Evening Star Newspaper, December 18, 1929, Page 8

NG _STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1929. caw o CUa peevee Sram, WASMESGTON. D C. GEDNEEDAY DRUSNNNE IR MRS . o ey .8 _ __THE EVENING STAR WASHINGTON, D. C, WEDNESDAY. DEOEMBER 16 1o ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. WEDNESDAY . December 18, 1920 THEODORE W. NOYES. . ..Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company 11tn e iod Fensesisants Ave X 3] 3 New York Of 110 East 42nd 8t Ghicago Ofice: Lake Michigan Sullding. European Office; 14 Regent .. London. Englan; te by Carrier Within the City. vening Star.. gj4345¢ Ler month i3 . e Evening and_ Sn f (wh ;80¢ per month 65¢ per month en 4 Sundays) The Evening and Sui (when 5 Sundavs) Sc per copy month. The Sunday Star ... Collection made at the f each \ in by mail or telephone Orders may be sent NAtional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. {7 and Sunday.....1sr. 51000 1 m : 1] nly . 1yr, $3.00 ;1 me A3r. $4.00: 1 m f §nf Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled all news Cls- sy only ited in this pape she I published herein. All rights of publication ef pecial dispatches nerein are also reserved. Olive Branches vs. Bludgeons. Today's Associated Press dispatches from Tokio contain the striking declara- ticn that Japan expects her “case at London” to be “won or lost” in conver- sations now proceeding in Washington between her naval conference delegates and the American authorities. Many will be prone to deduce from this as- sertion that Messrs. Wakatsuki and ‘Takarabe are waging a fight to the fin- | ish with President Hoover and Secre- tary Stimson. There will be an in- clination to assume that if Japan’s re- ported insistence on a 10—10—7 cruiser ratio and on a substantial submarine tonnage is not gratified, the London conference is ascured of failure in ad- vance. “Atmosphere” is all estential on such occasions as the five-power parley which the world awaits with such prayer- ful interest. If the January confer- ence opens in an environment of com- bativeness, it will be surcharged from the start with an element which can bode no good for the final outcome. Divergence of viewpoint is not the same thing as hostility. For one power to espouse this or that theory does not denote blind opposition to the theory some other power holds. Omniscience on naval questions resides in no single country or government. It is just as sound and ethical for the Japanese to look upon submarines as indispensable to their defense needs as it is for the United States to regard U-boats as weapons which have no place in what is known, somewhat incongruously, as civilized warfare. The task of the London conference 18 to reconcile differences—Ilegitimate differences, springing from varying na- tional attitudes toward naval defense. Virtually every one of the five conferee powers has geographical and strategic problems exclusive to itself. These problems cannot be obliterated by an imperious wave of the hand of one or other powers which, having no such problems themselves, might desire to veto them out of existence. Statesmen who are not ready to give fullest consideration to contentions with which they disagree seldom achieve any of the results they them- selves crave. Statesmen willing to con- cede reasonableness in the position held | on the other side of the table—willing to explore that position and to find ways and means of meeting it—are the ones who approach a difficult interna- tional issue in the right mind. President Hoover and Secretary Stim- son, there is happily every reason to believe, approach the London confer- ence in such a spirit. Uncle Sam will carry no chip .on his shoulder there. He goes to England with an olive branch, not a bludgeon, in his strong right hand. Held in such a hand, an olive branch possesses all the qualities of a bludgeon and, on such an occasion, is a vastly more useful utensil. ———eer If every reader of the newspapers paid strict attention to the warnings against indiscreet speculation, the stock ticker would never be found vainly endeaworing to keep up with the market. ————————— Haiti has again demonstrated that the capacity of a nation for creating trouble is likely to be in inverse ratio to its geographical size. e Museums and Multitudes. Art museums and art galleries gene erally should benefit by the results of a survey recently undertaken by the great new Pennsylvania Museum of Art sit- usted in the environs of Philadelphia, said to be the last word in museum construction, and already highly popular ‘with Philadelphians, with persons from other cities and from other lands, more | than a million visitors having passed; its portals during the first year after it was opened. One thousand of these were personally interviewed by members | of the museum staff and, by multiplica- tion, the resultant figures were applied to the million in question. 8ix questions were asked each person agreeable to the interview, namely, his | or her occupation, residence, method of | transportation to the bullding, under- lying reason for the visit, preference of the exhibits viewed, and, finally, sug- gestions as to improvement. Some sig- nificant and surprising data were elicited. As regards male visitors, students nat- urally lead, but business men were sec- ond, while professional men were far down the list as compared to factory ‘workers. Artists, craftsmen and archi- tects stood about midway in attendance. ‘When it came to what prompted them to visit the museum, it appeared that 560,000 came because some one had told them about it and 280,000 because of something they had seen ir. ‘he news- oapers. As regards preferences, either period rooms or paintings led with each and every group. And, despite the palatial aspects of the authentic Eng- lish rooms and certain others, no one of them got as many votes as the early Pennsylvania German bedroom and living room. “Human interest in hom like things probably explains this stated Fiske Kimball, the director of the museum. This is believed to be the first sys- tematic attempt to tabulate the types and reactions of the hordes of visitors \ that such have a wide appeal to a great variety of people, including those who supposedly have no great interest in art. A very significant thing discovered was that when questioned as to pref- erence, the method of display and the lighting system of the museum itself. regardless of the items of exhibition, ran third to the Pennsylvania rooms and to the English paintings. while the constructive suggestion made by the largest number of visitors was for the establishment of museum lectures to supplement and to explain the visible treasures. There was also widespread demand for greater informative pub- licity both as to the present exhibits and as to future acquisitions, B Guns and Children. ‘The police regulations are definite enough on the subject of firearms and other dangerous weapons in the hands of children. “No person under the age of sixteen years,” the regulations say, “shall carry or have in his or her possession upon any street, avenue, road, alley or other public place in the District of Columbia, any gun, pistol, rifle, air gun, bean shooter, sling or other dan- gerous weapon of any character,” and it is unlawful for any person to “sell age of sixteen years firearms, gunpowder, gun caps, fireworks or other explosive in any quantity or quantities.” If these regulations were enforced there would not have been the tragedy Saturday afternoon in the Soldiers’ Home grounds, when a ten-year-old boy was killed by a stray bullet from a rifie, possession of which at the time was in dispute between two older boys. But the regulations are not enforced. It is no uncommon sight to see a youngster, or a group of them, taking pot shots at sparrows on the streets with an air rifle, and almost any Sat- urday one can hear the sound of shots from Rock Creek Park, where boys, on a holiday lark, are hunting squirrels or other small game. Responsibility for enforcing the law rests on the police, but a large share— and it should be the major share— rests on the parents of the children. It lies with the parent as to the degree of instruction his child is to receive in the use of firearms, and if his child is so instructed, the first lesson will be the safe method of handling a gun. But that has nothing to do with allow- ing a child to carry his gun on the streets, in the parks, or anywhere else, where it endangers the lives of othgrs. The hazards of life for a child on city streets are great enough, without adding to them the menace of guns in the hands of other children. Ten - year -old Benjamin * Franklin owned no gun. But other children did. ——————— Plane Crashes. ‘The crack-up of the third plane suc- cessfully to negotiate the direct flight from Europe to South America should in no way detract from the triumph of Maj. Larre-Borges and Lieut. Leon Challe, who despite the fact that they did not reach Montevideo, their an- nounced destination, covered more than thirty-six hundred miles without a stop. The crash in the Brazilian jungle will soon be forgotten. The public re- escaped without serious injuries. As a matter of fact, crashes at the end of both long and short flights are almost commonplace, if weather condi- tions are encountered which cause the pilots to lose their. way. Clarence Chumberlain on his famous flight from New York to Germany with Charles Levine as a passenger lost his way and was forced to descend on the, first clear space he could find. Comdr. Byrd with his navigation ability combined with the skill of the noted pilots Acoste and Balchen was caught in a storm over France at the end of his transatlantic trip and was compelled to land in the ses on the coast. And bringing the matter nearer home airmaft pilots are lost almost nightly in the fog over Washington. The case of the pilot who by a narrow margin missed running into the Capitol dome in attempting to “sit down” on Bolling Field can easily be remembered. This experience resulted in the placing of a beacon atop the Capitol. And in the last few nights Verne Treat, one of the real veterans of the night-flying air- mall, has been forced to skip Bolling Pield altogether on one occasion after four unsuccessful attempts to feel his way down through the murky blackness and on another to cruise helplessly through the skies above Richmond for more than two hours before he could make his way to earth: Bo it makes little difference whether the flight is long or short except per- haps that on long trips the fatigue of the aviators causes them to lose some of their keen perception. The weather, in most cases, is a determining factor and snow, wind and fog are still the menacing trio for those who venture aloft. Despite scientific strides in the creation and manufacture of instru- ments, plane structure and engines, they probably will continue to be. o There are laws against promiscuous weapon carrying, but, like so many laws, their enforcement shows increasing difficulty. B Rival Literary Shrines. Some weeks ago a sentimental reac- tion was occasioned by the spectacle of a woman tenant of a house on Twenty-third street, New York City, holding it against the onset of the wreckers who were seeking its destruc- tion to clear a big site for a monster building. Nobody cared in particular about the woman's situation, but there was some emotional sympathy for the house, which was rated as a “literary shrine,” for in it, so ran the tale told by the tenant and others, Clement Moore, a barely remembered American poet of a century ago, wrote “A Visit From St. Nicholas,” a poem that has become immortal. That jingling verse, beginning “'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house inot a creature was stirring, not even 8 nwouse,” has been the cherished posses- sion of American childhood for more than a hundred years. So some sympa- thizers with tHe resisting tenant of No. 4290 Twenty-third street declared that the building should be preserved, de- spite the demands of progress and busi- ness. But alas for sentiment! The tenant lost her fight, the house was and now No. 420 is only & memory. ‘That is that. But it is not all the to American art museums and will doubtless be imitated elsewhere. The greatest lesson learned, apparently, is story. Now ccmes the statement that the house in which Clement Moore wrote “A Visit From St. Nicholas” in to any child or children under the | joices that the two brave adventurers | 1822 is again in danger. It is not the Twenty-third street house, which has gone the way of many other ancient structures. It is a homestead in Elm- hurst, Long Island, occupied, it is stated, by Moore and his family at the time he wrote his poem, which was penned, indeed, for his own children. The Moore house is now menaced by a subway. The borough president of Queens seeks to have it preserved. He suggests that it be turned over to a park and thus saved for all time. So he appeals to the public for funds for the salvation of the struc- ture, even though it may have to be moved to make way for the underground railway. Something ought to be done about this. Somebody ought to know where Clement Moore lived when he wrote the ipfl!m. True, it was a hundred and seven years ago when he penned his famous lines. ‘There are no lving recorders of the fact. Perhaps as long {as one of the “shrines” has been de- stroyed it will be just as well to con- centrate on the Queens Borough build- ing, as something quite as good. But it is a bit confusing to have two literary landmarks of identical significance bob up almost simultaneously. Maybe Moore wrote the poem in both places, drafting it in one and finishing it in another. If so. one is as good as the other, and the survivor might as well be saved. e A Tip to Druggists. In these days of increasing “chains” in every phase of business life, so in line with modern economic ideas, plans to seek the support of trade bodies and citizens' associations for patronage of independent drug stores will prove of interest to the average citizen. The District of Columbia Retall Druggists’ Association has outlined a plan to this end. The next meeting of thq association has been set aside for a discussion, with the independent grocer. hardware dealer and representatives of local endeavor in other lines of business, of ways and means of combating the rhain drug store growth. The fight between the “chains” and the “independents” must hold the in- terest of every person who realizes the power of combination in the modern world. From the standpoint of the so- called “man on the street,” however, the major interest will lie in price and service. One of the great holds of the “chaln” stores in all lines is their abllity, through large buying power, to cut the prices to consumers. Often the loyalty of a purchaser does not go so far as paying five cents more for a desired article. The very rush of buyers at some of the “ch-in" places gives the independ- ent his greatest opportunity, in the eyes of some students of the probiem. Where many buy there must be hurry, with a tendency to slight the individual customer. At the less crowded place the store owner and his clerks have the opportu- nity, whether they use it or not, of giv- ing individualized attention to each and every customer. The entire tendency of the modern city is away from the individual toward the mass. Yet thousands of people long for a return of small-town ways. In the old days when a man paid a bill he was given some small gift. Those days have long passed, but the atmos- phere of cordiality which accompanied them could still be a part of everyday ousiness. Often, indeed, it is, in both types of stores, but the fact remains that the “independient” has the larger chance to incorporate this style of ac- tion in his everyday dealings with the public. —.——— The fact that there are no legliimate theaters open in Washington, D. C., is not keeping tourists away from the Capital City. Visitors are interested in the Nation's history rather than in drama. ) It is not easy to stop crime waves. Legisiation does not usually accomplish the purpose. The criminal prides him- self on his ingenuity in defeating even the best of laws, ———————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Big Mystery. Life is all a mystery— So we learn from history— Problems of immensity Grow in their intensity. Here we find philosophy, Science or theosophy. Puzzies we're unraveling As we go a-traveling. Coppers are particular As to rules vehicular. Marvels astronomical, ‘Theorles atomical, Questions constitutional, Essays evolutional, Clues arise, comparative ‘To detective narrative— Life, when gay or serious, Always is mysterious, ' Purpose of a Demonstration. “I didn’t exactly understand all your remarks?"” “It was not intended that you should,” confided Senator ‘Sorghum. “The purpose of those laborious ob- servations was to impress my constitu- ents with the idea that I am still on the job and doing my best.” Jud Tunkins says it's easy for any- body to be funny—unintentionally. Good Old Beasts of Burden. The bulls and bears jazz up the game And cause us some dismay. The elephant and donkey tame Go plodding on their way. 2 Coldly Calculating. “He writes a long letter every day?” “Yes,"” sald Miss Cayenne. “And yet you refuse to marry him?" “Of course. A man who devotes so much time to letter writing cannot possibly have time to develop much earning capacity. “Men seek riches,” sald Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “hoping for ad- miration and attain only envy.” Into the Discard. And still the airships boldly hum, ‘When daring Fate to do her worst. We humbly ask what has become Of that old motto, “Safety first"? “Whether some men is sho-nuff wet gr dry,” said Uncle Eben, “depends in- tirely on force of de immediate circum- stances.” THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES Presenting one's friends with the books they have borrowed during the past year but failed to return would be a unique and graclous gesture in the way of Christmas presents. Picture the happy look on the face of old Tom Doolittle as he read a neat card on Christmas morning: “Merry Christmas, old man! “I hereby present you with the copy of Josephson's ‘Zola and His Times,’ which you borrowed from me last June 14. “This gift, while less than your merit deserves, will save you the trouble of pretending to bring it back. “I hope you have enjoyed reading it. “Happy New Year!” . To Sallie Salamander, who borrowed our prize copy of Rachael Taylor's “Leonardo the Florentine,” with fervent protestations of bringing it back within | the week, we would send the following: “Hello, Sallie! Hope you are well, and all your folks! “Since you never have ‘Leonardo the Florentine,' I judge that you must like it very much, so I am hereby giving the book to you with my best wishes for a merry Christmas. ““Take good care of it, Sallie. It cost lrne $6—at a time when my funds were ow. “Happy Mew Year to you!" * % ok * Old Bill Muddle, who walked away with our copy of Julian Green's “The Dark Journey” on April 3 last, ought by rights to get a gay card engraved as follows: “Many happy returns of the day! “Instead of sending you a cigarette lighter, as I had planned, I remembered that you never returned my ‘Dark Journey.' “I will agree that it is an excellent story, and don't blame you a bit—now. I was a little put out for a time, I will admit, but got over that by the middle of September. “If you still have the book, I here- with present it to you with my best wishes for a merry Christmas.” e Mrs. Flo Floss ought to be forced to stop playing bridge just long enough to absorb mentally the following card, adorned with green, gold and red: “Hello, Flo! ‘Just keep that book you borrowed from me year before last and count it as my Christmas present to your scin- tillating self. “It has been so long ago that I have forgotten its title, but it was a good book—TI recall that much about it. “No doubt by this time you loaned it to a dozen different persons, but you always seemed to have the knack of getting things back. “Happy New Year, t0o.” *an % These sample cards will show what we mean. Here is a neat method of making gifts, which, so far as we know, is en- tirely original, never having been used before in the history of publishing. If it is objected that this would be a cheap way of giving Christmas presents. we reply that it would be no cheaper than the original theft of the books; returned | have| E. TRACEWELL. for that is what the retained “loan” of a book really amounts to. This method would be no cheaper, indeed, than that involved in taking out | |of the bureau the unwanted gifts re-| | ceived last year and carefully distribut- | ing them to other parties, as some people are known to do. Yes, indeed! * ok ok The average book lover who loves his | books also loves to loan them. Experience never teaches him any- | thing when he is confronted with a | friend who wants to borrow a book. | Books are like dollars—no one ever asks for one, but prefers to use the time-tested word “loan.” “Lend me one of your books, old man.” With a foolish smile on his “easy- mark"” face, the book lover leads his| | friend to the bookcase. “Help yourself,” he says, hoping that | | the borrower will not notice the brand- new copy of Herbert Gorman's “The | Incredible Marquis.” This, of course, is exactly the book he sees the first thing. “How is this one about Dumas?” he 'airly good, fairly good,” replies the | r, trying to throw him off the track. | “Well, I guess I'll just take this one,” says the other. “That is, if you| don't mind.” * ko It is a poor book lover who cannot {think up at least 50 volumes which he | | “loaned,” never to see again. He realizes that this is the price he must pay for being kind with his books. If he 50 much as dares to intimate to | a borrower that he would like to have his book back again, he is met with a frozen look, as if the other had been mortally insulted. He should worry! His books are dear to him, and he has a right to them. Above all, he has | a right to keep in his breast the desire to share his good things with his friends. | 1t is this feeling that thoughtless bor- rowers deprive him of, along with his books, and it is this inevitable loss of ‘th\s feeling which he deplores more than that of his books. e i, For how is it possible for one who loves his books to keep on wanting to loan them when he never gets them back? Never is a8 hard word undoubtedly, but the borrowers are many and the re- turners few. A book is borrowed in good faith and kept in just as good faith, with the result that it never gets back to its owner. Almost any one can think of titles ranging from a dozen to fifty or a hundred which were “loaned” over the | years, never to gain port again. ! Most of them were books one really liked, else he would not have loaned them. The sharing of good books with others is one of their true joys, but too often it is marred by the knowledge that the loaner probably won't get it back, and that if he does the cover will be soiled and the pages crumpled. Our system of presenting borrowed books to those who hang on to them might lose one a friend or two, but what is a friend to a good book? WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. President Hoover’s insistence that our Ambassadors and Ministers to Latin American countries shall speak the lan- guage of the posts to which they are accredited is about to result in an in- teresting exchange of envoys. It in- volves Peru and Poland and concerns two Pennsylvanians—the P's seem to have it. At least, according to the story well authenticated in foreign re- lations circles on Capitol Hill, Alexan- der P. Moore of Pittsburgh, now Am- bassador to Peru, is shortly to be named Ambassador to Poland and John B. Stetson, jr., of Philadelphia, now Min- ister to Poland, is to succeed Moore at Lima. Mr. Moore speaks no Spanish, which Mr. Stetson commands fluently. The Pittsburgh publisher-diplomat isn't particularly eloquent in Polish, either, but at Warsaw English serves every diplomatic purpose Uncle Sam has in view. Before entering the foreign service in 1925 Mr. Stetson, a scion of the famous hat family, spent several years in South America in quest of his- torical and scientific data. ok ‘Taking time by the forelock is a Japanese specialty, particularly on high international occasions. Here are Nip- pon's naval delegates, more than a month ahead of the conference’s open- ing in London, getting their story on the front pages of the world in plain and plausible phraseology. It's what diplomats call creating a psychological atmosphere. It doesn't, of course, mean that Japan is “selling” her 10—10—7 cruiser ratio and submarine ideas to America now and will “sell” them to Britain later when Messrs. Wakatsuki and Takarabe reach London. But it does indicate that the clever men of the East understand the value of striking the first blow and causing people to consider well in advance the sweet reasonable- ness of Japan's contentions. The Tokio emissaries now in Washington are too seasoned statesmen to believe they're going to get everything they want. In diplomacy the asking price is seldom the taking price. N * * You'd think all and sundry connected with the White House, especially of an official and traditional character, would be just about letter perfect. Well, every- thing isn't. Imbedded in the marble floor of the main corridor of the Executive Mansion, since President Roosevelt's day 25 years ago, there is a supposed replica of the great seal of the United States, spread eagle and all. It is some 2!, or 3 feet in diameter, with rim and design of gleaming yellow—a combina- tion of gold, brass and gun metal. Now, on the official seal of the Republic the eagle is screaming “E pluribus unum” toward the right. But for some reason which only “Ike" Hoover, per- ennial chief usher at the White House, 15 said to know, the big replica reveals our national bird’s head turned unmis- takably to the left. - o ‘Two of the gentlewomen who sit in the House of Representatives were re- cently speakers on the same banquet p am in Washington and shared the after-dinner honors of the occa- sion. Mrs. Edith Nourse Rogers, Re- publican, of Massachusetts said she was recently introduced to a woman from Illinols as a member of Con- gress. “Is your name Ruth?” the Western lady asked. When Mrs. Rogers said it wasn't, the other replied, “Well, I don't believe you're a Con- gresswoman_at all.” When it came Mrs. Ruth Bryan Owen's turn to spm a yarn the Democratic member from Florida recalled a tale once told her by her father. Lawyers having once upon a time been the only politicians who could aspire to office in a certain county, Bryan was informed that it'a been decided to break with the rule and put up a 100 per cent non-lawyer ticket. To his amazement he learned later that a well known attorney's name headed the ticket. “How come?” asked Bryan. “Oh,” was the explanation, “he’s just been dlibn:reg!" * Representative John J. Cochran, Dem- ocrat, of Missouri, has a scheme for averting unemployment at Washington, having Uncle Sam practice what he preaches with regard to “constructive expansion” and at the same time has- tening the day of “Washington Beauti- ful.” Congress, Mr. Cochran points out, is appropriating increasingly generous funds for public bullding s A the National Capital. “Why not ?t on with the work of razing the old build- ings and starting at least preliminary operations on the new ones?” the St. uisan asks. “The job's got to_be done eventually. Why not now? It'd mean putting thousands of men to work who may be roaming the streets job- t [est heights in Hamlet, less during the Winter.” It's said that Washington's workless element is being steadily increased by the influx of men who come under the impression that the Hoover ‘“constructive expansion” program not only originated here, but is also being carried out in the Dis- trict of Columbla. i o Behind the scenes a merry contest is afoot concerning the name of the new Navy airship to be built by the Goodyear plant in Ohio. Akron, where it 18 be- ing constructed, thinks it wouldn't be a half-bad idea to christen the big dirigible after that metropolis of rubber end tires. It'll be another year and a haif before a christening ceremony can take place, but Akroni-ns are already on the job. The Na'y regulations pre- scribe how surface vessels should be named, but there is no rule regarding alrships. The Shenandoah was chosen by Secretary Denby, because it meant “Daughter of the Stars.” Secretary Wil- bur said he selected Los Angeles bacause it refers to angels, and angels are not wholly disassociated with peace. He| would never admit that his coming from Los Angeles had anything to do with it. * K ok % A Washington junior high school girl was recently asked which she preferred ~—a man with a past, with a present or with a future. She said: “Christmas is coming. Give me the man with a pres- ent.” Of somewhat less authenticity is the yarn of the Sunday school flapper, who said her favorite hymn is “Him that hath.” (Copyright, 1920.) o Tribute Is Paid Booth For Return to Stage From the Kansas City Star. A brief news item notes the marriage of the granddaughter of Edwin Booth, Mrs. Mildred B. Waterbury, to Arthur C. Tilton of Brookline, Mass. _Mrs. ‘Waterbury's mother was Edwina Booth Grossman, whose mother was the -beau- tiful Mary Devlin Booth, first wife of the great actor. There has been no one in direct line to carry on the traditions of the Booth family, so brilliantly ex- emplified in the careers of Junius Brutus Booth the elder and Edwin Booth, youngest of three sons. Neither Edwina Booth nor her daughter chose the stage as a profession. ‘When Edwin Booth died, he was ac- corded by well-nigh unanimous con- sent first place among American actors up to that time. It is worth while to recall this interesting man to a genera- tion to whom he is only a fading name. There was that in Booth's life to mark him as a player of unusual service, as a man of highest character, as a suf- ferer by circumstances, as & melancholy figure even among the shades that now are all melancholy. His first wife lived only three years after marriage. Six years later, Booth married Mary McVicker, daughter of James H. McVicker of Chicago theater history. Miss McVicker had been and continued to be his leading woman. It was she who played Juliet to Booth's Romeo in the historic run of the love tragedy at Booth's Theater, New York, a theater built by the actor after the burning of the Winter Garden, where Booth had met with great success. Booth lavished his money on this the- ater, but business went so0 bad in the ic of 1873 that he lost his fortune. e went on tour again and in the course of years amssed another fortune, from which he was able to build the Players’ Club in New York and make it a_ gift to members of his profession. This club was his home and it was there that he dled, June 7, 1893. But it was the death of Lincoln at the hands of John Wilkes Booth, a brother, that sent Edwin Booth to seclusion for a long period and all but prevented the completion of his career. His grief was so profound, his humiliation so keen, that he fully determined never to ap- pear in, public again. It was only through long and insistent persuasion on the part of friends, on his own be- half as well as for the public, that he was induced to take up his repertoire again. The return brought hi dis- traction, but not forgetfulness. The h‘ll!dg affected th: remainder of his days, but did not dim his art. It was in spite of it that he lchlevei!‘ his great- ar, Iay Othello and Bertuccio. He rode out the storm with full command of his powers. oo Grundy Can Answer Caraway. From the Lincoln State Journal. At last Joe Grundy 18 in a position to get back at Senator Caraway. { Politics at Large By G. Gould Lincoln. Democratic politicians from Southern States, including Alabama, including members of Congress, are by no means overjoyed at the action of the Alabama State executive committee which pre- vents Senator “Tom” Heflin from be- coming a candidate for nomination to succeed himself in the Democratic primary next August. Instead of. holding out the olive branch to the anti-Smith Democrats, as the regular Democratic organization did in Virginia with signal success during the gubernatorial campaign last Fall, the majority of the Alabama executive committee has determined to run rough- shod over Mr. Heflin and all others who voted against or openly opj d Al Smith in the presidential campaign last year. It gives Heflin an opportunity to raise again the issues of 1928 which lost four States of the “Solid South” to the Democratic national ticket and all of the border States. And Mr. Heflin is likely to raise these issues to the queen's taste. The rumor already is being spread that it was the “wets” who have secured control of the executive com- mittee and forced Heflin out of the primary. Alabama is overwhelmingly dry when it comes to an election, it has been proved in the past. And on this issue, Mr. Heflin, running on a dry, anti-Smith-Raskol ticket, will sweep the State in the November elec- tion, 1t is predicted by Alabama poli- ticlans. He is likely to have a whole State ticket x'\‘u'mh'lg1 along with him It is even predicted that before the fight is over he will have Senator Hugo Black and most of the members of the House from Alabama lined up with him. s ‘The one chance of beating Heflin, it is said, was to tackle him in the Demo- cratic primary; let him come in and disarm him as far as possible. But the Democratic State committee declined to listen to the advice of Democratic leaders of their own State or of other States. Jouett Shouse, chairman of the executive committee of the Democratic national committee, sent a message down to Alabama urging that the bars be not raised in the Democratic primary against any former Democrats. But the committee went right ahead and by a vote of 28 to 21 raised the bars, keeping Heflin out. The chairman of the State executive committee, E. W. Pettus of Selma, a son of the late Senator Pettus, is now expected to get into the primary campaign. Up to now, Bankhead had been the sole entry against Heflin. | Pettus, it is suggested, may defeat Bank. head, who was one of those who ur%em the committee not to exclude He: from the primary, for it looks now as though the wet "element in the party would control the primary. * & k% The same threat to exclude anti- Smith Democrats from participation as candidates for nomination in the Demo- cratic primary in Texas has been made by members of the regular organization in the Lone Star State. Senator Morris Sheppard, who i, up for renomination next year, has strongly opposed such a step. There has been talk, too, in some North Carolina quarters of an effort to exclude Senator Simmons, who opposed Smith's election, and to give the %ema- cratic nomination to a Democrat who remained regular last year. Fear is ex- pressed here that the action taken in Alabama may cause ill feeling in neigh- boring Southern States and have a bad effect generally on the Democratic party, which is seeking harmony—as it has sought it in "','k“ ior almost a decade. * % .. There seems no coubt that the regu- lars in Alabama were greatly encour- aged to take the step they have taken by the election of the regular Demo- cratic nominee for governor in Vir- ginia, John G. Pollard, over the anti- Smith and Republican coalition candi- date—William Mosely Brown. Virginia Democratic leaders are point- ing out that they adopted tactics just the reverse of these now announced by the Alabama executive committee. There are some 80,000 Republicans in Alabama. and some of the congression- al districts are ‘“close.” If there is a bad split among the Democrats, the Republicans might squeeze in a Con. gressman or two from Alabama, which would be a sad blow to the Democratic national organization, bent on making as many gains in Congress in the elec- tions next year as it possibly can. A Up in Massachuseits, Senator Fred- erick H. Gillett and former Gov. Alvan T. Fuller are having a little feud all their own, which is being aired in the newspapers. Fuller has attacked Sen- ator Gillett because of his vote to seat Vare, and because he opposed the reso- lution censuring Senator Bingham of Connecticut because of his employment of Charles L. Eyanson of the Connecti- cut Manufacturers’ Association, in his work on the tariff bill. Senator Gillett today comes back at Mr. Fuller with a broadside in which he charges Fuller with personal spite. i “It is not the first time Mr. Fuller has gone out of the way to attack me,” said Senator Gillett. “I suppose his hostility dates from the ill-fated attempt last year to make him (Fuller) the Massachusetts candidate for the presi- dency, with the hope of following the Coolidge rreudem and securing the vice presidency. The difference in caliber of the two men explains the difference in results. I did not approve the scheme, for I did not believe he was fit for either office, but I did not wish to seem unfriendly and kept my disapproval to myself. 1 was confident that his pitiful record in Congress and his incapacity to co-operate with others was remembered by enough public men of influence to prevent his candidacy making any headway. And so it proved.” * ok ok X Senator Gillett has announced he will not be & candidate to succeed himself in the Senate next year. Fuller has been regarded as a probable candidate for the Republican senatorial nomina- tion. With Gillett hammering him, however, Fuller may find himself up against stiff opposition, if he finally goes into the race. Furthermore, the Democrats may be expscted to make use of the differences in the Republican ranks when it comes to the actual elec- tion of a Senator next November. Representative Robert Luce of Massa- chusetts, a former lieutenant governor, has been put forward by Representative Treadway, dean of the Republican dele- glflon in_the House, as the logical man or the Republican nomination for the Senate, now that Senator Gillett has taken himself out of the race. The row in the Republican ranks in Massachu- setts, unless it is straightened out be- fore long, may well lead to the election of a _second Democratic Senator from the Bay State. * ok Kk ok i A proposal to turn back the political clockpln%“have Senators of the United States elected by State legislatures in- stead of by a direct vote of the people is made by Representative Underhill of Massachusetts, a Republican. He has offered in the House a resolution to change the Constitution by repealing the seventeenth amendment, which pro- vides for the direct election of Senators. In these days of wide criticism of the large sums expended in many States to nominate and elect senatorial candi- dates, Mr. Underhill believes it would be better to go back to the old plan of letting the State legislatures handle the senatorial elections. Mr. Underhill is not likely to get far with his proposal, however. A return to the old method of electing Senators would bring many startling changes in the political make-up of the Senate. For example, New York has wo Democratic Senators and a Repub- t lican State Legislature. Massachusetts ature and a has a Republican Leg.sl Democratic Senator with the possibility of electing a second Democrat to the Senate next year. Down in Kentucky, however, there is a Democratic Legisla- ture although the Blue Grass State has a Republican Srpa! tor, Senator Sackett. But | ‘What do you need to know? 1Is there some point about your business or per- sonal life that puzzles you? Is there something you want to know without delay? Submit your question to Fred- eric J. Haskin, director of our Wash- ington Information Bureau. He is em- ployed to help you. Address your in- quiry to The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. C., and inclose 2 cents in coin or stamps for return postage. Q. How is limelight produced?— | C. A. D. A. It is produced by the incandes- cence of a stick or ball of lime in the flame of a combination of oxygen and hydrogen gases and coal gas. Q. For what purpose is the largest amount of wood used?—F. E. 8. A. The greatest use of wood in this country is as fuel. The next in im- portance is lumber, then come fencing, railroad ties, pulpwood wood and mine timbers. | Q. What is a “dumb piano”?—P. D. A. This is an instrument like a small piano in form having a keyboard | of narrow compass, but neither ham- mers nor strings. It is intended for silent finger practice, merely for in- creasing the mechanical dexterity of the fingers. Q. When were levees first bullt at New Orleans?—T. C. A. The first levees were begun in 1717. Only small earthen dikes of from 4 to 6 feet in height were then neces- sary to confine the river at flood time. Q. When were surgical operations first heard of?>—E. O'B. A. Surgical operations were per- formed by the ancients. Among such operations were trephining, or fracture of the skull, and the crushing and ex- traction of stones in the bladder. Of course, these were all operations per- | formed without anesthesia. Q. How are the sand dunes along the shore of Lake Michigan formed?—R. G. A. They are formed by the wind. A Stiff breeze blowing along the bsach carries some sand with it. It meets some obstacle, a piece of driftwood or perhaps merely a tuft of grass. Some of the sand is deposited and a tiny dune is formed. More and more sand is added until a large mound is formed, sometimes rising to a height of 300 feet. The wind not only builds up dunes but tears them down, so that the sand dunes are constantly changing in form and position. Q. How many college-trained people are in prison?—J. W. J. A. Of the whole number of prisoners of both sexes whose educational status ‘was reported, only 3.4 per cent had had college or university standing, includ- in; I?Ey who had attended professional schools. BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. the best. Those which are flat, coarse and uneven are worthless. The best bows have the hair 25!z inches long. One may be guided to an extent by the price. The finer bows are necessarily more expensive. Q. Where was Inez Haynes Irwin born?—R. 8. A. She was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 2, 1873. Q. Wh;t is landscape architecture? —N. N. B. A. The modern scope of the art and expression is expressed in the follow- ing definition by the late President Eliot of Harvard: “Landscape archi- tecture is primarily a fine art, and as such its most important function is to create and preserve beauty in the sur- roundings of human habitations and in the broader natural scenery of the country, but it is also concerned with promoting the comfort, convenience and health of urban populations.” Q. How many meals are eaten a from home by the average person?— C. 0. B. A. We have no statistics for the en- tire country. A survey of New York City, however, shows that every sixth meal, on an average, eaten by its more than 6,000,000 people is served in a public place. More than 2,000,000 per- sons eat at least one meal dally away from home. Q. Who are the greatest women of modern times?—D. M. \ A. Greatness can be claimed for an innumerable number of women, but the four women of our modern age chosen by Emil Ludwig as types in their re- spective flelds are Florence Nightingale, famous nurse; Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of “Uncle Tom's Cabin"; Marie Curie, discoverer of radium, and Elea- | nora Duse, dramatic genius. Q. How long have antique shops been known?—J. N. T. A. Antique shops have been known from time immemorial. One has been unearthed among the ruins of anciert Pompeii. Q. In inviting guests to dinner how can the size of the turkey needed be judged?—J. P. A. An eight or nine pound turkey is about as small a turkey as it is prac- tical to buy. since the carcass does not vary much in weight. This size would serve eight persons, and a half pound should be added to the size for each additional person to be served. Q. What temperature is produced by glxv\vnxsequnl parts of snow and salt?>— A. This produces 0 on a Fahrenheit thermometer. Q. What is th man's step?—R. C. average length of & Q. How can one choose a good violin bow?—D. 8. A. The finest and rounded hairs are ‘While comment indicates numerical strength for those favoring American membership in the World Court, its opponents make up in vigor what they lack in volume, and there is promise of & spectacular struggle when the Hoover administration eventually puts the mat- ter before the Senate. ; .At one extreme is the statement of the San Antonio Express that “& is gratifying that the United States soon will be represented officially on the Permanent Court of International Jus- tice—American in conception and con- stitution.” At the other extreme is the expressed belief of the Cleveland News: “Although the protocol is to be sub- mitted to the Senate only ‘when it is convenient to do so, when that time comes the people will expect the Senate to prevent adherence to the court. Such a supercourt, empowered to enforce its mandates on this country, would be contrary both to American tradition and good sense.” Hope for the court is seen by the St. Louis Times, which believes that “every | hour from this time forward is likely to | mark growing disintegration of Senate opposition, en bloc, to the administra- tion policies.”” The Asheville Times ex- pects the “irreconcilables” to “stage a last-ditch fight against the court agree. ment,” but sees “strong confidence tha it will be a losing fight.” The Brooklyn Dally Eagle, the Madison (Wis). State Journal, the Richmond News-Leader and the Youngstown Vindicator testify to the probability that the Senate will ratify. The Syracuse Herald declares: “No intelligent observer can doubt that the movement just culminated in the President’s official declaration has ac- quired a force so irresistible that more than the necessary two-thirds majority of the Senate will yield to it without unnecessary delay.” On the side of the opposition the New York Sun maintains that ‘‘the Root formula is an adroitly worded surrender of the rights demanded by the Senate in reservation 5”; that “fortunately the signature at Geneva does not put Amer- ica in the court,” and that “the Senate still must act.” The Chicago Daily ‘Tribune argues: “The American people have not said they wanted to submit to a world federation which would make a world state. Time and again they have said they did not want to. They do not want a place in such a superstate. They do not want this or any restric- tion upon their nationality. If the World Court is only the Supreme Court of the United States transferred to a world jurisdiction, then the League of Nations is only a sovereign body, the members of which are merely constitu- ent states. The United States, then. ' will take the first step into the world state when it submits itself to the world's supreme court.” * ok ok ‘The Chicago Dally News, on the other hand, is as strongly favorable to the World Court. “The anti-World Court patriots,” says the News, “tell us that to join the court would be to enter the League of Nations through a back door. The court, it is charged, is not a judicial body, but a group of poli- ticlans and diplomats wedded to bad, Old World traditions and certain to en- snare and entangle poor, innocent Amer- ica. Coolidge and Kellogg, Hoover and Stimson, Root and Hughes and many more are made to appear as weak, credu- lous tools of designing foreign supermen. The so-called Root formula relating to advisory opinfons is described by them as a tricky device, contrived with dia- bolical cleverness to entice trusting Americans into braving terrible risks of nobody knows what. In raising goose- flesh by the acre on the timorous it is charitable to assume these protagonists of piffie hold to the belief that they are serving a holy cause. * * * That the Oklahoma is another State with = Re- publican Senator, although the Demo- crats dominate the State Legislature. * ki Gradually the South is getting its share of important political offices under the Federal Government. President Hoover yesterday sent to the Senate the nomination of Rol . Jones of Nashville, Tenn,, to be a member of the Interstate Commerce Commission, and also the nomination of Miss Annabel Matthews of Gainesville, Ga., to be a member of the United States Board of Tax Appeals. Recently Secretary Pat- rick J. Hurley of the War Department was_appointed by the President. Mr. Hurley is from Oklahoma. Miss Mat- thews is a close friend of Mrs. Mabel A. The natural walking pace of the § | average man in average level country 18 130 inches in length. Renewed World Court Fight Marked by Vigorous Comment’ Senate will sustain President Hoover in the step he has taken is reasonably certain.” * % ok X The Hartford Times suggests that “the country now waits to see how the Senate is going to behave itself.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette advises that “to hold back longer from ratification would be to trifie, not only with one of the greatest hopes of civilization but also with the faith of American leader- e Elkhart Truth holds that 'warns, <A little more postponing and the Unitetl States will be. the laughing stock of the world.” “It is difficult to see what the United States loses by entering the court,” states the Detroit News, with the fur- ther comment: “Some say Elihu Root was duped by British diplomats into ting the so-called Root formula, by whick the constitution of the World Court is said to have been brought into conformity with the reservations of the Senate. Mr. Root is only human, but we should like to see a photograph of the British lawyer who could trick him.” On the existirgy conditions the Philadely phia Inquire¥ avers: “No plausible reason remains for any failure of the Senate to ratify the action of the ad- ministration in signing the protocol. ‘That would be dishonoring itself and the Nation.” Condemnation of the Senate's “curi- ous exhibition of legalistic hair-split" ting and timid backing off from tne opportunity to do something practical for world peace” is expressed by the Cincinnati Times-Star. The Indian- apolis Star asserts: “Since the only controversial reservation hastbeen mod= ified to the satisfaction of forelgn coun= tries and of President Hoover and his advisers, the Senate must either consent to American adherence or attempt to unearth some new grounds for opposi- tion. In view of the zeal with which the irreconcilables worked in 1926 to defeat the World Court program, objec- tions now can only demonstrate the hypocrisy of their attitude in seeking to thwart the majority opinfon of the American people.” * ok % % That the Senate ought to approve the signing of the protocol is maintained by the Louisville Courier-Journal, the Newark Evening News, the Ann Arbor Daily News, the Salt Lake Deseret News, the Butte Daily Post, the Milwaukee Journal, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Dayton Daily News, the St. Louis Globe- Democrat, the Providence Journal, the Buffalo Evening News and the Anniston Star. “The United States, long a world leader in adjustment of international disputes, can now continue in that good work with better grace, having officially qualified for it,” says the Charlotte Ob~ | server, while the Lynchburg News re<' marks: “Little by little the belief grew that at last there was in the White House a leader for this movement in the United States. And a leader is all that has been needed. * * * The count: has been ready for it for years, and very strong element has been impatient for it. It has been leadership that has been lacking.” Prospects of favorable action in the Senate are seen by the Port Huron Times-Herald, while favorable omens are observed by the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, the Saginaw Daily News and the Asbury Park Evening News. The New York Evening World advises that the country should “act now and have it over before the next Ipresidennll contest.” The Duluth Herald, however, warns that “those who believe that the world should be ruled by law instead of living in war-breeding anarchy will need to back up the President with all their g:wer when the issue is again joined\ fore the Senate.” That the proposed action means con= tact with the League of Nations and is therefore to be regarded with suspicion is the judgment of the Kansas City Journal-Post and the Kansas City Star, Doubt 2s to approval by the Senate is expressed by the Columbia State, the Santa Barbara Daily News and the Harrisburg Telegraph. Objections to the foreign entanglements are raised by the Tulsa World and the Columbus Ohio State Journal. The Memphis Commercial-Appeal concludes, “Bound by its restrictions, the court would have little or no opportunity for doing harm and not such a large rtunity for b oppo! y “!f ’t be true, as the President testi- fies, that the revised protool ‘meets and even goes beyond’ the Senate reserr | vations in providing safeguards for the United States,” says the New Orleans Times-Picayune, “then this more nearly complete protection of our national Walker Willebrandt, former Assistant Attorney General. 2 ’ righ's and interests should be readily accepted by the Elder Statesmen.” L]