Evening Star Newspaper, November 23, 1935, Page 8

| THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D, C, SATURDAY .........November 23, 1935 pm o had i bbb e THEODORE W. NOYES «.Editor Remsisbdoroiaide il addd b LA TS The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 11th RB“.L NSV :n.l Ave. = : b T n ok Buzopean Offive: 14 Regent 5t.. nam, Engiand. Rate by Carrier Within the City. Regular Edition, The Evening Star. --45¢ per month The Evening and Sunday f:r_ _60c per month n . __65c per month The Suvday St --5¢ per copy Night Final Editio gllht Pinal and Sunday St ight Final Star. Collection made_ai ©Orders mey bs sent *ional 600C. ©f,_esch monta. y mail or telephone Iia- ®yie by Dlail—Fayabie in Advance, Giaryiznd snd Virginia. fly and Su: 7r. $10.001 1 mo. EL' .;"51‘2'“1; ; i’.‘fi R mo.. 40¢ AN Other States and Canada. ily and Sul aily only_. Bunday only. Member of the Associated Press. oclated Press 1s exclusively entitied to 'hflzfl‘fil’ republication of all news dispatches eredited ldfl I‘lsoolz'hflfl D!{l!l'l!! eurbeflsgftdfl ’hner(."lkl‘l nd” also_ the fooal news b ; A Fights of oublication of shecial dispatches Rereln are also Teserved, 1 mo. Stopping War Trade. ‘American shipments of “essential war materials” to the African belligerents, primarily and almost exclusively Italy, have attained proportions that are prop- erly impelling the administration to adopt restrictive measures. As it strictly legal powers are limited by the neu- trality resolution of Congress, which is confined to “implements of war,” the President’s only method of checking other traffic is moral persuasion. Mr. Roosevelt and Secretary Hull have done their utmost in that direction. They have issued statement after statement emphasizing that trade with the belliger- ents is contrary to the Government's policy, that American nationals who engage in it do so at their own risk, and that it is designed to prolong war. Still other arguments were advanced to induce business not to be lured by temporary lucrative profits into transactions that might embroil the United States in in- ternational complications. As despite these pleas and admonitions the trade in question has increased sub- rtantially, the administration has de- siqed Lo 2oply new forms of pres On Tau i his caacily nistraior, sppesied lo ail proaucers of ofl to refrain from sales to the belligerents. His request applies prac- tically only to Italy, whose petroleum purchases here have risen enormously in recent months. Mr. Ickes declares that producers should “keep the spirit and letter” of the neutrality act by refusing 1o sell to Italy, which now largely de- pends upon American oil for her navy and for her motorized army units, such as tanks, trucks and airplanes. On Friday the Government resorted to yet another step in the field of moral embargo. Through the Shipping Bureau of the Department of Commerce it sent letters to all navigation companies owing money to the United States in which there is the definitely implied suggestion that such debfors might run into diffi- culties at Washington if their vessels continue to carry “essential war mate- rials” to Italy or Ethiopia. Along with the shipping hint, there is an intimation that other Government departments may be constrained to take a hand in the moral pressure movement unless war profiteering comes to an end. Post office mail subsidies to ship lines and Recon- struction Finance Corporation loans to railroads, banks and industries are men- tioned in this connection. It is evidently the administration’s purpose to exhaust its possibilities in the field of suasion to stop a species of irade intercourse which, while legal as far as any existing statutory barrier is con- cerned, unquestionably involves perils to America’s peace and neutrality, which transcend all other considerations. In going the limit to avert those dangers the President can rely on the country's support. He is not likely to be diverted from that course by Mussolini's anguished cry that it aligns the United States with the “sanctionist” powers and will bring | down on us the same reprisals Italy is imposing upon them. As for American business, it is plainly on notice from ‘Washington that unless it ceases and desists from war trade on its own account 1t faces the possibility of congressional action to accomplish that purpose. e ———— Nature asserts an authority that can- not be contradicted. Food production eannot be arbitrarily controlled any more than hurricanes or volcanoes. ——r———— Civilizing Savages. Premier Mussolinl probably never heard of Thomas Belt, but it might serve excellent purpose if he were to consult his book, “The Naturalist in Nicaragua,” published in 1874, and still worthy of careful reading for the light it throws upon problems which have not ceased to trouble mankind. The author was a practical man, an engineer by profession, who spent most of the forty-five years of his brief career touring the world in the interests of science. He traveled in the British Isles, Russia, Siberia and the Kirghiz Steppes as well as in North, South and Central America, and everywhere he went he recorded his impressions and experi- ences in clear, concise and compelling English. Those who enjoyed his ac- quaintance found him “an accurate and intelligent observer, possessed of the valuable faculty of wonder at whatever 1s new or strange or beautiful in nature and the equally valuable habit of seek- ing a reason for all he saw.” But some of the conditions he discov- ered in Nicaragua were anything but “beautiful,” and he dipped his pen in acid when he essayed to write of them. “In destroying the ancient monarchies of Mexico and Central America,” he says, “the Spaniards inflicted sn irreparable injury on the ‘Indian race. * * * The civilization that Cortez overthrew was A THE EVEN..TNG- STAR, WASHI more suitable for the Indians than that which has supplanted it.” His indictment of the conquerors is formuleted in the question: “Who can read the accounts of the populous towns in the time of Montezuma, with their magnificent buildings and squares; their gardens, both zoological and botanical; thelr Markets, attended by merchants from the surrounding countries; their beautiful cloth end feather work, the latter now a lost art; their picture writ- ing; their cunning artificers in gold and silver; their astronomical knowledge; their schools; their love of order, of cleanliness, of decency; their morality and their wonderful patriotism, with- out feeling that the conquest of Mexico was & deplorable calamity; that If that | encient civilization had been saved §i | might have been Christianized and puri- fled without being desiroyed, and today have stood one of the wonders and de- lights of the world? Its civilization was self-grown, it was indigenous, it was unique; & few poor remnants of its piety, love of order and self-government still remain in remote Indian townships; but its learning, magnificence and glory have gone forever.” But the Fascist dictator, of course, would deny that there is any point of similarity between ancient Central Amer- ica and modern Ethiopia. Rather, he would argue that the victims of his policy of military subjugation are lawless sav- ages “with no place in the society of nations.” And he would offer their pov- erty and degradation in support of ihe righteousness of his procedure. Yet the warning Mussolini would find in Belt’s fascinating volume will remain. Arbitrary civilizing harms more than it helps. TItalian triumph over the Abys- sinians will follow traditional lines to the usual tragic end, and history, repeat- ing itself, will chronicle another crime committed in the name of mangled Justice. SR - The Latest Wonder. Wonders, it is said, never cease. So long as the planet spins life will be marvelous and miracles will occur. The latest or most recent example of the romance of progress is that of the in- auguration of an air-post service be- tween the United States and the Orient. No normal individual who reads the story of the departure the China grapn sysiem in operation, sud August 16, 1858, when Queen Victorla sent the first message through the original At- lantic cable. Its significance is that of a human triumph over time and distance, a victory of genius and courage over circumstance. And it is worthy of nolice thai the new link between the West and ihe East is symptomatic of processes of social evolution which offset to & considerable extent the diversive influences which separate the peoples of the globe. Fly- ing between San Francisco and Manila, the clipper planes are going into action almost at the moment when ihe United States is conceding independence to the Philippines. Thus they constitute a so- cial replacement of a broken political tie and represent in that regard at least a gain for the ideal of world unity and peace. ‘To the philosopher the high importance | They ap- | of such incidents is ebvious. pear to reflect a universal plan whereby theoretical losses become indubitable ad- | vances in the history of mankind. A balance, it seems, is re-established with consistent mathematical regularity be- tween minus and plus. Perhaps it is a cosmic law that is involved—a principle like that which is summarized in ibe doctrine that “nature abhors a vacuum.” But be the explanation what it may, the flight which began yesterday and which, barring accident, will end at its far objective within a week, has the attention of millions of plain men and women who may know or care nothing about its metaphysical implications, yet who are stirred to the depths of their souls by the spectacle. Capt. Edwin Musick, voyaging over the dreary waste of the Pacific, may not realize it, but he has the admiration and the best wishes of multitudes of his ceuntrymen. e ——— impressive as indicating, conirary to ex- pectation, that there is fighting on beth sides. The Ethical Line. Careful students of human behavior | have noticed that there is & curious ethical line in the make-up of indi- viduals. Psychologists are trained to observe its effects, but they have not yet reached any agreement concerning its basic nature. A kind of pattern of action, it never may be comprehended perfectly. Yet the routines of conduct which it manifests may be catalogued with approximate accuracy. For example, consider the case of James Gardini and Felix Mayeski. They were arrested at Spring Valley, Ill, and held in the local calaboose awaiting trial. Days came and went. Then, at last, they were haled into court. Before Mayor-Judge Tonelli they admitted their misdemeanor. But their plea of guilty was accompanied by one for mercy on the ground that, had they wished, they might have escaped from the lock-up and thus avoided punishment. The magistrate listened, then bet the two men their freedom. If they could get out, they could stay out. When returned to their cell, they twisted off the rusty bars of the window and vaulted to the lawn below. Mayor Tonelli, emerging from the jail door, found them standing there, smiling with satisfaction at their achievement. The moral of the incident is that, though they might be violators of the written laws of the State, they were not traitors to their own concep- tion of right and wrong. ‘The average police officer instinctively classifies people accordingly. One rogue, he believes, specializes in fargery, but A will not have anything to do with cir- culating counterfeit currency. Another may be a “stick-up artist,” yet refuse to countenance the actual taking of life, while a third will “bump off” any num- ber of men without hesitation, yet de- cline to use viclence against a woman. Thus even the most vicious of criminals invariably can find friends to testify to their “moral character,” and it is con- fidently sffirmed that, as Robert Louis Stevenson is supposed to have said: ‘There is so much good in the worst of us, And so much bad in the best of us, ‘That it ill behooves any of us To find fault with the rest of us. Seriously, the problem of civilization sppears to be that of governing the ethical line. Where it is sdjusted in | consonance wiln social principle society | has saints; where it depends upon tem- peramental whim society Las sinners. The thing to be desired is a wish in the heart of the individual to stay within the straight and narrow path which does not lead to trouble. A Warning to Coaches. ‘When a father shoots a high school foot ball coach and then turns his gun on himself because his son has been dropped from the team there can be no doubt that sport has become & highly important feature of education. At least from the parental viewpoint. In this case, which is just reported from Louisi- ana, the incident which led io the tragedy occurred last year. The boy was “excused” from further duty with the foot ball squad because of an alleged breach of training rules—which covers a multitude of sins, but usually means indiscreei indulgence in stimulating beverages. It would appear that the affront to the family honor rankled in the father's mind for more than a year. Some student of psychology should in- vestigate this case to determine, if pos- sible, whether the real grievance of the parent was the insinuation against the ssudent’s behavior or his deprivation of & chance to shine on the gridiron. Cer- tain it is that in many American homes today the fact that the family’s repre- sentative in the school and collegiate life is a member of the foot ball squad is the source of the greatest possible satisfaction, compared with which the taking of honors at graduation is of | 5 I A Plas for Imnrovements Tittle ®hotogri “hunion” in encrisnca his playiog g22:2 sve move DEQ "NOsz "NEL SNOW nim ia | vao snc gown wiln & ciploma la i liand. 1 ihe Louisiana scals of scno- lastic honor and dishonor is to prevail coaches must be extremely discreet in their handling of prospects and players. ——————————— Every time John D. Rockefeller has another birthday party he implies a re- proof io those who hint that a man is too old to be a candidate simply because he is edging around three score and ten. e The Nobel peace prize may be allowed to repose and accumulate interest suf- ficient to make it a pecuniary reward worthy of the man who can next de- serve it. E - - Primitive conditions in Ethiopia are described as such that picks and shovels have {o be drafted in order to dig Roman ‘ | tanks out of the mud. Shooting Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Lessons, The world we are reaching ‘With wonderful teaching: We teach young ideas to shoot. For running a tractor Or being an actor We wait for instruction astute. ‘We learn to make batier While typewriters clatter Next door to a neat kitchenette. We learn mathematics In school rooms or aitics As we figure on winning a bet. ant, Md. Let False Prophets Enjoy Their Own Utopian Land To the Editor of The Star: It is time to strip communism of the babel of confusion that has obscured it for many months, First, let it be known that the Russian people never had a chance to decide whether they wanted the communistic system of government, It was thrust upon them, Serfs ground down by ages-old oppres- sion, they were easy prey of designing dictators. While Kerensky was trying to erect & settled government amid the chaos of the revolution, Lenin entered Russia and placed himself at the head of the Bol- sheviki. This faction held the Marxian belief that the proletariat has the right to seize power by force of arms and impose its will upon the whole people. suffered by ihe ill-eguinped | Russian {roops in July, 1917, made the Kerensky regime popular, The Bol- Reckless with this success, the revolu- tionary spirits in command therein de- clared war in substance, if not in form, against all nations that did not have & government like theirs. They inspired and are reported to have assisted, revo- lutionary “comrades” all over the world to direct their efforts to seizing other governments by, force. In time this imported revolutionary propaganda reached the United States. It sought to gather in all the dissatis- fled, desperaie, disheartened and un- regenerate. It invaded colleges and schools to enroll the rashness of youth that acts on impulse and repents on re- flection, It tried to make inroads on the Army and the Navy to have guns and warships at its command. Eventually it reached the District of Columbia. Here it tried to wind its tentacles around high school students. It was high time for this Government to take steps for the protection of its schoolboys from revolutionary mania. And Congress said that no part of any appropriation for District public schools shall be paid to any person teaching or advocating communism. Considering the destructive inteni and | menace of communism, this was a very mild remedy of prevention. For there are other words covering it not so mild. These words tell us that treason against the United States consists in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. With this illumination on a befuddled menace, let all communists go to Russia and see how they like it. And let the American people solve their own prob- lems without the inflamed passions of alien revolutionary dictators. JOSEPH W, CHEYNEY, - - eust Section i Lalion Ol L s 1 Resources Cominluice 0y cilicens of Washington is the cause oi many mis- carriages in allotting the benefits of taxation and the P. W. A. and W. P. A. projects. One recent glaring case of discrimination is the failure of the local authorities to give any portion of the more than $2,000,000 for land and im- provements for recreational areas and playgrounds to the far northeastern por- tion of the District of Columbia. When the proposed improvements are made, this section will be the only area in the District having no park, recreational area or playground. This area covers 3%.square miles and has a population of about 20,000. Anacostia River sepa- rates it from the remainder of the city and its isolation makes the lack of rec- | reational facilities very acute. The discrimination as to employment { In the Federal departments which causes the unemployment in that section would be greatly alleviated by supervised leisure time activities in a public recreational area. What small amount of delinquen- | cies we have is due to this neglect. For years we have been asking for the purchase and development of the waste flood lands along Watts Run as shown | on the parkway plans of the National Capital Park and Planning Commission. Failure to secure this parkway has been | blamed upon the failure of the Commis- | sioners to recommend money for flood | | June and early July and the young make relief along Watts Run Valley. These intermittent and disastrous floods are a blight to progress and development in | this area, and the excuse for our zig-zag, | treacherous arterial highway which me- anders over 10 streets from Minnesota avenue to the District line at Seat Pleas- HOWARD D. WOODSON. Proper Drainage Needed on Constitution Avenue To the Editor of The Star If the authorities want to make some | work and blow in some money they might ‘Mongst teachers we're dwelling, ‘There’'s no way of telling Who next will be breaking some rule. Mistakes were revealing Till folks get the feeling Reports of an Ethiopian victory are | We're being kcpz_in after school. Hope. “The general conditions in Ethiopia | are shocking.” “Well,” said Senator Sorghum, “maybe | they’ll seem better when the fight is over and big time realtors get together with plans for subdivision.” Jud Tunkins says what some folks who talk about “making dreams come true” principally need is an alarm clock to ! keep them from overdreaming. Making Friends. Maud Muller when she raked the hay Revealed a wealth of beauty. She had not heard of A. A. A, But did her simple duty. The judge with a romantic eye Rode on to the next clearing, He heaved a sigh—but, by the by, He was electioneering. Information. “What did you hear at the press con- ference?” asked the typist. “Some excellent advice?” Jjournalist. “Any real news?” “Not formally announced. But the gossip we exchanged among ourselves was truly wonderful.” said the Rugged Individual. Fortune comes and fortune goes. Ocean ebbs and ocean flows. Some fish bite and some do not. Storms arise and are forgot. Some we lose and some we save. Each this privilege will crave As he tries to keep afloat— Just to sail his own small boat. “I has read de school books where I Janitors,” sald Uncle Eben, “but I sin’ found one dat interests me as much as de newspapers.”. A | consider putting a gutter alongside the sidewalks between Fourteenth and Sev- enteenth on Constitution avenue, where | one should have been dug when the side- walk was laid. For many vears this section boasted the worst sidewalk in the city and that is saying something. Recenily a new walk was laid with no way of draining off rain water which ran on from adja- cent property, which would have been a violation of law had it been private property, Recently hundreds of loads of dirt have been put on the adjacent squares to the south so that there are now three blocks aggregating some 20 acres draining across the sidewalks. In a light rain there is plenty of mud and water to wade through, In a moderate rain the streich is im- passable to the thousands who travel | it daily, unless boots are worn. And the taxpayers paid plenty of money to get this bum engineering construction, W. E. ALLEN. Another Way to Help the P. W. A. Spend Its Money To the Editor of The Star: On a recent trip I found in the Cleve- land News of October 21 the following dispatch telling how one community solved the starling situation: “BELLEVILLE, Ont. (#)—Ornitholo- gists around here got excited until they learned the black and yellow birds were not a new species but starlings with a paint job, A farmer trapped them and painted the lower half of their bodies & brilliant yellow to scare away their sisters, cousins and aunts. “It works. Other starlings can't stand the sight of them.” Perhaps this might make a “good” W. P. A. project for Washington. HARRY G. UHL. —— s at—. Justified Pride. From the Fort Worth (Tex.) Star-Telegram. Things get handier and handier. Fort ‘Worth is putting in the latest in street parking gadgets to go with the most up-to-date parking system for children in this part of the country. —_———e——————— Souvenirs. From the Bavenport (Iows) ‘Times. ©Of the old-size currency called in dur- | “Valiant Is the Word for Carrie.” | may not read it, but the title will stick, Ne- | and the condition further | aggravated by making the parking a bit | | higher, NGTON, D. C., SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1935, THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL, “Gusto” is & good word. As meaning the zest, enjoyment with which something is done, it applies to reading as well as living. A sudden violent rush of wind—a burst of rain, firs, smoke, sound or passion— such is a gust, ordinarily. These words as allied to gush, a sud- dep, coplous stream, often used as a figure of speech to indicate effusiveness or even sentimental affectation. i The good word “gusto” ds applied to reading indicates a certain vividness of imagination with which the reader goes through & book. Nor need the book oe 8 novzl or other imaginative work, it may be what oliiers mighl regard 85 & dry-ss-aust tome; the vividness need only be in the reader, * % % % ‘This reading vividress is a sort of physical attraction, as far as mentality can be called such. It is something, alas, which many readers lose in middle age or later years. Others, like Moses, never lose this na- tural force, but read their entire lives as if each new book were the first in what was {o be a long reading ex- perience, One has but to recall childhood’s vivid days to understand the difference in reading attitude which may endanger the later reading life. ‘That this is a life separate in itself and not always hitched up to the every- day is easily seen. It is one of the privileges of reading that this may be so. Just as not every one can visit far lands and climb the highest mountains, so few persons are able to tie their actual life to their reading life in every detail. One of the joys of reading is that it sel- dom can be done. Books, in other words, offer even the most intelligent more than he knows. They bring to the most adventurous more adventure than he can encompass. They give the brave more bravery, the good more righteousness, the alert more alertness. No man can be so spry as te have been every place that the writers of books have been. 1t is one of the distinct pleasures of the reading life to find each season some totally new writer of vivid quality, with an absolutely new and different ap- proach to life. Even titles can be fresh and new and not merely phrases lifted bodily out of some famous quotation. Consider the title of a new mnovel, You and you will wonder who Carrie was and why she was valiant. Tt is a good title. geod critic | Ie t more to tr ine good critic will wiaxe nis- takes and teil of books which somehow in the days to come will not look as good as they do now. We as readers can forgive our literary mentors for making mistakes, but scarcely for letting us down completely in the matter of enthusiasm. ‘We must have a preliminary enthusi- asm from them and other reading friends 1if we are to work up the right type in ourselves, Keeping this good enthusiasm is one STARS, MEN of the major endeavors of the reading life. For all those persons who do not have to work to keep it we have only congratulations. Many an honest person, however, will have to realize at last that just as so many things must be worked for to be worthwhile continued enthusiasm reading responds to daily endeavor. * ok ok % It is a curious fact that the begin- ning of reading, as of writing itself, often is difficult, Get the beginning over, the rest is pleasant would be = better e needs & little winding up, that is &il. snd tne best way to begin is 1o begin. “Gone Is Gone,” &s the tilie of a ney children’s book has it. Beginning is beginning. Even the person who fancies his mind tires as his body does will discover that there is nothing like beginning a book, any book worth while, to give it interest, Maybe this discovery is something like the famous one of Columbus, that he could make an egg stand on end easily enough by smashing it down. Yet to many an anxious reader, one who is somewhat hot and bothered at the discovery that reading enthusiasm does not occur now as readily as for- merly, it is a real discovery. * ok x % Begin, then, the chosen book, and if the choosing has been well done the remainder of the volume will come along. It must, because it has done so for the writer. The stand-off attitude so often heard (it is mostly heard) to the effect that | “Oh, I never read So-and-So,” is a sign of lack of reading enthusiasm. The good reader reads everything. He who finds it necessary to proclaim his reading indifference is simply giv- ing away to all that he has lost some- thing precious. * ok This precious ingredient is to be had for the taking, but after a time in life it must be worked for, and becomes all the dearer because of it. Good reader enthusiasm then depends one reads is done wisely. One’s genuine interests are to be kept in mind as much as possible. This need not mean that interests must be fixed forever. The danger lies in that direc- tion, perhaps, but since we are on the subject of overcoming, this must be over- come, too. It means that what one really prefers | in the reading line ought to dictate. There is no better way to remain true to one’s self, the famous old injunc- then by reading eyse t one e " one nal lioing is overytuing uo By sticking ciose to tiais and reiusing to be dissuaded by the voice of even the loudest critic, the reader is sure to take the first step toward his own per- sonal enthusiasm. Such enthusiasm results in gusto, like a burst of rain, or fire, or smoke, or sound or passion. It flares. It is reading happiness. Lose it not, but work for it if neces- sary, because it is everything, Without it reading is a bore. AND ATOMS Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. The box turtle, the kind that crawls across the road in the path of automo- biles, doesn't eat for six months after | it is born. Dr. H. A. Allard, Department of Agri- culture biologist, has kept a colony of these reptiles for several years at his home in Clarendon and made day-to-day observations of their life habits. The eggs, he found, are laid during their firsi appearance sometime in Oc- tober. The hibernating season, when the whole colony digs itself into a pile of loose sand or debris and goes to sleep ) | for the Winter, is fast approaching. The | newly hatched young do not eat—and | placed before them—and go into Winter | quarters with the others, Most of them, | if the Winter is not too severe, survive, and emerge into the warm sunshine of | April desperately hungry. Dr. Allard studies especially the egg- | cannot be induced to eat even when | | such tasty morsels as earthworms are ‘The North Pole has a fairly moderate climate compared to this tiny village of log huts in a little valley surrounded by high mountains. There, during the Win- ter of 1933, a record low of —89.9 F. was recorded. The mean January tempera- ture for four years has been —683 F., whereas the mean for Verkhoyansk is only about —80. During the Summer months the mean temperature for the two villages is almost exactly the same, about 40 degrees above zero F. The Winter difference, it is claimed in the report, probably is due to the fact that there is no break through which the cold air can escape in the rim of high mountains surrounding Oimekon. The extremely low temperatures at the earth’s cold pole are due to the fact that during the Winter masses of cold air settle in the mountain basins. There is a reversal of ordinary conditions. On the mountain tops it is much warmer | | than in the valleys. laying and feeding habits of his charges | which he confined in a large wire pen. | He reports on his findings in the Scien- tific Monthly. pressed with the intelligence shown by He was especially im- | the turtles, generally classified as a low | order of reptiles. He found them omni- | vorous feeders, especially fond of meat and fruit. They soon learned to know when food was being brought them and would gather quickly from all parts of their range. They also learned to gather | whenever a tree containing their fa- | vorite fruit was shaken. Among the most interesting of his digging of egg holes by the females—a Jjob always carried out at night and in a precise, instinctive fashion. The 60-odd turtles kept by Dr. Allard were gathered from the surrounding countryside, mostly in poor condition. Many showed signs of having been run over by automobiles. | p.q peon washed into the pond, at no piace more than 8 feet deep. This, in | i some way, had absorbed all the oxygen | | from the water. Others were half starved. He concluded that the turtle has a hard time to survive in the midst of civilization. For the most part, he found, they were harmless, pacific creatures, but occasion- | ally he witnessed some ferocious fights | over food. In one instance, he says, “two turtles eating from the same dish sud- denly became enraged. Both quickly adopted the characteristic fighting atti- tude as they faced each other. Each lifted one front foot from the ground and held himself as high as possible in a rearing position on the remaining three legs. At the same time they engsg_ed in a peculiar teetering motion. With the guickness of lightning one struck sud- denly and savagely at the other’s head, its jaws catching its adversamy’s beak. The attacked turtle retracted its head instantly into its shell, breaking the hold with a loud snap. “The big aggressive fellow now stood high on three legs over its enemy—one foot uplifted, the reptilelike neck out- stretched, waiting motionless with sav- age ferocity in its expression for the other to protrude its head again. This turtle seemed well aware of the danger and merely waited until its vicious enemy was tired of the fray.” * K K X The coldest spot on earth is about 100 miles south of where it was supposed to.be. " Hitherto the so-called “cold pole” has been located near the village of Ver- khoyansk on the Yana River 1? zorg:; Siberia., But a repor eastern by ral degrees lower during :nolmekon on the Indigirka River, about 160 kilometers to the southeast. i One day last August a farmer living near New Haven made an excited call to the Yale biological laboratory. All the fish in a shallow, spring-fed pond cn his land were jumping out of the water or leaping on the rocky shore | to perish. Before the day was over every fish in the pond was dead. More than 400,000 of them were floating on the surface, Thus was brought to the attention of biologists a strange and rare phenomenon., | There was no trace of poison in the | water, but analysis showed that it was observations were those dealing with the | Sntirely devold of oxygen. couldn’t breathe. How the pond water suddenly lost its oxygen is a mystery, but a plausible explanation is offered in this week’s issue of Science. It followed a day of heavy rain and & sudden drop in temperature. Great quantities of decayed vegetable matter r———— Simplicity in the Mails. From the New York Sun. _The Post Office Department ruling that | simple greetings can be written on | Christmas cards without increasing the force for simplicity than any amount of good advice. A Rhyme at Twilight By Gertrude Brooke Hamilton There Is a Trail— The best of converse holds scant charm for me. peace my tired mind Cloistered with silence. In my own low car, ‘With none to speak, I drive afar. Nor do I need the ones I love the best ‘When from my day its values I would wrest; Shutting out all save God, in quiet zone, ‘Whai loss I've known I face alone. There is a trail, I know, where every- The firs, the naked oaks and free streams—-bring Antiquity’s grained wisdom. Driving there, 1 sometimes dare my soul to bare. in | | the United States?—E. M. | phia, September 23, 1923. type of busses are used on Philadelphia | was born The fish | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS By Frederic J. Haskin, A reader can get the gns; question of fact by writing Th%:;n::l.’ ton Evening Star Information Buregy, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washing- ton, D.C. Please inclose stamp for reply. Q. How many hunts are registered in A. There are 123 hunts registered wit, h the Master of Foxhounds Associ: America, RO Q. What percentage of automobiles now in use are radio equipp ¥ 2. There were 800,000 moic bed vitn rsdios in 1 @. Wno is the presideni of tie Nge tional Bafety Council?—P. D. A. Dr. C. H. Watson is the new presi- dAent. He is fihe medical director of the merican Telephone & Telegraph Co, New York City. e ; g. l‘:lea.se describe the city of Hilo, A. Located on the northeast coast of the_ Hawaiian Islands, Hilo has a popu- lation of 19,468. Beautifully situated on a crescent-shaped bay, with one of the finest harbors in the Territory, and sur- | rounded with luxurious gardens, it is a tourist center and a point of departure for the towering volcanoes of Mauna ;.:oa. and Mauna Kea. The town has ruit canneries and exports sugar, coffee and fruits, i Q. .When were double-deck busses first run in Philadelphia?—T. W. A. Double-deck passenger motor busses were first operated in Philadel- Many of this city streets at present. Q. How much food per year is con- | sumed by the average person?—A. H. A. According to Consumers’ Guide, !m:n 1925-1929, the average confumer ate 1,474 pounds of food per year. From 1930-1933 the average amount of food | per person was 1,45¢ pounds. mainly on whether the selection of what | Q. Who are the latest persons to be elected to the Hall of Fame at New York University?—E. G. A. William Penn, Simon Newcomb and Grover Cleveland have been added to the famous names in the Hall of Fame. Q. Has steam generated inside the earth been used to run engines?—I. W. A. A few years ago a commercial cone cern succeeded in harnessing steam from the inte Tell Me No More How Fair She Is"?—E. K. A. It was written by Henry King, English poet and Bishop of Chichester, Q. Please give a biography of Rosalind Russell appearing with William Powell | in “Rendezvous."—L. G A. Miss Russell is ‘.‘alyears old. After a private school education she traveled abroad and had minor parts with Euro= | pean stock companies. Returning to the United States, she toured for nearly a year with a tent show. Her first part on Broadway was a small role in “The Second Man.” Her More Ladies” resulte tract. Miss Russell is the daughter of a Connecticut lawyer, James E. Russell, Q. Please give some information about the inventor of the linotype—H. H. J. A. Ottmar Mergenthaler (1854-1899) Germany where he learned the watchmaker’s trade. He came to America in 1872 and was employed in inspecting and repairing clocks in the Government buildings at Washington. { After 1876 he made his home in Baltie more, whare he perfected his linotype, first patented in 1885. Q. Please name some of the trees which grew in Palestine in Bible times.—V. C, A. The Bible names the oak, olive, cypress, teil, aloes, fig, bramble, cedar, sycamore, apple, frankincense, sycamine, palm, willow, pomegranate, hemlock, _]xlxmner, chestnut, fir, pine, almond and almug. Q. Why did Harvard College hold its first commencement exercises in 1642 (6 years after the college was organized), and also why were its commencement exercises held in October?—L. H. A. Harvard University says although Harvard was founded in 1636, the col- lege did not actually open until the Summer of 1638 and, thus, the first class graduated in 1642. The first Harvard commencement was held on Friday, Sep- tember 23, 1642, but all during the seve enteenth and eighteenth centuries, with one or two exceptions, Harvard com=- mencements were held in July or August, | following the precedent of Cambridge and Oxford. Q. What was George Washington's middle name?—H. P. H. A. He had none. Q. For what was Timothy Fortune noted?—E. H. K A. He was a Negro journalist born in Florida, where in the Reconstruction pe- riod his father was a member of the Legislature. Educated in printing offices and at Howard University, he came to New York about 1882 and became editor of the Globe, a Negro daily. He con- | tinued to edit this paper under various titles for the remainder of his life and also wrote forceful editorials for the Sun. | His Black and White; Land, Labor and Politics in the South (1884) is a studv of the Negro's economic status after | nearly 20 years of freedom. Q. What year was “The Star Spangled Barner” made the national anthem? rate of postage is likely to be a greater | — A. The act of Congress was approved March 3, 1931. Q. Please give some information about | the Ship Model Shop of Cape Cod.— K. R. G. A. The Ship Model Shop of Cape Cod is located in the oldest house in Prov= incetown, Mass., at the very tip of Cape Cod. The collection of historical and | scale ship models are made by Coulton Waugh and owned by him. A lifelong and inherited interest in the sea and maritime matters has made him an | expert on historic ships. There is also | a splendid collection of ancient maps. Q. Is Montana region?—K. L. C. A. Montana was not regarded as an earthquake region until the major shock of June 29, 1925, occurred. Helena and in the earthquake | its surrounding territory was found te lie in the earthquake region by a Cali- fornia seismologist. Q. Who invented the Delsarte sys- A. Francois Alexandre Delsarte, French tenor amd composer, igvented this system, in which singing, declama- tion, gymnastics and dancing are coe ordinated. Steel Mackaye did much to popularize the sysiem in this country. | ] ’ | tem?—E. R. K.