Evening Star Newspaper, June 8, 1930, Page 29

AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS LABOR TO 1Toil Indefatigably CHART SKIES to Tag Stars Wan- dering in Firmament as They I o W BY GEORGE W. GRAY. ‘ RIGHT star, steadfast as thou art,” sang John Keats in his last sonnet. i does, and a stickler for facts ‘tnight remark that the force of the poet’s apostrophe depends upon which star he s addressing. For there are several moticeable orbs which are by no means *steadfast.” The precious North star, for example, long hailed as the em- bodiment of constancy; the red giant Mira, the wonderful; Algol, the Arabs’' demon star, and Betelguese, the brilliant shoulder point of Orion—all are incon- stant luminaries, blinking stars; or, as the astronomers more elegantly label them, variables. And they are but a quartet among thousands such that &re known to the sky explorers. By sky expiorers I do not mean «Mmerely ‘the astrophysicists, celestial mechanicians and other professional stu- dents of the heavens. 1 am thinking, + rather, of a cerlain young man in an ©Ohio town; he works by day as stock clerk in an automobile shop and by night as an observer of variable stars. I am thinking of a veteran insurance broker who recently retired from active business in Boston, to take his 4-inch telescope to a quiet farm in the New Hampshire mountains: from there he continues to send carefully tabulated Teports of his variable star observations. And T recall, too, the employe in a Government bureau in Washington, the cancer specialist in New York, the high- school boy in Michigan, the clergyman and his wife in Massachusetts, the loco- motive engineer who until recently ted the fast express out of Pitts- _burgh, the school teacher in Texas, the two ters in California, the house- . wife in Nantucket, the newspaper pub- lisher in Connecticut, the court reporter in New York, the commercial photog- rapher in Brooklyn, the street lamp in- spector in Somerville, Mass.—men and ‘women of a score of vocations, but all ne in their avocation; this absorbing terest in variable stars. They are banded together in the American Association of Variable Star Observers, 300 strong, a world-wide. | gnternational fraternity of astronomical muun—m-, in spite of its American e, the association has members in 24 nations. The are meeting in reunion and conference next Saturday in old Nantucket town—as many of the 300 as can make the pilgrimage. 4 Memorial to Famous Amateur. Pl e “Thls Bethering of St fovers for ga g _of star loves tian the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Ob- . servatory, where their sessions will be held; for the observatory is a memorial to a famous amateur, established and maintained by devotees, who, like Maria Mitchell herself, watch the stars for the fun of it. She began in childhood, picking out. familiar constellations from the garden of the old house at 1 Vestal street, where she was born in 1818. Her father, the village schoolmaster, a de- vout Quaker and self-taught astrono- | mer, cted his daughter in the rudiments of ‘star lore. At the age of 13 she was his assistant in observing a solar eclipse, and these and other ob- servations were . instrumental in fixing mmfltude of the Mitchell house, Wi the schoolmaster rated chronom- eters for ships of the whaling fleet and—without benefit of cable or radio— set them c":l Gx;edhw\ch nmeé xsuch pre- cision inculca a respect for accu- Tacy in the mind of the astronomical daugister. ‘When she was 18 Maria was ap- pointed librarian of the village Atha- neum. The roof of the Athaneum be- eame her observatory. Sometimes she spent most of the night there, watch- 4ng the heavens, and in 1847 she dis- covered a telescopic comet. A few years earlier the Iing of Denmark had of- ‘fered a gold medal to discoverers of these faint objects, and now suddenly the librarian of into world prominence as the first American winner of this international| ard. 5 Mitchell's comet was quite as icelebrated in its day as Planet 9 has been in ours, and it brought its dis-/ election to the American Acad- mm and Sciences. She was the first woman in this roster of American immortals. She received honorary de- grees from Hanover College, Rutgers and Columbia. She toured Europe, visited famous observatories, and on her re turn was presented with a 5-inch tele- scope on behalf of the women of Amer- jca. In 1865 Vassar College appointed her to its professorship of astronomy, and thus the little girl who had helped her father to time an eclipse became America’s first professional woman in wstronomy—the ancestress of that dis-| line of women who have| added much to the annals of the science | _#n this country. Feel Unspoken Kinship. ‘Maria Mitchell herself was not a vari- | able star observer. Indeed, she died in + 1889, just as science was beginning to the value of stellar varia- tion. But still, we believe, the variable star observers are on home ground in Maria’s ancient. garden, and will feel fan unspoken kinship as they peer through her venerable 5-inch glass next | Baturday night. They will feel at home| and akin because the Nantucket maid | ‘was the sort of amateur that variables seem to attract—her ;enlh pcfl!{::! and painstaking care for detail are the very| stuff of which variable star observers mre made. But why, you may ask, why, in this| world so full of a number of things, should any one be interested in variable | 2 4Their attraction is perhaps not so obvious as that which draws crowds to the movie palaces. The compensation | 18 of a more subtle coin than that which apuses some to spend most of a lifetime ‘watching the stock exchange. What is it, then? Why, after a few excited glimpses to sate one's curiosity, why watch the stars? * " Ask that of the watchers themselves. Ask David Pickering, for example, &/ man who, every variable star observer| will instantly grant, is an outstanding example of the sort of person who goes 4n for their sort of interest. David Pickering lives in East Orange, N. J. He was vice president of a large ‘wholesale jewelry manufactory in New- ark, an active and successful business man. And yet, at the age of 52, when most successful business mien are just | entering their prime and regard their t success as ahead, Mr. Pickering | ed his vice presidency, disposed of his business interests and retired to , the tiny observatory which he built ago on the roof of his suburban Dl'!.hh. Series of Master Charts. Recently I was lunching with Mr. Pickering. He had just returned from & Winter in Florida, and was bubbling with talk of the things that had inter- him in his trip—talk of a mopu- mental set of star charts which he is | drafting as a series of master charts for the association, talk of a $100,000 ment fund which is being pushed ' ANe assoelation, talk of a chap in | Ftaly Who is sending the association more valuable star reports than any other observer. But—the Florida Keys, Miami Beach, Cocoanut Grove? “Oh, that reminds me,” he resumed. *4t Cocoanut Grove I met a flour man- ufacturer :.qu::.;olt who l;lu a large Wigter es re. He has several ufleupu—«ane on the lawn, another in the house. But the most precious of all is & small reflector which he has mounted under a special dome. He the history of that telescope. was & boy of 17 he saved $75. He went to John fdmous telescope maker Nantucket was brought | g, Pursue Hobbies. burgh, and sai ‘What is the best I can get for $75? That's all the money I have, and I want a telescope.’ “Uncle John Brashear turned in and made the boy that reflector. The boy i* s millionaire now, and paid many ¢t | times 875 for each of his other tele- scopes, but I am sure that no amount of money could induce him to part with that first instrument. He is one of our members.” And then David Pickering hurried on with more news—his kind of Florida news. “Another of our members, a mer- chant of Atlanta, went to Miami on vacation. He brought a 5-inch tele- | scope. One night he set it up in a park in the middle of Miami and invited people to take a look. Soon he had a waiting line every night. He added a second telescope, then another and an- other, until he ‘had seven in all. He organized groups of star lovers as at- tendants at the telescopes. Then he invited Dr. Shapley of Harvard, Dr. Frost of Yerkes and other distinguished astronomers to come to Miami. He hired the Jargest. hall in town and put oo series of astronomical Jectures. veral thousan, rsons jamme; the hall for each lecture, and i omy became so live an interest that one of the newspapers instituted a daily column of astronomical items and re- quested the Atlanta merchant to supply the copy. He did. It is as fine a piece of educational work as anything I know.” Our friend and member died recently, but & group of kindred spirits are carrying on.” Star Gazing a Cult. There is this itch to show others, as well as to see the celestial wonders for oneself. Star gazing.is a cult—almost & religion—and therefore indefinable. But how does it start in the heart of :n"..n;}e xI;Izm does one get into_this reoceupation of keepil on the blinking stars? PaEm “Well” answered Mr. Pi “when I was a 13 ckestos, -year-old student in ;o.n:m:'l'l book, ‘Purkln ‘Weeks in As- v, came into my hands. I’ besn star struck ever sln}(;e. 7 I was 20 years old before T owned a telescope. It was only a spyglass, but to go out in the backyard and pick out the familiar orbs through the glass gave me a tremendous thrill. A few years later I bought a telescope mounted on a tripod. Later this second glass gave place to an instrument of 3!: inches aperture. I was out all hours of the night with this lens, and saw most of the grand sights of the heavens; the mountains of the moon, Saturn’s rings, Jupiter's satellities, the markings on Mars, the globular cluster fh Hercules, the Orion nebula, the great spiral in Al.lldxomedl. the beehive in Cancer® ‘Finally I reached the stage where mere. sightseeing began to pall. Every amateur comes to this eventually, and then, if his interest is really serious, he wonders if there is not some useful Wq‘rk that he can do with his telescope. In this state of mind I dropped in at the New York Public Library one day in the Summer of 1914, to look through the astronomical journals. I had familiarized myself with the names of the leading astronomers and observa- tories, but I was awed by their great- ness and shrank from writing for their advice. That day in the library I chanced to see a mention of amateurs who had organized as variable star ob- servers. ~ That looked promising. I made inquiry and learned that the mov- ing spirit was William Tyler Olcott, an amateur astronomer of Norwich, Conn. I wrote to Mr. Olcott, told him my plight and asked if he thought I could be of any use as an observer, Response Prompt and Hospitable. “His response was prompt and hos- pitable. ‘You are already a member,’ he wrote, and inclosed charts of certain star fields and a list of variables. He also mentioned the name of a New York member of the association, Mr. .. W. Putnam, of the Putnam publish- ing firm. I called on Mr. Putnam at once. He invited me to lunch, and we sat long into the afternoon talking of the stars. It is the most ‘memorable day of my life—my first taste of the astronomical fellowship.” Mr. g was summering on the New Jersey shore at this time, and that July night he got out his 3!;-inch tele- scope, set it' up on the beach, laid out his star chart and went to work. “I decided to begin with SS-Cygni, which was described as one of the most interesting of the variables—a star which normally is of the twelfth mag- nitude, but which suddenly, about every Lwo months, rises to eighth magnitude. “Well, S8-Cygni gave me a chase. I worked four hours out there on the deserted beach before I found even its star field. Then, when I finally identi- fied the field, the star was at mini- mum brightness, and with my small telescope I could hardly see it. But I eventually found the star and was able to make a comparison of its bright- ness with that of neighboring stars, and so secured an observation and was able to fill in the report form—my first con- tribution to the science of astronomy.” ‘Today SS-Cygni is regarded, because of its irregularity, as perhaps the most challeriging of all the variable stars known. And whenever it is visible a chain of observers around the world watch and record its unpredictable pe- culiarities. ‘When David Pickering joined the Va- riable Star Observers in 1914, they were a loosely organized group of 23 persons who had been brought into co-operation by the leadership of Mr. Olcott, acting under the inspiration of the then di- rector of the Harvard College Observa- tory, Prof. Edward C. Pickering. (Prof. Pickering, I should explain at once, was not related to David Pickering, but the two became close friends and the great Harvard astrophysicist found in this en- thusiastic and loyal amateur one of his most powerful allies in recruiting ob- servers of variable stars.) Pickering Named First President. It was not until 1918 that the group formally incorporated and elected offi- cers. David Pickering was chosen the first president and served four years in that capacity. William Tyler Olcott was elect the first secretary and been kept in this key position ever since. Another veteran of the assocla- tion is J. E. G. Yalden of Leonia, N. J., principal-emeritus of the Baron de Hirsch Trade School in New York. Mr. Yalden’s proficiency in higher mathematics has made him especially valuable as director of some extra work the association assumed a few years ago, when Prof. E. W. Brown of Yale, find- ing discrepancies in the motions of the moon, appealed to the Variable Star Observers to add the moon to their list of interests. What Prof. Brown wanted was a series of nightly observations of lunar occultations—i. e., records of the exact moment when the moon eclipsed certain stars. Fifteen of the best math- ematical minds of the association were organized as a special committee on oc- cultations, under Mr. Yalden. In a re- cent report, Dr. Brown gave high praise to these volunteer watchers, whose ob- servations provided the fundamental data for his abstruse studies. Upon his election as director of the Harvard Observatory, following the death of Prof. Pickering a few years 2go, Dr. Harlow .Shapley assumed the former’s place as philosopher, guide and friend to the association. Undoubtedly much of the usefulness and vigor of this amateur organization is to be cred- ited to the understanding fellowship and the hearty co-operation of professional astronomers, of whom these two Har- vard directors are typical. About 20 per cent of the membership of the as- sociation is profession: rashear, | _You may wonder the importance of Pitts- (Contifiued on Fourth Page.) > the Newark Academy—this was in 1888 | THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON Von Hindenburg, the New President of Germany Casts Aside Old Monarchical Ideas to Become Leader for Peace BY WILLIAM LEON SMYSER. FIVE years.ago last month Gen< eralfeldmarschall von Hinden- burg took his oath as President of the German Republic. He suc- ceeded Ebert, a civilian and a Socialist. He himself was a soldier and a monarchist. It is not to be wondered that Germany's late enemies regarded the transfer of office with misgivings. A coalition of parties from the Right had nominated and elected the aged general. Fourteen and. @ half million voices had declared for him. While undoubtedly it was a matter of congratulation that the menace of rev- olution which had hovered for seven years over the reich should thus be dis- posed of with finality, it- was not alto- gether reassuring to see that the repre- sentative of conservatism now elected should not only be a standpatter, but a reactiopary. It was too much to expect the late commander of the imperial armies to sympathize very strongly with republicanism and democracy. It was too much to expect an officer who had engaged in the 1866 campaign and seen Prussia_assure for herself the annexa- tion of Schleswig-Holstein, and who hi engaged in the War of 1870 and seen German Emperor crowned monarch of reich which included the ancient Te: tonic provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, to abide by the dismemberment of Ve sailles. Hindenburg was known to re- 'sent the situation of East Prussia. As a militarist his attitude toward Germany's disarmament might well be imagined. His advent was taken as ominous. Has Disproved Pessimists. Five years after his reappearance, how- ever, one must admit that the pessi- mists were wrong. Former Gen. von Hindenburg has not been a sword rat- tler. It is significant that the first months of his administration were dig- nified with the Stresemann-Briand- Chamberlain Pact of Locarno and that the year saw Germany's entrance into the League of Nations. Hindenburg's administration has been dominated by the spirit of Locarno and Geneva rather than by that of Versailles—whether it be the Versailles of vainglorious Ger- many in 1871 or the Versailles of vin< dicative France in 1919. ‘The animosities of the peace treaties have been minimized by this old soldier. Personally he has not changed; he is still a Junker, a man of the Prussian army code, reserved, austere, self-dis- ciplined. But the energy which he threw into war during his engagements at Sadowa, at Sedan and at Tannen- berg he has known how to throw into peace. As Generalfeldmarschall he had chosen Ludendorfl as his counselor. As President he chese Stresemann. In the contrast between Ludendorff and Strese- mann one may see the contrast between the Hindenburg of pre-republican days and the Hindenburg of today. On one of the walls in the executive rooms of the Deutschnational Volks- partei there hangs a painting of the two | war leaders of the Western Front which | brings into high relief their essential characteristics. ‘Both are in uniform. Between them lies a with the fa-| miliar little pins and markings to indi- cate positions. Ludendorfl is leaning over, studying anxiously, his monocle to his eye, his lips compressed, his striking profile darkened. He is the personifica- tion of dynamic, self-willed intelligence. Hindenburg, the older man, is heavier, slower, apparently less energetic. Yet it is he who dominates the little tableau. He is leaning back in his chair, his eyes no longer on the map, but instead raised to the face of his associate in command. He has the air of one who has outlined his policy, found it good, and now sits back to await the other man’'s inevitable approval. Were the map & chess board, one might expect to_find thl:r;mml‘e labeled “Mate!” Ludendorff and Hindenburg played the game of war together to the end. ‘They were bound by a common com- mand and by a common responsibility, and in the last days of 1918 the fate PRESIDENT VON HINDENBURG, GERMA! PRCRNSN i - \*7 I LD NY'S “PAPA” JOFFRE. From a lithograph by Eric Pape. of the country rested in their hands. ‘With the abdication of the Kaiser, how- ever, their roles diverged. Hindenburg, who had been in retirement from active service long before the outbreak of hostilities in 1914, retired again to his farm in Hamover. His last act as a commander was perhaps his greatest. He led home the disheartened troops without allowing them to break ranks and maraud, without allowing the colors to droop or the fanfares to be silent. From the day of the armistice his chief 1;.a‘rzcn:cupn.lnn was with the morale, and is first task, upon establishing himsell once more in civil life in Hanover, was to write a sort of apologia, the Aus| Meinem Leben, in which he exhorts his countrymen not to despair, not to for- get that bright days must follow dark, and, above all, not to let the tools of | peace fall. He closes with an appeal to the young men of Germany. When he laid by the pen after having finished this book he must have felt that his life’s work was done. Ludendorff, on the other hand, threw himself into poltics with all the verve that he had hitherto shown in war. He combated the treaty of Versailles; he | combated the revolutionary parties of the Left. In this he was undoubtedly carrying out in action ideas which Paul von Hindenburg must tacitly have shared, yet as the years passed his ex- aggerated nationalism began to bring rebuff instead of success. He continued a policy of excess when moderation was in order. He became a die-hard when reconstruction could be only by men of compromise. omplished | D. C, JUNE 8. 1930—PART TWO ‘Thus it was that gradually Luden- dorfl’s policy drifted away from that of Hindenburg. By the time that the latter was called upon to accept the responsibilities of the first office of the land the two men were no longer one in principle. Hindenburg had already, by accepting election, accepted the ex- isting _government of Germany, the democratic_system, the republican con- stitution. During his inaugural address, in May, 1925, he interpreted “the sover- eignty of the people” as “the basis of our present constitution.” He was to g0 farther. Stresemann, whom he found in office as foreign minister, had already gone through a process of evolution which was-to be typical of the educated Ger- man in the decade from 1919 to 1929. From having ‘been a rabid annexation- ist and jingo, he turned with the defeat, the treaty and the gradual realization of new, vastly diminished fortunes, to become at first a stubborn opponent of all concession, and then—faced with the | occupation of the Rhineland and the | debacle of the mark—an exponent of | Realpolitik, a facer of realities. Met halfway by England, he proposed some | adjustment of the Rhine imbroglio at |a time when only war or destitution seemed the alternative. He was aided | by the fall of conservatism' in France | and by the new regime and Briand and | Herriot. By the end of 1925 the repre- sentatives of industrial Germany had fallen into a line of conciliation and co-operation behind Stresemann. Lu- dendorff, Hilter and Hugenberg were calling the exponents of this_ policy traitors. The new President had to choose among them. He chose Strese- | mann. The issue which was thus outlined at the very moment of Hindenburg's ac- cession to office has continued through- out his first five years as President. It has, indeed; never been so clearly defined as in the Jast Winter. The President’s determination to stand at the head of all parties has been sorely tested by the agitation to defeat the Young plan. At heart a monarchist and a soldier, Hindenburg has been called upon more than once as impartial head of the state to rebuke earlier associates and to with- draw from former circles; 1930 has seen the final break with Ludendorfl and the posthumous triumph of Stresemann. (Continued on Fourth Page.) TACNA-ARICA Uncertain as BY CARL HELM. RICA.—The first anniversary of the settlement of the Tacna- Arica dispute was marked today without any plans having been made for celebrating it. Even if a celebration had been held it is doubtful if the United States, which was invited in to settle the argument (g and eventually did, would march any- where near the head of the parade. ‘The role of peacemaker is, notoriously, a thankless one, and ‘it is much too soon after the signing of the treaty for either of the two republics to regard Uncle Sam as the well-meaning old gentleman he was in the part he played. Each of the countries is heartily glad that an end of the difficulty finally was reached, but neither appears too certain that it got all it should have. However, the former state of mind seems stronger than the latter, and that fact should be reason enough for cele- bration. It is, indeed, ‘celebrated daily in the amiable relations that obtain be- tween the Peruvians and Chileans in the two border towns. Arica Destined to Grow. Under the terms of the treaty Arica remained Chilean territory and Tacna was given to Peru. The towns are of about equal population, 8,000, but it is evident that Arica will gain and grow in importance, while the Peruvian town will diminish in both. Arica is the terminus of the railway to La Paz, and, being a port with a good harbor, the point of transhipment of Bolivian exports and imports. Tacna, which lies 40 miles inland, is a mining center, and formerly enjoyed a measure of impor- tance and prosperity from the consid- erable Chilean garrison based there. The garrison has, since the treaty, moved down to Arica. ‘Then, too, Tacna is cut off from the remainder of Peru except by a hardly adequate highway, and its prin- cipal means of communieation with it is maintained by the planes of the Pan-American-Grace air service. When these blf ships, coming from Lima, soar gracefully down to a landing at the ‘Tacna airport they are met by a crowd and cause as much excitement as does the arrival of a passenger steamer in the anchorage of Arica. Nationalities Intermingle. It is necessary for both civilians and soldiers coming from the principal parts of Peru to enter Chilean territory at Arica and ride on a Chilean train to get to their town of Tacna. Conse- quently there is much mingling of the two nationalities in Arica, and it is no uncommon sight for Peruvian soldiers, in full uniform and equipment, to be 'seen marching through the pretty little streets of the Chilean town or sitting in the palm PlTl de ting fountain, train, Armes, , while ANNIVERSARY IS MARKED Peru and Chile Glad of Settlement, but U. S. Mediation. DISPUTE END to Gains by In the shadow of the frowning bluff, El Morro, is the new Hotel Pacifico, controlled by the Chilean government and the center of Chilean social life in this most northerly outpost. The great headland is dear to the memory in Peruvian history. In the War of the Pacific, 1879-1882, in which Peru and Boliyia allied themselves against Chile, Morro was one of the Peruvian strong points, and the Peruvians de- pended upon its garrison and guns to defend the harbor of Arica against the Chilean navy. But the Chileans de- feated the allies at Tacna and then marched on Arica from the rear. In despair the Peruvian commander mounted his horse, galloped to the very edge of the precipice and plunged down its rocky face into the ocean. His brave sacrifice is recorded in Peruvian song and story, and Peru's sentimental attachment for Arica bluff was one of the obstacles to the Tacna-Arica settle- ment. Chile Gets Sulphur Deposits. Under the treaty of last June Chile demilitarized El Morro, but the Chilean flag still flies over it. . . . Chile is to pay Peru $6,000,000 and construct at Arica a wharf, custom house and rail- road station, where Peru will enjoy in- dependence within a free port. The dividing line between the two countries was fixed as 10 kilometers north of and parallel to the Arica-Le Paz Railway. The_sulphur deposits of Tacora remain in Chilean territory, while the canals of Uchusuma and Mauri remain the prop- erty of Peru. The $6,000,000 payment has done much to soothe the feelings of the Peruvians, but you will learn frem Americans resident in Peru that they feel we might have done much better by them, considering their traditional good fcel].ng toward us. Chile’s politi- clans let their people know that they need not expect too much from the United States, and their propagana, po- litically expedient, may underlie the Chilean reaction as a whole. But conversations with Peruvians, Chileans and Americans in the old dis- rupted territory establishes this one im- portant fact—the long-standing dispute has been settled amicably, and now cai be marked off the books. There is a growing disposition on the part of the masses of both peoples to make the best of the bargain, whatever the views of their politicians,-and forget it. ‘When the new liner Santa Clara, on its maiden voyage to inaugurate a fast express service between New York and Valparaiso, put in at this port the prin- cipal citizens of both towns came aboard to extend their congratulations, and Peruvians and Chileans mingled on the liner’s broad decks. Toasts were drunk in champagne, all standing, “Salud!” and the two nationalities grew warm and hap beneath the Stars and Stripes. t ‘was & felicitous omen and whm all the celebration needed to mark first anniversary. s { di HERA COMMUNISM MAKES GAINS THROUGH CHINESE AREAS viet Party Stronger Now Than at Any Time Since Kuomintang Purged Itself of Reds. BY VICTOR KEEN. HANGHAI—Communism is more widespread in Thina today than at any time since April, 1927, when the. Kuomintang made a definite break with its Soviet ad- S visers. Prom that time Communism entered upon a new phase of development in this country. The policy of using po- litical means as a short cut to the at- tainment of their aims was abandoned by the Communists, who thereafter sought to reach the broadest strata of China’s population, concentrating on the workers and the poorer students. Previous to 1927, Borodin and his satel- lites were working through the political leaders of the ever-growing Nationalist cause. The party's activities were pursued quite openly and for a time with phe- nomenal success. ‘Then came the Kuo4 mintang repudiation of the Red move- ment. Chiang Kal-Shek, who had emerged victorious in the struggle be- tween the Nationalists and the Peiping government, removed the newly formed government from Hankow to Nanking and in one stroke divorced it from Borodinism. The party-purging movement spread throughout China, having its beginning in Shanghai. Wholesale executions of the Communists followed, and the Reds received a serious setback. Driven un- der cover by persecution and suppres- sions, the Communists adopted tactics resembling those employed in China prior to 1919 With four centers con- venient to the coast as a nucleus, Com- munist cells have been planted secretly throughout China, until today there are but few schools of any size or fac- tories of any importance in which the Communist party is not represented by one or more agents. These agents, while they do not necessarily foment trouble, never fail to capitalize on dis- content and to assume leadership of dissatisfied workers. ‘The present phase of Communist development differs in another particu- lar from conditions d]n'evl‘llln: just after the World War and until 1927. Three years ago the Reds aimed their pro ly at what they termed “for- imperialism” and against the Pei- ping government. Today the Nanking government and the so-called military flfl“rullfln of the Chiang Kai-Shek re- gime is the principal target for their attacks. “Fore imperialism,” of course, comes in for its share of oppro- brium, but is 2 less potent catch-phrase than in the day of Borodin influence. An_ elaborate organization patterned along Soviet lines has been perfected by the Communists in China under the leadership of Chinese trained in the Soviet propaganda schools in Moscow. ‘The Shanghal organization may be taken as typical of that to be found in other large centers of China. eity, to entary evidence Talds, & divided | into seven districts. These districts are, in turn, subdivided into 100 branches, each branch being administered by a committee of 3. The highest administrative authority in the party is the central executive committee, where originate all orders affecting general policy. This body is assisted by a publicity department. The administrative unit for each prov- ince is a provincial committee, which /has under its jurisdittion various dis- trict committees. The greatest care Is exercised in organizing cells to guard against de- tection by the ever-watchful police authorities. Minute instructions on the subject of secrecy have been issued from Moscow in pamphlet form to the com- rades in China. A great deal of the information contained therein has been brought to light in Shanghai from time to time in literature confiscated by the police. The instructions in one such pamphlet included detailed advice on such subjects ‘How to Convene a Secret Meeting, ‘Safe Custody of Secret Documents,” “Evasion of Agents,” “Disguise,” etc. The intercommunication between dif- ferent Communist cells is so planned that the discovery of one cell does not necessarily bring about detection of the whereabouts of other units. Mes- sengers who carry communications from one cell to another are permitted to know the situation of only two cells and members of cells know at most the location of two cells in addition to their own. For example, “B” will know the | whereabouts of “A™ and “C,” but will have no information regarding cell “D.” Thus the detection of one cell at most jeopardizes the security of but two others, ‘The Communist party today is more prolific in the production and dis- semination of Red literature in China than at any time, with the exception of the brief period when the party en- joyed the support and co-operation of the Kuomintang. Some idea of the volume of Communistic written propa- ganda which is being circulated may be obtained from the fact that in one raid in Shanghai 5,000 copies each of 10 different pieces of literature were confiscated by police. The party activi- ties obviously are being financed from an outside source, but thus far the police have declined to give any infor- mation as to where the funds are coming rom. Although Shanghai and Canton are C When the parties of the Right began |in COTTON GROWERS OF DIXIE BY ALLEN RAYMOND. OTTON and Dixie have been in- separable in the mind of the world for 100 years, but ac- cording to the foremost rural economist of the South today this region's cotton fields are likely to dwindle and may disappeargin a fast approaching era. The textile industry, basing its march partly on desire to be near great sources of the raw product, stepped down into the Southeast during the last 20 years and expanded mightily. Its expansion there is almost ended, in the opinion of engineers for a great utility company which has been plotting out the chart of future business. Cotton Center Moving West. ‘The center of cotton production in the United States is moving West. Texas is now the greatest producer of all the Southern States. The rise of cheap cotton fields there is one of the reasons why day of expansion in Southeastern cotton mills is nearly over. Another reason is the fact that similar great areas are beginning to grow cot- ton in other parts of the world, and they, too, can. produce the Southeast's “one great cash crop” more cheaply. These foreign fields are about to cut some millions of dollars annually from the monetary bulk of America’s cotton export. Soviet Russia, % a Herculean effort, has just driven + new railroad over a 500-mile desert #<ead of schedule to tap the rich cotto® fields of Turkestan. The lords of Mosco¥ declare that with- make Russia self-supporting as far as cotton consumption goes, instead of im- porting for her textile mills $84,000,000 worth of cotton a year from the United States as she does now. The proportion of the world’s cotton supply produced in Dixie has been de- creasing steadily for several years. The proportion of short-staple cotton (the poorer grades) has been increasing in Dixie steadily for several years. This American short staple, less than an inch in length, has come into competi- tion with the swelling output of short- staple production in India, China and Africa. The competition of these for- eign flelds has reduced tbe price of the American product on the world market until the reward for raisify poor cotton in Dixie is poverty. Texas Production Coms Lower. Yet Dixie raises more aird more cotton. The farmers of the Southeast producing a low-quality crop have a rival producer of short-staple cotton nearer at home than the distant Orlent. In the annual growing contests con- ducted by the Dallas News, Texas cot- ton growers have demonstrated that they can raise a crop at a cost of 3 to 5 cents a pound. No grower in Dixie can meet a price like that. In theé pro- duction of poor cotton Texas must win. Volume production of this crop in Texas is no longer dependent on hand labor, either for cultivation or harvest- ing, as it is in the States east of the Mississippi. One Texas farmer has brought to maturity and gathered 1,700 bales from 2,000 acres with the help of only five laborers, according to a recent report by Arthur D. Little. Under the old method of cultivation—still used in Dixie—it would require 100 workers to plant and cultivate such an area, and 200 more to pick the crop by hand. In the area of Texas and Oklahoma, where once the long horn cattle grazed, and now devoted solely to cotton, there is ground enough to produce 25,000,000 bales a year. The total production of the United States in 1924 was 13,683,000 bales. ‘The country is flat as a pancake and the ground needs no fe: r. By a new method of planting—sees in narrow rows instead of hills—the Texas planters obtain a crop on single stalks which comes up comparatively swiftly. ‘They mature their crop before the boll weevil, that plague of Dixie, can do its damage. Instead of lone Negroes driving single mules and instead of family groups at a common toil with their hoes, one sees Texas a cultivation that is entirely by machinery. Three-row plows hitched to tractors enable a single workman to believed to bs the centers where the Chinese Communist party has the larg- est following, Red influence has made itself felt recently in Northern Man- churia as well. Since the temporary settlement of the Chinese Eastern Rail- way dispute and the restoration of the ‘The | railway to joint Sino-Russian adminis- tration Commut has been gaining in influence every day. ? ~ cultivate 500 acres. Crop Picked Mechanically. Picking the Texas crop s no song festival for happy-go-lucky colored families. Long “sleds” are dragged by the Texans over the rows and they strip the plants of their fiber. Natur- ally they strip off a lot of trash together with the cotton and separating the mix- ture has been difficult. The mechanical pickers are improv- ing. The whole process of growing low-grade cotton is so much cheaper in Texas than it is in the Southeast that_every intelligent cotton man in the Old South knows today the culture of low-grade staple is doomed in Dixie. Production is in the hands of the ignorant, except for little srouxn ‘which band about able leaders and go in today for quality cotton as the only kind of production which can save their agri- culture. “Not_impossibly the South Atlantic and East-South-Central States are doomed to a dwindling, dingpunnl cotton agriculture,” says E. C. Branson, rural economist of the University of North Carolina. “Not impossibly the story of cotton east of the Mississippi River in the futurs may be like the story of indigo and rice culture in the long ago days in the South. Compara- tive advantage in low-cost cotton pro- duction lies west of the Mississippi and it theatens beggary in our Eastern cot- ton belt. % Must Mechanize Farms. “The only way out lies in a rapid increase in the use of labor-saving profit-producing machinery. That is to say, in mechanized farms, tilled by their owners, and only by farmer- owner groups able and willing to buy and use tractors, gang plows, cultiva- tors, harvesters, motor trucks and gins on a community basis. We have so long produced cotton on a cropper- tenancy basis that most farmers see no other way of cotton production. But already in a half dozen States this method produces widespread poverty and bankruptey for tenants, landlords, supply merchants and bankers alike. The only successful farming in the long run is farming by men who own the land they till. Cropper-farming in the South is destructive of farm prop- erties, and at last it imperils human values, property values, tenants, land- lords, merchants and bankers.” The writer talked with a half dozen conspicuously able and successful Southern farm leaders during his tour of the Southeast, and they all agree in the main with Prof. Branson's dic- tum. Yet what is happening? Tenancy and the farming of cotton lands on shares by ignorant croppers increases. The quality of Southeastern cotton pro- duction goes down as it faces its great- est crisis. Alston H. Garside, economist of the New York Cotton Exchange, delivered an address a few weeks ago in Mem- phis in which he declared that on in- formation gathered from 50 leading cotton importers in Europe, 50 repre- sentative spinners in this country and 50 large shlp%en and exporters through- out the South, it was agreed that there has been a marked deterioration in re- cent years in the quality of most Ameri- can cotton. He said that the cotton the West was responsible in large me: ure for this deterioration, but that North Georgia also had lost its reputa- tion as a producer of “dependable, even running, strong inch to inch-and-six- teenth cotton.” He found some encouragement, how- I ever, in the fact that large areas in the in the next five yehrs they propose to | gim FACE DEADLY COMPETITION |Texas Holds Advantage Over Southeast While Russia Hurries to Develop Turkestan. Some regions improve, but the fact remains that about three-fourths of North Carolina cotton, two-thirds ef South Carolina cotton, seven-eighths of Georgia cotton and nine-tenths of Ala- bama cotton is shorter than the 15-16 of an inch grade. Muck of {ivis shoris~ cotton is exported from the region, while mills within the area import an- nually hundreds of thousands of bales of the better grades. For at least 15 years well bred va- ritles of cotton, averaging an inch or more in staple, have been shown to produce a far higher yield to the acre than the short grades. ~ Virtually all the high production records for acreage have been made by farmers growing the best varieties. Intelligently marketed, these high-grade cottons obtain a dif- ferential in price of 10 per cent above inferior grades. Yet the bulk of Southeastern farmers continue to raise one-third to one-half a bale per acre, whereas, even under boll weevil conditions, intelligent farm management can produce one and a half to two bales an acre. Experiments in High-Grade Staple. For 18 years, Darlington County, S. C. the region immediately sur- rounding Hartsville, has planted a considerable portion of its acreage in varieties that will produce the 13-16 inch or 1 3-8 inch staple. This is largely due to the experimental work in seed breeding carried on at the farm of D. C. Coker, seed breeder, and to strenuous propaganda throughout his neighborhood carried on by Mr. Coker. ‘The proportion of high-grade cotton at es run as high as 95 per cent of the Darlington County crop. Mr, Coker for several years made a study of variations in price received by farmers growing different grades. He learned that, while short staple cotton of middling grade wus receiving an aver- age of 20.86 cents a pound, 13-16 cot- ton brought 20.59 cents and 15-16 brought 33.46 cents. Darlington County has not been the only one to find tnat growing good cot- ton paid. Some years ago, under the leadership of Gov. O. Max Gardner of North Carolina, the farming and busi- ness interests of Cleveland County in that State worked out a program whereby the improved long staple was raised and was sold to mills at a pre- mium. Money for these quality crops was spent with the local merchants and deposited in the local banks. The result has been a higher degree of prosperity Poor | for this cotton growing county than for any similar county in North Carolina. ‘When the Cleveland County program was started the county was producing 14,000 bales a year. In- 1929 it duced 50,000 bales and marketed them at a premium at a time when many of the leading counties in the South- east were shrinking from a production of about 60.000 bales to 15,000 or 10,000. With such demonstrations before the Southern farmers one would t! that all the area would turn to growing the quality crop. The reason why it has not is simple. In the first place, grow- ing staple cotton is an a itural specialty in which only those farmers can succeed who pay close attention to seed, cultivation and marketing. The seed will deteriorate within a few years with the treatment the average farmer ves it, and if the cotton is not care- ully ginned it is ruined. Not an Easy Trick to Do. Only the farmer who knows how ean turn the trick. After a century of rais- ing cotton most Southern farmers don’t really know how to grow it well. The textile mills bear a share in respons. bility for the failure.of farmers to improve their methods, it is said in Dixies Many mill owners, it is charged, do not know good cotton from bad. Many more refuse to an re- miums for a good raw material, and by rating it equally with the bad they help make all bad. Wherever in the Southeast one sees a little area growing high-grade cotton and obtaining a premium for it one can trace that phenomenon back to the. in- terest of a few community -leaders, usually aroused by one zealot. Such men, scattered through this region, are fighting hard today to save Southeast- ern_cotton growing. ‘They stimulate quality production by staging five-acre growing contests. They crusade persist- ently through the entire industry from grower to mill to obtain the co-opera- tion of every one concerned. The best they can do at present is to stave off disaster while education lifts the in- telligence of the tenant and_ cropper, and demonstrlttonsufonvmce the mass of growers that quality pays. ‘l!hre growers’ corporations are helping, in ‘more ways than in teaching high- grade production. They “class” the cot- ton for their members and, according to J. E. Conwell, president of .the Georgla Cotton Growers' Co-operative, not one grower.in 10,000 .can class his own product and tell to what grade it belongs. A They warehouse their members' prod- uct on a larger scale and obtain insur- ance for it at far lower cost - viduals have to ny. ‘They buy fertilizer for their members, paying cash for large quantities, thereby saving large sums by getting discounts. They borrow money for members who have demon- strable needs and security at rates the individuals could not obtain if bor- rowing alone. The Southeast is not going to let its cotton culture decline hout a st - gle. Its task is to produce a unifc ly and dependlhlyobfl.t:r grade than the premium for it. . If the that, its leaders admit, it under. is 5,670 Locomotives On Canada Railroads The 246,000 of Canada’s railway cars of all sorts would not of very much use unless there was some motive power to haul them, This brings the great puff- ing and powerful modern locomotives, pride ot the engineer and fireman, into the story. The Canadian railroads own a total of 5,670 engines. Of these loco- motives 1,488 are employed in the - senger service, 3,284 in freight hauling, 756 in switching; 42 engines are run by electric power. For some reason that is not quite clear, the number of loco- motives has been steadily decreasing since 1922. In that year 5955 locomo- tives were in use, Perhaps the explana- tion is found in the fact that the num- ber of freight cars has decreased by 8,000 since 1922. The 5,670 locomotives in use consumed 9,840,078 tons of coal at a total cost of 846,586,349, or $4.73 per ton. Coal costs the railways less than in 1922. Then the cost per ton was $6.40. o Hawaii to Receive Funds for Road Building ‘The Bureau of Roads in Washington has approved an allotment of $100,000 for a highway connccting the “kona side” of the island of Hawail with the site of Kilauea Volcano, one of the f | great natural wonders of the world. The territory must match this with $100,000 on its own account, & condi- readily met there. The territory for years has been working t ade- quate Federal ald for its road-| A Piedmont sections of South and North | Federal rolina were roving the quality of