Evening Star Newspaper, March 7, 1929, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR|] With Sunday Morning Editlon. WASHINGTON, D. C THURSDAY. THEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company . Business Office: 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd 8t. Chicago Ofiice: Tower Building European Office; 14 Regent St.. London, neland. Rate by Carrier Within the City. The Evening Star.... ... 45¢ per month The Evening ana 8 ar (when 4 ave) 60c per month | The Eveniny 3 i when § 65¢ per month ‘The Sunday Star B¢ per copy Collection made at the end of each month. GEdors may be sent tn by mail or telephone ain $000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and "irfl;{l,nll fly and Sunday....1 yr. $1000; | mo.. 88 an iR Ea IR junday only 111 yrl $400; 1 mo., 40c | All Other States and Deils end Sunday..1 12 _Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitied to the use for republication of all rews ais- atches credited *o it or not otherwise ered- ted in this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of publication of special dispatches berein are also reserved. ——— The Boom in Aviation. | Commercial aviation was one of the eountless Government-supervised activ- ities that fell to Herbert Hoover's charge as Secretary of Commerce. It does not seem inappropriate that within forty- eight hours of his inauguration as Pres- ident two of the hugest civillan fiying | enterprises vet launched in this country should be projected. Perhaps history Is to record that this is to be an aviation administration! Both of the new schemes originate in New York, as is natural, for each involves gigantic capital. The Aviation Corporation, a holding and development organization, is to be founded as a| $200,000,000 concern. It is already ne- | gotiating for substantial interests in several large companies representing various phases of the aviation industry. The corporation will be closely allied with raliroad and steamship companies, with a view to co-ordination of trans- port services. W. Averell Harriman, son and heir of the latk railroad king, E. H. Harriman, is at the head of the new | combination, assuring to its manage- ment the vision and virility of a young American financial genius who in every respect is a chip of the old block. ‘The other project calls for the con- struction on the Jersey meadows, just outside of New York City, of a vast air- port. The basic idea underlying the | choice of the site is the desire to make | the metropolis of the country easily ac- cessible by air. At present it is not. ‘Today one must land remote from the big city, either on Long Island or as far afleld as some spot in New Jersey, an hour's zallway journey from the Great White Way. The airport now contemplated will be about midway between Manhattan Transfer, on the Jersey side of the Hudson, and Pennsylvania Station, in New York City. It will embrace more than 900 acres. The corporations and capitalists associated with this splendid plan insure its execution on far-reach- ing and permanent lines. When it is carried out, Gotham will be conven- fently within reach by air. It should usher in an unparalleled era of travel by plane. Col. Lindbergh has never ceased to make clear that airports are the prime requisite to popularization of civillan eviation. With the country’s greatest city equipped with facilities altogether likely to become a national model, air transport should experience an impetus of far-reaching magnitude. How long will it be before the Na- #on's Capital, like the Nation’s metrop- alls, is similarly equipped. -t Secretary Mellon and Secretary Davis will continue in the cabinet without consuming valuable time by asking an encore on.the advice and consent of the Senate, —_— “Tom” Taggart.. . “Tom” Taggart is dead. With his passing goes one of ‘the: picturesque figures in American politics of thes last half century. He was the boss of the Democratic party in Indiana when bosses were bosses. His name was linked in national politics with those of Charles F. Murphy of New York, ‘Roger Sullivan of Illinois and James M. Guffey of Pennsylvania in the hey- day of their power. Inirecent years, although & power still to be reckoned with, Mr. Taggart, largely because of 111 health, has not occupied so prominent & position in the politics of the Hooster Btate. During the campaign last Fall he was too {ll to take an active part, though his heart was in the struggle, end the nomination of former Gov. Alfred E. 8mith had pleased him great- ly.. It is true that he had advanced Evans Woollen, Indianapolis banker, as Indiana’s candidate for the presi- dency. But personally he never was unfriendly to Smlt#. and he is said mi have had in the back of his head that | Mr. Woollen would have fitted in well 83 a candidate for Vice President. Mr. Taggart, who eventually became 8 Senator of the United States, came & this country a poor Irish boy. He was born at Waterford, Ireland, in 1856. When he was 17 years old he walked 100 miles from Garrett to Indian- epolis to take & job in the Indianapolis Railroad station lunchroom, dispensing coffee and sandwiches.. His smile and his Irish wit won him many friends, | and some of them backed him in the | purchase of a small hotel. And from this | beginning he worked his way into | political leadership. His first big vie- tory was in 1886, when he had him- | self elected county auditor, a job that pald something like $50,000 in fees each year. He held it four years and then wag re-elected. He became Demo- cratic county chairman and turned things upside down by carrying the eounty for the Democrats against Ben- jamin Harrison some fime later, al- though Harrison lived in Indianapolis and Marion County had voted Repub- lican since 1856 in presidential cam- paigns. He was a marked man in the Democratic party from that day for- ward. As chairman of the Demooratic I’Il-‘l |tional committee, Mr. Taggart ran the national campaign in 1904, when Alton «+... March 7, 1929 the Democratic boss of Indiana to go | was a popular resort and many an im- governor, the late Senator Ralston, who appointed Mr. Taggart to fill the va- cancy caused by the death of Senator Shively. It had been the ambition of to the Senate. He had failed in an at- tempt in 1910. And he held his seat in the Senate only a short time, going down to defeat in the ensuing election before Senator “Jim"” Watson, who has become the leader of the Republican organization in the Hoosler State and now the Republican leader of the Senate. ‘The veteran Democratic boss had & deal of political sagacity. He was able to see and understand the trend of politics and public sentiment. He showed his wisdom in 1912 at the Bal- timore convention, when he swung the Indiana delegation to Woodrow Wilson. In 1924 he might have brought the wrangling Democratic convention in Madison Square Garden to the nomi- nation of Senator Ralston had not Ralston himself emphatically demanded the withdrawal of his name. It was after that that Taggart played his part in the compromise which nominated John W. Davis. A winning smile and genial good nature, combined with firmness and common sense, carried “Tom’ Tag- ! gart far on his road to success. He was popular with the members of the | Senate during his short service in Wash- ington. His hotel at French Lick Springs portant political confab was held within its portals while he was the Democratic leader of Indiana. —_— e Gen. Lord Remains, In retaining Brig. Gen. Herbert M. Lord as Director of the Bureau of the Budget President Hoover provides him- self at the outset of his administration with a man who knows his work thor- ing difficulty by those who are today watching the proceedings with interest throughout the ecountry. In the course of & week or two most of those who thus follow the ofl fight will locate the contest as in ‘“some place or other in Indiana.” That is the way with the fame that contes to the lesser communities of this country through untoward or accidental happenings. It thus came to Dayton, Tenn., which for several weeks was the center of national attention as the scene of the evolution trial in which a teacher named Scopes—it is difficult now to identify him-—was defendant. The late Willlam Jennings Bryan helped to put Dayton on the map. His partici- pation in the trial of Scopes and his death there gave Dayton & place in! history. Now and again it is some sensational crime, or a trial growing out of a crime, that brings the previously ob- scure town or small city into country- wide prominence. Quite lately York, Pa., thus attracted notice through the witcheraft murders and trials following. ‘This sort of notoriety is unpleasant, and vet for a little time prosperity results from it. The news writers and picture- makers flock to such a place in great numbers. Curious people without any particular business in the case run in to ook on and get the “thrill" of contact with a sensational occurrence. Then comes the reaction, the slump in busi- ness, the departure of the visitors and the flattening out of all the high lights of prominence. Life becomes dull and drab egain. But the town has had its day, and it is apt to date things thence- forth with reference to its great ex- perience, just as things are dated with reference to calamities like fires and floods. —e—i Drastic punishment for violation of the prohibition law will, after all, be oughly, who has been unusually suc- cessful in a post that calls for per- severance, tact and courage in a high degree and who has developed through- out the Government service an extraor- dinary amount of enthusiasm over the most tiresome and prosaic undertaking in the world—that of saving money. Gen. Dawes, picturesquely waving a broomstick in the awed faces of the ad- ministrative officials of the Government, fitted well into the picture as the first director of the experimental Bureau of the Budget. But Gen. Lord has been a worthy successor. He has been no less enthusiastic over his task; but if Gen. Dawes adopted the policy of beating brows, Gen. Lord may be said to have substituted one of soothing them. No man who returns an itemized list of r-oposed expenditure and directs the estimator -to cut here and trim there can be expected to receive many bou- quets of pretty posies for his pains. But Gen. Lord's administration has been marked by the absence of bad feeling and friction. His organization of the Woodpeckers’ Clubs, open to members who save a few pennies for the Government, and the Casualty Club, open to those who fail to fill vacancies in personnel, may have invited ridicule and derisive laughter, But Gen. Lotd has closed his ears to such criticism, for he knows that it is possible to save money for the Government only 80 long a8 it is pos- sible to enlist the aid of every Federal employe, and that this aid is best en- listed through dramatization of the cold and unattractive subject with which he deals. At any rate, his best peckers’ Club is to point out that the club is functioning. In other words, it works, and that is what he wanted it to do. e e Campaign Costs. Pinal compllation has been made of the expenses of the recent presidential campaign. ' ‘The figures are given in a report made to the Senate by & spe- clal committee to investigate the mat- ter. The grand total of the cost is put at $16,586,115 for the two major parties. The Republicans spent $9,433,604 and the Democrats $7,152,511. There Was greater disparity between the parties in the matter of receipts, the Repub- licans collecting $10,062,118 and the Democrats $7,220,681. ‘These figures, it is set forth in the report, do not include sums raised and expended by district, county, city, ward and precinct organizations. Altogether probably these expenditures by the Jesser units would add another million to each side, although there is no per- ticular basis for such an estimate. An interesting feature of the report of the special committee is the show- ing that the Anti-Saloon League cam- paign committee spent $165,326 in be- half of the Republican party, while the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment spent $453,700 on the Democratic side. It is not to be believed that this great amount of money was used im- properly in the campaign. These enor- mous expenditures have become neces- sary in the conduct of presidential con- tests. They cover such items as rent of headquarters, hire of clerks, print- g of campaign material, postage, ex- pressage, the expenses of speakers, decc_:- rations, {lluminations, scores of means of propaganda and promotion. | Approximately 35,000,000 votes were cast at the election in November. The | Senate committee’s report of $18,586,115, | together with the probable additional | expenses of the minor political units, would give a total of about $17,500,000, which would be at the rate of, roughly, fifty cents a vote. This is not an ex- travagant figure, and certainly leaves & very small concevable allowance for direct corruption. There would, there- fore, seem to be reason for reassurance rather than despair in the showing of campaign expenditures. B ‘The Chinese taxpayer is still regarded as having enough remaining spare change to finance another war or two. — R The Small Town's Passing Fame. Today's happenings at Whiting, Ind., where the stockholders of an oil com- pany, in person and by proxy, are in annual sessfon, bring that small city into the news prominently for a few hours. Its normal population of 20,000 {has been suddenly swelled to half as many again. All accommodations are crowded. Food supplies have been dou- bled. Telegraph wires have been multi- B. Parker was the party nominee against Theodore Roosevelt. He became tor from Indiana in 1916 en ap- plied. By nightfall the excitement will reply to those who smile at his Wood- | little worse than the penalties boot- leggers and gangsters have been inflict- ing on one another. ——— et ‘The citizens of Washington, D. C., welcome the removal of reviewing stands, and say again, with a sense of relief, “How familiar everything about the oid home looks!” r———— Regulating automobile traffic has been recognized as highly important in New York City, but regulating liquor traffic is undoubtedly the big problem of the hour. e ————— A few of the books now in circulation are disapproved of so strongly that com- ment refrains from their mention for fear of increasing their sales. B Sufferers on Inauguration day might feel justified in starting a movement for the extermination of the ,ground hog. s It may be that Trotsky for a time stood in Lenin's shoes, but.he wore them out long since by incessant travel. Apparently a special edition of a peace program is needed for local use by Mexico. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Changing Inaoguration Date.” The robin bird will soon draw nigh And bid the storm clouds hurry by. To us he'll sing with glee, “Why don’t you wait for me? “Why let the ground hog have his way About Inauguration day? I'm docile as can be. Why don’t you walt for me? “Since you a proper climate seek To grace Inauguration week, My song would scund the' key— Why don’t you wait for me? Oratorical Triumph. “What do you regard as your greatest oratorical triumph?” “In view of my unpopularity with the presiding official,” answered Senator Sorghum, “I regard as my greatest tri- umph an occasional chance to speak at all” Jud Tunkins says no man ought to write love letters without consulting a fortune teller to find out whether or not they are going to be lucky. An Impression of Jass. “What is your impression of a Chinese restaurant?” “A place where Chinese waiters serve American food and American performers play Chinese musi Readjustments. A Government brings hopes and fears, ‘With room for thought profound. You only have to wait four years To change things all around. Frankly Mercenary. “The man who has been proposing to you is a fortune hunter.” “That makes the game even,” said Miss Cayenne., “So am 1.” yoh enemies,” said Uncle Eben, “dat you fohgits yoh friends.” RADIOTORIAL. Standard Oil of Indiana. Standard Oll, who for harmony strong used to be, Hears “The Banks of the Wabash” away off the key. - The lubricants made to stop friction won't serve. Rockefeller and Stewart has each held his nerve. f Again the plain citizen anxiously notes A very significant struggle for votes— With a hope that expenses will not bring to pass A boost in the price of éach gallon of 888 i The Golden Wedding. Too much about divorce we hear— Too little about wedded cheer. So let us mention by the way ‘The Ridgway’s golden wedding day. Let us forget this clamorous earth And here salute Life's Real Worth, Theirs is a story strange but true; Love’s old sweet song forever new. Lame Duck Chorus. At last the Lame Ducks had to start, To dwell from Washington apart. Yet every Duck will hope to rest Again where life to him seems best. From every Duck that flew we hear be at an end and Whiting will lapse into its former state. For a few days A faint, far-echoing call of cheer. ‘This is the meaning of their quack: “Don't get so piously busy fohgivin' ! THE j D. C, THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 19%9. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Are illustrators of short stories going crazy? One is tempted to ask that question sometimes after a session with one of the many popular magazines. Every young lady in every story is a beautiful creature, if one may trust the pen of the industrious illustrator. ‘What is more to the point, however, is that all the beautiful young heroines look like sisters. This is a perplexing matter to thou- sands of avid short story readers, men and women everywhere, who naturally wonder about such uniformity. No matter where a story is placed, in the locale of the nations, the lady around whom the plot hinges is always fair to behold. Moreover, she looks exactly like the basic ani' of every other story ' plot. ‘Whether the scene be Florida, Califor- nia, Towa, France, England, Italy, each and every short story heroine is the counterpart of her short story sisters. * X ok X How beautiful they are! ‘To be quite honest about it, they are just a bit too beautiful. No one would say a word, of course, against an illustrator making his pen- and-ink women as pretty as he can. * There are enough ugly people in the world without filling up paper with | them. When an artist sets out to create he might as well meke Mable pretty as ugly—in fact, had better, for a variety of reasons which need not be gone into at this time, A curve of the pen to the right makes the interesting Avis fair to behold: a twist to the left makes her as homely as the proverblal mud fence. What intrepid realist would dare command the perspiring artist to make Avis ugly, when he might just as well make her pretty? * ok ok K Yet this line of reasoning has gone to such a point in the minds of the aforesaid artists, evidently, that they have glutted the market with the fair- est of the fair, to such an extent that, we are raising this wail in the interest of fair play. Ordinary courtesy demands that something ought to be done about this. There are plenty of interesting, lovable ladies who by no means possess the startling good looks attributed to the | American girl by such deceitful artists. Readers are brought to the point of believing that a woman has to ::beau- tiful to figure in a story, just as men are slowly being led around to estimate heroism by the brand of cigarette they smoke. Just as men have nightmares of a band of sturdy cigarettes rowing a lifeboat through a white-capped sea, so short-story readers dream only in terms of bobbed heads just so, figures *boy- ish,” but somewhat more so, features which would obtain entrance into any motion picture “lot.*” o Open any well illustrated magazine at randow, and the chances are very high that you will run onto an Avis the very first thing. Somehow short-story writers are having a run on Avis re- | cently. No matter how ravishing the lady may be, she is a superravisher if she goes by the Latin for “bird.” No doubi one writer of stories sees the name in some other writer's story, likes it, and determines to use it at the very next opportunity, just as one leader of a broadcast erchestra hears another leader play a certain number, where- upon he makes a mental note to do like- wise the next time he gets on the air. One wouldn't mind all of them being called Avis—a reader might put up with that—Avis is not a bad name—but to ‘A‘;u is just a bit too much of a good ng. This redundant Avisity rather bares the serious reader who, after all, is the real master of the short story, because without him there would be neither eAdii';nr nor writer nor magazine—nor vis, * Kk K Here is & prize-fight story, and the artist and the illustrator shows us a pretty scene, Molly sitting on the side of the bed telling Nellie how the Bat- tling Bozo is sure to come through to i‘x;mry in the “fight of the next cen- y. Nellie is lovely, as she ought to be, and so is Molly, her friend, but what Peeves us is that Nellle and Mollie must be twins, Each one has simply perfect features, nice straight little noses, slightly tipped up at the ends, where most noses tilt, if they tilt at all; Cupid's bow mouths, hair that has just come from the hands of the artist at the beauty parlor, clothes that cost up into the thousands of dollars, and legs irre- proachably clad in the most shimmering of silks. If any one shall insist that this is a good picture of the American girl we shall reply at once: Yes! But how about all these fat ones you see, and the ones with noses not quite so pretty, the ones with big mouths—— “What! Would you dare insinuate that Nellie, who nags her man on to a straight K. O. in the twelfth round, is anything but a ravishing beauty?"” Certainly Nellie is a beauty; but who ever sald that Molly was? Not even the author of the story! We have read every line, and nowhere does he for a moment_claim that Molly was perfect, or was fitted in any shape, form or de- gree to wear a one-piece bathing suit. As a matter of fact, here on page 192 he explicitly states, “It was & case of friendship, as so often happens, be- tween a beautiful girl and a very plain | one. sl * ok ok ok If there is anything plain or ap- proaching thereto in the Molly of this story we will “eat our hat,” as the little fellows say. This Molly is a beauty from Beautyville, a belie from Belle- ville, a knockout, a lollapalooza. On turning the pages rapidly to a drama of soclety life, we come across a neat plcture of a gathering of the elect in a very fancy drawing room. | Here are at least seven or eight ladies, rather bored with life and trying to get up steam over a go at bridge. And every last one of them is a dead ringer for Nellie and Molly! Nel and Mol might walk right in without chang- ing_their clothes and would feel right at_home. 2 Here on another page is a story of the frozen North. You wouldn't ordinarily expect Diane, who left New York be- cause she was m at her pa, to be lolling around in & log cabin in an evening dress. One could stand that, but not her face and general get-up, for Diane ;nnit fool us slick readers. We know er Why, it is Nellie, bless her heart! And that gal over there on the buffalo robe is Molly, we don't care if Diane does call her Avis. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. Yesterday Old Sol looked askance at the calendar, reassured himself that Inauguration day had actually passed, and then, beginning with one of those repressed smiles so Coolidgeite in its restraint, finally guffawed and fairly chuckled, even as if he, too, were like former President Coolidge, let loose on a long vacation where he could “make whoopee” all he pleased. How the sun did shine yesterday! It made up for all the clouds and drizzle of Inaugura- tion day. . It’s very strange that rain or snow is always so determined to be present with ‘the rest of the folks whenever we undertake to install a new President. How does Pluvius always hit it so ac- curately? One of our “Oldest Citizens” tells us that he has seen the last 12 presidential inaugurations and every one, except Cleveland's first, has been inclement. Certainly the marchers and the bleachers of last Monday will agree that that day was like the chronic weather of “sunny France"—if I know what I mean by “sunny France,” where one always “wears” an umbrella un- less he is a soldier who would be court- martialed if caught with anything so effeminate as an umbrella or lipstick. * K ok ok It would be premature to count the cost yet of the exposure to inclement March 4, 1929, but some years ago (1912) when a l)rogressl\'e states- man desired to consider changing the date of inauguration from March 4 to April 30, a list of March 4 weather vic- tims was published in report 239, Sixty- second Congress, second session, 1912, which showed the Washington casual- ties as the price of inertness in the matter of “coming in when it rains.” It is an adage that some folks don't know enough to do that. In 1891 it cost 80 cases of pneumonia, 30 of bronchitis and 13 of congestion of the lungs. It ran about like that each Inauguration day up to 1910, when the pneumonia cases numbered 120, bron- chitis 16 and lung congestion 3. The total for the 20 succeeding March 4s was 1,563 pneumonia cases, 376 cases of bronchitis and 173 of congestion. Grip does not seem to have been invented then. Maybe all did not die, but that was not Pluvius' fault—he did all he could to kill them. The total cases throughout May for s 680 of pneumonia, s and 117 of congestion. 1In short, the menace of exposure March 4 in the 20 years might be figured as the price of a net excess of a thou- sand lives lost or seriously endangered through pneumonia alone, aside from other cases due to inauguration weather. * K X % 1t is blamed on the farmers, so what is to be done about it, 50 long as the farmers are still unsatisfied that they et fair treatment from the long-suf- ?tring industrialists? We might give them tariff protection if they would be so good as to protect us patriots from inauguration sleet and rain and wind. The only reason we must inaugurate Presidents on March 4 is that George Washington and other forefathers had to get in their hay in June, then plow in July after finishing the thrashing and get the Fall work out of the way before Thanksgiving. And it took seve- ral weeks for a statesman to ride his horse through woods and plains and over mountains, to get to the Capital ready for jnauguration ceremonies, While the Congress was expected to convene March 4, 1789, it failed to get a quorum until April 30. Hence Wash- ington’s first inauguration was nearly two months delayed. When 11 States had ratified the new Constitution of the United States, which was to succeed the confederation, on September 13, 1788, the following reso- lution was adopted by the Constitutional Convention: “Resolved, that the first Wednesday in January next be the day for appoint- ing electors in the several States which before the said day shall have ratified the said Constitution; that the first Wednesday in February next be the day for the electors to assemble in the re- spective States and vote for a President and that the first Wednesday in March next be the time and the present seat of Congress (New York City) the place for commencing proceedings under the said Constitution.” ‘The “first Wednesday” in March, March and Congress enacted in 1792, “That the term of four years for which the President and Vice President shall be elected shall in all cases commence on the 4th day of March next succeed- ing the day on which the votes of the electors have been given.” Later, amendment XII to the Consti- tution confirmed March 4 as the date for inauguration of the President and Vice President, so that thereafter it has required a constitutional amendment to make any change in that date. It isa provision of the Constitution itself and not merely a statute. * Kk x Nevertheless, it would be possible to amend the Constitution so as to change the date of the inauguration, and if Congress were to submit such an amendment it is generally believed that it would be readily adopted. But that would shorten the tenure of office of those members of Congress then in office, and so it is as It to indfice Congress to submit such an amendment as it seems to be to obtain a reappor- tionment of representation based upon the last census, although distinctly made mandatory by the Constitution. It were easler for Washingtonians to regain the franchise than it is for March 4 to be merged into the anni- versary of the first inaugural of George Washington, April 30. Said Chief Justice Marshall: “The people made the Constitution, @~ the people can unmake it. It is the creature of their will, and lives only: by their will. But the supreme and irrestible power to make or to un- make resides in the whole body of the people: not in any subdivision of them. The attempt of any of the parts to ex- ercise it is usurpation, and ought to be repelled by those to whom the people ?&\'ei‘delcgahed their power of repel- % it." L While there was.a good reason for fixing March 4 as the most convenient season for the first President to be in- augurated, all that reason has vanished long ago, because farm methods have entirely changed, through the introduc- tion of modern machinery, yet Con- gressmen consider only their own terms of office, rather than the fundamental and essential principles on which the spirit of the Constitution was origi- nally founded. i President Hoover in his inaugural ad- dress declared: “The whole system of our self-government will crumble either if officials elect what laws they will en- force or citizens elect what laws they will support. The worst evil of disre- gard for some law is that it destroys respect for all law.” | "It the Constitution needs amending as to date of inauguration of the Presi- dent and the beginning of terms of office of elected Representatives, how much more does it need an increase of respect for its present provisions by the Congress which alone holds power to submit amendments for considera- tion of the sovereign people? Then maybe other things may be adjusted, such as re-enfranchisement and reap- portionment. (Copyright, 1929, by Paul V. Collins.) - e And Asia and Africa and— From the Toronto, Canada, Datly Star. ‘The advice that a man, if he wants to live long, should keep his mouth closed when angry is specially good in Chicago and while traveling in Soviet Russia and Fascist Italy. . —oes They Seem to Get On. From the Butte, Mont., Standard. No Edward W. Bok seems to be build- ing any lame-duck sanctuaries any- where in the country; but, at that, there is little danger of the extinction of the specles. P ] They'd Buy Matches. From the Détroit News. On account of there being nothing else to do in Florida with a dime, Mr. Rockefeller is again giving them away. raoo—s 30 Years? That's No Record! From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. A Scotch peer states that he has worn the same kilt “off and on" for 30 years, the description to fit the case ky the thes Democsatic its same willb'Tecalled with inoreas- “Juaj sive us Hme—We'll All BoBack.” 1769, happened to ke the fourth dpy of | with sptpessy make one Avis look exactly like the next | | that ‘these children, large and small, Many Cartoon Portrayals Of Events Protested To the Editor of The Star: Recent news comment on the failure of British school histories to chronicle events in the United States since the colonies separated from the “old coun- | try” brings to mind that the principal | international political information, for the average man who does not know foreign languages, appears to be through | ugly-faced, offensively libelous, quarrel- | promulgating newspaper cartoons, a | species of education to be frowned upon { officially more than the building of war- | ships. It is desirable that scandalous and misleading cartoons as well as roughly worded paragraphs be sup- pressed. Only a casual inspection of cartoons on international subjects is necessary to sce how and why citizen- ries may be mutually embittered to the point of fighting. None of us are mon- keys, snakes, vultures or demons, as the | cartoons indicate, We are all, both home and abroad, #irly decent humans, according to our opportunities. I think the cure therefore is not to amplify the history of Great Britain to include the United States, nor that of | the United States to include Great Britaln. The proper way is for each country to furnish its own schools with a brief history of the other country. It is truly amazing how little of European history is known in the United States and how little of what comes under “geography” is known in Europe re- specting the United States. ‘When I was in high school we had a year divided between Greek and Roman history, memorizing each paragraph. Other countries were completely ig- nored. If the same period had been used to canvass briefly the histories of the major countries of Europe, Asia and the Americas, we would certainly have been better informed of our neighbors, producing more understanding for our relations with them. As a Nation we have prided ourselves on our candor to the point of crude bluntness in dealing with aliens. What we need is more courtesy and diplomacy for our part and what all the nations need are proper character and historical sketches of the other nations with which they have dealings. Education might pre- vent remarks, unintentionally contain- ing the grossest insults, from being flung back and forth across the At- lantic. When in the company of those whom you do not know, it is safest to hold the tongue lest through ignorance | you unintentionally give offense. W. E. ALLEN. oo Children’s Cruelty To Animals Deplored To the Editor of The Star: It may be that kindness to animals is taught and earnestly stressed in some schools and homes in these days when $0 many children are allowed to pursue their own sweet (or otherwise) ways in the modern idea of soul development, but it is certain that too often that teaching is eithcr most apathetic on the part of parents and teachers or so in- differently given that it makes no im- pression whatever on_ those children whose téndency is to be cruel toward dumb creatures of the animal world. The writer of this letter has been told on good authority that in and around a certain neighborhood here on Colum- bla Heights a number of boys, some small (but old enough to know better) and some in their teens, are known to treat the cats in that vicinity in the most- cowardly and contemptible man- ner, setting dogs on them, chasing them, handling them in a way to injure and terrify them, and in other ways proving are “developing their souls” mainly in the direction of cowardice and cruelty, instead of manliness and a credit to their families. I can hear some person smugly say, “Oh, boys will be boys! It is natural for them to be cruel.” To that com- placent bromide the writer flashes back, “That is equal to smugly saying that you are proud of your boys being cow- ards! For to torture and frighten and to believe that it is funny and sporty to take advantage in such a way of the smaller creatures which cannot defend themselves is to brand that child a coward by nature and one who needs stern discipline in respect to the rights and protection which should be accord- ed all animal creatures dependent upon the kindness of the human race. ‘This protest has been evoked by sto- ries told me by a certain friend who knows whereof she speaks. If the police are indifferent to the meanness of these children who live in the neighborhood referred to, then perhaps the agents of the Humane Society can take the amatter in hand and be on guard in that neigh- borhood. It is time for these young- sters who are permitted to run the streets as they choose, to do what they choose, be as free to practice cruelty as they choose—it is time for them to learn that cowardice and cruelty to ani- mals form no part of the Creator’s plan in the development of their “unchecked personalities and souls!" ADA LOUISE TOWNSEND. ——————————— Washington Family’s History Is Discussed To the Editor of The Star: An item in The Star of February 4, 1929, concerning the death of Mrs. Amelia Alder, recently has come to my notice. In this article Mrs. Alder is referred to as “one of the oldest surviving de- scendants of the Washington family,” and further alopg in the article it states. “She was a descendant of Edward Washington, a relative of George Wash- ington.” The authoritative records of the Washingtons who migrated to Virginia about the middle of the seventeenth century show that three men of that name, of entirely different families, set- tled in Virginia—John (the great-grand- father of George Washington) and Ed- ward Washington both settled in West- moreland County, and no relationship ever has been established between these two men. George Washington himself did not recognize it. ‘The Washington family in England is one of the most ancient, originating at the time of the Norman Conquest, and there are today in England three distinet families of Washington who are not related, unless very remotely so, and during the last century there have been several persons by the name of Washington who have come to the United States, but, as far as I have been able to ascertain, none of them is of the branch from which George Washing- ton descended. W. LANIER vASHINGTON. Hereditary Representative of George Washington in the Soclety of the Cincinnati. Inauguration Covered In Comfort With Radio To_the Editor of The Star: From 1905 to 1921 I braved the weather to see all I could of every in- lufunuon, in 1909 going through some miles of snow and over fallen telephone poles. In 1921 I heard the inaugural thrm:xh amplifiers, a decided improve- ment. ¢ In 1925 T remained home and heard and saw in imagination over the radio. The experience was 8o satisfactory that I tried it again this year, though every one else in the house had to get into the milling crowd to see what they ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN. ‘Take advantage of this free service. If you are one of the thousands who have patronized the bureau, write us again. If you have never used the | scrvice, begin now. It is maintained for your benént. Be sure to send your name and address with your question and Inclose 2 cents in coin or stamps for return postage. Address The Eve- ning Star Information Bureau, Fred- eric_J. Haskin, director, Washington, D.C. Q. By what authority does Herbert Hoover have a home on the campus of Leland Stanford>—M. C. C. A. He is a trustee of Leland 8tanford University and as such is eligible to re- side on the campus. Q. What is the average age of air pilots>—C. 8. A. The average age at present is 31.5 years, with an average flying experience of 8 years. Q. Can a color produced in Paris be reproduced in New York without send- ing an actual sample?>—A. T. S. A. A photoradiogram of the color analysis curve can be sent to New York and there duplicated by dye experts. e Q. Are many children injured by the explosion of blasting caps?—T. M. A. Each year, approximately 500 chil- dren are crippled by playing with blast- ing caps. A blasting cap contains 15 to 30 grains of fulminate, the most sensitive and impulsive explosive in common use. Primers for firearms cartridges need only one-fifth grain to ignite the powder. Q. What vehicular tunnel is the long- est?—M. T. 8. A. The Holland vehicular tunnel is the longest in the world. Its length is 9,250 Zfeet. Q. What percentage of insured parcel post packages are lost or dam- aged?—M. B. P, A. One out of 677 insured parcel post packages recelves an approved lost or damaged claim. Q. Where is the Dismal Swamp?— R. R. . The Dismal Swamp region ex- tends from Virginia into North Caro- lina, lying south of Norfolk. It has an area of 750 square miles. Q. Are there more or fewer cattle on farms now than formerly?—R. B. A. January 1, 1928, there were 55, 696,000 cattle on farms. This was the smallest cattle population since 1912, The number of beef cattle was 23,.- 373,000 in 1928—the smallest number since 1877. Q. Please give some idea of the number of children who attend school and what it costs—W. A. B. A. In 1925-1928 there was an aver- age daily attendance in the elementary and secondary schools of the United States of 19,855,881. The total enroll- ment for that vear was 24.741468. ‘There were 814,169 teachers. The total expenses for the year-were $2,016,812,- 685. All school property was valued at $4,676,603,539. Q. How many serious sutomobile accidents occurred last year?—J. T. R. A. The National Safety Council says that 800,000 sutomobile sccidents occurred in the United States the year 1928 and cost 27,000 lives. Q. How many missionaries are sent abroad by Protestant churches in the United States?>—J. H. W. A. The estimated number of mis sionaries from the United States in the Protestant bodies is about 17,000 at | present. Q. Is there a marker in the lowest | depth of Death Valley?—F. 8. A. The Geological Survey says it does have bench markers very near to the lowest point in Death Valley. Q. Why was the struggle between Rome and Carthage called the “Punie Wars"?—P. 8. A. The word “Punic"” is derived from “Poenl,” the anclent name of the Carthaginians. Q. Please name the cities that have Federal Reserve Banks—L. M. A. The 12 Federal Reserve Banks are located at Boston, New York, Phila- delrhxa. Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, 8t. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, San Francisco. Q. How did the phrase “They shall not pass” originate?—J. J. B. A. At the end of February, 1916, Gen. de Castelnau was sent by Gen. Joffre to decide whether Verdun should be abandoned or defended. He consulted with Gen Petain, saying, “They (the Germans) must not pass.” Gen. Petain said, “They shall not pass.” In France the people credit it to Gen. Joffre, Q. Can one travel by automobile from the United States through Canada to Alaska?—L. J. L. A. There is po motor/road through Canada to Alaska. @ Who wrote the overture to “Rose- munde”?—D. D. B. A. It was written by Franz Schubert. Q. Did any city except Washington have thunder with the snowstorm on April 1, 19247~T. C. A. On that ticular day every weather station on the East Coast re- ported the same condition. The sta- iuonu reporting to the chief of the United States Weather Bureau were | Baltimore, Philadelphia, Atlantic City, New York City, Sandy Hook and New Haven. The Weather Bureau says that the lightning and thunderstorm which occurred during the snowstorm was not an unusual phenomenon. This has oc- curred from time to time within the last 20 years. In fact, it occurs every two or three years, if not more often. One of the occasions of such a storm, which thln,mnmns may recollect, was the day before Taft’s inauguration, March 3, 1909. Q. What is the best way to clean down-filled cushions?>—M. 1. 'N. A. A careful brushing will suffice. The vacuum cleaner should got be used, since it has a tendemoy to pull the feathers through the b Q. When did the baton come into use in England?—C. M. tasices of 118 Smplopment was by Bhone s of was 0] at the Philharmonic in 1820. B. & O.and Van Sweringen Plans Called Logical Developments Logical developments in the modern and generally supported trend toward | both. railroad consolidations are seen by news- paper editorial writers in the applica- tions of the Baltimore & Ohio and ‘the Van Sweringen interests for approval of their respective latest plans for acquir- ing smaller lines. “Provided the terms are fair to indi- vidual investors,” says the Richmond News Leader, “metgers are in the public interest, though it does not necessarily follow that the mergers shall be all- inclusive. A few small lines are so self- contained that neither they, the public nor the eat transportation systems have an; to gain by :n.\{:winx them up.,” That paper describes the general situation with the statement: “In 1924 a ‘four-system plan’ was taken up by the president of the Pennsyl- vania, the New York Central and the Baltimore & Ohio and by the Van Sweringens. The rafiroads involved in this project had a mileage of 58,500, with a property investment of $8,700,- 000,000 and annual operating incomes (1923) in excess of $440,000,000. * * * ‘The Pennsylvanis probably will fight the new mergers, particularly that part which would give the Baltimore & Ohio the right to acquire the Reading and the Central of New Jersey in order to give it permanent assurance of ready access to New York.” “One feature of the unification plans of special interest to Baltimore,” it is pointed out by the Baltimore Sun, “is that they are based on the assumption that there are to be but four major systems in the East. If the New *York Central and the Pennsylvania, as they are expected to do, adopt the same policy In their anticipated counter proposals to the Interstate Commerce Commission, opposition of these four powerful roads to a fifth system would seem likely to present immense obstacles to its creation. * * * So much may be said without discouraging the city authorities or local business organiza- tions in their fight to make the Western Maryland the terminus here of another system, but the difficulties which con- front the plan should be recognized.” * ok ok % “These two systems,” according to the Providence Journal, ve fulfilled their responsibilities of preparing definite merger proposals in accordance both with the recommendations of the Com- merce Commission that such definite action be taken by the carriers them- selves and with the sanction of public opinion as expressed in various forms and from a variety of sources. They have done much—their full share to date, in fact—to bring the whole East- :‘m consolidation program to a conclu- lon.” “The fact is,” contends the Houston Chronicle, “we will never have sensible order in our rate structures, we will never be able to assure adequate rail- way service and we will never be able to co-ordinate water, bus and air trans- portation until & system of major merg- ers can be effected. And this system of mergers need not curtail any com- petition now existing. Our railways are already aligned in major competitive groups and any practical system of combination must be based on that alignment.” “In going ahead alone,” suggests the Cleveland Plain Dealer, ‘“the Van Sweringens and the B. & O. may be in & position to compel their rival car- riers to listen to their demands and thus to force a compromise on the dis- position of the properties sought by . And in getting their programs before the commission at & time when important amendments to the law af- fecting consolidation are at stake they |may be able soon to command official support for them.” The Buffalo Eve- ning News refers to Wi on that there is a “determination on the part of the two applying ps to force the New York Central and the Pennsylvania to show their hands—to present plans of their own for consolidation in Eastern territory,” and oz{‘nc(l,}xd;l an "t.her: soon may be an en jockeying and & beginning of effective treatment of the problem of rall tnn.lw:ueu;."‘ “Altogether the step taken by tlhie Baltimore & Ohio offers something ve like a test case, in a field in whic] there been a deal of discussion and a dearth of practical results,” says the Manchester Union. The Bingham- ton Press, however, contends: “The new developments bring the compli- cated railroad consolidation problem no nearer solution. The Interstate Com- merce Commission has not been willing |to take the responsibilities of fixing terms of financing and allocating the short lines and repeatedly has asked Congress to relieve it of the task of preparing even tentative unification groupings. The present of nega- tiations appears to empl old ob- stacles and raise new obstacles. ““The Baltimore & Ohlo,” the Phila- delphia Evening Bulletin advises, “has a strong case for its demand for better opportunities east and west of its cen- tral fleld, which it has so successfully developed. President Willard's manage- ment has proved its efficlency under handicaps and now rightfully asks that the weights be taken off and it be given more freedom to prove itself, * * * It would mean more or less increase of competition for the Pennsylvania, to be sure. But there is still some virtue, | from the public potnt of view, in com- petition, even in raflroad enterprise. and the Pennsy is not to be ruined by a little rivalry.” * ok ok % “It is pointed out as highly encourag- ing,” states the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “that the B, & O. and the Van Swer- ingens are now giving ple that they would not neglect the short or une table roads in their proposed ex- tended territories. That point was one of the stumbling blocks in the past.” The Springfield Republican directs ate |tention to the fact that “the Van jsv’le{lngensr‘smnppgyuné::n contemplates joint ownership proposed trunk systems of rallroads which serve as bridges between trunk-line territory and New England.,” and adds, “If the trunk line accept this principle of common ownership, or the alternative policy of keeping under independent ownership certain ‘lines which serve as an open door of important traffic centers, the prospect of consolidation will be im- proved.” “These applications,” according to the Newark Evening News, * ¢ ¢ “in effect seek an even division of the total trackage involved in Eastern consolida~ ton. that respect they hew closely to the central purpose of the consolida~ tion policy of the Congress, for equality of systems with the aim of econserving competitive unity in a new rails era.” e Cleveland News cons cludes that “the country is witnessing the birth throes of the new order aris= Ing to meet new conditions.” - INDIAN AND BISON. hington, D. C, March 3.) (Zoological Gardens, Was| So quietly they stood there, like men carved Of bronze; lean hands upon the iron fence could. Result, T had “close-ups” at the White House, in the air at points along the Avenue, in the Senate chamber, at the east front of the Caplitol, at the Coolidge farewell at the Union Station and at various points along the line of proces- sion and also at Palo Alto. I doubt that my friends who braved the weather got a tithe of what I did, thanks to radio and the magnificent preparations of the broadcasting systems. > About the mud-corral; tall bodies starved Of Sun and air by dark habiliments ‘That nature scorns. No line nor fiickering trace Of passionate anger, of regret or woe Disturbed the stoic calm of any face That watched the ragged, weary buffalo. They who rightly claimed A continent their own, now dully hedged Hunter and hunted! ‘Within the narrow boundaries of named « I am fresh, and my friends will take ouid envy o Hiomds evem I fhev had VY my friends even if they had a fine day. And the wonder of it And measured ground; their anclent freedom pledged, ‘Their ranks, once undisputed legion, thinned; ‘Their name & fading echo all is Jand had as o« that people all over this broad good & cl hance as I did to B on the wind. —EDITH MIRICK.