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THE EVENING. STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. FRIDAY. .March 20, 1920 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: 11th St. and Pennsyivania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd St. Chicago Office: Lake Michigan Ruildine. European Ofice; 14 Regent St., London, England. Rate by Carrier Within the City. The Evening Star.. 43¢ per menth The Evening and &i 60c per month ach mos Orders may ve sent in by mall or telephone Main 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. 1 mo.. 85¢ ¥r. $6.00: 1 mo. 50c | 155 $400; 1 mo.. 40c | y only .. Sunday only . All Other States and Canada. Daily and Sunday..l ¥r.,$12.00: 1 mo.. $1.00 Daily (nly ... 1yr. $8.00; 1 mo., 75 Bunday only 1 yr., §5.00; 1 mo., 50c Member of the Associated Press. ‘The Associated Press is exclusively ¢ to the use for republication cf all 1 ey patches credited to it or not otherwise 1ted in this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. ———— The New Police Chief. In the selection of Maj. Henry G. Pratt, now inspector and senior as: H ant superintondent, to be superintendent ; of police to succeed Maj. Hesse, retired, | the Commissioners have done well by the Police Department, by the District | government and by the community. Maj. Pratt has been a capable member. | of the Police Department for nearly a | third of a century, his service being| continuous with the exception of the | period of his duty with the Govern- ment during the war. In all of his work as patrolman, as detective sergeant and lately as inspector in charge of the Detective Bureau he has shown himself to be efficient and faithful. During the war he rendered especially valuable service in the military intelligence branch and returned to the District government police duty with an excep- tionally high record. Maj. Pratt's selection as superintend- ent follows the principle of promotion which is always to be preferred in cases of administrative change when indi- vidual qualifications permit and justify. In this instance the Commissioners were almost embarrassed with riches of opportunity. Several highly qualified members of the department were avail- able for promotion to the superintend- ency. The choice of Maj. Pratt, how- ever, was indicated by both his efficiency and his seniority of rank. Other changes in the Police Depart- ment are contemplated, all makinhg for a better organization and a strengthen- | ing of the service. The promotions incident to Maj. Pratt's designation as superintendent are in themselves recog- nitions of merit. Indications have been given that with the selection of a new superintendent there would be a very general shake-up of the personnel of the Police Depart- ment. These higher administrative changes, however, are not necessarily of a nature to involve drastic shifts of assignment. ‘There is no occasion for them & far as the morale and efficiency of the force are concerned. Maj. Pratt knows and has confidence in the personnel of the department, In the same way the members of the department know and have confidence in their new chief. This mutuality of regard and respect should make for exceptionally efficient police administra- tion for Washington. ———— ‘The I'm Alone is charged with defy- ing its title and bscoming rather too convivial, e Great Listeners. ‘The Senate and House committees on agriculture have their hearings on farm relief going at full speed. The members of both committees have listened to suggestions from every conceivable source regarding farm relief during the last five or six years. Enough volumes of congressional hearings on the farm problem have been compiled to fill a 8ood sized library. Yet the hearings are under way again. But whoever heard of a congressional committee drafting a bill without first holding hearings? It simply is not done. So the Senators and Representatives are listening, for the most part, to twice-told tales, 8o far as | they themselves are concerned. It is possible that something new may be de- veloped during the hearings, but only a complete optimist expects such an oc- currence. Having heard from the farm organi- | 2ations of the country time and again, and from individual farmers by the score, not to mention college professors, the Senate committee is now undertak-. ing to obtain the advice of Henry Ford, J. P. Morgan, Joseph R. Grundy, head of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers' As- sociation, and other leaders of industry. Apparently the idea lurking in the back of the heads of the committeemen is that these men, who have been tremen- dously successful in manufacturing and banking lines, may be able to give the farmers a plan which will place them | on an equality with the men who en- gage in Industry in this country. It does seem to the layman, however, that it | would be about as wise to call in a| group of farmers and ask them how to start and maintain a manufacturing! institution on the scale of the Ford plant, for example. As a matter of fact, except for some details, the farm bill which is likely to pass at the coming special session of | Congress is already written. All the hearings in the world are not likely to change it greatly. The measure in ques- tion is the bill creating a Federal farm board, which was introduced in the last session of Congress by Senator McNary of Oregon, chairman of the Senate com- mittee on agriculture, and which he has now revised and has before his committee for consideration as soon as the hearings shall have been completed. In the revised bill the Fedefal Govern- ment is called upon to set aside $500,- 000,000 to be used as a revolving fund to aid in the better marketing of the farmers’ = ps. In his last session bill the sum was $300,000,000. No price- fixing scheme is contained in the bill. The equalization fee has been omitted, and no such mechanical device for price raising is likely to be inserted in the new bill. President Hoover has yet to make his recommendations to Congress regard- ing farm relief in specific terms. It has THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 1929, tends to stand on the farm planks of the Republican national platform and upon the speeches which he made dur- ing the campaign. If he has any in- novations, any new plans for farm re- lief, they are not to be made public until after Congress opens, April 15. The opinion of Senators from the farm States of the West, who are well posted, is that the new McNary bill will be the basis of the farm measure which will be passed and sent to the President. Furthermore, they belicve that the farm | organizations will go along with this measure. If it does not prove satisfac- tory after it has become a law, doubt- less the farm organizations will come back to Congress for further aid. It is no secret, however, that President Hoo- ver is anxious that legislation be en-, acted which will stand the test and| will be a measure of permanent aid to the farmers of the country. e T;he' New Traffic Schedule. No two persons can probably agree on the adequacy or inadequacy of the pen- alties for each of the seventy-cight minor traffic violations for which col-| lateral will be required in the future at the various precinct stations. From | a perusal of the schedule of fines, if the motorist does not care to go to court, to add one mile in the 90-mile range can be appreciated. America now possesses only one straight-away speed record. England has the air record with a speed of more than 300 miles an hour and through Maj. Segrave's efforts on the beach at {Daytona alsu holds the land record at 231 miles an hour. The Britisher, after defeating Wood in their twelve-mile match race, was to have made an attempt on | the straight-away mark, but the fragile hull of Miss England gave way and he was compelled to abanden his plans, So the score now rests with England su- preme in the air and on the land, but America holder of the straight-away water title. With the United States Navy refusing to compete in the Schneider Cup race, the blue ribbon event of aviation, and the last American after killing its pilot, it looks as if John Bull would hold securely to these two records, but there is nothing the mat- ter with Gar Wood and his Miss Amer- ieas and it will take something more {than has yet been shown to wrest from this country the record left in the churning wake of his speedy boats. ———tea—. Reparations Still Entangled. however, there would appear to be sev- | eral inconsistencies. For instance, the | collateral required for driving through an unoccupied safety zone is three dol-| lars while for driving through an oc- | cupied safety zone is only ten dollars. It would seem to be more equitable to assess no penalty in the former case, | because life and property are not in | danger, but to plaster at least a twenty- | five dollar collateral on the motorist | who drives through an occupied safety | zone. | Under the new scheme, which by the Commissioners’ order becomes effective | light calls for a deposit of five dollars. Inasmuch as this violation generally in- | volves potential injury or death a higher | rate might well be adopted. Any one who drives against a red stop signal should be forced to “shell out” at least twenty dollars for his flagrant disregard | of the rights of others. Likewise should | the motorist who defiantly refuses to | give way for fire engines, ambulances and police emergency vehicles be as- sessed more than the trifling ten dollars | which, under the new schedule, is to be | demanded. Firemen have been killed and serious accidents caused by the bull- headed stupidity of those who decline to | clear the streets for the passage of | emergency apparatus. Along with the ten-dollar penalty for driving through an occupied safety zone is a like amount assessed against those | who pass a street car stopping for pas- sengers, This penalty should assuredly be revised upward. There is no possible excuse for a motorist to pass a stand- ing street car. Car riders do not an- ticipate such a contingency and are totally unprepared to dodge a motor vehicle. It is one of the worst offenses against the regulations and should be punished by not less than a twenty-five- dollar collateral. While it would appear logical that a greater penalty should be assessed in the aforementioned cases there are some in which, with justice, a lighter penalty should be exacted. Passing an over- taken vehicle on the right calls for five dollars collateral. It would be fairer to fine the motorist who was overtaken because he was driving slowly in the middle of the street and refused to give way, than it would be to penalize the person who passed on the right be- cause passing on the left would in- volve driving on the wrong side of the street. If the District is to persist in its obsolete requirement that all vehicles be overtaken and passed on the left it should at least make the offense of keeping to the right and passing on the right an exceedingly trivial one with a collateral of not more than two dollars. No differentiation is made in the new schedule, or in the traffic code itself, for that matter, between parking a few moments abreast with the car attended or with the car unattended. While it may be just to charge five dollars for deliberately leaving a car without an operator parked abreast it certainly cannot be as grave an offense if the driver sits at the wheel ready to move instantly should occasion arise. With these exceptions and possibly a | few others the new schedule will prob- ably meet with approval on the part of the motorists and will expedite the han- dling of the growing volume of traffic offenses. Motorists should read the list carefully and co-operate in their driving behavior to the end that they may es- cape not only visits to the precinct sta- tions for the depositing of collateral, but appearances in court where much more serious penalties may await them. ——— If Mabel Willebrandt has her way she will show Al Capone that a new method, quite apart from sentiment. may show how a woman may be the! cause of an underworld downfall. —————————— A Notch Higher. Gar Wood, although vanquished in his championship water tilt with Maj. | H. O. D. Segrave, the daring British | automobile and boat driver, put the | straight-away-mile record one notch further away from his English opponent Monday when he clicked off the course | at the astounding rate of 93 miles an | hour. Holder of the previous record at,: 92 miles, Wood, since his defeat by | Segrave, has been making valiant at- tempts to place the straight-away rec- ord further out of the reach of the one- man racing team from England, and has sent the Miss America VII at full throt- tle whining through the water at better than 90 miles an hour. It was not un- til Monday, however, that a change of propellers gave the American boat the decisive punch to create a new record. { The addition of one mile to the | championship mark probably seems an insignificant achievement to the lay- man, but in the realm of high speed on the water it assumes momentous im- portance. An illustration of this fact may be gained from the current ad- wherein a manufacturer points out that a boat with 400-horsepower is guaran- teed for 50 miles an hour, but in order to reach a speed of 53 to 55 miles a 500-horsepower engine must be used. In other words, at the 50-mile point it re- quires 100 additional horsepower to add another five miles to the speed. The on May 1, disobeying a traffic signal |y | ositions for a final settlement were sub- | 000,000 vertisements for standard speed boats, | Allied, American and German ex- perts have been tugging at the repara- tions knot for roundly two months now, but the sword which is to cut it has not yet been unsheathed. The tangle, in short, remains entangled. Easter- tide at Paris may produce a solution Mr. Young, the American chairman of the brainy but baffled experts, has de- creed an adjournment over the holiday. One may be sure the recess will be de- voted to earnest heartsearching, for a very real crisis in the reparations sit- uation has arisen. Something approaching a show-down by Germany and her creditors occurred sterday. From both sides formal prop- mitted. Paris dispatches tell us that “no hard and fast figures® were put forward, but the ideas of both creditors and debtor on this score are fairly well known. The powers to which Germany | must pay reparations are not disposed | to accept annuities of less than $400,- The Germans, through their chief negotiator, Dr. Hjalmar Schacht, president of the Reichsbank, has never | indicated & readiness to concede more | than $200,000,000 as their maximum “‘capacity to pay.” Mr. Young seems to have averted an absolute deadlock, and possibly the peril of a complete breaking off of the Paris parley, by suggesting that a week's va- cation for all concerned might be use- ful. It was agreed that the experts should get down to the brass tacks of | actual figures—Germany's fixed total | obligation, as well as annual payments— | next Thursday. Finality should then be | in sight. To date all that has won, more or less unanimous approvyal is th Young-Morgan plan of a “bank of | nations” which in future would handle the vast movement of international funds which will flow from an eventual reparations adjustment. Statesmanship is the art of give and take. Compromise is another name for it. Business men resort to it in their daily occupations. Some of the world's greatest business men are now sitting around the conference table in Paris, It is not conceivable that they will fail to apply to the world's biggest out- standing business proposition the prac- | tices they invoke in their private af- fairs. oo The citizen with a small bundle of |1 good bonds or reliable stock certificates in safety deposit is in a position to understand the difference between gen- | uine values and market fluctuations. e America invented the cocktail and| some international argument might have been prevented if Uncle Sam had | possessed the foresight to patent it. ¥ ——— Old Polonius when he advised against borrowing or lending proved that he say had little sympathy with the Danish stock market, N In spite of the name, I'm Alone, the now famous boat got into some very swift company. ————— Financiers say the best way to handle oil in this hemisphere is to leave it on deposit and let it draw interest. oo SHOOTING STARS. | | | BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Cap and Bells. We hear the clamor of the wise, With words of folly in disguise, In solemn phrase Of ancient days, With idle weight, but serious size, So take the college cap away. The justice gown hold from display. ‘The lightsome jest Seems far the best— So, bring the cap and bells today. Defying the Fashion Plate. “Are you a loyal supporter of the traditions of Congress?” “To a great extent,” answered Sena- tor Sorghum. “But I am impervious to the hints of comic pictorialists that every congressman ought to wear chln! whiskers.” Jud Tunkins says a man who tries to play smart is always sure to run up: against somebody with better ideas about stacking the cards. Expression. “Expression’s” what we all enjoy. For noise we still contrive. A jazzy measure we employ To show we're still alive, Incompletion. “Are your preparations for Easter complete?” “No,” answered Miss “Mother and I have bought our new gowns, but father hasn't yet paid for them.” Fate,” sald Hi Ho, the sage of China- | town. “However seriously you may take {life, life will not take you the same way."” Safeguarded by Nature. The robin bird appeared before The medical inspector. His red breast singnaled as of yore, A flannel chest protector, “Tain’ no use to tell me to let well enough alone,” said Uncle Eben, “Same skillful planning, the proper tuning and as everybody else, I ain’ never yit dis- been polnted out, however, that he in- thg expert driving necessary, therefore, covered ‘well enough.’ " i speed car to be constructed a total wreck | Cayenne. | “You are at the sportive disposal of | THIS AND THAT Always be suspicious of a woman who holds her husband’s hand in public. Such demonstrations usually have a purpose behind them, and in most cases this purpose is to induce spectators to believe that the couple get along in fine style. X The hand-holding business is simply a smoke screen sent up to divert at- tention from the real state of affairs. To the knowing one it says as plain as | day, although he will never let on that he sees through the maneuver: “Watch me hold my dear husband's hand. Ha! Ha! ‘Dear husband’ is good. Really we fight like cats and dogs, but nobody knows it, unless you are shrewd enough to see through all this, and of course you aren't. “You never are. You are a sap like ‘my husband. In reality we quarrel from the time we hit the house to the | moment we leave, when we both put on smug airs of satisfaction. “See how lovingly I clasp his hand fand how cunningly I call him ‘Honey." | If T can contrive to reach over some one else to grab his mitt, how much | bettex that makes it! “Surely, every one is convinced now that we are the acme of perfection when it comes to living amicabiy side by side. ‘Watch me—I'll hold his hand again, if { you don't believe it.” LWk Nothing is more embarrassing to an honest couple who find themselves un- der no necessity to convince others of their love than to get mixed up with one of these super-loving-on-parade pairs. Often you will see people with little | money aping the clothes, ways habits of the rich, always making play of what money t afraid some one would not und | that they pay an income tax to Uncle | Sam di Often really rich people wear the| plainest, simplest sort of clothes: they never feel under any necessity of con- vincing others of their standing in the financial world. . Thus if some young man of fashicn is accused in a crowd of being a “bum” he does not resent it, and never argues back, because he knows that all who ought to know realize the true state of aflairs, and with the remainder it makes little difference whether they know or not. So it is with these displayers of a fraudulent affection, as contrasted with those who really know and understand each other. The latter may almost be known by their lack of affectionate dis- plays in public. To them there is some- thing sacred in their handclasps which must not be revealed to the public eye. Even if they are in the habit of calling each other ‘“dear” and *“honey” and such names in private, they seldom use them even before their closest friends, and never at all when with mere ac- quaintances. Those who pine to impress the multi- tudes with their affection one to an- other (which probably doesn’t exist at all) almost invariably do it by these superdisplays of handholding and other | affectionate demonstrations, usually in- | dulged in at the most inopportune | times. They embarrass all who see them, but as this is exactly what they aimed to do—or what she aimed to do, rather—everything is O. K. o iw ‘The more attention such a dear lady manages to attract to herself and her wain the better satisfled she is, evi- | the back of a seat, where e: BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL., dently, that she is putting the thing over in first rate style. If she can the eyes of all beholders upon her en- dearing actions, even if most of the on- lookers are unknown, she feels that no one could withstand the mass effect of such endearments as she spills forth upon the male of her choice. By mere weight of achievement, as it were, she hopes to bulldoze the public into the belief that this is, that this must be, & supreme example of love and kisses. Why doesn't some orchestra break into “Hearts and Flowers?” The fact that there are a hundred ladies present, accompanied by an equal number of assorted husbands, and that | not a one of them grasps friend hubby's hand in a maternal clasp—well, this sterling example, or, rather, lack of example, makes not the least bit of | difference to Gurgling Gertrude. She feels quite sure, with her con- tempt for the species of which she for- tunately is a part, that her own public love-making will be all the more telling because it stands out against a curtain of the lack thereof. To “hold hands” is proof positive, she believes, that love is love, and that everything must give way before such a startling evidence. That the real lovers of this world hold their affection as precious, far from prying eyes, is lost upon her elephantine hide. She particularly shines at a movie, when, in the dim light, she feels guite sure that a littie demonstration of hold- ing hands will convince even the most cbdurate that she and her mate are sunk up to their ears in the quicksands of love. 1f she can't trail a fetching arm over Iy one can see it, she will be contens with slipping the same across in front of some one else in the party. If the One of Her Choice happens to sit in the row be- hind, this is particularly good, for in that event it is possible to turn side- ways and reach back boldly, with a grandiloquent gesture which says as plainly as words ow see how loving we are!” * ok ok % The male counterpart of this precious creature is the emblem of liberty who insists on hugging his best girl while they go riding in the street car or other public vehicle. Backs of street car seats are just high enough to permit a manly arm to be draped, oh, so lovingly, across it, square- ly or curvingly around the slender shoulder of the fair one. Now that Spring and Summer are coming on with giant strides, this phenomenon will be more and better seen. Especially at night, when dark- ness settles over the land, and the lights of amusement parks twinkle, the big boys will come out in their snappy straw lids, with their Tootsies on their arms, and their hearts bursting with the fer- vent pride of possession, Sitting merely on the edge of that curious geographical formation called “Being in Love,” they are afraid that those nearby may not realize that this gal is his; this man is hers. So he finds it necessary to impress the public with a demonstration of ownership, a gesture every one can understand. It does lit- tle more, however, than disgust most of the assembled public. And so, one may | submit, do the cute actions and the as- sorted gurglings of the woman who holds her husband's hand in public. Much food for thought is found by ithe press in the exchange of letters | between Chief Justice Taft and Helen Terwilliger, the 13-year-old schoolgirl of Walden, N. Y., who ceught over the radio a misquotation of the Constitu- tion as the Chief Justice administered the oath to President Hoover. Nearly all comment appreciates the ever- gracious kindliness of Mr. Taft and notes the inevitable effect of radio broadcasting on modern public speak- ng. “The incident is significant of the effect radio has had, is having and will have in the direction of almost liter- ally forcing speakers to be painstak- ingly accurate,” says the Nashville Ban- ner, adding that “the letter from Justice Taft to the child who took him to task reflects the man's kindness and good humor, as has everything eise he has said or written.” The Des Moines Trib- une-Capital feels that the Chief Jus- tice “proved that age had not wasted his shrewdness by observing that radio is going to make public personages a lot more particular about what they “Readers®of public speeches and con- gressional oratory,” remarks the New York Times, “are aware that abso- lutely exact quotation in an extempore or even in a prepared address is excep- tional. Literary critics are not exempt from the failing. In one of his essays on British poetry Mr. Saintsbury quotes from Tennyson, apparently by way of illustrating felicitous use of words, the passage ‘Such a tide as moving seems asleep, too full for sound and foam, and renders it ‘too full for noise and foam,’ thereby spoiling the entire eu- phony of the line.” “Webster was fortunate,” according to the New York Sun, “not to have had a hundred thousand Helen Terwilligers listening in when in his address on Hamilton he spoke of the ‘dead corpse of public credit.’ Letters indicting him for redundancy would have covered his doorstep.” ‘The Williamsport Sun says: * “These mediums of broadcasting events of na- tional importance have a twofold efTect. Just as Taft said, they will make those exercising a public duty more careful, and at the same time they will instruct and keep the mass of the people abreast of the times, supplementing the daily press in this respect.” “It is hard to say,” remarks the To- peka Daily Capital, “whether this inci- dent is a greater tribute to Walden's | public school civics or the graciousness |and good nature of the only man who ever held the highest executive and judicial offices of the United States.” | The Bellingham Herald suggests that “the head of the Supreme Court might casily have stood on his dignity and ignored the matter altogether,” but that paper recognizes that he “has ever been iloved for his frank, human qualities.” | The Kalamazoo Gazette thinks that “on {the whole the public may feel rather pleased by the incident, for it has given us another demonstration of the fact that a 13-year-old child in these United States need not feel too humble to call the Chief Justice of the Nation's highest tribunal to task ‘for cause’ and that the man who holds one of the two most exalted positions within the gift of the people does not feel too big to stand corrected by a 13-year-old child.” The. Springfield News-Sun sees “‘fur- ther evidence of Mr. Taft's genial and kindly spirit.” | Spring attire Radio’s Effect on Speechmaking Emphasized by Oath Incident “If the younger generation will only learn to obey the Constitution, which it knows so well,” advises the Kansas City Times, “many of the problems we now are meeting will be solved. And we believe there is a growing respect for the Constitution among the young because of the extensive and intensive study of it by the great school body of the country.” “The eighth-grade history classes that listened in on the inaugural cere~ monies,” asserts the Roanoke World- News, “learned more of real American history that day than they would have done from books. It is encouraging to note that at least a few school authori- ties are taking note of the new educa- tional force now available. When really great events, such as the inauguration of a President, occur provision should be made for every school child in Amer- fca to listen in.” “More than the walls have ears in these days of the radio.” observes the Milwaykee Journal. “In some places they are learning something about the Constitution. People who go in for quoting before the radio nced to be careful. There are other things that speakers sometimes get wrong. Public men better beware or the boys and girls will be after their split infinitives, and their mangled facts, t00.” The Louis- ville Courier-Journal is moved to re- mark that “the radio has one great advantage over the newspaper—it isn't held responsible as the purveyor of inaccuracies.” “The result of Miss Helen Terwilli- ger’s experience,” the New York Eve- ning Post tells us, “is a flood of pub- licity. She has been deluged by letters, telegrams, telephone calls, curious vi itors, special ~writers, photographer motion-picture operators and represent- atives of the ‘talkies’ Presumably a brief but glorious career on the vaude- ville stage or in pictures is hers for the asking. All this is very well for those who like these things, but for a school- girl eager to do her home work some- what confusing.” “All the Terwilligers appear to have hated the publicity,” the Texarkana Gazette explains, adding: “Though we suspect that little Helen did want to ‘eatch’ Mr. Taft—an. aspiration for which a bright schoolgirl might be for- given—it is obvious that she could not have foreseen the 100th part of the consequences.” o Not a Large Dry Vote. From the Canton’ Daily News. Ninety thousand persons in New York City make a living out of hoot- legging. but in a city of that size that's not such a large dry vote. ——— vt Chance for Tmmortal Fame. From the Huntington Advertiser. One of these days some fellow is go- ing to hurl himself into immortal fame by reaching his ninety-fifth birthday and telling reporters he knows nothing about practically everything. —— -t Long Time for Reds. From the Cleveland News. Russian reds have been celebrating the twelfth anniversary of the revolu- tion against the Czar. It's a long time for them to go without assassinating a czar. TIDAL BASIN. APRIL AT THE Round the Tidal Basin’s wall Nature, smiling, meets us, Where with fondest smiles of all In the Spring she greets us. Then comes April, fresh and fair, Month divinely merry, Ornamented with the rare Blossoms of the cherry. Comes fair April overnight, to slip on— Drapery of pink and white, Dainty garb of Nippon. WM. TIPTON TALBOTT. manage to concentrate | Suggests Single Name For Government Area To the Editor of The Sta It would be a pertinent and gracious manifestation of the general reverence for the character and patriotic serv of the first President of the United States if, at the time of the bicentennial of the seat of Government should bear his name in law, as it does in the public mind and approbation. Without discuss- ing the present diversity of territorial designations at the seat of Government, gestion to state that there are at present entire area of the seat of Government— namely, the District of Columbia and the County of Washington—and two different statutory names for two dif- ferent parts of jt—namely, “the City of Washington, the F Capital which embraces only the area in the old City of Washington and George- town, and the village of “Anacostia.” Furthermore, every State, county and town that now bears the name of Washington should, for the same rea- son, receive another designation in lieu of it. The name of the State of Wash- ington might appropriately be changed to “Columbia,” from the majestic river that intersects a part of it and nobly graces a large length of its southern border. Suitable names other “Washington” should be substituted for |that name wherever elsewhere than here it is used as a local designation. | The name of Washington should stand in solitary conspicuity to distin- | guich the Capital of the United States, with the same significance that th names of London, Par Berlin and Rome display in and for the nations of hich they are the exclusive civie sym- bols. LTAM TINDALL. iRvply Made to Letter Of Ex-Senator Thomas To the Fditor of The Star: May I be permitted just a few words in reply to the letter from former Sena- your paper on March 22. If it be true that the action of the President in withdrawing oil land is { not legal, the remedy is so obvious as to need no_discussion—courts are al- ways available. It goes without say- ing, of course, that the President must have had legal advice, and I am there- fore assuming that his action is entirely legal. ‘Turning for a moment to the techni- col side of the question, permit me to invite your attention to the fact that wells now drilled and not producing could add approximately a million and put. There is no economic need for further drilling. 1 assume that former Senator Thomas is in agreement with the necessity for rational conservation of the Nation's petroleum resources. If so, he can find no objection to the President’s order on any other grounds than that it is illegal, and if it is. of course, the courts are always open for any one caring to raise the issue. The order may possibly interfere with the activities of some individual or in- dividuals who want to drill an oil well, but it is high time that people should | (e best disinfectant is good soap and | realize that the welfare of the public is paramount to the welfare of the sin- gle individual or corporation. It does not at all follow that because a man has the urge to drill an oil well he should be allowed to do so when it can be clearly shown, as it can be at the present time, that it is not in the public interest. It would be interesting to know whether the distinguished former Sena- tor from Colorado takes the position that there should be no conservation of the mineral resources in the United States, or whether he is simplv inter- ested in the legal aspects of the case. If he is uneasy as to the latter, per- haps he might find relief in the courts. In the event that he is upheld in his contention, which seems improbable, I assume he would gladly join in a petition to Congress to make it possible for the President to protect adequately the Nation's petroleum resources from wasteful exploitation, a condition that will exist so far as Government land is concerned if the President's order is not permitted to stand. 5 L. REQUA. Pedestrian’s Problems At Corners Are Cited To the Editor of The Sta In your editorial of March 20 you refer to the fact that pedestrians pay no attention to traffic signals. this is because they have never suc- ceeded in figuring out whether it fs safer to cross on the red or on the green light. In spite of the somewhat be _sure of crossing in safety. For example. if a pedestrian is walk- street, and comes to the intersection with a street runnning east and west, then 1if he crosses on the red light he not only has to dodge two streams of graffic, east and west, but he must also look out for vehicles making a right turn when going west, or completing a left turn when going south. If, on the other hand, he crosses on the green light, he may be run over by a vehicle going north and making a right turn, or by one going east and finishing a left-hand turn. All turns are bad because a pedestrian is not in position to see a signal made by extending the hand to the left—i. e., away from the sidewalk. The right-hand turn is especially dangerous when the pedestrian is ap- proached from behind. Obviousl: rules in regard to making turns planned so that a vehicle will not have ! to cross or weave into traffic, and it fs hard to understand the claim that the rules in regard to the left-hand turn were framed to protect the pedestrian. It is worth considering whether ft would not suit his purposes better if the right-hand turn were made in two stages, and the left-hand turn in one. As the rules now stand, it is not to be wondered at if a pedestrian thinks his only safety lies in crossing in the imiddle of a block where it i neces- sary to look in only two directions. ‘WINSLOW H. HERSCHEL. — e Artificial “Desert” Fatal to Zoo Lizard BY E. E. FREE, PH. D. How the dull brain of a lizard fooled its owner into committing suicide when the customary circumstances of the creature’s world temporarily went wrong is described in the announcement of a recent fatality at the London Zoo. In that institution the houses for tropical lizar like the familiar “horned toad” the American desert, have electrically heated sand piles, so that the lizards may be comfortable during the cold Winters of the British metropolis, The sand is heated from underneath—necessarily the reverse ar- rangement from that of the real deserts, where the sandy ground is heated by the sun. During England’s severe cold snap of the past Winter it was necessay to heat the lizard’s sand piles hotter than usual, and the regulation of this extra heat was not always perfect. Some of the lizards got too hot. ‘Whenever this happens in their native deserts, it is the instinct of the animals to burrow into the sand, which is al- ways cooler underneath’ than in the sun-heated top layer. Too much heat in the London sand piles elicited from the overheated rep- tiles precisely this same response, al- though here they were burrowing straight toward the uncomfortable heat instead of away from it. That fact seemed to make no impression. Lizard after lizard burrowed deeper into the hot sand, blindly following an ancestral instinct oblivious to the fact that the heat got worse instead of bet- *ter. Several of the animals were scorched and ony was killed, celebration of his birih, the entire area | it is enough for the purpose of this sug- | two different statutory names for the | than | tor C. S. Thomas, which appeared in | & half barrels a day to the present out- | Perhaps | | problematical right of way at street | intersections, a pedestrian can never | ing north, on the right-hand side of the | 1 What do you need to know? Is there some point about your business or personal life that puzzles you? Is there something you want to know without delay? Submit your question to Fred- leric’J. Haskin, director of our Wash- | ington’ Information Bureau. He is em- ployed to help you. Address yvour in quiry to The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, | Washington, D. C., and inclose 2 cents in coin or stamps for return postage. Q. Had Confederate veterans ever marched in a body in an inaugural parade before the Hoover Inauguration? H. SN PN A. This was the first occaslon of the kind. Q. How many there?>—R. M. A. A dictionary of hymnology says that the total number of Christian hymns in the 200 or more languages and dialects in which they have been written or translated is not less than 400,¢00. Q. How many hotel rooms are there | in the United States?—F. M. A. The Lewis Hotel Digest says that there are more than 2,000,000 rooms now available in the hotels of the | United States. Q. Please describe a syllable—E. K A. A syllable is an elementary sound | or a combination of such sounds ut- | tered together with a single effort of | the voice. Q How many people In this country cannot d or write G. F. A. Tk Illiteracy Commission of the National Education Assocation has p: lished 1ts conclusion that approximateiy 20,000,000 of our population above the 2ge of 10 connot make effective use of reading or writing in their daily lives. Q. How did gymnastic apparatus originate?>—E. B. A. It originated in the imitaticn of tools and appliances used in exercise | in the outdoor world. Q. Are artificial flowers to be worn this Spring?—S. O. A. Paris fashion notes says that arti- ficial flowers are more fashionable than ever. Q. When did South America get its first raflroad?—C. M. Peru was the first country to grant a railway concession. This was done in May, 18: ‘The line from Lima to Callao did not go into operation un- til April 5, 1851, but this was the first railroad trip ever taken in South America, Q. Who composed the muslé tg “The described as being very old. Music au- thorities say that this piece is simply regarded as an old Scotch folk song, and no one knows the origin of the music, so far as authorship is con- cerned. Q. Please advise the best way to dis- infect an empty apartment before tak- ing possession of it—T. F. E. A. Government authoritics say that water in abundance. After the apart- ment is thoroughly cleaned, it should be aired out and exposed to the sun as much as possible. Q. When was the City of Greater New York formed?—M. W. A. Greater New York was incorpo- rated in 1912. Q. What is plastic wood?—N. M. S. A. It is a mixture of fine wood flour and some hardening material. Q. Please give description and loca- tion of Kenilworth Castle.—L. S. A. Kenilworth Castle is located near the market town of Kenilworth, in War- { wickshire, England. It was found about 1120 and was long of note as a royal residence. It was besieged and taken by the Royalists in 1266: was the prison of Edward II in 1327; was granted to John of Gaunt, and in 1562 to the Earl of Leicester. It was the scene of the entertainment given by the Earl of Leicester to Queen Elizabeth in 1575, which is described in Scott’s novel. The walls of the castle original- 1y inclosed an erea of seven acres. The principal portions of the building re- maining are the gatehouse, now used as a dwelling; Caesar’s Tower, the only portion built by Geoffrey de Clinton | | | | | | BY FREDERIC ‘Washington's favorite indoor sport at the moment, at least among the foreign embassies and legations, is to_hun up precedents for the I'm Alone affair— cases in which the shoe was on the other foot. Two instances are being much discussed by the diplomats. One is the Virginius episode, dating back to 1873, when a highly suspicious ship of that name, carrying the American flag and American clearance papers, was sighted some 18 miles off Cuba by a Spanish warship. The Virginius had a bad name in the filibustering traffic {and other devious trades. Refusing to | submit to arrest, the Spanish ship | chased her for eight hours on the high seas to a point 60 miles from the Cuban coast, boarded her and sent her under a prize crew to Santiago de Cuba. Eventually 41 persons aboard the Vir- ginius were stood against a wall and shot as filibusterers. Hadn't a British man-of-war in harbor threatened to bombard the city, all the Virgintus’ crew and passengers would have been executed. A Spanish-American war s narrowly averied. Spain was re- quired to restore the ship, liberate the survivors, apologize and salute the American flag. HW e e The other incident formed the basis of the celebrated protest filed by Wil- liam Jennings Bryan, then' Secretary of State, with the British government | on December 26, 1914, resenting British encroachments on American neutral shipping rights. Those were the days when British uisers were stopping Yankee merchantmen and, after search- ing them, seizing contraband supposed to be destined for Germany. Secretary Bryan wrote Sir Edward Grey, British foreign minister: ‘This Government cannot without protest permit American ships or American cargoes to be taken into British ports and there detained for the purpose of searching generally for evidence of contraband, or upon presumption created by special mu- nicipal enactments which are clearly at varfance with international law l'and practice. The analogy to the I'm Alone affair, as far as the Bryan note is concerned, is that our prohibition laws are “mu- nicipal enactments,” which, in 1914, we were dubbing as laws “clearly at variance with international law and | practice.” A guessing contest is in lively prog- ress in Capital society during these waning days of Lent. What people are trying to divine is the identity of two persons recently featured in the columns of a certain widely read and sprightly New York weekly. One Is described as “a hard-boiled hussy from the plains, wife of a prominent Fed- eral official. ‘The other is pilloried as “a statesman who has fought his way to the social top at Washington by check and cheek.” D William H. Moran, chief of the United States Secret Servicg, has just sailed for Europe, to attend a League of Nations conference in Geneva on international counterfeiting. Our of- ficial unofficial observer there will be Hugh R. Wilson, American Minister to Switzerland, but Chief Moran has been designated to aid him in an ad- visory capacity. Two years ago Moran attended the first Geneva conference “Christian hymns are ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. now extant, with massive walls 16 feet | thick; the great hail with windows of | beautiful design, and the Leicester *b‘\n!dhvgt. which are in a ruinous condi- tion, Q. Please tell how the New York Stock Exchange Clearing House oper- ptes—M. F. A. To follow an actual transaction through the clearing house would con- sume too much space. In effect. how- ever, at the close of a day's business each stock exchange member delivers a | sheet—clearance sheet—on which is re- corded his <ales and purchases of cer- | tain securities: 1. e., the active ones. It is the duty of the clearing house to reconcile all deliveries between differ- arties and to adjust the cash d | ference by either paying or receiving | the halances due, =0 that as little money | may be required in the settlement as ! possible. Q. How much did the Key Bridge over the Potomac at Georgetown cost? H. H. W. A. The total cost was $2,350,000. | .Q What is the “child's bill rights"?—S. ¢ | (A It is the aim of the American Child Health Association. “The ideal to which we should strive is that there shall be no child in America that has | not been born under proper condi- : that does mnot live in hyglenic surroundings; that ever suffers under- | nourishment; that does not have prompt and efficient’ medical attention and in- m: that does not receive primary | instructions in the elements of hygiene and good health: that has not the complcte birthright of a sound mind in a sound body: that has not the en- | couragement to express in fuliest meas- | ure the spirit within, which is the final endowment ¢f every human being.” Q. How long had Thom: been in America when he enliste | the Continental Army?—H. H. B. A. "He emigrated to America in Oc- tober, 1774, and enlisted in the Army in th> Fall of 1776. Long before that time he had espoused the cause of the new country. Q. What was the cost of the largest airplane carrier that the United States has?>—L. Z. * A. The largest airplane carriers of the United States are the Saratoga and | Lexington. They cost $40,000,000 each, Q. Were xi.zmz&?fpenmes made in Lincoin pennies were made fin 2, but only $71,600 worth, ‘Therefore, are rare. of How s it possible to tell what of disaster caused a city to be buried>—C. N. S. A. The soil that covers a buried city sometimes indicates the manner in which it was buried. For instance, if | the city is buried in sand it is re: able to believe that some terrific storm enveloped it. On the other hand, if the overlaying earth is volcanic in | character it is indicated that some | eruption caused the loss of the city. | For many cases historical records are available telling of the nature of the | catastrophe, Q. What do the letters “A. H. E. P. A" stand for?>—P. G. B. A. They stand for the “American Hellenic Educational Progressive Asso- ciation.” Q. What is magnetism?—J. W, A. Magnetism is defined as “the power of attraction, electrically speak- ing.” It means that the molecules of a magnetizable body have their axes parallel, thus making a closed electric current around each body. Q. How does the width of territory covered by a tornado compare with that of a cyclon2?—K. M. P. A tornado is. cyclonic in its move- ment, but instead of being as much as 1,000 miles in diameter like the conti- nental cyclene or about 100 miles in diameter like the tropical hurricane, it usually has a diameter of gyration of only about 100 to 300 yards. The speed of rotetion is terrific. Q. When John Smith dies what hap- pens to the names of “John Smith, jr." and “John Smith, 3d"?—C. W. M. A.—John Smith, jr., drops the “jr.” but John Smith, 3d, does not change his name. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS WILLIAM WILE. almost smell a counterfeit bill. Not many people know that the safeguard- ing of the Federal currency is the Secret Service's original and principal | mission. Protecting the lives of Presi- dents is a wholly modern branch of the service's work. dating only from the time of McKinley's assassination. * ok ok % One of the most interesting long- distance hookups ever linked will be that over which Ambassador Dwight W. Morrow on April 4 will talk from Mexico City to 2,000 guests assembled at six different dinners in New Jersey. The functions will be staged by the New Jersey State Chamber of Com- merce. Parties will be gathered in Newark, Trenton, Atlantie City, Jersey City. Camxden and Paterson. Ambas- sador Morrow is a Jerseyman. He is expected to say an earful or two about conditions in Mexico at that time. President William Butterworth of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States also will say hello from Wash- | ington to the Jersey dining sextet, LEE SR Four members of Congress—Senator Bingham, Republican, of Connecticut; Senator Robinson, Democrat, of Arkan- . Representative Williams, Democrat, Texas, and Representative Kiess, Re- publican, of Pennsylvania—are plan- {ning an official journey to the South | Seas this Summer. They will serve as | United States commissioners for the | formulation of new legislative arrange- | ments for the Islands of Tutuila and {Manua and certain others of the Sa- moan group. One of President Cool- idge's farewell acts was the signing of a pill accepting cession of those islands to the United States. The Navy Depart- ment has the administration of the group in charge. 3 Here's a varn making the pre-session rounds on Capitol Hill—believe it or be- lieve it not. Mr. Hoov on the eve of inauguration, telcphoned Senator “Jim" Watson, prospective Republican leader in the Senate, that the President-elect had decided to appoint William De Witt Mitchell of Minnesota Attorney General. “Good man,” repiled Watson. “but isn't he a Democrat?” Hoover said (according to the story): “Well, I understand he's listed as a Democrat, but I'm told he voted for Hughes in 1916, for Harding in 1920, for Coolidge in 1924 and for me last year.” Where- upon “Jim” asked, “Did I understand you to say he voted for Hughes?” The President-elect answered in the affirma- tive. Then Senator Watson ejaculated: “Well, by George! Then he’s been a Republican longer than you have!' * X % ¥ There's a Washington man whose son is the proprietor of a circus which spe- cializes in giving sideshows at county fairs. This week the showman asked his father, because of proximity to New York, to go there, meet the SS. Ile de France and receive a “double-bodied man,” an Italian named Jean Liberra. Happening to have had some contact with the immigraticn authorities, the father was in a quandary, first, as to whether Liberra would have to come down the gangplank armed with two passports, and, secondly, whether the 200 per cent subject of Mussolini would chalk one or two off the Iialian quota. It appears that Liberra has bsen here before and on showing evident on counterfeiting. He has lon ranked as Uncle Sam's greatest exper on stage money. They say Moran can ey of frrvloul arrival was admitted without uss, (Copyright, 1920.) -