Evening Star Newspaper, November 23, 1928, Page 8

' THE EVENING STAR —Nith Sunday Morning Editien. WASHINGTON, D. C FRIDAY......November 23, 1928 THEODORE W. NOYES. . ..Editor ‘The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: 1ith St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd St. Chicago Offi European Office Rate by Carrier Within the City. The Eening and Bunday star o o monih 54 Sundays) - 60c per month 3 2y; Evenini (vhen inda: 65¢ per month ‘The Sunday Star ... +.5¢ per copy Collection made at w..e end of each month. ©Ordcrs may be sent in by mail or telephone Main 5000 Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Vlr{lnh. .1 yr, S All Other States and Canada. Dally end Sunday..1 yr.. $12.00: 1 mo., § only 1 1 Sunday only £ ‘Member of the Associated Press. Assoctated Press I« exclusively entitled usli; all 1 ews dis- e Fo 1t in this paper and published herein. All righ special dispatches herein to ¢! Our Vast Foreign Affairs. President-elect Hoover's trip to South America naturally suggests that Latin America is to be one of the primary international interests of the United States during the next administration. But signs are fast gathering that the ‘Western Hemisphere will by no means be the exclusive hunting ground of our diplomacy. Unless all indications are deceptive, Uncle Sam will be a towering figure in the concerns of Eu- rope within another twelvemonth, and probably sooner than that. Reparations and war debts are certain to involve us in Old World discussigns, in one guise or another. On the other side of the globe, China’s illimitable possi- bilities loom. Our international relations did not bulk very considerably in the presiden- tiel campaign of 1928. Personalities and, domestic issues were all-absorbing. the taxpayers supported it. It was or- ganized to supply the communities with trained teachers and not to experiment in the field of general education. All the professional training possible could be given in a two-year course. Now, however, new ideals and practices are being established. The course is being expanded to four years. Liberal arts subjects have been introduced into the curricula. Already there are 110 four-year ncrmal schools in the coun- President Thomas of the University of Utah told the presidents of State uni- versities meeting in Washington Tues- day. They are usurping the functions of the liberal art colleges and granting bachelor and master degrees. This expansion has been necessitated in part by the new conceptions of the functions and methods of teaching which have come into educational thought. There is more special train- ing to be given and more fields of general culture are involved in the pro- ductlon of a competent teacher. It also is due in part to the general demand for higher culture. Naturally, the transition is not being accomplished without some contfusion. # | The fusion of the normal school and the Tved. | liberal arts college involves delicate questions of courses of study, academic standards and faculty qualifications, These remain to be solved. The fact remains that an important transition is under way which will mean an elevation of public school standards throughout the United States. ——— Maternalism in Government. It was not so long ago that the pro- posal to create a Children’s Bureau of the Federal Government was viewed with grave alarm. There were those who foresaw the time when the Gov- ernment, paternalistic as it was, would be entering a field which would make it maternalistic as well and attempt to tell mothers how to raise their own children. Contemplation of the impu- dence of such tactics brought blushes to fevered brows. One could almost en~ vision an army of outraged mothers, terrified infants clinging about their necks, marching upon Washington to Yet, had the electorate had in mind the incalculable events which will agi- tate Mother Earth during the next four years, it could hardly have chosen a more ideal leader than Herbert Hoover. ‘When he has seen Latin America face to face this Winter, the circle of Herbert Hoover's first-hand knowledge of the world will be complete. He has engineered in Europe, Africa, Asia and the great continents and islands of the South Seas. If the world was his fleld in private life, it will be more than ever the domain of his activity in the stern days of responsibility which will de- scend upon him at the White House. The world beyond our shores must envy America’s good fortune in having at her helm at such a juncture of in- ternational affairs a statesman who approaches them with so rare an equip- ‘ment of cosmopolitan acquaintance experience, s ———— How to Celebrate 1032. ‘Varlous projects of more or less na- tional scope, including an exposition ‘n New York City, are afoot for com- memoration in 1932 of the two-hun- emanated from Senator Wesley L. special attention of the District of Co- lumbia. than to amend the Constitution in fa- vor of national representation rights for the now disfranchised inhabitants of the District. The Seattle statesman speaks fervently on that subject. From his Senate committee there has already come & hearty recommendation to Con- gress to pass the pending constitutional amendment, which would right the suf- frage wrongs of Washingtonians. ‘The “Day of Humiliation” demonstra- tion in the National Capital on No- vember 6 attracted Nation-wide atten- tion. The newspapers, the radio and the motion pictures carried graphically from coast to coast the story of Wash- ington's demand for a political square deal from Congress and the enfran- chised States. ‘The Citizens' Joint Committee of the District of Columbia will presently re- new its annual effort to induce House and Senate to Americanize the Wash- ingtonian by adopting a constitutional amendment which empowers Congress to that effect. Let 1932 be set as the goal of the District’s desires. America would honor the Father of His Country by doing tardy honor to the Federal area which bears his name. ‘The Vestris has served a great purpose in demonstrating that a sinking at sea an no longer be dismissed as a passing ‘mystery. With modern systems of in- formation, the public assumes the right, when anything of great interest arises, to know all the details. B L — Friends of the genial Al Smith hasten to inquire on his behalf, “What is the good of shaking hands with a tired man, after the campaign is over?” —— e The Normal School. Another distinctive American institu- tion, the old two-year normal school, is passing into history. It was designed as a strictly professional training school for elementary teachers and has played & conspicuous part in the progress of education in this country. The original idea antedates the Revolution and is credited to that fruitful producer of ideas, Benjamin Franklin. In this, as in 50 many other respects, the Philadel- phia sage was ahead of his time. The 1idea of special training for teachers had not occurred to any one before, simply because there was very little special training to give them. The science of pedagogy was a thing of the future. ‘The normal school idea first was put in practice in Massachusetts, mothar State of the publie schools, early in the demand that Uncle Sam keep his med- dlesome hands off. But the fear seems to have been con- i on this side of the water, it requires ingenuity to complete the transit, but in the case of a member of a ship's crew, who has access to the shore with- out the close inspection to which pas- sengers are submitted, the diamonds can be readily transported to their final destination. If these four persons are convicted they should be punishet, despite the fact the steward is a veteran of the | service, the policeman a man with a { heretofore clean record and the jew- eler ostensibly a respectable importer. They have, especially the first two, violated their trust and their punish- ment should be severe enough to place fear in the hearts of those who simi- larly break the laws of the United States. ——aoea Radio Pesf District radio fans who are wont to listen to loud-speaker music in the early hours of the morning werc doubt- less shocked to learn that an ordinance prohibiting the use of radio after mid- night and that the Evanston police de- partment has made its first arrest under it. In all parts of the country the radio has been hailed as one of the greatest of man’s inventions and enter- tainment has been furnished to mil- lions, but, as in everything else, there have developed addicts who have be- come pests to the community by their utter disregard of the rights of others. The ordinance in Evanston was de- signed to control those who so far for- got themselves as to inflict upon their neighbors, after the normal hour for sleep, the strains of ‘music pulled from the air. It may well be that the regulation in this Illinois city will be adopted by other municipalities if the present mania for late, loud-speaker cntertain- ment does not abate. There 1s a solu- tion to the problem without the neces- sity of an ‘ordinance, and that is to the use of headphones after a reasonable hour at night, but it is improbable that a fanatic who is inconsiderate enough to run his machine with sufficient vol- ume to disturb his neighbors would change over, It is apparent, however, that the wave of protest over radio pests is growing in volume and that not only fined to the breasts of a legislative minority. The mothers of the country have apparently welcomed this bureau- cratic maternalism and will take as much of it as Uncle Sam will give. Re- ports show that the “best seller” of the Government Printing Office is a bulletin on “Infant Care” issued by the Children’s Bureau, and that this pamphlet has now succeeded in popu- larity the esteemed “horse book” of bygone fame. One of the officials of the Department of Labor points out that in many an isolated cabin home, far from the beaten track, this little pamphlet on the care of that mysteri- ous piece of machinery, the human in- fant, is the most treasured of the family possessions. ‘The Children's Bureau receives an annual deluge of one hundred thousand letters, asking not only for the bulletin but for other advice on the care of a child. One mother wrote recently ask- ing whether she should give the baby a dose of castor oil. And part of the success of the Children’s Bureau may be traced to the principle followed in replying to the letter about the castor oil. The bureau might have answered, “Yes, by all means, about a teaspoonful. th: child.” But the bureau declined to give such sage medical counsel, advising It has confined its labors to making available general’information on proper feeding, care, observance of the neces- sary rules of hygiene and to pointing out the signs of warning which should bring the doctor on the run. Purity of milk and water supply, establishment of prenatal clinics and.| the provision of proper medical facili- ties are important items in any attempt to lower infant mortality rates. But the education of the mother—even if it be through correspondence—is probzbly the foundation stone which must be carefully laid in the heginning. The Children’s Bureau is engaged in many worth-while activities. But if the work it does was confined to popularizing and making available that one pamphlet on “Infant Care,” Uncle Sam could show justifiable pride by patting himself on the back. ————— The visits of President-elect Hoover constituté a reminder that “Good Will” is the Big Asset in “Big Business.” ——————— Diamond Smuggling. Legitimate diamond merchants in the United States are exuberant today over the breaking up of a large smug- gling gang which has been operating between Amsterdam and Antwerp and New York. With the arrest of a stew- ard on the liner Berengaria, a police- man attached to the dock and a jew- in Washington, but in other ecities, a regulation may be put into force to assure sleep and rest for those who want it. ——r—ee Fears, together with hopes, are enter- tained that horse-racing will be stopped in Maryland. The flivver may yet suc- ceed in banishing the “hoss” from even the small roadway represented by the race track where reckless persons risk their money, but not their lives. . A broker's seat on the New York Stock Exchange is worth a great deal of money. The “Tammany tiger” is tossed over the back fence. The Wall Street “Kitty” is still a pampered pet. ——————— His power over the popular imagina- tion is shown by Gov. Al Smith’s abil- ity not only to start an ovation, but to tell it when to stop. ———e—s Rumors circulate to the effect that one of our most eminent aviators is in love. An aviatqr, wings and all, is only human. ———t— Caddies hear many things that indi~ cate the truly human side of great per- sonages. It is against the ethics of their profession to talk for publication. ——— e The convening Congress will be con- fronted with many responsibilities to be passed on to the next session. — e “Going fishing” is an oid device fre- quently employed by men who wish to get away to themselves and think hard. ———————— Patriots profess solicitude for the interests of posterity. Posterity always manages to take care of itself. ———r—o—. Standard Oil of Indiana promotes the old Hoosier State as a power in finance, no less than in literature. K r—ee— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Big Ride. Old world swinging on its way, Sometimes grim and sometimes gay. Through the stars it goes along ‘With a sigh or with a song. On this old world we must ride In humility or pride, Traveling with foes or friends— ‘Wondering where the journey ends. Fooleries. “You may be able to fool the people some of the time.” “Yes,” answered Senator Sorghum, “but the people have a come-back. It is surprising to observe how, in the re- cent election, the people fooled me.” Jud' Tunkins says we have to evolute a little. Otherwise we'd remain in childhood and think a circus parade was eler and his daughter, the diamond squad of the customs department be- lieves that it has shut off one of the big sources of supply of smuggled stones. More than fifty thousand dol- lars’ worth of uncut diamonds were found in the steward’s cabin, and in his confession he is alleged to have admitted that it was his tenth or twelfth trip since he became affiliated with the ring, bringing the total of his fraudulent operations to half a mil- lion dollars or more. The tax on unset jewelry is twenty per cent. By evading it, dishonest mer- chants, even after paying eight per cent to the smugglers, are in a position to undersell legitimate jewelers by twelve per cent. Estimates by the Re- tail Jewelers’ Association and customs agents placed a total value of stones that annually find their way into this country by the underground route at more than fifty million dollars, result- ing in United States Government losses of between eight and ten million dol- lars and losses to honest merchants of equally large amounts. nineteenth century and soon was copied by all the other commonwealths that looked to the Bay State for leadership in the field of education. For the first time it was possible to place the primary and elementary training of children in the hands of individuals with a definite ‘ objective and method of attaining that ebjective. ‘The normal school clung fast to its Diamonds and other precious stones are comparatively easy to bring unde- tected into the United States because of their small size. England does not levy a tax on stones from the two great cutting centers of the world, Ant- werp and Amsterdam, and the Euro- pean branch of a smuggling gang en- counters no difficulty in delivering packages to whatever person is to wain purpose—the purpose for which bring them across the ocean. Once ’ the sum of human happiness. Oyster. The oyster is a noble brute Whose life is ordered well. He deigns no comrade to salute, But sleeps inside a shell. The cook who sends him to the stew Apologies may make: “He just sleeps on. He never knew That he was quite awake.” Cautious Inquiry. “Are you in favor of prohibition en- forcement?” “Which are you talking about,” in-| quired Uncle Bill Bottletop; “personal thirst or politics?” Demonstration of Power. “What do you think of farm relief?” “Well,” answered Farmer Corntossel, “the politicians must acknowledge this much—at least we've got 'em guessing.” “The listener who holds his ear to the keyhole,” said Hi Ho, the sage of China- town, “may never hope to become mas- ter of the key.” The Fearsome Sneeze. Germs through the air are hurled anew And, as they get us on the run, ‘Whenever some one says, “Atchoo He may prove deadlier than a gun. “A winner in a crap game,” said Uncle Eben, “not only takes de money but was recently enacted in Evanston, IlL, | Poe' THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Those interested in books were in- trigued recently by the news item to the effect that one of the few surviv- ing: copies of the first edition of Edgar Allan Poe's “Tamerlane and Other Poems,” published in Boston -in 1827, | sold in that city recently for $20,000. Poe was 18 vears old when he wrote “Tamerlane.” He himself is authority for the statement that most of the poems in the slight volume were writ- ten when he was but 14. “By a Bostonian” was the way Poe signed the book. He was, of course, no Bostonian at all, but merely had been attracted to that city after a brief and hectic stay at the University of Vir- ginia by the literary authority of the “Athens of America.” The book was soon suppressed. Time, in its ampie judgment, knows that who- ever or whatever caused the suppres- sion did well. “Tamerlane” is carried today in the back of the volume of 's complete poems, not because it is worth anything, but simply because Poe wrote it. Those who will take the trouble to look up the poem will see again that “Tamerlane” is pretty poor stuff. They will realize more intensely than ever that whoever paid $20,000 for a copy did so only on the basis of rarity. “Pirst editions” are always costly— if the author later turned out to be a success. One of those few surviving copies of “Tamerlane” is worth while not so muech for “Tamerlane” as be cause the author later wrote “The Raven” and scores of other real lyrics. “Tamerlane” is not a real lyric. It lacks utterly the fire and fancy that was Poe. * koK ok Let us see what stuff a real genius may turn out when he is trying his wings for his major flights. Not every bucding poet does as well as Alexander Pope or Willlam Cullen Bryant did with their first verses. *Tamerl is by no means in a ~lass with “Thanatopsis.” Bryant per- haps never did anything better than his masterly bit of blank verse, known and appreciated the world around. Poe, on the other hand, after his ini- tial flight went on to better and better poetical flylng. Two years later, in 1820, he published a second volume, this time in the city of Baltimore, which thenceforth was to be forever wrapped around his life. = .This volume contained “Al Aaraaf,’ containing that unforgettable melody: “Ligeia! Ligeia! My beautiful one! ‘Whose harshest idea Will to melody run. “Ligeia! wherever Thy image may be, No image shall sever Thy music from thee.” “Tamerlane,” however, contains no such bits. "1t is a curously involved thing, plainly patterned after Byron, with scarcely a quotable line it. Thousands of would-be writers, both male and female, in the carly days of the Republic wrote just as good verse as | “Tamerlane.” You will find their “works” on the second-hand bookstalls yet, usually small in size, and printed in terribly small type, so difficult to read that it is a wonder any one took the trouble to try. Perhaps few did. Opening such a book today, the reader discovers that most disheartening thing in the world—a WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC Charles Gates Dawes is going back to work as soon as the whistle blows on March 4, 1929. He announced that intention in Chicago this week. Im- mediately he has laid down the vice presidential toga Gen. Dawes will re- sume his regular job, the chairmanship of the board of the Central Trust Co. of Illinols. He organized that pros- perous banking corporation in 1902 and headed its board up to the time of his explosive inauguration as Vice Presi- dent of the United States in 1925. During the next five years Chicago affairs other than banking will occupy a lot of Gen. Dawes’ attention. He is going to put his vigorous shoulder to the wheel now set in motion on behalf of Chicago's 1933 world fair. Apart from his obligations as a sturdy son of the Windy City, Dawes’ interest in the fair is due to the fact that the project largely originated with Rufus C. Dawes, public utility magnate and advisory colleague of his distinguished brother on the German reparations commission, A R, ‘William Trufant Foster, Boston Col- lege professor, and E. Waddill Catch- ings, New York banker, are joint au- thors of the $3,000,000,000 “construction reserve” plan, just sponsored by Herbert Hoover as & cure for unemployment. They first evolved their dazzling scheme in a book entitled “The Road to Plenty,” published earlier this year. Previously Messrs. Foster and Catchings | had collaborated in three other eco- nomic works — “Money,” in 1923; “Profits,” in 1925, and “Business With- out a Buyer,” in 1927. Foster is a Harvard man. Since 1920 he has been chairman director of the Pollak Founda- dation for Economic Reseéarch. Catch-' ings, a Tennesseean, was a classmate of Foster's (Harvard '01) and is a manufacturer by profession. Their economic studies, therefore, present an effective combination of the theoretical and the practical. Catchings sits on the boards of a dozen industrial cor- porations, ranging in variety from col- lars to steel, but gives most of his time to banking, as a partner in Gold- man, Sachs & Co.,, New York. * ok K X Some ardent admirers of Gov. Smith, outside the ranks of professional poli- ticians, would like him to accept the leadership of a “Democratic league,” to be organized for the purpose of keep- ing “Smith policies” alive. The sug- gestion originates in Pennsylvania, where Gov. Smith rolled up the biggest vote ever given a Democratic presi- dential candidate, though short by nearly a million of Hoover's tremendous poll., “The very fact that we possessed a leader to keep up the enthusiasm of some who might otherwise lose their ardor would be a big asset,” says the patentee of the “Democratic league” suggestion. Gov. Smith, it appears, would not be expected to function as a sheer labor of love. It is set forth that contributions from State leagues to the treasury of a national league would per- mit the payment of “a generous sal- ary” to its president. * K K X It's an open secret that the Navy folks are half-seas over with delight that the President-elect is “rolling down to Rio”—and to points West—in a man- of-war and not in a land-lubber’s boat like the Leviathan, The idea is that the Hoover administration is now bound to take office Navy-minded. Our sallor- men have always felt they would have a friend at the White House court, should Hoover be elected, ever since his Palo Alto acceptance speech, when he spoke right out in meeting—Quaker though he is—in favor of a fleet that will keep America “respected.” honored and happy to have so extraor- dinary an opportunity to strut its stufi under the future commander-in-chief's very eyes. Even bluejackets expect the Maryland and the Utah this Winter to do their duty. « * K K X Senator Robert F. Wagner, Democrat, of New York, is flirting with the idea of asking for a Senale Investigation of the Vestris horror. There Is, of course, a historic precedent—the Senate in- quiry into the Titanic disaster. Mr. Wagner says he’s not laying the blame gits credit when he goes home foh wis- dom and economy.” on any one or trying to interfere with any investigations now in progress, but Acels that a congressional inquiry into But the Navy is | poem which looks like a poem, but isn't a poem. Wls difficult to explain. Perhaps the easiest way is to consider Poe's “Tam- erlane,” which is exactly the type of etic effort referred to, being in the K:orm of a poem, and looking like a poem, yet not being such. In the first place, “Tamerlane” is filled with italicized words. showing be- yond doubt that the youthful poet had not yet mastered his medium. The true post has no need of italics, since his | words are so used as to obviate their necessity. . The on‘.gfll’oemke quality about the | poem is the deep, underlying tone of melancholy, which Poe kept to the end of his days, and which animates alike his short stories, his poems and his very life. ‘The cause of his melancholy we leave to the psychologists, modern gentle- men who, having built up ingenious theories, proceed to back them up in a manner most pleasing to their own self- pride. Just what sort of “complex” this shows them (o be possessed of we leave to them, since that is their business. Poe begins “Tamerlane” with the cheerful line: “Kind solace in a dying hour!” Such, however, he continues, is not (and he puts a2 “now” in parentheses) his theme. One is left to take his choice between considering the ‘one at the bedside a spiritual or a real father. robably the former. “I would not deem that power Of earth may shrive me of the sin Unearthly pride hath revel'd in.” ‘The dying man continues, in a rather unkind manner, it would seem: “I would not call thee fool, old man, But such is not a gift of thine.” * K K K One is almost tempted to call this “Pecksniffian guff,” to use, in a poetical | sense, the interesting phrase coined over | in England recently anent President | Coolidge's now famous speech. | _One could apply it more fairly, tem- perately and decently to “Tamerlane,” | because the poem is, from beginning to | end. exactly like the samples given. | The sick man seems to have had a | fair dGamsel whom he cast over for am- ,Eluon's sake, or something along that | line. “Oh, craving heart, for the lost flow- ers And sunshine of my Summer hours!” Every now and then, however, one fin(li; a trace of the Poe who was yet | to be: “I have no words, alas, to tell The loveliness of loving well! Nor would I now attempt to trace’ The more than beauty of a face | ‘Wkhose lineaments, upon my mind, Are shadows on th’ unstable wind.” A few more lines are barely quotable: “I know—for Death who comes for me From regions of the blest afar, ‘Where there is nothing to deceive, Hath- left his iron gate ajar, And rays of truth you cannot see Are flashing through eternity.” But it is mostly guff, not even good guff, at that, except at ite very end, where there is a flash of the real Israfel: “How was it that ambition crept, Unseen, amid the revels there, Till, growing bold, he laughed and eapt In the tangles of Love's very hair?” WILLIAM WILE. the Vestris wreck would be useful. A revision of some archaic maritime. laws, ‘Wagner thinks, might result from such vestigation, and that alone, he in- sists, would justify it. * K ok ok Two tons of movie films are in the cargo of the U. 8. S, Maryland, now plowing through the southern Pa- cific with the Hoover party. The reels which comprise this record consign- ment of pictures are understood to have been selected by the President-elect himself. They run the whole gamut of the screen, from ‘“comics” to serious “educational” stuff. Several of the pic- tures have not yet been released for Eubuc exhibition. The consignment em- races 47 major-length “features” of 8, 9, 10 or 11 reels each, and 10 one-reel comedies. In accordance with Hooyer’s fondness for détective stories, there is & liberal share of pictures dealing with mystery thrillers. One of the President- elect’s - closest California friends, a stanch Republican, is Louis B. Mayer of“the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer organi- zation, * ok ok ok Amateur cabinetmakers will be well advised to enter the name of John Grif- fin Mott, Los Angeles lawyer, in their list of possibilities, He accompanies Mr, Hoover to South America in_ the ca- pacity of a personal adviser. Mr. Mott Is one of the mest distinguished Roman Catholic laymen in the country, a fluent | speaker of Spanish and an authority on Latin America. He is a Notre Dame man and was graduated the same year, 1895, in which Hoover took his A. B. in engineering at Stanford. (Copyright. 1928.) UNITED STATES IN WORLD WAR Ten Years Ago Today. Gen. Pershing has cabled the War Department that the casualties in the American Expeditionary Forces total 236,117, with less than one-third of the names thus far received in Washington. The total causes surprise throughout the country because it is so much larger than was expected in view of the par- tial list already cabled. * * * Thirty- six thousand one hundred and fifty-four men were killed in action and died from wounds; 14.811 died of disease; 179,625 were wounded, 2,163 taken prisoner and | 1,160 missing. * * ¢ Gen. Pershing | will keep 1,200,000 men in France for the present, and from these the army to occupy enemy territory will be made up. * * * The American Army of Occu- pation takes up its line on the River Moselle. Americans and Germans wash their clothes on opposite sides of the river, but are not allowed to fraternize. * * ¢ Several thousand American sol- diers sailed-for home today out of Liver- pool. It was a stirring scene as the men marched from the railroad station and local camps to the landing stage amid the rousing cheers of crowds along the streets. PR S Distance Lends Enchantment. From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. With a German colonel sclected to train the Chinese army, it will be deter- mined whether the goose-step can travel some thousands of miles and still look the same. Add Airplane }-&_ccider:s. From the Dayton Daily News. A St. Joseph (Mich.) couple, married [in an airplane three years ago, have fallen out. AR Or "Most Any Town. From the Detroit News. Too little attention, we feel, has been paid to the fact that as New Ashford, Mass., went so went the Nation. R Sort of Old-ITome Run. From the Hamilton Spectalor. Babe Ruth has created trust fund of $130,000, the principal of which he \cannot touch, This is the sock that sock builty THE EVENING STAR. WASHINGTON, D. C. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 19%. Smokeless City Fuel Is Plea to Chemists BY E. E. FREE, PH. D. ‘That the cure of city smoke, recog- nized everywhere as a growing threat to health because it keeps out the ultraviolet rays of sunlight, lies in the hands of inventive chemists, is the be- lief of Prof. A. J. Allmand of King's College, London, expressed in a recent lecture in the English city. What the chemists must invent, Prof. Allmand sald, is not any mysterious smoke de stroyer, but is merely a solid, smoke-' less fuel. Gas is smokeless but not solid. Much of the city smoke might be avoided, also, by prohibiting house- hold fires for heating or cooking and making use, instead, of steam or elec~ tricity generated outside the cities. But all these expedients require expensive distributing Pllnu. pipes or wires. Ev- erything will be simpler and cheaper, Prof. Allmand believes, if chemists will busy themselves devising solid fuels to be made from coal or oil and which can be stored and distributed in the usual way, but from which it will be impossible to get any smoke, no matter how carelessly the new fuel is used. Prof. Allmand does not consider the problem impossible if chemists every- where can be persuaded to devote their efforts to solving it. st Railroads May Fight Waterways Program From the Portland (Ores.) Daily Journal. The Railway Age is looked upon as a spokesman of the railroads. It speaks now of claims “advanced in support of the development of inland waterways which the public seems eager to ac cept and- which must be refuted if the Government is to be prevented from adopting a transportation policy which would be highly injurious to the rail- ways and cause enormous losscs to the public.” A copy of the complete text of the editorial in which the Railway Age at- tecks waterways improvements is sent for reproduction to the newspapers of the country. If the railroads intend to open a vendetta on waterways improvement they are ill-advised. 1In the pending rivers and harbors bill are these pro- posals: To deepen the channels of the Great ! . Lakes to 24 feet. which will enable the deepest draft freighters to load to their full capacity. The completion of the Mississippi River for through transportation, by improvement of the section between Grafton, Ill., and St. Louis. A declaration that it is the policy of Congress to complete all river and har- bor projects within six years after their adoption, where it is physically possible to do so. There is also to be included an item of $1,366,000 for the Willamette and Columbia rivers below Portland. where the deepening of the channel from 30 t7 35 feet and its widening from 300 to 500 feet are to acccmmodate the grow- ing commerce of a world port. President-elect Hoover has committed himself to a program of waterways im- orovement. He includes the Mississippi, the St. Lawrence and the Columbia. It will be strange if the railroads seek to undertake war on the next administra- tion nn%e a ;vtabarwn; program of im- mense benefit to the people of United States. e b ) Atlanta’s Book Week Gets Fine Results From the Atlanta Journal. National Book week in Atlanta has been a signal success. It was success- ful beyond the intent of its sponsors. With the hope of influencing gram- mar grade pupils to read good books, queries were sent to 200 prominent At- lantans asking what books had been their several favorites in childhood. Did those who asked that question know what they were doing? In effect, they were starting 200 prominent Atlantans upon the long road back to fairyland. Can you think of Toby Tyler or Tom Slwyer, without dropping " into bright reverie' A k week for children has So this turned out a little remarkably, and may muse a great many child books to be read by folks who havesnot been chil- dren within this century. Those who reflected back over their early readings to decide which of their bookish de- lights was most rapturous very likely will retain a whimsical desire to re- read that book. And they will assur- edly be rewarded. Any one who has not read “Uncle Remus” or “Alice in Won- derland” since childhood has neglected an experience ineffably delightful. To surprisé the subtle hidden implications in Alice's adventures beyond ground, or in Bre'r Rabbit’s battles with his be- loved enemy, Bre'r Fox, is as thrilling, quite, as the innocent, questioning won- der with which those adventures first were read. oo New York Proposes Elevated Highways From the Loulsville Courier-Journal. New York, with the initiative be- fitting the world's largest and richest city and the most congested, has de- cided to try out the elevated motor highway, the first in the world. ‘The feasibilily of it as an engineering feat is not questioned. The expense is tremendous, $300,000 a mile, and the service to be commensurate with such a cost must accomplish one of two ob- Jects—to open up new territory to com- merce or to help traffic around a jam. In a city like New York the latter is the end in view and the major engineering problem was involved in the selection of the termini and the route. The new highway, four and one-half miles long, will extend from the tip of Manhattan along the Hudson River front to Seventy-second street. It will be 70 feet wide, providing six lanes of travel, with ramps leading up to it from important streets. These will be so arranged that the entrance of ve- hicles from the intersections will not interfere with the flow of rapid traffic, which will have an unimpeded right of way from downtown New York to far uptown. The construction is to be such that a second deck can be superimposed at any time the volume of traffic de- mands it. The road question is not confined to the country and the small town which want new ways into them. Cities are tunneling under the ground and build- ing into the air. it A Reason Scores Victory . N Over Emotion of Fans From the Des Molnes Tribune-Capital. Chicago University alumni still re- gard Coach Stagg as “the grand old man,” is the word from Chicago, and attribute the university’s record of de- feat in the Big Ten Conference this year not to want of coaching ability, but to absence of the right material. That, if wholly true, is a triumph of reason over emotion that ought to lead to building a tall monument to Chicago University alumni. ‘The annual debate about whether the coach or the material is to blame for a bad foot hall season—or should have the credit for a good one—is about as casily settled as the question of whether the hen preceded the egg or the egg preceded the hen. The truth, of course, is that both coach and material are big factors. If victory is the only thing that counts, that one truth is all that need be said or can be. Of course, victory is not all that counts, except in some minds and for a season. Coaches have a hard row to hoe, ad- mittedly. Occasional recognition of the real servicé to youth that is given by an exceptional coach like Stagg is a highly desirable thing. If it came 10 times oftener, or 100, it would be desirable, g ANSWERS TO eric J. Haskin? You can ask him any question of fact and get the answer in a personal letter. Here is a great edu- cational idea introduced into the lives of the most intelligent people in the world—American newspaper readers. It is a part of that best purpose of a new:- paper—service. There is no charge ex- cept 2 cents in ccin or stamps Yor re- turn postage. Address Frederic J. Has- kin, director, The Evening Star Infor- mation Bureau, Washington, D. C. . What architecture in England corqzespcnds to that known in America as “Colonial”?~L. M. A. In England it is known as “Geor- glan,” designating the style of architee- | ture of the reigns of the four Georges, from 1714 to 1830. Q. When was mounted infan! troduced into warfare?—R. E. N. A. Infantry, mounted for transpor- tation but retaining the characteristics lof infantry, dismounting in action and fighting as trained, was introduced dur- ing the Boer War 1899-1901, Did you ever write a letter to Pred-| try in- Q. Why do so man mnewspapers bear the name “gazette”?—A. F. T. A. The first Italian newspaper was sold for a gazetta, a small Italian coin, and it is generally supposed that the name “garzette” is an application of the price of the paper to the paper itself. | Q. What finally became of Robert | { Pulton’s ship, the Clermont?—M. H. A. While we find no definite state- | ment as to the fate of the Clermont, it was destroyed. Q. When was the expression “carry on” first used?—W. A. J. 5 A. Although the phrase “carry on” was popularized in the World War by the British Army, its origin can be traced to a much earlier period. Originally a naval word of command, meaning “con- tinue as before,” it was first applied to war by Addiscn in his Spectator in 1712. The first to use it in a nautical |sense was a writer in Backwoods Magazine, April, 1832. ‘A. The word is derived from the tin “janua,” meaning door. Q. When a post office becomes second | class are members of the postmaster’s family classified without examination? —N C. A. When a post office goes from third to second class the employes in it are eligible for civil service -classification withcut examination. But this does not necessarily mean that they will be classified. The usual practice of the Post Office Department is not to classify the wife of a postmaster or members of his family, as the post office is averse to making the post office a fam- ily affair, Q. What is meant by saying that the firesent period in world history may be nov‘fn as the dictionary epoch?—J. W. B. A. It refers to the great interest that is now being taken in living foreign tongues as well as in our own. Cross: word puzzles, too, have stimulated the study of words. @. What was Charles Schwab's title during the war?>—T. T. general of the A. He was director Emergency Fleet Corporation. Q. What is a “swatch"?—W. R. S. A. It is a trade term for a strip or | the Marine Research Society says that | @. Why is a janitor so named?— | D. QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Q. What is jodine made of?—G. D. A. Iodine is prepared from kelp anc from crude Chile saltpeter. Iodine is a non-metallic element, isclated as » crystalline solid. Q. What is the difference between | Instinct and intuition?—S. M. A. Instinct is the term applied to an inherited tendency to perform a specific action in a particular way whenever a situation arises. Intuition, on the other hand, implies the faculty of knowing something beforehand, whether it be mystical, intellectual or moral. Q. When may a horse be sald to be a thoroughbred?—M. C. A. The requirements of an American thoroughbred horse are that the pedi- gree contain five uncontaminated crosses, but the average pedigree traces through 16 to 18 crosses, some having as many as 25. Q. Who was known as “the old man cloguent” of the Senate?—C. C. A. Toward the end of his notable career of 37 years in the Senate the late George Frisbie Hoar of Massa- chusetts was frequently called by that title, e QF' ‘What is the salary of the Pope?- A. The Pope does not have a salary. but has a certain amount of money set aside from the revenues of the church for his use, and receives contributions from various organizations. This fund is known as “Peter's pence,” and is largely devoted by the Pope to works of charity. Q. Where was Atlantis?—T. S. A. Auantis was a large island, which, according to an ancient tradition, was situated in the Atlantic Ocean near the Pillars of Hercules. It was first | mentioned by Plato. Nine thousand | years before the time of Solon it had | been a powerful nation, but had finally {been enguifed by the sea. Many au- | thorities consider the account of Plato |as a pure invention, while others look |upon it as a real tradition. Various at- | tempts have been made to identify the island, but none has been satisfactorily accepted. Q. Is the wood of the Texas ebony | tree valuable?>—E. H. | A. The wood is valuable in fine cabi- | net work, and because it is almost in- | destructible in contact with the ground it is largely used for fence posts. It makes superior fuel. The ebony tree is more_valuable than any other tree of the Rio Grande. It rarely exceeds 30 feet in height. Q. What was the disease known as the plague in Athens during the Pelo- ponnesian War?—A. 8. P. A. The plague described by Thucy- dides was probably an eruptive typhoic fever, distinct from, yet analogous to, smallpox. AQS- Which star is the largest?—C. | . A. The Naval Observatory says that Alpha Scorpii (Antares) is the largest fixed star of which we have reasonably accurate .measurements. Its diameter is about 400,000,000 miles. In volume it is 100,000,000 times as large as the sun and 125,000,000,000,000 times as large as the earth. Its distance is probably 350 light years. This distance is 20,- 000,000 times as great as that of the sun from the earth. Q. Where is Fort Seward’—E. R. N. A. Fort Seward is located on the | Seward Peninsula, Alaska. The De- square of cloth used as a sample. partment of War says that very few men are stationed there at present. Harvard's announcement that as a result of an anonymous gift of $3,000, 000 it will establish a “college within college,” providing social and educa- tional contact between a limited num- ber of students and certain members of the faculty, attracts the attention of all who are interested in the problem cre~ ated by the ever-increasing size of suc- cessful educational institutions.’ “As President Lowell Eofim.s out,” ac- cording to the New York Evening Post, “the plan as it is to be tried at Harvard does not involve any change in the method of teaching. The students at this college within a college will attend their classes like other students, but will have the advantage of living and eating together, with tutors and resident faculty members forming part of tje social community. The diversity of in- terests which would thereby be repre- sented should, above all, lead to the creation of a more stimulating intel- lectual atmosphere than is possible un- der present conditions.” “A reaction in American universities” is seen by the Morgantown New Domin- ion, which shows how the development has come about, with the statemeni: “Until recently size was considered de- sirable in educational institutions, as in cities, business organizations and other things. But since the war our colleges have been growing so big as to be un- wieldy. Standardization and mass pro- duction did not seem so well adapted to human education as to automobile man- ufacture. So the attention of thought- ful educators, parents and even stu- dents is beginning to turn again to the small college, with its better chance for individual development. England has never lost this idea. The big English universities are made up of groups of small colleges, each complete in itself, with its own organization, equipment and character. American colleges, swamped with students, may be obliged to adopt a similar system. * ok K % ‘The New York Times is impressed by the thought that the donor of the mil- given it a better start financially than many of the colleges in Oxford or Cam- bridge had.” The Times, which su~vests that “it cannot be doubted that the unknown founder of this college within John Harvard's college will have his reward, both in what is accomplished at Harvard and what is suggested for adoption elsewhere,” makes comparisons with ~ famous English institutions: “Balliol, the famous Oxford - college, began with the hiring of a house by | Robert Balliol for the accommodation of 16 poor scholars, who were allowed 8 pence a day for their expenses. Others had almost as modest a beginning. Even Magdalen, with all its relative wealth, had an endowment yielding only £4,000 a year. Christ Church, by con trast, started off with a great flourish, being the frequent recipient of royal favors ““Undoubtedly mere size of an insti- tution,” says the Manchester Union, “is not wholly an asset, so far as the de- velopment of the student is concerned. ‘There has been complaints that fre- quently the individual is lest in the crowd.” The Union, however, takes the view that this innovation “will evi- dently differ widely from the curious experiment in progress at the Univer- sity of Wisconsin, where a chosen group of students is set apart and intrusted almost altogether with its own choosing of tasks and system of executing them. It will follow a course a good deal more | likely to appeal to academic judgment. And its results will be watched closely | by other institutions confronted in va- rying deeree with the same problem that so long has perplexed the Harvard | authorities.” 1 * % | ‘The significance of the experiment, | as viewed by the Minneapolis Tribune, is | found in the conclusion that “a consid- erable group of Harvard undergradu. ates will assume a new individuality and that this group will be bound to- gether’ by a community of interests which Is scarcely possible under present conditions. It promises that certain lions for the Harvard experiment “has | Significant Experiment Seen In Harvard’s Small College for stimulating contacts will be greatly increased. The larger universities have lately been criticized, and with a great deal of justice, for their unpe,ann], standardized machine technique,” s: : the Tribune. +It may mark a revqlution in the larger American colleges,” in the opin- on of the Springfield Republican, “in the direction of the English system. Not the least interesting thing about the plan is that it was recommended by a council of undergraduates who two years ago made a serious study of edu- cation at Harvard and came to the conclusion that the college should be subdivided into smaller units.” As to the certainty of success, the Providence Journal thinks that “it is not impossible that the Harvard experi- ment will extend no farther,” and that “there will still be time to copy it when it has proved ifself to be a genuine and valuable forward step in higher educa- tion.” The plan is described by the Journal: “The students will be selected for admission to thid group, but not by ordinary intelligence tests. Students of varied interest will be preferred, and the Phi Beta Kappa man will hobnob with the athlete, the clubman with the non-clubman. Outside the walls of this residential college the students will mix with other members of their own classes and with members of other classes, Just as they are now doing. The ex- periment is essentially a social one.” A word of caution comes from the Lansing State Journal, which argues: “Though thire are those who are stick- lers for the benefits of the small college, even though little heard by the public, yet he is a narrow small-college advo- cate, indeed, who does not acknowledge that big institutions of learning also have their advantages. For the most part such advantage is acknowledged. At Harvard, then, there is to be an attempt to conserve both ideas. At- tempt will have to be in the nature of a compromise—that goes without say- ing—but compromises are not always to be deprecated. The age of undergrad- uates has so tended toward younger years—and the tendency may So ccue tinue—that any attempt to bring stue dents under closer facully friendships and to associate them more intimately with their student fellows must have sanction.” Disaster of Vestris Makes Two Heroes From the Albany Evening News “‘But there is neither East nor West nor border nor breed nor birth.” One thinks of that much of Kipling's verse as he reads the story of Lionel Licorish, a negro of the Vestris, who saved a score of lives. In all the tale of that ll-fated ship, in the midst of the exhibitions of inefficiency, indecision, blundering and cowardice, it is refresh- ing to look at the other side of the picture. Lionel Licorish had gone his way humbly. There was nothing distin- guished about him. He was of another race than ours. The pictures show him black and flat-nosed and wide-mouthed. And the glory of his deed shows him a man of men. When the emergency came he rose to meet it. Untiring, calm, he saved one after another, his arm_stretching out into the sea and catching the drowning. He deserves recognition as a hero. It is good to read, too, of brave O'Loughlin, radio operator, who con- tinued at his post and sent out call after call for help. His death is one that cowards who live must envy. The stories of brave deeds are re: suring, the men below passing coal above their heads over the incoming water, obeying orders with death about them, the men and women helping one another in the open sea. There is much to regret, much to question and to reprove in this tragedy that took so many lives that perhaps need not have been lost. but, as always in dis- asteg, there ars the brighter glimpses of the goodness of human nature. the courage, even the divinity, that is n members of the faculty and certain un- d.rgraduates will be thrown together into close and mutually advantageous association, and that the. opportunities man. & “How far that candle thro™: his § beams! So shines a good deed i & naugh'y world”