Evening Star Newspaper, March 5, 1929, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR ‘With Sunday Morning Editioh. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUBSDAY...esv..March 5, 1920 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor Chicago O o E st ce: Tower Building. ice: 14 Regent 8t., Lond England. - Rate by Carrier Within the City. The Evening Star,............45cEer month The l:venmg and Sunday Star rhen unds Orders may be sent u:”'n.tm 1 Main 5000. . Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virgis Baflz and & 1. 310. ily oniy . ., 38, Sunday only ‘mo., $1.00 mo., 8¢ 50 Bally snd Sund only . Sundsy only ‘Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled 1o the use for republication of all rews ais- atches credited to it or not otherwise cred- puh spe e s taf e ] Qispatches herein are also reserved. Hoover on Law Enforcement. Elected on a dry platform, pledging himself in his campaign to enforcement of the eighteenth amendment, that part of Mr. Hoover's inaugural address de- voted to this most serious of his coun- try’s domestic problems excites greatest interest. His remarks inspire faith in his sincerity and confidence in his sanity. He makes no effort to minimize the danger that confronts a nation ‘whose “whole system of self-government will crumble either if officials elect what Jaws they will enforce or citizens elect what laws they will support. * * * For our citizens to patronize the violation of a particular law on the ground that they are opposed to it is destructive on the very basis of all that protection of life, of homes and property which they ¥ightly claim under other laws.” But he offers no panacea for the con- ditlon that exists and he refuses to conceive of the Government as an agency which, alone, can supply the remedy. He describes the steps he can and will take. While a commission is investigating the whole structure of our Federal system of jurisprudence, includ- ing the enforcement of the eighteenth amendment, “a large part” of the en- forcement activities of the Government will be transferred to the Department of Justice, and he concludes that “to those of criminal mind there can be no appeal but vigorous enforcement of the law. Fortunately, they are but a small percentage of our people. Their activities must be stopped.” This, however, is only one side of the picture. “There would be little traffic in {llegal liquor if only criminals pat- ronized it. We must awake to the fact that this patronage from large num- bers of Iaw-abiding citizens is supply- ing the rewards and stimulating crime.” He evidently uses the term “law-abld- ing” advisedly. Under the law the bootlegger’s patron is a “law-abid- ing” citizen, and if the spirit of the law failed to contemplate the fact that he would be so regarded, the spirit of the times and the unique tolerance of Hquor law violation have made it so. Mr. Hoover places & large part of the responsibility for enforcement of the law upon the citizens. And he makes 1t their duty to support their laws to 2 degree that equals the Government’s enforcement of the laws. He proposes, ®s President, to execute and enforce the laws “to the extent of my own abili- ties,” but the Government'’s measure of success in this endeavor will “depend upon the moral support which you as citizens extend.” ‘That is & frank and a sane presen- fation of the case. By nature well equipped, and by the mandate of the majority of his countrymen ordered, President Hoover will undoubtedly en- deavor to enforce the eighteenth amend- ment @s it has never been enforced before. He is not sure of the result. Nb man can be sure. For the Govern- ment cannot work miracles and it can- not, alone and unaided by the eitizens ‘who added the eighteenth amendment to thelr Constitution, enforce that amendment. But, “if citizens do not Hke o law, their duty as honest men and women is to discourage its viola- Hlon; their right is openly to work for its repeal.” Thus does President Hoover indict these who encourage the viola- tion of law while they howl piteously over the ce of the law; who subjugate their duty as citizens to their appetites as individuals. Retiremen® of Calvin Coolidge to rural | seclusion may yes recall the fact that “C” stands for “Cincinnatus” as well 88 “Calvin.” In spite of the weather, it was a com- paratively quiet inauguration. At least there was no thunder and lightning. Revolt in Mexico, Keenly interested in afiairs in Mex- Moo, for the peace and progress of which they ardently hope, the American peo- ple are distressed to learh of a renewed outbreak of revolution in that country. Coming as it did coincidentally with the inauguration of the President of the United States, this revolt has from the American viewpoint an especially sinister character. It more emphatically marks the contrast between the two republics. Here the orderly processes of law in the maintenance of repre- sentative government are followed un- alterably, There the legally established mode of administration is replaced by force. ‘This new revolt would seem to be a serious one, It is headed by a military leader, Gen. Jesus Maria Aguirre, once an intimate friend of Obregon. He is seconded by Gen. Francisco Manzo, also of War. This virtually establishes him at the head of the state. President Gil is for the present but a figurehead, as during at least the period of the revoit Mexico's government will be on a mil- itary basis. Experience points to reserve in the attempt to gauge the gravity of this revolutionary movement south of the Rio Grande. It may prove to be short- lived and futile. It may on the contrary prove to be of formidable strength and successful. In any case, it offers evi- dence that conditions in Mexico are far from stable, & situation which causes great concern to the Government and the people of the United States. o Peace and Pageantry. Yesterday's impressive pageantry of the inauguration was in large measure of a military character. The first grand 05 | division of the parade which escorted the new President from the Capitol, where he took the oath, to the White House, where he assumed his new duties, was composed of representative units of the Army, the Navy, the Coast Guard, the National Guard, the Naval Reserve and the Officers’ Reserve Corps. The escorts of many of the governors of the States in attendance were similarly rep- resentatives of State troops. Likewise in the second grand division were repre- sentatives of military colleges and schools and of organizations of veterans of the wars in which the United States has been engaged. In addition to these units marching in the line two “air divisions” represented the aviation serv- ices of the Army and the Navy. The civilian marching clubs, forming an im- pressive and attractive feature of the parade, are organized upon military lines. But notwithstanding this display of actual and potential fighting force the pageantry of the inauguration did not strike a militant note. No fore’m na- tion will have any reason to regard the parade here at the seat of the Ameri- can Government as in the least degree a sign of & truculent spirit on the part of the United States. The great majority of those marching in the line, however uniformed, were civilians, who today have doffed the garb of possible military service and returned to the works of in- dustry and trade, to the professions and other peaceful activities of life. Most of the men who marched as members of the organized forces of the Government, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and those of the aviation services who furnished a flying escort, will in a short time, one, two, three or four years, re- turn to civil life. It is not the policy of this Govern- ment, as it is not the desire of the peo- ple of this country, to maintain large forces of fighting men, in numbers to constitute a menace to the peace of the world. It is, however, the policy to keep the man power of the country fit and prepared for possible service in defense. Preparedness is both of the spirit and of the body. The lessons of recent wars in which the United States has been en- gaged -are plain to all who are capable of reading correctly the pages of his- tory. Terrible suffering and shameful losses have resulted from unreadiness, from the lack of a proper basic or- ganization of the Nation for emergency service. Whether those lessons have been definitely learned cannot at this time be known. A certain reaction against all forms of military service took place after the armistice of 1918. How far it has gone is not to be determined until occasion arises to meet a new crisis, if such should ever arise. But those who know the need, who were charged with the responsibility of organizing and drilling and equipping & national army twelve years ago this Spring, are anxious lest it may prove in the next emer- gency to be deep and persistent. ‘There is nothing to fear from a “well regulated militia,” or from a body of citizen soldiery chiefly interested in the pursuits of peace. There is no factor for a breach of the peace in a potential Army of ten million men, so trained as to become a competent fighting force immediately upon the call to arms. Even as the maintenance of a strong Navy, such as that which has just been voted by the Congress, is an insurance for peace, s0 the maintenance of a civilian land and air reserve, in adequate num- bers, is & guarantee against assault. ———— Every little item of saving multiplies itself so as to be worth It is now possible to save five letters in typing and typography millions of times by writing President Hoover instead of “President-elect.” ot Mr. Hoover’s Foreign Policy. Attention at home will naturally be concentrated on those passages in President Hoover's inaugural address which most directly concern domestic affairs. Abroad, conversely, emphasis will be laid upon its indications of the incoming administration’s foreign policy. Mr. Hoover's international program can be epitomized in one word—peace. “We not only desire peace with the world,” he declares, “but to see peace maintained throughout the world.” ‘The United States has never inducted into the presidency a man to whom war is more abhorrent than it is to Herbert Hoover. He abhors war because he ac- tually waded through the ravages of the most destructive war of all times. His fame was founded on the distress, despair and devastation which it wrought. He was ordained to accom- plish fabulous results in healing the wounds of that war, and the work_of salvage filled him with an unfathomable hatred for its savagery and brutality, It was not the inevitable carnage of the battlcfield that made Herbert Hoover detest war. He carries through life rather the indelible memories of the havoc that modern war spreads among its most innocent victims—women, children and civilians generally. once identified with the Obregon forces. ‘They have seized important centers and et up insurrectionary authority in the States of Vera Cruz and Sonora, re- #pectively. Seven other states have been reported as in revolt. It is hinted that their movement is in favor of the presidency of Alberto Valenzuela, for- mer Ambassador of Mexico to Great Eritain, While it would appear that the re- wolt took the government at Mexico City greatly by surprise, it has acted promptly and efficiently. e first move was & summons to fortggr Pr «dent Calles 1 take the pogt of To understand President Hoover's reference to peace at the Capitol yes- terday we need to bear these considera- tions in mind. Nothing else is needed to explain the simple affirmation that “I covet for this administration a record of having further contributed to ad- vance the cause of peace.” What he saw in Belgium during the war. and what he experienced in Central and Eastern Europe after the armistice fired Herbert Hoover with an unquenchable resolve to consecrate his life to peace. His opportunity has come. The world beyond our shores will not find him wanting, A Hoover government on thy THE EVENING Potomac is its guarantee that an un- provoked America, an America with its rights uninvaded, will remain a peace- able and peace-loving America. At no less pains is President Hoover to let our neighbors overseas know that | his program for warless international relations contemplates American pre- paredness. “Peace can be contributed to,” he points out, “by respect for our ability in defense.” There is a vast meaning in those dozen words. They give no comfort to those elements in our own country which conceive that the way to promote peace is to be un- prepared for its violation by others. Yet President Hoover signally fails to proclaim himself an apostle of swollen armaments. In acclaiming the Kellogg pact for renunciation of war he ad- dresses a significant invitation to for- elgn governments: “The acceptance of the pact should pave the way to greater limitation of armament, the offer of which we sincerely extend to the world.” That distinctly suggests the possibility that President Hoover in due course may summon the nations to another Washington conference. —_— e As presiding officer of the United States Senate, Vice President Curtis will be called upon to consider various suggestions of Charles Dawes and de- cide whether they are worthy of the line in the Congressional Record, “To Be Continued in Our Next.” — e There is fhuch. more of historic in- terest to be seen in Washington than the inaugural pageantry. A list of the spots of beauty and interest would be | long and impressive. To those making ready to depart, the question “Why the hurry?” might reasonably be addressed. — Pictures of the Vatican indicate so much spacious beauty that the ordinary citizen may be impelled to wonder why; its illustrious tenant should desire toy wander any farther. 3 — —etes A Mexican flyer makes two compul- sory stops and still beats the Lindbergh long-distance record. There may yet be a handicap system for airplanes as well as for horses. ——————— Now that the great quadrennial event of American history is through with, the public will rejoice in a space of spare time to be devoted anew to the fascinating career of Col. Lindbergh. R i A monkey is trained to ride a bicycle. The monkey looks very wise and those who train him to an ungainly feat look a trifle foolish. ——— By withholding publication of his golf score, Al Smith becomes a “sphinx” in a small way. A wise public man never tells all he kpows. r—oes Visitors who linger in Washington, D. C., will have the privilege of seeing how the Capital looks without the re- viewing stands. T SR Like many another strictly truthful person, the weather man, with heroic sacrifice, made himself momentarily un- popular. ) SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Scrutinized Libation. The day is forgetting the “Cocktail” so gay. Economy shies at the “Pizz.” ‘The Old Oaken Bucket, restored to its sway, Is hailed for the drink “As Is.” “A Stein on the Table” brings musical zest. ‘The song we are learning to prize Is “Drink”—when the festival seems at its best— “To Me Only With Thine Eyes.” Delivery. “Have you prepared any ‘great speeches?” “Yes,” answered Senator Sorghum. “I have in readiness some of the great- est demonstrations known to oratory.” “When will you deliver them?” “I'm not sure, Not being a lobbyist or & propagandist, I can't make reliable arangements to deliver them promptly c.0.d0" Jud Tunkins says the man who buys ‘himself a pair of tight new shoes for an inauguration march makes a big sacri- fice to patriotism. Coveted Authority. “Can your wife drive a car?” “No,” answered Mr, Chuggins. *“I wish she could. I'd like to be the back-seat driver myself, once in & while.” “For some mysterious and fortunate reason,” sald Hi Ho, the sage of China- town, “enmities are easily forgotten, while friendships never are.” Animated Alarm Clock. ©Old days are fading—fading fast! ‘The Robin Bird will come at last, With an alarm clock sound of cheer, ‘To wake us for another year, “Love yoh fellow man,” sald Uncle Eben, “an’ let yoh affection pervent you f'um puttin’ temptation in his way by leavin' de chicken house unlocked.” RADIOTORIAL. Old-Timers on March 4. ‘While veteran footsteps may be slow, Our thanks arise, serene, ‘That some are left from long ago ‘To grace a gallant scene, Though many a hero's voice is mute Amid the great display, In brotherhood we still salute The uniforms of gray. Inauguration Climate. Inauguration’s solemn state Had skies too far from blue. We always say, “Let’s change the date"— And yet we never do! But averages, by and by, May serve to soothe regret. While Hoover sentiment was Dry The streets were very Wet, Disclosure of Sense of Humor. When signing the bill for Mount ‘Weather Mr. Coolidge, with wit so elastic, Has mammals and birds brought to- gether, In a reference somewhat sarcastic— He said he found joy in devoting Safeguards for a President's habits, As the public has always been noting, In protecting the bl.rd’-md the rab- hitsy A STAR, WASHINGT! D. THIS AND THAT The solemn gentleman seated in the restaurant calmly drinking his cup of coffee and “looking 'em over” in reality may be doing nothing more heinous than wondering where they work. Such speculation is an interesting means of whiling away the time which otherwise might be spent in nothing more profitable than examining the tile pattern of the floor. We have seen a patron consume as much as a quarter of an hour minutely inspecting a crack in a plece of tiling or watching the clean-up boy stack dishes. As a general proposition there can be little doubt that watching the other customers, and wondering who they are and where they work, is a much more profitable and interesting pastime. ‘The lure of a big city is at the base of it. All these thousands of persons one secs on the streets, forever hurry- ing some place unknown, yet ever cease- lessl’y replaced by other scurrying thou- sands— Suddenly one will get & vision of them all, as they perpetually go away from one, each bent on his or her task. Glad faces, sad faces, wistful faces, mean faces, they flash into vision and out of it again, and the spectator realizes as they come and go that he proba- bly will never see one of them again. Occasionally some face imprints itself upon the eye so vividly that the on- looker remembers it for days afterward, and thinks that no doubt if he meets it again he will recognize it. But never the two shall meet, evidently. The days go by, and little by little the face fades away, and is forgotten. The per- petual stream of faces goes on, as if eves had never met. It is the lure of the city. * ok ok K In the restaurant the meditative one has more time to consider the various types. They interest him as human beings, men and women with work much like his own, although different. As they sit drinking their coffee, and eating their hot cakes, or “breakfast food,” or drinking a glass of orange Juice, each and every one, for the time being, becomes something more and perhaps a little bit less than human. Here they are food machines, each solemnly shoveling in a preconceived quota of comestibles, under the solemn impression that to eat keeps up one’s strength and that the severest tasks of the day are done on the breakfast rations. They look so solemn, with that peculiar solemnity of human beings who do not know one another and never expect to. How polite and cere- monious, as if afraid that another may think them i{ll-bred! At home and among their familiars they may be entirely boorish, but here they will say “Beg pardon!” if they so much as step on_the rim of your shoe. Yonder pretty girl with the thin face is not so thin as she might be. She comes in every morning for her coffee and rolls at about the same time and the boys behind the counter vie with one another for her smile. She is always torn between being quite severe and yet letting the boys see that she appreciates their manifest desire to give her exactly what she wants in the way of light coffee. ‘Those who like plenty of cream in their coffee know how difficult it is to induce the average counterman to put in enough. Most of them seem to work on the theory that the cream BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. money comes out of their own sala- ries, ‘1; on‘:i :-{hjudfne ge’mmg“':fi.mmm way in whic] e} ref order, “Coffee light.” & P ‘The boys in the white jackets fairly empty the pitcher into the thin-faced girl's cup; she goes away with half- and-half, a delectable concoction of the complexion of a pale tan, * % %k % 1t is interesting to speculate where she works. Shortly she will be through her breakfast. Then she will slide her fur-collared coat from the back of the chair around her slight shoulders, gather up her pocketbook and her paper, and shortly will be out the front door. Maybe she goes to a large department store, where she sells silks, or dresses, or stationery, or household ware, or artificlal flowers, or furniture, or Heaven knows what. Perhaps she sells none of these, but is the cashier in a shoe-shining parlor. Do you suppose one would recognize her, wherever she works, if one came face to face with her? She would have no hat on, of course, and hats make a great deal of dif- ference in a woman's appearance. Many a maid with a snuggle cap on has tum- bly locks beneath. No man can tell just by looking at 'em. Over there is a funny looking man, as most people would describe him—a fel- low with a big mouth and a big head and an expansive smile that threatens to crack up his entire face. Speculate upon him as you will, you cannot_determine what sort of job he fills. He might be almost anything, from a salesman to a real estate man, from a clerk to a chemist, from a plum- ber to a writer. ‘Where do they go to when they leave here? After a certain length of time each consumer stretches his legs, puts on his hat and is away to his daily labor, be it what it may. It is interesting to light a cigarette and to continue to speculate, over its glowing end, what becomes of all these people, where one is likely to find them, or, rather, where one might find them if he should stumble upon them at their tasks. The likelihood is small. Just as one seldom sees again the face glimpsed in a crowd, 50 he is not likely to meet the breakfasters after they have break- fasted. Idly he wonders if their eating habits carry over into their daily employment. Does yonder tall man who eats greedily tear into his tasks as he does into his porridge? Shall one believe that the man there scattering crumbs all around him, as if he could not eat tidily, does the like with his letters and leaves them for some one else to pick up? See the woman there, rushing through the door, grabbing & cup of hot coffee and drinking it in exactly 30 sec- onds, by the clock. She is late. Will her work be late all day long? The short and the tall and the fat and the thin crowd in here to catch a few ounces of refreshment on the run, as it were, and then to hasten out again to go to their proper tasks. N One must continue to wonder who they are and what they do, but there will never be any answers to such ques- tions, except by chance, far eaters, too, are a part of the city crowd, which, once having moved on, never comes back again in quite the same way. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. It is a wise man who can keep his feet on the ground and his head out of the clouds of vain imagination. How much wiser is he who is not content to stand on the level of the surface of this old billiard ball, called earth, but insists on climbing peaks and ex- ploring ocean depths to discover facts u;x;n|uwn before, yet important knowl- edge! ‘There never was a billlard ball so highly polished, so devoid of uneven- nesses, as is the earth. The highest mountain peak in the world (29,000 feet) and the lowest depth of “old ocean's gray and melancholy waste” (35,000 feet) make a total perpendicu- lar unevenness of only about 12 miles. The diameter of the earth is about | i 8,000 miles, so an irregularity of 12 miles in 8,000 amounts to less than the microscopic indentations of the smooth- est ball ever fi:llshe&—lz eight-thou- sandths. Or it _be reckoned with the radius from the center to the circumference—4,000 miles—the “rough- ness” amounts to about 12 four-thou- sandths, or 3 one-thousandths, which is still so smooth that the naked eye cannot detect any irregularities what- ever., * k k% If we could imagine a microscopic creature on a polished billiard ball as smooth as this mountainous earth, climbing from the bottom of its deep- est microscopic depression up to the peak 3! its highest projection, it would ascend one-333d of the dlameter of the ball. But if the “hole” were filled with a liquid or gas, preventing the “crea- ture” from going into its depth, the “bug” would have to start from mean surface to climb up the dizzy height of one-666th of the ball's radius. Imagine that ball to be 3 inches in dia- meter, that “alpine climber,” the mi- croscopie “bug,” would perform a mighty climb, equivalent to one-333d of 3 inches—about equal to the thickness of this paper, yet that would be equiva- lent to our climbing from sea level to the highest peak on this round earth. No human Alpinist has ever ascended such a dizzy beight in the Himalayas. The writeg is attempting to visualize what a Dutel sclentist has been doing in swinging & pendulum, hour after hour, at the establishment of the United States Coast and Geodetic Sur- vey and then borrowing three subma- rines of the United States Navy and diving 70 or 100 feet down into the ocean or Caribbean Sea, in order to watch the pendulum swing back and forth down there, so as-to note how much rapidly it swings at various points of the sea than it does on land. And there, under the waves, he cruises around from point to point and records the swing at each location. A pendulum swings according to the pull of gravity, and gravity is the at- traction of matter to matter, hence the denser the matter under a given area the stronger the pull, and, the re- verse, the stronger the pull, as shown by the speed of the swinging pendulum, the denser must be the matter causing that pull. Thus the scientist measures the density of earth and its gravity, at any given point, and so he weighs the orld. r Kok Kk It is a simple thing to weigh sugar, which is a commodity for sale, but as the Dutchman can’t sell the world, what is the use of weighing it? Now. if it were the man from Doorn who was manning that weighing machine it might scare us into expecting him to revive his attempt to take over the world for his own. However, this weigh- master’s name isn’t Wilhelm, but Vening, and that old saying, “It’s all the same in_Dutch,” does not hold good. His full name is F. A. Vening Meinesz. Sounds like “Mine-is,” but it isn’t. He makes no claim to own the earth; he is only a scientist making up the goods in packages. He began his pendulum swinging in Holland, but at first he found too much instability in Holland land, caused by the pounding of the waves of the North Sea, which created almost continuous seismic unrest. He conceived the idea of neutralizing the unreliability of the pendulum by making two Endulums swing in the same plane, but in opposite directions. From that he has gm;\?:lly increased his number of pendulums swlnring simultaneously to five, and so developed an apparatus which can be used upon the sea, although to get per- his the | talnous ocean bottom, fect stability he finds it best to sink be- neath waves in a submarine, * k ok x Since early 1927 he has circum- navigated the world and made 250 such tests. These tests coming to the attention of Dr. A. L. Day, director of the Carnegie Geophysical Laboratory, and cnrt. C. 8. Freeman, superintend- ent of the United States Naval Observatory, both of Washington, these scientists took lively interest in Dr. Meinesz, and were so sagacious as to ask the Navy if it were busy now. Secretary Wilbur, finding some open dates (now that the cruisers are authorized), agreed to lend Dr. Meinesz such submarines as he would require, f the Carnegle Institute would pay the !reig‘ht on pure science and the rest of his baggage. He used three— one to go down, two to pull him up. Thus, the Navy, being our first line of defense, was set to carrying Dr. Meinesz to the West Indies, where, since last October until a few days ago, he has been swinging his pendulums and noting the speed of the swing. He made studies in the Nares Deep, north of Porto Rico; the Bartlett Deep, south of Cuba, and Sigsbee Deep, in the Gulf of Mexico. The reason he investigated that region is that there are mnni earth- quakes there, the cause of which g%olomu are interested in researching. me suggested explanations have as- sumed that there was a difference in density of strata of earth causing shift- ing of the stratifications, but no proof was available to confirm the theories. The Caribbean Sea is a very moun- however, and landslides are Walbly part of the ex- planation yet be developed. ‘What wondrous scenery is the bottom of the ocean! We have the Alleghenies aralleling our Eastern Coast and the es our Western, and while nearly all mountain ranges are along ocean coasts, there is ont great range in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Here and there in the seven seas islands rise or islands disappear, even like the fabled continent of Atlantis. Scientists have had too little data on which to develop knowledge as to the pressures which lift mountains from sea bottoms. Shells found upon inland mountain tops prove that our loftiest peaks came up from ocean depths, and the solid earth is &onsnmly in a state of plastic reforma~ on. 1In our present geologic age the water surface measures 140,000,000 square miles, out of a total area of the earth of 197,000,000 square miles. If this plastic surface becomes squeezed up in certain parts, due to increased weight on balancing parts, new continents may be formed or old ones sunken like At- lantis. Such a process 1s going on all the time, through the deposits of sedi-~ ment piling around river mouths, caus- ing unbalancing weights there, which force a flow of granite or basaltic rocks 60 miles below the sufface, until that flow forces other areas to rise, restoring equilibrium. It is not sufficient to study only the 57,000,000 square miles of land and not include the 140,000,000 of water. * ok kK ‘There is a comparatively new science, called “Isostacy” (of which Dr. Willlam Bowle, C. E, Sc. D, of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, is the world’s chief exponent and recognized authority), which explains the plas- ticity of the earth, and shows that all sections, extended to tne center of the world :nust weigh alike, or be in motion until they do rest in equilibrium. ‘The truth of this doctrine is being | the firmly demonstrated by the tests of Dr. Meinesz with his swinging pendu- lums. He has thus measured the den- sity and gravity at some 250 points around the world, from Holland to Java and across the Pacific and now in the West India region. Many more such measures must made all over the world, to enable scientists to study all possible deductions, and more clearly comprehend _earthquakes and other facts of geodesy. Dr. Melnesz is the only man who has found a method. (Copyright, 1929, by Paul V. Collins.) Sy That Proves a Point. From the Huntington Advertiser. The tennis association has restored Bill Tilden to amateur standing. The assoclation must Have been watching performance on the stage, C, TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 1929, NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM LG M OLD POST BAGS. Alvin F. Harlow. D. Appleton & Co. Radio, telegraph, telephone and press, the mail service of land and sea and air—these stand together, a response of civilization and science to a basic need in human life. To tell it to somebody, this is the universal and irresistible urge. To tell it in all haste to Mary or John or George—that latest happening, that {resh experience, the surge of some new and strange emotion. Individual and tribe and clan, fam- ily and neighborhood, nations and the world ftself are mastered, controlled, shaped even, by the instinct for touch, contacts, communication. It is a long story, the story of com- munication, immemorially old in its be- ginnings and already a miracle of achievement at the present speeding hour. * K ok ok But, wait. Before moving into Mr. Harlow’s big story of the growth of communication let us stand outside a while facing a truly epic moment in that progression. Yesterday, March 4, at the National Capital, Herbert Hoover, incoming President of the United States, made solemn avowal of good faith and devoted service to the at Republic of which he is now the titular head. In his own voice he spoke to the actual hearing of practically the entire world. Truly, communication at its apogee! Again, on Saturday, March 2, through the co-operation of The Evening Star and the Columbia Broadcasting System there was set up in Washington a radio forum. The purpose of the enterprise is to bring 100,000,000 people in this country within sound of the voice of Senator, Representative, cabinet officer, heads of Government bureaus, for the sake of a better schooling of the public in the ways of Government business. A better general understanding, a finer co- operation, a more ardent zeal for per- sonal responsibility—these are the ends sought by this undertaking. Communi- cation, instantaneous and widespread, is again at a high pitch of practical usefulness. Once more. On that same evening, March 2, the Washington Chamber of Commerce invited to its house, so to speak, the thousands of visitors now in the Capital for inauguration. These thousands listened, by radio, to the voice of a “native son,” one who, like |top his father before him, has spent his active years in the service of this be- loved and beautiful city. And the story that he told them face to face, in effect, was that of “voteless Wash- ington”"—of half a million people, ‘Theld back from the inalienable right of every American. Tl{ese three citations are offered to give pith and point, to give concrete immediacy and proper significarce to the miracle of communication as it stands today. And is this the end? Certainly not. That curious, prying, delving, ingenlous, creative, uncon- querable animal, man, has no more than just begun, is right now merely getting his stride for the next goal. * ok kK But let us move out of the excite- ment of this inauj hour, the world absorbed in listening in. Let us slip back into Mr. Harlow’s big story, where, in orderly fashion, we may trace this modern wonder from its beginnings, may follow it through many vicissitu to its present hour of triumph. In its prime point of purpose “Old Post Bags” is a record of the rise and growth of the mail service, ultimately the organized mail service of our own country. But, to meet such purpose in a rich, human way, rather than by the official dry route, Mr. Harlow goes far back for an effective running start. He spreads his work wide, wanderin: far in its pursuit—into India an Persia, across Europe by way of Spain, France, England and so, finally, to America itself. At every stage of the quest and in every locality the advance is primarily but an answer to the essential and increasing call of the human for closer touch and speedier communication. As verifiable record the story reaches from about 6,000 years before our own era up to the hour of the recently established air mail service. But, hap- | mp pily, it touches upon a point of time carlier than this historic beginning. It goes back, even, to that far half- mythic period when man in his early day of upstanding reached instinctively toward association and support, toward protection against the mysterious and inimical behavior of nature itself—the drive of storm, the battling of the winds, the thrust of the lightning, the bellowing threat of the thunder. To get together, to touch, to feel the strength of union—this was the impera-~ tive of that age-old day. And, out of it, grew the marvel of modern commu- nication. Time passed. Man grew in the ways of human life—war ways in the main, with only scant interludes of peace. Information, exact and speedy, is one of the sinews of war. So the press of today—the peace-promoting, educative friendly press—had its origin in_the need of fighting tribe or clan or rude people to know, to get in touch, to gather the news. And all along the line of slow-growing civilization that need has remained constant, giving rise to the latest inventions of the moment for the carrying of facts in an almost instantaneous efficiency of ef- fect. EE There is hardly a more thrilling story conceivable than that which here covers the devices used for carrying the news—news of victory, news of dis- tress and need. The drum-beat, the “tum-tum-tum” sounding through weird nights of jungle and desert—that is news, its medium a long line of taut drum-heads. The runner, spent and fallen as he passes his message to the next in line—he is part of the mail service of his own far day. The swift couriers in relays, the flaring torches on the Scottish hills, beacon lights, warn- ing or inviting—all news, all parts of the mail service that today declares the enterprise and initiative of man. ‘The story of carrying the news moves on up from primitive times into the Middle Ages, into the eighteenth cen- tury and into the nineteenth century, giving within each period its special contribution to the steady advance and expansion. The great medieval messenger system of the Far East reads like Haroun-al-Raschid for it charm and wonder. The early day of the British ports is here pictured and so is the first city mail service of Paris. Then the author crosses to America where he points out the early Colonial posts, those of the Revolution days. The hardships of the mail carriers are given here in adventure and toil, in a generally unfailing devotion to the tra- dition of “delivering the mail,” of “car- rylni the message to Garcia,” so to speak.® Then the railroad begins to boom. Then a new era of mail carry- ing dawns. Within this period there is the gold rush of '49 and the ad- ventures of travel following the dis- covery of gold in its lure to the Eastern Population, facing the Far West and lawless character of the typical man” of story and song. The story now is moving into the circle of our own day, a more familiar storv— the American post office, city delivery, rural free delivery, special service, money transactions by mail, the story of stamps, a survey of the entire Jetter- writing equipment. A very interesting chapter—news to most readers, I judge —Is one on “letter spying.” Not inviting In sound? No. But it turns out to con- tain very useful information, after all. And then, and then, the big comes to a close, as it should, with Postmen of the Air,” with the tribe of Lindbergh, those fearless and gal- lant couriers to whom, one and all, the common heart of America is bound in love and appreciation. Well, here is a great story for your reading! Great as useful knowledge, i you insist upon thaf, Grealer ¥efy story | take ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASK. ‘This newspaper puts at your disposal a corps of trained researchers in Wash- ington who will answer questions for you. They have access to the Govern- ment departments, the libraries, mu- seums, galleries and public buildings and to the numerous associations which maintain headquarters in the Nation's Capital. you write your question plainly and send with 2 cents in,coin or stamps to The Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. C Q. How long has the Lincoln Memo- rial been lighted in the daytime?—V.S. A. The Bureau of Public Buildings and Grounds says that the statue in the Lincoln Memorial has been lighted daily since February 5, 1929. Q. What does the expression “Cotton is king” mean?—R. A. A. The expression was used by Sen- ator James Henry Hammond of South Carolina on the floor of the United States Senate in 1858 in reference to the cotton crop bringing in such a large sum of money. Q. Did the agreement restricting the killing of seals, made with Russia, ex- pire in 1926?—E. R. A. The agreement that was made by Russia, Japan, Great Britain and the United States in 1911 regarding seals was for 15 years and thereafter. It did not expire in 1926. The agreement was to be continued indefinitely until terminated by agreement among the nations or a 12-month written notice given to the other countries concerned by any one of the countries mentioned. Q. What is the difference between a tool and an instrument?—L. D. V. A. An instrument is an implement or tool, especially an implement or mechanism for scientific or professional purposes, as distinguished from a de- vice, tool or machine for industrial use. Q. Please describe the new bell tower in Florida.—J. McD. A. The Singing Tower is at Mountain Lake, Fla. It is in the center of the Mountain Lake Club grounds, in the heart of the city. Each day at sunset the carillon in the tower gives a recital and also on Sunday at noon. The tower rises 205 feet, the pink of Georgia marble and the tan of Florida coquina stone glving it color. It is the design of Milton B. Medary, Philadelphia archi- tect. The Singing Tower has a base 50 feet wide. It is 40 feet wide at the . ‘The sculpture is the work of Lee Lawrie. Around the base of the tower are carved bands showing the flora and bird-life of Florida. From a height of 160 feet to the top the entire tower is of pink marble, all sculptured. The eight great bell windows are decorated in the most gorgeously colored falence. To add a further Old World flavor, an old- fashioned English water moat 15 feet wide surrounds the tower. The tower door is more than 12 feet high and of solid golden bronze. Q. Please give the requirements for & marriage in France—R. T. A. According to a digest of the laws of various countries with respect to marriage and divorce, published by the British government, in France the mar- riage ceremony is entirely civil. It is necessary that the intention to marry shall be posted at the office of the commune for 10 days. Such notice must contain the first names, surnames, profession, domicile, age, etc., of the parties, also the same data of the 's | parents of both parties, All objections If they can be of assistance to | | must be made in writing and registered and the consent of the parents, or family counctl, must alsd be in writing and all data attested by a notary. At least one month’s residence of ore party where the marriage is celebrated is re- quired. The ceremony is performed by {the registrar at the town hall and at {least four witnesses must be present. {In the event of there being no parents the consent of the grandparents or family council is necessary up to 30 | years of age. The age of consent is | 18 for males, 15 for females, 21 years | without consent under special provisions | and 30 years freedom of action. Q. Why does the moon appear larger when it rises and sets?—G. L. J. A. The moon seems larger near the | horizon because of an optical illusion. The horizon appears to be more distant than the zenith, because the eye in look- ing toward the horizon rests upon many objects by the way. The moon near the horizon and at the zenith is seen to be the same object in both posi- tions, but when near the horizon it seems larger because the distance is ap- parently greater, the mind unconsciously reasoning that being so much farther away, it must of course be larger in order to look the same. | Q. Do passenger ships employ wait- resses?—E. B. A. The Shipping Board says that some liners employ women as walters, but most of them employ men. Q. How much gas did Lindy carry on his flight to Paris?>—O. R. A. Col. Lindbergh started with 450 gallons of gasoline on his flight from New York to Paris. Q. Is the possibility of making paper from cornstalks a new discovery?—T. T. A. A German scientist discovered the formula in 1795, but so much of the pulp was wasted in making paper fabric that the cost of manufacture was too high to make the venture feasible. Q. How much honey is used an- nu}a\lly in the United States>—M. C. About 250,000,000 pounds are produced annually, this being about 10 per cent more than the American mare ket consumes. Q. Which is correct, “We are going to have company for dinner,” or “at dinner”"?—E. J. G. The preposition “at” should be A. used. Q. Please give the history of Pe- kingese dogs—D. A. S. A. Little is known of the origin of the Pekingese. At the looting of the Summer palace of Peking in 1860, bronze effigies of these dogs known to be more than 2,000 years old were found within the sacred precincts. Five of the dogs from the Summer palace were taken to England in 1860, one of which was presented to Queen Victoria. Q. Are preservatives and artificlal colors used in canned foods?—N. A. L. A. Chemical preservatives are en- ly unnec in canned foods if they are properly sterilized, and further- more the addition of injurious preserva- tives or other substances to any food is prohibited by law. The preservation of canned foods is accomplished en- tirely through sterilization by heat, and sealing the product in an air-tight con- tainer. Artificial colors were formerly used in a few red fruits, but have been discontinued since canners are now able to retain the natural color of the fruits without them. Mrs. Langiry’s Death Breaks Link With Victorian Stage A link with the picturesque stage of the Victorian age is broken with the death of Lady de Bathe, known in her day as Mrs. , the “Jersey Lily.” While American comments dif- fer as to her rank as an actress, tributes to her beauty, intelligence and mag- netism are universal. “Lily Langtry adorned her genera- tion,” says the Toledo Blade. “Her story might be the story of the rose or of the lily from which she received her name. ere was none to question her beauty.” The Syracuse Herald suggests that “it would do no injustice to her theatrical record to suggest that her stage capital was divided into five-sixths beauty and grace and about one-sixth artistic en- dowment. Nevertheless,” adds the Her- ald, “she drew big American audiences, including many who persuaded them- selves that they came to enjoy a the- atrical feast, with little or nothing else thrown in.” “She had more than mere beauty— she had the grace of a good mind and discretion in the use of good language,” states the Tulsa World, which con- tinues: “She was possessed of rare charm as a conversationalist. She loved good books and good music. These things Helen of Troy lacked.” * K ok % ‘The Flint Daily Journal observes: “Perhaps Lily Langtry was the flapper of her day. She had all of that dis- regard for the ordinary conventionali- ties. Greatness meant nothing to her. Her beauty, her brains and her bril- Hancy brought her into the most ex- clusive circles, even in those days, when the actress was considered to be somewhat inferior in the social scale. She was accepted for herself. She was in all ways a remarkable woman, a shining meteor that flashed against the sky of the late Victorian era, and she dldm;mxch to brighten that gloomy Tiod.” “There was about her a queenly mag- netism,” declares the Hartford Times, recalling that “for a decade she reigned as the stage lady par excellence, in the same sort of way that in America our own John Drew became the perfect Beau Brummel. With how much merit she held this sway on both sides of the ocean we can only now recall from a reputation which endured and long since became rather a myth. * * * In her day the ‘Lily of Jersey’ was held, throughout Vanity Fair, the loveliest in her field.” The Louisville Times also remarks that she won a position similar to that of John Drew, adding that “she was & woman of distinction, of appear- ance and manner.” “To the rising generation Lily Langtry was only a name, but old-timers re- member her as one of the brightest luminaries in the theatrical firmament,” says the Dayton Daily News. “She held her claim to fame rather through her g:srmmmy and associations than great trionic art. She was, of course, emi- nently successful in her chosen field, but it was as a woman, more than an actress, that the majority of audiences came to see her. * * * Her death at Monte Carlo is another reminder of the rapidly thinning ranks of the stars who shone #n the 80s and 90s,” is the tribute of the Daily News. * ok K Kk Ellen Terry, her distinguished co- temporary, she was thrice blessed with that vague thing we once called charm. It was charm, heavily fortified by what in those days passed for consum- mate beauty, which made her premieres the social fetes they undoubtedly were. And in the art of personal exploitation and self-advertisement—showmanship, it is called in America—she was, per- haps, second only to Sarah Bernhardt.” * ok kX “Her queenly personality,” the Memphis Commercial-Appeal, “has been transferred to canvas by some of the best painters of the nineteenth cen- tury. In years to come she will prob- ably be identified as the great nine- teenth century beauty.” The Springfield Illinois State Register believes that “her life, in many respects, paralleled those of the favorites of the French courts, in its associations with royalty and the social life of the period.” The Savannah Press describes the ovation with which she was received in this country and says that “her death removes a famous social personality of her day.” “It is a tribute to her character as well as ability and winsome ways that she continued a favorite on the stage until her retirement,” thinks the Pitts- burgh Post-Gazette. ‘The Brooklyn Daily Eagle comments: “Her acting was conscientious, but at times not above the level of mediocrity. Her failure as Lady Macbeth is still remembered. But no theater in Britain or in America failed to be crowded when she was an- nounced. Such a career is rare, almost unprecedented in of Ang! Saxondom.” “There were differences over her per- sonal qualities, her merits as an actress, even over her good looks,” concludes the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, “but it was generally reckoned that she had been endowed with the fatal gift of beauty over and above all other women of her time. Her very mame recalls painters and poets in strife for the honor of dedicating their art to her face, prodigious doggerel sung on col- lege campuses and the stage. * * * She made a certain place for herself, and was no mean member of dra- matis personae of a period of strongly marked characters.” records Geologist Sees Signs Of Ice Age’s Return BY E. E. FREE, PH. D. ‘The theory that another Ice Age is creeping slowly back on Northern Eu- rope and North America, revived in European minds by the unusual cold of the present Winter, has received the support of the distinguished German geologist, Prof. Walther Gothan of the Prussian Geological Survey, who bases his suggestions largely on the evidence of fossil plants. The Ice Age was not, Prof. Gothan points out, a single period of cold. Instead, it was divided into several glacial periods separated by warm inter- glacial periods. During these inter- | glacial periods plants migrated north- ward behind the edge of the melting ice, leaving their fossils in a rectangular succession. First came stunted bushes The Jersey City Journal wonders,and grass plants like those which now “Will there be others like her, so lovely to behold that the world will pay them homage? Quite likely, but it is doubt- ful if many others will appear in per- son before such a long-continued suc- cession of profitable audiences.” “She was t and foremost a per- sonality,” in the judgment of the Bal- timore Evening Sun. “If she did not possess the resouce of an in the scope of its reach, in the variety of its points of interest, in the gusto with which it is given, in the commu- nicable quality of its spirit and, in the opportunity it offers the reader to par- of the great adventure, to collab- orate, so to speak, with the' author. Not a book to read in an hour. One rather to invite to the good chair and | the rea for years—or until a | fresh chapter in communication necds to be added out of some new flight of man t:lwgm ! an oven greater achieve- ! m} e of human contacts and un grow on the tundras of Alaska and Siberia. Behind these, as the climate grew warmer, came forests of pine and birch trees. Finally, toward the middle of each warm interglacial period, the forests were of beech trees, as the natural European forests are now. When each interglacial period gave way, in turn, to renewed cold and ice, this plant sequence followed the re- verse order; beeches were replaced by birch and pine, these by the tundra, this, finally, by the ice. A few cen- turfes ago, Prof. Gothan believes, the present beech forests of Europe were larger than now. Already, he suspects, birch and pine trees have begun to supplant them—perhaps a that twenty thousand or thirty years from now the ice age will be back. B e — And the Doom of the Coal Pile. Irom the Sioux City Tribune. February, for its own part, never has pretended to be but & Winter month,