Evening Star Newspaper, February 18, 1929, Page 8

THE EVENING —_With Sunday Mo WASHINGTON, D. C. MONDAY.. THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Bus! Rate by Mall—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. aily and Sunday....1 yr., $10.00; 1 m §'"J only 1 .00: 1 m junda. y only All Other States and Canada. y..1 1 .00: 1 ma., 81,00 1 38.00; 1 mo., e 135 $500; 1 mo. unday only . Member of the Assoclated Press. sociated Press is exclusively entitled to e Aive o Tepusiication of ail news ¢ atches credited to it or not o;{é"l;c rel A of Bubiication fches "herein are also reserved. -— Mr. Hoover Comes Home. The President-elect is due in Wash- fngton tomorrow from his month’s sojourn in Florida, to spend his final fortnight as a private citizen. He is coming home. Within the District of Columbia, Herbert Hoover has had his vine and fig tree for the past twelve years, Palo Alto claims his nominal allegiance and voting residence, but No. 2300 S street northwest is the place where the incoming Chief Engineer of the Republic has hung up his coat and hat since 1917. That domiciliary circumstance is in- teresting, and even important, because of the suggestion that Mr. Hoover's arrival in Washington so far in advance of inauguration day is violative of prece- dent and possibly displeasing to Mr. Coolidge. Viewed solely from the stand- point of ‘the fact that the National Capital is the President-elect's actual dwelling place, his presence here before March 4 would be unquestionably justifiable. All dressed up for his impending duties, he has hardly any- where else to go. It was in Washington that Hoover lived when nominated for the presidency, and, except for the deplorable plight of the District of Columbia as a voteless void in the Union, the probability is that the Cali- fornian would have been here when he was elected. . There happens to be a cotemporary precedent for Mr. Hoover’s presence in| Washington in mid-February. It was set by Mr. Taft. The statesman who succeeded President Roosevelt and now adorns the Chief Justiceship of the United States came to Washington on February 16, 1909—at almost the exactly corresponding date which will find President-elect Hoover here. “T. R.” registered no displeasure over the unusually early arrival of his successor. One is safe in assuming that Calvin Coolidge likewise is not irked by the coming of the White House heir twelve or fourteen days sooner than ancient custom prescribed for the advent of the President-elect. - | Times change, and we change with | them. Because our Presidents by tra- dition did not hitch their horses in Washington until the witching eve of inauguration day, there is no reason why in these ultra-modern times they should not park their cars in Washing- ton well before that time. The Federal .. machine has grown into a mighty organ- ism. As a matter of practical mechanics, vital interests of the state can now- adays be served by an incoming Presi- dent who gathers up essential ends before the oath-taking hour, instead of leaving them to be collected hastily afterward, Herbert Hoover, the engineer, has gone about things in just that way. He spent ten days here in January. He put in some useful strokes for himself and for the politicians who bearded him, patronage-minded. He has now assigned himself another pre-inaugural period at the scene of his fast onrushing burdens. No one who knows the President-elect imagines it will be a breathing spell. It will be another working time, with * heavy drafts on the midnight incandes- cent. The profit will be the Nation's. ———e——— Octogenarians pass on, regretted by the world for the loss of their usefulness. ‘The vitality, as in the case of Melville E. Stone, powerful newspaper influence, that enables men to do work worth whil>, enables them to live long. ——————— Railroad Consolidation. ‘The consolidation or unification of railroad systems in the United States still remains a problem, although six years ago the Congress declared for the principle and instructed the Interstate Commerce Commission to draft a plan. On Saturday the Senate committee on Interstate commerce reported favorably & bill which goes much further in the matter of the proposed consolidations. It seeks to bring about by compulsion the means of providing for condemna- tion proceedings in cases wherg there is resistance to the plans of unification which have been worked out and ap- proved. It also directs the Interstate Commerce Commission to report “a plan or plans” for railroad consolidations. The difficulty so far, it is said, toward obtaining a plan has been to fix on a plan that has the support of a ma- Jority of the commission. It is now pro- posed that more than one plan may be presented by the commission. It is not expected that this measure will be taken up for consideration at the present session. It may not be taken up in the special session of Congress which is to convene this Spring, de- pending largely upon what may be the attitude of President Herbert Hoover. If Mr. Hoover insists that the activities of the Congress be confined to farm relief and tariff revision, it is expected that the Republican leadership in both the Senate and House will stand back of him in this demand. However, if Mr. Hoover is willing and the oppor- tunity arises in the Senate, the railroad consolidation bill may be given a .day in the upper house during the special session. Mr. Hoover, it is reported, fa- vors the principles involved in raliroad consolidations, on the theory that in this manner the weaker railroads may be maintained and the facilities en- larged which they offer to the people in tae territory they reach by unification STAR ition. February 18, 1029 with the stronger roads. Further, there is the argument that by consolidations the railroads will be more conomically operated. The consolidation bill, which has been the subject of careful study by the Senate interstate commerce com- mittee for years, at all events will be given consideration when the Congress meets in regular session in December. It is not inconceivable that it may be one of the major problems for the Con- gress to consider at that time if farm relief and tariff revision shall have been definitely disposed of for the time at the special session this Spring. ‘The mills of the Government grind slowly. This has been the case with depends upon the attitude of the pub- lic toward the problems involved. The consblidation bill is put forward at this time, it is explained, so that the coun- try may have a chance to mull it over, as well as the members of Congress and the railroads themselves. If there de- velops a real sentiment back of the pro- posal for this legislation it is likely to be given serious consideration in the coming Congress. ———————— Fortune-Tellers. There are nearly eighty licensed for- tune-tellers in Washington. ‘They minister, with varying degrees of individual skill, to a clientele which ranges from charwomen to Congre: men. Bellef in the occult is deep- seated In human nature. It is fruitless to attempt to remove this belief by ar- gument. Experience is full of coinci- dences which cannot easily be explained by any known natural law. No scientific test can be devised which is absolutely convincing unless one desires to be con- vinced. The occult practitioner always can say that the very conditions of the test itself introduce elements which alter the results. We live in a circle of experience, and outside that circle all is mystery. We have no way of prob- ing the mystery, but we can hardly say with any degree of confidence that it is improbable. The fact remains that many of these Washington fortune-tellers derive good incomes from peddling self-evident non- sense. They lack even the traditional cleverness of the occult craft. A few have exploits to their credit which defy ofthand explanation. These are decid- edly in the minority. Most of the seers and seeresses simply have set pieces which they recite in a rambling, dreamy way, without much effort to fit them to the individual customer. They are not even good observers of human nature. Any one who wants to believe in the powers of certain persons to predict the future has the right to do so. It may not be presumptuous, however, to offer a suggestion. Do not agree or disagree with anything the fortune-teller says. Do not write anything on paper. If these two precautions are adopted, in| nine cases out of ten the prober of the infinite will more than likely expose herself. Folks believe in fortune-tellers, even in the most obviously fraudulent ones, simply because they want to believe, and they manufacture their own co- incidences to bolster up this belief. They credit the occultist with telling them things she never told them, but which they told her. The seeress hypnotizes her patrons with good tidings. Seldom, indeed, does | she make unwelcome predictions. Her forecasts of fate are so good that few have the heart to belleve that they are false. r—ee—s The: Tuberculosis Sanitarium. The House is to be commended for its quick action recently in passing the measure for construction of a chil- dren’s tuberculosis sanitarium. As the; Senate has inserted in the District ap- propriation an amendment covering the same ground, it is to be hoped and ex- pected that the close of this session of will mean that this much- needed institution has been provided. It has been a cause of never-ending regret and embarrassment to the Dis- trict that there exists in this city no institution prepared or equipped to take care of children suffering from this dread disease in its advanced stages, while the facllities provided for a ministering preventive treatment have been inadequate. ‘The work of private agencies in con- ducting Summer health camps has proved by irrefutable facts and figures the good results to be obtained by sci- entific care and treatment of children afflicted. with - incipient tuberculosis. The trouple has been that the Summer health camps have been unable to ex- tend their good work throughout the Winter, and that children often lose during the Winter months all the gains made during the Summer. The children’s sanitarium, or pre- ventorium, in conjunction with the two health schools now fnalntained, should mean the salvation of more than one young life. e ———— Scheduled to retire on March 4, Reed of Missourl is disposed to regard the ideal of a Senatorial life, for his present purposes, as “short but merry.” Reed's Swan Songs. Jim Reed of Missourl is singing his swan songs. To friend and foe alike they make sweet music; sweet to his foes because they are swan songs, sweet to his friends because they sparkle with the brilliance and sting with the sharp- ness that have made Reed of Missouri | the Senate’s greatest drawing card. With Reed or against him, one could never grow weary of hearing him talk. In the grip of one of the frenzies into whicn his forensic efforts seem to throw him, he is master in the use of all the tricks of the oratorical trade. His voice can ring with passion or tremble with sublime emotion. Striding about with the fury of a caged beast, punishing the furniture with vicious blows or standing silent and still to accentuate the so- lemnity of the moment, Reed hypno- tizes his hearers and holds them in his spell. The precision and the beauty of his rolling sentences are the more marked by reason of the speed with which he hurls them forth. Prohibition, on Saturday, gave him a text that suits him best. He must have something to attack; one cannot picturc him on the defense. His words are darts that perforate or tear; they were never molded as shield or buckler. Reed usually has been allied with the “antis.” More than one “good” cause has felt the consuming scorch of his bitter in- vective. But to his credit be it sald regard to railroad consolidation. Muchi that he has been steadfastly anti-bunk. If he has crusaded, his jousts have not been with windmills, The Senate will miss him when he goes. And he is going out as Senator Jim Reed of Missouri; not as the one- time suave candidate for a presidential nomination, a role that he was never destined to fill, in which. he seemed so palpably restrained that one's sym- pathy went out to him for what he must have suffered. Because he goes off the political stage as the flery Reed of Missouri he leaves his name behind him. ) Cold weather reports from all parts of the world call for sympathy and assist- ance. Eccentricities of climate leave Washington, D. C., again especially favorable to those who select the United States Capital for Winter residence. Descriptions of fuel famine in Paris must recall the pathos of Murger's “La Boheme."” Paris always intensifies, whether in gayety or sorrow. ———— When the date for income tax return draws near, that man is considered lucky who is himself an expert accountant, or has one for a friend. e Airplanes are expected to assist in| scattering destruction to mosquitoes. Airplanes have at least an enormous advantage in size, Einstein’s theory, without exercising any perceptible ‘influence on stellar space, is continuing to function beauti- fully as an advertisement for Einstein, s e — Aviation is the question of the hour, Lindbergh is one of the historie figures who have found greatness thrust upon | them. bt Reckless speculation may be checked but it cannot be wholly eradicated. The adage about a fool and his money still holds good. s Gangmen in Chicago do not under- take a “shoot-at-sunrise” style of disci- pline. They have grown too leisurely and luxurious to gef up that early. ——————— Although regarded as a good palmist, it is rather expected that she may hesi- tate about showirig her hand. —rte—s Debt investigation discloses that war, in addition to being emotional insanity, is “frenzied finance.” — g SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Man With the Moving Van. “When you from the White House are | going,” Said the man with the moving van, “You'll surely discover me showing I'm doing the best that I can. Your favorite books I can carry, And many a souvenir. But behind you, I know, there must | tarry Some things to be held most dear, | “I can't take away the affection— I wouldn't do so, if I could— That must linger in fond recollection, An influence, kindly and good. I can’t send along the impressions ‘That memory gently will scan, You must leave us your finest posses- sions”— Said the man with the moving van. Invective, “Do you expect to convert anybody ! by your very censorious speeches?” “My idea,” said Senator Sorghum, “in addressing antagonists is not so much | to convert them as to tell them that they can all go to eternal blazes.” Jud Tunkins says in order to be hap- Py in this life you've got to be sufi- ciently helpful to others to avoid being lonesome. Big Date—March 4. ‘The theater is called N. G. But throngs draw near in mirth, ‘To find in Washington, D. C., The greatest show on earth, Relief in Fiction, “What are you reading?” “A detective story,” answered Miss Cayenne. “Mere fiction!” “Yes. I'm completely weary of so many crime narratives that are abso- lutely true.” Hogologically Speaking. Each morn to sunshine we awake, And dwell in confidence complete, The Ground Hog is an utter fake, Not even good for sausage meat. “A truly great man,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “is one who has compelled posterity to forget his mis- takes and think only of his wisdom.” Words and Music. The cynic grim a story tells That pictures this a heartless time. And still we hear the wedding bells, Sweet with the old romantic chime, “Dar’s a heap o' talk 'about George Washington choppin’ down a cherry tree,” said Uncle Eben. “Dar ought to be some complimentary attention to all de boys dat staid round de place in silence an’ helped weed de strawberry patch.” R Short Time to Repent. From the South Bend Tribune, A Rumanian woman was seriously considering matrimony at the age of 118, She could marry hastily, but couldn't anticipate much leisure for repentance. —r—o———— Conscience Would Help. From the Savannah Morning News. Uncle Sam has a “conscience fund” containing now half a million dollars. Suppose every American had a con- science. Congress could abolish the income tax system. B Or Take the Blindfold Test. From the Davenport Democrat. ‘Too bad Robert E. Peary died beforc he revealed what brand of cigarette it was that enabled him to reach the North Polel - r—o— Speaking of Noise. From the Grand Rapids Press. Lots of people never make much noise in the world till their theories are exploded. r——————— Sinking Fund for Alimony. From the Ashland (Ky.) Daily Independent. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Gardening in & daze—many people do it, as strange as it may seem. They have no clear idea of what they are attempting to do, nor of what they want to do. Plant names, plant habits, plant re- quirements, all run away from them or seem to whirl in terrific circles, leav- Yet such a state of mind should never exist in the oldest and most pleasant of occupations, and perhaps this time of the year, before Spring arrives, is the best of all to consider this matter. The groping attitude in garden work, if one may so call it, comes about, first of all, because the would-be gardener does not get his nomenclature straight. He muffs his words, to put it plainly. He never takes the time to read care- fully the names of the various plants, so that he stumbles over mere pro- nunciations. He is half afraid to speak the name of a plant, fearful lest he say it wrong- 1y, which he most often does. The fact that many of the plant names are Latin, with some named from their dis- coverers, adds to his confusion. * ok koK We would say, then, that the first step toward enjoyable gardening is to use one’s head when reading flower catalogues. The plain A, B and C of names is necessary if one is to feel at home with the plants. The inevitable discussion with other enthusiasts demands that one know more or less what he is talk- ing about. In this respect there seems to have grown up a most lamentable indiffer- ence, as if any old name would do for any old plant. Perhaps it is based on the very ancient heritage of horticul- ture. Since men first were they have been interested in plants. So, as familiarity does breed con- tempt, in many instances, mankind has rng them resting heavily on thelr hoe. thing which every one ought by divine right to be entirely familiar with. How, one may ask, can a city man whose ancestors have been city men expect to have any understanding of horticulture unless he put some real work into it? In this day in the cities many per- sons live without ever having a plot of ground which they can call their own. When one of these apartment-bred families finally moves into a house with a yard attached, the members often succumb to the call of the soll. They do not, however, intend to- bother themselves much with the mat- ter. They will invest in a few seed, and theys, will .throw them into the ground, and if they grow, well and good, and if they do not, well, garden- ing is a nuisance, after all! * % Kk ¥ Those who take up gardening, in no matter how informal a way, ought for their own sake to study the proposition i a little, and get out of it all they legiti- mately can, which will depend, in the last analysis, upon how much they put into it. Not one of the careless gardeners would think of purchasing and driving an automobile without first making a careful study of various makes, and then studying the driving and care of a car, and finally making a careful study of the traffic regulations. The last two are compulsory. Yet scores of these innocents go forth every Spring to manhandle the soil without one second of preparation, as if it were beneath them to put a | minute’s time on the prior study of the whole plant creation. It is a fortnight of sadness which ‘Washingtonians, whose careers are scheduled to terminate on March 4. President and Mrs. Coolidge, and in- clude nearly all the members of the cabinet and their families, scores of subordinate officials and numerous Rep- resentatives and Senators. 'Twas ever thus with the incoming of a new ad- ministration and Congress, even though they be of the same political complexion as their predecessors. The men and women about to quit the District of Columbia scene will go with varied emo- tions. The commonest belief is that Mr. and Mrs. Coolidge depart in a spirit of relief. Nearly everybody in the Coolidge cabinet would have been glad to linger on under Hoover. The lure of Washington takes a powerful hold upon those who are privileged to bask for three or four years in the sun- shine of official life with all its per- quisites. The congressional folks whose sun has set invariably say adieu with poignant regret. Most of them go in- voluntarily, deserting Capitol Hill as lame ducks. * K K Ok ‘Thanks to the Hoover landslide in November, vacant chairs in the Senate after March 4 will be found mostly on the Democratic side of the aisle. Bruce of Maryland, Neely of West Vir- ginia, Gerry of Rhode Island, Edwards of New Jersey and Bayard of Delaware will adorn the upper house no more— or at least not for another two years. Two other Democrats vanish—Reed of Missouri and Mayfield of Texas—but not as Senators defeated for re-election. “Jim” Reed leaves by his own choice and Mayfield was beaten for renomina- tion by a brother Democrat, Representa- tive Tom Connally On the Republican side, Senator Curtis will transfer from the floor to the rostrum; McLean of Connecticut, goes out of his own voli- tion, having not sought re-election, and Larrazolo of New Mexico, who has re- cently been at the point of death, ends his incumbency of the late Senator Jones’ unexmre;i t‘errix . Over on the House side there will be missing a notable array of familiar faces and potent figures when the Seventy- first Congress is assembled in special session. “Tom” Blanton of Texas will be the outstanding absentee. The Great Objector, like all vivid personalities, has acquired a legicn of friends as well as a host of enemies during his six continu- ous terms. Blanton is almost sure to be returned to Congress two years hence. Finis Garrett of Tennessee makes his exit after 24 consecutive years of serv- ice. Only four men have been in the House longer than the retiring Demo- cratic floor leader. “‘Jim” Begg of Ohio, with five terms to his credit; Charles E. Winter of Wyoming, consequent upon an unsuccessful race for the United States senatorship, says good-by after serving in three Congresses, and two popular Democrats, Meyer Jacobstein of New York and Martin L. Davey of Ohio, return to private life after, respectively, three and five continuous terms in the House. g It has just come to light that the last visit pald by the late Melville E. Stone, honored dean of the Associated Press, was a call he made upon Herbert Hoover in January just after the President. elect’s return from South Americ: Stone rose from a sick bed, aged 80, to drive in a closed car-all the way from New York to Washington to spend an hour with the “boy,” as he often called Mr. Hoover, and then turned right around and drove back to New York. Stone was confined to his rooms practi- cally all of the time following his trip to Washington. He had an ablding admiration for the President-elect, with whose career Stone had had close con- tact from its earliest inception, Elihu Root, who has just gone abroad, at 84, on a semi-official mission, has always wanted to see Hoover whenever the latter was in New York. On a certain occasion early in the 1928 campaign, Divorces are increasing so rapidly that smart bridegrooms, in arranging the budget, should set aside a ing fund for alimony, . New York politicians and newspaper men were scouring Manhattan Island for Hoover, who was calmly sitting with Mr. Root, ill at home, i come to regard agriculture as some- | WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE | has set in for hundreds of distinguished | Frederick J. Libby, the pacifist com- They are headed, of course, by the|“The passage of the cruiser bill by the! Yet it must be submitted that no one is going to get his full due of pleasure out of back-yard gardening without first coming to an intelligent understanding of plant nutrition, including fertilizers, and all the other fundamentals of the art and science. No one should be frightened away by this pronouncement. Most of this knowledge, up to the exact point where the individual cares to persist, may be absorbed quietly and easily as one goes along. The flower gardener finds himself in an enviable position, in that nothing of very great moment other than his own satisfaction depends upon his ap- plication. Thus he will not be deprived of food if his asters get the “wilts” and refuse to bloom properly, he will not strike a blow at any one if his roses fail to do well, he will in no way inconvenience the world if his tulips will not bloom. ‘Whereas the scientific farmer must study well and faithfully in the agri- cultural college if he is to make the most of his life, the back-yard gardener, the true city amateur, need put only so ( much time and attention on "his' “crops” as will afford him the max- imum amount of enjoyment and pleasure. . . If one is to approach home garden- ing in an indifferent, in a haphazard manner, as if it made no difference whether the plants flowered properly or not, why should he bother with them at all? » It will be found that the only true way to garden is to garden as near correctly as one may without devoting one's entire life to it. In other words, it goes back to the old principle, that whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well, The one great crime in amateur gardening is the indifferent attitude. The doctrine of indifferency, as it has sometimes been called, works admirably in some instances. If a timid person is confronted with some obstacle which he cannot overcome, an indifferent at- titude toward it may help save his self- respect. In-gardening, however, of the sort of which we speak, there is nothing very terrible going to confront one, nothing more heinous than invisible root lice on the aster plants, or aphids on the roses. These are all troubles which a little intelligence, rightly ap- plied, will solve more or less completely. By using the brain in these matters one soon comes to a real enjoyment of gardening, and it is questionable wheth- er there is any other path to such pleasure. The theory and practice of gardening are too old not to have gath- ered around them through the centuries a considerable body of learning. ‘This store of knowledge may be en-: tirely practical, such as an unlettered but skillful man picks up for himself, or party theoretical, such as that which a great plant scientist may evolve out | of observation and understanding. To the home gardener what is im- portant is that he recognizes that such | knowledge exists and that he must take some of it to himself and make it his own if he is to garden in any other way than in a daze. Watch the amateurs when Spring | comes down this way. You will see | them doing all sorts of things in all sorts of ways, rabid horticulturists for a few days, or a few weeks, or a few months; but when the hot days come along they drop out one by one, because they have never applied themselves seriously to what they are doing, and are still gardening in a daze. According to a “bulletin issued by | mander-in-chief, the anti-preparedness group has not yet thrown up the sponge. Senate,” defiantly thunders Libby, “with the time clause retained contrary to the wishes of President Coolidge and Presi- dent-elect Hoover, has by no means ended the controversy over this un- fortunate and ill-timed measure.” Then the pacifist faithful are exhorted to beseech their Representatives and Sena- tors, as well as the President, to defeat the appropriations necessary to start five of the new cruisers*immediately and five more before June 30, 1930. * ok ok % Mrs. Edward E. Gann, the sister of Vice President-elect Curtis, is to be acccrded full family honors by being permitted to ride down Pennsylvania avenue with the presidential inaugural party on March 4. It will mark a prece- dent, for never before has any relative below the rank of a wife been allowed to participate in the triumphal caval- cade in which the incoming and out- going Presidents and Vice Presidents are the principal figures. Mrs. Gann is only a half-sister of Senator Curtis, and does not share his Kaw Indian blood. Mr. Gann, according to reports, will also have a place in the inaugural pa- rade—which shows that even the humble brother-in-law breed has come into its own. LR S Sir Esme Howard, the British Am- bassador, who has suddenly been pitch- forked into the naval limelight, re- cently had his term at Washington ex- tended to the end of 1929. He had ar- ranged to retire from the dpilomatic service at the end of last year, but was prevailed upon by Downing Street to prolong his mission in Washington. The British government felt that important developments might ensue with this country during the present year and evidently concluded that Howard, be- cause of his complete familiarity with the situation, ought to be left to handle it. Sir Esme is completing his forty- fourth successive year in the British diplomatic service. As to the present in- cident, it may be said that he is not in the habit of making false steps. (Copyright. 1929.) s Massacre in Chicago Laid Partly to Laxity| From the Baltimore Sun. ‘The lawless gangs infesting Chicago | have outdone themselves in the latest | massacre in which seven men were lined up and killed—murder by whole- sale, marking a complete breakdown of law as it affects the sinister forces fighting to control Chicago's bootleg liquor traffic, A crime of this character cannot be dismissed with the complacent thought that, as a result, there are so many less criminals to contend with, and that society is not particularly concerned when liquor law violators shoot each other to death. It is murder, and if the guilty cannot be seized and proper- ly punished no one can be certain that they will confine their lawless activities to wreaking vengeance on their own kind. The decent citizen is not safe where mobs hold sway. Nothing is more cer- tain than that his enjoyment of safety in person and property is intimately linked with the protection the law should afford against all violence, no matter how low and depraved individ- uals be. It is manifest that Chicago, with its great forelgn population hostile to prohibition, has a peculiarly difficult problem to contend with. But its ghastly failure to hold in check the out- rages that follow fast, one on the heels of another, must be due in part to laxity in administration of the criminal law. If the sequel to the community's delinquency is such shocking tragedy, it is a telling reminder for all other cities of the consequences that may en- sue when éumce is contaminated at the source and the agencies of the law be« come corrupted or atrophied. | twisting and _distorting Mental Hygiene Held Aid to World Peace To the Editor of The Star: Fridtjof Nansen's remark at a re- cent dinner of the Economic Club of New York that what the world needs most today is “disarmament of the mind” expresses aptly the psychological | character of the peace-and-war problem | so sharply focused in the public mind at the present time by the Kellogg pact | and subsequent developments. War is a | problem in human adjustments and its | basic causes are emotionally involved. How often has the course of history, for better or worse, been determined by the character and personality traits of in-| dividuals in power? We need only to| recall events leading to the World War to appreciate this—the race for arma- ments, the distrust and misunderstand- ing between governments, the despesate eleventh-hour attempis to avert war and the thousand and one illustrations | afforded by the war itself. 1 We see it in the very attempts to ad- | just by pacific means some of the! problems that have grown out of the war. and in the efforts to perpetuate a war-won peace. The reservations in treaties, protocols and other interna- tional agreements, as to questions *“not subject to arbilration,” as to “defensive war” and “special interests"—all spring from emotionally conditioned factors in human nature. Mental hygiene is concerned with the human causes of war and its mes- sage to peace workers is a message of hope—hope in the understanding of human personality—in the understand- ing of the fears, aspirations, strivings and tendencies that operate, consclously and unconsclously, in all human be- havior, in individual and group relations. In the words of one psychiatrist, wars are reactions to buried conflicts. The bringing of these conflicts to the sur- face, the digestion and disposal of them, he says, is the art of making peace. An undoubted advantage of such covenants as the pact of Paris is that | they call for a changed mental attitude, and they may indeed be the means of forming national mental habits that will make for conciliation and peace in- | stead of willfulness and war. The same may be said for the creation of peace machinery like the League of Nations and the World Court, which provide opportunities for the study of motiva- tions, causes and factors back of inter- national conflict. It was said at a recent meeting of the National Com- mittee for Mental Hygiene that the League of Nations is significant because it i a great experiment in mental hygiene. It-has no power. It is simply a place for frank discussion, of a kind calculated to plumb the depths of prob- lems that are essentially human, and to bring up into the open causes of war | that have remained hidden under the| old diplomacy. i One observer ascribes the failure of the Geneva Arms Conference to the fact that it did not adopt the League's technique but reverted to the older and | futile diplomatic methods. An old- | school diplomat expressed himself as be- ing deeply impressed by the evident superiority of the new conference methods, hope for the pacific settlement of in- ternational differences. It is a hope based on principles of mental hygiene which have for their aim the freeing of the mind, its liberation from the shackles of emotionalism, to the end that the rea- son of man may not fail him at critical moments. PAUL O. KOMORA. Complaint Is NI;;‘IC On Smoke Nuisance To the Ed!tor of The Star: Most flagrant violations of the law | are openly going on unchecksd which are injuring the health and damaging the property of the entire community. I refer to the soft-coal smoke nuisance. On every hand can be seen chimneys belching forth dense clouds of black, gritty smoke, covering our walls with grime, obscuring the sun and breeding “flu” conditions. I believe that the Department of Health is doing valiant work in trying to cope with this growing evil, but I am told that only two smoke inspectors are available, who are overtaxed, and the co-operation of citizens and organi- zations is urgently needed in reporting offenders, who are subject to fines. Is \it true that retail business in Washington is poor bocause our Win- ter tourist trade is falling off and wealthy residents are closing up their houses and moving away? One hears this on every hand. Then it would seem very important for the Chamber of Commerce to look into the reason, and I think they would find the chief one to be that Washington is rapidly losing its reputation as a beautiful city, a fit setting for wealth and leisure, and taking on the uninviting appearance of a factory town. MRS. CHARLES EDWARD RUSSELL LI RSO Puzzled by Ra«lio’s~ Appeal for Minister To the Editor of The Star: One of the most recent problems of our alleged clvilization is touched upon with interesting detail in a letter T have received from a lady in a Western town. 1 quote: “I can’t figure out why otherwise intelligent neople let a radio run all the time, but they do. Our preacher does; they don't even turn it off when they sit down to a meal, and he asks the blessing real loud to the accompaniment of ‘Memphis Blues,’ or ‘Is She My Girl Friend?’ or whatever happens to be coming.” J. M, ALDRICH. ————— System of Salaried Jurors Is Proposed To the Editor of The Star: Has the subject of electing jurors ever been discussed seriously? It seems to me that it we had 50 men on an annuel salary, 12 could be picked for almost any case that would insure a fair trial, It would certainly result in getting better men, would eliminate skulldug- gery, both in selecting the panel and in selecting the jury, and, I believe, would save a vast amount of money in the *|long Tun. What is there against it? A. L. HODGES. . Keyes Case Verdict Viewed as Warning From the Pasadena Star-News. With a jury of his peers, consisting of | 10 women and 2 men, finding Asa Keyes, former district attorney of Los An¥elea County, and two co-defendants guilty of criminal conspiracy to give and Teceive bribes, the people of this county have been given a startling object lesson and a grim warning. With the trial ended and the verdict rendered, the case properly may be dis- cussed. The testimony adduced in this trial was shocking. A high official of Los Angeles County, intrusted with the administration of justice as pertains to criminality, engaged in consortings and in receiving money and valuable gifts from a source the most questionable, to say the least. Just considering the surface of the testimony and the admis- sions made by defendants, enough was brought out to show that Mr. Keyes was not fit for the office he held. The Jjury, after hearing and pondering the evidence, on a single ballot finds Mr. Keyes and Rosenberg and Getzoff, his co-defendants, guilty. Let it be said that, should this verdict be sustained, the defendants should be punished as is any ordinary criminal. There should be no sembiance of favoritism—no the la h m& w through legal The most that profitably may be said in connection with this case should be said to the people of Los Angeles County, and to them should be sald: Do not leave to politicians and to a minority of qualified voters the noml- nating and electing of the .district at- torney or any other county official, jor 30,000 chickens. and he sees in them“a new | SWERS TO QUESTIONS This is a special department devoted to the handling of inquiries. You have at your disposal an extensive organiza- tion in Washington to serve you in any capacity that relates to information.| Write your question, your name and | your address°clearly and inclose 2 cents in coin or stamps for reply. Send to The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washing- ton, D. C. Q. When will Oberammergau present ts next Passion Play?—A. L. S. A. The next Passion Play at Oberam- mergau will be from May 11, 1930, to September 28, 1930. dent ever spent in one college?—A. R. J. A. Probably the late Dr. William Cul- len Kemp held the record for the longest carreer of college study in America, At the age of 18 a legacy bequeathed him a stated income as long as he re- mained in college. As a consequence he attended classes at Columbia Uni- versity for 60 years, acquiring in that time a score of de; Q. Are_more crimes punishable by death in England or in America?—M. B. A. The only crimes for which capital punishment may now be inflicted, ac- cording to the law of England, are high treason and murder. By United States statutes nine crimes may be so punished, mcluding treason, murder, arson, rape, piracy and robbery of the mail. Q. What flag now in use was adopted first?>—H. E. 8. A. The flag of Denmark is said to be' the oldest unaltered flag in the world. Its cross dates back to 1219. The Italian flag dates back to 1310. Q. What will take the odor out of banana oil?>—G. B. A. Nothing. Banana oil is a definite chemical compound. Its odor is as much a part of it as its other properties. Q. When was the Yale School of Nursing founded?—P. N. R. A. The Yale School of Nursing was organized in 1923 and is equal in stand- | ing with other professional schools of | the institution. Two years of college | work are required for admission. Q. Where is the largest poultry farm | in this country?—R. F. e | A. The largest of which we find record is at Vineland, N. J. It averages 25,000 Q. What is the process called when | gex\sm éomes to the top of the milk?— | "A. The process is called “creaming.” | Q. Is it correct to say a person is “ill in bed” or “sick in bed”?—C. McC. A. The words “sick” and “ill” are em- ployed with little distinction in the | United States. In Great Britain, how- ever, “ili" is always used to mean “il ealth,” whereas “sick” is used in tl sense of “being nauseated.” Q. How much did the United suus| pay Great Britain for transporting our troops?—E. J. D. A. There were 1,108,345 individuals | transported overseas under the British Q. What is the longest perfod a stu- | N BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. . How long and high is the Wailing Wall?>—L. J. H. A. The Place of Wailing is an in- closed place near the Mosque of Omar in Jerusalem, where the Jews congregate every Friday to lament the fall of Israel and pray for its restoration. The wall in front of which they gather is 156 feet in length and 59 feet in height. ‘The nine lowest courses of stone consist Qf large blocks. Above there are 15 courses of small stones. Some of the lower coursss may have helonged to Herod's temple. Q What causes the play of colors in a film of oil spread over water?— "A. The difference of refraction of light in oil and water causes an inter- ference of the light waves. Q. How far does a rural mail car- rier travel on his route? What salary does he get?>—N. S. A. The standard rural mail delivery service route is 24 miles. For this route the salary is $1,800 a year. An addi- tional $30 a year is added for every mile over the 24. An equipment allowance of 4 cents a mile is also given. Routes un- der the standard number of miles are graded accordingly. Q. How many miles do trains travel in the United States in a year?— M. B. S. A. In 1927 passenger trains traveled 578,355,321 miles, and freight trains 598,434,584 miles. Q. What countries have recognized the Soviet government?—M. C. H. A. Great Britain recognized the Rus- sian Soviet government February 1, 1924, and broke relations in May, 1927. The following countries have recognized it: Germany, Austria, Turkey, Esthonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, Persia, Af- ghanistan, Poland, Italy, Uruguay, Greece, Sweden, China, Denmark, France, Japan, Norway and Mexico. Q. How far must one be able to see ahead in order to drive 40 miles an hour in reasonable safety?—G. C. A. The Bureau of Standards says that in order to drive 40 miles per hour in safety at night, it is necessary to have a light that will make all objects upon the road visible to the eye which lie within a distance of 300 to 500 feet, depending upon road conditions; the greater distance is probably the mini- | mum safe distance for foggy weather, with the roads likely to be slippery. No type of light is known which may | be produced with the facilities general- ly available as automobile equipment {which will fulfill the requirements. Q. Explain how Johns Hopkins Uni. versity is financed.—J. C. H. A. Johns Hopkins University at Bal- timore, Md., in non-sectarian, and pri- vately controlled. It receives some state aid but is supported chiefly by income from endowment funds. Courses in liberal arts, medicine, hygiene, pub- lic health, engineering, business and education are offered. Q. Who appoints the governors of Italy’s African colonies?—M. H. flag, at a cost to the United States of 1$91,992,900, slightly more than $83 peri { man. A. There are four Italian colonies in Africa. Their governors are ap- pointed by the Italian government. ’ Mark Cruiser Prenounced difference of opinions | with a noticeable lack of bitterness | marks discussion of the action of Con- gress providing for the construction of 15 new cruisers within three years. | Most of those who approve the step think Congress was wise to ignote Presi- dent Coolidge’s objection to the time { limit. Unfavorable critics insist that { the whole move is in the direction of naval competition instead of toward dis- armament and peace. “One wonders if the President is very sorry about the outcome,” says the Savannah Morning News. “He wanted the cruisers, on paper, as a use- ful instrument of diplomatic pressure. | Certainly the actual building of them will be no less an instrument in the hands of his successor. If there is to be no agreement with Great Britain on the cruiser problem, then we should have the ships;“if there is to be such an agreement, now is the time to reach it, else pretty soon we will have the ships.” The Ann Arbor News suggests: “The President may feel that he has a per- sonal grievance because his wishes in regard to the detail in question were ignored. but, after all, his plan for a bejter Navy has been sanctioned, and that is what matters the most. His | victory may be discounted a little in ! the personal sense, by the time limit: it is a victory, nevertheless.” ok “He has ample cause for satisfac- tion with the bill as passed,” in the opinion of the Salt Lake Deseret News, which adds, “Whatever may be said to the contrary, there are good reasons for believing that the best hope for contin- ued peace and harmonious international relationship lies in an honestly ac- knowledged parity- between the two powers.” The Worcester Gazette feels | satisfaction that the cruiser question seems at last to be setiled, and settled right.” “The theory that a mere paper navy, an appropriation that need not be spent, would be effectual for trading purposes was far-fetched,” asserts the | Kansas City Journal-Post. _“A bluff | cannot be proclaimed a bluff and still be impressive.” The Spokane Spokes- man-Review remarks that the over- whelming view in the Senate was that “nothing could be accomplished by a gesture.” “Other nations are mnot left in a fog.” avers the Newark Evening News, with the added comment: “It is not much use arguing whether the pro- gram adopted is good or bad, or whether the same results, or better, could have been obtained by omitting the time limit. The important fact, as the Lon- don Times recognizes, is that uncertain- ties are ended. Negotiations may now | be resumed with certainties for thelr | basis instead of speculation.” “The 68-t0-12 vote means that Con- gress is in deadly earnest in its desire {0 maintaim our naval strength at a level which is justified by our position among the great powers,” in the judg- ment of the Cleveland News. That paper also advises: “It is going to be necessary to consider the strengthen- ing of our aerial organization. Cruisers alone cannot be depended upon to cope with the new devices that have arisen out of the experience of the late war.” Of the authorized cruisers the St. Louis Times remarks: “We will need them | anyhow, no matter what happens in the | 1931 conference, and they will clear the atmosphere and convince European diplomats that we mean business. Go- ing into the conference with 15 sets of blue prints might rightfully be regarded as a cheap bluff.” ‘The contention that “the United States should have begun construc- ing its first treaty cruisers in 1924, when Great Brifain laid down six such craft,” is upheld by the San Antonio Express, which adds: “The Washington treaty contemplates parity of the Brit- | ish and American navies. The vessels which Congress has just authorized will cost $274,000,000, but any of them might save the country that sum in an emer- gency.” * ok ok % Differences Without Rancor Building Debate other, ‘I'll raise you one,’ and added a dreadnaught to their rapidly grow.ng fleets. Von Tirpitz and Lerd Fisher had a good time with their blueprints, but in the end the people footed the bil. They always do.” \ “In England and the United the jingoes have had iheir w claims the Louisville Courier-Journal, “They have overridden the wishes pf the leading figures in the British govern- ment just as they set at naught the recommendations of President Coolidge.” ‘The Brooklyn Daily Eagle says a naval race actually is under way: “The Brit- ish government announces the expected thing in telling the House of Commons that it will lay down two cruisers and various auxiliary vesszls this year as proposed. In other words, a race in armaments is under . Nelther Britain nor the United Siates has the sll%htes! use for these money-wasting fighting machines unless they propose to fight each other. They will be obso- lete before they are completed, and their uselessness will be apparent long before they are launched.” The Rochester Times-Union suggests: “Our relations with Great Britain, while diplomatically correct and friendly, are undeniably affected for the worse by mutual misunderstanding. Less care- less talk, less of emphasis upon imagi- nary dangers and a decent reluctance to impute evil where evil cannot be proved would help to improve matters.” The Muncie Star also says, “Continued airing of the supposed controversy sows only the seeds of international friction.” Neither of these papers, however, op- poses the cruiser building. “Flocculation” in Eye May Cause Cataract ‘That the new science of colloid chem~ istry may be the road to knowledge of the causes, or even of the cure, of one of the dreaded conditions of old age, the cataract of the human eye, is suggested by studies of living eyes un- der powerful microscopes reported by the Parisian oculist, Dr. Jacques Mawas, in a recent book. Dead eyes, taken into laboratories to be examined micro- scopically by old-fashioned methods, have not yielded as much information as oculists would desire about what the eye tissues are like when still alive. To meet this need, instrument makers and oculists have gradually developed special microscopes and powerful elec- tric lamps which can be used on the eyes of living human beings and which permit much of the internal structure of the eve to be seen. By these in- struments Dr. Mawas has discovered that the lens of the eve and its sur- rounding fluids are normally in the colloidal condition called a “sol.” which is & clear, apparently uniform liquid. When inflammation occurs Dr. Mawas discerns millions of tiny particles, ap- parently solid. This is precisely what happens, colloid chemists have learned, when a “sol” undergoes what is called “flocculation.” developing a vast cloud of solid particles or “flocks.” In ordi- nary colloldal solutions this is often brought about by acids or by other chemicals. What causes it in the eye is still unknown, but Dr. Mawas con- cludes that the change has much to do with the cause of cataract. —— Good Chance to Shout Passed Up by Mules Prom the Charlotte (N. C.) News. Two mules down in Sharon, S. C.. had a chance to be very happy (but probably they weren't) as they pulled down the main street a 90-horsepower biplane which had made a_forced land- ing In a fleld near town. The mules hauled it to a stretch of hard-surfaced road, whence it could take off satis- factoril; A different view is presented by the Houston Chronicle: “The forces of the Nation will have launch a cate the ple of this coun and others in m i and the people pay. happened year: and Germany started to say to each That is counter-offensive if they expect to edu- | son ly. No doubt the mules regarded the affair as just anothor hard job that they had to do, and pulled only because they had to. But if they had been rea- g brutes, wouldn't they have strut- ted in the glory of their superiority to bellef that wars can be | modern invention, which must have ex- averted if sanity and common sense are |actly proper conditions in order to start consulted. Just now the admirals play |or nxp ? However, being mules, they what [didn't give a thought to th: g0 when Great Britain |or nny':)ther. % I Mules don't. ’