Evening Star Newspaper, January 1, 1935, Page 8

A-8 ¥ THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON,D.C. TUESDAY.....January 1, 1835 THEODORE W. NOYES. .Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company ‘Business Office: ia Ave. fice: 110 East 42nd St. c: Lake Michigan Building. : 14 Regent St.. London. England. Rate by Carrier Within the City. Resular Edition. The Evening Star_ .45¢ per month Evening and Su Siar when 4 Sundays). -60c per month The Evening and Sunday Star Cwhen 5 Sundays) 35 ‘The Star 23 ¢ per month 8unday S0 per copy Night_Final Edition. ht Pinal and Sunday Star, 70c per month ight Final Star.. ......b5c er month Collection made at the end of each onth. - Orders muy_be sent in by mail or lephone NAtional 5000 Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland an 1y and Sund; ly "only_ . Bunday only All Other States Daily and Sunday, 1yr., $1 Daily only. 1yr. Sunday oni 0. Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively en- titied to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited to it or not other- Wise credited in this paper and also the local news published herein. Al rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved 40¢c New Year. Charles Lamb on an appropriate oc- | casion remarked that “no one ever regarded the first of January with in- difference.” It is of the very nature of the day that it enlists attention. For some, its congenial qualities of friendship and fellowship have par- ticular attraction; for others, its deeply , personal or introspective values are especially engaging. Traditionally, it is a time for expressing love and af- fection and, coincidentally, a time for attempting a happier, a more effec- tively comfortable relation between one’s self and one’s environment. Both aspects, it may be supposed, appeal to those who appreciate the privilege of living and desire to use honorably the opportunities of existence which Provi- dence grants to them. Cynics, however, pretend to imagine that there is no such thing as a new start. In their warped judgment good resolutions are framed only to be broken. But it probably has escaped their notice that there must be com- mendable impulses in the heart of a race which even momentarily enter- tains the dream of “men like gods” in- habiting “a new Eden in a new earth.” ‘The hope of peace and progress which millions feel at New Year surely is in itself an evidence of spiritual aspira- tion. Granted, it may be crushed by the pressure of cruel circumstance; it may be trampled in the dust by re- lentless invading accident. But the fact will remain that men and women have held it dear, and that is im- portant. A race doomed to fail would be incapable of wanting improvement, and, if the logic of the doctrine be sound, it would follow that a people destined to succeed will win victories measurably commensurate with its longing. No prophet is available to guarantee unprecedented achievement in 1935, but there are many observers who agree in the verdict that multi- tudes yearn as never in the past for triumph over the ills to which human- ity. theoretically is heir. War and revolution, social injustice and class strife, poverty and famine, disease and crime, mankind has learned in a stern school to know for what they are. And therein is the gain of the sad decades most recently gone. The nations have suffered that they might distinguish between good and bad, right and Wrong. The New Year may not bring the marching masses to their visioned goal in Zion, but it will afford them oppor- tunity for further advance in that di- rection. As men think, so shall they be, and as the world community aspires, so shall it conquer. ——— The songs of nations are important. No one has appeared with genius sufficient to make the “Marseillaise” harmonize with “Die Wacht Am Rhein.” Another Wonder Wrought. Some seventy years ago a telegraph instrument in the Supreme Court room at the Capitol clicked the message, “What hath God wrought!” A few minutes passed, and the mes- sage was acknowledged from far-away | b.ltimore and repeated to Washing- ton. Thus the Morse telegraph came into operation. ‘Today, on the third floor of The Star Building, a man talked into a wire mesh-covered hole in a box and asked San Francisco about the filing of pictures on the Rose Bowl game. Los Angeles answered, and Miami chimed in with some comment. Chi- cago offered a few words of advice, and Dallas, Tex., wanted to be sure that New York understood about some earlier pictures. Like the voices of men sitting around a table—men in twenty-four cities of tkhe United States—casual chatter and serious comment came over the wires. And when the voices ceased there came from another machine the sound of an intermittent whistle, now shrill, now low—depending on white or black in the negative—as a cylinder re- volved at the rate of about 100 revolu- tions a minute. The whistles accom- panied electric impulses that, sent over & network of ten thousand miles of wires that tie the continental United States together, transmit photographic negatives. Eight minutes after a ma- chine in San Francisco begins sending a news photograph its reception has been completed in Washington. Twenty minutes later the negative is devel- oped. A few minutes for the artists to “retouch” the negative, twenty-five minutes for the engraver, and what happened in San Prancisco an hour or 80 earlier is pictured in The Star! Inauguration of the Associated Press Wirephoto today marks another great step in the progress of journalism. For the first time the feat of illus- trating news stories by photographs, transmitted with the speed of the words themselves, has become possible. The wonder of the aghievement and 0| wise and courageous stand on the ~~ ' THE EVENING STAR,” WASHINGTON, what it means in the dissemination of news can be realized in the fact that San Francisco papers can print a ple- ture of what happens in Washington almost as quickly as a Washington paper can print it. And there are twenty-five citles and thirty-eight newspapers linked together by the As- sociated Press in the undertaking. Radio and telephoto pictures have been known to the public for several years. The new wWirephoto service inaugurated by the Associated Press represents remarkable advance in the technical transmission of pictures themselves—for the transmitted pic- tures are almost as clear as the origi- {nals. What is more important still is | the direct tie-up between picture and !news transmission, both news and photographic transmission being main- tained for and by newspapers and their readers. ——— e Bonus Not Due. President Roosevelt has taken & soldiers’ bonus. In a letter to & | Texas Legionnaire the Chief Execu- tive gave his reasons for believing that there should be no immediate cash payment of the bonus. He pointed out that there is no :uk:-| stance to the claim that the face; value of the bonus certificates is due the veterans under the law pro- viding for the bonus. It will not be due until 1945. The President also gave convincing reasons to prove that the payment of the bonus now, even to the extent of $2.200,000,000, would not prove a stimulus to business as it has been urged it would by bonus' payment advocates. When the latest | law was passed permitting the vet- erans to obtain more money through loans on their adjusted service cer- tificates, a billion dollars was re- leased. Its effect on recovery of business was practically nil. When Congress put through the soldiers’ bonus law in 1924 over the |veto of the late President Calvin | Coolidge, it provided that the pay- ment of the adjusted service certifi- | cates—bonus certificates—should be ! delayed for twenty years. Because of ,:ms delay, the principal sum of the | bonus was to be arbitrarily increased | twenty-five per cent over what it lwould have been had the bonus been | paid without delay. In addition, in- 'terest on the principal sum was to jrun and be compounded for the period of twenty years. The certifi- i cates, instead of bearing the amount of the principal sum which was due the veterans at the rate of $1 a day jifcg sexxiceiin the United States and $1.25 a day for service abroad, carried the maximum sum which would be | due at the end of the twenty-year | period. That is, they carried the | twenty-five per cent increase of the | principal sum granted because of the | delayed payment and the compounded nterest. To say that the total face value of the certificates is due the | veterans today under the law then enacted. when only one-half of the | period of delay has expired, is entirely | beyond the facts. | The President is convinced that the ! payment of the bonus now would |not be in the best interest of the ! veterans themselves. He backed up | this statement with the argument | that nearly all of the veterans die | without property to leave their wid- | ows and children except their bonus | certificates, and that these certifi- ‘ cates act in the place of life insur- | ance. ! The announcement again of the ’President's stand on the bonus on | the very eve of the opening of Con- gress is interpreted as meaning that the Chief Executive will make an ag- | gressive fight against the payment {of the bonus at this time. The ad- | vocates of the bonus payment have waged an unsuccessful fight for sev- eral years. They have recently pre- | dicted, however, that in the new Con- gress they will have votes enough to pass their bill, even without the ap- proval of the President. They will have the support of those members who argue that, since the adminis- tration is spending billions of dollars for public works and proposes to spend several hundred millions of dollars for projects like the St. Lawrence Waterway, there is no good reason why the veterans should be denied payment of their adjusted service certificates. It is like arguing that because one end of the house has | fallen in, the whole structure should | be demolished. The Congress should give first con- sideration to what is in the interest iof all the people, veterans included. | 1f it is guided by selfish motives of its own and permits itself to be intimidated by an organized minority the country is so much the worse off. It seems incredible that the Congress, which was elected largely on the plea of its own members that they be sent to Washington to uphold the hands of President Roosevelt, should turn against him on this issue. JS———— In some quarters the little old Blue Eagles are almost as unpopular as the starlings themselves, —_——————— One More Year of War. Today marks the beginning of the fourth calendar year of war in South America—a sad commentary on Pan- American solidarity and the efforts which have been made both at the League of Nations and on this side of the Atlantic to bring an end to the senseless hostilitles between Paraguay and Bolivia. Their conflict over the wilderness known as the Gran Chaco has now raged for two and a half years, It began in June, 1932—a period the remoteness of which will be vividly realized if it is remembered that it dates back to days before Franklin Delano Roosevelt was nomi- nated for the presidency at Chicago. Paraguay has chosen the dawn of the new year to proclaim to the world the statistical dimensions of what she considers to be her victory over Bolivia, although, despite cruelly heavy losses in life and property as a result of successive defeats in battle, the Bolivians stubbornly refuse to look upon themselves as vanquished. Ac- cording to W‘M has captured s 49,000 square miles of territory, an area roughly equivalent to the size of North Carolina. During 1934 the Paraguayan Army took forty-nine Bolivian forts, aside from minor posts. Prisoners to the number of 530 officers and 13,711 privates fell into Para- guayan hands, bringing to a total of more than 30,000 the Bolivians taken since the war began. Paraguay does not disclose what these trophies of triumph have cost her, but she estimates that Bolivia lost 17,350 dead and wounded during the past year. As fighting during the previous year and a half was little less furious, it may safely be reckoned that Bolivian casualties to date are probably not far from 45,000. Para- guayan losses perhaps amount to 25,000 or 30,000. Allowing for exag- geration in these figures, they yet tell the gruesome story of the most san- guinary struggle in Latin American history. In these days, when the relationship between the munitions industry and war is so prolific a theme of discus- sion, it is particularly worthy of note that the Psraguayans boast of hav- ing seized altogether more than $2,000,000 worth of Bolivian muni- tions, and concluded the year by fir- ing on the Bolivians with Bolivia’s own ammunition. Searching inter- national inquiry to determine where all this “merchandise of death” is coming from and why the traffic in it remains unchecked might, to some extent, explain the failure of Euro- pean-American statesmanship to stop the carnage in the Chaco. The sister Americas in 1935 face no more urgent task than to require Paraguay and Bolivia, in the name of civilization and Pan-American fra- ternity, to quit bleeding each other white. —————————— Comic publications reveal an inter- esting international influence on American pronunciation of the so- called English language. When you want to say “Earle” in New York, you say “Oil” and when you mention “0il” at a filling station, you say “erl.” ——oe—s The drunken driver makes the old- fashioned sleigh seem preferable for merrymaking, since the old horse needed a driver with a clear eye and a steady wrist, and in emergency could be relied on to some extent to take care of himself and passenger. —— e There were phases of N. R. A. that seemed a trifle kittenish, which makes the reference to defunct felines the more pathetic. An effort is still made to make the old Blue Eagle look like the canary who has eaten the cat. ——r————————— Funds for P. W. A. employment are contemplated on liberal turns which will make them an investment for the benefit of posterity under good execu- tive management. ——————— It may be assumed that Mr. Ritchie »as told Mr. Nice all he knows about receipts and expenditures, but in the short time available not all he knows about politics. Each new automobile comes from the factory equipped with every imag- inable safety device except a life in- surance policy. ——e— The underworld has a peculiar ad- vantage in the fact that a law-abiding citizen cannot appeal to gangsters for the summary procedure they exercise among themselves. oot SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The New Year. As the New Year again we greet, The glittering stars we see Still shining bright until we meet Another Christmas tree. The Borealis brightly glows And calls us all to learn That life has mysteries to disclose ‘Which we may yet discern. ‘The New Year we behold with glee; It hastens o'er the earth To bring another Christmas tree With gifts of wondrous worth. Courtesy Gesture. “I suppose you are wishing every- body a Happy New Year?” “Of course,” answered Senator Sor- ghum. “But it's only an empty formal- ity. Everybody's idea of happiness just now is to make somebody else feel that life is a failure.” Jud Tunkins says his idea of pros- perity is a time when society can get back to high-power salesmanship in- stead of high-power bill collecting. The Fascinating Gambling Man. Jimmy is a gambling boy ‘Whose methods rather funny He finds so many who enjoy Presenting him with money! If he decides to go away To other haunts of pleasure, His public after him will stray And hand him further treasure. The innocents whom he deceives— He is a first-rate actor— ‘Will still go broke while each believes That he's a benefactor. Tt Looks to Him. “What's your idea of the swastika?” “It looks to me,” said the man with the blue spectacles, “like a four- handed monkeywrench that somebody threw into the machinery of civili- zation.” “I listened to a soap box orator,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “and learned that in this fuel scarcity many who were standing around were only waiting for a chance to steal the soap box.” ‘Trade. My Radio! My Radio! ‘You give me many a thrill. The inside facts you let me know With a consummate skill; You prove that wisdom still must know ‘When it is time to stop The really instructive show And keep on talking shop. “T never yet did hear of a plitical boss,” said Uncle Eben, “dat didn't leave me curious about who was bossin® de boss® 5 THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. He had thought to say to the young man, “Cheer up, old boy, the world can't be half as bad for any one as it seems to be for you.” He did no such thing. What was the use? Life is something each human being must solve for himself as far as he is able. Being gloomy, or “blue,” is just’one way of trying. ‘There was that poor young fellow who killed himself because, as he said, if there were anything good in | the world he could not find it. No doubt he was perfectly sincere. He couldn’t find it. * ok kK ‘The curious thing was that it never occurred to him, evidently, to question his own ability at finding. Might it not have occurred to him, even in a glimpse, and if only for a few seconds now and then, that maybe he was not a very good finder? That if he couldn't find anything good about life, it did not mean that there was nothing good, but only that he, poor fellow, had not looked long enough, or hard enough, or in the right places, But the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts, as Longfellow said at second hand (and now here it is at third, but what's the difference?). If a young man is moody, let him be moody, but also let him have a thought for others at times. Especially for older men, who have ! been through all he is going through, in all likelihood, and who ought not to be so forcibly reminded of it. They are only too happy to forget their own dismal periods of times past. * ok kX To tie one’s mind up in a knot, and then pretend that there is no un- raveling of it—surely that is a very human, an essentially juvenile thing, to do. Mere growth has the happy faculty of largely preventing one from doing it, that is all. One is no wiser, perhaps—except in that—one is no better, really, bul.' one is far more sensible. There are many ways of keeping the mind straightened out. One is the religious way, and it is a very good one, from a very prac- tical viewpoint, to go no further. If the faith that has moved moun- tains needs you, you need it. It is a very comforting thought. If any one asks exactly what we mean by that, we reply that we do not knew exactly what we mean. Words prevent exacti- tude. They permit us to come so far, and that is all. If avenues of thought are indicated, the traveler can ask no more. Who can say, as he sees a man peering along a road, what the man | sees down the way? swer except himself. * k ok % Few can cheer you up, young fel- low, except yourself. Sadness often is simply a bad state of mind. Sometimes young men are mentally belabored for being boors and surly, when all the time the thing they suffer from is an excess of timidity. There is no telling. not even in these No one can an- times, what a youngster has gone | through, where he has been, especially where he has come from He wears the same sort of suit, collar and tie as the young man who comes from a totally different en-| vironment. Some Lessons to There is no way of telling, just by looking at them, which one was given adequate instruction and help, and which one was not. Yet for an older to regard one of them as an unmitigated little grouch, without knowing all that priority, is to be unfair to the fellow. Hence we switch our viewpolnt squarely about to the problem of the older man in meeting and helping, if possible, these young sad faces. It is not altogether a task for min- isters and the like. It is, rather, one of the many everyday problems, in which sometimes adequate aid can be given without parade, or even the victim suspecting anything. These modern youngsters are very much afraid of “lessons.” They have had it drummed into them that there is, or at least was, something very swaggering about life, and that to pretend that one is not afraid of it is somehow very brave and very mannish. * ok k Sometimes a good laugh, brought about by a really good joke with a point to it, will do far more to lifting the wraith of gloominess from the shoulders of one of thesc terribly de- pressed—and depressing—young men than all the good words in the world. Come to think of it there are many stories without points, so it is the duty of every one who attempts to | raise the laughter level of others to tell only stories with real points to them. Then there are new points of view, which may be given young men merely by talking assiduously about them. The youngsters will never admit, for a moment, that they are being given new points of view, but their absorptive powers are good, and in time they will be repeating. with an air of wisdom, just what you told them the other day. 1t is all very interesting to watch one's prized thoughts come bounding back at one in the most unexpected way. * ok % % The older man. then, must be silent, as on a peak in Darien. He inust be glad that he has given a new point of view, something or | other to take the youngster's mind off_himself. ‘That is the big thing, to take it off one's self and put it upon something else, especially another human being. It has been the salvation of the race, and it will be the continuing | salvation of every young man. Christmas is good, if for no other reason than to prove anew, at least once a year, that gifts you receive are just—well, articles, whereas those |you gave away are the only ones worth while to you. Not to those who received them! They may be worth nothing to them, but they were and are very much worth while to the giver. It is the old wisdom, coming to life in every heart and mind (wish humanity could get rid of that heart business, it is only a very wonderful pump). It is the mind that knows, that realizes, at last, that tbe only thing one keeps is what one gives away. ‘Therefore, help the moody young | man, if by no more than giving him the benefit of a smile, when you feel that really he does not deserve one. He needs one. Be Leal"ned In the *Suppression of Crime To the Editor of The Star: The punishment of crime is the work of a few specialists. vention of crime is the task for every decent citizen. The 600 specialists who have just conferred in Washing- ton are devising highly scientific means of conviction and punishment. Every teacher and parent and voter should be making long plans for pre- vention, which includes slum clear- ance, better civic regulations as to buildings, and recreation centers, and character training beginning with the child as soon as he is able to talk. The youngsters of three years who brandish toy pistols and cry “tick ‘em up” are finding banditry amusing. The Christian Science Monitor in a series of 18 articles assembled the opinions of experts which show that, as in cancer cases, success means early action and careful diagnosis. Our criminal class of 17 to 22 years is largely recruited from slum districts where children have had no normal outlet for their activities. There must be not only a clearance of slums but also proper new buildings near men’s work that will permit their paying rent. A keen student of so- cial problems writes from New York that the new Knickerbocker village tenements are far beyond the slum population in price. As we all now know, children learn criminal methods from 'vile, sensational cinemas. The new movement of a League of Decency plang through legislation and boycott to lessen the evil effects of these movies and to prohibit attend- ance of children under 12. For them The pre- | something equally entertaining must be provided. These may be puppet shows, amateur theatricals, more play- | grounds, and everything that child | study can develop to absorb the atten- | tion and interest of the alert, observ- |ant child turned into the street by | overworked, or negligent mothers. The | Hollywood alarm, which protest has | led to make some measure of reform, ‘is nothing to rely on, as reliable re- port is that the intention is to make good plays so “flat” that there will be a demand for the old type to return. | The great lesson of world-wide de- | pression is our putting money into and |our emphasis upon what has been | wasteful, futile and demoralizing. We are reaping in our bandits and kid- | napers what we have sown. Our news- paper headlines, always emphasizing 1 details of crime; our lurid, cheap mag- azines, which affect the imagination of young folks, must bear a share of the responsibility of the moral and men- tal setback that we e suffered since the insane wholesale slaughter of our own species ended at the close of a war which Secretary Dern has said was a “failure, a victory for no one.” Let those who have been inert and dumb let Washington know that the Costigan anti-lynching bill must pass to lessen the extent of our hid- eous, savage lynchings—the worst of ]nll our crimes. And let physicians have the legal right to prevent pro- creation of the morons and criminal | classes which have so augmented our national problems. LUCIA AMES MEAD. | Boston, Mass. An Important Project For Uncle Sam to Handle To the Editor of The Star: Do you know what erosion is doing to the channel of the Chesapeake Bay? The earth from the shores of the Chesapeake Bay is filling up the chan- nel, and in a very short period of years will be a menace to navigation. Uncle Sam is now dredging Craig Hill Channel opposite the shores of Gibson Island at a cost of half-million dollars~so as to enable ships to reach Baltimore Harbor. Stop the shore erosion and you stop expense of dredging. A half-million dollars would build sea walls with either cement or creosoted timber for at least 10 miles. At Sandy Point the bay is only 3 miles wide from west shore to Kent Island on the Eastern Shore. Conse- quently at this narrow location the ercsion is filling the channel much faster than any other section on the Chesapeake Bay. The Patapsco River, once navigable for a 400-ton vessel as far up as Elk- ridge Landing, a 30-mile stretch, has been choked up by erosion, and at the present time you could not float a row boat over the section. This has all happened within a very short period. Private shore property cannot e protected without Government aid. People that own shore property could pay for the entire project if they could secure a 15 or 20 year loan from our Federal Government at a low rate of Ierens nprl::ln w‘h that tg many of our ent peop! Government should go 50-50 with the property owner and save this terrific waste of valuable land. Uncle Sam, why don’t you put people to work on the Chesapeake Bay? This project will take people off the dole. The Federal Government will get back money spent and the men employed get back their self- respect and it will pep up the men's morale. When the naval radid™towers built at Greenbury Point on Severn River they were built back on main- land at least 2,000 feet from the shore of the Severn River, This has been not over 12 years since these towers were built. The condition today is | very serious for the safety of these towers. There is only a few feet of land between the towers and the shore. In other words, 2,500 feet of earth has been claimed by the sea, and in order to save one tower that was about to tumble over into the Severn River the Government was forced to protect the tower with sheet piling. Even the United States Government property is washing away in Maryland. Possibly some of our Federal officials will take enough interest in this article to make an investigation. One can get a fine view of the shore line at Gibson Island, on Log Inn property, or Tydings-on-the-Bay. Then they will see houses costing from $5,000 to $8,000 that are about to tumble over into the sea. One more 24-hour south- east storm will claim these beautiful Summer homes. In 1933 one storm washed into the Chesapeake Bay 1,200 acres of land from Anne Arundel County, and it only took 24 hours to do the job. On my farm I lost in places 30 feet of land for half a mile in 12 hours. Federal officials, what about it? Annapelis, Md. W. L. EMORY. ——re———— The Ultimate in Housing. From the Boston Globe. Housing programs, of which so much has been said, will never be com- pletely successful until everybody has a house in which ‘anybody else would e glad to live, Wolves. Prom the Anii Arbor Daily News. An Illinois county has revived the bounty on wolves, and it ought to be easy for somebody to make a good liv- ing by simply going the rounds and removing them from doors. ————— Borah’s Jig Saw Puzzle. Prom the South Bend Tribune. When Senaotr Borah finishes the D.” O TUESDAY, JANUARY 'Y, 1935. lThree Suggestions For Traffic Safety To the Editor of The Star: ‘There are many things I could say about Washington traffic, but I shall mention only three. Holder of a driv- ing license since 1906 in Mexico, North and South America and Eu- rope, and once & traffic official in one of our worst problem cities, I am not without experience. ‘The traffic-light cycle is responsible for many crossing accidents here, be- cause the green stays on with the amber. Even though a driver knows amber is a caution light, meant to stop the flow of auto traffic while pedestrians cross, his instinct says to keep going on the green. The green light should go dark when the amber comes on, even if ii costs a consider- able sum to change the connections. Few are so reckless as to go against the red, or even the amber if not seemingly contradicted. There are several intersections at sharp angles in this city where out- of-town_drivers are confused by un- screened lights on their route, and just off it, but so close that they seem to contradiot them, Some re- setting and some hoods would help this. My third comment is on a letter from A. V. Dumaine in your issue of Friday, who thinks it safer for left turns to be made around the center of the intersection, as this sharper| A, turn necessitates slowing down. But it also results in the car making that turn crossing the path of a car mak- ing a left turn from the opposite di- rection, twice instead of not at all, which is a reason for abandoning the practice. The fault here is in gross negligence in cutting corners. In a four-lane street two lanes belong to traffic in each direction. The car turning left must be on the left of the two lanes assigned to its general direction and must leave two clear lines for treffic coming toward it, thus turning close to but just inside of the center of the intersection. I have noted it as a common and dan- gerous practice here, that cars turn- ing lef* edge over into the opposed traffic lane lonz before the intersec- tion and make the turn too fast and in the lane belonging to traffic head- ed toward them, if that space is clear at the moment. So anxious are some of them to save a second and cut off a few feet that I believe they would use the sidewalk if it were not for the jolt over the curb. This is dangerous to other cars and very dan- gerous to pedestrians, who are trained to look in the direction from which autos are expected, and not also where they have no right to be. R. P. ELLIOT, Prosecutor Pays Tribute To Late Officer Sinclair To the Editor of The Star: ‘Through the columns of your paper, T should like to pay my respects to Raymond V. Sinclair, one of Washing- ton's outstanding motor cycle officers, whose tragic death is regretted by all citizens. Officer Sinclair loved his work, and without question this was a major reason for his success. Fear formed no part of his make-up. His duty was his only guide. He never side- stepped *his responsibilities, even though in the discharge of them he constantly was confronted with dan-; gerous situations, one of which but Thursday claimed his life. His efforts were spent in making our streets safe for human life. In times like the present, when the auto- mobile death rate is mounting daily, it can, indeed, be said that he was engaged in a most noble work. As a prosecutor, in my capacity of assistant corporation counsel, it has been my lot to present to the court a good many of Officer Sinclair's cases. Invariably, the testimony bore out his case. While Officer Sinclair was sincere, energetic, and honest in the performance of his duties, he, at the same time, was human. More than once has Officer Sinclair spoken a good word for a traffic violator in destitute economic circumstances. Officer Sinclair is gone, but his memory will linger on. If, because of the part he played in the enforce- ment of our traffic regulations, to- gether with his untimely death, our motorists have come to realize more keenly that it doesn't pay to disregard the law and the rights of others, but that the safe and wise policy is one of care, caution, and consideration in the operation of an automobile, then truly it can be said Officer Sinclair labored and died not in vain. GEORGE DARRELL NEILSON. American Voters in The Saar Plebiscite To the Editor of The Star: On the editorial page of Sunday's issue reference is made to the “indis- creet young American” who has been imprisoned for her expression of views regarding Hitler and his regime. This German-American, like 700 other Ger- man-Americans, returns to her native land to vote illegally in a German election. We read that these 700 German-Americans entrained for Eu- rope bearing the United States flag, the German national ensign ard the swastica, thus practically indorsing Hitlerism and the altogether illegal voting in the private affairs of an- other nation. “Once a German, al- ways & German.” What abcut their American citizenship? As Americans have they the right to drag the Amer- ican flag into the muck and mire of alien politics? It is dangerous and should not be permitted. No wonder we are beset behind and before by Communists and Nazis. No wonder there are investigations under way concerning the safety of our Govern- ment. If these people are American citizens they forfeit their German al- legiance. If they are German citizens they have no right to carry the Amer- ican flag. The American Ambassador should take steps to halt these so- called Americans on the threchold of German soil. Such should not be allowed to return to America, having forfeited their right to citizenship Above all things, this Government shculd take no steps to safeguard either the young woman languishing in jail, or any of the 700 leaving this country on their national errand. E. T. SMITH, Lexington, Ky. Pedestrians and the Amber Crossing Lights To the Editor of The Star: ‘The recent fatal accident at Con- necticut avenue and Calvert street could not have happened if pedes- trians were kept out of the streets when the motorists have the right to move their cars. Perhaps a traffic offi- cer, or some one knowing more about it than I do, will answer this question. What is wrong about letting the pedestrian have the right of way, in all directions, when the amber light is on; motorists to have the right of way when green light flashes, green to have two-thirds of the time, amber one-third; motorists crossing on amber to be arrested of station and ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN, A reader can get the answer to any question of fact by writing The Washington Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C. Please inclose stamp for repl Q. Just what is meant by bottled- in-bond?—C. R. A. Whisky may be labeled bottled- in-bend after it has been aged for 8 prescribed number of years in charred oak casks in & bonded Gov- ernment warehouse under continuous | Government supervision. qu What does chemurgy mean?— cerned in the working with and for chemical compounds. Q. What languages are some- times called the Big Four?—H. B. F. A. These four are English, French, German and Spanish. Q Why was the term larboard changed to port?—J. McG. A. This change was made because of the many accidents that occurred from the similarity of the names, starboard and larboard. Q. Where is oil found in Africa?— . A, A. It has been found in Algeria, French Morocco and Egypt. Q. When was the Boston Symphony Orchestra organized?—G. F. superseded by the establishment of a third and greater institution, the Bos- ton Symphony Orchestra. It began its | career October, 1881. Q. Are there heat lizards which can live in red-hot ovens?—F. J. M. A. The idea regarding heat lizards, which are seen living in ovens and rrnning around inside the oven when the oven door is open, is a myth which is due to a misunderstanding regard- garding the nature and habits of the salamander, plus an optical illusion. The salamander was formerly sup- posed to be impervious to fire and actually live in ovens. This idea was these amphibians occasionally crawl into houses in the Wintertime in search of warmth and seek refuge in hearths. The misconception was no doubt further heightened by the bril- liant orange or scarlet color of some species. As a matter of fact, neither is impervious to fire, and the so-called heat lizards are entirely an optical illusion. Q. How fast can track-laying ve- hicles lay tracks?—N. W. A. Experimental models of track- laying vehicles have reached speeds in excess of 50 miles per hour in tests. Q. Why were the bridesmaids of Princess Marina called paranymphs? —K.C. A. Para means beside, nymph means bride. This title was used in reference to the ceremony of the Greek Church. Q. What did Daniel Webster con- sider his greatest law cases?—A. B. A. In a letter to his brother Ezekiel he wrote concerning the Sailors’ Snug | Harbor case upon which he was en- gaged: “I have made a greater effort in it than in any other since Dart- than it is probable I shall ever make in another.” The Dartmouth College case is, historically, regarded as Web- case in all American jurisprudence. Q. When were internal stamps first issued?—W. F. P, A. In 1862. revenue the World War, some American news- papers find that abrogation of the Washington naval limitations treaty | by Japan is the culmination f a series of failures in the direction of dis- armament, and contend country has been taught that it must rely upon its own strength rather than upon international agreements. “Hereafter we must avoid giving needless offense,” says the Youngs- town Vindicator, “but we shall have to have the kind of air and naval forces that will make the world re- spect us.” The Vindicator feels that “by now it must be clear to all that civilization has advanced no further than this.” “This abrogation.” in the judgment of the Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger, “carries a challenge to all western nations—in a sense, a chal- lenge to destiny. How it will be met,” continues that paper, “is likely to be a standing question for many years to come.” The Evening Ledger holds that “if nothing occurs in the mean- time to prevent it, a naval race of dangerous proportions will be begun.” “The American Government and its people,” according to the Boston 'Trnnscnpt, “have not yet been lulled into a false sense of security. They still want a Navy adequate to what they hold to be the needs of the coun- try and so a safeguard of peace. And, to put it bluntly, that means a Navy larger than the Japanese Navy, not because of fear of Japan, but because we are convinced that to meet our needs calls for greater naval strength than hers.” “Some day, in 5 or 10 years, or in 50,” observes the Boise Idaho States- man, “this policy now required is go- ing to start a war which will shake the foundations of our civilization.” The Pasadena (Calif.) Star-News ad- vises: “Of course, Japan need not enter into a naval pact with Britain and the United States, but if it does their plans for the future, Canada already is calling upon the British government to completely overhaul the empire’s Pacific defenses and to issue a renewal of the pledges that the British and American Pacific policies are identical.” “France’s stand on the Washington naval pact is somewhat baffling,” to the Cleveland News. “Though, for the sake of appearances, the foreign of- fice at Paris insists that there will be no denunciation of the treaty, the Chamber of Deputies favors a ‘moral denunciation,” which amounts to much the same thing. Inconsistency is the least that can be charged nations which preach peace one moment and rearmament the next. France and Japan, tax-ridden and facing increas- ing protests by their people over the heavy burden militarism has placed upon them, are the least fitted of all nations to seek a naval building race. Yet that is what they are bidding for and that is what they will get, re- luctant as are American and Britain, financially most able, to enter into any such competition.” The Kansas City Times advises “waiting 'E a return of common sense,” the Worcester Evening in | Gazette contends that “the two great 2 those dle of the square. By enforcing sane regulations all will soon develop self- control and fewer accidents will oceur. EUGENE C. RICE. English-speaking nations, if they will, can preserve the world from a naval war.” “Britain faces one important em- barrassment,” in the opinion of the A. It is defined as & science con- | A. Two orchestras in Boston were | undoubtedly caused by the fact that | the salamander nor any other animal | mouth College versus Woodward or | ster’s greatest effort and a leading | that this| | | Abrogation of Navy Called Lesson to Americans Reviewing armament history since | Wichita Eagle. | | | Q. Is cannibalism practiced among any civilized peoples’—G. M. E. A. An official statement of the British colonial office notes that dur- ing famines in India cannibalism has been practiced in fairly recent times by highly civilized people, but not from choice. Q. What is a bob in music? -T. 8, A. In vocal music it refers to a distinctive sort of refrain involving repetition. In bell ringing it i a call or signal employed in ringing changes. £ Q. Is there a branch of the Bohun family in America?—W. W. A, This distinguished English fam- ily, once among the most powerful in the kingdom, controlling three earl- doms and with pretensions to the throne, became extinct in the male line with Humphrey in 1373. There is an unsupported legend that a male descendant, supposed to have been slain, escaped and that Daniel Boone, the Colonial pioneer, really is a direct descendant. Q. What is the substance which causes yellow stains on the fingers of cigarette smokers?—J. M. M. A. The substance which stains the fingers and which may be clearly seen by blowing cigarette smoke through a white handkerchief is a complicated tar product which does not have a definite chemical composition. It is caused by imperfect combustion in the area of the cigarette just back of thr part which is actually burning. Ta- is a complex mixture of hydrocarbor and other substances and no chemic: formula can be given for it. Q. How many Russian soldiers ke long to the Communist party?—A. A. At least 70 per cent of the R+ sian soldiers are members of the Co munist party. Q. What was tue last musical sh in which Fred and Adele Astaire @ peared together’—A, G. M. A. It was “The Band Wago Adele Astaire retired from the st: to marry Lord Cavendish three ye ago. Q. Is it necessary to be an acce plished horseman in order to go ot a national park trail on horseback? C.A.C. A. The horses and mules availab for these trips are so trained that thc need no guidance from their ride: Saddle animal parties are alwa: under supervision of a competent pei son. Q. How much money do peon:” spend having washing done in laun- dries?—C. G. A. The annual velume of busine.s is estimated at about $750,000,000. Q. What was the first organization outside of District of Columbia one th:t, ?ok part in an inaugural prade? 54 The National Grays of Philadel- phia was the first and came to tak> part in the inauguration of Gen. Har- rison in 1841, Q Why and how do glaciers move? —B. R. A. The causes of glacier motion are complex. The principal forces arc gravity, heat and expansion of freez- ing. A glacier probably moves by sliding, flowing and creeping. Q. Does the gardenia have fruit? —E. R. A. Gardenia florida, a Chinese spe- cies, well known in America as Cape Jasmine, bears fruit about the size o: a pigeon's egg. It is orange colored and is sold in the shops of China and Japan for dyeing . ilks yellow. Pact “British colonies in and around the Orient are agains Japan. They want Britain to stand opposed to a stronger Japanese Navy, And if Britain makes concessions to Japan, she will have those colonies on her neck.” Start D. C.’s 1935 With Real Rapid Transit Plan To the Editor of The Star: May the city of Washington profit by administration errors of 1934 and the past ten years and look at 1935 as a public utility beneficiary! What halycon days for the District Commissioners, for the Washington public utilities companies, the light, the Capital Transit and electric cor- porations, if a serious-minded group of citizens really got together and not only planned, but as 1935 got under way began digging subway tubes and an elevated system like New York, Chi- cago have, like other cities would like to possess! Talk about work for engineers, con- tractors, interior decorators and spe- cialists in subway-elevated material and operation! Figure 30,000 men put to work, some high-class mechanics, and day laborers. not jobless, but men anxious and eager to work. With Congress at hand to support and approve, the city of Washington is supposed to have what its right- thinking citizens desire. G. WASHINGTON BOOTH. —o— Loud-Speakers for Bonus Lobbyists To the Editor of The Star: May I suggest that the Senate and House install loud-speakers in front of the gallery seats of the Legion and V. F. W. lobbyists? These gen- | tlemen can then iss not, these two countries are not re- | e thelr ardars fraining from announcing to the world | erbally and Senators and Representa- tives will be relieved of craning their necks in order to catch signals; neither will they stand in such fear of mis- understanding the signals and thus incurring the displeasure of these high and mighty guardians of dollar pa- triotism, J. F. SWENSON. ———— Arms and the Woman. Prom the Louisville Courier-Journal. New York policewomen thust hence- forth carry .32-caliber revolvers in their pocketbooks. This in spite of the, fact that the metropolis is over- run with purse snatchers. = Truthful. Prom the Stamford (Conn.) Advorate. When the personnel director asked the applicant if she was one of those girls wno watch the clock, she replied with dignity, “No, sir, I -have a wrist watch.” ——————————— Sophistication. From the New York Sun. A 4-month-old baby has made the round trip from coast to coast by air- plane. She ought to be pretty blase at 6 months. —_—r.——————— Dubious Asset. From the Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail. Couples with six children escape the tax in Germany. But we it they show & prodit. ~