Evening Star Newspaper, October 29, 1926, Page 8

- THE EVENING STAR, FHE EVENING STAR)]case. egatnst the north and south flow. [ trom the doctor. They may nhave Wlth&!_n 'y Morning Editlon. WASHINGTON, D. C. +«....October 29, 1826 THEODORE W. NOYES s ool . Editor ¥he Evening Star Newspaper Company 100 50 S P T e Ave mfi"" Sfice: 1"?5'&.'& 32;\4 st c : . m"i?-c.;'s Kopent S1.. Lodon ngand. B Evening Star. witn the Sunday morn Golivered by ‘cartiers wiihir 0 cents per month: dally only th: Bundaye only. 30 cents Orders may be sent by mail or 4(n 8000." Collgation is made by of each month. Rate by Mafl—Payable in Advance. Maryland snd Virginia. ) 7 P L,:“; lfl]d'lundu. } 9.00: 1 mo.. 76¢ 3 p $2.02: 1 max oo blndyy only 157 83:00: T mo.. 38¢ All Other States and Canada. sz ant Sunday. 17 812001 mo- $1.90 $aduy only " o 3800i1mo ase Member of the Associated Press. Associated Press is exclnaively entitled use for republ A red- al ne: publication Building Sites. A delay in the execution of the pub- ife buflding plans is probable in view «f @ difterence of opinlon on the part of the members of the various com- imissions which have advisory juris- diction over the matter of bulldings and parks. These three bodies, the ublic Bulldings Commission, the «‘ommission of Fine Arts and the City Mark and Planning Commission, can- not without full meetings and inter- «ommission conferences agroe upon a policy of Mall-Avenus treatment and buflding emplacement. Thefo is a question as to the possibility of using @ny of the money available for con- struction purposes for the further ac- «uisition of land in the triangle with w view to utllizing the entire space eventually for building sites. In the circumstances it is possible that legis- Sstion will be sought at the next ses- w®ion of Congress to the end of permit- ting the immediate and complete pur- «chase of all the remaining areas not mow occupled or owned by the Gov- ernment. It is far better that there should be @elay to the end of a satisfactory molution of the problem of Mall-Avenue treatment than that constructions be started now which might later make Smpossiblo a proper development of this spaco between the Capital's main thoroughfare and the central reserva- don. It has been often urged during many years that the entire space be- txeen the Avenue and the Mall should be taken as & whole and treated for Bbullding purposes without reference to street lines. Had this been done be- fore any structures were erected with- ‘n the triangle there would now be mes dificulty in the suitable setting #t the three buildings immediately @ontemplated and the others that are te follow in, it is hoped, short order. ‘The Post Office Department and the District Bullding crowd thelr sites to the street limits. The latter building has, it {s true, @ small triangular park In front of it, but its northern edge is coincident with the building line of the street which on the map runs through from east to west. There is no chance of extension of either of these dulldings without the closing of existing streets. This street closing rhould be determined upon in con- fe=mity with & broad plan which aims fullest and best use of the en- tire spacc ~~A the most effective em- placement uf i~ public structures of the future. There should be no difficulty in se- curing from Congress at the coming wession authorization for the immedi- ®te condemnation of the remaining spaces in the Mall-Avenue triangle et in public ownership. Apparently there is no difference of judgment on the part of the several commissions as to the propriety and wisdom of using the entire triangle area, though there may be differences as to the »pecific plan of treatment, and as to the relationship between this building- Alled space and the Mall itself. It is eavidently established that no depart- riental buildings are to go on the “{all, other than the extended Depart- sment of Agriculture. The public Puildings act now in force stipulates thet with the exception of the print- tng ofMce no new buildings under this program shall be located save in what ey be known as the Mall-Avenue mres. In these circumstances a sup- plementary enactment definitely ap- prepriating for triangle acquisition and development on broad lines of wconomical as well as attractive build- tng emplacements {3 an essential step. R As Winter nears, the ~ille season approaches full splendor and a cowboy or a base ball player 18 measured by the quality of his in- doer menologue. - The Right-Hand Turn. One of the most persistent objec tions volced by Washington pedes- trians as the local traffic probler meoves steadily forward to solution deals with the dangers at street Inter- sections incident to the motorists’ right-hand turn. Summarised, the tenor of these ob- f all news dis- 20t nth od- | vaude- | Work it out with a diagram. In many citles vehicles making right-hand turns are permitted to cross either stream—that is, the halt- ing of traffic bound north does not pro- hibit a car from crossing the east and west pedestrian lane and then turning to the right. Here in Washington this is not allowed, certainly to the pedes- trians’ advantage. ‘With the pruposition clearly before them, local pedestrians and motorists may be counted upon to work it out. Upon the right-hand-turning motorist devoives the obligation of recognizing the fact that he makes his turn through pedestrian traffic, which has the right of way. He should proceed with extreme caution. Upon the co- operating pedestrian rests the obliga- 116n of crossing any intersection with vigilance and alacrity, conscious of the fact that he has left his exclusive and safe thoroughfare, the eidewalk, and is upon dangerous ground, even under the best of circumstances, until he gains the opposite curb. 1 Al Bus Line Ownership. ! A speedy determination of the law point involved in the question of the | ownership of the Washington Rapid Transit Co. is desirable from all points of view. The sudden interposition of llhls question in the hearings on an application for a higher rate of bus fare has checked all proceedings. Neither the Utilitles Commission nor the corporation counsel rendered an actual decislon on the point, the lat- ter holding that the matter is one properly for the courts to consider and the commission thereupon taking cognizance of the doubt that has been ralsed as to the legality of the recent change of ownership. The question is one of law. The public utilities statute provides that the purchase of the stock of one util- ity corporation by another must have the sanction of the commission. The corporation counsel holds that this provision was repealed by the La Fol- lette anti-merger act, which withdrew this authority from the commission and placed it with Congress. If the matter is taken to court a declsion | may be rendered which clarifies the case. The court may rule that the authority for acquisition of control may be granted by the commission, in which case legislation will not be necessary. Or it may rule that the La Follette act governs, whereupon it will be necessary to obtain an enact- ment. In either event some time must elapse before the status of the cor- poration is definitely established and the commission can proceed with the consideration of the application for higher fare. A factor of interest in this con- nection is that the finance corpora- tion which has just secured control of the bus lines not now owned by the traction companies has a large, possibly a controlling interest in one of the latter. The question of this relationship does not enter into the matter. It may, however, eventually figure. ————t e Halloween. Halloween, with its pumpkins and its masks and its pranks and its fes- tivities, will soon be here. It will be celebrated on Saturday, and police are making preparations to preserve the peace. According to an official order to the department from the major and superintendent, co-operation will be given the public In a sane celebration, but the police are in- structed to be firm and unylelding in the exercise of their duties when it passes beyond that stage. This is as should be. Rowdy ex- hibitions should not be tolerated. Ringing of door bells, indiscriminate blowing of the horns of parked auto- mobiles, throwing of flour and other such pranks are senseless and annoy- ing. They result from a misconcep- tion of what properly can be viewed @8 legitimate fun. There are too many people who on an occaslon of this kind step beyond the bounds of sane and appropriate ocelebration and become rough and in- sulting. It is this type that the po- lice will endeavor to suppress. The police do not wish to interfere with enjoyment, and the majority of the public will have no complaint on that score, but with those who refuse to recognize the limits of celebration the guardians of the peace will of necessity be forced to take steps in carrying out their duties. ————— The Ku Klux Klan, which was designed to reform politics, is found to have developed some politics of its own. ———————— A Message to Mars. London radio companies are in luck. They probably have the world's best customer. He does not care how he spends his money, and all the mes- | sages he sends are charged for at the 'highest known radio rate. This ‘h"iuufl person is a Dr. Robinson, who | claims to be a psychic expert. Using | a language all his own he started in esterday on his wild spending orgy. To a dumfounded radio operator at the Rugby station, the most powerful in England, he handed a neatly writ- ten message addressed to Mare, ex- plaining that he wished it “sent out In a hurry” because it was an answer to a message he had just received. After scratching his head in perplex- I"Tht world’s a stage.” ity, and perusing all the rate books available at the station, the operator solemnly folded up the paper, put it in the proper slot for urgent mes. sages, named an amount approximat- ing $1.08, explained that there was no guarantee of delivery and closed the transaction by proceeding with his) work. And there you are! The first mes- sage to Mars over commercial sta- tions. Forty-two miillon miles all for jections is as follows: The pedestrian, fully playing his cooperative part in 1he equation, waits patiently upon his cerner until the controlling officer's signal advises him that he may cross 1n theoretic safe! ntering the street te gain the opposite curb the chances are heavily in favor‘of his having to , during the first half of his four- ey across, vehicles which huve elected te make a right-hand turn at the in- fersection in question. Against the @angers involved the pedestrian vig- | thirty-six cents & word. “Opesti niptia areusly protests. secomba” were the three words ohe objection would be well taken jradiced. They were taken ruthlessly § thers were any way to avold the |from the brain language known only cendition against which it is made.|to Dr. Robinson and his Martian But consideration of the problem will | friends, whom he describes as big, up- ahow that there is none, short of pro- | standing men who smoke, drive auto- hiditing all right-hand turns by motor- | mobiles and drink tea, prohibition evi- wis. For the motorist proceeding, say, | dently having been in operation on aesth and south who would turn to |the planet earlier than in the United the ¥ight must either cross occupied | States, by e@estrian Janes east and west against| Just what the thres ‘words In the ihe Gow of traffic as s e ige mean could not be gleaned { o meant an acceptance to a the dansant in Mars around Christmas time. If 80, the various alrplane organizations in England should begin to figure out an attractive ome-way rate, because Dr. Robinson will want to stay over the holidays anyway, and they would surely have planes in Mars to bring him back to earth. At any event there would seem to be no dearth of possi- bilitles as far as the profits of the radio companfes are concerned. If Dr. Robinson has trouble arranging @ trip it will mean many messages back and forth, much to the advan- tage of every one but the sender. Alaska and Africa at the Zoo. It is somewhat of a striking coinci- dence that just before the consign- ment of African animals, the acquisi- tions of the Smithsonian-Chrysler ex- pedition, reached the Zoo in this city, two little Alaskan bears arrived at that institution. Thus the antipodes meet in Washington. The African visitors are tropical and the two new cubs are from the frigid zone. The elephant shrew and the blue-footed | monkey, and the whistling cobra, and | the giraffes—when they come—are ! from an alien land. The Alaskan bears are from American territory. They have not changed flagg in mov- ing to Washington. The Zoo is a cosmopolitan, interna- tional establishment. It has some- thing from everywhere. It was start- ed, as waS\noted the other day, with a strictly 'American group. The bison, or buffalo, s a native North American creature. Its like has never been found elsewhere. It was to pre. serve this Interesting indigenous in- habitant of the North American con- tinent that the collsction was begun, but soon it epread beyond the buffalo herd and creatures from other lands were brought. But whether the animals are Amer- fean or African, Aslatic or South American, European or Australlan, they are all welcome here and are all the objects of interest and admiration and even In some cases of affection on the part of the youngsters. Per- haps the little bears have a shade the better of the matter in thelr appeal, for they are always entertaining in youth in their antics, their sports and thelr greed for food. The bear cages at the Zoo, which are exceptionally well placed and designed for public view, are always well attended, and 80 little Kenai and Katnai, whom Mr. Stephen T. Mather, director of the Na- tional Park Service, has just brought down from the McKinley Park in Alaska, will be holding large recep- tions from now until they follow the instinct of their kind and go to sleep for the Winter. ———t e Discovery of a mummy in an Egyp- tian tomb excites sclentific interest, but the researches in the Hall-Mills case continue to command the most popular attention. ——————— The Queen of Rumania has revived interest in Lole Fuller. The serpen- tine dance, once regarded as so dar- ing a revealment, may yet be revived as a step backward toward an era of more decorous standards. ——————— A wet-or-dry referendum will exert no decisive influence if the drys re- fuse to vote. Bootleggers and their patrons will be the only ones to go on record with opinions that must be regarded largely as self-serving. ——————— The ‘“barll of money” has disap- peared from politics. A hogshead at least is now required. ————— France is arranging for further dis- cussion of the debt to the U. 8. A, One way to gain time is to prolong the conversation. —————— A Commissioner of the D. C. must have so many virtues and so few vices that it would seem only fair to enlarge the pay attached to an office demanding such extraordinary quall- fications. ———ttt—— e Mexico may elect Obregon to the presidency once more. The distinc- tion of being twice saluted by the bands with “Hall to the Chief” would be extraordinary. ————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Bigger Drama. When Art in drama still was young And players ranted, stout of lung, ‘The audience for rellef would beg And toss tomatoes or an egs. The vaster scene Makes methods old appear serene, ‘When a parade heaves into sight They toss & chunk of dynamite. ‘Why, Indeed! “You do not seem to care for the undivided attention of great audi- ences.” “Why,” responded Senator Sor- ghum, “should I compete with the radio announcer?”’ Cash Consideration. A friend may lend With liberal heart, And yet a debt 014 friends may part. So friendships end; It's plain to see They parked unmarked By “C. 0. D.” Jud Tunkins says people who bor- row trouble goon get where they can't borrow anything else. No Occasion to Tremble. “So this is the ancient mummy!” “Yes,”” answered the explorer. “People used to tremble at the gound of his voice.” : “I don't think so. The formation of his larynx indicates that he was no amateur tenor.” Futile Magnificence. Egyptian diggers are employed To make a mummy known. His tomb prescrves him unannoyed ‘Where lavish wealth is shown: And yet folks doubt if he enjoyed Home comforts of his own. *A beotlegger,” sald Uncle Eben, “makes meny another man go bere- foot,” ¥ | | WASHINGTON, D. C., THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. How s your curiosity? . Are you interested in new things, as_they come along, or are you re- pelled by them? Many educators belleve that the instinctive foundation of the intellec- tual life {s curlosity, and that he who loses it, no matter what his ege, 1s in a sad way. “Intelligence demands an alert curi- osity, but it must be of a certain kind,” warns Bertrand Russell, his “Education and the Good Life.” ““The sort that leads village neigh- bors to try to peer through curtains after dark has no very high value,” he continues. “The widespread in- terest in gossip is inspired, not by a love of knowledge, but by malice; no one gossips about other people’s secret virtues, but only about thelr secret vices. “Accordingly most gossip is untrue, but care is taken not to verity it. Our neighbors'sins ® * ¢ are so agree- able that we do not stop to scrutinize the evidence closely. Curlosity prop- erly so called, on the other hand, is inspired by a genuire love of knowl- edge. “You may see this impulse, in a moderately pure form, at work in a cat, which has been brought to a strange room and proceeds to smell every corner and every piece of furniture. “You will see it also in children, who are passionately interested when a drawer or cupboard, usually closed, is open for their inspection. Animals, machines, thunderstorms and all forms of manual work arouse the curiosity of children, whose thirst for knowledge puts the most intellectual adult to shame. “This impulse grows weaker with advancing years, until at last what is unfamillar inspires only disgust, with no desire for a closer acquaint- ance. “This is th» stage at which people announce thar the country is going to the dogs, and that ‘things are not what they were in my young days.’ The thing which is not the same as it was in that far-off time is the speak- er’s curiosity. And with the death of curiosity we-may reckon that active intelligence, also, has died.” * Kk ok /) The curious thing about curlosity is that one may well know the need of it, yet find himself slowly growing incurfous, despite his best wishes to the contrary. So many human passlons run counter to it, such as prestige and 80 on, that older persons (older in relation to children) find it more con- venient and satisfying to drop curi- osity out of their lives. There are many men today who re- sent the intrusion of the telephone, who do not like to use it, and only do so_when absolutely necessary. There s more than one man who looks askance at the fountain pen and steadily sticks to the old-fashion- ed types. : “New-fangled” methods of bringing up children are held in much con- tempt by older people, although this sclence has made such strides of re- cent years that this contempt is more secret than it used to be. Even those who pride themselves on at least a moderate use of their in- telligence will often surprise them- selves in sudden resentments, based upon no more logical ground than To he informed of something of which one is ignorant is, in a sense, a rebuke, and is often so taken by persons who have reached the age of 30 years and more. Ordinarily such persons, in order to salve the mental wound made by the new information, will jump at the slightest opening to prove the thing untrue. Let there be but a visible doubt, the informed one will assail the in- former, building up strong arguments upon the opening wedge. This accounts. in part, for the tremendous amount of argument that goes on throughout the world on propositions that would seem ‘open and shut,” as the saying is. People who pride themselves on using their brains often get involved in this sort of senseless “‘argutying,” on no better ground, as their sense of humor tells them, than that they found some.statement too much for their sense of pride to swallow. Pride, standing in the community, what one has done for a long time and what one has not done, and many other considerations, are involved in the slightest arguments, so that it takes a clear-thinking person to really get at the reasons for the reasoning. The bulk of humanity, it may be Stated, is utterly oblivious to the fact :r}\‘:)t t:‘I;cl’x ;’onsld:;tllons enter at all ordinary affairs of co'}:‘;idera.l&on. v 4 intellectual e products of their section country, of certain educational (:Tlle'l};\e ods, they have “cut-and-dried” opinions upon practically every single topic of conversation. Educational methods still put too much stress upon *canned knowledge,” with the result that a product of our education system feels that he ought to know everything, even if he does not, and hence has a sense of shame in admitting a lack of knowledge. 5 * ok ok % S0 we have the absurd situation prevalling of every man outwardly professing knowledge of every sub- Jject under the sun, of every book, old or new, of every sclentific subject. Ask the average person it he has read a certaln new book, the chances are 10 to 1 that he will say, “Oh, yes; very interesting, isn’'t it.” A proper curiosity, on the other hand, would make him as easily say, “No, I never heard of it—what's it about?” A healthy curiosity makes for real knowledge. What do you care for the sneerer who may be pleased because he finds out he has read a book which you have not? If he can be pleased so easily, per- haps it is your duty to accommodate him. At the same time it puts you on the same high mental plane of the cat, when investigating a new room, and of little Johnnie, when he dips into the innards of the radio set to find out “what makes it work.” This, too, is a state of mind, as so many things are. is helpful if one but puts himself Into the state of mind in which he often reminds him- self, “Now I am growing old in the brain—I hate to consider something new!" Let that get a firm grip upon a man, he will mend his ways and be glad to hear of things that do not please him, or of matters that he feels are not true. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS ‘Whatever may have been spent in the past by the dry forces in securing the adoption of the eighteenth amend- ment and the Volstead law, there is no evidence that the Anti-Saloon League and its various subsidiary State organizations have indulged in any spending orgy this year. Quite the reverse. Their campaign expense accounts now being filed at the Capi- tol are so small that they make the charge of huge dry propaganda and political funds seem ludicrous. The Montana Anti-Saloon League reports contributions of $124 and expenditures of $101. The West Virginia Anti- Saloon League received and spent $27.60. The Massachusetts dry organi- zation spent $469.78; the Maryland or- * | ganization, $690.23. These are typical of the reports from all the States; and the account of the national organiza- tion was only a few thousand dollars. Much ado has been made of the past failure of the dry organizations to publish their expense accounts. De- mands were made that Wayne B. Wheeler and his colleagues be indict- ed for violation of the corrupt prac- tice act. It was charged that had the returns been made they would have disclosed millions and tens of millions of dollars expended in electioneering. The league contended that it was not a political organization, and therefore not obliged to make returns. But it has waived the point now. In the light of the present showing its previous reluctance to make the figures public may have been induced by a wish to hide the smallness of their funds rather than their bigness. * ok ok ¥ George F. Busch, just appointed by Gen. Andrews, prohibition command- erdn-chief, to be ‘‘zone supervisor of prohibition” for the North Atlantic district, which Andrews has char- acterized as the wettest area in the country, is & comparative youngster. He is barely 28, and still well known for his fame as an athlete while a student at Syracuse University, where he was a foot ball star and a member of the university’s crack crew. After trying retired Army officers with in- different success, Gen. Andrews is now experimenting with young blood in his attempts to secure capable, ag- gressive and _incorruptible subordi- nates to man his organization. *EKK Although half the employes in the Govarnmgnt service at Washington are women, they recelve far less than half of the aggregate amount of the semi-monthly pay roll checks. A re- port from the Women's Bureau of the Labor Department of the results of its investigation of the subject shows that in the upper salary ranges —those who receive $1,860 a year or more—80 per cent of the places are held by men. Miss Jessie Dell, clvil commlss(on::‘ is the hl‘:l:: d woman Fede employe - Cvl:;lnefl in the report. Her salary $6,500. Ten women get $5,200 and 85 a minimum of $3,600. But the vast majority are clerks and typists whose salaries start at $1,140 and creep up- ward slowly. * k¥ % d England is outdoing the Ul’?l?é smt:s in novel and bizarre “exploitation stunts” to boost attend- ance at the movies, according to a report from George Canty, former ‘Washingtonian, now located at Paris as foreign trade representative of the Department of Commerce. Mr. Canty’s special mission is the foreign motion plcture industry in its relation to American films. His first report to the Commerce Department here deals with picture theaters in England. A‘ competition to find the “bonniest kiddie between the ages of 3 and 6 was undertaken by a Manchester, England, movie house to boost at- tendance. Hundreds of youngsters were filmed and audiences balloted to pick the winner. Another theater, by the liberal use of posters and saw- dust, canvas and ropes, converted its with circus life. He “Go to the Pictures"” campaign is now in full swing from one end of Eng- land to the other. * K K ¥ Rumors that Federal Judge George ‘W. English of East St. Louis will re- sign before the start of his impeach- ment trial by the Senate, scheduled for November 10, are circulating about the Capital. Such reports have been several times current before, but have cropped up again, on the heels of the announcement of the withdrawal of Willlam F. Zumbrunn as chief of the egal staff slated to conduct the judge’s defense. Zumbrunn quit fol- lowing public disclosure of his Ku Klux Klan affillations. His retire- ‘ment from the case may have no other significance. But the talk is very per- sistent that Judge English has de- cided not to face a trial of the charges against him. In the event of his res- ignation it would be possible for Mr. Coolidge to decline to accept it and force impeachment and removal if convicted. But there are good grounds for assuming that the judge will be allowed to resign, if he is ready to do 80, and the trial abandoned. Xk ok Next to the Capitol Bullding, the touring bureau of the American Auto- mobile Association is probably the greatest common meeting spot of tour- ists visiting Washington. On a single day recently 37 States were repre- sented in the visitors seeking informa- tion at the touring bureau, and their inquirtes covered a large range—from the anxious mother seeking advice on the best way to pack the baby's milk bottles to the ‘“sweet young thing"” who, after ascertaining the number of miles from Washington to Cleveland, asked: “And how many miles is it from Clevebmd' bick*m ‘Washington?"” * The Post Office Department is losing no time in procuring its quota of ma- chine guns and armored mail trucks in its defense campaign against mail bandits. The new policy is motivated less by a desire to protect the mails than by a desire to protect the lives of the postal employes, who are faced with the ever-present danger of being ruthlessly shot down. The drivers’ cabs on the armored trucks will be miniature forts, constructed entirely of steel and bullet-resisting glass, with accommodations for two guards, equipped with machine guns, beside the driver. Small apertures in the cabs are provided for those inside to poke their guns through. L Representative F. H. La Guardia, running for re-election on the Repub- lican ticket from a district on the East Side of Harlem in New York City, has placarded his balliwick with huge FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1926. “Resident” Is Defined. Found Hard to Reconcile With Veotes by Mail. To the Editor of The Star: The recent discussion of the rights of “non-residents” has not quite cov- ered the ground. I do not intend to comment upon the position of private which, under the Russian regime, citizens who live in Washington and called Kovno and so appears on maps. vote elsewhere, but there is a vastly | ciled Houno And %o Appearl of maps. larger class who stand on & somewhat dlfterent footing. There are in Wuh-!Gfl"““' was elected president, May ington some 60,000 Government em- |12, 1926, succeeding A. Stulginskis. pkgwye: :fm:oung age, and with the | The president holds office for three exception of a very small number they | years. Stulginskis held two terms, are carrled on the books of the Civil | or practically from the creation of Service Commission as residents of |the country to 1926. There is & gen- the various States from which they | eral parliamentary election at the came. The head of one of the bureaus ! same time the president is chosen. of the Department of Agriculture has been here 48 years in the same department, but is_still recorded as a resident of New York. | There seems to be no disposition to question the fact that these em- ployes are also residents of the Dis- trict, unless they avail themselves of the laws now lnheflect"ln ;:;oa:.;t !(‘:'::e above the plains at their feet. e v mall. - pt iumx;b!::‘ th:“ln fference to voting, Q. What does the abbreviation which is lately so much complained of | “Ste.” mean?—O. M. their standing in Washington is| A. It is used with the name of a as good as anybody's. But if| woman who has been canonized. The they undertake to discharge their |abbreviation is used instead of the public duty by voting lnh tthei oal,:' entire French word “Sainte.” i ears n —_— way possible, it app that Q. Are the terms “share” and ye class they forfeit :a;sc!‘:lnx\h toom;:t: ‘:uldents o(ythe Dis- | “stock” used in Great Britain as they trict. They may not have been in|are in America?—W. F. 8. the State of their former residence| A. In Great Britain the terms within 10 years; they may belong to | “share” and “stock” are both used, citizens’ associations to the nth de-|but with a distinct difference. Ameri- gree of federation, but the juicy plums | cans use the terms indiscriminately of appointment to District positions |or in combination as shares of stock, are not for them if they commit the | but always have in mind one general crime of voting. class of security. The English plan, The point is not merely an academic | on the other hand, declares each share one, for it has been only a few years |to be equal in amount to each other since an eminent scientist was a mem- | share. When these shares become ber of the school board, and at the|fully pald they may be converted into same time a resident of Indiana, ac- | stock, but not otherwise. Stock may cording to the civil !ervilcte reguuel;i be reconverted into fully paid shares. Vi his condition to exist now, an :l::r:etntlema.n were to vote by mail, Q. What kind of parrot is the what would you do? Or if hed ‘were _]r.lrx!;nt, and is it a good talker?— to abstain from voting in order to|T. H. 8. l"?old his job, what would you think A. The largest specles of parrot is of him? the graat black or palm cockatoo. “Residence” as a legal ierm cannot | Cockatoos, many of which are exceed- mean the same in the District as in |ingly handsome birds, distinguished the States until we have District suf- | by the crest on the head, are poor ANSWERS TO Q. Where is the capital of Lithu- ania and who is the ruler of the coun- try?—L. H. A. The capital city is Kaunas, Q. How many mountain ranges are there on the moon?—O. O. A. There are 10 ranges of moun- tains on the part of the moon that is visible from the earth. The moun- tains are often slender and tall, some attaining an altitude of 20,000 feet trage. Until then, the physical pres- gnc‘; of a person in the District ought Yo give him whatever slender privi- leges go with the title of resident. At Jeast, this should be true of Govern- ment employes. J. M. ALDRICH. Why Eugene V. Debs Turned to the Left To the Editor of The Star: Had Eugene V. Debs turned to in- dustry and conventional public life, as you intimate he should have in your editorial of October 21, he ‘would perhaps have been what is called “successful,” but in winning ‘suc- cess” he would have lost his soul, as he would have been engaged in a life repugnant to his nature. Instead, he followed the career that he belleved in and in following it he showed a courage, a faith and singleness of purpose that put to shame most “suc- cessful” men in industry and public life. By turning to what you call the “left,” Debs was far more valuable a citizen than if he had turned to the “right.”” There are plenty of men and women who can make ‘‘success in industry and public life, but there are mighty few that can hold to an ideal while suffering hatred for their faith. the vision of a better economic order and a better world for all. His vision may never come to pass, but that does not alter the fact that he held aloft the torch of idealism in a world where idealism is sorely needed. Debs was avaluable citizen, just as Wendell Phillips, John Brown, John P. Altgeld and other great ideal- ists were valuable citizens. The Na- tion is the poorer now that he is gone and his eloquent voice, ever raised for the cause of justice, is hushed forever. He did nol'wlhr; hl?!flght. he remained true to himself. - OLIVER E. CARRUTH. Disputes Bosch Sale Quotation of Palmer To the Editor of The Star In this evening’s issue of The Star 1 read the sentence, ““Mr. [A. Mitchell] Palmer said he sold the ‘disloyal and enemy-owned Bosch Magneto Co. [of Springfleld, Mass.] at public sale, after wide advertisement, to the hig] est of several bidders, for $4,150,000. " From November, 1917, to the close of the war I was research engineer for the Springfleld Aircraft Corpora- tion of Springfleld, Mass., a large concern’ making airplanes for the United States Army, and I remember the sale mentioned above. There were only two bidders, Martin E. Kern and Harry G. Fisk—not several, as Mr. Palmer states. Again, in November, 1917, it was impossible for the Springfield Aircraft Corporation, or even the United States Army, to buy testing machines or laboratory equipment, so I called at the Bosch Magneto Co., requested and received permission to use their excellent laboratory facilities to make important tests on materials entering into the conmstruction of Army air planes, making these tests every day thereafter, for which privilege the Bosch Magneto Co. would not accept a cent of ocompensation from the Springfleld Afreraft Corporation. This was several months hefors Mr. Palmer seized this *“disloyal” com- pany. PAUL H. FRANCIS, Navy Department, Bureau of Aeronautics. —— e erate— Opposes Disarming U. S., Citing Peril to New York To the Editor of The Star: Is the City of New York adequately defended? Have you ever considered the tremendous target which it offers to an enemy's attack? It would be impossible to miss such a mark. It 18 close to the sea, it is almost as high and wide as a mountain and it is as destructible, for modern artillery, as a glass house or a china shop. A single first-class enemy ship could blue and white lithographs the size of a barn door, bearing the legend: “For Congress, La Guardia and LaWwful Lager.” Drawings of two huge steins of foaming beer add a decorative touch. (Copyright. 1036.) American Pay Scale Hits “Unemployment” From the Springfield Dally News. Evidence that this country fs not facing a serious unemployment situ- ation may be had through figures Jjust given out covering being paid American workers. They are intereésting because they are stagger- ing and because they do not repre- sent the high salaries of executives and industrial officials, but cover the “pay envelope” employes of the country’'s largest plants. The United States Steel Corpora- tion is listed as the Nation's largest payer of wages. Its pay roll {s now running $444.662,000 a year, com- pared with $121,714,000 in 1914. Sec- ond in importance is the American Telephone and Telegraph Co., with a pay roll in 1925 exceeding $359,814,000. Then comes the Pennsylvania Rail- road with a wage total of $359,266,- 000 & year, while the New York Cen- tral Lines places $282000,000 in the & pay envelopes of its workers each destroy the city on Manhattan Island in haif an _hour from a distance of 20 miles. Each high explosive shell would pass clean through the sky- scrapers and blow them into ruins of twisted steel and shattered concrete, linguists. Q. Where are the Four Evangel- ist Islands?—L. BE. W. A. They are a group bearing the names “Matthew,” “Mark,” *“Luke” and “John,” off the west coast of Pata- gonia at the entrance to the Strait of Magellan. With eight others, they compose a group known as “the Twelve Apostls Q. How much dirt was removed from the Panama Canal by the French and hoDw much by the Americans?— J. 8. D. A. The amount .excavated by the French was 108,046,960 cubic yards; the amount excavated by the Ameri- cans was 250,000,000 cublc yards. Q. How_long do coniferous trees live?—J. D. A. The average life of such coni- fers as spruce, fir, and pine is about 160 years. However, taking coni- fers in general, some last only for 30 or 40 years and others may live for several thousand s. Some specimens of old-growth pine live to be 400 years old, and old-growth spruce about 300 years old. Q. What was the Parsons’ case?— A. The Parsons’ case refers to a lawsuit tried in Virginia in colonial times. Salaries of ministers were At one time the clergymen were in danger of becom- ing losers by the operation of the tender law. . Suits were brought to recover the difference between 2 pence per pound in depreciated currency and the tobacco, to which by law the ministers were entitled. Q. What per cent of the water of the Niagara River goes over the Cana- dian Falis?—L. L. A. Of the water flowing over the Falls of Niagara 95.17 per cent goes over the Canadian Falls and 4.83 per cent over the American Falls. Q. What are the duties of an aide- de-camp?—C. M. A. He is a superior confidential at- tendant upon a general in active serv- ce. He carries the orders for the general to the commanding officers under him; sometimes he acts as mili- tary secretary; he aids in dispensing the courtesies of the general's house or tent. Q. Is anything being done to pre- serve the folklore of America?— 8. C. A. The American Folklore Soclety was founded in 1888 for the study of folklore in general and for the collection and preservation of Amer- Proposal to Wip Excites Admiration of Press August Heckscher’s report to the mayor of New York proposing to wipe out the slums by spending half a bil- lion dollars in building model tene- ments excites the admiration of a large section of the press, nothwith- standing general recognition of the practical difficulties involved in such a scheme. “All the towering castles in Spain ever erected by the hazy imagination of the world’s idlers and dreamers,” it seems to the Detroit News, “fade into insignificance when compared with the awe-inspiring structures that have taken form in the mind of August Heckscher, multi-millionaire, philan- thropist, practical idealist and one- time German immigrant boy. * * ¢ If Mr. Heckscher attains his objective and, with the co-operation of other like-minded men and the officials of State and city, transmutes the squalor of New York's East Side—breeding ground of vice and crime—to the dig- nity and relative opulence of a pleas- ant, healthful residential district for those who can afford to pay only the smallest of rents, he will have thereby purchased an immortality seldom at- tained by the expenditure of any sum money, however great.” o'“v\f‘hflz it is questionable whether success will meet his efforts,” says the Schenectady Gazette, “his offer as- suredly will have the effect of calling attention to needed improvements, and of giving impetus to the movement to secure them. Ofttimes we may nlrfl too high, but nevertheless score a hit. ER and every shot would cost us thou-| “EHis project will excite the interest sands of lives and millions of dollars. | it deserves,” states gtmv Rochester Fire would follow and complete the | Times-Unlon, “if only to focus atten- work of destruction. An attack from | tion on the sharp contrast of unutter- the air might be even more disastrous. | able poverty living on the fringe of The City of New York is the heart of | the business area of the richest city America, and should be guarded as|in the world. But can it succeed? men guard their own hearts. The | Americans have proved that they can approach of an enemy to within|gdo anything they really want to do striking distance, by sea or by air,|and think ought to be done. Mr.| should be made impossible. Heckscher’s real task is not in raising Very sincerely yours, the money, but in inspiring in others BERTRAND SHADWELL. |the feelings his own rich imagina- tion has created.” The Hollywood == | Citizen remarks that “every such un- dertaking remains in the form of a year. General Motors has & pay roll | gream or mental conception for a con- of more than $200,000,000 yearly, and | giderable length of time before it is the General Electric is not so far|prought to actual realization. As an behind. These are but a few of the |example,” adds the Hollywood paper, many large organizations—any one | ‘we need only to recall the construc- can name dozens with pay rolls run- | tjon of the greatest of modern engi- ning into millions annually. But|neering projects, the Panama Canal. these figures are sufficient to frighten | A vision for many years in the mind away any bugaboo of “unemploy- |of a French engineer, it was completed ment” that the soap-box orator may | by Americans in 1915, which was just attempt to introduce. Others could | 40 years from the turning of the first be furnished and by the column. |spadeful of dirt.” These few are enough to show that| ‘“Whatever be sald of the de- when it comes to “unemployment,” | tails of the great dream, its abstract why there len't any such animal in | merit cannot be challenged,” declares this garden spot of the world. the Syracuse Herald, while the Bir- QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. ican folklore. secretary at Q. What can horse chestnuts be used for?—W. A. M. A. The Department of Agriculture says that the only use of which they have record for the horse chestnut was during the war. In England the horse chestnut was ground in the form of & meal and used In the manufacture of dynamite. Before that time corn meal had been used, but because of its possibilities as a foodstuft y _stopped using corn meal and used the ground horse chestnuts instead. Now that the war is over there is no further need for substituting horse chestnuts for corn meal. In order to make the use of the horse chestnut in the man. ufacture of dynamite profitable, it would require a far larger produc- tion than exists at present. Q. Does an ofl-burning furnace ac- tually burn oil?—S. B. A. An ofl burner is simply & gas- making machine for the conversion of fluld oil to a gas that will burn properly when mixed with air. Vari- ous makes of ofl burners accomplish this result in different ways. Q. When should fence hedges be planted, Spring or Fall, and must they have roots?—G. W. F. A. Practically all hedge matarials can be transplanted either in the Fall or Spring. Whether or not they would live if planted without roots depends entirely on the kind of plant. It is true that the California privet hedge can be propagated without roots under certain desirable condi- tions. Q. Please give Billy Sunday’s itin- erary for this Winter.—E. T. A. The Rev. Willlam Sunday had the following engagements: Novembey 7, Yakima, Wash. (and six weeks fol- lowing); January 2, Mobile, Ala., siw ks; February 15, Tampa, Fla., sl pril 1, Aurora, Ill, six weeks, May 15, Butte, Mont., six weeks. Q. Where was the chariot race pho- tographed for Ben-Hur—L. R. A. The chariot race in the Circus Maximus was flimed in California. The g‘l}ey scenes were taken at Leghorn, y. p— Q. Why is carbon monoxide such a deadly gas”—J. F. A. Because {t destroys the abdflity of the blood corpuscles to take up oxygen. Q. Why are Buda and Pest some- times written separately and some- times hyphenated”—W. K. W, A. These two cities are on opposite sides of the river. Sometimes one is speaking of one city particularly, and sometimes of the hyphenated entirety. Q. What was the Malthusian theory?—G. A. 8. A. Thomas Robert Malthus, born 1766, was an English economist in- terested in soclal problems and study of population. In 1798 he published a book “Essay on the Principles of Population as It Affects the Future Improvement of Bociety.” This book demonstrated the theory that in all time population has tended to outrun subsistence, leading to the decay of the nation. He enlarged this theory in 1803 to demonstrate the impossi- bility of evading poverty and suffering among the mass of the people if un- :x“";l;“d increase in population con- nued. Q. How many permanent substitute mall carriers does a city the size of ‘Washington, D. C., have?—K. W. B, A. Washington has 52. Q. Is there a college especlally de- voted to the labor movement?—W. C. A. Brookwood, at Katonah, N. Y., is the first educational enterprise for res- ident students from the organized la- bor movement. It was established in 1921. The studies undertaken are of college grade and cover a course of two years. Q. Who introduced the bill in the Senate creating the Department of Commerce and Labor?—N. E. A. It was introduced by Senator Knute Nelson of Minnesota. Have we had the pleasure of serv- ing you through our Washington in- formation bureauf Can’t we bde of some help to you in your daily prob- lems? Our business is to furnish you with authoritative information, and we invite you to ask us any question of fact in which you are interested. Send your inquiry to The Evening Btar Information Bureau, Frederio J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. 0. Inclose 2 cents in stamps for refurn postage. e Out Slums It fidu a permanent mingham News gives assurance that “it is an example which will be ‘watched eagerly by millions of folk in other citles,” and holds that “in abolishing slums, cities do not merely take far strides in abolishing disease and poverty, but they stop the spread of Bolshevism and anarchy.” ‘The Kalamazoo Gazette feels that even if the Heckscher program {s not adopted, “it will serve to stlinulate in- terest in a problem which N.w York and many other large cities of the United States must approach vigor- ously and intelligent! In this age of human developmer d in a Nation a3 prosperous as ours, slums are u constant reproach to the city which tolerates them.” The Chattanooga Times fSrecasts the extension of the plan “to every city in the land ulti- mately.” * ok kK Still, the Canton Daily News offers the queries: “Has Mr. Heckscher taken Into consideration the will of those who make and {inhabit the slums? Is it not possible that even in this modern day you can lead a horse to water and then not be able to make it drink? Mr. Heckscher should first determine if the leopard can change its spots. If it can, then there is hope for the lower East 8ide of America’'s greatest cit; The Boston Post suggests that “we may give them pretty and sanitary tene- ment blocks, but if they are not will- ing to live in them, with clean and orderly manners, how long will it be before their new homes will be slum houses again?” The Post advises that “the way to correct the slums is to correct the minds of the people who lve in the slum: The Manchester Union expresses ‘‘grave doubt of the practicability of this project,” but favors a suggestion for a decentral- izing process. “There is the question of means,” ys the North Adams Transcript. “Does Mr. Heckscher think it would be possible to replace the present tenements without increasing rents beyond a point which the inhabitants could stand? And does he think that those who would, if they could, live according to higher standards, will be able to do much better even in pleas- anter buildings? The house itself does not make a home.” The New York Herald Tribune belleves “there is little to be gained except in cleanliness by tearing down one type of tenement and putting up another in a district al- ready crowded,” but it suggests that “Mr. Heckscher’s half billion would buy more parks.” The Elmira Star- Gazette asks, “Why not move some of the crowded people into the open spaces of this broad land, where there s work for them to do?” o s