Evening Star Newspaper, January 30, 1932, Page 6

- A6 THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 1932. -——- THE EVENIN With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. BATURDAY....January 30, 1932 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 Fast 42nd St. cago Office. Lake Michigan Bullding. opean Office: 14 er:rnl ., London, ha. the City. 45c per month §0c per month 65 per month 5c_per copy € end of each month by mail or telephone nday ‘Star Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. ..1yr., $10.00: 1 mo., 1yl $6.00; 1 mo. $4.00; 1 mo.. 40c 8sc 50c 1yl Member of the Associated Press. 1s exclusively entitled ication of all news dis- ot otherwise cred- also the Jocal news 1ehts of publication of in are also reserved. America at Shanghai. of American responst- the maintenance of order i has been definitely indi- zated in Secretary Stimson's statement, issued yesterday. As a result of ex- changes between this Government and that of Great Britain the United States has notified Japan that “there should be no military occupation” of the Inter- national Settlement by Japan “uniess the municipal force became clearly in- te to protect life and property.” answered in assurance that rnational rights and interests { will not be interfered Great Britain has made the 5 tions” to Japan. Both the United States and Great Britain have laid the same proposition before and Italy. “No other proposals onal action,” says the Sec- State, “have been made by n Government.” basis there is no occasion ce at adeqt Japan the tion in the situation in sole concern of the United s to the preservation of its nterests as compassed by the bounds ernational Settlement. If e interests, no mat- go in the direction t with China beyond those there can be no occasion for by this Government, whether or conjunction with Great or the other powers which participate in the maintenance of the Inte 1 Settlement. Tod news from the Far East| the possibility, indeed the of conflict. Chiang Kai- r president of China and at the head of the ng government, has called upon factions to unite in war with rt has been made toward » of a large armed force t purpose. It is stated at Tokio an is considering the formation 1 expeditionary army, to be sent , a decision to be made y-four hours, Some hesita- ted on the part of the of Japan, which appears ve gained the control of govern- at Tokio. Reluctance is manifest cale military operations may the risk of international com- ve action tion, \ e of Nations Council dis- cusses ways and means of intervention. Steps are contemplated leading to the international commission e the situation at Shanghai t immediately to the Council. Meanwhile the situation develops rapid- “ naps too speedily to allow any effective measures to be adopted. It is evident the machinery of the League cumbersome and, in a crisis , inefficient for an emer- It was likewise evident in the rian affair, which was permitted to the point of actual 1t of Japan's purpose to provinces while debates Geneva. ed States is not a member of the League. It cannot be involved in any c ctive action in China 1n the name of the League. It has gone quite as far as it can go, and, indeed, as f it should go, in effecting an with Great Britain to ask not to demand, for to demand means to be prepared for compulsion in the event of refusal—to respect the international rights at Shanghai As for the menace of an outbreak of hostilities between Japan and Russia in Northern Manchuria, involved in the proposed seizure of the Chinese Eastern Railroad for troop movements, there scems to be little danger. Russia states that it will agree to such a use of the line if China, its partner in the owner- ship of the road, assents. If Japan, assuming China’s dissent, proceeds to use the line, Russia will in all likeli- hood not interpose more then formal protest. There is no disposition on the part of Russia to engzge just now in a conflict which would require the shifting into Asia of a large portion of its army, the presence of which in Eu- ropean Russia is essential to the main- tenance of the existing order. DRI How would it do for all the nations to group themselves and yell “Boo!” at Japan, very loudly? s the ded ———— The Bus Terminal Problem. Another charge of traffic rule viola- tion has been dismissed in the Police Court on the score of the unreasonable- ness of the use of curb space by busses. A woman driver of 3 motor car, finding her progress blocked by a string of busses waiting for passengers, turned o the left and passed a street car on «he wrong side. Judge Hitt held that this action was necessitated by the presence of the busses, which were parked by permission within a space marked off by “Do Not Enter” signs. Thus again the traffic rules as ap- plied to the operators of private ve- hicles conflict with special privileges granted to the public carriers. The court has on two occasions dismissed carriers against the private motor car is the prohibition of bus parking in the streets. .There can be no doubt that unless such prohibition is applied the number of busses standing in the streets and requiring parking space will steadily increase. With that increase will come further encroach- ments upon the space that remains for curb parking by private cars. Continued postponement of the mat- ter of requiring the bus lines to provide terminals and walting spaces within the squares merely adds to the diffi- culties. As long as the bus lines are permitted to use the streets freely as terminals, without rental, they will themselves delay the provision of proper facilities that do not trespass upon the public space. e e An Astonishing Proposal. The country will read with astonish- ment reports that a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee has proposed in the War Department appropriation bill to reduce the per- sonnel of the A ‘my by 10,000 men. Econ- omy or no eccnomy, the Army of the United States has been reduced to a minimum for years when the national defense needs of the country are con- sidered. The Democratic House lead- ers will do themseives and the coun- try no good if they back this proposed slash in the military forces of the United States. Even in an era when peace prevailed throughout the world the cut would have been unjustifiable. With a conflagration raging in the Far East which may involve many na- tions before it is reduced, the proposal is intolerable. The memory of the American people | is not long, as a rule. But the situation that existed in the United States, so far as national defense is concerned, (at the time of the entry of this coun- try into the World War can scarcely have bcen forgotten. The legislation | enacted by Congress following the close military training for the citizenry and to a skeleton organization of the Reg- ular Army capable of expansion in time of need. It appears that it is the de- termination of certain members of the House Committee to do away with the training camps, which in themselves { cost the country far, far less than the value received by the men who at- tend these camps and the greater value still to the country as a measure of national defense. ference of the nations to arrive at ments. It is in the cause of interna- tional peace and to help relieve the tax- burdened peoples of the world. Every one should wish the conference success. ‘The United States has taken a leading part in the disarmament movement and in bringing about agreements among the great naval powers to limit the building of Navy vessels of all classes. But there has been no sugges- tion from responsible governmental sources that even an agreement at Geneva for arms limitation would ne- cessitate a further reduction in the land forces of the United States. Yet now it is proposed in the draft of the War Department bill to re- duce the size of the American Army by 2,000 officers and 8,000 enlisted men. The full Committee on Appropriations should reject the proposal of the sub- committee. And if the measure goes to the House carrying the proposed re- duction the House should turn it down. ‘While this proposal to eliminate 10,000 men from the Army is advanced, the appropriation of hundreds of mil- lions of dollars to put other men on the Government pay roll so as to reduce unemployment. These other men, em- ployed in civilian roles and for con- struction of Governgent works, would be paid at far higher rates than the men it is proposed to remove from the Army. It does not appear, therefore, that the country would save anything by throwing 10,000 Army men out of employment, adding that number to the roll of the unemployed —————— Another knock-out blow to optical ro- mance: All photographic “mooniight” scenes are made in broad daylight and facing the sun. Real moonlight pho- tography is, if not impossible, entirely unsatisfactory for display purposes. —————— And if, by any chance, this Nation should eventually go bolshevist, would all Americans have to make a pilgrimage to Lenin's tomb? Or would the red au- thorities kindly give us Trotzky or some other high-grade second-rater? ——— Authorities on men’s styles predict that in 1932 “two-pants” suits will not be as popular as in 1931, Just as pop- ular, but not nearly so numerous. ——— It begins to look as though our 1931 house-flies would last us on right through until our Spring crop. ———— The Art of Moving Safes. When police headquarters and the Trafic Bureau were moved from the Municipal Building and vicinity to the present structure, at 462 Louisiana avenue, the police officials took with them three large safes, one of them weighing seven tons. One of the safes, containing several thousand dollars’ worth of valuables, was en route be- tween the District Building and 462 Louisiana avenue when the whistle blew on Saturday afternoon, and the truck and the safe went to a garage, remaining there until Monday, an in- cident which scandalized police officials when they learned of it later, as the sanctity of that safe has always been & matter of high concern. But the safes were finally lodged on the fifth floor of the building at 462 Louisiana avenue, which is not as young as it used to be. Not long ago a bullding inspector noted with alarm that the safes imposed such a strain on the old building that there was dan- ger lest some fine day they would de- cide to move again and crash through five floors to the basement, possibly carrying many valuable police officials with them. So it was decided to move the safes again. It is presumed, of course, that the engineers were consulted, the re- moval of the safes being a delicate en- gineering problem of no mean propor- tions. Riggers from the Washington charges. If these decisions are gen- erally followed the bus parking privi- lege nullifies the regulations. Such a situation should not be permitted to continae. The remedy for the anomaly of dis- Navy Yard and laborers from the Bu- reau of Mines were mustered into the municipal service and the employes who work in the building—including those of the traffic director's office— were told on Thursday morning to get | boat record held b, of that war looks to some measure of | R A O | the late Sir Henry Segrave successfully In Geneva there has gathered a con- | agreement for some limitation of arma- | other groups at the Capitol are urging | G STAR crimination in favor of the common |out and to return at noon, when, it was confidently expected, the safes would be gone. A few detectives were left on hand, on the possible assumption that it takes more than a falling safe to hurt a good headquarters detective. When the employes returned at noon on Thursday the safes were still there, and the employes were told to go awa When the workers returned on Friday morning the safes were still there, and they were again told to go away. ‘When the employes returned on Fri- day afternoon the safes were still there, and they were once more told to go away. When the employes returned for work this morning one safe was on a truck, one safe was on the ground, one safe was still on the fifth floor, and, as this is written, the employes were in a great uproar whetl:- er to work or not to work, whether to let the public enter the building or whether to keep the public out until the remaining third of the supply of safes was removed. All of which is by way of explaining one reason why the Commissioners have again extended the “deadline” for the expiration of 1931 automobile tags. One may draw one’s own conclusions regarding the need for the assignment of another Army Engineer officer, a re- tired Army Engineer officer or a re- signed Army Engineer officer to the District Building, whose duty it will be to move safes or to keep them from being moved to locations where they will have to be moved again, r———— The World Speedboat Record. Gar Wood is a disappointed man to- day, but he is not going to let his di: appointment prevent him from follow ing the old adage, “If at first you don't | succeed, try, try again” His disap- pointment arises from the fact that he has just been notified by the Yachts- men’s Association Racing Committee that he failed by three one-hundredths of a second to break the world speed- Britisher, of nearly one hundred and eleven miles an hour. Wood actually exceeded Don's speed, but not by the required half mile an hour. He was Just five feet two and one-half inches short of an undisputed world record when he sent Miss America I1X roaring over the finish line with her twenty- four hundred horsepower motors whin- ing from the strain. Even though he failed, Wood is not discouraged. Failures since Don and challenged his supremacy as the world's | best speedboat pilot are not new to him. It was Sir Henry who first snatched the honors from the veteran of Ameri- can racing, but tragically he gave his life for it when Miss England II struck & submerged log. Kaye Don salvaged the trim white craft and proceeded to put Wood further in the background. | All this time, however, the Detroit! sportsman was not idle, and time after | time he endeavored to regain the record. | So it was only natural that the first| thing he did on hearing the bad news was to haul Miss America IX out of the water and set to work to make slight changes in the hull, which, he believes, will add the necessary speed for the world champlonship. The tests are to be conducted today or tomor- Tow and all, even his rivals, wish him success. It is a certainty that if he does break the record he will have a stiff battle on his hands from the British, Who on the question of speed will never | admit defeat. Lord Wakefleld, the] English sportsman, who owned both| Miss Englands, already has announced that another one will be bullt to challenge any mark that Wood may set up, so it does not look like a bed of roses for the American, even though he succeeds in creating a new record. —— e Milbrook, N. Y, sportsmen have found jackrabbits too smart and are about to import a German variety said to possess “negligible mental processes.” 1t looks as though, up in that region, the “L Q" of the hunted must be lower than that of the hunters. ———e— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Investigation. When anything goes wrong We say, with vast elation, “The sentiment is strong For an investigation.” Though witnesses draw near And speak with grave profusion, But seldom do we hear A definite conclusion, Should any intimate Displeasure for inaction, He'd get an answer straight To his dissatisfaction: “'Tis true you haven't got Much help from the proceeding, But you have had a lot Of interesting reading.” Value of Publicity. “Do you think your opponent has a charice in the coming election?” “No,” replied Senator Sorghum; “and he doesn't think so, either. He accepted the nomination merely for the sake of the advertising.” Jud Tunkins says he's getting so he enjoys reading about foreign politics. The farther away a place is the easier its problems seem. Temperature Measurements. We think, with feelings far from calm, Of Winter time's impending fate; We never mind the old thermom. ‘We watch the coal bin fluctuate. A Spellbinder. “Your wite makes a splendid speech.” “Yes,” replied Mr. Meekton; “and I noticed she impressed an entire audi- ence the same way she does me. She says what she likes and no one even thinks of talking back. Microbes. There are microbes in kisSes, The sclentists say. A discovery this is ‘To cause much dismay. Love letters ecstatic, By lawyers displayed, Show thought so erratic They leave us dismayed. Those germs may not kill us, ‘The doctors explain. It's a sort of bacillus That works on the brain. “If you kin belleve half you hear,” said Uncle Eben, “an’ kin prove half you believe you's doin’ purty geed.” THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. A definite move will be made this Spring, in all likelihood, toward the old- time vegetable garden. It will be another of the good effects of the de- pression. 1f one keeps his eyes open as he goes through the suburban districts he will see evidences even this early of this movement back to the soil. Already many home owners, who in the peak years did not think it worth their while to make a garden, are turning over their soil and lightening it with ashes, ete. Plots behind garages, formerly wasted, this season will be turned to use. It is amazing how many vegetables can be grown in a very small space. These vegetable gardens will be strictly for home consumption. If one wants to go into the trucking business there is little use of starting on any less than the average size suburban lot, say 50 by 150 feet, all clear for plant- ing. gI‘o have just a few vegetables, how- ever, is another matter, and for them it is not necessary to have so much ground available. 'A segment of earth no greater than 10 by 10 feet will grow something. Perhaps most home owners could turn | over a few square fect, or at least a flower bed, to the growing of things good to eat, if they wanted to. The indications are that many more than usual will want to this season. ML There is a thrill to growing vegetables which flower-growing lacks. It has nothing to do with esthetics in particu- lar, although it may have some aspects, t00. This thrill is nothing more nor less than the appeal to the stmach—an honest appeal, if there ever was one. Most human beings like good things to eat. It 1S not necessary to be an out-and- out gourmand to enjoy the things of the table, to appreciate edibles that are fresh and tasty, that combine luscious aromas and palate-tickling flavors and which make an instan- taneous appeal to the eye. This is what it is to like good things to eat, a liking of which no one need feel ashamed. Evidently there is no apology put up for it anywhere. The whole world eats, and talks about eating. Indeed, the table has been made a rite, especially in the most civilized countries. Savages wolf their meals, but members of civilized countries (and all the term means is city-ized) sit down to tables glittering with china and glass. ook The honest vegetables have come to be honored guesis at the board. There was a time in this country when vegetables were thought good enough for the poor man’s table, but regarded as scarcely more than side dishes on the fine damasks of the rich and moderately well-to-do. As for “salad greens,” as they were known, they scarce were permitted in | the days when no man who could afford a varfety of meats would have been content with anything less, as he and the food science of the day re- garded such matters. During the past couple of decades, however, with the precise experiments of such men as McCollum of Baltimore and many fellow sclentists throughout the world, an entire new mass of data has been developed. Food science today is really food science. And with it has come a bet- | ter ‘appreciation of vegetables, of milk | and of fruits. No man hath yet seen a vitamin, as far as we know, but many can tell you a great deal about it. There are five or six different vita- mins, according to them, each one pos- sessing a different property. Vegetables contain some of them. The liver of the cod contains two. Sun- shine holds one. Vitamins seem to be everywhere, and if we get enough of them we will be all right. ‘That, at least, is the theory. You take your vitamins on faith, in vegetables and the like. Raise your vegetables yourself, pick them from the garden when it is cool, not hot, and they will give you your daily supply | of essential vitamins. Sl In the old days, before the vitamin theory came along, with its seductive appeal, half faith, half intelligence (and surely another half hope!) men called the good part of vegetables and fruits “salts.” It was the “salts” in vegetables which were supposed to be so good for you. After all, it doesn’t make much dif- ference what one calls a good thing, it is good for you just the same, and notwithstanding. Hence a plentiful supply of vegetables |in the diet is said to be one of the best ways to keep healthy. The chil- dren of country people—not the adults —are obviously the healthiest people in the world. They have red cheeks, and are so healthy that their city cousins some- times shrink from them. Even when | the country boys and girls come to the | city the discerning eye can spot them | for years. | After a decade or so the influence of the city tones down their skins, and they become like the rest of us. The good influence of fresh vegetables has disappeared. | X X Let no one pop up to say that coun- | try children never get vegetables, that | all of the tomatoes and the turnips and the spinach—yes, spinach—is sent to the cities. | That may have been true during the past few years, but formerly farm folk always planted gardens, and had plenty of good things to eat of all kinds, in- cluding scores of jars of vegetables, put | up in ‘the Fall. | uring the peak years of prosperity. we believe, thousands of country and | farm people neglected their vegetable | patches. They preferred to buy from the city! It was a great deal easier than “put- | ting up” 300 or 400 quarts of corn, and beans, and tomatoes, and jellles, and so on and so on, through the entire list of delectables. Economic conditions have changed all that; there are evidemces everywhere that this is going to be a banner vegetable garden year throughout the country. And this good movement should and probably will include the cities and the closely associated suburban com- munities. | This year vegetables will be planted where only flowers grew before. No | amateur horticulturist can feel that he knows much about gardening until he has raised a few vegetables, at least Gardening is an honest, wholesome recreation, one which just suits many temperaments as well as many phy- siques. Tending a vegetable patch is not as easy as growing flowers, but it is all the better recreation and exercise ! for that. Lausanne Delay Sfirs Sharl; Comment on Debt Situation Postponement of the Lausanne Con- | ference on German reparations by European nations is believed by Ameri- | cans to increase the difficulties in the way of collection of the debts to the United States Government. German declaration of inability to pay, combined with French efforts to link German payments with debt instaliments, leads to predictions that there will be neces- sity for separate action on the part of this country. “Indefinite _postponement of the Lausanne Conference,” according to the Springfield (Mass.) Republican, “is an- other of the discouraging delays which make it sometimes seem doubtful whether the race against the bank- ruptey of civilization will be won. Last year was a year of postponements, ex- cusable only if made good by decisive action this year, but things continue to drift. Whether or not it is necessary, the postponement of the Lausanne Conference, together with growing doubt whether it will ever be held, is a blow to hope of progress this year. Unfavor- able as conditions may be just now, it wonld be rash when they are growing wC - o assume that they will be better a yeur hence.” “Although only France” argues the | Indianapolis News, “has formally as serted that lasting concessions to Ger- many can be considered solely in pro- portion as they are matched with American concessions, that enters prominently into the situation. Congress, in ratifying the one-year moratorium, took the position that’the affirmation Wwas not to be interpreted as willingness to_cancel, or decrease, the debts. The United States uhus has stood aloof from Lausanne. The bear- ing of national policies is manitest. Reparations and debts affect the whole | structure of foreign trade and banking in an unsettling manner. Immediately, the delay of the reparations sessions further clouds the already cloudy out- look for agreement on a program at the forthcoming Geneva gathering on armament limitation. The financial aftermath of the war must be dealt with before much accomplishment in that direction appears probable.” “The chief source of curiosity in the United States,” thinks the Nashville Banner, “concerns itself with why Europe can continue to spend huge sums for armament in apparent prepa- ration for and apprehension of another war and still be unable to pay its obviously just debts to the United States.” The average American cannot see why all Europe should not tremen- dously reduce its vast expenditures for arms and attain an equitable ratio of security in that manner as well as by arming at every possible point.” “The United States cannot fail” in the opinion of the Oakland Tribune, “to be interested in what takes place in the coming months while the various nations are adopting policles to meet the German announcement that repara. tions could not be paid.” The Birming- ham Age-Herald believes that “if England and France get together on a joint program, we shall have to pay the piper,” while the Worcester Eve- ning Gazette suggests that “it may be no easier to deal with the problem six or eight months from now than it is today.” The Rock Island Argus advises that “we may hold ourselves aloof from the matter of German reparations as not being our affair, but in reality our interests are directly in- volved.” That paper states that “the moratorium on the debts was the be- ginning of a movement which is bound to eventuate in further revision.” “Neither political party in this country,” concludes the Roanoke World-News, “is anxious to plunge into an argument connected with war debts and reparations.”” That paper offers the further comment: “Since most of the war debt agreements provide that debtors may, on 90 days’ notice, post- pone payments on account of princi- pal only for two years, concellation of further reparations payments by Ger- many may cause her creditors to in- voke this protective measure. France has the option of postponing principal payments for three years. More liberal options, which would have allowed France to postpone all payments be- yond $20,000,000 up to June 15, 19832, attitude | will all have expired before the end of the fiscal year.” X x % % “Europe has been informed by Secre- | tary Stimson,” recalls the Chicago | Daily News, “in an explicit note to M. | Claudel, the French Ambassador, that | the United States declines to recognize any connection between war debts and reparations, and that any attempt— such as Mussolini rashly suggested—to unite Europe against America would be resented. Europe has been told that Congress will not sanction any exten- sion of the Hoover moratorium at pres- ent, and that therefore the debtor countries, if really unable to pay the annuities provided for in the debt- funding settlements, will be expected to deal separately with the United States for any temporary readjustment of terms. Further, it has been made obvious that the United States will de- mand from any government that pro- poses downward revision of the debt- founding settlements proof of inability to pay. The position of the adminis- | tration’ fs in complete accord with that of Congress and with public opin- ion.” ‘Mr. Stimson informs France,” says the Newark Evening News, “that a de- mand for a new debts moratorium could not obtain approval in Congress and the Senate opposes a cancellation or reduction of the debts. For the in- sularity of Congress the administration is to blame only so far as it has failed to exercise the vigorous leadership that would keep the Congress from stupid- ities. But the Congress is doing only what the politiclans of France, Eng- land, Germany and other countries are doing. Trev are all kidding their own publics. {ving to make them believe they will do what these politicians know very well they can't do. Every intelli- gent man in Congress, for instance, knows this country will do what it has to do and take what it can get. To build up a propaganda, setting the public mind against the inevitable, does infinite harm, but, with elections impending here and there, who gives a whoop for the public interest?” R, Street Cars Scored By Chevy Chase Man To the Editor of The Star* During the past two years since 1 have resided in Chevy Chase, D. C., the people in this section have been sub- Jjected to grossly inadequate street car service. During this time I have per- sonally noted my acquaintances and neighbors being forced to stand in over- crowded street cars for a ride of ap- proximately 45 minutes or 1 hour dur- ing the peak period from the down- town district of Washington into the Chevy Chase section. Since the re- moval of my office, along with thou- sands of others, into the new Depart- ment of Commerce Building, conditions have been worse. I have been forced to stand in an overcrowded and poorly ventilated street car on my return trip from the Commerce Building to my home in Chevy Chase. I have seen several of my neighbors and acquaint- ances being forced to do likewise. Some of these people are elderly ladies and others far less able physically to stand up under this ordeal than I am. I have protested to the Capital Traction Co., and my letter has been ignored. I shall, of course, appeal to the Pub- lic Utilities Commission and my local citizens’ association at the next monthly meeting unless our service is improved in the meantime. Procedures of this kind naturally take a long time, and in the meantime we must suffer consid- erable inconvenience. Therefore, I am respectfully asking that you publish this letter so that we may get some public consideration and augpon, If a local taxicab company would consider operating service into our sec- tion during the peak periods, I do not believe that there will be much diffi- culty in getting a considerable amount of buysiness, provided its charge gfl‘ person would not be considerably greater than present street car fares. MANNING, l THE LIBRARY TABLE By the Booklover Victoria Mary Sackville-West, daugh- ter of the third Baron Sackville of Knole Park and wife of Harold Nicol- son, diplomat and writer of entertain- ing biographies, belongs to the younger group of English writers of fiction whose interest is in psychological states rather than in plot. She became known to American readers through her nove! “The Edwardians,” which shows the reign of Edward VII as a period when the preservation of aristocratic class appearances was considered more im- portant than actual adherence to Tradi- tional morality. V. Sackville-West, as she signs serself, has also written “Poems of West and East,” “The Heir, “Challenge,” which was suppressed in England but published in America, and ! “The Land,” a collection of poems which received the Hawthornden Prize in 1927, Her recent novel, “All Passion Spent,” goes beyond any of her previous work in originality and subtlety of style. It is a story of old age. The heroine is 88 when the story opens. No young people appear in it, except for a brief scene near the end, when Deborah Hol- land, ~ great-granddaughter cf Lady Slane, comes to see her for an elusive reason and their broken, elliptical con- versation supplies the clue to Lady Slane’s life—a life which has becn highly successful according to the standards of the world and reasonably happy according to her own, but has missed what would have oeen for her the best. The dedication of the book to the author’s two small sons is in- teresting: “For Benedict and Nigel, who are young, this story of people wko are old.” ERE The style of V. Sackville-West like that of her friend Virginia Woolf, is | & delight in its sparing, suggestive, well chosen words, elegance of phrasing, and | I delcacy of portraiture. The opening sentences of the book, telling of the death of Lady Slane's husband, are a masterpiece of epigram and philosophy: | “Henry Lyulph Holland, first Earl of Sla; had existed for so long that the public had begun to regard him as im- mortal. The public, as a whole, finds reassurance in longevity, and, al'er the | necessary interlude of reaction, 1. dis- pesed to recognize extreme cld age as| a sign of excellence. The long-liver | has triumphed over at Jeast one cf man’s initial handicaps, the brevity of life. To filch 20 years from eternal annihilation is to impose one’s supe- riority on an allotted program. So small is the scale upon which we arrange our values. It was thus, with a start of real incredulity, that city men, open- | ing their papers in the train on a warm May morning, read that Lord Slane, at | the age of 94, had passed away sud- denly after dinner on the previols ¢ The elderly and old children of the dead nobleman gather almost instantaneously, “old black javens,” as | the youngest, unmarried kdith, thinks as she looks them over in the shrouded drawing room. They are not a very attractive group. One hardly wonders | that old Lady Slane, after years of being their mother, loves none of them. Yet one does wonder that, with tuch| a brilliant, distinguished father and such ‘an artistic, original mother, not one of the children is interesting. How- ever, such things do happen in life. The blackclad sons and daughters, sons-in-, law and daughters-in-law, chant and croak in chorus that “mother is won- | derful” in her composure. Alone with | her dead husband in the upper room, | Lady Slane is “filled with thoughts that ! would greatly have surpriscd her chil- dren, could they but have read her | mind.” X * oK ok % After the funeral, when the children | assemble to decide what shall be done with mother (a very realstic scene. | duplicated hundreds of times in real life), Lady Slane gives them a shock, and enjoys doing it, by telling them that instead of spending her remaining days in sections at their various homes she will live alone with her old French maid in a small house at Hampstead. She adds that they need not come to | see her very often and that she espe- cially wants to see none of her grand- children or great-grandchildren, as she cannot endure youth, with its forward | outlock, but wants only age about her, | with its backward look on a life nearly | finished. ‘There is horror, also relief, | on the part of all the children. The | “wonderful” chorus changes to “mother has always been queer.” In the new life of Lady Slane there are three friends, all men—her eccentric landlord, Mr. Bucktrout: the old-fashioned crafts- | man who redecorates the house, Mr Gosheron, and an old man, friend of one of her sons, who had known her in India and loved her from afar, Mr. Fitz George. For the last year of her life, with “all passion spent,” she is free—iree from the conventions of her | Society, free from the personality of a | dominant husband, free from the neces- | sity of being the sort of mother her | children expect and believe her to be. It is too late for her to be the artist she has once wished to be, but that seems to matter little. For the first time in her life she is understood. Her | three friends and she have the samo view of life, not the view of important, successful people, but the view of the dreamer, the idealist, who looks for beauty and freedom. “All Passion Spent” is a surprising study of old age to have been made by a young woman The title is taken from Milton's “Sam~ son Agonistes.” “His servants he with new acquist Of true experience from this great event With peace and consolation hath dismist, And calm of mind, all passion spent.’ ki Now an old man, Gabriele D'Annun- zio has finished his career as an author and leads a life of luxuried leisure, dressed in robes resembling those of & Franciscan friar. All of D'Annunzio’s best work in poetry, fiction and drama was done between 1890 and 1910. His most successful novels are “The Tri- umph of Death.” “The Virgins of the Rocks” and “The Flame.” His best plays are “The Dead City.” which he wrote for Sara Bernhardt and “La Gioconda,” which he wrote for Eleonora Duse. During the World War D'An- | nunzio became a patriot and politician and _went about making stirring | speeches. He then volunteered for active service and was in the cavalry, infantry, navy and air service. In spite of his age (he was born in 1863), he won spectacular success as an aviator, flying through storms of bullets, drop- ping propaganda literature from his plane down on Vienna, and finally los- ing_the sight of one eye. In “Not- turno” he has written his emotions and sensations in connection with his blindness. His post-war adventure in seizing the City of Fiume and declar- ing himself its ruler furnished spicy material for the newspapers for the 15 months during which he held the place, until he was expelled by the Italian governemnt. Since then he has lived on the Lake of Garda. In 1924 he published the first volume of an auto- biography, “Le Faville del Maglio,” or “Sparks From the Hammer.” He is an enthusiastic Fascist and has been given the title Prince of Monte Nevoso, by the King of Italy. * Xk ok % Prank H. Simonds is known from war days as a journalist who never leaned to the side of too great optim- ism, so _when he writes a book “Can Europe Keep the Peace?” we fear that in his opinion Europe cannot. The picture he paints of Europe in this era of safety for democracy is a black one, but one based on realism not imagina- tion. Suspicion and hatred, causimg high tariffs and huge sums spent on armament, high taxes, frantic efforts after more and more credits, bank- ruptcy—none of these are exactly peace guarantees. In Mr. Simonds’ opinion both Europe and America are lacking in constructive statesmanship, which might solve the problems left by devastating war. Yet he concludes that Europe must keep the peace or commit suicide. His only hope for real security is internationalism, and he sees little prospect of that while feeling runs so g day that perhaps only a super-mathe- matician, not an economist or & poli- can offer solutions. | regiment and dropped 30 sma ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Have we had the pleasure of serving | you through our Washington Informa- | tion Bureau? Can't we be of some help to you in your problems? Our business is te furnish you with authoritative in- | formation, and we invite you to ask us any question of fact in which you are interested. Send your inquiry to The Washingtno Star Information Bureal Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washing- ton, D. C. Inclose two cents in coir or stamps for return pos 3 Q How much life insurance 1is written in the United States in a year? —B. B. . The total life insurance in force n the United States on J. 1, 1930, was estimated to be $103,000,000,000 New business written during the year aggregated $18,000,000,000. Q. To what extent can telephone sub- scribers talk with other telephone scribers?—W. T. D. A. The Burcau of Domestic _ Commerce nounced that 40 co terconnected by telepl per cent of all the te ers in the wor! others the increas ing an all-time record. Q. Who said, Foreign has just S Now tre e and th phone subsc am fond of chil- R. T. s are there 1 Q. How many cit } of 1,000,000 world with a population and over?—H. M. A. Twenty: en. enumeration _of passed the million mark passed that mark last Sumn: ant some time, but a new c | revealed extsemely rapid gains in R« Q. How will the Pre: home financing plan of p in the smaller isolat of ‘the country, where local building and loan assc finance corpof 353G A. The Pre Conference Home_Building and Home O says that the bills before Congr template that institution lowing types would come act: Building and loan assoc operative benks and ho ciations, savi on panies the bill is to reach ties in the U or more of th stitutions. Q. What was the of the Tita M. A. The 14-15, 19. berg off Newf trip from Liver of life reached 1 dite of the C 1103 were women an Q. How many imn are there in the U A. On November 1, 1,129. Q. How has the long-establis! American custom of permitting wor of ari over 100 years old to come free of any customs duty been lified?—D. O. E. A. It has not been entirely nullified, but ‘several countries have lessened value by_censoring e n_of tiques, Italy has s rules and Spain has recently absolutely forbidd sales of such ol I w of art over 100 years old are permitted to leave their count origin, 1t is of no value to have t duty-free here. on inspectors ed States?—G. K 1931, there were d Q. Does Canada help to pay and’s war debt?—W. R. B. pay p integral part of the British Com: vealth of Nations, Canada is self-gov- erning, makes provisions for its own taxes and debts, just as the mother country does, Q. Where are the paupers in New York City buried’—T. B, T i A. The Island, ser poor from th New York. City Cemetery, at Harts for the burial of indigent e entire city of Greater Q. In Florence there is a statue by Donatello called “Il Zuccone.” Why?— WDy The phrase literally means “the pumpkin 1 because the ald. Another (incorrectly applied) s “King de bodies California expected < on the dollar circu- would For i rient mes' Palace, in London, was the a hospital for ligious found: the Less, Bi ite was acquired ng torn down 1532 St p! 5 ical Cong ued every year, of women have a States post, Washing- p in two of pri While other d in the like the Red no case has known by ualties in the the battle of ‘The French Highlights on the Wide World Excerpts From Newspapers of Other Lands APAN ADVERTISZR, Bombing practice the fourth da nese newspapers, ducted a theoretical against an iron bridge pres by a regiment of the er oclock in the morning Gapt shima and Capt. Ogawa too bomber to attack the bridg to within 250 feet of the e dopped three medium-sized b of which hit the edges of the The third registered a direct hit considerable damage. Capt. Ishikawa, in command of light bombing machine, lat W 0 the supposed position’ of the ¢ bo feet. most from an altitude of 2,000 of which were effective. TI the enemy regiment was cru sults of the four-day mane called quite satisfact N 100 representatives from units through the nessed the practice. e Water Clock Registers River's Rise. Expresz_ Porann: Kierbedz Bridge over a water clock has b entifically, this is graph,” we understand, and its ing mechanism has been so a that the results of its changing func- tions and aspects will be gistered upon a large clocklike dial, which can be seen from any part of the br itself, by either pedest torists. ~The meter is and will indicate even the slight in the river level. This will edly be the most closely watck of Warsaw during the Spring the Vistula. Warsaw.—At the Vistul i met floods ERE I Suggest Removal of Lawns for Parking Space. North China Daily News, Shanghai.— (Excerpts from letters) Since parking on the Bund is ting more .and more c: account of the ever-increasing nu of cars, why not do away with all t lawns between Bridge Garden and the Customs Jetty and create abundant parking space, just as in front of the Gustoms Jetty? Anyhow, these law do not add very much to the beau of the Bund, with only a few coc lying 'round here and there.—A Car Owner. * Lack of Understanding Among Nations Deplored. El Tiempo, Bogota.—About the hard- est thing in life is to appreciate the point of view of all the differe: with whom we come in contas real friends are generally few, they are always those who think as we do. There have been cases, it is true, where men of opposite temperaments and convictions have become firm | friends, but these cases occur only when there is a tacit agreement not to tread upor: each. other’s toes in discussing convictions that are not mutually ac- ceptable. We are not referring now to those broad and basic distinctions which make it impossible for a criminal ever to understand wyh it is more adva tageous to be good, and for a worthy citizen to understand the incentive of the malefactor, but rather we have in mind those antagonistic tendencies | among people all of whom are to be considered “good citizens,” at least in | their own evaluations. ‘These divisions of *thought and feeling are more pronounced in other countries than they are in Colombia, and other Spanish-American countries where be- cause of our hjstory and traditions, and he common source of our religion and ancestry, a majority of the population | are unanimous in their judgments and | uniform in their procllvities, For the * | admission of receptivity we have no_debates as to cally right or wrong in cinema, the 1g of intoxi- reprehensible consider the the cigaret le badges e in Ger- d State: m their or employ LS. most part what 1S conduct 5 1 s, the drin not consides nor do we e faces unmistal Yet there are peo England and the U h N among a hare with a raucous orthodox in our d divorce; we ac- marital re- s are not ex- n the court. So nts and herit- in contrasting re ac- v higher nations, : e is sure to y and understand- ugh, nions the those opir 1 ce w So much for prejudice ai ¥! Attitude of Baker Held ““Very Receptive”™ Ol ng Post. vton Baker is warming up to the idea that he might be the Democratic nominee for President, and that is & promising thing. A little while back rote to a North Car n that he would rejoice to f 1 the ranks for idealism and hoped he would not have to lead Now he has written to a South Caro- linian who urged him to become a can- didate that he would answer any call made upon him. It is very near to an to say the least 11 so far in front his party that Fro ton (S. C.) Gov. Roosevelt is s for the nominatior it is almost assured he will be chosen, but it is never safe to count upon anything in politics until the last vote has been tabulated, and there is undoubtedly a growing sentiment that Gov. Roosevelt does not measure up to the high requirements of the situation The call for Baker to become a candi- date is swelling, and he is evidently lis- tening to it more attentively. He would make a great President And he would probably make a great candidate, too, for all that his inter- nationalism would not accord so well as it might have accorded a few years ago with the sentiment of the country. That, too, is in the category of idealism, to which Mr. Baker has so completely and admirably committed himself, and it is by no means certain that the | Amertcan people would not, in its pres- ent state of mind, rally in force to an | exponent of ideals even though it might be skeptical as to certain of them spe- cifcally. No Horses to Ride. From the Jerscy Journal Veterinarians from all parts of New Jersey held their annual convention in Jersey City. They came in autos.