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THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, WASHINGTON, D. C. SATURDAY. . .December 24, 1932 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Offce: . aun e and Peno Ave. ¢ _New York Office: 110 East 42nd St. Chicago Office: Lake Michigan Buildins. , Buropean om:r'u]m ent St., London, neland. Rate by Carrier Withi: The Evening Star. S The Evening and 8i (when 4 Sundays) ‘The T'vening and Sun: the City. 45¢ per month Sc per c end of each month. o2 may o by ‘mail ot telephons NAtional 5000, Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia, Daily and Sunda; ¥ $10.00: 1mo.. 85¢ Datly only - 1yr, $6.00: 1mo’, 50c Sunday only ST $400; 1mo.. 40c tates and Canada. +$12.00; 1mo., $1.00 »'s8.00: 1mol. 15c 35.00: 1mol 80c Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled all news dis- 1yr yr yel e The Night Before Christmas. Tonight the spirit of Santa Claus, if not the jolly old fellow himself, will be abroad. ‘Thousands of tired tousled theads unwillingly will rest upon an equal number of pillows, and thousands of weary cyes momentarily will defy the Sand Man in vain effort to “stay awake"” and see the Saint. And thousands of mothers and fathers, elder brothers and sisters. not to mention grammies | and granddads and devoted “old maid” aunts and “old bachelor” uncles, will tiptoe around goodness knows how many attics and cellars and cupboards in houses throughout the land, perfecting arrangements for the arrival of Father Christmas. Over the scene, neglected, but not forgotten, will shine the quiet stars which watched the Wise Men journeying to Ecthlehem some nine- teen hundred years ago. At first glance, it is curious that everything humanity knows as civili- zation should turn upon a child. But what else is there in this earth to bet- ter serve as a focal center for popular idealism? What, in fine, could take the place of the child? Obviously, there is nothing. To Christians, the Hcly Infant in the lowly manger sym- bolizes a new birth, a renaissance, of | human hope and aspiration. His ap- | pearance signified a new beginning. And everywhere, in every age and every | clime, men and women, beholding the | miracle of birth, vision in every child a | repetition of the divine promise, the di- vine opportunity. The race is reborn in each birth, and each represents a | new possibility for the expansion of man's dominion over circumstances. People may not be completely aware of the fact, but they feel it, they know | its magnetic attraction. That is why | Christmas has such compelling power | to stir the heart. That is why Santa Claus has 8o .many helpers. Tonight the child is the central fact of life. Actually, of course, that is his status all through the year. But es- pecially on Christmas eve there is uni- versal acknowledgment of his position as the keystone of civilization. In him are all the race’s potential victories, for him are all its labors, and each father, mother and friend expresses the whole world's affection in abetting the ef- forts of the patron genius of child- ‘hood. There are critics who presume to imagine that mankind is suffering & decline, that humanity is on the down grade. But let them consider the story of the past week. Let them Tecall the crowds in streets and shops. Let them remember the busy preparation for the holiday. Let them think how thou- sands have been drawn into the work and how each has benefited himself and others by participating. And let them note that this is a depression Christmas and that much of the happiness of the occasion derives from sacrifice and self- denial. Then let them give truthful answer to the question: Can there be anything very much wrong about a people that, even in the face of great difficulties, keeps the Christmas feast 0 loyally and so enthusiastically? Santa Claus and the spirit which in- fuses his personality provide convincing contradiction to the theories of the pessimist. All may not be well, but life is not utterly empty and hopeless on the night before Christmas. = In spite of organized endeavor to re- Yeve poverty, charity still begins at home; that is to say, in the neighbor- hood in which you chance to dwell. ———o—e Cabinet Ladies. Cabinet making for President-elect Roosevelt has become one of the favorite pastimes of politicians and near politi- clans. Mr. Roosevelt doubtless in the end will select his own cabinet, although to date he has maintained a complete silence regarding its personnel. One of the {deas with which the self-appointed cabinetmakers play is the probability of the appointment of a woman as head of one of the great exccutive depart- ments of the government. No woman has yet held such a post. Roosevelt, the precedent breaker, it is suggested, will score here by appointing a woman member of his cabinet. If the Presi- dent-elect Teally reaches the point of placing & woman in his official family he will do so only after the most vigor- ous kind of protest, however, from many of the officials and interests over which the department holds a measure of sway. It would be rather ridiculous to ap- point 8 woman to a cabinet office merely because she is a woman, even if it would please the woman voters of the Nation. A cabinet officer should be qualified for the job. No man or woman who has not the proper qualifications and abilities to hold down such & job should be selected. There are nine cabl- net offices, starting with Secretary of State and ending with Secretary of Labor. It is not likely that a woman would be chosen to fill the office of Becretary of State. Ncr has any woman's name been suggested for Secre- tary of the Treasury, Secretary of War or Secretary of the Navy. The talk of a woman in the cabinet usually has cen- tered about the Department of Labor, although there has been discussion of ‘women for Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary of the Interior. When President Hoover was elected %o office in 1928—largely, it has been said, because of the support given him ‘the wide open spaces of the West, have nition by the appointment of a woman to his cabinet. Mrs. Mabel Walker Willebrandt was at the time an Assist- ant Attorney General, and no woman had taken & more active or important part in the presidential campaign. But Mrs. Willebrandt was not appolinted Attorney General, nor to any post in the cabinet. She resigned her post as Assistant Attorney General and stepped out of the administration. The names of a number of promi- nent Democratic women have been dis- cussed in connection with cabinet places, among them Miss Frances Perkins, State industrial commissioner of New | York; Mrs. Ruth Bryan Owen, now a member of the House from Florida; Mrs, Nellle Tayloe Ross, former Gov- ernor ¢f Wyoming and vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and Mrs. John C. Greenway, Demo- cratic natfonal committeewoman for Arizona. They are women of ability and would grace any office. Miss Per- kins has been mentioned as the next Secretary of Labor. Mrs. Owen has been talked of as Secretary of Labor, Becretary of Agriculture and for & as Assistant Secretary in the depart- ment over which her father, the late Col. William Jennings Bryan, once pre- sided, the Department of State. Mrs. Ross and Mrs. Greenway, halling from been suggested for the Interior Depart- ment. Leaders of organized labor do not take kindly to the proposal that when the first woman goes into the Cabinet it shall be as head of the Department of Labor. Indeed, some of the labor lead- ers take the position that if it seems necessary, for political or any other reason, to appoint 8 woman to the cabi- net, the first cabinet lady should head the Treasury Department or the War Department. “Why the Labor Depart- ment?” they ask. Women, in their greater freedom in politics, have won their way into the House and finally into the Senate. It may be that the time has arrived for them to break into the cabinet circle as head of an executive department. It must be remembered. however, that today there are a lot of deserving man Democrats who might like a cabinet post. ——— Uncle Sam's Handy Man. Whether revived report that he is to become Secretary of State in the Roose- velt cabinet has any basis or not, it 1s indisputable that Norman H. Davis has | for the time being been cast for the | role of Uncle Sam's handy man. Back | from Europe, where he has been ne- gotiating with the statesmen of Great | Britain, Prance, Germany and Italy on disarmament and World Economic Con- | ference affairs, Mr. Davis arrives in ‘Washington for conversations with President Hoover and Secretary Stim- | son. These are but concluded when he is summoned to visit Gov. Roosevelt at Albany, presumably to discuss with the President-elect the momentous matters which have been occupying Mr. Davis’ attention in Europe and—of what is of | even greater interest—the results of his | talks at Washington this week. The country is sure to deduce from | this super-busy American diplomat's travel schedule—Europe to Washington, Washington to Albany—that Mr. Davis may turn out to be the link which will bring the Hoover-Roosevelt views on current international problems closer together than the President and the Governor themselves have been able to join them. The lately published cor- respondence between Washington and Albany disclosed a breach on vital points s0 wide that Mr. Hoover seems to have abandoned all further efforts to close it. Now comes the man who recently was something more than a bystander when Europe found means of bringing Germany back into the Disarmament Conference. Indeed there were some observers “over there” who gave Mr. Davis credit for much of the behind- the-scenes diplomacy that resulted in that consummation. Perhaps it will fall to his lot to reconcile “over here” the differences which prevent the pres- ent occupant of the White House and his successor from pooling their ener- gles for & purpose after all common to them both—of unraveling with all pos- sible dispatch the grave tangle into which this naughty old world of ours has managed to enmesh itself. If the soft-spoken Tennessee Demo- crat now acting abroad for a Republic- an President can bring about peace and disarmament between Washington and Albany, the achievement will rank, from the American standpoint, at least 2s high as anything Mr. Davis has ac- complished, or can accomplish, in Europe. More power to his diplomacy! “Abuse” of Necessary Authority. When we have two such experts as Chairman Byrns of the House Appro- priations Committee and Representative Wwill R. Wood of Indiana telling the House that the intent of Congress was frustrated by departments when 12 per cent of their funds were utilized in inter-departmental trapsfers to save jobs, instead of to avold deficits, it must be admitted that the charge is at least made with authority. Mr. Byrns and Mr. Wood may be credited with the knowledge of what Congress intended in this respect. At the same time the impression within the departments assuredly has been that the clause of the economy act which permitted the administrative officers to transfer twelve per cent of their appropriations was intended, as a matter of fact, to save jobs. Section 317 of the economy act was described as being inserted for that very purpose. That section says: Not to exceed twelve per cent of any appropriation for an executive depart- ment or independent establishment, in- cluding the municipal government of the District of Columbia, for the year ending June 30, 1933, may be transferred, with the approval of the director of the Bureau of the Budget (or. in the case of the War Department and Navy Department, with the ap- proval of the President) to lo‘n‘f flt-g: appropriation or appropriat! un the same department or establishment, but no appropriation shall be increased more than 15 per cent by such transters: Provided, that & statement of all trans- fers of appropriations made hereunder up to the time of the submission of the annual budget for the fiscal 1934, and all contemplated transfers during the remainder of the fiscal year 1933, shall be included in the annual budget for the fiscal year 1934. Most of Mr. Byrns’ and Mr. Wood's by the woman voters of the country— n?dumymmwu mm«ghntupnm:nt. ¥et, a5 Representative wam't bound to melt soones or laten . 'and ] X criticism was aimed at the Interior De- ment appropriation bill was sent to the Senate after passage by the House, where it was subjected to an arbitrary cut of 10 per cent, and was finally en- acted without being sent to conference, the House merely agreeing to Senate changes. Without the insertion of the provision in the economy act permitting transfers of appropriations, some bu- reaus and divisions of the Interior De- partment would have been forced, as & matter of necessity, practically to sus- pend operation. Congress charged some of these divisions with the execution of specific tasks. Such work could not be accomplished unless there was money to pay personnel. When money was transferred to these divisions frora other channels, for which it had been appro- priated, the transfer in all cases was made to avold & deficit as well as to save jobs. As the Budget Bureau had to ¢ :zur before the transfers could be made, it is difficult to understand just why Mr. Byrns and Mr. Wood are so much disturbed. It may have been unwise, as some members of Congress seem to think, for /@ongress to delegate its exclusive authority over the expenditures of money to the administrative authorities of the departments, leaving to their discretion the decision whether the money would be spent as Congress decided it should be spent or diverted in part to other uses. But if this was unwise, it was equally unwise for Congress to enact appropriaticns as they were enacted last year, piling arbitrary cuts on top of specific cuts and covering them all un- der the hastily-drawn-up economy bill. Safeguards against ruthless discharge of employes and the stoppage of im- portant governmental functions had to be inserted in the economy bill. The twc e per cent transfer provision was these timeless, that we offer no apologies for reproducing them at this season. Dr. Bell said, in part: “One grave trouble with American life is that we are building our civ- ilization on the assumption that men and women stay young all their lives. “We seem to assume that the only pleasures worth cultivating are those which appeal to adolescence, or, at the most, to people under 30 years old. “Thanks to modern medicine, most of us live to be 70 or so, “The latter half ought to be far the h;fylzr half, but it cannot be if the only pleasures to which one has been introduced in his youth are those which turn into in- tolerable sources of boredom at about the age of 35. “That is exactly what most Ameri- cans are doing, which explains why most mature persons in this country are restless, distrait, unhappy, & bore to themselves and a nuisance to other one of these ‘safeguards. If the privi- | People. lege thereby conferred was abused, the fault lay with Congress, which made that abuse possible. ————rate His keen mentality should make George Bernard Shaw aware of the fact that even an accomplished humorist may take himself so seriously as to eventually resemble merely an old gen- tleman with a grouch. A statesman is credited with con- scientious determination to represent the highest sentiments of patriotism, even if he has to think in high gear in order to get by some of the parlia- mentary traffic signals. Soviet leadership desires recognition for trade purposes. The old Russian policy of isolation has been abandoned and the wish is manifest to become not only socialistic but positively sociable. Traffic regulations have become such significant details of modern civilization that they even embrace methods of merging street car lines with a mini- mum danger of financial colliston. ————— A genius for comprehensive grasp of political detail enables Hindenburg, though content with the modest title of “President,” to rank as the world’s greatest political boss. ——————— Germany has philosophers who are trying to be politicians, but more poli- ticlans who find themselves eventually compelled to seek the solace of philos- ophy. President Hoover, if he lands a very large fish, may be persuaded to call it Pennsylvania in reminder of a fine large election specimen that did not get away. ‘There is no doubt of the benefits which Science can confer. It is still related to Art in the danger of becom- ing too highly commercialized. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON, Christmas Gift. On Christmas eve each one may claim A fairer gift than wealth or fame— Even amid & world distress— Belief in human kindliness. The lights now shine. A figure quaint Still represents a gentle Saint Who makes of Youth, with subtle pow’r The ruling spirit of the hour. The children in their frank delight Laugh with their sires whose heads grow white. Youth heeds the universal call And is the dearest gift of all. Expensive Taste. . “What do you want for Christmas?” asked the friend. “I'm afrald my ideas are too ex- pensive,” said Senator Sorghum. *“I have a lot of unexpressed thoughts. ‘What I most desire is a pass calling for unlimited time on a Nation-wide radio hook-up.” can at least refrain from handing out a hard luck story. Bock Beer as a Scape Goat. Gambrinus declared “I'm & little bit scared About my proposed restoration, 1f the bootlegger bold sells “rufstuf” as of old, He will give me a bad reputation. Individualization. “Are you in favor of debt cancella- tion?” “Very much,” answered Miss Cayenne. “I have just sent father dear a list of what I owe the shops so he will know how much of a check to write for & Christmas gift.” “Religion,” sald Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “is the means of expressing the noblest sentiments of which men are capable; it has therefore learned to speak many languages.” We Still Survive. How many times have people heard fiscal| When hard luck had their feelings stirred ‘That Earth had slid And pretty soon was bound to crash Because of mortal manners rash— It never did. Sometimes, a throng, in mood devout, Beneath the skies was summoned out And grimly bid, For prayer some mountain to ascend, Since Earth was coming to an end. It never did. “I hears dem talk about frozen as- sets,” said Uncle Eben, “an’ dat's de reason I blieve hard times can't last. I never yet saw any kind of ice dat “Man has been experimenting with the art of living for many millenia. ‘The ways to peace of soul and joy of life when once one’s childhood is past are not hidden mysteries. “Reverence for truth and pursuit of it for its own sake rather than for what income knowle may bring; contemplation of beauty and the at- tempt ourselves to create it for the sheer joy of creation; it of that reality which men call God and an entrance into contemplative communion with Him and the seeing of human be- ings as bits of the same stuff as Him- self, to be respected and loved and al- lowed for; the attempt to live, master of one’s life and not a slave either of conventlon or of circumstance—these always have been and still are the ways to mature happiness. 5 “In respect to these things, we mod- ern Americans are inept as compared with citizens of other times. In things material, mechanical and amusemental, :we Americans are highly skilled, but in the things of the spirit we are ama- “Our arts become daily more and more either utilitarian or imitative. Our literature tends more and more to become photographic or neurotic. Our education increasingly neglects every- thing that trains the mind in pure thinking and decent discrimination. “There seems to be an idea abroad that all of this is due to the fact that America is young; that she will grow up and find her soul after a while. This is a dangerous notion. Life, a thing of miracles, but rather some- thing fed from constant sources. “A man becomes that which he is content to be; 8 nation becomes that which it is willing to become. Sheer passage of time, mere inertia, will not save the soul of America.. Day by day our spiritual and intellectual powers grow less. For the salvation of our country we need rebels, people who re- EUTSCHE VERKEHRSBLAET- TER, Berlin—Mayor Mayr of Oberammergau has just an- nounced that the “Passion Play” will be presented again in 1934. This sacred drama, enacted every 10 years, was last performed in 1930, and in the normal course would not be offered again until 1940. The reason for departure from this rule after a four-year interval is that the year 1934 will mark the S00th anni- Versary of the initial performance. Each of the approaching jubilee events will be preceded by an intro- ductory play, lasting about an hour, and showing how the “Passion Play"” originated from a vow made by the villagers in & time of stress and plague. In pious gratitude for deliverance from their perils in A. D. 1634, the holy drama has been reverently depicted at intervals of a decade beginning with the year 1640. The players are select- ed for their most faithful resemblance, both in disposition and appearance, to the characters of the New Testament, and it is presumed that their lives are 50 conducted in the intervening decades as to make them even truer exponents of their parts. ‘The exception, of course, to this rou- tine of study and discipline is discov- ered in the role of Judas, preparation for which, in the persistence of natural human depravity, needs no long ap- prenticeship. ‘The mmemontil;eJ pertongunm probably will begin June, and con- tinue until the middle of September. The village council of’ Oberammergau has denied a rumor that motion pic- tures are to be made of the preliminary scenes showing the historic development of the “Passion Play.” * *x x % Treaty Violations Held World Menace. Diario del Comerclo, Barranquilla— The “sanctity of treaties” has become a phrase fraught with new signifi- . 'The whole world condemned cance. e wi 4 be uncertain and intolerably Bt Lol ey Dl I Dot of repus cific promises any time they considered 1t wise to do so. If nations are to have any confidence in each other, it must be thoroughly understood and that concurrence in all the provisions ot such documents, once signed and sealed, must be faithfully ‘The Salomon-Lazano treaty, signed in 1922 by the highly accredited agents and representatives of Colombia and Peru, was negotiated upon the basis of mutual confidence and justice. It em- bodies the unconstrained pledges of the signatories. It is a breach of this faith and of these promises to act in contra- diction to the terms of such a treaty. The whole fabric of international rela- tionship may easily be rent by such au- dacity. In the specific case to which we have alluded, Colombia is not the revoking party. * k % X Chess Has Place In German Schools. Egyptian Gazette, Cairo.—Many Ger- man schools include chess in their cur- riculum as & form of mental training that makes for prompt and mmd⪚ sions. Practi is a good chess player and a famous general described the military situation of the Fatherland before the Armistice as 8 “ ,” & chess term mean- ing a position in which it is impossible to move without losing, but where a move must be made nevertheless. A number of German “masters” have lately. been complaining that chess is not being gulht ‘well enough even in their m"l: 'y Hiowadays, however. They chm of Dr. muyu whether individual or national, is not | hood SATURDAY, THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. fuse to conform to the social and me- chanical pressures all about us, people such ;bolnwflllu'.ommmtmnhmd ‘more youth and the internal freedom of a man’s soul is too valuable to sell, especially for the petty price offered by civilization at the moment. “If we can get some rebels, real rebels, competent rebels, against the astandardization and stupldity of the twentieth century, America has a chnlnce of arriving at spiritual ma-| turity.” It has always seemed to us that our glorious land had rather overdone the cult of youth. One fiears too much sbout Mildred Babe Didrickson, worthy young woman though she is, and not enough about the older ladies who bake the good ples and cakes, and run households, and do all the unromantic but really essen- tial things. It has got so nowadays that one is supposed to look, act and talk young, 8go, | whether one is young or not. Thinking people have always known better, but we are caught up in a net of little or no thinking, bending the knee before numbers rather than before the greater virtues. Many of the ideas on which the mass of the people operate are basically cor- rect; it is only when they are carried too far, as they almost always are, that they strike the careful observer a3 inimical to the best there is in us. It was Robert Browning who wrote, “Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be, the last of life for which the first was made.” The poet, as the preacher, sharply divides the world of human beings into two classes, thinking people and non- thinking people. Whether it does any one any good to think, in the long run, is another question, but the fact is that many a “I cannot help it.” Think one must, in the best fashion one may, and if a man thinks even in the slightest degree, he comes in time to realize that, as Dr. Bell says, the latter half of life cannot be the happier half if the only pleasures one had in youth are those which turn into in- tolerable sources of boredom at about the age of 35 years. ‘Therefore, let no young man or wom- an of common sense be ashamed of bem%mvus. “Wisecracking” and the like have their places as diversions, at certain ages, but they are scarcely the end-all and be-all of life. America’'s Emerson speaks of “the dullness of a great and cultivate mind.” What did he mean by that? He meant only such dullness as is inseparable from seriousness. called such by the mind which cannot tolerate, or thinks it cannot tolerate, anything save something ‘“catchy,” something “new,” something “snappy,” something silly. It is a great deal easier not to think than to try to think, as every human being has discovered since humanity became conscious of itself, Thinking, even routine thinking, is If it be true to itself, it comes in time to look with contempt upon mere artifice, dealing only with con- scious attempts to attract attention for its own sake. The artless seduction of the child is seemly and right, but when the same cute tricks are carried onward they be- come anything but attractive. The thinking life, rather than the thoughtless life, is the ideal for 2ll who know that “the ways to peace of soul and Joy of life when once one's child- is past are not hidden mysteries.” ‘Thinking is not an end in itself, but 8 way to an end; the difficulties of realization are far greater than those of thinking; but the thinking we call con- templation is a necessity. Truth, beauty, reality—these always have been and still are the ways to ma- ‘:beturumemmmmwthlnklbouz | High Lights on the Wide World Excerpts From Newspapers of Other Lands cording to him there are 2,000,000 to whom any master could give odds of a queen and of those who would require to be given a rook, knight and pawn- and-move 150,000, 50,000 and 90,000, re- | spectively. There are only 1,000 play- ers to whom the master, to win on equal terms, could not give odds. * X x % Chinese Students Work at All Hours, Yenching Gazette, Peiping.—The work ers and students of the department of Jjournalism at Yenching University is teaching and class attendance periods. Often and regularly such duties take them to the early hours of the morn- ing and far distant from their class rooms and homes. At times the department and the student clubs have as many as four current publications on hand, and practically all except one must be edited in both the Chinese and the English language. One is issued daily, except Monday, while thrice weekly students and faculty have had to bring forth two publications, one primarily for the campus and the surrounding district and the other for general cir- culation throughout the former capital of China. Many students, under the supervision of the faculty, daily devote much time in news gathering, writing and editing. Late at night the office on the czmpus and the one in the city are very busy, the telephone lines connecting the two exchanging messages and information before publication, and often latest “copy” from the several news agencies supplying service to the campus edition is relayed by wire. ‘The students are organized to pro- duce the papers regularly, each assum- ing a different role every month or a fortnight until a more advanced stu- dent filled every responsible posi- tion on a newspaper, from a proof- reader to an editor, changing occasion- ally to serve as a circulation or an ad- vertising manager. The Bank Sneak Back. From the Minneapolis Journal. After 40 years of desuetude, the art of the bank sneak, formerly a criminal of prime importance, has been revived. There disappeared from the teller's cage in a big New York bank the other day half a million dollars in bonds. And the circumstantial evider:: indicates that the loot was snagged from the cage by means of chewing gum attached to the end of a walking stick carried by some exceedingly adroit stroller through the bank. Time was, and particularly in the two decades following the Civil War, when the bank sneak was one of the most feared artists of the underworld. He had the clothes and the air of a man of importance. He strolled into banks ostensibly on legitimate errands. And he fi tly departed with large bun- dlu'%?‘mcunency or securities, snaked right out from under the eyes of ordi- narily vigilant employes. His hand, in- deed, was quicker than the average human eye. And his audacity was lossal. - l:(ll.ls':lue’rt mett - d other detecti ntly on 8N - oy the banks them- selves eventually put the bank sneak out of business. This recent amazing | The New York theft of five $106,000 Liberty bonds would seem to disclose a loop- Doubtless it will DEC | nearby. human being will say, in all humility, | Only such dullness as is| ture happiness, and Christmas time is|io of teaching and study among the teach- | | interesting than that of the greater . Lasker, f ‘world of the world’s chess players | alongside today": iBER 24, 1932. THE LIBRARY TABLE BY SARAH G. BOWERMAN. It is & pleasure to come across & light treatment of the question whether to drink or not to drink, such as Ernest Peixotto gives in his little volume of travel, “A Bacchic Pilgrimage: French| Evening Wines.” It is one of those books, writ- ten with delicacy of style, which im- mediately gives one a feeling of leisure and gentle reflectiveness. It is no prac- tical guide book, but, the author says, may well be “guide, counselor and friend of the motorist or the uphurried tourist (or the fireside traveler) who likes and appreciates & [ of first chapter, ““The Gentle wine.” In the ipter, Art of Drinking Wine,” Mr, Pelxotto deprecates American habits of drink- ing. We can almost see him shudder. “Had Americans understood the general art of ‘wine ica, probably, would never have been burdened with prohibition. Unfortu- nately, to too many of us, was And that is Amer- drinking. drinking is no more civilized than | eating that is just eating. A savag tearing his food with his teeth, eats; civilized being dine~ much art and refincent in the vinifi- cation, the aging and the drinking of fine wines as there is art and refine- ment in scientific cookery.’ > * ¥ ¥ ok “The Bacch.c Pilgrimage” began in early September, the vintage season, when four compeanions rolled out of Paris in a Daimle: car, called “The Dowager,” through the Bols, Versailles, Maintenon, res and on toward Touraine. At Chinon, a savory lunch- eon of hare patty and omelet with mush- rooms, accompanied by carefully chosen wines, was eaten in honor of Rabelais, “a true son of the vine,” who was born In Anjou, home of the rare Angevin wines, which “seldom or never figure upon the wine cards of big ho- tels and restaurants, being reserved, for the most part, for the delectation of the elite of wine' lovers,” they visited the fine vineyards of the Chateau d’Epire, where the vines are “clipped with great care and precision and rooted in argil- laceous shale or schistic rocks, that, heated by the sun, constantly radiate a gentle warmth upon the clusters of grapes that are trained to grow very|ring Nc close to the ground.” Afterward the owner of the chateau, descendant of a duke of Napoleon's time, opened for them & carefully chosen bottle of Chateau d’Epire, 1869, from his cellar, which was never disturbed for money, only for the “call of friendship or courtesy.” Many of the Angevin vine- yards were originally planted by the monks, who ‘were expert in selecting sites best suited for wine-growing. Du- mas made his Three Musketeers drink quantities of Angevin wines to enliven them for their exploits. *x x ‘The Bordeaux wine provinces came next on the pilgrimage, the most fa- mous wine district of France, perhaps of the world. From that part of Prance come Medoc, Saint , Pomerol, Graver and Bauternes. The Bacchic enthusiasts decided to remain several days at Bordeaux and to sample its noted cuisine as well as its wines. “Without doubt, Bordeaux is one of the gastronomic capitals of France. It boasts of several well known restau- rants where the cuisine is a pious cult, on the very best traditions.” A trip to Chateau Margaux brought them into the midst of the picking and pressing of the grapes. The master of the picking keeps a watchful eye to see that only ripe grapes are picked, that no bunches are forgotten, and that no leaves mingle with the fruit in the baskets. At the press, grapes are emp- tied from baskets and wagons into bins and then are raked by bare-footed men into the presses. The romantic picture is somewhat marred by the fact that the pressing is done by electricity. The Juice is drained into receptacles, carried huge vats, and after several days drawn off into barrels, where it remains until it reaches “bottle-age.” The story is told that the secret of making the Sauternes was discovered by lent “A certain wine-grower, inspecting his vines, found a section of them in which the picking had been overlooked, and the grapes had rotted. Highly incensed, he called his vine-dresser and berated him, declaring that it was a shame to waste such precious grapes and that, in spite of everything, they should be picked and pressed. When this had been done, the result was so marvelous that the grapes have been picked over- Tipe ever since.” Visits to the Burgundy Teglon, the Rhone Valley and the Champagne country completed the pil- grimage, “all !u: short and incomplete.” * X % ‘Though Sir Philip Sidney's literary work, his pastoral romance “Arcadia,” his critical essay “Defense of Poesie” and his “Astrophel and Stella” sonnets, are not much read today except by stu- dents, his life was probably far more Elizabethan, Shakespeare. The biogra- phy “Sir Philip Sidney,” by Mona Wil- son, shows him a favorite at the court of Elizabeth, yet too honest to be on the inside of most court intrigues. He was of high birth; his father was Sir Henry Sidney. lord deputy of Ire- land. and his mother was a sister of the Dudiey who afterward became Earl of Leicester, the favorite of Queen Eliza- beth. Sir Philip represented the Queen on several missions of import and would probably have risen high if he had not met death on the field of battle when he was only 32. He was fatally wound- ed while fighting against Philip II of Spain. The “Astrophel and Stella” sonnets were probably written to Pene- lope Devereux, daughter of the Earl of Essex. They constitute his claim to a foremost place among Elizabthan poets. *x x % “Flowering Wilderness,” by John Gals- worthy, is a sequel to‘“Maid in Wait- ing” which appeared a year ago. At its close Dinny Cherrell is still waiting for the right husband. The opinion of some readers is confirmed that she should have marrie1 the American explorer, Hallorsen. The theme, the forced con- version to Moslemism of the poet Wil- 1rid Desert, lover of Dinny, and his con- sequent ostracism from London so- ciety, seems as trivial as Fleur Forsyte's libel suit, which furnished almost the entire plot of “The Silver Spoon.” Though we become very tired of the subtleties of Dinny and Wilfrid, we are glad to meet again Dinny's two delight- ful uncles, Adrian and Hilary Cherrell, and to make another visit to Condaford Grange in Oxfordshire, the home of Dinny’s father, where in apple blossom ‘tulme “the whole world seemed mirac- lous.” - x % A popular, informal life of the Vice President of the Confederacy is “Little Aleck: A Life of Alexander H. Steph- ens,” by E. Ramsey Richardson. Be- cause of his small,” frail body, he was called by his friends “Little Aleck,” but it was a name of affection, not of disre- spect. All who knew him admired his vigorous mind and his unconquerable courage. His delicacy and semi-invalid- jsm did not prevent his fighting large, strong men when he felt that his hono: demanded such a settlement. The book tells in detail of one such fight, which nearly cost Stephens his life—the fight with Judge Cone, who called him a traitor to the South. Stephens struck the judge with his cane, and the judge retorted with a bowie knife. They were separated in time to prevent mur- der, but Stephens was near death for some time. ® X X % John Deere was contented enough working on his farm, but his mother :0“ -mblflm l&d ‘wanted tortee her -year-old son in & position of impor- tance; that is, in one that entailed There is just as; Any reader of this come to make use at any t! is wel- of the depart. . How many major records for men are held by aviators in the United States year?—R. P. In the 14 principal world records, United States holds 7, France 4 Qreat Britain 3. | show that an average period years and six months is required to liquidate failed banks. * The shortest time is 10 months, Q. Why is “Romany” used with refer- ence to gypsies?—S. L. A. The word is from the “rom,” meaning & man or husband. Q. What is the Christmas ceremony which is_often celebrated in Italian homes?—E. D. called the In Y A. The family ceremony preseplo is set up in the home. Just the sequence in which they sp- m nearly 21.30.%6:@:: ago in Beth- , the B Virgin, 8t. Jo- seph and the Christ Child, also_ the cattle, take their places near the “Holy Crib"” as it is called today in the little town where Christ was born. Figurines of wood or some other durable substance | represent the holy family and the gentle | beasts. After a few hours have passed, the ldm}‘u‘ shepherds are .:?id:g wul&: . ew ), e Sppear. " Boon they withdraw. . Time elapses; then the holy family departs on its flight into Egypt. Q. Who played the roles of 8ir John Carteret and Kenneth Wayne in the . Leslie Howard played the first role and Frederic March the latter in the talking version recently released starring Norma Shearer. Q. Who was known as the Repub- lican Queen?—M. R. A. Sophia Charlotte (1668-1705), wife of Frederick I of Prussia, was so nick- named.. Q. How manv colleges and universi- ties are there in the United States?— B.J. F. A" There are 1,078 schools of higher learning reporting to the office of edu- | cation. Q. What is a vertical trust?—G. d'A. A. A vertical trust is & modern term | descriptive of a large business organi- zation that either owns, or owns and controls, the raw material and all of the facilities and agencies enabling it | to convert such raw material or ma- | terials into a finished luct or prod- | ucts, and market and distribute the| same at home, and in some instances| abroad, to the consumer. In Germany the “Stinnes Trust,” and at home ¢ Ford enterprises and the packing in- dustries, afford examples. |, Q What were the names of the| | four horses that Ben-Hur drove in the | famous_chariot race?—V. 8. A. They were Atair, Rigel, Antares and Aldebaran. | Q. How much of the jewelry manu- factured each year is of gold and| ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN, products manufactured in 1920 was valued at $136,488,802. Of this $40,« 101,077 was of platinum, $41,006,248 was gold, $10.807,597 was and filled gold_plate, m.f?;fim was of silver and $27,799,788 was unclassified. Q. How was the purchase price of : | Alaska paid>—F. D. A. Payment for Alaska was made by means of a draft on the Assistant Treasurer at New York, dated August 1, 1868, for $7,200,000. The draft was drawn in favor of “Edward de Staecke, Envoy Extraordinary, etc,” who rep- resented the Emperor of Russia. Q. What material should be used for salls on ship models and should the hulls be painted or statned?—R. V. 8. A. Sails are generally made of cot- ton canvas, which is snowy white or of linen canvas, the latter probably beins more satisfactory. In selecting | canvas choose the kind that is opaque and of rough texture. The hulls of ship models are either painted in gay colors or stained. Q. Are there any longhorn cattle under Government care?—M. T. A. In 1927, through the aid of & small appropriation by Congress, a few of these animals were secured after diligent search. They have been placed on the Wich.a National Forest as & ?gocleu& ;:1:: E’hlch s hxerd of 200 or Wi uilt up for future - tions to observe. S Q. What is the meaning of coop~ erage?—E. B. A. This is the trade of making casks of staves and hoops. Pliny ascribes the invention of eo:renn to the in- habitants of the Alpine Valley. Was the encounter between the Monitor and the Merrimac considered an important battle’—F. B. A. Elson says that the battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac was the most famous of all naval duels and one of the most important in the world’s history. This first fight of ironclads had the effect of revolu- tlonllgtng naval warfare throughou$ the world. Q. Has the use of radio in police work proved practicable?—P. W. A. Radio in police work is constantly proving its practicability and reliability. Major crime convictions have increased due to the fast service resulting from the use of radlo. In 1932 police radio stations totaled 100. Q. Who invented the sestina?—G. B. A. This French verse form was in- vented by Arnaut Daniel. Because of its development by Dante and Petrarch, it is usually considered an Italian rather than a French form. Q. What is the principle in- volved in the manufacture of ster rugs?—C. S. A. The Axminster principle involves the use of a wide loom which produces mechanically a fabric in which the tufts are tied with a Ghiordes knot, exactly as in Orfental handlooms. Q. How was Fort Michilimackinae | captured by the Indians>—S. T. A. The Indians arranged to play s game of ball within the fort. The squaws stood by with concealed weap- ons. At a given signal the Indians seized the weapons and attacked the unprepared [English, few of whom | escaped alive. Q. Has Mme. Ernestine Schumann- Heink been married more than once? When did she make her de- but>—G. R. W. A. Madame Schumann-Heink was born near Prague, Austria, 1861, and educated at the Ursuline Convent. She married first Mr. Heink, 1882; second Paul Schumann, and third Wm. Rapp, jr. (divorced in 1914). She made ber debut as the principal contralto of the Dresden Court Opera at 17, and her | platinum in this country?>—A. W. | A. According to the Bureau of| | Census, the total amount of jewelry! first appearance on the stage was in “Il ‘Trovatore,” October 13, 1878. 'Adherence to World Court | | | Messages from prominent Americans | urging members of both parties in Con- gress to act on the long-pending World | Court adherents are indorsed by a sub- | | stantial section of the press of the country. Further delay is held un- | necessary, and it is believed that the | United States should give its indorse- |mert of the peaceful settlement of | disputes. | “It is ardently to be hoped that the | Senate will take favorable action at the present session.” declares the Roanoke | Times, pointing out that “both the | Republican and Democratic platforms in the last national campaign contained | planks favoring American adherence.” The Times advises that “the issue has been stated fairly and discussed thor- oughly.” The Rochester Times-Union recalls that “33 years ago the United | States first proposed at The Hague a | court of international justice.” and that “President after President in the last | decade has advocated America’s join- |ing.” The Times-Union feels that the country “owes to itself and the world ratification of the World Court.” The Glendale (Calif.) News-Press concludes: “There are many things troubling the whole world. A court would not be able to settle all of them, but it could easily outline a just course as to some of them and become the instrument of understanding and peace. No valid ex- cuse for further delay appears.” “A" speedy affirmative decision.” things the New York Times, “would have value running beyond that of the World Court itself. It would help to reinstate this Nation in the good opin- jon of the world. For Americans can- not be blind to the fact that we have for a dozen years or more been ac- quiring the reputation of being a coun- try that sees the right thing, exhorts others to see it, but will not do it itself. From the time of the establishment of the League of Nations down to the latest notes of our State Department regarding the activities of Japan in Manchuria, we seem to have exhibited the United States as s republic that sets up a standard and then runs away from it. In the words of the Latin poet, we see and approve the better course, but follow the worse.” R e interests of the Nation are so far flung—that is, the interests of sen- rial interests,” according to the Pasa- iena Star-News, “that the United States should be represented in a world tri- bunal whose functionings are as wide as the world itself. The United States, should it enter the World Court, with the reservations which wisely have been made to protect this country against possible disaster which might ensue without such reservations, can be of immeasureable usefulness and helpful- ness in promoting world peace founded upon justice and fair play among na- tions.” ‘That the United States already has delayed too long is the judgment of the Omaha World-Herald, the Hartford D miie s andu B of action, Charlotte Mfl es: “We are well aware that many urgent matters will be brought before this short session of Congress, arising from the difficult situation both at home and abroad. We are clear, however, that this ques- tion of com the adherence of the United States to the World Court has & direct relation to the present state of world affairs. In clearly the ferences the United States will aid in cl the whole confused atmo- sphere o pl;wm.ue tional £ nhumt.i; A mllynoton?;hmn.wtdzmmlt." the (Courfer-Journal, timent and principle, as well as mate- | Wage Urged Throughout Natiox that “with every other nation on earth except Russia a party to agreements for submitting disputes to that it is madness for America to stay out.” LR “The timidity of certain sections of American opinion,” states the Balti- more Sun, “has been taken care of in the three protocols which, the emi- nent signers of these appeals to the Senate agree, protect us in respect to the matters raised by the Senate in 1926. As the Democratic signers de- clare, ‘in a world now endeavoring to emerge from economic chaos there is peculiar need for the sta in- fluence of rational settlement of inter- national disputes” Indeed. without American co-operation in the estab- lishment of agencies to settle disputes, either judicially or by conference and agreement, it is difficult to see how the disarmament movement can achieve anything of importance.” Pointing to a possible method that might be employed, the Youngstown Vindicator comments: “Mr. Hoover cannot hope for much from the chair- man of the Foreign Relations Com- mittee, Senator Borah, but he could count on the help of Senator Swanson of Virginia, Democratic member of the committee, 'who is slated to succeed Mr. Borah, and by moving to discharge the committee from further consideration of it, the question could be got before the Senate.” Idle Money’s Rush. Prom the Philadelphis Evening Bulletin. In prosperous times money has plenty of work at high wages. It hires itself out to finance expansion of industrial plants, to pay for labor and materials enuflgg] into goods that are to be sold on credit, to promote exports, to buy machinery, to dam and bridge streams, to build locomotives and cars, to fash- fon steamships and skyscrapers. In such periods it is independent and tells its employer whe > he gets off. But when bad times its job, or has to work at greatly re- duced pay. Some of the corporations have had to say to the money repre- ted by their bond issues: ‘“‘You're !” —meaning default on interest sen fired will now take any payments. Money it can get if 1t is absolutely sure of the capacity of the employer to make That is why when Uncle Sam an- nounced that he had places for $600,- 000,000 beginning December 15, $10,- 805,000,000 stood in line to ask for the issue of certificates was oversul 16 times, and notes paying 2% per cent for four years were oversub- scribed 19 times. Not all this money expected to get work. Lenders offer more than they are really in a position to advance be- . | principie ‘of judicial settement of dif: | commercial work ferable to thal st platal poink, - -