: 1. Those activitles which directly minister to self-preservation. 2. Those activities which, by secur- ing the necessities of life, indirectly minister to self-preservatioh. 3. Those activities which have for thelir end the rearing and disciplining of offspring. 4. Those activities which are in- volved in the maintenance of proper soclal and political relations. 5. Those miscellaneous activities which make up the leisure part of life, devoted to the gratification of the tastes and feelings. When we fret because our broad- casting station ‘‘goes off the air’ on account of an SOS signal from the ocean, we are putting Activity No. § in place of Actlvity No. 1 The young man or young woman who has so lost his or her sense of proportion as to allow the fox-trot to take precedence of the path to the savings bank is replacing No. 2 (ae- tivities which indirectly minister to self-preservation) by No. & (merely miscellaneous activities which proper- ly make up the leisure part of life). No matter what our age, or how good our “education,” or what position we occupy in life, each one of us can check up on himself by referring, now and then, to Herbert Spencer's well proportioned life chart. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. The most sensational news of the season is the report from London that Ttaly and Greece have concluded an agreement to attack Turkey and di- vide its territory between themselves. The details are thrilling, and lack only one quality to make them of overwhelming interest—truth. The whole story is offictally contra- dicted by the Italian embassy and the Greek legation, and is character- ized as merely an effort of Itallan speculators—political refugees—desir- ous of dlscrediting the Fascist admin- istration and profiting by artificially stopping the persistent rise in the Ttalian lira, Mussolini himself has welcomed an Amerlcan correspondent and _given him @ written interview, published on the heels of the false report, in which the duce emphasizes his claim that nothing fs farther from the policy of Fasclsm than to encourage war under any circumstances short of aggression by a forefgn power. *® ® ¥ ¥ The Italians concede that they are in need of more territory for their overpopulation, especially since their outlet through migration of 100,000 a year to the United States has been reduced to about 4,000 by our fmmi- gration protective laws, but Italy al- ready possesses all of Libya, which covers Tripoli and Cyrenaica in Af- rica. While the interior of those vast regions is too hot for Itallans, there is considerable available land near the coast which can yet be occupied. That reglon was added to Italy’s pos- sessions by her war with Turkey in 1912, A sensatlonal two-column article ap- peared last Saturday in the London Daily Express, stating—not on the au- thority of Mussolini—that Mussolini “is making definite plans for a war with Turkey.” His object, says the article, 1 to obtain the sphere of in- fluence on the Aegean coast of Tur- which was promised to Italy in 1915 by the secret treaty of London with Russia, France and Britain, but was denied in the Versailles treaty. The campaign is laid out in that dispatch, even to an appeal to the United States to use its influence for peace. It adds, “Greece is committed to active co-operation, as has been confirmed by conversations with M. Pangalos, who Is now in prison M. Pangalos is the deposed dictator of Greece, who was recently over- thrown by a coup d'etat led by M. Kondylos, now premier. The Greek legation gives out the following offi- cial contradiction of the whole story: “The following cable has been re- d by the Greek legation from the ministry for foreign affairs at Athens: “Concerning the statements alleged to have been made by former Presi- dent Pangalos, which, furthermore, he himself has already denied, it appears after a thorough study of the official correspondence of the Hellenic diplo- matic missions abroad, as well as from the respective files of the min- istry for foreign affairs, that never, at any time, have negotiations taken place between Greece and any other power for an eventual attack on Byt e Behind the story there lies this much of a shadowy foundation on which to base such a report. In the Aegean Sea are 12 islands called “the Dodecanese” (which In Greek means twelve). The chief of these islands is Rhodes. They belonged to Greece some 2,000 years ago, but passed into Roman hands, later Byzantine, Jewish and Turkish rule. During the Italo-Turkish war of 1912 Italy seized the islands from her enemy, Turkey, and occupled them as a base of supplies, and she has never relinguished her hold upon them, al- though the peace commission, after the World War, awarded them to Greece, at the request of their inhabit- ants. mostly Greek. Italy's refusal them over to Greece has led to more or dissatisfaction, which the League of Nations has failed to as- But neither Italy nor Greece | has ventured to go to war to maintain claim to the Dodecanese. tly, Italy and Greece bave amoothed out their differences as to those islands, Greece acquiescing, per force, in Italy’s present retention. At no time has Turkey had anything to do with the dispute between Greece and Italy. * ¥ Italy is prospering under the rule of ¥ascism, led by the most inde- fatigable worker she has ever known —Mussolini. She has no labor prob- lem like those of England, for in Italy there is a tribunal before which all labor disputes must come for com- pulsory settlement. Striking is made a crime, and strikers are summarily Jjailed. There are but 100,000 unem- ployed in the country. The Fascist government is sup- ported in Parllament by three-quarters of the members, and throughout the masses of population b; over- whelming majority—claimed to be “practically unanimous. Industry and export commerce are flourishing. Since the settlement of the war debt with the United States, the stabilizing of the lira has progressed steadily, and deflation of the currency has been going on for the last two months, gradually, not precipitately as in Ger- many, where a billion marks were destroyed in one day. In Italy In the last two months some 600,000 lira have been destroyed, to stabilize the currency, and a settled policy of de- flating at the rate of 500,000 a year has been declared. The result is a rise in the value, averaging 5 points a day. If now a rumor that Italy was about to plunge into war—no matter what the provocation—gained credence, the lira would suddenly drop in market value, and the speculators who had started the report would be the first to profit thereby, for they would sell short. While Ttaly has not undertaken to Introduce new industries since the World War, she has discovered vast iron and coal resources in Sardinia, and vaster resources in her own wuter ower especlally in northern Italy. his saves coal, for which she had been paying foreign countries. Half of her railroads are already equipped with hydro-electric power; all soon will be. * ok ko Greece has met tremendous changes since the World War, and especially since the Smyrna disaster of the Greco-Turkish War, and the ensuing exchange of nationals between Greece and Turkey. The net result of that exchange added immensely to the population of Greece, and while im- poverishing thousands of individuals, it has brought into Greece many valu- able industries formerly monopolized by Turl A For example, most of the weaving of “Turkish carpets” was done in Asia Minor by Greeks who have now been forced to come to Greece. They have brought the art with them, and “Turk- ish carpets” will hereafter largely come from Greece. ‘While Greece makes no claims to important production from its farms, it does claim that much of the ‘‘pure Italian olive oil” is grown In Greece and extracted in Italy, because Greece has no machines for making it. Also much of the “pure Turkish tobacco™ comes from Greece, as well as the currants for which Corinth is famed. Greece is neither industrial nor agri- cultural, but is pre-eminently com- mercial. The newly received Greeks from Smyrna had been accustomed to the great commerce of that city and L O L D. ©. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1926. THIS AND THAT ! THE NORTH WINDOW By Leila Mechlin. A few years ago a delegation of clubwomen from a Midwestern town tolled up five flights of steps, because an elevator happened not to be run- ning, to visit by appointment Cecilia Beaux, the great portrait painter, in her New York studio. Every one of those women when she started that long climb had a fixed idea of what she was going to see when she got to the top—an idea very different from the actuality when, breathless, she arrived. The gracious lady who re- ceived them did not wear a painting smock nor hold a palette in her hand; the room in which they were received, that in which she painted her great portraits, had the appearance of a Hv- ing room, the tall north window being curtained; there were no pictures on the walls; there were mno tubes of paint lying about; there was nothing to be seen save the hostess and her very charming and characteristic sur- roundings. It was a great disappoint- ment. * K X K But have not we all read in novels about artists’ studios with their sumptuous furnishings, rich hang- ings, unfinished paintings on easels, finished works on the walls, curios on mantel shelves, a general alr of dis- order and Bohemia? How little the majority of artists’ studios conform to this picture; how few really great works of art have been painted in such environment! Possibly in the sixties, when the old Tenth street studios in New York were built, there was a tendency to overelaboration; but that was the day of brica-brac mantels and gingerbread houses. The 1ving room walls of one of the great houses in New York were hung with red plush studded with thousands of rhinestones, and Society, with a big S. gazed admiringly. Willlam M. “hase gathered around him a great quantity of beautiful things—brasses, carvings, draperiesé-but he reglly loved simplicity. The old Tenth street studios, so long the center of studio life in New York, are no more. To a great ex- tent ‘the duplex studio apartments have taken their place. These are the most sumptuous of the studlos, but even they would not be found to smell of paint or exhibit the artist’s product. ERE Some of the most famous artists in New York have what might be called loft studlos. Edwin H. Blashfield, the distinguished mural painter and past president of the National Acad- emy of Design, has for years occupied a studlo in Carnegie Hall. One takes the elevator as far as it will go and then begins climbing stairs and tread- ing narrow hallways. Finally, just under the roof, or possibly on top of it, is the great painter's studio, suf- ficlently high-ceilinged and broad ‘to permit the setting up of a great mural canvas. Mural paintings are pro- duced, not from a high stool, but a movable scaffolding, and the paint re- quired to cover these large surfaces comes in pails rather than tubes. Jules Guerin built a studio on the roof of one of the high buildings in New York in order to execute the mural paintings in the Lincoln Me- morial. Again one took an elevator to the top of the building and then climbed a flight of stairs. The room itself was simply a loft—a workshop, not a place for teas or for evening revels. Augustus Vincent Tack has been doing some big painting in a loft studio on top of the Grand Central Rallroad Station, higher still than the Grand Central Galleries. o One of the most beautiful studios in New York s that of the brothers, Francis C. and F. Bolton Jones. It is a duplex apartment in one of the studio bulldings, with its lofty main studio two stories in helght, a flight of stairs leading to a surrounding bal- cony, and reception rooms and a sec- ond smaller studio opening off from the main room. There is the all-es- sential north window with adjustable screens. There is a beautiful Caen- stone mantel in the center of the west wall, with a superb blue vase of finest falence on the high shelf. These two brothers—one a distinguished land- scape painter, the other a painter of figure subjects—have with their own hands ornamented and beautified this studio_apartment as the painters of the Renaifssance beautified what- they touched. They themselves have carved the wood of the balcony, the panels of the doors, some of the furniture. They have made colored windows like jeweled mosalcs of bits of bright-colored glass. High on the wall between the large and the small studios Francis Jones has painted a series of pictures {llustrating the old sages, giving fine play to imagination. And yet with all this elaboration the appearance is of spaclousness and simplicity. * Kk ¥ We have no such studio buildings in Washington, but we have quite a number of well used studios, and every now and then another is added to the list. Mr. Meryman has erected a studio building for himself and two other artists back from the street be- tween 13 and F, Nineteenth and Twentieth streets. Three of the Cor- coran School girls have taken a studio over a garage, tucked away behind some little houses on KEighteenth street between H and I. There are two fideal sculptors’ studios in Washington, the Bush- Brown studio which Mr. Bush-Brown himself built, connected with his house at 1729 (1 street, and the studio bullt for and long occupied by the late Paul Bartlett in Eckington, which the painter, Alexis B. Many, is now oc- cupying. These are hoth big, bare rooms of huge dimensions; uncovered brick walls within as well as without, lofty roofs and barnlike doors per- mitting the erection of monumental works in clay and plaster on large scaffoldings. The sculptor’s tools and implements are about, and nowadays the smell of plasterline is ever pres- ent where a sculptor works. But these, again, are workshops, not the- atrical backgrounds for social enter- tainments. * € Kk ‘When Frank Millet painted the dec- oration for the Baltimore custom- house he occupied a studlo in old Forest Hall on Wisconsin avenue, Georgetown. A long bare flight of steps led up to the hall from the en- trance, and no barer or more barren place could be imagined than the studio when one was once inside. The walls were in poor repair; the floors atrocious. At one end was a long table on which drawings and cartoons could be laid out. A few books were scattered about: sketches were pinned up here and there. High up on the walls were half-finished studles, and on the long, s=caffoldlike easel was the work in hand. But still it was a splendid workroom. Calling at this studio one afternoon, naturally are ready to work in simi. | the writer found it bedecked with a lar commerce in Athens. has great plains, penetrated by the River Struma. When present enter- prises of drainage of that region (mostly under American management) are completed, vast fertile territory will be developed, capable of growing enough wheat and other grains to feed the entire Balkans. The recent overthrow of Pangalos, the dictator, by Kondylos, restores al. constitutional government to election will restoring the 1 ! the people Peace, therefors, holds out to both Greece and Ttaly far richer prizes than a war of conquest upon Turkey. Copyrizht. 1986, by Paal V. Oellined Macedonia ! must have completely profusion of Spring flowers. Inquir- ing the meaning and presupposing a festive occasion, the painter explained that he earlier had had a call from “Tom Page” and “Hop Smith,” and that they had brought the flowers. ‘What a delightful incident! Mr. Millet was above all a man's man, but his friends adored him in this particular fashion. Here were two writers, both of whom had es- sentially artistic temperaments. pay- ing their tribute to their artist friend, and in a most lavish manner, for they bought out a florist and filled their cab (that was before the days of taxis) full to over- flowing. What a remarkable tribute! For that once, at least, the bare old l ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Q. What does the Russlan word “cheka” mean?—R. S. A. It refers to the secret service of Soviet Russia. The name is formed om letters of the Russlan words hrezvychainaya komissia.” ‘When dld Nancy Hanks make her trotting record?—T. A. Her record was made in 1892; time, 2 minutes 4 seconds; distance, 1 mile. Q. Who is Psyche?—C. C. P. A. Psyche is a personified and delfied soul or spirit, the beloved of Eros, Her symbol is the butterfly. Psyche Is always depicted as having butterfly wings. Q. I notice that people abroad use their forks in a different way from ours. Should Americans conform to thelr custom when traveling?—G. B. H. A. From the standpoint of a for- eigner, most Americans appear to a disadvantage while traveling abroad because of the fact that the Amer- icans efther observe their custom of changing the fork from the left to the right hand or they conform to the European custom. Because of lack of training, it is difficult for an American to use his fork with the left hand. The result is that he appears awkward. Each traveler has to determine for himself from which standpoint he ob- jects the least to appear awkward. Q. When does a letter come under the protection of /the Government— when the stamp is placed on it, or when 1t is put in the letter box?—C. R. R. ‘A. The Post Office Department says that mail does not come under the protection of the Government until it is dropped in the mail box. Simply placing a postage stamp on a letter or package does not in any way insure protection by the United States Pos- tal Service, nor is the Government in any way responsible for it. Q. Please give information concern- ing the star Betelgeuse.—V. F. A. The Naval Observatory says, ac- cording to George Ellry Hale, the dlameter of Betelgeuse is certalnly more than 100,000,000 miles and prob- ably as much as 215,000,000. The di- ameter of the sun being 864,000 miles, Betelgeuse 18 therefore roughly of 250 times greater diameter and 15,- 000,000 times greater volume. How- over, It is supposed to consist of mat- ter in an extremely attenuated con- dition. Though the weight of Betel- geuse is now known, the fact that no star whose weight has been deter- mined is as much as 100 times as heavy as the sun makes it unlikely that Betelgeuse is heavy in propor- tion to its volume. Q. What {s Graham McNamee pald for announcing the world series?— R. d *The American Telephone Europe’s Steel Combine Raises Few Fears in America watches with friendly oyes the combination of steel manu- facturers of Germany, France, Bel- glum, Luxembourg and the Saar Valle; Taking advantage of the friendly relations now enjoved by thelr respective peoples and govern- ments, the steel men have formed a “consortium” to regulate manufac- ture and marketing to thelr mutual advantage, thus, in the opinion of many observers, taking an important step toward assuring peace in Eu- rope. “The steel interests of western Eu- rope have acted wisely in forming & combination to regulate their pro- duction,” says the Providence Jour- nal. “It ought to conserve economic resources at a time when such con- gervation was never more needed on the Continent.” Seeing in the devel- opment “the long-heralded contl- nental steel trust” and a fair step “toward Americanization of European {ndustry and the betterment of in- ternational relations,” the Louisville Courler-Journal believes the combine is “a movement toward an economic United States of KEurope, with free trade within the continental bound- arfes.” In line with this thought is the ob- gervation made by the Champaign News-Gazette: “When the feeding of the hungry mouths of one nation de- pends as much upon the welfare of a sister country as on the home coun- try, the sister country is not so ready to work harm upon the other. Eco- nomic dependence, of course, is a far safer peace guarantee than all the leagues of nations in the world.” The Rochester Times-Union finds it interesting to note how the inevitable operation of economic interest has brought previously conflicting groups together. “The retrocession of Al- sace-Lorraine to France, this paper says, “has been fruitful of good re- sults, not only directly, but indirectly. For the Lorraine iron and Ruhr coal are mutually complementary. When both were in the hands of Germany there was no motive for international understanding. Now there is a very powerful one, and one that certainly seems to have operated with real power. It is a solid gain for Furope that this great economic accord has buttressed the treaties of TLocarno and the admission of Germany into the League of Nations.” * ok kX Explaining the new combination, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle points out that “the agreement just formed does not Indeed constitute a trust in the strict meaning of the term. It does not put possession of the steel plants of the several countrles into the hands of trustees The producers re- tain the control of their own mills, but the plan sets a supposed normal total production,” the mills of each nation in the consortium producing “a certain percentage of this total” Citing statistics, the Norfolk Ledger- Dispatch describes the ngreement as limiting “Germany to 43.18 per cent of the total production, France to 31.19 per cent, Belgium to embourg to 8.23 and the Saa the total output to run from 25,000, 000 to 30,000,000 ton: and this paper sees in the arrangement “a hopeful sign that Europe is preparing to get down to work, after eight years of bickering, threats and international grimaces.” The Springfleld Union looks upon the plan as “basically and principally” an endeavor “to secure co-operation between the vast ore mines of Lor- raine, which is now French, and the coke production of the Ruhr on ad- vantageous conditions,” and charac- terizes it as “In reality a return to conditions as they existed before the war when Lorraine belonged to Ger- many and the co-operation between the two districts was completely in German hands.” Naturally there is study of the situ- ation in relation to the steel business of this country. On this point the Waterloo Tribune says: “Neither the British nor American interests have been approached to enter into ar- —_— hall was fllled with fragrance and loveliness. At the time the furnishings of the Page house on R street were sold, one of the items in the catalogue was the first skotch made by Mr. Millet for the great ceiling painting in the Bal- timore customhouse. It was in- scribed by the painter to his friend, Thomas Nelson Page—a precious gift, doubtless connected with the incident of the floral tribu -y Telegraph Co. says that Mr. MeNa- mee receives no additional salary for announcing special events of this kind, as he is on its regular pay roll and carries out whatever ignments are given to him. Q. How deep is the water at the brink of Niagara Falls, and how wide are the Falls?—HB. W. A. The water on top of the ledge of both the American and the Cana dian falls at Niagara is 20 feet deep. The Canadian falls are 1,230 feet wida and the American 1,060 feet wide. Q. What causes pickles to shrink? —O0. D. Shriveling of pickles often oc- curs when they have been placed at once in very strong salt or sugar solu- tions, or even in very strong vinegars. For this reason avold such solutlons as far as possible. When a strong solution is desirable the pickles should first be given a preliminary treatment in a weaker solution. Q. When did Kipling live in the United States?—J. L. N. A. He visited the United States and married in 1892 the daughter of H. W. Valestier of New York and lived for several rs in Vermont. Q. Should be pruned?—c. G. A. The Bureau of Plant Industry snys that pruning an cvergreen tree is not recommended, as pruning Is likely to spoil the shape of the plant. In choosing plants for any particular position they should be selected with the thought of the ultimate height, so that they will not nced pruning. If they must be pruned, do it any time except in the Spring, when the tree is making new growth. Q. Please describe the materal used for Martha Washington's wed- ding gown.—I. C. A. When the “Widow Custis™ mar ried George Washington she wore gown of yellow brocaded silk. evergreen trees 1. Q. At what temperature does glass melt?—H. W. A. The Bureau of Standards says that the glass of which an ordinary bottle is made begins to soften at about 600 degrees C. and continually becomes softer as the temperature i3 increased until at about 1,300 degrees C. it is very fluid. The keynote of the times is eflcient service. In supplying its readers with a free Information Bureaw in Wash- ington The Fvening Star is living up to this principle in deed and in fact. Weare paying for this service in order that it may be free to the public. Sul ‘mit your queries to the staff of erperts whose scrvices are put at your dia- posal. Inclose 2 cents in stamps 1o cover the return postage. Address The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic_J. Haskin, Director, Wash- ingto c. American Press rangements as to trade or prices It can therefore be taken as assured that the combine will be prepared to meet British and Ameriean interests wherever in the world there is business."” As to this the San Francisco Bulle- tin avers that “American manufuc turers are not afrald of meeting Iuro pean manufacturers in neutral mar kets,” and this paper considers that the friendly European combine i, “In spite of the possibilities of competi- tion against American steel in foreign countries, among the best of good news from Iurope,” since “in tha long run it is the economic factor that dictates modern peace or wa and peace is the first dictate of e nomic wisdom.” The Philadelphia Bulletin thinks it problematle as “to what extent the consortium will affect American export business,” but sees “no reason to fear that it will bre Into our domestic market ext sively.” EE “Should thig prove the bLegin of the economic and perhaps polit federation of Europe, its effect our country cannot be foreseen,” serveg the Newark Fvening New: it plctures a “Pan-Europe” with “al- most as much land and twice as many people as Pan-America,” which, if it ever came together as a single coun- try, would have “a domestic market of 431,000,000 people, and a potential plrfldu ing organization of the same size.” Should that day come, predicts the News, “America, now rejolcing in its unequaled wealth and ~power, will have a competitor.”” The Philadelphia Public Ledger approves of Secretary Hoover's course in calling “for a full investigation of the case to determins whether the economic balance of tha world 18 injured or benefited through the new factor Injected by this Franco-German consortium. Many newspapers ke cognlzance of the absence of England from tha agreement, among thess being the New York Times, which expresses tha opinion that “England has more cause than we ha for viewing the new steel trust with alarm. Ier co strike has caused imports of fron and steel, even for shipbullding, and has laid her exports open to forelgn inva- sion,” explains the Times. The Asbury Park Press wonders if “the recent meeting of Chamberlain and Mussolini” may not be “the first step in a counterbalancing cartel de. signed to weaken the central Kuro- pean metal combine,” and frankly dis- approves that country's “playing off the Franco-German agreement t§ strengthen its own ends.” THINK IT OVER Statesmen and Bathing Suits. By William Mather Lewis, [President George Washington University There is an adage to the effect that no man is a hero to his valet. Its meaning seemed clear a few days ago I looked upon the picture of Mus- solinl in a bathing suit. Now I have admired Mussolinl. It has always seemed to me that one could read leadership and power in his keen, strongly cut face and in his alert attitude. h supplles it, le From the shoulders up we still have leadership, but we long for some on: h about those shoulders a te other great Italians of a by, wore as they trod the Applan way A public man does well to cling to his conventional garb as he sh faces the camera. We naturally ex pect Channel swimmers to be clad In bathing suits as they smile at us from the printed page. Thosa are their working clothes. We would not rec- ognize Nurml in anything but a track suit, nor Tunney in a cutaway coat. But a statesman! With apoplexy or anemia stalking on his traill We cannot glorify him thus. Tt has been |tried this Summer, not only on the shores of an Italian lake; but in At Ilantle City, Palr o d Santa | Barbara. r Represent % and governors have joined the tors in a gallant but hopeloss | experiment | Shades of the Rowman gently upon salcl Legion fall Mussolint in a bathing (Coorright. 1926.)