Evening Star Newspaper, December 30, 1929, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunda; Edition. WASBHINGTON, D. C. MONDAY.....December 30, 1920 THEODORE W. NOYES...Editor s Ave. East 43nd 8t. Sy the City. 45c Ler month i 60c per month n 5¢ per month Sunday Star .5c ver copy Collection made at tiie ¢nd of fach month. Qrders may be sent in by mail or telephor.e NAtional 5000, Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Bunds Daily o Binday’only 8.00: ., 8¢ $5.00; 1 mo, S50c Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled the use for republication of all news d Patches credited to it or not otherwise cre ed in th: Iso the local net ein. Al rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. A Happy 01d Year. ‘Wall Street crashes to the contrary notwithstanding. 1929 is about to fade into the ages with a business record to its credit, which not only reveals that it was a big year, but augurs well for the twelvemonth now just over the horizon. From two highly authentic sources to- day come assurances on that score— from the Chamber of Commerce of the United States and from the American Raflway Assoclation. Figures talk. ‘They never talked more convincingly, or more encouragingly, than the reports from these two key organisations. Uncle Sam’s foreign trade bounded ahead in 1929, despite the still disorder- ed state of affairs in Europe, the Far East and other overseas regions. Be- tween January 1 and October 1, it reached the massive total of $3,844,- 000,000. It was eight per cent larger than for the same period in 1928, Ever and anon we hear how “disliked” Amer- ica is in foreign parts. Well, whatever the warmth or otherwise of Mother Earth's feelings for the United States, she continues resolutely to buy our cot- ton and our copper, our machinery and our movies, our textiles and our type- writers, and sll and sundry grown in our soil and made in our factories. The railways report the best year of business in a decade. On the strength of it they are preparing an extensive expansion program for 1930. Freight car loadings, an infallible barometer of national prosperity or otherwise, were larger in 1929 than in any recent year except 1926. Loadings in that year were excessive because of the extracr- dinary shipments of coal to the water’s edge for European account, due to the British strikes. Supplementing these heartening state- ments of the business situation, at home and abroad, President Hoover has just reported that the 1929 Christmas trade ‘was satisfactory beyond all expectations. In many respects it was bigger than the 1928 holiday business. In certain lines, there was a decrease in volume, notably in the so-called luxury trades which depend on the patronage of the un- usually well-to-do. Owing to recent circumstances having their origin on lower Manhattan Island, the regular buyers of luxury articles this year were not in their regulation spending mood. If the American people will get it firmly into their heads that Stock Ex- change slumps do not mean that times are bad, the country will snap perma- nently out of the dumps into which a month or two ago it threatened to suc- cumb. The business map is not wholly unspotted. Prosperity is not present at every hearth in the land. Unemployment exists. But, by every reliable indication avallable, such depression in both the commercial and the labor markets as now is apparent here and there is des- tined, in normal times and in normal manner, to give way to an upward trend. Our immediate economic past is a safe guarantee that the future is bright with hope and promise. D Senator Borah is always “dry,” but hever uninteresting. His speeches pro- vide the Congressional Record with some of its most attractive continued Stories. ——ate. The Vanishing Ploneer. The ploneering spirit, so important & factor in the growth of the British Empire during the past two centurles, = Scems to have fallen to a low ebb in England. | ‘The reasons for the reluctance of the unemployed to emigrate to the Domin- dons recently were discusscd in ihe House of Commons. England has more men and women than jobs. This condition has continued since the war, with its disturbing effects on the old economic balance of the world. A lower standard of living seems inevitable if the condition continues for many years, The government offers attractive in- ducements for those who will settle in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, which are in need of larger populations to utilize their vast tracts of untilled land. At the same time the unemploy- ment “dole” is in effect in England, 80 that it is not absolutely necessary to work in order to live. The jobless, it was pointed out in the Commons debate, prefer to live precariously on the “dole” amid the comforts of the mother country than to undergo the hardships attendant on carving out new agricultural empires end new civilizations. They prefer soup in London, with its paved streets and lights, to beefsteak on the Cana- disn prairie with its storms and loneliness. Probably there are reasons for this condition more fundamental than the “dole"’ or any other temporary expedi- ent. The industrial age has brought about a more specialized type, requir- ing a more delicate adjustment to its environment. It has gone far toward producing a society every member of which is a specialist, contributing his bit to the functioning of the social unit and altogether dependent on the con- tributions of others. It has not pro- duced the self-reliant man, capable of existing without the services of others. In 2 sense this is the penalty of a more intricate civilization. The more involved this civilization becomes the race proceeds toward the le'utthcnthfllfl' ummmmamtm-mmnmmmm«u' for the individual to conquer his en- vironment. Perhaps the end of pioneering, whose greatest demand is complete self-re- liance, is near at hand. The condition encountered in England is a sign of the times. Civilization, some might say, is strangling itself slowly through this process of producing the highly spe- cialized individual. It is delimiting its own possibilities of expansion, Salva- tion may come from the radical re- vision of many of the present trends in education—in the arbitrary produc- tion of men and women capable of ex- isting without the services of others. —— e Senators and Foreign Service. President Hoover's selection of two United States Senators to fill diplo- “ [matic posts of the highest importance is & new wrinkle in foreign service styles. Not that members of the 3en- ate have not in the past been sent to foreign capitals to represent the United States. But when two such ambassa- dorial posts as those in Paris and Ber- Un are filled closely together with Senators the policy becomes decidedly interesting. The President has select- ed Senator Prederic M. Sackett of Ken- tucky, & stanch Republican, to be Am- bassador to Germany. Walter E. Edge, until recently a member of the Senate, is already Ambassador in Paris. Both appointments have been well received and give to this country able and well qualified representation in European capitals. Members of the Senate have much to do with the foreign relations of the country. The Senate, under the Con- titution, must pass upon and ratify or reject every treaty and agreement en- tered into by this Government and the governments of other nations. Ambas- sador Edge was a member of the impor- tant foreign relations committee of the Senate at the time he was selected to g0 to Paris. Both he and Senator Sackett are familiar with the problems of international relations as they af- fect this country. In London today the United States is represented, not by a Senator, it is true, but by the man who presided over the Senate for four years, Ambassador Charles G. Dawes. PFrank B. Kellogg, former Secretary of State, was Ambas- sador at the Court of St. James before he headed the State Department, and prior to that he was a Senator from Minnesota. Several of the Senators who have gone to important diplomatic posts in the past have been appointed after they have failed to be re-elected to the Senate. It is something nmew to take a sitting Senator who has not yet come before his constituents for re-election and send him abroad. ‘The American diplomatic corps is about to yield one of its most dis- tinguished members to the Senate— Dwight W. Morrow of New Jersey, at present Ambassador to Mexico. Mr. Morrow has already accepted appoint- ment to the Senate to fill the Edge seat—temporarily held by Senator David Baird, jr—and will enter the Senate after he shall have completed his task as a member of the American delegation to the London Naval Con- ference and wound up certain affairs in Mexico. Further, Mr. Morrow has agreed to make the race next year for election to the Senate. If reports from Kentucky be true, the Republican governor there will fill the Sackett vacancy in the Senate with Representative Robsion. Mr. Robsion has been long a prominent Republican leader in the Blue Grass State. It may be expected, if he is appointed to the Senate, that he will be a candidate for the Republican senatorial nomina- tion and for election to the Senate next year. Mr. Robsion played an im- portant part in the campaign in 1928 when President Hoover carried Ken- tucky by & large majority. He is a forceful campaigner. No Laughing Matter. Some persons professed to find matter for amusement in the recent four-page decision handed down by Controller General McCarl in relation to an eleven- cent payment. The amount at issue had nothing to do with the case. The law aims to be just, and justice functions, theoretically, at least, irrespective of size. The sanctity of the law has come to be a laughing matter with a great many in recent yearssuntil a belief has arisen that criminal forces have made use of modern methods to tend to bring the law into disrepute. ‘Those charged by the United States Government with judgments in relation tp money payments have a peculiarly difficult task, since the pocket nerve is very easily stung. Eloquence is constantly becoming scarcer. Even eligible witnesses in & police trial have to be coaxed. Population, In a few months the fifteenth na- tional census will be taken, Prepara- tions are now under way for this Na- tion-wide enumeration which, it is indi- cated, will be more complete and widely embracing than ever before. With a permanent organization for supervision and analysis it is only necessary to en- gage the services of the local enumer- ators whose preliminary training is casily effected. On the eve of each decennial count there is much interest in the prospec- tive showing of population. The Na- tion likes to “watch itself grow.” There is no longer quite the pride of a few decades back in successively mounting census returns, and with the cutting down of immigration there is a slightly diminished percentage of decennial in- crease. Still, the United States is growing. The census of 1930 showed s populs- tion of 105,710,620, an increase in ten years of nearly 14,000,000, as against an increase of 16,000,000 from 1900 to 1910. A fifteen-million increase from 1920 to 1930 would give a total of ap- proximately 121,000,000. This is lkely to be the return from the coming enu- meration. A report has just been issued by the National Bureau of Economic Research which has computed the population, in. cident to an inquiry into the national income and its purchasing power. This report estimates that the total of in- habitants on the first of July, 1928, was 119,306,000. This was based upon THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, _MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1929. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. %, of this estimate to the enumeration of the fifteenth census, like 2,800,000 will by July 1, 1930, be added to the 119,300,000 of the bureau’s estimate, giving & total population of somewhat over 122,000,000. If this figure should be attained— and there is no reason to doubt—the density of population per square mile | ™ in the United States would work out at about forty, leaving a wide margin of safety as for the entire National area. There still will remain a material dif- ference between American density and that of England, which is something over seven hundred, or Japan, which is nearly four hundred, or France, which is close to two hundred, or Ger- many, which is something over three hundred. o One of the dangers of gang-distrib- uted alcohol is the reckless use of fire- arms. This danger, according to a New York State grand jury, should not be permitted to assert itself among sober and industrious men engaged in enforc- ing the law. e — Sound and conservative business is predicted for the year 1930. While the year now closing disappointed many with reference to profits, there never Wwas & more favorable opportunity for acquiring wisdom by experience, o Prance is not expected to obstruct the Leondon conference. The desire appar- ently is to contribute a few detalls for discussion that will help to make the parley more interesting. ——— Business in Germany has been pros- pering at a rate that causes good states- manship in Berlin to avold prolonged argument of a kind that is liable to offend a good customer. While the United States Senate is sometimes provoking, it comes in very handy as a sounce of supply when high- class diplomatic material is needed. o A more stringent enforcement of pro- hibition is expected. A resolution and a new leaf are especially appropriate to this season, r————s Another good resolution proper for wide consideration is a determination not to speculate on margin during 1930. e China is not content with merely closing that long-famous “open door,” but insists on slamming it. [N ————" ‘The country has been getting not only its greatest politics, but some of its best foot ball, from California. ———— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. 4 New Year Happiness. There's a beauty in the season when you need no special reason For a friendly salutation and a smile, ‘Whomsoever you are meeting, you can offer him a greeting And repeat a phrase in frank and cordial style. The acquaintance may be distant. If you're properly persistent, ‘You can manage many days of gener- ous cheer. When you realize its pleasure, the ex- perience you may treasure And extend your happlest wishes through the year. You may not admire his grammar or the way he throws a hammer ‘When his criticism goes upon display. He may set your nerves a-flurry. He may put you in a hurry To express yoursell and then be on your way. But the points you are regretting you'll be, for the time, forgetting; And, while there’s no occasion for delay, You may make it last the longer if you try to say it stronger And have, happiness for each and every day. Too Comprehensive. “Do you approve of that man who spent money for his own election?” “No,” answered Senator Sorghum. “Some one else should have spent the money, even if he provided it. No one person should assume to be the whole works, including the lobby and the pay roll.” Jud Tunkins says one of the things he got for Christmas was a new check book. Joyous Announcement, Again the statesman lifts his voice And says: “Here's news so nice. Oh, bid the wondering world rejoice! 1 bring some more advice!” uch depends on circumstances. My wife hung up her stocking on Christmas eve, after making it plain that she expected Santa Claus to put & pearl necklace in it.” “The unfulfilled wish,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “is a source of mild Tegret. Had it been realized, it might have led to positive sorrow; for who shall say he knows better than Eternal Wisdom what is best for mortals?” Cover Charge. On New Year eve I'll feel a thrill And dine in undisturbed delight. I shall not think about the bill, For that would spoll my appetite, Eben, “what I enjoys ls‘de sound of chicken fryin’ in de skillet.” ——te—. Christmas on Margin. Prom the Loulsville Times. One of the local casualties of the re- Prom the Long Beach Sun. Underwriters have concluded that the racketeer is not a safe insurance risk. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. “I never read a book unless the first paragraph interests me,” said the first an. . “Then you miss some hty good books,” said his friend. ey ‘The fact is that some of the finest books in the world are very slow in getting under way. One has to think no further than those classics of child- hood, Cooper’s “Last of the Mohicans, “The Deerslayer” and “The Pioneers." No boy would read them if he in- sisted on Interest from the first para- graph, or the first page, or even the first chapter. It takes half the book, as we recall, to work up genuine interest in “The Ploneers.” Nor are these works excep- tional. Many of America’s beloved early authors are similarly slow in the opening. Interest, after all, must not be the criterfon. The amusement bent of the twentieth century may be indicted on several points, but perhaps the most serlous charge is that of misplacing the aceent. ‘We ask of a melody that it tickle the toes instantly, of & comedian that he arouse our laughter upon his entrance, of a base ball game that we be given plenty of home runs, that it * ‘The purpose of an author, not the interest he arou: is the main con- sideration if reader is to do justice to the grand ts of literature, A hurdy gurdy and & monkey on a string may interest, but a symphony orchestra does something else. The grand aspects of books must be kept in mind even in the lightest sort of efforts. Miss Loos, in her famous “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” accom- plished what she set out to do. It happened, in that book, that in- t was aroused with the very first sentence, but such was inherent, not necessary, ‘in the type of work. It could have been just as good without first-page interest. ‘When we come to more serious tracts, of whatever length, we see that the quality of interest, while of great im- portance, has nothing to do with the essential worth of the subject. Let us admit that there is a paradox here. Interest, from one standpoint, is everything, from another nothing. It may be explained by the question of accent, whether, in reading, we think first of the author or of the reader, Our contention is that the author has the first say, and therefore should have the first consideration. Interest, tl: 80 far as he achieves it, is important him from a monetary consideration, since it will lure readers who other- wise would up his work. Yet even he who is given to the light- est type of fiction reading will be ready to admit, we belleve, that there is a great deai more to books, as to life, than novelty, which is the essence of interest, * ok ok % ‘Then, too, the kind of interest must be_considered. S Interest is not just interest, every- where the same, wherever found, but there are as many interests as there are readers and writers. One of the best enthusiasms a reader may have is for the sort of interest known as style. What may impress an- other reader as dull, appeals to the dis- inating on account of an intangible quality known as “style. Even long descriptions of scenery, the pet of old-time authors and the bane of most readers, can be done so meri- save those who belong to the class of praisers. may be necessary to a work of say, 400 es to begin with a 30-page iption of the mountains amid which the plot is worked out. Right here one must concede another point, which is that a writer may have a bet- ter idea of his total plot than the be- ginning reader. How is it possible for a reader, pick- ing up a book, to have any legitimate opinion as to the first chapter or two until he has read the whole work? The author has the advantage of him here. He probably dreamed over his story for weeks and took months to put it on paper. There is not a word which he has not put his brains into. Yet here comes the reader, gayly, blithely, grabbing up the book, opening to the first pa; reading hurriedly a few hfi:rlg:.p and declaring, “Aw, this thing n't interest me.” * x % Such a course is unfair to an author, we submit most of all it is unfair to a reader. If he would persevere, he‘would find in many instances that the book which he throws down would turn out to be|pag one of the best he has ever read. Haste makes waste, it is said, and in nothing is this more true than among books, whose %lem and i;’m’: are to be_tasted by the appetite. Books doynnl like finicky tastes. They rejoice in the omniverous er who bolts them whole, without stop- ping to ask himself if the first few tastes are to his liking. Often, in looking back from the end, he discovers that ‘early first chap- ters, which seemed 50 boresome to him, in reality fit very well into the pageant which has beer; u:re‘l'le% No reader, then, ought to permit a {:l; dullkparlmpm. or pages, to hold back. He .finum make it & rule to read at or even & full no joy in the contract, then let him it down, by all means. The chances are, however, decldedlg"‘ln favor of the author. He knew what he was doing, he knew that the working out of a pl and we have previously showed in this column how all books have plots, whether fic- tion or not—would engender interest. The exigencies of newspaper wrif and making have evolved a style writing which delights in giving away the best the news writer has in the very first paragraph. This is all right in news, where so many trivial events, or events in the making, are clamc the reader’s attention. We want to know what is going on, and we do not want to wade through a column to find out. This kind of writing, however, is neither natural nor necessary in ar- ticles, essays and books, a large part of whose worth and inherent interest is derived from the cumulative effect of ideas upon ideas. And since this true and lntms"mmrul. as distinguished from the t flush, may take many words to arouse, it must be held that flh:'who will not read a book unless the it paragraph interests him is a great deal, to put it mildly. He ou&!.:_ to remind himself that often he is pleased with new acquaintances, only to people upon better lcil‘x:llnunce. Books, too, are le, which we have to try to understand in order to love. We can no more judge their first pages than we can toriously as to hold the interest of all them b a fflenxby his shabby old felt hat. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Undoubtedly strong an appointment s it is, the selection of Senator Frederic M. Sackett, Republican, of Kentucky, to be Ambassador to Germany is another bitter pill for our “career” diplomats to swallow. So far, every single Ambassa- dorship bestowed by President Hoover has gone to a man outside the foreign service—London, to Gen. Dawes; Paris, to Senator Edge; to John W. Garrett; Madrid, to Irwin B. Laughlin; Havana, to Harfy F. Guggenheim, and now, Berlin, to Senator Sackett. Messrs. Garrett and Laughlin once were in the foreign service, but they were drafted for their present posts straight from private business. Like Mr. Edge of New Jersey, Mr, Sackett of Kentucky is “taken care of” at the threshold of Wwhat might have been a disastrous con- test for renomination to the Senate in 1930. As “original Hoover” Republicans, each of them had a certain claim on the President's recognition, and once —a6 since time immemorial—po- litical exigencies Frevnfl ‘when plums are ripe din the diplomatic patronage or- char * % %k Germans are partial to culture in the men sent to Berlin by foreign govern- ments, and in Senator Sackett they will receive one who measures up to high in- lectual standards. A Rhode Islander by birth, he is & graduate of Brown niversity (Charles Evans Hughes’ alma mater) and of the Harvard Law School. Corporation law has been his specialty at the bar in Kentucky, and for mnny TS he has been identified with the big ess interests of the Blue Grass country, including coal and public utility enurprlle& ‘With reparations and Ger- man-American financial transactions the princi) tions with which the Wi gton and Berlin govern- ments are likely to concern themselves in the immediate future, Ambassador Backett brings special equipment to the task now assigned him. y. edmonition to the American capitalistic world to watch its step in the fleld of “investment trusts” attracted national sttention. Sackett believes that the present-day trend in the direction of lupercorvontlc? hu turning the flanks X W8, is official tent at Was! and big-scale coal, iron and magnate of Colorado Springs, Colo. All four of the Penrose brothers were grad- uated from Harvard. The Colorado branch of the family devotes a good deal of his time to advocating modifi. cation or repeal of the prohibition law: * ok % Col. Willlam J. Donovan, former as- sistant to the Attorney General will put on Government harness again on Janu- ary 6, when he reappears as counsel for the Federal authorities in the Boulder Dam arbitration. A final attempt is to be made under the Interior Tt- ment’s auspices to iron out the fer- | Prol ences between Alizona, California and Nev, Donovan l\mc'.:med in same capacity a year and a half & good deal of time on oast in an effort to bring tes together. It was while “Wild Bill” was on that mission of con~ Son, g, oo, St g nated for the p 3 T, - mxzmdfir Dneh'h: acceptan was wri 5 of ce, Donovan was much in the Republican nominee's company. Out of that Mid. summer companionship arose the c cumstantial stories that the sol lawyer-statesman was a sure-fire bet for the Hoover cabinet. * ok ok ok ‘This is the gay and giddy season of the midnight son in Washington. He is usually a college boy, an Annapolis midshipman, or a West Point cadet. His working hours are generally from 11 pm. to 7 am. Not infrequently he is aided and abetted by the midnight daughter. Between them they are the bright particular stars of the National K Capital's annual debutante ers, which reaches its apex at holidsy time. youth (boy or girl) who doesn't reel off anywhere from six to a dozen social dates in the course of a night is in danger of being dubbed a dud. Their energy is inexhaustible. They dance {from dinner to dawn, and seem as fresh for nfixt. my&!ml:‘m u‘ if they'd actu- ally slept in the interval. ul’hny Washingtonians had their first close-up of Norman Thomas, when he spoke at the Cosmos Club last night under the suspices of a local Soctalist group. The Princetonian (who blushingly acknowledges that he was born in Marion, Ohlo), i an en- gaging talker, well over 6 s Teet, slender, erect and “fortyish,” as | ID! fon, and leave for England toward the end of here, roundly, years. On his arrival in London, early in March, the Pil- ' Soclety will welcome Sir Esme at a public dinner, when tribute will be paid to his effective service in pro- moting British-, Ambass: Bam fluctuate from bad to worse and then return to their present happier state. A year ago, as most of the world knows, naval differences were fast ap- K:nnchtn( acuteness. Sir Esme's role bringing about the Macdonald-Hoo- ver meeting is one of the feathers in 1l adorned diplomatic cap. Sir Ronald Lindsay, Howard's successor at W 18 not likely to present his credentials until May, 1930, and until the magnificent new British embassy on Massachusetts avenue is ready for PECHPABEY, i William Knowles Cooper, for man director-in-chief og.rY. M. C. A’ first since Cooper started in to dignify the tape industry. “Well, sald the friend, “the first thing t! happens when a good Christian becomes & broker is that stocks go to hell.” * Kk ok -|trine of * Bernard Shaw would say, the 1928 Soclalist candidate for President, and 1929 candidate for mayor of New York, has a resonant voice, a youthful force- fulness and the power of illuminating economic nmflm&flm:& avm. mad loc- ‘Thomas " le l‘"‘&""“‘g"h““vh 12.1: rinciy n terms ic] gomp:lm vfir because presented with restraint, he declared that “liberalism has collapsed” and cllle&"for “y Socialist program with requ! organ- 1:&10!1" 2‘ the need of the hour in o (Copyrisht, 1929.) Court Decision Seen As Curb on Gossips Prom the Portland Oreson Delly Journal. the minister yet relieve selves of responsibility for their libelous statements. ‘The minister, however, brought them into court. He proved that they ‘made the statements. They could not prove that they were true. So now, for their they ar pay th c.udl! efforts, e victim $20,000 for the such suits against Sains, and the World would be the better for them. Or Even a Horse, Prom the Ractne Journal-News. Now 15 takes Hirk o Bk 5. Senseibos, Dry Law Enforcement Difficulties Are Cited To the Editor of The Star: ‘We have a President who conscien- tiously believes in law enforcement, who believes that when a law has been en- acted it is the duty of every citizen to obey that law, whether it conforms to his views or not. The President be- lieves that a citizen has the right to work for the repeal of any law that he considers unwise or unjust, but not to disobey it; that disobedience of any law breeds disrespect for all law, that a citizen who disregards one law has no right to expect protection under other laws. ‘We now have a law for the enforce- ment of the Volstead act with teeth in it, and the President expects those who serve under his administration to re- spect that act, and that those who are selected to enforce it shall “deliver the ." Too little effort in former years was put into enforcement of the Vol- stead act. In numerous instances offi- cers chosen to enforce the act not only falled to do so, but became themselves » | violators of the act. Men holding high official positions in the Federal Government, legislators and_ others, sworn to support and de- fend the Constitution and laws of the United States, have in some instances either directly violated the Volstead act t3 that e ) time with sufficient resources to the | Port & theater such as he champions. ‘That | stir or encouraged its violation by the use of intoxicating liquors. The influence of such conduct on the part of officials been a serious hindrance to the enforcement of the act. It is difficult to understand how officials or private citizens can refuse to obey the law and still regard themselves as patriotic, loyal citizens; yet we find peogzn. good citi- zens in other respects, who do not ob- serve the prohibif law. Another serious hindrance to the en- forcement of the Volstead act has been the efforts of many newspapers and editors to belittle all attempts to en- force the act. Many merchants claiming to be law- abiding citizens encourage the violation of the prohibition law by selling hip flasks and kits containing full equip- ment for serving lnwxlcnln{ub:m Even young people who no clination to drink intoxicating liquors prior to the passage of the Volstead act have been led by the conduct of officials and others to believe they were doing something “smart” by re- fusing ‘o observe that act. ‘The wonder is that enforcement has succeeded as well as it has under the circumstances. ‘The people in both public and private life should stand behind the prohibition law until it has had a fair trial, and then, if it proves to be a failure, urge its repeal or modification. JNO. W. DAVIS. Sothern’s Indictment + Of Stage Hits Public From the Providence Journal. Mr. Sothern's indictment of American theaters and their plays is news, but the conditions he indicts are familiar to all theater-goers' and even ni e uolel Sl ments superficially he it theaters. Actually, lin is doing what Burke sajd could not be done, indicting & nation, for nation, certainly one of th, can have the type of entertainment or any other service that it wishes. No doubt a large floflt of the American people are sufficie; satis- fled with what they see and hear on the stage not to complain. What we trust is a small minority actually The box » | clamors for more and worse. office meanwhile in many or most of our theaters treats the matter as a business one. But what Matthew a‘mold u‘m p:;:; 'A':lnoflcld had only hnlxl! and nof e half its present wealth is m{odn cultira “advansage ot g v advan! 80_large that its population will always afford a sufficlent remnant to support the best . There is unquestionably this Temnant in America, one large enough ‘ob.'-han:mllfln’nn(lfl-ble country. If remnant does not unite and provide the type of entertain- ment that it professes to prefer, the type that Mr. Sothern described, buf continues to patronize the type that it reprobates, it is either hypocritical or n incredibly une: 3 In ing ~the ~_theater, one naturally thinks of New York_ But the situation in Ne blems are not thus complical should have enough inhabitants of "v.r{‘.' t professes to share Mr. 1s who are at the same sup~ America has enough le possessed of enough weall o th to support amuse- in every the | return to be | world, Wwhich so_generously experience of ~-class producers who have attempted to give what they ll‘l‘r. posed the cultured minority wo tronize has not been flattering either the hopes of the producers or to the loyalty of the minority. Let these be- themselves and demand what their own standards of taste tell them the ought to have, or else accept the fi force of Mr. Sothern’s indictment. Los Angeles May Rank Fifth in Cities of U. S. From the Pasadena Star-News. favorite pastime ‘The ith growing, ambitious cities nowadays is to make their 1930 census in advance. 1 phenomenal city of in its class, o that it will go year Tiade by the’ Newspa o per {'h. estimate is Chamber of Commerce, The Newspaper Feature Bureau says that “the most amazing record of growth is that of Los Angeles.” By the estimates made, Los Angeles will rank fifth among the cities of the United States in population. Detroit, owing so fast as Los the advantage in 1920 Los Angeles in popula- expected to hold its lead census. = Otherwise the metropolis of the West would have ranked fourth in population, Besides its phenomenal th in Ppopulation, Los Angeles has the distinc- tion of being the largest city in the tion, hence is by the 1930 Population growth here in Southern Californis is substantial and well sus- tained. It is not mere ephemeral in- crease in population. The inhabitants of these citles—large and small—are here to abide, for the most part, And If He Does. Prom the New York Sun. A Philadelphia gangster has been sen- tenced to 140 years in prison what's worse, eral indictments be waiting when he gets out. No Ice to Iceland. d | turn postage. Take advantage of this free service. If you are one of the thousands who have patronized the bureau, write us again. If you have never used the serv- ice, begin now. It is maintained fo your benefit. Be sure to send your name and address with your question, and in- close 2 cents in coin or stamps for re- Address The Evening Star Bure: Frederi J. gton, D, C. Information Haskin, Director, Wi Q. What causes most of the noise wl}ic)’\:’we hear when an airplane is up? . The Air Corps says that the noise made by an airplane in flight is caused largely by the exhaust of the engine and to a lesser degree by the propelier, and by the passage of air over the wings and between the struts and wires. Q. Are wild animals increasing in the illaries United States?—D, D. A. A great many kinds are increasing. Antelopes, black and brown bears, deer, elk, mountain goats and mountain sheep, and beavers, all show a steady increase in numbers. The grizzly bear, however, faces exi n. Q. Is all or part of the human brain the seat of consclousness?—A. C. A. The cerebrum, or more narrowly the gray matter of the cerebrum, is usually regarded as the seat of con- sciousness. OQ. ‘Where is the ocean the bluest?— P, A. Authorities on oceanography say that the purest and deepest blue of the ocean is found in the Sargasso Se: the South Atlantic, Indian, and ific Oceans. It has been found that these parts of the ocean contain very little lankton, whose presence minimizes the ansparency of the water and makes it ppear greener, very blue. pel water is bluish. Nearer the land it be- comes green or gray. Within the thir- tieth parallels north and south of the Equator, the color is a brilliant ultra- marine, and south of latitude 30 degrees it changes to deep indigo, which con- tinues as far as the Antarctic Circle, where it changes to an olive green. The blue color is attributed to the rays of light being unequally absotbed by the water. Variations may also be due to materials in suspension or solution. Q. Where was_the first social settle~ ment in the world?—R. E. A. The first social settlement in the world was Toynbee Hall, which was founded in 1884 by Canon Samuel A. Barnett in Whitechapel, East London. Q. Is most food required by man, woman or child?—C. 8. A. According to Prof. V. H. Mottram, an adult woman needs but 2,500 calories a day. An adult man engaged in seden- tary occupation requires 3,000 calories daily. A man doing hard work should have 5,000 calories. The fological reason given is that the feminine or- ganism utilizes food more economically than man. A!dt-hlld'l {ood'lohmld not, be proportioned according as he requires more than half the of an adult. Boys and ‘:Irh of 14 are to be considered as adults in food utilization. Q. What colonies has Denmark other g mnhndd 1:“1:5{- only colony. A. Gree . The greater part of the island is un- inhabited. It has a population of 1,408 natives and 274 Europeans, pract all Danes. The estimal Greenland is 845,000 square area of miles, only 46,470 square miles of which has habitants. in | Teach of outstretched arms; len hh;ll..v Q. Why doesn’t the force of the earth whirling through space at 19 zules a second blow us away?—B, A. If all space were full of stationary alr the motion of the earth through it at the rate of 19 miles a second would produce the same effect as if the earth were standing still and the air moving at the rate of 19 miles a'second. But there is no air in interplanetary space. The atmosphere of the earth is & part of the earth and moves with the solid part under the action of the same fi;rces that keep the solid part in mo- lon. Q. Why do people blush and what -could be done to stop it?—B. D. A. Blushing is due to the suspend- ing of the action of the local vasomotor nerves allowing the nnerle.iunnd cap- to_dilate so that Te 1s an increased flow of blood to the parts that redden. To conquer the habit of blush ing is largely a matter of will power, Q. Is orang-utang an lish term? ~W. €. T. o A. The term consists of two Malay words, orang meaning man and utan jungle. It thus means man of jungle or jungle man. Q. What measurements are taken for Bertillon records?—E. D, M. A. The Bertillon system consists of simple and exact measurements of cer- tain parts of the body. The measure- ments are taken with calipers and in- clude the height, standing and sitting; andy width of head; leng and width of right ear; and the of the left foot, forearm, middle and little fingers, Q. Is there a difference in the de. ‘ees of murder in Great Britain?—F, A. There is not in Great Britain the difference in the degree of crim- inality for murder known as first and second degrees, as in the United States, All murder is a capital offense punish- able by hanging. Manslaughter may be pleaded and is punishable by im- Pprisonment. Q. Who first said that the sun never sets upon the British Empire?—8. M. A. The germ of the idea of the sun never setting on the dominions of &' particular ruler is fourid in Herodotus, Book VII, Chapter 8. The boast was a common one with the Spaniards in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and is frequently alluded to in the litera- ture of other countries. It does not seem to be recorded who first used the expression the sun never sets upon the tish Empire. John Wilson, who wrote under the pen name of bmmm North (1786-1854), in his Noctes Am. Q. How State stay long can & car from another x:'vx.—nnugngpus ‘buying ” protected. shifts of 12 hours, it gmoou system; when in shifts of eigh , three-platoon system. : Byrd’s New Rear-Admiralty Declared Fittingly Awarded Satisfaction is expressed by the pub- lic that Congress so promptly recog- nized the achievements of Comdr. Richard Evelyn Byrd by making him & rear admiral at the age of 41, His great achievements subsequent to his retirement on account of m!m are Eeligence. and " courae Niasy place mce courage. Pl among the country’s great ex- plorers and sclentists. was desired,” says the Roanake x:lrld-}l:'l,d"lo nwu’.‘lll the 'holn'g( undertakin, oring the Soutfl Polar Tegion—ihe emibie. expedi: tion and its more than a year of sci- entific tion and exploration- instead of merely the one flight over the Pole. The will be waiting for the new rear admiral when he returns. formal presentation will made a feature of the reception to members of this expedition on their the United States during coming Spring.” * ok ok “The quick action which marked the promotion reflects the sentiment of the country,” declares the Pittsburgh Post- Gazette, with the assurance that “the applauded the flight over the South Pole and the :;w rear a:mmim est in the latest .w-.vd." The Provi- dence Journal remarks that “the celeri- ty with which the legislative and ex- ecutive branches of the Government can act when there is a general agree- ment as to the course to be pursued is again {llustrated in the swift comple- tion of the process necessary to pro- mote Richard Evelyn Byrd from the rank of commander to that of rear admiral."” 4 ““There is & curious parallel,” observes the Richmond News Leader, “between Senator Swanson's bill and the action for which it provided. Just as it Jjumped Comdr. Byrd to & position of high titular prominence, so Senator Swanson jumped his bill to a tion of high political prominence. All of his persuasion must have been necessary to induced the harassed Senate to pass his bill, popular and unopposed though it was, over the long list of measures which had prior claims to senatorial at- tention.” ~ But the Lynchb News ts out that the Senator, although m the native State of the naval of- ficer, “did not pmsent the bill as a Vir- ginian,” but as an “American who de- sired to honor an American who has honored his country.” LR “Wilkes, Peary and Byrd will be the three names in the annals of the United States Navy which will represent its mo!!hl;rl‘lllhnt Qil::'x‘m hs in the fleld of geographical exp] o1 Buffalo Evening News. ‘Commercial Apj holds that “the Na- tion on which he has shed such glory could do no less”; that “Rear Admiral the | are eve: pd course, there would have been honors, ¢ but there is nothing so convincing as & promotion in rank.” PERER g:u.a"m 55 the Tndamapolis Ne: e Indianaj ews, n marked by exploits that place him among the great modern explorers. His bent for challenging ge unknown, p and reports whi sent out of the frozen South never magnified his own part venture. The men who are with him rhflvm a full measure of X isabled by a broken ankle in 1916,” recalls the San Antonio “B ut that they were “only prel- feat of the com- Polar T “The Navy is the E&::nlfleld Birming! imi- lar tribute, voices the thought: “It is rhuln( that his promotion means re- lef from naval service, since it will enable him—and this latest made rear admiral is & young m: to follow his own bent in further work of lora- tlon and give him ample ity and leisure through the prini word to inform the world of his adventure.” Effect of Gasoline Tax Cited as Fair Road Plan From the Schenectady Gasette. Where a year the question of & ;uo\lno tax in ?fi State was being ercely debated by friend and foe, today practically every automobilist has come to acquiesce cheerfully in this money-ralsing venture. And something like $15,000,000, or about $3,000,000 w month, has heen produced for neces- sary highway work. It is difficult to visualize a tax thac is more fair in its R operation than this Byrd will carry his new honor with the | fro the accomplishments of the as come by radio from Little 1t is safe to conclude that Admiral Byrd 8 symbol of his coun- tion for not only as.a but as an able explorer and That “his achievements in the fleld of scientific exploration and his contri- bution to the sum total of knowledge the uninhabited non-residents of & reasonable contribution to the maintenance of our roads. ‘The illustrat ‘