Evening Star Newspaper, July 30, 1935, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition, WASHINGTON, D. C TUESDAY .. .. July 30, 1935 .Editor Star Newspaper Company. Business Office: 11th St. and Plnnsylv-mn An New York Office: 110 East On et ke Thake Michitan Buliding. Zuropean Offce. 14 Renm 8t., London. England. Rate by Lnrplu Within the City. Regular Edlition. -45¢ per month -60c per month 65c per month -5¢ per copy THEODORE W. NOYES.... The Evening ight Binal and Sunday Star Righ: fonal, apd ~55¢ per month Collection made™ai th nd of each. month: Orders may be sent by mail or telephone Na- tional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Dally and Sunday .. $10.00; 1 mo.. 85¢ aily “only . "$6.00: 1 mo. Suc unday only. $4.00; 1 mo.. 40c All Other States and Canada. Baliy and Sunday__} »r. $12.00: 1 mo. 31,00 ally o 1 yr.. "$8.00; 1 mo. 7dc Sunday only.__ -1 yr. $5.00; 1 mo. 50c Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. — What “Other Purposes”? The House tax bill is labeled a bill “to provide revenue, equalize taxation and for other purposes.” What are the *“other purposes’? It will, of course, provide revenue—though the additional revenues to be provided are small in comparison with Government expendi- tures. what it does is to increase the burden of taxation already borne by the rela- tively few direct payers of Federal taxes. But what are the “other purposes”? 1s the revenue from the new bill to be earmarked for public debt reduction? The bill does not say so. Is the revenue from the new bill to be used in con- nection with budget balancing? There is nothing to indicate that it will be 80 used. It has no connection with the budget for the next fiscal year and the plea for its enactment was not accom- panied by any reference to Government retrenchment policies indicating an attempt to bring expenditures into line with revenue. Do the “other purposes” proposition to “share the wealth”? include the Little wealth sharing is in prospect from action | by the Government to add to its reve- nues by a possible $300,000,000 a year. Do “other purposes” include destruction of wealth? That may be getting closer to it. And if that is one of the “other purposes,” should it not be clearly stated in the bill and more time allowed for study of the potentialities of such a theory than the House leaders plan to | give for debate on this bill? The power to tax is the power to destroy, and the inheritance tax rates | alone, coupled with the estate taxes already in effect, indicate what may amount to destruction. When the Gov- ernment claims more than a third of a $400,000 inheritance, the payment of that portion may easily mean destruc- tion of the assets represented in" the inheritance. =~ How can sueh an in- heritance, if it is a going business or a factory, be liquidated for tax payment without its partial destruction? And what happens to those dependent for a livelihood upon the employment repre- sented in a $400,000 business or factory a fourth of which must go for taxes? ‘The administration is getting its tax bill, yielding a certain amount of reve- nue and, in the opinion of its framers, no doubt, “equalizing taxation.” What is the country getting? What are the “other purposes”? In the few days of House debate on the bill such questions should be answered. Hitler has gone into the Bavarian mountains for rest. It may be assumed that his favorite musician accompanied him, although by this time he may have developed a dislike for harmony of any description. Willilam Green advocates a boycott against Germany. It is a bold sugges- tion. No one knows better than a sreat labor leader how hard it is to get results of enduring benefit from a boycott. A Slump In Letters. Hard times have had a deleterious effect upon literature. Thousands of men and women possessed of an in- stinct for writing are free of other em- ployment and should be making use of their enforced leisure for the production of books. But something holds them back. They seem to be inhibited by the psychological atmosphere of* eco- nomic distress by which they are sur- rounded. Poverty restrains théir effort. They are discouraged. And the seriousness of the situation cannot be exaggerated. Cultural stand- ards, as it happens, generally are set by literary people.. Their influence con- trols the public mind, directly and indi- rectly. They frame the mold within which their less-gifted contemporaries exist; they dictate the trend of intel- lectual expansion. When they are idle the reading masses mark time. Tem- porarily, it may not matter greatly if they are silenced, but when years pass and literary progress is halted utterly the situation is fraught with danger. To illustrate the problem, where i there any one to take the place of John Galsworthy? He was the inter- preter of an age and should have had & successor equally talented. But his place remains empty. And the same may be asserted for Thomas Hardy, ‘Mayurice Hewlett, Arnold Bennett, Arthur Wing Pinero, Hall Caine, Mark Twain, Jack London, Joyce Kilmer, “William Dean Howells, Edward Arling- .~ ton Robinson and Oliver Herford. They have not been replaced with writers of ‘commensurate genius. Meanwhile, 'H. " G. Wells, Bernard Shaw and Rudyard _Kipling have passed their best periods. s>Maurice Maeterlinck is silent and John | created abroad by the Drinkwater, May Sinclair, Willa Cather, Sinclair Lewis and Eugene O'Neill are not adding to their laurels. Books, it is true, continue to pour from the press. But it is fair to ask: What kind of books? The answer is: Unex- ceptional and ephemeral volumes, destined for small sale and brief re- membrance. Perhaps the explanation is that sensitive souls such as should be the historians and the expositors of the era have been stunned by the suffering which they see about them. The more keenly they feel, the less they can write. Only when the world is prosperous again, it may be presumed, will the story of the desert years be told. And then it can be read philosophically, without pain. . Signs of Reason. From out of the welter of fanaticism and tervorism rampant in Germany sud- denly come signs that reason has not been utterly dethroned in responsible quarters. Nazi chieftains, after con- ference with Hitler, have called off the mad drive on “state enemies,” which recently subjected Jews, Catholics and war veterans to horrifying repression and persecution. There is no indication that obnoxious indignities are to be entirely abolished, but they are to be curbed. Excesses against Jews, Communists and “other reactionaries,” commitied allegedly as acts of rowdyism by irresponsible indi- viduals, will no longer be tolerated. Any further acts of pressure will be | carried out by the duly constituted Its ability to “equalize” taxation | depends altogether upon a point of view, | authorities. That these will be harsh enough is guaranteed by the personali- ties and predilections of such newly appointed anti-Semitic officials as the chief of the Berlin police and the un- dersecretary for religious affairs. Most significant of the measures to indicate bridling of persecution is the order which makes possible the admis- sion of “non-Ayrans” into the army, navy and air force. Hitherto no German was deemed acceptable for service in whose veins there was the slightest taint of Jewish blood. The decree now pro- mulgated opens military service to men with no more than two Jewish grand- parents. In other words, the fact that a conscript is fifty per cent of Semitic ancestry will not debar him from duty | with the colors. No secret is made of the fact that the Nazi crusade is to be soft-pedaled because of world-wide reaction to its recent ‘ manifestations. Baron von Neurath, foreign secretary, and Herr Schacht, president of the Reichsbank, have been foremost in drawing atten- tion to the unfavorable repercussions “purge.” The horror and resentment which have found expression in Great Britain and the United States have made a pgr- ticularly deep impression. Germany is making elaborate preparations to enter- tajn the world at the 1936 Olympic games. Hitler has no desire to imperil the success of that project, which is designed to present Nazidom in glowing colors to other nations. Hints that “non-Ayrans” might be barred from German teams provoked bitter protest throughout the world of international sport. If the truth could be known, the strong probability is that the Reich's | economic plight is a strongly contribu- tory factor in halting Nazi “purge” pro- pensities. Exports are shrinking so steadily that the 1935 adverse trade balance already stands at $400,000,000. Armament expenditure has piled up public and private debts to the colossal total of $60,000,000,000. The gold reserve has evaporated. ¢ It is not difficult to divine that Nazi leaders, recognizing the handwriting on the wall, have determined to backtrack on a policy that could only lead Ger- many down the road to ruin. So far as reports can be analyzed, the present Russian government, instead of being a communism, is the tyranny which history indicates is apt to follow a period of anarchy. When the sun threatens wheat there is organized effort to save it. A crop shortage may have its economic value, but it must be accomplished by art and not by nature. —_——e—————— “Cocktail parties” flourish prominently. Formerly cocktails were conspicuously mentioned in lists of Summer “don’ts” provided by physicians. Much Ado About Nothing. A good deal too much fuss has been made about the denial of a masseur's license to a German-born resident of New York by the commissioner of li- censes. The applicant is not yet a full-fledged American citizen. He has taken out only his first papers and is awaiting the second and final, which, it is explained, are held up by the pressure on the Naturalization Bureau. A strict construction of the rules has been pronounced that he is not eligible on that ground. Ardent supporters of Nazi Germany have construed the action as a discrimination, although the masseur declares that he is not and has never been a member of the Nazi organization. Mayor La Guardia is beset with clamorous protests by the pro- Nazis of New York against a reversal of the commissioner’s ruling and by equally clamorous protests of the anti- Nazis, who contend that the denial of license is an unwarranted act of dis- crimination. It was unfortunate that the applicant was not fully qualified as a citizen. It seems that he had a license previously, but aliowed it to lapse and lacked the funds to complete his citi- zenship status. Now if the mayor cuts the knot by reversing the commissioner’s action on the ground “that the comple- tion of the citizenship procedure is only a matter of form and a little time he will be assailed as pro-Nazi, while if he 15 issued he will be assailed by the anti- 3 THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, ,D. €., TUESDAY, JULY 30, 1935. THIS AND THAT" BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. . Nazis. The issue, however, will not grow into cause for diplomatic representa- tions, It is a parochial affair, in which the United States has no part, save perhaps to the slight extent of sharing the burden of blame for the compli- cation by reason of its dilatory methods of handling citizenship cases. e r——————— The Social Lobby. “Now that the work of lobbies in general is to be investigated, I hope that the dinners and cocktail crowd will be included.” Thus speaks Represent- ative Nelson of Missouri, adding: “It has never been my belief that one Con- gressman in a hundred ever accepts money for his vote, but to the man who longs to be counted among the ‘upper crust’ or who has a soclal climber as a wife there are other than money meth- ods that may be used with effect.” The “show me” attitude of the Mis- sourian will probably not result in any startling revelations, perhaps in no revelations at all. Congress will hardly take the trouble to inquire into such & widely ramifying and almost certainly embarrassing subject as the social lobby. It is a well-recognized institution, has always been and will always be. Wash- ington history is replete with cases. This “social lobby” works both ways, for and against legislation. It is subtle form of persuasion and it is based upon a fundamental principle of making friends. Engraved invitation cards have played a large part in the shaping of policies. Received by the wives of legis- lators they have been instrumental in détermining even major matters when the issues were not defined by party mandates. It may be remarked that Represent- ative Nelson's negative mathematical formula, “not one in a hundred Con- gressmen ever accepts money for his vote,” is not flattering, however, to the body of lawmakers sitting annually in ‘Washington. It leaves the possibility that there mdy be one in four hundred and thirty-five—accepting the word “Congressman” in its narrow sense of a member of the House of Represent- atives—discovery of whom as a taker of cash would cause a profound shock, to Congress and to the country. ‘The “social lobby” will not be inves- tigated. No funds will be voted to con- duct such g surely embarrassing, broadly implicating and dangerously intimate research into the ways and means of the making of good will which one high in office recently charged against the corporations on the score of their contributions to charity. The givers and partakers of dinners and cocktail par- ties may rest easy. They will not be exposed in their iniquity. P A new requirement has been devel- oped by the marvels of invention. One who aspires to recognition as a states- man must incidentally be a radio artist. Ethiopia is mentioned as inclined to make concessions to Italy. This is but natural. Ethiopia is obviously the smaller party to the controversy. Mussolini must at least get credit for throwing the League of Nations into high speed again. One of the cheeriest bits of current fiction is the Summer resort post card. Shooting Stars, BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Paved With Precious Years. There are roads out to the ocean ‘Where the dashing waters shine, Others to the storm’s commotion Range above the timber line! There are roads for homeward travel. There is one which ever seems A bright journey to unravel To the castle of our dreams. While the roads we must be building For the toiler’s simple need, This one we are gayly gilding With the hopes we love to heed. Costs attend upon our scheming, Be it great or be it small, But the highway of our dreaming Is most costly of them all. Realizations. “You ought to realize that there are other things in life worth more than money.” “I do,” said Senator Sorghum, “but when I want anything done I can’t make the other fellow realize it.” Jud Tunkins says talking politics gets you into trouble, but what are you going to do when most of what is left of poli- tics is taxes? P —— Not as Other Men. ‘To relativity Il twrn And measure happiness By studying a way to learn For other men’s distress. Comparisons will lightly thrive. Tll say that all is fine When other sorrows I contrive ‘To make more deep than mine. Geometric. “Prosperity is just around the corner,’ said the cheery economist. “I am sure of that,” said Mr. Dustin Stax, “but corners are hard to find if you keep traveling in circles.” “Some of our idols are grotesque,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “showing that true excellence seeks to be praised for its works rather than for its beauty.” The Coinage of Our Brain Trust. Our trading may seem sunpy, Simple as the heart could wish,, ‘With an even pound of money For a pound of pork or fish. A bill with ease we'll settle Traffic Safety School Is Greatly Needed Here ‘To the Editor of The Star: “We have carried on a safety campaign of eight weeks and what have we had? More deaths and a greater number of accidents. Now I'm going to crack down,” says a high police official. All well and good. But what we need is not & week’s traffic campaign, nor a month’s drive, but a year’s safety campaign—an indefinite one, so to speak. It is highly regrettable that Maj. Brown has been forced to inflict his drastic trafic order upon the local motorists. Whether or not he is justi- fled in his action is not my point to argue. But he is only trying to do the best he can and for that deserves great credit. Many means have been tried to show the driver the error in his ways. Yet how many have availed themselves of the opportunity? “That program is not for me,” said the smug, complacent drivers when they read of it or heard it coming in over the radio. They felt too well equipped in the driving line to heed its call. There is one thing badly needed in this city at the present time and that is a traffic safety education school, such as is maintained in many of the large cities of this country. Many drivers | thumb up their noses at such an idea. Yet it is surprising how many old hands at the wheel can stand and profit from a little education on the subject of safe driving. For instance, the other evening, dur- ing rush hour, I came home with a very capable driver, a young woman of over five years’ experience. She drove very well but at one of the circles she veered off and made a right turn from the left lane of traffic. The result was, not one, but two very near accidents and a bad, momentary traffic jam. Now, it prob- ably never occurred to her that in seek- ing to make a right turn she should first make her way to the right of the street before attempting to make the turn. A traffic school could teach her. Likewise, the willful traffic violator could stand to learn much in such an institution. A forced session of attend- ance, with its attendant loss of time and pay, would result in far greater benefit than the imposition of a fine or a jail sentence would afford. However, all the coals of fire are not to be heaped on the heads of the motor- ists. What about the careless, thoughte less mothers who allow their small chil- dren to play and roam about the streets all day unattended? Are they not just as guilty? And should they not be in- structed just as much as the automobile driver? I asked a friend of mine the other day why she did not keep her children in the yard and let them play there in- stead of the dangerous street. “What are you going to do,” said she, “when you have no back yard? Or when you have one that's as big as a postage stamp?” That brings us down to another group not so much in need of sympathy as | they are of education, the real estate operators and home builders. Particu- larly those persons who because of their | pinch-penny methods, niggardliness and greed build houses “back to back” with no lot or intervening space between. They ignore every good principle of health, sanitation and correct home building for the purpose of squeezing in another box-like house that rightly de- serves no place there. It is this group that is sadly in need of education. And restriction, if conditions are to improve. ‘There should be a city building regi- lation that all dwellings have a certain prescribed amount of back yard space, | and, failing that, permits to build should be refused. Finally, let it be said that if we have & bad situation on our hands it is be- cause we make it so. If there were a little more co-operation, heed and con- sideration of other’s rights there would be no need to impose drastic penalties. JOSEPH D. AMOROSE. Obsolescence Requires New Economic Measures ‘To the Editor of The Star: It is easy for the detached observer | to note the hangover from that age when mass production to meet the needs of an. ever-expanding population | | perhaps no more colorful an episode in- was the keynote in American industry, banking and finance. But when, as at the end of the nineteenth century, the | world became arowded and its natural resources have been appropriated and exploited, so that there is a defect in material nature whereby such exercise of the will by some leaves no objects upon which the wills of others may be exerted, or a deficiency of objects such as prevents any substantial exertion of the will, it then becomes necessary to revise industrial, banking and financial ure, Conflicts between leaders of the ad- ministration and leaders in other fields as to taxation, legislative action and inheritance taxes are indices of the difference in those attiudtes of mind. Leaders in the older field came to regard research as “academic nonsense,” even in the face of what Germany had man- aged to do by that means in advancing utilities from narrow resources. Success from obsolescence and discard of ancient ‘ways has been heralded as proof of the products and services of commercialism, yet refusal to recognize the general principle of obsolescence brings such foolish opposition as “back to the Con- stitution” and outmoded doctrines of “States’ rights” in an age of intense socialization. The success of the Federal forces in checking gangdom is heralded as benefi- cent by the very same groups of self- willers who would proceed along their old ways in other affairs of business and State government. Corporations were glad to improve by experiences re- sulting from the Civil War, but when it comes to continuing the controlled and directed correlation that made suc- cess in the World War possible and profitable, they revolt and cry “bu- reaucracy and tyranny.” Periodic redistribution of resources as in ancient days not being practical, the next step is legalized distribution by means of taxation for the benefit of the continuance of that very socializa- tion that has made the income possible and protected it. Failure to submit and co-operate invites wide disparity between the haves and have-nots, and increas- ing disorder and loss. World history verjfies it. CHARLES M. THOMAS, Infantile Paralysis in North Carolina and D. C. ‘To the Editor of The Star: . Relative to the headlines of the 27th, paralysis , but with had had but dmlble that A multitude of small birds, names un- known, flutter through the trees all Summer long. ‘Tiny gray fellows, no larger than your thumb, hop around on the lawn, in the immemorial search of their. race for food. These little birds are not to be de- spised by the amateur bird lover. Though they cannot compare in gen- eral interest with the robins and the cardinals and the thrushes and the blue- Jays, still they have g charm of their own. In the first place they are small and have all the interest of their size. They are forever singing, in the sec- ond, so add to Nature’s music. In the third place, they form a per- fect background for the larger and showler birds. koK k ‘They include the various song spar- rows, the wrens, later the juncos and the goldfinches and many another creature to be unknown to most of us forever. Despite our forays into bird books, we know positively that never shall we have the patience or skill as an cbserver to find them out, to match them against their portraits, to place a finger posi- tively on their name and family. No doubt it is just as well. These are the background birds, the vast concourse of life behind and bol- stering up the large ones. The big birds, including those men- tioned, also the flickers, blackbirds, starlings, remain the chief interest of the ama- teur. This is understandable. These are the easily recognized ones. Their bodily forms are such and espe- cially their colorations so vivid, in most instances, that the veriest amateur can | pick them out. Many of them are known to all from childhood. Farther than this some go, but still there must remain a large number of persons interested in the song birds | who do not have the patience to go | deeper. ‘Why should they? A healthy interest is enough for thou- sands who have neither the time nor | inclination to pursue studies along that | line. Ornithology is a science as well as & | life work. Not to all persons, even those inter- ested in birds, comes the ability to differentiate. * x ox * ‘The smaller birds, main a background population, forever flitting in and out, a sort of foil to the larger actors on the aviational stage. If we use the word “aviation,” we think of humans emulating birds, when | | perhaps our first thought, in all fair- ness, should be of the birds. They were our first flyers and prob- ably will be the last if man insists on killing himself off with the aid of planes { and gas. When man flies no more the birds will still be at it, we hope. It is their element by eternal decree. What business has man among them, after all? Tiny birds can fly as well as large ones. They initiate and carry through stupendous journeys. A little fellow no larger than a handful | flies 7,000 miles! STARS, MEN crows, mockingbirds must | therefore, will re- ‘- Recently we saw a photograph of a flock of little ones, resting on a wire, while en route to the tropics. It was & picture to think about. * * ¥ % Birds in the everyday ueed not be taken too seriously, however. One of their finest points ‘is that one does not have to think about them much. One merely accepts them, finds their presence entertaining and helpful. They keep down insects of all kinds while taking care of themselves. They are a relief to the brain worker, in that he may get quiet amusement out of watching them. Close “study” of them, in the usual sense, would be to spoil their best efforts for him. Hence the amateur bird lover will be content, he may think, to be exceedingly ignorant of their names, just as long as he can be sure to realize their virtues. * X ¥ x ‘The first practical value of birds must be their destruction of inimical insect | life. The first spiritual value must be their | song. Belween these two they do enough | for us to merit all our interest and love. It is even said now that starlings eat immense numbers of Japanese beetles. Observers of birds never joined in the | hue and cry against the starling. They | were willing to defend them, and did | defend them, against the somewhat silly war upon them. Almost all the birds, large and small, the little fellows along with the large ones, daily eat insects, in their various | stages, by the uncounted thousands. The life of a bird is mostly a search | for food, either for itself or its young. This elemental search is very plain with them. In mankind it is glossed over by civilization, the institution of set meals, the shining services of table linen, silver and china. Man would not admit willingly that food is anything but a secondary matter with him. Yet two eminent scientists have pub- lished a book advocating five meals a day instead of three. The birds know nothing of meals; they | eat all the ti' e, whatever they can find and when ‘er. Nature has been kind to them by | adapting their digestive tracts to this continuous eating. That they consume | millions of insects harmful to man and his designs is incidental with them. * %% % Music, sweet music, is the first spir- itual value of bird life. This is the first and last thing we think of mostly when we think of a thrush or a mockingbird. Strangely enough, their utterances are not just sounds, as the frog’s are, but cunningly contrived melodies, in many instances startlingly akin to the written music of mankind. They may be put on a musical staff, | given a key and a signature, given an accompaniment, too, which does no violation to the treble, since all is music. If any think bird songs are not real music, in the best human sense, let him nvestigate the subject just a little, he will see in no time that the birds really make music such as mankind knows. Music arose as man’s attempt to imi- tate the birds. This is their spiritual gift to us. AND ATOMS Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. ‘That morose soldier of fortune, Her- nando De Soto, discoverer of the Mis- sissippi, and one of the first white men | to penetrate the interior of the present beautiful Indian “princess.” - With the exception of the affair of John Smith and Pocahontas there is volving an aboriginal woman in the story of American exploration than that of De Soto and the celebrated white- manteled “lady of Cofitachequi.” Dr. John R. Swanton, ethnologist of the Smithsonian Institution and an authority on the route followed by De Soto’s little army, has been able to de- termine the spot where the famous hood- winking of the Spaniard took place. It was, he has decided after painstaking exploration of the surrounding country, near the village of Franklin, on the Little Tennessee River. The location fills all the requirements of the scene as de- scribed in the diaries of some of De Soto's followers. It establishes an important landmark in the De Soto journey, the retracing of which is important to ethnologists | striving to identify the Indian tribes | with which the Spaniards came into contact. Dr. Swanton has been espe- cially intefested in tracing the trail of De Soto, in Northwestern South Caro- lina, through the Appalachians to the Hiwassee River. He located the site of the old Indian town of Xualla, men- tioned in the De Soto narratives, where numerous Indian remains still constantly are being unearthed. Over the hill on which the town stood there still is a well-marked Indian trail connected with an ancient trail whose course still is well-known to old inhabitants. It ran to the Little Tennessee, which De Soto forded near the present Franklin, and it was there, Dr. Swanton decided, that the escape actually took place. * k ¥ X The incident was described in the dlary of Rodrigo Ranjel, De Soto's secretary: The next day the Governor came 'to the crossing opposite the village of Cofi- tachequi and the chief Indians came with gifts and thejr woman chief lady of the land, whom the Indians of rank bore on their shoulders with much re- spect, in a litter covered with delicate white linen. (This, Dr. Swanton says, was a white fabric woven of the inner bark of the mulberry And spolkee to and sagigg i skins weli tanned and ‘blankets, all very good, and countless strips of venison and dry wafers. All the Indians went clothed down to their feet with very fine skins and blankets of sable fur and others of the skin of wildcats, which gave out a very strong smell. The people were very 31&;: and polite and naturally well con- lights are not necessary. narraies naively, but made the mistake of calling his find to the attention of the “Governor.” De Soto proceeded to | admonish him on the evils of stealing— United States, once was outwitted by a | hardly sincerely, one would judge from | the rest of the narrative. At any rate, the tender conscience of “the Governor” did not prevent the two from taking, the narrative continues, “some 200 pounds of pearls. And when | the ‘woman chief saw that the Christians set such store by them she said: ‘Go to Talimeco, my village, and vou will find 3 many that your horses cannot carry em.’ " To which offer De Soto responded | piously: “Let them stay there. To whom God gives a gift let Saint Peter bless it.” But already, it may be presumed, the fair lady of Cofitachequi was growing suspicious of her strange guests. Her feelings must have been very uneasy, in- deed, when, a week later, De Soto, in the naive language of Ranjel. “car- ried her with them in return for the good treatment they had received from her.” She carried with her, borne on the shoulders of one of her woman at- tendants, a trunkful of the precious pearls. Ranjel merely recounts that the lady “escaped.” But an equally naive ac- count of the final incident was written by a “knight of Elvas,” one of De Soto’s party: “One day on this journey the lady left the road with the excuse of going into the thicket, where, deceiving them, she so concealed herself that for all | their search she could not be found. She took with her her cane box full of un- bored pearls. These were carried for her | by one of the women, and the Governor, not to give offense, permitted it, thinking he would beg them of her when he | should give her leave to depart.” Doubtless the begging would have been | quite positive, perhaps with a sword at the lady's throat. She left behind her a company of highly indignant Span- iards, muttering curses 'as they hunted through the thick bushes for their fair | “guest.” The gloomy, dignified De Soto had been made a fool of by the queen | of the heathen. Lights Needed at a Dangerous Crossing | To the Editor of The Star: One Mount Pleasant resident was killed by traffic on Mount Pleasant street near Irving street northwest within the past two years. Another suffered & broken leg and severe shock by traffic on Mount Pleasant street near Irving street’ within the past three weeks; auto “smash-up” at Mount Pleasant and Ir- ving streets. The director of traffic, sus- tained in letter by Commissioner Hazen recently, says “stop-go lights not neces- sary at Mount Pleasant and Irving streets northwest.” Last week I wrote major and super- | intendent of police, Mr. Ernest W. Brown, as to the condition of traffic at Mount Pleasant and Irving streets and sug- gested he have a police officer stationed there to “check-up” on my statements in regard to traffic. July 27 the “check- up” was made. In an hour or an hour and one-half over mkty cards were handed ~stoppers, non= horn blowers at that I.nm&m, ‘where "'l‘nfllc Director Van Duzer, sustained Commissioner Bnen._-ul “stop-go W. E. RYAN. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS By Frederic J. Haskin, A reader can get the answer to any question of fact by writing The Washing- ton Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washing. ton, D.C. Please inclose stamp for reply. Q. What is meant by unguled?—F. G. A. In heraldry the term is applied to the tincture of the hoofs of an animal. Thus a stag represented with hoofs of a certain color is unguled of that color. Q. How much money was split between Baer and Braddock?—E. L. A. Baer got $72,500 and Braddock got $35,000. Q. What very early Methodist or Bap- tist Church in Pittsburgh, Pa., was popu- larly known as Brimstone Corner?—V. W, A. It is now known as the Smithfield Street Methodist Episcopal Church, Seventh avenue and Smithfield street. Q. How long have the curative values of White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., been known?—E. K. A. As early as 1772 the health-giving properties of the springs were recog- nized. People were bathed in tubs hewn frdm tree trunks. Q. What is the origin of the expres- sion, “A feather in your cap”?—F. E. A. The allusion is to the very common custom in Asia and among the American Indians of adding a new feather to their headgear for every enemy slain. Q. What is the name of the Japanese musical instrument which resembles a banjo?—P. N. A. This three-stringed instrument is a samisen, Q. Has Adolf Hitler's autobiography been a best-seller?>—S. F. A. Total sales throughout the world of “My Battle” are approximately 3,000.- 000. The only other German post-war | book that has outsold Hitler’s is Erich Maria Remarque’s “All Quiet on the Western Front.” Q. What is the depth of the deepest coal mine in Pennsylvania?—C. C A. Two mines in Pennsylvania réport reaching a depth of 2200 feet. One is | the Susquehanna Collieries Co.'s Wil- liamstown mine, in Dauphin County; the | other is the Auchincloss Colliery, at Nanticoke. | \ | Q When can it be said that dry | weather constitutes a drought?—N. M. A. A generalization is that “a drought is considered to exist whenever the rain- fall for a period of 21 days or longer is but 30 per cent of the average for the time and place.” Q. What countries in Africa are en- tirely independent?—J. A. M. A. Ethiopia and Liberia are the only two countries of Africa which are com- pletely devoid of foreign control. Egypt is now an independent kingdom, but still under British influence. Q. When was the first Children's Aid Society established?>—E. T. D. A. The first society so called was founded in 1853 at New York by Charles Brace. Q. What is a gandy dancer?—J. J. H. A. In tramp or railroading slang it is a section laborer in an exm railroad gang. Q. Do many people in Moscow use the community kitchens?—S. C. ’ A. The 26 communal kitchens in Moscow serve 2.440,000 persons. Two | out of every three inhabitants have at least one meal a day in the dining rooms connected with their factories or offices. Q. Does a pint of water weigh a pound?—R. B. A. It is slightly heavier. water weighs 1.04 pounds. A pint of Q. What is a Catharine wheel?—C. P. A. It is a window or compartment of a window of circular form, sometimes with radiating divisions or spokes, used in medieval buildings, called a rose or marigold window. It is a memorial of St. Catharine’s martyrdom. Q. What are the known weights and dimensions of the largest species of sharks ever caught in any sea?—A. G. A. The largest shark, as well as the largest fish of any kind ever caught, was & whale shark weighing more than 26,000 pounds and having a length of 38 feet and a girth of 18 feet. This mon- ster was harpooned off Knight's Key, Fla., on June 1, 1912, by Capt. Charles Thompson. The largest shark of the more familiar type ever caught was a Mako shark weighing 2,176 pounds and having a length of 13 feet 3 inches and a girth of 8 feet 9 inches. This fish was caught off Cape Province, South Africa, in June, 1928, by W. R. Selkirk. Q. How many speeches were made by the Four Minute Men during the war? —N. 8. A. It is estimated that the 75000 Four Minute Men delivered a total of 7,555,190 speeches to audiences aggre- gating 314,454,514, Q. Who wrote the words to the song, “Anchors Aweigh"?—C. T. A. The words, with the exception of the last stanza, were written by Comdr. A. H. Miles, then a midshipman. The | last stanza was written by Midshipman R. Lovell, class of 1926 ————————— A Rhyme at Twilight By Gertrude Brooke Hamilton Stormy Dusk Throw the long casement wide. Watch, love, with me, This glorious storm sweeping in from the sea: Vanished the setting sun, where clouds are lowering, See that slim poplar tree in the dusk cowering, Flash like bright phosphorus, rumbling of thunder, Thru Ite wrrenml rain now the brief | Of forked llxhv.nln. the whole scene re- | And in the tempest the poplar tree reel~ sn-uckmf{: a swift volt with thunder sp- palling, Struck all the lenct.ho!lt green branches falling, Flash after flash in l'lplduy m‘numu A nnphumnl whiff—the prone tree in the lightning! shut out the wild storm and that frail poplar tree. Let the casement swing to. Ah, love, shelter me!