Evening Star Newspaper, June 21, 1931, Page 26

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Editienj WASHINGTON, D. C. SUNDAY. .June 81, 1031 THEQDORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Wiy, B e Rork 8 ghlul':n ice La t Rate by Carrier Within the City. e eping Btar ... ........ . 45¢c per month Y A Sunday Star (when ¢ t!l)“n. 5 60c per month ‘The hmn! d_Sun h::hu 5 8) oY : STl Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virgini ily and Sund fl‘ only .. inday only All Other States and Canada. 3r- $1200: 1 mo 7 88 e ‘s8¢ per month | 3-eper copy e of ‘each month. ot in by mail of telephons 100 | sc | 80c Member of the ‘Associated Press. ‘The Assaciated Press is exclusiv: ntif to the use lor n&nbuc;uon of all atches c) jted 1t or not otherwi Fioc i £h13 naper and also th TR . All rights Lt o Washington's Airport. Decision of the Weather Bureau to move its local airway weather station from Bolling Field to Washington- Hoover Airport is regarded as an im- portant forward step in the local de- velopment of air transportation. It is important because it stabilizes local air transport conditions, long left in = state of uncertainty owing to the long- drawn controversy dyer the merits of various sites - suggested for govern- mental development as the Capital's municipal airport. Whether or not Congress decides to establish an airport for the Capital, it appears certain, especially in view of the contemplated action of the Weather Bureau, that the Washington-Hoover Alrport area will be the center of the Capital's civil geronautic life for the next few years at least. ‘The next step in the development of the $Washington-Hoover area will be the ¢losing of the portion of Military road now dividing the available landing area. ‘That this step will be taken ultimately appears certain and that it will be taken within a yesr likely. Opening of the Mount on Boule- vard will permit routing of all traffic around the airport area and remove the last real objection to the closing of the road. Closing of the road will permit extension of one and possibly two of the field runways, improving landing and take-off conditiéns for the larger and faster air transport planes. ‘The plan to transfer the weather station is a recognition of the increas- ing importance of the air transport activities now centering at Washington- ‘Hoover Airport. The growth of air lines connecting the Capital with the States has been phenomenal during the past year. From a point of little promi- nence on the aerial map of the Nation, Washington has grown in a few brief months to one of the busiest of aerial centers. ‘Today there are fifty-eight fransport airplanes taking off or landing. every day at Washington-Hoover Airport on timetable schedules. Transfer of night airmail activities from Bolling Field to the commereial air terminal is expeoted to follow the moving of the Weather Buresu station and will bring the num- ber of. scheduled airplane arrivals and departures to seventy every twenty-four hours. This volume of trafic is of sufficlent importance to warrant the fullest possible co-operation of those governmental agencies which have been created to aid in the development of civil aviation. Important among these agencies is the Weather Bureau, whose announced plan indicates that the Gov- ernment is alive to its responsibilities in fostering the development of the Capital's aerial ties with the Nation. e One wonders just how the town bar- bers view these whisker-growing sprees observed here and there throughout the West in commemoration of this or that historic period. e S Now they are taking movies—and col- ored ones, at that—of surgical opera- tions. The “talkies” are produced by the convalescent patients. ———or— Shipping Needs. Due to the depression, American shipping has been hard hit along with the raflroads. Reports from New York indicate that the officials of the United States Lines, purchased in 1929 from the Government by their present pri- vate owners, are appealing to the Gov- ernment now for ald in the situation which confronts them. The huge Leviathan is the flagship of the fleet, which includes other important pes- senger liners. ‘These vessels were sold to Paul W. Chapman, presidentsof the purchasing company, and others, by the United States Shipping Board, in conformity with the plan to put the Government owned American merchant marine into neivate ownership and operation under the American flag. The terms made to We purchasers were considéred fair undge the circumstances. But, hit as the United States Lines are by the de- pression and the great falling off in ocean travel last year and this, they would have had difficulty even if the vessels had been made an outright present. The suggestion is now advanced that the Government, which holds a lien on the vessels, should take back this fleet of passenger ships in part or as & whole. -Another proposal is that the Government should pay the United States Lines for its services, costs and risks—the amount to be determined by past operating results and an estimate of the future prospects, with the eom-l pany assuming complete physical and financial responsibility for the opera- tion of the line. Conference of the officials of the line! has been held with the United States Shipping Board recently, but official announcement regarding the conference and the details has not been made. Nor has there been indication as to what policy may be adopted either by the Shipping Board or by the United States Lines. Ever since the World War this country has striven hard to build up an Amer- ican merchant marine, privately owned and operated. It has met with much success, and the American flag fiies over merchant vessels in all parts of the | fitted for peace time commerce. world, despite the of other merchant marine nations. It is par- ticularly to be regretted that a depres- sion in business hit not only the United States but the whole world at & time when some of the American merchant lines were still struggling to reach a solid basis of operation. The United States needs & it marine under the American flag not only to carry a large portion of its com- merce but also as & measure of national defense. The lack of & merchant marine hit this country a serious blow when the World War broke out and it was im- possible to find vessels to move our traffic.. and more seriously later, when the United States became involved in the conflict and it was necessary to ship supplies and men to Europe. At a cost of more than $3,000,000,000 the United: States bullt up a merchant marine; Much of it has been discarded, built for emergency purposes and not It would be a serious thing for this country npw if American vessels were, swept off the seven seas by the depression. What the Government, through the Shipping Board, may be able to do in the present situation whith confronts news " pthe United States Lines, is not clear at the moment, nor are the detalls of the situation known, but it is quite ap- parent that steps should be taRen to keep the American ships afloat and in operation if that is possible. : B A"Revived Dictatorship. South American dictatorships, it would appear, are not always set up as & result of revolutions. Venezuela has just restored to its presidential throne Gen. Juan, Vicente ez, who has been a virtually autocratic figure in the country since 1908. Gen. Gomez went through the form, two years ago, of permitting Dr. JuanBautista Perez to assume the presidency, while he him- self remained i the government as & nominal cabinet officer—minister of war. ‘That portfolio enabled Gomez to retain his control of the Venezuelan army, for years the really ruling force in the republic. Last week, at the de- !mand of Congress, Dr. Peres stepped down and out. Simultaneously Gomez was elected to fill the Wnexpired term of the presidency, which runs until 1936. Gomez is once again czar at Caracas. Known as “El Benemerito,” which means “the well deserving Gen. Gomez is the most powerful figure Venezuela has §,\own since the notori- ous Castro, wha 1 he succeeded. In- termittently Pre£ fent, dictator or com- mander in chief of the armed forces of the country, Gomez has ruled with an iron hand. He brooked no opposition to his reign. In the United States and in Euorpe Venezuelans of one-time prominence have lived for years as ref- ugees, ralling from a distance at the autocracy at Caracas, but helpless to undermine it. Foreign governments, especially the United States, with 'large interests in the country, have had little cause to resent Gomez's domination of Vene- zuelan affairs. His relations with the outside world have been regularized and been conspicuously devoid of the high- handed practices which marked the ad- ministration of his predecessor, Presi- dent Castro. Venesuela has been ‘de- veloped under Gomez's auspices into an oll-producing region second only to the United States. Economic unrest throughout Latin America touched Venezuela, too. De- pression, due to abnormal conditions in the ofl and coffee markets, led to » ven- detta against President Perez and his succession by Gen. Gomez. Apparently Venezuelans expect “El Benemerito” to apply his talents and strong-arm meth- ods to their benefit and bring order out of chaos in the disordered business world. Congress has voted him wider powers than he ever had before, in order that this purpose may be accom- to policemen, careful driving—all these are “essential parts of the saféty cam- paign that, without any extra fanfare, should begin at this season of the year when children, out of school, are play- ing in the streets or running back and forth across the streets. But the major | viction, burden.” of respunsibllity necessarily m’ufl‘ 'RELIGION'S APPEAL . BY THE RIGHT things not seen.”—Hebrews, zi.1. many contacts that I have e and women of every sort and with resting to “to | SPoke of its marked evidence of deép religlous con- ) oeenhno'q‘l'aclm pLd soabie A" siiting will - on of religious them 3 rests upon the parents and the children mmé:thn of what we mean came re- themselves. Carelessness and thought- | ceritly under-our kS lessness lead to the majority of the tragedies where children are the vic- tims. Childish impulse is always hard to curb and a dash after a rolling ball often becomes a dasgh to death. If all parents could take the: oc- casion now to emphasize, repeatedly and strongly enough, the dangers of traffie and try to associate in the child's mind the thought of accident with the mere act of stepping off the curb, a great deal would be accomplished. The fact ‘that there is little, if any, effort of the sort by great numbers of par- ents is obvious to mny one who drives an automobile. The city-bred child takes the street and its dangers for granted. Without cohstant admonition it becomes heedless of dangers that are always present. Maj. Pratt, in his excellent circular to patrolmen recommending increased vigilance on their part, urges police- men o take advantage of every opportunity to warn children playing in ‘the street of the constant . menace to their lives. And as Maj. Pratt says, there is a great deal in the manner in which the warning 4s delivered. The policeman,. to. the child, is an awesome fellow, who symbolizes all the terrible things that will overtake the transgressor. A word from him carries weight and meaning. If he can make himself a friend and counselor to the youngsters, he will earn his pay a thou- sand times over. e A charity ball in London is to be fea- tured by a pageant including a presenta- tion of Venus rising from the foam, after Botticellls painting, provided the "Lord Chamberlain does not ban the act. ‘What seems to worry ‘this country is the spectacle of Bacchus rising from the foam. — e ‘The Advertising Federation of Amer- ica is told that men, by retarding their buying, are to blame for the business depression and that the purchases made by women hold up to the mark very well: Could it be possible that the Iatter fact has some causative bearing on the former? ——————— Delegates of the National Association of Master Plumbers are en route to Milwaukee to attend their forty-ninth convention. It is probable that few will have to come back for forgotten suit cases. —_—rwte—————— Honey kept in the radiator will keep the car engine cool, according to De- partment of Agriculture experts. Yes, and honey kept back in the rumble seat, or the back seat, will keep the driver cooler. r——————— An “Irish dividend,” it is explained, occurs when an assessment is levied on stock. A Welsh one, similar in effect, comes when one's bookmaker fades prematurely out of the picture. — e . ‘The American Association for the Advancement of Science is now told that the universe is not breaking up, plished with a minimum of political in- terference. Venesuela manifestly tion in & benevolent dis its salva- torship. A court of law has formally recog- nized the “sixth sense” possessed by the blind. One reason women have been 50 persistent about getting the vote may, perhaps, have been their hope that some day courts would be compelled to grant similar recognition to the tradi- tional sixth, or intuitive, sense of the fair sex. ——— . Now that a woman has been discov- ered in the ranks of the French For- eign Legion, there will have to be re- vision of the old line, “There was dearth of woman's nursing, there was dearth of woman's tears.” —————— All can sympathize with tne candi- date who, confronted in a special ex- amination with the question, “What sort of accidents cause the most deaths?” replied, “Fatal ones.” B Air Penalties. The Department of Commerce has disciplined five fiyers within the past few days, four of them for disturbing the ceremontes incident to the dedica- tion of the Harding Memorial in Marion, Ohig, and one, a woman, for using “bad judgment” in the take-off of her auto- giro plane at an airport in'Texas. One of the four men who flew below the prescribed height oyver the Harding ceremonies was grounded for sixty days; the other three were fined. Miss Amelia Earhart, the first woman to cross the Atlantic by airplane and now vice president of a large Bastern air transport company, was given a severg reprimand. In the case of the aviators who drowned out the addresses at the im- pressive dedication exercises there is no disposition to question the department’s action. The rules of the air regarding such occasions and in fact in fiying over cities and large gatherings are ‘well defined; and there is no excuse, on the grounds of ignorance, for violating them. In the case of Miss Barhart, however, who received the lightest pen- alty of the five, the matter assumes a very different aspect and apparently re- solves itself into & question of whether she used “bad judgment,” as the in- spector who reported her puts it, or her “best judgment,” as Miss m’l- serts in answer to the charges. Certainly, she endangered no one's life but her own in striking a landing light and a parked automobile on her take-off which resulted in almost com- plete wreck of her machine. Perhaps she did allow too short & run with her autogiro to get into the air, even though this tgpe of ship rises much faster than . the conventional airplane, But if the after all. As you were, everybody! P ] SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. oiL Deep within the earth are flowing Fountains vast of precious ofl. Men imagine them bestowing Youth and pleasure, free from toil. Sleepless nights, days dark with schem- ing, 'Mid the battle's fierce array, Fill the brain with fevéred dreaming As the oil flows on its way. Oil was made for lubrication. But, alas, it has been found Adding friction to creation, As this old world rolls around! « An Enthusiast. “What is your favorite pastime?” “I am more interested in golf than any other form of relaxation,” replied Senator Sorghum. “But I never see you playing the “No. But it's the one most of my influential constituents are interested in. So I have studiously made it the subject of my most enthusiastic con- versation.” # Jud Tunkins says nature puts enough scales on s fish to give it more of a bathing suit than some human beings ‘weAr. Red Tape. The dangers which in “red tape” lurk Have often caused dismay; ‘When one man who attempts to work Finds two men in the way. Strictly a Modernist. “Do you remember when they used to sing about ‘The Old Folks at Home'?"” 2 “Certainly not,” replied Miss Cayenne. “My impression is that everybody is so busy attending gatherings of one kind or anothér that the old folks do mot stay home any more than the young folks.” Not in His Line, “How do explain your latest theory?” scientist to be’expected to spend my time answering & The Songster. ‘The robin sat in sad disgrace. “I sing unpaid,” quoth he; “Because the radio has no place For any bird like me.” “Dar's always ppointment ahead,” ..... I notable & man of affairs, Somivet 7% had becn talki g%%és“ L w5l cne de B L g given much consideration to the impli- cations of the expressed belief of the rticular church with which he was dentified. In response to our gquery concerning the breadth of his religious convictlons we found that he had ripeness: and maturity of bellef that quite exceeded that of his ecclesiasti- cal household. Beyond this he frankly REV. JAMES E. Bishop of W EEMAN, D. D, LL. D, gton. stated how large a rfl. the Christian religion had played in all the concerns of his notable and eventful life, - A second instance was that of an in- dustrial leader, whose success has been , who was speaking to us more particularly of that field of serv- ice in which he has excelled. Without any evident connection with what we ‘were discussing, he turned to the Ject of * n-and for a half iring upon his thought and action. He literally preached a sermon to me from the text: “Faith is the sub- for, the evi- is dim- ey g 3 M E: M H i i . i % i i ad interest in rel reverence with which men approach the life and teachin t. Every now and agal server suggest that religion is witnessing & serious decline. Every observation that we are able to make contradicts There is just as much e truths as contained in the gospels as this old world has ever known. Sometimes in | lives that seem quite cold and unre- isponsive to the fine appeal or religion there resides a faith that is inarticu- | late, nevertheless strong and prevailing. Government Ownership a Possibility of Present Deplorable Plight of Railroads BY WILLIAM HARD. Possible ultimate governmental own- ership of raliroads looms out of the problems presen‘ed by the application of the raiiroads $o the Interstate Com- merce Commission for a horizontal in- crease of 15 per cent in their freight rates. That conclusion now scems irre- sistible after inquiries into the circum- stances which forced the ratlroads into | making the application. ‘Those circumstances could not be con- trolled by the rallroads. They had primarily to do with th: legal eligibility of rallroad bonds for purchase as in. vestments by such Institutions as sav- ings banks and life insurance com- panies. Local laws, generally speaking, re- quire that a railroad shall be earning, say, one and one-half times its annual interest on its bonds before those bone can legally be bought by savings banks and life insurance companies for their | investment portfollos. This is for the E:oucuon of the depositors in savings inks and of the policyholders of life insurance companies. * ok k% ‘There are some 12,000,000 depositors in our savings banks of the mutual type, and there are some 65,000,000 policy- holders in our insurance companies op- erated for the benefit of the policy- holders and their beneficiaries. These depositors and policyholders together, through their savings banks and insur- ance companics, own 45 per cent of the indebtedness obligations of our rail- roads. They are the great final con- sumers and possessors of railroad bonds. If savings banks and life insurance companies cease to buy railroad bonds. the private flmncmf of our rallroads will become a virtual impossibility. In the first four monghs of this year executives of the railroads found them- selves in numerous instances gradually approaching the time when such a ces- sation of bond purchases by the sav- ings banks and life insurance companies would most unpleasantly confront them. % ox % A few weeks ago a most eminent rallroad president was attending a meeting of the officers of one of our largest life insurance companies. He was himself a participant in the direc- tion of that company. The leading manager of it sald to him: ““What about the bonds of your rail- road in our present possession? We can't continue to hold them, under the law, if your earnings slip much more. ‘We shall have to get rid of them, and we shall not be able, legally, to buy any more of them. What are you do- ing to better your earnings? If you can't better your earnings, your bonds will presently be outside the law for us.” That incident compressed into itself the whole of the really basic difficulty that now perplexes our railroad execu- tives and that now raises the (question | In whether private financing can or can- not continue to be adequate for our raflroad needs. * kR % The rallroad president who figured in the incident wldhth:. \liulen énmmuc: company manager who rroga him that his railroad had now laid off lot of men, had largely suspended new improvements, had largely curtailed ex- ditures upon maintenance and had, B:nflct, 80 greatly diminished its care of its track and of its eduipment that resently it would not be able to run fi' best. trains at their pres- ent speeds. e .life insurance com- asked him: ""-'v’vmmmz reducing the wages of the men still in your employ?” ‘That jon the railroad presi- dent earnt rejected. He rejected it for three reasons: * % ¥ & 1. It was contrary’ to the American notion ‘and to the special R e hol should be built upon maintained present w Tates. ?Under Federal law the negotiations for wage reductions, even if successful, would consume possibly two years and would accordingly afford no immediate Te4e'1¢ was' wholly unfair to_the rail- labor izations which many ;meln 2go Mp their agitation for the “Plumb plan” and other projects of governmen ership of and :l::ar;ee: earnestly committed to striv- ing to make private ownership of rail- roads s success for both investors and N mpby".' * K ok X The situation then took the following “"E"‘rm arrival at increased railroad ity |and drastic action dear sir, T am too eminent a|the ’ life insurance companies, are now well on their way toward the danger line is undeniable. In 1926 the raliroads were earning at the annual rate of 4.98 on their total “valuation.” In the first four months of this year they were earning at the annual rate of only 2.11. The reasons given for this downward process are multitudinous. Irrespective of the reasons, it exists as a fact. The investors look at the fact., * k% % It is & fact which has been grievously Accentuated in its investment conse- quences by the policy of the rallroads in seldom retiring any part of their bonded debt and in steadily enormously increasing the total of it. In the years from 1900 to 1929°railroad stocks, rep- resenting ownership and risk, were in- creased approximately 70 per cent in volume. In the course of those same ds | years railroad bonds, representing in- debtedness and annual “fixed charges,” were increased approximately 150 per cent. In 1900 the railroads to pay on their bonds in annual interest the sum of approximately $250,000,000. In 1929 on that same “fixed” item they had to pay ngnroxlmnely $580,000,000. Can the railroads, in the midst of all their accumulating business misfor- tunes, many of which are in no way de- rived from the depression, continue to earn one and one-half times the amcunt of such “fixed charges,” in order to make their bonds eligible for savings | banks and for life insurance companies |and in order thus to keep their sources | of private capital for the necessary de- | velopments of their properties Ireely | flcwing? *x % It is & question which has aroused grave concern in the Interstate Com- | merce Commission. Commissioner the | Joseph Eastman, in concurring in the | decision of the commission in the famous “O'Fallon case,” said: “Means must be found whereby the burden upon the public of overhead | capital charges on account of the rail- road properties can be reduced. If this were indebtedness of the Government, without doubt steps would be taken to reduce it, particularly in times of national prosperity. An illustration which I have often used is that of the subways of Boston. They are owned by the city. They are leased to the operating company for a yearly rental of 4% per cent, which is sufficient to meet the interest on the city’s indebted- ness and at the same time to provide & sinking fund which in due course will retire the debt, so that there will no longer be any interest charges what- ever to pay.” *x k% In sum: ‘The primary cause for the appear- ance of the railroads before the Inter- state Commerce Commission - for a freight rate increase is their bonded de ess and the necessity for making that indebtedness continue to attract investors. There would seem to be just two ultimate ways out. One required to meet the legal needs of savings banks and insurance companies. ‘The Other is to substitute in our rail- roads the cheap credit of the Govern- ment, along with governmental sinking funds, for the more expensive credit of private institutions, and thus finally bring the annual “fixed charges” of the railroads down to a more manageable compass. ‘This 15 per cent freight rate increase case seems bound to go right on into the highest politics of national economics. (Copyright, 1931.) Index of 'Europe’s Peril BY A. G. GARDINER. LONDON, June 20.—Announcement this week that Premier MacDonald and Foreign Minister Henderson will pay a return visit to Chancellor Bruening and Forelgn Minister Curtius at Berlin on July 17, instead of in the Autumn, as expected, created satisfaction here and like jubflation in Germany. ‘This is taken as an indication of the desperate urgency of the situation in &m-ny. ‘where for the moment Bruén- g is holding his own, but is in immi- nent danger of a collapse. * K Kk All instructed observers agree that the German chancellor cannot survive the attacks of the Nazis (Pascists) and Communists without immediate allevia- tion of the financial strain, and that the alternative is a Nazi government, which means ably civil war. only e; averting the catastrophe w! words of the new statesman, will send Europe over the precllgloe, is wfl - liate T debts and reparations problems. Possibilities of that action being taken wltdely discussed and - the of hy 5 0‘!:1}“‘1 oSt glrope fi- up econg e fre m oloo :;'x.fhe tuk“%l! the wnl::enu exp! acceptable ways ac- shing for every one what,Ger- wmm and Austria seek to nmnlplllh by_a customs union. are being But more instant and decisive action :2. is necessary if the situation is to be saved. * ok K X pe_cannot save itself. The d | but with than the we | doul iscriminating ob- | toonis is to grant such increases whenevef |~ Capital Sidelights BY WILL P. KENNEDY. The most trayeled umbrella in all the world, which, contrary to the pro- verbial failing of umbrellas to quickly find new owners, has been in the pos- session of Representative Ernest R. Ackerman of New Jersey for 51 years, is off \on itg travels again this year, tak- ing its 1 ocean voyage, having.vis- ited more than that number of coun~ tries during 1ts#750,000-mile wanderings. | - | It was purchased by Mr. Ackerman on his first trip abroad, 4n Liverpool, on June 11, 1880, for half a pound sterling, the equivalent of $2.50 American money. ‘There is nothing particularly remark- able about the umbrelia itself. It seems old-fashioned today and perhaps that r is one of the reesons why Mr. Ac! ) still has it. The bt 1-and Mr. Ackerman visited Liverpool in 1880, use the cover went the way.of all the world and two others followed suit. The present heavy hlack silk cover was applied in Paris about three years ago. ‘Though careful inspection may not reveal anything very extraordinary about the umbrella per -se, it is un- btedly the most celebrated umbrella in the world. Famoys editors have dis- cussed the phenomefon learnedly and facetiously, the facts have been noted in “believe it or not” departments, car- ts have presented Mr. Ackerman and umbrella with flourishes, columnists have commented wittily and even bath- ing beauties have been crowded from the rotogravure sections. * ok koK It went through the great blizzard of 1888, and when a man can keep an um- brella for half a century, that'’s news and papers the world over know it. One is quickly convinced of the fact that it is by skimming .through a scrapbook of clippings that have been sent to the Plainfield Congressm#n. from far and near. There are 61 pages in the book and they show that Mr. Ackerman's umbrella-carry; record was consid- ered unique as long ago as 1889, less than a decade after the umbrella had been acquired. Then the umbrella had been packed only & paltry 100,000 miles. ‘There does not seem to be any sta- tistics for the country as a whole as to how many umbrellas are lost annually. An inquiry was sent to the Interstate Commerce Commission about the matter recently and it replied that information in such detail is not required of the rallroads. Definite figures were sup- plied, however, by two railroads to which similar inquiries were addressed by a representative of a newspaper, but one raliroad reported that it returned to their rightful owners 902 umbrellas in one year. * k%% Did Mr. Ackerman ever lose ‘his treasured umbrella? Yes, once, at the hands of train robbers. In 1885 Mr. Ackerman was returning from Cali- fornia. The train stopped at William, Ariz, and two sleeping cars were run into the yard while the passengers got their suppers at the station. Thieves entered the cars while they were side- tracked and piled up bags, overcoats, umbrellas and peckages in one of the sleepers preparatory to carting off the lot when they were discovered and frightened a . The Ackerman um- brella was on top of the pile. Nearly two-score years later Mr. Ackerman still had his umbrella with him in Japan and with him it survived six weeks of earthquakes that occurred at the rate of about 100 a day. More than 100,000 people lost their lives in that disaster of September, 1923, and half a million homes were destroyed. The_earthquakes began September 1, the Emperor’s birthday, and the handle of the umbrella now bears an inscrip- tion in Japanese characters referring to the disaster. Mr. Ackerman: was at | Nikko, just outside Tckio, through the earthquakes. e * * ko Around the world again and again, up and down the world, to the far cor- ners of the earth and back, that um- brella has been with Mr. Ackerman. It was with him in Hammerfest, the northernmost town in Norway, above the Arctic Circle; it was with him in Iceland and in part of China owned by Portug: companied him to the interior of Java and to the Sudan in Central Africa and kept him dry in Malta, Peking and Hongkong. He carried it through Turkey, Soviet Russia, , Madeira, Uruguay, Chile, San Domingo, the Hawaiian Islands, Korea, Penang, Calcutta, Johore, San Marino, Bombay, up Mount Lavinia in through Monaco, Liechtenstein, Hungary, Jugoslavia, along the Dal- matian coast to the Ionian Islands, Bermuda, St. Lucid, St. Vincent, to Panama and the Suez Canal, Andorra, Spain, Gibraltar, Portugal, Switzer- land, Finland, Germany, Sweden, New Hebrides Islands, Farve Islands, Vene- zuela, Barbadoes, Cape Verde and Ca- nary Islands and scores of other places. It has been a frequent visitor to nearly all European capitals and is about to i Teturn to these capitals once more. presence in London, is assumed to have significance. Mr. Mellon describes his visit as pri- vate and concerned with family affairs, but a large part of his holiday is be- ing occupied with interviews with public men. first engagement on arrival was a long talk in the House of Com- mons with Premier MacDonald and his Thursday engagements included a oF"(he Bank of Eigland. and fursher e of o MacDonald and Hen- British Visit to Germany ™™ Meanwhile the dramatic intervention of the Bank of England in order to avert a financial catastrope in Austria was the occasion of much candid criti- cism of the French attitude toward the European crisis. Action by the Bank of land was * necessary because France broke off negétiations for a loan to save the Kreditanstaldt, which wae rsdponslble for 70 per cent of Austrian industry. ce lald down as a condition for a loan that the Austro-German customs union be abandoned. This demand was made in response to an amaszing cam- paign in the French newspapers that Austria be compelled to accept French political conditions or face ruin. * * k% In view of the fact that the ques- tion of the customs union, by unani- mous agreement of the Natjons, admitted 1 h, in the | 1% war | & conference of Euro- |{, collapse of Austria seemed inevitable, but the situation was saved for the time being by the action of the Bank of d in advancing her $21,000,000 it any political conditions what~ America’ Ep EFEE i ai been se] probably more often than any other , for memorial use. Many elms have been planted by famous men and others have been planted as memorials. s Elm Trees Threatened BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. ease is 2 of say . dis- :tlyl- ivance with tremendous rapid. Chestnut Blight and Pine Blister. ‘The every be in repelling this fresh attack. The cir- cumstance that it has been detected so - s00n is a favorable one. Its spread was phe; 'nal and m&u there are few chestnut for- ‘The White House grounds include many | ests lef elms, one planted by the- Marquis de Lafayette having long been an attrac- 4Ky " lous nce with tree dis- ease causes the Department o! Agricul- ture to realize the danger ex that this most beautiful of trees, including the specially historic ones, may be swept away in the path of destructive disease. Dutch elm disease seems to have orig- inated in Holland, but now has spread destroying thousands of specimens. The disease has been studied with great attention by European scientists, but there still is doubt as to its causes and, particu- larly, how it is spread. Opinion in-| clines to the belief that the disease is spread by beetles, but this has not been | be established as a fact. Disease Appears in Ohio. Appearance of Dutch elm disease in Ohio recently has intensified the mys- :grdott"hemimtcnuummhm of any elms being imported into Ohlo since the disease made its appear- Airict Quarhifises agmimst prac oo es aga! ts to_carry disease of any wr‘t’ i Further mystery is provided in the fact that the discovery in Ohio so far has been limited to but four trees and those widely separated. Three infected trees were discovered in Cleveland and :gmtn“c'%u’m.u. ‘These citles are lely separated aé any tw cities in the State. s In view of the fact that there have been no importations into Ohio at all and that these cases are so far apart, not even a theory as to the cause of the occurrence has been advanced. ‘The discovery has greatly alarmed the authorities and the department is ask- ing every citizen to assist in the task of checking the disease. The authorities desire that every case be reported. The symptoms are wilting twigs and brown tains on the sapwood. Woodsmen, botanists, picnickers, hunters, boys—all persons having occaston to observe trees whether in the forest or planted on lawns or alng streets—are asked to gather a few sample tw:gs from trees | they suspect of being in>cied and send oratory. Qo ApEultimal Evperiment oratory, icultural riment Statlon, Wooster, Ohio. ‘The A region has been the center of attack, as it was the center of chestnut tree growth. There is scarcely a sound tree left in all Mary- land, in West Virginia, ‘western mounf Virginia, or mountains of Kentucky and Tennessee. The blight has swept down into the western sections of the Carolinas and even to Northern Georgia. In the relatively few years since the first appearance of the blight, it has taken the chestnut timber from no less than 33,000,000 acres of forest. What this has meant in loss of timber can be realized from the fact that, in this region, the chestnut trees represented one-quarter of the entire stand of tim- T, In addition to the loss of the tim- ber, valuable for a wide variety of uses, the native chestnut, as a food delicacy, is gone. Attempts are being made to introduce a new type of chestnut which will resist the blight, but it will be gen- erations before any t: of chestnut forests can return to take the place of the lordly giants which adorned and enriched the land from the beginning of time until the coming of the disease. ‘White pine blister rust first was no- ticed in 1909. The disease came from Europe and immediately began a vi- clous attack. White pine is one of th most valuable of timber trees and also is much as a park or orna- mental tree. The disease attacks young . trees and stops their growth, but will also prove fatal to trees towering 100 feet high. Money losses due to the chestnut blight and the white pine blister can scarcely be figured, but that they run into hundreds of millions is not sus- ceptible of contradiction. ‘The special pity about these tree dis- eases is that, in a few short years, the g‘ lor e it ;lons uf le'nhh::: ere is scant hope of rep! :Ifim the disease once has won a foot- old. Such a fate as that which has over- taken the chestnut and the white pine now confronts the graceful elm, and al- though the elm lacks the commercial timber value of the other trees, the esteem in which it is held for its beauty will, it is hoped, enlist every aid in combating this foreign enemy. Fifty Years Ago In The Star Half a century ago the charity works in Washington _were ~scattered, and | sos. wi Organiing out co-ordination | y there was much waste | Charities. and comparative fnef- | fectiveness. An effort | was made to organize and systematize | these endeavors. The Star of June 13, | 1881, says: “The movement made the other eve- ning to bring about an organization of | associated charities in this city is one | that deserves not alone the sympathy but the active co-operation and liberal J support of all our people. There is great and dally increasing need of such | an organization here. Hardly any city in the country gives as much in pro- portion to population for charitable purposes as does Washington, and probably in no city is so much aid ex- tended to deserve and do not need help, nothing is more common than to see children asking alms, who.are noto- riously on the highroad to viglous and criminal lives, while others who require and are worthy of help do not get it because they do not themselves make their necessities known and there is no other way of discovering them. “Such an organization as is proposed, working through a common and authorized head, will remedy all this. It can make one dollar do more good than can ordinarily be accomplished by five times that sum given away to street applicants. We believe the movement to be in good and-capable | hands, but, whgther this be so or not,* time and experience alone can deter- Bo-doubs About the peod. marpoeof no al e purpose® of such an organization, nor of the neces- sity for its existence. .It should, there- fore, be en and strengthened. If inefficiency or other shortcomings should be developed number of persons activel; - terested in . | & ~ * A few years after the “panic of the 70s,” which held the country in depres- An Orgie of sion for several years, a B lative boom Speculation. developed, much like that which followed post-war depression in the last decade. The Star of June 15, 1881, thus refers to the situation: “The spirit of speculation is rampant lin this m“mryf All classes l\;d u;:- ditions of people are, more or less, In- fected by it, and the mania is on<the | 1ne In nine cases out of ten,i where two or ‘men meet together, the subject of stocks, their probable rise or fall, and so forth, is talked of. There are numbers of men who reg- ularly pursue the business of encourag- o nh'c - ints’ )l":m ‘market fi: Lottt R e tion is to advise the g = § -3 £ | ¥ i 4 | g® L] gt i g i i EE | gs | £ ¢ ? g i i i £ 2 i i 5 § I (] i 5 # § H g i ; % | 1 i i | 3% i i % £ i { H B i B : Drought in West May Improve Wheat Situation BY HARDEN COLFAX. As the result or drought conditions in our Northwest and in Canada and the reduction of acreage in Argentina and Australia, it begins to look as though: the prices of the wheat crops of 1931 would be better—perhaps much better—than those prevailing today. At least, such is the opinion of the Federal Farm Board. ‘The board, moreover, according to a statement by Chairman Stone, will continue to sell abroad as much of the 1930 crop as the markets will absorb without de- The board still holds some 200,000,000 bushels from former crops and there has been some opposition to holding these longer, as possibly competing with the new crop now moving to markets. * k% X At this writing Teports ican and Canadian wheat areas indica! that the possible total loss from may_equal the estimated the Farm Board. In some is contended that the failure of board to state quite definitely ji what it intends to do with the 200, 000,000 bushels now in its z the main factor in preventing the mare ket generally from responding to the confidence in better prices resulting from the short crops. * X x X By mid-June it had become evident, from reports coming into the Depart- ments of Agriculture and Commerce, that drought conditions in the Northe west, particularly in Montana and the mm “a"lgl)r“ sections of vivn.a‘!;; n an egon, were alre threatening the wheat and other crops. This region is still under the handi- Somitered rans repotieq during : past scal rains repo; ti week have not done much to 3:: the situation. The Weather Bureau, how= ever, does not expect “such a general 8s was suffered last year.” mflnhflhnvflyofl&anmh er of the Northwest. In the end, how~ ever, they may prove a benefit - i isting. supples st mAcket, Snd oy pplies ai , and so helping prices. * k x X Several Senators and members of the House as well as private individuals have been advocating di the past few days an extra session of Congress to_provide loans for the drought areas. Up o the present loans have been a le from Federal funds to a total of $57,000,000 to finance crop produce tion. Since plantings are now com- pleted, however, the basis for making further such advances no longer exists. Therefore the advocates of new loans urge the President to call an extra uxlolumn of Congress for further drought There has been much talk about an American “plan” for the next few years to bring about the stabilization of in- dustry and employment. Refe to the idea advanced by Matthew Woll, vice president of the American Feder- ation of Labor, for such an “economic ¥ ,” Thomas Campbell, Montans wheat_farmer and consulting engineer for the Soviet government on “mechan- ized agriculture,” n'ow demands the