Evening Star Newspaper, August 2, 1927, Page 8

8 'HE EVENING STAR With_Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY. ....August 2, 1927 F} " HEODORE W. NOYES....Editor *he Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. Now Fork Oibe: 110, East 32ha t. Chicago Office: Tower Building. European Office; 14 Kegent St.. London. England. The Evening Star. with the Sunday morn- +ux edition. is delivered by carriers within 1 city &t 60 conts ver month: daily only. '3 cents per month: Sundays only. 20 cents sor ‘month. Ordera may he sent by mail or ‘lephons Main 5000 Collection is made by arrier at end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday. Daily only Sunday only All Other States and Canada. Daily and Sunday..1 Daily_only. 1 Sunday onls Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitle 1o the use for republication of all news natehes ited in this paver and also the local news wablished herein. Al rights of publication Of apecial_dispat. her o alo reserved. The District's Building Needs. At an early meeting of the Commis- sion of Fine Arts, it is announced by the chairman, consideration will be given to a plan to locate all the Dis- trict government activities in build- ings north of Pennsylvania avenue be- tween Third and Sixth streets. Such a plan has been in process of develop- ment since the Public Buildings Com- mission tentatively decided to make provision elsewhere than in the Mall- Avenue triangle for the District serv- ices that are not now housed in the Municipal Building itself. There is no immediate proposal for the removal of the administrative headquarters from that bullding, which has for some years been outgrown, with the resuilt of the scattering of various municipal branches. A computation has been made of the District’s need in this re- spect, showing that more than 63,000 additional square feet are now re- quired, and that by the end of ten years this need will reach 109,600 square feet. Consequently it is expect- ed to provide in the new quarters on Pennsylvania avenue for the necessi- ties of at least a decade of growth. It 18 to be urged that in the prepara- tlon of plans for these various branches of the District government ample provision will be made for de- velopment. In view of the growth of the District organization since the Municipal Building was erected the only safe course is to preempt at the outset an area sufficient to meet the needs not merely of ten years but of an indefinite period to come. Location of the District activitles In the area bounded by Pennsylvania and Indiana avenues, Third and Sixth streets, will effect a concentration of particular suitability. There will be ocloser contact with the courts. The section suggested is central, and its improvement by the development therein of a group of public buildings will be in effective relationship to the Mall-Avenue triangle improvements which are now in contemplation. In this connection it may be sug- gested that this area might well be extended westward one block to in- clude all the property within the space bounded by Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Indiana avenues, with Third and Beventh streets as the eastern and western limits. As long as it is pos- sible, as it now appears to be, that the District Building itselt wileventually pass into Federal rather than municl- pal uses, with the location of the ad- ! ministrative offices in the group now | being planned, this additional space would afford room for expansion, and ! would most effectively supplement the Federal changes south of Pennsyl- vania avenue. Washington will pos- sibly, by the time the new project is under way, be a city of a million in- habitants, and it should have a clvic center commensurate with that popu- lation. —_—a—————— A high silk hat is no longer the signal of statesmanship. A cowboy top-plece is the recognized article to be “thrown into the ring.” ———rete—. Cowboy costume has become 8o prominent that a “Wild West” pro cession suggests a parade of presi- dential possibilitles. —a————— When August heat arrives it is dif- flcult to regard the opening of a big swimming pool as‘anything but a philanthropy. —o——————— Safety and Sanity. Fireworks are often beautiful and always interesting. But they are usu- ally dangerous. This principle applied to the Fourth of July has saved many lives. It should be remembered at Geneva. If there is to be final ad- journment of the armament confer- ence within the next few days, the less spectacular the better; the fewer the fireworks the fewer the casualties. The hazards involved in the failure of Great Britain and the United States to reach an agreement are already be- coming too evident. Comment at home and abroad is tinged with bitter- ness. No matter upon whom the blame rests, both parties will suffer a loss of prestige, for neither has been able to do what each set out to do. The one to receive the lion's share of denunciation will depend upon the geo- graphical point of view. The fnevi- table consequences of failure should not be stressed by mustering for final inspection and passing in review be- fore the world the corps of alibis re- cruited by the opposing sides. If there is to be a failure, let it be fallure marked by dignity and good sports- manship, bringing to an end a process of wrangling which already has grown tedious. From the reports of the Geneva cor- respondents, the end of the conference 13 being delayed while Japan attempts the difficult task of mediating the pal- pably irreconcilable views of Great Britain and the United States. But there seems little possibility of suc- cess in this direction. Geneva is a long way from Capitol Hill, but what is done in Geneva must find its way back to Capitol Hill. The record of the United States Senate bears force- ful witness to the jealousy with which that body regards the mediation or arbitration of disputes—however in- T8¢ | | raise the standard of performance and formal they may be—which affect the national honor and prestige of this country. It has never allowed a ques- tion to be mediated or arbitrated with- out first giving its consent in the spe- cific case involved. Even should Japan find a formula mutually satis- factory, its approval by the Senate is a factor to be reckoned with. If the American proposals and the British proposals are in such direct opposition that neither can agree, let the con- ference end. The risks of further pro- longed discussion are too great, the chances of success too dim. ——e—e. Walter Johnson. Today's base ball game in the Natfonal Capital is an event of ex- ceptional importance to the sport. It is the anniversary of the advent into the organized professional ranks of a player who has done perhaps more than any other single man to character of the personnel of the na- tional pastime. This day, twenty years ago, a young man from the West, a tall stripling, stepped into the box for the Nationals—and lost his first contest. But his losing was in itself a victory, for it showed that he possessed the qualities of real greatness. He had come from a little “bush league” team in the foothills of the Rockies, where his work had attracted the attention of some of the scouts of the big-time clubs, a league in which games were played only two or three days in a week, where the teams boasted of about two pitchers each. One of these scouts, directed by the then leader of the Washington club, Joe Cantillon, best remembered perhaps for this achievement, sought him out and signed him up for the Na- tlonals. He came East, and proved to be green in every department of his specialty of pitching, but the master of blinding speed. An apt pupll, he developed rapidly, being eager for in- struction and advice, and though, sald, he was beaten on his first trip to the slab on that August 2, 1907, he was recognized then by the doughty batsmen of the Detroit team as a foeman of exceptional quality. One of them remarked to the Washington manager: “Joe, that fellow will be pitching long after you and I are out of the game.” Today he is pitching again, and the prediction of twenty years ago has been verified. Gone are nearly all the players whom he faced then. Only one of them, now playing on another team ‘after years of sensa- tional success, is in active service. And Walter Johnson, though no longer as unbeatable as he soon became after THE EVENING hundred miles an hour, which will be the fastest that a human being has ever traveled. Italy holds the sea- plane record with two hundred and fifty-eight miles an hour and France the land plane title with two hundred and seventy-elght miles an hour. Consequently, the mark of three hun- dred miles will, at one stride, place the record indisputably in America's hands. Much work remains to be done, how- ever, in testing and tuning up, and the recent accident, while a trivial one to a standard plane, assymes serious proportions to a specially built and sensitive racing ship. Even Lieut. Willlams does not know how the plane is going to perform in the air, whether it will respond promptly to the various controls, or whether the design is cor- rect in every detall. All these things remain to be discovered in a ship that is higher powered than any of its type has been before. It is earnestly to be hoped that the experiments will be a success and that America, without Army or Navy back- ing, will be able to hold again one of the four major records of aviation. And to Willlams and those who are sponsoring the attempt congratula- tions should go, because they have tallied to their country’s defense at a time when all hope of American par- ticipation in the 1927 races seemed lost. Dinner Musio. At a New York banquet a man who might have been the “principal speak- er” said on getting to his feet, “I have been asked to do my bit by singing a song.” And he sang. The result is not published, but the inference is that the banqueters stood for it. Ban- queters have learned to stand for a good deal. It is said that songs may replace speeches at banquets. There might be some relief in that, even though the singing of an eminent man be no more entertaining than his speaking. There has been im- provement in banquets in that the muzzle has been put on many speak- ers and "that part of the banquet called “the feast of reason” has been given over to a jazz band and pro- fessional comedians. But there are still old-fashioned banquets where those' who would be merrymakers are disturbed by speakers. It seems to be a good idea that after-dinner speakers should take singing lessons and learn songs. —————————— Chamberlin mounted easily into the air on a runway from the Leviathan. The achievement was something to think about. As a demonstration it affords more suggestion than anything that initial performanee in 1907, is yet the master mind of the pitcher's box. It is altogether appropriate that he should be honored by special ceremony on this the twentieth anniversary of his debut. He has himself honored the game not only by his remarkable serv- ice, but by his character, his demeanor in action, his upright conduct on and off the ball fleld. He has contributed richly to the prosperity of the game and to its prestige. He has given the newer comers in the sport an example, Walter Johnson has shown the younger generation of ball players that clean living and scrupulous de- votion to the task of winning the game pays well. He has shown them that skill alone is not the essentlal of success, but that fair sportsman- ship is required. He has demonstrated that “crabbing” against real or imag- ined inju tice in decisions is in the long run a losing indulgence. It is an axiom of the game today that ‘Walter never “kicks” at a ruling, and the consequence is that he always gets all that is coming to him from the umpires, who, after all, are hu- man, with the weaknesses of human- ity, including gratitude for acqules- cence in their mistakes. Statistics are being adduced in great volume to show the wonderful record of this player. His career has been marked by many notable accomplish- ments. But the greatest of them all is his winning of high repute, not merely as a player, but as a man. He has prospered and his prosperity is a matter of pride to all his asso- clates in the game. He has won count- less friends, and their friendship is an inspiration to the thousands of others who are toiling on the dlamond. He has honored the game that has become an institution in America, and for that he is today the hero of a celebration that partakes of a national rejolcing in the high standard of the sport and the remarkable success and career of this wonderful player, who, retains after twenty years the mod- esty that marked him when he pitched his first ball. May Walter Johnson remain long in action, as he will remain for all time in the hearts of the patrons of the sport, a gentleman and an artist In his chosen line of life's work. ———ee— Bad liquor and reckless marksman- ship join in making the highways dan- gerous. The present free and flimy costumes for pedestrians may have to give way to some form of bulletproof attire. ———ate An Unfortunate Accident. An accldent to Lieut. Al Willlams’ high-speed racing plane threatens to keep America out of the forthcoming Schnelder Cup races to be held in Italy in September. Although request has already been forwarded asking for a month's postponement of the races, no assurance has yet been re- celved that the matter will be seri- ously considered in Italian flying cir- cles. Lieut. Williams' ship, built by private capital and the sole hope of the United States to regain the speed crown, was damaged in a tuning up of its powerful motor. Spray from the pontoons beat against and bent the propeller, and it is doubtful if a new one can be obtained, installed and tested in time for participation in the blue ribbon event of aviation. Thero is every hope that if the Navy fiyer can get his machine into shape he can bring back the coveted record, and this optimism explains the con- cern that 1s nationally felt over the accident. In the tiny racer is installed the most powerful engine ever used for this purpose. Twelve hundred and fitty horsepower and twenty-four cylinders are expected to drive the frall craft at a apeed in excess of three theoretically developed by the Geneva conference. ————————— TItaly needed a leader and Mussolini appeared. It has been said that the emergency produces the man. Some- times the man produces a new emer- gency which needs another man. —_———————— England and America have no hos- tilitles. Should America decide to ap- ply large wealth to shipbullding, the fact ought not to create the slightest apprehension in the British Isles. —_————————— The human element continues to as- sert itself. An automogile, after all, is only as safe as the man who is driv- ing it. ————————————— The airplane has produced a new phase of sportsmanship involving prac- tical value as well as competitive in- terest. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNS ... Speed. Each day brings new records of won- derful speed, As we journey from town unto town. ‘We wonder, as tidings so startling we heed, 1It, maybe, it's time to slow down. Supposing an hour or two longer we wait For the mall, with its smile or its frown. So slight a postponement won't bother the date— And maybe it's time to slow down. Mechanics go on at a rate we admire, Still hurrying monarch or clown. Of haste we have more than we truly require, . And maybe it's time to slow down. Combat. “Do you think there will be a fight at the next convention?” “I'm sure of it,” answered Senator Sorghum. “Sometimes I think maybe we had better put Mr. Tex Rickard in charge of the whole affair.” Statically Speaking. My Radio! My Radio! Your ways are sometimes rash; And what as food for thought you show Turns out to be & hash. Jud Tunkins says a man who lives in the past is comfortable enough if the past represents a liberal inherit- ance. ¢ Conversational Advantage. “Do you speak French 0,” answered Miss Cayenne. erman?” “No.” “Itallan?" 0" “Russian?” “No. Anybody who proposes to me must speak English. I prefer that any advantages of dialect shall be on my side of the conversation.” Relativity of Riches. Such fortunes all immense we see That when one said he was bereft, He thought himself near broke when he Had but a million dollars left. “A man who enjoys flattery,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “has the kind of ta: that is satisfled with imitation jewelr: Peace Ships. ‘When my ship comes in! ship comes én! 1 hope with all my heart to see The honest wealth I hoped to win, ‘Without a trace of TNT. ‘When my “A crapshooter,” sald Uncle Eben, “hollers at de dice an’ enjoys de music ot Mg own volce, evea®if ha loses’ STAR. WASHINGTON, We are putting on in this column this week, if you will, a si i erary circus, with the words cretius playing the parts of tigers, 'n’ everything. Here to your right, ladies and gen- tlemen, are the atoms, “the seeds of things,” which this old Roman de- clared were the foundation of the world. On the left you see before your as- tounded eyes a discussion of “the void lions, covered some 2,000 years la How did this old fellow out? Ask us not. ideas about ‘“things everything, and many to have turned out to be more or less true. Everything “just happened,” cording to the Epicurcan theo which is what Lucretius expounds in s “Of the Nature of Things.” “For verlly not by design did the first beginnings (the atoms) of things station themselves each in its right place, guided by keen intelligence, nor did they bargain, sooth to what motions each should assume. Now what interests the modern reader here is, not that this account does not agree with the Christian truth of a great intelligence ruling the universe, but that it seems to contain a hint at the latest scientific discoveries as to the electrical com- position of the atom, with the result- ing movement of the electrons within the atom, Now, please don’t he scared at these words. They are just some of Lu- cretius’ tigers. They won't hurt you. * ok X Kk Montaigne says that at first Epi- curus had his atoms coming str it down like rain, whereupon some one said nothing would ever then take place, so Epicurus made them swerve a little and gave them hooks—iwhich gives Montaigne, in one of his in- imitable essays, a chance to ridi- cule the whole theory, and with some reason. Yet modern science shows the atomic theory is probably true. But as to what is behind the think this He had some queer as he called atoms—well, “some call it nature and others call it God,” as the poet said. Now we listen to one of the first word pictures of the destruction of the world: “Space I have already proved to be infinite; and space being infinite, matter as I have said must also be infinite, lest after the winged fashion of flames, the walls of the world should suddenly break up and fly abroad along the mighty void, and all other things follow for like reasons, and the innermost quarters of heaven tumble in from above and earth in an instant withdraw from beneath our feet and amid the commingled ruins of things in it and of heaven, ruins unloosing the first bodies, should wholly pass away along the unfathomable void, so that in a mo- ment of time not a wrack should be left behind, nothing .save un- tenanted space and viewless first be- ginnings.” * k %k *x The opening of the second book of “De Rerum Natura” is one of the most famous pieces of writing in world literature. We present it here in_the translation of Munro: “It is sweet, when on the great sea the winds trouble its waters, to behold from land another’s deep dis- tress: not that it is a pleasure and delight that any should be afflicted, but because it is sweet to see from what evils you are yourself exempt. “It is sweet also to look upon the the plains, without sharing yourself in the danger. “But nothing is more welcome than to hold the lofty and serene positions well fortifled by the learning of the wise, from which you may look down upon others and see them wandoring v of them seem | mighty struggles of war arrayed along | D. C. TUESDAY, THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. all abroad and going astray in their reh for the path of life, see the con- test among them of intellect, the ri- valry of birth, the striving night and day with surpassing effort to strug- o the summit of power and be O mi s of men! O blind- ed brea In what darkness of life and in how great dangers is passed this term of life whatever its dura- tion! Do you not choose to see that Nature craves for herself no more than_this, that pain hold aloof from the body, and she in mind enjoy a feeling of plea: exempt from care }and fear? Therefore we see that for the body’'s nature few things are | needed at all, such and such only as pain, though more gratefully at nes they can minister to us many choice delights, Nature for her part wants them not, when there are no golden images of youths through the house, holding in" their right hands flaming_lamps for supply of light to the nightly banquet, when the house shines not with silver, nor glitters with gold, nor do the panneled and zilded roofs re-echo to the harp, what time, though these things be wanting, |they spread themselves in groups on tho soft grass beside a stream of water, under the boughs of a high tree, and at no great cost pleasantly refresh their bodies, above all when the weather smiles and the seasons of the year besprinkle the green grass with flowers.” Lest some hurried reader mistake the passages above, let the ringmas. ter of this Summer circus of 1927 Doint out that the foregoing is, as he sees it, nothing but a plea for sim- plicity of living, moderation in its Dest sense. Iew things are needed for the “body’s nature,” the less the better. One does not need fine houses or costly banquets, but will be far ha | pier under the boughs of a tree, amid the grass and flowe Rightly inter- preted, this is not icureanism” at all, as commonly defined today, but is ‘rather its exact opposite, an al- most Christian aestheticism. * ok ok K To continue: “Nor do hot fevers soon- er quit the body, if you toss about on pictured tapestry and blushing purple, than i’ you must lie under a poor man’s blanket. “Wherefore, since treasures avail nothing in respect of our body, nor birth, nor the glory of kingly power, advancing further, you must hold that they are of no service to the mind as well; unless, maybe, when you see your legions swarm over the ground of the campus, waging the mimicry of war, strengthened flank and rear by powerful reserves and great force of cavalry, and you mar- shal them equipped in arms, and ani- mated with one spirit, thereupon you find that religious scruples, scared by these things, fly panic-stricken from the mind; and that then fears of death leave the breast unembarrassed and free from care, when you see your fleet swarm forth and spread itself ar and wide. “But if we see that these things are food for laughter and mere mockeries, and in good truth the fears of men and dogging cares dread not the clash of arms and cruel weapons, if unabashed they mix among kings and caesars and stand not in awe of the glitter from gold nor the brilliant sheen of the purple robe, how can you doubt that this is wholly the prerogative of reason, when the whole of life withal is a struggle in the dark? “For even as children are flurried and dread all things in the thick dark- s¢, thus we in the daylight fear at es things not a whit more to be dreaded than those which children shudder at in the dark and fancy sure to be. “This terror, therefore, and dark- ness of mind must be dispelled not by the rays of the sun and glittering shafts of day, but by the aspect and law of nature.” The courage of a southern Illinois Jury, which decreed the hanging of Charles Birger for the murder of Mayor Adams of West City, is the out- standing fact in this gangster case, as viewed by the American press. The conviction of the gang leader was ac- companied by verdicts carrying life imprisonment for his associates. Na- tlonal significance is given to the case as bearing upon crime condi- tions. The verdict, in the judgment of the Terre Haute Star, “should mark the emancipation of southern Illinois from a murderous band whose record has long been a disgrace to the State and the Nation. * * * The bloody feuds of earller days in Kentucky, in com- parison with those of Illinois, were waged in a righteous cause, for they were based on a distorted conception of family honor. The laws of the State and of decent soclety were vio- lated in Illinois for money, which, in turn, was obtained through the illicit liquor trade. It has been a sordid drama, and, unfortunately, the Birger Verdict is_not likely to be the final curtain. It is at least gratifying to \itness the temporary_supremacy of the law.” The Fort Worth Record: "Pelegram sees “another illustration of the majesty of the law, thmrmlcn‘lh_, and its application to our democratic form of government.” B “The whole Nation joins in the hope that the gangs will be broken up and permanent peace brought to Herrin and the rest of that section’ says the New Orleans Item, while the Racine Journal-News expresses the hope that “the good start made in Franklin County will reach into thfi neighboring County of Williamson, and the Fargo Forum holds that the Way is now paved for restoration of law and order and for regaining some of the losses which Herrin and Wil- liamson County have suffered. Chattanooga News concludes is still a saving element of decency in the State of Abraham Lincoln. In the face of the fact that the regularly organized legal machinery would do nothing, certain of the taxpayers themselves prosecuted a suit against the governor and forced him to make restitution of funds he had seques- tered. He returned a sum of $650,000. The trlal and sentence of Birger and his partners indicates a purpose also to give some potency, at least, to the criminal statutes.” - “The important fact in the case, declares the Waterbury Republican, “js that a Jjury, having been con- vinced beyond a reasonable doubt of the guilt of the gang leader, has had the courage to impose the supreme penalty. That is a good omen, regard- less of the ultimate fate of the par- ticular defendant involved.” The St. Joseph News-Press points out that “Birger had made his boasts that no law was strong enough to hold him,” but that “thus far in this shocking case, at all events, the agents and the processes of the law have not been found wanting,” and the Hart- ford Courant is impressed by the fact that the conviction “is a noteworthy step, even if the higher courts fail to affirm the verdict, for it shows that it is possible to select a jury in the section, the members of whis both spines and consciences. Rock Island Argus states, “A few more verdicts of this sort and the district will undergo & transforma- Courage of Jury In Case of Birger, Gang Chief Is Lauded tion.” Hope in that direction is ex- pressed by the Philadelphia Public Ledger. * ok kX Attorneys for the defense, it is noted by the Ann Arbor Times-News, “are looking about for some technicality that will save the man’s neck,” and “so Birger is going to get off if human ingenuity can make it possible.” That paper continues: “You can't help laughing now and then—with just a little irony, perhaps—over the idea of such strenuous efforts being made to save the life of a Killer, as though our civilization were doomed to failure if the boys with the barking guns and disregard for the lives of others were permitted to lose their necks. * * * Surely there must be an occasion, once every hundred years or so, when it would not inflict such a great injus- tice on humanity to put one out of the way.” “The exploits of these men and their s,”” says the Cleveland News, re an anachronism in 1927. In 1850 in the gold fields of California, and later in the Yukon territory, their presence might have been expected. But Illinois long ago passed the stage when it could properly be termed a pioneer commonwealth.” The matter is similarly viewed by the Baltimore Sun. The Cleveland Plain Dealer sug- gests that the proposed hanging “will be unpleasant for the man who is be- ing hanged, but it is as clear as day- light that just such an object lesson is essential for the happiness and well being of the peaceful majority in Illinois.” The Springfield Daily News asserts that “a community with a dash of courage, a modicum of self- respect and plenty of energy can put to flight” such forces. L Observing that the gangsters “turned against each other when their backs were against the wall,” the Uniontown Herald states, “Brazen, daring, inhu- man and brutal though they may be, the gangster and crook, more often than not, is an abject coward when he gets into trouble, intent only upon saving himself, without scruples or conscience as to others.” The Buffalo Evening News feels that ‘“there is !little in the annals of crime in the United States to equal the charge against Birger that he employed two boys in their teens, at $50 aplece, to shoot down Mayor Adams at his door- step. “As he passed from the courtroom, having heard the verdict,” says the Illinois State Journal, *“he said: ‘I don’t care for myself, but I have a sister and a wife and two little chil- dren. I am sorry for them That's typically criminal. In Joliet, in Sing Sing, in every prison, it's the burden of the pleas that fall upon your ears— ‘mother,’” ‘wife,’ ‘children’; ‘for them have compassio! It’s only after the law asserts its majesty and brings to Jjustice those who defy it that the typical criminal begins to think of mother, wife, children. Then they are brought forth and thelr misery and pain exploited.” The Minneapolls Tribune remarks that “few men can jeopardize their own good names without jeopardizing the good names of those bound to them in some close human relation- ship.” The Decatur Review affirms of the man’s family: “Every one is sorry for them. Birger had a chance to do something for them. He did things that caused grief. We wonder if he is not now thinking more about him- self when he talks about them.” The Providence Journal feels that “it is a pity he postponed his concern for bis Sazily 80 long,} AUGUST 2 1927, NEW BOOKS . AT RANDOM LG M. VOICES UNDERNEATH. Ernestine Cobern Beyer. The Stratford Co. A handful of verses for you, picked up by their author seemingly at ran- dom—from a flying cloud or an Au- tumn noon or some sweet-smelling corner of flowers and shade where Pan sits a-piping. Gathered in the main however, from the great com- mon sum of illusions by way of which the human makes shift to get along with the hit-or-miss pattern of life vouchsafed him by the good God and at which he snatches here and there in his desperate need of light and leading. phisticate” is the mod- ern and unmeaning name applied to verse of this cast. It is an odd fact that poets, big and little, in a wide range of time and individual diversity, are pretty sure to come together in positive agreement that the game is a long way from' being worth the candle. What game and what candle? Why, the game of life and its thereafter, the candle of poetic striving and achievement. The idea might, of panded to include every man'’s ctive resistance to the notion of -complete personal annihila- tion—but that's a story as big as all creation and the mnext world thrown in. The immediate business here is a Jook-in upon the poet in his urge to live beyond his own temporal span by way of a potent address to pos- terity through means more enduring than a mere assemblage of flesh and blood could achieve in the fleeting passage of years allotted to him. And we—the modern wise guys—know the futility of such a dream. We kno that Shakespeare, counted the great- est of them all, is as dead as a doornail, save for the lying preten- sions of a few culture candidates. You should, right here, listen in upon James Branch Cabell, that surpassing- 1y honest, astute, suave, back-bracing man, as he talks about the game and the cagdle from the viewpoint of some of the real poets of long ago. Particularly interesting is he in his talk about one William Congreve of a couple of hundred years ago. “To art this Willlam Congreve gave whole- hearted allegiance until he was a young fellow of 29. At that age Con- greve died, as an artist.” To be sure he lived for 30 years longer, but only as an idler. ‘“At 29 Congreve was the most famous and most widely admired writer of an age distinguished in letters, and at 29 he put aside literature forever, like a coat of last vear's cut. . . . One perceives that this spruce gambler for immortality found the game not worth the candle.” And there is Wycherley, too, who says: “There was a time when I, too, was foolishly intent to divert the leisure hours of posterity.” . . . “In- deed to all of us who have essayed the word-game, at which one pla for a dole of remembrance in our for- mer lodgings after the sheriff has haled us thence, there comes at times a dispiriting doubt as to whether the game is worth the candle.” And that which is so clearly true of the great poets of the past is equally true of the lesser ones of the moment—the little brown birds twittering of life in its unfulfillments and in its general shortage between aspiration and achievement, between promise and pay. Yet, they are a gallant group, these modern songsters, making the best of the bargain, throwing off in laughter that which might reasonably be called a matter for tears. ‘‘Voices Underneath” s gay and competent— and not to be fooled, not so that you can notice it. L FORGET-ME-NOTS. Eleanor Dolly- varden Bell. The Stratford Co. Not melancholy, the general vein of these verses, but reminiscent instead, with just the touch of sadness that backward looking is sure to bring. Here are verses in a wide range—the seasons, holidays, poems of religious content, songs of twilight and dawn— all musical in cadence and rhyme, all projected in a clear sense of both the spirit and form of verse. Among them all I like the one beginning like this: There's a little river flowing ‘With its waters seldom clear, And the shore is not attractive, But to me 'tis very dear, I have watched its waters rising, Seen it when the tide was low; Often turned from fairer pictures To watch Potomac‘waleru flow. * kK BACK HOME. Anne Barse & Hopkins. Tiny, but stocky, this book of poems. Pictorfal, rather than reflective in aim, these verses are even more sub- stantial in effect than the mere sur- face spread of the painter is able to produce. Here, added to the two di- mensions of the picture, is the third one, giving concrete body to these be- loved and remembered things ‘“back home”—Main Street on Saturday Night,” “Grandma,” “The Chicken Pie Supper,” “Snowed In" and “Lone- some.” The seasons run 'round here with “February Thaw,” * Moon,” *“Homecoming Week, u ing Stumps, Following the Plow,” “Cider Tim “October Nights” and “Hallowe’en.” Clearly of the Riley tribe is this minstrel of all sorts of homely and dear things. Here is a real bit of country life and a little familiar jab at the lord of creation as well: ““Weeding Sugar Beets': Baby's in.the shade, Kicking up_ his heels, Through the leafy glade, Scented Summer steals. Mother on her knees. Weeds industriously , Father oversees, Busy as can be. Little Brother Bill, Little Sister Sue, Weeding hard until All the work is through. Up above the sky, Cloudless is, and clear, Birds are flying high, Bees are droning near. Haven't time to see Beautles all around, For we have to be Looking at the ground. You'll love the feel of ‘“Woodsy Places™: ‘There are woodsy places, Stars look down On the silent spaces Far from town. ‘There are fragrant meadows And I know ‘Where in leafy shadows Green ferns grow. ‘When the twilight lingers On the lea, Then do ghostly fingers Beckon me. To the woodsy places Far from town, Where in silent spaces, Stars look down. e Mrs. Stetson’s Status As Christian Scientist To the Editor of The Star: Your Sunday issue contained a press report of a copyrighted article appearing in a New York raper, set- ting forth beliefs of Mrs. Aug! Stetson concerning Mrs. Eddy. 11 you kindly permit me space to say that Mrs. Augusta Stetson does not express the views of Christian Scien- tists upon the subject on which she has written. Mrs. Stetson is not a member of the Mother Church, the First Chmich of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass., or of any of its branch churches of Campbell. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC ). HASKIN. Q. Who wrote the negro spirit- uals?—C. C. A. These folk songs, sald to be the only real folk songs in America, grew up in negro communities as expres- jons of group experience and are the results of the negroes’ habit of put- tnig into verse any experience that impressed them. There are thou- sands of these songs which have never been written, many of rare beauty which are known only locally. There are evidences of African influence in these songs. In all of them there is not one note of bitterness. Q. How are trees classed in regard to their ability to produce wood for certain purposes?—C. T. A. The trees that will produce wood for use as lumber in the shortest time are white pine, red pine, ash and bass- wood; for pulp, Norway spruce, pop- lar, basswood and larch; excelsior, basswood, poplar and willow; poles and posts, larch, red pine, red oak, jack pine and catalpa; ties, larch, red oak, jack pine and red pine. Q. What is tenses’—E. R. A. It is the rule or practice govern- ing the choice of tenses in a subordi- nate clause relative to the principal clause, as “principal tenses depend upon principal tenses; historical upon historical.” One says, “ I think it is here”; “I thought it was there.” meant by sequence of e Q. Are homicide and murder one and the same?—R. K. A. Homicide is a broader term. It signifies the killing of one person by another. Murder is intentional and unlawful homicide. Q. Did Hamilton or Madison write the articles signed Publius?—C. L. A. It is believed that Hamilton, Jay and Madison used this nom-de- plume when singing articles that were published in the Federalist. Q. How old the Treaty Oak in ‘Washington, D. C.?—C. W. A. “Famous and Historic Trees of Washington” states that the Treaty Oak in Temple Heights commemorates dians and white men, and is thought to be 600 years old. Q. What is meant by saying that a river has ages’—F. G. A. A river has its stages of develop- ment; youth, maturity, and old age. In its earliest stages a river drains its basin imperfectly; as valleys are deep- ened, the drainage improves, so that in maturity the total drainage area is large and the rate of erosion high. 0ld age is reached when wide flats have developed and the bordering lands have been brought low. Q. Are there any Russian consuls in the United States?- N. K. A. There are consuls in Moblle, Ala.; Chicago, Ill; Baltimore, Md.; Boston, Mass.; New York City Y. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pa.; Gal- veston, Tex., and Seattle, Wash. Q. How are the telephones of the world distributed?—C. T. S. A. Of the 27,783,963 telephones in the world the United States has 61 per cent. Europe accounts for 27 per cent and the rest of the world has 12 per cent. N. Q. ‘When did Al Jolson make his first stage appearance?—J. K. A. His first appearance was on the stage of the Herald Square Theater, New York, October 16, 1899, as one of a mob in “The Children of the Ghetto.” He was then 16 years old., There is mo other agency in the world that can ansiwer as many legiti- mate questions as our free Informa= tion Bureaw in Washington, D. C. This highly organized institution has been built up and is under the pere sonal direction of Frederic J. Haskin. By keeping in constant touch with Federal bureaus and other educational enterprises it is in_a position to pass on to yow authoritative information of the highest order. Submit your queries to the staff of ezperts whose services are put at your free dispos There is mo charge except 2 ceni in stamps for return postage. Address The Evening Star Information Bus reau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, the peace agreement between the In- ‘Washington, D. C. BACKGROUND OF EVENT BY PAUL V. COLLINS. There must be two sides to the question of whether this country needs and demands a merchant ma- rine—just as there are two opinions about growing sweet potatoes, dccord- ing to the aged darkey of Old Vir- ginia, who explained: “My ole marse say sweet potatoes grow best in sandy soil, an’ I say sweet potatoes grow best in mndy' soil—and so_we ’sputes and ’'sputes. Senator Duncan U. Fletcher of Florida declares that he is going to get a definite Interpretation of the present law, passed in 1920, which created the Shipping Board-and pro- vided that it should organize and maintain an adequate merchant ma- rine, with the view ultimately to sell- ing out from Government ownership to private ownership, providing, how- ever, that in the sales to private own- ers the buyers must be American citi- zens and must obligate themselves to maintain service upon the prescribed routes for five years. Now comes the Senator with a re- vival of his resolution, introduced and filibustered in the Sixty-ninth Con- gress, which he proposes to make an issue in the next presidential cam- paign and in Congress next Winter. He announces that, like the boy on the burning deck, he will stand right there in defense of a permanent mer- chant marine and stop this practice of selling ships for five cents on the dollar, with a mere pledge to run them five years, when everybody knows that in the life of a nation five years is but as yesterday and as a tale that is told—a short story, as it were. So the Senator rises as the eternal champlon of a merchant ma- rine against the nefarious opposition of—whom? There is Chairman O’Conner, head of the Shipping Board, who is the of- ficial spokesman of the administration so far as concerns its policy of a per- manent merchant marine. Logically, one would expect the opponent of Senator Fletcher to be bent on scut- tling all the Government-owned ships, from the Leviathan down to the small- est launch. This is how Chairman O’'Conner talked in a speech at Buf- falo last October: “If there is one natlonal policy defi- nitely and clearly fixed by expression of Congress, it is that policy that the United States shall have an adequate merchant marine for commerce and for national defense. Those who would go around seeking to make it a matter of debate need only to read the merchant marine act of 1920. That act of Congress, passed by a Republican Congress and signed by a Democratic President, settled for all time that the United States was to have a merchant marine sufficient to carry 50 per cent of our own com- merce, as a means of national se- curity and development of our foreign trade.” Now it seems to a layman that “sweet potatoes really do grow Lest ln' sandy soil,”” so the dispute is on. We are to have a ‘“permanent” mer- chant marine, for the North and South agree on that, if they never agreed on anything else. * ok ok K But what about the campaign fssue? Senator Fletcher is not a Socialist; he says he does not believe the Gov- ernment should compete in business with anything which private enter- prise can handle, but he declares that when the Shipping Board demon- strates that running ships in our for- elgn commerce is a losing enterprise it cannot expect private investors to undertake it; therefore, the Govern- ment must maintain the business or, according to the Shipping Board's o is;gowl;lg. tl':!u1 business will for- ve a loss, vi ple scouraging private Overlooking or explaining the $2,- 000,000,000 Tass. of e Geyernment: controlled railways during the war debate at least no more than “grows ing sweet potatoes in sand.” But Senator Fletcher protests that the Shipping Board has sold ships at too great a sacrifice, and he will pro- pose curtailing its power to sell any but obsolete ships. He says: “The passenger-cargo ships, which comprised the American Oriental Mail Line of Seattle, were sold to the Ad- miral Oriental Mail Line (Dollar) for the sum of $4,500,000. These ships cost the Government approximately $40,000,000. The power to sell ships should be limited to obsolete ships, and then sales should be made on a business basis, just as any one mnot obliged to sell his property might dis- pose of it. There should be no ai thority to sell serviceable ships at less than cost, allowing for reasonable de preciation, and then only upon terms whereby the purchaser will agree to keep up the service during the life ef the ship.” * ok ok X Chairman_O'Conner, in his official report to Congress, responding to resolution No. 262, also advocated a clearer expression of permanency in the law. The board’s report advocated a sub- sidy for both passenger and freight ° vessels owned by Americans and fly. ing the American flag, “continuing until such vessels attain the age of 20 years, a payment proportioned on speed and computed on the number of days at sea while carrying cargoes to and from the United States.” * ok ok % The word “subsidy” arouses the op- position of many, who forget that the Government operation involves an an- nual loss of millions—316,000,000 to double that—but that it is necessary to maintain the service, just as it is necessary to maintain the postal serv- ice, even at a loss. A persistent loss is a_“subsidy.” When the coal strike in England at- tracted most available foreign ship- ping to the remunerative carrying of coal to England, American exports and imports would have been suspend- ed, at unimaginable loss to our pro. ducers and consumers, but for the fact that the Shipping Board was able to mx]t into service scores of reserve ves- sels. The merchant marine is of vital im- nortance for naval auxiliary service, Great Britain possesses 12 large ves- sels of the class of the Maurctania, which are qulcg:y convertible into cruisers—they are s e edenthBu;azl T il reat Britain subsidizes her shippin; by $123.031,498 a year, aside from her mail subventions amounting to §2. 250. That is aside from a subsidy by Canada of $1,000,000 and mail subven- tion of another $1,000,000; also of Aus. tralia’s subsidy of $851,637 and mail subvention of an equal amount. The total subsidies paid to majntain shipping by Italy, Spain, France. Great Britain, Australia and Canada amounts to $152,733,674, with mail sub- ventions totaling $26, In addi- tion, there are special rewards for speed, etc., adding $122,245,894. * ok ok x Chalrman_O'Conner states - day the United States has aoee privately operated foreign traffic ships than she has had since the war, But even Germany is building mer- chant marine ships 12 times as fast as the United States. The exact figures for the great powers as to shipbuild: ing activities for the past five years show that the United States has built, or is building, only 199.884 g 1 in_contrast to Great Britai 847 tons, Japan's 35 77,239 tons and Italy's 805556 tons. refers only to ocean-gi ves. sels exceeding 2,000 tong. =05 Vo (Copyright. 1927, by Paul V. Collins.) and the surplus labor it required, he cites the following as proof that Gov- ernment management of ships should be better than private enterprise: “The first three voyages of the Le- viathan, from July to September, 1923, were of a character that would show what a private operator could do in commercial operation. The of cial records show that the three voy- ages from July to September, 192 when the vessel was under the man. agement of Mr. Gibbs, shows a prefit | of $277,406.41. The same three vo: agess f(l:om July to September, 192 nder Government operation, Vi a ;’frol::‘ of 5(1154,855.0!{)" kst at does not make a prima facle case for Government o\vnel;shr?r: what does it show? Details might not contradict that straight statement of comparative profits, suggests an ex- pert, but might discount the ascrited cause of the difference, by showing Reneral improvement in commerce, the revival of markets and the year's addition to the advertising of the great ship's facilities, etc. Good will in business, like the Imperial city of Rome, was never built in a day. Chairman O'Conner, even when ad- dressing Johnny Bull in London, thrust this pointblank deflance at com- petition: “It should be clearly understood that the American Congress has de- UNITED STATES IN WORLD WAR Ten Years Ago Today American airmen are taking part in big_allied offensive against Ez):mam on Flanders front. * * * Two Amer- ican schooners reported sunk by sub- marines, one by gunfire and one tor- pedoed. Twenty-four members of the Montano, sunk July 31, and eight naval gunners lost their lives. * ® xpectation that American regimen will soon parade through London lcm: Londoners to assume that troops have already landed “sBmewhere” in Eng- land. * * ¢ Twenty States have th ar completed their quotas of Regulds Army enlistments. * * * President orders embargo on all ship steel, and not a pound may be exported after August 15 without special license. * * * Third anniversary of World War commemorated in Germany. Re- viewers are more inclined to acknowls edge the resources of America. * * * Pershing pleased with conditions 1& American front-line camps. Generall good, but not ideal, he says. * * * Nation's hotel men agree to observe two meatless days and bar veal in Christ, Scientist, having been disci- plined and dismissed from the Mother Church during Mrs. Eddy’s lifetime, PHILIP KING, Christian Science Committee on Pub- lication for the District of Colum- clared for a permanent merchant ma- rine, privately owned if possible, but a merchant marine anyhow.” ‘So Senator Fletcher and Chairman O'Conner are that near to full agree- ment that the merchant marine per- ¢ is not open order that calves may be grown for beef. Bread portions to be reduced. * ¢ * “America must help quickly and In force” asserts British higl military official. Says allies canndt |:R(mzel\-l cougt on nny‘rl;mterlnl ald from ussia and war will necessarily prolongeds ‘fl