Evening Star Newspaper, August 6, 1930, Page 8

- THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. - WASHINGTON, D. C. WEDNESDAY. ... August 6, 1930 THEODORE W. NQYES. ... Editor The Evening Star N Company Business e 11th 8t. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office. 110 East 42 t.. Lot Rate by Carrier Within the City. The Brenine Star, g .45¢ rer month 3 and Sunday Siar ‘when 4 Sundays) . 80c per month “The lunm&-na Sunday Star (when § fundays) .........65¢ per month The. y Star ... 8¢ per copy C: the end of ach mont! da: llection e in by mail or .elephone gm‘" ma sent Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. . Maryland and Virginia. ily and Sunday.... 1yr.$10.00:1mo.. 85c only Il 1¥rl 86.00: 1 mo.. S0c unday only ..1..U1l1yr. $4.00: 1 mo.. 402 All Other States and Canada. Bally and Sunday..13r. $12.00: 1 mo. $1.00 ily only ... 'lyr. $800: Imo. 75 Sunday only ..1yr. $5.00; 1mo. S50c Member of the Associated . The Associated Press is exclusively entitled o the use for republication of all news ¢ Patches credited to it or not otherwise ered ited in this paper and aiso ‘he local 3 ews Dublished hereiy. Al rights of publication of #peci ial dispatc.es herein are also reserved. = Growing Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam is sure enough growing up. “The new census returns, according | to an Associated Press tabulaticn, which | mnnd.mAAx.Hmofm'm at times. Mears' mascot, the Weather Bureau, basing his views upon the newspaper reports of the experi- ments, -argued that there was no evi- dence whatever that any rainfall had been produced by the explosion. Dr. W. K. Curtis, a member of the Dyren- forth party, substantially confirmed Hazen's view and declared that rain fell before the experiment had begun. The public generally accepted the views of Hazen and Curtis and there was no general confidence in the possibility of bringing about rain by detonation, | although from time to time the theory has been advanced anew and every now and then a “rain maker” turns up in ;ume of drought with a proposal to produce precipitation on a comm==" 1 basis. If the rain powder and the cloud ireach Alexandria before nature takes {its own course and produces a shower the dusting process is any more eflica- cious than t1» blasting method that the battles in Prance a decade and a half ago pretty conclusively proved to be nefTective. e Motorizing e Police. Commissioner Crosby's proposal to motorize the police of the second pre- cinct, and supplant all foot patrolmen with police working in pairs and riding in automobiles, is more than an inter- esting experiment. Doubtless it fore- has all the essence of official character, show that the population of the “conti- nental” United States—the area envel- oped by the oceans and our two borders—is 122,728,873. Including Ter- ritories and outlying possessions, the total is 137,501,561, Ccntinentally, the | country increased by 17,018,253 between | 1920 and 1930, or 16.1 per cent, com- pared with 14.9 p°r cent between 1910 ) and 1920 and 21 per cent between 1900 and 1910. These are truly vital statistics. ‘The United States, hig and populous as it is, does not begin to contain as many people as Sovi:t Russia, which claims, in Europe and Asia, a populatior of 182,000,000-0dd. Vast China, on the basis of estimates, is assigned roundly 400,000,000 inhabitants, though some computstions put the total at half a | billion. India has nearly three times as large a population as the United States, that revolution-racked British | dominon accounting for nearly €20,- 000,000 souls. Barring Russia, China and India, America is far ahead of any other country on earth in point of per- sons retident within its borders. New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio and Texas retain their 1920 census rank as, respectively, the five most populous States, in the order named. California, with a 64.6 per cent increase in popu- lation, mounts in 1930 into the sixth place among the big States, having been eighth before. In the congressional re- apportionment to be based on the 1930 census, California gains no fewer than nine new seats in the House of Repre- sentatives—so much for the allurements of her sunshine and other climatic drawing cards. It is said that today there are almost as many native sons of Iowa in the Golden State as natives of California. That may account for Jowa's transfer in the population roll from sixteenth to ninetecnth place among the States. } Here in the disfranchised and de- Americanizéd District of Columbia no one can scan the 1330 census results without pondering with fresh humili- ation over the fact that each of no fewer than eight sovereign States con- tains a lower population than the Fed- eral area. The District has 485716 " inhabitants, and ranks forty-first in the roll of “Stites.” Below the Dis- trict come, in the order which fol- lows, New Hempshire, Idaho, Arizona, New Mexico, Vermont, Delaware, Wy- oming and Nevada. One of those States, Nevada, with 90,559 inhabitants, Dbas not one-fifth of the District of Columbia’s population, yet Nevada has two elected spokesmrn of her own in the United States Benat= and one mem- ber of the House of Representatives. ‘When will the outraged sense of fair shadows a major change in police patrol methods that will bs made gsnerally ef- fective within a few years. While the foot patrclman performs a function in some of the more ccngested districts of the city, consisting in merely walking around and kecping his ey*s open, that will not be superseded by automobile work, the old-time foot patrolman in the residential sections has long since ceased to be the comforting and ever- present representative of law and order that he used to be. His visits are few and far between. And through no fault of his own he is seldom around when a frantic householder would like best to find him. Aetcording to the Police Manual, the patrolmen on the beat shall, “by their vigilance, render the commission of crime on or near their beats extremely difficult.” They are supposed to ac- quire such knowledge of the residents on their beats “as will enable them to promptiy recognize and furnish infor- mation respecting them.” During their patrols they are supposed to “examine the doors, low windows and arcaways of bulldings on their beats with a view to ascertaining if they are properly secured at night” and to look after vacent houses. They shall “form im- pressions of persons they frequently meet on the street at night, so as to and shall, if possible, learn their names and addresses and communicate such information to the sergeant, if the circumstances be of a suspiclous na- ture.” They are supposed to report “dangerous buildings, lamps not burn- ng, public property that may be found defective or broken,” such as “drains, pumps, fire plugs, sewers, water pipes, broken and dangerous trees and tree boxes, dangerous holes in sidewalks, roadways and parkings,” and if they “observe anything which seems to be irregular or insanitary and whicir can- not be remedied at once they shall immediately report same to- their stations.” Some of these duties are doubtless performed by the foot patrolman as a matter of routine. If he sees a hole in the sidewalk or a broken sewer flooding the street he probably reports it in- stantly. But other requirements of the man on the beat have become impr tical, if not impossible. They were drafted for other days, other conditions. The policeman touring his beat in an automobile will cover the same ground in an hour that his brother officer on foot finds hard to cover twice a day. Dividing their time between walking and riding, a pair of patrolmen with an au- tomobile could do the same work for which four times ag many foot police- men are required, and do it more sys- tematically and efficiently. The second play assert itself throughout enfran- chised Amerfea and right the wrong under which half a miilion patriotic, tax-paying, law-abiding citizens in Washington are compelled to live? r———— “Spipeless and headless” is the way the Cayuga County special grand jury describes prison officials up at Auburn where two disastrous riots occurred. It 1s thought that it will not be long until the phrase can be amplified to “spineless, headless and jobless.” e . A Yonkers, N. Y., man shot himsel{ “just for the fun of it.” In this case a good time was distinctly not had by all. v Synthetic Rainfall. Announcement that the business manager of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce has ordered a supply of “rain powder” from its produeer in Banta Fe, N. Mex., and will sprinkle it by airplane on the first promising- looking cloud that drifts along, in the hope of giving that city a shower, Frings to mind the more or less scien- tific rain-making devices that have at- Iracted attention during the past cen- tury. It was in 1834 that James P. spy of Pennsylvania proposed the building of enormous fires in regions where rain was desired. The idea was to set up rising air currents that would bring about the atmospheric move- tments incident to the making of rain. But somehow the bonfire method never prevailed. Somebody then noted that in war time battles attended by heavy cannonading were occasionally followed by rainfalls. This, indeed, had long been a popular belief, and it was not a far step to the bombardment of the clcuds for the purpose of bringing about rainfall. If there had been any jus- tification for this hypothesis it would surely hale been demonstrated re- pratedly during the great war, when Sombardments of unprecedented fury were maintained sometimes for day:, without the Jeast effect uron the weather. About forty years ago Congress in response to repeated applications made 4n appropriation for a series of experi- ments in Texas by Gen. R. St. G. Dyren- forth, under the auspices of the De- partment of Agriculture. Giant powder was chosén as the explosive and large quantities were detonated. A coniro- versy that has never quite subsided re- sulted from the experiments. Gen. Dyrenforth claimed that the test was entitely successful and that drops 6f fe)l within twelve secondy from explosion of a serfes. On the precinct, combining a residential sec- tion with a congested business district, offers an ideal laboratory for Commis- sioner Crosby’s experiment. The practi- cal results of the test will be watched with interest. bl S & A New York street cleaner is re- warded with a gold band for his uni- form for his pluck and presence of mind in throwing a refuse pan through the windshield of a car in which ban- dits, one of whom was killed as a re- sult, and the other captured, were mak- ing a getaway, What he really de- serves is & portable vacuum cleaner. o King Victor Emmanuel II and Pre- mier Mussolini recently stood side by side and received the acclaim of the Roman populace, the former for his thirtieth coronation anniversary, the latter for his birthday. Now we ask if that was not characteristically big- hearted of Benito? - The Westchester County grand jury up at White Plains decides that steal- ing a 1926 Ford is not grand larceny. Positively not—why, sometimes it is a favor. " . A revised constitution is “unfolded” in Lisbon. Might as well fold it right up agamn. Nor does it matter much if the creases are not the same. ———e———— The only people who can sit a long while in trees without obtaining pub- licity seem to be tree doctors. o Mears' Mascot. When John Henry Mears, world fiyer, crashed the other morning at Harbor Grace on his take-off in starting his latest attempt to lower the spharical record, his mascot, & Sealyham terrier, disappeared. The ship was pretty com- pletely smashed, and it would not have been surprising had .. ' three of the occupants been badly iurt or killed. Mears and his pilot escaped without injuries, but little Tailwind TI van-| ished. He was not in the wreckage and there was no trace of him. Despite his concern over his ruined airchip and the fallure of his plan, Mears hunted for the dog and had posters issued of- fering a reward for its recovery. Yes- terday Tailwind was sighted some dis- tance frem the scene of the wreck and still so scared from his experience that when cailed he fled into the water. He was captured, however, and restored to his master, who, in taking the little fellow into his arms, smiled for the it will be interesting to note whether | be able to afterward recognize them,! dog he had chosen 8s companion for his round-the-world fiight, meant even more to him in the hours after the crash than the prospect of the salvage of the plane or the reconstruction. of his plans. It may be accepted that if Mears stats again Tailwind IT will be his companion, unless the Sealyham, scenting the prospect, vetoes the pro- posal. e o The Passing of “Pansy.” The news dispatches tell of the death at Palo Alto, Calif, of Mrs. Isabella M. Alden, aged eighty-eight. Even to the | elder generation who might have been | acquainted with her literary products {her name would not be recognized at once. For it was as “Pansy” that {Mrs. Alden was known to her v orld of readers, a multitude in the ecourse of years. She began writing stories i when she was eight years old, her first { offering, signed by her family pet name, { which later became her nom de plume, being printed in & newspaper at Glovbrsville, N. Y., near her birthplace. When “she laid her pen down for the last time a few years ago she had written no less than one hundred and twenty books. Even after the age of lelghty she continued to write for | religious periodicals. “Pamsy's” stories were not of the kind ‘o have won-great popularity in these days. They were mostly inspired by religious motives, and they had a wide circulation, run- ning into many editions. At twenty- five she became the wife of a clergy- man and meny of her writings reflscted the life of the “nfanse.” While little if any of her work was of a quality to win permanent literary rating, it un- doubtedly had a marked influence upon two generations of readers in their most impressive y ot ate— A “death belt” of water containing no oxygen, and, consequently, no pis- catorial life, was discovered by the Carnegie, exploring vessel of the Car- negle Institution, it is announced. Many an eager angler will swear this Fall that he encountered an outcrop of this selfsame watery ‘girdle right here in the United “States during his Summer vacation. —o—— P "An applicant for admission to the United States Naval Academy is turned down because he is too big—6 feet 4, and 225 pounds. What is the idea? Are naval reductionists planning to get down to a size af craft that such a man would upset? And just where, it may be asked, was the attention of the Annapolis athletic authorities? r——— France and Italy are still making faces at each other over the frontier, building artillery ~ roads, parading troops, etc. Mussolini undoubtedly can make a worse face than Poincare, Tar- dieu or Briand, but there is more to it than that. You tell them, Wilhelm Hohenzollern! ——— e The tong war you read about has not a thing to do with the trouble over asparagus tongs, which was em- phatically settied by robust husbands decades ago. ——r———— Many a golfer who gets on the green in one or two sadly begins an imita- tion of a motor boat. Yes, put-putting. " SHOOTING STARS, BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. A Success. De very wust fault You kin harbcr, dey say, Is to tackle a job An’ to do it half way. I's jes' doin’ nuffin’ An’ doin’ it fine. De way to command De respect of yoh friends Is to carry things out Im de way you intends. I's clean satisfied. Dis ambition of mine Is jes' doin’ nuffin’ An’ doin’ it fine, Severity. “Authors assuredly have a right to critics,” said the writing man. “Yes,” answered the editor. “And yet if we want a particularly caustic and severe criticisfl of an author, we get another author to write it.” Getting Ahead. “Is Mr. Dustin Stax a promoter?” “Not exactly. He's the man who always manages somehow to get promoted.” A Similarity. Oh. Peace is something like a fish " That's always in demand! It's mighty good to talk about, Bul mighty hard to land. An Impression. “Don’t you think it would be a good vlan to give the Government control of a whole lot more things?” “I dunno,” answered Farmer Corn- tossel, “whether we ought to load it up with too many responsibilities or not. Sometimes 1t ‘pears to me like the Government had 'bout all it could 'tend to in runnin’ itself. Sensational Journalism. “I understand that Orimson Gulch has a newspaper.” “Yes,” answered Bronco Bob. “But the fellers around here is so sensitive that they dasn't print anything about ‘em ™ “Its editorial staff must have many difficulties.” “Mister, that ain't any editorial staff. That's & suicide club.” Tmpossible Ideals. Each nation and each neighborhood Would ring with sweet Utopian glee If everybody were as good As he wants other folks to be. “1t ‘'pears like human nature was boun’ to strike an average,” said Uncle {Eben. “Some of de folks dat kin talk de wisest kin also act de foolishest.” Second-Rate Hobo. From the Lowell Evening Leader. James Eads How, known as the mil- lionaire hobo, 18 said to have died of starvation. Which 1s & fate that most hoboes in one way or another manags to avoid. . ——— st Yet With Ears to Ground! | Prom the Jackson Oitizen Patriot If the records had been kent they would doubtless show that many a poli- tician had been up a trep a gocd deal first time since the accident. On such jonger than any of thefpurrent . tree- slight matters do human reactions sitters, complain of the severity of literass | ; THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 1930. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Strain and shocks of lights and noises the American people are nmow subject to will result in a future race of hlind | and deaf persons with the balancing | mechanisms in the ears unable to func- tion, according to a New York scieptist. Man will Yive by the sense of touch in those days. It is a dismal picture, but somehow one ‘eels that it is greatly exaggerated. Our city noises, our flash- ng lights from s:utomobiles »nd from airport beacons, w1l cortinue to annoy, but they scarcely,will produce the re- suits tiie New Yorker fears. It is reassuring fo read such Calamity Jane predictions, ;for every one knows instinetively thad they are merely pretty pictures of a possible, but not Probable, eventuniity. What such preflictions do, in great measure, is to call sharp attention to existing conditiors. Nolse and ught are a part of the age. There is no getting away from them, for the av- erage person, esphcially if he lives in the city. 4 He may console himself with the fact ‘that both are portions of life, and that the more life he meets the greater will be the noist, and the more il- Junynation he will encounter 4r the process, i If he is irked .by the one and dis- tressed by the other he may say to himself that annoyance is better than stagnation, d that distress is to be preferred to a°quietude which would place him in the category of the silent oyster. * oK ok K At the same time that he is telling himself these pratty lies he will know that comething wholesome has gone out of American life. as the so-called (and perhaps not badly called) machine age rets in its work. Quiet and darkness used to be the nightly portions’ of humanity. Farm: and small country towns were scenes of the sharpest quiet and the ost intense darkness, but even the larger cities had their fs 5| both, since there were neltier cars, radios nor street lights of any particular brilliancy. ‘With their characteristic tendency to overdo everything which they do, the American people have gone in for every type of feusible noisemaker, on a grand and glorious scale, so ihat future generationd probably wil: come to label this age:as the “Age of the noisemakers.” ‘That this is a world-wide condition is apparent from dispatches which come | from Berlin speaking of the incessant noise of automobily horns which greets the cars of the inbabitants of that city. | It js said that thh din is competitive and not the result: of necessity. ‘The United Statés, however, no doubt can show the entire world something when it comes to noise far-reaching and widespread. We make more noise than all the other nations of tke world, and we keep it up longer. Our radios fairly blast the hills, and word recently came from the convention of radio manufacturers at Atlantic City of a new type of loud speaker which, destined to revolution- ize the business, produces an output of sound letlvtly not to be told from the real band, orchestra, singer. Now, ain’t that sumpin’, as Amos 'n’ Andy say. LD o +Just so long #s any ‘product will “revolutionize” art, an industry, a business, it maked no- difference to us whether it will ¢ause millions to go sleepless, We are; as a race, in the grip of our fancy, as embodied in our in- ventions. ! ¢ The dream of the mighty loud speaker was written in . the tinny-sounding horns of six years lg‘o Every step for- ward was hailed with delight, although the sensitive fairly writhed af the im- plications. A Quiet, peace-ldving persons may shudder at the prospect of the skies filled with air vvers, the air with fools, indifferent ¥hether they drop on housetops, but Progress must be served, and will be, though the heavens fall. The heavens had Letter watch out, that is all. £ | the Nation, But before the race gets to the sad point visualized by the New Yorker, when we neither see nor hear, nor are able to keep ourselves upright by the aid of the queer little balancers in the Eustachian tubes, something is going to happen. One may feel quite sure about that, and it makes some of us who are dis- turbed by noises quite happy. What is going o happen is just this: The com- mon sens> of the race is going to as- sert itself again, as it has so many times in the past. Already the handwriting on the wall points to the sensible curbing of city noises. Anti-noise commissions have been appointed in some of our greatest cities in an attempt to assure a good night's rest to those who need it and want 1t. These bodies are dealing not with radio alone, although that is one of the greatest offenders, but with all types of noises which disturb the e of com- munitles, especially residential sections. The hopeful thing is that these com- missions are not merely passing regula- tions. They are actually making it easy for those regulations to be invoked and enforced. There are enough police reg- ulations on the books of all cities to handle any such cases already, if the averag> home owner did not find it difficult, almost impossible, to invoke them. A complaint is not enough. but the complainer must face the burden of the proof, and must have witnesses of all sorts, and be backed up by several of | his neighbors. Now, any one who has lived in a neighborhood—any neighbor- | hood—knews how impossibie it ‘is, in the face of the modern spirit of criti- cism, to get any one else to agree to anything he says or thinks. if he thinks a certain dog in a com- munity is a nuisance. his nearby nejgh- bors don’t think so at all.. Let it bark incessantly all night long, the moment he tells the police about it, others will have failed to have heard it at all. The simple expedient gf inviting an officer up and permitting”him to listen with_his own ears is a thing unknown to officialdom. Officials do not function in such a common sense manner. They have their rul seems as if the rules were made to thwart the very regulations for which they were ostensibly made. * ok But the common sense way of look- ing at nuisances of all sorts is making headway, and, much to the surprise of in the very city where nofses must be the most rife, the great metropolis of New York. ‘Those who do not read the New York | papers can have little idea of tho busi- nesslike way in which their Noise Com- mission has gone about its business. far beyond anti-loud-speaker regula- tions as passed in Washington and a few other cities. . ‘Thus the hilarious, healthy family which rather prides itself on the amount of noise which it can broadcast, in the form of laughter and talk, in the course of g friendly session at home, will find that it comes in the same class with misused radio sets and speakers. Untrained dogs, yapping one yap eveyy two seconds at the inoffensive moon, will find themselves adjudged malefac- tors under the law, and their owners will - discover that other people have rights as well as themselves. ‘The list of noisemakers might be extended, but every one who is at all sensitive to such things knows them with enumeration. We have heard of one mun living in the community of Silver Spring who has protested the mighty whistling of the B. & O. in the early hours of the morning. He says it is too loud, and we have no doubt it is. All such matters will be handled, in time, by noise commissions, appointed with authority to act, and to act with a heavy hand, and in the interest of the peace and health of the whole people. The man who today may be labeled “grouch” will then be the popular hero, the far-seeing man who as long ago— so they will say—as 1930 saw the needs ror]qulct, healer of minds, nerves and souls, ' WASH?[NGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Drought as a source of relief for the | Midsummer news drought is the ph nomenal experienc® Washington cor- respondents tre now undergoing. The rainless plight of the farming country may turn out to be the biggest national news of its kind s'nce the Mississippi flood distress in 1977. Already a larger area is affected by the drought than was damaged whenithe Father of Wa- ters overfiowed its inuddy banks three years ago. ‘This oljserver wouldn't be surprised if it should ‘be the situation in the parched regiéns of the Midwest that finally detérmined President Hoover to travel in’that direction. It is a somewhat mystifying fact that no definite_plans_for ‘his projected tour of the Rocky Mouniain national parks have yet been made. The White House remains a tower of silence on the sub- Mr. Hoover might decide to take a busman’s holiday—i.e., combine va- cation pleasure with presidential busi- ness, the business consisting of a per- sonal inspection .of the drough! stricken sections. “The President could successfully mainta'n the fiction that there was no politiés in aitrip of that | kind. But that it would benefit his | cause, and bolster i in just those parts of the country whére Hoover stock is low, can hardly be Hdoubted. X Maj. Gen. Douglls MacArthur's ap- pointment to be clilef of stafl bestows the blue ribbon of the United States Army upon the man almost universally regarded as its most brilliant soldier. Only two predecessors attained the dis tinction at ages ydunger than that of MacArthur, -who will be on the verge of 51 whep he tikes charge in No- vember. J. Frankiin Bell was just three months past 50 and Leonard Wood was under 50 when ehief of staff, respectively, in 1946 and 1910. Mac- Arthur leaps over five ranking major generals—Hines, Lassiter, Ely, Sladen and W. R. Smith--but President Hoo- ver points out that none of them has more than 18 months to' serve - before retirement age. Gen. MacArthur has a full tour of four years and more head of him before shelving time, On April 2, 1932, he will become'the senior major general of the Army, aged 52. Record-breaking is in MacArthur’s line. He was No. 1 in his 1903 class at, West Point, with 16 ¢1e else ‘within Hailing distance. His wirtime specialty was a passion for appearing in danger gones minus either steil helmet or gas mask. MacArthur 1s #n engineer. Perhaps that had something to do with Hoover's choice of & succejisor to the magnificent soldier who is ngw chief, of stafi—Maj. Gen. Charles Pe'ot Summerall, *1K K K Out_at the ultra-exclusive Burning Tree Club, across . the. District line .in Maryland, wheré men are golfers and women may not show their faces, three drivers which réndered historic service in their time 4re hung in. places . of honor. They #re the clubs used on near-by Washington links, respectively, by Presidents Téft, Wilson and Harding. Individual bra‘s dablets ddentify - the sticks. It cnsts §1,000 a year to belong to the Burning ‘Tree. Jugdge John Bar- | ton Payne. chyirman of the American Red Cross, was one of the club's ers and still cnc_cf its most ardent ing members. . Bascom Slemp, low-Virginian, is :n:‘t.he‘lj shinin Dog day polilicel gossip in Washing- ton 15 concerntd ever and anoh with Dwight Morrov’s Republican présiden- tial possibilitier in 1832—of oceurse, on a sopping-wet, “repeal” platforin.. Apart from the fact that it would be A com- lote reversal of, history for an ‘incum- nt President to be denied regomina- tion, if he wan . the Morrow talk is authoritatively said to have no play- fel- | light. shadow of countenance as far as the New Jersey Sonator-to-be himeslf i8 concerned. Men who claim to know declare there’s a formal assurance from Morrow as to that on file at the White House. A Wickersham law-enforce- ment commission scout, recently on tour in the West, is back in Washing- ton with word that Morrow's name as a 1932 wet hope is constantly encoun- tered throughout the Mississippi Valley. x ok x % Not 'so much attention as it deserves has been attracted by Senator Norris’ Statement in Nebraska this week that if the Republicans put up Morrow, or any other outspoken wet in 1932, the Demo- crats logically ought to turn to their most_conspicuous dry, Senator Morris Shepfflrd of Texas, as their presidential candidate. Sheppard has just carried the prohibition banner to a stirrtng vic- tory in the Texas primaries. The very newest Democratic possibility for 1932 is George White of Ohio, Democratic na- tional chairmarn in 1920. He is running for Governor of the Buckeye State this year. If he wins, he will, like many an Ohio Governor before him, auto- matically assume presidential stature. Princeton man, Klondike adventurer, lawyer, banker, oil magnate and skillful politician, White enjoys Nation-wide acquaintance with the Democratic rank and file. His friends say the party could go further and do worse. * K K K It's not violating any state secret to disclose that the grand army of subor- dinate officers of state, headed by the little cabinet” of undersecretaries, divi- sional chiefs et al, wish that one, Herbert Hoover, would get a vacation move on him and leave town. Then some of them would feel at liberty to emulate the presidential example. As it is, they think their cue is to stick to their jobs, no matter how sticky the sticking is. Four cabinet officers are on leave—Stimson, Wilbur, Mellon and Mitchell. The Attorney General as just.sailed for Europe. When the Chief” is farther away from Washing- ton .than .the Rapidan there’ll be a grand exodus of the lesser lights in the ship.of state. o oxox ‘The Right Hon. Lord Eustace Percy, who told the Williamstown Institute of Politics yesterday that the Kellogg pact o not make war impossible just because it issues a solemn declaration against it,” is one of the up-and-coming young statesmen of Britain. He knows the United States well, as the result of frequent visits. Lord Percy was a member of the late Baldwin Conser- vative cabinet as minister of education. He was born under a lucky star, being the seventh son of the seventh Duke of Northumberland. In 1920 Lord Perey wrote a book entitled, “The Responsi- bilities of the Leagu He i8 just past 40 and sits in the House of Commons for the historic Hastings division. (Copyright, 1930.) .o — Possible Radio as Cause of Drought To the Editor of The Sta: A year or two a gested that the recuiring droughts the past several years have been due to increasing use of the radio, the electric some one sug- waves in the air preventing condensa- tion of water vapor, No suggestion should be disregarded in a time of national calamity, and it would be interesting if the President would suspend broadcasting for two weeks to test this theory. 8. WILSON. et And About as Useless. Prom the Atlanta Constitution. It 15 &8 hard to identify a baby in Chicago as it is to spot a gangster gunman, , and often enough it} 1t | it keeps on as it has begun, it will go; Edison Not an Oracle Of Wisdom After All ‘To the Editor of The Star: Your editorial on Ford and Edison, the ‘“oracles,” amused me it Although criticism of these American demi-gods is seemingly equivalent to lese majeste, may I be permitted to state my doubts as to the infallibility of this famous but curious pair? Several vears ago 1 had a long talk with Edison upon his economic views. For the first time in his life he was then turning his mind to investigation of the “dismal science.” He told me that Ford had asked him—as chief scholar of the Ford-Edison-Firestone triumvirate—to read up specifically on the currency question and find the right answer to it. Naturally it ‘was assumed by Ford it wouldn't take the one and ! only Tom more than half a day to solve this riddle—a riddle which incidentally has stumped the intensest thinkers of (all times. Of course, Edison solved it in less than half a day. He solved it in about half a minute. Answer, “Ware- house money." He at once gave his great discovery to the press, namely the proposal to have the Government issue legal tender certificates based upon crops held in warehouses to be built at strategical points. This tremendous idea had to be awarded columns of publicity since it emanated from Edison himself, the single authority in the world upon every branch of the sciences and the arts. Ediscn didn’t go much into details with regard 'to his “warehouse money.” In fact, he dropped the whole subject like a hot cake. And there was a reason. The group of money reformers, of whom I am one, published Jor several years in New York a magazine called Money. In this organ, which advo- cated a sane, practical, irrefutable kind of currency, “land money,” almost every possible argument for and against money and other reforms was skillfully and authoritatively presented. I left a complete file of Money with Mr. | Edison personally. From -the very dav of my confab with him he was silent ims \the grave upon this dangerous {theme. He must have found—and found with concussion of the brain— that he was the merest tyro in the ethi- cal field of thought. But what lack of magnanimity he showed by failing to indorse the doc- trines of those who did understand the baffling currency question when he saw { that he couldn't begin to master it himself! His course was precisely that of a man who wouldn't for n instant, admit that any one else could beat him in constructive thought, and would rather save his face than give the sl'ghtest encouragement to. the revela- tion of those who might conceivably have in their hands the recipe for human salvation! This is, indeed, a serious indictment of Mr. Edison, but I can vouch for its absolute truth, and will further state that his ignoring of the shattering truths in the magazine that made him drop his own desire to be an economic savior utterly disquali- fies him as a mentor of the American | | people. His act was both cowardly and | unmanly. Now let us examine his latest pro- nunciamento. ~ He declares without | qualification that success is 90 per cent mental effort! This is about what we might expect the rawest, crudest mil- lionaire in the ccuntry to say! It would I be the pathological "eruction of some gilded fool, anxious to make his money buy him a slight appearance of men- tality. One would hagdly expect such an absurdly false platitude to fall from | the lips of a man like Edison. From | my knowledge of him this looks like the | rankest hypocrisy. For Mr. Edison, | certainly, is not devoid of intelligence. | Why, then, does he and his Dearborn .pal take us all for simpletons? Don’t these two ever' weary of pretense—the | pretense of knowing everything about | everything? Don’t they ever hanker to | tell what they really do know, however, and what they have been well and thoroughly taught by modern monetary scientists “about the hidden blighting powers of the prevailing fiscal regime? How much longer will the American public go for their salvation to million- aires instead of to prophets? Neither money nor machines can redeem the world. But brains can, FRANKLIN HOPKINS. ————— “Mr.” Stottlemeyer Replies tv Her Critic To the Editor of The Star: In_answer to T. H. Hutchinson in The Evening Star of July 30, the Stot. tlemeyer that he speake of as “Mr.’ Stottlemeyer happens to be a female of the human species, and is not a back number. She always has her token or dime ready to drop in the place where it is supposed to go before she steps on | the car and never takes more than a second to get on or off the cars. For she has no aches or pains in her limbs, and often walks from 5 to 10 mile: rather than wait for the imitation of a traction company to haul her. Only yesterday evening she was hauled from one car stop to the next and had to walk back to where she wanted to get off because the car was packed so full of human beings that she failed to get through the mass of humans standing in the aisle, after pushing the button, before the door closed with a bang. Why the hurry! and why not provide cars enough to seat the humans that you take money from when they enter yous cars? Well, T. H. Hutchinson, the writer is not interested in the fact that you took her for a male of the human’ speciel; that is not the first time that it has occurred, nor the second. Perhaps it is because Mars, the male planet, was in her sign when she arrived-on this planet. Even though Mars, the male net, and Venus, the female planet, were at swords’ points when the writer arrived, there will be no agreement over- :I:g hfix[l;lfl: ydnu p:lt to the name. The ing that does interest the w better trolley service ST MARGARET A. R. STOTTLEMEYER. A Great -W’ rongfi to Maryland and Cats To the Editor of The Star: I live on the District line, upon the Maryland side. Fach year people from the District, driving by my place, drop maimed or discarded kittens, cats and dogs near our place, in order to escape the trouble of further care on their own part in keeping these helpless creatures, I think one moment’s thought would convince them—if they have any con- science—that this 1s not only an out- rage upon us, but an unwarranted cruelty to the animals. Suppose should refuse to sheiter these destitute creatures; then they would wander away into the woods to suffer, freeze or starve, for this atrocity is committed even in freezing Winter weather. Having some remnant of conscience, T cannot see these animals suffer, there- fore 1 feed them and house them until | 1 take the trouble to carry them to the Animal Rescue League in the city, where they are cared for, This is an expense as well as much trouble. The hungry dogs left thus on my place In the gast year have helped themselves to & leg of lamb and to a whole ham as well ‘as taking the food which I have provided for them. | What is the remedy for this? Do ! the people at large know of the Animal | Rescue League and its kind service? The true remedy Hes deeper. People should be made more responsible for the animals which they pretend to own. How is this for a remedy? Every onc owning a cat should be made to register | for it as he does for a dog. Each year he should pay a cat tax of $1 to care for this registration. If he cannot af- ford the dollar he cannot afford to feed an animal. Each year, at registration time, he should a voucher as to any kittens born during the year and his disposition of the same. Such a sworn statement would curb his care- less shifting of his responsibility to some helpless land neighbor. VIRGINIA 'TLE DAWSON. BY FREDERIC This great service is maintained by ‘The Evening Star for the benefit of its readers, who may use it every day without cost to themselves. All they have to do is ask for any information desired and they will receive prompt answers by mail, ons must be Questi clearly written and stated as briefly |+ as possible. Inclose 2-cent stamp for return postage and address The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic Haskin, director, Washington, D. C. g. . How are the scores kept in.s golf tournament such as the one &t Interlachen?—F. W. A. In open tournaments such as that at Interlachen, there must be a scorer; usually an amateur member of the club where the tournament is held, for each pair of players. The scorer must an- nounce to the players the numben of strokes he has scored for each player for each hole as the players leave the green, and by their assent or silence secure their confirmation of his record. Q. How does the number of women gainfully employed in the United States compare with ‘the number of men?— . D. S. D. A. The 1930 figures are not ready. In 1920 there were 33,640,737 men who were gainfully employed and 8,549,511 women gainfully employed. Q. Does Col. Lindbergh often travel by rail>—H. R. W. A. We uiderstand that Col. Lind- bergh has not used a train since his return from Paris. Q. What is the difference in sea level of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans at Panama?—J. H. N. A. The mean level of the Pacific at the Isthmus has been found to be about 8 inches higher than the mean level of the Atlantic. In the month of February the levels are the same, but throughout the rest of the year, on account of current, tidal and wind in- fluences, the mean level of the Pacific ranges above that of the Atlantic. It is as much as one foot higher in October. Q. What kind of balls and rackets were first used for lawn tennis?— 8. H. C. A. To Maj. Wingfield must be given the credit for first realizing that lawn tennis could be utilized to the needs of soclety. If he was mot the inventor of the game he did, however, deposit specifications in 1874 to obtain a patent for “a new and approved portable court for playing the ancient game of tennis.” The first balls used were, india rub- ber and were uncovered. The rackets were wooderr frames and pear shaped. ‘The oval-shaped racket was not used until 1880. Q. What are the extremes of tem- perature on the moon?—N. W. A. The temperature reaches 265 de- grees Fahrenheit at high noon and falls to 196 degrees below zero Fahrenheit at the time of a total eclipse. Q. What color uniforms did the stu- dents in the Russian universities wear before the World War?—C. K. A. The universities of Russia before the World War were divided into two classifications — the universities of arts and sciences and the institutions which included the schools of mines, technological institutions and the like. Students in the universities of arts and sclences wore uniforms of dark blue material, trimmed 'with light Dblue. Students in_the other institutions wore uniforms of black or dark blye and wore special insignia of the particular institution which they attended, on the shoulders of the uniform. ? 1. HASKIN. | @ Which is more powerful, steam | or electricity?—J. A. P. A. Neither is more powerful. Steam locomotives and electric locomotives are built-to develop any given power, but certain peculiarities of each type best suit it to given kinds of service. Q. What is the address of the Cen- tral Casting Bureau?—W. H. D. A It is 219 Hollywood Guarantee Building, Hollywood, Calif. Q. How can that has been exposed to weather be unrolled without | breaking?—S. R. | A, The Bureau of Standards says the per which has become dry and brittle from exposure to weather can best be softened with water vapor. If the paper has been exposed for a number of years, great care will be necessary and the moistening can doubtless be best accomplished by ex- | posing the paper to a moisture-satu- |ratedatmosphere for a considerable period of time. | Q Who commanded Old Ironsides |in her battle against the Guerriere?— W. McR. | “A. Isaac Hull commanded this ship during her battle against the British | Guerriere in 1812. | Q. Where is Jesus Island?—S. N. A. Tt is in the Province of Quebec, Canada. | % i | Q How is a jew's-harp played?— |A. L. G. A. The jew's-harp consists of s frame eof metal in horseshos shaj parallel branches; between them a metal tongue vibrates freely when set in motion by a stroke of the The instrument is placed between front teeth in such a way as to give the metal ‘tongue unrestricted move- ent, and the performer is able to produce various tones by altering the size of the cavity of the mouth. Q. What is the name of the famous cathedral on the Red Square in Mos- cow which was bullt by Ivan the Terrible?—H. H. A. The Cathedral of Vasili the Beautiful was built by Ivan the Ter- rible in 1554. Q. Please explain about lightning bugs—E F. A. Lightning bugs or fiveflies be- long to any species of two genera of beetles of the family Lampyridae. Photuris pennsylvanica is a common form in the Eastern United States. Fireflies rroduce a bright, soft, inter- mittent light without sensible heat from an organ in the lower part of the abdomen. This organ appears to be a specialized part of the body and is supplied with nerves and abundant tracheae. The light is supposed by some to be caused by oxidization ‘of a substance secreted by the cells. TQ. ‘What does microphyllous mean?— : Ar ‘It 1s.a Greek word, meaning small eaf. Q. Who was Lucasta?>—C. H. E. *. Lucasta was the poetic name of Lucy Sacheverell, the lady love of Sir Richard Lovelace, the English cavalier poet, and this name also is applied to his poems about her. It is a Latin name, meaning chaste. Q. What is the derivation of the woArd “bene:k;;?!—A. N. . Berser] rom Icelandic be: & meaning bear shirt. In Norse n"l‘.lrdhl- tion and folklere a berserkr was one of a class of wild warriors or cham- pions of the heathen, who dressed in bearskins. Envoys’ Expense Accounts Upheld, but Dry Ban Debated Much interest has been aroused in the Executive order which forbids the use of Government funds for liquor in connection with entertaining by Amer- ican diplomatic officials. Newspapers lg‘ree with the principle that the use of such funds for such entertaining would violate natiogal prohibition. Some would authorfze diplomats to con- form to the customs of foreign coun- tries. ‘The appropriation for other forms of expense is approved in cur- rent comment, but still greater pro- vision is suggested for the future. “Justification for this policy,” in the opinion of the Rochester Times-Union, “rests upon the principle that the spirit of the American prohibition laws should be preserved wherever the erican flag may be officlally displayed. The letter of the eighteenth amendment implies as much. Moral consistency can justify no less. In most foreign lands where wines and liquors are con- ventionally served at official functions of social kind, the bill for these neceg- sities of etiquette is a large proportion of the total entertainment outlay. And if liquors are served at the American diplomat's function, he is obliged to pay for them. It is courtesy to do in Rome as the Romans do. But it is incon- sistent for official America abroad to | drink and serve drinks while at home it maintains abstinence, deferring to the Constitution and the laws. Con- gress and the President have been dutiful in this matter.” “In the-future,” thinks the Milwau- kee Journal, “it may be supposed that the liquor served guests in American embassies—and it will no doubt con- tinue to be served—will appear on ex- pense accourts in some other form. And the Government will be satisfied. That is one of the difficulties in having a law which no other big country has. Our representatives in places where alcohol is looked upon as a dinner necessity can hardly affront their guests by serving ice water. Ice water is looked upon askance by these guests, just as wine is looked upon here—at least, by law. And those emissaties violate no American law in yielding to the customs of the country in which they reside. Our law says that liquors legally acquired may be held ‘and used legally. And, of course, Mr. Diplo- mat’s liquors are acquired with perfect legality.” b * K Kk K “Lack of adequate funds has been one of the chief factors preventing any but men of wealth from accepting im- portant offices of the Foreign Service, says the Topeka Daily Capital, with the conviction that, “the American people generally will approve the new policy of the Government in meeting a portion of the entertainment expenses incurred Dby our representatives abroad, especially since none of the money can be used in the purchase of liquor to be served at social functions.” “Most emphatically, of course,” de- clares the Cleveland Ne ‘public opinion approves this drying up of the diplomatic _service somewhat as the home population is supposedly dried up. Our reformed Nation could not be pic- tured properly before the eyes of other peoples 4f 1ts official - represeniatives served cocktails or highballs at national expense. The thought that any such thing has been going on is somewhat shocking, but perhaps it has not been. The entertainment allowance o be spent on a dry basis is the first Con- gress: has sanctioned since 1924. In recent years the diplomats must have been serving alcohollc refreshments on their own, if at all. In addition to coming none too soon, the dry edict might_be considered as none too far. It could have for! the dip- lomatic service to ssrve drinks at pul expense or private expense, either, with.- out remonstrance from a Nation -for- bidden such indulgence at home and turally hrnu.\;q‘ to be represented The allowance provided is viewed by the New 7:‘1-& Times as “good as a be Pollyana Sa; & From the Haverhill ng Gazette. There's one thing to be said for hot weather: It makes starting an au- tomobile an. easy problem. ginning, recognition of the mcu that “in Government business it is| necessary to proceed step by step,” and that paj les: “The new al- lowanc: helpful. “They establish { “for larger appropriations. in | ."uy | ! i the future. In time we may pay our foreign representatives a living wage.” * The Times statcs as to the appropria- tion: - “It consists of a sum total of $94,000, to be divided among 95 dif- ferent posts. Furthermore, the sums allotted are tightly restricted by the usual red tape. They may not be used for motor hire, and all sums above $100 can be disbursed only after competitive bids have been asked. But it is at least provided that they may be used for re- | ceptions on American official holidays and -for functions in honor of dis- | tinguished visitors, as well as for the | purchase of wreaths and flowers for ceremonial occasions, and for paying tips when required by the custom of the country.’ nding ustification for the dr: |"policy” in the “spirit of the Amerlgnx!( !pmhiblllon laws,” which “should be preserved wherever Yhe American flag may be officially displayed,” the Hart- ford Times holds that “moral consist- ency can justify no less. The Louis ville Times, however, points out that embassies must entertain a great many persons in whom they have no personal interest,” and continues: “They must | be_entertained in accordance with the pervasive view of how a diplomat should ertain, ‘as well as in_accordance with the customs of the country. Wines are usually the major expense, or one of the major items of expense, in American embassies. The American dllplnmltlst. who can smile over the wine glasses while paying for wine for persons he would rather not have to entertain will ‘be indeed a stoie.” . ‘The State Department, since the time of Secretary Hughes, has left its foreign officials free to follow cus- m-ot :ldlle ugounmeu to which they | CeT " records the Wore Evening Gazette, addin; “Oxl'ee'uS lomats are not forbidden to serve liquor, It would be absurd if they were. Clear- 1y the rule is designed to save the de- .g-mnent from fanatical criticism a ofme. Of much more practical im- portance is the refusal of the Govern- ment to provide for a diplomat’s indis- pensable use of a car. But, above all, these regulations serve to remind us of E?:“D:;;i:;lonlou‘so attitude which Con- ar nues intain Hg;!q,gfrvlce- toward our calling an example of Govern; frugality, in “the unpdlnl from !hamlgzs partment of State in 1921 of a stisam of circulars impressing upon the chiefs of missions the importance of “eid economy,” the Columbia Btate com- ::l:::l. ‘The di] lflsll“c officers, who own mensy Zor mnlnumng their uubllshmants.ywere then seriously told that the light bills of some offices might be reduced: that in striving for economy no detail was too small for consideration; that some consul in some dark corner of the globs had made a point of turning off ths | light whenever leaving the office, and {in & year had saved $14 or $24— we | forget which. While they conserved at the: spout they turned loose at the spillway, Yés, the heads of missions | should~ be wil - | Siould be willing to buy their own - e — |Car Lines Could Please By Lessening Noises To the Editor of The Star: ‘While an effort s still bein; determine what amount of 'cnm(:g: :2 Just and fair to both the street car companies and the public, t the latter not score l& it in favor by stugesing attent on the nerve- racking noise of the street