Evening Star Newspaper, September 12, 1935, Page 10

A—10 www THE EVENING STAR, “’ASHINGTON, D. C, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1935. THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition, WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY .........September 12, 1935 .Editor THEODORE W. NOYES.......... The Evening Star Newspaper Company. Business Office: 11th St. ane Pennsylvania Ave. . New York Office: 110 East 42nd St. Chicazo Office: Laké Michizan Bullding. European Office: 14 Regent St.. London. England. Rate by Carrier Within the City. Regular Edition. SHE 45¢ per month he Evening he Evening (when 4 Sundays) ___ Tre Evening and Sunday Star (when 5 Sunda: c per month The Sunday Star_. 5¢ per copy Night Night Pina Sunday Star. c per month Nicht Final and Sunday 8! o000 IO ‘end of each month. mail or telephone Na- 60c per month Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily aLa Sunday $10.00; 1 Daily only S6.00; Sunday only. s100; 1 All Other States and Canada. Daily and Sunday_.1 yr.. Daily ‘ou Sy Sunday only-. Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press s exclusively eatitled to the use for republication of all news dispaiches credited to it or no rwise credited in this puper and also the local news published herein. Al rights of pubiication of special Gispatches herein are also reserved. The Lion Roars. | stance, Crisis succeeds crisis at Geneva, but at no point of the tortuous Italo-Ethi- opian conflict have matters reached the | point to which they were brought by Great Britain’s stand before the League | Assembly yesterd: Sir Samuel Hoare, her foreign secretary, in an address of unequivocal directness, demanded that the League exhaust its powers in curbing violations of the Covenant. He affirmed that Britain advocates “steady, collec- tive resistance to all acts of unprovoked | aggression. Sir Samuel recalled the recent overwhelming British plebiscite in favor ef the League as evidence that | pressing represent “no variable, ui ble sentiment, but a | principle of international conduct to | which the British people and their gov- ernment hold with firm, enduring, uni- versal persistence.” It would be impos- sible for a responsible statesman to be more categorical or to utter a sterner | the views he w warning to a nation bent upon defying | the world's will for peace. Early indications reveal no sign that the itish position has caused any change of heart in Mussolini. There are | even intumations that Il Duce has fixed upon October 10 as the zero hour for hostilities. Meantime he is arranging for a spectacular demonstration of Ital- jan manpower. At a certain psycholog- jcal moment he intends to mobilize 10,000,000 persons. ranging from vouths of eight and ten vears of age to veterans long past the period of active military service, as an impressive symbol that Italy possesses boundless human re- sources for any eventualities, no matter how severely her energies are taxed by war in Africa. While Britain's spokesman did not | specifically mention that his country is | prepared to impose “sanctions” in case Italy violates the Covenant, he discloses British readiness to resort to such ex= | tremes, only stressing that there 1s no intention of acting single-handedly. In the field of “collective” steps, the Brit- ish would be “second to none.” Not the least significant feature of the British pronunciamento in its warning that the League's failure to meet its present obligations would burn the “bridge” that unites Great Britain and the Continent. That is a suggestion of ominous import to France and is a persuasive: invitation to her to support Britain. Premier Laval will address the Assembly tomorrow. He faces the deli- cate choice of maintaining the French entente with TItaly or running the risk of alienating Britain's prized friend- ship and practically wrecking the League. France has ever the German menace to her eastern frontier in mind. She has now to decide between the prospect of Italian aid in Austria and | the Balkans when the time comes and | the chance that British support would be available if Germany and Italy should again come together. The outlook for peace is far from bright. The League Council’s concilia- tion efforts have come to naught. Over- | tures to make Italy wide economic and even some territorial concessions have been rejected. Rome insists upon its right to carry out a purely “localized | colonial campaign.” She demands that the League keep hands off and thus | avert “an absurd European tragedy.” The | next few hours should show whether | Geneva is prepared supinely to yield to | Mussolini’s dictation. 3 | ———————— The demonstrated competence of the Rockefeller interests would naturally make Salassie easier in mind if he could persuade Standard Oil to take over Ethi- | opia. Instead of building forts and prisons, the Rockefellers would probably have established schools, hospitals and laboratories. R Transients. A “transient,” as the word applies to the destitute persons now under care of the Transient Bureau, is one who has lived in the District less than a year. New transient cases reach Washington at the rate of about 125 to 150 a day and 750 a week. There are some 3,200 tran- sient cases, representing individuals or family groups, under care of the Tran- sient Bureau now. They are supported by Federal Emergency Relief Adminis- “ tration funds, not being eligible for relief from District funds until they have established residence—lived here a year or more—in the District. Many of the transients have done that; lived here long enough to become District residents. But most of the transients insist on remaining transients. They keep turning up like bad pennies, drifting from one city or transient camp tc another and back again. And the purpose of the order just issued by Fed- eral relief authorities is to prevent this drifting by refusing to take on any new transient cases after September 20. Whether that simple procedure will be effective in solving the transient prob- ‘ | among men | Michelangelo. | fensible. | made to order. | plished | Luxury and ease have been handicaps Even that degree | | than a help. for it is that it will keep its recipients 1 lem is another thing. If a destitute transient turns up with a ragged family and asks for relief something has to be done about it. The Federal authorities presumably intend to send him back where he came from, or, if he has any home, to send him home. Suppose he comes back again? Well, apparently all that can be done in that case is to repeat the procedure. In the meantime, if the 3,206 transient cases in Washington, scattered in fur- nished rooms and transient lodges, graduate from transient ranks to the status of unemployed residents, they will join fellow alumni who, particularly in ‘Washington, have contributed to making the local relief problem a peculiarly difficult one. e Subsidized Art. Subsidized art is not necessarily dan- gerous. Indeed, some of the most emi- nent geniuses the world has seen have been protected against the 'disabilities of poverty by Kkings and princes or wealthy commoners endowed with an instinct for beauty and philanthropy. The Medici family of bankers, for in- made Florence the esthetic cen- ter of Europe by their altruistic appre- ciation of literature and painting. | Francis I honored himself by patron- izing Leonardo da Vinci and Pope Julius II insured his own immortality by his commissions to The example of such distinguished charity has been an in- spiration to.a legion of lesser Mae- cenases, and humanity at large has been | advantaged by the circumstance. But the American public should not | be too optimistic about the results of the administration’s plans to finance the endeavors of more than thirty thousand writers, painters, musicians and actors | through the W. P. A. Division of Pro- fessional Service. Certainly it must be granted that artistic people have as much claim upon the Government as people who are not artistic. As a re- lief device, then, the scheme is de- ‘With regard to the product of the investment, however, skepticism is abundantly justified. Where is the army | of worthy genius to be found? Not even | the most optimistic of critics will have the hardihood to argue that there are | anything like thirty thousand artists in the United States possessed of the skill, training or experience required for notable achievement. Amateurs, of | course, are plentiful; but where are the | equivalents of Edgar Allan Poe and Walt | Whitman, Benjamin West and James McNeil Whistler, Stephen Collins Foster and Ethelbert Nevin? The woods are | full of ambitious individuals who think ! of themselves as being immeasurably competent, yet five minutes’ talk with any one of them will convince the aver- age citizen of their lack of the divine spark which is the imperative factor in all great art. A renaissance, theoretically, might be Actually, no such thing The is possible. Life is not like that. | human soul cannot be commanded into maturity. Rather, it is the sad history of the race that the noblest victories which genius has won have been accom- under conditions of misery. to creative effort. of subsidization which the W. P. A. can provide is more apt to be & blight The best that can be said alive. It may be doubted if it will be of any genuine practical value to art | itself. Rather, the contrary is indicated. - The late Senator Huey Long has many times predicted his own assassination. Linked with his rugged force of person- ality was a spirit of boyish gayety that | endeared him to an extent that made such a merciless crifelty seem impossible. | e The cynical adage “There is no trouble that money cannot cure” has lost force amazingly. being hindered by dissension. Certain in his own mind of another Democratic victory, Postmaster General Farley still admits the need of a na- tional chairman who will measure up to his standards of efficiency. s A Nearby Tariff War. Students of tariff war find a classic example of such hostilities in the bitter conflict now raging between Canada and Japan. Their differences have reached a point where the Dominion threatens to abrogate a twenty-two-year-old com- mercial treaty between the two coun- tries. At the root of the controversy is the dumping of cheap Japanese goods onto the Canadian market, which set in with depreciation of the yen in re- lation to the Dominion doliar. Canada retaliated by imposing dumping and ex- change compensation duties, which were made applicable to all countries whose currencies enable them to undersell Canadian domestic products. Japan replied by placing a fifty per cent surtax on her principal imports from Canada, despite Ottawa's conten- tion that such action violated the 1913 equal-treatment trade agreement. The Canadians thereupon decreed a thirty- three and one-third per cent ad valorem surtax on Japanese goods. The rival surtaxes have been in force since July 21. ‘With a view to ending a mutually in- tolerable situation, Ottawa now seeks a friendly settlement, but warns Tokio that the 1913 pact will be terminated if the Japanese surtax is not removed. To per- mit the Japanese to flood Canada with low-cost wares would, Premier Bennett informs Tokio, “be a direct attack upon a people’s rights to maintain its stand- ards of living by all means available.” No time limit has been fixed, but Ottawa expects Mr. Bennett to make good his threat, if necessary, within a month. Canada sold about $15,000,000 worth of goods to Japan last year and bought from her some $5,000,000 worth.. The Dominion is anxious to preserve its growing market in Nippon, but it is not prepared to do so at the cost of allow= ing Japanese imports to compete with | driver to move over and let a fellow | each | sails into port it may | repress art | day book and ledger. Available funds by the bil- | lion do not prevent relief work from Dominion products at cut-throat prices. As American merchants and manufac- turers face the same Japanese dumping problem with which Canada is now grappling, our northern neighbor’s efforts to meet it will be watched with lively interest in this country, especially in the New England textile regions. The Tooter Pest. New York City, as a part of its anti- noise campaign, will outlaw the blowing of automobile horns between 11 o'clock in the evening and 7 o'clock in the morning. That is a good thing. For every single toot of an automobile horn in actual warning there are at least ninety-nine toots by ill-mannered or nervous individuals for noise-making purposes only. The resulting cacophony, especially in crowded traffic, probably causes more shattered nerves in a single day than all the lives saved in a year by bona fide toots of warning. The variety of sentiments expressed by a single-toned automobile horn is remarkable. There is the yearning bleat of the love-sick swain at 11 o'clock of a Summer’s evening, calling for his lady friend, who lives six flights up. There is the rude, imperious bark of the taxi | get where he is going. There is the protesting honk. of a driver who fidgets for the policeman to wave him on. There is the nervous shriek of the apprehensive lady who sees the car in front of her stop for a light. There is the iil-tem- pered warning' to a pedestrian which seems to s T missed you that time, | | you parasitic worm. but just give me another chance!” And if these indi- viduals could be put in the jug for their useless tooting the world would be a fairer place and life more worth living. What is more, fewer people would be | scared half out of their wits by drivers { with the manners of water buffalo. Horns are a necessary part of automobile equip- | ment. So are bumpers. But people do not go around the streets bumping into other ‘merely because they have bumpers. — e “What the country needs.” said the beloved Vice President, Tom Marshall, “is a good five-cent cigar.” The sarcasm was so delicate as to be almost imper- ceptible. So many trivial details are | solemnly discussed that the Marshall | idea is reduced to figures on cigarettes and soft drinks. e In order to approve every flag that be necessary 0 or literary discrimination. The swastika does not express intrinsic beauty and cannot be dissected into | letters that suggest a meaning. S -ee— A sum exceeding four billion dollars can not be administered without imply- ing difficulty in budget balancing. It is not easy to measure warm-hearted | philanthropy in cold-blooded terms of cash. P S L Taxpayers who studv Mr. Hopkins' plans for art relief will of course be | divided on the idea of trying to subsi- | dize the picturesqueness of an imitation® | Latin quarter. — Business will welcome “a breathing spell” which will dismiss algebraic let- ters and get back to simple figures in = e Munitions makers cannot be persuaded to organize in a way that will keep their merchandise out of the hands of gangsters and assassins. Shooting Stars, BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Folly Is No Joke. “A war is downright foolishness,” Said Hezekiah Bings. “The world is likin’ less and less The sorrow that it brings. “When some big boy exclaims, ‘T see In envy and regret Others in size may equal me. I must be bigger yet!” “And so he makes the bugles bray And beats the drums with care To summon youngsters from their play | And march they know not where. “At foolishness we cannot smile. The tragedy it flings, Makes honest laughter not worth while,” Said Hezekiah Bings. Habit. “How did you spend your vacation?” “Same as at home,” said Mr. Dustin Stax, “listening to the radio and worrying | about expenses.” Jud Tunkins says he wishes he could play a regular lottery instead of trying to write ad lines in a contest where the decision of the judges is final. Art of Trimming. A wintry breath will soon draw near With promises of Christmas cheer. Since everybody must be paid Regardless of his previous trade, Let any one who wants a job Take heart and cease to sigh or sob And learn to practice at his ease The art of trimming Christmas trees. Sayings. “We should be careful what we say,” said the careful friend. “Of course,” said Miss Cayenne, “al- though it isn't so much what you say that makes trouble as what somebody says you said.” Boondoggling. I turned a new leaf over On January first, But time, a heartless rover, On each page told the worst. That effort leaves me dizzy And oft my spirit grieves, As I ani still kept busy ‘With raking up old leaves. “All men was created equal” said Uncle Eben, “but dat don't prevent some of us growin’ up to be lightweights ine stead @' heavyweights.” A THE POLITICAL MILL By G. Gould Lincoln. Huey Long, persistent gadfly to Presi- dent Roosevelt and his New Deal, is dead, and Father Coughlin, who has been mixing in politics, calls secretly on the President at Hyde Park. Father Cough- lin’s visit is said to have been “merely social.” It will not be surprising, how- ever, if the priest-politician is found sup- porting Roosevelt in the campaign next year. As the time for the opening of the national campaign draws nearer, chances for a real substantial third party threat to the Democrats seems less and -less bright. More and more it appears that the battle which is to come will be be- tween the two old-line parties. Talk of a coalition between anti-Roosevelt Democrats and the Republicans is on the wane so far as a national ticket is concerned. That does not mean, how- ever, that if the Republicans put up a ticket that meets their approval a lot of these anti-Roosevelt Democrats may not vote for it. * ¥ k x In a straight-out fight between the Democrats and Republicans, the former, on the face of things, look to be out in front still. The President still has his most of it, to spread around the coun- try right up to the time of election. The | farmers are getting Government checks for not growing crops, and the American Federation of Labor and the United Mine Workers—certainly so far as their leaders are concerned—are for Roose- velt and his New Deal. In addition, business is picking up in many parts of the country. The Republicans have with them in their opposition to President Roosevelt most of the business people of the coun- try. They have with them the people | who still object to the socializing New Deal measures which put the Federal Government in control of the activities of the citizens and build up huge burcaucracies. The Republicans doubt- less will be able to raise ample campaign funds for the coming fray. Indeed, many people in this country have reached the conclusion that the time has come for a firm stand against the far-reaching changes in the American system of gov- ernment and life proposed by the New Dealers. However, the funds which may be raised for the Republican campaign are, of course, tration has to put forth in the name of relief. The big guns and the ammuni- tion still appear to be on the side of the Roosevel. Democrats. * % & % ‘The Democrats and the Republicans are adjusting themselves to the new situation which has been created by the death of Huey Long. None of them believed that Long had a chance to be President, and few of them actually be- lieved that Long would head a third, indépendent party next vear. The Re- publicans, however. counted heavily on | Long as a critic of the New Deal and ! of President Roosevelt personally. The Louisiana Senator was vitriolic. He hit anywhere his fancy chose. He made charges whenever he wanted to. He was a real disturber of Democratic peace. | His value to the Republicans was as a | nuisance to the Roosevelt Democrats. With Postmaster General Farley run- ning the President’s campaign next year, | Long would have been on the warpath, for Farlev was his pet aversion. Long's $4.000,000,000 work-relief fund, or | infinitesimal as compared to | | the fund which the Roosevelt adminis- THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. ‘What are the world’s great plays? No doubt there would be as many answers to this question as there were answerers, but Burns Mantle and John Gassner have incorporated 34 in an | anthology to be published this Fall. It is interesting to look over their list: “Agamemnon,” by Aeschylus. “Antigone,” by Sophocles. “Electra,” by Euripides. “Lysistrata,” by Aristophanes. “The Book Job.” “Shakuntala,” by Kalidasa. “Sotaba Komachi,” by Kwanami Ki- yotsugu. “EveryMan.” “Hamlet,” by Shakespeare. “Volpone,” by Ben Jonson. “The Dutchess of Malfi,” by John Webster. “The Misanthrope,” by Moliere. “Phaedre,” by Racine. “The Way of the World,” by William Congreve. “Faust” (part 1), by Goethe. “The Cenci,” by Shelley. “Hedda Gabler,” by Hendrik Ibsen. “The Father,” by Strindberg. “The Weavers,” by Gerhart Haupt- mann. “The Cherry Orchard,” by Chekhov. “The Lower Depths,” by Gorki. “Cyrano de Bergerac,” by Rostand. “Liliom,” by Ferenc Molnar. “Six Characters in Search of An Author,” by Luigi Pirandello. “Riders tc the Sea,” by Synge. “The Importance of Being Earnest,” by Wilde. “Candida,” by Shaw. “Escape,” by Galsworthy. “Journey's End,” by R. C. Sheriff. “Anna Christie,” by Eugene O'Neill. “What Price Glory,” by Maxwell Ander- son and Laurence Stallings. “Elizabeth the Queen,” by Anderson, “The Green Pastures,” by Marc Con- nelly. E “Of Thee T Sing,” by George S. Kauf- man and Morrie Ryskind. s * Evidently an honest attempt has been made, in the above list, to consider the most important nations and their most important dramatists Few readers apd playgoers will have read or seen all of the above plays. Few will ever have seen Percy Bysshe | Shelley's “The Cenci,” based on a hor- rible story of medieval Italy. ‘We are not sure it has ever been acted. There are other things in the list most of us have neither read nor seen on the boards. Even the ardent playgoer who prides | himself on his acquaintance with the drama doubtless will find some here unknown to him: may have heard of them, he will never have seen them acted, perhaps not even have read them Such anthologies, by whatever name they are called. generally offend by omission more than by the selections actually made. Who, for instance, who believes Shake- speare the greatest dramatist whoever lived will be satisfied with but one of his plays? John Galsworthy wrote many fine dramas. We would like to see some other, perhaps, included in such a list. * o ox % Molnar’s “Liliom,” we think, is the best possible selection from that play- wright. A few years ago we read through the complete plays of that author, as pub- | death, therefore. can only be reckoned ! a gain to the Roosevelt cause, in po- litical terms. * %k * % Already the Democrats are beginning ! to cast around for the city in which to hold their next national convention. Postmaster General Farley says that, politically, it really does not matter where the convention is held. However, the | city which gets the national convention is expected to put up a check of at least $200.000, and the size of the bids made by the various contenders for the con- vention is likely to make a difference. The Democratic National Committee still i has a deficit of $400.000, most of it coming over from the Smith campaign in 1928. The Republicans, on the other hand, are $25,000 ahead of their expenditures. Why the Democrats do not pay off their debts is not quite clear. . There is good deal of sentiment grow- ing for Atlantic City, N. J., for the Demo- cratic National Convention next year. Those who urge that the Democrats go | to the New Jersey city insist that it | would be better politics to hold the na- tional gathering in a section of the country which is supposed to be less pro-Roosevelt than the South and the | West. If not in Atlantic City, then in Boston or Philadelphia, or even New York. The supporters of the Atlantic City idea, however, say that in no other place are the convention facilities so good. They point to the Auditorium which is capable of seating 75,000 persons, which has wonderful acoustics, and to the hotel accommodations. The Atlantic Ocean itself is put forward as a great attraction for the delegates, particularly in the last part of the month of June. ¥ ¥ % % Roosevelt lines—or rather Democratic | lines—seem to be stiffening with the ap- proach of the campaign. The recent publication of an editorial in the Win- chester, Va., newspaper owned by Sen- ator Harry Byrd, declaring for Roose- velt's renomination is expected to help bring about a Roosevelt-instructed dele- | gation to the national convention from ‘the Old Dominion. | Virginia to many of the New Deal meas- The opposition in ures and to policies of the President has been strong. Thé two Virginia Senators, Carter Glass and Harry Byrd, have both been critics of the President’s program. Yet both apparently are going to be entirely “regular” when the campaign opens next year. In North Carolipa Senator Bailey, another critic of the New Dealers, is expected to run for re-election as a Roosevelt supporter, certainly not as an anti-Roosevelt Democrat. And so it goes through the country. * %X % Frank Murphy, former mayor of De- troit and at present Governor General of the Philippines, may come back to this country to run for Governor of Michigan next year. Such a move would be, it is believed, in the interest of the Democratic natjonal ticket in Michigan. Michigan did aconsiderable flop back to the Republican party in the.1934 elec- tion, choosing a Republican Senator, a Republican Governor and throwing out some of its Democratic members of the House. * % ¥ x For months there has been a row over the postmastership of Boston, Mass. Gov. Curley, a dominant figure in Demo- cratic politics there and one of the original Roosevelt men, has urged the appointment of Peter Tagu€, a former member of Congress. The Democratic Senators, however, Walsh and Coolidge, have not heen for Mr. Tague. The term of Hurley, the old postmaster, ran out last March. It now is revealed by Post- master General Farley that weeks ago he sent to the White House his formai recommendation for the appointment of Tague. It locks as though the adminis~ tration was going to play along with Gov. Curley. - A STARS, MEN that is, although he { lished simultaneously in several na- tions, a big and satisfying volume. “Liliom” made a deep impression upon us, one which stamps this play to this hour as the best he has done. Even the motion picture version could not spoil it. The film erred on the side of fantasy, something which Molnar never does. He has a sure grip on just how far to go, whereas the pictures never do. Personally we are glad to see “Cyrano | de Bergerac” included. That effort has seemed to us as one of .the most downright clever dramas ever put together. In many ways it ties the older drama and the newer drama together. * % ¥ % Many readers brought up oii the King James version of the Bible do not realize’ that “Job” is one of the greatest dramas ever written. It is printed in dramatic form, how- ever, in Prof. Moffett's arrangement and those who have not seen it are urged to look it up in “The Modern Reader's Bible.” No liberties whatever are taken with the text, except to break up the solid stretches of verses, as ordinarily printed, into the dialogues which the words plainly indicate. A prologue and epilogue, of course, are given as customary in the form of | prose. It is an amazing thing that “Job” has not been given more often as a dra- matic performance. Perhaps it lacks “action,” in a gsense, and yet the dia- | logues are so filled with humanity that | even the least—or most—seasoned the- atergoer would find the “drama” intense with a sort of hidden action As for the word$ of “Job,” they stand today as when written one of the most | convincing. appealing attempts of man | to get at the hidden mystery of life and death. Race, creed and time fall away; we are confronted with man, in agony, doubt and triumph. * * ¥ % ‘The value of anthologies and selec- | tion of all kinds lies in the thinking | they make a reader do. Whether one agrees with *the selec- tions is only part of it, yet unfortunatelv many persons insist on looking at any anthology solely from that light { The very fact that one must disagree, | however, at times, and surely. shows | that thinking is compelled by anv earnest attempt to select the “great” or the “greatest” play, song, novel. etc “great,” they ask the reader, in effect, to agree with them. he curious thing is, whether one agrees fully or not, that most often a | reader, if he is completely honest, will have to admit that he could do no better himself if he were asked to make the selection. The innate honesty of the human mind, when attempting to be fair to those who are forever gone and cannot defend themselves, is such that often he will include songs. plays, novels. stories, which he himself does not altogether admire, but which he realizes do belong | to the great tradition, after all. Only a few persons today. for in- stance, read the great Greek plays and of these most are students who are compelled to do so. Yet an honest | appraisal of dramatic history forces the honest reader to think of them, too, when he thinks of drama at all. AND ATOMS | Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. The opossum, sole survivor in the New World of a primitive and very | ancient family, represents an overlooked principle in evolution — survival by endurance. How this clumsy, persecuted race has endured through millions of generations in the midst of savage and hungry foes is shown in a report just made to the American Society of Mammalogists here by Dr. J. D. Black of the University of Kansas. Dr. Black recently examined closely the skeletons of 95 opossums in the university museum—all killed in the | immediate vicinity. Thirty-nine of them gave evidence of broken bones that had completely | healed. One specimen had suffered, and | recovered from, breaks of both scapulae, | 11 ribs, two broken in three places, and | a badly injured spine. Still another | gave evidence of having suffered at the | same time fractures of the jaw, the | scapulae, and nine ribs. Many others showed evidence of ribs and scapulae broken in several places. The ability to survive such severe injuries—they would be fatal in any other animal either in themselves or because the crippled con- dition resulting from them would make a creature an easy prey to its enemies— illustrates the importance of the opos- sum'’s practice of playing dead. The opossum represents an important stage in the evolution of mammals— that of the marsupials, or pouch bearers. They presumably were quite widely dis- tributed over the earth at one time, be- fore the emergence of the placental type of mammals to which the human race belongs, together with almost all other known warm-blooded animals. They | may be the ancestors of the placentals | or they may represent a different line | of development from the ancestral rep- tiles. In any event, they are consid- erably nearer the type of those ancient egg-laying reptiles. They are just a step beyond the egg-laying stage. When the placentals arose the mar- supials quickly disappeared from most of the earth. They were not so well adapted for survival in conflict with the more advanced, efficient type of animal. Only in Australia did they find a haven. | With a single exception, they were the only mammals there when the continent first was discovered by white men. This has led to the speculation that Australia was cut off from the rest of the world before the placental races were evolved, or before they had attained such effi- ciency in the ways of life as to enable them to survive. There the marsupials, without competition, were able to sur- vive and differentiate into rich fauna of the continent—of which the are the characteristic animals. The one exception was in North and South America in the person of the lowly opossum. * All the meat-eating animals which arose around the creature fed upon it if they could catch it. It was not very efficient in getting away from a pursuer. It developed no effective armor, like the shell of the armadillo or the quills of the porcupine, with which other weak animals managed to survive. It was not even very efficient at hiding. When man arrived on the scene with his bows and his guns, its last havens, the treetops, lost their small measure of security. All the cards were stacked against the survival of the opossum, but it de- veloped a means of its own to keep a tenacious hold on life while far more efficient creatures—beset with new ene- ‘mies and changing climates—were forced | to give up. The great mammoth herds, lords of the earth for a million years, disappeared. The ferocious saber-tooth | tiger and the great cave bear expired by the roadside in the race of evolution But the poor opossum had discovered | the important principle that the meek | shall inherit the earth—or, at least, be allowed to live in it. It became the great pain endurer and lived by sub- | mitting and gritting its teeth. It didn't fight nor hide. learned how to endure suffering. * s This supreme ability of the opossum | ! to recover from injuries, Dr. Black be- | lieves, goes a long way toward explain- ing its survival. and women. countered. As children they have almost every conceivable disease. Their ado- lescense is a continuous succession of broken bones. Their parents despair of life the story is much the same. They suffer a constant stream of misfertunes, amazed at their recoveries. And they life while the healthy, fortunate indi- viduals with whom they started out are left behind in the prime of life—victims of pneumonia, heart disease or accident. When these latter die the news comes as a surprise to all their acquaintances who cannot understand how the strong die and the weak survive. They ponder over the paradox that strength is weak- ness and weakness strength. The an- cient opossum might explain that para- dox if it was a philosopher. R Mottoes on Money Have Little Meaning | To the Editor of The Star: As a reader of your paper may I ask you to please print the following in the | open forum: > New motto on money: Mr. Feldman and Miss Robertson do not like any new motto on money, so no further argument is necessary, because anybody who does not like it and has enough of same should give their sur- plus to the millions of poor people who gladly and thankfully accept any kind of money to buy food, etc. Miss R. seems to think that to stop the new issue of silver certificates may mend the Na- tion's evil ways; well, what about the World War and all other evils we have had in this world so far. My opinion i money should be our servant and not master. We can trust in God without money, as so many mil- lions of unfortunate people have done for the past several years and at all time! The right inscription on money would be the Ten Commandments! Every na- tion has some kind of motto on money, and what are they using their money for? War, destruction, etc. In conclusion may I congratulate all people who have no other worries in time of distress. ‘Though poor, but in God I trust! L GOTTLIEB The “Ayes””Have It! 1924. j on the-acceptance by all signatory states | of obligations to co-operate by military | machinery, When others put certain masterpieces | apart, -by prirting them together as | | added a tapestry manufactory. | of Gobelin. raising them. When they come to adult | physical and otherwise. Physicians are | often survive into the 80s and 90s of | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS By Frederic ). 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 tom, D.C. Please inclose stamp for repiy. Q. What does it mean when a news- paper says that the League of Nations votes sanctions for or against a con- try?—S. M. A. Sanctions used in this sense refer to coercive measures against a country, attempting to coerce governments guilty of making war without submitting their claims in advance to mediation, arbitra- tion or conciliation. Sanctions may be either economic or military. Article 16 of the covenant of the League of Nations imposes obligations upon every member of the League to adopt common coercive measures, including, especially, a finan- cial and economic boycott against states which, in violation of the undertakings of the covenant, resort to war. Due to ambiguities in this article there seemed to be insufficient confidence in it, and two other instruments were drawn up. The first of these was the 1923 draft treaty of mutual assistance and on this was prepared the Geneva protocol of Both instruments were founded | or other necessary means against an aggressor. Q. Where is Gloria Caruso living? | —S. L. A. She lives with her mother in Cali- fornia. Q. Why is the spider known as the Black Widow so named?—P. V. C. A. Because the female, which is the one that bites, frequently kills and eats | her mate. Q. How many industries are now im- portant which were unknown about 50 | years ago?—C. G. A. Eighteen. They include electrical motor vehicles, airplanes motion picture apparatus, rubber tires and mechanical reirigerators. Q. In what State was the first of th~ State-wide banking holidays declared about three years ago?—V. J. S. A. In Nevada, when the Governor on October 31, 1932, authorized the banks of that State to close for 12 days. Q. What will remove pencil ar other markings from furniture?—S. D. A.In the case of light marks use F F F pumice stone and oil. If the | marks arc deep, use a rubbing block ot felt and 5-0 garnet finishing paper and oil for surfacing and amalgamator for frenching with the rubber. Dip the felt in rubbing oil and then in F F F pumice stone and rub with the grain, lightly— no more than a dozen times over e spot. Q. When was alum discovered?—P. P A. It was discovered at Roccha. 1 Syria, about 1300. and manufactured i England by Sir T. Chaloner in 1608. Q. How extensive was Louis Gravure library of baritone music?>—M. C. M. A. Fifty-six scores and 7,123 song were offered for sale when Gravure library was made available on authority of the courts of Michigan. Q. For whom were Gobelin tapestries named?—E. F. T. A. For a family of dyers who estab- lished themselves in the fifteenth cen- tury in Paris. In the next century they It be- came a roval establishment, but the products of the looms retained the name Q. Are bats blind?>—E. S. M. A. Contrary to common belief, bats are not blind. They possess very good eyes, which, however, are often hidden in the fur on the face to the extent that they are not readily visible. In addition to eyesight, however, a bat possesses very keen sensory nerves in its wings which enable it to fly about in pitch black without striking any object which may be in its vicinity. It simply suffered and | Q. Is a Congressman required to be | present any certain per centage of the time Congress is in session?—M. W. S A. There is no law which requires the attendance of a member of Congress at any session of that body. The opossum thus appears to be the | prototype of a familiar class of men | They are frequently en- | Q. When does the Yellowstone Na- P.F. N ; A. On September 10. Q. What is a dactylion?—E.' F. A. In surgery it is the unnatural, web- | like union between two or more fingers. Q. What is meant by Quaternary in geology?>—M. E. G. A. Quaternary in geology is the time division which comprises all the time which has elapsed from the end of the Pliocene to the present day. The term\ was proposed by J. Desnoyers in 1829 The Quaternary is thus the fourth of ions in the geological y, or Palaeazoic: the | secondary, or Mesozoic, and the Tertiary, or Cainozoic, being the first three—but it represents relatively such a small space | of time that some geologists hesitate to give it equal rank and regard it merely as a subdivision of the Tertiary. Broadly, as the Tertiary may be called the age of | mammals, the Quaternary may be called the age of man. Although man or his ancestors were evolved during the Ter- | tiary, it is in the Quaternary that man becomes the dominant animal. Q. What is a cutty stool?—A. C. A. This was a seat once used in the Scottish church for the exposure of offenders against chastity. The sinner was required to sit on the stool before the whole congregation during the entire service and at its close to stand up while being severely reprimanded by the min- ister. A Rhyme at Twilight B v Y Gertrude Brooke Hamilton To My Town Would you have my verses tender, Even though my heart were stone I would sing of love’s soft passion And bring romance to each zone. Would you have me but a jester, Then in cap and bells therell flow Measures tuned to tears and laughter, Like an effervescent show. Would you have me realistic, In the strident mob Il find Some fact happening so vital It will echo in the mind. Prom the San Prancisco Chronicle. A scheme is afoot to find places for idle jazz bands in various sections of the coun- try. Abandoned farms are our thought. What you ask of me I render. For a rhymster should not pause To run all the human gamut For one round of real applause, tional Park close for the Winter?— .