Evening Star Newspaper, August 8, 1930, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR ] With Sunday Morsing Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. FRIDAY.....~w. August 8, 1930 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening_ ;L}'xn’.‘,.,-. Company Business Offce in_Ave o} i East 42nd 8t. 3t - “Lake Michizggn Bullding. ropean Office; 14 Regent St.. London. England. Rate by Carrier Within the City. The Eremine star ... A% rer month Evemng and Sinday ‘Siar Vwhen & Bunaeys) " s0c per month Evening and Sunday’ Star hen 5 Mundass) ........8 T EREE % ade 4t the and of = v be sent n by mail o Honal 3000, Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. 7 ang Suncar.... 1 vr. 110001 mo. g5 ilx ‘oniy 1750 4800 1 mo S0c | unday only ¥r.. 2460 1 mo. 40c All Other States and Canada. 1y and Sunday 00: 1 mo.. & TR imo. only ... 00, 1 mio.. per month c_per eopy r (elephone 1.00 | 8c s0c | 151 1y iyl Associa| ciated Prass s excly to the use for republication of All Patehes credited to it or Bot otherwise cre ited in this pADer And Also ‘he iocal 1 ew! Bublished herein, "All Tiehts of punlication o special dispatches herein are also reserved —_— War on the Drought. Uncle Sam is mobilizing his mighty | forces for war on the drought. The Departments of Agriculture, Treasury, Commerce, Interior and War have cleared for instantaneous action against the common enemy. If Federal initi- ative, ald And resources—and these are boundless—are capable of routing him, we shall meet him and he wiil soon be ours. The Government cannot bring rain, but it can bring relief. 1t is a fortuitous circumstance that & seasoned engineer-almoner is in su- | preme direction of these official remedial measures. President Hoover once upon & time fought famine in Belgium, Po- land, Austria and Russia. Three years ago he was commander-in-chief of the organization which eased the situation in the Mississippi flood region. He must take a genuine zest—as he brings to it an experienced hand—in grappling with the eatastrophic situation in the parched Midwest. Seéretary of Agriculture Hyde, at the suggestion of the President, has sent questionnaires to all farmers in the drought area, requesting es/imates of their losses and information as to what urgently needs to be done to re- pair them. Banks are being urged by the Treasury to liberalize credits and other facilities to distressed agricul- turists. Army posts have been directed to share their supplies with nearby cattle breeders. Rallroad executives are asked to consider ways and means of easing the transport of live stock from underpastured sections and the ship- ment of feed into them where removal of cattle is not feasible. The Public Heslth Service is officially stressing the need for rigorous enforcement of sani- tation measures. All along the hl’-( flung Pederal line the Government's} hand is outstretched helpfully in order| that conditions already calamitous may not become truly disastrous. Something resembling a silver lining to the drought cioud was presented at the White House yesterday by Mr. Huff, president of the Farrsers' Na- tional Grain Corporation. He told Mr. Hoover that the drought would result in wiping out the large wheat surplus and thus permit farmers to start next year in better shape. Corn prices have already soared. ted Press. sively entitled | 1l news cis- | ol Republican Reorganization. Testerday. in conformity with & sched- ule set by himself, Claudius H. Huston of Tennessee resigned as chairman of the Republican National Committee. His resignation was tendered to the Executive Committee in special session called for the specific purpose and | was immediately accepted with a vote | of thanks for his services. The com- mittee thereupon, in observance of its own program previously arranged, elect- ed Senator Simeon D. Fess of Ohio as national chairman and Robert H. Lucas of Kentucky, now commissioner of in- ternal revenue, as executive direc- tor. This, with the election of a new socretary, constituted a reorganization that has been impending for several menths as a result of the disclosure of 2n embarrassing financial transaction on the part of the now retiring chair- man. This reorganization of the Republican National Committee comes in the thick of & congressional campaign. It is un- doubtedly a Republican handicap. The party is under fire, and it must conduct a defensive campaign, which is difficult t6 maintain effectively. The country has suffered from economic reverses i an THE EVENING STAR third of the hold-up trio could not re- sist the temptation to send a box of salt water taffy from Atlantic City to the detective who was hot on his trail. He had seen the same sort of thing done in the moving pictures and the hero bendit got away with it. Why not he? Fortunately for all of us, while Iife is a stage we are not all movie actors and the police are not always the dumb and blundering idiots that the thrillers would have us believe. The police have done a swift, clean job in rounding up the confessed ban- dits. Official notice should be taken of the fine work of Precinct Detective ach month. ( Murphy in putting the men behind the | trole bars. Ana United States Attorney Rover, taking up where the police have left off, will be doing the communil A real service by initiating the pro- cedure to bring the three men into court for an early trial. Immediate ar- rest, trial and punishment of those charged with crime carries a weightier Jesson and is a stronger deterrent than the literature that might be as. sembled upon the subject. A Rock Creek Pollution. Purifieation of Rock Creek by freeing it from sewage pollution should be made one of the chief objectives of the park | planners now working for a more beau- | tiful Capital. Rock Creek and the patk | that it adorns are assets that will in- crease in value with the years, and their | preservation is essential. It is encourag- ing to note that the District’s new En- gineer Commissioner. Maj. Gotwals, has interested himself in the Rock Creek pollution problem, and, with Col. Grant, has undertaken a careful study that should lead to a solution. Unfortunately, ridding’ Rock Creek of pollution is not a matter that can be handled alone by the District. The chief offender is Maryland, and the real cure can come only through careful and close co-operation between Maryland and the District. The District, by ex- penditure of a million dollars or so, might $liminate ite own contribution of impurities, but the chief source is found in Maryland and must be eliminated by Maryland. Extension of the Rock Creek park system into Maryland and the in- terlocking functions of the National Capital Park and Planning Commis- sion and the Maryland Park Commission has brought about a working alliance between the District and Maryland that should be heipful in creating better con- | ditions. Maryland is already construct- ing sewer systems that will lessen Rock Creek pollution. Others will follow In the meantime the District can| adopt its own program for prevention. The estimates submitted to the Com- missioners this year contained a $600,- 000 ftem for extending the Piney Branch trunk sewer and eliminating the pollution that finds its way to the creek through Piney Branch, It is not| known whether the item was approved by the Commissioners and forwarded to the Bureau of the Budget. But it Tepresents at least one of the steps on the part of the District that are nec- essary. It is difficult to picture a Rock Creek Park without a Rock Creek. But in recent years the volume of water has decreased and the water that re-| mains has increased in the impurities it carries. Deforestation and other work along the upper reaches of the creek have cut the stream down to & mere “branch,” and unpleasant odors, in these days of drought, attest the| source of some of the water that re- mains. The condition today results from lack of foresight and careful planning in the past. The corrective measures still possible should be zeal- ously pushed. e U The radius of the universe, accord- ing to a Dutch astronomer, is 9,500,- 000,000,000,000,000,000 miles. Now if he | will just transiate that into time, and then into pounds avoirdupois, we will all' be masters of the Einstein theory. If he can do one he certainly can do the others, ———— Henry L. Mencken is to marry in | September, He is nearing fifty. There | is scarcely anything comparable with & young “smart aleck” except an older one—witness Mr. G. B. Shaw—yet mat- rimony has often been found & splendid specific for his particular trouble, — e e So “Bossy” Gilllis seeks a Senate seat. ‘Well, he might be worse, say, than the late “Butch” McDevitt, but possibly better than some sent in recent years by deluded States. ————— Apparently the Song of the Volga Pulpmen was a successful siren ditty. - 5% rl. Locating Mr. McCa within the past vear that have checked the prosperity that was in full swing when Mr. Hoover was elected and in- augurated. In addition a national calam- ity has occurred in the widespread drought that has already cost, it is asti- mated, no less than a billion dollars and may cost another billion or even per- haps more before nature sends relief. For this latter ill the Republican party is, of course, in no wise responsible. Nobody is responsible. It is an act of nature, comparable with the great floods of a few years ago, comparable to an rarthquake or a conflagration for which no blame can be placed. But psycho- logically it reacts against the party in power, against the present executive ad- ministration, and this adds to the diffi- culties of the Republican organization in maintaining its campaign for Con- gress. “Boviet Sees War Coming in Europe” ~—headline. Just as any man spoiling for a fight can see trouble ahead. e r—t—— Salt Water Taffy The three young men locked up on charges of highway robbery in con- nection with the recent hold-up of a bank messenger may have cause to ruminate, in the sclitude of their cells, upen ome of the foibles of mankind that, unhappily, is not confined to robbers and thieves. “Every man at his best state is altogether vanity,” but im his worst he should shun its tempta- tions lest it lead him to furnish the police with the clues that lie in auto- mobile tag numbers and boxes of salt water taffy. ‘When the three young men kid- e Controller General McCarl evidently seeks to emphasize, by symbolic geo- graphical location, the cloistered and sacrosanct nature of the establishment over which he presides. His objections to the location selected for his office, a fine new bullding to rise at Twelfth and B streets, 1s based on the fact that it would be in the midst of a group hous- ing the executive branches of the Gov- ernment. The General Accounting Office is responsible to Congress, and the thought of such proximity to executive functions as tentatively declded by the Public Buildings Commission scems 10 have led the Controller General to view with alarm. The structure to be built at Twelfth and B strects was originally intended house the Interstate Commerce Com- mission, but it was decided that, in view of the demands for space from this growing organization, the building would be turned over to Controller General McCarl. In objecting, however, Mr McCarl is not fighting the decisions of the executive branch of the Govern- ment as much as the legislative branch. Allocations to buildings in the Avenue triangle are made by the Public Build- ings Commission, presided over by Sem~ ator Smoot, and the majority of the mambers of the commission are mem- bers of Congress. If the Public Buildings Commission takes cognizance of Mr. McCarl's ob- jections and puts his office somewhere else, there are endless possibilities for further complications based on prefer- ence for locations according to the functions of the establishments con- cerned. The Interstate Commerce Com- naped the bank messenger and dumped him in Rock Creek Park, their vanity over having so easily come into possession of some $4,000 in hard cesh got the best of them, and one of them boastingly gave the messenger the tag rumbers of the automobile. Later, 4 mission, for instance, will obviously seek place as near Union Station as possible. The Navy Department will want & lo- cation overlooking the river and, if it is not too late, serious opposition might be expected from the United States Su- preme Court, which will be almost with- the man suspected of having been the | ito an u in a stone’s throw of the Senate Office | Building. The seating arrangements at Washington's official dinner parties will be relatively simple as compared to the difficulties of locating governmental es- tablishments according to the nature of the work they perform. After all, the functions of Mr. Mc- Carl's office cail for a strategic position among the executive departments. The symbolism might be carrled out by erecting a high wall around the General Accounting Office Building, and string- !ing barbed wire and scraps of glass | along the top. From the inside court {a mortar could be placed so that some | of the bombshell decisions of the con- r general, carefully aimed, would be shot out from time to time into the | 1ap of the cabinet officer directly con- cerned, and an underground tunnel could provide communication with the Capitol Blackbirds and Starlings. Dunkirk, N. Y. is suffering from & bird pest that is somewhat like that of the starling visitation here in Wash: ington some months ago. Blackbirds necounted number have descended upon the town and persist in holding night sessions of their diet or storthing or whatever their parliamentary organ- jzation may be styled. Selecting the city pa their meeting place, they have roosted by thousands in the trees and in their most raucous tones they have discussed farm relief, tariff, prohibition. naval reduction and every- thing elsc under the moon. At last an outraged. public, kept from sleep during many nights, rebelled. The city fire department was turned out and the birds were showered out of the trees. It was a stff fight for a time, but at last the squawkers were routed and Dunkirk slept. Reports do not state whether the disintegrated senate reassembled, but if the blackbirds of Dunkirk are like the blackbirds of other places they probably merely recessed before the attack of the fire depart- ment for subsequent sitting and talking, Washingion's starlings have not been in evidence for some time, owing doubt- less to their natural habit of seeking the rural regions in the warmer season. They are urban in their disposition only in Autumn snd Winter. When the nipping airs begin to blow the starlings come to town for comfort and com- pany, and that is when the nuisance starts. And no devices yet found can disperse them. They may be shifted about from point to point like the hoboes of old, but they persist in pick- ing roosts where they can talk for an hour or two after sunset. There is one thing to be said for the starling as distinguished from the blackbird, and that is that his voice is not so harsh. i has by many been mistaken as a biackbird type because of his glossy, iridescent plumage. He belongs, however, to another family of birds. The two have in common the trait ot sociability and fondness for human compan; ) If any one doubts that swimming skill will “make” the rotogravure sec- tions, he i~ asked to consider the chanticleer belonging to that old sea~ man out in Washington. Cocks of the walk are common, mused he, but cocks of the water are highly unusual, T . % his will ‘cool you off. The, 3 . 'y have Just awarded the contract up at Lake Placid for the $54488.15 bob sled run for the 1932 Olympics, “The lowest form of rac e lowest form of racketeering: Cash protection of Tom Thumb golf ecourses, . 2 SHOOTING STARS, BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Rhyme of Foolishness. There's lots of foolish-people In this world of ours: We often criticize 'em And mock their slender powers. But some one's got to listen When wisdom goes around, Or there would be but little use Of knowledge so profound. There'd be no use of teaching If there were none to learn, And life would lose its layghter If all were grave and stern, 80 let us not be too severe On follies as they pass, 'Cause maybe you and I sometimes Are in the foolish class. Otherwise Occupied. “Why don't you tell the voters what you can do for them?” “That’s the campaign orator’s busi- ness,” answered Senator Sorghum. “I'm busy figuring on what the voters can do for me.” Excusable. “Isn’t that author inclined to be ego- tistical about his work?” “Yes; but it isn't his fault. He has been reading the advertisements put out by his publishing house.” An Impertinence, The microbe is a curious beast; Most impolite, to say the least. It takes, in a presumptuous style, Your system for a domicile, And never says—it is so rude— “I hope that I do not intrude.” Doomed to Disappointment. “Yes,” sald the condescending youth, am taking fencing lessons.” “Good,” answered Farmer Corntossel. “I allus said you was goin’ to turn in an’ do somethin’ useful. What's your specialty goin’ to be—rail, stone or barbed wire?"” Difference of Opinion. “Women are very hard to under- stand,” said the callow philosopher, “Not at all,” answered Mr. Meekton. “Henrietta has never yet spoken her mind to me without making herself per- fectly clear.” Reformers’ Chorus. This old world as it moves along Still leaves us in a sorry plight; It's easy to make out what's wrong, But mighty hard to set it right. “Dey used ter say,” said Uncle Eben, “dat Satan laid in wait foh folks, but now. days it 'pears like he's kep' busy by folks ringin’ at his do’ bell.” o The Long, Long Week. From the Florence (Ala.) Herald. We note an advertisement: “Bath Robes, $79.50." With one lke that a tellow' could hardly wait for Saturday night. —raone Cost and Choler, From the Bangor Daily Commercial. Civilization still moves ahead. Lum- ber is too expensive nowadays to put into spite fences, .' WASHINGTOX, D. C FRIDAY, AUGUST 8, 1930. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. The spiders in our g ing on the line; the spie den are feeling fat and ; the spiders in our garden are glad there is no dew, for each little fly is nice and dry, and here’s the same to you! | It is & bad drought which does not | bring some good to something or other. | We refer to the ants, rather than to| | the spiders, although a rare poetic urge compelled Us to the above. This is & swell year for the ants. They appear in droves, herds, packs and aggregations. They come in all| sizes, ranging from the big black fel- lows of hideous mien to the small red- dish-brown ones of intriguing aspect. | But an ant is an ant, no matter what its countenance. And that means | it i the most persistent, devilish insect | in the world, especially in & dry Sum- mer. All other insects are insects, but an| ant has a mind of its own; it is, in other | words, peculiarly human, = perhaps some might say womanish. A Japanese beetle is a simple sort of fellow. The damage he does is blindly done, the effect of mass instinct, as it He does not operate maliciously. Most insects are rather simple force uncanny demonstrations of the will- to-power, which surges up im all life, whether it walks, runs, crawls or creeps. One does not become angry at most | insects, or go into a rage because they | invade the house. Even the ubiguitous | fly is received respectfully, albell with R swatter. | " K But the ant, despite the -encomiums | heaped upon his head by Solomon and others, remains s personal, malicious organism, one seemingly endowed with | enough sense to know he is doing wrong when he feloniously enters a house and attempts to make off with everything in_the refrigerator. Households which never before knew inroads of ants this season are troubled with them, as the heat drives the in- sects to furious invasions. | The thoughtful will pause to ask | themselves what is it the ants are trying to do, and why do they do it The average person is not very well read on ants one may fear. TUnless | one happens to hAve réad several books, a few of them comparatively recent, he will know little more about them than Solomon. But he may feel that the fiendish endeavors of the ant tribes to get food shows something or other. They have been at it since the latter part of June, %0 they may be said to have had ad- vance news of the drought. Perhaps the hot weather has com- pelled them to seek their food where ordinarily they do not have to go, ow- ing to various ant dainties being plen- | tiful outdoors in ordinary weather. | One may rather suspect, however, | that there is something deeper than | that behind the tremendous activities | of the small black and brown creatures. Surely they know that a bad Winter is ahead for them and they are indulg- ing in the old proverbial activity, “mak- ing hay while the sun shines.” They are storing away food for the cold Winter which some “experts” de- clare invariably follows a severely hot and dry Summer. The theory is, as we understand it, that there is a cer- tain seasonal weather average, running through a year, year after year, that when & Summer overdoes it at one end, the Winter must do 5o, t0o, in or- der o make the average come out right, % % ¥ So much for the theory. Tt may be right, or it may not, but if one may judge from the rampant roamings of the ants, there must be something to it. | Big ants in lawns have caused much | M havoc to careful householders. These WASHINGT | mind water and | fellows are of triple or quadruple size, t one can almost distinguish one ant They do not seem to play exactly fair, in their depredations, but often attack one lawn, while leaving that of one's next door neighbor severely alone. Just why this s so it is difficult to say, but probably in most cases it will be found that the site selected is better watered. Despite po;iu]ar opinions, ants do not n the least. Some home owners think to drown them, by putting the nozzle of the hese into the mouth of | their dens and permitting the water to | flow in for an hour at a time. Surely, in an hour, one might think, enough_‘water would flow in" to_floo the entire series of galleries, But If we know anything about ants at all, it is safe to sy that they have foreseen all this. No doubt they have spillways and reservoirs, dug at intervals, scientifically draining away all the water that any man, priding himself on his intelligence, can pour down upon them. * x ok ¥ Who has not, in the mad pride of in- telligence, trampled down the ant hills in his back yard, only to find them there bigger and better than ever the next morning? ‘The ants have a way of coming back which mankind might well envy. No doubt it is a communistic effort on their part, based on the good of the pack, rather than the rights of the in- dividual. The {ribe Is all. with the ants, we should say. Life, with them. means the national life, a range entity which, from one standpoint, does not exist at all, and yet is everylhing, from another. The ants have no mental struggle, which way they shall go, whether toward collective or individual effort. When they invade your home and find a bit of breakfasi food fallen on the flake for the good of the tribe. No ant nibbles on it. but all try to carry it away to the hill. Ten take hold of it and painfully drag it along the rug. while scores of others follow, ready to take up the huge task when the first workers falter, Other scores go on ahead, clearing the road, across the rug. along the stairway, over beyond the fireplace, skirting the windows. down to the baseboard, along invisible routes within the walls, away to the sccret place where the national life of the ants functions. g The efforts of the householder to stamp them out are extramely prob- lematical. Often the spreading of pyrethrum powder, in any one of its trade forms, seems to do a great deal of good Sometimes the ants merely go into council and change their road. Even if many ants disappear, their breathing | clogged beyond hope by the fine pow- der, hundreds of others take their place. ‘Their terrible, heartless doctrine is | that the Individual does not count. The | God of the Christians, who sees even a sparrow fall, is never prayed to by |the ants. They go their way without | benefit_of clergy, knowing nothing of their Creator, caring nothing, nothing, Knowing nothing! That is where the shudder comes in, to a human being, as he contemplates that long line of living, struggling things, and recalls the pertinent remark of small Eugene, who, looking down upon a square foot |of them, in a solid huddle, said: ister, there's a lot of them things in | the world.” ON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. It's just too bad, to lapse into slang of the day, that the G. O. P. seems doomed to get one bad break after another. Stock crash, business depres sion, unemployment, - agricultural dis tress, tariff turmoil and now tl drought, are bad enough in themselves, jointly or severally. But along comes internecine strife to fill the party’s cup of woe to overflowing. Yesterday's meeting of the Republican National Executive Committee reflected the Jugu- brious state of affairs. Called to bury Claudius, and not to praise him, the meetirg naturally was heavily shrouded in gloom. The cheer customarily prev- alent when political good fellows get together was conspicious by its ab- sence. The atmosphere was funereal. In addition to the pall cast by Huston mess, there was the new shadow of the Horace Mann insurrection in the South. Administrationists pooh- pooh the Dixie schism—call it the Yawp of disgruntied patronage seekers. But there's a ring of fight and de- fiance in the Mann manifesto that bodes no good for G. O. P. harmony iwo years hence. It may just be that Dr. Bascom Slemp, whose present ad- dress is also outside the breastworks, may have to be recalled into con- sultation as & specialist in Southern legates. delegats AT Claudius Hart Huston leaves the na- tional chairmanship sore as the pro- verbial pup, but determined, his friends say, to be a good soldier and take his punishment without —muttering. His lunflagging personal-devotion to Presi- dsnt Hoover probably lies at the bottom of this resolve. Categorical stories cur- rent a month ago that if Huston were dumped overboard he would not g0 under without dragging some other eminent Republicans with him are des- tined to remain stories and nothing | else. The malevolent motives attributed to him included an alleged intention to spill some sensational beans about men in the immediate vicinity of the Hoover throne. In his present state of mind— you can never tell what may happen in the future—Huston purposes swallowin his medicine, going back to the private knitting he never wanted to leave and letting bygones be bygones. * ok % K Smedley Butler is said to have han- kered to be commandant of the Marine Corps in order to dry it up. But Hoo- ver has decided that the Marines should ket Fuller, A Hail, Tom Thumb golf as savior of the economic situation! At least 80 says the Wall Street Journal, which guot “An economist of distinction lately de- plored with rhetorical sobs the probabil- ity that there were no more stimull left in the world for American trade. ways before, he sald, some maglcal new thing - the automobile, the movies, the radio-—had come along, picked us up out of the slough of despond and given us & vigorous push into a new era of prosperity. Even as he wrote & new stimulus~ was being incubated. Tom Thumb golf has taken the Nation by storm. The entire overproduction of city lots bids fair to be absorbed within the next 60 days by miniature golf courses. Millions of Americans are playing the game and paying for it in a veritable flood of cash. ~Thousands of contractors have found for activity and tens of thousands of men jobs in making and running the courses. A hundred industries are feel- ing the revivilying effects of orders for material and equipment for the courses. It's a little game, but it has a kick.” Los Angeles is reported to have, at the hour of going to press, 17,000 Tom Thumb playgrounds. * ok ok X Calvin Coolidge recently served an| ultimatum on the big life insurance company which last year elected him a director. The former President re- fused to take a salary without the ob- ‘The coni- agencies, Mr. made one tour for the pepp! up the company's solicitors, and will swing around the oircle peri- cally on the Al- | opportunities | {058 What group of women with the ther- mometer hugging the hundred-degree mark would be meeting in ‘Washington at such a time to discuss politics as a steady diet? Defying heat, an organi- zation known as ihe Democratic Wom- en’s Educational Council, which sprang into being a couple of months ago, holds regular semi-monthly sessions, rain or shine, hot or cold, to study the princi- Dzes of Jeflersonianism and the issues of the day. Of course, the p ?}:le 1.;‘ how‘dm rescue the De rom the wildernes until further natiee; The sourgs and cers are: Miss Mae Helm, la ; Mrs. Clara Wright Sr‘nn‘;: woman, first vice president: Mrs. Robert K. Noble, civic worker, treasurer; Mrs, Gratton Kearns, civic worker and club. Woman, recording secretary; Miss B Kelley, aviation enthusiast, correspond- : g secretary, and Mrs. Alma Partridge. awyer, parliamentarian. Ex-officio s Mrs. Lester J. Pollock, a 100 per cent ennsylvania Democrat, who belie that politics should be played 365 days & vear. Her job is to supply pep and personality to the council’s activities, It | meets at picnic suppers, & ok ok ok For years the classic tale of t; m:ddlyb:;lr::él"'ihfld‘ il!s l’):\ point ll‘xeuh:\:g- nguishable glass day a customer won a loan by prssor hich eye was Bl‘(lflcl‘:}n b Susslng wi , because h caught in it “the glint of h K ness”" A Washingtonian is btk s {tv'.‘y“-s““x',.‘f.'\ Island with m“:':cgrfnr::: st quip. An able-bodied m recently called on the fa e chairman of Gotham's = biggest "pars. es When the visitor emerged, i ‘1’1%’;' ‘Hl. Heavens, what lappened to you n there?” a friend inquired. “T've just ——— In the heart,” was the 'mocrats * ok % Herbert Hoover will be 56 yey on Sunday, August 10. His medica) ade o ers say he's in fine shape. Seventsen ! h‘;imm in the presidency have taken : r physical toll, as they were bound t? do in the case of any superconscien- lous man who was destined to run into A_sea of troubles before he'd been in oOffice a year. Hoover is whiter around the temples than he's ever been in his lite, but that sort of thing comes when | & man is “fiftyish.” When he cares to | smile, the President can turi Jovolis and boyish a mieh aa anybody. In moments of complete relaxation on the Rapldan, Hoover, pipe-smoking, is his old, calm, introspective and reflec- tive self, bearing his tribulations philo- sophically and hopefully. (Copyright, 1930.) Brutal Treatment of Criminal Suspects To the Editor of The Star When will this country adopt civi- lized measures in dealing Wwith suspect. ed criminals under arrest? Will not the evidence in the individual ¢ase be sufficlent without adopting methods to effect a confession hound and pound a prisoner until he is pnysically exhausted and exact and extract a confession from him while in almost a state of coma is in nine cases out of ten to get an enforced con- fession that means little in the eyes of law, and, in fact, should not mean anything. Again, I have known a policeman, when a person was seriously hurt, to ask the injured person a seriés of ques- tions that only a person in a state of perfect normalcy could intelligently | answer and then put the replies of the | injured person on his “blotter” as a | correct solution of the accident. | “'The merciless grilling of persons under arrest and injured persons in a semi-conscious condition and accepting the findings or statements as reliable data is not in keeping with common sense and an enlightened civilization. Heathen Rome had to halt from t | scoufging Paul, to enforce a confession, when he asserted that he was one of her citizens. To be a citizen of the United States of America should not be f|any less effective as & protection from inhuman treatment and make the one who possesses it immune from the in- dignities of in whose cus i | the floor from Johnny's dish, they seize | burning | | | | hoping | ; | resi- | direct, club- | facts, and it seems to me the first in- | Rational Summer Costume for Men To the Editor of The Star: In reference to the views expressed by Miss Ruth O'Brien, Mr. J. P. Vic- tory and Mrs. M. L. Turner in letters | storehouse of all kinds of kuowledge. | Ariington?—B. W. of recent date to the editor of The Star, let me, a “mere man,” contribute his share by saying.that I heartily agree with practically all of what they say in the matter of dress reform for mer. I agree with Miss O'Brien that short trousers to reach to the top of the knee are best, but, as Mr. Victory so aptly states, she has failed to deal with the very inartistic appearance of man’s lower extremities. although at that I agree with Mrs. Turner in saying that very few girls have knees that can truthfully be called pretty, but I am not advocating that they wear longer dresses. Personally, 1 don't think that men’s knees are any worse looking than women's for that matter. As for the rest of man's limbs, the answer is to wear socks or stockings that reach to & point just below the knee. Some of the so- called golf hose being worn would answer the above purpose very nicely until some of thinner material become avail- able, although some of them are rather thin at that. Most of these hose turn over at the top for an inch or so, and thus a rubber garter of some sort could be worn underneath this turned-over part to support them. In the matter of shirts, I think Mrs. Turner has the right idea, except that I believe that we can do without the “bias binding” on_the neck and sleeves for the present. But let us have light- colored and light-weight materials in them with elbow-length sleeves and small lay-down collars that can be worn with or without a tle, loosely tied. The matter of shoes is relatively un- important for the present, as also is the matter of hats, Why wear any hat at all? But if you must, I think some sort of soft straw hat is best, or even | a sun helmet, for that matter, as worn in the tropics On the subject of starting something, I know that there are a lot of women who insist on their husbands or other menfolk wearing the extremely hot con- ventional clothing, while they them- selves wear very little. They think it is terribly unconventional and ill- mannered if their men should go to & show or dance without wearing all these things. And while we are on this sub- ject, don’t forget that some of the best shows and other places will refuse you entrance unless you have a coat and other conventional clothing on. Some- thing certainly ought to be done about this, which is discriminating and very unconstitutional. I for one have sev- eral times made excuses to my wife for not going out with her because it meant putting on a collar, tie and coat, which is sometimes almost unbearable. On the other hand, there are women who agree that men should wear & cooler sort of clothing, but don’t want their own menfolks to be the one to start wearing it. No doubt, too, there are millions of men—and single ones, too—who would like very much to wear a cooler sort of clothing, but who lack the nerve to be one of the first to start it—to be pioneers, in other words. | They haven't got the spirit of our an- cestors. But unless we want to be slaves the rest of our lives some one will have to start it and endure the vulgar stares ol the rabble. Let the act console you that half of the stares rom the men will be envious. In conclusion, let me state that I have worn clothing of the sort that I advocate in various parts of the world— and not entirely in the tropics either— 50 that T am not suggesting it for every- body except myself now. I am willing to wear if, and I am not so sure that I will wait for others to start it or go with me, my wife's desires to the con- trary notwithstanding. WM. P. WIGGINS. SRSt “Bad Manners From Virginia™ To the Editor of The Btar: In an editorial under the above cap- tion in The Star of July 20 you severely criticized an open letter of Mr. Samuel B. Woods of Charlottesville, V., to the British Ambassador protesting his ac tion in taking advantage of the im- munity granted his office to do what the citizens of the United States may not do, viz., import intoxicating liquors into this country for beverage pur- poses. Your editorial states that Mr. Woods’ letter was insulting. Granting that it did not take the usual course of diplo- matic communications, it surely was & straightforward statement of sult was offered by the Ambassador— and all others who take advantage of their immunity to do those things in our country which they know are un- lawful for our own citizens to do, such as the disregard of traffic and prohi- bition laws, which are made for the protection and benefit of all our peo- ple, whether citizens or not. I cannot agree with you that it con- cel only the Ambassador. It seems to me it concerns the whole American people, and I am glad that Mr. Woods has the courage of a true Virginian to protest against this insult, not only by the British Ambassador, but the rep- resentatives of all foreign countries | who take unfair advantage of the im- munity granted them while serving here as representatives of their re- spective countries. Your editorial designates this repre- sentative as “our guest” and as such should be treated in the usual formal manner. True, but when the guest so far forgets the duty owed his host as to completely ignore the customs and expressed wishes of that host, then, in my opinion, formalities may be waived if necessary in order to bring the guest to proper realization of his offensive conduct Virginia is known for its courtesy and hospitality. Its citizens are kind, considerate and law abiding, but when provoked beyond endurance by disre- gard of its customs and traditions there will always be found among its citizens men like Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson, who will point out the right even though the admonition may not in so-called diplomatic language or delivered through the cus- tomary diplomatic channels. It dpes seem to me that when & law is passed by an overwhelming majority of the American people and continued on our statute books for 10 years, with- out any serious lawful effort to repeal it, 1t 15 about time our foreign ‘guests” begin to sit up and take notice of the American sentiment 80 often expressed, and not be led by the blatant outburst of & comparalive few wets, who, like the one plg caught in the fence, make more noise than the thousands quietly feeding in the field. I believe the direct and forceful manner adopted by Mr. Woods will he approved by a large majority of our true American citizens. M. E. CHURCH. Falls Church, Va. r———— California Again From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. There's a new Rumanian sect which believes that sin can be led from the body by shaking ~Californis, we presume, is an example. may have fallen—until he is shown by the evidence to be a violator of the law and a criminal deserving ishment. The Mosaic law required two or three witnesses to establish guilt. No one should be punished until proved guilty. The fact is that every one is innocent in the eyes of the law until proved guilty. Let us not resort to the tactics of the “dark ages” in extorting confessions and the “Inquisition” of the twelfth century In dealing with offenders or, to come nearer hore and to & more re- cent occurrence, “the Salem Witch- craft” episode in our own country. Let sane and sober and patient dealings with those charged with law violations characterize those who are responsible for upholding the “dignity” of the law. 'HUBBARD. L Jd ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Washington is the world's greatest | You can draw on it free of charge through our bureau there. Any ques- tion of fact you may ask will be answered promptly in & personal letter to you. Be careful to write clearly, give your full name and address and inclose 2-cent stamp for reply postage. Send your inquiry to The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. C Q. Are Phil Cook and Joe Cook re- lated to each other?—M. T. Phil Cook, N. B. C. entertainer, is not & relative of Joe Cook, the stage personality. Q. What will destroy field crabs on a golf course?—H. W. R. { A. The Biological Survey states that you should put a few drops of carbon bisulphide in the holes on your golf course, and then fill them in. Q. Please give the names of Indian tribes in South America which begin with A—N. R. A. Three tribes whose names begin with A are: Aymara Indians of Bolivia, Araucanian Indians of Chile and Aztec Indians of Peru. Q. What State has the largest fund for road improvement?—T. H. D. A. The total funds available for use of the State Highway Department of New York in 1928 was $106.824.6 This was the largest sum available for such purposes in any State of the Unfon duzing the year. Q. How many poisonous species of lizards are there in the United States? —E. P. A, The Gila Monster, a large lizard of the Arizona and New Mexico deserts, is the only poisonous lizard in this country. Q. What percentage of g allowed for shrinkage in storage plants? i A. The evapgration loss from each ank of gasoline must be determined by actual measurement over A considerable period of time. The average loss in midcontinent was found by the Bureau of Mines to be 1.8 per cent in three months. Q. Where was the first county park? I8 A. The first in America was set aside by Essex County. N. J., in 1895. Thirty- six counties in 19 States have now pro- vided these recreation grounds. Q. It & Pederal Reserve or national bank note is completely destroyed, who profits?>—T. G. A. The loss benefits the United States Treasury to the amount of the note. Q. What causes earthquakes?—G. F. A. Earthquakes are occasioned by two principal causes, subterranean con- cussion from tectonic or volcanic causes. Stresses accumulate in the strata to a point at which the elastic limit is ex- ceeded and the fault results, probably due to shrinkage in the earth’s interior by reason of cooling. Q. Who was called the Red Prince the men in the Prussian Army?—V. A. Prince Frederich Charles, the mous general in the Prussian Army, Was so called by his men “because his bright red uniform was always to the fore.” by B. 4 tioned asoline is | Q. Prom whom did the Lees inherit A. Arlington was the property of Mrs. Robert E. Lee. She inherited the estate from her father, George Wash- ington Parke Custis, grandson of Martha Washington. Q How light and how strong is as- bestos>—J. B. E. A. It would be difficult to say how light asbestos is in its native form. It stone, but it may_be til it is very light. T amphibole variety is very weak and is used principally for pipe covering, etc The chrysotile variety is strong and if long enough may be used for spinning. What was Lord Roberts' opinion of Stonewall Jackson?—W. C. A Irvin Cobb quotes Lord Roberts as saying of the Civil War period “America produced some magnificent soldiers in those four years and the greatest of them. to my way of think- ing, was Stonewall Jackson. Q. What is a simple test for deter- mining how well a person can hear?— J H. M. A. The usual test for determining the question of how well A person can near |is the ordinary speaking voice test, given at a distance of 20 feet; and the whispering voice test given at a (fl!lflnr". of 10 feet. These tests are given $o that the examiner can determine the ability of the person to repeat words which he has given at 20 feet and whispered dt 10 feet. The tests men- are merely average tests, and ear specialists employ more accurate | methods, | @ Why is a woman never chosen poct laureate of England? Who makes the selection?—C. L. A. We know of no prohibition which prevents the selection of a woman as | poet laureate of England except the ct that there is no precedent for suca | fa no woman | choice, and there probabi | whose' work is sufficiently notable to make such a selection possible. In | theory the choice is made by the King Actually the decision js said to be | made by the prime minister. | @ When a man is not sure whether an oceasion calls for a tuxedo or full dress clothes, which should he wear? |F. R. A. He should wear the swallowtail. It is not a question of being o ! | The swallowtail is appropriate far | either formal or informal occasions, | while the dinner jacket is not. | _Q How much coffee does the United States import?>—C. S. | ~"A. About 1,400,000,000 pounds of cof- fee are imported annually. Q. How large are the lakes of Kil- rney?—W. E. B A. The Lower Lake is five miles long and three miles wide. The middle lake, | known as Torc, is two miles long and |a mile wide, and the Upper Lake & two and one-half miles long and & half | mile wide. The Upper and Lower Lakes are dotted with lovely islets. Q. Are any viking ships still in ex- | istence?—P. 8. | A In Oslo, Norway, is preserved & | viking ship more than 900 years old. | 1t 1s 80 feet long and 16 feet wide. In its sides it has 16 portholes showing oarsmen. ‘;ln | that it was manned by 32 (Canadian Election Creates Differing Impressions Here Strong differences of opinion exist in this country as to Whether the overturn in Canada, with the election of the Conservatives to office, will affect busi- ness on this side of the line. Tarifl warfare is expected by a substantial number of people, although some com- ments deny that the United States will be affected. Change of political con- trol is ascribed by some to dissatisfac- tion, due to the depression which is shared by other countries. Rapid response to the wishes of the vyoters is a subject of comment by the Roanoke World-News, which concludes that it “calls attention anew .to the slow process of change under the Ameri- can system” and that “in Canad rightly or wrongly, the people get wh they asked for at the polls.” The n: {ure of the change is pointed out by the Appleton Post-Crescent, with the statement: “So great a Teversal has taken place that for the first time the solid Liberal Province of Quebec has been penetrated by the oppositiod. This is comparable in a way to the invasion of the Solid South by the Republicans in our presidential election of 1928. It signifies a profound upheaval whiéh, temporarily at least, upsets many Ca- nadian traditions and renders difficult a political forecast of the future.” Considering various suggestions as to the effect of the election, the Rock Island Argus takes up the tariff issue, advising that “if business is to be of & permanent and enduring character it must be made mutu profitable to the contracting parties,” that “the way to get business is not to anger our g{ofipectlve customers and most cer- power to buy On another phase, the Duluth Herald is of the opinion that “as both of the at Canadian parties declared strongly for the St. Lawrence Waterway, this election will not in any degree delay the beginning of work on that enter- prise.” * ko % “Virtual notice of the inning of a_tariff r" is seen by the New York Times, which also mentions “business depression and unemployment,” with the belief that “these were to many thousands of Canadian voters unan- swerable arguments for s change of government,” and asks, “Will the same thing work in the same way in the United States?” “The outcome is unimportant to the United States,” according to the Indian- apolis Star, “so far as the fortunes of either political however, is a matter of Interest to this country in the light of a growing tend- ency among all Dominion ranks to exhibit & greater preference for British goods and to impose higher tariffs on American products. The Canadians have voiced m growing resentment over the tactless attitude of some in the United States and the victor in this political batlle, regardless of party af- fliations, may be disposed to retaliate Jly for our recent tariff pragram.” “The result is a thundering answer to the Hawley-Smoot tariff,” declares the Atlanta Journal, “so complete & political overturn across witnessed.” The Syracuse Herald ad- vises that “it would be gross self-de- ception for us to assume that the United States, the supply market near- est to Canada, will not be prejudicially | affected n some degree by this legis- lative response to the lifting of our own tariff barriers.” The Little Rock | Arkansas Democrat contends that “if | the pledges of the Conservatives are t, it 18 reasonable to expect re- tory tion.” Kalamazoo ves that “Prime Minister 2ha'a bit too mod dian people.” The Beloit Daily News argues that “the logical result to be | feared is still higher Canadian duties | on United States imports.” The Lynch- burg Advance feaws that “the addition of a few more countries will have se- | rious effects on the foreign trade of | the United States.” ok | That “the voters licked the party | which proposed to raise tariffs against | the United States” is emphasized by | the San Francisco Chronicle, with the | comment: “We have all along felt sure_that while other countries might not like to see us duties on their products they would take it out in grumbling and would not. bite off their noses /40 spite thels The Ca- party are concerned. | The political control of the Dominion, | observing that | our Northern border has already been | s opinion.” nadian election bacis up thi a triumph | with _retaliation means moting intraempire trade.” “Naturally we would be more pros- perous,” advises the Cincinnati Times- Star, “if American business could hold | the American market and at the same | time operate freely in all other coun- | tries. As this cannot be done. it is | well to remember that the American | market is as big as the world market was, not so many decades ago. ere is no reason why we cannot be reason- ably prosperous, doing what we can in forelgn trade, but depending chiefly upon our own resources and our own industrial genius.” The Geneva Daily Times con- | vinced that the overturn “will not | make much difference to the United States,” and the Buffalo Evening News | states: “In so far as as the Canadians | increase their own prosperity and raise their wages and living standards by protective tariffs they will enhance their buying power. If their buying | power increases, the general volume of American trade with Cenada, instead of diminishing, will expand. = Certain | lines of commerce may be affected un- | favorably by the efforts of Canada to | reserve the home market for home | products. New lines will elop, how- | ever, and greater quantitics will be consumed if the peopie e more money. 'Americans, therefore, have no reason for anxiety.” Mr. Bennett, the Conservative leader, lin the judgment of the Youngstown | Vindicator, “will not has | time, It is not to be cxpected that anything he can .do will have much | effect on hastening the return of pros- perity, and his tarift policy will have | opposition from the very large Ameri- | can interest in Canada ~ The fact that | business is likely to pick up of its own | accord within the next few months will help him more than anything else.” “The beginning of the end of neigh- | borliness” 1is seen by the Champaign News-Gazette, while the Salina Jour- nal emphasizes the fact that “ths Liberal regime, upset in these elec- tions, was extremely friendly to u: although that latter paper thinks that | “depression was a figure of impor- | tance.” ‘The election as a product of | the depression is the theme of the Ann Arbor Daily News, the Miami Dally _News, the Elmira_ Star-Gazette | and tHe Oklahoma City Times. o Death of the Son of Richard Wagner | To the Raitor of The Star: When nature creates & genius it seems to give its all for a while. Nature rarely confers a second distinction through near inheritance. The child of & genius is rarely a genius. So th child of Byron, Browning, Dickens, | Bach, Berlioz, Wagner. Siegfried Wagner has just died. son of a great mus followered in his father's struggled manfully to accomplish writing a number of operas. These, | however, may not give a definite im- pression of greatn; While not prob- ably considered even an orchestral di- | rector of the first magnitude, a musi- cal world is grateful to Siegfried | Wagner for what he has so ably done and also grateful that he should have lived in Bayreuth to absorb the tradi- tions of Wagnerian opera and prac- tically to apply these after the death of his distinguished father. And later, when the dimness of energy and life came to Costima. the mother, he man- fully attacked the great problems of organization and opera presentation, and was 8 musess. ‘When Siegfried Wagner was born Richard Wagner composed the beauti- ful “Siegfried Idyl" an orchestra work, melodicus and of great tenderness. It ~ was given at his villa, Triebchen, on Lake Lucerne, on Cosima's birthday, and may be considered as a lullaby to | the child and a serenade to the mother. It was my privilege to visit Bayreuth at one of the festivals with Leopold Godowsky, the pianist. I saw the grave of Richard Wagner in the little rden at the rear of the home, Wahn- ried. And here Cosima and her son Siegfried will also probably rest, the three who so earnestly worked for an ideal and gave a unique musical dis- tinction to Bayreuth. O'IZ;O TORNEY SIMON. The