Evening Star Newspaper, April 8, 1937, Page 10

,THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTO! THURSDAY__ THEODORE W. NOYES_ The Evening Star Newspaper Company. Of 3 0 Eas 2 A Ohitago Otee: 455 North Michigan Ave, Rate by Carrier—City and Suburban, Regular Edition. d) St S - ‘uddggnpe,:'ymc:{h or 15¢ per week v ar The Wrariing (94 45¢ per month or 10c per week The Sunday Star 5¢ per copy Night Final E Night Final and Sunday Star—_._70c per month Night Final "Star 5¢ per month Collection made at the end of each month or each week, Orders may be sent by mail or tele~ mhone Natloral 5000 Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virglnia, Daily and Sunday._ 1 yr. $10.00; 1 mo., 85c Daily only _ s £6.00; 1 mo., 60c Sunday only_ 1%y $4.00; 1 mo., 40c April 8, 1937 _Editor All Other States and Canada. unday. 1 yr, $12.00; 1 mo.. $1.00 1 yrl, $%.005 1 mo., " 7bc $5.00; 1 mo., 50c only_ Bunday only. Member of the Associated Press. ‘The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news published herein, All Tighis of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserv Minimum Wages. “The relation between earnings and morals is not capable of standardiza- tion,” said the Supreme Court in in- validating the District minimum wage law in 1922. That opinion has been overruled and a new majority of the court has declared, in effect, that such & relationship is susceptible of stand- ardization through minimum wages. But forthcoming consideration of new amendments to the revived District act may show that it would be better to abandon the old law’s reliance on a “cost of living” necessary to maintain woman workers “in good health and protect their morals” and in its plabe substitute the more reasonable con- ception of a minimum wage based on the value of services rendered. In the prophetic words of Justice Holmes’ dissent to the majority opinion in the minimum wage case, the only objection to the Mistrict law that could be argued “is found within the vague contours of the fi{th amendment.” But the majority opicion did object to the fact that minimumh wages in the Dis- trict were based on a cost of living designed to maintain women in health and to protect their morals, without relation to the value of the services per- formed by the women. The act, said Justice Sutherland, ignored the incom- petence of workers. All that is past now and the law is valid. But the emphasis placed in the District act on a minimum wage for protection of health and morals of woman workers, determined by lengthy investigations of cost of living figures and arbitrary determination of the number and cost of the hats, dresses, coats, stockings and other more intimate peraphernalia that a woman should need; the amount she should pay for a room or the cost of her food seems less logical than the theory of the newer laws of New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire and some other States. In these laws, modeled after a standard act drawn by the National Consumers’ League, the emphasis is placed tpon minimum wages “fairly and reasonably commensurate with the value of the service or the class of service rendered.” Unreasonable wages, which would be corrected by establishment of a min- imum, are those that are “less than the fair and reasonable value of the services rendered and less than sufficient to meet the minimum cost of living necessary for health.” The cost of living is, of course, taken into consideration. But the value of services performed cor- rectly receives major emphasis. The question of morals, so repeatedly em- phasized in the District statute, is ap- parently considered of less importance these days. And it is a little hard to see how a woman's morals are safer at $16.50 a week than at $15—which was the range in wages established in 1922 in the four minimum rates then pre- vailing. There 35 some discussion now of amending the local act to permit an ex- periment in establishing minimum wages for men. That would, of course, put that section of the law back in the courts immediately for another test. Those who are in favor of this experi- ment may agree with the Sutherland theory of 1922 in so far as regarding the nineteenth amendment as having ‘“emancipated women from the old doctrine of special protection and re- straints.” But that theory did not appeal to Justice Holmes. “It will need more than the nineteenth amendment,” he observed, “to convince me that there are no differences between men and women, or that legislation cannct take those differences into account.” ‘Whether legislation can validly refuse to take them into account by deciding that what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander would, in effect, be the new question raised in minimum wages for men. The Judiciary in Canada. Canada has a judiciary controversy resembling in some respects the Supreme Court issue now agitating the United States. Conspicuously involved in the situation which has arisen is a question of empire relationship, already discussed as containing the seeds of critical pos- sibilities, To grapple with all its rami- fications, the Ottawa government plans a conference of political leaders similar to that which preceded confederation in 1867. The purpose is to consider con- stitutional changes to give the central government more power than it now Ppossesses. Matters were brought to a head by recent decisions of the British Privy Council invalidating most of the so- called Canadian new deal social reform measures instituted by the late Con- servative government, Debate in the Do- minion Holise of Commons this week re- vealed unanimity of view among all parties that Canada should substitute its own Supreme Court for the Privy Council as a final tribunal of appeal and A THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 1837 demand corresponding amendments to the British North America act. The latter, as interpreted by the Privy Council, has produced the same sort of challenge of judicial dicta as underlies the Roosevelt plan to enlarge the United States Supreme Court. Recently Canada’s two largest provinces enacted wage and hour legislation, just as some of our States have essayed to do, but the Federal minister of justice ruled that such a reform as unemployment insurance could be established only on & national scale. This conjures up the States’ rights issue so long a bone of contention here. Even abolition of appeal to the Privy Council would not suffice to revive the Bennett new deal laws, inasmuch as the Dominion Supreme Court had also declared them unconstitutional. But in the course of its judgment against them, the London Privy Council also denied Canada effective treaty-making powers. This interpretation by the highest im- perial tribunal, now assailed in Canada as “reactionary,” might conceivably cur- tail the Dominion’s right to conclude reciprocal trade agreements with the United States or even a St. Lawrence waterway pact. The Privy Council de- creed, in substance, that Canada may override provincial rights in making treaties only if these are negotiated on behalf of the British government. Canada has proceeded on the theory that under the Statute of Westminster, in force since 1931, the self-governing dominions possess a degree of autonomy that fully comprehends the treaty- making prerogative. Mr. Cahan, secre- tary of state in the Bennett government, declared in Parliament that the Privy Council’s pretension to rob Canada of such authority can only tend to “hasten and insure the dissolution of the British Empire.” He demanded that the London government disclose whether it concurs in a judgment that may have “far- reaching and tragic consequences.” Traffic Across Rock Creek. An item of $30,000 is contained in the District appropriation bill for the prepa- ration of preliminary plans for new arterial routes across Rock Creek Park on east and west lines. The reason advanced for such a possible “improve- ment” is that transverse traffic has so greatly increased of late that additional facilities must be provided to accom- modate it. The plan in the minds of those proposing this additional traffic accommodation is to cross the park with “fills” to permit the extension of roads at grade across the valley., Disapproval of such a project has been expressed in strong terms by officials of the National Capital Park and Planning Commission and by the director of the District High- way Department. It is urged that if there is need for additional transverse accommodations the preferred method should be by the construction of bridges rather than by earthen fills. It may be questioned whether there is such a heavy volume of east and west traffic across the park to warrant such a ruinous method of highway construc- tion. It would cut the park into several sections, isolated from one another save by the provision of tunnels here and there along the line of existing park driveways. Not only would the beauty of the park be seriously impaired, but it would cease to be, as now, a feature of the National Capital that has no equal. Rock Creek Park has been regarded as one of the most attractive public res- ervations to be found anywhere in the world in close conjunction with a large center of population. Its “development” consisted simply of the prevision of such drives and walks as would give the fullest “access to all parts of it with the least degree of destruction of the natural beauties of the area. A series of earthen embankments crossing the park from east to west would reduce it to a series of small parks and would, moreover, invite further trespass in the years to come as highway traffic increases. The natural flow of traffic in the District is toward and from the center of the city. The daily movement in the area affected by this proposal is generally north and south, Transverse traffic is compara- tively light and during the busy hours of the day is mostly for the making of short cuts. It may be seriously ques- tiomed whether there is any urgent ccca- sion for the provision of these means of east-west travel on the scale proposed. If, however, it should be demonstrated that this transverse traffic requires greater accommodation assuredly the best means of providing it is by the erec- tion of bridges, even though the cost may be greater than that of earthen fills, though that, indeed, is doubted. The ill effect of the solid embankment type of viaduet is now to be seen at the point where Massachusetts avenue crosses Rock Creek. That thoroughfare was carried over on an earthen fill with merely & narrow tunnel provided for the flow of the creek and a roadway alongside. It is now a dangerous bottle- neck in the park drive, and its correction if undertaken would be very costly, Just such a condition would result from a carrying out of the embankment plan as now proposed for several lines of park crossing for vehicular traffic. Those who favor the solid dike planfor carry- ing the streets across the park have only to observe the condition at the Massachusetts avenue crossing to realize the lamentable effect of a series of such barriers to park travel and such tres- passes upon the park space which is dedicated to the pleasure of the people, Cherry Blossoms Bloom. The cherry blossoms have not dis- appointed & waiting multitude. Yes- terday the sun called them out of their protective coverings, buds became flow- ers all along the Tidal Basin rim. C. Marshall Finnan, superintendent of the National Capital Parks, inspected the scene and then announced that the dis- play should be at its best over the week end. But more than passing besuty is in- volved, The “most widely famous trees r in the world” are a symbol which ought not to be neglected nor misunderstood. A gift from the East to the West, they constitute a bond of friendship between Japan and the United States. The thousands of Washingtonians and visitors who will make it a duty to see them should pause for a moment to think what they mean. And the principle they represent is universal. Civilization, it seems, depends upon such things, Through untold generations of human experience & certain process of exchange has been in operation—literature, music, painting and sculpture, ideas and ideals of every kind have been distributed from hand to hand, from nation to nation, until the whole earth is linked in one common relation of fellowship. The bystanding philosopher is en- couraged by the spectacle.’ He knows thaf, the forces which divide the race are less dynamic than those which draw it together. Of course, strife interrupts the normal pace of progress from time to time, but peace heals the breach just as consistently through the passing cen- turies. Viewed from a distance, the pic- ture is not one of ruin and devastation. Rather, it is bright with flowers, And each blossom may be regarded as a star to guide any wanderers who have strayed from the path toward the Ever- lasting Garden. —_— e ‘That nearly forgotten American writer Ambrose Bierce once used the title “My Favorite Murder.” It was about a man who sewed his grandfather in a bag and let a vicious ram butt him to death. It raised a thrill when published, but it would pass as paltry fiction at present when the front page is filled daily with so great a variety of family homicides. —_———— Sulphur and molasses was a favorite old Spring tonic. As a philanthropist, Professor Rex Tugwell might be willing to divert from his present business enough molasses to combine efficaciously with the sulphurous invective in a sena- torial hearing. —_————— As history has developed since Harry Daugherty was aimiably but not always felicitously in office, nothing has been done to relieve the Attorney General of the necessity of working overtime, re- gardless of the wage. —————— Maryland statesmanship is generously solicitous about the gambling morals of the Nation's Capital. No matter what profit the pari-mutuels may yield, the District of Columbia will not be per- mitted to touch a nickel of it. — e The title “doctor” or “professor” will not prevent a man from looking like a plain lobbyist when he tries to influence congressional procedure through motives of personal advantage. N Shooting Stars. BY PHXLAN'DE‘HA-';HNEON. Cheer Up! I Told You So! Some time ago when I was feeling glum, I said, “Cheer up! The worst is yet to come!” As time went by, the worst came draw- ing near, And called us faithfully to presevere. It was a small sarcasm; yet it proved A sentiment by which our minds were moved. And when the world set forth its tale of woe I ventured to remark, “I told you sol” And now, as hearts prepare for courage true, ‘While brighter skies present themselves to view, I shall repeat in accents firm though bland, “Beware! The better days are now at hand; Beware the recklessness which may arise To scatter hopes that seem so near the prize. And when fruition ere long we know, I'll venture to repeat, ‘I told you so!"” No Anchorite. “Are you going into society much?” asked the old friend. “Certainly,” answered Senator Sor- ghum. “As a patriotic person, I con- sider it a duty to show that I can attend to my duties, however arduous, and con- tinue to be perfectly cheerful about it.” “Pride is ever an obstacle,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown. “It would be much easler to correct a mistake were it not needful before proceeding to con- vince some one that he made it.” He Knew It. “Some of the world’s finest literature is out of print,” remarked the bibliophile. “That’s right,” replied the poet. “I can’t get an editor to touch my produc- tions.” Busy. Saild Uncle Sam, “When next you call You will be welcome one and all. Each will be cozy as can be With cookies and & cup of tes. But do not let it hurt your pride If we appear preoccupied. For this, good friends, you must allow; The folks are cleaning house just now. “The bureaus must be moved about ‘While pigeonholes are emptied out. The merry birds to Spring belong, We dare not linger for the song. Before we pause for hours of fun There’s simple duty to be done. ‘We can’t wait for polite pow-wow; The folks are cleaning house just now.” Amid Dissensions. “I understand you are the teacher of the new singing school.” “I started in a teacher,” replied Miss Cayenne, “but now I'm the referee.” “Sometimes,” sald Uncle Eben, “de tremenjus self-esteem dat er man gits am intiahly due ter de fack dat he am or bad jedge ob character.” A 2 Inconsistency of Nations Seeking New Territories To the Editor of The Star: “O, Consistency, thou art a jewel” is an old saw, and I have been reminded of it frequently here of late in reading comment on the state of our troubled world. Consistency is expected of na- tions just as it is expected of persons, because nations have frequently been compared to individual persons, amnd rightly so, because they are made up of such individuals, and do in the mass perform many times in the same fashion. And nations have many of the same problems as do individuals. For instance, lately there has been a grouping of nations into two classes—the Haves and the Have Nots, and certainly no one will deny such a classification to individuals within the nations. Nearly two years ago Col. House wrote an article describing the tension between these two sets of nations, and because of his prominence it was widely read and created quite a stir in official circles. More recently the League of Nations, probably inspired by the article of Col. House, set its International Com- mittee to work to study the problem of the Haves and Have Nots. But what interests me at the moment is the inconsistency of the nations which shows itself in their endeavor to solve their problem, and the unwillingness of these nations and those persons who think these nations do have a case at court, to also see that within these na- tions the case between the individual Haves and Have Nots is just as vital and important to the peace of the world. Within the natians they seem willing to let the strife continue, and many noble and fine gentlemen who would like to do something to equalize the tension be- tween nations in order to avoid war are entirely indifferent or antagonistic to efforts to compose a like tension between classes within the nations, apparently being unable to see that the strife be- tween individuals and classes of indi- viduals is the real cause for the clashes between nations which is war. There is abundant proof of this. Ger- many had her colonies prior to the ‘World War, but this did not prevent her from arming to the teeth and going to war at the first opportunity, nor did it prevent all other nations, whether Haves or Have Nots, from taking a hand in the sport. But there is another phase of this matter upon which I would like to touch. Italy, Germany and Japan are said to be the Have Nots, and because they feel that way they claim the right to seize the country of weaker nations in order to find sustenance for their growing populations and to maintain their in- dustrial life. Of course, that may all be very fine for these Have Nots, but what about the helpless peoples who have been slaughtered, whose country has been seized and whose children will be exploited and enslaved? I wonder if the nations, whether Haves or Have Nots. and individual persons within these nations are not trampling under foot that unchanging and inexorable law: “With what measure you mete, it shall be measured unto you.” And do they under- stand that this trampling is the cause for all their troubles? 8. L. HOOVER. — . Feature Article on United States Mints Corrected To the Editor of The Star: In a feature article appearing on page “B-3" of The Star (last edition) of Sat- urday, April 3, entitled “Two watchmen and a $3 dog guarded first mint” it was stated, among other things, that “The three mints started in the South in 1838, at Charleston, S. C. * * *” which is in error. The mint started was located at Charlotte, N. C., where gold coins were minted until 1858 under the mint mark “C,” many of which coins are now in existence and kept as sou- venirs. The original building, considered ar- chitecturally perfect, remained in use as an assay office and later for other Government activities until about five years ago when it was removed to make room for the new Post Office and Federal Court Building. Prior to its being dis- mantled, the exact measurements were made by architects and the building materials secured by the City of Char- lotte and Mecklenburg County and the citizens of same, and today there stands in the City of Charlotte, N. C., a build- ing known as the Mint Museum, which is an exact reproduction of the front part of the original building and con- structed out of the materials from the old building. The Eagle was purchased by a patriotic citizen and donated to the museum and is now among the relics to be seen there. FLOYD M. GRESHAM. B Tidal Basin Not Proper Site for the Memorial To the Editor of The Star: As a transient resident of Washington the past five years, I desire to protest against the destruction of the Tidal Basin for the purpose of constructing the Jef- ferson Memorial. To me the Tidal Basin, with its cherry blossoms, is the most beautiful spot in Washington. Beauty is greatly desirable in the Capital of our country. ‘Why not erect a Jeffersonian Memorial on the south side of the Mall facing the proposed Mellon Art Gallery This con- struction would give a balance to both structures; it would be an added attrac- tion to the Mall; it is much more con- venient and accessible to the visitors who come by the way of the Union Station. 1 simply offer this as a suggestion. CHARLES J. COLDEN, e Plan to Prevent Strikes By Division of Profits To the Editor of The Star: Strikes ordinarily arise from unjust and unfair wages paid by prosperous firms. I have often heard a firm’s head or a member boast that “by many years of hard work he had now built up a good business.” But is this strictly true? He and his employes working together built up & paying business, for alone he could have dome nothing. Now my plan is simply this: When a firm shows a substantial profit or even any profit it should divide it 50-50 with its employes, in addition to the wages paid them. For example, say there are 10 members to a firm and 200 employes, and suppose the yearly profit is $100,000. Then dividing it equally each member would get $5,000 and each employe $250. I believe that most of the strike trouble is with firms that are slave drivers and who try to hog all the profits, giving their employes very little for good sexv- ices rendered. Find a group of con- genial men well taken care of by a firm or corporation and judge for yourself. In such an entity no dissatisfaction is usually found, and the company is pros- pering. Today’s wage and salary prob- lem faces nearly all of us. There are 50 many slices to be cut from our dollar in order to pay for so many things now deemed essential that unless one makes & fair salary he merely exists, which is ~ot my interpretation of a “living wage.” ISTMAS. W. N. CHRI Aalingion, Va. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. Whatever Americans do, they overdo. The latest example of this tendency, according to Templeton Jones, is the picture field. Bigger and better photographs, in books, magazines, newspapers, all cater- ing to a taste for pictures, eh? Cameras popping off from all angles, film manufacturers working night and day to supply the demand, dark rooms always glowing with red light— Jones belleves that they are slowly killing the goose that laid the golden egg. It's an old story. Talk, he feels, has given the knockout blow to radio. Blah, blabber and blubber, these three, and one more, just plain talk, and people no longer turn on their sets as they used to, at least according to Jones, * kX He hopes it won't be that way with pictures. For pictures are swell, he feels, but when six poses of the same funny look- ing fellow are thrown at the gentle reader, or spectator, as he is getting to be, in & row, it is much too much, One would do the trick. The basic fault of the newer tech- nique (still according to Jones) lies in the failure to understand the difference between words and pictures, between brains and eyes. Word craft is a building craft. Use of words, to entertain, to instruct, or to impel, or all three, demands a build-up. Proper writing technique calls for the co-operation of the reader. He is gently induced by a writer to put himself in the latter's shoes, and reconstruct along with him, * X ¥ ¥ When this work of reconstruction is done for you, if you have a standard amount of brain, you tend to become tired of doing nothing. This is where the motion picture, at least according to Templeton Jones, falls down with a bang, and where the radio is falling down with a bang. Numbers of movie fans, and numbers of radio listeners, he feels, do not alter his contention in the least. There might be ten times as many spectators and listeners as there are, and his contention would not be shaken in the slightest, at least according to Jones. To a certain type of mind—the Jones- ian mind, of course, and its fellow minds—the proper co-operation is what makes anything interesting. The reason many persons are going back to the phonograph lies directly in the path of non-co-operation of the radio. Nothing is asked of the listener, and he grows tired of it. Not so many years ago he was la- menting the fact that he must be “hopping up and down” changing records. Now he sees that such “hopping” was a mighty good thing. It gave him a part in the music. Inventive genius, always ready to in- vent, conceived the mechanical record changer. The mind of man, always ready to admire itself, admired the record changer immensely. It, however, took away what was left of his self-help in his mechanical music. Now all he had to do was look at the box, and it ground out an hour’s music without requiring any movement on his part. STARS, MEN Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. Twenty years ago, when I was a fresh- man in college, the campus was haunted by & queer, gnomelike old man whom the boys called Johnnie the Lion. His Rus- sian name was unpronouncable. He was dwarfish of stature, with long white hair covering his shoulders and wearing a threadbare, unpressed black suit. It got to be a custom to say “Good morning, doctor,” just for the pathetically exag- gerated bowing and smiling with which he responded. Johnnie the Lion was a professor in the university. He was listed in the catalogue as “lecturer in mathematics.” He taught one course. Some years he had one or two pupils, some years none. The fact is that even advanced candi- dates for doctorates in mathematics didn't know what he was talking about. One of them, now a member of the Na- tional Academy of Sciences, once told me so. A freak—T don’t know. Certainly & strange figure in a New England indus- trial town—a strange figure even on the campus of a very liberal university. But, I am assured, his mathematics were sound, he had made some notable con- tributions to the science, he had been a musician of note, and in his head was packed more abstruse learning than could have been gathered from the faculties of one or two of the graduate departments. Some years later Eamonn de Valera visited the city, whose preponderantly Irish population gave him a triumphal reception. The only man in town who could talk Gaelic was this same Johnnie the Lion. He welcomed the Irish leader at the station in that tongue and the two professors of mathematics had a long chat while everybody else was kept waiting. As long as De Valera re- mained old Johnnie stayed with him. Some of the business and professional men, who had arranged the reception, were rather put out over it. Never thereafter were they quite so enthusiastic about freeing Ireland. Their hero, the rebel and politician, sank sadly in their estimation from his familiarity with a freak scholar. Among the undergraduates at the col- lege a lot of legendry grew up about Johnnie the Lion. He was an escaped Russian exile from Siberia. He con- versed freely in forty languages. He had squared the circle. He had found the fourth dimension. Oblivious to all this, the old man took his morning walks about the campus. I remember him best with his long white hair blowing in a Winter snowstorm. He was so gentle, dignified, courteous, kindly and glamor- ous that I don’t think even the most irreverent freshman ever quite regarded him as a freak. One couldn’t quite smile at him, there was such a aura of other worldliness about him. He was about as near a supernatural figure— the adjective is used advisedly—as I personally ever encountered. Johnnie the Lion, it may well be, had sailed far on the seas of thought be- yend our bounds of space and time. He had stepped through the one gate which, this side of the grave, opens into the in- describable reality which encompasses man’s cosmos of sight snd sound. He never had been quite able to find his way home again. He was pleading, so gently and fearsomely, on the other side of the gate for somebody in the world of man o open it for him, There are two gates opening from man’s beain upon sirangs, far plases. 3 ‘Templeton Jones, and many like him, shortly discovered that he was no Buddha, Unwavering contemplation of noth- ing is unsuited to the human animal. Where mechanics, as applied to life and industry, falls down with more than the proverbial bang, is in regard to this demand that man, a roving, moving creature, be chained to a desk or a machine. Man can stand it, but only at great cost, both tn himself and what he is try- ing to do. Discontent the world around, Jones feels, may in part be laid directly at the door of unhuman ways of doing things in work and play. The word “unhuman” has been used so long to indicate some- thing bestial that it requires some effort to give it the proper connotation of “other than human,” but it may be done by a slight bit of effort. * ¥ X X Bo people today, in 1937, are going back to the piano. ‘Why, they have taken all the “works” out of the mechanical pianos of yester- year, the bellows and the pedals and the what-not, and are selling them as “straight” pianos! Similarly, you dont hear so many radios blaring as you go around the streets. People are tired—at least Jones so explains it—of the incessant chatter on radio, and, what is more, more than tired of being able to take no part in what is going on. Schoolboy bands and orchestras point in the same direction. All the kids want to learn to play. Stores which two years ago had prac- tically gone out of the disc record busi- ness today are selling 10 times as many records as in the old days. The perfection of the new -electrical recordings, with the huge selection pos- sible from many foreign makes, as well as American, helps explain this back trek, but the desire of listeners to have a part in what they are doing says more, at least to our friend Templeton Jones, ok ok % Jones explained his attitude carefully the other day, when we ventured to remonstrate, to the effect that pictures also demand that one enter into them, and actively do a bit of thinking. “It isn't the same thing,” he said. “If people are going back to own-make music, as they are, they will go back to own-made pictures, which require words to construct them in the mind. “The present urge toward pictures is a gross overdoing, and will suffer the same fate, in the end, as has overtaken all other mechanical arts, for photo- graphs, in the sense of which I speak, are strictly mechanical. “Consider this new picture magazine which has made such a hit. I, too, tell for it with a bang. I treasured all my copies. Then I began to find myself looking at nothing but the pictures. I stopped reading the lines and explana- tory matter. “Now I merely glance at the pictures, and I find that the more I just glance the more bored 1 become. “A picture gets what it asks for—a glance, whereas with writing you have got to put yourself intc it to get any pleasure or instruction out of it. “Mark my word, this present craze for pictures of all kinds, including semi- nudes and ‘shockers,’ especially of the medical variety, is going to be the biggest thing that ever happened for writers.” AND ATOMS One gate opens downward into the ogre- haunted dead ages through which the race was carried as an infant in the arms of evolution and of which it has only fleeting, distorted memories such as come in insane asylums, in dreams and in moments of transcendent passion. That is the gate of the emotions. The other gate opens upward into a region where man never has been, but which he may traverse in the coming days of his long pilgrimage. It is a gate which is opened by the key of mathematics. Few have passed through it throughout the ages. One of these few was the bowing, smil- ing old man who tramped over the New England campus in the January blizzard. He was the loneliest figure I ever saw. He lived alone in an attic room and cooked his own meals. What would he have done if some students had in- vited him to a frat house party? What would he have done if some of them had asked him to the saloon on the corner for a glass of beer? I don’'t know. I suspect he would have been unutterably happy. But nobody could quite approach him with any such proposals. Nobody could get through the gate to him. And if anybody had, I suspect the old man couldn't have gotten far enough back into the world of sights and sounds to have accepted. Johnnie the Lion, I suppose, is dead. His poor, wandering soul is pleading at the gate no longer. I have met from time to time great soldiers, great ex- plorers, great statesmen, great criminals. They have all seemed dull, earthly fig- ures compared with this old man. He had known a greater adventure than any of them. What was the interior on Antarctica or the crest of Mount Everest compared to that super-reality beyond the gate where he, I imagine, had been. Others have opened the gate. Perhaps Johnnie the Lion was one of the least of the select few from Pythagoras to Einstein for whom, in this life, the portals have opened. He is a vague memory now, after almost a quarter of a century, until Dr. Eric Temple Bell's just pub- lished “Men of Mathematics” was laid on my desk. It is the history of the most glamorous company of adventurers in the annals of the race, done by one of the few men who might have some claim to be numbered among them—himself a mathematician and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. It should be one of the greatest adventure stories ever written. The 700-page volume is a talisman. It brings back this Winter afternoon the howing, smiling, white-haired, sad ghost of Johnnie the Lion, the snow falling on his long white hair. Strange, pathetic, mystical, gently pleading—— Birthday Anniversary Of Benjamin Franklin To the Editor of The Star: On your editorial page I noted that April 17 was mentioned as the birthday anniversary of Benjamin Franklin. I may be laboring under a misapprehen- siod, and if so, I humbly apologize for ing to correct your writer, but I have a distinct impression of having observed Dr. Franklin's birthday each year in school on January 17. GERTRUDE L. KANE. Note—Benjamin Pranklin was born on :am 17, 1708, and died on April 17, A - ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. A reader can get the answer to any question of fact by writing The Evening \ Star Information Bureau, Frederic J, Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C. Please inclose stamp for reply. Q. How many child brides are thers s in the United States?—H. W. A. According to the 1930 census, latest Government statistics on the subject, there were 4,241 girls married before they reached their fifteenth birthday at the time the records were compiled. Q. How long is the route of the coroe nation procession?—H. W. A. It is six and one-quarter miles. Q. Please give the list of 10 most beautiful words selected by Wilfred J. Funk several years ago.—E. M. A. They are: Dawn, hush, murmuring, tranquil, mist, chimes, golden and melody. lullaby, luminous, Q. What part of a diamond is above the girdle?>—L. J. P. A. The cut of a diamond is standard= ized, with one-third above the girdle and two-thirds below. Q. Are soy beans used in the manue facture of rayon?—J. L. A. In Japan the stems of the soy bean are made into rayon yarn. Q. What is the name of the school in the South to which Henry Ford donated a large sum of money?—J. L. W. A. Mr. Ford contributed $3,000,000 for buildings at Miss Martha Berry's School at Mount Berry, Ga. Q. What is the Indian name for the headdress worn by Indians in North America?—F. G. A. The headdress or war-bonnet originated among the Plains Indians and later spread in all directions. The - names by which it was known varied with each tribe. A more common head- gear was a narrow band of skin or leather which was made to hold one or more feathers. The following are names used by the tribes indicated for head- gear in use by them and their immediate neighbors: Ostoa, Onondaga; Gestowa, Seneca; Ucnura, Tuscarora. Q. Is it true that a foreigner not re- siding in the United States can become a citizen by application?—J. R. A. He cannot become a citizen of the United States without residing in this country. Q. Why is counterfeit money called » flash money?—C. D A. The term originated in England. Many years ago that country had a flood of counterfeited notes. When traced to their source it was found that they were made in Flash, a town in Derby- shire. Q. How many telephone calls are made in voting for Maj. Bowes' amateurs? M . A. Since the beginning of the amateur hour broadcasts listeners to the series have made more than 2,562,800 telephone calls in voting for their favorites. Q. For whom are New York City ferry= boats named?—W. R. A. In the past city ferryboats have been named after boroughs, sections of the city, or after former city officials, the one exception being the American Legion, a ferryboat plying between the Battery and St. George, Staten Islande, Mayor La Guardia, however, has estab- lished a precedent in giving feminine names to three new boats which will be designated as Gold Star Mother, Miss New York and Mary Murray, named for Mary Lindley Murray of Revolutionary fame. Q. What was the Conway Cabal?— V. N. A. It was an intrigue in 1777-8 headed by Horatio Gates, Charles Lee, Thomas Miffiin and James Lovell, with Thomas Conway as a tool. Its purpose was tos replace Washington with Gates. The scheme failed and Conway left the country and went to France. Q. Who has the most complete collec~ tion of cook books?—S. M. A.Dr. and Mrs. A. W. Bitting are credited with having the most complete and unusual collection in the world. Q. Please give some information abous s Budapest, Hungary—A. J. K. A. Budapest, or Budapesth, is a beau- tiful city situated on both banks of the Danube. Buda is the older town, com- prising several small hills, and was founded by the Romans in the second century AD. It is the home of the old residential families. Pesth, which is of more recent origin, commands a low, flat plain, and is the center of the indus- trial activity. It is the center of the largest electrical works in Europe and is a shipping point for the grain, wine, wood, cattle and flour of surrounding countries. The prosperity of the city dates from the nineteenth century, after the union of the two cities, and the population is over a million today. The word, Pesth, is of Russian derivation, and means oven. It is supposed to apply to the great lime kilns which were once an outstanding feature of the country. Q. How many maple trees in Eastern Canada will be tapped for sap this Spring?—P. D. A. More than seventy million. Q. How much life insurance is car- ried in the United States?—J. T. A. Life insurance in force in the United States, according to the Spec-* tator Company of Philadelphia, totaled in 1935 for all policies, $100.730,415,000. The peak for life insurance in force the United States was reached in 1931, when the total was $108,885.563,000. The year in which the greatest amount of life insurance was purchased was in 1929, when the total was $12,863,274,000. Q. When are the Shakespearean plays | presented at Stratford-on-Avon?—C. R. A. This year the Shakespeare season began on Easter Monday, March 29, and will last until September 25. Q. What is meant by the check-off sys- tem?—A. W. A. This is the deduction of union dues from a pay check by an employer. A Rhyme at Twilight Iy Gertrude Brooke Hamiiton. Arable Land. From early dawn the farmers tofl Tilling the soil. Red-brown each new-ploughed furrcw lies Under blue skies. Rich, upturned turfs the nostrils gree! Odorous, sweet. * Artists and poets everywhers Follow the shase. \