Evening Star Newspaper, December 4, 1926, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR‘ with physician and nurse in close at-|lary than Catiline, were the latter tar- With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. SATURDAY....December 4, 1926 tendance. Her story was given with- out faltering and was not shaken on cross-examination. Fingerprint evi- dence, usually conclusive, was ad- vanced in circumstances to add to the | get alive today. Certain great men have been great without the advantage of a knowledge of pure language. The fact that most of them strove constantly for better- THEODORE W. NOYES. ...Editor| c°Nfusion of mind, rather than to:ment is an indication that they would ST AR The Evening Star Newspaper Company Bratnass Off, w5 S g lengo Of £ Buliding Buropeas Ofica. 14 Regent St London, England with the Sunday morn- 7 carrigrs, within r month: on 45" cenin her month: Sindaye only. 50 cenis Dos ppontiy Orders may be sent by mail or tolephone Mam 5000. Collection is made by carrier at end of each month The Ing edit, 'y del the city ai 60 cents 0 r Rate by Muil—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginin. Il;l‘? Sunday only ... o Sunday only . . B .. B All Other States and Canada. and Sunday..1 yr. $12.00: 1 mo., $1.00 FACOTNRERS 0 LX) 75 Sunday only 1w Member of the Assoctated Press. The Associated Press ia exclusively entitled 4 for republication of all news dis- d 1o it or not otherwise cred. fed in ihin paver and nlko the local new gublished lerein Al rights of publication of special dispatches herein are aleo reserved The New District Commissioner. After an unusually protracted can- vass of opportunities and eligibles President Coolidge has chosen for District Commissioner 2 man who in all respects qualifies for that office. Sidney F. Taliaferro’s selection has caused surprise because his name did not appear on the list of those whom the President was considering for ap- pointment and was not made known until & few hours before his selection was announced. But it proved to be an agreeable surprise. Mr. Talia- forro, though not a native of Wash- ington, has lived In this city for thir- clarify the judgment of the jurors. There was a long lapse of time in which the tangible tokens of the crime had become blurred and ren- dered doubtful. One of the defendants, known to be of somewhat subnormal mentality and expected upon examination to show signs of gullt, if guilt there was, proved to be the best witness for the defense. It was his testimony more than any, other single offering by the accused that turned the scale in their favor. Apart from the specific accusation brought by the eccentric woman who stood as chief prosecuting witness, the charge from which the defendants were yesterday freed was based upon gen- eral suspicion strengthened by the peculiar faflure of the law officers at the outset of the case to investigate it thoroughly and with scrupulous care. The accused were persons of means. They lay within the range of the “‘mo- tive” influence. But for their alibis, which were so unbreakably perfect, they had what the law knows as op- portunity. Others had the opportunity and possibly the motive. The accused have been acquitted. Will the others or will anothér stand in their stead? R - An Obnoxious Regulation. An unprecedented spectacle of ac- tivity is due in Washington as the clock strikes midnight on the thirty- first of December. It will be a strange sight, not because actlvity on New Year Eve Is strange, but because of the peuliar actions which most &s- suredly will be witnessed and in- have been still greater had they possessed that advantage. This is no briet for stilted or for overacademic language, for long words und for weird though justifiable constructions. Certain aphorisms, certain famous sayings would perhaps be deprived of something of their pungency were the language correct. No one knew bet- ter than Lincoln how well dialect and provincialism helped a story or drove home a point. The brlef but complete lecture on the art of war alleged to have been delivered by the late Gen. Forrest, C. S. A.—"Gitting thar fustest with the mostest men"—or the time- honored “Them that has, gets' would be less easily remembered and in- ferior in effect were they dressed in proper linguistic garb. “The less attention paid to rules the greater becomes the expression of the { human tongue, thereby developing the fluency and conviction carried by human speech,” declared the lecturer over in Philadelphla. The fallacy in this lies in the fact that disregard of rules of speech and paucity of vocabu- lary go almost invariably hand in hand. Where, then, is tho vaunted fucncy and where the enthralled and convinced audience? Form in talking is as necessary for good results as in writing, or golf, tennis or fly-casting. Deliberate disregard of rules works well about once in a biue moon. = e Moving Pictures of Criminals. A novel scheme for the apprehen- sion of bank bandits will soon be given a test in Chicago. It consists of a set of motion picture cameras ty-seven years, having come as a child | quiged In by a large proportion of | controlled by radio and operated by from his natlve State of Virginia. A graduate of local educational institu- the population of the city. Men—and women, too—will be running here means of floor pedals in the various cages. When an at'ack Is made the Bens and a member of the District | anq there with long flat packages in | cameras will be turned on and will ar, he has identified himself with the Capital and is widely and favorably known to its people. Participating in numerous clvic activities, he is well acquainted with municipal questions and is competent through his equip- ment and his familiarity with local conditions to administer District af- fairs capably. As successor to Commissioner Ru- dolph Mr. Tallaferro will doubtless take over those branches of District governuent matters that have been heretofore administered by the retir- ing official. 11is legal training and his acquaintance with important matters of lacal government gained through his membership in the Board of Trade will fi him for an acceptable and vigorous safeguarding of the District's equities. In his canvass of the field of pos- stbilities the President has considered many Washingtonians of eminent qualifications who unfortunately have not felt justitied in sacrificing their private affairs for District service. Mr. Tallaferro is fortunately in a sitna- tion to permit him to accept this as- signment to duty. He “qualifies” un- der the residence clause of the law, concerning which there has been some discussion during the past few months, but as to the value and necessity of which there can be no question In the minds of those acquainted with the District's needs. There is no occasion for a waiver of that safeguard. which insures the selection as Commissioner of a true Washingtonian such as the new Commissioner, whose confirma- one hand and a pair of pliers in the other. Many will be in full evening dress; if it is cold, that will be just their hard luck; but that will not deter the steady procession which will sweep out of homes and res- taurants. midnight, automobile tags are void and the hour when the 1927 tags must be affixed to every District automobile. No leeway is to be given this year; the new licenses are good at twelve- one and not before, but they must be on the, automobiles at that time or trouble will result for the hapless motorist. There will be many a frozen finger, many a ecraped hand and many isoiled clothes when the bulk of | Washington's amateur mechanicians { get to work putting on new tags at midnight. interrupted by a polite “Excuse me, please, I must walk four blocks down to put on my new tags. Come on along and help me, George. The bolts on my old oges are so rusted that I am not sure that I can get them off.” In other years—ah, happy vears! the new tags could be attached in { December. Motorists appreciated this fact and were anxious to comply with the reasonable regulation. Most of Washington's automobiles were correctly and properly tagged, conse- quently, when the new year came. The reason for the change in cus- Many a party will bel | the street where my car is parked | ¥ i mains to be seen whether or not the tion by the Senate is confidently t0|4om cannot be ascertained. It, there- be expected. fore, must be assumed that there is The people of Washington extend|,, reason, or at least no adequate thilr best wishes to the President’s|reason, for ralsing such havoc with choice for a successful administration, | the habits of more than one hundred and their thanks to the President for | ynousand motorists. his painstaking endeavor to fill the vacancy caused by Mr. Rudolph's resignation acceptably to them. e There are, beyond question, “other times.” Instead of singing Christmas carols, people say “Shop early.” e The Hall-Mills Verdict. “Jersey justice,” famed for many The District has no quarterly licenses as have some of the States: that cannot be the reason. The Dis- trict is not now taking dictation from Maryland in its handling of motor registration; so that is not the cause, District policemen are cer- tainly able to distinguish between black numbers on the old tags and yellow numbers on the new; so there years for speed and precision, has fail.| s Bo point in that argument. The ed in, one of the most notorious cases| District 1s not trying to collect a ever brought to court in that State,|dollar from a motorist who buys a It has plgeonholed a murder mystery| new car at Christmas for a 1926 in circumstances to promise no future | tag; so that is not it, either. And, solution. In the view of practically|of course, the District is not trying all who have followed the case during|to harass the great motorist army the past several weeks of preparation|of Washington. and trial no other verdict than that| Consequently there must have rendered vesterday could have been returned. The charges against the defendants were not proved and they were denied. When sifted they rest- ed upon the unsupported testimony of one witness and upon a broad de- ductive suspicion arising from elimina- tion rather than positive evidence. It is certain that two people were slain, that nefther of them killed the other, that some third person did the killing. They were engaged in a gullty intimacy. Jealousy appeared at the outset as the probable motive for the crime. No casual marauder was in- dicated by any of the circumstances beer some mistake when the now famous order was issued. District motorists and District people want reasonable regulations. They do not want trouble-making, embarrassing and inconvenient rules plastered on them without the semblance of rea- son, and they are therefore waiting anxiously for the rescinding -of an obnoxious order. ——— . The Hall-Mills case now resolves itself into the indisputable, though vague, proposition that a murder was committed by somebody. —rate. as the slayer. To whom would the finger of accusation point most. nat- urally”? After four vears of initial in- vestigation and long lapse of inat- tention the State accused the widow of the dead®man, her two brothers and a cousin. At the trial they estab- lished alibls that could not be dis- puted. and results in conviction on the part These people have been freed of thejof the listener. At the recent Eng- charges, and under the fundamental(lish Language Congress in Philadel- law of the land they can never be|phia, the distinguished Westerner told agaln placed in jeopardy upon that| his hearers that speech was the me- same accusation. A second charge in-| dium for the getting across of one's volving them and another person will | personality, and the less attention paid doubtless be quashed. That will be!to rules, the better. the end of the accusation against| With all due regard for the fact them. But somebody did the killing. |that a language is an ever-growing, Misapplied Murder. A word of four letters beginning with “B” and rhyming with “punk” 1s the logical answer to the contention of a University of Chicago professor that “murder of the King’s English” is justified if it adds punch to speech Already the defense attorneys have pointed accusative fingers at two peo- ple. one the chief witness for the State, the other the husband of the slain woman. " In the trial of this case there have Leen some extraordinary departures from the ordinary procedure. The first witness for the State was presented, not to establish the fact of murder, but to counter the alibl of one of the defendants. Owing to her {linees the prinoipal witness of the prosecution, virtually the accuser, was not placed on the stand until the case was well advanced, and then was brought in a supposedly dying condition from a hospital, telling her story from a cul, =Nt ™ { ever-changing thing, in which the slang and bad grammar of yesterday are the proper usage of today, it may be pointed out that correct speech is, 1n the final analysis, the most incisive, the most pungent, the most convinc- ing of human utterances. The out- standing orators of the world's history have striven for and have consistently used the best language of which they were capable. Demosthenes and Cicero, Washington and Lincoln, made their speaking reputations with lan- guage which was free from solecisms. No one would be quicker to testify as to the withering effect of a barrage of For the zero hour will strike at| eeonciie cor qer the hour at which 1926 | grind out the scene for the use of the police in identifylng the crim- inals. Whether he likes it or not, the bandit will be photographed in the very act, and, in case of murder or shooting, the films will show just who wielded the guns and who was h and injury. An accurate and indisputable ple- ture of every hold-up and bank rob- berv would bo of meterial aid to the authorities in the solving of crime and the conviction of the gullty. The pictured faces of the robbers could be compared with rogues’ gallery photo- graphs and the bandits identified. When the men were arrested and the i | | i trial was reached, the moving film could be run oft for the edification of the jury, along with explanatory re- marks by the prosecuting attorney. Few criminals would escape pun- hment under this system. And if every bank was equipped with these machines, few would be foolhardy enough to attempt an attack. It re- scheme is practicable. 1f it is, sci- ence may have rendered another im- portant service in the eternal fight hetween society and the underworld. —_— ot The year now drawing to a close has heen one of extraordinary prosperity. { A few crime waves have disturbed the national sense of moral satisfaction. In times of economical simplicity they might have passed with far less gen- eral notice. Wealth implies leisure and leisure must be supplied with stimulating gossip. vt A saddening remark by Miss Char- lotte Mil's is reported 'to the effect that she resented having to live with her father, a man who did not know who Shakespeare Wi This trial, long as it was, would have been inter- minable if the Baconian theory had been drawn into it. e ——— The fascination of pictures has tended to provoke more popular in- terest in what people look like than in how they behave. X -t ———— A screen star, with the assistance of his publicity staff, sometimes succeeds in convincing the public that a divorce is some kind of a roaring farce. ———— The “enfant terrible’” used to be a funny figure in literature. Now he carries a hip flask and a gun. ——— SHOOTING STARS. s. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Self-Deception. He had a figure very slight. His volce was high and rather thin. Yet he would get up and recite That rough old rhyming, “Gunga Dhin!" Oh. gentle youth. vour hopeful boast By no means ranks among the first! The things we long to do the most Are often those we do the worst. No Trader. “You have had your ups and downs in politics. “In some ways,” answered Senator Sorghum. “In politics ups and downs most frequently happen to a chap that is consclentiously trying to be on the level.” Water Ways. “Books in the running brooks,” Written by pens untaught! Whichever way one looks They dam the streams of thought. “Books in the running brooks" Devoid of sense or fun— They keep, say we (gadzooks!), ‘The poor brooks on the run! Jud Tunkins says one reason why ! youth 18 so overbearing is that no old man knows how to repair a radio set. Winter Raiment. About her beauty I must brag— And yet I hold my breath. 1t she leaves off another rag She's going to freeze to death. “Mah-jong," said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “is an anclent game tire- somely designed so that he who canj| remain awake longest deservedly proves the winner.” “A hoss race,” sald Uncle Eben, “is de means of showin’ a man he didn't know as much as he thought he did. eloquence laid down along the lines| But de very next time de ponies line of good grammar and careful vocabu- ' p, e comes back foh anothefjesson.” THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. 1 ! | Charles Dickens created a world. Those who do not care for his novels do not feel at home in his world, but their lack of affection can- not uncreate that world. It will do them no good to declare that “un- doubtedly Thackeray is a greater writer.” There is, indeed, * about it. If they will take the trouble to in- quire at any book store, they will dis- cover that Dickens sells 10 copies to every 1 for Thackeray. If they wiil only note the fact, they will see that Dickens’ charac- ters are mentioned in modern writ- ings, book, magazine and newspaper, 100 times as often as Thackeray men and ‘women. If they could look into the minds and hearts of readers, they would know that Dickens and his world live there, whereas Thackeray and his perhaps better bred world -exist mainly between the covers of his books. 3 There lies the main difference be- tween the two. This is an old, old dispute, and no one has ever settled it, and the present writer is not so foolish as to think that he can do 80; but he doés not hesitate to give his own opinions frankly, a courtesy which he accords others, especially if they happily differ with him. The big difference between Dick- ens and Thackeray, as we see it, is that Dickens affected more persoms, entered into the everyday life of more people, became a real friend In the bearts of more living men and women. A novelist is a curious creature. It will not do for him to write a cloudy thing to be read only by a few in every generation, If he is to be a truly great writer, and join the ranks of the real novelists, he must make his appeal to large numbers. As much as a politician, he depends upon the suffrages of his peers. The reading public makes or breaks him. * K K K A didactic writer may rest his case with a few In every generation, but the novelist must be read, and widely read, else he fails in his misston. 3ven if he is a novelist with a pur- pose (which, In the last analysis, very novelist is), he must place his case before the bar of public opin- jon. just the same. Shall it be said, then, that the novelist with the largest circulation is the greatest novelist? Undoubtedly—no! There are circulations and circu- lations. There are novelists who, by some happy trick of timeliness, appeal to huge audiences during their own life- time, whom Time will in the end dis- count heavily. The history of English literature full of accounts of successful novelists, who made a fine living and enjoved much popularity, but are to- day scarcely remembered. The same thing is going on around us today. A publisher ventures to take a chance on a story, hoping that he will hit the popular fancy. If he can but ring the bell once fn 10 or 20 ventures, he is satisfled. But is any one so foolish as to think that the ballyhoo stuff put out on the jackets of the books is the truth? Is this, indeed, a . or will it be forgotten time 20 ‘years? The circulation of the moment’is Interesting, but it does not place a ry much doubt is book in its true place. Only the cir- culation of flu‘ cl‘nt;xrl:l can do that. The true novelist, then, must make a large appeal over the years, be- cause he aims to delineate human lite and living, and if these are truly done, they necessarily will appeal to human beings of sensibilities. If they do not, if only a few in every generation are drawn to them, the very fact shows that the delinea- tlons are not successful. Only those who hold poor opinions of mankind in general are willing to discount the mass voiceé of humanity. In this matter it is as in many others, where there is much smoke there is always bound to be some fire. Sets of Dickens in every book store and in thousands upon thousands of homes speak volumes’ for the great world of Dickens. It one does not like Dickens, of course, that is strictly his own busi- ness. The ancient fallacy of setting up a list of authors and threatening every one with them f{s happlly a thing of the past. It isn’t being done any more. The point is, in relation to Dickens, that so many hundreds of thousands, in every generation, do genuinely love his stories. As Christmas time draws near, illions will read and reread his “Christmas Carol.” Sneer at that wonderful story, it you will, it will do you little good, Dickens no harm, and certainly will not affect the world one way or the other. “One thing human {s more to me than all the wealth in the world,” Hfigu Christian Andersen’'s dwarf said. It was because Dickens felt the same way, because he loved men and women who tried to be decent, and cordially hated those who do not, that he is today one of the most read authors. * k% % He had many faults as a man, and his novels have many, as works of literary art. Contrasted with the smooth flow of a novel by Jane Austen, Dickens’ storles are melodramatic, “theatrical” in the worse sense of that word. Anthony Trollope, generally placed second, is a great deal more natural in his characterizations. A reader feels, in perusing the cathedral series, that he is getting a much more genuine picture of English life. And yet— Dickens made his men and women live as neither the clergyman’s daugh. ter nor the post office clerk succeeded in_doing. If one is not too critical—and why should one be?—he finds in Dickens a world not equaled by the creation of any other novelist. Somehow or other, when one fin- The personality of & house —how much stronger it sometimes is than the personality of a commonplace per- son! But the house of personality is usually & country house, with a lawn and & garden and perhaps an orchard and terraces. Remember Bleak House and Castlewood and Mansfleld Park. “Far End,” the home of the Vivarts in May Sinclair's novel of the same name, has such power and.charm of personality that it dominates the lives of its owners. In their earlier years it establishes its hold upon them, and later it draws them back and saves them from tragedy. Christopher Vi- vart is a gifted man and a forceful one, but he lacks stability. Far End gives him the roots that he needs. His wife Hilda is a far-seeing woman, and tactful, but in London she finds the complexities of life —and Chris- topher—too much for her. At Far End she feels secure, because tran- quillity, happiness and goodness are the spirit of the place. She has loved it when she came there as a bride, and after twelve years of troubled married life she returns to it thankfully and hopefully. *“The enchantment of the old house came down on them, it gathered them again into its peace.” * kX K Far End lies at the top of Eastcote village, alone under a tall elm tree. It looks south from behind a low wall. The house has ‘“golden walls and mouse-gray stome roof” and “mul- lioned windows, two on each side of the high jutting gable above the porch.” There is a grass plot in front of the house, with the elm tree at one corner, and a flagged path all around it. At the back of the house is a larger lawn, with a pear tree at each corner. From this lawn the garden rises in a flight of terraces, “‘each ter- race a flat strip of grass backed by a long flower bed under a little vellow wall.” Here are “rows of blue del- phinjums and anchusa, ‘purple and white canterbury bells, :vhite and magenta phlox, roses yellow and pink and crimson, snapdragon, flame col- ored and black red . tier above tier, blazing in the southern sunlight.” Tall cone-shaped yew trees make an avenue, “standing two and two at the bottom of each flight of steps.” In between grow round-headed lavender bushes. From the top terrace a white gate leads into a little orchard. * ok K 2 ‘Within, Far End is equally delight- ful. The hall and dining room are oak-paneled and furnished with old rugs and curtains of faded tones, oak chests and tables, copper and luster ware, with roses everywhere. And who would not love to have tea with Hilda and Christopher and his sweet sister Cecily in this lovely drawing- room? It “filled the whole width of the house, with two mullioned windows at each end, two looking ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASI’(IN‘ Q. Where was the first country club in the United States located?— 8. 8. A. Roland Park in Baltimore. Q. What makes wood crack?—L. F. A. It is the moisture in the wood that expands and causes the cracking. Q. Who invented the gelatin cap- sule?—V. R. D. A. It was invented by a French druggist in 1833, whose name was A. Mothers. Q. What is the size burg battlefield?—D. L. D. A. Gettysburg battlefield occuples 25 square miles. There are in it 16,000 acres. of the Gettys- D. Q._How many islands are there in the Philippine group?—J. J. A. A. There are 7,083 islands, of which only 2,441 are nam T area of the archipelago is 115, . The Philippines are mou: rising out of the sea, and the islands are connected with each other and with the East Indies by submerzed mountains. Part of the land is vol- canie in origin and there are a dozen | active volcances. The general trend | of the mountain range is from north to south, but there are innumerabie rugged spurs which cut the ished reading a Dickens novel, he|south over.the village road and two has mental pictures of the characters |looking north on to the terraces. The as real as any of real persons he {room was full of light—light on the knows in daily life. elder-flower white-painted paneling; They are authentic. light on the brown gold of polished The trick, no doubt, lles in the |tables and cabinets; light on the minute - description indulged in by | chintz curtains and covers, a chintz Dickens, who described the very last button on his characters’ coats, and every particular cobblestone in his London streets. Yet there {s undoubtedly—ah, yes, undoubtedly!-——something else, too, and it can be nothing more nor less than genius. Dickens had it, and h= had it to a greater degree than Thack- eray, we believe. The latter is bet- ter written, in a sense, but not so well written, in another and larger sense, if you get what we mean. We hope you do. The announcement by Gen. An- drews, head of the Federal prohibition enforcement service, that the supply of whisky for medicinal purposes has been greatly reduced, coupled with the suggestion that additional amounts should be distilled under Government supervision, has aroused a Natlon- wide debate. The Anti*Saloon League has taken a position in opposition to ten. Andrews, and the division of opinlon extends to the country gen- erally. “So long as whisky and other alco- holic flulds have their recognized and legal place in the pharmacopeia.’” ad- vises the Philadelphia Public Ledger. “physiclans and patients have every right to the assurance that what they are getting is pure and not bootleg- gers’ poison. It is with this idea in mind that Gen. Andrews will ask the Congress, when it meets, to authorize the organization of a_corporation to buy all privately owned stocks now in warehouses and distilleries, to manu- facture such additional stocks as may be required, and to dispense the same to the druggists. To uncompromising prohibitionists this may seem like the creation of a Government dispensary and Government dabbling in the liq- uor trade. But while the privilege of selling liquor on doctors’ preseriptions has been undoubtedly abused, there is no reason why the legitimate side of these transactions should be penalized, nor why honest physicians and their patients should be exposed to the grave risks they are sometimes com- pelled to run.” Quoting the statement of Wayne B. ‘Wheeler, general counsel of the Anti- Saloon League, that there is no occa- slon for taking this step now, that the stocks on hand will last eight years and will not be exhausted in five years, as contended by the Government offi- cial, the Louisville Courler-Journal declares: ““As between the statements of Gen. Andrews and Mr. Wheeler, on this point, there is no apparent rea- son for believing that Mr. Wheeler knows more about the medicinal whisky in storage than Gen. Andrews knows. Besides, if it Is to be replaced by manufacture, Mr. Wheeler would find it difficult to explain why the manufacture should not as well be- gin now. in ample time, as three years later. Of course, the extremists among the prohibitionists object to replacing this whisky at all. They take it upon themselves to decide that whisky has no medicinal value and they would forbld physicians prescribing it and patients drinking it. But as the pro- hibition law has not been extended that far, the objections of this ele- ment are irrelevant.” EL The objects of the plan are quoted by the New Orleans Item as “pure whisky for legitimate purposes, at reasonable prices, and prevention of diversion of medicinal liquor to boot- leg channels,” and that paper fails to see “any substantial ground for op- position or hysterics by the Anti- Saloon League or others.” The Item belleves that the plan would accom- plish several of the objects set forth, and “might also reduce the retail price, which, at $3 and $3.50 a pint, ig extortionate.” The Yankee Daily Republic asserts that “ordinary boot- leg and moonshine stuff, which can be obtained anywhere, most likely is poi- sonous and dangerous to use, though often it I1s used because nothing bet- ter can be had. There ought to be no argument about the advisability of leg- islation by Congress,” concludes that paper. The Pittsburgh Chronicle-Tele- graph feels sure that ‘“physicians, nurses, hospital superintendents and others whosa task is combating dis- { ease will waPmly approve the sug- gestlon.” i Skepticism by the Syra statement tha sick are a mat B togresults is expressed Herald, with the interests of the *% 1o consequence to Whisky Plan Affords Forum F. or Wiiely Divergent Views the gentry who now hold Congress in their merciless grip within the sphere of prohibition enforcement.” “It never was contemplated by the elghteenth amendment that the Gov- with a gay pattern of red roses and dahlias and powder-blue parrots.” * ok kK Civil War romances have long since glven place to World War realism, but occasionally a story of the former type takes us back to the soclal and psychological struggles of the earlier war. Such is Meade Min nigerode’s ‘“‘Cordelia Chantrell,” = yomance of Charleston in the fiftie: and sixtles. Cordelia Chantrell and Sallle Penmarch, Preston Baimbridge and Steeny Chantrell are the two couples involved in the far from happy romance. Unhappiness, how ever, is responsible for the career of Cordella, who becomes a spy for the South in the Civil War, and in carry ing on her mysterious work finds that duty and love are not always com- patible. * ok K K The mystery story has tempted Mrs Josephine Daskam Bacon away from children’s stories, at least temporarily. “Medusa’'s Head” is a society mys- tery, with an amateur detective, an ernment should go into the whisky |art collector and a beautiful youns business as a manufacturer. distribu-|wife as the chief actors. A Jjade ter and salesman,” declares the Peoria | Medusa’s head, which has disappear- Transcript, thus expressing a_view |ed, is the Ymportant clue to the mys- held by many opponents of the|tery, and, of course, the young de- Andrews plan. “Fundamentally, there | tective unravels all the tangle con- is no such thing as ‘medicinal whisky.’ | nected with it and the beautiful The eighteenth amendment merely | woman. The solution is fairly original. places a ban on intoxicating liquors used for beverage purposes. Bu- reaucracy, however, always seeks to wriggle out of tight legal holes by cre- ating more boards and commissions. The ‘beneficent monopoly’ which Gen. Andrews proposes might easily be- come a malevolent one, devoted chiefly to politics.” * K % % The South Bend Tribune remarks that “if all the States had prescrip- * Xk X ¥ Mathematical ability and literary ability do not often go together. Why should they? One alone is enough for one human being. And when an author is absorbed in the psychologi- cal processes of a character, he can- not be interrupted to consider a trivial question of dates, of addition and subtraction. In a recent novel, a widower about to remarry is looking backward and forward and balancing chances of happiness with a second tion laws and permitted citizens to|his wife, take out a pint or a quart of whisky marriage and the negative peace of at a time on order of a doctor, with | pic"t otent oneliness. But in going not more than a specified amount to| over his past he completely ignores be issued to one person in a setated |arithmetic. Perhaps the author meant period, we should have, in fact, & kind | to make him do so, as an evidence of of Canadian prohibition without|his confusion of mind. He tells his amending the 'law. The Anti-Saloon | friend that his wife has been dead for League understands this and can be|gseven years, and later adds that she depended upon to oppose the manu-|wag 52 when she died and that they facture of new supplies for medicine.” | haq been married for 30 years. But as against his fairly happy first “Gen. Andrews cries for help,” ex- claims the Springfield Union. ‘“He wants the Government to make its own. But if he cannot prevent the adulteration of whisky sold from bonded warehouses under Government survefllance, is he sure that he can do any better with a Federal distillery under the same survelllance?’ The Buffalo Evening News remarks that “Gen. Andrews evidently foresees a lot of sickness, in spite of the great advance of medical science.” The Brooklyn Dally Eagle belleves that ‘“‘probably no plan will ever get rid of substitution at some point be- tween the still and the sick patient. The temptation is too strong and the risk of detection is slight, because the stuff passes through so many hands. earlier in the story the widower- suitor has announced himself as 37 Perhaps he said it as a joke or per- haps he deviated from the truth in order to make himself appear younger to the middle-aged maiden he is wooing; but ¥ he was serjous he must first have been married at a very early age. His wife has been dead seven ears, 80 he was 30 when she dled. They had been married 30 years at the time of her .death, so he must have been married as soon as he was ERE Count Hermann Keyserling's “Travel Diary of a Philosopher” ac- complished the feat of becoming a best-seller, though non-fiction. It is Under any practicable scheme. the|llkely that his new book will be an doctor and the druggist must be the|even better seller, for its subject is ultimate dispensers.” The Boston|‘The Book of Marriage,” and every Transcript describes the Andrews plan | one is interested in marriage, ‘whether as “loaded with dynamite” in a Con-|the view be backward or forward. gress “accounted about three-fourths|Count Keyserling is editor rather than dry. author of this book. Under his direc- t is a rather radical modification | tion 24 more or less famous authors of the Volstead act, which récognizes | discuss the various aspects of mar- no possible virtue, in alcohol, either | riage, and he himself has added two in medicine or otherwise,” says the |essays. Havelock Ellis, Jacob Was- Chattanooga Times. The Worcester |sermann, Thomas Mann, Ricarda Telegram predicts trouble for the pro- | Huch and- Sir Rabindranath Tagore hibitlon enforcement head from ‘a|are among the contributors. The com- considerable contingent which holds|plete list of names shows a pre- that there is nothing medicinal in|ponderance of Germans. It is said whisky,” and observes that “the man | that Bernard Shaw was asked to join whose Job it is to abolish whisky Is|this group of experts, but declined. trying to get more whisky made,” as| Probably he has said all that he has viewed by this “contingent.” to say in “Getting Married.” * % R Hamlet Sustained. . How mamy in Washington—even those who are made comfortable daily From. the Pitteburgh Chronicle-Telegraph. The supreme court of Denmark holds the game of poker illegal. At last we see a clear interpretation of Mr. Hamlet's remark about some- thlnfvbelnl rotten in the state of Den- mark! Hog Caller and Corn Husk From the Nashville Banner. ‘What would happen if the cham- pion hog caller showed up at a corn- husking bee and did his stuff? Blinders. From the Dayton Daily News. Possibly the reason why more Amer- fcans do not see America first ¢s the billtewrd men won't l? them. ) 5 by its operation—know that the sery- ice of the Capitol power plant is sufficlent to furnish light and heat for a city of 100,000 inhabitants? This plant consumes in the genera- tion of heat and current approximately 52,500 tons of coal, and if a delivery of this amount of coal was attempted at one time it would require 708 coal cars with a capacity of 60 tons each, and these cars would constitute a train 7 miles in length. From the power plant heat, light and power are furnished to the United States Capitol, Libi of Congress, Senate and House Buildings, Coast and Geodetic Survey, Public ‘Health Service Building (corner B street and New Jersey avenue south- east), Botanic Garden, City Post Office, Government Printing Ji%ze, .ud light and power only to Gove-awawui hotels. islands into many isolated se: Coral reefs fringe the shores, of w there are altogether more than twice as many miles as on all the coasts of the United States. In the la islands there are a few rivers, but they have rapid descents and except near the sea, are navigable only by rafts. b Q. What is “eavesdrop”?—B. R. A. This was an anclent custom or law by which a proprietor was not permitted (o build to the edge of his estate, leaving a_space so as not to throw the eavesdrop on the land of his neighbor. Q. Is the National Cathedral higher |* thn; the Washington Monument?— A. The helght of the central tower of the Cathedral is 262 feet. The ground upon which the Cathedral stands s 400 feet above the Potomac River. The top of the tower is there- fore farther above the river than the Monument is. Q. Are there any cannibals in the world today?—V. L. §. A. Canniballsm still exists In some tropleal countries, but is limited to the area comprising the country 10 de« grees north and south of the Equater, It is found among_isolated South Amerlcan tribes, in West Equatorial and Central Africa, the Malay Archi pelago, certain South Sea Isla mainly in Melanesia, and in parts o Australia, Head hunting tribes are found in Madagascar. Q4 Who named Christian Science?— A. Tt was named by Mary Bak Eddy, its founder. it Q. What is the average depth of the ocean?—R. T. A. The average depth is about 3.2 miles. Q. What will remove the tarnish on bronze?—E. A. E. A. The tarnish on bronze is copper carbonate. It may be removed by frio- don or it may be dissolved in weak aclds. Rottenstone mixed with ofl to a creamy consistency is the com- mon frictional agent used on these metals, Oxalic acid solution, butters milk or vinegar, especially when armed, quickiy dlssolves the tarnish on bronze, Q. How long is a German Presi- dent's term? What kind of courts has Germany?—G. W. A. The President {s elected for a perfod of five years. Germany has & serles of courts similar to those opera- ting in the United States. Q. What rates were charged by ho tels or inns in colontal days?—H. T. A. These early inns were conducted on the “American” plan, and one dol- lar a day was consldered a good price. Liquors and wines were in- cluded. Q. When was “The Hoosler School- master” published?—N. A. . A. It was published in 1871 and en- oved a great popularity, for many vyears. The answers fo questions printed here each day are specimens picked from the mass of inquiries handled by the great information bureau main- tained by The Eventng Star in Wash- ington, D. C. This valuable service {s for the free use of the pubdlic. Ask any question of fact you may want to know and you will get an immediate reply. Write plainly, inclose 2 cemta in stamps for return postage, and ad- dress The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. Our State Department has proposed a solution for the settlement of the age-old Tacna-Arica dispute—the “Al- sace-Lorraine” of America. Bolivar, the liberator of the Span- ish American countries of South America, anticipated our own Presi- | dent Monroe in enunciating a Bol- ivarfan doctrine more far-reaching even than the Monroe Doctrine. He wrote in 1818 to Director (President) Pueyrredon of Argentina a proposal of “America for the Americans Yet Bolivia, the country which honor i bearing his n: er than to the gr declares and maintains the principle | that Europe must keep hinds from Ame.ican problems. verthe- less, the United States wants to see peace in South Ame 1 and justice to Bolivia. * k X K Gen. Bolivar wrote: “When the triumph of Venezuela's arms complete the work of independ- ence, or when more favorable cireum- ces permit us more frequent com- ations and closer relations, with the liveliest interest on our part, we should hasten to ablish the Amer- fcan pact, which, forming one politi- cal entity of our republics, would pre- ont America to the world in an aspect of majestic grandeur, unequal- ed among the ancient nations. An America thus united, if Heaven grant our desire, would be hailed as the queen of nations, the mother of re- publics.” The Monroe Doctrine merely warned Kurope against attempting further colonizing or exploiting of American territory, and _in its original form would have had no b tration of an internat in America by a single European ruler. It is held, however, that no such innocuous function would be that which the League of Nations would assume under the terms of its cove- nant, in case it undertook to estab- lish peace between two South Amer- jean nations, for by its covenant it must attempt to enferce its findings by boycott or arms. The original Monroe Doctrine has been enlarged by the Blaine-Freling- huysen Doctrine, giving additional no- tice to Burope to stay on her own side of the Atlantic, where she has h Balkans, while America will look after all American problems. I quote from the American Journal of International Law an editorial upon the policies of Secretarfes of State Blaine and Frelinghuysen, as fol- lows: “Blaine and Frelinghuysen! held that ‘for the United States to join with European powers in intervening to put an end to the War of the Pa- cific (between Bolivia and Peru against Chile), 1879-1853, or in a concert for the settlement of the questions grow- ing out of that war, to act con- trary to the traditional American pol- icy. Blaine doubted the expediency of uniting with European powers to intervene, either by » or by moral or politic: the affairs of Amer linghuysen went even farther and de- clared that the Department of State will not sanction an intervention of European states in South American difficulties, even with the consent’ of the parties. The decision of Ameri questions pertains to America itse That is sometimes called the “‘Fre- linghuysen doctrine”; sometimes “The Doctrine of the Two Spheres.” It has been suggested that it a sort of American subconsciousness of that 'Doctrine of the Two Spheres” which opposed our entangling with the League of Furopean Natlons or with its Permanent Court of Justice: “The decision of American questions per- tains to America itself.” * k ok X That does not mean that the United States® of America sets itself up as general supervisor of other American nations, for we recognize equality of rights of all American republics. We are active in undertaking the role of arbitrator in the dispute between Peru and Chile, because they asked the President of the United States to take that responsibility, under the terms of their treaty settiing the four- year war beginning in 1879. They have not abided by the terms which made our President the final arbitra- tor of the methods of taking a pleb- iscite which was to decide to which country—Chlle or Peru—the final and permanent sovereignty of the prov- inces of Tacna and Arica should go.| They have refused to carry out their own treat} on and war has been rearing its head again, where we have hoped for a peaceful settlement. That réleases President Coolidge from further obli- gation as arbitrator under the treaty, but it does not lessen our interest in the peace of this “sphere™ or hemi- spliere. « < * | either off | y practicable terms, | . COLLINS. Hence Secretary of State Kellogs now urges that Chile and Peru agreo to let Bolivia possess Tacna and Arica, upon her paying to each of those countr the sum which the winner under the arbitration was to pay the loser, $5,000,000 (10,000,000 sflver pesos). That proposal is now before the parties interested; it seems to be the last hope of avoiding ultimate hostilities. Secretary Kellogg reminds them that its acceptance would in- volve no loss of national pride by Chite or Peru, but rather would be hailed by all the nations as n1-nt of that noble resolve for etokened by Chile and Argen- in the face of immediate v were mutually per- suaded to 't the great statue of the Prince of Peace upon their inter- national mountain boundary, as a pledge and reminder against war. * ok kK Such an outcome of the 48-year controversy, in returning to Bolivia her lost seaport, would mean far more i!n her than the loss of that seaport could possibly mean to either Chile or Peru. Chile h 100 ports; Peru has 650; but Bolivia, since that fateful war, has none. If now she regalns cne | port, she will have that access to com- merce of the world which is so in- | dispensable for the development of | her resources and her independence. ;.\c present, shut in, in the heart of | South America, she is dependent upon the generosity of her neighbors for |access to the sea. If Peru or Chile | should ever be at war with a nation with which Bolivia was at peace, Bolivia would be unable to mainta neutrality without shutting off all her ocean commerce. Besides, the prov- inces of Tacna and Arica originally belonged to Bolivia and were wrested from her by°the conquest of that bloody war—as Alsa and Lorraine were taken by Germany—and until thelr restoration they wiil be a source of unrest. * koK K The Kellogg plan is not new, nor has It heen confined to Bolivian hopes. It seems to have almost Chilean origin. In the monthly La Revista Chilena, published in Santiago, Chile, in_September, 1919, appeared an ar- ticle by one of Chile’s most prominent senators, Senor Agustin Ross, sup- porting Bolivia in its hopes. Senor Ross, it was then stated, represented a large element among prominent Chilean statesmen. He argued that on account of their geographical sit- uation, Tacna and Arica ought to be. long to Bollvia, for the port supplies the road into Bolivia, and not into either Chile or Peru: also for the sake of future peace the territory should not return to either Peru or Chile, but as a corridor to the sea it would be of great value to Bolivia, and as a neutral buffer territory between Peru and Chile would tend to prevent con- flict, especiaily since Chile holds Tara- paca, taken unconditionally from Peru at the close of the war in 1883, but still coveted by Peru. Senator Ross, writing while the rsailles treaty was in the making, ' |argued: “If President Wilson claims for Serbfa, in a memorable and note- worthy document, the outlet on the sea which she is in need of, and sin he says, furthermore, that it {8 neces- sary to secure free access to the ses for all countries, in order that they may be able to develop, secure froml all sorts of restrictions, the great and the mighty by the side of the weuak, how much more then will an | American republic, confined in the | heart of the continent, be entitled to point out the dire necessity, when she finds herself barred from obtain- ing free passage to the ocean' * ¢ ¢ There will be no peace, secura and permanent, on the South Amer!- can continent unless and unti] satis- faction is given to the lr-!mmuo de- sires and needs of Bolivia.’ Those are the strong words, not of a friend of Bolivia, but of a leader and statesman of Chile—of Chile which helped erect the statue, the “Christ of the Andes,” the pledge of peace. It is recalled that at the time of the beginning of the war of 1871 there existed a Bolivarian “Amerlca pact,” which bound its signers to submit to arbitration all matters of pute, rather than go to war. That treaty of solidarity,” signed in 1865, included Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Colon bia, Ecuador, Salvador and Venezuela, and it provided that *“The high corn- tracting parties mutually guarantee their independence, their sovereignty and the integrity of their territorie |and also bound them “never to have | recourse to arms as a means of put- | ting an end to their differences, but to employ for that purpose peaceful measures only, submitting to the un- questioned decision of an arbitrator when they could not agree in anv other Was that “American pact” but m “sorap of paper’? (Copyright, 1046, tr Peal V. Cellinay