Evening Star Newspaper, March 7, 1931, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Editien. . WASHINGTON, D. C. BATURDAY..:....March 7; 1931 THEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor 7 R 551 RN The Evening Star Newspaper Company ‘Business Office: R iy R icago %}t Michizan Bulsine, e g London, ‘Rate by Carrler Within {ng Star . and S the City. 45¢ per month r . .60c per month | P 65¢ per nionth B per eopy st the end 6f each month nt in by mall or telephone Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance, Maryland and Virginia. % and Sunday ay only "1 | Member of the Associated Press. ted Press is exclusively entitled spublication of all gews dis 18" a1 e tocal hews s paper an puBlished Beroin c'u Tiehts of publication of Fpecial dispatches hergin are also rese:ved s ey Good for the Commission! The Public Utilities Commission has very properly called the gas company's bluff. It does not intend to be lulled o sleep by lilting literature in the form of ‘dexterously warded letters setting forth the expense and the trouble “to our customers dnd to our organization” in taking steps to remedy a condition that might endanger life. It does not intend to be soothcd into a forgetful- ness of its duty to the public by ex- planations that the adjustment of ap- pliances, at fifty cents each, would be fearfully expensive. And Washington 1= grateful for a Public Utilities Com- misston that stands on its “hind legs” and says what it thinks and proposes to see that its orders are carried out, and for a-people’s counsel who has the people’s interest at heart. Attér the gas company has completed ts program of letter writing and pro- ceeds to obey the Public Utilities Com- , mission’s orders, it would be pertinent %0 develop these points: The commission is in the possession of evidence that “where the adjust- ments have not been made, the higher pressutes are responsible for greater amounts of gas passing through the meters in a given time, and that, as a consequence, the bills of many of consumers have been unduly in- Did the gas ccompany know, when # increased pressure, that higher bills ‘would result? If it possessed such knowledge, did 1t ‘intend to reveal it? : Would such information ever have been revealed ‘had it not been for the of the chief engineer of the Commission, now an the ‘president of the gas It the gas company did not possess when it ordered re, or permitted -higher s the management of the gas iy capable of being intrusted with the grave responsibilities fo the community incumbent upon such an important public utility as the gas company? Was the:“adding of increased bur- dens to & transmission system of poor inherent design without the develop- ment of plans to care for expansion” deliberate or accidental? 1f it was deliberate, what recompense is due the consumers who have paid un@iuly high gas bills as the result? If it. was accidental, what assurance is there for the consuming .public that there will not be further accidents? ‘Where Girls Will Be Girls. Once again—for the fourth time— the fervent prayers of the Japanese people for an heir to the imperial throne have gone unanswered. The Empress Nagako, consort of Emperor Hirohito, early today gave birth to her fourth daughter within a period of seven years. The dynasty of the Mi- kados still sighs for a male occupant-| to-be, in direct line of succession. Un-| Jess the stork that serves king and commoner with relentless impartiality and blithe disregard of monarchial de- mands, presents Hirohito with a son, his brother, Prince Chichibu, is des- tined some day to rule the island em- pire. At the end of the previous century the world heard much of the theories of Prof. Schenck of Vienna, who claim- ed to have evolved a method of sex pre-determination. Ever and anon the domain of obstetrical science is agitated by sothe new “discovery” along kindred lines, To date Mother “Nature’s own way of doing these things remains un- challenged and apparently unchallenge- able. F In that Adll\hfl Eden, which is the erowded palace nursery at Tokio, at any rate, it Js beginning to be realized that girls will be girls—if it is so or- dered by those forces, biological and otherwise, which produce boys only at their own sweet will, mindiess alike of | the supplications of a whole nation or the cravings of an imperial family. ——————— Prevention of the possibility of war profiteering will be easy if the earnest endeavors to see that this country will | not experience & “next war” are suc- cessful. R RN 4 Agsin the Leader. - | celed. ‘The policemen at present on duty in Washington give their orders clearly and with precision. ‘The annual toll of casualties should be much lower. A little less stupidity on the part of some drivers, an even greater tightening up of enforcement by policemen- and a continuation of the good work. on the part of the traffic office in suspending and revoking the permits of thosé who have no fitness or right to operate a potentially dangerous vehicle will bring this about. The District, like all other communi- ties, of course, will perhaps eiways have its quota of drunken and reckless hit- and-run drivers and as long as they remain uncaught by the police their trail will be one of death and destruc- tion. REternal vigilance, therefore, is necessary to reduce the number of this type of drivers. When caught, such a one should have no mercy at the hands of the law. He should never again be allowed to operate & motor vehicle. 8o 1t is up first to the motoriste them- selvés to add the ounce of prevention to their daily driving habits, next to the policemen to arrest those who fail to co-opérate and then to the traffic office - |to make quick shrift of those whose licenses should be suspended or can- If this is done, the National Capital should set an even more en- viable record in the future. r—or—s. Foresees Hoover Nomination. Senator Robert. M. La Follette, jr., is reported to have predicted President Hoover's renomination in 1932, in an interview in Philadelphia. The Wis- consin Senator, one of the Progressive group responsible for the call of the conference on Progressive legislation which is to meet here the coming week, sees no prospect of a third political party. PFurthermore, if he be correctly quoted, Senator La Follette foresees no split in the Republican ranks. ‘This will be sad news for the Demo- crats, who have been angling for Pro- gressive support these many months. Mr. La Pollette criticizes the Democrats in Congress for failing to co-operate with the Progressives in their demands for Progressive measures at the last session of Congress. Perhaps, after all, the Republican bond is to be stronger in 1932 than the Democrats have be- lieved. Tt is one thing for Progressive Republicans to kick a Republican ad- ministration when it sees fit. It is quite another thing for them to jump clear off the reservation and 'campaign and vote for Democratic candidates for of- fice in national elections. Senator Nor- ris accomplished this feat in Nebraska in 1928. .Buf Senator Norris has prob- ably quite as many Democratic friends in his State as he has Republican, and in the last election was & kind of bi- partisan cal te. The other Pro- gressives have not yet convinced them-. selves that all need for party regularity in elections bas passed. Some months ago the renomination of President Hoover was predicted by Senator Copeland of New York, a Demo- crat. At that time Mr. Copeland’s pre- diction made a stir. He wen! further than Senator La Follette and predicted Mr. Hoover's re-election, with a revival of business and good times. The Demo- cratic Senator perhaps was a better prophet than many of his colleagues considered him at the time. Senator La Follette, although he hails from a State which is rated “wet,” pre- diets, too, that the Republican National Convention will adopt a dry plank in its platform. The Wisconsin Scnator is no mean: judge of politics and political situations. It probably appear: clear to him, as it does to many other observers, that the Democratic party is bent on nominating another “wet” for President, whether it goes the whole length of placing in its platform an anti-prohibi- tion plank or not. Under the circum- stances, it is likely the G. O. F. will not hesitaie either to nominate a dry or to declare its adherence to the eighteenth amendment. The effort of the Progressive group is to influence both parties to support Progressive legislation in the coming Congress. If Senator La Follette is cor- rect, however, it is not the intention of the Progressives to barter their Repub- licanism for Democratic votes in the in- terest of this Progressive legislation. Perhaps Senator La Follette is not con- vinced that the Democrats wil! nomi- nate a “Progressive” for Preside<nt next year. A delicate problem presents itself in politica! management when some way is sought of conducting & wet campaign without seriously offending the drys. B Bad Air in the Busses. Assuredly some steps should be taken by the Public Utilities Cofmission, as it is now indicated will be done, to insure the better ventilation of the busses that ply the streets of the Capital, A proposal to require the installation of fan devices is under consid-ration and appears likely to be adopted. Tests recently conducted by the Dis- trict Health Department showed a dangerously high percentage of carbon dioxide in the vehicles when they are crowded, in one instance a bus hold- ing & large number of school pupils yielding twenty-seven parts of that gas in 10,000 parts of air. This is a very bad atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is not to be confused with carbon monoxide, the deadly gas that results from incomplete combus- tion. It is a “product” of exhalation. While not acutely harmful, as is that other combination, it is deleterious to health when taken into the lungs for any length of time. It is the “bad air” that gathers in a closely sealed ‘Washington's traffic officials, police- men and motorists are well deserving “ of congratulation for again scoring the best safety record on the streets among eoapamole cities. In figures for 1930 just relessed by the public safety | room occupled by human beings. It is re-breathed air, inadequate for the proper functioning of the lungs in the r:moval from the blood of the waste products of circulation. In any public vehicle there is always soms. The vents should be so arranged that they cannot be closed by passen- gers, who are not to be depended upon for the regulation of the atmosphere. ‘Within easy memory of there was a lively controversy on this point regarding the street cars, and finally a rule was adopted requiring the constant opening of at least every other roof ventilator, a rule that was some- times neglected. The Public Utilities Commission should be able to find & means of in- suring clean air in the busses, and that ‘means should be adopted by the trans- portation companies operating these vehicles, without demur or delay. And the cost of additional equipment, if that is required, should not later be cited as Justification for an increase in the rate of fare. e Dean Smoot. ‘With the retirement of Purnifold M. Simmons, Democrat, of North Carolina, from the United States Senate after thirty years of meritorions service, the rank of dean of that body passes to|Yea! another congressional veteran, Reed Smoot, Republican, of Utah. Senator Smoot is at the outset of his twenty- ninth successive year in the Upper House and is completing his fifth full term there. Not only by sheer seniority, but by that more important test—eca- pacity—the tall sycamore of the Salt Lake country enters appropriately into the new dignity that falls upon his shoulders as Father of the Senate. There are men in the Senate little more than half Reed Smoot's age, yet not the youngest of them outdoes him in industry. Though he is climbing toward seventy, it js a commonplace for his colleagues to say that the Utah statesman is the hardest-working mem- ber on either side of the aisle. For many years he has been the Senate’s outstanding authority on fiscal affairs. He knows the ins and outs of appro- priations as few men of his time have mastered them. Since the enactment of the Federal budget system, Senator Smoot has been a vigilant, but never an unreasoning, watchdog of public funds. His economic theory is not weighted down with penny-wise pound- foolish shibboleths. ‘When the country's millions have re- sulted in the creation of the new and greater Washington, it will have Reed Smoot to thank in high d for the policy which made their appropriation | f possible and promoted the money's sagacious expenditure. Not the least of Senator's Smoot's fiscal service in the Senate was his representation of it on the World War Debt Funding Commis- sion. He is & rockribhed supporter of the protective tariff principle and co- author of the revenue law now in force. Reed Smoot does not consume un- necessary time on the Senate floor or flll futile pages in the Congressional Record. He has few wisecracks to his credit. He prefers to specialize in the essential, to contribute well digested facts to discussions 00 often distin- guished by their absence, and general- ly to enact the role of & sane and con- structive statesman. The senior Senator from Utah is sul generis. His admirers, whose name is Jeglon and bipertisan, wish for him enhanced effectiveness and its indefi- nite prolongation as dean of the world's greatest deliberative, and sometimes most deliberate, assembly. —_— e Health positively requires a vacation for Mayor James Walker of New York. The great Atlantic Coast metropolis is at present likely to try the nerves of any man, especially one who, in an official capacity, is compelled to know how far his good intentions have been ignored and frustrated in various official transactions. ) —— e ‘There are confident expectations that at least & league of Democrats can be arranged for, while membership in the League of Nations is held in abeyance. The local league would do & fair share toward averting impending hostilities of » political nature. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILASDER, JOHNEON. The Statesman and the Song. There are better days before us And our statesmen joined the chorus, Even though it missed connection with the radio at home. And we ought to have a hook-up, As affairs begin to Jook up That will bring the cheering message, wheresoever we may roam. Better days draw near for certain. Time has pushed aside the curtain Where the clouds had gathered round to keep the sun from shining through. : On the whole, the song is pleasant. If the statesmen do not falter, soon we'll all be singing too. Strictly Practical. “Were't you in favor of my sugges- tion?” asked the colleague. “Yes,” answered Senator Sorghum. “But you didn't say a word in its behalf.” “Why confuse matters? What you needed was more votes, not more argu- ment.” Jud Tunkins says the new idea of a fine modern street consists of two lines of automobiles with buildings partly visible just across the sidewalks. division of the Naticnal Saf>ty Council danger of the fouling of the air, es- the District is shown for the second pecially a vehicle of the bus type, with consecutive year to have the Jlowest entrance only at rear or front. A street fatality rate per one hundred thousand car, with doors at both front and rear, popuiation in eities of more than three 'will ventilate itself’ fairly well, es- hundred and Aifty thousand. And whfle; pecially if there are openings in the again heading the list the Nationil roof. A bus, with one end sealed, will Capital showed a decrease in fatalities ' not do so. Those who sit in the closed of twenty-eight per cent over the pre- end will suffer more than those who are vigus year. | near the opening. In Summer there is ‘Washingtonians can well bs-gratified | less dificulty than during the colder then those who stand—and many pas- sengers stand in the busses as they used to stand in great numbers, and still do to some extent, in the street cars—must breathe vitiated air in the upper stratum. ‘There should be roof ventilation in all publt vehicles, This can be effected by of fans or by louvers or tran- Arch Politician, John Barleycorn still plays his tricks. For ages, everywhere, He s turned up in politics. He still remains right there. Business Woman. “What would you say if T were to ask you to share my lot?” “I'd speak to father,” answered Miss Cayenne. “He says it is surprising how many lots are fearfully mortgaged the sage of Chinatown, “merely serves to' make you interesting and perhaps even amusing to some one whom you are under-no obligations to entertain.” Looking Forward. ‘The early robin will draw near With faith in Summer and good cheer. He conquers fear of new distress— And you and I should do no less. “I's kind o' porry dey's g'ineter take down de billboards,” said Uncle Eben. :' “Dem old circus posters dat keeps hangin' on 15 ‘bout all dat gives membrances of last t—; fob de nexk” BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL, Spring has ‘been divest- ‘The modern do!mn“noldumfl:emnua and ea ,” which was a bane countless millions of male Americans. Occasionally one will see signs of an old-fashioned battle royal with dust and dirt, but most women of this age have got beyond that stage, thanks to science and efficiency. The “Spring housecleaning” is a relic of brooms, dustcloths, all-over carpets. The old-fashioned affair is not nece: sary, in the same sense that an old: time Saturday night bath is not neces- sary. . Nelther house nor body is permitted to get as dirty as all that. * ok ok ok ‘What & grand free-for-all the ancient “Spring housecleaning” was, with its sweeping, and dusting, and ' window washing, and carpet beating! The truth seems to be, viewed from the 1931 angle, that our Victorian an- cestors permitted the dirt to lie for a T, ‘Then, of course, it was necessary to do a big, big job to get it all up. The modern housewife does a little every day, with weekly or perhaps monthly larger efforts, with the result that the home is never completely upset. Observing persons, walking along streets in all sections of the city, will notice window curtains down from the windows at almost any season of the year. ‘This means, they realize, that the curtains are being washed. Shortly they will be ironed and back at the windows. ® "k This same simple system, extended to the entire household, has banished the nightmare of the annual Spring housecleaning. Particularly for the male members, who commonly never even turned a hand in the interesting process. Mostly the “he” of the family was banished, or perhaps it would be nearer the truth to say that he went into voluntary banishment. . Sometimes it was involuntary. ‘The small boys of the household got the job of beating the carpets. Now beating carpets, especially carpets which had been on the floor for a year, was no child's work. 1t took & man’s arm to beat even 50 per cent of the dust out of them. Probably in most instances not over 20 or 25 per cent of the dirt content was removed, even by the most arduous Great clouds of dust, swirling high into the air, and taking off down the street, to vanish around the peak of Cy Applegate’s barn, were no true beating efficiency, If you took into consideration the fact that the carpet had lain on the floor for a perfect year, tacked down with hundreds of tacks, and had never received more than a sweep of the century-old appliance, the broom, in all that time, you will realize that the cloud of dust which arose upon the annual beating was as nothing to the invisible dust which yet remained. One of the problems which were not included in the arithmetics of the day was “Just how many carpet tacks are needed to put down a carpet on a floor 18 by 15 feet”? Let no person arise in indignation at this paragraph and as- sert that we, the writer, did not ever, Las a child, put down or even help to put down a carpet. ‘We admit i, without further pause, declare and now that we are fl.‘d ‘we never had to. Surely we would ve hammered our left thumb beyond recognition, if we had attempted to drive home 7,645 assorted carpet tacks, as we crawled on our knees around the 18 by 15 feet. There was something to be said for the old-time carpets, however, even if they did harbor dust. After all, dust is sometimes like the theoretical it is well to let it lle. Old-fashioned carpets, running from side to side of the room, gave a ¥ense of completeness and home-i-ness which rugs sometimes fail to give a room. It is interesting to note that modern decorators are turning back again to all-over cai or to rugs which are m}:e enough to practically cover the en! floor. Scientists who specialize in making rooms quiet, more necessary now than ever in the history of mankind, claim that carpets, or large all-over rugs, with plenty of window hangings, will do more than any other one factor to cut down the noises which arise within the house itself. It is probable, too, that they will do something to modify noises of exterior origin. * Kk K Spring “housecleaning” was truly & nightmare to the old-fashioned hus- band, who found his favorite chair re- moved to the dining room, and even there piled high with cushions, or per- haps pictures. ‘There was no place to sit down. Most of the things which should have been in one room were in another, and where the furnishings of that room were no man could say. Lamps sat on the fioor, sofas were on_end, the windows looked bare and forlorn, the floors ugly and dusty. As for the piano, pride of the house, it was piled so high with miscellaneous articles that it was almost lost to vies ‘These were & few of the physical pains of the annual housecleaning. What was far worse, however, was the mental inferiority which settled upon the “man of the house,” as he saw himself without any place in all this grand pow-wow. It was bad enough to come home and find the house upset, but it was infinitely worse to discover that sud- denly one became plainly in the way. ‘Thousands upon thousands of faith- ful husbands no doubt suffered the most exquisite mental tortures, as they realized, what before had but vaguely oppressed them, that they were simply well paying guests in their own homes. * kX % The modern system of house main- tenance has ended all that. Now a man can flatter himself that his home is his castle, in truth and fact, and that he is the veritable lord of it. And the big thing is that the home is infinitely cleaner all the time, far more dustless the 12 months around than it formerly was for just a few days in the year and as the result of infinite fuss and bother. Gone are the dust caps, the mops, the palls, the carpet beaters, the brooms, the tack hammers and the tacks, the dust and confusion. All those things have their places in the modern _home, too, but it is not up- stairs, Wax, and the electric sweeper, and above all the new idea of constant maintenance, as applied to housekeep- ing problems, have made Spring mod- ern in a new sense. Decision on Dry Amendment Is According to Forecasts Decision by the United States !u-] preme Court that the prohibition amendment was properly adopted by the States is behg wd"l‘?hw“n'n to have been , an recog- nized that P::&.:l Judge Willlam T. Clark of New Jersey was dealing in technicalities which could not be effec- tive in nullifying a part of the Con- stitution. The contention of the lower court that the convention method of ratification has n::m.{ h:::ver,bltll ac- ted by a part of public as | 2-0:::“: and a proper subject for future consideration. “The proposition that a part of the Constitution might be unconstitutional was so spectacular that few among the radical wets can have had very high hopes for the fate of the decision once it reached the Supreme Court,” thinks the St. Paul Ploneer Press, while the Kansas City Star. remarks that “the Supreme Court unanimously has re- versed him, by implication rerudh!fing his effort to rewrite an article of the Constitution in conformity with his personal views on political sclence. The Cleveland Plain Dealef holds thal “the Clark decision and its reversal was not even a skirmish,” and the Indian- apolis Star feels that the lower court decision “struck even the most ardent opponents of _prohibition who were grasping at straws as offering little chance for Teversal of the dry policy of the country.” “What may be surprising is that any person - actually could believe eighteenth amendment ever upset by a legal technicality,’ Little Rock Arkansas Democrat. Lexington Leader states: “As a matter of fact, the Supreme Court, in 1920, had already decided that the amendment was legally adopted and was in every sense a proper exercise of power on the part of Congress and of the ‘people through their Legislatures. No orie who was not influenced by prejudice expected the court to reverse itself,” The Wor- cester Telegram hopes that “this de- cision will end the many attempts to convince people that the el t!uemh, mendment is ‘unconstitutional’"; that such attempts have merely ‘brought confusion and have not in any way helped to solve the vexing liquor problem.” will be * K kK “without examining the merits of Judge Clark's decision,” states the Mil- waukee Sentinel, “it may be pointed out that the Supreme Court’s decision is in accordance with the recent tendency of that august body, which grows more pronounced as the years fo by, to be in- fluenced strongly by public policy rather than to cleave to the leiter of the law. And even the great body of eitizem: which abominates the eighteenth amendment and all the abuses it has nurtured must concede that the tend- ency in the Supreme Court is good that it encourages that progressiveness of law without which, as the great Roman jurist, Ulpian, pointed out 1,700 years ago, ‘Justice cannot outlast the generation that installs hes “There was vastly more to it,” advises the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “than a mere academic difference of opinion. Numerous commentators inted out that if Judge Clark had ‘upheld there would be the anomaly that the Constitution itself might be disclosed as unconstitutional. should be found to nullify amendment V, then every other amendment might be capable of knocking out another. ‘There would be confusion worse con- founded. There might be some comfort in finding that we did have a United States Senate, through its having been elected under an invalld constitution, but on the same grounds we also would not have a President or any other public officer. The Clark ruling might have made hash of the whole constitutional structure.” * k% % “The doctrine uj ‘which de’e £ was too finely declares the Post Clark’s decision was n to have any weight.’ rleston (8. C.) zvalln{ t, with the conclusion that “the Nation is not to be rid of its folly by so simple a device adverse rullnzl by the cow amendment X offers the holding the eighteen by State that the | ! assembled in convention, he has done what no other judge has dared to do before him. and what all judges con- cerned in the matter have refused to do since. He has interpreted a section of the Constitution in the light of an original theory of political science rather than according to judicial tradition. He has ignored the plain meaning of the words of article V, the Supreme Court’s pproval of that meaning, and the prac- ical working of the article in the his- tory of constitutional amendments. * #® * The Supreme Court has over- ruled him, of course, and by unanimous vote. Such an interpretation as his, based on political science, has no stand- ing in the e}wme Court. Judge Clark was well awdre that it would not have. Yet his audacious decision was not without value. It served to make a very interesting contribution to the Iiteraturr of constitutional interpretation. and it marked its author as an able and original thinker on the law.” “Congress has invariably put ratifi- cation -of amendments up to the Legis- latures,” recalls the San Francisco Chronicle. “There are persons who think it would be better to put some kinds of amendments up to State con- ventions rather than to the Legislatures. But after this decision their only hope is to persuade Congress to do it their wi ‘The Supreme Court will not help them to force Congress.” The Seattle Daily Times believes that the Clark de- cision “has served the main purpose t he had in mind,” as State Legis- latures “are mnot always accurately representative of public sentiment.” That the method of ratification sug: gested by Judge Clark may have ad- vahtages is suggested by the Des Moines Tribune-Capital, the Jersey City Jour- nal, the New Orleans Times-Pica! and the Baltimore Sun. ‘Wayne News-Bentinel points out that the convention method was emphasized by the Wickersham Commission in the event of a resubmission. B The Hero Perforce. Prom ¢he New York Herald Tribune. A story, complete with trimmings which one cannot help suspecting to be apocryphal, comes out of Plymouth, England, to the effect that Aircrafts- man Shaw has been revealed as the “hero” of the recent aviation accident in which nine officers and men of the Royal Flying Corps were killed when their plane dived into Plymouth Harbor. ‘The small figure and ungainly features of the former T. E. Lawrence—“Law- rence of Arabia”—were seen flitting in and out of the trial room, where a court of inquiry sat upon the accident. It is enough: another sprig is added to the vast and proliferating legend which already enshrouds the strange little man whose conduct has been so in- comprehensible to the age which has produced him. He must have been a hero of the accident, for Lawrence (or Bhaw) is not permitted by a hurrying world to be anything save a hero or a monster, an extreme of one sort or another, a conventional headline char- ter whose doings, whatever they are. must be recorded In black type and special cables. Such are the rewards of oddity and reticence in an age organized upon the basis of press agentry and publicity. Mr, Shaw's motives, though obviously peculiar, are his own, and whether that monumental self-effacement, that elab- orate incognito and that almost patho- logical modesty are genuine, or are merely the astute device of one who recognizes that in an age of trumpet- tooters silence is the most blaring ad- vertisement, is & question that nobody except Mr. Shaw. can answer. The fact remains that Aircraftsman Shaw, who never gives interviews to reporters, who is totally inaccessible and whose literary works are circulated from hand to hand as if they were something ob- scene, seen himself proclaimed as an international power, has been charged with the most devious machi- rts | nations in half a dozen different parts of the world, has even achieved the honor of being formally indicted by the Soviet government. Even Sir Basil Zaharoff’s triumphs in reticent public- ity pale beside those of Alrcraftsman By the Booklover E. V. Lucas characterized the perfect hostess as one who placed in the guest chamber a volume of O. Henry's stories or one of Saki’s. Saki is the nom de plume of Hector Hugo Munro, who chose it from the tiame' of the cupbearer in the “Rubaiyat” of Omar Khayyam. In the volume “The Short Stories of Saki,” a compilation of storles from Munro’ various volumes, there is a short biog- raphy by his sister, Ethel M. Munro. The three Munro children were left to the care of a grandmother and two aunts, in a villa near Barnstaple, North Devon, while their father, a widqwer, was in India, as & major in the Bengal Staff Corps and inspector-general of the Burma police. The characters of the two aunts and their entire lack of /mpathy with children account for the various aunts pictured in the stories of Saki. hildhood, though it dragged, finally passed for the Munro children and Hector Munro went away to school, went abroad with his father, who had then retired, and, in 1893, went to & post his father had secured for him in the military police in Burma. After seven attacks of fever in 13.months, he was obliged to return to England. He was soon earning his living by writing political satires and stories. In 1900 was published his only serious book, “The Rise of the Russian Empire.” In 1902 he went to the Balkans as correspondent for the Morning Post and in 1904, 1905 and 1906 was in Poland, Russia and Paris for the same paper. After that he lived chiefly in London, writing for va- rious periodicals and publishing a num- ber of volumes of stories and sketches, among them “The Unbearable Bassing- ton,” “When Willi . Westminster Alic ‘Regi: - nald in Russia,” “The Chronicles of Clovis,” “Beasts and Super-Beasts,” “The Toys of Peace” and “The Square Egg.” In 1915 Hector Munro went to ance and shortly wrote to his sister, “We are holding a rather hot part of the line.” In November, 1916, he was killed in the trenches. * ok ok % The stories of Saki are very brief, compact, and often lacking in defined piot. Their charm is in their sophisti- cated humor, which often finds expres- sion in epigram. Some of the epigrams of Saki will best give an idea of his style. “People may say what they like about the decay of Christianity; the re- ligious system that produced green Chartreuse can never really die.” “There | & ought to be technical education classes on the science of present-giving.” “To be clever in the afternoon argues that one is dining nowhere in the evening.” “I hate posterity—it's so fond of having the last word.” ‘To die before being painted by Sargent is to go to he prematurely.” “To have reached 30 is to have failed in life.” “Every refo mation must have its victims. You can't expect the fatted calf to share the en- thusiasm of the angels over the prodi- gal's return.” “There always have been men who have gone about despairing of the fut and when the future a rives it says nice, syperior things about their having acted according to their lights. It is dreadful to think that other people’s grandchildren may one day rise up and call one amiable. There are mo- ments when one sympathizes with Herod.” “‘Hors d'oeuvres have always a Y‘!h tic interest for me,’ said nald; “they remind me of one's childhood that one goes through, wondering what the next course is going to be like—and during the rest of the menu one wishes cne had eaten more of the hors d'oeu- vres’” “I know if I were served up at a cannibal feast I should be dreadfully annoyed if any one found fault with me for not being tender enough, or having been kept too long.” “Scandal is merely the compassionate allowance which the gay make to the humdrum. Think how many blameless lives are brightened by the blazing indiscretions of other peo- ple!” “Trouble is not one of those fan- cies you can take up and drop at any moment; it's like a grouse-moor or the oplum habit—once you start it you've got to keep it up.” “The young have as- pirations thal never come to pass, the old have reminiscences of what never happened. It's only the middle-aged who lly conscious of their limita- tions. ‘There was once (sald Regi- all at once, course, but the habit grew upon her gradually, like lichen on an apparently healthy tree. She had no children—otherwise it might have been different.” “I should like, for in- stance, a really prohibitive. duty put upon the partner who declares o weak red suit and hopes for the best.’ * K oK x “Any one who cares for imaginative writing would be missing the elephant in the circus if he passed by the Rus- sian novels of the last century,” says Avrahm Yarmolinsky in the opening lines of his reading course “Russian Literature,” “just published by the American Library = Association. Mr. Yarmolinsky selects Gogol, Goncharov, ‘Turgenev, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky as those whose works mark the high point of Russian literature, although he also discusses Chekhov, whose plays are frequently produced in America, as well as many other writers whose fic- tion expresses the peculiar genius of Russia. By picturing the old regime too vividly, these writers helped, often without intention, to bring about its downfall. The characters they have created, however, are important to Americans not as serfs or nobles, but as human beings, portrayed with an in- sight which penetrates every mood and passion. Soviet authors, with the ex- ception of Gorki, who also wrote before 7t | the Tevolution, are omitted because Mr. ‘Yarmolinsky believes that it is too soon to estimate them. He feels that, while their work shows “much vitality and promise,” it has also the “doubtful quality of youth.” companying this course is divided into 12 lessons suitable for use by individ- uals or groups. Both the booklet, Which is one of the “Reading with a Purpose” series, and the titles suggested for further reading, may be obtained at public libraries. * o ok ok At the request of his children, John Bright wrote a simple account of his | interview with Queen Victoria, when he became president of the Board of Trade, under Mr, Gladstone. In his'“Diaries” John Bright tells that the Queen kindly dispensed with those portions of the ceremony which he, as a Quaker, felt difficulties about—that is, being “sworn in” and kneeling to kiss her hand. John | 1 Bright always got on extremely well with Queen Victoria, who probably liked his sturdy independence, his love of family and home, and his intense pa- triotism, * K ok ¥ Following the success of Henry Han- del Richardson’s “Ultima Thule,” the two other volumes of her trilogy, Fortunes of Richard Mahony” and “The Way Home,” which had not been a suc- cess, were republished. Standing as a whole, the trilogy is a strong piece of realism, depicting the gradual deteriora- tion of a man without fundamental character stability and the consequent tragedy to himself and his family. Re- nald) a woman who told the truth, Not | A study outline ac- | Ope: ANSWERS TO, QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Y Wi is the world's greatest storehouse of all kinds of knowledge. 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 a personal letter to you. careful to write clearly, ive 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. How many words do Amos 'n’ Andy | & does speak in each program? How Floyd Gibbons talk?—J. M. A. Amos ‘'n’ Andy range between 1,200 and 1600 words per 12-minute episode. Floyd Gibbons has been clocked talking at a speed of 217 words a minute. Q. Where is the blind spot in the . lace of en! optic nerve in the retina of each eye. Q. When was the first book club formed?—L. M. A. At first these clubs had reprint- ings of rare books and manuscripts made. The earliest of these clubs was the Roxburghe Club, founded in 1813, which imposed upon each member the t of one book. The Ballantyne in 1823 by.Sir Walter the reprinting rind Club, Scott, , took for its field of really important works. Q. How did Galli-Curcl’s career start in this country?—C., O. H. A. Galli-Curci first cam® Q. Is & gymkhana a place where ™! games are held, or does it refer to the games?—8. W. E. A. Gymkhana is the name for an exhibition of athletic sports and games, upr:hlly of races and games on horse- back, and also is applied to the place where such an exhibition is held. Q. Does Kentucky mean dark and bloody ground?—G. Y. T. A. That is a common but erroncous rendering of Kentucky. The Cherokee word “kentucke” means prairie. sometimes speiled A. This is an old form. The word in the process of its evolution has been spelled at least 11 different ways. When spelled shoppe it is pronounced exactly as if it were spelled shop. Q. What is “long sauce”?—F. D. 8. A. Long sauce denotes beets, carrots, parsnips, etc., as distinguished from short sauce, the shorter vegetables. Q. What is dew point in temperature? —M. N. K. A. Dew point is that temperature (varying) at which the air deposits its vapor. Q. When did Woodrow Wilson write his American history?—C. W. A. Woodrow Wilson’s “History of the American People” was first copyrighted in the year 1801 and was, of course, written prior to that date. Q. Was the Golden Gate named before in California?— A. It was named almost 300 years earlier. This narrow channel into San Prancisco Bay was named by Sir Francis Drake about 1578. Q. How long has Benito Mussolini been Premier of Italy?—G. V. S. A. Premier Mussolini has held office since 1922. Q. Please givé the history of Rodin's “Thinker."—L. 8. M. A. The “Thinker” was exhibited at the Georges Petit Gallery in 1889. It was one of 38 pieces of sculpture placed on view. It was designed to be placed over the Porte de I'Enfer. The idea of fash- iol was largely due to Rodin's visit to Italy in 1875. The sculptor was com- missioned by M. Turquet, who told Rodin that he wished to have a door for the p% Palace of Decorative Arts. The ** er” is part of Rodin’s “Magnum Opus.” At the Salon of 1904 the figure was on exhibition, It was planned to be placed on the upper crossbeam of the Gate of Hell, where the “Thinker” could look down on the scenes of human passion and woe ex- itended below him, By public sub- ultimately to the City LASGOW .—An old farmer was ining bit- terly to the minister of the kirk about the terribly bad weather for the crops, when the latter reminded him that he had much to be grateful for, all the same. “And remember,” said the good man, “Providence cares for all. Even the birds of the air are fed each day.” “Aye,” responded the farmer darkly, “and off my corn!” * % ok % Apple-Selling Godsend To Unemployed and Growers. Manchester Guardian.—Several hun- dreds of unemployed are earning an corners in New York selling apples at 21, pence each. This activity, which has greatly increased the New York consumption of apples, has also been & ,'odund to apple growers, who were faced with a nlrglu: crop. Gov. Roose- velt of New York State is arranging to make loans of small sums from State funds to the unemployed to help them to survive until they can find jobs. New York City municipal employes are con- tributing 1 per cent of their salaries and this sum is being used to purchase food for free distribution through the lice. pol\lmme the sellers of apples at the street corners of New York was Mrs. Oscar Hammerstein, the widow of the famous music impresario, who said, “Ladies must eat and it is the best I can do now to earn a lving.” Mrs. Hammerstein was at one time well known in musical circles in London. Her late husband built the London ra House, now the Stoll Picture Theater, in Kingsway, and was said to have lost £250,000 in the venture. * K kK 0id Newspaper Housed in New Structure. Det Berlingske Tidende, Copenhagen. —This venerable paper, founded in 1749, by Ernst Heinrich Berling, has just moved into its new building, Det Berlingske Hus, construction of which was begun in 1920. The cost of the edifice itself was 800,000 kroner ($200,- 000) and represents by far the most at- tractive and convenient structure in which has yet been oused. Exterlorly, the appearance is me- dieval, with small-paned windows and irregularly projecting stories. However, nothing in_this artistically beautiful design and lighting has been permitted to interfere with modern efficiency. The massive presses were built by the cele- brated firm of Koenig & Bauer, at ‘Wurzburg, and are the very latest, with a capacity of 200,000 32 page papers a day. This will' allow for e even over the remarkable record estab- lished by the paper last year, when it used 360,000 kilometers of newsprint, and 125,000 kilograms of ink. The present circulation ' is 115,755 ting ‘the average net cently another early novel of Handel Richardson has been revived, ‘Maurice Guest,” her first work, which met with appreciation from % small group of authors and critics, but not from the general public. It is the story of the ruin of the life of & young mu- sician by an unwise love, an infatuation which, through a series of crises, drags him painfully away* from all creative effort and downward to complete dis- integration of personality, * ok ok X “The Ghost of Piccadilly” is the pleasantly suggestive title of a book by G. 8. Street., In the eighteenth century Piccadi] was a center of fashion. Tnere were located Clarendon House, seat of Hyde, Lord Chancellor of Eng- land, and Devonshire House, where lived the charming Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Along the street walked the famous Beau Brummel, dictator of the fashions of London. Other person-, he p ages distinguished in society or in lit- erature and the erts frequented Picca- dMly and have left there ghostly mem- b ories, coples, coun number “:ala‘per .:“'u.m‘:" ”‘m space or adver com] 14,555,900 column-millimeters, and no less than 620,172 notices, large and small, were inserted. This enormous business constitutes a record not only for Denmark, but in most European countries. The original paper, in 1749, consisted of a single sheet of paper, 25 centi~ meters long and something less than 20 centimeters in vlldlth (lfl:] 8 inches). plentj ‘wars and g the convulsior triumph as has rarely been in recent times. As soon as her engagements permitted she visi tic other important music centers in America, where similar fortune awaited her. Not until January, 1918, did she make her formal debut in opera in New York. Her singing at once created the wildest enthusiasm, and her conquest of the United States was complete. Galli- Curct is an Italian by birth and training. Q. How many Indlans are now living in the United States?—J. S. D. A. There are approximately 345575 Indians now in .the United . States. Oklahoma has the most Indians, with approximately 121,531, . Q. Can you tell me the number of acres in a strip of land a foot wide and a mile long?—K. L. A. The atea of such a strip is .121 acre. Trautwine's Civil Engineer's Pocket-Book has a table giving the acreage per mile, and per 100 feet, for different widths up to 100 feet. Q. What is the significance of the pineapple when used as an architec- ‘tural ornament?—C. W. H. A. The pineapple is the symbol of hospitality. Q. Who is called the Henry Ford of England?—P. D, B. A. Sir William Morris, Bt., is known as the Henry Ford of England. His gllnh are located at Cowley, England. is plants now turn out about 60,000 cars a year, which is about three- eighths of the total output. He spe- clalizes in light, low-powered cars, and it is said that his employes are paid above the average wages. Q. What city was the first settled in Ohio?—E. U. A. Marietta was the first settlement within the present limits of Ohio. It was founded in 1788 by Rufus Putnam and a colony from New England under * the authority of the Ohio company. It was named in honor of Marje Antoinette. Q. Why is the Congregational Church so called?>—C. B. W. A. It derives its name from its funda- mental principle in discipline, that each congregation is an independent body. having a right to elect or depose its pastors, settle all disputes regarding . matters of faith, and exercise necessary discipline over its members without the interference other congregations. of qnumm{l:rn-hhhmnam America?—E. C. 3 A. He did not. He sent expeditions to Virginia in 1584, 1585, 1586, 1587 and 1589, but Qu::i Elizabeth mme not him accom] v America. Highlights on the Wide World Excerpts From Newspapers of Other Lands U. 8. Woman to Walk From Mexico to New York. . El Universal, Mexico, D. F—lLa Senora - Bernice Rush, generally Selared her tatention of waik- ico, has dex her inf of walk- ing from the City of Mexico to the City of New York. The reason for this ex- the lady's finances, mostly as the Te- sult of heavy payments to certain at- average of £1 dally standing at street |5} promise suit brought in the civil courts, and Benavente was required to pay Rush certain sums of a ne% mot:ruls. ‘0 obviate this unpleasant depletion - of his exchequer, Se: Benavente made all his resources over to his brother and Under these circumstances decided that it was best for of the her travel back to the United Sta lacking funds to pay her ‘5'. k Journey must needs be made on She has set New York as her goal, unless memory fails us, there is stance recorded wherein & woman ever walked so great a distanci Senora Rush 2ccomplishes her she will indeed have a crown tinction, and one which will cast a carious remlfinee over some of more sordid chapters of her past. * ok ok x Waiting Return of Lost Greatest of Human Agonies. Let Matin, Paris—In Brittany they are always awaiting the return of lost fishermen. Day after day the bereaved ones of their families wait, gazing out over the treacherous waters. Mothers, wives, sweethearts haunt the quays. For absence of 2 Sg,- et RRHTE B4 them, in the strange loved ones, all life is constancy of the bitterest grief. Better far to know the worst than to hope on and on, with- poignant consolation of a knowledge of ihe dear one’s fate. That persistent anxiety and dread paralyzec every healthful activity, destroys the -v.?r °l'u=m.. food, makes night a sleep] one and exiles all from human souls. o such Breton fisherfolk in God 1 A LT S or the ret: of the ‘who went out upon the sea, ‘who have not returned. The Next Move. the Jackson Citizen Patriot. speed of 245 miles an hour ha been attalned in an,automobile, Going or Coming? From the Milwaukee Sentinel, Sometimes it is difficult for & great statesman to be certain whether those behind him are friends who are foliow- which followed. his lcadership % 3