Evening Star Newspaper, June 29, 1930, Page 27

‘one which deeply interests and affects \ * undertaking, the Postmaster General * lishment of the service at offices where JULY 1 IS ANNIVERSARY OF FREE MAIL DELIVERY Act of Congress July 1, 1863, Followed Tryout of Plan by Clerk in Cleveland Post Offi_ce. BY ISAAC GREGG. HIS week will mark the anniver- sary of two of the most striking ever\s in the Nistory of the American Republic, celebrations n which every man, woman and child in the United States will par- icd) 3 ‘Opn‘kf‘fldly there will be the usual gathering of patriotic organizations and citizens with speeches, followed in the evening by pyrotechnic displays through the land in commemoration of,the sign- ing of the Declaration of Independence. But July 1 will be the sixty-seventh anniversary of the establishment of the free delivery of mail by the Govern- ment of the United States. There be no speeches or fireworks to proclaim this celebration, but, nevertheless, it is every citizen. Idea Originated With Clerk. ‘Early in the history of the Republic the appointment of letter carriers was authorized by Congress. They were permitted to be employed at such post offices as the Postmaster General might designate, and for the delivery of each letter the carrier received 2 cents. This law was re-enacted, with minor modi- fications, in 1810, 1825, 1836 and 1851. ‘The act of 1836 required carriers to give bond and allowed them a fee of 2 cents each for every letter collected and 1 cent for each newspaper deliv- ered Joseph William Briggs, a window de- livery clerk in the post office in Cleve- land, is given credit for having con- ceived the idea and put into effect the free delivery service now enjoyed in one way or another by every citizen of the United States. Briggs worked out a plan of mail delivery and collection, and with the co-operation of the post- master in Cleveland he acted as the first letter carrier in that city. In recognition of his special interest in the service and his success in the appointed him special agent for the installation of city free delivery service throughout the country, a work which took him six years to complete. Briggs also designed the first carrier uniform. He died in Cleveland in 1872, and the Ohio Society of New York erected a tablet to his memory in the Cleveland post office in 1921. Submitted to Congress in 1862. \ The plan which had been worked out by Briggs was submitted to Congress in & recommendation of Postmaster Gen- eral Montgomery Blair in his report for the fiscal year 1862. Blair wrote: “I recommend that the charge upon local or drop letters be made uniform at the prepaid rate of 2 ceints, and that all prepaid mail and local letters shall be delivered and collected without charge by the carriers, they being paid by salaries. This will prepay and trans- fer the carrier's charge from mail to Jocal letters in effect, greatly accelerate deliveries and promote the public con- Venience.” The free delivery of mail began July 1, 1863. The act of Congress under which it was put into effect fixed the annual salary of a letter carrier at $800 #s the minimum with a maximum of $5.000 a year. It permitted the estab- the income from postage on local let- ters should yield a sum more than sufficient to pay all the expenses of the carrier system. Tried Out in Nine Citfes. With the inauguration of the service hine cities were selected for the try~ out—Boston, Baltimore, Brooklyn, Cin- cinnati, Cleveland, New York, Phila- delphia. St. Louis and Washington. Later it was extended to embrace 66 eities, with the employment of 685 car- riers, and this service cost the Govern- ment total of $317,061.22. From a start of 685 carriers in 66 cities, figures of the Post Office De- partment show that on June 1, 1930, there were employed 53,793 letter car- | Rurs in 3,050 free delivery cities, and 'y were being paid in salaries, to- gether with the substitutes employed, the total of $126,425,000. Legislation enacted by Congress in 1873 restricted the free delivery serv- ice to citles of not less than 20,000 Wwithin the delivery of the post office. ‘The next' year the minimum popula- tion was placed at 30,000. The act of be February 21, 1879, provided that letter carriers should be employed in every city containing a population of 50,000 and might be so employed in any place of not less than 20,000 population within the corporate limits of such cities of at gmc:; whlcnd’i’x:odg:egl & gross revenue or the prece cal year of not less than $26,000. y ) Then the act of January 3, 1887, re- quired letter carriers to be employed in every incorporated city, village or borough containing, a population of 50,000 and permitted their employment in places of 10,000 or more ‘population, or in towns having a gross post offics {;ver;ue oc‘ihl:m!::s!l‘m-n $10,000 during e preceding al year. Thi in effect today. ot i Must Pass Examination. Letter carriers are appointed follow- g an examination conducted by the Service Commission. They must not be under 18 years old mor more than 45 when they stand for examina- gg:. A&eogx:men'fl ul!'e made by the tmas neral reco - tion by the various =2 e in o additional help. Substitute carriers are paid at the rate of 65 cents an hour. |~ When a carrier is placed on the regu- lar roll he, receives a salary of $1,700 a year, plus credit for substitute serv- ice and his pay is increased $100 a year automatically until he is paid $2,100. The promotions are made on evidence satisfactory to the Post.Office Department of the. efficiency and faith- fulness of the carrier during the year previous ¢o the time his record comes before the postal officials. Carriers Buy Own Uniforms. The Postmaster General prescribes the uniform dress to be worn by lette: carriers. Uniforms must be furnished will | at 'the expense of the carriers. Cadet gray is the color for uniforms through- out the United States. A military cap of the same.color is worn. ‘The schedules of carriers are so ar- ranged as to require about eight hours’ ice every day and not more than 48 hours a week. The number of deliveries and collections and the schedules of the carriers are arranged with reference to the arrival and departure of mails and the volume of the mail. As a rule, ters of the largest cities, not more than four deliveries daily are made and two in residence sections. A recent survey conducted by the department has re- sultad in the curtailment of deliveries in both business and residential dis- tricts, without cutting off the facilities to the patrons, but. on the other hand, affordng better service to a vast major- ity at less expense to the Government. Receptacles for Mail. ‘Today, nnder the regulations of the department, each home, apartment and business house is equipped with a proper receptacle in which the carrier may de- posit mail. Through this means he facilitates his work, and the change has proved an adyantage to every one con- cerned. Where office buildings are pro- vided with elevators, deliveries are made by the carriers to the tenants on all floors, but where there are no elevators the carriers are not required to make deliveries above the second floor. In apartment houses receptacles for mail are installed in lobbles or other places easily accessible to the carrier. He is not permitted to deliver mail to indi- vid tenants except in the case of | registered, C. O. D. and special delivery mail Not more than 50 pounds a trip is carried by postmen in their big leather bags. No packages weighing more than 4 pounds or in size larger than the average shoe box are delivered by the postman on foot. Before the advent of the parcel post system the carrier was | compelled to load his pack with all sorts and sizes of packages. Now many pack- ages are delivered by special carriers in motor trucks. Vacation and Holidays. ‘The Government treats its carrier force with every consideration. In ad- dition to 15 days’ annual leave the post- man is excused from work on all na- tional holidays, wherever possible, and when required to work then, or on a Sunday, he is given compensatory time off later. The retiring age of a carrien is fixed at 65 years. He is permitted under the law, however, to apply for one or more extensions of two years each. On Au- gust 20, 1930, however, all carriers who have had two or more extensions will be automatically retired. After 15 years' service carriers receive $500 a year as retired pay, while for 30 years' service he is paid $1,000 a year by the Govern-'| ment after hisseparation from the serv- ice. This is based on h's average salary for the last 10syears of service, not ex- ceeding $1,500 a year. There has always been some doubt Iln the public mind as to whether or |not there are any women employed s carriers. Search of the records of the department fail to disclose the names of any woman regular city car- riers on the rolls. However, during the World War, when hundreds of let- | ter carriers answered the call to the colors, women were employed, especial- ly in large industrial and manufac- turing centers engaged in turning out munitions and other supplies. At Williamston, N. and Gallitzen, Pa., and Osborne, Kans., women are employed as village car- riers and perform practically the same sort of service as the mail carriers in the large cities. Women could hardly expected to carry a pack weighing 50 pounds on any of the city routes. Maintains Honor Roll. The Post Office ‘Department for the last few years has maintained an honor roll, on which are inscribed the names of those carriers who have per- formed unusual or hazardous service in behalf of the Government and in g:gucung the mails intrusted to their e. Service stars are worn by carriers, the color depending upon the length of time they have been employed. For five years' service one black silk star is worn on the sleeve of the post- man; for 10 years, two black stars; 15 years. one red star; 20 years, two red stars; 25 years, one silver star; 30 years, znyam’er tlt.lr:: fg y::ri, one gold star; ears. two gold stars, and 45 L three gold stars. ot e e mar] postal service on the Detroit River carried on by carriers 1s the only service of its kind in the world. At the suggestion of Postmas- ter Enright of Detroit this postal ma- rine service was inaugurated as an ex- tmasters cities affected. Thosgogll’m have D‘-Bedm = the required examination are first ap- pointed substitute carriers. They serve When regular carriers are absent from duty through any cause or when the Yvolume of mail is such as to necessitate periment during the season of 1895 in order to afford the merchoant mm:nms of the Great Lakes convenience and to give the masters and crews of passing ;l‘!;?ebl.:epnsm l&;mm;mwmch they had n rece! without in; to-a private enterpme‘ . i) Wall of Sea Moss 110 Miles Long Covers Beach of Texas CORPUS CHRISTI, Tex.—Unusually steady southerly winds have resulted in en wflenm condiiion along the 110- stretch of Padre Island, which separates the mainland of South Texas from the Gulf of Mexico.. It has been reported that similar conditions exist as far north as Galveston, where the Gulf shoreline curves eastward. Seaweed or moss has obliterated com- gzhly the beach from the water’s edge & distance of about 54 feet inland. moss ranges from a few inches in depth on the inland side to 3 or 4 feet near the water. Moss Forms Solid Wall. Gulf:Isle ‘The famous beach driveway is im- passable, the spongy, elogglzym m'.:unu mfl% np. m n:;dw-y for automo- iod e beach proper is Tons of Iodirie in Moss. The moss will remain until clears and the mass on“h’tl:'g e nitrogen and other compounds d be taken from the mass of sel‘::eld | except in the congested business cen- |- BY WALTER PRICHARD EATON, Noted Author, Lecturer and Critic. ANY years ago, when there were milestones on the Dover road, a Boston lady, out for a drive, | spied one reading: 1M from Boston “A grave by the road.” she exclaimed. “‘I'm from Boston. How simple, but how satisfactory!” Boston has existed now for 300 years, and “I'm from Boston™ has been emi- nently satisfactory for that entire period to all who could with truth make the announcement. George Ade used to say that his college, Purdue, gave its stu- dents everything Harvard could give ex- cept the pronunciation of “a” as in father. - But just that difference is ire- mendous. It is said, by way. of explanation of the Yankee twang, that it resulted nov from catarrh, but because Puritans droned their hymns through their noses. Certainly it is more common in the sa- lubrious’ mountains (such as Plymouth, Vt) than on the catarrhal shores of Massachusetts Bay, swept by the east | wind. Boston, the capital of the Bay Colony, later the Hub of the Universe, the Athens of America,- the favored home of both philosophers and cranks, g:.! been true to the broad ‘a” of old gland, lo, these 300 years. Though its population be now as mixed as the metaphors in a congres- sional oration, it is still true to the broad “a.” It in you, all and sun- dry, you flat “a from the rest of America, to come this Summer and help it celebrate its tercentenary (which you will call ter-cen’-te-nary, but which many Bostonians will cail ter-cen-tee’- nary), but it will welcome you with the same broad which worried Ade; the same narrow, crooked streets which worried Selectman Charles Bulfinch; the same red brick Georgian architec- ture which climbed up Beacon Hill when Macready was acting across the Common; the same east wind walting on Brimstone Corner for the Devil to come out of the Park Street Church; HE following is a brief summary of the most important news of the world for the seven days ended June 28: A ICELAND.—On June 26 began the three days’ celebration in . Iceland in commemoration of the creation on June 26, 930, of ‘what the pundits call the world’s oldest Parliament. Delegates were present from all over the world, including members of our Congress. A town of tents was erected for their entertainment. In opening the millenary ceremonies, King Christian, ruler of Denmark and Iceland (hi# stature of 6 feet 4 .inches having a Viking smack), re-enacted the part of the speaker who recited the law to the first Althing. The emigra- tion from Iceland to North America has been considerable; in the years 1872- 1900 the figure was 15,600, mostly to Manitoba. *ok & % ‘THE BRITISH EMPIRE.—At a meet- ing of scientists at Cornell University on June 20, Sir Willlam Bragg, Nobel prize winner, read extracts from the unpublished'diary of Michael Faraday. He read an entry dated August 29, 1831, noting the epochal discovery of the induction of electric currents; whence the dynai whence the modern “face of things.” On August 29, 1931, there vill be a planetary celebration of the centenary of the dynamo.” Son of a blacksmith, of all men since Newton Faraday was best entitled to be called king. His claim is even better than that of Mussolini, also the son of a blacksmith. s The diery is to be published next year in six volumes. It should be one of the most interesting of works. / It is full of anticipations. For example, j | Faraday felt sure of a connection be- tween gravity, heat and electricity. His which has added 28 mil b . miles to the length Never Heard of ‘Dollars,’ Casts $55 in Waste Pile Young Georges Bapret isn’t nearly as bright a fellow as he had thought. | Employed as & plumber’s assistant, he arrived at work in the home of an American family resident in Paris; and what did Mr. Bapret see but a pocket- sponges are found, although spo: &vy present usually debris left on coast. hommdmm &?.rc A.rk'm?-u who tcmzuusm-hlmnmmu:q we known such a condition to exist on the island. ' Guif fishermen say that ‘moss is deposited on the beach in small every spring, but never be- gmhmhrnmnfi, Strong southeriy winds -have pre- vailed for t;:;nm.hwmm conjunction tides, 15 believed fhe cause of this condition. ? bock stuffed in a corner of the divan. Hempedthznockmbg!dldmt 2 exg:flmenu to prove the connection failed, the proof being reserved for Einstein. Completion of the restoration of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, Sir Christo- pher Wren's masterpiece, was celebrated with elaborate ceremony on June 25, the King and Queen participating. -The work - 17 years ago. Dean Inge, “the gloomy dean,” magnificently at- tired, the welcome. The British government has just is- sued two documents outlining its policy with reference to East Africa. Of course, it is asserted that the goal is self-government, only, however, to be reached .” Al this but . obviously it is rd the natives against is a Htflelel“!. proposed gual the tendency of the white colonists to treat them brutally. and cupidinously. | B INDIA —Volume: II of- the report of the Simon Commission, its recommendations, was published on June 24. The. chief recommendations . Boston’s Three Centuries ™~ LEFT: THE OLD STATE HOUSE, WITH LION AND UNICOR the same dismal patch of grass in Cop- ley Square which was there in 1872, | when Richardson built Trinity Church and people supposed the square was to | be made into a sunken garden; the same | lovely, low skyline up the spacious vista of Commonwealth avenue; the same | fragrant markets and tempting seed | stores around Faneuil Hall; the same ;llltle white statues at-either end of | Louisburg Square, under the same elms |and faced by the same aristocratic old doric doorways. % |, A born Bostonian, coming baek (o the | town after an absence of years, would | declare mournfully that it had changed. | But to most other Americans it scems | curiously stable, and clings to the me- ;morhu of its past tenaciousiy. Like | Charleston, S. C. (and the two citles are alike in many ways), the mere fact that ‘ather cities are doing certain things | doesn't trouble it in the least if it doesn’t happen to like those things. It doesn't want to be like New York or Chicago—in fact, it distinctly wants not to be. It wants merely to be Boston. It is proud to be merely Boston—too proud for its own good, say some of its | citizens who are listened to respectfully. | Too proud for its own good, sny certain outsiders, whereupon everybody in Bos- ton, eritics and all, rise up and smite the impious barbarians. So, if you come to Boston this Summer, take it or leave it, but don’t think you can change it! During this tercentenary (pronounced ter-cen-te-nary) celebration of Boston |and the Massachusetts Bay Colony a great deal has been written, and much | more will be, about the shovel-hatted Puritans and their blue laws, their re- | ligious intolerance, their democratig, in- | dependence, their seriousness of fnind |and firmness of will. Probably no one will write a history of Bostcn from the | point of view of William Blaxton (or | Blackstone, as his name is now per- petuated in a Boston street, a savings | ibank, a river in Rhode Island and a| |town in Massachusetts). He was the | real founder of Boston. He came before | 1630 to Shawmut, as the little peninsula | with its three hills was then called, and built himself a house about half-way down Beacon street between the State House and Charles street. Louisburg | whereof the nucleus should be eight of | the existing nine great provinces, and whereof the central legislative organ should be a “federal assembly” at Delhi. 2. Complete separation from India of the great Province of Burma im- mediately. 3. Provision for adhesion to the fed- eration, all in goed time and on terms 1o be determined later, of the “native states.” The minor provinces and areas under British rule to which the “referosm” have not yet been applied would, of course, find their place in the fegderation. 4. A special status for the Northwest province not greatly differing from its present one, though providing certain autonomous features not now existing. 5. Continuance, with practically no change, of the present status of the military and naval services; complete Indianization of both being contem- plated, but only as the distant con- summation of a slow process. 6. The rchy system to be com- pletely abolished. 7. Careful consideration of the provin- cial boundaries with a view to possible changes, the present p: ces not be- ing “ideal areas for self-government.” 8. The provinces to enjoy a good deal more autonomy than they enjoy at present, each provincial legislature to be elected on a far wider franchise (about 20 per cent of the adult popula- tion). than that applying to the present provincial legislatures, and its members to choose the provinces’ representatives in the fedetal assembly. On the other hand, though “each province should be as far as possible mistress in her own house,” the autonomy should be defi- nitely restricted in respect of certain matters and_subject to fon in emergency. With respect to such mat- ters. the rights of minorites, for ex- ample, and for such eme; cles the powers of governors, in subordination to the governor general, should be in cre: most ma ittee, and the | goal. respecting ters and normal situations their powers | not should be restricted. perpstiated. faitaluily to.pledges i be a af ly 3 the Mohammedan commif City, With Its Interesting Higtory, Battles to Save Old Traditions in Face of Modern Tides. Square was his orchard, and the Com- mon was his front yard. Cotton Mather counted him as one among “some godly Episcopalians” (evidently there weren’t many of them in Mather’s reckoning), and Mather says he explained his iso- ! lation as follows: “I-came from Eng-| land because I didn't Tike the lord | bishops, but,I cannot join with you| because I would not be under the lord | brethren.” | ‘Theré speaks your true individualist? { He would not be ruled by a bishop, but neither would he be ruled by a democ- racy. The only rule he cared for was that of William Blaxton. - And he founded Boston. ‘When in 1630 Gov. Winthrop arrived in Salem with the new Massachusetts Bay Colony charter and a il colonists,” Salem was not large enough for the influx, so thiey cast about for a new place to settle in, and hit upon what is now Charlestown. But there were no springs in Charlestown. Across the river stood the hills of Shawmut, which they accordingly called Trimoun- taine, or Trimount (hente the present ‘Tremont street), and between these hills were several fine springs. So, with his consent (one sometimes tes whether he didn't that they'd come anyway), many of thé Puritans moved over onto William Blaxton’s peninsula,- named it Boston, after Bos- ton, England, and established it as the capital ‘of the Bay Colony. Blaxton was admitted as a freeman of the colony in 1631 (that was nice of them), and by 1632 we find that 50 acres near his house were set aside for his perpetual use. However, a year later in a general release of the whole penin- sula, he gave up all but 6 acres. He sold the other 44 acres for £30 for a training fleld—and those acres are now Boston Common, that extraordinary open space in the very heart of the city which gives Boston so much of its unique and gracious charm. In 1635 poor brother Blaxton aban- doned even his 6 remaining acres and fled for solitude into the wilderness of Rhode Island. The abandoned holding, more than a century later, became the India in superintendence, direction and control of the governor general should not be diminished, but the . principle should be strongly reasserted snd faith- fully adhered to that these powers are to be exercised with sympathetic view to the ultimate self-government of India. ‘Somewhat curiously, the word is not used in ‘the report, but no doubt dominion status is thé 11. Provisions should be made for amendment, with limits to be very precisely stated, of provincial constitu- tions by provincial as to provision for future cations of the central government. The report is ex- tremely cautious. It is desired to “re- duce the ity of the statutory struature,”” to make e certain modifications “without the cumbrous procedure on each occasion of a new statute through the British Par- liament.” While it is impossible to Fmvule at this stage as much latitude or ehn‘:’fi in the central sphere as in the c1al . constitutions, it is pro- posexm ide in the central sphere also ities for adjustment, while pruM( to' the Westminster Parlia- ment the responsibility, which it cannot at present abandon, for future decisions. 1 appears to this reviewer the most pro- !gl;’:d and significant paragraph of the report, really a noble touch of state- L raft: “It has struck us as remarkable that it should bé so commonly assumed in India that the development of ble government must take place on purely British lines. Our one view 18 tary. governments as self-govern- ing units, the ultimate form which the central government of India will tak cannot be slli;l determined. The question whether Indian states will con- tribute to the ultimate g RIGHT: FANEUIL HALL AND OLD QUINCY MARKET. after his death his Rhode Island house was burned by the Indians and his library of 160 volumes and 10 manu- scripts was destroyed. Roger Williams, by this time a neighbor, reported the incident to the Bay Colony, and the manuscripts then were valued at six- pence each. As they were supposed to contain the earliest records of Boston, they would, if they existed today, be almost priceless. 't exactly three centuries after ‘Willam Blaxton planted his orchard the proprietors of that orchard, now Louisburg Square (i.., the householders whose properties face on this quaint little park tipped slabwise on the steep pitch of Beacon Hill between Mount Vernon and Pinckney streets), met in annual conclave to- determine policies of upkeep for the next 12 months. For the tiny park, inclosed in an fron fence, is not city property; it has much the same status as Gramercy Park in New York. The year before there had been unheard-o! iconoclasms in the meet- ing. Somebody had actually suggested planting shrubs behind™ the fence! After a stormy session, a compromise was reached with the radicals. The compromise was daffodils! Now, what.would the radicals suggest next? There was an air of tense ex- pectation. Then the homb burst. Somebody moved that they purchase some gray squirrels to sport in the elm trees. There was a long silence. And then the voice of Boston spoke. “If we must have squirrels in. Louisburg Square,” said the voice, “why spend §ood money for them? Why not lay a train of nuts from the Common?" There are no squirrels in Louisburg Square. There are only the elms, the two funny little old statues, the digni- fied quiet—and the impudent daffodils. Poor Willlam Blaxton had to move to Rhode Island to keep his surround- ings as he wanted them. Three cen- turies later a touch.of humor was suf- ficlent. You can push Boston just so far—and then look out! Boston contains at least two insti- tutions which are characteristic and unique—the Athenaeum and the So- ¢iety for the Preservation of New Eng- (Continued on Fourth Page.) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.—In winning the British open golf champion- ship the other day, the incomparable Robert Joi of Atlanta established a new prece t. He became the first to hold three ‘major golf titles at the same time—namely, the British open, the United States open and the British amateur. Before him old John Ball in 1890 held the British amateur and open titles at the same time, and in 1926 Jones himself won both the British and can open titles. A m: it record, that of street and highway traffic accidents in the United_States in 1929. There were 33,060 deaths, 31,000 of them due to automotive vehicles, and 1,200,000 in- Jurles, 1,000,000 of them due to auto- motive vehicles, the figures being higher i ol S sponding figures of . A new hero, first-class, at atout 7 am, New York time, June 25, Maj. Charles Kingsford-Smith of Australid mu:‘t’:rcmd“ m:veier‘ll co-pilct, a nav a eless operator, landed at !fzbor Grace, Newfoundland, having flown in the Fokker Southern Cross from Port Marnock, Ire- land, in about 31 hours, a new major achievement in aviation. Very adverse atmospheric conditions made the flight a hazardous one and oo e L B stop goal, namely, New . Apparen fl.lll!!.:: was averted only by the radio received from ships, as intel- ligently interpreted (for, as usual, in the lane supervolated these differed greatly) by Mr. Stannage, the plane’s wireless operator - The new hero, first-class, propose: fly on to California e corre- ern Cross will have circumnavigated the planet. * ok ok % NOTES.—The use 6f the Catalan lan- to be answered. pe 15 ordinaril n %muc-&o;i’:ns guage in Barcelona increases. Catalan in the rural Barcelona ¢ : i : F E? 5 LT L 835 §5w g i ¥ o i & 1 ; H o Eu i of g Bsdit gs TOURISTS ABROAD FINDING FEW PASSPORT OBSTACLES BY OLIVER McKEE, UROPE-BOUND American tour- ists will find-fewer passport ob- stacles this Sun.mer than travelers have - encountered since the war, and, if the Sen- ate takes favorable action on a bill which has the House, may have to gay onlfy half as much for the little book certifying to the bearer's citizen- ship. Under existing law passports are two years and cost $10. ‘This cost be reduced to $5 with a total period. of validity not to exceed six years from the date of issue, by the terms of a bill introduced by Reg‘n- sentative O’Connell of New York, which wup-uedlnmyfimnwn.w- gether with an ame: it by Repre. sentative Lapeer of Michigan. Enact- ment of this measure, which is now in the Senate, is strongly favored by the State De nt. any considerable number of visitors has either reduced materially or elim- inated altogether the visa charge on American need a passport from the Government if they go abroad, and this costs §10. Not so many years ago a European trip might cost $50 or $100 for passport visas alone. ., Even when a traveler crossed one country en route to ancther his passport must bear the appropriate visa, for which a charge of something like $10 was ordi- narily made. The bulk of these charges have been removed and the traveler saves in money and time. Six years ago Congress passed legis- lation authorizing the executive branch of the Government to negotiate reciprocal agreements . with = foreign countries for the reduction or abolish- ment of non-immigrant visa fees. Many European countries at first were disin- clined to negotiate on this basis, resent- ing the $10 fee which the American Government charged pi ctive immi- grants to our shores. number of European tourists who want to visit the United States is comparatively small, whereas European immigrants num- ber many hundreds of thousands. Many Agreements Made. ‘The principal difficulty which our negotistoss had was in trying to con- | vince certain foreign governments. that our charge of $10 for an immigrant's visa was a fair one, covering the actual cost of the physical examination and other work, and that we could not con- sider the abolishment of this fee in return for the lifting of the visa fee collected upon American tourists. The American view, however, has prevailed and the reciprocal ‘eements nego- cover non-i ant visa fees only. By the first of this year the United States Government had concluded agreements on this type with the fol- lowing coun B Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Costa Rica, _Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Esthonia, Finland, France, Germany, Guatam: Honduras, Ice- land, Italy, Japan. Liberia, Lichtenstein, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Persia, Peru, Poland Salvador, Siam, Spain, Sweden, Switzer- land and Uruguay. Many of these countries have abol- is] passport fees; others have cut the fee to 85, $2 or $1. This group in- cludes those countries most visited by the American tourist or business man. Prance, for example, has cut the charge to $2, and as several hundred thousand Americans land at Prench ports each year the collective saving is $2,000,000 or more annually. Great Britain is the great exception. The British govern- ment still holds to the full $10 fee. ‘Business Men Lead Campaign. American business men for years have been carrying on a campaign to reduce the excessive cost of passports and cut the red tape that confronts the American who goes abroad for business or pleasure As far back as 1922 the United States Chamber of Commerce adopted the following resolution: “High fees for passports and the visaing of ‘passports are a burden upon the international travel mecessary to commerce. However appropriate in war time, the formalities incident to visas and ‘to police control of ports are now an interference with commerce. Our Government should reduce its fees for passports and visas to a reasonable charge for the service it performs. As promptly possible, our Government should enter into agreements with for- eign governments for the reciprocal dis- continuance of visa requirements, and when conditions warrant the complete discontinuance of passport require- ts.” h is prima facie evidence The over the signature and seal of the Sec- retary of State that Mr. X or Mr. Y is an American citizen. There is no need for the Minister or Ambassador to g0 back of that. The passport is good at its face value in determining the citi- zenship of its bearer. Suppose a man goes abroad without a passport? If he gets in trouble he may be called upon to prove that he is an American citizen. How is_he going to proceed to prove it? Not only is ‘a passport required by most foreign “countries in which Americans ex‘fimt to travel, but it has served, and will continue to serve, as a most con- Agreements Between State Department | and Some Foreign Countries Do Away With Visa Charggs. venient way of establishing in advance the citizenshry sf the individual. T=¢ tisa Rystem is another outgrowth 3t World War conditions. Forged pass- ports were numerous in years past. Many governments therefore decided that the consul on the spot must cer- tify as to the genuineness of the pass- port and the nationality of the individ- ual who applied for a passport. The system grew rapidly, with the result that even after abnormal conditions of the war had passed governments stiY "'vheere euctl.nlll fee :;tmun trx‘;u.r'vi.nm. passport of every visitor crosses borders. its Produce Revenue, A traveler on the Orient express, for example, from Paris to Constantinople or Bucharest might have to get half a dozen different visas, though hé had no intention of even steppi off the train en route. Indeed, he mignt cross & couple of countries at night, yet the necessity was still upon him to through the same formalities of getting a visa that would have been required had he imtended to make a' stop of three weeks or three months, Visa fess have produced a good dea! of revenue. This would hold especially for the countries like France and Grea: Britain, which tourists visit in the course of the year by the hundreds o1 thousands. On the otker hand, th. imposition of these fees has no doub discouraged many prospective visitors It has likewise acted as a bar upor trade and commerce, so the net result as a matter of fact, may have been & financial loss to the countries con cerned.’ The gain to the treasury b/ no means tells the whole story of th/ items on the profit and loss ledger. Chambers of commerce and similar organizations have given their support to the passport renewal bill. Repre- senting 7,700 business concerns engaged all kinds of business, the Merchants iation of New York gave its in- dorsement to the measure, ‘The National Council of American Importers and Traders, representing some 540 firms, stated through its rep- resentatives that the bill would be of great benefit to those engaged in inter- national trade. Support from another source came from the assistant passen- ger traffic manager of one of the large steamship companies, who testified that enactment of this bill would make it easier for business men and tourists to travel freely abroad. Foreign travel ‘would be thereby encouraged and better understanding obtained between nations. The State Department has recently completed a survey of passport applica- tions to get certain statistical informa- tion on the subject of nearly 200,000 applicants for passports last year. New York State contributed 58,834, or 29.88 per cent of the total. Exclusive of the metropolitan area, New York State con- tributed but 6.97 per cent of the total. The figures are illuminating in that they show how easily the average New Yorker makes up his mind to take a European trip. The objects of travel reveal a wide range. “Travel” was the objective given by 47.76 per cent, or 94,054 in all. Fam ily affairs caused 68,315 persons to buy an overseas passage ticket; commercial business claimed 15,636 persons; educa- tion, 12,938; professional business, 2,324; official business. 177; health, 3,033, and miscellaneous, 453, Mechanics Tie Bankers. The occupations represented were no less diverse. Housewives were repre- sented in this army by a band of 23,947 and laborers by 16,345.. Clerks and secretaries went abroad 10910 strong, and salesmen and skilled laborers ran a 'close race, a little over 6,000 each. Bankers and brokers sent a large dele- gation (more than 5,000) and physi- clans were not far behind with 4,057. With a little better than 5,000, the me- chanic made as good a showing as the banker and the broker. Students to- taled 11,000; teachers, 10,000, and writers, 630; reports falling under a different classification, 414 in all. Western Euro] naturally enough covers the destination of more American tourists than any other part of the world. All told, 133,479 persons received passports for Western Europe, or 67.78 per cent of the total. Other percentages were as follows: Eastern Europe, 5.39; the Far Bast and East -Indies, 2.40; Latin America, West Indies and Mexico, 4.10; Africa, 0.61: Australia and New Zealand, 0.34; miscellaneous, 0.08, and “all countries,” 18.65. Though s great many applicants in- serted “all countries” in the space marked “destination,” Washington offi- cials believe that most of those who gave this destination visited Western lmu.?m thus swelling the totals for area. A woman, Ruth Bielaski Shipley, heads the passport division, of the State Department. She entered the depart- ment as a clerk in 1914, rapidly rising until two years ago she was appointed to her present position. Miss Shipley directs the vast machinery through which hundreds of thousands of Ameri~ cans annually receive passports from their Government. ° ‘Twelve years after the war g:upor red tape has been reduced to what ms} be regarded as close to a minimum, Travel is all the easer thereby, and pros portionately cheaper. Two scientists of the Mount Wilson Observatory have abserved and studied what appears to be the speediest of group of stars in the whole visible uni- verse, moving at velocities in excess of 7,000 miles a second. Telling of their for the Advancement of Science, Dr. E. P. Hubble and Milton L. Humason an- nounced that they had observed a faint group of nebulae in the bowl of the Great Dipper, near the star under the ce where the “bowl” joins the andle. Each nebula is believed to be a swarm h as those that form the of which the sun is a By making a 50-hour time exposure of the spectrum of the brightest nebula in the group on nine consecutive nights with the great 100-inch telescope, Mr. Humason obtained a photograph that proved to be similar to the photo- graphed spectrum of thé sun. But the dark lines crossing it, each one repre- senting an element, were not found in ition. They were crowded this the astronomers are studies before the' American Association | is -|away of those wi 7,200 Miles Per Second Velocity Of Recently-Found Groups of Stars because the air waves are brought past the ear faster than ordinary by the added speed of the train in approach- ing, and the air waves crowd by the ear and give a higher pitch. When the train passes the of the train is subtracted frcm the air waves and the frequency with which they pass the ear lessened, resulting in lowered pitch. This same thing ns in the light. of stars. The frequency of the light is , raised or lowered by the motion of the star toward or from the observer, re- spectively, Thus a shift in the spec- » trum of light is relatively the same .- thing as the shift in the pitch of sound. ., Both are ca the motion of the energy source. A3n In measuring the shift of the lines tw the spectrum of the group of stars studied Mr. Humason found that they were IDYII’!I’I"Y going away from the eaith with a speed of approximately 7,200 miles a second, the highest speed 80 far recorded for any heavenly body. Dr. Hubble also has been studying these nebulae in various ways, and in 1924 he xmvul they were groups of tars, and from comparisons of their size he “has determined the. distance measuded by Mz. Humason. He found that the farther away they were e faster they appareatly moved from the earth. . Ay brings w, the questmn, ag. to rent ‘This what these appe mean, as it is notd)lkzly uug allithed are trying ge B ‘ar a from our solar system as "poulble in"'.h'{ w quickest ¢ime. It would seem more tenable that Nght waves are “affected” in » they ‘are . 80 are . mzw;f‘mw position in the. in a similar manner ‘to that reac] crowded spectrum produced by motion. Acwh space higher dimensions. that this t has been held hypothetical curvature of be the cause of the observ- «