Evening Star Newspaper, December 22, 1932, Page 8

A—8 THE EVENING STAR ‘With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY. . .December 22, 1832 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor ‘The Evening Star Newspaper Company 11th_8t. dn.P’: Oflfi}:;m‘ Ave. i Sffce: 110 East 420d. 8. : 1 as! A Chic - Lake Michigan Bulldink. obean Ofic Regent 8t.. London: European Office: 14 Enrlan Rate by Carrier Within the City. The Evening Star_.. ....45¢ per month Th: l‘::nm: and Sunday Star 4 Sundays) o star .85¢ per month ..;.5c per copy at the end of each month. by mail or telephons The Sunday Star Collection made Orders may be sent in NAtional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia, =~ Batly safy Sumdr: o135 "i600; 1 mo., 30 Sunday only . $400; 1 mo.. 40c All Other States and Canada. 1w 12.00; 1 mo.. $1.00 $8.00: 1 mo.. T8¢ 5.00: 1 500 Member of the Associated Press. The Assoctated Press is cqclusively entitled o the use for republication’ of all news dis- atches credited to it or not otherwise cred- ted in this paver snd also the local news published herein. All Tights of publication of special dispatches herein ardPalso reserved. mo.. Emergency Relief. The Subcommittee on Deficiencies of the House Appropriations Committee under Chairman Byrns has given the citizens of the District and the officials of the municipality a cympathetic hear- ing on the proposed appropriation of $1,250,000 for emergency relief. The money is to come from lccal revenues and is intended to last through the cal- endar year 1933. The need for the| money is pressing, and it is sincerely to | be hoped that the House committee can i start the appropriation bill thrcugh | Congress before the Christmas recess. | Chairman Byrns hes indicated that, as his committez is dealing only wn.h‘ deficiencies end as the amount sought for relief covers more than a deficiency | to be encountered in this current fiscal | year, the amount to be recommended by | his subcommittee may be cut below the $1,250,000 asked. 1f this is done it should be with the distinct understanding that the appro- | priation about to be made will be, in fact, a deficiency appropriation and that it contempl:tes nothing beyond the end | of the fiscal vear in June. With such | an understanding in mind, the preblem of relief after the end of this fiscal year | will be taken up by the House sub- | committee charged with npprapriltions‘ for the District through the regular | District appropriation bill for the fiscal | year 1934. The absolute minimum necessary for ryelief for the celendar year 1933 has | been placed at $1,250,000. As a mamr" of fact, many of those who testified be- fore Chairman Byrns' subcommitiee | o.nec gnd pocketed it as a “saving.” | showed that this amount, although Tec- | ommended by the Commissioners, is too | little. The Board of Public Welfare's| Special Committee in charge of emer- o . the esonomy act. But men who | gency relief started out last July in the | yon gy and a half cays a week at the | 2dministration of its first $350,000 zo<‘ maintain ea aver:gz scale of relief for | in theory, about $1,020.60. That putsj familles zmounting to $4.70 a week. Seme families reccived more, some of them i:ss. depending on the circum- stanccs. But an average of $4.70 rep- | globe, two feet in diameter, decorated with fifty-one thousand jewels, are companion pleces which the present Shah, Riza Khan Pahlevi, desires to ex- change for money to establish & na- tional bank in his capital. But where is the multi-millionaire who needs such a trio of trinkets for the embellishment of his home? The Shah is several years late in reaching his decision to sell. Had he appeared in the open market in the days of Krueger and Insull he would have had much less difficulty finding & purchaser for his parlor ornaments. Either of the gentlemen indicated would have been susceptible to the temptation, Napo- leons as they were. But now that their empires have collapsed, only Tammany Hall is available for the accommodation of the furniture, and for Tammany the peacock ought to be a tiger. Perhaps a skilled designer might correct the 200~ logical inconsistency. Boss Curry would look very grand, indeed, in a jeweled seat and the globe would serve to sym- bolize his ambitions, while the couch would be useful as a receptacle for any of his friends who momentarily might be indisposed. Serlously, thrones are out of date and the Shah is well advised to dispose of his chair of state for what it will bring. The money will be of service in bal- ancing the imperial budget, and that is more important than any amount of furniture. —_————— A Disgraceful “Economy.” Under the economy act the pitifully small pay of the unemployed men who shoveled snow during the recent storm was cut by one-eleventh, or approxi- mately nine per cent. The deduction of this amount is disgraz:iul. The inter- pretations of the economy act may have left the District officials with no other alternative. That does not change the situation. The cut was disgraceful and one of the most deplorable of the many deplorable applications of this so-called economy measure. Put yourself for a moment, gentle reader, in the shoes of the man who shoveled snow Saturday and Saturday night and Sunday. To begin with, those shoss may have been leaky and worn. But that is not all of it. Suppose you kad been hunting werk, walking the streets looking for a chance to work. The snow provided the chance. You were told that the pay would be forty- five cents an hour. Glad of the oppor- tunity, no matter what the work, you | shoveled snow, in eight-hour shifts, for a total of seventeen hours. After sev- enteen hours, tired, exhausted, cold, hungry, you stood in line for your pay —$7.65 for seventeen hours. Your pay envelope bore only $695. The great United States Government, richest Nation in the world, spending four bil- lion collars a year, had taken seventy Saving for whom? Saving for what? Men who receive the princely annual income of a thousand dollars are spared rate of forty-five cents an hour receive, them over the line. They must suffer a @eduction of one-eleventh. It is a highly debatable question whether they should THEE EVENING STAR, WASHINCTOXN, equivalent of the Mexican dollr, 50 well known in the Orient. Dr. Soong points out that the Na- tionalist government's financing has proved all the more remarkable because since the occupation of Manchuris by Japan a year and a quarter ago no revenues have been remitted from that once productive province. Simultane- ously China's treasury was heavily drained by the funds required to fight Communism, civil war and fioods and to resist Japan at Shanghai last Winter. Japan's financial situation has been progressively grave for the past five years and grown increasingly so, be- cause of her expensive military projects in Manchuris. The Shanghai expedi- tion was a costly enterprise, too. To balance the budget, the finance minister announces that 400,000,000 yen ($200,- 000,000) of bonds will have to be issued during the remainder of the present fiscal year. Qrdinerily that would be not an insurmountable feat. But con- ditions do not suggest that it can be accomplished with ease at this time, either at home or abroad. Critics of Japan's Manchurian adventure have al- ways said that one of the first prices the world's peace machinery would be eign markets. It will b2 interesting to observe if the Tokio government chooses the present moment for finding out whether Japanese national credit abroad is as good es it used to be. A little preliminary practice with the snow shovel may ‘come in handy for the blizzard crisis that so frequently asserts itself just prior to March 4. The crisis will, of course, be met. Inaugura- tion is one part of every administration that is an unqualified success. et — The decision sgainst liquor cases founded on “entrapment” handed down by Chief Justice Hughes suggests that the old idea, “it takes a thief to catch a thief” has been somewhat overworked in underworld practice. —_ So many of his old associates have gone from familiar places that Capone when liberated is likely to feel less like a returning Napoleon than like Rip Van Winkle. ——— World-wide economic discussion must be recognized as requiring time. Eco- nomic questions have always been asked faster than-they could be answered. ‘Wars are expensive. Unlimited inter- national indifference to financial obli- gation is reprehended as a possible encouragement to a' free-for-all fight. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Precedent. | I puzzle like the rest of men On things I can't explain. I study them awhile and then Affect a deep disdain. And nearly all that I can see 'Twixt carth ard Heaven so far— The reason that they have to be Is just because they are. It’s gentle custom that imparts Stability to life, Nippon would have to pay for flouting ! likes. the inability to borrow money in for- | o' Four-footed little animals, such as doss and cats, cannot be sald to like antles of the creatures, when rem!mnn ted with this phenomenon, dif- Dogs ordinarily plunge in as a sort of gambol, but most cats deeply resent the experient new ce. It seems that no matter how often a cat has been out in the snow, over a number of years, it forgets each time that such a condition can exist. ‘The feling face takes on & look of indignation the feel of the white wetness on the paws. Nor is this so much & matter of gen- eral dislike of water; many cats do not fear water in &ny form, but rather en- joy playing with it, and even in it. Most cats find snow distinctly un- pleasant, probably because of the cold which accomj the dampness. The combination is one they do not care for, s any living creature has a right to its preferences. A great many honest persons seem to think that becausc an animal cannot talk, and goes on four legs instead of two, it has no right to likes and dis- y one who has studied the animals, however, even for a short time, and in superficial way, knows that the so- called dumb brutes have no less in- stinctive likes and dislikes than human beings. ‘They have their pet notions about | things, just the same 2s we do. Both dogs and cats can be supremely stub- born, at times, when thwarted of their legitimate desires. The recent snow, which wa: about 11 inches thick, was deep enough to hide the average cat from sight. | No doubt this accounted for much of the dismay of these pets in greeting the snowfall of the last week end. One has but to think of snow 5 or 6 feet in depth to realize the state of mind of these small animals when they found themselves sinking into the pe- | ::uar 2nd unfamiliar stuff surrounding | em. | Their reactions were not similar, however. They ranged from feline | humor, almost, to plain fear. Out o{i every hundred or so cats there will be | one distinctly a clown. | ‘This type of house cat has a method | of running and leaping which strikes | the human observer as buffoonery, pure | and simple. Perhaps the animal does | not feel as kittensome as it looks. It | is always difficult to try to penetrate | the minds of others, both people and animals, and to make a sure deduction | of states of mind from outward mani- festations. A cat which enjoys the smow will | run into it without hesitation. plunge in without fear, and dash around as fast as it can. The cat which shows fear, after it gets in up to its neck. almost always | will display a hesitancy about setting foot off porch. Usually there is enough snow there or in a docrway for such animals to experiment with the strange whiteness. They put forward a reluctant paw, as I 10 fest i, | Not finding much to be afraid of so far, they seem to be willing to venture | farther. las If they have been in the habit of | leaping off the steps, they may do this | now, whereupon they are into the stuff | before they know it. Or course, it is a shock to them. Up to their eyes they stand, wonder- | ing what it is all about. They are acquainted with rain and wind, but the snow is something un- | familiar, even if they have experienced | it before. This is a pofl’t in cat psy- | DL, THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL, chology for some one to unravel. Cats were cats yest y; they are cats to- terda; day; they will be cats lady psychologis with the intriguing Cat,” but, of course, that was only a in pleasantry. There are no modern cats. Cats were old when Bubastes in its prime made gods of them. Every cne who looks into &' cat’s eyes or into the eyes of any animal, for that matter, knows this. He feels the spell of time, time without beginning and without ending. Man's psychology may have changed | a little over the centuries, but the psycl of the animals has been fixed for, lo! these thousands of years. cows, and the pigs, and the| tigers, and the lions, and all the other creatures, ranging from the tiny chip- ugh recorded history. It is this stability of structure which gives fuel to the anti-evolutionist, and about the only answer to it, at least in unscientific circles, T history, after all, is only a tithe of time. Panic fear is an old emotion of living things. It gets its very name from nature and the creatures of nature. One may still see it.in its pristine form when a cat suddenly finds itself floundering around in a deep snow, almost over its head. ‘Then its eyes take on a wild look, straight out of the jungle. The forms of civilization, acquired through generations, suddenly depart to give place to but one thought— escape. Human friends are forgot, kindly voices unheard, as the creature scram- | bles through the drifts to a place of safety as it sees it. It is here that the stubborn traits of fells domesticus shine. If it manages to make its way be- neath a porch, nothing can induce it to come out until it is ready. The same with a tree. The creature will not come down for all your pleading, and if you hazard a climb it retreats still higher in the very face of rescue. | Surely it is a stubborn animal. But | perhaps man, to a yet higher form of life, would appear equally immune to words of reason and pleading. It is not | possible for us, since we are very kin to all that breathes, to assume a lordly, superior air in relation to them. Perhaps the actions of man in many of his aspscts are quite as devoid of | reason and common sense as those of the animals at times seem to us. Listening to reason is one of the | highest developments of civilization. It | can be expected of humanity at certain times only, preferably when intelligent | self-interest points the way. Man is no more inclined at certain | times to listen to the voice of reaon than the lowliest of animals, The| remembrance of this stupidily on his part—for that is what it is—should ever be keot in mind. in order that he mav at least have sympathy with ths failings and unconsclous fears of the four-legged creatures. | If the animals do not know as much we do. and thereferc cannot fear | many things which we fear, perhaps their old instinctive fars, for the quecer purposes of nature, are far more penc- }gunz than our own salong the same es. They need and surely get from their | friends among us a ready sympathy and understencing, especially at those times waen nature sees fit o surprise them with one of her old practical Jokes. s ed | 2fter both pa | repeal The Political Mill By G. Gould Léncoln. Eight months ago any one who pre- dicted that the present House would pass & 4 per cent beer bill would have been Jooked upon as just another wet optimist. In view of the defeat of the | seums, ‘Hull-O’Connor beer bill, providing for 2 less alcoholic content than the meas- ure passed, last Spring by a vote of 228 to 168, the vote for the beer bill le. House which defeated 2.75 beer in May voted 230 to 165 for 4 per omt‘ be«b’ 3 ‘;x:’cz -lmmpu:r:donwm per cenf wel as comj to 4 per cent by volume. * k x % While to many of the friends of repeal of the eighteenth amendment the passage of a bill to legalize 4 per cent beer may seem stupid and tgerh.-pa a threat to speedy repeal of the con- st'tutional amendment, the strength which the wet cause is now manifest- ing in Congress cannot help to be heartening. 1f the present Congress is 50 wet, the Congress, elected rties, the Republicans and the Democrats, had turned wet in their platforms, may be expected to be drip- ping. Unless there should be a huge chmfi in sentiment within a few months the submission of a new amend- ment to the Constitution repealing the cighteenth amendment to the States scems absolutely inevitable. Further- more. the passage of a bill modifying the Volstead act so as to permit beer. end possibly wine, prior to the repeal | of the eighteenth emendment seems equally assured. providing, of course, the lblevr;uln‘ beer bill dnugnol become a L The tide has turned politicall inst national prohibition. po'l'he p:lmhm have jumped off the water wagon, on which they rode for more than a decade. Yesterday’s contest in th> House might reasonably be dubbed the Battle of Beer Run. In view of the big swing from dry to wet on Capitol Hill—and out in the country—it seems like tempting fate t> say that the teer bill will not pass the Senate at the present session, either because of lack of time or because of lack of votes, or that it will be vetoed by the President and thus fail to be- come law. Yet the chances for final action in the Senate on the brer meas- ure before March 4 do not seem very good, nor does it appear prchable Presi- | dent Hoover would sign the it were sent ‘to him. * o oxox The Republicans mustered 101 votes in the House yesterjay sga'n-t ths beer bill ond 96 for it. Th- Democrats gava the bill 123 votes nd had 64 ing against. snd the scle Farme--Labor member of the present Hcuse voted for the bill. The Republican lerder of th» House, Representative Snell of New York. ‘although he vot>d for the repeal resolution on the opening cay of this session of Congress, declined to vote for the beer bill. The Republi~an strength cast for the beer bill wa= 1-s; than 10 votes shy of the Republican vote for . On the Democratic side the opposition to the beer bill wes approi- mately a scor> greater then to the re- peal amendment. * % % % Should the beer bi'l muster sufficient strength in the Senate—and it appears likely that it can—to pass the upper house, it will go to the President. The House vote yvesterday clearly indicated that the bill could not be pasced over 3 prosidential veto. It is not likely that 8 single member of the House who voted “no” on the beer bill yesterday could be persuaded to change his posi- tion and seek to override a presidential veto. The record is made. The Demo- ciats of the House who voted egainst the bill hdve given their reasons for so doing. One hundred and sixty votes TOus wi maintain headquarters in the Nation's %ph.-l.“!‘fwmy can b:mox numsnc; you, your quest! plainly &n send, with 3 cents in coin or stamps. Do not use post cards. Address The Evening Star Information Bureau, wn.ml) cJ. Haskin, Director, Washing- Q. Is the new thoroughbred Nea Lap, which has been brought here, related to Phar Lap?—W. W. Lap, famed Australian race horse, which died following a sensational first vic- tory in Americz. Nea Lap has been zglv;]:‘:d w!g‘ utlhe ah&l:n of John Hns; (Jock) ey, soclety sportsman, and | 15 to be & brood mare. | Q. When was the precedent estab- Nshed of the President’s wife riding T. C. A. In 1909, when Mrs. Taft accom- panied her husband. Q. How many policemen and firemen | are there in the United States?—C. H. | _A. According to the census of 1930 | there ere 131,687 policemen in the | United States and 73,008 firemen. | | Q. Please explain how an_airplane A. There are two distinct types of | smoke apparatus which have been de- | veloped for airplanes. The smoke ma- | terial used in both types is titanium tetrachloride. One method of gen- erating smoke is known as the “curtzin type” of apparatus, in which the smoke material is discharged from the plane toward the rear at the same velocity as | the forward speed of the plane. This results in the formation of large liquid | drops at approximately the altitude of | the plare. “As these drops fall toward the earth they slowly evaporate and re- act with the moisture of the air to| | form & dense white smoke, which pre- | sents the appearance of a falling cur- | tain. A plane of the Martin bomber | type can lay a curtain approximately | 1 mile long and 400 feet h. | Q. Is the New York Stock Exchange an_incorporated body?—H. H. It is a_voluntary unincorporated mwen: omong 24 brokers, dated | 17, 1792. May Ww. A. Nea Lap is a full sister of Phar W. with him in the incugural parade?— |2 lays a smoke screen—G. W. W. | H. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. the place at which the majority of the part in the 'x!gfi from that State took battle, it does represent the scene of action of some of the North, Carolina troops. The site was selected by & monument commission from the State hich | of North Carolina and approved by the P 4 it Secretary of War. Q. How much did the Florentine dia- mond weigh?—M. H. A. It weighed 133 carats and formed of the Austrian crown jewels. It previously belonged to Charles, Duke of Burgundy. Tradition relates that it was picked up by a peasant and sold for half a crown. Q. What is the explanation offered for ;}‘)e ;usppnrume of the Cyclops?— A. The most probable theory as to the disapearance of the U. S. 8. Cyclops is that it was sunk by her own cargo, according to a theory advanced by an officer of a merchant ship. At the time the Cyclops was carrying a load of manganese ore, which is difficult to handle. Manganese ore has a tendency to settie down, grinding away whatever below it, and as the Cyclops was & twin deck ship, and the cargo loaded in the lower hold, the end could have come suddenly, when the ottom gave away. The Cyclops left Yorktown on its last trip on December 8, 1917. As far as the United States Government is concerned, there is no explanation for the disappearance of the U. S. fuel ship Cyclops. q 1 “mandarin” a Chinese word?— A. Tt is from Malay and Hindu “mantri,” meaning “counselc:,” and was given by Portuguese colcnists at Macao n; the officials called Kwan by the na- tives, Q. How do industrial accidents in the United States and Great Britain compare?—P, L. A. With twice as many persons em- ployad in factorics and workships as in Great Britain, industrial accidents in the United States annually are 13 times greater, Q. What is the composition of the gum used on postage stamps?>—N. P. A. The gum consists of 58 per cent dextrine, 38 ver cent water and 4 per cent glucose. Q. Who owns the island that is to bz a Roosevelt memorial>—L. G. A. The island was owned by the A. measure if | association. It originated in an agree- | Washington Gas Light Co.. which sold it to the Roosevelt Memorial Associa- | tion. The island was deeded to the | | United States Government by the as- Q. In what language are the chil- dren in school in' Russia taught?— | _A. In the teaching in various schools | throughout the country a total of 70 | national tongues is used. Out of every 1 1.000 pupils 62¢ 2re taught in the | sian language. 175 in Ukrainian, 36 in White Russian, 27 in Tariar. 19 in| Georgian, 14 in Armenian, 10 in Azer-| baijan-Turkish, 9 in Usbek, the rest| . What liquors are mixed in tha| drirk called half-and-half>—V. C. A. The name is applied cspeclally to porter and zle in cqual quantities. | | Q. Is the proces of naturalization | the same in all the States?—R. W. A. Naturalization procedure is the | | same in all States, since it is provided | for by Federal law. Each court, how- cver, is the judge of whether the ap- | | plicant appearing before it has met the | requirements of the law. | Q. Is the monument on the Gettys- burg battlefield erected to the memory cof the North Carolina troops standing |on the section where the North Caro- | lina troops fought>—E. W. B. | A The North Carolina monument stands on a spot occupied by some of Rus- Sta sociation. It lies in the Potomac River | between_the Key Bridge and thc Ar- lington Bridge. Q. What was the exact procedure by which Great Britain paid the United tes $95.550,000 on December 15 on t of the war debt?—H. S. n the presence of British treas- ury and Bank of England officials porters unlocked the gold vaults of the | Bank and moved bar Fold to the preper value from one section 1o another and labeled the bars “Property of the United States of America.” The Bank cf Eng- land then cabled to the Federal Re- serve Bank of New York, fiscal agent of the United States. notifying the bank ty credit Great Britain with the | amount of the payment. The New York Bank returncd formal acknowledgment stating the credit had been entered upon its books. Q. Can any fish bzsides the seal be trained—P. W. A. There is no type of fish which is successfully trained for cireus per- formances. The seal is not a fish. It is a_mammal, having warm blood_and breathing air by means ql lungs. Seals are among the most intelligent of mam- mals and zre lly adaotable to circus traininz. Their chief distinction sense of balance, whi High Lights on the Wide World Excerpts From Newspapers of Other Lands be put on the wrong side of the line. | Per diem employes, it has been under- stocd, were cut by being placed on the; five-day week. They were denied the| is a marvelous So soft and subtle when it starts, makes them Yet ordering joy or strife. 8o why should mortals disagree And passing pleasures mar? in the House, which has all told 435 the North Carolina troops in the Battl~ members, is more than a third of the of Gettysburg. While this site is not membershin. Since it takes two-thirds | - to override a veto, it looks as though | the teer bill had no chance of becom- resents statvation wages to begin with. The increesing number of applications from destitute families forced the cut- ting down of this ccale of rclief to an | elleny Jugglers. average cf $3.8) per family, and that is | the amount of relief now being admin- istered. The relief is in the form of money for food—nothing else. The not been able to pay rent or furnish | fuel. The relief represents a disgrace- fully low standard of living. The only justification for cutting the scale of re- lief is the obvious fact that there was| no alternative. The $1,250,000 recommended by the Commissioners, th: Budget Bureau and | the President 15 not enough, as that | amount will mean a further scaling | cown of relief from the present stlnd-| ard of $3.80 to approximately $3.6.| That will be the standard determined | by spreading a certain amount of money to cover the partial nzeds of a certaln number of families. Any varia- tion in the number of dependent fam- illes—now about 6,000—will of course affect the aversge. Unfortunately, the variation in the number has been up- ward, and the trend promises s to con- tinue for the present. | The deficiency appropriation shou'd be made as soon as possible. It should be foliowed by a regular approoriation, based on the actual reed that is every- | where 50 zpparent. The miliion and a | quarter asked is to be construed as the | bare minimum. If the fizure is changed, the revision should be upward. Civilized human teings do rot quarrel“ scriously exzcpt when a matier becomes complicated by ingenizus modes cf dis- | from Nanking and Tokio narrating, re- | Thoy are egreed the world Spectively, the conditions of the Chinese | over as to the desirability of some such | 2nd Jepcnese treasuries at the turn of | simple and basic prcposition as “shop | the year. Making full and nec:s!u'y‘ | allcwance for the fact that when Nan- cussion. early.” e Some grouchy French gentleman says that his country would be well rid of | American tourists. If this feelinz | grows, persons who insist on spending money abroad may, for purposcs of ccmfort, feel obliged to gend 16 by mail, ——o— The Peacock Throne. When a monarch offers his throne | Ya& sale the incident is news. - Even | if ‘the chair is only an ordinary piece of Grand Rapids craftsmanship, it will deserve front page.mention. But when | 1t happens to bs the celebrated peacock throne of the Shah of Persia the whole world may be precumed to be inter- ested, and ecitorial consideration there- fore follows as a matter of course. The famous originzl peacock throne is supposed to have been carried off from the palace of the moguls of Delhi by the Persian invader, Nadir Shah, in 1739. Its history has been wrapped in mystery, both before and since that date. Some writers speck of it as hav- ing “fallen into ruins.” Aga Mehommed Shah is reputed to have had it re- stored, but many of the original gems were missing in the reconsirucicd chair which 10w is to be placed on the market. That the throne in its present less glorious but still bzeutiful condition is immensely valuable is unquestioned. It is studded with jewels of great price. The outspresd tail of the peacock which forms the awning of the tarone is said to contain ro less than cne hun- dred and forty thousand separate gems. A couch with a frame of pure gold, ‘fied t nineteen million figy hundred 2 dellers, and the Persian | shoveling cnow. | of this hard-earncd money is an act so right to work a day, or.a half day, as their contribution to the cause of gov- ermmental economy. These men who shoveled snow do not receive more than & dmin! |a thousand dollars a year. Some of commifics istering this fund has |, "0 recetve, for actual work done, | Why does old Santa Claus draw near nothing more than what they got for ‘Teking cne-eleventh contrary to elementary decency and justice that it should arouse wide- spread indignation and protest. The | private employer who would do such‘ a thing would be vilified as an atrocious rascal. none other than the Government of the United States, expreszed through its agency governing the District of Co- lumbla. —_— No matter what happens to old King Alcohol, there will always be & prohibi- tion party to oppose him. Present ten- dencies may enable it to claim an in- crease of membership from the ranks of the dry workers who have merged independently with the cld-line political parties. e It might have been a different war if loans had been discussed at as much length in the prologue as in the epi- | logue. e ——c o Taels and Yen. Perhaps it is not pure coincidence that cablcs should reach the American press under simultaneous datz lines king talks about Chinese government finances it is cpcaking for a rather in- choate mass, the stat> of Chine’s na- tional exchequer pre trast to Japan's fiscal situation. Despite world depression and the slump in silver, China claims to have balanced its budget without resort to loans. The Tokio ministry of finance discloses that the Japancse govern- ment’s indebtedness has reached a new high point in ‘the empire’s history— 6,865.459,000 yen, or nearly $3,500,000,- 000 at normal exchange. About 1,398, 000,000 yen, or"roundly $700,000,000, represents debts owed abroad. Japan's total debt has mounted by 210,000,000 yen, or $195,000,000, during the month of Deccmber. cdly one of the cauces. Assuming that Chinese Finance Min- ister T. V. Socng's figures are worthy of credence, the Nanking Natfonalists have reason to be proud of their stew- ardship. Doubtless they ascribe the success of their financial operations to the “sound money” policy recommsended to them in 1930 by an American fiscal expert, Dr. Edwin E. Kemmerer of Princcion. His program propcsed the introdu:tion of a qualified gold stand- ard basis in progressive stages, starting with the more advanced provinces. It | edvised the conversion of the old Cen- tral Bank of China into a Centra]l Re- serve bank, with a monopoly on the is- suance of notes. The government pro- mulgated a law which carried into cffect enother recommendation of the Ameri- can economist, establishing for custzms collections & new Chinese money unit, t> be known as the “sun,” with a gold value of forty cents, approximating the The employer in this case i/ nts a striking con- | Manchuria is undoubt- | The rezson why things have to be Is just because they are. | I've questioned cften, why is fear?— Or love or hope or hate? | To brighten human fate? | Though theories are offered free From atom unto star— | The reason why things have to be Is just because they are! Handicapping the Joy of Evasion. “How do you stand on prohibition?" “I'm still in favor of it,” answered Senator Sorghum. | “Then you voted against beer?” | “No, I think it may help the cause of | | temperance to get rid of conditions that | encourage the smartaleck who thinks it clever to cheat the law.” | Jud Tunkins says politeness compels |you to wish a mzn Merry Christmas | even in cases where you may not hon- estly believe he deserves it. Non-Partisan O!d Saint. Old Santa Claus is doing biz | And what endears him most is that | Nebody esks him if he is H Republican or Democrat. | As Fashions Vary. | “Wi kind of taxation do you | favor?” “Something that's new,” answered | Miss Cayenne. “Taxaticn seems to me like clothes. Many people don't object to the expense so much s to the kind that has gone out of style.” “To think always of the past” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “is like trying to drive one of your wonderful ! machine wagons always in reverse.” | S | Obstructions. We'll greet the merry flowered Spring | Just as in years ago, | Bul long before the robins sing | We've got to shovel snow. | And so the ancient hardships cling ‘While hopes may be aglow, | Before you do most anything, | You've got to “shovel snow.” “Times ¢ho' is different,” sald Uncle Eben. “Work used to be & duty. Now it's a privilege.” Quick Action for Once. From the Louisville Courier-Journal. Representative McFadden of Penn- | sylvania can testify that so far as his| most_important measure is concerned, the House is mot pursung a dilatory course. e Lack of Safe Room. From the Phoenix (Ariz.) Republic. The Nebraska farmer who offered to pay his $2 subscription to the county paper in corn must have found that the editor didn't have a place to store so much corn. o Perhaps Too Many for Him. Prom the Sioux City Tribune. Nothing has been heard of the evan- gelist who recently went to Washington to “fight the devil,” so cne infers that h2 has't had much luck. —— v Tickets and Taxes. the Lovisv:lls Courier-Journal. cf the most cons) From One picuous changes the last three years have brought abcut is that civic interect in New York has been T diverted from the extortion ticket speculatém to exorbitant theat taxes. of | Carlos Mendiola, E MATIN. Paris.—Subsequent to! a combat in La Somme, May 11, 1915, the soldier, Auguste Grandadem of the 1st Battalion | of “chasseurs a pieds” (light in- fantry) was reported missing. In so much as his previous conduct on the | march and under fire had merited the | admiration of his comrades and the| eulogies of his superiors, there remained | scarcely any doubt that the young Vos- | gien, a native of Senones, had died | bravely for France. In fact, his cap- tain, in a letter addressed to his par- | ents, delivered himself thus: | “Your son is believed to be deed. It shouid be less difficult for you to | res‘>n yourselves to this cruel in- telligence when you recafl with us, | his companions in arms, the courage | and devotion he displayed in fight- | ing for his country. We assure you that his noble efforts have not been in vain.” Two surprises, however, awaited the bereaved parents after the war. Having solicited a pension to which they were entitled as dependents and next of | kin, the war department informed them | that, instead of being killed in battle, | their son had been taken prisoner in 1915, and was now degraded to the status of a deserter for not having re- | joined his corps upon his returh from captivity after the armistice. | | Four years after his grievous dis- appointment, the parents received a de- mand for peyment, in the shortest pos- sible time, of a judgment obiained | against their son who had, in addition, been condemred to six menths’ impris- | onment for desertion by a war council, | representing the 20th Corps, held at | Nancy. The poor parents protested | vehemently that this could not be their | son, whose ardor and patriotism were so well known. He was so assumed, | however, and when thcy were unable to pay the pecuniary penalty asseszed against him he was subjected to a lopre: term of imprisocment. Letters which | they produced in their son's handwrit- ing in the desire to distinguish him from the accused weve pronounced by experts to be in the writing of the fan in custody. i The parents continued baffled in tBeir cftorts for a pension; until after another | four years, end then, in 1927, th> Gen- carme Gillet of the Senones Brigade learnod that a man named Auguste | Grandadam had just been condemned in Paris to & two-month prison sen- tence for theft. Knowing the family of the soldier Grandadam. M. Gillet him- self looked carefully into the case found that the man convicted for the! in Paris was perhaps the came ind! vidual convicted for desertion at Nancy and that he was in reality not Auguste Grandadam, but Emil2 Anselme, a mem- ber of the same 1si Battalion, and who likewise disappeared in another battle in La Somme May 15, 1915. An official inves.igation was ordered. It was long and laborious, as official in- lly are, but it was that this man, Emile Ancelme, w2 ccerter con- icted £t Nancy by the council of war of the 20th Corps. Knowing that Au- guste Grandedem had diappeared four days previous, he hed planned to use that person’s name in his deceptions. The result of all this has been that the distressed family of Auguste Grand- sdam are now restored to the full rights which ths subreme sectifice of their heroic son begueathed to them. * ok k o Peruvian City Hails New Light System. El Comercio, Lima—With gxcat re- jolcing and solemnity, they inzugurated yesterday the public lighting system in the city of Cesma. All the municipal executives took part in the ceremonies, wLich 'marked the abolition of the prim- itive methods used probably for the last century and the initial operation of electrical equipment. Afier the dedica- tion of the puwertghm‘by the clerical e alcalde, Senor representatives, 3 pulled the lever waich released the current end flooded ti streets with radiance. The fina'l | pressed with the similarity of the view- | roading, should be removed. | doubtedly ccuid Le instituted. Air car- secretary, Senor Alfredo Vivero, then aiscussed the scintillating history and progress of Casma with adeguate elo- quence, the celebration terminating, after the address, with a unanimous “Viva!” in honor of the President, Gen. Sanchez Cerro. * x %8 Chilean People Meet Crisis With Ingenuity. El Mercurio, Santiago.—The crisis, as we have repeatedly averred, has in- creased the ingenuity and resourccful- ness of people everywhere. Deprived of their accustomed vocations in so many instances, they are doing for themselves what formerly they had to pay others to do for them. Business men write their own letters, cobblers mend their. own clothes, and women make their own coiffures, while the tailors repair their own shoes in the shuttered privacy of their homes, and hairdressers sell flowers upon the streets. They have lately been joined by the genoritas who once were marvels at stenography. These either sell flowers, too, or will spray you with the synthetic odor thereof, out ‘of a bottle, for a few centavos. Othcrs sometimes sing songs —bu: not with a vocal excellence com- parable to that of their vocational pro- | ficiency. But it is well to be able to adapt | oneself to any change in circumstances for, aftcr all, charge is in the very es sence of life. the only factor of it. in-| decd, wies> terms are constant When | prosperity comes azain we shall better know how to profit by it! Surveying the Railroads. From the Cleveland News. Study of the railroad protlem by the | Coolidge-Smith. Ccmmission apparently has resulted in the conclusion that in closer co-ordination among the roads is to be found the way out. Scnator Couzens, chairman of the Senate Com- mittes on Interstate Commerce, is im- points of the commisiion and con- gressional students of the question. The rairoad investigators seem con- vinced that the capiial strycture of the roads must be reduced if a proper return is to be made on investment. They belicve that certain expensive ap- pendages, not connected with real Tr;fl- 12 recommend that a lot of ap. such as making use of dated ticket offices, could be effected under the Esch-Cummins law. A new angle to the rail problem is the matter of bus and air transport. The roads heve becn making use of motor trucks for short hauls, but a movement of much greater scope un- “‘doubli; { _consol riers are comparatively new. Each of these forms of transportation has its place to fill; there is no justification fot eny claim that motor and airplane displaced the locomotiv:. The three working In unison cen achieve more effective results. and better serve the investor's dollar than the three ‘fighting one another. Rt nization of the Interstate Ccmmission probably would follow any attempt at readjustment on a scale of the carrier industry in United States, but the identity and pur- gous this regulatory bady neesd not 2 destroyed. Somewhat increased cus- tom for the carriers, together with the help the Government loans has afford- ed them, may serve a3 a stepping sione for scme in the way of a business revival for the roads. Appointment of Herry Guy Taylor as “czar” cf the Western roads is a move — ter Irritant. From the Macon Telesraph. can't see its way clear It Congress te give the Fil they are ne ‘municipal’| off B it ‘for s |around for the rest of the se sicn. But | {bers” In the | rej ing law. It does not seem at all lik-l that the President would permit th- bill to bacome law. Th~ action of t1- | Republican leader of the House, Mr. | Snell, in voting rgainst the beer meas- ure is significant. * x % X | Hu g & measure s imporian! a3 | the beer bill through th> Senate—nar-.| ticularly the vresent Senat-—does fit into the picture. With the Souhe™ D:mocratic Senators—except {-r Shep- | rard of Texas. author of the eighteenth tmendment. and a few others—all will- ing to vote for the boer bill, the| mez2sure coubtless would reccive the necessary mz:jority vote in the upper | house. There remains cf the preent | <e sion of Congress very litt'e mare then | two months. Within that time it is| proposed to pass all the big supply bills | for the Government, the Glass banking | bill. a farm relicf bill and other mea-ures. It would be litt'e sh:rt of a miracle if the beer bill could b= pressed to a vote. In the first place, th Democrat; of the Senate have decreed | the bill must go to two Senzte commit- tecs, the Judiciary to pass upon it on ! constitutiznal grounds end the Finance | Committee to deal with it as a revenue measure. One committee might held it up for some time. But two Senate com- | mittees might keep the bil bouncing | nce it is p'aced on the Senate calendar the ficod gates of oratory are ‘ik-ly to cpen and celzy action. Cther me2 u cespite the revenue feature of the b bill, will crowd it. * X Xk X ‘Whether Congress shall take a recess for the Christmas holidays o stick on the job is agitating many of the mem- ths Senate, less inclined to camoufiege, there is a demand for a straight-out adjournment for 10 days cr 2 weeks. The House is balking, pre- ferring to take no more than three- day recesces. However, it is said. there is to be a genilemen's agreement on the House side not to do any important legislative business during the holiday period, thereby permitting members who wish to go home to leave Washing- ton without a feeling that their votes would be required. In view of the many important prob- lems pressing for consideration and ec- tion in Congress, the demand for a very brief holiday seems sound on the surface. When the actual situation in the Congress is considered, however, and the fact develoos that because of the existing political divisions in that body it is practically impossible to get anything important done. boyond the passage of the appropriations, it does not seem to matter & whole lot whether Cengress takes, its two weeks off or not. IR R ‘The repeal of the eighteenth amend- ment, which struck a snag in the House on the o] day of the session because no chance was given to offer ar the old zaloon. mittee should adopt this resclution and it to the Senate, soon that body bsorbing another e of “":Ifl nbers. it Ef i Most Beautiful Teny“—Words Declared Impossible Choice An attempt to select the most beauti- ful 10 words in the English language ha- met with much criticism from the public, for the reason that it is held by many impossible to choose such a Lst which would be responsive to all in- dividual tastes. The suggestion cam2 from Wilfred J. Funk, poet and pub- Jisher, whose list includes dawn, hush, lulleby, murmuring. tranquil, mist, lum- inous. chimes, golden and melody. “We have no dispesition to quarrel with Mr. Funk's list.” savs the Omaha World-Herald. “That would bs too much rushing in where angels fear to tread. ing logographical beauty it should be he. {He is a chip off the old block of amily which has been dealing in words, beth professionally and commercially, for many years. Words are his businsss, end when he isn't seriously occupied with them he finds amusement in play- | ing with them in the form of nonsense verse. Nevertheless, Mr. Funk's list is disappointing. It foiis to provoke that cmoticnal response which is beauty's due. There is beauty in his words, no Coubt, but it is the beauty of th> flow- cr in the ungerminated sexd. the beauty cf the go'd captive in basc earth, th> Ecauty of the uncut diamend. There ere undoubtedly pleasant, graceful words, and there are ugly, uncouth words. But. the beauty of words is not so much in their form and connotation, standing alcne. as it is in their contex, in string- ing them together on the thread of a beeutiful idea. A single pearl may be exquisitely beautiful, but it cannot com- pare in beauty with the string of matched pearls, no one of which by itself is quite so flawless in form_and texture. So it is with words. It is unnecessary to cite examples. but you will find among English lyrics scores upon scores which do not contain a single one of Mr Funk's selection and vet which are things of transcendent beauty. By the side of them his words of beauty are only ‘much.’” * ok % x “One should be sure in advance,” ad- vises the San FPrancisco Chronicle, “whether the words are chosen strictly for their beautv of sound or for the beauty of the ideas they represent.” That paper hclds that “mother” is the “most beautiful word in any language " and that “it would be hard to zelect beautiful words on the basis of sound alone.” It feelc that it would be im- possible to find beauty in “any words, expressed in no matter what combina- tion of sound, which stands for an idea harsh, evil, painful or disgusting.” The Chronicle concludes: “There is fre- quently a beauty in words which derives from a third element in addition to the two mentioned by Mr. Punk, beauty of me and boauty of sound. This element is the appropriateness where one idea has been used in the naming of another. Take, for example, the Spanish noun ‘sombrero.’ In sound the word has both dignity and music. Beauty of meaning may be ignored be anytl “No two persons,” in the gnug.mn Daily Ngll.. “ same piace. reporter made a round of writers for authori Y If any man is capable of judg- | ! cur guess that the choice of most beau- tiful words is entirely a subjective mat- {er. with preferences being dictated by the associations that each word con- jures up rather than upon its intrinsic beauty of thought and sound. Such cuphonious words as serenity and tran- cuillity, for instance, would probably be almost repulsive to one stranded upon a desolate island or to a prison inmate, while ‘bang,’ ‘crowd’ and ‘i way,’ monstresities to th: may be appealing to the h <0 it is a case of every man for with the preference for verbal sounds varying as much as the national appe- ks * kX ¥ Emphasizing the words that arc as- cociated with the comfort of the in- | dividual, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram states: “There are thousands of per- | sons to whom perfect tintinnabulation | could not be better illustrated than by | ‘please remit.” For each there is a per- | son to whom the sound is ever as filing |a saw. What we mean, the thought is | too - complicated for a’ kroad case of | adaptation. New-mown hay to a hay- | fever addict would be another in:tance. | Strawberries should have beauty sug- gestion to many persons. bui ne to those who accumulate welts by eating | them. “Thank you' are two of the most beautiful words in the language. ‘You're | welcome’ are in second place only be- | cause they must be there to do their | stuff. ‘Good morning’ are two that are | hard to beat. ‘How are you?' could easily be made unanimous.” “Our language is a garden of lovely | words,” advises the Boston Transcript, | and the Birmingham Age-Herald points lout: “Many poet: have. of course, given up much for the sake of pro- | Gucing the desired sound effects. Poe | was one of these, and Swinburne went |to great extremes in this direction. | What melody inheres in words, and | what richness of connotation can be | evoked from their right cmployment | may be learned from Conrad Aiken, | who has contrived to convey even the | new psychology in terms of exquisit> | music.” e Unsung Heroes. From the Sioux Falls Daily Argus-Leader. A city of 35,000 raises thousands of dollars to help Its unfortunate. There are plenty who will implore aid, espe- clally in a cold and bitter Winter. But in scores of homes in this city | are men and women who are almost as sorely oppressed by financial worries as those who accept help. But some- how or other they struggle through their hardships and come out better on | account of it. | "~ The head of the family, known as an industricus and honest individual, gets occasional work from other more fortu- nate individuals who nced his services and sense something of his plight. In- stead of getting coal through charity he spots a dead or dying tree here or there, asks permission to cut it, and drags it home for use in his stove or furnace. The work of his helpmate is just as important in the struggle to keeg the wolf m;mnme‘.uoan Evu;hmm the wherew! meager, she prepares W] .food which will keep her family