Evening Star Newspaper, April 7, 1935, Page 95

AT A AT AT AT ATATATAAATATATAY gB- 4 AAAAANAANAA A A Decoration by Marie A. Laweon Man and Nature by ANDRE MAUROIS IHAVE just been reading a notable article in an American A NANNANA e magazine — an account of a meeting in Russia of the Russian Academy of Science. At this meeting members of the Academy pondered the fate of several rivers and two seas — an astounding discussion in which Man put forward plans for reshaping the surface of the planet as easily as though he were laying out a garden. The question at issue was how the plains in South Russia could be irrigated. To do this it would be necessary to take water from the Volga river. So far the problem is the usual one of constructing electric plants, canals, dams, etc. Yes . . . . but the Volga flows into the Caspian Sea — an inland sea. What will happen if the Caspian receives less water? The Caspian would recede; in twenty years its level would fall something like six feet. This recession would endanger the ports, for even now the Caspian is not very deep. But Russia needs the Caspian. It supplies many fish. It is a sea-highway. The Russian Academy decreed, “Article I: The waterline of The Caspian Sea must remain fixed.” But how can the Caspian be saved if the Volga is disturbed? There is only one way: By drawing water from the Don basin. So far, so good. The Don flows into the Sea of Azof. This joins the Black Sea, which will always assume responsibility for the former’s existence. But the Sea of Azof also gives employ- ment to great numbers of fishermen. The fish live in part on material brought down by the Don. If the Don loses one third of its water to the Volga there will be an undersea famine. Furthermore, the water of the Don is fresh; that of the Black Sea is salt. That will mean that the Sea of Azof will become saltier; there are certain fish which could not live under such conditions. “Article I1: The Sea of Azof is not to become any saltier than it now is.” Its present condition can be retained if, with dikes and levees, the water of the Dnieper, which flows into the Black Sea, is forced to flow into the Sea of Azof. Is the problem finally solved? The Russian Academy of Science thinks it is, and work is already under way. All the same, I am not a little disquieted when I see Man destroy in a few years what Nature has built up with majestic moderation. Twentieth Century Man is marvelously equipped to subjugate Nature. But Nature sometimes wreaks a terrible vengeance, and it is not always easy to foresee the consequences of our acts. Every time Man changes the face of Nature, an endless chain of consequences results. In order to kill a hostile plant, colonists import an animal that eats it. Then the remedy itself becomes a scourge and they must import a parasite to kill that animal. Thus life goes on its intricate, winding course. Man uses up Nature’s resources. Then he finds substitutes for them. Some day he will draw his energy from the tides and the wind, when he has exhausted coal mines and oil wells; in some distant future he will draw his nutrition directly from the sun. Yes . . . . but substituting chemical processes for agriculture is bound to give rise to new problems in human life. What would economic and political life be in a purely industrial world? No one can say; and as a matter of fact it will not be one of the problems we shall have to attack. Let us concern ourselves with our own difficulties — which are stupendous enough — and not look too far into the future. But neither let us lose sight of the fact that one thing depends upon another. Copyright, 1935, by Jacques Chambrun THIS WEEK 15 Shave 10 Cents by WiLLiam C. LENGEL HE man walked siowly along the lower and sorrier end of the small town's main street. He was dressed in the work clothes of a day laborer. It meant something to be a laborer. To have something to do. To work and get money. A week’s pay in his pocket. When for so long there had been no He stood in front of a Green barber shop. Shave 10c. That wasn't much. It would be nice to get a store shave. He stopped in front of a pawn shop. In the window were a banjo, several saxophones, kodaks, fishing rods, reels, a typewriter, opera glasses, poker chips, and a display of pistols. He saw this collection of miscellany, yet with- out seeing it at all. What he still saw in his mind was the sign, “Shave 10c.” Shave 10c. Yes, he would get a shave. Even if it was an extravagance. And when he got home he would look as slick as the new boarder. He'd have to get rid of that boarder. He was too fresh. And he didn’t like the way Joe looked at his wife. Fresh. A little girl of perhaps eight or nine in a one-piece play frock and nothing had almost passed the man without seeing him when he reached out his hand and grasped her, then smiled down on her. He just smiled. *““You're home early,” she said. He still smiled as she held on to his forth, “Look,” she said. ““I've got a dime.” He stopped smiling. ‘“ Who gave you the dime?”’ “Mama. I'm going to buy candy.” “Mama gave you the dime? . . . H'm,” he said. The child was anxious to be on her way, but now he held more tightly to her hand. So they went on together; the girl began to hippity-hop. Presently she said, “The new boarder came home early too.” “er' “Yes."” “Did Joe give you the dime?" “No. No, papa. Joe brought home a bottle of gin.” “He brought a bottle of gin, eh?” “Yes —papa, you're hurting my hand. I want to go buy my candy.” “And mama gave you the dime?” “Yes, she said for me to go out and play and buy myself some candy.” Again the man was silent. He wanted to be sure that his voice would not sound funny to the kid when he spoke. “Well, well,” he said. “So mama gave you a dime to buy candy. Look. Look here. Papa, he gives you™—he reached deep into his pocket—*a quarter.” mmn “Now you go buy ice cream soda m’l It was painful to watch her eager- ness to be off. “Where are you going, papa?” “Run along,” he said. “I go get a shave.” As slick as the new boarder! But he didn’t go into the barber shop. Again he looked at the display of fire arms. That .32 with the blue-steel barrel. How much would that be? He went into the pawn shop. It’s You —You! thatMadgeand Ed Wells were engaged. She did not know why, but she was looking for another face in the column — just out of curiosity. She had not seen Wally since the tempest. He still had the smile on his lips, but it was a smile written in iron, eyes front. She did not know why the hot words came to her lips: “It's you — you!” she cried. He turned his head slightly, his smile appearing sardonic, but she was uncertain whether he had seen or heard her. Chateau-Thierry, Saint Mihiel — and then the heavy casualty lists from the Meuse-Argonne! Still the call for more men! Madge heard regularly from Ed; she wrote town news to him; he com- plained that her letters were cold. But there had been warmth in the fingers that pressed out the slip with the cross-mark and locked it in a drawer. Chaplain Henderson wrote fre- quently about how well the boys from the town were doing. In a letter to Madge, after paying a good deal of attention to Ed, the chaplain added: “Wally’s smile is worth a lot, though he is gloomy at times, but when he * goes into a fight, it’s a smile on iron.” And later: “They pinned our cross on Wally, and the Firench a red ribbon on modesty and wrote one cross and “It's you— you — you from the first,” and signed her name and mailed An Art Critic’s Ferry Tale I) ovaL CORTISSOZ, incomparable Thomas Craven, the other incom- Craven was crossing the ferry. A stocky little Irishman, newly landed in this country, was standing on the deck by him. He was watching the gulls in the sky over the harbor. “Gosh, but those are fine pi- geons,” said the Irishman. Craven was silent. I said, sir,” said the Irishman, “they are a lot of dom fine pigeons.” brief comment. The Irishman squinted at the sky. “Guerris or bhoys, they are still dom fine pigeons.” Continued from preceding page it to Wally. No answer had come from him. Which one? It might have been Ed to whom the chaplain referred. She prayed God to forgive her for hoping that it was. his telegram. He told Madge that she | need not worry about Ed; for Ed was well back of the front at headquarters, where his colonel found him quite in- dispensable, but Wally was still in the thick of it. ‘There could be no doubt now as to which one. It was Wally. She who had shamed him had been loved him! This would make it easier. But ke had not been afraid; she would not be afraid. She would be proud of him, live for him in her pride. She had no idea how long she had sat graph boy appeared again. mark here. Just heard about padre’s wire pulling for me. Wally."” She understood the in’s tac- tics, even to the shock of the “‘bravely” without a name to sound her depths. dashed into the street to join in the rejoicing on that day when millions of women knew their men were safe. URINEQ FoR Your WHY SUFFER FROM- SIROIL LABORATORIES, INC. 1214 Grioweld St, Dopt W-4, Betrelt, Mich. Please send full leformadion Siroll-the novw trestment of Peoviusis.