Evening Star Newspaper, May 2, 1931, Page 6

A6 “THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. 'SATURDAY........May 2, 1931 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company . Business Ofce: et Sl B PO e w Yor 3 3 ke Michigan Bulding Behe o B h'r«fim H2.. Londo England. Rate by Carrier Within the City. Fhe: Erenine Star _45¢ per month ‘%he Evening an i » 4 ! ndays) . . .80 per montn 'fi."‘i’-’énm and. Bunday ‘Siat (when 5 Sundays) ...... ...6¢ per month | o B RaF i ek 3”"'.°m°., 2 Sent in by mail of telephone [Ational 8000, " Rate by Mail—Payzble in Advance. o Maryland e=nd Virgin'a. . 1yr. 31000, 1 mo, 83 y only ... 1¥r. $4.00.1Mmo. 40c i ] All Other States and Canada. ly and Sundar...1yr,$12.00 1mo.. 81 i . ‘Member of the Associated Press. ocjated Press i3 exclusively ertitied +tothe Aite or Tepubliation of all news a3 stches credite 0 it or not otha-wise cred- in this psper and also the local news iblished nt{'lm fiu rights ef publication of | becisl dispaches herein are also icserved. —_— oo | 5 Investigate These Charges! The Commissioners will surely move swift'y to grant the public heerings of invectigation of the collapse of steel- “work on the Roosevelt High School job | demanded in the astonishing letter from one of the subcontractors. The letter has a steely ring to it. It is brim- ful of charges and specifications that _ean be answered only by the testimony of witnesses before & board of experts. ‘The Commissioners should be able to obtain the services of these experts, and the hearing should begin at once. The charges are serious. They do not lis merely in the allegations of faulty -and unlawful design, but in the state- nts, repeated several times, that the subcontractor brought to the attention ‘cf the contractor and the District au- thorities the alleged faults and errors THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, 8: superficial area. When one of '.hue!!o bed until late, and will find 1t ex- glant office buildings discharges its oc- | cupants thé effect is as of a flood gate opened at a reservolr, throwing thou- sands into the streets at’once. This, however, 1s not a matter that concerns the investors in such stupendous con- structions, or the engineers who plan them, or the technicians who erect them. It is of no moment to any of these that the multiplication of stories in towering heights puts excessive loads upon the transit facilities, upon the very streets themselves. So long as it cont'nues to pay to pile story upon story, in terms of rentals and net prefits, these erections will continue to ascend to greater and greater heights. Now that the 1,250- foot building is an actuality, in service, | the 1,50%-foct bullding may be Jooked | rwa.c. to s en eventual, perhaps an ' , nchievem-nt. ! .- A Drastic Retrenchment Policy. There cre gt least two rezsons why it is extremely difficult to find consistency | in the Government's announced pol prohihiting further salary increases One is the adminictration’s advice to industry, so resently and su well ex- pressed by Secretary Lamont 2t Atlantic City, asainst reducing was Another | is Presidert Hoover's recomraendations for salary increases as made in the last budget message. As for the first, there is a difference, of course, between not increasing wages and in reducing wages. The heretofore prevalling practice in promotions in the Government service, however, is such that the difference becomes a matter of splitting haire. Promotions have not been made unless the employe has earned the right, by efficiency and skill. to increased compensation. If he eams ! a higher salary and the Government says it cannot be pald because of the Treasury deficit, lower cost of llving. etc., the Government is pursuing the identical tactics adopted by hard- pressed employers who reduce salaries. In his latest message to Congress on the budget President Hoover pointed .and that they went uncorrected. Even sthe: proof of these charges would not} Jentirely absolve the subcontractor from the responsibility that seems to rest upon him because of the collapse of the steelwork. The subcontractor could bave gained his point, and at less ex- “pense, if he had publicly and strenu- ously opposed doing his part of the job +while in the possession of knowledge that other work, upon which its ex- cellence depended, was faulty. In choosing not to do this he naturally accepted responsibility for which he now has been held accountable. But +1f his charges are true, a general house- -cleaning above and beyond the sub- ~contractor's office is in order. The investigation can develop the truth of the charges. But the charges have aiready developed, and most elo- quently, the divided responsibility in - constructicn work that les between the . various contractors and subcontractors. ‘Who is doing the job on the Roosevelt for a part of the steelwork to the . Heron Todd Construction Co. of Wash- becomes the defend- of the collapse of a , and the plaintiff the responsibility for each of these various ‘contracts a profit is exacted, and each profit s taken from the cost of the building paid for. by the taxpayers. **They cannot spend all their time watch- ’Ang the work of the contractor, or in _holding him responsible. They nat- urally must exercise even greater pre- caution ir inspecting the work of the . subcontractors. The crash of the steel framework is evidence enough that this major re- sponsibility was not fulfilled. The com- plaints of the subcontractor allege, in effact, that it was deliberately evaded. “Gentlemen,” said Assistant Engineer " Commissicner Robb to the various con- tractors assembled in his office on the day following the collapse of the steel- work, “this is a hell of a mess.” And it . atill remains within that suceinct clas- " etfication of messes. ———————— ™ view of the latest pronouncement of science that coagulation of brain $ Ussue can cause mental ills, the old- ! tme pithy phrase “addle-pated” was 4 mot so far out of the wa: —_— e Higher and Higher Construction. Yesterday President Hoover pressed a ‘button that switched on the lights in 1 the tallest building in the world, the Empire State Building in New York City, the top of which is 1,250 feet above the sidewalks. Other ceremonies attended the formal opening of the $ structure, the erection of which has a + tracted general attention, particularly % because of its extraordinary dimensions. out that under the 1923 classification act there has developed “a wide dif- ference among the several departments and ‘establishments as to the relation- ship which the average of existing sal- aries bears to the compensation rates provided by law for the various grades of positions.” Favoring an appropria- tion for the fiscal year 1932 to begin the elimination of inequalities in pay, eventually to Tequire about $14,440,000, President Hoover suggested that thirty per cent of this amount be made imme- diately available. “While the percent- age,” he wrote, “has been arbitrarily chosen and might be modified without affecting the purpose of eliminating dis- crepancies between and within the va- rious departments and establishments, I belleve any general deviation from the general principle stated or any applica- tion of it to one department and not to another will defeat the purpose of pro- viding ‘equal compensation for equal work,” which was the expressed intent of Congress in enacting the classifica- tion act of 1923.” 1t is true that Congress failed to act on this proposal, and it is true that the Executive's responsibility in the matter is ended when he points to the need and asks for the appropriation. 1f Con- gress does mot supply the money, Which does mot grow on trees, the Executive branch oannot be expected to do it But Congress also refused to accept the specific prohibitions against salary in- creases proposed by Chairman Wood and the Appropriations Committee of the House. The amendments carrying such prohibitions were decisively beaten. And the Senate, at least, only vielded to the House in the fight for salary pro- motions on the understanding that as many as could be made by the utiliza- tion of lapsed balances and cther econ- omies would be made. In prohibiting further salary promotions the executive branch of the Government has in effect taken the very step that the legislative branch refused to take. Increases “provided by law” will con- tinue to be made. These constitute about one-fourth of the salary promo- tions, outside the postal service, and are made by individual reallocations from one grade to another by action of the Personnel Classification Board. The remaining three-fourths, affected | by the new policy, are the promotions within grades, based on efficiency rat- ings or resulting from deaths, retire- ments or removal of those occupying the higher salary steps. The term for this class of promotions is “efficiency promctions.” If the Government aban- dons “efficiency promotions” it thus re- moves an obvious incentive to efficiency. ‘The administration's desire for econ- omy is naturally shared by the tax- pavers. But the economy derived by cutting off promotions is relatively small and effected pt the expense of low- salaried Government workers. A policy not to fill vacancies when no real ne- cessity exists is perfectly sound. It should be followed in fat years as well as 1:an, as nobody wants a beehive in Washington full of drones. But failure to ] vacancies is one thing. Fayure | {t> hold out the hove for increases in | salary earmsd by efficient work is an- | other. 1f vacancies are not filled, a But it is not assured that it will long ramain the tallest building. It is quite % rossible that even at this moment pla are being drawn for another structure 4 that will out-iop the Empire State, with 4 or without a dirigible landing mast such as that which caps this newest creation Apparently there are no enginsering lim.ts to the height of buildings con- § structed on the steel-skeleton principle. Toundations capable of withstanding Pressures far greater than those that are rted by existing skyscrapers are *'to be had on the solid rock such es that which underlies Manhattan. Windstrains far beyond these to which buildings are subjected at present can be resisted. There are no structural difficulties in carrying fabric beyond the point of .«-one hundred and one floors, which is § the height of the Empire State. The real test in this watter is an economic one, Will it pa® as an invest- ment to carry a structure higher? The primary motive of vertical extension of “construction is to get the maximum use ©f & given area of csstly city land. Income-yielding floor space can only ‘be made by multiplication of occupied levels. This involves problems of elevator service, which so far have been solved adequately. There {8 not yet in sight ',.any limit to the extensicn of these “perpendicular trams.” A factor in skyscraping, as it may b’ eelled, is the matter of street conges- ticn insident to concentration of great m.; of people wihin & narrow portion of the salaries thus well be gpared to increase t |sation ef thoss remaining to carry on | additional work salary incr-ases now prohibited | {are sman ! computed. are relatively small. As much | cannct be sald for the moral effect on | {the emploves and ths country et large of this dractically severe departure in | retrenchment. | A carefully word>d explanation of the | new policy, with du» emphasis made upon what muct be its emergent but temporary character, would have soft- ered a blow that has fallen with harsh suddenness on the Government_per- sonnel. Rt ot | May Day casualti*s are no longer shocking. when compared with the The total savings, vet to b~ | POS pedient to sleep late as a consequence. Hence there arises a world of conflict between groups of human beings, some of whom want to go to bed “with the chickens,” and others of whom want to stay wide-awake until long past mid- night, making “whoopee,” as they say. It ®ill be realized that there is no reconciling these two classes of human beings, unless the “morning slespers” are willing to concede the rights of the “evening sleepers” o their rest. The question is further complicated by the roar of the city, the presence of bright lights, interesting entertainments, and the radio, which brings “p>p” and mu- sical speed into the home at the precise time when Naturs calls upon “evening sleepers” to seek their daily repose. This rew information is valuable, if only because it gives members of the morning cleep group an opportur 'ty to know that all human beings are not constructed alike in habits of :leep more than in other physical mattera and that the evening slecpers are not necessarily old slow pokes, behind the times and “dead to the world” just be- cause they go to bed early. Nor, on the other hand, will these early sleepers be able to say henceforth, as some of them may have been tempt- ed to do hitherto, that Benjamin Frankll's maxim invariably fits all mankind. There are many people, it is seen, for whom ‘“early to bed” will not result in either wisdom or wealth. The best thing that can come from such studies is a new tolerance on the part of all who live in cities, which will permit every human being to live as he pleases so long as he annoys no other human being or violates the rights of man as set forth in the great funda- mental documents of our history. P Dangerous Displays. Little praise can be accorded the school officlals of Cincinnati for thelr stupid action in permitting wild ani-| mals to be taken into a school room for lecture purposes. The incident happened a few days ago. A lion and two bears were taken to a class room. A child of six years was inspecting the lion which was held by a leash at- tached to a radiator. Suddenly the animal sprang and before it could be subdued it inflicted serious injuries on | the little girl. The schcol room is no place for dangerous beasts. If children must b | taught about animals the zo00 is the suitable place for lectures. Proper pro- tection for the ybungsters can be af- forded there. The senseless and danger- | ous performance in Cincinnati well deserves the nation-wide condemnation that has been given it. — v The “How doth the busy little bee | improve the shining hour” quotation is | more than ever appropriate since the dis- patches from New Jersey tell how bee- insects to fruit growers in order to help | the latter speed up pollenization of their orchards. Not only must the| renters pay from five to ten dollars per | hive, but they also thus feed the hired help. R keepers are renting out hivefuls of the | by l Now begins the gardener's annual, fight with insects. In many cases this battle will not bel as vigorous as discussions of the matter | have led one to think. | There is many an ordinary guden' in which nothing special is grown but where distinction is achieveq by grow- ing the common things well, in which few insect pests arise to annoy the owner. | Such a gardener is fortunate, for his | very next-door neighbor may be afflicted | with roct lice, which destroy his asters; red spider, which plavs havoc with | sweetpeas; aphids, which, unchecked, | will harm_ rosebushes: the dread Jap- ancse beetle, which aims to eat up an | entir> garden. | An avernge state of affairs, however, shows us a determined assault in the Spring by the ephids, perhaps some in- clination on the part of climbing roses | to mildew. and a visitation of blac spot, or leaf-spot, on bush roses. Ordinarily these will be the extent | | of the depredations, and most of the | harm can be controlled by determined | measures. | There are on the market | ceveral combined sprays which will do | a good job of ending both chewing and | sucking insects and in controlling | fungus growth of various sorts. * K K % Most of us will not be bothered in | our gardening operations by such queer pests as the quince curculio, a broad- shouldered snout beetle, whose larva burrows in quinces. Varjous scales affiict fruit trees and certain ornamentals, such as lilacs. These can be kept down and minimized by a painting with various preparations to be secured at any dealer in garden suppiies. The main trouble in this interesting battle lies with the gardener in most | cases, He simply will not apply the remedy. In the first place. he may not recog- nize the danger. first and essentiai step. He will not go this far. however, uniess he becomes interested in the work. No doubt there are thousands of per- sons solemnly playing bridge who do not like to glny bridge and who de- voutedly wish that Mr. Work and all his minions were condemned to eternal torture of plaving through eternity. There are thousands of men smoking pipes who really prefer cigarettes; there are goldiers in uniform who wish that they had the easy freedom of yonder young man in his sports car. There are all these, but probably their number is far exceeded by the group of amateurs who fervidly chatter about the divine work of gardening and yet who all the time cordially detest the | never-ending interest which the garden | demands. These people will never be able to take the first step in insect control, not because they do not have the money to | spend for insecticides and fungicides and the like. but simply because they are constitutionally incapable of recog- nizing an insect when they see one, * x % % The first step, then, is to know your insects. % ‘The next is to seek, either Trom some active gardener or through books, the proper remedies. As we have pointed out, the dangers which threaten an aversge small garden are not many, and he who is determined give his plants a fair chance will soon be able to find out for himself all he needs to know. Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands. small gardens contain hundreds of thousands of iris which have never known the borer, the bane of many iris growers. Sometimes it seems as if the com- ‘This is, of course. the | iYAY, THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. moner and cheaper a plant is—although not thereby the less heautiful—the freer it is from pests, perhaps on the same theory whereby the children of the poor seem the freest from disease. These who confine most of their rose growing to reading about them in books and magazines mfshs well get the idea that rose culture was one eternal bed of thorns, insects, blights, failures. The truth is that almost anybody can grow rcses successfully if there is some good honest clay in his soil and if he is content to stick to such splendid varieties as the Radiances, red and pink, divinely intended for the amateur. Such roses will thrive without ferti- lizer, water or attention of any kind. They are, it must never be forgotten, woody shrubs, and possess all the tenacity of life which distinguishes the regal altheas. The althea, or rose of Sharon. de- serves a great deal more praise than it ordinarily gets. Most gardeners are content to regard it as firmly fixed in the group of old-time things which de- serve no particular consideration be- cause so familiar. If the althea had just been discovered. in China, say. or some other country strange (to us), it would be received with wonder and acclaim by all garden- minded people. As it is, because we have known it | from childhood and see it on every hand, the althea tends to become too common for discussion. No doubt there is a great field open for some 'person with an _interested mind to draw up lists of all common things which are nevertheless lovely or useful, cr both, and t6 dwell upon them with such words of light as shall put | them in their proper high places. * ok ow % A gardener is inclined to think upon | pzcasion how far finer the garden would | be_without the pests and blights. | But would it? A garden is a symbolical place, and always has been ever sinee the first garden, -called Eden. | It is fitting that it should contain both loveliness and ugliness. with health and disease, both life and death. Just, as there could be no death with- out life first, s0 there is no disease with- |out health, no ugliness without loveli- | mess. | Life in the last analysis is responsible | for death. |~ Health must bear the blame for il | health, beauty for ugliness. These inimical aspects of things as | they are are the reverse side of the | medals we admire. ‘ If we turn over a stone in the meadow, we must expect ugly things to come tumbling out. Why both sides of everything could | not be equally sane—from our human standpoint—we do not know. Nor does anybody else. * ok ok ok 2 Surely the garden without its plant lice would be a far less intriguing place. It would permit the ‘owner .to put nothing into it of himsslf, and thus would deprive him of the com- fort which comes to us self-centered creatures. “What T kept T lost, what I threw away I had,” some one said, and it| |applies In the garden as elsewhere. ‘The effort which is expended in fight- | Ing to eave a plant from unmerited de- struction in reality becomes the clean, |fresh bark and finally the beautiful | flowers. ‘We see in a garden not with our eyes |alone but even more with our sprayers and our powder guns, our bottles of in- secticides and our anti-fungus powders. | our powers of appreciation depend at | last upon our strong right arm and the strength of our knees. A Virginia quarry worker has been awarded a medal for having handled explosives safely and -constantly for thirty-seven years. Possibly he could take on Maj. Gen. Smediey D. Butler, U. 8. M. C. PR “Absconder Crashes: Canadian Bank Teller's Auto Hits Tree, Injuring Pecu- lator,” ran a recent headline over a Montreal dispatch. It was thought only taxicabs had those contraptions. o SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. ‘Too Much to Expect. Amid philosophies that iy, With fancy’s rainbow colors fraught, Perhaps it might be well to try A simple, unpretentious thought. So here’s a line for joyous youth, As well as manhood's toilsome prime. Remember, son, this simple truth— You can't be lucky all the time. ‘The wheels of fate as they go 'round Must turn for loss as well as gain. Some blame as well as praise must sound, And great reforms prove oft in vain. And so, when wearying in the strife, Do not forget this homely rhyme, Be brave and play the game of Life— You can't be lucky all the time. Evading Peace. “Do you think a big navy is a guar- antee of peace?” “Not exactly,” replied Senator Sor- ghum. “You couldn't possibly expect to build ships for a big navy without | inviting a hot fight over the appropria- tions.” Resented. “The Declaration of Independence says that all men are born equal.” “How ebsurd!” exclaimed young Mrs. Torkins. “The idea of assuming that the Smithers’ baby could be compared to ours!” An Object Attained. His speech in deep sccents was hear to ascend. His language was forceful and stately. It wasn't of any effect in the end. But it pleased his constituents greatly. d All for the Best. “A woman has no sense of humor." sald the man who assumes a superfor se. “Did you ever watch a man pro- pose?” asked Miss Cayenne. “No" “Then you don't realize that a femi- nine appreciation of the humorous would overcrowd th~ world with spin- sters.” Hours of Occupation. A man should keep toiling for eight hours a day, & And that is considered aplenty. But when housecleaning comes, wondrous array {Of things to be packed or else put on display: ith its everyday cost of carclessness in the streets. . PO SRS SRR R Kinds of Sleepers. Sclence finds out many queer and In- teresiing things these days. One of the latest facts discovered is that human beings, as sl7pers, may be divided into two broad groups, evening sleepers and morning sleapers, ‘Those who get their best eleep in the evening need to go to hed early, and consequently will arise early. Those =ho secure thefr most berefictal 'um mlnlhemzmlnlnmnmmzww When stepladders haunt you until you are gray And your clothes smell like tar as you put them away, You're in luck if you get off with twenty. Elegant Discourse. “I wants to be procrastinated at de nex’ corner,” sald Mr. Eractus Pinkley. “You want to be what?” demanded the conductor. “Don’ lose your temper. I had to look in de dictionary myse'f befo' 1 found cat dat ‘procractinate’ means ‘put ofl.' ® P ‘The American public has examined | the defense cf Mayor James J. Walker of New York as to the affairs of the metropolis, and in general is not favor- | ably impressed by his discussion of the | matter of responsibility. In view of | any support he has received through the verdict of Gov. Roosevelt, it is felt that further evidence may be necessary. but the popular belief is that final decision | ! mayor's charge that his accusers are Soclalists is regarded as irrelevant. “‘Walker would have made a stronger presentation of his case if he had ab- stained from reflecting upon the com- plainants,” thinks the Erie Dispatch- Herald, with the conclusion that “nct- | withstanding his long legislative service, events have proved that he has no | broad grasp of the details of the city government nor any disposition to study them,” but that “the voters of New York condoned his faults by re-electing him by a great majority.” The Dis- patch-Herald maintains that “it takes something more than rhetoric to fur- nish grounds for the removal of an elective official.” “It ix & reasonable defense he makes,” according fo the Charlotte Observer, “that he could nct be held responsible for the personal conduet of nearly 19.- 000 men in the police organization, but he gladly accepts responsibility for ac- tive procedure against any member who has in_any way indicated unfitness to wear fhe uniform. He instances the case of the President of the United | States or the Governor of a State, who {can do no more than exercise a rea- | sonable amount of regulation and su- | pervision. It is to be expected that the mayor’s accusers will now come to the bat, for it is up to them to make good their charges or bend the knee in con- fession of error.” *x x wd “If he does not know that there has bezn incompetence and worse in some of the departments, he is not fit to be at the head of the city,” contends the Indianapolis Star, while the Worcester ‘Telegram points out that “fundamen- | tally the mayor is responsible, for most | of the men against whom corruption 1 has been proved held office by the suf- ferance of the mayor,” and the Buffalo Evenipg News declares: “In no case has he taken the initiative in an eff {t> put hs house in order. He has | moved only under stern necessity. Con- | ditions in the New York City govern- ment are 80 bad that they have aroused public disgust.” “The keynote of his reply to charges filed against him,” avers the Kansas City Star, “is that his honcr refuses to | be ‘a detective.’ Indeed not. ‘It is not | the mayor’s busincss to cpen desks and drawers and go snooping and sniffing i around corners to check up hourly on | the actions of 130,000 city employes. The mayor is a man of hcnor. He will play in the open, cr nowhere. Tam- many leaders are men of honor, tJo. The:e ere points beyond which, even to which, they also will not go. These | gentlemen showed that plainly when | they were called before a grand jury investigating Tammany and were asked o waive immunity in testifying. They | were grossly insuited, and said 50. They knew what their business was, even as | the mayor knows what his business is. or is not. Think of a mayor snooping around trying to keep tab on his faith- ful workers! Whooie, as George Bungle would sav, such crust! Somebody had better apologize to the mayor right away.” | * o ow o “His answer is more thorough than the document that produced it,” in the | opinion of the New York Sun, which concedes that “the mayor's list of the azcomplishments of his administration is lcng and in the main creditable,” but advises that ““he might well have omitted the attack on Messrs. Holmes and Wise for their Socialism: that has | nothing to do with the merits of either the charges or the reply.” The New | York Evening Post says as to the radi- cal charges by the mayor. ** rot! How can a grown man shout forth this kind of stuff in & voice tremblinz with nesticn »nd expect public recpe.t for his inteilect?” must rest with State investigators. The | ort | Mayor Walker Defense Fails To Convince Public as Whole | “In handling the charges of the Civic | Affairs Commuttee,” asserts the Balti- | more Sun, “Mayor Walker had some- |thing of a ‘set-up.’ The earnestness with which they were drawn was pretty | well matched by their looseness, and | the mayor had a chance to cut them up badly by appealing to the detailed rec- ord at his disposal. This he seems to have done pretty effectively, though, of | course, no judgment on the state of municipal affairs in New York is ven- (tured here on the basis of a necessarily | cursory examination of his handiwork. That can much more safely await the | results of the legislative investigations \now in progress. But in meeting the ‘charges cf the Civic Affairs Committee | Mayor Walker by yielding to his a parently uncontrollable penchant for a | species of wise-cracking seems to us to | have taken much of the edge off his | work.” |~ “The attack on him, he implies,” ecorded by the Newark Evening News, ‘is camouflage for a wide attack on | all capitalistic institutions, political and | financial, and everybody had better hurry up and come to his defense or | the Nation's institutions will be over- | thrown. The public will be stupid if it is hoodwinked by anything like this. Attempts have been made to hook up | the Communists with almost everything {that has happened around the world. | Even the State Department had to back | out of its absurd intimation that the | political overturn in Nicaragua was a }FAG plot, directed from Mexico, aimed eventually at this country’s control of the Panama Canal. This ‘charge’ did not divert attention from the real situa- {tion in Nicaragua, and Mayor Walker may not expect by a similar one to make the public forget the real situation in New York City.” . Execution of Burke Urged as Beneficial Prom the Morgantown Dominion-News. “Gangland’s most dangerous killer,” Fred Burke, will stand trial in Michigan for murder. If convicted, he probably will draw the maximum penalty per- | miseible under Michigan law, a life -sugpnkre. ke urke was wan! ¥y Chics = | thorities as the man who h!ngeud .l‘llp | seven gangsters against a brick wall and shot them down. This crime was laid at his door when ballistic experts | determined that the bullets which killed the seven men were fired from & gun found in Burke's Chicago quarters. 1t is too bad that Chicago police did not get the first crack at Burke. A conviction there would mean the death | penalty, a fate that this confirmed kill- | er richly deserves. Society in general would be better off if he were removed from the scene. Burke is clearly a su- perior type mentally. He is in the kill- | ing business through choice, and not | because of any mental defect. | Another reason to regret the fact that he will not be tried in Chicago is that the infallible testimony of ballistic ex- gens would be used against him. Per- aps these experts will have little op- portunity in the near future to mssist in the investigation of crime. Criminals, though they may be mentally defective, |as opponents of capital punishment would have us believe, are nevertheless in many instances mighty clever people. A fnng slaying in Chicago recently revealed the fact that some gunmen are | now using_steel bullets ulmfir to ball bearings, bullets so hard that they | show not the slightest trace of the rifing of the guns from which they are projected. = What chance has & ballistic expert, accustomed to dealing with lead and alloy bullets, against a | practic» such as this? | Intelligent criminals have devised means to get away from leaving tell- tale fingerprints. It was inevitable that they should in the end find some way of circumventing the ballistic experts, | whose findings were just as infallible | 23 these of the fingerprint exge t. Suth | resourcefulness is surprising in people | is | reputed to b littl- batter tiy | We suspect that really they | dumb. ' MAY 1931. THE LIBRARY TABLE By the Booklover 2, Whether or not he is cousidered as a great political leader, whether or not he is placed among the philosophers of mysticism, whether or not he de- cides to make peace with England and accept a gradual and modified national- ism, Mahatma Gandhi must be ranked as one of the important figures of the twentieth century, not only as regards the development of his own country, but in international affairs. So his | autobiography, “Mahatma Gandhi: His Own Story,” edited by C. F. Andrews, assumes something of the value of a public document. The material of this autobjogr:phy has been abridged from several longer sources. One of them, :“The Story of My Experiments With | Truth,” was first, ‘dictated by Gandhi to & fellow political prisoner during & long confinement in 1922-24. I, was |later continued serially in his paper. | “Navajivan,” and was’ translated into | English by his friends, Mahadev Desai | and Piyarelal Nair. The series of chap- ters was then published in two volumes by the Navajivan Press. The chapters have also been published serially in “Unity,” the paper of Dr. John Haynes Holmes in America. Another work used in this abridged autobiography is “Soul-Force,” in which Gandhi de- scribes his experiences in South Africa. The editor of the short autobiography, Mr. C. F. Andrews, is an Englishman who l:u x:;:ned 1,{‘.?{ over a quarter of a century a and is a devoted friend of Gandhi. . . The family of Gandh! belongs to the Bania caste, a subdivision of the Vaishya, or third caste, of trade and agriculture. Both his father and his grandfather were prime ministers in small west peninsular native states. He says of his father: “My father never had any ambition to accumulate riches and left us very little property. He had no education, save that of practi- cal Jife. Of history and geography he was ignorant. But his rich experience !in practical affairs helped him towards the solution of the most intricate ques- tions and enabled him to manage hun- dreds of men. He had very little re- { culture which comes from the frequent visiting of temples and listening to discourses on Hindu religion.” He speaks of his mother as a woman of “strong common sense,” after telling of her prolonged fasts during periods of vows which she had taken for various (reasons which doubtless did not seem [ trivial to her. “Living on one meal a day during her fasts was a habit with her. Not content with that, she fasted completely on each alternate day dur- ing one such period. At another time, she vowed not to take food without seeing the sun. We children on those days would stand, staring at the sky, waiting to announce to our mother the sun’s appearance. At the height of the rainy season the sun not seldom remains invisible throughout the day; and I can recall days when, at the sun’s sudden appearance after the rain, | we would rush in and announce it to her. She would come out to see with her own eyes: but by that time per- haps the fugitive sun would be gone, thus depriving her of her meal. ‘That does not matter,’ she would say cheer- fully. ‘Ged did not want me to eat today.’ Then she would return to her round of dutiee” In the light of this early example, it is not surprising that Gandhi states in his autobiography, “My life is based on disciplinary reso- lutions.” * ok x % As a young man Gandhi went to England for study, and at first was very miserable and homesick. Landing in late September, wearing white flan- nels, he was greatly chagrined to find every one else in dark clothes. As he had taken & vow of ve;mmnun he also found the English food guestion rather difficult. Boiled vegetables cooked with- out seasoning or condiments were not to his taste, ascetic tia be was, and bre2d and jam for last, luncheon and dinner soon ted him. FPinal- ly he discovered a vegetarian restau- rant and felt that God had come to his aid. There he purchased Salt’s “Plea for’ Vegetarianism,” and by its argu- ments reinforced his vegetarian phiios- ophy and thenceforth became an apos- tls of vegetarianism. In Enghnne studied law and passed his law exam- inations. Then he returned to India and opened a law office at Rajkot. Be- fore long he was sent by a business firm to South Africa, where he remained during the Boer War and practiced law at Johannesburg. Obliged to live in & warm climate, he returned to India in 1914, and from that time his activities in behalf of Indian pationalism have been continuous. *E kK Cecilia Beaux in her au phy, “Background With Figures,” tells why she has always distrusted professional philanthropists. It was luse an uncle who was something of a reformer played a mean practical joke on her and her sister when they were children. Let adults be careful how they tease or play tricks on children. Some children never forget. The two little girls had gone to bed. after carefully tucking their dolls into the:r miniature beds to keep them warm on a cold night. An uncle, the reformer mentioned some way back as having made to effort to assist his par- ents in trouble, made a visit to his family, and when he inquired for his nieces, who had long since retired, and wished to have a look at them sleep- ing he was permitted to do so and was escorted upstairs by a young and mis- chievously inclined brother. When the uncles entered and turned on the light, the scene before them produced an ef- fect quite the opposite of what a civi- lized soul should feel. A redresser of wrongs done to humanity—that is, to the ‘working’ classes—and a careless youth thought it was humorous to drag all the dolls from their beds and hang them by legs, arms and hands to gas fixtures, door handles and exposed points. The night was bitter cold, and when the girls awoke in the early morn- ing the shadowy forms hanging about the room proclaimed the outrage. Here a veil must be drawn. Suffics it to say that there were neither tears nor cries. The effect was far-reaching. The nieces went down to the breakfast table silent and refusing to salute or to notice their visiting relatives, who were quite ready to be forgiven, They never forgot to shrink from the reformer when he ap- peared as a guest. His mother had a severe reproof for both her sons, who wished to conciliate, and it is not go- ing too far to say that one of the mothers has since then never really trusted the ethical principles of pro- fessional philanthropists.” P ¢ Old American hotels are given thei saga in “The American Hotel, An Anech: dotal History,” by Jefferson Willhamson. Most of the older inns were originally houses, adapted for public purposes when the family was forced to find some additional means of support. Such was the inn kept by the father of Daniel Webster at Salisbury, N. H. Prob- ably the first hotel erected purposely for its public function was the City Hotel of New York, on Broadway, below ‘Trinity Church, built in 1794. Boston's first real hotel was built in 1804: Phila- delphia’s in 1807; Baltimore's in 1826. Mr. Williamson says that the motto of the early hotelkeeper was mnot “The guest is always right.” but “Treat 'em rough—especially Englishmen.” * ok kK A popular author fi:ts all sorts of weird letters and usually isn't surprised at any request the postman brings him. But the other day Hugh Walpole re- ceived one that indicates the trend of the contemporary novel. “I understand from comments in the press,” read the letter, “that you are at work on your new novel. I am writing to inquire as to the fee you would charge for insert- ing a recognizable rtrait of myself in the above work. I am ready, I may tell you, to pay a very considerable sum. The conditions are that my portrait muct be recogn'zable to my friends, re- l1ations and, mest esnacially, to my ene- mi 1 need not say that it will be ligious training, but he possessed that | BY FREDERI ‘This t service is maintained by The Star for the benefit of its readers, who may use it every day with- out cost to themselves. All they have o do is ask for any information desired and they will receive prompb answers by mail. Questions must be clearly written and stated as briefly as possi- ble. Inclose 2-cent stamp for return Posuu and address The Evening Star nformation Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, director, Washington, D. C. Q. What is & “kibitzer” in & bridge {game?—A. R. | A. Kibitzer s a Yiddish slang term for one who meddles with others’ af- fairs. In bridge playing it is specifically a person who, although mot a player, makes suggestions and gives unasked advice to the players. Q._What year did the Grand Army of | the Republic hold its first encampment in Washington. D. C.2—W. A. 8. A. It was the fourth national en- chmpment, May 11-:". 1870. Q. What fish-eating birds are seen in the Florida Everglades® —H. F. | A. The Biological Survey says that the following are among those seen: Snakebirds, curlews, ibises, cranes. king- fishers, herons, wild ducks and geese. | Q. How long does it take to assemble | a Ford Model A motor and a passenger car?—S. 8. . The Ford Motor Co. says that un- | der normal production schedule it re- quires approximately 1 hour 55 min- utes to assemble the Model A motor. Under similar conditions, a passenger car spends from 35 to 40 minutes on the | fnal assembly line. Q. From whal ' ;nl;e which is . W. A. Some of the straws are Bakou, from the pandanus plant in Java: Ma. nila hemp, from abaca in the Philip. pines; Leghorn, Turin, Florentine, from wheat straw in Italy; split bamboo, pandan, from bamboo in Java: Panama, | from carludovica (looks like palm), in Colombia and Fruador: Porto Rican straw, from yaray palm, in Porto Rico. Q. What is the cost of operation in retail hardware stores>—J. C. R. A. The National Retail Herdware Association says that the cost of doing business of the average retailer is 23.73 per cent of the net sales. There are | 37211 retall hardware dealers in the | United States. Q. How far from London are Wind- sor Castle and Hampton Court?—J. H. A. Windsor is about 21 miles from London and Hampton Court about 15. Q. What is the amount of rainfall in Africa, and what is the population of that continent?—A. M. A. The rainfall of Africa varies con- siderably in the different localities. On the Egyptian Desert there are appre- ciable falls only once in a number of years, while in the Cameroons the av- erage is 369 inches a year. On either { ts is the straw | in women'’s hats?— | heavy rainfall, diminishing north and southward. The estimated population of Africa in 1930 was 15,000,000, Q. Did the Indians use horses before | the coming of the white man?—K. R. A. They did not. The horse was un- known -on this continent before the coming of the Spaniards. There are traces of horselike animals in geologi- cal deposits in various parts of the | Americas, but for some reason the horse it did in Asia, and became extinct long | before the historical era. | Excerpts From Newsp. L TIEMPO, Bogota.—Recently a large quantity of concealed and contraband liquor has been dis- covered in Barranguilla. The revenue collector’s office has as a resilt Jap a vigorous campaign. Thers s€ns to be & decided fiaw in the present system ef control, inasmuch as much contraband has been discovered actually on the shelves of the nsers, mary ot whom protest that they ob- tainsq the merchandise through the usual and proper channels. * ok k¥ TU. S. to Make Survey of Venezuelan Coast. . El Nuevo Diario, Caracas—The United States Government is pr:r-nn! 10 d> wiau we have neglected to/do, be- cause until recent years we have had no ceeaslon to take up the project. The American naval survey make al thentic charts of the eastern coast of ‘Venezuela, cularly of the waters of tie Bay of , and around the Island of Trinidad, with the idea of affordi greater protection to American vessels, many of which, particularly oil-tankers, have been stranded and even wrecked on the meracing shoals abounding in this regicn. Much American capital 18 1nvested in Venezuelan oil flelds, but remunerative development has been re- terdec to a great extent because of the difficulty of loaded ships getting away from the harbors. A'rships will assist in mapping these waters, as well as in the correction of present maps of the mouth of the Ori- | nroco River. Efforts will be made spe- clally to discover deep channels already in existence, to save the labor and ex- nerte ol making artificial ones. Most vesseis carrying oil to the United States | are cbliged to carry only a partial load | across the bars, additional cargo being taken on the other side of the shallows. It is naturally desired to load all vessels | to their capacity near the source of pro- | gufmon. obviating this extra work and | ela; The airplanes that are to co-operate will proceed to Nicaragua, after they are through on th: Venezuelan coast, where they will take part in th: preliminary mapping of a route for another inter- oceanic canal. * % k% Taxicab War Ends and Public Pays the Cost. Berliner Tageblatt, Berlin.— Th= droshky war is ended. And, as usual in such controversies, the public has to pay the cost. The different taxicab com- | panies and the drivers' union have| finally agreed to settle their variances and the former rates will be effective again. The present rebates all will be | rescinded and the news for the passen- | ger is not very xnmylng, For the/ chauffeurs, however, it is doubly plea: ing in that they wiil no longer have to pllir 5 per cent of their earnings into a rellef fund. ‘The recent strife in regard to vehicu- lar tariffs has been vehement end com- plicated. resenbe;:“&lytng the old rates, which they c lered all out of proportion to the service rendered. On paying the fees they rarely forgot to tell the driver they had no intention of buying his di- lapidated “cart.” Later, finding no suf- ficient solace in these sarcasms, many declined to use taxicabs. With a falling off in business the companies and in- denend:m drivers found themselve: in a cab was nearly as inexpensive as to ride in & tram, and so the dem=nd for | the vehicle became greater than before. rates were next reduced 30 and finally 40 per cent. With cheaper gasoline, the loss in revenue was not quite so strong- ly felt, but it was drastic, nevertheless. immaterial whether the portrait be com- plimentary or otherwise.” e “Cold Blue Moon,” by Howard W. Odum, is the third and last of the Black Ulysses trilogy. Left Wing Gor- | don in this one tells the story of an old Bouthern home. cf its Marse and | Little Mistis, of its gay ante-bellum | days. its later tragodies and, finally, of | its ghosts, ' i side of the Equator there is a belt of A | never reached the development which |mie: In the first place, the public h Starting at a 25 per cent reduction, the | Th ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS C J. HASKIN. | Q. What purpose does a postmark serve’—S. 5. L. A. Postmarks were first placed on envelopes as an official marking. Later they were used to cancel the postage stamps and give place and time of mail- ing. " The Post Office Department says that the records of the Post Office De- partment do not show when the post- | mark was first used. As early as 1798 | the postal laws and regulations required the ‘postmasters to mark letters de- posited in their offices for mailing with the name of the office. This mark | might be either stamped or written. Up |to 1840 in some cases written post- marks were still in use. Q_ Who was the landscape architect | for the Bok Memorial in Florida?—P. E T A. Prederick Law Olmsted. Q. If a man has been in this country for 20 vears, does he automatically be- come & citizen?—E. H A. No alien ever automatically be- comes a citizen of the United States pecause of length of residence. Q. How much tobacco does it take ‘t'l_v g\sk! 1,000 ordinary cigarettes? —W. A. There are 2385 nds of tobas | 1n 1,000 cigarettes. ey 3 o Q. What State was the first to make provision for the care of the insane?— G. C. A. Indiana was the first. Its consti- tution made such provision. Q. Which causes more crop damage in the United States—hallstorms or tor- nadoes?—W. B. A. The average annual damage done by hal 18 three or four times that done by tornadoes. The hail losses on 10 leading agricultural crops amount to $47,500,000 in an average year. Q. What kind of a tree is it in the northwest corner of Pranklin Park? It is covered with red blooms.—V. E. G. A. Tt is the double-flowering peach: The bloom i an American_ Heauty shade. Q. Who no of the Holland Tunnel?—M. L. A. The New Jersey Holland Tunnel Commission and the New Yotk Btate ‘Tunnel , - which were in charge of the construction and operated the Holland Tunnel for a few years. were abolished by the two States of New York and New Jersey in April, 1930, and centrol was transferred to the Port of New. York Authority. Un- der more recent legislation the Port Authority sold an issue of $50,000,000 Port Authority bonds and reimbursed the two States for their investments in the facility. The Port Authority is a ‘public ncy, and was created by the States of New York and New Jersey 10 years ago, with the concurrence of Con- gress. many people are on sleeping ‘United States each night?— . M. A. Nearly 60,000 jple on an average night sleep in ?ulfi&n berths. In & year Pullman’'s overnight guests num- ber about one-fifth of the country’s population. Q. Of what Jones die?—P. A. When his body was brought to this country for reinterment a few vears ago, it was found to be in such good .condition that it was possible to take roscopic slides of various parts and that he had died of Q. How cars in the . E H&nm did John Paul £> determine Bright's disease. Highlights on the Wide World apers of Other Lands Formerly the average run consumed 60 pfennigs’ worth of gasoline and the average fee was 4 marks 60 pfennigs. | But, even a 20 per cent reduction in the | cost of gasoline did not offset. a 40 per | cent reduction in fares and now, with & 10-pfennig advance, the old rates are to be_restored. Whether the Berlin population will | begin to walk or ride the street cars | again soon w-ul*be lppl'renf.l | * ¥ Citizens Can Render Much Aid to Curb Influenza. Irish Irdepend>nt, Dublin —Influenza 1s, unpappily, again with us, and al- | thoug:. there is no cause for alarm, common sense suggests that all possible precautions should be taken to prevent the spread of the disease, gnd that all preparations be made to deal with any outbreak which may occur. For that reason we hope that the local authori- ies concerned will give due heed to the tion of th- D:partment of local val citizens will do their part in obscrving the simple precautions. | which are recommended. Prevention is bette: than cure, and it is in the inter- ests of everybody that the disease should not be gllowed to cpread. Due recogni- tion of the fact that influsnza is highly cortagious will help to confine its rav- ages within narrow limits. - An attitude of carciessness on the part of the aver- age citizen has been largely responsible in former years for its spread, and & little wisdom in advance will facilitate the task of those who are combating the disease. It is unfortunate that med- ical science has not yet been able to dis- cover anything which would prevent | these reriodical visitations, but, while we are awaiting that day, we can only | guard against the peril by constant watchfulness for the unwelcome visitor. * x % % Wives of Unemployed Leave Children at City Hall. 1Neuesr v:nener Tlgi}lltt‘ Vienna.—Tkre wives of two unemployed men broug] their children, th:F one 7. the ot.tn:’rt 4, to the City Hall in Voelklingen (a town in Prussia) and there loft them to their fate. Th= children were subse- quently removed to an orphanage, after it was discovered that the mothers had purposely abandoned them. Seven more wards for the city! New Railroad saiety Record Is Established From the Morgantown Domision News, ‘The 1930 railrozd report, made lae* week to the Interstate Commerce Com: mission, contains information that will surprise the averzge person. The re- port shows that only seven passenge{ were killed in railroad accidents durifty the year. This establishes a new low record, the total of 10 deaths in 1927 /ing bean the best thus far. Al as Tegards’ pescengers injured a new low record was sot up. Only 790 perso ng on Taiirasd received hurts while ridi trains. ‘The report indicates that railroad saféy, executives have done a good job. Ther: were 101,581,000 passengers for eve: fatality and 9,000,000 passengers fo every ‘accident during the vear. The vlm'\l' r!rxzrds {stabl)'hed. considering the nherent nature of railroad trav astonishing. ke The repcrt refers only to accidents involving actual passengers on trains. e figures, of course, do not include the great numbers of persons killed and injured at railroad crossings. It is here that the %flu! safety problem is pre- sented. e railroads may well be proud of their passenger accident rec- ord. Once they have also solved the crossing menace, they will have ad-- quate reason for much boasting. L —— Let George Do It. Trem the Worcester Evening Gazotte. Maybe they'd get farther in their “war” on crime, out in Cleveland, if they spent less time hunting for men with concealed weapons and concen- trated on unconcealed sp2akeas!