Evening Star Newspaper, October 17, 1927, Page 8

8 THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. MONDAY.......October 17, 1027 THEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: 11sh St id Pennsylvania Ave. New York Offce: 110 East 32nd St. icago Office: ‘ower Building. European Office: 14 Regent St.. London [England. Evening Star with the Sunday morn- IMn:dl“:l Il' delivered by o ers within the city at 60 cents per month: daily cnly, 45 cents per month: Sundays only. 20 cenis % v 1o sen o B rhons Mag B000. Collection is made by carrier at end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. filfl' jand and Virginia. Daily and Sunday. 00: Daily only Sunday only All Other States and Canada. mo.. $1.00 Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled 1o the use for republication of all News atches credited to it or not otherwrse cr ted in this paver and also the weal ncws published herein. ~All riziits of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. = Must Hasten Municipal Center. Congress should act promptly on a report and recommendations now be- ing prepared in the Engineer Commis- Walter undoubtedly assoclates most with his major league career. ‘Walter, the clean-living, clean-acting base ball player, has hung up his glove and is anxious to settle down to a less arduous life than the major league diamond demands. He has al- ways maintained that when the years took toll of his great right arm to the extent that he could no longer keep up the high standard that he has set he would voluntarily retire rather than to go along as a “has been.” Base ball is too firmly ingrained in Walter Johnson for him ever to get entirely away from it. It is very probable that he will acquire an in- terest in some minor league club to be associated with the game he loves. But whatever he does his name will live In the hearts of those who have seen this superpitcher, with grace that has never been equaled, mow down the opposition in the heat of a Summer contest. Walter has been an inspiration and an invaluable adjunct to the game of base ball. May he reap full reward in whatever line of en- deavor he chooses to take up! Needed—A Major Operation. The long-awaited meeting of the Democratic national committee is set for January 12, in the National Capi- tal. There are forces at work to make harmony the keynote of the gathering. A Jackson day dinner, to be held here during the week of the national com- sioner’s office for building a group of District Government buildings on the north side of Pennsylvania avenue be- tween Third and Sixth streets, south of Judiciary Square. The joint com- mittee on public buildings and grounds asked that such a survey be made. Congress will now be asked for a modest appropriation so that expert study may be made as to how this area, which allows space for future ex- pansion, should be developed to fit in best both with the needs of the lo- cal municipal administration and with the City Beautiful plans. The housing problem of the District is, briefly, this: The present Municipal Building was outgrown several years ago. Various District offices and agencies that should properly be in a municipal center or in permanent homes of their own, are now occupy- ing ramshackle Federal buildings that should be torn down, or inade- quate rented quarters. Some ten of these are in the triangle south of Pennsylvania avenue to The Mall, and notice has been served on them to va- cate to make way for the big Federal building program. Even fhe present District Building is included in the Federal building layout. So the District must expand its housing facilities and has no room to expand in its present location even it the Federal Government were not going to take the building the District now owns and occupies. It takes time to plan a municipal center, more time to get action in Congress authorizing the work and then more time for the actual construction work—so that the District offices may be moved out of the way of the Federal building op- erations. That is why action should be taken as promptly as possible after Congress assembles. The site selected is admirably suited to its proposed use, and while slightly larger than immediately needed, is Jjust about the right size to provide adequate room for future needs that are already fore- seen. It fits in beautifully with the long-cherished plans of the Commis- slon of Fine Arts for a parkway de- velopment south of Judiciary Square to Pennsylvania avenue, It would give the Municipal Government a commanding position, as it deserves, at the juncture of the new avenue from TUnion Station with historic . Pennsylvania avenue parade grounds, and the already authorized extension of B street to be the main approach to the new Arlington Memorial bridge. Through authorization of the pro- posed municipal center Congress would make it possible for the Dis- trict to co-operate with the Federal Government by starting and com- manding the improvement of the north side of Pennsylvania avenue cotemporaneously with the improve- ment of the long disreputable south side by the Federal building program and the squaring up of the Mall. The entire area proposed—between Third and Sixth streets on the east and west, Pennsylvania avenue and B street extended on the south, Irdiana avenue, D street and Louisiana ave- nue on the north—should be acquired at once. But no buildings should be erected theron until a very careful study has been made by experts, in conference with those who know the the needs of the District administra- tion, and after the problem of group- ing the various agencies and activities of the District Government has been considered from all sides. It is for such a study that an immediate appro- priation is to be asked from Congress. There is need for a model municipal group of buildings that will adequate- 1y accomodate and give fitting recog- nition and dignity to the headquarters of the most beautiful city in all the world, but when the job is done it must be done right. It demands the best technical skill and experlence, practical knowledge of requirements and sympathetic regard by Congress, because it should be an imposing ex- ample during future years for all other cities, and because it should dominate the entire north side of Pennsylvania avenue. ——rat—. Mexico's political affairs have for a long time shown a tendency to employ a firing squad as a court of last resort. ——— ‘Washington’s Loss. ‘Walter Perry Johnson, the dean of American League pitchers and the idol of fandom the country over, will never again hear his name and that of his bat- tery partner bellowed through a mega- phone to an expectant major league bass ball crowd. For “Big Barney” has asked and will be granted his un- conditional release. He has, in his twenty-one years' service with the Washington ball club, heard, “Wash- ington, Johnson and Street,” “Johnson and Ainsmith,” “Johnson and Picin- mittee meeting, is a possibility. Democratic chieftains from every section of the country will attend the committee conferences. Some will come bent upon the elimination of Gov. Smith as the Democratic nomi- nee for President in 1928. Others will come to take up the cudgels for the New York governor. And behind the name of Smith lurk the wet and dry and the religious issues. If the dove ot peace can retain all her tail feath- ers in such a gathering, the days of miracles will not have passed. It is noticeable that the Democrats who speak most loudly for peace and harmony in the party ranks are anti- Smith Democrats. The elimination of the New York governor from the presidential race is to them a sine qua non if there is to be peace. The Smith Democrats, on the other hand, are not so much concerned with peace as they are with the nomination of the governor. With them, it is Smith or fight. They would be glad to have peace, but they do not intend to com- promise the principles for which they stand, including religlous tolerance. The condition of the Democratic party today calls for a ‘major opera- tion rather than soothing sirup. After days and nights of fighting in the Madison Square Garden, in 1924, the Democratic hosts tried a compromise. They put John W. Davis at the head of their ticket and Charles Bryan at the other end. What happened in the campaign and election which followed was a foregone conclusion. No one was pleased. The fact is, the trou- bles of the Democratic party, as it is now constituted, are too deep-seated for any such treatment. Sooner or later the Democrats will reach the conclusion that these issues must be faced squarely. The party in the North and East stands for one thing. The party in the South and West— there is very little of the party in the West—stands for another. The dif- ferences have been greatly emphasized through the political growth of Gov. Smith, a Catholic and a wet. Indeed, he has become the embodiment.of these differences. He is but the in- strument, however, which has forced the issue over these differences. A political accident, perhaps, but the kind of accident that was inevitable. ‘Will the Democrats cut themselves free of prejudice and select their na- tional ticket next year with but a single purpose in mind, the defeat of the Republicans? It will be a remark- able feat if they do so. Both factions realize the situation that confronts them. But soothing sirup does not ap- pear to be the remedy. — re———————— A cheerful public hails a good, scrappy demonstration between Army and Navy boys with no question what- ever of foreign relations; no entangle- ments save on the foot ball field or among the typwriter ribbons in the press gallery. ———r———————— Having done a heavy share of the labor in base ball, Walter Johnson feels entitled to interest himself in the phase of the game which involves the management of capital. B e ] An element of doubt arises as to whether the war in China retains a sufficient amount of implacable deter- mination to prevent it from being fought out with firecrackers. Another Pays the Penalty. Saturday night a young man stood on the sidewalk on the East Side of New York, a short, swarthy fellow with a vivid scar across his cheek. Suddenly a fusillade of shots rang out—some say they came from a pass- ing motor car, some say from another source—and the young man fell dead. In the crowd that gathered quickly were many who recognized him. He was Jacob Orgen, better known as “Little Augie,” once a gunman in the ranks of a gang, then leader of a gang of his own, participant in so many killings in the metropolis that even the police captain of the precinct that compassed his activities hesitated to enumerate them lest he be scoffed at for exaggeration. This young man, only thirty-three years of age, had spent more than half his life in violence. He became a gangster at the age of fifteen, and was soon known as an expert wielder of the knife. But when he had re- ceived the wound the scar of which he hore to his grave, and which marked him conspicuously, he quitted the blade for the gun. Eventually he formed his own gang. It was at the call of any one who had the price of an assassination. But he had a rival, powerful and more prosperous in the business of selling death, known as “Kid Dropper.” From time to time between contracts these two measured weapons against one another. Many a henchman on each side fell. About four and & half years ago the “Kid"” tried to steal away the sweetheart of tch,” and recently, “Johnson and Ruel.” Between times there were others, but these are the naxne: that “Midget” Schwartzman, one of Or- igen's followers. He resisted, the girl was true to him, and he was shot HE EVENING while sitting in a taxicab. Dropper was arrested and discharged for lack of evidence. As he was leaving the courthouse he was shot to death by one of Orgen’s men. Then “Little Augle” succeeded to the throne as the gunman king of New York. Of late Orgen has been living “with- in the law.” Investing his earnings from the work of his gang in cabarets in upper New York he turned his back upon the scenes of his former ex- ploits, though keeping closely in touch with his old associates, through a trusted leutenant. Lately the narcotic squad got busy on some tips that led directly to members of Augle’s gang, and the former leader became sus- pect. The gangmen thought he had turned on them. Intimations to that effect reached Orgen, and he laughed at the idea that he would ever “peach on a pal.” A police captain met him on the street and advised him to leave town. He jested at the thought. He even went so far as to go back to the East Side and theré hold a conference on the street with his trusted aide. It was then that the guns barked and both men fell, one dead, the other sorely wounded. There are no clues to the slayers. They may have been former members of the Dropper gang, or perhaps some of “Little Augle's” own men, fearful lest he had put the police on their trail. Possibly some may be arrested on suspicion, but there is little chance of conviction. Just another gang killing! New York looks on calmly, speculates on the chances of further reprisals in gangland and notes an- other man who has lived by death and dled at last by violence, paying the inevitable penalty. ——rae— A Kosciuszko Memorial. Today marks the one hundred and fittieth anniversary of the Battle ot Saratoga, where the genius of Thaddeus Kosciuszko, the Polish en- gineer contributed largely to a much- needed victory for the then almost despairing American Colonists. The battle date is made the occasion of a public appeal for support of the Koscluszko Foundation, organized to create a “living memorial” as an ex- pression of gratitude for services ren- dered in time of need. It is proposed with pennies, dimes and quarters contributed by the school teachers and children of Ameri- ca to endow at least one scholarship of $30,000 to be known as the: George ‘Washington Scholarship of the Kos- cluszko Foundation and dedicated “to the friendship between this hero from beyond the seas and the Father of His Country.” The scholarship, to consist of the income from the en- dowment, will be awarded alternately to a student from Poland at an Ameri- can college or university and to an American student at a Polish univer- sity. It is an undertaking that will make a strong appeal to the American peo- ple, and $30,000 is a small debt of gratitude for the richest nation in the world to pay. ————.—— A fake Channel swimmer secured almost as much publicity as a genuine performer. Willingness to be photo- graphed in a bathing suit goes a long way toward establishing fame. ——————— Established laws and customs are often attacked by public speakers who feel that it is hard to be inter- esting without assuming a contradic- tory attitude. ———————————— “Miss Democracy” is still repre- sented with a poke bonnet and pan- telettes, which is a mean method of insidious publicity to imply that she is out of date. e r———————— Aviation experts who take their pro- fession seriously will never be satisfled until every “hop-off” can be accom- paiifed by a reasonably rellable return ticket. e r—e———————— The “invisible empire” raises enough noise to prevent it from ever being classified as inaudible. ‘When it comes to elaborating his meaning of a simple word, President Coolidge agaln does not choose. ————————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Varying the Monotony. I tried to frame a winsome lay To make 'em shout “Encore!” ‘The wise old person paused to say, “We've heard all that before.” Philosophies that seem sublime Or tragedies that roar Along the corridors of time— ‘We've heard ’em all before. So to the base ball game I went And watched the varying score And hear some things in great content I hadn’t heard before. Dilemma. “Why don’t you publish your auto- blography?” “It wouldn’t be interesting enough 1t I didn’t tell the truth,” answered Senator Soughum, “and too interesting 1t 1 aid.” Historic Memento. He had a boom for office high; Of speed it showed a lack. The fam'ly views it with a sigh Among the bric-a-brac. Jud Tunkins says a man who loves his work is frequently too willing to be kind and give it a holiday. Not Entirely Mercenary. “Would you marry & man for money?” “No,” answered Miss Cayenne. “I have already refused two highly suc- cessful bootlegger: “Many a person who dreams in ecstasy of a life of future bliss,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “busies himself with making this life as dis- agreeable as possible. Synonyms. The poet twists his rhymes anew, He weeps or says, “Ha, ha!" His words, I here confide to you, Are synonyms for “Blah!” “A mansion in de skies,” said Uncle Eben, “is worth tryin’ for, so’s not to have no rent collectors, nor realtors, now gesesors, o keep up de worry.” STAR. WASHINGTON, D. C. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Ladles who daily see their husband's cheeks swathed in lather may think, from varlous exclamations escaping the foamy mouth of the lord of the household (as he formerly was called), that the process is one of pain. It is true that upon occasion the morning shave is anything but bliss- ful. Such an occasion is when the razor (modern form) slips sideways, cutting a neat gash in the covering of the manly jawbone. Daddy swallows a few mouthfuls of lather as he righteously attempts to express his proper indignation of razors in general and of safety razor in particular, with a few maledictions directed at the whole general process of shaving. Another such occasion is when the blade which onme left the previous morning in a supersharp state is found to be incapable of cutting hot butter, than which nothing more incapable can be imagined in the ordinary run of daily living. Shaving as a necessary art, how- ever, is not to be judged by these mis haps, which might occur in the best houscholds, and do, indeed, often oc- cur, especially when one is in a hurry. “Haste makes waste” is nowhere better exemplified than is shaving, ex- cept that the reading should be re vamped to run: Haste makes a cut. The jolly grin of the gentleman shaving with So-and-So’s heavily ad- vertised soap is, therefore, no lie, but the proper picturization of a daily event In the life of most of the male inhabitants of these United Stat Great Britain and many other coun tries. All over the world every morning some millions of male beings get out the old safety razor, or the new safety razor, or the old straight razor, or the new ditto, and begin the right pleasant task of hewing away the growth of beard that appears there. At first blush it might seem a thank- less task indeed, since it must be re- peated again tomorrow morning, and 80 on and so on for the rest of one’s natural life. But, then, there are an: number of things that must be re- peated daily, in which category falls this of the shave, without which no man can feel at ease in the company of his equals, his peers or his infer To go to work with a clean sha 1s of more importance, perhaps, than to be decently dressed, or to have con- fidence in one’s breast, or to be ca- pable, honest and the possessor of other qualities rightly determined by the common consent of mankind to be necessary to success in the true sense of the word. To shave or not to shave is no ques- tlon at all, except upon mornings when one feels low in spirits or fondly thinks that the shave given the old jaw last night will look well today. It will not; it never does. But some- times inertia fools a man into pre- senting himself before the world “‘as 1s.” This he sorely regrets before the day is over, but he never learns, and will repeat mext month on the next rainy morning. ok K K ‘The joys of shaving are both mental and physical. From both the intel- lectual and physical standpoints the first essential of a good shave is a sharp razor. After all, it is the blade one does the hair cufting with, not the shaving brush or the soap. It is in this as in smoking—what does one smoke, the pipe or the tobacco? Why, the tobagco, of course. Without a sharp blade, whether it be of the sturdy construction of the older straight razor or the fashion- ably thin blade of the modern safety type, the morning shave cannot be a success. A man shaving with a dull blade might well serve as the perfect picture of bathroom misery. Instead of cutting, he scrapes, abrading his skin at the same time he does a poor job of removing the unwanted beard. The result is that no amount of “lo- tion” after the shave will relieve the outraged feelings of his usually com- panionable skin. How chummy one's skin usually is! It sticketh closer than.a brother and enables one to enjoy countless pleas- ant sensations as well as serving the necessary task devolved upon it through the centuries of helping the Jungs breathe and of relieving the body of certain waste materials. The skin is a fine friend in health and an efficient worker in sickness. If by reason of mistreatment or accident it becomes painful, the fault is not in it, but in its master or fell circum- stances. Ordinarily the skin deserves a unanimous vote of thanks. * K ok % To abrade a segment of this faith- ful member, therefore, by scraping it with a section of dull steel in the merry name of shaving is to commit both an indiscretion as well as an offense against friendship. The first concomitant of a good shave, let it be said again, is a sharp blade. Next comes the proper soap. It may take a man half his life to find the shaving soap that just suits his skin, skins being very particular in ect, as they are in so many but it can be found, and the shaver should persevere until he finds it. With a really sharp razor and the right soap, there will be little neces- sity for the use of hot water or the obsolete “rubbing-in” which many men still indulge in as the result of the habit of the centuries. Cold water gives the best shave in most cases. The application of lather after the shave ought not to sting, but to soothe, If the former, the blade is not sharp enough. The removal of the stubble, when properly done, is a joy, one of the little reckoned delights of everyday life that need to be ‘“played up” now and then in order to make men real- ize the boon which is theirs. Women must take their faces as they are. A woman's face is much the same at 10 a.m. as it was at 7 am. But with a man it is different. He may look like a bear at rising, or Jack Dempsey as he formerly presented himself in the ring on the night of the big fight, his face adorned with a heavy growth of beard. A man’s face at dawning might frighten little children at play, or scare the goldfish into frantic evolu- tions, or cause the cook to threaten to leave. He can change all that, how- ever, by a little five minutes, rightly spent, so that shortly he issues forth with a skin as smooth as the baby’s and upon which any devoted wife loves to bestow a parting kiss. This is the triumph of the shave, that through it a caveman in the twinkling of a razor, as it were, be- comes the man of 1927! Centuries are crossed in minutes; ages vanish with the falling beard. What can rouge and the lipstick, with their bluff of turning age into youth, show to equal this magic? WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Senator Borah sald not long ago that he has about as much- chance to be nominated for the presidency by the Republican party as he has to become King of England. The distinguished Idaho Progressive apparently meant to indicate his conviction that his school of thought doesn’t boss the G. 0. P. show. In Borah’s direction flows a continuous stream of letters from the plain people, expressive of a wide- spread and non-partisan desire to make him President. But the Demos- thenes of the Senate, who believes in facing realities, thoroughly under- stands that his political record—and probably his geography, as well—dis- qualifies him in the estimation of the higher Republican powers. When “Fighting Bob” La Follette left the scene two years ago, there was some possibility that Borah would take up the fallen mantle and carry on as the anointed leader of a third party move- ment. The notion made no appeal to the Idahoan, who rather sees it as his job to work for progressive ideas within the regular Republican organi- zation. * ok K K Latin temperament sank Anglo- Saxon reserve without trace in the International High School Oratorical Contest in Washington on October 14. ‘The Mexican youth, who captured first prize, and the French lad, who was glven second place, flashed more gen- uine oratorical talent from their elo- quent finger tips than the three re- spective representatives of the United States, Canada and England revealed in their whole corporeal beings. As matters developed, the contest was a clean-cut showdown between Latin and Anglo-Saxon. Our trio of spokes- men presented their subjects loglcally and in splendid English, but they were too dispassionate to be a match for the fire and dramatic fervor with which the Mexican and the Frenchman threw themselves into the fray. Though probably less than 10 per cent of the vast audience understood either Span ish or French, its enthusiasm for the two Latins was boundless. Had the judges’ verdict declared any one but Arturo Ferment! the international champion, or failed to give Georges Guiot-Guillain secondary honors, 7,000 thrilled auditors would have looked upon it as a miscarriage of justice. * K Kk Curtls D. Wilbur, Secretary of the Navy, who led the distinguished naval contingent which saw Notre Dame torpedo the fleet in Baltimore Stadium on October 15, once was an Annapolis foot ball star himself. He played tackle and was one of the rangiest linesmen the academy ever had, with his 6 feet 3 inches of stature and corresponding bulk. Those were the days, Wilbur recalis—40 years ago— when brawn rather than brain count, ed on the gridiron, and when thé average team’s ambition was to “lay out” the other fellows as quickly and as effectually as possible. Secretary Wilbur finds life a little less compli- cated in Washington since former Representative John D. Fredericks of California left Congress. They are almost as alike in looks as two peas, both perpendicularly and otherwise, even to the point of the kind of spectacles they wear. Wilbur used to be taken for Fredericks, and vice versa, time and again in the Capital. Once upon a time they were law part- ners in Los Angeles. * Kok ok Edwin T. Meredith of Towa, Demo- cratic Progressive dry white hope, is spending ten days in Washington, but insists that fraternal, not political, matters are responsible for his being here. He is a delegate to the Supreme Councll of the Scottish Rite for the Southern Jurisdiction. The Des Moines farm publisher declines to talk about his own presidential possi- bilities, on the modest ground that a man who hasn't been offered anything has no business saying whether he'd take it or not. Jowa's almost certain to present the former Secretary of Agriculture’s name at the 1928 Demo- cratic convention. Meredith is young, trained in public affairs, “sound” on the agricultural issue, as the West sees it, and enough of a “big busi- ness” representative in his own ca- pacity to qualify as a member of that class. Incidentally, Meredith looks the part. He journeys to the Atlantic seaboard perlodically to see an under- graduate son at the University of Vir- ginia. Asked why Meredith, jr.. wasn’t sent to a Western college, his dad replies, “Because I want him to grow up a good Democrat.” * K Kk President Coolidge doesn’t want Congress to deny the administration the right to approve or veto foreign loans because “dollar diplomacy” is an effective weapon in the conduct of our international relations. That's just been exemplified by the State Department’s astute avoidance of a tariff war with France. Undoubtedly it was the administration’s O. K. of the proposition to refund the $100,- 000,000 French loan in New York, at 2 per cent less than the original rate, that induced Paris to keep the tariff peace with Uncle Sam. Within the past year or two the State Depart- ment has used the loan embargo against two foreign countries. Brazil was denied the hospitality of the American money market because of her discriminatory coffee ‘“‘valoriza- tion” policy, which hits every citizen of the United States at breakfast. A little later the German potash sydi- cate was turned down, at Washing- ton’s behest, because that monopoly doesn’t give American purchasers a square deal. i * ok ok ok Maj. Gen. Charles P. Summerall, chiet of staff, whom President Cool- idge yanked home from the Coast for airing the Army’s housing woes, has been talking about them ever since he assumed office a year ago. Why the Commander-in-Chief just decided to take notice of Summerall's outgivings is a bit of a mystery. The general has stressed our troops’ wretched liv- ing conditions not only in public ad- dresses all over the country, but re- peatedly before the military commit- tees of both houses of Congress. Sum- merall has won a reputation on Capitol Hill for frank, persuasive speech about the Army, such as none of his prede- cessors ever achleved. One of his most ardent supporters, on the hous- ing proposition, was former Senator James W. Wadsworth, jr., chairman of the Senate committee on military affairs. On the occasion of the dedi- cation of a New York battle monu- ment on Gettysburg Field a year or two ago, Wadsworth painted a de- pressing picture of leaky roofs, sink- ing floors and generally insanitary conditions under which thousands of soldiers are living in decrepit barracks. (Cobyright. 1927.) Mississippi Valley Flood Relief To the Editor of The Star: I am sending to you with this letter a check for $100, which I will thank you to pass on to the proper parties for use in helping the sufferers from the great flood in the Mississippi Val- ley. This sum Is the exact amount that remained in the treasury of the for- mer Washington Athletic Club of this city, of which I was president at the timé it was decided inexpedient to proceed with the erection of a fine clubhouse on New York avenue. , The members remaining of record Have very heartily agreed that this balance could not be disposed of to better and more helpful service than as suggested above, and I solicit your co-operation to the extent requested. I will be glad if you will publish this letter for information to the for- mer membership, as well as to inspire MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1927. Capt. John Smith Praised by Writer To the Editor of The Star: In following the interesting pictorial serles, “Fifty American Soldiers of Fortune,” running in your paper, I feel that I must call attention to a slight discrepancy in the historical accuracy of the text. Apart from the amusing omission of the Jamestown, Va., foundation, the cradle of America, the slighting remarks on Capt. John Smith and the impugning of his veracity, which has never been called in_question except by a few misguided New England writers anxious to place thelr section of the country in the limelight, call for some explanation. Capt. John Smith, who might be called the founder of Anglo-Saxon civilization on this continent, was not only a man of amazing courage and tremendous experience, but also of sterling character and great upright- ness and truthfulness. Incidentally, bhe was a devout Christian, and the first thing that the “broken, gold- seeking gallants,” that Mr. Terhune talks so glibly about, did when they landedsat Jamestown was to celebrate the holy communion, and later, as soon as possible, to build a little wooden church on the shores of the New World. It was not a gold-seek- ing expedition by a handful of “disso- lute aristocrats,” but a great national movement of the whole of England, backed by the King and the govern- ment and by men of affairs—patriots, nobles and gentlemen and sturdy yeo- men—and there would have been no Mayflower expedition, certainly not until an even much later date, with- out it. After founding and consolidating the Jamestown colony, Capt. John Smith in 1614 went to New England, then unnamed and unexplored, except by the earlier Norsemen. He mapped and charted its coast, interviewed the In- dians, saw its possibilities and the fu- ture of its whaling and fishing indus- tries, named it “New England,” and when he got back to Old England spent nearly all his private means and most of his time in ‘“‘stumping the country,” as we would say, to arouse the youth of England to the glories of colonization in the New World. At the height of the excitement pro- duced by the success of the Virginia expeditions, a company of people, called “Brownists,” because they fol- lowed a dissenter called “Brown,” re- turned from Holland and decided to try their fortunes across the ocean. Smith {interviewed them and offered to lead the expedition, but they econ- omized on his services, but used his maps and charts, and having received their grant from the head of the Lon- don Virginia Co., Sir Edwin Sandys, son of the Bishop of York and one of the most liberal-minded men of the age, they had permission to “settle within Virginia territory” (as all the country at that time was called from Nova Scotia to South Carolina), and accordingly set sail on the Mayflower, chartered by the Virginia Co. and offi- cered by the employes of that com- pany, and, as we all know, landed at Plymouth on December 11, 1620, 13 years after the founding at James- town, Va. - The 120 persons on the Mayflower were mnot all Pilgrims. Some were from Essex, London and other places in England. Christopher Martin, “the Governore in the Mayflower,” was a member of the Virginia Co. and owned a_ plantation on the James River, as also did Stephen Hopkins, another planter. Also the captain of the May- flower, Thomas Jones, and his mate, John Clarke, were employes of the London company, and one of the own- ers of the Mayflower, Thomas Weston, was a big landowner on the James River, and his ships traded between Jamestown and London. The Mayflower was only one of 21 ships that went out to “Virginia” in 1620, and when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth there were already 2,200 colonists living at or near Jamestown; the first vessel of American construc- tion, the pinnace Virginia, had been built; the first representative legisla- tive assembly had met, 1619, and the first American university, at Henrico, had been laid out. Construction on the buildings began in 1622, but the terrible massacre of that year stopped it. A new edition of Capt. John Smith's works, with cotemporary writings of h‘lu associates, has been issued by the Edinburgh Press, and fully confirm the veracity and integrity of that re- markable man. The Scotch editors, indeed, express astonishment that New England writers should have ques- lll?;ed ;l(ln ¥ntementl. es, Mr. Terhune may not think the gallant Capt. John Smith worthy to rank with the rest of his company, but Virginia and posterity will hail him as the man whose sagacity and courage and magnificent vision guard- ed the cradle of America and saved the Infant colony from whose cavalier loins were later to spring the patriots, and heroes, and jurists, and soldiers, and statemen, from Washington to Wilson, that have made the Republic glorious. FRANCES A. WALKER. Macedonia Census Figures Challenged To the Editor of The Star: Mr. B. P. Salmon, a well known spokesman for the Greeks, and, if I am not mistaken, head of a Greek bureau of information, has given in your issue of October 11 certain tistics about the population of small portion of the section commonly known as Macedonia,” given to Greece as a result of the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913, and of the Great War. He says that these statistics were compiled in 1926 by Mr. Charles P. Howland of New York, chairman of the Refugee Settlement Commission, and are based upon statistics of two other international bodies, viz, the Mixed Commission for the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations, and the Mixed Commission for the Volun- tary Emigration of Greek and Bul- still further help for the needy. “Lest_we forget.” PERCY 8. FOSTER, Former President, ‘Washington Athletic Club. garian Populations. Then he adds: “The internatlonal character of the three commissions responsible for these statistics insures their being free from raclal prejudices.” The alleged statistics relate to the years 1912 and 1926 and give the number of Greeks, 513,000 and.1,341,- 000, respectively. We have no means to control the exactness of the figures given for 1926, and are willing to let them stand as given. But for those of 1912 we can positively deny their veracity, for the simple reason that at that time no such commissions existed and could not have taken them. These commissions were insti- tuted after the end of the World War, and l’o ascribe an “International char- acter” to these statistics is, to say the least, whollv gratuitous, i . Mr. Salmon acknowledges that ‘Greece was glven a small portion” of Macedonfa. In its geographical limits as drawn by the best historians and geographers of modern times, Macedonia has an area of about 65,000 square kilometers, or a little over 43,000 square miles. Serbia now owns about three-fourths of it, while Greece owns about one-fourth. The Greek writer Chalklopoulos estimated in 1913 the Greek population of the whole of Macedonia at 600.000, while another Greek writer, Colocotromis, estimated it in 1919 at 572,718. One naturally asks: If these statistics, given by Greeks for the Greek popula tlon of all Macedonia, are reliable, how can it be true that the Greek population for 1912 fn a small portion of the country, sav about one-fourth, can amount to 513.0007 Q. In the word “cabaret” is the final “t" pronounced?—H. H. A. The word has been Anglicized. The Standard Dictionary gives bu one pronunciation, sounding the “t." Webster's gives two pronunciation giving first the one sounding the fina second, the final “t” silent, and as in prey. Q. How last?—J. H. A. An armistice suspends military operations by mutual agreement be- tween the belligerent parties. If its dufation is not fixed, the belligerent parties can resume operations at any time, provided always the enemy is warned within the time agreed upon in accordance with the terms of the armistice, long does an armistice Please give the formula for This popular_formula is as fol- lows: White lead, 70 per cent; French white zinc, 30 per cent; sufficient raw linseed oil to obtain the desired con- sistency. Q. When was Than first observed?—E. C.’L. C. A. Thanksgiving day was first celebrated in Plymouth on December 18, 1621, and next on July 30, 1623 The first Boston Thanksgiving was held on February 22, 1630. .The fir printed notice was for June 29, 167 for the State of Massachusetts. \Vash- ington appointed the last Thursday in November, 1790. James Madison se- lected the second Thursday in April, 1815. Lincoln began the custom of the annual observance on the last Thursday in November in 1863. The last Thursday in November has not been fixed by law as Thanksgiving day, but each President issues a proclamation regarding this holiday. iving day Q. How many fights and knockouts have Dempsey and Tunney had?— A. From the year 1915 to the pres- ent time Jack Dempsey has engaged in 73 matches and achieved 47 knock- outs. From 1919 to the present date Gene Tunney has engaged in 62 matches and achieved 30 knockouts. Q. What is the Bureau of Effi- clency? The Bureau of Co-ordination? —B. C. W. A. There is in the Government a Bureau of Efficiency, the duty of which, among others, is to investigate the needs of the several executive departments and independent estab- lishments with respect to personnel and to investigate duplications of sta- tistical and other work and methods of business in the various branches of the® Government service. There is also a Bureau of Co-ordination, which investigates cases in which it is possi- ble to avoid the overlapping of depart- ments. Q. What is ozone?—S. McV. A. Ozone is a colorless, gaseous allo- tropic modification of oxygen. In 1785 Van Marum observed that oxy- gen gas through which an electric current had been passed, as well as the air of oxygen in the vicinity of an electric machine, possessed a pecu- liar odor somewhat resembling chlo- rine. He referred to it as the smell of electricity. In 1801 Cruikshank ob- served a similar odor when water was decomposed by electrolysis. Schon- bein in 1840 investigated the matter, and established the fact that the odor was due to the formation of new gas, which he named ozone. He showed that ozone was generated by the ac- Mexico Held to Mexico’s pre-election hostilities have been watched with grave concern in this country from the start, but the success of President Calles, with the ald of the American arms embargo, in applying iron-handed suppression to revolution convinces most of the American newspapers that the present government can control the situation and prevent a recurrence of prolonged civil war. Even though it is conceded that the country below the Rio Grande still may be a long way from real democracy, at least it is believed that recent events will make armed oppo- sition to the government a less popu- lar pastime. “Evidence that the government of Mexico is at last so firmly on its feet that the opposition resorts to violence at an unprofitable risk,” impresses the Dayton Daily News, which de- clares “the government of Mexico is displaying a force and stability such as few have conceded to it.” The Bluefleld Telegraph contends that “persons at all familiar with the Mex- ican way of doing things would know that President Calles had no choice but to proceed against them with all the force at his command. Otherwise the revolters would be able to succeed in their attempt to overthrow the government and create for a long time another reign of disorder.” ‘The Chattanooga Times emphasizes the fact that ‘“‘the promptness and vigor with which President Calles dealt with the rebels, together with the apparent inclination of all but a few of the federal troops to remain loyal to the government, will no doubt make other potential revolutionary leaders think twice before taking the field in armed opposition to the con- stituted authority of the country.” * K K ok “Mexico has made much progress politically,” viewed by the Asbury Park Press, “‘when even the forms of constitutional government are ob- served. It is to be remembered also that Calles and Obregon have both shown themselves strong men as well as constitutional rulers, that Mexico needs strong men at the helm, and on the whecle they are an immense improvement over the statesmen who preceded them.” The Waterloo Trib- une also sees an improvement, add- ing: “It comes slowly. Another gen- eration and they may have peaceful elections and fair counting of the bal- lots. Mexico has reformed so far that a president can hold office for only four years. This provision was placed in the constitution to prevent a gov- ernment from maintaining itself in office by the power of the army and by counting the ballols itself.” Of the existing Mexican govern- ment the Des Moines Tribune-Capital ““Its record includes some blun- 2 But it has not sold out Mexico. That has been the too common ‘blun- der’ of some of its predecessor govern- ments.” The Oklahoma City Times, however, asserts that in view of the recent conflict “the experiment of democracy has failed again below the Rio Grande,” and the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin holds that “the Calles administration cannot escape a large part of responsibility for the fact that, however unjustifiable armed revolt against it is, the country four years later is still divided, distracted and unfit for the normal functions of constitutional government.” For the failure of the revolt the Q. “'tho House paint?—J. R. W. \ ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN. tion of phosphorus on moist air. and that it was capable of liberating iodine from potassium fodide. Its constitu- tion was a matter of doubt untii Soret determined the fact that it was an allotropic form of oxygen produced by the condensation of three volumes of oxygen into two of ozone. It is found in atmosphere, is often produced by natural agents, and can be made easily and cheaply in commercial quantities. Q. What was the latest date a which surgery was performed by bar- bers?—H. E. D. A. It is said that the last man known to have practiced as a barber- surgeon was one named Middleditch, who died in Great Suffolk street, Lon- don, in 1821, Q. Where does Eastern standard time coincide with local or sun time” P. D. A. Tt is almost the sa in Phila- delphia, G 'a., and Utica, N. ¥ Q. What country manufactures the most furs into garments?—D, S. _A. The American fur manutactur- ing Industry is by far the largest in the world. ~ Although great numbers of skins are imported, the United States and Alaska produce many mcre raw pelts than any other country. Q. When was celluloid first made? —C. E. M. A. It was first made in Engle by -Alexander Parkes in 1835, and was called parkesine. The modern cellu- loid was invented and patented in tha United States in 1869 by the Brothers Hyatt of Newark, N. J., and was first manufactured on a large scale by them. Q. What is a Jenny plane?—C. C. §. A. Jenny plane is the unofficial name given to the old Curtiss JN training plane. This plane was used from 1917 to September, 1927, when the War Department digcontinued its use for training purposes, as it is now obsolete. This plane was not suitable for combat service. Q. Have different languages devel- oped independently, or were they originally one?—J. F. B. A. Authorities believe that all lane guages had their origin in the dialects of one common language, whose home is conjectured to have been between the Baltic and Caspian Seas. The lan- guage spread with migrations in the different places, and the separation and race admixture increased the dif- ferences in the dialects until they bee came distinct languages, which in turn spread and broke up into dialects. Q. What 1is the difference between Japanese tissue paper and other tissue paper’—N. B. A." Japanese tissue paper is lighter and of a better quality. g- ‘("an a brick building be moved? A. “Brick bufldings have been suce cessfully moved. The keynote of the times is efiiciont - service. In supplying its readers with a free information bureau in Wasi- ington The Evening Star is living up to this principle in deed and fact. We are paying for this service in order that it may be free to the public. Sub- mit your queries to the staff of experts whose services are put at your dis- posal. Inclose 2 cents in stamps t cover the return postage. Addr The Evening Star Information Bus reau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. C. Be Gaining Stability Through Experiencc ' “If it were possible to have an abso- lutely honest, free and universal ex- pression of sentiment at the ballot box in Mexico,” according to the Lexington Leader, “the world at large might dis- cover precisely what the masses think and feel. No such referendum can be had. On the whole, unprejudiced ob- servers have concluded that the Calles administration in general has acted in accordance with the views of the majority of those citizens who can think and are capable of forming any- thing like an intelligent judgment.” “Two-thirds of the population of Mexico is illiterate,” explains the Cin- cinnati Times-Star. “The voting at elections is not secret. What with illiteracy and open voting, there is not much opportunity of intelligent and free expression at the polls. Mexico undoubtedly is workin~ toward a bet- ter da But_the beiier day is still remote.” The New York Herald Trib- une in the same vein observes, “The events south of the Rio Grande are sickening proof, if proof was needed, that civilization is not to be gained swiftly by formulae or the adoption of alien phrases, but must come pain- fully, tediously, through the slow d velopment of the national characte: Nevertheless, the Chicagc Daily News states that, “sad to say, definite traces of the cacique idea of govern- ment are observable by Americans at points much nearer home than Mexico City.” That paper concludes, “It is to be hoped that the collapse of the rebellion with a minimum of bloodshed and reprisals will help to bring home to Mexicans the infinite superiority of discussion and free voting to lawless conspiracies and uprisings.” Prohibition Results Cited in Its Defense To the Editor of The Star: The Woman's National Committee for Law Enforcement submits some very telling evidence of the benefits that our poorly enforced prohibition law has achieved. The U. S. Census report shows a per capita reduction of 87.7 per cent in erime and 55.3 per cent decrease in drunkenness. The Salvation Army reports a de- crease of 50 per cent in pauperism. A poll of the college presidents shows a decided and universal de- crease in drinking and drunkenness among college students, Testimony before the judiclary coms mittee of the U. S. Senate in 1326 re- vealed a great and unprecedented in- crease in the number of better homes built and owned by their occupants. The U. 8. Census and the children’s breau of the Labor Department is given as authority for the statement that the law has contributed toward, it it is not actually responsible for the saving of a million lives, Prohibition is here to stay, not be- cause any organization or group of organizations support it, but because it saves the lives of little chcildren, adds to the happiness of the home and promotes human comfort and prgfiress.] ameless and selfish lawlessness has balked and retarded its beneficent results, but prohibition at its worst Fort Worth Star-Telegram states that “Mr. Calles can thank the forbearance of the United States. If this country had removed the embargo on arms,” continues that paper, “as it might reasonably have done at any time during the diplomatic impasse which has arisen over the land-law dispute, the rebels would have been better pre- CARLYLE 8. BAER. Those White House Breakfasts. From the Boston Transcript. As a party function, a White House breakfast at which the President re- frains from talking politics mayv be regarded as not entirely successful. pared and likely would have succeeded in turning out Calles in short order.” The Nashville Banner thinks “the sit- uation seems to be Calles against the people of Mexico,” and adds: “Calles asstmes to know better than the peo- ple what they want or what is best for them. Perhaps he is right. His course, however, is irregular. It might be better to have chaos for a while than#.de.pouc rule.” has shown itself im: - ter than license at l;:flb:‘;?my 83 MRS. R. E. TRICE. The First and Hardest Years. From the San Antonlo News, Being absolved by a fellow prisoner, an inmate of the Texas Penitentiary may not have to serve all his 114-year § sentence. Those Simian Thoughts. From the San Bernardino Sun. A beauty specialist assures us that beautiful thoughts make for bem::y of both face and form. What & hor- rible thinker a gorilia must bel ‘ f [4 ' ¢