Evening Star Newspaper, January 7, 1929, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C MONDAY........January 7, 1929 THEODORZ W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: 1ith St. and Pennsyl a Ave. New York Office: 110 East +2nd 8t Chicazo Office’ Tower Buildine. European omce'u event St. ~ondon. ngland. Rate by Carrier Within the City. 45¢ per month 60c per month 65¢ per month ¢ per ccpy o nth. The Sunday Star nd of cach mon by mall cr telephone Collection made at’thi Orders may be sent in ain 5000 Rate by Mall—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. aily and Sunday ally only ... Bunday onlv . .1 yr. $1000; 1 m 1 yr. 36000 1 m 1 yr.l $4.00: 1 mo; 0.. 830 £0¢ 40c All Other States and Canada, d S ] mo.. $1.00 —_—— 1 mo. " 780 1 mo.. S0c Datly Dally only Sundav only Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively tntitied to the use for republication of e . w.ches creditec 10 it or not oth ted 1 this puper and also & Publiched herein. All“rin s of Special dlspatcnes hereln are also reanrved The Country and'the ‘Cruisers. The sort of mistending ‘ammunition which the anti-preparedness group is using to torpedo the cruiser bill is typified by the official announcement of the “Citizens' Conference,” which assembles in Washington tomorrow for the purpose of sinking the Coolidge naval program. “It is the idca of this conference,” its sponsors state for publication, “that while the country is ally opposed to the cruiser bill, a en is piaced upon the country td' the Scnators with the coun- at is the justification for cocksure assertions that “the country is generally opposed to the cruiser bill"? The | measure now under fire came to the| Senate after it received the approva!| of the lower branch of Congress nearly & vear ago. The House of Representa- tives on March 17, 1928, passed the cruiser bill by the overwhelming vote of 287 to 58—a majority of roundly five to one Far from indicating that “the country generally” is agains. the cruiser bill, the House roll call reflected a public senti- | ment in its favor such as is seldom recorded on bshalf of congressional | measures. The vote in the branch of | the National Legislature which isdirectly responsive to the popular will shows the unsoundness of the contention that | the “country generally” disapproves of the administration’s plan to bring the United States Navy within at least gun- shot of Washington treaty strength. It may not be unknown to the dis- tinguished men and women at the anti- cruiser conference that the people of the United States recently elected a President. They chose a candidate who unequivocally espoused strong defense at | welcomes him, He has returnad from men who could use my knowledge in an unlawful way. I have turned them down. Is not there some one who will give an ex-convict a chance?” Within twenty-four hours the appeal had brought a job. Within three days it had brought five offers of jobs. It is now up to the ex-convict to prove himself and it is to be hoped that he will take up his new work with the realization that society, having de- manded and secured payment for his misdeed, is giving him the chance to show the qualities that will admit and keep him a member of the fraternity of good citizens. It is those who have slipped, and slip again when given another op- portunity, who promote the skepti- cism of soclety toward the ex- convict. Consequently this man is fac- ed with a golden chance, whatever his Job, to convince soclety of his true re- pentance, and in convincing, to do other repentant sinners the service.of helping to remove the handicaps they suffer in “coming bdck." —eao—s Mr. Hoover Returns. For the first time since his election,; President-elect Merbert Hoover is in weshington, Me ds here now, not ofii- cially bul In his capacity ac privete citizen. He is avoldlng any sembiance of seeking to lead in governmental matters, recognizing the fact that there 1s but one President of the United States and that President Coolidge fills that office. Notwithstanding Mr. Hoover's evident desire to remain as far as possible’in the background during this interiude between his election and his inaugufa- tlon, it is quite evident that he will be sought by party leaders during his sfay in Washington. Some of them desire to know his position with regard to legislation. Others have friends whom they would like to see appointed to cabinct positions. Mr. Hoover's presence in Washington while he is still President-clect is not without precedent, although generally it has been a practice for Presidents-elect not to make their entry into Washington until the time of their inauguration. The late President Harding, for example, was | a member of the Scnate at the time of his election, and he continued to serve as Senator during part of the short sesslon of Congress which followed his election as President. ‘The President-elect is no stranger to | Washington. He has made it his home practically since the entry of the United | States into the World War, and for the last eight years he has lived here as Secretary of Commerce. Washington a journey that carried him to many of the countries of Central and South America and which has done much already to cement friendly ties between THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., MONDAY, THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL., regardless of theory. There is too good a pragmatic argument in favdr of it. Nevertheless, the working of the new French system deserves study. The fal- libllity of evidence is notorious, The military mind is far from the ideal type of mind to consider fine points of behavior. It is, essentially. & practical mind. The practital is not always the legally ethical. The effects of a single unjust de- cision may be far-reaching. Such a false step produces a man with a grudge against soclety which is almost certain eventually to be satisfied. Also, it might be sald, the type of personality most likely to commit military offenses is the type which the professional sol- dicr is least capable of judging fairly. ———— Years of Light. Recent astronomical measurements stagger the imagination. ‘What specks of dust are men, na- tions, continents, the carth, the sun and the solar system? Contemplation of the vastness of creation, as reported be- fore the American Assoclation for the Advancement of Science at its annual meeting, Induces a sensation of insig- | nificance and L:lplessness from which the only relief ssems o be tie coacep- tion of an ali-laclucive creator. The measuring unit of calesticl spaces | is the light year. This {5 the distance light travels in a year, moving at ap- proxtimtely one hundred and eighty- six thousand miles a second. ‘The carth s fifty thousand light years away from the center of a galaxy con- taining billions of stars, of which the sun is an ordinary type. This galaxy was-all of creation, up to a few ycars ago. « Therentire galaxy is revolving about a center fifty thousand light years away frem the earth somewhat as the th itself revolves on its axis—and with incredible speed. This involves the staggering conception of a celestial day of three hundred millien years, the time required for a single revolution, But this whole galaxy, in which we are such finsignificant particles, itself | appears to be only an insignificant part of ereation. Millions of light years be- yond it are other galaxies, cach revolv- inz on its own a: cach as significent as that whh‘?l centers in the Milky Way. And all the galaxics together, 1t ap- | pears, form one system of creation which is ftself revolving about a center. It is a creation 'in which there is no near or far, no-past or future, except as these conceptions have been formed in the human mind. Beyond the farthest galaxy lies outer space—the abode of nothingne: nature of which baffies even the astro- nomical imegination. It is not space in any real sense of the word, for space cannot exist without points of refer- ence, without objects to exist between the | It is not time, for time is movement in space. It is the mystical, sublime, ynimag- inable nothing through which creation whirls, creating space and time in its path. the American republics. The election of & Republican 'to the presidency last November continues in power the Republitan party. The Gov- ernment of the United States is to be carried on along-the line of Republican principles. It is but- natural that the C——————t It is now doubted whether Mr. Mel- One good point 2bout books is that they can be lald aside when necessary. When you attend the theater, no matter how poor the play, you must sit the thing through. If you go to a banquet, and are bored by the interminable introduc- tions of the toastmaster, there is noth- ing much to do but remain seated. gt is not customary to leave oratorios ! flat, nor to hie one's self out of an opera house just because the prima donna sings off key. With a book, however, everything is different. The reader may lay down his volume at will, whether through necessity or caprice, sur2 that when he goes back to it he will find it there waiting for him. A plate of ice cream which has been cast aside melts; a cigar allowed to go out becomes a stench in the nostrils; flowers left unattended in a vase fade. A book, however, is just the same good book, ingdifferent book, bad book. wnilch it was before neglect came into its life. ¥ % ok % This is too liitle appreciated. thacse who wrowe i The rest of us are.let in on a oo thing through sufferancs, combinea with the price of admission. We may make them wholly ours, perhaps, by proper appreciation, but short of that they still belong to the writers. i Above all, they are entities. A book has a personality of its own, which it envolves out of what the author and publisher put into it. Perhaps the reader, too, transfers something to it. A book may be shame- faced or bold, outspoken or craven, ac- cording to the temperament of its owner We have entered houses in which the very books seemed to shrink back into their shelves as if afraid to assert them- selves for fear some heavy-handed son of toil might land on them with crush- ing force. We have visited homes where the semed to smile, so lovingly had they from the care and atiention which they had received ‘Appreciation! Ah, there is something which makes even a book smile. When one thinks of all the human beings who never receive so much as a word of praise, although perhaps they often de- serve a bookiul, lieve that nothing would do more for this old world than increasing the amount of appreciation in it at any given time. * ¥ X Since a book has a personality of it own, it leads an independent existence and is not dependent upon the whims of human belngs as much as booklovers like to believe. hand racks looking as chipper and fresh as if they had only yesterday come from | tha printers, smelling ever so sweetly of ink and the presscs. Because a book is independent, self- sufficing, exemplifying Emerson’s’ essay on reliance, it may easily be left to its own mystic ruminations whenever the reader chooses. It may be well, as previously enunci- ated in this column, to plunge boldly BY FREDERIC been treated, so resplendent were | JANUARY 7 ! ahead, especially in fiction, in order to secure the sense of continuity which such works demand, but it must be admitted that there are times and oc- casions when this pleasing hypothesis cannot be put into effect, Suppose a neighbor drops in just as one is getting the heroine out of dan- ger. There is nothing to do but close the book and let the sweet lady remain in peril until the next opportunity of- fers to rescue her. Perhaps when that time comes around one will have cooled a bit—he does not much care whether she is rescued or not. In that case, the book may be left closed with the best will in the world. Hero, heroine, action—all may be left on ice, as it were, with the secure feeling that when one is again moved to pick up the thread of that romance, all of them will be waiting there precisely as they were left days, weeks, months, or even years before. * ok kK Three months ago we read with a great deal of pleasure fully seven- eighths of Alexandre Dumas’ ‘‘Olympe de Cle " but belked on the last | eigith becruse we did not b 4 19 kil 1ae hevo, tae poor Ban souelnlng wplspeied {aac Banniere wag going to et his head cui off, whereupon Olympe would retire to & nunnery. This threatened unhappy ending was too much at varfance with the care-free atmosphere which had gone before. It was more than we could stand. Hence we closed the book re- gretfully, but none ‘the less firmly, de- termined that if we could not preserve the happiness of the lovers in any other way we would do so by leaving the book unfinishe A bookma was placed at a cer- tain page in the second volume. Some- times we look at it. It is safe. It static. It belongs with the imperish- able things which time cannoi stale or custom wither. What difference does it make whether we ever finish it?> Heppy or unhappy ending, it re- mains one of the best stories ever written by the incomparable Alexandre. Wk KX Tn placing hot works aside to cool off. remember the bookmark | haps, but none the less convenient and | Bookmarks are old fashioned, per-| Christianity Declared Against Spiritualism To the Editor of The Star: Sixty years of intimate acquaintance with this subject, wide investigation, definite understanding and some work with voice and pen qualify me to say a little in reply to the article in The Star of January 4 in defense of Spirit- ualism. In a land of Bibles, pulpits and Sun- day schools, it is astonishing that so few people really know anything about this matter, which is of vital importance. And it is amazing how little the pastors of churches know or care about the subject. On a Sunday morning in a prominent Washington church some weeks ago I was more than amazed to hear the pastor defend the study of Spiritism as a source of possible benefit to Christians because of probable ele- ments of truth in it not to be found in the regular courses. Both he and his people are very close to the rocks that wreck. The first proposition in the cited Star article is very positively false. Spiritualism (so miscalled—its correct name being Spiritism) did not intro- duce Christianity, nor does it constitute the backbone of the gospels, as asserted. Christianity is not founded on a vision, but on the person, teachings and work of Jesus Christ. The vision and vol 0 Mary were only preliminal the sions maud YOICCS &3 g"r ced by the teachings ot Jesus Christ. -agmentary revelations of the old regime, including visions, voices and angel visits, were adapted to the imper- | fect condition of men's spiritual grasn. But, when the full truth came in Christ, and the Holy Spirit came into the world to enlighton the human understanding, there was no more need of the old methods. As the apostle Paul clearly emphasized to seek God through the former ways is to repudiate Christ. Any cult that see communication with the unseen world through alleged or through visions and voices, s ng contrary to the first proposi tion of Christianity, namely, that Jesus | Christ is the only mediator betw: the two worlds. And to us he is spirituailv present only to our faith, not bodily preseat, even in “astral” form. His word comes to our spiritual consciousness, not to any of our physical or psychical | senses. | The claims people cult of Spiritism (Spiritualism) to use the spirits of denarted as mediators between this and | feet dra | teshi one is inclined to be- | | necessary to the proper enjoyment of | the unseen world. This is nothing but | those volumes laid aside from time 10 | ancient necromancy under a different time. { name. It is everywhere repudiated and 1t is nothing less than downright per- | denounced in the Bible. To sav that | plexing to attempt to gather up the | i, has brought benefits to humanity | through Christianity is to utter non- | loos> ends of & story piot when one | tairly bursts to go ahead with the story. i | “Some readers waste years going back | over chapters they have already read. | | They do not know exactly where taey | | 1eft off. nor precisely where they ought | | to begin | | "so they painfully mull it all over | again. | The one sure way to prevent this is | We have seen old books in second- |ty use a bookmark. Any bit of paper| i, | will do. There is no necessity for using | a formal “mark.” 1™ A neatly torn scrap of paper makes | | the best of all bookmarks, because it lies | flat, 1s easily noticeable, and does not | mar the pages. i Since a reader never knows, when he | lays aside & book, how long a’ time will | elapse before he picks it up again, he | ought to use a bookmark, and not trust to his memory, to find his place. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS WILLIAM WILE Anf reader can get the answer to any uestion py writing to our Information ureau in Washington, D. C. This offer applies strictly to information. The oureau cannot give advice on_legal, medical and financial matters. It does not attempt to settle domestic troubles, nor undertake exhaustive research on any subject. Write your question plainly and briefly. Give full name and address and inclose 2 cents in coin or stamps for return postage. The reply is sent direct to the inquirer. Address The Evening Star Information Bureau, Fr?de!;lclé J. Haskin, director, Washing- ton, D. Q. What committee pages of Congress?——M. V. B. A. The pages in Congress are not ap~ pointed by any committee. Appoint- ments in the Senate are a part of sena- torial patrorage. Appointments in the House of Representatives are made by the doorkeeper upon the recommenda- tions of members of the House. There are 19 pages in the Senate and 41 in the House. The age limits are 14 to 16 appoints the B. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN. ment in Hebrew, the Greek New Testa-~ ment and the Targum of Onkelos on the Pentateuch. Q. How old is Franklin D. Roosevelt, the new Governor of New York?— B. R. S. A. He was born January 30, 1882 ;o i soon to celebrate his 47th birth- ay. Q. Why have Newfoundland dogs be- come so scarce in the United States? —L. B. P. A. The Newfoundland dog was never a popular dog in this country. The breed has probably declined very little, since there has never been a very large number of these dogs. Q. What is the method of teaching reading called whereby the child is taught his letters first and then words gph:buucally and phonetically?— . C. A. It is called the “alphabetic method.” Q. What was the original shape of & mitered headdress?—M. T. years. Q. Can a battleship come up the Po- tomac to Washington?—L. A. M. A. Only light cr 18 ft czn come in come | Point. vhich iz onie | cueravce of o T ficohips araw about ¢ or 51 fee Q. Are oranges washed before being packed for shipment?—E. N. A. Oranges are plunged into a soap- suds bath with revolving brushes when they come from the orchard. They are then wasched in a soda or borax solu- tion to kill any mold germs on the skin, then under a shower bath of clear water, after which they are dried, sorted to size and wrapped in paper. Q. What will be the cost of the Chi cago World's Fair in 19337—S. G. A. Chicago's Centennial World's Fair in 1933 will cost approximately $70.- | 000.000, or nearly three times as much as Chicago’s World Fair in 1893. The fair is to be built on the lake front, on five islands which are to be filled in and later turned over to the city. Q. What will remove from celluloid?—M. H. A. The Bureau of Standards savs that i3 10 per cent solution of sodium hy- > lye) will remove the printer's ink from celluloid without ma- terially affecting the surface gloss of the celluloid. Should the gloss b2 removed at anv time, it can be restored by brushing with glacial acetic acid. Care must be used in the handling of sodium printer's ink | 1 rapidly. hydroxide, as it affects the skin very | A current error consists in confusi the spiritual and the psychical. hey are not the same. The highest phase of Spiritism (s6 to speak) deals with the psychic, not the spiritual. These few words will incite the wise to in- quiry. T mav not offer a book here, but would be glad to go into more detail led honest inquirers M, E. SLOAN. Q. What _was George Eliot's real name?—A. F. L. A. Her name was Mary Ann Evans. She married John Walter Cross. Q. What house was meant in the song.* My Old Kentucky Home?"— M. A. M. _A. The home described in the song is Federal Hill, a mansion near Bards- town, Ky. A. The original shapz of the miter | was’ that of & cone. It has undergone an evolution until ‘n modsrm % minating 3 pe ooie @ Whe game of parchel) crigiaaie?—ai. B. R. A. It is ot East Indian origin, the name being Hindu. Q. How_does the weight of bears compare with that of horses?—W. T. G. A. Bears weigh about as much as light horses. Light or race horses vary in weight from 850 to 1,300 pounds, and heavy or draft horses average from 1,700 to 2,000 pounds. Bears vary from less than 700 to more than 1,000 | pounds. Q. How does East avenue, Rochester, N. Y.. compare with other fashionable strees N. C A. The relative standinz of the vari- | ous large streets of the American cities | is. of course, largely a matter of opin- Vion, but according to Edward Hunger- { ford in his book, “Rochester,” East ave- nue, Rochester, is perhaps the finest residential street in America. He says that this is due not only to the beauty of the homes, but also to the careful restriction of the style of architecture and the encroachment of business. | Q What was the name of the giant | who appeared with Harold Lloyd in “Why Worry”?—T. B. T. A. The giant's name was John Aageir, 8 feet 73, inches tall. Q. Please give the differcnt names under which Godey's was published.— A AT A. From 1830 to 1839 it was known as the Lady's Book; 1840-1343. Godey's Lady’'s Book: 1844-1848, Godey's Mag- ezine and Lady's Book: 1848-1892, dey’s Lady's Book. and from 1892 Godey’s Magazine, It was purchased by F. A. Munsey and merged in the Puritan, October, 1893. | Q. How much copper will be needed R g Warning Is Sounded On Overloaded Cars To the Editor of The Star: Notwithstanding the fact that the | overcrowing of street cars in case of | accident may result in serfous conse- quences, they are frequently packed and jammed, rear and front platforms, in- clusive. Aside from this, it is not too much to ask that unrestricted ov loading be avoided, as far as possible for the sole reason that it is very ob: | Q. Why were hand grenades thrown | by the Pennsylvania Railroad to elec- | overhand instead of with a frecr swing? | trify its lines according to present l—!\I, E. R. | plans?—0. N. S. A. The reasons that soldiers were| A. The electrification program re- | drilled to throw their hand grenades |cently announced by the Pennsyivania in a stiff overhand manner were that Railroad. covering 325 miles of line and more distance could be gained in that way. and the muscles of the upper arm receive less strain than they would have otherwise. Q. What per cent of clarinet players use Boehm System clarinets?>—J. W. E. A. It is believed that 80 to 85 per cent of the professional clarinet players ! use the Boehm System. i | 1 1,300 miles of track, wiil call for the |use of approximately 55,000,000 pounds (of copper. Of this about 30,000,000 | pounds’ will be used in the overhead | wiring or catenary construction, 14,000,- 1000 pounds in the 365 new electric lo- | comotives which will ba required, 6,000.- {000 pounds in transformers and sub- stations and 5.000,000 pounds in the 218 multiple unit trains which are to be sea. They elected Herbert Hoover, Mr. Hoover declared In his speech of accept- ance at Palo Alto on August 11: ‘There are two co-operating fac- tors in the maintenance of peace— the bullding of good will by wise and sympathetic handling of international relations, and the adequate prepared- ness for defens:. We must not only be just; we must be respected. * * * ‘We have been and we are particularly desirous vof furthering the limitation " | jectionable to the average woman and again— | Justice Building in November. Ester- | :C3oRaRC 0 o i agr e ver- | brown. rugged, smiling and in tmns-;lme would have appeared for Uncle goo man. Yet not alone during the! parently good health and humor. ‘The Sam on the present occasion had lw\mm.mng and evening departmental rush. | gray has gathered around his temples | lived, as he argued the case in the lowrr | but between times—for instance, during | since Washington saw him last on the | Federal courts, functioning as_an_at- | | 4 the afternoon shopping hours—cars are | LS v e tion, nine weeks ago, but in | tache of the Solicitor General's office. | orien packed much beyond a comfort- | between 1513 and 15 | S S e ::nlr“ ree:pect the President-clect cuts | He left behind him an unsual record. L as ey ort- | 1517 at Complutum, | Q. Where is Burwash’—B. S. able overload limit. And just now there near Madrid. Spain. It contained the! A. Burwash is a market town a man fit for the trials | Of 120 cases argued before the Supreme | j, < i g e | s 12 ;:'d %}xl::lnut{om M O owfront him, | Gourt. by Esteriine, the vast mafority | s a special reason why the mossgrown | Septuagint, the Vulgate, the Old Testa- ' Sussex, Engfand. > : d traffic regulations relative to street car| Conferanices in small groups—the sort|were decided in the Government's fa- overloading should be repromulgated. | of thing with which Mr. Hoover will | vor. He appeared for the Government, k or 10 | in addition, in 184 cases before specially present administration should wish to consult with the next Chief Executive in regard to policies and appointments, some of them of great importance, which must carry over into the Hoover administration. The Government of | the United States must have con- tinuity. It does not break off suddenly at the close of March 8§ once every four years and start all over again. So 2 g overated in the suburban service. Mul- punimxggi ;aswthe first polyglot Bible‘::pz; unit trains are trains in which A. The first complete polyglot Bible | S3°0, Car cartles its own motors, instead was the Complutensian, printed at the | a6 Pauled by a locomotive at tha expense of Cardinal Ximenes, published | lon paid $1,000,000 for a Raphael. Even an old master may call for so high a | price as to cause a discriminating in- vestor to consider the possibility of its being an incident in undue market in- flation, Herbert Hoover is home A national campaign every four years at least seems very necessary to enable | & number of statesmen to render it un- According to medical authorities the! influenza germ dotes on human of armaments. But in the meantime we know that in an armed world there s only one certain guarantee of freedom—end that is preparedness for defense. * * * We earnestly wish that the burdens and dangers of armament upon every home in the world might be lessened. But we must and shall maintain our naval defense and our merchant marine in the strength and efficlency which will yleld to us at all times the assurance of liberty—that ational safety. Mr. Hoover is in Washington this ‘week as President-elect because some 21,000,000 out of 37,000,000 of his fellow cltizens believed, with other things, In his views on national defense. Un- they also believe, as Presi- ige declared on Armistice vorld standards of defense require us to have more cruisers,” if the United States is not to fa!l hopelessly below the 5—5—3 ratio fixed by the Washington Conference on Limitation of Naval Armament. The anti-cruiser conferees should walk warily tomorrow before trumpeting that “the country gencrally” opposes the B e — There can be no doubt as to a tem- perate mode of expression during the debate on hand. When a peace pact is | under d@iscussion nothing could be more Incongruous than the suggestion of a possible fight Counting the time required for studi- ous research as well as speechmaking, there is no chance of & five-hour work- ing-day limit for a statesman who has gone into oratorical action. sident-elect Hoover a man of indolent inclinations he could find a cabinet already made for him by any one of a hundred forecasters. C——— A Social Experiment. Who will give a job to an ex-convict s served five years in prison for ent, repented and wants to make good a id son? is humanitarian, as the his appeal published in The Star on January were offered, in | cations that be asked” Con- former bank teller, who i enough to take rs of his bank's s own use, has been wen m which easiy m into an enemy mone. back from on after he had 1y six months job, this man, who was 3 own satisfac- that he had suffered sufficlently s eed, wrote a touching let- tar. year.” he wrote. ate supposedly is an and men start in anew. I want to make good. If I do not get ng to do real soon I do not know soing to do. Three times in tie last three months I have had an | its court-martial system. it is both natural and proper that the views of the President-elect in regard to public matters and policies should be sought at this time. It In no way infringes upon the rights of the Presi- dent. Nor can it be characterized as an affront to his dignity. ——————— A merger should be made the means of reducing cost to the ultimate | consumer. It sometimes needs great moral fortitude on the part of finance to pass algpg the benefit. e Extraordinary activities among gun- | men plainly show overproduction in the | branch of American industry manufac- turing automatics. P Military Trials. The vld court-martial system of the French army has been abolished. In its place, starting with the new year, has been instituled a system of military trials which gives the accused a much greater assurance of fairness and seems designed to eliminate some of the gross miscarriages of justice| which took place in the past. In substance, the new method pro- vides that an accused soldier shall be tried, prosecuted and defended by men with professional training as lawyers, that he will have an adequate oppor- tunity for appeal and that there will| be no departure from the strict rule: of evidence. This represents a notable step ahead | which s likely eventually to influence the military trial prosedure of other | nations—passibly, even, of the United States. The Ameriean Army came out of the | war with good reason to be proud of | The assertion | that no injustices were perpotrated on| individuals would be absurd® Any trial| machinery which would function per- | fectly under the stress and strain of | | war would be a superhuman creation. | | There was, however, very little crii-| | i = | | atrocities such as were reported in the; | French and British armies, and such as certainly must have taken place in | the armies of the enemy. | Army officers sometimes boast that a| general court-martial provides as fair| a tris! as is possible for any civil court. | The accused, i is true, has fewer loop- | | holes of legal technicality by which 1o | escape 1f he is guilty. On the other | hand, there is less res against going behind the evidence and consid- | ering extenuating circumstances. Th innocent man has less to fear. The- oretically, in fact, the innocent man | very seldom would be brought to trial | because of the practice of intensive in- vestigation of the circumstances before | the court-martial is ordered. Much the { same holds true for the special court- | martial. The summary court-martisl, | of course, is only a disciplinary expe- | dient which deals mostly with trivial | | offenses and the efficacy of which de- | pends very largely on the common | isem of the men who conduct it equivocally clear what party they be- long to. And even the campaign ftself may leave the matter slightly in doubt. ] ‘When he becomes Vice President, Senator Curtis will have a new auto- mobile paid for in cash, despite the pride which any good motor salesman would take in gaining publicity by let- ting him have one for nothing. It is, of course. hoped that the in- coming President will take advantage of the inaugural enthusiasm for a brief relaxation prior to what is generally regarded as likely to be a long period of extra hard work. SHOOTING STARS. BY PRILANDER JOHNSON. Why Hurry? North Wind starts a-howlin', Clouds shut out the sun. Suowflakes will be prowlin’ An' it ain’ no use to run. Pullin’ up the kivver When the day's work’s done; You may have to shiver But it ain’ no use to run. Dreamin’ of the May day, When life seems like fun. Tume soon brings that play day— So, it ain’ no use to run! Taken as Personal. ‘ou have a great regard for your secretary “I have,” answered Senator Sorghum. “Her mind is on my business and she has & very tactful method of holding me to my duty.” “In what way “When she practices for typewriter speed she rattles off the line, ‘Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the part; Jud Tunkins says & man who side- steps responsibility may find himself provide a home for his| cim. There were no outstanding legal | like an engine off the track bumping | the ties. Drop in Prices. We now observe with glad surprise Oceasion to economize. The dinner charges, we perceive, Are less than those on New Year eve. Cutting Down the Conversation. “Why do you dance o often with my | friend, Fibblebrane? “He likes to talk” Cayenne. his mind on his fee “The truth is completely beautiful,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “only when it proves the same as what we wish to believe.” Thinking and Speaking. The plot is growing thicker. Men wonder, as they wait, If they'd solve problems guicker By shortening debate. “A five-hour work day,” said Unce The American Army hardly can be| Cben, “may be 'bout all de strain I lflpeflld to revise radically its court- | ought to stand, but s weeriuaily o tie mysell ya wih some martial system at present. It works, game don't seem like 2 n' at all” answered Miss | “1 like music and I can't hear the band play unless I can keep ! cupy himself during his weel ((:cuvspin ‘Washington-—don’'t worry him. | He's at his best in such quiet, unhur- | tied surroundings. What always gets on the Californian’s nerves is crowds— and specches. The Hoover home on S street northwest has been the scene of a thousana such conferences as_the President-elect is about to hold. Dur- ing his seven and a half years in the Secretaryship of Commerce most of the seances at which vital departmental af- fairs were considered took place there. Hoover completely relaxes in the privacy of his S-street study. He deposits him- self in a Dig, comfy leather armchair, | throws opg leg over the side of it, puffs away at a pipe and thinks out loud. The Hoover shyness and reticence van- ish on these occasions. Deserving Re- publicans who get as far as |he‘Presl- dent-elect’s sanctum will presently find {thabout: ** " " ° s Lawrence R. Richey, who functioned as Mr. Hoover's personal representative from the moment the President-elect | left Washington in November. until his | return this week, is a former operative |of the United States Secret Service. “Larry,” as his friends know him, has | been associated with Hoover ever since ¥ood Administration days during the | war. Richey, as a_lad of 19 or 2! was the youngest man ever to be & full-fledged Secret Service member and | made an enviable reputation during the | 8 or 10 vears he was connected with the organization. was a pal, at the time, of “Joe" Murphy, now assist- ant chief of the Sherlock Holmes {branch of Uncle §am's | Richey's devotion fa the Presiden | elect is boundless. No man enjoys the confidence of “The Chief” to a greater {extent. He was Hoover's right-hand man at Republican national headquar- | ters during the campaign. That “Lar- jry” will be clese to the White Hou: throne goes without saying. He's about | eretion. * xox ox Secretary Mellon's denial of the pur- chase of Raphael's “Madonna" for $900,000-0dd does not surprise _those ! who know his attitude toward fancy vriced pictur: Mellon's great hobb fill his Massachusetts ment and are one of the finest private America, theugh not rgest. The Treasury chief never buys a canvas merely because it is worth a lot of money. Indeed. when it commands big figures in the picture market, Mellon usually loses interest in that particular masterpiece. Three | or four years ago he ce to acquire Gainsborough's “Blue Boy." But | Mellon did not consider it worth the $500,000, more or less, which was asked | for it, and let it go to the Huntington | gallery at Pasadena. Immensely ad- miring the “Blue Boy.” Mellon had the picture hung for a while in his Wash- | Ington home avenue apart- | | | | | | collections | among the | o ox % ‘The Princess Chichibu, formerly Miss Setsuko Matsudaira, remembered her hington school friends at Christ- mas and New Year with handsome Japanese greeting cards. They are printed on rice paper and embellished with a charming wash drawing of fs mous Nippon mountain peaks like Fujt- yama. Beneath a greeting printed in English, the future Empress of Japan inscribed the simple autograph, “Set- suko.” v and then some of her in- timate comrades in Washington er from Princess Chichibu, grateful terms her three years as a pupil in Friends' School. L | ! Over at the Department of Justice {these days. while “the biggest lawsuit {in_history"—the St. Louis & O'Fallon i\'slu:mun case—is being argued before the Supreme Court, theyre thinking of | the man who originally had it in charge for the Government. He was the lat falling down an elevator shaft in the Government. | 40 years old, and the last word in dis- | is the collection of old masters, which | | constituted courts, and in 158 cases be- | fore circuit and district judges. | * % ¥ ¥ | Before this observer lies erisp and | charred evidence of the zeal of the [ Post Office Department in “gstting the | mail home. as the saying goes in | Harry New's grayish-biue army of hun- | dreds of thousands. In mid-December | a letter was posted in Washington “via | air mail” to a Los Angeles address. It larrived at destination. two or three | days late, but inclosed in an official | Post Office Department envelope, the |letter having been part of a mail ship- | ment semi-destroved in the crash of |a mail plane. Every plece of postal | matter retrieved. if not too much . was forwarded to the addressee, stampad, “Damaged in Mail Plane Ac- |cident at Huron. O.. December 11928, 6 pm.” The Air Mail Service | follows this routine on all similar oc | casions. ; * % ¥ ¥ | Representative Emanuel Celler. Dem- | ocrat, of New York, is & versatile Con- | gressman. His Midwinter preoccu- pations are two—he is pressing a bill to establish the “United States Peace | College,” and he wants Congress to ap- propriate funds for a thorough inves-| | tigation of the laxity { forcement. Mr. Celler. a Brooklyn | fawyer and banker by profession, thinks | the logical way to educate the country to give genuine force to the Kellogg pact is to train American young men for peace as we now train them at West Point and Annapolis for war. As to prohibition, the gentleman from | Long Island thinks “the drys inside and | outside of Congress” don't want their |liquor taken. away from them. and, ty in prohibition en- ! pro- pinquity. The first of Surg. Gen. Cum- ming’s eleven rules to combat the flu : “Avold needless crowdings. Walk to | work when possible.” If that is good | advice. then our Board of Health should | tack up the notice, “This ear must not | be overcrowded.” in addition to “The ventilators of this car must be kept | open” The crowding of a car within | reasonable limits, sav fifteen or sixtesn strap-hangers more than its seating ca- | pacity. may be tolerated. But surely a | car overpacked by vociferous conductor and moterman should not receive the sanitary O. K. no matter how well it is ventilated WM. TIPTON TALBOTT. | Future of Canada’s Forests Held Vital From the Resina. Saskatchewan. Leader The Canadian Pulpwood ociation. with headquarters at Halifax, issues a | booklet in which Dr. Clifton D. Hows, | dean of the Faculty of Foresiry of the | University of Toronto, is quoted as say- | ing th anada owns young forests | of over million acres, which, under vigid protection and wise administra- tion. will supply Canada with adequat: timber to cover future needs.” There Is scarcely any subject of more importance to Canada at the presen: time than that of reforestation. We have many square miles of forests of { | pulpwood for instance, but on a little | | reflection as to the number of trees t! | go to the making of cne of the big roll ! of paper daily swallowed by newspap | presses the nece: v of preparing fo: { the future is apparent. The forest to- | In Bootleg | When g Federal judge at Philadelphia held that a buyer of illegal liquor might | be found guilty of conspiracy {o trans- | | port his purchase, he started a country- | wide argument as to what will be the jeffect if the Supreme Court sustains such a view of the law. | “More as a matter of policy than | from strict regard for the logic of the uation.” says the San Antonio Ex- , “Federal authorities have directed prohibition _enforcement eforts ag: the traffickers 28 Perhaps they would have ob! | ter results had they followed the latter | course. Systematic prosacution is mors !likely to discourage the purchaser. who | | Goes mot profit frcm the transaction, ithan to suppress the bootlegzer, ¢ | follows the lawless trade for a living. {* * * The court concludes that ‘a con- | viction may be had of a buyer and | seller for conspiracy to transport { where an order is given or an {ment exists and is followed by ation, delivery and payme! interpretation a great majority of uor purchasers -as the traffic is con- ducted now—would be indictable.” x % % " as viewed by the “buyers have eir possession. bu | decision that r certain conditions |the purchasers may be indicted | therefore, onpose & 100 per cent inquiry | day is playing such a large part in the | the sellers as conspirators will. if it into the enforcament system. (Copyright. 1829 ——— | Air Transportation Proves Much Safer| From the Pasadena Star-News. | A few serious air accidents have oc- curred recently. But the record is sarticularly favorable as to safety, when | the number who are traveling by air ! | and the great total mileage covered are considered. A great deal has been done to add to the safety of air travel after year finds new safety devices, and transport by this method has become of recognized safety. ‘There has been very pronounced ad- vance in safety in all forms of trans- port in the last 25 years. Railroads have ereduced grea the number of ! fatal accidents. The loss of life in rail- | road mishaps formerly was frightful. | But dangers have decreased steadily. ! both as to raliway employes and as to passengers carried by rail. By the same token, automotive ve- | hicles also have been made safer. In | proot, ss to safety devices, as they well icould be. It is not faults in automo- | biles that cause loss of life in traffic, | it is incompetence or recklessness on ! the part of drivers, in the greatest num- i ber of instances. Careful drivers may ! travel thousands of miles over a period | af years and not have a single mishap. | Transport by sea is safer than for- | merly. Radio has been and is a boon | to navigation. Provided vessels are sea- | worthy when they leave port, and pro- vided due precautions are taken to call i for aid should a ship be in distress, | traveling the seas has few perils now- | adays. | EEESERCEE o i 1928 Had Five Such. | Prom the Roanoke Times I An exchange has siready figured out that there are four monihs in 139 e | which have five pay days esch ‘This|themselves widely over the part of the hour poker | Blackburn Esterline, wha was kiled by |seems to assure prosperily in ‘the New!ea A Aitions i Year, Year | [ fact, automobiles are as nearly fool- | | prosperity of the Dominion, and wood is being used for so many purposes both | for home and export us: o | tinuous supply is an absolute nec { And while there are pessim: | believe that Canada’s timber supply will perptual ! forestry. by simple jI"iud_s_l'l;mls That Shoot Tiny Bullets Into Air BY E. E. FREE, PH. D. Plants able to shcot tiny bullets into the air to distances 800 times the length fot the gun which fires them—not a bad | record for some kinds of man-made! artillery—are described by Dr. Fred J. Seaver of the New York Botanical Gar- |cen in a recent announcement by that institution. These explosiv> plants are| the so-called “cup fungi,” distantly re-! lated to puff balls and mushrooms.! Their projectiles are spores, tiny living | | particles, invisible to the naked eye, but | {adult fungi of the same species, much | as higher plants are grown from seeds. | The miniature cannon inside the| “cup” of the fungus point upward, so| that when their projectile spores ar {shot out. utually a great many at a time, like an artillery barrage, a cloud of dust & foot or 15 inches high appears above the fungus that has fired its charge. The invisible spores then drift off with the wind, Dr. Seaver explains, and stick to the leaves and stems of plants. where they are eaten presently | by _cattle or other animals. ! Inside the animal's digestive system | | the living Spore does no harm, nor| jdoes it suffer harm. After passing, through the animal's body the tiny| {spores are still alive and able to ger-| minate into new plants. By their can- non to shoot the spores into the air and by the unconscious help of the ani- mals which distribute these spores more widely than the guns could shoot, ! these cannonading fungi have npnsad' rth where climailc conditions are 5! eventually be exhausted, the opinion of ! experts seems to be that it can be made | well as selle and practical | could be punished. But tk IE ha | capable of growing up into complete| ¢ lead to a new prac- of the enforcem-n* officers. * * * Irrespective of what views may be held oa the principle of prohibition. will be generally agreed that enforcement of the law would be greatly accclerated if purchasers as lers of the contraband goods danger of se of such power would have to be t the same time. A strict have to be kept against seeing of conspiracy where there ; holds. uncoubtedly {tire on the part was none.” “The decision nay patch up one loop- hole in the existing law,” according to the Providence Bulletin, “but it will take a lot more patchwork before pro- hibition becomes anything more than 2 costly and unsuccessful exveriment.” The Bulletin thinks that those whol seek liquor “will decide. probably. to be more careful in making their pur- chases,” and that “they will buy from | bootleggers who are not ‘located at & | distance’ from the place where the liquor is to be consumed. Judge Kirk-| patrick implied in_ his important de- cision.” continues that paper, “that an | agresment to transport the liquor must before the conspiracy charge can | rought forward. He implied that if | a purchaser simply called to the a tention of a bootlegger the fact that the former might be ‘in the market' | | for a suoply of liquor. the purchaser Prom the Topeka Dail would not be involved DV conspiracy in | own home.” 1 | b 2 i “The ruling may be classed Texarkana Gazette asserts. however. “as considerable of a victory for en- forcement,” and the Gazette continue: “If Congress would amend the Vol i stead act, making purchase of liquor an offense, as well as sale of it, another step would be taken for better gntoree-l ment.” Th® Waterloo Tribune wants | to know! “Should the decision stand, when is the buyer not wmnu-mzn:m: the seller to break the law? If luor homemade. ransported. Ha ve he wedge has been,shoved in. Maybe there is opportuni'y to reach the average buyer Action of High Court Await‘ed' Conspiracy Case rand make him guilty along with the | seller in present law.” “If Congress should enac: such a the opinion of the Birmingham “enforcement officers would then have the dual duty of detecting the buyer as well as the seller. Whether or not the liquor buyer would be more ed by such a law than the lig- ler is by the law as it now reads is a quastion possible of lively differ- ,ences of opinion. Possibly other Fed- €ral courts may adopt tne ruling of the Philadelphia judge and proceed to penal- ize the liquor buyer as well as the liquor seller. In case this is done, the dockets of Federal couris are likely to become congested.” * o= o % within the penalties of the suggests the Baltimore Sun, “may be debated, but Congress did not so de- clare. To say that it did seems to be nother case of judge-made law. * ® * makes another crime, and one of ich millions are guiity. But it is not at all clear that prohibition enforce- ment will be so greatly aided by the de- cision as to warrant calling it ‘one of the most important developments’ yet witnessed in preventing bootlegging. The buyer will be no easier to trace then the seller, whose activities have had so much to do with breaking down the law. A possible and interesting s quel of the decision. however, may an amendment of the Volstead act flatly putting the buver end seller in the same category, which Congress has often been urged to do.” The declaration of the lower court that “the mere purchase of liquor is not an offense” is disci by the Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch, with the statement: “In all probability. if this case reaches the Supreme Court, it will sustain the decision of the lower court holding that the purchaser was guilty of a con- spiracy which led to the transportation cf liquor. It probably will not pass on the ‘obiter dictum’ relating to the pur- chase of liquor voiced by the lower ccurt. But if a case involving an al- leged conspiracy between a seiler and a buyer comes before it squarely. then. k iawyers has it, ‘Let the buyer beware ‘The Connel's- ville Courier holds that un cisicn can be broade: to includ classes of transactions. “it will n: material forcement “Nearly every bootleg s the transportation factor.” maintains the Memphis Commercial Apoeal the Shreveport Journal concludes: “The court’s decision mav eventually be m: tained, but meanwhile there promises be a powerful fight against it — . Pearly Crossing Gates ‘The lllinols Commerce Commission s | the actual delivery of the liquor to his | going to adopt & new style of gates for railroad crossings. The suggestion that they bz trimmed with pearl is not with- out its merits. .- Autos for Tigers From the Port Worth Record-Telegram. Tigers are said to kill 10.000 . in India every vear. Wanted to !p'n::L 25.000 autos for 10.000 tigers. Enoush to boot to make the trade even. Address U.S A ————att— Call for Committees It is that Quoen Mari ¥ revisit the United States. so u\:xm:ll members should themselves in hald readiness for a general mobilizatic ne receplion commitiee. - ¢ ¢