Evening Star Newspaper, November 22, 1929, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR —__ With Sunday Morning Edition. WASFINGTON, D. C. FRIDAY......November 22, 1920 THEODOR® W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company iness Office: St. and Pennsylvania Office: 110 East 421 Ghicaso Ofice: Lake Michigan Buil ine. pean Office; 14 Rexent 8t.. London. the City. §5¢ per month 65¢ per month 5c per capy ihe’end of each monih. Orders may be sent in by mall or telephone NAtional 5000. Rate by Mall—Payuble in Advance. Maryland and gauv snd Sun yr., $10.00: 1 mo., 85¢ ail® only Sunday only . yr. $4.00: 1 mo.. 40c All Other States and Canad: Dafly and Sunday..l yr.$12.00: 1 Daily only 17y, $800: 1 Sunday only 15T 35.00i 1 Member of the Associated Press. ‘The Associated Press Is exclusively entitied to the use for republication of all rews dis- patches credited to it or not otherwise cred- ited in this paper and the local 1ews published herein, All rights of publication of speciai dispatches herein are also reserved. —_—t————————————— The McPherson Case. The case of the people against Robert A. McPherson, jr., has collapsed. Mc- Pherson is out of jail, a free man. The natural impulse of the community is to congratulate him and to comfort him with the assurance that all is well that ends well and that the slate has been wiped clean. But that gesture would be comparable to pushing a man into a river, suffering him to undergo the hazards of drowning and then pull- ing him out and congratulating him upon his escape. Before congratulating McPherson these things should be borne in mind: He has spent a month and twenty-one days in jall. His name has been dragged through the muck and bandied about on every gossiping tongue. He has suf- fered the mental anguish of being charged with a revolting and despicable crime in addition to being faced with the cold and relentless proposition that his life was hanging in the balance. Can we congratulate McPherson? We can offer him sympathy and help. But 1t 1s more seemly that we congratulate ouryelves. As a community we have been perilously close to the brink. More than one community has crucified an innocent man. But we have not taken the fatal step. As a community we have been shown the fearful conse- quences that lie ahead when reason succumbs to irresponsible and careless impulse. As a community we have seen respected men dragged down, vilified and slandered by unfounded accusa- tions, merely because vilification and 1 yrl 3600 1 mo.. 50c | THE EVENING in local history would have resulted. ‘This tragedy, it is belleved, was due to some defect in or some mishandling of a water-heating boller located in the basement of the establishment, in a vault under the sidewalk. The exact circumstances may perhaps never be fully determined, although several in- quiries have been instituted in addition to the coroner’s inguest that opens to- day. But it should be possible to ascer- tain whether the blast was due to in- competent or negligent supervision over the boiler or to some latent and undis- coverable fault in the mechanism or the metal of the apparatus. ‘The location of heating and power boilers under the sidewalks was per- mitted in former years and many of them were so placed. Then came a re- vision of the law to forbid any further installations of this character, with the imposition of strict regulations for the care and upkeep of all boilers already so located, to prevent disaster. While no more such installations were permitted, those already existent were thus made safe as far as the requirements of strict care and skillful handling insured. ‘This boller, located beneath the side- walk, proved fatally defective, or else the control of it was faulty. It ‘is to be hoped that the facts may be clearly developed and that the responsibility may be definitely placed. But even though a clear understanding of the cause of yesterday's disaster may not be had, it is incumbent upon the District government to conduct a searching ex- amination of all similar appliances to assure against repetitions of yesterday's horror. It is, of course, to the interest of all persons and companles owning and using premises on which such boiler outfits are maintained to keep them in the best of order and to assure the best of care and handling. This is true whether the bollers are located within the limits of the building or beneath the sidewalks, for responsibility for disaster rests upom them in any case. It is to be assumed that every owner, therefore, will, with- out official prodding, safeguard himself against loss and the public against in- jury by guaranteeing the integrity and the proper management of all high- pressure apparatus. e e Purchasing Power. Henry Ford holds that “the only thing which should be high priced in this country is the man who works.” And Mr. Ford is backing up his belief not needed for the extinguishment of flames. The Fire Department person- nel rendered valiant and valuable service in the rescue of the victims of the blast, while all the available policemen were necessary to keep in control the im- mense crowds that gathered to gaze upon the scene of the tragedy. ‘The later alarm was for a blaze that called for an unusually large part of the city’s Fire Department. Indeed, it summoned nearly every piece of appa- ratus in the District. But for the prompt response and effective service of the firemen the flames would have spread, to cause a tremendously heavy lcss of property and perhaps loss of life as well. Some of those firemen had been laboring for two hours at the scene of the Seventh street disaster when they were rushed to extinguish the First street blaze. Yesterday's experience thus demon- strates clearly the fact that the Dis- trict is lacking in a Fire Department reserve as well as a sufficient police force. Had those two alarms occurred together, within half an hour of one another, a much more grievous loss would have been suffered. Had a third alarm been sounded in the same in- terval the city would have been In serious difficulty. It would have been necessary to call for help from the neighboring arcas, perhaps from Bal- timore. ‘The chances of such a coincidence are, of course, slight; but, whatever the percentage, it is painfully evident that the city is not sufficiently secured. Yes- terday's happenings should cause a speedy increase in both of the defense departments. Praise is due to the firemen and to the police and to the hospital staffs for the services rendered yesterday in; rescuing and caring for the victims of the Seventh street blast. They all worked effectively, and but for them the loss and suffering wowyld have been sadly increased. S R SR Thirty years is an early age for a man to attain the position of head of & university as Robert M. Hutchins has done in Chicago. He will soon have to decids whether he will settle in content in his present situation or become an active factor in American history as other college professors have done. ——— e As an economist Henry Ford has been consistent in the bellef that money is most useful when kept in active cir- with an immediate increase in the wages of all his thousands of employes. He belleves further that the way to in- crease business is to increase the purchasing power of the American peo- ple. That is common sense, He pro- poses that this shall be done in two ways—first, by putting additional value into goods or reducing prices, and sec- slander were the mood of the moment. But time is healing and there is time to correct these wrongs. No irretrievable step has been taken and there have been opportunities for disastrous steps on every hand. There is cause for self- congratulation. As to McPherson, he is the innocent victim of & flaw in our legal machinery that apparently cannot be corrected. The grand jury that indicted him can- not-be blamed for its action. It acted sincerely. It was presumably convinced that the shadow of suspicion rested on McPherson, and its duty under the law was to hold him for trial as long as that shadow, threcwn by circum- stances over which it had no power, re- mained. The flaw in our legal processes lies in the fact that an innocent man can be indicted, charged with crime and thrown into jail merely upon suspicion; that he may lie in jaill indefinitely awaiting that “speedy and public trial” promised him in' the Bill of Rights, and that when, as in the case of McPher- son, he is exonerated and it is found that a mistake was made, he can expect nothing but intangible sympathy as compensation for the wrong that has been done. But other men have been indicted, along with McPherson, before the bar of public opinion. The case against Mc- Pherson has been sifted, perhaps more thoroughly than any case in the history of this city, and it has been found to have consisted solely of theory, circum- stance and a series of events that, ‘weighed separately, had no substance. It has melted and dissolved and Mc- | Pherson is free. What of the case against the men who, with McPherson, suffered public condemnation and were adjudged gullty without trial? ‘The question whether Mrs. Mec- Pherson was murdered or whather she killed herself has not been specifically answered. The clearing of McPherson points to suicide, but there rematn con- Jecture and doubt. If it was suicide, did the Detective Bureau, through Inspector Shelby and Lieut. Kelly, mishandle or “bungle” the case? Did the United States attorney's office “bungle” the case? Does there exist any evidence to disprove suicide? The Department of Justice, in the light of its investigation, should know. It should make available to public view its findings and the evidence to support them ‘in order that Shelby and Kelly may have that fair and full trial to which they are entitled. The case against them rests on theory. It must be settled on fact. To Mr. Laskey and his able associates at the Department of Justice, this com- munity is indebted for their thorough and painstaking inquiry. To agree wita the insinuations of improper conduct on their part in presenting the case to the grand jury is to argue that the duty of & public prosecutor is to conceal and withhold evidence for the purpose or with the result of bringing about a mis- carriage of justice, Right-thinking citizens will not so argue. e Events in police activities leave a ond, by increasing wages. The statement issued by Mr. Ford after he left the President's conference yesterday, which was attended by more than a score of the leading industrialists of the country, is full of suggestions that may well give the people and par- ticularly the business men something to think about. Despite the fact that Henry Ford is rated one of the richeat men of all time, he still believes that hard work is an essential to real busi- ness success and general prosperity. The promise of quick profits from specu- lation does not appeal to Mr. Ford. In his diagnosis of the situation which has developed in this country in the last few years, culminating in a crash of the stock market, Mr. Ford declared: “First, there was a serious withdrawal of brains from business. Men who would otherwise have been working out better designs for commodities and bet- ter methods of manufacture and plan- ning to put more value into their prod- ucts were drawn off from the work they were most fitted to do by the promise of quick profits in speculation.” Mr. Ford softens this indictment of business brains by saying that now they are returning to the Jobs for which they are fitted. Indeed, there is a spirit. of optimism in Mr. Ford that refuses to down. The country in his opinion has passed through a period of specula- tion and is now turning back to the more solid basis of werk and produc- ton. It is a lesson which millions of Americans may learn with profit to themselves, In the opinicn of Mr. Ford, the worst thing that could happen in this country would be a reduction of wages to work- ing men and women. The workman is worthy of his hire in the opinion of Mr. Ford. Prices, not wages, should come down. This may be revolutionary. Usually a drop in wages has preceded & drop In prices. It is clear that if wages come down, the purchasing power of the public is lessened. On the other hand, if wages go up, the purchasing power mounts with them. Mr, Ford's| proposal, if carried out, that wages should be increased in the face of the stock market slump may have the de- sired effect of stabilizing conditions to a greater extent than any other remedy put forward. It is equally necessary that the workers be kept employed, which means added production. This production must be consumad or there is a break in the chain, and the way to have it consumed is to put money into the pockets of the general consumers. The announcement by Mr. Ford that he is going ahead with an increase in the wages of his own employes is an encouraging factor in the present situa- tion. The declarations by the other great leaders in the business and manu- facturing world attending the Presi- dent’s conference that there womld be no decreass in wages are of great aid, too. ———e————— His duties as a pharmacist were not | sufficiently prolonged to prevent Harry Sinclair from witnessing some of the best racing events of the year. o S Not Enough Police and Firemen. large assortment of clues, which might be worth saving up if a second-hand | oxplosion and a six-alarm fire in the ) in order to cover good distance I make clue had gny value whatever. ————— . Boilers and Public Safety. A boiler exploded yesterday in a store building in this city at an hour of heavy traffic in the streets and flung nearly threescore of people to injury and death. Five died immediately, or soon after, and many others suffered terrible hurts, some perhaps mortally. By a mysterious mercy the force of the blast was mainly outward, so that the occupants of the store, staff and customers, were mot geriously harmed. Otherwise, by a slight ‘The close conjunction of a fatal boiler downtown district yesterday gave the Fire and Police Departments of this city an exceptionally heavy task. For- tunately, there was an interval of about two hours between them, else the city would have experienced the dangerous stress of inadequate equipment that has been often cited &s possible in arguments for an increase in both branches of the municipal defense establishments, As it was, the two alarms, 50 to speak, over- culation. Ford is now taken very se- riously, indeed. The world's supply of humor lost much harmless ‘merriment when the flivver joke was sent into permanent retirement. ——— e A study of business brings together men who know ‘all about how fortunes are made. Even the wisest financiers may explain how money accumulates without always knowing how it is going to behave. ——— New England has occasional earth- quakes due to geological shifts. This area is exempt from the really terrify- ing kind of earthquakes likely to happen when there are volcanoes in the neigh- borhged. - ‘The death of Virginia McPherson has given rise to so many theories that the correct one would doubtless be available if there were any way of guessing it. ———eeee Fears for Lindbergh's safety are only natural. The one popular doubt about the colonel's aviation is that he does not seem fully to appreciate his own value. N Financlers agree that business is sound and that preparations are due not only for maintenance of the pres- ent status, but for more and better business. ————— ‘To leave the Senate and assume the duties of an Ambassador will introduce Mr. Edge into an atmosphere of re- strained speech such as he has not been surrounded by for years. o Stock tickers are now able to keep up with the market, which has taken on a spirit of orderly optimism. e SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Vanished Feast. Thanskgiving day is coming, But what is that to me? The world will soon be humming Old-fashioned songs of glee— My lot means grief abysmal; T'll dine on hash and soup. For our holiday looks dismal, Since our turkey flew the coop! He was a noble creature Of most imposing weight, Convivial in feature, His coloring was great. Of following trails we're weary; It seems no use to snoop. Thanksgiving day looks dreary Since our turkey flew the coop! Playing Safe. “Are you ambitious to be a political boss “No,” answered Senator Sorghum. “I'm willing to do the talking, but it is safer to let somebody else assume the moral responsibility and shoulder the eventual retributions.” Jud Tunkins says every time his boy plays foot ball his mother thinks his life has been saved by a miracle, The Old World Keeps Going. Historic perils we have dared; Still we keep turning to the light. From time to time we're rather scared, And yet things always turn out right. Early Rising. “Do you get up in time to admire the beauty of the sunrise?” “I don’t pay so much attention to the sunrise,” answered Mr. Chuggins, “but | it a rule to have the old flivver out on the road as early as possible.” “It is wise to forgive an injury,” said 1 Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “but foolish to risk its happening again in the same way.” It May Come to This. Of jalls 80 neat we're rather proud. To get accommodations For such a large increasing crowd, lapped in & way to handicap both departments severely. The first alarm—that for the Seventh ‘They should m: reservations! “A mule,” said Uncle Eben, “is safer deflection of the crushing volcano of street disaster—called the fire engines dan a hoss to de extent dat dar ain’ no o Steem and airaa horvor withent: oafallel ae well: ae- the mnlice,. thouah theu were: mula-racen round-here-to het pn.” STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, FRIDAY, NOV THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES What became of the child which Epictetus, the great Stoic philosopher, adopted in his cld age? This is another of the mysteries of | antiquity which time has never solved. In the great upheaval caused by the gradual extinction of the old pagan gods and the adoption of Christianity as the official state religion of the Ro- man Empire, all that had any connec- tion with the old times was allowed to drift into oblivion. Even the last resting places of such good men as the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Seneca, Epictetus and Cicero were forgotten. What a priceless treasure today would be the authentic pottery lamp by which Epictetus studied! It is gone, lost in the relentless cen- turies. Of those days and ages only few stones are left, showing the w dom of the ancients when they put their trust in rock for physical monu- ments. The cup from which Socrates drank hemlock—where is it? The stylus which the brave man Titus Carus Lucretius used is no more. There is not so much as a shred left of the cloak of Plato or a sliver of the ruler held by Archimedes. All that has come dewn to us is what their minds sought, what their busyl hands wrote dowA or other hands cares, fully preserved of their thought. Intelligence alone endures. And is it | not significant that the intelligenece of | these men was manifested principally in regard to the universal laws of hu- man kindness? They, too, knew love. *ox o+ ok Gray and lame, with scarcely more than a roof and a tude bed to call his own, Epictetus nevertheless was the respected and admired philosopher. A bachelor by profession and choice, | he permitted other men to marry ana | raise families, admonishing them oniy | to keep well in mind that all outside | & man’s mind was not his own, and | that wife and children were but lent by God. Such a man as this, it might be sup- | posed, would be the last in the world | to Ado’rc a child. The circumstances ot | the adoption were such as could not prevail anywhere today. It was one of the blots on antiquity | that men were allowed to expose un- wanted infants, to place them some- where to die, in other words. If at times we tend today to feel that our civilization is no civilization, we have but to read of some of the customs of times past. Many actions today unthinkable were tolerated 2,000 years ago. They were left-overs from the utter cruelty of re- mote ages, when survival and non- survival were all that counted. It 1s a long road over which humanity has come, and the more we explore it the stranger it seems, Epictetus heard that a friend of his was going to “expose” an infant son. ‘The innate goodness of the old philoso- pher could not bear to think of it. He accordingly adopted the boy. % x % What was & bachelor to do with a baby? Here was a pretty fix for a member of the Stoic sect of philosophy to get himself into! For a Stoic, of all men, was least supposed to show pity. His whole lite was devoted to resisting the effects ot evil and_the very appearances of evii. Basically. this philosophy was a men- tal hardening of one’s self to the worla as it s, especially in its crueler asoects. E. TRACEWELL. ‘The old Romans not only had deatn and disease to contend with, but they had banishment and sudden death ac the hards of tyrants to beware. Pity, therefore, became with them a sort of evil, not in itself, but as u thing conducing to weakness. Epictetus must bave thought long and long before he decided to adopt that boy. Picture him in his little hut, try- ing his best to be immune to the lures of helpless infancy. No doubt he lectured himself then as he did his pupils, but it did him no good. A man who believed that all there was to life was doing the will of God, after doing one's best to ascei- tain that will, could not stand by and fail to do his personal duty. It was the personal side of it which stirred Epictetus to action. He ante- dated the wise American, Emerson, who | scorned the incredible pity which pro- fessed tenderness about wild men thou- sands of miles away, yet would not turn a hand to relieve suffering at home, Epictetus was content to take the world as it was and as it came to him. Theoretically, he knew that thousands of pitiful cases existed, but he worried only over those he knew about. w ok ok He knew of one small boy about to be exposed to starvation and his soul rebelled at the thought of it. “If I take this boy,” perhaps he thought, “I will be doing what I can. If others would do as well with the wrongs they personally know of, the world would be better.” If every one would do what his best instincts tell him to do, the world to- day would see a far, far better life than it has ever known. When Epictetus took the boy, no doubt he tried at first to bring him up himself. His very poverty would have made him attempt the feat. All he had, tradition tells us, was his house, a straw bed and an earthenware lamp, after some one had stolen his iron lamp. Probably he had the images of a few household gods, as was the custom of the time, and maybe a pot or pan. One must think, too, tI 80 studious a man had several “books” of the type then in vogue. Not many-—such a teacher taught mostly out of his head. Yet we | insist he had a book or two. It was into this little dwelling at Nicopolis, in Epirus, there came the squalling, kicking baby to upset the peace and quiet of a philosopher as surely as a modern one can do the same. * K K K Epictetus solved his new problem by hiring an old woman to live at his house and take care of the baby. No doubt there was many a moment afterward when he regretted the ad- vent of the baby and its nurse, ‘Which one worried him the more it would be impossible to say at this late date, but our guess is that the old lady took' the booby prize. We like to think of Epictetus casting a kindly eye on the baby and watching its growth and mental development with great interest. From such a house, and under such a tutor, we might expect to get a great man, but history is silent on the matter. No one knows what became of Epic- tetus’ boy, what his name was, or what became of him. He is numbered among the millions who left no name behind them: he is remembered only because a great and good man came into his life. Unknown, he stands as a symbol of kindness in action. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Herbert Hoover this week is engaged | in his favorite indoor sport—holding | conferences. Conferences with business men are his superfavorites, so the Presi- gnt ought to be able to say, when ey're all over, what “T. R.” ejaculated when he left the White House, “I've had the time of my life!” Conferences are 5o much of the Hooverian bone and sinew that a wag once remarked, re- ferring to the “C” in the middle of it, that the President’s real name is prob- Herbert Conference Hoover. The might stand for commissions just as well, for the Californian believes in them as devoutly as he does in confer- ences. Usually the former, under the Hoover method, emerge from the latter. * ok kX Now that it can be told, the underly- ing purpese of the White House confer- ences was to nip in the bud the slight- est possibility of a stampede in the direction of a business panic. The Pres- ident_realized there wgs an inciplent fire. He determined to put it out before a flicker of it had terrified the audience into a mad rush for the doors and win- dows, with resultant and calamitous, though wholly unjustified, casualties. Hoover pictured just exactly that sort of holocaust in case the American peo- ple were not graphically made to see that, though their house was afire in one of its remote corners, there was no danger whatever of its burning down, or even of anybody getting scorched. So the President sent for the Nation's eco- nomic fire department. Its members have come to Washington and declared themselves ready for all emergencies. Hoover is not going to be satisfied with having had the mere pleasure of their company. The President expects them to “come across"—to beat into deeds their expressed willingness to set dol- lars to rolling in constructive projects. He expects the railroads to buy freight cars, the shipping companies to order new tonnage, the building trades to be put to work on some of the many en- terprises planned, but held up; the util- ities to carry out expansion schemes ar- rested in fear of capital shortage and Federal, State and municipal authorities to go ahead on public works. * ok ok K ‘There’s something els: that can now be told. It is the fact—Iittle stressed here this week, but fundamentally ciated with the things the Presids is now trying to do—namely, that for seven and one-half years Herbert Hoo- ver was methodically laying the founda- tions for them. Those foundations con- sisted of a systematic linking together of various trade association, trade journal and other diversified commer- cial groups. Secretary Hoover met reg- ularly with their respective representa- tives at the Department of Commerce, As a result, Uncle Sam was kept lin: gularly abreast of “trends” and ‘“cycles’ in business—favorite Hoover idioms. The steady expansion of the depart- ment as the spearhead of American commerce at home and abroad sprang directly from these intimate contacts between it and trade leaders in every major line. Today Hoover, as Presi- dent, is utilizing for emergency pur- poses the organization he built up, largely with just such contingencies in view, e Here and there in Democralic quar- ters on Capitol Hill you can encounter the comment that President Hoover's London naval conference delegation is) top-heavy with Republicans. Senator “Joe" Robinson of Arkansas is his par- ty's lone representative, compared to his six Republican colleagues, or men who at least rank as Republicans. Messrs. Stimson, Reed, Dawes and Mor- row are of unmistakable G. O. P. hue. Ambassador Hugh Gibson prabably hasn’t any politics, He broke into the foreign service under the Roosevelt ad- ministration, but received fine promo- tions, including his first ministerial job, from/ President Wilson. It’s just pos- sible that Charles Francis Adais, Sec- retary of the Navy, is considered to have enough Democratic background— though it's a long way back—to rate as & political brother, should the fog in London become o thick that Senator Robinson longs for somebody to whom he can talk hls.ov:n :ll\.[ul'e. | While the Senate was milling over ihs- temtile- tariff- sehedules week | of Senator Norris, Republican Progressive, of Nebraska, enlivened proceedings with an observation about the scantiness of modern women's wear. “The present- day woman,” he said, “goes out dressed in fewer clothes than her grandmother wore when she went to bed.” A member of the House of Representatives was dis- cussing the “scanties” last Spring on a similar occasion, “In times gone by,” he said, “it took a hard-working sheep & whole season to grow enough wool for a woman'’s attire. Nowadays one silkworm can do the job.” * ok x % Sir Ronald Lindsay, who's coming to ‘Washington as British Ambassador next year, has the coveted title of Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, typified by the letters K. C. M. G. A famous Australian states- man, George Reld, came back from London years ago, knighted by the King and entitled thenceforward to tack K. C. M. G. onto his name and be called “Sir.” Reid, bluff and hail-fellow-well- met, was heckled shortly afterward at a political meeting in Melbourne by a fel- low who wanted to know what “K. C. M. G.” meant, “Keep Calling Me George, Reid fired back at him. ey An embryo United States Senator from one of the less-backward Stat. no other than Mr. Grundy's Penn: vania itself—was one of President Hoo- | ver’s business conferees this week. He is Gen. W. W. Atterbury, president of the Pennsylvania Railroad and Republican national committeeman from the Key- stone State. Atterbury ranks high in Gov. Fisher's favor, and many expect Fisher to appoint him to fill the Vare vacancy if the Senate creates it next month. (Copyright, 1929.) pEETm ——————— Movie Film Industry Held Aid to Nation From the Charlotte, N. C., Observer. Will Hays, head of the motion pic- ture industry, made a talk a few days ago to the New York Board of Trade, in which some information of interest was given as to the development of that line of business. Among the facts dis- closel by Mr. Hays are these: “The total capital necessary to the industry has climbod to $2,500.000000, dis- tributed among nearly 100,000 stock- holders of the great producing com- panies and thousands of others who participate in theater ownership throughout the country. The industry employs 325000 men and women. We use 150,000,000 feet of negative film in this country each year and 1,500,000, 000 feet of positive film.” Mr. Hays claims that the direct serv- fce to business is incalculable. Besides the sales potency of motion pictures for all products shown on the screen, one company alone uses 5,000,000 pounds of cotton a year, and more silver is used by the motion picture industry than for any other purpose except the coin- age of money. “We are writing 15,000 motion picture advertisements a day,” he puts into evidence, “and the wide scope of the selling field requires the expenditure of approximately $100,000,- 000 in advertising during 1929. Export of positive film during the first nine months of this year increased 41.000.000 feet over the corresponding period of 1928 and the Department of Commerce estimates that for every foot of Amer- ican motion picture film which goes abroad a dollar returns in stimulated trade.” The figure is said to be “con- servative.” It is public appreciation of the value of the motion picture enter- tainment that has developed this in- dustry into one of the largest in the Nation. The average motion picture audience in the country has grown to 100,000,000 a week. ————— Add Statistics, From the Des Moines Tribune-Capital. No matter how fine the weather, nearly half the foot ball teams are al- ways bound to lose. .- Curb on High F From the Florence (Ala.) Herald, Modern blue sky laws take the formn airplene regulation i 3 H i 'EMBER 22 1929. e e e e, Public Borrdwing Decreage Is Shown From the Atlanta Joushal. State, county andjmunicipal bond is- sues for the 10 mohths ended October 31, although they tofaled above a billion dollars, were considérably less than for the parallel period recent years. In 1920, the aggregate for those 10 months was about $627,500,090, which record was raised in 1927 to thejpeak of $1,254,779,~ 000. ‘The 1929 figure§ are approximately $1,097,000,000. This “eport includes only :\gw Issltles, l:lnd lm;u no uc«;um l:f e vast public losps previously out- standing. ” » . Evidently, there !x a slowing down of what a few years ago was the wild drive of municipal,icounty and State borrowing—and nore too soon. The caution of economisis, which then too often went unheeddd, has translated itself into terms which taxpayers now readily understand, sy that conservatism at last is taking tfie wheel. Public bond issues have thyir place undoubt- ed ndeed, there aye necessities which alone can nr{vlfle, emergencies which they only ca% nicet. But like all extraordinary meafures they are sub- ject to abuse, so much so that as reme- dies they not infregdently have proved worse then the illf Georgia fortu- nately kept her heaq and stuck to her i tried policy of modwration throughout the bond furor. Shy is stronger today in consequence, sumger not only in her 1 i public finance, but ago in appeal to in- vestors seeking esc: taxation. 4 This we point out: not to ren°w dis- cussions which have. been happily con- cluded, but simply . re-emphasize the importance of a Strte's or a commu- nity’s thinking well before breaking with traditions that have long bren its com- pass and chart.. The forces of change may be depended upon, s a rule, to work as swiftly as the common good requires, and when the old order has ceased to b> of use, it is certain to fall away, though not as soon as we sometimes wish. But the burden of proof is on the innovator. A policy that is working well is worth keeping. e e e from excessive New Devices Show— Man Looking Ahead From the Albany Evening News. Man is always trying to see a little far- ther, to know more. He is always groping for greater knowledge and for greater power. Scientists are expecting much from the new 200-inch reflecting tele- scope, when 1t is completed at the Cali- fornia Institute of Technology. It will be a powerful instrument, with 10 times the power of the 100-inch reflector on Mount Wilson. It will penetrate three times farther into space and will have 30 times as much volume as the great- est telescopes now in existence. When that telescope has been com- pleted and has been in use for a while i man will build a greater telescope still. He will not be content with what he has done. He must do more. He dreams of shooting rockets to the moon, of some- times communicating with Mars. These are just dreams and we consider them as such, but if man had not dreamed of what seemed impossible that which exists today could not have been. Dreams of yesterday are realities today, and the new dreams of today may be realities tomorrow. ‘We have not reached the sum of hu- man knowledge. We have not attained the heights to which the mind of man |can ascend. It has taken all these centuries to reach the North Pole, to transmit words and music thousands and thousands of mile by air. After m;etc-me television, and after television what? The great new telescope in California may be only a primitive instrument to- morTow. i ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN. ‘This is & l&e:nm department devoted solely to the dling of queries. This paper puts at your disposal the services of an extensive organization in_Wash- ington to serve you in any capacity that relates to information. This service is free. Failure to make use of it de- prives you of benefits to which you are entitled. Your obligation is only 2 cents in coin or stamps inclosed with your inquiry for direct reply. Address The Evening Star Information Bureau, Prederic_J. Haskin, director, Washing- ton, D. C. Q. Do more people in automobiles en- ter Canada from Detroit or from Ni- agara Falls’—E. J. A. Windsor, across from Detroit, pass- ed Niagara Falls this Summer as a point of entrance for automobile tourists. More than 135000 American automo- biles went into Canada through Wind- sor, as compared with 104,000 from Niagara. Q. Whrn H. E H A. Ther> s many references to the top in classical literature. There are several words in Greek for tops; one for the whipping or peg top, another for the humming top. Thes: words are found in the writings of Homer. It is claimed that tops were known in England as early as the fourteenth century. Q. Who is the governor of the Phil- ippines>—R. G. A. Dwight F. Davis is the present governor. Q. When was the Conscience Fund | started in the United States Treasury?— wore tops invented?— A. The Conscience Fund was opened with a contribution of $5 in 1811. This is the popular name for moneys received from persons unknown at the Treasury Department. The total deposit in the fund to date is $577,203.31. Q. When were patents first given as protection to inventors?—J. G. G« A, very early times in England the reignilig prince considered himself en- titled to grant privileges of the nature of monopolies to any one who had gained his favor. These grants became S0 numerous, oppressive and unjust that during the reign of James I (1603-25) a statute was wrung from the King de- claring all grievous and inconvenient monopolies to be void. There was a special exception from that enactment of all letters, patents, grants and privi- leges of the “sole working or making of any manner of new manufactures within the realm to the true and first inventor.” U these words hangs the whole law of letters and patents for in- ventions. Q. What is the origin of the word “maelstrom”?—J. A. B. A. It is Danish. Male means “grind, and strom, “stream.” The Danish mael strom is a great whirlpool in the sea. Q. What is ozone?>—J. W. L. A. Ozone is a faintly blue gaseous substance obtained (usually much di- luted) by the silent discharge of elec- tricity in air or oxygen and by other methods, It is so called from the peculiar odor which recalls that of weak chlorine. It is a much more powerful oxidizer than oxygen gas ana is comparatively unstable. It may be condensed to a deep blue magnetic liquid boiling at —119° centigrade. Ozone is used in bleaching sponges and straw and for sterilizing. Its ad- vantages lie in the fact that it is not toxic and leaves no objectionable residue in water. The introduction of slight amounts of ozone in crowded fects by oxidizing these impurities. It exerts a stimulating action on the salivary glands. Its existence in the atmosphere, exee%“my locally -and temporarily, as about an electric ma< chln:a has . never been conclusively proved. Q. At what age are Italians liable for milrtary service?—F. L. P. A. Subjects of Italy are, under the Italian military laws, llable for military service from their twentieth year untit December 31 of the year in which they became 39 years of age. Q. How were the colors of the Prench tricolor chosen?—H. T. T. A. The blue and red cockade was the badge of the city of Paris. The union of this and the Bourbon white produced the tricolor, the badge ot France since 1789. Q. Have appeals been made to the United States Supreme Court in re- gard to the use of the air for radio transmission?—M. T. C. A. Several cases are before the Su- preme Court at the present time, Q. What is the per capita consump- ;i;nso( Derlnm in the United States?— A The average American eats 70 oranges a year. Q. Which is purer, imported olive oll or domestic oil?—J. M. E. A. Practically all of the olive off now on the market is pure. If con- templating the taking of olive ofl medicinally the California olive ofl 18 considered more pleasant to the taste, Both have the same value. Q. What is the origin of the term “hocus pocus” J. H. W. A. Various fanciful derivations have been invented for the term, but noth- ing definite is known. It was probably ;T!ix"xud by jugglers in imitation of Q. Do goats eat tin cans?>—E. V. A. While it is not true that goats eat tin cans, they do eat paper. I» is probably the paper labels on the cans that attract them. Q. What was the former name of the ship which Byrd took to the South Pole?—W. J. H. A. The ship which Byrd took to the South Pole was built by K. Larsen in 1885 and has had the following names: Samson, Bellsund, Jacobsen and its present name, City of New York. Q. How should a business letter be started which goes to a firm composed of women? To a firm composed of a man and a woman?—B. G. A. It is correct to use the Salutation “Dear Mesdames” in corresponding with two or more women who are in business. A Washington business school says that the salutation “Dear Sir and Madam” is correct to use when the firm consists of a man and woman. Q. Please give a short sketch of S. 8. Van Dine—L. R. A. Willard Huntington Wright (8. S. Van Dine) was born in Charlottesville, Va. 1888. He was educated in St. Vin- cent College, Pomona College and Har- vard. He married Katharine Belle Boynton of Seattle, Wash., July 13, 1907. He has been literary editor of the New York Evening Mail, Los Angeles Times; art critic of Forum and In- ternational Studio, editor of Smart Set Magazine, dramatic critic of Town Top- ics, also literary critic. He has been art and literary critic of several other outstanding magazines and is a writer rooms is found to offset the bad ef- of promjnence. R Protection Is Asked From the San Antonio Evening News. ‘While fighting the Mediterranean fruit fly in Florida, the Government shouid not neglect its defenses against another worm-—along the Texas-Mexican border. ‘The United States Department of Agri~ culture in a letter to Representative Garner of Texas emphasizes the need of increased vigilance in this sector: “The force of inspectors at ports of entry along the Mexican border is inadequaie to give necessary protection to the large agricultural interests of the South.” The situation is perhaps more serious than generally is realized: Within ti past few weeks the Government's agents have found infested fruit in six Mexican markets opposite Texas citrus territory, and the insect easily might cross the Rio Grande. So far as known, no orange worms are in the Lower Rio Grande Valley or other Texas citrus region. Orchardists have co-operated with the Federal and State authorities in eradicating the pest and maintaining a quarantine against it. As a precaution, Webb County cit- rus growers lately requested that the restricted zone be extended to cover their orchards. The Federal and State governments should meet this spirit half way by appropriating adequate funds for making the quarantine effec- tive and keeping it so. Meanwhile the Bureau of Entomology is carrying on its fight against the insect in Mexico, as- sisting the officials there. Texas' citrus industry is expanding rapidly and will continue to increase for years to come, if no disastrous insect invasion shall prevent. Surely this is an asset worth safeguarding. "ot “Merciful Killing” Of Sick Is Assailed From the Columbus, Ohlo, Dispatch. A certain type of mind likes to dally with the thought of showing mercy by taking the lives of persons supposed to b2 hopelessly ill of some painful malady. A jury in France has started the dis. cussion anew by acquitting a you Englishman who had taken the life ol his own mother under such circum- stances. Though some have argued in favor of giving legal authority to physicians to take life in such cases, the idea has not as yet been imbedded in the laws of any civilized State, nor do we believe that any considerable proportion of the medical profession would be at all will- ing to have the profession legally charged with such a responsibility. The trouble with the supporters of such an idea is an utter lack of ability to realize its conscquences. Let us sup- poss that the idea should gain such headway as to make it possible for a legislature actually to write it into the statute books of the State: What would be the effect on the minds of thousands of persons whose health might be so fragile as to lead them to think that they might come within the scope of the law? With many of them, the suspicion would be inevitable that their relatives, their physicians, their friends, were actually contemplating their “mer- ciful removal from hopeless suffering ™ ‘Under such conditions, there would be innumerable cases of utter mental and physical breakdown in persons who, without the strain of such suspicions, would have recovered their normal health. The whole idea is so repugnant to right thinking and humane feeling that it will never get the legal sanction of civilized States, no matter what a rgen‘:’nly befogged jury may occasionally scide. o Decidely. From the Charleston, 8. C., Evening Post. ‘The season is a reminder that perhaps what the stock market needs is an armistice. e He's Crippled Permanently. From the Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch. No one was killed in the big Wall Street crash, but it is understood that Santa Claus was badly crippled. ——————— It Can’t Be Done. From the Arkansas Democras, A man in real standing is one who can be in an automobile wreck at night witheut being nesvsad Being 3 serious citrus pest—the Morelos orange ' he | his t] Linked With The resignation of William Phillips as Minister to Canada has :come as- sociated in the pul State Department’s request for increas- ed appropriations to provide for em- bassies abroad. William Phillips, well liked and well equipped “career” man, is declared a loss to the service, and his resignation is used as the text for a plea for practical encouragement for ype. “America has been fortunate,” states the San Francisco Chronicle, “in hav- ing many able and devoted diplomats financially well heeled enough to make a presentable appearance in foreign capitals. On the other hand, some of the Nation’s ablest envoys have been forced from the service because, with- out large private means, they could not meet the expenses imposed upon them by their official posts. This rich Nation owes it to its own dignity to pay its expenses abroad.” L In the case of Mr. Phillips, the New York Sun points out, “the United States was able to command the services of an able and experienced diplomat for the salary it paid, because he had pri- vate means,” but the Nation “cannot ask or expect as much of every man in the diplomatic service,” and while “large ries and allowances will never lure men from business or pro- fessional success into the alien fleld of diplomacy, adequate salaries and al- lowances will permit retention in the service of a number of men with lim- ited private means who, after 25 years' exverience, may serve their country as well as Billy Phillips did in Canada, but not at so considerable a sacrifice. “Mr. Phillips has been highly aceept- able at Ottawa,” says the San Antonio pExpress, “but he resigned in order to rear his children in the United States,” having already spent much time abroad, as diplomatic career began at Pe- king in 1905 as second secretary of le- gation. He headed the division of Far Eastern affairs in 1908, and subsequent services as Assistant Secretary of State, Minister to the Netherlands and Lux- embourg and Undersecretary of State were followed, in 1924, by his appoint- ment to be Ambassador to Belgium. | ‘Three years later he became first Amer- | ican Minister to Canada.” e “Mr. Phillips’ work in Ottawa, par- ticularly in promoting the negotiations for the international St. Lawrence waterway,” is noted by the Roanoke | ‘Times, which continues: “It is a pro- found pity that the diplomatic service is to lose a valuable man. He can ill be spared.” The Providence Journal ex- presses the hope that “Mr. Phillips is not permanently lost to the diplomatic service. There will doubtless be many occasions when our Government.” con- tinues the Journal, “can use his experi- ence and great ability to excellent ad- vantage. And even though it may not From Orange Worm Inadequate Diplomatic Fund Loss of Phillips Our failure to do so is not only stupid parsimony, but bad policy. It deprives us of the services of men like Wi Phillips—a deprivation we can {ll ford.” T k. “Only one department, that of Labor,” remarks the Loulsville Courier- Journal, “in the fiscal year of 1929 re- ceived less than the important for maintaining peace and good be- iween the United States and the na< tions of the world. The appropriations for the foreign service are far behind America’s new position as the outstand- ing power. A niggardly ‘attitude on the compensation of Ambassadors and diplomats has persisted, and today America’s representative at the Court of St. James receives from the Govern- ment a salary that is but a fraction of what it costs him to maintain his es- tablishment. This situation obtains in greater or less degree all down the line. As an exangple of the situation, it is pointed out that in the 41 countries in which the United States and Great Britain have missions two American diplomats—the Ambassadors to Peru and Mexico—are paid slightly higher compensation than the British diplo~ mats. In the remaining 39 the British Ambassadors and Ministers receive $508,074¢ more than is paid American chiefs of missions.” The Buffalo Evening News glves prominence to the fact that the Cana- dian post is one “about which President Hoover has very deep concern, for there are pending between the United States and the Dominion several problems on the successful solution of which the ad- ministration sets great store.” The Manchester Union argues that “when niggardliness impairs, as it does, the efficiency of our forel service, it de- mands attention.” Newark Eve- ning News declares Congress ‘“should give Mr. Stimson the support he needs ;o rke the diplomatic service more ef- ective.” Forestry Program Includes Education From the Louisville Times. The National Lumber Manufacturers’ Association in advertisements in Amer- ican Forests and Forest Life decldres a program of intensive education to mote study of the economic possibilities of timber wing, selective logging, sus- tained yields, acceleration of co-opera- tive activities under the Clarke-McNary and McSweeney-McNary acts, to elimi- nate oppressive taxation and inaugurate fire protection and advance sound eco- nomic practice in forest conservation. There is a great field for such edu- cational work. To it a well provided and well equipped university might de- vote itself singly, with economic benefit to _the country. The public, the advertiser believes, should be educated to a more intelligent be possible to induce him again to take a regular appointment as Ambassador | he might still be available for extraor- dinary diplomatic missions that will bel necessary from time to time in the con- | duct of our foreign relations. He is l! career diplomat who has set lofty stand- ards of merit to which the newer career men may well aspire. And, obviously, his own career is closing all too soon.” *® % ¥ “Though a man of means,” comments the New York Evening World, “one of the reasons for his retirement is that he cannot afford to maintain the living standards required of diplomats. It is an old story. One would imagine that if any diplomatic post were possible to a man of ordinary means, it would be in Canada. It seems that Mr. Phillips’ request that the Government provide a home to curtail the expenses was re- | fused. This is running true to form. Not ago this rich Government forced all our diplomats to go house- seeking on arriving at their posts and to pay rent. In some places, as in Lon- con and Paris, the rental of such a house as would meet the requirements utilization of lumber and other forest products and there should be greater diversification of wood uses. Less wood is used than would be used if it cost less. Hundreds of mil- lions of dollars’ worth of lumber are needed now on farms, for repair or re- placement of dilapidated buildings. But the long haul and the freight it entails, plus the spread between stumpage values and lumber values, discourage liberal use of lumber. There are 1,500 listed uses of wood, each of which underpins an industry, according to a recent speaker before the Tennessee Forestry Association. But per capita consumption of wood de- creases because of cost. Production of logs should be largely a local enterprise. When timbers in the roof of Westminster Hall, largest wood-supported roof in the world, became worm-eaten, not long ago, the farm which had supplied the oak when the original roof was builded sup- plied the oak for its renewal. A good example of “permanent” yleld. of ordinary dllgnlty has always been greater than the salary. This leaves out of consideration the cost of meces- sary entertaining. Now we do provide houses for some of our diplomats. We ahouid Dravide them i every erpital: As If Any One Cared. From the New Orleans Item. The New Orleans macaroni industry adopts for its song, “There's ‘s Long, Tong Trall a-Winding”