Evening Star Newspaper, September 24, 1936, Page 10

A-10 THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Editien. WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY._ -September 24, 1936 YHEODORE W. NOYES......c... Editor —_— e The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 0,2 B Eeasiyivanta Ave. Y ce: 110 42nd Bt e R P B Rate by Carrier Within the City. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Illl‘l:’ V‘lull and*Bundas.. 3 75 * Member of the Associated Press. o tabubiication. of ali mews dlipatenes 1t or not otherwise credited in this also lh‘s locsl news oublished hm ts of publication of special dispal are also reserved. 13 exclusively entitled to Farm Tenancy. Without reflecting on the President’s sincerity, his letters to Senator Bank- head and Representative Jones of Texas, chairmen of the Committees on Agricul- ture, asking their co-operation in draft- ing legislation designed to deal with the farm tenancy program can be set down as written with a political eye to windward. Both of these gentlemen have pronounced ideas on the subject, both have dealt with legislative expedients to deal with it, and there is a mass of available data at the Department of Agriculture bearing on the problem from the economic and social points of view. ‘What the President has done is to put himself on record during the campaign that he is not unaware of the need of doing something, and is in favor of it. And in doing so he has in a manner recognized the chief agitator of the tenancy problem, Norman Thomas, Socialist candidate for the presidency. ‘When Senator Bankhead introduced his bill in February of 1935 to create a Farm Tenant Home Corporation, empowered to lend as much as a billion dollars at three-and-a-half per cent interest, pay- able in sixty years, to enable tenants to become land owners, Editor Moley’s magazine Today described the measure as “the reply of moderate but realistic Southern thought to the threat of Huey Leng.” Other measures, at the same time, were recognizing the same threat. The relief bill included a provision for fending money to tenants for farm pur- chase and the cotton control act, which perished with the A. A. A, exempted from its tax provisions the small cotton farmers. The Bankhead bill passed the Senate in June of 1935, but pressure of adjournment business prevented its being brought up in the House. Senator Long was assassinated the following September, & fact which may have had nothing to do with the fate of the Bankhead bill. But at any rate the bill dragged along in the House commit- tee during the past session of Congress, was rewritten completely, including a provision to absorb Dr. Tugwell's Re- settlement Administration, and was then abandoned toward the end of the ses- sion. The Long pressure had been re- moved. During the campaign Mr. Thomas has been exerting pressure, evi- dently in & more convincing manner, for recognition of the tenancy problem and some of the grave conditions that accom- pany it, especially in Arkansas and Miss- lastppi. The seriousness of the problem is not being overemphasized. It is representa- tive of a fundamentally dangerous condi- tion, more apt to grow worse than to improve. Between 1880, when public lands for homesteading were becoming searce, and 1930 the percentage of ten- ant-operated farms increased from 25.6 to 424 for the United States as & whole, and Secretary Wallace estimated last year that the present percentage is about 45, having been increased by the depression. The reduction of farm ten- ancy should be part and parcel of any soll conservation program, as more than 80 per cent of the farm tenants remain less than five years on one farm, and during their stay the soil is usually abused and neglected. The social effects ef farm tenancy have resulted in condi- tions, some of which have been exposed by Mr. Thomas, little better than slavery and accompanied by poverty and suffer- ing worse than slavery. The cotton acreage reductiof made matters worse tn the South. ‘Whether it is a problem that can be eured by long-time loans for farm pur- chase is a question, The President evi- dently believes something can be done along that line. His letters indicate no new approach, but merely outline the theory of the Bankhead bill, permitted to die in committee in the past session of Congress. A spirit of courtesy is inevitable when public men mention one another. Presi- dent Roosevelt’s references to the re- sponsibilities of newspapers clearly en- title Colonel Frank Knox to rise and take & bow. “As Maine goes, s0 goes the Nation,” e naturally discussed by cynical Demo- erats as merely an example of folk lore. " Up to the Riders. The street car company’s petition for purchase, reconditioning and conversion of street cars for one-man operation was granted by the Public Utilities Commis- sion over the vigorous objection - of People’s Counsel Roberts and citizen witnesses who appeared in opposition to the petition. There has always existed » sentiment in Washington against one- man street cars. The company'’s plans were attacked by critics as an apparent step backward. ‘The eommission heard and studied & large amount of evidence on both sides. Street ear operators from other eities THE described the successful operation else- where of one-man cars, and pointed to the economies they make possible at & time when the company has spent large sums in other new equipment, such as busses, and in track changes. It based its acquiescence with the company’s plans on study of three important ques- tions affecting the street car rider: Are the one-man cars as safe as two- man cars? Are they as comfortable as two-man cars? Are they capable of as much speed as two-man ears? And with ‘the exception of the final question, where one-man cars were apparently shown to be about a mile an hour slower, the commission decided in the affirma- tive on the basis of the testimony. To have denied the company the right to this type of equipment would have de- manded the presentation of facts which the commission apparently did not have. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. The continued existence of the street car company in Washington, let alone its ability to make money, depends on gaining and holding sufficient patronage. If one-man cars do not pro- vide the convenience and comfort de- manded by street car riders, the com- pany will have bought a wooden nutmeg and will lose more than its investment in the new equipment. The success of one-man cars, improved as the company has promised they will be improved, will depend on the public. The Public Utili- ties Commission, after examination eof the facts, has passed the question en. Justice for Ethiopia. It is perhaps a hollow victory that Ethiopia has won at Geneva in the decision to seat her delegates in the Assembly, because it does not alter the iron fact that Italy is in irresistible pos- session of the territory over which Haile Selassie once ruled. Nevertheless, the cause of justice has been well served, and the doctrine that might is right use- fully rejected. The League by this be- lated act cannot undo the fatal wrong it committed when it permitted Musso- lini to defy and then disrupt the collec- tive security system. But it has struck a worthy blow for international decency that at least goes far toward rehabilitat- ing Geneva in world opinion. The pity of it is that the League did not exhibit similar fortitude in the earlier stages of the Ethiopian affair instead of succumb- ing to the Fascist bluff. Earlier in the week it looked as if, running true to form, Geneva would dodge the issue presented by Haile Selassie'’s demand for recognition of his delegation. The dethroned Emperor turned up in person to insist upon his status as head of a member state still in good standing, despite its occupation by a fellow member which the League itself had branded as an aggressor. Geneva faced an embarrassing dilemma. To ban the Ethiopians would be equiva- lent to their expulsion from the League for no fault other than the loss of their independence, To admit the Negus’ representatives would amount to refusing to recognize the Italian conquest. In that event, stern warning had come from Rome that Il Duce not only would decline to take part in the Assembly, but would probably emulate Japan and Germany and leave the League altogether. To meet this stern emergency and choose the lesser of two evils, it was pro- posed that the issue be compromised in the typical Geneva manner—by seating the Ethiopians temporarily, while the World Court decided the merits of the controversy. To this recourse the smaller powers vigorously objected. Throughout the tortuous course of Italo-Ethiopian events at Geneva, including the sanc- tions fiasco, they had seen concession after concession made to the Italians at the behest of Great Britain and France, actuated mainly by their anxiety to pre- vent the League from doing anything that would drive Mussolini more closely into Hitler's arms. As the current Assembly "convened, Geneva found the little nations standing shoulder to shoulder against any action that would savor of stamping with League approval the right of a strong power to trample a weak neighbor's sovereignty out of existence. Last night in the Credentials Committee the small member states prevailed, with the wel- come support of the Soviet Union. A previous decision to submit the dispute to the World Court was reversed. The committee decided in favor of the Ethie- pian's participation in the Assembly because of existing doubts and to give them the benefit of those doubts. Great Britain finally cast her influence in that direction. The next move is Mussolini's. ———te————— “Why pay rent when you can own your own home?” was a first-rate realtor slogan. Rent may be obliterated by the execution of a deed. Questions of taxes may be harder to handle. ‘Whither the Liberals? Dr. John Stewart Bryan, president of William and Mary College and pub- lisher of the Richmond News-Leader, recently discussed the problem of the position which independent liberals shall take in the present national cam- paign. Employing langusge which Arthur Krock in the New York Times described as a “fine overtone of honest philosophy,” he said: “The first political obligation today is to keep representative government in virile health. Mr. Landon may be as capable as he is simple and appealing, but his sponsors are the men who gave us the Harding reaction, the Coclidge inflation and the Hoover col- lapse. Shall we go below decks and listen for the ship to ground? 1If the one American party with a tradition of sane, consistent liberalism is to remain liberal, as distinguished from radical, it must be through the continued support of independent liberals. They eannot join a Rightist opposition.” But Dr. Bryan himself must be inde- pendent and liberal enough to concede that representative government is not in virile health when the executive branch is in open revolt against the Judicial branch, when President Roose« velt invites Congress to disregard' con- stitutionalism, when industry and agri- A EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON. D. C., THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1936. BY CHARLES B. TRACEWELL. culture are put in shackles to experi- mental theories of management, When revenue wrung from the taxpayers Is wasted in boondoggling, when the eur- rency is debased and uncontrolled infla- tion ti¥eatened, and when the “poison of politics is mixed in the bread of the helpless.” Also, Dr. Bryan as an hustorian should be familiar with the fact that Harding ‘was not exclusively to blame for reac- tien, ner Coolidge for expansion, nor HMoover for the ecllapse whick. occurred ‘when his rival, preaching revolution, was vietorious in the battle of 1932 and busi- ness halted in terror at the prospect of the New Deal. Democrats, including Mr. Roosevelt both as & private ritizen and as Governor of New York, were in- volved in the sins of tiie period of con- fusion which followed the World War; & House of Representatives predomi- nantly Democratic heiped to bring en the depression and a Demccratic pub- licity bureau labored tirelestly to “smear” the administration, which might have saved the Nation untold loss and suffer- ing had it been permitted to function. But Dr. Bryan probably is correct in his belief that independent liberals may be shy of some of Mr. Landon's spon- sors. They must be just about as hesi- tant to shake hands with his “labilities” as they are to associate with Farley and Morgenthau, Hopkins and = Tugwell, Hague and Prendergast and John L. Lewis. Going ‘below decks” to “listen for the ship to ground” does net suit them any better than going above decks to witness the spectacle of the vessel erashing on the rocks where the Com- munists are hopefully assembled to make sure that the wreck is complete. They “cannot join a Rightist opposition,” but neither can they indorse a Leftist trend which, as Mr. Roosevelt is subterrane- ously reported to have hinted to his most intimate friends, “will turn this country upside down.” " Yet the liberals’ plight is not novel. Indeed, it is their customary lot. Inde- pendents, walking in the middle of the road, invariably are hit by the traffic running both ways. And they are espe- cially unhappy if they pause to consider Dr. Bryan's theory that the Democratic party currently is more faithful to tradi- tion or “sane” or “consistent” than the Republican party. There is one question, however, that may supply the liberais with a key to the solution of their troubles. It is this: ‘Would they trust Mr. Roosevelt to make an appointment to the Bupreme Court? If the answer be an afirmative, they should vote for him. —————— When the public decides on the merits of an economic system based on trial and error it may have to ask what s to be done in the ease of trial and convic- tion. ————————— The farmer cannot be classified as the forgotten man. He hears so many pro- tests of devoted friendship that he is confused in placing his dependence. ————— When Mussolini sent war into Ethi- opia Selassie reserved some rights of disputation by refusing to agree that the decision of the judges would be final. ———— Agricultural land is being taken for homes to an extent that may warrant an adage, “scratch a farmer and eatch s real estate speculator.” Shooting Stars. BY PNILANDER JOHNSON. School Days. ‘The lessons must again begin! ‘To care we must return. Our recitations raise a din As patiently we learn. New words we find on every hand Strange meanings to reveal; New letters rise to take command In guiding a new deal. ‘The dictionary brings surprise. ‘We often take a look And sometimes think it might be wise To expurgate the book. Of “Bolshevist” we took no thought And “Fascist” was unknown— And what this year we may be taught Must rest with Fate alone, Services. “When you were studying law, did you expect a political career?” “No,” answered Senator Sorghum, “it was forced on me. I should have pre- ferred private practice, in which a lawyer bosses his client, instead of statesman- ship, in which the public orders him around and pays little or nothing.” Paradox. ‘We give a greeting as we lift The goblet brightly gleaming. ‘We say “Long life to Peace and Thrift And to Utopian dreaming.” . Yet weapons new are proudly made For combat it and willing, And half the world goes on parade And says “Long Life to Killing!” The Most Criticized Profession. “How's farming?” asked the tourist. “Pretty much like it always was,” re- plied Farmer Corntossel. “Everybody is assuming that he knows how to run a farm better than the man who owns It.” “We claim: to have invented printing,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “but we took cars to make our alphabet so large that- it could be freely employed only by men of studious maturity.” The Five Philosophers. While Intellect Mature may do A lot, Child sense claims homage, too, Which takes what comes trom day to day, Yet frankly has its little say! ‘While folk who are both wise and strong ‘With great orations come along. Those Quints.go on to heights of fame And beat with ease the money game, Avoiding sorrow and regret Simply by taking what they get. - THE POLITICAL MILL BY G. GOULD LINCOLN. By more or less common consent, the great corn-hog and wheat belt of the country has become the principal battle- ground of the national political cam- paign. The New Dealers are urging the farmers to stick to Roosevelt, The Re- are pleading with them to turn to Landon. Landon himself is cam- paigning in the belt right now. At Des Moines, in plain English which any farmer could understand, he outlined his program for farm aid if he becomes President. It is what might be called a whale of a program. It does not over- look any of the benefits of the present administration, and it adds a few more. It does, however, propose to do away with paying the farmers for not pro- ducing, and it does propose to compen- sate them for growing things. It won't be long before President Roosevelt, who has already invaded these farm States in his drought relief trip of recent days, will be talking to the farmers, too. * ¥ % ¥ Landon has to win these big farm Btates of the Middle West if he is to be elected. He is of the Middle West, Gov- ernor of one of the greatest farm States. of them all. He has been familiar with the problems of the farmer of that section for a long time and he has made s first-hand study of them, His speech, opening his swing into these farm States, in Des Moines on Tuesday night is be- lieved to have been an excellent start. If he can persuade the farmers of Iowa to join with him, the farmers of Minne- sota, of Nebrasks, of Illinois, of Kansas and of Indiana are likely to follow suit. ‘The Iowa farmers seemed to like his talk. The New Dealers will point to what they have done for the farmers in the way of direct benefits through Govern- ment checks and through increases in farm prices, due, they claim, to the pro- gram of crop curtailment which the Roosevelt administration has put into effect. Accomplishment, they will say, is better than a promise, The Landon- ites, on the other hand, will reply the Roosevelt administration has turned over to foreign producers much of the market which formerly was that of the American farmer, both in: Europe and in this country. They will say that the Roosevelt administration has not been 80 much responsible for better farm prices as have the droughts. They will say, also, that the Roosevelt New Dealers are seeking to control the individual American from Washington—and the American farmer likes to be his own boss. And, furthermore, they will urge that the program now advanced by Gov. Landon is more far-reaching and satis- factory than the program which Roose- velt has developed. LR The Government checks for compli- ance by the farmers in the new A. A. A. program of soil conservation have not yet begun to go out to the farmers. At the Department of Agriculture it is said that the hope is a batch of these checks will go forward to the farmers by October 15, and that the flow will be steady there- after. The Government checks in the past have reached their peak around the middle of December. The Supreme Court knocked the props from under the old A. A. A last January, when it declared the law unconstitutional. But Congress appropriated the money to pay the farmers for the fulfiiment of their con- tracts with the Government already made, and checks for these old contracts have been going forward. There remains about $15,000,000 more to be paid on these old contracts, So between the money for the old contracts and the promise of money for the new contracts, the New Dealers believe the farmers should be pretty well satisfied. ‘These States of the great farm belt of the Middle West have in the past been Republican, and the farmers have been Republicans in the main. That fact, although the party yoke today sits more lightly than in the past, may make it easier for Landon to win the farmers and these States back to the Republican party. There is always the dragging power of earlier associations. Further- more, the farmers are beginning to wonder about the huge public debt, how it is to be paid without its becoming & heavy burden upon them as well as all other citizens of the United States. LR Landon is emphasizing the fact that the G. O. P. farm program will be based largely on giving aid to the “family-size farm,” the farm on which a single family can and should make & fair living, with earnings sufficient to give the family comforts as well as the necessities of life. “It will” he says, “eliminate all excuse for paying $785,000 in one year to a sugar corporation, or $155,000 to a pack- ing company for its hog operations, or $301,000 to a British-owned cotton com- pany.- And it will not longer be possible for a corporation farmer to rent Gov- ernment-controlled Indian land and get & $51.000 subsidy, or for a garbage feeder to get 100 times as much as a good corn belt farmer.” He was referring to Gov- ernment payments which have been made under the Roosevelt farm program. * % k¥ Was it worth the money—a good deal of money—to put President Roosevelt on the air from Pittsburgh on October 1 at the same time that Al Smith is going on the air from New York City? From “inside” reports it seems that the Demo- cratic National Committee, after it had heard that Al Smith was going to start his ant{-Roosevelt campaign on October 1, hurriedly made arrangements to buy time the night of October 1, at 9 pm. Al Smith speaks from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. The radio audience will have to choose between Roosevelt and Smith. There is going to be a lot of interest in what Smith has to say, both on the part of Roosevelt supporters and Roosevelt oppo- nents. The President might have had - bigger audience the night of October 2. At last the President is to start a “political drive,” it is announced from Hyde Park. Today the President is hold- ing conference with his cam; leaders. Presumably his speeches from now on will be “political” and the fiction of non-political speeches is to be E A lot has been expected of the Presi- dent, once he should begin active polit- lcal campaigning. Less than six weeks e mote o, the. campaigning 1ot new e cam] “red issue.” Mr. Hearst got a tremendous amount of publicity for his charges that the Communists, both here and abroad, denouncement of Mr. Hearst even before the Hearst papers published their first attack, it is .very likely that the Hearst papers would have been almost alone in carrying this material. That is water the dam. It remains to'be seen effective with the American voters the charge that the reds are backing & w’uhumnymvww-m y Many will think so, as they recall the gloom and drissle, the few auto- mobiles which went by. the small num=- ber of pedestrians. Out our way gardens were given over entirely to the birds and aquirrels. Usually there are tasks to be done by human hands, but not last Sunday. The atmosphere was heavy, the air dark, the light poor. It was better to stay indoors and read, or listen to the radio, or do both at once, as some people can, or at least think they can. Every one will wonder about these people, who calmly read away, while the radio is going full blast. Do they really understand what they are read- ing? Do they actually hear the music? One may suspect they are in the same boat with the man with his favor- ite catalog. He knows every picture, every article, every price, by heart, but it is always a pleasure to pick up the volume and look it over. It is easy read- ing, in & very sense, because one really doesn't read at all, but merely muse over the pages. R Such s gloomy day, cool and drizzly, strikes the suburbanite the same way. He does not wish to rush out some- where, but rejoices, lzl the unusual ucity of cars and people. "fllullly s few cars come along, but today just one, and not a single human being. ‘There is not s sound. He might as well be living in the trackless forest, so-called, although there are plenty of tracks, after all, as any animal could tell you. The only excitement that day was when a police dog chased a cat. It was a very old cat, but well able to give any dog the slip. Craftily he led the way up a drive- way, then slid beneath a fence, leaving the dog mystified. By the time the latter discovered where he was the cat was up a tree, classic refuge. * * * % After that foray nothing happened at all, - One could enjoy the silence. Not every day, even in the quiet sub- urbs, is it as quiet as this. One could stop and think about it, every now and then, and enjoy it def- initely. That is one of the true ways of en- joying life as you go along. Stop and remind yourself. at the time of a happiness, that it is truly such. Mere acceptance of good things is not enough. Too many people do that already. The best way is to realize, and at the time, or just a little later. Thus, it was well last Sunday to realize that it was an extra quiet day, and to rejoice in that, if you loved quiet. But it is well now to think of it, too, and to rejoice all over again. * * ¥ % The modern world, with its noise, is not & natural world, but a built up, & synthetic world. Many get used to it and like it. Others never get used to it, and never like it. It is not built up for them. They prefer the natural, rather than the synthetic. Looking out into the yard, on a super- quiet day, one sees the squirrels and birds in their natural environment. There is a small wild rabbit, too, a STARS, MEN today. ‘Where do they stay, these birds, on the days they do not appear? ‘There can be little question that few birds remain to sleep at the place they have been all day. Especially is this true if they have been patronizing a feeding station, serviced by some human interested in the songsters. Only the beginner will think they stick around, roost in nearby trees or shrubs. The truth is that they never do this. Invariably toward evening they fly away. Perhaps they do this to throw other birds off the trail. They feel that they have a secret treasure in the station they have discovered and do not wish to make it common. So they fly away at ntilht. to throw other birds off the seent. How far they go before settling down to sleep is a problem. Many students feel that they invariably sleep in ever- greens, and that they may be found in these, if anywhere. But we have never found any in ours. -* s ‘The day was 30 quiet that the eareful listener could almost fancy he heard the goldfishes swimming in the pool. ‘That fishes come to recognize shapes, and the sounds of voices, there can be little question. A person who feeds them is soon known to them. In almost all such cases the feeder dresses in much the same way all the time, and we are con- vinced that it is this outline which the swimmers come to r . However, a fish recognizes voice qual- ity; there can be little question that he does it, provided it is the voice of the feeder. It will be realized that these animals have no other bond of com- munication with humanity. On the sub- ject of food, however, their bond is strong. All living things want food. It is the one thing they all understand. * x % * A natural noise which broke the per- fect silence of this noiseless day was the shrieking of the blue jays. What wonderful birds they are! Surely no one could mind their noise. Nor could any one, not even the most ardent bird friend. call it singing! The squawk of the jay, usually at the sight of some enemy. is a familiar sound in the suburban districts. (We do not recall ever having seen a blue jay in the city.) It is & natural sound, and therefore has its place in nature. We see what it is that distinguished this day. It was that man, the imperfect, was out of it, as far as eye and ear could tell, leaving it to nature again, as it was in the be- ginning. Nor is man the spoiler, exact- ly. It is too much of him that causes the trouble. Yet when the world was mostly trackless forest, and there were just a few tribes, in comparison with the mobs to come, there still was trouble in the world, noise and trouble. So it must be man. AND ATOMS Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. Sheep without tails, tobacco Without nicotine, flax that threshes itself, corn that spends most of its life in bed, green and brown cotton are among the curiosi- ties of plant and animal breeding re- ported in the genetics monograph just issued as the annual ‘year book of the | Department of Agriculture, Almost every domesticated plant er animal has hidden in its ancestry, the breeding experts report, strange poten- tialities which crop out from time to time or can be induced by appropriate crosses. They are, for the most part, of purely scientific interest for the light : they shed on the mechanisms of in- heritance. A few are of possible value if they can be stabilized in a race with- out sacrifice of some essential character. The original ancestry of most domes- ticated animals and plants, the mono- graph shows, is seldom known with any exactness. Few have been adapted to the use of man during historical times. Wheat, corn, horses, cows and sheep were already domesticated when man first emerged out of the darkness of pre- history and in some cases the actual ancestral species may long since have become extinct. But characters of the animals linger on as recessives in he- redity, likely to crop out at any time when conditions are ideal for them. The monograph also describes many experiments, most of them attended with indifferent success, to produce new kinds of domestic animals by crosses with wild varieties or closely related genera. Nature appears to have done a thorough job of making use of all the potentialities for the service of man. Sometimes, the geneticists report, actual improvements are brought about by such crosses, but the animals or plants either fail to reproduce or show weaknesses which make them short-lived. The cattalo, & hybrid developed by crossing the American bison with do- mestic cattle, is intermediate between the parents in most respects, but has superior vigor and strength, as does the mule, Several attempts have been made to establish a herd of these animals, but thus far no project has been very successful. The cattalo seems to have distinct commercial possibilities for cer- tain regions, but due to the difficulties of breeding it seems unlikely that the creature ever will be an important factor in the cattle industry. Another interesting hybridization ex- periment is the crossing of the yak—the ox of Central Asia—with domestic cattle. bly backs to some old, and perhaps extinct, cestral type. Such is the case with , common among & cer- | teilless or with very short tails. effect the development of the skeleton. At the South Dakota Agricultural Ex- periment Station an experiment designed to develop a strain of tailless sheep is in progress. During the 22 years in which the work has been carried on there has been developed through selec- tive breeding a strain in which a high proportion of the lambs are born either Simul- taneously, the quality of the fleece has | been materially improved. Thus far, it is reported, no effort has been made to breed in this country the remarkable fat-tailed sheep of China— the fat of whose enormous tail is used by the natives as a substitute for butter. Up to date universal failure has attended efforts to obtain a sheep-goat cross, but the experiment is tried frequently be- | cause such an animal combining de- sirable characters of both parents might have considerable value. Cotton that would be brown or green without any dye could be grown easily enough if there were any demand for it. Both brown and green fiber are found as sports in upland cotton. The brown is yellowish, or almost cream, in color. The green is bright and intense. The plants with the colored fiber usually breed true, which shows that they are a stable combination or mutation. The most probable explanation is that the color is due to certain factors that have existed in the heredity of the plant since it grew in a wild state. Buried in the inheritance of the corn plant, whose exact ancestor is unknown, are hundreds of striking and unusual characters, says the report. These char- acters have no economic value and some of them are decidedly harmful. Such is the character known as “lazy,” which exists because of a single factor in the heredity. A plant that gets this factor from both parents is unable to stand on its feet after it is about half grown and spends the rest of its life lying down. One of the unusual members of the flax family is self-threshing. In this variety the bolls open fully when they are ripe and the seed falls to the ground. If the plants are pulled and placed in a bag as soon as the earliest bolls mature, all the seed can be saved and the plants do not have to be threshed. Unfortu- nately, the yield of this variety is only about half that of the best flaxes. Talkies and Pulchritude. Prom the Worcester Gasette. +It’s hard to realize how drastically the grand opers star needed only a voice, not beauty, Soon, with the talkies doing tricks, the most celebrated Isolde of the generation may, off the screen, have a voice like & frog. Silencers Needed. Prom the Worcester Gasette. If statisticians could accurately com- pile the number of votes won and lost by campaign speeches, we should still need some sort of device to keep candi- dates from talking. : Black, but No Legion. Prom the Kansas Oity Btar. There's no doubt about the Black Le- glon’s being black. Its only saving grace is that it fan't legion. N \ ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. A veader can get the answer to any question of jact dy writing The Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, Washington, D, C. Please inclose stamp for reply, Q. How large & space would $1,000,000 occupy in 81 bills?>—0. P. C. A, The Bureau of Engraving and Printing says that 1,000,000 bills can be contained in 35 cubic feet when packed and wrapped by the bureau, Q. Taking the United States as whole, has this Summer been unusually hot and dry?—E. H. A. There has been a record drought and it has been marked by very great extremes in temperature. The heat has lasted longer than usual and in many places has literally burned up the crops, Q. How old is Radio Station WWJ at Detroit?—M. L. H. A. The station was established in De- troit on August 20, 1920. Q. How much wine was produced this year in California?—M. P. A. California wine production this year is estimated at 50,000,000 gallons, Q. How many men did Walter Johnson nflfi o&mmmnmumnu worl es ween Washington and New York Nationals?—B, A. A. Twelve, Q. What is the inscription on the memorial to the late Senator Huey P. Long?—J. J. D. A. “Huey P. Long. 1803-1935, Sleep on, dear friend, And take your rest. They mourn you most ‘Who loved you best.” Q. Who originated the term, “mental hygiene”?—W, B. A. It was first used by Adolf Meyer, & psychologist who was professor of psy- chiatry at Cornell University Medical College and at Johns Hopkins Uni- versity, Q. Was scrip used in the United States in the panic of 1907?—W. F. A. Scrip in the ordinary accepted sense was not used. Banks which had suspended full payment of deposits on demand did issue clearing house certi- ficates over a brief period, but these were chiefly in large denominations, issued for the benefit of business men having substantial operations. Small denomination scrip for popular use did not appear. In the 1807 crisis approxi- mately $250,000,000 in certificates (some- times called scrip) came into eirculation. In New York such certificates were used for a period of 22 weeks, 'QP. When is Newspaper Boy week?— A. National Newspaper Boy week, sponsored by the Newspaper Boys of America, Inc., will be observed Septem- ber 27 to October 3. Q. To what occasion did President Roosevelt refer when he said that he had seen war?>—M. E. C. A. Franklin D. Roosevelt was Assistant Secretary of the Navy in the Wilson administration. In this capacity he went overseas in charge of inspection of the United States naval forces, July-Septem- ber, 1918. When America entered the World War, Roosevelt said that he be- lieved that every navy department head should actually see the war in progress, 30 that he would know best how to serve his country in the emergency. He prac- ticed his own preaching by sailing for France, where he made a complete sur- vey and study of the situation, not only on the Navy fronts but in the Army front lines as well. He saw more of the actual war than many of the combatant troops and his inspection carried him over most of the battle front under all sorts of conditions. He visited King Albert on the Belgian front, he was with Foch in the French lines and toured the English trenches, Q. What is the maiden name of Martin Johnson's wife?—E. H. K. A. The explorer married Osa Leighty in 1910, Q. How many students are preparing to be nurses?>—M. L. W. A. More than 100,000 persons studying to be nurses. are Q. What is the earliest concert ticket in existence?—F. H. M. A. The Etude says that the earliest known authentic admission ticket to a concert is a season ticket (price 5 guineas) for the series of six concerts given in 1764-5 in the Carlisle House, Soho Square, London. Q. Who first used bookplates?—C. R A. The earliest known is from a cl tablet and reads: “Property of Assur- banipal, King of the World, King el Assyria.” The earliest example made ol paper is a German woodcut of 1450. The earliest American example is a printed John Williams plate (1679). Q. How many patents have been ;né\u!? on mechanical eotton pickers?— AL Since 1850 more than 1,400 have been granted. Q. How much of the world's railway mileage is in the United States?>—C. R. A. This country has over 30 per cent of the world's railway mileage. The total of the world is 805,000 miles and the United States has 242,000 miles, Q. What is the annual cost of sick- ness and accidents?—H, L. A It is estimated that the national cost of both is $10,000,000,000. This in- cludes all the indirect costs of sickness -nak'.ecxdenu, such as loss of time from worl A Rhyme at Twilight Carads Toests Hanihen Companionship. ‘We camped once in a forest of pine trees, And, as the dusk was chilly, built a fire Of cones and needles; let the evening Blow the flames high and higher. Pungent the odor piercing the night air, Green balsam mixed with perfume of pitch-pine; It filled our senses with emotions rare, Like heady draughts of wine. And as we sat beside the fragrant fire Simple and intimate our talk became; Each to each baring every curbed desire bonenesswssszonns .