Evening Star Newspaper, September 30, 1935, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. MONDAY ............September 30, 1935 THEODORE W. NOYES. Editor —rer e oo n e e The Evening Star Newspaper Company. Business Office: Pennsylvania e 11 Chi ice: Lake Michl lunun%‘gmce: 14 Regent St., Rate by Carrier Within the City. Regular Edition. The Evening Star_ The Evenine and S (when 4 Sundays) The Evenine and Sunday when 5 Sund -45¢ per month -60c per month 5c per month -70c per month _"”55¢ per month nd of each month. il or telephone Na- Night Final and Sunday Star._ Night F.nal Star. orders mey Be"sent by 4y be s tional 5000. > Rate by Mail—Payable in Advances Maryland and Virginia. Dally and Sunday_ .. $10.00: 1 Bally woySunder-—o) 76 SRA00: 1 me Sunday only. 131, $4.00i 1 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 credittd in this aper and also the local news published herein. Il rights of publication of special dispatches erein are also reserved. = The Budget Message. President Roosevelt’s promised mes- sage on the budget, bringing the figures up to the close of the last fiscal year, is full of hope. The Chief Executive shows that the Government deficits have been less than were estimated, that expendi- tures did not reach the total of appro- priations, that revenues have been larger than were expected, that business is on the upturn and that “new taxes or increased rates in existing taxes” will not be necessary to meet the expense of the Government’s “necessary annual operations and to retire its public debt.” ‘The country will be profoundly grateful if the President’s estimate of the tax situation is correct. In this cheery statement regarding the Government's finances the Chief Execu- tive discounts “the erroneous and gloomy predictions” made in some quarters that heavy increases in taxation will be needed to balance the budget. And yet it is clear that the deficits of the Gov- ernment, while not as large as pre- dicted by the President in his earlier message, are still in the billions of dol- lars, and that while the public debt will not reach the proportions originally sug- gested by the President, it will still be above $30,000,000,000. It seems entirely clear, however, that no additional tax legislation will be pro- posed in the coming session of Congress on the eve of the national election. ‘There may be one exception. If the Su- preme Court rules the A. A. A. and its processing taxes to be unconstitutional, then, the President says, new taxes will have to be levied and new revenue ob- tained to pay the farmers for comply- ing with the crop programs of the A. A. A. The farmers are not to be denied their checks for curtailing their wheat, cotton, tobacco, corn and hog production. And if the processing tax— which really reaches down to every ulti- mate consumer in the matter of higher living costs—is turned down by the court, then some new method will be devised. In his discussion of the Federal taxes the President refers to the legislative acts of Congress in its last session af- fecting taxation. Among them he men- tioned the “revenue act of 1935.” This 1s the law put through Congress in the wake of the President’s “share-the- wealth” tax message to that body last Spring. The Chief Executive, in his present discussion of the taxes, does not go into the theory that he devised at that time, & theory that the Federal taxes should be used to redistribute wealth, as well as to meet the necessary expenditures of the Government. It is possible that he has reference to this theory of taxation when he says: “The underlying tax structure of the Govern- ment is now stronger than ever before in our history, and as normal business re- turns, will produce revenues adequate for all essential purposes.” The budget message of the President, taken in connection with his promise to business that a “breathing spell” has arrived, is calculated to reassure and to give hope that the country is coming out of the slough of despond under the guiding hand of the present adminis- tration, Its publication, immediately on the heels of the reassuring talk of the President to the American farmers at Fremont, Nebraska, is well timed to speed the campaign against New Deal critics. Ernest P. Bicknell. Not many of the host of Americans Wwho appreciate the Red Cross are famil- far with the part which Ernest P. Bick- nell played in its development. It was characteristic of him that he should prefer to avold the fame which easily might have been his in that regard. But now that he has gone to whatever reward is reserved for such laborers in the universal vineyard, the story may be told. It happened that the Red Cross needed an organizing genius—an individual with spiritual capital, enthusiasm, loyalty and practical skill. The cause of mercy to which Clara Barton had been devoted required a servant with the gifts she had brought to the work, but also with an endowment of pragmatic intelli- gence demanded by new conditions. World conditions were enormously com- plicated, people were busy with per- sonal problems, society was in & stage of transition and old ideals of kindliness and charity were in danger of being forgotten. whether or not the Red Cross could sur- vive. Also, it was a matter of debate among those most directly interested as to what form further effort should take. The issue reached & crisis in 1904, when Miss Barton, eighty-three years of age, But the solution of the problem did not appear until 1906, when Mr. Bick- nell, then general superintendent of the Board of Charities of Chicago, went to The question was as to. % THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., MONDAY, SEPTEMBER ' 30, 1935. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. San Francisco to aid in relief endeavor there following the earthquake and fire, It was while he was in the stricken city that he was enlisted in the Red Cross movement as an emergency representa- tive. So notable were his services that it seemed that he had been providen- ‘tially “raised up” for the purpose. He was chosen general director of the na- tional society in 1908. At that time, however, only five thousand persons were enrolled. Mr. Bicknell lived to see a membership peak of twenty millions. He rebuilt the Red Cross organization. Meanwhile, he had charge of the American aspect of help to Messina, Italy; at the Cherry, Ill, mine disaster of 1909, and in Mexico during the revo- lutions of 1913. He attained the apex of his career when the World War began and he was sent to Europe on the battleship Tennessee with the funds voted by Congress for stranded Ameri- cans caught in the cataclysm. The earth brimmed with trouble during the next two decades, and Mr. Bicknell was one of the ministering angels who la- bored to prevent a complete collapse of civilization. Yet relatively few of his contemporaries knew of him. He sub- merged himself in his vocation until, in 1933, he could retire with confidence that the structure he had reared could stand without him. The leisure he had earned was spent writing his memoirs, and the printed book was placed in his hands on Saturday. He glanced over the pages and quietly fell asleep.- It would be difficult to find a more useful life than his had been, A Hint to Hitler. In the midst of eleventh-hour efforts to avert hostilities between Italy and Ethiopia, Great Britain announces, in forthright terms that her interest in prevention of “unprovoked aggression” is not confined to Africa. The statement is in response to inquiries by France as to what extent she might be assured in the future with respect to imposition of League sanctions in the event of a resort to force in Europe in violation of the covenant. The French obviously were bent upon obtaining pledges from the British, in case of a German attack on France, before committing themselves too extensively to join Britain in punitive measures against Italy. The London government withholds a blanket guarantee of aid for France under any circumstances, but Foreign Secretary Sir Samuel Hoare's circum- spect communication leaves no doubt on one cardinal score—that if and when Germany commits a palpable act of “un- provoked aggression” Britain will live up to her obligations as a League member unhesitatingly. There is one condition under which the British would not feel called upon to act under the sanctions article of the covenant—namely, mere failure of Germany or any other nation to fulfill the terms of various treaties pertaining to armaments or European boundaries. With respect to peaceable treaty revisions affecting frontiers, the British leave the way open both to Ger- many and other defeated powers on the ground that “elasticity is a part of se- curity,” and nations must recognize that “the world is not static.” That sounds very much as if John Bull is in receptive mood to consider German demands for restitution of a portion of the Reich’s former colonies. As to German rearma- ment in violation of the Versailles treaty, the world faces an accomplished fact, for which, as far as naval power is con- cerned, Great Britain herself is mainly responsible. It is not without significance that Britain’s reaffirmation of opposition to “unprovoked a; ion” was proclaimed on the day the province of Memel was holding a crucial election which is to determine whether Lithuanian or Ger- man domination is to prevail there. Hit- ler has lately been discussing Memel in truculent terms as territory which righteously should be restored to the Reich. Adjacent to East Prussia, from Which it was detached after the World ‘War, and predominantly inhabited by Germans, the Nazis look upon Memel as one of those “bleeding Germanic bor- ders"—like the Polish Corridor, Danzig, Upper Silesia and parts of Czechoslo- vakia, Belgium and Denmark—which some day must be retrieved. Austria, of course, also comes within that category, though Hitler has renounced ambitions to recover Alsace-Lorraine. Dissatisfled as France may be with the reservations which Britain lays down regarding aid against Germany, one thing seems fairly clear—Hitler must seek to establish the Nazis’ “Greater Germany” through treaty “rectifica- tions” by peaceable means. Should he embark upon “positive acts of unpro- voked aggression” against his neighbors’ territory, he is now put on notice that the Nazis will have to reckon with the same stern resistance which Britain is offering to Mussolini’s designs against Ethiopia. John Bull, however, cate- gorically lays down the principle that such resistance must be collective and insists that “if risks for peace are to be run, they must be run by all.” Even so, Britain's attitude toward European prob= lems, as just defined, is a new factor for peace and a distinct discouragement to territorial brigandage. Whether France will now be in mood to partici= pate in rigid sanctions against Italy is another question. Bikes Coming Back. Bicycle production figures indicate that there is a revival of interest in the favorite pastime of forty years ago. It is said that more than two million bikes are in regular and consistent use in the United States today. Movie stars, college students and amateur sportsmen are sup- posed to be responsible for the renais- sance, and the ancient League of Ameri- can Wheelmen has been revived to give direction to it. In 193¢ manufacturers reported a twenty-five per cent increase in the sale of new machines. Meanwhile, England and Germany show what the bicycle may mean as a practical device for the solution of traffic problems. Armies of people move into London and Berlin each week-day &\ 74 France and Belgium also are abundantly bicycle-conscious. In Holland everybody rides. And the death toll of the streets in those countries is cut accordingly. People may be hurt in spills from rubber-tired broncos, but few are killed in accidents of that kind. Perhaps the suggestion is worthy of consideration in Washington. Obviously there is a numerous public here who might be classified as living witilin easy bicycle range of work. A statistician Nas estimated that at least half of the population of the Capital is domiciled in an area reasonably convenient for cycling to and from business. But the substitution of bikes for motor vehicles would have to be general if it were to be effective. Mere minority re- course to bicycles for practical transpor- tation would not suffice. The highways already are so crowded with automobiles as to make cycling dangerous, especially in the downtown section, In smaller communities, however, the experiment might be tried with expec- tation of success. At New Haven hun- dreds of Yale men cycle to class; at Princeton likewise bikes are popular. Presumably, the physical exercise in- volved is not resented. ———————— The president of the Foreign Policy Association of the U. 8. A. is interesting Geneva with discussion of methods of being unpleasant, even though neutral. George Washington's advice about for- eign entanglement was like a law which sounds good, but is inevitably studied for possible means of evasion. ———— 5 There are stratagems in war which the popular mind cannot be expected to comprehend with precision. Experts cannot be influenced entirely by a super- ficial impression that a battleship is merely something for a bombing plane to shoot at. ————— The investigation of New York's poultry racket will in emergency have the aid of Mr. Hoover's men. It is well to begin early to show that crime does not pay. Many a bank robber has started in life as a chicken thief. —— O i = One way to make airships contribute to war peril would be to load them with bootleg liquor and then allow them to be captured for the enemy to ride. —— e If science had perfected a system of artificial rain-making, Ethiopia would be at work on plans to continue the wet season indefinitely. —————— Crime does not pay. As prosperity revives, every effort will be made to con- tinue to hold crime in a state of busi- ness depression. ————— Some of the towns on the Mediter- ranean shore are wishing they could for- get war games and get back to their roulette. ‘The League of Nations has to consider processes of trial and error, with vivid recollection of the fact that the world has already had a colossal war. —_————— An element of sentiment in Italy may begin to regard Mussolini as having been only “pinch hitting” for the real King. So long as there are hurricanes and earthquakes, neither Florida nor Cali- fornia can claim absolute perfection. - In world commerce it is at least ex- pected that there will be no munitions in Europe marked “Made in U. 8. A.” e ‘The New Deal cannot be regarded as quite the same since the Blue Eagle went into the discard. —ee Shooting Stars, BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Static. A lark was singing in the sky About a happy day. A bombing plane came whizzing by And scared the song away. The melodies we used to hear ‘Were all to sweet to last. The echoing clear of gentle cheer Are memories of the past. We only hear of doubt and care In tones that seem to scoff. Dull static seems to fill the air, The music’s frightened off. Parliamentary. “Do you think you'll be able to get the speaker’s eye?” “The speaker hasn’t done anything to me yet,” said the athletic young member. “If he does, I won't aim for his eye. Il aim for his jaw.” Jud Tunkins says a good deal of the talk in a political campaign sounds like high-priced boondoggling to him. Duo. There is a harmony of style In this progressive sphere. Sometimes it causes us to smile, Sometimes it brings a tear. Prosperity keeps hovering nigh To cheer the public mood. Qur hopes are daily still more high, So is the price of food. Margin. “Do you ever trade on a margin?” “You might say so,” said the small speculator, “although it seems more like o ragged edge.” Invitation, “Oh, come and see our pretty war!” ‘We hear it far away, Though none tells what it's useful for, They'll have it on display. And while we wait for the delights Of sabotage sublime, We'll have preliminary fights To pass away the time. “De man who wants de biggest of everything,” said Uncle Ebeén, “is liable 1| to be gittin® credit for nothin’ mo’ dan carryin’ de brass drum.” .THE POLITI MILL By G. Gould Lincoln, President Roosevelt’s campaign for re-election is well underway. Doubtless Chairman James A. Farley of the Demo- cratic National Committee, if talking off the record, would admit that the cam- paign has been going for a long time. But the campaign is launched more for- mally these days. The President’s prom- ise of a “breathing spell” to business, his speech to the farmers at Fremont, Nebr., on Saturday, and his message to the American people on the Government budget, pledging no increase in Federal taxes, all work into the picture. Before the President returns to Washington from his Western trip it may be expected that he will have driven home further arguments for the continuance of the Roosevelt administration and the New Deal. It was predicted some time ago that he would make use of this trip to reply to the avalanche of criticism that has been heaped upon the New Deal in recent months. x X Xk % One of the most significant statements of the President in his budget message was that, if the processing taxes, part and parcel of the A. A. A. and used to finance the payment of Government checks to the farmers for not growing wheat, cotton, pigs, etc., are declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, some new tax legislation will be de- manded so as to permit the continuance of the benefits to the farmers who have signed compliance agreements with the A. A. A. Tt is clear that if the Supreme Court turns down the A. A. A. and the processing taxes, there will be no more money to pass out to the farmers for not producing crops—unless the Government can find it in some other direction. Apparently the President has it in mind that the Supreme Court may declare the processing taxes unconstitutional, just as it took a shot at the N. R. A. last Spring. Anyway, he is making the prom- ise in advance of court action that the farmers will be taken care of. The New Deal Democrats are relying on these Government checks to the farmers as bait for New Deal votes. That is prac- tical politics, perhaps, but from a po- litical viewpoint, it is persuasive. Fur- thermore, it is pretty direct. * ¥ X ¥ ‘The President says clearly that busi- ness has improved and is improving fast. From other sources the same improved conditions are reported. With recovery coming along, can the Roosevelt admin- istration be defeated at the polls next year? Will the voters be willing to change horses? Ordinarily, the people are inclined not to make a change in their Government if things are going well and business is humming. How- ever, the cost of living is going up and there are still many millions of unem- ployed, and there are skeptics who will scarcely believe that increased taxes are not just around the corner, even if they are not to be imposed during the cam- paign year. There is an inclination among some of the business men to say: “We are getting recovery in spite of the New Deal, not because of it.” And they add they do not like the sound of the phrase used by the President when he promised business a “breathing spell.” ‘What's coming after, they want to know. Woodrow Wilson won the war, but what happened afterward to the Democratic party was disheartening. * ok ok X ‘The Democratic leaders are jumpy about the constitutional issue raised by the Republicans against the President and the New Deal. While they insist that the constitutional issue will amount to nothing in the coming campaign, they realize that before the election next year the Supreme Court may have de- clared several more of th New Deal laws violative of the Constitution. How can the New Deal be made constitutional if that turns out to be the case? Only through amending the Constitution or getting a new court, abviously. While the President has intimated in his talks to the press than an amendment to the Constitution may be necessary, he has not yet called for such an amendment, nor formulated one. The reaction in the country to the suggestion was not fortunate from the New Deal stand- point. So the Democrats are rather vague about the whole matter, although they continue to insist that the life of the Constitution lies in the fact that it may be amended. Chairman Farley of the Democratic Committee, speaking over the radio last night on this matter of the Constitution, said: “So far as I know, President Roosevelt has never declared his purpose of seek- ing an amendment to the Constitution limiting the great tribunal’s capacity, but suppose he had or has such a pro- gram in mind? The only way the Con= stitution can be amended is by a two- thirds vote of both houses of Congress and a ratification of their action by three-fourths ®of the States. This has been accomplished 21 times in our his- tory. Not infrequently the States have refused or cmitted to ratify ‘amend- ments—and in either case the good old country has rocked along without dis- turbance.” * % k¥ It looks as though the Roosevelt Dem- ocrats might at least be preparing the way, laying the ground and fertilizing the public mind prior to the advance- ment of a constitutional amendment. But they are very careful not to say that the President is going to sponsor such an amendment legalizing the New Deal. ‘They do not want it to appear that the President or the Democrats are in any way antagonistic to the Constitution, however. Any such implication makes them see red. For it is quite clear to even a casual observer that the Ameri- can people generally are not ready to get away from that fundamental law, or to attack it in any way. L Presidgnt Roosevelt’s efforts as a peace maker for the warring Kentucky Demo- cratic factions, as he sped westward through Cincinnati have left something tobedesired. One side, as represented by Gov. Laffoon and Rhea, the defeated organization candidate for the guber- natorial nomination, did not show up at the conference which had been pro- posed by the President. How much this partisan bitterness will affect the re- sults in the November elections is still & matter of conjecture. The supporters of “Happy” Chandler, the Democratic nom= inee, insist that everything is rosy. LI Before long the Democrats of the Sen- ate will be picking their Senatorial Cam- paign Committee. Senator James Ham- ilton Lewis of Illinois is at present chair- man, and carried through successfully the senatorial campaign of the Demo- crats in 1934. Senator Lewis himself is to be a candidate for re-election next year, and it is invariably the rule that only Senators who are not themselves running for re-election serve on the campaign committee. It has been sug- gested that Senator Joseph F. Guffey of Pennsylvania, a newcomer to the Sen- ate but not new to politics, be picked for chairman of the Senate committee which will function next year. o 2 e mental cne of, “Well, if he doesn’t want to speak, all right!” - ‘Which, of course, is rather absurd, but completely natural. When one sees the offender again, usually the conversation runs along these lines: “I am sorry you aren’t speaking any more.” “What d6 you mean, not speaking?” “Why, I passed you on the street the other day, and you stuck your nose up in the air—" “I never saw you at all.” Often this rejoinder is met with polite disbelief. “Well, you were looking right at me.” The explanation is hurried. “You see, sometimes when I am thinking about something I can look right at a friend, and not see him at all.” * x ok % This is true, but often such persons are not given credit for such overlooking. ‘The common way is to be offended, or at least to pretend to be offended. Which action is the worse must be left to the psychologists. In the everyday life there is scarcely any need for either, yet nothing is more common than for men and women to be “hurt,” as they say, over the failure of friends and acquaintances to speak to them upon occasion. The ordinary, hardy individual, who is not so constituted, mentally, will not altogether understand the situation. Often, therefore, he is the very one who hurlts others without once realizing his fault. To him, of course, it is not a fault at all, but merely one of the happen- ings of & crowded day. ~Since he nor- mally fails to greet acquaintances, he does not really mind when others do not say “hello” to him. * x ¥ x The more sensitive individual, who wears his heart on his sleeve, for every one to hurt, puts too much stock in the daily greeting, perhaps. He lkes to speak to everybody, and wants every one to greet him in turn. If they do, he regards it only as normal, whereas if they do not he is tremen- dously put out over it. It does no good to say he should not be that way. “That way” is his way, and never will it change. Efforts to change such personal “ways” are more or less wasted, especially by the individ- ual concerned. Will power, that good will power so often talked about, is not so good when it is exerted by a mind to correct such tendencies. Often the stress and strain of this in- ward battle serves only to make more prominant the very trait which one seeks to correct. The so-called nervous break- down sometimes is brought about by sucn inner conflict. * x k% Every human, therefore, must more or less study his own personality, in such cases, and come at last to find out what is good for him and what is not. Then he may see that he can overcome an excessive “sensibility,” as Jane Aus- ten would have called it, by the mere expedient of pointedly telling himself, when he begins to feel offended, that the offending person really was very busy. This busyness of humanity is very real. It is one of the best solutions of many problems, one so thoroughly ingrained in )| humanity that commonly no one ever stops to think about it. Just as Marcus Aurelius said, “Talk not about what a good man is, bui be one,” so man, in the mass, has never talked much about ac- tion, as such, but has launched himself into it. Thus he has saved himself from much vain thinking, since the intelli- gences of average men are not so put together as to be able to offer any real help in many of the great problems which confront them. They are willing, as a group, to permit specially gifted and trained men to do this sort of thinking for them. Hence has arisen the tribe of poets, writers, artists, in- ventors, preachers, leaders, men and ‘women seemingly gifted with the divine ability to think along certain lines. This has been rogarded as “inspiration,” and treated accordingly. * x x % Your great average man, however, will never find anything better for him than being busy about many things. It is an old idea, as old as human- ity, and it has never been improved on. It is good to recall it, now and then, in order to realize the springs of regu- lar human conduct, and how well they are based in average character. Such recalling, also, will enable the person whose mind and heart are too easily affected to put the very best con- struction on the failure of others to speak to him as much as he thinks they ought. He will, in the first place, try to keep himself so busy that he will not expose himself to what strikes him as snubbing more than is necessary. Then he will tell himsef, if it, never- theless, occurs, that the person involved is very, very busy, that he has so much on his mind that he is probaby think- ing of some great matter when he passes. Curlously enough, often this is ab- solutely correct! It is great and important, at least, to the man, and you must not attempt to tell him otherwise, for he would not believe you, in any case. He is very busy about it, and at the time it seems so grand and important that he naturally has his head in the air, and his eyes clouded with dreams. In time he will come to see his dreams were not very great, after all, but at the time he sees them as the greatest pile of clouds in the history of mankind. ‘Who can say? Often it is amusing, and not a little pitiful, to see a human going these ways of dreams, intent on some purpose which seems great to him, and petty to every one else. In such & mood it is easy to under- stand the words, “Oh, Jerusalem, Jeru- salem, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and thou would not.” * ok ok x Let every one try, when another does not speak on meeting him, to believe honestly that the other is laboring under great and pressing problems. Maybe they are small problems which, nevertheless, seem great to him. Many persons, also, are unable to do two things at a time. To think, and at the same moment greet, seems really beyond them. The joy of thinking is not theirs, only its work. Pity them, therefore, in a sense, and be kind to them in your thoughts. Then you will not be hurt when you say, “Good morning,” and get no greet- ing in reply. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Because of disturbed international conditions incidental to the Italo-Ethi- opian conflict, President Roosevelt's re- affirmation of the United States’ “second to none” Navy policy has more than ordinary significance. Many observers consider it well within the realm of the probable that League of Nations trade sanctions against Italy would promptly churn up for this country problems like those which confronted us in the days of our World War neutrality and nearly dragged us into the fray against the allies. Mr. Roosevelt may not have any such complications in mind in declaring Uncle Sam’s purpose to build beyond present treaty strength at sea if Great Britain or Japan should exceed existing ratio limits. At any rate, F. D. R.'s state- ment will be interpreted by all concerned as definite indication that whatever steps are necessary to maintain parity with Britain and superiority over Japan will be taken without hesitation. San Diego being the headquarters of the United States fleet, it's considered not unlikely that the President in his speech there this week will discuss the international naval situation along the lines of his recent manifesto. * ok K X Business and industry are rolling along so well without codes that opinion is crystallizing that President Roosevelt will now not press for re-establishment of N. R. A. on anything like the old lines. Just before Congress adjourned in August he urged a careful examination of the necessity of revised N. R. A. legislation. Voluntary adherence to Blue Eagle hours and wages by 90 per cent of industry evi- dently causes the President to feel that codes, after all, may no longer be required. Chiselers are still abroad in the land, but if business itself contrives to get rid of them, it doesn’t look as if the administration would seek new code laws. Former N. R. A. Director Richberg's candid admission that anticipated “chaos” in industry has not materialized strengthens the belief that the code sys- tem is on the scrap heap for good. * x ok % It’s now apparent that the 1936 presi- dential campaign will be characterized by one time-honored aspect of American politics. The farmer is once again to be the object of ardent wooing by both parties. ~Mr. Roosevelt's selection of agriculture as the theme for his first speech on his Western expedition is symptomatic of what's ahead. Master politician that he is, he determined to tackle the farm problem within a few hours after the Republican National Committee council of war in Washington had decided to establish Western head- quarters for the purpose of making a special drive to capture the rural vote. To hold the West next year is the Demo- crats’ paramount necessity. Republicans, confident that the New Deal is slumping in the East, will bend every energy to make inroads throughout the wide open spaces which Mr. ' Roosevelt has just crossed at the outset of his swing around the circle. Most reports indicate that farmers, bulging with New Deal pay checks and other evidences of prosperity, are at present not minded to renounce their allegiance to Santa Claus. * k% % From a mere man who apparently holds to the threadbare theory that women are the more loquacious of the species comes the that if & C. C. C. camp for girls, as has been , is created, it is bound sooner or later to become & “Civilian Conversation Corps.” ’ Admiral Takeshita, distinguished Japa- nese war veteran, now on a good-will tour among ex-service men in this coun- try, was Japanese naval attache in Washington during the Russo-Japanese war 30 years ago. He was very chummy with President Theodore Roosevelt, to whom he taught jiu-jitsu. George Wash- ington threw a sovereign across the At- lantic, but Admiral Takeshita is sure he himself is the only man who ever threw a President of the United States over his shoulder and landed him flat on his back, as the Japanese sailor man fre- quently did while putting T. R. through Jiu-jitsu paces in the old White House library. The admiral calls Teddy “the greatest friend Japan ever had.” . * ok k% Mrs. Ruth Bryan Owen, American Minister to Denmark, who has just reached this country on annual leave of absence, believes that women have now definitely found their piace in diplomacy and that a bob-haired envoy will soon cease to be a novelty. The United States is one of three countries which have sta- tioned women diplomats abroad. Mexico has a woman minister in Colombia and the Soviet Union is represented in Sweden by a woman ambassador. Mrs. Owen completed half of a new book called “Denmark Caravan” while crossing the ocean this month and expects to write the other half on the way back to her post later in the Fall. She de- scribes Denmark as a land that “keeps its feet firmly on the ground” and appar- ently is wholly unaffected by the unrest prevalent in certain other countries. * ok k% Rudolph Forster, executive clerk in charge of the White House offices, does not rank as “acting President of the United States” during the absence of Mr. Roosevelt, but he is monarch of about all he surveys in executive regions while the entire presidential organization is on the other side of the continent. It is \no new experience for the modest and efficient gentleman who has been at the elbow of all Chief Executives since McKinley. Altogether there have been eight of them, covering a span of 38 consecutive years. Mr. Forster began his Government service, he likes to tell, as a tabulator of fish scales in the old United States Fish Commission. He was loaned to the White House for steno- graphic service and acquitted himself so creditably that McKinley made him a permanent member of the office staff. No American has been the custodian of so many state secrets or kept them more faithfully. * ¥ ¥ % Sir John Foster Fraser, distinguished British journalist, who recently visited ‘Washington, was captivated, like so many White House visitors,. by President Roosevelt's smile. Sir John says it “ought to be worth millions of votes from people who take a man at his face value.” He added: “I don't expect the President knew me from Adam, but he beamed at me and gripped my hand as though I was a Republican who had seen the error of my ways. I felt that in about two minutes he would be calling me by my Christian name. I can't picture our Stanley Baldwin ever doing that. Your President has a personality that rouses love and loyalty. He strikes me as play- ing the big game of politics better than any man alive.” g (Copyright, 1038.) ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS By Frederic J. Haskin. A reader can get the answer to any question of fact by writing The Washinge ton Eveaing Star Information Burea: Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washin ton, D.C. Please inclose stamp for /eply. Q. When did Wiley Post buy the plane in which he and Will Rogers lost their lives?—A. M. A. He purchased it in February, 1935, Q. In the case of Siamese twins, if one of them were to drink to excess, would both become intoxicated?—G. M. H. A. The original Siamese twins were Chang and Eng. Chang was intem- perate, but his potations had no effect upon Eng, although a thin bar of liver tissue extended through the band whi¢hi joined them. Q. Of what material was the hut built in which Admiral Byrd lived alone in the Antarctic?—J. P. F. A. It was built of thin pine board, paper, kapok, and aluminum foil. It embodied a new insulation principle, the secret of which is said to lie in the aluminum foil and which is known as metallation. The highly polished aluminum in the walls in the form of two thin layers threw back the heat in the manner of mirrors reflecting light. Q. Please give some information about Matilda Ziegler's magazine for the blind. —H. L. A. Mrs. William Ziegler of New York City established the magazine in 1907, It has since been distributed free each month to any blind person in the United States and Canada who can read one of the three types in which it is printed. Mrs. Ziegler became interested in this philanthropy because she had a blind son. At the time of her death, about three years ago, she left an endowment of $800,000 to insure the continued issu< ance of the paper, which is published at Monsey, N. Y. Q. What makes vegetables sprout afte: e;ey“have been stored in a cellar?— A. ir vegetables sprout or grow, it Xnd:lcawu that the temperature is too high. Q. What are “Lloyd's Bonks"?—E. L. A. They are two enormous ledger-iike volumes placed on desks at the entrance to Lloyd's Rooms. They give the princi« pal arrivals, and all losses by wrecks, fire or other accidents to ships at sea. Q. Who founded Robert College in Constantinople?—E. G. A. It was opened in 1863 with funds contributed by Christopher R. Robert and other Americans, for the higher education of natives of Turkey. In 1864 it was affiliated with the University of the State of New York. Q. Please explain the name of Tchai- kowsky’s “Nutcracker Suite.”—T. S. W. A. The “Ballet of Casse Noisette” was written in 1892. It is based on Hoff- mann’s written fairy tale of the little girl whe, having indulged herself with Christmas goodies, dreams on Christmas night that she again sees the tree lighted in all its glory, while toys and dolls are holding a fairy revel, led by Nut Cracker, the Prince of Fairyland. Q. Please give some information about g:eFRodin Museum in Philadelphia. — A. The building stands in formal French gardens on the Parkway. It was given to the city by Jules E. Mastbaum in 1929. There are 83 bronzes, 64 draw= ings, 2 bas-reliefs, 2 paintings and numerous memorabilia of the great sculptor. The entrance is a replica of an eighteenth century chateau facade on the Rodin estate at Mendon, France. Q. How many people wished to take the civil service examination for immi- gration patrol inspector?—P. C. R. A. Applications for the examination numbered 40,776. Q. Please give a biography of Casa= nova?—E. H. A. Giovanni, or Jacopo Casanova de Seingalt, Italian adventurer and author, was born in 1725. He studied for the church, was rejected, and entered the army. Arrested for impiety, the praé- tice of magic and witchcraft, his life thereafter was a tissue of roguery and amorous adventures. He was a man of learning and taste, a poet, mathema= tician, theologian and critic. His last years were spent as librarian to Count Waldstein at Dux, Bohemia. His mem- oirs, written in French, are world famous. Q. Is there a reward for turning up a deserter from the United States Army, or an Army prisoner?—A. Z. A. At the present time there is no reward paid for reporting a deserter from the United States Army. A reward of $25 is given to any one reporting an escaping prisoner from the Army. Q. What is used to paste numbers on cattle at an auction?—F. M. A. The Bureau of Animal Industry recommends casein glue for pasting paper numbers on cattle for sale at an auction. If casein glue is not availe able, any standard commercial glue may be used. At some cattle auctions the cattle are marked by a white square painted on the side, in the middle of which a black stencil is placed. Q. How thick a coal veis discovered?—A. L. R A. The thickest coal in the world f8 in Australia, where three beds totaled 780 feet. The thickest bed in ‘the United States is the mammoth bed of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co. in Carbon County, Pa., where the thicke ness is 105 feet 8 inches. This same bed is folded near Shenandoah, where ;het thickness is between 150 and 200 eet. A Rhyme at Twilight By Gertrude Brooke Hamilton Rekindled Fires. Blustering winds in our garden, Black clouds against the blue sky, Spray tossed afar from our fountain, A glittering star on high. ‘Twilight; red leaves blowing by. We drift indoors, you and I. You light the logs in our fireplace. # As the flames begin to glow 2 You brush the dust from the bool shelves, From the reading-cushions low, J And your brown hands moving slow, You open a book we know. ‘Where last Spring you placed a marker, In our fireside retreat You read again a simple verse, “Take the cushion at my feet, For I love you, love you, sweet!"— In & kiss our spirits meet. ‘ : \