Evening Star Newspaper, February 15, 1929, Page 8

8 * THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. FRIDAY.... ..February 15, 1929 THEODORF W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Bustiness Office: 1th 8t. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd St. Chicags Office: Tower Bulldine. European Office: 14 Regent t.. London. England. Rate by Carrier Within the City. e Evenine Star_..... 45¢ per month he Evening and Sunday S 4 (when 4 Sundaysy ... 60c per month | The Evening and Sunday Sar | hen 5 Sundays). 25 The Sunday Star ...\ 8¢ per ccpy Collection made at'the end of each month. Orders may oe sent fn by mall or telephone Main 5600 85¢ per month | Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. 1 yr.$1000; 1 mo., 88c | 1 yr. $6.00: 1 ma. 80c | 1 Daily only Sunday only $4.00; 1 mo.. 40c All Other States and Canada. | end Sunday..l yr.. $12.00: 1 mo., $1.00 yr., 18.00; 1 mo., 73 aily only - Sunday only .. 1y 8500 1 mo. Boc Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled o the use for republization of all atches credited to it or not ofker ted in this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of publication of | pecial dispatches herein are also reserved. A Great Experiment. A great experiment which merits suc- eess 15 the sale by the Shipping Board | of the United States Lines and the | American Merchant Lines; to be oper- | ated by private American capital under the American flag in the overseas com- merce of, this country. These lincs have been operated sifce the World War with the' backing of the United States Government, the United States Lines directly by the Government. The sale of these ships, eleven in number, to | private American interests marks an- | other step in the effort to bring about | a permanent overseas American mer- chant marine. The fate of the new venture will be watchcd with the keen- est interest. These ships, some of them ! passenger ships primarily, like the great | Leviathan, and others cargo vessels, will | be operated in the North Atlantic trade, the most competitive of all merchant shipping. If they can be THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGION, D. €, FRIDAY, "THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. nople and transferred the seat of its government to Angora. Two new cities have come .onto the ' map since the World War. Christiania, historic capital of Norway, was re- christened with its ancient name of Oslo. The Commonwealth of Australia, establishing a wholly new capital, called it Canberr: ¥ In China, where literally revolution- | ary developments have been in progress, | nomenclature has undergone kaleido- scopic changes. Not only have the Na- tionalists bereft Peking of its ancient prestige as the country’s capital and set up New China's headquarters at Nan- king. but they have altered Peking to “Pelping.” ing closely to the names we have grown up with. Gary, city of steel, sprang into Sing Sing, where men do anything but that, is Ossining now. But, on the whole, the geography makers and the grade-school boys and girls are not having much new stuff to study, or old | to forget, as far as North America is concerned. — v Ten-Year Record at Lorton. The President sent to Congress yester- day a supplemental estimate of appro- priations for continuing the permanent building program at the District Re- formatory Reservation at Lorton, Va., following recommendations by a special House committee that the District of Columbia should have a walled prison | and be in shape to take care of its worst criminals who are now being sent to th Federal penitentiaries in Leavenworth and Atlanta. This focuses attention on the “noble experiment” made at Lorton under the | leadership of the late President Roosevelt ! in carrying out the recommenda- tion of two of Washington's leading| citizens as members of a special com- mission to report on a penal system for the National Capital—John Joy Edson and Justice Wendell P..Stafford of the District Supreme Court. Ten years ago the building program was started at Lorton—the first institu- tion of its kind in the world for harbor- Our little old United States, as far | as the Nation at large knows, is stick- | existence thirty-odd years ago on the | Indiana shore of Lake Michigan, and | well run cold at what has happened, what might happen again tomorrow in Chicago. It may run cold with the realization that Chicago's malady, o sickness which has drained the strength of a city of over three million people, leaving them pitifully weak and im- potent, is a malady that can spread and with fearful suddenness become epidemic. It is a malady caused by the germs of greed; germs that breed cor- ruption and depravity among public of- ficials and that fatten on the blind tolerance and pharisaical assurance of those who put sfich officials in public office. B Blood that runs cold, however, co- agulates, and the body dies. Blood should run 'hat,‘ax}d until the blood of American cities bails at the sight of poor Chicago, and boiling, sets in mo- tion the irresistible force of an aroused public opinion against those who flout the law with impunity, water would serve as well. —— - Henry H. Glassie. By reason of his residence here for fifty-five of the fifty-eight years of his life, Henry H. Glassie is to all intents and purposes a native ‘Washing- tonian. He would take his place on the bench of the District Supreme Court equipped with a knowledge of Washing- ton derived from an active career in the Capital, a generous portion of which has been devoted to serving the interests of the local community, both as a public official and as a private citi- zen. The enlarged fleld of opportunity which lies in the position for which he has been selected by the President would enable him to perform still more valuable service. Mr. Glassie’s appointment is to fill a new position on the bench of the Dis- trict Supreme Court created by Con- gress in recognition of the great vol- ume of condemnation cases now erowd- ing, and which for many years to come will continue to crowd, the docket. In his selection of Mr. Glassie the Presi- dent has chosen a man who has spe- cialized, to some degree, in the type of {litigation over which he would be called upon to preside. While the law creating the additional judgeship does not specify the permanent assignment made to earn money, it will no longer | ing long-time prisoners without walls or | of any one justice to the condemnation be possible to say, as has been said so often in recent years, that America cannot compete with Britain, Germany, France, Italy and the Scandinavian countries in the shipping business of the world. The Shipping Board voted unani- mously to sell these ships to P. W. Chapman, Inc., of New York and Chi- cago, for $16,300,000. The Senate com- merce committee, which had investi- gated the bid, gave its assent, although Benator Fletcher of Florida, ranking | Democratic member, and two other Democrats voiced their disapproval. Senator Fletcher's opposition was based on the belief that the Government it- self should continue t~ sperate these | shipping lines permanently, and that the price paid for them was too low | when the real value of the vessels was | taken into consideration, Under the contract with the Chap- ‘man company, the Government receives & guarantee to operate these ships for | a period of ten years in the overseas trade and under the American flag. There is a further stipulation that there shall be replacements or supplements to the fleet. The company has prom- Ised to construct two large liners cost- Ing approximately $25,000,000 apiece. The construction of these ships is to be begun almost immediately, it is re- ported. ‘The policy with regard to the mer- chant marine by Congress has been that it should be placed finally in pri- vate operation under the American flag. Gradually. under this policy, the Ship- ping Board has disposed of a great many of the Government-owned ships, which were obtained during the World! War. In the meantime, Congress has | directed that the shipping lines should | continue to be operated by the Govern- ment, either directly or through lease, until they could be sold. The difficulty | peretofore sent to Leavenworth or|«qp | Atlanta, committed to Lorton, is that which the board has faced under such circumstances is obvious. How could | shippers be expected to turn from the | foreign-owned lines which have served them for years to give their business to lines which were operated through the Government when these lines might be sold overnight? Gradually, however, the Shipping Board has disposed of its lines, seeking | always the most advantageous terms for the Government and also terms that seemed to assure the permanent operation of these lines under private American ownership. This last sale is the biggest which the board has ever made. The transfer of the United States Lines and the American Mer- chant Line to private American opera- tion puts American capital and Amer can capabity on its mettle indeed. ———— — ‘The Salvation Army has a new head. ‘The public in loyal esteem will still} regard it as the same old Salvation Army. —r—e— New Names for 0ld. Geography publishers are having thetr troubles. Hardly a weck or a month | goes by nowadays without some chang in world nomenclature. The school- children of many lands confront new | tribulations, too. They have not only to | unlearn, but to learn anew. ! Today's change in names, officially | bulletined by the Associated Press under a cable date line which deserves jour- nalistic immortality, comes from Vati- | can City. “The use of the new geo graphical designation ‘Vatican City, says the Associated Press, “now is con sidered the most accurate way of indi-' cating the place of origin of news, stories concerning the activities sur- | rounding the papal household.” Since time immemorial, news of the Holy See reached the outside world dated Rome, It is an epochal change that here is in- iated. Since the World War names of coun- tries and cities have been. altered cr brought into existence on a scale only realized when reflected upon in its en- tirety. Serbia became Jugoslavia. Czechoslovakia was created. Latvia and Lithuania were converted from Russian mperial provinces into sovereign states. Poland was born again. St. Petersburg reverted to Petrograd, only later to be Sovietized into Leningrad. Danzig, once & German outpost in FEast Prussia, was elevated into a free etate. Ireland acquired similar status ond title, Turkey abandoned Constanti- But the blood of American citles may Plunged into sufferings untold? bars, giving them work to do, teaching them habits of industry and affording them a chance to learn trades, with| abundant fresh air and sunshine and wholesome and varied food. The first wooden buildings were literally hewn from the virgin forest. Trees were cut and the lumber sawed on the ground. A decade ago the permanent building program that is now nearing compietion was worked out and the ground laid out. The permanent buildings are of brick and laid out like a model community settlement, resembling greatly college dormitories and recreation halls about a central campus. They are open to the air on all sides, heve unlimited sunlight and are arranged for* most careful| sanltation. . ‘There are no walls, byt there is one disciplinary barracks and one cell house to take care of those who have proved that they cannot be trusted. But these structures are more as a warning than| for use and as a general rule are empty | or nearly so. While the Board of Public Weifare has not yet definitely decided just what will ultimateiy be done to carry out the recommendations of the special House | committee for a walled prison, it has been decided that there will be some strong buildings where people can be kept, where the prisoners will not wilt for lack of air and sunshine. Under the new appropriation asked yesterday it is proposed to erect another discipiinary barracks and a headquarters for the assistant superintendent who is in charge of discipline. All of the men now under confinement at Lorton are at work on the farm or in shops—foundry, canning factory, broom or basket making, garment fac- tory and making auto license plates. The problem presented by the decision to| have all District prisoners, even those while others are virtually at liberty on the reservation these relatively few bad cases must be kept under lock and key. How many of these will have to be thus closely confined? When the Lorton experiment was started the civilized world thought that the only way to keep any prisoners in penal institutions was under lock and behind bars and walls. Lorton proved that theory wrong. Paroled men from Lorton are taking an honorable place in life and industrial employment. Society today is more in- | terested in what the man is going to be after he comes out than in the mere | matter of his physical safekeeping. All such long-time prisoners eventually come | | out—the latest available average for the entire country is three years. Today | even lifers are eligible for parole. | If prisoners escape from Lorton, or break their parole, those in charge of the District penal institutions will go to the ends of the world after them— for the matter of discipline and for the moral effect on others. Lorton in a decade has worked out | many important problems. It will work | jcut the present one of caring for thc-l “bad men” of the District. S e A horse that never threw him has been reserved by the Prince of Wales as a pet. What is commonly termed “horse sense” still has its rewards. —a— Chicago. Once again the red specter of anarchy | that leaves the Nation gasping in hor- ror. Once again the majesty of law, the rule of right, are flaunted in ridicule ‘ind held up as hollow symbols, of no more substance than dummies of straw. Once again the soverelgnty of the peo- ple is challenged with an impudénce of such brazen abandon as to be unbe- lievable were it not for a sequence of events which makes this last occurrence almost natural. & It is not the cold-bloodedness of un- derworld atrocities thaf should cause alarm or amazement. Crocodile tears are the only tears worth shedding over the death of gangsters at the hands of gangsters, Sympathy for the seven men who were lined up against a wall and at point-blank range mowed down by bullets from machine guns and sawed- off shotguns is wasted sympathy. / talks through the murk of lawless Chi- | cago. Once again the dripping hand of | crime rampant paints a crimson picture | cases, Mr. Glassie probably would de- vote his time, for the present at least, to that type of work with which he has become so familiar, Washington is gratified by the selec- tion of a District lawyer of ability and fine ideals for membership on a court that has always held a high place in the esteem and respect of the com- munity. Mr. Glassie is to be congrat- ulated and the community will wish him well in his new role of public service. et Delicate points of ethics are still discussed in efforts to decide whether a man who takes a bribe is as guilty as the one who offers it and whether the man who buys bootlicker is as guilty as the one who sells it. o As a Soviet prisoner Trotsky may in ‘Turkey, sometimes think with when he could say or write anything he chose without attracting dangerous attention. i e A President-elect may find a vacation more or less a failure in the midst of new and urgent cares. Selection of a cabinet would be enough to take the mind of any man off his golf game. - As a practical person, Lindbergh de- clines to discuss his engagement. The matter is definitely arranged and there is nothing further to be said. — e SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Right and the Wrong of It. My friend, says he, he says to me, “If may be we should disagree, It leaves us in no désperate plight, Since one of us must sure be right. disagreement bids us part With angry thought and sorrowing heart, A disappointment then grows strong, Since both of us must sure be wrong.” Easy Chair Statesmanship. “Do you enjoy speeches over radio?” “Yes,” answered Senator Sorghum. “I can listen to the speeches without feeling that any influential colleague has his eye on me to see whether I applaud loudly enough at appropriate Jjunctures.” Jud Tunkins says he used to sit on a fence rail and chew a little piece of hay—before hay got to be so valuable. Flying High. He was a gentle, stalwart elf, ‘Who made us all enthuse; But Lindbergh's gone and got hisself In the Soclety News! The Comeback. “Why do you make sarcastic re- marks?"” “Why,” rejoined Miss Cayenne, “do cherished friends say things to make me feel sarcastic?” “Wisdom,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “is attributed to those who spoke centuries ago. A century hence, even we may be deemed wise.” Always New. Inauguration day draws near, The throng will lift the same ald cheer. The same old tunes will sound so clear, Which, year by year, grow still more dear. “Our preacher has de best system foh beatin’ a crap game,” said Uncle Eden, “dat I knows. He never risks nuffin’ hisself, but depends on dé winner to put a liberal percentage on de contribution plate.” Radigtorial. Burlingame and Valentine— St. Valentine's appointed day Was swiftly doomed to fade away. Of course, love does not, as & rule, Conduct a correspondence school So publicly that all may know What Valentine fond hearts bestow. I am quite certain just the same That none were sent to Burlingame, Shivering Europe— Forgotten are the hints of strife, When hunger threatens human life, ‘Who shall give searching thought today To what a debtor has to pay When Europe shivers in the cold, ” \ | the rather silly way birds have of doing. regret of the happy days in Harlem | | has a little gang. It's vith him to and FEBR UARY 15, 1929. In the midst of the general prepara- tions for the inauguration there are some residents of the District of Co- lumbia who are looking forward to the inauguration of Spring, to. These are the home gardeners, flower- loving men and women, who have been | stirring around restlessly ever since they | Tead about some man somewhere seeing ® 0 fhat local gardeners have had an| opportunity of seeing in ‘the bird line are the starlings, ubiquitous feathered fellows which seem to have taken a par- ticular fancy for the National Capital. When one thinks of the nuisance these birds have become in a compar- atively short time he is likely_ to fecl that he owes profuse apologies to the humble English sparrows. For many years the sparrows were the target of scorn of every righteous citizen. No one ever had a good word to say for them. They were pesky little critters which couldn't sing, and hadn't pretty coats, and only made harsh chirpings. Somehov? Wge always_felt that these tirades against the English sparro were misplaced. It is not a bad look ing bird, by any means, and always showed an inclination to stick around, no matter what the weather, Your sparrow is no uppity bird to go off to Florida when the weather gets cold, but a plain citizen who toughs it out along with the rest of us less- ravored mortals. You could never look out a window without seeing one of them hopping around. Many persons had a sneaking fondness for the sparrow. Perhaps they were the same men and women wno like the common dandelion and the bright buttercups. koK Kk And now the starling comes on the scene, proving thot when nuisances are being discussed he English sparrow is a back-number, as it were. The starling is four times as large and at least four times as unattractive. He is, however, a most interesting bird. One rainy afternoon recently we watched a flock of them in the back yard, where they have made themselves at home since the day when we un- warily put out bread for the sparrows. The sight of the sparrows feasting at their ease was too much for the star- lings, so they descended in numbers and have never failed to come back every afternoon since. Between feasts they spend their time trying to peck holes in our tin roof with their large beaks. We have heard them up there, and their big bills sound essen- tially destructive. Rain had collected in several depres- sions in the grass, forming splendid little pools for bird bathing. A sparrow had taken advantage of the fact and was flopping its wings in the water in A starling flew down, eyed the sparrow | with malice, and then proceeded to oust | it from its nice pool. Flop, flop, flop! the starling flapped its wings in the grassy shallow pond, getting the water well up under them. He seerr °d to enjoy himself immense- ly. He gould squat down, in order to get into the water, then would flap those stubby black wings up and down, spraying water in all directions. Soon more starlings appeared. The water was fire, and they were all going to try it. Pretty soon the pool was so crowded with fat starlings that there was no room for more, The curious thing was that there were several other pools available, but does any one suppqse for an instant that the WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM W Representative Pinis Garrett, Demo- crat, of Tennessce, whom President Coolidge has just elevated to the United States Court of Customs Appeals, is one of Speaker Longworth’s cronies. “Nicky” fro. And everywhere the Speaker went, Garrett was sure to go. The other mem- bers of the Longworth kitchen cabinet are “Jack” Tilson of Connecticut, G. O. P. leader in the House; “Jack” Gar- ner, Democrat, of Texas, the future mi- nority leader; “Bert” Snell, Republican, | of New York, chairman of the rules| committee; “Ike” Bacharach, Repub- lican, of New Jersey, and “Jim" Begg, Republican, of Ohio. Begg, who cap- tained Longworth's forces in Nick's speakership contest in 1925, retires from Congress on March 4, because of his unsuccessful bid for the Ohio governor- ship last Fall. The seven Longworth musketeers are immensely fond of one another. Political dmerencsi have | proved hopelessly incapable of dlviding their affections. * K ok X Mr. Coolidge saves Mr. Hoover the trouble of taking care of Irving L. Len- root of Wisconsin by sending the dis- tinguished 1926 senatorial lame duck to | the Court of Customs Appeals. The old Progressive leader is sure to.be one of President . Hoover’s behind-the-scenes counselors. He functioned in such a. capacity throughout the Californian’s re-convention campaign and especially Pn Kansas City. Lenroot's decision to accept a place on the Federal bench surprises some of his friends, who be- lieved he was happy in his Washington law practice and on the sure road to a big income. Evidently he prefers $12,000 a year for life as a United States judge. * ok kK President Coolidge has felt compelled | to refuse several urgent invitations from the broadcasting companies to deliver a farewell message to the Nation over the radio. It was thought he might care to discuss the human-intorest aspect of his departure from five and a half years in the presidency, leaving olitics and public affairs entirely aside. ut Mr. Coolidge let it be known that he thinks his duty is to efface himself as unostentatiously as possible. The thought in his mind seems to be that nothing should be done by the retiring Chief Executive to mar in any way whatsoever the completeness of the glory to which his successor is entitled. Calvin Coolidge did a tremendous lot to popularize broadcasting of public ad- dresses. His administration, of course, fell n the midst of the magical radio age. He proved to possess exactly the kind of voice, despite the New England twang, that “cuts through” the ether. The President learned to like broad- casting, perfected himself as a micro- phone artist, and acquired & profound respect for the value of radio as a method of communicating political ideas. * ok h ok If certain plans quietly maturing are carried out, Mrs. Coolidge will leave ‘Washington the possessor of a magnif- icent piece of jewelry, to be presented by a group of woman admirers. There’s a precedent for bestowing such a gift upon a retiring First Lady. It was set in the case of Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt in 1909 and repeated in the case of Mrs, Willlam Howard Taft in 1913. To Mrs. Taft there was given a diamond necklace. No one can recall that the two retiring Democratic First Ladies of modern_times were similarly remem- bered—Mrs. Grover Cleveland and Mrs. ‘Woodrow Wilson. R If “Bill” MacCracken, capable BndI popular Assistant Secretary of “Com- merce for Aeronautics, does not join the Hoover administration, the expec- tation is that he will be grabbed by some of the country’s important avia- tion interests. MacCracken’s job—he was the first to occupy the newly cre- [ | the florists? ated assistant secretaryship in Hoover's department in 1926—was to promote the purely commercial development of aviation. His ‘work naturally brought him into close touch with the industry in all its varied stages, both at home and abroad. Mr. MacCracken is a law- yer by profession and is still secretary of the American Bar Association. He could return to his old practice in Chi- birds used them? Not by a poolful! Every bird, seeing every other bird in that pool, wanted to bathe there and no_place else. So they kept on cramming in until the water was black with them. And as for the poor sparrows, they flew away in disgust. Kk g0 These may or may not be signs of Spring; the fact remains that in Feb- ruary the home gardener’s fancy lightly turns in that direction. ‘The seed catalogues, for one thing, make a gardener anxious for the warm days to come; they present to his gazo so many and various creations of the vegetable and floral world. All the catalogues have spruced up this year, for one thing; we have re- ceived one in board covers, even! Most, of the others are enlarged and have more elaborate colored illustrations. Booklets dealing with roses carry an especial appeal. Some of the classics of cotemporary color illustrations are now appearing in the rose catalogues, ‘They are so lifelike one can almost smell them. It was Oscar Wilde who coined that cynical observation about the cigarette, that it was perfect, because it appealed, and yet left one unsatisfled. Some- thing of a like claim may be made for the rose. The home-grown rose, In par- ticular, is an appealing and a discon- certing creation. The bushes they grow on are, with some few exceptions, temperamental creations of Nature in a fickle mood. Here she devised the softest thing in the world, a rose petal, along with the sharpest, the thorn, and put them side by side, some say, to teach man a much- needed lesson. There are as many moods in roses as in a temperamental person’s mind. One blooming of a particular bush may be perfect, whereas the next may show ! all the blossoms “balled,” as the rosa- | rians say. What is more perfect than the well grown flower of the variety Souvenir de Claudius Pernet, as one sees it at Yet every home gardener knows that in the backyard the blooms of this variety may be flat failures, last- ing only for a day, tending to be in- jured by too much sunshine and even the passage of time itself. Many a practiced eye is surveying lawns this month, taking stock of their appearance and probable needs. From now on until grass growth really starts is one of the worst times of the year for lawns. Lawns of certain types become very spongy when the weather turns mild and childish fect unthinkingly trample them almost upside down. No doubt the use of a roller will correct this defect (in the lawn, of course), but how many householders possess a lawn roller? A roller is another one of the garden implements which most homeowners promise themselves next season—but somehow that season never comes. After all, one may “get by" without it, and it is used seldom. It is always easy to think up a good excuse for not buying a lawn roller, Freezing weather of recent weeks turned lawns, which hitherto had re- mained mildly green, to a faded gray. Underneath, however, the roots lie more or less protected, awaiting the call of Spring. When that annual inauguration comes around there will be a big pa- rade in thousands of back yards, as homeowners go forth to the annual bat- tle with the weeds. ILE | cago, but undoubtedly the “big money"! at his command lies in the illimitable aviation field. “Bill” is one of 1. Lindbergh's closest friends and con- fidantes. When “Slim” nose-dives into | matrimony a few weeks hence, Mac- Cracken would be a logical choice for best man. * kK K Alderson, W. Va., the new Federal prison for women, has just had a re- markable addition to its “population.” It s a woman convicted of using the mails for fraudulent purposes under cir- cumstances utterly unique in American criminal annals. The “lady” offered to sell the alleged “petrified” body of her son to a dime museum showman for $30,- 000. At one time it was thought the state | of her mind must be such that she he- Jonged in an institution for the insane instead of in a penitentiary. But her trial proved she knew exactly what she was doing and had simply evolved a| novel method of getting rich. Dr. Har- | ris, the distinguished woman sociologist, who is the warden of Alderson, has just | paid an officlal visit to Washington for conference with Mabel Walker Wille- brandt, Assistant Attorney General, in charge of Federal prisons for the De- partment of Justice. | (Copyright, 1920.) i et Science Equips Crime Detectors With Aids| From the Concinnati Times-Star. | Step by step, science has been equip- | ping the business of detecting crime | with the human equivalents of the} bloodhound'’s unerring sense of smell. | The laboratory can determine whether a bloodstain is that of a man or an ani- | mal, and thereby break down one of the traditional defenses of the criminal. On his fingertips every man bears his own distinctive autograph, unlike that of any other man. If fingerprints are found at the scene of a crime their correspondence with the fingerprints of a suspect tears up the strongest alibf. A further step, unfamiliar at least to the layman, was disclosed in & crim- inal trial last week. What it tends to prove is that, like a man’s fingertips, every bullet carries its own autograph. Not only can you tell from its mark- ings what make and caliber of revolver it came from, but you can even tell the particular revolver of the make and caliber that fired it. Every revolver barrel has a distinctive set of scratches on its interior surface which reappear upon a bullet fired through it. If a bullet taken from the victim's body is placed in line under a microscope with a sample bullet fired from a revolver, and one of the bullets is turned until a groove in it corresponds with a groove in the other, then—if the two bullets came from the same revolver—the sceratches on both will appear as con- tinuous lines. The American revolver is shaped something like the Australian boom- erang. The peculiarity of the boom- erang is that it is just as dangerous to the thrower as to his target. —e— A Worthy Topie. From the Indlanapolis Star. A study of the Monroe Doctrine should be made compulsory in our schools so that Congressmen wouldn't dare talk so much about it. r——— Only A Handful. From the Ottawa Journal. Chiet of police in Chicago told his men that he wanted every crook in the city to be in jail by the next morning. They went out, but all they could land were 3,000 r—e—- Tt Could Be Shorter With Favor. From the Cincinnati Times-Star. A short horse is soon curried, which is all we elect to say in favor of Feb~ ruary. o It’s Hatband That's Hard to Fill. From the Fort Worth Record-Telegram. It is easy enough to fill a person's shoes. It's filling his hatband that causes the convs:nlon. { Emphasizes Sacrifices Made for Negro Race To the Editor of The Star: Since the month of February brings | to our minds with renewed emphasis the makers and preservers of our Re- public under the leadership and hero- | ism of George Washington and Abra- ham Lincoln, I thought the readers of | your paper would be interested to hear a word concerning a silent but power- ful group who have done as much as | any to make America what it is today. Immediately following the assassi- nation of President Linesln there went | forth from the best homes and schools in this country a band of young men and women to lift from ignorance to intelligence the recently emancipated slaves. ~They started colleges and dreamed of universities in deserted Army barracks, log cabins and any buildings that they could find. They saw in the most unpromising group in America men and women who would make their contribution to the best in modern civilization. Some worked for no salary or turned their meager earn- ings into tuition, board or clothing for some of their pupils. The maximum wage for a long time was $25 a month, and yet these young men and women | of college and university training toiled on amid the most trying circumstances for years and years. Some stayed until | all of their relatives at home had died ! and they had no home to which to return when they were retired on ac- count of old age. Others sacrificed to the detriment of their bodily needs and | died from malnutrition or exposure. ‘The development of the Negro is no miracle, except for the miracle of such sacrifice_and devotion on the part of those who caught the torch by Lincoln at his death. The dom of John Brown, Lovejoy. and others, as well as these lives spent in loving service, is the vicarious sacri- fice from whose resurrection has arisen the greatest country on earth. These have written a new page in the world’s history that is unique as well as glori- ous. unnoticed, will America, maybe Washington and Lincoln. J. C. OLDEN. ——rmoe - Trotsky Held Proble To Soviet Government From the Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail. The Soviet government just now has some things at home that possibly may claim its attention for a while. All is not so well in that land where every one was to have as much of everything as every other one. In fact, some seem to think they are not getting their share. Does any one suppose that every one everywhere would believe they .were getting their full share under any kind of govern- | ment or brand of economic policy? | In the first place this man Trotsky, | hailed as the “Ilitle Napoleon” of the new Soviet army, began to grow too powerful. It must be admitted that Trotsky to all outward appearances had | organized and trained a most efficient army. Possibly, had he been so inclined, he could have used it to bring about a | change of regime. Evidently the poli- ticians at Moscow feared such a catas- trophe and deposed the military leader | be remembered by and sent him far away from the capital. | But Trotsky had friends, nppan‘mly‘[ It is just possible that | many of them. the number showed an increase. The “Little Napoleon” became a martyr. In banishment from the capital, though not from Russian soil, Trotsky could at any time become the nucleus of a revolt. It would be only natural that the dis- | satisfied elements should turn in his direction. Evidently, also, dissatisfaction is on the increase in Russia. e leaders of the small faction which holds the reins of government in the old Muscovite em- pire probably realize that they are in a somewhat precarious position and that if things should get even a little out of hand there would be no telling what would happen. For Stalin and his associates love power just as much as did the czars to maintain themselves in power if they dared go that far. There is something fascinating about power; always gtasp- ed at, worshiped and too often misused, even in this glorious democracy of ours, while we are scoffing at dictators in the Old World. The problem is to dispose of Trotsky, but Trotsky is too popular to be stood | up before a firing squad, or to be dis- posed of in any other drastic way. Con- sequently, the ruling group have decided to send Trotsky out of Russia. They have wished him on Turkey. So far, however, Turkey not yet has signified its appreciation of the honor. S T Guessing at Coolidge’s Future Held Pastime' From the Nashville Banner. One of the most popular pastimes with both press and public these days is speculating on what President Calvin | Coolidge will do when he leaves the White House to his successor. The pos- sibilities are so many and President Coolidge’s reticence so deep and im- penetrable that there has rarely ever been a more fertile field for gossip. At this writing the positions that have been declared within the President's grasp if he chooses to take them run all the way from the chairmanship of the United States Steel Corporat! to the pres‘dency of the University of Michigan. It is likewise reported that President Coolidge has numerous offers to afliliate himself with this, that or the | other orgavization and write his own’ salary check It is alleged that a multi- | tude of big corporations are clamoring for the President’s services in one ca- pacity or another. The plain truth of the matter is that the President seems | to be the only one who knows what he is going to do, always provided he has decided for himself yet. At any rate, it is something to have a President whose record in Eublic and private life is such that he should be in such great demand among the most stable and rep- utable financial and educational insti- tutions in the country. It also appears entirely safe to say that Mr. Coolidge will not turn out to be another one of the Presidents who have been largely without aim or object after they re- tired from public life. P ) Cigarette Smoking Continues to Gain From the Springfleld (Mass.) Daily Republican. The consumption of cigarettes con- tinues. to grow, blame it on the women if you want to. Statistics for 1928 show that over 100 billion of fags were smoked last year, and the tax levied by the Federal Government amounted to $317,833,335, an increase of $26,000,- Blame women or the ising or whatever it was that overnight turned America into a nation of .cigarette smokers, as yet there is no turning back of this tide. The spectacle of all the college boys puffing away on pipes may have made the cigarette more popular. But popu- lar the cigarette is, and popular it bids fair to remain. This is proved by the fact that eight billion more cigarettes were smoked in 1928 than in the previous year, the exact figures being 105,915,965,014 in 1928 and 97,176,607,484 in 1927. More- | over, of the'total tax paid on all kinds | of tobacco and snuff of $411,016,098.04, | three-fourths was paid on cigareties alone and the increase in the total tay for 1928 over 1927's sum was less than the increase in the cigarette tax. It is a humorous spectacle to out- siders to observe two powerful interests, the tobacco and e confectionery, tearing into each other. That is a war in which no one is obliged to depart from a benevolent neutrality. Suffice it to say that “De gustibus non_dis- putandum” applies just as much to smokes or sweets as to literary criti- Clsm. Some day this band of promising | youth who have wrought so well, though | in February with | . and would rule just as severely in order | This is a special department devoted solely to the handling of queries. This paper puts at your disposal the services of an extensive organization in Wash- ington to serve you in any capacity that relates to information. This service is free. Failure to make use of it deprives you of benefits to which you are entitled. Your obligation is only two cents in coin or stamps enclosed with your inquiry for direct reply. Address The Evening Star Informa- rector, Washington, D. C. Q. Has the Root been completed?—E. T. A. It is not done yet. It i8 hoped that all of the grading and most of the planting at this Oyster Bay memo- rial will be finished by next Fall. Q. How many chicks are hatched in commercial hatcheries?—E. B. H. A. There are about 500,000,000 chick- ens hatched in commercial hatcheries in the United States every year. Q. the f ©lt Memorial Park What was the first “best seller” written by an Indiana authoy?—T. S. A. “Ben Hur,” by Gen. Lew Wallace, published in 1880, may well be given the honor. Q. How much window space will there be in the sales corridors of the Merchandise Mart in Chicago?—M. S. A. Six and one-half miles of plate glass windows will line the sales cor- ridors of this building. It will have ‘4.000.000 square feet of floor space. Q. What is the origin of the name ‘Texas"?—T. R. part of the country had a term, “tejas,” which meant “allies” or “friendly.” The early Spaniards interpreted it as a tribal name and used it as a place name. | With the English it took the form “Texas.” Q. Does a person ever have scarlet fever a second time?—J. B. M. A. The United States Public Health Service says that occasionally there are es where a person has had scarlet i fever for the second time. Q. Where and when did the biggest i[orsst fire occur in the United States? —W. F. K. A. Although the Forest Service has no records of all forest fires, it is | believed that the following are the larg- {est in point of territory covered in | the United States: The Miramichi fire in 1925 covered the largest territory, Brunswick, Canada; the Peshitigo fire in 1871, in Wisconsin, covered 1,280,000 acres; in August, 1910, the Great Idaho fire covered 2,000,000 acres, Q. Do elephants’ tusks curve upward or downward?—D. M. A. Elephants’ tusks generally curve upward and outward. Q. What is the Midewiwin Soclety?— N, A. It is a secret organization found amoung Algonquin Indians, consisting of progressive degrees or ranks having a vague resemblance to the Masonic ritual. Q. What do the French call “radio?” —8. H. A. They speak of the “T. 8. F.” This stands for “telegraphie sous fil which means “telegraphy without wire.” earth whirling through space at 19 miles a second blow us all away?—F. T. at the rate of 19 miles a second would produce the same effect as the air moving at the rate of 19 | miles a second. But there is no air {in interplanetary space. The atmos- tion Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, di-| A. The aborigines who occupled that | 3,000,000 acres in Maine and New | Why doesn't the force of the | |if the earth were standing still and | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. | phere of the earth is a part of the earth and moves along with the solid Jart under the action of the same forces that kecp the solid part in motion. Q. Please give the meaning of ‘dia- | lectic.” “obsolete™ and “foreign” words. | R. D. | A. A dialectical word is one derived | from a dialect. such as the Scotch | word “fey,” which means “prescient.” An | obsolete word is one no long~r in use, such as the term “yolept,” meaning “cali~ ed.” A foreign word is one which has not yet been incorporated in‘n another | language. An example wonld be “heim- weh,” meaning “hcmesickness.” | e | Q. What were the trade dollars aud when were they recalled?—-R. P. F. A. The trade dollar of 420 g | troy was authorized by the act of F: | ruary 12, 1873. It was intended | circulation in Oriental countries | substitute for the Mexican dollar, which | it slightly exceeded in weight: but by | the terms of the authorizing act it was | made-legal tender in the United States |in sums not exceeding $5. This legal | tender quality was withdrawn by the | jont resolution approved July 22, 1876, and the coinage was limited to such |amount as the Secretary of the Treas- ury should consider sufficient to mecet the export demand. The act of Feb- !ruary 19, 1887, provided for the retire- ment of trade dollars and their recoin- age into standard silver dollars or sub- sidiary silver. For six months after the passage of the act they could be ex- changed at the Treasury or any sub- treasury, dollar for dollar, for standard silver dollars or subsidiary coin. The total number of trade dollars coined was 35,965,024, Q. Are foreigners employled in our postal service?—pP. G. A. All emploges of the United States Postal Servie® must be American | citizens. Q. What | afloat>—A. R. | A. The British convict ship Success is believed to have this distinction. It was built in Burma in 1790. The ves- | sel has been exhibited in various coun- tries and is eventually returning to Australia to be converted into a float- ing museum. | ..Q How many soldiers could the United States have produced in the ‘World War by drafting men up to 46 years of age?—B. P. A. The United States -could have | produced approximately 24,000,000 men ‘durlng the World War by ‘a draft in- cluding men of 45 years of age. Q. How did Harry %ehr become the arbiter of New York society?—S. S. A. Lehr became secretary to Mrs. William Astor and later director of the lavish entertainments of Mrs. Stuyves- ant Fish. He made a fortune through commissions as a wine agent. Witty and sudacious, he put gayety and origi- | nality into the social entertainments of the nineties. | Q. How many cigarettes were sold | last year?—J. K. = | A. The actual sales record is not | available. The withdrawals from ware- | houses, indicating consumption, for the | fiscal year ending June 30, 1928, were 100,584,522,983 small cigarettes and 15,~ “275‘193 large cigarettes. Q. How is “Hello!” said in other lan- | guages?—M. L. | A. When the word is used by foreign- Rfs the oldest ship still A. If all space were full of stationary | ers it is given as nearly the English alr, the motion of the earth through it | pronunciation as possible. Q. Where is Herculaneum?—M. §. G. A. Herculaneum is 13 miles south- | east of Naples. Naples is about 150 or 175 miles south of Rome, according to the way one travels. When William Cullen -Bryant Kemp | died recently at the age of 78, after | having spent almost a lifetime at Co- | lumbia University,in the course of which | he accumulated a formidable string of degrees, the public wondered how much his more or less complete academic ed- ucation had contributed to the world. One critical estimate describes him as an education miser. Another finds in his career a demonstration of the im- nossibility of obtaining a complete edu- cation. In terms of real life, the Cincinnati Times-Star suggests the “sensation of balancing up and down on.a diving board and not taking the plunge into the pool below. * * * If we were mind- ed to point a moral,” says the Times Star, “we would say that this man missed_altogether the meaning of an education, and that his failure even to matriculate in the university of hard knocks was a cardinal one. Yet there are gains possible to the purely contem- plative life and the position of an on- looker has its values. We trust that among the effects of William Cullen Bryant Kemp may b> found theses that add to the sum of human knowledge, or at least a journal in which are mi- nutely recounted the sensations of a man who kept balancing on the spring- board and never took a header into the deep current of life. Amiel left such a journal in which he declared, ‘I have become a statue on the banks of the river of time.” The journal has become his great, his posthumous victory.” * ok ok K “Many a college boy.” remarks the Springfield (IIl.) State Register, “looks forward to ‘commencement’ with all the joy that accompanies achieve- ment, but decply regrets having to leave the old school and the friends and the associates of the ‘bright col- lege years.’ ‘He may feel that he could g0 on forever in that atmosphere, but that fdea is quickly swallowed up in the actualities of life, and more and more he realizes the workings of Na- ture's law of continuous change. And if he has gained the true insight into knowledge and the fullness thereof, he realizes also that all that he has learn- ed Is really but a preliminary in the endless process of learning. The years stretch befcre him, rich in promise if he will further broaden his horizon by reading and studying as he goes along.” ““We may cradit Mr. Kemp with a real hunger for knowledge,” the Boston ‘Transcript observes. ~ “The question then arises, What did he do with it? It does not appear that he was the au- thor of any great scientific work. Add- ing always to his own store of knowl- edge, he took no interest in adding to others’ wisdom. Penetrating the secrets of medicine and mathematics, he solved no hitherto unsolved problem and left behind him no record of discovery or invention. In the domain of learning he was a miser.” The Fargo Forum holds that “his life accomplishments can be set down as 13 degrees and an additional degree of ‘doctor of perpetual motion,’ given him by the long list of students which matriculated and grad- uated through the years he kept on going to school.” e e “All such waste of opportunity, of | time and of money is probably cvitable in an age of luxury such as the present,” concludes the Bay City Daily Times: “But it bshooves us to be on our guard against useless and utterly | inane diversions. For pleasure can be’ mage m&meluunle: in value if one will | read and play with a purpose.” Recognizing the cong'lbuuons of such inds as those of Erasmus, Spinoza, Kant and Binstein, the Atlanta Jgirnal feels that “thinkers like these are in- trinsically strenuous and for all the out- ward calm of their careers are makers of history.” The Journal also declares that “the scholar’s life, though housed in- Passing of Lifetime Student Raises Question of His Value and it quotes the verses on Browning's “Grammarian”: “‘Yea, this in him was the peculiar grace, That before living he'd learn how to live— No end to learning; Earn the means first—God surely will contrive Use for our learning. Others mistrust and say, escapes, Live now or never!” He said, “What's time? Leave now for dogs and apes! Man has forever!”* “A few such heroes will do for our world’s multifarious needs,” continues the Journal. “To plow the fleld, to | tend the forge, to sail the ship in teeth of roaring darkness, to woo the maid, to tell stories to little children around a twilight fire, to oe a workaday human soul with the gift of contentment and the grace of a smile—these assuredly are the prime callings of our planet. Yet when the rarer spirits go marching by, the brave, the beautiful, the ad- venturous, the wise, our hearts bow to them; and somewhere through the golden haze we shall see, if we look intently, the Perpetual Student.” * ok K % “It would doubtless be amazing” | thinks the Schenectady Gazette, “to read a list of the subjects studied by Dr. Kemp in his half century of volun= tary attendance upon this, one of our greatest institutions of knowledge. While it is understood that his diversity of interest was great, it goss without say- ing that he mastered, one by one, the various branches he took up. One can eat and digest a deal in 50 years, even of the tree of knowledge.” The San Antonio Evening News says: “A per- son with a quenchless hunger for knowledge must envy Kemp his strange career, if it may be called that. Look- |ing back upon one’s school and college years, they seem the best of life. Is any other joy so pure and lasting as that accompanving the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake? Happy is he who can keep up the quest to the very end!” A somewhat impersonal phase of the matter which is emphasized by the Providence Journal is.that this siudent “furnished a valuable object lesson. and not the least of its value lies in the demonstration that it s imposs acquire ‘a complete edueation,’ the Montgomery Advertiser concludes: “Happily for him, modern education presented so many new subjects in such rapid succession that he was never quite able to catch up. and at the end was ;D:f?fl the anguish that was Alexan- er’s. “But time ) We're Thankful for That. From Sprinsfleld (Mass.) Daily Republican, Not that Mr. Hoover couldn't make the Mussolini cabinet idea work—with himself in a majority of the positions. It just isn't done "e'yt here. iy ————— Yes! Yes! That's Right. From the Little Rock Arkansas Democrar. Being a yos-man Isn't agreeable, but there isn't rcom enough gx" the poore house for all of us. R Where Did He Get It? Prom the Worcester Daily Telegram. A thief picked $600 fram the e of a poet in a Boston cneterhp?c In Boston they have particularly mean %u:t?ncxm and poets with $600 in their clothes. Don’t Ask Too Much of Albert! From the ,‘:{fi‘ Worth Ster-Telegram and Sunday & knows so much about in a monastic nook, may be rich in heroism and far-r in power,” - Einstein, who space, might devote a Iif of his time t0 finding some of it for parking.