Evening Star Newspaper, August 19, 1930, Page 5

THE EVENING . CENSUS PROPHECY 5 FOUND CORRET 1930 Center of Population of| U. S. Was Estimated 58 Years Ago. A prophecy made 58 years ago con- berning the spot at which the 1930 cen- ter of population of the United States would be found was pcinted to today by Clarence E. Batschelet, census geog- Tapher, as the most accurate estimate :'\:.lllble at this stage of the computa- ns. Undertaking, on the basis of an- nounced returns for the entire country, to trace the movement of that mythical | balance point from its resting | place, Batschelet said at this point of | the calculations he could not improve | on_the old figure. | In 1872, he said, a brilliant, but little 14 known mathematician, Julius Erasmus Hilgard, estimated the center of popu- Iation would cling close to the thirty- ninth parallel of latitude, and would | move 126 miles westward between 1870 and 1900 and an added 88 miles between 2900 and 1930. Hilgard further prophesied that this hypothetical point will be about 30 miles east of St. Louis in_ the year $00 {This, he forecast, would be just about fts ultimate and the country could thereafter be depended on to maintain an approximation of equilibrium, with Bt. Louls as pivotal point. In the 1872 population prophecy, pub- lished in Scribner’s Monthly, Hilgard made the first reliable compution of the center of population of the United. | States. { ‘The Census Bureau followed two years | later with officlal computations for all | eensus years up to that time and each | succeeding census has been tabulated as to population center with scientific sccuracy. From 1870 to 1000, the period in which Hilgard said the population cen- Ser would advance 126 miles he missed £ by but 6.5 miles—it moved 119.5. He based his prophecy not on the tistics at hand, but on a mathemat- system he evolved. He figured ac- Bual advances from 1840 to 1870. Two out of three of these decades he brand- ed as “not normal,” for the first repre- sented the gold rush to California and the third the life loss of the Civil War. He sald it was safe to assume that “disturbing causes of such magnitude eannot occur again” History has| proved him correct to date. Hilgard then argued in this fashion: | The geographical center of the United | States map is just below the middle of | the northern boundary of Kansas. | ©Owing to the comparative infertility of the territory lying west of that merid- fan, “it is certain the center of popu- lation, when a permanent ratio of dis- tribution shall have been reached, can- | mot be far west of the Mississippl River,” and since there is no great dis- ity of Northern and Southern zones, will be near the middle latitude of 39 degrees, placing it not far from the eity of St. Louls. He then took a tentative point near Bt. Louis as ultimate and moved the center of gravity toward it at a rate based on the movement in & decade he considered normal. ‘The actual distance moved from 1900 8o 1920 was 49 miles, leaving 31 to go in the present Census Bureau calcula- tions. Until complete check is made the bureau experts are content to let Rhis estimate stand as probably within & few miles, possibly five or six, of porrectness. SOMERSET COUNTY FAIR OPENS AT MEYERSDALE verage Exhibit of Cereals, Fruit and Vegetables Shown Despite Drought Conditions. GRANTVILLE, Md, August 19.— The twenty-eighth annual fair of the Somerset County Fair Association opened at Meyersdale today, and will continue until Saturday night. While drought conditions caused some county fairs to be abandoned in the tri-State territory this year, this fair has the average display of cereals, fruits and wvegetables. Anticipating a shortage mlong this line, the management en- deavored to increase the live stock ex- hibit with fine results. The fair is held %00 early this year for a display of the 1930 corn crop, and last year's corn that is displayed will be given the pre- miums. Garrett County, Md., imediately south, kontributes largely to the exhibits and sttendance. All school children of Gar- rett and Somerset (klfil;;‘:l dul;lder ';4 years of , will be a ted free to- INOTTOW. fie Boys' Band of Crellin, Md, will play a concert. The races cover three days, beginning tomorrow. There will be two harness races daily. Phonographs are now used in Parisian telephone exchanges to inform users of certain stock phrases, such as “The line 4s occupled: call again, please,” and *“The number is changed; consult a new 'BUSINESS VS. “FERGUSONISM" DECLARED TEXAS VOTE ISSUE | Impeachecl Governor Wield;Strange Power in Campaign to Elect Wife Executive Against Multi-Millionaire Magnate. BY A. B. MACDONALD. Special Dispatch to The Btar. FORT WORTH, Tex., August 19 (N.A. N.A).—To learn two facts I came to Texas. ‘Who is this multimillionnaire, Ross 8. Sterling, who is trying to beat “Jim" nd “Ma"” Ferguson for the governor- ship of Texas; what are his chances, and what is the secret of the strength of “Jim" and “Ma” Ferguson? How is it that Ferguson, once im- peached and literally kicked out of the | governorship, therefore ineligible ever to hold office in Texas, was able to elect | his wife Governor, and now is running | her again for that office? ‘What is this thing called “Ferguson- | sm” that is the main issue in this ampaign? By what strange power has Jim” Ferguson held 200,000 voters in | Texas through 16 years of bitter attack. | and how is he now able to draw a crowd of 25,000 to hear him speak—in spite of the fact that every big newspaper in ' Texas is against him? Editor Defines “Fergusonism.” I asked the editor of one of the lar- gest newspapers which is fighting for Sterling for Governor, “What is Fergu- sonism?” “Everything you can think of that is rotten in politics and in government,” he answered Another editor, whose paper is neu- tral, but leans to Sterling, was asked the same question and he replied: “This race is a contest of psrsons and personalities. Ferguson is a ¢emagogue, but he is an orator of the old school; witty, he knows all the tricks of han- dling a crowd; he is intensely human; he appeals to the common people, plays upon their heartstrings, while Sterling is rather cold and distant, no orator, but & business man of great ability. The fact that he has millions makes many stand aloof from him. “So there you have the main issue— on one hand old Jim Ferguson, with his long hair, stirring people almoet to a frenzy with his platitudes about heaven, home and mother, and on the other Sterling, efcient, cold man of business.” “Successful Rich Man” Type. T met Sterling, silently aloof, in loose, baggy trousers, a big, towering man, more than 6 feet and weighing perhaps 250; his face ruddy and square-jawed and “successful rich man” sticking out all over him. I introduced myself and asked him for an hour, at least. “Why should I give you an hour of my time?” he demanded. He was not discourteous; in fact, he was very polite, but his hard-headed | business sense saw no use spending| time for an interview that might not repay him in votes. That night I heard Ferguson speak, and I introduced myself to him as he was pushing through a vast crowd on the Dallas fair grounds. He put his arm around my shoulder and, in the most kindly tone, said: “Come along up here on the stand. They're waiting for me now, but when I'm through I'll give you all the time you want.” ‘When he did finish, he was as wet as if he had fallen into the river. He had to catch a train, and thousands ‘were pushing up to shake his hand, but “Old Jim,” as he calls himself, did not forget the stranger from afar, even though he knew the story I was to write wouldn't get him a single vote. Those two incidents may help ex- plain why Ferguson is so popular in Texas that he has carried 200,000 votes in his vest pocket for 16 years, can count upon that many to start with in the run-off primary election next Mon- day and why the wisest of political prophets are predicting that “Ma” Fer- guson has a good chance of being the next Governor of Texas. I heard Sterling make a speech. It was stilted and cold, but full of hard facts and good business sense, and he outlined a fine program he would carry out if he were elected. Mr. Sterling is 55. His forebears, on his mother’s side, came to Texas with Stephen F. Austin’s colonists. He had to work in the cotton patch from the time he was big enough, and the only education he ever had was in a little one-room country school. ‘When he was not yet 14, he and his brothers bought a schoomer and he safled it, freighting farm produce to Galveston. Then he opened a little store on Double Bayou, near Anahuac, and when he was 23 he married. Got Start in Oil ‘When oil was discovered in the Hum- ble district in Southern Texas, Sterling opened a store there. After a while he bought two producing ol wells, and that was the beginning of his huge fortune. He bullt up the Humble Oil & Re- fining Co., built a railroad to his re- finery, and became a power in the ofl business. In 1925 he sold his oil busi- ness to the Standard Oil Co. for mil- lions. He soild his railroad to the Southern Pacific. Those who knew the Humble Co. when Sterling owned it say it was an almost perfect business organization. assert that as a bu‘imess ‘o‘zgl.nmer and manager Sterling is a genius. Mr. su‘:fing owns the Houston Post- Dispatch. He has been chairman of the State Highway Commission since 1927, and has brought to bear upon the road problems of the State his fine busi- ness judgment. One of Mr. Sterling’s policies, if elected Governor, will be to correlate and complete the highway system of Texas, financed and paid for with Fed- eral aid and a State bond issue. “There are two things the voters should keep foremost in mind in select- ing the next Governor,” he says. “One is the demand pressing upon the State government to meet the amazing growth Texas is experiencing, and the chang- ing and complex conditions produced by that growth. The other is the chal- lenge to the State government to look and go beyond the present, encouraging and planning for and procuring an even greater development. Urges More Schools and Roads. “We must have more schools,- more roads, more State hospitals and insti- tutions for the blind, the deaf, those who suffer from mental afflictions and the delinquent; more prison facilities and more governmental machinery to protect and, if necessary, regulate all the other expanded endeavors of Texas. These things require more expense. “You hear the politicians talk of re- ducing the cost of government, but as the State grows the expense must grow, too. Where the need of real business ability comes in is in the economical and efficient spending of the money.” Ferguson ridicules this program of Sterling's. I heard Ferguson speak for more than an hour and, so far as I could see, he offered no constructive program at all, but his whole speech was an appeal to the unthinking and to the most primi- tive emotions and a to put “Old Jim” back in the office of Governor through his wife. “Thus,” he said, “if you put ma in, I'll be there to help, and you'll get two Governors for the price of one.” ‘The campaign is bitter. The Dallas News referred to “Ma” Ferguson as being uneducated, and in his next speech Ferguson said: “They had to burn the school house down to get Sterling out of the second grade.” “There are two candidates for the Democratic nomination for Governor,” he said at another time. “One is a good woman with plenty of brains and Low-Fare Outings Fares shown are Round Trip STANDARD TIME $3.50 PHILADELPHIA $3.25 CHESTER $3.00 WILMINGTON SUNDAYS, Aur. 24, Sept. Lv. Washingion $16.00 CHICAGO, IIl. SATURDAY. Lv. Washington. $8.00 PITTS U SAT! Ly. Wash = 1 interest “in Pitt enced. lectarer Fare, $135. $5.00 NEW YORK SUNDAYS t 31, Sep $6.00 Nfimfl‘#“fi'" A Ly. Washington . 1o 15:05 AM. 16 DAY NIAGARA FALLS $16.80—SATURDAYS—§16.80 Aurust 23, September 6, 20, October 4. All Steel Equipment Pennsylvania Railroad directory.” Big business men throughout Texas © R 1212 F St. N.W. Nae. 4278 3103 14th St. N.W. Col. 3103 1102 Conn. Ave. Decatur 3146 5016 Conn. Ave. N.W. Cleveland 1226 ] | no money, the other is a man with STAR., WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 1930. B €l plenty of money, but no brain: CHURCHES ELECT One of the issues in the campaign s | that the Fergusons paroled or pardoned | Langley and Chesterbrook Congre- 6,000 convicts, and Sterling alleges that Ferguson ran a brokerage business in pardons, being paid $40,000 by one murderer for a commutation of a death sentence. The voters seem as bitter as the can- didates. A voter here is either for or against “Fergusonism.” The business element is near'y solid for Sterling (Copyright. 1930, by North American News- A. A Milne’s autobiography will shurily appear in England under the title “When I Was Very Young. gations Choose Officers. MCcLEAN, Va., August 19 (Special).— | Officers of the Southern Methodist | Churches at Langley and Chesterbrook | were elected at the fourth quarterly | conference at Langley Church Sunday | night, Rev. E. V. Regester of Alexandria | presiding. Ward T. Kirby, John Payne, 1Jnhn Hall and Mrs. W. E. Arnold, sr., | were elected stewards of Langley | Church. Worth E. Arnold, jr., was elect- ed superintendent of the gley Sul day school, with Marvin H. Kirby as as- sistant. Guy Beall, C. E. Furlong, Mrs. James Byrnes and Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson were elected stewards of Chesterbrook Church. C. E. Furlong was elected su- perintendent of the Sunday school and C. H. Ball assistant. John Hall was elected lay leader of Langley Church, C. H. Ball' iay leader for Chesterbrook. John Payne of Mc- Lean was elected church lay leader. Because its freight traffic was being reduced owing to competition with trucks a railway in Brazil has inaugu- rated a complementary motor trucking service. MILLING TRADE SLUMPS Irish Free State Forced to Depend Mainly on Imported Flour. DUBLIN _(#).—The Irish mllun! trade has suffered a serious decline an the Free State is now forced to depend mainly on imported flour. Seven years ago there were 42 flour mills working in the State. Eleven closed down, two others burned down and were not rebuilt. ‘Twenty-nine mills remain, and two of these, the largest in the State, have recently been purchased by an English company. personal and sales record, char- acter, appearance and references. Permanent connection, future and excellent earning assured the right men. Interview by ap- pointment only. Phone Mr. Smith, Nat. 9113, Instead of $50.00 Later On! SPECIALLY PLANNED, ADVANCE-SEASON SAKS SALE OF #¥50.00 PLAID-BACK BOUCLE OVERCOATS select. your selection Summer store October statements. A 35.00 DEPOSIT will reserve until November 1st any coat you Charge purchases will appear on In view of the substan- tial saving now offered, it is wise to make at once. hours, 9 to 6 daily. SOME FACTS: 1 Boucle will be the fashionable overcoat fabric this Winter! {| Boucle combines beautiful appearance with tough texture! | This is a new Boucle weave, shown now for first time! {| This grade of Boucle will cost at least $50 in October! | A saving of $15.50 is offered on every coat in this sale! THE great Saks Overcoat Sale this August cen- ters around a magnificent fabric . . . the new- est creation of the American Woolen Company. THIS fabric is the handsome curlfinish, plaid- back duo-tone Boucle—a beautiful, strong, serviceable material that combines the best fea- tures of all other fine overcoatings. HE American Woolen Company say: “It is noted for its unusual wearing qualities, due partly to the fact that the curl on the face is made of worsted.” W/' E have picked this fabric in the four smart- est shades . . . Blue, Oxford Grey, Brown and Cambridge Grey. We have had it developed in the new 1930-1931 models . . . double-breasted with velvet or self collar, and single-breasted; cor- rect in every detail from lapel to length. Each coat is trimmed with high-grade, lustrous lining, guaranteed for service. Regulars, Longs, Shorts, Stouts. d 8aks—Third Floor 74 THE AVENUE AT SEVENTH Closed Saturdays in August (except Saturday, August 30th).