Evening Star Newspaper, June 1, 1929, Page 6

A ° THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. SATURDAY........June 1, 1929 THEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave, New York Office: 110 East 4Ind 8t. Chicago Office: Lake Michigan Buildine. European O« 4 Regent St., London. England. Rate by Carrier Within the City. T:C E\'Qn!nr S'lrs. . r|5c rer month ‘The Evening and Su 00 ekt i 5 65¢ per month | The Sunday Star ... Sc per copy | Collec'ion made at ihe end of each meoth. Orders may be sent in by mail or telepone Maln 5000, Rate hv Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. 1 : 1 mo., RS Datly only . 1 mo Soe Sunday only All Other States and Canada. st 5 D 15r. $80 Sunday only 1yr, $5.00: 1 mo. ‘Member of the Associated Press. “The Associated Pracs fs exclusivaly eniitled ¢ o the U' for repumlication of £l Tews ‘tches «radited to it or not etherwise cr Jeain (his paper and also the lncal new publis-ed herein. All rirhts of publicatian of ®pecial dispatches herein are alto reserved = Co-operation for the Schools. The plan of the Commissioners to #ave the superintendent of schools eand the Board of Education confer with| them formally over preparation of the | school estimates for the next budgel 4s evidence of that spirit of co-opera-| tion which must be exercised if the best Snterests of the schools are to be served. Tnless there is special legislation con- ferring power upon the school authori- | ties to draft and defend their budget| indepéndently, the needs of the schools | must continue to be treated as a part of the District budget. In the absence of such legislation the Commissioners’ invitation to the school authorities to work with them this year should be Bccepted as an opportunity that will Bllow the District to present a united #ront to Congress in its appeal for adequate appropriations. The schools this year are asking, in! their preliminary estimates, a total of | $13,710,202, which is an increase of $1,725,602 over the appropriations for the fiscal year beginning mnext July. The estimates also exceed by almost a million dollars the suggested appropria- tion of $12,732,000 which Auditor Donovan recommended be made avail- ble for cducation in the 1931 appro- priations. As Mr. Donovan’s functional classification included the appropriation for the Public Library system with that for the school system, the difference between his estimates and the Board ©f Education’s estimates is even greater. It is obvious that either the school Pstimates must be materially reduced ®r the five-year program outlined by. fr. Donovan be radically changed, with feductions in other departments to fnake up for the increases sought for $he schools. And it is reasonable to be- fleve that the former procedure will win. ‘While the schools must continue to Pe treated as only one of the many in- Etitutions covered by a restricted budget Bnd the Board of Education must lend & willing hand in making necessary re- Huctions, there should be no lessening fh the board's vigorous efforts to show fhe inadequacy of school appropriations. ‘The causes underlying such inade- ‘become more apparent every year. year sees the addition of national br semi-national projec's to the Dis- frict’s overburdened budget. Under the existing system of lump-sum Federal | washington, |an alliance. THE EVENING STAR. ‘\‘VASHT?\'GTO*. D. €. SATURDAY. Smith in 1928. Mr. Raskob, & wringing wet, is still chairman of the national committee, and has so far given no in- dication that he proposes to relinquish | reduce the deficit growing out of the campaign from $1,500,000 to something like $350,000, although only six months have clapsed since the close of the cam- paign. This is a great feat considering the fact that the Democrats were ut- terly routed in the election. It does nct indicate that the wet element in the party is about to step aside. Further- tional Democratic headquarters in charge of Shouse, which will be well financed and which will be a center of Democratic activity during the coming years. Con- trol of the moneybags and party finances is a tremendous power. Bishop Cannon and the dry anti-Smith Demo- crats have a real task ahead of them under these circumstances to separate the Smith-Raskob faction from party leadership. in Labor’s Victory in Britain. Labor has swept the boards in the British elections, but it is not yet cer- tain that Mr. Ramsay MacDonald's vie- torious cohorts will be intrusted with conduct of his majesty’s government. Of the 308 seats necessary to a majority in the House of Commons, Labor won only 288, or 20 short of the requisite total, plurality of thirty-eight over the Bald- win Conservatives and the Lloyd George Liberals are a bad third with only sev- enty-seven seats, the MacDonaldites with one of the minority parties. Events of the next few days will de- termine whether Labor can effect such The normal British pro- cedure is for King George to invite Mr. MacDonald, as leader of the dominant party, to form a government. The Conservatives are not likely 1o be on nis ealling list. The Liberals vociferated violently during the campaign that in no circumstances would they lend their anticipated (and now materialized) bal- ance of power to a Labor party in quest of the wherewithal for office. The canny Lloyd George, in London last night, would go no further than to in- timate that his slender band of sup- porters would be actuated solely by ‘the good of the country.” Premier Baldwin may essay the bold stroke of secking to continue the gov- ernment by provoking a vote in tie Commons, and daring the Liberals to vote the Conservatives out of office, while, by the same token, eatapulting Labor into Downing street for the sec- ond time. Out of this truckling and trafMcking, provided Labor in the mean- time has not formed a coalition, a par- liamentary deadlock will almost in- evitably ensue. That would mean an- other general election in the Fall, and possibly a reversal of this week's ver- dict. But it might also bring a clear majority mandate to a Labor party flushed with the prestige that it now can boast. Americans should not make the mis- take of thinking that a phalanx of men and women typified by miners’ lamps, carpenters’ caps, bricklayers’ overalls and mechanics’ aprons has carried the day in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Labor party covers a multitude of skins. The “intelligentsia” of John Bull's islands forms a large part of it. Mr. Ramsay MacDonald is an educator. Mr. Philip Snowden is & journalist and lecturer. Profes- sional trades unionists are prominent, Bontribution there is little or no elas- @city in the revenue available to meet these expanding needs. In consequence the purely local needs of the' com- funity, such as the school system, are tnade to suffer while funds which should go to the schools are used in such na- tional or semi-national projects as a gationally conceived municipal center 6r the expansion of a Federal city’s $ark system. International financial adjustments Bppear 1o be largely in the nature of fiegotiations toward friendly and orderly finderstanding. Industrial activities are #hriving at a rate which makes it seem sinlikely that any one concerned really theeds the money. Virginia’s Democratic Row. The rift in the Democratic party m was started at the Madison e Garden convention back in 1924, $vhich was widened at Houston last une and which became a veritable in November, still continues. Bishop James Cannon, jr., ardent dry ®irginia Democrat, who led the fight #gainst Alfred E. Smith, the Demo- | @ratic nominee for President last year, Bas Just issued a call to Virginia Demo- &ats to remain “independent” until @very vestige of the Smith-Raskob @ominance of the party leadership has been erased. Bishop Cannon’s pronunciamento is @irected against those leaders of the Democratic party in Virginia who con- @inued to give their support to the Democratic national ticket last Fall. $e demands that the anti-Smith Demo- erats nominate for governor and for | #ther State offices Democrats who op- $ose Smith. His recommendations to his fellow workers who last year made # possible for Herbert Hoover to carry ¥Virginia, if they are carried out, prom- e to split the party wide open in the €lections next Fall. The bishop is urg- ng that the Roanoke convention of #nti-Smith Democrats, set for June 18, pominate one of their own number for governor. He promises his own hearty #upport to such a candidate—a support which has by no means proved inef- ectual in the past. Should the regular Democratic or- Banization nominate a candidate for Governor of Virginia, as it doubtless ®ill, the anti-Smith Democrats put a #andidate in the field and the Repub- Blcans enter their own man, a “triangu- ar duel” is likely to ensue with all hree shooting at one another. Out of $uch a situation almost anything might happen. Bishop Cannon’s plain purpose f= to overthrow the present Democratic feadership in the State, thereby insur- ng that the party leadership shall in fhe future be “bone dry” and stand gguarely in opposition to Gov. Smith, #ohn J. Raskob and other prominent $ets who dominated the party councils Best year. The national party organization, how- ver, continues to remain in the the but not dominant, in the Labor party. In the United States it would be known as a liberal or a progressive party. Many “white-collared” men and women flll its ranks, which widened to the impressive aggregate of 8292~ 204 votes on May 30—a prodigious ex- pansion since Labor in 1900 won its first two seats with a total of 62,000. The newly enfranchised woman's vote seems to have gone over to Labor. Mr. MacDonald's victory is indubitably significant. Whether he becomes prime minister again or not, Britain has re- pudiated the Baldwin government. It has indicted the Conservative regime particularly for its failure to ameliorate unemployment. It has expressed un- mistakable displeasure with the Tory cabinet's conduct of foreign Affairs— for example note the narrow escape of Foreign Secretary Chamberlain from defeat. It is evidently minded to give Labor another chance to grapple with Britain’s many grave problems, des- pite the party’s ineffectual maiden ven- ture in office five years ago. Perhaps the feature of Labor's tri- umph most gratifying to the United States is the prospect of a naval limita- tion understanding with Britain. This Mr. MacDonald has definitely pledged, should he become the next arbiter of John Bull's international destinies. The Labor landslide was in progress on Thurs- day at the very hour President Hoover was sounding his solemn eall to the world to beat its peace protestations into disarmament deeds. Americans may derive still another satisfaction from the British elections. Communism was definitely rejected. The one avowed red in Parliament, the Parsee, Mr. Saklatvala, was defeated by a Labor candidate, while Mr. Mac- Donald himself snowed under Mr. Pol- litt, one of British communism’s princi- pal leaders. N In spite of a distinguished example, it is not considered wise for legislators to pause for needful relaxation and go fishing. g A Century-0ld Newspaper. The Philadelphia Inquirer is one hundred years old today. That is a birthday worth observing. Anything that has lived a century s firmly rooted and a newspaper that has lived a cen- tury has accomplished something worth while. The Star, in its seventy-seventh year, congratulates the Inquirer and wishes it many happy returns. The Inquirer is not 3o old, as Ameri- can journalism goes. For American journalism is supposed to have uttered its first faint cries in Boston in 1690 with the single issue of “Public Oc- currenck, Both Foreign and Domestic,” founded by its editor to print the names of all the liars in town, but suppresced by the city fathers, doubtlessly because of the great danger thus presented. And there is still being printed, week !in and week out, the Portsmouth, N. H. Gazeite, which is one hundred end ntrol element which iu,ppcr&l Al seventy-three years old. The Newport, qualify as a base { that post. Mr. Raskob has been able to| Although Labor emerges with a | cannot form a cabinet without coalition | R. I, Mercury, another weekly, is one hundred and seventy-one years old. The Hartford Courant, founded as a weekly, but turned a daily many icng | years ago, is one hundred and sixty- {five years old, older than the Nation { itself, while our own near neighbor, the | Alexandria Gazette, is nearing its one | | aundred and fifty-Afth birthday. | But the century mark passed by the | Inquirer is doubly interesting in that the Inquirer was a pioneer in what we {now like to call “modern journalism.” | Its birth was concurrent with the birth [to give the news of the world, ratier Jewett | than the opinions of the editors or the | th: maniestations of Nacure v {dogma of the parties they served as| [tools. The birth of the Inquirer ante- | dated the New York Sun by four years. | The year the Inquirer was born Wil- illam Cullen Bryant took the rdlt,m’;rhlnJ {of the then twenty-seven-year-old New | | York Evening Post. The Inquirer wu] | six years old when James Gordon Ben- | | nett started his New York Herald and { thirteen years old when Greeley's Tribune ! |took its place in the firmament of journalistic stars. The early years of | the Inquirer are thus identified with | }:hav. period of newspaper history made |famous by such nameés as Bryant,‘ | Greeley, Dana and Bennett. Its one hun- | éredth birthday marks the beginning of |a series of centennial anniversaries to | be celebrated in the next few years by fnewspflpen that have lived and grown strong—the Sun and the Herald Tribune |of New York, the Boston Transcript, the Detroit Free Press, Philadelphia | Ledger, Baltimore Sun, New Orleans Picayune and Milwaukee Sentinel, | It was in Philadelphia that the first 'daily newspaper was published and it is only within the last few years that this earliest of American dailies lost its identity through merger with the Public Ledger. The American Dally Adver- tiser, established by Benjamin Franklin Bache in Philadelphia in 1774, became Poulson’s Advertiser in 1802 and the North American in 1832, ten years after the establishment of the Inquirer. Four vears ago the North American was bought by the Public Ledger, leaving the Inquirer as Philadelphia's oldest surviving newspaper. Like a human being, a good name becomes a news- paper’s greatest asset. Unlike a human being, a newspaper does not necessarily lose strength and vigor as the years roll over the hill. The Inquirer has kept & good name for a hundred years, May its strength wax as another ccn- tury begins to wane! ———e——— Bobby Jones lost his golf clubs—a fact that makes no more real difference than if Helen Wills were to lose her pet tennis racket. The charm of sport lies in the fact thaet the human ele- ment, and not the mechanism, inev- itably predominates. ———— Poison gases will be eliminated from | warfare. War, previously tolerated in all its hideousncss, can scarcely be permitted to become utterly and in- decently unsportsmanlike, Large contributions go far toward eliminating the Democratic campaign deficit. As a candidate Al Smith was a fine piece of work, but expensive, ————— It is conceded that the King of Eng- land has but little to do. It is also conceded that King Gearge has done that little exceedingly well. ————e———— Martyrdom is not modernly sought. Mabel Willebrandt is relieved of a pos- sibility of becoming the Joan of Arc of prohibition, —————— Wall Street is compelled to realize that it is impossible to suppress gam- bling merely by making the chips more expensive. Imitators cannot be protected. It was not Lindbergh's fault that he made an over-ocean flight seem so easy. — e aone. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOMNSON. Kindliness. To sympathy my heart was stirred By one who gave a kindly word. I listened for *most half an hour And felt the magic of his pow'r. When he had gone upon his way, I figured what I'd have to pay; He sold me things I've needed long. ‘Till now the need seemed not so strong. He sold devices that are new. He sold me some insurance, too. More genial tones I never heard. 1 pay for just a kindly word. Retirement. ‘Do you think of retiring from public life: “Oh, yes,” answered Senator Sor- ghum, “but always in fear and trem- bling.” Jud Tunkins says if you want to see how authority can overwork a map, watch a traffic officer, Glorious Transformation. Whene'er 1 feel a little sad, 1 seck the Illustrated Ad. This World becomes a Fairyland Where everything is Good and Grand! Looking Into the Future. “If you will marry me, I will promise to remain at home with you every night!"” “Are you making s proposal,” asked Miss Cayenne, “or trying to scare me off?” “To have no debts,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “is fortunate, unless it is because nobody will trust you.” Endless Chain, Historical reflections Are just like those of yore. We'll hold some new elections— And then we'll hold some more. “Trouble,” said Uncle Eben, “is most- ly yoh own fault. An’' dat's what makes it seem all de worse.” ety No Thrill in This. From the Seattle Daily Times. For the man who has just returned from his vacation there 38 no thrill in the announcement, of the Treasury De- partment. that there are about 900,001 000 pieces of paper money in circula- tion in the country. cel ot AT Perhaps. From the Buite Daily Post. Perhaps after & few more botilrs have en shied at Senator Heflin he can ball umpls. N ! e THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. The return of hot weather meets the usual late of things subject to human | scrutiay—some like it, and some don't. waeiner they do or aon't, Nature serves 1u up just the same, and every con: must make the best of it. Unless onc has some such arrange- ment as Congress has for coolng and humidirying 1ne air of the Capiwl, ne more, Mr. Raskob is setting up a na- [of an era of newspapers which set out [ liad betier maxe up his mind to ocar | with the weatner, whatever 11s vagaries After all, weather changes are anong n o necessarily bring disaster. ‘iney spects of interest not have in themselves ior the human mind. Noth.ng that the groatest governments can Go Can change their coming a jot. Wiien Summer seis in, with its thun- dershowers and sucky days ana not nights, the best that a man can do is iace 1t caimly, realizing that aiter ail the process is both naiural and inter- esting, it he is wiling to look at 1t in the right way. We say “right way” because it is the profitabje way, the one sure method of getting the most out of a season, since There is no way to change it, ana, for most of us, nut much cnance to get away from it for any consideravle period. R o Those who say they do not like hot weatner 2re uniortunate, and ought to | change their thought tracks, if possible. 1f they could have seen a geatleman we saw the other day, sitting under the shade of a large tree, calmly con- suming a large plate of ice cream, they would have realized instantly that it has its compensations. 5 There is a certain freedom prevailing from now on that is unknown at any other season. Even beautiful Spring, with its tulips and returning grass, has its_harsh moods. Spring is a tretful, uncertain season. Then it 1s necessary to keep the furnace running_for cool mornings and eve- nings, although it may not be needed the remainder of the day. Summer is a more downright season. It 1s warm and no one can nmslake it. Even thunderstorms give unmistakable warning hours in advance, so that no one need be caught out in the rain. Tk ok ok Those who prefer Summer to any other time of the year say that. it agrees with them, that they feel hetter, and enjoy better health. it is not enough to say that they get more fresh air. The same amount of fresh air in Winter would do them harm, not good, because it is too cold for their inaividual comfort. This is a point difficult for some sturdy never-ill persons to understand. They profess to believe that “fresh air” is a panacea for all the pains of man- king d. . They want every one else to sleep in drafts, and to take morning plunges in ice-cold water, and to show an utter contempt for the winds that blow. The lover of Summer, on the other hand, has a positive respect for Winter. He knows that it is the time of colds, the grip and pneumonia. He knows, too, that the discomforts of cold weather to one who minds them are worse than the distress of hot weather to him who does not like them. There may be some dispute about this, but what is there about which there is | no dispute? Hell, they =ay, is both hot | and cold. B P The secret of bearing hot weather, whether in (which is not hotter than any place clse) or elsewhere, lies in dressing as lightly as possible, eating as lightiy as feasible and keeping as clean as possible. Every one knows these rules (who doesn’t know everything nowadays?), but most of us forget them at the very time they are most needed. Cleanliness | s, indeed, akin to Godliness in Summer and is the rule least likely to be for- gotten, because there is nothing so re- | ireshing as a shower on a hot day, un- | ! less it be two showers or three showers. As for clothes—or lack of them—the | women do better than the men. Perhaps | this is why they are more healthy, we are not sure. | about anything. Statistics can be pre- sented to show one thing one day, an- other thing another. As for the rule of less food, Nature takes care of that, in a measure, by lessening the appetite. But it is here, as in all of the standard hot-weather rules of conduct, Nature directs plainly enough, orty to be countermanded | headstrong man. | * % ok % ‘The mental end of Summer, however, | is more_important than its physical as- pects. It is not only the time of sun- burn for men and “suntan” for the | ladies, the day of automobile races and the open season for tennis and bathing, ‘buL it is, above all, the time for deter- | mining to live as happily as possible. It is amazing how many persons |there are who seem to refrain delib- erately from being happy. They are perpetually looking ahead, as they say, but in reality looking be- hind, since they refuse to accept the | here and now. America's Walt Whitman first called the attention of mankind to the need for living in the here and now. With | loud volce he insisted that what we needed was a divine belief in ourself | and our country and a determination to | be as happy as possible as we go along. | Such thoughts as these may seem threadbare until one looks around at all |those who need them most. Many a | young man has found tonic qualities in | Whitman's so-called verse, and many |an older man has come to himself in | Summer, | Hot days and nights are made to order for reading. Trying to forget the heat, as some people say, by getting into a whirl will but make one remem- | ber it the more. A good book and very light clothing | will do more to make one comfortable {in Summer than a lot of more spec- tacular stunts which only serve to in- | crease the biood pressure. | The delights of conversation are ap- propriate to Summer, too. Table talk should be, and is, indulged in more at thiz season than’ most others. The ancient delusion that hot weather was made for “light” reading and friv- olous conversation is going the way of many another ancient mistake. Summer is the time, above all, for the reading of serious books and for in- dulging in sensible conversation. The two help make life in Summer as men- tally free and open as homes. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLIN: ing today t:‘l'ldsm umtl::lée 1l thréugh the Summer, elec- Bcian wehi'ougho\i". the world will com- tricians t! chievements of Thomas e o ha g electricity and A. Edison in harnessin, setting it to work for civilization. PFifty-two years ago, Mr. Edison brought illumination by e!ecme!‘ty to a practical success. What marveis have resulted from electric lighting are far more familiar to the public than is the memory of the great struggle preceding ess. thz)l’sl‘lli‘l?lclruy one thinks of an inventor as a dreamer who just cunningly thinks out things—and so there they are. Wonderfully clever and all that, but with not much_connection with hard jabor. But in Edison's work there was arduous labor, not for himself alone, but. for many associates in his employ. There was his laboratory, and in ad- dition there were research travelers ex- ploring the world to find a fiber which could be carbonized and then Theated incandescent until it would illumine and remain shining without ‘burning away. It may be quite simple today— at least to persons engaged in electrical work—but. it was mystery unsolved in those days of the Winter of 1879-80— half a century ago. * Kk K K v, incandescent electric lightin; u"';'g?m-m in use; it succeeds nd supersedes all other forms of illumina- ton, yet within the memory of middle- aged men and women it was still an experiment — especially incandescent lighting—in_their youth. Now what & range it has covered! The sclentific astronomer uses a current of electrical heat so delicate that it measures the temperature of a par- ticular spot on an invisible star by twisting a section of a wing of a fly, so that it reflects a beam on a graduated scale. In Chicago, there is being con- structed an electric light tower to guide aviators, which throws a beam brighter than the direct sunbeams—a beam visible 500 miles away. Neither of these extremes was ible until Mr. Edi- son's explorers found the right material with which he at last cons first incandescent light. L ‘Mr. Edison does not claim to have been the first to conceive the possibility of an electric light. Few inventions are absolutely original with the inventors who first make them practical. Leo- nardo da Vinci demonstrated the scien- tific formula for flying, centuries before the Wright brothers soared at Kitty Hawk. Even after Mr. Edison had completed his early success with his incandescent light it was scoffed at and sneered at by leaders in science. Prof. Morton of Stevens Institute of Technology de- livered a pessimistic “‘scientific” lecture, exposing its “failure” to mark any ad- vance, in which he declared: “No line of original discovery marks the electric light. Long before the day: of this presumptuous claimant the vexed problem of incandescent electric light- ing had received practical solution at the hands of our best scientists.” Yet, up to the time of Edison's suc- cess, such lighting had never been ac- complished except. as a rare laboratory test, so costly that it was an impossibil- ity from & practical standpoint. Not until Edison had experimented upon some 6,000 different fibers, some found by his explorers in China and some in South America, was any material dis- covered that could be carbonized and then made incandescent without falling to pleces like ashes at the least vibra- tion. So, with faith in his ultimate suc- cess, Edison’s only reply to Prof. Mor- ton's sneer was a threat that some day he would erect a statue of Morton, to be inscribed with the words. “This is the man who said the Edison electric light would never work,” and he would frame the statue in an effulgence of the new light. While his humorous threat was never carried out, literally, it has been far more than accomplished in the eflulgence of electric lighting of the world. Was Edison's later activity in behalf of the Navy during the World War what suggested the Navy motto, It can’t be done, but here it is"? * o ok % ‘The forerunner of the Edison incan- descent light was the work of Sir Humphrey Davy, who invented the arc light in 1812, with its arch of brilliance spanning 4 inches, and capable of ex- pansion to 7 inches of great luminosity But it consumed the carbon points o larldly that it was almost constantly spluttering and going out. It required e g Rt ) : phta tructed M}i < a battery of 2,000 cells, so its opera- tion was at_prohibitive cost. In 1834 Prof. Dumas of Paris pro- duced an improvement on the Davy arc, but even his cost $6 a minute to operate. Other experimenters attempt- ed to develop it, until In the Winter of 1845-46 the Place de la Concorde of Parls was illuminated with it, by a Frenchman named Delenil. Later came what were known as the Jablochkoff candles — two cylindrical pencils of compressed carbon, side by side, but separated with insulating kaolin, which- became incandescent by the current from the carbons. The kaolin candle soon burned away, but this is what suggested to Mr. Edison the need of finding a substance which would not burn away—and that is what he did find, when he inclosed palm fiber in a glass vacuum, like our pres- ent bulb. * Of course, the electric incandescent light is not the only invention by Mr. Edison, but it is the most revolutionary one of the age, and one that is indis- solubly associated with his genius. Between 1872 and 1876 he invented automatic telegraph systems and multiplex telegraph systems, saving millions of dollars annually. In 1875 he discovered an electric phenomenon, which he called “etheric force the later foundation for wirgless teleg- raphy. While Graham Bell invented the first telephone, Edison is credited with the carbon telephone transmitter, making telephony a commercial art. In 1877 he invented the phonograph, In 1883 he invented a method of con- trol of the flow of electric current which is known as the “Edison effect” —the foundation principle on which all radio lamps or tubes are based. B: patents, including an invention of wireless telegraphy by induction to and from trains in motion. He has invented the phonograph and the alkaline storage battery; in 1914 the telescribe, combining the telephone with the dictaphone. During the World War, Mr. Edison worked assiduously with the Navy De- partment, producing some 42 inventions of very great value, such as means of detecting positions of guns by sound- ranging, quick turning of ships, under- water searchlight, etc. He devoted hisy whole time during the war to patriotic, defensive and offensive inventions. He is still active in his enterprises, al. though well beyond fourscore years of age—born February 18, 1847. Scientists will celebrate his achieve- ments in a series of programs and elec- tric exhibitions throughout the Sum- mer, not -alone in the United States, but also in Europe. ‘While Ben PFranklin first captured the lightning, the world acknowledges with the poet, Tupper, concerning the wizard of Menlo Park: ‘Knowledge hath clipped the | ning's wings And mewed it up for a purpose.” (Copyright, 1039, by Paul V. Coliins.) ittt o b i Nebraska Passes Most Drastic Narcotic Law From the Great Falls Tribune. A narcotic law, said to be the most drastic State statute in America, has been signed by the Governor of Ne- braska. This follows the very meritori- ous legislation recently passed by New York and California. Gov. Weaver sent a special message to the State Legislature, recommending that the drastic narcotic measure that had previously passed the Senate be light- | 10 the exclusion of about 60 measures that were killed by indefinite postpone- ment. The Governor states that such legislation should be enacted by every State in the Union; that all narcotic laws should have teeth in order not only to curtail but destroy the traffic. ‘The International Narcotic Education Association heartily indorses laws suc! as those passed by New York, Californ and Nebraska, and recently sent for | consideration and possible adoption a copy of a suggested uniform State nar- ;"”“ law to the Legislature of every tate. | Capt. Richmond P. Hobson, president of the International Narcotic Educa- tion Association, states that the power of law will be applied with increasing |effect, and that their special objective |1s the police power qf the States and the foreign commeroe-and treaty-mak- ipg power of the Fedgral Governmeat. b n W the Districc of Columbia | It is difficult to be certain | tween 1881 and 1887 he took out 300' resurrected and passed. This was done | | THE LIBRARY TABLE By the Booklover Two books of the past year, compiled from articles written by the authors for | the New York Times, give a measure of | enlightenment to those whoe cpinions | about Russia are badly confused or de- liberately held in suspense, Of course the authors reach no definite and final conclusions. If they did, they would be | partisan or omniscient. The books he Curlous Lottery,” by Walter and “The Hammer and the ythe,” by Anne O'Hare McCormick. In her preface Mrs. McCormick dis- | claims passing judgment on the Russia of today: “Nothing in Russia is fixed | enough to hang a judgment on. * * * One Summer in Russia is, of course, | nothing, but 10 Summers would be na | more; the first guess is almost as good | {as the last.” And.in her first chapter she says: “Whoever goes to Russia dis- | covers' a different Russfa. * ¢ * For | Russia becomes vaguer and darker the ! nearer you approach. ¢ * * Before I| crossed the frontier I could not under- | stand why it was so difficult to get a clear and calm account of anything tha was happening in a country where | everything was happening. * * * Now | |1 realize that all reports must be con- | | tradictory and incoherent. Only so can they be graphic. There are no ‘facts’ that can be isolated and made to hang There is no order or con- | | sistency to convey.” Mr. Duranty in his | | book {5 similarly wary of conclusiens, | | but he deals in facts—the facts of ce tain Soviet trials. * ok ok kx “The Curious Lottery” is composed of 10 true stories of trials conducted by | the Soviet courts. « Mr. Duranty sa “Part of these cases are so strange and | horrid that they pass belief; as fiction hardly a child would credit’them. But courts of law unearth and bring clear | to light those secret things which are | |the sovereign matter of romance; and, | being true, are not distorted, as is com- | {monly done by romancers, save the| | greatest.” The first story, “Leningrad's Lucky House,” tells of a lottery prize won by a co-operative tenement housing 37 “souls.” Quarrels arose over the di ! tribution of the prize money, as they | naturally would, and the case was set-| tled by the supreme court of the Soviet Union, which decided that the money might not be divided, but must be used | for “fhe maintenance of the premises concerned” and for “hygienic and cul- tural measures for the welfare of the fenants”—not a bad decision from the | standpoint, of common sense, whatever | the legal aspects of the case. The last and most interesting of the stories, as throwing much light on Soviet methods and the workings of the Russian mind, | is “Shadows of Shakhta,” an account of the trial for treason of 49 Russian and 3 German coal mine techniclans. They were charged with conspiracy for coun- ter-revolution on four charges: “a. Sa- botage, willful destruction of state prop- erty and willful waste of state funds, b. Economic espionage, conveyance of information regarding the resources of the Soviet state to its enemies or poten- tial enemles abroad. c. Acceptance of money from abroad for purposes hostile to the state. d. Conspiracy, mainte- nance of an illegal organization hostile or potentially hostile to the state.” The ' figure of the public prosecutor, Krylenko, since Djerjinski's death the purest- souled zealot. in Soviet Russia,” occupies the center of the storv. Mr. Duranty concludes his book with the statement that “it can fairly be said that in no other E&‘i{‘;” in the world 1s it so hard TS0N to evi ekt nusy-mwd., to evade punishment - * Xk ¥ ¥ “The Hammer and the Scythe" { more general in its scope. The. Subtitls is “Communist Russia Enters the Sec- ond Decade.” There are chapters on ‘The Capital of the Proletariat,” “The | 1 Oapital of the Tsars,” “The New Rul- },"‘ Class,” “Commissars of the People,’ The Peasant,” “On the Voiga,” Daughters of the Revolution,” “The Soviet Generation.” “Ikons,” “The Worker at Play,” “Communist Art” and The World From Moscow.” The char- acterizations of the various commissars of the people throw light on many Soviet licles and actions. “It was Trotsky who suggested people's com- missars as a name for the ment heads of the Soviet government.” With the death of Lenin and the exile of Trotsky, the original leaders of the Communist movement were replaced by others. “There are no such personali- ties among the commissars today.” Banished with Trotsky are Zinoviev and Kamenev. Stalin now dominates the Soviet, a man not a real Russian but the son of a cobbler from the Cau- casus Mountains. “Since the age of 17 he has been a professional revolution- ist; down in Georgia his old peasant mother boasts that she worked 18 hours a day in order that her son might not have to follow any other trade. His real name is Djugashvili. * * * Stalin calls himself ‘steel’; evidently he likes to think of himself 'as a man of steel, strong, cold and inflexible. In his room in the Kremln and his guarded office on the top floor of the party headquar- ters, he leads a cloistered and secret life. Few people in Moscow have ever seen him and fewer still know anything about him. Is he married?> Who are his friends? Nobody I asked could an- swer. His quiet even voice is never heard over the radio, and the panther- like movement of his soldierly figure is never seen on the screen. He is a po- litical boss in the best old tradition, omnipotence in the background, with no oracle. Stalin seldom speaks, but, 1ike all strong, silent men, when he does there is no stopping him. Once at a party caucus he delivered a keynote speech five and a half hours long. He makes it a rule to grant no interview; neither the diplomats nor the jour- nalists in Moscow have ever talked to him. Yet last Summer he gave an inter- view to an American labor delegation which lasted six hours. * * * Through the courtesy of the Americans I was fortunate enough to be present at this record-breaking interview, and I have never seen a politician so ‘anxious to be explicit, 5o little inclined to be eryptic or laconic, as the proverbially taciturn hel?dgl the most powerful party in the ‘world.” | | L In “A Lost Commander: Florence Nightingale,” Mary Raymond Shipman |s | The old | nounced: What do vou need to know? Is there some point about vour business or personal life that puzzles you? Is there something you want fo know without. delay? ~ Submit your question 10 Frederic J. Haskin. director of our Washington Information Bureau. He is employed to help you. Address your inquiry to The Evening Star Informa- tion Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, di- rector, Washington, D. C.. and inelose | 2 cents in coin or stamps for return postage. Q. Where is { oper place envelope for return address?—B A. The proper place for a return ad- dress on & letter is in the upper left- hand corner of the envelope. Office Department _discourages the placing of the return address on the backs of envelopes. Q. Name some of the stage plays popular in 1900 —T. H. A. “Barbara Frietchie.” “Ben-Hur,” David Harum,” “Floradora,” *‘Janic Meredith,” “Little Lord Fauntleroy,’ ‘Monte Cristo,” “Mrs. Dane's Defence, Rip Van Winkle, herlock Holme: “The Heart of Maryland.” Q. When was the first Bible published in America?>—M. C. that of John Eliot, “Apostle to the In- dians,” translated into the Indian lan- guage and printed in Cambridge, Mass., 1661-63. The second was a German Bible from the press of Christopher Saur at Germantown, Pa.,, 1743, and the third an English Bible printed in 1782 by R. Aitken in Philadelphia. Q. Who are the oldest and voungest members of the House and Senate?— D. C A. The oldest member of the House of Representatives is Maj. Stedman of North Carolina and the youngest is Fred A. Hartley, jr, of New Jersey. aj. Stidman is 88 and Hartley is 26. Ist member of the United States Senate is Francis C. Warren and the youngest is Robert M. La Follette, jr., of Wisconsin., Senator Warren is 85 and Senator La Follette is 34. Q. How are the following names pro- Lupe Velez, Nils Asther, Ramon Novarro?>—R. N. A. Lupe Velez is pronounced “Loo-pa. Velayz"; it is “Bee-bee,” not. “Bay-ba: Daniels; Nils Asther is “Neels" Asthel Ramon Novarro is “Ray-moan Noh-var- ro” and the accent on the “var.” Q. What is the average space T person occupied in a modern office building?—G. A. D. A. This varies with the tenancy found in a particular building. The tendency with smaller desks and other office equipment is toward a greater density in office buildings. In a subdivided area the average figure has been found to be from 90 to 95 square feet per person, but for large unsubdivided areas which house a large number of clerical help the figure is reduced as low as 60 to 70 square feet per person in some cases. bly the average at present for whole buildings would be from 90 to 100 square feet. Q. How long did “Abie’s Irish Rose” run on Broadway?—V. O'S. A. A newspaper account states that “Abie’s Irish Rose” ran over 2,000 con- secutive nights on Broadway. On Jan- uary 12, 1927, the play had run 2,000 nights on Broadway, which was four years and nearly eight months.” It did not, however, play in the same theater. It opened at the Fulton Theater and later moved to the Republic Theater. Q. Are most of the known stars north of the celestial equator? A. The Naval Observatory says that recent investigations appear to indicate that there are more visible stars south of the equator than north, but this cannot be stated positively. Q. Who patented the process of ir- radiation of foods?—G. C. A. A. Prof. H. Steenbock of Wisconsin University obtained the patent. Q. What is meant by the term “cob- ber"?—V. G. A. “Cobber” appears to be a word more or less synonymous with “comrade.” It is a word of uncertain origin and prob- ably came from some obsolete English word. It refers to a man who is dig- nified, a leader or a chief. S on an | i . M. C. | The Post | A. The first issue in America was | Bebe Daniels, | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Q. Please tell something of Henry Clay's wedding—M. K. A. He was married in 1799 by the minister of the Christ Church Cathe- ! dral (Episcopal) to Miss Lucretia Hart, daughter of Thomas Hart. The Harts lived at the corner of Second and Mill streets, Lexington. Kv.. and were mem- bers of the 2bove named church. Ths marriage took place at the Hart home, which s still standing. Q. Does lightning than once in the sai o presénce of mine: . . The Bureau of Mines says that because lightning has struck often in the same place is no indication that there are mineral deposits there. There is a great difference in the conduc- tivity in different locations. For in- stance, oak trees are considered good | conductors of electricity and maple irees are considered poor conductors of electricity. Q. Has there been an increase in he number of prisoners in the past few years>—R. C. A. The Census Bureau says statistics show that there has been an increase in the number of inmates in peni- tentiaries in the last few years. striking more place indicate 0. | Q. Do fish have the same senses that, an has?—H. B. A. Fish possess all the senses that | men ‘have and one besides. Mass | movements of the water—slow vibra- tions and current—they sense by means of their lateral-line organs—structures | not possessed by land vertebrates. Thus | probably they are aided in detecting approaching ~ danger or possibly in securing food. These same organs may help them to detect currents in the | water and to regulate their move- { ments with reference to them. They may also aid the fish to detect unseen | solid bodies before they swim against |them, More rapid vibrations of the | water they sense with their ears, as | sounds. Owing to the great energy of |sound waves in water, these pass | through the hard tissues of the head and reaeh the internal ear unimpaired. {Thus no other parts of the ear are necessary. But the fish ear is not oniy | primitive in_itself; it exhibits in its various _conditions several grades of | proficiency. In not a single primitive | fish, cyclostome, or elasmobranch, has |the ear been shown (o be a receptor | for what may reasonably be called | tones. The ears of these lower fishes are stimulated only by relatively loud I noises such as have been shown to be effective stimuli for the skin. In the higher fishes, the teleosts, the ears are not oniy stimulated by noises of the kind just mentioned, but they are stimulated by much less intense sounds and sounds in the nature of tones. Q. Do all of our merchant vessels carry doctors?—D. J. 2 A The Public Health Service says that the great majority of the 10,000 merchant vessels registered the partment of Commerce do .not earry medical officers. Ship’s officers are required, however, to know medical first ald principles. - Ships now often ndm‘:e to marine hospitals for medical advice, Q. Was cl Chinese dish! . 8. A. The iruth seems to be that there is no such dish as chop suey known in China, although it is commonly served as Chinese throughout the United States. This_has come about in a curious way. It originated at a dinner that Prince Li Hung Chang gave in New York when he made his trip around the world. Prince Li carried | his own chef with him, and the menu was strictly Chinese. One of the dishes especially delighted the wife of the guest of honor, and she asked Li what it was. Prince Li called in his chef, and the chef replied in Chinese, “It is a creation of my own—a chop suey.’ The words *“chop suey” mean a mixture - or hash. Prince Li said in English, “It is & chop suey.” The American woman spread the news of the chop suey, the wonderful dish. The name was taken up by the Chinése restaurants in Amer- ica, and today chop suey is the chief concoction that they serve. Q. How long has the English Punch been published?—C. T. A. Its first issue was published July 17, 1841, Its first edifor was Mark ' Lemon. m: | hop suey originally a . V. 8. Public interest in the effect of an increasing number of book clubs in the United States is getting beyond the stage of & controversy between the American Booksellers’ Association and the club members. The chief subject of general debate is the question of standardization, existing in many other lines, but now declared to be applied to the sources of national appreciation of literature. In favor of the clubs are the arguments that many persons can- not make their own choice of books, and that the clubs have increased popular interest in reading by their selections. “No book club can pretend to read all the books that are issued,” remarks the Charleston Daily Mail, but it concedes that “the problem of buying the worth- while books grows ever greater with the increasing number to select from.” ‘That paper draws the conclusion: “The danger of any small group of persons, by means of book clubs, controlling the reading (so far as books are concerned) of the American people by recommenda- tion rather than by condemnation is remote. . Club selection of literature is not likely to extend to magazines and riodicals and the press. Besides, the k club may be but a passing fad.” “Some of us like to browse around the book stalls,” says the Syracuse Herald, “to pick up a volume here and one there, and finally possibly to light on something that never saw the white light of publicity, but something that Andrews shows her subject as abhor- ring almost equally the sentimentalities | of philanthropy as then organized and | | Army red tape. Her one aim was to| get things done. Mrs. Andrews is in- dignant at Stzachey's belittling of the | character of Florence Nightingale in | his “Eminent Victorians.” The “angel” | of the Crimean War may have had a | quick temper, she may have been auto- cratic, she may have been unreasona- ble, but she assuredly made the profes- i slon of modern nursing, established a standard of military hygiene and sani- tation and saved hundreds of lives. * kX % Henry the Eighth's last suit of armor still remains in the Tower of London as a silent testimonial to what the years had done to the “tall and masterful prince” we meet in the first pages or Francis Hackett's new biography, “Henry the Eighth. the Personal His- tory of a Dynast and His Wives.” De- scribing Henry's last sallying forth to war, in 1544, Hackett writes: “He could still get into armor, but it was armor with a pauneh on it. You can see it today on a wooden horse in the To get. into it. for i 4 young man, would be like getting into | a roomy hansom-cab. Henry, incasea in this hardware, had to be carefully hoisted on board his warhorse. ———— Cause for Laughter. From the Columbus, Ohio, State Journal. When we see & spinach-fed baby ap- parently in a happy frame of mind we conclude that he's probably just learned that some mothers believe in raw cabbage juice and cod liver oil. i | Tower of London. Well, There Are Elections! Prom the Lansing State Journal. Now that the Tacna-Arica difficulty beiween Chile and Peru appears setiled, South America will have to depend on bullfights and revolutions for its ex-' cltement. | zette, “to conceive of circumstances in i that these readers suits our tastes of our whims perfectly. If- it were not_so, there would be no book stores. Half & dozen volumes a month, sent by mail from some central point, would comprise the book business, and the bibliophiles would become & forgotten race. * * * Always we have with us the old masters, and now and then we add to our treasures a new volume by a modern. Some of these have been ‘books of the month’ and many have not. In the long run the book of the month or of the year will find ftself in the acclaim of intelligent Teaders.” “It is not beyond the limits of imagi nation,” suggests the Schenectady Ga- which such selection might be a grate- ful thing. If a person were marconed on a desert isle, for instance, and had no access to library shelves or book shop stacks, he might appreciate the services of such a committee in col laboration with an accommodating air- ship which would undertake to toss the Volumes down. But for those living in the heart of civilization the selection of reading seems a privilege which should be jealously guarded. * * * It seems more seemly for those who have reached years of discretion to choose their own books, as their own food and clothes and other necessities, and perhaps luxu Hes. The Utica Observer-Dispatch suggests | would not think of | paying a certain sum and giving a blank order to be supplied with lunch- Privilege of Choosing Books Debated as Important Issue ,be left.” The Flint Daily Journal con- | cludes that “the reader who depends |on some one else to choose his literal dieg fails to get ?;:ur bfion of equal and perhaps superior merit.” On the side of the book-club plan the Atlanta Journal says that, “past question, the clubs quicken interest in reading.” The Topeka Daily Capital argues that this method “has revived interest in literature, which had been waning,” and the Springfield Illinois State Journal offers the judgment that “any method or device that makes for added interest in the products of an industry must eventually benefit all those who deal in the products, and the frightened booksellers may be scared before they are hurt.” “What is the poor reader to do?” asks the Kansas City Journal-Post. “He can |no longer take the imprint of a pub- |lisher as a guaranty. It seems that just anybody can have a book published. + '+ + Perhaps more publishers may solve the problem by going back ta the | custom of the men who looked updn a |book as an offering sponsored with |pride. * * * Meanwhile the book | clubs render a service. * The winnowing is helpful, even if not per- fectly done, and from the very nature of the task perfection cannot be ex- pected. The readers are entitled to some help in their extremity. Pointing to the Nation's “new and profitable awareness of books,” the Bal- timore Sun states: “The whole present | quarrel is probably beside the point of beautiful letters, anyway. Most per- we believe, will be inclined to | regard it as a strife which will not d |cide the fate of letters, but will settle |a few points in_practical economics and | competition. Between the growth of rich markets, the strategy of business and the birth of national literature { there is a vast. wide space, into which neither book clubs nor publishers have |as yet set any very impressive feet.” “We will ‘welcome almost anything | that will at least partially restore the reading habit.” says the Tulsa World, while the Worcester Telegram asks, ‘Why worry about standardization, at |least as far as material things are con- cerned?” The Woscester daily adds, “We have standardization because peo- ple want to have things like those pos- sessed by other people and because people want to do things done by other | people. . “The book clubs seem to show.” ac cording to the Springfield Republican, | “that the public will buy more books if |1t can buy them more cheaply. It also shows the possibility of marketing more books among people who lack access to book store: ———— There Is Still Charity. From the Lexington Leader. 5 Anyway, it is more charitable to be- lieve in evolution and assume that man is still in the raw state. eons selected In this manner, although | they appear to be entirely satisfled 1o | turn over to others the business of | choosing for them the food which they | are expected to feed their minds.” The | Muncie Star thinks the public “needs | no special board to courit the literary | calories and vitamins in its reading| menu,” and the Manchester Leader sees | “just another of the standardizing movements that have been sweeping | over the country and tending to wipe out whateves remalning originality of | expression e there may |50 U No Change in Price. From the Ashland (Ky) Daily Indroendent. “Dirt is cheaper.” says a farm paper. :;ll; most book stores still charge two ars. Fiom the Toronto, Canada, Daily Star. Sir John Simon speaks sarcastically of Winston Churchill’s turning his coat. But Winston always has his coats made they can be worn either way. P