Evening Star Newspaper, December 17, 1929, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edit| WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY.....December 17, 1920 seeking to eliminate all those leaders in the Democratic party who were not favorable to election of the former New York governor. ‘The action taken yesterday in Ala- bama may have a bearing, too, on the ING STAR. WASHINGTON. D. C. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, by the State instead of by the individual is the logica] extension of the principle of providing free education and educa- tional facilities to all who can take advantage of them. There was never any very good reason for supplying a THEODORE W. NOYES. ., .Editor | primary campaigns which are to be; pupil with free text books through the The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: 11th 8t. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office. 110 East 42nd 8t. hicago Office: Lake Michigan Buildin uropean Ofice; 14 Regent 5t.. Londo sland. £ Rate by Carrier Within the City. The Evenine Star.... ...45¢ Ler month The Evening and Sun Star w] unday: Bia oo ver month T n 4 Sundays) . The Evening And Sunda Shen 5 Sundass) 65¢ per month The Sunday Star ...5c per copy Collection mads at ihe end of each mon’h. Orders may be sent in by mail or telephone NAtionai 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. 13r.,$10 0 ail ] 8. unday ol All Other States and Canada. Dafly and Sunday. 2.00; 1 ni0.4 $1.00 Daily only 1 25 Bunday only y nly Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled o the use for republication of all news Cis- patches credited 1o it or not otherwise cre ited in this paper and also e local rnews published heremn. Al righis of publication of special dispatches nerein are also reserved. = Japan's Cards oa the Table. If frankngss is the open sesame to achievement in diplomatic negotiations, Japan has promptly done her share in assuring the success of the London naval conference. Before it had been in Washington twelve hours, the Japanese delegation yesterday laid its cards on the table, face up. Messrs. Wakatsuki and Takarabe, confronting that battery of interrogation points known as the staged next year for congressional and gubernatorial nominations in other Southern States. In Texas, for ex- ample, the same proposal has been ad- vanced—that no opponent of the Smith- Robinson ticket last year shall be per- mitted to be & candidate for office in the Democratic primary next year. The Lone Star State committee has yet to act. Texas went for Hoover in the election. Some of the “Hoovercrats” are intent upon running for office. If they are denied the right to go into the Democratic primary, the disruption of the party may be continued for an indefinite,period. In the gubernatorial election last month the Democrats in Virginia won a signal victory over the anti-Smith Democratic forces and the Republicans. It is possible that the results of this election gave the Democratic executive committee of Alabama courage to take the stand it did against Heflin. Cer- tainly the Virginia election was hailed as a demonstration that the Democracy of the South is firmly in the saddle again in the Southern States. The Vir- ginia Democrats, however, made no rule against any Democrat, whether he had voted for Hoover or for Smith, so far as entering the primaries was con- cerned. . The Democrats of Alabama may find not only Senator Heflin in the field, running as an independent, but a whole independent State ticket, including can- didates for governor and other State | Washington cofrespondents, freely and fully disclosed Nippon's hopes and plans at London next month. Having abandoned all claims to parity with the United States and Great Brit- ain, Japan demands that minimum of naval inferiority with them which she deems requisite for her national security. ‘The suave and shrewd spokesmen of the Island Empire now in our midst do mot | take refuge behind that generality. They are specific. The below-parity level which the Japanese ask is seventy per cent of the full “auxillary craft” strength finally allocated to the Ameri- can and British navies. Thus, in re- spect of 10,000-ton cruisers, submarines and destroyers, Japan insists upon a 10- 10-7 ratio, instead of the 5-5-3 ratio for “capital ships”—battleships, battle cruisers and aircraft carriers—which she accepted in Washington in 1922. Just how this so-called global percent- age of auxiliary tonnage will be distrib- uted as between- categories of ships has not yet been made clear by the Japa- mese. Probably they themselves do not know. Doubtless it depends on what happens at London—where much may happen. On one particular score Messrs. Wakatsuki and Takarabe are unquali- fedly plain. Japan is not ready to agree to abolition of the submarine. As an empire of widely scattered islands, she holds the undersea weapon to be indis- pensable to her defensive necessities. Firm, and even formidable, as the Japanese requirements are thus seen to be, they are put forth in a spirit of eager readiness to realize them in harmony with the other conferee powers, In a prepared statement, the Japanese delegates tell us that “the whole Japanese nation confidently an- ticipate that the conference’s noble ob- Jjective will be attained in a just and effective manner.” In those carefully chosen words, of course, lies the milk in the coconut, as far as Nippon is concerned. “Japan advocates reduc- tion,” the statement continues, but we know now that she will accept either only that limitation or reduction which takes her national security needs justly and effectively into consideration. Today, tomorrow and Thursday will be given over by our distinguished visitors from the other side of the globe to intensive discussion with the Ameri- can authorities. Presumably they will together explore the differences ‘which separate the viewpoints of Japan and the United States. As there is said to | be safety in numbers, there is also promise in conference. We aim at the same goal. We do not mistrust each other. We do not, either of us, covet anything belonging to the other. We cherish in common the faith that the Kellogg-Briand pact is a solemn pledge by the civilized world to renounce war. To meet at London under such auspices, as the Japancse statement points out, “is in itself a guarantee of success, for poli- cies of disarmament are the national consequences of the renunciation of war.” | —te e —— The possibilities of the airplane are still incalculable. There are always new kinds of records to be established and always the courageous spirit of youth to make attempts, however hazardous. e Punishing Heflin. The Alabama Democratic execuiive committee has set out to punish Sen- ator “Tem" Heflin and other promincnt Democrats in the State who either voted against or spoke openly in oppo- sition to the election of Alfred E. Smith, the Democratic candidate for President last year. A resolution was adopted yesterday by the committee providing that none of the oppenents of the Dem- ocratic national ticket should be per- mitted to be a eandidate for nomination for public office in the Statewide Demo- cratic primary to be held next year Senator Heflin comes up for renom- fnation and re-election next vear. 'The State organization has thrown down the gauntlet. Tt is expected that Mr. Heflin will lift it without hesitation. The scquel is itkely to be the grandest row zmong the Democrzts of Alabama that has been staged in a long time. Alabama, it is true, was ome of the Southern States which cast their elec- toral votes for Cmith. But the margin { tax reduction has no particular value. offices. Obviously there are too few Republicans in Alabama to take ad- vantage of the factional row in the Democratic party there, Nevertheless, the strife in the Democratic party may have far-reaching effects. Some of the Democratic leaders of the South have urged that no bars should be raised in Alabama, Texas and other Southern States against any Democrat who voted or worked for Hoover last year. They believe that harmony in the party will be restored by a general amnesty. —————— Tax Reduction Effected. With characteristic and appropriate informality the President yesterday signed and thus made effective the con- gressional enactment providing for a tax reduction for the year 1930, amount- ing in total to about $160,000,000. There was no ceremony. The President merely “took pen in hand” when the text of the law was laid before him and signed after reading the report from the Secretary of the Treasury that the measure was in correct form. Nobody gets the pen that was used. It goes back into regular service on the presi- dential desk. In much the same way was the tax reduction bill proposed, in the line of national business management. An oc- caslon had arisen that indicated the need of some reassurance to the coun- try as to the soundness of affairs. It was felt that the Government could set an example in expression of confidence in the stability of business. The Secre- tary of the Treasury reported that the revenues for the calendar year 1930 would bear a reduction of $160,000,000. ‘The President in his message to Con- gress at the opening of the regular ses- sion proposed that an emergency meas- ure be passed providing for such a cut, for one year only. A bill to that effect was drawn and passed by the House of Representatives in a single day by a vote of 282 to 17. The Senate took two days for its consideration and passed it last Saturday by a vote of 63 to 14. As a specific measure of “relief” this The actual economic effect of it cannot be felt in any degree for three months, when the initial payments of the 182¢ taxes are due. But the value of the plan does not lie in the actual saving of funds to the taxpayers. It les in the assurance which the mere proposal has given of confidence in the stability | of affalrs. It is a gesture of faith in the fundamental soundness of business conditions. By the time the taxpayers make up their returns for submission to the Treasury the Autumn disturbances in the stock market will have been over- Jaid in the public memory by later events, and the crisis of November wilt have been well nigh forgotten, save as a matter of history. But the psycholog- ical effect of the proposed and prospec- tive reduction in the amounts payable | to the Government will have been | marked in advance of the actual draw- ing of checks payable to the collectors of Internal revenue. It is now assured | by the formal signing of the bill tha. the people’s purse will be saved some $160,000,000 this year, and the Federal | revenues will be correspondingly les.- | ened. And business will be conducted as usual, with small danger of derange- | ment and distress. vt A penitentiary outbreak shows a state ot desperation which should call on psychologists and experts in penology to combine in an eflort to discover whether modern society is proceeding on entirely rational lines to prevent as well as to ! punisn crime, ' | v Free Text Books. To all intents and purposcs Congress has already sanctioned iree text books | for all students in the public schools. | Favorable action was taken on the| | measure in the House last year, and the lsonale was prepared to pass it when the proposal of last-minute amendments threw it into the legislative log jam of the closing days of the session and it was lost. Yesterday's action by the Senate in passing the bill is gratifying, and it 15 to be hoped that the House will repeat its favorable action within the next few days. The bill only! ithoriz-s the necessary cxpenditure for eighth grade and then requiring him to furnish his own supplies (hrough the high school. If anything, withdrawing this assistance merely acted to discour- age the pupil from continuing his edu- cation aftet the eighth grade, for the heaviest burden upon the parent begins ‘when his child reaches high school age. The aim of the public school system is to provide every inducement, and to | offer no handicaps, to those pursuing an education. o Compliments for Capricornus. According to the national secretary of the American Milch Goat Record Asso- clation the goat has long been unjustly accused of several offenses and peculiar- ities. The official in question declares that goats do not eat tin cans. Science tells us that this idea, long cherished, is, in fact, a delusion; that the goat does iike paper and will gnaw from a can a paper label, which gives rise to the error. The declaration that goats do not butt holes in walls is also made. It is prob- ably well understood that this could never have been a frequent occurrence save in the case of an exceedingly flimsy wall or, possibly, a supergoat. Of course, a goat proceeding full tilt at a human or other target will, if the tar- get suddenly remove itself, hurl his headworks against a fence or other ob- stacle, sometimes with considerable damage to the latter. ‘Third and last in the theses defend- ing the goat comes the statement that goats do not smell like goats and that, in fact, they do not smell at all. Ah, there is a poser for those who have been on more or less familiar terms with goats! Either this expert should pay an early visit to a competent nose and throat specialist, or else he should inform a curious public just what it is that assails the nostrils, more or less unpleasantly, when one is in close con- tact with certain animals of the genus Capra. If a goat never smells, then here is a mystery that would baffle Holmes and Vance combined. ——rmtee Motion picture stars who take enough time away from work in order to secure divorces must be very serious about the matter to sacrifice so much time that could be more profitably used. B One prisoner who' does not think of breaking jail is the bootlegger who knows there are members of the gang outside walting to take him for a ride. - President Hoover insists that battle- ships, if there should be war, ought to take something of their size and not fight food ships. v Money was not used for his campaign by Mr. Grundy. It has never been con- sidered reasonable to expect a man to be his own Santa Claus. - —ona Communists and their theories are alike in one respect: They seldom work. -t SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Ancient and Modern. There were some financial changes which brought gains and losses, too. Wealth grew more concentrated, just as wealth will always do. Employment brought great problems when the work was getting slow— It happened in Assyria, five thousand years ago. When men were busy at the games or fighting without sense, Some woman had to take responsibili- ties immense. Men said that taxes were too high and morals were too low— It happened in Assyria, five thousand years ago. A Relief. “A lobbyist has telephoned to say he is coming to see you." “That relieves my mind,” said Sena- tor Sorghum. “I was beginning to fear my influence wa$ growing so small that lobbyists were not inclined to notice me.” Jud Tunkins says ever since he was a boy he has been wondering what Santa Claus would look like with a clean shave, The Successful Student. He did not have to study— His lucky stars he'd thank. He was a foot ball player Of the very highest rank. His essays were not wonders, But a mark he surely made— He was a foot ball player Of the very highest grade. No Temptation to Listen. “Do you think the telephone operator listens in when T am talking?” “It probably depends on what you are talking about.” answered Mr. Meek- ton. “If you are talking politics, prob- ably not. She has to stay awake and attend to her work.” “A man who has never changed an opinion,” said Hi Ho, the Sage of Chinatown, “has lived most of his life in vain.” Ins and Outs. Oh, politics at first will please, And next 1t brings a doubt! You may get into it with ease— But how will you get out? “What yoh knows,” said Uncle Eben, “shows yoh wisdom, an’ what yoh don't tell shows yoh smartness.” e THIS AND THAT “Come, and take choice of all my Iibrary. And sc beguile thy sorrow.” —Titus Andronicus. Shakespeare knew the power of books to take one’s mind off trouble. Today the whoop-hooray attitude which prevails in Bookdom tends to obscure this essentially dseful quality which has helped thousands in every generation. ‘Despite the prevalence of optimism as a cult, widespread throughout the earth, men and women everywhere meet the same problems that always have confronted them, sometimes with success, sometimes with failure. ‘The same rounds of life leave in their paths tears and sadness, 1l health and sickness, the last gasp and inevitable death. Those who would say otherwise are trying to blink life with the mind which was given them to comprehend it. These things happen to rich and poor allke. Great families and low families know them all, at some time or other; sorrow may invade the palace of a king as well as the tiny apartment —no longer hovel—of the very poor. * ok Xk In all these situations there is mo greater solace than a love of books. Just as some men plunge into work, and more work, to take their minds off themselves, as the saying has it, so others begin to read madly, as if their very lives depended upon it. If they do not entirely obscure their pain, they at least muffle it, and this is a great deal. One advantage books have as a pain killer is that any sort will do. A reader is not driven to re- ligious books more than to detective tales, if one may put it bluntly. Poetry, novels, historles, biographies, essays, these and many others play a part in the book cure. A fast-moving plece of fiction often serves a major purpose. Yet the precise nature of the books to be read in such emergencies must depend, in the last analysis, upon the temperament of the reader. Any misguided person who attempts to advise another in this matter must suffer the fate of the unwanted. Each is & law unto himself, snd knows bet- ter than all the rest of the world what he needs. He may make a mature return to his childhood love for Dickens. The inter- vening years brought to him much criticism of the favorite novelist of the Victorians, but he refused to believe that “Nicholas Nickleby” was not a great novel. “Little Nell” was called stuffy. “Oliver Twist” melodrama, “ Tale of Two Cities” wooden. Let him read them over again, and see for sure that he does not agree with such precious criticism. If he once liked Longfellow, who more than any other has suffered at the hands of the mod- ern know-it-zlls, he can return to Long- fellow with much profit and some pleas- ure. “The Psalm of Life” may be bro- midie, but it is pretty sure that none of his modern critics could do as well, line for line, word for word. At this season of the year he might profitably make his annual pilgrimage to “A Christmas Carol.” The number of those who reread this masterpiece every December is growing year by year. Some think that no greater Christmas piece can be written. It was one of those lay inspirations which come once in a lifetime. Dickens tried to do it again, many times, but never succeeded in making more than tolerably good imitations. g All the hearty good cheer which has BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. come to distinguish the modern Christ-2 mas was incorporated once and for all in “A Christmas Carol.” Yet the spirit- ual side is not left out, and this combi- nation is what makes the story unfor- gettable. The perfect balance has been realized. Those who beguile sorrow with books could seek out no better volume at this time of year. Yet there are as many others as there are books. One has but to think of those subjects which inter- est him most. Many readers who have succumbed to what may be called the inertia of the years, and have failed to keep up with their own resolves for reading. will be amazed at the number of good things in Bookdom which they have passed up with the always exist- ing excuse that “they have so much to do.” Reading takes time, but nowadays many people seem to have plenty of time to go to the movies, and to do other things they want to do. Books, we belleve, offer more surcease from sortow to the square inch than any of these, because they demand the use of the brain at every minute of the way. One may read, of course, with other thoughts trickling through, but this is careless, indifferent reading, and little better than none at all. Rapid reading is the sort which is most profitable. Even books without narrative interest possess a sort of rush of thought content, which makes them almost have A& plot, Have you ever thought of all books as possessed of plots? Most of them have, because their writers were engaged in a dispute with the eternal enemy, ignorance. ‘They had, to use the modern slang ex- pression, something which they wanted to put over. They put their best think- ing in the book, to put it over witha you, the reader, and the fictional interest comes when you and the writer fight it right out there on the printed page. * K K K 1t is perhaps better to read rapidly 2and miss part of what one reads than to go so painstakingly along that one is forever lagging Behind the rush of narration. This is a matter in which any reader can improve himself if he tries. He may be held in leash by the old school-teacherish attitude that one should “digest” what he reads. A great deal of harm, has been done by such statements. The brain and the intes- tinal tract do not function in the same way: the understanding of the one is by no means the digestion of the other. 1t is better to be forced to read a book twice, each time rapidly, in order to get the full meaning of a writer, than to labor slowly over the mastery of every sentence as one goes along. Who cares if eminent men have ad- vised young readers to go slowly? Great men always advise young readers so, and even the youngest of them have enough common sense td do as they please. Fast reading is the kind which se- cures for the reader not only the narra- tive flow—in any type of work—but} also the full amount of happiness and especial surcease from sorrow, a not | inconsequential power resident in all good books. ‘‘Come and take choice of all my library and so begulle thy sor- row.” Picture thyself as a mental steam shovel, plowing through a l- brary, throwing out books as you go, filling the mind with new thoughts, in which the keen edge of unhappiness be- comes blunted bit by bit. Wine, women and song are antiquated and unethical, but books are forever bright and new. BY JOHN GUNTHER. DAMASCUS, Syria—Twice week | Romance rides out “into the blue” from Damascus to Bogdag, and convoys of six-wheel motor cars carry freight and passengers—and romance—across the great blanket of desert between the two eastern cities. Some years ago two brothers had an idea. They were Australians, Jerry and Norman Nairn, and they ran a little garage in Beirut. They began a jitney bus service in a battered Ford from Beirut up to Aleih, a Summer resort in the hills. Now the Nairns are an industry. They are practically a railroad, without rails. ‘They have the great majority of cross-desert traffic the Mediterranean and the Euphrates, and with a corps of young British chauf- feurs they keep open one of the most remarkable lines of communication in the worid. : Consider the route. From Beirut to Damascus is an easy run, on good roads. Yet it is through bad country. While T was in Damascus on this trip, the wife of the British consul was fired on as she drove the route, not by ban- dits, but by gendarmerie! * * % % The real run is bevond Damascus, to- ard Bagdad. There is no road. Only desert. The cars run in tracks on the hard-packed dirt floor. On some trips the tracks are visible; more often desert winds or desert rains (in Winter) ob- literate the route 10 minutes after the heavy six-wheelers roar across. The six-wheelers are American made, coming from Philadelphia. These de- tails have their necessity, because one of the remarkable things about the Nairn convoys is that, except once briefly, they do not stop en route. The journey, something under 800 miles, 1s done in about 30 hours. The cars line up outside the Damascus ga- Tages, the luggage is strapped aboard and covered with heavy canvas to keep out the bitter red dust; passengers look lat their water bottles; the chauffeur and his mechanic step in B-rr-brr! The engines start—the convoy chu ofl. Sometimes there are two six- wheelers, sometimes three. A second- | class service uses ordinary touring cars. | * ok oKk rhaps an hour’s run, | PO The cars enter “the blue’— {he great Syrian desert. There is only Hecert. “There is lava rock to see. and sometimes a mirage. Nothing more. e cars run tandem, about a mile apart. mever parallcl, althouzk, since {here’ are mo roads, only deseri, par- el formation is practicable. But drivers might get lost. Al day. the cars nose thelr way (hrough the whirling dust; late that hight a stop is made for an hour at a Dost called Rutbah Wells. This is the Pindtiest place, without doubt, in_the world, It is midway between Damas- us and Bagdad, and to either side for Bindreds of miles there exists—noth- g, Only desert. At Rutbah the Nairn {rack intersects the Imperial Alrways India mail route, and pilots and chauf- feurs stop for hurried greetings. At Rutbah & family lives—and a_restau- rant man has an American ice ma- hine! Ten thousand miles from any- where (seemingly) onec may have a cold \Whisky 8nd soda or frosted lemonade. Also at Rutbah is a wireless operator Damascus Linke(i to Bag(iad By American Automobiles Six am. is_the starting hour. After | external life | by careful serutiny of the cars behind by the leader every few hours. I have talked to several of the driv- ers, and they seem to like the job. They are all ex-service men, mostly British officers, stranded in the Middle East after the war. And I talked to several passengers, too. They found the trip monotonous. of course, and terribly fa- tiguing—but they have only praise for the Nairn organization and the men. And 30 hours' driving—even if with only orte stop, it is better than a three- week trip by sea! ————— Hoover Expression Urged To Strengthen Paris Pact To the Editor of The Star: In view of the London naval con- ference, which already has wide pop- ular support on both sides of the Atlantic, it is apparent that a Hoover doctrine, expressing in a positive way the moral obligation already implicit of the pact of Paris, would greatly stimulate confidence in naval limita- tlons. Past efforts to give force to the pact of Paris have falled to recognize that any violation constitutes an_unfriendly act against all its signers, Thus, auto- matically, any self-respecting nation must of necessity refuse to continue diplomatic, commercial or other rela- tions with an offending state. President Hoover's aversion to the use of armed force in the settlement | of International disputes opens the way for the establishment of a Hoover dou- trine, carrying the same moral force as the Monroe Doctrine in controversies having to do with violations of the pace | of Paris. [ As the orignators of the pact, France and the United States should be the first to declare a doctrine which should have all the moral force, but m double measure, that the Monroe Doc- trine ever had. If President Hoover should declare that any violation of the pact of Paris constitutes in itself an unfriendly act against all the signers, it is probabic that France would support such a doe- trine. There is little doubt that Great Britain and Germany. and other na- tions as well, will follow suit. R. J. CALDWELL. r—o—— Proposed Central Market Locations Are Suggested To the Editor of The Star: From a careful survey, and from the point of view of convenience, I beg o suggest that the new central market be located between Third and Fifth streets, 1 to L streets, as a permanent exposition and market. Rflsporllon of this location could be us:d as a farmers’ market as well. 1f of & two-story type, it could house our District Militia and a portion could be used for amusements and public meei- ings. Y another, possible site I _suggest the square between Ninth to Tenth, L to M streelts northwest, but note that sald square Is not larg commodate all of the dental to a central market. The buying public_ will be found to be largest north of H street, hence :t will be worse than foolish to place a permanent central market south of { the Mall to be agaln later on crowded out by future Government buildings and parks. tivities inci- 0 1929. NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM U OF SWEDEN. Carl Hol- lendortt and Adolf Schuck. Stock- holm: C. E. Fritze, Ltd. In ancient times—say 15 years ago— history was one thing. Today it is quite another thing. In that remote period the average American citizen was satisfied to follow the time table of his own country’s growth. Dis- covery, immigration, settlement, rebel- lion, revolution, spread of Eastern Sea- board to meet the wide lands of the ‘West, the general industry of home- making. Even the student, the college man, did little more than to take up, rather loosely, “Outlines of History,” ancient and modern, with but a slightly firmer grip upon this epoch or that one, noted for the extent of its conquests, for the character of its “settlements and re- construction”-—those certain promises of future unsettlements and wars. ik w s 1914—End of the old order. * oK K X The World War, in trench and billet and open fighting areas, brought to- gether from the four quarters of the earth milllons of boy: These lads made the great discovery of life—mod- ern life and ancient. Nothing less, this, than that in essential huma stuff they were all alike—white, black, brown, yellow. The gray mass across the tangled wires no different from the khaki mass on_ this side. By virtue of this discovery, hemi- spheres, continents, countries, assumed their rightful character—simply prac- tical conveniences for pointing loca- tions, zoning climates, setting travel routes. Alien races, under this new insight, were but different modes of getting hold of life—climatic incidents of raiment and food, of outlook and custom. And the lords of life, the manifold gods of the earth, were but variant ideas of the same fundamental need—universal man’s god-refuge and god-deliverance. 1t was an astounding discovery, the one made by the millions of fighting lads—a discovery brought out from the nakedness of the trenches, from the other human amalgamations forged in the fire of battle. The unity of man. The world, a neighborhood. It became the outstanding triumph of the World War, the flaming trophy rescued from slaughter and destruction. Sclence, in- dustry, material progress, philanthropy, learning—indeed, every sort of modern concern and issue has seized upon the great war discovery as a common point of departure for the triier, more inti- mate comprehension of human affairs, for the more adequate and equitable ad- ministration of a world shrunk by mod- ern science and an illuminating vision to the close contacts of a simple neigh- borhood. * ok % % TLet us take history out from the sub- ject of general learning. The history of the United States. Upon the soil of this vast area is patterned a varied population drawn from every part of the Eastern Hemisphere. These are now Americans, actual or in the making. The best Americanism can be realized in these diverse peoples, however, only by a thorough general knowledge of the original source from which they have come. The old home. the basic blood strain, modes of growth, the quality of their various urges toward life, the ex- tent of their powers of adaptation, of accommodation to new settings and ways. By such knowledge only can the best be offered to them in the World, can the best be gained from them under the new conditions. * ok k% There are in the United States about 2,000,000 citizens of Swedish extractio The first of these to come to America settled in the Northwest—in the Di kotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan. The cold and snow of this quarter, the lashing waves of tf) Great Lakes, the low Laurentian m¥untain range, the dense pine forests—all this looked like the fiords of Sweden, like its stormy sea-beaten coast, like its deep forests— looked like home. Even yet the bulk of the Swedish population is here. sturdy people, long limbed and strong their children lusty and numerous. In- dustrious folks, serious, law-abiding, tenacious, assertive, competent in every branch of industry-——competent, too, as political leaders and good citizens. Glfted, as well, in literature, music, sculpture, contributing in increasing distinction to the art of America. ‘What about these Swedish citizens of the United States? What about the old home across the sea that shaped their plastic years to its own spirit and pattern? What their history, their traditions, their native heroes, their own dreams of adventure? Where did they get their high order of general intelligence, their zeal for learning, their passion for independence? * ok ok X The “History of Sweden" is, by virtue of its basic purpose and the distin- guished fulfiliment of that Pllrpooe, a full and complete summary of the ques- tions rising in this country concerning that particular element of the popula- tion—the Swedish element. The immediately useful feature of the study is embodied in a series of current topics, in appendices that round to a comprehensive survey of the present world status of Sweden in in- dustrial pursuits of magnitude and effi- clency; in its financial resources, ex- pressed, in part, by way of its banks and insurance companies; in its mines and their operation through a high measure of the engineering art; in its timber and wood Dulr and paper enter- prises; in its shipping and collateral pursuits; in endowments for scientific and humanitarian projects. This di- vision of the history covers an a mirable survey of Swedish literature at the present time. The closing chapter of this book is a comprehensive out- look upon the country in its modern aspects, “Sweden of Today.” Leading ur to this is the story of the separation of Sweden and Norway—notable in large part by reason of the fact that this momentous event took place through negotiations, not by the gen- erally prevailing arbitrament of war. A very inspiring chapter, that one. Up to this point, I read the history from the back toward the front, since this course put me in immediate touch with these cotemporaries of our own Swedish population, explaining them each to the other, and informing me in respect to this pressing question. Then, like any orderly reader, I began with “Chapter 1,” pressing forward from that point on through the early annals of the country, through “The Folkung " to union and disunion, under the ses of what seemed to be a wise statecraft, and its subsequent repudia- tion. From the sixteenth century the story runs, as such stories did then run, by way of the rise and fall of one leader after another. “Sweden of the Nine- teenth Century” is the chronicle of lib- eral political reforms, of industrial and social reforms as well. You, the general reader, will find this a most readable interpretation of Sweden in its own right as an important element in the concourse of nations and countries. 1In particular will you find it to be an illu- mination of the Swedish communities in this country. Students will make a more generel New ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Did you ever write a letter to Fred- eric J. Haskin? You can ask him any question of fact and get the answer in a personal letter. Here is a great educational idea introduced into the lives of the most intelligent people in the world—American newspaper read- ers. It is a part of that best purposc of a newspaper—service. There is no charge except 2 cents in coin or stamps for return postage. Address Frederic J, Haskin, director, The Evening Star Information Bureau, Washington, D.C. Q. In setting a watch should the hands be turned forward?—M. C. A. It makes no difference which way they are turned. Turn them in the direction in which the correct time is the nearer. A. Announcements have been made that he recently opened with the Henry Duffy Players at Hollywood Playhouse in “Girl Trouble.” Q. What is the difference in the dis- tance around the earth at the Equator and the distance gcing around through the poles?>—G. J. A. There is a difference of 42 miles. The equatorial circumference of the earth is 24,896 miles; the meridional circumference 24,854 miles. Q. When was the last pension paid to a Revolutionary War widow?—E. B. McG. A. The last Revolutionary War widow recelving a pension was Esther Damon, widow of Noah Damon. She died No- vember 11, 1906, at Plymouth, Vt. Q. Where will the next conference of social work be held?—S. E. L. A. The fifty-seventh annual meeting of the National Conference of Social Work and Associate Groups will take place in Boston June 8 to 14. More than 40 groups in various flelds of social work will meet at that time. Begun originally in 1874 as an organization for the discussion of problems common | to boards of State charities, it has grown into a general gathering of So- clal forces, with representatives from fields concerning immigration, family case work, health, neighborhood life, dependency, delinquency, mental hy- giene and industrial and economic problems. Attendance at the confer- ence is open to any who wish to come. Q. What causes some high-tension power lines to quiver?—D. K. W. A. The vibration is caused by the wind. These vibrations seem to transmitted along the line from span to span, causing them to continue across spots where a lull in the wind exists. It is the same phenomenon as the humming of telegraph wires. Q. Do American workmen turn out ;,nore work than European workmen?— A. A recent survey shows that they do. While an American receives higher pay, he turns out from three to seven times as much work as the European. Q. What kind_Of fuel is best for smokl% meat?—B, A. M. A. e Department of Agriculture meat is' green hickory or maple wood smothered with sawdust of the same material. Hard wood of any kind is preferable to soft wood. Resinous woods should not be used, as they may give a bad flavor to the meat. Corncobs are a good substitute for hard wood. be added to the fire to flavor the meat. The fire should be kept burning slowly, keeping the and 90 degrees. Q. Ts Eugene O'Brien on the stage?— | . E. D. be | My says that the best fuel for smoking Juniper berries or fragrant woods may temperature between 70 Q. How mn{nlwflu has the highest bullding in_ Pittsburgh?—C. C. A. The Koppers Building and the Grant Building lead, each ing 35 stories. The Cathedral of Learning, now under construction, will have 3 stories and be 500 feet in height. It will be the only “skyscraper university” in the world. Q. When did the first Mrs. Benjamin Harrison die?>—B. E. P. A. Her death is variously recorded in different publications, but the D. A. R., of which Mrs. Harrison was first presi. dent general, gives the date October 25, 1892, as authoritative. Q. Please explain how a person can blow hot or cold at will.—P. D. A. Dr. Slosson says that heat is measured as time is measured, only by its loss. When you blow through nearly closed lips the breath is expelled so rapldly that passing over the hand it cools it by evaporating the perspira- tion from the skin, whereas when you breathe upon it more gently from the opan mouth the hand is surrounded by the warm air, and hence feels hot. If a thermometer were used instead of the hand, you would find that the effect in the two cases is the same, or often the reverse, because the thermometer has no moist skin and registers the actual temperature instead of merely changes of temperature. Q. Why are storms more violent at the equinoxes?—G. W. R. A. The Weather Bureau says that there is no reason why storms should be more frequent or severe at the equi- I nox, nor, in fact, are they. The whols notion about equinoctial storms is er- roneous, and it even is uncertain how, when, where or by whom the idea was started. The bureau only knows that in one form or another it goes back at least to 1748. Q. What is the Grand Bank?— A AT A. This is a submarine plateau in the North Atlantic Ocean, extending eastward from Newfoundland. It is noted for its fishing grounds. Its depth Is from 30 to 60 fathoms. Q. Who won the prize offered by the Mark Twain Soclety for the best quotation?—L. E. T. A. The prize was awarded to Mrs. L. M. Darrow of South Bend, Ind. The quotation was “The ornament of a house is the friends that frequent it.” The judges were Willlam Lyon Phelps, Albert Bigelow Paime, Clare Clemens, hol;:‘ M. Holt Dey and P. G. Wode- ise. Q. Who is the president of the Amer- ,;cx:‘;l A;!rlmtlll?\n of Teachers of French what is the name of thel - o of their publica- A. Prof. Charles A. Downer is the president of this organization and Dr. John H. Finley is honorary president. The French Review is the name of the publication issued by the association. Q. What woman holds the record for parachute jumping?—R. T. B. A. In a leap of 18,000 feet at El Monte, Calif., Miss Billle Brown made what is reported to be the world's record for woman parachute jumpers. Q. What was the amount of money paid to the Vatican when the Roman question was settled?>—R. P. A. The financial convantion estab- lishes that the Holy See, as definite settlement of all its financial relations with Italy in consequence of the fall of temporal power, accepts 750,000,000 lire cash and 1,000,000,000 lire in Ital- |1an state consolidated”loans at 5 per Thomas A. Edison's latest achieve- ment of making rubber out of a weed— the goldenrod—after several years' labor in an effort to break the European monopoly, is received with due appreci- ation of the almost unfailing efficiency of the inventor’s mental equipment. Edison's transformation of the gold- enrod from a decorative but other- wise useless weed into a source of rubber brings new tributes to the wizard's genius, though it is realized that results as yet are hardly practical. Few can comment upon this prolific plant without uttering the hope that the sneezes it is supposed to produce may be extracted along with the gutta- perch: “Imagination roams high, wide and handsome around the newly appointed rubber plant,” says the New York Eve- ning Post, “to speculate in what man- ner it will be reincarnated in an auto- mobile tire or a pair of shock-absorbing heels. Will Mr. Edison boil and distill the golden blossoms or will he raise trees of goldenrod and tap the trunks for the precious juice? Will he make Ig of these yellow weeds and, by some alchemy, inspire the result with the stretch and snap and toughness of rub- ber? Will he emulate the pork packers, who make use of all of a pig save the squeal, and find a profit in everything of goldenrod except the sneeze? Other questions haunt the imagination with an anxious possibility. Is Mr. Edlson about to establish great goldenrod plantations, to become the Bad Lands of the hay-fever season? Is there to be a Sneeze Belt across the country wherever climate and soil are [avorable to the vellow rubber plant? And 1If so0.’ is not this too great a price to vay for progress and independence from the British rubber trust?” “That our little Autumn friend. the goldenrod. who has led merely a decora- tive existence all these centurles, is ’w!!nllsllv A producer of such a | marketable commodity as rubber” is | hailed by the Minneapolis Star as “one of the newest surprises sprung by sclence and Thomas A. Edison.” That paper concludes: “Thus the gay and much-maligned August flower may in time find itself transplanted from its vagabond existence on the hillside to the orderly confines of the plowed field, where it may hold its head as high as the wheat, the corn and the oats. Its days of happy idling will be over when it is put to work with the other plants that serve man and his needs.” “Years ago, the goldenrod was pro- posed as this count ver,” recalls the Martinsburg Journal, “be- cause it grows plentifully in every State of the Union, and if Mr. Edison can make rubber tires out of it, it will be- come in a double sensc a national flower, blossoming on every hard road as well as in every more or less fertile field. * * * Of course, there are skeptics, but Mr. Edison has achieved so often and so greatly that the credu- Jous expectations of a large part of the public will follow his further experi- ments." “For four years says the Columbus Ohio State Journal, “the sage of West Orange has been seeking to produce { rubber, either from some vegeiation or | Evansville Courier, Golden-ro& Hailed as Source Of Beauty, Sneezes, Rubber of in the old days” 'The S flel | Mo., Leader, hunvu.‘auvlsnp""g!nc& ing the hay fever.” 5 “America, the great consumer of rub- ber,” declares the Pittsburgh Post- Gazette, “may become a producer of the material after years of buyi in foreign markets, sometimes at artificially con- trolled prices. The Edison search for a plant of prolific growth in all parts of this continent, from which rubber might be extracted, has been unrelenting ever since the British growers sought to maintain prices under the Stevenson valorization plan. Even when the proj- ect broke after the Dutch interests failed to restrict production, and when American manufacturers made extensive use of reclaimed material, Edison did not stop. He showed from time to time that many plants contained rubber, but not in commercially feasible qualities.” Fut the Kalamazoo Gazette feels that ‘more popular interest would have been manifested in Edison’s process several years ago.” “Any one who has had. experience with goldenrod in the garden, particu- larly in trying to get rid of it,” accord- ing to the Santa Barbara Daily News, “will bear testimony to the effect that it is a vigorous and persistent plant. It spreads by roots and shoots, and is re- produced through falling seeds. In this country there are some 75 varieties. It can be produced in limitless quantities. So far as raw materials go, if rubber can be made from this plant, the United States in a single year could be made independent of the rest of the world. In fact, if the estimate of probable cost of rubber from this source is approxi- mately correct, the rubber plantations of the Orient could not compete with the American supply.” “Tests are sald to show.” records the hat rubber can be roduced at about 16 cents a pound, which js under the present low price in the market. If this is true and if the rubber is of good quality, the Amer- ican people have within their control, for peace or war, a limitless supply of this most essential commodity. The American farmer has a wholly unex- ggg:le Agll:m fmthnfl tmlle{, It may e of e bes ing crops. The rubber industry will x;lg’ml C_an" and other rubber products will be cheaper for everybody.” ‘The cost of 16 cents is viewed by the Indianapolis News as “a bar against capital entering the field at present. The expense of getting rubber ready for commercial use,” continues that pa- per, “is now less. Purthermore, new areas of land in the troopics are being developed. Whether such sources of supply will continue to be adequate m the face of what promises to be a ris- ing demand, 1t is impossible to say. In any case, Mr. Edison seems to have found an insurance against a shortage and an antidote for monopolistic prices.” The Atlantic City Union be- lieves that the discovery “may have almost as far-reaching an effect as his invention of the incandescent electric and that paper is convinced that it is fairly certain that, as production develops, the cost will be still further reduced, with resultant benefits to con- | sumers, “We shall enter upon a rubber age" predicts the Spokane Spokesman. Re- view, “and everywhere we will see vast fields of goldenrod waving in the sun.” The Omaha World-Herald, taking note of the report that ‘heretofore the gold- and you may send telegrams—from this remotencss!—to any city in the world. * ok ok X The run continues after Rutbah all | night. There is no other stop. And no gas stations or hot-dog stands! The drivers are traincd to make the 30-hour trip—a grueling job, handling such a | heavy car In sand—entirely without | sleep: the drivers in the touring car are alone. Bagdad is reached about | FYoAths Dlew obann 1 Ripael Pogn'the second day. From the Dayton Daily Nevs. 1f rubber tires are finally made from | “The caravans run on scheduled time,{ It will be just too bad If Henry Ford ihe juice of goldenrod, will they Prove | ang tickets are on sale for places in the . kecps on raising his employes' wages ;i) + new annoyance to hay fever victims? care just as on ordinavy trains. The | they begin buying high-priced car o route s falrly dang-rous, but the chief | ——on—s Suici danger is of getting lost in the trackless | . T n the upper grades and high school of | m%-cm::fll":; :l:::de . Wtiire 0o b 1 smy cm- | Why Bring That Up? the expenditure of about $17 2 year, the | e d X cumstances is allowed ever to cross the irn:;\ the llfia':n-wm Star. i cnse th Germany has passed a new law|desert alone. Always thoie must be & ne of e season’s best bits e depending upon the course of ) ,oqint” suicide; those who break it de- | convoy. Another danrer fs that the |humor was the official announcemeny study. serve punishment even if they don't chauffeur may fall asleep; this Is !sent to the House that the Senate was Purchase of these books and supplies wait around t@ meiv‘ll. checked by the tandem proccssion and ready for work.‘ At Fifth and L streets or Ninth and | Tenth, L to M, the street car servica and suto parking is ideal and should prevail over the scheme of placing tne market south of H street northwest or south of the Mall. use of this historical survey. It is com- | timber that grows in quantity in the prehensive, yet not overladen with de-|ynjted States. His purpose was to en- tails, 1t is authentic according to the | aple the United States to end the modern exactions in this respect. It|forcien rubber monopoly to which is a coherent, orderly, scholarly study,| american motorists have been paying dramatic in éffect, highly readable in |iibute. = * * * Goldenrod is not ! its warm personality—yet at every point | onjly cheap but abundant. It grows| a fulfillment of the special historian's | veadily. It is sometimes used for deco- | purpose and ways of meetig this | qtjve purposes, but unti! now has been purpose. a sort_of outeast because of its effect ts chief author, Carl Hollendorfl, | {iron hay-fever victims. . Should the professor in the University of Stock- | gdison process prove to be commercially holm, most unfortunately did not live to | foasible, the goldenrod, like humans complete his work. This was done by | yho are suddenly discoverad to have ! Adolt Schuck, lecturer in history al|uncuspected talents or wealta, may at- TS RN T e i Lo Russia’s Thrill en i o ! From the Cincinnati Times-Star. delight of a preface—warm, friendly, | S —=———————==—m—=————m=r————— approving, tersely substantial—a beauti- [ United States, this eminently Important 1 ~Russia must be getting a tremendous fully welcoming gesture toward th>)book came within reach of Th> Evr- | thrill out of talking to Uncle Sam the reader. Through the courtesy of M. ning Star. The book ilself commands | way we'd all like to speak up to & cnflu‘ cop. Bostrom, Minister of Sweden to the enth\ul:.mc attention. enrod has attracted attention only as an autumnal interior decoration,” ex- claims, “Oh, good heavens! Oh, Mr. Edison! Oh, my! Oh, my! Ker- cho0-0-0-0! s The End of War. From the Rochester Times-Union. War will end automatically when the umpire’s decision inst the home team seems as just as his decisions against the other side. { ree text books and the appropriations | must be inserted in the appropriation bill for the District now about to start its journcy through the Congress, The bill means the additional ex- pendifure from public funds of about 242,000 for the first year and about ;100,000 a year thereafter, the annual maintenance cost being divided be- tween the replacement of worn-out or nsanitary books and for the purchase of supplies. It will rzlieve each student was narrow and the charge has been made that the State was only held in line through discarding a great many| votes that were cast for Hoover. The immediate question, however, is whether & nominee in the Democratic primary will be able to defeat Scnator Heflin 1f the latter is running as an| independent in the senatorial race. At| first blush it appears that the Demo- cratic executive committee has suc- ceeded in pitchiorking the old issues of the campalgn of 1928 into the fracac which is to come off next year. Sena- tor Heflin will be in a position to de- clare that the old forces which backed ©mith for President are at work again, He Works Up an Appetit From the Sjoux Falls Dally Argus-Lea That Sioux Falls man who has not missed a, foot ball game on Thanks- | glving day in 30 years must get a kick out of the national Fall sport. .- i Goldenrod Tires. CHAS. H. RAUB. r—ve—- Just Too Bad!