Evening Star Newspaper, October 7, 1936, Page 10

THE EVENING STAR ‘With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. WEDNESDAY _ October 7, 1936 THEODORE W. NOYES...........Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company. Bustness Office: 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. icags Office: Leke Michigan European Office: 14 Rexent 8t.. London. Ensiand. Rate by Carrier Within the City. Regul .-60c per month (when -85¢ per month The Sunday Star—_. -5¢ per copy Night Fi L ight Pinal and Sunday Star. Rizht T *86s 5€ per month Collection made at the en each' month. Orders may be sent by mail or telephone Na- tional 5000. Oc per month Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and_Sund; s I A Sunday All Other States and Canada. aily and Sunday__1 yr. $12.00; 1 mo. $1.00 Jally oniy _ 1 yrl T$5.00: 1 mo. b Sunday only2Z2ZZ771 yro $5.00; 1 mo. Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitied to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited Lo it or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of publication of special dispatcnes herein are also reserved. So Many Red Herring. John G. Stutz, executive director of the Kansas Emergency Relief Commit- tee, has made certain charges regarding W. P. A. pay rolls in Kansas and de- mands that the pay roll records be thrown open for public inspection. To Mr. Stutz, Mr. Harry Hopkins, the W, P. A. director, replies: “Another of those ved herrings.” Mr. Willlam Hard, the radio com- mentator, has been entertaining his radio audience with letters and afidavits in- dicating the use of W. P. A. in Penn- syvlvania for political purposes, one of these letters containing the sage obser- vation that “a good party worker makes an excellent public servant.” The re- sponse by the Pennsylvania W. P. A. chieftains is to prepare and send to the Senate Campaign Funds Investigating Committee other letters and new affi- davits denying the assertions contained in Mr. Hard’s letters and affidavits. In New York, Justice William F. Bleakley, the Republican candidate for Governor, is charging that the admin- istrative salaries in relief are too high and that political favoritism permeates the whole relief organization. To which Lieut. Col. Brehon B. Somervell of the Army Engineers, detailed at present as Local Works Progress Administrator in New York, replies: “A lot of flapdoodle.” It is plain to any unbiased observer, therefore, that we are rapidly getting nowhere in the investigation of W. P. A, and are not apt to get anywhere until after the November election. Where we get then may depend on the result. But in the meantime the charges and counter- charges against W. P. A. emphasize once more the lack of any tribunal before which such charges might be brought and investigated in a manner to satisfy the public as to their truth or their falsity. If Republican politicians can make political capital out of attributing all sorts of political sins to the W. P. A, it &tands to reason they will do so. If Mr. Hopkins can make political capital out of seizing a very old red herring by the tail and using it as a flail against his accusers, Mr. Hopkins will do that and one cannot blame him. - But what are the facts? The taxpayers, who have paid and are going to pay and pay and pay for W. P. A, are kept abso- lutely in the dark regarding the extent of W. P. A’s use for political purposes. If the administration was anxious to give the W. P. A. a clean bill of health it would be a relatively simple matter to select a few men who enjoy respect and confidence and charge them with the task of getting at the bottom of the W. P. A. business and presenting the truth to the people. But that, apparently, is farthest from the thought or desire of the administration. Instead of learning the truth, we shall have a mounting pile of very old and very dead red herring, with the expected malodorous results. ————r———— As events have worked around, neither Belassie nor the League of Nations knows precisely what to do with each other, ——etee Ttaly Gets in Line. After little more than a week of hesi- tation, Italy has followed the devalua- tion lead of France, Switzerland and the Netherlands, and cut the gold con- tent of the lira by forty-one per cent. Its value has been established at 19 to the dollar and 92.46 to the pound. It will leave the lira’s Amerigan parity at epproximately 5.2 cents. Thus the Fas- cist government steps promptly and effectually into line with the Anglo- Franco-American stabilization agree- ment and pledges Italy to play her full part in promoting that world economic recovery which is the ultimate goal of the epochal currency developments of the past ten days. Rome concurs in the action on the ground that it is “one of the necessary conditions for collaboration among the peoples toward peace.” Coincident with devaluation, Mussolini has instituted drastic measures,to safe- guard Italy from economic derange- ments that might flow from lira depre- ciatiorr These steps are designed es- sentially to revive foreign trade and prevent mounting living costs. Tarift duties on such necessities as meat, olive oil, poultry, eggs, coal, grain and cereals are to be heavily reduced. Property owners are required to lend the govern- ment cash, under a 25-year repayment plan, Gp to five per cent of their real estate holdings, as an aid to national budget balancing. Landlords, hotels and utility companies will be compelled to maintain present rates for two years. There are to be new taxes on stock dividends and corporation profits. Under the unrestricted powers vested in the authoritarian regime, Italy can accom- plish all these purposes by simple de- cree. I1 Duce has no such parliamentary storm over deva]mw to ride as the il A—10 THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1036~ one that nearly wrecked Premier Blum's plans in France, Internationally, Italy’s Adhesion to the stabilization movement is significant from many standpoints. It leaves vir- tually only the Soviet Union, Poland and Germany outside. The Germans are believed to be on the verge of com- pulsory concurrence, They are said to be holding out in the hope of deriving politica: advantage. Some reports credit Hitler with the wishful thought that delay may bring him colonial conces- sions—an aspiration which has just been firmly frowned upén by the dominant Conservative party in Great Britain, It can hardly be doubted that Mussolini appreciated in its full implications the demonstration of economic solidarity among the world’s three leading de- mocracies and decided that even the European dictalorships cannot expect ultimately to prevail against such a com- bination. Another incentive is Italy’s yearning to retrieve her international commercial position, so seriously im- paired by the Ethiopian sanctions. Perhaps the most widely gratifying result of current fiscal events is the crumbling, along with the gold bloc, of the archaic system of prohibitive tariffs, import quotas, exchange controls and other artificial barriers to commerce. Italy now emulates France in this di- rection, It is & result that must bring special satisfaction to Secretary Cordell Hull, who has literally grown gray in advocacy of international trade on the basis of reciprocity lines and now wit- nesses the triumph of that principle on far-flung practical lines, ) A Record-Breaking Series. With the world series out of the way, there is nothing to distract national atten- tion from the political campaign, which is in its last stage. The series itself was a rousing spectacle, whether watched by the tens of thousands who crowded into the ball parks in New York or by the greater multitudes who followed it game by game before the mechanical score boards in the cities or who heard the play-by-play descriptions given over the radio. Though the final result was fore- shadowed by the happenings of the first contest, when the Giants were beaten with their best pitcher performing, the interest was maintained throughout the series, and indeed there were moments in the final ganje when it seemed likely that it might go to the ultimate limit of seven games, Undoubtedly the better team won. It made 65 base hits to 50 by the opposition. It made six errors to seven. It scored 43 runs to 23. It used only 16 players, while 22 were utilized by the losers. It was exceeded in achievements only in the matter of double plays, with seven to three. Six pitchers were required as against seven. This series established a record for paid attendance, with 302924 persons present on purchased tickets. The gross receipts were $1,304,399, the highest in the history of the game, the second highest being $1,207,864, ten years ago, when the St. Louis “Cardinals” beat the New York “Yankees” in a seven-game series. Hence each individual player’s share touched high mark, at $6,440 for the winners and $4,029 for the losers. Altogether a very profitable enterprise. ‘Washington has not always been a mere spectator on these occasions. It has participated in three world series, in 1924, when its team took the series from the New York “Giants”; in 1925, when it lost to the Pittsburgh “Pirates,” and in 1933, when it yielded the palm to the “Giants.” This year it finished fourth and therefore it shares in the supple- mentary distribution. These post-season contests constitute the supreme drama of the sport. They are always full of thrills and surprises. The games themselves are not invariably ideal contests, but in the main they present the sport at its best, for tensity of interest, for attendance and for the possibility of startling denouement. In the world series games, as in those others that are played day after day during the season, the final decree is not to be had until, in the parlance of the game, the last man is out in the last inning. That is what makes base ball the greatest spectator’s sport. —_——————— Much happiness is missed by citizens who have never learned to score & base ball game and analyze the merits of the performers. There might be professors to introduce base ball into the class room for theoretical consideration of its geo- metrical qualities and its relativities of speed and distance. “Lunatic Fringe.” Theodore Roosevelt popularized, pere haps invented, the phrase “lunatie fringe” to describe persons who agitate for unsound policies of government. And it may be supposed that he spoke with some authority on the subject, since, in the judgment of reactionaries like Mark Hanna, he himself had been regarded as a “crazy man.” But the exact boundaries of the epithet are indefinite. Much, it seems, depends upon the angle of approach. Stalwarts of the type of Uncle Joe Cannon and Nelson W. Aldrich reasonably enough look upon all reformers as “quacks”— particularly if the reformers are so con- fident and so enthusiastic as to devise anything in the way of cures for the evils they deplore. Carrie Nation, for example, invited classification with the insane when she wielded her hatchet on the mahogany and mirrors of gin mills. Only & frenzied fanatic, it was agreed, Would be capable of actual war- fare on the liquor traffic. And there is substantial ground for believing the average apostle of drastic change somewhat “off balance.” Eugene Debs was utterly irrational in his advo- cacy of socialism; Willilam Jennings Bryan was “touched” with respect to “free silver” and the Darwinian theory of evolution; Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst was not exactly “normal” when she preached a crusade on plate glass win- dows in the interest of votes for women; and the Iate Semator Huey Long of Louisiana nqsb admitted that he “got wild” when he was opposed in his drive to constitute “every man a king.” Just now the public has under con- sideration several forms of “mass mad- ness"—Upton Sinclair’s E. P. I. C. scheme in California, Dr. Eugene Townsend’s fa- mous plan for the endowment of old age to the tune of national bankruptcy and the brain trust’s “starry-eyed dream” for “life more abundant,” to be financed by “soaking the rich.” Each program has numerous adherents, most of whom certainly would not enjoy being termed “mentally irregular.” It follows, them, that the “lunatic fringe” may fnclude a majority of the population. Everybody, according to the old Quaker philosopher, is at lesst “a little crazy.” He conceded that he sometimes “had his doubts” even about his wife. The only individual not affected was himself. And that, in the estima- tion of psychologists, is a sure sign of danger. Those really distraught invari- ably are rigidly certain of their own ex- emption from peril. Yet there is a definite test for reforms proposed and attempted. If they use- fully can be put into practice, they ap- pear in the verdict of history to b‘, socially desirable as weM as feasibly efficient. But the path of the human race upward out of the jungle is strewn with broken schemes that did not “make good.” And examination of some of those relics will show that they bore an amazing resemblance to current pro- posals. Boondoggling, for instance, was tried out by the Emperor Nero nineteen centuries ago—and the chronicles epit- omize the outcome in the words: “His statues were broken; his name every- where erased.* r———s Money is, after all, a simple matter; a medium of exchange which fails if the desired article is not available. In case you have a wish for bananas and the market affords none, it is necessary to be patient and seek for consolation in a simple song. —_———————— The Grecian pop corn vender who was graciously accorded preferred space at the White House curb has provided an economic example of the difficulty Power may find in expressing a neighborly kind- ness without being accused of promoting class consciousness. ——— v The homicide mystery is a common incident in police records. The great and bafling homicide mystery is the trait that impells human kind to insist on elaborate plans for war killing. —————————— W. P. A. has discovered artists, but is still represented as shy on an output of perfectly reliable lighting calculators. —————————— 1t is only a few weeks till election, but time enough for a dozen thrills by means of straw votes. ———r—————————— Spain is not unusual in indulging a riotous inclination to destroy the country that everybody claims to be fighting for. Shooting. Stars. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Neighbors. Good neighbors all, we hear the call For gathering and greeting. Some differences great or small May celebrate the meeting! We'll say in gentle interchange “Dear sister” or “dear brother,” And then resort to language strange. ‘Which sounds like “you’re another!” Behind our backs our hands will stay ‘While some dear neighbor guesses Which holds a beautiful bouquet And which a brick caresses. Forth we will go and maybe slight Our ordinary labors, And if somebody wants a fight, Oblige him like good neighbors. Ego. “Do you apologize for having made & mistake?” “Never,” answered Senator Sorghum. “I make my promises so alluring that I make it look as if truth herself ought to apologize for not agreeing with my figures.” Peddler. Communism walks the lane And says, “I've nothing by me, Except the years of grief and pain ‘Which comes to those who try me. I write my books from day to day, My labors now I double. And ask you how much will you pay For plain and fancy trouble?” Harmeony. “I have @ new hat,” said the beauty prize winner. “Do you admire it?” “Very much,” answered Miss Cayenne. “It matches your favorite costume in being next to nothing at all.” “When I salute & man as honorable,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “I conform to a custom which permits me to express a complimentary hope instead of betraying any private suspicions.” Votes. For votes we hear the patriot call From countryside and city. This District has no vote at all, ‘Which surely is & pity! We'll read returns and scan the maps, As each State sends a letter, And vow this District would, perhaps, Have done the job much better. “If you can't help,” said Uncle Eben, “don't try to make yohself look important by gettin’ out in front and blockin’ de- parade.” From the Willlamaport Democratic orators may be pardoned !l“;h:y ‘become slightly confused in their ———r——————— Not Altogether Like Cal. Prom the Southern Lumbermsn. ht in ref to him They may be rigl ..'f;i‘:‘é‘.: as “another Coolidge bright lexicon of Landon there are no such “I do not choose to run.” é NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM BY MARGARET GERMOND. OF LENA GEYER. By Marcia Daven- port. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. ‘The daughter of a great singer as- sembles her knowledge of the operatic stage and its stars of a generation ago in a novel that turns out to be somewhat more of & study in personality than the life story of & famous artist. Mrs, Daven- port is the daughter of Alma Gluck. Her acquaintance with the stage and with that remarkable group of individuals, who through the magnificence of their. voices inaugurated that glorious era in the history of music in which the opera rose to unequaled heights of perfection, is intimate. Lilli Lehmann, Sembrich, Nordica, Melba, Eames, Plancon, Bis- pham, the De Reszkes, Van Rooy, Calve and others of that extraordinary age of great singers are the men and women who were making operatic history when Lena Geyer, the subject of Mrs. Daven- port’s novel, blazed into stardom after years of diligent and determined study. The story opens with a funeral scene In St. Patrick’s Cathedral, ‘'where & mul- titude of admirers have assembled for the last rites of the famous singer. In the crowded church there are barely half » dozen friends, including Elsa de Haven, who had for a long time served as com- panion, secretary and friend; Dora, her Bohemian maid; Henry Loeffler, her husband, and David David Freeman, whose grief is assuaged only by the knowledge that now he will be at liberty to write the story of the singer’s life. It had been the command of Lena Geyer that the story must not be published until after her death. Her wish also was that the blography must contain the whole truth. In creating the character of Lena Geyer the author has undoubtedly piled up into one dynamic personality the experiences of many artists to whom the road to fame has been over hazard- ous roads. Lenzka Gyruzkova was born in the squalor of poverty in Prague, the daughter of & charwoman who loved to hear her child sing. As a shy, self- conscious child of thirteen years, she was brought to the studio of Guilio Pizzetti, who promised her mother that he would hear her sing. The master was amazed by the performance of the child ands -gave her some sound advice, which she [ollowed to the letter. It is through a series of revelations by the few intimate friends and asso- ciates of the woman that the story of her life is unfolded, A Part of the sordid and obscure beginnings in Prague and as a poverty-stricken and unfortunate immigrant in New York is told by David as it was related to him by the great singer during the course of” their long friendship. Another part is told by Elsa de Haven, whose intimate association made possible the observation of traits and characteristics not discovered by others. The romantic episode of her life with the Duke de Chartres is revealed by the wealthy aristocrat himself in a chapter from his memoirs for which Lena Geyer had pald his family a fabulous sum. Berlin, Paris, London, New York, Vienna acclaim the mysterious woman whose physique and talents were of Wagnerian proportions, the woman who rvemained aloof from the host of ad- mirers who sought her favors and about whom no one could learn anything except that she was a pupil of the great Lilli Lehmann. It is a warm and human story. though it is the portrayal of the life of an ex- traordinary woman rather than the un- Yolding of the struggle which all singers jmust make over the stony roads of hard work and discouragement to reach their destination. A glamorous and fascinat- ing picture of multiplied successes is presented, But beyond the first years of hardship, before the beginnings of a career were made, there seems to have been no task too great, no role too diffi- ‘cult for this versatile artist to conquer pvernight. A magnificent woman is Lena Geyer, possessed of a glorious voice t merely in description captures the ima, nation, dynamic and compelling in per- ponality and yet apparently devoid of any genuine emotion save the desire to sing. After a long decline in this country opera is again on the up grade. Mrs. ‘Davenport has not overlooked the op- jportunity to cirect attention to those years of decline, but in so doing she has managed to inspire the reader with .| the hope that present indications of a revival of cultural entertainment in America will again bring legitimate opera Into the foreground. * X ok * WHO'S WHO IN AMERICA. Edited by Albert Nelson Marquis. Chicago: The A. N. Marquis Co. Volume 19, covering the years 1936-37, of this invaluable book of life sketches bf individuals whose achievements have made them noteworthy in some branch of human endeavor has arrived, and #gain it is a bigger and better book than it has ever been. 'Since the 1934- 35 edition, with its 2,749 pages and 31,- 081 sketches, this biographical dictignary of notable living men and women of the United States has grown to 2878 pages, with 31,434 sketches, and of these there are 2,786 which have not appeared in any earlier edition. When in 1899 Albert Nelson Marquis established the publication and the first edition made its appearance it must bave created something of a sensation ,among those who, making use of it for the first time, realized what an enormous gap it filled in the fleld of iteference books, for in view of the /invaluable information which it con- tains and the universal use to which it subjected today one wonders just jow the people of this country managed ito get along without it. Until then no 'compilation of a comparative nature had attempted to include outline sketches on so comprehensive a scale, and few since then have successfuly main- itained & checking system for later achievements and for accurscy as to the present status and whereabouts of each person. Since the edition of two years ago was published the volume has been given the usual searching re- vision, and notations made of removals, deaths, new addresses and additional Information concerning those whose blographies have appeared in earlier books, together with a wealth of facts about the newcomers whose accomplish- ments have merited them a place in list of notables. 1 Moratorium, Prom the Worcester Gazette. A British admiral says the United States and England are the only ra- tional countries in the world. And maybe even we ought to ask for leave of absence m.ml after November 3. ¢ From the Los Angeles Times. It may be true that worry kills more péople than work, but that is que to the fact that more worry fan work. [ k- BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. An old book, unlike an old man, cannot tell you to what it owes its strong con- stitution. “I drink liquor,” or “I never drink”; “I have always smoked,” or “I have never smoked—" No, nothing of that sort. An old book owes its modern goodness to just two things—good materials in manufacture long ago and loving care thereafter. 1t is upon this latter quality one would concentrate, because the love of books surely has room in it for proper care. ‘Whether a volume is old or new, for that matter, real care in handling is necessary, if it is to come down through the years in good shape. Whether or not they have value as collector’s items is distinctly another matter. That they are old, or moderately old, means that somehow, through the years, they have not been banged around, that they have been handled carefully, either as the result of not being read at all, carefully placed on a shelf, or in being read with loving h:n? :1 well as hearts. * Loving hands are things books need as much as humans, if they are to be kept in good shape over the years. Care in housing them properly in cases, preferably with glass doors, cannot make up for careless handling once they are out of them. Whenever and wherever you find an old book, say 50 to 100 years, in very fine condition, you can be pretty sure that loving hands have held it in the past. Careless people will handle books care- lessly! Unfortunately, but even they in time may come to & better understanding. For care, in this respect, is easy enough. Just as it costs no more to feed a thoroughbred dog, so it requires no more thought to take care of a book while reading it than it does to dog-ear the covers, turn down the corner of pages, smear foodstuffs over them and in other ways spoil a beautiful volume. These thoughts came the other day in looking over & pile of fine old volumes, gathered together in England, where they love books, and shipped to this country, ‘where at last they came to be spread out for sale. Though these books ranged in age from 50 to 100 years, each and every one was in the comdition which bespoke loving | care over the ages. Time had dulled the gold of the titles and given some of the pages the spotted look often found in old | books, but in the main they were in excellent condition, which told the trained eye, as nothing else could, that in their interesting past they had received the best of attention, not only in regard | to shelf room, but also in the actual reading. * ok Had, indeed, they been read at all? all cases that they had. They were not museum piéces in any sense, nor yet valuable enough to be collector’s items. They simply were good old books, which had been given stout bindings, excellent paper in manufacture and then gone into homes where, for one reason or another, they were treasured. Some of them had been prize books, the | giving of which was a fine old custom, unfortunately gone out of style, but prob- ably will come back again some day, since it was such & good custom. All good | things have a way of coming back. Prize books, in many instances, were volumes superior in manufacture to the sorts which the receivers were in the habit of buying for themselves. This often gave them a feeling of fear, per- haps, in the actual reading, in that they might soil or otherwise damage them. ‘This plain fear of a book llves today in many who love them most. Yet careful handling, true loving care, is not at all difficult, once one makes up the mind to it. The earlier this attitude is attained the better for one’s beoks. % %% It will be found that it is just as easy to be careful with & book as careless with it. Ordinary fingers, rather than artist's fingers, are enough, if behind the fingers is the will to use them well. Not only must a book be regarded as an essentially fragile thing in make-up, but also as something precious. Once these two ideas coalesce, there is no real difficulty about the matter. To say that such a composite idea makes reading uneasy and difficult ds nonsense. What it does do is make the book safe. The stoutest binding may come apart if handled as if the book were a thing of steel. ‘The sturdiest pages will tear and soil if grabbed as one might a stick of wood, or used as a napkin. * % % * Manual dexterity is needed in handling reading matter, but fortunately it is a skill which any one may attain. There are certain fundamentals to keep in mind. One is that no book should be forcibly seized and flung open, thus breaking it at a place where it ever after- ward opens. Another is that the fingers are most sensitive on the tips, and that the tips, therefore, are the proper parts of the | fingers to touch the pages in turning them. It will be found that there is a rare book sense in the finger tips, and that by utilizing this, with a little attention to the matter, any book may be handled without ever bending or tearing the pages. Once care is taken not to “break” the back of a book and to turn the pages with finger tips, rather than by main force of the entire hand, the next essential is to avoid doing anything else to the book which will bend, twist, soil or otherwise deface it. It must be kept in mind that a properly made book has a life far longer than that of a man, and that those who are to handle it in the ages to come will silently thank you some day if you handle it carefully now. * % x * This continuity of the tribe of.book- lovers is an enheartening thing. It speaks with certainty of the fact that no book ever goes to waste, but | always finds some one to value and love Careful examination showed in almost | it over the years, if only it is in a condi- tion which does not repel. Loving care down the years keeps a book young, though the date on the title page or the back thereof may speak to the contrary. If sometimes one carries this to ex- tremes and becomes finicky, the error at least is in the right direction. Few good books ever suffered from too much care, but many from a little too little. It is noticeable that old books had stouter covers than those of today, as a general proposition, so that good care now especially means keeping new ones tightly pressed together, preferably in cases, to prevent warping. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Resumption of Supreme Court activi- tles at this juncture—the eve of the presidential election—finds national in- terest in our tribunal of highest resort keener than ever before. It is the New Deal and the constitutional fate of its innovations that have brought Chief Justice Hughes and his colleagues into the limelight, though the court has not proved to be that paramount campaign issue which many anticipated. There’s just been a graphic illustration in Wash- ington of popular concern wh the court. The Rev. Dr. Edmund A. Walsh of Georgetown University, whose lectures on Soviet Russia and communism have attracted such wide notice, decided to devote himself during the approaching season to “The Constitution and the Supreme Court.” In the past, Dr. ‘Walsh has addressed -audiences of 1,100, the full capacity of the university hall in which he speaks. For the court series he has had applications from 4.000 per- sons and, to accommodate them, he is compelled to consider the most com- modious public meeting facilities avail- able in the Capital. The general expec- tation is that within the next few months, though possibly not at the Fall term, the Supreme Court may invalidate additional New Deal legisiation, in whole or in part. Labor relations, power and social security are flelds in which the Nation's judicial oracle is expected to hand down far-reaching decrees. * Xk X X Secretary Hull must have accepted with militant glee the Democratic high command’s assignment to speak in Min- neapolis tonight. It was there that Gov. Landon recently attacked the New Deal’s reciprocal trade program, which is very much the Secretary of State’s own baby and which he omits no opportunity valiantly to defend. He is sure to de- vote himself this evening to sledge- hammer refutation of the Republican nominee’s charge that the tariff agree- ments with 15 or 16 different countries are detrimental to the United States, especially the farmers. Even some of Landon’s ardent supporters think he barked up the wrong tree in assalling the reciprocity arrangements, although he is bound by the Cleveland platform to snipe at them. Current tariff reduc- tions in Prance, Italy and elsewhere, as part of the stabilization movement, bul- wark the theory that the reciprocal idea is in progress and that any reces- sion from it by Uncle Sam at this time would halt the march toward world recovery. * % kK ItMis in the cards that Herbert Hoover's spellbinding role during the wind-up of the campaign will be to rake fore and aft President Roosevelt's claims in the fields of budget deficits, Federal expendi- ture, foreign loans, etc. In various quar= ters friendly to F. D. R. the accuracy of certaln monetary statements and figures put forward by him at Pittsburgh has been seriously challenged. Repub- licans assert that the President’s fiscal arithmetic can be shot to pieces. It is apparently Hoover’s job to train the guns in that direction. The former Chief Executive is at his best in economic com- bat. As his own administration bulks conspicuously in the comparative pic- pures painted by Mr. Roosevelt, the ‘Californian is scheduled to tackle the issue in two-fisted fashion, 4 * x % x It Lady Astor doesn't watch out, Chair- man Farley will catch her and draft her Democratic campaign service. The tor vivacious British M. P, now on & visit to mative heath in the Soysh, spoke the ~ — other day at Asheville, N. C. The viscountess said she finds a “revitalized America” today in place of the “shell- shocked patient” of four years ago. That's the whole New Deal recovery argument in tabloid. Because of her Virginian origin and background, the unconventional former Nancy Lang- horne might not consider it inappro- priate to mount ancestral Democratic hustings. * x x x ‘Word comes from Kansas that. despite sunflower pride, its nine electoral votes are by no means a lead-pipe cinch for Landon. Republican leaders believe the Governor will carry the State, but con- cede privately that they have a fight on their hands which will have to be kept up until the polis close. Democrats, on their part, are confident that nothing but an eleventh-hour outburst of enthu- siasm for the home-grown product can save the day for Landon. The circum- stance that roundly $400,000,000 of New Deal bounty—dubbed *“Roosevelt money” at Topeka—has been dumped into Kan- sas and that more farm checks are soon due is the specter that fills the most fervent Landonians with anxiety about their hero's domestic prospects. * X ¥ x About the most useful piece of cam- paign literature issued from any quarter —certainly the most non-partisan—is a 14-page pamphlet just compiled by Col. Edwin A. Halsey, secretary of the Senate. It contains a graphic record of the elec- toral vote for President by the principal political parties from 1900 to 1932, in- clusive; the popular vote for President and Vice President in 1932, and the votes for Senators and Representatives by parties and States in 1934. The pamphlet also reproduces excerpts from the Con- stitution and statutes regarding electlons. ik ‘With respect to mugwumpery in both Democratic and Republican camps, of which more will be heard before elec- tion, the consensus is that no defec- tion of any kind would begin to ap- proximate the damage that would be done Roosevelt if Senator Carter Glass had left the reservation. Democratic leaders in communicative moments con- cede that the refusal of the veteran Vir- ginian to desert the President, despite Glass’ hostility to much of the New Deal, is one of the most helpful breaks the party has had. The Senator’s loyalty is a signal to thousands of the Jeffer- sonian persuasion that if he can stomach events of the past three years to the extent of remaining regular, they have » perfect alibi in following suit. = *x kX X Straw polls are producing unprece- dented confusion in the public mind as to just what is going to happen after all in November. With tests in various responsible quarters showing diamet- rically opposite results, the average citi- zen is left in a pale blue quandary. The guess is hazarded that if things turn out 30 as badly to discredit certain polls that have hitherto enjoyed oracular prestige, it may be the death knell of such attempts to unscrew the politically inscrutable. (Copyright, 1036.) Von'n‘hg Machines. Prom the Philadeiphia Evening Bulletin, Some people hate voting machines be- cause they don't like new-fangled no- tions and some because machines dis- place the fancy work formerly done by hand. — ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. A reader can get the answer to any question of jact by writing The Evening Star Injormation Buveau, Frederic J, Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C. Please inclose stomp for reply. Q. How many people are in prison? —H. M. A. On January 1, 1936, there were 152,000 men and women in the Nation's 117 Pederal and State prisons and re- formatories. Q. How long have catchers on base ball teams worn padded gloves?—G, F. A. The padded glove for the catcher was introduced in 1891, Q. What was the maiden name of Mrs. Ernest A. S8impson, who was a member of the King's yachting party?—G. L. A. Mrs. Simpson was Miss Wallis War- fleld of Baitimore, Md. Q. Why is a man who alters or assists in the making of men's clothes called a bushelman?—B. D. A. The derivation is not known defi- nitely, but it is probably from the Ger- man bosseln, meaning to do odd jobs of repairing. Q. Which of the comedians, Clark and McCullough, died recently?—L. H. M. A. Paul T. McCullough died. The comedians had been together since child« hood, when they were circus acrobats, Q. How old is the university extension movement?—J. H. A. The movement began in England more than a century ago. It was brought to this country in 1887 through a discussion at a library conference in Albany, N. Y. Very shortly centers were established in several cities, and in 890 a society known as the American Society for the Extension of Universitv Tesche ing was established in Philadelphia. Q. Is farm tenancy increasing in the United States?—C. D. A. In the half century from 188) to 1930 the number of farm tenants more than doubled. Since then tenancy has increased further, due to bankrupicies and foreclosures. Q. When and where did Dr. Couden, blind chaplain of the House of Repre- sentatives, lose his eyesight?—E. P. A. He was wounded in a sharp skirm- ish near Austin, Miss., during the Civil War. He received a full charge of hird shot in the eyes. Although entrely blinded, he was graduated from a theo- logical seminary and ordained. He was chaplain of the House of Representatives for 25 years. Q. For whom was Lake Louise, in Canada, named?—H. D. A. It was named for Princess Louise, great-aunt of King Edward VIII, Q. Is there a firefly that flashes a red and green light?—W. H. A. In Paraguay there is a remarkabls form of firefly called the railway beetle which flashes a red light at the ends of the body and a green light along the sides. Q. How many pushcart vendors ars there in New York City?—H. M. A. The city has approximately 5000 pushcart peddiers. Q. Who was the engineer who pibted the first steam locomotive in the Urited States?—S. O'C. A. The engineer on the first stam locomotive in the United States was Horatio Allen, who agreed to make the trial trip of the “Stourbridge Lion,” Au~ gust 8, 1829. The second was Peter Cooper, builder of the “Tom Thumb,” on its trial trip on the Baltimore & Ohio, August 28, 1830. The third engineer was Nicholas W. Darrell, who ran the “Best Friend of Charleston” on its trial trip, November 2, 1830. Q. What is the Carolina Ridge?—G. H, A. In geology this is the name gven to an elevation of the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean off North Carolina, that occurred in Miocene time. It deflected the Gulf Stream and caused a great change in climate along the Athntic Coast. ~ Q. Which of Samuel Butler's mvels = was published posthumously?—E. J A. “The Way of All Flesh” was pub- lished in 1903. The author died in 1902, Q. How can a business house tell whether a slogan is already in use? —M. A. A. Printers’ Ink has a Slogan Cleiring House—the only one in the world. Over 7500 advertising slogans have been reg- istered. Any one can register a sbgan with Printers’ Ink if it is original, or may ascertain whether it has alieady « been registered. Q. Where is most of the lace ir the United States made?—E. H. A. The lace industry in this cowntry is centered in Rhode Island, Conrecti- cut, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. There are a few units in Ohio and Tllinois. Q. How does the illegitimate birth rate among Negroes compare with that of the white race?—J. W. A. The Negro illegitimate birth rate averages more than 140 out of 1000 births, compared with the white avrage of 20 out of 1,000. Q. Is it true that the founder of Johns Hopkins University sold whisky?—E. W. , A. Johns Hopkins at the begirning of his career dealt in groceries, farm products and Maryland whisky. Artful Dodgers. From the Kansas Oity Star, A crime exhibit in Indiana, desgned to teach that crime does not pay, has been a favorite hunting ground for pick- pockets this Summer. . Waiting. Prom the Roanoke Times. ‘The political chartists can now wait until the November election to wme if it's true what they say about Maire. A Rhyme at Twiligat Gertrmi; BroBoyke Hamiltos Tomorrow. We've known joy. Yet now we tread The thorny path of sorrow, Feeling we may have cause to drad 8till sharper thorns tomorrow. When the way led thru sunshine bright And all around bloomed flowers ‘We never dreamed we'd reach a pligh! Plercing straight thru joy's hous. Yet we are learning how to trusy Nor undue fear to borrow - From thorns that may be swept lkke dus! In some fair-dawning morrow.