Evening Star Newspaper, March 8, 1935, Page 8

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A8 ¥ THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. FRIDAY........March 8, 1935 THEODORE W. NOYES. .. Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company w ce icago Office: La ropean Ofice; 14 Re; Englan Rate by Carrier Within the City. Regular Edition. The Evenine Star.... .45¢ per month Thf Evenme and Sunday Star ‘when 4 Sundays) ... 60c per month The Evening and Sunday Siar Cwhen 5 Sundays)... . 65cper month The Sunday Star ... ‘5c per copy Night Fina) Edition. (i per month t 42nd 8t n Building. St.. London. ight Final and Sunday Star ight Pinal Star. ... . 55c per month Collection made ‘at the end of each month. Orders may be sent by matl or telephone National 5000 Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. ily “only. . sunlu only. All Other States and Canada. ily and Sunday 1 yr.. $12.00; 1 mo.. $1.00 iy omly -....1 vl "S8.00: 1 moi. " d6e unday only.. .. '1yr. $500:1mo. 60¢ Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively en- titled to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited to it or not other- wise credited n this paper and also the Jocal news published herein _ All rights of Dublication of special dispatches herein are also rererved = One Place Where Crime Breeds. The report to the Board of Public ‘Welfare by Thomas M. Rives, super- intendent of the District Jail, em- phasizes once more the deplorable conditions of overcrowding which have existed for many years, but which have grown steadily worse through failure to enlarge the jail facilities in existing Turko-Bulgarian treaty, which was due to expire in March, 1934. Turkey, which now happens to hold the presidency of the League Council, has been prompt to give Geneva as- surances that she cherishes no un- friendly intentions toward Bulgaria and is determined to maintain the status quo in th> Balkans under any circumstances. ° ‘ie Turks deny cate- gorically that they are inciting their population neares. Bulgaria against that country without cause. Bul- garians rejoin that certain Turkish elements are openly urging the cession of Bulgarian territory, “so that Adri- anople can live,” and quote a recent Turkish newspaper as warning the Bulgars that if they do not “bow to this necessity now,” they will have to do so later. ‘While the pot calls the kettle black in the Balkans, Europe recalls pain- fully that it was from that tinder-box that the World War sprang. The in- gredients for another conflagration from the same incalculable source are always present., As long as the Grecian internal conflict rages on an ever-widening scale, with revived mon- archical ambitions intruding to inten- sify #t, the possibility of international complications in the adjacent Balkans cannot be excluded. The pending recriminations between Turkey and Bulgaria throw ominous light on an undoubtedly precarious situation. ——e———— The N. R. A. Problem. With the testimony of Donald R. Richberg, executive director of the | National Emergency Council, the Sen- | ate Committee on Finance opened yesterday its “investigation” of the N. R. A. and its operations. Mr. Rich- berg presented recommendations, re- garded as the recommendations of the Roosevelt administration, for the con- tinuance of the N. R. A, for it is the duty of the committee not only to in- some ratio to the increase in popula- | tion. Mr. Rives’ report should be sent | from the Board of Public Welfare to the House Subcommittee which, under the chairmanship of Representative Randolph of West Virginia, is now | engaged in an exploratory investiga- | tion of crime conditions in the Wash- ington community. For there is prob- ably more real meat in some of the facts presented by Mr. Rives than in many of the conclusions hastily to be drawn from the cross-examination of police and other officials who are called to testify before the committee in defense of themselves. Mr. Rives places proper emphasis on the need for a jail that would provide room for separating, during their incarceration, first offenders from the hardened criminals. The District can expect no progress in crime prevention, Mr. Rives points out, as long as such facilities are lackirg, as they are now. Crowded jails are the higher institutions of Jearning for the criminal. 'And when inmates of jails are herded together like so many animals the principle of reform—which should be considered along with punishment—is lost entire- ly. There is little opportunity for an intelligent prison program when the main problem confronting the prison authorities is to find a place for prisoners to sleep in the already crowded corridors of the jail. Plans for development of the park area that lies at the end of East Capitol street, including erection of a stadium and preparation of a large athletic and drill field, throw new light on the proposal by Mr. Rives | | out running foul of the basic law of | that when a new jail is built—as it must be within a few years—the loca- tion be changed. He suggests land in the vicinity of Blue Plains. Certainly the present forbidding jail structure will be architecturally and otherwise inappropriate to the sort of develop- ment planned for the area immediately adjoining. Mr. Rives suggests that the proposed and necessary enlarge- ment of Gallinger Hospital might utilize the jail building for wards. But the jail was built half a century ago @s a jail—and was never designed as & hospital. Gallinger Hospital is handicapped enough as it is now, with- out burdening it with a disused jail, reconditioned as wards. Immediate thought should be given to the erec- tion of a new and adequate jail in another location and the razing of the old building that has served its purpose. —————————— Some of the alleged Russian propa- ganda is so magnificently expensive as to call for sympathy for the hard- ‘working Russian taxpayer, who even- tually shoulders the burden of cost. R If some of the impolite personalities exchanged are in earnest, much talk- burdened time might be saved by re- storing the dueling ground at Bla- densburg. o Thunder in the Balkans. Revolution and civil strife in Greece, as was almost sure to be the case, have rekindled the fires of conflict in the always inflammable Balkans, and rTumbles of & Turko-Bulgarian war are now heard in Europe. They are most wmudible within the precincts of the League of Nations at Geneva, where Turkey and Bulgaria on Thursday filed formal charges of warlike maneu- vers against each other. The Bulgars contend that Turkey is concentrating troops along the Bul- garian frontier. The Turks retort that they cannot remain indifferent to Bulgarian military measures along the Greek frontier. The Turkish spokes- man at Geneva accused Bulgaria of taking advantage of the situation in Greece to mobilize frontier forces and of then throwing responsibility for resultant menacing conditions upon ‘Turkey. 1t is the region of the Greek Prov- ince of Thrace, completely surrounded on fts land sides by Bulgaria and Turkey, that is the terrain of the Turko-Bulgarian controversy. There, 1f matters plunged to a crisis, is where they would clash. In 1933 Turkey attempted to induce Bulgaria to ad- here to the Turko-Greek treaty of friendship and non-aggression, or con- clude a new Turko-Bulgarian pact modeled on the Greek treaty. The Sofia government rejected both pro- posals, fearing that acceptance would 1nvolve the abandonment of Bulgaria’s claim to access to the Aegean Sea. The best that could be done was an sgreement to renew for five years the N tion for its extension. Mr. Richberg's proposals necessarily are of outstanding interest. Some of them lack definiteness as he presented them yesterday. The details may be | cleared up later. What he proposed | represented at once a contraction, a | drawing in of the wings of the Blue Eagle and a strengthening of the | powers given the President to fix min- imum wages and maximum hours of | labor, to control unfair practices in | business and “natural resources.” | A suggestion that the N. R. A. be | limited to businesses engaged in inter- state commerce made by Mr. Richberg | is at once one of the most interesting | and perhaps one of the most far | reaching of the whole program out- lined. While such a plan may well | be designed to meet the attacks which | have been made on the constitution- ality of the N. I. R. A. in the courts, and which have been sustained in some of them, it is likely to meet strenuous opposition from labor. Admittedly the administration is in a | difficult spot, so far as this key meas- use of the New Deal is concerned. It | wishes to preserve what it conceives |to be the benefits of the national | industrial recovery act, and at the same time it is realizing more and | more that there are limits beyond which the N. R. A. cannot go with- the country. 1n the first rush to set up this new plan for dealing with industry and business, taken in. It has been contracted from time to time. And now it is proposed to contract it still further. That has been the advice of many of the friends of the N. R. A., as well as the demand of some of its opponents. Mr. Richberg admitted that injus- tices have been done under the opera- tion of the N. R. A. and his excuse was that the whole plan is in the experimental stage. As proposed by the President in his message to Con- gress dealing with the N. R. A, Mr. Richberg recommended to the Sen- ate committee the extension of the plan for another two years from next June 16. Apparently the idea is that other changes and amendments in the law are likely to become neces- sary as more experience is had. Or perhaps the proponents of the N.R. A. are seeking to avoid a very definite struggle which would arise in Con- gress if it was sought to enact a “permanent” N. R. A. law at this time. It is going to be difficult enough putting through a continuing act, limited to two years, as it is. Congress and the country may well poncer, however, what is to be the al- ternative if the N. R. A. were scrapped entirely. Very definitely the N. R. A was the measure with which the pro- posed thirty-hour work week bill was headed off in the last Congress. There is a definite campaign on today far the enactment of such a law, and if the N. R. A. is abandoned the thirty-hour work week bill may be expanded to cover other important matters. ———————— There is an element of joyous as- surance in the publicity from Louis- iana pointing out that Mardi Gras has been kept out of politics. The Fastest Land Mile. Sir Malcolm Campbell, British “gpeed king,” yesterday broke his own record for the fastest progress on the surface of the earth, making a measured mile on the sands of Daytona Beach in 13.005 seconds, which was at the rate of 281.03 miles an hour. He had hoped to reach the 300-mile rate. He once said that he would never be happy until he made that record, and it is expected that some day he will try again to attain that mark. As a spectacle of human daring and of skill this performance commands the highest admiration, although there may be no practical utility in such a deed. The demostration requires per- fect surface conditions, such as can- not be effected in any man-made highway. It cannot be duplicated on any road that was ever built, nor is it desirable that it should be. Such performances are tests of driv- ing skill and of mechanical endurance. They have thelr value in the develop- vestigate but also to prepare legisla- | too much territory was | THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 1935. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. ment of better engines and tires. The annual motor races on wooden bowl tracks have undoubtedly contributed to the improvement in motor mechanism. But road speeds have already been as far advanced as any conceivable need requires. The need of today is not for higher speed, but for better driving on the part of those who handle machines. There should be no “race” for records between surface motors and airplanes. The latter will always have an unbeatable advantage in that speed can be attained and maintained with- out reliance upon the perishable fabric of tires. Yesterday at the conclusion of his record-breaking run the tires of Sir Malcolm Campbell’s car were almost in shreds, the outer surface of all six having been literally burned away almost down to the inner tubes. After all, it is the man, rather than the machine, that triumphs in such & contest, and Sir Malcolm, whatever may be thought of the utility of his repeated efforts to reach the goal of 300 miles an hour, must be hailed as a gallant adventurer. ——————— ‘When J. P. Morgan goes to England he may be able to give some enlight- ening information to Sir Montague Norman, who once intimated that the Bank of England itself was not quite clear as to what the money mix-up was all avout. The brilllant achievements of Amelia Earhart have not led the fem- inist movement to demand that a woman be placed in charge of the Nation's aviation. Affairs of state are impressive and complicated, but not sufficiently so to prevent homicide clues from continu- ing to monopolize an immense share of public attention. Racketeers are pictured as holding | up a few giocery stores and filling | | stations until the “pink slips” show | them where the real money is located. | ————— Crime s still so hard to expose that readers of fiction must reluctantly confess that generations of writers | have labored in vain. ———r———— People who dwell in cold climates are being admired for various reasons, among them being the fact that they never attempt a nudist cult. ] The Russian dictatorship is still sufficiently powerful to prevent the revival of a Stalin-Trotsky contro- versy. ———————————————_ SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON Visible Debate. The words that Senators exchange Are seldom very fraught With purposes of interchange Of intellectual thought. They merely seem to indicate A fierce and flashing eye, A scowl that shows undying hate And passion raging high. So why not rest the radio From rage in vocal style And at a motion picture show Make faces for a while! An Idea? “What's the difference between a | Communist and a radical?” asked the | colleague. | “My friend.” rejoin-d Senator Sor- ghum, “you've chanced upon & splen- did idea! Let's quit this quarreling and fighting and ast one another conundrums.” Alphabeticism. Willie’s & precocious child And when we showed him A B C's, He said with an indulgent smile, “There are more vitamins than these.” | In Crimson Gulch. “You ought to have a candidate for judge who knows all about the neigh- borhood history,” said the traveling man. “We've got one,” answered Cactus Joe. “She’s the telephone operator.” “There are two words, or their equivalents, in all languages,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “that de- cide destinies great or small—'yes’ and no’ " Taking Up Arms. If, as the learned men declare, War is a useless thing, We ought to hasten and prepare More force 'gainst crime to bring. The fight on crime we ought to heed And bid the killer cease. We arm more soldiers; what we need Is merely more police. . “It's human nature,” said Uncle Eben, “to want to go fishin’ in Winter and throw snowballs in Summer.” Stop All Night Flying Over Residential Areas ‘To the Editor of The Star: ‘Why confine the prohibition against airplane flying at night to the down- town section, where comparatively few persons sleep? Others besides the President were awakened and an- noyed by the airplane referred to in Wednesday's Star. Flying, especially stunt flying, should be prohibited over the whole metropolitan area. If a plane falls it damages some one, perhaps ruins some family financially, as no redress is likely because it was an “accident.” ‘The ‘commercial planes can' come down the Anacostia Valley, the Po- tomac Valley and up the Potomac to the several landing flelds. It is not necessary to awaken 10,000 babies and 20,000 adults to gratify some fiyer who wants to practice at midnight. More noise was made over our place to the plug across the street and I went outside to see what was happen- ing to the unfortunate machine whose engine was going up and down like a fire siren, awakening sick and well e. Why not consider the “forgotten man” and his family as well as high Government officials? Domestic Pink Slips. Prom the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. Next thing wives will be wanting their husbands to turn in pink slips of their winnings at poker. » Not even the home gardener is as eager for Spring as the things of Na- ture, evidently. Already the red shoots of the peonies have poked their heads into the light. In some nearby woods the high- pitched voice of Hyla, the froglet, was heard for the first time Tuesday night. These are unmistakable signs and we must accept them, as much as we have warned ourselves and others against rushing the season. How is it possible not to become mildly excited over the vast change which is about to take place? * ok kK True, there may be -set-backs, one day or another. There even may be more snow, al- though we hope not. In the main, however, Spring is here, really and truly. How can we fail to understand the voice of the Hyla? ‘The noise made by this type of frog is never forgotten, once heard. . It is high, shrill, soaring. It is at once a cross between & squeak and a whistle, if such can be imagined, and it can. As Spring advances the voice will become louder, more far-flung, until on quiet nights it will be heard for a mile. Perhaps not in all Nature is there a more powerful carrying voice than that of this small fellow, feeling the call of Spring. * k% ok We were somewhat surprised to find all but two of the peonies up so soon. Evidently they were eager to see the sun, to bask in its warmth, after an extremely cold Winter. One must stand amazed at the growth of peonies, this year as well as always. ‘They come from so little, and grow so tall and bushy, and remain green so long. In about three months from now most of them will be in bloom. And as one thinks forward to those great flowers and looks down at the small red tips from which they will come, one is lost in wonder at the whole process. Life? Nobody knows what it is, or its pur- pose, but quite evidently it is for something. * ok x X ‘The purpose of the garden is easier. It is, or ought to be, beauty. And interest. Even if one raises vegetables, these | remain the true purposes of the city garden, and he who recognizes them consciously and works toward them is far better off than he or she who does not. The implications are more far- reaching than one might at first imagine. If interest spurs one on, and if the creation of beauty in the everyday life is the purpose, it will result that there can be no loose ends anywhere, except such as would prevent one from becoming fussy in the garden. One may go too far that way, but in the main the necessary thing is never to forget that your average home garden is not a forest, or a desert, a | prairie, nor yet exactly a wooded de! It is & garden, and that means certain amount of conventionality. It means that the garden must have & boundary, and that the boundary must be adorned. It means neatness, but not too much. It means some sort of fence or hedge. Those who like to garden the way they want to garden, ought not to be misguided by propaganda, now on the wane, to garden fencelessly. A fence is not a sign of snobbery, but simply of comomn sense. Just as one would not think of building 8 room without some sort of definite boundaries, or walls, 50 no one snould try to build a garden, even the most humble, without a definite boundary of fence, hedge or evergreens, or some combination of thase. *x k% Interest is the mainspring of gar- dening work. ‘The best way to secure this is to focus the attention on the individual plants that go to com 1se it. Let beauty take car. >f itself, re- main in the back of e mind, if necessary, until one has worked up enough interest in individual plants of all types. ‘Then beauty will emerge, as she always does if given half a chance. The fence will help her, but she is the product of many factors, chief of which must be the gardener’s inter- est in the specimen plant. By the term “specimen plant” we do not mean what the nurseryman means by it. In his language the specimen plant is some showy shrub which usually is planted by itself to give a note of accent to a yard, as he says. As we use the term, the “specimen plant” is any plant whatsoever, from tiny rock garden item to a tree. Only as the gardener is interested in each growing thing, of, for and by itself, can he in turn come to that real interest which is the basis of the best work, and the happiest. Invariably real gardeners realize this, and come to understand each thing they plant. Many of us do not know this, or for one reason or other do not act upon it, and so cannot expect to receive the total benefits from the garden. We are impatient | for things to grow, instead of lovingly watching the emergence of each little shoot, and finding this watching as much of a thrill as any. This is why the rock garden may be taken as a test of the real gardener. Many of these plants, item by item, are so small and to the casual glance so uninteresting that many of us are unable to get much of a “kick” out of it. But watch the eyes of the true gardener! He will find each one of these little plants as interesting as many another person would find only a great tree, or some giant- flowering specimen of plant. The same holds good of wildflowers, those interesting children of forest and stream. Invariably the person who gardens just because it is “the thing,” or in a vague approach toward beauty, finds nothing of interest at all in these plants. He might see a most gorgeous planting of them, without once realizing that he was looking at anything in particular. Not se the true gardener. He would know in- stantly the value of the planting, both monetary and esthetically. Such a gardener must be held up as the ideal. The remainder of us will have something to aim at, at.any rate. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Gen. Hugh Johnson is receiving | bouquets enough in Washington to | make up a thosandfold for the brick- | bats that came his way in stormy N. R. A times. Politicians acclaim | his speech assailing Senator Long and Father Coughlin as a masterpiece of | invective and destined to take its place as such in American history. Senator Clark, Democrat, of Missouri assures the Johnsonian blast official preservation by having had it read into the Congressional Record. Al- though Johnson made the most vig- orous defense of the New Deal yet to come from any quarter, attempts to obtain an expression of White House opinion about it proved unavailing. Resultant developments nevertheless | must be wholly pleasing to the admin- | istration. Washington is convinced that the Johnson-Long-Coughlin feud has just begun, and that from now on it will ramify into widening circles | of national politics, re-echo periodi- cally in Congress and possibly preject itself into the 1936 campaign. All three antagonists are two-fisted fight- ing men, richly gifted with “mass ap- peal” power, especially over the radio. Everything indicates that they will proceed on the “Lay on, Macduff” theory of “damn'd be him that first cries ‘Hold, enough!’” * k% % A graphic eyewitness account of Gen. Johnson's speech was brought to Washington by Charles Michelson, publicity ace of the Democratic Na- tional Committee, who was in charge of Blue Eagle press relations during the fiery brigadier's regime at N. R. A. Michelson says he c#h’'t remember a more representative audience of Amer- ican big-wigs than the company which Johnson addressed, nor, he adds, was Johnson ever before in more effective oratorical form. Within a few hours after he had erupted the general was deluged with telegrams from the four quarters of the Union, those in com- mendation being overwhelmingly more numerous than “dead cat” messages. %k x % Gen. Johnson, in referring to Father Coughlin’s nationality, said that the Detroit radio priest “may or may not now be an American citizen, but cer- tainly once was not.” In his auto- biographical sketch in “Who's Who in America” Father Coughlin narrates that he was “born of American par- ents at Hamilton, Canada, on Octo- ber 25, 1891.” * % ¥ % On March 31, when he will be 80 years old, John Hays Hammond, world- famous American mining engineer, will publish his long delayed auto- blography. It will trace his interna- tional career from the time of his graduation from Sheffield Scientific School at Yale in 1876 and his first professional service, as an expert of the United States Geological Survey, throughout his experiences as a con- sulting engineer in the gold fields of California, Mexico and South Africa. It was while he was in the service of Cecil Rhodes, in the late nineties, that Hammond was arrested and afterward sentenced to death by the Dutch Transvaal government in con- nection with the Jameson raid. His punishment was commuted to 15 years’ imprisonment, and later he was released on payment of a $125,000 fine. An intimate friend of William Howard Taft, they were “Jack” and his native Californian heath and his castle on the rockbound North Shore at Gloucester, Mass. * X ¥ ¥ Because of the new rule barring questions on legislation pending in Congress, White House press con- ferences, to the unutterable dismay of Washington newsmen, have for the first time under the New Deal become unproductive of a regular grist of presidential “copy.” Unless the em- bargo is lifted the situation, from the correspondents’ standpoint, prom- ises to remain dull in the extreme, because news hereabouts for the in- definite future is likely to concern itself mainly with events on Capitol Hill. Hope lingers that the President will relent and agree once again to discuss matters absorbing public in- terest, thus relieving the White House news drought. * % % * Former Senator Jim Watson of Indiana reappeared on the floor of the Senate this week for the first time since his departure in March, 1933, from the scene he so long be- strode. The one-time Republican majority leader was cordially greeted by old cronies on both sides of the aisle, to whom he explained that he had kept & vow to stay away from the Capitol for at least two years. Jim is thoroughly enjoying life be- cause he has “no responsibilities.” He maintains the old family home in ‘Washington, but puts in his own time at private law practice in Indianapolis and Chicago. Just turned 71, he seems as frisky as a youngster of 50. He sat on the Republican side of the chamber as a gleeful observer of some of the recent fisticuffs between Joe Robinson and Huey Long. * * x % Another Hoosier of famous name is a visitor in Washington, Albert J. Beveridge, jr., son and heir of the Re- publican statesman, author and ora- tor who represented Indiana in the Senate from 1899 to 1911, Beveridge, Jr,, tall, red-headed chip of the old block, edits a monthly magazine at Indianapolis entitled Pulse of the Na- tion and has come to town to see how the arteries are now beating on the tempestuous Potomac. The publica- tion is liberal in trend. Mr. Bever- idge is credited with an ambition to follow his distingushed dad’s tfoot- steps, even though his political debut last Fall was an unsuccessful attempt to be elected to the Indiana State Legislature as a Republican, *x ok x Gov. Ruby Laffoon of Kentucky plays no partisan favorites in dis- tributing colonelcies. The latest bene- ficiary of his bounty is no other than Representatitve Snell of New York, Republican minority leader in the House. Col. Snell, bearing up “with deep humility” under his new honors, told the House that, as a man “with proper military attainments” and “having always been for red- ness,” he is “ready at any time to bear arms for the State that is famous for its gallant men and beautiful women,” and considers it “a great honor to be even an adopted son of 50 & constituency.” (Copyright. 1935.) Sure to Win, From the Rochester Times-Union, The prudent dictator first observes in what respect dictation is desired and how much and then dictates ac- cordingly. Dethroned. From the San Antonio Evening News. “King Cotton not the man he was.” tly he is suffering the com- mon fate of monarchs. At any rate, stepped aside for s dictator. Unfinished Business _At Arlington Cemetery To the Editor of The Star: When the burial services for the Unknown Soldier were conducted at Arlington Cemetery thousands upon thousands of people were jammed to- gether in the great crowds that blocked the narrow, winding roads which were at that time the only ap- proach to this national shrine. Now- adays the visitor to Arlington ap- proaches by way of the beautiful Memorial Bridge and the splendid six-lane concrete highway leading south from fit. At the end of the road he brings his machine to & stop with & puzzled look on his face. The road goes on directly into the cemetery, but the way is blocked by an imj blockade. To enter he must make a sharp right turn and then a sharp left turn through an old gate. He probably wonders what has happened to stop the work on the magnificent white stone amphitheatric entrance. It is nearly completed. The stone work is done, the roads are laid. But the brick walls end in the breaches that were made for the new entrance. For more than a year tall weeds have grown where green plots of grass were projected. Sand and gravel have washed down over the expensive pave- ments. The entrance of the citizen visitor from the distant State is barred by three sucessive improvised barriers. Instead of a finished, pleasing and dignified appearance such as would be fitting and suitable for the prin- cipal entrance of our national ceme- tery, it presents an unkempt and dis- ordered aspect. It is as though, after planning and nearly completing this magnificent work, we had said to our- selves, “This is too much honor for our war dead, let us abandon and forget it. Let us confine our efforts to self-liquidating projects.” Decoration day, May 30, is more than three months distant. There is ample time for completion and open- ing of this entrance before that day, which each year is set apart for the honor of our war dead. Let us de- termine that before that day the tall weeds shall be removed and the park- ings seeded, the gates finished, the gravel and dirt cleaned from the pave- ments, the makeshift barriers removed and the roads opened so that access to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and to the Lee Mansion shall be made easy to the great numbers of citizens who each year gather at the cemetery to honor the Nation's war dead. C. N K. LEWIS, New Dealers and the Investment Markets To the Editor of The Star: In a recent broadcast Representa- tive Sam Rayburn, in explanation of the utility holding company bill in- troduced by him, stated as a justifi- cation of the drastic penalties im- posed by that measure that the stock market was operating better than ever before in spite of the curb which the last Congress placed upon it. This statement by the gentleman from Texas is another glaring ex- ample of the politician playing the part of the ostrich and refusing to face facts. For, if there are any two things that have been effectively ac- complished by this administration they are the hamstringing of the stock market and the absolute drying up of the normal flow of capital into investment channels. ‘To be specific, I should like to ask Mr. Rayburn to compare the turn- over on the stock exchance since the enactment of the bill regulating its activities with that of the preceding year, and to check up on the total flotations of new capital issues since the securities bill was first put upon the books. Rightly or wrongly, business senti- ment throughout the country is to a very marked degree affected by the action of the investment markets, out even our most enterprising New Deal- ers refuse. even in the face of indis- putable evidence, to admit that such is the case, or else bury their heads in the sand so that they will not see the obvious. Now it is proposed to pu’ the utili- ties, which are normally large pur- chasers of capital goods, through the wringer, so to speak, because they, like others, erred in the palmy days of the predepression era, and thus further to unsettle that confidence which is 50 necessary to & restoration of normal business activity. For, un- der these circumstances, who knows but what his business may be the next victim? And who, in the face of such indiscriminate blackjacking, is going to risk putting his money into anything but Government bonds? 8. E. SAMPSON. Parole System Prevents Daily Prison Revolts To the Editor of The Star: In the Sunday Star of March 3 you published “Why Paroles Are Neces- sary,” by Sanford Bates, who holds the highest position in prison man- agement in the world. I have spent more than 20 years in dealing with returning convicts and everything Mr. Bates says is agreeable to my mind. If we did not have the parole and probation system we would have to double our prison equipment and the style of the prisons would have to be changed to such an extent that they would be very expensive. They would have to be built dynamite proof and the openings would have to have bars so large that a file or saw could not penetrate them in any short time. The parole system is about the only thing that keeps down prison revolt daily. The hope of freedom via the parole route keeps the discipline of the prison. When you put too much load on & man he is going to get from under it at any cost. Society and the general public should take more interest in the re- turning convicts and then they would do better. I would hate to be in the prison re- form business if the parole system was abolished. It would turn our prisons into outposts of hell. . E. E. DUDDING, Huntington, W. Va. Protests T .lking at Musiczl Performances To the Editor of The Star: It is unfortunate that people who thus cause a disturbance. day I was annoyed by people behind | em me at a concert talking and whisper- selfish. Many music concerts spoiled by .8 EEEEEE. E g it seems to me that put out or at least warn people Wh interrupt concerts by talking loudl: Cannot something be done? I find at nearly every concert one or two people with lack of consideration for o:::nx ok ] ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. A reader can get the answer to any question of fact by writing The Washington Evening Star In- formation Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, Di C. Please inclose stamp for re- ply. Q. Is there any estimate of the amount of money spent at Hialeah Park, Miami, during the racing sea- son?—L. D, B. A A. It is estimated that since the racing season opened some $5,000,- 000 has been paid in and out at Hialeah. It is expected that the figure will rise to $14,000,000 for the entire season. Q. How old is the game of ice hockey?—M. M. C. A. The game of ice hockey probably dates from the eighteenth century. In the mid-Victorian age the play- ers, four or five a side, used curved hockey sticks and a bung. From stick and bung the game evolved to bandy, or hockey stick and ball, usually the lacrosse ball of solid rub- ber, mainly through the agency of the Bury Fen team, and the brothers, Tebbutt, rivals of the famous Vir- ginia Water Club founded in 1873 by H. Blackett. In 1891 the bandy asso- clation was formed and the game fairly established as a national pastime. Q. When is Holland's flower show and where is it to be held?—L. M. A. The show will be open this year from March 15 to May 15. The exhibition will be held at Groenendael Park in Heemstede near Haarlem. This was formerly one of the most beautiful private estates in Holland. The show will cover more than 50 acres. Q. What is meant b in “The 8hooting of C. K. A. In some card games a misere is a declaration in which the player en- gages to lose every trick. A spread misere is one that it is not necessary to play, the cards being shown and it being apparent that the hand will not take a trick. Q. What age is best at which to adopt & child?—A. N. A. The Public Health Service says that in adopting a child the best policy is to make the adoption when the child is younger than 6 months old—or a year at the very oldest. The adoption is very much more satisfac- tory and successful if the child knows no other parents and if he really seems like the foster parents’ own child. Q. Is it true that an eye of the halibut moves from one side of the head to the other?—R. E. H. A. The halibut and all other mem- bers of the flatfish family are hatched from the egg with eyes symmetrically placed on each side of the head, but pread misere McGrew?"— at an early stage in the development the eye of the side which will be the under side of the adult fish moves over to the side which will be uppermost. Before this migration of the eye the young swim in a vertical position like other fishes, but after the change they | swim horizontally on one side or the other, according to the species. In the halibut the eyes and color are on the right side of the fish. Q. Please give a biography of Josh Billings—F. G. A. Henry Wheeler Shaw, American humorist, known by the pen name of Josh Billings, was born of Puritan stock at Lanesborough, Mass., April 21, 1818. He left Hamilton College to go West, where he worked on steamships, farmed and was an auc- tioneer. In 1858 he settled in Pough- keepsie, N. Y., as a land agent and auctioneer and began writing for the Poughkeepsie Daily Press. His “Essa on the Muel by Josh Billings” (1860) in & New York paper won him an audience and was followed by many similar contributions. He wrote & number of popular volumes, among which were his burlesques of the familiar yearly almanacs collected into & volume in 1902 under the title, “Josh Billings'’ Old Farmers’ x.” He died in Monterey, Calif., October 14, 1885. Q. I noticed the unusual names you published of the children of the Colonial Clap. Will you give the name of the one who was known as Capt. Triby Clap?—8. K. C. A. This member of the family was once required to sign his full name in some court proceedings and it ap- peared as “Through Much Tribula- tion We Enter the Kingdom of Heaven Clap.” Q. Does a flag fiy all night on the United States Capitol?—L. K. A. There are two which fly day and night every day in the year. These are the flags which fly immediately above the main east entrance and over the west front of the Capitol. There are two other flags, one over the east front of the Senate wing, the other over the east front of the House wing. These fly only during the legislative day—that is, when the House in oues- tion is in session. Q. How much snow equals 1 inch of rain?—A. L. M. A. The Weather Bureau says that as a rule the ratio of unmelted to melted snow is 1 to 10, that is, 10 inches of snow will ordinarily make about 1 inch of water. It may vary and depends upon the character of the snow, whether it is light and dry or moist and heavy. Q. How tall is Mayor La Guardia? How much does he weigh?—B. W. B. A. He is 5 feet 212 inches in height and his weight is about 165 pounds. Q. Where is the Big Bend country of Texas?—S. B. A. The Big Bend refers to that por- tion of the Rio Grande which marks the characteristic wide “v" shaped curve in the first third of its course between Texas and Mexico. The curve incloses Presidio and Brewster Coun- ties, Tex., opposite the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Coahuila. After leaving El Paso the Rio Grande passes through s series of picturesque can- yons, some of them 1,750 feet in depth in the Big Bend. Q. How many men go to the Ford Trade School?—W. M. W. A. The school now numbers over 700 students and 45 instructors. As there is a long waiting list in Detroit, it 1s impossible to consider applica- tions from other cities for admission. Q Has Algeria representation in the French Parliament?—J. G. A. Algeria is a Prench colony and is entitled to proporticnal representa- tion in the French Parliament. There are three departments of Al- glers and each sends three deputies and one senator. Q. Why is snow white>—0. O. G. A. This results from the fact that | the snow crystals are so minute that each cell of the retina of the eye re- ceives & general impression produced by the combination of different wave lengths reflected from innumerable minute facets. Q. During the World War were ships cut in two and passed through the Welland Canal in halves, then riveted together again at the end of the trip?—J. M. 8. A. The locks of the Welland Canal are not long enough to admit long ships. For this reason ships were cut in two, each half floating because of its watertight bulkheads, locked through the canal and refitted on the other end. The ships were built on the Great Lakes and it was known in advance that they could not transit the canal full length, so provision was |made in the design to divide them. Imports of Grain Arouse Crop Curtailment Critics Critics of the Government's farm program, stirred by the knowledge that some grain actually was im- ported by the United States last year, are voicing emphatic protests against further curtailment of crops. “When the United States imports wheat from Prance,” thinks the Lin- coln (Nebr.) State Journal, “that's news. It is news of the most astound- ing import. In fact, it is important news when the United States imports wheat at all, except for special va- rieties needed in milling of special flours, for seed and for experimenta- tion. The United States did import wheat from France in 1934. It may be hard to believe that a vast wheat- producing Nation imported grain from & small, overpopulated European country, but the fact remains. A. A. A. restrictions and the drought re- duced stocks, prices rose, and as a re- sult it was possible to ship wheat across the Atlantic, pay the tariff and still sell at a profit.” Quoting an announcement that “the Department of Agriculture will con- tinue crop curtailment until ‘foreign purchasing power is restored,” the Philadelphia Record asks. “why not turn our eyes to the restoration of do- mestic purchasing power?” The Rec- ord adds: “If the Government, by & really vigorous public works program, has increased mass purchasing power, then we would have a justified in- crease in food prices and all other prices. But the Wallace way of raising prices, by creating an arti ficlal shortage, benefits no one—not even the farmer—in the end. When food prices rise without wages rising at the same rate it simply means that the consumer can buy less food for his money. A new shortage is created and new crop limitation is required.” More favorable toward Government policies is the stand taken by the Sioux City (Iowa) Daily Tribune, which argues that “production must be kept in balance with consump- tion,” and asserts that “the future of agriculture lies in the promotion of new outlets and markets for farm products and elevation of the price level.” p In an extended discussion of the disputed policies, the Kansas City Star takes the position that “we must produce our way to recovery.” That paper makes the contribution to the argument: “In dealing with the farm problem, perhaps the A. A. A. control of production was necessary in the because of the loss of upon thousands of families are not giving the babies and the young chil- dren all the milk they need; probably half the population has been econo- mizing on meat to some extent for the past five years, and it is safe to pre- dict that butter substitutes will be extensively used now that the spread in price is so great. That the A. A. A. policy with regard to animal prod- ucts was a mistake in its inception may be doubted by many, but that its actuai results bid fair to be little short of disastrous it would be hard to disprove.” Imports of grain inspire the state- ment from the San Prancisco Chroni- cle that the “plowing-under program was a grand windfall for the Argen- tines and the Canadians.” Denying profits in world trade, the Sacramento Bee advises that Americans “turn their attention to building up home markets.” The Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal condemns “taxing consumers to induce famine conditions.” “A more active and successful use of the broad tariff powers granted the Executive would remove some of the pressure for domestic ‘planning,’"” argues the New York Times, with the further statement: *“Much has been said in Washington since 1933 about the evils of the competitive system and the merits of a ‘planned economy.’ But planning which handicaps the sale abroad of our most important export crop, and at the same time forces us to import grains which we might easily have grown at home, has still to demonstrate that it is & su- perior method.” % Unemployment Relief A Permanent Pension To the Editor of The Star: While most people are sympa= thetically inclined to the idea of pen~ sions for dependent aged persons, the bill proposing unemployment insur- ance in the District of Columbia is open to criticism, Some years ago a farmer, past middle life, living in Culpeper Coun- ty, Va, said: “I am farming only the ground that I can work with my own hands; all the farm workers have gone to Washington to live.” Now it is proposed to tax the indus- trious element of the people to sup- port in idleness the younger element which has deserted the farm for the bright lights ot the city, many of whom do not want & job and would look upon the unemployment relief check merely as a permanent pension, F. G. CAMPBELL. A Rhyme at Twilight By Gertrude Brooke Hamilton From Dusk to Dawn Prom dawn to dusk, I've known a day! I've won and won again, Nothing has been in vain, And ancient Lord, give me mbm

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