Evening Star Newspaper, March 7, 1935, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1835. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC ]. HASKINS. THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY.....March 7, 1935 THEODORE W. NOYES. . .Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company 1th 5t Ahd Penniyivants Ave 11tn st.4he Pennoo) 5 oNe. York Ofce, T10°Baat dznd e cor an Buildl Eischean Offce; 14 Begent ot London: e Rate by Carrier Within the City. ha Ao Sunday Siar 65¢ per month ¢ per copy ‘The Eveni) (when 5 Bundays). The Sunday Star. Night Fin ht Final and Sunday Star.70c per month l}:ht !rn.ll.stn! .. . ..5bc per month Collection made at the end of each onth. Oplers may be'sent by mail of gl!phune National 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. = 1 .1 yr. $10.00; 1 mo. 85 Ilfz .2;1\1%““(.,.’ : ;r, $6.00: 1 mo. Sunday only All Other States and Canada. Daily and Sunday 1 yr.. $12.00:°1 mo.. $1.00 ly onls 1yr, 00; 1 mo. L X .. 76C J1yr. 00: 1 mo.. 1yr. $4.00: 1 mo. 40c ly. .. Sunday only.. 50c | Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively en- titled to the use for republication of all Tews dispatches credited to it Or not other- Wise Lredited in this Daper and aiso the local news published herein. Al rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also recerved. — Local Employment Insurance. Senator Wagner, sponsoring na- tional social security legislation, has | explained that the national bill “rec- ognizes that, because of divergent business problems in different sections of the country, each State should be free to enact its own unemployment insurance law.” But here in the Dis- | trict, of course, the enactment of the | local law, to conform with provisions | of the national law, is left to a Con- gress in which the local community is not represented. The local bill, intro- duced in the House by Mr. Ellenbogen of Pennsylvania, has been drawn by | the President’s Committee on Eco- nomic Security with the frankly avowed purpose of trying out the social theories involved on the District of Columbia. There is no background of experi- ence with such legislation in this | country against which to study the provisions of the Ellenbogen bill. It is something entirely new. It is based largely on theory. Whether it can accomplish what it sets out to do is & matter of pure conjecture. What it sets out to do, however, is to create a general unemployment fund “pool,” from which all unem- ployment benefits (not exceeding $15 a week for a maximum of twenty-six weeks in the year) may be drawn. Everybody who has worked as much as twenty weeks out of the fifty-two weeks preceding application for ben- efit is eligible. Unemployables, of course, do not come within the pro- visions of the bill, nor do those who have been out of employment for a 0c |ing off of the embittered atmosphere remains as heavy as ever. No one can ’ object to the meritorious principle ot unemployment insurance. There is 8 question whether now is the correct time to undertake the experiment. ————e—— Peace in Abyssinia? Although Italy has already landed fifteen thousand troops in her African colonies adjacent to Abyssinia and continues preparations to send still more, Rome announces the conclusion of an accord with the Ethiopian gov- ernment, which on its face advances the prospects of a peaceful settlement of Mussolini’s conflict with Emperor | Haile Selassie. The agreement pro- vides for a four-mile neutral zone ! along the disputed Italian Somaliland- Abyssinian border, to be maintained for the duration of negotiations cover- ing all issues in controversy. While only a temporary truce, it should minimize the possibility of explosive frontier incidents and create a cool- in which Rome and Addis Ababa have hitherto conducted their deal- ings. It is strictly covenanted that no armed person shall be allowed within the neutralized strip. Nomad Abys- sinian tribes inhabiting the region will be permitted to cross it or use its wells and pastures for their cattle, but only on condition that the tribes- men carry no weapons. Discussions will now ensue concerning the Ualual border affair, which was the imme- diate cause of Italy’s war threat. It is on Mussolini'’s demands on this score that peace efforts may go to smash. He requires an Abyssinian indemnity, official apologies and military honors | to the Italian flag. Emperor Haile Selassie’s voluble Minister at Romef has indicated that the Ethiopian au- | thorities will refuse any amends that savor of indignities, claiming that | provocation for border incidents has mainly been given by the Italians. ' Mussolini's strategy plainly is to| assemble near the theater of possible | war an Italian military force in such magnitude that Abyssinia will think twice and thrice before venturing finally to reject Rome's terms. Il Duce not only is fired by a desire to avenge the humiliation which Italy suffered in its defeat by the Abys- sinians at Adowa in 1896, but he has gone so far on the pfesent oc- casion that it will be difficult to “save face” unless he enterges from it with tangible evidence of victory. Meantime the League of Nations, | of which both Italy and Abyssinia | are members, stands by with folded | arms, either unable or unwilling to nip in the bud an enterprise which | strikes most of the outside world as| an unblushing campaign of conquest. | Doubtless the explanation of Geneva's inactivity is the complacency with which Great Britain and France, pos- sessors of vast African empires of their own, look upon Mussolini’s lust to create an African Italy of more impressive dimensions. Such appears year or more. To create this “pool” of money to meet the community problem of un- employment a three per cent tax against the pay rolls of all private employers of four or more persons, plus a contribution from local reve- nues amounting to one per cent of such pay rolls, is required. The total | tax thus to be levied, based on rough estimates—for there are apparently no exact figures available—would be about $2,500,000. That is a guess. ‘The bill merely provides for the pay- roll tax and appropriates from local revenues $750,000 for the first fiscal year and $1,500,000 thereafter. In addition, there is a Federal pay-roll tax of three per cent in the national legislation—as yet. unenacted—against which a ninety per cent credit is al- lowed against the local pay-roll tax. In all, the tax—local and national— will amount to 4.3 per cent of local pay rolls. This tax, of course, will be passed on to the public in one form or an- other. One form may be higher prices, the other may be reduction of wages. But that is in conformity with the theory of the bill, which assumes that the unemployment costs should be borne by the community at large. Under the bill the employe makes no contribution to the fund. It is un- fortunate, if logical, that the tax- paying employer may take enough out of wages or by discharging workers to meet the tax. There is nothing to Pprevent it. The bill, although Yollowing the principle of insurance, charges the “good risk” a higher premium than the “bad risk”—that is, the employer whose pay roll is steady and does not fluctuate with the seasons is taxed an- nually at the same rate as the em- ployer whose employes are liable to seasonal shifts. The employer who keeps his men working all year round will pay more than the employer who hires and fires with seasonal or other demand. And the employer who has voluntarily established some benefit system receives no consideration. For the District the administration of the.local bill is placed entirely in the hands of & national board created through the national legislation—the National Social Insurance Board. The to be the price of Italian co-operation in the so-called “appeasement” of Europe. —_——— Other Gifts. Andrew W. Mellon hopes that the gift of his collection of great paint- ings to the Nation will prompt other citizens to make similar contributions to the elevation of the cultural status of the Capital. He followed in the| wake of Henry Clay Folger, Charles| L. Freer and W. W. Corcoran, and they, it seems, were motivated in large | part by the philosophy which George Washington; and Thomas Jefferson shared—a vision of the Federal City as the Athens of the New World, a national center of learning, art, sci- ence and music. And the dream is one which un- deniably has vast power of attraction. Patriotism is a spiritual characteristic of the human mind and heart, and it depends upon the development of understanding and sympathy. For love of country, purposeful and ef- fective, a comprehension of popular ideals is needed, and it is through; cultural manifestations that umse‘ ideals commonly are expressed. The logic 6f the matter, then, is that na- tional destiny depends upon the pros- perity of the inspirational interests and activities of the masses—values which call for the democratization of genius which Mr. Mellon is so anxious to promote. To illustrate the problem, the pres- ent distribution of the art collection of J. Pierpont Morgan may be cited. It has been announced that his pic- tures are to be sold, and indications are that they will be scattered pretty generally all over the world. That, of course, is natural and good: but nev- ertheless there must be many who will regret that so notable an ac- cumulation of treasures could not be maintained intact and in one single convenient center like Washington. Mr. Mellon’s suggestion, however, is not intended to appeal exclusively to individuals of exceptional wealth. On the contrary, it is a plea to the aver- age man or woman, each of whom can and should contribute to the common welfare. One of the most precious gifts ever received by the Smithsonian Institution, as it hap- pens, came from a donor far from only representation.of the community on this board would be through an rich, who easily might have advan- taged himself, had he chose, by a caring for those now unemployed‘needl requiring attention. From time to time surveys have been made and plans prepared for the elimination of the unsightly, disfiguring shacks that clutter up the stretch between the railroad tracks and the War College grounds, once known as the Arsenal. ‘These plans have never gone beyond the stage of consideration. A few minor changes have been effected, such as the establishment of the fish market, but decrepit wharves and ancient shore structures remain to offend the vision and give the scene as viewed from the park drive a most forlorn aspect. One of the recommendations made @ long time ago was for the devel- opment of a Waterfront boulevard, skirting the harbor and connecting the Potomac Park with the reserva- tions along the Eastern Branch, then in the making and now well devel- oped. Nothing was done in that di- rection. Now at a hearing before the House Committee on Rivers and Har- bors plans have been advanced for consideration to improve the Wash- ington Harbor through the deepening of the channel and the incidental removal of the unsightly conditions that have for so long given offense. Whether the project for a water-front drive will be included in the plan is not yet disclosed, but it is to be hoped that, whatever the scheme adopted, provision will be made for the development of a proper avenue of communication that will conform to the general project of a connection between the parks. 1t is not eentemplated that such changes will be made as to lessen the facilities for water traffic. Primarily the purpose is to make the Washing- ton harbor efficient and serviceable, both for business and pleasure craft, and to afford full access to the wharves, which themselves will re- quire reconstruction. An item of $1,650,000 is sought, the District to bear twenty per cent of the cost. No larger share of the burden should be | laid upon the District. The eastern shore of the harbor is practically a feature of the park that was made out of the dredged materials taken from the choked river channels, which was a Federal undertaking. It should be sc regarded in any project of harbor improvement that may be authorized in the contemplated legislation. e By reading the old story of railroad development aviation may learn many things of value in an effort to system- atize the new method of travel and transportation. —————.—— It needed the invention of radio to let the world know what freedom of speech really means. The audience is vast and no one in it has a chance to heckle or throw things. e ©Old controversies over social prece- dence in seating a tea party have been partially solved by the announcement of “standing room only.” ————— Some of the alleged propaganda coming out of Russia is so obviously expensive as to look like another effort to squeeze the taxpayers. “Out of the trenches before Christ- mas,” was once a slogan. The present call is out of N. R. A. before the Fourth of July. In restoring the grandeur of ancient Rome, Mussolini shows prudence by, picking out something easy to whip, like Ethiopia. — e SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Art of Profanity. “I'm educatin’ Josh for fair,” ‘The gentle farmer said, “To be a man to do and dare When cohorts forth are led. I want him to be trained in speech That can’t be learned in schools. There’s jes’ one way the trick to teach, T'll keep him drivin’ mules. “The old canal boat loiters near, You shout your loud command, The old mule cocks his weather ear, Which means ‘T understand,’ And then you start in accents hard, ‘With wicked phrases pat, That something which all mules regard As confidential chat. “In Congress Josh is goin’ to be And when they start debate In language that is wildly free They’ll tell Josh to orate. ‘The tide of battle he may turn By breakin’ all the rules And usin’ language that you legrn ‘When you are drivin’ mules.” Credit, “The way toget on,” said Mr. Dustin Stax, “is to do business on a cash Lasis.” “Not in politics,” Senator Sorghum. “Promises are easier to pro- duce and more effectual.” Spotlight Procession. The spotlight shines with radiance rare, It changes in a minute, Of course, the light is always there— But some one else is in it. Personality Advertising. “Have you thought of talking on the radio?” “I'm out of that game,” said Miss “advisory council” representing em- |commercial sale of the object he pre- { Cayenne. “The tooth-paste fleld 15 ployers, employes and community. Its{ferred to present to the National |cvercrowded amd, of course, I couldn't powers, however, are purely advisory and the members are to serve without Museum. And the greater Capital which Mr. be convincing about shaving éream.” “To 1ift & voice in anger,” said Hi pay. Secretary Perkins and the Pres- [ Mellon envisions will be the nobler | g, the sage of Chinatown, “becomes ident's Committee on Economic Secur- |if it is achieved through the co- |the most exhausting of all undertak- | Pacific. ity are strong for this feature. It gives the national experimenters an ideal laboratory. How the guinea pigs will fare remains to be seen. For the administrative problems operation of the whole . population, ‘Washington's Water Front. ‘Washington has a number of peren- nial problems, projects of public im- ings.” March Magie. Frogs are takin’ their pesitions Yonder in the crick. magicians implied in the bill's provisions are |provement that have lagged for many They'ré & cmd of great : many. Some of them—the decislon |years awaiting congressional action | - Practicin & trick. of disputes concerning employment for their undertaking or completion. ‘Wintry scenes we'll be forsakin’, between -employer and employe 1is |One of these is the water front. Ever| Besuty will be strange. merely one—are detailed and intri: cate, and the establishment of heavy bureaucracy in this single phase since the reclamation of the Potomac flats was effected through the dredg- ing of the channels, with the in- All the noise the frogs are makin’ Stands for presto change! “Don’t imagine,” said ‘Uncle Eben, of “social security” is inevitable. And |cidental development of Potomac|“dat you shows smartness by bein' while imposing & new, heavy tax to | Park, this question of the redemption | deceitful. One of de hardest things in guard against future eventualities in |of the eastern shore of the Washing- de world is to tell nuffin® but de exact employment, the existing problem of mmmm\mmm«t truth and still be gogd company.” : 1y : THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL, Even the last hold which snow has on the mind, the lure of beauty, is swept away at this time of year. After a hard Winter nobody wants to see any more of it. Every one is agreed on that. Rain, fog, wind will be with a philosophic spirit, but the white precipitation is distinctly on the not-wanted list. Even the youngsters are tired of it. It is impcasible to be sure that there will be no more snow. There is always a chance.for it in March, notoriously a fickle month. Usually if there is a March snow it is before the 15th, though. * ¥ ¥ % Beauty lovers would not welcome it enthusiastically, even then. ‘We have had enough of snow! It will be just, a plain nuisance, from now on, something to be la- mented. on all ‘scores, and by all hands alike. The appeal of beauty in a snowfall is one that some persons keep the longest. Despite the fact that they recognize as well as any the inconvenience and suffering of the heavy ‘fall, they are always able to see the pretty side of the picture. Surely an enthusiastic sentence, “Oh, fsn't the snow beautiful” is not what we mean at all. Many persons indulge in that, but it is just words, with nothing real beneath it. ‘The true lover of beauty in snow may never say a word, but he will always be thrilled by the sight of the falling flakes. * X X X 1f he were to wake up tomorrow morning, and find snow coming down, he would inwardly rejoice at the sight, because it would bring to the landscape a quality which absolutely nothing else could. As much as he wants to see no more of it. for the present season, as tired as he may be over slipping on sidewalks and steps, and dodging skidding motor cars, he could not help but admit to hirm self the fresh im- petus toward an appreciation of beauty which the snows give him. ‘Though he hopes there will be no more of it this season., such a lover of things beautiful will be willing to admit the beauty in any snowfall. This is admitted by the eagerness with which many persons go back to that standard classic, “Snow-Bound,” at this time of year. ‘We have heard more mention of Whittier's famous poem this Winter than ever before, not by those who are forced to read it, but simply by those who love their recollection of it, and desire to renew their acquaint- ance with something they remember as_good. It is good. “Snow-Bound” is worthy of being read every year, just as Dickens’ | “Christmas Carol” is by many readers. Of how many books can this be said? l Surely there are certain things | Which- retain their freshness for the imind, certain statements which we instinctively recognize as about the best that can be achieved. It then will be a question with many people whether it is not better to re-read these good things every year, rather than attempt to keep up | with the new books, the thousands of | fresh things endlessly pouring from the presses of the world. ‘This question recently agitated the book circles of London, where 15,000 STARS, MEN How could any one read them, even a small percentage? Many critics took the side of fewer books, with trust in the old ones; others con- deprive them things. the individual. The individual reader must consider himself before writers or laws of literature. Books are offered him, he must choose. Writers elect | “Snow-Bound” at this time of year is becoming its own best critic. Why go racing down to the bookmart to get | a copy of Prancis Hackett's “Francis the Pirst” for $3, only to find that it is being offered free with a sub- scription of a book club? And it hasn't been “out” a week! Who wants to find somebody receiving “free” what he has just pl*ld ltoot‘l n:oney for? We have said that the lover of beauty, despite his hope that there will be no more snow, nevertheless would wake up with rapture in his heart at any snow which might hap- pen to fall. Perhaps he would not admit as much. He would growl, surely, and lament the sad state of things when con- tinuous snows may blanket the land. This is not New England, he would snort. What he would like would be a “nice snow,” one which would conduct itself in a most gentlemanly fashion, not in the unseemingly way of the fall which remains on the ground for weeks at a time. Washington does not take kindly to such snows. It is not used to them, and finds they “gum up” the city in many disagreeable ways, especially as regards traffic. As an art exhibit, the snow which stays on the ground for some time is a dismal fallure. Is there anything uglier than a bank of gray snow, such as it becomes after oil and grime and dust have concen- trated on it for several days? One of the truly remarkable sights in a big city during Winter is the large block of snow which is abso- lutely black. Large pieces of this queer substance may be seen along curbs, sometimes rolled up and kicked by passing tires. These chunks will be as black as coal, so that if it were not for the rather dull gray snow elsewhere a stranger to the city might be forgiven for mistaking them for piles of rather dismal and forsaken earth. Nobody wants any more snow this season) but if it comes we will have to accept it with as much philosophy as we can muster, and make the best of it, as we always do. He who values its beauty will have an advantage over those who do not. He will resent more snow, but he will admit to him- self, if not to others, that what it does to an otherwise pre-Spring landscape is really fetching. If only it would not stick so long! Properly scheduled snows, about half an inch thick. to fall just at dusk, after the Govern- ment clerks had got home, and then to all melt away before noon next day indeed. new books were published last year.|—ah, that would be snowing, AND ATOMS Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. Most of man's standards of measure- ment—temperature, time, length, height, latitude and all the rest—are based on fundamental “fictions.” The scientist may measure some physical reaction in terms of thou- sandths of seconds or millionths of millimeters—but the seconds and mil- limeters themselves are essentially in- ventions of the human mind. Such is the conclusion of Dr. L. B. Tuckerman of the United States Bu- reau of Standards, who himself has conducted some of the most precise measurements ever made. Thus, he points out, the measurement of time is in terms of mean solar seconds, based upon the period of the earth's rotation on its axis. Yet astronomers compute that this rotation is subject to irregular variations so that it sometimes is as much as 30 seconds ahead or 20 seconds behind schedule. Eventually the solar second may be abandoned in favor of a “cosmical second,” which will take all these var- iations into account. But still, says Dr. Tuckerman, it will be a fiction. Even more of a fiction is that of de- grees of temperature on any scale and even more obvious is the fiction of degrees of latitude and longitude upon which maps are based. It has been found that the astro- nomical latitude of a given point on the earth’s surface varies, partly reg- ularly and party: irregularly, with time. Efforts to solve this puzzle, Dr. Tuckerman explained, led to the assumption that the axis of the earth was wobbling. That is, the North Pole, which is one of the refer- ence points in latitude determina- tions, would not stay fixed. Hence latitude lines, as determined by refer- ence to the stars, shift. So it has been necessary to adopt a fictitious north pole in an assumed position, instead of the actual position of the “top of the world” at any given time. This fictitious north pole is its mean position between the years 1900 and 1907. The necessity of this fiction, he pointed out, is shown by some recent check-ups of two stations, about 23 miles apart, on Kauai, one of the Hawaiian Islands. The rela- tive position of these stations was determined both by astronomical ob- servations and by triangulation. They should have checked exactly. As a matter of fact, there was a diffevence of about a mile and a quarter. But when the check-up is made with the latitude and longitude based on the fictional pole the difference becomes very small. Another striking instance is the boundary between the United States and Canada. Back in 1818 it was fixed, between the Lake of the Woods in Minnesota and the Rock Moun- tains, as the 49th parallel of latitude. It afterward was extended to the “To the treaty makers who so de- | result. fined this boundary,” says Dr. Tucker- man, “this probably seemed very definite. However, in & memorandum prepared in 1901 we read that ‘it is possible that no point of the line thus traced as the astronomic parallel may lie on the particular parallel sought,’ and it was not until 1925 that geodesists of the International Bound- ary Commission were satisfled that the 49th parallel of latitude was ade- quately hemmed in by geodetic and fictions. “We all know what the 49th par- allel of north latitude should look like—a smooth, gently curving line Just 49 degrees Such a line dream or & point, for instance, the line assumed to be the 49th parallel wanders 738 feet southward in about 20 miles. The deviation at some places is so great that points within sight of each other are obviously out of line.” So. actually, Dr. Tuckerman saidy the Canadian boundary from Minne- sota westward is not the 49th parallel at all, but a series of points connected by straight lines which are “assumed” to lie upon it. It is a geodetic fiction upon which both countries are agreed and which serves the purpose just as well as the erratic true parallel. k% Cases of morbid hunger and of needle eaters are medical curiosities, but Dr. Watts’ experiments with mon- keys indicate that there is a close relationship between .this pre-motor area of the frontal lobe and a very prevalent malady—stomach ulcers. They could be produced experi- mentally in the monkeys by cutting away the frontal lobes. They are quite common in victims of frontal lobe lesions. Most commonly an ail- ment of males in the prime of life— the time, incidentally, when emotions are likely to be most powerful—they have been observed in some cases to follow intense emotional upsets. The psychiatrists did not claim that frontal lobe lesions or upsets are responsible for all, or even a majority of stomach ulcers, but advanced the theory that they may be the cause of some of them. Dr. Walter Freeman, one of the foremost American neurologists, re- that autopsies at St. Eliza- beth’s Hospital showed peptic ulcers to be most commonly associated with the strange mental disease, paranoia, mh is characterized chiefly by ex- e delusions of persecution, and with cases of other psychoses which have persecution complexes. Dr. Willlam M. Ballinger, Wash- on specialist in gastro-intestinal diseases, advanced the hypothesis that the interaction between brain and stomach might be reversible. He held that a purely organic stomach disorder might set up mental dis- turbances which woulld tend to be- come permanent and in turn affect the stomach in a vicious circle. On the other hand, this vicious circle might start in the brain, affect the stomach and come back in reinforced form to the brain again. One of the most curious of brain diseases is epilepsy, with its some- times periodic convulsions and loss of consciousness. It was brought out in the discussion that recurring periods of extreme nausea may some- times be substituted for the epileptic convulsions for considerable periods. In other words, the epileptic “At” may be localized in the gastro-intestinal tract and a sort of “stomach epilepsy” . This again is striking evi- d'e‘n;e o‘l L) n:lulet brain-stomach asso- ciation in one of the most baffi; mental diseases. Fibatiagiiof ————— Urban Burial. Prom the Des Moines Tribune, Eleven layers of civilization were found .on top of the “world’s oldest city,” just unearthed in Mesopotamia. It illustrates what happens to cities that don’t sweep the streets. —_——— Constitution. From the Buffalo Evening News, The Constitution is gone, Jus- tice McRaynolds, but ‘et hepe Its still among friends. A; ThePolitical Mill By G. Gould Lincoln. If the Prench custom of dueling for members of Parliament who find themselves at o’4s were transplanted to Washington today what a fine crop of entertainment there would be. The fourth political duel in fourteen months has just been fought in France. Americans have been wont to smile at these French duels, which have produced little blood. But surely the French must roar with laughter at the figure which some of the Amer- ican legislators cut in their word duels. The Senator from Louisiana, Huey P. Long, has made the personal attack, mudslinging of an intimate nature, the fad, if not the custom, in the Senate chamber. The other Senators have stood his jibes as long as they could without little retali- ation. In the last day or two, led by Senator Robinson of Arkansas, the Democratic leader, they have opened up on Long in kind. * & * * ‘There is & rule of the Senate which might have some bearing on the Sen- ate situation today if it were enforced. It reads: “No Senator in debate shall, directly or indirectly, by any form of words impute to another Senator or to other Senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a Senator.” It is true that if the rule were en- forced, the galleries of the Senate chamber would not be overcrowded as they are day after day. But the en- forcement of the rule might at least make it possible for the Senate to go forward with questions of great im- portance to the country instead of listening to hours of vituperative re- marks and ridicule. America loves a wise-cracker. It is likely to forgive him for anything else he may do, provided he gives the people a chance to laugh. Led by Gen. Hugh S. Johnson, who as a phrase maker has Huey Long beaten a mile, a number of gentlemen have turned on the Lousiana Kingfish. It remains to see who will laugh last. * K ¥ ok While the country has been hang- ing on the latest words of the Sena- tors from Louisiana, Arkansas and elsewhere, the administration seems to have won its fight to give Precident Roosevelt a free hand in paying the “security” wage to some 3,500,000 workers on work relief projects. §Two Republican Senators from Vermont, Senators Austin and Gibson, are about to change their votes from ‘aye” to “no” on the McCarran “prevailing wage” amendment to the $4,880,000,- 000 work relief bill Whether there have been any Democratic defections from the prevailing wage amendment is still to be determined. But if all the rest cf the Senators hold fast to their positions, as shown in the | Senate took on the | first vote the McCarran amendment when it was adoped, 44 to 43, the change of the Vermonters will turn the trick for the President. The only hope for the prevailing wage amendment seems to lie in a possible change of some Sena- tors from :upport of the President’s security wage over to the prevailing wage. 1f there is to be any such change it has not yet manifested itself. Within a day or two the show down is likely to come. If the security ‘wage is adopted and it fails to have a disastrous political effect it will be surprising to a lot of people. * % x % The greatest political foot ball of the lot, the soldiers’ bonus cash pay- ment proposal, is about to come before the House, reported favorably to that body by the Ways and Means Commit- tee. The committee has decided by a narrow vote in favor of the Vinson bill, which has the backing of the American Legion, as against the Pat- man bill. The Vinson bill does not provide for currency inflation. The Patman bill does. So there will be a showdown in the House on this in- flatiorf question, for the supporters of the Patman bill plan to offer it as a substitute for the Vinson bill when the time comes for voting on the bonus. President Roosevelt has been against the immediate cash payment of the soldiers’ bonus, which under the law is not due until 1945. It will take more than $2,000,000,000 to make ihe set- tlement if Congress should put the bill through notwithstanding the Presi- dent’s disapproval. It seems certain that the President will have a bonus bill sent to him sooner or later, despite the efforts that may be made to have the measure sidetracked in the Senate: More than a majority in both Houses will vote for it. Whether two-thirds of the membership of.each House will support the bill over the veto is the only uncertain factor in the situation. * x % x The President has turned his back on currency inflation and further de- valuation of the dollar. That will give hope to many people. The danger 1s, however, that if thereare continued huge appropriations for all kinds of purposes, including work relief and the bonus, there will come a time when the inflation route will be tried to ease the Government out of some of its debts. If that comes, it is going to make ‘the earlier years of the de- pression look like good times. The first man who will feel the fmpact will be the man who works for wages or salary. * kX % The passing of Justice Oliver Wen- dell Holmes of the Supreme Court has brought to the attention of the coun- try again the real worth of a man who devoted himself to the service of his country unselfishly and the real gratitude with which the people as a whole look on such a man. Justice Holmes' death has brought a revival of anecdotes about him. He was one of the most distinguished humorists as well as one of the most distin- guished jurists who ever sat on the supreme bench. Representative Louis Ludlow of Indiana is telling what he calls the prize story about Justice Holmes. Ludlow was a member of the press gallery at the Capitol for 28 years before he was elected to Con- gress. One of his duties was to cover the Supreme Court. * %k %k & “It was a quiet day in the Supreme Court,” said Ludlow, “and Justice Holmes camoufiaged behind his more then two score years of dignity a mischievous look which indicated that something unusual was going to hap- You Rl.‘lm" D‘ty'c:nwn Ohio, arose wyer ol , 2 {:“&‘e well of the court to make an oral argument. Rufus occupied about all of the available space, being a man of very large proportions. Sitting among the black-robed justices on the bench before him was his own father, Justice William L. Day, who had some the office A reader can get the answer to any question of fact by writing The Evening Star Information Bu- reau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C. Please inclose stamp for reply. Q. What per cent of the automobile wflrlvenu in this country are women?— y They are estimated at 24 cent. Lo Q. What caused the death of the e et et e from drowning, S . Why is the golden eag nammegt g, e $0Mden eagle thus A. It has its name because of the light-brownish to yellow outside wash to its feathers. The golden eagle 1is from 30 to 35 inches in length and 6% to 7 feet in wing spread. The female is larger than the male. Q. How much soil was moved from one place to another by the dust- storms in the United States last Sum- mer?—B. G. A. It is estimated at millions of mil- lions of tons. Some of the dust trav- eled more than 2,000 miles in the upper air. Q. Please explain the deep holes dug near Potosi, Bolivia—G. F. A. After the arrival of the Spaniards the latter put the natives of the region of Potosi to work burrowing into the mountainside and today there remain such excavations—some deep, others shallow. There are no data available as to the exact measurements of any of these holes or mine shafts. Q. When were machine guns first mounted in airplanes?—E. R. A. Prior to the outbreak of the World War no airplane on the western front was actually armed with a ma- chine gun. Rifles, carbines, pistols, shotguns and hand grenades were car- ried by pilots and observers. In the Spring of 1915 all belligerents began to mcunt machine guns in their standard two-seater reconnoissance aircraft. The Fokker monoplane (Autumn, 1915) was the first effective “fighter” airplane. Q. How long is the Memorial High- way between Washington and Mount Vernon? How much did it cost>— W. P. A. It is 15'; miles long and cost $4,200,000. Q. If a man is not sure whether an occasion calls for a tuxedo or full dress, which should he wear?—N. D. A. Full dress. This is appropriate either for formal or informal occa- sions, while a tuxedo is not. Q. How many—lmmm " took part | in the Boston tea party? What were the names of the ships carrying the tea?—E. F. 8. A. A letter from John Andrews, esquire, of Boston, dated December 18, 1773, refers to the “Indians” who “proceeded two by two (to the num- ber of about 200) to Griffins Wharf, where Hall Bruce and Coffin lay, each with 114 chests of the ill-fated article on board.” Q. How old is Mussolini?—J. C. A. He was 51 on July 29, 1934. Q Why are there s0 many more lakes in some parts of the country than in others?>—F. R. A. The most common cause of their formation is the disturbance of drein- age by glacial action. Lakes are gen- erally abundant in mountain regions or within those areas which have been covered with ice. Q. What is the derivation of Lon- don’s famous Rotten Row?—C. E. A. It is derived from the Prench phrase route du roi, which means the King’s drive. Q What is an aquatint?—A. H. A. It is a process of etching on copper or steel plates by means of nitric acid, producing an effect re- sembling a fine drawing in water colors, sepia or India ink. Q. What is the origin of the round robin?—B. A. A. Boswell traced it to s saflors’ custom followed when they entered a conspiracy so that it could not be known who signed first or last. Q. Where is there the most oxygen in the air>—H. W. A. Oxygen occurs, not in larger percentage, but in greatest weight per cubic foot of air, at the lowest levels and decreases with increase of height. * Q. Is Wyoming now one of the States where a divorce may be ob- tained quickly?—F. R. W. A. Wyoming’s Legislature has just passed a bill reducing from one year to 60 days the residence period for divorce. The law becomes effective on May 17. Q. How many barber shops and beauty perlors are there in New York City?>—E. B. A. There are now 8,000 barber shops in New York City and 3,680 beauty parlors. Q. How many policemen are there in this country?—T. D. A. There are 132,000 policemen in the United States. Q. Is the name of the cashew nut accented on the first or the second syllablee—E. B. A. The accent is on the second syllable. Q. How many persons attended A Century of Progress and what did they spend?—L. §. C. A. The Chicago World Fair attract- ed a total of 38,000,000 visitors in the two years of its operation. Sixty mil- lion dollars was spent within the grounds of the exposition and several hundred million more in Chicago ho- tels and shops. Q. When was “Oh why should the spirit of mortal be proud” first pub- lished?—A. V. A. This poem, by a Scottish poet, William Knox, appeared first in a volume entitled “Songs of Israel” in |1824. Knox died the following year |at the age of 37. The title of the poem is “Mortality,” and it is chiefly re- | membered as a favorite of Abraham | Lincoln’s. | _Q Why was the dolphin used in | Sandwich glass candlesticks?>—E. P. A. It signified to New England sail- ors “fair weather, whitecaps and blue skies.” “ Q. When did the first international meeting of Boy Scouts take place?— | A.In 1920 an international meet- ing or jamboree was held at Olympia, London, in which Scouts of 26 na- tions took part. As a result of this meeting an international council was formed, with a bureau in London. Q. When did Ellen Terry play her first engagement in America?—C. H. A. She came with Irving in 1883. She made eight subsequent trips, ‘bems scclaimed England's leading actress, and in 1915 lectured Uhited States on Shakespeare’s hegoines, with impersonations. League Diplomacy Blamed For Walkout of Paraguay Some American newspapers find that the League of Nations failed to show good judgment in handling the dispute between Bolivia and Paraguay. Pight- ing continues and Paraguay has given up its membership in the League. “Paraguayan critics of the League.” according to the Indianapolis News, “assert that Bolivia and Paraguay had been fighting for more than a year before the League took notice. It began negotiations late in 1933 to bring about peace. Paraguay sent notes objecting to its plan for estab- lishment of a neutral zone in the Chaco, to be policed by neutral forces, as impractical and complained that the arbitration plan did not define the territory concerned. Paraguayan officials complain that Bolivia earlier in the war repeatedly refused to accept peace plans proposed by neutrals, and nothing was done.” “Paraguay’s intensely nationalistic governing group,” explains the San Antonio Express, “is determined to defy world opinion and continue the war with Bolivia.” The Express notes that the Paraguayans have thus far been victorious in the struggle over the Chaco Boreal, and continues: “Paraguay probably considers that a Bolivian defeat at Villa Montes would overthrow the present government at La Paz and that its successor would be willing to relinquish the Chaco Boreal. Montes. Its nationalistic leaders are in no personal danger. They are will- ing to send conscripts to the front as long as the patient, brave Aymaras acoept their assertion that the Chaco Boreal must be retaken because it is an integral part of Bolivia.” “The League has, in article 16 of the covenant,” says the Providence Journal, “an ominous means, on paper, of compelling Paraguay to submit. That article provides that any natfon which resorts to war in defiance of the covenant shall be considered to have committed an act of war against all other members of the League. But Paraguay is ready to take her chances s to that. She has all but won the Chaco struggle and she proposes to hold on to her desperately acquired boodle, League or no League. The Geneva organization is thus up against another epochal difficulty. “The League's policy in authorizing heavy shipments of arms to Bolivia, after Paraguay turned down the ar- mistice,” contends the Rockford (Ill.) Morning Star, “was extremely dublous. The best way to stop & war is to cut oft war supplies; in this case, to throw both countries back on their own rather primitive resources. By - ing the way to further shipments to Bolivia, the League has simply con- tinued the belligerency, at the same time putting itself on record as a confederate of Bolivia.” “Some 40,000 men on each side are fighting, and 60,00Q men have died, in the senseless war,” says the Brooklyn “Authough a smaller However, Bolivia hardly would | cease to fight even should it lose Villa | two nations from going to war with one another, or stopping them after they start.” The Atlanta Constitution deplores the fact that “with the dove of peace apparently preparing to take up its abode in Europe and Asia, | where wars and rumors of wars have | kept the world fearful during recent |years, renewed discontent and con- |tinued fighting appear in Africa, | South America and Cuba.” The Con- "smu(ion sees no prospect of peace be- | tween Paraguay and Bolivia. The Miami (Fla.) Herald states that the arms embargo “evidently assisted Paraguay.” The Newport News Daily Press thinks that “to say that the nations of the world, acting in con- cert, can do nothing to prevent blood- shed is very much like admitting that civilization is a failure” The Grand Rapids Press concludes: “While Paraguay has less than half the population of Bolivia—about 1,000,000—it has a high percentage of whites and a strong national feel- ing. It once fought a war against three neighbors and lost half its pop- ulation on the battlefield. In Bolivia the Indians outnumber the whites five to one. There is little patriotism among them, for they are poor, land- less and illiterate. Fighting forces of both countries now consist largely of old men and boys. Both nations talk a great deal about their national honor and dignity, while Bolivia can’t pay the interest on its foreign bonds.” Newcomer Sees Faults in Local Traction Service To the Editor of The Star: I have been domiciled in the Na- tion's Capital for two weeks, arriving here with the expectation of seeing & model city. It is a beautiful town, but my what street cars! Have you seen the archaic trolley cars in operation, necessitating the motorman’s leaving the controls to step over to the car door in order to open and close it at each stop? I can only attribute these terrible conditions of the Washington street cars to the fact that the people in Washington do not vote. On top of this insult to a civilized city, I notice that the street car company is piling up profits and is even trying to put its hand on the busses. Your paper seems to be the only agency in town sponsoring the inter- est of the citizens. Can you not or- ganize some kind of a movement to re- ! lieve the congested conditions on the : street cars and force the company to ’ purchase decent equipment? 4 JOHN HAYN, ° P S A Rhyme at Twilight - By ; Gertrude Brooke Hamilton The Lights Are Low Politics may weary us; Even success may be A sudden bar to freedom To the road, the wind and the sea. Riches may prove a burden, Plenty may seem too much, The thrill that comes with romance May vanish at a touch. Yet dusk can ease the crotchets That trouble a tired man, ‘Who with money and place and power rklpun in the twilight span.