Evening Star Newspaper, October 25, 1927, Page 8

8 THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY......October 25, 1927 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Bustness Office: 11.n St and Pennevivania Ave. New Vork Office: 110 East 42nd St. Chicago Offlice: Tower )'l\lfl&(nlml Eurovean Office: 14 Rerent St.. London. neland. The Evening Star with the Sunday morn- ing edition ig delivered by carriers within the city at 60 cents per month* d.% <nly, 45 cents per month- Sundavs cnly. 20 cents per month_ Orders may be sent by mail or telephone Main 5000. Collection is made by carrier at end of each month Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. 1vr $000:1mo. 78e Baily and,Sumdar - yr $200: 1 mo: £he Siinday only". ¥t $300° 1 mo. 250 All Other States and Canada. and_Sandav.1 yr. 12 00- 1 mo.. $1.00 Baily oy Sendar X3 S4800: 1 mo- S'7be unday oniv... . 3 vr. $200°1mo. 85c Member of the Associated Press. The Assoctated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dis- natehes credited to it or not otherwise cred- ited in this paper and also the iocal newe published herein. All rizhts of publication of special dispatches herein are alao reserved Making a Spectacle of Justice. A few months ago a man and a woman were tried near New York City for the murder of the woman's husband, a crime of unusual atrocity | and volving especially sensational | and salacious fe The case attracted widespread attention. The | trial itself was featured by remark- able demonstrations of feeling on the part of the spectators. Both defend- ants were convicted and sentenced 1o death. An appeal is now being heard in behalf of them, seeking separate trials for the two. Yester- day their counsel appeared before the Court of Appeals at Albany with a specific plea that their constitutional rights had been violated by being compelled to stand trial together. This is a law point upon which the appellate court will be called to rule. But incidentally to the petition cer- taln circumstances of the trial are set forth that may complicate the issue and that certainly arrest pub- lic attention, even though they do not bear upon the legal questions involved. Counsel for these defend- ants liken the trial to a circus, a spectacle staged for public diversion They say: Tremendous crowds swarmed in and about the courthouse, eager for the latest mews in a scandalous .drama being enacted upon the wit- ness stand. They invaded every available spot, stormed into the courtroom, were charged by the police, receded and then surged for- ward again. Pandemonium was evi- dent all about during most of the trial, especially when the principal actors were upon the stand testify- ing. Would that we could paint a fword picture that might enable the members of this court to visualize the courtroom—the crushing mass of humanity, milling about every nook and corner of the spacious courtroom, hilarious, laughing, pounding, jump- ing and bobbing up and down, hissing or breaking into spontaneous out- bursts in answer to the surging of their emotions and passions, as some bit of salacious testimony came across the room, through the radio amplifiers, installed in the courtroom. - Imagine a duly constituted jury hear- ing a capital case, sitting in an amphitheater which has become the mecca for all sorts and combinations of men and women craving for sor- did details and in their quest exhibit- "ing no more ordinary decency than we hear is shown by hoarded masses at spectacular affairs such as at a ;prize fight or a circus. American Jurisprudence never before descended « to such levels as in this Snyder-Gray trial. ures. It does not affect the merits of the case in hand to agree that this de- scription of the trial is true and that this characterization is just. The verdict that was rendered was prob- ably not influenced by the conditions in which the testimony was given, the emotions that were displayed by the spectators, the unseemly accom- paniments of publicity that attended “the proceedings. Nevertheless, the tspectacle was a disgraceful one. It presented American justice at its Jowest point. ‘Whatever may be the decision of “the appellate court, it is certainly to be hoped that never again will such a scene be enacted upon the judicial boards in this country. It is impossible, of course, to control or check the emotional reaction of the public when an aborhinable crime has been committed. But it is possible to conduct the solemn proceedings of justice decently, in an atmosphere of truth-seeking and truth-telling jwith due respect for the rights of the defendants and the dignity of the law. ————————————— Like other rich men, Thomas Edison s emphatically of the opinion that there is more joy in producing wealth than there is in counting money. e ———————— Carol Seeks a Referendum. Ever since the death of King Ferdi- nand of Rumania and the proclama- tion of the six-year-old son of former Crown Prince Carol as his successor there have been rumors of an intend- ed effort by Carol to reach the throne through a cancellation of his own re- nouncement of the succession. Carol has been living in Western Europe, mainly in Paris, and has maintained silence regarding his intentions and desires. But it has been evident that intrigue has been at work in his behalf at Bucharest, and suspicion has been engendered that former Queen Marle, his mother, hus been active in his behalf. Today comes the not surprising an- " nouncement that martial law has been declared in Rumania upon the discov- ery of a clandestine correspondence by Carol with certain of the leaders ot the opposition, proposing a popular referendum on the subject of his eli- gibility to the throne. Monoilescu, who was undersecretary of finance in the former Averescu cabinet, has been arrested for complicity in this move- ment. Latest dispatches state that al- though there is much excitement, the Bratlanu government has the situa- tion in hand and that there is no evi- dence of an actual plot for an over- turn in favor of Carol. Nevertheless, . conditions are favorable to any sort of upset, as there is a strong Carolian party in Rumania. Prince Carol lost his succession to the throne in consequence of his mat- riyonial infidelities and his nneralI‘ scandalous conduct. He formally re- nounced his succession in a letter to his father, which was accepted by a parliamentary enactment nearly two years ago. His partisans have since claimed that this was forced upon him. During the period of his father's illness there was continuing anxiety lest he attempt a revolution in his own behalf. He seems, however, to be a young man of somewhat indolent nature, who personally prefers a life of ease and indulgence to the stren- uous career of Rumanian ruler. If his own disposition were alone the de- termining factor, he would not disturb the political situation in his country. But the opposition to the present gov- ernment is plainly using him as e pawn, as a means of overturning Ru- manian affairs and securing power. It is to be noted that Carol, according to the correspondence just disclosed, has only gone to the point of propos- ing a referendum, which is about all that could be expected from so lethar- slic a pretender, ————rte—. Compleiz Refutation. One of the chief talking points against the establishment of compul- sory‘automobile insurance in the Dis- trict has been that the insurance law of Massachusetts, similar to the pro- posed law here, i3 an utter failure. This statement has been made when- ever the subject was brought up rela- tive to a District compulsory insur- ance statute, Those who have given this news to guileless Washingtonians have even stated that compulsory in- surance in Massachusetts had de- creased registration and increased ac- cidents and was an absurd sort of a thing from beginning to end. For the lack of better information on condi- tions in Massachusetts, the local poj ulace accepted as gospel this stat ment of affairs. An investigation, however, was started by The Star in order to check up on the accuracy of these state- ments, and from Frank Goodwin, reg- istrar of motor vehicles, and Wesley E. Monk, commissioner of insurance, the two men charged with carrying out the compulsory insurance law in Massachusetts, come expressions that refute, in their entirety, every charge against the new law. Not only is the statute a complete success, say these officials, but accidents have decreased materially. Although not desigred as a safety measure in any sense of the word, but solely to provide compensation for the sixty-six per cent of hitherto uncom- pensated victims of automobile acci- dents, the officials point out that the compulsory insurance law, in its ten months’ operation, has established the THE EVENING ministered uniformly and promptly throughout the country crime would show an immediate decrease. It is the placid and indifferent type of judge who should find it difficult to be re- elected, not the live-wire, progressive and intelligent type that Justice Ge- nung represents. _— s Yesterday’s Quake. When the selsmographic needles yes- terday began to jump in the astro- nomical observatories in this country, indicating a severe disturbance within the earth's.crust somewhere on this continent, there was great apprehen- sion lesta disaster of magnitude would soon be disclosed. Computations of the distance of the rupture from the point of observation varied widely. Guesses as to the location were equal- 1y diverse. The site of the quake was placed in South America, Central America, Mexico, Southwestern United States and under the Atlantic Ocean. Now it appears that the disturb- ance was In southeastern Alaska and that owing to the fact of sparse in- habitation little damage was done. Had the quake occurred on the Pa- cific Coast of the United States or in the more populous regions to the south of this country, doubtless a catastro- phe of magnitude would have resulted. The variance of estimates as to the location of the quake and as to its vio- lence is an interesting phenomenon. The selsmograph is an exceedingly delicate instrument, capable of record- ing the slightest disturbance of the earth’s crust. According to the vigor of the movements of the recording needle judgment is formed as to the distance and the severity of the slip or slide or upheaval. Scientific skill is necessary to differentiate between the nearby slight tremor and the far distant violent one. Yet there is no known method of locating the area of upheaval or displacement, as this lat- est instance fllustrates. A disturbing possibility occurs in this case, that the Alaskan quake may have set in motion a tidal wave which moving southward with violence may affect Hawall. Warnings to that ef- fect have already been sounded at Honolulu, but at this writing no indi- cation has come of such an oceanic pulse, which might conceivably take a heavy toll of shipping and of life on land, as was the case in the great wave at Apia, Samoa, in March, 1889, ————— It must be admitted that the United States Senate can put a great deal more animation into an ofl’ investiga- tion than' appears in court procedure. This is but natural. For many his- toric years a seat in the Senate was earned in part by temperamental oratory. financial responsibility of every motor vehicle owner; reduced automobile mishaps in all sections of the State; provided an effective and simple meth- od of eliminating the habitually reck- less, negligent or careless driver, and driven the ill-conditioned and dilapi- dated automobile to the junk heap after every other method had failed. The compulsory insurance law, therefore, accomplishes all of the things that any intelligent student ot traffic could desire. It takes off the road the driver with a bad record; no insurance company will insure him, and he can neither drive nor own an automobile. That in itself will de- crease accidents. It goes further than that, however, in that ‘it provides compensation in every' case for the innocent participant in a motor accl- dent, and when it is realized that out' of twenty-five thousand accidents and seven hundred and fifty-five deaths in the Bay State in one year only one- third of the sufferers were able to se- cure compensation, it is apparent that the law came to Massachusetts none too soon. It is a sane law, and within the decade it will probably be effective in every State in the Union and the Dis- trict of Columbia. The day of the reckless, deflant and irresponsible au- tomobile driver is passing, and in his place will be. found the careful, con- scientious type of citizen, financially responsible for damage he may cause, and operating his car with care, not only for his own well-being, but with the knowledge that if he does not he will be forever barred from the wheel of his automobile. 8 ————— Levine did not fly any farther than any other airman, but he probably enjoyed himself more. If there is ever an airplane circus, Mr. Levine should be considered for the position of the man in the clown suit riding the trick machine. ———— A Conception of Duty. Justice George L. Genung of the Ninth Manhattan Municipal Court district has been charged by the Citi- zens’ Union with “unjudicial tempera- ment” and “arbitrary and discour- teous” treatment of litigants and at- torneys. In failing to indorse him for re-election the union states that while there is no doubt of his hon- esty or legal ability, it feels that Lis treatment of persons appearing before him has been unduly harsh. In an- swer to these charges, Justice Genung asserts that his object throughout his ten years on the bench has been to “settle cases without trial and try cases without unnecessary delay.” His statement follows: Our calendars, as in all courts, are filled with cases that should never have been brought and with defenses that should never ' bave been inter- posed. Such cases and defenses block the administration of justice and im- pede the work of the ‘courts and, therefore, call for drastic action. Thieves are not entitled to the same treatment as honest cltizens at the hands of the police. Dishonest liti- gants are not entitled to the same treatment as honest litigants, If in my zeal to carry out my conception of duty my treatment of litigants and. lawyers has appeared arbitrary it may be charged to my conviction that such litigants and lawyers were seek- ing to block the orderly administra- ———— A Broadway musical producer on parole is subjected to so many restric- tions as to his personal entertainment that he might almost as well go back to the quietude of the Atlanta Pen- tentiary and turn on the radio. —————t e Congress will have to compose some wonderful speeches next session to enable the Record to compete with the publications exploiting the under- world. Aviators hop off boldly, but in many fortunate instances are compelled to make the important part of the trip by steamship. When in formal discourse the King of Italy uses the pronoun he is W supposed to mean himself and Musso- Ilini. ¥ A silent statesman is a terrible temptation to the politiclan who re- gards himself as a gifted mind reader. A few of the congressional investi- gators belleved in coming early and avoiding the rush. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON, Histrionic Pretenses. The songs of youth are very sad Because the heart of youth is glad, And seeks, while blossoming moments 80, To mimic griefs it cannot know. With the later years the songs grow say 4 To chase the hours of care away As time goes hurrying along— 'Tis thus the mood belles the song. Unsafe Footing. “The wicked stand in slippery places.” “They do out where I live, swered Senator Sorghum; “espectally it they try to stand on a wet platform in politics.” Jud Tunkins says one thing he lives about aviation is that it doesn't pick funny costumes out of fashion maga- zines, Grown Too Serlous, ' Oh, for the days when laughter roared At mention of good Henry Ford! Now filvvers every highway fill And threaten many a tragic thriil, And when an ugly twist we nurse, We sigh, “Friend Henry, please re- verse; : Go back to days of mirth and try To make us laugh instead of cry.” 'You have traveled extensively?” I have,” answered Miss Cayenne. “What struck you as most wonder- ful things you saw?” . “The American flag’ in New York Harbor.” “He who talks much of his own deeds,” said Hi Ho, the sage of China- town, “will soon find his audience containing but few besides himself.” tion of justice by bringing actions without value and interposing de- fenses without merit, Impatience with such methods, and firm disapproval of delay, should rather, in my opinion, evoke favorable comment than ad- verse criticism. From this statement it would ap- pear that the Citizens’ Union is off on the wrong foot in attempting to re- move a man of Justice Genung's ideals. Entirely too much time is lost in the courts of today. Legal techni- calities, postponements and other de- vices permitted by law clog the smooth- running machinery of the court and obstruct fustice. If justice were ad. Sameness. ‘When Congress comes again to town The listening world will smile or frown, And say, “These lack the polished phrase Of men we heard in other days. Tdeas which around may cling Have something of an ancient ring. ‘The talk, while sounding rather rough, Is sure to be the same old stuft!” “Some men,"” sald Uncle Eben, “tries to reform de world when dey can't even drive & mule.” & STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2 THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. A correspondent wants to know if the cosmos is left alone this Autumn, will it come up next year? Ard if so, will “they come up in the spots where the seeds drop. or in the border where they are planted?” To the best of our knowledge and bellef, the self-sceding of cosmos is one of the best ways to grow this alto- gether delightful annual. The cosmos is such a good grower that seed de- veloped in one’'s back yard appears to be the equal of any to be secured from a seedman. This is not true of all annuals. Cosmos throughout the District of Columbia is now in its heydey, its deep pink, white and crimson blos- soms and feathery but husky foliage adding distinction to the gardens in which it appears. Not only is this flower beautiful, but it is a happy-go-lucky plant, pos- sessing none of the finicky quality of the rose, for instance. The wide open shape of the cosmos flower makes an especial appeal to certain tempera- ments. All who like daisies—and there number is legion—wil} like this. ‘Women, for some particular rea- son which we have never fathomed, invariably prefer the members of the daisy family. Certainly the cosmos, with its wide cups, is a favorite with all of them. Many men, too, show a preference for this Fall bloomer. ik A market man once told us that the cosmos grew o plentifully down in his section th he had to cut them with a mower! his_ anecdote, whether true or not. tends to show the hearty growth of the subject, and therefore to dispel any doubts of our correspondent as to the ability of the cosmos to self-seed itself. In this respect the cosmos much resembles that other Mexican plant, the kochia, or fire-bush, or Summer cypress. The kochia, once planted, never has to be planted again, if the householder will let them alone. The seeds, falling down in the Fall, come up early in the Spring, generally in the same place, with a slight advance forward of a few feet. Thus kochia bushes on the south side of a house will seed themselves for the next year, both in the same place and for a foot or two in advance, to the south. By taking up the un- wanted plantlets as they appear, the gardener can retain his little bushes in exactly the same position as last vear. The same is true of the cosmos. While the falling seed will not all go directly into the border, naturally enough, some of it will. Nature is so profuse that this will suffice. It is best, of course, to have nothing else in the cosmos border, else early Spring digging may upheave many of the dormant seeds. The best place to plant cosmos seed is at the fence, at the extreme rear of the border. This not only gets the plants out of the way during the Sum- mer, allowing them to form a soft background for lower-growing fow- ers, but also gives the gardener some- thing to tie them to. This is a neces- sity in cosmos growing often over- looked. It is true enough that many gar- deners ‘“‘take their chances” with flowers ‘that ought to be staked, such as the gladiolus, the cosmos, the hibiscus. Often enough they “get by” without losing. any of their plants, if nature is in a kindly mood. Yet adequate and proper staking, as generally practiced in relation to that king of Autumn flowers, the dahlia, may be as properly carried out for the cosmos. Perhaps the word “stak- ing” is a bit too heavy, for simple Midcity Site Is tying of the plants to the fence is enough. The stalks that bear the feathery foliage are surprisingly thick, so that a piece of soft yarn tied around them and secured to the fence at about the height of 4 feet will prevent heavy rains or wind from knocking them flat. If bowled over, however, the gar- dener need never worry. Simply pull them up straight and tie them to the fence, as suggested; they will come out all right if the pup doesn’t eat them—dogs are very fond of cosmos stalks. *Ex % Self-seeding is nature’s own meth- od; therefore it must be a good one. Some plants, however, as pointed cut, such as the cosmos and the kochia, seem to get unusually good results through the method. Perhaps this is due partly to the fact that they grow best in land not too rich—exactly the sort the average garden possesses! Such plants as may come up other than where wanted may be trans- planted to the proper line at the rear of the border. A suggestion for a novel rear border combination might be the following: Alternate plants of cosmos and hollyhocks. It is perhaps not generally known that the two might be made to bloom together. If, after the Summer blooming, the holly- hocks are cut off about a foot from the ground, liberally dosed with good bone meal, and given plenty of water, they will grow up again and bloom about this time in the Autumn, just when the cosmos is in its glory. The plants, of course, will not be more than 4 feet high, perhaps 5, but the blossoms w s on the 10-foot specimens of u cosmos makes the North Amer- ican gardener realize just what he owes to Mexico. Not only does this sterling flower come from there, but also the zinnia, first in the hearts of amateur and expert gardener alike, as well as other favorites, or, if not from Mexico, from South America. Prof. Bailey, in his “The Gardener,” has this to say of the cosmos: “Com- posite family. Tender, tall annuals of Mexico, popular for the choice late Summer and Autumn bloom. Two species are chiefly concerned in the garden kinds, C. bipinnatus, vielding white, pink and crimson flowers; C. sulphureus with yellow flowers; the flowers are much like single and semi- double dahlias and on long stems. Both species are long-season plants and in the North they should be started early and grown in land mnot overrich. Of the white, pink and erimson kind early-maturing varieties are now available, however. The late- blooming varieties often reach 6 feet and more in height, but if the top bud is taken out when the plant is a foot or so high a more bushy and tractable subject will result. “Seeds may be sown in gentle heat in early April and the young plants transplanted when 2 inches high, setting the plants well down in the soil and giving them at least 3 inches between the plants, as they are very likely to spindle up, with weak stems, if crowded. When danger of frost is over, set them in a warm sheltered place at 2 to 3 feet apart if strong individual plants are desired. Earlier bloom in mass may be secured by setting them much closer together so that the plants grow practically to single stems, but the blooms are not likely to be so good. It early flowers are not desired, seeds may be sown directly in the ground when danger of frost is past. If exposed to wind, plants with room to develop will need strong staking. Advocated As Place for Farmers’ Market To the Editor of The Star: The many articles appearing in the daily press from time to time regard- ing the relocation of the Farmers’ Market have, I believe, beclouded the real issue. May I, as president of the Mid-City Citizens’ Association, advo- cating what we believe, and what a great many of our citizens belleve, as expressed through their organizations, to be the most convenient and ap- propriate site, claim space in your valuable paper for the following in- formation? By section 16 of the act of May 20, 1870, Congress provided far the crea: tion of the Farmers’ Market for the sale of such produce and dairy products as are usually raised and grown on the farms. It was clearly the intention of Con- gress to provide some place whereby the farmers located in the District of Columbia and the adjacent country may dispose of their products to the best advantage and thereby encourage farming and the raising of vegetables in_every particular form. It is safe to assume that the mar- ket was located at Tenth and B streets on account of its being convenient to the purchasing public, as this point in 1870 was almost the center of the District of Columbia, In fact, the Center Market derives its name from that fact, the great success of this market in the past being due to its central location, which has been most desirable. However, due to the won- derful growth of our city to the north- west and northeast, the area is not 8o desirable as formerly. This is due to the most seriously congested traffic zone the great army of purchasers visiting the market must pass. This not only applies to the present mar- ket, but to any that may be operated south of that point. In fact, it is freely admitted by those interested that many sales are lost due to these traffic conditions. Our Federal Government in its building has informed the farmers that “Your are operating on public owned ground and we must have it in order to erect thereon and to provide a permanent home for the Internal Revenue Bureau.” Congress realizes that the farmers must have a market site in order to care for their trade and customers in an orderly manner. It therefore appropriates $6,000 or is willing to make such an appropriation for what they consider a proper site. It must be borne in mind that, in this instance, the Congress is not interested in the development of rail- road terminals or freight recelving stations or boat landings. For the farmers certainly have no dealings with any of these means of trans. portation in getting the products of thelr farms to market. They have realized many years ago the value of motor-truck operation in conducting the business of their farms. So why attempt to becloud the real issue of providing for a farmers’ market by trying to use the farmer and the produce of this farm as a means of developing raflroad centers or boat landings, something in which he is not at all interested? What he wants is a convenient place to do his business, a convenient location as every other business man would demand in the operation of his business—a, place that he is at least reasonably sure the people will visit where transportation facilities are good, and this location must be as near the center of population as pos- sible and not on the outskirts or rim of the city—a place having ample street car facilities and must be lo- cated where he and his patrons will not have to pass through a thickly congested traffic zone in reaching the market, In edvocating, we do, the mid- city site for the establishing of this Farmers' Market, we do so with the conviction of having the people of ‘Washington very much in sympathy with us, as attested to by having in- dorsements from the following organi- zations and individuals: Twenty-four citizens’ associations, 58 dealers on Louisiana avenue, the ‘Women's City Club, the Citizens’ Ad- visory Council, W. M. Jardine, Secre- tary of Agriculture; 444 farmers bring- ing produce to the Farmers' Market, 5 farm’ bureau locals of Maryland, 135 dealers located in Center Market. We are convinced that a farmers’ market is absolutely necessary for ‘Washington, not only for its compe- tition with other agencies in regu- lating the price of green produce and vegetables the entire year around, but the excellent facilities it affords our people to secure these products at the lowest possible cost, and strictly fresh and wholesome, and the encour- agement it gives to the farmer, who certainly needs help. To give some idea of the business done at the Farmers Market there were sold during the last fiscal year 60,923 truckloads of farm supplies and produce, an increase over the pre- vious year of 3,031 loads, all of which was disposed of to retail trade prin- cipally, notwithstanding statements to the contrary by advocates of a site in the southern part of our city. Destroy the farmer and you elimi- nate all competition in farm products in_the District of Columbia. It has been suggested that there are sites in certain parts of Washington that can possibly be purchased at a cheaper price than the one we advo- cate at Fifth and K streets. Pos- sibly that is true, but what sane busi- ness man would even think of locat- ing his store at some obscure place from the business and trading center at the saving of a few dollars for ground space? His first ambition would be to secure the most desirable plece of land upon which to locate with a full realization that the in- crease cost of the land would be fully | offset by the additional business that would naturally come to him on ac- count of the convenient location se- lected to the purchasing public. It has been suggested by those ad- vocating the water-front site that it would be more economical to have the farmers located near the Municipal Fish Wharf. I fail to see by what power of reasoning this view could possibly be arrived at, with practically all our largest hotels, restaurants, chain stores, as well as individual stores, and the greater number of our residents located far from that point, all of whom would have to cross the city and attempt at least to proceed through the congrsted traffic zone in order to do thelr trading, and, of course, return to their homes or places of business through the same lines of traffic. So let us place this market in a section of Washington where it can be reached with the minimum amount of trouble and expense, and that lo- cation, we are convinced, should be at Fifth and K streets, adjacent to Con- ventlon Hall Market, the largest and most up-to-date market building in ‘Washington outside of the present Center Market. A. J. DRISCOLL, President Mid-City Citizens’ Association, Extremes Meet. From the Lynchburg News. Mayor Thompson having asked H. L. Mencken for his help, it is now up to the kluckers to call on Al Smith to save them. R ] Kemal’s Cruelty. * From the Muncie Morning Star. Some ot the Turks have been ac- cused of cruelty, but they never reached the extremity of Kemal's seven-day speech. v Sl NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM L G M. TRIOTS OFF THEIR PEDES- PATALS, Paul Wilstach. The Bobbs- Merrill Co. The pedestal, either in actuality or in its mental counterpart, is a clearly dehumanizing device. Set upon it, aloof and lifeless, is a form bearing no relation whatever either to the living man whom it purports to em- body or to any phase of the common needs of the common life around it. That which the uplifted figure does connote is nothing more than the bigotry of history on the one hand and on the other the narrowness of the general mind behind that history. Not until fame has been squeezed dry of any genuine human content s it deemed fit for ideal and example; deemed fit to stand in bronze or stone along the public ways in guidance of the generations to come. Latterly some effort on the part of writers has been made to restore this famous man or that one to the full human heritage which he in his day shared with us in our own time. In the main, this gesture of rehabilitation has proved futile and unfortunate. Of the plan itself there can be no just condemnation. Certainly our great ones of the past stand In need of a reviving consideration. The failure with both historian and novelist ap- pears to lie not in the plan, but in the specific - purpose animating each of these. Each appears to have lost himself in his immediate object, with the result that a view as out of pro- portion as these old views are is the result. Particularly has the novelist erred in this respect. Desiring to hu- manize these lay figures of the past, he has reanimated them with faults that outweigh the virtues rength by w of which these men so rightly came into their high estate of heroes and patriots. The result is, to be sure, weak and sensational bits of one-sided and dis- torted rumor and report. Paul Wilstach approaches this sub- ject from another path. His purpose is “to know the fathers better, not to know them worse.” His effort is “to know them off their pedestals, not to take them off; to know them not in the austerity of bronze and marble, not merely aloft on granite bases, but- toned up, head rigidly tilted as if in a photographer’s clamp, hand in bosom or brandishing a sword, frozen in pose, mute effigies without heart or blood—but as human beings in the actualities of life, unburdened by the problems of their public careers, un- restrained by audience, relaxed and unbuttoned in an occasional unguarded moment; an effort to listen and ob- serve from a point a little nearer the elbow than the feet, certainly nearer than the foot of their pedestals.” “In general, statuary and public monuments, as well as most methods of history, run rather too much to pedestal and too little to personality, and has thus made it somewhat diffi- cult to get near to our patriots of the ancient regime.” Under such admirable idea of guld- ance Paul Wilstach takes us along the intimate ways of life belonging to certain of our patriots—Washington, Franklin, Patrick Henry, Hamilton, John Adams, Jefferson, John Mar- shall, James Madison. Back of the author there is plainly a full body of specific material to meet this purpose of getting acquainted. There is manifest, besides, Wilstach's full seizure of time and place and cir- cumstances in the demands of these upon the personality under considera- tion. The schoolman calls this the historic sense, and here this sense serves one after another of these famous men without in any degree shutting off the more intimate aspects of life. Around each of these gather specific incident and daily happening in a measuce that reveals the human being touched by them. Alternations of work and leisure serve the good purpose of revelation and identifica- tion. The whole is a natural, bal- anced inlooking upon this man and that one, a series of studies whose ef- fect is to secure exactly what the author set out to secure. Last Saturday, you recall, was a gem of an October day—a quite irre- sistible day. So, taking the Wilstach book along, I walked over to the United States Treasury and around to the south side of it, where stands the most friendly and companionable fig- ure on a pedestal that the whole city of Washington holds—a young man with the beauty and charm of youth upon him—unusual, this, since most who reach such distinction are old men or men in middle life. But Alex- ander Hamilton is young, young and great at the same time—great patriot, great financier, great statesman, great in his human foibles, too. And so we love him. There, in an air that ‘was all gold and amber and honey, I tried out on the figure of Alexander Hamilton the humanizing plan of Paul ‘Wilstach. You try it, too, some one of these surpassing Autumn days in Washington. Your pay will be prompt and munificent. * koK ok ANTHONY COMSTOCK. Heywood Broun and Margaret Leech. Albert & Charles Boni. Certainly Anthony Comstock never in his life, nor after it, lacked atten- tion from the general public—atten- tion that was pitched to the highest and shrillest key of unqualified abuse on the one hand or undilute praise on the other. Out from both brands of such excess there steps the story of ock by two authors whose saving grace of humor has contrib- uted to a halanced, consistent, fair- minded study of a character who in himself possessed none of these re- deeming qualities. Here is a full- length picture of the man, one that goes back to Comstock’s youth, to his period of soldiering in the Civil War, to his later soldiering against vice in a thousand forms. Indeed, pretty much the whole world had gone to the devil, or was on its way, to the mind of this zealot in the cause of purity. By way of the facts of Com- stock’s life, set out dispassionately here, one marvels at the power of this man—not a learned man nor a wise one, not a man shaped by personality and persuasion to win battles, yet the doughtiest fighter for more than 40 vears that has yet set his face and fists against sin. One of the interest- ing and suggestive aspects of Com- stockery is that everything was sin. Every man was a potential, if not an active, rebel against the purity and decencles of life., Reading, one won- ders what kind of a mind was that ‘which saw evil in most of the activi- ties of existence. And what a tre- mendous egoist this book sets forth so fairly and temperately! To set the pattern of behavior in all classes among all men was to Anthony Com- stock an exclusive prescriptive right. Pure bigot and pure egoist, fighting like a mad bull for 40 years! The admirable quality of this treatment and the %est of this story conspire to an effect that lies quite outside the book its Comstock’s bigotry, his presumption, his certainty of worthi- ness to lay down the law for the rest of humanity turn one back on him- self and to those immediately around him in the dawning and growing con- viction that we are all bigots to a de- gree, that we all seek to set the ba- haviors of others, that we all—save for the grace of God—might have been what Anthony Comstock appears to have been—the natural man run wild on his own sense of superiority in purity, his own gargantuan gusto for power. Clever and useful as a story of personality, even more use- ful in its reach for the Comstock qualities existing everywhere but not imposed in the true Comstockian bla- tancy—not yet so imposed. ————————— A Needed Reform. From the Columbus Dispatch. ‘When and if the calendar is revised, wouldn’t it be possible to slip ina few extra pay days? WA ¥ ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERICK J. HASKIN. Q. Are blasting_caps many accidents?—E. F. A. The Institute of Makers of Ex- plosives says that blasting caps are highly useful objects when used to de- tonate explosives, but, through care- lessness, are often left lying around where children can get them. The lit- tle ones try to experiment with them, with the result that figures show some 500 are blinded or maimed each year in the United States. Q. What is pahmi fur>—H. I. C. A. Pahml fur comes from animals of the weasel family. Their habitat is Central China. The pelt is heavy, bright yellow and silky underfur, top hair grayish brown. = A white line runs down the back along the middle from neck to tail and along the sides. It is also known as Chinese marten. the cause of F. Q. What is dazzle painting?—H. P. A. This scheme ermbodied entirely new ideas on sea camouflage and suc- ceeded by the fact that the proposer was able to supply designs to scale in large numbers, all bearing out a cen- tral idea. It was called, for distinc- tion's sake, in official documents, dazzle painting. Q. How are Chinese villages policed? —G. P. E. A. Prof. E. T. Williams says: “While theoretically the police powers of the whole country are exercised by the minister of the interior at Peking, in reality except in some of the principal cities' the peace is maintained very much_as of old—by control through the village elders and the system of mutual responsibility. . . . On the whole the method of holding the neighbors responsible for one another’s conduct and the elders responsible for the vil- lage tends to check serious offenses. On the other hand, if the general sen- timent is_opposed to any regulation, such as that forbidding opium smok- ing, the probabilities are that the neighbors will shield one another. The responsibility of the ti-pao, as the principal elder, for the good order of the whole village makes his office any- thing but a sinecure.” Q. When was the word parliament used for the legislative body in Eng- land?—G. B. A. It is first used in the Statute of ‘Westminster, 1275. Q. When was the Pantheon built?— W. A. The Pantheon was built in Rome in 123 A.D. to replace the previous Pantheon of M. Vipsanius Agrippa, erected 27 B.C. Q. For what is Conrad Weiser noted in history?—P. N. A. He was a pioneer and soldier, but is perhaps most known as an in- terpreter and Indian agent. He nego- tiated every treaty with the Indians from 1752 until near the close of the French and Indian War. He had lived among the Indians in his youth, understood their languages and habits of thought, and dealt justly with them. Q. What is a word or. sentence called that spells the same thing back- ward or forward?—W. F. M. 1t is called a palindrome. ‘What is the Port of New York? A. Q. —C. L. A. It is a district, created by com- pact or treaty, between the States of New York and New Jersey and com- prising the territory within a line drawn from Port _Chester, across through White Plains, over to Yon- kers, across the Hudson River to Pler- mont down on the New Jersey side, passing behind Passaic and Paterson and taking in the industrial territory west of and including Hoboken, Jer- sey City, Newark, all the way to South Amboy, across again to the New York side, taking in the aom Dlete area of the City of New York The population of the port district is approximately 9,000,000. Q. Of what did Galileo make his first telescope?—V. N. A. A lens was placed at each end of a piece of organ pipe. The" tele- scope magnified only three times, un- like the sclentist's later telescope, which magnified 30 times. Q. What is the source of the best rubies? What color are they—S. A. _A. Burma, Ceylon and Siam. Ru- bies that are violet, pink and purple are found, but the most valuable are usually a pure carmine. Q. How can one guess at the pro- nunciation of Hawalian words?—F., T. The Hawaiian alphabet consists of 12 letters. The vowels are given values as {n Spanish and are always pronounced, not slurred. Q. Do the clouds of Summer really have the flat or straight bases they appear to have . N. A. As a rule the clouds of mid- day, seen on a clear day, known as cumulus clouds, have a well marked straight base. As the ground and the air nearest it begin to warm, the warmed air rises into the higher, cooler regions, where, cooled mainly by its own expansion against, the colder air about it, some of its mois- ture is condensed, forming a cloud. As by continuing ascent more of the stream of air comes into the region of condensation the cloud builds up higher. The base of the cloud remains at the height where condensation be. gins, which height continues about the same. What is the Midewiwin So- clety?—A. N. B. A. It is a secret organization found among Algonquin Indian, consisting of progressive degrees or ranks hav- ing a vague resemblance to the Ma- sonic ritual. Q. What will be the course of the proposed canal from Bordentown to Morgan?—R. H. F. A. The proposed canal is a link in the proposed intracoastal waterway extending from Boston, Mase, to Beaufort, N. C. The proposed link across the State of New Jersey ex- tends from Bordentown on the Dela- warg River to Morgan on Raritan Bay, passing through Edinburg, Cran- berry, Jamestown and Old Bridge. The proposed canal is separate and dis- tinct from the Old Delaware and Rari- tan Canal. There is mo other agency in the world that can answer as many legitimate questions as our free In- formation Bureaw in Washington, D. C. This highly organized institution has been built up and is under the personal direction of Frederick J. Haskin. By keeping in constant touch with Federal bureaus and other educational enterprises it is in a posi- tion to pass on to you authoritative information of the highest order. Sudmit your queries to the staff of ezperts whose services are put at your free disposal. There is no charge ezcept two cents in stamps for return postage. Address The Evening Star Informttion Bureawu, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. GENEVA, Switzerland. How impressive is a session of the League of Nations Assembly? It meets in what appears like a second- rate markethouse. There is no more grandeur to it than there is to a city council. There is formality—deadly formality—for at the ground floor en- trance two policemen stand guard. It is necessary to present a card of ad- mission, which is easily obtained at the club. Then the visitor climbs stairs to what Americans would call a third story or an Italian would speak of as the third “piano.” There he is con- fronted by locked doors, though with entrances not guarded outside by live sentinels, as is the case at entrances to either house of the United States Congress. The would-be visitor waits ip the deserted landing at the head of the stairs until an inside guard deigns to open the door, which he does when- ever a speaker within ends his ora. tion and descends from the raised platform for debaters. There is no such thing as entering or leaving in the midst of a speech. The Assembly meets in a large rec- tangular room, around three sides of which run two galleries. Only impor- tant personages may be admitted to the lower gallery. The upper is for the hoi-polloi—‘‘even as you and L.” * ok kK Looking down from the gallery, one sees the usual organization—the presi- dent, the secretaries, the platform for speakers. No orator may address the solemn members by rising at his seat. All speakers must secure recognition from the presiding officer before he may ascend the forum and address the Assembly. Indeed, so stiff and uncomfortable appear the chairs that it must be a relief to ascend the forum and expand one's lungs and stretch the arms. The oratory Is deadly dull, for it is nearly always in a foreign tongue of the polyglot membership, and so lis- teners do not even have the advan- tage pointed out to the present writer in London by a canny Scot. When some one bewailed the difficulty of an American’s understanding much of the street English of the cockney, the Scotchman soothed his worry by ex- plaining, “Ah, weel, there are always plenty of Scotch around, and, of course, you don't have any trouble understanding the Scotch!” At the League of Nations there seems to be a lack of even Scotch, just as there was at Bgbel, which, indeed, causes too much babbling of tongues and too little work. However, all reports of the Assembly are read from manu- script, and, as all such speakers have “leave to print,” listeners who fail to understand Japanese or German, Ital- fan, or even French, may wait until their interpreters read the printed reports. ‘What would happen to the Assem- bly of the League if it were suddenly transmigrated into the American House of Representatives with its clamor, or into our Senate with its filibustering orations, days in length? * ok % % The session was nearing its close. The agenda was loaded with . :tter: less dramatic than usual. Th the question of what to Armenian and Russian refug There was little of international pol cal interest in a few hundreds of thousands of outcasts, so they were quickly disposed of. s ago it was decided “again an@ yet” to abolish wars, so another resolution was adopted. The resolution had been introduced by Poland. It read: “The Council, considering the reso- lution adopted by the Assembly on September 4, forbidding all wars of aggression, and declaring that all pacific means must be employed to settle differences of whatever nature which may arise between states, begs the secretary general to bring the said resolution to the attention of all states members of the League.” Of course, in view of that resolu- tion, the next step should be to dis- band armies, abolish navies and in- d ugp the Permanent Tri- ‘bunal of Arbitration and the*World Court, both of which sit under the same roof at The Hague. Yet imme- diately after that resolution Herr Stresemann of Germany, grumbling over the Polish corridor, rose to com- plain that the very air of the League's assembly room seemed foul. He de- clared: “I don't think there is an organiza- tion in the world worse protected, from the hygienic standpoint, than the Council and Assembly. The nerv- ousness in the debates comes a great deal from the bad air. 1 would be pleased if the hygiene committee would some day investigate the venti- lation of the Council and Assembly rooms."” How astonishing that the Germans should find bad air in debates over the corridor of Poland, whereby Prussia is cut in two parts! Even Versailles Palace did not seem to have proper ventilation when the peace treaty was discussed eight years ago. It was stifling. * ok ok ok One important step taken by the Assembly at this session was approval of the jurists appointed to prepare for the codification conference, to be held at The Hague. It instructed the ju- rists to take into account the “exten- sive and remarkable effort at codifica- tion made by the Pan-American Union.” So the Old World turns to the Western Hemisphere, which has mostly refused to be members of the League, and the jurists who are to formulate international law to serve as foundation of the League's Perma- nent World Court’s decisions must get their guidance. * ok ok K At The Hague sit both tribunals for settling the questions which lead to wars between nations. The first, the “Permanent Court of Arbitration.” initiated by the most tyrannical poten- tate of modern times, the late Czar of Russia, is not a court at all, but it is a piece of judicial machinery not limited by law. and seeking not ideal justice, but only arbitrary compro- mises It is not “permanent,” but comes together when needed. In the same Temple of Peace, built by that idealistic Scotch-American, Andrew Carnegie, sits the new World Court of International Justice, which was created by the League of tions and intended to function accord- ing to “international law,” but it was then discovered that there is no code of international law competent to cover cases likely to arise. It has been thought advisable to appoint ju- rists to formulate such a code, to be discussed and adopted later by a con- ference of nations. The object {s to settle international disputes according to some future laws, rather than ac- cording to compromises or by war. In the meanwhile, Poland, the reborn child of war, which had suffered de- struction by the holy alliance, pro- poses the resolution to “abolish war.” and the League wakes in surprise to discover l‘olan;l'a*bright innovation. * *x It has been confessed by members of the Assembly that the Genev peace protocol of 1924 was too idea istic and impractical. So it is decid to make a new approach to the ending of wars by resolution and then by a i- | gradual reduction of arms, rather than a sudden disbanding of all armies and other defenses by a few nations, giv- ing advantage to the more aggressive ones. But, again, it is charged that even war cannot be abolished until the United States (which never has been charged with being the aggressor in any war) shall join the nations of Europe in their League of Nations. The demand is made that the United States ~ “shall tacitly accept the League’s decisions as to which nation in a controversy is the ‘aggressor na- tion,’ and therefore the ‘outlaw.’” Thus the United States would “waive neutrality rights and without engag- ing in any actual League war consent not to trade with or help any nation declared by the League to, be the aggressor.” (Copyright, 1927. by Paul V. Colline.)