Evening Star Newspaper, August 24, 1929, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR ‘With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. SATURDAY.....August 24, 1920 _— THEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor ;110 E: ke Michigan Building. g4, Repent L., London, Englan Rate by Carrler Within ety = The Evening muasinday sar, e :ng anc (when 4 Sundays) . the City. 45¢ per month 60c per month w iara es¢ per month 4 1.5¢ per copy oo ton made &t the shd Gf sach month. Orders may be sent in by mall or telephone Naticnal 5 Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Dally and Sunday....1 yr., $10. Daily only . o, 8 Sunday only 84 All Other States and Canada. 1 yr, $12.00; 1 mo, §! d . Daily only 1 Sunday only Member of the Associated Press. ted in this paper and also the iocal Lews publisked herein. All rights of publication of special dispat herein are also reserved. —_——— Naval Limitation on the March. Parity, yardstick, 6,000-ton cruisers, 10,000-ton cruisers, guns, speed, battle effectiveness, replacements—all these shibboleths of naval disarmament, important as each of them is, vanish into relative insignificance alongside the latest concrete development in the Anglo-American limitation situation. That development is the definite announcement that Prime Minister MacDonald is coming to Washington. He is due about the middle of October. His arrival is bulletined together with the statement that, as a result of the protracted negotiations carried on in London by Ambassador Dawes and the British premier, the groundwork for a cruiser agreement has been effectively laid. We now know why final and formal proclamation of Mr. MacDonald's traveling plans has so long been with- held. Obviously he could not cross the Atlantic on the mere chance of an agreement with the United States. Government international business is not transacted on such a basis. Unless all indications are deceptive, Messrs. MacDonald and Hoover will meet virtu- ally to ratify an understanding for which the way will already have been well and truly paved. There will still be many a slip between the cup of preparation and the lip of limitation, but they are not likely to be slips that can imperil an eventual accord on vital points. Neither Washington nor London has thus far taken the public into its con- fidence as to the precise nature of the foundations on which an Anglo- American cruiser entente is to rest. President Hoover has disclosed the cardinal feature—viz., parity which, by whatever “yardstick” achieved, will assure “the complete defense of the United States in any contingency.” Since Mr. Hoover gave the country that very gratifying assurance, it has come to public knowledge, on apparently well founded authority, that it will probably be necessary, after all, for the United States to bulld the fifteen 10,000-ton cruisers authorized by Congress this year. Even then, it seems, American cruiser strength will not fully equal British tonnage. But by refraining from replacing, during the next four or five years, some of her 70,000-odd tons of cruisers now approaching the obsolete stage, Britain will make pos- sible an approximation ‘of tonnage parity with the United States® fleet— provided always that the American cruiser program is carried out. It these reported bases of agreement prove to be authentic, one highly de- sirable condition will be brought about in Washington. Automatically the threatened cruiser contest between the President and Congress will be averted. There will be no question of the right or wrong of Mr. Hoover's action in curtailing construction of the 1929-1930 cruisers. His move in that direction & month ago will transpire to have been exactly what the United States Gov-| ernment unmistakably intended it to be, namely, a graphic gesture designed to convince Great Britain of the sin- cerity and single-mindedness of our naval limitation program. It is deeply to be regretted that France and Italy, as was the case in the “Coolidge Con- ference” at Geneva in 1927, appear lkely to be missing from the Hoover- MacDonald Conference which is to be convened in London this Winter. There, as at Geneva, only Britain, America and Japan will be in session. It needs to0 be remembered, too, that when the President of the United States and the premier of the British Empire stretch their legs under the White House mahogany in October, they will, and can, let their minds meet on the issues which concern thelir respective gov- ernments. But no vast political per- spicacity is required to know that, once John Bull and Uncle Sam have burled the naval hatchet, all will be well for Anglo-American peace, at sea and otherwise, and that will be well for the whole world. —_—————————— Soviets find that the Chinese people heard all about Communism centuries ago. The Chinese have had a strange history because of a willingness to try anything once and because of a tend- ency to regard war as something eco- nomically inevitable. ——r———————— Travel by dirigible is expensive, but there is evident expectation that the comfort and safety will be worth the money. ——— e The Parking Question. The Commissioners have not yet acted on Traffic Director Harland's rec- ommendation that parking on the south side of P street between Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets. be abolished. They ‘undoubtedly wish to study the matter ;¢ and to sound out sentiment before they take the first step in what is generally recognized as the beginning of the end as far as downtown parking is con- cerned, Nothing will be lost by such & study; on the contrary, much may be _ tunate that it has been able to retain congested district parking up to the ?pnlwttum. Other cities years ago found it necessary to bar standing vehicles in order fil;mfl: might .~ move. Washington, Ats wide streets, has been able to allow full lati- tude to parkers. B This situation, of course, cannot go on forever. The important ‘traffic is moving trafic. “Dead” vehicles parked at the curb cannot be allowed to inter- fere with transportation. As long as they do not interfere there is no reason why parking should not be permitted, but when the moving stream is slowed up or stopped altogether the time for drastic action has arrived. Conditions on ¥ street between Thir- teenth and Fourteenth streets have long |indicated the need for the barring of parking. In fact, from Seventh to Fif- teenth streets on both F and G they are rapidly reaching the acute stage. The trafic office undoubtedly made its mild recommendation—the barring of parking in only one block and only on one side of the street—reluctantly. The parking privilege is zealously guarded by citizens, and the trafic office has been entirely sympathetic to this atti- tude. It may well be, therefore, that the Commissioners in approving the recom- mendation for abolition of parking in this particular block may be delaying the time when all parking in the down- town district must' join the limbo of forgotten things. Clearing the street in this important section may so relieve conditions that the ban in other squares may not become either necessary or desirable for an appreciable period. It is an obvious fact that eventually all parking must be abolished in the business section of the National Capital. Despite the increase in the number of automobiles, Washington's wide streets up to the present time have adequately accommodated the volume of traffic. The time has come, however, when measures must be taken to avoid con- merchants nor motorists, and would not be justified by conditions. Authority to Reroute. One of the many important changes made by the Public Utllities Commission In rewriting the old merger agreement is the insertion of the following pro- vision: “Approval of this agreement by joint resolution or act of Congress of the United States shall constitute and con- fer jurisdiction on the Public Utilities Commission to issue any order reason- ably necessary to secure the operating and other economies contemplated by this merger. And said orders shall have the same legal effect and be enforceable in the same manner as other orders of the said commission.” ‘The old morger agreement contained no mention of the benefits to be se- cured by the public through rerouting or other conveniences under merger other than the guarantee of free trans- fers. There was a great deal of talk about rerouting plans, and there were lengthy documents drawn by transpor- tation engineers setting forth proposed changes. But these were left in the air until the merger would be ratified. And they were so high in the air that no unanimity of opinion existed as to what changes would be made, while the Pub- lic Utilities Commission itself was with- out authority to initiate changes except for the rather hazy and indefinite lan- guage concerning the powers of the commission to order joint use of utilities equipment that is found in the public utilities act. The addition to the merger agree- ment, recited above, gives the commis- sion definite authority to order and put into effect reasonable changes in oper- ation to bring about the conveniences to the car-riding public and the econ- omies of merged operation that are held out as the chief benefits of merger. It is probably intended as an instru- ment to force such changes, or to settle controversial points ifi rerouting, if the necessity should arise. Responsibility for the initiation of changes would rest with the new company and its operat- ing experts. But if their plans are considered unsatisfactory or inadequate, the commission would be equipped to take the necessary steps. The commis- sion is understood already to have given thorough study to routing changes. When the merger is ratified it will be able to advance a number of definite suggestions for change and can speak with authority for t.helr adoption. B Religious discussion too often results in little that impresses the respect for religion. Representatives of churchly influence too often go beyond the ex- pressions permitted in ordinary political debate. —e g ‘The Graf Zeppelin is on its way to make what was once considered an im- possible journey appear a comparatively short trip, A Job for the Judges. Between 50 and 75 warrants are is- sued every day in Police Court for serv- ice on motorists who have disregarded the cards given them, or left in their cars, by policemen, and which offer them the privilege of going to & pre- cinct station or to Police Court and surrenderine collateral or standing trial for some violation of the traffic regula- tions. ‘Theo abuse of this privilege, which results in the issuance of all these warrants, has led Judge McMahon to protest against the present system. He would have offending motorists brought to police precincts and forced to surrender collateral on the spot. If they cannot furnish the money, they would be locked up. It lies within the power of Judge McMahon and his fellow “idges at Police Court to end the abuse Le com- plains of without unduly penalizing the " | occasional traffic law violator. The sys- tem now adopted, whereby a motorist is spared the hardship of long waits in Traffic Court and'is given time ade- quately to prepare himself financially for his trip to a precinct station, is a good system, designed to end the con- gestion in Traffic Court and to keep the policemen, otherwise engaged in haul- ing their prisoners to a.police station, patrolling the streets, where they are most needed. If a traffic violator re- fuses or neglects to go to court when 50 ordered, and is finally arrested on a warrant, the judges in Police Court|doesn’t, should be able adequately to deal with him by inflicting & stiff punishment. But there is no occasion to change the present system merely to deal with what now constitutes & minority of trafiic offenders, It the motorist understands 5 Y that 1 THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 1929. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL, neglect of a policeman’s orders to go to a police station or Police Court will inevitably bring him before & judge who is prepared to punish him for his of- fense and to make him pay double for the additional work his case has caused the government, the motorist will think twice before running such a risk. The Police Court judges are in an excellent position to direct the attention of of- fenders to the pendities in store for them. Their continued zeal in fixing these penalties will accomplish more than changing a very satisfactory sys- tem. I e — Senator Edge as Ambassador. It Senator Walter .E. Edge of New Jersey becomes American Ambassador to France, as now seems virtually cer- tain, the United States will be ably represented at that important: diplo- matic post. At the same time the Sen- ate will lose a member who in his more than ten years of service has been an energetic legislator. He, is among the leaders on the Republican side of the alsle. Reports have been in cireulation for several months that the New Jersey Senator was slated to fill the diplo- matic vacancy at Paris. These rumors are borne out by the announcement just made at the State Department that, at the President’s request, the French government has been informed of the desire to appoint Senator Edge. France has let it be known that the appointment would be an agreeable one. 5 Senator Edge is a member of several of the most important committees in the upper branch of Congress—commit- tees which have kept him in touch with international as well as national af- fairs. He ranks high among the Re- gestion. A gradual elimination of park- | publican membership of the foreign re- ing, whenever and wherever it is found | lations committee, and on the finance necessary, would seem to be the best|committee which is now handling the method. A drastic rule for abolition at | tariff bill. He also is a member of the this date would probably please neither | banking and currency committee. As chairman of the interoceanic canals committee, he directed passage of a resolution recently, calling for an engineering survey of the proposal for an additional canal between the At- lantic and Pacific across Nicaragua and a study at the same time of the ad- visability of enlarging the Panama Canal. During the last Congress he was & member of the commerce com- mittee while it was drafting the legis- lation to encourage development of an American merchant marine. This background of experience should stand him in good stead in his new field of service. ot The widow of Tex Rickard is said to have been left an estate of about five thousand dollars. The claim is in line with the frequent impression that much of the money involved in sporting enter- prises is imaginary. ‘The business of Henry Ford may seek some world area where there is no alco- holic temptation. Such a discovery will mean much and immediate immigration will be assured. —— e r—t—————— Even diplomatic circles are not exempt from the embarrassment of the servant who, seeking better wages, summarily turns over the latchkey and the can- opener. Possession of extraordinary wealth by the former Kaiser may arouse some curiosity among German economists as to what he intends to do with all his money. Some of the voices from the screen sound as if the “talkies” might be made the means of promoting business for gentlemen who sell cough drops. ———re. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Sclentific Life. ‘This is the scientific life! ‘We figure and we plan. In hours of pleasure or of strife The same old talk we scan, Even the criminal who tries On shooting to insist ‘Will call, to give us a surprise, ‘The psychoanalyst. And we, the public, must admit We are a bunch of rubes, ‘When some inventor makes a hit ‘With new-style radio tubes, ‘Though old-time sentiments we flout ‘Where simple joys were rife, ‘We say “This is, beyond a doubt, ‘The scientific life.” Variability. “What are your political opinions?” “Ask me later,” said Senator Sor- ghum. “It’s a long time till next elec- tion.” Jud Tunkins says he never lost a friend, but-he has met several folks who started in friendly, for business purposes, and afterward strayed off on their own account. = Guessing” Contest. ‘The conference was a blessing, ‘With hope for you and me. The public kept on guessing ‘What the result would be. Entranced. “Did you dance with the Prince of ‘Wales when he was in this country?” “Yes,” answered Miss Cayenne, “Is he a good dancer?” ‘How could I know? I was so flat- tered and enthused that I could not possibly take notice.” “To speak,” sald Hi Ho, the sage of Chindtown, “brings on argument. Our ancestors seem wise because they are now silent and cannot be contradicted.” Passing of the Truly Rural. Now rural life has lost its charm. ‘The filvver, mournful to relate, Has turned what was a happy farm Into suburban real estate. “You can’t judge by sound,” said Uncle Eben. “De locomotive whistle often makes you think dat de ingine must be sufferin’ great pain.” " Difference of Opinion. The boy who tells tall ones is & familiar figure in everv office. . He can match any experience with one better or bigger. No matter what any one has done, h;"hu done something more worth- while. If you have seen a beautiful building America, he has seen the Taj Mahal in in India. If you have been to London, he has | pal been to Paris, and Paris, of course, is far_superior to London in every way. If you have read of a strange ex- perience, he has read of a stranger; if you have visited an interesting cavern, he has been through a more thrilling one; if you have been up in a balloon, he has sailed the skies in an airplane. His facility at going other people one better at anything and everything amounts to postive genius, unless one prefers to call *n fosmve Tying. * % He began as a small boy back in the old home town. ter has such a vivid imagina- tion,” sald his mother, when the neigh- boring children came traoping over one night to see a “magic lantern show” which didn’t exist. ‘Young Walter, approaching his com- panions during the course of the day, told each one that his father had just returned from the city and had brought him a beautiful, big magic lantern. Now that was in the day when a magic lantern was a magic lantern. The motion picture was just coming in. Everybody in town went up to the schoolhouse to sce the latest scientific marvel, the 100-foot film showing the run of a city fire department. The magic lantern was all that the most luxurious household could secure in the way of snappy up-to-date parlor entertainment. The ambition of every boy was to own one, When Paw supplied the marvel a “show” was worked up right away, with the admission running as high as two pins in some cases. Well, Walter longed for a magic lan- tern, and he longed for it so hard that he finally got one—in his own imagi- nation. Walter had a dandy imagina- tion, no one could dispute that. To each playmate he described the lantern, even to its exact dimensions and colors. He pictured in glowing hues the different scenes which ‘his outfit would display. and ended his dis- course by inviting the audience of the moment to attend a show that evening. Boydom was rampant. The vill>ge of youth was agog. “Walter's goin’ to have a magic lantern show, Maw; his father just brought it to him from Louisville, and can I go, Maw?” When the audience got there it found the cupboard bare of magic lantern, slides or screen. Walter had just begun his lifelong spinning of tall tales, as they are called. * ok kK The grown-up Walter has a story ready for everybody and everything. He is so persistent in his fancies that he convinces many and causes the re- mainder to be in doubt. The fellow is such a cheerful fabri- cator, he tells 'em with such a serious air, that even when one knows he is ‘making them up out of the whole cloth one is inclined to half belleve him, Some one says t he read in the paper that an explorer had been forced to eat rattlesnake, and found it not half bad. Walter pipes up at once, “Oh, it is pretty good!” Every one looks at Walter. “What! You have eaten rattlesnakes?” Every one looks at him again. Walter ex- nds under the flam:u, for they are food and drink to him. “Yes,” he admits modestly, smacking his lips, “and it is not bad, either.” The comparative merits of beef and pork are discussed at length. “What does it taste like?” some one asks. ‘This ought to floor Walter, but it doesn’t. He is always ready with an answer. No one has ever caught him napping yet. “Just like chicken,” he replies. “Just like chicken,” runs around the board. No one else has ever eaten rat- tlesnake, and no one else proposes to eat rattlesnakes, so there is no disput- the omniscient Walter. Maybe rattlesnake tastes like chicken and maybe it doesn’t, but at any rate ‘Walter has won again. You can't beat that boy. 4 * kK ok “I hear the So-and-So stocks have gone up,” you say, carelesslike, ‘Walter cocks a restless ear. “That s0?” he asks, “Yes,” you add. “Selling for 325 vt “Guess I'll just call up my broker, tell him to get me 5,000 shares,” says Walter, very carelessly. And if you didn’t know Walter you would honestly think he meant ft. Walt’s adventures all seem to have taken place around the rim, as it were, away off in borderlands where it is pretty hard to check up on him. That was where he flew an airplane almost as fast as the record and did some tail spins that would have made a ring-tailed monkey gasp for envy. It was away down yonder somewhere that he drove his automobile more than 500 miles while sound asleep. Sure he was asleep. No, he didn't mean maybe. He was as sound asleep as you have ever been in your nice soft bed. Of course, he did wake up at the curves, through some luck or provi- dence or something, but no sooner was he around the corner than he would g0 right back to sleep again. He would come out of it to find him- self just about to go off the road. Then he would give the wheel a wrench, get the car lined up in the right direction and give her a free rein again. Dropping soundly to sleep, he would g0 spinning along the dark road for another 136 miles. The funny thing was how he always waked up just at the next curve. Yes, it's a wonder he didn’t break his fool neck. Every one loves Walter, though. He adds immensely to the joy of life. The rest of us have such plodding imagina- tions that we are content to negotiate an automobile trip awake, but Walter shows us how it might be done while enjoying & nice little snooze. He enjoys ‘bto amd, of course, it doesn’t hurt any- y. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. Every dog has his muzzle, but still there are muzzles to spare, so they are proposing to fit them on the press, in- cluding both publishers and distributers of newspapers and of books created shivering in the early fog, and tryirg to take her cold bath while shivering, “even as you or 1.” It makes a beholder shiver in sympathy. Poor kid! But read the rest of the publicity expe s abroad. The idea is involved in the | story: tariff bill—a strange combination seek- ing to protect infant industries and in- fantile readers as if they were all alike. Of course, there is the famous “Bill of Rights” in the Constitution, the first amendment providing that: “Congress shall make no law respecting an estab- lishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the peoplq peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Govern- ment for a redress of grievances.” * kX ok Yet the House of Representatives in framing the new tariff bill has written into it a provision excluding from this country “immoral articles in print, and any written matter urging treason, in- surrection or forcible resistance to any law of the United States, or containing any threat to take the life of, or inflict bodily harm on, the President of the United States.” ‘The Senate amends so that threats against the life or person of anybody in the United States bars the matter from entry. 3 * ok ok ok There is probably no American who would argue for such license of speech or printing as to admit and welcome treason or conspiracy for the overturn of our Government by violence, and further prevention of obscene literature must meet the approval of all decency, but the question that is raised by critics of the pending legislation is not tech- nical in claiming that it violates the first amendment to the- Constitution, nor a protest against the objectives. It is a practical question as to how the censorship as now exercised by Treasury officials, without recourse, shall be safe- guarded against bureaucratic bias and ignorant or fanatical abuse. * ok ok K It will be recalled that the Consti- tution as originally framed did not meet with popular approval because it failed to provide a “Bill of Rights” protect- ing the public from violation of “cer- tain unalicnable rights” mentioned in the Declaration of Independence. The French Revolution, then brewing, was echoed in America. Only upon the pledge that as soon as it was adopted, with its machinery for amendment, the “Bill of Rights” would be put into it, as amendments, was the Constitution's ratification secured. At no time in all that agitation was it ever considered that the first amena- ment meant’to open the door to trea- son, conspiracy and immorality and bind our Government against self-de- ense. Nor was it supposed that Lu- eaucracy should supplant the courts in applying the laws of exclusion, con- struing both facts and the law. * ok k% A recent instance, now cited by an open press, is the action in excluding a classic of French literature, “Can-, dide,” by Voltaire, because some official censor of the Treasury objected to its ethics and morals. Ultimately the ex- clusion was rescinded by orders from “higher up.” Next we may expect some bureaucrat to look with horror on works of art because they may picture nudity, which would shock the untrained in artistic expression. Take an_actual case for illustration: Behold that exquisite nude child in its cold, cold bath—“September Morn.” Isn't it terrible that such a picture en- tered this. country before the new tariff law? What a pity that it cannot now be reached with an ex post facto law and excluded or banished as an unde- sirable alien! Can’t Congress do somc- “‘September Morn’ was not an im- moral picture then; it is not today. It was _just a simple little picture, which would have passed on, unnoticed und unsung, but for the guilelessness of that zealous old reformer, Anthony Com- S{ALCR' then head of the Anti-Vice So- ciety. “When the Russman Art Corporation engaged me to exploit the picture, they told me that a great many prints had been made and were not selling. I wasn't surprised. It wasn't a real work of art, and it wasn't sensational, But it ‘was up to me to make it both. “I had my employers to put an en- largement on display in the window of an art shop on West Twenty-third street. I then went down to Green- wich Village and hired 10 boys and girls of various ages and sizes to stand in-front of the window. I coached them how to act whenever anybody stopped to look at ‘September Morn.” “Finally, I called on Comstock, launched upon a bitter denunciation of this immoral display, and insisted that he accompany me, so that he could see with his own eyes how it was under- mining the morals of the youth of our fair city. He fell. “Together, we walked down Fifth avenue to Twenty-third street. When we came to the window where the pic- ture was on display, my youngsters were standing there pointing at it and mak- ing grimaces intended to convey the impression that they were getting a great thrill out of it. “Comstock took one look and was horrified. He ordered the picture re- moved forthwith, but the shop owners refused to obey. The Anti-Vice Society head appealed to the courts. The news- papers leaped to the story with great glee. ‘September Morn’ became famous overnight. Songs were written around it, vaudeville artists joked about it, reform ministers denounced it, and in the next six months 4,000,000 men and women bought it at $1 a copy. For this job I received exactly $45, out of which I had to pay the children who helped me 50 cents apiece.” * ok ok % ‘While the above is the s of legit- imate enterprise, does it m ind.\ecq:be infinite possibilities of blackmail under inefficient bureaucracy? It is a demon- stration that, as Shakespeare put it, “Nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” It also demon- strates that what is “bad” today may be perfectly good tomorrow, and that the crucial test of the beneficence of a press censure is the method of its in- terpretation. Upon any arbitrary test, the Holy Bible could not pass an Ameri- | T, can censorship; it didn't pass the censor- ship of Rome when it was translated by any person but a Roman Catholic, and there are many passages which today cannot be read in mixed company. Yet who dares call it immoral? Will the new tariff law exclude it? It is an alien library. * k k% What are the accepted standards of blasphemy and profanity, as defined in literature that passes through our mails unchallenged? ~ Within the last few weel ,000 prize for the best novel gnsed ot?u the Vgutld Wnrmhls been won y @ story whose opening paragraphs reek with baldest profanity and blas- phemy, in an effort to show the “rough- neck” character of American soldiers. “Don’t stop, for C—'s sake. Every time we stop, this damn mule lies down. * * ¢ Keep that G——dam mule guiet. Is “Candide” more profane? beam in eur own eye so that we see it not, while suffering such pains over the mote of imported clas- sics? The new censorship applies only wiil | to imports., Native American anarchists are not ‘affected by the tariff regulations barring undesirable Bolsheviki, Is that what a “protective tariff” is for? ® (Copyright, 1029, by Paul V. Collins.) Another Joh for the League. the | Prom the Seattle Daily Times. From the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. | R ‘The New York State food authorities say you mustn’t call an fresh after 30 days. The fellow opens it THE LIBRARY TABLE By the Booklover Life on Southern plantations in the seventeenth, eighteenth and early nine- teenth centuries 1s described from ma- terial furnished by the plantation owners and their overseers themselves in “Life and Labor in the Old South,” by Ulrich B. Phillips, The records of the owners are supplemented by letters and diaries of travelers who were hospitably ehter- tained on the plantations. Three ters of the book contain the most inter- esting of these accounts, and furnish valuable social history—*Some Vlrgnll Masters,” “Southeastern Plantations™ and “Planters of the Southwest.” Mr. Phillips says: “As a rule, sojourners wrote more illuminatingly than tourists, because more intimately and with some continuity of experience. Philip Fithian, J. H. Ingraham, A. de Puy Van Buren, Emily Burke and Catherine Hopley went as teachers, Nehemiah Adams and T. D. Ozanne as preachers, Solomon Northup went as a Negro kidnaped into slavery, and wrote a vivid account of plantation life from the under side, But ex-slave narratives in general, and those of Charles Ball, Henry Box Brown and Esther Henson in particular, were issued with 50 much abolitionist editing that as a class their authenticity is doubt- ful.” Propaganda was present in much of the writing done specifically for the press, so care must be exercised by the student using such material. The ac- counts of travelers are usually free from propaganda, but have other faults as documents. They often take note of what is unfamiliar to the writers and do not discriminate between exceptional happenings and the regular routine of plantation life. Mr. Phillips lists his material as diaries of routine, financial! records, overseers’ reports, miscellanies of letters, legal documents and vouch- ers, and these are “often, of course, mingled with a mass of trivial rubbish.” * X X ¥ i Life on the Carter plantation in Vir- ginia may be followed through scat- tered records for at least four genera- tions. The “chief architect of the fam- 1ly fortune” was Robert Carter, born in 1663. His wealth, many public offices and “domineering demeanro” won him the name of “King Carter.” By the be- ginning of the eighteenth century he was one of the leading landed pro- prietors in the Northern Neck, and at his death the inventory of his estate, left to his nine children, made a huge catalogue! On his estate at Corotoman were 17 indentured white servants, some of whom were sailors, tailors, carpenters, a glazier, a bricklayer and a black- smith, and 33 slaves. On his wide- spreading lands in nearly a dozen coun- ties were about 700 slaves, 100 or more horses, nearly 1,000 cattle, as many swine, and several hundred sheep. The slaves were distributed over the land in about 50 “quarters,” with a white over- seer and a slave foreman over each group. The fourth surviving son of this “King Carter,” Landon, was master of Sabine Hall, Mangorike, and the Forks, near the Rappahannock, and Rippon Hall and Ring’s Neck, on the York. He kept an interesting diary, in which he recorded data concerning crops, prices, slaves, overseers, politics, wars and gen- eral news, travel, house parties and bar- becues, the management of his house- hold, the education of his children and family quarrels. His chief crops were cereals, tobacco, flax, hemp and cotton. He had considerable trouble with his slaves and was not always satisfled with his overseers. One entry reads: is a strange year about my overseers— some horrid, hellish rogues, and others religious_villains.” Robert Carter of Nomini Hall was a nephew of Landon Carter. His homestead is described by Philip Fithian, who was tutor to his children, 1773-74. This Carter, called Councilor Carter, because of his mem- bership in the governor’s council, had 17 children, and the expenses of life at Nomini Hall were heavy. Fithian notes that the food consumed annually in- cluded 20 beeves, 27,000 pounds of pork, 500 bushels of wheat, unmeasured corn, 4 hogsheads of rum and 3 barrels of whisky, with much Madeira—and this was when a number of the children were not yet born. There were 28 fireplaces, and in Winter six oxen hauled four loads of wood a day to supply them. The handsome estate of Shirley came into the Carter family when John Car- ter, son of “King Carter,” married the daughter of Col. Edward Hill, who had built the original house at Shirley, on the James River, in 1650. Charles Car- ter, son of John, found this house too small for his family of 23 children, and | that enlarged it by adding a third story in mansard style. 1In 1833 Shirley was the home of Hill Carter, grandson of Charles. In that year it was visited by Henry Barnard, a Yale graduate, who described the life there. The table was sumptuously supplied. At dinner were served soup, saddle of mutton, ham, beef, turkey, ducks, eggs, sweet potatoes, greens, hominy, champagne, plum pud- ding, tarts, ice cream, brandied peaches, figs, raisins, almonds, Madeira, port and sweet wine (for the ladies). * ok ok ok Life on the plantations of the South- east and Southwest was not as elegant and luxurious as in Virginia. In Louis- iana concomitants of plantation life were yellow fever and malaria. John Palfrey, a Boston merchant, bought a tract of wild land on Bayou I'Albaye, in Louisiana, and a parcel of slaves to work it. He thus became a Louisiana planter, and kept journals, in which he recorded the expenses and happenings of his estate. He cajled his place For- lorn Hope, and there passed the re- mainder of his life in melancholy seclu- sion. Two of his sons died of yellow fever, and malaria among his slaves caused such expense that he was obliged to sell a slave man for $525 to pay the doctor. Palfrey’s chief crop was, at first, cotton, and his slaves picked from Sep- tember to February. As he had no gin, he sent it to a neighbor to be ginned in the Summer of 1812, and then the war with Great Britain depressed the price, and he was obliged to sell at great loss to pay his debts. Finding the moist climate of the Teche district unfavorable to cotton, Palfrey changed his crop to sugar, and built a sugar mill in 1829. e new crop helped to pay off the debts of the cotton failure. the years of faflure and modest _success, yellow fever and malaria, Palfrey's slaves increased steadily, and he seems to have treated them well. In 1811 he owned 23, and at the time of his death, in 1843, the number was more than trebled. After the death of Palfrey, Forlorn Hope was sold. Mr. Phillips says of the son of John Palfrey: “This planter was often hampered by illness in his crops and his family, by hurri. canes and excessive rain. His l%- lati- tude, however, gave his sugar cane a long growing season, and sometimes a ;wholly r;oisttlscss ;r eng brought the luxury of leisured harvest in a full; ripened crop. His lcl.le’ns > 2",,.{ such as occasionally to yield 300 heads of sugar. He was expert, going and never unprosperous, and liking for ?lnnmtm life caused his lines to lie in pleasant places.” * % Kk % Amateur de luxe cruising, flavored with science, is described by Mrs. John en in “The Cruise of the Northern Light.” The author’; y- ‘Through | Frie his | “Larger and better airships, ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Many readers send in questions signed only with initials, asking that the an- swers appear in the newspaper. The space is limited and would not accom- modate a fraction of such requests. The answers published are ones that may interest many readers, rather than the one who asks the question only. All questions should be accompanied by !the writer's name and address and 2 cents in coin or stamps for reply. Send your question to The Evening Star In- formation Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. C. Q. Did any of the early rallway trains make speed records?—E. E, F. A: As early as 1845 a record was made in England of 45 miles in 52 minutes. . At one time the train was proceeding at the rate of one mile in | 48 seconds, or “at the astonishing ve- locity of 75 miles an hour.” In the same year the American Railroad Jour- nal said: “The other day on the Lon- don & Birmingham, and on the Great Northwestern Rallway, a rate of travel at the speed of 65 miles an hour was accomplished. The express trains on these lines run at the rate of nearly 50 miles an hour, stoppage included.” During 1848 the Antelope engines on the Baltimore & Ohio Raillroad made a speed of 60 miles an hour. Q. What was the name of the con- crete or cement used by the ancients for building blocks and for roads? Was it durable?>—G. R. A. The factitious stones employed by the Babylonians and early Egyptians, as well as among the Greeks and Romans, and at the present at Barbary and among the nations of Malabar, were all a species of beton. Pliny mentions that the columns which adorn the peristyle of the Egyptian labyrinth were of this material and the great length of time it has existed (over 3,600 years) shows the durability of this form of construction. The Romans made free use of this material in constructing their walls, aqueducts, piers and roads. Portions of these still remain. Q. How many types of airplanes are being manufactured?—F. D. A. There are over 200 types of air- planes being manufactured at the pres- ent time, Q. Is Garcia, to whom the “Message” was sent, still living—W. E. A. This Cuban patriot died in 1898. Q. What was the last name of the musician known as Blind Tom?— M. B. H. 5 A. His mother's name was Charity Wiggins. He was sold with his mother to Gen. Bethune. Afterward he was known as Thomas Green Bethune. He was born blind, was first led to a piano when about 4 years old and was permitted to play on it. Blind Tom, who gave concerts throughout the igl‘;gm'y, was born in 1849 and died in Q. What is acidosis?>—S. D. S. A. Physiologists define acidosis, or acid intoxication, as a condition in which the blood and tissues contain acid. Q. How much money was presented to Gen. Lafayette by the United States Government?—W. F. A. A draft from Congress presenting tion of his sacrifices and services” an | receipted by the general is now on an excess of acids other than carbonic | Lafayette with $200,000 in “apprecia- display in the main lobby of the Trease ury Building in Washington, D. C. Q. Who was the first United States officer to fly over German lines?>—M. L, A. Brig. Gen. William Mitchell, Q. In a weight-for-age race, how is a horse handicapped?—L. H. A. According to his age, Edgar Wal- lace, writing on the subject, says, “A 3-year-old may carry 8 stone 2 pounds, & 4 or 5 will carry 9 stone—less the weight of the jockey, of course—but this weighing is further complicated by the distance over which ;?c‘;aoe is run and the month in which run.” Q. What was the the Greek amphora?—R. A. About 10 gallons. Q. How long has there been agitation concerning development of Muscle Shoals?—S. N. N. A. The records of the American Philosophical Society reveal that as long as 127 years ago the potentialities of Muscle Shoals were recognized and a plan for their development submitted. Of the event the minutes of the so- clety’s meeting of April 2, 1802, bear the following entry: “Donations: A plan for Mussel Shoals, Tennessee. Mr. Vaughan appointed to obtain from Sam Brown, of Lexington, some further ac- count of it for publication.” There is nothing in the society's early records to indicate, however, that anything was ever done about it.” Q. Where is the Carnegie medal that was struck in memory of the heroes of the Titanic disaster?—H. B. A. A gold medal and bronze tablet appropriately inscribed were deposited in the Natiomal Museum at Washington, D. C. It is a memorial to “those whose chivalrous conduct and self-sacrifice hav]ed Jprofoundly moved the civilized world.” Q. What are the tops to fruit jars | made of?>—L. D. A. At least 60 per cent of the caps for fruit jars are made of zinc with porcelain lining. Some are made of sheet steel coated with lead and some | of aluminum or aluminum alloy. | Q. Does reindeer meat taste like ven- {ison?—R. I A. Tt 15 said to have a little tang but not the gamey flavor of venison. Q. How large is the biggest star that has been measured?>—G. N. H. A. Antares is the largest star of which we have reasonably accurate measure~ ments, its diameter being about 400,- 000,000 miles; in volume it is 100,000,000 | times as large as the sun, and 125,000,~ | 000,000,000 times as large as the earth, Q. What is the celebration thatr Ice- |land will hold next Summer?—M. D. A. Invitations have been sent to all Trepresentative countries of the world to participate in the celebration of the thousandth anniversary of the estab- |lishment of the Althing, or Icelandie | Parliament. The 1930 celebration will {be held at Thingvellir, the spot at | which the Norse Vikings first met in general assembly in 930 AD. Q. When was coffee first grown in the West Indies>—R. D. P. \ A A few seedlings, raised from | Arabian berries, were brought by sail- |ing ship in 1720 to the West Indies. They were sent from the Jardin des lantes in Paris to the French colony i of Martinique. normal capacity of N. R. To Progress American opinion on the future of lighter-than-air transportation, as re- flected in comments on the achieve- ments of the Graf Zeppelin, appreciates the tremendous progress made by the German ploneers, though most observers do not overlook the obstacles which still must be overcome before the airship can be considered seriously as a com- merce carrier. ‘The Baltimore Sun holds that “the Graf and her successors will have to make more than one trip to establish commercial aviation on a very grand scale as a regular thing,” but concedes “a very notable beginning has been made. And when all the factors and difficulties are called to mind,” adds the Sun, “this beginning seems almost to be a summation of the ambitious de- velopment of air travel in recent years.” The Davenport Democrat agrees that Dr. E:%ke?»" ott thtéo cm:’x ’3;5 got:lkel; “another long step towar o showing the world that his Zeppelins must be seriously considered as com- merce carriers of the future.” As described by the Rock Island Ar- gus, the flight across.Siberia- was “as truly & ploneering venture as was the first trip taken across the American ;vfldemmi t;:n n: uycovered wagon, and raught wi as many dangers.” The Manchester Union recognizes “a long step forward in the performance 'of the dirigible.” “It is 80 lo any ship of tI gy md‘f;&i&‘{nemn of the super e " says the Akron Beacon-Journal, “that & caution which would be best served by doing nothing to court a failure might urge that the German Zeppelin company ought to be content for a while with triumphs already gained in its great fleld of transport. The very fact that these objections do not pre- vail, that they have been considered and put aside, only proves how well grounded 1s the faith of the company in the worth of its airships and their ability to meet :finl_yvi ::sg required by modern transport “It is only relative to say that the air has been conquered,” u:ywrdlng to the Providence Journal. “The Zeppelin had good luck on her Eastward trip. There have been Atlantic storms that might have torn her to pieces if she had been out in them. But with in- creasing experience dirigibles will be built capable of withstanding more tem- pestuous conditions than the pride of drichshafen et _encountered. Every voyage will help o show designers and builders how to remedy weak points and produce craft better calculated to be accepted by the traveling public as| ) reasonably safe in rough weather.” Pointing to the present lack in m: places of “rudimentary wea ot De: the Moines Register concludes that “the possibility of reliable and safe service in years to come when auxiliary services are provided everywhere will be obvious to every one.” The Salt Lake Deseret News forecasts “the time when girdling the globe by air will be as regular and as commonplace as a steamship’s trip from port to vastly more expeditious and exhilarat- ing.” The Shreveport Journal declares: th plenty of room for freight and rs, will be built, provided American financial interests can be induced to put up the required . That ought not to be mcl‘x,y:t:lk‘;,:n mu! the ":ecorfl hung up e gas on latest un- dertaking.” - 4 Ze] X4 of the Sassdenn Slar-ews oo - t.(::“ tih:o’dkmbla type of air- m good speed with safety over long distances. The Mureh I.nm tlfy h“x‘fi% d b 0] ent - ment of commercial aviation, oo 7 le hangars and s port, as dependable and'| ‘Weather Hazard Greates{Bar of Air Carriers remark that “stark poverty is the por- tion of those peasants who, huddled in terror, saw in the strange monster cleaving the skies only a visitation of divine wrath.” The Post-Dispatch adds its belief that “the airship and the air- plane will retrieve Siberia from its iso- lation. They will give it its place on the world's trade routes. They will re- :ileem it from its squalor and supersti- on.” “Whatever the merits of the discus- sion as to whether the dirigible has a useful place in the field of air trans- port,” remarks the Indianapolis News, “there is no question about the skill and courage of German leaders in the de- sign, construction and flying of this craft. * % * It is obvious that many things can happen. The prospect of being forced down at sea or in an uninhabited country would discourage any but the most skillful and confident crew. * * * Commercial dirigibles do not appeal to the American people. Indeed, if it were not for the support given to the American dirigible industry by the Federal Government, there would be none. The country appears to be convinced that the future of air trans- port is in the airplane.” “Steamship operators, calling atten- tfon to the recent records of the Bremen and Mauretania,” it is pointed out by the Oakland Tribune, “say that the old method will continue to be favored for many years, for it is not dependent upon weather. What boots it if the Atlantic is crossed in two days if three are wasted in waiting for favorable weather? Out of the discussion it is evident that men believe, whether it be the Zeppelin or others, that something is to bring extraordinary development in air trans- portation within a short time.” e Poetry Not Mistress Easily Abandoned From the Providence Journal. An American poet has returned from England with the announcement that he is through with poetry and will here- after devote himself to movies and plays, Through with poetry, indeed! Was there ever any one who was through with it after having once been ensnared in its golden mesh of fancy? This poet may think he is through with it, but some fine morning he will find himself sitting, pencil or pen in hand, or maybe confronting his faithful typewriter, again enggged in the old familiar task of putting, so far as he is able, the rhythmic product of his imagination on per. Poetry is not a mistress to be incon- sequently abandoned. She has a way of reasserting her sway over the poet. She holds up nature and beauty before him, tempts him with simile and anal- 0gy, appeals to his fondness for cadence and music, summorss him to speak anew in song. Once a poct, always a poet, though there have been contrary ex- amples of poets newly developed in the mature or elderly years of life. There was Thomas Hardy, for instance, who suddenly ceased the business of writing novels and gave himself over to poetry instead. We venture to predict that it will not be long before this American poet who has abandoned the Muse will be wooing her with his erstwhile ardency. Cancer Research Study Of Food Effects Urged To_the Editor of The Star: u:l!:‘ee:"i.sdlm 'i;'}"m the ll‘l:!u! o; caused e of civilization, overrefined f‘;’é, opr.“mm other change in human habits. To definitely settle this question, I sug- . gest two instances where scientific re- t . value: statistics in re-