Evening Star Newspaper, October 6, 1928, Page 6

THE EVENING — Wk Suulley Moraing Edition. "WASHINGTON, D. C. SATURDAY......October 6, 1928 THEODORE W. NOYES. .., Editor The Evening Star Ne per Company "8 pusiness Ofice 11th St. and Pennay) New York Office: 110 gt Bty Ko Enetand e, ilding. R s T Rate by Carrier Within the City. The Brentne Star . - .45¢ per month s Evenins and Sunday Star cegen ¢ Sundays) . 60c per month e Evening and Sunday Star .~hen § Sundavs) o The Sunday Star as Collection made at'the end SEerymar be aeni 2 by mall or ala Rate by Mall—Payable in Advance. land and Virginia. 1 yr. 81000 1 mo. 8¢ 1 yr. $6.00: 1 mo. Goe 1510 $400: 1 mo. 4 5 . ach manth. telenhon All Other States and Canada. ad Sunday..l ¥r.$12.00 \‘n-nJll\l\ Paiy onlx L1 yr. s800: 1 mo unday only \ll.. 1 ¥r, 35.00; 1 mo. S0¢ Member of the Associated Press. | The Associated Press is «xclusively entitled | to the or republication of all 1 ews ais- tches credited to it or not otherwise cred- FRc I his paper and also the .ocal rews published herein. All rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved L= Communism in America. Few evidences of subversivé prop- aganda in the United States compate 1n gravity with the startling report of Communist agitation, which has re- cently come into possession of the De- partment of State. It is a confidential document issued by the Third Interna- tionale, the revolution-sowing branch of the Russian Soviet government, which specializes in spreading the doc- | trine of Bolshevism throughout the | “capitalistic” world. Hitherto red activities in this country have been confined to inciting the ) “proletariat” to undermine the existing political order and to indulgence in ex- cesses of various stripes in connection with labor disputes. In more recent times, as is now disclosed by the Third | Internationale’s report, it has, in addi- tion to its activities among the Amer- ican civilian element, invaded the mili- tary and naval establishments with de- liberately seditious agitation. Among the Marines in Nicaragua, among the Marines and soldiers en route and in China, and even among the Marines and sailors in navy yards in the United States, the Communists gloat that they have carried on their per- nicious work. The report tells of “mass rheetings” organized in the neighbor- hood of navy yards and of co-operation with the American “Kuomintang,” an alleged branch of the Chinese National- 1st movement. ‘The Third Internationale boasts brazenly that “it is the first time in the | history of the world” that the Com- munist crusade has ever been conducted within the ranks of a country’s armed forces. There is no claim by the reds that their revolutionary zeal has pro- duced results among the members of Uncle Sam’s defensive establishment, but it will come as a disquieting sur- prise to the Nation that even the ef- fort has been made on so extensive and unabashed a scale. ‘The United States Government, as. Secretary Kellogg has more than once taken occasion to point out, is not un- aware of the damnable doctrine which Communist Russia is sedulously preach- ing within our territory. Mr. Kellogg, aiso has explained that, if there were, no other reasons for withholding the | boen of American, diplofhatic recogni- tion from the Soviet, its fllegal and in- sidious maneuvers, as now glaringly re- vealed, would of themselves demon- strate the impossibility of extending to Moscow the hand of friendship and good will which Washington stands ready to-offer to decent, law-abiding | peoples everywhere. Senator Borah, chairman of the Sen- até committee on foreign relations, is quated as suggesting that Russia’s ad- herence to the Kellogg treaty for the outlawry of war constitutes de facto recognition of the Soviet government. It will be interesting to know what the distinguished Idahoan thinks of the designs which the Moscow Communists have upon a vital branch of the Gov- emnment of which he is so distinguished & member. —_———————— ‘However complimentary the intention, comparison of Al Smith's oratory to that of the late W. J. Bryan is not expected to lead the New York man to desert the sidewalks for the jungle and seek final intellectual solace in attack- ing the theory of evolution. Parmers still lay claim to important Influence. - ‘They inspire some of the Nation's best oratory. e Easy Guns, Easy Crimes. Within a short time Washington has been the scene of several shocking crimes of passion. Men and women have been wounded and some slain by pistol ‘wielders who, imagining or magnifying grievances, have flamed in murderous rage. They have had no difficulty what- ever in getting weapons for these at- tacks. Any one with a few dollars can purchase a déadly weapon without delay or embarrassment or danger of immedi- ate detection. There is no statutory law against their purchasing of these weap- ons nor against the selling of them to any person who gives a name and an mddress. There is a Federal law against the sending of such weapons by mail save under certain regulations of regis- &y, but it is ineffective when the local market, so to speak, is wide open for personal a»sament. What Washington needs, as do all other communities, is a law which for- bids the sale of deadly weapons to per- sons who are not licensed by public au- thorities to possess them. It needs a re- striction upon a trafic which, now vir- tually unimpeded, contributes to the crime records of the Capital. If the principals in these recent shoot- fIng cases in this city had heen com- pelled before getting their guns to go before a magistrate or some other desig- nated official and obtain permits based wpon & showing of need, together with $ <emonstration of good character, a process requiring a little lapse of time, probably some of these tragedies would have been averted. It is true that in some of these instances the guns may have been obtained some time before. But in most of these cases of jealousy system two or three days would elapse between application and purchase, giv- ing time for reflection and the passing of the deadly impulse. As the law now runs the vendors of deadly weapons are required only to take names and addresses, which often are false, and, having done so, they are prosecuted or punished. Under the per- mit-to-buy system, which has been pro- posed for Washington for & good many years without effect, the vendor would be subject to penalty for selling to a person without a license to buy. Such & system would not interfere with legiii- mate trade. It would interfere, however, with trade in the interest of crime. There should be no hesitation in the choice of evils in this matter. The Capi- tal should be given the benefit of such an effective measure &t the next session of Congress. Victorious Cripples. For a bunch of cripples the New York Américan League team is doing pretty well in the world series thus fer. Tak- ing the field with their team hard hit by iliness and injuries, two of their pitch- ers disabled, their center fielder out of the running, their second baseman only Jjust able to play after a hard bout with muscle stiffening, the Yankees have managed to win the first two games of the classic contest, of which they need only four to take the championship. It cannot be maintained that the fact of their playing on their own home field made for these two victories. The box scores give evidence to the contrary. For the Yankee pitchers were unds- niably superior. Before them the famed ' St. Louis batters went down like wheat before the reaper. With sixty-one men at bat in the two games only seven hits were made, giving a batting average of a paltry “.115,” while the Yankee club- swingers, sixty of whom went to bat, rapped out fifteen hits, for a percentage of “.250." Fourteen of the Cardinals were struck out by the New York pitch- ers, while only five of the Yankees were being “fanned.” Those figures tell the story, which was not differentiated by the fielding statistics. Each team has made two errors, the percentage of each side being “.971,” which shows that the defensive work on the two sides has been on a parity. Thus the series so far verifies the expectation of the base ball world on the score of the “batting form” of the two teams. The Yankees are unmistakably one of the strongest aggregations of club swingers the national game has ever known. Its “murderers’ row,” compris- ing Ruth, Gehrig and Meusel, is one 0 make the heart of any pitcher quake. Tomorrow, on & different field, the teams will join again in battle. Perhaps the Cardinal pitcher will be the master of the situation, even as Hoyt and Pip- gras have controlled in New York. Base ball takes strange turns, just as it has already taken one in the first two games in the sudden rejuvenation of the crip- pled Yankees. But the stimulation of two successive victories, in a short series, is not to be questioned. It will call for the stoutest resolution and the most skillful twirling to stem the tide that has thus far set in favor of the sup- posedly assured victims of the National League's champions. Feminine Pioneers. That women are daily becoming more efficient in the fields heretofore occupied exclusively by men was dem- onstrated recently in England when Lady Heath, Britain's foremost femi- nine pilot, took her tiny single-seater airplane up to a record-breaking alti- tude of more than twenty-four thousand feet, and on landing at Croydon, imme- diately after this achievement, casually remarked that she “might have gone higher, but that it was entirely too nippy in the upper regions.” Not only did Lady Heath establish a world record for a light plane, but she reached the high- est level ever attained by a woman fiyer. With women driving boats at high speed on the water, a delicate art, and ‘women piloting automobiles on trips of great length, the world is not surprised in the least at their invasion of the fleld of aviation. Although woman fundamentally is not as mechanically inclined as man, a large percentagé of them have overcome this handicap to bécome almost as efficient as their male competitors, and each one of these feminifie pioneers should receive the praise that they deserve. ————t— Machines manufactured by rival free of responsibility and cannot be o STAR | conditions. tUnder the permit-to-buy | port that has come of tnis encounter: Her unostentatious | into life and persisted in know- ing_how much money she makes. Mrs. McPherson, whose ce in England has met with hostility in some church; arters, parried the intimate questions with witticisms. The reporters had so heavily piled on her sitting room table that it finally crashed. It must be submitted that no British visitor to this country has ever had quite such an experience. At all events, the American journalists have never broken the furniture in their zeal for | news. e The Automobile Speed Record. Speed and more speed is to be the slogan of the forthcoming trip to the United States of Maj, H. O. D. Segrave, who once held the honor of having driven an automobile faster than any other human. It is to recapture this title that the daring Briton is return- ing to this country. On this trip, how- ever, Maj. Segrave will not confine his attention solely to terra firma, but will go after the boat record of ninety-one knots held by George Wood of the fa- mous Wood Brothers of Detroit. On the ship with the major will be a one- thousand-horsepower automobile, with an estimated speed of two hundred and sixty miles an hour, and a slim racing boat, said to be capable of better than ninety-five knots. ‘The new Segrave automobile creation incorporates several novel features. One of the great difficulties of high-speed driving is that of steering. Objects ap- proach so fast that the operator finds it almost impossible to maintain a straight course, To solve this problem Maj. Segrave has had his car equipped with telescopic sights like a rifie, and it will be steered in much the same way as a bullet is directed to a target. Two immense targets are to be erected on Daytona Beach, where the test will be held, and Maj. Segrave at the begin- ning of a run will sight his telescope on the bull's-eye at the other end of the course and strive o keep his plung- ing monster headed directly for jt. The world's record is now held by Ray Keech at two hundred and seven miles an hour. It was in trying to ex- ceed this mark that Frank Lockhart was killed. This daring driver, just be- fore the upsetting of his car, was said to have reached the unprecedented speed of two hundred and twenty-five miles an hour. The automobile which carried him to his death was conceded to be one of the finest pieces of motor mechanism ever put on wheels. The success or failure of Maj. Se- grave’s quest rests with the Fates. The laws of nature stubbornly resist efforts of man to raise the maximum of sur- face speed. At any event, this fast- moving world will be interested in the Britisher's attempt, and, whatever the result, science will gain in the lessons of friction, wind resistance and human endurance in the tests soon to begin. —ate—. Both parties may claim a share in prosperity because of the stimulus they have given the great industry of cam- paign button manufacture. ———————— Lindbergh will vote for Herbert Hoover. If every admirer of the intrepid aviator follows his lead, the majority will be overwhelming. ————— Any nervous person who sits through an explosive war pageant will become & firm convert to the idea of universal peace. ————— There is not much peace of mind for the citizen who tries to guess the political situation and the stock market both at once. g A “whispering campaign” might not be so bad if people could be persuaded to think politics instead of talking it. PO T ST SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON, Animals Must Live. The Donkey and Elephant give a show, The same they have given since long, long ago. Through jazzy gyrations the Donkey is led. The Elephant frequently stands on his head. The Tiger, the Camel and likewise the Goat Applaud, as the big demonstration they note. The spectators wait, with a manner great motor industries often collide. Despite alignments of eminent - automobile authorities, there is no reason to suspect that a new form of mechanical contro- versy in politics has been invented. ——————t—— Controversies arise in base ball, but the good old rule of conduct applies in the national sport: Play the game! S ) British Pressmen Quiz Aimee. European travelers of note coming to this country have often complained of the persistence and enterprise of the “gentlemen of the press” who have greeted them on their arrival and asked them innumerable questions about themselves and their errands, their tastes and opinions—especially their opinions of America—and have given them no respite until they have made columns of copy for their newspapers. This manifestation of eagerness to know everything possible about the country’s guests has been often derided in the British press. Now it would appear that as a matter of fact British jour- nalists and news gatherers are by no means deficlent in curiosity or persist- ence whenever a personage of impor- tance or prominence from this side of the Atlantic turns up over there. A case in point is that of Mrs. Aimee McPherson, the American evangelist, who is just now on a tour overseas. She went first to France, where she “saw the sights” of Paris and, it is said, gathered material for her work of sal- vation. Then she went to London and for & little time evaded detection by the press. As a matter of fact there was some question about her being ad- mitted to British territory, but that was settled in her favor, and she found refuge in one of the larger hotels in London and barred herself effectively against journalistic invasion. Thurs- day she granted her first interview to the London newspaper men preliminary the impulse to kill is quickly formed and quickly executed. It takes only an hour ! the British capital Sunday night. The|some day we kin forget 'bout war an' to opening her evangelical campaign in @r 80 to get the gun under the présent following is a paragraph from the re- fi most wise, . To learn which, at last, is awarded the prize. The Donkey and Elephant hasten with glee To offer gymnastics and brisk repartee. And after the show they’ll be patiently led In docile restraint, as they wait to be fed. Question of the Hour. “How did you get into politics?” “I don't remember,” answered Sena- tor Sorghum. “The question now ab- sorbing my attention is how I am go- ing to stay in.” Time's Obsolescence. ‘We'll raise a lofty shout Six months from now, And ask, in genial doubt, “What was the row?"” Jud Tunkins says a man who wants to talk all the time never finds ideas enough to keep up with his words. Adserting a Privilege. “For whom are you going to vote?” “Why should I make an announce- ment?” rejoined Miss Cayenne. “It is always a woman's privilege to be fickle.” “Few men,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “are so idealistic as to study public benefit at the risk of private fortune.” New Piracy. If Cap'n Kidd these times could see, How deeply humbled he would be! He'd think an anclent pirate mild, No worse than just a naughty child. He would declare, “In this great day, Rum running is my favorite play. Next as a Hi-jack Il appear: And then I'll be a Racketeer!” “It looks like we jes' gotta have fire- works,” sald Uncle Eben. “I hopes ¥ cHARLES Some day soon we propose to read Victor Hugo's “Les Miserables.” No doubt we have missed something, but then. we have never read Anita Loos' “Gentlemen Prefer . Blondes,” either. No one can have read everything. Let those who would sneer at us for being so remiss recall their own read- ing deficiencies and dry up. Think what a treat we have in store in the book that has been called the greatest story in world literature. Perhaps we have been saving “Les Miserables,” much as a greedy child keeps the biggest piece of candy until last. The danger one runs, with such clas- sics, is in being disappointed through a surfeit of praise in advance. There is something about the human mind which resents laudatory phrases, whether it be in relation to men, wom- en, books, plays, music. Visitors to Washington who have been told what a wonderful building the Library of Congress is have been known to look at it critically, and then declare, “Oh, I don’t think it is so much.” * ok K K No one can read everything. No one would want to, if he could. It is well to always have something in reserve. Would he not be the most unhappy booklover in the world who had read everything, and who therefore had to depend upon the new books? He who listens to the voice of his own preference, his reading conscience, as it were, will find many of the world's greatest books still waiting for him. How many reading here, for instance, have read Dante’s “Divine Comedy"? There is a poem that is _insistently called by many critics the finest thing of its kind in any language. Well, all we can say for Dante, in all honesty, is that we do not care for him. To us the “Divine Comedy” is a hope- less plece of reading. We have tried it many times, in va- rious translations, including both verse and prose. The last time we beat in vain against the sides of this mountain was several years ago, when we picked up at a book sale a three-volume edi- tion done in the original form of verse. Dante’s catalogue of the miseries of Hell left us very, very tired. Time and space had divided us hopelessly from any interest in Dante’s enemies and the petty Italian politicians he flays. ‘We have been able to find nothing either of interest or inspiration in the “Divine Comedy.” No doubt this is our misfortune, yet it is good to know that many persons feel the same way about it. On the other hand, there are many who like or profess to like it, and with' them no one would quarrél. ‘That is the beauty of books, at least one of the good things about them! What is one man's meat is another man’s poison, as the homely old maxim had it, since no one can be attracted by everything. Life and the human mind are too widespread. This great and glorious sphere on which we all live has space and to spare for all books, all music, all interests, varying from religion to sports, from meditation to a base hit. The very variety precludes fixity. * kX X In the great sea of books there are no doubt as good fish as have ever been caught. Not only is this true of undiscovered things, but particularly true in relation to every reader. ‘The world of reading is a great coun- try into which every reader advances ‘E. TRACEWELL, he is led carefully along the path, with the tacit understanding on the part of all that later he must make his own 8y, ~ ‘Here, my-Boy,” says the teacher, “are some 6f the world’s great treasures. ‘They &f¢ great, mot because I say so, but ise men in great numbers have fourid: them 1Q be s0.” If hs is & wise teacher, he will add, “If you do not find them so, then. they are not_ far yonfl Go on to something else. ! . would: fix theé boundaries,-and say, in ;fle!g! ‘So far shall you go, and no arthery So the good mothers of yesteryear did when- they frowned upon the so-called “dinie. novel.” Now there was abso- lutely ‘nothing obnoxious about those stories. - Parents easily tolerated the same sort of thing in fancy dress. A book of “adventure which had Robert Louis Stevenson's name on it, and came in cloth for $1.50 a copy, was all right, but a clean story about Frank Merri- weéll and how he saved the ball game for good old Yale in the ninth was thought to be the work of a literary devil. Boys were forced to go to all sorts of trouble to follow the honest, essentially manly adventures of the renowned Frank. Surely no boy would hide a book in a geography unless it were a mighty good story. There is not a bit of fun in reading inside a clumsy geog- raphy! * K kK No matter how clear a track a reader has, circumstances, both physical and mental, will conspire to bring certain authors within his reading scope, and to Puh others far off. Maybe this life-long iking for Mark Twain depends uj nothing more than the fact that a kind- ly neighbor loaned him coples of “Tom Sawyer” and “Tom Sawyer Abroad.” No doubt there are readers here who might confess that they have never read either cne. It is nothing to be ashamed of not to have read Mark Twain. Rather It is a wonderful thing to feel that one has so much sheer pleasure in store for him! That is the way to look at it. Literary snobbery is deplorable. If any one insinuates that you ought to be ashamed of yourself for not having read a certain book, tell him in polite lan- guage to go to the place that all such snobs ought to go to. No one can read everything. One ‘who has read all of Guy de Maupassant might well wish that he had never read him, just for the sheer delight of ex- pectation. Would not the Dickens lover give worlds to have 30 new stories by that master discovered in some old musty closet in England? We know a man who put off to his old age the reading of the human comedy as set forth by Balzac. At the close of his life, with all his experience to settle him, he sat down at his ease to read about life as Balzac knew it. Now he was competent to read the great }-‘r’elnch master, and to enjoy him to the ull. - 8o, one may believe, great books un- read have been waiting for us, it makes no difference how long, or because of what reason. If they are good books, we shall get around to them, and the meeting will be a happy one. time nor space nor circumstances can forever divide the booklover from his own books, from those particular books which were written by similar hearts and minds. ‘Such books are the triie treasures, and the fact that many of them still wait for us is inspiring. In books, as in life, it is better, as Steven- son said, to travel hopefully than to arrive. To us “Les Miserables” is the in the true ploneering spirit. Under the guidance of parents and teachers type of this hopeful traveling. Maybe we won't read it, after all! The suggestion that Leopold and Loeb, Chicago murderers, might be freed on parole within a few years because of a technical error in their commitment papers aroused emphatic protests throughout the country. Even the pos< sibility of such -a development is dis- cussed with indignation, notwithstand- ing assurances from officials and from the lawyer who defended the prisoners that there is no chance of paroles be- ing granted. “If crime is in the ascendancy in the Nation, and it obviously is,” in the opinion of the Kansas City Post, “no factor has contributed more to such condition than mollycoddle methods that have so tempered justice with mercy that the original purpose and in- tent of punitive law have been lost sight of in a wave of maudlin sympathy with criminals. That Loeb and Leopold are reported as pampered pets in Joliet Penitentiary is merely a matter of prison control, but that they should be released at any time to prey, again upon their less fortunate fellows would confirm . the oft-heard suspicion that justice peeps through her blindfold every now and then in dealing with certain classes of criminals.” “The State’s attorney has remi- ":d the pardon board,” says the _'ort Wayne News-Sentinel, “that 1> one will force it to release these young beasts who have been made pampered pets at Joliet. Let us hope that the ublic will not ever permit their re- ease. If they had been sentenced to death, as they should have been, there would not be today any question as to the extension of clemency.” * K K K ‘The Portsmouth Daily Times de- clares that “if the papers in this case are so worded that the gnds of justice are defeated and the order of the court made a mockery, then it was not due to any mistake, but to something far imore sinister and something that should call for instant and drastic investiga- tion.” The Times refuses to believe “that in a case of this importance, handled by men of the highest skill in legal technicalities and of long experi- ence, there should be a mistake of such a stupid character.” . 5 Considering the posslhlmf' that the two youths may be “set at large again when but 10 years of an intended life term shall have been served by them,” the Newark Evening News comments: “It neither appears nor matters whether' that error was one of intention or of oversight. In the eyes of straitjacketed law and musty jurisprudence it of greater importance than guilt of a crime which shocked the Nation and gave rise to a series of related crimes engendered in other distorted if some- times cultivated minds. Isn't it mon- strous?” “Since they were saved from the noose after one of the most cold- blooded, brazen, brutal and wanton murders ever committed,” remarks the New Orleans Morning Tribune, “any- thing may happen. With most of our courts the criminals get a high per- centage of the ‘breaks’ And in Chi- cago, if the crime be sufficiently revolting and brutal, they seem to get more, Therefore no one must be sur- prised if Leopold and Loeb yet come clear after serving six or eight years.” * K K X ‘The Ann Arbor Daily News, however, holds that “to presuppose that a request for a pardon in this particular case would automatically produce one is to give- the pardon board no credit for realizing its responsibilities to the State. Then, the intention of the judge when he sentenced the youthful butchers to Frlwn is part of the record, and the intention was for ‘life, without reser- vations. * * * Incidentally, some in- vestl:allon as to why they were 'pam- pered pets’ of a supposedly penal insti- tution might not be out of order.” as a substitute for the death penalty,” according to the Aberdeen Dally. World, “is that it does not make final disposi~ tion of the case and is an Inadequate concentsate on de Fourth o' July.” protection for society, because 1t “does not mean what it pretends to mean. Press Ireful Over Possibility Of Paroling Leopold and Loeb It is, for instance. almost a moral cer- teinty that the day will ‘come whén Leopold and Loeb, atrocious murderers, will be freed. They are of no value to society ‘and, ‘liberated, they will he- come a direct menace.” The Beloit Daily News states that “their release, after even their own counsel argued for shutting them up for the duration of their natural lives, would mark an- other’ travesty and miscarriage of jus- tice, more glaring than a mushy jury's manumission of Remus in Ohlo.” bk e el “It was a fravesty on justice to save these. fwo. ‘It will be another travesty to let them out in six years or sixty. The ‘escapé of Remus and of Leopold and Loeb shames American justice,” says the ‘Albany Evening News, While the Salina Journal observes: “Events of recent occurrence have attested the terrible effect of the crime of these youths, and of Hickman, the California fiend, who is still comfortably settled in jail. Confessions in other hideous crimes have revealed .that Loeb, Leo- mlg”fid Hickman were the inspira- “What has,the error to do with the facts’ in‘one of the Nation's most ab- horrent murders?” asks the Portland, Oreg., Jt¢ . ,“What has the error to do with whaq killed little Bobby Franks and how? What has the error to do with the punishment which the facts demand? Enough of such legal quirks and the consequent miscarriages of Jjustice and there would be no respect for law and courts anywhere in the country, and when that time comes America will revert from the civilized to the barbarian.” “Any move to release the ‘perfect murderers’ from Jollet prison,” warns the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, ‘would produce a tempest of fury in the present state of the public mind. But will' the public mind always re- main the same, after the detalls of this atroclous crime have become blurred by the years? * * * The danger is that the watchdog may grow old and toothless and his patience will wear out.” “The trouble with life imprisonment UNITED STATES IN WORLD WAR Ten Years Ago Today. American forces hold their ground in fighting west of the Meuse that is char- acterized as perhaps the bitterest they have yet seen. It is grueling, soul- trying fighting, with the heroics and sensationalism -taken out. * *'* The best ' German troops have been hurled | without success ‘against our lines, and the enemy have a machine gun for every 5 [yards of their line. The short front between the Argonne and the Meuse is the one most vital to the whole line, as an adyance by the Americans to any great depth will imperil the whole east wing of the German sallent stretching from the sea to the Moselle iver. * * * French forces on the Champagne front sweep the Germans back. French also smash in the salient south of the Suippe and push oiward with the enemy in wild flign, vurning vilages as they go. * * * Germany also sends an appeal for peace, but pend- ing its receipt all signs point to a prompt rejection by President Wilson. * * * French deride new peace move as a trick of the enemy to mitigate defeat. Allied soldiers’ enthusiasm to finish the war is redoubled by evidence of weak- ess shown in the enemy's appeal. casualties given out today—101 killed in action, 41 missing and 236 severely wounded. ———— e For Winter's Supply. Tri: the Iguisville Times. The pienic season having ended, ants :‘qurfimyhly hiking back to the | ing and drinking filled the intervals of Neither is * * Four hundred and alxtfiwo h struched Ta’ tha wet. of saruadors by ruct art of eml Who martied Dragouting, brother of (e marr! g er of Tsar Miloutine. This art of the needle za persisted in Serbia to the present y'and is riehly evidenced in the cos- tumes of the national dress, still worn imong the country and village people and on festal occasions among the up- per classes. A typical costume is of white wool, embroidered in black or dark blue, worn with an apron of bright color, usually red. In “The Stricken Land; Serbia as We Saw It,” by Alice and Claude Askew, a Serbian wedding in a well-to-do family is described. On such an occasion all the heirloom cos- tumes and jewelry of the family are brought out of solid old chests and displayed on the persons of the proud possessors, The bride of this particular wedding, 16 and very shy, was dressed in white brocade, with a cloak of pale yellow, brocade edged with brown fur, and the universal vell and orange blos- soms. The mothers of bride and groom wore, respectively, dresses of heavy yel- low and crimson satin, richly embroid- ered aprons and kerchiefs, and quanti- ties of old jewelry. A feast followed the wedding, then dancing on the green outside the gray church, with a gypsy band to furnish gay music. More eat- the dance, chiefly of hot roast lamb and wine. * K Kk The Serbian festival dance is a pic- turesque affair. It is called the “kolo,” and is danced more frequently among the village people, but is not altogether despised by higher society. There are no chosen partners, but all join hands and participants come and go as they choose. The steps are simple, slow and rhythmic—two to the right and one to the left, or the reverse. There is always slow, steady movement onward, to one side or the other. The leader makes variations, odd turnings and twistings, so that the effect of the whole is un- dulating, almost serpentine. The gypsy musicians pour forth wild music, to which the danees sway. The varegated, tatterdemalion garments of the gypsies and the heavily embroidered national costumes of the dancers make a bril- liant spectgcle. It is to be hoped that the national costumes of Serbia will not, as Is the case in so many other coun- tries of the Near and Far East, grad- ually disappear in favor of the conven- tionalized and not always artistic garb dictated by the fashion makers of Paris and New York. The purchase of peasant heirloom costumes by foreign tourists, for amateur stage property rooms or for hobby collections, is a menace to the continuance of the na- tlonal dress. Of course, just as trav- elers at least occasionally buy Egyptian scarabs at the tombs of the kings and Athenian lamps on the opolis which have been made in modern German fac- tories, so many a tourist buys at some village fair a hastily embroidered mod- ern garment, aged by artificial means, and brings it home as a Serbian heirloom. * K K K ‘The beginnings of many medical practices, as well as the explosions of many medical myths, are told, . and argued when necessary, in “The Human Body,” by Logan:Clendening, M. D. It in the first place a comprehensive book on physiology and anatomy, but after that it is much more. There are rules of health, not at all dogmatic, considerable information about the com- monest diseases and how to detect them early, and many interesting facts about |: the history of medicine. The admin- istration of the first anesthetic and the first vaccination are described. Dr. Clendening also tells us that “the span of life of any individual is largely de- termined, barring accidents, at the mo- ment when he starts off,” and “an im- partial examination of all the means yet proposed to prevent early death or lengthen life leaves me with the con- viction that nothing anybody does to himself after he is born makes more than a few hours’ difference at the most.” An odd conclusion for a doctor! Is it fatalism or a complete belief in ‘The answers to questions printed here each day are specimens picked from the mass of inquiries handled by our great information bureau maintained in Washington, D. C. This valuable service is for the free use of the public. Ask any. question of fact you may want to know and you will get an immediate reply. Write plainly, inclose 2 cents in coin or stamps for return postage, and address The Evening Star Ihfor- mation Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. C. Q. When was the seal of the United States adopted?—T. L. C. A. The seal of the United States was decid2d upon, June 20, 1782, | Q. Is the Labrador Current, which brings down the icebergs, of any benefit to this country?—M. R. A. The National Geographic Maga- zine says that while it is a danger car- rier, it does teem with marine life, af- fording breeding and feeding grounds for our best food fish. Q. What holidays are observed in Hawvaili?—A. R. 8. A. New Year, Washington's birthday, Good Friday, Decoration day, Kame- hameha day, American anniversary (July 4), Labor day, Regatta day, Armistice day, Thanksgiving .day and Christmas are the Hawalian holldays. All except Good Friday and Thanks- giving are established by Jaw. Q. What is the bird that flies over the Pacific Ocean that does not seem to move its wings?—A. G. H. A. The Blological Survey says that the habit of moving the wings only occasionally is a characteristic of gulls and albatrosses. bird you describe is one of the alba- trosses. Q. What is the deepest river in the United States and in the World?>— O. P. J. A. As far 2s has been ascertained, the Mississippi River is the deepest river in this country. The deepest point of this river is “at New Orleans. The Amazon River is the deepest river in the world. Q. What occasioned the famous Rum, Romanism and Rebellion” agitation of | the 1884 campaign?—J. H. A. The 1884 campaign was one char- acterized with bitter personalities. Grover Cleveland and James G. Blaine were the standard bearers of the Demo- cratic and Republican parties. Upon Blaine’s return to New York City from a speaking tour, a large party of clergy- men waited upon him at the Fifth Ave- nue Hotel to assure him of their sup- port. Rev. Samuel D. Burchard, the spokesman, toward the end of his gen- erally temperate address, said that the Democratic party was the party of rum, Romanism and rebellion. Blaine, who was not a Catholic, was never able to convince the voters that the sentiment was not his own. It is believed that the phrase alienated enough Republican Catholic voters in New York State alone to turn the national election, which hinged upon the electoral vate of New York. Q. Why are Ambassadors to England sometimes called “Ambassadors to the Court of St. James”?—E. D. A. The St. James Palace was for- merly_the Royal Palace of Great Brit- ain, From this fact arose the designa- tion of Ambassadors to Great Britain as “Ambassadors to .the . Court of St. James.” Q. What proportion of the corn that On the same day that the United ‘States of America will vote upon the election for the presidency, Nicar: under the armed protection. of United States Marines, will also elect a pre dent. Then will' follow the' question as hetedity? 3 * K K K : imbibly the most dramatic and pic- tufesque man in recent American poli- tics-was m Jennings ' notincedy {M champjoned and ridt= culed, he held unabashed the ceriter of the public spotlight for 30 years. Always during his lifetime he was news and front.page news. Whenever his name appeared one-third of the Nation | said, “He Is a menace!” another third crief, “He is a prophet!” and the re- mainder shouted, “Here is a good show!” It is the coml of these points of view that makes J. C. Long’s “Bryan, the Great Commoner,” such an entertaining biography. The book is meither an attack nor a defense, for Mr. Long is one of those rare biog- raphers who has an eye for his sub- ject's foibles and picturesque qualities and yet gives fair credit to his accom- plishments- and virtues. But the per- sonal idiosyncrasies, the endless epi- sodes, climaxes and almost overhu- manity of Bryan make this tale of the alpaca coat and broad-brimmed hat a story as well as a biography. “I will give $25,000 to any one who will kill him!" screamed a delegate to the Balti- more convention, leveling his arm toward Bryan. Time and again it was thought that Bryan was done for and was out of public life, but always he bobbed up again, ready for another fray, and always there was some one who wanted him assassinated. “You shall not_crucify mankind upon a cross of gold,” Bryan shouted at the convention in 1896 and won the nomination; in 1912 he served grape julce at his official dinners as Secretary of State, to the amazement of the whole Nation; in 1925 he led the banners of the righteous against the forces of evolution, never once faltering in his role of the peerless leader. He was not afraid of ridicule nor of being ridiculous. He was not afraid of making mistakes. A cross between St. George and Don Quixote, Bryan was for 30 years the voice of the Nation's consclence, a voice, however, that was neither small nor still. The gusto with which Mr. Long writes makes a rich story of “Bryan, the Great Com- moner.” He has assembled his ma- terial carefully and well and used it with evident fairness. He gives a bril- liant picture of the days when politics were played in the grand manner and an intimate picture of a hearty and vital figure in the Nation's life. The cotemporary cartoons and photographs that illustrate the book tell a story by themselves. * ok K K A new biography of Cecil Rhodes by one who knew him well during the last 12 years of his life is “Rhodes,” by J. G. McDonald. The life of Cecil Rhodes in itself was so romantic that little art is needed to embellish the narrative. The delicate young man who came to South Africa to work on his brother’s cotton farm and regain his health be- came a multi-milliovaire and the great- est force in annexing South Africa to the British Empire. His fortune was made through his gaining control of the diamond supply and the acquisition of lands on the Rand. His ambition was to make Africa British “from Cape to Cairo,” and he lived to see the Union of South Africa under the British flag. He died in 1902, before the World War had farther extended the territory under British suzerainty. * ok kX ‘The first of a series of small volumes whose series title 1s “The Beginning of Things” is “Corn From Egypt; the Be- ginning of Agriculture,” by Maurice Gompertz. Egyptian mythology tells how 1Isis, queen of the god Osiris, first found Im'e{l growing along the Nile and taught her people how to cultivate t. Mr. Gompertz does not, however, base his claim for Egypt as the first agricultural country upon this Iacfend. He finds that archeological evidence ints to the priority of Egypt over abylon in agriculture. The evolution of agricultural implements is interest- ingly described, as well as the use of frrigation from ancfent times to the present day. A chapter is also devoted to Babylonlan agriculture, to' how promptly our forces will be sithdrawn from that foreign country. Even from the first step resulting from the mutual Trequest of the Nicaraguan President Diaz and the opposition rebel ‘party, when President Coolidge con- sented to intervene for the sake of establishing peace that { countiy, there has been an acute issue whether our President and Commander-in-chief of ‘the Army, Navy and Marines. was authorized by law so to use our armed forces in a foreign country—especially without the “advice and consent of the Senate.” * ok kK ‘There is an effort, in the midst of the political campaign, to question the legality of the “invasion” of forel soil, even at the request of its lawful government. Gov. Smith makes it a distinct issue, when he declares in his acceptance speech, “I personally declare what the platform declares: ‘Interfer- ence in the purely internal affairs of Latin American countries must cease.” In that platform plank and the can- didate's reaffirmation, there is a direct criticism of President Wilson's adminis- tration, which did in Haiti exactly what President Coclldfe is doing, by agree- ment of the Nicaraguan government, except that President Wilson “invaded” Haitl in opposition to its own govern- ment. It is not a situation, therefore, in which it is advisable for the pot to call the color line on the kettle. In order to cite even briefly the un- derlying principles of international law affecting the right of the United States behind our several interventions in Cen- tral America, it is desirable first to enumerate those interventions and cite the conditions which brought them. * K K K ‘There had been for many years an- archy in Haiti, especially from 1911 to 1915, before our naval intervention be- gan. Presidents were forced upon the republic by mercenary military power and - assassinated almost as fast as chosen. On January 28, 1914, an Amer- ican ship landed Marines in company with forces from British, French and German ships, to protect forgign inter- ests. P, Our Secretary of State, Mr. 3 in accord, then, with meenl%lm. took action. 'He says it was done: “To terminate the appalling condi- tions of anarchy, savagery and oppres- sion which had been prevalent in Haiti for decades, and to undertake the estab- lishment of domfestic peace in the re- public, in order that the population which had been downtrodden by dic- tators, and the innocent victims of re- peated revolutions, should enjoy pros- perity and an economic and industrial development, to which every people of an American nation are entitled. “Secondly, a desire to forestall any at- tempt of a foreign power to obtain a foothold on the territory of an American nation, which if the seizure of customs control by such a power had occurred, or if a grant of a coaling station or naval base had-becn obtained, would most certainly have been & menace to the peace of the Western Hemisphere and in flagrant deflance of the Monroe Doctrine.” ¥ It was divulged by the State Depart- ment, under Secretary Lansing, that Germany had actually taken steps to take control of Haiti's customs and to secure a naval base at Mole St. Nicholas. ‘The armed forces of America dictated the election of President Dart'qvienave; and his opponenll‘.' Blobg.u}:fl u:h: coun- in at his inability to carry on ':;Ay lm!gfllm revolution. * K oK K Not only did President Wilson dictate the election of the Haitian President, but he then refused to recognize the new President until a treaty bstween Haiti and the United States, dictated by the Americans, was signed and rati- fied. In the meanwhile, the American Navy took aver customs, and withheld all revenue from the Haitian govern- It is believed that the | *|' . Trué, the L Q. How is | Boston by af 3 A. The New ¥ 4 219 ‘miles Jong./ Q. How mn{?;U zh:n last year . B “Not more than 2,000, permanently wayed’ in’ States in 1927 T D Q. How ;may,_persans- "A." There are about 600 Q. Are many fires in barns due to¥; spontaneous combustion?-+M. M. C.7.- % "A. 'flafifi: lr';re?(luem cduse, - piles an perfectly hay are 3 things that should b:“::dlwb‘d closely” for signs of heating. . Q. What kind -of & material i matasol?>—F. R. A. It is a heavy ribbed silk. Q. What makes snowflal shapes that they are?—M, J, F. 3 A. _ Snow forms aver An. g air current in which thete ‘are solidified cloud particles for nuclei. But, what= ever the nuclei may be, as soon as the Initial crystals are formed further cons densation takes place, the vapor con~ densing directly into the solid state without first going through the liquid state. The crystals of water are hex- | agonal prisms, explains the Scientifie | American, and water in the crystalline state in the atmosphere shows all the wonderful shapes that this form of crystallization can take. .Having once | started, ‘tte crystals may grow either | along their gentral axis, giving rise to long thin prisms, or along their six axes to form hexagonal plates. Some= times the growth is uniform, so that the result is a perfect hexagonal plate; at others the growth along the axes is more rapid than in the space between. ‘This gives rise to star-shaped crystals. Q. Hcw many Indian tribes are there now?—D. C. C. A. There are about 340,000 Indians at present. They are members of 193 tribes. the Q. Is there more than one opera by the name “Don Quixote”?—W. D. N. A. Since 1690, beginning with Fortsch of Hamburg, and ending with Richard, Strauss, 29 °c rs. - ha written operas with this title. Q. Was there ever such a thing as'} King Arthur’s round table?—F. L. L. % A. King Arthlr was a half-legendary King of the Britons, supposed to have ! reigned in ‘the sixth century. Nothi is absolutely known of his history, an his existence has sometimes b::g de-eit nied altogether. The opinion now’ gens. erally eccepted by scholdrs-is thaé the: evidence of Nennius stated the facts cor<3 rectly. He tells of an Arthur who, i “Dux bellorum” and led the armiés of the British Kihgs against the Saxon in vaders, whom 'he’ defeated in 12 greaf battles. The number of knights that the round table seated varied. = Upon.some: % occasioris there were 12 and at othersy: 50 or even as many as‘150. 4 Q. How anclent is the custom of ssy-;? ing grace before meals>—M. H. e A. ‘There is evidence of this angient’] custom's.being observed as early as‘the; third century. - ¥ ¥ threatening our 1253 Marines. We killed 1,500 Haitians—a few more than one apiece for our force—and “the re- | volt was-suppressed.” i ’ KKk Kk F If there was ample justification for that intervention, what was lacking in the agreement between President Roofe- - velt “and the President of m i Domingo in 1905, whereby the Ul { tates became “reee(kver" o!lge r:lvex&uea $ of that.cofintry, took over. collection of the taxes and miomg. 7 eliminated t‘n S0 tnc?eql? He revenues it the untry was lifted out of its bankrupt state?” It is noteworthy that in all of President Roosevelt's adminis- tration not ' single hostile shot was ever fired, whether in interventions or otherwise. s H political condition of Santo Domingo continued disturbed, until in 1913, when the Wilson administration sent three agents to supervise the elec- tions—somewhat after the style of President Coolidge's _supervision of elections next month in u&n a. ) In 1915, Secretary of Stafe Lansing gave the Wilson ultimatum, that Santo viser appointed by the United States, who was given control of all receipts and expenditures. Also the. complete suppression was demanded of the na- tive army and republican guard and the substitution of a constabulary, with American officers. Space limits pre- vent details of the other steps of ag- gression and dictatorship supported by American war vessels and the Marines. It took four years of negotiations, be- gun by Presidents Harding and Cool- idge and Secret H , to with- draw from Haitl, in 1924. * R K K In 1908, Panama 8] led to Presi- dent Roosevelt that he should take over the ‘control:'of elections in that republic. At the suggestion of the then Secretary of War, Mr. Taft, & commission was appointed, which was only advisory, with no power of inter- 0 o2, th + trom both Pant: 12, the request from - man political parties' was renewed; and™ then President Taft appointed the Gov- * ernor of the Canal Zone, -with two American y officers and 228 super- visors, but. without troops, to: cantrol the elections. In 1918, under President Wilson, the United States, with armed interven- tion; ““S.,,M- the maintenance of order in ama and Colan, during the alections. ' RS * %k * W 1 ppens that’ the ‘interventios is under the Republican al n. How did it originate? The Story is told by Judge de Buste- mente, one of the fmost"eminent ‘jurists of Central America. 'In book, “The World Court,” the judge says: “It was uxg:d by theUBlr'y;dn-si.h& morro treaty 'ween the Un! L of America and Ni:ll{l‘\l‘?‘t jn b MNicaragua granted concessions to the United States for the construction of an interoceanic cadal and' for the estab- lishment of & naval base in the Gulf of Fonseca, with long leases of two islands in the Atlantic Ocean (Gulf of Mexico), called Great and Little Coru.” Hence it, too, is rooted in the Wilson administratiom; - The judge describes tw«a its against But it in Nical Rica and Salvagor, « the treaty violated suits were heard by the * tions of Central such “league” that was. formed— and decisions were , 4gainst the United States, but Pr lson saw oF Natomars S (o Lo ot Geatent of Nations.” e en America ¢iad. > The essential facts include the nr;‘ifin of the basis of the interventions which came’ in a Democratic administration, as well as did the snubbing of, the first League of Nations 'by thé prime au- thor of the second league. We have not discussed the terna- tional law, which constitutes the basic principle of intervention. There is no space left in today's:column, butit may etk ment, except such as was doled out for actual necessities of administration. Finally, in 1919, the Wilson policies were 30 resented by Haitians that a revolt | pre es broke out, with 15,000 armed native | be “continued in our ‘mext issue"— ext Tuesday—If world -“events” apd the present political .campaign do not it. (Covyrizht. 1928. hy Paul V. Colline) oy P e Domingo must accept the financial ad- | -