Evening Star Newspaper, November 12, 1929, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR __With Sunday Morning Edttio WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY....November 18, 1920 THEODORR W. NOYES. ., .Editor The Evening Star N Company Business Omeer 11th St. and Penn ia Ave. New York Office: 110 East mi';: m-m Office: Lake Michigan Building. pean Office: 14 mlnt - don, Englan Rate by Carrier Within the City. The .. 45¢ per month ar . 80c per month 68¢ per month . per copy tion made at'the end of each month. Orders may be sent in by mail or {elephone NAtional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Vlr{lnh. 7r. $10.00: 1 55 mo.. H Daily only . Sinday only Member of the Associated Press. ‘The Associated Press Is excluaively entitled o the use for republication of all rews patehes credited to it or not otherwise ero ited in this paper and aiso the local 1 e published herein. All rights of publication special dispatches herein are also reserved. - Mr. Hoover Starts Something. ‘When Mr. Hoover last April recom- mended to Congress “limited changes” in the tariff, he took the lid off the whole tariff question. Automatically it became open to sweeping discussion and revision. The resuit is what Sena- tor Watson calls “the hopeless mess” in the Senate. ‘The President has started something of the same kind with his Armistice day speech. Suggesting merely “for the consideration of the world” and not as “a governmental proposition” that “food ships should be made free of any inter- ference in times of war,” Mr. Hoover opens up, at one fell swoop, the anclent, acrimonious and muiti-angled question of the freedom of the seas. It is not to be projected, he declares, into the fortheoming naval conference, but that it will dominate and permeate—not to say aggravate—procesdings at London in January can hardly be doubted. All nations truly interested in decisive re- sults at the conference, will devoutly hope that tariff history on Capitol Hill this Autumn will not repeat itself in the guise of a naval limitation “mess” on the Thames two months hence. ‘The President's proposal that inno- cent women and children shall no longer be made the victims of starvation as & “weapon of warfare” is character- istic of the man and his humanitarian impulses. Herbert Hoover, as the al- moner of war-time Belgium and post- war Europe, saw starvation at its deadly work. His long experience abroad taught him how peoples dependent on sea-borne food, especially Great Britain, make those necessities a pretext for maintaining “increasing naval arma- ments and military alliances.” Almost unmistakably referring to the United States, the President last night also mentioned countries heavily engaged in producing food for foreign consump- tion. They, too, he pointed out, mand armament to protect their over- seas trade. Thus Mr. Hoover logically tied free food ships into his program for limita- tion and reduction of navies. He is too | Pridge and Gen. Lee on the other, litte |y, ) pe wige 1f he refrains sagacious a statesman to think that the proposal can speedily eventuate in an -agreement to adopt it. He con- cedes it is one of those ideas that can only be “perfected upon the anvil of debate.” The President may depend upon plenty of hammering on the anvil he bas now set up in the international blacksmith shop. It is difficult to con~ ceive of any single question he ecould have raised more certain to bring out mer likely to pound the loudest is ‘wielded by John Bull. More depend- ent on imported food supplies than any other country in the world, because of her insular position, Great Britain Is nevertheless immeasurably wedded to the idea of sea power not only as a means of protecting her bread lines, but of cutting the bread lines of an enemy in war. Nearly choked to death them- selves by Germany’s submarines, the British lived to see their own fleet lit- erally starve the Germans into submis- sion. Britain may not lightly consent to be shorn of the power some day to | bring another Kaiser to his knees, Mr. Hoover cites persuasively his suc- cess in delivering “more than two thousand shiploads of food through two rings of blockade” when he was relieving Belgium, as evidence of the “practicability” of free food ships. He tells us this miracle was accomplished “under neutral guarantees” Presum- ably, the President feels that states- manship with a will can find & way of doing for all peoples in any future wars what he did for Belgium. By guar- antees Mr. Hoover means safeguards that food intended for non-combatants should not find its way to belligerent armies; for, if it did, food would be- come 3 munition of war. Napoleon is reputed to have said that “an army fights on its belly.” Before 2n unregenerated universe, far from being cured as yet of the habit of war, | will accept the Hoover doctrine of free | food ships, statesmanship must devise a method whereby bread destined for a civilian population will not be diverted to its armed defenders. That it is a desperately hard nut for statesmen to crack is as sure a thing as anything in internaticnal politics at this witching hour. The most hopeful prospect that it may be cracked is Herbert Hoover's splendid initiative in bringing it into the arena of world | discussion. 1t the problem proves sus- |0 by John F. Curry, new leader of ceptible of solution the humanitarian statesman now in the White House will have still another hold on immortality. of the symphony organization will act as its professional ‘adviser. & In the long-ago distribution of special sbilitles no people received a greater #ift along the lines of instinctive melody and harmony than did the African race. Not only has this great ethnological division given to the world notable musicians of outstanding merit, if not positive genius, such as “Blind Tom,” Roland Hayes, Marion Anderson, Paul Robeson, Nathaniel Dett, Harry Bur- leigh, Lieut. James Europe and others t00 numerous to mention, but it ls probable that none possesses a higher average of musical ability. The power of self-expression in harmony secms al- most universal in regard to these peo- ples; & Negro with a faulty ear or lack- ing a love for music is rare indeed. Already eolored jazz bands and brass bands have made a name for them- selves, The peculiar modernistic music generally lumped as “jazz” seems the special province of the race, if not its positive invention, and the past decade has seen the gap between it and what is generally known as classic so dimin- ished that it is practically negligible. In the formation of a real symphony orchestra in,which all the musicians will be colored men, there has been cre- ated a most valuable opportunity where- by the race can better itself and can make itself more readily understood. Music is & common language, transcend- ing the limits of speech and of color. It is not possible that the most prejudiced of white persons could criticize this in- teresting and commendable racial activ- ity. It is hoped and believed that the projected highly trained orchestra will prove an immediate success and even- tually will be but one of many such or- ganizations, Perhaps it may open the way for some great world-famous Negro composer. The generosity of the un- known citizen: of Baitimore who has made this establishment possible may prove far greater than even he suspects. ———tate— Statues on the Bridge. The fact that it is Col. U. 8. Grant, 3d, who objects to placing a statue of his distinguished grandfather at one end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge, facing & statue of Gen. Lee on the other end, is an interesting coincidence, but nothing more. Col. Grant's letter to the Senate, explaining his reasons for disapproval of the plan, is as impersonal as he believes the bridge should be. In his capacity as executive officer of the Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission he probably bespeaks the sentiment not only of that body, but of the majority of his countrymen as well. ‘We have always relied a great deal in this country upon statues in bronze or stone to commemorate the lives or deeds of famous men. This connotes & certain lack of imagination and serves to mold our memories into hard and fast forms. A great statesman or a noted scholar becomes a man with a book, whose whiskers either shine in the midday sun or glisten with frost, depending upon the state of the weather, A renowned soldier becomes & man on & horse, waving a sword. Any |be the candidate of the Democrats of STAR, WASHINGTO! been his hope and his ambition to bulld up the Democratic party in the Btate outside of New York City. He is not a member of Tammany. But obviously Gov. Roosevelt cannot be re-elected if the Democratic organization in the greater city does not take off its coat and work for him next year. And without an election as governor next year, Mr. Roosevelt’s chance of becom- ing a presidential candld-'s in 1932 1s extremely small, ‘The present Governor of New York was drafted & year ago by his friend, Alfred E. Smith, to run for governor. He accepted the nomination under pro- test and for the purpose of alding Mr. Smith in his campaign for President. By a curious quirk of political fortune Gov. Roosevelt carried New York State and Mr. Smith failled to do so. The argument has been advanced, there- fore, that Roosevelt, not Smith, should the Empire State for President in 1932. Mayor Walker is said to have politi- cal ambitions beyond the limits of the greater city. It has been intimated he would like eventually to go to the Sen- ate of the United States. Possibly he has his eye on the gubernatorial office in Albany, and who knows but what his thoughts travel even further afield, to the White House itself in Washing- ton. Mayor Walker has been credited with having played a much more inde- pendent game in New York city poli- tics during the last year, and to have stood on his own feet to a greater ex- tent than hitherto. Certainly he did not fall in with the views of those Democrats who wished to go outside the district leaders to find a leader for Tammany when Judge Olvany resigned last Spring. Should Mr. Smith determine again to plunge into the political vortex in New York, he would most certainly have to be reckoned with in the Democratic party. In spite of his fallure last year, he still remains the great Democratic figure in the Empire State. If he wishes, he will have much to say in 1932 about the attitude of the New York delegation at the Democratic national convention. He is likely, too, to have great influence with the delegations from other States. The Democratie situation in New York is still in the making. New York Demo- crats a year ago gave their party its standard bearer. They may seek to do S0 again in 1932, even though the Democrats in the Senate today are flirt- ing with the Western Progressives, Substitution of a dinner gong for the gavel by Senator Norris made the pre- siding officer of the Senate an involun- tary participant in a touch of comedy. The tariff has long been recognized as one of the most serious of subjects. It has become the great American drama, in which an occasional gleam of the Jocose to relieve the gloom is positively essential, ———— The successor of Stresemann as for- eign minister, Dr. Curtius, has had long experience in co-operation with the de- great things that they may have done to deserve this rigid perpetuity become | of secondary importance to the skill, with which the artist has been able to chisel the stone. ‘With Gen. Grant on one end of the opportunity would be left for us to en- joy the finer and more subtle symbolism that the Arlington Memorial Bridge is two women in the center of the bridge, lasping hands sbove the words, “Let clasp hands this bloody ‘hasm”—the every visitor for he next would be to peer over ing and look down, not for the chasm, but for the blood. no more inspir- hich will lle in the simple, graceful span between the Lincoln Memorial and the wooded hills of Arlington, whose trees frame in min- iature the tall pillars of Lee’s old home. The thoughts, if one is to have them, are the finer because they are not cut out for us in the studio of some sculptor. They allow each one to carve his own image of what he thinks is good and to treasure it alone. Washington, Lincoln, Grant, Lee,' the Unknown Soldier— these and other brave souls have be- come inimortal symbols. To try to. drag them back to earth and materialize their mortal likenesses for purposes of decorative sentimentality is not, as Col. Grant advises the Senate, in keeping with “the entirely impersonal character of the bridge as designed.” ——eeer « In silence the Unknown Soldier sleeps, the representative of thousands who final war might restore peace and un- derstanding to the world. The rites, yesterday, simple and impressive, have enduring significance. ————— New York’s Democracy. New York Democrats are already giv- ing serious attention to the guberna- torial campaign next year. A luncheon of the Democratic Union on Saturday is said to have marked the opcning, un- officially, of & campaign to re-elect Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lieut. Gov. Lchman. Victory next year of Gov. Roosevelt would inevitably place him in the limelight as a presidential possibil- ity in 1932. Gov. Roosevelt has made no announcement so far of his plans either for 1930 or 1932. But his friends have taken it for granted that he will be a candidate to succeed himself as governor and that, with his health im- proving, he would not be averse to be- coming a candidate for the presidency later. The luncheon Saturday was attend- Tammany, but Mayor “Jimmie” Walker was conspicuous by his absence. He had been invited and it was understood e — Now and then a railway train is so unfortunate as to meet with disaster and convey the grim remirder that there are still many accidents that do not involve airships. —aee— A Colored Symphony Orchestra. Announcement from Baltimore of plans looking to the formation of the frst colored symphony orchestra in the United States will be good news for music lovers throughout this country. The new organization will be patterned after the excellent Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. It will be conducted by a highly competent musician, who is now leader of the Maryland city's Colored he had accepted the invitation. In some quarters his faflure to be present at the luncheon was interpreted as & |snub to the Roosevelt people, and per- haps to the governor himself. It has been explained, however, that Gov. Roosevelt held aloof from the mayoralty campaign which resulted a week ago in a tremendous victory for the mayor, on the ground that he was an upstater ceased German statesman. European governments are in most instances aware of the advantage of having an understudy available, ————— Premier Macdonald will have things to tell England about many America, from an effort to elucidate our intricacles of social precedence. available in the McPherson case creates curiosity as to wherc many of them were when the inquiy first started. It might be a practical move for pro- hibition authorities to appeal to dicta- tors of fashion to have all evening suits made without hip pockets. — ey D SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Frost. It was a frost— Radiant spangles, and prisms agleam, Landscapes of silver a fairyland dream!- And we glance at the scene with a warm happy heart, To see how far nature improves upon art, And we say as the branches by chill winds are tossed, “It was a frost.” It was a frost— Down there in the street where the buildings are high And the brokers rushed by, each with fear in his eye, Where it wasn't the mercury going so low, P were sacrificed to the hope that onelBut the price list that makes so im- portant a show. And the lambs sadly sigh as they count what was lost, “That Was a Frost!” Driven From Home. “Why don't you stay home any more?” “My wife and daughters are naturally interested in my public activities,” answered Senator Sorghum. “When- ever I settle down in an easy chair the family gathers 'round and asks me to tell them all about the tariff.” Jud Tunkins says “he guesses his son and daughter-in-law must be gettin’ along pretty well. They've been livin' in town over a year and he hasn't heard any reports of their tryin’ to'shoot each other.” Silent John. John Barleycorn, they used to say, Made people loosen up in talk. But now John seems to have a way Of making conversation balk. Remaining on Earth, “Are you going to take up aviation?” “No,” answered Miss Cayenne, “I know a girl pilot who took her favorite suitor up for a sky ride. She scared him so that he is still afraid to pro- pose.” “He who strives mightily,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “should first take counsel and see that his ef- forts are well directed. There is no ad- vantage in spurring your horse when you are traveling the wrong road.” and that it was not the part of the gov- ernor anyway to mix in city politics, Perhaps this attitude on the part of the governor has disturbed the mayor. At all events, it has given him an op- portunity to mark himself the cleavage between city and State politics. Gov. Roosevelt, although he has been In business in New York Oity, retains his voting residence “upstate.” It has Cherished Advice. My parents, and my teacher, too, Said “Don’t talk back, whate'er you do.” And to remember this I stop ‘When hailed by & traffic cop. “I wish,” sald Uncle Eben, “I had known de boss well enough to tell him dat if he must gamble, to shoot a lttle crap an’ keep out'n de stock market,” THE EVE 1 : TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1929. \ ' ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. There still remains much to be done in the application of business methods to the home. If some men ran their business or profession as they do their homes they would be in bankruptcy in no time. ‘To put it another way, if they man- aged their homes the way they do their businesses they would have much more pleasant and profitable homes. In no matter of household economy does this apply more than to the run- ning of the furnace. ! Ninety-nine persons out of a hundred, offhand, would agree to a general proposition that anything which con- tributes to the health and happiness of the family would be worth putting a little time, work and attention on. Yet specifically applied to the fur- nace, many otherwise capable citizens seem to think that the matter 1s beneath their dignity. Somehow they have got the notion that to show any interest in the matter is either effeminate or menial. Evidently because any old colored man can “run” a furnace these supercilious Ck‘l"un’ believe that the work is beneath them. When this state of mind is combined with the usual inability of the average human being to admit that there is nothing he does not know, we have a situation all too common. ‘We have spoken before in this column of the strange reluctance of men to ad- mit that there is any matter of which they are ignorant. ‘This can be put to the test by any one, any time, in a 'very easy way. Sim- ply think up some outlandish name for a “famous French poet” and ask the ictim whether it is spelled with one " or two. Instead of replying, “I don't know,” &s he doesn't, because there is no such poet, famous or otherwise, he will reply, “Why, I think it is one I’ ” or he may say with two, but he will got say he never heard of the name. He instinc- tiveiy thinks that you are one ahead of him on French poets, and that he will display his ignorance if he admits he does not know. * ok k¥ Pretense to wisdom will do no harm when it comes to the spelling of the names of poets, real or faked, but when it comes to furnaces we are in another ousehold furnace is a hard, some- times difficult nprulnca, or instrument, or apparatus. It works according to certain well known laws, but such little matters as the t?e of coal used, its cleanness, the drafts, the chimney, etc., play large and important parts. Yet many a man plunges out of an apartment, where he did not have to lift & hand to be comfortable, into a home without so much as asking & question about the heating plant. Evidently he believes that this knowl- edge is God-given. The truth is that while almost any one can run a furnace, after some fashion, very few run them either economically or entirely satis- factorily, Yet the health and happiness of the entire family depend upon the heating system for at least eight months of the year. In his business or profession the aver- age man will put his mind to every little problem as it comes up until he has mastered them one by one. He will not turn the job over to the boy or expect the outfit to run itself in some magic manner. He will not begrudge an hourly in- fl;ecunn if necessary, or even ofiener, It Tesults, L Yet when it comes to his home fur- nace he begrudges it time, study or work, and seems to go on the assump- tion that the whole matter is distinctly beneath a busy man of affairs. Often he does not know whether the ahntvhuhuwhcphhfmnm steam or hot water. If any reader here protests that this is too much to believe, we could refer him to two other- wise ceable citizens who ran small hot- water boilers on the assumption that they were steam. Both of these men had moved out of apartments and evidently went on the general theories outlined above. Neither was willing to ask a neighbor anything about the heating system. Each was boiling all the water in his xmln out over the roof each day, with e result that the radiators on the second floor were crammed with air and there was no heat in them. ‘The basements and first floors were s0 hot that those parts of the house were insufferable. In one case furnace was run with the ther- mometer on the boiler registering 200 degrees and higher in weather which necessitated that the water at the boiler should be no higher than 110 degrees. Even with this latter mark & house was too hot, . It can be realized that the unwise furnace tenders were not only using two or three times as much fuel as neces- sary, but they were running some risk of bursting their expansion tanks, case of valve stoppage, while at the same time being uncomfortable in one end of the house on account of the heat and at the other on account of cold radiators. * K ok % ‘The neighbor who took it upon him- self to correct this sad state of affairs soon saw that nefther gentleman had the slightest idea of how to run & common hot-water heating plant, and, what was more, neither would elther admit to the slightest ignorasce or ask a question. If he had sald what he wanted to say, he would have assumed the teach- er's toga, lined his pupils up before him and delivered himself of the fol- lowing lecture: “You gentlemen had better realize that an apparatus which keeps you healthy and comfortable is not some- thing to be looked down upon. “It is true that any old colored man can run it for you, after a fashion, but how? One of you is so lazy that he will not get up to open his draft, but gives an almost unknown man a key to house in order that he may come in to ‘tend the furnace.’ I can- not imagine, sir, that you would hire an _equally unknown man and give him & key to your office. If you had a machine in that office upon .which the health and happiness the business depended, I cannot believe that you would attempt to run it without thought, time or effort. Yet this is what you try to do with the most im- portant apparatus in your home. Onhe of you even imagines that all there is to it is to shake the ashes down and throw on coal. You do not even real- ize that after the fire has burned up some one, or something, has to shut the draft, or the fire will keep on burning, the water getting hotter and hotter, until steam is generated. Neither of you gentlemen would be guiity of & similar attitude in regard to the cheapest machine used in your work, but with the home heating plant you seem to feel differently. I hope I have said enough to convince you that you need to shake down your minds in re- gard to this matter, and get a littie common sense. As a matter of fact, like anything else in the world, if a man will put a bit of himself into it the work of running a furnace becomes a pleasure, believe it or not. Once you have studied and observed the reactions of coal, drafts, and so on, you can make a furnace do what you want it to do with a minimum of time, expense and effort. Use your head, gentlemen—use your head.” Lagging Ticker Exchange Seeks . BY LEMUEL F. PARTON. NEW YORK.—There is in Wall Street divided opinion as to whether the shock of the collapse in stock prices might haye been lessened had the ticker been able to keep up with the market. Un- questionably, the lagging ticker has caused disorder and confusion, and it is agreed generally that controlling and stabilizing forces might have been more effective were it not for the swamping of the machinery and clerical staff of the exchange by the tidal wave of sales. Regardless of past performances, the traders now realize that their com- munications system was dangerously near the breaking point and they still are mystified as to how they were able to clear sales of three or four times normal volume without hopeless con- fusion and possibly disaster. Thus, forewarned, the Stock Exchange is con+ centrating technicians and system ex- perts on getting ready for the peak of the next big cycle of large scale opera- tions, which they see now in its begin- ning. * kK X The old-fashioned tickers have a maximum capacity, under forced draught, of 300 characters a minute. New tickers, working on an entirely different principle, now are grinding 500 characters a minute, on 3,600 ma- chines installed in New York. In lab- oratory tests, crowded to the limit, these machines have handled 900 cha: acters to the minute. The .old m: chines, complicated in transmission but simple in reception, are “step-by-step” control, with the wheel bearing the let- ters having to make a waste jump, pos- sibly clear across the alphabet, to record a single letter or chagacter. The new machines are simple in transmission but complicated in recording, and pro- portionately faster. By varying permu- tations of eight electric impulses each character is snapped out without waste moflgn, with the tape issuing at dizzy ‘When the new system recently was explained to Thomas A. Edison, he re- marked that the exchange was in the same vicious circle as a big city trying to solve transportation problems. More subways make more big buildings and eventually more congestion. Better communications machinery brings in more public, crowding the new speed system as fast as its pace is increased. * ok k¥ It happens that Mr. Edison got his first laboratory out of the ticker—not by playing it. but by repairing it and Jater improving it. Coming to New York in the early 70s, he viewed the exchange ticker system with a friend, having expressed interest in this then novel machine. There were nice, com- fortable piles of paper in the office, and the ticker bosses told Mr. Edison he might sleep there a few days if he wanted to. « He did so. spending his waking hours studying the tickers. On the third day the ticker system broke down. There was consternation and a futile search for experts. The young Mr. Edison, standing by, suggested that he could fix it. They rushed him into the job. “It's the transmitter spring.” he said. “It goes like this, instead of like that.” That was all. The thi started ticking again, They made Ed! e of the ticker department, During the two years he installed the “unison stop” and ‘many other improvements. This stop system functions in the dot one occaslonally sees on ticker tape. * It means that Edison found a way to re- set the tickers on the run, without send- ing around boys, as they used to. When Edison was preparing to leave, exchange officials wanted to buy his interest in the improvements in machines, which he had patented. He was hesi- tant as to what they were worth and was offered $50,000, which he accepted. He afterward said he had intended ask- ing for $1,000, but did not have suffi- cient courage, He and Hurts Market; Faster Machine established his first laboratory in New Jersey. * ok ok % The straln on the ticker can be measured solely by the number of shares soldyin a single day. On Oc- tober 24 sales were 12,000,000 and the ticker printed 160,000 characters. On October 29 sales were 16,500,000 and the ticker printed 120,000 characters. On the first day smaller holdings were being shifted out, with more sales, and hence more characters thus re- corded. On the second day large blocks of stocks were moving, so that the ater total of shares sold was made in ewer transactions and less work for the ticker. % On the first day, the ticker ran until 7:08 o'clock in the evening, being one minute late for ev.:y two minutes of operation uniformly through the day. On the second day it was one and one- half hours late, with closing transac- tions moving at the rate of a 30,000, 000-share day. * ok ok ok ‘The quotations system of the ex- change, employing 128 boys on the ticker floor and 68 girls in a separate telephone exchange, has done much to relieve the communications system dur- ing the last year. About 400 members have private wires to this exchange. ‘The horseshoe trading posts are honey- combed with telephone plugs. The member’s boy on the floor carrles de- tachable earphones. ‘With office desiring continuous information, he plugs in at the posf where he is stationed and sends in the latest sale or bid and asked prices. | P8 During the recent rush days this sys- tem handled as high as 47,000 quota- tions in a single day. About six ‘or seven seconds are required for a mem- ber to get information in this way. Suggestions for radio broadcasting from the floor have been considered, but the obvious difficulty in this is that the ticker must deliver quotations much faster than a person can talk. The new ticker is believed to be just about the last word in speed. The new trading posts, of speclal advantage to the spe- clalists, and making it possible to dis- tribute messengers with less confusion, have helped greatly in handling 8,000,- 000, 10,000,000 and finally a 16,000,000 sl day, when only a short time ago it was believed that 5,000,000 shares was the limit. v - Edison’s Work Is Held Greater Than Swan’s From the St. Louls Times. For those who understand the true significance of Thomas A. ison’s claim, there should be no doubt as to whether he or Sir Joseph Swan de- serves the greater credit for giving the electric lamp to the world. Ed'son's claim is not that he made the first electric light globe. That had been done as early as 1845 by scientists in various lands. They had learned that if the air were withdrawn from a glass bulb certain substances placed in the bulb would glow when an elec- tric current was passed through them. Swan worked along this line after many others had done it. The Ency- clopaedia Britannica, which ought to be d | an authority on British reseaich, says that a short time before the E<ison ¢is- coveries were made public Swan had succeeded in causing a carbon lamp filament to become red hof, but could not bring it to complete incandescence. Edison could and did bring the fila- ment to complete incandescence—and there is the real point. Swan and others before him may have made electric lamps, but it was Edison who made the first incandescent lectric Jamp. To him the glory is due. After he had sho others learned how to make the filament incandescent, and the light that ema- from Ed! ison’s brain wenl around case NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM L G M. A LIFE'S MORNING. George Gissing. E. P. Dutton & Co. “A Life's Morning”" set out to be tragedy. It is tragic in conception and essence. treatment also. Nevertheless, upon ap- proach to its own properly disastrous climax, the story turns aside for the makeshift of a smooth and placid cli- max. This, clearly in deference to the members of a reading public who, with troubles of their own, refuse in their scant hours of relaxation to take on the woes of a love-lorn hero of romance. Publishers, like other market men, grow wise to the intricacies of general de- mand and shape their course to meet the situation. And would an author of quality change the dictates of art to uirement of such clear phi- | gard meet a req Iistinism? He would if he were hungry enough, and George Gissing was h‘u;;ry. The cravings of bodily easement a hand in the climax of ti.s novel. It was this that gave the mawkish ending | y to “A Life's Morning.” By all the rul-l of grtistic development Emily Hood should have died. She was marked mrl that very end. But the publisher said, “No, The public won't stand for it. So “Emily laid her head upon breast,” saying—and the_story is done. It is the romance of Wilfrid Athel's love for Emily Hood and of his poten- tial love for Beatrice Redwing as well. Both women love him. And again the forced ending throws Beatrice out of consistency into an altogether unbe- lievable magnanimity toward her fortunate rivals. Women aren't built that way—not when they really want— not when their affections are really en- gaged. You can see how the market took & man of certain genius in hand for the partial undoing of some of his best worrundzr the stress of material need. Again, it is interesting to l‘!l'd the romance in this light, feeling one’s way along to the point where the genuine work of Gissing began to falter and’ finally to break under the pressure imposed. Morley Roberts, the lifelong friend of the author, gives the inside of this romance in the light of these facts. In- e e iy on i ‘oW secount little collaboral on to see the end under its original impulse. In his introduction to this Gissing novel, Morley Roberts, tells of this par- ticular mischance to the story, pleturing as well the rage and excitement and re- sentment of the artist under the de- mands of the publisher. “It is easy for any one who knew him,” Morley Rob- erts still salking, “to imagine with what characteristic and scornful laughter he would have met the Boeotian's request to alter the end of his story, if he had been, not rich, but even for a few months able to do without the few mi erable pounds with which his compli: ance was to be rewarded. Even as it was, he was long doubtful as he suf- fered the inevitable pangs of one who believed with reason in his own power and authority. 'Gissing did not invent his books; they grew. How little it is T nized, even now, that the one great mark of a real writer is that he invents nothing, for to invent is to be mechan- ical, and art is growth, not mechanism!” “A Life’s Morning” is & story of frus- tration. Gissing himself was also that kind of story. It is a tale of tem- rament, of the constitutionally un- ppy man, at odds with the outside world, at odds with the inside charac- ter. The effect of such uneasiness, un- satisfaction, unrequitement in every di- rection was to create a world of tumult in the heart of this man. An egoist, Gissing, whatever his theme, wrote about himself. Wilfrid Athel i€ the youthful George Gissing. Even when the outsider looking on sees no more than the usual heights and depths of all young love, this particular lover encounters within himself such fear and ‘menace, such to his happiness, such maleficent influences all round- about that never once does tranquillity bless him, never once does assurance calm him. That is George Gissing him- self feeling and loving and telling the world his own story. But, despite the general pessimism, “there is much of beauty in this work, much of quietude, complete sincerity. “I would not will- ingly part with any passage that is pure | the Gissing”—Mr, Roberts again. Anu.' again, the George Gissing books are being available not only to the loyal lovers of this writer, but to a growing appreciation of the man’s power on the part of serious readers generally. E. P. Dutton is looking ;"zur the novels by Gissing. “Demos,” a story of the English proletariat, is on the list of this house. So is “The Nether World:” Soon the long roll of Gissing’s | nim, work will be in the hands of many readers, who recognize the sincerity of this man, savage though this sincerity s0 often is, and who have a feeling for the beauty of his work with words, of his writing manner. » A few years ago Frank Swinnerton made a study of QGeorge Gissing, one of true helpfulness to those who are curious about this clearly strange char- s, with practically ail of Dia roundings, with pract ly of ownutcl."lnmhbooknmthehny and those influences of home and fam- ily that commonly set children on their WA His father ap to have been a figure in the childhood of Gissing. A rather t;‘r‘fln-n; lad, he' wh:elg and took things by way of and there. A lcornmf fellow withal, the sced of the sprouting early wing lustily. In eritical ap- , Mr. Swinnerton follows Gissing, the writer, through his novels, outlining and evaluating these from the stand- point of the author and from that of the general literary purpose and pro- duction of which his own work was & rt. “Two or three ideas appear fre- quently in all Gissing's novels. One represents his desire for the emanci- pation of women from ignorance and subserviency. * * * It may be noted that Gissing wrote at a time when few novelists were enrged in expressing such views.” And here Mr, Swinner- ton cites the Gissing women in proof of the author’s fair intent toward them. “But if women are to be educated, man- kind is also to be emancipated—f{rom dogma. Gissing had all the sensitive man’s hatred of overbearing 9 He was himself intolerant, but he had no sympathy with any bigotry other than Intellectual hlloln:'. Religious dogma, the conventions politics, the manners of respectability had no appeal to him. Peace as a universal religion seemed to him the one hope of man- kind; democracy in power promised the destruction of natural beauties and the substitution of pure ma- terialism and industrialism. Emanci- pation from dogma was the real eman- cipation he desired. Narrow faith was intolerable to him.” Here is Gissing himself talking on education: “For the teaching of chil- dren, after they can read and write, there seems to be no method at all. The old classical education was y consistent, but it exists no longer. Nothing has taken its place. Muddle, experiment and waste of lives—too awful to think about. We're savages et in the matter of education. Some- y said to me once, ‘Well, but look at the results; they’re not so bad.’ Not s0 bad—when the gaol and the gallows are taken as a matter of course! Not s0 bad—when huge flithy cities are packed with multitudes who have no escape from toil and Jhunger but in a_wretched death! Not so bad—when 1l but every man’s life is one blunder, the result of ignorance an unruled passions!’” Passionate, but with enough to think about in this ar- raignment, nevertheless. This Swinnerton study of Gissing (Doran;-1923) is a most helpful aid mn me r??dhll)"l - -tu“l‘e’ Ly bout G imself. Divergent views al issing may not be reconciled by of hs study, but that people st agrev about him is not important. That reaa- ers should be helped to a better un- derstanding of the writer behind the book is eminently worth while in thu For two-thirds of its course in | Wi novelist | j, say, thoughttul, invarisbly - of a generally BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. ¢ do need to know? Is ‘Wha you rector, Wi 2 cents in coin or stamps for return Q. What is the average speed ‘al- lowance for automobiles outside of cities?—T, A. T. A. The average speed on highways for the United States is 38 mijles an hour. The modern tendency is to in- crease the speed lim| be done with safety. Q. How does the English public re- investment trusts?—M. T. A. The investment trusts are on the whole very popu'ar in England. They have been in operation sboth in Eng- land and (o Lo.dand for a great many were greatly X The so-called Baring crises in the Au- tumn of 1890 caused many investment trusts to suffer heavy losses, but some of them have been conspicuously suc- cessful. At the beginning of 1929 there were 170 in Great Britain, with an ag- capital of approximately 250,- 8507500 pounas. Q. Are there any Negroes casting over the radio?—G. F. A. There are many Negroes en in this work. Jubllee singers, quartets singing spirituals, soloists and Negroes who are artists in other lines are often heard over the radio. broad- Q. How many tribes of Indians are there in the United States?—J. R. A.; The Bureau of Indian Affairs says that there are 193 tribes. Q. Can a tree be moved from the woods and be kept alive?—F. A. F. A. The Forest Service says that it is never very satisfactory to move trees from the woods. It is better to secure them from nurseries. However, the chances of growth depend on circum- stances. If the roots are taken intact and not exposed to the air and are kept wet, the chances are that the tree will live. " Q. Please describe the which was owr-hd at World's Fair —W. K. H. < A. The Ferris wheel at the World's Columbian Exposition had & dismeter of 250 feet; a circumference of 835 feet; & width of 30 feet. The axle of steel was 32 inches in diameter and 45 feet long. ‘The total weight with the full complement of passengers was 1,200 tons. The driving power Was through sprocket wheels and chains to on the outer tires, while & system of §m brakes kept the whole machine un control. There were 36 carriages with a seating capacity of passengers each. / Q. Please explain about the Bronze Horses of Venice.—M. C. A. They are supposed to belong to some Graeco-| tri qued- riga. These hmu‘ht to Venice by Doge Enrico Dandolo in 1204, They have had numerous adventures. ing from the place before St. dral and safely hidden. Q. How is the use of the dative or objective explained in such an ex- pression as “poor me”?—D, E. L. A. The following is an explanat! of the use of the ethical dative “me”: “Me"” 18 used to express the indirect fhat s, to. bring into the ""Em‘”"‘m“"“ 3 n as an a) 'nt indirect obj the actual subjec :é““ ethical dative); & form of expression adding :-cny tfo enrlil&quhl gooeh. and, lhl::-‘ ore, & favorite use in Shakespeare other Elizabethan ‘dramatists, Q. Were the old coffee houses of gaged | 1ondon free to the public?—J. K. A. In London they were, 50 to speak, clubhouses free to ail who could buy a cup of coffee; and Pet each wus known for its special circle of visitors, literary, scientific, religious or political. In the absence of newspapers they were a great means of spreading news and of dis- cuull:!dgnbun questions. Nearly all of the le and higher classes attended them daily, and came to exert a powerful influence in politics. Q. What do the abbreviations “ex c,” “ex d” and “ex {” mean when following the price of stocks?—G. B. A. They mean without and spectively. Q. What is the Caterpillar Club?— with- Q. How far is the aviation field, Le | COm] Bourget, from Paris?—R. E. R. A, It is about seven and one-half miles northeast of Paris. It is a 45- minute trip by automobile. Q. Which Spanish dialect is consid- ered the best?—T. A, C. A. There are five principal dialects: The Asturian, Leonese, Aragonese, An- dalusian, Castilian. is the standard literary speec] Q. How fine can white gold be made?—A. P. A. It can be made as fine as 90 per Q. What data are complled by the regarding divorces?— Q. Who invented dice?—M. G. A. Dice cent.gold or about 22 karat. Q. When was the willow-ware pat- tern first put on English china?—F. B. A. The willow-ware pattern was in- by Thomas Turner, an at the Caughley Works Evelien patzer in Shropshire. Deflation of Fascist Bogey Cools Citizenship Discussion ‘The hasty assurance on the part of possessed the Italian Ambassador that Signor | Zen, and Mussolinl’s thundering speech on the Capitoline Hill didn't really mean that American citizens of Italian birth would be impressed into military service if| WO they ever risked a trip to the homeland deflated somewhat discussion of 11 's latest “unfortunate” outburst. But even with the “once an Italian always an Italian” fallacy unexploded, American press takes the speech in much the same vein as the Ottawa (Canada) Journal regards his “mad- Mo ess”: “Perhaps it is not wise to take him as seriously as he takes himself,” it inkpot a skull and crossbones, whose paper weight is a dagger, and whose pets are lion cubs, has obvious his- trionic ablilities. When Fascism fails , fllmland should afford an excel- lent opportunity for him.” Of course, more serious consideration of the premier's words is given by some, especially to its sh refer~ ences to peace, which the Kalamazoo Gasette describes as not contributing anything “ve constructive to the cause of international ha It feels, however, with the St. Paul Pioneer Press, that allowance must be made “for the fact that the occasion which called forth these remarks was the an- niversary of the Italian victory over the Austrians at Veneto in the World ‘War, Moreover, Mussolini was speak- ing for home consumption,” this paper continues, “and he has learned what many other politicians have found out before him, that there are few things so effective as a little judicious puffing of the national ego.” ‘The Saginaw Daily News is at a loss to understand ‘“how 'such an alert brained man as Mussolini could over- look, if he really does, the fact that naflons strong for peace and leading the talk of which he speaks are also nations that are mighty fighters if forced to that recourse.” The Dallas Journal rejoices that ‘“leaders of the great nations are moving constructive- ly toward the accomplishment of peace,” and that there “is but one Mussolini alive to sound the war cry,” while the Memphis Commercial Ap- peal declares that “for the swashbuckler Mussolini, with his abrogation of civil liberties, with his terrorizing of Italian citizens at home and abroad, and, above all, his revival of the doctrine of blood and iron, the world has a growing apprehension.” Others view him merely as an actor striking a pose. As the Omaha World- Herald puts it: “Alongside a coalition of the powers resolute on preserving the status quo, Italy would be a pigmy. It is because the world recognizes the fact that Mussolini’s fulminations hardly disturb its serenity, He may talk war to his heart’s content. But except as a madman leading & nation of the mad he could not wage it.” On this question of citizenship the Springfield Union feels that Itallans re- siding in the United States, whether they have become naturalized citizens of this country or not, will view with satis- faction the assurance that t.he{ ay visit their native land, without of being forced into military service; still it does not “Indicate that Italy is pre- pared to negotiate a treaty with this country whereby American citizens of Italian birth can enjoy the full protec- ;al]l of our citizenship even when in v The Hartford Daily Courant is glad to see “a point of friction between Italy and America” removed, but the Chicago Daily Tribune thinks the statement “does not seem to clear up the question of American citizenship in Italy,” and that paj contends: “The Dflfnt the United must insist upon is that asing, that the | danger of Italians being pitted t ¢ach other in opposing Armies uwmm Discussing = volved, the Worcester lvufl:: ou.tuh points out that “some of our most and devoted Americans are dlmh':; ’ foreign what they government shall mmmm: res citizenship or mlll,J venmr? their rights as Americans.” ‘To this the New York Evening Post agrees, adding that “‘Onte an Italian, always an Italian,’ cannot be i Of 2'mah 1o chan chang S this principle depends the 'l.lldiwooni our naturalization laws.” The Indian- lg"fl News .Also earnestly upholds the ‘N0 naturalized foreigner within our borders is an American citizen.s D S cise than Plebiscite Shows Need Of Another Stresemann From the Baltimore Sun, It is now certain ‘that German; 80ing to miss Gustav Stresemann z!rg much in the next month or two. By hook or crook the Nationalists, Pascists and reactionary Monarchists have se- cured the necessary number of signa- tures for a plebiscite on the ‘Young plan, ggmyr}.:tuke: to “vote upon the at, whers e o eas the Versailles y the th war guilt, and, Iunl':: will ;’.;,l:f' z:;:ox: nl;:y clnnceu:r or minister who agreemen trary de%l:nunn. - b 3 i e danger in this in the lack of a bowep lnd“::r‘lms ing voice to make its folly plain, and second, in the fact that resistance to the Young plan is based upon denial of war guilt. Ask any nation whether she deliberately and in cold blood a war and the answer will be an over- whelming vote for “not guilty.” That is what the Nationalist resolution asksthe German electorate to decide, wantonly also ask, “Are you willing to throw Europe back into "the chaos of :::Q,W tommd‘dermlne the confidence of or] your country, perhaps to bring back forei soldiers in every Gérman city?" l‘an 7 Were Herr Stresemann still alive we may be sure that the vllould hear this of practical consequences. As it is, the danger of the plebiscite going b';. de- fault is not negligible. ~ Stresemann Would have made it clear that the prin- cipal purpose of the Young plan was to remove the punitive consideration from reparations and substitute there- for the idea that Germany's payments were but & phase of the problem of ad- justing European post-war finances. hether the present German Govern- ment has a man who can convince the Germans that to reject the Young plan is to restore the nry»fumuve Spirit Which the Junkers affect to dislike is xormm:h. next two months to sho American citizenship is not of doubtful | irres) definition or privileges. An Italian who has become an American is not of dou- ble or of dublous nationality. His al- legiance is not ‘g‘mnmnbu and the di- rection of his obligatory services is not doubt. In or in war he has the same immunity to alien demand as is —_—_—— erature of such lity as that - duced George qg.lwfm Not. fil, ly ——————— Christmas Suggestion, nm Des “::m Tribune-Cavital, D u - e e or twa in Wall strref so the critics but sincere, provocative, anu fine fabric as writing. Imas, able a nice ilock_ol wa :”w