Evening Star Newspaper, April 21, 1931, Page 8

(THE EVENING ‘With Sunday Morning WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY........April 21, 183 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor 1 The Evening Star Newspaper Company 11n 8. R Pennoivania . “and Pennsylv Yok Offce 110 East 2nd st. Sffice: Lake Michigan Building. fice; 14 Regent 8., London, Ave. uropean O Rate by Carrier Within the City. e Evening Star... 45¢ per month e Evening and Sunday Siato oo (vhen 4 Sundav) . i nd Sune i *.85¢ per month er copy undays) the erid of ‘eac] or in by mail or telephone NAtional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. ily and Sunda. 1 yr., $10.00: 1 mo., !zc All Other States and Canada. aily and Sunday.. . $12.00: 1 mo.. $1.00 fi:l]' only . 5S¢ inday only .......1 $8.00: 1 m 00; 1 m Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of ews dis- atches credited to it or not otherwise cred- ted in this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of publication of #pecial disbatches herein are also reserved. = Mayor Walker's Defense. Mayor James J. Walker of New York has submitted a twent:-thousand word reply to the charges made against him by the City Affairs Committee. His statement, denying the charges in toto, is in the hands of Gov. Roosevelt, and eventually the Governor must make his decision. The Governor, If he follows the demand of the City Affairs Committee, will dismiss the mayor from office. If he follows the demand of Mayor Walker he will dis- miss the charges. A third course would be the appointment of a commissioner to make an investigation of the charges and a report thereon, and still a fourth would be to turn the matter over to the Legislative Committee, which is Just starting out upon a thorough and what promises to be a painstaking in- vestigation of the whole city govern- ment of New York. Unless the Gov- ernor is thoroughly convinced that the charges should or should not be du~| missed and acts accordingly, the sub- mission of the charges to the Legisla- tive Committee would appear the most reasonable course. This committee of investigation, though voted by a Re- publican Legislature, has accepted as its chief counsel Judge Samuel Sea- bury, an independent Democrat of the highest character, and h2s turned over to Judge Seabury the conduct of the inquiry. Mayor Walker's reply to the City Af- fairs Committee is a document of much interest. He takes up the ten charges and replies to them specifically and categorically. From the various heads of departments of the city government attacked in the charges he quotes lib- erally. And the mayor gives, in addi- tion to his denial of the charges, a graphic description of the reforms and improvements in the city government which he insists have been undertaken under his administration, many of them upon his own suggestion. His reply is an effective document. It is made in answer to charges wrich in the main were general and not specific, and there- fore is all the more appealing. How- ever, the City Affairs Committee, before it submitted its charges, had seen the evidences of corruption, graft and worse revealed in the public press of New York and in the cases brought against mag- istrates, police and other city officials. | The mayor now states that guilty of-| ficials have been punished and that| those who are not guilty have been ac- | quitted. His claim is that the govern- ment of New York is the cleanest city government in the world. | Apparently Mayor Walker believes in attack as the best means of defense. He has undertaken to belittle and be- smirch his attackers, the chairman and | vice-chairman of the City Affairs Com- mittee, Dr. John Haynes Holmes and Rabbi Stephen S. Wise. He charges first that they and their organization | are adjuncts of the Socialist party. Dr.| Holmes, he says, is a pacifist and a leader of agitators and Soviet sympa- i thizers. As for Rabbi Wise, Mayor ‘Walker goes back to & letter which he | says was written by the late Mayor) Gaynor, in which Rabbi Wise is de- scribed as “all sufficient, insufficient, self-sufficient, Rabbi Wise! He thinks he is pious, but he is only bilious.” The character of these personal at- tacks upon his accusers is not likely to aid the cause of Mayor Walker. Furthermore, even a Socialist may be considered to have the right to com- plain of a rotten city government. With the city government investigation by the Legislative Committee and in the hands of Judge Seabury now opening no matter what happens to the charges brought by the City Affairs Commit- tee, Mayor Walker i to have his hands full for a long time to come R | i Prior e conviction in New York of a vice squad policeman on frame-up charges, the court said, “A stool pigeon who frames women is the lowest form of humanit The so-called crack” is still further advanced in re- spect when it reaches the dignity of a well considered ial utterance. “wise- The Curbstone Merchants. As it is now understood, the convic- tion of the apple and flower vendors for “blocking the sidewalk” on F street 15 intended as a warning that in future they must keep moving. During the Winter they were permitted to place their baskets on the sidewalk, or on boxes, and station themselves in one spot. This was contrary to regulations, but in keeping with the spirit of human kindness. It was a hard Winter With the coming of Spring. there has been 1:0 noticeable decrease in the ranks of the apple men and there have been many recruits with flowers to sell. Side- walk traffic has been impeded. In some places the mere numbers of vendors | of trouble” is visible. | Lateran accord in 1929. | larger numerically than the national| | died in New York, the final survivor of of apples or a bunch of flowers the unrestricted privilege of using the side- walks for his place of business. The solution might rest in controlling the number of these vendors by the issuance of permits, at a nominal fee, and only after an investigation into the circum- stances and the character of the ap- plicant. If the sale of apples or flowers means needed employment for those out of work, and if it can be controlled to prevent the creation of a new “racket” —with all that the term implies—there is no_reason why it should not be per- mitted. ———— Fascism's Past and Future. In one of those uncommonly useful symposia of international affairs which periodically issue from its busy labora- tory, the Foreign Policy Association re- views nine years of Fascist rule in Italy. How long the Black Shirt dictatorship is going to last is, along with kindred curiosity respecting the Bolshevist au- tocracy in Russia, an object of inces- sant speculation throughout the world. Vera M. Dean, author of the report on Italy. declares it to be “the opinion of competent observers that there is little prospect at the present time of a vio- lent overthrow of the Fascist govern- ment.” Crises occur with lightning-like rapid- ity, as Alfonso XIII can testify. But evidently Mussolinl may contemplate the tenth annivérsary of the march on Rome, which he plans to celebrate with becoming pomp in 1932, with equanim- ity. Opposition to the Fascist reign is flattened into insignificance. It finds the most consistent and determined opposition in a group of some forty liberal Senators, of whom Luigi Al- bertini and Benedetto Croce are the outstanding figures. Thus far sena- torial opposition to Fascist rule has had little practical effect. The govern- ment is assured of a majority and should such ever appear to be lacking Mussolini presumably could manufac- ture the necessary votes by the simple expedient of appointing Fascist sympa- thizers to the Senate. What a mar- velous mechanism that would be for a perturbed President of the United States when he has a hostile Senate on his hands! The Foreign Policy Association report sets forth that dissatisfaction with the | Mussolini regime is found chiefly among industrialists and professional men. Big business resents compulsory main- tenance of wages in the face of eco- nomic depression. The intelligentsia objects to Fascism's stern restrictions on the liberty of association, speech and press. The professional classes go the length of claiming that Italy under the | Black Shirts has been plunged into in- tellectual stagnation. Yet no semblance of concerted action against this “sea Even the rancor of the church, which might have proved a serious obstacle, was largely overcome “by the conclusion of the Political indifference, coupled with widespread non-Fascist admiration of | Mussolini, is ascribed as the underlying cause of Italy's failure to rise in pro-| test against recognized evils. There may be another and more practical explanation of the people’s apathy. Does it possibly not spring .from a realization of helplessness against the ! machine guns and bayonets waich I1| Duce commands? Is it not, in part at| least, due to the consciousness that, in | addition to “the King's army,” Mus- | solini marshals a voluntary militia re- cruited from Fascist ranks, sald to be | army, and which has officially had con- fided to it “the maintenance of pubhc{ crder”? With the creation of a spe- cial tribunal “for crimes against the| safety of the state”—that is, the Fascist | oligarchy—are not Italians likely to think twice and thrice before risking their liberty or their Jives in a desperate throw to revive constitutional govern- ment? So much said, it requires also to be affirmed that Fascism, beyond all shadows of doubt, has brought certain blessings to Italy. Were an assassm's blade or bullet to fell him today, Benito Mussolini’s place in history is secure. Had the story of his nine years on the Fascist throne to be written, probably | the chronicle would stress as his pre- | eminent achievement the revitaliza- | tion of Italian nationalism. If the peninsula, before the World War-a mere appendage of the Triple Alliance, finds itself in 1931 a European power acknowledged magnitude, the answer is | Fascism, and not even that. The an- | swer is Mussolini. In that flattering satisfaction, de- spite their political shackles, may lie the Italians’ submissiveness to the ex- isting order. - Diamonds are esteemed especially apprpriate for grand opera attire. The underworld has discovered that by fol- lowing an automobile load of fashion- able ladies a harvest of jewels may be reaped. Enough chivalry remains to prevent bandits from stealing a lady in additicn to her gems and holding her for a ransom. -t Claimants for Wendel Millions. the “last of the Wendels" Recently a family of long Manhattan lineage and of great wealth. Miss Ella Wendel, spinster, was the sole heir of the for- tune founded by her grandfather and augmented by her father and supple- mented and conserved by her sister and brother. With no more direct descend- ants, the Wendel will provided for the distribution of almost the entire estate, | estimated as valued at more than a| hundred million dollars, am:ng char- ities and benevolent, religious and edu- cational institutions, the estate being incorporated, in effect, with shares issued to the beneficiaries There were no immediate heirs, the family having, as the phrase goes, died |out. The closest to a descendant was of | | | STAR |the vendors oft the street, but without | father of the Iate “Miss Ella.* Others Edition. permitting everybody who has a basket | aver that they are connected with the family—and the estate—through their great-grandfather. Probably others will come forward, all with more or less tangible links with the founder of the Wendel fortune, but all collaterals and, in view of the fact that the undisputed holder of the for- tune and the father of the final heirs, the sisters and brother who have in recent years passed on, ignored their claims and even their existence, quite unlikely to establish any lien upon the estate. ‘This is not an unusual circum- stance. It is, indeed, almost the regular thing in the case of the extinguishment of a wealthy family. Remote side branches of the original stock disclose themselves, though they have in practi- cally all instances been discredited or disowned or, for the purposes of in- heritance, ignored long before. Sometimes these claims are put forth in perfect honesty of thought, the self- discovered “heirs” being, in their igno- rance of the laws of inheritance, satis- fied that they are rightfully entitled to share in the estates. Again, there s less than honesty in the adventure. Some- imes the offense known as champerty committed, the promotion of the claim by an attorney on the basis of what may be termed a pernicious contingent fee. 1In only the rarest cases do these claims result in awards. B Owners of expensive “old masters” are frequently disturbed by intimations that they have been cherishing counterfeits. The person who is content to enjoy what he likes without going into the question of value as affected by authen- ticity is perhaps in a state of blissful ignorance to be envied by those who seek to qualify both as investors and connoisseurs, o he provides a reminder that the season for outdoor sport is here almost as sig- nificant as the ceremony of tossing the first base ball into action for the open- ing game. Political interest is intense. Recreation has risen to the dignity of 8 necessity in order that the U. 8. public may continue the wholesome custom of occasionally forgetiing its cares. ———— Racollections of a long Summer drought made the recent thunderstorm a welcome visitor. The suggestion that more moisture will be available during the ccming season compensates even for the loss of the early blossoms which were s0 much prized. ——————————— As a composer .of popular music friendly consideration, but not quite enough to prevent certain critics from demanding that he go further and com- pose his political “swan song.” ——— In its desire for recognition the Rus- sian Soviet might find it prudent to re- strain Communists who assume the re- sponsibility of introducing it to the rest of the world. B — As a collector of antiques Henry Ford appears to enjoy reminiscences of’ the old days when there was abundant parking space and no automobiles to utilize it. A e Cleaning up Chicago is & process which inevitably encourages under- world hopes that the old racketeers will be compelled to stand aside and give new ones a chance e With riots in Spain, it is not re- markable that the Bourbon representa- tives of royalty should prefer ovations in France. oo sacrificed an opportunity for more reve- nue by imposing a heavy personal prop- erty tax on the family jewels. - ——— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON, The New Genius. A “Genius” once was thought to be A perscnage erratic And sometimes one 30 poor that he Dweit 'way up in an attic. But now the genius we acclaim With greetings most substantial Has found in the commercial game A great success financial, He does not pose in poetry Nor store up thoughts for storles. New mechanisms greet the eye, Reminders of his glories The title “genius” is too strcng, As modern wealth amazes, For Poverty trat plods along; For pictuses.or for phrases Still Running. “What became of that investigation you started?” “It is still gathering momentum?” | answered Senator Sorghum “Exactly what was it about? “I can't recall. The way it keeps on running makes me think it may have bad something to do with perpetual motion.” Jud Tunkins says a man who hates dogs is lucky if he can remain a bache- lor. Socner or later a woman wants a man to make less noise around the house so that he won't disturb a pet pup. An Enthusiasm. “Good times 'round the corner!” Heard somebody shout. Let's draw near 1o lift a cheer And fling the banners out! Elephant and donkey Will be with us soon. Let that cl' band wagon roll While we jine in the tune! A Bid for Notice. “They tell me you have discovered an underworld down to Goldurn Corners.” “Yep,” answered Farmer Corntossel. “You ought to see the people that stop | to look us over.” ‘What are you doin’? “No. Advertisin Reformin'?"” When President Hoover goes fishing ;D€ Mayor Walker of New York has found | By allowing Alfonso to depart, Splml “A dishonest man,” said Hi Ho, the | C., TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 1931 3 - THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTO i : : ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL, Every home ought to have its picture straightener. A Dpicture straightener, in case you do not know, is one who sees to it that the paintings are hanging straight on the wall. This important personage may be man or woman, haps men make the hest straight- eners, ‘Their ‘“eye” for such things is a trifie better, and, if their minds are so inclined, usually they are more “fussy” than any housewife. R ok A Often there is some one home where a framed portrait or other picture refuses to stay put. a street wall which receives the vibra- tion ot passing trucks. |location. Most of the time it has a list to one mates, but most objectionable to some one person. He—or she—is the straightener. * K oK K hanging askew. Crooked-hanging pictures the first. things they see on arrival and the last on departing. never fail to see. In their own homes pictures may | hang at all angles, so that they become ased to it, but they immediately “spot” such offenises against good taste in the home of another. That is why, of course, a good picture |straightener is nice to have around. ok koA He gets real joy out of his work. He is an artist, at bottom, perhaps water colors, but an artist, nevertheless e who appreciates that fundamental ressity, rightness. A wall is one place in the world | where formalism has a right beyond | doubt. Few are the walls which are not rect- angular, and there is something about formal. ‘The straight is the essence of the formal. The square, the rectangle, the tri- angle—these are composed of straight lines, and are essentially formal. When they are used in decoration. any two of them which are alike should have their like lines parallel, and these in turn should be parallel with the ceil- ing and sidewall lines. % The duty of the straightener is to see that this written and unwritten law of picture hanging is carried out. He is the traffic cop of the home walls. He has a mural duty to perform. Perform it he will, despite the jeers of the thoughtless and careless. “There he goes, straightening those pictures again,” some one says. ‘The straightener sights loftily along the left side of his nose. Such crude indifference leaves him unmoved. Duty- calls. He responds. e The first move, in proper picture straightening, is to catch the angle of variance. ‘This is a gift, of course, one which ERLINER TAGEBLATT. — The Berlin specialty which keeps the name of the German capital in sweet remembrance in almost all foreign countries is “Die Ber- liner Pfannkuchen.” They know these delicacies in the districts along the Rhine, and particularly at Shrove Tues- day, as Berlin “bullets” (“Kugeln”) in England. they call them doughnuts (Teignuesse), and in America and other remoter countries, “Berlin pan- cakes.” This delight, it is admitted, did not originate in Berlin, as historians tell us that the ancient Romans knew a composition of flour, something like our jelly pancakes, bu not nearly 50 nice. “The Berlin variety was introduced into Germany as a spe- cial viand ‘for Shrove Tuesday, and soon achieved a widespread popularity. The first Berlin “Cook and Table Book,” published 250 years ago by the court physician, Johann Sigismund Elsholz, refers to these concoctions as “Placentae Minores,” or “little delecta- tions,” and announces at the same time “that this method of pastry baking is really a new discovery,” though his ac- quaintance with Latin literature should have instructed him otherwise. To com- memorate the inception of this culinary success, the venerable confectionery house of F. W. Gumpert is arranging & pancake jubilee. which will include the exhibition on the Koenigstrasse of a cradle composed of 100,000 Berlin pan- cakes. The press has been especially invited to the event, under the personal supervision of the Messrs, Gumpert. W N Natural Resources Make Buenos Aires Great City. La Prensa, Buenos Alres.—In the last 50 years Buenos Aires has been trans- formed from a comparatively insignifi- cant market town to one of the most important and splendid cities of the world This is largely due, not to its political prerogat geographical situation, as it is not only wonderfully endowed as a natural s»a port, but is also the terminus of two great rivers, the Parana and the Uru- guay, which unite to form the Rio de la Plata At present the port of Buenos Aires | consists of three sections: the old port, and the new port. wide channels lead from deep water, and flags of every nation come to the | doorstep of the capital. There are wharves aggregating 11 kilometers (7 miles) in length. At one dock. a dozen ocean liners can be loaded or unloaded ! simultaneously. Harbor dues and assess- ments were 16,000.000 gold pesos in 1930, though the tonnage of the three previous years was not equaled. In the month just closed 218 transat- lantic vessels entered and 216 cleared Buenos Aires. During 1930. 8951 vessels entered and 8903 cleared. with ton- nages of 13.200.545 and 13230206, re- spectively. Plans are constantly being adopted, and work carried out to in- crease the advantages of the harbor facilities, which half a century ago con- sisted of a small dock 3 miles from the present one. World_trade has built the stupendous city of Buenos Aires, and will conduce to its greater glories. . Foreign Capital Needed to Bolster Country. El Mundo Al Dia, Bogota.—There has long been a prejudice in this country against the introduction of foreign capi tracts, But the depression of the last year has made it unmistakably clear that if we are to attain any important position in world trade or internal pros- | wall in a| Perhaps it is over a mantel, or on It is seldom that a picture can hang | straight more than a day in such a sids or other, immaterial to most in- | Visitors never fail to spot pictures Maybe theiy indicate it only by a| glance, or a raised eyebrow, but they | without any ability to paint in olls or | the rectangular which demands the baked in fat. | but rather to its | Riachuelo, | Two | tal, and_the granting of foreign con- | constituted what the judge called a a small dog, pet of the final survivor, | public nuisance. The pedestrians, with | which had figured largely in the news a thought to the reasons why some of | of this eccentric family’s extinction as the cpple men were selling apples in- | the cause of the retention of a large stead of performing other forms of | valuable lot of unimproved ground on sage of Chinat:wn, “leads a life of double terror, fearing those he has de- spolled and the stool pigeon who stands ready to despoil him.” labor, might never have protested. But some taxpaying merchants have already voiced the traditional complaint over this tax-free form of competition, which has increased. And it is admitted, that the situation, here and in other cities, Fifth avenue, used,as a canine play- ground. Ever since the publication of the will “heirs” have been springing up in various quarters, with claims against the estate as rightful beneficlaries. No less than five have appeared in Balti- Precaution. We know the drought may come again, Its terrors hot displayin’. 80, brethren who have prayed for rain, Give thanks—but keep on prayin'! “Lissen, gal,” said Uncle Eben, “you perity we must be willing to delegate to exterior influences and interests the opportunities we have falied to improve ourselves. If our own energies and abilities are not sufficient to develop our ‘unlimited natural resources, and to build up a profitable national and international trade, then we must no longer resent the intrusion of foreign capital and supervision in these developments. ‘We will benefit far more from exter- nal co-operation than from internal lassitude, and our acceptance of foreign this artist possesses in common with all artists, past and present. His eye is good. He sees the perfect wall in every wall, and his mind and heart recoil from the surface hung with lop-sided frames. He realizes that often this fault is not man-made, but is due solely to the laws of physics. Yet sometimes, he knows, faulty hanging is common. Many persons who ought to know better do not give a rap whether a hung picture is straight or crooked on the wall, To them the frame Which is two or three inches farther west on the bot- tom than at the top is just as sightly | as if it were hung properly. * *x % x | The picture straightener, once he | sees the deviation, walks forward quick- ly, one eye on the guiding line to left or right, whatever it may be, and the other on the deviation or list of the frame. The guiding line may be the side of a window frame, or the upright line formed by the meeting of two walls. It may be anything or everything which | gives the straightener an opportunity for comparison. His eyes fixed firmly on his objective, he walks to the wall, and then the fun begins. It is here that the true artist in_his nature asserts itseif. He does not go at, the picture as if it were made of cast iron, but approaches it with reverence. He handles it as gently as a cat a flower nodding on a | stalk. He knows, from past experience, that a mere touch is often sufficient to right the picture. * Ok ox o | He touches it. Immediately the frame swings too far | the other way | Plctures have a habit of being con- trary. Listing to the right, they swing left, if touched; to the left, then right. ‘This obstinacy does not worry the straightener in "the least, so long as some other-imember of the household does not seek to give oral assistance. Such unnecessary aid throws the temper of the balancer off its orbit, as it were, and tends to irritate him immensely., - If you will just shut up,” he countérs, “I can do this better.” | "He touches the frame gingerly. It swings over, and seems about right. | K R { It is at this point that the real pic- ture straightener refuses to be satisfied. He knows that any ordinary person | would let well enough -alone. Only a few chosen souls would realize that the picture was still crooked. He, alas, is one of thase souls, and, until the lines are in perfect accord, he must labor on the wall. The affair is now critical. | He gives the picture the slightest list to the right. A feather touch more—it is donel ‘The picture is straight at last. | He backs away, well satisfied, happy in a meritorious performance which may bring satisfaction only to his own soul, but pleases it tremendously. _ Perhaps there might be a slight ad- Jjustment possib'e, but only a few great | experts would know th> difference, 80 he will let well enough alone at last. A big truck might coms along at any moment, and throw the whole frame back into its old slant. THe picture straightener knows that nothing can be ! perfect in this world. Highlights on the Wide World Excerpts From Newspapers of Other Lands | promote our mines and other industries | for their own advantage, but it is be: | coming more and more apparent that |such a system of exploitation would really be for our profit and benefit. | Adds Voice to 'Prolests‘ . | Against Child “Vandals™ To the Editor of The Star: In your Evening Star of yesterday's date I read a communication signed by Henry Davis, which touched so respon- sive & chord that I am impelled to add my protest to his on the subject of ill- trained and vandal children, who are | allowed to run riot over the property of | others, and for which evil there seems | to_be no_real remedy. | "Living in the City of Washington for |2 number of years and being tortured | by these young vandals, we finally sought | peace by moving out of the city where | the houses are far apart and where we | thought we would _escape this dis- | tressing condition. But no! while there |are acres of vacant ground the same | pests_continue to congregate about us and it is a continual struggle to keep them off our grounds. First we put up |a fence on the rear, then a tall hedge and trellis on the lower side, but the front and upper part are terraced and the parking is open to tHe vandals. The last year we were in the city we appealed {0 the police, for these neighborhood pests would come right up on our lawn while we were sitting on our front porch. The police finally called on the parents of the various groups of children and laid down the w for them to kecp their young ones | off our place and from that time on we enjoyed partial comfort. But the police have enough to do without being called upon to do this sort of thing. The whole proposition is the parents—they are the ones entirely at fault. Decently brought up_children are in their homes by 8 o'clock at the latest, but Washington children are allowed in the streets until |10:30 and 11 o'clock, and the world wonders why there is so much crime among the youngest. Perhaps nowhere in the world are the children so.im- pudent, so poorly trained as in Wash- ington, where the majority of the parents are Americans. One does not wonder at the ignorance and vicious proclivities of the children of poor foreigners, but surely if there is any culture, any breeding, any education among Americans it surely would show in_the way they bring up their young. Nothing is more int-resting, more at- tractive, more enjoyable than to me=t well bred, mannerly children, and yet how often can one have this experience? Not one in a thousand. | Mr. Davis and I are not the only sufferers. How often have I heard these bitter complaints made by those | who wish to keep their homes at- | suit? | sonal enthusiasm and ardor and self- | i philosophers are in impressive propor- | tractive, to have the pleasure of flower | gardens, shrubbery, terraces, parking and the many features which beautify one’s grounds! I have known grown- | ups to sell their pretty homes and coop | themselves up in apartments just to | escape these pests. | “Surely there must be some way to | handle this situation, if people would protest long and {evil. The parents surely pay in the end when their children go wrong in evil ways, but they are the ones at ache they receive through the careless upbringing of their young. E. B. NEWMAN. —.—— Weather Aids Weather Man. Prom the Hartford Daily Times. These are great days for the weather man. Conditions change so rapidly that | that he is bound to be right more or | less, by and large. R Alimony Preparedness. | Prom the Sioux "Gity Journal. In Arkansas a wife hurt in the family car has sued her husband for damages, which ought to help his case considera- | bly by the time she asks for alimony. From the Cleveland News loudly against this’ fault and they deserve all the heart-| | growing into the man of industry and NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM 1. G M. “THE JEW HAS COME HOME." By Albert Londres, Translated by Wil- liam Staples. New York: Richard R. Smith, Inc. was setting out this time not on a ‘our of the world but on a tour of the Jews instead.” Mr. Londres’ goal the ghetto of many a great city. (In- teresting word, “ghetto,” its source Italian. A sizable volume of Jewish history held within those six letters. Its chapters drawn from the four quar- ters of Jewish persecution by pious Gentile on the one hand, by pagan con- queror on the other.) From Whitechapel to Paris and Ber- lin and Vienna, to Warsaw and Cracow, to Egypt, and, finally, to Jerusalem it~ self. Such the course of this journey. Why set out from ‘Whitechapel quarter of London? ause here is gathered probably the greatest and certainly the most freely characteristic of Jewish colonies within Christian city limits. Here is the one best fitted to provide a measure for the others. For within the enveloping life of the great city the Jew has had more freedom to expand both in conformity to his sur- roundings and in obedience, as well, to the racial instincts of which he is so inalienably possessed. So Whitechapel becomes the starting point of this “tour of the Jew: And what is the business of this en- terprise? What the purpose of its pur- Here is the old familiar drive of hunting down an idea. An idea im- i in_an absorbing in- sh history and in the current life of these people throughout the Occidental world. This idea, fed | and fostered, became definite opinion. And the opinion settled to convictions is this conviction that, after long study, steps out into the open by way f the sketches and studies comprising he Jew Has Come Home.” The heart of the adventure, that which gives it drive and direction, is Zionism, the dream to which has been poured a solidifying and vitalizing stream of per- dedication to the reality of a New Jerusalem for the scattered tribes of Tsrael. Now Zionism, like all other Utopian isms, is shaped for lure, glamour, se- duction. Escape is its prime promise; and assurance. And escape is that which every son and daughter of Adam is bent upon. Sourced in vague long- ings, in a universal nostalgia as old as Eden, and older, escape reaches ever forward to some Elysian future—to- morrow, next year, any time and where out of the gray and belittling present. Such the Utopian dream that time and again seeks to lift the burden of actual | humanity up from its depth: By sketch and episode and story, all | simple and communicable, the author portrays the Jewish ideal fermenting in the West. An old rabbi, come out of the East for alms, embodies the| spirit of the early Hebrew. An in- spired vision of Theodore Herzel pro- jects the body of the New Jerusalem. Tender, sympathetic and beautiful is| this conception, this definition of the modern_purpose of an_ancient people rpos returned to its birthright of soil as & | white lead cement is applied, it is well | nation of political competency and in-|to rub down the edges a very little with | tellectual power. But, beside the dream, so far as yet from realization, in a subtly simple way | are eet out innumerable pictures and | records of the highly competent life of the Jew as a part of the general cur- rent life. Just as the Puritan is a part of it, or the Cavalier, or-the Spanish noble, or the high adventurer, or all the rest of us. The Jew is an essantial | part of the rest. In art, he leads.| The great musicians belong, chiefly, to the Hebrew race. The great phila thropists and financiers and writers and tion, Jews. Good citizens, good house- holders, most desirable in any part of the world, these disciplined and self- controlled people of an ancient orde; Then, at last, this man touring Israel takes the readers to Jerusalem. Seats him beside the ritual of the Wailing Wall, that tragic reminder of departed glory. All around are people far be- shind these progressive Zionists, bent upon rebuilding a natiom. Obstruc- tionists, ~defeatists, suspicious, hostile in mood end action. And this is the point at which the conviction with which this writer set| out upop adventure comes out to meet the reader. The conviction that the true glory of the Hebrew is to use his high gifts and powers where they have become really at home. A_separatist by nature. Granted. But shrewd and far-seeing. Conscious of his usefulness wheve civilization is swiftly moving for- ward, imaginative enough to feel that | wherever he himself stands there s the soil of Jerusalem, there is the flowering of the Hebrew soul. A most interesting series of views, pictures, reasonings, per- suasions—all bent to the great idea that | “The Jew Has Come Home.” That here is his home. That here is where true living has room and usefulness in every direction. * ok ok x BORN A JEW. By Boris D. Bogen. In collaboration with Alfred Segal. New York:” The Macmillan Co. If they were still in vogue, the old gods, so easy of approach, so intimate in their dealings with man, and if they were to say that we must give up ail but one of the qualities so laboriously gained through the adventure of being human—then in a single voice we would | cry, “Take all the others, but leave me ' courage!” That, without question, would be the cry. Courage to live from morning to night, and then on to morn- ing again through the multitudinous assaults upon the body and spirit of the commonest among us. That is the one imperative. Any one’s life set out would give plain proof of this. But here is an exceptional man’s life. A life whose vicissitudes from start on- ward demonstrate the glory of courage; demonstrate its triumph aiso. Born in Moscow, shut rigorously within the ghetto of that city. A squalid day after day of practical im- prisonment. What to do about it. Oh, settle down to it and die out of it! Not at all. This is one of the invincibles, This is of the enduring tribe of Judah. So, instead of a smudged and smolder- ing spirit, there came in its place a flaming fire instead. A consuming pas- sion to open out, to lend a hand, to help not only his immediate quarter, but the wide world instead of oppres- sion and cruelty and injustice. And this is the story of another Rus- sian rebcl among the many who have resisted tyranny. It took courage, high and invulnerable, to join the young Russian Jews in a sense of their own rights, political and social. Courage, too, to leave the known—intolerable as it was—for the unknown. To emigrate to America, New York. Hard labor. Emall rewars But the spirit held, and 50, little by little, here a step ahead and there another. And the boy, Boris, was 1esource, getting an education along the ay, learning to write, a little, about that of which he was full and over- flowing. To write of his people, the Jews, for whom his mind ‘and hands were open to their greatest extent. All through this story there runs, without parade and as matter of course, that astonishing race loyalty which sets the | sponsible for BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Few Americans realize how much their Government does for them. Read- ers of The Evening Star can draw on all Government activities through our free intormation service. The world's greatest libraries, laboratories and ex- perimental stations are at their com- mand. Ask any question of fact and it will be answered, free, by mail direct to you. Inclose 2-cent stamp for reply postage and address The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washington, Q. Why is Lewis Wilson of the Chi- cu%n :ulon-l League team called Hack? A. The nickname was given him be- cause his broad shoulders reminded people of the famous Hackenschmidt. Q. What does the initial W in the name of Andrew W. Mellon stand for? —L. P. H. A. The full name of the astute Sec- retary of the Treasury is Andrew Wil- liam Mellon, but in signing his name he uses only the initials A. W. . How many checks are being sent out daily by the Veterans' Bureau in lending money to the soldiers?—E. B. K. s e Veterans' Bureau says that approximately 6.000 checks are being' mailed daily from the central office of the Veterans' Bureau, Washington, D. C. A veteran can expect his check from 30 to 40 days after his application has been received at the Veterans' Bureau. Q. How many banding associa- tions are there in the United States? —H. B. A. There are four: Eastern Bird- Banding Association, Northeastern Bird-Banding Association, Inland Bird- Banding Association and Western Bird- Banding Association. Q. At what ages are there the great- est number of deaths?—F. J. N. A. The years in which the greatest mortality rates occur are from birth to 1 year of age. This period is high- est until 78 years of age, when, of course, the rate is very high. Q. What country won the greatest number of points in the 1928 Olympic games?—H. P. R. A. Germany was first with 4515 points and the United States second with 39, Q. When can the milk of the coco- nut be drunk?—W. A. The Bureau Plant Industry says that the milk from the coconut is used as a drink immediately after the coconut is opened. Q. Please give good method for mending china and glassware at home. —D. D. A. The Department of Agriculture recommends what is known as grand- mother’s white lead process for mending broken china. The cementing material is white lead such as is used by artists working with oil paints. it may be rubbed with the finger on the raw edges of the dish and the piece which is to be cemented into place, but before the emery paper to make room for the thin layer of white lead, so that the dish v;lhen completed will not be distorted in shape. much larger when rising and setting? — Q. D. S. A. They are not. They seem because they can then be compared terrestrial objects. ith Q. Why are the sun and moon so| Q it is infringement of & x!- . V. E. o . Rogers on Patents says: “In- fringement is the unauthorized 3 mt' or selling for practical use, or for profit, valid claim of a patent during the life of the patent. It may involve any one or all of the acts of making, using and selling. It is therefore an infringement for an unauthorized person to mage a patented machine for use or for sale t.hl:l‘h in fact it is neither used nor scld Q. Does raw cane sugar contain salts -n'd‘ lenenla which are lost in refining? A. The Bureau of Plant Industry says that in raw cane sugar there are traces of molasses in which are found certair salts and minerals. In refined sugar all the molasses, salts and minerals con- tained in it are removed. Q. What is the epitaph on a tomb- stone at Mount Vernon which speaks of the beauty and brains of the de- ceased?—H. F. D. A. It fs part of the inscription on the shaft over the grave of Nelly Custis and : “This Lady was not more Te- m: ble for the beauty of her person than for the superiority of her mind.” Q. How can leather be cleaned?—R. E. A. A solution of soap and water to which ofl and alcohol have been added will give a good cleaner for leather. To prepare, use one bar of white soap dis- solved in one cup of water: then add one cup of alcohol and two cups of light oil. This will not only clean the leather, but will help to supply some of the oil it naturally requires. Q. Is it. known how many icebargs there will be in the Norta Atlantic this Summer?—B. M. A. The United States Coast Guard says that it is anticipated that 310 ice- bergs will come down into the Atlantic this Summer. This is not a great num- ber in comparison With 1929, when there were 1,300. Q. What was the largest purse ever paid for a wrestling bout?>—W. J. L. A. Jack Curley of Madison Square Garden, New York City, says that it was $36,000, which he paid for Gotch~ Hackenschmidt. Thirty thousand paid admission to this bout and the receipts ‘were $94,000. Q. Please describe the Hanging Gar- dens of Babylon—H. C. B. A. They are said to have formed & square with an area of nearly four acres and rose in terraces, supported on masonry arches, to & height of T5 feet. They were frrigated from a resrvoir built at the top, to which water was lifted from the Euphrates by & serew. Fountains and banqueting rooms vere distributed throughout the numemous terraces; groves and avenues of trees, as well as parterres of flowers, diveni- fled the scene, while the view of the city and neighborhood was extensive and magnificent. Q. Who sald “Defend me from my Mend‘:' I c?“g;d%m myself from my A. It is ascribed by the French to | Marechal Villars. He is said to have used this aphorism when taking leave | of Louis XIV. Q. At Oxford or Cambridge do any of the colleges conduct examinations?— | 8. W. A. At these universities none of the colleges ccnfers a degree or conducts examinations. These functions are ex- ercised by the \nuv&dty. Is Reminder Decision of the tence of a year in jail and a fine of $100,000 for Albert B. Fall is held by thel country to be just another step in a long-drawn-out case. The oil scan- dals are viewed as an example of de- layed justice which should lead to im- provement in legal methods, but it is declared that there is a growing tend- ency to hold prominent offenders re- their acts. “Assuredly justice has been leaden- footed,” asserts the St. Louis Post-Dis- patch, , “in this battle of the Govern- ment With its betrayer and plunderers, but instead of ‘iron-handed blows’ the country has beheld the !unou&e:tures of shadow boxing. Indeed, im- potency of the Government to bring powerful offenders to Was ac- centuated by the spectacle of important witnesses fleeing the country and con- temptuously defying the authority of the courts. Blackmer continues to be a ‘fugitive from the subpoena’ but thanks to a bill, now a law, introduced by Senator Walsh of Montana, to whom the Nation is indebted for the exposure of the plot which the elder La Follette discovered, and for the recovery of the oil lands—thanks to Senator Walsh an absconding witness can now at least be made to pay. Blackmer has already forfeited $100,000 and another fine of $60,000 is recorded against him. But the disturbing verdict of this whole historic conspiracy is that justice has failed badl: [ Dayton Daily New ‘is a stage in the conviction and execution of sentence. Nine years after the oil frauds of 1922 one out of perhaps a dozen men privy to the transaction and implicated in it has been brought within sight of a prison door. To date the blackest chapter in our American political his- tory has gone virtually unpunished, either criminally or politically.” . e “The process of justice is not so slow when some obscure and friendless per- 'son is accused of a much lesser degree f robbery. He finds himself in jail in a hurry and runs no winning race with Father Time,” suggests the Akron Beacon Journal, whi the Scranton Times maintains that “there should be greater speed in finally disposing of these cases,” as delay “only serves to make people feel and believe that with enough money and influence, justice and the courts can be thwarted,” and the Shreveport Journal finds satisfac- tion in the fact that “he is just one step outside the prison, as asresylt of the action of the court in affirming deci- sions and sentences imposed more than a year ago. “The chapter has been one of the most disgraceful in the whole history of the country,” states the Roanoke World-News, “exceeding in extent and importance the Belknap scandals in the Grant administration. It does not en- courage public belief in the substantial justige of our court procedure that Fall has been able to avoid prison for nearly eight years, after his conduct was fully exposed by Democratic members of the Senate of the United States. “While it has been impossible so far to secure the jailing of any person or persons,” _comments _the " Allentown Morning Call, “the effects have been Jew very high in the plane of human achievement. Oh, yes, that way lies narrowness and bigotry! I know. But not with these people. And certainly the Gentile could have nothing to say on that score even if such devotion to race led to bigotry and npothing else. But, to the story of Boris Bogen, who in gallant bravery and dogged persistence worked upward, car- rying with him as many of his people as any one youth, or man, could in any way help or encourage. Wide service among the Jews in America and in other countries makes a clear, and in- spiring, philanthropist—a true lover of mankind—out of this immigrant from Moscow. His story gives time to the suffering of the Jews over in Russia and thereabouts. Actual suffering fros want and misery quite'as real from d! =y t good. It is unlikely that many men will take such bold chances again as those that ‘were taken in the bold steals of Teapot Dome and Elk Hills” The Toledo Blade voices the conclusion that “decisions indicate that there has been no advantage in these cases to the wealthy or powerful.” The Port Huron Times-Herald believes that “more than ever we are demanding clean business and official integrity of our ca:ndnppe-hd the District of Columl afirming sen- | according to the | long judicial course which lies between | lFailure of Appeal in Fall Case of Legal Delays apolis Star maintains that “even final punishment will not end the story of Teapot Dome”: -that “such depravity goes down in history.” * * *x % “Somehow it would seem’” in the judgment of the Danbury News, “as though Albert B. Fall would be relieved to get even into prison, out of the sight of his normal fellow citizens. Since the accusations were brought against him he has hidden, shamed and shameful, in his ranch, denying himself to visitors, furtive, haunted and hounded, every recollection of his former high position a hammer blow to his pride, and in awful contrast to his present situation. Nobody can take any pleasure in con= templating this sad wreck of what was once a successful career. A look in Fall direction, however, might strengthen be- lief in the old and sometimes forgotten saying concerning the wages of sin.” ‘An enlivened public interest in bring- ing highly placed offenders to justice” is emphasized by the Detroit Free Press, with the explanation: “The ethics of business and public life in this country, which may be arrived at by multiplying the human equation by opportunity to indulge one’s cupidity, are perhaps no higher today than they have averaged during the past, but it seems clear that the public is maintaining a more vigilant watch upon men in high places and in- sisting more vigorously on their playing the game honestly or taking the conse- quences. A little knowledge of what has gone before sometimes makes the prese ent less appalling and the future less gressor” says the Omaha World-Herald, “the way has been made hard. Old, weary, feeble, disgraced—and once he was a mighty cattle king of the great Southwest, arro- gant and ruthless in the exercise of political power. Then he became a United States Senator, a proud and bold leader in the upper chamber of our Congress, and from there passed to sit at the right hand of a President of the United States as one of his chosen coun- | selors. The mighty, when they fall, fall far. Jail would be little farther. How much better it would have been for Fall had he realized. with Grover Cleveland, that a public office 1s a public trust and conducted himself accordingly! | “What a judgment it is” exclaims | the Kansas City Times, “for a man ad- | vanced in years and broken in health; | & man who, for the greater part of his | life, was accustomed to high honors and positigns of great public trust. But here | was & man who already had been twice | branded by the Federal Supreme Court as a ‘faithless public official,’ a man who had been a party to the making of the ‘Teapot Dome lease ‘by means of col- lusion and conspiracy.’ Such is the course of true justice with the wrong doer; such is the tragedy of a public trust, shamefully abused.” e eme—e Citizen Hits Coney Island Appearance of Avenue To the Editor of The Star: Permit me to register a protest against the character of the development along Connecticut avenue south of Albemarle street. This is one of our most beauti- ful avenues, leading from Chevy Chase Circle almost to the White House, vet it has been permitted to deteriorate in such a way that at present it has a dis- tinet Coney Island atmosphere, with hot-dog stands, barbecues, miniature oIf courses, root beer stands, etc. Only the merry-go-round is lacking. It has always been my understanding that th of a Zoning Com- public against thing. If nsible in the District of Columbia public servants, and he who falls to work straight all the way must be e the consequences.” The of help sul for service to the ed. Good reading. admirable people. b ct the main avenues of the Namlul against such inexcus- able eyesores, it would apparently be desirable to change eitner the law or ‘WILBUR LA ROE, Jr. ST Smoking Mothers Careful. Fram the 8t. Paul Dispatch. has shown si of getting beyond con- i Eight-foot octopus was captured in Bor But the story e | aid_should be spontaneous and cordial, sensions and bickerings among diffes trol. more. One of these asserts kinship or ‘There ought to be some way of solving runs a risk if you marrtes a han'som an’ struttin’ foh de intire gam'ly,” ) rather than marked with reluctanc the score that her grandmother was a man. He's liabie to want to do de loafin’ 1y has jong been the policy of our gov- who wished to ernment to exclude those the ocean off Oregon coast, Proving not all the trusts are relief agencies. A man this is. A chi acter of genuine greatness, greatness us geln from it some o gal t n f sincere [ that is made out of the simple elements Wf-’rf En?lmu. e koS T A baby's eye.