Evening Star Newspaper, September 17, 1935, Page 10

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition, WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY ...........September 17, 1935 THEODORE W. NOYES Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company. Business Office: 11th St. anc Pennsylvania Ave New York Office: 110 East 49nd St. Chicago Office: Lake Michigan Building. Buropean Office: 14 Regent St.. London. England. Rate by Carrier Withiu the City. Regular Edition, Tho Zrenins Sac he Evening and Sun (when 4 Sundays)__-_ T.e Evening and Sunday Star (when 5 Sundays) The Sunday Star.. Night Night Final and Sund: 70¢ per month Night Final Star__. s c per month Collection made at the end of each month, be sent by mail or telephone Na- -45¢ per month -=-60¢ per month 5¢ per month b per copy Orders may tional 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Deily ard Sunday. Daily only Sunday only All Other States and Canada. Daily and Sundey..1 yr.. $12.00; 1 mo. $1.00 Daily only__ 1 yr. $5.00; 1 mo, 7bc 8inday’onis: $5.00; 1 mo. Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press 15 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. Al rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. _—m e Constitution Day. Back in the “horse and buggy days,” 152 years ago to be exact, the Consti- tution of the United States was signed by Geosge Washington, President and deputy from Virginia to the Constitu- tional Convention, and the deputies of the dozen other States participating. It was designed to set up a Federal Gov- ernment. Into it, however, were woven the principles of liberty and freedom from tyranny for which men had strug- gled for centuries. These gentlemen of the “horse and buggy days” were quite plain and spe- cific in the lucid and simple language they used. “We, the people of the United States,” they said, “in order to form & more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of lib- erty to ourselves and to our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States.” The Union formed under this Consti- tution and the liberties so guaranteed have been protected and safeguarded through a century and a half. Where efforts have been made to infringe upon the liberties of the people they have been defeated. The dual form of government established in this country by the fathers of the Constitution has been preserved. As the years have progressed, however, end the Nation has grown great and powerful and wealthy, there has been an increasing demand for more and more power to be lodged in the hands of the Federal Government. Wisely the fram- ers of the Constitution had foreseen the demand that was to come. It is human for those placed in offices of authority to crave power. Therefore a series of checks and balances was definitely pro- vided in the Constitution which would effectively prevent the seizure of des- potic power by any branch or indi- vidual of the Government. The legis- lative branch—placed first in order—the executive branch and the judicial branch of the Government were given distinct and separate functions upon which the others were not to be permitted to encroach, The gentlemen in Washington today who believe the Constitution of the United States to be outmoded are found in the executive branch of the Govern- ment. They have so far been able to impress their will only upon the legis- lative branch. The judiciary has re- sisted their attempts to avoid, evade and change the Constitution without going through the forms prescribed in that document for its amendment. The American people themselves are the final judges. It is inconceivable that if they understand fully what the “planned economy” of the New Deal is and where it will lead, the people will ever consent to having it foisted upon them. They should understand, too, that if the Presi- dent and the Congress are able to nullify by their joint action any part of the Constitution there is no reason why they cannot nullify the whole of it. The New Dealers have sought to ad- vance the theory that the Constitution may be set aside if and when an “emer- gency” exists. Their legislation has been based upon the so-called “emergency” powers of the Federal Government. If that theory is adhered to, what is there to prevent an Executive from proclaim- Ing an emergency whenever he desires and, with a subservient Congress, from taking away any rights and liberties of the people he may desire? The answer * 1s, nothing at all. The New Dealers, through the Presi- dent himself, put forward the idea that the Constitution—a thing of “horse- and-buggy days”—is a check upon progress in this country. It is an insidi- ous doctrine. The Constitution in reality is a check upon the grewth of dictatorial power, upon tyranny. The people, on this anniversary of the signing of this great document, will do well to remember that this is so. —_— e The coming campaign already shows business stimulation in bringing a de- mand for more and better radios, . i The Test Postponed. ‘The Carter Coal Co. of West Virginia filed a suit attacking the constitution- ality of the Guffey coal law within twenty-four hours after the President had signed the bill. When the case came up for hearing yesterday the board which will administer the act was still to be appointed by the President,” the code which the act prescribes was yet to be drawn and the taxes to be levied were yet to be collected. Under these cir- cumstances it is difficult to see how Jus- tice O'Donoghue could have ruled otherwise than he did in dismissing the petition for a temporary injunction which would have restrained effective- ness of the act. As pointed out by John Dickinson, Assistant Attorney General, «“gll the unconstitutionality in the world” would not lay a basis for the action, which he regarded as premature. Justice O'Donoghue suggested that the case would later be heard on its merits after the Government’s answer to the petition for permanent injunction. That will presumably come some time after the tax becomes effective, on Novem- ber 1. At that time the prospect is for a real test of the constituticnality of the Guffey law, a test that probably exceeds in importance any of the New Deal litigation, including even the A. A. A. For if the Government, as pro- vided in the Guffey act, can use its taxing power directly to gain control over wages, hours and production in the coal industry, that power may similarly be used to gain control over practically any industry. Once the plea is made that such control is advisable, the New Deal tendency would be to make it im- mediately efTective. - Nearing the Climax. Events at Geneva are marching from crisis to climax. Conciliation having col- lapsed in the face of Mussolini’s refusal to consider any form of compromise that would cheat him of military glory, the League powers are at length confronted with the necessity of invoking those pro- visions of the covenant applicable to a nation which commits wanton aggression. A week of discussion of the Italo- Ethiopian conflict in the Council and the Assembly has produced an extraor- dinary solidarity of view. One after another, small states like Ireland, Pan- ama, Haiti, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium and South Africa have rallied around the dominant League members— Great Britain, France and Soviet Russia —in demanding that the principle of collective resistance to aggressive war be upheld at all costs. The condemna- tion of Italy's threat to peace is uni- versal. No single voice has been raised in defense of her plans for subjugation of Ethiopia and the grabbing of her land. Unanimity of opinion at Geneva is all important because covenant article lé, concerning sanctions, provides that {f any League member resorts to aggression in disregard of its obligations, it shall be deemed to have committed an act of war against all members of the League. Member nations then would undertake forthwith to subject the offending state to severance of all trade and financial relations. They are pledged to support one another in any measures invoked. While no specific plan for bringing economic pressure to bear on Italy has yet been put forth, practical considera- tion of that recourse is now imperative. Under British leadership exploratory dis- cussion is under way. It contemplates a general trade embargo. Once the Fascist state is adjudged an aggressor —which will presumably not be until Mussolini’s troops actually invade or attack Ethiopia—it is proposed that not only should there be immediate and complete cessation of sale of goods to Italy, but a simultaneous boycott of all purchases from her. Thus both Italian import and export trade would be auto- matically throttled. Mussolini’s reserve supplies of raw materials probably would permit him to wage war for a brief period, but it could only be a question of time before both the population at home and the army at the front would feel the pinch of the economic blockade. Under no illusions on that score, Mussolini declaims that “sanctions mean war.” But Italy could neither fight nor exist indefinitely, shut off from imports of necessities like coal, iron, steel, petroleum, cotton and various foodstuffs obtainable only from foreign sources. Grim realization of what such condi- tions sooner or later would mean for the Italian people may yet, despite I1 Duce’s thunderings, give him pause. Nor can he be unmindful of what the ultimate effect upon his dictatorship might be. Starvation, unemployment and despera- tion are the inevitable consequences of industrial strangulation and the natural parents of revolution. That they would ensue in Italy, if that country were long the victim of & world-widé economic embargo, can hardly be doubted. R A ‘The etiquette of diplomacy 1s & com- plicated study. Archeological research is defied and strictly modern inquiry must be depended on to show reasons for being especially polite to a swastika. - — Musical development in America lags behind European standards. The im- mense volume of night club melody re- duces the upright piano to association with the machine gun, The Genius of America. Genius is a word enormously difficult te define, yet it is a quality which com- monly is recognized as being inherent in nations as well as. in exceptional indi- viduals. Its fruits, in any case, are obvious. The Greeks, unquestionably, were gifted in architecture, the Romans in law; and when Caesar spoke of the primitive Belgians as being the bravest people in Northwestern Europe he meant exactly that—they had courage in a notable degree. So, t0o, modern Britain is conservatively liberal or liberally con- servative; Ireland possesses & passion for independence, and, if one is to believe the anonymous authors of a million anecdotes, the people of Scotland are characteristically and somewhat quaintly thrifty. Italy, Spain and Mexico, it may be agreed, manifest a love of color and music which is symptomatic of their Latin origin; Germany is summarized in the adjective “thorough” and France in “chic.” On the opposite side of the world, Russia is supposed to be fatalistic, China phlegmatic, Japan militantly pa- triotic. And when such a descriptive generalization is applied the speaker refers to more than a trait or a talent, more than a psychological reaction or an emoump_l reflex. He senses a peculiar distinction in his subject—a power or force which is of the mind and of the spirit, but represents a combination of both, For Americans the national genius is institutionalized in the Censtitution of A STAR, WASHINGTO the United States. Reading the immortal document, signed one hundred and forty- eight years ago today, s stranger com- petent to judge would be apt to decide that there is expressed in it a certain community intelligence and, equally im- portant, & certain community passion. The one element is thought; the other feeling. Separated, neither would be enough. It is the correlation of the two factors which produces the result which Lafayette and Gladstone, each in his own place, iime and menner, o grate- fully commended. The text is alive. It signifies freedom and order, hope and confidence, aspiration and caution. But it is the interplay of ideas, the amalga- mation of convictions and ideals which makes its impact so remarkably effective. The citizen, perusing its contents, re- ceives its thought into his brain, engraves it in his memory and coincidentally takes it into his heart and embraces it among the values that he loves. The effect defies analysis, evades summation in an epigram. A hundred and thirty million souls, however, are influenced by it. It is what they are, what their fathers have been. The genius of Amer- ica, virile and brave, is in it and in those who appreciate it and, please God, will defend it. —— Keeping the Lights On. When installation of the traffic lights was begun several years ago the cus- tom was initiated of turning them off afler midnight and, as the number of lights has increased each year, the cus- tom has been perpetuated in modified form, Is it not time to consider the ad- visability of continuing their operation twenty-four hours of the day? As every one who drives around town after midnight knows, the flashing lights warn of street intersections, but the warning is too often disregarded. Some of the bus drivers say that the most dangerous time to drive is after the lights go off. Drivers, freed of the curb imposed by the lights, take too many risks with the right of way. The inconvenience of waiting at some desolate street corner after midnight for & light to change, with no traffic in sight, is, of course, to be considered. But there are certain streets where traf- fic is relatively heavy all the time. It might be found that the matter of safety, on these streets especially, out- weighs the inconvenience. And noth- ing that adds safety to the highways should be neglected. —————————— Conferences of Mr. Ickes and Mr. Hop- kins bring interesting comparisons in billicn spending of the relative advan- tages of speed and caution, —oe—s A collegiate job is hard at present. What a professor will have to explain & hundred years from now seems beyond human capacity. +on—s Political confusion continues in Louisi- ana. In spite of the late Huey Long's theories, it is & condition that still pre- sents itself, o Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON, A Farewell to Summer. Summer came a-smilin’ when the sky was soft an’ blue. The roses were a-bloomin’ an’ the leaves were bright with dew; She was all dressed up so neatly An’ she smiled at us so sweetly That we lost our hearts completely— There was nothin’ else to do! But she wasn't quite so gentle, later on, she can't deny. She made it warm for every one, her temper got so high! When she lost her disposition ‘We were in a sad condition An’ we're glad to get permission To be biddin’ her good-by. Reduplication. “How did our friend get his reputation as & leader?” “Well,” replied Senator Sorghum, “he has perfected a sort of optical illusion. He travels in a circle so fast that to the casual observer he looks like a whole procession.” Deduction. “That young statesman says he as- sumes to control only one vote and that is his own.” “Controls his own vote,” repeated Miss Cayenne thoughtfully, “Evidently un- married.” Science Defied. Though Wisdom makes the pride of kings Seem but a sorry show, Sometimes we feel that there are things ‘We do not need to know. Yon rainbow, scientists declare, Is made by prisms strong; The rose with chemicals is fair And sound waves make the song. But here’s to blossom, song and sky! We'll love them till they fade And not be caring, you and I, A hang how they are made! Legal Definition. “What does you understan’ by ‘circum- stantial evidence?'” asked Miss Miami Brown. “As near as I kin ’splain it, f'um de way it has been ’splained to me,” an- swered Mr, Erastus Pinkley, “circum- stantial evidence is de feathers dat you leaves lyin’ around after you has done et de chicken.” A September Reflection. From Summer haunts you now cut loose And te your héme you stray And vaguely wonder why the deuce ‘You ever went away! “Mebbe,” said Uncle Eben, “ef every- body could remember dat everybody suf- fers f'um de heat same as everybody else, a hot wave wouldn’ be de signal foh everybody to make hisse’f mo' or less disagreesble.” 3 Oath of Allegiance For Teachers Urged To the Editor of The Star: I have just read an editorial in The Star captioned “Facts About Com- munism.” I read also the opinion of the corporation counsel that teachers in the District public schools could cite to their youthful pupils the doctrine of Communism, but the teacher was not to teach it. It is reported the District Commissioners O. K.d the corporation counsel’s ruling upon a ‘“rider” to the District appropriation bill. The Board of Education of the District is independent from the District Com- missioners or the legal opinion in regard to what public school teachers may cite as to the government of Soviet Russia or the Hitler German government or the Mexican government by the cor- poration counsel of the District. Your editorial concludes: “Mr. Prettyman does not say that he has consulted any of the youngsters, but it may be that he did. If so, he can be confident that they will be able to take care of themselves in the event of any attempt to deliver them over to Lenin and Trotsky, to Mussolini and Hitler. Nor are the teachers themselves the fanatic radicals that some would have us believe.” “If s0 * * * they will be able to take care of themselves,” etc. Will they? Does not the corporation counsel, and The Star should know that the citing of these forms of government will be accepted by many young boys and girls as actually teaching it? “Nor are the teachers themselves the fanatic radicals that some would have us believe.” Let us see about that. About one year ago I wrote a letter to The Evening Star stating that all public school, parochial school and private school teachers in the District be required to take the oath of allegiance to the United States—to the Declaration of Independence, the bill of rights, the Constitution. A day or so later The Star published letters from District public school teachers opposing the taking of such an oath. Shortly after my letter appeared in The Star a member of Congress introduced a bill in the House covering the subject. Today the States of New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts et al. have passed laws that all public school teachers must take the oath of allegiance to the United States. I believe I was the first Ameri- can citizen to suggest that public, parochial and private school teachers be obliged to take the oath of allegiance, “Teachers themselves are not the radicals that some would have us believe.” If not “radicals” why do teachers object to taking the oath of allegiance to the United States? W. E. RYAN, R Confusion and Redundancy In District Legislation To the Editor of The Star: Somebody got the idea that policemen and firemen be permitted to live outside the District, thereby opening up an- other way to take out of the District and spend elsewhere some more of the District saxpayers’ money. There had to be law for it and Congress enacted it. Section 452, title 20, 1929, Code, D. C., sets forth that “the Metropolitan Police district of the District of Columbia shall be co-extensive with the District of Co- lumbia.” Section 483, same title, requires policemen to live with the Metropolitan Police district. To make the change it was necessary only to limit the outside distance. The bill as reported gave permission to re- side anywhere within the Washington, D. C., metropolitan district. That was too vague to be definite. The bill was amended in the House by defining “the ‘Washington, D. C., metropolitan district” for purposes of the act, as “the District of Columbia and the territory within a radius of 12 miles from the United States Capitol Building”—an amendment of futility, inaccuracy and redundancy, for it was necessary only to enact that such residence may be “within a radius of 12 | miles from the United States Capitol Building.” Publishing a map, The Star’s explana- tion is that under a new act of Congress District policemen and firemen may live anywhere in the “metropolitan area.” This is a departure from the language of the act and adds another confusing and inaccurate futile designation. Now there are metropolitan triplets—the Metropolitan Police district, the Wash- ington, D. C., metropolitan district and the “metropolitan area,” and only one accurately located. Common sense suggests that the “met- ropolitan area” comprises the land within the lawful limits of the metropolis. “The Washington, D. C., metropolitan district” is the District of Columbia, in which district its metropolitan city is found. Such district cannot reasonably be beyond lawful District boundaries for local purposes, under the United States Constitution, for Congress has no mu- nicipal jurisdiction over Maryland and Virginia. Through such a labyrinthian maze of confusion, inaccuracy and redundancy, the public is led to find out that District policemen and firemen may live within & radius of 12 miles from the United States Capitol Building—a conspicuous circumlocutionary excursion along the way of “how not to do it.” JOSEPH W. CHEYNEY. Finds Sentiment Favors Low-Fare Ferry for Bay To the Editor of The Star: I am glad to see Talbot County's Chamber of Commerce, as well as our county commissioners, has begun to take an active part in condemning the pro- posed Upper Bay bridge and have asked Mr. Jesse Jones of the R. F. C. not to furnish the desired funds for this haz- ardous and unwise project. Personally, I have written to each head of the various fountains of cash from which money flows, and that have been men- tioned as a source from which the bridge company was expecting the funds, con- demning and giving reasons why money should not be furnished, and from the President down the line have had assur- ance that protests would be given due consideration before money was fur- nished. I recently sent a questionnaire to all county commissioners, except Kent, on the Eastern Shore, including Dela- ware and Virginia, asking for a vote whether for or against the bridge, also for or against a State-owned ferry. The votes that came in, which were suffi- cient to show the sentiment, with one exception, were against the bridge and in favor of State-owned ferry with low fares. The county that failed to register its protest or approval did not vote for either, stating it had reasons for not doing so. What & boost and boom it would be to the whole Eastern Shore—Baltimore, ‘Washington and Annapolis, as well as the United States traffic generally—for properly located State-owned ferries with low fares to be inaugurated. How the stars put in the Gov. Nice crown would shine and the cost would be insignificant compared to the proposed bridge. What do you think would have happened to the proposed sky-scraping bridge if struck by a tidal wave similar to that which swept the Key West region in Florida? It would most likely have cost millions to remove the wreckage and obstruction to navigation from the Chesapeake. My advice would be for Uncle Sam to keep his hand on the people’s purse when ‘such selfish schemers clamor for W. H. VALLIANT, /\ THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Persons who won't give others a chance are one of the main troubles in & troubled world. Human society is splif into innumer- able lines of conflict, without war once being declared or any particular signs of hostility being raised. The unspoken warfare of dislike goes on everywhere just the same. Shots are fired, and rost of them are wholly unnecessary. ° This aimless firing is done by those who, once having made a snap judg- ment about others, refuse to give those others a chance with them. They either freeze up at the approach of the misjudged or keep going an eternal line of banter or sarcasm. Either is unnecessary. * ok ok % It is the unnecessary, in this world, which causes so much of the everyday trouble. A whole world of suspicion, semi-hate, semi-anger is created eyery hour of every day by an unnecesary tendency toward dislike of others. If any one has really done anything against another, there is some cause for dislike, active dislike. It is natural, at least. This thing of taking a dislike to an- other, however, based on nothing much, or positively on nothing at all, is emi- nently unnatural, especially in civili- zation, Live and let live is the slogan of civ- ilized man. Under civilization it is realized that men need not retire to monasteries and the like simply because they hold dif- ferent views from the generality of men. They may hold such views as they please, so long as they mind their own business, do not attempt to overthrow the state, and do not make nuisances of themselves. * xox % Dictatorship always seems to run off on the tangent of personal glorification. If a dictator might arise, in any really civilized country, who would make and enforce laws to compel all persons to let all other persons alone, he might in future years be hailed as supremely great, He would have done something all laws and ethics do not yet seem to have been able to accomplish. He would add to the sum total of good in a world which needs it sorely. The great single achievement would lie in compelling intolerant people to give others a chance with them. They would find, much to their amaze- ment, that the very people they went around “despising,” as thev believed, really weren't a bad sort, after all They would discover that they really didn't know what they were talking about, that those whom they thought they disliked they liked verv much, indeed, after they got to know them, * % ox % It is an amazing thing, if you stop to look at it, how just ordinary folk, with- out any particular merits or gifts them- selves, can pretend to look down on, or dislike, or even pay no attention to. & great many other persons who are very much in the same boat with them. You see it everywhere, The man- at the head of the works is affable, kindly, tolerant, but the un- Thus they cut themselves off from much that would be helpful to them, much that would prove stimulative and educational. And it is just too bad! ‘They need those qualities, and many more; they want the polish that comes from "understanding and sympathy, the l.nner glow of being fair to others. It is really too bad about them, and no one need shed crocodile tears, either. They simply deprive themselv of good, because they will not admit good about others. That is the basis of it, the eternal basis of it, about which there shall be no quibbling in the days to come. ‘The past is gone, the present is con- fused, but the future may be sure, * ok oxox In the days to come, maybe, we will have no such spectacle as that of the human being who, for no reason at all, or a very silly one, at best, persi: in holding a needless grudge against another. In that day the scorn of the despiser, and the hidden hurt of the despised will be no more, for a more just dispen- sation will have come to hand, in order that sneering and sarcasm, old universal weapons of the nasty side of man’s mind, will have been replaced by tolerance and fair play. Every one will be the gainer then. Most of all, however, will the gain be to him who has laid aside malice in the everyday affairs of life. It is these affairs, and not the mo- mentous ones, which make or break a human life. The little borings of the everyday, the sullen looks where smiles might be, take the glory out of life. Life is like silver, easily tarnished. ‘The dullness of evervday existence, of which we hear so much, comes about daily, hour by hour, minute by minute, not by great leaps or bounds of time. We tarnish the face of life's silver coins when we insist, all unnecessarily, on “having it in” for others who do not “have it in” for us. * x % ‘There is an old saying that you can't get out of a thing any more than you put into it, and while some seem to have been able to violate that, to a certain extent it is notably true for the rank and file, ‘When another is thinking aloud, in your presence, an act commonly defined as conversation, and is giving his ideas of something or other, do not say, when he ends his little speech, “I am glad to learn that. I hadn't realized it.” Do not say that, provided you accom- pany it with a sneer or sarcasm which says as plainly as words: “What I really mean is that you are bromidic, and your interpretation entirely sophomoric.” Give the other fellow credit for know- ing quite as well as you do that his utterances, on the spur of the moment, are not fraught with greatness, One has no right to expect ordinary conversation to be priceless, different and deathless. To demand such in everyday life is to be captious, and unnecessarily so, and to sully the daily living of all of us. For the nastiness thrown upon this man shall | spill over onto the next, and so on un- derlings are so obsessed with their little | ending. As long as men in everyday eminences, such as they are, that they | life cannot be peaceful, one with an- are unwilling to be kindly, charitable, | other, how can nations, mere aggrega- happy. STARS, MEN tions of men, be at peace? AND ATOMS Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. ‘The life history and habits of a swim- ming rabbit is the subject of a recent report to the American Society of Mam- malogists from Ivan R. Tompkins of the United States dredge Morgan, sta- tioned at Savannah, Ga. The animal is the little known marsh rabbit of the South Carolina coast. It spends most of its life on the tidal marshes and hence, perhaps alone of the rabbit family, has become & partially aquarian animal. Almost strictly noec- turnal in its habits, its way of life had escaped naturalists. By far the best known trait of the species is its liking for water. Individ uals are sometimes encountered in day time far out in one of the coastal rivers. Mr. Tompkins found one swimming strongly more than 700 feet from either shore. In Summer, when the water is warm, they take to it readily. They are seldom observed, however, swimming in cold water. In Fall and Winter the little creature leads a precarious existence. It forms the favorite food of the great marsh hawks, continuously circling over the marshes. But when Spring comes the birds leave for the North, the sedges grow tall so as to completely conceal the timid little animals, and they are left in peace until the frosts of Autumn. Generally, Mr. Tompkins records, the marsh rabbit is a home-loving creature but floods in the fresh water area of its habitat sometimes force a migration. It is & natural swimmer. On land it walks with a swimming motion. Other rabbits are practically helpless in the water and try to swim with the hopping motion they use on land. The rare species appears to be holding its own, Mr. Tompkins says, in spite of its many enemies. * ok k% ‘There may be a remote ancestral con- nection between the American Indians and the grotesque Neanderthalers—the ogrelike humans who were scattered over much of the Old World in the early glacial period just before the appearance of the present human species. Such is the deduction of Dr. Ales Hrdlicka, curator of physical anthro- pology of the Smithsonian Institution, from the discovery of scattered Indian remains with decided Neanderthal char- acteristics, although obviously of rela- tively recent origin. The finding of such material sometimes is attended with un- founded claims that it proves the exist- ence of true ancient man in the Amer- icas, although the weight of evidence is in favor of the hypothesis that man is & relatively late arrival from Asia by way of Alaska. But the migrants might very well have brought a Neanderthal heritage of countless generations, to crop out occasionally in individuals and con- fuse archeologists. Dr. Hrlicka expresses this opinion from the study of a fragment of skull dis- covered by Earl H. Bell of the Uni- versity of Nebraska in a large mound of unkpown age near the site of a pre- historic Indian village in that State. The owner was a middle-aged man. Ex- cept in qne respect it was a normal Indian skull. The abnormality consisted of large, bony ridges over the eyes—the so-called supra-orbital ridges. These are one of the outstanding characteristics of the true Neanderthal skull, as they ‘are in the skulls of the great apes. They are greatly diminished in modern man. In this Nebraska skull the ridges were rather pronoynced and were about inter- mediate between those of the modern male and the Neanderthaler. They might easily deceive one who did not take the other characters of the skull into consideration. The skull, says Dr. Hrlicka, in a report of his study pub: lished in the American Journal of Physi- cal Anthropology, does not indicate the existence of Neanderthal man in Amer- ica, but rather “an ancestral connec- tion with the Neanderthalers somewhere outside America.” “We are justified” he says, “in re- garding such occurrences as reminis- censes, more or less, of early stages in the evolution of the human skull but not as uninterrupted connections and espe- cially not as a safe index of antiquity of the specimens that show such char- acters. * x X *x Brother Reynard, villian of so many children’s stories, may have a reputa- tion he doesn't deserve. Such is the implication of a report to the American Society of Mammalog- ists on the food habits of Midwest foxes by Paul L. Errington of Iowa State Col- lege. Says Mr. Errington: *“A great deal of the widely advertised destructiveness of foxes to poultry proves upon investi- gation to be overdrawn. Foxes are in- terested in dead chickens thrown out in the flelds and a certain amount of the chicken material found at dens is known not to represent killed prey. One farmer admitted to a warden checking up a complaint that poultry debris about a den came mostly from chicken carcasses thrown out during the Winter. In another instance a farmer had watched & fox carrying to its den & number of chicken carcasses which somebody had dumped beside a highway. “Poultrymen may at times have a real grievance against foxes. Aside from losses of an odd chicken now and then, depredations upon vulnerably-situated flocks may be severe, especially when Midsummer family groups of foxes raid farm yards. The worst depredations, however, occur on farms which lack & good dog and on which extensive con- cealing vegetation allows the foxes to steal close to the buildings. Corn fields planted right up to the farm yards fur- nish excellent opportunities for un- observed approach. All in all, the ma- Jjority of severe depredations seem pre- ventable, if only through the possession of an active dog. “Doubtless much of the damage to pigs charged against foxes does not represent depredation at all, but carrion feeding. Practically all the really authentic cases were those in which foxes had preyed upon small pigs farrowed under semi- wild conditions, at considerable distances from buildings.’ The favorite food of the foxes, Mr. Errington found, consisted of pheasants and cottontail rabbits. e The Growing Free List. Prom the Los Angeles Times. ‘Washington reports that more than 20~ 000,000 trees have been distributed to farmers of the Middle West for woodland and shelter planting. The information prompts the reflection that it is a short step from free seed to free seedlings. Wasted Penmanship. From the Detroit News. Considering the consequences that flow from them, signatures are hardly appropri= ate on m':fl. treaties. The boys should 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- ton, D.C. Please inclose stamp for reply. Q. Could a person skate ¢n glass with ice skates>—G. W. A. Technically, one does not skate on ice, but rather upon a thin film of water which is melted from the ice by the pressure of “the skates. At temperatures of about 40 below zero it would be im- possible to skate, as this film of water cannot form under the skate blade at the reduced temperature. Since'no film whatever could exist between glass and the skate runner, and also since the glass is at least as hard as the blade, the skater could not get a “bite” with his blade with which to push himself for- ward. Q. About how long and wide is the typical Venetian gondola?—H. D. A. The average in size is 30 feet long and 4 feet wide. Q. EHmv can playing cards be cleaned? A. They can be improved to a certain extent with spirits of camphor. Apply this sparingly to a piece of cotton and wipe each side of the card. Then polish the card with clean cotton. Q. What is meant by gumbo soil?— H. C A. The term is popularly applied in the Western United States to very heavy, fine-grained soil rich in soluble salts and practically devoid of sand. Water percolates through it with diffi- culty and it is soapy or waxy when wet. Q. Has gasoline ever been solidified?— G. C. A. Solene, the invention of Dr. Adolph Prussin, is solid gasoline which has been developed as a fuel for airplane and auto engines. It is said to be non- explosive, Q. Please give directions for removing coffee stain from cups—W. B A. A solution of salt and vinegar will remove the stain. Q. Why is the League of Nations par- ticularly concerned in averting war in Ethiopia?—A. B. W. A. The central idea of the League of Nations was the outlawry of war. The League, under the covenant was clothed with police powers to enforce peace. These included the granting of permission for or the sanctioning of exceptions to the general rule. In cases involving national honor or ex- treme provocation, the League of Na- tlons may sanction offensive action. Such action may be military, but the general theory is that the economic boy- cott should be emploved. This would include the severing of diplomatic and trade relations and the withholding of financial support. In the absence of League sanction, it is the theory that the League should eall upon all its mem- ber nations to boycott any offending nation. Q. How many bands are there in the United States?—G. M. A. Edwin Franko Goldman says that there are probably more than 35,000 bands in the country. Q. Are any of the children of Queen Victoria of England living?—I. P. D. A. Two are living. They are the Duke of Connaught and the Princess Beatrice, mother of former Queen Victoria of Spain, Q. Who organized the Big Sister movement for helping young girls?— EH. A. It was organized in 1909 by Mrs. W. K. Vanderbilt. Q. Is Claude Hopkins, the orchestra leader of the Cotton Club, & white man | or a Negro?—R. T. A. He is colored and a native of ‘Washington, D. C. His featured vocalist is a man named Orlando Robeson. Q. Is there any definite ratio be- tween a person’s annual income and what he should consider paying for a home he wishes to buy?—W. M. G. A. One expert says that a home should not cost more than three times one’s annual income, and that one who wishes to buy a house should have saved for & down pavment from 25 to 33 per cent of the cost of the property. Q. How many jumps are taken in the Grand National Steeplechase?—E. P A. There are 30 jumps. One of them is & water jump 15 feet in breadth. There are also two brooks. This race was in- stituted in 1839. Q. Are the Ethiopians a tail race?— AT A. They average under the stature of the American type, but the Emperor's band has a drum major who stands 7 feet tall. Q. How much bile is secreted by the liver?—D. F. A. The liver secretes from 13 to 30 ounces of this fluid daily. Q. What was Basil King's first novel? -P.J. A. “Griselda,” which appeared in 1900, Q. Who were the parents of Edmund Kean, the English actor?—J. C. D .A. His parentage is uncertain. al- though evidence is strongest in favor of Edmund Kean. a surveyvor’s clerk, and Ann Carey, one of a company of strolling players. A Rhyme at Twilight By Gertrude Brooke Hamilton The Captain Dines There's a naval captain, not so young, Before he punctured a good right lung In a fiery brawl in Italy Adventured far by both land and sea. With the brilliant voyages long since gone, When he feels one-lunged and is forlorn, He shuns fellow clubmen now and then To mingle with fire-feeding men. Behold him, his fine mustaches twirled, In lumber yards where the logs are hurled steel-clawed derrick machines, Fueled by toilers in rolled blue jeans. Or glimpse him, erect despite his lung, In big freight yards where each mother’s By and hot son Is spattered with smoke and black coal dust On the tracks that smell of tar and rust. Yet the zest he blows to punctured lung ‘Where engines bellow and logs are slung Never disrupts his good evening plan— ‘The captain dines like a gentleman.