Evening Star Newspaper, September 14, 1928, Page 8

HE = EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. FRIDAY. .September 14, 1928 THEODORE W. NOYES. ...Editor \The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: \ 11th St. and Pennsylvania Are. New York Office: 110 East 42nd St. Chicago Office: Tower Ruilding. European Office. 14 Regent St., London, England. 1 Rate by Carrier Within the City. Th ning ol 5c per month Sunday Star days) ..........60c per month ‘he Evening end day Star (when 5 Sundays) 65¢ per month The Sunday Star .... Collection made at ¢! Orders may be sent in Main 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday....1 yr, $10.00; 1 mo., 85¢ Daily only .. 1 yr., $6.00: 1 mo., 50¢ Sunday only . 1 5r, $4.00: 1 mo., 40c All Other States and Canada. Daily and Sunday..1 12.00: 1 mo, $1.00 Daily only ; 1mol 75¢ Sunday only 1yr, $3.00; 1 mo. 50c s Member of the Associated Press. The Ascoctated Press is exclusively entitled o the ‘use for repuhiication of all news dis- atenes credited to it or not atherwise cred- t this paper and also the local news All richts of publication of s herein are also reserved. ted {n_ this published herein. cial dispatche: “No Cause for Worry.” Secretary Mellon’s statements on prosperity may be viewed in the Tlight of the finance director's report to the chairman of the board, who has just returned from vacation and wants to know the prospects. President Cool- idge, as well as stockholding citizens, should derive comfort from the Secre- tary's summing up of the situation with the words, “There is no cause for worry." This being a campaign year, the statement will, no doubt, be greeted with a blast of withering sneers from those whose business it is at this season to sneer witheringly. The textile in- dustry and the coal fields will be point- ed out with a finger of scorn and Sec- retary Mellon will be sarcastically in- vited to discover signs of prosperity ln' mill towns, where the spiders, instead of the looms, are doing the spinning, or in the coal fields, where men and ‘women are digging in, not for coal, but for another Winter, without work. The Secretary anticipates these queries to some extent. He mentions the textile in- under_normal circumstances allowance must be made for prevailing winds, which are generally against the west- ward fiyer. So while the race was a feilure in that none was able to complete th2 course without a stop, it has served the purpose of stressing the necessity for a larger fuel supply on the Western trip than on the Eastern, to insure a greater degree of safety. Such knowledge, em- phasized again, cannot fail to redound to the benefit of aviation. In the accounts of the hurricane which has just swept over Porto Rico mention is made of the large number of trees that have becn destroyed. No complete survey of the effects of the disastrous visitation is yet possible, ow- ing to the disruption of communications in the island, but it is evident that the storm was one of the most violent in the history of Porto Rico, and the as- sumption is that the losses are wide- spread and heavy. The loss of trees is a severe blow to the prosperity of. the people. They rcly almost exclusively upon the agricultural products of the Jand and in the economic equation the fruit and nut bearing trees are an im- portant factor. Sugar is the chief crop, and if the storm was severe enough to bring down great numbers of trees it must have done widespread injury to the growing cane, with heavy monetary losses. The coffee crop is second in im- portance, and the loss of the trees of this species is certain to have a serious effect upon the welfare of the people. The cocoanut trees, which, being taller, are in such conditions most likely to suffer from the violence of the blast, constitute a considerable element in the prosperity of Porto Rico. Great planta- tions of them are cultivated, and their output of nuts is one of the reliances of the islanders for income. The citrus fruits, to an even greater extent, are exposed to devastation in such storms. The smaller growths, like pineapples and tobacco, both of which constitute important items in the export product list, especially the latter, may not have suffered as severely, but so tremendous a disturbance, with winds of hurricane force and a deluge of rain, cannot have failed to inflict injury upon these plan- tations likewise. dustry and the coal industry as two weak spots in the economic fabric, but he be- lieves both are on' the mend. Both have suffered from an illness contract- ed by continued exposure to unfavor- able economic conditions. Overproduc- tion in the coal flelds, the real seat of the trouble there, is being met by the voluntary shutting down of scores of properties and the introduction of more efficient methods in mining coal. After much casting about for artificial stimu- lants, the coal industry has gone on a Porto Rico is densely populated, one of the most crowded areas in the world. It is therefore likely that there has been considerable loss of life and a long list of injuries in this storm, although no reports to that effect are yet re- ceived., The urban structures are most- 1y substantial and designed to withstand violent winds, but the rural habitations are flimsy and offer a ready mark for the tornado. It is to be feared that later accounts may reveal a sad tale of death and suffering. sane diet, which should bring it the needed strength and vigor. The textile industry in New England, which has been suffering from an accumulation of maladies, may never regain its former position in the world, and is in an ad- mittedly bad way. But if there is any- thing to do about it, except to await the natural readjustments to new con- ditions, the remedy has not been widely advertised. There is a good year in prospect for the farmer, Mr. Mellon argues, and he sagely comments on the fact that some farmers always make money and others always lose money—a fact that is irre- futable. As a whole, the Secretary of the Treasury believes that the coun- try’s business, industry and agriculture remain on a sound foundation that in- dicates a continuation, as far as the eye can see, of present prosperity. His statement is valuable, even at a time when the extremes of optimism and pessimism are apt to be regarded for ‘what they are worth politically. ————————— Germany wants the Rhineland free / from foreign occupation as soon as pos- sible. If Germany had years ago been 80 desirous of attending strictly to her own business, many serious difficulties might have been averted. —r——————— Political “whisperings” are taken so seriously. that they threaten to take all the joy out of a bit of card table gos- sip. The Non-Stop Race. Never has the difference between ‘West-to-East and East-to-West trans- continental flying been more empha- sized than in the non-stop race which climaxed the series of competitions for civilians in the United States air derby. Nine planes started from New York on ‘Wednesday and none was able to fight through to the Pacific Coast without a stop. _‘Although all nine werzs forced down at one time or another, consola- tion is to be gained from the fact that there was only one near approach to tragedy. Col. William Thaw, a survive ing member of the famed Lafayetle Escadrille, and Capt. John Morris, his pilot, crashed at midnight in their powerful ship and both were seriously injured, but are expected to recover. Art Goebel, winner of the Dole race and holder of the transcontinental record from West to East, flew the greatest distance toward his goal before beirg forced down at Prescott, Ariz, to re- plenish his fuel supply. Goebel, whose killful flying has won for him interna- tional renown, continued on to Los Angeles and arrived there twenty-four hours after leaving New York. ‘When Goebel, flying West to East a few weeks ago, lowered by more than seven hours the East-to-West trans- continental record of McReady and Kelly, which had stood since 1923, jt was believed by many that the difference in elapsed time indicated the development of the airplane over a span of five years. But the same plare which flashed across the country in less than nineteen hours from West to East not only ran out of gas on the East-to- West trip, but was nearly four hours slower, after deducting the period used for refueling. Besides that, both Goebel and his passenger-backer, Harry Tuck- er, agreed that, considering the Stiff khead wind and the storms they wers gompelled to fight, they were extremely fucky to get as far as they did. Aspirants for transatlantic honors have from the beginning realized the difficulties of crossing from Europe to the United States, and from the re- sults of the transcontinental contest it would appear that the same problem confronts the aviator overland when he is flying toward the setting sun. Un- A rough estimate of a loss of $2,000,~ 000 is made in the preliminary reports. This may appear to be a moderate fig- ure, in the light of continental disasters which have taken a far heavier toll of property. But for Porto Rico, an island which is in area only about two-thirds of the size of the State of Connecticut, it is a shockingly heavy tribute to Na- ture. There will be much distress in the island in consequence of the storm. It would be a gracious act for the peo- ple of the mainland, fellow Americans, ta send assistance to the islanders, if any intimation is given of urgent need for the succor of the sufferers from this savage blast. Maryland’s Marring Road Signs. Action is proposed by the Montgom- ery County Civic Federation that will, 1f, effective through ordinance or stat- ute, lessen and perhaps eliminate the billboard nuisance along the highways: of Maryland. There is already in force a law, the constitutionality of d sec- tion of which remains in some doubt for the present, which permits county commissioners to impose taxes upon such roadside signboards, even to the extent of causing their removal. The present effort of the Montgomery Coun- ty Federation is to hasten decision upon this question, so as to proceed, if the way is cleared, with the drive against the nuisances. At present the roads leading Into ‘Washington are disfigured and in places rendered hideous by great structures proclaiming the qualities and virtues of commodities and places of public refreshment and accommodation. The natural beauties of the country are hidden and in sections the driveways are lined with confusing and offending placards and signs. However neatly structured and artistically decorated these signs may be, they are an offense to the eye. Keen competition for strategic posi- tions for these obnoxious proclama- tions has resulted in their placement at the most conspicuous situations. As the better places are occupied they stretch out for long distances. On some roads they fill, with their brief intervening spaces, fully a quarter of the distance between villages. 1t is to be hoped that a way will be found to render the present law of Maryland effective and that it will then be enforced to the end of clear- ing up the roads of these blots on the landscape. At the present rate of de- velopment there will soon be a con- } THE EVENING STAR. WASHINGTON, D. €, FRIDAY. SEPTEMBER 14, .1928. § it metropolis, says Mr. Fels, and failed, in- asmuch as only a few old women would use the reserved sections and vehicles. He has lately been making a study of subway operation in London, Paris and New York, and he concludes that so long as men and women want to get to the same place at the same time there will always be a crush. Mr. Fels is correct in his reasoning, and his experfence is not surprising. When the time comes for going some- Iwhere there are no sex lines. Any ob- server in Washington, standing on a loading platform, will witness repeated illustrations of this fact. Gallantry and consideration for women are markedly lacking on the part of a large percent- age of male passengers. And many woman passengers ignore the rule of precedence and seek advantage. The i old custom of giving right of way to women in such circumstances has large- ly fallen down. The result is a free- for-all scramble for entrance and for seats. To set apart certain cars for “women only” on any transportation system would be resented by many women, who are proud of their equality in all mat- ters of life with the so-called sterner sex. It would result, as in Buenos Aires, in the running of almost empty coaches or compartments. It would add to the weight of trains and the cost of service without yielding any appreciable relief trom the trials of the women who suf- fer affronts and embarrassments in crowds. The best remedy for such conditions, in which women are treated with im- propriety in crowded public vehicles, 15 the administration of immediate and severe punishment upon offenders. Most women are capable of bringing an an- noyer to book. Most men are disposed to go to their assistance and to tilt a figurative lance in their behalf when some scoundrel offends them. A bit of direct action now and then would make the path of the women through the crowded lanes of public travel more placid and secure. ———— ‘Washington, D. C., has become a large city; large enough to share the expe- rience of police investigations. As the most famous city in the world, it can- not hope to escape the familiar forms of metropolitan ériticism. e After Maine has voted, the country proceeds with the usual formalities, re- gardless of the assumption that the question of national destiny has been settled for another four years. ——r———— Some of the Wall Street brokers, while seeking to give Smith the best of the argument, unhesitatingly give Hoo- ver the best of the betting odds. e —t—— Even an efficlency expert may find conditions such as to call for assistance or relief in maintaining efficient stand- ards. —_————— ‘The airman bound for polar regions realizes the dream of new worlds to conquer, which, to Alexander the Great, seemed so futile. i e A campaign report has it that Cool- idge will make but one speech, which is a good many for Coolidge. ———ron. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. ‘Whispering. It is easy to refrain From a Whispering Campaign, ‘Which all the Rules of Candor must deplore. If you listen every day, ‘You will be impelled to say, “Nobody ever whispers any more.” ‘The Radio draws nigh Loud Speakers to supply With words and music, till they make us balk. Policemen in the dark, Pull Guns that loudly Bark, And even Motion Pictures learn to Talk. Once secretly inclined, Lovemaking you will find Is now conducted in the Traffic’s Roar, You must, with Spirit Proud, Be heard above the Crowd. Nobody ever whispers any more. Mystifying Chance. “By this time you ought to know a great deal about politics.” “I ought to,” answered Senator Sor- ghum. “But I have a friend who has played poker for nearly fifty years and is no more certain about a one-card draw than he was when he first started.” Miserly. I have my own opinion, And others share the same. ‘Throughout this great dominion It sounds with much acclaim. True thoughts of mine I measure More precious than my pelf. Opinions I will treasure, And keep 'em to myself. Jud Tunkins says civilization has its drawbacks. Every great mechanical | improvement brings along some new kind of a noise. Indicating a Future. “Return to school I much enjoy!” tinuous line of them for many miles outside of the District. There is hearty sympathy in Washington for the efforts of the Montgomery County Civic Fed- eration to find the line of corrective action. ————— A new complication in prohibition enforcement may arise. should-it be- come necessary to “padlock” private cars coming down from Canada. ————r———————— No Separate Cars for Women. Although travel on the subways of New York bas somewhat decreased since the two recent accidents in the tubes, 1t is evidently still heavy enough to cause severe congestion at times, and in the hours of greatest crowding woman pas- sengers have been subjected to rough treatment and certain indignities which have given rise to complaints and pro- tests. Some one proposed as a remedy for this situation that certain cars on each train be designated “for women only” and reserved thus for the sup- posedly weaker sex. But along comcs Guillermo Fels, engineer of the subway system of Buenos Aires, with the ob- servation that such an expedient would not serve, because the woman pas- sengers, with few exceptions, would not questionably the contestants in the air '\derhy were forced to combat unusual 4. wind and storm conditions, but even use these reserved cars. The special car nothod was tried in the Argentine Said little Bennie Blatt. The Teacher smiled and said, “Dear Boy, You'll make a Diplomat.” Prospective Assistance. “Is your boy Josh going to be a hely to you on the old place?” “I think so,” answered Farmer Corn- tossel. “If he improves a little more on the saxophone he may get a job that will enable him to pay his board.” “An ancient city,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “unearthed as a splendid ruin, reminds us how the suc- cess of one era is contemplated as a failure by the next. Ancient Scandal. Maud Muller, on a Summer day, Handed “the Jedge” a drink, they say. The roughneck neighbors sniff and snuff, And hint that it was home brew stuff. “Mind yoh own business,” sald Uncle Eben, “but fust make sure you is in de right kind o’ business.” SRR e Name Is Long. From the Detroit News. Tlion, N. Y., is to advertise itself by setting out 5,000 pine trees, arranged to spell “Ilion.” 1If this cystom is ex- tended to Sault Ste. Mnrlek\y. Michi- gan would be pretty well réorested. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. The novels of Alexandre Dumas charm because they possess a certain elation of spirit and narrative skill Jacking in other works. Especially does this French author excel in the hand- ling of conversation. Charles Dickens wins the adult reader by qualities, if not the reverse, quite diverse. He, too, was a full-blooded man of sanguine temperament, which quality manifests itself in his stories; but he had a touch of melancholy which grew with the years. Instead of swashbucklers for heroes, he chose rather men who had to fight against certain circumstances, chiefly those included in the human equation. His novels were always tracts against some condition of human society not to his liking. His novels, dull to some but un- equaled of their kind to most readers, make up for their lack of French sparkle by a certain British stolidness almost amounting to the traditional German thoroughness. His stories, his plots, his characters, are thoroughly worked out, above every- thing else. Words piled on words for pages upon pages succeed in giving a sense of realism which no other method attains. Minute description is the secret of his power, = looks at a character as real human beings look 2t other human beings. The eyes take in everything, although often enough the observer is not aware of it. When one looks at another he sees his eyes, his ears, his nose, his clothes. the buttons thereon, etc. He may not be able to tell later what he saw, but the point is that he saw it. Dickens merely describes what most eyes see. He does in words the same complete job of secing that the eyes do ordinarily when looking at some strange person. Every novel Is a strange land to every new reader. This is peculiarly true of the works of Charles Dickens. When one reads a story of his he is entering a strange country in which every char- acter is new and different—new because there is almost as much Dickens in them as there is life, and different be- cause they are not exactly like any human beings the reader has ever known. ‘This combination results in the qual ity which some critics have\called cari- caturization, not being willing to admit that an auther may create a whole new world of his own. In this particular case this world is known as the world of Dickens. There are- people in the world something like Quilp, but not precisely like him. There are Peck- sniffs and Capt. Cuttles in a measure, but never such actualities. Dickens made them different because he knew that the novel possesses both length and breadth and thickness, in contradistinction to the short tale, which lacks the latter dimension, and almost - the former, which the story makes up for in some measure by com- pleteness. Dickens knew with the sureness of the master that in the work which he could do the permissible quality of ex- aggergtion might be worked overtime. Accordingly, he lost no time about it, but gave the world a gallery of pictures at once strange, quaint, alive—above all, new. He could do this because he saw with the minuteness of a reporter’s eye and possessed that one-tenth more ability which allowed him to see people that existed only in his mind’s vision with more completeness than most of us see real people. He tells us just how many buttons are down the coat front of a character. Modern writers, especially those of the more ultra school, scorn this meticulous description, declaring that the inner feelings of characters, their psychology, is their meat. No doubt they ate right, since they do not seem to possess the ability of Dickens to make minute char- acterizations interesting. This is a hurry-up age, and if a reader will not do Dickens the justice to read him, he will call him dull. But we wager that any reader, no matter how sophisticated, who will actually wade through the first 50 pages of any Dickens novel will stay to the finish. Many of our latest novels appear to be but outlines of novels in their frothi- ness when contrasted with the solid character of Dickens’ works. Consider that vast panorama of English life, “The Pickwick Papers.” Although not properly a novel in any definite sense, it has a breadth and scope which en- titles it to compapy with the master works in that medium. It “belongs” because it portrays char- acter in a living way. That, after all, is the true measure of a novel. Some readers scem to think that the novel is something new, comparatively speaking; that there is a positive date in history before which no novels e written, after which novels were written. As a matter of fact. ambitious trans- lators are turning their attention to Chinese novels written thousands of years ago, in which the characteriza- tion and action seem surprisingly mod- ern. Recently we looked over the fourth fat volume of such a work and were amazed at the almost modern trend in it._ Surely it is a novel. Dickens followed his men and women around with the paternal solicitude of a Victorian father. He did not aliow them out of his sight for a moment: for, to tell the truth, he did not, trust them very much. He knew they were so full of vim that he had better keep an eye on them. So when they sit down he tells us just exactly how they sat down. If they meet a new per- sonage, he makes the reader see the newcomer through the eyes of the char- acter. If there is some fault or blemish which the animal-like eye of a human being would not miss—for we never miss faults, any more than the ani- mals—Dickens puts it in. And by put- ting it in, along with everything else, he manages to work up a lifelike char- acter. Dickens excelled particularly in the handling of sentiment. His novels are not artificially or effectedly tender, as his critics have insinuated. They are in no real sense superficially emotional. Dickens hardly ever indulges the sen- sibilities for their own sake. The ten- der scenes in his stories grow out of the situations and the characters as they exist, and have a naturalness which properly belongs to them. His sentiment is simply that which per- tains to the feelings, the tender sus- ceptibilities of the author eliciting alike emotions from the reader. His senti- mentality is that of moral, intellectual conviction and disposition. -If there are some who do not understand the primary meanings in_dictionaries, but choose to regard only the secondary meanings, that is their loss, since sophis- tication seems to deprive many a good man or woman of the ability to see the good and the true, or at least to be able to admit to themselves that they do see it. This must be their loss, since the life of mankind has ever worked away from the rough, the rude and un- cultured toward the smooth, the re- fined and the cultured. These oppo- sites run in waves, reactions following reactions, but the general current of progress throughout the centuries is undoubtedly along the path of senti- ment; true sentiment, which values the good 'things of heart, mind and spirit. If the pages of Dickens mix with this best sentimentality some bits of mawk- ishness, viewed with the eyes of today, it must never be forgotten that the eyes of today look out from a point of sophistication which tomorrow may be reversed—nay, most likely will be re- versed. The world has a place in it for the* novels of such sentimental writers as Charles Dickens. If any reader wants flip, superficial, sophisticated stories, in trend with the very moment in which we live amid the centuries, he has but to go to any book store and pick up one at random from the coun- ter. He must hurry, though, for no one will know anything about them tomorrow. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Instead of being known as the Hoover-Smith campaign, it begins to look as if 1928 might go down in his- tory as “the whispering campaign.” Gov. Smith's frontal attack on the charge that he is a drunkard is notice to all concerned that he does not in- tend to let such slanders remain un- challenged. The Democratic_nominee | in follows the lead of Theodore Roosevelt, who pursued into the Michigan courts persons who similarly libeled him. Her- bert Hoover appears to be thicker- skinned than Gov. Smith about the whispering campaign. The G. O. P. standard bearer finds solace in the fact that such campaigns are as old as the Republic itself. Georgé Washington faced them continually, and, at the hands of certain modern historians, faces them still. Andrew Jackson's ene- mies did their dirtiest to whisper him into political ruin. Abraham Lincoln was seldom immune from the tongue of innuendo. Grover Cleveland weathered cruel blasts of whispering chatter, in- cluding the drunkennes accusation. Woodrow Wilson was not spared by traducers, even when he lay broken. The present occupant of the White House himself, especially during the past year, has not escaped the poisoned darts with which whispering campaigns are fought. * K kK His alleged inebriety is only one of the morsels with which the whisper- ing campaigners are operating against Smith, Of even greater persistence and venom is their exploitation of the re- ligious issue. By word of mouth and by the printed page the governor's antagonists are warning the country of the terrible fate that will overtake it if the “flag of Rome” is allowed to sup- plant the Stars and Stripes Bt:& the White House. The Southern m for weeks have been loaded with cari- catures of Smith doing presidential obeisance to the Pope. The Democratic candidate is slammed by the sotto voce brigade because he is of immigrant stock. His inability to maintain the “dignity” of the executive office is one of their favorite asides. His “lack of polish” is another; and, of course, his East Side accent and occasional liber- ties with grammar are always stressed. Mrs. Smith’s style of talking and dress- ing—even her figure—is adduced as a reason why her husband should not be President or she the First.Lady of the Land. As one of the governor’s chief supporters has just put it, the com- bined forces of “bigotry and snobbery” are engaged in a systematic attempt to whisper “Al” into defeat. * K Kk Herbert Hoover has been the target of undercover attack from the moment he became a public figure 14 years ago, when he undertook the Belgian relief task. There were Britishers who did not shrink from backstairs talk that Hoover was not _only feeding the Ger- man Army in Belgium, but personally profiting from the purchase of food sup- plies. At the Kansas City convention in June the town was flooded with a four-sheet-rag of newspaper size, spon- sored by the “Illinois Republican Coun- cil,” emblazoned with a page-wide head- line reading, “Who Is Herbert Hoover?" and bringing a variety of charges de- signed to depict the Californian as utterly unfit to hold the Nation's high- est office. Here’s a sample paragrap! Mr. Hoover, were you not as sailed on the floor of Congress as being a food gambler? And were you not charged with being a repre- sentative of the packing interests? Did you not arrange to sell meats for the packers to Europe? Did you not fail to appear in response to a subpoena before a senatorial investi- gating committee investigating the sugar situation in 19172 Were you not charged on the floor of Con- gress with the responsibility for the increase in the price of wheat and flour during the war? * oK ok ok ‘Two tales that obtained currency dur- ing Hoover's pre-convention campaign concerned his early engineering career _China. One was that the records of ‘the British law courts disclose that he played a highly discreditable role in connection with the financial affairs of an Anglo-Chinese mining corporation. The story meantime has been blown up as a wholly groundless fiction. Last Winter a “confidential” information service at Washington broadcast to its clients throughout the country a ridicu- lous rumor, said to have been brought to America by a newspaper man just home from the Far East. This yarn was to the effect that Hoover laid the foundation of his private fortune dur- ing the Boxer rebellion in China by trafficking in loot from the imperial palace at Peking! Hoover's “British citizenship”—even his “English birth”; his “heavy European investments”; his marriage by a Catholic priest, and, most recent whisper of all, his “addiction to drink,” are a few, but not all, of the slings and arrows which the Republi- can chieftain has suffered. * ok ok ok The American window glass industry is telling a tale of woe to the United States Tariff Commission this month. ‘The industry seeks an increase in tariff duties to equalize conditions in this country and in Belgium. Tariff Com- mission investigators have reported that the average cost per pound of window glass produced in Belgium in 1926 varied from $2.05 to $2.29, while the average cost in the United States for the same period was $4.33 a pound. A spokesman of the American Window Glass Co. of Pittsburgh, told the com- mission that the American industry is carrying on at financial loss merely to prevent foreign competitors from gain- ing control of our market. The greatest competition from abroad is along the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts. Inland, Yankee manufacturers are holding their own. The Tariff Commission is urged to increase import duties “so as to in- sure proper wages to American work- ers.”” The latter are said to earn $45 a week, as compared with a $28 wage paid in Belgium. * ok ok ok Representative Fiorello H. La Guardia, Republican, of New York, a wet sup- porter of Hoover, is just back from Europe with the following observation about his touring compatriots: “‘Amer- icans abroad, when there’s a bar in sight, are a combination of a foot ball scrimmage, a Times Square subway jam and a three-alarm fire. lean their feet on a rail ‘over there’ are known at home for their activity in prohibition.” (Copyright. 1928 UNITED STATES IN WORLD WAR Ten Years Ago Today American forces repulse .enemy counterattack with an intense and ac- curate artillery fire that is very effec- tive. Germans are now reconstructing their lines north of the St. Mihiel salient and the Americans are organ- izing their newly acquired positions rapidly and are pushing exploitation parties forward. Prisoners and cap- tured supplies are being collected and roads being constru; in no man's land. * * * Today ejry American in France is a hero the people of Many who PHILOSOPHIES BY GLENN FRANK ‘The record of humanity's treatment of its pioneers is a sordid but sug- gestive tale. It is an easy matter to assemble an impressive gallery of the incomparable | spirits that have been trampled upon by the mob. and it seems that the higher the purpose of the pioneer the lower | the est; Scerates waged war against supersti- tion, asserting that conduct should be guided by conscience and creedis dic- tated by reason—and the mod put him ito death. Jesus of Nazareth, mystic missioner of forgiveness and mercy and equality, was the gentlest of men, bringing ten- derness into a world of triumphant force—and the mob put him to death, applauding with a kind of grim glee his painful crucifixion. Galileo invented the telescope and, after looking through it, administered a healthy antidote to the egotism of the race by showing it what a tiny and the mob made him spend his last sightless days in prison. Gutenberg invented printing: Jenner | discovered vaccine; Harvey laid the { foundation for experimental physiology —and the mob persccuted and ridicluled them and kept them in poverty. Savonarola and John Huss preached a pure morality to a_corrupt age—and the mob sent them to the stake. Laviosier was the founder of chem- istry and physiology—and the mob guillotined him in the market place of Paris. Descartes asserted the rights of hu- man reason—and the mob drove him from his fatherland to die abroad. Victor Hugo preached mercy and and peace through medium art—and the mob exile for 20 y The pioneer must make up hfs mind to get along without applaus The late Bert Leston T said: “Some martyrs have had a raw deal, but most martyrs got what was coming to them.” The inimitable B. L. T. was here suggesting, in his whimsical fashion, that many pioneers have an {rritating technique that arouses unnecessary re- sentment. This is true. No servant of the race stands in greater need of tact and diplomacy than the pioneer. But, it must be remembered, real pio- neers do more than criticize the ideas of the mob: they undermine many of matic manner wil] often succeed in putting over ideas if the ideas conflict with men’s beliefs only, but when your ideas conflict with men’s interests it is a different story. ‘The prophet and pioneer, if he deals with reality, cannot have his cake and eat it; he must be scornful of cruci- fixions or he will end his days in a SOITY compromise. (Copyright, 1928, McClure Newspaper Syndicate) ———r—e— Urges Emulation Of Ingersoll Work From the Des Moines Tribune-Capital. ‘The man who developed and proved the idea of a very cheap, but useful watch, a reliable timekeeper for a dol- lar, is dead. He contributed something worth while to society, while making himself wealthy, did Robert H. Ingersoll. There are many lessons in a success like that of Ingersoll with his dollar watch. First, the lesson that many things which seem utterly impossible can nevertheless be done—the lesson of open-mindedness, one may call that. { Of all operations in the world keeping time is among the most precise. In- gersoll's dollar watch brought personal timekeeping to scores of thousands who could not then have afforded expensive watches. It did not displace better ! watches. It just supplemented them. There is another lesson in that. The new thing usually does not supplant an old one, even though people get scared about that in the beginning. It sup- plements it. It compels adjustment. It divides territory, but often creates more to divide. With all our railroads, auto- mobiles and airplanes, we are talking now about doing things to develop more of the old-fashioned river traffic. Also let it b> noted that Ingersoll’s method of getting rich was just like Ford's, and that it worked. The method was to take an expensive utility and by revolutionary methods cut its cost so that milllons of people could buy it. That bright idea is available for others now, jlist as for Ingersoll and Ford when they were starting. Incidentally, Ingersoll didn’t hang on to his wealth very well. He wasn't poverty-stricken when he died, but most of the riches was gone. That doesn’t alter any of the other lessons. Per- haps it adds another one about being very prudent after having got a stake. George M. Cohan Praised for Conduct From the Los Aneles Evening Express. If obedience to the fourth command- ment still finds reward in length of days, then George M. Cohan may count his mother’s testimony as assuring him a green old age. His mother, Helen, wrote in her will this appreciation of her son’s steadfast affection: “What- ever property my beloved husband and I have died possessed of has come from the unselfish generosity of my beloved son, who has earned and enjoyed our everlasting gratitude and affection.” Like testimony to the constant love and generosity of her daughter was borne by Mary Pickford’s mother. We can well believe that sons and daughters who have cared for their parents in that fashion derive a larger pleasure and deeper satisfaction from the recollection of that loving service than is obtainable from any other source. To many who are careless, in- different or selfish in their relations with their parents, regrets come un- availingly at a time too late to effect a change in conduct. Death closes the account and there can be no erasures or alterations then. What is done must stand, “nor all your tears wash out a word of it.” 1t is not given to all to supply every parental material need, as did Georg?> M. Cohan and Mary Pickford, .but they are poorer in spirit than in purse who, having themselves been love’s bene- ficiaries during all the years of child- hood and adolescence, cannot there- after give continuing proofs of grateful remembrance. Crusts become as cake when love softens and sweetens them. The sort of filial love that finds its con- ventional expression only in a box of flowers on Mother’s day isn’t worth the condemnatory epithet it evokes. A kiss, a hug, a cheery word—what son can't give his mother that much proof that he remembers? How many do? ——e———————— Here's A Soft Job. From the Little Rock Arkansas Democrat. Here’s an ad in a Philadelphia news- paper: “Wanted—Young man to sleep in back of store.” There's a splendid chance for some umpires who contem- plate retiring from base ball. — ea———— Gets Good Advice. From the Des Moines Tribune-Capital It is a pretty safe bet that John Cool- idge has been advised to save his money after he gets to work. France and the speed with which the Americans achieved their objectives in ate the mob has put upon him. | place its planet holds in the universe— | R. This is a special department, devoted to the handling of inquiries. You have at your disposal an extensive organiza- tion in Washington to serve you in any capacity that relates to information. {Write your question, your name and | your address clearly, and inclose 2 cents | in coin or stamps for reply. Send to The Evening Star Information Bureau, | Frederic J. Haskin director, Washing- ton, D. C. Q. Is it true that during the time that Herbert Hoover was in London he voted in the British elections?>—T. H. S. . Mr. Hoover says that he did not vote in _any of the elections while he was in England. Q. What is the real name of Ted Lewis, the orchestra leader?—J. M. A. His real name is Freedman. Q. How old was Isadora Duncan whz]-\? she began to teach dancing?— A. In her autobiography she says that she had commenced to teach little tots when she was 6 years old. At the age of 10 she conducted dancing classes. Q. Ts the word “fasces” singuar or plural>—H. H. A. It is a Latin plural. is “fascis.” Q. Why is Missouri sometimes called the Bullion State?—W. P. A. The allusion is to Col. Thomas H. Benton, who, being an advocate of gold and silver currency in Congress, was called “Old Bullion Q. Were there fewer wars in the nineteenth century than there had been in the centuries before it?—J. R. A. Some nation in Europe has been at war on an average of every second year since 1450, but the nineteenth century had more than its share of these wars. They were also much more costly and destructive. Q. How are the appropriated expen- ditures of the United States Public Health Service divided>—N. L. G. A. The appropriated expenditures for the activities of the Public Health Serv- ice during the fiscal year 1927 amounted to $9,627,569.46, of which approximately $6.000,000 went to hospital and relief, a little less than $2,000,000 to foreign quarantin>, and approximately $2.000,- 000 to what might be termed strictly public health activities. Q. Were Roman numerals used in computation?—G. R. A. Roman numerals were little used in actual computation, the abacus an- swering this purpose. The singular Q. What were the ecarliest pure gold coins?—B. B. C. A. Probably the pure gold creseides of Lydia were. Croesus introduced a coinage of pure gold and silver more than 500 years before Christ, 10 silver pieces passing for one of gold. Q. What city is considered the center of the toy industry?—A. H. A. Nuremberg, Germany, is so called, its toys going to all parts of the world. Q. Why were the Olympic games thus named?—H. A. N. A. The ancient Olympic games were usually celebrated on the plains of Olympia and were sacred to the Olym- pian Zeus, who had a temple and a statue there. Q. How many times have the taxes been reduced under the last Republican administration>—W. S. D. A. Taxes have been reduced four times during the Republican admin- istration; that is, during the' last eight years. The reduction bills were passed November 23, 1921; June 2, 1924; Feb- ruary 26, 1926, and May 29, 1928. Q. Which of the larger cities was the first to adopt the commission form of government?—A. P. A. Omaha, Nebr., was the first of the larger cities to adopt it. Q. How many Americans made emer- gency parachute jumps from balloons during the World War?>—R. N. A. One hundred*and seventeen such jumps were made in the zone of opera- tions. Qf this number 59 were made from balloons which had been attacked and set on fire by enemy aircraft and 58 from ballons which had been at- tacked but did not catch fire. Q. Did pirate ships ever sail the Great Lakes>—B. A. R, A. On January 4 Capt. David H. Ross, first mate of the only pirate ship ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Q. How does the number of white physiclans compare with the number of negro physicians?—A. T. 8. A. There is but one negro physician for each 3.100 colored people, as com- pared with one white physician for every 550 of white population. Q. When did the Post Office Depart- ment operate in Vera Cruz’—R. B. P. A. The Post Office Department says that the United States. postal agency at Vera Cruz, Mexico, was in operation during the period from May 3 to No- vember 3, 1914. Q. M. Do wild animals go into caves?— ‘The Bureau of Biological Survey says: “We may state that detailed in- formation on this subject is not avai able. It is known, however, that bones of certain carnivorous animals have been found deep back in large caves. As to how they got there we have no knowledge. It is also known that cer- tain mammals, such as wolves, black bears and a few others, will enter caves to considerable distances even when they have oniy one entrance. So far as we know, however, none of the .cat tribe will enter such a cave for any distance, Wildeats will go into large caves, but, only such caves as have sev- eral éntrances, such as are found in lava formations.” . How many books are In the li- brary of Harvard University?—N. T. D. _A. There are 2,622,400 volumes in the library of this school. Q. What animal does broadtall fur come from?—R. P. Z. -A. Broadtail is defined as the “skin fr;m!) the Winter-killed lamb of Bokhari origin.” Qé \wé\mc are mock fried oysters?— ‘A. Mock fried oysters are prepared in the following manner: Cut green tomatoes in quarter-inch slices and drop into boiling water to which a little soda has been added. Drain and sprinkle with salt, pepper and sugar. Roll in crumbs, dip in milk and egg. roll again in crumbs and saute until brown. Q. Please give a biography of Pasteur, —E. V. C. . Lt A. Louis Pasteur, the celebrated French biological chemist and patholo- gist, was born_at Dole, Jura, Decem- ber 27, 1822. Devoting himself to the study of chemistry, he was graduated from Ecole Normale, Paris, in 1847; be- came professor of physics at Dijon, 1848: in the following year professor of chemistry at Strassburg. Later he carried on his researches at the Insti- tute Pasteur, Paris. One of the most important of the many results of Pasteur’s investigations is the well known treatment of hydrophobia, which he showed to be caused by the presence of specific bacteria in the blood, the spinal column of the infected animal serving as a culture medium. ganst;.&xgrsdled near St. Cloud, September Q. TIs there any difference between 100 pounds and 4 hundredweight? —E. N. M. A. In the United States a hundred- weight is 100 pounds. In England however, a hundredweight is 112 pounds. The metric hundredweight is 110.23 pounds. Q.«When a tiger and a lion fight each otper, which wins?—J. McC. A. Authorities differ as to the fight- ing qualities of a tiger and a lion. How- ever, records show that in more in- stances, when the two animals fight, the tiger is the victor. Q. Where is the original of “Samuel Pepys”?—H. R. A. Six of the original volumes are the property of Magdalene College, Cambridge. They are displayed to a liml!ted number of visitors upon re- quest. Q. What will take the white scum off a brick wall>—H. H. F. A. The Bureau of Standards says that the efflorescence, or white-looking scum, on brickwork is probably com- posed of calcium sulphate, together with some calcium carbonate. The best known method of removing this scum is to wash it with a 10 per cent (by volume) solution of muriatic acid, fol- lowed with a washing with warm water to remove the acid solution. This should be done on a warm, dry day, when the acid solution and wash water will evaporate rather than penetrate into the structure and it will probably that ever sailed the Great Lakes, died in Minneapolis. He was 83 years of age. be necessary to repeat this procedure several times. A place in the highest rank among brave explorers and adventurers of all time is accorded by the American press to Roald Amundsen, whose death in the Arctic is accepted as fact since the finding of wreckage from the plane in which he started to the rescue of the Nobile expedition. “A brave ending,” says the Savannah Morning News. “Such men do not care a lot about dying in their beds. To fall gloriously from the Arctic sky when on a rescue mission and to end quickly amid the sort of scenes he had learned to love, as well as to yespect for their terror, such was not an unfitting end for this explorer.” The Youngstown Vindicator adds that “he faced death as he faced life and unknown waters, and is one more of the world’s great company that gave their lives to dis- covery that is often made only through courage, privation and suffering.” “Few men,” according to the Louis- ville Courier-Journal, “know the wilder- ness of the North and South as he, and none was more at home in the Arctic waste. The veteran explorer loved ad- venture and thrived on hardship, As a boy in his teens he began the career that led to the discovery of the South Pole and several visits to the top of the world.” The Bay City Daily Times be- lieves that “Amundsen in death will be a far greater figure than Amundsen in life, and it is certain that his name will occupy a most prominent place in history.” That paper also says that “it seemed that he loved the frozen wastes and that he desired to spend his last moments there.” * Kk ok % “Greatest of explorers, hero in death as he was in life,” is the tribute of the| Passalc: Daily Herald, as it visions “a gallant company of high-hearted adven- turers with whom he has a place in the Valhalla of the Vikings—Sir John} Franklin, Admiral Robert Peary, Gen.| A. W. Greely, Capt. Robert Francis Scott and those other brave souls who sought the North and South Poles. Who will say that among them there | is one that is greater than he?” asks/ the Herald. % “It was a heroic undertaking in which Amundsen and his men in the seaplane | with him were engaged,” declares the| Chattanooga Times, “and the circum- stances under which they died—on a mission of mercy—lend a glory to their deaths. For Amundsen the end was particularly fitting, since it came while he was engaged in trying to rescue one with whom he had quarreled.” And the Butte Miner remarks: “If the multi- tude of men never profit by the dis-| coveries and tesearches of -Amundsen, | they still will benefit immeasurably | from the common knowledge of his their first real round of the war has stirred the enthusiasm of all the allied nations. The Germans expected an attack, but figured it would be at least ten days before the Americans could be ready. * * * All told, the Ameri- cans captured 155 square miles of ter- ritory in 36 hours of fighting. * * * Two hundred and fifty-six names on casualty list given out today—23 killed in action, 155 wounded and 65 missing. character, which was one of generosity even unto death, of fearlessness and determination that recognized no ob- 'High Rank Among the Bravest Given Amundsen by Americans of his monument. We are told that one of the finest things for man to do is to lay down his life for a friend. How much more magnificent it was for Amundsen to perish in the attempt to save a man he disliked, probably despised.” “More than any other man, he came to know the thrill of the vast polar solitudes,” states the Dallas Journal, while the San Antonio Express recall “Amundsen had been with Nobile the Norge when that dirigible was piloted from Spitzbergen to Alaska—by way of the North Pole—in May, 1926. After the voyage a controversy arose between them, and they were not on good terms when the Italia was forced down near Spitzbergen last May. The disaster to the airship; which was re- turning from a flight to the North Pole, removed all discord from Amundsen’'s mind. His only thought was how he best could help rescue Nobile and the others marooned on the ice floes.” * 0% “The fate of Amundsen has engaged the sympathy and sorrow of all who love heroic men and courageous deeds,” avers the Los Angeles Express, h the thought that “death might well have aimed at a less brightly shining mark ;h?n.the gallant discoverer of the South ole.” : The Manchester Union cannot agree that the tragedy was an appropriate last chapter in the explorer's story. “There is a disappointment, a bitter- ness, a certain cosmic insult in the manner of the death of Amundsen,” says that paper. “Technically. there is no difference between his destruction by the elements and that of any one else associated with the tragic inci- dents of the Italia. But it seems alto- gether unfitting that this son of the Vikings, who had roamed the seas from pole to pole, facing what to others had been insuperable difficulties, should be suddenly swept into oblivion in the gap between Norway and the Spitzbergen Islands. Like the leader of the Light Brigade at Balaklava, who was killed by a fall from his horse while on a morning ride along the smooth, hedge- lined roads of England, this veteran of a hundred Arctic storms met his death almost off his own shore.” His death, to the Akron Beacon- Journal, “emphasizes anew the tragedy that has stalked the rather vainglorious excursion of Gen. Nobile to the Pole. ‘The fatalities in rescue parties was greater than that of the original ex- cursion. For the future there should be fewer of these rash adventures.” “Great as his achievements were,” concludes the Kalamazoo Gazette, “Amundsen deserves equal honor in his- tory for his fine character as a man. Next to courage, his dominating trait was modesty. Even in the bitter quar- stacle or hardship too great to be over- come.” “The embodiment of Norse hnrdl-‘ ness,” says the New York Sun, “sleeps| forever in the Arctic. The conqueror of the South Pole and the Northwest Passage h: von his place in Valhalla. This last ad¥enture is the splendid cap rel aroused by Nobile regarding the division of credit for the success of the Norge expedition Amundsen did not at- tempt to speak for himself until he had been provoked to the extreme. When he finally did rise in his own defense his manner was characteristically mild, his words quict and dignified.”