Evening Star Newspaper, July 20, 1930, Page 21

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, JULY 20, 1930—PART TWO. ORGANIZED MEDICAL RESEARCH IS VITAL) New Federal Institute May Make Wash- ington Center of Advance in Medical Science. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. The recent passage of the bill, introduced by Senator Joseph E. Rans- dell of Louisiana, is being hailed by physicians the country over as a step of far-reaching significance in the eter- nal struggle with sickness and death. Medical science during the past 50 HE establishment by Congress of the National Institute of Health | promises to make Washington a | world center of medical research. | | Buess is that the discovery (of a cure for cancer) will be made when it comes at last by some obscure fellow in a home-made laboratory. “There is every reason to believe,” Dr. Blood- | good repliss, “that the slowness of dis- coveries in medical research is due to the fact that the majority of people, within and without the medical p! | fession, have been of this opinio Actually, of course, the “‘miracle” may happen. Some obscure physician, a: | predicted by Mr. Mencken, may some years has made in one sense enormous | day hit empiracly on & s t progress. It has discovered specific and | rcry or dlsr.gver, };'lth a !‘:ledcg:fi t::s;‘:f almost infallible remedies for some of | jnspired insight, some simple fact which the most dreaded human diseases, with | everybody else has overlooked. But it the result that nobody dies of them any | will ‘be expensive business waiting for longer except in districts where medical | the miracle. And if such an “obscure resources are not available. The so-|fellow” does make such a discovery he called “child diseases,” which used to | probably will be riding on the shouiders be accepted as a matter of course and | of other men who by systematic, co- took a heavy toll of life, seem on the point of being eliminated. ~ Such scourges as yellow fever are at the van- ishing point. The infant mortality rate has been cut in half. The average span of life has been increased to a sensa- tional extent. All this has been accom- plished by applying the methods of modern science to medical problems. Another Side in Background. Physicians like to boast of these ad- vances—and with good reason. This is the side of the shield held up most frequently to the public. But there is another side which needs to be consid- ered in the background of the new Na- tional Institute of Health Actually, the specifics are few—Ila- mentably few. Death still takes its hundreds of thousands while physicians stand helpless by the bedsides with very little to offer the patients. They can only “let nature take its course,” as- sisting wherever possible to recupera- tive powers of the individual. Medical science has made comparatively few in- roads into the territory of the eternal enemy, These seem important because they are the first signs of eventual vic- tory, the beginning of the turning of the tide of battle. An almost infinitely great extent of scientific territory re- mains unconquered. The medical scien- tist shares, perhaps more than any other research worker, the sentiments of Sir Isaac Newton. He is like a child pick- ing up pebbles here and there on the beach. Before him beats the great, mysterious, unconquered ocean. Death, hiding in the impenetrable fog, laughs | at him and his efforts. Organized Medical Research. Actually organized medical research | is a thing of the very recent past, be- ginning with the establishment of such institutions as the Rockefeller Founda- tion and the graduate departments of such universities as Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. The number of research workers is pitiably small, due in large part to the inadequacy of the resources. available for their support. And, it is generally admitted, only through pure, laborious. uncolorful scientific research can medical science be advanced in the future. Most of the “miracles” and the accidents already have happened. The individual physician, however able he may be, is not in a. position to contribute much. His function is to put into practice the science of medicine as it is. He has neither the time, the energy, the money, the resources, nor in most cases the technical equipment for research work. Furthermore, the status of the science is such that the individual working alone can accom- plish little. Medical research has reached the stage where it can func- tion only as a co-operative enterprise. ‘The problems are too complicated to be solved by any one man. They demand the combined efforts of the biophysic- ist, the biochemist, the physiologist and 8 score Of others, each contributing a little toward the desired result. In Betier Position. ‘The medical schools and universities are in a somewhat more favorable posi- tion. Research is somewhat of a side- line, a voluntary activity on the of idealistic and overworked ‘ofessors. Nor is research, except in a limited de- gress, the function of State and Na- tional healtk services which are de: signed as regulatory and executive agen- cles. This leaves actual research in the hands of the great foundations, and these are so few that they can take advantage of only the most pressing of the opportunities. Now comes the United States Gov- ernment. The old Hygienic Laboratory of the Public Health Service, with its heroic tradition of devotion and self- lessness, acquired largely in activities beyond the call of duty, is to become the nucelus of a great Federal medical research agency. The antiquated, in- ldeguau quarters, hidden under the shadow of the Naval Hospital, battle- ground of some of the most colorful struggles against the invisible hordes of disease and death that the world has | Government agencies in medical | operative research have given him the | foundation. A cure for cancer may not come from the National Institute of Health, but a very great part of the ab- solutely essential background for such a discovery is certain to come from there. Will Build Up Research. The Government in its regulato: health work and its necessary r;’; searches naturally bad bulit a won- | dertul research machine which needed | only legislative recognition to function. }Now has come frank recognition and | approval of research beyond the bound: of the immediately practical. This “im- mediately practical,” which appeals so much to the man on the street unfa- miliar with scientific methods, has been one of the great thorns in the side of | productive research in the past. Of course, various Federal medical agencies have done a great deal of im- | mensely valuable work for the advance- | ment of science in the past. The work | of the Public Health Service and the | Hyglenic Laboratory is only one chap- ter. There are equally colorful chap- ters in the history of the Army and Navy medical services. The medical service of the Veterans’ Bureau is a worthy younger brother of these. Few finer examples of the wo;k of re- search can be cited than that of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital—theoretically a place for the custody and treatment of the Federal insane. Actually it has functioned, because of the enthusiasm nd devotion of its staff, as a Federal bureau for the investigation of prob. lems of the human mind and has be: come a world center of psychiatric re- search. All this has been largely with- out cost to the taxpayers, work for which the workers were not paid. But. as was remarked at the recent World Congress on Mental Hygiene here, up to the present the Government has been “‘more concerned with the health of pigs than with the sanity of its people.” Dr. Bloodgood's Viewpoint. That day apparently is passing. This State Medical Society. Little more than a generation ago, he explained, this was very largely an agricultural nation, when “the larger element of our people were farmers, and rural life was not only larger but more healthy, and the happiness and prosperity of rural dis- tricts depended on the health of ani- mals and plants. As the United States raced to its present population and city life neither the medical profession nor the Government realied the impor- tance of keeping the people informed of changing conditions due to over- crowding of population, and only a minority have seen the necessity of muitiplying the number of research workers to meet the new demands of modern health protection.” “Today,” Dr. Bloodgood continued, “practicaily every important method of diagnosis which allows us to disease in its earliest and curable stages is the result of discoveries in the hos- pitals and laboratories of medical sci- ence. Practically every means of pre- vention we have today, from vacci tion against smallpox to the most re- cent inoculation against Rocky Moun- tain fevor, is due to the work of mem- bers of the medical profession giving part of or all their time to research. Practically all the cures we have for disease today and every method of treatment which promises anything toward a cure has been the result of research. Too Few Research Men. “In spite of the fact that for the majority of diseases we have neither a prevention nor a cure, the number of research workers and laboratories, although decidedly on the increase, is far too small to meet the demands. Neither the people nor its representa- tives nor the medical profession think in terms of preventive medicine or re- search.” The plan for the National Institute of Health provides for the endowment of research activities. known, are to be replaced with modern, thoroughly equipped buildings, and re- search is to be a recognized, primary | function. | Past Glamorous. It is difficult to pass lightly over the’ past of the Hygienic Laboratory. The day may be approaching rapidly when schoolboys will learn of the heroic deeds | of the men and women who have worked and died there as they now learn of the deeds of John Paul Jones | and Ethan Allen. This past is a glam- | orous page in American history. Wash- ington hardly can have forgotten so seen the story of the parrot fever in- vestigation last Winter, when this mys- terious tropical disease seemed to have | fastened its hold on the country, and| when, stricken right and left as the| epidemic swept through the building, the staff fought on to an eventual vic- | tory over an invisible foe which had| emerged from that dark border between | the organic and inorganic, the living end the dead. It can hardly be forgotten how, as worker after worker dropped in 'the fight, the director, Dr. George W. Mc- Coy, ordered the others away from the position of greatest danger, caring for the infected birds, and took up the work himself. & deed deserving the Congression: Medal of Honor. And one after the a=bar, after having been brought to the edge of the grave by the dicease, the stricken workers staggered back to their places in the line of battle. This is merely one of many such incidents which will provide the tradition of the new National Institute of Health. No army ever took the field with a more herole inspiration for following a more blood-drenched flag in the charge against the enemy. Here, if anywhere, was |, “Now is the time to strike,” says Dr. | Bloodgood. It provides probably the finest oppor- tunity to devote wealth to the real service of suffering humanity. —— City Forced to Yiel By Firecracker “Bombs” War also has its humor. Kweiteh, & town 90 miles from Hsuchowfu, China, on the Lunghai Railroad, can testify to this. It is not the first time it has been surrounded by Nationalist troops nor the first time it has been bombed, It looks back upon the last time and does a little laughing at its own expense. Troops had surrounded the city walls and the siege had begun. Then one night a series of explosions was heard just inside the walls. The residents were panic-stricken. Adding to their terror came long streams of fire float- ing over their roofs. The inhabitants and the garrisoned troops surrendered. With daybreak came the explanations. The invading forces had filled five-gal- lon cans with firecrackers and, light! 5. ad tossed them over the city wall. Then they lit long streamers of paper Chinese lanterns and swung them into the breeze. The noise and the flare re- | duced the city to surrender. The Na- | tionalist troops today use more modern |methods. A bombing plane has been | dropping real bombs into the city. {Ttaly Equips First-Aid | Train for Disasters Work Drab, Colorless. Much of the work necessarily will be drab and colorless. Such is always the case with the work of an army in the field. The picturesque charges which #tir the blood of onlookers are few and far apart. But medical science is in the stage where it needs hard, skilled. pxatlent and devoted work—and lots of it. Some of the old scourges of the race have been conquered despite the limited resources of the past—conquered so thoroughly that they hardly can lift their heads. But others, perhaps the most dreaded of all, remain uncon- quered and appear to be increasing Such are tuberculosis, cancer, the vari ous results of hypertension and—pos- sibly the most important of all in a fa view of the future—the various ap- parently functional psychoses. These never will be overcome by miracles un- Jess a very substantial background of systematic research is provided for lht‘J miracles. ‘Why Discoveries Are Slow. H. L. Mencken said a few days ago. £+ quoted by Dr. Joseph C. Bloodgood @ Johns Hopkins Univer-ity: M- | | A special first-aid train has just been equipped for use in cases of earth- quakes, floods or other disasters. In ad- dition to a few passenger coaches, this | fast train is conveniently fitted out with | telephones, an ordinary telsgraph in- 1smlnmn and a transmitting and re- | ceiving wireless—telegraphic apparatus. | Only a short time ago Vesuvius was | commemorating the anniversary. of last | year's eruption by loud explosions and lofty fountains of incandescent lava, | and the public was expecting the train | to roll forth on it first relief trip. But Vesuvius' activeness this time consisted merely of customary spring paroxysms and the small cone within the main | crater soon died out after a series of little lava discharges and a tame shower of fine black sand. | Meantime the villagers living in tiny huts on the flanks of the volcano are anxious to geet the first-aid train and are urging the government to carry into effect those protective measures, ?m]tflkd at a cost of 2,000,000 lire after lf.l‘! year's eruption, wi,;ouv. further ~ay, BY SEWELL STOKES, Author of “Pillorled!” | HE most stimulating hour of my life, so far, is the one I spent | recently alone with Bernard Shaw. I have not met, nor am T likely ever to meet, a more charming boy of 74. If any woman has an excuse for being fealous, that woman | is Mrs. Shaw. For her husband’s charm makes a devoted admirer of everybody he meets. His youth is com- | pletely captivating. One suspects him | of having, like Faust, made a secret bargain with the devil, so young, slim and agile does he apepar to be. Defi- nitely, he is one of the younger genera- tion. And he will remain one of them until the day of his death, which, if physical fitness counts for anything, GEORGE BERNARD SHAW—A will not take place in my lifetime. And | I look forward to another 50 years of | work. 1t is said that, just before the end, a | drowning man sees 1n a flash the whole | of his past life. But if Shaw ever reaches that point—which heaven for- | bid—the future, not the past, will be | shown him, He is, unlike most men of | his age, keenly interested in the future. Progress means everything to him. He is only too anxious to take advantage of every new development that comes his way. “Are you,” I asked him, “in- | terested in the ‘talkies'?"” 1t was a foolish_question. But T had grown so used to hearing the “talkies” denounced by elderly gentlemen (and | elderly gentlemen do so enjoy A mnice | little ‘plece’ of denouncement) that it slipped out before I had realized I was “Tell Me, Mr. Bernard Sh And Then Famous Writer at 74 Just Becomes a Charming, Intelligent Boy. CHARMING KOY OF 7 talking to an enthusiastic youngste “I'm particularly keen on ‘talkie sald shaw. “T'l tell you why.” He did. He is interested in this de- | velopment of the cinema, he told me, because he believes that through its medium he will at last be able to send a perfect production of his plays around | the world. Perfect Staging Impossible. “It is not possible,” he said, “to get a perfect production of a play on the stage. Or if one does manage, after | careful rehearsal, to get it nearly per- fect on a Monday night, who can tell what it will be like on Tuesday? No actor can repeat a perforance exactly. One night he may be good, the next | less good. But the films have an mi-] vantage. Through them one can ac- 3 IN. C. CANAL LINKS INTERIOR WITH ATLANTIC PORT | Wilmington-Norfolk Project, 291 Miles 1%° aw Long, Begun in 1907, Has Cost U. S. $12,675,000. BY HARRY HAYDEN. N Eastern North Carolina hydraulic | dredges are eating their way| through swamps, woods and marsh | lands, and by the Fall of 1931 an inland waterway 291 miles in| length, extending from Norfolk, Va.. to | Cape Fear River, 15 miles below Wil- mington, N. C., will be opened to navi- gation. The completion of this Norfolk-Wil- mington link, begun in 1907 and costing the Federal Govegnment $12,675,000, means that merchants and manufactur- | ers in Boston, New York, Philadelphia. | Baltimore, Wilmington, Del.; WA.shmg-i ton, Richmond and Norfolk will be able | to ship their products by barge lines as | far South as Wilmington, N. C., for re- shipment by rail and boat lines to in- terior points. These barge lines will| eventually reach interior North Caro-| lina points as far westward as Fayette- vile. | The inauguration of water transporta- | tio by the inland canal route to Wil-| ntington and other North Carolina ports is expected to revolutionize the freight rate structure of North Carolina, as water transportation is usially less ex- ensive than rail. When other links n the great waterway are completed many tourists, who have been traveling by rail from Northern points to resorts along the Atlantic Coast as far South as Florida are expected to cruise aboard their boats on these journeys without | encountering the dangers from storms | at sea and from the treacherous shoals of Frying Pan and Capes Lookout and Hatteras, the latter referred to for ages | as the “Graveyard of the Atlantic.” | Country Rich In Lore. —From a Lithograph by Eric Page. tually get a perfect production. A man like Chaplin can spend as much time as | he likes making & bit«of film perfect. In the end all he has to do s to join up the bits, and the result is a perfect pro- duction which will stand for ever.” “Then why have you never allowed your plays to be filmed before?” I asked Shaw. I knew the answer to this ques- tion, but wanted it in his own words. “Because before the ‘talkies’ came,” he sald, “the films did not need my plays, or anybody else's. They bought plays, T know. But why? A play is made up of dialogue. By the time it was filmed all the dialogue had been taken out of it. So that the plays which were filmed successfully could not have been plays at all Always Shaw is thorough. I remem- ~ (Continued on Fourth Page.) The Story the Week Has Told BY HENRY W. BUNN. HE following is a brief summary of the most important news of the world for the seven days ended July 19: * K K K GREAT BRITAIN.—The reply of the British government to the proposals of the French government for the organi- zation of a system of European federal union is very much what one expected. A reply from Great Britain approach- ing definiteness is impossible pending exhaustive consultation with the gov. ernments of the other members of the British commonwealth of nations; this in so many words. Moreover, its atti- tude is scarcely more dependent on the results of such consulation than on the consideration that its relations with Washington must not now be preju- diced or even embarrassed. This is only implied, not directly said (we are | not specifically mentioned), but the| implication hits one in the eye. As the document proceeds, it Brows | colder. It is quite unfavorable to any project of European political faction, | nor does it incline to the methods of economic co-operation proposed. “His | majesty’s government is convinced that | it would be possible, perhaps by estab- | lishing European committees of the Assembly, of the Council and of the| technical organizations of the League, | or perhaps in other ways, to create| whatever machinery is required (m'. promoting closer European co-operation | without incurring the risks and diffi- culties which a system of new and independent institutions might inyolve. So that's that. The consultation with the dominion governments will be had at the imperial conference in London this Autumn, after the League Assembly. No doubt meantime London will vigorously attempt to feel out the attitude of the United States. It is to be presumed that the British par-| ticipation in the discussions at Geneva this September of M. Briand's pro- posals will be rather vague. On July 15 the government was de- feated 168 to 36 in the House of Lords on an amendment to its coal bill. . The vexed bill now goes back to the Com- mons for further debate. The Daily Herald calls the Lords' action “the most | serious challenge to the popular will| since the House of Lords rejected yloyd, George’s ‘people’s budget of 1909."” On July 16, in a debate on the tariffs | in the House of Commons, a Conserva- | tive motion of censure was defeated, 312 to 241, On July 16 the Lords once more re- | jected, but by a majority of only four,| & motion once more made by Viscount Astor to admit peeresses in their own right to the House of Lords on the same terms as men. There are about a | score of such peeresses. * ok ok ok GERMANY —The reply of the Ger-| man_government to the French gov- ernment’s proposals respecting European | federation is very cordial in_tone, but very reserved in substance. Really, its most important feature is the assertion (move ingeniously camoufiaged) that territorial revision of the treaties con- | sequent upon the World War and other | “rectifications” (to include for Ger- many and her war associates equal status with the allies in respect of dis- armament) must prelude and condi- tion any such federation as the one contemplated. But, pending so happy a develop- ment, something can be done. “Inde- pendent of political considerations, there are undoubtedly possibilities in the purely economic field which mustI be tested and used in the interest of European advancement. Close co-oper- ation in this field should not be made dependent upon the creation of greater security. On the contrary, just this economic understanding will materially increase the consciousness of solidarity and thereby the feeling of security.” The governments should promote the non-governmental efforts by way of international cartels, etc.; “should bring their joint economic policles” (as in respect of tariffs) “into harmony with the free play of these forces.” European states such as Russia and Turkey should not, says Berlin, be ex- cluded from a European federation. The German government looks forward hopefully to the discussion of the French government's proposals at “the gather- ing at Geneva in September, to which European_non-members of the League and non-European states should be ad- | mitted.” Not exactly a damper to M. Briand, but not “calculated” to promote his_jocundity. | Here is something very important. On | July 16 the Reichstag rejected, 256 to 204, the bills embodying the financial program of the new minister of finance. Thereupon, at the instance of Chancel- lor Bruening, President von Hinden- burg signed a decree putting into effect article 48, the famous ‘“overpowering clause” of the constitution. The hlllsi were then decreed. Here is a constitu- tional erists of the first importance. Dr. Breitscheid, the famous Socialist, termed the action “the beginning of a German | dictatorship.” The program rejected | includes a special tax on incomes above | 8,000 marks a year, and an extraordi- nary tax on federal employes. Article 48 reads as follows: | “The President, in the event that pub- lic security and order in the German | nation should be considerably disturbed or endangered, may take all necessary | measures to re-establish such public| security and order, and, if required, to| intervene with the aid of armed power. To this end he may provisionally abro- gate, in whole or in part, the funda- mental laws established in Articles—" President Ebert made considerable use of article 48, but those were days of storm and stress, with civil war nearly threatening or initiated. President von Hindenburg has used it several times, but only as a swift method of ridding certain emergency measures universally | recognized as demanding quick rid- dance. But the recent invocation of the article is quite a different thing. Many doubt that the framers of the constitu- tion contemplated any such use, and the doubt seems justified. Observe, however, that the Reichstag may by an ordinary majority rescind measure decreed the government. Suppose the Reichstag should do that. | casualty list of 20 civilians and one | Then, if the govel nt is to use ar- ticle 48 freely the Reichstag must be| dissolved. Precisely this happened in the present instance. On July 18 a mo- tion to rescind the fiscal measures de- creed as per above was carried in the Reichstag, 236 to 221. Within 30 min- utes a presidential edict dissolved the Reichstag; elections for a new Reichs- tag must, under the constitution, be held within 60 days of dissolution. It remains to see what the government will do under article 48 pending thel seating of a new Reichstag and what, sort of a new Reichstag will be returned. The late Reichstag lived two years and two months. ok ok * INDIA.—Dispatches of July 15 tell of Hindu-Moslem bloody clashes over a considerable area of Eastern Bengal. Here is a characteristic touch. A mob of Moslems surround the house of a Hindu money lender, demanding sur- render of & peasant’s bond in the sum of $100 and offering $35. The gentle- man refuses; wherefore his house is looted and burned, the occupants beaten up. Dispatches of the 16th tell of terrible rioting in Northern Bengal, involving h to 15 persons and injuries to , including five government offi- cers, the causes being obscure, but thought to be “of economic origin and probably connected with the low price of jute.” * K K K CHINA.—Dispatches of July 12 tell of definite formation at last of a Northern allance’ government at Pieping, Wang Ching-Wel, the Left leader, and his followers having been placated and hav- ing consented to co-operate. The new government is to be based on Kuomin- tang principles, and most of the offices, apparently, will go to former members of the central executive committee of the Kuomintang who were ousted by the group now in control at Nanking. H 0w EGYPT.—The real thing, sure enough, in Egypt. At Alexandria on July 15 & mob of Wafdists (Nationalists) tore loose. Before the native troops and police had quelled them there was a policeman _ killed, about 60 _persons wounded by firearms and about 120 others, including 50 police, otherwise injured. Included in the above figures are one Italian killed and 10 Europeans injured. There was a general smashing of European shops and of the cars of the Alexandria Tramway Co. a Eu- ropean concern. It was the worst out- break since the Zaghlul Pasha riots of 1919. The “normal” British force in Egypt consists of three regiments of cavalry, eight battalions of infantry, six bat- teries of artillery, two companies of engineers, one armored car company and auxiliary services. There are now abut 11,900 British officers and men in the country. The Egyptian native army, under British control, numbers about 12,500, It will be recalled that one of the Egyptian demands is that British troops be withdrawn from the country except the Suez Littoral. On June 19 the Wafdist cabinet, headed by Nahas Pasha, resigned upon the refusal of King Fuad to consent to certain curta | of St. Martin at Ypres has {lments of the royal pre- . social rogative. ‘The next day the King ad- jeurned Parliament to July 21 and ap- pointed the “moderate” Sidky Pasha as premier. There have since been a half-dozen bloody crashes between Wafdists and government troops d police. British troops have been care- fully held aloof. Alexandria, of course, boasts the very worst sort of Levantine reputation. Upon learning of the Egyptian develop- ment the British government at_once dispatched two battleships for Egypt and on the 16th, in the Commons, Pre- mier MacDonald issued a stern warn. ing. He declared that the British gov- ernment “was determined not to inter- fere in purely internal affairs in Egypt, but it could not remain indifferent while foreign lives and property were being endangered.” bt ] UNITED STATES OF AMERICA— On July 12 the famous Robert Jones won the United States open golf cham- plonship for the fourth time. On July 12 the Whirlwind raced the Enterprise and the Weetamoe the Yankee; a triangular course of 30 miles off Newport. Merely a drifting contest, the Enterprise only finishing within the time limit. The Weetamoe and Yankee did not finish at all. In the trials of the 14th construction defects showed up sadly. The enter- prise was pitted against the Weetamoe, and the Yankee against the Whirlwind. The course was 15 miles to windward and back: there was a 20-mile breeze (sufficiently moderate) and a rather “jumping” sea. The Enterprise’s mainsail split as she stood for the starting line. The Whirl- wind and Yankee had covered about 10 miles of t.> windward when the Whirlwind’s mainsail “slipped down, pulling out at the head,” and she was out of it. Of course, Weetamoe and Yankee did not sail through; there was nothing doing. It is matter for dismal speculation that the Shamrock V has behaved handsomely in several races, under conditions no less t: 8. On the 16th the Enterprise easily beat the Whirlwind and the Weetamoe easily beat the Yankee; triangular course of 30 miles off Newport, breeze freshening from 5 to 16 miles. On most | important points of sailing the Enter- prise made far the best showing. On the 17th the Weetamoe, Enterprise and Yankee were sailed together over a windward and leeward course of 30 miles. Breeze, 12 to 17 miles. The Whirlwind had been withdrawn, her owners having decided on important alterations. The Yankee won hand- somely, beating the Weetamoe by about 3 minutes, which, in turn, beat the Enterprise by about 2 minutes. The “observation” series is now ended. The four yachts meet again in the final tests toward the end of August. ) Notes—Restoration of the Cathedral been com- pleted. Work is proceeding on restora- tion of the cloth hall. ‘The outstanding legislative accom- plishments of the late session of the French Chamber, which ended so aus- piclously, “were a system of mnational insuranca, unemploy- ‘This inland waterway will pass through a North Carolina section rich in historical and piratical lore. It will pass near the hay where the notorious “Black Beard,” Edward Teach, finally was overpowered after he and his pirates had instilled fear into the hearts of mariners and settlers along the South Atlantic seaboard. Many interesting finds have been turned up by the diggers of the canal. During the first two weeks of June bones and teeth of prehistoric animals were dug up by a dredge near Wrightsville Sound. Dr. E. W. Berry of Johns Hop- kins University, and Dr. Ben L. Miller of Pittsburgh, geologists, after examin- ing these fossils on display in the office of Maj. W. A. Snow, United States Army district engineer at Wilmington, reported the bones to be parts of a mastodon. The scientists said the short jointed bones are from the front foot of a mas- todon and that the giant molar also came from the same prehistoric animal. That the North Carolina coast line centuries ago extended far beyond its Ppresent location is evidenced by the fact that huge stumps have been dug up in the marsh lands by the dredges. Waterway Ready in August. Pour powerful pipe dredges are at present working at various points on the waterway between Beaufort, N. C., and Cape Fear River, a distance of 93 miles. It is estimated by Maj. Snow and Robert C. Merritt, his assistant, that the waterway between Cape Fear River and Wrightsville Sound will be navigable about August 1 and between Beaufort and New River about Septem- ber 1. This will leave uncompleted the portion between New River and Wrights- ville Sound, a distance of 35 miles, and plans are now being made by the en- gineers to assign two dredges very soon to this part of the project. The combined output of the four dredges now at work is approximately 2,000,000 cubic yards a month. The machines are cutting a canal 90 feet wide and 12 feet deep. The material is carried away by pipe lines to points, at some places a mile distant, so that the silt and sand may not return to block the channel. Barges May Carry 900 Tons. The typical barge expected to be used on the Virginia-Carolina water- way will have the following measure- ments: Length, 175 to 210 feet; depth, 12 to 14 feet; width, 20 to 23 feet 10 inches. A barge of these measurements would be capable of transporti 457,- 000 feet of lumber, or about 900 of other cargo. Small tugs, p lled by steam or gasoline engine, would tow a string of these barges, and some barges would he self-propelled. Vessels drawing 20 feet can now pro- ceed from Boston to New York by way of Cape Cod Canal. Craft drawing five feet are already na between New York and Delaware River via the Raritan River Canal. It is considered probable that the United States Gov- ernment in the near future will acquire the Raritan Canal from the Pennsyl- vania Rallroad Co., probably increasing the depth to 12 feet and thereby linking New York with a 12-foot canal all the way to Wilmington, N. C. Hazards of Shoals Eliminated. ‘The dangers incurred by small vessels navigating over the shoals of Capes | Lookout and Hatteras have been made ! avoidable by the Norfolk-Beaufort, N. C., k and the completion of the Beaufort JInlet-Cape Fear River link | will eliminate the hazards of Frying Pan Shoals. Work is expected to start within a ar on an inland waterway 75 feet | wide and 8 feet deep at mean low water between Cape Fear River and Winyah Bay, near Charleston, S. C., at |an_ estimated cost of $5907,000. The completion of this waterway will afford | navigation for boats drawing 8 feet | from Philadelphia to Jacksonville, Fla., via Norfolk and Cape Fear River. ‘The Florida East Coast Canal con- nects St. Johns River with Miami. The contemplated inland waterway from Foston and New York to Florida eventu- ally would be a popular route for launches and yachts carrying vacation- ists and tourists to and from Florida, Georgla, Virginia and North and South | Carolina_resorts, without, encountering | the dangers of the open seas. Numer- | ous inlets up and down the coast would g:rmlt small craft at sea to reach vens of safety in the inland water- way in event of storms. The Florida East Coast Canal has recently been taken over by the United States Gov- ernment and will be improved soon to a new low water depth of 8 feet. | Waterway Planned in 1837. ‘The question of the waterway through Eastern North Carolina has been under consideration since 1837, when Congress ordered a survey to be made from the southern end of Dismal Swamp to Win- yah Bay, 8. C., with a view to deter- mining the feasibility of opening an in- land route for steam navigation from | the Chesapeake Bay to Charleston, S. | C. George Washington once made survey for a canal through the Dismal Swamp section. No further action was taken until 1875, when Congress pro- | vided for a survey between Norfolk and Fear River. Funds on hand at that time did not allow surveys to be made of all the routes which seemed practicable and the proposed waterway received no furthet action. Since 1875 thedNorXolk-C-pe Fear route have been made. In 1909 Congress authorized an ex- amination of a ble inland route from Boston to the Rio Grande River, which included the section between Nor- folk and Cape Fear River. No work of consequence was undertaken on any por- ment, old age, sickness, accident and maternity, and a very liberal budget. The Italian government has respond- ed to Briand's announcement that, in order to facilitate Franco-Italian negotiations, no new French naval con- struction would be started prior to tion of the waterway between Norfolk and Cape Fear River untll 1907, when Congress authorized the co of a waterway, 10 feet deep at mean low water, between Neuse River and Beau- fort Inlet, N. C., at an estimated cost of $550,000. This section was completed in 1911 and the depth has since been increased to 12 feet at mean low water, In 1911 Congress authorized the ex- tension of the section between Norfolk and Neuse River. This was completed last year at a cost of nearly $9,000,000, providing a waterway 12 feet deep and 90 feet wide from Norfolk, Va., to Beau- fort, N. C., a distance of 197 miles. In 1927 Congress authorized the ex- tension of the 12-foot waterway from Beaufort Inlet to Cape Fear River, N. C., 93 miles in distance, at an estimated cost of $5,800,000. Work on this exten- sion was started in March, 1929, and is being pushed rapidly toward completion. ‘The work is well ahead of schedule and the project, which was originally esti~ mated as requiring five yeare, is ex- pected to be finished within a three-year period at a cost considerably below the original estimate. The fresh waters of Cape Fear River at a point 15 miles below Wilmington, N. C, and the salt waters of Myrtle Sound were joined on March 4 last, when the land cut was completed. The cut is located just north of Fort Msher, the last stronghold of the Confederacy. The difference in elevation at high water in the river and the sound is about two and a half feet, which has resulted in a strong current through the land cut. Enginesrs now fear it may be necessary to construct a tidal lock in this cut because the velocity of the current may undermine a Wilming- ton-Fort Pisher highway bridge cross- ing the canal. This tidal would cost about $500,000, but money for it already has been provided by Fed- eral Government in the existing project. Wilmington a Cotton Port. Wilmington, North Carolina's chief seaport, is exporting ports in the world. The city has a populatirn of 32,167, according to the 1930 census figures, and its banking resources exceed $26,000,000. It has sailings of (orelgn and coastwise ves- sels, drawing 26 feet of water, and when the 30-foot channel in Cape Fear River from Wilmington to the ocean, author- ized by Congress on June 15, is’com- pleted, larger ships will use the port. Wilmington has six railway lines in addition to improved waterways and paved highways radiating therefrom. The two rivers, Cape Fear and North- east, which join at Wilmington, have recently been spanned by two draw bridges. The port has a protected har- bor, with ample anchorage wharves and shipping terminals. headquarters of the Atlantic Coast Railroad Co. are located there. Low Freight Rates Predicted. ‘There are several I ‘wholesale houses in Wilmington with established connections distributed over a wide ter- ritory, and it has been estimated that a saving of from 200 to 500 per cent in freight transportation charges will be effected by the inland waterway system to the commercial interests of Wilming- ractically every port &ummmn is also the Panieh, whith bring Tl es, whic] ‘million: goes there for distribution interior and Western cuonn:rrolnu. The wnurwwl‘fl between Norfolk and gton touch such_popular North Carolina resorts as_Beaufort, Morehead City, Wrightsville Beach and Caroline Beach, and it is expected that the yachting traffic will be unusually heavy in the canal during the Spring and Summer months. The ruins of Fort Fisher, located a few miles below the Cape Fear River . land cut, attracts thousands of tourists . Fort Pisher, history records, withstood a terrific bombardment by the Federal fleet that began on Christmas eve, 1864, the firing lasting through Christmas day and into the night. Confederate Wreck Visible. Several hundred yards offshore at Wrightsville Beach the wreck of -the Fanny and Jenny, a Confederate block- ade runner, can be seen awash at low tide. The ship ran aground in September, 1865, en route from Nassau, a British port, to Wilmington. The late Dr. James Sprunt of Wilmington, cotton exporter, philanthropist and author of “The Chronicles of the Lower Cape Fear,” shortly before his death offered Capt. Jesse Price of Wrightsville W $25,000 if he would salvage & gold swo! and scabbard from the wreck. This sword, Dr. Sprunt told Capt. Price, was being sent by the British government to Gen. Robert E. Lee. Nearby, Money Island, where “Black Beard” is reported to _have buried his treasures, and Topsail Inlet, also a ren- dezvous of pirate bands, including the romantic figure Mary Read, are also lo= cated on the inland waterway. Twenty- &ix wrecks, mostly blockade runners, are shown on a map of coastal section, prepared by Capt. Robt. N. Sweet of Wilmington. On Cape Fear River, several miles below Wilmington, is located the historic “Dram Tree.” Mariners were in the habit of taking their first and last dram on voyages in passing this tree, for good luck. Historic Buildings Standing. In Wilmington at one Inwuc% ‘Third and Market streets, are local the following places of interest: The present home of Miss Rowe Wiggins, whase Colonial house was used by Corn- wallls as_headquarters for his staff dur- ing the Revolution; St. James's Episco= pal Church, the edifice used by Cornwal- lis as a stable for his horses, and during the War Between the States as a hos- pital; the church graveyard with the grave of Cornelius Harnett, Revolution- ary patriot, and the site of the Confed- erate headquarters, where also C: was entertained in 1819, At the mouth of Cape Fear River is located Palmetto (Bald Head or Smiths) Island, a semi-tropical island, the shores of which are lapped by the Gulf Stream, which makes a detour shore- ward on account of Pan Shoals, the latter jutting directly seaward from the island. Palmetto Island is the far- thermost northern point where palmetto trees and other tropical growth abound. ‘Two lighthouses and a United States Coast Guard statior. are located on the island. ‘The Line | Aviation Progress Stirs Johannesburg South Africa is on the threshold of great aviation development. Almost overnight the whole hation has become air-minded. People adorn their auto- mobiles with the motto ‘“Johannes- burg, the Air City,” and everybody talks of conquering the wide open spaces of several surveys covering the whole of | bacl d, Bentley and Maj. Miller. But the na- tion was unmoved. It was bad enough, Eleople said, to brave the union's shock- g roads in an auto. It would worse to venture that add a thrill Africa’s high velds. aroused a keen South Africans to fohann December, by a similar. announcement. as to If naval construction. oo g fly. S!:zthmnvb‘ gone e