Evening Star Newspaper, April 27, 1929, Page 6

B THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, SATURDAY, APRIE 27, 1929. -zHE EVENING STAR [last Fall “stated clearly and unequivo- |of doleful memory, and after that the cally his opposition to the principle of | November deluge. With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. SATURDAY.......April 27, 1820 THEODORF W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company 11n 8t has Penneriva New York Office: 110 E: icago Office: Lake Michiga ing. ropean Offce. 14 Regent 8t.. London. England. Rate by Carrler Within the City. 3 ey ¢ Do month . ar (when 4 Sundass) 60¢ per month The Evening and Bunday Star m § Sundayi 65¢ per month (whe: ‘The Sune pss per copy Collection made at ihe f Orders may be sent in by mail Main each month. or telephone Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Dally and Sunda; aily only . junday only 1y ¥r.. $400; 1 mo.. 40c All Other States and Canada. Datly and Sunday..] yr..$1200: 1 mo. $1.00 ily only . 173r. $800: 1 mo. ibc unaay only 1 5.00; 1 mo. 80c | Member of the Associa The Associated Press Is cxclusive to the use for republication of ; atches credited to it or not otherwise cred- ted in this paper and also the local news | putlished herein. All rights of publication of | ¥pecial dispatches berein are also reserved. -_— The School Budget. | ‘The community is proud of a Board | of Education that is zealous in its de- | termination to see that the schools re- ceive an adequate proportion of the fund allotted in the District budgets. It is| thoroughly in sympathy with the board's contention that some of the pressing needs of the schools have gone unmet. And now that it has been clearly demon- strated that a change in the system of preparing the District’s budget cannot legelly be countenanced, the community believes that the Board of Education will make every effort to co-operate with the Commissioners to the end that the District budget will represent not only the schools, which is only one important institution of the municipal government, but the other agencies of the Dtlbfll:t‘ government as well. Under the budget system the Com-; missioners, representing this commu- nity, are compelled to usc their best judgment and discretion in submitting to the Bureau of the Budget what they conceive to be a list of items covering the outstanding needs of the city and confined to the total sum that will be available for expenditure. The Commis- sioners have wisely left to the heads of the various departments of the city gov- ernment the task of compiling, and then trimming, the estimates of their various needs. Reaching the Budget Bureau these estimates usually are forced to undergo further cutting, and here the Budget Bureau enters the pic- ture as an agency that can not only order reductions in estimates, but can designate the nature of the reductions. ‘The Budget Bureau conducts hearings, ‘with the heads of the various depart- ments and the Commissioners on the stand testifying in defense of their esti- mates. With thoss who so testify are the school officials and members of the Board of Education. Hearings before the subcommittees on Appropriations in the House and the Senate permit of a third end a fourth opportunity, on the part of departmental heads, to explain the nature of the items they have had {neluded in the budget. It is obvious that the budget pro-| cedure cannot be attacked on the| ground that it denies, to those affected, the opportunity of defending and cham- pioning their needs. Mr. Simmons has wisely declined the Board of Education’s invitation to take part &Lt.he preparation of the school estimates before they reach the Com- missioners. The extension of such a principle could only make for confusion and would eventually become the source of harmful embarrassment to the Com- missioners. Dr. Carusi does not accept this declination as the signal for further controversy. He belleves that he has succeeded in emphasizing the Board of Education's viewpoint. The schools and the community as a whole will best be served now by continued co-operation on the part of the board and the Com- missioners in preparing, to the best of their ability, & budget that under the existing and fauity system of financing the Capital represents its outstanding needs. ———————— So far as the I'm Alone is concerned, public opinion wiil no doubt be content es usual to allow the umpires do the worrying and shoulder the responsibility. ] Lowden Supports Hoover. President Hoover, not the Democrats | hor Senator George Norris of Nebraska, was authorized to proceed with a farm Telief program in the last general elec- tion, and in view of that authorization Congress should back up the President. ‘This is the view expressed by former Gov. Frank O. Lowden of Lllinois, hailed far and wide as the friend of the farm- er, supporter of the equalization fee | hope that if the administration’s pro- the equalization fee as well as to the principle of the debenture plan.” So much, in the opinion of Gov. Lowden, for the attack made upon President Hoover in the Senate within the last few days by Senators Brookhart of Towa, Frazier of North Dakota and the Democrats, in which it was charged that Mr. Hoover promised one thing during the campaign and is now seeking another. Gov. Lowden knows what he is talk- ing about. He declined to permit his neme to be offered as a candidate for the presidential nomination at Kansas City last June, after the convention had adopted the farm plank of the Repub- lican national platform. He realized that the Republican party had turned its back squarely upon the equalization fee principle and the principle of the debenture plan. He i quite clear that the President never promised anything to the farmers beyond that platform. ‘The debenture plan is supported by those who honestly belicve in it. It is supported also by those who believe that to oppose it would make enemies of the National Grange. It is supported by a third group willing to take a sport- | ing chance on anything which is op- | posed by the administration, in the | | gram of farm relief does not measure up they will be remembered kindly by the voters in the agricultural States next year. It is clear to any one that if the debenture plan were given support only by the first class it would not now be a real issue in the consideration of the farm bill in the Senate. | by the national electorate. If there were As Greater New York's returns on election night evidenced from hour to hour the city's failure to roll up its usual “Smith majority” politicians were prompt to discern the cause. It was thelr unhesitating opinion that the governor had been knifed in the house of his supposed friends. Tammany for the first time on record had gone back on “AL” Unable to meet the gigantic flood of Hoover votes from up-State with an annihilating Smith majority this side of the Bronx, the Democratic nominee’s doom was sealed. Events in Tammany Hall this week seem to indicate that the wind which the governor's scornful managers and advisers sowed in 1928 has resulted in the reaping of the inevitable whirlwind in 1929. The election of John F. Curry 8s the new leader of Tammany ensued in the teeth of Smith's outspoken op- position, “Al” has now been repudiated by his political cronies of a lifetime as decisively as he was rejected at the polls any doubt as to the completeness of the governor’s debacle, it would be dispelled by the language in which his chief New York newspaper supporter, the World, laments his defeat. Tammany has made its choice, says the World, and its choice is an “insider” rather than an “outsider”; a district leader rather than a statesman; the counsel of Mayor Walker rather than the counsel of Gov. Smith. It is impos- sible to escape the sharpness of this decision. There is no use in blinking at the facts. At least for the moment Al Smith has been repudiated by the Possibly the Democrats and Senator Norris believe they received a mandate from the people at the last election to draft a farm relief program. The people, however, will look at the situation as does Mr. Lowden. o Selecting the District Committee. Although a new House District com- mittee for the present Congress will not be organized until the December session, there is already some consid- eration and much more speculation as to who will be appointed to pass upon the legislative proposals affecting the National Capital. There are at least eight places on this committee to be filled by new appointments, and some of the other hang-over members may decide to leave the District committee if they get some other assignment more pleasing to them and their constituents. The Republican committee on com- mittees makes up the slate of com- mittee assignments for Republican members; the Democratic members of the ways and means committee, under the leadership of Minority Leader Gar- ner, make the Democratic assignments. Only a very few years ago it was a custom to leave the District committee till the last and then dump on that committee the left-overs, or those not desired on other committees. In other words, the District committee was a dumping ground. More recently Con- gress has been leaning back toward the earlier custom of making the District committee one of the strongest in the entire House organization, appointment to which was a distinction. In the pres- ent Congress more than ordinary care will be taken in selecting the member- ship of the House District committee. On the committee on committees are men who themselves did able service on the District committee, who know its peculiar problems ard the wide scope of matters to be considered and who are anxious to assemble a good working committee. ‘There are in prospect at least four Republican places to be filled on the District committee. One vacancy al- ready exists; Chairman Underhill of the committee on accounts and Chairman Gibson of the special subcommittee that investigated the municipal administra- tion of the District of Columbia, both of whom have fathered important leg- islation beneficial to the Capital City, have asked to be relieved from further duty on the committee. Representative Bowles of Massachusetts was not a candidate for re-election. There are also at least four Demo- cratic places to be filled on the District committee. Representative Blanton, a storm center in recent Congresses, and who was always to be reckoned with on District Jegislation, is not in the present Congress; neither is Representative Gil- bert of Kentucky, who was the Demo- cratic leader on the Gibson subcommit- tee and active in the investigations, Representatives Cole of Maryland and Combs of Missour] are not in the pres- ent Congress, It is well that those whose duty it Is to sclect the new committee are giv- ing the matter serious consideration thus far in advance of the time when the committee will be organized. There are a number of very able men and women in the Beventy-first Congress who would gladly serve on this com- mittee with furisdiction over substan- tive legislation affecting the National Capital. Now is the time when the real friends pian and a candidate at one time for | of the District can be of serviee in im- the presidential nomination, standing | pressing upon the members of the com- on a platform of farm relief opposite to | mittee on committees and on the Dem- that of Mr. Hoover. It is & sound view. | ocratic members of the ways and means Perhaps all the sounder because Mr.|committee that they want only the Lowden is destached from the great! highest type of membership on the game of politics as it 1s played in Wash- ington. “It becomes the duty,” said Mr. Lowden, referring to the President's farm relief program, “of all sincere friends of farm relief to co-operate with the administration in giving effect to its program.” “Sincere friends of farm relief” will agree with the former Governor of Ii- linots. Those who love farm relief for the political gain which they may reap | they invariably work around to the| from it, doubtless will disagree. Mr. Yowden with great good sense pointed out that if later it should appear that the Hoover program was inadequate, the | way was open for further action by Congress. Indeed, he pointed out, President Hoover had said as much in his message to Congress. Gov. Lowden | surance that the Smith candidaey was is ene of those who believe in making @ beginning st last in the realm of farm Representative Haugen, plan, have taken the same position as . that now held by Mr. Lowden. They are ready to accept the verdict of the election, which was against the equali- Zation fee and the debenture plan, and in favor of the Hoover plan. Mr. Lowden, too, has announced gt | District committee—members with broad | minds and a devotion to the best in- terests of the Capital City. Now is the time to urge candidates who can and will work for the best in- terests of the Nation's Capital. . A discussion of public affairs still remains incomplete unless “Vox Populi” d “Tax Payer” are up in front as ual. New topics are introduced, but | same old line of argument 2 bt - The Governor and the Tiger. When Gov. Smith, a year ago| | was seeking the support of Democrats for their impending presidential nomina- | | tion, his friends were profuse in the as- in no sense a Temmany candidacy. | Al along the line, and especially dur- | | reliet legislation. Senator MeNary and | ing the State primary campaigns, the abandoning | Tammany note was assiduously soft- their old first love, the equalization fee | pedaled. The black and yellow of the| supporters guaran- | were not and would never become colors. As the time approached to make up the New York delegation to Houston it was ostentatiously pro- claimed that it would be a thoroughly anyized outfit, and otherwise! g, tiger, Gov. Smith' de-Tammu organization he refurbished, aimost single-handedly. Mayor Walker rules the roost, and Tammany, suffering from a bad case of overconfidence, is about to see what it can do without the service of “reformers,” “interlopers,” “high-hat- ters” and “outsiders.” It is well within the realm of possibilities that Al Smith some day may use the now undisguised enmity of Tammany Hall to rehabilitate the fortunes which its reputed disloyalty in 1928 helped to shatter. At the recent Jefferson day dinner of National Demo- crats in New York City Gov. Smith was cheered to the echo and hailed as the still outstanding figure in his party. The tiger has clawed him, but it would be decidedly premature to pre- dict that it has scratched Gov. Smith out of political existence. ——o——————— When Cole Blease votes dry he does nes pretend to enough influence to enable him to have his own way in Young Conrad had just come home from school thrilled with the wonders of Holland in picture and story. Small sister Constance interrupting | his narrative, Conrad found it necessary to give the following admonition to all and sundry: “Now, listen here, I'm telling some- thing interesting and I want to hear “oral be o0 honest. but no s can be so honest. dmfilgggtuof us have at times felt the need for some such directness. The person who will never let you finish what you are saying is a very well known specimen of the human family. Let it be said at the very start that he or she is a very human member of the human family. It is only natural to want to interrupt the other fellow be- fore he finishes. Perhaps this is due to the knowledge that, if left to him- self, he will never stop speaking! Every one likes the sound of his own voice. Witness the radio announcers, who formerly were all toastmasters at banquets. They not only give us the name of the plece of music about to be played and the name of the composer, but they insist on telling us that we will like it, too. Some announcers have reached the stage where they seem to think that | the music is put on the air simply to fill in between their announcements. In this respect they greatly resemble all ready speakers, who must interrupt every one else in order to be happy. A One approaches such a person with inward fear and trembling, being quite sure from past experience that no mat- ter how interesting one's own tale is, the other will cut in before it is fin- ished. Thus scarcely a half of the story is got, out before the other finds it neces- sary to make some comment, and, once this is done, a fine starting place has been secured for an independent be- ing. lm’ll:lhxe‘g away he goes, sure that you will never catch up with him, for he is a past master at this sort of thing and does not relinquish his lead easily., TUnless one have plenty of steam ‘and can roar ioudly in a given direction, he will find that the other pays not the slightest attention to him, but Traises his voice and increases his speed. Thus one is easily outdistanced. Mrs. Sam Jones never for an instant tends that any person shall get in a word edgewise when she is superin- tending the conversation. She goes right ahead instructing the world, free of all cost, and throws in the opportunity for viewing the thrill- ing Mrs. Jones herself. This latter she regards in no mean light. Those who are permitted to bow at her gracious knee are in an exalted position; she intends that they shall realize right well the privilege. Hence little if anything another may say amounts to anything in her eyes. the matter. He does not, as the saying goes, “Carry water on both shoulders,” but balances the aqua pura with the spiritus frumenti. — e It is sald that Assoclate Justice Stone hesitates to leave the Supreme Court to take a law enforcement chairmanship. Leaving the Supreme bench is a serious matter; yet Charles E. Hughes appeared to enjoy himself more as a plain citizen than he did as a judge. —r—r—s. Liver is recognized as a cure for ail- ments that have long puzzied physicians. Science is linked up to the market. The price of a pound of liver soars, Years ago a liberal portion was added gratis as & treat for the family cat. s It is expected that President Hoover will have some disagreement with the United States Senate—which is a regu- lar part of a President’s occupation. — b ——— Apparently Hugh Gibson believes that uations, like individuals, may be kept out of trouble by giving them something new to think about. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Thermometer. The thermometer stands in the same old place Where in Summer the vines bend low with grace, And in Winter the wind sweeps harsh- ly by, Or the snowflakes drift from a sullen sky. It measures the heat or it marks the cold, Where the blossoms dle and the buds unfold. Severe and silent it holds its place, ‘Where the flowers have faded and left no trace. It sees them come and it sees them go, The trembling bloom and the drifting snow. It keeps the record from day to day, With never a share in the grief or play. Oh, is it better to stand secure, And note unmoved what the rest en- dure, Or better to answer the sun’s warm thrill, And faint and die in the Winter's chill? Garden Seeds. A man into the earth will strike H's spade a-thrill anew with hope That he can raise some stuff just like ‘The pictures on the envelope. Fashion’s Rule. There is a reason for each thing ‘That time brings to attention; Though sudden changes often bring A state of apprehension. Somebody wears a funny hat. His friends straightway go dashin’ To get some headgear just like that, Because it is the fashion. Somebody uses language queer, { And others imitate it. { An epigram we chance to hear | And straightway all orate it, Not for the thought it may contain, Nor poetry nor passion; We simply hand it out again, Because it is the fashion, A stock wakes up some morning fine. Bomebody thinks he'll try it. | The word js passed along the line, | And many rush to buy it. | Few of them pause to ealculate, | As ticker talk comes flashin’, 1t booms at an amazing rate, Because it is the fashion. | Occupation. For average men eight hours a day Of toll is quite aplenty. But if in politics you stray, You'll work eighteen or twenty. Oh, My! Yes! FProm the Greensboro Daily Record. With Mr. Coolidge in the “insurance me,” he probab arn there are Mostly she overlooks it without appear- ing to notice any interruption at all, but sometimes she is forced to ac- knowledge in a grudging way the truth of a rejoinder. Sometimes it is simply impossible to pretend not to hear, so Mrs. Jones merely repeats the gist of the inter- ruption in a doubting voice, which is sufficlent, as far as she is concerned, to make it extremely dubious, indeed. R It will be seen that the person who interrupts and the one who is inter- rupted often change places, according to the time, the place—and we were about to say “the girl.” THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL, There can be no hard and fast lines in so changeable a thing as conversa- of humanity he will have no difficuity in placing in their proper position those who will never willingly let others finish what they are saying. Such action may show a number of things, ranging from interest to con- ceit, through the medium of meanness. These are the three main stages. There are, of course, many variations. A man may be so interesting in him- self, or the world in general, or some invention, or some hope or ambition, that the one or the other quite runs away with him. Such a man often is said to have a single-track mind. “air-minded,” as the phrase has it. This strikes us as an absurd phrase, yet it undoubtedly points to the super- enthusiasm of the friends of aviation. ‘Those profoundly interested in avia- tion have all the confidence of the small boy in the grand worth of his new toy. They know that they are backed not only by a wonderful product of man’s mind and skill, but also by a great program of propaganda. Your average aviation enthusiast talks of nothing else. He is likely to listen in a bored way while you discuss your favorite sport, or your garden, or your books, or hunting dogs, or what not. ‘The moment, however, you give him an opening by daring to mention the word “air.” he is off at a rapid pace. This is the type of enthusiast whose conversation is based on interest. The next type is he who is so conceited that he fondly believes that every one is interested in everytiing he says and does. We have treated this person in the figurative—very—Mrs. Jones above snumerated. She doesn't mind in the least interrupting your flow of words, no matter how important they seem to you, because they seem utterly un- important to her. That only is impor- tant which she is interested in, not be- cause she is so interested (see our first type), but because you are not interest- ing, and, therefore, can have nothing interesting to talk about, or, if it is noticeable in itself, you fail to put it over in the proper style. $ It must be confessed that this type is often found combined with the third, the one who interrupts what others say through sheer meanness. Conceit is at the base of this, too, but here it seems to develop into some- thing else, a foaming rage against every other person who has something to say or a topic to talk about. Naturally enough, such a disposition is carefully cloaked beneath all the sophisticated arts of the day, so that only the discerning are able to place exactly such specimens. Through careful direction and indi- rection such a person—for the sake of argument say such a woman—is able to impress others with her unselfishness when all the time what she does is dictated only by a sublime sort of super- ego. g“Vlhen any one of her family is ill her own herofc endeavors in their behalf are “played up” so capably that hearers shortly forget that any one i5 sick, and only remember that some one—and what a one—is taking care of somebody or other. Try to flag her attention to the proper subject of discussion, the one who suf- fers most, and she will interrupt you even before you get started. Then an honest observer longs to be a child again, just for a moment, to be able to say, with young Conrad, “Now listen here, I'm telling something interesting, and I want to hear it, too!” Press Debates Federal Policy Toward Liquor on Leviathan Ligquor on the former Government- owned ship Leviathan, now under the United States flag in grlvne ownership, is widely discussed by the American press. ‘The problems involved in the observance of the dry law within the 12-mile limit are chiefly of interest. As to the right of the ship to sell liquor under proper regulations the New York Sun comments: “There may be doubt as to the legality of selling the medical store of liquor on the eastward voyage. ‘There is no doubt of the present right of the owners to stock the bars in Eu- rope and sell on the westward voyage.” The Sun emphasizes as important the understanding that the ships of the United States lines were sold “in full knowledge of the rights of the owners to sell liquor on the high seas.” “On the westbound journey,” the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin explains, “pessengers may buy freely from a stock of liquors calculated to supply the de- mand before the Leviathan reaches the 12-mile limit. Should the supply ex- ceed the demand, then the unsold sur- plus must be thrown overboard, jet- tisoned, dum into Davy Jones' locker. So the Leviathan and other ships under the American flag will be in a worse position than vessels of British registry were before the treaty. The latter could come to the 3-mile limit before jettison- ing their wet cargo. After the treaty they could put their liquor under seal at the 12-mile limit, and when they were 4 leagues from land on the out- ward-bound trip they could reopen their bars. But the Leviathan, as an Ameri- can ship, must not transport liquor within the 12 miles in either direction, A restriction that should go far to stifle the clamor.” Quoting reports that the steamship was “stocked with liquor for sale” on the westward trip, the Harrisburg Pa- triot emphasizes the public uncertainty on the subject with the query, “Just how certain the owners are of their rights to do this is not known, but there is something significant in the dis- patches which say that ship officials refused to tell how much liquor was put aboard, and that the loading was done in great secrecy. Persons proud of what they are dof and sure that they are right usually do not adopt such tactics.” Conditions under Government owner- ship of the Leviathan are discussed by the Charleston Evening Post, with the statement: “If a law can be enforced anywhere, it can be on board a vessel at sea, where the captain is an absolute autocrat. If liquor has been served aboard the Leviathan, as a traveler as- serts, while it was ope: by and for the Government, it was, of course, not because enforcement was impossible, but because it was not genuinely sought. And that has been going on for years and the dry organizations have mede any agitation about it, although they could not but have known it. Well, it is the same at sea as upon the land when it comes to a matter of alcoholic service. How is it on the air lines?” “If American ships do not stand for the law,” declares the Savannah Press, “they ought to be made to stand for it. Any violence to the Leviathan would be resented by the whole United States. Its flag is its protection. It could claim satisfaction from any enemy who of- fered it violence. Wherever it goes it carries the prestige of this country and could demand its intcrvention. How could it do this when it violated fla- grantly one of the first laws of the land, and served in its saloon liquors which are prohibited in the organic law and in the statutes of the country?” “Opponents of prohibition,” accord- ing to the South Bend Tribune, “have used the American patronage of steam- ships flying foreign flags to support their arguments. It has never been definitely established, however, that the Federal Government's failure to make good in the -ninma business was at- tributable to the lack of liquor on board the United States liners. * * * These lines, under Government ownership, did not offer a superior service. The foreign competitors offered somethin, more than alcohol. The new owners of the United States lines probably would find, if they brought maxim dryness o not | atively little effect on public patronage.” On the other hand, the Kalamazoo Gazette states that “many travelers, impressed with the fine quality of the food served aboard these vessels when they were under Government owner- ship, have interpreted this happy con- dition as an attempt to compensate for the lack of spirituous beverages. Now that the spirits are to be supplied, will the menus fall to medioerity?” asks that paper. . Various papers are inclined to uphold the sale of liquor on the ships under the limits imposed by the shore jurisdiction. “Shipping men want to keep the Amer- ican marine allve. It's harder to dry up the sea than the land,” argues the Butte Daily Post. The Fort Wayne News-Sentinel remarks: “When Amer- icans go abroad there is nothing to pre- vent them from buying a glass of beer or a liter or two of wine. Why, then, should the drys strain so hard to pre- vent them from having a nip or two on the way over?” “Passengers who want their liquor while crossing the ocean,” thinks the Ann Arbor Daily News, “would simply patronize competing liners if the Vol- stead law were extended to the decks of the United States vessels beyond the ordinary dry limit. It would be unfair legislation, even if it were constitutional, which seems somewhat doubtful.” The Milwaukee Journal comments: “The owners of the Levsathan say that the sale of liquor is necessary to attract passengers to the ship. It is doubtful if that is true in any large measure, although it may be a help in booking Americans out for a lark. But it is also doubtful if Congress should at this time adopt any more liquor regulations. When and if continental United States has been dried up properly, it will be time enough to take in control of ships on the high seas.” “Under the policy proclaimed by the new owners of the big uner,” says the Springfield Union, “the deep-sea boot- leggers will find their occupation gone. The ship will carry wines and liquors and serve them, under proper restric- tions, outside the 12-mile limit. In fact, the trip to Southampton, from which the ship has sailed on its return, was its last officially ‘dry’ voyage. The only manner in which it is reported to have differed from previous ‘dry’ voyages ‘was in the prices of the bootleg liquor, which, according to the seasoned pas- sengers, were much lower than on pre- ceding trips.” R Or Anywhere Else. From the Seattle Daily Times. Although the United States Senate may be the most august decliberative body in the world, it really makes a poor showing compared with the over- plump person who tries to pick out 1,500 calories in a cafeteria. ——— et Possession Is Nine-Tenths? From the Boston Globe. An easy way to solve the question of sovereignty of the Antarctic, now in dispute between the United States and Great Britain, would be to hold a plebiscite of the inhabitants. And Golf Widowers. | From the Columbia Record. A new game has been invented, a combination of golf and archery. A | combination of golf and the homa-run feature of base ball would get the unanmous support of golf widows. LA Very Versatile Indeed. | From the Eimira Star-Gazette. From the “little breeches” of John Hay to the knee pants of Col. Harvey, to the underslung pipe of Gen. Dawes— the British will be impressed that Americans are & versatile lot. ——rene Private, Too, If Any. From the Bavannah Press. galr service to| Mexican bulletins should announce tion, yet if one is of the observer type | A man may be, THE LIBRARY TABLE By the Booklover One of the producers of the modern conversational, gossipy type of biog- raphy is Philip Guedalla. He has written “Palmerston,” “The Second Empire,” “The Fathers of the Revolu- tion,” '“Gladstone and Palmerston,” “Conquistador” and, very recently, “Bonnet and Shawl" a collection of blographical essays on the wives of some great men, ending with three little burlesque essays on the imaginary wives of some famous bachelors. On the title page is quoted a stanza from Longfellow's “Psalm of Life,” with the change of the initial word: “Wives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time.” The real biographies have for their subjects Jane Welsh Carlyle, Catherine Gladstone, Mary Arnold, Mary Anne Disraeli, Emily Tennyson and Emily Palmerston. The ideal ladies consid- | ered are Lady Muriel James, the wife | Henry James never hed; Sophia Swin- burne, the barmaid the poet Swinburne might have married, but did not. and brothers De Goncourt (Edmond and Jules), who collaborated in all their | writings, married in collaboration. These three pieces of farce hardly seem in place in the volume, though amusing enough in '.hen;sei\ (‘S‘. Mr. Guedalla evidently holds the traditional view that the most im- portant event of a woman’s life is her marriage, or, at least, that this was | unquestionably true of the Victorian |woman. He gives a dramatic word picture of the marriage of each of his | heroines. The essay on Jane Carlyle | begins: “The road from Templand to ! Biggar and on to Edinburgh is not of unusual beauty. Even a solitary stchalse rolling along it late one Autumn afternoon in 1826 could hard- ly make it beautiful, though perhaps it seemed so to the pair inside. Yet even that is doubtful, though -they had just been married; since the bridegroom, dissuaded with some ef- fort from the ghastly, thowzh inex- pensive, project of conveying his bride by stagecoach and the no less em- barrassing (if more generous) design of taking a young brother part of the way with them, had stipulated with her that she should let him by the road, as occaslon serves, smoke three cigars without criticism or reluctance, as things essential to my perfect con- tentment.’” The essay on Cath&ne Gladstone begins: “The air of 1839 was - heavy with impending nuptials. In the bright dawn of a new reign matrimony swept over England like a genial epidemic, and the land was loud with banns. For the Queen’s hand was asked and given * * ¢ Disraeli and his Mary Anne, Victoria and her Albert, even Lord Palmerston and his delicious Emily pared for felicity that season. * * But the cloud of felicity hung nowhere lower or more richly charged than over Hawarden, where rumor positively announced a double wedding” (that of Catherine Glynne and her sister to Gladstone and Lord Lyttleton). Disraell’s mar- riage to his Mary Anne, Mrs. Wynd- ham Lewis, is briefly announced: “When the house rose they married at St. George's, Hanover Square, a bride of 47 kneeling at that modish altar beside a bridegroom of 34. Yet who could say which of them was the elder?” Mary Arnold, wife of Thomas Arnold, master of Rugby, was also older than her husband. “They mar- ried in the gey Summer weeks of 1820. * * * She played her own part, though. For brides of 30 united with bridegrooms of 25 may be relied on to assert themselves.” Lord Palmerston and Emily, Lady Cowper, sister of Lord Melbourne, were 55 and 52, re- spectively, when they were married, because they waited for the death of Emily's husband. With Victoria as Queen, persons as close to the throne as Palmerston and Melbourne could not afford to hurry matters matri- monial. “Theirs was a perfect mar- riage, though marriage rarely crowns a 30 years' romance. But their romance was crowned by nearly 30 more of marriage.” * ok ok ok “Fear,” by John Rathbone Oliver, Baltimore psychiatrist and author of “Vietim and Victor,” so much discussed of late, purports to be “the autobiogra- phy of James Edwards.” Under a thin covering of fiction, it is really a dis- cussion by a speclalist of the treatment of a case of nervous, almost mental, breakdown. James Edwards, successful business man and thorough materialist, sitting at his office desk one day, opens a letter from an insurance company which refuses to issue him additional life insurance because of his high blood pressure. Only two weeks hefore his partner has died in his chair at & di- | rectors’ meeting from cerebral hemor- rhage. These two circumstances, com- ing together, are the cause of a fear which quickly takes possession of his whole mind and in a short time almost destroys his physical health and mental balance. “A sort of breathless tension | seemed to start from the center of his {body and spread slowly to the tips of his fingers. He put his hand to his forehead. The hand shook and his fore- head was moist with little beads of sweat. Then, for a moment, it seemed to him as if he sensed a something— a mysterious hostile something—still far off, but beginning to move closer and closer toward himself and bringing with it, nearer and nearer, a feeling of im- | pending calamity, of something unclear, yet appalling, that was going to happen and that he was powerless to prevent. He stared around his office. Somehow it seemed strangely unfamiliar. Every- thing looked different.” This descrip- tlon must stir memories in all who have experienced fear. And who has not? James Edwards would have gone on to complete catastrophe if his son had not become aware of a change in his father and felt interest enough to look into it. Through his son, Edwards goes to a nursing home and makes the acquaint- |ance of the Fear-Hunter, his doctor. This doctor has had his own fight with fear and other demons, which he does not reveal but which has left its stig- mata. At the conclusion of weeks of treatment he honestly confesses to his atient that he has no antidote for ear. “I know of some palliatives for fear—something that for a time will dissipate it perhaps, or hold it in check. I know of some antidotes that will, in ‘Dart, relieve you of the poison that fear has spread through your body and your mind. But a cure for fear?—Something that will put a stop to your fearing for- ever?—I know nothing of that kind. As long as you are a living. thinking man your mind is open to fear” Yet the doctor has a suggestion for the con- ouest of fear, drawn from observation of the kinds of people who rarely need his services. * ok ok % Joseph Hergesheimer revealed the fascination which the Old South holds for him in his novel “Balisand,” a story of the time of Jefferson. In his latest book, “Swords and Roses,” which s not fiction, the South of the Civil War pe- jriod is treated with a touch full of ro- mance and affection. There is analysis, but there is also much pure descrintion. The chapter “The Deep South” is es- pecially rich in atmosphere. “The deep South, like a conservatory, was sweet with flowers. The isolated burial grounds, approached by avenues of cedars and shaded with willows and live oaks and linden, were planted with white flowers. * ‘The swamps, hushed with Spanish moss, held trian- gular cypress trees and water oaks.” Each of the other chapters has a cen- tral figure, as Varina Howell, wife of Jefferson Davis; Albert Sidney Johnston and Gen. Beauregard. * ok ok K Instead of being obliged to read Bar- rie's plays—and they should be read, in order to catch all the humor of those perfect stage directions—in numerous slim volumes, we may now sit down with one comfortable volume containing all of them, 20, long and short. Three of 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 finto the lives of the most Intelligent people in the world—American news- paper readers. It is a part of that | best purpose of a newspaper—service. | There is no charge except 2 cents in coin or stamps for return postage. Get the habit of asking questions. Ad- idress your letter to The Evening Star, | Information Bureau, Frederic J. Has- kin, director, Washington, D. C. Q. How is a telephone conversation carried on between the United States and Paris?—E. D. A. The telephone company says that |the Transatiantic calls are = taken through the long-distance telephone service from Washington to New York and then relaved from New York to London by radio. and from London to Paris, as a long-distance telephone call. Is a President of the United Q Julie de Goncourt, the wife the two|states eligible for burial in Arlington | the thick, stemmy portions, the mi Cemetery?—T. C. A. He Is not eligible unless he has | had active military service. Q. How many atrplanes are in use in the United States?—J. A. In 1928 there were ut 7,000. Q. Did P. T. Barnum die a wealthy man?—D. E. M A. In his will Barnum disposed of an estate amounting to more than four million dollars. Q. Is a galvanized iron roof safe in {a thunderstorm-—L. O. S. that a galvanized iron roof proper grounded will give good protectic against lightning. It will be necessary to place air terminals on chimneys and | see that ail separate parts of the roof, fas porch roofs and main roof, are bonded together so that they are in electrical contact. Q. When did Pittsburgh have its first electric street car?—D. M. B. A. Pittsburgh's first electrically- operated street car was put into service and down the very steep hillside from Carson and South Thirteenth streets to the Borough of Knoxville. This car line was constructed before the intro- duction of the present type of trolley pole and wheel, the contact with the overhead wire being made by means of a small carriage trailing behing the car | 2nd running on top of two trolley wires. Because of the very steep grade, rack and wheel propulsion was used. Q. Will a body of soldiers crossing a suspension bridge cause it to break?— M. J.S. A. The director of the Engineering Now it can be told, without the cen- sor’s red pencil. Our Quaker President, Mr. Hoover, is a militarist. It was not good politics to betray that fact during the campaign, but now it is open, for his language, as used publicly only two years ago, has appeared in type and cannot bz contradicted. These are his undisputed words: “I am for force, more force.” ‘That does not spell compromise; it does not limit our new cruisers, nor even confirm half of Ambassador Gibson's speech at Geneva, in which he pre- tended' to offer disarmament. “I am for force, more force” said Mr. Hoover, and he said it sincerely. At that time he was only Secretary of Com- merce—and commerce thrives best in ce, yet he demanded “force, more force,” ‘in spite of his sworn duty to stimulate our commerce, for everybody knows what Shylocks the Americans are. Its setting gives that warlike speech profound significance. Mr. Hoover was addressing the Izaak ‘Walton League of America, in session in Chicago—that lawless city where daily battles with machine guns mow down the citizens—and he said: “Based upon the number of fishing licenses issued in licensing States, the Bureau of Fisheries estimates that 10,- 000,000 people went game-fishing in the year 1926." (That's five times as many as were in the A. E. F., but that was different kind of game that they were baiting. “Any calculation of 20 years 2go, continued this militarist, “‘will that not 1,000,000 people went fishing during those years. But I have no sym- pathy with attempts at disarmament of the gigantic army"—note his mili- taristic warcry!—‘“disarmament of the |gigantie army, which every year marches against the fish; nor any limi- tations of its equipment of automobiles (tanks?) tackle (grenades) or incan- tations. I am for force, more force and more fish.” Let the “poor fish” beware, whether suckers or swordfish, Jellyfish alone are immune—pacifists and internation- alists. * Kk ok K ‘Then President Hoover resorted ‘o impressive statistics. A single statistic which he quoted ran into as many mil- lions as the farm relief calls for dol- | lars—only he was talking fish, not dol- lars, or Mr. McCarl would have thrown up the red signal. He said: “The State of New Jersey secures an accounting from its licensees of the number of game fish they catch. It works out at about 4.5 fish per fisher- man, per annum. * * * Now I want to propose to you an idea. I submit to you that each fisherman ought to catch at least 50 during the season, * * * At once I come to a powerful statistic— that is, 50 fish times 10,000,000 men and boys—the purpose of which I will estab- lish presently. This minimum ideal of { a national catch of 500,000,000 game fish is of the most fundamental impor- tance, if we as a Nation are to approach that beatific state for even two weeks in the year. | _ “And as we are thinking nationally, 500,000,000 fish divided amongst 120, 000,000 people is not so much as you might think at first, for it is only 4.1 fish per person, and it includes the little ones as well, and each of us eat 1,095 times a year, less whatever meals we miss waile fishing.” * ok ok ok It must have been a prevision of Mr. Hoover's coming election, and his re- cent speech on the need of suppressing crime, that inspired him to add, two years ago, to those sober fishermen: “At this point some one will deny that we have ever taken any 500,000,000 fish in a year. I agree wtih him that we have not attained any sach ideal per fisher- man in long years. If it had been true, the moral state of the Nation would have been better maintained during the last calendar year. There were lots of people who committed crimes during the year who would not have done so if they had been fishing, and I assure you that the increase in crime is due to a lack of those qualities of mind and character, which impregnate the soul of every fisherman except those who get no bites. Unless we can promise at icast per annum, including that occasional big one for recounting and memory purposes, we may despair of keeping the population from further moral turmludi."‘ * x 3 News comes that the secret fishing camp of President Hoover, “somewhere in Virginia,” has just been set up. That urge to commit crime was not supposed to penetrate the White House, but —‘“safety first.” Hope he will catch a whale—no 4.5 whales like the average in New Jersey where sometimes the .5 “fish” proves to be jusi a mosquito. EE The purpose of Mr. Hoover’s speech to the Isaak Waltons was to demon- strate that the @@ pt was doing much in g out its ons of A. The Bureau of Standards says August 7, 1888, and was operated up- show | to ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Societies Library sa: that soldlers marching in step across a bridge might cause failure of the bridge due to too |great a load or due to vibration. If | the type is known, together with cer- tain other details of its construction, it possible for a bridge engineer to cal- | culate whether or not the bridge will | break. It is sometimes possible to pro- | duce {llations in a gndge by men | marching in step and these oscillations | may be sufficient cause to ak down | the bridge. In 1850 a suspension bridge 'at Angers, France, gave way when 437 soldiers were marching over it and 226 } were killed. | Q. Did any of Mrs. Abraham Lin- | coln's family serve with the Confed- erates during the Civil War?>—J. H. R A. Half-brothers of Mrs. Lincoin served in the Confederate Army. | Q Wwhat is snuff made of>—G.H.H | A. Snuff is a powder manufactured | from tobacco. Only the chofeest of the | fine leaves are used for the fin | grades: for ordinary commercial brands rib and scrap tobacco are used. Do Congressmen get their ex- | penses paid to an extra session of Con- gres: . G. A. Mileage is paid to Senators and Representatives for transportation to | and from Washington. | Q. Do white rabbits have pink eyes? —G.P. A. The White Flemish and the | American white rabbits are white. | These breeds do not have pink eyes. | White rabbits having pink eyes ‘are { albino and they occur in any breed. | Q Which is correct. “Habana" or | “Havana” in speaking of the capital of | Cuba?—@. H. - A. Either is correct. “Habana” is the | Spanish spelling, while in the United | States “Havana” is more commonly used. It literally means “the haven.” Q. What should I feed my parrot? ~T. O. A. Parrots in the wild state live on seed and fruit, and should, while in captivity, be fed as nearly as possible the same kind of food. They should be fed sunflower seed, hemp seed, boiled yellow corn, stale bread soaked In water, an occasional plece of apple or banana, roasted peanuts, dry crackers. Plenty of water and gravel should be kept in the cage. The parrot’s cage should be cleaned every day. Q. Has the entire Civil War debt of the United States been paid>—T. A. R. A. The Department of the Treasury says that the Civil War debt has been bonded and funded until it has lost its | identity. About one-half million dollars | of the old Civil War debt is now out- | standing. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. sirable for sportsmen to co-operate by taking these little fingerlings and keep- ing them in club kindergartens until they had grown “so big” and could be turned locse with a fighting chance to bite back at any cannibal fish that tried to swallow them. The Government and the several States maintain hatcheries to incubate the fish eggs, for hatcheries require | high skill and large investments, which clubs cannot give, but then it is up | to the sportsmen to take the fingerlings and develop them into self-reliance as -inch fish. Many such nurseries have been created, more are needed, if we are to keep up the supply, against the widened range of sportsmen, equip~ ped with automobiles, ete. Fingeriings are supplied to clubs free, In comparison, no other sport is equal to that of fishing, says the President. “I am for fish! Fishing is not so much getiing fish as it is a state of mind and a lure of the human soul into |refreshment. But it is too long between | bites; we must have more fish in pro- | portion to the water.” * ok ok Where the Government has missed out in the present struggle of Congress and the Executive to find relief for the farmers is the failure of the President to tell his fish story and let it go at that. Farmers can make more profit off an acre of pond, stocked with fish, than they can off an acre of wheat, corn or cotton. President Hoover merely said “I'm for fish.” He did not tell farmers lant more fish and raise less— Well, he might have given sound ad« vice if he had related e story of one farmer near Leadville, Colo., who owns 300 acres, of which 125 acres are under water, and his net profits run from £8,000 to $10,000. Talk about relief for that farmer? He lets city folks fish all they like on his farm, but he charges them 50 cents a d for what they catch. No drought ever bothers him. There are similar “fish farms” in Penn< sylvania, Long Island and New Eng- Iand, but on a smaller scale. * ke In a bulletin (No. 828) issued by the Bureau of Fisheries it is stated: “As a substitute for meat, fish offer many advantages. Pound for pound, it contains as much protein as meat, and in some cases more.” While it is proverbially unsafe to “count your chickens before they are hatched,” the bulletin makes the fol- lowing count of fishes to be hatched per acre: “It is difficult to estimate the ca- pacity of ponds for the various stages in the growth of fish. It depends for the most part upon the amount of appro- priate food available. A 2-acre pond producing 10,000 one-year-old black bass from 4 to 6 inches long would be a remarkably successful enterprise, and 20,000 one and a half to two inch year- ling crappfe or sunfish to an acre of water would be likewise notable. These numbers have been realized and in some instances exceeded, but the average re- sults are doubtless much smaller. “The stock will be decreased through cannibalism at least 50 per cent by the end of the second year, and the year- lings held over will consume a large percentage of the fry hatched during the second and succeeding years of op- erations. Enough should survive, how= ever, to maintain the adult stock at the maximum number that the pond will support.” * ¥ ok K Another bulletin (No. 955) tells how large the fish might become under ideal conditions: “The largest brook trout taken in American waters whose weight has been reliably authenticated was from Range- ly Lake, Me.; its weight was 125 pounds; while from the Nepigon River, a Canadian tributary to Lake Superior, an example weighing 14 pounds is recorded.” No wonq hat Mr. Hoover describes fishing as a “state of mind!” Prantic! According to Commissioner O'Malley of the United States Fish Hatchery they are producing at the Fairport, | Towa, station, on 6.3 acres, 44,833 large- mouth black bass annually—a produc- tion running from 7,000 to 10,000 fish per acre. Also 7,300 small-mouth black bass per acre, and over 10,000 per acre of cram:ies 2 inches long. (What crap game the city compares with that?) And of bluegill sunfish they gt 57,770 PWhen will modern Americ en will modern erican farmers read their Bibles and exclaim with St. Peter, “I go a-fishing!” * ok ok X Americans- eat only 15.6 pounds of mmuflhm-ym;&nm eat 29 pounds; English eat 52 pounds; Scandinavians from 39 to 52 pounds, and Japanese 55 pounds a year. Mark Twain directed the young author who asked how much fish he should eet for his brain’s sake, that a whale or two would suffice. What would happen to us.American wiseacres if all should tur from bootleggers to fisheric e