Evening Star Newspaper, November 8, 1927, Page 8

{rHE EVENING STAR result differential equations that re- [haps they are not drilled as carefully With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY.....November 8, 1927 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: 1th St. and Pennsvivants Ave. ' New Fork SMtber TT0 Kot 4400 st, E * —_— The Evening Star with the Sunday morn- ng edition is delivered by carriers witlin v be elephone Main 5000. "Coliection is made by Chicago Office: Tower Bnilding. uropean Ofico: 14 Regent St., London, ‘England. the city at 60 cents per month: daily only 45 centa Der month: Sundave enle. 20 ornt e month. ~Orders sent by mail or carrier at end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. ally and Sonday ally onlv. ..... unday only.. All Other States and Canada. .. $12.00: 1 mo., $1.00 alle 4nd, Sundar vrs Bad00: 1 mox S unday only......1vr. $400:1mo. 385¢ Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Prees fs exclusively entitled ¢2 the use for republication of all news dis- atches credited to it or not otherwise cred- ted In this paver and also the local newe published herein. . Al rights of publieation DY 'Rperial dicatehes harain ara alan reserved —_— Election Day. Coming events cast their shadows before them. The politicians today, election day, are seeking eagerly for some hint, some shadow forecasting what is to happen in the nationa campaign of 1928. Their search may be hopeless. This is an off year, much more “off” than usual. In only two States are there gubernatorial elections, Mississippi and Kentucky. | Only three members of the House are | to be elected, in districts where Jocal {ssues control rather than national. The limelight, such as it i (ul'l"ull on New York State. There Gov. Al Emith, the darling of the Northeast- ern Democracy, has made his fight mgainst the adoption of an amend- | ment to the State constitution extend- | ing to four years the gubernatorial | term and making the election of the | governor simultaneous with the presi- dential electioni. There the Democrats, | under Gov. Smith’s lead, are seeking | to gain control of the Assembly. | The four-year term amendment to | the New York constitution, which has been urged by a majority of the Re- publicans, is doomed to defeat, ac- cording to admissions of well posted | Republica: The reason, they say, is simple. Many Republicans as well ‘as Democrats are opposed to the v change. TUnder such circumstances defeat of the amendment will not be an accarate measure of the strength of Gov. Smith. On the other hand, if the Assembly should “go Democratic” it would be a real victory for the gov- ernor—a victory which might well give the Republicans of New York cause for worry in the event of Smith's nomination for President in 1928, But | they do not expect to lose control of the Assembly. ‘Whatever interpretation the Repub- licans may place upon a defeat of the four-year term amendment, however, Gov, Smith's prestige will be en- hanced by it in many parts of the country. But while the New York governor may gain prestige through the New York elections, the guberna- torial elections in Mississippi and Ken- tucky, bhoth dry and both anti-Smith States, will be less satisfactory to his supporters. The elections in another big city are | of more than passing interest. The Vare machine in Philadelphia is in motion today for Harry Mackey, Sen- ator-elect Vare's campaign manager a year ago, and for James M. Beck, former Solicitor General of the United States, a defender of the right of Mr. Vare to be seated in the Senate. Mackey is seeking election as mayor of Philadelphia and Mr. Beck is a candidate for the seat in the House formerly held by Mr. Vare. Defeat of Mr. Mackey would be a veritable political revolution. It is scarcely ex- pected by the most sanguine of his opponents, The Vare forces will look | ‘upon success at the polls in Philedeb“ phia as a “vindication” of their leader. They will expect success in the City of Brotherly Love to have its effect upon the coming fight to seat .Mr. Vare in'the Senate. ——e. The wood alcohol question again ises. Its users divide into two| classes—those who put it into the | radiator and those who try to drink it. —_— e Now Comes the Thinking Machine. “Reading, writing, ’rithmetlc! Once this constituted the trinity of terrors for the student, with a par- ticular accent on the ullimate of the group. From the days of simple addition and subtraction, through | multiplication and division, through alzgebra and geometry, through loga- rithms and calculus, the study of mathematics is to a great majority of pupils anathema, an experience of torment. F¥From the most elementary “sums” up to the most elaborate problems in the higher branches of the study, the way of the student is hard. Many and many a hoy and girl has asked in despalr, “What's the good of all this figuring?” There was no consolation in the assurance that the study of mathematics was “splendid discipline,” good training in exactitude and possibly of very valu- eble utility in that uncertain future that might possibly call for arith- metical proficiency in some business or profession. Thare are certain people who are naturaliy mathematicians, to whom figures are understandable and who delight in problems, in computations, in formulas and algebraic symbols. But they are rare. They are the gifted ones. And even they welcomed the adding machine when it was de- vised, and as the adding machine was developed to accomplish more than simple and elaborate sums in addition, when it came to the subtracting and multiplying and dividing machine it was hailed as a great benefaction. Now comes a new device, just an- nounced from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Prof. | Vannevar Bush and a staff of re- search workers have perfected a veritable “thinking machine.” 1t is tachnically the “product integraph.” It is described as an adding ma- ¢hine, carried to an extreme in its design, It is capable of solving most of the problems of higher mathe-|gunmanship as well as the manipula- wmatics, "4t «an Teduce to 1‘35}0 tign of the tools of the tiade ~ quire by the old methods days, weeks and even months for solution. It draws “graphs” for engineers, the working out of which s an elaborate procedure of painstaking, time-con- suming computation by the most skilled mathematicians. The description of this machine is a little too technical for general understanding. The principle in- volved is that of the watt hour meter, similar to those used in homés for recording electrical power consump- tion, The variation of the current determines the functioning of an elaborate mechanism. 1t does ot follow that with the in- vention of these appliances there will be any less demand for skilled mathe- maticians and * ‘rithmetic” will prob- ably be retained in the curriculum of the schools, with its various branches in the higher realms of computation. The disciplinary effect of mathe- matical studies will remain a faetor in the educational equation. o M. Briand's Peace Plan. In an interview with the Associated Press last April, Aristide Briand, the French foreign minister, chose the tenth anniversary of America’s en- trance into the World War as a fit| occasion upon which to launch his now celebrated proposal that France and the United States enter into a “outlawing war’” between them. nd saw in such an instrument ions 1. Bri the means whereby two great | statement of August has not ceased to in the gentle art of picking pockets as in the old days of which Dickens writes in “Oliver Twist.”” The game has grown to bigger proportions now. The street worker does not bother about “lifting” watches from the pock- ets of unsuspecting people, save upon a large scale, in heavy crowds. There is better game in the “hold-up,” at the point of a gun, with the victim helpless while everything he carries, purse and jewelry—if he wears such— as well as watch, changes to other hands. There is food for reflection in this discovery in Chicago. The existence of the school of thievery proves that there are young people who are open to the seductions of the crime-breed ers. These lads—girls as well, per- haps—should be more closely watched. If they are of school age they should be kept in institutions of higher learn- ing than the drill rooms of the crook and the burglar. A round. up of the semi-vagrant young people of every big city, to ascertain what company they are keeping, what habits they are forming, what lines of activit they are pursuing, would be a heay task. But it would be worth while and would repay the cost in terms of 2 greater measure of public security, Mr. Coolidge Wants to Whittle. Mr. Coolidge persists in cryptic ex. pressions, His “I do not choose” echo and now he comes forth with an- might put themselves on record be- fore the world as solidifving their mu- |tual and traditional friendship and | esteem. While the proposal evoked much interest and wide comment on this side of the water, it apparently ended where it began. The sugges-| tion was not made through the cus- tomary channels of diplomacy. No reply was called for and none was expected. But last week President Coolidge let it become known that actual negotiations toward a treaty as proposed by M. Briand will begin when Mr. Herrick, the American Am- bassador, returns to his post in Paris. Tentative interchanges on the subject had begun when Mr. Herrick was forced to leave Paris because of an illness from which he has not fully recovered. The mere act of negotiation in no way guarantees success, but that the United States and France are even willing to discuss a treaty embodying renunciation of war as a national pol- icy is most encouraging. Many diffi- culties may be foreseen to threaten such a treaty before it is born. Amer- ican history is full of attempts by the executive branch of the Government to enter into general arbitration agree- ments with other nations—attempts which have been blocked by a Sen- ate always fearful of entangling alli- ances. Presidents Cleveland, McKin- ley, Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Harding and Coolidge have found in the Senate an unsurmountable stumbling block in their attempts to make of compul- sory arbitration a more certain ani ef- fective method of preventing war. The Senate has never been willing to extend the principle of arbitration generally, reserving to itself the au- thority to decide what questions are arbitrable. Bryan's treaties of concil- iation marked the greatest advance in this direction, but the strength of those treaties is left open to question. For the United States to affirm by treaty that it will not go to war ex- cept as a defensive measure would be | a long step forward indeed. But the world moves. What was considered radical yesterday is reac- tionary today. The United States has seen the renunciation of war as a policy emerge from the filmy haze ot a dream to an actuality which exists in Europe today in the form of treaties between nations which a decade ago were lunging at each other's throats. Such treaties may not hold water. They may be scraps of paper, to be torn and thrust into the handiest waste basket as soon as the first gun booms. But is any treaty more? If nations are agreed that war | is a thing to be dreaded and a relic of a past civilization, there should |be no great danger in putting such sentiments down on paper. Taking | into account the traditional objections which surely would be interposed, it is difficult to see what the United States would lose by fearlessly re. nouncing war, RBut it is not so diffi- cult to estimate the moral loss to he suffered by an unwillingness to extend the principle of arbitration—a prin-| ciple in which the Uniled States once led the world—to its logical and de sirable end. —— e —————— As enthuslastic a turfman as Sena- tor Curtis deserves credit for retain- ing his loyal party interest in a race between the good old Republican ele- phant and the patient Democratic mule. ————— ‘When President Coolidge said he did not choose, he spoke with author- itv. Incidentally, he liberated many ambitions among those who wish to be chosen. A Chicago Crime School. There i8 no occasion for surprise in the statement made to Chicago police by a group of boys, just arrested, to the effect that they attended a school of burglary in that city, where they learned the craftsmanship of thievery after the manner of the pupils of Fagin, in Dickens' story of “Oliver Pwist.” Such schools have, it Is known, existed in this country, per- haps not-conducted after the academic basis, but sufficiently thorough in their courses 10 turn out adept cracksmen, pilterers, pickpockets and rtful dodgers” generally. In this case the vouths identificd their mentor, who, they say, took them out, after inten- sive training, on their first burglary and then relieved them of their loot and gave them money as wages for heir labors. It would appear that this |instructor and guide has heen taken. | He should stand for a long “stretch.” | 'The business of crime is well estab- lished. The rewards are rich, though |the risks are severe. Gang organiza- tions have their apprentices who do the minor work of scouting and watching. The lads are lured into the game by promises of large returns and by the spirit of adventure. They are taught | pression contributes nothing to the otber bit of what may be vernacular | Vermontese with a subtle meaning. | Asked what he intended to do upon the completion of his term of office, he replied he was going back to Vermont. Asked then what he was going to do in Vermont he answered, “Well, for a year or two I am golng to whittle.” Whittling is not necessarily merely idling. A man can do a deal of think- ing while he is cutting neat shavings off a piece of even-grained wood. Some of the most profound philosophers have been whittlers. There is some- thing conducive to constructive thought in the destructive action of reducing a stick or slab of pine hoard to splinters, It is to be noted that this second ex- | elucidation of the first. The President says he is going to spend a year or two in Vermont whittling after his term expires. He has already said in the “I do not choose” statement that he regards his present term as his tinal one. So, according to the schedule now established, the whittling pro- gram is to begin in March, 1929, Students of political language may find much meat in this word “whit- tle.” They may interpret it, granting conclusiveness to the word *choose’ as to 1928, as signifying a view ahead to 1932, That would be. stretching things a bit, but in the present condi- tions everything is being stretched out of normal proportions. If Mr. Coolidge whittles for a year or two in Vermont after his term ex- pires he will probably be enjoying in his own way, without trammel or care, what is his first real vacation for many vears. He has been busy since his boyhood, constantly occupied. He has probably not enjoyed a real good whit- tle for forty years, and a couple of seasons of wood slicing must now be a most alluring prospect. ————— The management of the Nile bur- dens Egypt with & problem even more difficult than that which this country has to undertake in connection with Muscle Shoals. ————— There is no “Bs Kind to Animals"” week when the Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey get after each other. —_——— The most eminent intellectual au- thorities protest against modern cos- tume without avail when the word of ultra-fashion is spoken. ———. Every realtor must regret that there is no way of financing a sub- division to take the benefit of Teapot Dome publicity. s In Mexican affairs the firing squad continues to be one of the most influ- ential groups representing political authority. —————— ‘A shady juror occasionally hopes to enjoy the sunshine of prosperity, ——-ve—s SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON, Exit Mr. Hermit. A hermit dwelt far, far away, Disdaining all his fellow nfen. His beard was long, his hair gray, And dismal was his shadowy den. was By radio he listens in, Abhove his head the airships roar, And realtors their arts hegin. There are no hermits any more. Safety. “Are you going to try to save the country?"” “The country is safe enough,” an- swered Senator Sorghum. “The need of salvation is for some people who have been endeavoring to run various affairs.” Booms for Everybody. The season dispels all our gloom. For talent there's plenty of room. For father and mother, And sister and brother, There may loom a political boom. Jud Tunkins says it's all right to smile; only a man who laughs at everything encounters moments that make him look kind o' foolish. Consideration, “What we want,” said Farmer Corn- tossel, tiller of the soil rom the capitalists?" “No. From the farmhands.” “Be patient,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown. *He who quarrels his | way to success keeps quarreling on 1o fajlure.” Musie of the Night. She sang a lullaby so low, All for the baby's sake, She now turns on the radio . And keeps the kid awake. “De man dat knows what he's talk- is more consideration for the |’ What does a man learn by living? Well, some learn one thing and some another, but it would seem off- hand as it there might be a body of fundamental mental acquirements achieved by most men in the process of existing. As a beginning, there may be set down the following four propositions as helpful to the average man. lle ave learned: 1o compare unnecessarily. ot to overestimate h ot to he too sensitive Not to be surprised at anything. With these primary attitudes of mind, sécured as the result of many vears of going around in the world, as the devil said he did, a man may g0 through the battle of life with as few mental wounds as possible 1 cuts and hurts uper- mmpared to those deep lesions made in the intellectual e by cruelty, harshness, mistreatment, lack of appreciation and other ills, which aflict mankind in the daily process of living in civilization Too much has been mada of the grand moments of life. In relation to twenty-four hours a day for so many | vears, they constitute but a tick or | two of the clock of our lives, Daily living is what counts, * When a man has le perpet ring others, as achieved inetly worth while for hi every one who knows him. This men- tal attitude will save him from humili ation, and worse, it there can be said to_be anything more detriment in the dire which speaks for hum- Modern Americans find it somewhat diflicult 1o be humble, This is not an age of the lowly in spirit. Blowing one’s own horn and that of one’s products and accomplishments is distinctly the thing. Yet at the same time that Babbitt praises himselt and his firm to the housetops, in well chosen advertising and otherwise, he knows full well the worth of the humble of spirit and the high place in the spiritual life. Hle wonld he like them if he couid. Not to be continually comparing one’'s selt to others is one way to approach such practical spiritualit There 18 no man alive but can find op- portunity for practicing it, if he once &ets the idea that it is a good thing to do. The idea comes first. With some men it will come nat- urally, with others only as the result of experience. It takes a great deal of Ifving to hammer into the head of a young man in_business that the worst thing he can do for his own prospects is to sit around and bewail the fact that James Jones, his companion, is zetting more money than he is for the identical task Suppose Jones is—what has that got to do with you? Surely a bucl ling down to work, with a healthy fo getting of Jones, would accomplish more in several years' time than the retention of the mental image of Jones in direct contrast with one's self. Nothing can be of course, against such necessary comparisons as will show a man, whether he he voung or old, how he’is measuring up in his work. If he does not do this, some one will do it for him. But there is a subtle difference between such himself with elf., rned not to he himself with something | el and ion of aid, comparisons and those made perpet- THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. ually as one insists on rubbing the tongue over a sore in the mouth. One of the most difficult things for any man o learn is not to over- estimate himself. MHere one must traddle the fine line between heing self-conscious and ot confident enough, between deprecation and self- eciation. The former calis {0 a man to minimize what he does, the latter to ke more of it than it is worth every man who suffers from bash s in regard to his own merits @ 10 who believe what they do most important work in’ the fulne there i the world M lished ¥ A man enters an alveady estab- industr; convineed, after several ‘years' connection with it, th; he not only guarantees present success, but that in some m, us manner he has heen responsi- ble for its past achievements! It is comical to listen to a man who hecomes connected with a firm for instance, solemnly say, 5 we did g0 and so.” The in such a case is a trifle ambiguous, At all times an honest man must give consistent regard to the other men and faciors in his husiness and not be too puffed up over himself he- cause he happens to do his work well, which is exactly what he is supposed to do, of course, Iiemember, there are only a few men in the world at any given time who are irreplaceable, such as Luther Burbank was, such as Thomas A. dison is. * ok %k ok Not to be too sensi ment which helps Iy living: at the more for happiness t of formal optimism, Many & man who thinks he has no need for lack of ultrasensitiveness would be surprised if he could over- hear his friends discussing him. The man who likes to play jokes on others is notoriously the fellow who fails to see anything humorous in one played upen Eimself, How 1o handle one's dear associates Who insist on touching upon tender is a wisdom which only a 1son of wealth or otherwise, re excused from acquiring, Some xolve it by smiling, others hy ounter banter, ~others by heartily joining in the joke if they appreciate not.” Thous do not do this sum, and go thry iife in a milder s of that insanity which befell the half- wits who chased small boys upon the calling of “Hey, Old Booze! Hey, Old " If Old Booze, as he was known to the neighborhood hoys, had not heen ensitive “about heing called “0ld ze.” he would have lived a happier life, and got a great deal more grass cut with his shining sickle. * K % Tastly, one must not be surprised at anvthing. This is a large world, mates, and it takes all sorts of men and women to make it up, as has been truthfully said more than once, and here for an- other time, Toss a cigarette aw: and watch it hit a m When ~ he turns in apologize courteously. ists on berating vou, forget him, Your courtesy was wasted. Anvthing happen mental or physical life. It is hecause s is so that life is interesting he point for the individual to re. member is not to be too surprised. ive is a require- nooth the path of me time jt does an any amount v on the street, n on the arm. indignation Then, if he in- in the Reaction to Tax The public Mellon's reflected by the pre erally along party lines, although | there are Republican observers who are disposed to stand with the Cham- ber of Commerce of the United States for a larger reduction than the Sec- retary proposed §225,000,000, and | some Democrats who deprecate any risk of overdoing the scaling down. The Albany Evening News (inde- pendent Republican) remarks: “Of course there will be a movement to reduce taxes from $£400,000,000 to $500,000,000. And naturally all tax- pavers would like a large reduction. Mr. Mellon would reduce taxes, but he would reduce them slowly. He is not offering a revision according to popular desires, hut on the basis of what he believes is good, sound busi- ted States.” ) students of husiness and according to the Philadel- phia Jvening Bulletin (independent Republican), “are inclined to agree with him that we are not likely to 2o at the present rate forever. And the average man, of small income, experience that there al- tening of the bu strings.” The New York Ier Tribune (Republican) observing 1 oo fast Ids that “it is his duty to guard against the predicament of i ble deficit, followed by reimposi- tion of fax: “It is to Coolidge und clares the Journal (Republican), “(hat the rently have given no thoug enting their as m program.” The Tos mes (Itepublican) offers th ment that “folks who set the and municipal tax bills are 1 how administrat pth the I reaction to Secretary | -reduction progran, as | divides gen- | the credit of President Ohio, n can keep on r ederal debt and taxes at the same time. The cities © all piling up bond issues and are boosting taxes at one operation. * ok ox K “Important as tax reduction states the Roanoke World-News (ind pendent Democratic), “hoth in repeal- ing the nuisance taxes and in gradual reduction of the bhurden on husiness, it should not be pushed to the point that will hamper the steady and orderly retirement of the mation's war debt.” The World-News e presses the view that “efforts of Rep- resentative Garner of Texas and Sen- ator Simmons of North Carolina to make a Democratic campaign issue out of tax reduction will meet with little response. The New York Times (independent) feels that “on the whole ‘the plans worked out by the Treasury will be felt by unprejudiced business men to be reasonably in line with the polic which a careful study of present con- ditions and indicated tendencies in in- dustry and trade would dictate.” “Good Dhusiness judgment” in the is commended by the Duluth A (independent Republican), and the Utica Observer-Dispatch (independ- ent) holds that “the public would pr fer to see tax reduction made safely. But Josephus Daniels’ Raleigh w3 and Observer (Demoeratic) in- sists that: “In spite of the adulation heaped upon him, every fiscal proph- ecy of Mr. Mellon has miscarried. Senator Simmons said when the last reduction was made that it should he $150,000,000 more. The presence of $500.000,000 collected in excess of needs shows Simmons was right and Mellon was wrong.” The Baltimore Evening Sun (independent Den tic) presents figures to show that “for the four vears 19241927 Jr. Mellon's estimate has shown a total ervor of 000,000 (as to surplus), or an is Cut Program Forecasts Fight In Congress pendent Demacratic), with the added statement The country probably ean < reduction of not less than 300,000,000.” The Ashevilla Times pendent Democratic) predicts that st failures of the Treasury accu. rately to estimate the surplus will | make Wayne Journal-Ga insists that “the op mand of the United St Commerce that Federal-income taxes be slashed roundiy $400.000,000 is the maturely considered judgment of the consolidated business interests of the country The Charleston Evening Post (inde- pendent Democratic) also emphasizes the fact that “the business interests of the country have recognized the soundness of the Democratic conten- tion on this important issue and put themselves in direct opposition to Mr. Mellon and the Republican admin! tration.” The Kansas City Times (in- dependent) es that “it probably would be imprudent to make the gross reduction as high as $400,000,000, as proposed by the Democratic leaders, but there will be a general hope that It may excecd $225.000,000, as su gested by 1sury. Department, atism in regard (o the to reduction be conmen, than er v the Chi N rCesp hard going for Mellon’s " The Fort (Democratic) d the de. in view sion in tr nd the uncertainty enue prospects of the Py Still, it is y political of the N husiness elen 1 considered opposition to partic tures of the Treasury program. The “Treasury may err on the side of caution, As to details of the Kansas City state the Secref (Republican) Wise and just is insistence upon lizht ening the Toad borne by corporations and - business generally,” and the Wichita_Teacon (independent Repul lican). viewing the same phase of the matter, concludes: “One can see, with. out a teloscope, where the prineipal battle for this next reduction will come from.” UNITED STATES IN WORLD WAR Ten Y-ars Ago Today First unit of American gunners to fire on Germans is greeted hy the French with brass band and flowers on return to its billet today. Other units sent to the front in their place, * % @ London welcomes American War Mission. headed by Col. Hous Conferences immediately begin, Allied cited as show greater need than ever for unfied diveetion of allicd war policy. Crities 1y allies are not organized to initiate and execut Hoped that Ameri the way to_ more seresive and d action * ¢ e tumble in this country as Rus. revolutionists seize Petrograd Kerensky flees and Lenin and Tre sky take control and declare that immediate democrat negotiated * * * Official Washington reserves its judgment on the revolu- tion, hoping that it is only local. Dark days seen nhead, and greater hurden must be carried by the United States. rsos d e Still Has a Chance. From the Onio State Journal If we can only keep Calvin dressing like a udent from we of 87 per cent. If, therefor ecretary is running true to form, the actual surplus for 1929 should he his estimated surplus of $274,000,000, plus 87 per cent, making a total of [in‘ 'bout,” said Uncle Eben, “is liable to be bu . is con- = . 512,000,000." . * X x % “Consistently underestimated” is the vergiet -of -the Hautford ‘Times (ind still believe we can re-clect him. D Where It Counts. From the New York Herald-Tribune, Politicians are still looking up the word “choose” in the dictionary. But it Cal's definition _of it, npgt Web-2with.glimpses of t or's, that ao_uw“h'u&.umf ‘yepiure of life itselts NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM LG M GALLIONS REACH. son. Harper & Bro: All Sunday afternoon a week ago T sat in thrall to “Gallions Reach.” | That same night its author came over the air from New York, a transit which to me, at that moment a clear | Tomlinson saturate, had the effect of | much more than the mere voice of the man himself. A day to remember. And what is “Gallions ch”? A novel by name and such, too, it is in fact. Yet one so unlike the average un of that tribe as to give pause to decision concerning it. Certainly {like every romance it has a hero, this one faring out across the world from a Léndon shipping office to somewhere in Malaya on the specific and supreme errand of followinz the lead of his own soul and spirit, his own_ vision and dream. To be sure, too, here is adventur but of a sort so different from these familiars of the usual novel | as to set the hook off pretty much alone and by itself. A story of sea and jungle whose commerce with the human is carried on chiefly by wi of one Jimmie Colet, London shipping clerk. Another stand-off hetween this novel and most others is that the larger rumulative intent, strainin d some surpass- | 1X, Some consummating final whereas this one novel sand points of interest, sus- e, delight, wonder—all conclusive the moment, all stepping outsi he te run of action ger definition and confirmation. The llions Reach” is no more 1 the right-about of Jimmie Colet, av from the jungle to the | ndon- office. Such differ- | ences between the nov in hand most others rise from their sey sources. The average novel is ternal, objective, an absolute projec- tion, more or less complete, on the part of the author. This one, how ever, is an jnside matter. It is the ¢ ous, questing soul 'of . M. Tomlin- son, alias Jimmie Colet, that over se nd Jand gathers innumerable con tacts which it comverts into illum nating human stuff of clear and gen- ignificance. Here, hesides, is an | nation, original like a poet’s, at a thousand simple and| familiar points. Moreover, Tomlinson as v of kindling things by the mera choosing of words and linking them together. Here is rugged speech, bluff sounds that cast off havd | hunks of truth. Then come soft and singing tomes that turn an impene trable jungle into aching stretches of human feeling, or a mastering sea that stirs to a sheer panic of fear. Try it. Get aboard the Altair and 2o through that storm in the Indian Ocean—the storm that wracked, and finally wrecked, the Altair, whose every part agonized in human pro- t <howing a courage that could not prevail and an ultimate despair that will wring vour own heart. To sit| under the lamp and read that storm is | an experience of personal terror and dismay. at writer. ke Melville? Tomlinson, instead, writer winning a clear and general de for “Gallions Reach.,” for ide Marks.” for “The Sea and the | Jungle” and for what is yet to come. * ok ok ok THE SENTIMENTALISTS. Dale Col- | lins. Little, Brown and Co. Another romance of the East. foundation, however, lies human nature is at work. “We are all sentimentalists at heart”-—such is the inclusive claim upon which Dale Col- lins builds a finely entertaining novel of excellent quality throughout. A baby, a man, a woman, constitute the material chosen by the author in support of a general statement. The background for the drama of evidence is the brig, Hirondelle, at anchor in a Malay river. Its captain is a big NSS € ture to see; hard-boiled is that Cap'n Abel Whelan. He is the man in the case. Tina, the woman, is hard, too—beautiful, though—a free lance of her kind, every man's pocket- | book. an oyster for her opening. No, the together, not at first. | Kach is pursuing life alone, at first. | In a drifting canoe nmear the Hiron- delle a white haby is found, all by |itself. The baby becomes not only the center of the story, but star wit- ness, finally, to the truth of the con- tention underlying the romance itself. “The captain takes the baby. He does more than that, for in spite of he selt he drafts Tina to its service aboard ship. And both give living evidence every day in support of the theme in hand—evidence from the most unlikely of sources at that. Ta these two unusual characters the author devotes a most discriminating attention, turning them out alive and believable—turning them out, too, as stimulating v nts of the common run. There is romance in this tale, | but no love-making between the cap: tain and Tina. Her job is ste hield to be ti 4 whom (¢ uring p H. M. Tomlin- | . Like Conrad? No. Just like H. M. a new man and Its wherever atonic toward each othier, U alike upon feeding and caring the The exotie setting of Malay coas L in_ the ad of ad- venture itself. \With these two orde | of intimacy lie turns out @ romance | of high quality as attractive to look | upon as it is to weigh for its real! substance and dramatic beauty. ERE SAMADIIT Will Levington Comfort. jofalk | expenses are met hy the club. missionaries, ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN. Q. What constitutes a national so- A. The Inter-Sorority Conference | of 1905 defined a national sorority as one having at least five chapte them at institutions of collegiate rank. | Q. 1Is Venus now a morning or eve- | ning star’—E. F. W, A. The Naval Observatory savs that Venus is now visible as a ver brilliant object in the Eastern sky in the early morning. At the present time it appears as a crescent when seen through a telescope. It exhibits | all the phases of the moon in a period of about 19 monti Q. In what States are children un- der 16 permitted to work from 9 to 11 hours a day’—W. E. M. A. It is not unlawful in Florida, Idaho, Georgia, Michigan. New Ham! shire.” North_Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota and Texas. nationality is Clara Bow? | D g nglish, Scotch and Frenc| She was born in Brooklyn, and is of descent. Q. Is tobacco a_government mo- nopoly in Japan?—D. M. V. A. It i nd tobacco imported car- | ries a duty of 355 per cent. Q. What is the “Sportsman’s Plat- | form”?—E. D. V. In 1909 the Camp Fire Girls of rica_adopted an official code of ng ethics, known as the “Sports. n's Platform,” which is summed up the declaration that ‘“the hest hunter is the man who finds the most giame, Kills the least and leaves be- hind him no wounded animal: What is meant by auto-da-fe?— - This is the name of the ceremony that accompanied the pronouncement of judgment by the Inquisition, and was followed by execution. Hence, 1to-da-fe came to mean the burning ' etic. Q. When was the power loom in- vented?—H. S. | A. Tt was invented in 1754 by Rev. | E. Cartwright. | Q. Who pa balls and bat A for base hall suits, W, L. . In the major league clubs such Q. Was 1t Joe Leiter or his father. Levi, who cornered wheat some years | azo W | A. Joseph Leiter, in the Fall of | 1897, began buying wheat on the Chi- cago Board of Trade in an attempt to corner the market. Within a few months Leiter held the largest private ownership of wheat in the history of the grain trade, but concerted action on the part of his opponents hroke the corner, and Leiter is reputed io have suffered loss » the amount of $10,000,000. Q. Which natio most visitors A, In 39 nite Valley with 490,430 visitors, . was second, with 294054, rark. Colo,” thira stone Park, Wye., 2008 and Mount Wash,, fifth, with park has the topped Plati with fovrth, inier 200,031, with Park, Q. What medals awarded hy fhe United States carry a monetary com pensation?—A, E. S, A. The only medal awarded hy the United States which carries with it a monetary compensation is the Medal of Honor, Q. What is the Government way of brewing tea?—N. S. A. Among other things, the Govern- ment_has determined just the proper length of time to brew tea, and why. On an average, a three-minute infu- sion in boiling water has been found to produce the best results. This Is because in that length of time most of the theine—the desirable element— which lies in the skin or outer part of the leaf, is estracted, and very little of the tannin—an undesirabie element found in the inner tissue of the leaf—is drawn out by the brew. Q. Jlow many organizations, includ- ing church and civie organizacions, wom clubs, fraternal aniza- ., have national headquarters shington?—i. G. A. The telephone book lists over 300. There may be others which have desk room in various places, that do not have teiephones listed in their own names. The answers to questions printed here each day are specimens picked from the mass of inquiries handled by the great information bureawn main- | tained by The Evening Star in Wash- ington, D. €. This valuable service is for the free use of the public. Ask anu question of fact yon may want to know and wou will get an immediate reply. Write plainly, inclose 2 cents in stamps for return postage, and address The Evening Star In. formation Bureau. Frederic 1. Has- Kin, director, Washington, D. ¢, BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. Ts the whole world Modern architects, especially in New 3 designing skyscrapers that mble Babel towers, indeed. They higher than the Washington Monument, and, are more beautiful il imposing than any strueture built by man since the Thwer of Babel. But in these modern towers it is now pro- to shut out all sunlight and natural air, for there will be no win- dows, even in their 150 or 200 stories; all ventilation and all light will be ar- tificial. Life is becoming artificial and over- civilized, according to the reactions of the “natural man,” and so it is. not surprising _that the ultra-conserva- tism of the barbarian is ready to break out, sporadically, in great extremes of rebellion. Even H. G. Wells, after a little while in_Boston, exclaims, “Boston 1 found refined and genteel and sensitive he- yond my capacity!” Wells comes from England and slips back to the flesh- pots of England, better satisfied even than in Boston: he “‘reverts to type.” * % ok X In Northern Africa there are vil- lages built, entire! underground, wherein the people live, year after ar, without ever coming to the sur- To them the sunlight is too da; and the breezes too annoying or blistering to be tolerated. Down in their “Main Street” it is never hot, never rainy, mever frosty and never windy It is always to their accus- tomed taste—but that is an acquired taste. There is no accounting for s either in habitations or in re- | comprehensible that savage tribes, who have never known the teachings of Christianity, would in their ignorance adhere to their silly | fetishes and mummeries, their hu bug “medicine men” and their cre- dulity in portents and “sign: and even their cruel human sacrifices. But in recent times there have been at ast two remarkable cases of on to tvpe,” which are most as- tounding. This ‘reversion is not con- | fined to desraded individuals, but ap- plies sometimes to whole tribes and large sections of a race or a nation. | LI | First, to illustrate it “in the su take the case of a s | «h in commanding 4 and important tribe, i under control of the L B fell under the influence of Amer 3 g0, when | he was quite young. wught him English s well tianity, and when he was only about 12 years old | he hired out as a cabin boy on a steamer which brought hi 1. He cavvied lett sionaries to the Houghton Samadhi i northern hef elephants and their hereditary houts have, through a clean line and true facing upon life, come into | an_understanding of much that life | tself really means. Fancitul? Mayhe. | Yet. in this remote region and with these living elements of intellizence and intoition, Will Levington Comfort ha's created a picture that remains in the eye, that even move persistently stays within the mind and heart. Long after the story is read and put aside | there comes again and again that cool, simple, clean Himalayan retreat where wisdom grew through the intercourse of animal and man, the elephant and the mahout, till it became both a rule of conduct ®ind a philosophy of life hat would serve man himself to man’s | best fulfillment. To be sure, the story is a_parable, projected in the flowered | form and the mystic content of the East. Against this background, and for point_ to the pavable itself is set a group of today folks, Western men | and women. The action of the adven- ture is f: divided between these two element e and foreign. As the business of the story progre how- ever, the weight of attention nes Lo the travelers, to the moderns in their rious re tie and only Mifttin Company. 1 lovely hts of lne retreat in th L where roy a picture straight road to things lying just beyvond the grasp of those who are buried and smothered in wrappings of untruth and unimpor- ances. IU turns out to be a para- ble, not only on the general Insani- i ties of modern life, but upon that most unfortunate madness, the misunder. standing of average married life. Projected and carried out in the fea- s of an adventure to the Orient results and immediate effects, fter all stamps Samadhi, literal vetreat in the Hima- s a state of mind, inacces- amadhi 1o those who ave more or shut to teuth, more or less insensitive to the urgings of the spirit. Will Levington Comfort is hy nature a seer, a man who sees far and iong. He writes a fine story, not at simple, many important not as layas, but sible like | him_in cha urch. and the chureh people took rge and sent him to the hools of a Midwestern eity, where e graduated from high school | and ranked high in_his studies. He | innounced his deep desire to zo back | is father's tribe as a Christian | missionary to tell them all about civ ilization. He wi t devout and ear- nest. | PR the World War nations brought ** The writer, in uni- v of a London hotel, in 1917, and alonzside of him sat an Englishman in civilian clothes. | The Englishman became self-conscious | and obliged to explain his “mufti,” in | place of a military dress. i am in govarnment service in Af-| rica,” he said. “This is my first vaca- | tion' in seven years, and 1 am going i to Africa in a few davs.” | he soldier, to keep conversation going, replied: “That's interesting. one Taan in Africa—his name is ——. | ou ever run across him? Know | < ‘ 1 should, say 1 dol is chieftiin of his| s undoubtedly a po- nd of canni- Valism, but he is ted and knows | just enough to keep ont of the penal- ties of the law. We have had move public among strange form, sat in 1 know only e He know him “slipping”? | hy Longafellow. The cross of Christ has already been disavowed “unoffi. o the tribes, hut the leaders would now plan for its official rejec. tion in 1928, They explain that, “with the coming of the white man to America, evi! he- fell the Indians. Deprived of all rights and liberties, the Six Nations declare, through their alleged chiefs, that the only thing the Indians have left is their old Tndian relizion.” That they have the opportunities of civilization, of education. of pro- tection in peace and of aid toward prosperity ezounts for naught: they re- vert to Indian dances and Indian rites, with wild cries and howls. They ap- peal to the “Great Spirit” for vm- pathy in their present state, tied down by the white conquerors’ laws and robbed of their hunting grounds. That the present generation, and several generations preceding. never new savage conditions, makes little difference: the lenders know what they want better than do the Indian bu- reaus. They do not recognize the historic claim of many writers that until the white man taught them Christianity their own Indian religion was iznorant of the existence of One Great Spirit, Creator and Father of All. They call the Great Spirit chie Manitou. the Mighty”; white men eall it v ilization gave them also the concept of Heaven, which they term a “Happy Huntimg Ground.” “Lo, the poor In- dian, whose untutored mind ® R e So the Indians would “revert to type”? However, one of the highest authorities _on ~ North Ameri mythology. Dr. Hartley Burr Ale der, professor of philosophy, Univer- sity of Nebraska, writes in the ‘thology of All Races’: ‘It has recently been much the custom of writers d with In- dian heliefs to assert that the concep- tion of a Great Spirit. or Great Mys- tery, is imported by white teachers, that the untutored Indian knows no uch being: the universality of the lier tradition as to the ‘e ex- stence of this idea is rezarded as of little consequence, almost as a studied misinterpretation. Nevertheless, when we find_such definite conceptions as that of Kitshi Manitou, amonz Alzon- or in Pawnee n_such indefinite ones as that of the Carvier Indian's Yute toere (that which is on higir). we he- zin to question the truth of the mod- ern assertion. As a mattec of fact, there is hardly a tribe that does not sess jis helief in what may very properly be called “Great Spinit, Great Mystery or Master of Lils Shin His difference from the Su- preme Deity of the white mun is not 0_apparent.” When white theolo spiritual technique. the essentials for “Lo, the poor In- dian”? He would “revert to type” and lnok with faith ta Gitchie Manitou. the Mighty _and dance before Him, even as did David. * ok ox ok ins <o differ on who shall decide Rut there is another nation, auite different from the Six Nations of In dians. which also proposes to discard Christianity and go back to its an- ciert gods. Gen. Ludendorff an- nounces that hereafter Germany should cease to honor the Prince of Peace and should again worship Odin, or Wodan, or Wuotan. According to “Grimm’s Teutonic Mythology.” Odin or Wuotan “is not only the world-ruf- ing, wise, ingenious god, he is, above all. the arranger of wars and battles.” He was the god of the Druids. Herman I. Stern. in “The Gods of Our Fathers.” describes Odin. sayving, “As the supreme zod of war, Odin's role is very complete.” The German poet, Henr speaks: Beside it, all that Babel's builder Had seemed the playrul ko High on its summit stood thron piled trouble with him than with anybody else in Africa.” g “The incident reiterates two hromidie facts: The smallness of the world! and the tendency to “revert to type” | when the restraints of civilization are loosened. Perhaps a sermon might be preached on that, but the bishops and preachers seem too busy right now in discussing the ethical desirability | of “trial marriages” and freedom of divorce, while all Europe is upset | over bolshevism and m and dic- | tatorships too numerous (o mention. | How the world slips! Civilization is | going out of style. " ok ok % | In line with the above now comes news from Canada that there has heen a conference of the Six Nations of In- dians, at Caughhawaga, for the pur- pose of discarding the Christian re- all a preacher's story. You have here a strenuous adven! hat is touched s ¥ L ligion in favor of the old Indian deities of Hiawatha. They would worship traditions are ao beautifully recordsd Thereon reposed a crowned and kingly form, Huge as the ocean cloud that the storm. At times he mond chai Soeaning his empire with a monarch’s eare: Nations have bowed and hosts have turned to fly Before the flash of that commanding eve. “Ie he an anzel or a god?" T eried. Awed and astonished, to my shining &uide. A god.” he said: “all-ruling Odin, he. “Lord of vour earth—soil, air and wa 4 nd worst, s strong That still adores yon prince of crime and wrong.” And now the leaders of German kultur ask that Germans return to bodes alked around his dia- the realm of d- Gitchie Manitou, the Mighty, whose 'Odin as their g (Copyrizht. 1927, by Paul V. Caluza) ¢