Evening Star Newspaper, February 5, 1929, Page 8

THE . EVENING STAR —__With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY......February 5, 1920 THEODORF W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Bustness Office: and Pennsylvania Ave. Office: 110 East 42nd St. Chicago Office: Tower Buildine. European Office; 14 Regent St.. London, England. 11th St Rate by Carrier Within the City. The Evening Star.. ...45c per month Tre Evening and Stnday Star y5) 60c per month w -65¢ per month he Sunday Star Liiaio.:5C DET €OD: B Soliection mase at ihe ehd of rach month. Orders may e sent i by mail or telephone | Main 5600. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. $10.00; 1 mo., 85c 6.00; 1 mo., 50¢ § 40c AL s unday only . All Other States and Canada. Daily rnd Sunday..l yr.$12.00; 1 mo., $1.00 Daily only .. \1yr., §800; 1 mo, 75| Sunday only 500; 1 mo., 50c Member of the Associated Press. he Assoclated Press is exclusively entitled 2o the e Tor republication of all ews dis- atches credited to it or not ofhersise cred- Bed Is this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of publication of Special dispatches‘herein are also reserved. et One Big Push. Washington's first Community Chest campaign will clcse tomerrow evening unless there is a last-minute decision to prolong solicitation until the deficit, now threatened, can be wiped out or mate- rally reduced. The task now confrent- ing those in cparge of the campaign is to raise approximately three hundred thousand dollars before tomorrow eve- ning. The money is here. The trouble 1s to get it. This is Washington's first Community Chest experiment. That explains the threatened deficit. A liberal estimate of the number of subscribers so far is forty thousand. That means that only eight per cent of Washingtons popu- lation is represented in the lists of those who have taken part in the campaign by donating. cash or pledging cash to the city’s fifty-seven institutions, for the support of which the Community Chest is being filled. That percentage is of both the Nicaraguan and Philippines situations that induced the elder statesmen to tell Mr. Hoover that Gov. Stimson is the man for the State De- partment. The President-elect is known to cherish some rather comprehensive designs for and upon our ministry of foreign affairs. He considers that its internal administration, ramifying into the service overseas, is honeycombed with, and handicapped by, & good many relics of antiquity, venerated as tradi- tions, but useless in this utilitarian age of international relations, concerned primarily with trade. Evidently Mr. Hoover has found in Gov. Stimson the broom which the President-clect feels is well equipped to sweep things clean and out in the De- partment of State. No “Paper” Ships. ‘The American people believe in the American Navy. They are willing to provide the craft necessary to keep the Navy efficlent. That is the only fair interpretation of the voting in the Sen- ate on amendments proposed to the cruiser bill, taken in connection with the manner in which the House put through the bill at an carlier session. These Senate votes yesterday indicate the futility of the oppositian to the bill which proposes to give the United States fiftcen modern cruisers, a type of vessel which is much needed by the Navy. No measure of self-defense has ever been under more persistent attack from its opponents, either in this coun- try or abroad. The test yesterday. came when two attempts were made to defer the time limit set for the construction of the cruisers. By a vote of fifty-four to twenty-eight, the proposal to defer was turned down in the first instance, and in the second by a viva voce vote. This is generally interpreted as assuring the passage of the bill containing the time limit clause. The elimination of the time limit clause would leave the mat- ter of laying down the crulsers largely to the discretion of the Chief Execu- tive. The critics of such a proceeding have insisted that it would mean no more than a “paper” Navy, although President Caolidge has urged the elim- ination of the time limit and at the entirely too small. The fifty-seven agencies to be maintained through the Community Chest support or help to support approximately seventy-five thou- sand persons during a year. The num- ber of beneficlaries of the Community Chest, therefore, exceeds the number of ‘Community Chest supporters. In Wash- ington this is putting the cart before the horse. Ancther feature of this first cam- paign, explained by the fact that it is the first campaign, is the number of ‘small contributions which should be larger. There is here involved a rather delicate point. Those who are in charge of the campaign never wish to be placed in the position of criticizing the size of gifts to the Community Chest. They feel that the gift of one dollar may represent as much, in one instance, as the one-hundred-dollar gift represents in another. They feel that the amount to be given is largely a personal affgir, and they hesitate to argue about it. :l'he fact remains that scores of gifts ‘could and should have been larger. Had the community fully appreciated the significance of giving 2t one time the money necessary to support fifty-seven agencies, instead of giving this money fifty-seven times, the average amount ‘'of subscriptions would have been higher. Had many of the subscribers pledged their subscriptions, instead of attempt- ing to donate them at one time in cash, their gifts, obviously, would have been larger. The success of the Community Chest depends upon the ability of the commu- nity to realize and to grasp the oppor- tunities for scientific giving that are presented. The success of the Commu- nity Chest means that the community must give until it hurts, for the hurt 15 short lived and the pain is beneficial. In this first effort Washington has not given until it hurts. One great push now and it will be over., ‘Will you lend your shoulder to the wheel? ——————— In order to prove that the world has ot forgotten its traditions of gayety, New Orleans renews its Mardi Gras fes- tivities on schedule time. Mr. Hoover's Premier. Reports, authenticated to a degree which compels respect, name Henry L. Stimson of New York, now Governor General of the Philippines, as Mr. Hoover’s definite choice for the secre- taryship of State. Circumstantiality is lent to the unofficial announcement by the plans of Gov. Stimson for almost immediate departure from Mantla. They call for his arrival at Washington in time to appear as premier of the Hoo- ver cabinet when it takes office four ‘weeks hence. ‘The news is unchallenged at Miami. ‘The President-elect has not hesitated during the guessing season, which set in on November 7 last, to disavow state- ments imputing to him major decisions in the fleld of legislation and appoint- ments. The Florida fisherman’s failure to deny the Stimson story, therefore,| comes near to being a confirmation of it. If Mr. Hoover's selection has fallen upon this trained administrator, the prediction can already be hazarded that the country will approve the choice. Commendation will be all the heartier when it is known that Gov. Stimson’s appointment as Secretary of State was cordially urged by Elihu Root and Charles Evans Hughes, themselves both former chiefs of the State Department. The prospective appointment will rec- ommend itself to the Nation from an- other standpoint. It exemplifies Her- bert Hoover's purpose, expert though he himself is, to seek the counsel of other experts in a field peculiarly their own. Gov. Stimson’s public record is a distinguished guarantee of high ca- pacity. He was United States attorney Jor the southern district of New York wnder President Roosevelt, Republican candidate for governor of New York in 1910, Secretary of War in President ‘Taft's cabinet, a lieutenant colonel of Field Artillery with the American Army | in France, served as President Cool- idge’s mediator between the warring factions in Nicaragua and has capped the climax of his career by placing conditions in the Philippines on the same time has indicated he weuld rec- ommend construction of a considerable number of these cruisers without delay. The Presidént’s attitude has been that the matter of construction should be left to the Chief Executive, particularly when the need of balancing the budget must be taken into consideration at all times. ‘The proposed eun;inafinn of the time limit for constructing the cruisers, how- ever, was hailed as a test in the Senate on the actual construction of the ships. The overwhelming sentiment in the Senate, as in the House, is to go ahead with the construction of the cruisers. There is a feeling in the United States, reflected in both houses of Congress, that this country has been negligent of the Navy needs since the Washington THE “EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. ¢, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, -1929.’ THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. chairman of the board of the Standard Oll Co. of Indiana. Mr. Stewart failed to testify as frankly as John D. Rocke- feller, jr., believed he should, when he was questioned, and Mr. Rockefeller is now engaged in seeking to prevent Mr. Stewart’s re-election as chairman of the board of one of the companies in which the Rockefellers have been so closely identified. Some day perhaps the whole story of the Continental Trading Co. and the use of all its earnings will come to light. From the first time that the pro- ceeds of this company were traced to Fall, Sinclgir and others there has been a deal of mystery attached to it. Ap- parently Mr. Blackmer prefers to re- main an expatriate rather than return to this country and tell what he knows, It is possible that he is one of those who believe that the Government has no right to stick its nose into the affairs of private business men and that he remains away from this country out of principle. The Government of the United States appears, however, to have been amply justified in its exam- .ination of these oil transactions. Fur- thermore, the Government has a long arm and is tenacious. ————— An Auspicious Beginning. Pioneer in airplane fiight across the Atlantic Ocean, Col. Charles A. Lind- bergh is again pioneering in the inter- ests of aviation. Today he is winging his way over Central America on the second lap of the new Pan-American airmail route, an ambitious undertak- ing, designed to link the mainland of the United States with the Canal Zone at Panama and later to extend into South America. Yesterday in his tri- motored Sikorsky amphibian, with the plaudits of thousands of his well-wish- ers ringing in his ears, he soared into the air from the field at Miami. Two hours later he landed gracefully at Ha- vana to take on fuel, but was soon off again for the six-hundred-and-fifty- mile hop to British Honduras, where he spent the night. Tomorrow he is scheduled to fly over Costa Rica and Panama to the terminal of the route at Cristobal, Canal Zone. It is fitting and proper that the fly- ing colonel should inaugurate the new service. It is an American project, and he is America’s foremost airman. There would appear to be little doubt that when the hour arrives for him to land at Cristobal the Sikorsky plane will be seen coming down out of the skies. Punctuality is one of the Lindbergh at- tributes, and for Lindbergh to start anything is almost axiomatic with Lindbergh finishing it. The Pan- American Airways mail system has in- deed begun in an auspicious manner. —— e, Radio experts, have brought up in connection with jazz an interesting art question as to whether something is popular merely because it is prevalent. —————————— It may be found possible to enable Congress to dispense with subdivisions and to operate as one large super- effitient committee. conference, which resulted in the lim- itation of naval armament. Great Brit- ain, Japan, France and even Germany have proceeded with naval construction programs. The 5—5—3 ratio estab- lished for capital ships and aircraft carriers at the Washington conference in 1922, with the United States and Great Britain at 5 and Japan at 3, has mnever been established for auxiliary craft. The United States finds itself far below this ratio strength in swift cruisers. ‘The American people are not wmili- taristic. They are not inclined to build up armies and navies for the sake of building them or for conquest. The American people always hold out the hope of international peace. But there is a strong element of common sense in them, and it is that common sense which supports an appeal for an, ade- quate Navy. ———— A palmist in love with a policeman is likely to be too much emotionalized to be of value to him as a delinéator of the future. Mr. Blackmer Is Served. Few men have the distinction of hav- ing laws passed to meet their particular cases. Harry M. Blackmer is one of the few. According to dispatches from Paris, Mr. Blackmer does not intend to let this law interfere with his own ideas as to whether he should submit himself to examination in the so-called oil scandal cases. He prefers to remain outside the jurisdiction of the United States, even though it costs him $100,000 to do so. The fact that it will cost him $100,- 000 is due to the law which was put through Congress—not at his sugges- tion, however. Mr. Blackmer was one of those promi- nently identified with the Continental Trading Co. This company made sev- eral millions of dollars out of a big deal in oil. Some of its gains went into bonds which were found to have been turned over to former Secretary of the Interior Fall and others connected with the leasing of Teapot Dome. When the Government, counsel in the oil lease cases sought M. Blackmer as a ma- terlal witness, Mr. Blackmer had left the country, and he has since avoided its shores and process servers. Efforts have been made to extradite him from France, but without success. The recalcitrance of Mr. Blackmer was called to the attention of Congress by Senator Thomas J. Walsh of Montana, who turned the spotlight on Teapot Dome, and at his instance a law was passed laying a penalty, running up to $100,000, upon a man who refused to appear to answer a Government summons, provided there was property belonging to that man within the reach of the Government. As it happens, the Government has put its hand already on bonds belonging to Mr. Blackmer valued at $100,000. The public is naturally curious to know why Mr. Blackmer prefers to give up $100,000 rather than permit himself to be questioned in this case by Govern- ment counsel. Mr. Blackmer, accord- ing to dispatches, has finally been served with the summons of the United States, but has indicated that he will ignore it. As has been pointed out, this recalcitrance is likely to cost him a sum which to the average man spells little short of wealth. Mr., Blackmer is not the only one whom the transactions of the short- lived Continental Trading Co. seriously most stable basis they have known in years. Doubtless it was his skiliful handling involved. Some of the pfoceeds of its trading were found ultimately to have been handed oyer to Bobert W. Stewart, o T If every person who disapproves of alcohol would make an individual stand prohibition enforcement would cost al- most nothing at all. —————— All the honors that have been show- ered on him do not detract from Lind- bergh'’s distinction as Uncle Sam’s letter carrier de luxe. § —————— Intellectuality finds {tself embar- rassed by the fact that Einstein is too hard to understand, while Freud is too easy. —————. Several experts are inclined to dis- cuss a battleship as a necessary evil. ————————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Luck of the Road. Good Fortune was writ in the Horoscope Chart. A wayfarer tells of his luck. He drove into town with a confident heart, And he didn’t get hit by a truck. He skidded across through the sleet and the snow, And into the roadside got stuck. But he whistles a tune and his heart is aglow. He didn't get hit by a truck. 8o, I venture along, with the querulous song Of the fowl that will scurry and cluck, And think on the highway I'm going quite strong, 1t I do not get hit by a truck. Now, Destiny’s only a matter of course. ‘We'll keep out of the slush and the muck— If we do not encounter superior force And find we're laid low by a truck. Assertion of Industry. “How did you happen to go into poli- tics?” “I hated idleness,” answered Senator Sorghum. “And I wasn't able just then to get a regular job.” Jud Tunkins says his idea of invisible government is the tax assessor. Faithful Songster. ‘The robin bird will soon draw near To bring a song of hope and cheer. ‘The snowbird sounds a chirp so clear, And is a friend throughout the year. On With the Dance! “Do you approve of dancing?” “Certainly,” answered Miss Cayenne. “There is 50 little to think about. that we have to keep moving our feet in order to prove that we are still con- sclous.” “We worship our ancestors,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown. “Who of us could prove worthy of reverence by our ancestors were they again alive?” Universal Law. The Winter brings a prospect drear; And yet, in faith, we see That roses must again appear Where roses used to be. We smile upon the drifting snow. Although we sigh, we say The season’s changes will bestow Another Summer day. These Einstein formulae obscure; Perhaps we cannot learn. But of this much we may be sure, ‘The roses will return. “A politician,” said TUncle Eben, “shakes hands so much dat his health don't need no other W&a" While an excellentt case may be made out for the uniform binding of the books in a home library, if one has the money to indulge in it, there is little question that one of the most interesting fea- tures of books is their very difference in binding. Therefore, even a wealthy man might hesitate before ripping off the covers in which publishers saw fit to bind their works, to put them in uniform dress, no matter how splendid or beautiful a leather he might put upon them. Books are both books and things, as we have tried to say in this column many times. Their merits as books is and must remain the chief considera- tion, but it is not all by any means. A book is individual, too! that is, it is a thing, something different from all others of its type. Just as there are no two human beings exactly alike, so there are few books which correspond exactly in physical appearance, unless it is a set of some sort, of which we will speak later. Superficially the books on a shelf may look alike, since they are all about the same size, in the main, but upon closer examination they will be found to differ enormously. This difference is not merely a matter of thickness and thinness, although that has something to do with it, but even more a question of color and color combinations. Beyond these considerations is the happy result’ of all these, the “feel” of 2 book as a book, of a book as a thing, its character, as it were, which distin- guishes it from all other books. * ok k kx Let us consider this last matter first. If books did not somehow build them- selves into the very fabric of home life, if they did not really form a back- ground, silent but visible, to such cul- ture as the home contains, there is little reason to believe that they would ever have secured for themselves the place which is undoubtedly theirs. From the earliest days of civiliza- tion, however, mankind has recognized the supreme cultural influence of a surrounding company of books, Thou- sands of years ago giat cities had their great libraries and a certain privi- leged few of the aristocracy their home collections of rolls. Sacred establishments, citadels of learning, during hundreds of years kept back the universal swell of sword domination with a bulwark of great tomes, handmade against the sound and fury without. Yet the very conquests of arms have been, in a sense, for the upbuilding of libraries, for with advancing frontiers went such culture as the warriors had. In America the happy result was the schoolhouse on every hill, universal education, which is just another way ggo ksaymg universal and widespread s, ‘Today every home which has a book collection, no matter how small—and one niight add no matter how large— has a cultural influence invisibly dis- seminating good upon the occupants. Even if the books are never opened, they are there. * ok k% In this happy result the different hindings of the various books play their part. It is impossible to hold a book in memory without mentally “seeing” its cover, its color, the texture of the cloth, or the “feel” of its leather. These things are part and parcel of the book, of the very text itself. So important is the dress of the book to the content that publishers have spent.a great deal of time and money in giving to each volume its due cover- ing. Often author and publisher con- fer at length upon the matter. It is not a small consideration, but a big one. This consideration comes before that of the jacket, or paper cover, which mainly serves to keep the real cover clean, and to call attention of the pub- lic to the book as it lies in the book- store. For this reason the paper cover is best removed when one takes a book home. The real cover is beneath. Even very cheap books often have surprisingly appropriate covers, with cloth, type, color and printing in har- mony. Red, blue and green are the most popular colors for . bindings, al- though practically every other color of the spectrum hhs been used. Here is a work of reference in a serious medium blue buckram, here a thin volume of poetry in a lighter shade of blue, here a book on cats in a cloth of greenish- blue, resembling a cat’s eye; here a book on Emerson in a very dark green, almost blaek, binding; here a work on synonyms and antonyms in a very dark wine, here a garden book in a Spring- like green, here an abridgement of the Oxford dictionary in a bright red, here Pope in pea green and Shakespeare in maroon. ‘These subtle differences in bindings constitute one of the greatest charm of books as things. In the main they are appropriate, and the combination of several, no matter what works they may be, gives a deft touch of color to the home which can be secured in no other way. Some ambitious home owners, carried away by the advent of “interior decoration,” are inclined to buy only books in red bindings, to “go” with some other motif of living room decora- tion, but this is a mistake which no real interior decorator makes. She— usually it is she—may make use of some dominating set of bgoks, particu- larly if in leather, but she knows that nothing is quite so effective as the hap- hazard grouping of the books which one may purchase in the course of everyday reading. This presupposes, of course, that one reads. 0 8 Beneath the ultra-modernistic jackets which publishers are putting upon their books the booklover finds old-fashioned moderation. The finest of the new biog- raphies are bound in distinctive but rich covers, and the same holds true of most fiction. When a binding fis “flashy” it generally is colorful for a ?urpose. These latter volumes supply he_ highlights, as it were, to the book shelves. Mostly the quieter colors pre- dominate, so that the grand result is one of genuine blending, a happy result secured without thought simply through selection and purchase. A case of books is always a pleasing sight to one who loves books, not only because he recognizes the hours of pleasant recreation, interest and pos- sible instruction which lie there, but also partly because his booklover’s sense is appealed to. These are books! These are books as they come from the publisher, with all the romance of the presses in them. Here is an old volume bound many years ago in black leather which yet holds its own against time and weather and man. Here is a snappy little publication in light blue and white, a fit binding for the’slight though en- tertaining content. Here are some “sub- scription books” of the post-Civil War period, with their bright bindings and steel engravings—turn to one of the latter and see the shells gracefully trac- ing trajectories in the sky over Vicks- burg. Put these books into leather and something is lost; something may_ be gained, but we submit that a great deal will be lost. Uniformity of binding makes prisoners or orphans out of books, and books are neither one nor the other, but free men, some dapper, some shab- by, bu:. each and every one as its maker made it. Newest Theory of Man’s Origin Meets With Cautious Interest Laymen await the mature reactions of the scientific world to the new theory of evolution announced by Dr. Austin Hobart Clark, noted biologist of the Smithsonian Institution. In the mean- time caution marks most of the comment on Dr. Clark's explanation of the orighf of man, which he states concisely in these words: “There is not the slightest evidence that any of the major groups (of animal life) arose from any other. Each is a special animal complex, re- lated more or less closely to all the rest, and appearing, therefore, as a | and distinct creation.” Of this departure from Darwinian beliefs, the Boston Evening Transcript opserves: “Dr. Clark’s theory takes iis place under the microscope of scrutiny and that is about all that can be safely said about it. * * * In the meantime the men of science will probably- con- ue to stand with the cautious Huxley, who said to Darwin, ‘I will stop at no ‘point so long as clear reasoning will carry me further.’” ‘The Montgomery Advertiser says: “Dr Clark’s hypothesis” (that man was “suddenly” created in his present form) “yet remains to stand the acid test of controversy with contemporary biolo- gists, not one of whom, except Dr. Clark, believes that man, to say nothing of other forms, was ‘suddenly’ created.” The Hartford Daily Times closes its long editorial on this subject with the words, “We should conjecture that what is now heralded as a ‘new theory’ is rather a better understanding of natural proceedings not much, if any, different in the principle revealed through them from what is reflected in the narrative, ‘And God said let there be light; and there was light,’ illumi- nating creation, which never ceases.” * ok ok X As a result of Dr. Clark’s announce- ment, “blology and the related sciences will have the opportunity of staging a young revolution, depending on how many of Dr. Clark’s fellow scientists take to the new conception of how man reached his present stage of being,” re- marks the Charlotte News, as it ex- plains that “this new theory differs vitally from that of Darwin and ex- plains the ascent of man from a lower form of animal life by a series of jumps from one major form of life to another rather than as a gradual development as is set forth in the Darwinian theories.” “Oh, well, it’s a reasonably free coun- try!” the Arkansas Democrat exclaims, “and the learned gentleman has a right to his opinion. But when he gets on the fence with the evolutionists on one side and the creationists on the other, he can bet his last book on biology that he isn't going to get much support.” One evidence that “man did walk on all fours or at least in a #too] or bent position,” the Sioux Cizy Journal finds in the fact that “down_through thousands of years the crown has been far back on the skull”.whereas Dr. Clark contends that “man has always walked upright.” This paper thinks that “one after another the scientists who come along with new theories are doing what was done by those who preceded them—guessing at it.” “Keeping up with popular science is about as futile as ‘keeping up with the Joneses,'” says the Louisville Courier- Journal, as it recognizes that “Dr. Clark’s theory would invalidate most of the modern fiction and philosophy.” The Newark Evening News notes that “with one stroke, Dr. Clark's exposition disposes of all missing links, tangible and theoretical,” and it ventures to say that his statement “may lead to a con- troversy comparable to that following Darwin’s publishing of his ideas. From its revolutionary character, challenging to the extremists on both sides, it seems reasonable to fear it may,” concludes this paper. I * kK K Although it praises Dr. Clark as af- fording “an example of the open- mindedness of the true scientist by which both -‘specialist and popular teaches, knowledge progress,” the Buffalo Eve- ning News thinks it is “perhaps a bit more important to discover processes by which the evolution of man may continue than to answer the question as to whether he originally did evolve.” As the Asheville Times puts it: “Knowledge changes its content; the unknowable remains despite all the advancement of knowledge. Whether by instant creation or slow evolution, man has come to his present state from a lowly origin, which must be placed so remotely in the past that the imagi- nation itself is exhausted in the effort to grasp its significance.” The South Bend Tribune concedes that “if the popularity of Darwin's theory should dwindle, it would not be the first time that a well defined, widely accepted and apparently incontrovertible theory has been shelved by the advance of science,” and the Tribune believes that the whole question is one “to be de- termined solely by scientists; the lay- man, even though he possesses a smat- tering of biological knowledge gained in school or in sporadic reading, cannot venture an authoritative opinion.” Though it cries, “Heaven spare us another Scopes trial!” the Atlanta Jour- nal feels we should all be grateful “if Dr. Clark -opens a new trial or sets a new fashion in science,” since “scien- tific theories are naturally short-lived, and Darwin’s has hung on till, by the law of use, it kshoul:l ulall off like a rimordial monkey's tail.” B The Memphis Commercial Appeal sees Dr. Clark's theories as appearing to “strengthen the religious pronounce- ment about creation,” although _this scientist “does not seem to credit a Supreme intelligence with the origin of men.” —ae—s Stoklasa Paper Held Valuable to Farmers To the Editor of The Star: Some months ago, in a communica- tion which you published, I called at- tention to the statements made in the Soil Congress of 1927, which verifled conclusions previously reached that municipal garbage and sewage ‘wastes, if properly treated, are far more valu- able as fertilizing materials than the value shown by taking their nitrogen content as an index. These conclusions were reached on the basis of concep- tions as to the nature of plant food which were clearly stated by Julius Stoklasa of the Technical Institute of Prague at the Soil Congress. As the re- port of the gmeedmxs of the congress recently published does not contain Prof. Stoklasa's paper, it seems desira- ble that publicity be given to one of | POSSe: his most significant statements. He says: “It is not true as is usually be- lieved ghat the carbon dioxide present in the ‘air is sufficient for the building up of the plant materials.” As conclu- sions from two tables showing that fertile soll gives off from one and a half to two times as much carbon dioxide as less fert- ile soll and three to four times as much carbon dioxide as unproductive soil, he calls attention to “the large amounts of carbon dioxide given off by the soil” and to the “fundamental importance it must have for the nutrition of the plant. The plants do not assimilate only the carbon dioxide of the atmosphere, but also the carbon dioxide coming from the soil. To “dirt farmers” and all others who have failed to get satisfactory results from the use of chemicais this paper, which gives a coherent and workable theorg of plant nutrition, is of the ut- most “value, but unfortunately now is available only in the limil number of ?hst.ra?u made for the use of the sessions of congress. H. C. GAUSS. ———o It Can’t Be Done. From the Loulsville Times. Fairy Story.—Once upon a time there was a man who worked several difficult examples for his young son and every one of them was marked correct by the % . NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM .G M. CASPAR HAUSER. Jacob Wassermann. Translated by Caroline Newton. Horace Liveright. It is now a little over 100 years since there appeared one day on a midcity street of old Nurnberg a strange youth whom nobody knew. One, indeed, who did rot know himself, either by name or family circumstance. In his hand was an open letter, a clumsy affair, directive in gesture but in effect nothing more than an act of clear abandon- ment. A well grown lad, arcund 17, long and fine in line and texture, a falr young fellow fashioned to turn one’s eye upon him. A dazed child without speech, without any one to aid and succor. ‘This incident with its immediate web of sequence begins the enigma of Caspar Hauser, boy of mystery. Here is a story that for 100 years has groped fruitlessly for its true content and conclusion. A story that in its highest fervors reached so far, spread so wide, and pointed upon so many crimes in high places as finally to cause its subject to be accepted as “the child of Europe.” Just a fragment of history, unassailable in fact, a bit of the general flotsam of dynastic ambi- tion and intrigue floating upon the political tides of the middle Europe of that day. The story of Caspar Hauser has iived its century in an almost undiminished demand upon the sympathstic interest of those who fiom time to time have come upon it. Within the long vears it may have gathered to itself something of legend. It doubtless has. Yet, at its hefir:‘ thege is z:LlwuyfiLthe hapless boy to call in poignant real upon one’s pity and heartache. s v Jacob Wassermann was, in a way of speaking, brought up on the strange case of Caspar Hauser. It became a definite part of that stock of blended fact and fancy, of dream and reality, of far vision and near truth, of which all children and youth are compound. pations took hold of Wassermann— novels to write, a career to secure; more immediate matters to pin down in tell- ing word and driving drama. still, in the back of his mind there was cver the boy of mystery. And this boy at times became vocal, even importunate in a claim that he was himself a story well worth the telling. The insistence grew, finally taking effect upon Jacob Wassermann in definite action. Not all at once. Instead, through many years which were in part given over to a new searching of the old story from every availbale point of view. One can see this thorough German collecting facts from sources documentary and merely collateral. One can see him weighing and comparing these by the logic and no-logic of human behaviors, throwing away here, holding fast there. Some- thing quite wonderful is going on here. Jacob Wassermann is re-creating a human beirg, is creating a human being. And how do we know this? We know it by the boy who here is making his bewildered, frightened, always gentle way, through the puzzle of misunder~ standings around him, and the di cruelty and the blind egotism aroun: him. “Such is the general atmosphere of the development—suspicion, dogma- tism, selfishness. And through this the g-;z makes his way—his little way, soon The story brings out that t had lived his short life in an X:.lex'ldlg')-' ground room of darkness. No light. A chance ray blinded and hurt him. His bed, straw. Bread and water his food and drink. He heard no word. He could speak no word. Sometimes the water made him heavy. A long sleep came upon him. Looking in after this, you would have seen that his straw had been changed, that he himself had been bathed and dressed in a clean gar- ment. So the years went by. Then that day on the street in Nurnberg. Thereafter the story is that of the growth of Caspar Hauser in a quick in- telligence that grew under a succession of tutors named by some mysterious power back of the boy, a power that did not quite dare the final and con- clusive act. A record of such sustained tragedy as to make its ending a relief to the reader as it is a release to the boy himself. But_this intense drama, so true in both historic and human content, so sustained in power, so pitiful and even terrifying in effect, is not the whole of the matter—nor- even the larger part of it. As Jacob Wassermann worked with Caspar Hauser to make the great story, the boy became through the long and intimate intercourse something more than this one child. He became all children. His mind, so unmarked by life, so unwritten by acts and associations of daily normal exist- ence, was the mind of every new-born child. And the education of Caspar Hauser, which was, in general sum, but the arrogant dogma of wordy tutors, becomes here the education of all chil- dren, but little more than the endless and apish repetition of words and words. Caspar Hauser has become a symbol, finally, but never for a minute obtrusively. It is only after the pitiful story, after the very great story is done, that ‘one, drawing away from it, senses the similitude of this unfortunate boy's training with that of the less con- spicuous processes that go along today in the name of training and education. However, it is with the story itself that most readers will have concern—a deep concern over human tragedy taken in hand by a clearly great writer in a great work of art. e Marie-Henri Beyle Stendahl). Translated by C. Scott Moncrieff. Boni & Liveright. For the development of “Armance” this clearly great Stendahl burrows so far into the underground of the human mind that, in the superficial seizure of the average reader, the novel does very good service, in the role of the mystery tale. Or, to the skimmer of words it may take place as much ado about nothing at all. Nevertheless, this is a delicately acute work, a piece of art wrought from the truth of human stuff and set out in the figure of frustration. A story of frustration to the thoughtful reader. Just this and nothing else. Sketched, this is the romance of Al mance, a young French girl, for Octave, a cousin of removed degree. In its course and conclusion it constitutes the defeat and death of the girl's love with her retirement into some religious se- clusion. The mystery running through ['the whole matter is that of the young man's failure to bring to the usual issue a sentiment of which he is clearly ssed, no less than the young girl herself is. It is the persistence and ingenuity of his recessions from any avowal of love, from any gesture to- ward the very natural culmination of marriage, that makes the continuous enigma which the reader is at every point eager to solve. A most engaging young man—handsome, manly, digni- fled, beautifully deferential to women, rich enough to marry—well, just why does he. not propose to the girl with whom he is certainly in love? That's the mystery. - Finally, after a thousand efforts to stave off matrimony, the marriage does take place and the pair, presumably happy, sail away on the honeymoon. But— the spirit. of the whole, that of sheer frustration itself, goes along Interposing its most urgent, its most complete measure against the marriage. This is a psychological study. Pos- sessed of a secret whose exposure con- stitutes the greatest fear of the young man’s life, the story grows by way of his devices and inventions, by way of false pretenses toward even the occa- sional performances of the blackguard, rather than to allow even a shadow of the truth about himself to be known. The manner of man that he is, that Stendahl has made him, high-minded in every way, only deepens the mystery of many things so alien to him that he deliberately does and is for the sake of being discovered in them—and there- by weleased from the ebiigation »p- ARMANCE. (de But with the years, crowding preoccu- |7, ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. The resources of our free information bureau are at your service. You are invited to call upon it as often as you please. It is being maintained solely to serve you. What question can we answer for you? There is no charge at all except 2 cents in coin or stamps for return postage. Address your letter to The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic_J. Haskin, director, Washing- ton, D. C. . When was the last special session of Congress held?—F. J. A. The clerk of the House of Repre- sentatives says that the last special session was the third session of the Sixty-seventh Congress and was called by the Iate President Harding to con- vene November 20, 1922, the proclama- tion stating that public interest re- quired the session to settle important matters. Actually, the matter considered was the question of the merchant ma- rine act. . Q. To whom is Vilma Banky mar- ried?—J. W. A. She is the wife of Rod La Rocque. Q. Was tobacco used or known be- fore it was taken to England from Vir- ginia?>—C. B. A. Tobacco was first introduced into Spain from Santo Domingo and thence into France in 1559. The culture of to- bacco in the United States began in Virginia with the earliest settlement of that colony. There is record of it being cultivated in Jamestown as early as Q. How manyTl.;enger trains does zh; Péngsylvanh Railroad run a year? A Tt runs 1,387,000 passenger trains a year. Q. What printers set up the Dec- laration of Independence? The Con- stitution?>—A. S. A. John Dunlap and David Claypool of Philadelphia. Q. How long has soap been easily avsélable as a manufactured product?— A. The manufacture of soap upon a very large scale dates only from about 1823, in which year Chevreul published his famous researches on animal fats. The use of soap is of great antiquity. A well equipped soap factory was found by the excavators of Pompeii. Historical records of Italy and Spain show that soap was in use in those countries in the eighth century. The soap berry was used before soap was manufactured. Soap berry is the common name of several species of Sapindus and of the fruits which are so rich in saponin that they were employed for the same pur- pose as alkaline soap before the days of that article. The Chinese prefer them even yet for cleansing the hair and delicate silks. Q. When was Independence Hall in Philadelphia built?>—C. G. A. It was begun in 1732 and first put to use in September, 1736. It was first called the Statehouse of Pennsylvania. Q. How is the surname Drinkwater pronounced?—B. A. In England the surname Drink- water is generally pronounced as though spelled Drink’ a ter, that is, the w is elided. In the United States, how- ever, the name is generally pronounced just as it is spelled. Q. Can the small gold coins, 50-cent pieces, made in California, be circulated as money?—T. K. A. These were not authorized by the Government and cannot be circulated as currency. Q. What is the wholesale value of the output of American passenger cars.for a year?—F. N, J. A. In 1927, 3,086,018 passenger cars, with a wholesale value of $2,269.056,222, were manufactured in the United States. Q. On what date does Great Britain make payments on her war debt to the United States?—D. M. A. Some of the debt has been paid. Payments are to be made on December 115 of each year. The amount to be paid is graduated from $23.000,000, in 1923, to $175,000,000, in 1984. The last pay- ment will be in 1984. Q What is the distinction between the words flammable and inflammable? —S. G. A. Inflammable in its usual sense implies explosiveness or a character that will burn readily. Flammable means exactly the same thing. The resulting confusion has caused the word inflam= mable to be abandoned altogether, flam- mable now being used to indicate ready conbustibility, and non-flammable for the opposite. Perhaps the most flam« mable material in general domestio use is gasoline. The vapor from & pint of gasoline, mixed with the proper amount of air, has a destructive power equal to that of a pound of dynamite. Q. How large is the new bullding that houses the working girls' home for negroes in Cleveland?—M. H. A. The Phyllis Wheatley Association is a nine-story building. containing 135 bedrooms, 6 clubrooms, 4 girls’ parlors, cafeteria, beauty parlor and um, In 1927 the institution placed 1,260 girls and women in positions. of John J. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. ‘There was one mystery in connection with yesterday's cabled news from Paris rfg:rdlng the revolt in Spain. It was “The- premier, according to advices from Madrid, did not appear greatly perturbed by the latest turn of events. He attended mass this morning with the royal family. He said he was less con- cerned about the actual events than he ‘was about the general tendencies of the country. He believed the measures adopted vastly increasing the dictatorial powers would be able to smooth out the situation.” e T What are “the general tendencies of the country” which are allegedly caus- ‘n~ the dictator uneasiness? Accord- ing to high official authority, the ex- planation is that these “general tend- encies™ amount to nothing more than the possibility that the masses of g_:o- ple, unable to get reliable news from the scene of revolt and conspiracy, might be misled to exaggerate the seri- ousness of the situation, through the machinations of certain refuges hiding in France and busying themselves with false propaganda—of which the cun- ning phrasing of the above is a sample. An official cablegram received from Madrid—not from Paris, the seat of Spanish conspirators—addressed to the embassy in Washington announces that the revolt is fully suppressed and “all is quiet throughout Spain.” It was explained at the embassy that the uprising was confined to just a few officers of the army at Valencia, who expected their soldiers to follow them, but when Premier de Rivera sent Lieut. Gen. Sanjurjo to the scene as supreme representative of the government Gen. Sanjurjo took over the command and the soldiers at once recognized his su- i perior authority. The disturbing offi- cers were placed under arrest and joined the leader, former Premier Jose San- chez Guerra, in prison. The failure is attributed to a delay of Guerra's ves- sel en voyage from France two days by the breaking down of its machinery. The garrison at Real, without waiting for the radio signal, revolted on pro- gram time, but other units waited for the code word from Guerra, which failed to come because of the trouble at sea. That is the full explanation of how easy it was for De Rivera to quash the rebellion before it got fairly started. Still the propagandist refiges in France are carrying on their propa- ganda and undertaking to represent that all Spain is in sympathy with the revolution, while the government boasts that the revolt is over. o While the world seems to be trending toward republicanism and away from monarchies since the World War, it is K. | generally recognized that no King is more popular with his subjects than is Alfonzo XIII of Spain. The premier, Primo de Rivera, is serving by appoint- ment by the King and not in antag- onism to his majesty. He is dictator, but not a Mussolini. * ok koK The present situation in Spain cannot be appreciated without a review of the last century’s developments. In 1808 Napoleon I beguiled the Spanish prime minister, Godoy—an ignorant young man with whom the Queen (Maria Louisa of Naples) was in love—to sanction the passage through Spain of his army to conquer Portugal, the ally of England. Godoy was bribed with the promise of certain provinces for him- self, and discovered, too late, that Na- poleon had in mind the conquest not onlv of Portugal but of Spain herself. So ensued the Peninsular War and the loss of the throne of Charles IV, who was forced to abdicate in favor of his son and heir, Fernando, at the time a prisoner of Napoleon. i Then, in 1812, the Cortes met in Madrid and adopted a new constitution, which Fernando repudiated on his lib- eration and return to Spain in 1814. In 1821 King Fernando was forced to ac- cept the new constitution, limiting the ers of the throne, but two years fi:o r, backed by French forces, he re- ac=erted his absolute power. He died in 1833, leaving as_successor his infant daughter, Isabel II, and the regency Lo his \widow, Maria® Christina of Naples, with the injunction to maintain all the absoiute prerogative of the crown. * kK Ok ‘There rose revolt led by Carlos, brother of the late King Fernando, un- der pretense of the Salic law forkiddin, rule by a woman. A long war apsued, and Carlos was beaten, yet the Conserv- atives opposed the absolutism of the Queen Regent, and in 1868 a revolt led by Gens. Prim and Serrano was success- ful and Queen Regent Isabel fled to France. A limited monarchy Amadeos of Savoy in 1870 was followed by republics and civil war continued until, in 1875, the son of Isabel was re- stored to the throne as Alfonzo XII, proaching him. Never a popular appeal will this novel make. Its subtlety and ingenuity, however, are bound to com- mand the attention of readers who are students as well, and a new constitution was adopted. Alfonzo XII died in 1885, leaving as successor the. present King, Alfonzo XIII, with his mother, Maria Christina of Austria, regent until 1902, when Alfonso assumed power. It was under this last regency of Maria Christina that the Cuban_ re- bellion and the Spanish-American War came. In 1906 Alfonso XIII married Princess Victoria Eugenia, sister of Kl'ggcldwm‘d VII of England, a Prot- estant. * ok ok X King Alfonso XIII, a few months after his marriage, signed a decree making the civil ceremony of marriage valid, without sanction of the Cath- olic Church, which so aroused the clergy that his throne was endangered. Later the King again offended the n by canceling the prohibition ‘any emblem, lettering or attribute other than Catholic” upon the outer walls of any church, and an_attempt was made to induce Jaime de Bourbon, son of Carlos, the 1909 pretender, to lead revolt and attempt to seize the throne, but he refused to do so. * ¥ ¥ *x From 1909 to 1925 Spain carried on war in Morocco against the savage tribes, and great losses, financial and of men, were suffered every year, caus- ing grief and dissatisfaction through- out S'Dlin. for '.h: draft !To:k Spain’s sons from every family. e disco tent was lmlvtud‘b& * X ‘This situation finally led to & milie tary revolution on September 13, 1923, whereupon Capt. Gen. Primo de Rivera seized the civil administration of Barcelona and forced the govern- ment to resign. The King then asked De Rivera to form a military govern- ment, and on July 4, 1924, this was modified into a partial civillan govern- ment, but with De Rivera still at the head. The civii government was strengthened further In December, but still De Rivera remained premier. In September, 1926, & plebiscite was held, resulting in a vic- tory for the De Rivera regime, and po- litical partles ceased to function as separate bodies. The government seeks to build up a “Patriotica Unlon” to replace partisanism. * ok K K That popular divisions of sentiment may be comprehended, it is desirable to understand what the old parties were: There was a Conservative party, di- vided between Carlists and Maurists, both, at times, claimants of the throne. Maura died December 13, 1925, and no leader to succeed him has been chosen. The Liberal Conservatives were led by former Premier Sanchez Guerra, who recently headed a revolt and now lies in prison. It was to liberate him last month's disturbance was undertaken—just quelled. This party stands a little less reactionary than the Conservatives, but is opposed to the Laborites and Socialists. The Liberal Democrats, 1éd by Garcia Pristo, favor recognition of some radi- cal elements. This is the party which was in power in 1923, when De Rivera's stitution. At that ti it had the sup- port of Count mones, President of the Senate, and of Melquiados Al- varez, President of the Congress of ‘Deputies. Less important parties are the Re- publican, led by Lerroux, anti-mon- archy, and the Soccialist, also opposed to the monarchy. In recent times Socialism has been making headway throughout Spain. * kK K ‘There are several provincial languages spoken in Spain, and more difference exists between its various regions- than among States of the United States. Galicia, the Basque provinces, Cataluma, Valencia and Mallorce, each has its own language. Catalunia openly seeks independence. The last revolt centered in Valencia. Bilboa is the center of mining, Barce- m:‘hu the greatest manufacturing ac- vities. b ‘The unsettled conditions come at a most lngfx;‘nnune time, in view of the approaching international exposition, for existence of unrest and threatened hostilities may keep many tourists out of the country who had intended to visit the exposnlo:, . * ok ok ¥ of the ] of dicates * the p'cglmhohw at- An a Spaniards titudes toward other peml:a: | Toward Germany, cordial good will; toward Great Britain, close political re- lations—the Queen is British—but in- dividual dislike of ; con- tempt of Portuguese and Italians. The Spaniard believes he is a better man than an Italian or Portuguese and he looks down condescendingly upon all Latin Americans, but wishes them well. }vle flifllk:l":nd flmmmm Amer- icans, and there is a pol campal, there against Yankee influence m': trade in Spain. The characteristic of the Spaniard is that he is individualistic and egotistic or “proud.” i (Govvricht, 1939, by Paul V. Colline.)