Evening Star Newspaper, March 11, 1929, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. IONDAY........March 11, 1929 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: 11th St. and Pennsslvanta Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd St. Chicazo Office: Lake Michigan Building. Euzopean Office: 14 Regent St., London, England. 5 Rate by Carrier Within o the City. .45¢ per month 60c per month 65¢ per month ..5¢ per copy t each month. all or telephone at’the b in by | put forth 1n the Farm Jurnal by Pedro | Guevara, the Philippine commissioner at Washington. The United States has not wavered in its intention to give the Philippine na- tion some day a measure of sovereignty. “It has always been the purpose of the people of the United State: declares the Jones act of 1916, the so-called or- ganic law of the islands, “to withdraw their authority over the Philippine Is- lands and to recognize their independ- ence as soon as a stable government can be established therein.” But the most competent and sym- pathetic opinion in this country is that the hour contemplated by the Jones act is still remote. Periodical surveys of political and economic conditions have produced a view that the time is not yet when, in the language of the Wood- Forbes report of 1921-22, “the Ameri- 0c { can Government could permit the es- e Associated Press. ess 15 exclusively entitled is- of th © on of all rews a t otherwise cre A Record of Achicvement. The people of the United States will always be i ed to the Seventieth Cong record of achievement in beautification of their National Capi- tal. It acce shed more in this direc- tion than any other Congress of recent One of its closing acts was ap- proval of t ] for enlarging the Capi- 1 gr o developing Union Sta- ng completion of ned unfinished for But this act, reminis- t-minute action of the ss in authorizing the tum, came merely as the of a series of legislative efforts q in future years are destined to ¢ Washington more ‘beautiful and sentative of the Nation. Summar] them, it is recalled that while the ninth Congress author- ized the great Federal building program on the south side of the Avenue, it re- mained for the Seventieth Congress to purchase the whole “triangle” south of lvania avenue from the Capitol y, and to approve plans te money for the magnifi- gs which will lie in this . The Congress also appropriat- cd money to complete the Department of Agriculture Building in the Mall, the Liberty Loan and Burcau of Engraving and Printing Buildings. The last Con- ess authorized the municipal center development; it authorized and appro- priated more than two million dollars toward the Mount Vernon boulevard; it authorized construction of the new Su- preme Court Building, extension of the Library of Congress Building, the new House Office Building annex and the new conservatory, which will be ad- Jjacent to the Capitol, southwest of the Capitol grounds. The last Congress also made provision for development of the new Army medi- cal center at Walter Reed, passed legis- lation for completing the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, appropriated funds for new buildings at Fort Humphreys and provided for many other buildings in Washington, among them being the fine new McKinley School, which will be recognized as the outstanding school of its kind in the East. A statue toj Gen. Artemus Ward, a site in Washing- ton for a large urn, presented to Presi- dent Coolidge by the Republic of Cuba; a monument to Oscar Strauss, former Secretary of Commerce, and a negro war memorial, to be a memorial build- ing, were important additions author- ized by the last Congress to the Capi- tal's growing list of national memorials. Several large bathing pools for Wash- ington were authorized, but not ap- propriated for, in the last Congress. Provision was made for further develop- | ment of Meridian Hill Park, where the Buchanan Memorial will be erected within the next year. Acquisition of land and further development of Ana- costia Park and the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway are taking place as a result of legislation enacted by the Seventieth Congress. Members of the Capital community, watching their city gradually attain to its rightfully pre-eminent beauty among the cities of the world, look with hope to succeeding Congresses, which must carry to completion the work so well slarted; which must make even further departures from the theory, now dis- carded by the majority, that Washing- ton y ashingtonians, and 1 conceive of the Capital as s tangible expression of its gher ideal. Topr hi; —————————— ‘There is much interest in the ques- tion of a successor to Maj. Hesse. One les a police official needs This is one posi- h no sinecure seeker need e Tariff and the Philippines. In one of those interesting ultimatums which Philippine politicos occasion- our direction, Manuel cader of the Senate at s-the pending proposal an American tariff on certain cts. The project is now ideration in the ways s committe: Quezon opposes the idea of sub- ng the islands’ produce to our cu: tem. He declares that an Ameri- ff would be acceptable only if posed coincident with the granting \dependence. ed tariff restriction,” Mr. convinced us nediate inde- will not be politically bat, in the long run, will rious effects than the in- ation of the present situation is the right to alter at will the economic the Philippine Islands to in e in 1 of t dependency in the Far East is entirel; hin its right in keeping he independence movement alive. Nor blameworthy for attempting to e the d the United St agriculture tc on the g competition s by urging American with certain e for farm relief in | support that movement nd that thereby Philippine important American farm products like sugar and coconut oil would be abated. A reasoned argument to that effect has just been tablishment in the Philippine Islands of a situation which would leave the United States in a position of responsibility without authority.” There is about to be installed in a post of high authority at Washington an American who knows the Philippines and their aspirations. Henry L. Stimson is on his way home from the governor generalship at Manila to become Sec- retary of State. It is a happy circum- stance both for the Philippine people and for the United States that the Hoover administration will have at its immediate disposal the wisdom and ex- perience of a man so thoroughly ac- quainted with the Philippines. e The “Fee” Bobs Up Again. ‘The Democrats are tenacious. Inspite of the fact that the Western agricul- tural States went, without exception, for the Republican nominee for Presi- dent last November, it now appears that the Democratic minority in the Senate is to fight on for the principle of the equalization fee carried in the old Mc- Nary-Haugen farm bill. Senator Pat Harrison of Mississippi, speaking Sat- urday night in The Star's National Forum, indicated clearly that a fight would be made in the Senate by the Democrats in the coming special ses- sion of Congress for a plan to handle the exportable crop surpluses which would levy the cost of handling upon the producers of these crops. Up to date no plan has been devised and made public which looks to han- dling the exportable crop surpluses and placing the cost upon the crop pro- ducers other than the equalization fee. Former Gov. Smith, the Democratic nominee, subscribed to this formula, without by name indorsing the equali- vation fee. He promised to have the whole subject studied by a commission of experts if he were elected, notwith- standing the fact that commission after commission and congressional commit- tee after committee had studied the problem for years. Now it appears that the Democrats in Congress are to go ahead with this idea of the old McNary-Haugen farm bill, a measure which was twice vetoed by former Pres- ident Coolidge and which was opposed by President Hoover. It is apparent that the new Congress is going to put through farm legislation in accordance with the views of the new President. But it now appears also that the same old fight is to be made in the Senate, and probably by the Democrats of the House, for a principle that was turned down in the last election. ‘There is not the slightest doubt, how- ever, that the exportable surpluses still constitute a problem. It is the hope of the Hoover administration that it will be possible to work out a plan for ag- riculture that will aid materially all along the line. But the difficulty of bringing prosperity to the farmers by legislation alone is recognized. If the problem of the exportable surpluses is not solved, in a measure at least, by the Republican proposals, then the Democrats will be in a position to at- tack the administration, and perhaps that is what Senator Harrison had in mind when he declared again for the old plan of dealing with this matter. ‘The immediate interest, however, in the announcement by Senator Harrison lies in the fact that the old fight over the farm bill is to be revived, with Sen- ators lining up for the equalization fee principle against those who oppose it. How many of the old McNary-Haugen- ites on the Republican side will joip with the Democrats remains to be seen. Most of them have accepted the lead- ership of President Hoover in the mat- ter of farm relief and will go along with him. et Establishment of an air mail line between Mexico City and Brownsville brings Col. Lindbergh into prominence again as a good will influence. The inclination to write letters often serves as a safety valve for antagonistic influences. — e The British Regency. ‘When after weeks of intense strug- gle for life King George of England passed the crisis of his disease and ral- lied back toward health there was a universal feeling of gratitude, for this kindly monarch has won the high es- teem of all the world by his sterling qualities of character. Now it appears | that he has survived the ailment which |50 nearly took his life only to suffer a mental lapse. His mind, it seems, has not recovered from the shock of bodily infection and it is feared that this con- | dition may not pass, but that the King may lapse into chronic mental inca- | pacity. During the illness of the King a council was formed to carry on the royal task. That council, however, is {not adequate in the event of a distinet failure of mind on the part of the King, and so a bill has been prepared in anticipation of a definite report from the physicians, which it is expected will definitely declare the King to be incompetent to administer the affairs of the realm. This bill will make Prince Edward regent, thus repeating the his- tory of a century and a half ago, when George III, who had long been re- garded as of uncertain mentality, was found to be hopelessly insane and his son, then Prince of Wales, was named as regent in his stead. He filled this role from 1811 until 1820, when, upon his father's death, he acceded to the throne in his own right as King of England, ruling for ten years, until his death. The present Prince of Wales is the great-great-great-grandson of George II1, his great-grandmother, Queen Vic- toria, having been the granddaughter THE EVENI) G STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, of that unhappy monarch. In the five generations since George IIT there have been no sigus of mental incompetence in the ruling family of England. Yet the same house presides over the af- fairs of that country, despite the fact of a double change of title, incident to the late war. Whereas George III was of the “House of Hanover,” that title ! persisting to include Victoria, King Ed- ward VII, her son, was formally known as of the “House of Saxe-Coburg,” in honor of his father. His son, the pres- ent King, George V, however, is of the “House of Windsor,” and his descend- ants will likewise be known by that designation. King George III was victim of a chronic malady of the mind. He had shown symptoms of derangement for a long period before his condition became so acute as to require intervention and his displacement. The unfortunate character of his son, who became George 1V, doubtless restrained the Parliament of England from taking this step for some years before it actually became necessary to establish the regency. King George V, the present ruler, has never shown the slightest signs of men- tal incompetence. His affliction is now the result of a disease that has sapped his strength and deteriorated the tis- sues of the brain. He may, however, recover from his affliction. He Is in his sixty-fourth year, has lived a reg- ular and temperate life, and may re- gain his mental balance. But if the regency is established his son will rule with dignity and capacity. In this George V is far more fortunate than his great-great-grandfather, whose re- gent was a wastrel. George IV was forty-pine when he became his father’s regent. Edward, Prince of Wales, is in his thirty-fifth year. ——— 1t is hardly likely that the world will know exactly what the war in China is about until the Chinese public itself is clearly enlightened. Much of the hostile demonstration in China has appeared to be supervised by powerful financiers conferring in executive session. ———— e Intimations that diplomats in Wash- ington, D. C., will refrain from claiming the right to import their native wines are reassuring. One of the greatest influences for general obedience to a law must be evidence of sincere respect for it in high places. ————r————— ——— If, as generally reported, heads of bootleg activity have become so rich as to need no more money, the enforce- ment of prohibition may not be difficult. Even an underworld army recds its generals. o The plans for a bootleg clean-up are becoming so energetic and practical that Gen. Smedley Butler may be tempted to feel renewed enthusiasm and undertake to volunteer a helping hand. B ] A number of citizens are emphasizirg the suggestion that a Democratic dry vote in the recent election does not necessarily imply the possibility of a Republican convert. —————————— Stock companies are going back to old-time favorites in the drama. Human nature does not change much and what were good plays for the past may still be found good plays for the present. — e r—————— 1t would be a relief to many Ameri- cans if Mexico could arrange to locate her hostilities farther away from the United States border and nearer her own ‘center of population. Sibetens Although there was much resentment of the uncompromising authority of Porfirio Diaz, there are many citizens in Mexico who wish he could be rein- carnated. R SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Arithmetic. When all the world should happy be ‘With promise of an April day, When mockingbirds should haunt the tree ‘With pleasant and prophetic lay, Arithmetic, that tyrant stern, His vigilance will not relax. Says he, “My boy, it’s now your turn To figure out your income tax.” Add and subtract with patient care; Divide and also multiply. Look for the instructions over there, ‘Where long “instructions” meet the eye. ‘Wherefore our poetry and art, When Fate has played this doleful trick, And bids us turn both brain and heart ‘To nothing but arithmetic. Shifted Responsibility. “Do you ever have stage fright?” “No,” answered Senator Sorghum. “A little experience enables the public speaker to remain perfectly serene and let the audience do all the worrying.” Jud Tunkins says the cleverest enter- tainer he knows of is a high-power salesman. Down on the Farm. The Farmer reads Financial News, And heeds the Politician’s views. He studies theories abstruse Of fertilizers and their use, “With time”—he says it with alarm— “For everything, except the farm!” Conflicting Emotions. “Why do you like cafes where they have jazz?” -“I'm not quite sure,” answered Miss Cayenne. “I am unable to decide whether it's because I hope that the dancing will take my mind off the food or that the food will take my mind off, the dancing.” “We generously give good advice,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “hoping that others may peofit by our thoughts, even when we ourselves have failed to take their benefit.” Piscatorial Persecution, Every politician has a special fad for fishin’, ‘We seriously are fearing that some day The poor fish of the Nation will require consideration the hands 8. P.C. A. At of the esteemed “De way to live comfortable,” said Uncle Eben, “is to make other folks comfortable. Comfort in life is mostly reciprocity. !second Cleveland administration. Silhouettes on ground glass con- stantly passed to and fro, drifting by on important missions into the nothing- ness of right and left. They came along the corridor of the business office building like shadows of real human beings, rather than the live men and women which they really were. A high bright light in a fancy sus- pended globe outlined them one by one as they passed, casting their reflections on the glass, where they stood forth momentarily. Their passage across that sheet of opaque glass, wherein they were pic- tured for the duration of the passing, secmed to set forth the fateful march of humanity across the stage of this world. They came from a nothingpess, stood forth in light, and then pas®d out of sight again, lost to view in wood and plaster. Their footsteps, however, sounded down the corridor. e Sometimes behind the clear-cut shadows appeared vaguely other shad- ows, farther from the screen, and hence not so easily apprehended. The features of these latter were vague, as if somehow they had not managed to push themselves far for- ward_enough. : Perhaps they needed a helping hand to shove them into the lamplight, in order that their reflections might be more clear in the eyes of the world. Those dim distant shapes, which seemed scarcely more than blots, per- haps were those who had relied too implicitly on the old hokum, “Work hard, service in commencement and magazine articles. Or perhaps the vagueness of those in the background was simply due to physical laws, the distance of their bodies and faces from the all-reveal- ing screen, and the size of the sus pended lamp and the light thereof. Who can say? SE e There went a shape puffing away on a big cigar, a fat, important shape whose cigar was almost bigger than himself, and behind him appeared dimly a couple of flitting images, which ap- peared almost to be supporting His Im- portance. He stood stock-still for an instant, his cigar dwindled to a small cube, as he foreshortened it in turning his head. Then he went on, and the plaster and wood of the corridor wall swallowed him, 1t swallowed them all. Men, women, even the little figures of children, which now and then appeared there, dwindled into nothingness to right or left of the ground glass in the office corridor win- dow. ‘Was there no hope that any one would not be swallowed up? Might not some fair vision gleam in that light forever? still re- addresses % x ko A woman appeared, and stopped just where the globe cast her silhouette pe fectly. She seemed as if cut out of black paper by the scissors of a master, and applied to the outer side of the glass, where she took on the appearance of permanence. B Mer little hat, tight-fitting, came down over hair at whose color an ob- server had to guess; but there were stray locks which blew gently as shadows, now changing from dark to Capitol Hill is a deserted city for the most part and will be till the date of the special session of Congress ap- proaches. Many of the captains and the kings have departed for vacations in home States or in salubrious climes to the south. Senator “Jim"” Watson, new Republican leader in the upper house, “is hobnobbing with his devoted Hoosiers, but will be back before the end of March. Senator “Joe” Robinson, the Democratic Scnate leader, has just started away for Arkansas in his own automobile. Senator Smoot, who will pilot the new tariff bill through the Senate, has gone to Utah to gather up energy for the job. Senator Borah, for- eign relations chairman, is remaining in Washington. Speaker Longworth has gone South for a brief visit. Republi- can Leader John Q. Tilson is taking things easy for a fortnight somewhere in the Northeast. Representative “Jack” Garner, the new Democratic House leader, made off for Texas before the late Congress adjourned. Representa- tive Haugen of Iowa, chairman of the House agricultural committee, is rusti- cating in the corn belt, but will return before April 1 for the meeting of his committee for special consideration of the farm relief bill. Senator McNary, Senate agricultural chairman, is stay- ing on the job in the Capital. * X K ok ' Julius Rosenwald, Chicago merchant prince and philanthropist, has just left Washington after a week's sojourn as an official “distinguished guest” at the Hoover inauguration. He tells a good story about his fellow townsman, Rob- ert P. Lamont, now Secretary of Com- ‘| merce. A few weeks ago one of John D. Rockefeller, jr.s, scouts arrived in Chicago to spy out the land in ad- vance of the Standard Oil of Indiana’s recent stockholders’ meeting. He was a young New York lawyer and came to consult the Sears-Roebuck chairman about a likely successor to Col. Robert ‘W. Stewart. Rosenwald suggested three or four names, among them that of Robert P. Lamont, to whom he paid some special compliments. “Glad to hear you speak so enthusiastically of Lamont,” said the Rockefeller emissary. “Why?” asked Rosenwald. “Because he happens to be my father-in-law,” was the reply. * ok k% Beauty and the beast—respectively, Mrs. Charles H. Sabin of New York and the Republican elephant—have parted company. The retiring national com- mitteewoman from the Empire State is the acknowledged Venus of the G. O. P. organization. Tall, blonde, vivacious and brilliant, Mrs. Sabin has been a popular figure in Republican councils for the past 10 years. She came natu- rally by her politics, for, as Pauline Morton, she was the daughter of Paul Morton, Secretary of the Navy in the Roosevelt administration in 1904 and 1905, and granddaughter of J. Sterling Morton, Secretary of Agriculture in the Just why the fair Pauline has deserted the ship at this witching hour can only be guessed. Prior to Kansas City she trained with the Coolidge-Hilles wing in New York State rather than with the Hoover-Hill camp. She is a wet, too, which may account for her aban- donment of the water wagon, which is now the G. O. P. chariot. & Dr. C. C. Wu, who has succeeded Dr. Alfred Sze as Chinese Minister to the United States, first foreign envoy to be received by President Hoover. The gifted son of Wu Ting-fang, most famous of Chi- nese diplomats ever stationed in Wash- ington, may present his credentials at the White House in the capacity of an Ambassador. Informal negotiations are pending betieen the United States and Natlonalist China looking to the ele- vation of their respective legations in Nanking and Washington to the rank of embassies. * ok kK Exactly 40 years after his graduation at Annapolis with the cla: f 1889, Ad- miral William V. Pratt achieves the blue ribbon of the Navy—the command of the United States fleet. Native of Bel- fast, Me., and just turned 60 years of age, Pratt is one of the most distin- guished and experienced of American naval officers. He served in the famous “White Squadron” from 1889 to 1891; aboard U. 8. §. Mayflower in the Span- ish-American War; later in the Philip- | style, overcoat, felt hat, muffler, etc. young man!” which docs yeoman | is likely to be the!’ MONDAY, MARCH 11, 1929. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL, light as they approached closer to the glass or moved slightly away from it. Her features were well defined: a short, upturned nose, a pretty chin—for chins can be pretty, too—that had a bit of will of its own, a mouth whose lips spoke caressingly. One guessed at so much. Life is mostly guessing, anyway; it does no hg;m to speculate upon what one sees, eh? Into the light walks another shape, from the opposite direction, that of a young man, accoutered in a prevailing ‘The hat was raised in the air, and so passed from dark to very light, its being almost obliterated by the change of po- sition in regard to the lamp and the pane. * * ‘They shook hands. One looking could not be sure but what they continued to hold hands. It was entirely feasible. His lips moved. She smiled. ‘Their shadowy repartee flew back and forward on the ground-glass pane, but it was so light, evidently, that it left no shadow there. One by one they kept streaming by, as, with noses pointed, they bent along on the pursuit of business or pleasure, each after his own idea. Happiness is a shadow, a phantom of the human mind, but the forms which cast this shadow, being com- pounded of the hopes, the fears, the dreams of the human race, are tangi- ble and, therefore, make almost realiz- aL’» the true and perfect happiness. _Across the ground glass of that liv- ing screen, replete with figures, solid, fragile. fantastical, images continue to flit and flee all day long. ‘There is a western tide which sets in about noon and which continues for about a quarter of an hour, during which period the shapes come in groups, mas even blurbs of humanity, they flow s ickly, so combined and mixed. Shortly before 1 o'clock the eastern movement sets in, bringing with it all those shadowy motes and sunbeams ok Why Washington Celebrated Two Birthdays in a Year BY JUDGE ALVIN T. EMBREY. Most men are satisfied with having one birthday each year, but George Washington considered that nothing | less than two were necessary for him to celebrate. The mystery is easily explained. In the family Bible Washington's father made this record: “George Washington, son of Augustine and Mary, his wife, was born (today) February 11, 1732, about 10 in the morning.” In 1750 the English Parliament | adopted the Gregorian calendar and directed that, for England and her col- onies, September 2, 1752, should be reck- oned as September 13; thus September 2, 1752, fell on Wednesday, and the next | day was Thursday, September 14. { This change in the calendar caused quite a confusion until the people be- came accustomed to the new order of things. But somehow or other Wash- ington never could bring himself to think that he was born on the 22d of February, and he held to this idea right up to the very last year of his life. In his diary we find this notation: “February 11, 1799; Went up to Alex- andria to the celebration of my birth- day.” We find this contention of Washing- ton’s in spite of the fact that most of the people of this latter day used no other calendar but the new style. The 22d_of February, 1799, was a gala day at Mount Vernon. It was “Washing- ton's” celebration of Lis birthday, and on this occasion his adopted daughter, Nellie Custis, was to be given away by him in marriage to his nephew, Law. rence Lewis. So again Washington was called upon to celebrate another birth- day in order to agree with the trend of the times. This subject had often been debated in front of the big log fire, over at the Rising Sun Tavern, which was the fa- vorite meeting place for the young men of Fredericksburg. The story is told of Washington dropping into the inn one evening and getting into a debate with another young man on the subject of the new calendar. Washington, it is alleged, argued that had he been horn on the 22d of February, then, according to the new calendar he would have to celebrate his birthday on March 3. This ended which so shortly before went out on tie luncheon tide. A ‘There go the gay young ladies wit] out hats, their perfectly smooth hal showing to good advantage in the ground glass. ‘The fair young things pass laughing, for Nature has so made them that to laugh is the easiest thing they do, ana by far the most pleasing. ‘Theirs is a thoughtless innocence, and innocent thoughtlessness, which the dour Schopenhauer misunderstood, ana interpreted to his disadvantage. ‘Women continue to smile brightly, as if what he said had never been said. “Just children of a larger growth,” in- deed! ¥ ok ‘The great outgoing tide of late after- noon now carries all the apparitions past and away, and soon the corridor is tenantless, except for a crowd of old shapes, which, to the tune of bucket and mop, sink out of sight beneath the window to clean up the hall for the incoming flood of the morrow. Now for many hours the only form which will pass across the ground glass will be that of the watchman, going his quiet rounds. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE pines and China; at the Naval War College in Newport from 1911 to 1913; in the Canal Zone in 1915 and 1916, and as assistant_chief of naval opera- tions during the World War. Pratt was assigned to accompany President Wil- son to France after the armistice, and became one of our leading naval ad- visers at the ensuing peace confer- ence. In 1925 Admiral Pratt was ap- pointed president of the Naval War College, one of the coveted distinctions of our sea establishment. No man knows the Navy afloat or ashore better than the new skipper of the United States fleet. * ok ok ok Chief Justice Taft walks to the Su- preme Court every day its in session, and he’s, of course, the most commonly recognized of pedestrians in the neigh- borhood of his Wyoming avenue resi- dence. The other day a woman and her 8-year-old daughter passed Mr. Taft, and the mother, in a stage whisper, said to the child: “That's the Chief Justice. Once he was President.” Not long afterward they came across the Chief Justice again. As they did so, the tot by mistake dropped a glove, which Mr. Taft gallantly picked up and handed her. “Do you remember who that is, Betty?" asked her mother. The girl looked up at the big jurist and said to him, “Yes, you used to be Mr. Coolidge.” * ok k% ‘Miss Mary Randolph, who has become Mrs. Hoover's social secretary, is com- pleting her sixth year of tactful service at the White House. She went there with Mrs. Coolidge in 1923 as the First Lady's personal secretary, and, when Miss Laura Harlan relinquished the so- cial secretaryship, Miss Randolph in- herited the post she is now to fill under Mrs. Hoover. A Virginian by origin and daughter of the late Gen. Randolph, she was a famous Washington belle in her debutante days, and later. A dainty figure, Miss Randolph attracts unfailing attention at White House functions be- cause of her fondness for old-fashioned dress effects, especially lace heirlooms, which she wears with conspicuous taste. A sister, Miss Anne Randolph, is social secretary to Secretary Mellon and to Mrs, David A. Reed, senior Senator from Pennsylvania. (Copyright, 1929.) o Cities Declare War On Smoke Nuisance From the Portland (Oreg.) Daily Journal. The smoky city of tomorrow will not be popular with aviators. The peril to aviators of clouds of smoke over large cities is manifest even to laymen. Three planes were recently lost in the smoke over Pittsburgh and were finally rescued by a local pilot. * b Abatement of the smoke nuisance has become an active movement in many cities. The smoky city of the future will be at a disadvantage, be- cause the most important of the cities are going to make war on the nuisances as an unnecessary and destructive agent. Among American cities that have de- clared hostilities against smoke is New York. A city-wide conference on the smoke problem there the other day in- cluded engineers, civic associations, representatives of buildings and owners of buildings. One report by a staff of experts at the meeting snowed the deleterious effect of smoke both on buildings and on health. Towboat owners who prom- ised to abate the smoke nuisance in their operations failed to do so and were summoned before the New York com- missioner of health to explain why. The comparatively easy means by which the smoke problem can be solved and cities be freed of the overhanging smoke clouds makes it certain that the cities that continue to tolerate the evil will be at a disadvantage. B Poor Publicity. From the Munice Morning Star. One of the poorest methods of getting some publicity is to appear in the de- linquent tax list. e Escape Punishment. From the Toledo Blade. Since the melodrama went out of vogue a lot of villains escape punish-' ment, all further argument, and we now see why Washington up to the last day of jhis life would personally consider no ther (li;\te for his birthday than Feb- ary 11. I know that a lot of boys and girls who read this story will be wishing that they were like George Washington and had twg birthdays within 11 days of each other every year. ———— Good Year for Study Of Antarctic Weather BY E. E. FREE, PH. D. The selection of this year for the Byrd Antarctic Expedition may have been exceptionally fortunate; at least for that part of the expedition’s aims which involve the study of weather at the southern end of the earth. The weather of Australia is believed to be affected importantly by the ice move- ments, the ocean currents and so on at the borders of the Antarctic Conti- nent. This year’s weather in Australia, where the Summer is just merging into Autumn, is turning out to be excep- tional in many ways, especially in ex- treme droughts alternating with floods and violent storms. It is especially fortunate for science, Australian mete- orologists believe, that a well equipped and fully staffed scientific expedition is on the ground in the Antarctic precisely at this time, so that full data of the ice conditions and of Antarctic weather will be available for comparison with the unusual weather experienced farther North. In New South Wales, for example, the month of January is reported to have been the dryest in 70 years. “Bush fires,” the Australian equivalent of the “prairie fires” and “forest fires” of the United States, have been more numer- ous and destructive than at any time since the settlement of Australia by the whites. At the same time unusual weather is reported from Southern Antarctic Oceans report exceptional storms. Antarctic weather seems un- usually disturbed this year, doubtless as a result of the variations of sunlight which have disturbed the weather of the Northern Hemisphere also, produc- ing; for example, the recent cold waves in Europe. s Paper Says Best U. S. Brains Avoid Politics From the Kansas City Journal. It is unfortunate that there is some truth in Senator James A. Reed's as- sertion that there is little or no reward for honest public service. It is due to this fact that the best brains in the United States go for the most part into business instead of politics. As a result of this condition, public office too often attracts inferior men who lack the character to resist cor- rupting influences and the mentality to discharge their duties with efficiency and distinction. In a so-called dollar- worshiping country, where money is de- sired as a symbol of ability rather than | for itself, persons of independent means strive after more wealth in preference to running for office. Politics is thereby | cheapened. ‘There are exceptions, of course, like the members of the Adams family, but they are rarer than they should be. And there are indirect rewards, such as the more remunerative practice which comes to lawyers who are elected to the Senate, a reward which Senator Reed himself has enjoved. However, there are many other offices which do not carry this advantage. In England, where politics is much more dignified, it is a great honor to be elected to Parliament or to he chosen lord mayor of London. Public office carries a distinction which justifies ef- fort on the part of citizens of real at- tainments, the kind of men who have :imde American industry what it is to- ay. Not until a similar atmosphere is cre- ated here will our political brains equal our business brains. But unfortuntely this atmosphere cannot be created until better qualified men go into politics in spite of the present atmosphere. These difficulties create a condition which only the mest optimistic can regard com- placently. Radio, Yet in Infancy, Rivals Old Company From the Springfleld, Mass., Daily Republican. ‘While the net income of the American | Telephone & Telegraph Co. in 1928 was $143,170,000 and the net income of the Radio Corporation of America in the same period was something over $23,- 600,000, the Radio Corporation’s brief existence th its financial showing into high relief. The telephone business is 50 years old; the radio business, on a sound commercial basis, is not 10 years old. Yet the Radio Corporation of Amer] last year earned a net income about one-eighth as large as that of the huge moropolistic American Telephone & Telegraph Co. The comparative net earnings of these two companies are not an accurate index, however, to the present relative standing of the two industries as a whole, Radio, commercially _exploited, is hardly beyond infancy. Its possibilities are much broader than those of the telephone in view of its recent expan- sion into the field of popular amuse- ments. It already has a substantial in- terest in the production, distribution and exhibition of sound-motion pictures, with increased facilities for furnishing entertainment on records. on films and through the air, in the theater and in the home, South Africa. Whaling stations in the | | who are qualified for public service | Stop a minute and think about this fact. You can ask our Information Bureau any question of fact and get the | answer back in a personal letter. It is a great educational idea introduced | into the lives of the most intelligent people in the world—the American newspaper readers. It is a part of the best purpose of a ncwspaper—servica‘ There is no charge except 2 cents in coin or stamps for return postage. Get the habit of asking questions. Address your letter to The Star Information Bureau, Prederic J. Haskin, director, | Washington, D, C. Q. Is a flood expected ‘1 the Missis-' sippi Valley this Spring. — F. S. A. The Weather Buresu says flmtv‘ there is no indication of flood condi- | tions at this time. The river is rising | at a normal rate for the time of year. A long period of very hard rains would alter conditions, so no positive answer can be made. Q. Are all automobile license plates the same size?—G. M. J. A. Automobile license plates are not uniform in size. A division of the De- partment of Commerce is going to make a survey in a short time, showing the sizes of the various license plates, with a view to securing uniform size. Q. What kind of a government has Italy?—M. D. L. A. Italy is a kingdom with a consti- tutional form of government. The King is Victor Emmanuel III, and the prime minister, who is also minister of the interior, foreign affairs, arany, navy, air and corporations, is Benito Mussolini, who took office October 30, 1922. Prac- tically Italy is a dictatorship, the King having been acquiescent to the dictates of Mussolini, who controls the Parli: ment, Q. What elements are there in the human hair?—E. A. B. A. The elements composing human hair are: Carbon, about 54.52 per cent; hydrogen, 6.41; nitrogen, 17.82; sulphur, 5.20; oxygen, 16.05; some amount of mineral matter. Q. What is meant by a royalty in the oil industry?—C. R. C. A. A royalty originally was the rent paid by tenants of a manor belonging to the crown. As applied to the oil indus- try a royalty means a certain specified portion, generally one-eighth, of all oil and gas produced. The owner of the royalty is entirely free from all devel- opment, drilling and carrying expenses. His share of the production is delivered directly to a refinery or pipe line com- pany without any charge for produc- tion or transportation, so that what he receives is all profit, except the gross production tax payable to the state. A royalty usually is perpetual. Q. What flowers will thrive in poor so0il>—C. E. M. A. Such flowers include love-lies- bleeding, prince's feather, Joseph’s coat, cape marigold, godetia, dwarf nastur- tium, portulaca, Scotch pink, sweet alyssum, garden balsam, calliopsis. Q. How was the income from farm commodities divided last year?—H. E. A. The gross incomes by groups of commodities for 1927-28 were: Grain, $1,636,000,000; meat animals, $2,842,000; fruits and vegetables, $1,453,000,000: cotton and cottonseed, $1,458,000,000; dairy and poultry products, $3,628,000,~ 000; all farm products, $12,253,000,000. Q. In what parts of Washington and Oregon are apples grown?—M. C. A. Apples are grown successfully in every county in both Washington and Oregon. Q. Was Joseph Conrad's father an educated man?—W. K. A. His father, a country squire, was a distinguished poet and literary critic. His mother was a gentlewoman. Q. Please describe the President's A. W. lag.—A. W. A. The flag consists of the President’s seal in bronze upon a blue background, with a large white star in each corner. Q. How many children attend Sun- day schoel?>—C. F. A. 1t is estimated that over 29,000,000 children are in the Sunday schools of the world. Of these, more than 17,000,- 000 are in North America. Q. Where is Emma Goldman liv- ing?>—M. W. A. She has a villa at St. Tropez on the French Riviera and has lived there for some time. Q. What 10 names are borne by the most people in America?—B. F. A. Drawing conclusions from the en- | rollment during the war, the first 10 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. were Smith, Johnson, Brown, Willlams, Jones, Miller, Davis, Anderson, Wilson and Moore, Q. Is the missionary who was kid- naped and then released in Macedonia about 25 years ago still living?—R. H. A. Miss Ellen Stone, the victim of bandits in 1901, died in 1927 in Chel- sea, Mass., at the age of 81. Q. How were the names of States chosen that were given to the avenues in the city of Washington, D. C.?—B. B. A. The names of the States in the Union in 1792 were taken. Afterward avenues without names were designated Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana and Indiana. Q. Where is the Grand National Steeplechase run?—C. T. A. 1t is run at Ainiree, England, and is considered the world’s most famous steeplechase. The course is nearly 2'g miles long, and a double circuit is made. There are 32 jumps. Q. What heating s the new British embassy?—A. R. A. The heating s used in the British embassy eliminates all radiators. The rooms are heated by small hot- water pipes buried in the walls, ceilings and floors. This system is often used in England. Q. Who invented the stamp-selling machine?—N. A. A. Joseph J. Schermack invented the machine for dispensing postage stamps automatically. Mr. Schermack has per- | fected a number of automaiic vending machines and is president of the Con- solidated Automatic Merchandising Corporation. Q. Ts there an organization composed entirely of college professors?—T. A. N. A. The American Association of Uni- versity Professors is purely a profes- sional organization of university teach- ers. It has 7.000 members and has re- cently established headquarters ia ‘Washington, Q. Who is the present Viscount As- tor?—O. B. C. A. The present Viscount Astor is the son of the Astor who removed to Eng- land and settied there. Willlam Wal- dorf Astor, who died in 1919, removed to England in 1890 and became natural- ized in 1899. The present Waldorf As- tor is the second viscount and the hus- band of the Lady Astor who was the first woman to sit in the British Par- liament. Q. How many members of the Con- stitutional Convention had been in Congress?—T. B. A. Forty of the 45, Q. Who was Don Caesar de Bazan? —B. R. A. Don Caesar de Bazan is a char- acter in the novel by Victor Hugo. “Ruy | Blas.” It is also the title of a French comedy founded on this story and of a comic opera by Massenet. Q. Is China the antipodes of the United Statees?>—H. K. Z. A. China could not be the antipodes of the United States, since both coun- tries are in the Northern Hemisphere. The antipodes of the United States would be located approximately in the South Indian Ocean to the west of Australia. For instance, the latitude of Washington, D. C,, is 38° 53’ north: the longitude, 77° 1° west. Its antip. odes, therefore, would lie approximate- ly in latitude 38° 53’ south and 102” 59" east longitude, Q. Did Mrs. Shelley give a name to the creature made by young Franken- stein from corpses?—S. C. A. The novelist gave no name to it. “Frankenstein” is, however, frequently applied. Q. Can honey that has become granu- {;‘;,Leev be restored to its original state?— A. Gleanings in Bee Culture says that pure honey is liable to granulate during cold weather and that it can be re- stored to its former liquid condition without injuring its flavor in any way by placing the container in a vessel of warm water and never allowing the temperaturé to go above about 120 de- grees. The honey will then become liquid and retain its delightful aroma. Honey is composed chiefly of two sugars, dextrose and levulose. Of these, the former crystallizes quite readily, while the latter does not. During cool weather the dextrose is liable to crys- tallize, while the levulose rmains in so- lution, forming a coating of the dex- trose crystals. This is what gives to pure honey when granulated its peculiar consistency, which is entirely different from that of the crystals formed in ordinary sugar. It took a hundred years of discus- sion and surveying to get the Panama Canal, so the American press greets with tempered enthusiasm the pro- posal to survey the Nicaraguan route for another passage between the Atlan- tic and Pacific. Nevertheless the proj- ect is quite generally approved, even by those who hold that actual need for a second canal still is a long time off. ‘The Los Angeles Express speaks for the Pacific Coast, and, holding that “the Panama Canal already has proved inadequate,” observes: “Because for more than a century Congress had dallied with the project of a Nicaragua Canal, because so many starts have been made that have come to nothing, it will be as well to keep in rein the enthusiasm that the resolution in Con- gress might be expected to arouse on the Pacific Coast. It is necessary only to go down to Los Angeles Harbor to appreciate the benefits of the Panama Canal. Nobody can deny that a second canal would bring equally great ben fits to both domestic and foreign com- merce. But Congress moves slowly.” Advantages in a canal nearer thel United States are set forth by the St.| Louis Post-Dispatch in the statement: { “Only 21 per cent of the traffic through the Panama Canal either comes from or goes to ports south. The other 79 per cent.would save a day, or 434 statute miles, by going through the | Nicaragua Canal. A day’s sailing : means $500 to a freighter. The Pflnamfl; Canal cost $445,000,000. It is estimated that the Nicaragua Canal may cost & billion dollars. The cost is not im- portant. When we built the Panama Canal we neither realized what it would ! cost nor foresaw that traffic would out- | grow it in less than 25 years. So goes | the world!" * ok ok ok i Noting that a survey in Panama is joined with the Nicaragua project, the Providence Bulletin states that “while | the making of surveys does not com- mit the country to build the Nicaragua | or even to improve the present Panama waterway, it is highly probable that constructive action will be proposed | soon after the surveys have been com pleted and made public. That Ameri- | \can_interests in the Caribbean area | would be enhanced tremendously by the | construction of another interoceanic { canal can, of course, be taken for granted,” concludes the Bulletin. “There is a growing recognition,” tn | the opinion of the Kansas City Journal- { Post, “not only that the destruction or even temporary closing of the Panama Canal by an aerial or sea attack is a danger that should not be ignored, but that the situation in Central America makes Immediate action imperative. Even preliminary steps for a foreign- controlled canal in competition with the Panama Canal would be hurtful.” As an advocate of the measure, the Tempered Enthusiasm Greets Survey for Nicaraguan Canal |ture for the survey would be small and that “the motive is not to force a new intercoastal waterway, but that the whole purpose is to take stock of the situation.” The Louisville Courier-Jour- nal, taking account of this situation, protests against “the march of dollar diplomacy in Central America, with the sole object of protecting American in- vestments.” * % ok ‘The Jersey City Journal sees an “en- tering_wedge for what is likely to be- come a long-drawn-out and bitter battle between the shipping interests and rail- road interests,” and adds that “discus- sions when the survey is made will be further complicated by the various re- actions which may be expected in the nations of Central and South America.” Observing that ““theé present canal has proved immensely beneficial to Atlantic and Pacific Coast States, reducing transportation costs between them and developing an enormous_ intercoastal freight traffic,” the St. Paul Pioneer Press continues: “But the Middle West, forced to depend upon expensive rail- road transportation. has suffered heavy losses as a_consequence of the Panama Canal. Inland business has been de- prived of its seacoast markets, inland industries have been penalized and transcontinental railrcads have lost im- portant long-haul traffic, a fact to which Herbert Hoover has specifically alluded more than once.” - “There is no doubt as to the ability of engineers to build a_canal across Nicaragua. The issue to be determined is whether it will be necessary to con- struct a second water advises the i while the EI s: “The second canal will cost a tremendous sum and some traffic experts hold tha for it is many vears away. If the sec- ond canal is constructed, military and naval needs will be an important factor.” * kK ok “It will take time—15 to 2° years'— according to the Baltimore Sun, build a canal through Nicaragua. = fact that strengthens the hands of those who urge consideration now of the pre- liminar of the matter.” That paper also reviews the uation in - detail: “Having expended $3,000.000 to secure the right to build the Nicaragua Canal, it seems a sensible proposal that we ex- pend $150,000 on a survey to ascertain the cost of the project and the advisa. bility of proceeding with it when con- gestion in the Panama Canal brings up the alternative of increasing its capacity or relieving it by a second waterway." “As matters stand.” suggests the Nashville Banner, “it is the opinion of all expert observers that the facilities of the Panama passage will be sorely overtaxed before it is possible to provide any other similar connection between the oceans.” But the Columbus Evening Dispatch contends that “while the en- gineers are digging. when and if it finally comes to that., the diplomatic forces of the country will have a task New York Herald Tribune, nevertheles finds “no immediate need of anoth canal,” though it argues that expendi- 5 no less important and the crux of it will be to convince our neighbors of the benefits that will accrue to them.”