Evening Star Newspaper, July 4, 1931, Page 4

T A4 THE EVENING STAR, ‘'WASHINGTON, D. C, SATURDAY, JULY 4, 1931 THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. July 4, 1931 THEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor The Evening Star Newspa er Company R Fenmvivants_Ave 2k Sffee: 110 East 420d St : Michigan B 0 Office: Lake uilding. Elropean Offce; 14 Regent ., Londos, Englant Rate by Carrier Within the City. The Fuening Star, oo 45 per month vening and Sui ('-nsen 4-Bubdave) o1 4 00c per month ing an TR hen s Bundars) ‘65¢ per month | The Sundey Star .. e per copy | Collection made at the end of each month. Orders may be sent in by mail or telephone NAtional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. | Maryland and Virginia. Bl AH Other States and Canada. any ln&fiundl 5 Member of the Associated Press. ‘The Associated Press is exclusively entitled o the use for republication of all news dis- atches credited to it or not otherwise cred- ted in this paper and also the local news published herein. Al rights of publication of | special dispatches herein are also reserved. | L= ‘Washington's Political Moratorium. Throughout the length and breadth of the enfranchised States of the American Union today, 115,000,000 sov- | ereign citizens of the Republic are merking the one hundred and fifty-| fifth anniversary of Independence day. Here, on the historic Potomac, half & million disabled residents of the United States are condemned once again to| go through the form of c:lebrating a | national event which, in cold fact, is| meaningless to them, The Pourth of July commemorates for the American people the abolition on this sofl of the iniquitous principle of taxation without representation. By no concelvable stretch of the imagina- tion could the founding fathers have intended that the ending of “tyranny” should stop short of granting self-gov- erning rights to a single section of the national commurfity. The embattled farmers who fired at Lexington the shot that rang around the world could not have meant that there should be exceptions among the Americans who were forever after to experience the political blessings ushered in by that immemorial salvo. The tea dumped overboard in Boston Harbor was not de- signed to symbolize a “party” from which a segment of liberated American citizenship should be perpetually barred. ‘The men and women who inhabit the District of Columbia yield to no other portion of the land in devotion to Amer- icen ideals. Indeed, the caliber and fiber of their patriotism may not in- exactly be regarded as superior to the fealty of their more fortunate fellow Americans in the States, because the eivic loyalty of Washingtonians rises above the suffrage injustice under which they unjustifiably suffer. How long will the tax-paying, law- abiding, country-loving inhabitants of the District of Columbia be victims of the political moratorium which the rest | of the Union imposes upon them? Must the time not soon come when the people of this fairest Capital on the face of the earth can celebrate Independence day with a full sense of realization that its immortal significance comprehends them, too? B ) Noise on the Fourth. Granting that the firing of crackers and other noise makers is a proper method of celebrating Independence day, the practice has largely lost| its significance through the anticipa- | tion of the occasion by both children and adults. For more than a week shead of the Pourth there has been a continuous popping and banging in; all nelghborhoods, in the city and in' the suburbs. The sale of fireworks {ust outside of the District boundary | Nas made it possible for the “celebrants” > provide themselves in abundance and thw have in most cases made use of this material during the preced- ing days, Apparently no parental re-| straint has been exercised—at least effectively—to keep the stock of ex- plosives until Independence day. | The result of this has been that! this morning, in point of noise, was | no different from yesterday morning, or | the morning of lsst Saturday. There | was no thrill of ganuine celebration in | the air. The noises were simply con-| tinued disturbances. For all that the | atmosphere held, Independence day was no different from the three hundred and sixty-four other days of the year. The result of this promiscuous in- dulgence in noise making, with some danger to the noise makers, is that| the Nation's natal day has lost its sig- | nificance to a great extent to the | younger generation. Once it was an oc- casion of rejoicing, manifested by an | extraordinary display of sound. Now | 1t is just another noisy day. Verily, there is need of some sort of reform i the Fourth of July is to remain an occasion of importance and inspiration. —— e Tt is a good thing Siberia is a coun- try of wide open spaces. Otherwise the name of one town would reach on the map beyond the next one. —ra—————— The Cleveland Clinching Match. ‘This country has just undergone an- other major nugilistic operation, in the so-called wc.id championship heavy- weight fizht' between Schmeling and Stribling at Cleveland. Schmeling, the German title holder—such by virtue of a victory through a foul committed by his last previous opponent—gained a de- cision on a “technical knockout,” all but putting his challenger to sleep under the count in the final round. It was an honestly won decision, for the Ger- man was easily the stronger man and the heavier hitter. Stribling, the con- tender for the title, showed grit and perhaps somewhat better boxing ability, but he lacked what in the parlance of the ring is called punch, the power to administer smashing blows. He landed | gagement between Schmeling and Car- | to convince the consumers in the Dis- | standardize the unit by which coal is of the challenger to make the grade and a desire to endure for the span of the fight without suffering defeat. Then in the final moments, when it seemed likely that the verdict would go to Schmeling on points, there came the dramatic climax for which all fight fans hope, a savage onset by the German,|haps menacing. The intensity of fit,|tion is invaluable in understanding the the final collapse of the challenger and , Whieh prodded many persons to call people and the everyday workings of a virtual knockout, prevented from being such only by the merciful intervention | be done about it,” was not the result| Perhaps too much time can be put of the referee. It was probably voted [Of any one set being turned on too loud, | by an ambitious student on histories a rattling good show by most of those who witnessed it. Evidently the fight game is on the decline in this country. The attendance 2t Cleveland was far below expectations. Some fifty or sixty thousand were looked | Femain another mystery of the Ameri- for, and there were actually only about thirty-five thousand at the show. A heavy deficit was incurred, which, how- ever, may be made up at the later en- nera, the Zalian espirant. The fact is that there 1s & dearth of genuine heavy- weight first-class pugllistie material now since the defeat of Dempsey. More- over, the public has become more intef- ested in wrestling as a spectacle. The fight game has been spoiled, too, by the high-finance methods of its promoters and the dubious doings of those who manage the fighters. It may come back. Perhaps the clean affair at Cleveland, which was apparently a straight, genu- ine contest, will help to bring it back. But there will be no real revival of interest in this country until an Amer- ican fighter of first caliber is developed. — e The Short Ton of Coal. A little more than three months after Washington coal dealers announced that they would sell coal in units of 2,000 pounds instead of by the long ton of 2,240 pounds, specified in the law as the standard for the District of Columbia, a court ruling has upheld the superin- tendent of weights and measures in his contention that the practice is illegal. That, at least, is the effect of the Police Court judge’s decision in refusing to quash an information against a local coal dealer in a case instituted to test the meaning of the local law. Trial of the case on its merits may now pro- ceed. The Police Court decision brings up two interesting points. One is the long and tedious process which finally has brought the case to its present status—a status that merely marks the real beginning of extensive litigation ob- viously necessary to fix the meaning of & statute, provided, of course, the coal men are inclined to carry their fight through. The coal men ought to have been able to learn in three days whether .they were violating the law. After three months, marked by a con- siderable amount of running around in official circles, the coal men have lost the first legal skirmish and the real battle is yet to come. The second point is the merits of the long ton as against the short ton. The District of Columbia, according to the spokesmen for the coal men, is one of a very few places In the United States where coal is sold by the long ton. It is sold by the short ton in Maryland and Virginia. The short ton is the accepted standard of measurement nearly everywhere, and it is naturally as confusing to have a ton mear two things as it would be to have a foot, a yard or a pound mean two things in two adjacent political jurisdictions. The fusion and have naturally sought to end it by trying to adopt the short ton—or the “2,000-pound unit"—for the Dis- trict of Columbia. ‘Whether they went about it the right way or whether they can legally adopt a “2,000-pound unit"” are other matters entirely. They were never able wholly trict, for instance, that the price of a “2,000-pound unit” represented a mere proportional reduction in the scale of coal prices, plus whatever reductions had been made in the wholesale price. The suspicion seemed to linger that the resort to the “2,000-pound unit” was in some manner cognected with a juggling of prices. This has not been demon- strated and it is not believed that ‘Washington's coal dealers, honorable business men, would resort to tricky subterfuge to gain a small margin in profit. But an attempt, on their part, to “sell” the idea of a 2,000-pound unit by emphasizing the fact that the con- sumer was gaining scmething by a re- duction in prices fell pretty flat. The coal men might have done better by emphasizing the fact that they were seeking for their own convenience to sold; that the difference in price meant nothing except the difference in price coal men have suffered from the con-Ithe. rumor that the members whiled | citnches, an obvious tnability on the part fone deplores 1t or refuses even to think about it. And last night's broadcast was in the air in a larger manner, somehow, than ever before. Not every night in the week—happlly—is every radio set tuned in to a single station. The resulting voice was at once as- tounding, in a way thrilling, and per- police tions to ask that “something but the effect of union. Yet there is little doubt that most set owners tend to turn thefr sets on much too loudly for a prize fight—indeed for almost all program features. Just why this is must can public. The voice of the Nation, as it rolled on last night—in private the voice of a very estimable former Washingtonian, by the way—even had powers to thrill. It showed what one man, with the aid of sclence and elec- tricity and modern business, might do in times of national emergency. There was, too, a menace in it, for noise is a menace, and lack of restraint is a| menace. e Seven Tammany Judges Disrobed. “Though the process is not as noisy or as sensational as that of the attack upon Mayor Walker of Greater New York, which resulted in a victory for the mayor, there is now in progress a work of housecleaning in that city which is going heavily against Tam- many and is making a record that is likely to figure in the wider political fleld at the next election. The judges of the appellate division of the State Supreme Court are sitting as a special court to hear and decide upon charges brought against a number of justices of the lower courts of the city. Former Justice Samuel Seabury is acting as special prosecutor, and thus far he has scored two victories and no defeats. ‘The other day Judge Jean Norris, the only woman ever elected to the bench in New York, was ousted for cause. Yesterday Judge Jesse Silberman was removed for being improperly influ- enced by political considerations in im- posing sentence upon a defendant. ‘These two removals from the bench bring the total “mortality” of the New York courts up to seven since the be- ginning of 1930. Magistrate Francis X.| McQuade resigned rather than face in-| vestigation, and he was followed in quick sequence by Magistrates Henry M. R. Goodman and George W. Simp- | son. In March, 1930, Magistrate Albert H. Vitale was removed for accepting a $20,000 loan from Arnold Rothstein, the gambler, and Judge George F. Ewald resigned under the fire of charges that he had purchased his appointment, though later he was freed from criminal prosecution through mistrials. These removals and forced retirements, to- gether with the two just effected by the special prosecutor, make a sad record for the Tammany-chosen judiciary of New York. And more are booked to come. ——oe— The British army is substituting a nine-inch bayonet for the former twenty-inch affair. Perhaps on the theory that in some instgnces, at least, & puncture is as efficacious as a full blowout. et leaves behind it a handsome table said to be worth $900 today. That dispels away their time carving their initials. City dwellers no longer affect indif- ference to the problems of the farmer. These problems are passed along until eventually they make startling appear- ances in the urban market basket. J—————— :Sundays of a Parisian” President Hoover's Crime Commission | would do better to read her literature THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. The study of the literature of a na- their minds. and books on economics and sociology and not enough on the fiction of a people. In an amazing way, over a stretch of several hundred years, the writers of fiction, poetry, general literature, can portray the heart of their nation. ‘There is no fixed plan, no program, no general purpose, perhaps, but the sum total of their work is at once in- clusive and incisive. ‘We thought of this recentlv in con- nection with the discussion of the prc- posal for the suspension of intergov- ernmental debts. It is impossible to understand the mind and the heart of France without some knowledge of her literature, one of the greatest in the worid and cer- tainlv one of the most interesting. With a reading acquaintance with her writers, an American is in a fair way of knowing something about the soul of that pecple. Without that knowledge he 1is lost, although he may have been to France. and may have walked the boulevards of Paris, and been held up by a taxi driver. Many persons indulge in a lJambasting of Prance and the French people who by no means have the background for any but a superficial graso of that nation and its interesting history, life and people. Such persons go to France, and, tak- ing nothing with them of real knowl- edge of the country, its customs, his- tory, ideals, are easily repulsed by the first person they meet who might treat | them as no doubt they have been treat- | ed many times before by persons in their own country They go to France to be impressed, and, alas, sometimes are impresced the | wrong way, mainly because they have carried no deep impressions with them. Instead of going to Paris to place a wreath on the tomb of Alexandre Dumas, or that of Emile Zola, great writers in their manner, they permit themselves to go there to be miffed at the first “touch” of a grasping per- son who never heard of either one of | his own celebrated compatriots. ] No one can know France who has| noi read Zola's “La Terre,” or Dumas’ | “Three Musketeers,” or Hugo's “Les Miserables,” or France's “Penguin Is- land.” or Moliere’s “Bourgeois Gentle- men,” or Rousseau's ‘“Confessions.” or | De Maupassant's lightest sketches, “The and similar | things. ‘The American who has read Balzac's | stupendous “Human Comedy” will feel that he knows something about the French which nobody who merely goes there as a sight-seer can know, or even know enough to rezlize exists. That massive trilogy of Zola's, | “L'Assommoir,” “Nana” and “Le De- | bacle,” gives the reader something out of the very life of & people which few more staid works could. | There is an unforgettable scene in ! “La Terre” (The Earth). in which an educated peasant is reading to a group, It is from a book aiming to reconcile the peasants to their lot. Jacques Bon- homme, the generic name for peasants, is told how happy he ought to be. | But the listeners were thinking their own thoughts. “Was the book making un of them?" they asked themselves. | ‘Nothing in the world was worth while except money, and they were povert stricken.” | And there one has a flash of illumi- nation which goes a long way toward explaining many things. * %0 It is 0 with all nations. If you want to get at England and the English, you than her history, her fiction than her | forth what manner | tions are govemment reports, her poetry than er budgets. . It is perhaps becruse most Americans have done so, and appreciate the work of her great writers, in many cases more than we do that of our own, that the two nations are on the best of terms to- day. ‘The fact of a common tongue and literature has given us a bond of understanding. He who knows his Dickens and his ‘Thackeray and his Scott, his Shake- speare, his Tennyson, his Kipling, his Shaw, his Priestley, will have in his heart and mind something far removed from statistics, yet something which will enable him to understand news happen- in & human, straightforward way. What if some readers do sneer at Dickens? Call him cockney all you will, perhaps that very closeness to his people, blood of his blood and bone of his bone, makes his large stories better documents of fact than many a dry-a: dust report moldering away in the archives of Parliament,. No less a critic than Gilbert K. Ches- terton has called his books the “great world of Dickens.” Similarly, other Judges have termed Dumas a *“vital force” and have spoken of Zola in a large way. Those who appreciate and know some- thing of world literature seem to feel that abnormal comparisons are in order for some of the world's great writers. ‘Their work may lack in certain artistic qualities, but the sheer magnificence of their efforts, by and large, has put them in a separate classification. It may be that part, at least, of their |, vast appeal arises because they have been gigantic in their picturization of their people. The relentless sincerity of Zola, for- instance, is apparent in any of his novels. There can be no question that here, in these men and women, we have the French people as they are. * ok x % The teeming oceans of American fiction will give foreigners a better understanding of us than any number of high-flown, bombastic books setting forth the glories of the United States in the best phrases of economics, as valuable as such things are in their places. Even the novels of Cooper and Mel- ville, modeled as they were on Euro- pean patterns, are coming to be recog- nized as invaluable bits of Americana, mainly because they faithfully set B of men these Americans, our ancestors, were. What one generation neglects, the next exalts. Walt Whitman had to get the critical O. K. of Europe before reading Americans, as a class, were willing to admit that his work is great. If we stick to our Bret Harte and our Hamiin Garland, and our other writers of the great borders, we will know much of our own country and our own people, and so will readers of foreign nations, who, after all, are 50 much & part of us. Happily today the works of all na- tions are readily available in competent translations. No reader should shrink with modest inferiority when reading a good translation. A good trenslation, properly done by a man in love with his task, is quite often as good as the ginal, and sometimes even better. In the cases where the original ex- cels a translation. it will be mostly on account of the idioms and struc- tures which it is impossible to trans- late. This is only admitting that French is best in French, English in English. Any book store can supply a reader with the outstanding fictional works of the nations, one after the other, so that any earnest student of foreign affairs may supplement his reading of foreign news by a perusal of the fic- tion and general literature of the na. tions involved. The peoples of all immensely proud of their literatures, and an acquaintance with v visite immediate point | ,A it gives a e e aies ot | her home are “many models and pic- of contact parti Much comment has been aroused by the announcement that the ship Con-| King Carol becomes somewhat like an actor who is undecided as to whether he is better qualified to rant as a Mac- beth or sigh as a Romeo. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Independence Day. It's a custom to tell of the days of the past In terms that a glamour will lend. We often regret that old times could not last. As the modern improvements extend. We think cf the days when the fire- works would blaze And dazzle the marveling eye— And we %ish we could bring back the ‘wonderful ways Of the old-fashioned Fourth of July. But the bright pyrotechnics meant nothing at all between 2,240 pounds and 2,000 pounds of coal. As for the consumer, it does not make much difference whether he buys a long ton or a short ton of coal. But uni- formity is necessary. If the coal men have the weight of facts and of merit long ton here, they ought to be able to win their fight. It should be under- stood it is their own fight, and it should be waged primarily at amending the law. R hot weather may be unreasonably long. Besides the weather may be so persistent. in discomfort that it is too hot to travel in search of relief. Temperatures have been so nearly the same in various parts of the country that many citizens de- cide to take counsel with Hamlet and “bear the ills we have.” e ——————————— Voice of.the Nation. ‘There was a great, a resounding, an all-pervading voice abroad last night. It was at once human and superhuman. It was the voice of a man, yet that of a gigantic man, overwhelming, overpower- ing. But it was not exactly the voice of a man, either, as every one knew, but the voice cf a man amplified by elec- tricity. It was, as a matter of fact, the voice of Graham MacNamee, announc- ing the round-by-round incidents of repeatedly on his opponent, but could not land heavily enough. Then, again, he displayed & characteristic tendency to clinch to avoid difficulties, which is a sign of a near-fighter and by no means the token of the genuine cham-ione may think of things pugilistic, the [ “Your thought is deep, I can’t deny.|what they used to be. Sailor men and plon pugilist. The spectacle was doubtless enjoyed by the comparatively small attendance. It was a rather tidicus repetition of the same factors of exchan; blows ®hat did no damage, succelsion of they developed. In every neighborhood thrcughout the District of Columbia, back of their effort to abandon the| And, though silence may reign, we pre- Even Summer resort management ha | Senator Scrghum. ° i a heart and admits that a stretch of | fillbustering to have its uses. Comgpared to the memories great ‘That the splendid display was designed to recall Of the heroes that dared any fate. The wise men who taught and the brave men who fought In spirit still seem to stand by, serve in our thought The old-fashioned Fourth of July. The Power of Language. “Brevity is the soul of wit.” “That’s true in many cases,” replied “But I have known Jud Tunkins says even spelling re- formers can’t agree among themselves as to exactly what kind of reform and how much there ought to be. July Impression. ‘Where Arctic frost is in control To travel wculd be nice. I do not care about the Pole— But I could use the ice. Moths. “You know the sad-story of the moth and the flame.” “Yes,” replied Miss Cayenne. “But I rather approve of the moth who tries to enjoy himsclf in the light instead of devouring what doesn't belong to him in the dark.” Depth. the Schmeling-Stribling prize fight as| “My thought is deep,” the grave man |then ponder the statement of the As- said; “So do not be by folly led, MarylanG and Virginia, in every State, | And strive my meaning to pursue. in fact, all radio receiving sets were | My thought is far too deep for you.” [As the Erie Dispatch-Herald remarks: tuned in to this one event. Whatever | Then said the simply passerby, fact remains that practically every one, It lies secure from common wit, from grandmother down to junior, loves | Because 'nezth words you've buried it.’ to listen to the broadcasting of a prize- ring affair. There is something elemen- tal, something in the air, as it were, which has & universal appeal, whether “Some men,” said Ungle Eben, “think dey is too geod to jine in politics, but nobody thinks he ain’ good i stitution —“Old Ironsides"—must make her exhibition trip at the end of a towline instead of undet the power of | spread sails. To be hauled by a tug, | because the Navy has no crew able to | handle a safling vessel, is considered rather a disgraceful thing to happen | to a proud old ship and a rather| ignominious sequel to her rebuilding | through a Nation's contributions, which were prompted not only by patriotic regard for the frigate's history but by a sentimental feeling toward the sea and sailing days. Some even suggest taht a crew might be recruited from | the old “salts” who can man the ship and sail her again as she was sailed in former days. Expressing its keen disappointment at the outcome of the arrangements for | the tour, the Rockford Register-Repub- | lic states: “When the reconditioned frigate, ‘Old Ironsides,’ goes out on an | exhibition tour, it will b2 ins tow of | a tug. Rather a disgraceful thing to| happen to this famous old ship, which served the country, so well in the. days when the Barbary pirates were taught | there was a new and unafraid Nation in the world’s family.” That paper continues: ‘Congressmap Bloom of New York conceived the idea of out- fitting the ship as she was in her hey- day and let her take to the breeze as she did when Hull, Bainbridge and Stewart walked her quarterdeck. But, alas, the Navy Department replies there are no sailor men today of the breed that ‘Old Ironsides’ knew. Men in the | Swedish and Norwezian merchant ships might know how to furl and unfurl her sails, but it would require months to train an American crew to handle the ship under sai Hence the Constitu- tlon will be hauled by & noisy, smoke- puffing tug, not fit, so far as history is concerned, to keep her company.”™ o ke ‘For ‘Old Ironsides’ to be towed by a tug as she is taken about for exhibi- tion will not fully satisfy the imagina- tion,” says the Springfield (Mass.) Union. “If her old crew of 1812 could be summoned back, we of today might witness the beautiful spectacle of the ship maneuvering under full sail, inde- pendent of a modern device,” this paper continues, but presumes ‘that, under present circumstances, “this resurrec- tion cannot be accomplished, nor is it easy to restore other elements of the picture, for, as Assistant Navy Secretary Jahncke remarks, to require modern sailors to don the queer and uncomfort- able garb of a crew of 1812 would be tantamount to imviting mutiny.” “In leash, ‘Old Ironsides,’ which did S0 much to assure the freedom of the seas!” exclaims the Toledo Blade, as it Plctures the ship 100 years ago “under full sail, a ‘bone in her teeth’ over- taking and defeating sea pirates and other enemies.” The Blade continues: “Conjure in imagination the captain and mates bellowing commands, two men at the wheel, gunners at stations, seamen swarming aloft, volleys, naval victories. home-coming triumphant. En- vision all that if you can, or read it in history for thrills and inspiration, and sistant Secretary of the Navy in Wash- ington, that, although the rebuilt Con- stitution is completely rigged, no crew in the Navy knows how to sail her.” ‘Where, oh, where, is the sailor man of yesteryear? ~Surely sailors are not the ways of the seas have changed con- siderably in the last half century.” * ok ok * Nation Sees “61(1 Ironsid;a Beckoning 2 to Real Sailors take a hitch in their beits and run up the ratlines and do things on a broad arm and no doubt the Secretary will | hear from some of them.” The Day believes that “if a census were taken in the seaports of New England, there could be little fear entertained bul that a full and capable crew could be found to man the Constitution and sail her when and where the Navy Department ordered. ‘The St. Paul Ploneer Press declares that “the first syllable of the word ‘sailor’ is an anachronism as far as the gobs in the United States Navy are concerned.” As to the handling of sail- ing vessels, this paper agrees that “there is no need for this classical knowledge of ships on the modern float- ing machine shops that constitute the Navy today.” but considers that “this is a hard blow to landlubber patriots, who have a sentimental feeling for the windjamming days of masts and ri ing, bowsprits, spankers and jibs. The Richmond News-Leader is of the opinion that “half the boys of the world are sailors under the skin, and all they need to know it is to handle a tiller and hold a sheet-rope,” and that “the age of the motor boat has not destroyed the atavistic love of the sweet and silent sea, of rigging that sings in the wind, and of sails that come to iife at the mariner’s bidding.” * Kk * “It was a fine and delicate sentiment that preserved the famous frigate from being dismantled and destroyed,” is the opinion of the Memphis Commercial- Appeal. “The pennies of the school children that saved the vessel per- | formed a valuable service for the donors as well as for the Nation. They have furnished for the present and will fur- nish for the future generations a living example of the American initiative, in- ventive genius, seamanship and courage exhibited when the Constitution out- maneuvered a British fleet, then sank the Guerriere and later the Java, be- sides capturing’ & number of British vessels.” Rejoicing that the ship has been saved from a ‘‘catastrophic end,” thé Rock Island Argus gives dn interesting summary of the work involved in re- conditioning the vessel. “Sails, spars, timber for masts, cordage, paints and deck planking, valued at $50,000, were donated by many individuals, firms and associations,” says the Argus. ‘The ordnance of the old ship had disap- peared and in the making of new guns careful research was necessary to de- termine the shape, size, bore and other characteristics of the original equip- ment, Even such things as gun ram- mers, sponges, canncn balls, rope, matehes, powder, bags and magazines and shell rooms had to be supplied, a task involving additional research. It was not, easy to_duplicate the old har- ness casks for holding salt meat and fish, barrels for hardtack, hand and leg irons for recalcitrant sailors, cat-o’ nine tails, the sick bay with its mor- tar and pestle for making of drugs, drinking water hogsheads, whale ofi lamps, small beats and similar equip- ment.” Though the expense has been great, this paper asserts that “no ob- Jjection can be raised to such expendi- tures in such & cause,” and concludes, “This relic of a former day is one of the Nation's and the Navy's greatest — A Balanced Judgment. From the San Jose Mercury Herald. In a lengthy interview on the Presi- dent's offer to grant an extension to European government debtors, Senator Hiram ~Johnson seems to reach the But are there no saflors capable of handling the Constitution? The New London Day thinks there are “a lot of old sailors, yo in years, who can conclusion Mpis either a good or a bad step. Such conservatism is quite . ‘unusual 0 S i | she watched the harvesting.” THE LIBRARY TABLE l By the Booklover wmllvhl llg.'h‘mhmmln, indinavian, French, German, Italian, Spantsh, with " ‘fflun rians, are included in the volume Living Authors,” by the obviously Eou“:wnymlc lu‘tlzmr,l ?’tny 3}:102 ;.rhere unconventional biography of each author, with anecdotes and the details that every one likes to know, such as the names of their children, where they g0 on vacations, how they look, how they behave, and how they first came to write. The correct pronunciation of difficult names is given and repro- ductions of photographs or dnwn;!l help to give some idea of the personal- itles, In explaining the book, the author says: “Acknowledgment is gratefully made to the 400 authors, particularly those consulted personally, who put their ‘lives,'sas it were, in our hands; to the publicity representatives of some 30 publishers, who patiently gave of their time and invaluable data, and to the members of the American library profession, who practically demanded the publication of this work. To fill gaps, both considered and inad- vertent, of the present volume, another volume of at least equal size would be required and may be forthcoming, should the occasion arise. A continu- ous series of such volumes might con- stitute a valuably intimate record of the contemporary literary scene for the benefit of a neglectful posterity. An- other generation will have its own ‘liv- mT authors’ Much that is recorded will scatter irretrievably to the winds; the original photographs will have cracked and faded. Here, then, are our 400 men and women.” * Kok ok Each of the “400” in “Living Authors” becomes alive for us when we read the personal bits of information about him or her. They are no longer merely the authors of certain books, listed perhaps in “Who's Who in America. Sherwood Anderson, when manager of & paint factory in Elyria, Ohjo, one day stopped dictating in the middle of a letter, said to his stenographer, “I am walking in the bed of a river,” put on his hat, and left, never to return. Sin- clair Lewis was for a time janitor at Halicon' Hall. N. J, the Utopian colony of Upton Sinclair. Theodore Dreiser was once the “cautious and conserva: tive” editor of the Butterick publica- tions, including the “Delineator.” Lord Dunsany is 6 feet 4 inches tall. Andre Gide wears a skull cap, to cover his bald head, and a shawl, in the Mal- larme fashion. Aldous Huxley planned to be a doctor. but was prevented by temporary blindness and is grateful for the prevention. William McFee was born at sea. Maeterlinck thinks most Americans are hypocrites. He admits that his career is over and says he expects to spend his remaining time in eating, sleeping. drinking and enjoy- ing life. John Cowper Powys, Llewelyn T. F. Powys and A. R. Powys are all brothers, 4 of the 11 children of a Derbyshire clergyman. Llewelyn Powys has been fighting tuberculosis most of his life and has told something of his struggle in “Skin for Skin.” Edwin Ar- lington Robinson once said: “I don't know whether I am a great poet or not. Time alone can tell about that. But I do know that I have never consciously injured any one. And that at least is something.” Frank Swinnerton lives in 8 sixteenth century stone cottage in Surrey, with a studio house in the gar- den, where h= does his writing. When- ever he finishes a book, he eats a hot plum pudding, even in very rm weather. J. B. Priestley is “a pudgy, slow-spoken, matter-of-fact individual of medium stature, whose constant com- panion is a briar pipe. His accent betrays his Yorkshire origin. * * * There are five little Priestleys—all girls.” s ‘The bits of information in “Living Authors” about woman writers are not less interesting than those about the men. Storm Jameson, in private life Mrs. Guy Chapman, lives at Whitby, on the east coast of England, and in tures of ships, some of them owned by her family in the days when Whitby was & mart for ‘frigate-built ships that traded to India and China.’ One of her chief recreations is reading about ships and shipbuilding. From this interest in ships came her trilogy, “The Lovely Ship.” “The Voyage Home" and “A Richer Dust.” Sigrid Undset lives at Lillehammer, Norwa: house cating back to 1000, restored and fur- nished with genuine old Norse pieces. “The only modern things in it are a plano and the plumbing. * * * She wears the national costume of the Viking matron of the Middle Ages, and puts on modern clothes only for trips to the city. Willa Cather, when in France, was so homesick for the prairies of our Middle West that she aunted the wheat fields and cried silently Ewh;\ Delafield lives in Devon and is a justice of the peace in her county. She is especially interested in criminology. Mrs. Lily Adams Beck, who died in Kyoto, Japan, January 3. 1931, wrote stories of the Orient under the name L. Adams Beck and highly colored his- torical romances under the name of E. Bariington. Mazo de la Roche, Cana- dian, says the cannot abide “telephones, department stores, lifts, comic supple: ments, noisy patriotism, speeches, lec- tures. helpful information of any kind. V. Sackville-West is Victoria Mary Sackville-West, daughter of the third Baron Sackville of Knole Park and wife of Harold Nicolson, diplomat and author of biographies. Knole Castle. where she was born, is the setting for her novel “The Edwardians.” Virginia Woolf is not, as has sometimes been asserted. the granddaughter of Thack- eray. She is the daughter of Sir Leslie Stephen and his second wife. His first wife was Thackeray's daughter . * x ox x As the author of the most distin-_ guished contribution to children’s lit- erature during the past year, Elizabeth Coatsworth received the Newbery Medal award for her book, “The Cat Who Went to Heaven,”, given by the section for library work with children of the American Library Association at the recent National Library Convention at New Haven. The medal, awarded an- nually, was established in 1922 by Pred- eric G. Melcher of New York in honor of John Newbery, one of the first pub- lishers to recognize the importance of books for children. The author of this year's Newbery winner has written sev- eral other books for children, as well s three volumes of adult poetry. She was born in Buffalo, graduated from Vassar _and two years ago married Henry Beston, the naturalist and writer. Since then she has divided her time betwéen her studio in Hingham, Mass., and the moors and beaches of the outer cape. Known as an indefatigable trav- eler, Miss Coatsworth has been a leis- urely visitor to England, Prance, Spain, Ttaly, Greece, Egypt, Morocco, Mexico and the Orient. “The Cat Who Went to Heaven” is the story of an artist in Japan. Prévious winners of the New- bery Medal have been Hendrik Van Loon, who received the 1921 award for ‘The Story of Mankind”; Hugh Lofting, whose “Voyages of Dr. Doolittle” re- ceived the medal in 1922: Boardman Hawes, for “Th Frigate,” in 1923: Charles J. Finger, for “Tales From Silver Lands,” in 1924: Bowie n, for “Shen of t in 1925; Will James, for “Smoky, ‘the Cowhotse,” in 1926; Dhan | Gopal Mukerjil. for “Gay-Neck,” in 1927; Eric P. Kelly, for “The Trumpeter of Krakow,” in 1928, and Rachel for “Hitty, Her First Hundred Years,” given the Newbery Medal for 1929. * K ok % ‘Thimself pseudonym, gone back over years in autobiogra) Mistletoe.” Johl:h:‘ itirely sat- g good ts, even though exactly yanna, i mined not to become a chronic “kicker." He says: “It i8 not th= dreamer’s job 1o heckle for its cruel and spectac- ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS lxfi'n researchers who can get you any information on any subject are at your command without charge to you. A 2-cent stamp will bring you a per- sonal answer {0 any inquiry of fact you may make. Thousands of newspaper re: this great service. Try it today. Make your inquiry easily read and easily understood, an Evening Star Information Frederic_J. Haskin, Burea: , director, Washing- Q. Who decides upon the reciplents of the Pulitzer prizes?—C. M. ? A. The Pulitzer prizes are awarded by the trustees of the Columbia Uni- versity on the recommendation of the Advisory Board of the School of Jour- nalism. The staff of the School of Journalism, assisted by journalists in the professional field, reports on the important contributions of the year which merit consideration in connection with the prize. The Advisory Board is | in | not restricted to these recommendations but usually makes it choice from them. Q.' Just what is easy walking dis- tance? [Easy motoring distance?— for the average person, any distance that may be covered within that time at a 3-mile pace is generally ac- cepted as easy walking distance. Simi- larly, a distance that may be covered motor in three or four hours at an average speed of 25 to 30 miles an hour may be taken as easy motoring dis- tance. Q. What_pollens usually cause hay fever?>—P. D. A. A Public Health broadcast says that the offending substance, in the majority of cases of seasonal hay fever, is the pollen from the wind-borne pol- linated plants, which includes many of the grasses, weeds and trees. The sea- son of attack, therefore, usually corre- sponds with the time of the year in which the respective pollen of thes: address The | A. Both are relative terms. As an | hour's walk is not considered. difficult | | ec | hours to plants is being produced and blown into | Russian thistle and September: while from the rag- weed pollen, the latter part of August, September and October. Q. How close together were the orig!: nal markers for the Mason and Dixon's Line?—R. W. B. A. When the line was run the sur- veyors set up stone monuments 1 mile rt. On the north face was a mark- | 2 D 1105 air records recognized by the Irtese on the ing indicating Pennsylvant BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. | | | stalled for some tim or dust. | street A | District | teenth st and the Tilden street hil Q. How long had the Acadians been in Grand Pre before they were dis- possessed?—N. B. A. These Prench immigrants settled there in 1632. Evangeline, together with 1,922 people of Grand Pre and places nearby, were expelled in 1755, Q. At what rate were slaves brought intn this country?—G. McK. A. The institution spread slowly after its introduction in 1619. At the end of 30 years there were only about 300 Africans in Virginia. However, it fs estimated that between 1713 and 1780, 20,000 slaves were annually carried over e sea. Q. When was the first fatality at the iflg\.fl 'J'grp‘;,do Station at Newport, R, . The first fatality occurred on January 21, 1874, when Patrick H. Cre- min, machinist helper, was found suf- focated in a gasomcter vault. Q. What does hyaline mean?—L. L. A. As an adjective it'means glassy or transparent. As a noun, it is a poetic Tm for the sea or the atmosphere whe; smooth or clear, or for anything Lnun- paren:. Q. How mans’?fifiéstrjun statues there in the Arlington National CE!I‘I:: tery! T. A. There is but one equestrian sta in Arlington National Cemetery, thxlu;; Maj. Gen. Philip Kearny, in a special lot near the Lee Mansion. Gen. Keare ny was killed in a skirmish at Chane tilly, Va. M. ening dingy organ pipes? Q. Please give directions for brighte A When the pipes i been ine they should be removed and washed with gasoline. They should then be sized and allowad to becoms tacky, after which gold powder may be applied with a piece of felt. It should be dusted on and the pj red, - t asid> at allow the sizing to harde The final process is the application 35 acquer. Both sizing and laquer should be applied with a camel's-hair brush and the work done away from any digg Which grade is stiffer, hill or Tilden street mx;‘:mrxmsr.I The Highway Department of the of Columbia says that the Thire treet hill has a grade of 103/19 Ia grade of 913, Q. What place does the United States |have in the list of nations holding atg south, Maryland. Each fifth marker was | i Mitones the |United States is third, with 19 world a “crown stone.” On these stones the coat of arms of Penn appeared on the 3 3 | north face and that of Lord Baltimore | Gfrma: | Czechosloval on the south face. Q. At what time of aav are the sun’s rays richest in ultra-violet rays?—C. B'M. A. Betwzen 10 am. and 2 pm. Q. When did we last have eight vears between leap years 2nd when will it happen again?-O. C. K A. The last eight-vear int-rval was between 1896 and 1904. This will occur the next time between 2096 and 2104. Years marking the close of centuries are not leap years unless divisible by 400. The year 2000 will be a leap year. . What can be added to cream to make it whip?>—A. K. S. A. To a bottle of lime water add as much sugar as it will take, leaving al- ways a little sugar in the bottom. Add one teaspoonful of this to one cupful of cream. This mixture will make the whipped cream hold its shape. related of the final hours of the royal family, both pathos and touches now and then of comedy were interspersed. gretting deeply the somber changes which made it necessary for him to re- nounce his crown, and while awaiting preparations for his departure, the King confided to the Queen: “There have been far sadder vigils than this of ours, for at least we tread no scaffold in the morning.” probably in allusion to Louis 3IVI of France and Charles I of England, who were beheaded when their kingdoms fell. Though all the | air records. records?>—R. W. A. In the list of nations holding the national Aerorautical Federation the France is first, with 38, Germany second, with 30: Italy fou rth, reat Britain, Spain and hold fifth place, with § each, and Hungary 1. Q. When was guayule rubber first ‘intr(\dcuccd into the United States? A. Guayule rubber first came to the United States when samples were sent {from Durango, Mexico, to the Centene Inial Exposition at Philadelphia in 1876, | a | childre: -P. C. While re- | family retired to rest, few, if any of | them, actually closed their slumber. In the morning the King and Queen, the infantes and infantas, all ate a for- mal breakfast at a very early hour The usuzl ceremo and routine was observed before leaving for the Escurial, where the final arrangements for the departure were to be made, the servants even asking the Queen and oiher mem- bers of the royal house their orders for the day, without any thought of mock- ing them in their sorrow, o implanted was the habit and cusiom of the pre- ceding years. eyes in * ok Kk France Makes Plea To Increase Birth Rate. Le Matin, Paris.—In the last half century the population of France has increased but a little over 2 per cent, while that of Germany increased by | almost 40 per cent. At least, so say the statisticians, and the fact that there are no less than 62,000,000 living in | the Fatherland, whereas France and her dependencies can enumerate hard- ly_more than 40,000,000. shows our relative disadvantage, 'due, no doubt, baleful theories of birth control, doctrines which meet with but meager recognition or acceptance in Teuton territory. Our birth rate must in- crease if we are to hold our cnce en- viable position among the netions. * ok x ok Question Right fo Leave Widow Penniless. Irish Independent, a man be allowed to make a will by which he can leave his widow and children penniless? At present he has that right Ireland and in Great Britain, but few other places. If he makes a proper will he may turn his wife and childres out of their home and give it over to a distant cousin or a stranger in blood: he may direct that his house and money be devoted to the upkeep of a home for stray dogs or Manx cats; and the law will see that his wishes are car- ried out to the letter. in in is a comparatively modern innovation It was unknown in the days when the when the bishops were: able to insist that the widow ancd children should get a fair share of the property. ever the dead father had directed. It came when the so-called Reformation undermined the influence of the clergy and when the introduction of divorce wrecked the sanctity of the home. It was thrust upon the Irish people whether they wanted it or not: and in their days of freedom they have learned | to hug this rusty badge of slavery. * ¥ X X Central Government Would Ald West Indies. El Nuevo Diario, Caracas.—The Brit- ish government has the intention of forming into one administrative district all its possessions in the West Indies. The crisis in the sugar industry has af- fected all the islands in the Caribbean Sea, and economies in government must be made if very serious industrial re- verses are to be avoided. A central jurisdiction at Jamaica or in Eritish E = s 124 His task, as Anatole it 1s to admire 1ife Frz hat- | It was 18 years, however, before the first commercial produced in Mexico. guayule rubber was How many children and grand- n has Mme. Schumann-Heink? A. Mme. Schumann-Heink has eight children, six scns and two daughters, Two sons are dead. The oldest son lost his life in a German submarine: the other died in San Diego in 1916. Mme. Schumann-Heink has 11 grandchildren land two great-grandchildren. Highlights on the Wide World | dependencies Excerpts From Newspapers of Other Lands B C, Madrid —Of the anecdotes | America, and by uniting all the various departments of the local governments could do away with thc expense of maintaining separate political fabrics. In this way, too. better co-operation can be obtained in the scheduling of plan- tation culture and other industries, doing away With overproduction in cer= tain lines, which in the past has de= moralized the British West Indian mare ket. ‘The centralization of government would be forced to include. in addition to Jamaica and the British colony in Honduras, the Bahamas. the Barbados, British Guiana, the Leeward and the Windward Island, and Trinidad. The improvements in communication and navigation between all these scattered have removed the ob- stacles wkich formerly interfered with this ideal in political and economic government, and have finally made it possible for all these British units to co-operate. * ok X % Would Place Doctor on French Juries. Le Matin, Paris—Why is there not & provision in the law which would ree quire a doctor upon each jury? Thenm the culprit could be more easily ex- amined as to his physical and mental aspects and the degree of his responsie bility established. His intelligence could be gauged and the nature of his reae= tions to every impulse. In fact. the whole nature and character of the indi- vidual, both mental and physical, could thus become a matter of analysis and record, to determine whether such & person should be reinstated in society, regardless of whether the specific of= fense was a serious one. For medicine has made prodigious progress in what | is known as the glandular science. 1 | operating properly. Dublin.—Should | Rervous. depressed or choleric to a The exhaustive studies of Dr. Leopold Levy, for example, have determined with precision all the functions of the glands and their influence upon the moral as well as upon the organic life of man. For instance, one subject is & lazy, weak-willed, lethargic kind of per= son, not because he wishes to be that way, but because his thyroid gland isn't Another man) is pathological degree because of defective ction in the lymphatic, pineal or pitui= | tary gland. | ment felt st his offense. n | t.hrm' Courts strive continually to benefit and protect society by punishing the unsocial. They condemn the thief to years in prison as a sort of ree enge exacted to balance the resent- The courts | have never thought to consider that the | treated, not punished. thief, by his behavior, shows himself a pathological subject—one who is to be If the three | years in prison were, therefore, altered “This license to dispose of property | in their cases to three years of thyroid | or other gland treatment in a hospital, | the seat of the whole trouble would be influence of the Catholiz clergy was Ieached end society saved far more ef- il powerful n these matters and | fectively than has ever been observed in | any | From the Detrott Free ri le; even | mark we now put it like mere retaliatory process directed against the errant one. With a physician on the bench or on the jury, all the physiological caprices of the convict can be investigated, and he then becomes during his incarcera- tion a patient, rather than a prisoner. With a physical regeneration made Pos~ sible by scientific medicine there comes a moral regeneration. Once restored to really normal health, he who was a thief or drunkard or degenerate is such no longer. Medical science, by treating his body, has healed his soul. ——————___ Acidulous. From the Daston Daily News. Now we are told that a person can cure himself of any disease by staying in bed for three months and eating lemons, but at the end of that time lt.th!i chances are he'll be pretty sowr on e s Nothing Rare About It. After the now high-temperature ® o