Evening Star Newspaper, November 26, 1928, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. MONDAY.....November 26, 1928 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Bustness Office: 11th 8t. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd Bt. 0 _Office: Tower Buildint. 4 Regent St London. e Sundays! The Evening snd St (when 5 Sundays 65¢ per month The Runday Sta .5¢ per copy Collection made at the end of each month. Orders may be sent in by mail cr telephone Main 5000. i und ). Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Dally and Sunday....1 yr., $10.00: 1 mo., 85c Daily enly ‘1 yr, '$6.00: 1 mo.. 50c Sunday only 1 yr, $4.00: 1 mo., 40c All Other States a: Daily end Sunda Daily only - Sunday only .. Member of the Associated Pres ! ‘The Associated Press i< exclusively entitled to the use for repuslization of all 1 ews dis- patches credited to it or not ctherwise cred- ited in this paper and also the Incal news published herein. All rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. = ind Canada. $12.00: 1 mo., $1,00 $8.00; 1 mo, 8¢ 1 1y, $5.00; 1 mo. t0c T The Safety-Responsibility Law. Both proponents and opponents of compulsory automobile insurance will doubtless be gratified with the safety- responsibility law. the principles of which have just been announced by the American Automobile Association after & close study of the entire question of motorists’ liability-on the highways by a specially selected committee of traffic experts from all sections of the country. Logically the leader in legislative pro- posals for the benefit of motoring, the association, realizing the universal de- mand for a law which will remove the reckless and insolvent driver from the streets of every community, has with the introduction of this measure taken its rightful place in command of the forces to promote safety and responsis bility throughout the United States. ‘The proposal of the association, which is expected to serve as a model for legislation on this important question in every State of the Union and the District of Columbia, comprises four basic principles—universal adoption of & drivers’ license law, suspension of per- mit of persons found guilty of major traffic offenses until they have proved financial liability, suspension of the driving permits of persons against whom Judgments have been levied for automo- “bile accidents until the judgments are liquidated, and a proviso in the drivers’ license law of all States which will for- bid the issuance of a permit to any per- son whose privilege to drive is suspend- ed in any other State for failure to re- spond to damages or because of serious violations of motor vehicle laws. Thus the association would first put into effect a drivers’ license law in the thirty States which are at present with- must guard against the dangers of an- thropomorphism in dealing with the behavior of animals, so the historian must guard against the dangers of painting the past in the colors of the present. The sources of details in American history are widespread. Up to the present it has hardly been possible to examine them because there have been no guide books. Consequently various phases of history have been neglected or only partly studied. One of the most fruitful sources of such details is found in the archives of the French government, the reports of civil officials, military and naval offi- cers, explorers, missionaries, trappers and spies. Not only do these yellowed letters packed away in Paris vaults fur- nish hitherto unappreciated viewpoints, but they abound in colorful facts, some of which may have a devastafing effect on some of the most popular American legends. The Carnegie Institution of Wash- ington, to aid the researches of future historians, has just finished the task of cataloguing more than 500,000 such manuscripts—letters, official reports, military orders, bills of lading, etc. It was a monumental task, the performers of which could expect nothing but ob- scurity so far as the general public is concerned. But it will mean a truer, fairer, more appreciative historical pic- ture for the future. For example, in the report of a French secret agent in the Colonies has been found the only eyewitness account of | the famous scene in the House of Bur- gesses at Willilamsburg during the stamp tax debate which long has been incrusted in legend. Closer examina- tion of the letters doubtless will reveal wmany other items of equal value. RIS Better Clothes for Good Men. Maj. Gen. Robert H. Allen, Chief of Infantry, is to be commended for his attempts to obtain better clothing for the American doughboy. In his annual report to the Secretary of War he has stated that one woolen uniform is not sufficient for a three-year enlistment, and further points out that the soldier, on pass or elsewhere in public, does not like to appear in the issue clothing, “the quality, fit and general appearance of which are too well known to require further condemnation.” ‘Thus Gen. Allen adds his voice to a sonsiderable list of distinguished voices which, during the decade since the armistice, have deplored the clothing of the American soldier on the grounds of quality, appearance and lack of va- riety, In former days an enlisted man pos- sessed two sets of clothing, the olive- drab for campaigning field service and | the blue for dress, not counting the khaki and the white cotton for special service or weather conditions. Every one knows that two suits of clothes last considerably more than twice as long as one. ‘Were the pre-war dress blue revived, out this weapon for the control of the | a5 has bedn urgently recommended from ‘motor car operator; second, would allow time to time, the difficulty on which no motorist the privilege to drive, after |the Chief of Infantry lays emphasis he had shown recklessness, unless he | would be remedied, not only from an could furnish proof of financial re- sponsibility; third, would do away for all time with the motorist who carries his property or other assets in his wife's name to avold payments of judgments or the motorist who is financially in- | capable of liquidating judgments,, be- | cause neither of these two classes could again operate automobiles until they had settled in full for their indebted- ness, and fourth, would make it impos- sible for a motorist to drive again in any State while he was under a ban n his home State. One of the main arguments against the Massachusetts compulsory insurance law was that it penalized the great body of careful motorists for the sins of the | reckless and the insolvent. The pro- posal of the American Automobile As- sociation does away with this objection. It puts the issue squarely up to the in- dividual driver. In the eighteen States and the District of Columbia which now | have & permit law the driver's license is summarily revoked following convic- | tion of driving while intoxicated, reck- less driving or other major offenses. | Under the A. A. A. proposal there would | be no change in this provision except | that the reckless operator would not be able to regain his permit until he had demonstrated ability to pay for damages that he might cause. The judgment- proof motorist has long been ‘one of the terrors of the road. He is responsible to no one and cannot be reached through due processes of law. The doom of this class of driver is spelled by the terms of the proposed measure. If a court of competent jurisdiction levies a judg- ment against him he cannot drive a car until the judgment is liquidated. ‘This clause will not only prevent trans- fer of assets, but will remove from the streets those who from an economical standpoint are unfit to operate a.poten- | tlally dangerous vehicle inasmuch as| they are without means to compensate | for damages they may cause by their | own recklessness. The safety-responsibility law is a well rounded legislative proposal. It should be considered as a great stride forward in the promotion of safety throughout | the United States. e No modesty on the part of a newly elected President can prevent the en-| thusiasm of the public from asserting itself in recognition of a quadrennial March 4 as one of the greatest days in history. -t The French Archives. Details are the sine qua non of a true picture of the past. They are the pigments with which the historian must work, whether his task be interpretative or descriptive. Without them he can hardly do otherwise than present the times that are gone in the false colors of present-day manners and habits of thinking. ‘The moving figures in American his- tory were essentially men of their times, living in the atmosphere of their times. They were not men of the twentieth century wearing wigs and knee breeches at a masquerade ball. ‘They wore wigs and knee breeches in exactly the same way that a man of to- day wears a felt hat and a tailored sult. They talked the language of their times, ate the food of their times and generally were guided by the ethical codes of their times. task for the historian, after all, is to | bial door nail. The most difficult | economic but from an artistic stand- voint, together with one of morale. A vear ago the published report of Maj. Gen. Cheatham, quartermaster general of the Army, declared the fighting force’s morale was “depressed” by its clothing. A little more than a year ago the Bureau of the Budget rejected a plan to return to the pre-war blue on the ground that such an expenditure was unwarranted at that time. ‘This Nation is not exactly passing | through hard times even now, and some day it will undoubtedly reach a point of prosperity sufficient to dress ils small Army commensurately with its fair- sized Navy and Marine Corps. In the meanwhile, more power to officers like Gen. Allen, who keep pounding away in an effort to bring to an end a stand- ard of clothing caused by and appro- priate to a conflict which ended ten years ago. THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., chance to elect a mayor. But the chances are that Hylan's candidacy would draw as strongly from the Re- publicans as from the Democrats. It has been possible to beat Tammany in tions, only through a fusion of the Republicans and the disgruntled Demo- crats and independents. Whether such a fusion can be worked out in the cam- paign of 1929 remains to be seen. It is scarcely likely, however, that the Re- publicans would rally with any enthusi- asm to the cause of former Mayor Hylan. Mr. Hylan's effort during the two terms he served as mayor was to keep the street car fare at 5 cents. If he enters the campaign for mayor again, doubtless this will be one of his issues, though in an interview in New York he has declared that the main issue of the coming mayoralty race is whether New York shall be permitted to fall into the hands of the underworld. L A New Altimeter. A new altimeter for airplanes which will indicate to a pilot his altitude above solid carth has been. developed by Dr. E. F. W. Alexanderson, consult- ing engincer of the General Electric Co., in conjunction with Army Air Corps engineers. This device, which is the fruit of the labor of many years on one of the greatest problems con- fronting aviation, bids fair to mark an epochal achievement in the battle against nature for safety in the skies. The present altimeter is merely an aneroid barometer which registers, not height above the ground, but height above sea level, and is subject to at- mospheric pressure which may render its indications false. The value of the new instrument, if | further tests prove its entire reliability, can easily be realized. An aviator fly- ing over mountainous terrain can know with exactness his proximity to ob- structions, while with the present al- timeter he may be heading directly for a mountainside at an indicated alti- tude which would apparently give him plenty of room to clear. In other words, an eight-thousand-foot altitude regis- tered on the present meter would prob- ably not assure safety to a pilot flying over the Rockies, but with the new device he would be warned of danger by the fact that his meter showed only a few hundred feet above the ground. Next to slower take-off and landing speeds or a vertically ascending and descending machine, the development of the tvpe of altimeter announced by Dr. Alexamgierson is probably-the most important contribution to safety in aviation. One of the most difficult tasks of an aviator is flying blind, which means that the pilot is unable because of fog or storms or -darkness to pick up landmarks and must use only instruments to determine his po- sition. With Dr. Alexanderson’s inven- tion, however, and with the profusion of accurate devices that today dot the instrument board of the modern air- plane, the blind-flying pilot should be almost as safe as if he were flying in daylight in a cloudless sky. ———————_ A stock ticker is now engaged in speeding to the next filling station for more tape. ————— Any advocate of rigid economy may be excused for shivering if he happens to be standing in line at the box office when a genuine theatrical success is in evidence. N Suicide is against the law. Some of the more reckless fiyers should be re- quired to study law as well as aviation. —————— It is evidently the opinion of New York statesmen that Al Smith's per- sonal popularity represents a natural resource which should not be allowed to g0 to waste, e Best able to afford a war, the U. S. A. is of all nations the most earnest in seeking to avoid one. R B “Licorish,” the boy who saved many lives when the Vestris sank, mourns the loss of his Bible, He should be pro- vided with every means of education. So strong a sense of ethics is too valu- able to lack intellectual and spiritual support. B Can Hylan Come Back? New York City has a big political battle of its own scheduled for 1929, although politics in the rest of the country may be as dead as the prover- For the greater city elects its mayor next year. Possibly the country outside of New York City may blink with surprise at a suggestion that the wisecracking “Jimmy” Walker may have serious opposition for this position, provided he intends to be a candidate to succeed himself. The fact of the matter is, however, that John F. Hylan, former mayor, is thinking seriously of attempting to stage a comeback. Al- ready an orgenization is being perfected to conduct the Hylan campaign. Mayor Walker was elected in a bitter | three-cornered ~battle with Hylan, whom | he succeeded, and the Republican! nominee, Waterman, a busines man put forward by his party on the theory that the city should have a business adminis- | tration. Gov. Alfred E. Smith, who in former years had given his support to Hylan, turned his back on the former mayor and campaigned for “Jimmy"| ‘Walker. William Randolph Hearst took up the cudgels for Mr. Hylan, and there ensued a campaign of mudslinging, with Gov. Smith on one side and Mr. Hearst on the other, that has rarely been equaled. Walker won handily. But now Mr. Hylan apparently be- lieves that the time has come for a reversion to things as they were in Greater New York. Possibly the defeat of Gov. Smith for the presidency has given him courage to undertake a come- | back in.the city where Tammany has | been supreme. The presidential elec- tion, so far as New York City was concerned, was a distinct disappoint- ment to the Democrats, and by the Democrats is meant the Tammany leadership. Instead of rolling up 600,000 | plurality for Gov. Smith in the city, as it was heralded Tammany would do, it fell short by hundreds of thousands of | votes. Possibly Mr. Hylan figures that if the people of New York were willing [to take a crack at their idol, Gov. | Smith, they might be willing to go even further and unhorse. the mayor next year, If the Democrats are divided between gain an intellectual appreciation of this fact. Otherwise his history can be only A shocking number of reasons are suggested for the sinking of the Ves- tris, any one of which would have suf- ficed for a disaster. S SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSOY, Transmutation. Genius has toiled, oft and again, A marvel to unfold. It takes a little bit of Brain And turns it into Gold. But Genius, growing overbold, May one day seek in vain To take a quantity of Gold And turn it back to Brain. Universal Agreement. “You are exceedingly enthusiastic about Thanksgiving day.” “Yes,” answered Senator Sorghum. “The Thanksgiving proclamation is an announcement that compels persons of all shades of political opinion to be thoroughly in accord with the ideas of the administration.” Jud Tunkins says the high price of a seat on the Stock Exchange makes 1t {look like the big financial show had been taken over by the musical comedy managers. Drama Helpless in Reform. The Crime Wave still evokes dismay, Although it may subside in time. The Crime Play, so the critics say, Itself is an Artistic Crime. Uncertainty of Opinion. “Leonidas used to think he was al- ways right,” said Mr. Meekton's wife. “How did you cure him of that?” “I got him a job as a weather fore- caster.” “A debt,” said Hi Ho, the sage of | Chinatown, “has its solace in signifying that a friend has been willing to trust you.” Rescuing Human Nature. When great disaster makes us fear For Human Nature, there draws near A Hero. Deepest thanks are due | From all, Friend “Lickorish,” to you! “It's wrong to gamble,” said Uncle Eben, “an’ if you hangs on till you hits a losin’ streak you won't need de police to tell you s0.” — -t Small Stuff —We Have Gangsters. From the Dayton Daily News, King Alfonso wants American tour- Hylan and Walker in the coming con- ists to visit Spain, and, just to make the country a little more attractive, he is dable. Just.as the zoologist constantly test, the Republicans might have a :laging a few Fevolutions the past, in New York mayoralty elec- | “Johnny likes his new wagon,” she said. “Why, he hasn’t ruined it yet!" Thus little sister, in two short sen- tences, epitomized modern childhood. A philosopher, going along the side- walk, might have paused to wonder when boys and girls of this era are "ever to secure a sense of property valu- ation and care. Parents, being too busy to be philoso- phers, take childhood's destructiveness as a part of the game, and prefer steel toys as likely to stand the most strain. Care of personal property seems natural to some people, unnatural to others, so that perhaps there is no hard and fast line to be drawn in the matter. Yet, to many, carelessness and indif- ference in this respect seem crimes of the first water. Proper care of the home, the furni- ture, the car, the radio set, clothing, books—this seems to such persons com- mon sense as well as a_keen pleasure. Order in the daily life is one of the good qualities which many feel to be vanishing from American life, yet there can be little doubt that it still exists in thousands of families where good living is an integral part of existence. R The sad truth is that many persons no longer seem to know how to live, in the best sense of such a phrase. Their mentalities have been so warped by the pleasures and excitements of our palpitating modernity that they profess to regard care of property as extreme fussiness. As a matter of plain fact, only those persons born with the proverbial “silver spoon” in their mouths can afford to be indifferent to such things, and even the most casual survey shows that such persons are exactly those who are never careless or indifferent in such matters. Nor. on the other hand, can poor but honest people be accused of gross neg- lect of property. The trouble seems to come in the great middle class. a broad and indefinite term, sure enough, but one usually understood by most. It is said by house-to-house canvass- ers that this is the easiest class to “work,” since they h4ave money to spend and are readily accessible. The rich., it is pointed out, have servants at their doors; the man trying to sell something from the doorstep never gets to the man with the money. The poor, it is explained, have no money. The great hunting ground of all those trying to sell from the door- sill is the community peopled by the comfortable middle crass. ; Usually the “lady of the house” does her own work and answers her own doorbell. And, what is more to the point from the vantage ground of the salesman, is that she has plenty of money to spend. * ok k% To live in a hectic, careless and in- different fashion does not seem to meet the demands of truly good living, ac- cording to the standards of those who disapprove of such ways. Time, they believe, has set up cer- tain standards which obedience or dis- obedience in no whit lessens. The standards stand sure; no matter what treatment they receive. This seems to be an idea, or ideal, which is foreign to many. Because they disapprove of something, they think that their very disapproval does away with what they disapprove! Nothing could be farther from the truth. As the artist said to the ignorant man who disapproved of a masterpiece, ‘The painting judges you. not you the painting.” A woman, look- WASHINGTON BY FREDERIC Herbert Hoover is afloat—also aroll— with a trio of men who are likely to be his kitchen cabinet. They are all writing men, whatever that may fore- shadow. Their names are Mark Sulli- van, Will Irwin and George Barr Baker. Irwin is “covering” the trip as the rep- resentative of a news syndicate, but, like Sullivan and Baker, he accom- panies Hoover to South America at the President-elect’s private invitation. The country may be certain that the trinity of scribes now aboard the Maryland will be powers around the White House throne after March 4. 1929. Irwin was Hoover's roommate and classmate at Stanford University. Baker, after serv- ing as a naval cable censor in the World War with the rank of command- er, became associated with Hoover's post-war relief work in Europe and in 1920 managed the Californian's pre- convention publicity campaign. Sulli- van has been one of the President- elect'’s journalistic intimates and ad- visers since the war. He accompanied Hoover on numerous Department of Commeree trips and once or twice blos- somed out as his political spokesman. * K ok K If the Army could pick Hoover's Sec- retary of War for him there'd be an almost unanimous vote in favor of for- mer Senator James W. Wadsworth, jr., of New York. Dwight F. Davis, the present head of the War Department, would be an acceptable inheritor of his own portfolio, but if Davis becomes a member of the Hoover administration the expectation is he’ll be an Ambas- sador. Wadsworth not only is a one- time soldier, but as the long-time chair- man of the Senate military affairs committee he knows and loves the Army through and through. It was always his major interest when in Con- gress. New York State will present one of Hoover's first-class problems when the time comes to parceling out cab- inet plums. No one is accounted surer of sitting at the next President’s official table than “Bill” Donovan of Buffalo, in the capacity of Attorney General. That may exhaust the Empire State's cabinet quota. * oKk ok Washington dinner tables and 5 o'clock teas are rocking with a roman- tic bit of Republican rumor, It as- sociates in sentimental vein the names of two very high-ups in the late presi- dential campaign, both of whom hap- pen to be eligible to re-entry in the matrimonial arena. Sweeping re- organization of the national commit- {tee might be necessitated, if Hymen triumphs, unless the G. O. P. were con- tent to let its managerial matters be- come a family affair. * ok ok K A young American well known in of- ficial Washington, George L. Harrison, has just been appointed to one of the country's blue ribbon financial posts, the governorship of the Federal Re- serve Bank of New York. He suc- ceeds the late Benjamin Strong. After graduation from the Harvard Law | School in 1913, Harrison served for a year as legal secretary to Justice Oliver ‘Wendell Holmes of the United States Supreme Court. in 1914 he was ap- pointed assistant_general counsel of the Federal Reserve Board. Following Red Cross service in France, Harrison be- came counsel of the Federal Reserve Board, and in 1920 left Washington |to be deputy governor of the Reserve Bank in New York City. He has made himself an expert on foreign financing, and in recent years conducted a num- ber of negotiations leading to exten- sion of vast dollar credits to interna- tional banks of issue. Harrison is 41 years old. He vaults now into a $50,000 annual salary. * ok k¥ “Honest, Vic” Donahey, who is about to leave the governorship of Ohio after three successive terms, doesn’t think that trafficking in worthless German marks currency is an extraditable of- fense. Federal law officers at Washing- ton are interested in a recent decree of his to that effect. A Greek restaurant proprietor in Detroit wanted to prose- cute in Michigan a fellow-Hellene, who had sold him $107,000,000 in pre-war German lithographs for 8400, The purveyor of marks emigrated to / THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. ing at Botticelli's “Spring,” sald, “It is terrible!” What she should have said was, “I think it is terrible!” The whole thing reminds one of the ancient nar- rative of the man who stood by the rail- road track as the great train went by. He began to rave about the greatness locomotives, etc. Suddenly a cinder got in his eye. Then he began to curse. But nothing had changed except his cye. ‘The standards of living which call for respect for property, particularly one's own, are the outgrowth of thou- sands of years of property owning by the peoples of the world. It is based not only on valuation, no unimportant matter, but also on the difficulty which most men and women have to secure anything. It would seem that an auto- mobile which cost several hundreds of dollars would be worth a certain amount of care, not only by reason of its actual cost in dollars and cents, but even more because the owner probably pined for a car many months before he was able to get one. Yet nothing is mere common than to see the family flivver kept out in the strects day and night in utter neglect, without any one to_do it reverence. The same thing applies to houses, perhaps in a greater degree, tomobiles are more in the cl pleasures than houses, which are ‘re- garded more as necessities, and it is usual for men to take more pains in regard to their pleasures than their necessities. Houses are permitted to go unpainted until the bare boards show through, until shingles are worn down to the grain. Gutters and downspouts become rusted and full of holes, yet owners do not think of doing anything about the matter until the water be- gins pouring down the side of the house. e { In the world where most human be- | ings, fortunately or unfortunately for | them, must hew out their own fortunes. taking every possible advantage of nat- ural talents, the whims of others, the advantages of the moment and just plain luck, it would secm reasonable for them to hold onto what they get. in the same way that a mother bird will fight for her nest, carefully add- ing bits of string and leaves to make it a softer and better home. A certain pride in property is as much a benefit to be gained from own- ership as the actual possession of the thing itself. This, too, is based upon the fact that most ownership, by and large, is the result of effort. physical and mental. The physical care of fur- niture, for instanee, gives its owner more appreciation for beautiful things. and such appreciation is one of the real pleasures of life. Two families buy like quantities and qualities of high-grade mahogany pieces. In one family the | children are permitted to kick and scufl everything. In the other they are made to realize, not only the value of fine things, but also to take a legitimate pride in keeping beautiful things beauti- ful. After a year one home resembles a pig gen. the other a real home. Can there be any doubt that the children in the second have actually received, not only good lessons, but a tangible, measurable appreciation which will be a part of their lives forever? One would not ask that such appreciation be carried to the point of crankiness. bore- dom or officiousness, but simply that it have a part in every human life. Even the little girl appreclated this when she said, “Johnny likes his new wagon—he hasn't ruined it yet!" OBSERVATIONS WILLIAM WILE. | | Ohio after completing the transaction. Eviracdition proceedings were held be- fore Gov. Donahey. When told that the buyer of the paper had had four whole days to consider the deal, “Vic” decided it was a “personal matter” be- tween the Greeks and refused to hand the seller over to the tender mercies of the Wolverine police. AR When the National Grange was in session at Washington group of county agents of the Depart- ment of Agriculture expressed a desire to meet the director of the budget. En- gaged as they are in extension work in the farming field, they thought they might sell Gen. Lord the idea of having a heart when appropriations for agri- cultural research fall within the shadow of . his trusty ax. The delegation in- cluded horny-handed gentlemen from Missouri, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, Iowa and Vermont. The Wis- consin agent was a husky Swede named Rooert Amundson. “What county do you come from?” Gen. Lord asked. “Outagamie County, Wisconsin,” the big Scandinavian replied with a Norse ac- cent. “I ought'a give you what?” the astornished budget boss retorted. P Few of the many thousands of con- gratulatory telegrams that reached Her- bert Hoover at Palo Alto before he sailed | South could have tickled him more than the one he got from Willlam W. Bride, corporation .counsel of the District of Columbia. Bride was in London in 1915 and 1916 as representative of big American importing interests anxious to get Belgian goods through the allied blockade. That brought him into con- tact with both Hoover, then at the head of Belgian relief, and with Walter Hines Page, American Ambassador to Great Britain. By chance all three of them— Hoover, Page and Bride—happened to meet one day at the American embassy. When Hoover had left, Page turned to the Washington lawyer, and said: “Keep your eye on that man Hoover. He's fit to be President of the United States some day.” The District of Columbia corporation counsel told Hoover that story for the first time in his wire of congratulation after clection. (Copyright, 1928.) UNITED STATES IN WORLD WAR Ten Years Ago Today. The allies prepare to make a de- mand for the ex-Kaiser following the opinion of British law officers that he can be extradited. Holland holds that she cannot surrender him without Ger- many's consent. The Reds clamor for the former Kaiser's trial as the result of disclosures made in Munich con- cerning the complicity of Germany in bringing on war. * * * Government ownership of ocean transport facilities will be greatly increased under the de- cision, announced the United States Shipping Board tonight, that the United States Government will purchase ‘the fleet of 85 vessels of the International Mercantile Marine on the terms re- cently offered by a British syndicate. # * * Allied opinion is firm for forc- ing the Germans to repay war losses to her victors. No concession will be considered on the ground that the Ho- henzollerns are out of control. It is intimated that the allies may occupy the former empire if an attempt is made to escape reparation. * * * For- mer President Taft asserts that Presi- dent Wilson should go to Paris for the Peace Conference and help form a League of Nations. * * * Belgium's loss due to the war is unofficially esti- mated at $7,600,000,000. ——oee Eaey to Remember. From the Indianapolis News. Even the young-timers can remember when there was no sale of liquor on election day. o What Kind of Ideas? From the Huntington (W. Va.) Advertiser. Girls, here's a tip. Marry a druggist and he can give you lots of ideas about cooking. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, of railroad companies, the majasty of | last week, a| 1928. Tuskegee Issues Christmas Appeal To the Editor of The Star: ‘Tuskegee !nstl“ for many years past has been unate in having friends contribute such clothing, books, pictures, Christmas cards and booklets, toy:, et both new and old. as they could spare, for needy colored children of the South. Because of the backward conditions in many rural communities and other | conditions surrounding rural life, there | is often much actual suffering in the homes, and there will be many hearts | deprived of real Christmas cheer be- jcause of the absence of necessities, as | well as toys and other such things that | gladden the hearts of children. We feel that our friends will be glad of the opportunity to contribute some- thing toward the bringing of happi- ness to many of these homes that oth- erwise might be neglected during the holiday season. ‘Tuskegee Institute will be glad to serve again this year, as in former years, | as a distributing center for these’ gifts | and place them where they are most needed and where they will be most sin- | cer=ly appreciated. i Some friends prefer to send money | with which to purchase these gifts and in each instance the donation is spent as directed by the donor. Packages and letters may be addressed to: ROBERT R. MOTON, Principal, Tuskegee Institute, Alabama. ————— | Hoover Is Regarded As Emissary of Pea To the Editor of The Star- Perhaps your readers would like to know that some of the ideas about Quakers, which were recently published in The Star, are erroneous. The writer called the members of the So- ciety of Friends “communicants.” Now that is a very good word but wholly out of place when applied to Friends, since they do not use the rite of baptism nor of communion as practiced with sym- | bols, as they believe all such acts have | a spiritual significance only, and, as such have no need for symbols. It has been said that God alw: has & man ready for the time of need—Lin- coln to abolish slavery, Wilson to con- clude the World War, and now, when all the nations of the world are appeal- ing for peace, Herbert Hoover is made the leader of the most powerful Nation on earth—Herbert Hoover, a member i of the Society of Friends—Quakers who have stood for peace through persecu- tion and eriticism and sarcasm and im- | prisonment. Our future President is the son of a Quakeress and grew up in the atmosphere of a community where peace was a household word. And in all his journeyings over land and sea he never saw fit to unite with another religious organization, but when the op- portunity came he attended the little Quaker churches and sat quite naturally and without effort through the period of silence which precedes the spoken word. And so we trust we are ap- proaching the time foretold by the prophet when “Nation shall not rise up against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” A. M. GARDNER. e Schwah. Philosophy On Lile Interesting From the Chicaro Dailv News. Charles M. Schwab, the steel man, head of a powerful corporation, has acquired wisdom as well as an inval- uable expert knowledge in his own technical field. Occasionally he preaches a lay sermon on life, happiness and the sort of success that counts. These informal discourses ordinarily are in accord with the deepest philosophy. Mr. Schwab urges cheerfulness in failure, indifference to wealth, love of work for its own sake and the pursuit of rational happiness. Money, he says, is merely a symbol of successful en- deavor and is not at all a measure of true success. Riches are of little per- sonal use, he insists, and the older one grows the less satisfaction one derives from accumulated wealth, unless one has taken the trouble to learn the art of giving or of investing in social and cultural blessings. Mr. Schwab says he is poorer financially today than he was 20 years ago, which means that he is happier and conscious of having furthered worthy enterprises unselfishly. ‘What about retirement from active service? Mr. Schwab evidently does not belicve in any abrupt change of habit ! and routine. He prefers to die in har- ness, instead of condemning himself to boredom by living for amusement only. He knows that amusements cease to amuse or interest when one has nothing else to do. However, the enlightened man of affairs, or of science, seeks to live a balanced life, and such a life presupposes work, rest, play, social companionship, duties faithfully dis- charged: and the higher satisfactions properly appreciated and enjoyed. The man who works simply because he has not learned to do anything else is as unfortunate as the man who plays be- | cause he has not learned to work. Common sense, like mental hygicne | and philosophv, teaches the abundant | and balanced li R Movies Have Problem In Finding Villains! From the Cleveland Plain Dealer. | able types. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. The answers to questions printed here each day are specimens picked from the mass of inquiries handled by our great Information Bureau mal tained at Washington, D. C. This vi uable 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, in- close 2 cents in coin or stamps for re- turn postage, and address The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C. Q. Did the people who came over here on the Graf Zeppelin have pass- ports?—H. M. G. 'A. Most of the foreigners coming to the United States on the Graf Zeppelin had passports. For those who did not, special arrangements were made, since the situation was unusual. Q —W. 8. A. Polo ponies are of no special breed. They are usually undersized thorough- breds. The qualities desired in a polo pony are short legs and back, big barrel, speed and endurance. Sometimes polo ponies are produced by cyossing thor- oughbred stallions with mares of desir- The training is the most rtant part in the production of ponies. Of what breed are polo ponies? S. polo Q. How many acres are there in the Ford concession in Brazil>—R. 8. ‘A. There are 3.700.000 acres in the tract of land that Henry Ford is de- veloping in Brazil. Q. What does “to shanghai a person” mean?—C. S. A. “To shanghai a person” is to drug, intoxicate or render him insensible and ship him as a sailor—usually to secure advance money or a premium. Q. When was oil light?>—F. A. ‘A. From the earliest times oil has been a source of light and until the middle of the nincteenth century enly oils of vegetable and animal origin were employed in indoor lamps. Colza and sperm oils were chiefly used. It was not until 1853 that mineral oil was in- troduced as an illuminant, but the dis- covery of oil in Pennsylvania in 1859 led to the extensive use of this com- modity in the United States. The first American patent for a petroleum lamp is dated 1859. Q. Where do the wild geese come from that are going south in the Au- tumn?—J. T. B. A. The principal breeding ground for wild geese is the region from Alberta, Canada, east to the Hudson Bay region. These birds usually Winter in the Gulf States. Q. Do other countries bottle their milk?>—F. H. S. Mexico and South American A. | countries bottle very little milk. Eng- land and Canada use many bottles similar to ours. Germany bottles little gu'l'fi but other European countries use ottles. Q. How many pounds of radium are there in the world?>—F. J. A. A. All the radium produced in the world amounts to about 1.2 pounds. Q. What kinds of wood did the early Greeks and early Romans use in carved woodwork?—L. T. D. A. Cypress, cedar, juniper and ebony were in general use. Q. How many hospitals in the United States are operated by Roman Catho- lics?—D. K. A. The American Medical Association says: “Our list of Catholic hospitals shows a total of 560 in the United States. These are practically all gen- eral hospitals doing a work for acute medical and surgical conditions. They have a total capacity of somewhere in the neighborhood of 80,000 beds.” Q. Is Harvard to have a group sys- tem of colleges?>—C. N. C. A. A $3,000,000 fund, given to Har- vard anonymously, is expected to make possible the establishment of a number of small colleges within the university resembling the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge. The fund will be used to build and endow a group of buildings for this purpose. It is emphasized that 1 first burned for | the plan involves no change in th- method of teaching. Q. How many Germans can come to this country to settle each year?— RP.P A. The annual quota of immigrants from Germany is 51 227. Not more than 10 per cent of the quota is allowed to enter in any one month. Q. What is said to be the greatest number of words ever penned on a post | card?>—V. R. | "A. Moses Gellman, a Brooklyn teach- er. has recently penned 14,041 words on | & post card. It was a 30-day task. Bremen flight?>—T. T. 8. A. A memorial tablet was recently unveiled at Greenly Island to mark the spot where the German monoplane ' Bremen landed, ending the first air- plane crossing of the North Atlantic from east to west. Q. What is the derivation of Lon- don’s famous Rotten Row?—D. G. A. It is derived from the French phrase, “Route du Roi,” which meant the “King's drive.” Q. Why is John Barton Payne. chair- man of the American Red Cross, given the title “judge”?—J. T. H. A. Judge Payne earned the ftitle through several years on the bench. He was special judge of the Circull Court, Tucker County, W. Va., in 1880, and judge in the Superior Court, Cook County, Ill, from 1893 until 1898, when he resigned. Q. Should mushrooms be peeled be- fore cooking?—K. E. E. A. It is not necessary to peel cultl- vated mushrooms. All that is necessary is a rinsing under running water or wiping with a soft cloth, Q. _What is a chantey?—C. D. A. It is a sailors’ song. sung to lighten or enliven the sailors' tasks. The lead- er, or chantey-man, sings a line or two and the sailors sing the chorus as an accompaniment to the work in hand. Q. At what age do hens stop laying eggs?—J. H. H. A. Records show that hens some- times lay until they are 7 or 8 years old, after which the production de- cre . A hen 6 years of age may be expected to lay a few eggs in the Spring. Q. Of what languages is Yiddish com- posed, and what was the necessity for its invention?—J. N. 8. A. Yiddish is & middle German dia- lect derived under Hebrew and Slavic |nfluences. It is the language spoken | by the Jews in Eastern Europe. the most widely spread dialect of the Jews. Those Jews who, toward the end of the Mid- dle Ages, left Germany for the Slavic lands (Bohemia, Poland. Galicia and Lithuania) spoke the middle high Ger- man of their places of origin and up to the sixteenth century wrote it quite correctly, although they employed the Hebrew alphabet. The absence of ac- tive intercourse with Germany, however, led in time to a process of simplification of morphology and syntax. Thus the genitive in -s, the imperfect. subjunc- tive, and to a I extent the neuter gender were lost: all the prepositions came to be constructed with the dative, etc. At the same time the German sounds underwent certain changes, and a large number of Hebrew, Aramaic and Slavic words were incorporated in the language. The resultant idiom, the Yid- dish, nuprhnud the Slavic spoken by the primitive Jewish settlers in the east of Europe. and has been carried to all parts of the world, including Germany, admitting words and idioms from alt the languages with which it has come into contact. Q. What is the floral emblem of Aleska?—S. S. & A. By an act of the Legislature, ap- proved in 1917, the wild native forget- me-not is the territorial and floral em- blem of Alaska. Q. Does cracked ice cool & refrigera- c;rnmore rapidly than a block of ice?— A. Experiments tend to prove that it does. It has been shown to give 16 per cent lower temperatures with only 3 per cent lower meltage than block ice. Electrification of Railroads Inspires Public Imagination Electrification of railroads. especially of the great trunk line terminals, has become a subject of major popular in- terest since the recent decision of the Pennsylvania Railroad to electrify its lines from New York to Delaware and announcement of similar plan in the East by the Reading Railroad. Applauding the Pennsylvania's prepa- rations to spend $100,000,000 for work covering 325 miles between New York | and Wilmington, Del., the Rochester Times-Union records, as reasons for ac- tion, “greater economy of electric trac- tion compared with steam, increasing density of traffic and need for more rapid movement of passengers and freight, growth of the Southern pas. senger business, desirability of utiliza- tion of electric power in connection Long ago American film producers desisted from their established habit of | providing Mexican _villains for their| Western thrillers. The reason was sim- ple and practical. Mexico is a profit- | able field for cinematographic enter-l prises, and the Mexicans wearied of | seeing themselves always depicted as “bad men.” Now it is the Hollywood | fashion to have Mexican heroes and heroines. At the present moment a number of the most popular stars are | Mexican senors and senoritas (or | senoras). For the same reason it became neces- sary for the American film people to abolish such cherished types as the phi- with terminals at Philadelphia and Newark, desirability of having loco- motive power that will meet the future needs of the territory, and probability that work can be done cheaper now than in the future. Freight efficiency will be doubled by the plan,” says the ‘Times-Union, which believes that “some of these reasons apply to other rail- roads which will now be impelled to look over their electrification plans again,” and that “this will apply par- ticularly to those roads that compete with the Pconsylvania.” * ok kK Further significance is found by the Chicago Daily News in the fact that landering Frenchman, the silly-ass Eng- lishman and the beer-swilling German. | The types were false, but were sanc- tioned by long-established American tradition. They were abandoned in or- | der not to lose the film markets of | France, England and Germany. | Now there has been a great stir in| Italy because of the showing in Rome | of an American superfilm which, ac- | cording to Mussolini, grossly misrepre- | sents present conditions in Italy. The film has been banned and the board of | censors which approved it has been | summarily fired. Inasmuch as the film had an Italian setting, it doubtless had an Italian villain. But it also must have had an Italian hero and heroine. | So we see that the movie producers are in diré straits to find acceptable nationalities for their evil characters. There is even serious complaint when they draw on China or Japan. Per- haps they might get away with a Sia- mese villian or a bad man from Borneo or & Mesopotamian miscreant. The de- mand for American films in Siam and Borneo and Iraq is probably negligible. A safer course is to offer straight Amer- ican villains for the edification of the world-wide audience. We shall always have enough American heroes to coun- terbalance the American villains, and American movie spectators are not par- ticularly sensitive. B Trading Material. From the Lynchburg News. The Democratic party may gain a i great victory yet if it can manage to fool the Republicans into exchanging Norris for Heflin. e Thinking? From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The artist who illuminates his own resting cards is doing his Christmas hinking carly. e e “Billing” Follows Cooing. From the Toledo Blade. As Christmas approaches whispering will be resumed, “the Reading Railroad has decidéd to electrify its service within the Phila- delphia metropolitan district,” and that | paper holds that the Reading and the | Pennsylvania have “dipped into the future and realized the economies and improvements of service obtainable through electrification.” On the Chi- cago situation, the Daily News com- ments: “Many Chicagoans who know how great is the benefit resulting from the Illinois Central's electrification of its great terminal are asking themselves why other railroads that enter Chicago continue to deny themselves and the public similar advantages. What is the matter with the railroad and business executives of the great and growing capital of the Middle West? Electrifi- | cation, along with its other advantages, is one of the most effective permanent remedies for the smoke evil, and it is sure to be applied in time to the vari- ous terminals in this city. The move- ment toward electrification cannot begin too soon.” “The railways have solid facts before them. , They can depend on an aug- mented income as a result of their in- vestment of millions,” in the judgment | of the Philadelphia Record, which sets forth the Reading's expected results: “The lines first to be improved are those | used by thousands of citizens every day in getting to and from their homes. Better service will result, and the parts of the city through which the trains are to run will be relieved of the present discomfort of noise and smoke. The change will bring large areas, now com- paratively sparsely settled, much closer to the center of the city. The announce- ment states that the new trains will mean a daily increase in service of approximately 25 per cent, and a saving of time over present schedules of more than 20 per cent. Such changes will inevitably extend the limits of the metropolitan residential area.” N In the discussion of the $100.000,000 cost for one road between New York and Delaware, the San Francisco Chronicle states: “The outlay is warranted. in the judgment of the management, bscause indicate enormous tyfiic o Ny growth in the area served. It is esti- mated that the New York metropolitan area will within 15 years after the com- pletion of the electrification contain a population of 30,000,000. On the same | ratio of increase the Philadelphia area will contain 10,000,000. The New York- Philadelphia area has the business and the immediate prospects to warrant the outlay and the scrapping of railroad equipment that cost millions of dollars.” The prediction that other roads must “foliow sooner or later” is made by the Lexington Leader, which calls the larger project “the most important ever under- taken in electrification by any American road,” and finds evidence that “the Pennsylvania officials have every faith in the future of rail transportation.” The Leader continues: “Neither air lines, nor truck lines. nor water trans- | port can, in their judgment. take the place or retard the growth of the rail system. Moreover, it indicates the de- | termination of the Pennsylvania to keep | abreast of the times, to provide means | of transportation that are strictly mod- | ern, that will appeal to the public. and that will place the road in a strategic position so far as competition is con- cerned. Electrification will make travel swifter and smoother. It will no doubt lower costs ultimately. It will increase the prestige of the road and invite passenger travel. It will improve the terminals physically, making them cleaner and more healthful.” kb Comparison with Europe is made by the Canton Daily News, which records the interest on this side of the Atlantic in what is being done abroad. “In lump figures,” declares that paper, “the United States probably leads in the electric railway movement among the nations of the world, But, relatively. | European countries are apace with, not ahead of, us in the electrification of railroads. In Switzerland, for in- stance, 1,250 miles of standard rail- road routes operate electric trains Italy and Germany each have about 75 miles electrified, with France, Holland, Poland and others making good prog- ress in the change from steam-driven | to_electric-powered locomotives. It is jsignificant of the extent of the Euro- { pean development that an American | subcommittee is crossing the Atlantic to study electrification of steam rail- roads abroad. America usually has | pointed the way to Europe in transpor- tation advancement, but this time it appears that we are to learn the lesson.” Obstacles in the way of achieving |the desired change in the Western metropolis are mentioned by the Chi- lcufl Tribune, which quotes executives jof the Pennsylvania and New York gentul as giving the impression that nothing can be expected” now at the | Chicago terminals, and that paper con- tinues: “Both of these executives deny that electrification of the New York, termi- nals i_a favoritism to the Fast. ‘Condi- tons," they agree, are different in New York from what they are in Chicago. The distinction seems vague to us. Smoke, soot and cinders, we should judge from the universality of the hu- man constitution, are just as threatene ing to the health of a citizen of Chi- cago as to a resident of New York City. The buildings, clothes and homes of Chicago are just as susceptible to the collection of grime as the buildings, clothes and homes of New York. Chi- €agO ears are no less sensitive to the noise of a steam locomotive than are the composite ears of New York City.”