Evening Star Newspaper, July 12, 1927, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR ~With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. _TUESDAY.........July 12, 1027 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: ! and_Penn 11 T 11th St New York Office: E Chicago Offive: o Eurovean Office: T4, Recent Buil St.. Englan, ing. Lonion, . The. Evening Star with the morn. Ing edition is deiivered by ¢ th Sunday . iy only. ave only. 20 cents may he sent by mail or telephone Mam 5000 Collection is made by carrier at end of each month Rate by Mail— Maryland Dails and_ Sunday Daily oniv .. Suuday only ", vable in Advance. nd Virginia. All Other States and Canada. Dally and Sunday..1 Dailr only Sunday only . A also the Il riehta of publication 3rcalso reserved Britain's Newest Proposal. At a moment when the three-power naval limitation conference appeared on the brink of an explosion, the Brit- ish have in some measure modified their position on cruiser tonnage. How much of a modification the British now propose will be revealed when the naval experts have made an analysis of these latest recommendations. For the time, however, the conference has been saved from the dissolution that seemed to threaten it. From London and from Geneva both | come assertions from high British officials that a mistaken impression has been spread. Britain, they insist, { does not seek sea superiority over the United States. It never had such an end in view in its proposals at the conference. Whatever end the Brit- 1sh had in vlew, it has besn clearly demonstrated that if the British terms had been accepted, sea supremacy would have rested with Britain. That 1s as plain as a pikestaff. The Amer- jcan delegation and naval experts ! grasped the situation immediately. They have been firm in their asser- tions that American national defense and the principle of the 5—5—3 ratio would not be safeguarded by the adop- tion of the British plan. From the published reports of the new British suggestions, it appears that they propose a definite limitation of 10,000-ton cruisers on the 5—5—3 ratio_basis; that the total cruiser ton- nage shall be for the United States and for Great Britain approximately 400,000 tons, or about the limit which the American delegation has sug- gested as a compromise between the | 600,000-ton demand of the British and the 300,000-ton maximum originally set by the United States proposal; that 7,500-ton cruisers be the maximum size of all other cruisers, and that they be armed with guns no larger than six-nch caliber. The only thing new in this plan re- lating to cruisers, if it is correctly re- ported, is the agreement to a limita- tion on total cruiser tonnage. It has been pointed out again and again that the United States, lacking the many naval bases and fueling stations owned by Great Britain in all parts of the ! world, requires cruisers of a larger cruiser radius to protect American commerce and for national defense. Furthermore, it is perfectly clear that it the size of the guns permitted on cruisers is reduced to six inches in- stead of the eight-inch guns permitted under the Washington naval treaty of 1922, the British can arm their great fleet of swift merchantmen with six- inch guns and put them on a parity with the cruisers in time of war. Thers still, it appears,’ remains food for American thought in this new plan relating to cruisers, The interest which the United States ' 1s taking in the Geneva conference and in the maintenance of proper na- tional defense and a continuance of the 5—5—3 ratio has come, perhaps, as a surprise to the British. Uncle Sam has been easy-going in such mat- ters. The American delegation, how- ever, has come pretty near convincing the British when the United States egrees to mnaval parity it means equality. The Geneva conference is by no means out of the woods. Japan views the large tonnage proposals of Great Britain askance still. It does not care for an extension of the 5—5—3 ratio to auxiliary craft in definite, arith. metical terms. However, there is still room for hope that the conference will be able to reach an agreement of value. B O — Lindy takes another chance. By the time he has completed his| book, the first interest in his triumph may have been subordinated, in some degree, in the rush of aviation achieve- ment. Even if his publication arrives on the market a little too late to as- sert itselt overwhelmingly as a “best seller,” it will doubtless have the ad- vantage of close and careful thinking such as creates a work of permanent interest. —— e Tree Spraying and Parked Cars. The development of trafic in Wash- ington is affecting the arboreal char- acter of the city in more ways than one. It is causing the widening of streets at the expense of the trees, and already growths th famous as a some hundreds of have made the Capital y of shade have gone, perhaps forever, p bly to be re- placed. Now another effect of motor car increase is noted. Caterpillars are - attacking the trees on some of the streets, and are doing serious damage to them by stripping them of thelr leaves. The District department of trees and parking is at work with sprayers trying to combat this evil. With four machines in service about five hundred trees are heing sprayed dally. The presence of motor cars parked along the curbs Is retarding the work. A few years ago, before parking was prevalent throughout the day over the greater part of th% urban area, it was possible to spray two thousand trees daily, with a smaller cquipment than is now avallable, As there are about one hundred thousand trees still remaining in Washington, the rate of five hundred a day is en- tirely too slow to enable the depart the | ment to cover all the streets during the caterpillar breeding and leaf-eat- ing season. The treespraying equipment should be materially increased. It should be possible to work it to the full without respect to the cars that are parked along the curbs, The insecticide em- ployed is not injurious to the paint, although it is temporarily disfiguring to a car on which it may $dll. There is no ground for complaint on the part of a car owner who leaves his machine under a tree that has to be sprayed in the course of the day. He is receiving free storage space and should take the consequences. o Airport Figures. Computations have heen made to the cost of a municipal airport for Washington of a size suitable for ail present and immediately prospective purposes, working out to §765,000. This is based upon a plan to take five years for the completion of the field and its equipment. If under- taken on a two-year basis, the cost would be $985,000. Maj. Covell, As- ant Engineer Commissioner, who has prepared these “rough estimates,” points ®out that the five-year plan would make it possible for the Dis- trict to meet the expense out of its own funds without undue stress. He adds, however, that the Government should bear its share of the expense There is no basis for contemplating a municipal airport for the District save on the shared-cost principle. The Federal Government should, of course, ca its proper proportion of the expense of this facility. It should. however, not be put in the category of the ordinary appropriations, which are borne on the lump-sum plan, whatever may be the future regard- ing that method of Federal participa- tion in District maintenance. A Dis- trict airport will be a Government utility as well as municipal. The fact that the United States now has two aviation flelds on the south bank of the Anacostia does not affect this proposition. Those fields are for the military and naval services. The mu- nicipal airport, wherever located, will be the Capital's aerial gateway, and it should be developed as such and not put in the category of a strictly local establishment. This matter will be undoubtedly prefented to Congress at the next session. It should be included in the estimates, with a special proviso for a costsharing differing from the lump-sum arrangement which has for several years affected District appro- priations and will presumably affect the coming District budget in the ab- sence of a survey of the District-Fed- eral equities, which is hoped for and which will furnish the foundation for a new adjustment. It is ot to the point of immediate question whether the airport expense should be spread over five vears or two. The factor of greatest impor- tance Is securing the authorization, the selection and acquisition of the land and its preparation for aviation uses. The figures that have been worked out roughly by Maj. Covell and his associates are valuable in es. tablishing the general basis of com- putation and afford a starting point for the estimate which should go to Congress in December. ——— A Ghastly Warning. The other day a ghastly accident occurred on the road between Wash- ington and Alexandria when a passing motor car, recklessly driven, grazed a bus and tore off the arm of a pas- senger whose elbow was protruding from the window. The miscreant who caused this shocking dismemberment has not yet been caught. If he is found he should be given the limit of penalty for his action. But meanwhile it has been noted that other pas- sengers on busses on this samie line and on others a.: continuing to put their elbows out of the windows, in- different to the warning given by this distressing occurrence. Most of the busses are equipped with bars to pre- vent this action, but in some way the safeguard Is overcome, and it is a common spectacle to see these vehicles in action with elbows sticking out on both sides at the imminent risk of mishap. Many of the street cars in this city are furnished with wire grat- ings for some djstance above the win- dow sills, effectually preventing any protrusion beyond the side of the car. These screens were installed primarily on account of the location of the wire- bearing poles between the tracks. They should be installed on all cars, regardless of the conditions on which they are run. With the crowds of traffic now in the streets of Washing- ton and on the roads leading out from it there is need of every precaution against an act of carelessness on the part of driver or passenger. Warn- ings are posted in these public ve- hicles of the danger of leaning out of the windows, but ti: - are ineffec ve, It should be made physically impos- sible for any person to offer a mark for a reckless driver such as the one who caused the accident on the Alex- andria road as - ow o His refusal to sell the Dearborn In- dependent will enable Henry Ford to hang onto the files and ascertain ex- actly what he was supposed to be talking about. ) Police “Jurisdiction.” Division of the District of Columbia into police precincts seems to have led some police officers, particularly desk sergeants, to believe that officers from one precinct must not step over into the boundaries of another in case of a call for assistance, Nothing could be more fallacious. The entire city is the jurisdiction of any officer, in case of necessity, al- though routine business of course calls for observance of precinct boundaries. The essence of police work, however, is exactly that of the fire department, to render ald when and where needed. A recent case of apparent laxness in a precinct station in answering a call over the telephone, with argument over the phone as to which precinct the crime was committed in, brings this whole proposition to the fore. The creation several months ago of a full station out of a substation, with consequent change of prgeinct bound- arles, led officers to inform citizens that they were no longer in soand so precinct, but would have to call the new one. This new station was a full three wmiles from the point of call, whereas the old station was within three blocks. Is it good administration to require an officer to go three miles to answer a complaint, when a motor cycle officer could be at the door in half a minute from the old station? In the proper policing of a great sity, with a limited force, it would seem common sense to allow police to work directly out of their stations within a limited radius, irrespective of precinct boundaries. Certain routine matters, such as dog taxes, and so on, must be confined within such limits, but certainly when in urgent call comes to a station for an officer no time should be wasted Ly the desk sergeant in arguing with thé resident about which precinct the home is in, It is the duty of the officer to re- spond at once to the call, by sending out a man to Investigate, and then to communicate at once with the other precinct, in case of a conflict, giving it the address of the call. Time is an essential of the greatest moment in police work, the same as it is in the work of protecting the city from fire. Argument as to bound- aries has no place in either depart- ment. The plain duty of each depart- ment is to get to the scene as soon as possible. The firefighters seem to have no trouble in this respect. Those in charge of police in the National Capital should end at once any doubt as to the question of jurisdiction on the part of officers everywhere. ———————— The Japanese beetle is the latest threat to vegetation. It is ruthless and voracious. Tt has not been heard of as being hopelessly destructive in Japan and should be controlled as well in this country as it has been in what is represented as the land of its birth. e Golt, tennis, base ball, pugiliem and the other forms of sport hold - their own in public interest in spite of the airplane heroes. Yet the aviator must stand first as an exponent of skill or courage, inasmuch as he puts life and death into the hazard. B Il Assassination has never assisted in solving any political problem. It is invariably an intrusion of irresponsi- bility which serves only to make mat- ters worse. The most dangerous fig- ure in economic affalrs is & martyr. SR i Cowboy costumes hint that Presi- dent Coolidge, after catching trout with worms, has decided to go out in further defiance of fancy methods and lasso a fish or two. il b+ S SR S In addition to the sport of the game the woman tennis player has the satis- faction of knowing that there is no subject for the camera so exhilarating as a feminine expert engaged in swift play. ERRNILR Frequent assertions that in the event of another war battles must be fought in the alr do not quiet argu- ment as to sea-surface supremacy. R 7 A trained aviator is seldom reckless. Some of the aeronautic capitalists are apparently obsessed by love of the life risk, —_—— - Big battleships are something to talk about. This fact does not dispose of the suggestion that big battle planes are something to think about. ———ee— Clemenceau, nearing elghty-six, is still fighting; this time fighting for restoration to health. — e * SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Reckless Profusion. The honeysuckle has a dainty bloom So delicate and fine That every other plant for it makes room, Both herb and vine. It has a perfume that is strangely sweet; 1t is an incense rare 7 Fit for the Star Gods it will nightly greet Away Up There. The . honeysuckle's loveliness has proved Too generous, indeed. We pass it by and say, with hearts unmoved, “'Tis but a weed Protecting Weakness. “Are you in favor of prohibition?"” “I am,” answered Senator Sorghum. “If alcohol is available many people can't resist the temptation to over- drink it. I believe it is the duty of the Government to protect the weak.” Art's Voiceless Lure. The motion picture girl is neat, Her smile and manner are so sweet That artists in the years to come May wish that they were deaf and dumb. 4 0 doubt she has a wondrous voice, Whose tones might call us to rejoice; ‘Tis never heard, in accents grand, Excepting on the witness stand. Jud Tunkins says cherishing van- ished hopes is like trying to make a souvenir of an exploded skyrocket. “War,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “is a recourse to high ex- plosives by men of low ideals.” On Location. “Crimson Guich has become a very orderly place.” “Us desperadoes is all being filmed for a Wild West picture,” answered Cactus Joe. “None of us is afraid of the sheriff. But triflin’ with a movie director is another matter.” Witnessing the Ovation. He sat upon a flagpole high, + Alert and unafrald. “I'll be prepared,” we heard him cry. “To see the next parade!” Preoccupation, “What's your boy Josh doing?" “Playin’ the saxophone in a jazz wchestra,” answered Farmer Corn- tossel. “An' I'm glad of it. A per- former who has his lips glued to a saxophone has no time to dally with a hi, flask.” “A man who never admits he's in de wrong,” said Uncle Eben, “is liable to find he ain't convincin' nobody ‘ceptin’ hisself.” e g o i . R L One's sympathy goes out to all those who “just sit"—the old ladies in homes and institutions, elderly gentle- men in watchmen's jobs. Those who sit gracefully and do not fidget—of such is this peaceful kingdom composed. Looking at them, the restless are apt to think they must be bored with life, but nothing could be further from the truth, for boredom is just as likely to consist in much moving about. Hence one finds men rushing cease- lessly in' streams, first here, then there, now to the country and back again to the town, in an attempt to find the peace and satisfaction which the sitter has already found in an old, worn chalr, To be at home with one's self—is not that a great deal? Think of the many persons who can- not feel at home with their own thoughts so much as a minute at a stretch without vigorously desiring to o some place, or do something, or see somebody! This is that restless frenzy of those who have not mastered the fine art {of just sitting. N If one would learn how to sit, in the best sense of the term, he perhaps may do no better than to look into the daily life of some old lady whom the usage of many years has turned into a master. Judged by the standards of the ac- tive, there may be much which the student will have to overlook. At times she is querulous, but that can- not be helped. Certain hours may find her even downright mean—but who wouldn't be? She may find fault, to a fault, or in- dulge in ticism of others, but these are merely surface manifestations, symptoms of the struggling human spirit which would ever be up and doing. For it must be known that one does not “just sit” of his own free will Even the sittingest individuals prefer the character of Lindbergh, who thinks no more of traveling by plane than most of ‘us do by rail. Obscure conditions, reaching far back into ancestries, or a thousand and one traits, for which no one can be called properly responsible, deprive countless persons of opportunities to be “go-getters.” All cannot be so ex- alted. Let those who can, go-get; some must sit in chalrs, looking stolidly at the fleeting face of Time as the ani- mals do at the leafy curtain of the jungle. * ok ok x The pld lady sits, and its, and sits. What to others is but a noise and a passing, to her is a drama, a picture, a movement replete with interest in every passage. From her window she looks out, a philosopher of a sort, although she may get more popular credit for being a “cantankerous old woman.” Who dares to say she thinks of nothing? The human mind is not so easily THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. crets well. The husband thinks one thing and the wife the other, and never the twain shall meet. The little child thinks surprising things that not even its parents know. Those who “just sit” have thoughts of their own, a thing that has been proved by such books as have been written by such sitters. For now and then one arises who, having spent a lifetime at browsing, blossoms glori- ously at last in the magic of print. Then the traducers of their boyhood are confounded, and know not what to say, except to join in the universal chorus of praise. R Old watchmen, relegated from posi- tions of superior trust by reason of the passage of time, strange fluld thing of existence, sit hunched up in chalrs, with severe miens, looking imposing and wise: Here is an ignorant old fellow who never had a good or wise thought in his life, in all probability, yvet who now appears for all the world as sagacious as the lion at the Zoo. And here is another, for whom no mind reader 1s necessary, for the thoughts of that head are good and true, although some might call his countenance ‘“‘stupid.” But there are so many to blame and find fault and so few to find anything good in others. ‘What do the watchmen care what the callow world thinks? They do not. koK K K They sit with placid eyes, musing over the latest decrees of science, no doubt, or are concerned with Sinclair Lewis’ latest book. We have always wondered who gobbled up this man's hooks so eagerly, and now we know. It must be watchmen! Don’t watchmen know George Bab- bitt in the flesh? They see him come in and out their door a hundred times a day. ‘Watchmen have given directions to any number of Arrowsmiths, have watched ' Elmer Gantry in his en- trances and exits. They know Carol of a thousand Main streets, * ok ok ok The best use of those who “just sit” for the rest of us (who perhaps neither run, walk, stand nor sit) is the contemplation of thefr quietude. This is a_day of hasty running to and fro. We must be off about our business, or the other fellow’s. It makes no particular difference. The club is meeting, or we must “go on the air.” There i3 something dojng every minute, as the saying is. In the free channels of the upper spheres, however, where celestial visi- tors wing, if ever they do, where ice is not exactly cold nor warmth for- ever hot, but everything is as it ought to be—in the visions of the per- fect mind of man, in other words—in that great world, there is neither movement nor lack of movement, ror going on_journeys nor coming back from thé same, but everything is free, fresh and untrammeled. Such is the glory of those who just sit, such the silent lesson they ceaselessly explored as all that., It holds its se- President of University of Wisconsin and In the midst of a discussion of a proposed educational reform. radical in its rather clean break with many axisting arrangements, my mind went back recently to an Autumn day on a Missouri farm some 25 years ago. In the great barn that seemed vast to me then, rich with the alluring smells of the fruits and grains that had been harvested, an old farmer was sorting ears of corn. He was poring over them as an old jeweler might run his selective eye over a handful of gems trickling through his fingers. ““What are you doing, Uncle John?" [ asked. “I'm separating the seed corn from the feed corn, sonny,” he answered. Feed corn would be eaten by the cattle: it would make flesh and blood and bone for a time, and, then, its place would necessarily be filled by still other feed corn. Seed corn would not be quickly transformed into flesh and blood and bone, it would not be eaten, it would be planted, its special vitality and reproductive power would produce still other ears of corn. The feed corn was practical. The seed corn was immortal. I am not sure but that the essence of education may be put into this question: Shall education deal in feed corn or in seed corn? The plaudits of her fellow Amer- icans are rising in honor of Helen Wills of California, who has come out victor in the wdmen's singles at the famous international tennis tourna- ment at Wimbledon, England. The sportsmanship shown in her come- back after her illness, her real Amer- ican qualities of character and tem- perament, combined with her skill in the game, have thrilled her admirers anew. “Helen Wills—our Helen—wears a new crown,” says the Oakland Trib- une, as it records that “in her defeat at Wimbledon of Senorita Elia de Al- varez, Spain's outstanding tennis star, the California girl won through to her final victory, and she is now hailed as the new ‘Queen of the Courts.’” But in spite of her new laurels, “in spite of the praise and adulation which will be showered upon her, she will remain as unspoiled as ever, the sincere, un- affected, level-headed (Flrl she 1s,” proudly proclaims this newspaper from her native State. “America can find great encourage- ment in the fact that as the one-time incomparable Tilden fades, and mno male tennis player emerges from the rank to take his place—Little Bill Johnston also having faded and Vin- cent Richards being on the side lines, o to speak—American women uphold the Stars and Stripes,” declares the Lynchburg News. The Reno Eve- ning Gazette is thrilled at the recent achievements of American vouth, say- ing: “The victory of Miss Helen Wills of California at Wimbledon in the international tennis tournament, com- ing on the heels of young Lindbergh’s transoceanic flight to Europe and young Maitland and Hegenberger's air voyage to Hawaii, certainly warns the world that, as the old saying Is, “Youth will be served.” It really is a charming sort of youth, after all,” continues this paper, as it notes that, in spite of all the gloomy forebodings about this generation of young folk, “the boys and girls, when put to the test of skill and brains, outshine their predecessors.” Describing the personal qualities of Miss Wills, the Indianapolis Star says: “Miss Wills in many respects typifies the moderh American girl—cool, confi- dent, alert, aggressive, yet withal losing none of her feminine charm. She is known to millions through her newspaper photographs, an unusually pretty girl, and her name is familiar to the reading public all over the world.” This paper goes on to ex- plain how she received her title of “Little Miss Poker Face,” because of her imperturbability. “No mattér how the match appeared to be running , against her, Miss Wills' expression teach. SEED CORN AND FEED CORN BY GLENN FRANK, Former Editor of the Century Magazine. Shall our schools deal with facts that can be immediately memorized and marketed or with ideas that sprout and spring up into continuing new vitalitles of mind and spirit? 1 give you this story of Christian Kold, one of the great teachers of the Danish folk high schools, those delightfully informal institutions that concern themselves more with educa- tion than with credits and diplomas. “I am glad to listen to your talks,” a young man once said to Kold, “but sorry that I cannot remember them.” “Don't worry about that,” said KoM. “It would be another matter it it were a question of acquiring ordinary information. But it is like that which happens out there in the fields. If we put drain pipes into the ground, we must mark the place in order to find them again. But when we sow grain there is no need to drive in pegs, for it comes up again! You may be sure that whatever you have listened to with pleasure, what- ever has really found good soil in you, will certainly come up again when you have reed for it."” It is not surprising that Kold would never allow his pupils to take notes while he was speaking to them. He did not want reporters; he wanted learners; he wanted them to come to him for seed corn, not for feed corn. (Coyright. 1927.) Helen Wills’ Tennis Victory Lauded by Fellow Americans_ betrayed no concern over the ultimate outcome. With the coolness of a vet- eran she overcame the most dis- couraging handicaps to win impres- sively.” The Nashville Banner thinks “this country could not have asked for a_more engaging representative abroad or one who more satisfactorily expressed in herself so many of the qualities the best of American girls possess,” as it praises her “finé sportsmanship, charm and general worth.” Of the determination of the young victor of Wimbledon to remain an amateur the Bluefield Telegraph says, ‘“‘Helen Wills' father declared his daughter would not turn professional for $500,000 and recalled that she turned down a motion picture offer of $210,000 some time ago.” Concern- ing this decislon the Telegraph re- marks, “If the celebrated tennis star Jjustifies Dr. Wills' statement by her future actions she will be more popu- lar than ever with her countrymen.” modesty, UNITED STATES IN WORLD WAR Ten Years_Ago Today Navy now has 131,013 men of its necessary 150,000 war strength. Ma- rine Corps within 1,174 of its 30,000 limit. * * ® Arjzona sheriff ships 1,100 I. W. W. agitators out of Bisbee in cattle cars to get rid of those alleged to have curtailed copper pro- duction through strikes. * * * Last sites selected for National Guard training camps. * ® * Pershing in- spects largest ammunition plant in the Paris district. * * ¢ Secretary Danlels asks Congress for an addi- tional $100,000,000 for new emergency fund to build destroyers and U-boat chasers. * * * American Red Cross takes over French relief stations from our base to American section of the front. * * ¢ President wants food bill simplified to control only foods, feeds and fuel. Incumbered with too many amendments. Asks Congress to accept prohibition responsibility. * * * President gives Gen. Goethals full power to go ahead with building cargo ships to the extent of the 500,000,000 recently appropriated. * ¢ * Steel companies accept price fixing by Government. * * ¢ Cotton to be put under export ban because Government learns that Germany has obtained tremendous quantities for countries, ® * ¢ Startling develop- mets in Germany. German Chancel- lor Hollweg resigns and the Kalser orders equal suffrage bill drawn for Prussia. “ SRR Al ARG making of explosives through neutral | NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM A REPORTER FOR LINCOL! Story of Henry Wing. Ida bell. The Macmillan Co. A month ago all creation was shout- ing, “Lucky Lindy!” More than 60 years ago a little corner of the Union Army caught up another heroic boy in an acclamation of “Lucky Wing!" In both cases the spontaneous tribute was to youth courageous, youth foreseeing and prepared, swift to act, steady to hold, strong to carry on, modest in success. United as these incidents are at heart, naturally they differ much in externals. Wing was an inconspicu- ous tool of war, Lindy popular herald of peace. One was, in spite of himself, spectacular, projecting a miracle of modern science, the world itself look- ing on. The other was hidden away in the secret movements of the Union Army that was menaced and desper- ately imperiled. In the short half-cen- tury plus, lying in between the two, the world has advanced a thousand years in progress and publicity. Yet the two are identical in spirit, both an essential part of the glorious period of outfaring fearless youth. * ok K This s the story of Henry Wing, soldier in the Civil War, cub reporter for the New York Tribune, unofficial agent of the President, the lad whom Lincoln came to trust and love, the boy who looked up—as boys will—in homage and pride to the great man above him. * ok K K Not long ago up in New England Henry Wing died. The 65 post-war years added to the 21 with which he set out to be a soldier counted him well into the 80s at the time of his long leave. A young man, neverthe- less, in whose mind up to the last still lay, clear-cut and undimmed, the picture of those dark days when the Union itself stood at the edge of ir- remediable disaster. It is this unfad- ing picture that, not long before his death, Henry Wing drew out from his memory chest for Miss Tarbell to see. A picture of action, that of a headlong youth bent to the job of discovering the whereabhouts of the “lost army,” Grant’s army, forebodingly silent, ma- rooned, it was feared by the Confed- erate forces, somewhere between Washington and Richmond, as it in fact was. Now and then the picture widens in scope to admit advancing lines of untrained boys who are mown down like swaths of grass, over which and upon which succeeding lines of other raw recruits march to their own destruction also. A terribly piercing picture! But the great figure is that of Lincoln himself, as alive in effect as today is alive. Not a Lincoln essen- tially different from the one the world has come to know, but by virtue of this close and vital contact, a Lincoln even more poignant in simplicity and loneliness and bewilderment and suf- fering, who, in extremity, turns to any one he can trust and depend upon. Here he is seen in the act of turning to this alert and devoted boy for many a scrap of real news, of definite fact to set off against volumes of conjec- ture and hearsay. There are no bar- riers of pomp and circumstance he- tween the two, for this is one of the really great men of all time, nossessed of a passion for the truth of the mon- strous dilemma in which the Union is involved and, in possibility, the world itself. * ok kK Accepted from Henry Wing at first hand, supported and substantiated by collateral evidence, the story is offered as a thing of deep intrinsic worth even among the concededly greater values of Lincoln's life and service. It is, in sum, a little thing drawn off from the impending tragedy of the war’s darkest hour.” Its very limita- tion, however, throws a light upon Lincoln that no intervening figures obscure. Here are, in effect, just a man and a boy—the man at the low- est ebb of resource, the boy much like a watchful dog waiting for the word to go. A luminous story whose light penetrates the heart of Lincoln. It is, moreover, a story for youth, youth courageous, gallant, devoted to something high and fine. ‘With the practiced skill of experi- ence in art, Miss Tarbell lets the beau- tiful story alone, or appears to do so, which is the main point. Here is a little book upon which a half hour of time will give back years of under- standing and sympathy to be applied wherever the need arises—much as Henry Wing in his small way was able to answer the call of Lincoln, Presi- dent of the United States. * ok k * THE GREAT GOOD MAN. Willlam E. Barton. The Bobbs-Merrill Co. ‘William Barton, like Ida Tarbell, has given much of serviceable and distinguished authorship to the life and influence of Abraham Lincoln. And as Miss Tarbell has done in the story of Henry Wing, so here Mr. Barton also has drawn out from a rich stock of Lincoln lore a special point of approach, a fresh line of ac- quaintance and study. This, too, is a story for youth, addressed directly to “the boys and girls of America.” Therefore, while the substance of Lin- coln's life has not changed in the hands of this author and, indeed, could not change, the mood of its pro- jection is a new one. It is as if, for the purpose of the book, Mr. Barton— still holding fast to a full budget of fact concerning Lincoln and his part in American life—had himself stepped back into his own early years of eager curiosity, of joy in every sort of ac- tion and adventure. In effect, he became in feeling and attitude a boy again in_order to give a good send-off of this Lincoln story into the hearts of young folk everywhere. The story itself is all here, yet how different in its appeal! In this case the movement is ° swifter, more changeful, more zestful. The places to stop and look around and stay awhile are other than those which would, naturally, give pause to older readers., The emphasis falls in new quarters, stressing the boyhood of Lincoln and throughout gathering all along the great man's career a thousand items fascinating to youth, important, too, yet of a character that the elders are likely to pass by. Reading, one visualizes the zest of a group of Boy Scouts following the forest life of this boy of the back- woode, with ax in hand helping to make a clearance, or, better yet, drifting down the Ohio River, or at night reading by the light of a pine knot. Easy to follow this youth up to New Salem, and a joy of purest ray to share vicariously with him the pride of being Capt. Lincoln, now a young man. So gradual and yet so vivid is the unfolding of the story that. the boy reading slips naturally into the role of M. C. down in Wash- ington. And when, finally, the highest of all American honors is conferred upon Lincoln, it is largely through the eyes of the little Lincolns that readers look out upon Washington, selzing upon innumerable fascinating matters that the elders dully do not see at all. And yet, in this youthful spirit of going along with Lincoln, nothing of moment in the career of the great man is neglected. The dif- ference is, and the strength, that it all comes in a boy way, stripped of the clutter of confusing details such as the elders seem unable to get along without. A finely complete and stirring story, sent to the boys and girls in the spirit of an apostle of high Americanism. Its end? Oh, you know—bitter, but yet one that lifts Abraham Lincoln to a place in the annals of service for human freedom that has, save for one great sacrifice, been unequaled in the story of the world. Two surpassing stories, both pro- Jected in a spirit of devotion that is of deep understanding. and most sym- pathetio patriotic interpretation, ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Q. A story comes from Texas of a 113-pound rattlesnake that was killed there recently. It is sald to have been 11 feet long and to have had 24 rattles. {!: this the largest rattler on record?— . F. A. The Biological Survey says that the largest rattlers of which it finds record are one 8 feet 7 inches long, killed in Florida, four or five years ago, and one 7 feet 9 inches long, welghing 34 pounds, having 18 rattles, caught in South Carolina in 1926. Q. TIs the air distance greater from San Francisco to Japan than from New York to Paris?—F. C. F. A. The air distance is considerably greater from San Francisco to Japan. Q. When did national daylight sav- ing go into effect?—E. L. M. A. Daylight saving went into effect 1919 over President Wilson's veto. Since that time daylight saving has been adopted in a few States and by several cities Individually in this country, Q. Why do thunderstorms always tollow_rivers?—A. J. K. A. The Weather Bureau says that such is not the case. The answers to questions printed here each day are specimens picked from the mass of inquiries handled by the great information bureau main- tained by The Evening Star in Wash- ington, D. C. This valuable service is for the free use of the public. Ask any question of fact you may want to know and you will get an immediate reply. Write plainly, inclose 2 cents in stamps for return postage, and ad- dress The Evening Star Information as a congressional act on March 19, 1918. It was repealed in the Fall of Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. C. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. The foundation of the peace settle- ment at Versallles was predicated upon the doctrine that government should be bused upon the freedom of races and their self-determination as to what kind of government they de- sired. ‘With all the world—more or less— free, why must Iceland remain bound to Denmark? News comes from Oslo that word from Iceland emphasizes the increasing demand for absolute separation from Denmark. That was the campaign slogan in the late elec- tion, as voiced by the Peasant Party, and it won. Freedom is not required immedi- ately, nor will it come by force of arms. When Norway and Sweden separated, a few years ago, it was by mutual consent, so why should not the Icelanders accomplish their free- dom and independence, not by an armed struggle, as did Ireland, but by consent of Denmark? Of what importance is it to the world whether “a little island buried under polar icebergs and sparsely peopled by a tribe of Eskimo, pays homage to a European king- dom or not?” That is the naturat question of the unsophisticated. The main trouble with the query is that Iceland, (39,207 square miles) is as big as Virginia or Kentucky and bigger than all of Ireland (32,583 square miles), and it is not buried under an iceberg and is not peopled by Eski- mo, but largely by folks of charac- teristics more European than Arctic. Iceland was old to civilization when it inspired Christopher Columbus to seek Cathay—and find America. She 5ings to the same tune we use for “America” her own “National Hymn Fire-olden Iceland strand, Heart's dearest foster-land, Hill maiden rare! Of thee shall souls be fain, While land is girt of main, And wooeth maiden swain Or sun shines fair. 'Mid Haven's murky night Crave we +home's wonted sight, For thee we yearn; Weary town’s din must be Joyless its revelry; Though idlers mock to see, To thee we turn. “Haven” means Copenhagen, In- dicating that the hymn was written by an Icelander, homesick and stranded in Denmark’s capital, Mr. Bjarni Thorarinsson being the writer of this “Eldgamla Isafold.” So patriotism may be as deep- seated in the heart of an Icelander as it is in that of a Yankee. ‘“There’s no place like home.” * kK K In a ponderous book, “Iceland and Its Scenes and Sagas,” by Sabine Baring-Gould, M. A., a story is told indicating some of the peculiar cys- toms of Iceland. Says Baring-Gould: During the night a caravan belong- ing to a Danish merchant arrived, consisting of 30 horses, laden with wares from the station of Hofsos, at which a ship had arrived with goods. These he was conveying to Akureyri, the capital of the north. We all started together in the morning and I found the Dane very agreeable, as he spoke a little English. T mentioned my regrets at having deprived him of the guest bed at Steinstahr. “Dank you,” he said, “but I never slip in an Island bed. (One meaning of “Island” is dic.” lal?'Dld )you lie on the bench in the sitting room? “Ygs, I not like a bed in a.native byre. It is so dirty and so full of in- sect.” Then after a pause he said: “You should come to Husavik and see the fair; it will be dare in dree veek. “I wish I could, but I shall not be in the neighborhood then. What trade is carried on at the fair, may I sk ? R “Oh, the merchants sells of crock- ery, of corn brandy and of clodes. “How do the natives pay? They have no money! “No, but dey have fleas. ] am well aware of that, but how comes that to alter the case? “Why!” replied the Dane, “dey takes of de vares and dey gives of de fleas. De people of Denmark likes of de Island fleas very much. “A singular taste!” I remarked. “Indeed, I may say very singular. What can there be in them so at- tractive? “Oh!” with enthusiasm, “dey is more big and more long dan in any odder country. “Woe's me! Your statement is cor- roborated by my experience. “De colder de Vinter, de bigger de fleas!”” remarked my companion. “And they bring these abominations to the merchant stations for barter? “When dey have vashed and dried de fleas—Dare!” exclaimed the mer- chant, pointing—*“dare is a lot, lying in the sun to be dried!” My eye followed the direction of my companion’s finger, and I saw a quantity of sheep’s wool—fleece— lying in the tun of a small farm. * ok kX So it appears that in Iceland the farmers produce not only “fleas” but also fleece; they raise sheep and horses and cattle and garden stuff, though it is impossible to raise grain be- cause the Summers are only four months long. Possibly that is not a finality, for in Minnesota corn ma- tures in 90 days and Spring wheat in less than four months. If they sowed wheat ‘“before breakfast” in early dawn it might get a good start by sun-up, for twilight is four months long, daylight four months and night four months. * koK The early settlers of Iceland came from Norway, in 874 A.D. At that time Norway was a loose confederacy of semi-independent chieftains and tribes. ‘These chiefs ignored any superior, until Harold Fairhair reign- ed. He was young, insolent and im- perious, and he bent or broke the chieftains to his will. This resulted in an extensive migration, similar in purpose to that of our Pilgrim Fathers to America, but the Norwegians stop- ped at Iceland. That was before the disdovery of “Vineland.” later found in New England or Labrador by Nor- wegian Vikings. The Norse fled be- cause a new religion, called Christian, was being forced upon them in place “Ice- tection to the people by the estab- lishment of a national court of ap- peal, termed the Althing. ‘*he Viking spirit persisted and wanderers found their way to Amer- ica, which they found so good and fertile—even north of the St. Law. rence River—that they called it Vine- land. Explorer MacMillan is now seeking the relics of their settlements in Labrador. * ok ok ok The Althing, in 1262, accepted the overlordship of the King of Norway without surrendering its own sover- eignty or the independence of the island, as claimed by Icelanders. This treaty with the Norwegian King led to dispute, when later the Norwegians claimed annexation of the island and the King claimed the right to arbi- trary rule, as of a conquered province. Since 1354 “tax-wolves” infested the island and oppressed the people, who in turn revolted and murdered their oppressors. * kK In 1389 Norway and Denmark came under the one rule of Olaf, the Dane, which meant extinction of Norway as a kingdom, but merely a change of tyrants for Iceland. No person was permitted to trade with Iceland except the royal monopolists of Den- mark. This covered the Icelandic fisheries. Then followed English poaching and Algerian piracy, both bringing bloodshed to the Icelanders, with no protection from Denmark. In 1627 Algerian pirates captured and carried off 350 Icelanders, enslaving them in Algiers, from which 25 es- caped 10 years later. When Frederick IIT became King of Denmark he required the Iceland- ers in 1662 to sign a treaty recogniz- ing his sovereignty. In 1784 a terrific earthquake shook Iceland, destroying many farms. This disaster was added to a scourge of cattle and sheep diseases, and the Danish government, instead of com- ing to the aid of the unfortunates, proposed to carry all off from the is- land and colonize them on Jutland. The Icelanders refused to go, charg- ing the government with a plot to rob them of their homes. In their awak- ening to self-assertion they were led by a patriot, Skuli Magnusson. Though Magnusson died in 1794, his spirit had aroused the Althing to de- clare for independence, resulting in its abolishment by Denmark, only to be re-established in 1840, * K K ok During the, wave of liberalism and revolutions throughout Europe in 1848, the Althing of Iceland demand- ed full autonomy, which was resist- ed by the Danish government. The Iceland leader, Jon Sigurdsson, re- verted to the act of 1262 claimed by Iceland to be a voluntary pact—not a surrender of sovereignty. The Danes thereupon dismissed the Ieelandic Assembly and threatened military co- ercion. However, no force was used, and the matter remained open until the millenial yeaer of 1874, commem- orating the founding in 874 of the Icelandic Commonwealth. Then, to help in celebration, King Christian visited the island and presented a constitution recognizing the distinct nationality of the Icelanders. The population is between 50,000 and 60,000. Under the Constitution of 1874, the people received the following conces- sions: 1. The Althing received legislative powers, it consisting of two branch- es—one composed of 30 representa- tives elected by the people, out of whom 6 were chosen by the lower house to constitute the upper house. 2. The King appoints a viceroy or governor. 3. The affairs of Iceland were to be managed by a Danish minister of Jjustice, and all bills passed by the Assembly must be sent to Copenha- gen to be there approved. The Land- hofsthingi (as the Assembly’s offictal representative was called) was re- juired to maintain an office in Copen- hagen. The Icelandic bills, nominally to be approved by the King, were actually subject to approval of the minister of justice, and up to 1900 more than 50 such bills were vetoed, making the fate of the island subject to the rule of an alien minister. * ok k% In 1900, the Constitution was amended by the Liberal Danes, so that the minister for Iceland was re- quired to devote his entire time to Iceland, to live there and be responsi- ble directly to the Althing. He must be familiar with the Icelandic lan- guage, which meant that he must be an Icelander. The power of the Althing was increased. In 19 another amendment gave the fran- chise to women. In 1918, the Danish-Icelandic Act of Union was passed, which puts Iceland and Denmark upon an equal footing in the Danish Kingdom, the first clause reading: “Denmark and Iceland are independ- ent and sovereign states, united by 1 common King and by the agreement contained in this union act. The names of both countries are taken into the name of the King." The second clause Danish sub- jects enjoy in every respect the same rights in Iceland as Icelandic sub- jects born in that country, and viece versa.” Clause VI provide: ‘After the ex piry of the year 1840 either the Rigs- dag (of Denmark) or the Althing (of Iceland) may at any time demand that negotiations for the revision of this statute shall be inaugurated, If the negotiations do not lead to a renewed agreement within three vears from the time the demand was launched, the Rigstag or the Althing respectively may resolve that the agreement contained in this law be repealed.” Such repeal requires a two-thirds vote, later to be sanctioned by a plebiscite of the electors eligible to vote at the elections of the Assembly of the country, the plebiscite requir- ing three-fourths of all votes cast. ‘VII. Denmark notifies foreign powers that in conformity of this union act she has acknowledged Ice- land as a sovereign state, and simul- taneously that Iceland declares her- sel? perpetually neutral, and that she has no naval flag. This union comes of their old worshin of the trees. During the first 60 years in Iceland there was no central government, but about 930 A.D. a central assembly of 905 and 1004 to chieftains and priests met, and there- after until 1798. It was not a democ- | of racy, but a feudal system, which erned, though lttgw were ufi.o\:n & e {;}:‘; force on the 1st of December, Now all that the present news signi- fies {s that absolute independence after 1940 will be a political issue %, ::n Peasant Party un;}l lhl:h:hte accomplishment. Many things political can happen in 13 years. Cobagiebt. 1027, by Paul V. Colline.d