Evening Star Newspaper, September 21, 1929, Page 6

| 6 * THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. SATURDAY...September 21, 1920 THEODORE W. NOYEE, .. .Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company ‘Business Office: 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. York Office: 110 East 42nd St. Ofce: Lake Michigan Bulldin. n Offce: 14 Regent St.. London. England. Rate by Carrier Within the City. The Evening Star. 48¢ per month per copy of each month. Collection made f in by mall or telephone Orders may be sent NAtional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunda: 1 yr., $10.00: 1 mo gaily oty 1l s m junday only {1 yr, $400; 1 mo. 20 | are making it. The Assoc to the use for republication of patches credited to it or not otherwise ered- tied in this paper and also the local rews published herein. All rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also rescrved. 1 all 1 el $moothing Traffic Flow. When Capt. Whitehurst, Assistant wagincer Commissioner, in charge of highways, speaks of the lack of co- srdination between the various Dist- rict departments having to do with the movement of traffic over the streets, a few illustrations serve to strengthen his arguments that a co-ordinating board of some sort is necessary. ‘Widening of Connecticut avenue from K street to Florida avenue, for instance, has provided an eighty-foot highway that handles a great volume of traffic during the day and especially during #% morning and afternoon rush hours. @m concrete street-car loading plat- fofms, permitted by the Public Utilities Commission, and parking between these platforms and the curb, permitted by the police and trafic officials, serve to create a number of “bottle-necks” along this avenue with resulting con- gestions to traffic. At Connecticut avenue and McKinley street, near Chevy Chase Circle, there is a bus stop directly opposite a street- car stop. When the street car and the bus are loading passengers at the same time, traffic on one side of Connecticut avenue must come to a complete halt, s automobiles cannot pass between the street car and the bus. On McKinley street, a narrow thoroughfare, parking 3s permitted on both sides. A bus line 4s routed through this street, and when automobiles meet a bus, one of the wto must come to a halt while the other edges slowly past. The highway department has round- ed off about 150 curb corners, thus per-| mitting a wider turning’ radius for au- tomobiles. But automobile parking is still permitted up to the turning point of the curb, thus making the turning rad'us for automobiles as narrow as; ever. Capt. Whitehurst believes that proper co-ordination regarding the movement of traffic—and resurfacing or repair of streets, widening streets, parking, speed, | turns, loading platforms, bus routes, etc., are all concerned with the movement of traffic—would eliminate difficulties such as those listed above, and the list above is by no means complete. Before any street is repaired, careful thought should be given to routing traf- fic around the closed area. Before bus routes are determined, a careful analy- sis should be made of the streets on that route, to determine whether park- ing can be permitted. Before a street- car loading platform is set down, as much thought should be given to its effect on the stream of traffic as to the convenience of the street-car passen- gers. Capt. Whitehurst has made good progress in his efforts to co-ordinate the work of various departments con- cerned in highway construction and re- pair. His suggestion of another co- ordinating agency, controlling all traf- fic movements, should be adopted. P R Some time ago Paris fashions an- nounced that skirts would be longer. This is probably authoritative. It is hard to see how they could be shorter. e r—————— The Dawes melody is a hit abroad. And many admirers insist that he is as fine a diplomat as he is a musician. e “Ten Times Better.” When asked whether in his judgment business opportunities for young men are as good today as they were when he began his own career, Secretary Andrew W. Mellon is reported to have replied: “As good? Why, they are ten times better!” This states the case emphatically and correctly. The business opening for youth is certainly ten times as good now as fifty or sixty years ago. In the first place, there is more business. In the second place, it is bigger business, calling for more active participants. Again, business seeks youth in recruit- ing its forces, rather than age—seeks plastic material, rather than experience. In Mr. Mellon's youth—he was born in 1855 and was therefore fifteen years old in 1870—business in this country was in a sorry condition. A great de- pression had developed after the close of the Civil War. Bankruptcies and failures occurred in great numbers. For nearly a decade “hard times” prevailed. Young men were sorely handicapped in starting their careers. for business was “laying off” rather than “taking on” personnriel. That, to be sure, was a passing condition. The country re- covered from the depression, recovered wonderfully, advanced in commerce and trade remarkably when the bad economic conditions leading to the slump were corrected. Prosperity ruled again, and business chances for the younger generation brightened. Other changes were occurring at the same time. Educational opportunities were widened. Inventions were making life easier. The “city movement” had set in, and young men were sceking and finding their chances in the centers of population rather than on the farm or in the rural communities. In .the schools and colleges and the technologi- cal institutions youths <ere being trained for Yusamess and commercial ane ecentific careers. A great flood . printed matter designed to awaken the mind, to sharpen the wits. to arouse . embitions was pouring forth into all “scegons and quarters. Mr. Mellon himself bad no difficultie: in the casting of a carcer. He was born to dpportunity and his credit is that the conditions that beset his fellow young Americans fifty and sixty ycars ago, and he knows the chances that lie lhdore their successors today. He sees the bright youngster of 1929 stepping forth into & far more inviting fleld of business chances than lay ahead of the cotemporaries of his youth. There are fallures and disappoint- ments nowadays, of course. There are times when not cven the most capable of young men can find “places” in which advancement is vossible, And there are great numbers of young men ‘who are “misfitted,” who slip into the first openings that they see, only to dis- cover that they are unsuited, or that | they lead nowhere, and whose lives are consequently disappointing, nigh to fallures. That will always happen, in some measure. Not everybody can make the grade to business success, to afflu- ence. But more are making it now than could make it in Mr. Mellon's youth. He estimates that ten times as many His estimate should sorve as a distinet encouragemert to those who are inclined to despair be- cause of the lack of instant opportunity. — oo Secret Agents. The investigation by the Senate of charges that three American shipbuild- ing companies hired Willlam B. Shearer to “throw a monkey-wrench” into the naval limitation conference at Geneva in 1927 gives promise of wide ramifica- tions. At the first hearing of the Sen- ate subcommittee on naval affairs yes- terday C. L. Bardo, president of the New York Shipbuilding Co., testified that approximately $47,000 had been paid Shearer by his company and the others, although he vigorously denled that Shearer had been employed by them as a lobbyist or to spread propa- ganda against a naval limitation agree- ment. The president of the New York Shipbuilding Co., however, brought into the picture an expenditure of $143,000, which was paid out by his company, in large part, to build up sentiment for & large American merchant marine. Some of this money found its way into the pockets of Mr, Shearer. The American shipbuilders naturally are interested in the merchant marine. {1t is to their interest that this coun- try shall develop a large fleet of over- | seas merchant vessels. In common with other American citizens they have the right to urge the need for American commerce of an American owned and operated merchant marine. The need of such a merchant marine, after the object lesson presented by the situation which arose when the World War broke out, should be as obvious to Americans | as the sun on a cloudless day. It may | be argued that the shipbuilders were seeking to line thelr own pockets through their efforts to influence legis- lation favorable to the merchant marine. But in this case it may also be argued | that what was to the interests of the shipbuilders was also to the interests of the country at large. They surely have as much right to advocate laws which encourage shipbuilding 2s other in- dustrialists have to urge the passage of tariff laws which make possible the growth and development of manu- facturing. The criticism which attaches to lobby- ing and propaganda lies generally in the secrecy with which it is sometimes covered. When interests or persons come into the open and say just what | they are doing and why, to influence legislation, the country is informed and can weigh the matter. It is the insidi- ous, secret lobby that reacts in the end against its own purposes, once the exist- fence of the lobby has been disclosed. | The activities of the shipbuilding com- panies in the interest of merchant ma- rine legislation, their efforts to propa- gandize the country, were undertaken in an effort to aid the policy of the United States Shipping Board for a greater American merchant marine. Mr. Bardo the matter following a meeting with the board ltself. The shipbuilding com- panies could well afford the most open discussion and publicity regarding their efforts in the interest of a merchant marine. The engagement of Mr. Shearer, & known advocate of a large Navy, to represent the shipbuilding companies at the Geneva naval limitation conference was a secret matter. It might never have been called to the attention of the American public but for the suit which Shearer himself has instituted to col- lect $250,000 additional pay from the shipbullding companies. The shipbuild- ing companies now have placed upon themselves the burden of proving that Mr, Shearer was employed merely as an “observer and reporter.” Had they announced when Mr. Shearer went to Geneva that he was their representa- tive, and employed merely as an ob- server, the entire affair would have been robbed of secrecy and of the im- plication that he was employed for other purposes. R Quantico is not quite so large & town as Philadelphia. Gen..Smedley Butler may succeed in making it an example of what can be done in the way of creating & model community. ———seo— A Split-Second Murder Defense. At White Plains, N. Y., a young man is on trial for the murder of his wife. He has confessed to killing her and at- tempting to burn the body to conceal his crime. His defense is that the slay- ing was not premeditated, but was the consequence of an impulse. His plea, in effect, is that of insanity. In the examination of talesmen for the assem- bling of a jury his counsel repeated the admission of the act of killing and stressed the point of mental irresponsi- bility, avowedly to the end of securing a qualified verdict of less than murder in the first degree. Now that the jury has been found and the trial is in prog- ress the examination of witnesses pur- sues a line in accord with this plea. The witnesses summoned by the prosecution are questioned with reference to the length of iime required for the strangu- lation of a person. The defense aims to show that death ensued in a very brief space of time, the prosecution con- tending that even though the impulse to slay came suddenly and without “pre- meditation” the act of strangling a per- son with the hands is necessarily sufi- clently protracted to indicate a main- tained “purpose” to kill. This fine hair-splitting is character- istic of the tendency to thwart the law | hy definition and evasion that has pre- “vatled for some time past, with the re- !sun of frequent flagrant miscarriages of justice and the escape of musderers | son out his purpose. How long is re- testified that his company entered into | THE EVENING “ST former times there was but one 'M-‘ gree” of murder. The question at the trial of a person accused of that crime was whether or not he took the life of thé victim. The question of “how” was only incidental to that of the iden- tity of the slayer. Motive was likewise subordinate. Little by little the plea of justification was admitted, and even- tually the law was broadened to per- mit a subdivision of the charge until now there is a wide range of plea, manslaughter, justifiable homicide, ac- cidental killing, second-degree murder, self-defense, the establishment of any of which saves the life of the defend- | ant, in States where capital punishment is provided for first-degree murder, if not absolute acquittal. To differentiate between strangulation | by irrational impulse and death by de- | sign is a dangerous opening of the door of opportunity to slayers. In this pres- ent case the defendant is being pictured by nis counsel as a long-sumering nus- band, maddened by his wife's repeated misconduct and sinister actions toward him, suddenly turning upon her, with- out “premeditation,” and choking her in his rage, not realizing until she was lifeless that he had slain her. Just so may the “impulsive” murderer seize a deadly weapon and shoot and kill, with no “premeditation” between the first reaction of deadly purpose and the | pulling of the trigger. It is as though the law were holding a split-second watch on the tragedy, to determine whether the killer has had time to rea- quired for such reasoning? A minute, thirty seconds, fifteen, ten, two, or one? Life is taken. The law requires pun- jshment. It prescribes that punish- ment, in terms of .imprisonment, or death. The court sits in judgment upon the accused. It gives him full op- portunity to defend himself, in terms of acts and psychological conditions. But it should not permit the law to be | flouted by turning the courtroom into a laboratory for experiments for the pur- pose of confusing the judgment of the jurors. If this White Plains case es- tablishes a differentiation between a one-minute manslaughter and a three- minute murder a premium will be put upon “brainstorms,” such as were ex- perienced by emotional slayers a quar- ter of a century ago without pemalty. B The movies have all the best of the soclal situation. When young Maj. John Coolidge is married no uninvited person will be permitted to “crash the party.” But the payment of a small admission fee will enable any citizen to observe the details of the ceremony. ot Detroit has grown rapidly, but it be- comes plain that it does not know how to run a night club. New York hostesses | Boo have their troubles. They succeed at least in avoiding such carnage as the “Study Club” brought into evidence. o e One of the important functionaries in affairs is the Observer. With the, high-class truth-writing Teporter al- ways on the job, it is hard to see ex- actly why he' should be deemed necessary. The horse has not been entirely dis- placed in prestige by motors. Even though the hcrse is absent, the horse- shoe is a respected factor in the world of popular sport. e Robots may take the place of human workers. But if they can go so far as represented in apparent intelligence even robots might be unionized. ot History repeats itself. The “trusted employe” is still called upon, now and then, to explain seeming eccentricities in accounting. — e As battleships grow less there may be something significant in the fact that airplanes grow bigger. -—or—s SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Over and Over. Over and over we go on the way Through Winter unruly to blossoming May— The story life tells bids us smile or com- plain— And we're hearing it over and over again! One song will be happy and one will be sad. We learned the old lays of the lass and | the lad; Each old-time refrain tells of pleasure or pain And we're singing them over and over | again. The Safe “What are your views tion?” “It's the safe side, politically,” answered Senator Sorghum. “The ab- stainer is already convinced and the man with ext-morning headache is always willing to sign the pledge.” on prohibi- Jud Tunkins says he is glad his wife is in politics. It gives her somebody else to argue with. Early Economies. Ben Franklin flew his kite one day, Slectric sparks came down his way. Said he, “My mirth it now provokes. Tl get no bill from Pepco folks.” ~ Preserving Cordial Understanding. “You never suggest a tip.” “Never,” answered the man at the gas station, “I don’t want to risk any irritation. When a man is having his troubles on the road, I'm thankful if I can keep him reasonably good natured.” “Idleness,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “at first seems a pleasure and in time becomes a penalty.” Evolution. Of evolution still we dare To speak in thought severe, And say, “We know we came from ‘There, Where do we go from Here?” “Religion,” said Uncle Eben, “is a great comfort, even to dem dat likes a stiff ahgument.” e r—o—————— . The Pace of the Future. From the Sesinew Dally News. ‘Bleriot, famous Prench aviator, pre- dicts a " of "Wbl'mwfiupln hour wit 10 years. Possil people be developed who "P‘m;uu want (:"‘:’lvel at that speed. " ettt = War by Any Other Name. /rom the Worcester Evening Gazette. The statesmen seem to think that a little fighting in Manchuria doesn't matter so Jong s don't call it he made the most of it. But he knows from the penaliy af thelc crimes Jn way { Claude Bowers' “The T“fi: AR, WASHINGTO 3 THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. What do you suppose the Booklover was reading when we opened the door and caught him at it? No, it wasn't “Chic” Sale's “The Spe- | clalist,” the real “best seller” in the | United States today. Nor was it the unexpurgated testimony in the Snooks trial, clandestinely circulated through- out the country. It wasn't Galsworthy's “Modern Com- edy,” finishing the Forsyte EM , nor Ta. He didn't have in his hands a copy | of Herbert Gorman's good, but poorly named, book about Alexandre Dumas, “The Incredible Marquis. His eyes were not gazing at the fair pages of Andre Maurois’ “Atmosphere ot Love”: his hands did not hold Donn Byrne's last novel, “The Field of Honor”; his hair did not curl, as Harry Hansen declared his did, over Edward Smith's “You Can Escape.” “ s e ‘The Booklover was poring over a copy of the “Quilt Pattern Book,” is- sued at 25 cents per copy by the Ladies’ Art Co. of St. Louls. By that book we knew him to be 8’ true booklover, for all such persons will read anything that falls into their hands, from the wrappers that come around cakes of soap to the very Bible itself, from the great mall order catg- a thousand pages thick, to a letter blown down the alley from the ash wagon. One ought to be very careful about permitting letters to get into trash baskets whole. Some persons are utter- ly careless about such things. Trash baskets must go to the trash wagon, and trash wagon employes are notori- ously indifferent to the fate of the pa- pers they collect. A certain percentage must inevitably fall out, and be blown along the alley. It 1s interesting to pick up a letter at one's gate and discover that the Man ‘Across the Alley has such a funny name. So Aunt Sally is coming to visit, is she? Well, Aunt Sally, we hope you have a nice’ time, and they don't leave you So much alone as they do their own | River, | “Listen to this—Beautiful Star, Eve- ning Star, Aunt Eliza's Star, Chicago Star, Yankee Puzzle, Washington's Puzzle, Columbia Puzzle, Log Cabin, Pickle Dish, Little Red House, Cleveland Lilles, World's Fair le. ere’s Toad in a Puddle, & plain white square in the center of some triangles, etc. Think of the ploneer imagination which named that! No woman who smoked . cigarettes and turned off the radio set the moment Friend Hubby left the house could think up such & name. “If a modern girl were naming that one, she wouid call it—well, I don't know what she might call it, but you bet your last dollar it wouldn't be Toad in a Puddle. “Here is the Drunkard's Path, show- ing the devious wng‘ of one who is ad- dicted to strong drink. And here's the good old Crazy Quilt, as crazy as any one would want it. * ok kK “Washingtonians will be interested in the Washington Sidewalk pattern, a neat aggregation of squares and slim rectangles. “It seems to be a variation of Rocky Glen. Lincoln’s Platform is four-square to the world. Beneath is Turkey Tracks, and over here is Bear's Paw and there is Devil's Claw. “This one led Nonsense is one of the most sensible of these patterns, it seems to a mere male, who perhaps has no business at all inspecting such a work a8 this meant only for ladies in the privacy of their homes. Maybe it is called Nonsense because it is easy to make. ke this one named Robbing Peter to Pay Paul. I guess that it is so called because a part cut off from one side is put on the other, or something along that order. “The Practical Orchard must be a sly dig at scientific farming. for it is a rather neat pattern. as it strikes my eye, merely a series of alternate squares with two triangles in hourglass fashion set up in the center. “Puss in the Corner is one of my selections, although it might just as well have been named Row-Boat-on-the Over on another page you will child, that is all we have to say about it. | see one called Churn Dash, which ‘Iloolu suspiciously like it. And here is the indefatiguable Mr: Smith's ice bill. Bless her heart, she gets 5 per cent Army, does she? indeed. Sogetimes we wish we were in_the Army, too, and got 5 per cent off on ijce and things. It would be rather nice, eh? No ice man ever gives us a cent off. That is interesting, * kK K To get back to the quilt patterns. The Booklover looked up as we came in. Interest gleamed in his eyes. We knew that he had discovered something. Nothing that the Booklover read ever caused us to wonder, after that mem: orable day we found him reading a bofler catalogue with enthusiasm. He knew nothing at all about boilers, but if he had been an engineer he could have read the work with no more real interest. So it was with the “Quilt Pattern k. What intrigued him was the names of !hekfiflfl quilt patterns included in the work. “You ought to see the names of these things,” he sald, displaying pages upon pages of intricate, involved and zigzag designs for those old-fashioned bed coverings now once more the vogue. * X ox ok off for being in the i | Mayflower, e “I wonder if Georgetown Circle has anything to do with a part of Wash- ington, and if Coxey's Camp ever was laid out so. “Look at Grandmother's Dream, Old Malids Ramble, and Tangled Garter. ‘Texas Tears looks more like a base ball diamond, and Wild Goose Chase a mod- ernistic design showing pyramids gone wrong. “Shell Chain resembles a pattern for a floor covering, and Cherry Basket one of these trays for ice cubes in an elec- tric_refrigerator. “There are all sorts of puzzles— Devil's, Old Maid's, Fool's, Dutchman'’s, ‘World's Fair, Bachelor’s, Irish, etc. “Listen to these names—Spider's Den, and Spider's Web; Goose in the ! Pond, and Steps to the Altar: Kansas Troubles, and Stars Upon Stars; the and Solomon's Temple; White House Steps, and Rocky Road to California. “I would hate to see a psychologist get hold of this book, because he would read all sorts of things into Girls’ Joy and Ladies' Fancy. This one called Tangled Lines would be enough to land any one at Gallinger.” The Booklover grinned. “I don't know _which I like the best—this Toad “A panorama of our country’s his- In a Puddle or Farmer's Daughter,” he | tory. he chortled, turning the pages. | said. Plea f(;r Blue-Gray Reunion Made Despite G. A. R. Action Although the Grand Army at its | South surrendered at Appomattox, and | encampment rejected a proposal that a | we have the Unlon. Is it not now time joint reunion be held with Confederate Veterans, the public voices hope that such a meeting may still be held. Survival of the feeling of Civil War days is laid to the intensity of the spirit of the conflict, and to memories of the past. In the South there is regret that the Northern soldiers’ verdict should have been coupled with a speech demanding that the South acknowledge that it was wrong and that it furl its battle flags. “It is best to let the matter go at that, and pass the action of the Grand Army by without denunciation,” says the Boston Transcript. ‘“The present generation may respect this sentiment without sharing it. For the people of this great and reunited country the war is over. A new day has come. Peace to the souls of the hundreds of thou- sands on both sides who are long since past the animosities of the conflict, and peace also to the surviving veterans who can't quite forget the old, sad thing!” This sentiment is echoed by the Cin- cinnati Times-Star, which feels that since “we are one country and have proved it in two wars since Appomat- tox,” the acceptance of the offer of the United Confederate Veterans “would have been a graceful act and in con- sonance with the spirit of our times. “It would be a fitting close to a tragedy of threescore and ten years ago,” declares the Portland Oregon Journal of the proposed reunion. “All but a few of the warriors in that con- fiict of brother against brother went to sleep long ago in the citles of silence. The antagonists of yesterday can well be comrades today in the thinned ranks of the two great armies that fronted each other in the grim days of 1861-65." “passion is long since burned out, but memories still live,” comments the Charleston Evening Post, offering an explanation of the situation, “Greetings and farewells in all good will may be Waved across the chasm as the last of the mighty hosts go down into the valley, but there seems something artificlal and forced about & staged fraternization. Doubtless the rejection of the idea by the veterans of the Union armies will be the last word on the sub- ject, and it should be accepted without vegret or resentment.” The Lincoln State Journal expresses similar fears for the results of “this last, beautiful gesture.” 3, “The Grand Army of the Republic according 1o the Fort ‘Worth Recor Telegram, “was given the greatest op- portunity for an outstanding gesture and the registry of an all-American spirit that probably ever will come on the continent. * * * The opportu- nity has been muffed. The South is entitled to much consolation in the obvious fact that its spirit in defeat’ has been more wholesomely generous than that displayed by its victorious opponents. Being ‘wrong’ in 1861 is one thing, Being wrong in 1929 is some- ing else.” e m“‘%e are not certain about the South not admitting that it was wrong,” states the Flint Daily Journal. “The leaders of the Confederacy, many years 8go, said that it was best that the war had the ending that it did, that the country was united rather than divided. The worn and faded battle flags of the South are not those of another country.” But the Journal adds: “If there is to be no reunion of the two veterans' organiza- 1t is for them to The action of the Union veterans is called “disappointing” by the Water- bury Republican, which feels that “there is no profit in Kkeeping alive hatreds that ought to have been decently buried more 1l a generation ago.” The Charlotte Observer concludes that “with them, it will be the closed fist, rather than the open hand, to the last.” The Asheville Times remarks: “It is easy to understand why the old soldiers on both sides might prefer to hold their own encampments. What is rather puzzling is this passion in the breasts of the victors. “Their points of view were different, and still are, but that should make the campfire reminiscences all the more en- tertaining,” contends the Arbor Delly News, with the suggestion: “The for the North to surrender—and have a reunion?” The Anniston Star holds that “it is to be deplored that this gesture of good will was turned down by the Northern veterans.” The Janesville Gazette declares the present “a time for peace, forgiveness and remem- brance.” The Topeka Daily Capital comments, “What Lincoln in his first inaugural described as ‘the mystic cords of memory, stretching back from every hearthstone to every patriotic grave,’ more than ever binds the Union together, and no Southern or Northern man is ever likely to desire to see them broken.” Acceptance of the verdict is indicated by numerous papers. “They may feel,” states the New Bedford Standard, “that the Grand Army, as an organization, should not in any way compromise with the former foe on the principles for which the war was fought. Such a decision, even if we wish it might have been different, we are bound to respect.” The Harrisburg Patriot believes that “it is for them to decide,” and the New York Evening Post concludes: “They may be right. We can at least admire them for having spunk and passion enough to decide to go down flying with the flag of the great cause for which they fought almost three-quarters of a century ago.” “These men are not Lincoln—he who covered all with the breadth of his soul,” avers the Milwaukee Journal. “They are not even Grants—he who at Appomat- tox could forget about terms of surren- der while he chatted with Lee about old days in Mexico, No, they are just the boys of '61 and '62 who had a single idea so strong in their minds that they still have it.” And the Lansing State Journal is convinced that “if the truth were known, the rank and file of the Southern veteran organization doubt- ! less feel the same way.” “If they seripusly expect the Confed- erate veterans to go back by one jot or tittle on their leaders and principles of the past, why, it is evideni that they | don’t know the breed,” asserts the Roa- noke Times, while the Savannah Press | adds its testimony, “We are not quite ready yet to give up our monuments and our memorials and our ‘memory’ days.” z’he Lynchburg Advance proclaims: ‘'The men who wore the gray will never admit they were wrong. The battle flags of the Confederacy will never be unfolded. The entire Southland will, every year, when it pays homage to its heroes, fly those Confederate emblems and rejoice in the glorious memories of a ‘Lost Cause.” But the Birming- ham News states, “Hereafter let it not be sald that ungenerous feelings touching the war of the 60s are cherished more ardently at the South than they are at the North.” Hope for a reconsideration of the ad- verse action is expressed by the Cleve- land Plain Dealer, the Dallas Journal and the Albany Evening News. The Chattanooga News concludes: “In the Rainbow Division, youths of the North and South fought side by side. But let us not ask the men who fought in the 60s to make a gesture which would cost them a loss in dignity and in precious memories.” ——————————— Political Racing. From the Lowell Evening Leader. And in politics it often turns out the candidate who consents to run Bfm' office d'l:!c:ven that & rival has won in a ————————— Poor Pedagogie Judgment. Pr:n the Muncle Morning Star. tagg's backfleld star has flunked in bacteriology, which should prompt 2 student investigation into the reasin & foot ball player was allowed to tackle such a t course, o Feminism and Fags. From the Adrian Daily Telegram. A Massachusetts professor says wom- an teachers are feminizing mey:hnulht of the Nation. There must be some reason why men smoke cigarettes, at i Leigh, a sensitive, scholarly man, al- ! companionship, | roofs, where secluded women gossip: of D._C. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1929. THE LIBRARY TABLE y the Booklover Perhaps ‘one reason why those who have reafl the early books of Maud Diver, “Gaptain Desmond, V. C.” and “Desmond’s Daughter” and some of the others, coptinue to read her many later books, in spite of what modern taste would call a supercargo of sentimen- tality, is that she has the gift of cre= ating characters which are, for the time being at least, as alive as any real peo- ple. She has the habit, like many other writers, of continuing some of her char- acters through many books, so that we come to know well the Desmonds, the Challoners and the Ardeas. In her most recent novel, “A Wild Bird,” we meet a number of old friends. Capt. Desmond, now Sir Theo, is merely men- tioned, as in his eighty-fAfth year, “alert as ever, more supple in brain and body than the average man of 60, who sinks into slippered ease and meets zenilily half-way.” Most of his qualities may be recognized in his grandson, Lance Desmond, who cherishes the ambition of becoming viceroy of India. Here are Sir Vincent Leigh, chief commissioner of the northwest frontier province of India, and his wife, Thea, daughter of Sh‘” Theo and Lady Desmond, heroine of “Desmond’s Daughter.” We remem- ber them in their youth, when Vincent most yielded to the temptation to give | up the ambitions of a soldier in India and become the recluse he longed to be, ?./hen Thea Desmond had married him, 50 to speak, in spite of himself, in spite of that amputation below the knee, which debarred him from further so'diering,” but did not prevent his reaching high administrative position. They are now the parents of six chil- dren and we watch the love affair of their daughter Mary, whose “serious gray-blue eyes came from her grand- mother, Lady Desmond.” The married iife of Sir Vincent and Lady Leigh has been a happy one, when it so easily might not have been, for Thea is a woman who, “for all her natural gift of understcod and re. spected his frequent desire to be alone and “her natural gift for the role of great lady had eased much that was uncongenial to his incurable shyness, his qread of human beings in the mass.” Col. Tan Challoner, revenue commissioner in India, though his death from typhoid darkened a former book with tragedy, still lives in “A Wild Bird,” for his memory and the feeling of his spiritual presence fill the lives of Vanessa Vane, the woman for whom he acknowledged his love only a few days before his death, and his daugh- ter, Eve, the “wild bird” of the story. In Eve we see not only the appearance of her father, but his shyness, his love of music and of nature, and his mysti- cism. Other old friends in “A Wild Bird” are Anne Verity, “Astra,” who for S0 many years was secretly loved by Sir Henry Arden, and Sir Clive Arden, the son who tried to write his father's biog- raphy and was prevented by the haunt- ing presence of that father, who had known that no biographer could avoid discovering his hidden life with Anne. S Eh Another charm of Maud Diver's novels is their penetrating atmosphere of India, perhaps too romantic, too highly colored, but capable of arousing delightful imaginative pictures. In “A Wild Bird” we are again taken to Peshawar, on the great northern fron- tier plain of India, and to Kashmir, with its residency gardens and its fir forests and lofty mountain peaks. Eve Chal- loner comes to Government House at Peshawar for a stay and there renews her memories of seven years before, when she was only 12. “There was the fort and the fascinating city,” two separate entities, the first British, the second native. The first is an “armed camp in a wild country, circled by a barbed-wire hedge 6 feet deep and 4 feet high,” with “many guarded gates closed from dusk to dawn.” The second is the “city of a thousand and one sins,” where Englishwomen do not go alone. It is a city of bazaars, where copper and brass and silver are ham- mered into designs; where the potter works at his wheel; where Hindu mer- chants preside over bales of printed cotton goods; of houses rising in tiers, with jutting, carved balconies and flat barbaric noises and colors; of a medley of human beings—Sepoys, Rajputs in turbans, tribesmen in peaked caps, bearded Mohammedans, boys with red and green kites, women of “no class” with challenging eyes, dromedary border camels with tinkling bells and performing monkeys in petticoats and caps. “No vestige of ordered, purpose- ful control in restless, unbridled City of Peshawar: a city without wed- ding garment, without imposing palaces and mosques;” a hotbed of secret vice, the Paris of the Pathans; men of strong limbs and strong desires, lustful | and treacherous, yet loyal up to their lights and unafraid; an alarmingly virile world.” When the hot weather comes, Eve, with th2 other inhabitants of Government House, takes flight for the hills of Kashmir. Srinagar, with roses and strawberries in the residency garden in May, and in the distance the blue hills and gleaming snow peaks be- yond; Sonamarg, above the Sind River, facing naked gray peaks; and Gangabal, lake of pilgrimage, “three miles of tur- quoise-blue water flowing close under glaciers and ice cliffs and stark walls of rock that cuiminated in the northeastern buttress of Haramokh; all the foreshore bright with marsh buttercups and Alpine flowers,” are all described by one who knows and loves India. * ok ok X One realizes how few of the great ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. ; Any reader can get the answer to any question by writing to our Informa- tion Bureau in Washington, D. C. This offer applies strictly to information. The bureau cannot give advice on legal, medical and financial matters. It does not attempt to settle domestic troubles, nor undertake exhaustive research on any subject. Write your question plain. ly and briefly. Give full name and address and inclose 2 cents in coins or starips for return postage. The repiy is sent direct to the inquirer. Address The Evening Star Information Bureau, P‘redel;lch. Haskin, director, Washing- ton, D. C. Q. Is the rodeo held in Chicago an annual affair?—V. M. H. A. The rodeo has been held in Chi- cago for the past four years. We un- derstand the dates for this year are November 16 to 24, inclusive, at the new Cthln:‘gu Stadium, Madison and Wood streets. Q. How much Pennsylvania crude ofl was produced in 1928?—C. F. M. A. About 30,000,000 barrels of 42 gal- lons each of Pennsylvania crude ofl were produced in 1928. Q. Please list some films suitable for children to see.—T. O. A. Among recent films listed by the Parents’ Magazine as especially good for children are “The Rainbow Man, 'The Flying Fleet,” “His “The Great White North,” “Strong Boy” and “The Winged Horsc- man.” Q.. Where is the Willard Memorial to be?—H. L. A. A memorial bust of Frances Wil- 1ard will be placed in the Capitol at In- dianapotis on September 22 by the | Woman’s Christian Temperance Unfon. | This act will commemorate the fiftieth | anniversary of the election of Frances | Willard to the W. C. T. U. presidency. Q. Who invented the creeping bar- | rage which wes used during the World War?—H. C. N, A. Gen. Lord Henry Horne of Stir- koke, England, who died recently, is the famous artillery commander ' whose | name is associated with the first use ot |the “creeping barrage.” Gen. Horne, however. is said to have given the credit of its invention tc Brig. Gen. Z. W, | Alexander, V. C., at the action at Flers on September 15, 1916. Q. Where was Dr. | born?—L. S. A. Dr. Hugo Eckener was born Au- gust 10, 1878, at Flenstedt, Schleswig- Holstein, the northernmost town in Germany. Q. What town has a Sauerkraut | Festival each year?—J. L. A. The Sauerkraut Festival at Spring- field, Minn., has attained fame all over the Northwest. It is stated that as many as 15,000 people gather for this celebration. ~ Prominent speakers, stir- ring music and a sauerkraut-eating | contest are features of the occasion. Hugo Eckener BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. The eleventh annual convention of the American Legion will be held in Louisville September 30 to October 3, inclusive. Every State and Territory of the United States will be represented, to- gether with outlying regions such as Panama, Hawaii, Alaska, the Philip- pines and some countries of Europe, where there are enough American vet- erans still living to maintain a Legion post. An attendance of 100,000 vet- erans is expected in Louisville. ‘These delegates will represent some 11,000 Legion posts and a total paid-up membership exceeding 764,000 veterans. There will also be delegates from the various countries of the allied and asso- clated nations, representing their own natlonal organizations of veterans of the World War, united with the Amer- jcan Legion in a world organization known as the Federation Internationale des Anciens Combattants—Fidac” for short, being the abbreviation made up of the initials of each word of the full name in French. This international “Fidac” counts a membership exceed- ing 9,000,000 veterans and is the great- est influence for the preservation of world peace that has ever existea. For it may be confidently counted that the “militarists” who “rally ‘'round the flag” when danger threatens their countries are the true pacifists de- voted to prevention of dangerous crises and for the perpetual maintenance of peace and safety of their homes and families. They, above all others, know what war means. xxx% Very closely associated with the American Legion of men is the Ameri- can Legion Auxiliary, made up of tne women of the families of the veterans, including women who themselves were in active service, either in the Armg or Navy—as yeomanettes, etc. Thi does not, in either case—male or fe- male—include the welfare workers of the camps, unless they were also re- lated to some soldier or sailor in active service—wives, mothers or sisters. The Auxiliary numbers more than a quarter of a million patriotic women. Hence, the combined membership of the Legion and Auxiliary constitutes more than a million, and as the membership is growing, it will socn reach the mark of a million and a quarter total. * * * * Compared with the Grand Army of the Republic in its prime, the American Legion today has practically double the number of members that the Grand Army ever had. The veterans of the Civil War reached the peak of their membership in 1890—about 400,000. That was 25 years after the war had closed. If the same ratio follows for the American Legion (aside from the Auxiliary), it should achieve its peak in 1943, with a membership then of at least 1,250,000. It was several years after the Grand Army had been or- anized before it really aroused much terest among the masses. either of veterans or civilians, but in the last decade of the century it became most potent in its influence upon patriotic sentiment and welfare of the country. One of the strongest means of bring- ing the sections of the country to- gether proved to be the mutual appre- ciation of the veterans of the Blue and the Gray for each other’s prowess, and in recent years it has been a familiar sight to d prominent Confederates affiliating with the Grand Army of the Republic. In comparison with the influence of the American Legion in wiping out all sectional differences, such a delayed and limited development was of minor value, for the Legion includes the South no less than the North; there is no divid- ing line, all are Americans and fought figures of the World War are still in public life, how many are dead, in read- ing such a book as “Statesmen of the War in Retrospect,” by Willlam Martin, foreign editor of the Journal de Geneve. Biographical sketches are given of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Francis Joseph, Nicholas II, Pachitch, Von Bethmann- Hollweg, Tisza, Poincare, Lord Grey, Cardinal Mercler, Sonnino, Venizelos, Jon Bratianu, Asquith, Briand, Hoover, Ador, Woodrow Wilson, Col. Czernin, Masaryk, Benes, Pilsudski, Paderewski, Lloyd George and Clemen- ceau. Mr. Martin is enthusiastic about ‘Woodrow Wilson. He considers that he exercised a great moral influence over Europe. “It is strange to reflect that this man, whom Europe so often eccused of lack of comprehension, whom she so long misunderstood, first flat- tering him, then calumninating him, but never understanding him, was the only one who really divined Europe and her needs!” * ok ok ok In the preface to his recent book, “The Mansi of Philosophy,” Will Durant says his book is an attempt at a consistent philosophy of life. * * * Human conduct and belief are now undergoing transformations profounder and more disturbing than any since the appearance of wealth and philoso- phy put an end to the traditional re- ligion of the Greeks. Everything is new and experimental in our ideas and our actions. The rate, complexity and variety of change in our time are with- out precedent, all forms about us are altered, from the tools that compli- cate our toil, and the wheels that whirl us restlessly about the earth, to the innovations in our sexual relation- ships and the hard disillusionment of our souls.” * K K X Slegfried Sassoon, English poet, has turned to novel writing. His first novel is called “Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Squire.” It was brought out anony- mously in England last Autumn, with the prefatory note, “This is fiction, but with a difference—for the author, who wishes at present to remain #nony- mous, has himself lived the life of his hero.” LR “Is This Wilson?” by Mrs. C. A. Daw- son Scott, purports to be spirit mes- sages from Woodrow Wilson, received by the medium, Mrs, Scott. There is an introduction to the book by Edward S. Martin, who is convinced of the sin- cerity of Mrs. Scott. The material of the book is not striking and shows no evidence of the finished style of Wood- row Wilson, House, | M as Americans, consequently the Ameri- can Legion is, at once, the most effec- tive influence that has ever existed in uniting the whole country. * kK ok The very recent discussions which have risen as to the desirability of a joint reunion of the G, A. R. and the Veterans of the Confederacy, in uniting the country, have no counterpart in the eetings of the American Legion, in which there is no North and no South, but one country. The G. A. R. veterans protest that they cannot unite with the Confederates until the latter dis- card their sectional flags and rally round the Stars and Stripes alone. In the Legion that is exactly what is done, whether by New Englanders or sons of former Confederates, so that the healing of the national wounds will indeed come through the balm of American Legion sentiment—Americans all. It seems as natural for Unionists to resist compromises of their Union spirit as it would be for Fridacs to pro- test against acceptance of Germans into their organization so long as their for- mer opponents came singing “Deutsch- land Ueber Alles,” but brave veterans respect bravery and sympathize with heroic suffering, even of their erstwhile “enemies.” whenever they can meet without reviving former controversies. “Vive le Legion Americain!” “Vive les Fidacs!” Long live the brave South as a loyal part of the Union! * Kok K It is especially significant thai the preamble of the American Legion is expressed in words that ring with sol- emn patriotism of the highest type. That preamble (credited to the late Col. E. Lester Jones of the Coast and Geodetic Survey) is the quintessence of the spirit of the American Legion, and as such 1t contradicts the too common notion of the public rcnrdlnf the ob- jectives and the character of the or- ganization There have been some unfortunate misjudgments regarding the Legion. One which hampered it in its early days was that it had been formed for m’.flflcfl office for its originators. That been so abundantly disproved in its first decade- that it is no T as- sumed, in any way. The more persist- ent misjudgment attributes selfish greed by the masses of members seek- ing “bonuses,” but as all bonuses have either been awarded or are now dut- lawed and the strength of the organi- zation persists in growing year after year, that prejudice is dying out. ‘There remains the lingering idea that Leglonnaires are mostly “‘doughboys,” with little education and less social ,standing. ‘Therefore, the organization | need not be taken serious): . in newspapers too often so characterize the Legionnaires. ‘The American Legion idea originated , in the proposal of Col. Theodore Roose- velt, jr., and is so approved that nearly all high officers of the World War, in cluding Gen. John J. Pershing and | Brig. Gen. Frank T. Hines, head of the | Veterans’ Bureau, and practically all the | major generals, " especially those who | fought overseas, arc active Legionnaires | today. AR For many years there has been more |or less controversy over the precedence of organizations within the Legion, for it has been alleged that the first post formed was the George Washington Post, No. 1, of this city, since it was | fully organized March 7, 1919, at a | meeting of some hundreds of veterans | called by Col. E. Lester Jones and as- | sembled” at the Cosmos Club, Wash- | ington. | That date was one week prior to the | organizing meeting in Paris, which con- | vened March 15. Also the George | Washington Post, No. 1—originally | named the John J. Pershing Post— | was the only unit already incorporated | when the St. Louis convention was held | in September, 1919, for the forming of the national organization, and, in recog nition of its state of development, this post was given the first charter issued | by the national American Legion. | _ After considerable investigation of | the history of events, the present ! writer (who chances to be the com- | mander this year of the George Wash- | ington Post, No. 1) is convinced that | there is little reason for claiming undue precedence in the fact that the actual organization dates one week prior to | the Paris conference, for the cable news | had preceded that week's difference by several days, telling what was brewing in Paris, under the sanction of the | Americen Expeditionary Forces and their high command. The activity of the Washington group was highly com- mendable, but in the historic language ken in the Cuban War, “There’s glory enough for all | * *x % % | __That Paris conference occurred on i March 15, but the original move in that direction had begun several weeks in advance when a committee or detail of 20 officers from various parts of | France had been ordered to meet in | Paris to devise ways and means for lifting the disordered morale of the Army, following the armistice, in the restlessness of the soldiers, now that the war was over, who were impatient to get home and restive under what appeared as unnecessary military re- straint and routine. | One of these conferees was Col. Theo- | dore Roosevelt, jr. and another was | Capt. Franklin D'Olier of Philadelphia, later national commander of the Amer- | ican Legion. It is Comdr. D'Olier who tells the story in a very interesting article in the July number of the Legion | Monthly. * Kk x % After the committee in Paris had | talked for two or three days and had proposed various means of satisfying the unrest—more athletics in camp, ‘mbre opportunities for the officers and men to attend French and English col- | leges, if they desired, while awaiting their homeward trip and a fixed rota- tion on ships so that the men would return home in the order that they had come over—then, when that had been zall arranged, Col. Roosevelt in- | vited the detail to dinner as his guests. At that dinner he laid the proposal of {an after-war organization of all vet- | erans, regardiess of rank. That led to the calling of the organizing meeting, March 15, but as the message had to cover all of France, to reach all camps, it required several weeks' interval be- fore the meeting could take place, March 15—hence, although Comdr. DOlier fails to give the date of that Roosevelt dinner and the first sug- gestion of such a meeting to be held March 15, it is obvious that at least a month must have intervened. The pa- pers of Paris were discussing it for some weeks. But news was cabled to Amer- ica, long before the March 15 organizing meeting, and the local group hastened to forestall the culmination of the over- e Abe . Louts e St. Louis meeting in Septem- ber, there was insistent c'iemnndp u:n Roosevelt accept the first national commandership, but he positively re- fused to accept any office; it was under- stood that his refusal was made em- phatic in order to answer the charges that the whole idea was *“political.” x rws The Legion’s prestige does not rest wholly upon its numerical strength; it serves a very much needed function in helping care for the disabled veterans and pushing their legitimate claims in the Veterans' Bureau and in Congress, and also in protecting and caring for the children of disabled or deceased veterans. During the year when Gen. James Drain of Washington City was national commander, a special fund was created amounting to several million dollars, the income of which—$205,000 annually—is sacred to the orphans and children of veterans and to welfare work of the rehabilitation committee, headed by Maj. Watson Miller of this city. The need of this work is well set forth in a recent speech by National Comdr. Paul V. McNutt: “I have no complaint to make of the director of the Veterans’ Bureau, of the heads of our regional effices, or of | those employed therein. owever, be- ing human, these men may forget that each file which crosses the desk repre- sents a human life, and possibly three or four other human lives, Thne laws affecting veterans must be administered with sympathetic understanding. The American Legion must be vigilant in seeing to it that the Veterans’' Bureau . does not fall into the habit of bureau- cracies_and become entangled in red tape. For most of us, the war ended with the armistice, but for the dis- abled man the war is all the days— all the days, if you knew what ihat means. He gave all t.aat a wan hasp and all that a man cen hope to have, to the ’Nlll:lnn(.} Nothing ‘:'imln the wer, of the Government is 90 good or hffa tn return.” (Copyright, 1929, by Paul V. Coliine) ]