Evening Star Newspaper, July 8, 1937, Page 12

A—12 =x THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. THURSDAY ___ -July 8, 1937 THEODORE W. NOYES __...___. The Evening Star Newspaper Company. 11th St and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 42nd 8t. Onicago Office: 435 North Michigan Ave. Rate by Carrier—City and Suburban, Regular Edition. Evening and Surfday Star The g 6bc Der month or 15¢ per woek The Evenine Siar 4Bc per month or 10c per week The Sunday Star__.._.____._____Bc ber copy Night Final Editi Night Final and Sunday Star-...70¢ per month Night Final Star__ 55c per month Collection made at the end of each month or each week. Orders may be sent by mall or tele- Phone National 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Daily and Bunday Daily only Sunday only $10.00: 1 mo. 85¢c gg.000 1 mo. 8o 4.00; 1 mo.. 40c mo.. $1.00 $8.00: 1 mo, 75¢c $5.00; 1 mo.. B0c Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to e use for republication of all news dispatches €radited to it or not otherwise credited in this T and also the local news published herein, rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. ——— e Politics and the Court. No more belittling attack has ever been made on the Supreme Court of the United States than that delivered by Senator Guffey of Pennsylvania during the debate on the compromise court bill yesterday. The Pennsylvanian held the court to public view as partisan, political institution. And as guch he described it since its earliest days. The present court, he insisted, has been especially guilty of playing politics. During the course of his remarks Mr. Guffey pictured Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes as the arch villain of the piece. He referred to the Chief Justice as a “supremely clever politician.” And for that reason, Mr. Guffey insisted, Chief Justice Hughes should not remain upon the bench. He described in detail the various political offices the Chief Justice has held in the past, and the part which he played in political campaigns. Apparently, in the opinion of Mr. Guffey, his argument was devastating. In the twinkling of an eye, however, the tenor of the argument was changed. For Senator Burke of Nebraska called Mr. Guffey's attention to the fact that there is at present a vacancy in the 8upreme Court, caused by the retirement of Mr. Justice Van Devanter last month. For this vacancy, he pointed out, no less & person—no less a politician—than Sen- ator Joseph T. Robinson of Arkansas, Democratic leader of the upper house, has been urged upon the President for appointment by an almost unanimous Senate. All his adult life Senator Robin- son has been engaged in politics and he has held many political offices. Did this close connection with politics bar Sen- ator Robinson from the Supreme Bench, Mr. Burke asked Mr. Guffey. And argu- ment or no argument, Mr. Guffey per- force was compelled to say that in no way was Senator Robinson disqualified for service on the bench. Mr. Guffey had naively fallen into a trap, something that often happens in the case of extravagant statement. He was held up in the Senate as favoring the appointment of a politician par excel- lence to the Supreme Bench—provided his politics was of the right kind. There was no way for Mr. Guffey to extricate himself from his difficulty. He took the bull by the horns and stuck fast to Sen- ator Robinson. But at the same time he left his argument riddled and hanging to a limb. Discomfited, Mr. Guffey almost immediately withdrew from the lists and declined to answer further questions leveled at him by the opponents of the compromise court bill. He sat down. The Supreme Court of the United Btates has been highly regarded by the American people. It probably will weather the attack delivered by the Benator from Pennsylvania. In fact, in the eyes of the people, the court prob- ably will continue to loom larger than does Mr. Guffey. On the other hand, Mr. Guffey should be able to recognize a politician if any one can. o Houses at Greenbelt are likely to cost more than was expected. Even a Secre- tary of Agriculture is confronted with the obstinacy with which figures insist on having their way, in the face of cal- culations originally designed to meet requirements of public generosity. - e Kentucky has not only the Mam- moth Cave and other wonders of nature but & cave full of real gold which may be called into service, should the times develop real hardship in the utiliza- tion of private fortunes to avert public distress. ———— Farmers at this time of the year listen patiently to songs about the “love bug,” although they are really most interested in what the potato bug happens to do Wwith any spare time that comes his way. Rockville Grade Crossing. To non-residents the efforts Rockville has made to keep open the grade cross- ing where fourteen Willlamsport school children lost their lives in a bus-train crash in 1935 appear startling. There ‘was no clamor for maintenance of the erossing the morning after the tragedy. Every voice was raised in unanimous ap- peal for its elimination. All envisioned an overpass or underpass in its place. But, of course, none could foresee where the structure would be built. The location finally decided upon for the overpass, which has just been opened to traffic, obviously was not chosen with convenience of the town’s residents as the first consideration. Rockville's pro- tests are based on the prospect of the in- convenience of being forced in some in- stances to travel more than a mile to reach a point across the tracks a few yards from the present crossing, together with fear that the eastern section of the town will be cut off from traffic lanes and property values were lowered. Citisens say they indorsed the site for the crossing when it was first proposed : with the understanding that the crossing was to be kept open but additional safety devices installed. Now they are told that the law under which Federal funds were allotted for the project requires closing of the crossing. As’ a compromise some citizens have indicated that they will be willing to drop the fight for the crossing if an old wooden bridge is maintained across the tracks some distance from the scene of the bus tragedy, but not as far away as the new overpass. If this is not done, court action is threatened. The arguments of Rockville residents undoubtedly have some merit. To the traveling public outside the town, how- ever, the picture presented is clearly a case of a few being called upon to suffer for the sake of the safety of many. To keep the crossing open after the over- pass is finished would be to admit that the money it cost was wasted. Like the library which Williamsport built to the memory of the boys and girls who met untimely death at the crossing, the Rockville overpass should serve as a memorial to the children. Further, it should stand as an assurance that no more lives are to be lost at the crossing. To compromise by maintaining both the wooden bridge and the new overpass may be advisable, but on the crossing there can be no compromise. It should be closed. e Mr. De Valera Checkmated. President Eamon de Valera has run into an unexpected snag in his program to sever the Irish Free State's union with Great Britain under a constitution de- signed to pave the way to complete independence. At this week's tlections to the Dail Eireann the proposed con- stitution was ratified, but Mr. de Valera’s hopes of a parliamentary majority which would leave him in unchallengeable mastery of the political situation were wrecked. He had asked the country to reinstate him in office with a clear margin of Dail votes over all others, in order that his own party, the Fianna Fall, could proceed without hindrance to put the new national charter into force and effectuate the government's economic and political policies within five years. This blanket appeal was rejected by the voters. Latest returns show that the President’s supporters have won only 69 seats, as compared to the 77 held in the former Dail. Former Presi- dent Cosgrave's party, the chief opposi- tion group captured 48 seats; Labor 13, and the Independents 8. Thus, the combined strength of the non-de Valera factions exactly equals the total of the President’s phalanx. He must there- fore resume power dependent upon the support of Labor or the Independents if the legislative stalemate is to be broken. As the temperamental Dublin statesman is known to find such a position irksome and disagreeable, the guess already is hazarded that, rather than govern under conditions that would hamper his free- dom of action, Mr. de Valera may go to the country again in 1938 and seek the positive mandate just denied him. Intolerable as the President may find & situation in which the snap judgment of an adverse Dail vote might at any time oust his administration, he is ex- pected to make the best of & bad bargain and patch up a temporary working alliance with Labor, especially as the idea of another early general election is unpopular. Mr. de Valera's electoral setback does not mean that the Free State is headed for old-time relations with Britain. The new constitution was approved by a vote of 686,042 to 528196. The President throughout the campaign insisted that it transcended all factional differences within the country. He did not con- tend that the constitution “will remove all the obstacles between us and the English people, but it will provide a start on right lines.” Erin's New York-born chief executive is shorn of desired parlia- mentary power, but the 150,000-odd majority won for the constitution repre- sents victory on the paramount issue for which he battled. e As reminiscences are released by the death of Sir James Barrie concerning Maude Adams, his leading American star, a word of memecry is not neglected far Charles Hoyt's “A Midnight Bell,” in which Miss Adams appeared. If Hoyt were to command a revival, his best work would probably revert to Maverick Brander, who came to Washington to show how a statesman ought to behave in order to make sure of not being mis- taken for a cowboy. “A Texas Steer” has been long forgotten and yet as events progress might be well worthy of present study. Idiom of the Moment. In the course of a radio broadcast the other night an announcer, with doubt- less unconscious precision, proclaimed that the musical selection to follow was written in the “idiom of the moment.” The phrase was particularly apposite, vet it constituted a grave indictment of the artistic taste of the present. Ac- cording to the dictionary definition a “moment” is a “period too short to be taken into account.” And that is just the measure of many of the esthetic values of this hectic era. Something new must be had for the delectation of the mass, whether it conforms to the fundamentals or not—indeed the farther away from the fundamentals the better. In this matter of the music purveyed by radio there is much ground for com- plaint by those who have not adopted the “moment” standard of artistry. Let a listener who has not been betrayed into the following of false gods harken to some of the offerings over the air, whether studio programs or “pick-ups” in night clubs and other places of as- semblage and supposed entertainment, and seek to analyze the words and the music. Rhymes far worse than those of Mother Goose offend the taste. Tunes that drawl and . whine and squawl. Voices that slide off the key. All to the end of & supposed newness of style, actually to the end of & debasement of # THE EVENING STAR, every canon of both musical and lyric art. “The idiom of the moment!” The phrase has its power of encouragement as well as immediate disheartenment. For the ‘“moment” passes. Another moment may bring surcease from this cacophony of tune and inbecility of words. Perhaps this is the nadir of public taste—if indeed these offerings are in obedience to public taste and not the cause of its debasement. If so there will be a rise in the scale of “momen- tary” values. But whether the scale is rising or falling, there is always the remedy of a shut-off, even though one can at once find no worthy substitute on the dial. Silence, like Oliver Wendell Holmes’ poultice, will then come to heal the blows of sound. Boy Scouts, Good-by. Tomorrow the national jamboree of the Boy Scouts of America will adjourn, Some of the lads will remain in Wash- ington for a few days, but the majority are scheduled to depart within the next twenty-four hours. The Nation's Cap- ital will miss them. It bids them fare- well with regret that they must 80. But, curiously perhaps, the Scouts never again will be strangers in the Federal City. Even if it should happen that the chances of life deny them an- other visit to the District of Columbia, they still will be at home here. The human mind is possessed of a remark- able power to retain its experiences; it not only remembers—it actually re-lives! And the boys will make the most of their advantage. They will carry their im- pressions of Washington with them throughout the entire duration of their pilgrimage in this world. Wherever they travel, whatever they do or think or feel, they will be influenced by the picture they have seen, the veritable reality of history which they have touched. No philosopher can fail to be attracted by the dynamic of such a power. Prop- erly comprehended, it may signify the creation of a new compulsion for de- mocracy; it may vitalize and invigorate the civilization of the whole land. The Scouts will be citizens in the course of a brief span of years; they will be, in effect, the governors,of the United States. Then, if not now, the result of their ac- quaintance with Washington will be manifest. Let contemporary doubters take note: They have met the free in- stitutions of their country, they have watched them at work, they have glimpsed their motives and beheld their fruits, and they will not betray them. The possibility of an error in the per- sonal history of Mr. James A. Farley may, after all, comnmand reconsideration. There is absolutely nothing in his atti- tude of persuasion to sustain theories that his salutation of the Blarney stone was other than a fair and square demon- stration of the subtle principles of oscu- lation. e New delicacies in the use of language arise and a public eager to observe eclipses and financial formalities must turn in patience to inquire from Mr. John L. Lewis how the simple letters C. I. O. come to stand for the term “walkout” in its most aggressive signifi- cance. — The Supreme Court bill will, accord- ing to its promoters, be allowed to sub- side only for the consideration of emer- gency measures. According to dispatches | across the deep water, emergency meas- ures may be supplied in all languages. ot Shooting Stars. BY PHEANDP;R JOHNSON. The Great Example. If men cannot reform the earth, With all its discontents, Let's heed suggestions of what's worth That this old world presents. It bids the blossoms greet the sun, And through the stress of storm, In patience waits the blessings won When skies are mild and warm. It tolerates the insect brood, Yet struggles to produce The pleasures of a gentle mood And things for honest use. Let the example great remove Our prejudices blind. If men this earth cannot improve, Let earth improve mankind. To Make an Impression. “Aren't there many formalities to be observed in society life?” “I suppose s0,” answered Senator Sor- ghum. “I don't bother about '’em. The best way to make an impression is to act a5 if you were too busy and important to notice little things like those.” Jud Tunkins says money won't be managed right until it makes the poor happy instead of keepin’ the rich worried. The Summer Lady. The Summer sails upon the lake Delight her eye no more— She likes the Summer sales they make In the department store. No Disadvantage. “T can cure you of stuttering,” said the " doctor. “I don’t want to be cured. When I talk everybody has to listen attentively and is afraid to interrupt.” “We journey. far in search of new happiness,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, “and in such haste that the old happiness seeks in vain to overtake Alarm Clocks. A reformer declared he would waken mankind By lifting his voice with austerity— An alarm clock is useful, indeed, but youll find It doesn’t command much popularity. “I hasn't yet seen & man so supersti- tlous,” said Uncle Eben, “dat he wasn't willin’ to start de week end loafin’ on Friday instid o' Saturday.” ’ — Would Like to Know What Administrators Administer To the Editor of The Star: A great deal has been written and said about taxes. Landowners here are pay- ing less than one-half what real estate owners in the States are paying and receiving about twice as much for rents, but if dissatisfied why don’t taxpayers move to reduced expenses? We have a gang of politicians all over the country with an eye single to creating jobs with fat salaries and the taxpayers permit these parasites to keep on. In my State last year the State received from auto and gas taxes more than it cost to run the State 30 years ago. Yet real estate taxes are in some towns over $5 per $100, and politiclans are now hunting for something new to tax. In this city thrifty politicians are busy. Two years ago the Congress enacted a law to permit blind persons to sell merchandise in public buildings. It did not occur to these congressmen that they should appropriate money to erect a building and fill it with clerks to “ad- minister” the law so the blind people were not permitted to enjoy the privi- lege granted them. Pray tell me what there was to “administer.” The Congress enacted an “old age pension” law. An organized gang of social workers saw an opportunity to make an easy living “administering” this law, 50 a submissive District com- mittee made it an old-age “assistance” law to be administered by welfare work- ers. The result was it cost over $40,000 to “administer” about 1600 pensions and there is no end to the job. An old wage law for women recently rejuvenated now has caught the eye of “administrators,” who wanted $14,000 to “administer” this law, which states that women shall not receive less than $16.50 per week. Again I would like to know what is to be “administered.” Now another gang of politicians wants the city to have 13 councilmen at a salary of $6,000 a year. Will the tax- payers stand for such a hold-up? When taxpayers correct some of these abuses then we will listen to their wailing with better grace. A.J. HOLBROOK. . Virginia-Born Democrat Translates Wagner Act To the Editor of The Btar: Born in Virginia, 'way down vonder on the other side of the “Jeems" River, I've heard all my life about the iniquity of the Republican party, how theyv turned the Government over to Wall Street, taxed all the people with a high tariff for the benefit of a few, had no respect for State's rights, did not recognize the principle that a minority had any rights at all, and, I've heard all my life, that the Democratic party holds views dia- metrically opposite. I believed it up to a few months ago and now the Demo- cratic party has laid such an egg as the Wagner act. I have neither stock in, nor connection with, any corporation or man at whom this act is aimed. I simply love liberty pretty much as Patrick Henry and the participants in the Boston Tea Party did. I cannot understand how any political party in this country could have the ‘“unbridled audacity” to pass a bill taking away a man’s liberty for no other reason than that he has more property than the man who wants to work for him. The Wagner act is before me. To me, at least, this is what it says, a free trans- lation into brief statements: Labor shall have the power to get whatever labor wants from the manu- facturer because it is decreed that the manufacturer shall no more enjoy the liberty of contract making with whom- ever he chooses, but shall be allowed to make contracts only with those specific laborers who have sense enough to pre- sent their demands as a body, the minority of which shall also be deprived of liberty of contract. Penalty for disobedience to this law is confined to the prohibition of ship- ment of goods across State lines. Of course, the laborer has no goods to ship anyway, but we cannot help that. The penalty applies to all violators. What a law. In Russia they shoot the manufacturer first W. STANLEY FREEMAN. Commissioner Allen Not Versed in Train Numbers To the Editor of The 8tar: Commissioner Allen’s railroad story boxed in The Evening Star of Saturday had all the earmarks of a true occur- rence except for the train numbers. Just how Train No. 1 could collide with Train No. 3 is inexplicable unless one of them was backing up. The accident was classified as a head-on collision, so that precludes a rear-end collision. If the one-legged crossing watchman whom the Commissioner was cross- examining characterized the operation of the railroad as indicated above and the published account was correct, then the watchman’s stricture had added force if two odd-numbered trains were running in the opposite direction. Com- missioner Allen is probably familiar with the house numbering system in Wash- ington which provides for odd numbers on one side of the street and even numbers on the other, so that a given address can be located with & minimum of effort. A house number is something more than a mere numeral, as it tells you in what square the place is located and also the side of the street on which it is to be found. Similarly a train num- ber reveals the direction in which the movement is taking place, so that odd- numbered trains would collide head-on with even-numbered trains. E. 8. HOBBS. Cotton Brought by Scouts Recalls Home-Grown Plant To the Editor of The 8ta Some 8 or 10 years ago there was grown in Washington a cotton plant. The cotton seed was planted in front of a high matched-board fence faeing south, 0 that the warm sun rays would center upon the place in which the cotton seed was planted. The seed was planted by a New Yorker who had been for three years a professor in a college of Vineville, Ga. Owing to the warmer climate at Vineville than obtains in Washington the seed was planted here a week or so later. This Washington planting was at a residence on the corner of Seventh and G streets northeast. The -eotton seed germinated into a small plant and grew rapidly and vigorously. Finally came a full, beautiful Wash- ington-grown cotton bloom, which at- tracted great attention and inspection by many persons, who wondered at the growth and blooming of a cotton plant from a cotton seed planted in the lati- tude of Washington, D. C. W. E. RYAN. Corrects Error in Letter On West Virginia Plant To the Editor of The Star: In my letter to The Star July 3 in reference to the Armour plant at Charleston, W. Va., there was a typo- graphical error. It should have read the plant has a capacity of 80,000,000 pounds a year. Only 25000000 pounds are needed yearly for the Navy &% present, It stated tons by mistake. JOHN RIIOGL'. Al { WASHINGTON, D. C, THURSDAY, JULY 8 1937, . THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. ‘When you see & new bird in the yard, one which you do not believe has been there before, be sure that it is not the young of some familiar species before you assign it to a wrong classification. A young catbird, for instance, is dif- ferent in shape, and general appearance, from the parent birds. It is very easy, on seeing one's first young catbird, to believe that one is see- ing something new in bird land. The youngster is fuller in body, much rounder, without the long tail, and with the chestnut or rufous spot at the rear much more prominent than in the parents. Even people familiar with these birds sometimes fail to make proper identifica= tions in unusual circumstances. One such saw a bird, two tones of gray, rather fat and round, hopping around. It seemed familiar to him, but that red- dish patch puzzied him. “What bird is that?” he asked a by- stander. “Why, that's a snake bird,” replied the other. “It goes ‘sna-a-ke, sna-a-ake.' " Even this plain imitation of the mewing cry of the catbird did not cause the bird lover to tumble to the species. The title “snake bird” showed very well the bad point to the so-called com- mon names of birds, beasts and flowers. They -are all right, these country names, as the English call them, so long as everybody knows what they mean. Outside that circle, they mean exactly nothing at all. LR BN O Baby robins are even larger than their parents and bear on their breasts un- mistakable spots, showing their cousin- ship to the wood thrushes, whose speckled breasts are among their most beautiful features. The cardinal baby, even the male, looks very much like its mother, a soft greenish gray bird, with just a suspicion of color- ing. While the male and female of the cat- bird, for instance, look very much alike, the male of the cardinal is the brilliant red creature so universally beloved, whereas the female ‘is much more sub- dued and would scarcely be credited by the newcomer to bird observation as be- longing to the same family. Young starlings have a great deal of white on them and do not present the same stubby appearance as their parents, The female of the indigo bunting, bril- liant blue bird, as its name suggests, is a very plain creature in soft browns. But where you see the imale the female is likely to be, so be pretty certain of calling the plain bird an indigo bunting, pro- vided you see the brilliant one first. Bird books which give colored pictures of the young of the species, as well as the parents, are to be preferred, since often the youngsters look so very different from the oldsters that only the expert would suspect a relationship. Sometimes the young ones are larger than the parents and will pass as adult birds with unsuspecting watchers; how- ever, a few minutes of observation of actions will reveal to any one the dif- ference, even if the difference in colora- tion escapes observation. It is amazing how many points do escape notice when one is not profes- sionally interested in birds, but only an admirer of them and their ways. so ancient, so capable, so instinctive and in- formed. Yes, birds are very well in- STARS, MEN formed creatures; they know what they need to know, perhaps just a little better than animals. Animals are forever getting run over on the highways, but very few birds let themselves get caught. One Washingto- nian, traveling between here and Pennsyl- vania, says he never makes the trip with- out seeing at least half a dozen skunks dead along the road. Watch the songsters, however, and the chances are that you will seldom if ever see a robin or jay or English sparrow run over. ‘The speed of the robin, for instance, has been clocked at about 35 miles per hour, with the jay slower and the sparrow somewhat faster. These speeds, if true, are not excessive, certainly not as much as many of our cars on the highways. It demands wonderful eyesight and much good sense for the birds to escape being run over, especially when so many of them alight in the street, as they may be seen doing everywhere. Often they skim away at a slant, just escaping an onrushing car, and some times seem to be in great danger of being bumped by a car coming in the other direction. . 4 ‘We have yet to see a motorist slow up in the slightest in any of these cases. The chances are, of course, that they are not bird lovers. Perhaps most of them, untrained in bird watching, really do not see the birds. Or, if they do, they think the creatures will get out of the way. It is not incumbent upon humans to slow down! Slowing down, even slight- ly, is against the American creed. It is fortunate for the bircs, then, that they are so well informed, when it comes to their own speeds, and just how much time they need to get out of the way of rushing monsters. It may be that because they go at high speeds themselves they are able to judge high speeds in other living things, and to make proper allowances for them. It is exactly here, it seems to us, that motorists haven’t as much sense as birds. Too many of them simply can't handle the speeds they have at their command. They ought to take lessons from the songsters. * ok % % In identifying birds, in an amateur way, it is necessary to get the help of some one else who also is interested in them. This second person may not know any more than you do, but almost always will be able to think of some point of identi- fication which you have overlooked. Acquaintance with the books available, too, is a most important point, and in this the other person often will be better grounded, more able to put a finger on the one missing factor. The observer who saw the baby catbird, for instance, took it to be a mockingbird, at first, owing to dominant coloration, then set it down as a catbird, in a half- hearted way, but decided against it, owing to the more rounded shape, and the lack of the long tail. The other person consulted, instantly decided it was a young catbird, and was able to show from one of the books just where the description fitted. Always talk over the birds seen, and be willing to listen to somebody else. He or she may know! It is an amazingly heartening thing. nowadays to find sombeody who really knows something. AND ATOMS Notebook of Science Progress in Field, Laboratory and Study. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. An intensive study of what was prob- ably the New World's lowest human cul- ture—that of the nomadic 8hoshont In- dians—is being brought to completion by Dr. Julian H. Steward, Smithsonian In- stitution anthropologist. Until relatively recent times these In- dians wandered in small groups over the approximately 125000 square miles of barren lava plains in Southern Idaho, Western Utah and Nevada, and Eastern California. Seldom has a people been set down in a poorer environment. Nat- urally, Dr. Steward points out, the desert Shoshoni were a desperately poor people with a culture simple relative to most other Indian tribes. But there were interesting variations. The Shoshoni were forced to make many adaptations to live at all in such an en- vironment. With most of their physical and mental energies required for merely keeping alive they had very little left over for development of the more cul- tural aspects of life, Up to the present, Dr. Steward points out, the whole area has been largely an ethnological blank. Within the region itself, he found, there were wide varia- tions. The lowest level of all was reached with the little-known Gosiutes. Now they reside on two small reservations, but formerly they clung to a few small oases in the huge semi-deserts and the Great Salt Desert that extend forbid- dingly from Skull Valley, Utah, to East- ern Nevada. This way of life cut them off almost completely from cultural con- tacts with other peoples. K The Gosiute's struggle to survive was alded by few material devices. The scar- city of large game and of wild seeds forced the tribe to subsist to an extraor- dinary degree on mice, gophers, crickets, ants, lizards and other reptiles which ordinarily are disdained by the lowest savages. In Winter the Gosiute was hardly as well off as the Eskimo. Winter cold is intense in the mountain deserts. For shelter the tribe had only brush wind- breaks, or lived in caves. They had few utensils and tools, although baskets, pots and bows and arrows were part of the equipment of every family. Large game was 50 difficult to procure that the man who was able to provide himself with a shirt and leggings was virtually a mil- lionaire. Often the people were vir- tually naked, or wrapped themselves in ‘Winter in capes woven of strips of rabbit fur. From the Gosiutes, Dr. Steward found, there is a gradation in culture to those groups of Shoshoni who provided them- selves with horses, went on long hunts into richer country, and even made war on neighboring tribes. In this environ- ment Dr. Steward found an interesting sidelight on human psychology. Among the American Indians as a whole the military virtues were highly esteemed. The great men were those who were most successful against the enemy. But among the poorer S8hoshoni groups there was little evidence of this. The vast desert was a place of peace. Only with those more advenced groups to whom war was an economio asset did the valiant fighter receive any special honors. They bor- rowed many cultural features from their enemies, so that their lives took on much the same pattern as those.of the great tribes of bison-hunting plains Indians, The requirements.of war proved a spur to invention, 8kin-covered tipis re- .placed brush .and ‘grass shelters. The horse-drawn - travois took the heavy m-mmmmngmamm- en, skin clothing was substituted for woven bark clothing, and there was an active manufacture of spears, shields, clubs and other primitive military para- phernalia. White culture has made slow inroads among the Shoshoni. They now are gathered in reservations, however, and knowledge of the old ways is disappear- ing rapidly with the passing of the grandfathers and grandmothers of the tribe. They might have passed and left no trace in history, but for the work of Dr. Steward, first with the University of California and later with the Bureau of American Ethnology of the Smith- sonian Institution. Quite naturally, Dr. Steward points out, the life of these people in pre-Caucasian days had some rather repulsive features. They were barely able to support them- selves by making use of every available resource. Starvation was frequent and even cannibalism by no means un- known. From Spring until Fall small family groups went from one locality to another as different foods became avail- able. Then they usually were able to find enough to eat. But Winter was a terrible time. In their caves and behind their brush wind- breaks they lived largely on dried sal- mon, pine nuts, parched crickets and such odds and ends as they had been able to store. Spring always found them thin and hungry, usually with their ranks depleted by actual starvation. Tax Evasion Charges Dodge the Real Issue To the Editor of The Star: Referring to the letter in The Star of July 3 headed “A Query as to Mrs. Roosevelt's Taxes,” and signed by Mary Thompson of Indianapolis, I know many people would be interested in an expla- nation such as she requests. In connection with the whole matter of the indignation and venom displayed by some members of the administration over what they choose to regard as tax- dodging on the part of anti-administra- tionists, I am reminded of a remark made by my younger son when a small boy. The plate of cake had been passed to him first and he had helped himself to the largest piece. When remon- strated with he said very virtuously, “I didn’t want Harry (the older brother), to be selfish.” Of course, in justice to the boy I should point out that he didn’t snitch his piece in the pantry. HELEN CLARK CRANSTON. Still Convinced. Prom the Kansas City Btar. As for Gov. Davey's charges, Mme. Perkins says she never proposed such a thing, and besides, she still thinks it was & good idea. Recalcitrants. From the New Haven Journal-Courier. It’s about time that some of those Jef- ferson Island picnickers, wavering in their opposition to the court-pack, re- membered that he who hesitates is bossed. . Returned Anglers. Prom the Pontiac (Mich.) Press. And many ‘s piscatorial expert with the fishing fever out of his system is now Back as & wishful angler eating sardines out of & can. 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. What announcer broadcast the first fight over the radio?—J. L. A. On July 2, 1921, Maj. J. Andrew White broadcast the first championship fight, the Dempsey-Carpentier bout at Boyle's Thirty Acres in Jersey City. Q. Who said that England’s battles are won on the playing fields of Eton?— F.0.J. B A. The Duke of Wellington. Q. How old was Stephen Foster when he composed his first song?—J. W. A. He was thirteen when he wrote, “Sadly, to My Heart Appealing.” Q. Has there ever been a newspaper without ads?—E. F. H. A. E. W. Scripps founded the firsg newspaper of the kind, the Day Book, published in Chicago from 1911 to 1917 and reaching a peak circulation of 22,839, Q. What are the duties of the Judge Advocate General of the War Depart- ment?—E. J. G. A. The Judge Advocate General is the official legal adviser of the Secretary of War, the Chief of Staff, the War Depart- ment and its bureaus, and the entire military establishment. He advises con- cerning the legal correctness of military administration, including disciplinary action, matters affecting the rights and mutual relationship of the personnel of the Army, and the financial, contractual, and other business affairs of the War Department and the Army. The func- tions of the Judge Advocate General's Department include not only those of the Judge Advocate General and of his office in Washington but also those of judge advocates serving as staff officers at the headquarters of Army, corps area, de- partment, corps, division, and separate brigade commanders, and at the head- quarters of other officers exercising gen= eral court-martial jurisdiction. Q. How far is the earth from the sun in July? In January?—W. T. A. On July 1 the earth is 94.400.000 miles from the sun: on January 1, the distance is 91,300,000 miles, Q. What is it that enables a homing pigeon to “home?"—O. G. B. A. The remarkable faculty by which pigeons find their way to their homes is not definitely understood, but in training them the procedure is based on the knowledge that they will return in order to be at a familiar feeding place, and to be near their mates and their young. Q. Where in Louisiana is the Kraft paper mill to be erected?>—H. J. A. The Southern Kraft Corporstion will construct a paper mill at Spring Hill, La, for the manufacture of paper pulp, paper board, and allied products and by-products. It will have an annual capacity of 220,000 tons and the plant will cost approximately $6,000,000. Q. What variety of salmon has the best flavor?—E. G. A. The Quinnat, Chinook, or king salmon is the finest flavored. Q. What are roric figures?—W. R. A. They are images produced by breathing on glass or other polished sure faces which have been covered by some object. Q. How long are the Lincoln and the Lee Highways?—G. B. A. The Lincoln Highway is approxi- mately 3,140 miles long and the Lee High- way is approximately 3,229 miles long. Q. Is the adopted son of the late James Barrie, for whom he wrote “Peter Pan,” living?—L. K. A. Peter Davies, the author’s adopted son, was at his bedside when he died. Q. Please give directions for mixing a | dark green paint suitable for shutters.— | J. W, A. A good dark “shutter green" shade can be made by mixing 3 pints of medfum chrome green in oil, 2 pints of Prussian blue in oil, and ! pint of lampblack in oil. Q. In what convent was the moving picture “Cloistered” filmed?—E. J. A.The picture was made at the Cone vent of the Good Shepherd at Angiers, France. Q. Please give some information about Van Wyck Brooks who won a Pulitzer Prize for his book, “The Flcwering of New England."—F. M. * A. Van Wyck Brooks is fifty-one years old. Following his graduation in 1908 from Harvard University, he worked for & year with Doubleday, Page & Company and was an English instructor at Stan- ford University. From 1920 to 1924 he was editor of the Freeman. Mr. Brooks is also the author of “America’s Coming- of-Age,” “Letters and Leadership,” “The Ordeal of Mark Twain,” “The Life of Emerson,” and a number of other books. In 1903 he married Miss Eleanor Kenyon in Carmel, Calif. They have two sons. Q. Does height have any effect on a man’s getting a job?—W. R. M. A. Many companies have set & mini- mum height requirement of five feet nine inches to six feet. It is claimed that height lends a man prestige, par- ticularly in sales jobs. A Booklet on Swimming. Vacation season is heré. Will you be “in the swim”? Our Washington In- formation Bureau offers a timely service booklet on swimming, diving, life-saving, and artificial respiration. Carries official life-saving instructions of the American Red Cross. Diagrams show detail of the best swimming strokes and rescue holds. This booklet is & complete and authoritative self-instructor. It should be in every vacation handbag. Offered at a cost and handling charge of 10 cents. Send for your copy now. Use This Order Blank The Washington Evening Star Information Bureau, Frederic J. Haskin, Director, ‘Washington, D. C. I inclose herewith TEN .CENTS in coin (carefully wrapped) for a eopy of the SWIMMING BOOKLET: Street or Rural Route.._....._...____ ...... e e em et yer g e—_——— 71 P S