Evening Star Newspaper, October 3, 1931, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR | With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. | SATURDAY. . .October 3, 1831 ';i!EODORE W. NOYES. ...Editor| The Lvening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: 11 and penney] New York Office: 110 Chicaco Offiee European Ofiice 1a_Ave. 420d 8t. n Building. Lo ake Micl 14 Regent ndon, nglan Rate by Carrier Within the City. | The Evening Star 43¢ per month a_Sunday Siar haay “60c per month 5¢ per month T 007,05 wer copy | Corlection made at thie end ‘of ‘each montn. | Orders may be sent in by mail or telephone NAtional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. s . $10.00: 1 mo., 85¢ 8 RASRH RS 1¥r. $4.00;1mo.40c only . Bunday’ only All Other States and Canada. .1 yr.. $12.00: 1 mo., $1.00 51 00: 1 mo., is¢ hd 1yri $5.00i 1mo. 60c ouly ... unday only . Member of the Associated Press. The Assoclated Press is exclusively e1 titled o the se for republication of all news dis- To it or not otherwise cred- d also he rights of publ The Issue Is Drawn. President Hoover's readiness to take the question of naval expansion to the country has thrust it into the forefront of public discussion. Congress, rather than the country, will be the arena in which the contest will be fought out, ut Capitol Hill, reacting to popular sentiment, will, of course, reflect the Nation's will. Senator Hale and Rep- resentative Britten, chairmen, respec- tively, of Senate and House Commit- tees on Naval Affairs, have agreed upon a legislative program which defines the iesue now clearly drawn between the administration and those who believe in the maximum of permitted American national defense at sea. The President proposes an immediate eut of $61,000,000 in the next naval budget and an indefinite holiday in new construction. Messrs. Hale g&nd Britten are completing plans to ask Congress to authorize building expendi- of $750,000,000, spread over the between now and 1936, in order that by that time the United States! Navy may be expanded to London treaty strength. Between the executive | and legislative ends of Pennsylvania avenue the battle lines are thus clearly drawn. The country must omit no opportunity to acquaint itself thoroughly with the rival viewpoints involved. All signs indicate that the Navy is the pivot around which the congressional controversy of the year will revolve. us as is the prospect that the United States—if the President’s pur- pose is achieved—will make no move toward that “balanced flest” for which it 5o tenaciously contended last year | in London, the even graver, because more imminent, consequence of (h?‘ administration program is the danger that a full fifth of our existing naval strength will be “laid up.” If the| proposed $61,000,000 slash in the 1932- 33 budget is not to affect current con- struction, as Mr. Hoover says it will not do, the money must be saved in | other directions. It will have to be taken from maintenance charges. It/ can only be cheesepared from cost of upkeep—of retaining ships in com- mission. To provide fcr it, vessel after vessel| will have to be de-commissioned and | their crews dismissed. “It is a very| serious thing for us to cut to this ex- ient,” says Secretary of the Navy Adams. So it is. It is serious not only from the standpcint of fundamental defensive needs, but, in such times as these, even | more disturbing because of the inevi- table addition of anywhere from four to ten thousand men to the Nation's army of unemployed. At a moment Wwhen people are being urged to buy, as an impertant means of minimizing com- | mercial depression, Uncle Sam, it is} projected, shall deprive a huge group of ship hands of the wherewithal of | livelihood. The desire for the maximum of Fed- eral economy is univeisal, the neces- sity for it indisputable. It is the busi- | ness of statesmanship to determine in | which directions economy is wise, and | in which, conversely, it is injudicious. The Navy is Uncie Sam’s principal life insurance policy. It has just been cal- culated that it now costs him in the ncighborhood of $750,000 a day—the overwhelming bulk of it for wages| which automatically find their way back into public hands through the spending of the men who earn them. 1f the United States proceeds to lay | down the treaty Navy, the daily main- | tenance cost, including the carrying on | of new constiuction, might run to a million and a half dollars a day or! more. That money, too, weuid flow back into the pockets of the people. in 1917 and 1918, when the country; was at war, more than that was spent by the Government every hour of every day. Is not a guarantee of peace for the American peoole under a policy costing an annual premium of half a billion dollars the cheapest national life insurance conceivable? Thus envisaged, naval expenditure can by no stretch of the imagination| be pillcried as extravagance. It is the! sanest form of economy. 1 —_——R As a “man of steel” Stalin looks for no depression in the Russian steel mar~ ket sc far as he is concerned. = o Ancther “Clean-up” for Chicago. Chicago is going to have a “world fair” in 1933, It wants to entertain great crowds of people. Realizing that the city has suffered seriously in re- pute of late because of the prevalence | of crime there, its civic leaders are| anxious lest people may hesitate about visiting such a danger spot. 80 they are moving to clean house and give the town a MWetter name before the country. Mayor Anton Cermak, who was elected mayor last Spring over “Blg Bill' Thompson, has been endeavoring to set matters in order, and now, to carry on further, he has named a new police chief, charged with the duty of mak- ing Chicago, if not lily white, at least as pure in reputation for law and or- der as the average American center. He styles the new head of the force of guardians his “world fair police eemmissioner.” The new leader of the force is Capt. James P. Allman, who has won the name of “iron man” of the Police Department. Quite recently there has been a re- wvival of bombing and other forms of ) w jtickled to death with this job. j portant element of public policy. There {ing and thorough. racketeering activity in Chicago, nd' civic organizations have demanded & suppression of this terrorism. Commis- sioner Allman, taking his newly desig- nated post, sald frankly: “I am rot But he added that he was ready to go after the violators cf the law to the best of his ability. He sald nothing of the courts of the city. Yet he knows that | heretofore the most sincere eforis of the police to suppress vice and crime have been rendered frultless by the fail- ure of the judges to co-operate. ‘Whether a better condition prevalls in the higher up ranges of the law en- forcement organization remains to be reen. Best wishes are to be extended to the new police commissioner, and hearty sympathy goes to him also for facing & hard task. ————— A Necessary Investigation. The crcumstances attending the forced resignation of Dr. Ray M. Hall, an economist of the Bureau of Finance and Investment of the Department of Commerce, attracted wide attention and considerable comment at the time be- cause they seemed to involve an im- was a dispute between Dr. Hall and his figures and comment in & report, Dr. Hall taking the view that a change in his report was “suppression” to hide vital, if unpleasant, truths, Department of Commerce officials con- tending, generally, that the figures and the statements were elther erroneous or inappropriate. Dr. Hall's contenticns, if true, become a grave indictment of the Decpartment of Commerce and of the Government's statistical services and it is important that every effort be made to discover what lies at the bottom of the row. After some delay, explained by the dif- ficulty of finding suitable men willing to undertake the inquiry, Secretary of Commerce Lamont has announced the personnel of a committee of five promi- nent economists who will investigate the charges and counter charges and, it is to be presumed, make public its find- ings. As everybody knows there are two sorts of bias that may creep into gov- ernmental reports and that must be rigidly excluded at all costs. One comes from the editcrial expression of a per- sonal opinion which, no matter how sin- cerely and honestly it may have been made, has no place in a statement sup- posed to deal with unvarnished facts. The other comes from a desire to reflect optimism that will bring credit to the administration. It is important that both t: pes of meddling be excluded from official statements of fact. And it is not difficult t> understand how en at- tempt to exclude one type of bias may be construed as an attempt to include the other. As long as Dr. Hall's charges remained unanswered by an unprejudiced exam- ination of their merit there would have | remained a suspicion regarding the value of governmental statistics in portraying | the uncolored facts. It is not the first time that such charges have been made. And it is not the first time that a gov- ernmental official has lost his job and blamed distortion of his reports as the | result. | ‘The investigation should be far-reach- e A Great Sportsman. Nowhere in the whole English-speak- ing world will there b: more genuine regret over the passing of Sir Thomas Lipton than in the United States, which he claimed as a second home. The American people knew him for the gal- lant sportsman that he was even better than his fzllow Britons, for Sir Thomas’ long series of attempts to rescue the Amerieca’s Cup from Yankee grasp had as the scene of their futility the waters that lap our own shores. The Atlantic seaboard of this country saw half a dozen Shamrocks, flying the pennant of the Royal Ulster Yacht Club, during the course of the past twenty-five years. None of “Lipton’s boats” was ever able te subdue the American defender, but| no single one of them, either, ever dipped its colors except in honor and | glorfous defeat after a contest cleanly | and skillfully sailed. The Irish baronet was that noblest | of humans—a cheerful loser. Disap- pointment wonid overspread his ruddy featurss when defeat dogged his foot- steps, as it so regularly and mercilessly did. But it never became discourage- ment. He insisted on coming back for more—for victory, if obtilnable, but for fresh punishment, if that was to be his lot. Just before his recent fatal illness Sir Thomas was about to challenge once more for the “old mug” he coveted | throughout three decades, after having suffered anotter rebuff in 1930. The recurring Anglo-American yacht races were more than international | aquatic events. They were real cement- ers of good feeling betwzen the two branches of the people who share in common the language of Milton and Longfellow. Sir Thomas Lipton be- came an invaluable builder of English- speaking comradeship—an ambassador of good will comparable to the smiling effectiveness of the Prince of Wales. ‘Whenever the sporting history of our times is written an honorable niche will be that occupled by Lipton and his long association with the races for the America’s Cup. “He was a man, take him for all in all—I shall not look upon his like again” might well be the epi- taph of the genial, gracious gentleman now gathered to his fathers after a life of eminence in world commerce and in the annals of Great Britain, Ireland and the United States. ————e—— A conflict still asserts itself which requires many a citizen to explain whether he favors prohibition not only as a political principle but as a personal | necessary to their profession as tools of THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, with the tying runs and, after williams had struck out, to make Connie Mack send Jim Moore to bat in place of Earnshaw. Two out and two on bases. And then Hallahan rose to the occasion by strik- ing out Moore, and every one, including the Cardinal players, rushed off the field thinking ths game was over. Moore startad walking to the dugout, but Coach Eddie Collins screamed for him to run to first base. Wilson, the Car- dinal’s catcher, threw the ball to third to head off Foxx going into that bag instead of throwing to first. Amid wild | confusion it developed that Wilson had taken the third strike on a pick-up, | giving Moore the right to first base if | he could get there ahead of the throw. Thus the situation was suddenly changed—three Athletics on bases and .wo out. Hallahan, however, cocl as & cucumber, was not to be cheated of his victory by such a mishap, and the next batter, Bishop, popped a foul near first base which Jim Bottomley snared in a spectacular catch leaning over a field | box. Anything might heve fol'owed Wilscn's stupid play, and he woud have been & sad player indeed if his error had cost his team a hard-won victory. Flowers, the third baseman, thinking that the game was won, might easily have tossed the ball as a souvenir into the St. Louls dugcut, thus allowing three Philadelphia runs to score and putting them one up for the contest. Blshop, glven a chance for fame, might have hit cne on the nose, a home run, tripla or double, fecring four runs in the first case and three in the other two. Hallahan might have become so upset by the trend of events as to lose control altogether, passing Blshop, foreing in one run and giving the hea'y-hitting Haas, Cochrane and Simmcns a chance to break up the game, Anything might have happened, but what did happen was to the great credit of the Cardinal pitcher. He came through under the most distressing cir- cumstances with colors flying, and prob- ably he kept Jim Wilson's name from the tablets of “boners” in history with Merkle, Zimmerman and others whose freakish misplays will never be fcrgotten as long as man’s memory runs. ———— Early statesmen who read by candle light developed a classical finish of ex- pression not ordinarily found in writings or speeches at present. Oil and elec- tricity make living more convenient. The bills also make existence more prosaic and calculating. S LT It is urged that the Government should not take an actual part in busi- ness, but should be only the umpire Any base ball fan will agree that this plan assigns to the Government the largest and most difficult portion of the responsibilit; ——— Motizn picture actresses who explain why their wages should not be reduced refer to what might be regarded as personal extravagances as being as trade are to the artisan. r—e——— A successful effort to get alcohol out of small politics will favor a hope that the hideous influence loosely termed “dope” may be gotten out of big racketeer finance. i i When the representatives of big thinking go to Berlin they frankly admit they will talk about international affairs and are not contemplating abstruse dis- cussions of Einstemn or Nietsche. Some of the veterans now hope to say “prosit.” They will never say it while lifting a stein cf beer to Dr. Clarence True Wilson. i SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Autumnal Custom. The melancholy days are here Of which the poet sings. The prophet, as he does each year, His sad prediction brings. “The Winter long will have no thaws To melt the ice and snow. I am convinced of this because A squirrel told me so. “And, while the skies grow gray and chill, I may as well suggest That we prepare for every ill That hinders human rest.” This melancholy Autumn song Is warbled every year. The custom has become so strong D O, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1931. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E, TRACEWELL, Fine moonlight nights recently made the study of shadows peculiarly inter- esting. ‘Why should one study shadows? Because shadows are manifestations of light, and light is the all-in-all of human life. Whether one considers light in a physical or mental way, with or with- out benefit of clergy, he gets back at last to the words in the beginning, “Let there be light.” And without shadows it would be difficult, sometimes, to tell whether there was any light. Shadows may be said to be reflections of light, too. It is 80 in the moral sense. Maybe sin is essentlal to show righteousness in all its warmth and beauty. T Shadows of the ordinary kind may be divided into two groups, the outdoor and the indoor. There are six main classes of outdoor shadows, as compared with four cf the indoor sorts. In the main, outdoor shadows are caused the sun, moon, street lights, automobiles, floodlights and fires. indoors are made by sun, moon, lights and fireplaces. ‘Trees are the casters of the most in- teresting outdoor shadows, chiefly owing to their quality of movement under pressure by the wind. . Sunlit shadows are inclined, in gen- eral, to be a bit harsh, perhaps too sharply defined, as patterns are cast on lawn and streets. Yet they are cool and comfortable- looking, especfally on a hot Summer a It remains for a moonlight night, however, to furnith the world with its prime, A No. 1 shadows. * x ok When the moon is high in the sky, and clouds are nowhere to be seen, then come the shadows which intrigue the mind of man, Let it be admitted st once that vou have to have the !vre of mind which is intrigued by natural things. Ngt every one has, but it is much more €ommon than some are inclined to think. ‘There is & class of human beings, the members of which become so much wrapped up in themselves as human beings and in their strictly human affairs that they never find time for a consideration of the things of Nature. Such things as wind and frost and sun and moon and rain they regard as strictly non-human, and therefore not 50 interesting as complexities of thought and conduct created by the interplay of human forces. As human beings, these people shortly work up a superiority complex, and choose to regard persons of another type of mind as rather slmrle in char- acter. ‘These latter are all those who profess to find in natural things— seasons, sun, moon, frost, rain, etc.—a great deal of interesting phenomena for human beings to watch. To them a sunset is often as inter- esting as the latest move in politics. The grand strategy of nations some- times looks cheap {o them, in compari- son with the fall of Autumn leaves. * % oxox Recent intense moonlight filtered through locust and oak trees, throwing alternate patches of light and shadow on the ground. Grass, always interesting, in its day to day, took or under /the moon- light a mellow perfection which left no suggcstion of bare spots, or places where ants had turned up red clay, to show through the green blades in‘the daytime. Here, under the alchemy of moon- shine, was lawn perfection at last! changes’ from week to week, and even | Thousands of home owners had dreamed of such a perfect lawn, but never had seen one to approach it. Star gazers, peering out windows tonight, saw it, There it was, in all its perfection, spreading out from tree to tree and in between—the perfect. lawn of dreams, apparently without a flaw, thick, green, perfect. Pew wild creatures were abroad. Perhaps rabbits and the like know when the moonlight reveals them, and tend to stay in their burrows. Squir- rels are asleep wherever it is they sleep, probably in the crotches of trees, high and safe 'Iro:n .wowltng cats. * Street lights, especially when few and far between, cast shadows of their own, lacking the intensity of sharp moon- light, but fading quicker on every edge and becoming as dark as possible at no great distance, ‘The strength of a street light, like so many of man’s creations, is illusory. Too much cf the electricity goes up in heat, not enough in light, but within a | certain narrow radius the light is in- |tense enough and throws capable shadows. These dwindle to insignificance, how- ever, when an automobile passes down the street or turns up a driveway. Then a broad band of intense light is cast on houses and yard, darting in windcws and outlining bushes and flowers, almost giving to them that edge of purple which the eye creates under the stimulus of too strong light. An automobile light is a species of floodlight and sets off flowers in a wonderful fashion. The shadows it casts are very dense, cf a velvety, inky | blackness. | “xox o ‘The shadows so far considered flicker | very little, unless the wind is blowing enough to wave the boughs of trees. The flicker from a fire in the open, however, is very strong and gives the one touch which distinguishes its | shadows. There is an inimical and a friendly type, the dread fire d the bonfire. The clamor of fire engines, and the rush of people, and the work of the fire fighters—these tend to prevent any one, even the nature lover, from study- ing the characteristics of shadows cast by such flames. The small bonfire, when kept within bounds and so kindled and watched that it will not injure trees and shrubs, gives the lover of natural things & | chance to watch the bounding shadows ‘;s the fire heightens and then dies lown, LI In the main, the four types of indoor dows are those cast by sun, moon, electric lights and the fireside. What is more pleasing than a warm g-nd’ol sunshine across the living room | floor? | It is so lively a sight that it should never be entirely barred, even in Sum- {mer. ‘Those who bar it out with closely- pulled blinds and awnings make more | than one mistake, we believe. | Many people do not like moonlight as it falls through windows, probably on the basis of the century-old supersti- |tion that its rays cause madness, although they would be the last to mit as much. Shadows from table lights are the | most pleasing of indoor shadows, not | commonly given the credit they deserve, they are 5o soft, s0 unobtrusive and so | pleasing in their total character. Flickering shadows from the fireplace are their peer, however. When curtains are drawn and lights turned out the flames in the fireplace cause dancing | shadows to make furniture and metal |and wood and ivory and glass shine |and sparkle as if alive. And human | beings become mellow in the glow of | the wine of light. Widespread interest in the selection of lisis of the great Presidents of the United States has been the chief result of the statement on the subject made at the opening of Columbia University by its executive, Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler. After the first few leaders of the Nation, the number of the really in the estimate of the educator, who utters kind words for the qualities of dictators. “He has given the country something to think about,” states the Dayton Daily News, suggesting that “we can lay aside the cress-word puzzle for the moment, and form friendly debating societies on A very interesting topic.” The Daily News offers the estima “It may be that Mr Butler appraises with the eye- ¥w of the superintelligentsia, so called. he man he might select may possess great facilities of speech, display bril- liancy in mind and yet, assigned a given situation cut of which it was necessary to shake a result, he might be eompletely lost. There have been many moments in history when it was necessary for statesmanship to take hold of a situation by the nape of the neck. The even mind, less brilliant, more practical, more wise in the long Tun, may render better service.” That it must persevere. For years we've managed to survive. And play life’s merry game. This year, no doubt, we will contrive Somehow to do the same. Ability Recognized. “You never quote the poets in'your speeches any more.” “No," replied Senator Sorghum. “I find that the custom is likely to cause confusion. I once quoted from ‘Para- dise Lost,’ mentioning the author. Some of my dissatisfled constituents got to- gether and said it might be a good idea to look old John Milton up and groom him as a candidate for my job.” Jud Tunkins says aristocracy is go- ing out of fashion so completely that anybody who wants a real elegant high- sounding title. will have to join a secret soctety. Educators. Our childhood fancies often rule The games as days mature near; When we decide on “playing school,” Each wants to be the teacher dear. draw Readable, at Least. “I have just read a novel of which 1 thoroughly disapprove.” habit. —r———— The Uncertainties of Base Ball. ‘The uncertainties of base ball were never better demonstrated than in yes- lerday's thriller between the Philadel- phia Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals. The game goes into the records as a brilliant pitching triumph for diminu- tive Biil Hallahan of the Cardinals by a score of 2-0, but, due to a “bener” by Catcher Jim Wilson, Hallahan's fine cffort might well have gone for naught. 1t was in the ninth inning. The St. Louis pitch inclined to wildness all afterncon, had only to dispose of his cpponents in that half of the inning and the game was over. But at this crucial moment he could not get the ball over the plate, walking both Foxx and Dykes with one put-out interven- ing to put two Athletics on the bases “I hope you Wwill lend it to me,” said Miss Cayenne. “I haven't found a novel in a long time that interested me sufficiently to merit my disapproval.” Enlarged Vocabulary. “Your wife does not interest herself in the small talk of society.” “No!” exclaimed Mr. Chuggins, “some- times I wish she'd get back to the small talk instead of discussing politices economy in words of five syllables.” Costume. Of yore the statesmen we would note In high ha’ and Prince Albert coat. At present, to avoid delay, He wears his golfing clothes all day. “De reason some folks can't find work,” says Uncle Eben, “is dat dey'd have to pass too many crap games on deir way to look for "‘a “should be recognized as having ex- hibited in office a sense of responsibility to the Nation and the people far beyond any devotion to mere party or personal power. Even the errors in policy by those who have blundered most reflect- ed, almost without exception, a sincere conviction of public service, such as is rarely to be traced in the attitude of carping critics, either contemporary or historical, A system of choosing officials which develops this quality in men after they attain power, even though they may not have displayed it in the con- tests for office, is not to be mentioned in the same breath with a conception of government which accepts as its objective merely ability by an individual to gain power and to dominate, with murderous unscrupulousness, the lives and fortunes of others.” * * “We are wondering,” suggests the Madison Wisconsin State Journal, ‘if Dr. Butler, in his inventory of the ability of the Chief Executives of the United States, has taken into consideration the limitations that surround the head of the administrative government of a democracy as compared with the free- dom as to the exercise of his will that an absolutist can exert. A President of the United States can only rule under the direction of Congress-created laws. ‘The head of the administrative govern- ments of other democracies is subject to similar restrictions. A dictator need but consult his own ideas in Sthe promulgation of decrees. We are in- clined to believe that, despite his seem- ing admiration for absolutism in gov- ernmental rule, Dr. Butler will prefer to remain a citizen of a demoeratic government rather than to live in any of the countries where the rule of a dictator is today supreme.” “It is true that democracy does mot always pick the best and most capable, but no other system has done so either,” says the Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail, considering the requirements for the office of President with the state- ment: “It cannot be said that many American Presidents have been geniuses, and perhaps the country is all the better for it, for genius seems to have a pen- chant for getting into trouble. would hardly call Washington a genius. and yet it is g>nerally concedex 2t h was exactly the man for the place and the times.” “Still, when you come t5 think of it,” concludes th> Ann Arbor Dail News “the Unit:d States, with so muc! mediocrity in control of affairs, has got- ten along fairly well. With its weak rulers it is the leading Nation of the world, while other nations, with power- ful personalities in Rively backward. - AnyWay, whats §a756 "done Soous tiz Tvade of WK IButler Stirs Controversy When He Criticizes Leaders great would be limited to a handful, | | brow democracy, with its many benefi- |cent advantages, for high-brow dicta- |torship with ' its autocratic methods? | We doubt if Dr. Butler would advise | that,” £ * % & % Observing a demand for “Intellectual and moral power and courage,” the Charlotte Observer voices the thought: “That system of social organization and | control and that system of education is a failure which cannot discover excel- ‘lence, give op‘mnunlty to excellence, |and exalt excsllence. This is possible |In letters, in the fine arts, in science, |and in many of the applications of | knowledge to the practical problems of |life. And the troublesome question re- | mains, ‘Why should it remain so very, |v difficult in the realm of politics and government?' " “The soundness of his statement is obvious to all who have given any thougkt to the performances of National and State officials,” thinks the Man- chester Union, and the Newark Evening News offers the explanation: “We seem o have lost the ability to find leaders, set them ufiulnd follow them. Perhaps we have t our own certainty of purpose.” “From Monroe to Harding, inclusive,” asks the New York Sun, with satirical Teference to the “guessing game” offered, “are there half a dozen great Presidents to be found? One man.might name Jackson, Lincoln, Cleveland, Roosevelt and Wilson and find no sixth worthy of inclusion; another might insist on John Quincy Adams or Grant standards of greatness and the inevi- table shadings in man’s judgment of man lend infinite zest to this mwm of guessing the great Presidents. not alert enough or too fatigued for this game need only wait until the new biographers have finished with the Presidents; then a completely revised set of opinions and judgments will be available, did not think it m: larly whether midget in the President’s chair; firmness, common sense and honesty he held to be essential in a President, but not brilliance of intellect. This die- tum will not be allowed to interfere with the pastime of eom'al‘lln&l list of the six great Presidents since Madison.” Not Becalmed. From the Pittsburgh-Post-Gasette. It may be likely that as !ec:ew'! WA Adams of the Navy 8 gunud from Akron to Washington at 04 miles per hour he remembered the peacefullness of his most exciting yacht race. ——— et Democracy Handicapped. From the Worcester Evening Gasette. Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler laments democracy’s weakness in choosing men for leaders. But the good doctor, who picks his great from history, makes his selections after the fact. Democracy cannot so easily bet on a sure thing. e e Seeing in America First. Prom the Milwaukee Sentinel. Trouble Is Unlimited. From the Deyton Daily News. An Ohio man recently choked death on a chicken bone, showing that trouble is not confined to the unem- ployed. ———————— Source of Supply. From the Savannah Morning News. Insane asylums are flowing. ‘Trying to unders change situation will probably Bumber 3WILLPE 'h over- the ex- swell or Monroe. ‘The indefiniteness of the | and THE LIBRARY TABLE By the Booklover If one reads many novels, “The Shiny NQhL" by Beatrice Tunstall, will stand out strikingly in its superiority over most of the others: if “The Shiny Nigh! those few. suggests the work of Thomas Hardy in general, and, more specifically, that plece of artistic perfection by Mary Webb, “Precious Bane.” “The Shiny Night” is many things that are desir- able in a novel. It is a story of simple life, close to the soll, in rural England as it was in the days of Queen Victoria; it is a story of dramatic hap) , even in farm life; it is the record of & devoted love which lasted over 50 years; it gives a picture of the superstitions which earlier and even now have in- fluenced the minds.of simple ?eople: it is written in a lyric style, with just enough of rural dialect to give us the illusion of living with those whose life stories we follow. ’ * K K K ‘The axis of “The Shiny Night” is Seth Shone. His powerful, unrelenting but loving personality towers over all his little community. As a very young man fate marks him for tragedy and he loses eight years of his life in exile. He returns to his native village of Clock Abbott, in Mercia, with hair completely white, but otherwise a handsome, strong man. In his heart is vengeance, which is to die only with him. In accord with local superstitions, he makes stone images of his enemies and places them round the cornice of the hut which he builds himself on the edge of Thatcher’s Butland. There, for many years, keep each other company rough likenesses of 8quire Marple, his chiei r; Poler and Thomas Palfreyman, Seth’s cousin, who has cheated him out of his right- ful inheritance. This inheritance, the anclent farm of Beggar's Oek, which he should have had from his uncle, Josh Shone, is the great and growing desire of Seth’s life. On his return from exile, when he finds that he has lost it, he determines that before he dies it shall be his, to live in and to pass on to his children and their chil- dren. The hut which he builds on the edge of the forest is transformed at his marriage, through the generosity of his father-in-law, into a small but dignified dwelling, which comes to be called “the Image House.” Here Seth and his beautiful wife, Elizabeth Victoria, born on the same day as Queen Victoria, live for many years, with their twin chil- dren, a son and a daughter. But the day comes when Seth proudly takes Elizabeth over to Beggar's Oak and tells her that it is theirs, and when we read the description of the place we do not wonder that Seth makes its owner- ship his 1. “Long and low, its black end white vividly reflected in the lake that lay before it: its mullioned win- dows sparkling with mocking glee: with pigeons calling from its gabled roof end the hills rising dusky behind it, it lay among its arable and pasture.” * x % % one reads few, should be among One by one Seth Shone's enemies fall. The villagers of Clock Abbott and all the surrounding farmers firmly be- lieve that Seth Shone's curse and his images are respcnsible for the fatey which overtake those who have injured him. Twice the disarters of his ene- mies almost wreck Seth Shone himself, and Elizabeth has periods of depres- sion when she fears that in the end Seth and she and their children will all be involved in the curse, because Seth has taken upon himself the vengeance which belongs only to God. “Vengeance is mine. 1 will repay, saith the Lord” On the very day when Seth becomes the owner of Beggar's Oak, through the foreclosure of the mortgages which he has beer: accumu- ny vears, fate over- take m. and Elizabeth's joy in to the place is lesse r of the presence of a tragic ghost “in every nook and cranny of the place. In the working out of E£eth Shone's curse and in all the many superstitions shared by the Shones and their neigh- bors, the Poyntons, the Threadgolds, the Speedyloves, the farm servants and even the gentry, a continuous, mors or by her feeling It is a genre novel that| less hidden, part is played by Naomi | Oldmeadow, former faithless sweet- heart of Seth, who is a “witch-wemp.” She lives, with her one remaining chil a daughter, Michal, in the “Chamber in the Forest,” the remnant of a Saxon castle. Elizabeth visits Naomi in the forest, relying on a promise of help made to her by the witch many years before,in order to hear news of her lost son, Richard. She finds Naomi bend- ing over a cauldron in the dim hut. 47 she was a toothless crone, with nut- cracker jaws and a complexion that made’ Elizabeth think of the skin of & toad. As with long watching over pots, her shoulders were bowed. still wore a stained, faded red cloak. But the Welsh hat was missing. About her head a scarlet handkerchief was knotted jauntily ‘With her magic, or her primitive wisdom, she first soothes the agitated Elizabeth and then sets her heart at rest by telling her of the safety of her son. “Haglike, hideous, Naomi yet had power to loose and to bind the hearts of men. For, witch or no witch, the was a human magnet and would be until death douted for- ever the eyes that still burned like jewels in the ruin of her face.” The record cf the lives of the Shones, ‘he Poyntons and the Threadgolds runs through three-quarters of a century and ends not long after Seth and Elizabeth have celebrated their wedding anniversary. Not until the very end does Seth consent to leave vengeance to God and, but for his gen- tle wife, he would perhaps have died with vengeance in his heart. * k¥ x Centuries of Health and " by 8. G. Blanland Stubbs ‘W. Bligh, naturally does not deal entirely with scientific medicine. Duri the greater part of the 60 cen- turies health was almost ertirely acci- dental and medicine was chiefly magic. Anthropological discoveries show that a Java man, whose date was probably something like 360,000 years ago, had a thigh-bone tumor. Nothing, evi- dently, was done about it, but the fact demonstrates that disease is no new thing, not a product of the ‘“Machine Age.” Among the cavemen were doc- tors who practiced a rough surgery, for skulls have been found upon which the operation of trepanning had been per- formed. The earliest doctor of his- torical record was Imhotep, Egyptian, who lived about 5,000 years ago. Aesculapius, Hippocrates and Galen are names familiar in classical medicine. Galen was advanced in diagnosis, for he knew how to read a pulse. A Greek vase of 500 B. C. shows Greek patients consult! a physician. They have bandaged arms and Jegs and one is deformed. e In “Ships of Youth” Maud Diver continues the love story of Eve Chal- Joner and Capt. Lance Desmond, begun “Sixty Physick,” E. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. What is your question? What- ever it may be, unless it be a re- quest for legal, medical or financial advice, it will be answered without cost to you, and you will receive the reply in a personal letter. Write your question clearly and briefly, inclose 2-cent stamp for return postage, and address The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Wash- ington, D. C. Q. What is the largest prize offered in a golf tournament’—E. D. A. The Qaliente $10,000 purse 1 the largest for a winner.. Q Who first made blue prints? —B. L N A. method was discovered by Sir John Herschel. The details of the Pprocess have been varied in many ways. Q. Are there any immovable joints in the human body?—F. C A. There are. The joints or sutures in the skull are examples. Q. Please name some of the famous abbeys of Great Britain—H. C. A." Among the best known are men- tioned Westminster Abbey in London, Fountain's, 8t. Mary’s of York, Tintern, Kirkstall and Rievaulx. Many of these abbeys were built during the early middle ages. Q. Was Anatole France the real name of the person who wrote under that | name?—H. D. E. A It was his real name, but not in its entirety. Anatole France Thibault. Q. Where were pleced quilts first made?—C. T. P. A. The history of quilts is involved in a tradition of long centuries of slow but certain progress: in fact, the origin of ail domestic arts is shrouded in mys- tery. No positive reference to patch- work or quilting is found in Western Europe prior to the time of the Crusades, but from the cleventh century these arts become more and more conspicuous in the needlcraft of nearly every coun- try in Western Europe. Noticeable progress was made in the design of quilts Guring the middle ages in Spain. Some of the finest specimens of quilts of this period have been preserved in ersia. Q. When and by whom was Martin VB}? guren's autobiography published? A. Van Buren's autobiography was published in 1920 by the Government Printing Office as volume II of the annual report of the American Historical Boclety for the year 1918. Q Why is there such an irregular section in the boundary between Massa- chusetts and Connectic A. H. S. A. This peculiar deviation from a raight-line boundary, known as the “Southwick Jog,” was caused by the straightening out and adjusting of errors in the boundery line between Connecticut and Massachusetts as pre- viously run by compass. A long narrow strip of Jand was given to Connecticut, and the Southwick Jog ceded to Massa. chusetts as a parcel of land of equivalent area. Q. What is the real name of the horse, Tr&mmy Boy, in Sporting Blood? —P. A A. His name is really Tommy Boy, and he was a former racing star. Where is the Grand Coulee in the State of Washington? . P. 8. A It i5 a valley lying east of the imbia River along the boundary of nt and Douglas Counties. The lower end of the valley terminates in an His name was Jacques | alkali lake. This entire area is known as the Grand Coulee. v Q. Where did Tetrazzini musical education?—T. A. . She was born in Fiorence in 1874. While a child she learned perfectly | several operas from hearing an eclder | sister, who afterward was the wife of Campanini, pragtice them. She studied the Diceo Musicale, in Florence, and ter three montins made her debut in “L'Africaine,” at the age of 21, Q. Why isn't flax grown in this co\'im;y for the manufacture of linen? A. It is grown to some extent, out | the climate is not very suitable. Flax is a fiber which requires more moistuye than any other for its successful | manipulation, | Q What century is considered the | greatest in achievement?—N. R. A. Unless the nineteenth or twentleth | appears to be when viewed from the | future, the palm is awarded to the | thirteenth century. Q. In dealing cards for euchre, may | the dealer deal 2, then 3, then 2, then 3, alternating the number on the next round?—P. V. A. The rule for dealing in euchre is: Deal 5 cards to each—3 all round, then |2: or 2 cards and then 3, in rotation to the left. Q. How does Jupiter compare with | the earth in size?—N. W, A. Jupiter has a diameter 11 times | that of the earth, a volume 1,300 times, and a mass more than 300 times that of this planet. | @ What was the name of the par- ticularly fierce fish Theodore Roosevelt d'scovered on his South American trip? | Have any of them ever been brought to this country alive?—D. F. A. The paranha. The New York City aquarium has specimens. recelve haz T. Q. What became of Oscar of the old Waldorf in New York?—I. ... M. A. Oscar is with the new Waldorf- Astoria. Q. Who is called the grandmother of the Russian Revolution?—C. E. H. A. Katherine Breshko Breshkovskaia | She was born in 1844. When she was | a young woman, with her father, she took part in preparation on their estate for the liberation of peasants from serfdom. Later on, with her husband | and father and a neighbor’s boy by the | name of Sinegut, she opened schools and libraries in their district. As the schools increased in growth and in- fluence they were closed by the au- | thorities. Her father and husband sub- | mitted, but Katherine and Sinegut went | into_revolutionary work. She was sent |to Siberia at least twice and was a | prisoner in the Fortress of Peter and | Paul from 1907 to 1910. She was fin exiled from Russia in 1918, and traveled about for some time before settling in Prague in 1920. Q. In Colonial days, how did the mail |sent to people in this country get | distributed>—M. D. A. Massachusetts was first to_estab- lish a post office. In 1639 the General Court issued the following statement: | “It is ordered that notice be given that Richard Fairbanks, his house in Boston, is the place appointed for all letters, | which are brought from beyond the sea, or are sent thither, to be left with | him, and he is to take care that they are to be delivered or sent according to | direction; and he is allowed for every | letter a penny, and he must answer | all messages through his neglect of this | kind.” Other colonies sent mail by mes= | sengers with some regularity. In Vir- | ginia every planter forwarded mail from | his plantation to the next one. Highlights on the Wide World Excerpts From Newspapers of Other Lands HE HONOLULU ADVERTISER. —Did you know that the Mar- quis de Lafayette, loyal friend of America in her dark days and Washington's favorite “boy” general in the Revolution, had to codge bill collectors and had an all-too- familiar experjence with writs for the satisfacticn of overdue debts? In the event you didn't know it, you are in good company, for neither did anybody else, save a very limited circle, until the other day, when a collection of hitherto unpublished letters and documents of the marquis came into possession of the University of Chicago. Every schoolboy~ knows that America owes a great debt to Lafayette, but it is somewhat disturbing to discover just how great that debt is. The youthful general, only 19 when he left his French estates and came over to aid the ragge Continentals, so overreached himself in his expense in fitting out our troops that he jeopardized his patrimony and frequently was “broke.” In the collec- tion just unearthed are letters from his Paris solicitors warning him that he | was “purchasing his fame at the cost of his fortune.” At one time the beloved Frenchman owed Alexander Baring, the London barker, the sum of 150,000 francs—a | considerable fortune in those days. Among the letters are 15 written by La. fayette to Fanny Ward, a distinguished Englishwoman with whom he appar- ently had something of an affaire de coeur. Chicago University’s find.is an im- portant contribution to the history of a noble and picturesque figure. %% Education Held Greatest United States Contribution. El Progreso, San Juan.—A third of & century has passed under the Ameri- can regime and the present affords a good opportunity to take stock of its accomplishments. Senor Jose Padin, commissioner of education, is firmly convinced that the most important con- tribution of the United States has been in the fleld of education. Relatively, with the conditions of 33 years ago, the record is quite impressive. In 1898 the island faced the same problem that the Spanish Republic is facing today—viz., the creation of a system of elementary public schools. Today such a system is in_operation. ‘The number of teacheis has increased {from 623 to nearly 5000 and the en- rollment has grown from less than 45, 000 to 230,000. The number of school buildings has increased from none to 2,250, with a total of 4,690 class rooms. Expenditures have increased from less than $200,000 to nearly $6,000,000 an- nually. School property in Porto Rico in VA Wild Bird.” The background is s now worth over $10,000,000 and illit- India—India of the British, not :)g‘:-ge natives. The time is 1928-29. There are the tiffin parties, polo, flirta- tions, picnics and gossip which make up the official life, women, in India. Maud Diver cracy has been reduced from 77.3 per cent in 1898 to 41.7 per cent in 1931. ‘These are but a few of the principal and most conspicuous results. The intan- particularly of the gible achievements are more easily felt is | than calculated, and it is here the pub- thy with the Brit- lic school has done its best work. The fi‘yfr%c“:ma{t{:nw;?p:ndyu and sees the!average man in Porto Rico has a wider tish arm; grro‘flure offering his life in the service. ially does she have exalted view of her favorite Desmond family. The recently published “Corre- spon t Andrew Jackson,” edited obn Spescer , PhD., late , and pub- Tt e the United States o have been an independent in the matter of 0| :pelling and _capitalization. tericn is capitalized, though spelled with an extra “e” Ins IR: . but Msthodksl 1s spelled with a smail “m.” kson was a Presby- terian. The Constitution of the United States l:h no: np:. L t &u er always is, as well as the grandmo 2. 0 LR O J Linecoln has not yet exhausted though he has besn writing a sort of like | view of his condition, a keener sense of ke (ndian | his opportunities and a growing desire this | to occupy a higher plane of activity and service. It is true that social and economic gfikfll still are quite difficult and at, though we are spending 40 per cent of our revenues for education, less than 40 per cent of the children of scholastic age are in the schools. This is because our needs are for a more practical education and less general culture. ‘This year a vocational training sys- about it for many years. Many of his early readers have dropped away, find- ing his plots often repeated and his characters ufiore types than individuals, but he sf has large numbers of faithful admirers who eagerly buy the latest Lincoln book, even though they know in advance just what it will be like—that is, like all the others. ‘The latest tion to the Joseph Lin- coln fction Alongabore, tem will be inaugurated. which should correct and balance all the deficiencies of the present courses and give the children a knowledge immediately avail able and useful for their various em- ployments. * x ok % Chinese Steward Lives Up To Best Traditions of Serviee. Sunday Referee, London—Names of many aliens figure on the books of his majesty’s ships of war. Many people, reading with pride and satisfaction the glowing tribute paid by the first Jord of the admiralty to the gallantry of the men involved in the disaster of the submarine Poseidon, were surprised to find a reference to “Officrs’ Steward Ah Hai.” On the China station many Orie entals are employed in this waj make excellent personal servants an waiters and they settle down happlly enough in their floating steel homes. When occasion arises they can, as the report reveals, live up to the highest traditions of the great service with which they are associated. Chinese are particularly useful in the flotilla of shallow-draft gunboats which we maintain on the Yangtze. Indians are employed in a similar manner on the East Indies station, but they, of course, are British subjects. | . The Royal Indian Marine is largely dependent upon aliens for its stokehole complements. For this mysterious re: son, certain of the wild Pathan tribes- men from over the frontier take to the dreadful heat of a ship’s boiler room in the tropics like fish to water. Before the war many Maliese found employment as bandsmen and as stew- ards in ships of the Mediterranean fleet, but they, again, were British subjects, though not of British race, * ok X % Sydney Police Observe Strict Siience. ‘The Bulletin, Sydney.—Melbourne po- lice are interpreting the new orders about not giving information to report- ers as intelligently as they did the contrary regulations, which they appar- ently regarded as permitting them to take the public into their confidence about anything and everything via the daily press. Recently a small motor launch broke down and carried its three occupants out into the immensity of Port Phillip Bay. Late that night rela- tives informed the police, but, true to instructions, the force kept its mouth firmly shut. The public did not know the men were missing till two days later, ;lhmc Lh;yl were Spoflkgwby the crew of a Canadian steamer after bein £0 hours adrift. 8 r—————— Reed Wants SupporT Of Missouri Democrats From the Oklahoma City Times. 8t. Louis dispalthes reveal that for- mer Senator James A. Reed still nurses presidential aspirations. A capable poli- tician, he doubtless realizes hl:.hlsm a Chinaman’s chance of getting the nom- ination, but he wants the support of the Missouri delegation, and Missouri Dem- ocrats are fond of Jim Reed. The war has been over long enough to keep Jim Reed’s senatorial record at .that time from being much of & handicap, but he has had later quarrels with the majority leaders of his party that still rankle. His Missouri popularity is not dupli- cated in many other States. He is too much a lone lion of politics, as Senator Borah is among the Republicans, to be popular with the political leaders who nominate Presidents. It is a notable fact, however, that the Reed gesture has been instrumental tn curbing the boom for Franklin D. Roosevelt in St. Louis. . is more likely that Reed would swing nis strength to Roosevelt than to Newton D. Baker, but his action reduces, to the extent of the Missouri delegation, the likelihood that Gov. Roosevelt can go into the convens tion with the needed two-thirds mae