Evening Star Newspaper, January 12, 1928, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D.C. THURSDAY. .. .January 12, 1028 THEODORE W. NOYES. The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Of 11th St and Pennsy New York Office: 110 t 47nd St, Chicago Office Tower Building. European Ofice 14 Regent St.. London, Fugland Editox ia Ave. The Evening Star -45¢ per month The Evening and (when 4 Sunday Evening and Sun, Rate by Carrier Within the City. day’ & -60c per month r +.65¢ per month B¢ per copy. 3'of each muonth ail or telephone. e o in by Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginja. Daily and Sunday....J yr. $9.00: 1 mo.. T8¢ Daily onls .. I113r0$6000 1 mol B0e Sunday only 157, $3.00: 1 mo., 23¢ es and Canada. 137 $12.00:1 mo., §1.00 0:1mol " 35c 00;1mo. 35¢ Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled o the use {or repuhlication of all news die. dited T not otherwise cred- . chis of p em are Al Increase the Pittances! Bills have been introduced in Con- | gress at this session looxing to changes | in the Federal retirement act, in the interest of the annuitants, mainly in the direction of an increase of the | maximum amount payable to them. | They provide for an advance from | $1,000 to $1.200 a year as the highest | annuity to be paid. and make the re- | tirement of Government employes after thirty years of service optional. An- other bill has been presented creating | a commission of five persons, charged with the duty of making a thorough study of the retirement situation, to report back to Congress with sugges- tions of changes in the law. It is evident that the retirement act should be changed in several respects, as to the terms and conditions of trans- fers from the active to the inactive list. On one point, however, there is no | question of the need of amendment. ‘The law should be modified to increase the minimum as well as the maximum | of payments. A report has just been made to Con- gress by a member of the board of ac- tuaries of the retirement fund in con- nection with an item placed in the In- terior Department appropriation bill | providing for $19.500,000 as the Gov- emment’s contribution to the fund. Prom this it appears that while under the “liberalized” law as now amended the contributions of the employes have been increased from two and one-half to three and one-half per cent of their salaries, the Government's obligation, which, under the original act, was ex- pected to be one-half of the total, has | tion in control of one party. a well behaved eitizen, It was a sordid, selfish, cruel murder and if ever mur- der deserved the fullest punishment it was this, . = There will, of course, be some reac- tion of disapproval of the execution of & woman, however unpardonable her of~ fense. But sex should not be a differ- entiating factor in any degree in the administration of justice, and in ren- dering his decision as he has done Gov. Smith has strengthened the law and the safeguards against crime which the law supposedly provides. ——— e A Delicate Task. Brig. Gen. Frank R. McCoy, selected by President Coolidge to supervise the Nicaraguan clections next October, left ‘Washington today intrusted with a mission so delicate and so important that he should carry with him the sym- | pathy and best wishes of every Ameri- can. Much depends upon his success. Nicaragua—and this is freely admitted {on all sides—has never known a fair | election. A Nicaraguan government has never known defeat at the polls. { Under the system there, defeat of a government has been accomplished | only through revolution or coup d'etat, ! and, by refusing to recognize a new government coming into power through such expedients, the United States, in effect, has been placed in the position | of guaranteeing the indefinite continua- Such a policy is dangerous, but as long as fair elections have been impossible there has been no alternative, unless it be passive indifference—and that is impos- sible. At the request of the liberal and con- servative parties of Nicaragua, and un- der the terms of the Stimson agree- ment reached last Summer. the United tates has guaranteed that the elec- tions next Fell {n Nicaragua will be air, and it is up to Gen. McCoy to fulfill that guarantee. The danger now, of course, is that there is more than one Sandino in Nicaragua, and, no mat- ter how fair the election may be, there will be members of the defeated party who will blame their downfall upon al- leged discrimination and partiality of the United Stat This will furnish those within and without the United States who disagree with. our policy a new theme for hymns of hate against the peacemaker. > ‘The more optimistic view to take, however, is that, with fair elections guar- anteed, the people of Nicaragua will themselves learn ¢the secret and the ad- vantage of substituting ballots for bul- lets, and in time they will come into that independence and freedom which they have so far sought in vain. Then. but not until then, will they be able to assume the full responsibilities and en- joy the rich benefits of a republic. P A It Is to Laugh! All of the revised traffic regulations been reduced to about one-third of the | just announced by the traffic office may eost of operation. be good. but there is one that is very It must never be forgotten that the |good, from a comical standpoint at employes of the Government are carry- | least. In various forms this regulation ing the heaviest part of the burden of | has been in the traffic code for quite the retirement system. The report just |a time. It has been revised, changed, mentioned shows that they are, in fact, | altered, amended and rewritten, but contributing about two-thirds of the|there is not a case on record of any eost. Increases in the maximum jone paying the slightest attention to it. amounts to be paid are not in propor- | The regulation which is thus referred tion with the change in the system |0 is supposed to control pedestrians which has lessened the Government's | at intersections governed by the auto- eontribution from one-half to one- | matic traffic lights. Proportionately the annuities| Soon after Washington's first traffic to those at the lower end of the | director took office this regulation be- bear more heavily upon the lower- | 8an its ineffective career. When first paid employes than those in the higher | Written it merely proclaimed that pe- scales of compensation. destrians must obey the red and green 1t should not be necessary to conduct | lights, except when the street was clear an exhaustive inquiry by a commission | of traffic. Although no one was arrest- into the retirement system to demon- | ©d OF even bothered under this plan, it strate that the retirement law works a | Was decided to overhaul the regulation gross injustice on those who are forced | When Congress amended the traffic act. %0 leave the active service in the lower | It was at that time that “teeth"—great ranges of the pay scale and to subsist | big, giants’ teeth—were put into it. upon the pitifully small sums that are | When this revised product made its ap- allotted as annuities. In any changes | Pearance it told all and sundry that pe- that are efected in the retirement law | destrians must obey both traffic lights the welfare of these reciplents of nig- | {n moving traffic and traffic policemen, gardly doles should be chiefly consid- | unequivocably and without demur. At ered 1o the end that the spectacle of | last, Washington, in common with oth- the United States Government handing | °F 1arge cities, was to'have real pedes- out small-change alms to its former | trian control. faithtul workers may be ended. But, sad to relate, this never hap- et pened and, except for a few casual at- A mumber of those willing to con- ‘::;:tml'h;dmzthepommm tribute 1o the political scenery are what Tant pedestrians courtesy tickets would have been listed 1n the days of | gns oy e At they had violated . one of the important regulations in the primitive entertainment &8 “chalf-|trame code, nothing came of it It lay forgotten and dormant in the neat pages of the book of rules until, like the bursting of a bombshell, it was rewrit- ten zgain and announced to a gaping ksl A o S ;uf‘ld the other day. And now listen " 4 t: “On all public highways where Gov. Smith Denies Clemency. |yram: 15 controlied by any device all Gov. 8mith's action in refusing clem- | trafic shall obey the signals” And ency o Ruth Bnyder and Henry Judd | whether they know it or not, “traffic” Gray, who have been condemned 1o die | applies to pedestrians in this latest ver- for the murder of the former's hus- | sion of a rather ancient joke, band, will be generally approved, heart- | It has been mentioned before that 1ly and without reservation. The gov- | there is no record of a conviction in ernor had given an indication of this |court of a pedestrian for violating this disposition of the matter on the occa- | regulation, but if there should be an sion of the hearing of counsel for the | arrest it is guaranteed that the hapless two prisoners, in the course of which | walker will put up such a cry that the he expressed his impatience with what | howling of the wolves around the old he termed the “psychosis stuff” which | campfire would seem to be but a mere formed the basis of the plea for them. ‘chlrpml of the pet canary. It is all In his formel decision he says that the | very well for the traffic office to have execution of judgment of death on a [its little comedy, but when it comes woman it s distressing that he had | right down 1o good hard facts this regu- hoped tra the appeal would disclose | lation should either be wiped off the some fact W justify his interference | books or enforced. It most assuredly with the processes of lww., But he has | lessens respect for the law because the searchied in vain for any basis on which | few Washingtonians who read the traf- hig conscience, in the light of his oath |fic code are lsble to laugh so hard of office, will approve and which he | over this paragraph that they will skip might temper the law with mercy. No | important sections or else think it is @ extenustion bas been shown for what the | new book of jokes and put it aside to seven judges of the Court of Appeasls, in | read to little Alfred when he becomes sgreement with the twelve jurors and | old enough o appreciate humor the trisl justice, have found o be & | e ——r oy Celiberate wnd premeditated murder, “To the minds of many persons, that In the Lgnt of the extraordinary | 18bulous old “dove of peace” looked just notoriely of tus case which has held | & trifie foolish. A stout flying machine the attention of he country from the | With & courageous man in it is an en- moment of the Giscovery of the crime, | Urely different matter, this sction by the Governor of New | ™ -t o York hes metions) significence. Of Thomas Hardy, lete years Lie pensities for murder have | Thomas Hardy, dean of British nov- boeu grestly modified by both stetutory | elists, hias Just died in Dorchester, Eng- ensctments sud by judiciel processes, | land, st the sge of elghty-seven, His coupled With & sentimentality that has | pen bas been idle for & number of in some Jurisdictions slmort negatived | yeare, and slnce he ceased his writing the lew This sentmentelity has ex- | marked changes have occurred in lit- tended W crimes of 8 Leinous char- | erary output and in public taste, But scver commited by women, Excuses | the novels of Hardy, which many re- Lave been found for them, withough in | gard us the grestest of his period, re- maoy instences tiey have been e | main ws Lverary landmarks. ‘They sull principels snd, what i some cases hes | have Lhelr redders, for some of them been worse, Uhe instgatore of crime. | have reached the honored stage of per- In this case there le, as Gov. Bmith | manent recogniton es claseics, points out, no ground of extenustion Hardy's Nierary career was an jnter- The crime was sbominsble, s cold- | esting development. At the age of six- blooded plotung agalnst & man who | Leen he was erticled w o locs) archi- hed 1 no wise given offense, who was | Lect, end he devoled himsel! sasiduous- ¥ & good hushend, & goud provider and lywuu'mnlu‘upmlmauwm- United States Marines are honest Ppeace promoters. They end fights, but never start one. THE EVENING ty-two he went to London and at twen- ty-three won two prizes in national competitions, While working and studying at his trade he read deeply in Greek and Latin classics and be- came interested in science, which had achieved a new importance in the in- tellectual world through the work of Dgrwin. The result of this study was the development of one of the most abundantly stocked brains in Europe, and when, in obedience to an early urge, he finally turned to writing, he was better equipped for this newly chosen profession than most of his co- temporaries or his successars in the fleld of English letters. As a boy he had given the service of his pen as letter writer to the illiterate of his neighborhood, and in his visits to the homes of the people of Wessex he absorbed much of the mythology and folklore of that district. In later years this acquaintance with the tradi- tions of his native country stood him in good stead and greatly enriched his literary product. 2 At the age of twenty-seven, Hardy wrote his first novel, which was re- turned by George Meredith, then acting as a publisher's manuscript reader, with the recommendation that the au- thor write another story with “more plot.” Three years later, in 1870, was published his “Desperate Remedies,” the chief criticism against which was that it had too much plot. Numerous stories followed, attracting increasing attention, but it was not until 1891 that he reached his maximum in his most famous tale, “Tess of the d'Urber- villes,” a story which was later drama- tized, and in the stage version of which Mrs. Fiske made a striking success in this country. It was a notable con- tribution, for it was accepted as alter- ing the main purpose of the novel from cheerful expurgated entertainment to serious social eriticism. It was follow- ed, in 1895, by “Jude the Obscure,” which has been rated as one of the most painful stories ever written. It is noted in ong of the estimates of Hardy's work that he has been com- pared to Hals and Matsys for the mi- nuteness and finish of his pictures; to Shakespeare for power and insight in his woman characters, and to the Greek dramatists for the inevitableness with which his powerful narratives march to their fatal conclusions. Students of the English literature of the later Vic- torian period will find in the works of Thomas Hardy a model of literary pre- cision and finish, of teeming informa- tion and of profound thoughtfulness. —————e—t—— Current events become so complicated and interesting that there is likely to come a time when the average citizen may experience difficulty in finding time for *his cross-word puzzles. ——ee Florida is again forward in print. The peninsula still possesses everything it ever had, with a loyal retinue of “good losers™ still confident in its charms. 2 —————— Prominent Republicans still have the temerity to hint that the national con- vention will have something to say about who is going to do the “choos- —_—ate— Competition for seats of high public honor are too easily forgotten when popular interest is bewildered by the discussion of the electric chair. ——— o ‘The Mississippi had its floods some time ago. The Thames is reversing the old custom, as England begins to fol- low the river fashions in America. ——————vate A “hop-off” is casy. They who sympa- thetically follow aviation are most con- cerned about the alighting on land or water. —————— Russia reveres Lenin. He is one of the historic politiclans who ,succeeded in establishing themselves as myths. B It is feared that among presidential booms now soaring there will be several forced landings. —e———— One way to discourage rough sport would be to have “Lindy” in evidence. No one would turn to look at the ring. ———— SHOOTING STARS. . BY PHILANDER JOHNSON, Try Again. Good resolutions go their way, As they have often done before, The lights and music go astray, And penitence knocks at the door. “Come in, old patient friend,” we say— “My good resolves fade as of yore." Quoth Penitence, “Feel no dismay, Bince we can always make some more,” Reckless Remembrance. “Why don't you write your reminis- cences?” ‘m afraid of remembering too much,” sald Senator Sorghum, “and starting a lot of old controversies all over again." Untruth, “In work such happiness I find, I labor just to cheer my mind!” That's one of those things, sounding well, George Washington would never tell! Jud Tunkins says when Shakespeare sald “All the world’s a stage” he didn't know that his remark was to apply to musical comedy costumes on the side- walks. . Clothes and the Man. Your goggles make you look so queer, We pause and stare as you draw near; In fact, your make-up's very strange, And our ideas s0on must change! The garb of elegance refned Appesls no longer to the mind; Bince you, bold ace, king of the air, Are clalming homage everywhere! “Men are eusily led,” sald Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown. “IL 5 human na- ture to shift the responsibility as far as possible Lo sny one who Is willing, re- gardless of consequences, to undertake i Compensation. Btatistics leave me much afrald The mowr cop s not well paid. But when he wishes 80 o do He burns the air in going through ‘The crowd -4 privilege, they say, ‘That's worth far more than purse can pay. “Oratory,” said Uncle Eben, "has went and got itself kind o' commercialized. After & man has talked three minutes de crowd gits impatient an' wants Lo koow what he's Lyin' to sell.” STAR, WASHINGT THIS AND D. C, THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 1928 THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. One may get a great deal more than tone and distance out of a radio re- celving set if he applies himself to it. What are some of these benefits which the kindly manufacturer fur- nishes free of charge? Perhaps he doesn't realize that he put them in his hlox, so we will tell him what we found there. Besides the tube sockets, transform- ers, condensers, and so on, the inter- csted radio “fan” may find a nice set of lessons in his receiver. Through his radio, besides stations WRC, WBAL, KDKA and so on, he may receive lessons in the following: 1. Forethought. 2. Caution. 3. Patience. 4. Thoroughness. 5. Need for investigation. He will learn, in addition, these two following: cardinal facts: 1. That nothing is perfect. 2. That progress is made little by little. & ok Take the quality of forethought. A little of this, in operating a receiv- ing set, will save a world of “trouble shooting,” as the detcction and remedy- ing of faults and failures is called. A modern radio set is a precision in- strument, involving that most wonder- ful of powers, electricity. From the crystal set, a mere bit of wire and quartz, to the elaborate 6 and 7 tube affairs of 1928, the radio receiver is made up of a series of delicate adjust- ments, one within the other. Most sets still require the use of an owmtside aerial of some type, and a ground wire to the water pipe or rad- iator. Many a set owner becomes care- less in regard to these two highly im- portant factors of good radio reception, and tends to forget them altogether. Service men who call because a set is not “percolating™ often discover that the aerial is broken, or that the ground has become unfastened. Had the own- er used a little forethought. he might have saved himself money and annoy- ance. Just a little forethought in operating a receiver will save the owner a great deal of trouble. Forgetting to keep the “A" battery filled to the proper level with water—this is another failure through lack of simple f‘orethaught. xxE Caution in handling batteries and the large voltages built up for the use of the power tubes enables a set own- er to save himself somewhat of a shock, to say nothing of preventing blown tubes. Blowing out all the tubes in a set was for several years, in the early days of the receivers—away back in 1922— a favorite indoor sport of many owners who had neither caution nor fore- thought in their make-up. Patience, too, is a splendid virtue, as much needed in handling a receiver as in the other activities of life. Its best use, perhaj various failurés in operation. One must check over the wiring, the | tubes, the antenna, ground—in fact, every single point in the set and its appurtenances in which something may go wrong. It never pays to say to one's self, “Oh, the antenna is all right: I know it is.” Patience is the watchword. This calls for thoroughness. If patience is required in keeping at it un- til the trouble is foupd. thoroughness is | the ding force along the way. Ntfi‘l‘\‘ln“mus! be overlooked. A set , comes in running down | owner ought to have at least an ele- mentary knowledge of radio, and a de- termination to slight nothing when he begins to investigate. Often the “trouble” is only some ab- surd oversight, such as a dial accl- dently de-tuned. We have seen a radio owner work himself into a fret, with one of the old three-dial sets, only to find, after an hour's work, that some one had accidently turned a dial while dusting! * K ok Our fifth virtue, if one may call it that, is the recognition of the necessity for investigation. Too often this is not held necessary, either in life, as a whole, or in so small a detail as the radio receiving set. : Yet it is the crux of the whole mat- er. No man is soe smart” that he can lknow all without looking into the mat- er. Patient investigation was the way of Edison and the other great inventors; and does an ordinary human being think to get along without some por- tion, at least, of the same beneficial quality which some call “genius” and some “hard work"? It cannot be done. When a child, or a radio set, or anything else, is not act- ing up to standard, an investigation is called for. May it be made in peace, with lov- ing understanding, not in a spirit of resentment and fretfulness. * ok ok ¥ The cardinal facts as they have been called here, which one may learn as he turns the dial of his receiving set, are, first, that nothing is perfect, and, sec- ond, that progress comes bit upon bit, line upon line, not by grand leaps. These facts are useful, too, in the daily life. Learn them at the dial. but apply them elsewhere. There is no re- ceiver on the market that is perfection. Radio engineers will be the first to ad- mit this; perhaps the last to admit it will be some conceited chap who has paid a large price for a good receiver and feels that because he, wondrous man, bought it, the thing must bé per- fection. The engineer knows better. Al- though the science and art of radio broadcasting and reception have made remarkable records in five years, much remains to be done. The happy part of it is that it is being done! Slowly, slight improvement upon slight improvement, the sets are living up to Coue’s dictum, “Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and bet- ter” Perfection in tone and distance-get- ting have not been achieved, but when the results obtained from a good re- ceiver today are compared with the output of four or three years ago, or even two years ago, the improvement is inspiring. Here a betterment, there a better- ment—so grows the perfect radio sct | of the future. And i would work in the same patient way to improve ourselves, we, too, might some day rmr up perfect. If this shall happen, however, it will be largely because we have kept in mind the necessity for forethought, vestigation in the daily life. No man is perfect, any more than his radio set. If the engineers can perfect the one, | the hope is that the Great Engineer | will perfect the other. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY BAUL V. COLLINS, Dr. Charles G. Abbot has been con- nected with the Smithsonian Institu- tion for more than 23 years; he started | one year after he had graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technol- ogy in 1893. Now he has been elected secretary of the institution. He is recognized as one of the most distinguished astronomers or astrophysi- cists in the world, and is author of sev- eral standard books on solar radiation. He is specialist of the weather in the SUn—sunspots. Now that he is secretary of the insti- tution the question naturally arises as to what he is going to do with it. Just to get his reaction or evaluation of the importance of the work of the institu- tion, the demand was sprung upon him yesterday to explain why the institution should not be abolished, and what is its | record of accomnlishment in its four- score years and two, since it was estab- lished. Is it duplicating work done in other institutions? There is the Bureau of Entomology in the Department of Agriculture, for example—how does its | research differ from the research in en- tomol by the scientists of the Smith- sonln:qnumunon’ ‘There are the Bu- reau of Standards and the Weather Bu- reau, both tnstitutions of science. %o w Secretary Abbot is somewhat of a hu- morist, but he looked quite solemn at th: suggestion that the Smithsouian In- stitution might have to be abolished, and he became subduedly indignant at the proj ., What would become of the 24-foot shelf of books which it has al- ready published, discussing “pure sci- ence” which it has developed and added to the world’s knowledge of nature and | nature’s laws? e The general public too often thinks of the Smithsonian Institution’s mu- seum as being its chief feature, whereas it is the feature of minor impartance, though it is about all that the tourist sees Its first secretary, Joseph Henry, or- ganized the first ~weather observation System in the world. out of which grew the United States Weather Bureau, and eventuslly similar weather services throughout the world. Its sclentista studied fishes as food supply, and out of that developed the United States Fish Commission, now under the Department of Commerce. It began the geological survey of the continent, which is now an independent bureau. It created the National Museum and the National Zoo- logical Park with its collection of ani- mals. Under the third secretary, Dr. S. P. Langley, the astrophysical observa- tory was developed. Dr. Langley made the fAirst American experiments with heavier-than-air flying—prior to the development of the gas engine--and it will be noted that his principles were not radically different from those of the successtul Wright brothers’ alrplane, except that the Wright machine 15 pro- pelled by gas instead of steam No man has devoted more selentif work on observation of sunspots than has Becretary Abbot, Including their ef- fect upon the radiation of heat to the enrth, and their effect on our weather. He declares that with fuller knowledge of sunspot effects on our atmosphere it will be possible to forecast the weather much farther ahead than we now do, and with greater accuracy. Is not that alone worth more than all the cost of the institution since Smithson gave his $650,000 for ita foundation? ‘The National Museum now contatng over 10,000,000 specimens, covering all s sclences, L What else has the Bmithsonlan Insti- tution mecomplished ? There was Michelson, who first measured the wave leugth of ether vibration; that became the unit of all wave measures, for the radio, spectroscoplc Yays, ete. Morley welghed the wtoms of oxygen and hydrogen, which became the basis of all atomic welghts of chemicals. “The Bmithsonluy Institution subsidised strugghing sclentist named Behuman, hving In° Hamburg, until he studied ultra-violet rays and handled them so a5 1o eure rickels “The Institution 18 not “practical” in hunting deposits of oills and minerals, but 1t knows that where there exial ofls and minerals there are always fos- sl remaine of invertebrates; 1t is find- Ing_out about such "dry bones" Ita knowledge saves milllons of dollars in the locating of oll and minerals, al- | though it is interested only in “pure science™ and not in financial rewards. It is studying the antiquity of man and tracing his evolution. It is study- ing botany, plants and forestry all over the world. It is observing the astron: omy of the sun, moon and stars. and | the tides and magnetic currents. It | supports expeditions of scientists of all | kinds and to all parts of the world. | We realize that, from the days of the | Garden of Eden. man has had to defend | himself and family from the ferocious | beasts of the forest and great fishes of | the sea, but we may not know that more serious menaces come from earth’s 650,000 kinds of insects known to man, and the 3,000,000 other species not yet classified. The scientists of the | Smithsonian are studying these insects, and not:ng what are men’s friends and | what kinds are dangerous or injurious It interchanges scientific reports and books with thousands of other research- | ers throughout the world. *x e As Dr. Abbot says. “If the Smith- | sonian did not exist, the National Mu- | seum, the Zoological Park, the interna- | tiol exchanges of sclentific knowl- cdge and the scientific department of the Library of Congress (known as the | Smithsontan Department of the Li- }bmr,\'l would all continue, supported by the Government.” They all sprang from the Smithsonian Institution, yet the institution itself is not supported mainly by the Government—it is not a Government institution. It receives, as income from fts en- dowment by Smithson, $65,000, which is under the unrestricted control of its board of managers, for use in its main- tenance. In addition, it has funds derived from | other bequests, giving a revenue of $70,- | 000, which must be used for specific purposes, also an income from the Freer bequest, which must be used for | developing and maintaining the Freer Gallery. Congress appropriates for the :\‘:e p‘u‘billc bureaus under Smithsontan [ Slon an annual average of $830,000, but that does not go to matn. tain the institution itself or any of its sclentific research enterprises Its “pure science” botanists supply basic information to the economic bot- anists of the Department of Agri- culture; its ichthyologists do the same for the Fish Commission; fts ethnolo- ?mln guide the Bureau of Indian Af- Alrs; its geologists aid the Geological Survey, and in the World War its opt- cal experts lay the basis of revolution- ary improvements in searchlights, “ e All sclentists recognize that knowledge but touches the lhullp:f“‘l"l: unlimited ocean of facts yet unknown. The Smithsonlan Institution 1s one vast { uestion mark before the closed book of mystery, X to learn if solar ra; used directly (o create power Y i Can studies of solar variation foretell ather conditions?—and many other nysteries to be sought out in future study. e s cramped for adequate funds, for the Qovernment does not 1 give “generously to “pure sclence,” which does not pay dividends tangibly. Yet, out of it came the telephone, the fundamental prineiple of uviation, the broadcasting of the radio, and the basis for the work of nearly all sclentific ne- tivitles of the country. Thirty years ago Prof. Holden, director of the Lick Observatory, declared 18 not un- likely that the greatest service of the Smithsonian Institution to the country s been the constant exhibition in it eneral policy, and its daily relations or half w century, of & high and gen- erous ideal. Any sketoh of ita services would be most inadequate which failed to emphasige this fundamental point.” PR James Smithson was an Englishman a natural son of the Duke of N umberland Hecause of that ister” i his birth, he could honorable rocognition n- England, al- though he did_genuinely valuable sol- ontific work. Embittered by that faot he wrote his will n 1826, ueathing all his property — $530.000 - fAirat, for lifo to & nephew, with the proviso that it the nephew died without hetrs 1t should be given In trust to the United ttates mnm-m "o .'i'“"“' at Washington, the name of the Bmithsonian In It 1s al each one of us | caution, patience, thoroughness, and in- | PH]LO%(‘{)PHIES GLENN FRANK Henry Ford captured the attention of the Nation a while ago by his pur- chase and restoration of the old Way- side Inn, near Boston, which was im- mortalized in Longfellow’s “Tales of a ‘Wayside Inn.” Everywhere comment turned to this quaint adventure of a man of the ma- chine age who had set out to restore a fragment of premachine civilization. Editorial writers recalled the gay and colorful days, before the stress and strain of rapid transportation, when men on horseback or in picturesque coach came to these roadside taverns n whose lovely ballrooms and taprooms love and laughter flowered in the soil of an unhurried leisure. Moving under the surface of most of the comment on Mr. Ford's restora- tion of the Wayside Inn was the as- sumption that he was doing something in flat contradiction of the sort of things he stands for as an effective manufacturer of automobiles. Had not devices of modern travel caused the colorful roadside taverns of earlier centuries to disappear? Was not Mr. Ford with one hand destroying these centers of delight as actual institutions of modern life, and with the other hand artificially restor- ing one of these taverns of Revolution- ary days? What connection could there be be- tween this man of the motor and this man of the museum? The fact is there is a very close con- nection. For a time the railroad caused the romantic loveliness of the old road- side taverns to disappear; but the au- tomobile is making the roadside tavern again possible, and within 50 years we may see the rise of new Wayside Inns that will vie with the wayside inns of premachine days: we are seeing them now, but I mean that we shall see their development in the direction of charm and loveliness: they will outgrow the quick-lunch and commercialized dormi- tory stage many of them are in now. All this is but a symbol of one of the most important facts of our time, namely, that most of the virtues and charms of the premachine age are due for a return as our machine age out- grows its gawky youth and begins to achieve the solider virtues of maturity. With the development of the automo- bile and the airplane we are seeing the return of the sort of individual traveler around whom the glamour of Chaucer's Canterbary tales was thrown. G. K. Chesterton, who heartily dis- likes to have to say a good word for machinery—a man born too late. a man who would like to step on a magic carpet and be whisked back to the walled town of the Middle Ages—speal ing of the social effects of the auto- mobile, says: “The free and solitary traveller is re- turning before our very eyes; not always equipped with scrip or scallop, but having recovered to some extent the freedom of the King's highway in the manner of merry England.” Let's be patient with machinery. (Copsrizht. McClure Newspaper Sy e e Wharf Held Logical Site for Market To the Editor of The Star: It was about 30 rs ago that I first came to the realization of the impor- tance of a wholesale market at the water front. Since the exigencies of progress have pointed the way to a realization of what 1 foresaw decades ago, I'd feel small indeed if my tongue would refuse to testify to what my eyes have seen these many years. Those who may look on me as an ally of the Southwest propo- nents will do well to ask why the “wharf crowd” follows me instead. for. with no braggadocio intent, I feel a ploneer in this effort to locate the market aright—at the wharf. With something over 20 years here in Oxon Hill as one of the common herd of truck growers, part of the timc as a retail farmer. together with the first half of life down the Potomac as a shipper, I feel, from the study I have given the Washington market problem. fully competent to see this in the light of a greater Wi , which should be our battle cry. Let us get this thing in our head aright—that we are building for future generations. Though we may have to for several years, let us be patient. We can afford to go slow on the biggest | step Washington ever has or wiil take in its development. As I see it. by moving the market five blocks from its present site to the Southwest loca- tion, we will be keeping in contact the commercial life that has been decades in the making. whereas, by going out | to Eckington, we will be kicking over what we have been so long in estab- lishing in the way of a downtown com- mercial district, not knowing what the result will be. We must see our city as a two to three million population proposition; seeing it in such light then we should ask ourselves what will it look like to have the undesirable quali ties of such a wholesale market a will then be needed in the midst of a chotce residential district. Visualize the 5 to 10 ton trucks coming in from the south, on both sides of the Potomac—lumbering all night across town. Would it not be much better for them to go via Water street that CcAn easily be kept entirely commercial® We all know that is the most acces the Pennsylvanta Avenue and Anacostia bridges as well as those passing over Long Bridge. The truck land to the north and west of the city is already growing too valu- able for truck purposes, so it requircs no great stretch of the immagination to sce the Potomac tidewater lands as our future market garden. It's silly to waste thought on the idea of taking one's wholesale market to the consumer, so what would that amount to 50 years from now when, as Senator (‘Irl\!! has stated, the city will be spread over a 20-mile area? Even if there were any sense or reason in such an argument, still the wharf would hold possibilities as being & central point Although I'm well aware some of our representatives are opposed to indus- trialism for Washington, vet that, like many other changes beyond our power, will come about sooner or later. One of my reasons for wanting the market at the water front ts that it will have a tendency to invite industrialism south of the city within commuting distances. Unless that comes about, owing to a surplus of laborers that must accrue with the city’s growth, then we may expect 1o see fACtOry LOWNS spring up along the Potomac -that condition 1 trust we can divert, as 1 hope to see the Potomac tetatn its natural glory. T those who differ with me relative to Norfolk and Southern shipping. 1 wish to say it's & waste of our time to think that by putting the market at an in- accessible place we will- prevent them sending their products here when de- mand warrants. To those who may think I see oppor- tunitles down the Potomac, 1 will say, Yes, I certainly do for the future corpo- ration gardener who will be foreed on us by the eVOrgrowing one-man way of purchasing our produce, but these op- portunities will be as open to the pro- Kresalve sons of the present nearby con- servative and timid gardeners as to any one else, PERRY F. SKINNER, Suggests Airline Business, From the Boston Transoript. Mrs. Lindbergh is bringing Mexican strawberries to Detroit, perhaps sug- soating future usefulness of the air- xu n putting troploal fruits on orthern break(nat_tables stitution, an establishiment for the tn- crease and diffusion of knowledge wmong men It Took Congreas some vears to de- Clde what was meant by “knowledge The President. Vice Preaident and Ohiet Juative and all members of the cabinet are the “Amithsonian establishment * (Conrriaht, 1098 br Paul V. Colline) ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDER The keynote of the times is efficient service. In supplying ‘its readers with a free information bureau in Washing- ton, The Evening Star is living up to this principle in deed and fact. We are paying for this service in order that it may be free to the public. Submit your queries to the staff of experts whose services are put at your disposal. In- close 2 cents in stamps to cover the return postage. Address e Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. C. - Q. How long is Great Lakes?—L. N. A. The shore line of these lakes com- prises 8,300 miles. They have a water- surface area of more than 95,000 square miles. Prom Montreal, the head of ocean navigation. to the head of Lake Superior the sailing distance is about 1,340 miles. ‘Q. How did Wisconsin get its name? A. Wisconsin derived its name from the principal river, named Masconsin by Pere Marquette, translated “wild rushing channel.” The present spelling is derived from a misprint. All early French documents have Quisconsing or Misconsing. ;'he coast Lne of the wounded in the Battle of Waterloo?— W. C. A. In that battle the Prench lost in killed, wounded, and missing about 31.- 000 men, while the losses of the allies were about 23,000. Q. Please name some artists who have used the “Pygmalion and Galatea" 'A. Artists who have used the “Pyg- malion and Galatea” theme include tures). A. Mercier, Jean Raoux, George Fred W: E \v(v'hen was Charley Ross abducted? A. Charley Ross was abducted from his home in Germantown. Philadelphia. on July 1, 1874. He was four years and two months old at the time. No trace of him has ever been found. atts. Q. Why don't submarines have rings in their hulls by which they can be lifted>—J. D. R. A. The Navy Department says that all submarines were at one time fur- in the top of the hull near the bow and stern of the vessel. to the considered practical to lift them by means of a limited number of lifting eyes secured to the hull. The provision of lifting eyes has therefore been dis- ‘continued, and in case it should become necessary is now considered that the vessel could best be lifted by cables worked under- neath the hull. Q. Is the almond the seed of the fruit or is it the fruit itself>—T. W. A. An almond is the nutlike stone of the fruit of the almond tree. Q. What is the largest prime factor— | that is, the largest number which is not evenly divisible by any other whole number except 1 and itself’—-L. J. T. ‘A. The highest prime number that has hitherto been shown to be prime 1s 2,147.483.647. | Q. How many men were killed and | ;_‘wrg as a subject for a painting—W. | | Edward Burne Jones (series of four pic- | nished with large lifting eyes secured | large size of the present submarines. it is not to lift a sunken submarine Iti IC J. HASKIN. in 1840 as & magnificent folio book, with colored plates. Q. How many Jews were there in the world in the time of Christ? How many are there now?—W. R. M. A In the time of Christ the num- ber of Jews probably did not 5.000,000. The latest estimates of the Jewish ulation of the world, accord- ing to Dr. H. 8. Lindfleld, statistician of the Bureau of Jewish Research, is 15,580,000. Of this number approxi- | mately 3,742,000 are in Nerth America, 3,600,000 residing in the United States. Q What was our average daily ex- phengnure during the World War?— A. During the first three months our | war expenditures were at the rate of $2,000,000 per day. During the next year they averaged more than $22,000,- 1000 a day. Por the final 10 months of the period the daily average was over $44,000,000. Q. What is a bannock?—J. D. A. Bannock is the Scotcn equivall | for biscuit, soda bread, griddle or pa | cakes. It is baked on top or at the of the fire and if properly made | keep for days. It is a favorite brea of hunters. -Q. Please name the German organ- ization whose purpose is to restore mon- archies —W. W. A. The Steel H: . Escherich Organization, and Swastika have such aims. In Hungary, the Awaken- ing Magyars have the same purpose. Q. Where is Seven Dials, often men- \nonsed! in the books of Dickens’— A. It is a locality in St. Giles, Lo | don, between Trafalgar Square and British Museum, formeriy noted as the | resort of criminal and degraded classes A clock pillar with seven dial faces | formerly stood there. N 1 d { Q. When was the seel of the United | States adopted?—N. D. A. The seal of the United States was decided upon June 20. 1782. | Q How large is Guam?>—M. A. C. | A This American island in the Pa- | cific Ocean is 30 miles in extreme Hzn‘thdmmnmnmuzcmhm | wil | Q. Were any of the childrén of Prans Hals, artists?>—G. T. P. | A At least seven of his sons were painters. and his daughters married into | the profession. Q. What part of the weight of a steer is salable as beef?—P. D. A. One authority says that 543 per | cent of the finished product is beef and 45.7 per cent is composed of by-prod- ucts. Q. Where and how are polo ponies kept during the Winter’—G. M. A. The Pleld says that the superhigh- priced mounts are never allowed to zet out of condition. As soon as the matches are over. the shoes are taken | o and the ponies turned locse in & soft soil. grass paddock, which is free | from stone. Two or three months later | they are shipped South. and worked into condition for the early Sptirg | matches. | Q. What is the difference between 1 :%nx#h:dmdmmxmdrm*— scatter our produce all over the Mall | sible point for gardeners passing over | s | . A. A drunkard is a person who has Q. Why is the “Harris buck™ so call- | the habit of getting drunk. so the term ed?>—S. T. N. % tual drunkard” is tautological The A. The sable antelope is called the | term. however. has a definite legal value " buck™ because it was discovered | and is applied to a person that has be- T R T T ts of the e and Wil nimals | a subject of ird- of Southern Africa.” issued in Londcn | ianship. il Governor Smith’s Message Stirs Variety of \Cp_mment Gov. Smith's annual message to the | “the it New York has been lp—-mm praised gens as a strong State ' Philadelphia document. Its probable effect on th: | pendent campaign for the Democratic presi- “News ( dential nomination is forecast in vari- | of discussion of na | ous ways, depending largely upon the g | critic’s view of what the governor said ! about _ pronibition. arrangement 8 a hearv absalute = The Evening Bu presses it. the message meant that “he ! kiderties of the peog'“ mfl:o?be San would enforce the law while 1t is on the Prancisco Bulletin (Repudican | books, but he would lend a hand. if 02~ ' the declaration in favor of | casion offered. to take it off the books.” | as understood and this. in the opinion of the Newark ; News (independ News (independent), “will not appeal d:sappoi either to the radical wets or the fa- | fry E ml;«;: message is an sccurate self ?l;su:}le"(‘fl::l] —_— portraiture of Alfred Smith as be has | Consti may no one can observe orce ” | say.” afirms the Ne-’?ort Times n- | i g | d pengmnflwm Loutsville Courier- | TV Journal in ent) says tha: “what | The t independ: | New York's governor calls his last mes- | m;atmh:é;:hx\gx netme sage 0 the General Asiembly IS demarcation Detween the factioas horoughly in Keeping with the char- | been made clearer than ever. with | acter of Al Smith. It is frank and | chance of Ingering doubt as to the s.c» mast_politicians = Y Evening News (Republican) ! to the nomination. at least, on his ex- | perience as an executive and his sup- posed ability to carry his home State, leaving other topics to be taken up, if at all, -ne; hfi p‘(.—é_\- has ,:'3‘ its con- vention and adopted its platform.* arvs - g That he has pictured what appeals to | :.m"“l:;:' ‘If“:“:“:‘z‘"‘,‘;‘ the public as “an able and ProSTessive | nity for forthright g e executive, developing a great States | maitimore Evening | sovernmental activities along genenally | Democratic), “we as& hi > N 5 8 Rim a quest ffound lines.” is the concluston of the nalowed by time and mellowed by { Worcester Evening Gazette (depend- | perjence, ‘Gov. Smith. ace you wet o ent), while the Davenport Democrat ' are wou dry> ™ The Sun sag: <4 | «Democratic) eNt ONE | nuesyfooter posing as & @re i ‘} which is as cle w5 - about prohibition a: -:‘i;;"g". But a pussyiooter posing as & tand much clearer thar | other side of the poli e deck ¢ e governor's “declanation of the op- i portunIty presented (o lay down & DIAL: | e ol s e ron e | form’on which he mught de appraised | nanle or the Demaoeratic o e {as a candidate for the Democratic | {ilia Rarvarm Doty News' Demnr nomination,* according o the Charles- | S0 (QUNMTR (NI News | Deros ton Evening Pet (independent Dm0~ | (e i asessting 10 remeve fa: 1he cratic), “has disappointed some of his | sfute Bocks the onlY e ehor ot friends, but 1t has dismayed his ene- | (TR NN NG SQUE faw whieh po | mies™" Of the latter the Pust sa¥% | vith maehinery foe enfecig s are “They will have to reckon with hum as | s, FRERinery for enforeing the dr A leader of uncommon chamcter and. | aely Repyblican m‘cfim«r as they realtze. a politician of mare abil- oo GOV LIS | b and a public servant of understand= | irye the governar with Ny Y - - W N el R I view af all that Gov e | | safd on the sudjeet of prod hien The document ts believed by the cludes the New Yors Workd Brooklyn Daily Eagle (ndependent) 10| ent), “his willingness now to depend for its value as ¢ PAEN ma- | sustalning” the Volstead act terial “almost entirely upon What the | ‘sacred duty' can ondv de recard Lwriter has to say about State affaws | the Nght of the whole recend and his relation to them. No other fair 10 himself and as a po State executive,” ues the Eagle. der of the first magnitude * | “anywhere in DI, eVer Ape | proached a presidential campaign with | substantial achtew his credit than Alfred & oFa News mdependen® Democratic) remarks. “We wonder D STATES WORLD WAR Ten Yows Ao Toden ment Smith " “We do not believe it will give him any dry votes.” states the Detnit Free | Pross (independent), but that paper concludes, “The dovument shows thought, sincerity and courage. and is | evidently the Mbor of a fertile mund | CGen. Pershing notifies Russian o™ WIth & capacity for MADAGERENt of very | ¢ers wha oft 1 serve i the Aw contiderable public aftams The Nitl- - oan expaditionary fuves that the s waukee Journal (independent) suggests | of the United e prevent s ac that “people who ask whether his rale copling thewr ous offer ' In one city M him to be ruler over 10 e nine months this country has deea Clties have samething very edar and di- 31 the war, enemy fcendiatios dhave et and undineling o emmtne destiured by Qe move than $3ARMNN “He makes 1t clear™ acoonding o woith of property. idustries vimlly | the Albany Evening News (inidependent Devessary 10 ihe NAUORS war afioen s Republioan), “that he s not m osym. * % ¢ n\-w?m Pathy with the Vobtead Jaw, but s for | Prosident Wikony Wie o enforcemient. Mareover, he suggesis War atns R on Alece Amendment to the State constitution | and the Russian hopes e greatet S0 that no fute Paderal amendments | faver. * % * Regiah &w & ‘be acted on by the Legialature before | oides 10 establiah nformal redathoos referendum by State statuia 10 the pev- | with Russian Bolhevist ambdassador 41 e’ That would preciude any doudt | London. * ¢ Secrelary Baker op and be & wise method agaiiiat rushing | oses creation of Secretary of Mwn - through any mmufcation AN s | Gans. Stands By his reorganisaton b ‘\Im the Kansas City Journal (Repud- | soheiile and insisis 1 wall peove o lean) contends (hat sueh & Proviaion | cletit. * % ¢ Rusuans agiee o e Would have no effect an the Federnl | e poace parieds wilh the ceptral ‘t&u:uluum. but the OQklahoma City | powers \v NNRL agresment (M6 ndependen (v Chinher um‘ \uww«u\‘m Armistios @ extended fx anoder '