Evening Star Newspaper, October 1, 1929, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY... .October 1, 1920 THEODORE W. NOYEE....Editor The Evening Star N¢ per Company nnavivania Ave. 11t e B Bork Shice: 110 Eact 4in ice: Lake Michigan Building. om ;14 R 0 B Office. 14 Repent 6. Londen. Rate by Carrier Within the City. Evening Stai 43¢ per month 60c per month Rate by Mall—Payable In Advance. 4 An Vi, $5.00: 1 mo. Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitied h 1l 1 ews dis- atches credited to it or not otherwise cred- ted in this paper and aiso the local rewy published herein. All rights of publication of special dispatches i also reserved. The McPherson Case. The full measure of praise for Police- man Robert J. Allen and of condemna- tion for the Detective Bureau for the parts they have played in the McPher- son case must necessarily be reserved until the trial court has heard the evi- dence. Likewise, it is to be remembered that Robert A. McPherson, jr., indicted by the grand jury and held in jail on a charge of first degree murder, is pre- sumed to be innocent. In the meantime, there are these points to be considered: ‘The United States district attorney ehould ask that a special prosecutor be assigned to his office and that in his hands be placed all the evidence that will be used by the State in its efforts to convict young McPherson. Policeman Allen sheuld be restored to duty and given full police authority to work with the office of the United States attorney. The charges against him, consisting in violating police regu- lations requiring him to report certain matters to his superior officer, should be held in abeyance. Inspector Shelby and Lieut. Edward J. Kelly should be suspended imme- diately and their official connections with the McPherson case severed, exX- cept in so far as they will be called as witnesses at the forthcoming trial. The United States attorney should use every means in his power to bring the case to early trial. 1In support of its first suggestion, The Btar believes that the previous connec- tion of his office with the case makes it mandatory upon the part of the United States attorney to remove all doubts that will arise in the minds of the public concerning the prejudice that may exist on the part of a regu- larly assigned public prosecutor. An as- sistant United States attorney was pres- ent at the inquest, which so hastily reached its verdict of suicide. Another assistant United States attorney heard Policeman Allen’s charges and dropped them and has been publicly criticized for his conduct of the case. In a way, the United States attorney’s office will go on trial along with McPherson, Allen and the Police Department. The “State” should be represented in this trial by a prosecutor who has had no previous connection with the case; who has nothing to lose by winning a victory, and whose sole aim is to bring to justice those guilty of committing a erime. As rezards the second point, Police- man Allen’s irregular actions, his fail- ure to obey police regulations and his open and expressed hostility and sus- piolon toward the Detective Bureau be- come relatively insignificant. For he has convinced a grand jury that he was right. Red tape should be scrapped. He should be given all the latitude that lies in the exercise of his police duties and should be formally assigned to the public prosecutor to help prepare the Btate's case. Inspector Shelby and Lieut. Kelly have been publicly reprimanded by the grand jury report. Their services, for the time being. are without value. If subsequent events uphold their former actions, it will be time enough to dis- cuss the proper tribunal that may in- vestigatq their official conduct, and upon thd basis of that investigation re- store them to duty or retire them from the force. United States Attorney Rover has al- ready promised to bring McPherson to trial quickly. The sooner the better. ‘The Fall term of court convenes wdly,i e Like other men in his position, Presi- = dent Hoover finds himself a victim of | too much liberality in volunteer advice. | oo Ovations could not be more enthu- slastic if Ramsay MacDonald were a non-stop aviator instead of a diplomat. ——or— “Youllgetemwhenyergitoff !” Hardened old veterans of many & street car ride to Georgetown and points north on the Rockville line of the Washington Railway & Electric Co. long since have become acquainted with and reconciled to & quaint custom that, as far as is known, applies to thut line alone. Transfers from the Georgetown car to the Wisconsin avenue cars ot Thirty-second and P streets are issued as the passengers prepare to leave the street car and not, as in other in- stances, when the passenger pays his fare. The hardened old veterans proceed through the transfer ritual wiihcut a false step. Experience is thc best teacher and they know the ropes. Rut the case of the tenderfoot, venturing for the first time upon new ground, is dif- t and sometimes downright pitiful. He pay his fare on the Georgetown ear and asks for a transfer. “Youllgetemwhenyergitoff!” barks the ceonductor. “8ir?” asks the passenger. “Youllgetemwhenyergitoff!” repeats the conductor, leveling at the passenger one of those cold and penetrating stares that serve at once as a rebuke, @ warning and an ultimatum. without his transfer, glad to escape without further offense. Or, a hold citizen, he may see his opportunity and grab his transfer as the conductor hands them out just before the car stops at Wisconsin avenue, But if the Public Utilities Commis- sion wants uniformity and standard- ization of service in Washington let it look into this matter. If the custom is to be continued, the conductors should be asked either to explain the matter in English or to present to the applying passenger a written notice explaining the intricacies of the transfer'system at this particular point. “Youllgetemwhenyergitoff!” is not sufficient. The only apt reply to that statement is, “Boo! Youllgetemwhen- yergitoffyerself!” Nice passengers do not talk that way. i, The Red Cross and China. Quite aptly the New York Times de- reribes the report just issued by the American Red Cross about famine con- ditions in China as “one of the most depressing documents that has ever been issued by this organization, which hes done so much to alleviate human suffering.” The report emanates from the three special commissioners sent to China earlier in the year at the instigation of President Hoover. They were headed by Col. Ernest P. Bicknell, the seasoned Red Cross executive in charge of for- eign activities. Conscientious inquiry into famine conditions led him and his associates to join in an account of mal- administration, of callous carelessness. iof crass indifference, and of conduct generally that depicts China herself, to an appalling degree, as the architect of her own miseries, or at least as the victim of some of her self-seeking, so- called leaders. It is a ‘pitiable narra- tive. It must have grieved the Red | Cross to feel compelled to sponsor it, | for the inclinations, as well as the tra- | ditions, of that world almoner all run in the direction of succor, almost under any circumstances. f But the American Red Cross is the trustee of the American people in the realm of relief. When Mr. and Mrs. Average Man intrust their annual sub- scriptions to it, they do so in the con- sclousness that every dollar will be thrice weighed before it is spent, and, if spent, spent wisely. At the outbreak of the Chinese famine some two years ago, the Red Cross was asked to help. Its representatives on the ground, ex- perienced in relief work in the Far East, reported that while distress was un- questionably widespread, the prevalence of civil war throughout China made it wholly impracticable to employ Red Cross agencies. With rival war lords scrambling for power and pelf in the war-torn prov- inces, and devastating as they fought, the gravest doubt was expressed as to whether a single dollar of American bounty would ever reach a proper des- tination. The Red Cross determined to | keep hands off China famine relief. In order to check up on its own in- formation the Bicknell mission was dis- patched as one of the first acts insti- gated by the Hoover administration. The President's heart, because he has seen so much of the world's suffering during the past fifteen years, is easily touched by such calamity as oppresses China, where he himself once lived. The mission went, it saw, it has voted in the negative. It learned of food sup- plies allowed to rot or turned over to the military hordes; of Chinese bonds that were sold and the proceeds filched by the war lords; of famine relief measures cause of sheer neglect. By and large, the Bicknell mission came to the conclusion that American Red Cross money sent into China today would be money thrown away. Pledged to the Nation, as it is, to husband zeal- ously the great funds with which it is periodically endowed, the Red Cross plainly has no other recourse than the one to which it has reluctantly resorted. American sympathy with the Chinese people’s troubles remains keen and gen- uine. It is reassuring to learn from the Red Cross report that Nature is about to afford a large degree of famine re- lief. Rain has fallen copiously in the afflicted districts and good harvests are in sight. e Hereafter it might be wise whenever diplomats are to confer to have all questions of social precedence disposed of at a preliminary meeting. It is rather well understood that, while often a source of misunderstanding, a ban- quet has very little genuine influence compared to a breakfast of bacon and eggs. ————————— It has been shown by Robert Vance that a clever detective may sometimes break out of the story books and figure in real life. T The Coroner's Inquest. ‘The grand jury that yesterday re- turned an “indictment for murder in the McPherson case at the same time inferentially, though not directly, in- dicted the coroner’s jury system. In its special report, apart from the formal indictment, the grand- jury stated sim- ply that “the coroner’s investigation into the death was held merely as & matter of form and important witnesses who were summoned to said inquest were not given an opportunity to pre- sent their testimony.” The circum- stancés of this particular inquest, how- ever, were not notably différent from those attending this same procedure in other cases. In a majority of in- stances the inquest is largely “a matter of form.” ‘The coroner’s inquest is an ancient institution. The office of coroner dates back in English history for a thousand years. ‘The functionary was originally, and for centuries continued to be, the representative of the crown—hence the old name “crowner”—in respect to pleas in which the crown was concerned. At first he had to do chiefly with fires and cases of wreckage and sudden death. He was charged with the duty of ascertaining the facts immediately after the happening. Eventually he was given the aid of a jury, impaneled from the immediate neighbors and asked to render a verdict or fact-finding judgment. In the course of time the coroner’s jury became an advisory body The passenger takes his seat, the hardened old veterans throwing in his direction those tolerant and amused glances that veterans always throw at novices, the passenger wondering what unwritten rule of ethics and good con- duct he has violated. The chances are that bs Wil slink off the strest car to the grand jury. The original need of a coroner, or crowner, has practically ccased. The facilities of research and immediate study of any possible crime are ample. Police organization has been effected so that the gathering of material evi- dence can be sccomplished by direct that were allowed to break down be- THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1929. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. agents of the law before a coroner’s inquest can be instituted. The coroner and his jury with the coroner himself, as medical man, acting as judge of the causes of death in cases of possible homicide, have become mers recorders of this evidence, It has often been urged that the coroner's jury system is outdated and useless, that the police should report their findings of fact direct to the grand Jury, with a statement by a medical au- thority as to the cause of death in the case of possible slaying. This conten- tion 1s borne out by the fact that in re- peated instances the grand jury has ignored the findings of the coroner's Jury. It has in the present case ignored the verdict of suicide and returncd an indictment charging murder. ‘There should be a definitely estab- lished means of determining and re- cording the cause of death in a case of sudden loss of life. But the process of sifting evidence, to ascertain probable guiit, to the point of justifying a formal accusation and eventual trial, should no longer be confused and complicated by the use of the long-since antiquated mode of “crowner’s quest.” Or, if that mode is continued, it should be im- proved by the adoption of a procedure that assures exhaustive examination of the facts. Out of this wretched affair that has been marked by a demoralising mis- management should come an improve- ment of procedure for the safeguarding of the community from crime and from that which is even worse than crime itself, the concealment of crime. o A really good lobbyist, in the days when lobbying was a fine art, made it a matter of pride to avold suspicion of ulterior motive. The present propa- gandist flaunts himself in pride of authorship, e In addition to the confident belief that valuable understandings will be promoted by the MacDonald visit, there is the agreeable assurance - that pleasant time will be had by all’ —————————— The elephant and donkey are still talked about. Th~ camel gains in pro- hibition significance as the animal which disdains the farmer's hay and requests only plenty of water. N Diplomatic occasions are being con- sidered apart from the rather strong tendency to regard them only as social functions. oo In spite of motors, King Georgs holds to th> idea that the time-honored horse is the proper means of carrying & King. o Florida appears confident that the hurricane will not cause anything like the confusion which realtors brought about some time ago. — et A plain policeman in this city has managed to surpass all the novelists in making a murder mystery interesting. — e —— Political economists continue to write, but grand juries in strike regions go on attracting most of the attention. ——a———— As a ship expert, Shearer is re- garded as having tried to steer a con- ference into & storm at ses. ————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Right and Wrong. Even when you have met defeat, ‘When all the strife is done, { The battle brought a joy complete, Although it was not won. When I have felt ambition climb And cause a losing fight, I'm kind o' thankful for the time When mebbe I was right. And when the lazy mood draws nigh And evening serves to show The splendors of the Western sky While twilight landscapes glow, Then conquering fancy seems sublime, ‘Though facts are not so strong; I'm kind o’ thankful for the time ‘When mebbe I was wrong. Supporting the Home. “It is evidently your ambition to keep running for office.” “A man must think of his family,” said Senator Sorghum. “It's more than an ambition. It's a business.” Jud ‘Tunkins says he wonders whether a political salary really pays a man for the hard work he has to do, shakin’ hands. Lands. We journey into distant snows To find new lands, 'mid chill distress, Although we cannot govern those ‘Which now securely we possess. Victim of Misrepresentation. “Do you admire the saxophone?” “I have nothing against it,” sald Miss Cayenne, “as I see it picturesquely shown in a music store window. But I think some of those who try to play it misrepresent it sadly.” “No riches,” saitl Hi Ho, the sage of | the Chinatown, “are great enough to pre- vent their owner from continuing the struggle for more.” Spectacular Destruction. In modern mechanism lies Such peril now and then, A genjus seems & man who tries To crack up fellow men. “When you's talkin’ ’bout election,” said Uncle Eben, “a tip on a politician sounds jes’ as confident as & tip on a race hoss and ain’ no mo’ reliable.” Sinc—lair Denies Plea Was Based on Health To the Editor of he Star: An article published in a recent issue of your newspaper states that a petition made by me for commutation of sen- the condition of my health. This is an error. I did not apply for executive clemency on the ground of ill health. - The principal of mflu- tion was that was _imp: for doing something that had not hereto- fore been prohibited either by statute or rule of the courts and had been the regular practice of the United States Department of Justice. Observation of a jury became contempt of court only after I engaged in it. No member of the jury was ap- proached by operatives in my employ, nor were they even that they R e e o ere was no er I did and no such finding was made either by the lower court preme Court, which revie One business man was speaking to -n;[ther. i e Was congral “reaching out” in his work. ‘The other seemed somewhat doubtful of the compliment impled. “Reaching out,” he mused. “Reaching out—to become like everybody else.” “I knew that what I said would prove & boomerang,” replied the first business man, with kindly sorrow. His friend always had rerplexed him. The cuss was chronically opposed to :gh:n Every one knows some one like at. Ir iv‘cau complimented him on reaching out, he turned it the other way. If you praised him for playing safe, he lament- ed the fact that he lacked the courage to launch out. * ok ok K It will not do for an outsider to say which of the two general types these two men belonged to, but it may be stated, in a perfectly theoretical man- ner, that they did so represent hu- manity. i Two of the many scores of divisions into which the tribes of mankind may be divided, not in regard to races, but simply as men among men, are those representing those who resent similar- ity and those who welcome it. Sinclair Lewis’ best novel—at least, so many think—showed the rfect type of the modern American who has one in heavily for standardized men, lomes, thoughts, ideals. ‘The name “Babbitt” wordy symbol for the type. better than any similar name given to has become a It “took” ]the reading public in this generation. There is perhaps no one of the mental age of 16 years who does not have some idea of what a “Babbitt” is. And we may say, in passing, that when an author has succeeded in putting such a stamp on the minds of an entire peo- ple he has done very well. i The opposite of Babbitt is such a man as presented above, who resents ing told that he is “reaching out,” whatever that means; he feels that what 5o pleases another is to him simply becoming like everybody else. It is common to call such a person an “individualist,” as if every blessed erson alive were not an individualist. erhaps & coined word, such as “re- senter,” or one who resents, would strike nearer home. Much has been said against the glorious quality of resentment. Those who accept life as it is, without resent- ment, are to be congratulated; they re- ceive their reward in this world, in the form of peace, contentment and happi- ness. Surely those are beautiful words, standing for beautiful things. *Con- tentment 15 & continual feast,” some wise man said. * kX x Yet he who resents, natural for him to dislike, to suffer heart-burning, to take umbrage, gets a certain zest out of life which no placid character can know or understand. Nor does such & man necessarily have to be like those favored ones who hap- pen to possess the ability of focusing public attention. These simply stand because it is on a pinnacle, often created by them- selves, where they shine forth before men; often the man who stares up at his friend on | he them with admiration has even flocg‘er ““ri“ courageous resentment in his ea! It takes courage to be a “resenter,” one who resents. The primary work of the born resenter is to dislike instinc- tively what everybody likes, or at least to wonder about it because of its very popularity. No dyed-in-the-wool re- senter can get farther in his self-ap- pointed task until he has taken these primary, fundamental courses. we speak, He deserves no commenda- tion for disliking the common, for tak- ing umbrage easliy at the crude, the silly or the vulgar. Least of all does he pride himself on it He knows that all this is simply the A B C of good resentment. e main resentments of his life, as it were, are to come when he champions the cause of the downtrodden, speaks out against injustice, or cheers those beaten down by the scorn o: tl:e Babbittry. * * Courage! This 15 the great quality of niind, soul and body which the amateur re- senter lacks, and which only time can build in him i God has not given it to_him in the beginning. Time may or may not achieve this glorious result; he, least of all, places any,too much rellance in it. Courage i a sublime thing, most often only a kind of animal courage, but_glorious even then. The courage which led but one human being to fly across the Atlantic by himself had its reward. Like the song of Longfellow's poem, however, the courage of Lindbergh re- flected itself in millions of hearis around the world. There is literally no telling how many people were made better by a brave deed which they had no active part. Stald, citybound men and women, fretted with the peaceful restrictions of civilized urban living, felt their hearts beat faster, and something strange creep into their minds. t was wuule,‘ o!‘ course, * * And courage, after all, is the secret, if there is any secret, of the man born to_resentment. . His chief pique in life is against doing as every one else does. He cherishes the wholesome ambi- tion of being unique. To live, to him, is to be himself. As soon as he finds out that a million men read a magazine he be- comes suspicious of it. He wants to be the discoverer, the lone appreciator of something good. He likes to see merit n people every one else is lambasting; that is why he selects for' heroes those who have dared mightily, right or wrong. Above all he resents being told that he is “reaching out,” because he feels that he sees clearly enough that he is a traitor to the best in him when he does anvthing but reach within. Inside his own mind and heart, he knows, are all those facts, hopes, aspirations, even events—for such a man makes events—which are to be his true treasure. ‘What he needs besides is courage, the divine. Capital’s Degree of Wetness Subject of National Interest Washington's degree of “wetness” and what may be done about it has become a subject of national interest through Senator Howell's charge that the Capi- tol is one of the wet spots of the coun- try, and President Hoover's response in the form of a demand for evidence and a promise that Washington will be made a model of law enforcement. Strongly critical of the Senator, the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel remarks: “As the gentleman from Nebraska says, he ‘spoke from what is common knowl- edge'—knowledge that in the National Capital, as in almost every other city, violation of the Volstead act is regular routine procedure for thousands. But in the ce of concrete information, what is to be done about it—even by the President of the United States?” “Personally, the President has done much, by example and public utterances, | to uphold prohibition to the letter,” d clares the Newark Evening News. “Wha! more he can do is problematical. Sen- ator Howell could do something to help if he made his allegations specific. Per- | haps he can demonstrate that it is easier to dry up Washington than Newark.” The Detroit News feels that, “probably without meaning to do so, Senator Howell implied a doubt of the President’s strict observance of his oath of office. That was something President Hoover could not brook. * * * He served notice that any Senator who criticizes the White House, however in- | directly, must ccme down to distinct cases. “President Hoover was led by Senator Howell,” according to the New Y 8un, “into & declaration that Washin, ton wou'd be made a model of law en: forcement if it is not that already. | This was the promise of a courageous man. If Washington becomes perfectly dry, the only evidence of its aridity will be negative. If it remains wet in spots, no matter how small they are, there will be Howells and others to point to them and say, ‘See, the President, with all his power, has failed!” That will be unfair, of course, but complete fairness is not expected in political distusllonl‘ of rum.’ “Other Senators and Representatives have made similar complaints,” recalls the Chicago Daily News. “Now is the time for persons with knowledge of flagrant violations of the law to give the proper authorities at the Capital the benefit of their knowledge. If the authorities have succeeded in drying up notorious wet spots in Washington hotels, they have accomplished some- thing which long has needed their at- tention. Visitors to the Capital, who in past have been kept awake by the maudlin singing of asserted soaks, while the latter absorbed their tipple through the watches of the night, have reason to think that lch least a silencer has been put upon the process.” “In that place,” advised the Hartford Times, “Congress not only has the power of legislation, but it has the power of enforcement. Under such cir- cumstances, either Congress can make Washington ‘dry, if it but will, or, if Washington, where Congress controls, cannot be made reasonably dry, then there is a scant reason for hope of pro- hibition enforcement elsewhere, and Jittle sense in attacking cities like New York, Philadelphia and Chicago for their failure Calling the situation a “dramatic and decisive test,” the Omaha World-Herald argues: “From the issue raisec. the chal- lenge so boldly thrown down, there can be no escape. Can prohibition be enforced, will it be enforced, in Wash- ington, D. C.? It can be more easily enforced there than elsewhere, because there is no conflict of authority. All the power that law can give is in the President’s hands. And the President, whose integrity is beyond any question, is vouched for by the forces that have ‘made prohibition a rolluul shibboleth,” “That the Federal prohibition officials have been raising a smoke screen gbout the lack of co-operation on the part of State officials everywhere has never been better exemplified than in their own lack of enforcement within the shadows of the National Capitol,” as- serts the Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch, while the Kansas City Journal-Post takes the extreme position that “Wash- ington can be made as dry as a bone,” and that “real prohibitionists should welcome the chance to show to other cities, not similar] advantages of a tically and theore! dry.’ “We will await developments,” an- the Little Rock Arkansss Democrat, with the conviction that “here, it seems, is a chance for both Senator Howell and Mr. Hoover.” That paper feels that “apparently Mr. Hoo- ver has lost patience with solons ‘who make blanket charges recklessly.” The Spokane Spokesman-Review suggests: “The amusing and gratifying thing about wet propaganda is that it recolls on the interests that are firing it. To show that the eighteenth amendment and the enforcement laws are failures they overdo their allegations and there- by start in motion forces for more vig- orous enforcement. That happened with rum running in the coastal area with the illicit traffic along the Cana. dian border and elsewhere, and better law enforcement followed. Now Wash- ington is to get a cleaning.” “The country belleves Washington is conspicuously wet in the judgment of the Baltimore Sun, the Rock Island the Senator should be ex) furnish the evidence which has been requested. The New Orleans Times- Picayune concludes that “maybe he has these facts at hand but cannot di- vu‘l‘sed them without involving personal riends.” | There Will Be No War Of Extermination To the Editor of The Star: Nothing perhaps reveals the true Arab psycnology so unmistakably as Mr. Sakran’s criticisms of my observations k | in a recent issue of The Star about the massacre of Jews by Arabs in Palestine. He charges me with being blinded to the rights of others by “my extreme Zionism,” which is palpably untrue. I voiced my horror and indignation over the atrocities committed by savages on defenseless people purely as an Ameri- can anxious for the lives of our na- tionals there and for the honor of my country, which has sponsored the Bal- four declaration, If my sympathies are with Zionism, it is precisely because I do respect the rights of the Arab, the Christian _and the Jew in the Holy Land. While Zionism proclaims the doctrine of historical rights, it recognizes the rights of others on the same grounds. England's promise to free the Arabs from the Turk was faithfully kept in the creation of an Arablan empire, with three Arabian potentates in the Hejez, Iraq and Transjordania. Palestine was never included in the Arabian territory, but was given over to be a homeland for the Jews, under a British mandate. Surely, the Jews have & right to ex- pect, and to demand, that the pledge made to them by the civilized nations be carried out without regard to the savage yell of some frenzied tribesmen in Palestine. As to Mr. Sakran's unwarranted statement that “the present conflict is entirely due to the arrogance of some of tke more ardent supporters of the Jewish national home idea,” I can do no better than quote Mr, Winston Churchill's recent definition of Great Britain’s obligations in Palestine: “The rights and claims of the Arabs to an equal citizenship, to an equally care- ful study of their special interests, are also sacred. Why should these oe thought to be incompatible with the building up of a Jewish national home? * * * Here, out of the blistering desert, patience, industry and civilized intel- ligence have created green, smiling flelds and vineyards and delicious shady groves, the home of thriving, happy, simple communities, who even if thece had been no Balfour declaration would deserve the strong protection and the uymfnmes of free and enlightened pev- ple in every quarter of the globe.”, There will be no “war of extermina- tion between the two pepples.” The attention of the whole world has been directed to Palestine and to the sav- agery of some of its natives, and the civilized world is determined that the Wandering Jew shall at last have found a haven of rest in the land of his He has been dealt with most by those to whom he has given He is entitled to a full and fair chance, and all the great powers have accepted & common MVH!{MIM in his behalf. CHARLES W. P. W, The Excuse of the Future. the Oakland Tri 0. ’ ute’ take its == i fllm nlg;.ufil‘e of “Didn’t w it was So much is easy to the man of whom | NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM John _ Stuart Mill. 7 S E. G. uc‘:mn. eryman’s rary. Edited by Ernest Rhys. E. P. Dl\lr{ ton & Co, In school days that story-poem meant little. Its action was too dis- tant, too strange. Besides, there stood in between a barricade of words, diffi- cult to scale or to dig through. Yet, when one day a lad of better gift than ours stood and read in a swinging ardor “The Prisoner of Chillon,” there wak- ened within us, within one certainly, the sound of marching feet far off, the faint thud of drum. And above & benner shone, gallant and gay, in sun and wind. Then the picture gave way to proper school tasks. Years later when, one of the pack in a personally conducted tour, I peered over shoulders and around backs into & dark dungeon, its stone pillars fitted with fron angle rings, even then Chillon was hardly more to me than a shudder of distaste. The guide flashed his light over a wall upon which, rudely carved, ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. you delay? Submit quest! - eric J. Haskin, director of our Washing- ton Information Bureau. He is employed to help you. your inquiry to Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, di 3 o ton, D. C., and inclose 2 cents in or stamps for return postage. Q. Why is it that robins do not sing in the Fall?—A. A. R. A. The singing of robins is connected with the breeding season and ceases when this season is over. This is gen- erally long "before Fall. Q. What was the Washington Benev- olent Socfety?—M. B. A. The Washington Benevolent So- clety was a fraternal organization for the benefit of the members of the Revo- lutionary War. There were branches in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, Q_.r Is jadeite as valuable as jade?— A. ‘It is not possible to estimate the value of jade or jadeite. True jade is very highly prized and jadeite is the more valuable variety of jade. Q. How is compressed yeast made?— stood two names—"Byron,” “Shelley.” | R. M. Later, in the leisure of home while reducing the mad rush of vacation to a degree of order, I came n{lln upon Chillon. This time, I captured the story of Prancols Bonivard, good prior at Geneva who, over 300 years ago, stood up for the people against the Duke of Savoy, to whom the people were chattels whose treatment and dis- posal were entirely of his own choosing. The answer of the duke to the prior was the dungeon of Chillon, the ankle ring and chain. Other bold, outspeak- ing men had known this prison, others were yet to know it. It was the genius of Byron that gave lasting life to Boni- vard. It was the genius of Byron that, in time, changed the dungeon to shrine toward which apostles of free dom have made a thousand pilgrimages are still making them. Byron, Shelley, Hugo, Dickens, Mi- rabeau, Frankiin, Lincoln, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Florence Nightingale, Mary Wollstonecraft, Susan B. An- thony, many, many another stand with these hosts of protest against tyranny in all of its forms. These are rebels. These project every sort of freedom: racial freedom, political equality, nomic_equity, social and individual in- dependence. It is a long story, that of the urge toward human freedom. One of the longest of human records, rising periodically to heights that changes the matter from chranicle to active revolu- tion itself. In the maddle of the last century, or thereabout, all over Europe there came to head one of these recur- rences of rebellion—felt the world over. And out of it emerged, alive and lusty, the rise of a new urge toward freedom for women—just another phase of the general demand for wider liberties for the people as a whole. i This is the place for Mary Wollstone- craft and John Stuart Mill, doughty fighters, both, for the plain logic as well as for the proved capacity of women to take on dutles, political and economic, that had, hitherto. been as- sumed by men alone as their exclusive right. Possessed, today, as women ire of ual political and nomic privileges ith men, of even greater legal rights and protections, it is hard to realize the situation of Mary Wollstonecraft in her own day of pioneering fur wom- en. Yet, that which has heen achieved in this line goes back in large meas- ure and definite plan to this heroic and fearless advocate. It seems to me that for a couple of very good reasons the study of “The Rights of Women™ is incumbent today upoa the ccuntless beneficiaries of this particular woman's theory of equality tween the sexes and.of her exposition of that theory. ‘The book stands as a substantial part of the history of woman's advance toward political responsibility. It gives evidence, as well, of the cnanged attitude toward such advance in the present, a gain not known in th: day when this woman stood, for contumely and abuse. These are the two reasons why the clearly ema i cipated woman of the present will | well to turn a listening ear toward tre { middle of the last century when Mary Wollstonecraft fought some of the bat- tles that have opened up a new day for women. Not easy reading, this early chapter in freedom for women. It is written in the style, after the manner of 1860, and thereabout. Ways of writing change as do bonnets and bustles. Nowadays, a bonnet, or a bustle, is absurd and in- considerable. So was much of the writing manner of the Victorian—high- pitched to an oratorical tone, elabo- rately buskined, so to speak, for tragic struttings of the stage, almost melo- dramatic in some of its excesses. Yet, this was the fashion when a truly great band of writers set down words that will continue to delight the world for some time to come, I take it. Under i the to-do of composition hcre is a woman tremendously in earnest, a passionate woman, a fighting woman, an unconquerable one—for you, if not for herself. An indiscreet woman, tco— and, alas. it was the indiscretion of Mary Wollstonecraft that has so near- ly been her undoing with people who are deeply sensitive to feminine be- haviors, keenly censorious, too, of de- partures from the conventions sct around the female. Even in her own day she was the “hyena in petticoats,” according to the correct and immacu- late Horace Walpole. To the gentle Hannah More, as to many another, Mary Wollstonecraft was an enigma, therefore to be held to strict account. | A literalist, this pioneer tried to live some of her theories. A fatal experi- ment, as time showed this adventurer in_the free life. Yet, reading here, one is amazed at the clear line of thought discernible under language much of which is merely emotional extravagance., Here are plans of education for women that could not be surpassed to-day—cer: tainly they have not been surpassed as means of intelligent and practical train- ing for every aspect of the common life—politics, industry, society, th2 home. Not sex, but actual incapacity alone, should disqualify women for political d_intellectual work, is the text of Mary Wollstonecraft’s long series of sermons and urgent methods of prop- aganda. Not new, this. But instead of settling under the ineradicable dis- trust of such inherent capacities as the wise men of all ages had done, this woman hammers away for education, for opportunities, for trials and tests, for every sort of proof in favor of an expanding life for women, Women would better read this book. To them is due much of the delay in this case of freedom for women—more :rob-bly than can be honestly ascribed to the barriers set up by the modern man. These reluctant ladies may get some light from Mary Wollstonecraft. Of her book Mr. Catlin, in his illuminating and most interesting introduction, 58! to the overcritical it is a bad book— formless, disorderly, too ately projected. “But it is alive and irritat- ing, as challenging today as in the day in which it was writt , far more likely now to be " Set off mm’lo':l:flltund lueid, it en"—*] 3 to the appreciative reader.” stonecraft’s book is “neither well well guénusd nor well written. the befln“*i of a move- ment which has not_tu¢nell back since her day. It bears the hallmark of an honest and healthy mind expressing convictions born, not of theories, but of experience, and nurtured not on pri- :;me grievances, but in abhorrence of am.” To Everyman’s Library—to the whole family of pocket editions of the best in | to debt for 8 A. Commercial yeast, also called com- pressed yeast, which is bought in small tinfoil packages at the grocery, is made by pumn? a culture of the yeast plant in beds of ground, moist cereal, usually corn, though sometimes barley and wheat are used. The plant grows very rapidly in a warm temperature. After it reaches a certain growth it is skim- med off and washed to remove any par- ticles of the grain, after which it is compressed into blocks and cut into squares. A little tapioca is added for stiffening. Today black strap molasses is used instead of grain, since it can be purchased cheaper and has proved more economical, due to elimination of waste. Q. Who were the members of the original “Floradora” Sextet?—G. A. C. A. The girls who sang “Tel Pretty Maiden,” in “Floradora” took the town by storm at the Casino ‘Theater in 1900 were: Vaughn Tex- Smith, Margaret Walker, Marie L. Wil- Marjorie Relyes, Agnes 2 Daiey Greene, i Q. When jacob Stainer make frek vieling—B. B V. e A. There are no actual data as to the first violin made by Jacobus Stafner, who was born in 1621 and died in 1683 in an insane asylum. He was a| ticed to a maker of stringed ru- ments and is estimated to have produc- ed violins of his own about 1641, Later he studied at Cremona, where he dis- covered Italian methods of violin manu- facture and became & master in tne art. He was a German, born in the Tyrol. . What is the name of the valle in Was| where s0 many d-flodfli - " There are ‘many daffodlls 5 are in the Puyallup v-ne;, o ”CQY.‘ :l:w ml :o? the earth travel y on journey around sun?—G. M. ¥ e A. The earth fravels 584,600,000 miles on ‘its annual trip around the sun and this is approximately 1,601,604 miles per day. Q. What kind of a prison is the one st Camp Sherman?—K. A. Prison authorities say that the Government now maintains a Federal reformatory on the Camp Sherman te. The prisoners are considered among the best young fellows that are unfortunate enough to be in prison. The young men sent to this reforma- tory are those who have short sen- tences and are first offenders. They come from Leavenworth and Atlanta prisons. Q. Where is the oldest microscope in existence?—J. E. A. Undoubtedly the oldest microscope on record is a plano-convex lens of quartz found by A. H. Layard amid the ruins of Nineveh. It is now in the British Museum and is .5 centimeters in thickness, 3.5 centimeters in diameter and its focal length is 10.7 centimeters. Q. How long has Swifzerland had its present constitution? What is the population?—A. J. Y. A. The constitution now in force be- came effective May 20, 1874. The esti- mated population of Switzerland in 1928 was 3,987,000 BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. An English review bewails the de- generation of landscape beauty through- out England and attributes it “largely to the great increase of automobile travel since the war.” The cause and effect do not seem exactly associated, for in America we are wont to note improvement in the highways and in all that makes up the beauty of the countryside, and we re- mark, “See how Americans on wheels begin to love the beauty of Nature!” The dillapidated farmhouses have been freshly painted or replaced with modern architecture; farmyards be- tween house and road are gay Wwith flowers, where once were cabbages or weeds; the broken fences have been patched or replaced with well trimmed hedges. Shrubbery adorns the yards, and is well set. The old mud road is asphalt or concrete, often bordered not only with trees but with systematic plantings of flowers for many beautiful miles. Where, but a decade ago, were ram- shackle lunch stands and barnlike wayside dance halls of shady repute, now are neat, attractive eating places, with clean, appetizing food; State- inspected water supplies, duly marked, and homelike lodgings offered in private domiciles and camps, under careful inspection, with modern equip- ment of water and electricity! Canada to Mexico. So, if the story about the English landscape be true, let us parody the 'm, and make it read sincerely: “Oh, to be in America, now that June to October is here!” * % % % A lover’of outdoor beauty is Harvey M. Watts, “It seems to have escaped the critical eyes of many observers, who seem to be ready to accept a very small and undetermining part of a very large whole, that the great ellipse that runs from one focus, Portland, Me., to the second focus, Washington, D. C., with its longer axis along the Piedmont Divide,- parallel to the coast, contains hin its varied surface at the present day the most supreme appeal in the way of beauty of rural landscape that this hurrying globe knows. * * * In this enchanted ellipse the characteristic aspects range from the most concen- trated urban appeal—since despite its fastnesses, in population it is over- whelmingly urban with nearly 30,000,~ 000 people, representing in their highest aspects a civilization of such refinements and elegances as puts the whole world in tribute to satisfy the needs and lu?ly the luxuries that flow to it as if drawn by some overwhelming m net—to the suburban, while the tribu- tary rural districts, varying in to -gzy and climate, reflect a New ‘World auty which is the result of natural conditions and of a settlement of culture mnnln, back 300 years." In spite of the long and complicated syntax, iet us infer that Mr. Watts ad- mires our beautiful landscapes. Whew! So do we all. This recalls the story of the Amer- ican enthusiast on his first visit to Eu- rope. The wonders of England and th2 Continent drew, in ever-increasing ef- fect, upon his vocabulary, until the cli- max came as he entered St. Peter’s, in Rome. He had no more superlatives lgzl;:"f. 30 he gezed and exclaimed Driving over the mountains of Penn- sylvania and Maryland, past the rolling hills and valleys of Ohio, alongside the exquisite farm homes everywhere, our vocabulary was easily reduced to piain, emphatic, thrilling “Gosh! What mar- velous beauty!” * x % % The road to Gettysburg? Bejeweled every few 10ds with rose-adorned trel~ lises on both sides of the highway! The National Highway across “Penn- sylvania and all points West,” running for miles as straight as a bird can fly and as smooth as the floor of a dance hall, or rising and falling over rolling Iand waves, penetrating superb glorles of farms and and cities! And all this region 5o rich in historic interest! The half has not been told, nor marked with suitable “'storied urns or animated busts,” that some day will tell the romances which this glorious beauty holds locked in its secret ar- chives. o * x % % 1t is not alone what geol ten in rock and plain which mak=s up the thrill of the beholder. Nature's se- crets are hidden forever to all but the researcher, and if only Nature's own story is told, it is like the “short and simple annals of the poor” to all hear- ers except the ultra-learned, who alone can understand its vernacular. Only when we know the story of humanity has writ- can we feel the “touch of Nature makes the whole world kin.” Call that “literary value” if you must, or measure it with “human interest.” “Americans indeed,” says Mr. Watts, “could well agree with Rupert Brooke, that the Canadian Rockies, or our own, possess less interest than the Alps, since and therefore ready to go a-tramping any day, well set up, no more than nor- mal in price and offering the widest pos- sible choice of subject—these little li- dot hing conceéivable rnolrndlncmlmtoim\_l_ it we say say “Thank you' opportunity large often enough for this clear and privilege. ‘These | make all outdoors a veritable park, from | | habited it. who wrote in Scribner’s | 0 | Magazine as follows: the wide world into the sur- | of they, the Rockies, are almost a mere concrete panorama of rock and tree and ice, without the slightest element of human association to give them what might be called the ‘literary value’ that belongs to the Alps by reason of their every aspect being shared by the gre |deeds of men and the peoples of all times running back to the very dawn of civilization. Hannibal, Caesar and Napoleon give the most rugged vistas a magic that counts and cannot te du- plicated.” i * x k * “Aye, there's the rub!” That ex- Elains the unfathomed interest poten- (tial in this Eastern scenery, of our | ellipse, beyond expression in the mere |rocks and rills. We boast no Ararats |nor any Yosemite Valleys within our | beautiful ellipse, whose centers are in Portland, Me., and Washington, D. C. Altitude lies in Alaska, expanse lies be- yond the Mississippi, but human interest rests in this ellipse. Here are the scenes where America was created. “And the Lord planted a garden east- |ward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.” Maybe that was not written originally concerning our beautiful ellipse, but it sounds literally like it. Note that Eden never developed interest until man in- Same case as our ellipse. So no scenery counts except in the measure of the human interest. Hence the vast importance of bringing out the |humanness of the scenery through hich we drive. * * * % Maybe Whittier stretched his imagi- nation in his story of Barbarie Fritchie. Maybe there never was that incident of old Barbarie and Stonewall Jackson, but its human interest sanc- tifies Frederick. Md. Who cares for literal facts? It's true, nevertheless, in its keynote of fearless patriotism and man’s respect for it. Is the grandeur of the mountain peak determined by its geology or its serene loftiness amid- cloud and sunshine? Here is Valley Forge—beautiful in its natural scenery, moving beyond words in its history of what men suf- fered there. Here is Gettysburg! As- cend its hills, look across its vistas! Admire its sunsets and drink in its atmosphere so bracing and refreshing. ‘Then listen amid its historic scenes to Lincoln's immortal words recalling the vivid picture of “what men did there!” Drive along the National High Stop! “Here General Braddock died was secretly buried until months later Colonel Washington recovered his body and bore it to its final resting place. He was “Colonel” Washington then. If the Indians had killed him in place of his superior officer, what would have been the fate of the future United Btates? Somewhere in each State along the National Highway stands thi ithetic, inspiring group, molded in gran ':d"‘”“‘ | position. immortalizing the ~Madonaa of the Plains.” Can the motor e | with such an inspiration or measure its sublimity with }::1:5 altitude of any mountain in sight? 1 That is the scenery which miehold: Jourists pulses throb with living in such a coun- """.?,'.‘,9.’?’ % are men"—aye, and “Madonnas of the Plains.” * ¥ ¥ X The State of Ohio, through its Legis- Iature, has recognized this fact of the importance of human history by an ap- propriation at the last session of $50,000 to cover the expenses of & commission of distinguished citizens to study the State and locate the important sites for the erection of monuments telling the story of “what men did there.” In the early future, then, there will be many tablets and monuments estab- lished which will crystallize the romance of Ohio’s history and make accessible to the passing tourist the knowledge of what has made the greatness of the State of Presidents and of ploneer heroism. * k ok K It is trite to complain of the dese- cration of landscapes by outdoor signs and advertisements. Even in Ohio, as well as all over the ellipse, there remain many such blotches upon the beauty of Nature. There are 10-foot wooden cows in Pennsylvania fields, to advertise malted milk. There are in Ohio 50- foot-high ice cream cones, marking stands where 6-inch cones may be bought. There are 30-foot imitations of d all sorts of insuls to the Yet I am more and more an optimist regarding the early banishment of such disfigurements, not through legislation, but through popular disgust and dis- approval. “miy worry?” ‘Wooden Indians are gone, Madonnas of the Trail remain. T recall that the establishment of & concern for “Outdoor Advertising,” lo- cated upon Dayton's fairylike e~ vard, on the bank of the Great Miami, hides its own sign with a dense shield Ashamed of lormandy poplars. wumy in the face of such re- Illw as that flower-decorated crass fined river (Copyright, 1020, by Paul V. Collined