Evening Star Newspaper, December 30, 1930, Page 8

HE EVENING STAR With Sunday M Edition. } WASHINGTON, D. C. f'UESDAY. ....December 30, 1930 EHEODO]E W. NOYES. ...Editor b o S S S {Fhe Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: 3 . and Pennsylvania Ave f _ New York Office: 110 East 4Ind gt hicago Ofce” Lake Michigan Bullding. | European Offce; 1 ent St., London, ‘Rate by Carrier Within the City. 45c per month 60c per month ar 65¢ per month Fhe Sunday Star . +-5¢ per copy Collection made at thé end of each month. rders may be sent in by mail or telephone Ational 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia., aily and Sunday ... 1yr. $10.00; 1 mo., 85¢c E 1 00: 1 mo.. 50c aily only - H iy unday only .. 4.00, 1 mo.. 40c All Other States and Canad: 1y and Sunday..lyr., $12. b oniz. oo e junday only BE Member of the Assoclated Press. The Assoclated Press is exclusively entitled he use for republication of all news dis- al new! s of publication of e also reserved. 18 rein. Al rigl #pecial dispatches herein —— | Latin America in the League. Few more significant signs of the ! Bimes at Geneva have come from the | shores of Lake Leman than the present Bojourn of Sir Eric Drummond, secre- tary general of the League of Nations in Bouth America. Sir Eric is now in Argentina. He is en route to Chile and Peru, and will thence proceed to Central America and Cuba. There is method in his meanderings. Apart from the United States, four JAmerican states—Mexico, Brazil, Ecua- Hor and Costa Rica—are not members of the League. Argentina’s status has re- mained obscure for ten years. In the fArst Irigoyen administration at Buenos Aires she joined the League, but her Congress never ratified the action. An Argentinian delegation withdrew from the first General Assembly at Geneva cause the Council refwsed to admit former enemy powers on the same foot- ing as the allies—a situation long since remedied. But Argentina’s position re- mains undefined. Nominally she is still in the League. Actually she takes no part in its affairs, and her dues for ears are in arrears. Sir Eric Drummond is bent not only fipon clearing up Argentina’s relation- ship with Geneva, but upon tightening up the League's notoriously creaking bolts elsewhere in Latin America. Natu- rally, too, the secretary general wants to look the new revolutionary govern- ments in the face in Buenos Alres, Lima, La Paz, Rio de Janeiro and Guatemala City, and ascertain if they are friendly or hostile. Also, he is sure to leave no Btope unturned to secure the adhesion ©of Costa Rica, Ecuador and Mexico, in Bll of which countries new regimes, and possibly a new League psychology, have come into existence since their respec- tive governments decided to boycott Geneva. It was just two years ago this week Ehat the League attempted, but failed, to substitute Geneva decision of a pure- ly inter-American controversy for Pan- American arbitrament. Bolivia and Paraguay were on the verge of war. The League Council, meeting at Lugano, promptly urged action looking to a peaceful settlement, but the Pan-Amer- Jcan Conference on Conciliation and Arbitration happened, almost providen- tially, to be meeting in Washington. Upon the strong appeal of Secretary bf State Kellogg, both Bolivia and Paraguay accepted the good offices of the conference and eventually composed their differences. Justice requires it to be said that Geneva, throughout the intervening nine months of negotiation, lent its own influence in the direction of an arbitral settlement. But history will record that Bolivia and Paraguay stacked arms primarily in consequence of the pressure for peace exerted b)'] Bheir sister American republics. The League of Nations is within its Fights in seeking to link the Latin states bf the New World ever closer to the Covenant. Meantime, the fifteen or Bixteen Americas, out of the twenty-one republics comprising the Pan-American Union, which are officially afliated with Geneva, are extremely likely, as hitherto, to pin their principal faith, where vital and purely inter-American Interests are concerned, on the ideals | Bnd institutions that are rooted ex- ! klusively in this hemisphere. — e Every time a bus accident occurs Ehe aviators hasten to assure the lands- fmen that those who sail the skies have o monopoly of hairbreadth escapes. —_————— Progress in Public Building. Rejection by the District Court of Appeals of the in unction suit of lessees ®f the theater property at the corner f Fifteenth and E streets to prevent Its demolition by the Government ends & protracted effort to stay the clearance bt the square preparatory to its de- welopment as a park. The work of iestruction will now proceed, for no gurther steps in equity to prevent this fevelopment are possible. Indeed, the Ppld theater structure had already been mttacked by the razers when the court acted. be left of the original occupants of the #five squares site” that formed the first mcquisition by the Government of Mall- Avenue land for public buflding pur- poses. Unless the improbable occurs the de- begin in a very short time, perhaps a fortnight, to make way for the new Archives Building, which is to be erect- ed on that site. Efforts to stay the destruction to permit a continuance of the market establishment for several months have failed and in a few weeks i weather permits this landmark of Jnany years will have passed and foun- ation work will be in progress. This will be the next item of the great build- Bng program to get under way. It will Je followed shortly by destruction and fater by construction work in the #quares lying between the new Com- m Building and the new Internal * JRevenue Building. The Government kow has title to the greater part of that land and no obstacles are in the way of the completion of the process ©f condemnation and site-clearing | This is in the case of the Post Office In a short time nothing will| \ National Committee should have under- struction of the Center Market Will| taken to do by indirection that which, snce 18 soon to be taken. The destruc- tion of the buildings on that site will entail a considerable shifting of busi- ness, which, however, has been well an- ticipated. There is some likelihood that this unit of the program of Government housing will get under way during the coming year. Steps have just been taken to secure | the site for the proposed addition to the Library of Congress consisting of one and one-half squares lying east of the original bullding. That will take several months for consummation, and thus the chances are that the Library annex will not be in evidence for two or three years to come. However, the! initiation of condemnation proceedings | is a definite evidence of the prosecution | of the program. The evolution of the building plans of the Government is thus progressing steadily and satisfactorily. What may appear to be needless delays are in| truth inevitable pauses for preparation. 1t is impossible to conduct such a great enterprise covering so large an area and involving such vast sums as a single; operation. Not all of the money can be spent at once, for it is not all im- mediately available. In one specific case the building pro- gram, designed to give the Government proper housing, has been halted by the! inadequate housing already existant. | Department. The old structure cannot be razed, to make way for the com- pletion of the Internal Revenue Build- ing, until the new postal department home has been erected on the site im- mediately to the west. Thus one need checks the filling of another. But this is & temporary condition that, in terms of Capital making, will soon pass. e Nutt and Nye. EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, B C. TUESDAY, DEC THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. report to the Aeronautical Committee of the British Air Ministry that a silent plane can be built today if certain precautions are taken in constructing and installing engines and exhaust sys- tems and if a certain type of propeller is used to counterbalance the various noises. The new principle claimed in each other. q Whether the British researches will culminate into a practical solution of the noise problem of the present-day machine is problematical, but, from the peace-time commercial service point of view, something must be done to re- duce the terrific din if the public whole- heartedly is to embrace flying as its means of transportation. Engine build- ers have been too busy producing mo- tors of greater horsepower and less weight for use in flying machines to bother with the question of noise. Un- muffied motors develop more power than do muffied ones, and when more power is the desideratum, the question of noise has been regarded as trivial. On some of the commercial lines in this country on which are used the most modern types of transport plane, passengers are given cotton to stuff in their ears for the trip lest when they return to Mother Earth they will experience & period of deaf- ness. This practice, of course, is noth- ing more than a makeshift and will never soive the problem of making pas- sengers comfortable on long alr jour- neys. Noise-proof cabins have also been tried out, but apparently with small success. The tendency to air sickness of many people and the deafening noise of the engines and propellers are unquestion- ably two of the obstacles to the de- velopment of & large volume of travel in the sky even to those who do not regard Joseph R. Nutt, treasurer of the Re- publican National Committee, does not like the kind of “apology” made by Senator Nye, chairman of the Senate Campaign Investigating Committee, fol- lowing Mr. Nutt's statement declaring that the $50,000 special account of the national committee was not a slush fund. Senator Nye earlier had charac- terized the special account as a “slush fund” set up to defeat progressive Re- publican Senators who were candidates for re-eleétion last Fall. The controversy between Mr. Nutt and Senator Nye can and will be settled when the Senate committee returns to Washington and gets all the information before it re- garding the expenditure of the money in that special account. ‘The checks drawn upon it have been subpoenaed. Further, Mr. Nutt in one of his state- ments has declared that the committee can have the fullest information regard- ing the account. If the testimony de- velops, 8s Mr. Nutt elnphatically asserts it will, that the fund has not been used as a slush fund, it will be interest- ing to observe what kind of an apology Senator Nye will feel called upon to make. In the meantime, statements from one side or the other have little more than a passing interest. So far the testimony taken before the Senate committee, involving this spe- cial account of the Republican National Committee, has dealt with only one transaction. Robert H. Lucas, execu- tive director of the Republican National Committee, pledged part of the fund to guarantee a loan of $4,000 made to him- self on his personal note, and some $850 of this money, according to Mr. Lucas, was used to send campaign lit- erature to Nebraska to be used against Senator George W. Norris, Mr, Lucas insists that his fight against the re- election of Senator Norris was conduct- ed by him as an individual, not as executive director of the Republican National Com:nittee. The effort of the Nye commitee has been to link the attack on Norris with the heads of the Republican national organization, other than Lucas. The Nye committee was set up by the Senate largely for the purpose of seeing that none of the candidates for Senator during the last campaign bought their nominations or their elections. It has been used, however, 8o far as Nebraska is concerned, for the purpcse of making political capital for Senator Norris. ‘There never has been any question re- garding the nomination or election of Senator Norris. No one has accused Senator Norris or his backers of “buy- ing” the nomination for him. However, the Nye committee, after the courts of the State had declared that a grocer, George W. Norris of Brokenbow, Nebr., had failed to file his petition for a place on the primary ballot as an op- ponent to Senator Norris within the proper time limit and, therefore, could not be a candidate, insisted upon going into Nebraska to investigate, The Nye committee has turned up the fact that a large number of Republicans in Ne- braska, and some of them out of the State, were opposed to the re-election of Mr. Norris; that there was secrecy in maneuvering against Senator Norris. Any one who did not know that Re- publicans in considerable numbers in Nebraska were opposed to the re-elec- tion of Norris was not particularly ob- serving. It was shouted from the house- tops. Mr. Nutt now asserts that “Senator Nye's tactics all make for newspaper headlines, and this appears to be mostly a headline hunting investigation with the Republican party, its officers and some of its candidates as the particular targets.” If the Republican party and its officers occupy sound positions, they will survive. It is regrettable that an executive director of the Republican if it were done at all, should have been done openly. However, the picture of a Senate committee, set up for an- other purpose, being used to boost the political fortunes even of the Senator from Nebraska is at least edifying. ————r—te— It is evidently the opinion of Sen- ator Norris that there are parties enough in the field and that a man who really understands politics can take | one of the old institutions and make a modern success of it. — e The “Silent” Airplane. Theoretical experiments now being conducted in England to produce a “silent” airplane are reported to be | meeting with success. Although the tests were instituted primarily to learn if the nolse from the propeller and within the next six months. In the same way the operation for fhe construction of the new Department fof Justice on the site bounded by Ninth, Wenth and B streets and Pennsylvania " mvenue will in & short time be at the engine of a high-flying bomber could be effectively eliminated in war time, the airplane as a dangerous vehicle. Human nature being what it is, it is unlikely that a cure can be found for airsickness any more than one has been found for seasickness, but cer- tainly it will not be many years before passengers in a closed cabin of & plane will not have to scream at each other in conversation and will not have to stuff their ears with cotton to prevent deafness for & time after reaching the ground. ot Camera artists find Prof. Einstein a willing subject. His readiness to oblige is a manifestation of sheer good-nature, for he could easily create a stampede by insisting that the artist at least spend a little time before proceeding to business on & genial and mutually in- telligible chat on relativity and the fourth dimension. ——— vt An American bullfighter found that the bulls had been given drugs, so that they would make no pretense of hostility. It is strange that some of the ugliest tricks known to the race course have not before this found their way into the bullring. Much that is heard about bullfighting suggests that it depends less on a liking for cruelty than on the lack of a sense of humor. ————————— It is the wish of Senator Joe Robin- son. that the citizens of various parts of the country could see the distress that he knows of. Senator Robinson’s word needs no verification. The sums required for such a tour of inspection would make a total that would go an| appreciable way toward helping the sit- uation. e e The year 1931 is expected to be one of peace and prosperity. That pros- perity will be arranged for is not doubt- ed, but some of the figures prominent in political life are frank in declaring that as among themselves peace will be an unknown gquantity. ———————— The thrifty gourmet enjoys his tur- key at the present cost, when they are sacrificed because focd for them is scarce. A year later may see the tur- key elevated to high rank in the list of expensive luxuries. B S, SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Art in “Happy New Year!” One man says “Happy New Year!” in a phrase that's crisp and clear. It sounds like the refrain of some old song that we hold dear, Another makes the salutation sound so cold and flat That you wish he hadn’t troubled to say anything like that. And, after all, a greeting ought to be a work of art, A form of true expression that is prof- fered from the heart, And you master the attainment in a very simple way; ‘When you're saying “Happy New Year!” try to mean just what you say. Tivelihood. “I ghould lii> ‘> hear you make a speech on prohibition,” said the gentle hostess. “My dear lady,” answered Senator Sorghum, “that is & most delicate sub- ject in my part of the country. You know I have devoted all my endeavors to politics.” “Why should that prevent you from taking a stand on prohibition?” “I am afraid I might find myself accumulating from personal experience material for a lecture on unemploy- ment.” Jud Tunkins says about this time o' year mince ple is an alibi for a large amount of bootleg liquor. Ins and Outs, We always know beyond a doubt When politicians seek to win They want to put somebody out And thereby put somebody in. Motor Strategy. “Every time I honk our new horn,” sald Mr. Chuggins, “it annoys my wife.” “Why do you keep it going?” “For her own protection. If she concentrates on the horn she won't keep trying to drive from the back seat.” “A babbler of small things,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “makes gen- eral knowledge of the fact that he is unworthy to be trusted.” Interdependence. The farmer says: “Come out! I'll show ‘The fowl and cows and pigs I prize. And if we do not eat and grow, the discoveries that have been made can be adapted for use in peace-time commercial planes. While still in the ‘You can't expect to do likewise.” “De mule,” said Uncle Eben, “is a {#point of execution. Much of the land embrycnic stage, it has been shown, ac- stubborn animal, but sometimes so's his /s bgen scquired already, and en bal- cording to the claims embodied in the human bass.” \ 13 into Arnold Bennett's “Imperial Palace,” with its more than 700 pages, gives the reader & satisfying sense of both “heft” and reality. Now pure physical weight, after sev- eral years of skimpy diet in fiction, is a pleasing novelty. e have been fat books every now and then, of course. “Kristin Lavransdatter,” with its three sections of some 300 pages each, surely came under the category of large novels, A young Englishman of the name of Priestley has given the world a pair of enormously corpulent stories within two years. These, “The Good Companions” and “Angel Pavement,” please some and displease others. Wolff's “Look Homeward, Angel,” was a novel of satistying proportions. * ‘The secret lies, not in mere physical length, of course, but rather in the plain fact that often such prolixity speaks enthuslasm. Not always. Enthusiasm is something a man has or has not. This applies to every one, the writer as well as the non-writer. ‘Two men recently were looking, with smiles on their faces, across & room at two other men, demonstrating & hobby. A third joined the two onlookers. “Do not smile, gentlemen,” he sald. “You are looking at something money cannot buy—enthusiasm.” * K ok x He was right. If the school teacher could instill the same enthusiasm for learning that the boys often work up for themselves over a game of marbles, he would put his in- stitution so far ahead of others that there would be no comparison. If the college president and his pro- fessors could induce in their young men the same enthusiasm for “book learnin’” that the entire student body displays at the foot ball game, there would then be no university problems. If employers could produce, without forcing or command, the same enthu- slasm among their “hands” that the same men and women manifest for their hobbles after hours., no doubt they could within a short time outstep and outreach all competition. But enthuslasm is divine, and, like all divine things. it is not to be pur- chased, compelled or inveigled. Enthusiasm, the divine, gives herself to the best wooer, that is all. If you want to know how to win her, study the history of the Great Enthusiasts—and then fail, unless of your own mind and h‘lt‘k‘\‘!’ you have enthusiasm to begin wi Fat novels are coming back the report is that of nolses deadening | style. * ok Xk % Everything else being equal, the novel that is made up of many words is likely to be a better novel than the one which runs only to 60,000 words, more or less. Instantly some one will say, “What of all the ?relt stories of that length?” What of them, indeed? There are many sucl, for length, or lack of length, is merely one facet of the mat- ter. Nor would we call them exceptions to_the rule. ‘When one has something to say, and says it, length, as such, has little if anything to do with it., ‘The novel, however, is a specialized form of writing, one which depends more than any other form of fiction upon the creation of a sense of reality. Now mere words will not do the trick, but mere words, if handled in the right sort of way, will do it, if in no other way than in the building up of a sense of time ge. If it takes the reader hours to get from the childhood to the manhood of his hero, surely he has, at no more trouble than the reading, a sense of actuality which a shorter work cannot give. ‘Thus the reading of stories in short snatches, as in the daily printings in newspapers, offers to the reader who is not impatient a sense of reality which he might not secure in any other way. % Most of the great fictions of the world have been of satisfying length. This was arrived at, not because the writers del:'-rately started to stretch their books out, but in practically every instance because the theme took pos- session of them. They could not let go so easily. Have you not read some modern tale of 180, or maybe 200, pages which all the time impressed you as having been a real task on the author, and in the end left a vague sense of dissatisfaction? To us the stories of Thornton Wilder fall into this category. His “Woman of ‘Andros,” as beautifully as it is writ- ten, is a mere sketch of a novel. His “Bridge of San Luis Rey” gives the reader the outlines of a great novel—but not that novel itself. Writ- ers who believe in the magic of word formations past & certain point usually polish the life out of their works. ‘Wilder has not done that, but, in failing to endow his works with a cer- tain physical “heft,” he has given them a sense of unreality, which we believe few readers can fail to catch. Neither his characters nor his scenes come home to the reader. He is a consummate artist, but his stories belong in the category of Tarkington's “Monsieur Beaucaire,” and this largely, we believe, because they are not fat enough, There is no meat on their bones. * %y Give us, therefore, the fat novel. Our poems may have taken the reducing diet with profit; our essays need not be ample; our editorials scarcely need thunder at too great a length. & But we want our novels to roll on like Le Sage's “Gil Blas.,” We cannot forget the satisfying taste of Black- more’s “Lorna Doone” nor the flavor of Melville’s “Moby Dick.” Hefty novels bespeak enthusiasm on the part of their authors. Such books ask for no special consideration as art, but get right down to brass tacks with an appeal to heart and mind. ‘The beefy novel is like Walt Whit- man’s perfect man or woman—it is & satisfaction merely to be with it, to ::oml:(h it, to have its pages touch one ack. Unconsciously on the reader’s part, the fat novel, the brawny novel, develops an_atmosphere of its own, something ;rhllch every work of fiction must do or ail. ‘The reader may or may not lke ft, but 1f it impresses him it will be enough, and it will be due, nine times out of ten, to the fact that the writer before him had enthusiasm. And, having it, he wrote and wrote and wrote. Highlights on the Wide World Excerpts From Newspapers of Other Lands EUES WIENER TAGBLATT, Vienna. — Unnecessarily rough handling in washing processes and the use of injurious chem- icals in the water, it s esti- mated, cost the people of Germany nearly 400,000 marks ($100,000) daily, or about 150,000,000 marks a year, in ruined clothing. Most of the damage is done by the public laundries, which do not hesitate to remove the dirt quickly, regardless of results to the material. . In the western part of Texas a few years ago some ofl wells were accl- dentally discovered. In a short time the region roundabout was transformed from a brush-grown wilderness into a thriving city of more than 100,000 peo- ple, but the flow of oil subsequently gave out and the town disappeared with the same rapidity that characterized its growth. In America, cities are built uf) ‘:md pulled down, as it were, over- night. ‘The exportation of automobiles from the United States diminished about 50 per cent in the first half year of 1930. In 1929 units exported were 322,400; in 1930, 161,960. In Germany produc- tion of passenger cars fell off in 1930 30 per cent and commercial vehicles 41 per cent. In the regular, or ‘Winter,” semesters of German universities in 1928-29, 113,- 043 students were registered. In the Summer sessions of 1929, 123,700. The Winter courses of 1929-30 were at- tended by 122,391 and the Summer classes by several thousand more than this. Woman students have increased from 13,395 to 16,348 in the last year, which shows that more and more women desire the same advantages of education as men. In the middle of the “Painted Des- ert” (“Gemalte Wueste”) is located, in the State of Arizona, a reservation for Comanche and Apache Indians. There are' 20,000 of these redskins in Arizona, who are still almost as no- madic as their ancestors of a century ago. * ok * % “Embezzling Bases” Pleasing To Venezuelan Fans. El Nuevo Diario, Caracas—In the presence of a concourse that numbered almost 10,000 people, the base ball club of the City of Macon, in Georgia, U. 8. A, recently played the “Club Real” of Caracas at the Parque San Augustin. The Americans won the con- test by a count of six runs to none. Of seven errors, which was the total per- petrated by both teams, Senor Jime- nez of Los Reales made four; otherwise the score would have been much closer, though the native boys do not claim the ability as yet to defeat always American professionals. However, not even one of the spectators was heard to complain about the result of the game, 50 it is presumed that as an ex- hibition it was very satisfactory, though the Americans employed a few tricks in which the Caracans are not as yet versed, particularly in embezzling the bases. Most of the Americans in Vene- zuela, and also a number of English- man who like base ball, even though they do not understand it, came hun- dreds of kilometers to see the game. * K Kk Telephone Officials Protest Long Conversations. El Tiempo, Bogota—The officials of the telephone company have announced for the benefit of all subscribers to the system that it is not possible to render correct and efficient service over the lines unless the users confine themselves to _conversation that is strictly neces- sary, eliminating all long-drawn-out and idle interchanges, which, when i maintained sometimes for a half hour or longer, make it impossible for others to use the telephones for important messages. We hear a great deal about the problem of men without work. If we only realized it, we have long been con- fronted with a more serious evil than this, and that is “women without work.” Certainly they appear, at least, to be in this unfortunate situation, for if they had anything profitable to do, they would not continually waste their own time, and that of other g:oph. talking frivolous nonsense over the telephones. it of the company IIYI that the telephone was not annriy devised for the purpose of making visits. And that one has paid for an ins - tion does not entitle him—or, especially, her—to_monopolize the instrument for hours discussing matters of no con- sequence. Unless the company is able to apply some very drastic measures, tending to obviate those conditions, it is likely that many people will terminate their contracts. It is absurd for them to pay for telephones they cannot use because of the indifference, selfishness and insensibility of others. * * kX Automatic Lock Saves Physician's Car. Berliner Tageblatt.—Recently a Ber- lin physician's car was stolen from the neighborhood of a church. As it happened the doors of the car had been carefully locked, but the windows in- advertently were left open. This cir- cumstance was not ignored by the thief, who reached in, and released the doors from the inside, whereupon he ensconced himself in the seat. He then drove immediately to a filling station and purchased 75 liters (17 gallons) of gasoline, for which he paid cash. Un- fortunately for the thief, however, be- fore descending from the car, he re- leased an automatic window control which raised and locked the windows. As he had also shut the door of the vehicle, he then found himself on the outside of the car without any way of getting in. After a pantomime of look- ing in his pocket for the keys, the rascal departed on the pretext he was going to get them. He had no receurse but to leave the car. ‘The owner was notified the next day that the car was still at the filling sta- tion. On recovering it he found that he was richer for his experience by the gift of 75 liters of gasoline, * K ok ok Holds Boiling Water. Crime Not One of Impulse. Le Matin, Paris.—It has been amply and dreadfully Erm’!d in the history of crime that the hands of those inflamed either with passion or with hate are, nine times out often, fortified with arms of fire. But it is difficult to believe that the monster who heated a boiler of scalding water for the purpose of deluging her husband was actuated by any frenzied impulse of the moment. All cooks know how long it takes to bofl a simple saucepan full of water, and an old English proverb is to the effect that “no pot ever boils when one is watching it.” To wait, then, until a huge caldron is tumultously agi- tated, and then to employ the water for such a purpose, can only be esti- mated as the element of a most detest- able crime. One shudders to think that such a deed could be born and nourished in the heart of woman, created for pity and forgiveness. Cook Resents Phone Message. Prom the Florence (Ala.) Herald. Boston lady cook quit when the man of the house talked rudely over the |phnne. thinking his wife was on the ine, ) All Sessions Extra. from the Detroit News. ‘The town crab, slightly fed up, is| heading & movement to call all sessions of Congréss extra sessions. e Kaiser Keeps Falling. From the New York Sun. How low the Kaiser has fallen in popular esteem is revealed by the an- nouncement from Berlin that his col- lection of art objects never did amount to much. —————— Evidence of Victory, From the Dayton Daily News. Mussolini recently took part in a fencing tournament, and, inasmuch as no referees have been jailed,” it is assumed the Duce won. ————— e A Form of Pampering. PFrom the Toledo Blade. Dean Inge's suggestion that murderers should be permitted to commit suicide ‘would be opposed by persons who do not believe in pampering criminals, A Difficult Task. From the Akron Beacon Journal. It must take a lot of tho a party leader that all f2- party can be mxd gl NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM 1. G M. HOW TO WRITE: Meeting the Needs of Everyday Life. John Mantle Clapp and Homer Heath Nugent. New York: The Ronald Press. Overstuffed book shops, together with the heavy pack of print on news- stands, within magazine stalls and drug store book corners—these combined tend to suggest that the lesson of writing has aiready been learned. Tend to proclaim, as well, that a host of post-graduates, already professional, 15 waiting upon the public to supply it with reading of every grade of quite superior excellence. And yet, hardly more than & half look at this riot of reading reveals the fact, misfortunate, that the majority of these purveyors of pleasure and profit could, with benefit to themseives and a corresponding advantage to readers, stand a little more schooling in their chosen line of endeavor. Imagination, scanty and drab on the one hand, ex- otic and florid on the other, is quite the rule. Invention, poor and thin, is not infrequent. Mere ’'prentice work at the important job of structure and stable building, this comes along every day. Even the basis sentence, decrepit, hobbles past about once a minute. And quite monstrous phrases—as, for in- stance, “I should have liked to have done it” or some other of the innumer- able changes that this tense mix-up of- fers—bow confidently across the pages of even the very best of “best sellers.” So the past master at writing may just possibly learn some advantageous thing from a book, not primarily de- signed for him. A book, planned, in- stead, for the everyday ' man who writes, say, letters, business and so- cial, who makes record of current financial dealings, who even yet has a hankering after his diary when the day is done, who does any one or more of the innumerable bits of pen work that the busy modern time demands to keep even the simplest citizen straight in affairs that are as important to him as those of Mr. Rockefeller and his kind are to them. A good book for the young fellow who thinks that to be a reporter, and finally a “journalist,” is about as exciting and fine a career as has yet been invented. A word about these writers, Both have been teachers, professors, lectur- ers in college and university. Mr. Man- tle is now heading the editorial depart- ment of the Ronald Press Co. A cita- tion designed merely to let you know that the book has been wrested—much of it in bitterness of spirit, no doubt— from student bodies. Personal experi- ence has fashioned the book, not the academic vapori of the library re- cluse, who, as a class, can outdream all the philosophies, ancient and modern, put together. Be assured, therefore, that “How to Write” s of the best that these two were able, year by year, to glean from students themselves and the over- weighted misfit programs imposed, as a rule, upon this class. It is, to be sure, a practical book, -having things to do with life itself and the common activi- ties of life. The approach to its sub- Ject is straightforward, a business to be met. It is met. A first swift over- ‘w”nwvu the study to be well organized, which means only that it makes open disclosure of the parts into which it separates by virtue of its_own content and purpose. Seven parts in all, each a concise, un- lumbered outlook upon its own specific substance. = Then, uniting, the seven bear directly down upon ac- tual activity of learning to write ac- cording to the special intent of the student. A wide variety of lines meets the natural diversity of taste and de- sire bound to animate groups of indi- viduals separated by early years an their divergent influences. Private let- ters, public speaking, business transac- tions, pure invention of story-writing; the production of papers designed to convey useful matter, scientific or philo- sophic, and writing for seif-delight— writing for fun, so to speak. All these are offered as subjects of concrete, first- hand dealings with the written word as profitable. An interesting introduction places you and your projected writing face to face. e first problem here is the contrast between the spoken words and those written. Now, speech is likely to be a holdback from competent writing— rather, the common habit of speech is likely to be. About every talker in the world is diffuse, irrelevant, wasteful, in- effectual. Hardly any one trims his speech to its immediate job. Instead, we all gabble and meander and double upon ourselves. So, when it comes to writing, the great obstacle is an over- load of words that start for nowhere. that arrive nowhere. Very pithy and excellent advice is given right here by these authors i first chapter of “How to Write.” About every sort of writing need is met here in & manner that is practical and direct, in a manner that at points is something like fascination. Cold lan- guage against warm, brings out the interesting and useful topic of “exact- ness versus suggestion.” The use of words stresses anew the mobile fluency, the sheer power of accommodation that possesses our “parts of speech,” proving them to be as much alive as we our- selves are. If you have fallen for the charm of mere vocables you will have an esthetic delight here as well as the benefit of plain utility itself. Advice is given if “you are suffering from hard- €ning of the vocabulary, a disease most prevalent.” Isn't that finely telling! Shock words come in for consideration with finger pointed upon James Hune- ker and Carl Van Vechten as masters of these exotic joys—shock words. Well, one cannot go on indefinitely at the pleasant stopping places. For here, a little beyond, are “instructions’—well, you study these for yourself. They will repay you at every line. Away at the end s “Preparing Copy and Handling | Proof,” a thing that s0o many need to | know, that so few,do know. So much is neglected by me here—for I've in- dulged myself at pleasant corners. But | you get the book and enjoy it while you | learn “How to Write” to anybody in | the world, provided only you have some- thing to say. Libraries, editorial rooms, | and you and I—all of us must have this | book, “How to Write: Meeting the | Needs ot Everyday Life.” * ok ok ok CALIFORNIA GRINGOS. H. A. Van Coenen Torchiana. San Francisco: Paul Elder & Co. In effect, these reminiscences are his- tory. Personal recollections, going back to the days when the outsiders, “Cali- fornia Gringos,” pioneers of generally Nordic stock, were pushing the Hidal- | gos, ‘a little, for place and occupation in the rich border land of the Pacific. Just & word about the clear importance of setting down those back-looking days in words of such verity as comes from experience itself. Today is merely flux and change, all moving forward with a | velocity calculated to eradicate com- pletely in no very long time those es- sentials of beginnings in this country, which should by every means possible be preserved both in fact and in the implications of the color and drama inherent in them. So, it seems to me, that books like this one—personal, re- mindful, veracious and Implicative— should be deeply welcome to all Ameri- can readers, should be matters of study for the groundwork and the early up- shootings of the United States itself. Forty years ago Dr. Torchiana went into the West from the Netherlands. He is now a member of the bar in San Francisco. But we, at this point, are more interested in his riding the coun- try, cowboy and then manager on big cattle ranches. Those are the days to which he goes back here with a big bunch of characteristic stories of his saddle years in California. Easy-going tales of adventure wherein outstanding means of communication, pleasurable or | PU! ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ‘The resources of our free Information Bureau are at your service. You are in- vited to call upon it as often as you please. It is being maintained solely to serve you. What question can we answer for you? There is no charge at all except 2 cents in coin or stamps for return postage. Address your letter to The Evening Star Information Bu- reau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washington, D, C. Q. Was Elmer Oliphant a four-letter man?—W. P, P. A. Elmer Oliphant, according to i “Who's Who in American Sports,” is the only four-letter man in the history of Purdue and West Point. Prom 1907 to 1909 he was captain of the Wash- ington foot ball, basket ball and track teams. The following year he was a member of the Linton foot ball, basket a member of the Purdue freshman foot ball, basket ball and track teams. For the next three years he was a member of the Purdue varsity foot ball, basket ball, base ball, track and gymnasium teams. He held the high record in diving in the gymnasium. In 1914 he went to West Point. man in the World War?—E. L. N. A. He was not. He was a war cor- respondent, serving at the front. Q. Is there alcohol in bread?—G. B. H. "A. There s alcohol in the bread dough_before it is baked, but it is en- tirely lost during the process of baking. Q. Where was the first concrete pav ment laid in the United States?—F. G. A. It is believed to be that con- structed in Bellefontaine, Ohio, in 1892. This was & narrow strip along the hitching rack along one side of the court house square. In 1865 there was a concrete road to Good's Station, in Inverness, Scotland. Q. What people were the first to use skates?—G. O. G. A. The earliest form of skate known was that of the bone “runners” worn by the primitive Norsemen. The early development of skating was due prin- cipally to the Norsemen, Swedes, Danes, Finns and the Dutch. It is not known at what period the use of metal run- ners was introduced. Q. Just what is “public opinion’ 0. M. A. Public opinion has been defined as the prevailing moral sense, manners, conventions, desires and ideals of the community. Q. Does a person say “He died of pneumonia” or “from pneumonia’?— F. B ‘A.” One dies of a disease, from hun- ger, by violence, for another, or for one's country. Q. What is the meaning of ‘“rec- usant”?—C. F. G. A. Recusant, from the Latin word meaning “to refuse,” given in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to persons, particularly of the Roman faith, who persisted in refusing to attend services of the English Church and became thereby liable to prosecu- tion and penalties. Q. Where'is the grave of L'Enfant, who helped plan the City of Wash- ington?—R. N. A. His body has been reinterred in Arlington Cemetery. Plerre Charles L'Enfant was born in Paris August 2, 1755, and died at Chillum Castle Manor, Prince Georges County, Md., June 14, 1825. ¢{|Canadian Chief Ideal Choice for India Post With few dissenting comments, the blic finds much to approve in the selection of Lord Willingdon, present governor general of Canada, for the difficult post of viceroy of India. His earlier experience in India_and diplo- matic services to Great Britain are believed to have mads him the logical candidate for one of the world’s most difficult tasks. “Outstanding in the factors that weigh in Viscount Willingdon's favor,"” says the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Is his experience. If ever thers was a post that called for this asset the head- ship of British rule in the East is the one. As governor of Bombay and later of Madras, the future viceroy was a popular figure among the native rulers. His career in Canada was unmarked by errors of judgment. A seasdned admin- istrator of the type of the former Freeman Freeman-Thomas, for whom the Willingdon title was created, would naturally appeal to a ministry searching for a man of Indian background who would not be placed on the defensive by former mistakes.” “He is, of course, one of the most experienced of Indian executives,” states the Richmond News Leader, “but he would seem to have earned exemption from further labor in India, especially as he is performing well a task of some delicacy in Canada, a task that may grow in difficulty as the tariff policy of | the Dominion develops. Perhaps it does not speak well for the present Indian service or for the records of the governors now in office that a veteran like Lord Willingdon should be con- scripted and sent back on duty.” Declaring that the vice regency of India at the present time “is perhaps the most difficult administrative post in the world,” the Kansas City Star holds that the appointment “will happily set at rest rumors that the MacDonald gov- ernment might regard that office as patronage for the British Labor party. Lord Willingdon,” continues the Star, “is a Liberal, In selecting him, Ramsay MacDonald has followed the tradition that the viceroy of India must be a man who has already achieved a repu- tation for outstanding ubility in public service, and, more particularly, in colonial administration if possible. It is significant that Lord Willingdon is at least the fourth governor general of Canada to be appointed viceroy.” * ok %k “It is & brave man,” asserts the New York Evening Post, ’ho underakes the viceroyalty of India in these times. For the sake of British interests in India and the still larger question of relations between East and West, we hope that Lord Willingdon's administra- tion will mark the successful inaugura- tion of a new phase in the development of the British Empire.” Emphasizing the appointee’s famili- arity with conditions in India and “his | knowledge of the aspirations of the people of India,” the Toronto Daily Star comments: “The present governor gen- eral of Canada has acted throughout his term in office in this country with scrupulous respect for the dignity and constitutional limitations of his posi- tion. * * * The enthusiasm wtih which his new appointment has been greeted by leading Indians is a remarkable tribute to his personal qualities. Lord and Lady Willingdon will carry with them from Canada the highest regards of the Canadian people, and the hope that it may be ‘their privilége to con- tribute to a happy settlement of vexed questions.” “That he believes in pacific and con- ciliatory methods rather than force.” according to the Providence Journal, “is Yxlla!nly revealed in an address he made London not long ago, in which he said: ‘The white man has a difficult task to bring healing and contentment ploneers from many parts of the world take a rough and ready hand with the wilderness for its gradual taming and toward its ultimate smiling ind: offerings to the far places of earth. Pictures go along with se reminiscent yarns of sharp competitive activity so that we can for ourselves see plans and plots in the werking. A “Night Ride” and a “Dance” “The Samaritan Pie Siooter,” “The Qid Shorilh” and iae are among those who of recollecti to vividness tha Kentucky contriby , again, a touch'of th et of that Golden Statel story-telling gift, or art, or whi is, stands out here in a fine alid free n of disclosure, dramatic infgevery omantic ball and track teams; 1910-11 he was | Q. Was Floyd Gibbons an enlisted | was the name| BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Q. What is “time money”?—E. A. H. A. 1t is money that is borrowed for a stipulated time at a specified rate, usually for 4, 6 or 12 months, and is payable at the expiration of the speci- fled time. Q. At what altitude is the City of Reno, in Nevada?—W. L. T. A. ‘Reno lies at an altitude of 4,500 feet at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It is noted for its dry, Lracing air and abundant sunshine. | Q. Who coined the expression “Mu- tual admiration society”?—F. B, A. Probably Oliver Wendell Holmes. The phrase appears in “The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table.” | Q. Did Roosevelt send Federal {into the coal flelds at the time of the | famous anthracite strike?—N. B. V. A. Roosevelt planned to send in the | troops under Gen. Schofield and to have the general dispossess the operators and run the mines, if necessary, but the strike was settled without resort to such measures. Q. When was the name “rayen” first used?—T. R. E. A. The word “rayon” was first used |as ;o;:me term in the United States in q | Q Did Grover Cleveland oppose woman's suffrage?—I. R. E. | "A. In a magazine article ex-Presi- dent Cleveland some 15 years before | the suffrage amendment Wwas |sald: “Sensible and responsible women | do not want to vote. The relative po- sitions to be assumed an by man woman in the working out of our eivili- zation were assigned long ago by & higher intelligence than ours.” v ven preference over M. Q. Is airmafl g ordinary mail?—H. A. It is. United States Post Office Department order, issued November 9, 1928, reads: “Afrmail must be given special attention, and must not, under any circumstances, be handled as ordi- nary mail.” Q. How much money is spent in the drug stores of the country?—P. D. A. There are about 54,600 retail drug stores in the United States, and their annual sales are about $1,250,000,000. Q. When a bomb is dropped from an airplane, how fast is it moving when it hits the ground?—J. H. G. A. Gravity increases the speed of a falling object 32hf":| n“sl:con’m A bomb dropped from the height of & r e D i e m s a3 miles a minute when it reached the earth. Q. Why are watches so named?—G. F. C. A, The name “watch” is derived from the fact that portable timepieces were carried by night watchmen for calling off the “watches of the night.” Q. Where does the Trans-Siberian Railroad begin and end?—P. M. A. The great Trans-Siberian Rail- road stretches from Chelyabinsk to Vladivostok. There is a branch lne from Kharbin to Port Arthur. At the other end it connects with the railway to Moscow. The railroad crosses thz northeastern crosses the Altal Mountains, around the southern end Balkal, ' turns north across to noiarsk, then west to Omsk, and on across the Ural Mountains. It is not now operated as a system as in the days of the Russian Empire, but its sec- tions are controlled by the separate states through which the line runs. Is Declared corner to Eastern peoples, and it is imperatite that we should discover, if possible, some means of solving this question by peaceful methods, and not by the clash of races, which would be the most ghastly tragedy the world has ever known.’ There can be no better spirit in which to face the problems of India, where the task of promoting racial har- mony is the most difficult in the world. Here undoubtedly is a worthy successor to Lord Irwin.” * ok ok X “Canada is exceedingly sorry,” de- clares the Hamilton (Ontario) Spec- tator, “to lose her able and genial gov- ernor general, but the sentiment will be general that there could not possibly be a better choice. His lordship’s accept- ance of the appointment shows him to be as courageous as he is tactful. If any viceroy can straighten out the com= plicated tangle of conflicting aspirations and clashing ideals which is tearing India apart today, it is Lord Willingdon. His keen sympathy and his faculty of going right to the heart of any problem with which he is confronted are a guar- anty that he will adopt conciliatory policies. It is not a matter of pouring oil on troubled waters, however. States- manship of the highest order is de- manded, and here again his lordship fully measures up to the requirements. In going to India, Lord Willingdon gives one more demonstration of his unflinch- ing sense of public duty.” Importance of the task is pointed out ackson Citizen Patriot with the 3 t that “India as a part of the British Empire is a known quantity,” but that uncertainty would be involved in any change. His selection is intes preted by the Hartford Times as “a conciliatory move,” since Lord Willing- don “represents at once the remarkable combination of a progressive in Indian matters and having sympathetic connec- tion with all political parties in Eng- land.” The Louisville Courier-Journal believes that he “knows the Oriental mind,” and the Cleveland Ncws avers, “He faces the test of his career as he prepares to govern a turbulent Orlental state in the process of transformation.” The San Antonio Express holds that “his tact and conciliation” in previous Indian service “led to appointment as governor general of Canada.” In a less favorable estimate, the New Orleans Item remarks: “The lems of Canada are infinitely less complex than those of India. Yet, as Viscount Willingdon's tenure in Canada ends, we hear for the first time in Dominion his- tory stubborn demands from the farmers of Western Canada for secession from the Dominion. They want a separate Dominion of their own. Willingdon, we deduce, has failed to harmonize the rel- atively few racial and vocational groups of Canada’s population. How much chance Wwould he have with the many estranged groups in India? After all, owever, a governor general can't do much in such matters nowadays.” ——— . Hubby Rapid-Fire Talker. ®rom the Louisville Times. ‘We assume that if Floyd begins talk- Ing first Mrs. Gibbons has no chance to get in a word edgewise. v Closet Season to Close. From the Muncie Star. ‘The closed season will soon be here on prowling around closets and old bureaus. / How Much for an Early Capone? From the Miami Daily News. “Here are some of our rare old as the fingerprint expert prou to the rogues’ gallery visitor, preseuneth oy s Better Than Cold Shower. From the Florence (Als.) Herald, ‘m':et:o York d‘og‘t‘nr who advises ll:‘nu.km a strong bid for pguhmy Motor Jam May Aid Rails. Prom the Minetali -.; e railroads WOrTy There is and at every point. + o ot needn’ losing more business. 80 inuch space on the