Evening Star Newspaper, March 1, 1930, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTO D. C SATURDAY.......March 1, 1930 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor ‘The Evening st,: Newspaper Company 53 Offce. 1th d Pennsy Ave. m-':fié‘?nn: THo East 4204 Br. icago : Lake Michigan Bullding. urovean Office; 14 Regeat St.. Lond: Rate by Carrier Within the City. The Evenine Star.... ... 45 per month e Evening and Sunday Sfar ndass) . 60c cer month end Sunday Star indays) ... €52 per month e y Star : 5c per copy o:;o"!fl.lrm rg:de l". llhehen .7‘ each ‘mt;lnxh. ers way be seot in by Wall o lelephone National 5003, Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. 1y o MarYland and Virginia, §:ul and Sunday. unday only only g Member of the Associated Press. The Assoctated Press is exclusive)y entities to the use fcr republication of all news cis- tehes credited to it or not otherwise cred- ted in this paper and also the locas uews All riebts of publication of #pecial dispatches heiein are also reserved. All Other States and Canada. ° y and Sunday. .0 1. onl e 38.00: 1 mo. 75¢ ¥ 1yr 38 av only 1yr., 35.00: 1 mo., A Sane Policy. In deciding to investigate complaints against the police and other District agencies made by the public printer, Senator Robsion has given a statement of policy that will be received with satis- faction by residents of this city. “The commiitee will not be used as a sewer through which to pass filth and mud, blackening men’s reputations,” he said. “I have lived here twelve years, and I thirk Washington is well above the average. When we are spending millions to make Washington a model city it doss no good to let the people in the provinces think it is a town of hoodlums.” The public printer’s charges concern- ing police inactivity and the continued presence of alleged gambling and boot- legging establishments in the vicinity of the Government Printing Office should be investigated, not only to run down the inference that there has been col- lusion with law violators, but to clear the good name of the Police Depart- ment. Senator Robsion's statement makes it plain, however, that the in- vestigation will not be allowed to de- teriorate into a public session of a pseudo grand jury, with every Tom, Dick and Harry summoned to tell his tale and to air his views. Mr. Carter should be allowed to pre- sent his side of the matter, with his own witnesses to substantiate his asser- tions that the police, and other District officials, have not been as keen as he has been to rid his neighborhood of nuisances that afflict the personnel of the printing office. Maj. Pratt and his subordinates should be called to explain in detail their actions in the cases The district attorney and his assistants should be given an opportunity to tell what they have done. Somewhere along the line, from complainant to court. there is a weak spot that should be found. But this is not an indictment of every individual or agency enforcing the laws. The public printer, the police, the courts and Congress combined will not be able to put a stop to all gambling. But rigid enforcement of the laws by the police and quick action by the courts will discourage gambling. The ¥wu men complained of by Carter in his volumnious correspondence have been arrested by the police seven and thirteen times. They have been fined, sentenced to jail and in several instances have forfeited their collateral. In one of the cases under examination the de- fendant was twice sentenced to jail, but records at Police Court fail to show that he ever served his sentence. ‘The mere fact that the men could be arrested so many times, yet remain free to pursue their illegal activities, is prima facie evidence that scmething is wrong somewhere and the weak link should be exposed and either re- paired or replaced. This the Senate subcommittee, ac- cording to Mr. Robsion, will do. But in the process innocent men need not be broken at the wheel or dragged | through the muck simply for the ex- citement that such spectacles un- doubtedly afford. New York's demand for padlocks is 80 great that expert financial analysts may feel called upon to take note of its effect on the hardware market. ————— The Vote on 0il. Trading votes in the Senate, that back-scratching policy which has been responsible for much legislation, has been attacked on the floor of the Senate itself more vigorously than ‘ever before. The attack came about in con- nection with the consideration of a pro- posal to place in the tariff bill a duty on importations of oil. It was the straw at which the coalition leaders snatched to save the coalition from disintegration and defeat in the fianl days of the debate and action on the tariff bill. How successful they were is largely revealed in the fate of the oil amendment, which was defeated by a vote of 39 to 27. The debate yesterday in the Senate ‘went to the merits of the proposal to place a duty on oil. The need of pro- tection of American independent oil producers against the importations of oil from South and Central America was weighed against the possible in- crease of cost to consumers of fuel oil, gasoline and other derivatives from the crude oil. But, in the end, it was the attack on “logrolling,” as trading votes in the Senate or any other legislative body has come to be known, that kept down the vote in favor of the oil duty. ‘The indignation expressed by Sen- ators in regard to this practice of trad-. ing votes is refreshing if a bit ingenu- ous. Mr. Wirt Franklin, president of the Independent Oil Association, ap- pearing before the Senate lobby inves- tigating committee yesterday, told that committee when he was guestioned about the proposed pooling of sena- torial votes in support of a duty on oil, and duties on sugar, lumber and hides: “I have understood that is the way tariff bills are always made.” Mr. Frankiin might have gone further. He might have said that that is the way much other legislation is written. Many an appropriation has been placed in the annual supply bills because the sup- porters of that appropriation have sup- ported other appropriations. Appro- priations have been placed in bills be- cause single Senators have declined to 40c | regard. permit those bills to pass unless they were permitted to have their pet appro- priation items cared for. Influence, trading favors and votes in many cases have brought about legislation rather than the merits of the proposals ad- vanced, it has been asserted by at least one former presiding officer of the Senate, who attacked the system vigorously. Theoretically, no legislation should pass the Senate, no action should be taken by that body, which did not con- cern itself alone with the merits of the cause advanced. It would be a healthy condition if the merits alone were con- sidered in senatorial action. But that is an ideal condition and practical pol- itics is sometimes unfortunately a long way removed from the ideal. Members of the present Senate coalition them- selves are not entirely innocent in this They have played practical | politics to gain their ends. Some of them have let political ends sway them. Some of the supporters of the debenture clause, for example, are by no means enamored of that clause as a sound economic proposition. But they have seen in it an opportunity to swat the administration, or they have felt con- strained to vote for it in order that they might have support for other proposals in the tariff bill. Legislation and poli- tics are decidedly practical affairs as they are handled in the Senate. The publicity attendant upon the | present effort to effectuate 2 pool of senatorial votes to adopt certain emend- ments to the tariff bill affecting lum- ber, sugar, oil and hides, has effectually checked the movement. Senators who make the charges insist they are attack- ing no members of the Senate, but are merely attacking the lobbyists who have sought to influence Senators. to make such trades. These lobbyists should be attacked. Perhaps this is safer than at- tacking individual Senators and nam- ing them as members of a “pool.” An Airport Solution. A vigorous fight made by Washingto- nians seems about to end in success. For years residents of this city have lamented the fact that the Nation's Capital possessed no municipal airport. With air travel rapidly growing, strenu- ous attempts were made to interest Congress in a project to remedy the de- | fect. Sites were suggested and costs computed; but little progress was made | save that the constant hammering on the necessity for an airport brought support from all quarters. Gravelly Point was finally decided upon by the majority of those interested as the log- ical site, but even if the congressional commission had agreed to this location more than five years would elapse be- fore the field could be constructed, and up until yesterday the project seemed as far away as ever to Washingtonians Yesterday, however, the entire situa- tion was changed. The commission de- cided upon immediate action and unan- imously adopted the suggestion that temporarily, at least, two of the flying fields already existing, with some addi- tional Government land added, should be used to create a municipal airport for Washington. And so, if the new plan meets with the approval of Con- { admittance to the sick chamber, with gress the National Capital will not have to walt five years or more for its air- port, but will be able almost immedi- ately to take rank with other cities pos- sessing adequate flying facilities, Hoover Field and the ‘Washington Alrport are separated only by the Mili- tary road cn the Virginia side 6f the Highway Bridge. Immediately adjoin- ing is an experimental farm of the De- partment of Agriculture. Use of part of the farm, the closing of the stretch of the Military road and the throwing of the two flelds together would almost immediately create an airport, practical- Iy ready made, of approximately two hundred and eighty acres with runways in one direction of nearly five thousand feet and in the other of more than three thousand feet, ample for every dema¥id that could be made upon it. This plan is a brilliant solution of a problem that was threatening to become a dilemma. The new field is readily accessible to the city, not more than ten minutes from the downtown section and fifteen or twenty minutes from the residential section. As a matter of fact, it will possess a unique desirability in this respect, in that few, if any, air- ports in other cities comparable in size to Washington are so conveniently lo- cated. It is to be hoped that no obstacles will be placed in the path of the speedy culmination of this project. Certainly neither the military authorities nor the Department of Agriculture should ob- ject to a relocation of the road or of a portion of the farm in view of the im- portance of providing an airport for the Nation’s Capital. The owners of the fiying fleld have already agreed to sell at reasonable prices so that no time need. be lost on this phase of the proj- ect. All in all, it would appear that the Capital community, as interested as perhaps any other city in flying activ- ities, will soon be able to hold up its head when the new speedy form of transportation is discussed. e 4 A career that retains the love of | friends as well as the responsibilities of high office is one to be envied even by the most ambitious. William H. Taft 15 an example of the greatness that combines high ideals of public life with simplicity of personal character. ———— Paid Propagandists. In the course of a small-time Com- munist demonstration in this eity last night, when an ardent youth fruitlessly tried to arouse militant indignation on the score of the lack of employment, a young woman went about in the as- semblage distributing tracts calling for the recognition of the Russian Soviet government by the United States. This is merely a fresh specific evi- dence of the source of the inspiration for these demonstrations in this coun- try in the name of Communism. The funds for the printing of the tracts undoubtedly came from that million and a quarter sent here recently in the care of W. Z. Foster, who is known to be a representative of the Soviets in America. o If the truth were known, it would probably appear that the speakers who are addressing the assemblages in the cities which have been selected for this “Spring drive” on “capitalism” are in the pay of the Soviets, or of the Third Internationale, which is the same thing. ‘| race dan I is foh an honest two-bits,” They have no genuine sympathy with the unemployed. They are merely seek- ing to arouse a rebellious spirit among the idle ones, to '.he:ndolm‘hb ing, if. possible, violent reaction against the Government. As was remarked the other day in these columns, a period of more than usual unemployment in any country is the haleyon time for the radical agitator. He finds more than willing hearers for his specious arguments, his fallacious onset against the established order. The man out of work is apt to think that there is something decidedly wrong with society and to listen to sug- gestions for a remedy. The day after he finds a job, however, he is in a dif- ferent mocd. 1t is folly to say that there is nothing wrong with the present state of society. There is much that is wrong with it. There are many ills, social, physical, political. But they are not to be cured by the bolshevik remedy, by Com- munism, by the preposterous, wicked scheme of government that has been tried in Russia, with such lamentable results. e Smiling Through. Prayers for the life of Willlam How- ard Taft are being said throughout the country, as he lies at the point of death. Yet there is virtually no hope for his recovery, for even the prolongation of his life beyond a few days, maybe only a few hours. The end is seemingly near, As he approaches the threshold Judge ‘Taft maintains the brave spirit that animated him throughout his active career. He smiles as he lies waiting for the summons. He greets his family and friends, those few who are granted that gracious expression of affection that has always marked his coun- tenance. It is a wondrous thing to die bravely, and more wondrous to die happily. This good man after a long service for his country, inspired by the highest motives, possessor of the friendship of & multitude and the confidence and re- spect of all his fellow countrymen, is dying both bravely and happily. He is smiling through to his rest. ————— Communists are said to be planning an uprising. They are not numercus and some gort of demonstration is probably deemed' necessary in order to remind contributors that they are ex- pected to replenish funds. Up to the present time so-called Communism has not succeeded in getting very far be- yond an example of the gentle art of panhandling. — e It is customary to level attack on poor old Trotsky, who wrote indus- triously and found that political stars, once established, are not grateful to their press agents. ———retee Ugly words lose their original harsh- ness as time passes. The “bootlegger,” though uncouthly titled, is now credited with making his way into some rather distinguished circles. ——————— * Detective story writers find a hard pace set for them. The mysteries in the regular police news are the most fascinating and the most difficuis to solve. —_— e SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Personal Magnetism. A politician shook my hand. He had a winsome way. I did not fully understand ‘The things he had to say, And yet I bade him take command— I liked the way he shook my hand. "Twas not because his thoughts were grand In erudite display. I followed him across the land Until election day, Indorsing everything he planned— I liked the way he shook my hand. Light. “Do you burn midnight oil in your economic studies?” “No,” answered Senator Sorghum. “I apologize for a thoughtless ques- tion. Of course, you use electric light.” “For purposes of publicity I have it distinctly announced that I revert to the tallow dip. . A statesman just now can't | afford to be regarded as under the slightest obligation to either oil or electricity.” Jud Tunkins says it surprises him to see sO many men get the reputation of being fighters when they are only talkers. Peace Determination. No reckless flag shall be unfurled. We will keep peace throughout the world, And, ere we start abroad to roam, Suppress the gangsters here at home. Risk Eliminated. “I am sorry,” said the pastor of a new flock, “that you saw fit to disre- gard my advice about risking your hard-earned money in card playing.” “I didn’t disregard your advice,” said Cactus Joe. “I don't risk a thing. now make it a rule not to play until I have had a chance to mark the deck.” “Do not resent a debt,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “but remember that the creditor was a friend in the moment of need.” Overzealous Announcers, ‘The robin sings a feeble lay And to Spring poets stops to say, “Announcers indiscreet you are— The kind who overplay their star.” “We likes to be fooled,” said Uncle Eben. “I can't git over bein’ mo’ thankful for a no-'count tip on a hoss - A Musical Pause. From the Lowell Evening Leader. Chicago Opera Co. conductor found time enough during the Boston engage- ment to go to New York to be mar- ried. Probably during one of those long intermissions between the acts. ) Overworked. Prom the Saginaw Daily News. If it’s all the same to “unimpeachable authority” we do wish he or she would quit telling so many conflicting stories about that London Conference. ———te— Horrid! From the Savannah Morning News. Submarines will have to promise to be perfect gentlemen in a war. But if uwfiauuh'-mmcmuumtm THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. “There certainly are a lot of ugly people,” said one ugly woman to another as they walked along F street on a beautiful February afternoon. This remark, caught in passing, de- serves to be preserved in type, because it expresses a large truth and one which furnishes the justification for most of us. If physical beauty were the only ex- cuse for being, probably eight-tenths of m: beis necessarily would cease | foexis o % | and yet she laughs and talks with the to exist. The _executioner would be going around with a big sword in one hand | and a tremendously long list in the other of those who would not be missed. Homeliness is a self-evident fact. Just how much of it is inherent and how much depends upon surroundings is a difficult problsm, of course. Consider the street. Such a setting is not good even for a pretty woman. Seldom does one stop to consider just what a poor back- ground an average corner makes, but when he does he realizes that a great deal is to be desired. The prevaliling street tone is gray, and every one knows that this is a trying color. Asphalt streets, stone buildings, blend into a peculiar shade which ought to be called city gray. It is a drab, citizenlike tint, devoid of the spectacular, or even the ordinarily appealing. It is so common in the lives of city people that they seldom notice it, one way or the other. 1t is the gray of everyday, the drab- ness amid which automobiles chug, adding to the monochrome by a not entirely invisible exhaust which tends | to make even the atmosphere gray. * %k % % Against such a monotonous back- | ground, slightly resembling a festive oyster out for a stroll, human beings of the cities pcsc and posture all on a sunny ‘afternoon. But mostly their hats are on crooked, and their shoulders are not mates, and their noses are too big, and their hair is too long or too short or something or other, particularly something or other, And the clothes, especially of the women! Whereas in the fashion pic- tures the skirts hang just so-so, here on the street they flop. The “soft clinging lines” have gone askew; there is nothing soft, even clinging. The shoes do not match the hat. Some mysterious bit of undergarment is for- ever poking its nose into the public eye | where it has no business. As for the men, they are much worse. One can walk F street all afternoon without once seeing a really good-look- ing man, Even if one is found, the chances are decidedly that he will have such a smirk of self-satisfaction on his countenance that something ought to be done about it, although anything seldom is. For, as already stated, most of us are in the same boat. There is no man or woman, however conceited, who, comparing his or her precious self with perfection, but will be glad to give over the project. Perfection, it must be admitted, is a hard taskmaster. less than Greek gods and goddesses, and few moderns could essay the roles. The saving thing is that the feat is no long- er necessary. Compare the tribe of authors. If there is any more homely-looking set | in the world, we would like to see them. Yet, here beauty is as beauty does, and the written word makes up for many a paunch. * ok ok % Men and women, therefore, are not altogether to blame that they are not more beautiful. There is something in our stars, Brutus, which makes us as we are. The generations which have gone before had something to do with us, after all. It demands nothing | man is an ugly brute, who has had the divine common sense to try to make the best of himself, with passing re- sults. The process has so hynotized him that he is more or less content, until he one homely woman ‘There certainly are a lot of ugly people in the world.” ‘Then he looks around and agrees with her. Where do they all come from? Here is a lop-eared girl who might make a go of it in a sideshow, aplomb of a beauty queen, and no doubt is a very nice girl “in the dark with a light behind her,” as W. 8. Gilbert once wrote. ‘Yonder goes an old lady just out of the Ark. Sometimes it seems as if ‘Washington specializes in these Ark types. One might think the famous vessel docked here on its first trip. The Ark is known to have had all the ani- mals in the world on it. This old lady wears a dress which sweeps the ground, not in the fashion of 1930, but in the very mode of 1898. It has a high lace collar and funny sleeves, something resembling a Godey print, but not yet: and there is a what- youmaycallem in the back, and ribbons here and there. i ] Beauty is an ideal, and, like most ideals, is rather difficult of achievement. | And after you have got it, sometimes, what have you got? God must leve the common people, some one has said, because He made so many of them. Those afflicted with some ugliness, major or minor, may well seek satisfaction from the same thought. Good is held be the banner principle of the universe, but sometimes it seems, especially on one’s off days, as if evil rather predominated. Similarly, beauty is desirable, but it is a large question whether ugliness does not sweep the boards, hogging the road all the way. The basic plan must have been wrong. This, at least, 8 the attitude one is likely to take in one of the aforemen- tioned off moments, when even the most careless and indifferent sighs for a nice straight nose and the general “looks” of | & lifeguard or a movie queen. The old wheeze about beauty only being skin deep must go, for not only | bones and joints and such things are involved, but even the tiny hormones of the blood have a great deal to do with it. And when the downhearted one envisions the tremendous millions of such tiny particles, mysteriously wending their ways around life streams in countless trillions of blood vessels of living creatures, the dreamer is sure to pause with the psalmist, and utter a rhapsody of thanks, not that the thing could not have been done better, but that it has been done as well as it has. R The contemplation of ugliness, even on a city street, and for a few brief | moments only, gives one & surer ap- preciation both of beauty and homeli- ness, and brings the thought comfort- ingly around to the eternal verity of spirit. pThfls is the consolation of intelligence for the inadequacy of Nature. Mind triumphs when it tells itself: “Yes, I have no beauty, but I may be upright. I may be good. I may indulge in loving-kindness, after all.” ‘When a human being makes that dis- covery, not because he has been told about it, or because it is in his tradi- tion, but when he makes it for himself, as the result of sadness and hurt of heart, he realizes that a miracle has occurred at last, and right where it counts most—in himself. ‘Then he sees that the saints were right, when, steadfastly refusing to look at the gauds of this world, they turned their gaze toward the invisible heaven of human hopes, sure in the faith of | the ultimate triumph of great and holy | It is just probable that |things. Restoration Plan atAChicago Upheld as Permanent Remedy Charge that Silas Strawn, head of the Chicago commiftee which has come to the rescue of the city, is a “dictator” and the latter's reply that in the re- habilitation he is doing the work of “a jackass” have attracted the atten- tion of the country. Sentiment is in favor of rigid measures in dealing with the bankrupt condition and in under- taking a crime clean-up. The citizens’ committee has provided ald to the ex- tent of $75,000,000. " “Mayor Thompson had to accept the help,” says the Kansas City es, “with the condition that the committee should superintend the expenditure of the millions. For this condition Mr. Strawn has been called a dictator. He is not a dictator, he says, but a ‘jackass’ If this characterization is correct, then it attains respectability in this application. ‘If Mr. Strawn had po- litical aspirations, he might assume that he would lose more than he can gain by giving the Thompson machine help with a string to it. But, as he is not politically ambitious, he has everything to gain and, as we see it, nothing to lose by coming to the city's rescue. What we hope is that Mr. Strawn will do such a big mule’s job in pulling Chi- cago out of the hole and in demon- strating how public money should be handled that in one way or another the city may replace its disastrous admin- istration with one operated by a com- plete staff of ‘jackasses’ of the Strawn _3F 3€ Agreeing that Mr. Strawn is right when he complains that he “does the work and gets the kicks,” the Dayton Daily News calls the city reform leader “merely the trouble shooter, the banker who undertakes the job of rehabilitating the run-down corporation which will go broke, cheat its creditors and lose a lot of people their jobs if he doesn't straighten it out,” and that paper con- tinues: “Chicago ought not necd a dic- tator, but it should be able to draw some useful inferences from the muddle it is in. When Chicago was in health, it permitted a Big Bill Thomp- son to govern it. When Chicago was sick, unto death, it invoked the services of Silas Strawn. Now why on earth should Chicago wait till it lies sick of a fever before availing itself of the! services of its ablest men? What's wrong with politics that it habitually falls for the Big-Bills and finds no use for the Silas Strawns? This isn’t Chi- cago only; it is the general rule almost everywhere. Why should government be the one enterprise not to search as- siduously for the best available man to serve it? What other result can there be, in the end, of this failure but the catastropkie which has befallen Chi- cago? And what is quite as important as these questions for American citi- zens, burdenec by taxes and bad gov- ernment, to try their wits on?” * % % % “It is required,” in the opinion of the Scranton Times, “that the spending shall be supervised by or for the men who put up the cash. There must be a guaranty that it is honestly used to pay honest debts. Many foreign nations have had to agree to such a service of the loan when they borrowed American money to get back on their feet, but Chicago city officials have protested that such an attitude on the part of the lenders would indicate a lack of confidence in public officers and might arouse the people to a sense of distrust. * ¢ * The looting of public funds has caused the deficits, and political jobbery in the assessments has caused the delay in the collection of taxes. The three have produced the situation. The causes had to bring the consequences. They were unescapable.” “Strawn is neither a politician nor an officeholder,” declares the Port Huron ‘Times Herald. “He has no s2lfish pur- pose to serve, but is simply doing his duty as he sees it. Of , there are a lot of persons who will refuse to be- lieve that Strawn has no ulterior pur- pose. There are a lot who will be sure he is ‘getting something out of it.’ They are the suspecting type who just can’t believe that any man has the public weifare at heart sufficiently to inspire him to do such a thing. They never do anything themselves without trying to feather their own nests and they find it impossible to ever think any one else would be willing to make such a sacri- fice of time, effort and money. Yet there are a lot of ‘jackasses’ like Silas H. Strawn all over this great and glori- ous country of ours. Indeed, that's what makes it great and glorious!” = WAw “If those who are behind the present business men’s movement are yife and g0 through with their program, they may be able to lift their city from the slough in which it is wallowing, . and make it what a great American city ought to be,” advises the Detroit Free Press, while the Pasadena Star-News points to an example in Cincinnati as it favors a city-manager form of gov- ernment, and remarks: “Cincinnati is at the head of the list of well managed municipalities, and Chicago is the most conspicuous example of political mis- management. The lesson of chief sig- nificance is found in the power of an llizt intelligent, high-minded electo- A “Chicago’s so-called good citizens,” in the judgment of the Shreveport Journal, “have only themselves to blame for conditions. They are in the majority in that city, as they are everywhere, but they have been sitting supinely by and letting others run their government. Chicago, in the present dilemma, is getting just about what Chicago had coming.” “Any time during the past five years,” asserts the Fort Worth Record-Tele- graph, “Chicago could have had a ‘house-cleaning’” by no greater effort than that of selecting a citizens' com- mittee candidate for every office and attending to the simple matter of elect- ing the entire list.” The Jackson Citizen Patriot holds that “progress calls for the introduction of business efficiency into governmental operation,” and the Milwaukee Journal asks: “Why cannot men who have been called together to avert ruin begin now to work together for something that shall not even approach ruin?” In praise of the people of the city, the Chicago Daily News states: “Chicago’s greatest asset is its citizenship. As every emergency demonstrates, there are hosts of public-spirited men and women ready to devote their time, their money and their counsel and energy to advancing the city’s interests. Such citizens are at work now in developing constructive programs of great value. For Chicago's leadership in new methods beneficial to progress, thanks to the enlightened efforts of -its citizens, long has been noteworthy.” . Parked Near the Pole. From the South Bend Tribune. Rear Admiral Byrd left his two air- planes in the Antarctic, which may in- dicate that he intends to go down for an occasional week end. e Specializing. From the Louisville Times. A young lady in our block, desiring to buy a watch and chain as a present for a young man, went first to a watch nb'zrre and then asked the way to a chain store. ) Harsh Justice. From the San Antonio Express. A Chicago gunman was fined $1 and sent to jail for nine months for pistol- toting. Financial difficuities evidently make the authorities there vindicti ve, l THE LIBRARY TABLE By the Booklover Superficially considered, there would seem to be little resemblance between Richelieu and Bismarck. Even a close student of the careers of the two states- men might fail to find a parallel. To Hilaire Belloc, however, writing the biography “Richelieu,” the likeness ap- 1 pears striking. He says: “Were Plutarch to return he would find no better mod- ern subject for a parallel of lives than those of Richelieu and Bismarck.” In laying down his principal theses he con- tinues: “Each born in the nobility of his realm, each some distance from its high- est ranks, each rose to be the chief in title. Each served a dynasty, and each died leaving his crowned master at the very summit of power. Each constructed and consolidated a realm, and each tri- umphed through a combination of dip- lomatic, political and military qualities.” Richelieu and Bismarck, depa: ing from the turbulent scenes which they had helped to create, left behind them brilliant succeeding epochs—Rich- elieu the age of Louis XIV and Bis- marck the age of Prussian domination under the latest Hohenzollern. W In physical appearance Richelieu, the subtle Frenchman, and Bismarck, the rough German, were in direct contrast. | “No two figures are more opposed than i the square, full-blooded, blunt face of the one, the pointed chin and finely cut, pale features of the other; the subtle fire and readiness to restrain or spring which Richelieu's face conveys, the deceptive mark of brute simplicity which covers Bismarck’s. The bodies are in similar opposition. It is the ox and the leopard. * * * It has been said that the one might be likened to strong ale, the other to a rare brandy.” Richelieu was always something of an invalid, more so as the years advanced; Bismarck enjoyed the most robust health, even to old age, and in spite of abuses of overeating. Both were men of tremendous will power, but the qual- ity of their wills differed. “Bismarck’s will had not that incisive, rapier qual- ity, that quality of highly tempered steel—flexible, unbreakable, of mortal effect, decisive, a sword—which’ had Richelieu’s. Bismarck's will had rather the quality of a crowbar, sometimes to be used as a bludgeon. In the govern- ment of self, Bismarck's will broke down from time to time, as Richelieu’s never did; and, after all, the government of self is the supreme test of will. Bis- marck quarreled, often foolishly, in private matters; under rebuff he was even peevish. I am not suggesting that his will was not strong; it was very strong; and the metaphor I have used of the crowbar and the bludgeon does not suggest weakdess, But it lacked temper. Of Richelieu I think you may say that it was the most highly tem- pered will in modern history.” * ok * X Both Richelieu and Bismarck devoted- |1v served and were loyall, | royal masters. Both created and made skilled use of expert secret services, Both commanded the assistance of good subordinates, but both had to contend with court jealousies and hatreds, which they were nevertheless able to combat, outwit or ignore. Religious and politi- cal differences ham both states- men in their efforts to consolidate their natlons. The fundamental resemblance between these two great historical fig- ures is one of both aim and achieve- ment. Richelieu gave as a model to the world a united and organized Prench state; Bismarck created an organized and outwardly unified Germany, though Hilaire Belloc speaks of it as “an artifi- cial nation” whose “very principle is the denial of German unity and the exclu- sion from that ‘Germany’ of whatever among Germans_ could outweigh the power of the Hohenzollerns.” The gence of nationalism as a chief motive for action in men and the consequent or accompanying reduction of the Catholic culture to the defensive under the su- premacy of anti-Catholic and mainly Protestant forces.” * ok ok % With the first issue of the Subscrip- tion Books Bulletin, a new qnll‘lel‘lx;!, the American Library Association of- fers schools and homes a solution to the perplexing problem of selecting ref- erence works from among the many books and sets presented by canvassers throughout the United States and Canada. Because bulky volumes can- not be judged by glancing at a few pic- tures or reading scattered paragraphs, purchasers of subscription sets have Irequently made their selections at ran- dom. As a result reference books of great merit have sometimes been neg- lected, ‘while home, and school li- braries have acqu which have served no purpose save to fill a shelf of the case. This new bulletin tells definitely whether or not a set is ac- curate, reliable, up-to-date, appropri- atelys illustrated, and well indexed, its opinions being based on the investiga- tions .and experience of many librarians throughout_the country. If a book is suited for home or school use, it is so recommended, and if not, the objections are stated clearly and concisely. Fif- teen subscription sets are reviewed in the first issue and others will be dis- cussed in subsequent numbers. In the meantime information regarding still other sets may be obtained through a section of the bulletin given over to an index of reviews previously published elsewhere. On inquiry it has been learned that copies of the bulletin will be found in the reading room of the Public leraryA* * % x Almost any book on China published for a number of years past might be called “timely.” The changing Chinese situation, always tense nowadays, also gives opportunity for any one who knows anything about China to put it into print, and hardly a month passes without some one’s seizing this oppor- tunity. One of the recent books on China is “A History of the Far East in Modern Times,” by Harold M. Vin- acke. It is a book to be read with in- terest, both by the person who knows much about China and wishes to have his knowledge corroborated and system- atized and by the person who knows little and wishes to have a brief, con- cise account of the history of modern China. .Much attention is given to the relations of the United States and China, in connection with which many references are made to “Americans in Eastern Asia,” by Tyler Dennett of the State Department. * ok ok K Journeys to Tibet have almost the flavor of Mandeville's travels, and so few visit that forbidden land that it is easy for writers about it to exaggerate, somewhat in the style of Mandeville. John Easton, a young Englishman, fa- miliar with India, enjoyed an’ adven- turous holiday on the Tibet highway and also enjoyed writing about it in “An Unfrequented Highway.” By train he went north from the lowlands to Siliguri, on the road to Darjiling, and on to Kalimpong, where the old high- way to Lhasa begins. Thence he fol- lowed the ever-ascending road, through dense forests, over rocky s, ACLOSS dusty miles of plain, with Everest and Kinchinjunga frequently in sight, until he came to Chumolaori, “a snow-white peak, solitary, magnificent, towering 10,000 feet above the place where men can tread.” There he turned back, leaving the road to wind around the mountain, on northward to Lhasa. * ok ok % Impressionistic, disconnected, humor- ous and altogether delightful are the episodes of Stella_Benson's travel book, “Worlds Within Worlds.” The Orient is Mrs. Benson's field of travel in this book and she obviously enjoyed all her experiences. There is no note of the blase, overtired or irritated traveler. She did not compare Oriental customs with American, to the disadvantage of the former, nor resent all discomforts as personal injuries. Inl write of her travels, she probably con- | sidered all humorous, even though un- comfortable, happenings as so much good c_lo'gz So spirit of the book is gay., style is vivacious and vivid. ly supported by | effect of the joint accomplishment of | Richelieu and Bismarck was “the emer- i to] ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J]. HASKIN, Did you ever write a letter to Fred- J. n? You can ask him any of the most intelligent people in the word—American newspaper readers. It is a part of that best purpose of a news= paper—service. There is no charge ex- cept 2 cents in coin or stamps for re- turn postage. Address Frederic J. Has- kin, director, formation Bureau, Washington, D. C, Q. Is Irene Bordoni French?—K. L. A. She is Prench. She was born on the Island of Corsica, in Ajaccio, fa- mous as the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte. | @ Where and how are polo ponies kept during the Winter?—T. D. A. The Field says that superhigh- priced mounts are never allowed to get out of condition. As soon as the matches are over, the shoes are taken off and the ponies turned loose in a soft soil, grass paddock, which is free from stone. Two or three months later they are shipped South and worked into con- | dition for the early Spring matches. - Q. When did circuses cease traveling by wagon and take to railroad cars?— G. R. . R. R. A. Between 1850 and 1860 most of them took to the rails. Q. What is the extent of the Russian road-building project?—E. S. A. Accordig to plans announced by the Commissariat of Communications at Moscow, the Soviet Union ex&ecu within the next five years to build 250,000 miles of highways. Of this high- way system, 150,000 miles will be of the American macadamized type, while 55, 000 miles will be of gravel and 45,000 of asphalt. The enterprise will require the services of 2,000 engineers, 18,000 technicians and 44,000 road-layers. Q. What town in Virginia has Rock- efeller bought with an idea of restoring it?>—M. B. M. A. John D. Rockefeller, jr.. has not bought a town. He is providing the money for the restoration of Willlams- burg to its Colonial condition—that is, some of the buildings which have*been destroyed are reproduced, and some that have fallen into decay are being restored. Williamsburg, which was at one time tHe capital of Colonial Vir- ginia, Is rich in historic interest. Q. What is meant by dunking?— A. This term is applied to the moist- ening or softening of zwiebacks, cakes, crackers and bread crusts in coffee, tea or milk. While it is not considered good form, it is greatly enjoyed by small children and old people whose teeth are no longer strong enough to cope with such hard substances. Q. Will the Chinese Lichi nut tree bear if planted in Virginia?—S. C. N. A. The Litehi or Lichi grows success- fully only in Southern China, Cochin- China and the Philippines. It has been grown experimentally in Southern Flor- ida and Southern California, but will | not thrive except in a tropical climate. Q. What is animal ecology?—H. D. K. A. In a general way, it is a science | which seeks to give some definite form | to the vast number of observations which have been accumulated during the last few hundred years by field nat- uralists and various other people in- terested in wild animals. Ecology is now concerned with reducing and co- | ordinating vast available information concerning habits, life histories and | numbers of the different animals, with 1 B Y FREDERIC the Naval Conference, no member of the American delegation finds the Lon- don pace much different from the one to which he's accustomed at Washing- ton. . There are more frills to the busi- ness now in hand, and a vastly larger amount of sartorial “dog” is called for, | but, except for the frequency with which men like Joe Robinson and Dave Reed have to climb into morning coats and they're living about the same fe they do at home. Th> in- cessant private conversations and min- iature conferences in which delegates have their daily and nightly being are the same sort of thing that goes on at ‘Washington, especially on Capitol Hill. Uncle Sam’s spokesmen have e an excellent impression on their British, French, Italian and Japanese colleagues. Probably the complete lack of that ag- gressiveness with which the outside world largely associates America and Americans is the characteristic which the European and Asiatic delegations have found the most surprising and the most agreeable arrow in the Stim- sonians’ qulver.‘ top hats, ‘kind of i * % x American old-timers in London, like this observer, discern as one of the ultra-modern developments over here the omnipresence of the gay and festive cocktail. Time was, and not very long ago, when that seductive quaff was looked upon as a purely American im- portation, to be indulged in only by ‘Yankee tourists and eccentric English- men. Today the cocktall is everywhere in London. Britishers who used to in- vite you to #ea at 5 o'clock now entice you to cocktails at 6, either at their clubs, their homes or their favorite West End bars. Mrs. Alfred Clark, the English wife of the American managing director of the British Victor Talking Machine Co., recently addressed a letter to the Daily Mail, commenting on the origin of the cocktail. She revealed that it is English, and not American, by an- cestry, and was a famous appetizer at British regimental messes more than a hundred years ago, under its present world-renowned title. ok ok x Londoners are still talking about our trig departmental “typists” from Wash- ington. One of them, Miss Hurley Fisk of the news division of the State De- partment, has just made the front pages of the tabioids with her fetching riding costume. Miss Pisk, a tall, Venus- like, corn-fed beauty from Iowa, is an accomplished horsewoman. She cut so dashing a figure in Rotten Row one recent Sunday morning that the news cameramen insisted on “shooting” her in half a dozen different equestrian poses. Hurley says to have ridden in “the Row” at church parade realizes her life ambition. LS Philip Snowden, chancellor of the exchequer—John Bull's Secretary Mel- lon—has a cynical humor, the lash of which many a political foe in the House of Commons invites to his undoing. In a political speech at Leeds recently Mr. Snowden, decrying the treasury's dis- appointment that estate taxes (death duties) had failed to approach the de- partment’s estimates during the fiscal year now ending, remarked, “The fact is, people have not been dying up to expectations.” The words had hardly been printed in the papers when the treasury received one of the biggest windfalls in cotemporary times. of no than $12,500,000 came its way in one week ds the result of the probating of only four wills. One estate, that of Lord Forteviot, probated at $22,000,000, had to fork over $8, 500,000 in death duties. Another for- tune, probated at $8500,000, had to hand $3250,000 to Mr. Snowden. It costs money to die rich in England nowadays. * k% X Not only is Britannia to surrender the supremacy of the sea at Columbia’s demand in the London Naval Conference, but the | about to capitulate to still Yankee contraption. The admiralty an- | nounces that all hlmashi?n Mediterranean are to be equipped with es. The Evening Star In- | LONDON OBSERVATION Hard as all of them are working at & view to solving some of the urgent practical lems arising as a result of man’s ming civilized and inter- fering with the animal and plant life around him. q. What is the earth’s gravitational pull.on the moon?-—J. McN. A. The Naval Observatory says that there is no limit to the distance to il’hk:l’l the earth’s gravitational pull ex- tends, but its amount decreases in pro- portion to the square of the distance from, the carth’s center. At the dis- tance of the moon it is about 1-3600 what it is at the earth's surface. Q. When was the monument in Prov- incetown erected? What does it com- memorate?—B. R. F. . | A. The Provincetown Memorial was | unveiled on August 5, 1910. It com- | memorates the visit of the Mayflower | made on November 11 (old style). The vessel lay in Provincetown Harbor ap- proximately one month. The United | States, in conjunction with the Com- | monwealth of Massachusetts and the Pilgrim Memorial Association of Prov- incetown erected’ this granite monu- ment, 254 feet high, on Town Hill, Q. What is the meaning of the fa- |- mous painting, “The Huguenot”?—L. G. A. Briefly, the explanation of the painting called “The Huguenot” is as follows: By order of the Duc de Guise, issued before St. Bartholomew's day, | “all good Catholics” were enjoined to wear a white scarf as a distinguishing badge. The young woman pleads with her lover as she strives to fasten the symbolic white scarl, The lover will die in the morning. As one writer suggests, the picture is reminiscent of the famous line, “I could not love thee, dear, so much, loved I not honour more."” Q. Where did the plan of laying out | city streets at right angles to each | other and_at regular distance origi- nate?—O. B. P. A. Philadelphia was the first of mod- ern municipelities whose plan was pre- pared for a particular site, and the rectangular plan there adopted has guided city planning in America ever since, Q. What college received a collec- tion of original Browning autograph letters?—T. T. M. A. Welipsley College has such a collection, Wwhich contains 284 letters from Robert Browning and 287 from Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Q. Do trees grow, on the Canadian prairies>—A. C. W, A. The prairies were treeless, Now, | however, most farm homes have groves and shade trees. The Canadian gov- ernment has fostered the planting of | trees and now there are well over | 100,000,000 trees on prairie farms, Q. About how far should the av- erage voice be heard distinctly by a person with good hearing?—W., A. P. A. The distance which can be dis- tinctly heard under average conditions spoken in an ordinary speaking voice is about 30 feet; a person whispering can be heard about 15 feet from the speaker. % @. Did Mrs, Fiske appear in New | York in “The Rivals” about five years | ago?—W. O'B. | A. Mrs. Fiske npreued in the 150th | anniversary tour of “The Rivals” five years ., but the engagements did not In‘c?l‘:ds New York. It is mnow planned to give a revival of the Sheri- dan comedy this Spring, with Mrs. Fiske, supported by a number of prominent players. This will open in New York. atus installed in her. | “Can this wild policy be carried out?” ; asks an ironi correspondent of the . “The motive is too obvious. Imitation is too sincerely flattery. The greatness of Mr. Hoover and his peo- | ple, all the world knows, is built upon ice cream. Our admiralty has learned American lessons,” Many London stores now serve ice cream soda, but nobody { from our side of the herring pond | would know it. WILLIAM WILE. have an ap * Kk ok ‘The Earl of Derby, famous British | nobleman, diplomat and sportsman, is | going to Louisville this year to attend his first Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. As most racing folk know, the term “Derby” receives its historic name from the fact that an Earl of Derby, one doesn’t recall how many genera- tions ago, lent his aristocratic title and Enromge to the Epsom race which as since become the world classic event. Lord Derby, who until a year or two ago was British Ambassador to | France, announced his intention to see the Kentucky Derby, while addressing the London Pilgrims' Society the other night. “My grandfather went to Amer- ica in 1824 in a ship of 824 tons,” said the sporting earl, “and shortly I pro- pose to cross the Atlantic in a vessel of 43,000 tons to attend the Kentucky races.” * ok ok Lord Riddell, London Sunday news- paper proprietor and erstwhile “buddie” of David Lloyd George, issued invita- tions for a dinner on February 25 to “officials, journalists and other surviv- ors of the Washington Conference of 1921-22." All the American newspaper men in London for the present con- ference were asked to be guests of honor. Lord Riddell has always been popularly credited with having been John Bull's most potent representative at Washington eight years ago. Mr. Balfour (as he then was) told off the tall, white-haired Yorkshireman (then Sir George Riddell) to be spokesman of the British delegation as far as the press was concerned. He did a beauti- ful job. He was communicativeness itself at moments when other delega= tions were silent as the tomb, include ing our own. Correspondents were al= ways sure of getting a story on some major conference development when they quizzed Riddell at British head- quarters in the Navy Building. The result was that Balfour and his col- leagues invariably had a good press, Riddell developed a rare genius for peddling British propaganda in the guise of news. He finds many of his Washington friends on the job during the pending naval engagement, (Copyright, 1930.) —r——— Gnat and Camel Discrimination. From the Detroit Free Press. A man was arrested in New York for whistling on the street at midnight. He should have run through town with his muffier open if he wanted to make a noifse and get away with it. e Surplus Ablutions. From the Hamilton (Ont, Can.) Spectator. Two thousand Chinese, captured by Russian soldiers in the recen: unpleas- antness, have been given baths and sent back home. These were baths, it will be suspected, that the Soviet troops did not have any use for. P — et Sereamingly Funny. From the Buffalo Evening News. A successful talkie comedy is one that keeps the audience laughing so you can't hear anything to laugh at. A Great Show. From the Duluth Herald. When Chicago gangsters are :.s two t;:;ou:h :h; e:.c‘y' ::n th'.;l: own Vivars would Taake an StFecHve.pbis spectacle. o Stern Stuff. From the Utica Observer-Dispatch, Herbert Hoover is a man of t will ice cream machin Each new cruiser henceforward commissioned will also power; he cuts a fishing trip 1