Evening Star Newspaper, May 10, 1930, Page 6

. financial system, rigidly to confine bids THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. S WASHINGTON, D. C.- SATURDAY.......May 10, 1930 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 7 Business Ofice: 5 Pennssivania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd 8t Chicazo Office: Lake Michigan Bulldits. Eurotean Ofice, 14 Regent 8t... London, L ngland. ier Within the City. . - . 45¢ per month siar 60c per month ) “65¢ rer month Sc mer copy de at the end of each sent in by mail or tele ar . (When 4 Sundavs) . . The _Eveutn&‘lnd Sunday” Sta ndays) rders may be DL Yood" Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia, Daily ?v Sunday 1yr. s;g.no. 1 me Dai L mo.. 50c Suaday only 1 mo., 40c All Other States and Canada. Daily and Sunday..}yr.s12 Datty 1y uncay only $.00; 1o Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is oxclusively entitled to the nse for republication of ail ncws dis- credited 10 it of not otherwise cred- s 50¢ erein. All rights of publicatio: atches herein are also reser Local Work and Low Bids. The Commissioners are placed be- tween the devil and the deep, blue sea in'the matter of awarding the contract for the new Elliott Junior High School to an out-of-town bidder, who happens to be the low bidder, or of withhold- ing the contract and allowing the ap- propriation for the school to lapse. ©On the one hand, the Commission- ers; following the law, would in effect send money rajsed from local taxation out’ of Washington and would add, in addition, to the unemployment among local trades unionists, three thousand ©? whom, according to John B. Colpoys ot the Central Labor Uniqp, are out of work. On the other hand, the Commission- ers, by failure to award the contract to the lowest bidder and make use of an _appropriation authorized by Con- £ress, open themselves to the criticism of Congress and despite the need for new schools would leave a required l!chool unbuilt. They must follow the aw. Mr: Colpoys’ able presentation of the building men’s side of the case wins sympathy for his cause and, while the .| Which he evolved. His own life is an 20 that a man “cannot really write unless | inspiration. ¢ | whatever he produces as laureate wilj be 1 of intellectual evolution, laureateship to Ben Jonson. been a worker with his Jonson was.' He has seen life raw, has struggled up from the hum- blest origin and through the most sor- | rowful circumstances to his present | position as a man of letters and of culture. He had no “schooling.” save in the streets, the forecastles of ships, the lounging places of denizens of the slums. That out of these conditions should come a man of the refinement of thought and expression that Mase- field is today is one of the marvels of human development. It is reported from England that Masefield’s selection gives universal sat- isfaction, He is recognized as a tower- ing genius, and his present eminence counts alone regardless of the obscurity and the poverty and the misery from epic. He is reported to have said, upon learning cf his selection as laureate, that he would not write for “occasicns,” he is deeply stirred.” This means that he will not grind out birthday verses and anniversary odes, but will wait for And it also means that worth while, a real contribution to Eng- lish literature, a marker in the progress Masefield's selection probably signi- fies that Kipling will never attain the rank to which his admirers have hoped he would be advanced. The new laureate is fifty-five years of age, while Kipling 1s ten years his senior. In all likelthood Masefield will survive Kipling, and though the present royai prejudice against the author of “Recessional” might conceivably pass, with ehange, there is small chance that the ofce will become vacant with him living. But Masefleld is rated by many as even higher in point of great writing than Kipling. If the matter were put to the vote of those competent to judge be- tween the merits of the two men, as cre- ators of poetry, Masefleld would prob- ably win the decision. —ene. Mr. Roberts Is Appointed. President Hoover has appointed Owen J. Roberts of Philadelphia to the Su- preme Court and in so doing has select- ed one of America’s outstanding law- yers for this honor and service. When the report of Mr. Roberts’ appointment first reached the Senate yesterday there was immediate praise of the selection— suggestion that his organization is op- posed to junior high. schools is irrele- vant, his facts and figures as well as the logic of his argument present an issue that cannot be escaped. If con- tracts for such distinctly local work as| school buildings are to be awarded to out-of-town contractors who may be 2hle to underbid Washington contrac tors by rather slim margins, what hope is there for the thousands of Washing- ton building tradesmen, and for Wash- ington business houses that cater to the building trades, if the employment that lies in local public work is to be denied them? These men, many of them property owners and taxpayers of this community, contribute to the public funds that find their way into public building projects. Economically and equitably they are entitled to the re- turns that lie in employment at decent wage scales on these building projects. ‘The ability of some cities to lessen unemployment within their gates by undertaking public building projects and giving work to their own citizens has been cited as one of the most practical methods to fight the evil of unemployment. None of these cities would for a minute undertake public work and supply the labor from outside. Some cities confine all local work to local contractors, and this practice has resulted in ene of the best known forms ©f political “gravy” that flows from any muniéipal activity, for which the tax- payer pays in the end. Here in Washington, however, the expenditure of local revenue is re- stricted by the same tight laws and regulations that govern the expenditure of ‘Federal revenue. The Commissioners may not be forced to accept the low bid. But if they do not, they must substantiate their decision to the satis- faction of the Controller General. Sen- timent and civic pride have nothing to do with the case and it might not be fair to the majority of taxpayers, or in keeping with the Government's cn local projects to local builders. «But somewhere there should be a com- ise to permit the Commissioners to use reasonable discretion in the award of local contracts. The margin of $25,- 000> on a half-million dollar project such as the new Elliott Junior High Sghool is small. indeed. Other condi- tions than the mere size of the bid itself ‘should govern, and while the Commis- sioners should not be forced arbitrarily to det the contract to a local bidder, praise, too, from the camp which had opposed the confirmation of Judge John J. Parker of North Carolina and .earlier opposed the appointment of Chief Jus- tice Hughes. It was not long, however, before some one had discovered that i 1923 Mr. Roberts at a dinner in New York had not advocated prohibition and had, in an‘academic discussion of the subject, said that prohibition had no place in the Constitution, but should be a matter of statute law. Others were shaking their heads because it was presumed that Mr., Roberts owned stock. in corporations and because he had probably been employed by large cor- porations as counsel. It takes a brave man to predict today what the Senate of the United States will do. But not- withstanding the effort now being made to pick flaws in the appointment of Mr. Roberts, it does appear that this nomi- nation to the Supreme Court will be confirmed. Possibly a majority of the Senate will have wearied, or a suf- ficient number of 'the Senators will have come to the conclusion that after all it may be necessary to fill the Vacancy with a man well qualified for the place in the view of his fellows. Mr. Roberts has had a distinguished career as & member of the American bar. He has shown. his ability and his legal training and knowledge in innumerable cases. His employment as special prosecutor in the oil reserve lease cases, including Teapot Dome, brought him particularly into the lime- light. For this work he has been praised by the Progressives in the Senate and by many of the Democrats. In picking Mr. Roberts to fill the vacancy in the Supreme Court, Presi- dent Hoover has been guided by a desire to place on the bench a man of great ability, of integrity and of wide ex- perience. It is true that he has not before had experience on the bench. |- But perhaps so far as his confirmation by the Senate is concerned that makes it easier for Mr. Roberts to pass through the “eye of a needle.” Doubtless some of the cases in which he has been employed will be resurrected if the effort to defeat his confirmation should reach really threatening proportions. In the past the qualifications for service on the Supreme Court have been ability, legal learning, honesty and strength of character and temperament that would permit even-handed deal- ing. Today, however, it appears that. these qualifications must be supple- mented with personal views on a myriad they should be permitted to weigh the factors involved, and if the difference in bids is not extraordinary, decide in fayor of the local man. Under the law the Commissioners cagnot do this now. The new school should be built. But the local in- terests affected should make this in- cident the occasion for extended con- ferences with the Commissioners, with the end in view of obtaining the future insertion in appropriations for local projects of a clause permitting the Com- missioners to exercise a reasonable amount of discretion in favor of the community. —_— e An spite of the fact that Al Capone flburishes more than $1,000 in ready mohey and an $8,000 diamond ring, none of the Miami hotels appears to wagt him. e Masefield, Laureate. John Masefield joins the ranks of Britain’s “immortals,” with his designa- tion by the King as poet laureate of England. He is the seventeenth to hold the place of royal bard, an office| play” has vanished. created by Charles I with the informal * designation of Ben Jonson, and after Jénson's succession by Davenant in that role, definitely established in 1670 with the issuance to Dryden of letters patent by Charles IL - Then came a succes- sion of laureates, of whom, With a few > the world has no memory ‘Wordsworth. These were Shad- well, . Tote, Rowe, Eusden, Cibber, ‘Wharton, Pye and Southey. exceptions were Cibber, Pye and. of subjects which may fit in with the views of various groups represented in the Senate &nd the country. These views are sometimes divergent, depend- ing upon the group which holds them. One group urges the need of a con- servative thinker who takes seriously the guarantees of property and liberty under the Constitution. Another would place “human rights” above everything, whether there be a conflict with the fundamental law or not. Still a third group would make adherence to the cause of prohibition a sine qua non, and a fourth prefers an opponent of prohibition. Then there are Senators who believe that if a man has been employed by big clients his views are warped thereby until he cannot deal in justice, If the present course is per- sisted in, it may in the end break down the great balance of the American form of Government, set up under the Constitution and looking to an inde- pendent judiclary, - Furthermore, it may vesull in the . exaltation of mediocrity, Jbi SR, ‘The simple obscurity of “The Passion Even Oberam- Egypt's demand for eoncessions affect- ing the Sudan. She required that the proposed treaty should give Egypt the right within a year to Bring up the question of the sovereignty of the Su- dan. The Egyptians also insisted upon equal immigration rights with the Brit- ish igto an independent Sudan and “parity” in its military and civil control, London dispatches report that a sec- tion of the Macdonald ministry favored acceptance of Egypt's demands, but that the Liberal opposition entered a vicorous protest. Mr, Lloyd George is saldl to have warned the Labgr govern- ment that if it ylelded on thé Sudanese issue the Liberals, who come near to holding Mr. Macdonald's fate in their hands, would join with the Conserva- tives and vote Labor out of office. Whether this explanation is authentic or not, it is a fact that Premier Nahas has quit London and that weary weeks of parley have now come to naught. | Undoubtedly the flare-up in India has much to do with Britannia’s reluctance to relinquish too fully her hold on Egypt. Little else matters to John Bull in the land of the Pharaohs except the security of the Suez Canal. Not inaptly it is called the empire’s jugular vein. Once severed, or even threatened; Brit- ain’s road to India is imperiled. An independent Sudan would materially lessen British control of the Suez. That is not a prospect which can cause any enthusiasm in London at this critical hour, with conditions in India drifting steadily from bad to worse, s —— = A Reiteration, ‘That Commissioner Crosby will have much support from local civic organiza- tions if he decides to change from the traffic-congesting and fundamentally unsound rotary left-hand turn to the Hoover turn, made from the center of the street and used in every city of consequence in the United States except Cleveland, is indicated by the action of the Merchants and Manufacturers’ Association yesterday, when the board of governors of that body reiterated its stand for uniformity and urged the Commissioner seriously to consider a revision of the rotary system. This is not the first time that the Merchants and Manufacturers’ Association has excoriated Washington’s unique method of slowing up traffic. Its reiteration, therefore, with the advent’ of a mew Commissioner, is especially significant. Besides the merchants’ body, the Board of Trade and the American Automobile Association, as well as other civic bodies, are squarely on record as favoring the change to the Hoover turn, which will bring Washington in uniformity with the rest of the country. ‘With these opinions of local bodies to back him combined with the consensus of national bodies of traffic control, Commissioner Crosby will make no mistake in ordering a return to normalcy, regardless of whether the traffic office sees fit to recommend it or not. ——ree Gandhi has succeeded in creating a large amount of violent discontent without calling in any' professional Communists to assist, ——ee ‘The dial system leaves the subscriber who gives himself the wrong number without an audience and compels him to register suppressed emotion, o Gangsters, fearful of attack by their own fellows, sometimes prefer a peni- tentiary to freedom, but not the Ohio State Penitentiary. —ee When President Hoover goes fishing nowadays, there is less interest in the number of fish he catches than in the new ideas he may be able to figure out. ———————_ Scattering mos one method of relieving unemployment always likely to create doubt in the | treat them. m.mfl’cfluw minds of economists. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. In the Attic. Up in the attic are friends good and true; The authors whose storles seem sud- denly new Since they look on the world as a kindly display ‘Where folks fell in love in the old- fashioned way. And the photographs there are so quaint yet so fair; Of Uncle, and Aunt with her hand on his chair. The dress that she wore reached 'way down to the floor, Not at all like the garments now sold in the store. Soupwmntmi;lnmllycllmb ‘Where the cobwebs spin storles of “once on a lime.” And a fond glow of pleasure through ‘memory extends, As again I am greeting my old-fashion- ed friends. Wealth and Leisure. “Wealth does not necessarily bring leisure.” “True enough,” answered Senatqr Sorghum; “a man who has accumulated a fortune that would enable him to live at ease is more than likely to get himself all fretted up about politics.” Jud Tunkins says maybe women made a mistake in proving they could do a man’s work. The first thing they know, the men will be sittin’ back and lettin’ ‘em do it. More io Come, A grave completion we will view Of spme discussion vexed. Yet time is like the barber who Is sure to holler “Next!" Scenery. “Do you select a road on account of its beauty? “Oh, yes!” answered Mr. Chuggins. “There's a particular route my wife and I always prefer, because we think it has Egypt, India and Britaif. Endless are the burdens and woes of empire, especially of an empire on which the sun never sets. While Brit- ain faces the supreme crisis of her in- terimperial destinies in India, her diffi- culties in Egypt have assumed sudd¢n gravity because of the breakdown of the | evacuation conference at London. For Southey. The. four moderns of the|many weeks the government has beeft T include two of immortal fame |engaged in negotiations with an Egyp- d two whose names will soon be for- | tian delegation, headed by Premier the former being Wordsworth | Nahas Pasha, which it was hoped would Tennyson, end the latter Austin fresult in a mutually agreeable readjust- d Bridges. ) ment of Anglo-Egyptian relations, i LD, mergau now has its publicity experts. M prettiest cigarette advertisements in the world.” “To be idle,” said Hi Ho, the sage of | ;{éfi! Chinatown, “is to be left to the merci- less tyranny of your own thoughts.” \ The Submerging Merger. The merger's way is sure, though slow. From a small urn the wealth will flow BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. The dandelions, having given their yellow flowers to the world, recently reached the nuisance stage. ‘The lawns at Jack Spratt Parm were covered with the seed heads, white, plumose, ready at the first touch of wind, rain or other force to scatter millions of winged seeds far and wide. We know one bank where these silvery globes lay so thick that it was almost a fairy sight, if one could get out of his head the idea of the Iuture crops of pernicious dandelion weeds. In the early Spring the dandelion is a flower, delightfully yellow, adding its beauty to the first of the tulips. Then it turns itself into a weed, so small is the distance between laughter and tears, speaking from a horticultural standpoint. | * ok Kk K No gardener need despair, however, because of dandelions. He may as well admit to himself, first and last, that there is no way of com- pletely eradicating them, because there is nd way of controlling the way others Neighbors who refuse to worry over dandelions or permit them to go to seed indiscriminately thereby broadcast mil- lions of seeds. ‘These neighbors need not be, im- mediate, but may be miles away, for the bit of fluT hitched to the seed enables it to fly successfully for long distances. Thus the dandelions which grew in your front yard this Sgring may have come from away across ity o Children constitute the first line of defense against these flower-weeds. ‘They are always, picking. them, and every flower which titey bear to school means several hundred less dandelion plants next year. Home pulling of the flowers is the next best defense; after this there is little to do except keep the sprawling leaves pulled off. » "This is something of a task, no doubt, but it is the best way to handle them. Digging out the taproot is a nuisance and often.leaves a hole in the lawn; more often than not the plant is not killed even then. Careful extirpation of the leaves sev- ecral times during the Summer will pup the dandelions out of business as far as the appearance of the lawn is con- cerned. It is best to sow grass seed around where the leaves are pulled out. It must not be forgotten that grass, too, is a| weed; given a chance, it can crowd out even a dandelion. ’ L ‘There is a great deal too much pother about weeds. After all, weeds are plants, plants with more vitality than most cultivated species possess. One ought never to forget this when discussing them. In the battle for survival the weeds are winners. Any place where they can get a toe-hold is their home, Even a crevice in a wall, where a spoonful of soil has blown in, offers a true weed a foothold. We have seen them growing in cracks between boards, feeding upon sunshine, air and whatever food there may be in w * ok ok % ‘The true gardener, therefore, must have a sneaking admiration for the weeds, many of which are really beau- tiful plants. Ordinary dock may grow admirably in a corner, offering as much beauty as a more formal plant. ‘Vacant lots covered with weeds often are beauty spots, -though in a wild manner. There is one species which bears a purple flower which adds much to the beauty of many a city landscape. The so-called weed offers an inter- esting study. A correspondent of this column once sent in a list of some 20 weeds observed in a single block on the main street of a Virginia town. * ok x % Prof. Liberty . Bailey of Corneil de- fined, therefors, a weed %s “a plant that is not wanted,” and added: “There are no species of weeds, for a plant that is a weed one place may not be in another.” Plants which prove injurious to other plants, or noxious to human beings in one way or another, are called weeds, Just as chlidren who annoy the neigh- bors are called by them ‘‘brats” A weed is no weed if it isn't so to you. Gardenets owe it to ‘heir art to call no plant a weed. Each one, for itself, is an interesting study. Consider the buttersup. Here is a bright little fellow in the grass, univer- sally loved by children ana their elders who have sense, and yet every one has heard some sad soul inveigh against it on the ground that it is a “weed.” & * ok % % Nothing 18 a weed, of nothing a flower, but thinking makes it so. Thus once again the human mind is in the ascendancy. By being interested in the so-called %veeds the gardener takes the sting out of them. He must have problems to deal with, else his garden is Paradise, and he has arrived out of season. ‘Those living on the borders of Rock Creek Park must contend with rabbits, which in a single night can consume all of cne's choicest new perennials set out but yesterday. Growl as one will over the bunnies, they are there, and there is nothing to do but deal with them intelligently, Weeds are stationary rabbits, threat- ening to devour the patrimony of the flowers. ‘The gardener, because he wants to save his flowers, does not thereby frown upon the weeds. He finds them inter- esting creations, too, some beautiful in their way, and he weeds them out (as the phrase has it), but without malice toward them. * ok V% A kindly feeling toward weeds, one may submit, is better than an ill feeling. No one can say exactly how far back in the mind or how deep, into the heart such feelings extend, even though exerted only in regard to weeds. The wise gardener will never sully his heart by cursing a weed. ‘Weeds are not to be “bawled out,” but to be extirpated, or, better, kept under control by pulling off their leaves. Even a weed can’'t do much without leaves. ‘The philosophieal gardener is he who accepts flowers and weeds as one and the same thing, but who for various reasons may not want as many of the latter as of the former. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he, and as he looks upon weeds, so will his garden be. McCormick Campaign Fund i Mrs. McCormick’s expenditure of a T:mer of a million dollars in winning e Republican nomination for United| e: t States Senator from Illinois is a storm center of political discussion. Her place 88 a representative of the woman voters of the country is a feature of the dis- cussion. She is upheld and condemned for the large expenditure. 4 “Can’t a lady spend her money as she wants to, and if she is a very rich lady and wants to spend it on a sena- torship, what is the limit of good taste in expenditures?” asks the Charléston Evening Post, with the added advice: “Let the Senate committee or the Sen- ate itself set up a high-water mark for campaign expenses, and then ladies and len‘uemen will have something to go ‘“The Senate, of course, will have to be guided by some considerations of sex and gallantry,” thinks the Seattle Daily ‘Times, and the Wheeling Intelligencer, agreeing that “a great deal of money must be spent,” offers the query: “What will the Senate do with the first real lady who has in a primary contest ob- tained a nomination for the Senate?” * ok kK “Laws enacted to prevent expendi- tures of vast amounts of money in a senatorial campaign, according to the Birmingham News, “were, ‘as they still are, directed against men, only., These laws have mot included, any more than they now include, women thin the scope -of their - operation. Every one with a sense of humor, 1o say naught of a sense of chivalry, should know that this is true. * * * We hope that Mrs. McCormick is pleased with her latest decoration. To inquire how much it cost her would, fn our judgment, be as irrelevant and as impertinent as it would be to ask some perfectly charm- ing granddame at Washington on her way to St. John's on Easter morning how much her Easter hat or Easter gown had set back her husband. * * If a woman is to be restricted in this country in her expenditures, no matter what the money may be spent for—en- lightened public opinion will insist that lnfllgndence Hall be razed and a bon- fire made of the immortal Declara- tion adopted there, to sdy naught of the' deletion of one line at least in Francis Scott Key’s movying verses.” “It would be unfortunate for the causes for which women have stood in obtaining their suffrage rights if Mrs. McCormick should run into serious trouble due to her primary expenses,” in the opinion of the Flint Daily Jour- nal. The Chanrlotte Observer finds “it is not difficult to recall that the Senate passed a resolution of censure upon former Senator Truman H. Newberry of Michigan for spending a mere $195,- 000 on his campaign. What will that august body do with a woman?” asks the Observer. | % “Altogether, this quarter-miNion cam- paign investment, as a starter,” says the Louisville Courier-Journal, “does not seem to promise exalting inspiration to the champions of the cause of Woman, with a capital W, in ‘sex’ politics, Cer- tainly the National League of Women Voters would make an investigation of its own before acclaiming Mrs. McCor- mick as an eminent follower of its ad- mirable teachings.” “The ‘triumph of woman’ ip the nom- ination to the Senate loses something of its luster in this revelation that the privilege of voting for a woman had to cost $250,000,” avers the Milwaukee Journal, with the added comment: “No light and leading appeared in the cam- paijgn of Ruth Hanna MecCormick— nothing of what those hopeful voters look for who pray for an abler and a nobler Senate. Big Bill, Thompson's forces In Chicago flocked to her support, certain downstate political * celeb- added themselves to her ranks. Now eveh this smudgy picture is dark- ened by the shocking revelation of & quarter million dollars spent in the| would process of ecquiring a nomination to the Senate.” “The outlook for improved politics since women secured the right to vote is far frcm encouraging, in Illinois at Into a lasger pitcher. And all through history we see However rich a man may be, There’s always some one richer, “*Tain’ much use tellin’ a friend not | to gamble,” said Uncle Eben. “If he's a_winner he won't believe you, and if he's & loses e Jmows it ik least,” says the Lynchburg Advance, with the further comment that “the time seems fo be approaching when seats in the Senate from certain States will go to those ,who have the largest Ppocketbooks.” Bognss. S0 “Whatever may be thought ':: ark Evening ! large L and_men | Do Is Attacked and Defended mick's favor that she didn't try to hide them. It is not so much the amount xpended as the uncertainty over hid- den contributions and their source that voters disapprove.” The New York Eve- ning Post comments: “Nothing with this detall and this appearance of hon- est completeness has so far been put into the records of ‘our long hunt after campaign fund facts. It becomes clearer that Mrs. McCormick has resolutely kept and offered her record for the very purpose of bringing reality and constructive action into this twilight zone of political methods.” The Appleton Post-Crescent “has no doubt that Mrs. McCormick spent every dollar honestly.” The Salt Lake Des- eret News believes “the sums named are | not larger than some aspirants would be willing to dispense if they only had the means to do it,” and emphasizes the fact that “Illinois is a big State, and it takes a lot of money to go around for even the modest and legitimate ex- penses.” . “No satisfactory formula for the reg- ulation of campaign expenditures has as yet been devised,” declares the Phila- delphia Evening Bulletin, adding: “Legislation may attempt strictly to define what are legitimate expenditures, regulate and restrict collections and provide for constant publicity as to th. That seems about as far as it can usefully go.” The South Bend ‘Tribune remarks: “Mrs. McCormick's $252,572 is gigantic in comparison with the Senator's $24,495.. This, however, is a surface comparison. A just com- parison mast include the cash value of the patronage controlled by a United States Senator. In that Senator De- neen had a tremendous advantage.” Belief on-the part of the public that there should be a limit to such expend- itures -is recognized by the Atlanta Journal, the Buffalo Evening News and the Muskegon Chronicle. Condemna- » |tion of Mrs. McCormick’s expenditure is expressed by the Charlotte News, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Akron Beacon- Journal, St. Paul Dispatch, Worcester Evening Gazette, New Orleans Times- Picayune, Fort Worth Record-Telegram and Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Pleas for the rights of candidates Who have no wealth are made by the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, the Scranton Times, the Detroit News, the Waterloo ‘Tribune and the Zanesville Signal. ‘The Oakland Tribune concludes: “If all that has been said concerning what won her the nomination to the Senate is true, Ruth Hanna McCormick has needlessly spent a quarter of a million dollars. That amount, she admits. was given out of her own pocket for the campalgn in Illinois, and she still must face an election fight against the Democratic nominee, J. Hamilton Lewis. It has been said in large type that opposition to the World Court won the day for Mrs. McCormick. If so, the quarter of a million dollars was wasted.” Mother of Family Raps Daylight-Saving Law To the Editor of The Star: May I have just a little space in your paper to make a reply to the person who writes for daylight savings? 1 am a mother of four children, with a husband who has to make a living for his family. I now have to awaken and have hini his breakfast and pack his lunch and see him off by 4 o’clock in the morning. Then my children have to have their breakfast and be made ready then for school. Lunch next, and a'yard full of washing to'put out. Mending and endless jobs; supper or dinner, as yoi may call it. Then the children to be put to bed. I now have a few restful moments. If this abo; nable “daylight saving” were observed I have to get up and see my hus- band off by 3 o'clock. It's well enough for the idle folks, as they can remain in bed all day and have an auto ride " Trising i to g never come . PP SN Not That Small! From the Pittsburgh Post-Gatette. It is now ilk to trans) feathered b A e L e & PO PN | THE LIBRARY TABLE vn, the Booklover Dr. John C. Merriam, president of the Carnegie Institution of Washing- ton, the story-teller’s.art as well as the erudition of the scientist. His new book, “The Living Past,” is a collection of absorbing short stories, mystery stories, each revealing some re- cent discovery of scientific significance. There are 3even of them and the titles have the suggestiveness which stimu- lates a desire to read: “The Meaning of a Fragment,”. “Pools That Reflect the Past,” “The Story of a Leaf.” “A Living Link in History,” “An Abyss in Time,” “Footprints on the Path of History,” “Are the Days of Creation Ended?” Tllustrations are from photo- §Tepis by the author. Dr. Merviam says in his introductfon that “the chap- ters of this book are mainly episodes selected because of their touch with especially _significant aspects of the problem of life history.” The life his- tory studied is that discovered by the geologist and it is as complex-and mar- velous as anything which science dis- closes. “In the geological record, from which. this history is read,” says Dr. Merrfani, “o::e secs time and changt in operation as_in no other "phase of knowledge. Inevitably in their con- templation inquiry arises as to the ele- ment of continuity through these events in history, and regarding’ the nature and trend of the movements repre- sented.” * K K K The verification of an Indian legend often told to the author forms the story of “The Meaning of a Fragment.” The legend was that three Indian maidens, searching for a magic pool, “came to a pit with sloping borders. As they ap- proached the entrance, one slipped on the moist rock. The others tried to save her, but she féll screaming into | the darkness. They heard her ‘strike and strike again, and all was still’” Between one and {wo hundred years after the tragedy narrated in the legend, Dr. Merriam and fellow scien- | tists came to the cave and explored it, in search of prehistoric remain® De- scending by a rope ladder, they found, among skeletons of mountain lions, deer, porcupines, foxes, bears, and ox- like animals, “a delicate human skele- ton that lay huddled in a dark heap. The body had not moved from the spot where the girl crashed against the solid stone immediately under the opening.” During later explorations, among the bones on the floor of the cave, a fragment of a human tooth was found. “Instantly this fragment raised question whether man had been present. at the time the ground-sloth and other animals now extinct inhabited this region. Upon this fragment centered the critical inquiry of our whole pro- gram of research.” With another pos- sibility in mind, Dr. Merriam climbed over the rocks to the place where lay the skeleton of the Indian maiden. “With the tooth in hand, the skull was i turned till the teeth were all in view. A portion of one was missing. The broken end of the fragment was brought into contact with the frac- tured tooth in the skull. The irregular ends touched and grated as their un- evennesses failed to match. A slight twist and the surfaces seemed to melt together. No smallest roughness held them apart. There could be no doubt that they belonged together. * * * High up on the wall was the sharp spine of rock projecting below the mouth of the pit and, looking up, as if the drama were being re-enacted, I seemed to see the falling figure strike in mid-air on that protruding point, a fr: t of tooth flew wide across the well—the body ‘struck again’ upon the floor, and ‘all was still.”” Could any Invented story be more dramatic than this true one? “Pools That Reflect the Past” tells of a swamp of asphalt, near the site of Los Angeles, in which various animals were caught and buried and in turn served as bait to entrap other animals. Many of the skeletons found in this swamp - were those of animals “no Jonger living anywhere on the earth.” “The Story of & Leaf” relates the find- ing of a Teal leaf of the gingko tree, not merely an impression, imbedded in a layer of rock in the Columbia Gorge. “A Living Link in History” takes us to the redwood forests of Northern Cali- fornia, where, near Calistoga, “in the solid rock forming commanding hills there lie remains of many massive trees differing little, if at all, from redwoods growing on slopes nearby. They are now trees of stone, but in all details of minutiae of the cells composing them, they are redwoods.” The chapter “Foot- prints on the Path of History” is an account of strange footprints “on ancient sand layers which form a part of the walls of the Grand Canyon.” Here were found tracks of horses, wolves, large cats, birds and an ele- phant, as well as those of a large, ex- tinct, slothlike animal. A wonderful record of the distant past! * Kok % A hopeful view of the probable emer- gence of education from, the captivity of medieval tradition is sustained in “The Awakening College,” by Clarence Cook Little, former president of the Univer- sity of Michigan. Some of the faults of the existing system of higher educa- tion in the United States are the stress- ing of research work by members of college facuities, with consequent slight- ing of the teaching function (which is what chiefly concerns the student); mechanical methods of entrance exam- ination; overstandardized curriculum; the existence of snobbish fraternities, permitted by college authorities; artifi- clally stimulated intercollegiate ath- letics; the sometimes dictatorial influ- ence of alumni, and political influences in colleges and universities. The signs of progress are, howevef, numerous. Some of them are the efforts to develop an entrance requirement method which shall embrace “a measure of the stu- dent’s emotional maturity and balance; a measure of his general mental abilit) and of his particular aptitudes;” liberal. izing the curriculum so that a really useful and cultural education may be obtained; curtailing the arbitrary power of the dean; student committees to con- trol the enforcement of necessary regu- lations (presumably after faculty com- mittees have failed), and the making of college athletics more recreational and truly amateur. R Not as spectacular as Henry Ford, yet as important a figure in American busi- ness and invention, George Eastman has led a life of practical romance. His biography, “George Eastman,” by Carl W. Ackerman, tells of what heredity probably did for him. His father, descendans of English colonial anges- tors, founded Eastman's Commagelal College in Rochester, N. Y. but died shortly after, before he had been able to make the family fortunes secure. long struggle followed for Mrs. Eastman and her children. George began work- ing before he was 14, with an insurance agent, at $3 a week. As soon as he earned, he saved; and as soon as he saved, he bought photographs. In 1877 he took some lessons in the photo- graphic art, then in its crude early stage. In 1879 he received his first English patent for improved photo- graphic plates and in 1880 his first ‘American patent. Many other inven- tions followed and in 1896 Eastman marketed his 100,000th kodak. Inven- tive genius and wealth are not the only things which the name of George East- man suggests. Philanthropy, education, the arts, civic community activity, and exploration are all associated with his name. * K K ¥ imes during the meetings of "‘"nyrscz International Congress : of Mental Hygiene, held in Washington during the past week, attention has been - ind That Found Itself” | Cock: TR First published | accord Clifford 'W. Beers. E 1908, this book is the autobiography form and structure, even to microscopic | to - ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS . . BY FREDERI Take advantage o‘!h.\‘-hil free e pa the bureau, ;‘flh us have never used Serv- :c.e‘,mt;eg}.;’g:w. It is maintained for benefit. Be sure to send gwl‘l‘;e and address with your for return postage. Address the Eve- ning Star Information Bureau, J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. Q. Do radio tubes deteriorate when the radio is not in use?>—S. N. A. Radio tubes do not deteriorate while the current is not passing through them. Q. “How long have cross-word puzzles been popular?>—H. F. G. A._ Puzzles similar to the cross-word puzzles were known to the ancients. What is believed by some authorities to speech. be the oldest cross-word puzale was made by a Cretan about 2,000 years ago, a copy of which now lies in the arch ological museum at Johns Hopkins Uni- versity, Baltimore. This puzzsle is called the “Phaestus disk,” and was found on the Island or Crete by an expedition many years ago. According to the New York Evening World, the first genuine cross-word puzzle of the modern type was gomposed by Arthur Winn, and ap- peared in a supplement of the Sunday ‘World on December 21, 1913. The out- break .of the World War arrested the cross-word puzzle craze temporarily, but it was revived as a feature in the ‘World in“3916. Q. What are chain stores called in England?—E. H. W, A. Chain stores are known as the muitiple shop system. ~They came into existence at the end of the nineteenth century. The first were the “tied houses” of many brewing firms, which secured ownership of lease of beer houses and other licensed premises to have markets for their output. e W. L. C A. Both knife and fork are neces- sary with a club sandwich. It usually is served with wooden pins holding the sections together. The pins should be removed ‘and the sections separated. Portions are then cut with knife and conveyed to the mouth with the fork. 5 Q. When was the Taj Mahal built?— . . A. This mausoleum, which was com- pleted' in 1650, consists of a domed square whitc marble building raised on a terrace, from the corners of which rise. four slim white minarets. The whole is set. in an exquisite garden surrounded by @ wall, a gate and a mosque. being the subsidiary elements in its compesition. ? May it be taken -apart?— cQ in its pouch?—P. A. - A. The pocket her has cheek pouches which do not.communi-. cate with the mouth and are ‘lined on the inside with fur. The gopher uses these pouches not for carrying dirt but for the conveyance of food supplies. Q. Who founded the town of Gettys- burg, Pa.?—H. D. A. It was founded by Gen. James Gettys. It was laid out in 1790, made the county seat of Adams County in luml)wlnd was incorporated as a borough n 3 Q. How many acre feet of water does the Elephant Butte Dam hold?—P. R. T. ‘ At It holds a volume of 2,638,000 acre eet. Q. Is it proper for a guest to tip the Highlights on t How should a' club sandwich bei Does ‘& pocket gopher carry dirt| S C J. HASKIN. mlnu"r of a family that he is visiting A" Tt s customary for a make ing a visit of two days or more to give tips to all the servants. In some mod- ern heuseholds the wages of servants , | are increased by an agreed per cent for each guest. Q. How should red jasper and petrie fied wood Be polished?—C. E. B. A. They are polished by laps, using carborundum as an abrasive. Tin oxide lprlied' on a felt lap makes a higher polish. . Q. Is there a Protestant association which has the same object as the Catholic Holy Name Soclety?—M. B. N. There is a new organization among Protestants, Hallowed Name League, with the same purpose—the en- couragement of pure and reverent Q. Is work going forward on the railroad through Chile across the Andes?—H. M. H. A. The Pan-American Union says construction work on the railroad be- tween Salta, Argentina, and the Chilean Longitudinal Railway was suspended some months ago,, It is not known when funds will be available for resuming the ‘work. Q. When did Antonius Stradivarius live?—I. W. A. This great violin maker was born at Cremona, Italy. about 1644, and died there in December, 1737. Q. Do Eskimos have a common lan- guage?—T. W, B. A. Eskimos are scattered through Greenland, Canada, Alaska and Siberia to the number of about 32,000, all of whom speak the same stock language, using the same stem words and affixes, ‘The chief characteristic of the language is that single words of complex struc- ture are used to express ideas that in English would be conveyed by a whole sentence. : Why, do -s0 _many people have fl’g ,Kcnl louses and other foot troubles? A. ‘The majority of foot troubles come from shoes Which do not, it props erly. . | Q. What part of a plane is called the “em A. The empennage is the arranges ment of stabilizing planes fixed at the stern of a -dirigible, and functions as feathers do on an arrow; also a fixed stabilizing tail on an airplane. Q. What is the record size for a dahlia?>—B. T. B, A, It is said that the largest dahlia yet-recorded is a Fott Monmouth, 15 inches across. At the last Englew (N. J.) show three Fort Monmouth blooms came in first, second and third or size. The first, mentioned above; the second, 15 inches, and the third, 1415 inches. Q.. What Memorial R. O. W. t is the différence between day and .Decoration day?— [ The terms are used interchanges They refer to the same day. Q. What happened to the test rocket yhllc‘h Dr. Goddard_shot into the air?— A. A working model, rojectile 9 feet long and 21, feet.. 5 meter, sheathed in aluminum, ““up the 60-foot shaft skyward with speed. The performance con the scientists who m:l}:.?e-ed it that a larger mechanism flm{ lore the unknown. air regiohs al ::p the earth. In this test a camera, a barom- eter and the mechanism came down to earth by parachute uninjured. he Wide World A, ably. Excerpts From Newspapers of Other Lands ruling for potatoes and the d\mc'u“.{ of disposing of them even at low figures, many grow- ars wondeL what cfi&a wu:lpect their crops. lh%te very little pre of the market becoming more lively, and as 30 5 shillings per ton is totally unre- munerative to the farmers, the only al- fi‘muve it! to ufimne at l:l:at lons o; e crop to make good the shortage o foodstuffs in other directions. It is unfortunate that very few re- liable experiments have been carried out in the feeding of raw potatoes to ORK COUNTY EXAMINER, ( : Cork.—With the low prices now practical feeders that pounds of raw potatoes fed to pigs in suitable rations are equivalent to about 1 pound of barley meal. It has been proved by experiment in feeding pota- toes to dairy and fattening cattle that 4 pounds of potatoes are equal about 10 pounds of roots. Clean raw potatoes are eaten readily by cows, but cannot be fed in excess without ry. Not more than 15 pounds should be fed dally to dairy cattle and not more than 20 pounds to fattening cattle. When cattle or pigs are fed potatoes in the portions cited, supplementary feedings of barley meal, crushed oats, nut cake, potlard and skimmed milk must accompi Also as much hay as the cattle. any the toe: they wfllpe.::mr In every case the potatoes must be |- sound and clean, and steamed or botled are better. £ Yol * k ® % Diamond Cutter Employers Set Working Day. Le Soir, Brussels.—The employers’ syndicate of diamond cutters met at Antwerp to inaugurate a 12-day closing of the cutting . establishments. M. I':.!Euhutz asserted that the action is en by agreement of the proprietors of the shops and the workers. Of 30,000 diamond cutters in ‘the organization’s employ not.more than one-half of 1 per eent objected to these drastic meas- ures, as they know the condition of the diamond market demands radical ac- tion. One employer only was fined for an infraction of the rules of the syndi- cate. He was penalized 5,000 francs. Another member of the syndicate, who was employing men at the rate of 300 francs per week, was expelled. At Amsterdant the cutters have been working but 3 days out of . In France, particularly in the Department of Jura, they do not work more than 24 hours in the same In Germany the shutdown is com- plete. The ,agreement between the im- porters of the rough diamond and the diamond cutters is that they are not to A work any more than enough to.supply demand. The demand is strictly neg. ligible. However, the American market seefns to be waking up. Several large orders have been placed with Amsterdam and Antwerp concerns by American and Italian dealers. / * ok ok ok Denounces Bull and Cock Fights. El Dictaman, Vera Cruz—Vigorously prosecuting his anti-bull and cock fight. campaign, Deputy Senor Sotelo has freshly denounced these spectacles as infringements of the penal code, not only in that such combats are strictly forbidden ac to law, in the fed- eral district, where! City of Mex- ico is situated, but the federal code erative in the entire country p: its exhibi er- ever arra the attendance at tions, wh 15 “This p T coverad by age of . article 541 of the national A hts are absolutely ted but, even Wg enactment of the present prohibif of Mr. ‘Beers, in which he tells of his | statute, petting at cockpits and the use f mishandling, which was|of artificial °m'c‘§2°§§m°mn lot of asylum patients, | companiments of these then This book and the organizing work of | tactes that were Mr. Beers have been the largest influ- gafls and spurs were ac. spec. ned by law. Senor Sotelo to0, that boxing ences in the mental hygiene movement, | matches should come under the ban, or rown to the point |at least that persons under 18 e e e oether representatives Burved whe tries in an international con- ‘i’m ‘book is interest- !nll.: the same as the n from' pugilistic contests are in Sp 1916, but no concerted movement has ever been made heretofore to enforce it. * ok ok K Russia Only Leads Scotland in Use of “Cat.” Evening Times, Glasgow.—The “eat” as-used in this country is second only to the Russian “knout.” This “cat o’ nine tails” is a whip co: nine knotted cords, and the pi administ from that inflicted by the Russian in- strument. The prisoner due for the | Dpigs, but it is the general opinion of |m: 'irgud the of prisoners’ view, where he finds the doctor, the governor and various other officials present. After being &l:ced against a stout wooden triangle, feet are pinioned and hands tied above his head. The warder, to| Who generally receives extra ‘r-y for his unpleasant task, is then told by the governor to carry out the sentence. Prior to this the man is examined by the doctor, whose word is final as to his physical condition. Half the lashes nerally given at the beginning at the conclusion of a prison * ok ok ok Plan Solution. are and Holds Y 1s'Not Final C e Gazette.—We do not share the ? ism of the foreign press that the Young plan is the final solution of the much-vexed problem of reparation payments. It may be a better plan than the Dawes plan, if it permits the father- land, at an early date, to regain all the territory that has been occupied by for- eign powers, and thus, by giving us bet- ter control and larger exploitation of our own resources, enables Germany to increase her ability to pay; but it is our belief that the Young plan is but another forward stride in the direction of the ultimate solution of the repara= tions question, and that eventually it, too, 1 be subjected to a revision that will make the nature and scope of these payments more fair to Germany. (Like evious treaties and arrangements, the ‘oung plan is based re upon the financial difficulties and necessities of the foreign powers than it is upon Ger- msn{"t ability to pay, however willing she is to comply with every inexorable demand that is made upon her, ¢ ok ok Kk Millions Worship At Shrine Dedicated to Luck. North China Standarw. Ptgwn 3 many as a million !mnpu av shiped at the Ebisu e at Imamiya, Osaka, Japan, dedicated to the Divi of Luck, during the three-day festival of the shrine, in January. On first night there were, about 250,000 visitors and on the second day the worshipers numbered 700,000. Osaise (the mone- tary offerings thrown into a huge casket at the door of the shrine by visitors) amounted to about 150,000 ven, being larger than last year, because the fes- tival was favored with fine weather, The shrine priests also gained about 20,000 Yen ($10,000) by the issue talismans. (1 yen equals 49.8 cents.) N ,éhrmnu Cakes Still on Sale in Santiago.